I have a dream...
I have a dream, that someday people will be judged by the content of their character, not the col...
I shake me head to clear it. What fae put that in me head? Nay, me dream is that one day, all Ireland will be united, and bask under the benevolent rule of a Clan Ua hUalgairg high king. But who am I fooling? That be the dream of every other king and petty king in Ireland, give or take the clan name o' course, and none ha'e managed to do it since Brian Boru, 200 years agone.
My name, you ask? As you wish.
My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father, prep...
Where dae these odd thoughts keep coming from? Nay, me name is Aed MacNiall, head o' Clan Ua hUalgairg, petty king o' Tyrone, lord o' all I survey... provided I don't go up on the walls o' Aileach, me castle (if ye can call it that, lacking as it is even a shallow moat or a wooden palisade), on a clear day. Fortunately, there be not many clear days here in the north of Ireland.
I be not only the clan head, but seemingly the only living member of it. If I have any kin, me father, God rest his soul, neglected to tell me of them, just as he neglected to tell me who me mother was. Ensuring that there be more Ua hUalgairgs to carry on me dream must be me first priority.
I ask me Chancellor, Brandub de Derry, tae find me a wife. He informs me that nary a one o' the kings and petty kings of Ireland ha'e a marriageable daughter or sister, an' most lack even a wife. When he told me that none o' them know who their mothers be, I roar with laughter. What a right sorry lot o' bastards we Irish kings be!
When I ask him about foreign prospects, he directs me attention to Beatrice de Guines, the 19 year old sister o' the count o' Guines in Frankland. I ha'e him send off a letter tae the count asking for his sister's hand in marriage, and while I wait for his reply, I take stock o' me council and set tasks for them.
Brandub be a masterful diplomat. Him I send tae the neighboring petty kingdom o' Tyrconnell any claim I might ha'e tae it.
Mael-Sechnail de Tullyhogue is me marshall. He and Aengus, Mayor of Coleraine, me steward, be decent enough at their jobs, unlike Maoil Sechluinn Ua Faelain, me spymaster, who seems tae think that standing in an open door with his hand cupped tae his ear is the best way tae ferret out secrets wi'out being caught.
Lugaid de Aileach, a masterful scholar, rounds out me council as court chaplain. Why he isn't a bishop somewhere puzzles me, but church politics makes me head spin.
Mael-Sechnail, Mayor Aengus and Chaplain Lugaid I set tae researchin' technologies in their fields. Maoil I send tae the Queen of Cities in the Greek empire to see what secrets we can steal... er, I mean borrow... from their archives to improve this backward land.
Fortune smiles on me, and that Frankish count allows his sister to come be me wife. She soon tells me that she wishes to be me spymaster, but while she would be far better than Maoil at that task I explain to her that it is far more important to provide me some heirs before settin' her to something so dangerous. Fortune smiles once again, and before another year has passed, she informs me that she is with child.
As we wait for the blessed event, Murchad MacNiall presents himself at me court, assertin' that he be a better spy than Maoil and askin' for his job. He also reveals that he has a claim on Tyrconnell, bein' the son and nephew of the two petty kings who reigned there before its current ruler, Ruaidri Mac Flaithbertach Ua Canannain. This could be useful if he lives long enough, so I accept his petition, send him off tae Constantinople to replace his predecessor, and direct Chancellor Brandub tae direct his attentions to Ulster.
By the grace of God, Beatrice presents me with a son, Gilla-Ruad. Not long after, Murchad brings to me attention a plot by Maoil, his predecessor, to kill me, which already had 3 backers, two from me council, me marshal and steward! I call the conspirators into the council room (with some trusted guards at the door) and revealed that I knew all, and demanded they cease their plotting. They rather sheepishly acquiesced. I'm surprised it got so far, Maoil was as good at keeping secrets as he was at ferreting them out... to wit, not very.
My wife presents me with another son, Niall. I had hoped for a daughter to marry to Murchad to bring his claim on Tyrconnell into my family, but I am not displeased. Not long after, she asks me to make An Dall MacMaoil, son of that dunce Maoil, Chancellor. At first I refuse, but she continues to wheedle and beg so I interview him, and find out he is the equal of Chancellor Brandub, so for the sake of peace in the bedroom, I give in and send him to replace Brandub in the court of Ulster.
