{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_14465/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_14465","id":"gutenberg_14465","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14465","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Epic literature, Irish -- Translations into English","Finn MacCumhaill, active 3rd century -- Legends","Heroes -- Ireland -- Legends","Mythology, Celtic -- Ireland","Nobel Prizes in Literature","Tales -- Ireland"],"text":"GODS AND FIGHTING MEN:\n\nTHE STORY OF THE TUATHA DE DANAAN\nAND OF THE FIANNA OF IRELAND,\n\nARRANGED AND PUT INTO ENGLISH BY LADY GREGORY.\n\nWITH A PREFACE BY W.B. YEATS\n\n1905\n\n\n\n\nDEDICATION TO THE MEMBERS OF THE IRISH LITERARY SOCIETY OF NEW YORK\n\n\nMy Friends, those I know and those I do not know, I am glad in the year\nof the birth of your Society to have this book to offer you.\n\nIt has given great courage to many workers here--working to build up\nbroken walls--to know you have such friendly thoughts of them in your\nminds. A few of you have already come to see us, and we begin to hope\nthat one day the steamers across the Atlantic will not go out full, but\ncome back full, until some of you find your real home is here, and say\nas some of us say, like Finn to the woman of enchantments--\n\n[Illustration: Irish Gaelic]\n\n\"We would not give up our own country--Ireland--if we were to get the\nwhole world as an estate, and the Country of the Young along with it.\"\n\nAUGUSTA GREGORY.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\nI\n\nA few months ago I was on the bare Hill of Allen, \"wide Almhuin of\nLeinster,\" where Finn and the Fianna lived, according to the stories,\nalthough there are no earthen mounds there like those that mark the\nsites of old buildings on so many hills. A hot sun beat down upon\nflowering gorse and flowerless heather; and on every side except the\neast, where there were green trees and distant hills, one saw a level\nhorizon and brown boglands with a few green places and here and there\nthe glitter of water. One could imagine that had it been twilight and\nnot early afternoon, and had there been vapours drifting and frothing\nwhere there were now but shadows of clouds, it would have set stirring\nin one, as few places even in Ireland can, a thought that is peculiar to\nCeltic romance, as I think, a thought of a mystery coming not as with\nGothic nations out of the pressure of darkness, but out of great spaces\nand windy light. The hill of Teamhair, or Tara, as it is now called,\nwith its green mounds and its partly wooded sides, and its more gradual\nslope set among fat grazing lands, with great trees in the hedgerows,\nhad brought before one imaginations, not of heroes who were in their\nyouth for hundreds of years, or of women who came to them in the\nlikeness of hunted fawns, but of kings that lived brief and politic\nlives, and of the five white roads that carried their armies to the\nlesser kingdoms of Ireland, or brought to the great fair that had given\nTeamhair its sovereignty, all that sought justice or pleasure or had\ngoods to barter.\n\n\nII\n\nIt is certain that we must not confuse these kings, as did the medi\u00e6val\nchroniclers, with those half-divine kings of Almhuin. The chroniclers,\nperhaps because they loved tradition too well to cast out utterly much\nthat they dreaded as Christians, and perhaps because popular imagination\nhad begun the mixture, have mixed one with another ingeniously, making\nFinn the head of a kind of Militia under Cormac MacArt, who is supposed\nto have reigned at Teamhair in the second century, and making Grania,\nwho travels to enchanted houses under the cloak of Angus, god of Love,\nand keeps her troubling beauty longer than did Helen hers, Cormac's\ndaughter, and giving the stories of the Fianna, although the impossible\nhas thrust its proud finger into them all, a curious air of precise\nhistory. It is only when one separates the stories from that medi\u00e6val\npedantry, as in this book, that one recognises one of the oldest worlds\nthat man has imagined, an older world certainly than one finds in the\nstories of Cuchulain, who lived, according to the chroniclers, about the\ntime of the birth of Christ. They are far better known, and one may be\ncertain of the antiquity of incidents that are known in one form or\nanother to every Gaelic-speaking countryman in Ireland or in the\nHighlands of Scotland. Sometimes a labourer digging near to a cromlech,\nor Bed of Diarmuid and Crania as it is called, will tell one a tradition\nthat seems older and more barbaric than any description of their\nadventures or of themselves in written text or story that has taken form\nin the mouths of professed story-tellers. Finn and the Fianna found\nwelcome among the court poets later than did Cuchulain; and one finds\nmemories of Danish invasions and standing armies mixed with the\nimaginations of hunters and solitary fighters among great woods. One\nnever hears of Cuchulain delighting in the hunt or in woodland things;\nand one imagines that the story-teller would have thought it unworthy in\nso great a man, who lived a well-ordered, elaborate life, and had his\nchariot and his chariot-driver and his barley-fed horses to delight in.\nIf he is in the woods before dawn one is not told that he cannot know\nthe leaves of the hazel from the leaves of the oak; and when Emer\nlaments him no wild creature comes into her thoughts but the cuckoo that\ncries over cultivated fields. His story must have come out of a time\nwhen the wild wood was giving way to pasture and tillage, and men had no\nlonger a reason to consider every cry of the birds or change of the\nnight. Finn, who was always in the woods, whose battles were but hours\namid years of hunting, delighted in the \"cackling of ducks from the Lake\nof the Three Narrows; the scolding talk of the blackbird of Doire an\nCairn; the bellowing of the ox from the Valley of the Berries; the\nwhistle of the eagle from the Valley of Victories or from the rough\nbranches of the Ridge of the Stream; the grouse of the heather of\nCruachan; the call of the otter of Druim re Coir.\" When sorrow comes\nupon the queens of the stories, they have sympathy for the wild birds\nand beasts that are like themselves: \"Credhe wife of Cael came with the\nothers and went looking through the bodies for her comely comrade, and\ncrying as she went. And as she was searching she saw a crane of the\nmeadows and her two nestlings, and the cunning beast the fox watching\nthe nestlings; and when the crane covered one of the birds to save it,\nhe would make a rush at the other bird, the way she had to stretch\nherself out over the birds; and she would sooner have got her own death\nby the fox than the nestlings to be killed by him. And Credhe was\nlooking at that, and she said: 'It is no wonder I to have such love for\nmy comely sweetheart, and the bird in that distress about her\nnestlings.'\"\n\n\nIII\n\nOne often hears of a horse that shivers with terror, or of a dog that\nhowls at something a man's eyes cannot see, and men who live primitive\nlives where instinct does the work of reason are fully conscious of many\nthings that we cannot perceive at all. As life becomes more orderly,\nmore deliberate, the supernatural world sinks farther away. Although the\ngods come to Cuchulain, and although he is the son of one of the\ngreatest of them, their country and his are far apart, and they come to\nhim as god to mortal; but Finn is their equal. He is continually in\ntheir houses; he meets with Bodb Dearg, and Angus, and Manannan, now as\nfriend with friend, now as with an enemy he overcomes in battle; and\nwhen he has need of their help his messenger can say: \"There is not a\nking's son or a prince, or a leader of the Fianna of Ireland, without\nhaving a wife or a mother or a foster-mother or a sweetheart of the\nTuatha de Danaan.\" When the Fianna are broken up at last, after hundreds\nof years of hunting, it is doubtful that he dies at all, and certain\nthat he comes again in some other shape, and Oisin, his son, is made\nking over a divine country. The birds and beasts that cross his path in\nthe woods have been fighting men or great enchanters or fair women, and\nin a moment can take some beautiful or terrible shape. One thinks of him\nand of his people as great-bodied men with large movements, that seem,\nas it were, flowing out of some deep below the narrow stream of personal\nimpulse, men that have broad brows and quiet eyes full of confidence in\na good luck that proves every day afresh that they are a portion of the\nstrength of things. They are hardly so much individual men as portions\nof universal nature, like the clouds that shape themselves and re-shape\nthemselves momentarily, or like a bird between two boughs, or like the\ngods that have given the apples and the nuts; and yet this but brings\nthem the nearer to us, for we can remake them in our image when we will,\nand the woods are the more beautiful for the thought. Do we not always\nfancy hunters to be something like this, and is not that why we think\nthem poetical when we meet them of a sudden, as in these lines in\n\"Pauline\":\n\n                              \"An old hunter\n    Talking with gods; or a nigh-crested chief\n    Sailing with troops of friends to Tenedos\"\n\n\nIV\n\nOne must not expect in these stories the epic lineaments, the many\nincidents, woven into one great event of, let us say, the story of the\nWar for the Brown Bull of Cuailgne, or that of the last gathering at\nMuirthemne. Even Diarmuid and Grania, which is a long story, has nothing\nof the clear outlines of Deirdre, and is indeed but a succession of\ndetached episodes. The men who imagined the Fianna had the imagination\nof children, and as soon as they had invented one wonder, heaped another\non top of it. Children--or, at any rate, it is so I remember my own\nchildhood--do not understand large design, and they delight in little\nshut-in places where they can play at houses more than in great expanses\nwhere a country-side takes, as it were, the impression of a thought. The\nwild creatures and the green things are more to them than to us, for\nthey creep towards our light by little holes and crevices. When they\nimagine a country for themselves, it is always a country where one can\nwander without aim, and where one can never know from one place what\nanother will be like, or know from the one day's adventure what may meet\none with to-morrow's sun. I have wished to become a child again that I\nmight find this book, that not only tells one of such a country, but is\nfuller than any other book that tells of heroic life, of the childhood\nthat is in all folk-lore, dearer to me than all the books of the western\nworld.\n\nChildren play at being great and wonderful people, at the ambitions\nthey will put away for one reason or another before they grow into\nordinary men and women. Mankind as a whole had a like dream once;\neverybody and nobody built up the dream bit by bit, and the ancient\nstory-tellers are there to make us remember what mankind would have been\nlike, had not fear and the failing will and the laws of nature tripped\nup its heels. The Fianna and their like are themselves so full of power,\nand they are set in a world so fluctuating and dream-like, that nothing\ncan hold them from being all that the heart desires.\n\nI have read in a fabulous book that Adam had but to imagine a bird, and\nit was born into life, and that he created all things out of himself by\nnothing more important than an unflagging fancy; and heroes who can make\na ship out of a shaving have but little less of the divine prerogatives.\nThey have no speculative thoughts to wander through eternity and waste\nheroic blood; but how could that be otherwise, for it is at all times\nthe proud angels who sit thinking upon the hill-side and not the people\nof Eden. One morning we meet them hunting a stag that is \"as joyful as\nthe leaves of a tree in summer-time\"; and whatever they do, whether they\nlisten to the harp or follow an enchanter over-sea, they do for the sake\nof joy, their joy in one another, or their joy in pride and movement;\nand even their battles are fought more because of their delight in a\ngood fighter than because of any gain that is in victory. They live\nalways as if they were playing a game; and so far as they have any\ndeliberate purpose at all, it is that they may become great gentlemen\nand be worthy of the songs of poets. It has been said, and I think the\nJapanese were the first to say it, that the four essential virtues are\nto be generous among the weak, and truthful among one's friends, and\nbrave among one's enemies, and courteous at all times; and if we\nunderstand by courtesy not merely the gentleness the story-tellers have\ncelebrated, but a delight in courtly things, in beautiful clothing and\nin beautiful verse, one understands that it was no formal succession of\ntrials that bound the Fianna to one another. Only the Table Round, that\nis indeed, as it seems, a rivulet from the same river, is bound in a\nlike fellowship, and there the four heroic virtues are troubled by the\nabstract virtues of the cloister. Every now and then some noble knight\nbuilds himself a cell upon the hill-side, or leaves kind women and\njoyful knights to seek the vision of the Grail in lonely adventures. But\nwhen Oisin or some kingly forerunner--Bran, son of Febal, or the\nlike--rides or sails in an enchanted ship to some divine country, he but\nlooks for a more delighted companionship, or to be in love with faces\nthat will never fade. No thought of any life greater than that of love,\nand the companionship of those that have drawn their swords upon the\ndarkness of the world, ever troubles their delight in one another as it\ntroubles Iseult amid her love, or Arthur amid his battles. It is one of\nthe ailments of our speculation that thought, when it is not the\nplanning of something, or the doing of something or some memory of a\nplain circumstance separates us from one another because it makes us\nalways more unlike, and because no thought passes through another's ear\nunchanged. Companionship can only be perfect when it is founded on\nthings, for things are always the same under the hand, and at last one\ncomes to hear with envy of the voices of boys lighting a lantern to\nensnare moths, or of the maids chattering in the kitchen about the fox\nthat carried off a turkey before breakfast. This book is full of\nfellowship untroubled like theirs, and made noble by a courtesy that has\ngone perhaps out of the world. I do not know in literature better\nfriends and lovers. When one of the Fianna finds Osgar dying the proud\ndeath of a young man, and asks is it well with him, he is answered, \"I\nam as you would have me be.\" The very heroism of the Fianna is indeed\nbut their pride and joy in one another, their good fellowship. Goll, old\nand savage, and letting himself die of hunger in a cave because he is\nangry and sorry, can speak lovely words to the wife whose help he\nrefuses. \"'It is best as it is,' he said, 'and I never took the advice\nof a woman east or west, and I never will take it. And oh, sweet-voiced\nqueen,' he said, 'what ails you to be fretting after me? and remember\nnow your silver and your gold, and your silks ... and do not be crying\ntears after me, queen with the white hands,' he said, 'but remember your\nconstant lover Aodh, son of the best woman of the world, that came from\nSpain asking for you, and that I fought on Corcar-an-Dearg; and go to\nhim now,' he said, 'for it is bad when a woman is without a good man.'\"\n\n\nVI\n\nThey have no asceticism, but they are more visionary than any ascetic,\nand their invisible life is but the life about them made more perfect\nand more lasting, and the invisible people are their own images in the\nwater. Their gods may have been much besides this, for we know them from\nfragments of mythology picked out with trouble from a fantastic history\nrunning backward to Adam and Eve, and many things that may have seemed\nwicked to the monks who imagined that history, may have been altered or\nleft out; but this they must have been essentially, for the old stories\nare confirmed by apparitions among the country-people to-day. The Men of\nDea fought against the mis-shapen Fomor, as Finn fights against the\nCat-Heads and the Dog-Heads; and when they are overcome at last by men,\nthey make themselves houses in the hearts of hills that are like the\nhouses of men. When they call men to their houses and to their country\nUnder-Wave they promise them all that they have upon earth, only in\ngreater abundance. The god Midhir sings to Queen Etain in one of the\nmost beautiful of the stories: \"The young never grow old; the fields and\nthe flowers are as pleasant to be looking at as the blackbird's eggs;\nwarm streams of mead and wine flow through that country; there is no\ncare or no sorrow on any person; we see others, but we ourselves are not\nseen.\" These gods are indeed more wise and beautiful than men; but men,\nwhen they are great men, are stronger than they are, for men are, as it\nwere, the foaming tide-line of their sea. One remembers the Druid who\nanswered, when some one asked him who made the world, \"The Druids made\nit.\" All was indeed but one life flowing everywhere, and taking one\nquality here, another there. It sometimes seems to one as if there is a\nkind of day and night of religion, and that a period when the influences\nare those that shape the world is followed by a period when the greater\npower is in influences that would lure the soul out of the world, out of\nthe body. When Oisin is speaking with S. Patrick of the friends and the\nlife he has outlived, he can but cry out constantly against a religion\nthat has no meaning for him. He laments, and the country-people have\nremembered his words for centuries: \"I will cry my fill, but not for\nGod, but because Finn and the Fianna are not living.\"\n\n\nVII\n\nOld writers had an admirable symbolism that attributed certain energies\nto the influence of the sun, and certain others to the lunar influence.\nTo lunar influence belong all thoughts and emotions that were created by\nthe community, by the common people, by nobody knows who, and to the sun\nall that came from the high disciplined or individual kingly mind. I\nmyself imagine a marriage of the sun and moon in the arts I take most\npleasure in; and now bride and bridegroom but exchange, as it were, full\ncups of gold and silver, and now they are one in a mystical embrace.\nFrom the moon come the folk-songs imagined by reapers and spinners out\nof the common impulse of their labour, and made not by putting words\ntogether, but by mixing verses and phrases, and the folk-tales made by\nthe capricious mixing of incidents known to everybody in new ways, as\none deals out cards, never getting the same hand twice over. When one\nhears some fine story, one never knows whether it has not been hazard\nthat put the last touch of adventure. Such poetry, as it seems to me,\ndesires an infinity of wonder or emotion, for where there is no\nindividual mind there is no measurer-out, no marker-in of limits. The\npoor fisher has no possession of the world and no responsibility for it;\nand if he dreams of a love-gift better than the brown shawl that seems\ntoo common for poetry, why should he not dream of a glove made from the\nskin of a bird, or shoes made from the skin of a fish, or a coat made\nfrom the glittering garment of the salmon? Was it not Aeschylus who said\nhe but served up fragments from the banquet of Homer?--but Homer himself\nfound the great banquet on an earthen floor and under a broken roof. We\ndo not know who at the foundation of the world made the banquet for the\nfirst time, or who put the pack of cards into rough hands; but we do\nknow that, unless those that have made many inventions are about to\nchange the nature of poetry, we may have to go where Homer went if we\nare to sing a new song. Is it because all that is under the moon thirsts\nto escape out of bounds, to lose itself in some unbounded tidal stream,\nthat the songs of the folk are mournful, and that the story of the\nFianna, whenever the queens lament for their lovers, reminds us of songs\nthat are still sung in country-places? Their grief, even when it is to\nbe brief like Grania's, goes up into the waste places of the sky. But\nin supreme art or in supreme life there is the influence of the sun too,\nand the sun brings with it, as old writers tell us, not merely\ndiscipline but joy; for its discipline is not of the kind the multitudes\nimpose upon us by their weight and pressure, but the expression of the\nindividual soul turning itself into a pure fire and imposing its own\npattern, its own music, upon the heaviness and the dumbness that is in\nothers and in itself. When we have drunk the cold cup of the moon's\nintoxication, we thirst for something beyond ourselves, and the mind\nflows outward to a natural immensity; but if we have drunk from the hot\ncup of the sun, our own fullness awakens, we desire little, for wherever\none goes one's heart goes too; and if any ask what music is the\nsweetest, we can but answer, as Finn answered, \"what happens.\" And yet\nthe songs and stories that have come from either influence are a part,\nneither less than the other, of the pleasure that is the bride-bed of\npoetry.\n\n\nVIII\n\nGaelic-speaking Ireland, because its art has been made, not by the\nartist choosing his material from wherever he has a mind to, but by\nadding a little to something which it has taken generations to invent,\nhas always had a popular literature. One cannot say how much that\nliterature has done for the vigour of the race, for one cannot count the\nhands its praise of kings and high-hearted queens made hot upon the\nsword-hilt, or the amorous eyes it made lustful for strength and beauty.\nOne remembers indeed that when the farming people and the labourers of\nthe towns made their last attempt to cast out England by force of arms\nthey named themselves after the companions of Finn. Even when Gaelic has\ngone, and the poetry with it, something of the habit of mind remains in\nways of speech and thought and \"come-all-ye\"s and poetical saying; nor\nis it only among the poor that the old thought has been for strength or\nweakness. Surely these old stories, whether of Finn or Cuchulain, helped\nto sing the old Irish and the old Norman-Irish aristocracy to their end.\nThey heard their hereditary poets and story-tellers, and they took to\nhorse and died fighting against Elizabeth or against Cromwell; and when\nan English-speaking aristocracy had their place, it listened to no\npoetry indeed, but it felt about it in the popular mind an exacting and\nancient tribunal, and began a play that had for spectators men and women\nthat loved the high wasteful virtues. I do not think that their own\nmixed blood or the habit of their time need take all, or nearly all,\ncredit or discredit for the impulse that made our modern gentlemen fight\nduels over pocket-handkerchiefs, and set out to play ball against the\ngates of Jerusalem for a wager, and scatter money before the public eye;\nand at last, after an epoch of such eloquence the world has hardly seen\nits like, lose their public spirit and their high heart and grow\nquerulous and selfish as men do who have played life out not heartily\nbut with noise and tumult. Had they understood the people and the game a\nlittle better, they might have created an aristocracy in an age that has\nlost the meaning of the word. When one reads of the Fianna, or of\nCuchulain, or of some great hero, one remembers that the fine life is\nalways a part played finely before fine spectators. There also one\nnotices the hot cup and the cold cup of intoxication; and when the fine\nspectators have ended, surely the fine players grow weary, and\naristocratic life is ended. When O'Connell covered with a dark glove the\nhand that had killed a man in the duelling field, he played his part;\nand when Alexander stayed his army marching to the conquest of the world\nthat he might contemplate the beauty of a plane-tree, he played his\npart. When Osgar complained as he lay dying, of the keening of the women\nand the old fighting men, he too played his part; \"No man ever knew any\nheart in me,\" he said, \"but a heart of twisted horn, and it covered with\niron; but the howling of the dogs beside me,\" he said, \"and the keening\nof the old fighting men and the crying of the women one after another,\nthose are the things that are vexing me.\" If we would create a great\ncommunity--and what other game is so worth the labour?--we must recreate\nthe old foundations of life, not as they existed in that splendid\nmisunderstanding of the eighteenth century, but as they must always\nexist when the finest minds and Ned the beggar and Seaghan the fool\nthink about the same thing, although they may not think the same thought\nabout it.\n\n\nIX\n\nWhen I asked the little boy who had shown me the pathway up the Hill of\nAllen if he knew stories of Finn and Oisin, he said he did not, but that\nhe had often heard his grandfather telling them to his mother in Irish.\nHe did not know Irish, but he was learning it at school, and all the\nlittle boys he knew were learning it. In a little while he will know\nenough stories of Finn and Oisin to tell them to his children some day.\nIt is the owners of the land whose children might never have known what\nwould give them so much happiness. But now they can read this book to\ntheir children, and it will make Slieve-na-man, Allen, and Benbulben,\nthe great mountain that showed itself before me every day through all my\nchildhood and was yet unpeopled, and half the country-sides of south and\nwest, as populous with memories as are Dundealgan and Emain Macha and\nMuirthemne; and after a while somebody may even take them to some famous\nplace and say, \"This land where your fathers lived proudly and finely\nshould be dear and dear and again dear\"; and perhaps when many names\nhave grown musical to their ears, a more imaginative love will have\ntaught them a better service.\n\n\nX\n\nI need say nothing about the translation and arrangement of this book\nexcept that it is worthy to be put beside \"Cuchulain of Muirthemne.\"\nSuch books should not be commended by written words but by spoken words,\nwere that possible, for the written words commending a book, wherein\nsomething is done supremely well, remain, to sound in the ears of a\nlater generation, like the foolish sound of church bells from the tower\nof a church when every pew is full.\n\nW.B. YEATS.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\nPART I. THE GODS\n\n  Book I. The Coming of the Tuatha de Danaan\n\n    Chap.    I. The Fight with the Firbolgs\n            II. The Reign of Bres\n\n  Book II. Lugh of the Long Hand\n\n    Chap.    I. The Coming of Lugh\n            II. The Sons of Tuireann\n           III. The Great Battle of Magh Tuireadh\n            IV. The Hidden House of Lugh\n\n  Book III. The Coming of the Gael\n\n    Chap.    I. The Landing\n            II. The Battle of Tailltin\n\n  Book IV. The Ever-Living Living Ones\n\n    Chap.    I. Bodb Dearg\n            II. The Dagda\n           III. Angus Og\n            IV. The Morrigu\n             V. Aine\n            VI. Aoibhell\n           VII. Midhir and Etain\n          VIII. Manannan\n            IX. Manannan at play\n             X. His Call to Bran\n            XI. His Three Calls to Cormac\n           XII. Cliodna's Wave\n          XIII. His Call to Connla\n           XIV. Tadg in Manannan's Islands\n        XV. Laegaire in the Happy Plain\n\n  Book V. The Fate of The Children of Lir\n\n\nPART II. THE FIANNA\n\n  Book I. Finn, Son of Cumhal\n\n    Chap.   I. The Coming of Finn\n           II. Finn's Household\n          III. Birth of Bran\n           IV. Oisin's Mother\n            V. The Best Men of the Fianna\n\n  Book II. Finn's Helpers\n\n    Chap.   I. The Lad of the Skins\n           II. Black, Brown, and Grey\n          III. The Hound\n           IV. Red Ridge\n\n  Book III. The Battle of the White Strand\n\n    Chap.    I. The Enemies of Ireland\n            II. Cael and Credhe\n           III. Conn Crither\n            IV. Glas, Son of Dremen\n             V. The Help of the Men of Dea\n            VI. The March of the Fianna\n           VII. The First Fighters\n          VIII. The King of Ulster's Son\n            IX. The High King's Son\n             X. The King of Lochlann and his Sons\n            XI. Labran's Journey\n           XII. The Great Fight\n          XIII. Credhe's Lament\n\n  Book IV. Huntings and Enchantments\n\n    Chap.     I. The King of Britain's Son\n             II. The Cave of Ceiscoran\n            III. Donn, Son of Midhir\n             IV. The Hospitality of Cuanna's House\n              V. Cat-Heads and Dog-Heads\n             VI. Lomna's Head\n            VII. Ilbrec of Ess Ruadh\n           VIII. The Cave of Cruachan\n             IX. The Wedding at Ceann Slieve\n              X. The Shadowy One\n             XI. Finn's Madness\n            XII. The Red Woman\n           XIII. Finn and the Phantoms\n            XIV. The Pigs of Angus\n             XV. The Hunt of Slieve Cuilinn\n\n  Book V. Oisin's Children\n\n\n  Book VI. Diarmuid\n\n    Chap.     I. Birth of Diarmuid\n             II. How Diarmuid got his Love-Spot\n            III. The Daughter of King Under-Wave\n             IV. The Hard Servant\n              V. The House of the Quicken Trees\n\n  Book VII. Diarmuid and Grania\n\n    Chap.     I. The Flight from Teamhair\n             II. The Pursuit\n            III. The Green Champions\n             IV. The Wood of Dubhros\n              V. The Quarrel\n             VI. The Wanderers\n            VII. Fighting and Peace\n           VIII. The Boar of Beinn Gulbain\n\n  Book VIII. Cnoc-an-Air\n\n    Chap.    I. Tailc, Son of Treon\n            II. Meargach's Wife\n           III. Ailne's Revenge\n\n  Book IX. The Wearing Away of the Fianna\n\n    Chap.    I. The Quarrel with the Sons of Morna\n            II. Death of Goll\n           III. The Battle of Gabhra\n\n  Book X. The End of the Fianna\n\n    Chap.    I. Death of Bran\n            II. The Call of Oisin\n           III. The Last of the Great Men\n\n  Book XI. Oisin and Patrick\n\n    Chap.    I. Oisin's Story\n            II. Oisin in Patrick's House\n           III. The Arguments\n            IV. Oisin's Laments\n\n\n\n\nGODS AND FIGHTING MEN.\n\nPART ONE: THE GODS.\n\nBOOK ONE: THE COMING OF THE TUATHA DE DANAAN.\n\nCHAPTER I. THE FIGHT WITH THE FIRBOLGS\n\n\nIt was in a mist the Tuatha de Danaan, the people of the gods of Dana,\nor as some called them, the Men of Dea, came through the air and the\nhigh air to Ireland.\n\nIt was from the north they came; and in the place they came from they\nhad four cities, where they fought their battle for learning: great\nFalias, and shining Gorias, and Finias, and rich Murias that lay to the\nsouth. And in those cities they had four wise men to teach their young\nmen skill and knowledge and perfect wisdom: Senias in Murias; and Arias,\nthe fair-haired poet, in Finias; and Urias of the noble nature in\nGorias; and Morias in Falias itself. And they brought from those four\ncities their four treasures: a Stone of Virtue from Falias, that was\ncalled the Lia Fail, the Stone of Destiny; and from Gorias they brought\na Sword; and from Finias a Spear of Victory; and from Murias the fourth\ntreasure, the Cauldron that no company ever went away from unsatisfied.\n\nIt was Nuada was king of the Tuatha de Danaan at that time, but\nManannan, son of Lir, was greater again. And of the others that were\nchief among them were Ogma, brother to the king, that taught them\nwriting, and Diancecht, that understood healing, and Neit, a god of\nbattle, and Credenus the Craftsman, and Goibniu the Smith. And the\ngreatest among their women were Badb, a battle goddess; and Macha, whose\nmast-feeding was the heads of men killed in battle; and the Morrigu,\nthe Crow of Battle; and Eire and Fodla and Banba, daughters of the\nDagda, that all three gave their names to Ireland afterwards; and Eadon,\nthe nurse of poets; and Brigit, that was a woman of poetry, and poets\nworshipped her, for her sway was very great and very noble. And she was\na woman of healing along with that, and a woman of smith's work, and it\nwas she first made the whistle for calling one to another through the\nnight. And the one side of her face was ugly, but the other side was\nvery comely. And the meaning of her name was Breo-saighit, a fiery\narrow. And among the other women there were many shadow-forms and great\nqueens; but Dana, that was called the Mother of the Gods, was beyond\nthem all.\n\nAnd the three things they put above all others were the plough and the\nsun and the hazel-tree, so that it was said in the time to come that\nIreland was divided between those three, Coll the hazel, and Cecht the\nplough, and Grian the sun.\n\nAnd they had a well below the sea where the nine hazels of wisdom were\ngrowing; that is, the hazels of inspiration and of the knowledge of\npoetry. And their leaves and their blossoms would break out in the same\nhour, and would fall on the well in a shower that raised a purple wave.\nAnd then the five salmon that were waiting there would eat the nuts, and\ntheir colour would come out in the red spots of their skin, and any\nperson that would eat one of those salmon would know all wisdom and all\npoetry. And there were seven streams of wisdom that sprang from that\nwell and turned back to it again; and the people of many arts have all\ndrank from that well.\n\nIt was on the first day of Beltaine, that is called now May Day, the\nTuatha de Danaan came, and it was to the north-west of Connacht they\nlanded. But the Firbolgs, the Men of the Bag, that were in Ireland\nbefore them, and that had come from the South, saw nothing but a mist,\nand it lying on the hills.\n\nEochaid, son of Erc, was king of the Firbolgs at that time, and\nmessengers came to him at Teamhair, and told him there was a new race of\npeople come into Ireland, but whether from the earth or the skies or on\nthe wind was not known, and that they had settled themselves at Magh\nRein.\n\nThey thought there would be wonder on Eochaid when he heard that news;\nbut there was no wonder on him, for a dream had come to him in the\nnight, and when he asked his Druids the meaning of the dream, it is what\nthey said, that it would not be long till there would be a strong enemy\ncoming against him.\n\nThen King Eochaid took counsel with his chief advisers, and it is what\nthey agreed, to send a good champion of their own to see the strangers\nand to speak with them. So they chose out Sreng, that was a great\nfighting man, and he rose up and took his strong red-brown shield, and\nhis two thick-handled spears, and his sword, and his head-covering, and\nhis thick iron club, and he set out from Teamhair, and went on towards\nthe place the strangers were, at Magh Rein.\n\nBut before he reached it, the watchers of the Tuatha de Danaan got sight\nof him, and they sent out one of their own champions, Bres, with his\nshield and his sword and his two spears, to meet him and to talk with\nhim.\n\nSo the two champions went one towards the other slowly, and keeping a\ngood watch on one another, and wondering at one another's arms, till\nthey came near enough for talking; and then they stopped, and each put\nhis shield before his body and struck it hard into the ground, and they\nlooked at one another over the rim. Bres was the first to speak, and\nwhen Sreng heard it was Irish he was talking, his own tongue, he was\nless uneasy, and they drew nearer, and asked questions as to one\nanother's family and race.\n\nAnd after a while they put their shields away, and it was what Sreng\nsaid, that he had raised his in dread of the thin, sharp spears Bres had\nin his hand. And Bres said he himself was in dread of the thick-handled\nspears he saw with Sreng, and he asked were all the arms of the Firbolgs\nof the same sort. And Sreng took off the tyings of his spears to show\nthem better, and Bres wondered at them, being so strong and so heavy,\nand so sharp at the sides though they had no points. And Sreng told him\nthe name of those spears was Craisech, and that they would break through\nshields and crush flesh and bones, so that their thrust was death or\nwounds that never healed. And then he looked at the sharp, thin,\nhard-pointed spears that were with Bres. And in the end they made an\nexchange of spears, the way the fighters on each side would see the\nweapons the others were used to. And it is the message Bres sent to the\nFirbolgs, that if they would give up one half of Ireland, his people\nwould be content to take it in peace; but if they would not give up that\nmuch, there should be a battle. And he and Sreng said to one another\nthat whatever might happen in the future, they themselves would be\nfriends.\n\nSreng went back then to Teamhair and gave the message and showed the\nspear; and it is what he advised his people, to share the country and\nnot to go into battle with a people that had weapons so much better than\ntheir own. But Eochaid and his chief men consulted together, and they\nsaid in the end: \"We will not give up the half of the country to these\nstrangers; for if we do,\" they said, \"they will soon take the whole.\"\n\nNow as to the Men of Dea, when Bres went back to them, and showed them\nthe heavy spear, and told them of the strong, fierce man he had got it\nfrom, and how sturdy he was and well armed, they thought it likely there\nwould soon be a battle. And they went back from where they were to a\nbetter place, farther west in Connacht, and there they settled\nthemselves, and made walls and ditches on the plain of Magh Nia, where\nthey had the great mountain, Belgata, in their rear. And while they were\nmoving there and putting up their walls, three queens of them, Badb and\nMacha and the Morrigu, went to Teamhair where the Firbolgs were making\ntheir plans. And by the power of their enchantments they brought mists\nand clouds of darkness over the whole place, and they sent showers of\nfire and of blood over the people, the way they could not see or speak\nwith one another through the length of three days. But at the end of\nthat time, the three Druids of the Firbolgs, Cesarn and Gnathach and\nIngnathach, broke the enchantment.\n\nThe Firbolgs gathered their men together then, and they came with their\neleven battalions and took their stand at the eastern end of the plain\nof Magh Nia.\n\nAnd Nuada, king of the Men of Dea, sent his poets to make the same offer\nhe made before, to be content with the half of the country if it was\ngiven up to him. King Eochaid bade the poets to ask an answer of his\nchief men that were gathered there; and when they heard the offer they\nwould not consent. So the messengers asked them when would they begin\nthe battle. \"We must have a delay,\" they said; \"for we want time to put\nour spears and our armour in order, and to brighten our helmets and to\nsharpen our swords, and to have spears made like the ones you have. And\nas to yourselves,\" they said, \"you will be wanting to have spears like\nour Craisechs made for you.\" So they agreed then to make a delay of a\nquarter of a year for preparation.\n\nIt was on a Midsummer day they began the battle. Three times nine\nhurlers of the Tuatha de Danaan went out against three times nine\nhurlers of the Firbolgs, and they were beaten, and every one of them was\nkilled. And the king, Eochaid, sent a messenger to ask would they have\nthe battle every day or every second day. And it is what Nuada answered\nthat they would have it every day, but there should be just the same\nnumber of men fighting on each side. Eochaid agreed to that, but he was\nnot well pleased, for there were more men of the Firbolgs than of the\nMen of Dea.\n\nSo the battle went on for four days, and there were great feats done on\neach side, and a great many champions came to their death. But for those\nthat were alive at evening, the physicians on each side used to make a\nbath of healing, with every sort of healing plant or herb in it, the way\nthey would be strong and sound for the next day's fight.