Note 14 — Chapter IX
Reading edition
The elements are recorded as having slain King Laoghaire because he broke the oath he had made by them. In the Lament for Patrick Sarsfield as late as the seventeenth century, the unknown poet cries:
"Go mbeannaigh' an ghealach gheal's an ghrian duit, O thug tu an lá as láimh Righ 'Liam leat."
I.e., May the white Moon and the Sun bless you, since thou hast taken the Day out of the hand of King William.
And a little later we find the harper Carolan swearing "by the light of the sun."
"Molann gach aon an té bhíos cráibhtheach cóir, Agus molann gach aon an té bhíos páirteach leó, Dar solas na gréine sé mo rádh go deó Go molfad gan spéis gan bhréig an t-áth mar geóbhad."