After a third son (Mael-Sechnaill) was born, some friends tried to tempt me to hedonism, but I resisted, turning to celibacy instead... not too successfully, as my lust tempts me into Beatrice's bedroom now and again. After one such encounter, she reveals that she is once again with child. Once again, it is a son (Lorcan). We both yearn for a daughter.
Chancellor An Dall reported success in "uncovering" an ancient charter in the archives of Downpatrick giving the Ua hUalgairg clan ancestral rights to rule in Ulster. I congratulate him, and set him to improve relations with my vassals at home. This charter will be useful in a few years, when we can afford to pay a mercenary band for more than a handful of months.
When Beatrice told me she was expecting what turned out to be Cormac, our fifth son, my lust overcame my willpower, and I gave into the sweet temptations of her arms. A sixth pregnancy soon followed.
Soon after Marshal Mael-Sechnaill had a training accident, and Iacob de Omagh (the one conspirator in that old plot to kill me that hadn't been on the council) said that he could do a better job than Mael-Sechnaill could in his current maimed state. I briefly wondered if he had anything to do with the "accident", but the man couldn't plot his way out of a stable when the doors are wide open.
Our sixth child is a daughter, Aife! We are both overjoyed.
Now that Mael-Sechniall is no longer marshal, he wishes to serve me as spymaster, his true passion in life. Perhaps he had arranged his own training accident? At any rate, I replace Murchad with him, and in compensation betroth Murchad to the infant Aife, making sure that any issue would be part of clan Ua hUalgairg. Yes, I know you'd prefer a wife now, and one that would give you children that would be part of clan Ua Mail Doraid, but your father and uncle couldn't even hold onto a one-horse petty kingdom like Tyrconnell, so beggars can't be choosers, hm?
Soon the day arrives when I judge we have enough gold in reserve to win a war before being unable to pay our soldiers for hire and they turn against us, so I direct Mael-Sechnaill to deliver a declaration of war to Cu Uladh, petty king of Ulster. Raising all 256 men of my levies and hiring the Saxon Band, we march off to war.
I have a dream, that someday people will be judged by the content of their character, not the col...
I shake me head to clear it. What fae put that in me head? Nay, me dream is that one day, all Ireland will be united, and bask under the benevolent rule of a Clan Ua hUalgairg high king. But who am I fooling? That be the dream of every other king and petty king in Ireland, give or take the clan name o' course, and none ha'e managed to do it since Brian Boru, 200 years agone.
My name, you ask? As you wish.
My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father, prep...
Where dae these odd thoughts keep coming from? Nay, me name is Aed MacNiall, head o' Clan Ua hUalgairg, petty king o' Tyrone, lord o' all I survey... provided I don't go up on the walls o' Aileach, me castle (if ye can call it that, lacking as it is even a shallow moat or a wooden palisade), on a clear day. Fortunately, there be not many clear days here in the north of Ireland.
I be not only the clan head, but seemingly the only living member of it. If I have any kin, me father, God rest his soul, neglected to tell me of them, just as he neglected to tell me who me mother was. Ensuring that there be more Ua hUalgairgs to carry on me dream must be me first priority.
I ask me Chancellor, Brandub de Derry, tae find me a wife. He informs me that nary a one o' the kings and petty kings of Ireland ha'e a marriageable daughter or sister, an' most lack even a wife. When he told me that none o' them know who their mothers be, I roar with laughter. What a right sorry lot o' bastards we Irish kings be!
When I ask him about foreign prospects, he directs me attention to Beatrice de Guines, the 19 year old sister o' the count o' Guines in Frankland. I ha'e him send off a letter tae the count asking for his sister's hand in marriage, and while I wait for his reply, I take stock o' me council and set tasks for them.
Brandub be a masterful diplomat. Him I send tae the neighboring petty kingdom o' Tyrconnell any claim I might ha'e tae it.
Mael-Sechnail de Tullyhogue is me marshall. He and Aengus, Mayor of Coleraine, me steward, be decent enough at their jobs, unlike Maoil Sechluinn Ua Faelain, me spymaster, who seems tae think that standing in an open door with his hand cupped tae his ear is the best way tae ferret out secrets wi'out being caught.