\n\nAnd on the fourth day the Men of Dea got the upper hand, and the\nFirbolgs were driven back. And a great thirst came on Eochaid, their\nking, in the battle, and he went off the field looking for a drink, and\nthree fifties of his men protecting him; but three fifties of the Tuatha\nde Danaan followed after them till they came to the strand that is\ncalled Traigh Eothaile, and they had a fierce fight there, and at the\nlast King Eochaid fell, and they buried him there, and they raised a\ngreat heap of stones over his grave.\n\nAnd when there were but three hundred men left of the eleven battalions\nof the Firbolgs, and Sreng at the head of them, Nuada offered them\npeace, and their choice among the five provinces of Ireland. And Sreng\nsaid they would take Connacht; and he and his people lived there and\ntheir children after them. It is of them Ferdiad came afterwards that\nmade such a good fight against Cuchulain, and Erc, son of Cairbre, that\ngave him his death. And that battle, that was the first fought in\nIreland by the Men of Dea, was called by some the first battle of Magh\nTuireadh.\n\nAnd the Tuatha de Danaan took possession of Teamhair, that was sometimes\ncalled Druim Cain, the Beautiful Ridge, and Liathdruim, the Grey Ridge,\nand Druim na Descan, the Ridge of the Outlook, all those names were\ngiven to Teamhair. And from that time it was above all other places, for\nits king was the High King over all Ireland. The king's rath lay to the\nnorth, and the Hill of the Hostages to the north-east of the High Seat,\nand the Green of Teamhair to the west of the Hill of the Hostages. And\nto the north-east, in the Hill of the Sidhe, was a well called Nemnach,\nand out of it there flowed a stream called Nith, and on that stream the\nfirst mill was built in Ireland.\n\nAnd to the north of the Hill of the Hostages was the stone, the Lia\nFail, and it used to roar under the feet of every king that would take\npossession of Ireland. And the Wall of the Three Whispers was near the\nHouse of the Women that had seven doors to the east, and seven doors to\nthe west; and it is in that house the feasts of Teamhair used to be\nheld. And there was the Great House of a Thousand Soldiers, and near it,\nto the south, the little Hill of the Woman Soldiers.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II. THE REIGN OF BRES\n\n\nBut if Nuada won the battle, he lost his own arm in it, that was struck\noff by Sreng; and by that loss there came troubles and vexation on his\npeople.\n\nFor it was a law with the Tuatha de Danaan that no man that was not\nperfect in shape should be king. And after Nuada had lost the battle he\nwas put out of the kingship on that account.\n\nAnd the king they chose in his place was Bres, that was the most\nbeautiful of all their young men, so that if a person wanted to praise\nany beautiful thing, whether it was a plain, or a dun, or ale, or a\nflame, or a woman, or a man, or a horse, it is what he would say, \"It is\nas beautiful as Bres.\" And he was the son of a woman of the Tuatha de\nDanaan, but who his father was no one knew but herself.\n\nBut in spite of Bres being so beautiful, his reign brought no great good\nluck to his people; for the Fomor, whose dwelling-place was beyond the\nsea, or as some say below the sea westward, began putting tribute on\nthem, the way they would get them under their own rule.\n\nIt was a long time before that the Fomor came first to Ireland; dreadful\nthey were to look at, and maimed, having but one foot or one hand, and\nthey under the leadership of a giant and his mother. There never came to\nIreland an army more horrible or more dreadful than that army of the\nFomor. And they were friendly with the Firbolgs and content to leave\nIreland to them, but there was jealousy between them and the Men of Dea.\n\nAnd it was a hard tax they put on them, a third part of their corn they\nasked, and a third part of their milk, and a third part of their\nchildren, so that there was not smoke rising from a roof in Ireland but\nwas under tribute to them. And Bres made no stand against them, but let\nthem get their way.\n\nAnd as to Bres himself, he put a tax on every house in Ireland of the\nmilk of hornless dun cows, or of the milk of cows of some other single\ncolour, enough for a hundred men. And one time, to deceive him, Nechtan\nsinged all the cows of Ireland in a fire of fern, and then he smeared\nthem with the ashes of flax seed, the way they were all dark brown. He\ndid that by the advice of the Druid Findgoll, son of Findemas. And\nanother time they made three hundred cows of wood with dark brown pails\nin place of udders, and the pails were filled with black bog stuff. Then\nBres came to look at the cows, and to see them milked before him, and\nCian, father of Lugh, was there. And when they were milked it was the\nbog stuff that was squeezed out; and Bres took a drink of it thinking it\nto be milk, and he was not the better of it for a long time.\n\nAnd there was another thing against Bres; he was no way open-handed, and\nthe chief men of the Tuatha de Danaan grumbled against him, for their\nknives were never greased in his house, and however often they might\nvisit him there was no smell of ale on their breath. And there was no\nsort of pleasure or merriment in his house, and no call for their poets,\nor singers, or harpers, or pipers, or horn-blowers, or jugglers, or\nfools. And as to the trials of strength they were used to see between\ntheir champions, the only use their strength was put to now was to be\ndoing work for the king. Ogma himself, the shining poet, was under\norders to bring firing to the palace every day for the whole army from\nthe Islands of Mod; and he so weak for want of food that the sea would\nsweep away two-thirds of his bundle every day. And as to the Dagda, he\nwas put to build raths, for he was a good builder, and he made a trench\nround Rath Brese. And he used often to be tired at the work, and one\ntime he nearly gave in altogether for want of food, and this is the way\nthat happened. He used to meet in the house an idle blind man, Cridenbel\nhis name was, that had a sharp tongue, and that coveted the Dagda's\nshare of food, for he thought his own to be small beside it. So he said\nto him: \"For the sake of your good name let the three best bits of your\nshare be given to me.\" And the Dagda gave in to that every night; but he\nwas the worse of it, for what the blind man called a bit would be the\nsize of a good pig, and with his three bits he would take a full third\nof the whole.\n\nBut one day, as the Dagda was in the trench, he saw his son, Angus Og,\ncoming to him. \"That is a good meeting,\" said Angus; \"but what is on\nyou, for you have no good appearance to-day?\" \"There is a reason for\nthat,\" said the Dagda, \"for every evening, Cridenbel, the blind man,\nmakes a demand for the three best bits of my share of food, and takes\nthem from me.\" \"I will give you an advice,\" said Angus. He put his hand\nin his bag then, and took out three pieces of gold and gave them to him.\n\n\"Put these pieces of gold into the three bits you will give this evening\nto Cridenbel,\" he said, \"and they will be the best bits in the dish, and\nthe gold will turn within him the way he will die.\"\n\nSo in the evening the Dagda did that; and no sooner had Cridenbel\nswallowed down the gold than he died. Some of the people said then to\nthe king: \"The Dagda has killed Cridenbel, giving him some deadly herb.\"\nThe king believed that, and there was anger on him against the Dagda,\nand he gave orders he should be put to death. But the Dagda said: \"You\nare not giving the right judgment of a prince.\" And he told all that had\nhappened, and how Cridenbel used to say, \"Give me the three best bits\nbefore you, for my own share is not good to-night.\" \"And on this\nnight,\" he said, \"the three pieces of gold were the best things before\nme, and I gave them to him, and he died.\"\n\nThe king gave orders then to have the body cut open. And they found the\ngold inside it, and they knew it was the truth the Dagda had told.\n\nAnd Angus came to him again the next day, and he said: \"Your work will\nsoon be done, and when you are given your wages, take nothing they may\noffer you till the cattle of Ireland are brought before you, and choose\nout a heifer then, black and black-maned, that I will tell you the signs\nof.\"\n\nSo when the Dagda had brought his work to an end, and they asked him\nwhat reward he wanted, he did as Angus had bidden him. And that seemed\nfolly to Bres; he thought the Dagda would have asked more than a heifer\nof him.\n\nThere came a day at last when a poet came to look for hospitality at the\nking's house, Corpre, son of Etain, poet of the Tuatha de Danaan. And it\nis how he was treated, he was put in a little dark narrow house where\nthere was no fire, or furniture, or bed; and for a feast three small\ncakes, and they dry, were brought to him on a little dish. When he rose\nup on the morrow he was no way thankful, and as he was going across the\ngreen, it is what he said: \"Without food ready on a dish; without milk\nenough for a calf to grow on; without shelter; without light in the\ndarkness of night; without enough to pay a story-teller; may that be the\nprosperity of Bres.\"\n\nAnd from that day there was no good luck with Bres, but it is going down\nhe was for ever after. And that was the first satire ever made in\nIreland.\n\nNow as to Nuada: after his arm being struck off, he was in his sickness\nfor a while, and then Diancecht, the healer, made an arm of silver for\nhim, with movement in every finger of it, and put it on him. And from\nthat he was called Nuada Argat-lamh, of the Silver Hand, for ever after.\n\nNow Miach, son of Diancecht, was a better hand at healing than his\nfather, and had done many things. He met a young man, having but one\neye, at Teamhair one time, and the young man said: \"If you are a good\nphysician you will put an eye in the place of the eye I lost.\" \"I could\nput the eye of that cat in your lap in its place,\" said Miach. \"I would\nlike that well,\" said the young man. So Miach put the cat's eye in his\nhead; but he would as soon have been without it after, for when he\nwanted to sleep and take his rest, it is then the eye would start at the\nsqueaking of the mice, or the flight of the birds, or the movement of\nthe rushes; and when he was wanting to watch an army or a gathering, it\nis then it was sure to be in a deep sleep.\n\nAnd Miach was not satisfied with what his father had done to the king,\nand he took Nuada's own hand that had been struck off, and brought it to\nhim and set it in its place, and he said: \"Joint to joint, and sinew to\nsinew.\" Three days and three nights he was with the king; the first day\nhe put the hand against his side, and the second day against his breast,\ntill it was covered with skin, and the third day he put bulrushes that\nwere blackened in the fire on it, and at the end of that time the king\nwas healed.\n\nBut Diancecht was vexed when he saw his son doing a better cure than\nhimself, and he threw his sword at his head, that it cut the flesh, but\nthe lad healed the wound by means of his skill. Then Diancecht threw it\na second time, that it reached the bone, but the lad was able to cure\nthe wound. Then he struck him the third time and the fourth, till he cut\nout the brain, for he knew no physician could cure him after that blow;\nand Miach died, and he buried him.\n\nAnd herbs grew up from his grave, to the number of his joints and\nsinews, three hundred and sixty-five. And Airmed, his sister, came and\nspread out her cloak and laid out the herbs in it, according to their\nvirtue. But Diancecht saw her doing that, and he came and mixed up the\nherbs, so that no one knows all their right powers to this day.\n\nThen when the Tuatha de Danaan saw Nuada as well as he was before, they\ngathered together to Teamhair, where Bres was, and they bade him give up\nthe kingship, for he had held it long enough. So he had to give it up,\nthough he was not very willing, and Nuada was put back in the kingship\nagain.\n\nThere was great vexation on Bres then, and he searched his mind to know\nhow could he be avenged on those that had put him out, and how he could\ngather an army against them; and he went to his mother, Eri, daughter of\nDelbaith, and bade her tell him what his race was.\n\n\"I know that well,\" she said; and she told him then that his father was\na king of the Fomor, Elathan, son of Dalbaech, and that he came to her\none time over a level sea in some great vessel that seemed to be of\nsilver, but she could not see its shape, and he himself having the\nappearance of a young man with yellow hair, and his clothes sewed with\ngold, and five rings of gold about his neck. And she that had refused\nthe love of all the young men of her own people, gave him her love, and\nshe cried when he left her. And he gave her a ring from his hand, and\nbade her give it only to the man whose finger it would fit, and he went\naway then the same way as he had come.\n\nAnd she brought out the ring then to Bres, and he put it round his\nmiddle finger, and it fitted him well. And they went then together to\nthe hill where she was the time she saw the silver vessel coming, and\ndown to the strand, and she and Bres and his people set out for the\ncountry of the Fomor.\n\nAnd when they came to that country they found a great plain with many\ngatherings of people on it, and they went to the gathering that looked\nthe best, and the people asked where did they come from, and they said\nthey were come from Ireland. \"Have you hounds with you?\" they asked them\nthen, for it was the custom at that time, when strangers came to a\ngathering, to give them some friendly challenge. \"We have hounds,\" said\nBres. So the hounds were matched against one another, and the hounds of\nthe Tuatha de Danaan were better than the hounds of the Fomor. \"Have you\nhorses for a race?\" they asked then. \"We have,\" said Bres. And the\nhorses of the Tuatha de Danaan beat the horses of the Fomor.\n\nThen they asked was any one among them a good hand with the sword, and\nthey said Bres was the best. But when he put his hand to his sword,\nElathan, his father, that was among them, knew the ring, and he asked\nwho was this young man. Then his mother answered him and told the whole\nstory, and that Bres was his own son.\n\nThere was sorrow on his father then, and he said: \"What was it drove you\nout of the country you were king over?\" And Bres said: \"Nothing drove me\nout but my own injustice and my own hardness; I took away their\ntreasures from the people, and their jewels, and their food itself. And\nthere were never taxes put on them before I was their king.\"\n\n\"That is bad,\" said his father; \"it is of their prosperity you had a\nright to think more than of your own kingship. And their good-will\nwould be better than their curses,\" he said; \"and what is it you are\ncome to look for here?\" \"I am come to look for fighting men,\" said Bres,\n\"that I may take Ireland by force.\" \"You have no right to get it by\ninjustice when you could not keep it by justice,\" said his father. \"What\nadvice have you for me then?\" said Bres.\n\nAnd Elathan bade him go to the chief king of the Fomor, Balor of the\nEvil Eye, to see what advice and what help would he give him.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK TWO: LUGH OF THE LONG HAND.\n\nCHAPTER I. THE COMING OF LUGH\n\n\nNow as to Nuada of the Silver Hand, he was holding a great feast at\nTeamhair one time, after he was back in the kingship. And there were two\ndoor-keepers at Teamhair, Gamal, son of Figal, and Camel, son of\nRiagall. And a young man came to the door where one of them was, and\nbade him bring him in to the king. \"Who are you yourself?\" said the\ndoor-keeper. \"I am Lugh, son of Cian of the Tuatha de Danaan, and of\nEthlinn, daughter of Balor, King of the Fomor,\" he said; \"and I am\nfoster-son of Taillte, daughter of the King of the Great Plain, and of\nEchaid the Rough, son of Duach.\" \"What are you skilled in?\" said the\ndoor-keeper; \"for no one without an art comes into Teamhair.\" \"Question\nme,\" said Lugh; \"I am a carpenter.\" \"We do not want you; we have a\ncarpenter ourselves, Luchtar, son of Luachaid.\" \"Then I am a smith.\" \"We\nhave a smith ourselves, Colum Cuaillemech of the Three New Ways.\" \"Then\nI am a champion.\" \"That is no use to us; we have a champion before,\nOgma, brother to the king.\" \"Question me again,\" he said; \"I am a\nharper.\" \"That is no use to us; we have a harper ourselves, Abhean, son\nof Bicelmos, that the Men of the Three Gods brought from the hills.\" \"I\nam-a poet,\" he said then, \"and a teller of tales.\" \"That is no use to\nus; we have a teller of tales ourselves, Ere, son of Ethaman.\" \"And I am\na magician.\" \"That is no use to us; we have plenty of magicians and\npeople of power.\" \"I am a physician,\" he said. \"That is no use; we have\nDiancecht-for our physician.\" \"Let me be a cup-bearer,\" he said. \"We do\nnot want you; we have nine cup-bearers ourselves.\" \"I am a good worker\nin brass.\" \"We have a worker in brass ourselves, that is Credne Cerd.\"\n\nThen Lugh said: \"Go and ask the king if he has any one man that can do\nall these things, and if he has, I will not ask to come into Teamhair.\"\nThe door-keeper went into the king's house then and told him all that.\n\"There is a young man at the door,\" he said, \"and his name should be the\nIld\u00e1nach, the Master of all Arts, for all the things the people of your\nhouse can do, he himself is able to do every one of them.\" \"Try him with\nthe chess-boards,\" said Nuada. So the chess-boards were brought out, and\nevery game that was played, Lugh won it. And when Nuada was told that,\nhe said: \"Let him in, for the like of him never came into Teamhair\nbefore.\"\n\nThen the door-keeper let him pass, and he came into the king's house and\nsat down in the seat of knowledge. And there was a great flag-stone\nthere that could hardly be moved by four times twenty yoke of oxen, and\nOgma took it up and hurled it out through the house, so that it lay on\nthe outside of Teamhair, as a challenge to Lugh. But Lugh hurled it back\nagain that it lay in the middle of the king's house. He played the harp\nfor them then, and he had them laughing and crying, till he put them\nasleep at the end with a sleepy tune. And when Nuada saw all the things\nLugh could do, he began to think that by his help the country might get\nfree of the taxes and the tyranny put on it by the Fomor. And it is what\nhe did, he came down from his throne, and he put Lugh on it in his\nplace, for the length of thirteen days, the way they might all listen to\nthe advice he would give.\n\nThis now is the story of the birth of Lugh. The time the Fomor used to\nbe coming to Ireland, Balor of the Strong Blows, or, as some called\nhim, of the Evil Eye, was living on the Island of the Tower of Glass.\nThere was danger for ships that went near that island, for the Fomor\nwould come out and take them. And some say the sons of Nemed in the old\ntime, before the Firbolgs were in Ireland, passed near it in their\nships, and what they saw was a tower of glass in the middle of the sea,\nand on the tower something that had the appearance of men, and they went\nagainst it with Druid spells to attack it. And the Fomor worked against\nthem with Druid spells of their own; and the sons of Nemed attacked the\ntower, and it vanished, and they thought it was destroyed. But a great\nwave rose over them then, and all their ships went down and all that\nwere in them.\n\nAnd the tower was there as it was before, and Balor living in it. And it\nis the reason he was called \"of the Evil Eye,\" there was a power of\ndeath in one of his eyes, so that no person could look at it and live.\nIt is the way it got that power, he was passing one time by a house\nwhere his father's Druids were making spells of death, and the window\nbeing open he looked in, and the smoke of the poisonous spells was\nrising up, and it went into his eye. And from that time he had to keep\nit closed unless he wanted to be the death of some enemy, and then the\nmen that were with him would lift the eyelid with a ring of ivory.\n\nNow a Druid foretold one time that it was by his own grandson he would\nget his death. And he had at that time but one child, a daughter whose\nname was Ethlinn; and when he heard what the Druid said, he shut her up\nin the tower on the island. And he put twelve women with her to take\ncharge of her and to guard her, and he bade them never to let her see a\nman or hear the name of a man.\n\nSo Ethlinn was brought up in the tower, and she grew to be very\nbeautiful; and sometimes she would see men passing in the currachs, and\nsometimes she would see a man in her dreams. But when she would speak of\nthat to the women, they would give her no answer.\n\nSo there was no fear on Balor, and he went on with war and robbery as he\nwas used, seizing every ship that passed by, and sometimes going over to\nIreland to do destruction there.\n\nNow it chanced at that time there were three brothers of the Tuatha de\nDanaan living together in a place that was called Druim na Teine, the\nRidge of the Fire, Goibniu and Samthainn and Cian. Cian was a lord of\nland, and Goibniu was the smith that had such a great name. Now Cian had\na wonderful cow, the Glas Gaibhnenn, and her milk never failed. And\nevery one that heard of her coveted her, and many had tried to steal her\naway, so that she had to be watched night and day.\n\nAnd one time Cian was wanting some swords made, and he went to Goibniu's\nforge, and he brought the Glas Gaibhnenn with him, holding her by a\nhalter. When he came to the forge his two brothers were there together,\nfor Samthainn had brought some steel to have weapons made for himself;\nand Cian bade Samthainn to hold the halter while he went into the forge\nto speak with Goibniu.\n\nNow Balor had set his mind for a long time on the Glas Gaibhnenn, but he\nhad never been able to get near her up to this time. And he was watching\nnot far off, and when he saw Samthainn holding the cow, he put on the\nappearance of a little boy, having red hair, and came up to him and told\nhim he heard his two brothers that were in the forge saying to one\nanother that they would use all his steel for their own swords, and make\nhis of iron. \"By my word,\" said Samthainn, \"they will not deceive me so\neasily. Let you hold the cow, little lad,\" he said, \"and I will go in to\nthem.\" With that he rushed into the forge, and great anger on him. And\nno sooner did Balor get the halter in his hand than he set out, dragging\nthe Glas along with him, to the strand, and across the sea to his own\nisland.\n\nWhen Cian saw his brother coming in he rushed out, and there he saw\nBalor and the Glas out in the sea. And he had nothing to do then but to\nreproach his brother, and to wander about as if his wits had left him,\nnot knowing what way to get his cow back from Balor. At last he went to\na Druid to ask an advice from him; and it is what the Druid told him,\nthat so long as Balor lived, the cow would never be brought back, for no\none would go within reach of his Evil Eye.\n\nCian went then to a woman-Druid, Birog of the Mountain, for her help.\nAnd she dressed him in a woman's clothes, and brought him across the sea\nin a blast of wind, to the tower where Ethlinn was. Then she called to\nthe women in the tower, and asked them for shelter for a high queen she\nwas after saving from some hardship, and the women in the tower did not\nlike to refuse a woman of the Tuatha de Danaan, and they let her and her\ncomrade in. Then Birog by her enchantments put them all into a deep\nsleep, and Cian went to speak with Ethlinn. And when she saw him she\nsaid that was the face she had seen in her dreams. So she gave him her\nlove; but after a while he was brought away again on a blast of wind.\n\nAnd when her time came, Ethlinn gave birth to a son. And when Balor knew\nthat, he bade his people put the child in a cloth and fasten it with a\npin, and throw him into a current of the sea. And as they were carrying\nthe child across an arm of the sea, the pin dropped out, and the child\nslipped from the cloth into the water, and they thought he was drowned.\nBut he was brought away by Birog of the Mountain, and she brought him to\nhis father Cian; and he gave him to be fostered by Taillte, daughter of\nthe King of the Great Plain. It is thus Lugh was born and reared.\n\nAnd some say Balor came and struck the head off Cian on a white stone,\nthat has the blood marks on it to this day; but it is likely it was some\nother man he struck the head off, for it was by the sons of Tuireann\nthat Cian came to his death.\n\nAnd after Lugh had come to Teamhair, and made his mind up to join with\nhis father's people against the Fomor, he put his mind to the work; and\nhe went to a quiet place in Grellach Dollaid, with Nuada and the Dagda,\nand with Ogma; and Goibniu and Diancecht were called to them there. A\nfull year they stopped there, making their plans together in secret, the\nway the Fomor would not know they were going to rise against them till\nsuch time as all would be ready, and till they would know what their\nstrength was. And it is from that council the place got the name\nafterwards of \"The Whisper of the Men of Dea.\"\n\nAnd they broke up the council, and agreed to meet again that day three\nyears, and every one of them went his own way, and Lugh went back to his\nown friends, the sons of Manannan.\n\nAnd it was a good while after that, Nuada was holding a great assembly\nof the people on the Hill of Uisnech, on the west side of Teamhair. And\nthey were not long there before they saw an armed troop coming towards\nthem from the east, over the plain; and there was a young man in front\nof the troop, in command over the rest, and the brightness of his face\nwas like the setting sun, so that they were not able to look at him\nbecause of its brightness.\n\nAnd when he came nearer they knew it was Lugh Lamh-Fada, of the Long\nHand, that had come back to them, and along with him were the Riders of\nthe Sidhe from the Land of Promise, and his own foster-brothers, the\nsons of Manannan, Sgoith Gleigeil, the White Flower, and Goitne\nGorm-Shuileach, the Blue-eyed Spear, and Sine Sindearg, of the Red Ring,\nand Donall Donn-Ruadh, of the Red-brown Hair. And it is the way Lugh\nwas, he had Manannan's horse, the Aonbharr, of the One Mane, under him,\nthat was as swift as the naked cold wind of spring, and the sea was the\nsame as dry land to her, and the rider was never killed off her back.\nAnd he had Manannan's breast-plate on him, that kept whoever was wearing\nit from wounds, and a helmet on his head with two beautiful precious\nstones set in the front of it and one at the back, and when he took it\noff, his forehead was like the sun on a dry summer day. And he had\nManannan's sword, the Freagarthach, the Answerer, at his side, and no\none that was wounded by it would ever get away alive; and when that\nsword was bared in a battle, no man that saw it coming against him had\nany more strength than a woman in child-birth.\n\nAnd the troop came to where the King of Ireland was with the Tuatha de\nDanaan, and they welcomed one another.\n\nAnd they were not long there till they saw a surly, slovenly troop\ncoming towards them, nine times nine of the messengers of the Fomor,\nthat were coming to ask rent and taxes from the men of Ireland; and the\nnames of the four that were the hardest and the most cruel were Eine and\nEathfaigh and Coron and Compar; and there was such great dread of these\nfour on the Tuatha de Danaan, that not one of them would so much as\npunish his own son or his foster-son without leave from them.\n\nThey came up then to where the King of Ireland was with the Riders of\nthe Sidhe, and the king and all the Tuatha de Danaan stood up before\nthem. And Lugh of the Long Hand said: \"Why do you rise up before that\nsurly, slovenly troop, when you did not rise up before us?\"\n\n\"It is needful for us to do it,\" said the king; \"for if there was but a\nchild of us sitting before them, they would not think that too small a\ncause for killing him.\" \"By my word,\" said Lugh, \"there is a great\ndesire coming on me to kill themselves.\" \"That is a thing would bring\nharm on us,\" said the king, \"for we would meet our own death and\ndestruction through it.\" \"It is too long a time you have been under this\noppression,\" said Lugh. And with that he started up and made an attack\non the Fomor, killing and wounding them, till he had made an end of\neight nines of them, but he let the last nine go under the protection of\nNuada the king. \"And I would kill you along with the others,\" he said,\n\"but I would sooner see you go with messages to your own country than my\nown people, for fear they might get any ill-treatment.\"\n\nSo the nine went back then till they came to Lochlann, where the men of\nthe Fomor were, and they told them the story from beginning to end, and\nhow a young well-featured lad had come into Ireland and had killed all\nthe tax-gatherers but themselves, \"and it is the reason he let us off,\"\nthey said, \"that we might tell you the story ourselves.\"\n\n\"Do you know who is the young man?\" said Balor of the Evil Eye then.\n\n\"I know well,\" said Ceithlenn, his wife; \"he is the son of your\ndaughter and mine. And it was foretold,\" she said, \"that from the time\nhe would come into Ireland, we would never have power there again for\never.\"\n\nThen the chief men of the Fomor went into a council, Eab, son of Neid,\nand Seanchab, grandson of Neid, and Sital Salmhor, and Liath, son of\nLobais, and the nine poets of the Fomor that had learning and the gift\nof foreknowledge, and Lobais the Druid, and Balor himself and his twelve\nwhite-mouthed sons, and Ceithlenn of the Crooked Teeth, his queen.\n\nAnd it was just at that time Bres and his father Elathan were come to\nask help of the Fomor, and Bres said: \"I myself will go to Ireland, and\nseven great battalions of the Riders of the Fomor along with me, and I\nwill give battle to this Ild\u00e1nach, this master of all arts, and I will\nstrike his head off and bring it here to you, to the green of Berbhe.\"\n\"It would be a fitting thing for you to do,\" said they all. \"Let my\nships be made ready for me,\" said Bres, \"and let food and provisions be\nput in them.\"\n\nSo they made no delay, but went and got the ships ready, and they put\nplenty of food and drink in them, and the two swift Luaths were sent out\nto gather the army to Bres. And when they were all gathered, they made\nready their armour and their weapons, and they set out for Ireland.\n\nAnd Balor the king followed them to the harbour, and he said: \"Give\nbattle to that Ild\u00e1nach, and strike off his head; and tie that island\nthat is called Ireland to the back of your ships, and let the destroying\nwater take its place, and put it on the north side of Lochlann, and not\none of the Men of Dea will follow it there to the end of life and time.\"\n\nThen they pushed out their ships and put up their painted sails, and\nwent out from the harbour on the untilled country, on the ridges of the\nwide-lying sea, and they never turned from their course till they came\nto the harbour of Eas Dara. And from that they sent out an army through\nWest Connacht and destroyed it altogether, through and through. And the\nKing of Connacht at that time was Bodb Dearg, son of the Dagda.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II. THE SONS OF TUIREANN\n\n\nAnd Lugh of the Long Hand was at that time at Teamhair with the King of\nIreland, and it was showed to him that the Fomor were after landing at\nEas Dara. And when he knew that, he made ready Manannan's horse, the\nAonbharr, at the time of the battle of the day and night; and he went\nwhere Nuada the king was, and told him how the Fomor had landed at Eas\nDara and had spoiled Bodb Dearg's country; \"and it is what I want,\" he\nsaid, \"to get help from you to give battle to them.\" But Nuada was not\nminded to avenge the destruction that was done on Bodb Dearg and not on\nhimself, and Lugh was not well pleased with his answer, and he went\nriding out of Teamhair westward. And presently he saw three armed men\ncoming towards him, his own father Cian, with his brothers Cu and\nCeithen, that were the three sons of Cainte, and they saluted him. \"What\nis the cause of your early rising?\" they said. \"It is good cause I have\nfor it,\" said Lugh, \"for the Fomor are come into Ireland and have robbed\nBodb Dearg; and what help will you give me against them?\" he said.\n\n\"Each one of us will keep off a hundred from you in the battle,\" said\nthey. \"That is a good help,\" said Lugh; \"but there is a help I would\nsooner have from you than that: to gather the Riders of the Sidhe to me\nfrom every place where they are.\"\n\nSo Cu and Ceithen went towards the south, and Cian set out northward,\nand he did not stop till he reached the Plain of Muirthemne. And as he\nwas going across the plain he saw three armed men before him, that were\nthe three sons of Tuireann, son of Ogma. And it is the way it was\nbetween the three sons of Tuireann and the three sons of Cainte, they\nwere in hatred and enmity towards one another, so that whenever they met\nthere was sure to be fighting among them.\n\nThen Cian said: \"If my two brothers had been here it is a brave fight we\nwould make; but since they are not, it is best for me to fall back.\"\nThen he saw a great herd of pigs near him, and he struck himself with a\nDruid rod that put on him the shape of a pig of the herd, and he began\nrooting up the ground like the rest.\n\nThen Brian, one of the sons of Tuireann, said to his brothers: \"Did you\nsee that armed man that was walking the plain a while ago?\" \"We did see\nhim,\" said they. \"Do you know what was it took him away?\" said Brian.\n\"We do not know that,\" said they. \"It is a pity you not to be keeping a\nbetter watch over the plains of the open country in time of war,\" said\nBrian; \"and I know well what happened him, for he struck himself with\nhis Druid rod into the shape of a pig of these pigs, and he is rooting\nup the ground now like any one of them; and whoever he is, he is no\nfriend to us.\" \"That is bad for us,\" said the other two, \"for the pigs\nbelong to some one of the Tuatha de Danaan, and even if we kill them\nall, the Druid pig might chance to escape us in the end.\"\n\n\"It is badly you got your learning in the city of learning,\" said Brian,\n\"when you cannot tell an enchanted beast from a natural beast.\" And\nwhile he was saying that, he struck his two brothers with his Druid\nrod, and he turned them into two thin, fast hounds, and they began to\nyelp sharply on the track of the enchanted pig.\n\nAnd it was not long before the pig fell out from among the others, and\nnot one of the others made away but only itself, and it made for a wood,\nand at the edge of the wood Brian gave a cast of his spear that went\nthrough its body. And the pig cried out, and it said: \"It is a bad thing\nyou have done to have made a cast at me when you knew me.\" \"It seems to\nme you have the talk of a man,\" said Brian. \"I was a man indeed,\" said\nhe; \"I am Cian, son of Cainte, and give me your protection now.\" \"I\nswear by the gods of the air,\" said Brian, \"that if the life came back\nseven times to you, I would take it from you every time.\" \"If that is\nso,\" said Cian, \"give me one request: let me go into my own shape\nagain.\" \"We will do that,\" said Brian, \"for it is easier to me to kill a\nman than a pig.\"\n\nSo Cian took his own shape then, and he said: \"Give me mercy now.\" \"We\nwill not give it,\" said Brian. \"Well, I have got the better of you for\nall that,\" said Cian; \"for if it was in the shape of a pig you had killed\nme there would only be the blood money for a pig on me; but as it is in\nmy own shape you will kill me, there never was and never will be any\nperson killed for whose sake a heavier fine will be paid than for\nmyself. And the arms I am killed with,\" he said, \"it is they will tell\nthe deed to my son.\"\n\n\"It is not with weapons you will be killed, but with the stones lying on\nthe ground,\" said Brian. And with that they pelted him with stones,\nfiercely and roughly, till all that was left of him was a poor,\nmiserable, broken heap; and they buried him the depth of a man's body in\nthe earth, and the earth would not receive that murder from them, but\ncast it up again. Brian said it should go into the earth again, and they\nput it in the second time, and the second time the earth would not take\nit. And six times the sons of Tuireann buried the body, and six times it\nwas cast up again; but the seventh time it was put underground the earth\nkept it. And then they went on to join Lugh of the Long Hand for the\nbattle.\n\nNow as to Lugh; upon parting with his father he went forward from\nTeamhair westward, to the hills that were called afterwards Gairech and\nIlgairech, and to the ford of the Shannon that is now called Athluain,\nand to Bearna nah-Eadargana, the Gap of Separation, and over Magh Luirg,\nthe Plain of Following, and to Corr Slieve na Seaghsa, the Round\nMountain of the Poet's Spring, and to the head of Sean-Slieve, and\nthrough the place of the bright-faced Corann, and from that to Magh Mor\nan Aonaigh, the Great Plain of the Fair, where the Fomor were, and the\nspoils of Connacht with them.\n\nIt is then Bres, son of Elathan, rose up and said: \"It is a wonder to me\nthe sun to be rising in the west to-day, and it rising in the east every\nother day.\" \"It would be better for us it to be the sun,\" said the\nDruids. \"What else is it?\" said he. \"It is the shining of the face of\nLugh, son of Ethlinn,\" said they.\n\nLugh came up to them then and saluted them. \"Why do you come like a\nfriend to us?\" said they. \"There is good cause for that,\" he said, \"for\nthere is but one half of me of the Tuatha de Danaan, and the other half\nof yourselves. And give me back now the milch cows of the men of\nIreland,\" he said. \"May early good luck not come to you till you get\neither a dry or a milch cow here,\" said a man of them, and anger on him.\n\nBut Lugh stopped near them for three days and three nights, and at the\nend of that time the Riders of the Sidhe came to him. And Bodb Dearg,\nson of the Dagda, came with twenty-nine hundred men, and he said:\n\n\"What is the cause of your delay in giving battle?\"\n\n\"Waiting for you I was,\" said Lugh.\n\nThen the kings and chief men of the men of Ireland took their armour on\nthem, and they raised the points of their spears over their heads, and\nthey made close fences of their shields. And they attacked their enemies\non Magh Mor an Aonaigh, and their enemies answered them, and they threw\ntheir whining spears at one another, and when their spears were broken\nthey drew their swords from their blue-bordered sheaths and began to\nstrike at one another, and thickets of brown flames rose above them from\nthe bitterness of their many-edged weapons.\n\nAnd Lugh saw the battle pen where Bres, son of Elathan, was, and he made\na fierce attack on him and on the men that were guarding him, till he\nhad made an end of two hundred of them.\n\nWhen Bres saw that, he gave himself up to Lugh's protection. \"Give me my\nlife this time,\" he said, \"and I will bring the whole race of the Fomor\nto fight it out with you in a great battle; and I bind myself to that,\nby the sun and the moon, the sea and the land,\" he said.\n\nOn that Lugh gave him his life, and then the Druids that were with him\nasked his protection for themselves. \"By my word,\" said Lugh, \"if the\nwhole race of the Fomor went under my protection they would not be\ndestroyed by me.\" So then Bres and the Druids set out for their own\ncountry.\n\nNow as to Lugh and the sons of Tuireann. After the battle of Magh Mor an\nAonaigh, he met two of his kinsmen and asked them did they see his\nfather in the fight. \"We did not,\" said they. \"I am sure he is not\nliving,\" said Lugh; \"and I give my word,\" he said, \"there will no food\nor drink go into my mouth till I get knowledge by what death my father\ndied.