Deira

“ York was the capital of its kings. The date of its first settlement is quite unknown, but the first king of whom we have any record is Ella or Ælle, the father of Edwin, who is said to have been reigning about 585. After his death Deira was subject to Æthelfrith, king of Northumbria, until the accession of Edwin, in 616 or 617, who ruled both kingdoms (see Edwin) till 633. Osric the nephew of Edwin ruled Deira (633–634) , but his son Oswine was put to death by Oswio in 651. For a few years subsequently Deira was governed by Æthelwald son of Oswald. ”

“ Baeda describes Oswini as a man of graceful bearing, tall of stature, affable in discourse, and courteous in behaviour; he was very pious and devout, and was beloved by all men. Oswini was the last king of Deira, which, after his death, was permanently united with Bernicia to form the kingdom of Northumbria. ”

“ Three years after the great battle in which Aidan was defeated at Dawstone in Liddesdale, he died, leaving his throne to his son Eocha Buidhe, or the yellow-haired, whom Saint Columba had named as his successor; [297] and in the same year Aedilfrid, king of Bernicia, attacked Aeduin, who had succeeded his father Aella in Deira when a child, and had barely attained majority, and drove him from his throne, thus uniting Deira to Bernicia, over which he reigned twelve years. ”

“ Æthelfrith eventually acquired possession of Deira, probably in 604 or 605, perhaps on Ella's death, expelling his son Edwin (q.v.) . Thenceforward, with rare intervals, the two kingdoms remained united. Æthelfrith became involved in war with the Welsh towards the end of his reign and captured Chester, probably about 613. Shortly afterwards, in 616, he was defeated and slain in battle on the river Idle by Edwin, who was assisted by the East Anglian king Raedwald. Edwin now became king over both Northumbrian provinces. ”

“ But on the133 death of Ida (560) , if we may trust the Chronicle, a prince of another line claiming descent from Woden through eleven generations of mortal men, Aelle or Ella, began to reign over the southern kingdom, Deira, and reigned for twenty-eight years. Were the relations between the two dissevered kingdoms friendly or hostile? It is impossible to say. The presence of the Deiran slave boys in the Roman forum suggests the latter hypothesis; the fact that Acha, the daughter of Aelle, was married to Ethelfrid of Bernicia suggests the former. ”

“ Probably a few years later Olaf married a daughter of Constantine II of Scotland, and the latter now changed his policv and supported Olaf in his preparation for the impending struggle for the recovery of the Danish kingdom of Deira. This alliance between Constantine and Olaf seems to have been the cause of Æthelstan's raid into Scotland in 934, which probably kept the allies in check for three years.
In 937 the great confederacy of Scots, Britons, and Irish was formed under Olaf Sitricson, Constantine, and Olaf Godfreyson of Dublin. ”

“ ÆLLA (d. 588) , king of the Deirans, was the son of Iffa, ealdorman of the Deirans, an Anglian tribe settled in the country called in later times the East Riding of Yorkshire. On the death of Ida, the Deirans cast off the Bernician supremacy, and, in 559, Ælla was made the first Deiran king, while the descendants of Ida continued to reign in the northern kingdom. ”

“ His pretty hands danced before him in the urgency of his surprise, his amusement, at finding himself in these haunts of the simple Briton; it took him back, he said, to the days of his innocence; and it flashed upon me that Deering had now turned yet another corner of his emancipation—the newest and latest perversity, perhaps, was to throw over the marble halls of the Via Nazionale and to come round again to the tea-room of the English old maids at this end of the town. The rate at which Deering refines upon refinement is bewildering to a plain man. ”

“ Now dry up the flood, and let me see if I can behold Deirdre," said Connachar. And Duanan Gacha Druid dried up the flood from the plain and the three sons of Uisnech were lying together dead, without breath of life, side by side on the green meadow plain and Deirdre bending above showering down her tears.
Then Deirdre said this lament: "Fair one, loved one, flower of beauty; beloved upright and strong; beloved noble and modest warrior. Fair one, blue-eyed, beloved of thy wife; lovely to me at the trysting-place came thy clear voice through the woods of Ireland. ”

