Aldfrith's Qualifications as a Patron of Literature 301 



I found in Connaught the just, redundance 

 Of riches, milk in lavish abundance; 

 Hospitality, vigor, fame, 

 In Cruachan's* land of heroic name. 



I found in the country of Connallf the glorious, 

 Bravest heroes ever victorious ; 

 Fair-complexioned men and warlike, 

 Ireland's lights, the high, the starlike ! 



I found in Ulster from hill to glen. 

 Hardy warriors, resolute men ; 

 Beauty that bloomed when youth was gone, 

 And strength transmitted from sire to son. 



I found in the noble district of Boyle, 

 (MS. here illegible.) 

 Brehons, Erenachs,t weapons bright. 

 And horsemen bold and sudden in fight. 



I found in Leinster the smooth and sleek. 

 From Dublin to Slewmargy's § peak. 

 Flourishing pastures, valor, health. 

 Long-living worthies, commerce, wealth. 



I found, besides, from Ara to Glea, 

 In the broad rich country of Ossorie, 

 Sweet fruits, good laws for all and each. 

 Great chess-players, men of truthful speech. 



I found in Meath's fair principality 

 Virtue, vigor, and hospitality; 

 Candor, joyfulness, bravery, purity, 

 Ireland's bulwark and security. 



I found strict morals in age and youth, 

 I found historians recording truth ; 

 The things I sing of in verse unsmooth, 

 I found them all. I have written sooth.' 



In the longer version, lines 89-92 are : 



Fair Flann Fina, son of Osswy, 



The chief sage of knowledge in Ireland, 



On the brink of the river Rhine^ . . . 



He got his wish, as was fully granted. 

 * Cruachan, or Croghan, was the name of the royal palace of Connaught. 

 t Tyrconnell, the present Donegal. 



± Brehon, a law judge; Erenach, a ruler, an archdeacon. 

 § Slewmargy, a mountain in the Queen's County, near the river Barrow. 



' Walsh, p. 73. 



^ Professor Dunn tells me that the word translated 'Rhine' might be 

 rendered 'Ren' (unidentified) or 'the sea.' Cf. Reeves, p. 284. 



