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diff --git a/12078-h/12078-h.htm b/12078-h/12078-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7135074 --- /dev/null +++ b/12078-h/12078-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8558 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta name="generator" content= +"HTML Tidy for Windows (vers 1st February 2004), see www.w3.org"> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=UTF-8"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Ireland, by Charles Johnston.</title> + +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + font-size: 14pt; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + blockquote {text-align: justify; + margin-left: 15%; + margin-right: 15%;} + IMG { + BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; + BORDER-TOP: 0px; + BORDER-LEFT: 0px; + BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px } + span.pagenum + {position: absolute; left: 1%; right: 91%; font-size: 8pt;} + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } + HR { width: 33%; } + .ind { MARGIN-LEFT: 10%; MARGIN-RIGHT: 10% } + .ctr { TEXT-ALIGN: center } + // --> +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12078 ***</div> + +<a name="000.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/000.jpg"><img src="images/000.jpg" +width="80%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>PEEP HOLE, BLARNEY CASTLE.</b></p> +<br> +<br> +<h1>IRELAND</h1> +<h2>HISTORIC AND PICTURESQUE</h2> +<h4>BY</h4> +<h3>CHARLES JOHNSTON</h3> +<h4>ILLUSTRATED</h4> +<h5>1902</h5> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> +<center><a href="#I.">I. VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE.</a><br> +<a href="#II.">II. THE GREAT STONE MONUMENTS.</a><br> +<a href="#III.">III. THE CROMLECH BUILDERS.</a><br> +<a href="#IV.">IV. THE DE DANAANS.</a><br> +<a href="#V.">V. EMAIN OF MACA.</a><br> +<a href="#VI.">VI. CUCULAIN THE HERO.</a><br> +<a href="#VII.">VII. FIND AND OSSIN.</a><br> +<a href="#VIII.">VIII. THE MESSENGER OF THE NEW WAY.</a><br> +<a href="#IX.">IX. THE SAINTS AND SCHOLARS.</a><br> +<a href="#X.">X. THE RAIDS OF THE NORTHMEN.</a><br> +<a href="#XI.">XI. THE PASSING OF THE NORSEMEN.</a><br> +<a href="#XII.">XII. THE NORMANS.</a><br> +<a href="#XIII.">XIII. THE TRIUMPH OF FEUDALISM.</a><br> +<a href="#XIV.">XIV. THE JACOBITE WARS.</a><br> +<a href="#XV.">XV. CONCLUSION.</a><br> +<a href="#INDEX.">INDEX.</a></center> +<br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2> +<center>Photogravures made by A.W. ELSON & Co.<br> +<br> +<a href="#000.jpg">PEEP HOLE, BLARNEY CASTLE</a><br> +<a href="#017.jpg">IN THE DARGLE, CO. WICKLOW</a><br> +<a href="#037.jpg">MUCKROSS ABBEY, KILLARNEY</a><br> +<a href="#053.jpg">BRANDY ISLAND, GLENGARRIFF</a><br> +<a href="#063.jpg">SUGAR LOAF MOUNTAIN, GLENGARRIFF</a><br> +<a href="#079.jpg">RIVER ERNE, BELLEEK</a><br> +<a href="#097.jpg">WHITE ROCKS, PORTRUSH</a><br> +<a href="#113.jpg">POWERSCOURT WATERFALL, CO. WICKLOW</a><br> +<a href="#131.jpg">HONEYCOMB, GIANT'S CAUSEWAY</a><br> +<a href="#145.jpg">GRAY MAN'S PATH, FAIR HEAD</a><br> +<a href="#165.jpg">COLLEEN BAWN CAVES, KILLARNEY</a><br> +<a href="#181.jpg">RUINS ON SCATTERY ISLAND</a><br> +<a href="#209.jpg">VALLEY OF GLENDALOUGH AND RUINS OF THE SEVEN +CHURCHES</a><br> +<a href="#223.jpg">ANCIENT CROSS, GLENDALOUGH</a><br> +<a href="#243.jpg">ROUND TOWER, ANTRIM</a><br> +<a href="#259.jpg">GIANT'S HEAD AND DUNLUCE CASTLE, CO. +ANTRIM</a><br> +<a href="#267.jpg">ROCK CASHEL, RUINS OF OLD CATHEDRAL, KING +CORMAC'S CHAPEL AND ROUND TOWER</a><br> +<a href="#285.jpg">DUNLUCE CASTLE</a><br> +<a href="#299.jpg">MELLIFONT ABBEY, CO. LOUTH</a><br> +<a href="#305.jpg">HOLY CROSS ABBEY, CO. TIPPERARY</a><br> +<a href="#325.jpg">DONEGAL CASTLE</a><br> +<a href="#341.jpg">TULLYMORE PARK, CO. DOWN</a><br> +<a href="#351.jpg">THOMOND BRIDGE, LIMERICK</a><br> +<a href="#367.jpg">SALMON FISHERY, GALWAY</a><br> +<a href="#373.jpg">O'CONNELL'S STATUE, DUBLIN</a><br> +<a href="#394.jpg">MAP OF IRELAND</a></center> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page001" id="page001"></a>[pg +001]</span> +<h2>VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE.</h2> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page002" id="page002"></a>[pg +002]</span><br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page003" id="page003"></a>[pg +003]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>IRELAND.</h2> +<br> +<h2><a name="I."></a>I.</h2> +<h3>VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE.</h3> +<br> +<p>Here is an image by which you may call up and remember the +natural form and appearance of Ireland:</p> +<p>Think of the sea gradually rising around her coasts, until the +waters, deepened everywhere by a hundred fathoms, close in upon the +land. Of all Ireland there will now remain visible above the waves +only two great armies of islands, facing each other obliquely +across a channel of open sea. These two armies of islands will lie +in ordered ranks, their lines stretching from northeast to +southwest; they will be equal in size, each two hundred miles along +the front, and seventy miles from front to rear. And the open sea +between, which divides the two armies, will measure seventy miles +across.</p> +<p>Not an island of these two armies, as they lie thus obliquely +facing each other, will rise as high as three <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page004" id="page004"></a>[pg 004]</span> +thousand feet; only the captains among them will exceed a thousand; +nor will there be great variety in their forms. All the islands, +whether north or south, will have gently rounded backs, clothed in +pastures nearly to the crest, with garments of purple heather lying +under the sky upon their ridges. Yet for all this roundness of +outline there will be, towards the Atlantic end of either army, a +growing sternness of aspect, a more sombre ruggedness in the +outline of the hills, with cliffs and steep ravines setting their +brows frowning against the deep.</p> +<p>Hold in mind the image of these two obliquely ranged +archipelagoes, their length thrice their breadth, seaming the blue +of the sea, and garmented in dark green and purple under the +sunshine; and, thinking of them thus, picture to yourself a new +rising of the land, a new withdrawal of the waters, the waves +falling and ever falling, till all the hills come forth again, and +the salt tides roll and ripple away from the valleys, leaving their +faces for the winds to dry; let this go on till the land once more +takes its familiar form, and you will easily call up the visible +image of the whole.</p> +<p>As you stand in the midst of the land, where first lay the +channel of open sea, you will have, on your northern horizon, the +beginning of a world of purple-outlined <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page005" id="page005"></a>[pg 005]</span> hills, +outliers of the northern mountain region, which covers the upper +third of the island. On all sides about you, from the eastern sea +to the western ocean, you will have the great central plain, +dappled with lakes and ribbed with silver rivers, another third of +the island. Then once more, to the south, you will have a region of +hills, the last third of Ireland, in size just equal to the +northern mountains or the central plain.</p> +<p>The lines of the northern hills begin with the basalt buttresses +of Antrim and the granite ribs of Down, and pass through northern +Ulster and Connacht to the headlands of Mayo and Galway. Their rear +is held by the Donegal ranges, keeping guard against the blackness +of the northern seas.</p> +<p>The plain opens from the verge of these hills; the waters that +gather on its pleasant pastures and fat fields, or among the green +moss tracts of its lowlands, flow eastward by the Boyne or +southwestward by the Shannon to the sea.</p> +<p>Then with the granite mountains of Dublin and Wicklow begin the +southern hills, stretching through south Leinster and Munster to +the red sandstone ridges of Cork and Kerry, our last vantage-ground +against the Atlantic.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page006" id="page006"></a>[pg +006]</span> +<p>Finally, encircling all, is the perpetual presence of the sea, +with its foaming, thunderous life or its days of dreamy peace; +around the silver sands or furrowed cliffs that gird the island our +white waves rush forever, murmuring the music of eternity.</p> +<p>Such is this land of Eiré, very old, yet full of +perpetual youth; a thousand times darkened by sorrow, yet with a +heart of living gladness; too often visited by evil and pale death, +yet welling ever up in unconquerable life,--the youth and life and +gladness that thrill through earth and air and sky, when the whole +world grows beautiful in the front of Spring.</p> +<p>For with us Spring is like the making of a new world in the dawn +of time. Under the warm wind's caressing breath the grass comes +forth upon the meadows and the hills, chasing dun Winter away. +Every field is newly vestured in young corn or the olive greenness +of wheat; the smell of the earth is full of sweetness. White +daisies and yellow dandelions star all our pastures; and on the +green ruggedness of every hillside, or along the shadowed banks of +every river and every silver stream, amid velvet mosses and fringes +of new-born ferns, in a million nooks and crannies throughout all +the land, are strewn <span class="pagenum"><a name="page007" id= +"page007"></a>[pg 007]</span> dark violets; and wreaths of yellow +primroses with crimped green leaves pour forth a remote and divine +fragrance; above them, the larches are dainty with new greenery and +rosy tassels, and the young leaves of beech and oak quiver with +fresh life.</p> +<p>Still the benignance of Spring pours down upon us from the sky, +till the darkening fields are hemmed in between barriers of white +hawthorn, heavy with nectar, and twined with creamy honeysuckle, +the finger-tips of every blossom coral-red. The living blue above +throbs with the tremulous song of innumerable larks; the measured +chant of cuckoos awakens the woods; and through the thickets a +whole world's gladness sings itself forth from the throat of thrush +and blackbird. Through the whole land between the four seas +benediction is everywhere; blue-bells and the rosy fingers of heath +deck the mountain-tops, where the grouse are crooning to each other +among the whins; down the hillsides into every valley pour gladness +and greenness and song; there are flowers everywhere, even to the +very verge of the whispering sea. There, among the gray bent-spikes +and brackens on the sandhills, primroses weave their yellow +wreaths; and little pansies, golden and blue and purple, marshal +their weird eyes against the spears <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page008" id="page008"></a>[pg 008]</span> of dark blue hyacinths, +till the rich tribute of wild thyme makes peace between them.</p> +<p>The blue sky overhead, with its flocks of sunlit clouds, softly +bends over the gentle bosom of the earth. A living spirit throbs +everywhere, palpable, audible, full of sweetness and sadness +immeasurable--sadness that is only a more secret joy.</p> +<br> +<p>Then the day grows weary, making way for the magic of evening +and the oncoming dark with its mystery. The tree-stems redden with +the sunset; there is a chill sigh in the wind; the leaves turn +before it, burnished against the purple sky. As the gloom rises up +out of the earth, bands of dark red gather on the horizon, seaming +the clear bronze of the sky, that passes upward into olive-color, +merging in dark blue overhead. The sun swings down behind the +hills, and purple darkness comes down out of the sky; the red fades +from the tree-stems, the cloud-colors die away; the whole world +glimmers with the fading whiteness of twilight. Silence gathers +itself together out of the dark, deepened, not broken, by the +hushing of the wind among the beech-leaves, or the startled cluck +of a blackbird, or a wood-pigeon's soft murmur, as it dreams in the +silver fir.</p> +<p>Under the brown wings of the dark, the night <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page009" id="page009"></a>[pg 009]</span> throbs +with mystic presences; the hills glimmer with an inward life; +whispering voices hurry through the air. Another and magical land +awakes in the dark, full of a living restlessness; sleepless as the +ever-moving sea. Everywhere through the night-shrouded woods, the +shadowy trees seem to interrupt their secret whispers till you are +gone past. There is no sense of loneliness anywhere, but rather a +host of teeming lives on every hand, palpable though hidden, remote +from us though touching our lives, calling to us through the gloom +with wordless voices, inviting us to enter and share with them the +mystical life of this miraculous earth, great mother of us all, The +dark is full of watching eyes.</p> +<p>Summer with us is but a brighter Spring, as our Winter only +prolongs the sadness of Autumn. So our year has but two moods, a +gay one and a sad one. Yet each tinges the other--the mists of +Autumn veiling the gleam of Spring--Spring smiling through the +grief of Autumn. When the sad mood comes, stripping the trees of +their leaves, and the fields of their greenness, white mists veil +the hills and brood among the fading valleys. A shiver runs through +the air, and the cold branches are starred with tears. A poignant +grief is over the land, an almost desolation,--full <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page010" id="page010"></a>[pg 010]</span> of +unspoken sorrow, tongue-tied with unuttered complaint. All the +world is lost and forlorn, without hope or respite. Everything is +given up to the dirges of the moaning seas, the white shrouds of +weeping mist. Wander forth upon the uplands and among the lonely +hills and rock-seamed sides of the mountains, and you will find the +same sadness everywhere: a grieving world under a grieving sky. +Quiet desolation hides among the hills, tears tremble on every +brown grass-blade, white mists of melancholy shut out the lower +world.</p> +<p>Whoever has not felt the poignant sadness of the leafless days +has never known the real Ireland; the sadness that is present, +though veiled, in the green bravery of Spring, and under the songs +of Summer. Nor have they ever known the real Ireland who have not +divined beneath that poignant sadness a heart of joy, deep and +perpetual, made only keener by that sad outward show.</p> +<p>Here in our visible life is a whisper and hint of our life +invisible; of the secret that runs through and interprets so much +of our history. For very much of our nation's life has been like +the sadness of those autumn days,--a tale of torn leaves, of broken +branches, of tears everywhere. Tragedy upon <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page011" id="page011"></a>[pg 011]</span> +tragedy has filled our land with woe and sorrow, and, as men count +success, we have failed of it, and received only misery and +deprivation. He has never known the true Ireland who does not feel +that woe. Yet, more, he knows not the real Ireland who cannot feel +within that woe the heart of power and joy,--the strong life +outlasting darkest night,--the soul that throbs incessantly under +all the calamities of the visible world, throughout the long +tragedy of our history.</p> +<p>This is our secret: the life that is in sorrow as in joy; the +power that is not more in success than in failure--the one soul +whose moods these are, who uses equally life and death.</p> +<p>For the tale of our life is mainly tragedy. And we may outline +now the manner in which that tale will be told. We shall have, +first, a long, dim dawn,--mysterious peoples of the hidden past +coming together to our land from the outlying darkness. A first +period, which has left abundant and imperishable traces everywhere +among our hills and valleys, writing a large history in massive +stone, yet a history which, even now, is dim as the dawn it belongs +to. What can be called forth from that Archaic Darkness, in the +backward and abysm of Time, we shall <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page012" id="page012"></a>[pg 012]</span> try to evoke; drawing +the outlines of a people who, with large energies in our visible +world, toiled yet more for the world invisible; a people uniform +through the whole land and beyond it, along many neighboring +shores; a people everywhere building; looking back into a long +past; looking forward through the mists of the future. A people +commemorating the past in a form that should outlast the future. A +people undertaking great enterprises for mysterious ends; whose +works are everywhere among us, to this day, imperishable in giant +stone; yet a people whose purposes are mysterious to us, whose very +name and tongue are quite unknown. Their works still live all +around us in Ireland, spread evenly through the four provinces, a +world of the vanished past enduring among us into the present; and, +so mightily did these old builders work, and with such large +simplicity, that what they built will surely outlast every +handiwork of our own day, and endure through numberless to-morrows, +bridging the morning and evening twilight of our race.</p> +<p>After this Archaic Dawn we shall find a mingling of four races +in Ireland, coming together from widely separated homes, unless one +of the four be the descendant of the archaic race, as well it may +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page013" id="page013"></a>[pg +013]</span> be. From the surging together of these four races we +shall see, in almost pre-historic times, the growth of a well-knit +polity; firm principalities founded, strong battles fought, a +lasting foundation of law. In this Second Epoch, every thing that +in the first was dim and vague grows firm in outline and defined. +Names, places, persons,--we know them all as if they were of +to-day. This is the age which flowered in the heroic days of Emain +of Maca, Emain 'neath the beech-trees, the citadel of northeastern +Ireland. Here we shall find the court of Fergus mac Roeg, a man too +valiant, too passionate, too generous to rule altogether wisely; +his star darkened by the gloomy genius of Concobar his stepson, the +evil lover of ill-fated Deirdré. Cuculain, too, the +war-loving son of Sualtam, shall rise again,--in whom one part of +our national genius finds its perfect flower. We shall hear the +thunder of his chariot, at the Battle of the Headland of the Kings, +when Meave the winsome and crafty queen of Connacht comes against +him, holding in silken chains of her tresses the valiant spirit of +Fergus. The whole life of that heroic epoch, still writ large upon +the face of the land, shall come forth clear and definite; we shall +stand by the threshold of Cuculain's dwelling, and move +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page014" id="page014"></a>[pg +014]</span> among the banquet-halls of Emain of Maca. We shall look +upon the hills and valleys that Meave and Deirdré looked on, +and hear the clash of spear and shield at the Ford of the +river,--and this even though we must go back two thousand +years.</p> +<p>To this will follow a Third Epoch, where another side of +Ireland's genius will write itself in epic all across the land, +with songs for every hillside, and stories for every vale and +grove. Here our more passionate and poetic force will break forth +in the lives of Find, son of Cumal, the lord of warriors; in his +son Ossin, most famous bard of the western lands, and Ossin's son +Oscar, before whose might even the fiends and sprites cowered back +dismayed. As the epoch of Cuculain shows us our valor finding its +apotheosis, so shall we find in Find and Ossin and Oscar the +perfect flower of our genius for story and song; for romantic life +and fine insight into nature; for keen wit and gentler humor. The +love of nature, the passion for visible beauty, and chiefly the +visible beauty of our land, will here show itself clearly,--a sense +of nature not merely sensuous, but thrilling with hidden and mystic +life. We shall find such perfection in this more emotional and +poetic side of <span class="pagenum"><a name="page015" id= +"page015"></a>[pg 015]</span> Irish character as will leave little +for coming ages to add. In these two early epochs we shall see the +perfecting of the natural man; the moulding of rounded, gracious +and harmonious lives, inspired with valor and the love of beauty +and song.</p> +<p>Did our human destiny stop there, with the perfect life of +individual men and women, we might well say that these two epochs +of Ireland contain it all; that our whole race could go no further. +For no man lived more valiant than Cuculain, more generous than +Fergus, more full of the fire of song than Ossin, son of Find. Nor +amongst women were any sadder than Deirdré and Grania; +craftier than Meave, more winsome than Nessa the mother of +Concobar. Perfected flowers of human life all of them,--if that be +all of human life. So, were this all, we might well consent that +with the death of Oscar our roll of history might close; there is +nothing to add that the natural man could add.</p> +<p>But where the perfecting of the natural man ends, our truer +human life begins--the life of our ever-living soul. The natural +man seeks victory; he seeks wealth and possessions and happiness; +the love of women, and the loyalty of followers. But the natural +man trembles in the face of defeat, of sorrow, <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page016" id="page016"></a>[pg 016]</span> of +subjection; the natural man cannot raise the black veil of +death.</p> +<p>Therefore for the whole world and for our land there was needed +another epoch, a far more difficult lesson,--one so remote from +what had been of old, that even now we only begin to understand it. +To the Ireland that had seen the valor of Cuculain, that had +watched the wars of Fergus,--to the Ireland that listened to the +deeds of Find and the songs of Ossin,--came the Evangel of Galilee, +the darkest yet brightest message ever brought to the children of +earth. If we rightly read that Evangel, it brought the doom of the +natural man, and his supersession by the man immortal; it brought +the death of our personal perfecting and pride, and the rising from +the dead of the common soul, whereby a man sees another self in his +neighbor; sees all alike in the one Divine.</p> +<p>Of this one Divine, wherein we all live and live forever, pain +is no less the minister than pleasure; nay, pain is more its +minister, since pleasure has already given its message to the +natural man. Of that one Divine, sorrow and desolation are the +messengers, alike with joy and gladness; even more than joy and +gladness, for the natural man has tasted <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page017" id="page017"></a>[pg 017]</span> these. +Of that one Divine, black and mysterious death is the servant, not +less than bright life; and life we had learned of old in the +sunshine.</p> +<a name="017.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/017.jpg"><img src="images/017.jpg" +width="80%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>IN THE DARGLE, CO. WICKLOW.</b></p> +<p>There came, therefore, to Ireland, as to a land cherished for +enduring purposes, first the gentler side, and then the sterner, of +the Galilean message. First, the epoch almost idyllic which +followed after the mission of Patrick; the epoch of learning and +teaching the simpler phrases of the Word. Churches and schools rose +everywhere, taking the place of fort and embattled camp. Chants +went up at morning and at evening, with the incense of prayer, and +heaven seemed descended upon earth. Our land, which had stood so +high in the ranks of valor and romance, now rose not less eminent +for piety and fervid zeal, sending forth messengers and ministers +of the glad news to the heathen lands of northern and central +Europe, and planting refuges of religion within their savage +bounds. Beauty came forth in stone and missal, answering to the +beauty of life it was inspired by; and here, if anywhere upon earth +through a score of centuries, was realized the ideal of that prayer +for the kingdom, as in heaven, so on earth. Here, again, we have +most ample memorials scattered all abroad throughout the land; we +can <span class="pagenum"><a name="page018" id="page018"></a>[pg +018]</span> call up the whole epoch, and make it stand visible +before us, visiting every shrine and sacred place of that saintly +time, seeing, with inner eyes, the footsteps of those who followed +that path, first traced out by the shores of Gennesaret.</p> +<p>Once more, if the kingdom come upon earth were all of the +message, we might halt here; for here forgiveness and gentle +charity performed their perfect work, and learning was present with +wise counsel to guide willing feet in the way. Yet this is not all; +nor, if we rightly understand that darkest yet brightest message, +are we or is mankind destined for such an earthly paradise; our +kingdom is not of this world. Here was another happiness, another +success; yet not in that happiness nor in that success was hid the +secret; it lay far deeper. Therefore we find that morning with its +sunshine rudely clouded over, its promise swept away in the black +darkness of storms. Something more than holy living remained to be +learned; there remained the mystery of failure and death--that +death which is the doorway to our real life. Therefore upon our +shores broke wave after wave of invasion, storm after storm of +cruelest oppression and degradation. In the very dust was our race +ground down, destitute, afflicted, tormented, according +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page019" id="page019"></a>[pg +019]</span> to prophecy and promise. Nor was that the end. Every +bitterness that the heart of man can conceive, that the heart of +man can inflict, that the heart of man can endure, was poured into +our cup, and we drained it to the dregs. Of that saddest yet most +potent time we shall record enough to show not only what befell +through our age of darkness, but also, so far as may be, what +miraculous intent underlay it, what promise the darkness covered, +of our future light; what golden rays of dawn were hidden in our +gloom.</p> +<p>Finally, from all our fiery trials we shall see the genius of +our land emerge, tried indeed by fire, yet having gained fire's +purity; we shall see that genius beginning, as yet with halting +speech, to utter its most marvelous secret of the soul of man. We +shall try at least to gain clear sight of our great destiny, and +thereby of the like destiny of universal man.</p> +<p>For we cannot doubt that what we have passed through, all men +and all nations either have passed through already, or are to pass +through in the time to come. There is but one divine law, one +everlasting purpose and destiny for us all. And if we see other +nations now entering that time of triumph which passed for us so +long ago, that perfecting of the natural man, <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page020" id="page020"></a>[pg 020]</span> with +his valor and his song, we shall with fear and reverence remember +that before them also lie the dark centuries of fiery trial; the +long night of affliction, the vigils of humiliation and suffering. +The one Divine has not yet laid aside the cup that holds the bitter +draught,--the drinking of which comes ever before the final gift of +the waters of life. What we passed through, they shall pass through +also; what we suffered, they too shall suffer. Well will it be with +them if, like us, they survive the fierce trial, and rise from the +fire immortal, born again through sacrifice.</p> +<p>Therefore I see in Ireland a miraculous and divine history, a +life and destiny invisible, lying hid within her visible life. Like +that throbbing presence of the night which whispers along the +hills, this diviner whisper, this more miraculous and occult power, +lurks in our apparent life. From the very gray of her morning, the +children of Ireland were preoccupied with the invisible world; it +was so in the darkest hours of our oppression and desolation; +driven from this world, we took refuge in that; it was not the +kingdom of heaven upon earth, but the children of earth seeking a +refuge in heaven. So the same note rings and echoes through all our +history; we <span class="pagenum"><a name="page021" id= +"page021"></a>[pg 021]</span> live in the invisible world. If I +rightly understand our mission and our destiny, it is this: To +restore to other men the sense of that invisible; that world of our +immortality; as of old our race went forth carrying the Galilean +Evangel. We shall first learn, and then teach, that not with wealth +can the soul of man be satisfied; that our enduring interest is not +here but there, in the unseen, the hidden, the immortal, for whose +purposes exist all the visible beauties of the world. If this be +our mission and our purpose, well may our fair mysterious land +deserve her name: Inis Fail, the Isle of Destiny.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page022" id="page022"></a>[pg +022]</span><br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page023" id="page023"></a>[pg +023]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>THE GREAT STONE MONUMENTS.</h2> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page024" id="page024"></a>[pg +024]</span><br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page025" id="page025"></a>[pg +025]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="II."></a>II.</h2> +<h3>THE GREAT STONE MONUMENTS.</h3> +<br> +<p>Westward from Sligo--Town of the River of Shells--a tongue of +land runs toward the sea between two long bays. Where the two bays +join their waters, a mountain rises precipitous, its gray limestone +rocks soaring sheer upwards, rugged and formidable. Within the +shadow of the mountain is hidden a wonderful glen--a long tunnel +between cliffs, densely arched over with trees and fringed with +ferns; even at midday full of a green gloom. It is a fitting +gateway to the beauty and mystery of the mountain.</p> +<p>Slowly climbing by stony ways, the path reaches the summit, a +rock table crowned with a pyramid of loose boulders, heaped up in +olden days as a memorial of golden-haired Maeve. From the dead +queen's pyramid a view of surpassing grandeur and beauty opens over +sea and land, mingled valley and hill. The Atlantic stretches in +illimitable blue, curved round the rim of the sky, a darker mirror +of the blue above. It is full of throbbing silence and peace. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page026" id="page026"></a>[pg +026]</span> Across blue fields of ocean, and facing the noonday +brightness of the sun, rise the tremendous cliffs of Slieve League, +gleaming with splendid colors through the shimmering air; broad +bands of amber and orange barred with deeper red; the blue weaves +beneath them and the green of the uplands above.</p> +<p>The vast amber wall rises out of the ocean, and passes eastward +in a golden band till it merges in the Donegal highlands with their +immeasurable blue. Sweeping round a wide bay, the land drawls +nearer again, the far-away blue darkening to purple, and then to +green and brown. The sky is cut by the outlines of the Leitrim and +Sligo hills, a row of rounded peaks against the blue, growing paler +and more translucent in the southern distance.</p> +<p>Under the sun, there is a white glinting of lakes away across +the plain, where brown and purple are blended with green in broad +spaces of mingling color. To the west the ground rises again into +hills crowded behind each other, sombre masses, for ages called the +Mountains of Storms. Far beyond them, vague as blue cloud-wreaths +in the blue, are the hills that guard our western ocean. From their +sunset-verges the land draws near again, in the long range of the +Mayo cliffs,--fierce walls of rock that bar the fiercer ocean +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page027" id="page027"></a>[pg +027]</span> from a wild world of storm-swept uplands. The cliffs +gradually lessen, and their colors grow clearer, till they sink at +last toward the sand-banks of Ballysadare, divided from us only by +a channel of shallow sea.</p> +<p>The whole colored circle of sea and land, of moor and mountain, +is full of the silence of intense and mighty power. The ocean is +tremulous with the breath of life. The mountains, in their stately +beauty, rise like immortals in the clear azure. The signs of our +present works are dwarfed to insignificance.</p> +<p>Everywhere within that wide world of hill and plain, and hardly +less ancient than the hills themselves, are strewn memorials of +another world that has vanished, sole survivors of a long-hidden +past. A wordless history is written there, in giant circles of +stone and cromlechs of piled blocks, so old that in a land of most +venerable tradition their very legend has vanished away.</p> +<p>Close under us lies Carrowmore, with its labyrinth of cromlechs +and stone circles, a very city of dead years. There is something +awe-inspiring in the mere massiveness of these piled and ordered +stones, the visible boundaries of invisible thoughts; that awe is +deepened by the feeling of the tremendous power <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page028" id="page028"></a>[pg 028]</span> +lavished in bringing them here, setting them up in their ordered +groups, and piling the crowns of the cromlechs on other only less +gigantic stones; awe gives place to overwhelming mystery when we +can find no kinship to our own thoughts and aims in their stately +grouping. We are in presence of archaic purposes recorded in a +massive labyrinth, purposes darkly hidden from us in the +unknown.</p> +<p>There are circles of huge boulders ranged at equal distances, +firmly set upright in the earth. They loom vast, like beads of a +giant necklace on the velvet grass. There are cromlechs set +alone--a single huge boulder borne aloft in the air on three others +of hardly less weight. There are cromlechs set in the midst of +titanic circles of stone, with lesser boulders guarding the +cromlechs closer at hand. There are circles beside circles rising +in their grayness, with the grass and heather carpeting their +aisles. There they rest in silence, with the mountain as their +companion, and, beyond the mountain, the ever-murmuring sea.</p> +<p>Thus they have kept their watch through long dark ages. When +sunrise reddens them, their shadows stretch westward in bars of +darkness over the burnished grass. From morning to midday the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page029" id="page029"></a>[pg +029]</span> shadows shrink, ever hiding from the sun; an army of +wraiths, sprite-like able to grow gigantic or draw together into +mere blots of darkness. When day declines, the shadows come forth +again, joining ghostly hands from stone to stone, from circle to +circle, under the sunset sky, and merging at last into the +universal realm of night. Thus they weave their web, inexorable as +tireless Time.</p> +<p>There are more than threescore of these circles at Carrowmore, +under Knocknarea. Yet Carrowmore is only one among many memorials +of dead years within our horizon. At Abbey-quarter, within the +town-limits of Sligo itself, there is another great ring of +boulders, the past and the present mingling together. On the +northern coast, across the Bay of Sligo, where the headland of +Streedagh juts forth into the sea, there is another giant necklace +of gray blocks ranged upon the moor. Farther along the shore, where +Bundoran marks the boundary of Donegal, a cromlech and a stone +circle rise among the sand-banks. All have the same rugged and +enduring massiveness, all are wrapped in the same mystery.</p> +<p>Eastward from Sligo, Lough Gill lies like a mirror framed in +hills, wreathed with dark green woods. On a hill-top north of the +lake, in the Deer-park, is a <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page030" id="page030"></a>[pg 030]</span> monument of quite other +character--a great oblong marked by pillared stones, like an open +temple. At three points huge stones are laid across from pillar to +pillar. The whole enclosure was doubtless so barred in days of old, +a temple of open arches crowning the summit of the hill. The great +ruin by the lake keeps its secret well.</p> +<p>Another ring of giant stones rests on a hillside across the +lake, under the Cairn hill, with its pyramid crown. All these are +within easy view from our first vantage-point on Knocknarea, yet +they are but the outposts of an army which spreads everywhere +throughout the land. They are as common in wild and inaccessible +places as on the open plain. Some rise in lonely islands off the +coast; others on the summits of mountains; yet others in the midst +of tilled fields. They bear no relation at all to the land as it is +to-day. The very dispersion of these great stone monuments, +scattered equally among places familiar or wild, speaks of a remote +past--a past when all places were alike wild, or all alike +familiar.</p> +<p>Where the gale-swept moors of Achill Island rise up toward the +slope of Slievemore Mountain, there are stone circles and cromlechs +like the circles of Carrowmore. The wild storms of the Atlantic +rush <span class="pagenum"><a name="page031" id="page031"></a>[pg +031]</span> past them, and the breakers roar under their cliffs. +The moorland round the towering mountain is stained with ochre and +iron under a carpet of heather rough as the ocean winds.</p> +<p>Away to the south from Slievemore the horizon is broken by an +army of mountains, beginning with the Twelve Peaks of Connemara. +Eastward of these hills are spread the great Galway lakes; eastward +of these a wide expanse of plain. This is the famous Moytura of +traditional history, whose story we shall presently tell. Ages ago +a decisive battle was fought there; but ages before the battle, if +we are not greatly misled, the stone circles of the plain were +already there. Tradition says that these circles numbered seven in +the beginning, but only two remain unbroken.</p> +<p>Between Galway Bay and the wide estuary of the Shannon spread +the moorlands of Clare, bleak under Atlantic gales, with never a +tree for miles inward from the sea. Like a watch-tower above the +moorlands stand. Slieve Callan, the crown of the mountain abruptly +shorn. Under the shoulder of the great hill, with the rolling +moorlands all about it, stands a solitary cromlech; formed of huge +flat stones, it was at first a roomy chamber shut in on all four +sides, and roofed by a single enormous block; the ends <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page032" id="page032"></a>[pg 032]</span> have +fallen, so that it is now an open tunnel formed of three huge +stones.</p> +<p>The coast runs southward from the Shannon to the strand of +Tralee, the frontier of the southern mountain world, where four +ranges of red sandstone thrust themselves forth towards the ocean, +with long fiords running inland between them. On a summit of the +first of these red ranges, Caherconree above Tralee strand, there +is a stone circle, massive, gigantic, dwelling in utter +solitude.</p> +<p>We have recorded a few only out of many of these great stone +monuments strewn along our Atlantic coast, whether on moor or cliff +or remote mountain-top.</p> +<p>There are others as notable everywhere in the central plain, the +limestone world of lakes and rivers. On a green hill-crest +overlooking the network of inlets of Upper Erne there is a circle +greater than any we have recorded. The stones are very massive, +some of them twice the height of a tall man. To one who stands +within the ring these huge blocks of stone shut out the world; they +loom large against the sky, full of unspoken secrets like the +Sphinx. Within this mighty ring the circle of Stonehenge might be +set, leaving a broad road all round it on the grass.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page033" id="page033"></a>[pg +033]</span> +<p>From Fermanagh, where this huge circle is, we gain our best clue +to the age of all these monuments, everywhere so much like each +other in their massive form and dimensions, everywhere so like in +their utter mystery. Round the lakes of Erne there are wide +expanses of peat, dug as fuel for centuries, and in many places as +much as twelve feet deep, on a bed of clay, the waste of old +glaciers. Though formed with incredible slowness, this whole mass +of peat has grown since some of the great stone monuments were +built; if we can tell the time thus taken for its growth we know at +least the nearer limit of the time that divides us from their +builders.</p> +<p>Like a tree, the peat has its time of growth and its time of +rest. Spring covers it with green, winter sees it brown and dead. +Thus thin layers are spread over it, a layer for a year, and it +steadily gains in thickness with the passing of the years. The +deeper levels are buried and pressed down, slowly growing firm and +rigid, but still keeping the marks of the layers that make them up. +It is like a dry ocean gradually submerging the land. Gathering +round the great stone circles as they stand on the clay, this black +sea has risen slowly but surely, till at last it has covered them +with its dark waves, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="page034" +id="page034"></a>[pg 034]</span> they rest in the quiet depths, +with a green foam of spring freshness far above their heads.</p> +<p>At Killee and Breagho, near Enniskillen, the peat has once more +been cut away, restoring some of these great stones to the light. +If we count the layers and measure the thickness of the peat, we +can tell how many years are represented by its growth. We can, +therefore, tell that the great stone circle, which the first growth +of peat found already there, must be at least as old, and may be +indefinitely older. By careful count it is found that one foot of +black peat is made up of eight hundred layers; eight hundred +summers and eight hundred winters went to the building of it. One +foot of black peat, therefore, will measure the time from before +the founding of Rome or the First Olympiad to the beginning of our +era. Another foot will bring us to the crowning of Charlemagne. Yet +another, to the death of Shakespeare and Cervantes. Since then, +only a few inches have been added. Here is a chronometer worthy of +our great cromlechs and stone circles.</p> +<p>Some of these, as we saw, rest on the clay, with a sea of peat +twelve feet deep around and above them. Every foot of the peat +stands for eight centuries. Since the peat began to form, eight or +ten <span class="pagenum"><a name="page035" id="page035"></a>[pg +035]</span> thousand years have passed, and when that vast period +began, the great monuments of stone were already there. How long +they had stood in their silence before our chronometer began to run +we cannot even guess.</p> +<p>At Cavancarragh, on the shoulder of Toppid Mountain, some four +miles from Enniskillen, there is one of these circles; a ring of +huge stone boulders with equal spaces between stone and stone. A +four-fold avenue of great blocks stretches away from it along the +shoulder of the hill, ending quite abruptly at the edge of a +ravine, the steep channel of a torrent. It looks as if the river, +gradually undermining the hillside, had cut the avenue in halves, +so that the ravine seems later in date than the stones. But that we +cannot be quite sure of. This, however, we do certainly know: that +since the avenue of boulders and the circle of huge red stones were +ranged in order, a covering of peat in some parts twelve feet thick +has grown around and above them, hiding them at last altogether +from the day. In places the peat has been cut away again, leaving +the stones once more open to the light, standing, as they always +stood, on the surface of the clay.</p> +<p>Here again we get the same measurement. At <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page036" id="page036"></a>[pg 036]</span> eight +hundred annual layers to the foot, and with twelve feet of peat, we +have nine thousand six hundred years,--not for the age of the stone +circles, but for that part of their age which we are able to +measure. For we know not how long they were there before the peat +began to grow. It may have been a few years; it may have been a +period as great or even greater than the ten thousand years we are +able to measure.</p> +<p>The peat gradually displaced an early forest of giant oaks. +Their stems are still there, standing rooted in the older clay. +Where they once stood no trees now grow. The whole face of the land +has changed. Some great change of climate must lie behind this +vanishing of vast forests, this gradual growth of peat-covered +moors. A dry climate must have changed to one much damper; heat +must have changed to cold, warm winds to chilly storms. In the +southern promontories, among red sandstone hills, still linger +survivors of that more genial clime--groves of arbutus that speak +of Greece or Sicily; ferns, as at Killarney, found elsewhere only +in the south, in Portugal, or the Canary Islands.</p> +<a name="037.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/037.jpg"><img src="images/037.jpg" +width="40%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>MUCKROSS ABBEY, KILLARNEY.</b></p> +<p>On the southwestern horizon from Toppid Mountain, when the sky +is clear after rain, you can trace <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page037" id="page037"></a>[pg 037]</span> the outline of the +Curlew hills, our southern limit of view from Knocknarea. Up to the +foot of the hills spreads a level country of pastures dappled with +lakes, broken into a thousand fantastic inlets by the wasting of +the limestone rock. The daisies are the stars in that green sky. +Just beyond the young stream of the Shannon, where it links Lough +Garra to Lough Key, there is a lonely cromlech, whose tremendous +crown was once upheld by five massive pillars. There is a kindred +wildness and mystery in the cromlech and the lonely hills.</p> +<p>Southward again of this, where the town of Lough Rea takes its +name from the Gray Lake, stands a high hill crowned by a cromlech, +with an encircling earthwork. It marks a green ring of sacred +ground alone upon the hill-top, shut off from all the world, and +with the mysterious monument of piled stones in its centre; here, +as always, one huge block upheld in the air by only lesser blocks. +The Gray Lake itself, under this strange sentry on the hill, was in +long-passed ages a little Venice; houses built on piles lined its +shores, set far enough out into the lake for safety, ever ready to +ward off attack from the land. This miniature Venice of Lough Rea +is the type of a whole epoch of turbulent tribal war, when homes +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page038" id="page038"></a>[pg +038]</span> were everywhere clustered within the defence of the +waters, with stores laid up to last the rigors of a siege.</p> +<p>The contrast between the insecurity and peril of the old lake +dwellings and the present safety of the town, open on all sides, +unguarded and free from fear, is very marked. But not less complete +is the contrast between the ancient hamlet, thus hidden for +security amid the waters, and the great cromlech, looming black +against the sky on the hill's summit, exposed to the wildness of +the winds, utterly unguarded, yet resting there in lonely +serenity.</p> +<p>A little farther south, Lough Gur lies like a white mirror among +the rolling pasture-lands of Limerick, set amongst low hills. On +the lake's shore is another metropolis of the dead, worthy to +compare with Carrowmore on the Sligo headland. Some of the circles +here are not formed of single stones set at some distance from each +other, but of a continuous wall of great blocks crowded edge to +edge. They are like round temples open to the sky, and within one +of these unbroken rings is a lesser ring like an inner shrine. All +round the lake there are like memorials--if we can call memorials +these mighty groups of stone, which only remind us how much we have +forgotten. <span class="pagenum"><a name="page039" id= +"page039"></a>[pg 039]</span> There are huge circles of blocks +either set close together or with an equal space dividing boulder +from boulder; some of the giant circles are grouped together in +twos and threes, others are isolated; one has its centre marked by +a single enormous block, while another like block stands farther +off in lonely vastness. Here also stands a chambered cromlech of +four huge flat blocks roofed over like the cromlech under Slieve +Callan across the Shannon mouth.</p> +<p>The southern horizon from Lough Gur is broken by the hills of +red sandstone rising around Glanworth. Beside the stream, a +tributary of the Blackwater, a huge red cromlech rises over the +greenness of the meadows like a belated mammoth in its uncouth +might. To the southwest, under the red hills that guard Killarney +on the south, the Sullane River flows towards the Lee. On its bank +is another cromlech of red sandstone blocks, twin-brother to the +Glanworth pile. Beyond it the road passes towards the sunset +through mountain-shadowed glens, coming out at last where Kenmare +River opens into a splendid fiord towards the Atlantic Ocean. At +Kenmare, in a vale of perfect beauty green with groves of arbutus +and fringed with thickets of fuchsia, stands a great stone circle, +the last we shall <span class="pagenum"><a name="page040" id= +"page040"></a>[pg 040]</span> record to the south. Like all the +rest, it speaks of tremendous power, of unworldly and mysterious +ends.</p> +<p>The very antiquity of these huge stone circles suggests an +affinity with the revolving years. And here, perhaps, we may find a +clue to their building. They may have been destined to record great +Time itself, great Time that circles forever through the circling +years. There is first the year to be recorded, with its revolving +days; white winter gleaming into spring; summer reddening and +fading to autumn. Returning winter tells that the year has gone +full circle; the sun among the stars gives the definite measure of +the days. A ring of thirty-six great boulders, set ten paces apart, +would give the measure of the year in days; and of circles like +this there are more than one.</p> +<p>In this endless ring of days the moon is the measurer, marking +the hours and weeks upon the blue belt of night studded with golden +stars. Moving stealthily among the stars, the moon presently +changes her place by a distance equal to her own breadth; we call +the time this takes an hour. From her rising to her setting, she +gains her own breadth twelve times; therefore, the night and the +day are divided <span class="pagenum"><a name="page041" id= +"page041"></a>[pg 041]</span> each into twelve hours. Meanwhile she +grows from crescent to full disk, to wane again to a sickle of +light, and presently to lose herself in darkness at new moon. From +full moon to full moon, or from one new moon to another, the +nearest even measure is thirty days; a circle of thirty stones +would record this, as the larger circle of thirty-six recorded the +solar year. In three years there are thrice twelve full moons, with +one added; a ring of thirty-seven stones representing this would +show the simplest relation between sun and moon.</p> +<p>The moon, as we saw, stealthily glides among the fixed stars, +gaining her own width every hour. Passing thus along the mid belt +of the sphere, she makes the complete circuit in twenty-seven days, +returning to the same point among the stars, or, if it should so +happen, to the same star, within that time. Because the earth has +meanwhile moved forward, the moon needs three days more to overtake +it and gain the same relative position towards earth and sun, thus +growing full again, not after twenty-seven, but after thirty days. +Circles of twenty-seven and thirty days would stand for these lunar +epochs, and would, for those who understood them, further bear +testimony to the earth's movement in its own great path +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page042" id="page042"></a>[pg +042]</span> around the sun. Thus would rings of varying numbers +mark the measures of time; and not these only, but the great sweep +of orbs engendering them, the triumphal march of the spheres +through pathless ether. The life of our own world would thus be +shown bound up with the lives of others in ceaseless, ever-widening +circles, that lead us to the Infinite, the Eternal.</p> +<p>All the cromlechs and circles we have thus far recorded are in +the western half of our land; there are as many, as worthy of note, +in the eastern half. But as before we can only pick out a few. One +of these crowns the volcanic peak of Brandon Hill, in Kilkenny, +dividing the valleys of the Barrow and Nore. From the mountain-top +you can trace the silver lines of the rivers coming together to the +south, and flowing onward to the widening inlet of Wexford harbor, +where they mingle with the waters of the River Suir. On the summit +of Brandon Hill stands a great stone circle, a ring of huge basalt +blocks dominating the rich valleys and the surrounding plain.</p> +<p>In Glen Druid of the Dublin hills is a cromlech whose granite +crown weighs seventy tons. Not far off is the Mount Venus cromlech, +the covering block of which is even more titanic; it is a single +stone <span class="pagenum"><a name="page043" id="page043"></a>[pg +043]</span> eighty tons in weight. Near Killternan village, a short +distance off, is yet another cromlech whose top-most boulder +exceeds both of these, weighing not less than ninety tons. Yet vast +as all these are, they are outstripped by the cromlech of Howth, +whose upper block is twenty feet square and eight feet thick, a +single enormous boulder one hundred tons in weight. This huge stone +was borne in the air upon twelve massive pillars of quartz, seven +feet above the ground, so that a man of average height standing on +the ground and reaching upward could just touch the under surface +of the block with his finger-tips. Even a tall man standing on the +shoulders of another as tall would quite fail to touch the upper +edge of the stone. If we give this marvelous monument the same age +as the Fermanagh circles, as we well may, this raising of a single +boulder of one hundred tons, and balancing it in the air on the +crest of massive pillars may give us some insight into the +engineering skill of the men of ten thousand years ago.</p> +<p>Across the central plain from Howth Head the first break is the +range of Loughcrew hills. Here are great stone circles in numbers, +not standing alone like so many others, but encompassing still +stranger monuments; chambered pyramids of boulders, to <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page044" id="page044"></a>[pg 044]</span> which +we shall later return. They are lesser models of the three great +pyramids of Brugh on the Boyne, where the river sweeps southward in +a long curve, half-encircling a headland of holy ground.</p> +<p>From near Howth to the Boyne and north of it, the coast is low +and flat; sandhills matted with bent-grass and starred with red +thyme and tiny pansies, yellow and purple and blue. Low tide +carries the sea almost to the horizon, across a vast wilderness of +dripping sand where the gulls chatter as they wade among the pools. +Where the shore rises again towards the Carlingford Mountains, +another cromlech stands under the shadow of granite hills.</p> +<p>A long fiord with wooded walls divides the Carlingford range +from the mountains of Mourne. The great dark range thrusts itself +forth against the sea in somber beauty, overhanging the wide strand +of Dundrum Bay. The lesser bay, across whose bar the sea moans +under the storm-winds, is dominated by the hill of Rudraige, named +in honor of a hero of old days; but under the shadow of the hill +stands a more ancient monument, that was gray with age before the +race of Rudraige was born. On five pillars of massive stone is +upreared a sixth, of huge and formidable bulk, and carrying even to +us in our day <span class="pagenum"><a name="page045" id= +"page045"></a>[pg 045]</span> a sense of mystery and might. The +potent atmosphere of a hidden past still breathes from it, +whispering of vanished years, vanished races, vanished secrets of +the prime.</p> +<p>There are two circles of enormous stones on the tongue of land +between Dundrum Bay and Strangford, both very perfect and marked +each in its own way from among the rest. The first, at Legamaddy, +has every huge boulder still in place. There is a lesser ring of +stones within the first circle, with many outliers, of enormous +size, dotted among the fields. It looks as if a herd of huge +animals of the early world had come together in a circle for the +night, the young being kept for safety within their ring, while +others, grazing longer or wandering farther from the rest, were +approaching the main herd. But nightfall coming upon them with dire +magic turned them all to stone; and there they remain, sentient, +yet motionless, awaiting the day of their release. By fancies like +this we may convey the feeling of mystery breathing from them.</p> +<p>On the hill-top of Slieve-na-griddle is another circle of the +same enormous boulders. A cromlech is piled in the midst of it, and +an avenue of stones leads up to the circle. Its form is that of +many circles <span class="pagenum"><a name="page046" id= +"page046"></a>[pg 046]</span> with enclosed cromlechs at +Carrowmore, though in these the avenue is missing. The thought that +underlies them is the same, though they are separated by the whole +width of the land; a single cult with a single ideal prompted the +erection of both.</p> +<p>At Drumbo, on the east bank of the Lagan before it reaches +Belfast Lough, there is a massive cromlech surrounded by a wide +ring of earth piled up high enough to cut off the sacred space +within from all view of the outer world. Like the earthwork round +the cromlech of Lough Rea, it marks the boundary of a great nature +temple, open to the sky but shut off from mankind. Even now its +very atmosphere breathes reverence.</p> +<p>At Finvoy, in northern Antrim, among the meadows of the Bann, +there is a cromlech within a great stone circle like that on +Slieve-na-griddle in Down, and like many of the Carrowmore rings. +The Black Lion cromlech in Cavan is encircled with a like ring of +boulders, and another cromlech not far off rivals some of the +largest in the immense size of its crowning block.</p> +<p>Three cromlechs in the same limestone plain add something to the +mystery that overhangs all the rest. The first, at Lennan in +Monaghan, is marked with a <span class="pagenum"><a name="page047" +id="page047"></a>[pg 047]</span> curious cryptic design, suggesting +a clue, yet yielding none. There is a like script on the cromlech +at Castlederg in Tyrone, if indeed the markings were ever the +record of some thought to be remembered, and not mere ornament. The +chambered cromlech of Lisbellaw in Fermanagh has like markings; +they are too similar to be quite independent, yet almost too simple +to contain a recorded thought.</p> +<p>We come once more to Donegal. On the hill-top of Beltaney, near +Raphoe, there is a very massive circle formed of sixty-seven huge +blocks. Here again the Stonehenge ring might be set up within the +Irish circle, leaving an avenue eight paces wide all round it. The +sacred fire was formerly kindled here to mark the birth of Spring. +The name of the old festival of Beltane still lingers on the hill. +At Culdaff in north Donegal, at the end of the Inishowen peninsula, +stands another great stone circle, with which we must close our +survey of these titanic monuments.</p> +<p>We have mentioned a few only among many; yet enough to show +their presence everywhere throughout the land, in the valleys or on +mountain summits, in the midst of pastures or on lonely and rugged +isles. One group, as we have seen, cannot be younger than +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page048" id="page048"></a>[pg +048]</span> ten thousand years, and may be far older. The others +may be well coeval. Their magnitude, their ordered ranks, their +universal presence, are a startling revelation of the material +powers of the men of that remote age; they are a testimony, not +less wonderful, of the moral force which dedicated so much power to +ideal ends. Finally, they are a monument to remind us how little we +yet know of the real history of our race.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page049" id="page049"></a>[pg +049]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>THE CROMLECH BUILDERS.</h2> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page050" id="page050"></a>[pg +050]</span><br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page051" id="page051"></a>[pg +051]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="III."></a>III.</h2> +<h3>THE CROMLECH BUILDERS.</h3> +<br> +<p>In every district of Ireland, therefore, there remain these +tremendous and solemn survivors of a mighty past. The cromlechs, +with their enormous masses upheld in the air, rising among the +fertile fields or daisy-dotted pastures; the great circles of +standing stones, starred everywhere, in the valleys or upon the +uplands, along the rough sides of heather-covered hills. They have +everywhere the same aspect of august mystery, the same brooding +presence, like sentinels of another world. It is impossible not to +feel their overshadowing majesty. Everywhere they follow the same +designs in large simplicity; inspired by the same purpose, and with +the same tireless might overcoming the tremendous obstacles of +their erection; they are devoted everywhere not to material and +earthly ends, but to the ideal purposes of the invisible and +everlasting, linked with the hidden life of those who pass away +from us through the gates of death.</p> +<p>Can we find any clue to the builders of these grand <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page052" id="page052"></a>[pg 052]</span> and +enduring memorials, the conditions of their building, the age of +our land to which they belong? If we wisely use the abundant +knowledge of the past already in our possession, there is good +reason to believe we can, establishing much with entire certainty +and divining more.</p> +<p>The standing stones and cromlechs, as we know, are everywhere +spread over Ireland, so that it is probable that throughout the +whole country one is never out of sight of one of these solemn +monuments. Their uniform and universal presence shows, therefore, a +uniform race dwelling everywhere within the four seas, a universal +stability and order, allowing such great and enduring works to be +undertaken and completed. We must believe, too, that the builders +of these giant stone monuments were dominant throughout the land, +possessing entire power over the labor of thousands everywhere; and +even then the raising of these titanic masses is almost +miraculous.