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The Wooing of Becfola
We do not
know where Becfola came from. Nor do we know for certain
where she went to. We do not even know her real name,
for the name Becfola, "Dowerless" or "Small-dowered,"
was given to her as a nickname. This only is certain,
that she disappeared from the world we know of, and that
she went to a realm where even conjecture may not follow
her.
It
happened in the days when Dermod, son of the famous Ae
of Slane, was monarch of all Ireland. He was unmarried,
but he had many foster-sons, princes from the Four
Provinces, who were sent by their fathers as tokens of
loyalty and affection to the Ard-Ri, and his duties as a
foster-father were righteously acquitted. Among the
young princes of his household there was one, Crimthann,
son of Ae, King of Leinster, whom the High King
preferred to the others over whom he held fatherly sway.
Nor was this wonderful, for the lad loved him also, and
was as eager and intelligent and modest as becomes a
prince.
The High
King and Crimthann would often set out from Tara to hunt
and hawk, sometimes unaccompanied even by a servant; and
on these excursions the king imparted to his foster-son
his own wide knowledge of forest craft, and advised him
generally as to the bearing and duties of a prince, the
conduct of a court, and the care of a people.
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