Pagan Ireland.

by Eleanor Hull

Public Assemblies.

Authorities: "The Book of Rights," edited by O'Donovan for the Celtic Society (1847). Tract on the Fair of Carmen, edited by O'Curry, Mans. Cust. iii., pp. 523-547, appendix. Dr. Petrie's History and Antiquities of Tara Hill (Trans. R. Irish Academy, vol. rviii., part ii., 1839).

Divsions of the Year.

THE pagan Irish divided the year, as we do to-day, into four seasons, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, and each season began on a definite day, and was called by a special name. Two of these names are probably familiar to you : Eeltine (Bealtaine) or the first of May, the beginning of summer; and Samhain (Sowan) the first of November, the beginning of winter, changed by the Christian teachers into Hallowe'en. The beginning of spring was called Oimelc, or the first milk of the sheep, afterwards called St. Briget's day; and the beginning of autumn Lughnasadh, because the games of the god Lugh were then held. The name of Beltine or Beal- taine is explained by the old writers to mean the fire of the god Bel, or the lucky fires between which on that day the druids used to drive the cattle, as a sort of offering to the god. This ceremony was supposed to keep them from disease during the rest of the year.

These fires were afterwards lighted on Midsummer day, or St. John's Eve, on which day bonfires are still often lighted; it is supposed that they were transferred to that day by St. Patrick. Oimelc or St. Briget's Day is the first of February, and Lughnasadh or Lammas the first of August.

Now all these days were, in Ireland, the occasion of ceremonials of a semi-religious kind. They were specially marked as the times at which the chief public assemblies were held in different parts of the kingdom. The meetings were held once a year or once in three years, partly as fairs and markets, partly for the transaction of the public business of the tribe or kingdom, and partly as places of holiday, where horse-racing, and feats of strength, and games of various kinds were carried on. These frequent assemblies were not only very pleasant outings, but they no doubt brought the members of the clan together and made them feel their unity. The most important of all these meetings was the Feis of Tara, which took place at Samhain every third year at the beginning, but more irregularly in later times. Often in troubled years it did not meet for a long time together; and it was a sign that the country was peaceful and prosperous if it met regularly. At it all the married men of a certain rank assembled from over the whole country, and the Feis lasted for seven or more days.

It was established by a king named Ollamh Fodla, who was both wise and great, and whose desire it was to settle the laws of the kingdom on a firm foundation. Tara, the palace of the High King where the Feis took place is in Co. Meath, about an hour's journey from Dublin. The Feis began with a splendid public banquet in the Mead Hall or Banqueting Hall, over which the king presided in person. Then the public transactions of the kingdom were gone into and discussed, the laws recited, the genealogies carefully examined and corrected, and other official business disposed of; when all this was done, the people gave themselves up to feasting and amusements, particularly to horse-racing, of which the Irish have been fond from the earliest times, and to buying and selling at the fair.

The Feis was divided into two chief parts the Dal or airecht for political, legislative and judicial affairs and for the making and proclamation of laws and treaties; and the aenach, or fair, for commerce and pleasure. At these great central markets foreigners and farmers from various parts brought their wares and cattle to sell; here, too, the chief or king filled up the ranks of his forces, and military expeditions were planned and prepared for; here women-slaves were purchased or hired for the year. Here anyone, even the chiefs or kings, who had a cause of complaint brought it before the assembly, and it was discussed and judgment given by the Brehons, with the assent of all present. Even King:Cormac mac Airt appealed at the Feis of Uisnech against the warrior who had put out his eye, and thus rendered him unfit to reign as Ard-Righ of Tara.

The other fairs of Uisnech, of Taillte, of Emain Macha, of Cruachan, and of Carmen, were all smaller gatherings, intended for their own provinces, but they were in all respects, except in their importance and solemnity, copied from the Feis of Tara. Some were annual, some held only once in three years. Here the chief men of each tribe met one another, and got to know each other as they could not otherwise have done; and there is no doubt that these fairs must have been much looked forward to.

