cavalcade,
He reach'd the Temple; there, supremely bless'd,
Hung up his arms, his banner'd spoils display'd,
And at the sacred Tomb his vow'd devotions paid.

EPICS OF THE BRITISH ISLES

Although the name Celt was given by the early Greeks to all the people
living West of their country, the Romans included under that name only
the tribes occupying the countries now known as France, Western
Switzerland, Germany west of the Rhine, Belgium, and the British
Isles. Blocked together under a generic name, the Celtic nation was,
however, composed of many tribes, with separate dialects and customs.
It has been surmised that two of these tribes, the British and Irish,
early took possession of England and Ireland, where they flourished
and subdivided until disturbed by invasions of various kinds.

The Celts all practised what is termed the Druidic cult, their priests
being poets, bards, or gleemen, who could compose or recite in verse,
ritual, laws, and heroic ballads. During the four hundred years of
Roman occupation, the Celts in England became somewhat Romanized, but
the Irish, and their near relatives the Scots, were less influenced by
Latin civilization. It is therefore in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales
that the oldest traces of Celtic literature are found, for the bards
there retained their authority and acted as judges after Christianity
had been introduced, and as late as the sixth century. Although St.
Patrick is reported to have forbidden these Irish bards to continue
their pagan incantations, they continued to exert some authority, and
it is said Irish priests adopted the tonsure which was their
distinctive badge. The bards, who could recite and compose poems and
stories, accompanying themselves on a rudimentary harp, were
considered of much higher rank than those who merely recited
incantations. They transmitted poems, incantations, and laws, orally
only, and no proof exists that the pagan Irish, for instance,
committed any works to writing previous to the introduction of
Christianity in their midst.

The heroic tales of Ireland from a large and well-marked epic cycle,
the central tale of the series being the anonymous "Cattle of Cooly,"
wherein is related the war waged by the Irish Queen Mab against her
husband for the possession of a mystic brown bull. In the course of
this war the chief hero, Cuchulaind, makes himself famous by defending
the country of Ulster single-handed! The still extant tal