There was a champion--a fierce and mighty man--who answered challenges, and, when necessary, fought single combats for the honour of the king. Guards were always at hand, who remained standing up with drawn swords or battleaxes during dinner. There was a master of horse, with numerous grooms; keepers of the king’s jewels and chessboards; couriers or runners to convey the king’s messages and orders, and to bring him tidings; keepers of hounds and coursing dogs; a chief swineherd, with his underlings; fools, jugglers, and jesters for the amusement of the company; with a whole army of under-servants and workmen of various kinds. Each day the whole company sat in the great hall at dinner, arranged at tables in the order of rank the great grandees and the ollaves near the king, others of less importance lower down, while the attendants--when they were not otherwise occupied--sat at tables of their own at the lower end of the hall. To pay the expenses of his great household, and to enable him to live in grandeur as a king should live, he had a large tract of land free, besides which, every tenant and householder throughout his dominion had to make a yearly payment according to his means. These payments were made, not in money--for there was little or no coined money then--but _in kind_; that is to say, cattle and provisions of various sorts, plough-oxen, hogs, sheep, with mantles and other articles of dress; also dyestuffs, sewing-thread, firewood, horses, rich bridles, chessboards, jewellery, and sometimes gold and silver reckoned out in ounces, as Abraham paid Ephron for the cave of Machpelah. Much income also accrued to the king from other sources not mentioned here; and he wanted it all, for he was expected to be lavish in giving presents, and hospitable without stint in receiving and entertaining guests. Besides all this, the king often went on what was called a ‘Free Circuit,’ _i.e._, a visitation through his dominions, moving quite leisurely in his chariot from place to place, with a numerous retinue, all in their own chariots; while the several sub-kings through whose territories he passed had to lodge, feed, and entertain the whole company free, while they remained. These old Irish kings--when they were not engaged in war--seem to have led a free and easy life, and to have had a pleasanter time of it than the kings and emperors of our own day. The Irish took care that their kings had not too much power in their hands; so that they could not always do as they pleased--a proper and wise arrangement. They were what we now call ‘limited monarchs’; that is, they could not enter on any important undertaking affecting the kingdom or the public without consulting their people. On such occasions the king had to call a meeting of his chief men, and ask their advice, and, if necessary, take their votes when there was a difference of opinions. And besides this, kings, as we shall see farther on, had to obey the law the same as their subjects.