As even brothers born of the same mother, coming suddenly into possession of a prize, will struggle to see who can get the largest share, so we find in those first ages a constant succession of armed struggles for power. The petty Princes who divided the Island between them were called _Righ_, a word which answers to the Latin _Rex_ and French _Roi_; and the chief king or monarch was called _Ard-Righ_, or High-King. The eldest nephew, or son of the king, was the usual heir of power, and was called the _Tanist_, or successor; although any of the family of the Prince, his brothers, cousins, or other kinsmen, might be chosen _Tanist_, by election of the people over whom he was to rule. One certain cause of exclusion was personal deformity; for if a Prince was born lame or a hunchback, or if he lost a limb by accident, he was declared unfit to govern. Even after succession, any serious accident entailed deposition, though we find the names of several Princes who managed to evade or escape this singular penalty. It will be observed besides of the _Tanist_, that the habit of appointing him seems to have been less a law than a custom; that it was not universal in all the Provinces; that in some tribes the succession alternated between a double line of Princes; and that sometimes when the reigning Prince obtained the nomination of a _Tanist_, to please himself, the choice was set aside by the public voice of the clansmen. The successor to the Ard-Righ, or Monarch, instead of being simply called _Tanist_, had the more sounding title of _Roydamna_, or King-successor.