riginal there is a sudden change from prose to verse.
"It is generally supposed that these stories were recited by the ancient
Irish poets for the amusement of their chieftains at their public
feasts, and that the portions given in metre were sung" ("Battle of Magh
Rath," p. 12). The prose portions of this tale are represented in the
translation by blank verse, and the lyrical portions by rhymed verse.

41. "Ugaine Mor exacted oaths by the sun and moon, the sea, the dew,
and colours . . . that the sovereignty of Erin should be invested in his
descendants for ever" (Ib. p. 3).

42. The high dignity of Domnal may be inferred from the following
lines, quoted from MacLenini, in the preface to "Cormac's Glossary,"
p. 51:--
"As blackbirds to swans, as an ounce to a mass of gold,
As the forms of peasant women to the forms of queens,
As a king to Domnal . . .
As a taper to a candle, so is a sword to my sword."

43. She was the wife of Ned, the war-god. See O'Donovan's "Annals of
the Four Masters," vol. i., p. 24.

44. Etan is said to have been 'muime na filed,' nurse of the poets
("Three Irish Glossaries," preface, p. 33).

45. At Rathcroghan was the palace of the Kings of Connacht.

46. A name of Ireland ("Battle of Magh Leana," p. 79).

47. So the night before the battle of Magh Rath, "the monarch, grandson
of Ainmire, slept not, in consequence of the weight of the battle and
the anxiety of the conflict pressing on his mind; for he was certain
that his own beloved foster-son would, on the morrow, meet his last
fate."

48. In the "Battle of Magh Leana" these mysterious beings are called
"the Women of the Valley" (p. 120).

49. For this line and for many valuable suggestions throughout the poem
I am indebted to the deep poetical insight and correct judgment of my
friend, Aubrey de Vere.

50. "Derg Dian Scothach saw this order, and he put his forefinger into
the string of the spear." "Fate of the Children of Tuireann," by
O'Curry, Atlantis, iv., p. 233. See also "Battle of Magh Rath," pp.
140, 141, 152.

51. Bregia was the ancient name of the plain watered by the Boyne.

52. According to the marginal note of the learned editor, the last four
lines appear to be a sort of epilogue, in which the poet extols the
victor.

THE VOYAGE OF ST. BRENDAN.
A.D. 545.

[We are informed that Brendan, hearing of the previous voyage of his
cousin, Barinthus, in the western ocean, and obtaining an