\"\n\nThen he set out, and the Riders of the Sidhe after him, till they came\nto the place where he and his father parted from one another, and from\nthat to the place where his father went into the shape of a pig when he\nsaw the sons of Tuireann.\n\nAnd when Lugh came to that place the earth spoke to him, and it said:\n\"It is in great danger your father was here, Lugh, when he saw the sons\nof Tuireann before him, and it is into the shape of a pig he had to go,\nbut it is in his own shape they killed him.\"\n\nThen Lugh told that to his people, and he found the spot where his\nfather was buried, and he bade them dig there, the way he would know by\nwhat death the sons of Tuireann had made an end of him.\n\nThen they raised the body out of the grave and looked at it, and it was\nall one bed of wounds. And Lugh said: \"It was the death of an enemy the\nsons of Tuireann gave my dear father.\" And he gave him three kisses, and\nit is what he said: \"It is bad the way I am myself after this death, for\nI can hear nothing with my ears, and I can see nothing with my eyes, and\nthere is not a living pulse in my heart, with grief after my father. And\nyou gods I worship,\" he said, \"it is a pity I not to have come here the\ntime this thing was done. And it is a great thing that has been done\nhere,\" he said, \"the people of the gods of Dana to have done treachery\non one another, and it is long they will be under loss by it and be\nweakened by it. And Ireland will never be free from trouble from this\nout, east and west,\" he said.\n\nThen they put Cian under the earth again, and after that there was\nkeening made over his grave, and a stone was raised on it, and his name\nwas written in Ogham, And Lugh said: \"This hill will take its name from\nCian, although he himself is stripped and broken. And it was the sons of\nTuireann did this thing,\" he said, \"and there will grief and anguish\nfall on them from it, and on their children after them. And it is no\nlying story I am telling you,\" he said; \"and it is a pity the way I am,\nand my heart is broken in my breast since Cian, the brave man, is not\nliving.\"\n\nThen he bade his people to go before him to Teamhair, \"But do not tell\nthe story till I tell it myself,\" he said.\n\nAnd when Lugh came to Teamhair he sat in the high seat of the king, and\nhe looked about him and he saw the three sons of Tuireann. And those\nwere the three that were beyond all others at Teamhair at that time for\nquickness and skill, for a good hand in battle, for beauty and an\nhonourable name.\n\nThen Lugh bade his people to shake the chain of silence, and they did\nso, and they all listened. And Lugh said: \"What are your minds fixed on\nat this time, Men of Dea?\" \"On yourself indeed,\" said they. \"I have a\nquestion to ask of you,\" he said. \"What is the vengeance each one of you\nwould take on the man that would kill your father?\"\n\nThere was great wonder on them when they heard that, and one of the\nchief men among them said: \"Tell us was it your own father that was\nkilled?\" \"It was indeed,\" said Lugh; \"and I see now in this house,\" he\nsaid, \"the men that killed him, and they know themselves what way they\nkilled him better than I know it.\" Then the king said: \"It is not a\ndeath of one day only I would give the man that had killed my father, if\nhe was in my power, but to cut off one of his limbs from day to day till\nI would make an end of him.\" All the chief men said the same, and the\nsons of Tuireann like the rest.\n\n\"There are making that answer,\" said Lugh, \"the three men that killed my\nfather; and let them pay the fine for him now, since you are all\ntogether in the one place. And if they will not,\" he said, \"I will not\nbreak the protection of the king's house, but they must make no attempt\nto quit this house till they have settled with me.\"\n\n\"If it was I myself had killed your father,\" said the king, \"I would be\nwell content you to take a fine from me for him.\"\n\n\"It is at us Lugh is saying all this,\" said the sons of Tuireann among\nthemselves. \"Let us acknowledge the killing of his father to him,\" said\nIuchar and Iucharba. \"I am in dread,\" said Brian, \"that it is wanting an\nacknowledgment from us he is, in the presence of all the rest, and that\nhe will not let us off with a fine afterwards.\" \"It is best to\nacknowledge it,\" said the others; \"and let you speak it out since you\nare the eldest.\"\n\nThen Brian, son of Tuireann, said: \"It is at us you are speaking, Lugh,\nfor you are thinking we went against the sons of Cainte before now; and\nwe did not kill your father,\" he said, \"but we will pay the fine for him\nthe same as if we did kill him.\" \"I will take a fine from you that you\ndo not think of,\" said Lugh, \"and I will say here what it is, and if it\nis too much for you, I will let you off a share of it.\" \"Let us hear it\nfrom you,\" said they. \"Here it is,\" said Lugh; \"three apples, and the\nskin of a pig, and a spear, and two horses, and a chariot, and seven\npigs, and a dog's whelp, and a cooking-spit, and three shouts on a hill.\nThat is the fine I am asking,\" he said; \"and if it is too much for you,\na part of it will be taken off you presently, and if you do not think it\ntoo much, then pay it\"\n\n\"It is not too much,\" said Brian, \"or a hundred times of it would not be\ntoo much. And we think it likely,\" he said, \"because of its smallness\nthat you have some treachery towards us behind it.\" \"I do not think it\ntoo little of a fine,\" said Lugh; \"and I give you the guarantee of the\nTuatha de Danaan I will ask no other thing, and I will be faithful to\nyou, and let you give the same pledge to me.\" \"It is a pity you to ask\nthat,\" said Brian, \"for our own pledge is as good as any pledge in the\nworld.\" \"Your own pledge is not enough,\" said Lugh, \"for it is often the\nlike of you promised to pay a fine in this way, and would try to back\nout of it after.\"\n\nSo then the sons of Tuireann bound themselves by the King of Ireland,\nand by Bodb Dearg, son of the Dagda, and by the chief men of the Tuatha\nde Danaan, that they would pay that fine to Lugh.\n\n\"It would be well for me now,\" said Lugh, \"to give you better knowledge\nof the fine.\" \"It would be well indeed,\" said they.\n\n\"This is the way of it then,\" said Lugh. \"The three apples I asked of\nyou are the three apples from the Garden in the East of the World, and\nno other apples will do but these, for they are the most beautiful and\nhave most virtue in them of the apples of the whole world. And it is\nwhat they are like, they are of the colour of burned gold, and they are\nthe size of the head of a child a month old, and there is the taste of\nhoney on them, and they do not leave the pain of wounds or the vexation\nof sickness on any one that eats them, and they do not lessen by being\neaten for ever. And the skin I asked of you,\" he said, \"is the pig skin\nof Tuis, King of Greece, and it heals all the wounds and all the\nsickness of the world, and whatever danger a man may be in, if it can\nbut overtake the life in him, it will cure him; and it is the way it was\nwith that pig, every stream of water it would go through would be turned\ninto wine to the end of nine days after, and every wound it touched was\nhealed; and it is what the Druids of Greece said, that it is not in\nitself this virtue was, but in the skin, and they skinned it, and the\nskin is there ever since. And I think, too, it will not be easy for you\nto get it, with or without leave.\"\n\n\"And do you know what is the spear I am asking of you?\" he said. \"We do\nnot,\" said they. \"It is a very deadly spear belonging to the King of\nPersia, the Luin it is called, and every choice thing is done by it, and\nits head is kept steeped in a vessel of water, the way it will not burn\ndown the place where it is, and it will be hard to get it. And do you\nknow what two horses and what chariot I am asking of you? They are the\nchariot and the two wonderful horses of Dobar, King of Siogair, and the\nsea is the same as land to them, and there are no faster horses than\nthemselves, and there is no chariot equal to that one in shape and in\nstrength.\n\n\"And do you know what are the seven pigs I asked of you? They are the\npigs of Easal, King of the Golden Pillars; and though they are killed\nevery night, they are found alive again the next day, and there will be\nno disease or no sickness on any person that will eat a share of them.\n\n\"And the whelp I asked of you is Fail-Inis, the whelp belonging to the\nKing of Ioruaidh, the Cold Country. And all the wild beasts of the world\nwould fall down at the sight of her, and she is more beautiful than the\nsun in his fiery wheels, and it will be hard to get her.\n\n\"And the cooking-spit I asked of you is a spit of the spits of the women\nof Inis Cenn-fhinne, the Island of Caer of the Fair Hair. And the three\nshouts you are to give on a hill must be given on the Hill of Miochaoin\nin the north of Lochlann. And Miochaoin and his sons are under bonds not\nto allow any shouts to be given on that hill; and it was with them my\nfather got his learning, and if I would forgive you his death, they\nwould not forgive you. And if you get through all your other voyages\nbefore you reach to them, it is my opinion they themselves will avenge\nhim on you. And that is the fine I have asked of you,\" said Lugh.\n\nThere was silence and darkness on the sons of Tuireann when they heard\nthat. And they went to where their father was, and told him the fine\nthat had been put on them. \"It is bad news that is,\" said Tuireann; \"and\nit is to your death and your destruction you will be going, looking for\nthose things. But for all that, if Lugh himself had a mind to help you,\nyou could work out the fine, and all the men of the world could not do\nit but by the power of Manannan or of Lugh. Go then and ask the loan of\nManannan's horse, the Aonbharr, from Lugh, and if he has any wish to get\nthe fine, he will give it to you; but if he does not wish it he will say\nthe horse is not his, and that he would not give the loan of a loan. Ask\nhim then for the loan of Manannan's curragh, the Scuabtuinne, the\nSweeper of the Waves. And he will give that, for he is under bonds not\nto refuse a second request, and the curragh is better for you than the\nhorse,\" he said.\n\nSo the sons of Tuireann went to where Lugh was, and they saluted him,\nand they said they could not bring him the fine without his own help,\nand for that reason it would be well for them to get a loan of the\nAonbharr. \"I have that horse only on loan myself,\" said Lugh, \"and I\nwill not give a loan of a loan.\"\n\n\"If that is so, give us the loan of Manannan's curragh,\" said Brian. \"I\nwill give that,\" said Lugh. \"What place is it?\" said they. \"At Brugh na\nBoinn,\" said Lugh.\n\nThen they went back again to where Tuireann was, and his daughter Ethne,\ntheir sister, with him, and they told him they had got the curragh. \"It\nis not much the better you will be for it,\" said Tuireann, \"although\nLugh would like well to get every part of this fine he could make use of\nbefore the battle with the Fomor. But he would like yourselves to come\nto your death looking for it.\"\n\nThen they went away, and they left Tuireann sorrowful and lamenting, and\nEthne went with them to where the curragh was. And Brian got into it,\nand he said: \"There is place but for one other person along with me\nhere.\" And he began to find fault with its narrowness. \"You ought not to\nbe faulting the curragh,\" said Ethne; \"and O my dear brother,\" she said,\n\"it was a bad thing you did, to kill the father of Lugh of the Long\nHand; and whatever harm may come to you from it, it is but just.\" \"Do\nnot say that, Ethne,\" they said, \"for we are in good heart, and we will\ndo brave deeds. And we would sooner be killed a hundred times over,\"\nthey said, \"than to meet with the death of cowards.\" \"My grief,\" said\nEthne, \"there is nothing more sorrowful than this, to see you driven out\nfrom your own country.\"\n\nThen the three pushed out their curragh from the beautiful clear-bayed\nshore of Ireland. \"What course shall we take first?\" said they. \"We will\ngo look for the apples,\" said Brian, \"as they were the first thing we\nwere bade bring. And so we ask of you, curragh of Manannan that is under\nus, to sail to the Garden in the East of the World.\"\n\nAnd the curragh did not neglect that order, but it sailed forward over\nthe green-sided waves and deep places till it came to its harbour in the\neast of the world.\n\nAnd then Brian asked his brothers: \"What way have you a mind to get into\nthe garden? for I think,\" he said, \"the king's champions and the\nfighting men of the country are always guarding it, and the king himself\nis chief over them.\" \"What should we do,\" said his brothers, \"but to\nmake straight at them and attack them, and bring away the apples or fall\nourselves, since we cannot escape from these dangers that are before us\nwithout meeting our death in some place.\" \"It would be better,\" said\nBrian, \"the story of our bravery and our craftiness to be told and to\nlive after us, than folly and cowardice to be told of us. And what is\nbest for us to do now,\" he said, \"is to go in the shape of swift hawks\ninto the garden, and the watchers have but their light spears to throw\nat us, and let you take good care to keep out of their reach; and after\nthey have thrown them all, make a quick flight to the apples and let\neach of you bring away an apple of them in your claws, and I will bring\naway the third.\"\n\nThey said that was a good advice, and Brian struck himself and the\nothers with his Druid rod, and changed them into beautiful hawks. And\nthey flew towards the garden, and the watchers took notice of them and\nshouted on every side of them, and threw showers of spears and darts,\nbut the hawks kept out of their reach as Brian had bade them, till all\nthe spears were spent, and then they swept down bravely on the apples,\nand brought them away with them, without so much as a wound.\n\nAnd the news went through the city and the whole district, and the king\nhad three wise, crafty daughters, and they put themselves into the shape\nof three ospreys, and they followed the hawks to the sea, and sent\nflashes of lightning before them and after them, that scorched them\ngreatly.\n\n\"It is a pity the way we are now,\" said the sons of Tuireann, \"for we\nwill be burned through and through with this lightning if we do not get\nsome relief.\" \"If I can give you relief I will do it,\" said Brian. With\nthat he struck himself and his brothers with the Druid rod, and they\nwere turned into three swans, and they went down quickly into the sea,\nand the ospreys went away from them then, and the sons of Tuireann went\ninto their boat.\n\nAfter that they consulted together, and it is what they agreed, to go to\nGreece and to bring away the skin of the pig, with or without leave. So\nthey went forward till they came near to the court of the King of\nGreece.\n\n\"What appearance should we put on us going in here?\" said Brian. \"What\nappearance should we go in with but our own?\" said the others. \"That is\nnot what I think best,\" said Brian; \"but to go in with the appearance of\npoets from Ireland, the way the high people of Greece will hold us in\nrespect and in honour.\" \"It would be hard for us to do that,\" they said,\n\"and we without a poem, and it is little we know how to make one.\"\n\nHowever, they put the poet's tie on their hair, and they knocked at the\ndoor of the court, and the door-keeper asked who was in it. \"We are\npoets of Ireland,\" said Brian, \"and we are come with a poem to the\nking.\"\n\nThe door-keeper went in and told the king that there were poets from\nIreland at the door. \"Let them in,\" said the king, \"for it is in search\nof a good man they came so far from their own country.\" And the king\ngave orders that everything should be well set out in the court, the way\nthey would say they had seen no place so grand in all their travels.\n\nThe sons of Tuireann were let in then, having the appearance of poets,\nand they fell to drinking and pleasure without delay; and they thought\nthey had never seen, and there was not in the world, a court so good as\nthat or so large a household, or a place where they had met with better\ntreatment.\n\nThen the king's poets got up to give out their poems and songs. And then\nBrian, son of Tuireann, bade his brothers to say a poem for the king.\n\"We have no poem,\" said they; \"and do not ask any poem of us, but the\none we know before, and that is to take what we want by the strength of\nour hand if we are the strongest, or to fall by those that are against\nus if they are the strongest.\" \"That is not a good way to make a poem,\"\nsaid Brian. And with that he rose up himself and asked a hearing. And\nthey all listened to him, and it is what he said:\n\n\"O Tuis, we do not hide your fame; we praise you as the oak among kings;\nthe skin of a pig, bounty without hardness, this is the reward I ask for\nit.\n\n\"The war of a neighbour against an ear; the fair ear of his neighbour\nwill be against him; he who gives us what he owns, his court will not be\nthe scarcer for it.\n\n\"A raging army and a sudden sea are a danger to whoever goes against\nthem. The skin of a pig, bounty without hardness, this is the reward I\nask, O Tuis.\"\n\n\"That is a good poem,\" said the king; \"but I do not know a word of its\nmeaning.\" \"I will tell you its meaning,\" said Brian. \"'O Tuis, we do not\nhide your fame; we praise you as the oak above the kings.' That is, as\nthe oak is beyond the kingly trees of the wood, so are you beyond the\nkings of the world for open-handedness and for grandeur.\n\n\"'The skin of a pig, bounty without hardness.' That is, the skin of a\npig you own is what I would wish to get from you as a reward for my\npoem.\n\n\"'The war of a neighbour against an ear, the fair ear of his neighbour\nwill be against him.' That is, you and I will be by the ears about the\nskin, unless I get it with your consent.\n\n\"And that is the meaning of the poem,\" said Brian.\n\n\"I would praise your poem,\" said the king, \"if there was not so much\nabout my pig-skin in it; and you have no good sense, man of poetry,\" he\nsaid, \"to be asking that thing of me, and I would not give it to all\nthe poets and the learned men and the great men of the world, since they\ncould not take it away without my consent. But I will give you three\ntimes the full of the skin of gold as the price of your poem,\" he said.\n\n\"May good be with you, king,\" said Brian, \"and I know well it was no\neasy thing I was asking, but I knew I would get a good ransom for it.\nAnd I am that covetous,\" he said, \"I will not be satisfied without\nseeing the gold measured myself into the skin.\"\n\nThe king sent his servants with them then to the treasure-house to\nmeasure the gold. \"Measure out the full of it to my brothers first,\"\nsaid Brian, \"and then give good measure to myself, since it was I made\nthe poem.\"\n\nBut when the skin was brought out, Brian made a quick sudden snatch at\nit with his left hand, and drew his sword and made a stroke at the man\nnearest him, and made two halves of him. And then he kept a hold of the\nskin and put it about himself, and the three of them rushed out of the\ncourt, cutting down every armed man before them, so that not one escaped\ndeath or wounding. And then Brian went to where the king himself was,\nand the king made no delay in attacking him, and they made a hard fight\nof it, and at the end the King of Greece fell by the hand of Brian, son\nof Tuireann.\n\nThe three brothers rested for a while after that, and then they said\nthey would go and look for some other part of the fine. \"We will go to\nPisear, King of Persia,\" said Brian, \"and ask him for the spear.\"\n\nSo they went into their boat, and they left the blue streams of the\ncoast of Greece, and they said: \"We are well off when we have the apples\nand the skin.\" And they stopped nowhere till they came to the borders of\nPersia.\n\n\"Let us go to the court with the appearance of poets,\" said Brian, \"the\nsame as we went to the King of Greece.\" \"We are content to do that,\"\nsaid the others, \"as all turned out so well the last time we took to\npoetry; not that it is easy for us to take to a calling that does not\nbelong to us.\"\n\nSo they put the poet's tie on their hair, and they were as well treated\nas they were at the other court; and when the time came for poems Brian\nrose up, and it is what he said:\n\n\"It is little any spear looks to Pisear; the battles of enemies are\nbroken, it is not too much for Pisear to wound every one of them.\n\n\"A yew, the most beautiful of the wood, it is called a king, it is not\nbulky. May the spear drive on the whole crowd to their wounds of death.\"\n\n\"That is a good poem,\" said the king, \"but I do not understand why my\nown spear is brought into it, O Man of Poetry from Ireland.\"\n\n\"It is because it is that spear of your own I would wish to get as the\nreward of my poem,\" said Brian. \"It is little sense you have to be\nasking that of me,\" said the king; \"and the people of my court never\nshowed greater respect for poetry than now, when they did not put you to\ndeath on the spot.\"\n\nWhen Brian heard that talk from the king, he thought of the apple that\nwas in his hand, and he made a straight cast and hit him in the\nforehead, so that his brains were put out at the back of his head, and\nhe bared the sword and made an attack on the people about him. And the\nother two did not fail to do the same, and they gave him their help\nbravely till they had made an end of all they met of the people of the\ncourt. And then they found the spear, and its head in a cauldron of\nwater, the way it would not set fire to the place.\n\nAnd after a while they said it was time for them to go and look for the\nrest of the great fine that was on them, and they asked one another what\nway should they go. \"We will go to the King of the Island of Siogair,\"\nsaid Brian, \"for it is with him are the two horses and the chariot the\nIld\u00e1nach asked of us.\"\n\nThey went forward then and brought the spear with them, and it is proud\nthe three champions were after all they had done. And they went on till\nthey were come to the court of the King of Siogair.\n\n\"It is what we will do this time,\" said Brian, \"we will go in with the\nappearance of paid soldiers from Ireland, and we will make friends with\nthe king, the way we will get to know in what place the horses and the\nchariot are kept.\" And when they had settled on that they went forward\nto the lawn before the king's house.\n\nThe king and the chief men that were with him rose up and came through\nthe fair that was going on there, and they saluted the king, and he\nasked who were they. \"We are trained fighting men from Ireland,\" they\nsaid, \"and we are earning wages from the kings of the world.\" \"Is it\nyour wish to stop with me for a while?\" said the king. \"That is what we\nare wanting,\" said they. So then they made an agreement and took service\nwith him.\n\nThey stopped in the court a fortnight and a month, and they never saw\nthe horses through that time. Then Brian said: \"This is a bad way we are\nin, to have no more news of the horses now than the first day we came to\nthe place.\" \"What is best for us to do now?\" said his brothers. \"Let us\ndo this,\" said Brian, \"let us take our arms and gather our things\ntogether, and go to the king and tell him we will leave the country and\nthis part of the world unless he will show us those horses.\"\n\nSo they went to the king that very day, and he asked them what did they\nmean by getting themselves ready for a journey. \"You will hear that,\nhigh king,\" said Brian; \"it is because trained fighting men from\nIreland, like ourselves, have always trust put in them by the kings they\nguard, and we are used to be told the secrets and the whispers of any\nperson we are with, and that is not the way you have treated us since we\ncame to you. For you have two horses and a chariot that are the best in\nthe world, as we have been told, and we have not been given a sight of\nthem yet.\" \"It would be a pity you to go on that account,\" said the\nking, \"when I would have showed them to you the first day, if I had\nknown you had a wish to see them. And if you have a mind to see them\nnow,\" he said, \"you may see them; for I think there never came soldiers\nfrom Ireland to this place that were thought more of by myself and by my\npeople than yourselves.\"\n\nHe sent for the horses then, and they were yoked to the chariot, and\ntheir going was as fast as the cold spring wind, and the sea was the\nsame as the land to them.\n\nAnd Brian was watching the horses closely, and on a sudden he took hold\nof the chariot and took the chariot driver out and dashed him against\nthe nearest rock, and made a leap into his place himself, and made a\ncast of the Persian spear at the king, that went through his heart. And\nthen he and his brothers scattered the people before them, and brought\naway the chariot.\n\n\"We will go now to Easal, the King of the Golden Pillars,\" said Brian,\n\"to look for the seven pigs the Ild\u00e1nach bade us bring him.\"\n\nThey sailed on then without delay or drawback to that high country. And\nit is the way the people of that country were, watching their harbours\nfor fear of the sons of Tuireann, for the story of them had been told\nin all parts, how they had been sent out of Ireland by force, and how\nthey were bringing away with them all the gifted treasures of the whole\nworld.\n\nEasal came to the edge of the harbour to meet them, and he asked was it\ntrue what he heard, that the king of every country they had gone to had\nfallen by them. Brian said it was true, whatever he might wish to do to\nthem for it. \"What was it made you do that?\" said Easal. Brian told him\nthen it was the oppression and the hard sentence of another had put them\nto it; and he told him all that had happened, and how they had put down\nall that offered to stand against them until that time.\n\n\"What did you come to this country now for?\" said the king. \"For the\npigs belonging to yourself,\" said Brian; \"for to bring them away with us\nis a part of the fine.\" \"What way do you think to get them?\" said the\nking. \"If we get them with good-will,\" said Brian, \"we are ready to take\nthem thankfully; and if we do not, we are ready to do battle with\nyourself and your people on the head of them, that you may fall by us,\nand we may bring away the pigs in spite of you.\" \"If that is to be the\nend of it,\" said the king, \"it would be a pity to bring my people into a\nbattle.\" \"It would be a pity indeed,\" said Brian.\n\nThen the king whispered and took advice with his people about the\nmatter, and it is what they agreed, to give up the pigs of their own\nfree will to the sons of Tuireann, since they could not see that any one\nhad been able to stand against them up to that time.\n\nThen the sons of Tuireann gave their thanks to Easal, and there was\nwonder on them to have got the pigs like that, when they had to fight\nfor every other part of the fine. And more than that, they had left a\nshare of their blood in every other place till then.\n\nEasal brought them to his own house that night, and they were served\nwith food, and drink, and good beds, and all they could wish for. And\nthey rose up on the morrow and came into the king's presence, and the\npigs were given to them. \"It is well you have done by us, giving us\nthese pigs,\" said Brian, \"for we did not get any share of the fine\nwithout fighting but these alone.\" And he made a poem for the king then,\npraising him, and putting a great name on him for what he had done.\n\n\"What journey are you going to make now, sons of Tuireann?\" said Easal.\n\"We are going,\" they said, \"to the country of Ioruaidh, on account of a\nwhelp that is there.\" \"Give me one request,\" said Easal, \"and that is to\nbring me with you to the King of Ioruaidh, for a daughter of mine is his\nwife, and I would wish to persuade him to give you the whelp without a\nbattle.\" \"That will please us well,\" they said.\n\nSo the king's ship was made ready, and we have no knowledge of what\nhappened till they came to the delightful, wonderful coast of Ioruaidh.\nThe people and the armies were watching the harbours and landing-places\nbefore them, and they knew them at once and shouted at them.\n\nThen Easal went on shore peaceably, and he went to where his son-in-law,\nthe king, was, and told him the story of the sons of Tuireann from\nbeginning to end. \"What has brought them to this country?\" said the King\nof Ioruaidh. \"To ask for the hound you have,\" said Easal. \"It was a bad\nthought you had coming with them to ask it,\" said the king, \"for the\ngods have not given that much luck to any three champions in the world,\nthat they would get my hound by force or by good-will.\" \"It would be\nbetter for you to let them have the hound,\" said Easal, \"since they have\nput down so many of the kings of the world.\"\n\nBut all he could say was only idleness to the king. So he went then to\nwhere the sons of Tuireann were, and gave them the whole account. And\nwhen they heard the king's answer, they made no delay, but put quick\nhands on their arms, and offered to give battle to the army of Ioruaidh.\nAnd when they met, there was a brave battle fought on both sides. And as\nfor the sons of Tuireann, they began to kill and to strike at the men of\nIoruaidh till they parted from one another in the fight, so that Iuchar\nand Iucharba chanced to be on one side, and Brian by himself on the\nother side. It was a gap of danger and a breaking of ranks was before\nBrian in every path he took, till he came to the King of Ioruaidh in the\nbattle pen where he was. And then the two brave champions began a fierce\nfight together, and they did not spare one another in it. And at the\nlast Brian overcame the king, and bound him, and brought him through the\nmiddle of the army, till he came to the place where Easal was, and it is\nwhat he said: \"There is your son-in-law for you, and I swear by my hand\nof valour, I would think it easier to kill him three times than to bring\nhim to you once like this.\"\n\nSo then the whelp was given to the sons of Tuireann, and the king was\nunbound, and peace was made between them. And when they had brought all\nthis to an end, they bade farewell to Easal and to all the rest.\n\nNow as to Lugh of the Long Hand, it was showed to him that the sons of\nTuireann had got all the things that were wanting to him against the\nbattle with the Fomor; and on that he sent a Druid spell after them to\nput forgetfulness on them of the rest of the fine that they had not got.\nAnd he put a great desire and longing on them to go back to Ireland; so\nthey forgot that a part of the fine was wanting to them, and they turned\nback again toward home.\n\nAnd it is the place where Lugh was at the time, at a gathering of the\npeople for a fair on the green outside Teamhair, and the King of Ireland\nalong with him. And it was made known to Lugh that the sons of Tuireann\nwere landed at Brugh na Boinn. And he went into the city of Teamhair,\nand shut the gate after him, and he put on Manannan's smooth armour, and\nthe cloak, of the daughters of Flidais, and he took his own arms in his\nhand.\n\nAnd the sons of Tuireann came where the king was, and they were made\nwelcome by him and by the Tuatha de Danaan. And the king asked them did\nthey get the fine. \"We did get it,\" said they; \"and where is Lugh till\nwe give it to him?\" \"He was here a while ago,\" said the king. And the\nwhole fair was searched for him, but he was not found.\n\n\"I know the place where he is,\" said Brian; \"for it has been made known\nto him that we are come to Ireland, and these deadly arms with us, and\nhe is gone into Teamhair to avoid us.\"\n\nMessengers were sent to him then, and it is the answer he gave them that\nhe would not come, but that the fine should be given to the king.\n\nSo the sons of Tuireann did that, and when the king had taken the fine\nthey all went to the palace in Teamhair; and Lugh came out on the lawn\nand the fine was given to him, and it is what he said: \"There is a good\npayment here for any one that ever was killed or that ever will be\nkilled. But there is something wanting to it yet that it is not lawful\nto leave out. And where is the cooking-spit?\" he said; \"and where are\nthe three shouts on the hill that you did not give yet?\"\n\nAnd when the sons of Tuireann heard that there came clouds of weakness\non them. And they left the place and went to their father's house that\nnight, and they told him all they had done, and the way Lugh had treated\nthem.\n\nThere was grief and darkness on Tuireann then, and they spent the night\ntogether. And on the morrow they went to their ship, and Ethne, their\nsister, with them, and she was crying and lamenting, and it is what she\nsaid:\n\n\"It is a pity, Brian of my life, it is not to Teamhair your going is,\nafter all the troubles you have had before this, even if I could not\nfollow you.\n\n\"O Salmon of the dumb Boinn, O Salmon of the Lif\u00e9 River, since I cannot\nkeep you here I am loath to part from you.\n\n\"O Rider of the Wave of Tuaidh, the man that stands best in the fight,\nif you come back again, I think it will not be pleasing to your enemy.\n\n\"Is there pity with you for the sons of Tuireann leaning now on their\ngreen shields? Their going is a cause for pity, my mind is filled up\nwith it.\n\n\"You to be to-night at Beinn Edair till the heavy coming of the morning,\nyou who have taken forfeits from brave men, it is you have increased our\ngrief.\n\n\"It is a pity your journey is from Teamhair, and from the pleasant\nplains, and from great Uisnech of Midhe; there is nothing so pitiful as\nthis.\"\n\nAfter that complaint they went out on the rough waves of the green sea;\nand they were a quarter of a year on the sea without getting any news of\nthe island.\n\nThen Brian put on his water dress and he made a leap, and he was a long\ntime walking in the sea looking for the Island of the Fair-Haired Women,\nand he found it in the end. And he went looking for the court, and when\nhe came to it, all he found was a troop of women doing needlework and\nembroidering borders. And among all the other things they had with them,\nthere was the cooking-spit.\n\nAnd when Brian saw it, he took it up in his hand and he was going to\nbring it with him to the door. And all the women began laughing when\nthey saw him doing that, and it is what they said: \"It is a brave deed\nyou put your hand to; for even if your brothers were along with you, the\nleast of the three times fifty women of us would not let the spit go\nwith you or with them. But for all that,\" they said, \"take a spit of the\nspits with you, since you had the daring to try and take it in spite of\nus.\"\n\nBrian bade them farewell then, and went to look for the boat. And his\nbrothers thought it was too long he was away from them, and just as they\nwere going to leave the place they were, they saw him coming towards\nthem, and that raised their courage greatly.\n\nAnd he went into the boat, and they went on to look for the Hill of\nMiochaoin. And when they came there, Miochaoin, that was the guardian of\nthe hill, came towards them; and when Brian saw him he attacked him, and\nthe fight of those two champions was like the fight of two lions, till\nMiochaoin fell at the last.\n\nAnd after Miochaoin had fallen, his three sons came out to fight with\nthe three sons of Tuireann. And if any one ever came from the east of\nthe world to look at any fight, it is to see the fight of these\nchampions he had a right to come, for the greatness of their blows and\nthe courage of their minds. The names of the sons of Miochaoin were Core\nand Conn and Aedh, and they drove their three spears through the bodies\nof the sons of Tuireann, and that did not discourage them at all and\nthey put their own three spears through the bodies of the sons of\nMiochaoin, so that they fell into the clouds and the faintness of death.\n\nAnd then Brian said: \"What way are you now, my dear brothers?\" \"We are\nnear our death,\" said they. \"Let us rise up,\" he said, \"and give three\nshouts upon the hill, for I see the signs of death coming on us.\" \"We\nare not able to do that,\" said they. Then Brian rose up and raised each\nof them with one hand, and he shedding blood heavily all the time,\nuntil they gave the three shouts.\n\nAfter that Brian brought them with him to the boat, and they were\ntravelling the sea for a long time, but at last Brian said: \"I see Beinn\nEdair and our father's dun, and Teamhair of the Kings.\" \"We would have\nour fill of health if we could see that,\" said the others; \"and for the\nlove of your good name, brother,\" they said, \"raise up our heads on your\nbreast till we see Ireland again, and life or death will be the same to\nus after that. And O Brian,\" they said, \"Flame of Valour without\ntreachery, we would sooner death to bring ourselves away, than to see\nyou with wounds upon your body, and with no physician to heal you.\"\n\nThen they came to Beinn Edair, and from that they went on to their\nfather's house, and Brian said to Tuireann: \"Go, dear father, to\nTeamhair, and give this spit to Lugh, and bring the skin that has\nhealing in it for our relief. Ask it from him for the sake of\nfriendship,\" he said, \"for we are of the one blood, and let him not give\nhardness for hardness. And O dear father,\" he said, \"do not be long on\nyour journey, or you will not find us alive before you.\"\n\nThen Tuireann went to Teamhair, and he found Lugh of the Long Hand\nbefore him, and he gave him the spit, and he asked the skin of him to\nheal his children, and Lugh said he would not give it And Tuireann came\nback to them and told them he had not got the skin. And Brian said:\n\"Bring me with you to Lugh, to see would I get it from him.\"\n\nSo they went to Lugh, and Brian asked the skin of him. And Lugh said he\nwould not give it, and that if they would give him the breadth of the\nearth in gold for it, he would not take it from them, unless he was sure\ntheir death would come on them in satisfaction for the deed they had\ndone.\n\nWhen Brian heard that, he went to the place his two brothers were, and\nhe lay down between them, and his life went out from him, and out from\nthe other two at the same time.\n\nAnd their father cried and lamented over his three beautiful sons, that\nhad the making of a king of Ireland in each of them, and his strength\nleft him and he died; and they were buried in the one grave.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III. THE GREAT BATTLE OF MAGH TUIREADH\n\n\nAnd it was not long after Lugh had got the fine from the sons of\nTuireann that the Fomor came and landed at Scetne.\n\nThe whole host of the Fomor were come this time, and their king, Balor,\nof the Strong Blows and of the Evil Eye, along with them; and Bres, and\nIndech, son of De Domnann, a king of the Fomor, and Elathan, son of\nLobos, and Goll and Ingol, and Octriallach, son of Indech, and Elathan,\nson of Delbaeth.\n\nThen Lugh sent the Dagda to spy out the Fomor, and to delay them till\nsuch time as the men of Ireland would come to the battle.\n\nSo the Dagda went to their camp, and he asked them for a delay, and they\nsaid he might have that. And then to make sport of him, the Fomor made\nbroth for him, for he had a great love for broth. So they filled the\nking's cauldron with four times twenty gallons of new milk, and the same\nof meal and fat, and they put in goats and sheep and pigs along with\nthat, and boiled all together, and then they poured it all out into a\ngreat hole in the ground. And they called him to it then, and told him\nhe should eat his fill, the way the Fomor would not be reproached for\nwant of hospitality the way Bres was. \"We will make an end of you if\nyou leave any part of it after you,\" said Indech, son of De Domnann.