Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race - Knowledge Rush

CHAPTER IV: THE EARLY MILESIAN KINGS 141Thou shalt not sleep in a house from which firelight showsafter sunset, or in which light can be seen fromwithout.No three Reds shall go before thee to the house of Red.No rapine shall be wrought in thy reign. [169]After sunset, no one woman alone or man alone shall enter thehouse in which thou art.Thou shalt not interfere in a quarrel between two of thy thralls.”Conary then entered upon his reign, which was marked bythe fair seasons and bounteous harvests always associated in theIrish mind with the reign of a good king. Foreign ships cameto the ports. Oak-mast for the swine was up to the knees everyautumn; the rivers swarmed with fish. “No one slew anotherin Erin during his reign, and to every one in Erin his fellow'svoice seemed as sweet as the strings of lutes. From mid-springto mid-autumn no wind disturbed a cow's tail.”Beginning of the VengeanceDisturbance, however, came from another source. Conary hadput down all raiding and rapine, and his three foster-brothers,who were born reavers, took it ill. They pursued their evilways in pride and wilfulness, and were at last captured redhanded.Conary would not condemn them to death, as the peoplebegged him to do, but spared them for the sake of his kinship infosterage. They were, however, banished from Erin and biddento go raiding overseas, if raid they must. On the seas they metanother exiled chief, Ingcel the One-Eyed, son of the King ofBritain, and joining forces with him they attacked the fortressin which Ingcel's father, mother, and brothers were guests atthe time, and all were destroyed in a single night. It was thenthe turn of Ingcel to ask their help in raiding the land of Erin,and gathering a host of other outlawed men, including the sevenManés, sons of Ailell and Maev of Connacht, besides Ferlee,Fergar, and Ferrogan, they made a descent upon Ireland, takingland on the Dublin coast near Howth. [170]