Women attended some of them. At the fair of Carmen, held in Leinster once in three years at Lughnasadh, they pleaded their causes before a separate court, into which the men might not enter; nor might they go into the men's assembly. They sat apart on the " slope of the embroidering women," doing the beautiful handiwork for which the Irish girls were famed. The cooking was done on one side of the hill, the horse-racing on another, while the market place was divided into three portions, one for the live stock, one for the sale of food, and the third for the display of foreign goods, ornaments, and articles of dress. As in Greece, the fairs were originally established on the site of ancient cemeteries, and originated in funeral games. It was considered of ill omen to the province, if the Feis was on any occasion omitted.

The Feis of Tara.

Let us imagine for a moment that we are attending the Triennial Feis of Tara. We see in the distance the green hill, now covered with low raths, then with a large group of buildings, some of them built of wicker- work, some of wood; probably none were of stone or brick. The Forradh or Place of Assembly occupies a large open space, and on it the people are gathering in crowds for the announcement of the laws, if it is one of the first days of the Feis, or for horse-racing, markets, or games, if the Feis is in full swing. The place is alive with chatter, with the lowing of oxen, and the sounds of pipes, fiddles, bone-men, tube-players, and chorus singers, all making themselves heard as well as they can, above the shouts of the circle watching the races, and the chaffering of the host of merchants from all countries, who are, in various tongues, bartering their goods. Jugglers are telling fortunes, buffoons in painted masks are rushing through the crowds, cham- pions are performing all sorts of feats with weapons, balls and apples, which they throw up into the air, and catch with wonderful dexterity. The Forradh is cer- tainly the liveliest place on Tara hill this day.

Some things we would wish away, especially the market where the women-slaves are being bought and sold to new masters, whom they will serve at all events for a year, when they may be sold again.

Tara.

Tara was built so long ago that no one at the Feis could perhaps have told when the first raths were erected, but its more splendid buildings date from the reign of the good king Cormac mac Airt, who did so much for Ireland, and who reigned from 227-266 A.D. The great oval, still in our day to be seen on the Hill, contained within it the King's Rath and the Forradh it is 853 feet across. Close beside the King's Rath, forming part of the same enclosure, stood the House of Cormac, and behind it further to the North stood the most striking building on the hill, the Banqueting Hall or " Mead-Hall " where the feasts and kingly convoca tions were held.

To the west of it stood the beautiful little house or Grianan, built by Cormac for his fair but fickle daughter, Grainne, and it was here that Finn mac Cumhall came to ask her as his wife, and from here that she ran away with Diarmuid (Dermot), to take refuge in the woods and caves of the west of Ireland. Rath Laegaire (Laery), where the last of the pagan kings was buried, standing up in full armour facing his old enemies from Leinster, is to the south; while the Rath of the Synods, near the King's Rath, is later, and carries us on into Christian times. A sad little building was the House of the Hostages, where the young princes were held in durance as security for the fidelity of their parents and tribes.

Let us look again at the Banqueting-Hall, the Teach Miodchuarta or Mead-Hail as it was called, on account of the quantities of mead drunk at the feasts. The ruins are 759 feet long, and 46 feet wide, but formerly the hall was wider. It was built of wood, with seven doors down the long walls on either side. The walls were panelled up to the roof, which was lofty in the centre, with a roof-beam running from end to end, and sloped down to the walls at the sides.

All down its length were two rows of pillars which divided it into five long aisles. A low panelling ran between the pillars, and behind the panelling, between the outer row of pillars and the wall, were the seats for the chief guests, a little raised above the level of the floor and divided into compartments. There seem to have been fifteen compartments in these upper aisles on each side, each holding a number of people, and each allotted to a special rank or office among the guests. The centre was broken up into a large hall inside the end door, where the provisions were brought in, and seats for the minor ranks, the king's mariners, artisans, smiths, jugglers, fools, etc. Three fires at equal distances occupied the centre, in which was also a huge vat for the ale or mead, and a great lamp or chandelier to light the hall. The servants occupied the lower end of the hall, and distributed the food from the central space; they sometimes, if not always, seem to have done the cooking on the fires in the room, for we have an old plan of Tara Hall, with a cook standing basting the meat on a spit beside the fire.