\n\nSo the Dagda took the ladle, and it big enough for a man and a woman to\nlie in the bowl of it, and he took out bits with it, the half of a\nsalted pig, and a quarter of lard a bit would be. \"If the broth tastes\nas well as the bits taste, this is good food,\" he said. And he went on\nputting the full of the ladle into his mouth till the hole was empty;\nand when all was gone he put down his hand and scraped up all that was\nleft among the earth and the gravel.\n\nSleep came on him then after eating the broth, and the Fomor were\nlaughing at him, for his belly was the size of the cauldron of a great\nhouse. But he rose up after a while, and, heavy as he was, he made his\nway home; and indeed his dress was no way sightly, a cape to the hollow\nof the elbows, and a brown coat, long in the breast and short behind,\nand on his feet brogues of horse hide, with the hair outside, and in his\nhand a wheeled fork it would take eight men to carry, so that the track\nhe left after him was deep enough for the boundary ditch of a province.\nAnd on his way he saw the Battle-Crow, the Morrigu, washing herself in\nthe river Unius of Connacht, and one of her two feet at Ullad Echne, to\nthe south of the water, and the other at Loscuinn, to the north of the\nwater, and her hair hanging in nine loosened locks. And she said to the\nDagda, that she would bring the heart's blood of Indech, son of De\nDomnann, that had threatened him, to the men of Ireland.\n\nAnd while he was away Lugh had called together the Druids, and smiths,\nand physicians, and law-makers, and chariot-drivers of Ireland, to make\nplans for the battle.\n\nAnd he asked the great magician Mathgen what could he do to help them.\n\"It is what I can do,\" said Mathgen, \"through my power I can throw down\nall the mountains of Ireland on the Fomor, until their tops will be\nrolling on the ground. And the twelve chief mountains of Ireland will\nbring you their help,\" he said, \"and will fight for you: Slieve Leag and\nDenda Ulad, and Bennai Boirche and Bri Ruri, and Slieve Bladma and\nSlieve Snechtae, and Slieve Mis and Blai-Slieve, and Nemthann and Slieve\nMacca Belgodon, and Segois and Cruachan Aigle.\"\n\nThen he asked the cup-bearers what help they could give. \"We will put a\nstrong thirst on the Fomor,\" they said, \"and then we will bring the\ntwelve chief lochs of Ireland before them, and however great their\nthirst may be, they will find no water in them: Derc-Loch, Loch\nLuimnech, Loch Orbsen, Loch Righ, Loch Mescdhae, Loch Cuan, Loch Laeig,\nLoch Echach, Loch Febail, Loch Decket, Loch Riach, Mor-Loch. And we will\ngo,\" they said, \"to the twelve chief rivers of Ireland: the Buas, the\nBoinn, the Banna, the Nem, the Laoi, the Sionnan, the Muaid, the\nSligech, the Samair, the Fionn, the Ruirtech, the Siuir; and they will\nall be hidden away from the Fomor the way they will not find a drop in\nthem. But as for the men of Ireland,\" they said, \"there will be drink\nfor them if they were to be in the battle to the end of seven years.\"\n\nAnd Figol, son of Mamos, the Druid, was asked then what he would do, and\nhe said: \"It is what I will do, I will cause three showers of fire to\npour on the faces of the army of the Fomor, and I will take from them\ntwo-thirds of their bravery and their strength, and I will put sickness\non their bodies, and on the bodies of their horses. But as to the men of\nIreland,\" he said, \"every breath they breathe will be an increase of\nstrength and of bravery to them; and if they are seven years in the\nbattle they will never be any way tired.\"\n\nThen Lugh asked his two witches, Bechulle and Dianan: \"What power can\nyou bring to the battle?\" \"It is easy to say that,\" they said. \"We will\nput enchantment on the trees and the stones and the sods of the earth,\ntill they become an armed host against the Fomor, and put terror on them\nand put them to the rout.\"\n\nThen Lugh asked Carpre, the poet, son of Etain, what could he do. \"It is\nnot hard to say that,\" said Carpre. \"I will make a satire on them at\nsunrise, and the wind from the north, and I on a hill-top and my back to\na thorn-tree, and a stone and a thorn in my hand. And with that satire,\"\nhe said, \"I will put shame on them and enchantment, the way they will\nnot be able to stand against fighting men.\"\n\nThen he asked Goibniu the Smith what would he be able to do. \"I will do\nthis,\" he said. \"If the men of Ireland stop in the battle to the end of\nseven years, for every sword that is broken and for every spear that is\nlost from its shaft, I will put a new one in its place. And no\nspear-point that will be made by my hand,\" he said, \"will ever miss its\nmark; and no man it touches will ever taste life again. And that is more\nthan Dolb, the smith of the Fomor, can do,\" he said.\n\n\"And you, Credne,\" Lugh said then to his worker in brass, \"what help can\nyou give to our men in the battle?\" \"It is not hard to tell that,\" said\nCredne, \"rivets for their spears and hilts for their swords and bosses\nand rims for their shields, I will supply them all.\"\n\n\"And you, Luchta,\" he said then to his carpenter, \"what will you do?\" \"I\nwill give them all they want of shields and of spear shafts,\" said\nLuchta.\n\nThen he asked Diancecht, the physician, what would he do, and it is what\nhe said: \"Every man that will be wounded there, unless his head is\nstruck off, or his brain or his marrow cut through, I will make him\nwhole and sound again for the battle of the morrow.\"\n\nThen the Dagda said: \"Those great things you are boasting you will do,\nI will do them all with only myself.\" \"It is you are the good god!\" said\nthey, and they all gave a great shout of laughter.\n\nThen Lugh spoke to the whole army and put strength in them, so that each\none had the spirit in him of a king or a great lord.\n\nThen when the delay was at an end, the Fomor and the men of Ireland came\non towards one another till they came to the plain of Magh Tuireadh.\nThat now was not the same Magh Tuireadh where the first battle was\nfought, but it was to the north, near Ess Dara.\n\nAnd then the two armies threatened one another. \"The men of Ireland are\ndaring enough to offer battle to us,\" said Bres to Indech, son of De\nDomnann. \"I give my word,\" said Indech, \"it is in small pieces their\nbones will be, if they do not give in to us and pay their tribute.\"\n\nNow the Men of Dea had determined not to let Lugh go into the battle,\nbecause of the loss his death would be to them; and they left nine of\ntheir men keeping a watch on him.\n\nAnd on the first day none of the kings or princes went into the battle,\nbut only the common fighting men, and they fierce and proud enough.\n\nAnd the battle went on like that from day to day with no great advantage\nto one or the other side. But there was wonder on the Fomor on account\nof one thing. Such of their own weapons as were broken or blunted in the\nfight lay there as they were, and such of their own men as were killed\nshowed no sign of life on the morrow; but it was not so with the Tuatha\nde Danaan, for if their men were killed or their weapons were broken\nto-day, they were as good as before on the morrow.\n\nAnd this is the way that happened. The well of Slaine lay to the west\nof Magh Tuireadh to the east of Loch Arboch. And Diancecht and his son\nOctruil and his daughter Airmed used to be singing spells over the well\nand to be putting herbs in it; and the men that were wounded to death in\nthe battle would be brought to the well and put into it as dead men, and\nthey would come out of it whole and sound, through the power of the\nspells. And not only were they healed, but there was such fire put into\nthem that they would be quicker in the fight than they were before.\n\nAnd as to the arms, it is the way they were made new every day. Goibniu\nthe Smith used to be in the forge making swords and spears, and he would\nmake a spear-head by three turns, and then Luchta the Carpenter would\nmake the shaft by three cuts, and the third cut was a finish, and would\nset it in the ring of the spear. And when the spear-heads were stuck in\nthe side of the forge, he would throw the shaft and the rings the way\nthey would go into the spear-head and want no more setting. And then\nCredne the Brazier would make the rivets by three turns and would cast\nthe rings of the spears to them, and with that they were ready and were\nset together.\n\nAnd all this went against the Fomor, and they sent one of their young\nmen to spy about the camp and to see could he find out how these things\nwere done. It was Ruadan, son of Bres and of Brigit daughter of the\nDagda they sent, for he was a son and grandson of the Tuatha de Danaan.\nSo he went and saw all that was done, and came back to the Fomor.\n\nAnd when they heard his story it is what they thought, that Goibniu the\nSmith was the man that hindered them most. And they sent Ruadan back\nagain, and bade him make an end of him.\n\nSo he went back again to the forge, and he asked Goibniu would he give\nhim a spear-head. And then he asked rivets of Credne, and a shaft of\nthe carpenter, and all was given to him as he asked. And there was a\nwoman there, Cron, mother to Fianlug, grinding the spears.\n\nAnd after the spear being given to Ruadan, he turned and threw it at\nGoibniu, that it wounded him. But Goibniu pulled it out and made a cast\nof it at Ruadan, that it went through him and he died; and Bres, his\nfather, and the army of the Fomor, saw him die. And then Brigit came and\nkeened her son with shrieking and with crying.\n\nAnd as to Goibniu, he went into the well and was healed. But after that\nOctriallach, son of Indech, called to the Fomor and bade each man of\nthem bring a stone of the stones of Drinnes and throw them into the well\nof Slane. And they did that till the well was dried up, and a cairn\nraised over it, that is called Octriallach's Cairn.\n\nAnd it was while Goibniu was making spear-heads for the battle of Magh\nTuireadh, a charge was brought against his wife. And it was seen that it\nwas heavy news to him, and that jealousy came on him. And it is what he\ndid, there was a spear-shaft in his hand when he heard the story, Nes\nits name was; and he sang spells over the spear-shaft, and any one that\nwas struck with that spear afterwards, it would burn him up like fire.\n\nAnd at last the day of the great battle came, and the Fomor came out of\ntheir camp and stood in strong ranks. And there was not a leader or a\nfighting man of them was without good armour to his skin, and a helmet\non his head, a broad spear in his right hand, a heavy sword in his belt,\na strong shield on his shoulder. And to attack the army of the Fomor\nthat day was to strike the head against a rock, or to go up fighting\nagainst a fire.\n\nAnd the Men of Dea rose up and left Lugh and his nine comrades keeping\nhim, and they went on to the battle; and Midhir was with them, and Bodb\nDearg and Diancecht. And Badb and Macha and the Morrigu called out that\nthey would go along with them.\n\nAnd it was a hard battle was fought, and for a while it was going\nagainst the Tuatha de Danaan; and Nuada of the Silver Hand, their King,\nand Macha, daughter of Emmass, fell by Balor, King of the Fomor. And\nCass-mail fell by Octriallach, and the Dagda got a dreadful wound from a\ncasting spear that was thrown by Ceithlenn, wife of Balor.\n\nBut when the battle was going on, Lugh broke away from those that were\nkeeping him, and rushed out to the front of the Men of Dea. And then\nthere was a fierce battle fought, and Lugh was heartening the men of\nIreland to fight well, the way they would not be in bonds any longer.\nFor it was better for them, he said, to die protecting their own country\nthan to live under bonds and under tribute any longer. And he sang a\nsong of courage to them, and the hosts gave a great shout as they went\ninto battle, and then they met together, and each of them began to\nattack the other.\n\nAnd there was great slaughter, and laying low in graves, and many comely\nmen fell there in the stall of death. Pride and shame were there side by\nside, and hardness and red anger, and there was red blood on the white\nskin of young fighting men. And the dashing of spear against shield, and\nsword against sword, and the shouting of the fighters, and the whistling\nof casting spears and the rattling of scabbards was like harsh thunder\nthrough the battle. And many slipped in the blood that was under their\nfeet, and they fell, striking their heads one against another; and the\nriver carried away bodies of friends and enemies together.\n\nThen Lugh and Balor met in the battle, and Lugh called out reproaches to\nhim; and there was anger on Balor, and he said to the men that were with\nhim: \"Lift up my eyelid till I see this chatterer that is talking to\nme.\" Then they raised Balor's eyelid, but Lugh made a cast of his red\nspear at him, that brought the eye out through the back of his head, so\nthat it was towards his own army it fell, and three times nine of the\nFomor died when they looked at it. And if Lugh had not put out that eye\nwhen he did, the whole of Ireland would have been burned in one flash.\nAnd after this, Lugh struck his head off.\n\nAnd as for Indech, son of De Domnann, he fell and was crushed in the\nbattle, and blood burst from his mouth, and he called out for Leat Glas,\nhis poet, as he lay there, but he was not able to help him. And then the\nMorrigu came into the battle, and she was heartening the Tuatha de\nDanaan to fight the battle well; and, as she had promised the Dagda, she\ntook the full of her two hands of Indech's blood, and gave it to the\narmies that were waiting at the ford of Unius; and it was called the\nFord of Destruction from that day.\n\nAnd after that it was not a battle any more, but a rout, and the Fomor\nwere beaten back to the sea. And Lugh and his comrades were following\nthem, and they came up with Bres, son of Elathan, and no guard with him,\nand he said: \"It is better for you to spare my life than to kill me. And\nif you spare me now,\" he said, \"the cows of Ireland will never go dry.\"\n\"I will ask an advice about that from our wise men,\" said Lugh. So he\ntold Maeltine Mor-Brethach, of the Great Judgments, what Bres was after\nsaying. But Maeltine said: \"Do not spare him for that, for he has no\npower over their offspring, though he has power so long as they are\nliving.\"\n\nThen Bres said: \"If you spare me, the men of Ireland will reap a harvest\nof corn every quarter.\" But Maeltine said: \"The spring is for ploughing\nand sowing, and the beginning of summer for the strength of corn, and\nthe beginning of autumn for its ripeness, and the winter for using it.\"\n\n\"That does not save you,\" said Lugh then to Bres. But then to make an\nexcuse for sparing him, Lugh said: \"Tell us what is the best way for the\nmen of Ireland to plough and to sow and to reap.\"\n\n\"Let their ploughing be on a Tuesday, and their casting seed into the\nfield on a Tuesday, and their reaping on a Tuesday,\" said Bres. So Lugh\nsaid that would do, and he let him go free after that.\n\nIt was in this battle Ogma found Orna, the sword of Tethra, a king of\nthe Fomor, and he took it from its sheath and cleaned it. And when the\nsword was taken out of the sheath, it told all the deeds that had been\ndone by it, for there used to be that power in swords.\n\nAnd Lugh and the Dagda and Ogma followed after the Fomor, for they had\nbrought away the Dagda's harp with them, that was called Uaitne. And\nthey came to a feasting-house, and in it they found Bres and his father\nElathan, and there was the harp hanging on the wall. And it was in that\nharp the Dagda had bound the music, so that it would not sound till he\nwould call to it. And sometimes it was called Dur-da-Bla, the Oak of Two\nBlossoms, and sometimes Coir-cethar-chuin, the Four-Angled Music.\n\nAnd when he saw it hanging on the wall it is what he said: \"Come summer,\ncome winter, from the mouth of harps and bags and pipes.\" Then the harp\nsprang from the wall, and came to the Dagda, and it killed nine men on\nits way.\n\nAnd then he played for them the three things harpers understand, the\nsleepy tune, and the laughing tune, and the crying tune. And when he\nplayed the crying tune, their tearful women cried, and then he played\nthe laughing tune, till their women and children laughed; and then he\nplayed the sleepy tune, and all the hosts fell asleep. And through that\nsleep the three went away through the Fomor that would have been glad to\nharm them. And when all was over, the Dagda brought out the heifer he\nhad got as wages from Bres at the time he was making his dun. And she\ncalled to her calf, and at the sound of her call all the cattle of\nIreland the Fomor had brought away as tribute, were back in their fields\nagain.\n\nAnd C\u00e9, the Druid of Nuada of the Silver Hand, was wounded in the\nbattle, and he went southward till he came to Carn Corrslebe. And there\nhe sat down to rest, tired with his wounds and with the fear that was on\nhim, and the journey. And he saw a smooth plain before him, and it full\nof flowers, and a great desire came on him to reach to that plain, and\nhe went on till he came to it, and there he died. And when his grave was\nmade there, a lake burst out over it and over the whole plain, and it\nwas given the name of Loch C\u00e9. And there were but four men of the Fomor\nleft in Ireland after the battle, and they used to be going through the\ncountry, spoiling corn and milk and fruit, and whatever came from the\nsea, till they were driven out one Samhain night by the Morrigu and by\nAngus Og, that the Fomor might never be over Ireland again.\n\nAnd after the battle was won, and the bodies were cleared away, the\nMorrigu gave out the news of the great victory to the hosts and to the\nroyal heights of Ireland and to its chief rivers and its invers, and it\nis what she said: \"Peace up to the skies, the skies down to earth, the\nearth under the skies; strength to every one.\"\n\nAnd as to the number of men that fell in the battle, it will not be\nknown till we number the stars of the sky, or flakes of snow, or the dew\non the grass, or grass under the feet of cattle, or the horses of the\nSon of Lir in a stormy sea.\n\nAnd Lugh was made king over the Men of Dea then, and it was at Nas he\nhad his court.\n\nAnd while he was king, his foster-mother Taillte, daughter of Magh Mor,\nthe Great Plain, died. And before her death she bade her husband Duach\nthe Dark, he that built the Fort of the Hostages in Teamhair, to clear\naway the wood of Cuan, the way there could be a gathering of the people\naround her grave. So he called to the men of Ireland to cut down the\nwood with their wide-bladed knives and bill-hooks and hatchets, and\nwithin a month the whole wood was cut down.\n\nAnd Lugh buried her in the plain of Midhe, and raised a mound over her,\nthat is to be seen to this day. And he ordered fires to be kindled, and\nkeening to be made, and games and sports to be held in the summer of\nevery year out of respect to her. And the place they were held got its\nname from her, that is Taillten.\n\nAnd as to Lugh's own mother, that was tall beautiful Ethlinn, she came\nto Teamhair after the battle of Magh Tuireadh, and he gave her in\nmarriage to Tadg, son of Nuada. And the children that were born to them\nwere Muirne, mother of Finn, the Head of the Fianna of Ireland, and\nTuiren, that was mother of Bran.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV. THE HIDDEN HOUSE OF LUGH\n\n\nAnd after Lugh had held the kingship for a long time, the Dagda was made\nking in his place.\n\nAnd Lugh went away out of Ireland, and some said he died at Uisnech, the\nplace where the five provinces meet, and the first place there was ever\na fire kindled in Ireland. It was by Mide, son of Brath, it was kindled,\nfor the sons of Nemed, and it was burning through six years, and it was\nfrom that fire every chief fire was kindled in Ireland.\n\nBut Lugh was seen again in Ireland at the time Conchubar and the Men of\nthe Red Branch went following white birds southward to the Boinn at the\ntime of Cuchulain's birth. And it was he came and kept watch over\nCuchulain in his three days' sleep at the time of the War for the Bull\nof Cuailgne.\n\nAnd after that again he was seen by Conn of the Hundred Battles, and\nthis is the way that happened.\n\nConn was in Teamhair one time, and he went up in the early morning to\nthe Rath of the Kings at the rising of the sun, and his three Druids\nwith him, Maol and Bloc and Bhuice; and his three poets, Ethain and Corb\nand Cesarn. And the reason he had for going up there with them every\nday, was to look about on every side, the way if any men of the Sidhe\nwould come into Ireland they would not come unknown to him. And on this\nday he chanced to stand upon a stone that was in the rath, and the stone\nscreamed under his feet, that it was heard all over Teamhair and as far\nas Bregia.\n\nThen Conn asked his chief Druid how the stone came there, and what it\nscreamed for. And the Druid said he would not answer that till the end\nof fifty-three days. And at the end of that time, Conn asked him again,\nand it is what the Druid said: \"The Lia Fail is the name of the stone;\nit is out of Falias it was brought, and it is in Teamhair it was set up,\nand in Teamhair it will stay for ever. And as long as there is a king in\nTeamhair it is here will be the gathering place for games, and if there\nis no king to come to the last day of the gathering, there will be\nhardness in that year. And when the stone screamed under your feet,\" he\nsaid, \"the number of the screams it gave was a foretelling of the number\nof kings of your race that would come after you. But it is not I myself\nwill name them for you,\" he said.\n\nAnd while they were in the same place, there came a great mist about\nthem and a darkness, so that they could not know what way they were\ngoing, and they heard the noise of a rider coming towards them. \"It\nwould be a great grief to us,\" said Conn, \"to be brought away into a\nstrange country.\" Then the rider threw three spears at them, and every\none came faster than the other. \"It is the wounding of a king indeed,\"\nsaid the Druids, \"any one to cast at Conn of Teamhair.\"\n\nThe rider stopped casting his spears on that, and he came to them and\nbade Conn welcome, and asked him to come to his house. They went on then\ntill they came to a beautiful plain, and there they saw a king's rath,\nand a golden tree at its door, and inside the rath a grand house with a\nroof of white bronze. So they went into the house, and the rider that\nhad come to meet them was there before them, in his royal seat, and\nthere had never been seen a man like him in Teamhair for comeliness or\nfor beauty, or the wonder of his face.\n\nAnd there was a young woman in the house, having a band of gold on her\nhead, and a silver vessel with hoops of gold beside her, and it full of\nred ale, and a golden bowl on its edge, and a golden cup at its mouth.\nShe said then to the master of the house: \"Who am I to serve drink to?\"\n\"Serve it to Conn of the Hundred Battles,\" he said, \"for he will gain a\nhundred battles before he dies.\" And after that he bade her to pour out\nthe ale for Art of the Three Shouts, the son of Conn; and after that he\nwent through the names of all the kings of Ireland that would come after\nConn, and he told what would be the length of their lifetime. And the\nyoung woman left the vessel with Conn, and the cup and the bowl, and she\ngave him along with that the rib of an ox and of a hog; twenty-four feet\nwas the length of the ox-rib.\n\nAnd the master of the house told them the young woman was the Kingship\nof Ireland for ever. \"And as for myself,\" he said, \"I am Lugh of the\nLong Hand, son of Ethlinn.\"\n\n\n\n\nBOOK THREE: THE COMING OF THE GAEL.\n\nCHAPTER I. THE LANDING\n\n\nIt is not known, now, for what length of time the Tuatha de Danaan had\nthe sway over Ireland, and it is likely it was a long time they had it,\nbut they were put from it at last.\n\nIt was at Inver Slane, to the north of Leinster, the sons of Gaedhal of\nthe Shining Armour, the Very Gentle, that were called afterwards the\nSons of the Gael, made their first attempt to land in Ireland to avenge\nIth, one of their race that had come there one time and had met with his\ndeath.\n\nIt is under the leadership of the sons of Miled they were, and it was\nfrom the south they came, and their Druids had told them there was no\ncountry for them to settle in till they would come to that island in the\nwest. \"And if you do not get possession of it yourselves,\" they said,\n\"your children will get possession of it.\"\n\nBut when the Tuatha de Danaan saw the ships coming, they flocked to the\nshore, and by their enchantments they cast such a cloud over the whole\nisland that the sons of Miled were confused, and all they could see was\nsome large thing that had the appearance of a pig.\n\nAnd when they were hindered from landing there by enchantments, they\nwent sailing along the coast till at last they were able to make a\nlanding at Inver Sceine in the west of Munster.\n\nFrom that they marched in good order as far as Slieve Mis. And there\nthey were met by a queen of the Tuatha de Danaan, and a train of\nbeautiful women attending on her, and her Druids and wise men following\nher. Amergin, one of the sons of Miled, spoke to her then, and asked her\nname, and she said it was Banba, wife of Mac Cuill, Son of the Hazel.\n\nThey went on then till they came to Slieve Eibhline, and there another\nqueen of the Tuatha de Danaan met them, and her women and her Druids\nafter her, and they asked her name, and she said it was Fodhla, wife of\nMac Cecht, Son of the Plough.\n\nThey went on then till they came to the hill of Uisnech, and there they\nsaw another woman coming towards them. And there was wonder on them\nwhile they were looking at her, for in the one moment she would be a\nwide-eyed most beautiful queen, and in another she would be a\nsharp-beaked, grey-white crow. She came on to where Eremon, one of the\nsons of Miled, was, and sat down before him, and he asked her who was\nshe, and she said: \"I am Eriu, wife of Mac Greine, Son of the Sun.\"\n\nAnd the names of those three queens were often given to Ireland in the\nafter time.\n\nThe Sons of the Gael went on after that to Teamhair, where the three\nsons of Cermait Honey-Mouth, son of the Dagda, that had the kingship\nbetween them at that time held their court. And these three were\nquarrelling with one another about the division of the treasures their\nfather had left, and the quarrel was so hot it seemed likely it would\ncome to a battle in the end.\n\nAnd the Sons of the Gael wondered to see them quarrelling about such\nthings, and they having so fruitful an island, where the air was so\nwholesome, and the sun not too strong, or the cold too bitter, and where\nthere was such a plenty of honey and acorns, and of milk, and of fish,\nand of corn, and room enough for them all.\n\nGreat grandeur they were living in, and their Druids about them, at the\npalace of Teamhair. And Amergin went to them, and it is what he said,\nthat they must give up the kingship there and then, or they must leave\nit to the chance of a battle. And he said he asked this in revenge for\nthe death of Ith, of the race of the Gael, that had come to their court\nbefore that time, and that had been killed by treachery.\n\nWhen the sons of Cermait Honey-Mouth heard Amergin saying such fierce\nwords, there was wonder on them, and it is what they said, that they\nwere not willing to fight at that time, for their army was not ready.\n\"But let you make an offer to us,\" they said, \"for we see well you have\ngood judgment and knowledge. But if you make an offer that is not fair,\"\nthey said, \"we will destroy you with our enchantments.\"\n\nAt that Amergin bade the men that were with him to go back to Inver\nSceine, and to hurry again into their ships with the rest of the Sons of\nthe Gael, and to go out the length of nine waves from the shore. And\nthen he made his offer to the Tuatha de Danaan, that if they could\nhinder his men from landing on their island, he and all his ships would\ngo back again to their own country, and would never make any attempt to\ncome again; but that if the Sons of the Gael could land on the coast in\nspite of them, then the Tuatha de Danaan should give up the kingship and\nbe under their sway.\n\nThe Tuatha de Danaan were well pleased with that offer, for they thought\nthat by the powers of their enchantments over the winds and the sea, and\nby their arts, they would be well able to keep them from ever setting\nfoot in the country again.\n\nSo the Sons of the Gael did as Amergin bade them and they went back into\ntheir ship and drew up their anchors, and moved out to the length of\nnine waves from the shore. And as soon as the Men of Dea saw they had\nleft the land, they took to their enchantments and spells, and they\nraised a great wind that scattered the ships of the Gael, and drove them\nfrom one another. But Amergin knew it was not a natural storm was in\nit, and Arranan, son of Miled, knew that as well, and he went up in the\nmast of his ship to look about him. But a great blast of wind came\nagainst him, and he fell back into the ship and died on the moment. And\nthere was great confusion on the Gael, for the ships were tossed to and\nfro, and had like to be lost. And the ship that Donn, son of Miled, was\nin command of was parted from the others by the dint of the storm, and\nwas broken in pieces, and he himself and all with him were drowned,\nfour-and-twenty men and women in all. And Ir, son of Miled, came to his\ndeath in the same way, and his body was cast on the shore, and it was\nburied in a small island that is now called Sceilg Michill. A brave man\nIr was, leading the Sons of the Gael to the front of every battle, and\ntheir help and their shelter in battle, and his enemies were in dread of\nhis name.\n\nAnd Heremon, another of the sons of Miled, with his share of the ships,\nwas driven to the left of the island, and it is hardly he got safe to\nland. And the place where he landed was called Inver Colpa, because\nColpa of the Sword, another of the sons of Miled, was drowned there, and\nhe trying to get to land. Five of the sons of Miled in all were\ndestroyed by the storm and the winds the Men of Dea had raised by their\nenchantments, and there were but three of them left, Heber, and Heremon,\nand Amergin.\n\nAnd one of them, Donn, before he was swept into the sea, called out: \"It\nis treachery our knowledgeable men are doing on us, not to put down this\nwind.\" \"There is no treachery,\" said Amergin, his brother. And he rose\nup then before them, and whatever enchantment he did on the winds and\nthe sea, he said these words along with it:\n\n\"That they that are tossing in the great wide food-giving sea may reach\nnow to the land.\n\n\"That they may find a place upon its plains, its mountains, and its\nvalleys; in its forests that are full of nuts and of all fruits; on its\nrivers and its streams, on its lakes and its great waters.\n\n\"That we may have our gatherings and our races in this land; that there\nmay be a king of our own in Teamhair; that it may be the possession of\nour many kings.\n\n\"That the sons of Miled may be seen in this land, that their ships and\ntheir boats may find a place there.\n\n\"This land that is now under darkness, it is for it we are asking; let\nour chief men, let their learned wives, ask that we may come to the\nnoble woman, great Eriu.\"\n\nAfter he had said this, the wind went down and the sea was quiet again\non the moment.\n\nAnd those that were left of the sons of Miled and of the Sons of the\nGael landed then at Inver Sceine.\n\nAnd Amergin was the first to put his foot on land, and when he stood on\nthe shore of Ireland, it is what he said:\n\n    \"I am the wind on the sea;\n     I am the wave of the sea;\n     I am the bull of seven battles;\n     I am the eagle on the rock;\n     I am a flash from the sun;\n     I am the most beautiful of plants;\n     I am a strong wild boar;\n     I am a salmon in the water;\n     I am a lake in the plain;\n     I am the word of knowledge;\n     I am the head of the spear in battle;\n     I am the god that puts fire in the head;\n     Who spreads light in the gathering on the hills?\n     Who can tell the ages of the moon?\n     Who can tell the place where the sun rests?\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II. THE BATTLE OF TAILLTIN\n\n\nAnd three days after the landing of the Gael, they were attacked by\nEriu, wife of Mac Greine, Son of the Sun, and she having a good share of\nmen with her. And they fought a hard battle, and many were killed on\nboth sides. And this was the first battle fought between the Sons of the\nGael and the Men of Dea for the kingship of Ireland.\n\nIt was in that battle Fais, wife of Un, was killed in a valley at the\nfoot of the mountain, and it was called after her, the Valley of Fais.\nAnd Scota, wife of Miled, got her death in the battle, and she was\nburied in a valley on the north side of the mountain near the sea. But\nthe Sons of the Gael lost no more than three hundred men, and they beat\nback the Men of Dea and killed a thousand of them. And Eriu was beaten\nback to Tailltin, and as many of her men as she could hold together; and\nwhen she came there she told the people how she had been worsted in the\nbattle, and the best of her men had got their death. But the Gael\nstopped on the battle-field, and buried their dead, and they gave a\ngreat burial to two of their Druids, Aer and Eithis, that were killed in\nthe fight.\n\nAnd after they had rested for a while, they went on to Inver Colpa in\nLeinster, and Heremon and his men joined them there. And then they sent\nmessengers to the three kings of Ireland, the three sons of Cermait\nHoney-Mouth, and bade them to come out and fight a battle that would\nsettle the ownership of the country once for all.\n\nSo they came out, and the best of the fighters of the Tuatha de Danaan\nwith them, to Tailltin. And there they attacked one another, and the\nSons of the Gael remembered the death of Ith, and there was great anger\non them, and they fell on the Men of Dea to avenge him, and there was a\nfierce battle fought. And for a while neither side got the better of the\nother, but at the last the Gael broke through the army of the Men of Dea\nand put them to the rout, with great slaughter, and drove them out of\nthe place. And their three kings were killed in the rout, and the three\nqueens of Ireland, Eriu and Fodhla and Banba. And when the Tuatha de\nDanaan saw their leaders were dead they fell back in great disorder, and\nthe Sons of the Gael followed after them. But in following them they\nlost two of their best leaders, Cuailgne, son of Breagan, at Slieve\nCuailgne, and Fuad, his brother, at Slieve Fuad. But they were no way\ndaunted by that, but followed the Men of Dea so hotly that they were\nnever able to bring their army together again, but had to own themselves\nbeaten, and to give up the country to the Gael.\n\nAnd the leaders, the sons of Miled, divided the provinces of Ireland\nbetween them. Heber took the two provinces of Munster, and he gave a\nshare of it to Amergin; and Heremon got Leinster and Connacht for his\nshare, and Ulster was divided between Eimhir, son of Ir, son of Miled,\nand some others of their chief men. And it was of the sons of Eimhir,\nthat were called the Children of Rudraighe, and that lived in Emain\nMacha for nine hundred years, some of the best men of Ireland came;\nFergus, son of Rogh, was of them, and Conall Cearnach, of the Red Branch\nof Ulster.\n\nAnd from the sons of Ith, the first of the Gael to get his death in\nIreland, there came in the after time Fathadh Canaan, that got the sway\nover the whole world from the rising to the setting sun, and that took\nhostages of the streams and the birds and the languages.\n\nAnd it is what the poets of Ireland used to be saying, that every brave\nman, good at fighting, and every man that could do great deeds and not\nbe making much talk about them, was of the Sons of the Gael; and that\nevery skilled man that had music and that did enchantments secretly,\nwas of the Tuatha de Danaan. But they put a bad name on the Firbolgs and\nthe men of Domnand and the Gaileoin, for lies and for big talk and\ninjustice. But for all that there were good fighters among them, and\nFerdiad, that made so good a stand against Cuchulain, in the war for the\nBull of Cuailgne was one of them. And the Gaileoin fought well in the\nsame war; but the men of Ireland had no great liking for them, and their\nDruids drove them out of the country afterwards.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK FOUR: THE EVER-LIVING LIVING ONES.\n\nCHAPTER I. BODB DEARG\n\n\nBut as to the Tuatha de Danaan after they were beaten, they would not go\nunder the sway of the sons of Miled, but they went away by themselves.\nAnd because Manannan, son of Lir, understood all enchantments, they left\nit to him to find places for them where they would be safe from their\nenemies. So he chose out the most beautiful of the hills and valleys of\nIreland for them to settle in; and he put hidden walls about them, that\nno man could see through, but they themselves could see through them and\npass through them.\n\nAnd he made the Feast of Age for them, and what they drank at it was the\nale of Goibniu the Smith, that kept whoever tasted it from age and from\nsickness and from death. And for food at the feast he gave them his own\nswine, that though they were killed and eaten one day, would be alive\nand fit for eating again the next day, and that would go on in that way\nfor ever.\n\nAnd after a while they said: \"It would be better for us one king to be\nover us, than to be scattered the way we are through the whole of\nIreland.\"\n\nNow the men among them that had the best chance of getting the kingship\nat that time were Bodb Dearg, son of the Dagda; and Ilbrech of Ess\nRuadh; and Lir of Sidhe Fionnachaidh, the Hill of the White Field, on\nSlieve Fuad; and Midhir the Proud of Bri Leith, and Angus Og, son of the\nDagda; but he did not covet the kingship at all, but would sooner be\nleft as he was. Then all the chief men but those five went into council\ntogether, and it is what they agreed, to give the kingship to Bodb\nDearg, for the sake of his father, for his own sake, and because he was\nthe eldest among the children of the Dagda.\n\nIt was in Sidhe Femen Bodb Dearg had his house, and he put great\nenchantments about it. Cliach, the Harper of the King of the Three\nRosses in Connacht, went one time to ask one of his daughters in\nmarriage, and he stayed outside the place through the whole length of a\nyear, playing his harp, and able to get no nearer to Bodb or to his\ndaughter. And he went on playing till a lake burst up under his feet,\nthe lake that is on the top of a mountain, Loch Bel Sead.\n\nIt was Bodb's swineherd went to Da Derga's Inn, and his squealing pig\nalong with him, the night Conaire, the High King of Ireland, met with\nhis death; and it was said that whatever feast that swineherd would go\nto, there would blood be shed before it was over.\n\nAnd Bodb had three sons, Angus, and Artrach, and Aedh. And they used\noften to be living among men in the time of the Fianna afterwards.\nArtrach had a house with seven doors, and a free welcome for all that\ncame, and the king's son of Ireland, and of Alban, used to be coming to\nAngus to learn the throwing of spears and darts; and troops of poets\nfrom Alban and from Ireland used to be with Aedh, that was the comeliest\nof Bodb's sons, so that his place used to be called \"The Rath of Aedh of\nthe Poets.\" And indeed it was a beautiful rath at that time, with\ngolden-yellow apples in it and crimson-pointed nuts of the wood. But\nafter the passing away of the Fianna, the three brothers went back to\nthe Tuatha de Danaan.\n\nAnd Bodb Dearg was not always in his own place, but sometimes he was\nwith Angus at Brugh na Boinn.\n\nThree sons of Lugaidh Menn, King of Ireland, Eochaid, and Fiacha, and\nRuide, went there one time, for their father refused them any land till\nthey would win it for themselves. And when he said that, they rose with\nthe ready rising of one man, and went and sat down on the green of Brugh\nna Boinn, and fasted there on the Tuatha de Danaan, to see if they\ncould win some good thing from them.