Ti; LN8ITIOK M TIUHA1 YT 287 



it laws of til- Irish show us the successive 

 steps by which feudal us were created in patro- 



nymic tribal KO< i he Brehon laws disclose that at the 



period the chief was above all things else, a man 

 rich in cattle and sheep. One of the laws prescribes that 

 the head of a tribe besides being experienced, noble, and 

 learned, must possess wealth, and be "the most powerful 

 to oppose, the most steadfast to sue for profits and to be 

 sued for losses." * It is evident from these laws that the 

 way to - iuship was always open through the ac- 



tion of wealth. Tin- tribesman who had grown 

 in cattle and was striving to become a chief, was called, 

 a "bo-aire, M or cow-nobleman. 



The lir>t step in the direction of securing large pos- 

 sessions in the coveted oxen, was to serve some air 

 estaMi>l t'. The young, the clever, and the brave, 



who came to do court service to this well-known l-ad-r. 

 veil as his companions, portions of his stock and 

 shares in the booty of marauding expedition-. Th 

 also extended his right of pasturage in the outlying waste 

 to his retainers, whose own herds rapidly increased in 

 numbers. 



struggle for wealth there were some unfortu- 

 nate individuals who suffered loss and ruin. They 



in the broken and crushed men who were known 

 in c\ ii tril". as fuidhuir-." At first this class of 



fuidhuirs was composed of outcasts from the clans, men 

 who had disobeyed the clan rules and violated tribal cus- 

 The numl ;idhuirs was increased by inter-tri- 



bal wars, in which tribes are broken up and scattered. 

 Such ruined and outlawed men the bo-aire gathered about 

 him on the tribal waste land as a band of rough adventur- 



w Maine, op. rff^ p. 134. 



