328 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



Teniair after sunset 1 was perhaps designed for the protection of the king 

 against a surreptitious attack. 



In the short list of kings quoted above it will be seen that one of them, 

 Enna by name, died of plague. It is almost an invariable rule that when the 

 kings do not die at I he hands of their successors, there is something unexpected 

 or sudden about the manner of their departure from life — battle, lightning, 

 plague; in the case of Slanoll, already mentioned, "an unknown disease, 

 whereby he was found dead in Temair"; nearly always some exceptional 

 accident is invoked t" explain why he died without the assistance of an 

 ambitious rival. Such an eveul as the natural death of the king was probably 

 regarded as a direct interposition on the part of some goil. This is actually 

 so expressed in tl E king Eterscele. From Togdil Bruidne D<i Derga 



we learn that he died naturally; 8 the "official historians" bell us that he 

 - killed by his successoi Nuadu Necht. I'm Nuadu Necht is only a 

 manifestation of the _ god Nuadu;' the king was therefore killed by 

 the god. 



Wheu such ,m event took place, ii became uecessaiy to restore the 

 m. From Alicia we have, apparently, uo answer to the question of 

 what happened if the Res Nemoreusia should happen to die a natural death.' 

 Probably the case nei . inacitj full of slaves such as Koine was, there 

 would alwa\ • who would prefer even the anxious life of the King 

 of the Grove, to the hopeless toil of servitude ; for the Rex Nemorensis was 

 always ive. But in Ireland thenutowarcl event sometimes took 

 place. I explain certain remarkal ol which we have a record as being 

 the means whereby in such a case tl rest I. 



Sum w ith the Hesh and broth of 



a white bull, and then went to Bleep, while four druida chanted over 



his truth." 1 'I'll-- appointed king would appear 



unid the nightmares induced by his overloaded stomach. 

 1' ties* il «as in. • that he had made himself one with Lhe bull- 



divinity by eating as much ol is w i- physical!} possible, and that in 



his dreams he was thinking the thoughts of the _■ I. for inspiration by 

 incubation we may com] ■ curious am of the lazy pupil of 



' £•' 



tiqiie, \xi 



EUiys, II ' 122 124, where this ia clearly shown. 

 ' Sir James Fraaer has kindly confirmed this in r private letter to me. 



S Facte, i, 213; /;■ ™, celtigiu, xxii, 22 ; and 



analogies in Frazer, The Ma Art, i, 381 383. For many analogies to tlii.s custom of 



electing a niler l>y divinatioi . ■ ■ Mr. II inland's essay, The Voice <•< ih< Stone o/Dutiny 

 (Folk-lort, xiv, 28 IA)). 