“ When the king saw the woman that was before him that he had been in quest of, he thought he never saw in the course of the day nor in the dream of night a creature so fair as Deirdre and he gave his full heart's weight of love to her. Deirdre was raised on the topmost of the heroes' shoulders and she and her foster-mother were brought to the Court of King Connachar of Ulster. ”

“ One point alone I noted, one conclusion I drew; whatever it cost him, Deering occupied a position in the Via Nazionale to which he was not indifferent. He owed it to everything that he supposed himself to have shed and cast away, finally, when he put on his broad-brimmed hat and eschewed the English ghetto; he owed his position to his value (poor Deering!) as a substantial and respectable Briton. But why dwell on a painful subject? Deering had been welcomed into a society that included an opera-singer and two dancers, he was at home and on his feet there ”

“ But Naisi answered:—"We cannot follow thy advice, beloved Deirdre, for it would be a mark of fear: and we have no fear."
And as they came nigh the palace Deirdre said to them:—"I will now give you a sign if Concobar meditates good or evil. If you are brought into his own mansion where he sits surrounded by his nobles, to eat and drink with him, this is a token that he means no ill; for no man will injure a guest that has partaken of food at his table: but if you are sent to the house of the Red Branch, be sure he is bent on treachery." ”

“ Deir itself is a thrifty and rising town, having considerable traffic; it is singularly European in appearance, with macadamized streets and a public garden. The name Deir means monastery, but there is no other trace or tradition of the occupation of the site before the 14th century, and until it became the capital of the sanjak it was an insignificant village. It is an important centre for the control of the Bedouin Arabs, and has a garrison of about 1000 troops, including a special corps of mule-riders. ”

“ Deirdre and her foster-mother dwelt in the bothy mid the hills without the knowledge or the suspicion of any living person about them and without anything occurring, until Deirdre was sixteen years of age. Deirdre grew like the white sapling, straight and trim as the rash on the moss. She was the creature of fairest form, of loveliest aspect, and of gentlest nature that existed between earth and heaven in all Ireland—whatever colour of hue she had before, there was nobody that looked into her face but she would blush fiery red over it. ”

“ And Deirdre grew up tall and stately as the sapling [204] of the forest, and lithe as the green moorland rush that bows before the wind. Of all the women of the world was Deirdre the gentlest and best, lovely of form and lovely in her mind; light as the hind that leaps upon the hill, and white and shapely as the snowy swan. But though they tended her, and fed her with the best, the maiden drooped and pined. And on a day Levarcam said, “What ails thee, girl? Why is thy face so pale, thy step so slow? Why dost thou sigh and mope?” ”

“ Mr Campbell says:—“The story of Deirdre is related to Indian Epics, and is an Aryan romance which pervades the whole world. A beautiful girl, shut up to baulk a prophecy, is beloved by an old King. She runs away with a family of brothers, and after adventures of many kinds, the story ends in a tragedy.” Connachar, King of Ireland, whose reign is placed about the middle of the first century, was preparing to marry the beautiful princess, Deirdri, when she ran away with the three sons of his sister, Naos, Ainle, and Ardan. They went to Scotland, where they were well received. ”

“ But through the ages has the tale of the wondrous beauty of Deirdre been sung, and yet shall it be told again, for when shall the world tire of the sorrowfullest of ‘The Three Sorrows of Story-telling,’—the Fate of the Sons of Usna and of Deirdre the Star-eyed?
THE FOUR WHITE SWANS
In the days of long ago there lived in the Green Isle of Erin a race of brave men and fair women—the race of the Dedannans. North, south, east, and west did this noble people dwell, doing homage to many chiefs. ”

“ Deering never stayed at Denham alone with her.
Glynn was conscious of an unaccountable sense of relief when Deering expressed a desire to quit Paris, even sooner than he had at first intended.
It was absurd to imagine that any evil could arise out of a mere passing admiration; it could be nothing more, for a handsome stranger. Yet the expression of Deering's eyes, the uneasiness, wonder, fire, all commingled, which had so impressed him, flashed back vividly across his memory with undiminished disturbing force. ”