\n\nAnd they were not long there till they saw a young man, quiet and with\npleasant looks, coming towards them, and he wished them good health, and\nthey answered him the same way. \"Where are you come from?\" they asked\nhim then. \"From the rath beyond, with the many lights,\" he said. \"And I\nam Bodb Dearg, son of the Dagda,\" he said, \"and come in with me now to\nthe rath.\"\n\nSo they went in, and supper was made ready for them, but they did not\nuse it. Bodb Dearg asked them then why was it they were using nothing.\n\"It is because our father has refused land to us,\" said they; \"and there\nare in Ireland but the two races, the Sons of the Gael and the Men of\nDea, and when the one failed us we are come to the other.\"\n\nThen the Men of Dea consulted together. And the chief among them was\nMidhir of the Yellow Hair, and it is what he said: \"Let us give a wife\nto every one of these three men, for it is from a wife that good or bad\nfortune comes.\"\n\nSo they agreed to that, and Midhir's three daughters, Doirenn, and Aife,\nand Aillbhe, were given to them. Then Midhir asked Bodb to say what\nmarriage portion should be given to them. \"I will tell you that,\" said\nBodb. \"We are three times fifty sons of kings in this hill; let every\nking's son give three times fifty ounces of red gold. And I myself,\" he\nsaid, \"will give them along with that, three times fifty suits of\nclothing of all colours.\" \"I will give them a gift,\" said a young man of\nthe Tuatha de Danaan, from Rachlainn in the sea. \"A horn I will give\nthem, and a vat. And there is nothing wanting but to fill the vat with\npure water, and it will turn into mead, fit to drink, and strong enough\nto make drunken. And into the horn,\" he said, \"you have but to put salt\nwater from the sea, and it will turn into wine on the moment.\" \"A gift\nto them from me,\" said Lir of Sidhe Fionnachaidh, \"three times fifty\nswords, and three times fifty well-riveted long spears.\" \"A gift from\nme,\" said Angus Og, son of the Dagda, \"a rath and a good town with high\nwalls, and with bright sunny houses, and with wide houses, in whatever\nplace it will please them between Rath Chobtaige and Teamhair.\" \"A gift\nto them from me,\" said Aine, daughter of Modharn, \"a woman-cook that I\nhave, and there is _geasa_ on her not to refuse food to any; and\naccording as she serves it out, her store fills up of itself again.\"\n\"Another gift to them from me,\" said Bodb Dearg, \"a good musician that I\nhave, Fertuinne, son of Trogain; and although there were women in the\nsharpest pains of childbirth, and brave men wounded early in the day, in\na place where there were saws going through wood, they would sleep at\nthe sweetness of the music he makes. And whatever house he may be in,\nthe people of the whole country round will hear him.\"\n\nSo they stopped in Brugh na Boinne three days and three nights, and when\nthey left it, Angus bade them bring away from the oak-wood three\napple-trees, one in full bloom, and one shedding its blossom, and the\nthird covered with ripe fruit.\n\nThey went then to their own dun that was given them, and it is a good\nplace they had there, and a troop of young men, and great troops of\nhorses and of greyhounds; and they had three sorts of music that comely\nkings liked to be listening to, the music of harps and of lutes, and the\nchanting of Trogain's son; and there were three great sounds, the\ntramping on the green, and the uproar of racing, and the lowing of\ncattle; and three other sounds, the grunting of good pigs with the fat\nthick on them, and the voices of the crowd on the green lawn, and the\nnoise of men drinking inside the house. And as to Eochaid, it was said\nof him that he never took a step backwards in flight, and his house was\nnever without music or drinking of ale. And it was said of Fiacha that\nthere was no man of his time braver than himself, and that he never said\na word too much. And as to Ruide, he never refused any one, and never\nasked anything at all of any man.\n\nAnd when their lifetime was over, they went back to the Tuatha de\nDanaan, for they belonged to them through their wives, and there they\nhave stopped ever since.\n\nAnd Bodb Dearg had a daughter, Scathniamh, the Flower of Brightness,\nthat gave her love to Caoilte in the time of the Fianna; and they were\nforced to part from one another, and they never met again till the time\nCaoilte was, old and withered, and one of the last that was left of the\nFianna. And she came to him out of the cave of Cruachan, and asked him\nfor the bride-price he had promised her, and that she was never able to\ncome and ask for till then. And Caoilte went to a cairn that was near\nand that was full up of gold, that was wages earned by Conan Maol and\nhidden there, and he gave the gold to Bodb Dearg's daughter. And the\npeople that were there wondered to see the girl so young and comely, and\nCaoilte so grey and bent and withered. \"There is no wonder in that,\"\nsaid Caoilte, \"for I am of the sons of Miled that wither and fade away,\nbut she is of the Tuatha de Danaan that never change and that never\ndie.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II. THE DAGDA\n\n\nAnd it was at Brugh na Boinne the Dagda, the Red Man of all Knowledge,\nhad his house. And the most noticeable things in it were the Hall of the\nMorrigu, and the Bed of the Dagda, and the Birthplace of Cermait\nHoney-Mouth, and the Prison of the Grey of Macha that was Cuchulain's\nhorse afterwards. And there was a little hill by the house that was\ncalled the Comb and the Casket of the Dagda's wife; and another that was\ncalled the Hill of Dabilla, that was the little hound belonging to\nBoann. And the Valley of the Mata was there, the Sea-Turtle that could\nsuck down a man in armour.\n\nAnd it is likely the Dagda put up his cooking oven there, that Druimne,\nson of Luchair, made for him at Teamhair. And it is the way it was, the\naxle and the wheel were of wood, and the body was iron, and there were\ntwice nine wheels in its axle, that it might turn the faster; and it was\nas quick as the quickness of a stream in turning, and there were three\ntimes nine spits from it, and three times nine pots. And it used to lie\ndown with the cinders and to rise to the height of the roof with the\nflame.\n\nThe Dagda himself made a great vat one time for Ainge, his daughter, but\nshe was not well satisfied with it, for it would not stop from dripping\nwhile the sea was in flood, though it would not lose a drop during the\nebb-tide. And she gathered a bundle of twigs to make a new vat for\nherself, but Gaible, son of Nuada of the Silver Hand, stole it from her\nand hurled it away. And in the place where it fell a beautiful wood grew\nup, that was called Gaible's Wood.\n\nAnd the Dagda had his household at Brugh na Boinne, and his steward was\nDichu, and Len Linfiaclach was the smith of the Brugh. It was he lived\nin the lake, making the bright vessels of Fand, daughter of Flidhais;\nand every evening when he left off work he would make a cast of the\nanvil eastward to Indeoin na Dese, the Anvil of the Dese, as far as the\nGrave End. Three showers it used to cast, a shower of fire, and a shower\nof water, and a shower of precious stones of pure purple.\n\nBut Tuirbe, father of Goibniu the Smith, used to throw better again, for\nhe would make a cast of his axe from Tulach na Bela, the Hill of the\nAxe, in the face of the flood tide, and he would put his order on the\nsea, and it would not come over the axe.\n\nAnd Corann was the best of the harpers of the household; he was harper\nto the Dagda's son, Diancecht. And one time he called with his harp to\nCailcheir, one of the swine of Debrann. And it ran northward with all\nthe strength of its legs, and the champions of Connacht were following\nafter it with all their strength of running, and their hounds with them,\ntill they got as far as Ceis Corain, and they gave it up there, all\nexcept Niall that went on the track of the swine till he found it in the\noak-wood of Tarba, and then it made away over the plain of Ai, and\nthrough a lake. And Niall and his hound were drowned in following it\nthrough the lake. And the Dagda gave Corann a great tract of land for\ndoing his harping so well.\n\nBut however great a house the Dagda had, Angus got it away from him in\nthe end, through the help of Manannan, son of Lir. For Manannan bade him\nto ask his father for it for the length of a day and a night, and that\nhe by his art would take away his power of refusing. So Angus asked for\nthe Brugh, and his father gave it to him for a day and a night. But when\nhe asked it back again, it is what Angus said, that it had been given to\nhim for ever, for the whole of life and time is made up of a day and a\nnight, one following after the other.\n\nSo when the Dagda heard that he went away and his people and his\nhousehold with him, for Manannan had put an enchantment on them all.\n\nBut Dichu the Steward was away at the time, and his wife and his son,\nfor they were gone out to get provisions for a feast for Manannan and\nhis friends. And when he came back and knew his master was gone, he took\nservice with Angus.\n\nAnd Angus stopped in Brugh na Boinne, and some say he is there to this\nday, with the hidden walls about him, drinking Goibniu's ale and eating\nthe pigs that never fail.\n\nAs to the Dagda, he took no revenge, though he had the name of being\nrevengeful and quick in his temper. And some say it was at Teamhair he\nmade his dwelling-place after that, but wherever it was, a great\nmisfortune came on him.\n\nIt chanced one time Corrgenn, a great man of Connacht, came to visit\nhim, and his wife along with him. And while they were there, Corrgenn\ngot it in his mind that there was something that was not right going on\nbetween his wife and Aedh, one of the sons of the Dagda. And great\njealousy and anger came on him, and he struck at the young man and\nkilled him before his father's face.\n\nEvery one thought the Dagda would take Corrgenn's life then and there in\nrevenge for his son's life. But he would not do that, for he said if his\nson was guilty, there was no blame to be put on Corrgenn for doing what\nhe did. So he spared his life for that time, but if he did, Corrgenn did\nnot gain much by it. For the punishment he put on him was to take the\ndead body of the young man on his back, and never to lay it down till he\nwould find a stone that would be its very fit in length and in breadth,\nand that would make a gravestone for him; and when he had found that, he\ncould bury him in the nearest hill.\n\nSo Corrgenn had no choice but to go, and he set out with his load; but\nhe had a long way to travel before he could find a stone that would fit,\nand it is where he found one at last, on the shore of Loch Feabhail. So\nthen he left the body up on the nearest hill, and he went down and\nraised the stone and brought it up and dug a grave and buried the\nDagda's son. And it is many an Ochone! he gave when he was putting the\nstone over him, and when he had that done he was spent, and he dropped\ndead there and then.\n\nAnd the Dagda brought his two builders, Garbhan and Imheall, to the\nplace, and he bade them build a rath there round the grave. It was\nGarbhan cut the stones and shaped them, and Imheall set them all round\nthe house till the work was finished, and then he closed the top of the\nhouse with a slab. And the place was called the Hill of Aileac, that is,\nthe Hill of Sighs and of a Stone, for it was tears of blood the Dagda\nshed on account of the death of his son.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III. ANGUS OG\n\n\nAnd as to Angus Og, son of the Dagda, sometimes he would come from Brugh\nna Boinn and let himself be seen upon the earth.\n\nIt was a long time after the coming of the Gael that he was seen by\nCormac, King of Teamhair, and this is the account he gave of him.\n\nHe was by himself one day in his Hall of Judgment, for he used to be\noften reading the laws and thinking how he could best carry them out.\nAnd on a sudden he saw a stranger, a very comely young man, at the end\nof the hall; and he knew on the moment it was Angus Og, for he had often\nheard his people talking of him, but he himself used to be saying he did\nnot believe there was any such person at all. And when his people came\nback to the hall, he told them how he had seen Angus himself, and had\ntalked with him, and Angus had told him his name, and had foretold what\nwould happen him in the future. \"And he was a beautiful young man,\" he\nsaid, \"with high looks, and his appearance was more beautiful than all\nbeauty, and there were ornaments of gold on his dress; in his hand he\nheld a silver harp with strings of red gold, and the sound of its\nstrings was sweeter than all music under the sky; and over the harp were\ntwo birds that seemed to be playing on it. He sat beside me pleasantly\nand played his sweet music to me, and in the end he foretold things that\nput drunkenness on my wits.\"\n\nThe birds, now, that used to be with Angus were four of his kisses that\nturned into birds and that used to be coming about the young men of\nIreland, and crying after them. \"Come, come,\" two of them would say, and\n\"I go, I go,\" the other two would say, and it was hard to get free of\nthem. But as to Angus, even when he was in his young youth, he used to\nbe called the Frightener, or the Disturber; for the plough teams of the\nworld, and every sort of cattle that is used by men, would make away in\nterror before him.\n\nAnd one time he appeared in the shape of a land-holder to two men, Ribh\nand Eocho, that were looking for a place to settle in. The first place\nthey chose was near Bregia on a plain that was belonging to Angus; and\nit was then he came to them, leading his horse in his hand, and told\nthem they should not stop there. And they said they could not carry away\ntheir goods without horses. Then he gave them his horse, and bade them\nto put all they had a mind to on that horse and he would carry it, and\nso he did. But the next place they chose was Magh Find, the Fine Plain,\nthat was the playing ground of Angus and of Midhir. And that time Midhir\ncame to them in the same way and gave them a horse to put their goods\non, and he went on with them as far as Magh Dairbthenn.\n\nAnd there were many women loved Angus, and there was one Enghi, daughter\nof Elcmair, loved him though she had not seen him. And she went one time\nlooking for him to the gathering for games between Cletech and Sidhe in\nBroga; and the bright troops of the Sidhe used to come to that gathering\nevery Samhain evening, bringing a moderate share of food with them, that\nis, a nut. And the sons of Derc came from the north, out of Sidhe\nFindabrach, and they went round about the young men and women without\ntheir knowledge and they brought away Elcmair's daughter. There were\ngreat lamentations made then, and the name the place got was Cnoguba,\nthe Nut Lamentation, from the crying there was at that gathering.\n\nAnd Derbrenn, Eochaid Fedlech's daughter, was another that was loved by\nAngus, and she had six fosterlings, three boys and three girls. But the\nmother of the boys, Dalb Garb, the Rough, put a spell on them she made\nfrom a gathering of the nuts of Caill Ochuid, that turned them into\nswine.\n\nAnd Angus gave them into the care of Buichet, the Hospitaller of\nLeinster, and they stopped a year with him. But at the end of that time\nthere came a longing On Buichet's wife to eat a bit of the flesh of one\nof them. So she gathered a hundred armed men and a hundred hounds to\ntake them. But the pigs made away, and went to Brugh na Boinn, to Angus,\nand he bade them welcome, and they asked him to give them his help. But\nhe said he could not do that till they had shaken the Tree of Tarbga,\nand eaten the salmon of Inver Umaill.\n\nSo they went to Glascarn, and stopped a year in hiding with Derbrenn.\nAnd then they shook the Tree of Tarbga, and they went on towards Inver\nUmaill. But Maeve gathered the men of Connacht to hunt them, and they\nall fell but one, and their heads were put in a mound, and it got the\nname of Duma Selga, the Mound of the Hunting.\n\nAnd it was in the time of Maeve of Cruachan that Angus set his love on\nCaer Ormaith, of the Province of Connacht, and brought her away to Brugh\nna Boinn.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV. THE MORRIGU\n\n\nAs to the Morrigu, the Great Queen, the Crow of Battle, where she lived\nafter the coming of the Gael is not known, but before that time it was\nin Teamhair she lived. And she had a great cooking-spit there, that held\nthree sorts of food on it at the one time: a piece of raw meat, and a\npiece of dressed meat, and a piece of butter. And the raw was dressed,\nand the dressed was not burned, and the butter did not melt, and the\nthree together on the spit.\n\nNine men that were outlaws went to her one time and asked for a spit to\nbe made for themselves. And they brought it away with them, and it had\nnine ribs in it, and every one of the outlaws would carry a rib in his\nhand wherever he would go, till they would all meet together at the\nclose of day. And if they wanted the spit to be high, it could be raised\nto a man's height, and at another time it would not be more than the\nheight of a fist over the fire, without breaking and without lessening.\n\nAnd Mechi, the son the Morrigu had, was killed by Mac Cecht on Magh\nMechi, that till that time had been called Magh Fertaige. Three hearts\nhe had, and it is the way they were, they had the shapes of three\nserpents through them. And if Mechi had not met with his death, those\nserpents in him would have grown, and what they left alive in Ireland\nwould have wasted away. And Mac Cecht burned the three hearts on Magh\nLuathad, the Plain of Ashes, and he threw the ashes into the stream; and\nthe rushing water of the stream stopped and boiled up, and every\ncreature in it died.\n\nAnd the Morrigu used often to be meddling in Ireland in Cuchulain's\ntime, stirring up wars and quarrels. It was she came and roused up\nCuchulain one time when he was but a lad, and was near giving in to some\nenchantment that was used against him. \"There is not the making of a\nhero in you,\" she said to him, \"and you lying there under the feet of\nshadows.\" And with that Cuchulain rose up and struck off the head of a\nshadow that was standing over him, with his hurling stick. And the time\nConchubar was sending out Finched to rouse up the men of Ulster at the\ntime of the war for the Bull of Cuailgne, he bade him to go to that\nterrible fury, the Morrigu, to get help for Cuchulain. And she had a\ndispute with Cuchulain one time he met her, and she bringing away a cow\nfrom the Hill of Cruachan; and another time she helped Talchinem, a\nDruid of the household of Conaire Mor, to bring away a bull his wife had\nset her mind on. And indeed she was much given to meddling with cattle,\nand one time she brought away a cow from Odras, that was of the\nhousehold of the cow-chief of Cormac Hua Cuined, and that was going\nafter her husband with cattle. And the Morrigu brought the cow away with\nher to the Cave of Cruachan, and the Hill of the Sidhe. And Odras\nfollowed her there till sleep fell on her in the oak-wood of Falga; and\nthe Morrigu awoke her and sang spells over her, and made of her a pool\nof water that went to the river that flows to the west of Slieve Buane.\n\nAnd in the battle of Magh Rath, she fluttered over Congal Claen in the\nshape of a bird, till he did not know friend from foe. And after that\nagain at the battle of Cluantarbh, she was flying over the head of\nMurchadh, son of Brian; for she had many shapes, and it was in the shape\nof a crow she would sometimes fight her battles.\n\nAnd if it was not the Morrigu, it was Badb that showed herself in the\nbattle of Dunbolg, where the men of Ireland were fighting under Aedh,\nson of Niall; and Brigit was seen in the same battle on the side of the\nmen of Leinster.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V. AINE\n\n\nAnd as to Aine, that some said was a daughter of Manannan, but some said\nwas the Morrigu herself, there was a stone belonging to her that was\ncalled Cathair Aine. And if any one would sit on that stone he would be\nin danger of losing his wits, and any one that would sit on it three\ntimes would lose them for ever. And people whose wits were astray would\nmake their way to it, and mad dogs would come from all parts of the\ncountry, and would flock around it, and then they would go into the sea\nto Aine's place there. But those that did cures by herbs said she had\npower over the whole body; and she used to give gifts of poetry and of\nmusic, and she often gave her love to men, and they called her the\nLeanan Sidhe, the Sweet-heart of the Sidhe.\n\nAnd it was no safe thing to offend Aine, for she was very revengeful.\nOilioll Oluim, a king of Ireland, killed her brother one time, and it is\nwhat she did, she made a great yew-tree by enchantment beside the river\nMaigh in Luimnech, and she put a little man in it, playing sweet music\non a harp. And Oilioll's son was passing the river with his\nstep-brother, and they saw the tree and heard the sweet music from it.\nAnd first they quarrelled as to which of them would have the little\nharper, and then they quarrelled about the tree, and they asked a\njudgment from Oilioll, and he gave it for his own son. And it was the\nbad feeling about that judgment that led to the battle of Magh\nMucruimhe, and Oilioll and his seven sons were killed there, and so Aine\ngot her revenge.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI. AOIBHELL\n\n\nAnd Aoibhell, another woman of the Sidhe, made her dwelling-place in\nCraig Liath, and at the time of the battle of Cluantarbh she set her\nlove on a young man of Munster, Dubhlaing ua Artigan, that had been sent\naway in disgrace by the King of Ireland. But before the battle he came\nback to join with Murchadh, the king's son, and to fight for the Gael.\nAnd Aoibhell came to stop him; and when he would not stop with her she\nput a Druid covering about him, the way no one could see him.\n\nAnd he went where Murchadh was fighting, and he made a great attack on\nthe enemies of Ireland, and struck them down on every side. And Murchadh\nlooked around him, and he said; \"It seems to me I hear the sound of the\nblows of Dubhlaing ua Artigan, but I do not see himself.\" Then Dubhlaing\nthrew off the Druid covering that was about him, and he said: \"I will\nnot keep this covering upon me when you cannot see me through it. And\ncome now across the plain to where Aoibhell is,\" he said, \"for she can\ngive us news of the battle.\"\n\nSo they went where she was, and she bade them both to quit the battle,\nfor they would lose their lives in it. But Murchadh said to her, \"I will\ntell you a little true story,\" he said; \"that fear for my own body will\nnever make me change my face. And if we fall,\" he said, \"the strangers\nwill fall with us; and it is many a man will fall by my own hand, and\nthe Gael will be sharing their strong places.\" \"Stop with me,\nDubhlaing,\" she said then, \"and you will have two hundred years of happy\nlife with myself.\" \"I will not give up Murchadh,\" he said, \"or my own\ngood name, for silver or gold.\" And there was anger on Aoibhell when he\nsaid that, and she said: \"Murchadh will fall, and you yourself will\nfall, and your proud blood will be on the plain to-morrow.\" And they\nwent back into the battle, and got their death there.\n\nAnd it was Aoibhell gave a golden harp to the son of Meardha the time\nhe was getting his learning at the school of the Sidhe in Connacht and\nthat he heard his father had got his death by the King of Lochlann. And\nwhoever heard the playing of that harp would not live long after it. And\nMeardha's son went where the three sons of the King of Lochlann were,\nand played on his harp for them, and they died.\n\nIt was that harp Cuchulain heard the time his enemies were gathering\nagainst him at Muirthemne, and he knew by it that his life was near its\nend.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII. MIDHIR AND ETAIN\n\n\nAnd Midhir took a hill for himself, and his wife Fuamach was with him\nthere, and his daughter, Bri. And Leith, son of Celtchar of Cualu, was\nthe most beautiful among the young men of the Sidhe of Ireland at that\ntime, and he loved Bri, Midhir's daughter. And Bri went out with her\nyoung girls to meet him one time at the Grave of the Daughters beside\nTeamhair. And Leith came and his young men along with him till he was on\nthe Hill of the After Repentance. And they could not come nearer to one\nanother because of the slingers on Midhir's hill that were answering one\nanother till their spears were as many as a swarm of bees on a day of\nbeauty. And Cochlan, Leith's servant, got a sharp wound from them and he\ndied.\n\nThen the girl turned back to Midhir's hill, and her heart broke in her\nand she died. And Leith said: \"Although I am not let come to this girl,\nI will leave my name with her.\" And the hill was called Bri Leith from\nthat time.\n\nAfter a while Midhir took Etain Echraide to be his wife. And there was\ngreat jealousy on Fuamach, the wife he had before, when she saw the\nlove that Midhir gave to Etain, and she called to the Druid, Bresal\nEtarlaim to help her, and he put spells on Etain the way Fuamach was\nable to drive her away.\n\nAnd when she was driven out of Bri Leith, Angus Og, son of the Dagda,\ntook her into his keeping; and when Midhir asked her back, he would not\ngive her up, but he brought her about with him to every place he went.\nAnd wherever they rested, he made a sunny house for her, and put\nsweet-smelling flowers in it, and he made invisible walls about it, that\nno one could see through and that could not be seen.\n\nBut when news came to Fuamach that Etain was so well cared by Angus,\nanger and jealousy came on her again, and she searched her mind for a\nway to destroy Etain altogether.\n\nAnd it is what she did, she persuaded Midhir and Angus to go out and\nmeet one another and to make peace, for there had been a quarrel between\nthem ever since the time Etain was sent away. And when Angus was away\nfrom Brugh na Boinn, Fuamach went and found Etain there, in her sunny\nhouse. And she turned her with Druid spells into a fly, and then she\nsent a blast of wind into the house, that swept her away through the\nwindow.\n\nBut as to Midhir and Angus, they waited a while for Fuamach to come and\njoin them. And when she did not come they were uneasy in their minds,\nand Angus hurried back to Brugh na Boinn. And when he found the sunny\nhouse empty, he went in search of Fuamach, and it was along with\nEtarlaim, the Druid, he found her, and he struck her head off there and\nthen.\n\nAnd for seven years Etain was blown to and fro through Ireland in great\nmisery. And at last she came to the house of Etar, of Inver Cechmaine,\nwhere there was a feast going on, and she fell from a beam of the roof\ninto the golden cup that was beside Etar's wife. And Etar's wife drank\nher down with the wine, and at the end of nine months she was born again\nas Etar's daughter.\n\nAnd she had the same name as before, Etain; and she was reared as a\nking's daughter, and there were fifty young girls, daughters of princes,\nbrought up with her to keep her company.\n\nAnd it happened one day Etain and all the rest of the young girls were\nout bathing in the bay at Inver Cechmaine, and they saw from the water a\nman, with very high looks, coming towards them over the plain, and he\nriding a bay horse with mane and tail curled. A long green cloak he had\non him, and a shirt woven with threads of red gold, and a brooch of gold\nthat reached across to his shoulders on each side. And he had on his\nback a shield of silver with a rim of gold and a boss of gold, and in\nhis hand a sharp-pointed spear covered with rings of gold from heel to\nsocket. Fair yellow hair he had, coming over his forehead, and it bound\nwith a golden band to keep it from loosening.\n\nAnd when he came near them he got down from his horse, and sat down on\nthe bank, and it is what he said:\n\n\"It is here Etain is to-day, at the Mound of Fair Women. It is among\nlittle children is her life on the strand of Inver Cechmaine.\n\n\"It is she healed the eye of the king from the well of Loch da Lig; it\nis she was swallowed in a heavy drink by the wife of Etar.\n\n\"Many great battles will happen for your sake to Echaid of Midhe;\ndestruction will fall upon the Sidhe, and war on thousands of men.\"\n\nAnd when he had said that, he vanished, and no one knew where he went.\nAnd they did not know the man that had come to them was Midhir of Bri\nLeith.\n\nAnd when Etain was grown to be a beautiful young woman, she was seen by\nEochaid Feidlech, High King of Ireland, and this is the way that\nhappened.\n\nHe was going one time over the fair green of Bri Leith, and he saw at\nthe side of a well a woman, with a bright comb of gold and silver, and\nshe washing in a silver basin having four golden birds on it, and little\nbright purple stones set in the rim of the basin. A beautiful purple\ncloak she had, and silver fringes to it, and a gold brooch; and she had\non her a dress of green silk with a long hood, embroidered in red gold,\nand wonderful clasps of gold and silver on her breasts and on her\nshoulder. The sunlight was falling on her, so that the gold and the\ngreen silk were shining out. Two plaits of hair she had, four locks in\neach plait, and a bead at the point of every lock, and the colour of her\nhair was like yellow flags in summer, or like red gold after it is\nrubbed.\n\nThere she was, letting down her hair to wash it, and her arms out\nthrough the sleeve-holes of her shift. Her soft hands were as white as\nthe snow of a single night, and her eyes as blue as any blue flower, and\nher lips as red as the berries of the rowan-tree, and her body as white\nas the foam of a wave. The bright light of the moon was in her face, the\nhighness of pride in her eyebrows, a dimple of delight in each of her\ncheeks, the light of wooing in her eyes, and when she walked she had a\nstep that was steady and even like the walk of a queen.\n\nAnd Eochaid sent his people to bring her to him, and he asked her name,\nand she told him her name was Etain, daughter of Etar, King of the\nRiders of the Sidhe. And Eochaid gave her his love, and he paid the\nbride-price, and brought her home to Teamhair as his wife, and there was\na great welcome before her there.\n\nAnd after a while there was a great feast made at Teamhair, and all the\nchief men of Ireland came to it, and it lasted from the fortnight before\nSamhain to the fortnight after it. And King Eochaid's brother Ailell,\nthat was afterwards called Ailell Anglonach, of the Only Fault, came to\nthe feast. And when he saw his brother's wife Etain, he fell in love\nwith her on the moment, and all through the length of the feast he was\nnot content unless he could be looking at her. And a woman, the daughter\nof Luchta Lamdearg, of the Red Hand, took notice of it, and she said:\n\"What far thing are you looking at, Ailell? It is what I think, that to\nbe looking the way you are doing is a sign of love.\" Then Ailell checked\nhimself, and did not look towards Etain any more.\n\nBut when the feast was at an end, and the gathering broken up, great\ndesire and envy came on Ailell, so that he fell sick, and they brought\nhim to a house in Teffia. And he stopped there through the length of a\nyear, and he was wasting away, but he told no one the cause of his\nsickness. And at the end of the year, Eochaid came to visit his brother,\nand he passed his hand over his breast, and Ailell let a groan. \"What\nway are you?\" said Eochaid then. \"Are you getting any easier, for you\nmust not let this illness come to a bad end.\" \"By my word,\" said Ailell,\n\"it is not easier I am, but worse and worse every day and every night.\"\n\"What is it ails you?\" said Eochaid. \"And what is it that is coming\nagainst you.\" \"By my word, I cannot tell you that,\" said Ailell. \"I will\nbring one here that will know the cause of your sickness,\" said the\nking.\n\nWith that he sent Fachtna, his own physician, to Ailell; and when he\ncame he passed his hand over Ailell's heart, and at that he groaned\nagain. \"This sickness will not be your death,\" said Fachtna then; \"and I\nknow well what it comes from. It is either from the pains of jealousy,\nor from love you have given, and that you have not found a way out of.\"\nBut there was shame on Ailell, and he would not confess to the physician\nthat what he said was right. So Fachtna went away then and left him.\n\nAs to King Eochaid, he went away to visit all the provinces of Ireland\nthat were under his kingship, and he left Etain after him, and it is\nwhat he said: \"Good Etain,\" he said, \"take tender care of Ailell so long\nas he is living; and if he should die from us, make a sodded grave for\nhim, and raise a pillar stone over it, and write his name on it in\nOgham.\" And with that he went away on his journey.\n\nOne day, now, Etain went into the house where Ailell was lying in his\nsickness, and they talked together, and then she made a little song for\nhim, and it is what she said:\n\n\"What is it ails you, young man, for it is a long time you are wasted\nwith this sickness, and it is not the hardness of the weather has\nstopped your light footstep.\"\n\nAnd Ailell answered her in the same way, and he said: \"I have good cause\nfor my hurt; the music of my own harp does not please me; there is no\nsort of food is pleasant to me, and so I am wasted away.\" Then Etain\nsaid: \"Tell me what is it ails you, for I am a woman that is wise. Tell\nme is there anything that would cure you, the way I may help you to it?\"\nAnd Ailell answered her: \"O kind, beautiful woman, it is not good to\ntell a secret to a woman, but sometimes it may be known through the\neyes.\" And Etain said: \"Though it is bad to tell a secret, yet it ought\nto be told now, or how can help be given to you?\" And Ailell answered:\n\"My blessing on you, fair-haired Etain. It is not fit I am to be spoken\nwith; my wits have been no good help to me; my body is a rebel to me.\nAll Ireland knows, O king's wife, there is sickness in my head and in my\nbody.\" And Etain said: \"If there is a woman of the fair-faced women of\nIreland tormenting you this way, she must come to you here if it\npleases you; and it is I myself will woo her for you,\" she said.\n\nThen Ailell said to her: \"Woman, it would be easy for you yourself to\nput my sickness from me. And my desire,\" he said, \"is a desire that is\nas long as a year; but it is love given to an echo, the spending of\ngrief on a wave, a lonely fight with a shadow, that is what my love and\nmy desire have been to me.\"\n\nAnd it is then Etain knew what was the sickness that was on him, and it\nwas a heavy trouble to her.\n\nBut she came to him every day to tend him, and to make ready his food,\nand to pour water over his hands, and all she could do she did for him,\nfor it was a grief to her, he to wither away and to be lost for her\nsake. And at last one day she said to him: \"Rise up, Ailell, son of a\nking, man of high deeds, and I will do your healing.\"\n\nThen he put his arms about her, and she kissed him, and she said: \"Come\nat the morning of to-morrow at the break of day to the house outside the\ndun, and I will give you all your desire.\"\n\nThat night Ailell lay without sleep until the morning was at hand. And\nat the very time he should have risen to go to her, it was at that time\nhis sleep settled down upon him, and he slept on till the full light of\nday.\n\nBut Etain went to the house outside the dun, and she was not long there\nwhen she saw a man coming towards her having the appearance of Ailell,\nsick and tired and worn. But when he came near and she looked closely at\nhim, she saw it was not Ailell that was in it. Then he went away, and\nafter she had waited a while, she herself went back into the dun.\n\nAnd it was then Ailell awoke, and when he knew the morning had passed\nby, he would sooner have had death than life, and he fretted greatly.\nAnd Etain came in then, and he told her what had happened him. And she\nsaid: \"Come to-morrow to the same place.\"\n\nBut the same thing happened the next day. And when it happened on the\nthird day, and the same man came to meet Etain, she said to him: \"It is\nnot you at all I come to meet here, and why is it that you come to meet\nme? And as to him I came to meet,\" she said, \"indeed it is not for gain\nor through lightness I bade him come to me, but to heal him of the\nsickness he is lying under for my sake.\" Then the man said: \"It would be\nmore fitting for you to come to meet me than any other one. For in the\ntime long ago,\" he said, \"I was your first husband, and your first man.\"\n\"What is it you are saying,\" she said, \"and who are you yourself?\" \"It\nis easy to tell that,\" he said; \"I am Midhir of Bri Leith.\" \"And what\nparted us if I was your wife?\" said Etain. \"It was through Fuamach's\nsharp jealousy and through the spells of Bresal Etarlaim, the Druid, we\nwere parted. And will you come away with me now?\" he said. But Etain\nsaid: \"It is not for a man whose kindred is unknown I will give up the\nHigh King of Ireland.\" And Midhir said: \"Surely it was I myself put that\ngreat desire for you on Ailell, and it was I hindered him from going to\nmeet you, the way you might keep your good name.\"\n\nAnd when she went back to Ailell's house, she found his sickness was\ngone from him, and his desire. And she told him all that had happened,\nand he said: \"It has turned out well for us both: I am well of my\nsickness and your good name is not lessened.\" \"We give thanks to our\ngods for that,\" said Etain, \"for we are well pleased to have it so.\"\n\nAnd just at that time Eochaid came back from his journey, and they told\nhim the whole story, and he was thankful to his wife for the kindness\nshe had showed to Ailell.\n\nIt was a good while after that, there was a great fair held at Teamhair,\nand Etain was out on the green looking at the games and the races. And\nshe saw a rider coming towards her, but no one could see him but\nherself; and when he came near she saw he had the same appearance as\nthe man that came and spoke with her and her young girls the time they\nwere out in the sea at Inver Cechmaine. And when he came up to her he\nbegan to sing words to her that no one could hear but herself. And it is\nwhat he said:\n\n\"O beautiful woman, will you come with me to the wonderful country that\nis mine? It is pleasant to be looking at the people there, beautiful\npeople without any blemish; their hair is of the colour of the\nflag-flower, their fair body is as white as snow, the colour of the\nfoxglove is on every cheek. The young never grow old there; the fields\nand the flowers are as pleasant to be looking at as the blackbird's\neggs; warm, sweet streams of mead and of wine flow through that country;\nthere is no care and no sorrow on any person; we see others, but we\nourselves are not seen.\n\n\"Though the plains of Ireland are beautiful, it is little you would\nthink of them after our great plain; though the ale of Ireland is heady,\nthe ale of the great country is still more heady. O beautiful woman, if\nyou come to my proud people it is the flesh of pigs newly killed I will\ngive you for food; it is ale and new milk I will give you for drink; it\nis feasting you will have with me there; it is a crown of gold you will\nhave upon your hair, O beautiful woman!\n\n\"And will you come there with me, Etain?\" he said. But Etain said she\nwould not leave Eochaid the High King. \"Will you come if Eochaid gives\nyou leave?\" Midhir said then. \"I will do that,\" said Etain.\n\nOne day, after that time, Eochaid the High King was looking out from his\npalace at Teamhair, and he saw a strange man coming across the plain.\nYellow hair he had, and eyes blue and shining like the flame of a\ncandle, and a purple dress on him, and in his hand a five-pronged spear\nand a shield having gold knobs on it.