it is an open question whether any of them rises quite so high as
Deirdre's lament. "Fraech" has, as has been mentioned before, two
quite separate parts; the second part is of inferior quality, showing,
however, an unusual amount of knowledge of countries lying outside
Celtdom, but the first is a most graceful romance; although the hero is
a demi-god, and the fairies play a considerable part in it, the
interest is essentially human; and the plot is more involved than is
the case in most of the romances. It abounds in brilliant
descriptions; the description of the Connaught palace is of antiquarian
interest; and one of the most beautiful pieces of Celtic mythology, the
parentage of the three fairy harpers, is included in it.

The "Sick-bed of Cuchulain" and the Leabhar na h-Uidhri version of the
"Courtship of Etain" seem to have had their literary effect injured by
the personality of the compiler of the manuscript from which the
Leabhar na h-Uidhri was copied. Seemingly an antiquarian, interested
in the remains of the old Celtic religion and in old ceremonies, he has
inserted pieces of antiquarian information into several of the romances
that he has preserved for us, and though these are often of great
interest in themselves, they spoil the literary effect of the romances
in which they appear. It is possible that both the Leabhar na h-Uidhri
version of "Etain" and the "Sick-bed" might be improved by a little
judicious editing; they have, however, been left just as they stand in
the manuscript. The "Sick-bed," as is pointed out in the special
introduction to it, consists of two separate versions; the first has
plainly some of the compiler's comments added to it, but the second and
longer part seems not to have been meddled with; and, although a
fragment, it makes a stately romance, full of human interest although
dealing with supernatural beings; and its conclusion is especially
remarkable in early literature on account of the importance of the