The badgers fled the vale:
And now, O sage of frugal care,
Hast thou not heard the tale?
D.
[1] The game of chess is repeatedly noticed in connection with various historical incidents in the early history of Ireland. Theophilus O’Flanagan, in a note to his translation of Deirdri, an ancient Irish tale, published in the Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Dublin, speaks of it as “a military game that engages the mental faculties, like mathematical science.” O’Flaherty’s Ogygia states that Cathir, the 120th king of Ireland, left among his bequests to Crimthan “two chess-boards with their chess-men distinguished with their specks and power; on which account he was constituted master of the games in Leinster.”
In the first book of Homer’s Odyssey the suitors are described as amusing themselves with the game of chess:—
With rival art and ardour in their mien,
At chess they vie to captivate the queen,
Divining of their loves.
In Pope’s translation there is a learned note on the subject, to which the curious reader is referred; and also to a passage in Vallancey’s Essay on the Celtic Language.