\n\nHe came up to the king, and the king bade him welcome. \"Who are you\nyourself?\" he said; \"and what are you come for, for you are a stranger\nto me?\" \"If I am a stranger to you, you are no stranger to me, for I\nhave known you this long time,\" said the strange man. \"What is your\nname?\" said the king. \"It is nothing very great,\" said he; \"I am called\nMidhir of Bri Leith.\" \"What is it brings you here?\" said Eochaid. \"I am\ncome to play a game of chess with you,\" said the stranger. \"Are you a\ngood player?\" said the king. \"A trial will tell you that,\" said Midhir.\n\"The chessboard is in the queen's house, and she is in her sleep at this\ntime,\" said Eochaid. \"That is no matter,\" said Midhir, \"for I have with\nme a chess-board as good as your own.\" And with that he brought out his\nchessboard, and it made of silver, and precious stones shining in every\ncorner of it. And then he brought out the chessmen, and they made of\ngold, from a bag that was of shining gold threads.\n\n\"Let us play now,\" said Midhir. \"I will not play without a stake,\" said\nthe king. \"What stake shall We play for?\" said Midhir. \"We can settle\nthat after the game is over,\" said the king.\n\nThey played together then, and Midhir was beaten, and it is what the\nking asked of him, fifty brown horses to be given to him. And then they\nplayed the second time, and Midhir was beaten again, and this time the\nking gave him four hard things to do: to make a road over Moin Lamraide,\nand to clear Midhe of stones, and to cover the district of Tethra with\nrushes, and the district of Darbrech with trees.\n\nSo Midhir brought his people from Bri Leith to do those things, and it\nis bard work they had doing them. And Eochaid used to be out watching\nthem, and he took notice that when the men of the Sidhe yoked their\noxen, it was by the neck and the shoulder they used to yoke them, and\nnot by the forehead and the head. And it was after Eochaid taught his\npeople to yoke them that way, he was given the name of Eochaid Airem,\nthat is, of the Plough.\n\nAnd when all was done, Midhir came to Eochaid again, looking thin and\nwasted enough with the dint of the hard work he had been doing, and he\nasked Eochaid to play the third game with him. Eochaid agreed, and it\nwas settled as before, the stake to be settled by the winner. It was\nMidhir won the game that time, and when the king asked him what he\nwanted, \"It is Etain, your wife, I want,\" said he. \"I will not give her\nto you,\" said the king. \"All I will ask then,\" said Midhir, \"is to put\nmy arms about her and to kiss her once.\" \"You may do that,\" said the\nking, \"if you will wait to the end of a month.\" So Midhir agreed to\nthat, and went away for that time.\n\nAt the end of the month he came back again, and stood in the great hall\nat Teamhair, and no one had ever seen him look so comely as he did that\nnight. And Eochaid had all his best fighting men gathered in the hall,\nand he shut all the doors of the palace when he saw Midhir come in, for\nfear he would try to bring away Etain by force.\n\n\"I am come to be paid what is due to me,\" said Midhir. \"I have not been\nthinking of it up to this time,\" said Eochaid, and there was anger on\nhim. \"You promised me Etain, your wife,\" said Midhir. The redness of\nshame came on Etain when she heard that, but Midhir said: \"Let there be\nno shame on you, Etain, for it is through the length of a year I have\nbeen asking your love, and I have offered you every sort of treasure and\nriches, and you refused to come to me till such a time as your husband\nwould give you leave.\" \"It is true I said that,\" said Etain, \"I will go\nif Eochaid gives me up to you.\" \"I will not give you up,\" said Eochaid;\n\"I will let him do no more than put his arms about you in this place, as\nwas promised him.\" \"I will do that,\" said Midhir.\n\nWith that he took his sword in his left hand, and he took Etain in his\nright arm and kissed her. All the armed men in the house made a rush at\nhim then, but he rose up through the roof bringing Etain with him, and\nwhen they rushed out of the house to follow him, all they could see was\ntwo swans high up in the air, linked together by a chain of gold.\n\nThere was great anger on Eochaid then, and he went and searched all\nthrough Ireland, but there were no tidings of them to be had, for they\nwere in the houses of the Sidhe.\n\nIt was to the Brugh of Angus on the Boinn they went first, and after\nthey had stopped there a while they went to a hill of the Sidhe in\nConnacht. And there was a serving-maid with Etain at that time, Cruachan\nCroderg her name was, and she said to Midhir: \"Is this your own place we\nare in?\" \"It is not,\" said Midhir; \"my own place is nearer to the rising\nof the sun.\" She was not well pleased to stop there when she heard that,\nand Midhir said to quiet her: \"It is your own name will be put on this\nplace from this out.\" And the hill was called the Hill of Cruachan from\nthat time.\n\nThen they went to Bri Leith; and Etain's daughter Esa came to them\nthere, and she brought a hundred of every sort of cattle with her, and\nMidhir fostered her for seven years. And all through that time Eochaid\nthe High King was making a search for them.\n\nBut at last Codal of the Withered Breast took four rods of yew and wrote\nOghams on them, and through them and through his enchantments he found\nout that Etain was with Midhir in Bri Leith.\n\nSo Eochaid went there, and made an attack on the place, and he was for\nnine years besieging it, and Midhir was driving him away. And then his\npeople began digging through the hill; and when they were getting near\nto where Etain was, Midhir sent three times twenty beautiful women,\nhaving all of them the appearance of Etain, and he bade the king choose\nher out from among them. And the first he chose was his own daughter\nEsa. But then Etain called to him, and he knew her, and he brought her\nhome to Teamhair.\n\nAnd Eochaid gave his daughter Esa her choice of a place for herself. And\nshe chose it, and made a rath there, that got the name of Rath Esa. And\nfrom it she could see three notable places, the Hill of the Sidhe in\nBroga, and the Hill of the Hostages in Teamhair, and Dun Crimthain on\nBeinn Edair.\n\nBut there was great anger on Midhir and his people because of their hill\nbeing attacked and dug into. And it was in revenge for that insult they\nbrought Conaire, High King of Ireland, that was grandson of Eochaid and\nof Etain, to his death afterwards at Da Derga's Inn.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII. MANANNAN\n\n\nNow as to Manannan the Proud, son of Lir, after he had made places for\nthe rest of the Tuatha de Danaan to live in, he went away out of Ireland\nhimself. And some said he was dead, and that he got his death by Uillenn\nFaebarderg, of the Red Edge, in battle. And it is what they said, that\nthe battle was fought at Magh Cuilenn, and that Manannan was buried\nstanding on his feet, and no sooner was he buried than a great lake\nburst up under his feet in the place that was a red bog till that time.\nAnd the lake got the name of Loch Orbson, from one of the names of\nManannan. And it was said that red Badb was glad and many women were\nsorry at that battle.\n\nBut he had many places of living, and he was often heard of in Ireland\nafter. It was he sent a messenger to Etain, mother of Conaire the High\nKing, the time she was hidden in the cowherd's house. And it was he\nbrought up Deirdre's children in Emhain of the Apple Trees, and it was\nsaid of that place, \"a house of peace is the hill of the Sidhe of\nEmhain.\" And it was he taught Diarmuid of the Fianna the use of weapons,\nand it was he taught Cuchulain the use of the Gae Bulg, and some say it\nwas he was Deirdre's father, and that he brought Conchubar, king of\nUlster, to the place she was hidden, and he running with the appearance\nof a hare before the hounds of the men of Ulster to bring them there.\n\nAnd it is what they say, that the time Conchubar had brought the sons of\nUsnach to Emain Macha, and could not come at them to kill them because\nof their bravery, it was to Manannan he went for help. And Manannan said\nhe would give him no help, for he had told him at the time he brought\nDeirdre away that she would be the cause of the breaking up of his\nkingdom, and he took her away in spite of him. But Conchubar asked him\nto put blindness for a while on the sons of Usnach, or the whole army\nwould be destroyed with their blows. So after a while he consented to\nthat. And when the sons of Usnach came out again against the army of\nUlster, the blindness came on them, and it was at one another they\nstruck, not seeing who was near them, and it was by one another's hands\nthey fell. But more say Manannan had no hand in it, and that it was\nCathbad, the Druid, put a sea about them and brought them to their death\nby his enchantments.\n\nAnd some say Culain, the Smith, that gave his name to Cuchulain\nafterwards, was Manannan himself, for he had many shapes.\n\nAnyway, before Culain came to Ulster, he was living in the Island of\nFalga, that was one of Manannan's places. And one time before Conchubar\ncame into the kingdom, he went to ask advice of a Druid, and the Druid\nbade him to go to the Island of Falga and to ask Culain, the smith he\nwould find there, to make arms for him. So Conchubar did so, and the\nsmith promised to make a sword and spear and shield for him.\n\nAnd while he was working at them Conchubar went out one morning early to\nwalk on the strand, and there he saw a sea-woman asleep on the shore.\nAnd he put bonds on her in her sleep, the way she would not make her\nescape. But when she awoke and saw what had happened, she asked him to\nset her free. \"And I am Tiabhal,\" she said, \"one of the queens of the\nsea. And bid Culain,\" she said, \"that is making your shield for you, to\nput my likeness on it and my name about it. And whenever you will go\ninto a battle with that shield the strength of your enemies will lessen,\nand your own strength and the strength of your people will increase.\"\n\nSo Conchubar let her go, and bade the smith do as she had told him. And\nwhen he went back to Ireland he got the victory wherever he brought that\nshield.\n\nAnd he sent for Culain then, and offered him a place on the plains of\nMuirthemne. And whether he was or was not Manannan, it is likely he gave\nCuchulain good teaching the time he stopped with him there after killing\nhis great dog.\n\nManannan had good hounds one time, but they went hunting after a pig\nthat was destroying the whole country, and making a desert of it. And\nthey followed it till they came to a lake, and there it turned on them,\nand no hound of them escaped alive, but they were all drowned or maimed.\nAnd the pig made for an island then, that got the name of Muc-inis, the\nPigs Island afterwards; and the lake got the name of Loch Conn, the\nLake of the Hounds.\n\nAnd it was through Manannan the wave of Tuaig, one of the three great\nwaves of Ireland, got its name, and this is the way that happened.\n\nThere was a young girl of the name of Tuag, a fosterling of Conaire the\nHigh King, was reared in Teamhair, and a great company of the daughters\nof the kings of Ireland were put about her to protect her, the way she\nwould be kept for a king's asking. But Manannan sent Fer Ferdiad, of the\nTuatha de Danaan, that was a pupil of his own and a Druid, in the shape\nof a woman of his own household, and he went where Tuag was, and sang a\nsleep-spell over her, and brought her away to Inver Glas. And there he\nlaid her down while he went looking for a boat, that he might bring her\naway in her sleep to the Land of the Ever-Living Women. But a wave of\nthe flood-tide came over the girl, and she was drowned, and Manannan\nkilled Fer Ferdiad in his anger.\n\nAnd one time Manannan's cows came up out of the sea at Baile Cronin,\nthree of them, a red, and a white, and a black, and the people that were\nthere saw them standing on the strand for a while, as if thinking, and\nthen they all walked up together, side by side, from the strand. And at\nthat time there were no roads in Ireland, and there was great wonder on\nthe people when they saw a good wide road ready before the three cows to\nwalk on. And when they got about a mile from the sea they parted; the\nwhite cow went to the north-west, towards Luimnech, and the red cow went\nto the south-west, and on round the coast of Ireland, and the black cow\nwent to the north-east, towards Lis Mor, in the district of Portlairge,\nand a road opened before each of them, that is to be seen to this day.\n\nAnd some say it was Manannan went to Finn and the Fianna in the form of\nthe Gilla Decair, the Bad Servant, and brought them away to\nLand-under-Wave. Anyway, he used often to go hunting with them on Cnoc\nAine, and sometimes he came to their help.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX. MANANNAN AT PLAY\n\n\nAnd it was he went playing tricks through Ireland a long time after that\nagain, the time he got the name of O'Donnell's Kern. And it is the way\nit happened, Aodh Dubh O'Donnell was holding a feast one time in\nBel-atha Senaig, and his people were boasting of the goodness of his\nhouse and of his musicians.\n\nAnd while they were talking, they saw a clown coming towards them, old\nstriped clothes he had, and puddle water splashing in his shoes, and his\nsword sticking out naked behind him, and his ears through the old cloak\nthat was over his head, and in his hand he had three spears of hollywood\nscorched and blackened.\n\nHe wished O'Donnell good health, and O'Donnell did the same to him, and\nasked where did he come from. \"It is where I am,\" he said, \"I slept last\nnight at Dun Monaidhe, of the King of Alban; I am a day in Ile, a day in\nCionn-tire, a day in Rachlainn, a day in the Watchman's Seat in Slieve\nFuad; a pleasant, rambling, wandering man I am, and it is with yourself\nI am now, O'Donnell,\" he said. \"Let the gate-keeper be brought to me,\"\nsaid O'Donnell. And when the gate-keeper came, he asked was it he let in\nthis man, and the gate-keeper said he did not, and that he never saw him\nbefore. \"Let him off, O'Donnell,\" said the stranger, \"for it was as easy\nfor me to come in, as it will be to me to go out again.\" There was\nwonder on them all then, any man to have come into the house without\npassing the gate.\n\nThe musicians began playing their music then, and all the best musicians\nof the country were there at the time, and they played very sweet tunes\non their harps. But the strange man called out: \"By my word, O'Donnell,\nthere was never a noise of hammers beating on iron in any bad place was\nso bad to listen to as this noise your people are making.\"\n\nWith that he took a harp, and he made music that would put women in\ntheir pains and wounded men after a battle into a sweet sleep, and it is\nwhat O'Donnell said: \"Since I first heard talk of the music of the Sidhe\nthat is played in the hills and under the earth below us, I never heard\nbetter music than your own. And it is a very sweet player you are,\" he\nsaid. \"One day I am sweet, another day I am sour,\" said the clown.\n\nThen O'Donnell bade his people to bring him up to sit near himself. \"I\nhave no mind to do that,\" he said; \"I would sooner be as I am, an ugly\nclown, making sport for high-up people.\" Then O'Donnell sent him down\nclothes, a hat and a striped shirt and a coat, but he would not have\nthem. \"I have no mind,\" he said, \"to let high-up people be making a\nboast of giving them to me.\"\n\nThey were afraid then he might go from them, and they put twenty armed\nhorsemen and twenty men on foot to hold him back from leaving the house,\nand as many more outside at the gate, for they knew him not to be a man\nof this world. \"What are these men for?\" said he. \"They are to keep you\nhere,\" said O'Donnell. \"By my word, it is not with you I will be eating\nmy supper to-morrow,\" he said, \"but at Cnoc Aine, where Seaghan, Son of\nthe Earl is, in Desmumain.\" \"If I find you giving one stir out of\nyourself, between this and morning, I will knock you into a round lump\nthere on the ground,\" said O'Donnell.\n\nBut at that the stranger took up the harp again, and he made the same\nsweet music as before. And when they were all listening to him, he\ncalled out to the men outside: \"Here I am coming, and watch me well now\nor you will lose me.\" When the men that were watching the gate heard\nthat, they lifted up their axes to strike at him, but in their haste it\nwas at one another they struck, till they were all lying stretched in\nblood. Then the clown said to the gate-keeper: \"Let you ask twenty cows\nand a hundred of free land of O'Donnell as a fee for bringing his people\nback to life. And take this herb,\" he said, \"and rub it in the mouth of\neach man of them, and he will rise up whole and well again.\" So the\ngate-keeper did that, and he got the cows and the land from O'Donnell,\nand he brought all the people to life again.\n\nNow at that time Seaghan, Son of the Earl, was holding a gathering on\nthe green in front of his dun, and he saw the same man coming towards\nhim, and dressed in the same way, and the water splashing in his shoes.\nBut when he asked who was he, he gave himself the name of a very learned\nman, Duartane O'Duartane, and he said it was by Ess Ruadh he was come,\nand by Ceiscorainn and from that to Corrslieve, and to Magh Lorg of the\nDagda, and into the district of Hy'Conaill Gabhra, \"till I came to\nyourself,\" he said, \"by Cruachan of Magh Ai.\" So they brought him into\nthe house, and gave him wine for drinking and water for washing his\nfeet, and he slept till the rising of the sun on the morrow. And at that\ntime Seaghan, Son of the Earl, came to visit him, and he said: \"It is a\nlong sleep you had, and there is no wonder in that, and your journey so\nlong yesterday. But I often heard of your learning in books and of your\nskill on the harp, and I would like to hear you this morning,\" he said.\n\"I am good in those arts indeed,\" said the stranger. So they brought him\na book, but he could not read a word of it, and then they brought him a\nharp, and he could not play any tune. \"It is likely your reading and\nyour music are gone from you,\" said Seaghan; and he made a little rann\non him, saying it was a strange thing Duartane O'Duartane that had such\na great name not to be able to read a line of a book, or even to\nremember one. But when the stranger heard how he was being mocked at, he\ntook up the book, and read from the top to the bottom of the page very\nwell and in a sweet-sounding voice. And after that he took the harp and\nplayed and sang the same way he did at O'Donnell's house the day before.\n\"It is a very sweet man of learning you are,\" said Seaghan. \"One day I\nam sweet, another day I am sour,\" said the stranger.\n\nThey walked out together then on Cnoc Aine, but while they were talking\nthere, the stranger was gone all of a minute, and Seaghan, Son of the\nEarl, could not see where he went.\n\nAnd after that he went on, and he reached Sligach just at the time\nO'Conchubar was setting out with the men of Connacht to avenge the\nConnacht hag's basket on the hag of Munster. And this time he gave\nhimself the name of the Gilla Decair, the Bad Servant. And he joined\nwith the men of Connacht, and they went over the Sionnan westward into\nMunster, and there they hunted and drove every creature that could be\nmade travel, cattle and horses and flocks, into one place, till they got\nthe hornless bull of the Munster hag and her two speckled cows, and\nO'Conchubar brought them away to give to the Connacht hag in\nsatisfaction for her basket.\n\nBut the men of Munster made an attack on them as they were going back;\nand the Gilla Decair asked O'Conchubar would he sooner have the cows\ndriven, or have the Munster men checked, and he said he would sooner\nhave the Munster men checked. So the Gilla Decair turned on them, and\nwith his bow and twenty-four arrows he kept them back till O'Conchubar\nand his people were safe out of their reach in Connacht.\n\nBut he took some offence then, on account of O'Conchubar taking the\nfirst drink himself when they came to his house, and not giving it to\nhim, that had done so much, and he took his leave and went from them on\nthe moment.\n\nAfter that he went to where Tadg O'Cealaigh was, and having his old\nstriped clothes and his old shoes as before. And when they asked him\nwhat art he had, he said: \"I am good at tricks. And if you will give me\nfive marks I will show you a trick,\" he said. \"I will give that,\" said\nTadg.\n\nWith that the stranger put three rushes on the palm of his hand. \"I will\nblow away the middle rush now,\" he said, \"and the other two will stop as\nthey are.\" So they told him to do that, and he put the tops of two of\nhis fingers on the two outside rushes, and blew the middle one away.\n\"There is a trick now for you, Tadg O'Cealaigh,\" he said then. \"By my\nword, that is not a bad trick,\" said O'Cealaigh. But one of his men\nsaid: \"That there may be no good luck with him that did it. And give me\nthe half of that money now, Tadg,\" he said, \"and I will do the same\ntrick for you myself.\" \"I will give you the half of what I got if you\nwill do it,\" said the stranger. So the other put the rushes on his hand,\nbut if he did, when he tried to do the trick, his two finger-tips went\nthrough the palm of his hand. \"Ob-Ob-Ob!\" said the stranger, \"that is\nnot the way I did the trick. But as you have lost the money,\" he said,\n\"I will heal you again.\"\n\n\"I could do another trick for you,\" he said; \"I could wag the ear on\none side of my head and the ear on the other side would stay still.\" \"Do\nit then,\" said O'Cealaigh. So the man of tricks took hold of one of his\nears and wagged it up and down. \"That is a good trick indeed,\" said\nO'Cealaigh. \"I will show you another one now,\" he said.\n\nWith that he took from his bag a thread of silk, and gave a cast of it\nup into the air, that it was made fast to a cloud. And then he took a\nhare out of the same bag, and it ran up the thread; and then took out a\nlittle dog and laid it on after the hare, and it followed yelping on its\ntrack; and after that again he brought out a little serving-boy and bade\nhim to follow dog and hare up the thread. Then out of another bag he had\nwith him he brought out a beautiful, well-dressed young woman, and bade\nher to follow after the hound and the boy, and to take care and not let\nthe hare be torn by the dog. She went up then quickly after them, and it\nwas a delight to Tadg O'Cealaigh to be looking at them and to be\nlistening to the sound of the hunt going on in the air.\n\nAll was quiet then for a long time, and then the man of tricks said: \"I\nam afraid there is some bad work going on up there.\" \"What is that?\"\nsaid O'Cealaigh. \"I am thinking,\" said he, \"the hound might be eating\nthe hare, and the serving-boy courting the girl.\" \"It is likely enough\nthey are,\" said O'Cealaigh. With that the stranger drew in the thread,\nand it is what he found, the boy making love to the girl and the hound\nchewing the bones of the hare. There was great anger on the man of\ntricks when he saw that, and he took his sword and struck the head off\nthe boy. \"I do not like a thing of that sort to be done in my presence,\"\nsaid Tadg O'Cealaigh. \"If it did not please you, I can set all right\nagain,\" said the stranger. And with that he took up the head and made a\ncast of it at the body, and it joined to it, and the young man stood\nup, but if he did his face was turned backwards. \"It would be better for\nhim to be dead than to be living like that,\" said O'Cealaigh. When the\nman of tricks heard that, he took hold of the boy and twisted his head\nstraight, and he was as well as before.\n\nAnd with that the man of tricks vanished, and no one saw where was he\ngone.\n\nThat is the way Manannan used to be going round Ireland, doing tricks\nand wonders. And no one could keep him in any place, and if he was put\non a gallows itself, he would be found safe in the house after, and some\nother man on the gallows in his place. But he did no harm, and those\nthat would be put to death by him, he would bring them to life again\nwith a herb out of his bag.\n\nAnd all the food he would use would be a vessel of sour milk and a few\ncrab-apples. And there never was any music sweeter than the music he\nused to be playing.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X. HIS CALL TO BRAN\n\n\nAnd there were some that went to Manannan's country beyond the sea, and\nthat gave an account of it afterwards.\n\nOne time Bran, son of Febal, was out by himself near his dun, and he\nheard music behind him. And it kept always after him, and at last he\nfell asleep with the sweetness of the sound. And when he awoke from his\nsleep he saw beside him a branch of silver, and it having white\nblossoms, and the whiteness of the silver was the same as the whiteness\nof the blossoms.\n\nAnd he brought the branch in his hand into the royal house, and when all\nhis people were with him they saw a woman with strange clothing standing\nin the house.\n\nAnd she began to make a song for Bran, and all the people were looking\nat her and listening to her, and it is what she said:\n\n\"I bring a branch of the apple-tree from Emhain, from the far island\naround which are the shining horses of the Son of Lir. A delight of the\neyes is the plain where the hosts hold their games; curragh racing\nagainst chariot in the White Silver Plain to the south.\n\n\"There are feet of white bronze under it, shining through life and time;\na comely level land through the length of the world's age, and many\nblossoms falling on it.\n\n\"There is an old tree there with blossoms, and birds calling from among\nthem; every colour is shining there, delight is common, and music, in\nthe Gentle-Voiced Plain, in the Silver Cloud Plain to the south.\n\n\"Keening is not used, or treachery, in the tilled familiar land; there\nis nothing hard or rough, but sweet music striking on the ear.\n\n\"To be without grief, without sorrow, without death, without any\nsickness, without weakness; that is the sign of Emhain; it is not common\nwonder that is.\n\n\"There is nothing to liken its mists to, the sea washes the wave against\nthe land; brightness falls from its hair.\n\n\"There are riches, there are treasures of every colour in the Gentle\nLand, the Bountiful Land. Sweet music to be listening to; the best of\nwine to drink.\n\n\"Golden chariots in the Plain of the Sea, rising up to the sun with the\ntide; silver chariots and bronze chariots on the Plain of Sports.\n\n\"Gold-yellow horses on the strand, and crimson horses, and others with\nwool on their backs, blue like the colour of the sky.\n\n\"It is a day of lasting weather, silver is dropping on the land; a pure\nwhite cliff on the edge of the sea, getting its warmth from the sun.\n\n\"The host race over the Plain of Sports; it is beautiful and not weak\ntheir game is; death or the ebbing of the tide will not come to them in\nthe Many-Coloured Land.\n\n\"There will come at sunrise a fair man, lighting up the level lands; he\nrides upon the plain that is beaten by the waves, he stirs the sea till\nit is like blood.\n\n\"An army will come over the clear sea, rowing to the stone that is in\nsight, that a hundred sounds of music come from.\n\n\"It sings a song to the army; it is not sad through the length of time;\nit increases music with hundreds singing together; they do not look for\ndeath or the ebb-tide.\n\n\"There are three times fifty far islands in the ocean to the west of us,\nand every one of them twice or three times more than Ireland.\n\n\"It is not to all of you I am speaking, though I have made all these\nwonders known. Let Bran listen from the crowd of the world to all the\nwisdom that has been told him.\n\n\"Do not fall upon a bed of sloth; do not be overcome by drunkenness; set\nout on your voyage over the clear sea, and you may chance to come to the\nLand of Women.\"\n\nWith that the woman went from them, and they did not know where she\nwent. And she brought away her branch with her, for it leaped into her\nhand from Bran's hand, and he had not the strength to hold it.\n\nThen on the morrow Bran set out upon the sea, and three companies of\nnine along with him; and one of his foster-brothers and comrades was set\nover each company of nine.\n\nAnd when they had been rowing for two days and two nights, they saw a\nman coming towards them in a chariot, over the sea. And the man made\nhimself known to them, and he said that he was Manannan, son of Lir.\n\nAnd then Manannan spoke to him in a song, and it is what he said:\n\n\"It is what Bran thinks, he is going in his curragh over the wonderful,\nbeautiful clear sea; but to me, from far off in my chariot, it is a\nflowery plain he is riding on.\n\n\"What is a clear sea to the good boat Bran is in, is a happy plain with\nmany flowers to me in my two-wheeled chariot.\n\n\"It is what Bran sees, many waves beating across the clear sea; it is\nwhat I myself see, red flowers without any fault.\n\n\"The sea-horses are bright in summer-time, as far as Bran's eyes can\nreach; there is a wood of beautiful acorns under the head of your little\nboat.\n\n\"A wood with blossom and with fruit, that has the smell of wine; a wood\nwithout fault, without withering, with leaves of the colour of gold.\n\n\"Let Bran row on steadily, it is not far to the Land of Women; before\nthe setting of the sun you will reach Emhain, of many-coloured\nhospitality.\"\n\nWith that Bran went from him; and after a while he saw an island, and he\nrowed around it, and there was a crowd on it, wondering at them, and\nlaughing; and they were all looking at Bran and at his people, but they\nwould not stop to talk with them, but went on giving out gusts of\nlaughter. Bran put one of his men on the island then, but he joined with\nthe others, and began to stare the same way as the men of the island.\nAnd Bran went on rowing round about the island; and whenever they went\npast his own man, his comrades would speak to him, but he would not\nanswer them, but would only stare and wonder at them. So they went away\nand left him on that island that is called the Island of Joy.\n\nIt was not long after that they reached to the Land of Women. And they\nsaw the chief one of the women at the landing-place, and it is what she\nsaid: \"Come hither to land, Bran, son of Febal, it is welcome your\ncoming is.\" But Bran did not dare to go on shore. Then the woman threw a\nball of thread straight to him, and he caught it in his hand, and it\nheld fast to his palm, and the woman kept the thread in her own hand,\nand she pulled the curragh to the landing-place.\n\nOn that they went into a grand house, where there was a bed for every\ncouple, three times nine beds. And the food that was put on every dish\nnever came to an end, and they had every sort of food and of drink they\nwished for.\n\nAnd it seemed to them they were only a year there when the desire of\nhome took hold on one of them, Nechtan, son of Collbrain, and his\nkinsmen were begging and praying Bran to go back with him to Ireland.\nThe woman said there would be repentance on them if they went; but in\nspite of that they set out in the end. And the woman said to them not to\ntouch the land when they would come to Ireland, and she bade them to\nvisit and to bring with them the man they left in the Island of Joy.\n\nSo they went on towards Ireland till they came to a place called Srub\nBruin. And there were people on the strand that asked them who they were\nthat were coming over the sea. And Bran said: \"I am Bran, son of Febal.\"\nBut the people said: \"We know of no such man, though the voyage of Bran\nis in our very old stories.\"\n\nThen Nechtan, son of Collbrain, made a leap out of the curragh, and no\nsooner did he touch the shore of Ireland than he was a heap of ashes,\nthe same as if he had been in the earth through hundreds of years.\n\nAnd then Bran told the whole story of his wanderings to the people,\nfrom the beginning. And after that he bade them farewell, and his\nwanderings from that time are not known.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI. HIS THREE CALLS TO CORMAC\n\n\nAnd another that went to Manannan's country was Cormac, grandson of\nConn, King of Teamhair, and this is the way it happened. He was by\nhimself in Teamhair one time, and he saw an armed man coming towards\nhim, quiet, with high looks, and having grey hair; a shirt ribbed with\ngold thread next his skin, broad shoes of white bronze between his feet\nand the ground, a shining branch, having nine apples of red gold, on his\nshoulder. And it is delightful the sound of that branch was, and no one\non earth would keep in mind any want, or trouble, or tiredness, when\nthat branch was shaken for him; and whatever trouble there might be on\nhim, he would forget it at the sound.\n\nThen Cormac and the armed man saluted one another, and Cormac asked\nwhere did he come from. \"I come,\" he said, \"from a country where there\nis nothing but truth, and where there is neither age nor withering away,\nnor heaviness, nor sadness, nor jealousy nor envy, nor pride.\" \"That is\nnot so with us,\" said Cormac, \"and I would be well pleased to have your\nfriendship,\" he said. \"I am well pleased to give it,\" said the stranger.\n\"Give me your branch along with it,\" said Cormac. \"I will give it,\" said\nthe stranger, \"if you will give me the three gifts I ask in return.\" \"I\nwill give them to you indeed,\" said Cormac.\n\nThen the strange man left the branch and went away, and Cormac did not\nknow where was he gone to.\n\nHe went back then into the royal house, and there was wonder on all the\npeople when they saw the branch. And he shook it at them, and it put\nthem all asleep from that day to the same time on the morrow.\n\nAt the end of a year the strange man came back again, and he asked for\nthe first of his three requests. \"You will get it,\" said Cormac. \"I will\ntake your daughter, Aille, to-day,\" said the stranger.\n\nSo he brought away the girl with him, and the women of Ireland gave\nthree loud cries after the king's daughter. But Cormac shook the branch\nat them, until it put away sorrow from them, and put them all into their\nsleep.\n\nThat day month the stranger came again, and he brought Cormac's son,\nCarpre Lifecar, away with him. There was crying and lamenting without\nend in Teamhair after the boy, and on that night no one ate or slept,\nand they were all under grief and very downhearted. But when Cormac\nshook the branch their sorrow went from them.\n\nThen the stranger came the third time, and Cormac asked him what did he\nwant. \"It is your wife, Ethne, I am asking this time,\" he said. And he\nwent away then, bringing Ethne, the queen, along with him.\n\nBut Cormac would not bear that, and he went after them, and all his\npeople were following him. But in the middle of the Plain of the Wall, a\nthick mist came on them, and when it was gone, Cormac found himself\nalone on a great plain. And he saw a great dun in the middle of the\nplain, with a wall of bronze around it, and in the dun a house of white\nsilver, and it half thatched with the white wings of birds. And there\nwas a great troop of the Riders of the Sidhe all about the house, and\ntheir arms full of white birds' wings for thatching. But as soon as they\nwould put on the thatch, a blast of wind would come and carry it away\nagain.\n\nThen he saw a man kindling a fire, and he used to throw a thick\noak-tree upon it. And when he would come back with a second tree, the\nfirst one would be burned out. \"I will be looking at you no longer,\"\nCormac said then, \"for there is no one here to tell me your story, and I\nthink I could find good sense in your meanings if I understood them,\" he\nsaid.\n\nThen he went on to where there was another dun, very large and royal,\nand another wall of bronze around it, and four houses within it. And he\nwent in and saw a great king's house, having beams of bronze and walls\nof silver, and its thatch of the wings of white birds. And then he saw\non the green a shining well, and five streams flowing from it, and the\narmies drinking water in turn, and the nine lasting purple hazels of\nBuan growing over it. And they were dropping their nuts into the water,\nand the five salmon would catch them and send their husks floating down\nthe streams. And the sound of the flowing of those streams is sweeter\nthan any music that men sing.\n\nThen he went into the palace, and he found there waiting for him a man\nand a woman, very tall, and having clothes of many colours. The man was\nbeautiful as to shape, and his face wonderful to look at; and as to the\nyoung woman that was with him, she was the loveliest of all the women of\nthe world, and she having yellow hair and a golden helmet. And there was\na bath there, and heated stones going in and out of the water of\nthemselves, and Cormac bathed himself in it.\n\n\"Rise up, man of the house,\" the woman said after that, \"for this is a\ncomely traveller is come to us; and if you have one kind of food or meat\nbetter than another, let it be brought in.\" The man rose up then and he\nsaid: \"I have but seven pigs, but I could feed the whole world with\nthem, for the pig that is killed and eaten to-day, you will find it\nalive again to-morrow.\"\n\nAnother man came into the house then, having an axe in his right hand,\nand a log in his left hand, and a pig behind him.\n\n\"It is time to make ready,\" said the man of the house, \"for we have a\nhigh guest with us to-day.\"\n\nThen the man struck the pig and killed it, and he cut the logs and made\na fire and put the pig on it in a cauldron. \"It is time for you to turn\nit,\" said the master of the house after a while. \"There would be no use\ndoing that,\" said the man, \"for never and never will the pig be boiled\nuntil a truth is told for every quarter of it.\" \"Then let you tell yours\nfirst,\" said the master of the house. \"One day,\" said the man, \"I found\nanother man's cows in my land, and I brought them with me into a cattle\npound. The owner of the cows followed me, and he said he would give me a\nreward to let the cows go free. So I gave them back to him, and he gave\nme an axe, and when a pig is to be killed, it is with the axe it is\nkilled, and the log is cut with it, and there is enough wood to boil the\npig, and enough for the palace besides. And that is not all, for the log\nis found whole again in the morning. And from that time till now, that\nis the way they are.\"\n\n\"It is true indeed that story is,\" said the man of the house.\n\nThey turned the pig in the cauldron then, and but one quarter of it was\nfound to be cooked. \"Let us tell another true story,\" they said. \"I will\ntell one,\" said the master of the house. \"Ploughing time had come, and\nwhen we had a mind to plough that field outside, it is the way we found\nit, ploughed, and harrowed, and sowed with wheat. When we had a mind to\nreap it, the wheat was found in the haggard, all in one thatched rick.\nWe have been using it from that day to this, and it is no bigger and no\nless.\"\n\nThen they turned the pig, and another quarter was found to be ready. \"It\nis my turn now,\" said the woman. \"I have seven cows,\" she said, \"and\nseven sheep. And the milk of the seven cows would satisfy the whole of\nthe men of the world, if they were in the plain drinking it, and it is\nenough for all the people of the Land of Promise, and it is from the\nwool of the seven sheep all the clothes they wear are made.\" And at that\nstory the third quarter of the pig was boiled.\n\n\"If these stories are true,\" said Cormac to the man of the house, \"you\nare Manannan, and this is Manannan's wife; for no one on the whole ridge\nof the world owns these treasures but himself. It was to the Land of\nPromise he went to look for that woman, and he got those seven cows with\nher.\"\n\nThey said to Cormac that it was his turn now. So Cormac told them how\nhis wife, and his son, and his daughter, had been brought away from him,\nand how he himself had followed them till he came to that place.