I was the chief of the race--he had stricken my father dead-- But I gather'd my fellows together, I swore I would strike off his head. Each of them looked like a king, and was noble in birth as in worth, And each of them boasted he sprang from the oldest race upon earth. Each was as brave in the fight as the bravest hero of song, And each of them liefer had died than have done one another a wrong. _He_ lived on an isle in the ocean--we sail'd on a Friday morn-- He that had slain my father the day before I was born. [164-1] For the Book of the Dun Cow and the Yellow Book of Lecan, see p. 118. II. And we came to the isle in the ocean, and there on the shore was he. But a sudden blast blew us out and away thro' a boundless sea. * * * * * XI. And we came to the Isle of a saint who had sail'd with St. Brendan[165-1] of yore, He had lived ever since on the Isle and his winters were fifteen score, And his voice was low as from other worlds, and his eyes were sweet, And his white hair sank to his heels and his white beard fell to his feet, And he spake to me, "O Maeldune, let be this purpose of thine! Remember the words of the Lord when he told us 'Vengeance is mine!' His fathers have slain thy fathers in war or in single strife, Thy fathers have slain his fathers, each taken a life for a life, Thy father had slain his father, how long shall the murder last? Go back to the Isle of Finn[166-1] and suffer the Past to be Past." [165-1] St. Brendan of Clonfert in Kerry, commonly called Brendan the Navigator: born in Kerry in 484. He sailed from near Brandon mountain in Kerry (which is named from him) on his celebrated voyage of seven years on the Atlantic, in which it is related he saw many wonderful things--quite as wonderful as those of Maildune. [166-1] The Isle of Finn: i.e. of Finn Mac Cumaill: Ireland (see p. 92). XII. And we came to the Isle we were blown from, and there on the shore was he, The man that had slain my father. I saw him and let him be. O weary was I of the travel, the trouble, the strife and the sin, When I landed again, with a tithe of my men, on the Isle of Finn. XXXVIII. ST. DONATUS, BISHOP OF FIESOLE.[167-1] PART I. At page 47 of this book it has been related how missionaries and learned men went in great numbers from Ireland to the Continent in the early ages of Christianity to preach the Gospel and to teach in colleges. A full account of the lives and labours of these earnest and holy men would fill several volumes: but the following short sketch of one of them will give the reader a good idea of all. [167-1] Fiesole in Tuscany, Italy: pronounced in four syllables: Fee-ess'-o-lĕ.