Historical and genealogical essay upon the family and surname of Buchanan

FAMILY OF BUCHANAN. 153
he kept as a standing army in place of the old
Feans, terming this new army Dalgheass. For
the subsistence of these, he imposed upon that
part of the kingdom subject to him, a tax in money,
which seems the first of that nature imposed there.
This king upon that account was termed Brian-
boray, or the taxer, who, with his select band of
the Dalgheass, with other forces, prosecuted the
war so successfully against the Danes, that he not
only defeated them in divers battles, but also
obliged them to abandon their whole forts, or raes.
throughout the kingdom ; and in fine, immured
them within the four strong towns of Dublin,
Limerick, Cork, and Kingsail. These being sup-
plied by the Danish pirates at sea, king Brian re-
solved to deprive them of that advantage, by or-
dering a certain number of ships to be rigged out
for clearing the coasts of these Danish pirates.
For this purpose, he ordered the provincial kings,
and other nobility, to convey certain quantities of
timber to the next adjacent seaports, and amongst
others, Mallmoro MacMurcho, provincial king of
Leinster, whose sister was king Brian's queen.
MacMurcho designing to visit king Brian residing
then at Tara, went in company with his servants,
who had the care of conveying his share of the
timber, of which a large mast, in carrying through
a rugged way, stuck betwixt two rocks, so as nei-
ther force of horse nor servants could disengage
the same, till at length MacMurcho himself was
obliged to dismount, and assist his servants : in
which business a silver clasp which he wore in the
breast of his purple mantle, was almost torn off;