</p> +<p>But the history of the standing stones and cromlechs is not a +page of Irish history only, nor can we limit to our own isle the +presence of their builders, the conditions of dominion and order +under which alone they could have been raised. We shall gain +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page053" id="page053"></a>[pg +053]</span> our first trustworthy clue by tracing the limits of the +larger territory, beyond our island, where these same gray +memorials are found.</p> +<a name="053.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/053.jpg"><img src="images/053.jpg" +width="80%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>BRANDY ISLAND, GLENGARRIFF.</b></p> +<p>The limits of the region in which alone we find these piles and +circles of enormous stones are clearly and sharply defined, though +this region itself is of immense and imposing extent. It is divided +naturally into two provinces, both starting from a point somewhere +in the neighborhood of Gibraltar or Mount Atlas, and spreading +thence over a territory of hundreds of miles.</p> +<p>The southern cromlech province, beginning at the Strait of +Gibraltar, extends eastward along the African coast past Algiers to +the headland of Tunis, where Carthage stood, at a date far later +than the age of cromlechs. Were it not for the flaming southern +sun, the scorched sands, the palms, the shimmering torrid air, we +might believe these Algerian megaliths belonged to our own land, so +perfect is the resemblance, so uniform the design, so identical the +inspiration. The same huge boulders, oblong or egg-shaped, +formidable, impressive, are raised aloft on massive supporting +stones; there are the same circles of stones hardly less gigantic, +with the same mysterious faces, the same silent solemnity. +Following this line, we <span class="pagenum"><a name="page054" id= +"page054"></a>[pg 054]</span> find them again in Minorca, Sardinia +and Malta; everywhere under warm blue skies, in lands of olives and +trailing vines, with the peacock-blue of the Mediterranean waves +twinkling beneath them. Northward from Minorca, but still in our +southern cromlech province, we find them in southeastern Spain, in +the region of New Carthage, but far older than the oldest trace of +that ancient city. In lesser numbers they follow the Spanish coast +up towards the Ebro, through vinelands and lands of figs, +everywhere under summer skies. This province, therefore, our +southern cromlech province, covers most of the western +Mediterranean; it does not cover, nor even approach, Italy or +Greece or Egypt, the historic Mediterranean lands. We must look for +its origin in the opposite direction--towards Gibraltar, the +Pillars of Hercules.</p> +<p>From the same point, the Pillars of Hercules, begins our second +or northern cromlech region, even larger and more extensive than +the first, though hardly richer in titanic memorials. From +Gibraltar, the cromlech region passes northward, covering Portugal +and western Spain; indeed, it probably merges in the other province +to the eastward, the two including all Spain between them. From +northern <span class="pagenum"><a name="page055" id= +"page055"></a>[pg 055]</span> Spain, turning the flank of the giant +Pyrenees at Fontarrabia, the cromlech region goes northward and +ever northward, along the Atlantic coast of France, spreading +eastward also through the central provinces, covering the mountains +of the Côte d'Or and the Cevennes, but nowhere entering north +Italy or Germany, which limit France to the east. There is a +tremendous culmination of the huge stone monuments on the capes and +headlands of Brittany, where France thrusts herself forward against +the Atlantic, centring in Carnac, the metropolis of a bygone world. +Nowhere are there greater riches of titanic stone, in circles, in +cromlechs, in ranged avenues like huge frozen armies or ordered +hosts of sleeping elephants. From Brittany we pass to Ireland, +whose wealth, inherited from dead ages, we have already +inventoried, and Britain, where the same monuments reappear. More +numerous to the south and west, they yet spread all over Britain, +including remote northern Scotland and the Western Isles. Finally, +there is a streamer stretching still northeastward, to Norway and +some of the Baltic Islands.</p> +<p>We are, therefore, confronted with the visible and enduring +evidence of a mighty people, spreading in two main directions from +the Pillars of Hercules--eastward <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page056" id="page056"></a>[pg 056]</span> through Gibraltar Strait +to sunny Algeria, to southern Spain and the Mediterranean isles; +and northward, along the stormy shores of the Atlantic, from within +sight of Africa almost to the Arctic Circle, across Spain, +Portugal, France, Ireland, Britain, and the lands of the Baltic and +the North Sea. Throughout this vast territory there must have been +a common people, a common purpose and inspiration, a common +striving towards the hidden world; there must have been long ages +of order, of power, of peace, during which men's hearts could +conceive and their hands execute memorials so vast, so evidently +meant to endure to a far distant future, so clearly destined to +ideal ends. There must have been a great spiritual purpose, a +living belief in the invisible world, and a large practical power +over natural forces, before these huge monuments could be erected. +Some of the stones upheld in the air in the Irish cromlechs weigh +eighty or ninety or a hundred tons. If we estimate that a +well-built man can lift two hundred pounds, it would demand the +simultaneous work of a thousand men to erect them; and it is at +least difficult to see how the effort of a thousand men could be +applied.</p> +<p>We are led, therefore, by evidence of the solidest <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page057" id="page057"></a>[pg 057]</span> +material reality to see this great empire on the Atlantic and along +the western Mediterranean; this Atlantean land of the +cromlech-builders, as we may call it, for want of a better name. As +the thought and purpose of its inhabitants are uniform throughout +its whole vast extent, we are led to see in them a single +homogeneous race, working without rivals, without obstacles, +without contests, for they seem everywhere to have been free to +choose what sites they would for their gigantic structures. And we +are irresistibly led to believe that these conditions must have +endured throughout a vast extent of time, for no nation which does +not look back to a distant past will plan for a distant future. The +spiritual sweep and view of the cromlech-builders are, therefore, +as great as the extent of their territory. This mysterious people +must have had a life as wonderful as that of Greece or Rome or +Egypt, whose territories we find them everywhere approaching, but +nowhere invading.</p> +<p>What we now know of the past history of our race is so vast, so +incredibly enormous, that we have ample space for such a territory, +so widespread, so enduring, as we have seen demanded by the +position of the cromlechs and standing stones; more than +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page058" id="page058"></a>[pg +058]</span> that, so overwhelming are the distances in the dark +backward and abysm of time, to which we must now carry the dawn of +human history, that the time needed for the building of the +cromlechs may seem quite recent and insignificant, in view of the +mightier past, stretching back through geologic ages. The +nineteenth century may well be called the age of resurrection, when +long-forgotten epochs of man were born again into our knowledge. We +can carry back that knowledge now to the early Miocene period, to +which belong the human relics found by the Abbé Bourgeois on +the uplands of Thenay, in central France; and no one believes that +the early Miocene age can be as recent as a million years ago. A +vast space separates the Thenay relics from the later traces of man +found in Pliocene sands with the bones of the archaic meridional +elephant,--at a date when the German ocean was a forest, full of +southern trees and huge beasts now long since departed from the +earth. A period hardly less vast must separate these from the close +of the glacial age, when man roamed the plains of Europe, and +sketched the herds of mammoths as they cropped the leaves. That +huge beast, too, has long since departed into the abyss; but man +the artist, who recorded the massive outline, <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page059" id="page059"></a>[pg 059]</span> the +huge bossed forehead, the formidable bulk of the shaggy arctic +elephant, engraved in firm lines on a fragment of its tusk,--man +still remains. Man was present when rhinoceros and elephant were as +common in Britain as they are to-day in Southern India or Borneo; +when the hippopotamus was as much at home in the waters of the +Thames as in the Nile and Niger; when huge bears like the grizzly +of the Rockies, cave-lions and sabre-toothed tigers lurked in Devon +caverns or chased the bison over the hills of Kent. Yet this epoch +of huge and ferocious monsters, following upon the Age of Ice, is a +recent chapter of the great epic of man; there lies far more behind +it, beyond the Age of Ice to the immensely distant Pliocene; beyond +this as far as the early Miocene; beyond this, again, how much +further we know not, towards the beginningless beginning, the +infinite.</p> +<p>We are, therefore, face to face with an ordered series of almost +boundless ages, geologic epochs of human history succeeding each +other in majestic procession, as the face of our island was now +tropical, now arctic; as the seas swelled up and covered the hills, +or the bottom of the deep drove back the ocean and became dry land, +an unbroken continent. The <span class="pagenum"><a name="page060" +id="page060"></a>[pg 060]</span> wild dreams of romance never +approached the splendid outlines of this certain history.</p> +<p>There are dim outlines of man throughout all these ages, but +only at a comparatively recent date have we traditions and evidence +pointing to still surviving races. At a period of only a few +thousand years ago, we begin to catch glimpses of a northern race +whom the old Greeks and Romans called Hyperboreans or +Far-Northerners; a race wild and little skilled in the arts of +life; a race of small stature, slight, dusky, with piercing eyes, +low brows, and of forbidding face. This race was scattered over +lands far north of the Mediterranean, dwelling in caves and dens of +the earth, and lingering on unchanged from the days of mammoth and +cave-bear. We have slight but definite knowledge of this very +ancient race--enough to show us that its peculiar type lingers to +this day in a few remote islands on the Galway and Kerry coast, +mingled with many later races. This type we find described in old +Gaelic records as the Firbolgs, a race weak and furtive, dusky and +keen-eyed, subjected by later races of greater force. Yet from this +race, as if to show the inherent and equal power of the soul, came +holy saints and mighty warriors; to the old race of the Firbolgs +belong Saint Mansuy, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page061" id= +"page061"></a>[pg 061]</span> apostle of Belgium, and Roderick +O'Conor, the last king of united Ireland. In gloomy mountain glens +and lonely ocean islands still it lingers, unvanquished, tenacious, +obscurely working out its secret destiny.</p> +<p>This slight and low-browed race, of dark or sallow visage, and +with black crisp hair, this Hyperborean people, is the oldest we +can gain a clear view of in our island's history; but we know +nothing of its extension or powers which would warrant us in +believing that this was the race which built the cromlechs. Greek +and Roman tradition, in this only corroborating the actual traces +we ourselves possess of these old races, tells us of another people +many thousand years ago overrunning and dominating the Firbolgs; a +race of taller stature, of handsome features, though also dark, but +with softer black hair, not crisp and tufted like the hair of the +dwarfish earlier race. Of this second conquering race, tall and +handsome, we have abundant traces, gathered from many lands where +they dwelt; bodies preserved by art or nature, in caverns or +sepulchres of stone; ornaments, pottery, works decorative and +useful, and covering several thousand years in succession. But +better than this, we have present, through nearly every land where +we know of them in the past, a living remnant <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page062" id="page062"></a>[pg 062]</span> of +this ancient race, like it in every particular of stature, form, +complexion and visage, identical in character and temper, tendency +and type of mind.</p> +<p>In Ireland we find this tall, dark race over all the west of the +island, but most numerous in Kerry, Clare, Galway and Mayo; in +those regions where, we know, the older population was least +disturbed. In remote villages among the mountains, reached by +bridle-paths between heath-covered hills; in the settlements of +fishermen, under some cliff or in the sheltered nook of one of our +great western bays; or among the lonely, little visited Atlantic +islands, this dark, handsome race, with its black hair, dark-brown +eyes, sallow skin and high forehead, still holds its own, as a +second layer above the remnant of the far more ancient Firbolg +Hyperboreans. We find the same race also among the Donegal +highlands, here and there in the central plain or in the south, and +nowhere entirely missing among the varied races towards the eastern +sea.</p> +<a name="063.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/063.jpg"><img src="images/063.jpg" +width="80%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>SUGAR LOAF MOUNTAIN, GLENGARRIFF.</b></p> +<p>But it is by no means in Ireland only that this tall, dark, +western race is found. It is numerously represented in the nearest +extension of the continent, among the headlands and bays and isles +of Brittany--a land so like our own western seaboard, with its +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page063" id="page063"></a>[pg +063]</span> wild Atlantic storms. Following the ocean southward, we +find the same race extending to the Loire, the Garonne, the +Pyrenees; stretching somewhat inland also, but clinging everywhere +to the Atlantic, as we also saw it cling in Ireland. In earlier +centuries, long before our era opened, we find this same race +spread far to the east,--as far, almost, as the German and Italian +frontier,--so that at one time it held almost complete possession +of France. South of the Pyrenees we find it once more; dominant in +Portugal, less strongly represented in Spain, yet still supplying a +considerable part of the population of the whole peninsula, as it +does in Ireland at the present day. But it does not stop with +Spain, or even Europe. We find the same race again in the Guanches +of the Canary islands, off the African coast; and, stranger still, +we find mummies of this race, of great antiquity, in the cave-tombs +of Teneriffe. Further, we have ample evidence of its presence, +until displaced by Moorish invaders, all along northern Africa as +far as Tunis; and we come across it again amongst the living races +in the Mediterranean isles, in Sardinia, Sicily and Southern Italy. +Finally, the Tuaregs of the Central Sahara belong to the same type. +Everywhere the same tall, dark race, handsome, <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page064" id="page064"></a>[pg 064]</span> +imaginative; with a quite definite form of head, of brow, of eyes; +a well-marked character of visage, complexion, and texture of +hair.</p> +<p>Thus far the southern extension of this, our second Irish race; +we may look for a moment at its distribution in the north. Across +the shallow sea which separates us from Britain we find the same +race, clinging always to the Atlantic seaboard. It dominates south +Wales, where its presence was remarked and commented on by the +invading Romans. It is present elsewhere through the Welsh +mountains, and much more sparsely over the east of England; but we +have ample evidence that at one time this tall, dark race held the +whole of England in undisputed possession, except, perhaps, for a +remnant of the Hyperborean dwarfs. In the west of Scotland, and +especially in the Western Isles, it is once more numerous; and we +find offshoots of the same race in the dark-haired +Norwegians,--still holding to the seaboard of the Atlantic.</p> +<p>Such is the distribution of this once dominant but now dwindled +race, which has gradually descended from the summit of power as +ancient Rome descended, as Greece descended, or Assyria or Egypt. +But we can look back with certainty to a time when this +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page065" id="page065"></a>[pg +065]</span> race, and this race only, held complete possession of +all the lands we have mentioned, in north or south, in Europe or +northern Africa; holding everywhere to the Atlantic coast, or, as +in the Mediterranean isles, evidently pressing inward from the +Atlantic, past the Pillars of Hercules, through the Strait of +Gibraltar.</p> +<p>It is evident at once that the territory of this race +corresponds exactly, throughout many countries, with the territory +of the cromlechs and standing stones; where we find the one, as in +Ireland, Brittany, Spain, we find the other; where the one is +absent, as in Germany, or northern Italy or Greece, the other is +likewise absent. The identity is complete. We are justified, +therefore, in giving the same provisional name to both, and calling +them Atlantean, from their evident origin not far from Atlas, and +their everywhere clinging to the Atlantic coast. We can find traces +of no other race which at all closely fulfills the necessary +conditions of uniform and undisputed extension, through a long +epoch, over the whole cromlech region--the only conditions under +which we can conceive of the erection of these gigantic monuments, +or of the long established and universally extended spiritual +conditions which make possible such vast ideal enterprises.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page066" id="page066"></a>[pg +066]</span> +<p>In this race, therefore, which we have called Atlantean, we find +the conditions fulfilled; of this race, and of no other, we still +find a lingering remnant in each of the cromlech countries; and we +hardly find a trace of this race, either now or in the past, in the +lands which have no cromlechs or standing stones.</p> +<p>We have already seen that the standing stones of Cavancarragh, +four miles from Fermanagh, were, within the memory of men still +living or of their fathers, buried under ten or twelve feet of +peat, which had evidently formed there after their erection. We +have here a natural chronometer; for we know the rate at which peat +forms, and we can, therefore, assign a certain age to a given +depth. We have given one mode of reckoning already; we find it +corroborated by another. In the Somme valley, in northern France, +we have a Nature's timepiece; in the peat, at different levels, are +relics of the Roman age; of the Gaulish age which preceded it; and, +far deeper, of pre-historic races, like our Atlanteans, who +preceded the Gauls. The date of the Roman remains we know +accurately; and from this standard we find that the peat grows +regularly some three centimeters a century, or a foot in a thousand +years.</p> +<p>On the mountain side, as at Cavancarragh, the <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page067" id="page067"></a>[pg 067]</span> growth +is likely to be slower than in a river valley; yet we may take the +same rate, a foot a thousand years, and we shall have, for this +great stone circle, an antiquity of ten or twelve thousand years at +least. This assumes that the peat began to form as soon as the +monument was completed; but the contrary may be the case; centuries +may have intervened.</p> +<p>We may, however, take this as a provisional date, and say that +our cromlech epoch, the epoch of the Atlantean builders, from +Algeria to Ireland, from Ireland to the Baltic, is ten or twelve +thousand years ago; extending, perhaps, much further back in the +past, and in certain regions coming much further down towards the +present, but having a period of twelve thousand years ago as its +central date. It happens that we have traditions of a great +dispersion from the very centre we have been led to fix, the +neighborhood of Atlas or Gibraltar, and that to this dispersion +tradition has given a date over eleven thousand years ago; but to +this side of the subject we cannot more fully allude; it would take +us too far afield.</p> +<p>We have gone far enough to make it tolerably certain, first, +that these great and wonderful monuments were built when uniform +conditions of order, uniform religious beliefs and aspirations, and +a uniform <span class="pagenum"><a name="page068" id= +"page068"></a>[pg 068]</span> mastery over natural forces extended +throughout a vast region spreading northward and eastward from +Mount Atlas or Gibraltar; we have seen, next, that these conditions +were furnished when a well-defined race, whom we have called +Atlantean, was spread as the dominant element over this whole +region; and, finally, we have seen reason to fix on a period some +eleven or twelve thousand years ago as the central period of that +domination, though it may have begun, and probably did begin, many +centuries earlier. The distribution of the cromlechs is certain; +the distribution of the race is certain; the age of one +characteristic group of the monuments is certain. Further than this +we need not go.</p> +<p>When we try to form a clearer image of the life of this tall +archaic race of cromlech-builders, we can divine very much to fill +the picture. We note, to begin with, that not only do they always +hold to the Atlantic ocean as something kindred and familiar, but +that they are found everywhere in islands at such distances from +the nearest coasts as would demand a certain seamanship for their +arrival. This is true of their presence in Malta, Minorca, +Sardinia; it is even more true of Ireland, the Western Isles of +Scotland, the Norwegian Isles; all of which are surrounded by +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page069" id="page069"></a>[pg +069]</span> stormy and treacherous seas, where wrecks are very +common even in our day. We must believe that our tail, dark +invaders were a race of seamen, thoroughly skilled in the dangerous +navigation of these dark seas; Caesar marveled at, and imitated, +the ship-building of the natives of Brittany in his day; we equally +admire the prowess of their sons, the Breton fishermen, in our own +times. We find, too, that in the western districts and ocean +islands of our own Ireland the tall, dark race often follows the +sea, showing the same hereditary skill and daring; a skill which +certainly marked the first invaders of that race, or they would +never have reached our island at all. We are the more justified in +seeing, in these dark cromlech-builders, the Fomorians of old +Gaelic tradition, who came up out of the sea and subjugated the +Firbolgs.</p> +<p>Even to those familiar with the geological record of man it is +sufficiently startling to find that the Firbolgs, the early +dwarfish race of Hyperboreans, in all probability were ignorant of +boats; that they almost certainly came to our island dry-shod, as +they had come earlier to Britain, migrating over unbroken spaces of +land to what afterwards became the isle of Erin; for this race we +find everywhere associated <span class="pagenum"><a name="page070" +id="page070"></a>[pg 070]</span> with the mammoth--on the +continent, in Britain, in our own island--and the mammoths +certainly never came over in ships. Needless to say, there is +abundant geological evidence as well, to show our former union with +continental Europe,--though of course at a time immensely more +remote than ten or twelve thousand years ago.</p> +<p>We are, therefore, led to identify our Atlantean race of hardy +seamen with the Fomorians who came up out of the sea and found the +furtive Firbolgs in possession of our island; and to this race, the +Fomorians of the sea, we credit the building of cromlechs and +standing stones, not only among ourselves, but in Norway, in +Britain, in Brittany, in Spain, in Africa.</p> +<p>We shall presently pick up the thread of tradition, as we find +it in Ireland, and try to follow the doings and life of the +Fomorian invaders; but in the meantime we may try to gain some +insight into the most mysterious and enduring of their works. The +cromlechs which have been excavated in many cases are found to +contain the funereal urns of a people who burned their dead. It +does not follow that their first and only use was as tombs; but if +we think of them as tombs only, we must the more marvel at the +faith <span class="pagenum"><a name="page071" id="page071"></a>[pg +071]</span> of the builders, and their firm belief in the reality +and overwhelming import of the other world which we enter at death. +For of dwellings for the living, of fortresses or storehouses, of +defences against the foes who later invaded them, we find few +traces; nothing at all to compare with their massive mausoleums. +The other world, for them, was a far weightier concern than this, +and to the purposes of that world, as they conceived it, all their +energies were directed. We can hardly doubt that, like other races +who pay extreme reverence to the dead, their inner vision beheld +these departed ones still around them and among them, forming with +them a single race, a single family, a single life. This world was +for them only the threshold of the other, the place of preparation. +To that other their thoughts all turned, for that other they raised +these titanic buildings. The solemn masses and simple grandeur of +the cromlechs fitly symbolize the mood of reverence in which they +drew near to the sublime world of the hidden; the awe with which +their handiwork affirmed how greatly that world outweighs this. At +these houses of the dead they were joined in spirit and communion +with those who had passed away; once more united with their fathers +and their fathers' <span class="pagenum"><a name="page072" id= +"page072"></a>[pg 072]</span> fathers, from the dim beginning of +their race. The air, for them, was full of spirits. Only the dead +truly lived.</p> +<p>The circles of standing stones are also devoted to ideal ends. +Though the men who set them up could have built not less wonderful +forts or dwellings of stone, we find none of these; nor has any +worldly purpose ever been assigned to the stone circles. Yet there +seems to be a very simple interpretation of their symbology; the +circle, through all antiquity, stood for the circling year, which +ever returns to its point of departure, spring repeating spring, +summer answering to summer, winter with its icy winds only the +return of former winters: the circling year and its landmarks, +whether four seasons, or twelve months, or twenty-seven lunar +mansions, through one of which the wandering moon passes in a day. +We should thus have circles of twelve or twenty-seven stones, or +four outlying stones at equal distances, for the four seasons, the +regents of the year. By counting the stones in each circle we can +tell to which division of the year they belonged, whether the solar +months or the lunar mansions.</p> +<p>But with all ancient nations the cycle of the year was only the +symbol of the spiritual cycle of the <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page073" id="page073"></a>[pg 073]</span> soul, the path of birth +and death. We must remember that even for ourselves the same +symbolism holds: in the winter we celebrate the Incarnation; in +spring, the Crucifixion; in summer, the birth of the beloved +disciple; in autumn, the day of All Souls, the feast of the dead. +Thus for us, too, the succeeding seasons only symbolize the stages +of a spiritual life, the august procession of the soul.</p> +<p>We cannot think it was otherwise with a people who lived and +built so majestically for the hidden world; these great stone +circles symbolized for them, we must believe, the circling life of +the soul, the cycle of necessity, with the door of liberation to +the home of the blest, who have reached perfect freedom and go no +more out. We may picture in imagination their solemn celebrations; +priests robed, perhaps, in the mingled green and purple of their +hills, passing within the circle, chanting some archaic hymn of the +Divine.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page074" id="page074"></a>[pg +074]</span><br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page075" id="page075"></a>[pg +075]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>THE DE DANAANS.</h2> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page076" id="page076"></a>[pg +076]</span><br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page077" id="page077"></a>[pg +077]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="IV."></a>IV.</h2> +<h3>THE DE DANAANS.</h3> +<br> +<p>In the dim days of Fomorian and Firbolg, and for ages after, +Erin was a land of forests, full of wild cattle and deer and +wolves. The central plain was altogether hidden under green clouds +of oak-woods, full of long, mysterious alleys, dimpled with sunny +glades, echoing in spring and summer to the songs of innumerable +birds. Everywhere through the wide and gloomy forests were the blue +mirrors of lakes, starred with shaggy islands, the hanging hills +descending verdant to the water's edge. Silver rivers spread their +network among the woods, and the lakes and the quiet reaches of the +rivers teemed with trout and salmon. The hilly lands to the north +and south showed purple under the sky from among their forests, oak +mingling with pine; and the four seas beat around our island with +their white fringe of hovering gulls. Over all, the arch of the +blue, clearer and less clouded then than now. A pleasant land, full +of gladness and mystery.</p> +<p>We can but obscurely image to ourselves the <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page078" id="page078"></a>[pg 078]</span> +thoughts and deeds of the earliest dwellers in our island. We know +that they were skilled in many arts of peace and inured to the +shock of war. The sky spread above them as over us, and all around +them was the green gloom of the forests, the whiteness of lakes and +rivers, the rough purple of the heather. The great happenings of +life, childhood and age and death, were for them what they are for +us, yet their blood flowed warmer than ours. Browned by wind and +sun, wet by the rain and the early dew of the morning, they +delighted in the vigor of the prime. Their love for kindred, for +their friends and lovers, was as ours; and when friends and kindred +passed into the darkness, they still kept touch with their souls in +the invisible Beyond.</p> +<a name="079.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/079.jpg"><img src="images/079.jpg" +width="80%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>RIVER ERNE, BELLEEK.</b></p> +<p>The vision of our days is darkened by too much poring over +earthly things; but the men of old, like many of our simpler races +now, looked confidently and with intent faith across the threshold. +For them the dead did not depart--hidden but from their eyes, while +very near to their souls. Those in the beyond were still linked to +those on earth; all together made one undivided life, neither in +the visible world alone nor in the hidden world alone, but in both; +each according to their destinies and duties. <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page079" id="page079"></a>[pg 079]</span> The +men of old were immeasurably strong in this sense of immortality--a +sense based not on faith but on knowledge; on a living touch with +those who had gone before. They knew both over-world and +under-world, because they held their souls open to the knowledge of +both, and did not set their hearts on earthly things alone. A +strong life close to the life of the natural world, a death that +was no separation, the same human hearts as ours,--further we need +not go in imagining that far-off time.</p> +<p>A third people was presently added to these two, at an epoch +fixed by tradition some four thousand years ago. A vivid picture of +their coming has been handed down to us, and this picture we shall +reproduce, as many circumstances and particulars of our knowledge +drawn from other sources concur to show that our old legend is near +to the truth, both in time and happenings.</p> +<p>The name these newcomers bore was Tuata De Danaan, the De Danaan +tribes; they were golden-haired and full of knowledge, and their +coming was heavy with destiny for the dark races of Fomor and +Firbolg. Even to-day, mysterious whispers of the De Danaans linger +among the remote valleys and <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page080" id="page080"></a>[pg 080]</span> hillsides of our island, +and truth is hidden in every legend of their deeds. They have borne +a constant repute for magical knowledge, and the first tradition of +their coming not only echoes that repute, but shows how first they +came by it.</p> +<p>The De Danaans came from the north; from what land, we shall +presently inquire. They landed somewhere on the northeast coast of +our island, says the tradition; the coast of Antrim was doubtless +the place of their arrival, and we have our choice between Larne +and the estuary of the Foyle. All between, lofty cliffs face a dark +and angry sea, where no one not familiar with the coast would +willingly approach; their later course in the island makes it very +probable that they came to the Foyle.</p> +<p>There, still within sight of the Caledonian isles and headlands +hovering in blue shadows over the sea, they entered, where the sun +rose over long silver sands and hills of chalk, with a grim +headland on the west towering up into sombre mountains. Once within +the strait, they had a wide expanse of quiet waters on all sides, +running deep among the rugged hills, and receiving at its further +end the river Foyle, tempting them further and further with their +ships. Up the Foyle went the De Danaan fleet, among the oak-woods, +the deer gazing wide-eyed at <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page081" id="page081"></a>[pg 081]</span> them from dark caverns +of shadow, the wolves peering after them in the night. Then, when +their ships would serve them no further, they landed, and, to set +the seal on their coming, burned their boats, casting in their lot +with the fate of their new home. Still following the streams of the +Foyle, for rivers were the only pathways through the darkness of +the woods, they came to the Lakes of Erne, then, as now, beautiful +with innumerable islands, and draped with curtains of forest. +Beyond Erne, they fixed their first settlement at Mag Rein, the +Plain of the Headland, within the bounds of what afterwards was +Leitrim; and at this camp their legend takes up the tale.</p> +<p>It would seem that the Fomorians were then gathered further to +the west, as well as in the northern isles. The Firbolgs had their +central stronghold at Douin Cain, the Beautiful Eminence, which, +tradition tells us, later bore the name of Tara. The chief among +their chiefs was Eocaid, son of Ere, remembered as the last ruler +of the Firbolgs. Every man of them was a hunter, used to spear and +shield, and the skins of deer and the shaggy hides of wolves were +their garments; their dwellings were built of well-fitted oak. To +the chief, Eocaid, Erc's son, came rumor of the strangers near the +Lakes of Erne; <span class="pagenum"><a name="page082" id= +"page082"></a>[pg 082]</span> their ships, burned at their +debarking, were not there to tell of the manner of their coming, +and the De Danaans themselves bruited it abroad that they had come +hither by magic, borne upon the wings of the wind. The chiefs of +Tara gathered together, within their fort of earth crowned with a +stockade, and took counsel how to meet this new adventure. After +long consultation they chose one from among them, Sreng by name, a +man of uncommon strength, a warrior tried and proven, who should go +westward to find out more of the De Danaans.</p> +<p>Doubtless taking certain chosen companions with him, Sreng, the +man of valor from among the Firbolgs, set forth on his quest. As in +all forest-covered countries, the only pathways lay along the +river-banks, or, in times of drought, through the sand or pebbles +of their beds. Where the woods pressed closest upon the streams, +the path wound from one bank to the other, crossing by fords or +stepping-stones, or by a bridge of tree-trunks. So went Sreng, +careful and keen-eyed, up the stream of the Blackwater, and thence +to the Erne, and so drew near to the Plain of the Headland, where +was the De Danaan camp. They, too, had word of his coming from +their scouts and hunters, and <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page083" id="page083"></a>[pg 083]</span> sent forth Breas, one +among their bravest, to meet the envoy.</p> +<p>They sighted each other and halted, each setting his shield in +the earth, peering at his adversary above its rim. Then, reassured, +they came together, and Breas first spoke to Sreng. After the first +words they fell, warrior-like, to examining each other's weapons; +Sreng saw that the two spears of Breas the De Danaan were thin, +slender and long, and sharp-pointed, while his own were heavy, +thick and point-less, but sharply rounded.</p> +<p>Here we have a note of reality, for spears of these two types +are well known to us; those of Sreng were chisel-shaped, +round-edged, socketed celts; the De Danaan lances were long and +slender, like our spears. There are two materials also--a beautiful +golden bronze, shining and gleaming in the sunlight, and a darker, +ruddier metal, dull and heavy; and these darker spears have sockets +for greatly thicker hafts. Both also carried swords, made, very +likely, the one of golden, the other of dull, copper-colored +bronze.</p> +<p>Then, putting these pleasant things aside, they turned to +weightier matters, and Breas made a proposal for the De Danaan men. +The island was large, the forests wide and full of game, the waters +sweet <span class="pagenum"><a name="page084" id="page084"></a>[pg +084]</span> and well-stocked with fish. Might they not share it +between them, and join hands to keep out all future comers? Sreng +could give no final answer; he could only put the matter before the +Firbolg chiefs; so, exchanging spears in sign of friendship and for +a token between them, they returned each to his own camp.</p> +<p>Sreng of the Firbolgs retraced his path some four-score miles +among the central forests, and came to the Beautiful Eminence, +where the Firbolgs had their settlement. Eocaid, Erc's son, their +chieftain, called the lesser chiefs around him, and Sreng made full +report of what he had seen and heard. The Firbolgs, pressed on by +their fate, decided to refuse all terms with the De Danaans, but to +give them battle, and drive them from the island. So they made +ready, each man seeing to the straps of his shield, the burnishing +of his thick sword and heavy spear. Eyes gleamed out beneath +lowering brows all about the dwellings of Tara, and hot words were +muttered of the coming fight. The dark faces of the Firbolgs were +full of wrath.</p> +<p>Breas, returning to the camp of the Tuata De Danaan, gave such +account of the fierceness and strength of Sreng, and the weight and +sturdiness of <span class="pagenum"><a name="page085" id= +"page085"></a>[pg 085]</span> his weapons, that the hearts of the +golden-haired newcomers misgave them, and they drew away westward +to the strip of land that lies between the lakes of Corrib and +Mask. There, tradition tells us, they made an encampment upon the +hill of Belgadan, near the stream that flows through caverns +beneath the rocks from the northern to the southern lake. From +their hill-top they had clear view of the plain stretching +eastward, across which the Firbolg warriors must come; to the right +hand and to the left were spread the great white waters of the +lakes, stretching far away to the northern and southern verge of +the sky. Islands dotted the lakes, and trees mirrored themselves in +the waters. Behind them, to the westward, rose a square-topped +mountain, crowned by a clear tarn; and, behind that, tier upon tier +of hills, stretching dark and sombre along Lough Mask to the north, +and spreading westward to the twelve crystal hills of +Connemara.</p> +<p>Across the plain to the east, then called the Plain of Nia, but +thereafter Mag Tuiread or Moytura, the Plain of the Pillars, lay +the forests, and thence issued forth the hosts of the Firbolgs, +encamping on the eastern verge of the open space. Nuada, the De +Danaan king, once more sought a peaceful issue to <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page086" id="page086"></a>[pg 086]</span> their +meeting, but Erc's son Eocaid refused all terms, and it was plain +to all that they must fight.</p> +<p>It was midsummer. The air was warm about them, the lake-shores +and the plain clothed in green of many gently blended shades. The +sun shone down upon them, and the lakes mirrored the clear blue +above. From their hill of encampment descended the De Danaans, with +their long slender spears gleaming like bright gold, their swords +of golden bronze firmly grasped, their left hands griping the thong +of their shields. Golden-haired, with flowing tresses, they +descended to the fight; what stately battle-song they chanted, what +Powers they called on for a blessing, we cannot tell; nor in what +terms the dark-browed Firbolgs answered them as they approached +across the plain. All that day did the hosts surge together, spear +launched against spear, and bronze sword clashing against shield; +all that day and for three days more, and then the fate of the +Firbolgs was decided. Great and dire was the slaughter of them, so +that Erc's son Eocaid saw that all was lost. Withdrawing with a +hundred of his own men about him, Eocaid was seeking water to +quench his thirst, for the heat of the battle was upon him, when he +was pursued by a greater band <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page087" id="page087"></a>[pg 087]</span> of the De Danaans, under +the three sons of Nemed, one of their chieftains.</p> +<p>Eocaid and his bodyguard fled before Nemed's sons, making their +way northeastward along the Moy river, under the shadow of the +Mountains of Storms, now wrongly named Ox Mountains. They came at +last to the great strand called Traig Eotaile, but now Ballysadare, +the Cataract of the Oaks,--where the descending river is cloven +into white terraces by the rocks, and the sea, retreating at low +tide, leaves a world of wet sand glinting under the moonlight. At +the very sea's margin a great battle was fought between the last +king of the Firbolgs with his men, and the De Danaans under Nemed's +sons; so relentless was the fight along the tideways that few +remained to tell of it, for Erc's son Eocaid fell, but Nemed's +three sons fell likewise, The three De Danaan brothers were buried +at the western end of the strand, and the place was called The +Gravestones of the Sons of Nemed, in their memory. The son of Erc +was buried on the strand, where the waves lap along the shore, and +his cairn of Traig Eotaile still stands by the water-side, last +resting-place of the last ruler of the Firbolgs.</p> +<p>Meanwhile the fighting had gone on at Mag Tuiread <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page088" id="page088"></a>[pg 088]</span> by the +lakes, till but three hundred of the Firbolgs were left, with +Sreng, the fierce fighter, at their head. Sreng had gained enduring +fame by meeting Nuada, the De Danaan king, in combat, and smiting +him so that he clove the shield-rim and cut down deep into Nuada's +shoulder, disabling him utterly from the battle. Seeing themselves +quite outnumbered, therefore, the survivors of the Firbolgs with +Sreng demanded single combat with De Danaan champions, but the +victors offered them worthy terms of peace. The Firbolgs were to +hold in lordship and freedom whichever they might choose of the +five provinces; the conquerors were to have the rest.</p> +<p>Sreng looked around among his band of survivors,--a little band, +though of great valor,--and he remembered the hosts of his people +that had entered the battle three days before, but now lay strewn +upon the plain; and thinking that they had done enough for valor he +accepted the offered terms, choosing the Western Province for his +men. In memory of him it was called Cuigead Sreing for generations, +until Conn of the Five-Score Battles changed the name for his own, +calling the province Connacht, as it is to this day.</p> +<p>It fared less well with the victors, and with their <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page089" id="page089"></a>[pg 089]</span> +victory were sown seeds of future discord. For Nuada, the king, +being grievously wounded, was in no state to rule, so that the +chief power was given to Breas, first envoy of the De Danaans. Now +Breas was only half De Danaan, half Fomor, and would not recognize +the De Danaan rites or laws of hospitality, but was a very +tyrannous and overbearing ruler, so that much evil came of his +government. Yet for seven years he was endured, even though meat +nor ale was dispensed at his banquets, according to De Danaan +law.</p> +<br> +<p>Mutterings against Breas were rife among the chiefs and their +followers when the bard Cairbré, whose mother Etan was also +a maker of verses, came to the assembly of Breas. But the bard was +shown little honor and given a mean lodging,--a room without fire +or bed, with three dry loaves for his fare. The bard was full of +resentment and set himself to make songs against Breas, so that all +men repeated his verses, and the name of Breas fell into contempt. +All men's minds were enkindled by the bard, and they drove Breas +forth from the chieftainship. Breas fled to his Fomor kindred in +the isles, with his heart full of anger and revenge against the De +Danaans.</p> +<p>He sought help of his kindred, and their design <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page090" id="page090"></a>[pg 090]</span> was +told to the Fomorian chieftains--to Balor of the Evil Eye, and to +Indec, son of De Domnand, chiefs of the Isles. These two leaders +gathered ships from all the harbors and settlements of the +Fomorians, from the Hebrides, the Shetlands, and far-distant +Norway, so that their fleet was thick as gulls above a shoal of +fish along the north shores of Erin.</p> +<p>Coming down from the northern isles, they sighted the coast of +Erin, the peaks of the northwestern mountains rising purple towards +the clouds, with white seas foaming around them. Past towering +headlands they sailed; then, drawing in towards the shore, they +crept under the great cliffs of Slieve League, that rose like a +many-colored wall from the sea to the sky--so high that the great +eagles on their summits were but specks seen from beneath, so high +that the ships below seemed like sea-shells to those who watched +them from above. With the wall of the cliffs on their left hand, +and the lesser headlands and hills of Sligo on their right, they +came to that same strand of Ballysadare, the Cataract of the Oaks, +where the last of the Firbolgs fell. Drawing their long ships up on +the beach, with furled sail and oars drawn in, they debarked their +army on the shore. It was a landing of ill-omen for the Fomorians, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page091" id="page091"></a>[pg +091]</span> that landing beside the cairn of Eocaid; a landing of +ill-omen for Indec, son of De Domnand, and for Balor of the Evil +Eye.</p> +<p>It was the fall of the leaf when they came; the winds ran crying +through the forests, tearing the leaves and branches from the oaks, +and mourning among the pines of the uplands. The sea was gray as a +gull's back, with dark shadows under the cliffs and white tresses +of foam along the headlands. At evening a cold wind brought the +rain beating in from the ocean. Thus the Fomorians landed at the +Cataract of the Oaks, and marched inland to the plain now called +Tirerril in Sligo. The murky sky spread over the black and withered +waste of the plain, hemmed in with gloomy hills, wild rocks and +ravines, and with all the northern horizon broken by distant +mountains. Here Indec and Balor, and Breas the cause of their +coming, fixed their camp. They sent a message of defiance to the De +Danaans, challenging them to fight or surrender. The De Danaans +heard the challenge and made ready to fight.</p> +<p>Nuada, now called the chieftain of the Silver Arm, because the +mischief wrought by Sreng's blow on his shoulder had been hidden by +a silver casing, was once more ruler since Breas had been driven +out. <span class="pagenum"><a name="page092" id="page092"></a>[pg +092]</span> Besides Nuada, these were De Danaan chieftains: Dagda, +the Mighty; Lug, son of Cian, son of Diancect, surnamed Lamfada, +the Long Armed; Ogma, of the Sunlike Face; and Angus, the Young. +They summoned the workers in bronze and the armorers, and bid them +prepare sword and spear for battle, charging the makers of +spear-haft and shield to perfect their work. The heralds also were +ready to proclaim the rank of the warriors, and those skilled in +healing herbs stood prepared to succor the wounded. The bards were +there also to arouse valor and ardor with their songs.</p> +<p>Then marching westward to the plain of the battle among the +hills, they set their camp and advanced upon the Fomorians. Each +man had two spears bound with a thong to draw them back after the +cast, with a shield to ward off blows, and a broad-bladed sword of +bronze for close combat. With war-chants and invocations the two +hosts met. The spears, well poised and leveled, clove the air, +hissing between them, and under the weight of the spear-heads and +their sharp points many in both hosts fell. There were cries of the +wounded now, mingled with battle-songs, and hoarse shouting for +vengeance among those whose sons and brothers and sworn friends +fell. <span class="pagenum"><a name="page093" id="page093"></a>[pg +093]</span> Another cast of the spears, seaming the air between as +the hosts closed in, and they fell on each other with their swords, +shields upraised and gold-bronze sword-points darting beneath like +the tongues of serpents. They cut and thrust, each with his eyes +fixed on the fierce eyes of his foe.</p> +<p>They fought on the day of the Spirits, now the Eve of All +Saints; the Fomorians were routed, and their chieftains slain. But +of the De Danaans, Nuada, once wounded by Sreng of the Firbolgs, +now fell by the hand of Balor; yet Balor also fell, slain by Lug, +his own daughter's son.</p> +<p>Thus was the might of the Fomorians broken, and the De Danaans +ruled unopposed, their power and the works of their hands spreading +throughout the length and breadth of the land.</p> +<p>Many monuments are accredited to them by tradition, but greatest +and most wonderful are the pyramids of stone at Brugh on the Boyne. +Some nine miles from the sandy seashore, where the Boyne loses +itself in the waves, there is a broad tongue of meadowland, shut in +on three sides southward by the Boyne, and to the northeast cut off +by a lesser stream that joins it. This remote and quiet headland, +very famous in the annals, was in old days so surrounded +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page094" id="page094"></a>[pg +094]</span> by woods that it was like a quiet glade in the forest +rimmed by the clear waters of the Boyne. The Mourne Mountains to +the north and the lesser summits on the southern sky-line were +hidden by the trees. The forest wall encircled the green +meadowland, and the river fringed with blue forget-me-nots.</p> +<p>In this quiet spot was the sacred place of the De Danaans, and +three great pyramids of stone, a mile apart along the river, mark +their three chief sanctuaries. The central is the greatest; two +hundred thousand tons of stone heaped up, within a circular wall of +stone, itself surrounded by a great outer circle of standing +stones, thirty in number, like gray sentinels guarding the shrine. +In the very heart of the pyramid, hushed in perpetual stillness and +peace, is the inmost sanctuary, a chamber formed like a cross, +domed with a lofty roof, and adorned with mysterious tracings on +the rocks. Shrines like this are found in many lands, whether +within the heart of the pyramids of Egypt or in the recesses of +India's hills; and in all lands they have the same purpose. They +are secret and holy sanctuaries, guarded well from all outward +influence, where, in the mystic solitude, the valiant and great +among the living may commune with the spirits of the mighty dead. +The dead, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page095" id= +"page095"></a>[pg 095]</span> though hidden, are not passed away; +their souls are in perpetual nearness to ours. If we enter deep +within ourselves, to the remote shrine of the heart, as they +entered that secluded shrine, we may find the mysterious threshold +where their world and our world meet.</p> +<p>In the gloom and silence of those pyramid-chambers, the De +Danaans thus sought the souls of their mighty ones--the Dagda, +surnamed the Mighty, and Lug the Long-Armed, and Ogma of the +Sunlike Face, and Angus the Young. From these luminous guardians +they sought the inbreathing of wisdom, drawing into themselves the +might of these mightier ones, and rising toward the power of their +immortal world. And to these sacred recesses they brought the ashes +of their mighty dead, as a token that they, too, had passed through +the secret gateway to the Land of the Ever Young.</p> +<p>Some thirty miles to the west of Brugh, on the Boyne, a low +range of hills rises from the central plain, now bearing the name +of Slieve na Calliagh, the Witch's Hill. In the days of the great +forest this was the first large open space to the west coming from +Brugh, and, like it, a quiet and remote refuge among the woods. On +the hillsides of Slieve na Calliagh are <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page096" id="page096"></a>[pg 096]</span> other +pyramids of stone, in all things like those of Brugh, and with the +same chambered sanctuaries, but of lesser size; belonging, perhaps, +to a later age, when the De Danaans were no longer supreme in the +land, but took their place beside newcome invaders. These lesser +shrines were also sacred places, doorways to the hidden world, +entrance-gates to the Land of the Ever Young. There also was beheld +the vision of the radiant departed; there also were fonts of +baptism, basins wrought of granite brought hither from the distant +hills of Mourne or Wicklow. As in all lands, these fonts were used +in the consecration of the new birth, from which man rises +conscious of his immortality.</p> +<p>In harmony with this faith of theirs, our present tradition sees +in the De Danaans a still haunting impalpable presence, a race +invisible yet real, dwelling even now among our hills and valleys. +When the life of the visible world is hushed, they say, there is +another life in the hidden, where the Dagda Mor and Ogma and Lug +and Angus still guard the De Danaan hosts. The radiance of their +nearness is all through the land, like the radiance of the sun +hidden behind storm-clouds, glimmering through the veil.</p> +<a name="097.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/097.jpg"><img src="images/097.jpg" +width="80%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>WHITE ROCKS, PORTRUSH.</b></p> +<p>In the chambers of those pyramid-shrines are still <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page097" id="page097"></a>[pg 097]</span> traces +of the material presence of the De Danaans; not only their +baptismal fonts, but more earthly things--ornaments, beads of glass +and amber, and combs with which they combed their golden locks. +These amber beads, like so many things in the De Danaan history, +call us to far northern lands by the Baltic, whence in all +likelihood the De Danaans came; for in those Baltic lands we find +just such pyramid shrines as those at Brugh and on the hillsides of +Slieve na Calliagh, and their ornaments are the same, and the +fashion of their spear-heads and shields. The plan of the Danish +pyramid of Uby is like the pyramids of Newgrange and Nowth and +Dowth by the Boyne, and the carvings on King Gorm's stone by the +Baltic are like the carvings of stones in our own island. On the +Baltic shores, too, of most ancient date and belonging to forgotten +times, are still found fragments and even perfect hulls of just +such long ships as were needed for the Danaans' coming, like the +ships they burnt along the reaches of the Foyle.</p> +<p>By the Baltic, too, and nowhere else, were there races with hair +yellow as their own amber, or, as our island bards say, "so bright +that the new-molten gold was not brighter; yellow as the yellow +flag-lilies along the verges of the rivers." Therefore, in +character of <span class="pagenum"><a name="page098" id= +"page098"></a>[pg 098]</span> race, in face and feature, in color +and complexion, in the form and make of sword and spear and shield, +in their knowledge of ships and the paths of the sea, as in their +ornaments and decorative art, and in those majestic pyramids and +shrines where they sought mystic wisdom, and whither they carried +the ashes of their dead, as to a place of sacred rest--in all these +the life of the De Danaans speaks of the Baltic shores and the +ancient race of golden-haired heroes who dwelt there. The honoring +of bards, the heraldic keeping of traditions and the names of +ancestors, also speak of the same home; and with a college of +heraldic bards, well-ordered and holding due rank and honor, we can +well see how the stories of their past have come down even to our +days, lingering among our hills and valleys, as the De Danaan +themselves linger, hidden yet not departed.</p> +<p>The traditional time of their coming, too, agrees well with all +we know. Without bronze tools they could not have carved the +beautifully adorned stones that are built into the pyramids by the +Boyne; yet there is a certain early ruggedness about these stones +that falls far short of the perfection of later times. Early in the +bronze age, therefore, they must be placed; and the early bronze +age, wherever its <span class="pagenum"><a name="page099" id= +"page099"></a>[pg 099]</span> remoteness can be measured, as in the +Swiss lakes or the peat-mosses of Denmark, cannot be less than four +thousand years ago, thus well agreeing with our De Danaan +tradition. We are, therefore, led to believe that the tale told by +these traditions is in the main a true one; that the races recorded +by them came in the recorded order; that their places of landing +are faithfully remembered; that all traditions pointing to their +earlier homes are worthy of belief, and in full accord with all our +other knowledge.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page100" id="page100"></a>[pg +100]</span><br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page101" id="page101"></a>[pg +101]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>EMAIN OF MACA.</h2> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page102" id="page102"></a>[pg +102]</span><br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page103" id="page103"></a>[pg +103]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="V."></a>V.</h2> +<h3>EMAIN OF MACA.</h3> +<h3>B.C. 50--A.D. 50.</h3> +<br> +<p>The battles of Southern and Northern Moytura gave the De Danaans +sway over the island. After they had ruled for many centuries, they +in their turn were subjected to invasion, as the Firbolg and +Fomorian had been before them. The newcomers were the Sons of +Milid, and their former home was either Gaul or Spain. But whether +from Gaul or Spain, the sons of Milid were of undoubted Gaelic +race, in every feature of character and complexion resembling the +continental Gauls.</p> +<p>We must remember that, in the centuries before the northward +spread of Rome, the Gauls were the great central European power. +Twenty-six hundred years ago their earlier tribal life was +consolidated into a stable empire under Ambigatos; Galicia in +Eastern Austria and Galicia in Western Spain mark their extreme +borders towards the rising and setting sun.</p> +<p>Several centuries before the days of Ambigatos, in the older +period of tribal confederation, was the <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page104" id="page104"></a>[pg 104]</span> coming +of the Gaelic Sons of Milid to Ireland. Tradition places the date +between three and four thousand years ago. Yet even after that long +interval of isolation the resemblance between the Irish and +continental Gaels is perfect; they are tall, solidly built, rather +inclined to stoutness; they are fair-skinned, or even florid, +easily browned by sun and wind. Their eyes are gray, greenish or +hazel, not clear blue, like the eyes of the Baltic race; and though +fair-haired, they are easily distinguished from the golden-haired +Norsemen. Such are the descendants of the Sons of Milid. Coming +from Gaul or Spain, the Sons of Milid landed in one of the great +fiords that penetrate between the mountains of Kerry--long after so +named from the descendants of Ciar. These same fiords between the +hills have been the halting-place of continental invaders for ages; +hardly a century has passed since the last landing there of +continental soldiers; there was another invasion a century before +that, and yet another a hundred years earlier. But the Sons of +Milid showed the way. They may have come by Bantry Bay or the +Kenmare River or Dingle Bay; more probably the last, for tradition +still points to the battlefield where they were opposed, on the +hills of Slieve Mish, above the Dingle fiord.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page105" id="page105"></a>[pg +105]</span> +<p>But wherever they debarked on that southwestern coast they found +a land warm and winning as the south they had left behind--a land +of ever-green woods, yew and arbutus mingling with beech and oak +and fir; rich southern heaths carpeting the hillsides, and a soft +drapery of ferns upon the rocks. There were red masses of +overhanging mountain, but in the valleys, sheltered and sun-warmed, +they found a refuge like the Isles of the Blest. The Atlantic, +surging in great blue rollers, brought the warmth of tropical seas, +and a rich and vivid growth through all the glens and vales +responded to the sun's caress.