In one of the central compartments near the upper end of the hall, sat the King, surrounded by his chiefs, and landowners, his judges or Brehons, his Druids or soothsayers, his Fili or poets, his Historians and learned men, his champions and trumpeters. Before him on the pillar hung a silver gong which he struck to command silence.

The King on state occasions was clad in a white tunic, with a torque or twisted collar of gold. Over this he wore a crimson or purple cloak fastened by a magnificent inlaid brooch; his buckler was fastened with gold and silver clasps, and chased with animals and huntsmen in gold. Here is a description of Cormac mac Airt, from the Book of Ballymote, taking his seat at the Assembly of Tara : " Beautiful was the appearance of Cormac in that assembly, flowing and slightly curling was his golden hair. A red buckler upon him with stars and animals of gold thereon and fastenings of silver. A crimson cloak in wide descending folds around him, fastened at his neck with precious stones. A torque of gold round his neck. A white shirt with a full collar upon him, intertwined with red gold thread. A girdle of gold, inlaid with precious stones, around him. Two wonderful shoes of gold, with golden loops, about the feet. Two spears with golden sockets in his hands, with rivets of red bronze. He himself besides was graceful and beautiful of form, without blemish or reproach." The quantity of gold ornaments mentioned in such descriptions cannot be merely imaginary. The immense number and beauty of the Irish gold ornaments found shows that they must have been commonly worn by persons of rank; they greatly exceed in number and delicacy of chasing those found in Great Britain.

As soon as the King and his chiefs were seated, the warriors and other ranks marched in by the different doors, and took their allotted places. Each knew his exact seat, for the whole matter was precisely regulated according to rank, and they were most particular about this. As they entered, the warriors hung up their weapons on racks along the walls. The banquet with which the Feis of Tara opened must have been a splendid affair.

But besides this feast, it was, as we have said, the custom for the greater nobles to entertain the king or chief in their own houses from time to time.

Bricriu of the envenomed tongue held such a feast for Conor mac Nessa and for all the men of Ulster. The preparation of the feast took a whole year. For the entertainment of his guests a spacious house was built by him. He erected it in Dun Rury after the likeness of the Red Branch House at Emain. The old tale called "The Feast of Bricriu" tells us that it surpassed all the buildings of that period in artistic design, and in beauty of architecture; its pillars and frontings were splendid and costly, its carving and lintel-work famed for magnificence.

Its banqueting hall was on the plan of Tara's Mead Hall, having nine compartments from fire to wall, each wainscotting of bronze thirty feet high, overlaid with gold. In the fore part of the palace was a royal couch for Conor high above those of the whole house. It was set with carbuncles and other precious stones which shone with a lustre as of gold and of silver, radiant with every hue, making night bright as day. Around it were placed the twelve couches of the twelve heroes of Ulster. The workmanship was worthy of the material of the edifice. It took a waggon team to carry each beam, and the strength of seven Ulster men to fix each pole, while thirty of the chief artificers of Erin were employed on its erection and arrangement

The Champion's Portion.

These feasts were often far from peaceful. Disputes frequently arose out of the difficult question of precedence. If a champion or noble were not given his exact place in the order of his rank, there was sure to be a disturbance. In the seating of ordinary people these things were so well understood that it was difficult to make a mistake, but in the case of warriors and champions it was different, for the champions of the various provinces claimed the place of honour against each other, and even in the same province it was often hard to know, out of several valiant warriors, which ranked highest. There was at each feast what was called the " Champion's Portion," generally a splendid boar, roasted whole. It was the privilege of the most valiant to carve the boar, and this honour was much coveted. Often a friendly banquet broke out into a bloody feud, and the combatants did not separate without fighting. When a dispute arose, the warriors were called upon to recite their deeds, and whoever could show that he had killed the most enemies was considered to have proved himself the best champion.

