42 The high dignity of Domnal may be inferred from the following lines, quoted from MacLenini, in the preface to "Cormac's Glossary," p. 51:—
"As blackbirds to swans, as an ounce to a mass of gold,
As the forms of peasant women to the forms of queens,
As a king to Domnal . . .
As a taper to a candle, so is a sword to my sword."
43 She was the wife of Nêd, the war-god. See O'Donovan's "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i., p. 24.
44 Etán is said to have been muime na filed, nurse of the poets ("Three Irish Glossaries," preface, p. 33).
45 At Rathcroghan was the palace of the Kings of Connacht.
46 A name of Ireland ("Battle of Magh Leana," p. 79).
47 So the night before the battle of Magh Rath, "the monarch, grandson of Ainmire, slept not, in consequence of the weight of the battle and the anxiety of the conflict pressing on his mind; for he was certain that his own beloved foster-son would, on the morrow, meet his last fate."
48 In the "Battle of Magh Leana" these mysterious beings are called "the Women of the Valley" (p. 120).
49 For this line and for many valuable suggestions throughout the poem I am indebted to the deep poetical insight and correct judgment of my friend, Aubrey de Vere.
50 "Derg Dian Scothach saw this order, and he put his forefinger into the string of the spear." "Fate of the Children of Tuireann," by O'Curry, Atlantis, iv., p. 233. See also "Battle of Magh Rath," pp. 140, 141, 152.
51 Bregia was the ancient name of the plain watered by the Boyne.