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LITERARY INFLUENCE 69
strong folk element which would seem to point towards
a popular, not a literary origin.
At the close of the tenth century story-telling was in
high favour in Ireland, and the professional story-teller
was able not only to recite any one of the great historical
tales, but to improvise, if the occasion arose. Mac Coisse,
the poet attached to the court of Maelsechnaill II., tells
in an interesting prose work how his castle at Clartha (Co.
Westmeath) was once plundered by the O’Neills of Ulster.
He immediately set out for Aileach in order to obtain
compensation from the head of the clan, King Domhnall
O’Neill (d. 978). On his arrival, he was received with great
honour and brought into the king’s presence. In response
to DomhnaH’s request for a story, Mac Coisse mentioned
the names of a large number of tales including one called
The Plunder of the Castle of Maelmilscotach. This was the
only one with which the king was unfamiliar, so he asked
the storyteller to relate it. In it Mac Coisse described,
under the form of an allegory, the plundering of his castle
by the king’s kinsmen. When he had finished he confessed
that he himself was Maelmilscotach1
, and he begged the
king to grant him full restitution of his property. This
the king agreed to do, and the grateful poet then recited
a poem of eighteen stanzas which he had composed about
the king and his family.
3
which the deeds of mythical heroes have been transferred to historical
people, than sagas transmitted by oral tradition from generation to
generation.
1
i.e.,
"
son of the honeyed words," a poet.
2
O’Curry : Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish, II., pp..
130-135-
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