In many National and Intermediate schools the Irish language is now taught, and no doubt some of the pupils who attend the Irish classes will continue their studies after they leave school, till they come to be able to read our old books. A great many old Irish tales and histories have been printed and translated, and some of them are very beautiful and instructive. Several of the stories in this book are from the Book of the Dun Cow and the Book of Leinster. XXVII. THE GILLA DACKER AND HIS HORSE.[120-1] Once upon a time, when Finn and the Fena were hunting over Munster, Finn and some of his companions encamped on the slope of Knockainey hill[120-2] to rest for awhile. And they sent Finn Mac Bressal to the top of the hill to keep watch and ward, while they amused themselves, some playing chess, and some viewing the chase all round and listening to the sweet cry of the hounds. [120-1] "The Pursuit of the Gilla Dacker and his horse" is a humorous story, of which only a few incidents are given here. The Gilla Dacker was really Mannanan Mac Lir, the Pagan Irish sea-god, who came in disguise to play a trick--a sort of practical joke--on the Fena. The whole story is given in "Old Celtic Romances." [120-2] Knockainey: a hill celebrated in story, rising over the village of Knockainey, in the Co. Limerick. Finn Mac Bressal had been watching only a little time, when he saw on the plain to the east, a Fomor[121-1] of vast size coming towards the hill, leading a horse. As he came nearer, Finn Mac Bressal observed that he was the ugliest-looking giant his eyes ever lighted on. He had a large, thick body, bloated and swollen out to a great size; clumsy, crooked legs; and broad, flat feet, turned inwards. His hands and arms and shoulders were bony and thick and very strong-looking; his neck was long and thin; and while his head was poked forward, his face was turned up, as he stared straight at Finn Mac Bressal. He had thick lips, and long crooked teeth; and his face was covered all over with bushy hair. [121-1] Fomor, a gigantic warrior, a giant: its real meaning is "a sea-robber," commonly called a Fomorian. He was fully armed; but all his weapons were rusty and soiled. A broad shield of a dirty, sooty colour, rough and battered, hung over his back; he had a long, heavy, straight sword at his left hip; and he grasped in his left hand two thick-handled, broad-headed spears, old and rusty, that looked as if they had not been handled for years. In his right hand he held an iron club, which he dragged after him, with its end on the ground; and it was so heavy that, as it trailed along, it tore up a track as deep as the furrow a farmer ploughs with a pair of oxen.