The Instructions Of The King

Cormac MacArt, teaches how to be a kingly warrior.

O Cormac, grandson of Conn", said Carbery, "What were your habits when you were a lad?"

"Not hard to tell", said Cormac.

I was a listener in woods

I was a gazer at stars

I was blind where secrets were concerned

I was silent in a wilderness

I was talkative among many

I was mild in the mead-hall

I was stern in battle

I was gentle towards allies

I was a physician of the sick

I was weak towards the feeble

I was strong towards the powerful

I was not close lest I should be burdensome

I was not arrogant though I was wise

I was not given to promising though I was strong

I was not venturesome though I was swift

I did not deride the old though I was young

I was not boastful though I was a good fighter

I would not speak about any one in his absence

I would not reproach, but I would praise

I would not ask, but I would give

    For it is through these habits that the young become old and kingly warriors."

"O Cormac, grandson of Conn", said Carbery, "What is the worst thing you have seen?"

"Not hard to tell", said Cormac, "Faces of foes in the rout of battle".

"O Cormac, grandson of Conn", said Carbery, "What is the sweetest thing you have heared?"

"Not hard to tell", said Cormac, "The shout of triumph after victory, Praise after wages, A lady's invitation to her pillow." 

"O Cormac, grandson of Conn", said Carbery, "I desire to know how I shall behave among the wise and the foolish, among friends and strangers, among the old and the young, among the innocent and the wicked."

"Not hard to tell", said Cormac.

Be not too wise, be not too foolish

be not too conceited, nor too diffident

be not too haughty, nor too humble

be not too talkative, nor too silent

be not too hard, nor too feeble

If you be too wise, one will expect too much of you

If you be foolish, you will be deceived

If you be too conceited, you will be thought vexatious

If you be too humble, you will be without honour

If you be too talkative, you will not be heeded

If you be too silent, you will not be regarded

If you be too hard, you will be broken

    If you be too feeble, you will be crushed.

"O Cormac, grandson of Conn", said Carbery, "Who are the worst for whom you have a comparison?"

"Not hard to tell", said Cormac.

A man with the impudence of a satirist,

with the pugnacity of a slave-woman

with the carelessness of a dog

with the conscience of a hound

with a robber's hand

with a bull's strength

with the dignity of a judge

with keen ingenious wisdom

with the speech of a stately man

with the memory of an historian

with the behavior of an abbot

with the swearing of a horse-thief

    and he wise, lying, grey-haired, violent, swearing, garrulous, when he says 'the matter is settled, I swear, you shall swear'.

“King Cormac Mac Airt was one of the mightiest kings of Ireland, known and well known for his wisdom, but after he lost an eye in a battle with the Déisi, he had to step down, for the solemn law was that a king must be without blemish. His son Cairbre came to him to ask his advice before in turn being crowned king.”