| Stories and Notes |
- Labhraidh is said to have had the ears of a horse. So much was his embarrassment that he had his hair cut only once a year and immediately slew the barber lest his secret became known. One year he selected a youth to cut his hair, who so entreat ed the king not to kill him that Labhraidh spared his life on condition that he never reveal the secret. The stress of keeping the king's secret so troubled the boy that he fell ill. His mother sent for a druid whose wisdom was such that he wa s able to determine that the cause of the illness was a terrible secret that could not be told. He told the boy to go to a deep wood and whisper the secret to a tree in order to relieve himself of the burdon. This the boy did and immediately fel t better. Some time later, a famous harper felled the tree to create a new harp for himself. Summoned to court, when asked to play a tune for the king, instead of notes, the harp sang "King Labhraidh has horses' ears" and the secret was out.
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560 BC - 522 BC