A quarrel of this kind once arose in Leinster at the " Bruighen " or Hospitable House of Mac Datho. Mac Datho possessed a splendid hound, and Maive, Queen of Connaught, who always liked to have the best of everything, desired to have the hound for herself. The chiefs of Ulster with King Conor at their head also wished for the hound, but Mac Datho did not wish to give the dog to anyone. But he was afraid to offend such powerful princes as Conor and Maive, and when they pressed him, he thought of a plan to get out of the difficulty by setting Ulster and Connaught quarrelling together, so that neither of them should get the hound. He sent to invite the chiefs of both provinces to come to a feast at his house, on the pretence that he would then arrange who should have the dog. When they were come he made a splendid banquet for them, and for the Champion's Portion he killed an immense boar, which he had fed up for seven years. No sooner had the feast begun, than a dispute arose as to who should have the right to carve the Champion's Portion. This was just what Mac Datho wanted.

He was delighted to see the heroes getting more and more angry as they began one after another to relate their exploits, each one telling a more wonderful tale than the last man of the number of foes that he had killed. At last it seemed proved that the most famous feats of valour had been performed by a warrior from Connaught, named Get mac Magach, and amid cries of fury from the Ulstermen, he sat him down triumphantly before the boar. Just as he was about to begin to carve, the door was suddenly flung open, and Conall the Victorious, the best warrior in Ulster next to Cuchulain, strode into the hall. A great shout of welcome went up from the Ulstermen, and King Conor threw his helmet from his head and shook himself for joy. With one spring, Conall was on the floor of the house. " We are pleased," he said looking at the boar, " that our champion's portion stands ready for us. Who divides for you?" "It is Get mac Magach who divides," cried the men of Connaught proudly, " for it is he who has gained the championship "; and the men of Ulster said sorrowfully, " It is Get mac Magach indeed."

"Is it true that thou art dividing the boar? " said Conall to Get. "It is true," he said. " Verily our meeting together will show the truth of that, and our parting will also show it," said Conall; "and tales be told of the deeds done between us two men in this house to-night, by them who stand by and witness them. Get up from the boar, O Get ! " " What brings you here," said Get angrily, " disputing my rights with me? " " Do you desire a combat with me, O Get? " said Conall; " gladly will I give you contest and combat : for not a day of my life has passed without a conflict with a Connaught man or without plundering in their territories, and never have I laid me down to sleep at night, save with the head of a Connaught man under my knee." " That is true," said Get slowly, " thou art a better warrior than I. If, however, my brother Anluan were here to-night, thou wouldst have met thy match, and for every contest made by thee he would have had a better one to tell. It is a pity he is not in this house to-night." " He is here," said Conall, and he drew the head of Anluan from his belt and flung it on the table. Then he sat himself down before the champion's portion, and Get gave up the place to him. But the men of Connaught were so angry that they pelted Conall with stones, and the Ulstermen had to cover him with their shields.

Fighting was the great pride of the men, and it will show you what a warlike age it was, and what a dangerous age to live in, that a good warrior could declare with pride that he never went to rest without having slain an enemy. The warriors used, as we have just seen, to carry the heads of their enemies in their belts, and sometimes brought them to the feasts to prove their bravery; or they brought trophies of the men they had slain. In the palace of Emain Macha (near Armagh) there was a separate hall for these trophies. The northern warriors were particularly fierce and warlike, so much so that they were not permitted to bring their weapons into the banqueting hall as they did at Tara, because they were so ready to spring to arms; they had to leave them in a special hall erected for that purpose.