Page:The Gaelic State in the Past & Future.djvu/51

 ships continued their life; the parts, that is to say, were complete, except for a portion of country around Dublin and another about Waterford; but they were only parts, for the whole was in disrepair. And now a definite war between State and State was declared, the end of which has not yet been seen. By the Statutes of Kilkenny in 1367 every sign of national life in Ireland was penalised by English law. It was forbidden to hear an Irish poet, to take judgment from a brehon, to foster children in the Irish way, to speak the Irish language, and even to wear a beard as the Irish did, or ride a horse barebacked. It is true these things were only forbidden within the Pale, because only within the Pale had the invader any authority; but they were in fact, and afterwards became, a declaration in Ireland of a war between an English State and an Irish State. They were an intimation that the old Irish culture and State were marked for extinction. It is interesting to remember that at the moment this declaration was made England had little culture, no literature, only the beginnings of law, and a very rudimentary State. The Statutes of Kilkenny were very like a young vulgarian raging against an elder's manners that made his own lack of courtesy apparent.

Fortunately at this time England herself was plunged into a bitter dynastic war. The immediate result on Ireland was that, relieved from the pressure of her neighbour, a great period of prosperity began. The beginnings were slow, for the land was wasted after the Bruce campaign; but