Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race - Knowledge Rush

124 Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race[150]a provincial chief five, and an Ollav, or royal person, six. Ollavwas a term applied to a certain Druidic rank; it meant much thesame as “doctor,” in the sense of a learned man—a master ofscience. It is a characteristic trait that the Ollav is endowed witha distinction equal to that of a king.Ollav FōlaThe most distinguished Ollav of Ireland was also a king, thecelebrated Ollav Fōla, who is supposed to have been eighteenthfrom Eremon and to have reigned about 1000 B.C. He was theLycurgus or Solon of Ireland, giving to the country a code oflegislature, and also subdividing it, under the High King at Tara,among the provincial chiefs, to each of whom his proper rightsand obligations were allotted. To Ollav Fōla is also attributed thefoundation of an institution which, whatever its origin, became ofgreat importance in Ireland—the great triennial Fair or Festivalat Tara, where the sub-kings and chiefs, bards, historians, andmusicians from all parts of Ireland assembled to make up thegenealogical records of the clan chieftainships, to enact laws,hear disputed cases, settle succession, and so forth; all thesepolitical and legislative labours being lightened by song andfeast. It was a stringent law that at this season all enmitiesmust be laid aside; no man might lift his hand against another,or even institute a legal process, while the Assembly at Tarawas in progress. Of all political and national institutions of thiskind Ollav Fōla was regarded as the traditional founder, just asGoban the Smith was the founder of artistry and handicraft, andAmergin of poetry. But whether the Milesian king had any moreobjective reality than the other more obviously mythical figuresit is hard to say. He is supposed to have been buried in the greattumulus at Loughcrew, in Westmeath.Kimbay and the Founding of Emain MachaWith Kimbay (Cimbaoth), about 300 B.C., we come to alandmark in history. “All the historical records of the Irish,prior to Kimbay, were dubious”—so, with remarkable critical