O'NoLAN — Md)- of Munsler and the Tragic Fate of Ciiana. 269 



MOE OF MUNSTEE AND THE FATE OF CUAl^U SON OF 

 CAILCHIN. 



1. Aecl Beunain was the king of Ir Luachair. He had twelve sons and 

 three daughters. There is a proverb about them : " Not as Aed Bennain left 

 his sons." Mor of Munster was the daughter of Aed Bennain. She was in 

 adversity at first. She used to go only to the door of the house. " Woe to 

 thee, Mor ! " said a voice from the air above them. 



Now the kings of Ireland were seeking her hand in marriage. One day 

 she heard the voice, " Woe to thee, Mor !" " I prefer that it should be given 

 to me than be constantly promised. Shall it be in the beginning or at the 

 end ?" " In the begimiing, indeed," says she. Thereafter great derangement 

 was put upon her, so that she bounded over the mound of the liss, so that it 

 was not known to what place she went. 



2. She travelled over Ireland two years, and was blackened by sun and 

 wind, in rags and marshes. She came to Cashel. Fingen son of Aed was king 

 there. The daughter of the king of the Deise was his wife. She (Mor) was 

 with his sheep three times. One day she went into the palace out of the 

 pasture, and threw herself down by the fire. " Put out that woman," says 

 Fingen. " You will have my brooch," said the queen, " and sleep with her 

 to-night." " It is not good," said Fingen. " Though it is not good, you will 

 have to do it. We shall not sleep with you till you sleep with her." " I 

 must," said Fingen. "Let the brooch be given to me." She herself, the 

 queen, prepared the bed for them. The woman left the rags below, and goes 

 to him into the room. " Whence art thou, woman ? " said Fingen. Then she 

 told her name, and her sense came to her. " Good," said Fingen. He offers 

 her first her weight of silver. When it was morning, she arises to go with 

 the sheep. " Nay," said Fingen ; " I shall protect you against the queen." 

 The queen arises, and was in fits of laughter at them. " Put ye that purple 

 cloak on her," said Fingen, " and the queen's brooch in her cloak." " She 

 shall not be in equal dignity with me," said the queen. " It will be just," 

 said Fingen. " The man you have sold you shall not consort with. She 

 shall stay, for her race is better." It is with her, with Mor of Munster, that 

 every excellent woman in Ireland is compared. 



3. She was in the company of Fingen till she bore him a son, Sechnasach, 

 son of Fingen. 



Fingen died after that. She went to Cathal, son of Finnguine, king of 

 Glendomuin. The kingdom of Munster was from Cashel one spell, from 



K.I.A. PROC, VOL. XXX., SECT. C. [37j 



