dren was to ill-treat them so that their people would come for them, bringing the right ones back; or one might boil egg-shells in the sight of the changeling, who would declare his demon nature by saying that in his centuries of life he had never seen such a thing before.
Brides too were stolen.
"You shall go with me, newly married bride,
And gaze upon a merrier multitude;
White-armed Nuala and Ængus of the birds.
And Feacra of the hurtling foam, and him
Who is the ruler of the western host,
Finvarra, and the Land of Heart's Desire,
Where beauty has no ebb, decay no flood.
But joy is wisdom, time an endless song."
In the first century b. c. lived Ailill and his queen Medb. As they were celebrating their Samhain feast in the palace,
"Three days before Samhain at all times.
And three days after, by ancient custom
Did the hosts of high aspiration
Continue to feast for the whole week."
