The welcome mild,
That on our grandsire's kingly features smiled;
Lir's counsel meet,
And fond paternal kiss, that made the morning sweet.
The horsemen returned soon after to the house of Lir, and told the principal men of the Tuatha Danaans where they had seen the birds, and the dialogue they had held together.
"We cannot assist them," they replied, "but we are well pleased to hear that they live, for they will be restored to their former shape, after a long time has elapsed."
The children of Lir, meantime, returned northwards to the Sea of Moyle, where they remained until their time in that place had expired. Then Fingula spoke to her brothers, and said:—
"It is time for us to depart from hence, for the period appointed for us to remain here is at an end"; and she added these verses:—
At length we leave this cheerless shore,
Unblest by summer's sunshine splendid;