Page:The most ancient lives of Saint Patrick - O'Leary.djvu/126

  "Choice was this blessing
  Which he conferred seven-fold
  On each one who would observe
  His plain rule, his law.

  "Whoever would disobey
  The noble, just rule,
  Should not see him, he said,
  In the region of the saints.

  "Patrick's cain in great Munster
  Was imposed on each family,
  Until Dungalach violated it,
  [Who was] of the race of Failbhe Flann.

  "Dungalach, son of Faelghus,
  Grandson of just Nadfraech,
  Was the first who transgressed
  Patrick's cain from the beginning.

  "It is related in histories,
  All ages know it,
  That his successorship is not found
  In Cashel of the Kings.

  "There is not of his progeny
  (Though he won battles)
  A noble bishop or herenagh,
  A prince or a sage.

  "Saergus the Young, also—
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  Violated the cain he had adopted,
  For the vehement Dungalach.

  "It is seen that illustrious men
  Are not of his wondrous family;
  If there are now, they will not
  Be found till judgment comes."