324 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 



The king of Temair was a god incarnate on earth. This is the all-important 

 fact which results from the study of the traditions of the early kingship that 

 have come down to us, confused and misunderstood though these certainly 

 are by the ancient historians who have recorded them. When a good king- 

 was on the throne, the gods condescended to take up their abode within him; 

 when the king was illegitimate, they withdrew themselves, hi the former 

 case the crops were plentiful ; in the latter case there was misery and famine. 

 Contrast these two characterizations, from Lcbor Gabdla — 



Good was that king Eoehu mac In evil case was Ireland in the 



Eire ; there was no ruin in his time, time of that Coirpre, for the earth did 



but only dew ; there was no year with- not yield her fruit, because there was 

 out its harvest, falsehood wits expi 11. I but one grain in the ear, one acorn on 



from Ireland in his time. the oak, one nut on the hazel ; the 



creeks were unproductive, the cattle 

 were dry, so that there was an intoler- 

 able famine throughout Ireland for the 

 live years in which Coirpre was king. 



We ha> ni in the last Bection that Eochu mac Eire was the gieat 



impersonation of Divine Wisdom, at the head of the " epic " pantheon ; and 

 though the historians have made him into a king, he retains sufficient godhead 



to secure the Mr- _ med for his ] pie, Coirpre, on the other hand, 



Burnamed Ceun-Chait, was tin- leader <<\ tin- revolt of the .sen's, that is, of the 

 enslaved aborigines. Be was alien in race, religion, 1 and probably in speech, 

 from the ruling classes. Naturally the gods would not condescend to take up 

 their abode in a creature s,, despicable, and naturally the country suffered 

 from theii absence. Tie' Banie idea appears elsewhere in Celtdom. Livy has 

 a reference t" it in his priceless i etol the saga of king Ambigatns." As 



Dr. Baudis points out, this idea i- also at the basis "i the prohibition of the 

 rule of a blemished king. Evidently a chief function of the king was to 

 otter his body a- a receptacle for the divinity who-.- presence secured the 

 boon of plentiful harvests: and the body must be worthy of its divine 



riea to do lor biography what Dindshencha Ercnn doet 

 tor geography, aeconhts for Coirpre'a nickname "cat-head " in n singular way. It says. 

 fuath tail robhai fvra dea, "his •.-■•(i had the Bhape ..f a cat.' 1 Obviously this does not 

 explain why a person, should he called " cat-headed." We tnusl therefore gee once more 

 an adaptation o. etymological needa <J a sentence already in exist, nee. It is not difficult 



'" s '''' '" >' ,l contempl . o. s e form of animal worship among the 



aborigines, an early manifestation . thia time between the creeds of 



rival i>:iuan races m the country. 

 - I. ivy, | ::| 



This rule tf;^ not universal : from the storj .a Aithirne we learn that the Oonnacian 

 king Ouaire had bnt ..no eye, which did interfere with his reigning. 



