The Fianna chased
these and the wolves with great dogs, whose courage and strength and
beauty were famous throughout Europe, and which they prized and loved
above all things. To the present day in Ireland there still remain
some of this breed of Irish hounds, but the giant deer and the wolf
are gone, and the Fianna of Erinn live only in the ancient books that
were written of them, and in the tales that are still told of them in
the winter evenings by the Irish peasant's fireside.
The Fianna were under the rule of one great captain or chief, and at
the time I tell of his name was Cumhal, son of Trenmor. Now a tribe or
family of the Fianna named the Clan Morna, or Sons of Morna, rose in
rebellion against Cumhal, for they were jealous and greedy of his
power and glory, and sought to have the captaincy for themselves. They
defeated and slew him at the battle of Cnucha, which is now called
Castleknock, near the City of the Hurdle Ford, which is the name that
Dublin still bears in the Irish tongue. Goll, son of Morna, slew
Cumhal, and they spoiled him of the Treasure Bag of the Fianna, which
was a bag made of a crane's skin and having in it jewels of great
price, and magic weapons, and strange things that had come down from
far-off days when the Fairy Folk and mortal men battled for the
lordship of Ireland.
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