Murphy's Emerald Idyll

Ireland

Irish Society

An inhospitable Irishman,
    Simply cannot be.
The very meaning of the words
    Is contradictory.

The Irish might have other faults,
    And I am sure they do.
But service is their heritage.
    I know this to be true.

We find this in their tribal kings,
    Their rulers of the past.
Around this ancient royalty,
    The tribal heart was cast.

The king was treated like a god,
    By druid caste or slave
The warriors and the chieftains too,
    To king their service gave.

But all demanded much of kings,
    For subjects' loyalty.
Perfection was required of him,
    To be 'His Royalty."

For if they had a virile king,
    A fertile crop they'd reap.
But if the king were weak or cruel,
    The harvesters would weep.

King Bres, himself, was such a king.
    He hated art and letter.
He was a most oppressive king,
    So things would get no better.

He claimed the milk of hairless cows,
    Then issued this decree:
"All Munster cows must pass through fire."
    Which made them all hair free.

If the king were not hospitable,
    To chieftains by his side,
Or didn't give them ale to drink,
    There'd soon be regicide.

All leaders then should learn from this,
    To serve is but to rule.
To learn this fundamental truth,
    We need not go to school.

We learn it through experience,
    The very best of teachers,
And unless we learn it well,
    It could be our impeacher.
-----------------------
                                                                                    Linked Index

 From: Fun with Irish Myths,   by John J. Ollivier,  pp 35-36,  Top of the Mountain Publishing,  Largo, Florida 34643-5117, U.S.A.    Paperback  With permission of the author, who has also written Fun with Greek Myths, and Fun with Nursery Rhymes, and, soon to be released,  Fun with Nordic Myths.