residence of the King of Leinster, and selected her third husband, another Aillil, from among his sons.

Most of Maev's history is embodied in "Tain-Bo-Cuailgne," "the Iliad of Ireland," which was transcribed in the eleventh century, from yet older sources, into the "Book of the Dun Cow." There is also a copy of the tale in the "Book of Leinster," and fragments of it can be found among various old manuscripts. The story of this "Cattle-spoil" runs as follows: Maev and Aillil disputed over the relative value of their possessions, and decided to hold a kind of exhibition of their jewelry, drinking vessels, robes and cattle. Their respective belongings were all judged to be equal in number and excellence until it was discovered that Aillil's herds included a young white-horned bull, which, although calved by one of the Queen's cows, "had not deemed it honorable to remain under a woman's control."

Maev promptly proceeded to seek an animal to replace the "whitehorned," and soon learned that a certain Ulster chief owned an equally fine beast, the "Tain-bo-cuailgne," or "Brown Bull of Cooley." But her embassy and request of the loan of the bull not being successful, she got together an army of 54,000 men to take it away by force. A body of exiled Ultonians and many troops from both Leinster and Munster came to Maev's assistance, and to each petty leader she secretly promised the hand of her only daughter. On arriving at the frontier of the Northern Kingdom the brave warrior Queen found herself opposed by Cuchulain, a celebrated hero and nephew to Conor MacNessa, but by vioalting the ancient Irish rules of chivalrous warfare she contrived to ravage the country up to the gates of Emania, and then, having already obtained possession of the dun bull, she began to retrace her steps.

Up to this time the Ultonians had been suffering from a "debility," the result of a curse, but now, awaking from their lethargy, they followed the invaders with a mighty force and fully avenged themselves in a terrible battle. Yet, notwithstanding the defeat inflicted upon her army, and despite the loss of her seven sons, Maev was filled with savage exultation over the humiliation she had brought upon Conor, her quondam lord.

The "white-horned" and the "brown bull" likewise indulged in a combat on their own account, in which the latter was victorious, but in his frenzy he afterwards mistook a rock for a fresh opponent and dashed his brains out against it.

Maev's palace was Cruachan or Rath Crogan, near the present town of Carrick-on-Shannon, and the remains of a fort can still be seen there. Close by is situated the burial place of several ancient monarchs and heroes. Maev is supposed to have reigned ninety

eight years and to have been treacherously slain, at the age of one hundred and nineteen, by a son of Conor MacNessa.

One of her sons, Ciar, is reputed to have obtained possession of a district in Munster, to which he gave his name, and it is still called "Ciarradthe," or Kerry.

Modern research has proved the "Tain" to be a mythological tale and Maev to be the original fairy queen "Mab." Indeed, the Irish accounts make her, at best, but semi-human, and a mediæval piece of Welsh literature, the "Mabinogion," which is really a collection of old Celtic legends, fully convinces us that she was a divinity and the two bulls merely forms taken by inimical mythological personages.

The beginning of the authentic Irish history is now reckoned from the accession of Toole the Legitimate, head-king of Ireland about A. D. 160. His father was killed during the insurrection known as the rising of the Attacotti, and he is said to have been a posthumous son, born at the court of his maternal grandfather, a King of Scotland. Perhaps he may have passed part of his early life in Britain, since the passage in Tacitus which refers to the proposed Roman invasion of Ireland mentions that Agricola had at one time with him an Irish prince expelled by faction from his own country. Toole was recalled to his rights at the age of twenty-five, and, acording to O'Flaherty's "Ogygia," married Bania, daughter of the King of Finland.

We read in the "History of the Boromean Tribute," one of the earliest examples of prose historical narrative, copies being in the "Book of Leinster" and the "Book of Lecain," that Toole had two daughters "more beautiful than the clouds of heaven." The younger, Dairine, was married to Achy Ainchiam, King of Leinster, but this monarch became persuaded in time that the elder, Fethir, would have been preferable as a consort, so he shut his wife up in a secret chamber of his palace at Naas, gave out she was dead and requested the hand of Fethir. As the law "against marriage with a deceased wife's sister" unfortunately did not then exist, Achy's courtship proved successful. But ere long Dairine escaped from her prison chamber and her sister met her face to face, whereupon the horror of their situation cost them their lives.

