[219] Yew-tree.—­This was a sharp insult.  After the battle of Glen-Mama, Maelmordha had hidden himself in a yew-tree, where he was discovered and taken prisoner by Murrough.

[220] Land.—­Wars of the Gaedhil, p. 151.

[221] Brodir.—­It has been suggested that this was not his real name.  He was Ospak’s brother, and Brodir may have been mistaken for a proper name.  There was a Danish Viking named Gutring, who was an apostate deacon, and who may have been the Brodir of Irish history.

[222] Baptism.—­Burnt Njal, ii. 332.

[223] Combat.—­Wars of the Gaedhil, p. 157.

[224] Magh-n-Ealta.—­The Plain of the Flocks, lying between Howth and Tallaght, so called from Eder, a chieftain who perished before the Christian era.

[225] Clontarf.—­There is curious evidence that the account of the battle of Clontarf must have been written by an eye-witness, or by one who had obtained his information from an eye-witness.  The author states that “the foreigners came out to fight the battle in the morning at the full tide,” and that the tide came in again in the evening at the same place.  The Danes suffered severely from this, “for the tide had carried away their ships from them.”  Consequently, hundreds perished in the waves.—­Wars of the Gaedhil, p. 191.  Dr. Todd mentions that he asked the Rev. S. Haughton, of Trinity College, Dublin, to calculate for him “what was the hour of high water at the shore of Clontarf, in Dublin Bay, on the 23rd of April, 1014.”  The result was a full confirmation of the account given by the author of the Wars of the Gaedhil—­the Rev. S. Haughton having calculated that the morning tide was full in at 5.30 a.m., the evening tide being full at 5.55 p.m.

[226] Siguard.—­Various accounts are given of the disposition of forces on each side, so that it is impossible to speak with accuracy on the subject.  We know how difficult it is to obtain correct particulars on such occasions, even with the assistance of “own correspondents” and electric telegraphs.

[227] Psalms.—­To recite the Psalter in this way was a special devotional practice of the middle ages.

[228] Brian.—­Burnt Njal, ii. 337.  If this account be reliable, Brian did not live to receive the last sacraments, as other authorities state.

CHAPTER XIV.

Distinguished Irish Scholars and Religious—­Domestic Feuds—­O’Brien’s Illness caused by Fright—­Pestilence and Severe Winters—­Contentions between the Northerns and Southerns—­Murtough’s Circuit of Ireland—­The Danes attempt an Invasion—­An Irish King sent to the Isle of Man—­Destruction of Kincora—­St. Celsus makes Peace—­The Synod of Fidh Aengussa—­Subjects considered by the Synod:  (1) The Regulation of the Number of Dioceses, (2) the Sacrament of Matrimony, (3) the Consecration of Bishops, (4) Ceremonies at Baptism—­St. Malachy—­The Traitor Dermod—­Synod at Mellifont Abbey—­St. Laurence O’Toole.