“Every true monk who is
    Possessed of a pious conscience,
    To the church to which it is due
    Let him act as any servant.

    “Every faithful servant from that out,
    Who is not bound by vows of obedience,
    Has liberty to join in the battles
    Of Aedh (Hugh) the Great, son of Nial.

    “This is the proper rule,
    Certain it is not more, not less: 
    Let every one serve his lot,
    Without defect, and without refusal.”

This decision obtained the name of a canon, and henceforth its author was distinguished as Fothadh na Canoine, or Fothadh of the Canons.

At the time of the promulgation of this canon, Aengus was residing at his church of Disert Bethech, near the present town of Monasterevan, not far from where the Irish monarch had pitched his camp.

The poet visited Aengus, and showed him the canon before presenting it to the king.  An intimacy was thus commenced, which must have proved one of singular pleasure to both parties.  Aengus had just finished his “Festology,” and showed it for the first time to his brother poet, who expressed the warmest approbation of the work.

This composition consists of three parts.  The first part is a poem of five quatrains, invoking the grace and sanctification of Christ for the poet and his undertaking:—­

    “Sanctify, O Christ! my words: 
    O Lord of the seven heavens! 
    Grant me the gift of wisdom,
    O Sovereign of the bright sun!

    “O bright Sun, who dost illuminate
    The heavens with all Thy holiness! 
    O King, who governest the angels! 
    O Lord of all the people!

    “O Lord of the people! 
    O King, all righteous and good! 
    May I receive the full benefit
    Of praising Thy royal hosts.

    “Thy royal hosts I praise,
    Because Thou art my sovereign;
    I have disposed my mind
    To be constantly beseeching Thee.

    “I beseech a favour from Thee,
    That I be purified from my sins,
    Through the peaceful bright-shining flock,
    The royal host whom I celebrate.”

Then follows a metrical preface, consisting of eighty stanzas.  These verses are in the same measure[188] as the invocation, Englished by modern Gaedhilic scholars as “chain-verse;” that is, an arrangement of metre by which the first words of every succeeding quatrain are identical with the last words of the preceding one.

After the invocation follows a preface, the second part of this remarkable poem.  In this there is a glowing account of the tortures and sufferings of the early Christian martyrs; it tells “how the names of the persecutors are forgotten, while the names of their victims are remembered with honour, veneration, and affection; how Pilate’s wife is forgotten, while the Blessed Virgin Mary is remembered and honoured from the uttermost bounds of the earth to its centre.”  The martyrology proper, or festology, comes next, and consists of 365 quatrains, or a stanza for each day in the year.