I thought it a shameful thing that so many men should be unable to lift this stone, which Oscar, if he were alive, would take in his right hand and fling over the heads of the feeble crowd. After I had looked a little while, I stooped forward and seized the flag with one hand; and, putting forth my strength, I flung it seven perches from its place, and relieved the little men. But with the great strain the golden saddle-girth broke, and, bounding forward to keep myself from falling, I suddenly came to the ground on my two feet. The moment the white steed felt himself free, he shook himself and neighed. Then, starting off with the speed of a cloud-shadow on a March day, he left me standing helpless and sorrowful. Instantly a woeful change came over me: the sight of my eyes began to fade, the ruddy beauty of my face fled, I lost all my strength, and I fell to the earth, a poor, withered old man, blind and wrinkled and feeble. The white steed was never seen again. I never recovered my sight, my youth, or my strength; and I have lived in this manner, sorrowing without ceasing for my gentle, golden-haired wife, Niam, and thinking ever of my father, Finn, and of the lost companions of my youth. FOOTNOTES: [CXLIX.] Tirnanoge, the Land of Youth. (See note 19 at the end.) [CL.] Gavra, now Garristown, in the north-west of the county Dublin. (For an account of this battle, see note 28 at the end.) [CLI.] Lough Lein, the Lakes of Killarney. [CLII.] Greenan, a summer-house; a house in a bright, sunny spot. [CLIII.] The gigantic race of the Fena had all passed away, and Erin was now inhabited by people who looked very small in Oisin's eyes. [CLIV.] Glenasmole, a fine valley about seven miles south of Dublin, through which the river Dodder flows. THE VOYAGE OF THE SONS OF O'CORRA.[CLV.] A princely upright hundred-herd brugaid[CLVI.] was born one time in the lovely province of Connaught, namely, Conall Derg O'Corra the fair-haired. And thus was this brugaid (circumstanced):--he was a fortunate, rich, prosperous man; and his house was never found without three shouts in it--the shout of the brewers brewing ale, and the shout of the servants over the caldrons distributing (meat) to the hosts, and the shout of the youths over the chessboards[CLVII.] winning games from one another. The same house was never without three measures:--a measure of malt for making yeast, a measure of wheat for providing bread for the guests, and a measure of salt for savouring each kind of food. His wife was Cairderga[CLVIII.] the daughter of the Erenach[CLIX.] of Clogher.[CLX.] They felt no want of any kind except being without children; and it was not that they were without children (being born to them), but that the infants always died the moment after birth.