\n\nAnd with that the whole pig was boiled, and they cut it up, and Cormac's\nshare was put before him. \"I never used a meal yet,\" said he, \"having\ntwo persons only in my company.\" The man of the house began singing to\nhim then, and put him asleep. And when he awoke, he saw fifty armed men,\nand his son, and his wife, and his daughter, along with them. There was\ngreat gladness and courage on him then, and ale and food were given out\nto them all. And there was a gold cup put in the hand of the master of\nthe house, and Cormac was wondering at it, for the number of the shapes\non it, and for the strangeness of the work. \"There is a stranger thing\nyet about it,\" the man said; \"let three lying words be spoken under it,\nand it will break into three, and then let three true words be spoken\nunder it, and it will be as good as before.\" So he said three lying\nwords under it, and it broke in three pieces. \"It is best to speak truth\nnow under it,\" he said, \"and to mend it. And I give my word, Cormac,\" he\nsaid, \"that until to-day neither your wife or your daughter has seen the\nface of a man since they were brought away from you out of Teamhair, and\nthat your son has never seen the face of a woman.\" And with that the cup\nwas whole again on the moment. \"Bring away your wife and your children\nwith you now,\" he said, \"and this cup along with them, the way you will\nhave it for judging between truth and untruth. And I will leave the\nbranch with you for music and delight, but on the day of your death they\nwill be taken from you again.\" \"And I myself,\" he said, \"am Manannan, son\nof Lir, King of the Land of Promise, and I brought you here by\nenchantments that you might be with me to-night in friendship.\n\n\"And the Riders you saw thatching the house,\" he said, \"are the men of\nart and poets, and all that look for a fortune in Ireland, putting\ntogether cattle and riches. For when they go out, all that they leave in\ntheir houses goes to nothing, and so they go on for ever.\n\n\"And the man you saw kindling the fire,\" he said, \"is a young lord that\nis more liberal than he can afford, and every one else is served while\nhe is getting the feast ready, and every one else profiting by it.\n\n\"And the well you saw is the Well of Knowledge, and the streams are the\nfive streams through which all knowledge goes. And no one will have\nknowledge who does not drink a draught out of the well itself or out of\nthe streams. And the people of many arts are those who drink from them\nall.\"\n\nAnd on the morning of the morrow, when Cormac rose up, he found himself\non the green of Teamhair, and his wife, and his son, and his daughter,\nalong with him, and he having his branch and his cup. And it was given\nthe name of Cormac's Cup, and it used to judge between truth and\nfalsehood among the Gael. But it was not left in Ireland after the night\nof Cormac's death, as Manannan had foretold him.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII. CLIODNA'S WAVE\n\nAnd it was in the time of the Fianna of Ireland that Ciabhan of the\nCurling Hair, the king of Ulster's son, went to Manannan's country.\n\nCiabhan now was the most beautiful of the young men of the world at that\ntime, and he was as far beyond all other kings' sons as the moon is\nbeyond the stars. And Finn liked him well, but the rest of the Fianna\ngot to be tired of him because there was not a woman of their women, wed\nor unwed, but gave him her love. And Finn had to send him away at the\nlast, for he was in dread of the men of the Fianna because of the\ngreatness of their jealousy.\n\nSo Ciabhan went on till he came to the Strand of the Cairn, that is\ncalled now the Strand of the Strong Man, between Dun Sobairce and the\nsea. And there he saw a curragh, and it having a narrow stern of copper.\nAnd Ciabhan got into the curragh, and his people said: \"Is it to leave\nIreland you have a mind, Ciabhan?\" \"It is indeed,\" he said, \"for in\nIreland I get neither shelter or protection.\" He bade farewell to his\npeople then, and he left them very sorrowful after him, for to part with\nhim was like the parting of life from the body.\n\nAnd Ciabhan went on in the curragh, and great white shouting waves rose\nup about him, every one of them the size of a mountain; and the\nbeautiful speckled salmon that are used to stop in the sand and the\nshingle rose up to the sides of the curragh, till great dread came on\nCiabhan, and he said: \"By my word, if it was on land I was I could make\na better fight for myself\"\n\nAnd he was in this danger till he saw a rider coming towards him on a\ndark grey horse having a golden bridle, and he would be under the sea\nfor the length of nine waves, and he would rise with the tenth wave, and\nno wet on him at all. And he said: \"What reward would you give to\nwhoever would bring you out of this great danger?\" \"Is there anything in\nmy hand worth offering you?\" said Ciabhan. \"There is,\" said the rider,\n\"that you would give your service to whoever would give you his help.\"\nCiabhan agreed to that, and he put his hand into the rider's hand.\n\nWith that the rider drew him on to the horse, and the curragh came on\nbeside them till they reached to the shore of Tir Tairngaire, the Land\nof Promise. They got off the horse there, and came to Loch Luchra, the\nLake of the Dwarfs, and to Manannan's city, and a feast was after being\nmade ready there, and comely serving-boys were going round with smooth\nhorns, and playing on sweet-sounding harps till the whole house was\nfilled with the music.\n\nThen there came in clowns, long-snouted, long-heeled, lean and bald and\nred, that used to be doing tricks in Manannan's house. And one of these\ntricks was, a man of them to take nine straight willow rods, and to\nthrow them up to the rafters of the house, and to catch them again as\nthey came down, and he standing on one leg, and having but one hand\nfree. And they thought no one could do that trick but themselves, and\nthey were used to ask strangers to do it, the way they could see them\nfail.\n\nSo this night when one of them had done the trick, he came up to\nCiabhan, that was beyond all the Men of Dea or the Sons of the Gael that\nwere in the house, in shape and in walk and in name, and he put the nine\nrods in his hand. And Ciabhan stood up and he did the feat before them\nall, the same as if he had never learned to do any other thing.\n\nNow Gebann, that was a chief Druid in Manannan's country, had a\ndaughter, Cliodna of the Fair Hair, that had never given her love to any\nman. But when she saw Ciabhan she gave him her love, and she agreed to\ngo away with him on the morrow.\n\nAnd they went down to the landing-place and got into a curragh, and they\nwent on till they came to Teite's Strand in the southern part of\nIreland. It was from Teite Brec the Freckled the strand got its name,\nthat went there one time for a wave game, and three times fifty young\ngirls with her, and they were all drowned in that place.\n\nAnd as to Ciabhan, he came on shore, and went looking for deer, as was\nright, under the thick branches of the wood; and he left the young girl\nin the boat on the strand.\n\nBut the people of Manannan's house came after them, having forty ships.\nAnd Iuchnu, that was in the curragh with Cliodna, did treachery, and he\nplayed music to her till she lay down in the boat and fell asleep. And\nthen a great wave came up on the strand and swept her away.\n\nAnd the wave got its name from Cliodna of the Fair Hair, that will be\nlong remembered.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII. HIS CALL TO CONNLA\n\n\nAnd it is likely it was Manannan sent his messenger for Connla of the\nRed Hair the time he went away out of Ireland, for it is to his country\nConnla was brought; and this is the way he got the call.\n\nIt chanced one day he was with his father Conn, King of Teamhair, on the\nHill of Uisnach, and he saw a woman having wonderful clothing coming\ntowards him. \"Where is it you come from?\" he asked her. \"I come,\" she\nsaid, \"from Tir-nam-Beo, the Land of the Ever-Living Ones, where no\ndeath comes. We use feasts that are lasting,\" she said, \"and we do every\nkind thing without quarrelling, and we are called the people of the\nSidhe.\" \"Who are you speaking to, boy?\" said Conn to him then, for no\none saw the strange woman but only Connla. \"He is speaking to a high\nwoman that death or old age will never come to,\" she said. \"I am asking\nhim to come to Magh Mell, the Pleasant Plain where the triumphant king\nis living, and there he will be a king for ever without sorrow or fret.\nCome with me, Connla of the Red Hair,\" she said, \"of the fair freckled\nneck and of the ruddy cheek; come with me, and your body will not wither\nfrom its youth and its comeliness for ever.\"\n\nThey could all hear the woman's words then, though they could not see\nher, and it is what Conn said to Coran his Druid: \"Help me, Coran, you\nthat sing spells of the great arts. There is an attack made on me that\nis beyond my wisdom and beyond my power, I never knew so strong an\nattack since the first day I was a king. There is an unseen figure\nfighting with me; she is using her strength against me to bring away my\nbeautiful son; the call of a woman is bringing him away from the hands\nof the king.\"\n\nThen Coran, the Druid, began singing spells against the woman of the\nSidhe, the way no one would hear her voice, and Connla could not see her\nany more. But when she was being driven away by the spells of the Druid,\nshe threw an apple to Connla.\n\nAnd through the length of a month from that time, Connla used no other\nfood nor drink but that apple, for he thought no other food or drink\nworth the using. And for all he ate of it, the apple grew no smaller,\nbut was whole all the while. And there was great trouble on Connla on\naccount of the woman he had seen.\n\nAnd at the end of a month Connla was at his father's side in Magh\nArchomnim, and he saw the same woman coming towards him, and it is what\nshe said: \"It is a high place indeed Connla has among dying people, and\ndeath before him. But the Ever-Living Living Ones,\" she said, \"are\nasking you to take the sway over the people of Tethra, for they are\nlooking at you every day in the gatherings of your country among your\ndear friends.\"\n\nWhen Conn, the king, heard her voice, he said to his people: \"Call\nCoran, the Druid to me, for I hear the sound of the woman's voice\nagain.\" But on that she said: \"O Conn, fighter of a hundred, it is\nlittle love and little respect the wonderful tribes of Traig Mor, the\nGreat Strand, have for Druids; and where its law comes, it scatters the\nspells on their lips.\"\n\nThen Conn looked to his son Connla to see what he would say, and Connla\nsaid: \"My own people are dearer to me than any other thing, yet sorrow\nhas taken hold of me because of this woman.\" Then the woman spoke to him\nagain, and it is what she said: \"Come now into my shining ship, if you\nwill come to the Plain of Victory. There is another country it would not\nbe worse for you to look for; though the bright sun is going down, we\nshall reach to that country before night. That is the country that\ndelights the mind of every one that turns to me. There is no living race\nin it but women and girls only.\"\n\nAnd when the woman had ended her song, Connla made a leap from his\npeople into the shining boat, and they saw him sailing away from them\nfar off and as if in a mist, as far as their eyes could see. It is away\nacross the sea they went, and they have never come back again, and only\nthe gods know where was it they went.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV. TADG IN MANANNAN'S ISLANDS\n\n\nAnd another that went to the Land of the Ever-Living Ones, but that came\nback again, was Tadg, son of Cian, son of Olioll; and this is the way\nthat happened.\n\nIt was one time Tadg was going his next heir's round, into the west of\nMunster, and his two brothers, Airnelach and Eoghan, along with him. And\nCathmann, son of Tabarn, that was king of the beautiful country of\nFresen that lay to the south-east of the Great Plain, was searching the\nsea for what he could find just at that time, and nine of his ships with\nhim. And they landed at Beire do Bhunadas, to the west of Munster, and\nthe country had no stir in it, and so they slipped ashore, and no one\ntook notice of them till all were surrounded, both men and cattle. And\nTadg's wife Liban, daughter of Conchubar Abratrudh of the Red Brows, and\nhis two brothers, and a great many of the people of Munster, were taken\nby the foreigners and brought away to the coasts of Fresen. And Cathmann\ntook Liban to be his own wife, and he put hardship on Tadg's two\nbrothers: Eoghan he put to work a common ferry across a channel of the\ncoast, and Airnelach to cut firing and to keep up fires for all the\npeople; and all the food they got was barley seed and muddy water.\n\nAnd as to Tadg himself, it was only by his courage and the use of his\nsword he made his escape, but there was great grief and discouragement\non him, his wife and his brothers to have been brought away. But he had\nforty of his fighting men left that had each killed a man of the\nforeigners, and they had brought one in alive. And this man told them\nnews of the country he came from. And when Tadg heard that, he made a\nplan in his own head, and he gave orders for a curragh to be built that\nwould be fit for a long voyage. Very strong it was, and forty ox-hides\non it of hard red leather, that was after being soaked in bark. And it\nwas well fitted with masts, and oars, and pitch, and everything that was\nwanting. And they put every sort of meat, and drink, and of clothes in\nit, that would last them through the length of a year.\n\nWhen all was ready, and the curragh out in the tide, Tadg said to his\npeople: \"Let us set out now on the high sea, looking for our own people\nthat are away from us this long time.\"\n\nThey set out then over the stormy, heavy flood, till at last they saw no\nland before them or behind them, but only the hillsides of the great\nsea. And farther on again they heard the singing of a great flock of\nunknown birds; and pleasant white-bellied salmon were leaping about the\ncurragh on every side, and seals, very big and dark, were coming after\nthem, breaking through the shining wash of the oars; and great whales\nafter them again, so that the young men liked to be looking at them, for\nthey were not used to see the like before.\n\nThey went on rowing through twenty days and twenty nights, and at the\nend of that time they got sight of a high land, having a smooth coast.\nAnd when they reached it they all landed, and they pulled up the curragh\nand lit their fires, and food was given out to them, and they were not\nlong making an end of it. They made beds for themselves then on the\nbeautiful green grass, and enjoyed their sleep till the rising of the\nsun on the morrow.\n\nTadg rose up then and put on his arms, and went out, and thirty of his\nmen along with him, to search the whole island.\n\nThey went all through it, but they found no living thing on it, man or\nbeast, but only flocks of sheep. And the size of the sheep was past all\ntelling, as big as horses they were, and the whole island was filled\nwith their wool. And there was one great flock beyond all the others,\nall of very big rams, and one of them was biggest of all, nine horns he\nhad, and he charged on Tadg's chief men, attacking them and butting at\nthem.\n\nThere was vexation on them then, and they attacked him again, and there\nwas a struggle between them. And at the first the ram broke through five\nof their shields. But Tadg took his spear that there was no escape from,\nand made a lucky cast at the ram and killed him. And they brought the\nram to the curragh and made it ready for the young men to eat, and they\nstopped three nights on the island, and every night it was a sheep they\nhad for their food. And they gathered a good share of the wool and put\nit in the curragh because of the wonder and the beauty of it. And they\nfound the bones of very big men on the island, but whether they died of\nsickness or were killed by the rams they did not know.\n\nThey left that island then and went forward till they found two strange\nislands where there were great flocks of wonderful birds, like\nblackbirds, and some of them the size of eagles or of cranes, and they\nred with green heads on them, and the eggs they had were blue and pure\ncrimson. And some of the men began eating the eggs, and on the moment\nfeathers began to grow out on them. But they went bathing after that,\nand the feathers dropped off them again as quick as they came.\n\nIt was the foreigner they had with them gave them the course up to this\ntime, for he had been on the same track before. But now they went on\nthrough the length of six weeks and never saw land, and he said then,\n\"We are astray on the great ocean that has no boundaries.\" Then the wind\nwith its sharp voice began to rise, and there was a noise like the\ntramping of feet in the sea, and it rose up into great mountains hard to\nclimb, and there was great fear on Tadg's people, for they had never\nseen the like. But he began to stir them up and to rouse them, and he\nbade them to meet the sea like men. \"Do bravery,\" he said, \"young men of\nMunster, and fight for your lives against the waves that are rising up\nand coming at the sides of the curragh.\" Tadg took one side of the\ncurragh then and his men took the other side, and he was able to pull it\nround against the whole twenty-nine of them, and to bale it out and keep\nit dry along with that. And after a while they got a fair wind and put\nup their sail, the way less water came into the curragh, and then the\nsea went down and lay flat and calm, and there were strange birds of\nmany shapes singing around them in every part. They saw land before them\nthen, with a good coast, and with that courage and gladness came on\nthem.\n\nAnd when they came nearer to the land they found a beautiful inver, a\nriver's mouth, with green hills about it, and the bottom of it sandy and\nas bright as silver, and red-speckled salmon in it, and pleasant woods\nwith purple tree-tops edging the stream. \"It is a beautiful country\nthis is,\" said Tadg, \"and it would be happy for him that would be always\nin it; and let you pull up the ship now,\" he said, \"and dry it out.\"\n\nA score of them went forward then into the country, and a score stopped\nto mind the curragh. And for all the cold and discouragement and bad\nweather they had gone through, they felt no wish at all for food or for\nfire, but the sweet smell of the crimson branches in the place they were\ncome to satisfied them. They went on through the wood, and after a while\nthey came to an apple garden having red apples in it, and leafy\noak-trees, and hazels yellow with nuts. \"It is a wonder to me,\" said\nTadg, \"to find summer here, and it winter time in our own country.\"\n\nIt was a delightful place they were in, but they went on into another\nwood, very sweet smelling, and round purple berries in it, every one of\nthem bigger than a man's head, and beautiful shining birds eating the\nberries, strange birds they were, having white bodies and purple heads\nand golden beaks. And while they were eating the berries they were\nsinging sweet music, that would have put sick men and wounded men into\ntheir sleep.\n\nTadg and his men went farther on again till they came to a great smooth\nflowery plain with a dew of honey over it, and three steep hills on the\nplain, having a very strong dun on every one of them. And when they got\nto the nearest hill they found a white-bodied woman, the best of the\nwomen of the whole world, and it is what she said: \"Your coming is\nwelcome, Tadg, son of Cian, and there will be food and provision for you\nas you want it.\"\n\n\"I am glad of that welcome,\" said Tadg; \"and tell me now, woman of sweet\nwords,\" he said, \"what is that royal dun on the hill, having walls of\nwhite marble around it?\" \"That is the dun of the royal line of the kings\nof Ireland, from Heremon, son of Miled, to Conn of the Hundred Battles,\nthat was the last to go into it.\" \"What is the name of this country?\"\nTadg said then. \"It is Inislocha, the Lake Island,\" she said, \"and there\nare two kings over it, Rudrach and Dergcroche, sons of Bodb.\" And then\nshe told Tadg the whole story of Ireland, to the time of the coming of\nthe Sons of the Gael. \"That is well,\" said Tadg then, \"and you have good\nknowledge and learning. And tell me now,\" he said, \"who is living in\nthat middle dun that has the colour of gold?\" \"It is not myself will\ntell you that,\" she said, \"but go on to it yourself and you will get\nknowledge of it.\" And with that she went from them into the dun of white\nmarble.\n\nTadg and his men went on then till they came to the middle dun, and\nthere they found a queen of beautiful shape, and she wearing a golden\ndress. \"Health to you, Tadg,\" she said. \"I thank you for that,\" said\nTadg. \"It is a long time your coming on this journey was foretold,\" she\nsaid. \"What is your name?\" he asked then. \"I am Cesair,\" she said, \"the\nfirst that ever reached Ireland. But since I and the men that were with\nme came out of that dark, unquiet land, we are living for ever in this\ncountry.\"\n\n\"Tell me, woman,\" said Tadg, \"who is it lives in that dun having a wall\nof gold about it?\" \"It is not hard to tell that,\" she said, \"every king,\nand every chief man, and every noble person that was in a high place of\nall those that had power in Ireland, it is in that dun beyond they are;\nParthalon and Nemed, Firbolgs and Tuatha de Danaan.\" \"It is good\nknowledge and learning you have,\" said Tadg. \"Indeed I have good\nknowledge of the history of the world,\" she said, \"and this island,\" she\nsaid, \"is the fourth paradise of the world; and as to the others, they\nare Inis Daleb to the south, and Inis Ercandra to the north, and Adam's\nParadise in the east of the world.\" \"Who is there living in that dun\nwith the silver walls?\" said Tadg then. \"I will not tell you that,\nalthough I have knowledge of it,\" said the woman; \"but go to the\nbeautiful hill where it is, and you will get knowledge of it.\"\n\nThey went on then to the third hill, and on the top of the hill was a\nvery beautiful resting-place, and two sweethearts there, a boy and a\ngirl, comely and gentle. Smooth hair they had, shining like gold, and\nbeautiful green clothes of the one sort, and any one would think them to\nhave had the same father and mother. Gold chains they had around their\nnecks, and bands of gold above those again. And Tadg spoke to them: \"O\nbright, comely children,\" he said, \"it is a pleasant place you have\nhere.\" And they answered him back, and they were praising his courage\nand his strength and his wisdom, and they gave him their blessing.\n\nAnd it is how the young man was, he had a sweet-smelling apple, having\nthe colour of gold, in his hand, and he would eat a third part of it,\nand with all he would eat, it would never be less. And that was the food\nthat nourished the two of them, and neither age or sorrow could touch\nthem when once they had tasted it.\n\n\"Who are you yourself?\" Tadg asked him then. \"I am son to Conn of the\nHundred Battles,\" he said. \"Is it Connla you are?\" said Tadg. \"I am\nindeed,\" said the young man, \"and it is this girl of many shapes that\nbrought me here.\" And the girl said: \"I have given him my love and my\naffection, and it is because of that I brought him to this place, the\nway we might be looking at one another for ever, and beyond that we have\nnever gone.\"\n\n\"That is a beautiful thing and a strange thing,\" said Tadg, \"and a thing\nto wonder at. And who is there in that grand dun with the silver\nwalls?\" he said. \"There is no one at all in it,\" said the girl. \"What is\nthe reason of that?\" said Tadg. \"It is for the kings that are to rule\nIreland yet,\" she said; \"and there will be a place in it for yourself,\nTadg. And come now,\" she said, \"till you see it.\"\n\nThe lovers went on to the dun, and it is hardly the green grass was bent\nunder their white feet. And Tadg and his people went along with them.\n\nThey came then to the great wonderful house that was ready for the\ncompany of the kings; it is a pleasant house that was, and any one would\nlike to be in it. Walls of white bronze it had, set with crystal and\nwith carbuncles, that were shining through the night as well as through\nthe day.\n\nTadg looked out from the house then, and he saw to one side of him a\ngreat sheltering apple-tree, and blossoms and ripe fruit on it. \"What is\nthat apple tree beyond?\" said Tadg. \"It is the fruit of that tree is\nfood for the host in this house,\" said the woman. \"And it was an apple\nof that apple-tree brought Connla here to me; a good tree it is, with\nits white-blossomed branches, and its golden apples that would satisfy\nthe whole house.\"\n\nAnd then Connla and the young girl left them, and they saw coming\ntowards them a troop of beautiful women. And there was one among them\nwas most beautiful of all, and when she was come to them she said: \"A\nwelcome to you, Tadg.\" \"I thank you for that welcome,\" said Tadg; \"and\ntell me,\" he said, \"who are you yourself?\" \"I am Cliodna of the Fair\nHair,\" she said, \"daughter of Gebann, son of Treon, of the Tuatha de\nDanaan, a sweetheart of Ciabhan of the Curling Hair; and it is from me\nCliodna's wave on the coast of Munster got its name; and I am a long\ntime now in this island, and it is the apples of that tree you saw that\nwe use for food.\" And Tadg was well pleased to be listening to her talk,\nbut after a while he said: \"It is best for us to go on now to look for\nour people.\" \"We will be well pleased if you stop longer with us,\" said\nthe woman.\n\nAnd while she was saying those words they saw three beautiful birds\ncoming to them, one of them blue and his head crimson, and one was\ncrimson and his head green, and the third was speckled and his head the\ncolour of gold, and they lit on the great apple-tree, and every bird of\nthem ate an apple, and they sang sweet music then, that would put sick\nmen into their sleep.\n\n\"Those birds will go with you,\" Cliodna said then; \"they will give you\nguidance on your way, and they will make music for you, and there will\nbe neither sorrow or sadness on you, by land or by sea, till you come to\nIreland. And bring away this beautiful green cup with you,\" she said,\n\"for there is power in it, and if you do but pour water into it, it will\nbe turned to wine on the moment. And do not let it out of your hand,\"\nshe said, \"but keep it with you; for at whatever time it will escape\nfrom you, your death will not be far away. And it is where you will meet\nyour death, in the green valley at the side of the Boinn; and it is a\nwandering wild deer will give you a wound, and after that, it is\nstrangers will put an end to you. And I myself will bury your body, and\nthere will be a hill over it, and the name it will get is Croidhe Essu.\"\n\nThey went out of the shining house then, and Cliodna of the Fair Hair\nwent with them to the place they had left their ship, and she bade their\ncomrades a kindly welcome; and she asked them how long had they been in\nthat country. \"It seems to us,\" they said, \"we are not in it but one day\nonly.\" \"You are in it through the whole length of a year,\" said she,\n\"and through all that time you used neither food nor drink. But however\nlong you would stop here,\" she said, \"cold or hunger would never come on\nyou.\" \"It would be a good thing to live this way always,\" said Tadg's\npeople when they heard that. But he himself said: \"It is best for us to\ngo on and to look for our people. And we must leave this country,\nalthough it is displeasing to us to leave it.\"\n\nThen Cliodna and Tadg bade farewell to one another, and she gave her\nblessing to him and to his people. And they set out then over the ridges\nof the sea; and they were downhearted after leaving that country until\nthe birds began to sing for them, and then their courage rose up, and\nthey were glad and light-hearted.\n\nAnd when they looked back they could not see the island they had come\nfrom, because of a Druid mist that came on it and hid it from them.\n\nThen by the leading of the birds they came to the country of Fresen, and\nthey were in a deep sleep through the whole voyage. And then they\nattacked the foreigners and got the better of them, and Tadg killed\nCathmann, the king, after a hard fight; and Liban his wife made no\ndelay, and came to meet her husband and her sweetheart, and it is glad\nshe was to see him.\n\nAnd after they had rested a while they faced the sea again, and Tadg and\nhis wife Liban, and his two brothers, and a great many other treasures\nalong with them, and they came home to Ireland safely at the last.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV. LAEGAIRE IN THE HAPPY PLAIN\n\n\nAnd another that went to visit Magh Mell, the Happy Plain, was Laegaire,\nson of the King of Connacht, Crimthan Cass.\n\nHe was out one day with the king, his father, near Loch na-n Ean, the\nLake of Birds, and the men of Connacht with them, and they saw a man\ncoming to them through the mist. Long golden-yellow hair he had, and it\nstreaming after him, and at his belt a gold-hilted sword, and in his\nhand two five-barbed darts, a gold-rimmed shield on his back, a\nfive-folded crimson cloak about his shoulders.\n\n\"Give a welcome to the man that is coming towards you,\" said Laegaire,\nthat had the best name of all the men of Connacht, to his people. And to\nthe stranger he said: \"A welcome to the champion we do not know.\"\n\n\"I am thankful to you all,\" said he.\n\n\"What is it you are come for, and where are you going?\" said Laegaire\nthen.\n\n\"I am come to look for the help of fighting men,\" said the stranger.\n\"And my name,\" he said, \"is Fiachna, son of Betach, of the men of the\nSidhe; and it is what ails me, my wife was taken from my pillow and\nbrought away by Eochaid, son of Sal. And we fought together, and I\nkilled him, and now she is gone to a brother's son of his, Goll, son of\nDalbh, king of a people of Magh Mell. Seven battles I gave him, but they\nall went against me; and on this very day there is another to be fought,\nand I am come to ask help. And to every one that deserves it, I will\ngive a good reward of gold and of silver for that help.\"\n\nAnd it is what he said:\n\n\"The most beautiful of plains is the Plain of the Two Mists; it is not\nfar from this; it is a host of the men of the Sidhe full of courage are\nstirring up pools of blood upon it.\n\n\"We have drawn red blood from the bodies of high nobles; many women are\nkeening them with cries and with tears.\n\n\"The men of the host in good order go out ahead of their beautiful king;\nthey march among blue spears, white troops of fighters with curled hair.\n\n\"They scatter the troops of their enemies, they destroy every country\nthey make an attack on; they are beautiful in battle, a host with high\nlooks, rushing, avenging.\n\n\"It is no wonder they to have such strength: every one of them is the\nson of a king and a queen; manes of hair they have of the colour of\ngold.\n\n\"Their bodies smooth and comely; their eyes blue and far-seeing; their\nteeth bright like crystal, within their thin red lips.\n\n\"White shields they have in their hands, with patterns on them of white\nsilver; blue shining swords, red horns set with gold.\n\n\"They are good at killing men in battle; good at song-making, good at\nchess-playing.\n\n\"The most beautiful of plains is the Plain of the Two Mists; the men of\nthe Sidhe are stirring up pools of blood on it; it is not far from this\nplace.\"\n\n\"It would be a shameful thing not to give our help to this man,\" said\nLaegaire.\n\nFiachna, son of Betach, went down into the lake then, for it was out of\nit he had come, and Laegaire went down into it after him, and fifty\nfighting men along with him.\n\nThey saw a strong place before them then, and a company of armed men,\nand Goll, son of Dalbh, at the head of them.\n\n\"That is well,\" said Laegaire, \"I and my fifty men will go out against\nthis troop.\" \"I will answer you,\" said Goll, son of Dalbh.\n\nThe two fifties attacked one another then, and Goll fell, but Laegaire\nand his fifty escaped with their lives and made a great slaughter of\ntheir enemies, that not one of them made his escape.\n\n\"Where is the woman now?\" said Laegaire. \"She is within the dun of Magh\nMell, and a troop of armed men keeping guard about it,\" said Fiachna.\n\"Let you stop here, and I and my fifty will go there,\" said Laegaire.\n\nSo he and his men went on to the dun, and Laegaire called out to the men\nthat were about it: \"Your king has got his death, your chief men have\nfallen, let the woman come out, and I will give you your own lives.\" The\nmen agreed to that, and they brought the woman out. And when she came\nout she made this complaint:\n\n\"It is a sorrowful day that swords are reddened for the sake of the dear\ndead body of Goll, son of Dalbh. It was he that loved me, it was himself\nI loved, it is little Laegaire Liban cares for that.\n\n\"Weapons were hacked and were split by Goll; it is to Fiachna, son of\nBetach, I must go; it is Goll son of Dalbh, I loved.\"\n\nAnd that complaint got the name of \"The Lament of the Daughter of\nEochaid the Dumb.\"\n\nLaegaire went back with her then till he put her hand in Fiachna's hand.\nAnd that night Fiachna's daughter, Deorgreine, a Tear of the Sun, was\ngiven to Laegaire as his wife, and fifty other women were given to his\nfifty fighting men, and they stopped with them there to the end of a\nyear.\n\nAnd at the end of that time, Laegaire said: \"Let us go and ask news of\nour own country.\" \"If you have a mind to go,\" said Fiachna, \"bring\nhorses with you; but whatever happens,\" he said, \"do not get off from\nthem.\"\n\nSo they set out then; and when they got back to Ireland, they found a\ngreat gathering of the whole of the men of Connacht that were keening\nthem.\n\nAnd when the men of Connacht saw them coming they rose up to meet them,\nand to bid them welcome. But Laegaire called out: \"Do not come to us,\nfor it is to bid you farewell we are here.\" \"Do not go from us again,\"\nsaid Crimthan, his father, \"and I will give you the sway over the three\nConnachts, their silver and their gold, their horses and their bridles,\nand their beautiful women, if you will not go from us.\"\n\nAnd it is what Laegaire said: \"In the place we are gone to, the armies\nmove from kingdom to kingdom, they listen to the sweet-sounding music of\nthe Sidhe, they drink from shining cups, we talk with those we love, it\nis beer that falls instead of rain.\n\n\"We have brought from the dun of the Pleasant Plain thirty cauldrons,\nthirty drinking horns; we have brought the complaint that was sung by\nthe Sea, by the daughter of Eochaid the Dumb.\n\n\"There is a wife for every man of the fifty; my own wife to me is the\nTear of the Sun; I am made master of a blue sword; I would not give for\nall your whole kingdom one night of the nights of the Sidhe.\"\n\nWith that Laegaire turned from them, and went back to the kingdom. And\nhe was made king there along with Fiachna, son of Betach, and his\ndaughter, and he did not come out of it yet.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK FIVE: THE FATE OF THE CHILDREN OF LIR\n\n\nNow at the time when the Tuatha de Danaan chose a king for themselves\nafter the battle of Tailltin, and Lir heard the kingship was given to\nBodb Dearg, it did not please him, and he left the gathering without\nleave and with no word to any one; for he thought it was he himself had\na right to be made king. But if he went away himself, Bodb was given the\nkingship none the less, for not one of the five begrudged it to him but\nonly Lir, And it is what they determined, to follow after Lir, and to\nburn down his house, and to attack himself with spear and sword, on\naccount of his not giving obedience to the king they had chosen. \"We\nwill not do that,\" said Bodb Dearg, \"for that man would defend any place\nhe is in; and besides that,\" he said, \"I am none the less king over the\nTuatha de Danaan, although he does not submit to me.\"\n\nAll went on like that for a good while, but at last a great misfortune\ncame on Lir, for his wife died from him after a sickness of three\nnights. And that came very hard on Lir, and there was heaviness on his\nmind after her. And there was great talk of the death of that woman in\nher own time.\n\nAnd the news of it was told all through Ireland, and it came to the\nhouse of Bodb, and the best of the Men of Dea were with him at that\ntime. And Bodb said: \"If Lir had a mind for it,\" he said, \"my help and\nmy friendship would be good for him now, since his wife is not living to\nhim. For I have here with me the three young girls of the best shape,\nand the best appearance, and the best name in all Ireland, Aobh, Aoife,\nand Ailbhe, the three daughters of Oilell of Aran, my own three\nnurselings.\" The Men of Dea said then it was a good thought he had, and\nthat what he said was true.\n\nMessages and messengers were sent then from Bodb Dearg to the place Lir\nwas, to say that if he had a mind to join with the Son of the Dagda and\nto acknowledge his lordship, he would give him a foster-child of his\nfoster-children. And Lir thought well of the offer, and he set out on\nthe morrow with fifty chariots from Sidhe Fionnachaidh; and he went by\nevery short way till he came to Bodb's dwelling-place at Loch Dearg, and\nthere was a welcome before him there, and all the people were merry and\npleasant before him, and he and his people got good attendance that\nnight.\n\nAnd the three daughters of Oilell of Aran were sitting on the one seat\nwith Bodb Dearg's wife, the queen of the Tuatha de Danaan, that was\ntheir foster-mother. And Bodb said: \"You may have your choice of the\nthree young girls, Lir.\" \"I cannot say,\" said Lir, \"which one of them is\nmy choice, but whichever of them is the eldest, she is the noblest, and\nit is best for me to take her.\" \"If that is so,\" said Bodb, \"it is Aobh\nis the eldest, and she will be given to you, if it is your wish.\" \"It is\nmy wish,\" he said. And he took Aobh for his wife that night, and he\nstopped there for a fortnight, and then he brought her away to his own\nhouse, till he would make a great wedding-feast.\n\nAnd in the course of time Aobh brought forth two children, a daughter\nand a son, Fionnuala and Aodh their names were. And after a while she\nwas brought to bed again, and this time she gave birth to two sons, and\nthey called them Fiachra and Conn. And she herself died at their birth.\nAnd that weighed very heavy on Lir, and only for the way his mind was\nset on his four children he would have gone near to die of grief.\n\nThe news came to Bodb Dearg's place, and all the people gave out three\nloud, high cries, keening their nursling. And after they had keened her\nit is what Bodb Dearg said: \"It is a fret to us our daughter to have\ndied, for her own sake and for the sake of the good man we gave her to,\nfor we are thankful for his friendship and his faithfulness. However,\"\nhe said, \"our friendship with one another will not be broken, for I will\ngive him for a wife her sister Aoife.\"\n\nWhen Lir heard that, he came for the girl and married her, and brought\nher home to his house. And there was honour and affection with Aoife for\nher sister's children; and indeed no person at all could see those four\nchildren without giving them the heart's love.\n\nAnd Bodb Dearg used often to be going to Lir's house for the sake of\nthose children; and he used to bring them to his own place for a good\nlength of time, and then he would let them go back to their own place\nagain. And the Men of Dea were at that time using the Feast of Age in\nevery hill of the Sidhe in turn; and when they came to Lir's hill those\nfour children were their joy and delight, for the beauty of their\nappearance; and it is where they used to sleep, in beds in sight of\ntheir father Lir. And he used to rise up at the break of every morning,\nand to lie down among his children.