Then saw I thrones,
And circling fires,
And a [dome] rose near me, [as by a spell],
Whence flowed the tones
Of silver [lyres],
And many voices in [wreathèd swell];
And their [thrilling] chime
Fell on mine ears
As the heavenly hymn of an angel-band—
"It is now the time,
These be the years,
Of Cahal More of the Wine-red Hand!"
I sought the hall,
And, behold!... a change
From light to darkness, from joy to woe!
King, nobles, all,
Looked [aghast] and strange;
The [minstrel-group] sate in dumbest show!
Had some great crime
Wrought this dread amaze,
This terror? None seemed to understand!
['Twas then the time],
We were in the days,
Of Cahal More of the Wine-red Hand.
I again walked forth;
But lo! the sky
Showed [fleckt] with blood, and an [alien sun]
Glared from the north,
And there stood on high,
Amid his [shorn beams], a [skeleton]
It was by the stream
Of the [castled Maine],
One Autumn eve, in the [teuton]'s land,
That I dreamed this dream
Of the time and reign
Of Cahal More of the Wine-red Hand!
St. Finghin's Church, Quin, Co. Clare: originally built by the Irish: re-built by Thomas de Clare, the Anglo-Norman lord who erected Bunratty Castle (see p. [177]). The Irish began to build large churches and castles a little before the arrival of the Anglo-Normans. The Irish churches of a previous time were generally small. After the Invasion, the Anglo-Norman barons and the Irish kings and chiefs vied with each other in erecting churches, abbeys, and castles.
XLIV.
SIR JOHN DE COURCY.
Among the many Anglo-Norman lords and knights who came to settle in Ireland in the time of Henry II., one of the most renowned was John de Courcy. The Welsh writer, Gerald Barry, already mentioned (p. 113), who lived at that time and knew him personally, thus describes him:—
"He was of huge size, tall and powerfully built, with bony and muscular limbs, wonderfully active and daring, full of courage, and a bold and venturous soldier from his youth. He was so eager for fighting that, though commanding as general, he always mingled with the foremost ranks in charging the enemy, which might have lost the battle; for if he chanced to be killed or badly wounded, there was no general able to take his place. But though so fierce in war, he was gentle and modest in time of peace and very exact in attending to his religious devotions; and when he had gained a victory he gave all the glory to God, and took none to himself."