INTRODUCTORY 



Cumall, for example, who flourished according to 

 Celtic authorities in the third or fourth century 

 A.D., filled that office for King Cormac, and the 

 poems of the Finn cycle are full of the doings of 

 that hero, his men, his hounds, and their prowess 

 in the field. Three hundred of his hounds, indeed, 

 are mentioned by name, and it is easy to form a 

 definite idea from the poems of the methods of 

 hunting employed by the sportsmen of those days. 



Finn seems to have hunted in the neighbour- 

 hood of Howth, Ben Edair, and his pack included 

 three hundred full-grown hounds, and two hun- 

 dred puppies. A thievish Briton in his service stole 

 three of his best hounds, " Bran," " Sceolaing " 

 and " Admall," and fled with them to England, 

 " but the dogs were recovered after a hard-fought 

 battle in Britain," says the historian. Finn's hunt- 

 ing took the form of a drive of deer and wild boar. 

 " He set on foot the hunt at Ben Edair, and took 

 his station between Edair's height and the sea, 

 while his men slipped their greyhounds. There his 

 spirit was gay within him, while he listened to the 

 maddened stags' bellowing as by the greyhounds of 

 the Fraim they were rapidly killed." 



The earlier records of Ireland, indeed, leave us 



in no doubt as to the importance of the part played 



by the chase in the life of those primitive times. 



The admiration of the Irish for sport is indicated 



B2 3 