</p> +<p>The De Danaans must ere this have spread through all of the +island, except the western province assigned to the Firbolgs; for +we find them opposing,--but vainly opposing,--the Sons of Milid, at +the very place of their landing. Here again we find the old +tradition verified; for at the spot recorded of old by the bards +and heralds, among the hills by the pass that leads from Dingle to +Tralee Bay, numberless arrow-heads have been gathered, the +gleanings after a great combat. The De Danaans fought with sword +and spear, but, unless they had added to their weapons since the +days of Breas and Sreng, they did not shoot with the bow; this was, +perhaps, the cause of their defeat, for the De Danaans were +defeated <span class="pagenum"><a name="page106" id= +"page106"></a>[pg 106]</span> among the hills on that long +headland.</p> +<p>From their battlefield they could see the sea on either hand, +stretching far inland northward and southward; across these arms of +the sea rose other headlands, more distant, the armies of hills +along them fading from green to purple, from purple to clear blue. +But the De Danaans had burned their boats; they sought refuge +rather by land, retreating northward till they came to the shelter +of the great central woods. The Sons of Milid pursued them, and, +overtaking them at Tailten on the Blackwater, some ten miles +northwest of Tara, they fought another battle; after it, the +supremacy of the De Danaans definitely passed away.</p> +<p>Yet we have no reason to believe that, any more than the +Fomorians or Firbolgs, the De Danaans ceased to fill their own +place in the land. They seem, indeed, to have been preponderant in +the north, and in all likelihood they hold their own there even +now; for every addition to our knowledge shows us more and more how +tenacious is the life of races, how firmly they cling to their +earliest dwellings. And though we read of races perishing before +invaders, this is the mere boasting of conquerors; <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page107" id="page107"></a>[pg 107]</span> more +often the newcomers are absorbed among the earlier race, and +nothing distinctive remains of them but a name. We have abundant +evidence to show that at the present day, as throughout the last +three thousand years, the four races we have described continue to +make up the bulk of our population, and pure types of each still +linger unblended in their most ancient seats; for, though races +mingle, they do not thereby lose their own character. The law is +rather that the type of one or other will come out clear in their +descendants, all undefined forms tending to disappear.</p> +<p>Nor did any subsequent invasion add new elements; for as all +northern Europe is peopled by the same few types, every +newcomer,--whether from Norway, Denmark, Britain or Continental +Europe,--but reinforced one of these earlier races. Yet even where +the ethnical elements are alike, there seems to be a difference of +destiny and promise--as if the very land itself brooded over its +children, transforming them and molding them to a larger purpose. +The spiritual life of races goes far deeper than their ethnic +history.</p> +<p>It would seem that with the coming of the Sons of Milid the +destiny of Ireland was rounded and <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page108" id="page108"></a>[pg 108]</span> completed; from that +time onward, for more than two thousand years, was a period of +uniform growth and settled life and ideals; a period whose history +and achievements we are only beginning to understand. At the +beginning of that long epoch of settled life the art of working +gold was developed and perfected; and we have abundance of +beautiful gold-work from remote times, of such fine design and +execution that there is nothing in the world to equal it. The +modern work of countries where gold is found in quantities is +commonplace, vulgar and inartistic, when compared with the work of +the old Irish period. Torques, or twisted ribbons of gold, of +varying size and shape, were worn as diadems, collars, or even +belts; crescent bands of finely embossed sheet-gold were worn above +the forehead; brooches and pins of most delicate and imaginative +workmanship were used to catch together the folds of richly colored +cloaks, and rings and bracelets were of not less various and +exquisite forms.</p> +<p>We are at no loss to understand the abundance of our old +goldsmiths' work when we know that even now, after being worked for +centuries, the Wicklow gold-mines have an average yearly yield of +some five hundred ounces, found, for the most part, in nuggets +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page109" id="page109"></a>[pg +109]</span> in the beds of streams flowing into the two Avons. One +mountain torrent bears the name of Gold Mines River at the present +day, showing the unbroken presence of the yellow metal from the +time of its first discovery, over three thousand years ago. It +seems probable that a liberal alloy of gold gave the golden bronze +its peculiar excellence and beauty; for so rich is the lustre, so +fine the color of many of our bronze axes and spears, that they are +hardly less splendid than weapons of pure gold. From the perfect +design and workmanship of these things of gold and bronze, more +than from any other source, we gain an insight into the high +culture and skill in the arts which marked that most distinctively +Irish period, lasting, as we have seen, more than two thousand +years.</p> +<p>Early in this same epoch we find traditions of the clearing of +forests, the sowing of cornfields, the skill of dyers in seven +colors, earliest of which were purple, blue and green. Wells were +dug to insure an easily accessible supply of pure water, so that we +begin to think of a settled population dwelling among fields of +golden grain, pasturing their cattle in rich meadows, and depending +less on the deer and wild oxen of the forest, the salmon of lake +and river, and the abundant fish along the shores.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page110" id="page110"></a>[pg +110]</span> +<p>Tradition speaks persistently of bards, heralds, poets and +poetesses; of music and song; of cordial and generous social life; +and to the presence of these bards, like the skalds of the +Northmen, we owe pictures, even now full of life and color and +movement, of those days of long ago.</p> +<p>At a period rather more than two thousand years ago, a +warrior-queen, Maca by name, founded a great fort and citadel at +Emain, some two miles west of Armagh, in the undulating country of +green hills and meadows to the south of Lough Neagh. The ramparts +and earthworks of that ancient fortress can still be traced, and we +can follow and verify what the ancient bards told of the greatness +of the stronghold of Maca. The plans of all forts of that time seem +to have been much the same--a wide ring of earthwork, with a deep +moat, guarded them, and a stockade of oak stakes rose above the +earthwork, behind which the defenders stood, firing volleys of +arrows at the attacking host. Within this outer circle of defence +there was almost always a central stronghold, raised on a great +mound of earth; and this was the dwelling of the chief, provincial +ruler, or king. Lesser mounds upheld the houses of lesser chiefs, +and all alike seem to have been built of oak, with plank +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page111" id="page111"></a>[pg +111]</span> roofs. Safe storehouses of stone were often sunk +underground, beneath the chief's dwelling. In the fort of Emain, as +in the great fort of Tara in the Boyne Valley, there was a +banqueting-hall for the warriors, and the bards thus describe one +of these in the days of its glory: "The banquet-hall had twelve +divisions in each wing, with tables and passages round them; there +were sixteen attendants on each side, eight for the star-watchers, +the historians and the scribes, in the rear of the hall, and two to +each table at the door,--a hundred guests in all; two oxen, two +sheep and two hogs were divided equally on each side at each meal. +Beautiful was the appearance of the king in that assembly--flowing, +slightly curling golden hair upon him; a red buckler with stars and +beasts wrought of gold and fastenings of silver upon him; a crimson +cloak in wide descending folds upon him, fastened at his breast by +a golden brooch set with precious stones; a neck-torque of gold +around his neck; a white shirt with a full collar, and intertwined +with threads of gold, upon him; a girdle of gold inlaid with +precious stones around him; two wonderful shoes of gold with +runings of gold upon him; two spears with golden sockets in his +hand."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page112" id="page112"></a>[pg +112]</span> +<p>We are the more disposed to trust the fidelity of the picture, +since the foundations of the Tara banquet-hall are to be clearly +traced to this day--an oblong earthwork over seven hundred feet +long by ninety wide, with the twelve doors still distinctly marked; +as for the brooches and torques of gold, some we have surpass in +magnificence anything here described, and their artistic beauty is +eloquent of the refinement of spirit that conceived and the skill +that fashioned them. Spear-heads, too, are of beautiful +bronze-gold, with tracings round the socket of great excellence and +charm.</p> +<a name="113.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/113.jpg"><img src="images/113.jpg" +width="40%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>POWERSCOURT WATERFALL, CO. WICKLOW.</b></p> +<p>For a picture of the life of that age, we cannot do better than +return to Emain of Maca, telling the story of one famous generation +of warriors and fair women who loved and fought there two thousand +years ago. The ideal of beauty was still the golden hair and blue +eyes of the De Danaans, and we cannot doubt that their race +persisted side by side with the Sons of Milid, retaining a certain +predominance in the north and northeast of the island, the first +landing-place of the De Danaan invaders. Of this mingled race was +the great Rudraige, from whom the most famous rulers of Emain +descended. Ros was the son of Rudraige, and from Roeg and Cass, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page113" id="page113"></a>[pg +113]</span> the sons of Ros, came the princes Fergus and Factna. +Factna, son of Cass, wedded the beautiful Nessa, and from their +union sprang Concobar, the great hero and ruler of Ulster--in those +days named Ulad, and the dwellers there the Ulaid. Factna died +while Concobar was yet a boy; and Nessa, left desolate, was yet so +beautiful in her sadness that Fergus became her slave, and sued for +her favor, though himself a king whose favors others sued. Nessa's +heart was wholly with her son, her life wrapt up in his. She +answered, therefore, that she would renounce her mourning and give +her widowed hand to Fergus the king, if the king, on his part, +would promise that Nessa's son Concobar should succeed him, rather +than the children of Fergus. Full of longing, and held in thrall by +her beauty, Fergus promised; and this promise was the beginning of +many calamities, for Nessa, the queen, feeling her sway over +Fergus, and full of ambition for her child, won a promise from +Fergus that the youth should sit beside him on the throne, hearing +all pleadings and disputes, and learning the art of ruling. But the +spirit of Concobar was subtle and strong and masterful, and he +quickly took the greater place in the councils of the Ulaid, until +Nessa, still confident in her charm, took a <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page114" id="page114"></a>[pg 114]</span> +promise from Fergus that Concobar should reign for one year.</p> +<p>Fergus, great-hearted warrior, but tender and gentle and fond of +feasts and merrymaking, was very willing to lift the cares of rule +from his shoulders to the younger shoulders of Nessa's son, and the +one year thus granted became many years, so that Fergus never again +mounted his throne. Yet for the love he bore to Nessa, Fergus +willingly admitted his stepson's rule, and remained faithfully +upholding him, ever merry at the banquets, and leading the martial +sports and exercises of the youths, the sons of chieftains, at the +court. Thus Concobar, son of Nessa, came to be ruler over the great +fort of Emain, with its citadel, its earthworks and outer forts, +its strong stockade and moat; ruler of these, and of the chiefs of +the Ulaid, and chief commander of all the fighting-men that +followed them. To him came the tribute of cattle and horses, of +scarlet cloaks and dyed fabrics, purple and blue and green, and the +beryls and emeralds from the mountains of Mourne where the sea +thunders in the caves, near the great fort of Rudraige. Fergus was +lord only of the banqueting-hall and of the merrymakings of the +young chiefs; but in all else the will of Concobar was supreme and +his word was law.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page115" id="page115"></a>[pg +115]</span> +<p>It happened that before this a child had been born, a girl +golden-haired and with blue eyes, of whom the Druids had foretold +many dark and terrible things. That the evil might not be wrought +through this child of sad destiny, the king had from her earliest +childhood kept her securely hidden in a lonely fort, and there +Deirdré grew in solitude, daily increasing in beauty and +winsomeness. She so won the love of those set in guard over her +that they relaxed something of the strictness of their watch, +letting her wander a little in the meadows and the verges of the +woods, gathering flowers, and watching the life of birds and wild +things there.</p> +<p>Among the chieftains of the court of Emain was one Usnac, of +whom were three sons, with Naisi strongest and handsomest of the +three. Naisi was dark, with black locks hanging upon his shoulders +and dark, gleaming eyes; and so strongly is unlike drawn to unlike +that golden-haired Deirdré, seeing him in one of her +wanderings, felt her heart go forth to him utterly. Falling into +talk with him, they exchanged promises of enduring love. Thus the +heart of Naisi went to Deirdré, as hers had gone to him, so +that all things were changed for them, growing radiant with +tremulous hope and wistful with longing. <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page116" id="page116"></a>[pg 116]</span> Yet +the fate that lay upon Deirdré was heavy, and all men +dreaded it but Naisi; so that even his brothers, the sons of Usnac, +feared greatly and would have dissuaded him from giving his life to +the ill-fated one. But Naisi would not be dissuaded; so they met +secretly many times, in the twilight at the verge of the wood, +Deirdré's golden hair catching the last gleam of sunlight +and holding it long into the darkness, while the black locks of +Naisi, even ere sunset, foreshadowed the coming night. In their +hearts it was not otherwise; for Deirdré, full of wonder at +the change that had come over her, at the song of the birds that +echoed ever around her even in her dreams, at the radiance of the +flowers and trees, the sunshine on the waters of the river, the +vivid gladness over all,-- Deirdré knew nothing of the dread +doom that was upon her, and was all joy and wonderment at the +meetings with her lover, full of fancies and tender words and shy +caresses; but Naisi, who knew well the fate that overshadowed them +like a black cloud above a cliff of the sea, strove to be glad and +show a bold face to his mistress, though his heart many a time grew +cold within him, thinking on what had befallen and what might +befall.</p> +<p>For the old foretelling of the star-watchers was not +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page117" id="page117"></a>[pg +117]</span> the only doom laid upon Deirdré. Concobar the +king, stern and masterful, crafty and secret in counsel though +swift as an eagle to slay,--Concobar the king had watched +Deirdré in her captivity, ever unseen of her, and his heart +had been moved by the fair softness of her skin, the glow of her +cheek, the brightness of her eyes and hair; so that the king had +steadfastly determined in his mind that Deirdré should be +his, in scorn of all prophecies and warnings; that her beauty +should be for him alone. This the king had determined; and it was +known to Naisi the son of Usnac. It was known to him also that what +Concobar the king determined, he steadfastly carried out; for the +will of Concobar was strong and masterful over all around him.</p> +<p>Therefore at their meetings two clouds lay upon the heart of +Naisi: the presentment of the king's power and anger, and his +relentless hand pursuing through the night, and the darker dread of +the sightless doom pronounced of old at the birth of +Deirdré, of which the will of Concobar was but the tool. +There was gloom in his eyes and silence on his lips and a secret +dread in his heart. Deirdré wondered at it, her own heart +being so full of gladness, her eyes sparkling, and endearing words +ever ready on her <span class="pagenum"><a name="page118" id= +"page118"></a>[pg 118]</span> lips. Deirdré wondered, yet +found a new delight and wonderment in the silence of Naisi, and the +gloomy lightning in his eyes, as being the more contrasted with +herself, and therefore the more to be beloved.</p> +<p>Yet the time came when Naisi determined to tell her all and risk +the worst that fate could do against them, finding death with her +greatly better than life without her. Yet death with her was not to +be granted to him. Deirdré heard, wondering and trembling, +and Naisi must tell her the tale many times before she +understood,--so utter had been her solitude and so perfect was yet +her ignorance of all things beyond the fort where she was captive, +and of all the doings of men. Concobar was not even a name to her, +and she knew nothing of his power or the stronghold of Emain, the +armies of the Ulaid, or the tributes of gold and cattle and horses. +Spears and swords and those who wielded them were not even dreams +to her until the coming of Naisi, when his gloom blended with her +sunshine.</p> +<p>Talking long through the twilight, until the red gold of the +west was dulled to bronze over the hills, and the bronze tarnished +and darkened with the coming of the eastern stars, they planned +together what <span class="pagenum"><a name="page119" id= +"page119"></a>[pg 119]</span> they should do; and, the heart of +Deirdré at last growing resolute, they made their way +through the night to where the brothers of Naisi were, and all fled +together towards the northern sea. Amongst the fishermen of the +north they found those who were willing to carry them beyond the +reach of Concobar's anger, and with a southerly breeze set sail for +the distant headlands of Scotland, that they had seen from the +cliff-top lying like blue clouds along the horizon. They set forth +early in the morning, as the sun came up out of the east over blue +Alban capes, and when the sun went down it reddened the dark rocks +of Islay; so that, making for the shore, they camped that night +under the Islay Hills. On their setting forth again, the sea was +like a wild grey lake between Jura on the left and the long +headland of Cantyre on their right; and thus they sped forward +between long ranks of gloomy hills, growing ever nearer them on +both sides, till they passed through the Sound of Jura and rounded +into Loch Etive.</p> +<p>There they made the land, drawing up under the shadow of dark +hills, and there they dwelt for many a day. Very familiar to +Deirdré, though at first strange and wild and terrible +beyond words, grew <span class="pagenum"><a name="page120" id= +"page120"></a>[pg 120]</span> that vast amphitheatre of hills in +their eternal grayness, with the long Loch stretching down like a +horn through their midst. Very familiar to inland-bred +Deirdré, though at first strange and fearful, grew the gray +surges of the incoming tides, the white foam of the waves seething +along boulders of granite, and the long arms of seaweed waving as +she peered downward into the clear green water. Very familiar to +Deirdré, though at first strange and confusing, grew the +arms of Naisi around her in the darkness and his warm lips on her +cheek. Happy were those wild days in the great glen of Etive, and +dear did the sons of Usnac grow to her heart, loved as brothers by +her who never knew a brother, or the gentleness of a mother's +watching, or the solace of dear kindred.</p> +<p>The sons of Usnac sped forth before dawn among the hills from +their green dwelling roofed with pine branches and reeds and moss; +early they went forth to track the deer, pursuing them with their +arrows, till the red flank of the buck was laced with brighter red. +One of the three ever stayed behind with Deirdré, whether it +was Naisi himself, or Alny, or Ardan, and the two thus remaining +were like children playing together, whether gathering sticks and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page121" id="page121"></a>[pg +121]</span> dry rushes and long spears of withered grass for their +fire, or wandering by the white curling waves, or sending flat +pebbles skipping over the wavelets; and the sound of their laughter +many a time echoed along the Loch's green waters and up the hills, +till the does peered and wondered from among the heather, and the +heron, startled at his fishing, flew upwards croaking, with +flapping wings. Happy were those days for Deirdré, and with +utter sadness she looked back to them afterwards, when the doom +foretold had fallen upon her. Happy sped the days, till once in the +gray of the dawn, while Deirdré was resting in their green +refuge with Naisi, she cried out in her sleep and waked, telling +him, weeping, that she had heard the voice of the bird of doom in +her dreams.</p> +<p>The voice she heard was indeed the voice of their doom; yet it +was a cheerful voice, full of friendly gladness; the voice of +Fergus, son of Roeg, former King of Emain, and now come to Loch +Etive as messenger of Concobar, Fergus came up from the sea-beach +towards the answering shout of the sons of Usnac, and glad +greetings passed among them at the door of their refuge. Fergus +looked long in admiration at the blue eyes and golden locks, the +clear skin <span class="pagenum"><a name="page122" id= +"page122"></a>[pg 122]</span> and gentle breast of Deirdré, +nor wondered, as he looked, that Naisi had dared fate to possess +her. Then Fergus told the story of his coming; how they had +discovered the flight of the sons of Usnac from Emain, and how +terrible was the black anger of Concobar; what passionate fire had +gleamed in his eyes as he tossed the golden locks back from his +shoulders and grasped the haft of his spear, and pledged himself to +be avenged on Naisi and all his kin, swearing that he would have +Deirdré back again.</p> +<p>Thus Fergus told the tale, laughingly, as at a danger that was +past, a storm-cloud that had lost its arrows of white hail and was +no longer fearful. For, he said, Concobar had forgotten his anger, +had promised a truce to the sons of Usnac, and most of all to +Naisi, and had bidden them return as his guests to Emain of Maca, +where Deirdré should dwell happy with her beloved. The +comrades of Fergus by this time had tied their boat and come up +from the shore, and the sons of Usnac were ready to depart. Yet +Deirdré's heart misgave her as she thought of the days among +those purple hills and granite rocks, by the long green water of +the Loch, and her clear-seeing soul spoke words of doom for +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page123" id="page123"></a>[pg +123]</span> them all: words soon to be fulfilled. Amongst the +comrades of Fergus were certain of the adherents of Concobar, +treacherous as he; for he had no thought of pardoning the sons of +Usnac, nor any intent but to draw Deirdré back within his +reach; the image of her bright eyes and the redness of her lips, +and her soft breast and shining hair was ever before him, and his +heart gnawed within him for longing and the bitterness of +desire.</p> +<p>Therefore he had designed this embassy; and Fergus, believing +all things and trusting all things, had gladly undertaken to be the +messenger of forgiveness; fated, instead, to be the instrument of +betrayal. So they turned their faces homewards towards Emain, +Deirdré full of desponding, as one whose day of grace is +past. They set sail again through the long Sound of Jura, with the +islands now on their right hand and the gray hills of Cantyre on +their left. So they passed Jura, and later Islay, and came at last +under the cliffs of Rathlin and the white Antrim headlands. +Deirdré's heart never lightened, nor did laughter play about +her lips or in her eyes through all the time of her journey, but +sadness lay ever upon her, like the heavy darkness of a winter's +night, when a storm is gathering <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page124" id="page124"></a>[pg 124]</span> out of the West. But +Fergus made merry, rejoicing at the reconciling; bidden to a +treacherous banquet by the partisans of Concobar, his heart never +misgave him, but giving the charge of Deirdré and the sons +of Usnac to his sons, he went to the banquet, delaying long in +carousing and singing, while Deirdré and the three brothers +were carried southwards to Emain. There the treachery plotted +against them was carried out, as they sat in the banquet-hall; for +Concobar's men brought against them the power of cowardly flames, +setting fire to the hall, and slaying the sons of Usnac as they +hurried forth from under the burning roof.</p> +<p>One of the sons of Fergus shamefully betrayed them, bought by +the gold and promises of Concobar, but the other bravely fell, +fighting back to back with one of the sons of Usnac, when they fell +overpowered by the warriors of Concobar. Thus was the doom of +Deirdré consummated, her lover treacherously done to death, +and she herself condemned to bear the hated caress of Concobar, +thinking ever of those other lips, in the days of her joy among the +northern hills. This is the lament of Deirdré for Usnac's +sons:</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page125" id="page125"></a>[pg +125]</span> +<blockquote>The lions of the hill are gone,<br> +And I am left alone, alone;<br> +Dig the grave both wide and deep,<br> +For I am sick and fain would sleep!<br> +<br> +The falcons of the wood are flown,<br> +And I am left alone, alone;<br> +Dig the grave both deep and wide,<br> +And let us slumber side by side.<br> +<br> +Lay their spears and bucklers bright<br> +By the warriors' sides aright;<br> +Many a day the three before me<br> +On their linked bucklers bore me.<br> +<br> +Dig the grave both wide and deep,<br> +Sick I am and fain would sleep.<br> +Dig the grave both deep and wide,<br> +And let us slumber side by side.</blockquote> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page126" id="page126"></a>[pg +126]</span><br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page127" id="page127"></a>[pg +127]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CUCULAIN THE HERO.</h2> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page128" id="page128"></a>[pg +128]</span><br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page129" id="page129"></a>[pg +129]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="VI."></a>VI.</h2> +<h3>CUCULAIN THE HERO.</h3> +<h3>B.C. 50--A.D. 50.</h3> +<br> +<p>The treacherous death of Naisi and his brothers Ardan and Alny, +and her own bereavement and misery, were not the end of the doom +pronounced at her birth for Deirdré, but rather the +beginning. Yet the burden of the evils that followed fell on +Concobar and his lands and his warriors.</p> +<p>For Fergus, son of Roeg, former king over Emain, who had stayed +behind his charges feasting and banqueting, came presently to +Emain, fearing nothing and thinking no evil, but still warm with +the reconciliation that he had accomplished; and, coming to Emain +of Maca, found the sons of Usnac dead, with the sods still soft on +their graves, and his own son also dead, Deirdré in the +hands of Concobar, and the plighted word of Fergus and his generous +pledge of safety most traitorously and basely broken; broken by +Concobar, whom he himself had guarded and set upon the throne.</p> +<p>Fergus changed from gladness to fierce wrath, and <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page130" id="page130"></a>[pg 130]</span> his +countenance was altered with anger, as he uttered his bitter +indignation against Concobar to the warriors and heroes of Emain +and the men of Ulad. The warriors were parted in two by his words, +swaying to the right and to the left, as tall wheat sways before +one who passes through it. For some of them sided with Fergus, +saying that he had done great wrong to put Concobar on the throne, +and that even now he should cast him down again, for the baseness +and treachery of his deed; but others took Concobar's part, saying +that the first betraying was Naisi's, who stole away +Deirdré,--the hostage, as it were, of evil doom, so that he +drew the doom upon himself. They further said that Concobar was +chief and ruler among them, the strong and masterful leader, able +to uphold their cause amongst men. So indeed it befell, for the +sedition of Fergus and his fight to avenge his wrong upon Concobar +failed, so that he fled defeated to Meave, Queen of Connacht, at +her stronghold amid the lakes whence issues forth the Shannon.</p> +<a name="131.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/131.jpg"><img src="images/131.jpg" +width="80%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>HONEYCOMB, GIANT'S CAUSEWAY.</b></p> +<p>Meave, whose power and genius overtopped her lord Ailill, +received the exiled king gladly, and put many honors upon him, +holding him as the pillar of her army, with the two thousand men of +the Ulaid <span class="pagenum"><a name="page131" id= +"page131"></a>[pg 131]</span> who came with him;--those who had +fought for him against the party of Concobar. At Cruacan, on the +hillside, with the lakes of the Great River all around them, with +the sun setting red behind the Curlew hills, with green meadows and +beech-woods to gladden them, Meave and Ailill kept their court, and +thence they sent many forays against Emain of Maca and Concobar, +with Fergus the fallen king ever raging in the van, and, for the +wrong that was done him, working measureless wrong on his own +kingdom and the kingdom of his fathers.</p> +<p>After many a foray had gone forth against Ulad, crossing the +level plains, it befell that Meave and Ailill her lord disputed +between them as to which had the greatest wealth; nor would either +yield until their most precious possessions had been brought and +matched the one against the other. Their jewels of gold, +wonderfully wrought, and set with emeralds and beryls and red +carbuncles, were brought forth, their crescents for the brow, with +hammered tracery upon them, their necklets and torques, like +twisted ribbons of gold, their bracelets and arm-rings set with +gold, their gems of silver and all their adornments, cloaks of +scarlet and blue and purple, were all brought, and no advantage in +the one was <span class="pagenum"><a name="page132" id= +"page132"></a>[pg 132]</span> found over the other. Their +battle-steeds also were brought, their horses for chariots; and +likewise their herds of lowing wealth, their sheep with soft +fleeces. When the cattle were driven up before them, it was found +that among the herds of Ailill was one bull, matchless, with white +horns shining and polished; and equal to this bull was none among +the herds of the queen. She would not admit her lord's advantage, +but sent forthwith to seek where another bull like the bull of +Ailill might be found, and tidings were brought to her of the brown +bull of Cuailgne,--of Cuailgne named after a chief of the Sons of +Milid, fallen ages ago in the pursuit of the De Danaans, when the +De Danaans retreated before the Sons of Milid from the southern +headland of Slieve Mish to the ford at green Tailten by the Boyne, +and thence further northwards to where Cuailgne of the Sons of +Milid was killed. At that same place had grown up a dwelling with a +fortress, and there was the brown bull that Meave heard the report +of. She sent, therefore, and her embassy bore orders to +Dairé, the owner of the bull, asking that the bull might be +sent to her for a year, and offering fifty heifers in payment. +Dairé received her messengers well, and willingly consented +to her request; but the messengers <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page133" id="page133"></a>[pg 133]</span> of Meave from feasting +fell to drinking, from drinking to boasting; one of them declaring +that it was a small thing that Dairé had granted the +request, since they themselves would have compelled him, even +unwillingly, and would have driven off the brown bull by force. The +taunt stung Dairé, after his hospitality, and in wrath he +sent them forth empty-handed, and so they came slighted to +Meave.</p> +<p>The queen, conceiving her honor impeached, would by no means +suffer the matter so to rest, but stirred up wrath and dissension, +till the armies of Connacht with their allies set forth to sack and +burn in Ulad, and at all hazards to bring the brown bull. Fergus +and the men who fought by his side went with them, and marching +thus eastwards they came, after three days march through fair lands +and fertile, to the river Dee--the frontier of Ulad, and the scene +of many well-fought fights.</p> +<p>The army of Ulad was not yet ready to meet them, but one +champion with his band confronted them at the ford. That champion +was Cuculain, whose true name was Setanta, son of Sualtam, chief at +Dundelga, and of Dectira the sister of Concobar. Cuculain was +accounted the greatest and most skillful warrior of his time, and +bards for ages after told <span class="pagenum"><a name="page134" +id="page134"></a>[pg 134]</span> how he kept the ford. For by the +laws of honor, amongst them, the host from Connacht could not pass +the ford so long as Cuculain held the ford and offered single +combat to the champions. They must take up his challenge one by +one; and while he stood there challenging, the host could not +pass.</p> +<p>Many of their champions fell there by the ford, so that queen +Meave's heart chafed within her, and her army was hot to do battle, +but still Cuculain kept the ford. Last of the western champions +came forth Ferdiad, taught in the famous northern school of arms, a +dear friend and companion of Cuculain, who now must meet him to +slay or be slain. This is the story of their combat, as the +traditions tell it:</p> +<p>When they ceased fighting on the first day, they cast their +weapons away from them into the hands of their charioteers. Each of +them approached the other forthwith, and each put his hand round +the other's neck, and gave him three kisses. Their horses were in +the same paddock that night, and their charioteers at the same +fire; and their charioteers spread beds of green rushes for them, +with wounded men's pillows to them. The men of healing came to heal +and solace them, applying herbs that should assuage to every cut or +gash upon their <span class="pagenum"><a name="page135" id= +"page135"></a>[pg 135]</span> bodies, and to all their wounds. Of +every healing herb that was laid on the hurts of Cuculain, he sent +an equal share to Ferdiad, sending it westward over the ford, so +that men might not say that through the healing virtue of the herbs +he was able to overcome him. And of all food and invigorating drink +that was set before Ferdiad, he sent an equal portion northwards +over the ford to Cuculain, for those that prepared food for him +were more than those who made ready food for Cuculain. Thus that +night they rested.</p> +<p>They fought with spears on the next day, and so great was the +strength of each, so dire their skill in combat, that both were +grievously wounded, for all the protection of their shields. The +men of healing art could do little for them beyond the staunching +of their blood, that it might not flow from their wounds, laying +herbs upon their red wounds.</p> +<p>On the third day they arose early in the morning and came +forward to the place of combat. Cuculain saw that the face of +Ferdiad was dark as a black cloud, and thus addressed him: "Thy +face is darkened, Ferdiad, and thine eye has lost its fire, nor are +the form and features thine!" And Ferdiad answered, "O, Cuculain, +it is not from fear or dread <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page136" id="page136"></a>[pg 136]</span> that my face is changed, +for I am ready to meet all champions in the fight." Cuculain +reproached him, wondering that, for the persuasions of Meave, +Ferdiad was willing thus to fight against his friend, coming to +spoil his land. But Ferdiad replied that fate compelled him, since +every man is constrained to come unto the sod where shall be his +last resting-place. That day the heroes fought with swords, but +such was the skill of both that neither could break down the +other's guard.</p> +<p>In the dusk they cast away their weapons, ceasing from the +fight; and though the meeting of the two had been full of vigor and +friendship in the morning, yet was their parting at night mournful +and full of sorrow. That night their horses were not in the same +enclosure, nor did their charioteers rest at the same fire.</p> +<p>Then Ferdiad arose early in the morning and went forth to the +place of contest, knowing well that that day would decide whether +he should fall or Cuculain; knowing that the sun would set on one +of them dead that night. Cuculain, seeing him come forth, spoke +thus to his charioteer: "I see the might and skill of Ferdiad, +coming forth to the combat. If it be I that shall begin to yield +to-day, do thou <span class="pagenum"><a name="page137" id= +"page137"></a>[pg 137]</span> stir my valor, uttering reproaches +and words of condemnation against me, so that my wrath shall grow +upon me, enkindling me again for the battle." And the charioteer +assented and promised.</p> +<p>Great was the deed that was performed that day at the ford by +the two heroes, the two warriors, the two champions of western +lands, the two gift-bestowing hands of the northwest of the world, +the two beloved pillars of the valor of the Gael, the two keys of +the bravery of the Gael, brought to fight from afar through the +schemes of Meave the queen.</p> +<p>They began to shoot with their missiles from the dawn of the +day, from early morning till noon. And when midday came the ire of +the men waxed more furious, and they drew nearer together. Then +Cuculain sprang from the river-bank against the boss of the shield +of Ferdiad, son of Daman, to strike at his head over the rim of the +shield from above. But Ferdiad gave the shield so strong a turn +with his left arm that he cast Cuculain from him like a bird. +Cuculain sprang again upon him, to strike him from above. But the +son of Daman so struck the shield with his left knee that he cast +Cuculain from him like a child.</p> +<p>Then the charioteer of Cuculain spoke to chide <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page138" id="page138"></a>[pg 138]</span> him: +"Woe for thee, whom the warrior thus casts aside as an evil mother +casts away her offspring. He throws thee as foam is thrown by the +river. He grinds thee as a mill would grind fresh grain. He pierces +thee as the ax of the woodman cleaves the oak. He binds thee as the +woodbine binds the tree. He darts on thee as the hawk darts on +finches, so that henceforth thou hast no claim or name or fame for +valor, until thy life's end, thou phantom sprite!"</p> +<p>Then Cuculain sprang up fleet as the wind and swift as the +swallow, fierce as a dragon, strong as a lion, advancing against +Ferdiad through clouds of dust, and forcing himself upon his +shield, to strike at him from above. Yet even then Ferdiad shook +him off, driving him backwards into the ford.</p> +<p>Then Cuculain's countenance was changed, and his heart swelled +and grew great within him till he towered demoniac and gigantic, +rising like one of the Fomor upon Ferdiad. So fierce was the fight +they now fought that their heads met above and their feet below and +their arms in the midst, past the rims of the shields. So fierce +was the fight they fought that they cleft the shields to their +centers. So fierce was the fight they fought that their spears were +shivered from socket to haft. So fierce was <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page139" id="page139"></a>[pg 139]</span> the +fight they fought that the demons of the air screamed along the +rims of the shields, and from the hilts of their swords and from +the hafts of their spears. So fierce was the fight they fought that +they cast the river out of its bed, so that not a drop of water lay +there unless from the fierceness of the champion heroes hewing each +other in the midst of the ford. So fierce was the fight they fought +that the horses of the Gael fled away in fright, breaking their +chains and their yokes, and the women and youths and camp-followers +broke from the camp, flying forth southwards and westwards.</p> +<p>They were fighting with the edges of their swords, and Ferdiad, +finding a break in the guard of Cuculain, gave him a stroke of the +straight-edged sword, burying it in his body until the blood fell +into his girdle, until the ford was red with the blood of the +hero's body. Then Cuculain thrust an unerring spear over the rim of +the shield, and through the breast of Ferdiad's armor, so that the +point of the spear pierced his heart and showed through his +body.</p> +<p>"That is enough, now," said Ferdiad: "I fall for that!" Then +Cuculain ran towards him, and clasped his two arms about him, and +bore him with his arms and armor across the ford northwards. +Cuculain <span class="pagenum"><a name="page140" id= +"page140"></a>[pg 140]</span> laid Ferdiad down there, bowing over +his body in faintness and weakness. But the charioteer cried to +him, "Rise up, Cuculain, for the host is coming upon us, and it is +not single combat they will give thee, since Ferdiad, son of Daman, +son of Dairé, has fallen before thee!"</p> +<p>"Friend," Cuculain made answer, "what avails it for me to rise +after him that has fallen by me?"</p> +<p>Thus did Cuculain keep the ford, still known as the ford of +Ferdiad, Ath-Fhirdia on the Dee, in the midst of the green plain of +Louth. And while he fought at the ford of Ferdiad the army of Ulad +assembled, and coming southwards over the hills before Emain, +turned back the host of Meave the queen and pursued them. The army +of Meave fled westwards and southwards towards Connacht, passing +the Yellow Ford of Athboy and the Hill of Ward, the place of +sacrifice, where the fires on the Day of Spirits summoned the +priests and Druids to the offering. Fleeing still westwards from +the Yellow Ford, they passed between the lakes of Owel and Ennel, +with the men of Ulad still hot in their rear. Thus came pursued and +pursuers to Gairec, close by Athlone--the Ford of Luan--and the +wooded shore of the great Lough Ree. There was <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page141" id="page141"></a>[pg 141]</span> fought +a battle hardly less fatal to victors than to vanquished, for +though the hosts of Meave were routed, yet Concobar's men could not +continue the pursuit. Thus Meave escaped and Fergus with her, and +came to their great fort on the green hillside of Cruacan amid the +headwaters of the Shannon.</p> +<p>The victory of Concobar's men was like a defeat. There was not +food that pleased him, nor did sleep come to him by flight, so that +the Ulad wondered, and Catbad the right-wonderful Druid, himself a +warrior who had taught Concobar and reared him, went to Concobar to +learn the secret of his trouble. Therefore Catbad asked of Concobar +what wound had wounded him, what obstinate sickness had come upon +him, making him faint and pale, day after day.</p> +<p>"Great reason have I for it," answered Concobar, "for the four +great provinces of Erin have come against me, bringing with them +their bards and singers, that their ravages and devastations might +be recorded, and they have burned our fortresses and dwellings, and +Ailill and Meave have gained a battle against me. Therefore I would +be avenged upon Meave the queen."</p> +<p>"Thou hast already avenged it sternly, O Red-handed <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page142" id="page142"></a>[pg 142]</span> +Concobar," Catbad made answer, "by winning the battle over the four +provinces of Erin."</p> +<p>"That is no battle," Concobar answered, "where a strong king +falls not by hard fighting and by fury. That an army should escape +from a goodly battle! Unless Ailill should fall, and Meave, by me +in this encounter with valorous hosts, I tell you that my heart +will break, O Catbad!"</p> +<p>"This is my counsel for thee," replied Catbad, "to stay for the +present. For the winds are rough, and the roads are foul, and the +streams and the rivers are in flood, and the hands of the warriors +are busy making forts and strongholds among strangers. So wait till +the summer days come upon us, till every grassy sod is a pillow, +till our horses are full of spirit and our colts are strong, till +our men are whole of their wounds and hurts, till the nights are +short to watch and to ward and to guard in the land of enemies and +in the territories of strangers. Spring is not the time for an +invasion. But meanwhile let tidings be sent to thy friends in +absence, in the islands and throughout the northern seas."</p> +<p>Therefore messengers were sent with the tidings, and the friends +in absence of Concobar were summoned. They set forth with ships +from the islands <span class="pagenum"><a name="page143" id= +"page143"></a>[pg 143]</span> of the northern seas, and came +forward with the tide to the Cantyre headland. The green surges of +the tremendous sea rose about them, and a mighty storm rose against +them. Such was the strength of the storm that the fleet was parted +in three. A third of them, with the son of Amargin, came under the +cliffs of Fair Head, to the Bay of Murbolg, where huge columns +tower upward on the face of the cliff, high as the nests of the +eagles; cliffs ruddy and mighty, frowning tremendous across the +channel to Cantyre and Islay and far-away Jura. A third of the +ships came to the safer harbor of Larne, where bands of white seam +the cliff's redness, where the great headland is thrust forth +northwards, sheltering the bay from the eastern waves. A third of +the fleet came to the strand beside Dundelga, hard by the great +hill of earth where was reared the stronghold of Cuculain.</p> +<p>At that same time came Concobar with a thousand men to the fort +of Cuculain, and feasting was prepared for him at the House of +Delga. Nor was Concobar long there till he saw the bent spars of +sails and the full-crewed ships, and the scarlet pavilions, and the +many-colored banners, and the blue bright lances, and the weapons +of war. Then Concobar <span class="pagenum"><a name="page144" id= +"page144"></a>[pg 144]</span> called on the chiefs that were about +him, for the territory and land he had bestowed upon them, and for +the jewels he had given them, to stand firm and faithful. For he +knew not whether the ships were ships of his foes, of the Galian of +Lagin, now called Leinster, or the Munstermen of great Muma, or the +men of Olnemact, called afterwards Connacht; for the estuary of the +river and the strand were full of men.</p> +<p>Then Senca son of Ailill answered for the chieftains: "I give my +word, indeed, that Erin holds not a soldier who lays his hand in +the hand of a chieftain that is not known to me. If they be the men +of Erin thy foes that are there, I shall ask a truce of battle from +them; but if they be thy friends and allies, thou shalt the more +rejoice."</p> +<p>Then Senca son of Ailill went forward to the place where the +ships were, and learned that they were the friends in absence of +Concobar, come to be his allies against the four provinces of Erin. +Then Concobar spoke to Cuculain:</p> +<p>"Well, O Cuculain, let the horses of the plain of Murtemni be +caught by thee; let four-wheeled chariots be harnessed for them; +bring with them hither my friends from the ships in chariots and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page145" id="page145"></a>[pg +145]</span> four-wheeled cars, that feasting and enjoyment may be +prepared for them."</p> +<a name="145.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/145.jpg"><img src="images/145.jpg" +width="40%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>GRAY MAN'S PATH, FAIR HEAD.</b></p> +<p>They were brought in chariots to the feast, and carvers carved +for them, and serving-men carried the cups of mead. Songs were sung +to them, and they tarried there till sunrise on the morrow. Then +Concobar spoke again to Cuculain:</p> +<p>"It is well, Cuculain. Let messengers now be sent through the +lands of the Ulaid to the warriors of the Ulaid, that the foreign +friends may be ministered to by them also, while I make my camp +here by the river. And bid the thrice fifty veteran champions come +hither to me, that I may have their aid and counsel in battle."</p> +<p>But Cuculain would not. Therefore Concobar went himself to +summon the veterans. When they asked the cause of his coming, +Concobar answered, "Have you not heard how the four provinces of +Erin came against us, bringing with them their bards and singers, +that their ravages and devastations might the better be recorded, +and burning and plundering our fortresses and dwellings? Therefore +I would make an expedition of hostility against them, and with your +guidance and counsel would I make the expedition."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page146" id="page146"></a>[pg +146]</span> +<p>"Let our old steeds be caught by thee," they answered, "and let +our old chariots be yoked by thee, so that we may go on this +journey and expedition with thee." Then their old chargers were +caught, and their old chariots yoked, so that they too came to the +camp at the Water of Luachan.</p> +<p>This was told to the four provinces. The Three Waves of Erin +thundered in the night; the Wave of Clidna at Glandore in the +South; the Wave of Rudraige along the bent-carpeted sandhills of +Dundrum, under the Mountains of Mourne; and the Wave of Tuag Inbir, +at the bar of northern Bann. For these are the Three Waves of Fate +in Erin. Then the four provinces hosted their men. The son of +Lucta, the north Munster king, assembled his tribes at the Hill of +Luchra, between the Shannon mouth and the Summit of Prospects. +Ailill and Meave hosted the men of the west at Cruacan. Find, son +of Ros, king over the Galian of Leinster, gathered his army at +Dinn-Rig by the Barrow. Cairpré Nia Fer assembled his host +about him at Tara, in the valley of the Boyne.</p> +<p>This was the proposal of Eocu, son of Lucta, king of north +Munster by the Shannon: That everything should have its payment, +and that reparation should <span class="pagenum"><a name="page147" +id="page147"></a>[pg 147]</span> be made to Concobar for the +invasion; that a fort should be paid for every fort, for every +house a house, for every cow a cow, for every bull a bull; that the +great brown bull should be sent back, that the breadth of the face +of the bull in red gold should be given to Concobar, and that there +should be no more hostility among the men of Erin.</p> +<p>This was reported to Meave, but the queen answered, "A false +hand was his who gave this counsel. For so long as there shall be +among us one who can hold a sword, who can wear the shield-strap +about his neck, that proposal shall not go to him."</p> +<p>"Thy counsel is not mine," replied Ailill, "for not greater +shall be our part of that payment than the part of all the four +provinces who went on that raid for the bull." Therefore Meave +consented, and messengers were sent, and came to Tara by the Boyne, +where were Find, son of Ros, king of Leinster, and his brother +Cairpré Nia Fer, king of Tara. Thence they sent messengers +to treat with Concobar, but Concobar rejected the terms. "I give my +word, indeed," answered Concobar, "that I will not take terms from +you till my tent has been pitched in every province of Erin."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page148" id="page148"></a>[pg +148]</span> +<p>"Good, O Concobar," they replied; "where wilt thou now make thy +encampment to-night?"</p> +<p>"In the Headland of the Kings, by the clear bright Boyne," +answered Concobar, for Concobar concealed not ever from his enemy +the place in which he would take station or camp, that they might +not say that it was fear or dread that caused him not to say it. +Concobar, therefore, marched toward the Headland of the Kings, +across the Boyne to the southward, and facing the northern bank +where are the pyramids of the Dagda Mor and the De Danaans. But the +southern armies were there already, so Concobar halted before the +river. Then were their positions fixed and their pavilions pitched, +their huts and their tents were made. Their fires were kindled, +cooking and food and drink were prepared; baths of clean bathing +were made by them, and their hair was smooth-combed; their bodies +were minutely cleansed, supper and food were eaten by them; and +tunes and merry songs and eulogies were sung by them.</p> +<p>Then Concobar sent men to reconnoitre the southern and western +armies. Two went and returned not, falling indeed into the hands of +the foe. It seemed long to Concobar that the two were gone. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page149" id="page149"></a>[pg +149]</span> He spoke, therefore, to his kinsman: "Good indeed, +Irgalac, son of Macclac, son of Congal, son of Rudraige, sayest +thou who is proper to go to estimate and to reconnoitre the +army?"</p> +<p>"Who should go there," answered Irgalac, "but Iriel good at +arms, great-kneed son of Conall Cernac. He is a Conall for havoc, a +Cuculain for dexterity of feats. He is a Catbad, a right-wonderful +Druid, for intelligence and counsel, he is a Senca son of Ailill +for peace and for good speech, he is a Celtcair son of Utecar for +valor, he is a Concobar son of Factna Fatac for kingliness and +wide-eyed-ness, for giving of treasures and of wealth and of +riches. Who but Iriel should go?"</p> +<p>Therefore Iriel went forward: standing on the pyramid of the +Dagda, he began measuring and reconnoitering the army. His spirit, +or his mind, or his thoughts did not fret over them at all. He +brought their description with him to the place in which Concobar +was.</p> +<p>"How, my life, Iriel?" said Concobar. "I give my word truly," +said Iriel; "it seems to me that there is not ford on river, or +stone on hill, nor highway nor road in the territory of Breg or +Mide, that is not full of their horse-teams and of their servants. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page150" id="page150"></a>[pg +150]</span> It seems to me that their apparel and their gear and +their garments are the blaze of a royal house from the plain."</p> +<p>"Good, O Ulaid," said Concobar, "what is your advice to us for +the battle?" "Our advice is," said the Ulaid, "to wait till our +strong men and our leaders and our commanders and our supporters of +battle come." Not long was their waiting, and not great was their +stay, till they saw three chariot-warriors approaching them, and a +band of twelve hundred along with each rider of them. It is these +that were there--three of the goodly men of science of the Ulaid, +to wit, Catbad the right-wonderful Druid, and Aiterni the +Importunate, and Amargin the man of science and art. After them +came other valiant leaders with troops. Then Concobar arose and +took his gear of battle and of conflict and of combat about him, +saying, "Why should we not give battle?"</p> +<p>A third of the army of the Ulaid rose with him, too. And they +went over the river Boyne. And the other armies arose against them +as they were crossing the river. And each of them took to hacking +and to cutting down the other, destroying and wounding till there +was no similitude of the Ulaid at that <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page151" id="page151"></a>[pg 151]</span> point +of time, unless it were a huge sturdy oakwood in the middle of the +plain, and a great army were to go close to it, and the slender and +the small of the wood were cut off, but its huge sturdy oaks were +left behind. Thus their young were cut off, and none but their +champions and their battle-warriors and their good heroes of valor +were left.</p> +<p>The shield of Concobar was struck so that it moaned, and the +three Waves of Erin, the Wave of Clidna, the Wave of Rudraige, and +the Wave of Tuag Inbir echoed that moan, and all the shields of the +Ulaid resounded, every one of them that was on their shoulders and +in their chariots. As the Ulaid were retreating, fresh troops came +up for them under Conall Cernac. A tree of shelter and a wreath of +laurel and a hand above them was Conall to them. So their flight +was stayed. Then Conall drew the sharp long sword out of its sheath +of war and played the music of his sword on the armies. The ring of +Conall's sword was heard through the battalions on both sides. And +when they heard the music of Conall's sword their hearts quaked and +their eyes fluttered and their faces whitened, and each of them +withdrew back into his place of battle and of combat. But so fierce +was the onset of the southern armies <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page152" id="page152"></a>[pg 152]</span> that the fight of the +Ulaid against them was as a breast against a great flood, or an +arrow against the rock, or the striking of a head against cliffs. +Yet through the great might of Cuculain the Ulaid prevailed, and +Cairpré the King of Tara was slain. After the battle, +Concobar spoke thus: "There were three sons of Ros Ruad the +king--Find in Alend, Ailill in Cruac, Cairpré in Tara; +together they performed their deeds of valor, the three brothers in +every strife; together they used to give their battle. They were +three pillars of gold about their hills, abiding in strength; great +is their loss since the third son has fallen."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page153" id="page153"></a>[pg +153]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>FIND AND OSSIN.</h2> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page154" id="page154"></a>[pg +154]</span><br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page155" id="page155"></a>[pg +155]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="VII."></a>VII.</h2> +<br> +<h3>FIND AND OSSIN.</h3> +<h3>A.D. 200--290.</h3> +<br> +<p>Seventeen centuries ago, two hundred summers after the death of +Cuculain the hero, came the great and wonderful time of Find the +son of Cumal, Ossin the son of Find, and Find's grandson Oscur. It +was a period of growth and efflorescence; the spirit and +imaginative powers of the people burst forth with the freshness of +the prime. The life of the land was more united, coming to a +national consciousness.</p> +<p>The five kingdoms were now clearly defined, with Meath, in the +central plain, predominant over the others, and in a certain sense +ruling all Ireland from the Hill of Tara. The code of honor was +fixed; justice had taken well-defined forms; social life had +ripened to genial urbanity. The warriors were gathered together +into something like a regular army, a power rivaling the kings. Of +this army, Find, son of Cumal, was the most renowned leader--a +warrior and a poet, who embodied in himself the very genius of the +time, its fresh naturalness, its ripeness, its <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page156" id="page156"></a>[pg 156]</span> +imagination. No better symbol of the spirit of his age could be +found than Find's own "Ode to Spring":</p> +<p>"May-day! delightful time! How beautiful the color! The +blackbirds sing their full lay. Would that Laigay were here! The +cuckoos call in constant strains. How welcome is ever the noble +brightness of the season. On the margin of the leafy pools the +summer swallows skim the stream. Swift horses seek the pools. The +heath spreads out its long hair. The white, gentle cotton-grass +grows. The sea is lulled to rest. Flowers cover the earth."</p> +<p>Find's large and imaginative personality is well drawn in one of +the poems of his golden-tongued son Ossin, though much of the +beauty of Ossin's form is lost in the change of tongue:</p> +<blockquote>"Six thousand gallant men of war<br> +We sought the rath o'er Badamar;<br> +To the king's palace home we bent<br> +Our way. His bidden guests we went.<br> + 'Twas Clocar Fair,<br> + And Find was there,<br> + The Fians from the hills around<br> + Had gathered to the race-course ground.<br> +From valley deep and wooded glen<br> +Fair Munster sent its mighty men;<br> +And Fiaca, Owen's son, the king,<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page157" id="page157"></a>[pg +157]</span> Was there the contest witnessing.<br> +'Twas gallant sport! With what delight<br> +Leaped thousand pulses at the sight.<br> + How all hearts bound<br> + As to the ground<br> +First are brought forth the Fian steeds,<br> +Then those from Luimnea's sunny meads.<br> +Three heats on Mac Mareda's green<br> +They run; and foremost still is seen<br> +Dill Mac Decreca's coal-black steed.<br> +At Crag-Lochgur he takes the lead.<br> +<br> +"His is the day--and, lo! the king<br> +The coal-black steed soliciting<br> +From Dill the Druid!--'Take for it<br> +A hundred beeves; for it is fit<br> +The black horse should be mine to pay<br> +Find for his deeds of many a day.'<br> +<br> +"Then spoke the Druid, answering<br> +His grandson, Fiaca the king:<br> +'Take my blessing; take the steed,<br> +For the hero's fitting meed:<br> +Give it for thy honor's sake.'<br> +And to Find the King thus spake<br> +<br> +"'Hero, take the swift black steed,<br> +Of thy valor fitting meed;<br> +And my car, in battle-raid<br> +Gazed on by the foe with fear;<br> +And a seemly steed for thy charioteer.<br> +Chieftain, be this good sword thine,<br> +Purchased with a hundred kine,<br> +In thine hand be it our aid.<br> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page158" id="page158"></a>[pg +158]</span> Take this spear, whose point the breath<br> +Of venomed words has armed with death,<br> +And the silver-orbèd shield,<br> +Sunbeam of the battlefield!