When Toole received news of the tragedy he gathered together a great army and, assisted by the foster-fathers of the maidens, the Kings of Ulster and Connaught, he burnt and ravaged Leinster until Achy was forced to agree to a treaty whereby the sub-kingdom was bound to deliver over every three years to the head King of Erin 5,000 cows, 5,000 sheep, 5,000 vessels of brass, etc., etc. This was called the "Boromean Tribute," from the large number of kine

it included, and its payment laid the foundation of an enmity between the supreme monarchs and the provincial Kings of Leinster, which culminated in the eleventh century in the invitation given by Dermot MacMorrogh, of Leinster, to the English to come and take possession of Ireland.

Though the majority of ancient Irish Kings married compatriots, a few made foreign alliances. Queen Alexandra is not the first Queen of Ireland of Danish nationality. The "Annals of Clonmacnoise" record that King "Lewy of the Red Circles" died. of grief for his wife Devorgilla, daughter of a King of Lochlinn (Denmark). Bania, wife of Toole the Legitimate, is also sometimes called a Danish princess, and her son, Felimy the Lawgiver, is also said to have espoused a daughter of the Danish royal line named Una, by whom he had the celebrated Conn of the Hundred Battles. Again, in the third century Cormac Cas (or "the Beloved"), of Munster, took for his second wife Oriumd of Denmark, and they had a son who invaded his mother's country to seat his maternal uncles, Osna and Airid, on its throne, as we read in the "Psaltair of Cashel" and other records. The "Book of Munster" mentions that Cormac's first wife was the daughter of the giant Finn MacCoole and sister to the poet Ossian.

In the second century Eugene the Great, of Munster, having been worsted in a struggle with Conn of the Hundred Battles for the crown of Ireland, fled to Spain, where he espoused Beara, or Momera, daughter of Heber, King of that portion of the peninsula which afterwards formed the Castilian Kingdom. With the help of one of the lady's brothers Eugene obtained the sovereignty of half Ireland, the boundary line being the ridge of low sand hills running from Dublin to Galway. Beara's name is yet borne by a district in Cork, from which a local chief adopted the designation of "O'Sullivan Beare." There is a curious tale still extant which minutely describes her courtship by the Irish prince. All the great families of the South of Ireland, such as the MacCarthys, O'Sullivans and O'Briens, claim descent from Beara's son, "Oilliol Oluim," whose Queen, Sabia, daughter of Conn of the Hundred Fights, bore him seven sons, one of whom was the already mentioned King Cormac. Sabia, who is called in an ancient poem "one of the six best women in the world," was married to a Munster prince before she became Oilliol's consort, and had a son named Lewy MacCon, a turbulent youth, who was banished from Munster. We read that he fled to Scotland and Britain, but after a time returned with a large company of warriors, who on landing were joined by a party of his Irish friends. In reality MacCon probably made his way to South Wales, where the Munstermen had important settlements,

and persuaded a body of men of his own race to enlist under his rebel standard. Art, King of Ireland, MacCon's uncle, his stepfather, the King of Munster, and his seven half-brothers marched with an army against the invaders, but the latter were victorious in a battle near Galway, and Art, Oilliol and at least six of the young princes were slain. MacCon then assumed the crown of Erin, although its rightful owner was Cormac, the son of Art.

When Cormac reached manhood he came incognito to Tara and chanced one day to be present while MacCon was sitting in judgment upon a poor widow whose sheep had strayed on to the Queen's private lawn and eaten some of the grass. The usurper declared the animals forfeit, whereupon young Cormac sprang up and contended that as the sheep had but injured the "fleece of the land," they ought merely to be deprived of their fleeces. "That is the judgment of a King," cried MacCon, completely taken aback, and at the same moment recognizing the youth, he ordered him to be seized, but the prince managed to escape and fled out of the country. He appears to have subsequently fought in Britain and Gaul against the Romans. The "Four Masters," quoting Tighernach, say he obtained the sovereignty of Alba A. D. 240. It is believed that his fame and that of his father, Art, formed the basis of the Arthurian legends.