“ He will attack before morning. Oh, Deirdre, Deirdre, that you could have come here knowing Conachúr as I taught him to you! What madness brought you from Scotland, child? Are you glad to see me? Do you love your mother still, little one? I have [Pg 229] told the king that you would be ruined with hardship and sorrow; alas! you are more beautiful than ever. I shall tell him that you are one-eyed and lame, I shall tell him anything to quieten him for this night. To-morrow Naoise’s people will get news of your return and he may fear to attack. ”

“ It’s easy being fearful and you alone in the woods, yet it would be a poor thing if a timid woman (taunting her a little) could turn away the Sons of Usna from the life of kings. Let you be thinking on the years to come, Deirdre, and the way you’d have a right to see Naisi a high and white-haired justice beside some king of Emain. Wouldn’t it be a poor story if a queen the like of you should have no thought but to be scraping up her hours dallying in the sunshine with the sons of kings? ”

“ In the great tragic tale of ancient Ireland, the Fate of the Sons of Usnech, Deirdre—born like Helen or Gudrun, to be a cause of strife among men, of sorrow and ruin to whomsoever she loves—Deirdre takes her fate into her own hands, and woos Noisi with outspoken passionate frankness. ”

“ In a word, the trained sagacity, and untiring caution of an Indian were all he had to rely on, amid the critical risks he unavoidably ran.
"Is the rock empty, Judith?" inquired Deerslayer, as soon as he had checked the drift of the Ark, deeming it imprudent to venture unnecessarily near the shore. "Is any thing to be seen of the Delaware chief?"
"Nothing, Deerslayer. Neither rock, shore, trees, nor lake seems to have ever held a human form."
'Keep close, Judith - keep close, Hetty - a rifle has a prying eye, a nimble foot, and a desperate fatal tongue. ”

“ However, old Lady Gethin recognized her remarkable likeness to a dear friend who married Gilbert Deering, and whose daughter she proved to be. Then they found the nurse to whom the Yankee had given her, so the Deerings thought it better to come to an amicable settlement. Lady Frances keeps her dower, and young Deering the estates for his life; but this charming Mrs. Glynn, or her son, will succeed him. They are great friends. What splendid diamonds she has!"
"Well!" exclaimed the Indian nephew, "truth really is stranger than fiction." ”

“ Deerslayer was interrupted by a slight exclamation from the girl, who, in obedience to his hurried gestures, as much as in obedience to his words, had immediately bent her looks again in the opposite direction.
"What is't?—what is't, Judith?" he hastily demanded. "Is any thing to be seen?"
"There is a man on the rock!—an Indian warrior in his paint, and armed!"
"Where does he wear his hawk's feather?" eagerly added Deerslayer, relaxing his hold of the line, in readiness to drift nearer to the place of rendezvous. "Is it fast to the warlock, or does he carry it above the left ear?" ”

“ And Deirdre arose and drew the bolt from the leaf of the door, and she let in the hunter. She placed a seat in the place for sitting, food in the place for eating, and drink in the place for drinking for the man who came to the house. "Oh, for this life and raiment, you man that came in, keep restraint on your tongue!" said the old woman. "It is not a great thing for you to keep your mouth shut and your tongue quiet when you get a home and shelter of a hearth on a gloomy winter's night." ”

“ I have found a man who believes my story, and he is a backer not to be despised."
"And he is?" asked Deering, without taking his cigar from his lips.
"Glynn! You know him."
"Ha! and he believes your little romance?"—a look of concentrated fury contracting his brow. "Satisfactory to you; but unfortunately men's beliefs are not evidence. Now I have positive evidence."
"Deering!—you are the most accursed scoundrel that ever disgraced God's earth! Were it not for my child, I'd gladly pay forfeit with my life for the pleasure of killing you." ”

“ It wasn’t as though Deering sat in a café because he knew no better, because he was the kind of person whose ideas are bounded by plush and gilt and plate-glass. He sat there, avoiding the nightingales on the Aventine, the sunset in the Campagna, because he knew all that and more, and because the rarity of the perversity of his culture led him back again, round again, to the scream of the tramway in the “business quarter.” ”