<br> +And take with thee<br> +My grayhounds three,<br> +Slender and tall,<br> +Bright-spotted all,<br> +Take them with thee, chieftain bold,<br> +With their chainlets light<br> +Of the silver white,<br> +And their neck-rings of the tawny gold.<br> +Slight not thou our offering,<br> +Son of Cumal, mighty king!"<br> +<br> +"Uprose Find our chieftain bold,<br> +Stood before the Fian ranks,<br> +To the king spoke gracious thanks,<br> +Took the gifts the monarch gave;<br> +Then each to each these champions brave<br> +Glorious sight to see and tell,<br> +Spoke their soldier-like farewell!<br> +<br> +"The way before us Find led then;<br> +We followed him, six thousand men,<br> +From out the Fair, six thousand brave,<br> +To Caicer's house of Cloon-na-Dave.<br> +<br> +"Three nights, three days, did all of us<br> +Keep joyous feast in Caicer's house;<br> +Fifty rings of the yellow gold<br> +To Caicer Mac Caroll our chieftain told;<br> +As many cows and horses gave<br> +To Caicer Mac Caroll our chieftain brave.<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page159" id="page159"></a>[pg +159]</span> Well did Find of Innisfail<br> +Pay the price of his food and ale.<br> +<br> +"Find rode o'er the Luacra, joyous man,<br> +Till he reached the strand at Barriman;<br> +At the lake where the foam on the billow's top<br> +Leaps white, did Find and the Fians stop.<br> +<br> +"'Twas then that our chieftain rode and ran<br> +Along the strand of Barriman;<br> +Trying the speed<br> +Of his swift black steed,--<br> +Who now but Find was a happy man?<br> +<br> +"Myself and Cailté at each side,<br> +In wantonness of youthful pride,<br> +Would ride with him where he might ride.<br> +Fast and furious rode he,<br> +Urging his steed to far Tralee.<br> +On from Tralee by Lerg duv-glass,<br> +And o'er Fraegmoy, o'er Finnass,<br> +O'er Moydeo, o'er Monaken,<br> +On to Shan-iber, o'er Shan-glen,<br> +Till the clear stream of Flesk we win,<br> +And reach the pillar of Crofinn;<br> +O'er Sru-Muny, o'er Moneket,<br> +And where the fisher spreads his net<br> +To snare the salmon of Lemain,<br> +And thence to where our coursers' feet<br> +Wake the glad echoes of Loch Leane;<br> +And thus fled he,<br> +Nor slow were we;<br> +Through rough and smooth our course we strain.<br> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page160" id="page160"></a>[pg +160]</span> "Long and swift our stride,--more fleet<br> +Than the deer of the mountain our coursers' feet!<br> +Away to Flesk by Carnwood dun;<br> +And past Mac Scalvé's Mangerton,<br> +Till Find reached Barnec Hill at last;<br> +There rested he, and then we passed<br> +Up the high hill before him, and:<br> +'Is there no hunting hut at hand?'<br> +He thus addressed us; 'The daylight<br> +Is gone, and shelter for the night<br> +We lack.' He scarce had ended, when<br> +Gazing adown the rocky glen,<br> +On the left hand, just opposite,<br> +He saw a house with its fire lit;<br> +'That house till now I've never seen,<br> +Though many a time and oft I've been<br> +In this wild glen. Come, look at it!'<br> +<br> +"Yes, there are things that our poor wit<br> +Knows little of,' said Cailté; 'thus<br> +This may be some miraculous<br> +Hostel we see, whose generous blaze<br> +Thy hospitality repays,<br> +Large-handed son of Cumal!'--So<br> +On to the house all three we go...."</blockquote> +<p>Of their entry to the mysterious house, of the ogre and the +witch they found there, of the horrors that gathered on all sides, +when</p> +<blockquote>"From iron benches on the right<br> +Nine headless bodies rose to sight,<br> +And on the left, from grim repose,<br> +Nine heads that had no bodies rose,..."</blockquote> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page161" id="page161"></a>[pg +161]</span> +<p>Ossin likewise tells, and how, overcome, they fell at last into +a deathlike trance and stupor, till the sunlight woke them lying on +the heathery hillside, the house utterly vanished away.</p> +<p>The scenes of all the happenings in the story are well known: +the rath of Badamar is near Caher on the Suir, in the midst of the +Golden Vale, a plain of wonderful richness and beauty, walled in by +the red precipices of the Galtee Mountains, and the Knock-Mealdown +Hills. From the rath of Badamar Find could watch the western +mountains reddening and glowing in front of the dawn, as the +sun-rays shot level over the burnished plain. Clocar is thirty +miles westward over the Golden Vale, near where Croom now stands; +and here were run the races; here Find gained the gift of the +coal-black steed. It is some forty miles still westwards to the +Strand of Tralee; the last half of the way among hills carpeted +with heather; and the Strand itself, with the tide out, leaves a +splendid level of white sand as far as the eye can reach, tempting +Find to try his famous courser. The race carried them southwards +some fifteen miles to the beautiful waters of Lough Leane, with its +overhanging wooded hills, the Lake of Killarney, southward of which +rises the huge red mass <span class="pagenum"><a name="page162" id= +"page162"></a>[pg 162]</span> of Mangerton, in the midst of a +country everywhere rich in beauty. The Hill of Barnec is close by, +but the site of the magic dwelling, who can tell? Perhaps Find; or +Cailté, or golden-tongued Ossin himself.</p> +<p>There was abundant fighting in those days, for well within +memory was the time of Conn of the Five-score Fights, against whom +Cumal had warred because Conn lord of Connacht had raised Crimtan +of the Yellow Hair to the kingship of Leinster. Cumal fought at the +Rath that bears his name, now softened to Rathcool, twelve miles +inward from the sea at Dublin, with the hills rising up from the +plain to the south of the Rath. Cumal fought and fell, slain by +Goll Mac Morna, and enmity long endured between Find and Goll who +slew his sire. But like valiant men they were reconciled, and when +Goll in his turn died, Find made a stirring poem on Goll's mighty +deeds.</p> +<p>Another fateful fight for Find was the battle of Kinvarra, among +the southern rocks of Galway Bay; for though he broke through the +host of his foeman Uincé, that chieftain himself escaped, +and, riding swiftly with a score of men, came to Find's own +dwelling at Druim Dean on the Red Hills of Leinster, <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page163" id="page163"></a>[pg 163]</span> and +burned the dwelling, leaving it a smoldering ruin. Find pursuing, +overtook them, slaying them at the ford called to this day +Ath-uincé, the ford of Uincé. Returning homewards, +Find found his house desolate, and the song he sang still holds the +memory of his sorrow.</p> +<p>Two poems he made, on the Plain of Swans and on Roirend in +Offaly, full of vivid pictures and legends; and one of romantic +tragedy, telling how the two daughters of King Tuatal Tectmar were +treacherously slain, through the malice of the Leinster king. But +of romances and songs of fair women in the days of Find, the best +is the Poem of Gael, who composed it to win a princess for his +bride.</p> +<p>Of fair Credé of the Yellow Hair it was said that there +was scarce a gem in all Erin that she had not got as a love-token, +but that she would give her heart to none. Credé had vowed +that she would marry the man who made the best verses on her home, +a richly-adorned dwelling in the south, under the twin cones of the +Paps, and within sight of Lough Leane and Killarney. Cael took up +the challenge, and invoking the Genius that dwelt in the sacred +pyramid of Brugh on the Boyne he made these verses, and came to +recite them to yellow-haired Credé:</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page164" id="page164"></a>[pg +164]</span> +<blockquote>"It would be happy for me to be in her home,<br> +Among her soft and downy couches,<br> +Should Credé deign to hear me;<br> +Happy for me would be my journey.<br> + A bowl she has, whence berry-juice +flows,<br> +With which she colors her eyebrows black;<br> +She has clear vessels of fermenting ale;<br> +Cups she has, and beautiful goblets.<br> + The color of her house is white like +lime;<br> +Within it are couches and green rushes;<br> +Within it are silks and blue mantles;<br> +Within it are red gold and crystal cups.<br> + Of its sunny chamber the corner stones<br> +Are all of silver and yellow gold,<br> +Its roof in stripes of faultless order<br> +Of wings of brown and crimson red.<br> + Two doorposts of green I see,<br> +Nor is the door devoid of beauty;<br> +Of carved silver,--long has it been renowned,--<br> +Is the lintel that is over the door.<br> + Credé's chair is on your right +hand,<br> +The pleasantest of the pleasant it is;<br> +All over a blaze of Alpine gold,<br> +At the foot of her beautiful couch...<br> + The household which is in her house<br> +To the happiest fate has been destined;<br> +Grey and glossy are their garments;<br> +Twisted and fair is their flowing hair.<br> + Wounded men would sink in sleep,<br> +Though ever so heavily teeming with blood,<br> +With the warbling of the fairy birds<br> +From the eaves of her sunny summer-room.<br> + If I am blessed with the lady's grace,<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page165" id="page165"></a>[pg +165]</span> Fair Credé for whom the cuckoo sings,<br> +In songs of praise shall ever live,<br> +If she but repay me for my gift....<br> + There is a vat of royal bronze,<br> +Whence flows the pleasant; nice of malt;<br> +An apple-tree stands over the vat,<br> +With abundance of weighty fruit.<br> + When Credé's goblet is filled<br> +With the ale of the noble vat,<br> +There drop down into the cup forthwith<br> +Four apples at the same time.<br> + The four attendants that have been +named,<br> +Arise and go to the distributing,<br> +They present to four of the guests around<br> +A drink to each man and an apple.<br> + She who possesses all these things,<br> +With the strand and the stream that flow by them,<br> +Credé of the three-pointed hill,<br> +Is a spear-cast beyond the women of Erin.<br> + Here is a poem for her,--no mean gift.<br> +It is not a hasty, rash composition;<br> +To Credé now it is here presented:<br> +May my journey be brightness to her!"</blockquote> +<a name="165.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/165.jpg"><img src="images/165.jpg" +width="80%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>COLLEEN BAWN CAVES, KILLARNEY.</b></p> +<p>Tradition says that the heart of the yellow-haired beauty was +utterly softened and won, so that she delayed not to make Cael +master of the dwelling he so well celebrated; master, perhaps, of +all the jewels of Erin that her suitors had given her. Yet their +young love was not destined to meet the storms and frosts of the +years; for Cael the gallant fell in battle, <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page166" id="page166"></a>[pg 166]</span> his +melodious lips for ever stilled. Thus have these two become +immortal in song.</p> +<p>We have seen Cailté with Ossin following Find in his wild +ride through the mountains of Killarney, and to Cailté is +attributed the saying that echoes down the ages: "There are things +that our poor wit knows nothing off!" Cailté was a great +lover of the supernatural, yet there was in him also a vein of +sentiment, shown in his poem on the death of Clidna--"Clidna the +fair-haired, long to be remembered," who was tragically drowned at +Glandore harbor in the south, and whose sad wraith still moans upon +the bar, in hours of fate for the people of Erin.</p> +<p>In a gayer vein is the poem of Fergus the Eloquent, who sang the +legend of Tipra Seangarmna, the Fountain of the Feale River, which +flows westward to the sea from the mountains north of Killarney. +The river rises among precipices, gloomy caverns and ravines, and +passes through vales full of mysterious echoes amid mist-shrouded +hills. There, as Fergus sings, were Ossin and his following +hunting, when certain ominous fair women lured them to a +cave,--women who were but insubstantial wraiths,--to hold them +captive till the seasons ran full circle, summer giving place again +to winter and <span class="pagenum"><a name="page167" id= +"page167"></a>[pg 167]</span> spring. But Ossin, being himself of +more than human wisdom, found a way to trick the spirits; for daily +he cut chips from his spear and sent them floating down the spring, +till Find at last saw them, and knew the tokens as Ossin's, and, +coming, delivered his son from durance among ghosts.</p> +<p>The great romantic theme of the time binds the name of Find, son +of Cumal, with that of Cormac, son of Art, and grandson of Conn of +the Five-score Battles. This Cormac was himself a notable man of +wisdom, and here are some of the Precepts he taught to +Cairbré, his son:</p> +<p>"O grandson of Conn, O Cormac," Cairbré asked him, "what +is good for a king?"</p> +<p>"This is plain," answered Cormac. "It is good for him to have +patience and not to dispute, self-government without anger, +affability without haughtiness, diligent attention to history, +strict observance of covenants and agreements, justice tempered by +mercy in the execution of the laws. It is good for him to make +fertile land, to invite ships, to import jewels of price from +across the sea, to purchase and distribute raiment, to keep +vigorous swordsmen who may protect his territory, to make war +beyond his territory, to attend to the sick, to discipline his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page168" id="page168"></a>[pg +168]</span> soldiers. Let him enforce fear, let him perfect peace, +let him give mead and wine, let him pronounce just judgments of +light, let him speak all truth, for it is through the truth of a +king that God gives favorable seasons."</p> +<p>"O grandson of Conn, O Cormac," Cairbré again asked him, +"what is good for the welfare of a country?"</p> +<p>"This is plain," answered Cormac. "Frequent assemblies of wise +and good men to investigate its affairs, to abolish every evil and +retain every wholesome institution, to attend to the precepts of +the seniors; let every assembly be convened according to the law, +let the law be in the hands of the noblest, let the chieftains be +upright and unwilling to oppress the poor."</p> +<p>"O grandson of Conn, O Cormac," again asked Cairbré, +"what are duties of a prince in the banqueting-house?"</p> +<p>"A prince on the Day of Spirits should light his lamps and +welcome his guests with clapping of hands, offering comfortable +seats; the cup-bearers should be active in distributing meat and +drink. Let there be moderation of music, short stories, a welcoming +countenance, a greeting for the learned, <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page169" id="page169"></a>[pg 169]</span> +pleasant conversation. These are the duties of a prince and the +arrangement of a banqueting-house."</p> +<p>"O grandson of Conn, O Cormac, for what qualifications is a king +elected over countries and tribes of people?"</p> +<p>"From the goodness of his shape and family, from his experience +and wisdom, from his prudence and magnanimity, from his eloquence +and bravery in battle, and from the number of his friends."</p> +<p>"O grandson of Conn, O Cormac, what was thy deportment when a +youth?"</p> +<p>"I was cheerful at the banquet of the House of Mead, I was +fierce in battle, but vigilant and careful. I was kind to friends, +a physician to the sick, merciful to the weak, stern toward the +headstrong. Though possessed of knowledge, I loved silence. Though +strong, I was not overbearing. Though young, I mocked not the old. +Though valiant, I was not vain. When I spoke of one absent I +praised and blamed him not, for by conduct like this are we known +to be courteous and refined."</p> +<p>"O grandson of Conn, O Cormac, what is good for me?"</p> +<p>"If thou attend to my command, thou wilt not scorn the old +though thou art young, nor the poor <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page170" id="page170"></a>[pg 170]</span> though thou art well +clad, nor the lame though thou art swift, nor the blind though thou +seest, nor the weak though thou art strong, nor the ignorant though +thou art wise. Be not slothful, be not passionate, be not greedy, +be not idle, be not jealous; for he who is so is hateful to God and +man."</p> +<p>"O grandson of Conn, O Cormac, I would know how to hold myself +with the wise and the foolish, with friends and strangers, with old +and young."</p> +<p>"Be not too knowing or simple, too proud or inactive, too humble +or haughty, talkative or too silent, timid or too severe. For if +thou art too knowing, thou wilt be mocked at and abused; if too +simple, thou wilt be deceived; if proud, thou wilt be shunned; if +too humble, thou wilt suffer; if talkative, thou wilt be thought +foolish; if too severe, men will speak ill of thee; if timid, thy +rights will suffer."</p> +<p>"O grandson of Conn, O Cormac, how shall I discern the +characters of women?"</p> +<p>"I know them, but I cannot describe them. Their counsel is +foolish, they are forgetful of love, most headstrong in their +desires, fond of folly, prone to enter rashly into engagements, +given to swearing, proud to be asked in marriage, tenacious of +enmity, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page171" id= +"page171"></a>[pg 171]</span> cheerless at the banquet, rejectors +of reconciliation, prone to strife, of much garrulity. Until evil +be good, until hell be heaven, until the sun hide his light, until +the stars of heaven fall, women will remain as we have declared. +Woe to him, my son, who desires or serves a bad woman, woe to him +who has a bad wife."</p> +<p>Was there some thought of his daughter Grania in Cormac's mind, +behind these keen-edged; words?--of Grania, beloved of Diarmuid? +When the winters of the years were already white on Find, son of +Cumal, when Ossin his son had a son of his own, Oscur the valiant, +the two old men, Cormac the king and Find leader of the warriors, +bethought them to make a match between Find and Grania, one of the +famous beauties of the olden time. A banquet was set in the great +House of Mead, and Find and his men were there, Diarmuid son of +Duibné being also there, best beloved among Find's warriors. +There was a custom, much in honor among the chieftains, that a +princess should send her goblet to the guests, offering it to each +with gentle courtesy. This grace fell to the lady Grania, whose +whole heart rose up against her grey-bearded lover, and was indeed +set on Diarmuid the son of Duibné. Grania compounded +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page172" id="page172"></a>[pg +172]</span> a dreamy draught to mix with the mead, so that all the +chieftains and warriors, with Cormac and Find himself, even while +praising the drink, fell straightway a-nodding, and were soon in +silent sleep, all except Ossin and Diarmuid, whom Grania had bidden +not to drink.</p> +<p>Then Grania, her voice all tremulous with tears, told to Ossin +the fate that awaited her, looking at him, but speaking for +Diarmuid; bewailing bitterly the misery of fair youth in the arms +of withered eld, and at last turning and openly begging Diarmuid to +save her from her fate. To carry away a king's daughter, betrothed +to the leader of the warriors, was a perilous thing, and Diarmuid's +heart stood still at the thought of it; yet Grania's tears +prevailed, and they two fled forth that night to the hills and +forests. Dire and ruinous was the wrath of Cormac and of Find when +they awoke and found that these two were fled; and whatever might +was in the king's hand, whatever power in the hosts of Find, was +straightway turned against them in pursuit. Yet the two fled as the +deer might fly, visiting with their loves every wood and valley in +Erin, till the memory of them lingers throughout all the hills. +Finally, after a year's joyful and fearsome fleeing, the Fian +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page173" id="page173"></a>[pg +173]</span> warriors everywhere aiding them for love of Diarmuid, +swift death came upon Diarmuid, and Grania was left desolate.</p> +<p>But Angus the Ever-Young, guardian Genius of the pyramid-shrine +of Brugh by the Boyne, De Danaan dweller in the secret house, Angus +of the Immortals received the spirit of Diarmuid, opening for him +the ways of the hidden world.</p> +<p>But enmity grew between Find with his warriors and Cormac the +king, till at last a battle was fought where Find's men fell, and +Cairbré, the well-instructed son of Cormac also fell. Thus +passed away the ruling spirits of that age, the flowering time of +the genius of Erin.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page174" id="page174"></a>[pg +174]</span><br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page175" id="page175"></a>[pg +175]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>THE MESSENGER OF THE NEW WAY.</h2> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page176" id="page176"></a>[pg +176]</span><br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page177" id="page177"></a>[pg +177]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="VIII."></a>VIII.</h2> +<br> +<h3>THE MESSENGER OF THE NEW WAY.</h3> +<h3>A.D. 410-493.</h3> +<br> +<p>The valor of Fergus and Cuculain, the rich imaginative life of +Find and Ossin, were the flower of heroic centuries. Strong men had +fought for generations before Concobar reigned at Emain of Maca. +Poets had sung their deeds of valor, and the loves of fair women, +and the magical beauty of the world, through hardly changing ages. +The heroes of fame were but the best fruit in the garden of the +nation's life. So ripe was that life, more than two thousand years +ago, that it is hard to say what they did not know, of the things +which make for amenity and comity. The colors of the picture are +everywhere rich, yet perfectly harmonized.</p> +<p>The earliest forms of Irish writing seem to have come from the +Baltic runes, and these, in their turn, from an old Greek script of +twenty-five hundred years ago. The runes spread as far as the +Orkneys, and there they were well within the horizon of Ireland's +knowledge. Nothing would be more natural <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page178" id="page178"></a>[pg 178]</span> than +the keeping of written records in Erin for three or four hundred +years before Cuculain's birth, nineteen hundred years ago.</p> +<p>The arts of life were very perfect; the gold-work of that time +is unsurpassed--has never been surpassed. At a far earlier time +there were beautifully moulded and decorated gold-bronze spears, +that show what richness of feeling and imagination, what just taste +and fine skill were there. All our knowledge goes to show that the +suitor of Credé has drawn a true picture of her house and +the generous social life belonging to it. We know, too, that the +great dining-hall of Tara has been faithfully celebrated by the +bards; the picture of the king in his scarlet cloak is +representative of the whole epoch.</p> +<p>The story of Credé also shows the freedom and honor +accorded to women, as does the queenship of Meave, with the record +of her separate riches. The tragedies of Deirdré and Grania +would never have been remembered, had not the freedom and high +regard of women been universal. Such decorative skill as is shown +in the metal-work and pottery that have come down to us must have +borne fruit in every realm of social life, in embroideries, +tapestries, well-designed and beautifully adorned homes. Music +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page179" id="page179"></a>[pg +179]</span> is everywhere spoken of in the old traditions, and the +skill of the poets we can judge for ourselves.</p> +<p>In all that concerns the natural man, therefore, a very high +perfection had been reached. A frame of life had grown habitual, +which brought out the finest vigor and strength and beauty. +Romantic love added its riches to valor, and dignity was given by +the ever-present memory of the heroic past, merging on the horizon +with the divine dawn of the world. Manhood and womanhood had come +to perfect flower. The crown rested on the brow of the nation's +life.</p> +<p>When the life of the natural man is perfected, the time comes to +strike the note of the immortal, to open the door of our real and +enduring destiny. Sensual success, the ideal of unregenerate man, +was perfectly realized in Concobar and ten thousand like him. The +destiny of triumphant individual life, the strong man victorious +over nature and other men, was fulfilled. Individual prowess, +individual accomplishment, could go no further.</p> +<p>Nor should we overlook the dark shadows of the picture. Glory is +to the victor, but woe to the vanquished. The continual warfare +between tribe and tribe, between chief and chief, which made every +valley a home of warriors dominated by a rath-fortress, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page180" id="page180"></a>[pg +180]</span> bore abundant fruits of evil. Death in battle need not +be reckoned, or may be counted as pure gain; but the fate of the +wounded, maimed and miserable, the destitution of women and +children left behind, the worse fate of the captives, sold as they +were into exile and slavery,--all these must be included in the +total.</p> +<p>Nor are these material losses the worst. The great evil of the +epoch of tribal war is its reaction on the human spirit. The +continual struggle of ambition draws forth egotism, the desire to +dominate for mere domination, the sense of separation and +antagonism between man and man, tribe and tribe, province and +province.</p> +<p>But our real human life begins only when these evil tendencies +are abated; when we learn to watch the life of others as if it were +our own,--as being indeed a part of our own life,--and in every act +and motion of our minds do only that which shall be to the best +advantage of both ourselves and our neighbor. For only thus, only +by the incessant practice of this in imagination and act, can the +door of our wider and more humane consciousness be opened.</p> +<a name="181.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/181.jpg"><img src="images/181.jpg" +width="80%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>RUINS ON SCATTERY ISLAND.</b></p> +<p>Nor is this all. There are in us vast unexplored tracts of power +and wisdom; tracts not properly belonging <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page181" id="page181"></a>[pg 181]</span> to our +personal and material selves, but rather to the impersonal and +universal consciousness which touches us from within, and which we +call divine. Our personal fate is closed by death; but we have a +larger destiny which death does not touch; a destiny enduring and +immortal. The door to this larger destiny can only be opened after +we have laid down the weapons of egotism; after we have become +veritably humane. There must be a death to militant self-assertion, +a new birth to wide and universal purposes, before this larger life +can be understood and known.</p> +<p>With all the valor and rich life of the days of Cuculain and +Ossin, the destructive instinct of antagonism was very deeply +rooted in all hearts; it did endless harm to the larger interests +of the land, and laid Ireland open to attack from without. Because +the genius of the race was strong and highly developed, the harm +went all the deeper; even now, after centuries, it is not wholly +gone.</p> +<p>The message of the humane and the divine, taught among the +Galilean hills and on the shores of Gennesaret, was after four +centuries brought to Ireland--a word of new life to the warriors +and chieftains, enkindling and transforming their heroic world. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page182" id="page182"></a>[pg +182]</span> Britain had received the message before, for Britain +was a part of the dominion of Rome, which already had its imperial +converts. Roman life and culture and knowledge of the Latin tongue +had spread throughout the island up to the northern barrier between +the Forth and Clyde. Beyond this was a wilderness of warring +tribes.</p> +<p>Where the Clyde comes forth from the plain to the long estuary +of the sea, the Messenger of the Tidings was born. His father, +Calpurn, was a Roman patrician; from this his son, whose personal +name was Succat, was surnamed Patricius, a title raised by his +greatness into a personal name. His letters give us a vivid picture +of his captivity, and the stress of life which gradually aroused in +him the inspiration of the humane and divine ripened later into a +full knowledge of his apostolate.</p> +<p>"I Patricius, a sinner," he writes, "and most unlearned of +believers, looked down upon by many, had for my father the deacon +Calpurn, son of the elder Potitus, of a place called Bannova in +Tabernia, near to which was his country home. There I was taken +captive, when not quite sixteen. I knew not the Eternal. Being led +into captivity with thousands of others, I was brought to +Ireland,--a fate well <span class="pagenum"><a name="page183" id= +"page183"></a>[pg 183]</span> deserved. For we had turned from the +Eternal, nor kept the laws of the Eternal. Nor had we heeded the +teachers who urged us to seek safety. Therefore the Eternal, justly +wroth, scattered us among unbelievers, to the uttermost parts of +the earth; here, where my poor worth is now seen among strangers, +where the Eternal liberated the power hid in my unenkindled heart, +that even though late I should recognize my error, and turn with +all my heart to the Eternal....</p> +<p>"I have long had it in mind to write, but until now have +hesitated; for I feared blame, because I had not studied law and +the sacred writings,--as have others who have never changed their +language, but gone on to perfection in it; but my speech is +translated into another language, and the roughness of my writing +shows how little I have been taught. As the Sage says, 'Show by thy +speech thy wisdom and knowledge and learning.' But what profits +this excuse? since all can see how in my old age I struggle after +what I should have learned as a boy. For then my sinfulness +hindered me. I was but a beardless boy when I was taken captive, +not knowing what to do and what to avoid; therefore I am ashamed to +show my ignorance now? because I never learned to <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page184" id="page184"></a>[pg 184]</span> +express great matters succinctly and well;--great matters like the +moving of the soul and mind by the Divine Breath.... Nor, indeed, +was I worthy that the Master should so greatly favor me, after all +my hard labor and heavy toil, and the years of captivity amongst +this people,--that the Master should show me such graciousness as I +never knew nor hoped for till I came to Ireland.</p> +<p>"But daily herding cattle here, and aspiring many times a day, +the fear of the Eternal grew daily in me. A divine dread and +aspiration grew in me, so that I often prayed a hundred times a +day, and as many times in the night. I often remained in the woods +and on the hills, rising to pray while it was yet dark, in snow or +frost or rain; yet I took no harm. The Breath of the Divine burned +within me, so that nothing remained in me unenkindled.</p> +<p>"One night, while I was sleeping, I heard a voice saying to me, +'You have fasted well, and soon you shall see your home and your +native land.' Soon after, I heard the voice again, saying, 'The +ship is ready for you.' But the ship was not near, but two hundred +miles off, in a district I had never visited, and where I knew no +one. Therefore I fled, leaving <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page185" id="page185"></a>[pg 185]</span> the master I had served +for six years, and found the ship by divine guidance, going without +fear....</p> +<p>"We reached the land after three days' sail; then for +twenty-eight days we wandered through a wilderness.... Once more, +after years of exile, I was at home again with my kindred, among +the Britons. All welcomed me like a son, earnestly begging me that, +after the great dangers I had passed through, I would never again +leave my home.</p> +<p>"While I was at home, in a vision of the night I saw one who +seemed to come from Ireland, bringing innumerable letters. He gave +me one of the letters, in which I read, 'The voices of the Irish +...;' and while I read, it seemed to me that I heard the cry of the +dwellers by the forest of Foclut, by the Western Ocean, calling +with one voice to me, 'Come and dwell with us!' My heart was so +moved that I awoke, and I give thanks to my God who after many +years has given to them according to their petition.</p> +<p>"On another night, whether within me or without me I know not, +God knows, One prayed with very wonderful words that I could not +comprehend, till at last He said, 'It is He who gave His soul for +you, that speaks!' I awoke for joy. And once in a vision I saw Him +praying within me, as it were; I <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page186" id="page186"></a>[pg 186]</span> saw myself, as it were, +within myself; and I heard Him praying urgently and strongly over +the inner man; I being meanwhile astonished, and wondering who thus +prayed within me, till at the end He declared that I should be an +overseer for Him....</p> +<p>"I had not believed in the living Divine from childhood, but had +remained in the realm of death until hunger and nakedness and daily +slavery in Ireland--for I came there as a captive--had so afflicted +me that I almost broke down. Yet these things brought good, for +through that daily suffering I was so changed that I work and toil +now for the well-being of others, I who formerly took no care even +for myself....</p> +<p>"Therefore I thank Him who kept me faithful in the day of trial, +that I live to offer myself daily as a living offering to Him who +saves and guards me. Well may I say, 'Master, what am I, what is my +calling, that such grace and divine help are given to me--that I am +every day raised to greater power among these unbelievers, while I +everywhere praise thy name? Whatever comes to me, whether happiness +or misery, whether good or evil fortune, I hold it all the same; +giving Thee equal thanks for it, because Thou hast unveiled for me +the One, sure and <span class="pagenum"><a name="page187" id= +"page187"></a>[pg 187]</span> unchanging, in whom I may for ever +believe. So that in these latter days, even though I am ignorant, I +may dare to undertake so righteous a work, and so wonderful, that +makes me like those who, according to His promise, should carry His +message to all people before the end of the world.</p> +<p>"It were long in whole or even in part to tell of my labours, or +how the all-powerful One many times set me free from bondage, and +from twelve perils wherein my life was in danger, and from nameless +pitfalls. It were ill to try the reader too far, when I have within +me the Author himself, who knows all things even before they +happen, as He knows me, His poor disciple. The voice that so often +guides me is divine; and thence it is that wisdom has come to me, +who had no wisdom, knowing not Him, nor the number of my days: +thence comes my knowledge and heart's joy in His great and healing +gift, for the sake of which I willingly left my home and kindred, +though they offered me many gifts with tears and sorrow.</p> +<p>"Many of the older people also disapproved, but through divine +help I would not give way. It was no grace of mine, but the divine +power in me that stood out against all, so that I came to bear the +Message <span class="pagenum"><a name="page188" id= +"page188"></a>[pg 188]</span> here among the people of Ireland, +suffering the scorn of those who believed not, and bearing derision +and many persecutions, and even chains. Nay, I even lost my +patrician rank for the good of others. But if I be worthy to do +something for the Divine, I am ready with all my heart to yield +service, even to the death, since it has been permitted that +through me many might be reborn to the divine, and that others +might be appointed to teach them....</p> +<p>"The people of Ireland, who formerly had only their idols and +pagan ritual, not knowing the Master, have now become His children. +The sons of the Scoti and their kings' daughters are now become +sons of the Master and handmaidens of the Anointed. And one nobly +born lady among them, a beautiful woman whom I baptized myself, +came soon after to tell me that she was divinely admonished to live +in maidenhood, drawing nearer to Him. Six days later she entered +the grade that all the handmaidens of the Anointed desire, though +their fathers and mothers would hinder them, reproaching and +afflicting them; nevertheless, they grow in number, so that I know +not how many they are, besides widows and continent women, who +suffer most from those who hold them in bondage. Yet they stand +firm, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page189" id="page189"></a>[pg +189]</span> and God grants grace to many of them worthily to follow +Him.</p> +<p>"Therefore I might even leave them, to go among the +Britons,--for willingly would I see my own kindred and my native +land again, or even go as far as Gaul to visit my brothers, and see +the faces of my Master's holy men. But I am bound in the Spirit, +and would be unfaithful if I went. Nor would I willingly risk the +fruit of all my work. Yet it is not I who decide, but the Master, +who bid me come hither, to spend my whole life in serving, as +indeed I think I shall....</p> +<p>"Therefore I should ever thank Him who was so tolerant of my +ignorance and sluggishness, so many times; treating me not in anger +but as a fellow-worker, though I was slow to learn the work set for +me by the Spirit. He pitied me amongst many thousands, for he saw +that I was very willing, but did net know how to offer my +testimony. For they all opposed my mission, and talked behind my +back, saying, 'He wishes to risk his life among enemies who know +nothing of the Master'; not speaking maliciously, but opposing me +because I was so ignorant. Nor did I myself at once perceive the +power that was in me....</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page190" id="page190"></a>[pg +190]</span> +<p>"Thus simply, brothers and fellow-workers for the Master, who +with me have believed, I have told you how it happened that I +preached and still preach, to strengthen and confirm you in +aspiration, hoping that we may all rise yet higher. Let that be my +reward, as 'the wise son is the glory of his father.' You know, and +the Master knows, how from my youth I have lived among you, in +aspiration and truth and with single heart; that I have declared +the faith to those among whom I dwell, and still declare it. The +Master knows that I have deceived no man in anything, nor ever +shall, for His sake and His people's. Nor shall I ever arouse +uncharity in them or in any, lest His name should be spoken evil +of....</p> +<p>"I have striven in my poor way to help my brothers and the +handmaidens of the Anointed, and the holy women who often +volunteered to give me presents and to lay their jewels on my +altar; but these I always gave back to them, even though they were +hurt by it; and I have so lived my life, for the hope of the life +eternal, that none may find the least cause of offence in my +ministry; that my least act might not tarnish my good name, so that +unbelievers might speak evil of me....</p> +<p>"If I have asked of any as much as the value of <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page191" id="page191"></a>[pg 191]</span> a +shoe, tell me. I will repay it and more. I rather spent my own +wealth on you and among you, wherever I went, for your sakes, +through many dangers, to regions where no believer had ever come to +baptize, to ordain teachers or to confirm the flock. With the +divine help I very willingly and lovingly paid all. Sometimes I +gave presents to the kings,--in giving presents to their sons who +convoyed us, to guard us against being taken captive. Once they +sought to kill me, but my time was not yet come. But they took away +all we possessed, and kept me bound, till the Master liberated me +on the fourteenth day, and all our goods were given back, because +of the Master and of those who convoyed us. You yourselves know +what gifts I gave to those who administer the law through the +districts I visited oftenest. I think I spent not less than the +fine of fifteen men among them, in order that I might come among +you. Nor do I regret it, nor count it enough, for I still spend, +and shall ever spend, happy if the Master allows me to spend my +soul for you....For I know certainly that poverty and plain living +are better for me than riches and luxury. The Anointed our Master +was poor for us. I am poorer still, for I could not have wealth if +I wished it. Nor do I now judge <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page192" id="page192"></a>[pg 192]</span> myself, for I look +forward daily to a violent death, or to be taken captive and sold +into slavery, or some like end. But I fear none of these ...but let +me not lose the flock I feed for Him, here in the uttermost parts +of the earth....</p> +<p>"I am willing for His sake to shed my blood, to go without +burial, even though my body be torn by dogs and wild beasts and the +fowls of the air; for I know that thus I should through my body +enrich my soul. And I know that in that day we shall arise in the +brightness of the sun, in the glory of the Anointed Master, as sons +of the divine and co-heirs with Him, made in His likeness. For the +sun we see rises daily by divine ordinance; but it is not ordained +to rise for ever, nor shall its light last for ever. The sun of +this world shall fade, with those that worship it; but we bow to +the spiritual Sun, the Anointed, that shall never perish, nor they +who do His will, but shall endure for ever like the Anointed +himself, who reigns with the Father and the Divine Spirit now and +ever....</p> +<p>"This I beg, that no believer or servant of the Master, who +reads or receives this writing, which I, Patricius, a sinner and +very unlearned, wrote in Ireland,--I beg that none may say that +whatever is good <span class="pagenum"><a name="page193" id= +"page193"></a>[pg 193]</span> in it was dictated by my ignorance, +but rather that it came from Him. This is my Confession, before I +die."</p> +<p>That is the story of the most vital event in the life of +Ireland, in the words of the man who was chiefly instrumental in +bringing it about. Though an unskilled writer, as he says himself +he has nevertheless succeeded in breathing into every part of his +epistle the power and greatness of his soul, the sense and vivid +reality of the divine breath which stirred in him and transformed +him, the spiritual power, humane and universal, which enkindled him +from within; these are the words of a man who had first-hand +knowledge of the things of our deeper life; not a mere servant of +tradition, living on the words and convictions of other men. He has +drawn in large and universal outline the death to egotism--reached +in his case through hunger, nakedness and slavery--and the new +birth from above, the divine Soul enkindling the inner man, and +wakening him to new powers and a knowledge of his genius and +immortal destiny.</p> +<p>Not less vivid is the sense he conveyed, of the world in which +he moved; the feeling of his dignity as a Roman Patrician, having a +share of the greatness <span class="pagenum"><a name="page194" id= +"page194"></a>[pg 194]</span> of empire; the sense of a +dividing-line between the Christian realms of Rome and the outer +barbarians yet in darkness. Yet the picture he gives of these outer +realms is as certainly true. There are the rival chieftains, each +with his own tribe and his own fort, and bearing the title of king. +They are perpetually striving among themselves, so that from the +province of one he must move to the province of another with an +escort, led by the king's son, who receives gifts in return for +this protection. This is the world of Concobar and Cuculain; of +Find and Ossin, as they themselves have painted it.</p> +<p>The world of Find and Ossin, of Cael and Credé, was +marked by a certain urbanity and freedom, a large-mindedness and +imaginative power. We are therefore prepared to expect that the +Messenger of the new life would be received with openness of mind, +and allowed to deliver his message without any very violent +opposition. It was the meeting of unarmed moral power and armed +valor; and the victory of the apostle was a victory of spiritual +force, of character, of large-heartedness; the man himself was the +embodiment of his message, and through his forceful genius his +message was effective. He visibly represented the New Way; the way +of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page195" id="page195"></a>[pg +195]</span> humane and the divine, transforming the destructive +instinct of self-assertion. He visibly represented the divine and +the immortal in us, the new birth from above.</p> +<p>Yet there were tragedies in his apostolate. In another letter a +very vivid and pathetic account is given of one of these. +Coroticus, a chieftain of Britain, and therefore nominally a +Christian and a citizen of Rome, had sent marauding bands to +Ireland to capture slaves. Some of the new converts were taken +captive by these slave-hunters, an outrage which drew forth an +indignant protest from the great Messenger:</p> +<p>"My neophytes in their white robes, the baptismal chrism still +wet and glistening on their foreheads, were taken captive with the +sword by these murderers. The next day I sent letters begging them +to liberate the baptized captives, but they answered my prayer with +mocking laughter. I know not which I should mourn for more,--those +who were slain, those who were taken prisoner, or those who in this +were Satan's instruments, since these must suffer everlasting +punishment in perdition."</p> +<p>He appeals indignantly to the fellow-Christians of Coroticus in +Britain: "I pray you, all that are <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page196" id="page196"></a>[pg 196]</span> righteous and humble, to +hold no converse with those who do these things. Eat not, drink not +with them, accept no gifts from them, until they have repented and +made atonement, setting free these newly-baptized handmaidens of +Christ, for whom He died.... They seem to think we are not children +of one Father!"</p> +<p>The work and mission of this great man grow daily better known. +The scenes of each marked event are certainly identified. His early +slavery, his time of probation, was spent in Antrim, on the +hillside of Slieve Mish, and in the woods that then covered its +flanks and valleys. Wandering there with his flocks to the +hill-top, he looked down over the green darkness of the woods, with +the fertile open country stretching park-like beyond, to the coast +eight miles away. From his lonely summit he could gaze over the +silvery grayness of the sea, and trace on the distant horizon the +headlands of his dear native land. The exile's heart must have +ached to look at them, as he thought of his hunger and nakedness +and toil. There in deep pity came home to him the fate of the weak +ones of the earth, the vanquished, the afflicted, the losers in the +race. Compassion showed him the better way, the way of sympathy +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page197" id="page197"></a>[pg +197]</span> and union, instead of contest and dominion. A firm and +fixed purpose grew up within him to make the appeal of gentleness +to the chiefs and rulers, in the name of Him who was all sympathy +for the weak. Thus the inspiration of the Message awakened his soul +to its immortal powers.</p> +<p>Later, returning with the clear purpose of his message formed, +he began his great work not far from his first place of captivity. +His strong personality led him always to the presence of the chiefs +and warriors, and he talked to them freely as an equal, gradually +giving them an insight into his own vision of life, of the kinship +between soul and soul, of our immortal power and inheritance. He +appealed always to his own inner knowledge of things divine, to the +light and power unveiled within himself; and the commanding genius +in his words lit a like fire in the hearts of those who heard, +awakening an enthusiasm for the New Way. He had a constant sense of +his divine mission:</p> +<p>"Was it without divine promise, or in the body only, that I came +to Ireland? Who led me? Who took captive my soul, that I should no +more see friends and kindred? Whence came my inspiration of pity +for the race that had enslaved me?"</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page198" id="page198"></a>[pg +198]</span> +<p>The memory of his first victories is perpetuated in the name, +Downpatrick,--that is: the Dwelling of Patrick.--where Dicu son of +Tricem, chief of the district, gave him a tract of land to build a +place of meeting and prayer for his disciples; while the church was +being built, the chief offered his barn as a meeting-place, an +incident commemorated in the name of Saul, on a hill above the +town,--a name softened from Sabal, "a barn." This first victory was +won among the rounded hills south of the Quoyle River, where it +widens toward Strangford Lough; from the hill-top of Saul there is +a wide prospect over the reed-covered flats with the river winding +among them, the hills with their oak-woods in the bends of the +river, and the widening lough with its innumerable islands, its +sand-flats lit up with red under the dawn. The sun sets among the +mountains of Mourne, flushing from behind the purple profile of the +hills, and sending golden arrows over the rich fertility of the +plain. The year 432 is the probable date of this first +conversion.</p> +<p>The strong genius of the Messenger carried him after a few +months to the center of power in the land, to Tara with its +fortresses, its earthworks, its great banquet-halls and granaries +and well-adorned <span class="pagenum"><a name="page199" id= +"page199"></a>[pg 199]</span> dwellings of chief and king. A huge +oval earthwork defended the king's house; northward of this was the +splendid House of Mead,--the banquet-hall, with lesser fortresses +beyond it. Southward of the central dwelling and its defence was +the new ringed fort of Laogaire the king, son of the more famous +king Nial of the Hostages. At this circular fort, Rath-Laogaire, on +Easter day, Saint Patrick met the king face to face, and delivered +to him the message of the New Way, telling him of the unveiling of +the Divine within himself, of the voice that had bidden him come, +of the large soul of immortal pity that breathed in the teachings +among the hills of Galilee, of the new life there begun for the +world. Tradition says that the coming of the Messenger had been +foretold by the Druids, and the great work he should accomplish; +the wise men of the West catching the inner brightness of the +Light, as the Eastern Magians had caught it more than four +centuries before. The fruits of that day's teaching in the plain of +Tara, in the assembly of Laogaire the king, were to be gathered +through long centuries to come.</p> +<p>In the year 444, the work of the teacher had so thriven that he +was able to build a larger church on a hill above the Callan River, +in the undulating <span class="pagenum"><a name="page200" id= +"page200"></a>[pg 200]</span> country south of Lough Neagh. This +hill, called in the old days the Hill of the Willows, was only two +miles from the famous fortress of Emain of Maca. It was a gift from +the ruler Dairé, who, like so many other chiefs, had felt +and acknowledged the Messenger's power. Later, the hill came to be +called Ard-Maca, the Height of Maca; a name now softened into +Armagh, ever since esteemed the central stronghold of the first +Messenger's followers.</p> +<p>The Messenger passed on from chief to chief, from province to +province, meeting with success everywhere, yet facing grave perils. +Later histories take him to the kings of Leinster and Munster, and +he himself tells us that the prayer of the children of Foclut was +answered by his coming, so that he must have reached the western +ocean. It was a tremendous victory of moral force, of the divine +and immortal working through him, that the Messenger was able to +move unarmed among the warriors of many tribes that were often at +war with each other; everywhere meeting the chiefs and kings, and +meeting them as an equal: the unarmed bringer of good tidings +confronting the king in the midst of his warriors, and winning him +to his better vision.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page201" id="page201"></a>[pg +201]</span> +<p>For sixty years the Messenger worked, sowing seed and gathering +the fruit of his labor; and at last his body was laid at rest close +to his first church at Saul. Thus one of the great men of the world +accomplished his task.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page202" id="page202"></a>[pg +202]</span><br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page203" id="page203"></a>[pg +203]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>THE SAINTS AND SCHOLARS.</h2> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page204" id="page204"></a>[pg +204]</span><br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page205" id="page205"></a>[pg +205]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="IX."></a>IX.</h2> +<br> +<h3>THE SAINTS AND SCHOLARS.</h3> +<h3>A.D. 493-750.</h3> +<br> +<p>It would be hard to find in the whole history of early +Christianity a record of greater and more enduring success than the +work of St. Patrick. None of the Messengers of the New Way, as they +were called first by St. Luke, unless the phrase is St. Paul's, +accomplished single-handed so wonderful a work, conquering so large +a territory, and leaving such enduring monuments of his victory. +Amongst the world's masters, the son of Calpurn the Decurion +deserves a place with the greatest.</p> +<p>Not less noteworthy than the wide range of his work was the way +in which he gained success. He addressed himself always to the +chiefs, the kings, the men of personal weight and power. And his +address was almost invariably successful,--a thing that would have +been impossible had he not been himself a personality of singular +force and fire, able to meet the great ones of the land as an +equal. His manner was that of an ambassador, full of tact, +knowledge <span class="pagenum"><a name="page206" id= +"page206"></a>[pg 206]</span> of men and of the world. Nor can we +find in him--or, indeed, in the whole history of the churches +founded by him--anything of that bitter zeal and fanaticism which, +nearly two centuries nearer to apostolic times, marred the work of +the Councils under Constantius; the fierce animosity between +Christian and Christian which marked the Arian controversy. The +Apostle of Ireland showed far more urbanity, far more humane and +liberal wisdom, far more gentleness, humor and good feeling, in his +treatment of the pre-Christian institutions and ideals of Ireland +than warring Christian sects have generally been willing to show to +each other.</p> +<p>It was doubtless due to this urbane wisdom that the history of +the conversion of Ireland is without one story of martyrdom. The +change was carried out in open-hearted frankness and good-will, the +old order giving place to the new as gently as spring changes to +summer. The most marvelous example of St. Patrick's wisdom, and at +the same time the most wonderful testimony to his personal force, +is his action towards the existing civil and religious law of the +country, commonly known as the Brehon Law. Principles had by long +usage been wrought into the fabric of the Brehon Laws which were in +flat <span class="pagenum"><a name="page207" id="page207"></a>[pg +207]</span> contradiction to St. Patrick's teaching of the New Way. +Instead of fiercely denouncing the whole system, he talked with the +chief jurists and heralds,--custodians of the old system,--and +convinced them that changes in their laws would give effect to more +humane and liberal principles. They admitted the justice of his +view, and agreed to a meeting between three great chieftains or +kings, three Brehons or jurists, and three of St. Patrick's +converts, to revise the whole system of law, substituting the more +humane principles, which they had already accepted as just and +right. These changes were made and universally applied; so that, +without any violent revolution, without strife or bloodshed, the +better way became the accepted law. It would be hard to find in all +history a finer example of wisdom and moderation, of the great and +worthy way of accomplishing right ends.</p> +<p>We have seen the great Messenger himself founding monasteries, +houses of religious study, and churches for his converts, on land +given to him by chieftains who were moved by his character and +ideals. We can judge of the immediate spread of his teaching if we +remember that these churches were generally sixty feet long, thus +giving room for many <span class="pagenum"><a name="page208" id= +"page208"></a>[pg 208]</span> worshippers. They seem to have been +built of stone--almost the first use of that material in Ireland +since the archaic days. Among the first churches of this type were +those at Saul, at Donaghpatrick on the Blackwater, and at Armagh, +with others further from the central region of St. Patrick's work. +The schools of learning which grew up beside them were universally +esteemed and protected, and from them came successive generations +of men and women who worthily carried on the work so wisely begun. +The tongues first studied were Latin and Irish. We have works of +very early periods in both, as, for instance, the Latin epistles of +St. Patrick himself, and the Irish poems of the hardly less eminent +Colum Kill. But other languages were presently added.</p> +<a name="209.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/209.jpg"><img src="images/209.jpg" +width="80%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>VALLEY OF GLENDALOUGH AND RUINS OF THE SEVEN CHURCHES.</b></p> +<p>These schools and churches gradually made their way throughout +the whole country; some of the oldest of them are still to be seen, +as at Donaghpatrick, Clonmacnoise and Glendalough. Roofed with +stone, they are well fitted to resist the waste of time. An intense +spiritual and moral life inspired the students, a life rich also in +purely intellectual and artistic force. The ancient churches speak +for themselves; the artistic spirit of the time is splendidly +embodied <span class="pagenum"><a name="page209" id= +"page209"></a>[pg 209]</span> in the famous Latin manuscript of the +Gospels, called the Book of Kells, the most beautiful specimen of +illumination in the world. The wonderful colored initial letters +reproduce and develop the designs of the old gold work, the motives +of which came, it would seem, from the Baltic, with the De Danaan +tribes. We can judge of the quiet and security of the early +disciples at Kells, the comfort and amenity of their daily life, +the spirit of comity and good-will, the purity of inspiration of +that early time, by the artistic truth and beauty of these +illuminated pages and the perfection with which the work was done. +Refined and difficult arts are the evidence of refined feeling, +abundant moral and spiritual force, and a certain material security +and ease surrounding the artist. When these arts are freely offered +in the service of religion, they are further evidence of widespread +fervor and aspiration, a high and worthy ideal of life.</p> +<p>Yet we shall be quite wrong if we imagine an era of peace and +security following the epoch of the first great Messenger. Nothing +is further from the truth. The old tribal strife continued for long +centuries; the instincts which inspired it are, even now, not quite +outworn. Chief continued to war against chief, province +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page210" id="page210"></a>[pg +210]</span> against province, tribe against tribe, even among the +fervent converts of the first teachers.</p> +<p>Saint Brigid is one of the great figures in the epoch +immediately succeeding the first coming of the Word. She was the +foundress of a school of religious teaching for women at Kildare, +or Killdara, "The Church of the Oak-woods," whose name still +records her work. Her work, her genius, her power, the immense +spiritual influence for good which flowed from her, entitle her to +be remembered with the women of apostolic times, who devoted their +whole lives to the service of the divine. We have seen the esteem +in which women were always held in Ireland. St. Brigid and those +who followed in her steps gave effect to that high estimation, and +turned it to a more spiritual quality, so that now, as in all past +centuries, the ideal of womanly purity is higher in Ireland than in +any country in the world.</p> +<p>This great soul departed from earthly life in the year 525, a +generation after the death of the first Messenger. To show how the +old order continued with the new, we may record the words of the +Chronicler for the following year: "526: The battle of Eiblinne, by +Muirceartac son of Erc; the battle of Mag-Ailbe; the battle of +Almain; the battle of <span class="pagenum"><a name="page211" id= +"page211"></a>[pg 211]</span> Ceann-eic; the plundering of the +Cliacs; and the battle of Eidne against the men of Connacht." Three +of these battles were fought at no great distance from St. Brigid's +Convent.</p> +<p>The mediaeval Chronicler quotes the old Annalist for the +following year: "The king, the son of Erc, returned to the side of +the descendants of Nial. Blood reached the girdle in each plain. +The exterior territories were enriched. Seventeen times nine +chariots he brought, and long shall it be remembered. He bore away +the hostages of the Ui-Neill with the hostages of the plain of +Munster."</p> +<p>Ten years later we find the two sons of this same king, +Muirceartac son of Erc, by name Fergus and Domnall, fighting under +the shadow of Knocknarea mountain against Eogan Bel the king of +Connacht; the ancient Annalist, doubtless contemporary with the +events recorded, thus commemorated the battle in verse:</p> +<p>"The battle of the Ui-Fiacrac was fought with the fury of edged +weapons against Bel;</p> +<p>"The kine of the enemy roared with the javelins, the battle was +spread out at Crinder;</p> +<p>"The River of Shells bore to the great sea the blood of men with +their flesh;</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page212" id="page212"></a>[pg +212]</span> +<p>"They carried many trophies across Eaba, together with the head +of Eogan Bel."