manuscript which gives a version of the tale of Flidais; and I suspect
an allusion to the Etain story in a verse in the "Sick-bed of
Cuchulain" (see note, p. 184). It may be observed that the
introduction of Conor and his contemporaries into the story of Conary's
grandparents is an additional piece of evidence that our form of the
story of Etain precedes the "antiquarian age"; for at that time the
version which we have of the story of Conary must have been classical
and the connection of Conor's warriors with Conary well-known. A keen
eye was at that time kept on departures from the recognised historical
order (compare a note by Mr. Nutt in the "Voyage of Bran," vol. ii. p.
61); and the introduction of Conor into our version of the tale of
Etain must have been at an earlier date.

The two versions of the "Courtship of Etain," the Egerton one, and that
in the Leabhar na h-Uidhri, have been compared in the general preface
to the volume, and little more need be said on this point; it may,
however, be noted that eight pages of the Egerton version (pp. 11 to
18) are compressed into two pages in L.U. (pp. 23 and 24). References
to the Etain story are found in different copies of the "Dindshenchas,"
under the headings of Rath Esa, Rath Croghan, and Bri Leith; the
principal manuscript authorities, besides the two translated here, are
the Yellow Book of Lecan, pp. 91 to 104, and the Book of Leinster, 163b
(facsimile). These do not add much to our versions; there are,
however, one or two new points in a hitherto untranslated manuscript
source mentioned by O'Curry ("Manners and Customs," vol. ii. p 192 to
194).

The Leabhar na h-Uidhri version is defective both at the beginning and
at the end; there is also a complete column torn from the manuscript,
making the description of the chess match defective. These three gaps