Lugaid de Aileach, a masterful scholar, rounds out me council as court chaplain. Why he isn't a bishop somewhere puzzles me, but church politics makes me head spin.
Mael-Sechnail, Mayor Aengus and Chaplain Lugaid I set tae researchin' technologies in their fields. Maoil I send tae the Queen of Cities in the Greek empire to see what secrets we can steal... er, I mean borrow... from their archives to improve this backward land.
Fortune smiles on me, and that Frankish count allows his sister to come be me wife. She soon tells me that she wishes to be me spymaster, but while she would be far better than Maoil at that task I explain to her that it is far more important to provide me some heirs before settin' her to something so dangerous. Fortune smiles once again, and before another year has passed, she informs me that she is with child.
As we wait for the blessed event, Murchad MacNiall presents himself at me court, assertin' that he be a better spy than Maoil and askin' for his job. He also reveals that he has a claim on Tyrconnell, bein' the son and nephew of the two petty kings who reigned there before its current ruler, Ruaidri Mac Flaithbertach Ua Canannain. This could be useful if he lives long enough, so I accept his petition, send him off tae Constantinople to replace his predecessor, and direct Chancellor Brandub tae direct his attentions to Ulster.
By the grace of God, Beatrice presents me with a son, Gilla-Ruad. Not long after, Murchad brings to me attention a plot by Maoil, his predecessor, to kill me, which already had 3 backers, two from me council, me marshal and steward! I call the conspirators into the council room (with some trusted guards at the door) and revealed that I knew all, and demanded they cease their plotting. They rather sheepishly acquiesced. I'm surprised it got so far, Maoil was as good at keeping secrets as he was at ferreting them out... to wit, not very.
My wife presents me with another son, Niall. I had hoped for a daughter to marry to Murchad to bring his claim on Tyrconnell into my family, but I am not displeased. Not long after, she asks me to make An Dall MacMaoil, son of that dunce Maoil, Chancellor. At first I refuse, but she continues to wheedle and beg so I interview him, and find out he is the equal of Chancellor Brandub, so for the sake of peace in the bedroom, I give in and send him to replace Brandub in the court of Ulster.
After a third son (Mael-Sechnaill) was born, some friends tried to tempt me to hedonism, but I resisted, turning to celibacy instead... not too successfully, as my lust tempts me into Beatrice's bedroom now and again. After one such encounter, she reveals that she is once again with child. Once again, it is a son (Lorcan). We both yearn for a daughter.
Chancellor An Dall reported success in "uncovering" an ancient charter in the archives of Downpatrick giving the Ua hUalgairg clan ancestral rights to rule in Ulster. I congratulate him, and set him to improve relations with my vassals at home. This charter will be useful in a few years, when we can afford to pay a mercenary band for more than a handful of months.
When Beatrice told me she was expecting what turned out to be Cormac, our fifth son, my lust overcame my willpower, and I gave into the sweet temptations of her arms. A sixth pregnancy soon followed.
Soon after Marshal Mael-Sechnaill had a training accident, and Iacob de Omagh (the one conspirator in that old plot to kill me that hadn't been on the council) said that he could do a better job than Mael-Sechnaill could in his current maimed state. I briefly wondered if he had anything to do with the "accident", but the man couldn't plot his way out of a stable when the doors are wide open.
Our sixth child is a daughter, Aife! We are both overjoyed.
Now that Mael-Sechniall is no longer marshal, he wishes to serve me as spymaster, his true passion in life. Perhaps he had arranged his own training accident? At any rate, I replace Murchad with him, and in compensation betroth Murchad to the infant Aife, making sure that any issue would be part of clan Ua hUalgairg. Yes, I know you'd prefer a wife now, and one that would give you children that would be part of clan Ua Mail Doraid, but your father and uncle couldn't even hold onto a one-horse petty kingdom like Tyrconnell, so beggars can't be choosers, hm?
Soon the day arrives when I judge we have enough gold in reserve to win a war before being unable to pay our soldiers for hire and they turn against us, so I direct Mael-Sechnaill to deliver a declaration of war to Cu Uladh, petty king of Ulster. Raising all 256 men of my levies and hiring the Saxon Band, we march off to war.