</p> +<p>During this stormy time, which only carried forward the long +progress of fighting since the days of the prime, a famous school +of learning and religion had been founded at Moville by Finian, +"the tutor of the saints of Ireland." The home of his church and +school is a very beautiful one, with sombre mountains behind rising +from oak-woods into shaggy masses of heather, the blue waters of +Lough Foyle in front, and across the mouth of the lough the silver +sands and furrowed chalk hills of Antrim, blending into green +plains. Here the Psalms and the Gospels were taught in Latin to +pupils who had in no wise given up their love for the old poetry +and traditions of their motherland. Here Colum studied, afterwards +called Colum Kill, "Saint Colum of the Churches," and here arose a +memorable dispute concerning a Latin manuscript of the Psalms. The +manuscript belonged to Finian, founder of the school, and was +esteemed one of the treasures of his college. Colum, then a young +student, ardently longed for a copy, and, remaining in the church +after service, he daily copied a part of the sacred text. When his +work was completed, Finian discovered it, and at once <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page213" id="page213"></a>[pg 213]</span> +claimed the copy of his book as also his. The matter was submitted +to an umpire, who gave the famous decision: "Unto every cow her +calf; unto every book its copy"--the copy belonged to the owner of +the book. This early decision of copyright was by no means +acceptable to the student Colum. He disputed its justice, and the +quarrel spread till it resulted in a battle. The discredit +attaching to the whole episode resulted in the banishment of Colum, +who sailed away northward and eastward towards the isles and fiords +of that land which, from the Irish Scoti who civilized it, now +bears the name of Scotland. Let us recall a few verses written by +Colum on his departure, in a version which echoes something of the +original melody and form:</p> +<blockquote>"We are rounding Moy-n-Olurg, we sweep by its head +and<br> + We plunge through the Foyle,<br> +Whose swans could enchant with their music the dead and<br> + Make pleasure of toil....<br> +Oh, Erin, were wealth my desire, what a wealth were<br> + To gain far from thee,<br> +In the land of the stranger, but there even health were<br> + A sickness to me!<br> +Alas for the voyage, oh high King of Heaven,<br> + Enjoined upon me,<br> +For that I on the red plain of bloody Cooldrevin<br> + Was present to see.<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page214" id="page214"></a>[pg +214]</span> How happy the son is of Dima; no sorrow<br> + For him is designed,<br> +He is having this hour, round his own Kill in Durrow,<br> + The wish of his mind.<br> +The sound of the wind in the elms, like the strings of<br> + A harp being played,<br> +The note of the blackbird that claps with the wings of<br> + Delight in the glade.<br> +With him in Ros-grenca the cattle are lowing<br> + At earliest dawn,<br> +On the brink of the summer the pigeons are cooing<br> + And doves on the lawn...."</blockquote> +<p>In another measure, he again mourns his exile: "Happy to be on +Ben Edar, before going over the sea; white, white the dashing of +the wave against its face; the bareness of its shore and its +border....</p> +<blockquote>"How swiftly we travel; there is a grey eye<br> + Looks back upon Erin, but it no more<br> +Shall see while the stars shall endure in the sky,<br> + Her women, her men, or her stainless +shore...."</blockquote> +<p>This great-hearted and impetuous exile did not waste his life in +useless regrets. Calling forth the fire of his genius, and facing +the reality of life, he set himself to work, spreading the teaching +of the New Way among the Picts of the north--the same Picts who, in +years gone by, had raged against the barrier of Hadrian between +Forth and Clyde. The <span class="pagenum"><a name="page215" id= +"page215"></a>[pg 215]</span> year of his setting out was 563; the +great center of his work was in the sacred isle of Iona, off the +Ross of Mull. Iona stands in the rush of Atlantic surges and fierce +western storms, yet it is an island of rare beauty amid the tinted +mists of summer dawns. Under the year 592, a century after Saint +Patrick's death, we find this entry in the Chronicle: "Colum Kill, +son of Feidlimid, Apostle of Scotland, head of the piety of the +most part of Ireland and Scotland after Patrick, died in his own +church in Iona in Scotland, after the thirty-fifth year of his +pilgrimage, on Sunday night, the ninth of June. Seventy-seven years +was his whole age when he resigned his spirit to heaven." The +corrected date is 596.</p> +<p>We can see in Colum of the Churches the very spirit of +turbulence and adventure, the fierce impetuosity and readiness for +dispute, which led to the contests between the chieftains of +Ireland, the wars between province and province, often between +valley and valley. It is the same spiritual energy, working itself +out in another way, transmuted by the sacred fire into a divine +mission. In the same way the strong will of Meave, the romantic +power of Deirdré and Grania, transmuted to ideal purposes, +was the inspiration of Saint Brigid and so many like her, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page216" id="page216"></a>[pg +216]</span> who devoted their powers to the religious teaching of +women.</p> +<p>We should doubtless fail utterly to understand the riddle of +history, were we to regret the wild warring of these early times as +a mere lamentable loss of life, a useless and cruel bloodshed. We +are too much given to measuring other times and other moods of the +soul by our own, and many false judgments issue from this error. +Peaceful material production is our main purpose, and we learn many +lessons of the Will embodied in the material world when we follow +this purpose honestly. But before our age could begin, it was +necessary for the races to come to personal consciousness. This end +seems everywhere to have been reached by a long epoch of strife, +the contending of man against man, of tribe against tribe. Thus +were brought to full consciousness the instinct of personal valor, +personal honor and personal readiness to face death.</p> +<p>Only after this high personal consciousness is kindled can a +race enter the wider path of national life, where vivid and intense +individuals unite their forces to a common end, reaching a common +consciousness, and holding their power in common for the purposes +of all. After the lessons of fighting come the lessons <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page217" id="page217"></a>[pg 217]</span> of +work. For these lessons of work, for the direct touch with the +everlasting Will gained in all honest work, our own age is to be +valued, far more than for the visible and material fruits which +that work produces.</p> +<p>In like manner the old epoch of war is to be esteemed for the +lessons it taught of high valor, sacrifice, heroic daring. And to +what admirable ends these same qualities may tend we can see in a +life like that of Colum Kill, "head of the piety of the most part +of Ireland and Scotland after Patrick."</p> +<p>Yet the days of old were grim enough to live in. Let this record +of some half-century later testify. It is but one year culled from +a long red rank of years. We give the Chronicler's own words: "645: +The sixth year of Conall and Ceallac. Mac Laisre, abbot of Bangor, +died on May 16. Ragallac son of Uatac, King of Connacht, was killed +by Maelbrigde son of Motlacan, of which was said:</p> +<blockquote>"Ragallac son of Uatac was pierced on the back of a +white<br> + steed;<br> +<br> +Muiream has well lamented him; Catal has well avenged him.<br> +<br> +Catal is this day in battle, though bound to peace in the<br> + presence of kings;<br> +<br> +Though Catal is without a father, his father is not without<br> + vengeance.<br> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page218" id="page218"></a>[pg +218]</span> Estimate his terrible revenge from the account of it +related:<br> +<br> +He slew six men and fifty; he made sixteen devastations;<br> +<br> +I had my share like another in the revenge of Ragallac,--<br> +<br> +I have the gray beard in my hand, of Maelbrigde son of +Motlacan."</blockquote> +<p>These are evidently the very words of one who fought in the +battle. Nor need this in any way surprise us, for we have far older +Chronicles set down year by year in unbroken record. The matter is +easy to prove. The Chronicles of Ulster record eclipses of the sun +and moon as early as 495,--two years after Saint Patrick's death. +It was, of course, the habit of astronomers to reckon eclipses +backwards, and of annalists to avail themselves of these +reckonings. The Venerable Bede, for example, has thus inserted +eclipses in his history. The result is that the Venerable Bede has +the dates several days wrong, while the Chronicles of Ulster, where +direct observation took the place of faulty reckoning, has them +right, to the day and hour. It is only in quite modern times that +we have reached sufficiently accurate knowledge of the moon's +movements to vindicate the old Ulster Annalists, who began their +work not less than a hundred and fifty years before the battle we +have just recorded.</p> +<p>Nor should we exaggerate the condition of the <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page219" id="page219"></a>[pg 219]</span> time, +thinking of it as altogether given over to ravaging and +devastation. Even though there were two or three expeditions and +battles every year, these would only affect a small part of the +whole country. Over all the rest, the tending of cattle in the +glades of the forest, the sowing and reaping of wheat and oats, the +gathering of fruit and nuts, continued in quiet contentment and +peace. The young men practiced the arts of war and exercised +themselves in warlike games. The poets sang to them, the heralds +recounted the great doings of old, how Cuculain kept the ford, how +Concobar thirsted in his heart for Deirdré, how the son of +Cumal went to war, how golden-tongued Ossin was ensnared by the +spirits. The gentle life of tillage and the keeping of cattle could +never engage the whole mental force of so vigorous a race. What +wonder, then, that, when a chieftain had some real or imagined +wrong to avenge, or some adventure to propose,--what wonder that +bold spirits were ever ready to accompany him, leaving the women to +their distaffs and the tending of children and the grinding of +corn? Mounting their horses, they rode forth through the woods, +under the huge arms of the oak-trees; along the banks of +swift-gliding rivers, through <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page220" id="page220"></a>[pg 220]</span> passes of the lowering +hills. While still in familiar territory, the time of the march was +passed in song and story. Then came increased precaution, and +gradually heightened pulses marked the stages of the way. The rival +chieftain, warned by his scouts and outlying tribesmen, got word of +their approach, and hastily replenishing his granaries and driving +the cattle into the great circle of his embankments, prepared to +meet the coming foe. Swords, spears, bows, arrows were the arms of +both sides. Though leather tunics were common, coats of mail came +only at a later date. The attackers under cover of the night sped +across the open ground before the fort, and tried to storm the +fortress, the defenders meanwhile showering down keen-pointed +arrows on them from above. Both parties, under the chieftains' +guidance, fought fiercely, in a fever of excitement, giving no heed +to wounds, seeing nothing but the foe and the battlements to be +scaled. Then either a successful sortie broke the ranks of the +assailants and sent them back to their forest camp in wild +disorder, or, the stockade giving way, the stormers swept in like a +wave of the sea, and all was chaos and wild struggle hand to hand. +Whatever the outcome, both sides thought of the wild surge of will +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page221" id="page221"></a>[pg +221]</span> and valor in that hour as the crowning event of their +lives.</p> +<p>Meanwhile, within the quiet enclosures of the monasteries and +religious schools, the spirit of the time was working with not less +fervor, to invisible and ideal ends. At Bangor, on the neck of the +northern Ards; at Moville, where Lough Foyle spreads its inland +sea; at Saul, where the first Messenger won his first convert; at +Devenish Island amid the waters of Lough Erne; at Monasterboice in +the plain of Louth; at Grlendalough, among the solemn hills of +Wicklow; at Kildare, beneath the oak-woods; at Durrow, amid the +central marshes, and many another ancient seat of learning, the way +of wisdom and holiness was trod with gladness. Latin had been +taught since the early days of the Message; the native tongue of +Ireland, consecrated in the hymns of St. Patrick and the poems of +St. Colum of the Churches, was the language in which all pupils +were taught, the modern ministrant to the classical speech of Rome. +Nor were the Scriptures alone studied. Terence, Virgil, Ovid, the +Augustans and the men of the silver age, were familiar in the Irish +schools; and to these Latin writers were soon added the Greeks, +more especially--as was natural--the <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page222" id="page222"></a>[pg 222]</span> Greek Fathers, the +religious philosophers, and those who embodied the thought and +controversies of the early Christian centuries. To Greek, Hebrew +was added, so that both Old and New Testaments were known in their +proper tongues. About the time when "Ragallac son of Uatac was +pierced on the back of a white steed," Saint Camin in his island +school at Inis Caltra, where red mountains hem in Lough Derg of the +Shannon, was writing his Commentary on the Psalms, recording the +Hebrew readings on the margin of the page. A few years before that +battle, in 634, Saint Cummian of Durrow, some thirty miles to the +east of Camin's Holy Island, wrote to his brother, the Abbot of +Iona in the northern seas, quoting Latin writers sacred and +secular, as well as Origen, Cyril and Pachomius among the Greeks. +The learned man discusses the astronomical systems of the +Mediterranean world, giving the names of months and cycles in +Hebrew, Greek and Egyptian, and telling of his researches into the +true time of Easter, while on a journey to Italy and Rome. This +letter, which has come down to our days, is first-hand testimony to +the learning of the early Irish schools.</p> +<a name="223.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/223.jpg"><img src="images/223.jpg" +width="40%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>ANCIENT CROSS, GLENDALOUGH.</b></p> +<p>Fifty years later, in 683, we hear of the Saxons <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page223" id="page223"></a>[pg 223]</span> for +the first and almost the last time in the history of Ireland. It is +recorded that the North Saxons raided Mag Breag in the East of +Meath, attacking both churches and chieftains. They carried away +many hostages and much spoil, but the captives were soon after set +at liberty and sent home again, on the intercession of a remarkable +man, Adamnan, the biographer of Colum of the Churches, whose +success in his mission was held to be miraculous.</p> +<p>For more than a century after this single Saxon raid Ireland was +wholly undisturbed by foreign invasion, and the work of building +churches, founding schools, studying Hebrew and Greek and Latin, +went on with increasing vigor and success. An army of missionaries +went forth to other lands, following in the footsteps of Colum of +the Churches, and of these we shall presently speak. The life of +the church was so rich and fruitful that we are led to think of +this as a period of childlike and idyllic peace.</p> +<p>Nothing, however, could be further from the truth. The raids, +devastations and wars between province and province, tribe and +tribe, went on without a year's interruption. This was the normal +course of the nation's life, the natural outlet of the nation's +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page224" id="page224"></a>[pg +224]</span> energy: not less a visible sign of invisible inward +power than the faith and fervor of the schools. We shall get the +truest flavor of the times by quoting again from the old Annals. +That they were recorded year by year, we have already seen; the +records of frosts, great snow-storms, years of rich harvests and +the like, interspersed among the fates of kings, show how +faithfully the annals were kept,--as, for example, the winter of +great cold, "when all the rivers and lakes of Ireland were frozen +over," in the year after the Saxon raid.</p> +<p>Here again, under the year 701, is the word of a man then +living: "After Loing Seac son of Angus son of Domnall had been +eight years in the sovreignty of Ireland, he was slain in the +battle of Ceann by Cealleac of Lough Cime, the son of Ragallac, as +Cealleac himself testifies:</p> +<blockquote>"'For his deeds of ambition he was slain in the morning +at<br> + Glas Cuilg;<br> +<br> +I wounded Loing Seac with a sword, the monarch of Ireland<br> + round.'"</blockquote> +<p>Two years later Saint Adamnan died, after governing the Abbey of +Iona for six and twenty years. It was said of him that "He made a +slave of himself to his virtues," and his great life-work, the +Latin <span class="pagenum"><a name="page225" id="page225"></a>[pg +225]</span> history of Saint Colum of the Churches, founder of the +Iona Abbey, to this day testifies to his high learning and +wisdom.</p> +<p>Fourteen years later "Leinster was five times devastated by the +Ui-Neill," the descendants of Nial, and a battle was fought between +the men of Connacht and Munster. Thus the lives of saints and +warriors were interwoven. On very rare occasions the two lives of +the race came into collision. Thus, a quarrel arose between Congus +the Abbot and Aed Roin king of Ulad. Congus summoned to his aid the +chief of the Ui-Neill, Aed Allan by name, in these verses:</p> +<blockquote>"Say to the cold Aed Allan that I have been oppressed +by<br> + a feeble enemy:<br> +<br> +Aed Roin insulted me last night at Cill Cunna of the sweet<br> + music."</blockquote> +<p>Aed Allan made these verses on his way to battle to avenge the +insult:</p> +<blockquote>"For Cill Cunna the church of my spiritual father,<br> + I take this day a journey on the road.<br> +Aed Roin shall leave his head with me,<br> + Or I shall leave my head with +him."</blockquote> +<p>The further history of that same year, 733, is best told in the +words of the Annals: "Aed Allan, king <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page226" id="page226"></a>[pg 226]</span> of +Ireland, assembled his forces to proceed into Leinster, and he +arrived at the Ford of Seannait (in Kildare). The Leinstermen +collected the greatest number they were able, to defend their +rights against him. The king Aed Allan himself went into the +battle, and the chieftains of the north along with him. The +chieftains of Leinster came with their kings into the battle, and +bloodily and heroically was the battle fought between them. Heroes +were slaughtered and bodies were hacked. Aed Allan and Aed, son of +Colgan, king of Leinster, met each other, and Aed son of Colgan was +slain by Aed Allan. The Leinstermen were killed, slaughtered, cut +off, and dreadfully exterminated in this battle, so that there +escaped of them but a small remnant and a few fugitives."</p> +<p>To round out the picture, to contrast the two streams of the +nation's life, let us give this, from the following year: "734: +Fifth year of Aed Allan. Saint Samtain, virgin, of Cluain Bronaig +(Longford), died on December 19. It was of her that Aed Allan gave +this testimony:</p> +<blockquote>"Samtain for enlightening various sinners,<br> + A servant who observed stern chastity,<br> +In the wide plain of fertile Meath<br> + Great suffering did Samtain endure;<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page227" id="page227"></a>[pg +227]</span> She undertook a thing not easy,--<br> + Fasting for the kingdom above.<br> +She lived on scanty food;<br> + Hard were her girdles;<br> +She struggled in venomous conflicts;<br> + Pure was her heart amid the wicked.<br> +To the bosom of the Lord, with a pure death,<br> + Samtain passed from her +trials."</blockquote> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page228" id="page228"></a>[pg +228]</span><br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page229" id="page229"></a>[pg +229]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>THE RAIDS OF THE NORTHMEN.</h2> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page230" id="page230"></a>[pg +230]</span><br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page231" id="page231"></a>[pg +231]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="X."></a>X.</h2> +<h3>THE RAIDS OF THE NORTHMEN.</h3> +<h3>A.D. 750-1050.</h3> +<br> +<p>Aed Allan, the king who so feelingly wrote the epitaph of the +saintly virgin Samtain, needed an epitaph himself four years later, +for he fell in battle with Domnall son of Murcad son of Diarmaid, +who succeeded him on the throne. It is recorded that, in the +following year, the sea cast ashore a whale under the mountains of +Mourne, to the great wonder of those who dwelt by the hill of +Rudraige. Thus do the Chronicles establish their good faith, by +putting on record things trifling or grave, with equal +impartiality.</p> +<p>They were presently to have something more memorable to record +than the loss of a battle or the stranding of a whale. But before +we come to this new chapter in the life of Ireland, let us show the +continuity of the forces we have already depicted. The old tribal +turmoil went on unabated. In 771, the first year of Doncad son of +Domnall in the sovereignty over Ireland, that ruler made a full +muster <span class="pagenum"><a name="page232" id="page232"></a>[pg +232]</span> of the Ui-Neill and marched into Leinster. The +Leinstermen moved before the monarch and his forces, until they +arrived at the fort called Nectain's Shield in Kildare. Domcad with +his forces was entrenched at Aillin, whence his people continued to +fire, burn, plunder and devastate the province for the space of a +week, when the Leinstermen at last submitted to his will. Seventeen +years later it is recorded that the church and abbey of Ardmaca, +or, as we may now begin to call it, Armagh, were struck by +lightning, and the night was terrible with thunder, lightning and +wind.</p> +<p>We see, therefore, that the double life of the people, the life +of valor and the life of wisdom, were following their steady course +in camp and school. We may call up a very interesting witness to +the whole condition of Ireland during this epoch: Alfred king of +the Northumbrian Saxons, who spent several years traveling through +the land and studying in the schools. On his departure, he wrote an +ode of acknowledgment to the country he was leaving, in the verse +of the native Irish tongue. From this ode we may quote a few +picturesque lines, taking them from a version which preserves +something of the original rhythm:</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page233" id="page233"></a>[pg +233]</span> +<blockquote>"I traveled its fruitful provinces round,<br> +And in every one of the five I found,<br> +Alike in church and in palace hall,<br> +Abundant apparel and food for all.<br> +Gold and silver I found, and money,<br> +Plenty of wheat and plenty of honey;<br> +I found God's people rich in pity;<br> +Found many a feast and many a city....<br> +I found in each great church moreo'er,<br> +Whether on island or on shore,<br> +Piety, learning, fond affection,<br> +Holy welcome and kind protection....<br> +I found in Munster unfettered of any<br> +Kings and queens and poets a many,<br> +Poets well skilled in music and measure;<br> +Prosperous doings, mirth and pleasure.<br> +I found in Connacht the just, redundance<br> +Of riches, milk in lavish abundance;<br> +Hospitality, vigor, fame,<br> +In Crimean's land of heroic name....<br> +I found in Ulster, from hill to glen,<br> +Hardy warriors, resolute men.<br> +Beauty that bloomed when youth was gone,<br> +And strength transmitted from sire to son....<br> +I found in Leinster the smooth and sleek,<br> +From Dublin to Slewmargy's peak,<br> +Flourishing pastures, valor, health,<br> +Song-loving worthies, commerce, wealth....<br> +I found in Meath's fair principality<br> +Virtue, vigor, and hospitality;<br> +Candor, joyfulness, bravery, purity--<br> +Ireland's bulwark and security.<br> +I found strict morals in age and youth,<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page234" id="page234"></a>[pg +234]</span> I found historians recording truth.<br> +The things I sing of in verse unsmooth<br> +I found them all; I have written sooth."</blockquote> +<p>The modern form of the names used by the translator gives this +version a slightly misleading tone. Ulster, Munster, Leinster were +still known by their old names: Ulad, Mumain and Lagin. The Danish +termination by which we know them had not been added. In like +manner, Dublin in those days and far later was still called +At-Cliat, the Ford of the Hurdles. Yet the tribute which the Saxon +king paid to Ireland has a true ring. It thoroughly supports what +we have said: that incessant tribal warfare rather expressed than +detracted from the vigor of the nation's life. It had this grave +defect, however: it so kindled and cherished the instinct of +separateness that union in face of a common foe was almost +impossible. Long years of adverse fate were needed to merge the +keen individual instinct of old into the common consciousness of +to-day.</p> +<p>Modern historians generally write as if the onslaught of the +Northmen had had this unifying effect; as if it had been a great +calamity, overwhelming the country for several centuries, and +submerging its original life under a tide of conquest. Here again +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page235" id="page235"></a>[pg +235]</span> the history of the time, as recorded year by year in +the Annals, leads us to a wholly different conclusion. We find +inroads of the Northmen, it is true; but they are only interludes +in the old national life of storm and struggle. That enduring +tribal conflict, of which we have already seen so much, did not +cease even for a year. Nor can it have greatly mattered to the +dwellers in some remote valley whether they were sacked, their +cattle driven off, and their children taken captive by strangers or +by men of their own land.</p> +<p>There was one chief difference: the foreigners, being still +heathens, did not spare the churches and the schools. The golden or +silver reliquaries, the jeweled manuscript-cases, the offerings of +precious stones and rich ornaments laid on the altars: these things +proved an irresistible temptation to the roving sea-kings. They +often burned or cast away the manuscripts, eager only to take the +jeweled coverings, and in this way many monuments of the olden time +have been lost, and many gaps in the history of the nation made +irreparable. Yet it would seem that even the loss of manuscripts +has been exaggerated, since such lavish abundance remains to us +from the times before the first northern raiders came. Many +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page236" id="page236"></a>[pg +236]</span> a remote shrine was never even approached by the +northern wanderers; and, in the long times of peace between raid +and raid, one school had time to gain from another copies of the +books which were lost. We may hope that the somewhat rigid views of +copyright expressed in the matter of St. Finian's Psalter were not +invariably adhered to. We have Chronicles kept with unbroken +regularity year by year through the whole of the epoch of Northern +raids, and they by no means indicate a period of national +depression, nor justify us in thinking of these raids as much more +than episodes in the general fighting of the nation,--the martial +state through which every modern country has passed before emerging +to homogeneous life.</p> +<p>To come to the events themselves, as they appeared to the men +who witnessed them. We find the first record of the Northern +raiders under the year 795: "The burning of Lambay by the Gentiles. +The shrines were broken and plundered." This Lambay is an island of +considerable extent, off the Dublin coast, some six or seven miles +north of Howth. It rises gradually from the south extremity into a +purple cliff of porphyry facing the northern sea, and on the +sheltered slope under the sun a little church <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page237" id="page237"></a>[pg 237]</span> colony +with schools and dwelling-houses had been built. Against this +peaceful solitude the raiders came, burning and plundering, and +when they rowed away again in their long ships towards the north, a +smoldering black ruin bore testimony that they were indeed +Gentiles, unblessed by Christian baptism.</p> +<p>Three years later the little island of St. Patrick, six miles +north of Lambay, met with a like fate. It was "burned by the +Gentiles," as the Chronicles say. And from that time forth we hear +of their long ships again and again, hovering hawk-like around the +coasts of Ireland and Scotland. In 802, and again in 806, the +Scottish Iona of Colum of the Churches was raided, and the next +year we find the pirates making a descent upon Inismurray, off the +Sligo coast, between the summit of Knocknarea and the cliffs of +Slieve League. This last settlement of saints and scholars was +founded by Molaise,--he who had pronounced sentence of exile on +Colum of the Churches, the banishment that was the beginning of +grace for the northern Picts. His oratory still remains on the +island, beside the Church of the Men, the Church of the Women and +the circular stone fort, which was very likely built to guard +against new attacks, after this first raid. There are holy wells +and altars there <span class="pagenum"><a name="page238" id= +"page238"></a>[pg 238]</span> also, and Inismurray, better than any +other place, gives us a picture of the old scholastic life of that +remote and wonderful time.</p> +<p>Five years later, the Northern raiders made their way further +round the coast, under the shadow of the western mountains and the +great cliffs of Achill; we read of "a slaughter of the people of +Connemara by the Gentiles" in that year, and the year following, +other battles with Gentiles are recorded in the same part of +Ireland.</p> +<p>In 818, if we are to believe the Annalist, a singular thing +happened: "An army was led by Murcad, having the Ui-Neill of the +North with him. Concobar king of Ireland with the Ui-Neill of the +South and the Leinstermen came from the South on the other hand. +When they came to one place, it happened, through a miracle of God, +that they separated from each other for that time without slaughter +or one of them spilling a drop of the other's blood." That entry +better than any other shows the restless spirit of the times. It +shows, too, that the first shock of Norse invasion had not in any +sense warned the people and chieftains of Ireland of coming danger, +nor had it in any degree checked the steady course of the nation's +growth through storm and strife to <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page239" id="page239"></a>[pg 239]</span> personal consciousness, +as the stepping-stone to the wider common consciousness of the +modern world.</p> +<p>The year following we read of "a plundering of Howth by the +Gentiles, who carried off a great prey of women." These captives +were doubtless the first to bring the Message of the New Way to the +wild granite lands of the north, where the mountains in their +grandeur frown upon the long inlets of the fiords. They taught to +their children in those wild lands of exile the lessons of grace +and holiness, so rudely interrupted when the long ships of the +Norsemen were sighted from the Hill of Howth.</p> +<p>A year later, in 820, the raiders had found their way to the +southernmost extremity of the island; to Cape Clear, off the coast +of Cork. This once again brings to our notice the position of so +many of the early religious settlements,--on rocky islands off the +coasts, well out of the turmoil of tribal strife which raged +uninterrupted on the mainland. St. Patrick's Island and Lambay on +the east, Clear Island on the south, and Inismurray on the +northwest, so well protected by the sea from disturbance at home, +were, by that very isolation, terribly exposed to these foreign +raiders from the sea. Howth, Moville and Bangor, all on peninsulas, +all by the seashore, enjoyed a like <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page240" id="page240"></a>[pg 240]</span> immunity and were open +to a like danger. Therefore we are not surprised to find that, two +years later, Bangor was "plundered by the Gentiles."</p> +<p>It will be remembered that St. Patrick's first church was built +on land given him by Dicu, chieftain of the district round +Downpatrick, a name which commemorates the presence of the +Messenger. Two sons of this same Dicu had been held as hostages by +Laogaire the king, and their marvelous escape from durance was +recorded in the name, Dun-da-lath-glas, the Dwelling of the Two +Broken Fetters, given to Downpatrick. The place was of old renown. +Known to Ptolemy as Dunum, it was, during Concobar's sway at Emain +of Maca, the fortress of the strong chief, Celtcar, whose huge +embattled hill of earth still rises formidable over the Quoyle +River. In the year 823, we read, Dundalathglas was plundered by the +Gentiles; but the story does not stop here, for we are further told +that these same Gentiles were beaten by the Ulad armies not far +from the great fort of Celtcar. This is the first entry of this +tenor. Hitherto, the Northmen seem to have fallen only on outlying +religious communities, in remote islands or on the seashore; but +this last raid brought them to one of the very few church-schools +which had been built <span class="pagenum"><a name="page241" id= +"page241"></a>[pg 241]</span> close to a strong fortress, with the +result that the Northmen were beaten and driven back into their +ships.</p> +<p>Three years later the Gentiles plundered Lusk on the mainland +opposite Lambay, but in that same year they were twice defeated in +battle, once by Cairbré son of Catal, and once by the king +of Ulad. The raids of the Norse warriors grow more frequent and +determined from this time; in itself a testimony to the wealth and +prosperity of the country, the abundance of gold and of accumulated +riches, whether cattle or corn, ornaments or richly dyed stuffs, +red and purple and blue. Word seems to have been carried to the +wild hills and fiords of frozen Scandinavia that here was booty in +abundance, and the pirate hordes came down in swarms.</p> +<p>Thus we read that Armagh, the center of St. Patrick's work, and +the chief home of learning, was thrice plundered in 830, the +raiders sailing up Carlingford Lough and then making a dash of some +fifteen miles across the undulating country separating them from +the city of churches. This is the first time they ventured out of +sight of their boats. Two years later they plundered Clondalkin, +nine miles inland from the Dublin coast, where the Round Tower +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page242" id="page242"></a>[pg +242]</span> still marks the site of the old church and school. To +the growing frequency of these raids, it would seem, the building +of Round Towers is to be attributed; they were at once belfries and +places of refuge. We find, therefore, that the door is almost +always many feet above the ground, being reached by a ladder +afterwards drawn up by those inside. The number of these Round +Towers all over the country, and the perfect preservation of many +of them, show how universal this precaution was, and how effective +were the refugees thus provided. It is instructive to read under +this same year, 832, that "a great number of the family of +Clonmacnoise were slain by Feidlimid king of Cashel, all their land +being burned by him up to the door of the church." Thus the +progress of tribal struggle was uninterrupted by the Gentile +raids.</p> +<p>Four years later, a fleet of sixty Norse fighting galleys sailed +up the Boyne. Sixty long ships entered the Liffey in the same year, +and a year later they captured the fortress of the Ford of the +Hurdles, At-Cliat,--the old name of Dublin. Three years later we +find the king of Munster plundering Meath and West Meath, showing +that no sense of common danger disturbed the native kings. This +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page243" id="page243"></a>[pg +243]</span> strengthens the view we have already taken: that the +attacks of the Norse sea-kings were only an interlude in the +incessant contests between the tribes of province and province; +contests perfectly natural and normal to the development of the +land, and through which every country has at some period +passed.</p> +<a name="243.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/243.jpg"><img src="images/243.jpg" +width="80%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>ROUND TOWER, ANTRIM.</b></p> +<p>It would seem that the Northmen who captured the Ford of the +Hurdles departed from their former usage. Fortifying themselves, or +strengthening the existent fortress, they determined to pass the +winter in Ireland, instead of returning, as they had always done up +to this time, before the autumn storms made dangerous the +navigation of the wild northern seas. Their presence in this fort +gave the native powers a center upon which to concentrate their +attack, and as a result the year 846 was marked by a signal victory +over the Northmen, twelve hundred of those at At-Cliat being slain. +Four other successful contests with the raiders are recorded for +the same year, and we can thoroughly trust the Annalists who, up to +this time, have so faithfully recorded the disasters of their own +race.</p> +<p>About the same time the Northmen gained a second point of +vantage by seizing and fortifying a strong <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page244" id="page244"></a>[pg 244]</span> +position where the town of Cork now stands. Indeed their instinct +of seamanship, their knowledge of good harbors and the conditions +which make them, led them to fix their first entrenchments at +Dublin, Cork and Limerick,--which remained for centuries after the +great ports of the country on the east, south and west; and the +Norse flavor still lingers in the names of Carlingford, Wexford and +Waterford, the Fiords of Cairlinn, Weis and Vadre. A wonderful +side-light on the whole epoch is shed by this entry for 847: "In +this year sevenscore ships of the Gentiles from abroad fought +against the Gentiles in Ireland." It would seem that the earlier +comers, who had drawn up their long ships on the beach, and thrown +up earthworks round their camp, instantly resented the attempt of +later arrivals to poach on their preserves, and that a fierce fight +was the result. During the whole of the following century we find +signs of like rivalry between different bands of raiders, and it +becomes evident that they were as much divided amongst themselves +as were the native tribes they fought against.</p> +<p>Two years later a further light is shed on this mutual strife +when we are told that "Dark Gentiles came to At-Cliat and +slaughtered the Fair Gentiles, <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page245" id="page245"></a>[pg 245]</span> plundering their fort +and carrying away both people and property." The next year saw a +new struggle between the Dark Gentiles and the Fair Gentiles, with +much mutual slaughter. This leads us to realize that these raiders, +vaguely grouped by modern writers under the single name of Danes, +really belonged to several different races, and doubtless came from +many parts of the Baltic coasts, as well as from the fiords of the +great Scandinavian peninsula. The Dark Foreigners are without doubt +some of that same race of southern origin which we saw, ages +earlier, migrating northwards along the Atlantic seaboard,--a race +full of the spirit of the sea, and never happier than when the +waves were curling and breaking under their prows. They found their +way, we saw, as far northwards as the coast of Scotland, the +Western Isles, and distant Norway over the foam, where the long +fiords and rugged precipices gave them a congenial home. We find +them hovering over the shores of Ireland at the very dawn of her +history; and, in later but still remote ages, their power waned +before the De Danaan tribes. This same dark race returning now from +Norway, swooped hawk-like upon the rich shrines of the Irish island +sanctuaries, only to come into hostile contact once <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page246" id="page246"></a>[pg 246]</span> more +with sons of that golden-haired race which scattered the dark +Fomorians at Mag Tuiread of the North. For the Fair Gentiles of our +mediaeval Chronicle are no other than the golden-haired +Scandinavians; the yellow-locked Baltic race that gave conquerors +and a new ideal of beauty to the whole modern world. And this +Baltic race, as we saw in an earlier epoch, was the source and +mother of the old De Danaans, whose hair was like new-smelted gold +or the yellow flag-lilies of our lakes and rivers. Thus after long +ages the struggle of Fomor and De Danaan was renewed at the Ford of +the Hurdles between the Dark and Fair Strangers, rivals for the +plunder of the Irish religious schools.</p> +<p>Though the personalities of this age do not stand forth with the +high relief of Cuculain and Concobar, though we can hardly quote +poems to equal the songs of Find son of Cumal and Ossin of the +golden tongue, yet genuine inspiration never failed in the hearts +of the warriors and on the lips of the bards. Thus in 860 did a +poet lament the death of a king:</p> +<blockquote>"Mournfully is spread her veil of grief over Erin<br> +Since Maelseaclain, chieftain of our race has perished,--<br> +Maelseaclain of the flowing Shannon.<br> +Many a moan resounds in every place;<br> +It is mournful news among the Gael.<br> +<br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page247" id="page247"></a>[pg +247]</span> Red wine has been spilled into the valley:<br> +Erin's monarch has died.<br> + Though he was wont to ride a white charger.<br> +Though he had many steeds,<br> +His car this day is drawn by a yoke of oxen.<br> +The king of Erin is dead."</blockquote> +<p>Four years afterwards the contest between the raiders and the +chieftains grew keener, more centered, more like organized war. "A +complete muster of the North was made by Aed Finnliat, so that he +plundered the fortresses of the foreigners, wherever they were in +the north; and he carried off their cattle and accoutrements, their +goods and chattels. The foreigners of the province came together at +Lough Foyle. After Aed king of Ireland had heard that this +gathering of strangers was on the borders of his country, he was +not negligent in attending to them. For he marched towards them +with all his forces, and a battle was fought fiercely and +spiritedly between them. The victory was gained over the +foreigners, and a slaughter was made of them. Their heads were +collected to one place, in the presence of the king, and +twelve-score heads were reckoned before him, which was the number +slain in that battle, besides the numbers of those who were wounded +and carried off by him in the agonies of <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page248" id="page248"></a>[pg 248]</span> death, +and who died of their wounds some time afterwards."</p> +<p>A renewal of tribal warfare in the second year after this, when +this same Aed the king was attacked by Flann the lord of Breag in +Meath, called forth certain battle-verses full of the fire and +fervor of the time.</p> +<p>A poet sang:</p> +<blockquote>"At Kiladerry this day the ravens shall taste sips of +blood:<br> +A victory shall be gained over the magic host of the Gentiles<br> + and over Flann."</blockquote> +<p>The mother of Flann sang:</p> +<blockquote>"Happiness! Woe! Good news! Bad news! The gaining of a +great<br> + triumphant battle.<br> +<br> +Happy the king whom it makes victorious; unhappy the king who<br> + was defeated.<br> +<br> +Unhappy the host of Leat Cuin, to have fallen by the sprites<br> + of Slain;<br> +<br> +Happy the reign of great Aed, and unhappy the loss of +Flann."</blockquote> +<p>Aed the victorious king sang:</p> +<blockquote>"The troops of Leinster are with him, with the added +men of<br> + swift Boyne;<br> +<br> +This shows the treachery of Flann: the concord of Gentiles<br> + at his side."</blockquote> +<p>After ten years, a bard thus sings the dirge of Aed:</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page249" id="page249"></a>[pg +249]</span> +<blockquote>"Long is the wintry night, with rough gusts of +wind;<br> +Under pressing grief we meet it, since the red-speared king<br> + of the noble house lives not.<br> +It is fearful to watch how the waves heave from the bottom;<br> +To them may be compared all those who with us lament him.<br> +A generous, wise, staid man, of whose renown the populous<br> + Tara was full.<br> +A shielded oak that sheltered the palace of Milid's sons.<br> +Master of the games of the fair hilled Taillten,<br> +King of Tara of a hundred conflicts;<br> +Chief of Fodla the noble, Aed of Oileac who died too soon.<br> +Popular, not forgotten, he departed from this world,<br> +A yew without any blemish upon him was he of the long-flowing<br> + hair."</blockquote> +<p>Nor must it be thought that these repeated raids which we have +recorded in any way checked the full spiritual life of the nation. +It is true that there was not that quiet serenity from which came +the perfect beauty and art of the old Book of Kells, but a keenness +and fire kindled the breasts of those who learned the New Way and +the Ancient Learning. The schools sent forth a host of eminent men +who over all western Europe laid the intellectual basis of the +modern world. This view of Ireland's history might well be expanded +almost without limit or possibility of exaggeration. Receiving, as +we saw, the learning and traditions of Rome while Rome was yet +mighty and a name of old imperial renown, Ireland <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page250" id="page250"></a>[pg 250]</span> kept +and cherished the classical wisdom and learning, not less than the +lore of Palestine. Then the northern garrisons of Rome were beaten +back, and Britain and Gaul alike were devastated by hordes from +beyond the Rhine. The first wild deluge of these fierce invaders +was now over, and during the lull of the storm teachers went forth +from Ireland to Scotland, as we have seen; they went also to +Britain; to Belgium; to northern, central and southern Gaul; and to +countries beyond the Rhine and in the south; to Switzerland and +Austria, where one Irishman gave his name to the Canton of St. +Gall, while another founded the famous see of Salzburg, a +rallying-point through all the Middle Ages. It was not only for +pure spiritual zeal and high inspiration that these teachers were +famed. They had not less renown for all refined learning and +culture. The famous universities of Oxford, Paris and Pavia count +among the great spirits at their inception men who were worthy +pupils of the schools of Devenish and Durrow, of Bangor and +Moville.</p> +<p>We have recorded the tribute paid by Alfred the Saxon king to +the Ireland of his day. Let us add to it the testimony of a great +divine of France. Elias, Bishop of Angoulême, who died in +875, wrote thus: <span class="pagenum"><a name="page251" id= +"page251"></a>[pg 251]</span> "What need to speak of Ireland; +setting at nought, as it does, the difficulties of the sea, and +coming almost in a body to our shores, with its crowd of +philosophers, the most intelligent of whom are subjecting +themselves to a voluntary exile."</p> +<p>We have traced the raids of the Northmen for nearly a century. +They continued for a century and a quarter longer. Through all this +time the course of the nation's life was as we have described it: a +raid from the sea, or from one of their seaboard fortresses by the +Dark Gentiles or the Fair; an assembling of the hosts of the native +chieftains against them; a fierce and spirited battle against the +pirates in their mail-coats and armed with great battle-axes. +Sometimes the chosen people prevailed, and sometimes the Gentiles; +but in either case the heads of the slain were heaped up at the +feet of the victor, many cattle were driven away as spoil, and +young men and maidens were taken into captivity. It would seem that +at no time was there any union between the foreigners of one and +another seaboard fortress, any more than there was unity among the +tribes whom they raided and who defeated them in their turn. It was +a strife of warring units, without fusion; small groups round +chosen leaders, and these <span class="pagenum"><a name="page252" +id="page252"></a>[pg 252]</span> merging for awhile in greater +groups. Thus the life of the times, in its warlike aspect. Its +spiritual vigor we have sufficiently shown, not less in the +inspirations of the saints than in the fiery songs of the bards, +called forth by battles and the death of kings. Everywhere there +was fierce force and seething energy, bringing forth fruit of piety +or prowess.</p> +<p>The raiders slowly lost their grasp of the fortresses they had +seized. Newcomers ceased to fill their thinning ranks. Their force +was finally shattered at the battle of Clontarf, which the Annalist +thus records: "1013: The Foreigners of the west of Europe assembled +against Brian and Maelseaclain, and they took with them a thousand +men with coats of mail. A spirited, fierce, violent, vengeful and +furious battle was fought between them, the likeness of which was +not to be found in that time, at Cluain-tarb, the Lawn of the +Bulls. In this battle was slain Brian son of Ceinneidig, monarch of +Ireland, who was the Augustus of all the west of Europe, in the +eighty-eighth year of his age."</p> +<p>The scene of this famous conflict is on the coast, between +Dublin and the Hill of Howth. A wide strand of boulders is laid +bare by the receding tide, with green sea-grass carpeting the +stones. At the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page253" id= +"page253"></a>[pg 253]</span> very verge of the farthest tide are +two huge sand-banks, where the waves roar and rumble with a sound +like the bellowing of bulls, and this tumultuous roaring is +preserved in the name of the place unto this day.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page254" id="page254"></a>[pg +254]</span><br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page255" id="page255"></a>[pg +255]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>THE PASSING OF THE NORSEMEN.</h2> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page256" id="page256"></a>[pg +256]</span><br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page257" id="page257"></a>[pg +257]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="XI."></a>XI.</h2> +<br> +<h3>THE PASSING OF THE NORSEMEN.</h3> +<h3>A.D. 1013-1250.</h3> +<br> +<p>There was, as we have seen, no "Danish Conquest" of Ireland, nor +anything approaching a conquest. What really happened during the +ninth and tenth centuries was this: Raiders from the shores of the +Northern seas, from the Scandinavian peninsula and the Western +Isles of Scotland, sailed in their long ships among the islands of +the Irish coast, looking for opportunities to plunder the +treasuries of the religious schools, and carrying off the gold and +silver reliquaries and manuscript cases, far more valuable to these +heathen seamen than the Latin or Gaelic manuscripts they +contained.</p> +<p>These raids had little connection with each other; they were the +outcome of individual daring, mere boat's-crews from one or another +of the Northern fiords. A few of the more persistent gradually grew +reluctant to retreat with their booty to the frozen north, and +tried to gain a footing on the shores of the fertile and wealthy +island they had discovered. <span class="pagenum"><a name="page258" +id="page258"></a>[pg 258]</span> They made temporary camps on the +beach, always beside the best harbors, and threw up earthworks +round them, or perhaps more lasting forts of stone. Thus they +established a secondary base for raids inland, and a place of +refuge whither they might carry the cattle, corn and captives which +these raids brought them from the territories of the native clans. +These camps on the shore were the germ of a chain of sea-ports at +Dublin, Wexford, Waterford, Cork and Limerick.</p> +<p>From these points raiding went on, and battles were fought in +which the raiders were as often vanquished as victorious. There was +little union between the various Norse forts, and indeed we +sometimes find them fighting valiantly among themselves. Meanwhile, +the old tribal contest went on everywhere throughout the island. +The south invaded the north and was presently invaded in return. +The east and the west sent expeditions against each other. Clan +went forth against clan, chief against chief, and cattle and +captives many times changed hands. These captives, it would seem, +became the agricultural class in each clan, being made to work as +the penalty for unsuccessful fighting. The old tribal life went on +unbroken during the whole of this period; nor did it <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page259" id="page259"></a>[pg 259]</span> +subsequently yield to pressure from without, but rather passed +away, during succeeding centuries, as the result of inward growth. +Meanwhile the religious schools continued their work, studying +Latin and Greek as well as the old Gaelic, and copying manuscripts +as before; and one fruit of their work we see in the gradual +conversion of the heathen Norsemen, who were baptized and admitted +to the native church. The old bardic schools likewise continued, so +that we have a wealth of native manuscripts belonging to this time, +embodying the finest tradition and literature of the earlier pagan +ages.</p> +<a name="259.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/259.jpg"><img src="images/259.jpg" +width="80%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>GIANT'S HEAD AND DUNLUCE CASTLE, CO. ANTRIM.</b></p> +<p>If the Danes and Northern raiders never conquered Ireland, on +the other hand they never were expelled. Through the cessation of +the original impulse of unrest which brought them, they gradually +ceased to receive accessions from the North, and at the same time +the forces of amalgamation were slowly merging them into the +national and tribal life of their new home. Their separate +influence grew less and less, but their race continued, and +continues to this day in the sea-ports we have named.</p> +<p>We shall presently have to record another series of Norse +inroads, this time not directly from the North, but mediately, +through France and Britain, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page260" +id="page260"></a>[pg 260]</span> and we shall find that much of our +subsequent history was influenced by the new elements and +principles then added. We shall do well, therefore, to linger for a +moment before this new transition, to gain a clear view of the +tendencies of the epoch then closed, the wider significance of that +chapter of our nation's life.</p> +<p>The culture of Ireland, during the period before the Northern +raids, bridged over the abyss between the classical and the +mediaeval world. During the whole of that period the rest of Europe +was hidden under the clouds of the Dark Ages. Ireland stood alone +as the one cultured nation. Receiving the classical learning from +Roman Gaul and Britain and Italy, while the old world was still +alive, Ireland carried that culture onward when Rome and the Roman +Empire fell, crushed under the hordes of Northern barbarians: the +Franks in Gaul; the Lombards, Goths and Vandals in Spain and Italy; +the Angles, Saxons and Danes in Britain; and the Picts and Northmen +in the Scottish lowlands. Austria was meanwhile overrun by Asian +nomads, the Huns and Magyars; Russia and Germany, with the +Scandinavian lands, were still pagan.</p> +<p>Thus all Europe was submerged under a deluge of <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page261" id="page261"></a>[pg 261]</span> +heathenism, and the old Latin culture was swept away. The tradition +of ancient Greece still lingered at Constantinople behind the wall +of the Balkans, but it had no influence at all on the northern +nations beyond the wall. Ireland was thus the one exception, the +ark of safety for the old wisdom and beauty of classical days. And +from Ireland, when the tide of heathen invasion slackened, the +light of classical times and the spirit of the New Way went forth +to all the nascent nations, the great pagan tribes that were to +form the modern world. Thus Ireland was the bridge over the Dark +Ages, the first of modern nations, keeping the old and blending it +with the new.</p> +<p>Yet another view of Ireland's significance must not be +forgotten. Of the original life of the great pagan world which +swept over the Roman Empire we know almost nothing. How much do we +realize of the thought and genius of Aleman, Frank and Vandal, of +Angle and Lombard and Burgundian?</p> +<p>Nothing at all. The darkness that shrouds them is complete. But +what a contrast when we come to Ireland! If we leave out the basin +of the Mediterranean, with its Asian and African traditions, +Ireland is the one European nation which has clear records +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page262" id="page262"></a>[pg +262]</span> of its pagan history. And how excellent that history +was, how full of humanity and the rich wine of life, the stories of +Fergus and Concobar and Cuculain, of Find and Ossin and Gael, of +Meave and Deirdré and Credé bear sufficient witness. +The tide of Irish life to which they belong, and which brought them +forth, flowed on without break to a time so recent that their whole +tradition has come down to us, practically at first hand, from the +heralds and bards themselves. Ireland is, therefore, our one +doorway to the history of northern Europe through the long era of +pagan times.</p> +<p>That history was everywhere a fierce tale of tribal warfare. Its +heroes are valiant fighters, keen leaders of forays, champion +swordsmen and defenders of forts. The air throbs to the +battle-drum, rings to the call of the war-trumpet. Every tribe, +every clan, is in turn victor and vanquished, raider and victim of +raids. Everywhere are struggle and unrest, tales of captivity and +slaughter.</p> +<p>We fall into vain lamenting over this red rapine and wrath, +until we divine the genius and secret purpose of that wonderful +epoch, so wholly different in inspiration from our own. The life of +races, like the life of men, has its ordered stages, and none can +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page263" id="page263"></a>[pg +263]</span> ripen out of season. That was the epoch of dawning +individual consciousness, when men were coming to a keen and vivid +realization of themselves and their powers. Keen consciousness and +strong personal will could be developed only through +struggle--through long ages of individual and independent fighting, +where the best man led, and often fought for his right to lead with +the best of his followers. Innumerable centers of initiative and +force were needed, and these the old tribal life abundantly gave. +The territory of a chief hardly stretched farther than he could +ride in a day, so that every part of it had a real place in his +heart. Nor was he the owner of that territory. He was simply the +chosen leader of the men who lived there, perhaps the strongest +among many brothers who shared it equally between them. If another +thought himself the better man, the matter was forthwith decided by +fighting.</p> +<p>The purpose of all this was not the "survival of the fittest" in +the material sense, but a harvest purely spiritual: the ripening of +keen personal consciousness and will in all the combatants, to the +full measure of their powers. The chiefs were the strongest men who +set the standard and served as models for the rest, but that +standard held the minds <span class="pagenum"><a name="page264" id= +"page264"></a>[pg 264]</span> of all, the model of perfect valor +was in the hearts of all. Thus was personal consciousness gained +and perfected.</p> +<p>If we keep this in mind as the keynote of the whole pagan epoch, +we shall be better able to comprehend the new forces which were +added to that epoch, and which gradually transformed it. The +greatest was the Message of the New Way. Deeds are stronger than +words, and in the deeds of the first Messengers we can see the new +spirit bearing fruit. The slave of Slemish mountain returned +breathing not vengeance for his captivity but pity and generous +kindness towards his captors. Colum the exile did not seek to +enlist the Picts against his native land, but sought rather to give +the message of that land to the wild Pictish warriors, and to +spread humane and generous feeling among them. Thus was laid the +foundation of a wide and universal consciousness; a bridge was +built between soul and soul.</p> +<p>From the waning of the Norsemen to the first coming of the +Normans is a period of about a hundred and fifty years. We shall +best gain an insight into the national and religious life of that +time by gleaning from the Annals the vivid and living pictures they +never fail to give,--pictures which are the <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page265" id="page265"></a>[pg 265]</span> +records of eye-witnesses. The strictly contemporary character of +the records is vouched for by the correct entry of eclipses: for +instance, "on the day before the calends of September, in the year +1030, there was a darkening of the sun."</p> +<p>We see the genius of the Norsemen suffering a like eclipse the +year before: "1029: Olaf son of Sitric, lord of the Foreigners, was +taken prisoner by Matgamain Ua Riagain lord of Breag, who exacted +twelve hundred cows as his ransom, together with seven score +British horses, three score ounces of gold, the sword of Carlus, +the Irish hostages, sixty ounces of white silver as the ransom of +his fetters, eighty cows for word and supplication, and four +hostages to Ua Riagain as a security of peace."