TRIBAL DISPUTE (1154-7).
Source.—Song of Dermot. Orpen. Clarendon Press. 1892.
l. 22.
Now in Leath-luinn there was a king,
O'Rourke he was called in Irish,
In Tisbrun, the barren, he dwelt,
A waste, a woody land.
But O'Rourke, the rich King,
Had a beautiful wife at this time,
The daughter of King Melaghlin
To whom Meath was subject.
****
l. 40.
Dermot, King of Leinster
Whom this lady loved so much,
Made pretence to her of loving,
While he did not love her at all,
But only wished to the utmost of his power
To avenge, if he could, the great shame
class="verse"Which the men of Leath-luinn wrought of old
On the men of Leath-Mogha in his territory.
King Dermot often sent word
To the lady whom he so loved—
By letter and by messenger,
Often did the King send word
That she was altogether, in truth,
The thing in the world that he most loved;
l. 94.
King Dermot immediately
Came marching to the place
Where the lady had sent word
That she would be ready.
In this way Dermot the King
Carried off the lady at this time.
****
l. 110.
O'Rourke much grieving,
To Connaught went in all haste.
To the King of Connaught he relates all:
****
l. 126.
The King of Connaught sent word
To the King of Ossory in the first place,
That he should not fail their King
But should come to their aid.
And these men fully promised him
That they would make him King in that territory
If they could cast out of it
King Dermot who was so bold.
And this man immediately revolted
Against his lord King Dermot;
And Melaghlin, the traitor,
Abandoned his lord;
And Mac Torkil of Dublin
Abandoned his lord at this moment.
There joined in the treason
Murrough O'Brien, an evil rebel.
****
l. 206.
When Dermot the King perceived
That he was betrayed at this time—
His own men failed him,
So completely was he betrayed—
And that they wished to take him
To hand him over and sell him to O'Rourke,
While the King of Connaught on the other hand
Should make a great destruction of him—
Why should I delay you
From your geste at all?
His people by the strong hand
Have cast out King Dermot,
Have wrested the whole kingdom from him
And have driven him from Ireland.
When the King was exiled
He took ship at Corkerau
****
His ships had a very fine breeze,
At Bristol they take the shore.
****
THE BULL OF POPE ADRIAN IV.
EMPOWERING HENRY II. TO CONQUER IRELAND, A.D. 1155.
Source.—Historical Documents of the Middle Ages, p. 10. Henderson. Bohn's Libraries. G. Bell & Sons.
Bishop Adrian, servant of the servants of God, sends to his dearest son in Christ, the illustrious King of the English, greeting and apostolic benediction. Laudably and profitably enough thy magnificence thinks of extending thy glorious name on earth, and of heaping up rewards of eternal felicity in heaven, inasmuch as, like a good catholic prince, thou dost endeavour to enlarge the bounds of the Church, to declare the truth of the Christian faith to ignorant and barbarous nations, and to extirpate the plants of evil from the field of the Lord....
There is indeed no doubt, as thy Highness doth also acknowledge, that Ireland and all other islands which Christ the Sun of Righteousness has illumined, and which have received the doctrines of the Christian faith, belong to the jurisdiction of St. Peter and of the Holy Roman Church....
Thou hast signified to us, indeed, most beloved son in Christ, that thou dost desire to enter into the island of Ireland, in order to subject the people to the laws and to extirpate the vices that have there taken root, and that thou art willing to pay an annual pension to St. Peter of one penny from every house, and to preserve the rights of the churches in that land inviolate and entire....
[This bull was not thought to be genuine by the majority of historians, but Mr. Orpen in Ireland under the Normans, 1912, successfully proves its authenticity.]