In that country there is also a place called Themar,[194] which in olden times was apparently a capital or royal borough; now, however, it is deserted, for no one dares to dwell there. It was this event that caused the place to be abandoned: all the people in the land believed that the king who resided at Themar would always render just decisions and never do otherwise; although they were heathen in other respects and did not have the true faith concerning God, they held firmly to their belief that every case would be decided properly if that king passed upon it; and never, they thought, could an unrighteous decision come from his throne. On what seems to have been the highest point of the borough, the king had a handsome and well built castle in which was a large and beautiful hall, where he was accustomed to sit in judgment. But once it happened that certain lawsuits came before the king for decision in which his friends and acquaintances were interested on the one side, and he was anxious to support their contentions in every way. But those who were interested in the suits on the other side were hostile toward him, and he was their enemy. So the outcome was that the king shaped his decision more according to his own wish than to justice. But because an unrighteous judgment had come whence all people expected just decisions and because of this popular belief, the judgment seat was overturned and the hall and the castle likewise, even to their very foundations. The site, too, was overturned, so that those parts of the earth which had formerly pointed downward were now turned upward; and all the houses and halls were turned down into the earth and thus it has been ever since. But because such a great miracle happened there, no one has since dared to inhabit the place, nor has any king ventured to set up his throne there; and yet, it is the loveliest place known in all that country. It is also thought that if men should attempt to rebuild the town, not a single day would pass without the appearance of some new marvel. Footnote 194: Themar was the ancient royal seat Temhair, now Tara. It seems to be alluded to in _Reliquiae Antiquae_, II, 105. Cf. _Ériu_, IV, 10.