</p> +<p>Two generations later we read: "1088: Tigearnac Ua Briain, chief +successor of Ciaran and Coman, died. He was a paragon of learning +and history." The work of the paragon Tigearnac, a history of +Ireland, is extant and writ in choice Latin, a monument at once of +the classical learning of our schools and of the historical spirit +carried down from the days of the pagan heralds and bards. +Tigearnac quotes abundantly from Greek and Latin authors, +fortifying his conclusions with passages from Eusebius, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page266" id="page266"></a>[pg +266]</span> Orosius, Julius Africanus, Josephus, Jerome and +Bede.</p> +<p>A half-century later we get a quaint and vivid glimpse into the +religious life of the time: "1145: A lime-kiln which was sixty feet +every way was erected opposite Emain Maca by Gilla Mac Liag, the +successor of Patrick, and Patrick's clergy in general." Here is the +glow of that devotion through work which gave us the great +mediaeval cathedrals, the fervor and artistic power, which in +former times adorned the Gospels of the Book of Kells, now working +out its way in lasting stone. The date of this lime-kiln lies +indeed just half-way between the consecration of Cormac's Chapel at +Cashel in 1134 and the foundation of the beautiful cathedral beside +it by the lord of Tuaid-Muma or Thomond in 1152. Cormac's Chapel is +a very pure example of native style, untouched by foreign or +continental influence.</p> +<a name="267.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/267.jpg"><img src="images/267.jpg" +width="80%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>ROCK CASHEL, RUINS OF OLD CATHEDRAL, KING CORMAC'S CHAPEL AND +ROUND TOWER.</b></p> +<p>We can divine the figure of one of the great men of the +religious world in the records for the year 1148: "A synod was +convened at Saint Patrick's Isle by Maelmaedog, called also +Malachias, successor of Patrick, at which were present fifteen +bishops and two hundred priests, to establish rules and morals for +all. Maelmaedog by the advice of the synod went <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page267" id="page267"></a>[pg 267]</span> a +second time to Rome, to confer with the successor of Peter." A few +months later we read this record of his death: "Malachias, that is, +Maelmaedog Ua Morgair, Archbishop of the chair of Patrick, chief +head of the piety of the West of Europe, legate of the successor of +Peter, the only head whom the Irish and the Foreigners obeyed, +chief paragon of wisdom and piety, a brilliant lamp which illumined +territories and churches by preaching and good works, faithful +shepherd of the church in general,--after having ordained bishops +and priests and persons of every degree; after having consecrated +many churches and cemeteries; after having performed every +ecclesiastical work throughout Ireland; after having bestowed +jewels and food upon the mighty and the needy; after having founded +churches and monasteries, for by him was repaired in Ireland every +church which had been consigned to decay and neglect, and they had +been neglected from times remote; --after leaving every rule and +every good moral in the churches of Ireland in general; after +having been the second time in the legateship; after having been +fourteen years in the primacy; and after the fifty-fourth year of +his age, resigned his spirit to heaven on the second day of +November, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="page268" id= +"page268"></a>[pg 268]</span> was buried in the monastery of Saint +Bernard at Claravallis in France."</p> +<p>This is the same worthy under whose influence was built the +great lime-kiln over against the fort of Emain, where Concobar once +ruled. Even from the scant notices which we have quoted he stands +forth clear and strong, full of spiritual and moral vigor, a great +man in every sense, and one in whom we divine a lovable and +admirable spirit. At that time there were four archbishoprics in +Ireland, at Armagh, Cashel, Dublin and Tuam; the primacy belonging +to the first, as the seat of the Damliag Mor or Great Stone Church, +built by Saint Patrick himself. A sentence in the Annals shows how +the revenues were raised: "A horse from every chieftain, a sheep +from every hearth." A few passages like these are enough to light +up whole epochs of that mediaeval time, and to show us how +sympathetic, strong and pure that life was, in so many ways.</p> +<p>We find, meanwhile, that the tribal struggle continued as of +old: "1154: Toirdealbac Ua Concobar brought a fleet round Ireland +northwards, and plundered Tir-Conaill and Inis Eogain. The Cinel +Eogain sent to hire the fleets of the Hebrides, Arran, Cantyre and +Man, and the borders of Alba in general, <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page269" id="page269"></a>[pg 269]</span> and +they fell in with the other fleet and a naval battle was fiercely +and spiritedly fought between them. They continued the conflict +from, the beginning of the day till evening, but the foreign fleet +was defeated." This records perhaps the only lesson learned from +the Norsemen, the art of naval warfare. We may regret that the new +knowledge was not turned to a more national end.</p> +<p>Four years later, "a wicker bridge was made by Ruaidri Ua +Concobar at Athlone, for the purpose of making incursions into +Meath. There was a pacific meeting between Ruaidri Ua Concobar and +Tigearnan, and they made peace, and took mutual oaths before +sureties and relics." This is our first meeting with a king as +remarkable in his way as the great archbishop his contemporary. +Ruaidri descendant of Concobar was king of Connacht, holding the +land from the western ocean up to the great frontier of the river +Shannon. Eager to plunder his neighbors and bring back "a countless +number of cows," he undertook this wonderful work, a pile bridge +across the river, seemingly the first of its kind to be built +there, and in structure very like the famous bridge which Caesar +built across the Rhine,--or like many of the wooden bridges across +the upper streams <span class="pagenum"><a name="page270" id= +"page270"></a>[pg 270]</span> of the Danube at the present day. We +shall record a few more of this enterprising and large-minded +prince's undertakings, following the course of the years.</p> +<p>In parenthesis, we find a clue to the standard of value of the +time in this record: "1161: The visitation of Osraige was made by +Flaitbeartac, successor of Colum Kill; the tribute due to him was +seven score oxen, but he selected, as a substitute for these, four +hundred and twenty ounces of pure silver." The price of an ox was, +therefore, three ounces of silver. The old-time barter, an echo of +which still lingers in the word "pecuniary" from the Latin name for +"cattle," was evidently yielding to the more convenient form of +exchange through the medium of the metals, which are easily carried +and divided, and suffer no detriment from the passage of time. With +the wicker bridge and the lime-kiln, this change from a tribute in +cattle to a payment in silver may remind us that we are on the +threshold of the modern world.</p> +<p>In 1162 we find the king of Connacht in a new adventure: "An +army was led by Muirceartac Ua Lochlain, accompanied by the people +of the north of Ireland, the men of Meath, and a battalion of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page271" id="page271"></a>[pg +271]</span> Connacht men, to At-Cliat, to lay siege to the +Foreigners and the Irish; but Ua Lochlain retired without battle or +hostages after having plundered the Fair Strangers. A peace was +afterwards concluded between the Foreigners and the Gaels; and six +score ounces of gold were given by the Foreigners to Ua Lochlain, +and five score ounces of gold were paid by Diarmaid Ua Maelseaclain +to Ruaidri Ua Concobar for West Meath." Here again we see the +"countless cows" giving place to counted gold in the levying of +tribute. We note also, in the following year, that "a lime-kiln +measuring seventy feet every way was made by the successor of Colum +Kill and the clergy of Colum Kill in twenty days," in evident +emulation of the work of the Armagh see.</p> +<p>The synod already recorded as having been held in the little +island of Saint Patrick off the Dublin coast, gives us a general +view of the church at that time, the number of sees and parishes, +and the spirit animating them. We gain a like view of the civil +state in the record of a great assembly convened in 1167 by the +energetic and enterprising Connacht king: "A great meeting was +called together by Ruaidri Ua Concobar and the chiefs of Leat Cuin, +both lay and ecclesiastic, and the chiefs of At-boy,--the Yellow +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page272" id="page272"></a>[pg +272]</span> Ford across one of the streams of the Boyne in Meath. +To it came the successor of Patrick, the archbishop of Connacht, +the archbishop of Leinster, the lord of Breifne, the lord of +Oirgialla, the king of Ulster, the king of Tara, and Ragnall son of +Ragnall, lord of the Foreigners. The whole of their gathering and +assemblage was 19,000 horsemen, of which 6000 were Connachtmen, +4000 with the lord of Breifne, 2000 with the king of Tara, 4000 +with the lord of Oirgialla and the king of Ulster, 2000 with the +chief of Ui-Failge, and 1000 with the Foreigners of At-Cliat. They +passed many good resolutions at this meeting, respecting veneration +for churches and clerics, and control of tribes and territories, so +that women used to traverse Ireland alone; and a restoration of his +prey was made by the chief of the Ui-Failge at the hands of the +kings aforesaid. They afterwards separated in peace and amity, +without battle or controversy, or without anyone complaining of +another at that meeting, in consequence of the prosperousness of +the king, who had assembled these chiefs with their forces at one +place."</p> +<p>Here is a foreshadowing of the representative assemblies of our +modern times, and the same wise spirit is shown in another event of +the same year, thus <span class="pagenum"><a name="page273" id= +"page273"></a>[pg 273]</span> recorded: "A hosting and a mustering +of the men of Ireland, with their chieftains, by Ruaidri Ua +Concobar; thither came the lord of Deas-muma, the lord of +Tuaid-muma, the king of Meath, the lord of Oirgialla and all the +chieftains of Leinster. They arrived in Tir-Eogain, and allotted +the part of it north of Slieve Gullion,--now the eastern part of +Derry,--to Nial Ua Lochlain for two hostages, and allotted the part +of the country of the clan to the south of the mountain to Aed Ua +Neill for two other hostages. Then the men of Ireland returned back +southwards over Slieve Fuaid, through Tir-Eogain and Tir-Connaill, +and over Assaroe--the Cataract of the Erne--and Ruaidri Ua Concobar +escorted the lord of Deas-muma with his forces southwards through +Tuaid-muma as far as Cnoc-Ainé--in Limerick--and the lord of +Deas-muma departed with gifts of many jewels and riches."</p> +<p>While the Norse foreigners were a power at Dublin, Waterford, +Cork and Limerick, there were not wanting occasions when one of the +native tribes called on them for aid against another tribe, sharing +with them the joys of victory or the sorrow of defeat, and, where +fortune favored, dividing with them the "countless cows" taken in a +raid. In like manner <span class="pagenum"><a name="page274" id= +"page274"></a>[pg 274]</span> the Cinel Eogain, as we saw, hired +the fleet of the Norsemen of the Western Isles of Scotland to help +them to resist a raid of the Connachtmen. The example thus set was +followed repeatedly in the coming years, and we find mention of +Flemings, Welshmen and Saxons brought over to take one side or +other in the tribal wars.</p> +<p>In the same year that saw the two assemblings of the chieftains +under Ruaidri Ua Concobar, another chieftain, Diarmaid son of +Murcad brought in from "the land of the Saxons," as it was called, +one of these bands of foreign mercenaries, for the most part Welsh +descendants of the old Gaelic Britons, to aid him in his contest +for "the kingdom of the sons of Ceinnsealaig." Two years later, +Ruaidri Ua Concobar "granted ten cows every year from himself and +from every king that should follow him for ever, to the Lector of +Ard Maca, in honor of Patrick, to instruct the youths of Ireland +and Alba in Literature."</p> +<p>For the next year, 1170, we find this record: "Robert Mac Stepni +and Ricard Mac Gillebert--Iarl Strangbow--came from Saxonland into +Erin with a numerous force, and many knights and archers, in the +army of the son of Murcad, to contest Leinster <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page275" id="page275"></a>[pg 275]</span> for +him, and to disturb the Gaels of Erin in general; and the son of +Murcad gave his daughter to Iarl Strangbow for coming into his +army. They took Loch Garman--Wexford--and Port +Lairge--Waterford--by force; and they took Gillemaire the officer +of the fortress and Ua Faelain lord of the Deisi and his son, and +they killed seven hundred persons there. Domnall Breagac with +numbers of the men of Breag fell by the Leinstermen on that +occasion. An army was led by Ruaidri Ua Concobar with the lord of +Breifne and the lord of Oirgialla against Leinster and the +Foreigners aforesaid, and there was a challenge of battle between +them for the space of three days." This contest was indecisive. The +most noteworthy event of the battle was the plundering and +slaughter of the Danes of At-Cliat by the newcomers under Iarl +Strangbow. The Danes had long before this given up their old pagan +faith, converted by their captives and their Gaelic neighbors. +Christ Church Cathedral in At-Cliat or Dublin was founded early in +the preceding century by Sitric son of Olaf, king of the Danes of +Dublin, and Donatus the first Danish bishop; but the oldest part of +the present structure belongs to the time we are now speaking of: +the close of the twelfth century. The transepts with <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page276" id="page276"></a>[pg 276]</span> their +chevron mouldings and the principal doorway are of that period, and +we may regard them as an offering in expiation of the early heathen +raids on Lambay, Saint Patrick's Isle, and the early schools of the +church.</p> +<p>The ambitious Diarmaid Mac Murcad died shortly after the last +battle we have recorded, "perishing without sacrament, of a +loathsome disease;" a manifest judgment, in the eyes of the +Chronicler, for the crime of bringing the Normans to Ireland. In +the year that saw his death, "Henry the Second, king of the Saxons +and duke of the Normans, came to Ireland with two hundred and forty +ships." He established a footing in the land, as one of many +contesting powers, but the immediate results of his coming were +slight. This we can judge from the record of three years later: "A +brave battle was fought by the Foreigners under Iarl Strangbow and +the Gaels under Ruaidri Ua Concobar at Thurles, in which the +Foreigners were finally defeated by dint of fighting. Seventeen +hundred of the Foreigners were slain in the battle, and only a few +of them survived with the Iarl, who proceeded in sorrow to his home +at Port Lairge--Waterford." Iarl Strangbow died two years later at +Dublin.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page277" id="page277"></a>[pg +277]</span> +<p>Norman warriors continue to appear during the succeeding years, +fighting against the native chieftains and against each other, +while the native chieftains continue their own quarrels, just as in +the days of the first Norse raids. Thus in the year of Iarl +Strangbow's death, Kells was laid waste by the Foreigners in +alliance with the native Ui-Briain, while later in the same year +the Foreigners were driven from Limerick by Domnall Ua-Briain, who +laid siege to them and forced them to surrender.</p> +<p>Two years later, four hundred and fifty of the followers of De +Courcy, another great Norman warrior, were defeated at Maghera +Conall in Louth, some being drowned in the river, while others were +slain on the battlefield. In the same year De Courcy was again +defeated with great slaughter in Down, and escaped severely wounded +to Dublin. For At-Cliat, from being a fortress of the Danes and +Norsemen, was gradually becoming a Norman town. The doorway of +Christ Church Cathedral, which dates from about this time, is of +pure Norman style.</p> +<p>In 1186 we find a son of the great Ruaidri Ua Concobar paying a +band of these same Foreigners three thousand cows as "wages," for +joining him in some plundering expedition against his neighbors. +The <span class="pagenum"><a name="page278" id="page278"></a>[pg +278]</span> genius of strife reigned supreme, and the newcomers +were as completely under its sway as the old clansmen. Just as we +saw the Dark Norsemen of the ninth century coming in their long +ships to plunder the Fair Norsemen of At-Cliat, and the Fair +Norsemen not less vigorously retaliating, so now we find wars +breaking out among the Normans who followed in the steps of the +Norsemen. In 1205 the Norman chieftain who held a part of Meath +under his armed sway, and who had already built a strong castle at +Kells, was at war with the De Bermingham family, who at that time +held the old Danish stronghold of Limerick. Two years later another +contest broke out between the De Berminghams and William Marescal, +and yet another struggle between Hugo de Lacy and De Bermingham, +very disastrous to the retainers of the latter, for the Chronicler +tells us that "nearly all his people were ruined."</p> +<p>Thus the old life of tribal struggle went on. The country was +wealthy, full of cattle and herds, silver and gold, stored corn and +fruit, rich dyed stuffs and ornaments. The chieftains and +provincial kings lived in state within their forts, with their +loyal warriors around them, feasting and making merry, and the +bards and heralds recited for their delight the great <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page279" id="page279"></a>[pg 279]</span> deeds +of the men of old, their forefathers; the harpers charmed or +saddened them with the world-old melodies that Deirdré had +played for Naisi, that Meave had listened to, that Credé +sang for her poet lover.</p> +<p>The life of the church was not less vigorous and vital. There +are many churches and cathedrals of that period of transition, as +of the epoch before the first Norman came, which show the same +fervor and devotion, the same faith made manifest by works of +beauty. In truth no country in the world has so full and rich a +record in lasting stone, beginning with the dwellings of the early +saints who had seen the first Messenger face to face, and passing +down through age after age, showing the life and growth of the +faith from generation to generation.</p> +<p>The schools, as we saw, carried on the old classical tradition, +bringing forth monuments like the Annals of Tigearnac; and there +was the same vigor and vital force in every part of the nation's +life. The coming of the Normans changed this in no essential +regard. There was something added in architecture, the Norman +modifying the old native style; the castle and keep gradually +taking the place of the earthwork and stone fort. And in the tenure +of land <span class="pagenum"><a name="page280" id= +"page280"></a>[pg 280]</span> certain new principles were +introduced. But the sum of national life went on unbroken, less +modified, probably, than it had been by the old Norse raids.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page281" id="page281"></a>[pg +281]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>THE NORMANS.</h2> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page282" id="page282"></a>[pg +282]</span><br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page283" id="page283"></a>[pg +283]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="XII."></a>XII.</h2> +<br> +<h3>THE NORMANS.</h3> +<h3>A.D. 1250-1603.</h3> +<br> +<p>When summing up each epoch of Irish history, we may find both +interest and profit in considering what the future of the land and +the people might have been had certain new elements not been added. +Thus we may try to picture to ourselves what would have been our +history had our life moved forward from the times of Cuculain and +Concobar, of Find and Cormac son of Art, without that transforming +power which the fifth century brought. We may imagine the tribal +strife and stress growing keener and fiercer, till the whole life +and strength of the people was fruitlessly consumed in plundering +and destroying.</p> +<p>Or we may imagine an unbroken continuance of the epoch of +saintly aspiration, the building of churches, the illumination of +holy books, so dividing the religious from the secular community as +almost to make two nations in one, a nation altogether absorbed in +the present life, with another nation living <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page284" id="page284"></a>[pg 284]</span> in its +midst, but dwelling wholly in the thought of the other world. +Religion would have grown to superstition, ecstasy would have ruled +in the hearts of the religious devotees, weakening their hold on +the real, and wafting them away into misty regions of paradise. We +should have had every exaggeration of ascetic practice, hermitages +multiplying among the rocks and islands of the sea, men and women +torturing their bodies for the saving of their souls.</p> +<p>The raids of the Norsemen turned the strong aspirations of the +religious schools into better channels, bringing them to a sense of +their identity with the rest of the people, compelling them to bear +their part of the burden of calamity and strife. The two nations +which might have wandered farther and farther apart were thus +welded into one, so that the spirit of religion became what it has +ever since remained, something essential and inherent in the life +of the whole people.</p> +<p>After the waning of the Norsemen, a period opened full of great +national promise in many ways. We see the church strengthened and +confirmed, putting forth its power in admirable works of art, +churches and cathedrals full of the fire and fervor of devotion, +and conceived in a style truly national, with a sense <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page285" id="page285"></a>[pg 285]</span> of +beauty altogether its own. Good morals and generous feeling mark +the whole life of the church through this period, and the great +archbishop whose figure we have drawn in outline is only one of +many fine and vigorous souls among his contemporaries.</p> +<a name="285.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/285.jpg"><img src="images/285.jpg" +width="80%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>DUNLUCE CASTLE.</b></p> +<p>The civil life of the nation, too, shows signs of singular +promise at the same time, a promise embodied in the person of the +king of Connacht, Ruaidri Ua Concobar, some of whose deeds we have +recorded. There was a clearer sense of national feeling and +national unity than ever before, a recognition of the method of +conciliation and mutual understanding, rather than the old appeal +to armed force, as under the genius of tribal strife. We see +Ruaidri convoking the kings, chieftains and warriors to a solemn +assembly, presided over by the king and the archbishops of the +realm, and "passing good resolutions" for the settlement of +religious and civil matters, and the better ordering of territories +and tribes. That assembly was convened a half-century before the +famous meeting between King John and his barons, at Runnymead among +the Windsor meadows; and the seed then sown might have brought +forth fruit as full of promise and potency for the future as the +Great Charter itself. The contrast between these <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page286" id="page286"></a>[pg 286]</span> two +historic assemblies is instructive. In the one case, we have a +provincial king from the rich and beautiful country beyond the +Shannon, gradually gaining such influence over the kings of the +provinces and the chieftains of the tribes that he had come to be +regarded as in a sense the overlord of the whole land, not through +inherent sovreignty or divine right, but first as the chosen chief +of his own tribe, and then as the elect of the whole body of +chieftains, first among his peers. In this character we see Ruaidri +settling disputes between two sections of the great Northern clan, +and fixing a boundary between them; giving presents to the +chieftains of the south for their support in this difficult +decision, and exercising a beneficent influence over the whole +people, a moral sway rather than a sovereign and despotic +authority. It is pleasant to find the same king establishing a +college foundation for the instruction of the youth of Ireland and +Scotland in literature.</p> +<p>This is what we have on the one hand. On the other, we have the +Norman king surrounded by his barons, over whom he claimed, but +could not exercise, despotic authority; and the Norman barons +taking advantage of his necessity to extort promises <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page287" id="page287"></a>[pg 287]</span> and +privileges for their own order rather than for the whole people. +For we must remember that the Angles and Saxons had been reduced by +conquest to a servile condition, from which they never wholly +recovered. The ruling classes of Britain at the present day are at +least nominal descendants of those same Norman barons; and between +them and the mass of the people--the sons of the Saxons and +Angles--there is still a great gulf fixed. It is quite impossible +for one of the tillers of the soil to stand on a footing of +equality with the old baronial class, and the gulf has widened, +rather than closed, since the battle of Hastings and the final +overthrow of the Saxon power.</p> +<p>We see here the full contrast between the ideal of kingship in +Ireland and that which grew up among the Norman conquerors of the +Saxons. The Irish king was always in theory and often in fact a +real representative, duly elected by the free suffrage of his +tribesmen; he was not owner of the tribal land, as the duke of the +Normans was; he was rather the leader of the tribe, chosen to guard +their common possessions. The communal system of Ireland stands +here face to face with the feudal system of the Normans.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page288" id="page288"></a>[pg +288]</span> +<p>It would be a study of great interest to consider what form of +national life might have resulted in Ireland from the free growth +of this principle of communal chieftainship. There are many +analogies in other lands, all of which point to the likelihood of a +slow emergence of the hereditary principle; a single family finally +overtopping the whole nation. Had this free development taken +place, we might have had a strong and vigorous national evolution, +an abundant flowering of all our energies and powers through the +Middle Ages, a rich and vigorous production of art and literature, +equal to the wonderful blossoming of genius in the Val d'Arno and +Venice and Rome; but we should have missed something much greater +than all these; something towards which events and destiny have +been leading us, through the whole of the Middle Ages and modern +times.</p> +<p>From this point forward we shall have to trace the working of +that destiny, not manifested in a free blossoming and harvesting of +our national life, but rather in the suppression and involution of +our powers; in a development arrested by pressure from without and +kept thus suspended until the field was ready for its real work. +Had our fate been otherwise, <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page289" id="page289"></a>[pg 289]</span> we might now be looking +back to a great mediaeval past, as Spain and Austria look back; it +is fated that we shall look not back but forwards, brought as we +are by destiny into the midst of the modern world, a people with +energy unimpaired, full of vigorous vital force, uncorrupted by the +weakening influence of wealth, taught by our own history the +measureless evil of oppression, and therefore cured once for all of +the desire to dominate others. Finally, the intense inner life +towards which we have been led by the checking of our outward +energies has opened to us secrets of the invisible world which are +of untold value, of measureless promise for all future time.</p> +<p>We have, therefore, to trace the gradual involution of our +national life; the checking and restraining of that free +development which would assuredly have been ours, had our national +life grown forward unimpeded and uninfluenced from without, from +the days when the Norse power waned. The first great check to that +free development came from the feudal system, the principle of +which was brought over by Robert FitzStephen, Richard FitzGilbert, +the De Courcys, the De Lacys, the De Berminghams and their peers, +whose coming we have recorded. They <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page290" id="page290"></a>[pg 290]</span> added new elements to +the old struggle of district against district, tribe against tribe, +but they added something more enduring--an idea and principle +destined almost wholly to supplant the old communal tenure which +was the genius of the native polity. The outward and visible sign +of that new principle was manifested in the rapid growth of feudal +castles, with their strong keeps, at every point of vantage gained +by the Norman lords. They were lords of the land, not leaders of +the tribe, and their lordship was fitly symbolized in the great +gloomy towers of stone that everywhere bear witness to their +strength, almost untouched as they are by the hand of time.</p> +<p>When the duke of the Normans overthrew the Saxon king at +Hastings, he became real owner of the soil of England. His barons +and lords held their estates from him, in return for services to be +rendered to him direct. To reward them for supporting him, first in +that decisive battle, and then in whatever contests he might engage +in, they were granted the right to tax certain tracts of country, +baronies, earldoms, or counties, according to the title they bore. +This tax was exacted first in service, then in produce, and finally +in coin. It was the penalty of conquest, the tribute of the subject +Saxons and Angles. <span class="pagenum"><a name="page291" id= +"page291"></a>[pg 291]</span> There was no pretence of a free +contract; no pretence that the baron returned to the farmer or +laborer an equal value for the tax thus exacted. It was tribute +pure and simple, with no claim to be anything else. That system of +tribute has been consecrated in the land tenure of England, and the +class enriched by that tribute, and still bearing the territorial +titles which are its hall-mark, has always been, as it is to-day, +the dominant class alike in political and social life. In other +words, the Norman subjugation of Saxon and Angle is thoroughly +effective at this moment.</p> +<p>This principle of private taxation, as a right granted by the +sovereign, came over to Ireland with the De Courcys and De Lacys +and their like. But it by no means overspread Ireland in a single +tide, as in England, after Hastings was lost and won. Its progress +was slow; so slow, indeed, that the old communal system lingers +here and there at the present day. The communal chiefs lived their +lives side by side with the Norman barons, fighting now with the +barons, now with each other; and the same generous rivalry, as we +have seen, led to abundant fighting among the barons also. The +principle of feudal ownership was working its way, however. We +shall see later how great was its ultimate influence,--not +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page292" id="page292"></a>[pg +292]</span> so much by direct action, as in the quite modern +reaction which its abuse provoked--a reaction from which have been +evolved certain principles of value to the whole world.</p> +<p>Leaving this force to work its way through the centuries, we may +turn now to the life of the times as it appeared to the men and +women who lived in them, and as they themselves have recorded it. +We shall find fewer great personalities; nor should we expect this +to be otherwise, if we are right in thinking that the age of +struggle, with its efflorescence of great persons, had done its +work, and was already giving way before the modern spirit, with its +genius for the universal rather than the personal. We shall have +contests to chronicle during the following centuries, whether +engendered within or forced upon us from without; but they are no +longer the substance of our history. They are only the last clouds +of a departing storm; the mists before the dawn of the modern +world.</p> +<p>The most noteworthy of these contests in the early Norman age +was the invasion under Edward Bruce, brother of the Scottish king, +who brought a great fleet and army to Larne, then as now the Irish +port nearest to the northern kingdom. The first sufferers +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page293" id="page293"></a>[pg +293]</span> by this invasion were the Normans of Heath, and we +presently find these same Normans allied with Feidlimid son of Aed +Ua Concobar and the Connachtmen, fighting side by side against the +common foe. This was in 1315; two years later Robert Bruce joined +his brother, and it was not till 1319 that Edward Bruce finally +fell at Dundalk, "and no achievement had been performed in Ireland +for a long time before," the Chronicler tells us, "from which +greater benefit had accrued to the country than from this; for +during the three and a half years that Edward had spent in it, a +universal famine prevailed to such a degree that men were wont to +devour one another."</p> +<p>A ray of light is thus shed on the intellectual and moral life +of the time: "1398: Garrett Earl of Desmond--or Deas-muma--a +cheerful and courteous man, who excelled all the Normans and many +of the Irish in the knowledge of the Irish language, poetry, +history and other learning, died after the victory of peace." We +see that the Normans are already fallen under the same influence of +assimilation which had transformed the Danes two hundred years +before.</p> +<p>A half-century later, we get a vigorous and lurid picture of the +survival of the old tribal strife: "1454: Donell O'Donell was +installed in the lordship of <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page294" id="page294"></a>[pg 294]</span> Tyrconnell, in +opposition to Rury O'Donell. Not long after this, Donell was +treacherously taken captive and imprisoned in the castle of +Inis--an island in Lough Swilly. As soon as Rury received tidings +of this, he mustered an army thither, and proceeded to demolish the +castle in which Donell was imprisoned with a few men to guard him. +Rury and his army burned the great door of the castle, and set the +stairs on fire; whereupon Donell, thinking that his life would be +taken as soon as the army should reach the castle,--it being his +dying request, as he thought-- that he might be loosed from his +fetters, as he deemed it a disgrace to be killed while imprisoned +and fettered. His request was granted, and he was loosed from his +fetters; after which he ascended to the battlements of the castle, +to view the motions of the invading army. And he saw Rury beneath, +with eyes flashing enmity, and waiting until the fire should +subside, that he might enter and kill him. Donell then, finding a +large stone by his side, hurled it directly down upon Rury, so that +it fell on the crest of his helmet, on the top of his head, and +crushed it, so that he instantly died. The invading forces were +afterwards defeated, and by this throw Donell saved his own life +and acquired the lordship of Tyrconnell."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page295" id="page295"></a>[pg +295]</span> +<p>There is a whole historical romance in that single picture; the +passage could not easily be surpassed for direct and forcible +narrative. A few years later, we come on one of the most amusing +things in the whole series of annals, a perfect contrast to the +grim ferocity of the feud of the O'Donells. In 1472 "a wonderful +animal was sent to Ireland by the king of England. She resembled a +mare, and was of a yellow color, with the hoofs of a cow, a long +neck, a very large head, a large tail, which was ugly and scant of +hair. She had a saddle of her own. Wheat and salt were her usual +food. She used to draw the largest sled-burden behind her. She used +to kneel when passing under any doorway, however high, and also to +let her rider mount." It is evident that the Gaelic language in the +fifteenth century lacked a name for the camel. The same year, we +are told, "the young earl of Desmond was set at liberty by the +MacCarthys; he disabled Garrett, son of the earl of Kildare."</p> +<p>Here is another passage which vies in vividness and force with +the story of the death of Rury O'Donell: "1557: Two spies, Donough +and Maurice by name, entered the camp of John O'Neill by Lough +Swilly, and mingled with the troop without being noticed; for in +consequence of the number and <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page296" id="page296"></a>[pg 296]</span> variety of the troops +who were there, it was not easy for them to discriminate between +one another, even if it were day, except by recognizing their +chieftains alone. The two persons aforesaid proceeded from one fire +to another, until they came to the great central fire, which was at +the entrance of the son of O'Neill's tent; and a huge torch, +thicker than a man's body, was continually flaming at a short +distance from the fire, and sixty grim and redoubtable warriors +with sharp, keen axes, terrible and ready for action, and sixty +stern and terrific Scots, with massive, broad and heavy striking +swords in their hands, ready to strike and parry, were guarding the +son of O'Neill. When the time came for the troops to dine, and food +was divided and distributed among them, the two spies whom we have +mentioned stretched out their hands to the distributor like the +rest, and that which fell to their share was a measure of meal, and +a suitable complement of butter. With this testimony of their +adventure they returned to their own people."</p> +<p>Here again, what a picture of the camp-life of the age; the +darkness of night, the great central fire with the sixty grim and +redoubtable warriors armed with keen axes, terrible and ready for +action, and the sixty stern and terrific Scots with their massive +swords. <span class="pagenum"><a name="page297" id= +"page297"></a>[pg 297]</span> The admirable manner of the narrative +is as striking as the fierce vigor of the life portrayed. So we +might go on, adding red pages of martial records, but in reality +adding nothing to our understanding of the times. The life of the +land was as full and abundant as of old, and one outcome of that +life we may touch on rather more at length.</p> +<p>We have said much of the old religious schools of Ireland, with +their fine and vigorous intellectual life, which did so much to +carry forward the torch of culture to our modern world. For nearly +seven hundred years these great schools seem to have developed +wholly along indigenous lines, once they had accepted the body of +classical culture from the Roman Empire, then tottering to its +fall. The full history of that remarkable chapter in the world's +spiritual life has yet to be written; but this we can foretell, +that when written, it will abound with rich material and ample +evidence of a sound and generous culture, inspired throughout with +the fervor of true faith.</p> +<p>About the time when the Norman warriors began to mingle with the +fighting chieftains of the old native tribes, a change came over +the religious history of the country. After sending forth men of +power and light to the awakening lands of modern Europe, Ireland +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page298" id="page298"></a>[pg +298]</span> began to receive a returning tide, to reap a harvest +from these same lands, in the friars and abbots of the great +Continental orders founded by men like Saint Bernard, Saint +Dominick and Saint Francis of Assisi. A change in the church +architecture of the period visibly records this spiritual change; +continental forms appear, beginning with the rounded arches of the +Normans, and passing gradually into the various forms of pointed +arches which we know as Gothic. Very beautiful Abbeys belonging to +this epoch remain everywhere throughout the island, making once +more evident--what strikes us at every point of our study--that no +country in the world is so rich in these lasting records of every +step of our national life, whether in pagan or Christian times.</p> +<p>We have said much of the archaic cromlechs. We have recorded the +great Pyramids by the Boyne telling us of the genius of the De +Danaans. The Milesian epoch is even now revealed to us in the great +earthworks of Tara and Emain and Cruacan. We can, if we wish, climb +the mound of heaped-up earth where was the fortress of Cuculain, or +look over the green plains from the hill of Find.</p> +<a name="299.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/299.jpg"><img src="images/299.jpg" +width="80%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>MELLIFONT ABBEY, CO. LOUTH.</b></p> +<p>In like manner, there is an unbroken series of monuments through +the early Christian epoch, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page299" +id="page299"></a>[pg 299]</span> beginning with the oratories of +the sixth century, continuing through the early churches of +Killiney, Moville, Dalkey, Glendalough and Monasterboice, from +before the Norse inroads; followed by the epoch of Round Towers, or +protected belfries, with their churches, nearly three score of +these Round Towers remaining in fair preservation, while many are +perfect from base to apex; and culminating in Cormac's chapel and +the beautiful group of buildings on Cashel Rock. For the next +period, the age of transition after the waning of the Norsemen and +the coming of the first Normans, we have many monuments in the +Norman style, like the door of Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin, +with its romance of Danish conversion and Norse religious +fervor.</p> +<p>Finally, we come to the age whose progress we have just +recorded, which covers the whole of the Middle Ages. For this +period, which was for Ireland an epoch of foreign influence much +more than of foreign rule, we have many beautiful Abbeys, built for +those foreign orders whose coming was in a sense a return tide, a +backward flow of the old missionary spirit which went forth from +Ireland over nascent modern Europe. The life of these abbeys was +full of rich imaginative and religious power; it <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page300" id="page300"></a>[pg 300]</span> +abounded in urbanity and ripe culture of a somewhat selfish and +exclusive type. Yet we cannot but feel a limitless affection and +sympathy for the abbots and friars of the days of old who have left +us such a rich heritage of beauty and grace.</p> +<p>All these abbeys seem to have been formed on a single plan: a +cruciform church symbolized the source of all their inspiration, +its choir extending towards the east, whence the Light had come; +the nave, or main body of the church, was entered by the great +western door, and the arms of the cross, the transepts, extended to +the north and south. Here is a very beautiful symbol, a true +embodiment of the whole spirit and inspiration of the monastic +orders. From one of the transepts a side door generally led to the +domestic buildings, the dormitory, the refectory, the chapter +house, where the friars assembled in conclave under the presidency +of the abbot. There were lesser buildings, store-rooms, granaries, +work-rooms, but these were the kernel of the establishment. The +church was the center of all things, and under its floor the friars +were at last laid to rest, while brother friars carved tombs for +them and epitaphs, adding a new richness of decoration to the +already beautiful church.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page301" id="page301"></a>[pg +301]</span> +<p>We may record a few of these old foundations, showing at the +same time the present state of the old abbey buildings. At Newtown +on the northern bank of the Boyne, about a mile below Trim, Simon +Rochfort founded an abbey for the Augustinian Canons in 1206, +dedicating it to Saint Peter and Saint Paul. The capitals of the +pillars in the church, the vaulting of the roof and the shafts of +the arches which supported the tower are full of singular grace and +beauty, even now when the abbey is roofless and in part destroyed, +while the corbels and mouldings round the lancet-shaped windows are +full of luxuriant fancy and charm. We can divine from them the full +and rich spiritual life which brought forth such exquisite flowers +of beauty; we can imagine the fine aroma of fervor and saintly +peace which brooded over these consecrated aisles.</p> +<p>A few miles below Trim, and an equal distance from the old royal +palace of Tara, Bective Abbey stands on the northern bank of the +Boyne, with a square, battlemented tower overshadowing its +cloistered quadrangle. The cinque-foil cloister arches, the fillets +that bind the clustered shafts of the pillars, the leaf ornaments +of the plinths at their base all speak of a luxuriant sense of +beauty and grace, of a <span class="pagenum"><a name="page302" id= +"page302"></a>[pg 302]</span> spirit of pure and admirable artistic +work. This rich creative power thus breaking forth in lovely +handiwork is only the outward sign of a full inner life, kindled by +the fire of aspiration, and glowing with the warm ardor of +devotion. Bective Abbey dates from about 1150. We are told that the +king of Meath who founded it for the Cistercian order "endowed it +with two hundred and forty-five acres of land, a fishing-weir and a +mill." From this meager outline we can almost restore the picture +of the life, altogether idyllic and full of quiet delight, that the +old Friars lived among the meadows of the Boyne.</p> +<p>Grey Abbey was founded a little later, in 1193, for the same +Cistercian order, where the promontory of the Ards divides +Strangford Lough from the eastern sea. Over the waters of the +lough, the red sandstone hills of north Down make a frame for the +green of the meadows, as the tide laps and murmurs close to the old +monastic church. Grey Abbey owes its foundation to the piety of a +princess of the Isle of Man, wedded to De Courcy, the Norman +warrior whose victories and defeats we have recorded. The great +beauty of its church is due to the soaring loftiness of the eastern +window, and the graceful daring of the arches which in former days +upheld the central tower.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page303" id="page303"></a>[pg +303]</span> +<p>Other Cistercian foundations are commemorated in the names of +Abbey-leix in Queen's county, and Abbey-dorney and Abbey-feale in +Kerry; all three dating from after the reformation of the order by +Saint Bernard the Younger, though the work of that ardent +missionary did not apparently extend its influence to Ireland until +a later date. This reformer of the Cistercians must not be confused +with the elder Saint Bernard, whose hospice guards the pass of the +Alps which bears his name. Saint Bernard of the Alps died in 1008, +while Saint Bernard the reformer was born in 1093, dying sixty +years later as abbot of Clara vallis or Clairvaux, on the bank of +the Aube in northern France. It was at this Abbey of the Bright +Vale, or Clara vallis, that Archbishop Maelmaedog resigned his +spirit to heaven, five years before the death of the younger Saint +Bernard, then abbot there. This is a link between the old +indigenous church and the continental orders of the Friars.</p> +<p>Killmallock Abbey, in Limerick, belonged to the order of the +Dominicans, founded by the scion of the Guzmans, the ardent apostle +of Old Castile, known to history as Saint Dominick. Here again we +have a beautiful abbey church with a square central tower, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page304" id="page304"></a>[pg +304]</span> upborne on soaring and graceful arches from the point +where the nave joined the choir. There is only one transept--on the +south--so that the church is not fully cruciform, a peculiarity +shared by several other Dominican buildings. The eastern window and +the window of this transept are full of delicate grace and beauty, +each containing five lights, and marked by the singularly charming +manner in which the mullions are interlaced above. Enough remains +of the cloister and the domestic buildings for us to bring back to +life the picture of the old monastic days, when the good Friars +worked and prayed there, with the sunlight falling on them through +the delicate network of the windows.</p> +<p>Holycross Abbey, near Thurles in Tipperary, was another of the +Cistercian foundations, its charter, dating from 1182, being still +in existence. Its church is cruciform; the nave is separated from +the north aisle by round arches, and from the south aisle by +pointed arches, which gives it a singular and unusual beauty. The +great western window of the nave, with its six lights, is also very +wonderful. Two chapels are attached to the north transept, with a +passage between them, its roof supported by a double row of pointed +arches upheld by twisted pillars. The <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page305" id="page305"></a>[pg 305]</span> roof +is delicately groined, as is the roof of the choir, and the whole +abbey breathes a luxuriant richness of imagination, bearing +everywhere the signs of high creative genius. The same lavish +imagination is shown everywhere in the interlaced tracery, the +black limestone giving the artist an admirable vehicle for his +work. Though the charter dates from the twelfth century, some of +the work is about two centuries later, showing finely the +continuity of life and spiritual power in the old monastic +days.</p> +<a name="305.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/305.jpg"><img src="images/305.jpg" +width="80%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>HOLY CROSS ABBEY, CO. TIPPERARY.</b></p> +<p>The Friars of Saint Augustine, who were in possession of the +abbey at Newtown on the Boyne, had another foundation not far from +West port in Mayo, in the Abbey of Ballintober, founded in 1216 by +a son of the great Ruaidri Ua Concobar. Here also we have the +cruciform church, with four splendid arches rising from the +intersection of nave and choir, and once supporting the tower. The +Norman windows over the altar, with their dog-tooth mouldings, are +very perfect. In a chapel on the south of the choir are figures of +the old abbots carved in stone.</p> +<p>One of the Ui-Briain founded a Franciscan Abbey at Ennis in +Clare about 1240, which is more perfectly preserved than any of +those we have described. The tower still stands, rising over the +junction <span class="pagenum"><a name="page306" id= +"page306"></a>[pg 306]</span> of nave and choir; the refectory, +chapter house, and some other buildings still remain, while the +figure of the patron, Saint Francis of Assisi, still stands beside +the altar at the north pier of the nave.</p> +<p>Clare Abbey, a mile from Ennis, was founded for the Augustine +Friars in 1195, and here also the tower still stands, dominating +the surrounding plain. Three miles further south, on the shore of +Killone Lake, was yet another abbey of the same period, while +twenty miles to the north, at Corcomroe on the shore of Galway Bay, +the Cistercians had yet another home.</p> +<p>We might continue the list indefinitely. Some of the most +beautiful of our abbeys still remain to be recorded, but we can do +no more than give their names: Bonamargy was built for the +Franciscans in Antrim in the fifteenth century; the Dominican +priory at Roscommon dates from 1257; the Cistercian Abbey of +Jerpoint in Kilkenny was begun in 1180; Molana Abbey, in Waterford, +was built for the Augustinians on the site of a very old church; +and finally Knockmoy Abbey in Galway, famous for its fourteenth +century frescoes, was begun in 1189. We must remember that every +one of these represents, and by its variations of style indicates, +an unbroken <span class="pagenum"><a name="page307" id= +"page307"></a>[pg 307]</span> life through several centuries. The +death-knell of the old life of the abbeys and priories, in Ireland +as in England, was struck in the year 1537 by the law which +declared their lands forfeited to the crown; as the result of the +religious controversies of the beginning of the sixteenth +century.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page308" id="page308"></a>[pg +308]</span><br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page309" id="page309"></a>[pg +309]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>THE TRIUMPH OF FEUDALISM.</h2> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page310" id="page310"></a>[pg +310]</span><br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page311" id="page311"></a>[pg +311]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="XIII."></a>XIII.</h2> +<br> +<h3>THE TRIUMPH OF FEUDALISM.</h3> +<h3>A.D. 1603-1660.</h3> +<p>The confiscation of the abbey lands, as the result of religious +controversy, closed an epoch of ecclesiastical life in Ireland, +which we cannot look back on without great regret for the noble and +beautiful qualities it brought forth in such abundance. There is a +perennial charm and fascination in the quiet life of the old +religious houses--in the world, yet not of the world--which appeals +to aesthetic and moral elements in our minds in equal degree. From +their lovely churches and chapter-houses the spirits of the old +monks invite us to join them in an unworldly peace on earth, a +renewal of the golden age, a life full of aspiration and +self-forgetfulness, with all the burdens of egotism laid aside.</p> +<p>Yet after all is said, we can hardly fail to see that out of the +spoliation and scattering of the religious orders much good came. +There was a danger that, like the older indigenous schools which +they supplanted, these later foundations might divide the nation +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page312" id="page312"></a>[pg +312]</span> in two, all things within their consecrated walls being +deemed holy, while all without was unregenerate, given up to wrath. +A barrier of feelings and hopes thus springing up, tends to harden +from year to year, till at last we have a religious caste grown +proud and arrogant, and losing all trace of the spiritual fervor +which is its sole reason for being.</p> +<p>The evils which surround a wealthy church are great and easily +to be understood, nor need we lay stress on them. There is, indeed, +cause for wonder in the spectacle of the followers of him "who had +not where to lay his head" become, in the Middle Ages, the greatest +owners of land in Europe; and we can see how temptations and abuses +without number might and did often arise from this very fact. +Ambition, the desire of wealth, the mere love of ease, led many to +profess a religious life who had never passed through that +transformation of will and understanding which is the essence of +religion. The very purpose of religion was forgotten, or allowed to +be hidden away under things excellent in themselves, yet not +essential; and difference of view about these unessential things +led to fierce and bitter controversy, and later to open strife and +war.</p> +<p>We take religion, in its human aspect, to mean the <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page313" id="page313"></a>[pg 313]</span> growth +of a new and wider consciousness above the keen, self-assertive +consciousness of the individual; a superseding of the personal by +the humane; a change from egotism to a more universal +understanding; so that each shall act, not in order to gain an +advantage over others, but rather to attain the greatest good for +himself and others equally; that one shall not dominate another for +his own profit, but shall rather seek to draw forth in that other +whatever is best and truest, so that both may find their finest +growth. Carried far enough, this principle, which makes one's +neighbor a second self, will bring to light in us the common soul, +the common life that has tacitly worked in all human intercourse +from the beginning. Individual consciousness is in no way effaced; +something new, wider and more humane, something universal, is added +to it from above; something consciously common to all souls. And +through the inspiration of that larger soul, the individual life +for the first time comes to its true power--a power which is held +by all pure souls in common.</p> +<p>We can see that something like this was the original inspiration +of the religious orders. Their very name of Friars or Brothers +speaks of the ideal of a common life above egotism. They sought a +new <span class="pagenum"><a name="page314" id="page314"></a>[pg +314]</span> birth through the death of selfishness, through +self-sacrifice and renunciation. All their life in common was a +symbol of the single soul inspiring them, the very form of their +churches bearing testimony to their devotion. More than that, the +beauty and inspiration which still radiate from the old abbey +buildings show how often and in how large a degree that ideal was +actually attained.</p> +<p>Nevertheless we can very well see how the possession of large +wealth and costly offerings might be a hindrance to that spirit, +fanning back to life the smouldering fires of desire. We can see +even more clearly that the division between the secular and the +religious life would tend to raise a moral barrier, hardening that +very sense of separation which the humane and universal +consciousness seeks to kill. Finally, we should see what the world +has often seen: the disciples of the Nazarene dwelling in palaces, +and vying with princes in the splendor of their retinues. This is +hardly the way to make real the teaching of "the kingdom not of +this world." This world, in the meaning of that saying, is the old +world of egotism, of self-assertion, of selfish rivalry, of the +sense of separation. The kingdom is that very realm of humane and +universal consciousness <span class="pagenum"><a name="page315" id= +"page315"></a>[pg 315]</span> added from above, the sense of the +one soul common to all men and working through all men, whether +they know it or not.</p> +<p>We can, therefore, see that the confiscation of the monasteries, +and even the persecution of the religious orders, might be the +cause of lasting spiritual good; it was like the opening of +granaries and the scattering of grain abroad over the fields. The +religious force, instead of drawing men out of the world, +thenceforth was compelled to work among all men, not creating +beautiful abbeys but transforming common lives. Persecution was the +safeguard of sincerity, the fire of purification, from which men's +spirits came forth pure gold. Among all nations of the world, +Ireland has long held the first place for pure morals, especially +in the relations of sex; and this is increasingly true of those +provinces where the old indigenous element is most firmly +established. We may affirm that the spiritualizing of religious +feeling through persecution has had its share in bringing this +admirable result, working, as it did, on a race which has ever held +a high ideal of purity.</p> +<p>Thus out of evil comes good; out of oppression, rapacity and +confiscation grow pure unselfishness, an unworldly ideal, a sense +of the invisible realm. We <span class="pagenum"><a name="page316" +id="page316"></a>[pg 316]</span> shall presently see the same +forces of rapacity and avarice sowing the seeds for a not less +excellent harvest in the world of civil life.</p> +<p>The principle of feudalism, though introduced by the first +Norman adventurers in the twelfth century, did not gain legal +recognition over the whole country until the seventeenth. The old +communal tenure of the Brehon law was gradually superseded, so +that, instead of innumerable tribal territories with elected +chiefs, there grew up a system of estates, where the land was owned +by one man and tilled by others. The germ of this tenure was the +right of private taxation over certain districts, granted by the +Norman duke to his barons and warriors as the reward for their help +in battle. Feudal land tenure never was, and never pretended to be, +a contract between cultivator and landowner for their mutual +benefit. It was rather the right to prey on the farmer, assigned to +the landowner by the king, and paid for in past or present services +to the king. In other words, the head of the Norman army invited +his officers to help themselves to a share of the cattle and crops +over certain districts of England, and promised to aid them in +securing their plunder, in case the Saxon cultivator was rash +enough to resist. The baronial <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page317" id="page317"></a>[pg 317]</span> order presently ceased +to render any real service to their duke, beyond upholding him that +he might uphold them. But there was no such surcease for the Saxon +cultivator. The share of his cattle and crops which he was +compelled to give up to the Norman baron became more rigidly +defined, more strictly exacted, with every succeeding century, and +the whole civil state of England was built up on this +principle.</p> +<p>The baronial order assembled at Runnymead to force the hand of +the king. From that time forward their power increased, while the +king's power waned. But there was no Runnymead for the Saxon +cultivator. He continued, as to this day he continues, to pay the +share of his cattle and crops to the Norman baron or his successor, +in return for services--no longer rendered--to the king. The whole +civil state of England, therefore, depends on the principle of +private taxation; the Norman barons and their successors receiving +a share of the cattle and crops of the whole country, year after +year, generation after generation, century after century, as +payment for services long become purely imaginary, and even in the +beginning rendered not to the cultivator who was taxed, but to the +head of the armed invaders, who <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page318" id="page318"></a>[pg 318]</span> stood ready to enforce +the payment. The Constitution of England embodies this very +principle even now, in the twentieth century. Two of the three +Estates,--King, Lords and Commons,--in whom the law-making power is +vested, represent the Norman conquest, while even the third, still +called the Lower House, boasts of being "an assembly of gentlemen," +that is, of those who possess the right of private taxation of +land, the right to claim a share of the cattle and crops of the +whole country without giving anything at all in return.