oetry
seems to have been entirely oral, and the course consisted largely in
learning by heart the verses in which the native lore was enshrined.
These schools of learning existed in one form or another down to the
17th century. In the early days the _fili_ is represented as employing a
mysterious archaic form of speech--doubtless full of obscure
kennings--which was only intelligible to the initiated. An instance of
this _berla feine_, as it was termed, is the piece entitled _Acallam an
Da Shuad_ (Colloquy of the Two Sages, _Rev. celt._ xxvi. 4 ff.). In this
piece two _filid_ of the 1st century A.D. are represented as contending
in this dialect for the office of chief _ollam_ of Ireland, much to the
chagrin of King Conchobar, to whom their speeches were unintelligible.
It was in consequence of this that Conchobar ruled that the office of
_fili_ should no longer carry with it of necessity the office of judge
(_brithem_). It ought to be observed that the church never showed itself
hostile to the _filid_, as it did to the druids. Dubthach, chief _fili_
of Ireland in the time of St Patrick, is represented as the saint's
constant companion, and the famous Flann Mainistrech (d. 1056), though a
layman and _fili_, was head of the monastery school at Monasterboice.

The bard.

Before leaving the subject of the literary classes, we must notice an
inferior grade of poet--the bard. Like the official _filid_, the bards
were divided into grades. There were both patrician and plebeian bards,
each subdivided into eight degrees, having their own peculiar metres.
Like the _fili_ the bard had to go through a long course of study, and
he was generally attached to the house of some chieftain whose praises
he had to sing. In course of time the office of _fili_ became extinct,
owing to a variety of causes, and from the 13th to the 16th century we
find the hitherto despised family bard stepping into the place of the
most influential literary man in Ireland. His importance was fully
realized by the English government, which did its best to suppress the
order.

Medieval romances.

The medieval romances form by far the most attractive part of Irish
literature, and it is to them that we shall first turn our attention.
Two main groups of stories have to be distinguished. The one is the
Ulster cycle, with Conchobar and Cuchulinn as central figures. The other
is the Southern or Leinster-Munster cycle, revolving round Finn and
Ossian. Furt