Page:Celtic Stories by Edward Thomas.djvu/65



In one of the battles of Erin against Lochlann the strength of Finn and his sons and companions prevailed, so that Colga the king was slain, and with him fell all the men of Lochlann save Midac, youngest son of the king. Finn took Midac home to the palace of Allen, where he was entertained and educated like a king's son. When he was a man and a warrior he was enrolled among the Fena, the company of Finn. He shared their battles, their hunting, and their feasts.

Nevertheless, Midac remembered that he was the son of the King of Lochlann, whom the Fena had destroyed. Like a spy he studied the Fena's country, their strong places and palaces, their ways of fighting. So one day at Finn's council it was decided that Midac should be given land suitable to his royalty, and allowed to rule there and dwell apart. A choice of land was offered to him, and he chose the country round about the Shannon at Limerick, and the mouth of the Fergus with its islands. There was no better place than this, if in the hands of a traitor, for an invader to penetrate Erin. Finn added to this gift all that was necessary to maintain a prince, and there Midac settled and lived fourteen years without visiting the Fena, or receiving a visit from them. Finn was too generous and too full of the labours of a hero to take notice of this. He hunted and feasted without thought of Midac.

One day the Fena were hunting near Midac's country, and Finn with a few more had pitched tents on the top