</p> +<p>This is the system which English influence slowly introduced +into Ireland, and with the reign of the first Stuarts the change +was practically complete, guaranteed by law, and enforced by armed +power. The tribesmen were now tenants of their former elected +chief, in whom the ownership of the tribal land was invested; the +right of privately taxing the tribesmen was guaranteed to the chief +by law, and a share of all cattle and crops was his by legal right, +not as head of the tribe, but as owner of the land, with power to +dispossess the tribesmen if they failed to pay his tax.</p> +<p>But very many districts had long before this come under the +dominion of Norman adventurers, like the <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page319" id="page319"></a>[pg 319]</span> De +Courcys, the De Lacys, and the rest, of whose coming we have told. +They also enjoyed the right of private taxation over the districts +under their dominion, and, naturally, had power to assign this +right to others,--not only to their heirs, but to their +creditors,--or even simply to sell the right of taxing a certain +district to the highest bidder in open market.</p> +<p>The tribal warfare of the Middle Ages had brought many of the +old chiefs and Norman lords into open strife with the central +power, with the result that the possessions of unsuccessful chiefs +and lords were continually assigned by the law-courts to those who +stood on the side of the central power, the right to tax certain +districts thus changing hands indefinitely. The law-courts thus +came into possession of a very potent weapon, whether for rewarding +the friends or punishing the enemies of the central power, or +simply for the payment of personal and partisan favors.</p> +<p>During the reign of the first Stuarts the full significance of +this weapon seems to have been grasped. We see an unlimited traffic +in the right to tax; estates confiscated and assigned to +time-serving officials, and endless abuses arising from the +corruption of the courts, the judges being appointed by the very +persons who were presently to invoke the law <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page320" id="page320"></a>[pg 320]</span> to +their own profit. The tribal system was submerged, and the time of +uncertainty was taken advantage of to introduce unlimited abuses, +to assign to adventurers a fat share of other men's goods, to +create a class legally owning the land, and entitled, in virtue of +that ownership, to a share of the cattle and crops which they had +done nothing to produce.</p> +<p>The Stuarts were at this very time sowing the seeds of civil war +in England by the introduction of like abuses, the story of which +has been repeatedly told; and we are all familiar with the history +of the great uprising which was thereby provoked, to the temporary +eclipse of the power of the crown. The story of the like uprising +at the same epoch, and from kindred causes, in Ireland, is much +more obscure, but equally worth recording, and to this uprising we +may now turn.</p> +<p>Its moral causes we have already spoken of. There was, first, +the confiscation of the abbey lands, and the transfer of church +revenues and buildings to Anglican clergy--clergy, that is, who +recognized the sovreign of England as the head of the church. This +double confiscation touched the well-springs of intense animosity, +the dispossessed abbots using all the influences of their order in +foreign lands to bring <span class="pagenum"><a name="page321" id= +"page321"></a>[pg 321]</span> about their re-installation, while +the controversy as to the headship of the church aroused all the +fierce and warring passions that had been raging on the Continent +since the beginning of the sixteenth century.</p> +<p>There were, besides, the griefs of the dispossessed chieftains, +whose tribal lands had been given to others. Chief among these was +the famous house of O'Neill, the descendants of Nial, the old pagan +monarch whose wars are thought to have brought the captive of +Slemish Mountain to Ireland. The O'Neills, like their neighbors the +O'Donnells, descendants of Domnall, had been one of the great +forces of tribal strife for eighty generations, and they now saw +their lands confiscated and given over to strangers. But they were +only representatives of a feeling which was universal; an indignant +opposition to arbitrary and tyrannous expropriation.</p> +<p>The head of the O'Neills had made his peace with the Tudors on +the very day Queen Elizabeth died, and the tribal lands had been +guaranteed to him in perpetuity. But within four years plots were +set on foot by the central authorities, possibly acting in good +faith, to dispossess him and the chief of the O'Donnells on a +charge of treason; and in 1607 both <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page322" id="page322"></a>[pg 322]</span> fled to the Continent. +Their example was followed by numberless others, and the more +restless and combative spirits among the tribesmen, who preferred +fighting to the tilling of their fields, entered the continental +armies in large numbers.</p> +<p>When the chiefs of the north fled to the Continent, their lands +were held to have reverted to the crown; and not only was the right +to tax the produce of these lands assigned to adherents of the +central power, but numbers of farmers from the Scottish lowlands, +and in lesser degree from England, were brought over and settled on +the old tribal territory. The tribesmen, with their cattle, were +driven to less fertile districts, and the valleys were tilled by +the transplanted farmers of Scotland. This was the Plantation of +Ulster, of 1611,--four years after the flight of O'Neill and +O'Donnell. The religious controversies of Scotland were thereby +introduced into Ireland, so that there were three parties now in +conflict--the old indigenous church, dispossessed of revenues and +buildings, and even of civil rights; the Anglicans who had received +these revenues and buildings, and, lastly, the +Dissenters--Presbyterians and Puritans--equally opposed to both the +former.</p> +<p>The struggle between the king and Parliament of <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page323" id="page323"></a>[pg 323]</span> +England now found an echo in Ireland, the Anglican party +representing the king, while the Scottish and English newcomers +sympathized with the Parliament. A cross-fire of interests and +animosities was thus aroused, which greatly complicated the first +elements of strife. The Parliament at Dublin was in the hands of +the Puritan party, and was in no sense representative of the other +elements of the country. There was a Puritan army of about ten +thousand, as a garrison of defence for the Puritan newcomers in +Ulster, and there were abundant materials of an opposing national +army in the tribal warriors both at home and on the Continent.</p> +<p>These national materials were presently drawn together by the +head of the O'Neills, known to history as Owen Roe, an admirable +leader and a most accomplished man, who wrote and spoke Latin, +Spanish, French and English, as well as his mother-tongue. Owen Roe +O'Neill had won renown on many continental battlefields, and was +admirably fitted by genius and training to lead a national party, +not only in council but in the field. The nucleus of his army he +established in Tyrone, gaining numbers of recruits whom he rapidly +turned into excellent soldiers.</p> +<p>This took place at the end of 1641 and the beginning +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page324" id="page324"></a>[pg +324]</span> of 1642, and the other forces of the country were +organized about the same time. The lines of difference between the +Anglican and Catholic parties were at this time very lightly drawn, +and the Norman lords found themselves able to co-operate with the +Catholic bishops in forming a General Assembly at Kells, which +straightway set itself to frame a Constitution for the country.</p> +<p>The Norman lords had meanwhile assembled and organized their +retainers, so that there were now three armies in Ireland: the +garrison of the Scottish settlers under Monroe, strongly in +sympathy with the Puritans; the tribal army under Owen Roe O'Neill; +and the army of the Norman lords. The General Assembly outlined a +system of parliamentary representation in which the Lords and +Commons were to form a single House, the latter, two hundred and +twenty-six in number, representing all the important cities and +towns. A supreme Cabinet was to be formed, composed of six members +for each of the four provinces, twenty-four in all, who might be +lords spiritual or temporal, or commoners, according to the choice +of the Parliament. This Cabinet, thus selected from the whole +Parliament, was the responsible executive of the country; and under +the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page325" id="page325"></a>[pg +325]</span> Supreme Council a series of Provincial Councils and +County Councils were to be formed along the same lines.</p> +<a name="325.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/325.jpg"><img src="images/325.jpg" +width="80%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>DONEGAL CASTLE.</b></p> +<p>This plan was adopted at a general meeting of all the +influential forces of the country, which assembled in May at +Kilkenny, where many Parliaments had sat during the fourteenth and +fifteenth centuries. Writs were issued for elections under the new +Constitution, and the date of the first assembly of the new +Parliament was fixed for October. The new national body enjoyed +abundant revenues, and no small state marked its deliberations in +Kilkenny. We read of an endless series of illuminations, +receptions, banquets and balls,--the whole of the Norman nobility +of Leinster lavishing their great wealth in magnificent display. +The Supreme Council journeyed in state from Kilkenny to Wexford, +from Wexford to Waterford, from Waterford to Limerick and Galway, +surrounded by hundreds of horsemen with drawn swords, and +accompanied by an army of officials. We hear of "civil and military +representations of comedies and stage plays, feasts and banquets, +and palate-enticing dishes."</p> +<p>The General Assembly, duly elected, finally met on October 23, +1642, at Kilkenny. On the same <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page326" id="page326"></a>[pg 326]</span> day was fought the +battle of Edgehill, between the king of England and the forces of +the English Parliament. This battle was the signal for division of +counsels in the new Assembly. The Norman lords of Leinster, who +stood on the ground of feudalism, and lived under the shadow of +royal authority, were strongly drawn to take the side of the king +against the English Parliament, and overtures of negotiation were +made, which came near gaining a recognition and legalization of the +General Assembly by the English Crown.</p> +<p>While the leaders at Kilkenny were being drawn towards the +royalists of England, Owen Roe O'Neill was successfully holding +Ulster against the Puritan forces under Monroe and Leslie, with +their headquarters at Carrickfergus. Thus matters went on till the +autumn of 1643, when we find him inflicting a serious defeat on the +English army under Monk and Moore at Portlester in Meath, in which +Moore was killed and his forces driven back within the walls of +Drogheda.</p> +<p>The General Assembly continued to exercise sovreign authority at +Kilkenny, collecting revenues, maintaining courts of justice in the +provinces, and keeping several armies in the field, most effective +of <span class="pagenum"><a name="page327" id="page327"></a>[pg +327]</span> which was undoubtedly that of Owen Roe O'Neill. We find +matters still in this condition three years later, in May, 1646, +when Monroe and the Scottish forces prepared to inaugurate an +offensive campaign from their base at Carrickfergus. General Robert +Monroe had about seven thousand men at Carrickfergus; his brother +George had five hundred at Coleraine; while there was a Scottish +army at Derry, numbering about two thousand men. It was decided to +converge these three forces on Clones, in Monaghan, and thence to +proceed southwards against the government of the General Assembly, +then centered at Limerick. Clones was sixty miles from Derry, and +rather more from Coleraine and Carrickfergus, the two other points +of departure.</p> +<p>Owen Roe O'Neill was then at Cavan, fourteen miles south of +Clones, with five thousand foot and five hundred horse, all "good, +hopeful men," to use his own words. General Robert Monroe, starting +from Carrickfergus, and marching by Lisburn and Armagh, expected to +reach Glasslough, some sixteen miles from Clones, on June 5th. By a +forced march from Cavan, Owen Roe O'Neill reached Glasslough a day +earlier, and marching along the northern Blackwater, pitched his +camp on the north bank of <span class="pagenum"><a name="page328" +id="page328"></a>[pg 328]</span> the river. Here he was directly in +the line between the two Monroes, who could only join their forces +after dislodging him; and Robert Monroe, who by that time had +reached Armagh, saw that it would be necessary to give battle +without delay if the much smaller forces from the north were not to +be cut off.</p> +<p>Robert Monroe began a movement northwards towards Owen Roe's +position at dawn on June 5th, and presently reached the Blackwater, +to find himself face to face with Owen Roe's army across the river. +The two forces kept parallel with each other for some time, till +Robert Monroe finally forded the Blackwater at Caledon, Owen Roe +then retiring in the direction of the current, which here flows +north. Owen Roe, in his movement of withdrawal, brought his army +through a narrow pass, which he left in charge of one of his best +infantry regiments, with orders to hold it only so long as the +enemy could be safely harassed, meanwhile carrying his main body +back to the hill of Knocknacloy, the position he had chosen from +the first for the battle, and to gain which he had up to this time +been manoeuvering.</p> +<p>At Knocknacloy he had the center of his army protected by the +hill, the right by a marsh, and the <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page329" id="page329"></a>[pg 329]</span> left by the river, so +that, a flanking movement on Monroe's part being impossible, the +Scottish general was forced to make a frontal attack. Under cover +of the rearguard action at the pass, which caused both delay and +confusion to Monroe's army, Owen Roe formed his men in order of +battle. His first line was of four columns, with considerable +spaces between them; his cavalry was on the right and left wings, +behind this first line; while three columns more were drawn up some +distance farther back, behind the openings in the front line, and +forming the reserve. We should remember that not only was Owen +Roe's army outnumbered by Monroe's, but also that Owen Roe had no +artillery, while Monroe was well supplied with guns.</p> +<p>Meanwhile Monroe's army came into touch with Owen Roe's force, +and the Scottish general opened fire with guns and muskets, to +which the muskets of Owen Roe as vigorously replied. The Scottish +artillery was planted on a hillock a quarter-mile from Owen Roe's +center, and under cover of its fire an infantry charge was +attempted, which was brilliantly repulsed by the pikemen of Owen +Roe's army. A second attack was made by the Scottish cavalry, who +tried to ford the river, and thus turn the left flank <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page330" id="page330"></a>[pg 330]</span> of the +Irish army, but they were met and routed by the Irish horse. This +was about six in the evening, and the sun, hanging low in the sky, +fell full in the faces of the Scottish troops. Owen Roe promptly +followed up the rout of the Scottish horse by an advance, making a +sweeping movement from right to left, and thereby forcing Monroe +towards the junction of two streams, where he had no space to move. +At this point Owen Roe's army received a notable accession of +strength in the form of four squadrons of cavalry, sent earlier in +the day to guard against the possible approach of George Monroe +from Coleraine.</p> +<p>At a signal from Owen Roe, his army advanced upon Monroe's +force, to be met by a charge of the Scottish cavalry, instantly +replied to by a charge of the Irish cavalry through the three open +spaces in the front infantry line of Owen Roe's army. Monroe's +first line was broken, and the Irish pikemen, the equivalent of a +bayonet charge, steadily forced him backwards. It was a fierce +struggle, hand to hand, eye to eye, and blade to blade. The order +of Owen Roe's advance was admirably preserved, while the Scottish +and English forces were in confusion, already broken and crowded +into a narrow and constricted space between the two rivers. Finally +the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page331" id="page331"></a>[pg +331]</span> advancing Irish army reached and stormed the hillock +where Monroe's artillery was placed, and victory was palpably won. +The defeat of the Scottish and English army became an utter rout, +and when the sun set more than three thousand of them lay dead on +the field.</p> +<p>It is almost incredible that the Irish losses were only seventy, +yet such is the number recorded, while not only was the opposing +army utterly defeated and dispersed, but Monroe's whole artillery, +his tents and baggage, fifteen hundred horses, twenty stand of +colors, two months' provisions and numbers of prisoners of war fell +into the hands of Owen Roe; while, as a result of the battle, the +two auxiliary forces were forced to retreat and take refuge in +Coleraine and Derry, General Robert Monroe escaping meanwhile to +Carrickfergus. It is only just to him to say that our best accounts +of the battle come from officers in Monroe's army, Owen Roe +contenting himself with the merest outline of the result gained, +but saying nothing of the consummate generalship that gained +it.</p> +<p>For the next two years we see Owen Roe O'Neill holding the great +central plain, the west and most of the north of Ireland against +the armies of the English <span class="pagenum"><a name="page332" +id="page332"></a>[pg 332]</span> Parliamentarians and Royalists +alike, and gaining victory after victory, generally against +superior numbers, better armed and better equipped. We find him +time after time almost betrayed by the Supreme Council, in which +the Norman lords of Leinster, perpetually anxious for their own +feudal estates, were ready to treat with whichever of the English +parties was for the moment victorious, hoping that, whatever might +be the outcome of the great English struggle, they themselves might +be gainers. At this time they were in possession of many of the +abbey lands, and there was perpetual friction between them and the +ecclesiastics, their co-religionists, who had been driven from +these same lands, so that the Norman landowners were the element of +fatal weakness throughout this whole movement, willing to wound, +and yet afraid to strike. While praying for the final defeat of the +English parliamentary forces, they dreaded to see this defeat +brought about by Owen Roe O'Neill, in whom they saw the +representative of the old tribal ownership of Gaelic times, a +return to which would mean their own extinction.</p> +<p>Matters went so far that the Supreme Council, representing +chiefly these Norman lords, had practically betrayed its trust to +the Royalist party in <span class="pagenum"><a name="page333" id= +"page333"></a>[pg 333]</span> England, and would have completed +that betrayal had not the beheading of King Charles signalized the +triumph of the Parliamentarians. Even then the Norman lords hoped +for the Restoration, and strove in every way to undermine the +authority of their own general, Owen Roe O'Neill, who was almost +forced to enter into an alliance with the Puritans by the treachery +of the Norman lords. It is of the greatest interest to find Monroe +writing thus to Owen Roe in August, 1649: "By my own extraction, I +have an interest in the Irish nation. I know how your lands have +been taken, and your people made hewers of wood and drawers of +water. If an Irishman can be a scourge to his own nation, the +English will give him fair words but keep him from all trust, that +they may destroy him when they have served themselves by him."</p> +<p>On November 6, 1649, this great general died after a brief +illness, having for seven years led his armies to constant victory, +while the Norman lords, who were in name his allies, were secretly +plotting against him for their own profit. Yet so strong and +dominant was his genius that he overcame not only the forces of his +foes but the treacheries of his friends, and his last days saw him +at one with the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page334" id= +"page334"></a>[pg 334]</span> Normans, while the forces of the +Parliamentarians in Ireland were calling on him for help.</p> +<p>We sea, therefore, that for full eight years, from the beginning +of 1642 to the close of 1649, Ireland had an independent national +government, with a regularly elected Representative Assembly, and a +central authority, the Supreme Council, appointed by that Assembly, +with judges going circuit and holding their courts regularly, while +the Supreme Council held a state of almost regal magnificence, and +kept several armies continuously in the field. While Owen Roe +O'Neill lived, that part of the army under his command was able not +only to secure an unbroken series of victories for itself, but also +to retrieve the defeats suffered by less competent commanders, so +that at his death he was at the summit of power and fame. If regret +were ever profitable, we might well regret that he did not follow +the example of the great English commander, his contemporary, and +declare himself Lord Protector of Ireland, with despotic power.</p> +<p>After his death, the work he had done so well was all undone +again, in part by treachery, in part by the victories of Oliver +Cromwell. Yet ten years after the Lord Protector's arrival in +Ireland, his <span class="pagenum"><a name="page335" id= +"page335"></a>[pg 335]</span> own work was undone not less +completely, and the Restoration saw once more enthroned every +principle against which Cromwell had so stubbornly contended.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page336" id="page336"></a>[pg +336]</span><br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page337" id="page337"></a>[pg +337]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>THE JACOBITE WARS.</h2> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page338" id="page338"></a>[pg +338]</span><br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page339" id="page339"></a>[pg +339]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="XIV."></a>XIV.</h2> +<br> +<h3>THE JACOBITE WARS.</h3> +<h3>A.D. 1660-1750.</h3> +<br> +<p>The Restoration saw Cromwell's work completely undone; nor did +the class which helped him to his victories again rise above the +surface. The genius of the Stuarts was already sowing the seeds of +new revolutions; but the struggle was presently to be fought out, +not between the king and the people, but between the king and the +more liberal or more ambitious elements of the baronial class, who +saw in the despotic aspirations of the Stuarts a menace to their +own power.</p> +<p>These liberal elements in England selected as their champion +Prince William of Nassau, before whose coming the English king +found it expedient to fly to France, seeking and finding a friend +in that apostle of absolutism, Louis XIV. We have already seen how +the interests of the feudal lords of Ireland, with the old Norman +families as their core, drew them towards the Stuarts. The divine +right of the landowner depended, as we saw, on the divine right of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page340" id="page340"></a>[pg +340]</span> kings; so that they naturally gravitated towards the +Stuarts, and drew their tenants and retainers after them. Thus a +considerable part of Ireland was enlisted on the side of James II, +and shared the misfortunes which presently overtook him--or in +truth did not overtake him, as the valiant gentleman outran them +and escaped. Nothing is more firmly fixed in the memories of the +whole Irish people than a good-natured contempt for this runaway +English king, whose cause they were induced by the feudal lords to +espouse. We shall follow the account of an officer in the Jacobite +army in narrating the events of the campaigns that ensued.</p> +<p>James, having gained courage and funds from his sojourn at the +court of Louis XIV, presently made his appearance in Ireland, +relying on the support of the feudal lords. He landed at Kinsale, +in Cork, on March 12, 1688, according to the Old Style, and reached +Dublin twelve days later, warmly welcomed by Lord and Lady +Tyrconnell. The only place in the country which strongly declared +for William was the walled city of Derry, whence we have seen the +Puritan forces issuing during the wars of the preceding generation. +James, this officer says, went north to Derry, in spite of the +bitterness of the season, "in <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page341" id="page341"></a>[pg 341]</span> order to preserve his +Protestant subjects there from the ill-treatment which he +apprehended they might receive from the Irish," and was mightily +surprised when the gates were shut in his face and the citizens +opened fire upon him from the walls.</p> +<a name="341.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/341.jpg"><img src="images/341.jpg" +width="80%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>TULLYMORE PARK, CO. DOWN.</b></p> +<p>James withdrew immediately to Dublin, assembled a Parliament +there, and spent several months in vain discussions, not even +finding courage to repeal the penal laws which Queen Elizabeth had +passed against all who refused to recognize her as the head of the +church. James was already embarked on a career of duplicity, +professing great love for Ireland, yet fearing to carry out his +professions lest he might arouse animosity in England, and so close +the door against his hoped-for return.</p> +<p>Enniskillen, on an island in Lough Erne, dominated by a strong +castle, was, like Derry, a settlement of Scottish and English +colonists brought over by the first of the Stuarts. These colonists +were up in arms against the grandson of their first patron, and had +successfully attacked his forces which were besieging Derry. James, +therefore, sent a small body of troops against them; but the +expedition ended in an ignominious rout rather than a battle, for +the Jacobite army seems hardly to have struck a blow. The Irish +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page342" id="page342"></a>[pg +342]</span> leader, Lord Mountcashel, who manfully stood his ground +in the general panic, was wounded and taken prisoner.</p> +<p>The armies of James, meanwhile, made no headway against the +courageous and determined defenders of Derry, where the siege was +degenerating into a blockade, the scanty rations and sickness of +the besieged being a far more formidable danger than the attacks of +the besiegers. James even weakened the attacking forces by +withdrawing a part of the troops to Dublin, being resolved at all +risks to protect himself.</p> +<p>So devoid of resolution and foresight was James that we only +find him taking means to raise an army when Schomberg, the able +lieutenant of William, was about to invade the north of Ireland. +Schomberg landed at Bangor in Down in August, 1689, and marched +south towards Drogheda, but finding that James was there before +him, he withdrew and established a strongly fortified camp near +Dundalk. James advanced to a point about seven miles from +Schomberg, and there entrenched himself in turn, and so the two +armies remained; as one of Schomberg's officers says, "our General +would not risk anything, nor King James venture anything." The long +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page343" id="page343"></a>[pg +343]</span> delay was very fatal to Schomberg's army, his losses by +sickness and disease being more than six thousand men.</p> +<p>Early in November, as winter was already making itself felt, +James decided to withdraw to Dublin; as our narrator says, "the +young commanders were in some haste to return to the capital, where +the ladies expected them with great impatience; so that King James, +being once more persuaded to disband the new levies and raising his +camp a little of the soonest, dispersed his men too early into +winter quarters, having spent that campaign without any advantage, +vainly expecting that his Protestant subjects of England who were +in the camp of Schomberg would come over to him. And now the winter +season, which should be employed in serious consultations, and +making the necessary preparations for the ensuing campaign, was +idly spent in revels, in gaming, and other debauches unfit for a +Catholic court. But warlike Schomberg, who, after the retreat of +James, had leisure to remove his sickly soldiers, to bury the dead, +and put the few men that remained alive and were healthy into +winter quarters of refreshment, took the field early in spring, +before Tyrconnell was awake, and reduced the castle of Charlemont, +the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page344" id="page344"></a>[pg +344]</span> only place that held for James in Ulster, which was +lost for want of provisions; and the concerns of the unfortunate +James were ill-managed by those whom he entrusted with the +administration of public affairs."</p> +<p>We come thus to the spring of 1690. Derry was still holding out +valiantly against the horrors of famine and sickness, the blockade +being maintained, though nothing like a determined storm was +attempted. A little of the courage shown by the apprentices of +Derry, had he possessed it, might have revived the drooping +fortunes of the fugitive English king. It seems, however, that even +Schomberg's withdrawal to Carrickfergus failed to arouse him to +more vigorous and valiant measures. It is clear that he was ready +to abandon his Irish allies, hoping by their betrayal to gain favor +with his "subjects in England," whom he confidently expected to +recall him, as they had recalled his brother Charles thirty years +before. James found an able lieutenant in Tyrconnell, who +thoroughly entered into his master's schemes of duplicity; and it +is fairly clear that these two worthies, had occasion offered, +would have betrayed each other with a perfectly good grace.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page345" id="page345"></a>[pg +345]</span> +<p>Thus matters dragged on quite indecisively until June, 1690, +when King William landed at Carrickfergus with a mixed force of +English, Scottish, Dutch, Danish, Swedish and German troops, and +joined his forces to the remnant of Schomberg's army. James, as we +saw, had disbanded his army on breaking up his camp in the previous +autumn, and had made no effective effort to get a new army +together. Nor could he have used a strong army, had he possessed +one. Nevertheless James marched north with such troops as were +available, leaving Dublin on June 16th. He took up a strong +position on the borders of Ulster and Leinster, thus blocking +William's way south to the capital, only to abandon it again on the +news of William's approach, when he retired to Drogheda and +encamped there. He thus gave the whole advantage of initiative into +the hands of his opponent, a brave man and a skillful general.</p> +<p>James seems to have hoped that William's army would be mowed +down by disease, as Schomberg's had been in the preceding campaign. +And there is reason to believe that Tyrconnell, foreseeing the +defeat of James, wished to avoid any serious fighting, which would +be an obstacle in his way when he <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page346" id="page346"></a>[pg 346]</span> sought to patch up a +peace with the victor and make terms for himself. But his opponent +was inspired by a very different temper, and William's army +advanced steadily southwards, to find James encamped on the +southern bank of the Boyne.</p> +<p>There were several fords by which William's army would have to +cross on its way south. But James was such an incapable general +that he did not even throw up trenches to defend the fords. +William's army arrived and encamped on the north bank of the river, +and the next day, June 30th, was employed in an artillery duel +between the two armies, when considerable injury was inflicted on +William's forces, although he was far stronger in artillery than +his opponent. During that night, James, already certain of defeat, +sent away most of his artillery to Dublin, leaving only six guns +with his army on the Boyne.</p> +<p>It seems tolerably certain that, when the battle began again +next day, William's army numbered between forty-five and fifty +thousand, with the usual proportion of cavalry,--probably a tenth +of the whole. James, on the other hand, had from twenty to +twenty-five thousand men, about a tenth of them, probably, being +mounted; he had, by his own fault, <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page347" id="page347"></a>[pg 347]</span> only six guns against +about fifty in William's batteries. William's line of battle was +formed, as usual, with the infantry in the center and the cavalry +on the wings. He gave the elder Schomberg command of the center, +while Schomberg's son, with the cavalry of the right wing, was sent +four or five miles up the river to Slane, to cross there and turn +the left flank of the opposing army. William himself led the +cavalry on the left wing, and later on in the battle, descending +the river, crossed at a lower ford. He could thus attack the right +flank of his opponent; the infantry composing the center of his +army advancing, meanwhile, under cover of a heavy artillery fire, +and forcing the fords of the Boyne.</p> +<p>The river is shallow here, and in the middle of summer the water +is nowhere too deep for wading, so that it was a very slight +protection to the army of James. A better general would at least +have chosen a stronger position, and one which would have given him +some manifest advantage. Such positions were to be found all along +the road by which William had advanced from Carrickfergus. The +country on both sides of the Boyne is flat; rolling meadows with +the shallow river dividing them--a country giving every opportunity +to cavalry.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page348" id="page348"></a>[pg +348]</span> +<p>William's right, under the younger Schomberg, made several +unsuccessful attempts to cross the river at Slane, being repeatedly +beaten back by Arthur O'Neill's horse. Finally, however, the way +was cleared for him by a vigorous cannonade, to which O'Neill, +having no cannon, was unable to reply, and William's right wing +thus forced the passage of the Boyne.</p> +<p>William's center now advanced, and began the passage of the +river, under cover of a heavy artillery fire. Every foot of the +advance was stubbornly contested, and such headway was made by the +Irish troops that Schomberg's bodyguard was scattered or cut to +pieces, and he himself was slain. The center of William's army was +undoubtedly being beaten back, when, crossing lower down with +eighteen squadrons of cavalry, he fiercely attacked the right flank +of the Irish army and thus turned the possibility of defeat into +certain victory. That the Irish troops, although outnumbered two to +one and led by a coward, fought valiantly, is admitted on all +sides. They charged and re-charged ten times in succession, and +only gave way at last under pressure of greatly superior numbers. +The retreat of the Irish army was orderly,--the more so, doubtless, +because <span class="pagenum"><a name="page349" id= +"page349"></a>[pg 349]</span> the former king of England was no +longer among them, having most valiantly fled to Dublin, and thence +to Kinsale, where he took ship for France, leaving behind him a +reputation quite singular in the annals of Ireland.</p> +<p>Within a week after the battle, the Irish army, which had +preserved order and discipline even in the face of the flight of +James, occupied Limerick, and made preparations to hold that strong +position, with the untouched resources of the western province +behind them, and the hope, unshaken by their rude experience, that +the runaway king might reinforce them by sea. Through all the +events that followed, presently to be narrated, it must be +understood that Tyrconnell was steadily seeking to undermine the +resolution of the Irish army, hoping the sooner to make his peace +with King William, to secure his Irish estates, and, very possibly, +be appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, under the new king.</p> +<p>William meanwhile brought his army southwards, being welcomed to +Dublin by the large English element there, and presently continued +his march to Waterford, which was surrendered to him, as was +alleged, by Tyrconnell's orders. He also reduced Kilkenny, to which +Tyrconnell had failed to send <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page350" id="page350"></a>[pg 350]</span> reinforcements, though +repeatedly appealed to by its commander. About this time, on July +28th or a day or two later, the brave garrison of Derry was +relieved by some of William's ships, which broke the line of +blockade across the river and brought abundant provisions to the +emaciated defenders.</p> +<p>A section of William's army under Douglas was sent to take +Athlone, the strong fortress which guarded the ford, and later the +bridge across the Shannon--the high road from Leinster to the +western province of Connacht, beyond the river. Douglas, after a +fierce attack lasting seven days, was compelled to retreat again to +the main army encamped at Waterford. The French auxiliaries under +Lauzun, who had not hitherto greatly distinguished themselves for +valor, losing less than a score of men at the Boyne, now deserted +Limerick and retreated to Galway, taking with them, if the fugitive +king may be credited, a great quantity of ammunition from the +fortress of Limerick.</p> +<a name="351.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/351.jpg"><img src="images/351.jpg" +width="80%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>THOMOND BRIDGE, LIMERICK.</b></p> +<p>Finally, on August 9th, William's army appeared before Limerick, +and the famous siege began. Tyrconnell signalized himself by +deserting the fords over the Shannon and departing to Galway, +declaring that the town would certainly surrender within a week. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page351" id="page351"></a>[pg +351]</span> The city, however, was of a different opinion. The +garrison, under Sarsfield, made vigorous preparation for a defence, +and a party under Sarsfield himself cut off one of William's +convoys from Dublin, destroying the siege-train which was being +brought for the attack on the city. William's cavalry, taking +advantage of Tyrconnell's retreat, crossed the ford of the Shannon +to complete the investment of the city on that side, but they +presently returned, having done nothing effective.</p> +<p>We hear of more attempts by Tyrconnell to undermine the +resolution of the army, and of attacks by William's force, which +gave him possession of the outworks, so that he was able presently +to begin cannonading the walls, to make a breach for an assault. +The officer in the Irish army whom we have already quoted, gives +this account of the siege: "Never was a town better attacked and +better defended than the city of Limerick. William left nothing +unattempted that the art of war, the skill of a great captain and +the valor of veteran soldiers could put in execution to gain the +place; and the Irish omitted nothing that courage and constancy +could practice to defend it. The continual assaults of the one and +the frequent sallies of the other consumed a <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page352" id="page352"></a>[pg 352]</span> great +many brave men both of the army and the garrison. On the nineteenth +day, William, after fighting for every inch of ground he gained, +having made a large breach in the wall, gave a general assault +which lasted for three hours; and though his men mounted the +breach, and some even entered the town, they were gallantly +repulsed and forced to retire with considerable loss. William, +resolving to renew the assault next day, could not persuade his men +to advance, though he offered to lead them in person. Whereupon, +all in a rage, he left the camp, and never stopped till he came to +Waterford, where he took shipping for England; his army in the +meantime retiring by night from Limerick."</p> +<p>During this first siege of Limerick the garrison numbered some +twenty thousand, by no means well armed. William's besieging army +was about forty thousand, with forty cannon and mortars. His loss +was between three and four thousand, while the loss of the +defenders was about half that number.</p> +<p>William, presently arriving in England, sent reinforcements to +his generals in Ireland, under Lord Churchill, afterwards famous as +the Duke of Marlborough. Tyrconnell had meantime followed his +runaway king to France, as was involved in a maze of <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page353" id="page353"></a>[pg 353]</span> +contradictory designs, the one clear principle of which was the +future advantage of Tyrconnell. Louis XIV, who had reasons of his +own for wishing to keep the armies of William locked up in Ireland, +was altogether willing to advise and help a continuance of +hostilities in that country. James seems to have recognized his +incapacity too clearly to attempt anything definite, or, what is +more probable, was too irresolute by nature even to determine to +give up the fight. Tyrconnell himself sincerely wished to make his +peace with William, so that he might once more enjoy the revenues +of his estates. The Irish army was thoroughly determined to hold +out to the end.</p> +<p>With these conflicting desires and designs, no single-hearted +and resolute action was possible. Matters seem to have drifted till +about January, 1691, when Tyrconnell returned; "but he brought with +him no soldiers, very few arms, little provision and no money." A +month later a messenger came direct to Sarsfield, then with the +army at Galway, from Louis XIV, promising reinforcements under the +renowned soldier Saint Ruth. This letter to a great extent revealed +the double part Tyrconnell had been playing at the French court, +and did much to <span class="pagenum"><a name="page354" id= +"page354"></a>[pg 354]</span> undermine his credit with the better +elements in the Irish army.</p> +<p>The French fleet finally arrived at Limerick in May, 1691, under +Saint Ruth, bringing a considerable quantity of provisions for the +Irish army; but it is doubtful whether this arrival added any real +element of strength to the army. The Irish army, soon after this, +was assembled at Athlone, to defend the passage of the Shannon. +Much vigorous fighting took place, but Ginkell, William's general, +finally captured that important fortress in June. The road to +Galway was now open, and Ginkell's army prepared to march on that +important city, the strongest place in Connacht. Saint Ruth +prepared to resist their approach, fixing his camp at Aughrim, The +Hill of the Horses, some eighteen miles from Athlone and +thirty-five from Galway. We may once more tell the story in the +words of an eye-witness:</p> +<p>"Aughrim was then a ruined town, and the castle was not much +better, situated in a bottom on the north side of the hill, where +the Irish army encamped. The direct way from Ballinasloe was close +by the castle, but there was another way about, on the south-east +side of the hill. The rest of the ground fronting the camp was a +marsh, passable only for <span class="pagenum"><a name="page355" +id="page355"></a>[pg 355]</span> foot. The army of Ginkell appeared +in sight of Aughrim on July 12th. The Irish army, composed of about +ten thousand foot, two thousand men-at-arms, and as many light +horse, was soon drawn up by Saint Ruth in two lines; the cavalry on +both wings flanking the foot; and having placed Chevalier de +Tessé on the right wing of the horse, and Sarsfield on the +left, and giving their several posts to the rest of the chief +commanders, Saint Ruth obliged himself to no certain place, but +rode constantly from one side to another to give the necessary +orders where he saw occasion. Ginkell being now come up at so near +a distance that his guns and other battering engines might do +execution, he ordered them to be discharged, and as he had a vast +number of them he made them play incessantly on the Irish army, +hoping by that means to force them from the hill, which was of +great advantage. But the Irish, encouraged by the presence and +conduct of Saint Ruth, kept their ground and beat the English as +often as they advanced towards them. The fight continued from noon +till sunset, the Irish foot having still the better of the enemy; +and Saint Ruth, observing the advantage of his side, and that the +enemy's foot were much disordered, was resolved, by advancing with +the cavalry, to make the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page356" +id="page356"></a>[pg 356]</span> victory complete, when an unlucky +shot from one of the terrible new engines, hitting him in the head, +made an end of his life, and took away the courage of his army. For +Ginkell, observing the Irish to be in some disorder, gave a notable +conjecture that the general was either killed or wounded, whereupon +he commanded his army to advance. The Irish cavalry, discouraged by +the death of Saint Ruth, and none of the general officers coming to +head them in his place, gave back, and quitted the field. The foot +who were engaged with the enemy, knowing nothing of the general's +death or the retreat of the cavalry, continued fighting till they +were surrounded by the whole English army; so that the most of them +were cut off, and no quarter given but to a very few; the rest, by +favor of the night then approaching, for Saint Ruth was killed +about sunset, made their escape."</p> +<p>To this we may add the testimony of the runaway monarch: "The +Irish behaved with great spirit. They convinced the English they +had to do with men no less resolute than themselves. Never assault +was made with greater fury nor sustained with greater obstinacy. +The Irish foot repulsed the enemy several times, particularly in +the center. They even looked upon the victory as certain.... The +Irish lost <span class="pagenum"><a name="page357" id= +"page357"></a>[pg 357]</span> four thousand men. The loss of the +English was not much inferior."</p> +<p>The army of Ginkell, thus in possession of the key of Connacht, +advanced upon its most important city, arriving before Galway a few +days after the battle of Aughrim. Galway, however, was full of +divided counsels, and speedily surrendered, so that Limerick alone +remained. Limerick was greatly weakened, now that Galway, and with +Galway the whole of Connacht to which alone Limerick could look for +supplies, was in the hands of the enemy. Ginkell turned all his +efforts in the direction of Limerick, appearing before the city and +pitching his camp there on August 25, 1691. Beginning with the next +day, our narrator tells us, "he placed his cannon and other +battering engines, which played furiously night and day without +intermission, reducing that famous city almost to ashes. No +memorable action, however, happened till the night between +September 15 and 16, when he made a bridge of boats over the +Shannon, which being ready by break of day, he passed over with a +considerable body of horse and foot on the Connacht side of the +river, without any opposition. This so alarmed Sheldon, who +commanded the cavalry at that time, that without staying for +orders, he immediately <span class="pagenum"><a name="page358" id= +"page358"></a>[pg 358]</span> retired to a mountain a good distance +from Limerick, and marched with such precipitation and disorder, +that if a hundred of the enemy's horse had charged him in the rear, +they would in all likelihood have defeated his whole party, though +he had near upon four thousand men-at-arms and light horse; for the +man, if he was faithful, wanted either courage or conduct, and the +party were altogether discouraged to be under his command. But +Ginkell did not advance far, and after showing himself on that side +of the bridge, returned back into his camp the same day. Yet +Sheldon never rested till he came, about midnight, fifteen miles +from the Shannon, and encamped in a fallow field where there was +not a bit of grass to be had: as if he had designed to harass the +horses by day and starve them by night.... Ginkell, understanding +that the Irish horse was removed to such a distance, passed the +river on the twenty-third day with the greatest part of his +cavalry, and a considerable body of foot, and encamped half-way +between Limerick and the Irish horse camp, whereby he hindered all +communication between them and the town. On the twenty-fourth, the +captains within Limerick sent out a trumpet, desiring a parley," +and as a result of this parley, a treaty was ultimately signed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page359" id="page359"></a>[pg +359]</span> between the two parties, Limerick was evacuated, and +the war came to an end. This was early in October, 1691.</p> +<p>The war had, therefore, lasted nearly four years, a sufficient +testimony to the military qualities of the Irish, seeing that +throughout the whole period they had matched against them greatly +superior numbers of the finest troops in Europe, veterans trained +in continental wars, and at all points better armed and equipped +than their adversaries.</p> +<p>What moves our unbounded admiration, however, is to see the +troops displaying these qualities of valor not only without good +leadership, but in face of the cowardice of the English king, and +of duplicity amounting to treachery on the part of his chief +adherents. Foremost among these time-servers was Talbot, Earl of +Tyrconnell, whose name shows him to have sprung from one of the +Norman families, and we see here the recurrence of a principle +which had worked much harm in the eight years' war of the preceding +generation. The Duke of Ormond, sprung from the Norman Butlers, was +then the chief representative of the policy of intrigue, and many +of the reverses of both these wars are to be attributed to the same +race.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page360" id="page360"></a>[pg +360]</span> +<p>It is tragical to find the descendants of the old Norman barons, +who at any rate were valiant fighters, descending thus to practices +quite unworthy; yet we can easily understand how the fundamental +injustice of the feudal principle on which they stood, not less +than the boundless abuse of that already bad principle under the +first Stuarts, could not fail to undermine their sense of honor and +justice, preparing them at length for a policy of mere +self-seeking, carried on by methods always doubtful, and often +openly treacherous.</p> +<p>The old tribal chieftains lived to fight, and went down fighting +into the night of time. Owen Roe O'Neill, last great son of a +heroic race, splendidly upheld their high tradition and ideal. No +nobler figure, and few more gifted captains, can be found in the +annals of those warlike centuries. The valor of Cuculain, the +wisdom of Concobar, the chivalry of Fergus--all were his, and with +them a gentle and tolerant spirit in all things concerning +religion, very admirable in an age when so many men, in other +things not lacking in elements of nobility, were full of bitter +animosity, and zealous to persecute all those who differed from +them concerning things shrouded in mystery.</p> +<p>It may be said, indeed, that Owen Roe is in this only a type of +all his countrymen, who, though they suffered <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page361" id="page361"></a>[pg 361]</span> +centuries of persecution for a religious principle, never +persecuted in return. Their conduct throughout the epoch of +religious war and persecution was always tolerant and full of the +sense of justice, contrasting in this, and contrasting to their +honor, with the conduct of nearly every other nation in +Christendom.</p> +<p>The history of Ireland, for the half century which followed this +war, offers few salient features for description. The Catholics +during all this time were under the ban of penal laws. The old +tribal chiefs were gone. The Norman lords were also gone. The life +of the land hardly went beyond the tilling of the fields and the +gathering of the harvests. And even here, men only labored for +others to enter into their labor. The right of private taxation, +confirmed by law, and now forfeited by the feudal lords, was given +as a reward to the adherents of the dominant party in England, and +their yearly exactions were enforced by an armed garrison. The more +vigorous and restless elements of our race, unable to accept these +conditions of life, sailed in great numbers to the continent, and +entered the armies of many European powers. It is estimated that, +during the half century after the Treaty of Limerick, fully half a +million Irishmen fell in the service of France alone.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page362" id="page362"></a>[pg +362]</span><br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page363" id="page363"></a>[pg +363]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2>CONCLUSION.</h2> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page364" id="page364"></a>[pg +364]</span><br> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page365" id="page365"></a>[pg +365]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="XV."></a>XV.</h2> +<br> +<h3>CONCLUSION.</h3> +<h3>A.D. 1750-1901.</h3> +<br> +<p>The Treaty of Limerick, signed when the army of Sarsfield came +to terms with the besiegers, guaranteed equal liberty to all +Ireland, without regard to difference of religion. There is no +doubt that William of Nassau, scion of a race which had done much +for liberty, a house that had felt the bitterness of oppression, +would willingly have carried this treaty out in a spirit of +fidelity and honor. But he was, helpless. The dominant powers in +England and Ireland were too strong for him, and within the next +few years the treaty was violated in letter and spirit, and the +indigenous population of Ireland was disarmed, deprived of civil +rights, reduced to servitude.</p> +<p>It is best, wherever possible, to secure the word of witnesses +who cannot be suspected of prejudice or favor. We shall do this, +therefore, in describing the condition of Ireland during the +eighteenth century. We find the Lord Chancellor of England +declaring, during the first half of that period, that "in +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page366" id="page366"></a>[pg +366]</span> the eye of the law no Catholic existed in Ireland." The +Lord Chief Justice affirms the same doctrine: "It appears plain +that the law does not suppose any such person to exist as an Irish +Roman Catholic." The law, therefore, as created by England for +Ireland, deprived of all civil, religious, intellectual and moral +rights four-fifths of the whole population, and gave them over as a +lawful prey to the remaining fifth: a band of colonists and +adventurers, who favored the policy of the party then dominant in +England. This was the condition of the law. We shall see, +presently, what was its result on the life of the nation. It should +be a warning, for all time, of the dangers which arise when one +nation undertakes to govern another. For it must be clearly +understood that the Sovreign and Parliament of England believed +that in this they stood for honor and righteousness, and had a true +insight into the spirit and will of the Most High. It was, indeed, +on this superior knowledge of the divine will that they based their +whole policy; for what else is the meaning of legal discrimination +against the holders of a certain form of faith?</p> +<a name="367.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/367.jpg"><img src="images/367.jpg" +width="80%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>SALMON FISHERY, GALWAY.</b></p> +<p>In the second half of the eighteenth century, in 1775, the +Congress of the United States sent its <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page367" id="page367"></a>[pg 367]</span> +sympathy in these words to the people of Ireland: "We know that you +are not without your grievances; we sympathize with you in your +distress, and we are pleased to find that the design of subjugating +us has persuaded the administration to dispense to Ireland some +vagrant rays of ministerial sunshine. Even the tender mercies of +the government have long been cruel to you. In the rich pastures of +Ireland many hungry parasites are fed, and grow strong to labor for +her destruction."</p> +<p>Three years later, in 1778, Benjamin Franklin wrote thus to the +Irish people: "The misery and distress which your ill-fated country +has been so frequently exposed to, and has so often experienced, by +such a combination of rapine, treachery and violence as would have +disgraced the name of government in the most arbitrary country in +the world, has most sincerely affected your friends in America, and +has engaged the most serious attention of Congress."</p> +<p>It must be assumed that the men who drew up the Declaration of +Independence knew the value of words, and that when they spoke of +misery and cruelty, of rapine, treachery and distress, they meant +what they said. Franklin's letter brings us to the eve of the +Volunteer Movement, of which much has <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page368" id="page368"></a>[pg 368]</span> been +said in a spirit of warm praise, but which seems to have wrought +evil rather than good. This Movement, at first initiated wholly by +the Scottish and English colonists and their adherents, was later +widened so as to include a certain number of the indigenous +population; and an armed force was thus formed, which was able to +gain certain legislative favors from England, with the result that +a Parliament sitting in Dublin from 1782 to 1799 passed laws with +something more resembling justice than Ireland was accustomed +to.</p> +<p>But this Parliament was in no sense national or representative. +It was wholly composed of the Scottish and English colonists and +their friends, and the indigenous population had no voice in its +deliberations. It is, therefore, the more honor to Henry Grattan +that we find him addressing that Parliament thus: "I will never +claim freedom for six hundred thousand of my countrymen while I +leave two million or more of them in chains. Give the Catholics of +Ireland their civil rights and their franchise; give them the power +to return members to the Irish Parliament, and let the nation be +represented." At this time, therefore, four-fifths of the nation +had neither civil rights nor franchise,--because they differed +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page369" id="page369"></a>[pg +369]</span> from the dominant party in England as to the precedence +of the disciples of Jesus.</p> +<p>It may be supposed, however, that, even without civil or +religious rights, the fate of the people of Ireland was tolerable; +that a certain measure of happiness and well-being was theirs, if +not by law, at least by grace. The answer to this we shall +presently see. The Volunteer Movement, as we saw, included certain +elements of the indigenous population. The dominant party in +England professed to see in this a grave danger, and determined to +ward off that danger by sending an army to Ireland, and quartering +troops on the peasants of all suspected districts. We must remember +that the peasants, on whom a hostile soldiery was thus quartered, +had no civil rights as a safeguard; that the authorities were +everywhere bitterly hostile, full of cowardly animosity towards +them.</p> +<p>The result we may best describe in the words of the English +generals at the head of this army. We find Sir Ralph Abercrombie +speaking thus: "The very disgraceful frequency of great crimes and +cruelties, and the many complaints of the conduct of the troops in +this kingdom--Ireland--has too unfortunately proved the army to be +in a state of licentiousness <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page370" id="page370"></a>[pg 370]</span> that renders it +formidable to everyone except the enemy." Sir Ralph Abercrombie +declared himself so frightened and disgusted at the conduct of the +soldiers that he threw up his commission, and refused the command +of the army.</p> +<p>General Lake, who was sent to take his place, speaks thus: "The +state of the country, and its occupation previous to the +insurrection, is not to be imagined, except by those who witnessed +the atrocities of every description committed by the +military,"--and he gives a list of hangings, burnings and +murders.</p> +<p>Finally, we have the testimony of another English soldier, Sir +William Napier, speaking some years later: "What manner of soldiers +were these fellows who were let loose upon the wretched districts, +killing, burning and confiscating every man's property? ... We +ourselves were young at the time; yet, being connected with the +army, we were continually among the soldiers, listening with boyish +eagerness to their experiences: and well remember, with horror, to +this day, the tales of lust, of bloodshed and pillage, and the +recital of their foul actions against the miserable peasantry, +which they used to relate."</p> +<p>The insurrection against this misery and violence, <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page371" id="page371"></a>[pg 371]</span> which +began in May, 1798, and its repression, we may pass over, coming to +their political consequences. It is admitted on all hands that the +morality and religion of England reached their lowest ebb at this +very time; we are, therefore, ready to learn that the Act of Union +between England and Ireland, which followed on the heels of this +insurrection, was carried by unlimited bribery and corruption. The +Parliament of Ireland, as we know, was solely composed of +Protestants, the Catholics having neither the right to sit nor the +right to vote; so that the ignominy of this universal corruption +must be borne by the class of English and Scottish settlers +alone.