In time the people wearied of MacCon's hard rule and insisted upon the recall of their rightful prince, who began a reign of great prosperity A. D. 254. The ancient historians and bards vie with one another in extolling Cormac's wisdom and learning and the magnificence of Tara in his time.

There is a pretty story that he was pleased to play the part of "Cophetua," and, seeing a fair maiden cutting rushes by the wayside as he rode by, he sought her for his bride, but the maiden, who was named Ethnea, at first refused his attentions, as she did not wish to abandon her foster parents, a poor cow-herd and his wife. However, when the King promised to provide for them, she consented to accept the honor offered her, and became the mother of Cormac's heir, Carbery of the Liffey. Cormac MacArt had also, among other children, two celebrated daughters, one of whom, Ailbe, was regarded as the wisest lady of her time. Some poetry ascribed to her pen is still extant. She was wooed by the commander of the Fenian force (a kind of national militia), the celebrated giant Finn MacCoole, who also sought her elder sister, Grace, in marriage. The latter, however, induced Dermot, another "Fenian," to elope with her, and the narrative of their wanderings. have furnished both ancient and modern authors with a favorite literary theme. A few years ago a dramatic piece by the Duke of

Argyll, then Marquis of Lorne, and Mr. Hamish McGunn, describing the flight of "Diarmid" and "Grania" was produced in London. By the way, this Diarmid, or Dermott, is the eponym of the McCallum Mor, and the boar's head which forms the Campbell crest is in allusion to the fable that the hero met his death by the tusk of an enchanted boar. Dermott's history bears a notable resemblance to that of the Greek Adonis. Among the other Irish Kings who led the Picts and Scots against the Britons and Romans were "Niall of the Nine Hostages" (379-405) and his great nephew Dathi (405-428).

Niall, the progenitor of the O'Neills and O'Donnells, was the son of Achy the "Cultivator" by a British or Saxon princess, Carinna of the Dark Hair. Some writers state that during one of Niall's foreign campaigns there fell into the hands of his soldiery a youth named Patrick, who in after years became the Apostle of the Irish. King Dathi broke through the walls of Severus and marched through Britain and Gaul on his way to Italy itself, as we read in the "Book of Ballymote" and other records, but he was killed by lightning at the foot of the Alps. According to the "Book of Leinster," Dathi had wedded a lady named Ruadth.

Perhaps no royal lady ever had so eventful and romantic a life. as Gormlaith, daughter of Flann Siona, hereditary King of Meath and supreme monarch of the Irish Pentarchy. She was born rather over one thousand years ago, and in early youth was betrothed to King Cormac MacCullen of Munster, but he afterwards refused to complete the marriage contract, as he desired to enter Holy Orders. Then Gormlaith's hand was bestowed, against her will, upon Carroll of Leinster. Some time afterwards both Carroll and Flann made war upon Cormac, who had become Archbishop of Cashel, and in a battle in Carlow the latter was slain and Carroll severely wounded. Gormlaith dutifully tended her husband, but one day when he was nearly recovered the death of her first betrothed became the subject of conversation, and she remonstrated with Carroll for exulting over the cruel manner in which the holy man's body had been mutilated, whereupon her lord kicked her so rudely off the foot-rail of the bed, where she had been sitting, that she fell in an undignified manner before all her attendants. Filled with mortification, the Queen fled to her father, but Flann, having his hands full trying to keep the Danes in check, sent her back to her husband. However, her chivalrous young kinsman, "Niall Black Knee," of Ulster, constituted himself Gormlaith's champion, and though she objected to his using violence, he forced Carroll to agree to a separation, and shortly afterwards, when the Leinster monarch was slain by the Norseman, Gormlaith became the wife