Scarcely was the song finished when a light skiff, made of hide stretched over a frame of wicker, propelled by a single oarsman, shot out from beyond a clump of alders, and swiftly approached the river’s bank. Touching the earth lightly with his oar, the boatman leaped to land almost at the feet of Brehilda. He was clad in the simple garb of a peasant, and Brehilda, alarmed at the act of the stranger, would have fled, but a motion of his hand restrained her, and the next moment she lay panting and sobbing on the bosom of Maon.
Their interview was long, and passionate their communing, and at length the lovers parted. Maon again embarked on the Fionglasse, and Brehilda returned to the castle.
In those early days, when war and glory were the theme of song, acts of violence and bloodshed were frequent, and revenge followed fast upon wrong; for the light of revelation had not yet dawned upon the world that knew no return for injury but retribution.
It was the first of May, and the day of the festival of Beil Tinne. Fires were lighted, and sacrifices were offered on the most lofty eminences in every part of the kingdom to Beil, or the Sun. The Druids danced around their round towers the sacred dance of their profession, as was the custom of this priesthood during the religious festivals of the nation; and the martial followers of the chiefs joined in the Rinkey, or field-dance—a performance not unlike the armed dance with which the Greek youth amused themselves at the siege of Troy—to the sound of the bagpipes, upon the green-sward.
A stranger bard feasted that night in the hall of Conrigh, with the guests and retainers of the chieftain. He wore the truise of weft, which covered the feet, legs, and thighs, as far as the loins, striped with various colours, and fitting so closely as to discover every motion and muscle of the limbs; and the cotaigh, or tunic of linen, dyed yellow, and ornamented with needle-work, reaching to the mid-thigh, and confined around the loins by an embroidered girdle. The sleeves of this garment were loose and long, and the bosom was cut round, leaving the neck and upper part of the
