It was a fine table Guaire set for the poets who stayed in his castle. But Seanchan, the most renowned, was displeased. “What victuals these? Better suited to cats than to learned men.” And by cats he meant the nobles filling their faces down the table. “So fat these cats, the mice run wild in the kitchen.”
When Irusan, King of the Cats, heard this insult, he came to kill Seanchan. Loading the bard on his back, he ran like the wind until they encountered St. Kieran who ran a hot poker through Irusan, saving Seanchan to reconcile with Guaire.
Retold from Ancient Legends of Ireland by Lady Wilde.
Monica's Monday Morning Flash 
Could this be an oblique shot at the Kennedy Center Honors?
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Not likely. I had never heard of that awards ceremony. According to Wikipedia the event is not well publicized. So the common thread between the Kennedy Center Honors and my story is obscurity. Maybe there’s an Irish connection there too.
https://slate.com/human-interest/2016/06/irish-bards-were-rat-killers-according-to-poetry-and-folklore.html
I ran across the story about Seanchin in a paperback of Irish folk tales. The idea of poets being powerful appealed to me. Would the world be better if writers were in charge? Maybe. But maybe power just leads to hubris regardless of the profession.
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