</p> +<p>The curious may read lists of the various bribes paid to secure +the passage of the Act of Union in 1800, the total being about six +million dollars--a much more considerable sum then than now. And it +must be remembered that this entire sum was drawn from the revenues +of Ireland, besides the whole cost of an army numbering 125,000 +men, which England maintained in Ireland at the time the Act was +passed. What the amenities of the last three years of the +eighteenth century cost Ireland we may judge from these figures: in +1797, while the hangings, burnings and torturings which brought +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page372" id="page372"></a>[pg +372]</span> about the insurrection of the following year were in an +early stage, the national debt of Ireland was under $20,000,000; +three years later that debt amounted to over $130,000,000. It is +profitless to pursue the subject further. We may close it by saying +that hardly can we find in history a story more discreditable to +our common humanity than the conduct of England towards Ireland +during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.</p> +<p>The French Revolution wrought a salutary change of heart in the +governing class in England, for it must in justice be added that +the tyranny of this class was as keenly felt by the "lower orders" +in England as in Ireland itself. It is fairly certain that only the +Reform Bill and the change of sovreigns which shortly followed +prevented an insurrection of the peasants and servile classes in +England which would have outdone in horrors the French Revolution +itself. The Reform Bill was the final surrender of the baronial +class in England; a surrender rather apparent than real, however, +since most of the political and all the social power in the land +still remains in the hands of the same class.</p> +<a name="373.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/373.jpg"><img src="images/373.jpg" +width="40%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>O'CONNELL'S STATUE, DUBLIN.</b></p> +<p>Through the salutary fear which was inspired by the horrors of +the French Revolution, and perhaps <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page373" id="page373"></a>[pg 373]</span> through a certain moral +awakening, the governing classes in England came to a less vicious +mind in their dealings with Ireland. They were, therefore, the more +ready to respond to the great national movement headed by Daniel +O'Connell, with his demand that Irishmen might all equally enjoy +civil and political rights, regardless of their form of faith. In +1829, as the result of this great movement, the Catholics were +finally relieved of the burden of penal laws which, originally laid +on them by the Tudors, were rendered even more irksome and more +unjust by Cromwell and William of Nassau,--men in other things +esteemed enlightened and lovers of liberty.</p> +<p>Thus the burden of persecution was finally taken away. To those +who imposed it, the system of Penal Laws will remain a deep +dishonor. But to those who bore that burden it has proved a +safeguard of spiritual purity and faith. The religion of the +indigenous race in Ireland was saved from the degeneration and +corruption which ever besets a wealthy and prosperous church, and +which never fails to engender hypocrisy, avarice and ambition. In +England, the followers of the Apostles exercise the right to levy a +second tax on the produce of all tilled lands, a second burden +imposed upon the conquered Saxons. <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page374" id="page374"></a>[pg 374]</span> As a result, the leaders +of the church live in palaces, while the people, the humbler part +of their congregation; have sunk into practical atheism. In France, +the reaction against a like state of things brought the church to +the verge of destruction, and led the masses to infidelity and +materialism. The result to the moral life of the people is too well +known to need remark. Not less evil consequences have flowed from +the enriching of the church in other lands. That wealth has always +carried with it the curse, so prophetically pronounced, against +those who trust in riches. For the ministers of religion, in a +supreme degree, the love of money has been the root of evil.</p> +<p>We may, therefore, see in the spirituality and unworldliness of +the native church in Ireland a result of all the evil and +persecution the church suffered during almost three hundred years. +From this purification by fire it comes that the people of Ireland +are almost singular throughout Christendom in believing sincerely +in the religion of gentleness and mercy--the kingdom which is not +of this world.</p> +<p>In 1829 the Catholics were at last freed from the galling +burdens which had weighed on them since 1537, when they failed to +recognize Henry VIII as the representative of God on earth. They +were still, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page375" id= +"page375"></a>[pg 375]</span> however, under the shadow of a grave +injustice, which continued to rest on them for many years. When +their church lands were confiscated and their faith proscribed by +law under the Tudors, a new clergy was overlaid on the country, a +clergy which consented to recognize the Tudors and their successors +as their spiritual head. As a reward, these new ministers of +religion were allowed to levy a second tax on land, exactly as in +England; and this tax they continued to collect until their +privilege was finally taken away by Gladstone and the English +Liberals. Needless to say that through three centuries and more +four-fifths of this tax was levied on the indigenous Catholics, in +support of what was to them an alien, and for most of the time a +persecuting church.</p> +<p>One heavy disability still lay on the whole land. With its +partial removal a principle has emerged of such world-wide +importance in the present, and even more in the future, that we may +well trace its history in detail.</p> +<p>The Normans, as we saw, paid themselves for conquering the +Saxons and Angles by assuming a perpetual right to tax their +produce; a right still in full force, and forming the very +foundation of the ruling class in England. The land tenure thus +created was, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page376" id= +"page376"></a>[pg 376]</span> under the Tudors and the first +Stuarts, bodily transferred to Ireland. In Ireland the land had +ever been owned by the people, each tribe, as representing a single +family, holding a certain area by communal tenure, and electing a +chief to protect its territory from aggression. For this elective +chieftainship the English law-courts substituted something wholly +different: a tenure modeled on the feudal servitude of England. +This new principle made the land of the country the property not of +the whole people but of a limited and privileged class: the +favorites of the ruling power--"hungry parasites" as the Congress +of 1775 called them. This "landed" class continued to hold absolute +sway until quite recently, and it was this class which succumbed to +bribery in 1800, and passed the Act of Legislative Union with +England. The clergy of the Established church were little more than +the private chaplains of the "landed" class, the two alien bodies +supporting each other.</p> +<p>Folly, however, was the child of injustice; for so shortsighted +were these hungry parasites that they developed a system of +land-laws so bad as to cause universal poverty, and bring a +reaction which is steadily sweeping the "landed" class of Ireland +to extinction and oblivion. The fundamental principle <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page377" id="page377"></a>[pg 377]</span> of +these bad land-laws was this: the tenant was compelled to renew his +lease from year to year; and whenever, during the year, he had in +any way improved the land in his possession,--by draining marshes, +by reclaiming waste areas, by adding farm-buildings, the "owner" of +the land could demand an enhanced rent, as the condition of +renewing the lease. The tenant had to submit to a continually +ascending scale of extortion, sanctioned by law and exacted by +armed force; or, as an alternative, he had to give up the fruit of +his industry without compensation and without redress.</p> +<p>Anything more certain to destroy energy, to cut at the roots of +thrift, to undermine all the best qualities of manhood, it would be +impossible to imagine. The slave on the plantation could in time +purchase his freedom. The tiller of the soil in Ireland found, on +the contrary, that the greater his industry, the greater was the +sum he had to pay for the right to exercise it. We saw that there +never was any pretence of free contract in the feudal land-tenure +of England; that there never was any pretence of an honest bargain +between farmer and landlord, for their mutual benefit. The tenant +paid the landlord for services rendered, not to him, but to his +Norman conqueror. <span class="pagenum"><a name="page378" id= +"page378"></a>[pg 378]</span> So it was, in an even greater degree, +in Ireland. There was no pretence at all that tenant and landlord +entered into a free contract for their mutual benefit. Nor did +either law, custom, religion or opinion require the landlord to +make any return to his tenants for the share of the fruit of their +toil he annually carried away.</p> +<p>The tiller of the soil, therefore, labored from year to year, +through droughts and rains, through heat and cold, facing bad +seasons with good. At the end of the year, after hard toil had +gathered in the fruit of the harvest, he saw the best part of that +fruit legally confiscated by an alien, who would have been +speechless with wonder, had it been suggested to him that anything +was due from him in return. Nor was that all. This alien was +empowered, and by the force of public opinion incited, to exact the +greatest possible share of the tiller's produce, and, as we saw, he +was entitled to the whole benefit of whatever improvements the +tiller of the soil had made; and could--and constantly did--expel +the cultivator who was unable or unwilling to pay a higher tax, as +the penalty for improving the land.</p> +<p>It may be said that bad as this all was, it was not without a +remedy; that the cultivator had the choice <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page379" id="page379"></a>[pg 379]</span> of +other occupations, and might let the land lie fallow, while its +"owner" starved. But this only brings to mind the fact that during +the eighteenth century England had legislated with the deliberate +intention of destroying the manufactures and shipping of Ireland, +and had legislated with success. It should be added that this one +measure affected all residents in Ireland equally, whatever faith +or race. There was practically no alternative before the +cultivator. He had the choice between robbery and starvation.</p> +<p>It would be more than miraculous if this condition of things had +not borne its fruit. The result was this: it ceased to be the +interest of the cultivator of the land to till it effectively, or +to make any improvement whatever, whether by drainage, reclaiming +waste land, or building, or by adopting better agricultural +methods. In every case, his increase of labor, of foresight and +energy, would have met with but one reward: when the time came to +renew the lease, he would have been told that his land had doubled +in value during the year, and that he must, therefore, pay twice as +much for the privilege of tilling it. If he refused, he at once +forfeited every claim to the fruit of his own work, the whole of +his improvements becoming the property of the land owner.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page380" id="page380"></a>[pg +380]</span> +<p>The cultivators, as an inevitable consequence, lost every +incentive to labor, energy, foresight and the moral qualities which +are fostered by honestly rewarded work. They worked as little as +possible on their farms, and the standard of cultivation steadily +declined, while the mode of living grew perpetually worse. If it +were intended to reduce a whole population to hopeless poverty, no +better or more certain way could be imagined.</p> +<p>The steady lowering of the arts of cultivation, the restriction +of crops, the tendency to keep as close as possible to the margin +of sustenance, thus zealously fostered, opened the way for the +disastrous famine of 1846 and 1847, which marks the beginning of a +rapid decline in population,--a decrease which has never since been +checked. The inhabitants of Ireland shortly before the famine +numbered considerably over eight millions. Since that time, there +has been a decrease of about four millions--a thing without +parallel in Christendom.</p> +<p>The amendment of the land-laws, which were directly responsible +for these evil results, was by no means initiated in consequence of +the famine. It was due wholly to a great national agitation, +carried out under the leadership of Charles Stewart Parnell, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page381" id="page381"></a>[pg +381]</span> which led to the land-acts of 1881 and 1887. These new +laws at last guaranteed to the cultivator the fruit of his toil, +and guarded him against arbitrary increase of the tax levied on him +by the "owner" of the land. But they did not stop here; they +initiated a principle which will finally make the cultivator +absolute owner of his land, and abolish the feudal class with their +rights of private taxation. This cannot fail to react on England, +so that the burdens of the Angles and Saxons will at last be lifted +from their shoulders, as a result of the example set them by the +Gaels, for generations working persistently, and persistently +advancing towards their goal. Nor will the tide thus set in motion +spread only to Saxon and Angle; its influence will be felt wherever +those who work are deprived unjustly of the fruit of their toil, +whether by law or without law. The evils suffered by Ireland will +thus be not unavailing; they will rather bring the best of all +rewards: a reward to others, of whatever race and in whatever land, +who are victims of a like injustice.</p> +<p>The story of Ireland, through many centuries, has thus been +told. The rest belongs to the future. We have seen the strong life +of the prime bringing forth the virtues of war and peace; we have +seen valor <span class="pagenum"><a name="page382" id= +"page382"></a>[pg 382]</span> and beauty and wisdom come to perfect +ripeness in the old pagan world. We have seen that old pagan world +transformed by the new teaching of gentleness and mercy, a +consciousness, wider, more humane and universal, added from above +to the old genius of individual life. With the new teaching came +the culture of Rome, and something of the lore of Hellas and +Palestine, of Egypt and Chaldea, warmly welcomed and ardently +cherished in Ireland at a time when Europe was submerged under +barbarian inroads and laid waste by heathen hordes. We have seen +the faith and culture thus preserved among our western seas +generously shared with the nascent nations who emerged from the +pagan invasions; the seeds of intellectual and spiritual life, sown +with faith and fervor as far as the Alps and the Danube, springing +up with God-given increase, and ripening to an abundant +harvest.</p> +<p>To that bright epoch of our story succeeded centuries of growing +darkness and gathering storm. The forces of our national life, +which until then had found such rich expression and flowered in +such abundant beauty, were now checked, driven backward and inward, +through war, oppression and devastation, until a point was reached +when the whole indigenous <span class="pagenum"><a name="page383" +id="page383"></a>[pg 383]</span> population had no vestige of +religious or civil rights; when they ceased even to exist in the +eyes of the law.</p> +<p>The tide of life, thus forced inward, gained a firm possession +of the invisible world, with the eternal realities indwelling +there. Thus fixed and founded in the real, that tide turned once +again, flowing outwards and sweeping before it all the barriers in +its way. The population of Ireland is diminishing in numbers; but +the race to which they belong increases steadily: a race of clean +life, of unimpaired vital power, unspoiled by wealth or luxury, the +most virile force in the New World.</p> +<p>It happens very rarely, under those mysterious laws which rule +the life of all humanity, the laws which work their majestic will +through the ages, using as their ministers the ambitions and +passions of men--it happens rarely that a race keeps its unbroken +life through thirty centuries, transformed time after time by new +spiritual forces, yet in genius remaining ever the same. It may be +doubted whether even once before throughout all history a race thus +long-lived has altogether escaped the taint of corruption and +degeneration. Never before, we may confidently say, has a single +people emerged <span class="pagenum"><a name="page384" id= +"page384"></a>[pg 384]</span> from such varied vicissitudes, +stronger at the end in genius, in spiritual and moral power, than +at the beginning, richer in vital force, clearer in understanding, +in every way more mature and humane.</p> +<p>For this is the real fruit of so much evil valiantly endured: a +deep love of freedom, a hatred of oppression, a knowledge that the +wish to dominate is a fruitful source of wrong. The new age now +dawning before us carries many promises of good for all humanity; +not less, it has its dangers, grave and full of menace; +threatening, if left to work unchecked, to bring lasting evil to +our life. Never before, it is true, have there been so wide +opportunities for material well-being; but, on the other hand, +never before have there been such universal temptations toward a +low and sensual ideal. Our very mastery over natural forces and +material energies entices us away from our real goal, hides from +our eyes the human and divine powers of the soul, with which we are +enduringly concerned. Our skill in handling nature's lower powers +may be a means of great good; not less may it bring forth +unexampled evil. The opportunities of well-being are increased; the +opportunities of exclusive luxury are increased in equal measure; +exclusion may bring resentment; resentment <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page385" id="page385"></a>[pg 385]</span> may +call forth oppression, armed with new weapons, guided by wider +understanding, but prompted by the same corrupt spirit as of +old.</p> +<p>In the choice which our new age must make between these two +ways, very much may be done for the enduring well-being of mankind +by a race full of clean vigor, a race taught by stern experience +the evil of tyranny and oppression, a race profoundly believing the +religion of gentleness and mercy, a race full of the sense of the +invisible world, the world of our immortality.</p> +<p>We see in Ireland a land with a wonderful past, rich in +tradition and varied lore; a land where the memorials of the ages, +built in enduring stone, would in themselves enable us to trace the +life and progress of human history; we see in Ireland a land full +of a singular fascination and beauty, where even the hills and +rivers speak not of themselves but of the spirit which builds the +worlds; a beauty, whether in brightness or gloom, finding its exact +likeness in no other land; we see all this, but we see much more: +not a memory of the past, but a promise of the future; no offering +of earthly wealth, but rather a gift to the soul of man; not for +Ireland only, but for all mankind.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page386" id="page386"></a>[pg +386]</span><br> +<br> +<hr style="width: 35%;"> +<br> +<br> +<h2><a name="INDEX."></a>INDEX.</h2> +<br> +<p>Abbey-Dorney, <a href="#page303">303</a><br> +Abbey-feale, <a href="#page303">303</a><br> +Abbey-leix, <a href="#page303">303</a><br> +Abbey of Ballintober, <a href="#page305">305</a><br> +Abbey-quarter, <a href="#page029">29</a><br> +Abercrombie, Sir Ralph, words of, <a href="#page369">369</a>, +<a href="#page370">370</a><br> +Achill Island, <a href="#page030">30</a><br> +Act of Union, <a href="#page371">371</a><br> +Aed Allan, <a href="#page225">225</a>, <a href= +"#page231">231</a><br> +Aed Finnliat, <a href="#page247">247</a><br> +Aed Roin, <a href="#page225">225</a><br> +Aed, son of Colgan, <a href="#page226">226</a><br> +Ailill, <a href="#page130">130</a>, <a href="#page131">131</a>, +<a href="#page132">132</a>, <a href="#page141">141</a>, <a href= +"#page142">142</a>, <a href="#page146">146</a>, <a href= +"#page147">147</a>, <a href="#page152">152</a><br> +Aiterni, <a href="#page150">150</a><br> +Alfred, king of the Northumbrian Saxons, <a href= +"#page232">232</a><br> +Alfred, king, ode of to the country he visited, <a href= +"#page232">232</a>, <a href="#page233">233</a><br> +Alny, <a href="#page120">120</a>, <a href="#page129">129</a><br> +Amargin, <a href="#page150">150</a><br> +Ambigatos, <a href="#page103">103</a><br> +Ancient seats of learning, <a href="#page221">221</a><br> +Ancient seats of learning, studies therein, <a href= +"#page221">221</a>, <a href="#page222">222</a><br> +Anglicans, <a href="#page322">322</a><br> +Angus, the Young, <a href="#page092">92</a>, <a href= +"#page095">95</a>, <a href="#page096">96</a>, <a href= +"#page173">173</a><br> +"Annals," history of the times as recorded in the, <a href= +"#page235">235</a>, <a href="#page252">252</a><br> +"Annals," quotations from, <a href="#page224">224</a>, <a href= +"#page244">244</a>, <a href="#page264">264</a>, <a href= +"#page277">277</a>, <a href="#page293">293</a><br> +Antrim, <a href="#page005">5</a>, <a href="#page196">196</a><br> +Archaic Darkness, <a href="#page011">11</a><br> +Archaic Dawn, <a href="#page012">12</a><br> +Ardan, <a href="#page120">120</a>, <a href="#page129">129</a><br> +Ard-Maca, <a href="#page200">200</a><br> +Armagh, <a href="#page200">200</a>, <a href="#page208">208</a>, +<a href="#page232">232</a>, <a href="#page241">241</a><br> +At-Cliat, <a href="#page242">242</a>, <a href="#page243">243</a>, +<a href="#page275">275</a><br> +Athlone, <a href="#page140">140</a>, <a href="#page350">350</a>, +<a href="#page354">354</a><br> +Ath-uincé, <a href="#page163">163</a><br> +Aughrim, <a href="#page354">354</a>, <a href="#page355">355</a></p> +<p>Ballinasloe, <a href="#page354">354</a><br> +Ballysadare, <a href="#page027">27</a>, <a href="#page087">87</a>, +<a href="#page090">90</a><br> +Balor of the Evil Eye, <a href="#page090">90</a>, <a href= +"#page091">91</a>, <a href="#page093">93</a><br> +Bangor, <a href="#page221">221</a>, <a href="#page239">239</a>, +<a href="#page240">240</a>, <a href="#page250">250</a>, <a href= +"#page342">342</a><br> +Bann, <a href="#page146">146</a><br> +Bantry Bay, <a href="#page104">104</a><br> +Barrow, valley of the, <a href="#page042">42</a><br> +Battle of Kinvarra, <a href="#page162">162</a><br> +Battle of the Headland of the Kings, <a href="#page013">13</a><br> +Battle-verses, <a href="#page248">248</a>, <a href= +"#page249">249</a><br> +Bay of Murbolg, <a href="#page143">143</a><br> +Bay of Sligo, <a href="#page029">29</a><br> +Bective Abbey, <a href="#page301">301</a><br> +Bede, Venerable, <a href="#page218">218</a><br> +Belgadan, <a href="#page085">85</a><br> +Beltane, festival of, <a href="#page047">47</a><br> +Beltaney, <a href="#page047">47</a><br> +Black Lion Cromlech, <a href="#page046">46</a><br> +Blackwater, <a href="#page039">39</a>, <a href= +"#page082">82</a><br> +Bonamargy Abbey, <a href="#page306">306</a><br> +Book of Kells, <a href="#page209">209</a>, <a href= +"#page249">249</a><br> +Boyne, the, <a href="#page005">5</a>, <a href="#page150">150</a>, +<a href="#page242">242</a>, <a href="#page350">350</a><br> +Brandon Hill, <a href="#page042">42</a><br> +Breagho, <a href="#page034">34</a><br> +Breas, <a href="#page083">83</a>, <a href="#page084">84</a>, +<a href="#page099">99</a>, <a href="#page091">91</a>, <a href= +"#page105">105</a><br> +Breg, <a href="#page149">149</a><br> +Brehon Laws, the, <a href="#page206">206</a><br> +Brehon Laws, changes of, effected by St. Patrick, <a href= +"#page207">207</a>, <a href="#page316">316</a><br> +Bruce, Edward, invasion by, <a href="#page292">292</a><br> +Bruce, Edward, death of, <a href="#page293">293</a><br> +Brugh, on the Boyne, <a href="#page093">93</a>, <a href= +"#page095">95</a><br> +Bundoran, <a href="#page029">29</a></p> +<p>Cael, <a href="#page163">163</a>, <a href="#page165">165</a>, +<a href="#page194">194</a>, <a href="#page262">262</a><br> +Cael, poem of, <a href="#page164">164</a>, <a href= +"#page165">165</a><br> +Caher, <a href="#page161">161</a><br> +Caherconree, <a href="#page032">32</a><br> +Cailté, <a href="#page162">162</a>, <a href= +"#page166">166</a><br> +Cairbré, <a href="#page089">89</a>, <a href= +"#page167">167</a>, <a href="#page168">168</a>, <a href= +"#page173">173</a>, <a href="#page241">241</a><br> +Cairpré Nia Fer, <a href="#page146">146</a>, <a href= +"#page147">147</a>, <a href="#page132">132</a><br> +Callan River, <a href="#page199">199</a><br> +Calpurn, <a href="#page182">182</a><br> +Cantyre, <a href="#page119">119</a>, <a href="#page123">123</a>, +<a href="#page143">143</a><br> +Carlingford Lough, <a href="#page241">241</a><br> +Carlingford Mountains, <a href="#page044">44</a><br> +Carrickfergus, <a href="#page331">331</a>, <a href= +"#page344">344</a>, <a href="#page345">345</a>, <a href= +"#page347">347</a><br> +Carrowmore, <a href="#page027">27</a>, <a href= +"#page029">29</a><br> +Cataract of the Oaks, <a href="#page087">87</a>, <a href= +"#page090">90</a>, <a href="#page091">91</a><br> +Catbad, <a href="#page141">141</a>, <a href="#page142">142</a>, +<a href="#page150">150</a><br> +Cavan, <a href="#page046">46</a><br> +Cavancarragh, <a href="#page035">35</a>, <a href= +"#page066">66</a><br> +Cealleac, <a href="#page224">224</a><br> +Charlemont, castle of, <a href="#page343">343</a><br> +Chevalier de Tessé, <a href="#page355">355</a><br> +Chiefs of Tara, <a href="#page082">82</a><br> +Chieftain of the Silver Arm, <a href="#page091">91</a><br> +Chronicler's record of battles fought, <a href="#page210">210</a>, +<a href="#page211">211</a>, <a href="#page212">212</a>, <a href= +"#page217">217</a>, <a href="#page">218</a><br> +Chronicles of Ulster, <a href="#page218">218</a><br> +Church architecture, <a href="#page298">298</a><br> +Ciar, <a href="#page104">104</a><br> +Cistercian Abbey, <a href="#page306">306</a><br> +Clare,031 <a href="#page">31</a>, <a href="#page062">62</a><br> +Clare Abbey, <a href="#page306">306</a><br> +Clidna, <a href="#page166">166</a><br> +Clocar, <a href="#page161">161</a><br> +Clondalkin, <a href="#page241">241</a><br> +Clonmacnoise, <a href="#page208">208</a><br> +Cluain Bronaig, <a href="#page226">226</a><br> +Coleraine, <a href="#page331">331</a><br> +Colum Kill, <a href="#page208">208</a>, <a href= +"#page212">212</a><br> +Colum Kill, death of, <a href="#page215">215</a><br> +Colum Kill, verses written by, <a href="#page213">213</a>, <a href= +"#page214">214</a><br> +Colum of the Churches, <a href="#page223">223</a>, <a href= +"#page237">237</a><br> +Conall Cernac, <a href="#page149">149</a>, <a href= +"#page151">151</a><br> +Concobar, <a href="#page013">13</a>, <a href="#page113">113</a>, +<a href="#page114">114</a>, <a href="#page117">117</a>, <a href= +"#page121">121</a>, <a href="#page122">122</a>, <a href= +"#page123">123</a>, <a href="#page124">124</a>, <a href= +"#page129">129</a>, <a href="#page130">130</a>, <a href= +"#page131">131</a>, <a href="#page141">141</a>, <a href= +"#page142">142</a>, <a href="#page143">143</a>, <a href= +"#page144">144</a>, <a href="#page145">145</a>, <a href= +"#page147">147</a>, <a href="#page148">148</a>, <a href= +"#page149">149</a>, <a href="#page150">150</a>, <a href= +"#page151">151</a>, <a href="#page152">152</a>, <a href= +"#page177">177</a>, <a href="#page194">194</a>, <a href= +"#page246">246</a>, <a href="#page258">258</a>, <a href= +"#page262">262</a>, <a href="#page360">360</a><br> +Conditions existing in early years, <a href="#page219">219</a>, +<a href="#page220">220</a>, <a href="#page221">221</a>, <a href= +"#page222">222</a><br> +Congus the Abbot, <a href="#page225">225</a><br> +Connacht, <a href="#page005">5</a>, <a href="#page088">88</a>, +<a href="#page133">133</a>, <a href="#page140">140</a>, <a href= +"#page144">144</a>, <a href="#page350">350</a>, <a href= +"#page357">357</a><br> +Connemara, <a href="#page085">85</a><br> +Conn, lord of Connacht, <a href="#page162">162</a><br> +Conn of the Five-Score Battles, <a href="#page088">88</a>, <a href= +"#page162">162</a><br> +Copyright decision, an early, <a href="#page213">213</a><br> +Cork, <a href="#page005">5</a><br> +Cormac, <a href="#page167">167</a>, <a href="#page">171</a>, +<a href="#page172">172</a><br> +Cormac, precepts of, <a href="#page167">167</a>, <a href= +"#page168">168</a>, <a href="#page169">169</a>, <a href= +"#page170">170</a>, <a href="#page171">171</a><br> +Coroticus, <a href="#page195">195</a><br> +Corrib, <a href="#page">85</a><br> +Credé of the Yellow Hair, <a href="#page163">163</a>, +<a href="#page178">178</a>, <a href="#page194">194</a>, <a href= +"#page262">262</a><br> +Crimtan of the Yellow Hair, <a href="#page162">162</a><br> +Cromlech-builders, the, <a href="#page051">51</a>, <a href= +"#page068">68</a><br> +Cromlech of Howth, <a href="#page043">43</a><br> +Cromlech of Lisbellaw. <a href="#page047">47</a><br> +Cromlech of Lough Rea, <a href="#page046">46</a><br> +Cromlechs, <a href="#page027">27</a>, <a href="#page028">28</a>, +<a href="#page029">29</a>, <a href="#page030">30</a>, <a href= +"#page031">31</a>, <a href="#page037">37</a>, <a href= +"#page039">39</a>, <a href="#page042">42</a>, <a href= +"#page043">43</a>, <a href="#page045">45</a>, <a href= +"#page046">46</a>, <a href="#page047">47</a>, <a href= +"#page051">51</a>, <a href="#page052">52</a>. <a href= +"#page053">53</a>, <a href="#page054">54</a>, <a href= +"#page055">55</a>, <a href="#page056">56</a>, <a href= +"#page057">57</a>, <a href="#page058">58</a><br> +Cromwell, <a href="#page334">334</a>, <a href= +"#page339">339</a><br> +Croom, <a href="#page161">161</a><br> +Cruacan, <a href="#page131">131</a>, <a href="#page141">141</a>, +<a href="#page146">146</a><br> +Cryptic Designs on cromlechs, <a href="#page047">47</a><br> +Cuailgne, <a href="#page132">132</a><br> +Cuigead Sreing, <a href="#page088">88</a><br> +Culdaff, <a href="#page047">47</a><br> +Cumal, <a href="#page162">162</a><br> +Curlew hills, <a href="#page037">37</a>, <a href= +"#page131">131</a><br> +Cuculain, <a href="#page013">13</a>, <a href="#page014">14</a>, +<a href="#page015">15</a>, <a href="#page016">16</a>, <a href= +"#page133">133</a>, <a href="#page134">134</a>, <a href= +"#page135">135</a>, <a href="#page136">136</a>, <a href= +"#page137">137</a>, <a href="#page138">138</a>, <a href= +"#page139">139</a>, <a href="#page143">143</a>, <a href= +"#page144">144</a>, <a href="#page145">145</a>, <a href= +"#page152">152</a>, <a href="#page155">155</a>, <a href= +"#page181">181</a>, <a href="#page194">194</a>, <a href= +"#page246">246</a>, <a href="#page262">262</a>, <a href= +"#page360">360</a></p> +<p>DAGDA Mor, <a href="#page096">96</a>, <a href= +"#page148">148</a><br> +Dagda, the Mighty, <a href="#page092">92</a>, <a href= +"#page095">95</a><br> +Dairé, <a href="#page132">132</a>, <a href= +"#page133">133</a>, <a href="#page200">200</a>, <a href= +"#page262">262</a><br> +Danes, conversion of the, <a href="#page275">275</a><br> +Danish Pyramid of Uby, <a href="#page097">97</a><br> +Dark Ages, the, <a href="#page260">260</a>, <a href= +"#page261">261</a>, <a href="#page262">262</a><br> +Day of Spirits, <a href="#page140">140</a><br> +De Danaans, the, <a href="#page077">77</a>, <a href= +"#page079">79</a>, <a href="#page080">80</a>, <a href= +"#page082">82</a>, <a href="#page084">84</a>, <a href= +"#page086">86</a>, <a href="#page087">87</a>, <a href= +"#page089">89</a>, <a href="#page091">91</a>, <a href= +"#page093">93</a>, <a href="#page094">94</a>, <a href= +"#page095">95</a>, <a href="#page096">96</a>, <a href= +"#page097">97</a>, <a href="#page098">98</a>, <a href= +"#page099">99</a>, <a href="#page103">103</a>, <a href= +"#page105">105</a>, <a href="#page106">106</a>, <a href= +"#page112">112</a>, <a href="#page132">132</a>, <a href= +"#page148">148</a><br> +De Courcey, <a href="#page277">277</a><br> +De Courceys, the, <a href="#page319">319</a><br> +Deer-park, <a href="#page029">29</a><br> +Deirdré, <a href="#page013">13</a>, <a href= +"#page014">14</a>, <a href="#page015">15</a>, <a href= +"#page115">115</a>, <a href="#page123">123</a>, <a href= +"#page124">124</a>, <a href="#page129">129</a>, <a href= +"#page130">130</a>, <a href="#page178">178</a>, <a href= +"#page262">262</a><br> +Deirdré, the fate of, <a href="#page116">116</a>, <a href= +"#page117">117</a>, <a href="#page118">118</a>, <a href= +"#page119">119</a>, <a href="#page120">120</a>, <a href= +"#page121">121</a>, <a href="#page122">122</a><br> +Deirdré, the Lament of, <a href="#page125">125</a><br> +De Lacys, the, <a href="#page319">319</a><br> +Deny, <a href="#page331">331</a>, <a href="#page341">341</a>, +<a href="#page342">342</a>, <a href="#page344">344</a>, <a href= +"#page350">350</a><br> +Devenish, <a href="#page250">250</a><br> +Devenish Island, <a href="#page221">221</a><br> +Diarmuid, <a href="#page171">171</a>, <a href="#page172">172</a>, +<a href="#page173">173</a><br> +Dicu, <a href="#page240">240</a><br> +Dingle Bay, <a href="#page104">104</a><br> +Dinn-Rig by the Barrow, <a href="#page146">146</a><br> +Dissenters, <a href="#page322">322</a><br> +Domna, <a href="#page011">11</a>, <a href="#page211">211</a>, +<a href="#page231">231</a><br> +Donaghpatrick, <a href="#page208">208</a><br> +Doncad, <a href="#page231">231</a>, <a href="#page232">232</a><br> +Donegal, <a href="#page029">29</a>, <a href="#page047">47</a><br> +Donegal Highlands, <a href="#page026">26</a><br> +Donegal ranges, <a href="#page005">5</a><br> +Douglas, <a href="#page350">350</a><br> +Douin Cain, <a href="#page081">81</a><br> +Down, <a href="#page005">5</a>, <a href="#page046">46</a><br> +Downpatrick, <a href="#page198">198</a>, <a href= +"#page240">240</a><br> +Drogheda, <a href="#page342">342</a>, <a href= +"#page345">345</a><br> +Druids, <a href="#page140">140</a><br> +Druim Dean, <a href="#page162">162</a><br> +Drumbo, <a href="#page046">46</a><br> +Dublin, <a href="#page005">5</a>, <a href="#page252">252</a>, +<a href="#page340">340</a>, <a href="#page345">345</a><br> +Dublin Parliament, <a href="#page368">368</a><br> +Duke of Ormond, <a href="#page359">359</a><br> +Dundalathglas, <a href="#page240">240</a><br> +Dundalk, <a href="#page342">342</a><br> +Dundelga, <a href="#page143">143</a><br> +Dundrum, <a href="#page146">146</a><br> +Dundrum Bay, <a href="#page044">44</a>, <a href= +"#page045">45</a><br> +Durrow, <a href="#page221">221</a>, <a href="#page250">250</a></p> +<p>Early churches, <a href="#page208">208</a><br> +Early schools of learning, tongues first studied in, <a href= +"#page208">208</a><br> +Eclipses of the sun and moon, record of, <a href= +"#page218">218</a><br> +Edgehill, battle of, <a href="#page326">326</a><br> +Elias, Bishop of Angoulême, France, testimony of, <a href= +"#page">250</a>, <a href="#page">251</a><br> +Elizabeth, Queen, <a href="#page">321</a>, <a href= +"#page">341</a><br> +Emain, Banquet-hall of, <a href="#page111">111</a><br> +Emain of Maca, <a href="#page013">13</a>, <a href= +"#page110">110</a>, <a href="#page112">112</a>, <a href= +"#page115">115</a>, <a href="#page122">122</a>, <a href= +"#page123">123</a>, <a href="#page129">129</a>, <a href= +"#page131">131</a>, <a href="#page140">140</a><br> +Engineering skill ten thousand years ago, <a href= +"#page043">43</a><br> +Enniskillen, <a href="#page034">34</a>, <a href="#page035">35</a>, +<a href="#page341">341</a><br> +Eocaid, son of Erc, <a href="#page081">81</a>, <a href= +"#page084">84</a>, <a href="#page086">86</a>, <a href= +"#page087">87</a><br> +Eocu, <a href="#page146">146</a><br> +Erin, <a href="#page141">141</a>, <a href="#page144">144</a><br> +Established Church, clergy of the, <a href="#page376">376</a><br> +Etan, <a href="#page089">89</a><br> +Evangel of Galilee, the, <a href="#page016">16</a></p> +<p>Factna, son of Cass, <a href="#page113">113</a><br> +Fair Head, <a href="#page143">143</a><br> +Feidlimid, <a href="#page242">242</a><br> +Ferdiad, <a href="#page134">134</a>, <a href="#page135">135</a>, +<a href="#page136">136</a>, <a href="#page138">138</a>, <a href= +"#page139">139</a>, <a href="#page140">140</a><br> +Fergus mac Roeg, <a href="#page013">13</a>, <a href= +"#page015">15</a>, <a href="#page016">16</a>, <a href= +"#page113">113</a>, <a href="#page114">114</a>, <a href= +"#page121">121</a>, <a href="#page122">122</a>, <a href= +"#page123">123</a>, <a href="#page124">124</a>, <a href= +"#page129">129</a>, <a href="#page130">130</a>, <a href= +"#page131">131</a>, <a href="#page133">133</a><br> +Fergus the Eloquent, <a href="#page166">166</a>, <a href= +"#page177">177</a>, <a href="#page262">262</a>, <a href= +"#page360">360</a><br> +Fermanagh, <a href="#page033">33</a><br> +Feudal system, the, <a href="#page289">289</a><br> +Feudal ownership, <a href="#page291">291</a><br> +Find, ode to Spring of, <a href="#page156">156</a><br> +Find, son of Cumal, <a href="#page014">14</a>, <a href= +"#page016">16</a>, <a href="#page155">155</a>, <a href= +"#page161">161</a>, <a href="#page162">162</a>, <a href= +"#page163">163</a>, <a href="#page166">166</a>, <a href= +"#page167">167</a>, <a href="#page171">171</a>, <a href= +"#page172">172</a>, <a href="#page173">173</a>, <a href= +"#page177">177</a>, <a href="#page194">194</a>, <a href= +"#page246">246</a>, <a href="#page262">262</a><br> +Find, son of Ros, <a href="#page146">146</a>, <a href= +"#page147">147</a>, <a href="#page152">152</a><br> +Finian, school of learning and religion founded by, <a href= +"#page212">212</a><br> +Finvoy, <a href="#page046">46</a><br> +Firbolgs, <a href="#page060">60</a>, <a href="#page061">61</a>, +<a href="#page069">69</a>. <a href="#page070">70</a>, <a href= +"#page077">77</a>, <a href="#page081">81</a>, <a href= +"#page082">82</a>, <a href="#page084">84</a>, <a href= +"#page085">85</a>, <a href="#page086">86</a>, <a href= +"#page087">87</a>, <a href="#page088">88</a>, <a href= +"#page090">90</a>, <a href="#page105">105</a>, <a href= +"#page106">106</a><br> +Flann, <a href="#page248">248</a><br> +Fomorians, <a href="#page069">69</a>, <a href="#page070">70</a>, +<a href="#page077">77</a>, <a href="#page081">81</a>, <a href= +"#page090">90</a>, <a href="#page091">91</a>, <a href= +"#page092">92</a>, <a href="#page093">93</a>, <a href= +"#page106">106</a>, <a href="#page246">246</a><br> +Ford of Ferdiad, Ath-Fhirdia, <a href="#page140">140</a><br> +Ford of Luan, <a href="#page140">140</a><br> +Ford of Seannait, <a href="#page226">226</a><br> +Ford of the Hurdles, <a href="#page242">242</a>, <a href= +"#page243">243</a>, <a href="#page246">246</a><br> +Ford of the river, <a href="#page014">14</a><br> +Franklin, Benjamin, letter of to Irish people, <a href= +"#page367">367</a><br> +French Revolution, the, <a href="#page372">372</a></p> +<p>Gairec, <a href="#page140">140</a><br> +Galian of Lagin, <a href="#page144">144</a><br> +Galtee Mountains, <a href="#page161">161</a><br> +Galway, <a href="#page005">5</a>, <a href="#page062">62</a>, +<a href="#page">350</a>, <a href="#page357">357</a><br> +Galway Bay, <a href="#page031">31</a>, <a href= +"#page162">162</a><br> +Galway Lakes, <a href="#page031">31</a><br> +Gauls, the, <a href="#page103">103</a><br> +Giant Stones, <a href="#page030">30</a><br> +Ginkell, <a href="#page354">354</a>, <a href="#page355">355</a>, +<a href="#page357">357</a>, <a href="#page358">358</a><br> +Gladstone, <a href="#page375">375</a><br> +Glanworth, <a href="#page039">39</a><br> +Glendalough, <a href="#page208">208</a>, <a href= +"#page221">221</a><br> +Glen Druid, <a href="#page042">42</a><br> +Gold Mines River, <a href="#page109">109</a><br> +Golden Vale, <a href="#page161">161</a><br> +Goll Mac Norna, <a href="#page162">162</a><br> +Grania, <a href="#page015">15</a>, <a href="#page171">171</a>, +<a href="#page172">172</a>, <a href="#page173">173</a>, <a href= +"#page178">178</a><br> +Grattan, Henry, address of, to Dublin Parliament, <a href= +"#page368">368</a><br> +Gray Lake, <a href="#page037">37</a><br> +Grey Abbey, <a href="#page302">302</a></p> +<p>Headland of the Kings, <a href="#page148">148</a><br> +Hill of Barnec, <a href="#page162">162</a><br> +Hill of Howth, <a href="#page239">239</a>, <a href= +"#page252">252</a><br> +Hill of Luchra, <a href="#page146">146</a><br> +Hill of Rudraige, <a href="#page044">44</a><br> +Hill of Tara, <a href="#page155">155</a><br> +Hill of the Willows, <a href="#page200">200</a><br> +Hill of Ward, <a href="#page140">140</a><br> +Holycross Abbey, <a href="#page304">304</a><br> +House of Delga, <a href="#page143">143</a><br> +House of Mead, <a href="#page199">199</a><br> +Howth, <a href="#page239">239</a><br> +Howth Head, <a href="#page043">43</a><br> +Hyperboreans, <a href="#page060">60</a>, <a href="#page061">61</a>, +<a href="#page062">62</a>, <a href="#page064">64</a>, <a href= +"#page069">69</a></p> +<p>Iarl Strangbow, <a href="#page275">275</a><br> +Indec, son of De Domnand, <a href="#page090">90</a>, <a href= +"#page091">91</a><br> +Inis Fail, the Isle of Destiny, <a href="#page021">21</a><br> +Inismurray, <a href="#page237">237</a>, <a href="#page238">238</a>, +<a href="#page239">239</a><br> +Iona, <a href="#page215">215</a><br> +Ireland, art of working gold in, <a href="#page108">108</a>, +<a href="#page178">178</a><br> +Ireland, causes of uprising in, <a href="#page320">320</a><br> +Ireland, condition of, in the eighteenth century, <a href= +"#page365">365</a>, <a href="#page366">366</a>, <a href= +"#page367">367</a><br> +Ireland, English influence in, <a href="#page318">318</a><br> +Ireland, life in, two thousand years ago, <a href= +"#page177">177</a>, <a href="#page178">178</a>, <a href= +"#page179">179</a>, <a href="#page180">180</a><br> +Ireland, national debt of, <a href="#page372">372</a><br> +Ireland, sympathy of U. S. Congress for people of, <a href= +"#page366">366</a>, <a href="#page367">367</a><br> +Ireland, traditions of, <a href="#page110">110</a><br> +Ireland, the Insurrection of, <a href="#page370">370</a>, <a href= +"#page371">371</a>, <a href="#page372">372</a><br> +Ireland, visible and invisible, <a href="#page003">3</a><br> +Irgalac, <a href="#page149">149</a><br> +Iriel, <a href="#page149">149</a><br> +Irish writing, earliest forms of, <a href="#page177">177</a><br> +Islay, <a href="#page143">143</a><br> +Islay Hills, <a href="#page119">119</a></p> +<p>James II., <a href="#page340">340</a>, <a href= +"#page341">341</a>, <a href="#page342">342</a>, <a href= +"#page343">343</a>, <a href="#page344">344</a>, <a href= +"#page345">345</a>, <a href="#page346">346</a>, <a href= +"#page347">347</a>, <a href="#page353">353</a><br> +Jura, <a href="#page119">119</a>, <a href="#page123">123</a>, +<a href="#page143">143</a></p> +<p>Kenmare, <a href="#page039">39</a><br> +Kenmare Kiver, <a href="#page039">39</a>, <a href= +"#page104">104</a><br> +Kerry, <a href="#page005">5</a>, <a href="#page062">62</a><br> +Kildare, <a href="#page210">210</a>, <a href="#page221">221</a>, +<a href="#page232">232</a><br> +Kilkenny, <a href="#page042">42</a>, <a href="#page325">325</a>, +<a href="#page326">326</a>, <a href="#page349">349</a><br> +Killarney, <a href="#page036">36</a>, <a href="#page039">39</a>, +<a href="#page163">163</a><br> +Killee, <a href="#page034">34</a><br> +Killmallock Abbey, <a href="#page303">303</a><br> +Killteran Village, <a href="#page043">43</a><br> +Kinsale, <a href="#page340">340</a>, <a href="#page349">349</a><br> +King Gorm's Stone, <a href="#page097">97</a><br> +King William, <a href="#page345">345</a>, <a href= +"#page346">346</a>, <a href="#page347">347</a>, <a href= +"#page348">348</a>, <a href="#page349">349</a>, <a href= +"#page350">350</a>, <a href="#page352">352</a>, <a href= +"#page365">365</a><br> +Knock-Mealdown Hills, <a href="#page161">161</a><br> +Knockmoy Abbey, <a href="#page306">306</a><br> +Knocknarea, <a href="#page030">30</a></p> +<p>Lake, General, statement of, <a href="#page370">370</a><br> +Lake of Killarney, <a href="#page161">161</a><br> +Lakes of Erne, <a href="#page081">81</a><br> +Lambay, <a href="#page236">236</a>, <a href="#page239">239</a>, +<a href="#page241">241</a><br> +Land of the Cromlech-builders, <a href="#page057">57</a><br> +Land of the Ever Young, <a href="#page095">95</a>, <a href= +"#page096">96</a><br> +Land tenure, <a href="#page375">375</a>, <a href= +"#page376">376</a>, <a href="#page377">377</a>, <a href= +"#page378">378</a>, <a href="#page389">379</a>, <a href= +"#page380">380</a><br> +Laogaire, <a href="#page199">199</a>, <a href= +"#page240">240</a><br> +Lame, <a href="#page143">143</a><br> +Lauzun, <a href="#page350">350</a><br> +Legamaddy, <a href="#page045">45</a><br> +Leinster, <a href="#page005">5</a>, <a href="#page162">162</a>, +<a href="#page225">225</a>, <a href="#page226">226</a>, <a href= +"#page232">232</a>, <a href="#page345">345</a>, <a href= +"#page350">350</a><br> +Leitrim, <a href="#page081">81</a><br> +Leitrim Hills, <a href="#page026">26</a><br> +Lennan in Monaghan, <a href="#page046">46</a><br> +Life of the Cromlech-builders, <a href="#page068">68</a><br> +Liffey, the, <a href="#page242">242</a><br> +Limerick, <a href="#page349">349</a>, <a href="#page350">350</a>, +<a href="#page351">351</a>, <a href="#page354">354</a>, <a href= +"#page357">357</a><br> +Leinstermen, <a href="#page232">232</a>, <a href= +"#page238">238</a><br> +Loing Seac, <a href="#page224">224</a><br> +Lough Erne, <a href="#page341">341</a><br> +Loch Etive, <a href="#page119">119</a>, <a href= +"#page121">121</a><br> +Lough Foyle, <a href="#page247">247</a><br> +Lough Garra, <a href="#page037">37</a><br> +Lough Gill, <a href="#page029">29</a><br> +Lough Gur, <a href="#page038">38</a>, <a href="#page039">39</a><br> +Lough Key, <a href="#page037">37</a><br> +Lough Leane, <a href="#page161">161</a>, <a href= +"#page163">163</a><br> +Lough Mask, <a href="#page085">85</a><br> +Lough Neagh, <a href="#page110">110</a>, <a href= +"#page200">200</a><br> +Lough Ree, <a href="#page140">140</a><br> +Loughcrew Hills, <a href="#page043">43</a><br> +Louis XIV, <a href="#page337">337</a>, <a href="#page340">340</a>, +<a href="#page353">353</a><br> +Lug, surnamed Lamfada, the Long-Armed, <a href="#page092">92</a>, +<a href="#page093">93</a><br> +Lusk, <a href="#page241">241</a></p> +<p>Maca, Queen, <a href="#page110">110</a><br> +Maelbridge, <a href="#page217">217</a><br> +Mag Breag, <a href="#page223">223</a><br> +Mag Rein, <a href="#page081">81</a><br> +Mag Tuiread, <a href="#page085">85</a>, <a href="#page087">87</a>, +<a href="#page246">246</a><br> +Mangerton, <a href="#page162">162</a><br> +Marlborough, Duke of, <a href="#page352">352</a><br> +Mask, <a href="#page085">85</a><br> +Mayo, <a href="#page005">5</a>, <a href="#page062">62</a><br> +Mayo Cliffs, <a href="#page026">26</a><br> +Meave, Queen of Connacht, <a href="#page013">13</a>, <a href= +"#page014">14</a>, <a href="#page015">15</a>, <a href= +"#page025">25</a>, <a href="#page130">130</a>, <a href= +"#page131">131</a>, <a href="#page132">132</a>, <a href= +"#page133">133</a>, <a href="#page134">134</a>, <a href= +"#page136">136</a>, <a href="#page137">137</a>, <a href= +"#page140">140</a>, <a href="#page141">141</a>, <a href= +"#page142">142</a>, <a href="#page146">146</a>, <a href= +"#page147">147</a>, <a href="#page178">178</a>, <a href= +"#page262">262</a><br> +Meath, <a href="#page155">155</a>, <a href="#page242">242</a><br> +Men of Oluemacht, <a href="#page144">144</a><br> +Message of the New Way, <a href="#page264">264</a><br> +Messenger of the Tidings, <a href="#page182">182</a><br> +Mide, <a href="#page149">149</a><br> +Miocene Age, the, <a href="#page058">58</a><br> +Modern form of old Irish names, <a href="#page234">234</a><br> +Monasterboice, <a href="#page221">221</a><br> +Monk, <a href="#page326">326</a><br> +Molana Abbey, <a href="#page306">306</a><br> +Molaise, <a href="#page237">237</a><br> +Monasteries and religious schools, <a href="#page221">221</a><br> +Monroe, <a href="#page324">324</a>, <a href="#page326">326</a>, +<a href="#page327">327</a>, <a href="#page328">328</a>, <a href= +"#page329">329</a>, <a href="#page330">330</a>, <a href= +"#page331">331</a>, <a href="#page333">333</a><br> +Monument of Pillared Stones, <a href="#page030">30</a><br> +Moore, <a href="#page326">326</a><br> +Mount Venus Cromlech, <a href="#page042">42</a><br> +Mountcashel, Lord, <a href="#page342">342</a><br> +Mountains of Mourne, <a href="#page044">44</a>, <a href= +"#page094">94</a>, <a href="#page146">146</a>, <a href= +"#page193">193</a>, <a href="#page231">231</a><br> +Mountains of Storms, <a href="#page026">26</a>, <a href= +"#page087">87</a><br> +Moville, <a href="#page221">221</a>, <a href="#page239">239</a>, +<a href="#page262">262</a><br> +Moytura, <a href="#page031">31</a>, <a href="#page085">85</a><br> +Munster, <a href="#page005">5</a><br> +Munstermen of Great Muma, <a href="#page144">144</a><br> +Murcad, <a href="#page238">238</a></p> +<p>Naisi, <a href="#page115">115</a>, <a href="#page116">116</a>, +<a href="#page117">117</a>, <a href="#page118">118</a>, <a href= +"#page120">120</a>, <a href="#page121">121</a>, <a href= +"#page122">122</a>, <a href="#page129">129</a>, <a href= +"#page130">130</a><br> +Napier, Sir William, testimony of, <a href="#page370">370</a><br> +Nectain's Shield, <a href="#page232">232</a><br> +Nemed's sons, <a href="#page087">87</a><br> +Nessa, <a href="#page015">15</a>, <a href="#page113">113</a><br> +Norsemen, waning of the, <a href="#page284">284</a><br> +Northern Cromlech Region, <a href="#page054">54</a><br> +Northmen, <a href="#page234">234</a>, <a href="#page235">235</a>, +<a href="#page236">236</a>, <a href="#page243">243</a>, <a href= +"#page251">251</a><br> +Nuada, the De Danaan king, <a href="#page085">85</a>, <a href= +"#page088">88</a>, <a href="#page089">89</a>, <a href= +"#page091">91</a>, <a href="#page092">92</a>, <a href= +"#page093">93</a></p> +<p>O'Connell, Daniel, <a href="#page373">373</a><br> +O'Donnell, <a href="#page321">321</a>, <a href= +"#page322">322</a><br> +O'Neill, Owen Roe, <a href="#page321">321</a>, <a href= +"#page322">322</a>, <a href="#page323">323</a>, <a href= +"#page324">324</a>, <a href="#page332">332</a>, <a href= +"#page333">333</a>, <a href="#page334">334</a>, <a href= +"#page338">338</a><br> +O'Neill, death of, <a href="#page333">333</a><br> +O'Neill, defeat of English army by, <a href="#page326">326</a>, +<a href="#page327">327</a>, <a href="#page328">328</a>, <a href= +"#page329">329</a>, <a href="#page330">330</a>, <a href= +"#page331">331</a>, <a href="#page360">360</a><br> +Ogma, of the Sunlike Face, <a href="#page092">92</a>, <a href= +"#page095">95</a>, <a href="#page096">96</a><br> +Oscar, son of Ossin, <a href="#page014">14</a><br> +Oscur, <a href="#page55">155</a>, <a href="#page171">171</a><br> +Ossin, son of Find, <a href="#page014">14</a>, <a href= +"#page015">15</a>, <a href="#page016">16</a>, <a href= +"#page155">155</a>, <a href="#page161">161</a>, <a href= +"#page162">162</a>, <a href="#page167">167</a>, <a href= +"#page171">171</a>, <a href="#page172">172</a>, <a href= +"#page177">177</a>, <a href="#page181">181</a>, <a href= +"#page194">194</a>, <a href="#page246">246</a>, <a href= +"#page262">262</a><br> +Ox Mountains, <a href="#page087">87</a></p> +<p>Parliament at Dublin, <a href="#page323">323</a><br> +Parliament of Ireland, <a href="#page371">371</a><br> +Parnell, Charles Stewart, <a href="#page380">380</a><br> +Patricius, <a href="#page182">182</a><br> +Patricius, appeal of, to fellow-Christians of Coroticus, <a href= +"#page195">195</a>, <a href="#page196">196</a><br> +Patricius, birthplace of, <a href="#page182">182</a><br> +Patricius, letter of, <a href="#page182">182</a>, <a href= +"#page183">183</a>, <a href="#page184">184</a>, <a href= +"#page185">185</a>, <a href="#page186">186</a>, <a href= +"#page187">187</a>, <a href="#page188">188</a>, <a href= +"#page189">189</a>, <a href="#page190">190</a>, <a href= +"#page191">191</a>, <a href="#page192">192</a>, <a href= +"#page193">193</a><br> +Patrick, <a href="#page017">17</a><br> +Patrick, his first victory commemorated, <a href= +"#page198">198</a><br> +Patrick, the dwelling of, <a href="#page198">198</a><br> +Peat, age of, <a href="#page034">34</a>, <a href= +"#page036">36</a><br> +Peat, rate of growth of, <a href="#page033">33</a>, <a href= +"#page035">35</a>, <a href="#page066">66</a>, <a href= +"#page067">67</a><br> +Penal Laws, the system of, <a href="#page373">373</a><br> +Plain of Nia, <a href="#page085">85</a><br> +Plain of the Headland, <a href="#page082">82</a><br> +Plain of the Pillars, <a href="#page085">85</a><br> +Plain of Tirerril, <a href="#page091">91</a><br> +Plantation of Ulster, <a href="#page322">322</a><br> +Poem of Ossin, <a href="#page156">156</a><br> +Potitus, <a href="#page182">182</a><br> +Prince William of Nassau, <a href="#page339">339</a>, <a href= +"#page340">340</a>, <a href="#page342">342</a><br> +Private taxation, <a href="#page291">291</a><br> +Pyramids of stone, <a href="#page093">93</a>, <a href= +"#page094198">94</a></p> +<p>Quoyle River, <a href="#page198">198</a>, <a href= +"#page240">240</a></p> +<p>Ragallac, <a href="#page217">217</a><br> +Raid of the Northmen, <a href="#page234">234</a>, <a href= +"#page235">235</a>, <a href="#page236">236</a>, <a href= +"#page237">237</a>, <a href="#page238">238</a>, <a href= +"#page239">239</a>, <a href="#page240">240</a>, <a href= +"#page241">241</a>, <a href="#page242">242</a>, <a href= +"#page243">243</a><br> +Raids on islands of Irish coast, <a href="#page257">257</a>, +<a href="#page258">258</a>, <a href="#page259">259</a><br> +Raphoe, <a href="#page047">47</a><br> +Rathcool, <a href="#page162">162</a><br> +Rath-Laogaire, <a href="#page199">199</a><br> +Rath of Badamar, <a href="#page161">161</a><br> +Red Hills of Leinster, <a href="#page162">162</a><br> +Reform Bill, the, <a href="#page372">372</a><br> +Restoration, the, <a href="#page339">339</a><br> +Roderick O'Conor, <a href="#page061">61</a><br> +Ros Ruad, <a href="#page152">152</a><br> +Ros, son of Rudraige, <a href="#page112">112</a><br> +Rudraige, <a href="#page044">44</a>, <a href="#page112">112</a><br> +Rudraige, hill of, <a href="#page044">44</a>, <a href= +"#page231">231</a><br> +Runnymead, <a href="#page317">317</a></p> +<p>Saint Adamnan, <a href="#page223">223</a>, <a href= +"#page224">224</a><br> +Saint Bernard, <a href="#page298">298</a><br> +Saint Brigid, <a href="#page210">210</a><br> +Saint Camin's "Commentary on the Psalms," <a href= +"#page222">222</a><br> +"Saint Colum of the Churches," <a href="#page212">212</a><br> +Saint Dominick, <a href="#page298">298</a><br> +Saint Francis of Assisi, <a href="#page298">298</a><br> +Saint Mansuy, <a href="#page060">60</a><br> +Saint Patrick, body of laid at rest, <a href="#page201">201</a><br> +Saint Patrick, delivery of message by, to King Laogaire, <a href= +"#page199">199</a><br> +Saint Patrick, visit of to kings of Leinster and Munster, <a href= +"#page200">200</a><br> +Saint Patrick, work of, <a href="#page199">199</a>, <a href= +"#page205">205</a><br> +Saint Ruth, <a href="#page354">354</a>, <a href= +"#page355">355</a><br> +Saint Ruth, death of, <a href="#page356">356</a><br> +Saint Samtain, <a href="#page226">226</a><br> +Saint Samtain, epitaph of the saintly virgin, <a href= +"#page226">226</a>, <a href="#page227">227</a><br> +Sarsfield, <a href="#page351">351</a>, <a href="#page353">353</a>, +<a href="#page355">355</a><br> +Saul, <a href="#page208">208</a>, <a href="#page221">221</a><br> +Schomberg, <a href="#page342">342</a>, <a href="#page343">343</a>, +<a href="#page344">344</a>, <a href="#page345">345</a>, <a href= +"#page347">347</a>, <a href="#page348">348</a><br> +Second Epoch, <a href="#page013">13</a><br> +Senca, <a href="#page144">144</a><br> +Shannon, the, <a href="#page005">5</a>, <a href="#page032">32</a>, +<a href="#page037">37</a>, <a href="#page130">130</a>, <a href= +"#page141">141</a>, <a href="#page146">146</a>, <a href= +"#page350">350</a>, <a href="#page354">354</a>, <a href= +"#page357">357</a><br> +Sheldon, <a href="#page357">357</a>, <a href="#page358">358</a><br> +Slane, <a href="#page347">347</a>, <a href="#page348">348</a><br> +Slieve Callan, <a href="#page031">31</a>, <a href= +"#page039">39</a><br> +Slieve League, <a href="#page026">26</a>, <a href= +"#page090">90</a><br> +Slieve Mish, <a href="#page104">104</a>, <a href= +"#page132">132</a>, <a href="#page196">196</a><br> +Slievemore Mountain, <a href="#page030">30</a><br> +Slieve na Calliagh, <a href="#page095">95</a>, <a href= +"#page097">97</a><br> +Slieve-na-griddle, <a href="#page045">45</a>, <a href= +"#page046">46</a><br> +Sligo, <a href="#page025">25</a>, <a href="#page029">29</a>, +<a href="#page090">90</a>, <a href="#page091">91</a><br> +Sligo Hills, <a href="#page026">26</a><br> +Sons of Milid, <a href="#page103">103</a>, <a href= +"#page104">104</a>, <a href="#page105">105</a>, <a href= +"#page106">106</a>, <a href="#page107">107</a>, <a href= +"#page112">112</a>, <a href="#page132">132</a><br> +Sound of Jura, <a href="#page119">119</a>, <a href= +"#page123">123</a><br> +Southern Cromlech Province, <a href="#page053">53</a><br> +Sreng, <a href="#page082">82</a>, <a href="#page083">83</a>, +<a href="#page084">84</a>, <a href="#page091">91</a>, <a href= +"#page093">93</a>, <a href="#page105">105</a><br> +Stone Circles, <a href="#page027">27</a>, <a href= +"#page028">28</a>, <a href="#page029">29</a>, <a href= +"#page030">30</a>, <a href="#page032">32</a>, <a href= +"#page033">33</a>, <a href="#page034">34</a>, <a href= +"#page035">35</a>, <a href="#page038">38</a>, <a href= +"#page042">42</a>, <a href="#page045">45</a>, <a href= +"#page046">46</a>, <a href="#page047">47</a>, <a href= +"#page051">51</a>, <a href="#page052">52</a>, <a href= +"#page053">53</a>, <a href="#page055">55</a>, <a href= +"#page072">72</a><br> +Stone Circles, clue to their building, <a href= +"#page040">40</a><br> +Stone Circles, measure of their years, <a href= +"#page040">40</a><br> +Strand of Tralee, <a href="#page161">161</a><br> +Strangford, <a href="#page045">45</a><br> +Strangford Lough, <a href="#page198">198</a><br> +Stuarts, the, <a href="#page339">339</a><br> +Sualtam, <a href="#page013">13</a><br> +Succat, <a href="#page182">182</a><br> +Suir, <a href="#page161">161</a><br> +Sullane River, <a href="#page039">39</a><br> +Summit of Prospects, <a href="#page046">146</a></p> +<p>Tailten, <a href="#page106">106</a>, <a href= +"#page132">132</a><br> +Talbott, Earl of Tyrconnell, <a href="#page359">359</a><br> +Tara, <a href="#page081">81</a>, <a href="#page084">84</a>, +<a href="#page106">106</a>, <a href="#page146">146</a>, <a href= +"#page147">147</a>, <a href="#page198">198</a><br> +Tara, Banquet-hall of, <a href="#page112">112</a><br> +"The Church of the Oak-woods," <a href="#page210">210</a><br> +The Gravestones of the Sons of Nemed, <a href="#page087">87</a><br> +Thenay Relics, the, <a href="#page058">58</a><br> +Third Epoch, <a href="#page014">14</a><br> +Three Waves of Erin, the, <a href="#page146">146</a><br> +Tigearnac, <a href="#page265">265</a><br> +Toppid Mountain, <a href="#page035">35</a>, <a href= +"#page036">36</a><br> +Traig Eotaile, <a href="#page087">87</a><br> +Tralee, <a href="#page032">32</a><br> +Treaty of Limerick, <a href="#page361">361</a>, <a href= +"#page365">365</a><br> +Tuata De Danaan, <a href="#page079">79</a>, <a href= +"#page084">84</a><br> +Twelve Peaks of Connemara, <a href="#page031">31</a><br> +Tyrconnell, Lady, <a href="#page340">340</a><br> +Tyrconnell, Lord, <a href="#page340">340</a>, <a href= +"#page343">343</a>, <a href="#page344">344</a>, <a href= +"#page345">345</a>, <a href="#page349">349</a>, <a href= +"#page351">351</a>, <a href="#page352">352</a>, <a href= +"#page353">353</a></p> +<p>Uincé, <a href="#page162">162</a><br> +Ui-Neill, the, <a href="#page225">225</a>, <a href= +"#page232">232</a><br> +Ulad, <a href="#page113">113</a>, <a href="#page130">130</a>, +<a href="#page131">131</a>, <a href="#page133">133</a>, <a href= +"#page141">141</a>, <a href="#page151">151</a><br> +Ulaid, <a href="#page113">113</a>, <a href="#page145">145</a>, +<a href="#page150">150</a>, <a href="#page152">152</a><br> +Ulaid, Councils of the, <a href="#page113">113</a><br> +Ulaid, men of the, <a href="#page130">130</a><br> +Ulster, <a href="#page005">5</a>, <a href="#page345">345</a><br> +Upper Erne, <a href="#page032">32</a><br> +Usnae, <a href="#page115">115</a></p> +<p>Venice of Lough Rea, <a href="#page037">37</a><br> +Volunteer Movement, the, <a href="#page367">367</a>, <a href= +"#page369">369</a></p> +<p>Waterford, <a href="#page349">349</a>, <a href= +"#page350">350</a>, <a href="#page352">352</a><br> +Water of Luachan, <a href="#page146">146</a><br> +Wave of Clidna, the, <a href="#page146">146</a>, <a href= +"#page151">151</a><br> +Wave of Rudraige, the, <a href="#page146">146</a>, <a href= +"#page151">151</a><br> +Wave of Tuag Inbir, the, <a href="#page146">146</a>, <a href= +"#page151">151</a><br> +Waves of Erin, the three, <a href="#page146">146</a>, <a href= +"#page151">151</a><br> +Weight of Cromlech-stones, <a href="#page056">56</a><br> +Wexford Harbor, <a href="#page042">42</a><br> +Wicklow, <a href="#page005">5</a><br> +Wicklow Gold-mines, the, <a href="#page108">108</a>, <a href= +"#page109">109</a></p> +<p>Yellow Ford of Athboy, <a href="#page140">140</a></p> +<br> +<a name="394.jpg"></a> +<p class="ctr"><a href="images/394.jpg"><img src="images/394.jpg" +width="100%" alt=""></a><br> +<b>MAP OF IRELAND.</b></p> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12078 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/12078-h/images/000.jpg b/12078-h/images/000.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b98eead --- /dev/null +++ b/12078-h/images/000.jpg diff --git a/12078-h/images/017.jpg b/12078-h/images/017.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b20a063 --- /dev/null +++ b/12078-h/images/017.jpg diff --git a/12078-h/images/037.jpg b/12078-h/images/037.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..629293a --- /dev/null +++ b/12078-h/images/037.jpg diff --git a/12078-h/images/053.jpg b/12078-h/images/053.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e3aa4e2 --- /dev/null +++ b/12078-h/images/053.jpg diff --git a/12078-h/images/063.jpg b/12078-h/images/063.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d9a1eba --- /dev/null +++ b/12078-h/images/063.jpg diff --git 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