f Ulster,
and thus would I scatter his foes"; and with that he snatched his
sword and began striking at the trees that stood thickly about him in
the druid grove. Then with the heat of his passion the sling-ball
burst from his head, and he fell to the ground and died.

Thus was fulfilled the vengeance of Mesgedra upon Conor mac Nessa,
King of Ulster.

CHAPTER VII

The Story of Etain and Midir

Once upon a time there was a High King of the Milesian race in Ireland
named Eochy Airem, whose power and splendour were very great, and all
the sub-Kings, namely, Conor of Ulster, and Mesgedra of Leinster, and
Curoi of Munster, and Ailill and Maev of Connacht, were obedient to
him. But he was without a wife; and for this reason the sub-Kings and
Princes of Ireland would not come to his festivals at Tara, "for,"
said they, "there is no noble in Ireland who is a wifeless man, and a
King is no king without a queen." And they would not bring their own
wives to Tara without a queen there to welcome them, nor would they
come themselves and leave their womenfolk at home.

So Eochy bade search be made through all the boundaries of Ireland for
a maiden meet to be wife of the High King. And in time his messengers
came back and said that they had found in Ulster, by the Bay of
Cichmany, the fairest and most accomplished maiden in Ireland, and her
name was Etain, daughter of Etar, lord of the territory called Echrad.
So Eochy, when he had heard their report, went forth to woo the
maiden.

When he drew near his journey's end he passed by a certain spring of
pure water where it chanced that Etain and her maids had come down
that she might wash her hair. She held in her hand a comb of silver
inlaid with gold, and before her was a bason of silver chased with
figures of birds, and around the rim of it red carbuncles were set.
Her mantle was purple with a fringe of silver, and it was fastened
with a broad golden brooch. She wore also a tunic of green silk, stiff
with embroidery of gold that glittered in the sun. Her hair before she
loosed it was done in two mighty tresses, yellow like the flower of
the waterflag, each tress being plaited in four strands, and at the
end of each strand a little golden ball. When she laid aside her
mantle her arms came through the armholes of her tunic, white as the
snow of a single night, and her cheeks were ruddy as the foxglove.
Even and small were her teeth, as if a shower of pearls had fallen in