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Swiftly did he drive and straight, until he came to the palace of Bove Derg, and there by the waters of the Great Lake did Bove Derg meet him. 'Oh, Lir, wherefore have thy children come not hither? And Eva stood by the King. Stern and sad rang the answer of Lir. 'Alas! Eva, your foster-child, hath by her wicked magic changed them into four snow-white swans.
And forth did the five chiefs wander, that the Dedannan folk might freely say to whom they would most gladly do homage as King. Not far did they roam, for soon there arose a great cry, 'Bove Derg is King. Bove Derg is King. And all were glad, save Lir. But Lir was angry, and he left the plain where the Dedannan people were, taking leave of none, and doing Bove Derg no reverence.
Lir was visiting once at the castle of Bogha Derg, the King of Conacht, and he saw the daughter of the King, and he fell in love with her and married her. "For a time they were happy, and then the new wife began to be jealous of the love of her husband for his four children.
Scarce could the Dedannans speak for the sorrow they had for Finola and her brothers, but they told how Lir and Bove Derg were alive and well, and were even now celebrating the Feast of Age at the house of Lir. 'But for their longing for you, your father and friends would be happy indeed. Glad then and of great comfort were the hearts of Finola and her brothers.
"Well, childher," said the father, "didn't I tell yez the bitther mornin' we left Tubber Derg, not to cry or be disheartened that there was a 'good God above who might do somethin' for us yet? I never did give up may trust in Him, an' I never will. You see, afther all our little troubles, He has wanst more brought us together, an' made us happy. Praise an' glory to His name!"
North, south, east, and west did this noble people dwell, doing homage to many chiefs. But one blue morning after a great battle the Dedannans met on a wide plain to choose a King. 'Let us, they said, 'have one King over all. Let us no longer have many rulers. Forth from among the Princes rose five well fitted to wield a sceptre and to wear a crown, yet most royal stood Bove Derg and Lir.
It was, however, an act of devotion that had a vile effect on my lungs, for it gave me a cough that was intolerable; and I never felt the infirmities of humanity more than in this ludicrous attempt to get beyond them; in which, by the way, I was nearer being successful than I had intended, though in a different sense. This happened a month before I started for Lough Derg.
Och, musha, I forget who I'm spakin' to, or I wouldn't disremimber the ould sayin' that's abroad this many a year: 'who ever knew a M'Carthy of Tubber Derg to tell a lie, break his word, or refuse to help a friend in distress. But, Owen, you're well to do in' the world?" "We're as well, Bridget, or may be betther, nor you ever knew us, except, indeed, afore the ould lase was run out wid us."
Caesar Otway, some time I think in the winter of 1829. About that time, or a little before, he had brought out his admirable work called, "Sketches in Ireland, descriptive of interesting portions of Donegal, Cork, and Kerry." Among the remarkable localities of Donegal, of course it was natural to suppose, that "Lough Derg," or the celebrated "Purgatory of St. Patrick," would not be omitted.
Old Rogerson had been intimately acquainted with the M'Carthys, and, as Frank had anticipated, used his influence with the agent in procuring for the son of his old friend and acquaintance the farm which he sought. "Jack," said the old gentleman, "you don't probably know the history and character of the Tubber Derg M'Carthys so well as I do.
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