\n\nBut it is what came of all this, that a fire of jealousy was kindled in\nAoife, and she got to have a dislike and a hatred of her sister's\nchildren.\n\nThen she let on to have a sickness, that lasted through nearly the\nlength of a year. And the end of that time she did a deed of jealousy\nand cruel treachery against the children of Lir.\n\nAnd one day she got her chariot yoked, and she took the four children\nin it, and they went forward towards the house of Bodb Dearg; but\nFionnuala had no mind to go with her, for she knew by her she had some\nplan for their death or their destruction, and she had seen in a dream\nthat there was treachery against them in Aoife's mind. But all the same\nshe was not able to escape from what was before her.\n\nAnd when they were on their way Aoife said to her people: \"Let you kill\nnow,\" she said, \"the four children of Lir, for whose sake their father\nhas given up my love, and I will give you your own choice of a reward\nout of all the good things of the world.\" \"We will not do that indeed,\"\nsaid they; \"and it is a bad deed you have thought of, and harm will come\nto you out of it.\"\n\nAnd when they would not do as she bade them, she took out a sword\nherself to put an end to the children with; but she being a woman and\nwith no good courage, and with no great strength in her mind, she was\nnot able to do it.\n\nThey went on then west to Loch Dairbhreach, the Lake of the Oaks, and\nthe horses were stopped there. And Aoife bade the children of Lir to go\nout and bathe in the lake, and they did as she bade them. And as soon as\nAoife saw them out in the lake she struck them with a Druid rod, and put\non them the shape of four swans, white and beautiful. And it is what she\nsaid: \"Out with you, children of the king, your luck is taken away from\nyou for ever; it is sorrowful the story will be to your friends; it is\nwith flocks of birds your cries will be heard for ever.\"\n\nAnd Fionnuala said: \"Witch, we know now what your name is, you have\nstruck us down with no hope of relief; but although you put us from wave\nto wave, there are times when we will touch the land. We shall get help\nwhen we are seen; help, and all that is best for us; even though we\nhave to sleep upon the lake, it is our minds will be going abroad\nearly.\"\n\nAnd then the four children of Lir turned towards Aoife, and it is what\nFionnuala said: \"It is a bad deed you have done, Aoife, and it is a bad\nfulfilling of friendship, you to destroy us without cause; and vengeance\nfor it will come upon you, and you will fall in satisfaction for it, for\nyour power for our destruction is not greater than the power of our\nfriends to avenge it on you; and put some bounds now,\" she said, \"to the\ntime this enchantment is to stop on us.\" \"I will do that,\" said Aoife,\n\"and it is worse for you, you to have asked it of me. And the bounds I\nset to your time are this, till the Woman from the South and the Man\nfrom the North will come together. And since you ask to hear it of me,\"\nshe said, \"no friends and no power that you have will be able to bring\nyou out of these shapes you are in through the length of your lives,\nuntil you have been three hundred years on Loch Dairbhreach, and three\nhundred years on Sruth na Maoile between Ireland and Alban, and three\nhundred years at Irrus Domnann and Inis Gluaire; and these are to be\nyour journeys from this out,\" she said.\n\nBut then repentance came on Aoife, and she said: \"Since there is no\nother help for me to give you now, you may keep your own speech; and you\nwill be singing sweet music of the Sidhe, that would put the men of the\nearth to sleep, and there will be no music in the world equal to it; and\nyour own sense and your own nobility will stay with you, the way it will\nnot weigh so heavy on you to be in the shape of birds. And go away out\nof my sight now, children of Lir,\" she said, \"with your white faces,\nwith your stammering Irish. It is a great curse on tender lads, they to\nbe driven out on the rough wind. Nine hundred years to be on the water,\nit is a long time for any one to be in pain; it is I put this on you\nthrough treachery, it is best for you to do as I tell you now.\n\n\"Lir, that got victory with so many a good cast, his heart is a kernel\nof death in him now; the groaning of the great hero is a sickness to me,\nthough it is I that have well earned his anger.\"\n\nAnd then the horses were caught for Aoife, and the chariot yoked for\nher, and she went on to the palace of Bodb Dearg, and there was a\nwelcome before her from the chief people of the place. And the son of\nthe Dagda asked her why she did not bring the children of Lir with her.\n\"I will tell you that,\" she said. \"It is because Lir has no liking for\nyou, and he will not trust you with his children, for fear you might\nkeep them from him altogether.\"\n\n\"I wonder at that,\" said Bodb Dearg, \"for those children are dearer to\nme than my own children.\" And he thought in his own mind it was deceit\nthe woman was doing on him, and it is what he did, he sent messengers to\nthe north to Sidhe Fionnachaidh. And Lir asked them what did they come\nfor. \"On the head of your children,\" said they. \"Are they not gone to\nyou along with Aoife?\" he said. \"They are not,\" said they; \"and Aoife\nsaid it was yourself would not let them come.\"\n\nIt is downhearted and sorrowful Lir was at that news, for he understood\nwell it was Aoife had destroyed or made an end of his children. And\nearly in the morning of the morrow his horses were caught, and he set\nout on the road to the south-west. And when he was as far as the shore\nof Loch Dairbhreach, the four children saw the horses coming towards\nthem, and it is what Fionnuala said: \"A welcome to the troop of horses I\nsee coming near to the lake; the people they are bringing are strong,\nthere is sadness on them; it is us they are following, it is for us they\nare looking; let us move over to the shore, Aodh, Fiachra, and comely\nConn. Those that are coming can be no others in the world but only Lir\nand his household.\"\n\nThen Lir came to the edge of the lake, and he took notice of the swans\nhaving the voice of living people, and he asked them why was it they had\nthat voice.\n\n\"I will tell you that, Lir,\" said Fionnuala. \"We are your own four\nchildren, that are after being destroyed by your wife, and by the sister\nof our own mother, through the dint of her jealousy.\" \"Is there any way\nto put you into your own shapes again?\" said Lir. \"There is no way,\"\nsaid Fionnuala, \"for all the men of the world could not help us till we\nhave gone through our time, and that will not be,\" she said, \"till the\nend of nine hundred years.\"\n\nWhen Lir and his people heard that, they gave out three great heavy\nshouts of grief and sorrow and crying.\n\n\"Is there a mind with you,\" said Lir, \"to come to us on the land, since\nyou have your own sense and your memory yet?\" \"We have not the power,\"\nsaid Fionnuala, \"to live with any person at all from this time; but we\nhave our own language, the Irish, and we have the power to sing sweet\nmusic, and it is enough to satisfy the whole race of men to be listening\nto that music. And let you stop here to-night,\" she said, \"and we will\nbe making music for you.\"\n\nSo Lir and his people stopped there listening to the music of the swans,\nand they slept there quietly that night. And Lir rose up early on the\nmorning of the morrow and he made this complaint:--\n\n\"It is time to go out from this place. I do not sleep though I am in my\nlying down. To be parted from my dear children, it is that is tormenting\nmy heart.\n\n\"It is a bad net I put over you, bringing Aoife, daughter of Oilell of\nAran, to the house. I would never have followed that advice if I had\nknown what it would bring upon me.\n\n\"O Fionnuala, and comely Conn, O Aodh, O Fiachra of the beautiful arms;\nit is not ready I am to go away from you, from the border of the harbour\nwhere you are.\"\n\nThen Lir went on to the palace of Bodb Dearg, and there was a welcome\nbefore him there; and he got a reproach from Bodb Dearg for not bringing\nhis children along with him. \"My grief!\" said Lir. \"It is not I that\nwould not bring my children along with me; it was Aoife there beyond,\nyour own foster-child and the sister of their mother, that put them in\nthe shape of four white swans on Loch Dairbhreach, in the sight of the\nwhole of the men of Ireland; but they have their sense with them yet,\nand their reason, and their voice, and their Irish.\"\n\nBodb Dearg gave a great start when he heard that, and he knew what Lir\nsaid was true, and he gave a very sharp reproach to Aoife, and he said:\n\"This treachery will be worse for yourself in the end, Aoife, than to\nthe children of Lir. And what shape would you yourself think worst of\nbeing in?\" he said.\n\n\"I would think worst of being a witch of the air,\" she said. \"It is into\nthat shape I will put you now,\" said Bodb. And with that he struck her\nwith a Druid wand, and she was turned into a witch of the air there and\nthen, and she went away on the wind in that shape, and she is in it yet,\nand will be in it to the end of life and time.\n\nAs to Bodb Dearg and the Tuatha de Danaan they came to the shore of Loch\nDairbhreach, and they made their camp there to be listening to the music\nof the swans.\n\nAnd the Sons of the Gael used to be coming no less than the Men of Dea\nto hear them from every part of Ireland, for there never was any music\nor any delight heard in Ireland to compare with that music of the swans.\nAnd they used to be telling stories, and to be talking with the men of\nIreland every day, and with their teachers and their fellow-pupils and\ntheir friends. And every night they used to sing very sweet music of the\nSidhe; and every one that heard that music would sleep sound and quiet\nwhatever trouble or long sickness might be on him; for every one that\nheard the music of the birds, it is happy and contented he would be\nafter it.\n\nThese two gatherings now of the Tuatha de Danaan and of the Sons of the\nGael stopped there around Loch Dairbhreach through the length of three\nhundred years. And it is then Fionnuala said to her brothers: \"Do you\nknow,\" she said, \"we have spent all we have to spend of our time here,\nbut this one night only.\"\n\nAnd there was great sorrow on the sons of Lir when they heard that, for\nthey thought it the same as to be living people again, to be talking\nwith their friends and their companions on Loch Dairbhreach, in\ncomparison with going on the cold, fretful sea of the Maoil in the\nnorth.\n\nAnd they came early on the morrow to speak with their father and with\ntheir foster-father, and they bade them farewell, and Fionnuala made\nthis complaint:--\n\n\"Farewell to you, Bodb Dearg, the man with whom all knowledge is in\npledge. And farewell to our father along with you, Lir of the Hill of\nthe White Field.\n\n\"The time is come, as I think, for us to part from you, O pleasant\ncompany; my grief it is not on a visit we are going to you.\n\n\"From this day out, O friends of our heart, our comrades, it is on the\ntormented course of the Maoil we will be, without the voice of any\nperson near us.\n\n\"Three hundred years there, and three hundred years in the bay of the\nmen of Domnann, it is a pity for the four comely children of Lir, the\nsalt waves of the sea to be their covering by night.\n\n\"O three brothers, with the ruddy faces gone from you, let them all\nleave the lake now, the great troop that loved us, it is sorrowful our\nparting is.\"\n\nAfter that complaint they took to flight, lightly, airily, till they\ncame to Sruth na Maoile between Ireland and Alban. And that was a grief\nto the men of Ireland, and they gave out an order no swan was to be\nkilled from that out, whatever chance there might be of killing one, all\nthrough Ireland.\n\nIt was a bad dwelling-place for the children of Lir they to be on Sruth\nna Maoile. When they saw the wide coast about them, they were filled\nwith cold and with sorrow, and they thought nothing of all they had gone\nthrough before, in comparison to what they were going through on that\nsea.\n\nNow one night while they were there a great storm came on them, and it\nis what Fionnuala said: \"My dear brothers,\" she said, \"it is a pity for\nus not to be making ready for this night, for it is certain the storm\nwill separate us from one another. And let us,\" she said, \"settle on\nsome place where we can meet afterwards, if we are driven from one\nanother in the night.\"\n\n\"Let us settle,\" said the others, \"to meet one another at Carraig na\nRon, the Rock of the Seals, for we all have knowledge of it.\"\n\nAnd when midnight came, the wind came on them with it, and the noise of\nthe waves increased, and the lightning was flashing, and a rough storm\ncame sweeping down, the way the children of Lir were scattered over the\ngreat sea, and the wideness of it set them astray, so that no one of\nthem could know what way the others went. But after that storm a great\nquiet came on the sea, and Fionnuala was alone on Sruth na Maoile; and\nwhen she took notice that her brothers were wanting she was lamenting\nafter them greatly, and she made this complaint:--\n\n\"It is a pity for me to be alive in the state I am; it is frozen to my\nsides my wings are; it is little that the wind has not broken my heart\nin my body, with the loss of Aodh.\n\n\"To be three hundred years on Loch Dairbhreach without going into my own\nshape, it is worse to me the time I am on Sruth na Maoile.\n\n\"The three I loved, Och! the three I loved, that slept under the shelter\nof my feathers; till the dead come back to the living I will see them no\nmore for ever.\n\n\"It is a pity I to stay after Fiachra, and after Aodh, and after comely\nConn, and with no account of them; my grief I to be here to face every\nhardship this night.\"\n\nShe stopped all night there upon the Rock of the Seals until the rising\nof the sun, looking out over the sea on every side till at last she saw\nConn coming to her, his feathers wet through and his head hanging, and\nher heart gave him a great welcome; and then Fiachra came wet and\nperished and worn out, and he could not say a word they could understand\nwith the dint of the cold and the hardship he had gone through. And\nFionnuala put him under her wings, and she said: \"We would be well off\nnow if Aodh would but come to us.\"\n\nIt was not long after that, they saw Aodh coming, his head dry and his\nfeathers beautiful, and Fionnuala gave him a great welcome, and she put\nhim in under the feathers of her breast, and Fiachra under her right\nwing and Conn under her left wing, the way she could put her feathers\nover them all. \"And Och! my brothers,\" she said, \"this was a bad night\nto us, and it is many of its like are before us from this out.\"\n\nThey stayed there a long time after that, suffering cold and misery on\nthe Maoil, till at last a night came on them they had never known the\nlike of before, for frost and snow and wind and cold. And they were\ncrying and lamenting the hardship of their life, and the cold of the\nnight and the greatness of the snow and the hardness of the wind. And\nafter they had suffered cold to the end of a year, a worse night again\ncame on them, in the middle of winter. And they were on Carraig na Ron,\nand the water froze about them, and as they rested on the rock, their\nfeet and their wings and their feathers froze to the rock, the way they\nwere not able to move from it. And they made such a hard struggle to get\naway, that they left the skin of their feet and their feathers and the\ntops of their wings on the rock after them.\n\n\"My grief, children of Lir,\" said Fionnuala, \"it is bad our state is\nnow, for we cannot bear the salt water to touch us, and there are bonds\non us not to leave it; and if the salt water goes into our sores,\" she\nsaid, \"we will get our death.\" And she made this complaint:--\n\n\"It is keening we are to-night; without feathers to cover our bodies; it\nis cold the rough, uneven rocks are under our bare feet.\n\n\"It is bad our stepmother was to us the time she played enchantments on\nus, sending us out like swans upon the sea.\n\n\"Our washing place is on the ridge of the bay, in the foam of flying\nmanes of the sea; our share of the ale feast is the salt water of the\nblue tide.\n\n\"One daughter and three sons; it is in the clefts of the rocks we are;\nit is on the hard rocks we are, it is a pity the way we are.\"\n\nHowever, they came on to the course of the Maoil again, and the salt\nwater was sharp and rough and bitter to them, but if it was itself, they\nwere not able to avoid it or to get shelter from it. And they were there\nby the shore under that hardship till such time as their feathers grew\nagain, and their wings, and till their sores were entirely healed. And\nthen they used to go every day to the shore of Ireland or of Alban, but\nthey had to come back to Sruth na Maoile every night.\n\nNow they came one day to the mouth of the Banna, to the north of\nIreland, and they saw a troop of riders, beautiful, of the one colour,\nwith well-trained pure white horses under them, and they travelling the\nroad straight from the south-west.\n\n\"Do you know who those riders are, sons of Lir?\" said Fionnuala.\n\n\"We do not,\" they said; \"but it is likely they might be some troop of\nthe Sons of the Gael, or of the Tuatha de Danaan.\"\n\nThey moved over closer to the shore then, that they might know who they\nwere, and when the riders saw them they came to meet them until they\nwere able to hold talk together.\n\nAnd the chief men among them were two sons of Bodb Dearg, Aodh\nAithfhiosach, of the quick wits, and Fergus Fithchiollach, of the chess,\nand a third part of the Riders of the Sidhe along with them, and it was\nfor the swans they had been looking for a long while before that, and\nwhen they came together they wished one another a kind and loving\nwelcome.\n\nAnd the children of Lir asked for news of all the Men of Dea, and above\nall of Lir, and Bodb Dearg and their people.\n\n\"They are well, and they are in the one place together,\" said they, \"in\nyour father's house at Sidhe Fionnachaidh, using the Feast of Age\npleasantly and happily, and with no uneasiness on them, only for being\nwithout yourselves, and without knowledge of what happened you from the\nday you left Loch Dairbhreach.\"\n\n\"That has not been the way with us,\" said Fionnuala, \"for we have gone\nthrough great hardship and uneasiness and misery on the tides of the sea\nuntil this day.\"\n\nAnd she made this complaint:--\n\n\"There is delight to-night with the household of Lir! Plenty of ale with\nthem and of wine, although it is in a cold dwelling-place this night are\nthe four children of the king.\n\n\"It is without a spot our bedclothes are, our bodies covered over with\ncurved feathers; but it is often we were dressed in purple, and we\ndrinking pleasant mead.\n\n\"It is what our food is and our drink, the white sand and the bitter\nwater of the sea; it is often we drank mead of hazel-nuts from round\nfour-lipped drinking cups.\n\n\"It is what our beds are, bare rocks out of the power of the waves; it\nis often there used to be spread out for us beds of the breast-feathers\nof birds.\n\n\"Though it is our work now to be swimming through the frost and through\nthe noise of the waves, it is often a company of the sons of kings were\nriding after us to the Hill of Bodb.\n\n\"It is what wasted my strength, to be going and coming over the current\nof the Maoil the way I never was used to, and never to be in the\nsunshine on the soft grass.\n\n\"Fiachra's bed and Conn's bed is to come under the cover of my wings on\nthe sea. Aodh has his place under the feathers of my breast, the four of\nus side by side.\n\n\"The teaching of Manannan without deceit, the talk of Bodb Dearg on the\npleasant ridge; the voice of Angus, his sweet kisses; it is by their\nside I used to be without grief.\"\n\nAfter that the riders went on to Lir's house, and they told the chief\nmen of the Tuatha de Danaan all the birds had gone through, and the\nstate they were in. \"We have no power over them,\" the chief men said,\n\"but we are glad they are living yet, for they will get help in the end\nof time.\"\n\nAs to the children of Lir, they went back towards their old place in the\nMaoil, and they stopped there till the time they had to spend in it was\nspent. And then Fionnuala said: \"The time is come for us to leave this\nplace. And it is to Irrus Domnann we must go now,\" she said, \"after our\nthree hundred years here. And indeed there will be no rest for us there,\nor any standing ground, or any shelter from the storms. But since it is\ntime for us to go, let us set out on the cold wind, the way we will not\ngo astray.\"\n\nSo they set out in that way, and left Sruth na Maoile behind them, and\nwent to the point of Irrus Domnann, and there they stopped, and it is a\nlife of misery and a cold life they led there. And one time the sea\nfroze about them that they could not move at all, and the brothers were\nlamenting, and Fionnuala was comforting them, for she knew there would\nhelp come to them in the end.\n\nAnd they stayed at Irrus Domnann till the time they had to spend there\nwas spent. And then Fionnuala said: \"The time is come for us to go back\nto Sidhe Fionnachaidh, where our father is with his household and with\nall our own people.\"\n\n\"It pleases us well to hear that,\" they said.\n\nSo they set out flying through the air lightly till they came to Sidhe\nFionnachaidh; and it is how they found the place, empty before them, and\nnothing in it but green hillocks and thickets of nettles, without a\nhouse, without a fire, without a hearthstone. And the four pressed close\nto one another then, and they gave out three sorrowful cries, and\nFionnuala made this complaint:--\n\n\"It is a wonder to me this place is, and it without a house, without a\ndwelling-place. To see it the way it is now, Ochone! it is bitterness to\nmy heart.\n\n\"Without dogs, without hounds for hunting, without women, without great\nkings; we never knew it to be like this when our father was in it.\n\n\"Without horns, without cups, without drinking in the lighted house;\nwithout young men, without riders; the way it is to-night is a\nforetelling of sorrow.\n\n\"The people of the place to be as they are now, Ochone! it is grief to\nmy heart! It is plain to my mind to-night the lord of the house is not\nliving.\n\n\"Och, house where we used to see music and playing and the gathering of\npeople! I think it a great change to see it lonely the way it is\nto-night.\n\n\"The greatness of the hardships we have gone through going from one wave\nto another of the sea, we never heard of the like of them coming on any\nother person.\n\n\"It is seldom this place had its part with grass and bushes; the man is\nnot living that would know us, it would be a wonder to him to see us\nhere.\"\n\nHowever, the children of Lir stopped that night in their father's place\nand their grandfather's, where they had been reared, and they were\nsinging very sweet music of the Sidhe. And they rose up early on the\nmorning of the morrow and went to Inis Gluaire, and all the birds of the\ncountry gathered near them on Loch na-n Ean, the Lake of the Birds. And\nthey used to go out to feed every day to the far parts of the country,\nto Inis Geadh and to Accuill, the place Donn, son of Miled, and his\npeople that were drowned were buried, and to all the western islands of\nConnacht, and they used to go back to Inis Gluaire every night.\n\nIt was about that time it happened them to meet with a young man of good\nrace, and his name was Aibric; and he often took notice of the birds,\nand their singing was sweet to him and he loved them greatly, and they\nloved him. And it is this young man that told the whole story of all\nthat had happened them, and put it in order.\n\nAnd the story he told of what happened them in the end is this.\n\nIt was after the faith of Christ and blessed Patrick came into Ireland,\nthat Saint Mochaomhog came to Inis Gluaire. And the first night he came\nto the island, the children of Lir heard the voice of his bell, ringing\nnear them. And the brothers started up with fright when they heard it\n\"We do not know,\" they said, \"what is that weak, unpleasing voice we\nhear.\"\n\n\"That is the voice of the bell of Mochaomhog,\" said Fionnuala; \"and it\nis through that bell,\" she said, \"you will be set free from pain and\nfrom misery.\"\n\nThey listened to that music of the bell till the matins were done, and\nthen they began to sing the low, sweet music of the Sidhe.\n\nAnd Mochaomhog was listening to them, and he prayed to God to show him\nwho was singing that music, and it was showed to him that the children\nof Lir were singing it. And on the morning of the morrow he went forward\nto the Lake of the Birds, and he saw the swans before him on the lake,\nand he went down to them at the brink of the shore. \"Are you the\nchildren of Lir?\" he said.\n\n\"We are indeed,\" said they.\n\n\"I give thanks to God for that,\" said he, \"for it is for your sakes I am\ncome to this island beyond any other island, and let you come to land\nnow,\" he said, \"and give your trust to me, that you may do good deeds\nand part from your sins.\"\n\nThey came to the land after that, and they put trust in Mochaomhog, and\nhe brought them to his own dwelling-place, and they used to be hearing\nMass with him. And he got a good smith and bade him make chains of\nbright silver for them, and he put a chain between Aodh and Fionnuala,\nand a chain between Conn and Fiachra. And the four of them were raising\nhis heart and gladdening his mind, and no danger and no distress that\nwas on the swans before put any trouble on them now.\n\nNow the king of Connacht at that time was Lairgnen, son of Colman, son\nof Cobthach, and Deoch, daughter of Finghin, was his wife. And that was\nthe coming together of the Man from the North and the Woman from the\nSouth, that Aoife had spoken of.\n\nAnd the woman heard talk of the birds, and a great desire came on her to\nget them, and she bade Lairgnen to bring them to her, and he said he\nwould ask them of Mochaomhog.\n\nAnd she gave her word she would not stop another night with him unless\nhe would bring them to her. And she set out from the house there and\nthen. And Lairgnen sent messengers after her to bring her back, and they\ndid not overtake her till she was at Cill Dun. She went back home with\nthem then, and Lairgnen sent messengers to ask the birds of Mochaomhog,\nand he did not get them.\n\nThere was great anger on Lairgnen then, and he went himself to the place\nMochaomhog was, and he asked was it true he had refused him the birds.\n\"It is true indeed,\" said he. At that Lairgnen rose up, and he took hold\nof the swans, and pulled them off the altar, two birds in each hand, to\nbring them away to Deoch. But no sooner had he laid his hand on them\nthan their bird skins fell off, and what was in their place was three\nlean, withered old men and a thin withered old woman, without blood or\nflesh.\n\nAnd Lairgnen gave a great start at that, and he went out from the\nplace. It is then Fionnuala said to Mochaomhog: \"Come and baptize us\nnow, for it is short till our death comes; and it is certain you do not\nthink worse of parting with us than we do of parting with you. And make\nour grave afterwards,\" she said, \"and lay Conn at my right side and\nFiachra on my left side, and Aodh before my face, between my two arms.\nAnd pray to the God of Heaven,\" she said, \"that you may be able to\nbaptize us.\"\n\nThe children of Lir were baptized then, and they died and were buried as\nFionnuala had desired; Fiachra and Conn one at each side of her, and\nAodh before her face. And a stone was put over them, and their names\nwere written in Ogham, and they were keened there, and heaven was gained\nfor their souls.\n\nAnd that is the fate of the children of Lir so far.\n\n\n\n\nPART TWO: THE FIANNA.\n\nBOOK ONE: FINN, SON OF CUMHAL.\n\nCHAPTER I. THE COMING OF FINN\n\n\nAt the time Finn was born his father Cumhal, of the sons of Baiscne,\nHead of the Fianna of Ireland, had been killed in battle by the sons of\nMorna that were fighting with him for the leadership. And his mother,\nthat was beautiful long-haired Muirne, daughter of Tadg, son of Nuada of\nthe Tuatha de Danaan and of Ethlinn, mother of Lugh of the Long Hand,\ndid not dare to keep him with her; and two women, Bodhmall, the woman\nDruid, and Liath Luachra, came and brought him away to care him.\n\nIt was to the woods of Slieve Bladhma they brought him, and they nursed\nhim secretly, because of his father's enemies, the sons of Morna, and\nthey kept him there a long time.\n\nAnd Muirne, his mother, took another husband that was king of Carraighe;\nbut at the end of six years she came to see Finn, going through every\nlonely place till she came to the wood, and there she found the little\nhunting cabin, and the boy asleep in it, and she lifted him up in her\narms and kissed him, and she sang a little sleepy song to him; and then\nshe said farewell to the women, and she went away again.\n\nAnd the two women went on caring him till he came to sensible years; and\none day when he went out he saw a wild duck on the lake with her clutch,\nand he made a cast at her that cut the wings off her that she could not\nfly, and he brought her back to the cabin, and that was his first hunt.\n\nAnd they gave him good training in running and leaping and swimming. One\nof them would run round a tree, and she having a thorn switch, and Finn\nafter her with another switch, and each one trying to hit at the other;\nand they would leave him in a field, and hares along with him, and would\nbid him not to let the hares quit the field, but to keep before them\nwhichever way they would go; and to teach him swimming they would throw\nhim into the water and let him make his way out.\n\nBut after a while he went away with a troop of poets, to hide from the\nsons of Morna, and they hid him in the mountain of Crotta Cliach; but\nthere was a robber in Leinster at that time, Fiacuil, son of Codhna, and\nhe came where the poets were in Fidh Gaible and killed them all. But he\nspared the child and brought him to his own house, that was in a cold\nmarsh. But the two women, Bodhmall and Liath, came looking for him after\na while, and Fiacuil gave him up to them, and they brought him back to\nthe same place he was before.\n\nHe grew up there, straight and strong and fair-haired and beautiful. And\none day he was out in Slieve Bladhma, and the two women along with him,\nand they saw before them a herd of the wild deer of the mountain. \"It is\na pity,\" said the old women, \"we not to be able to get a deer of those\ndeer.\" \"I will get one for you,\" said Finn; and with that he followed\nafter them, and caught two stags of them and brought them home to the\nhunting cabin. And after that he used to be hunting for them every day.\nBut at last they said to him: \"It is best for you to leave us now, for\nthe sons of Morna are watching again to kill you.\"\n\nSo he went away then by himself, and never stopped till he came to Magh\nLif\u00e9, and there he saw young lads swimming in a lake, and they called to\nhim to swim against them. So he went into the lake, and he beat them at\nswimming. \"Fair he is and well shaped,\" they said when they saw him\nswimming, and it was from that time he got the name of Finn, that is,\nFair. But they got to be jealous of his strength, and he went away and\nleft them.\n\nHe went on then till he came to Loch Lein, and he took service there\nwith the King of Finntraigh; and there was no hunter like him, and the\nking said: \"If Cumhal had left a son, you would be that son.\"\n\nHe went from that king after, and he went into Carraighe, and there he\ntook service with the king, that had taken his mother Muirne for his\nwife. And one day they were playing chess together, and he won seven\ngames one after another. \"Who are you at all?\" said the king then. \"I am\na son of a countryman of the Luigne of Teamhair,\" said Finn. \"That is\nnot so,\" said the king, \"but you are the son that Muirne my wife bore to\nCumhal. And do not stop here any longer,\" he said, \"that you may not be\nkilled under my protection.\"\n\nFrom that he went into Connacht looking for his father's brother,\nCrimall, son of Trenmor; and as he was going on his way he heard the\ncrying of a lone woman. He went to her, and looked at her, and tears of\nblood were on her face. \"Your face is red with blood, woman,\" he said.\n\"I have reason for it,\" said she, \"for my only son is after being killed\nby a great fighting man that came on us.\" And Finn followed after the\nbig champion and fought with him and killed him. And the man he killed\nwas the same man that had given Cumhal his first wound in the battle\nwhere he got his death, and had brought away his treasure-bag with him.\n\nNow as to that treasure-bag, it is of a crane skin it was made, that was\none time the skin of Aoife, the beautiful sweetheart of Ilbrec, son of\nManannan, that was put into the shape of a crane through jealousy. And\nit was in Manannan's house it used to be, and there were treasures kept\nin it, Manannan's shirt and his knife, and the belt and the smith's hook\nof Goibniu, and the shears of the King of Alban, and the helmet of the\nKing of Lochlann, and a belt of the skin of a great fish, and the bones\nof Asal's pig that had been brought to Ireland by the sons of Tuireann.\nAll those treasures would be in the bag at full tide, but at the ebbing\nof the tide it would be empty. And it went from Manannan to Lugh, son of\nEthlinn, and after that to Cumhal, that was husband to Muirne, Ethlinn's\ndaughter.\n\nAnd Finn took the bag and brought it with him till he found Crimall,\nthat was now an old man, living in a lonely place, and some of the old\nmen of the Fianna were with him, and used to go hunting for him. And\nFinn gave him the bag, and told him his whole story.\n\nAnd then he said farewell to Crimall, and went on to learn poetry from\nFinegas, a poet that was living at the Boinn, for the poets thought it\nwas always on the brink of water poetry was revealed to them. And he did\nnot give him his own name, but he took the name of Deimne. Seven years,\nnow, Finegas had stopped at the Boinn, watching the salmon, for it was\nin the prophecy that he would eat the salmon of knowledge that would\ncome there, and that he would have all knowledge after. And when at the\nlast the salmon of knowledge came, he brought it to where Finn was, and\nbade him to roast it, but he bade him not to eat any of it. And when\nFinn brought him the salmon after a while he said: \"Did you eat any of\nit at all, boy?\" \"I did not,\" said Finn; \"but I burned my thumb putting\ndown a blister that rose on the skin, and after doing that, I put my\nthumb in my mouth.\" \"What is your name, boy?\" said Finegas. \"Deimne,\"\nsaid he. \"It is not, but it is Finn your name is, and it is to you and\nnot to myself the salmon was given in the prophecy.\" With that he gave\nFinn the whole of the salmon, and from that time Finn had the knowledge\nthat came from the nuts of the nine hazels of wisdom that grow beside\nthe well that is below the sea.\n\nAnd besides the wisdom he got then, there was a second wisdom came to\nhim another time, and this is the way it happened. There was a well of\nthe moon belonging to Beag, son of Buan, of the Tuatha de Danaan, and\nwhoever would drink out of it would get wisdom, and after a second drink\nhe would get the gift of foretelling. And the three daughters of Beag,\nson of Buan, had charge of the well, and they would not part with a\nvessel of it for anything less than red gold. And one day Finn chanced\nto be hunting in the rushes near the well, and the three women ran out\nto hinder him from coming to it, and one of them that had a vessel of\nthe water in her hand, threw it at him to stop him, and a share of the\nwater went into his mouth. And from that out he had all the knowledge\nthat the water of that well could give.\n\nAnd he learned the three ways of poetry; and this is the poem he made to\nshow he had got his learning well:--\n\n\"It is the month of May is the pleasant time; its face is beautiful; the\nblackbird sings his full song, the living wood is his holding, the\ncuckoos are singing and ever singing; there is a welcome before the\nbrightness of the summer.\n\n\"Summer is lessening the rivers, the swift horses are looking for the\npool; the heath spreads out its long hair, the weak white bog-down\ngrows. A wildness comes on the heart of the deer; the sad restless sea\nis asleep.\n\n\"Bees with their little strength carry a load reaped from the flowers;\nthe cattle go up muddy to the mountains; the ant has a good full feast.\n\n\"The harp of the woods is playing music; there is colour on the hills,\nand a haze on the full lakes, and entire peace upon every sail.\n\n\"The corncrake is speaking, a loud-voiced poet; the high lonely\nwaterfall is singing a welcome to the warm pool, the talking of the\nrushes has begun.\n\n\"The light swallows are darting; the loudness of music is around the\nhill; the fat soft mast is budding; there is grass on the trembling\nbogs.\n\n\"The bog is as dark as the feathers of the raven; the cuckoo makes a\nloud welcome; the speckled salmon is leaping; as strong is the leaping\nof the swift fighting man.\n\n\"The man is gaining; the girl is in her comely growing power; every wood\nis without fault from the top to the ground, and every wide good plain.\n\n\"It is pleasant is the colour of the time; rough winter is gone; every\nplentiful wood is white; summer is a joyful peace.\n\n\"A flock of birds pitches in the meadow; there are sounds in the green\nfields, there is in them a clear rushing stream.\n\n\"There is a hot desire on you for the racing of horses; twisted holly\nmakes a leash for the hound; a bright spear has been shot into the\nearth, and the flag-flower is golden under it.\n\n\"A weak lasting little bird is singing at the top of his voice; the lark\nis singing clear tidings; May without fault, of beautiful colours.\n\n\"I have another story for you; the ox is lowing, the winter is creeping\nin, the summer is gone. High and cold the wind, low the sun, cries are\nabout us; the sea is quarrelling.\n\n\"The ferns are reddened and their shape is hidden; the cry of the wild\ngoose is heard; the cold has caught the wings of the birds; it is the\ntime of ice-frost, hard, unhappy.\"\n\nAnd after that, Finn being but a young lad yet, made himself ready and\nwent up at Samhain time to the gathering of the High King at Teamhair.\nAnd it was the law at that gathering, no one to raise a quarrel or\nbring out any grudge against another through the whole of the time it\nlasted. And the king and his chief men, and Goll, son of Morna, that was\nnow Head of the Fianna, and Caoilte, son of Ronan, and Conan, son of\nMorna, of the sharp words, were sitting at a feast in the great house of\nthe Middle Court; and the young lad came in and took his place among\nthem, and none of them knew who he was.\n\nThe High King looked at him then, and the horn of meetings was brought\nto him, and he put it into the boy's hand, and asked him who was he.\n\n\"I am Finn, son of Cumhal,\" he said, \"son of the man that used to be\nhead over the Fianna, and king of Ireland; and I am come now to get your\nfriendship, and to give you my service.\"\n\n\"You are son of a friend, boy,\" said the king, \"and son of a man I\ntrusted.\"\n\nThen Finn rose up and made his agreement of service and of faithfulness\nto the king; and the king took him by the hand and put him sitting\nbeside his own son, and they gave themselves to drinking and to pleasure\nfor a while.\n\nEvery year, now, at Samhain time, for nine years, there had come a man\nof the Tuatha de Danaan out of Sidhe Finnachaidh in the north, and had\nburned up Teamhair. Aillen, son of Midhna, his name was, and it is the\nway he used to come, playing music of the Sidhe, and all the people that\nheard it would fall asleep. And when they were all in their sleep, he\nwould let a flame of fire out of his mouth, and would blow the flame\ntill all Teamhair was burned.\n\nThe king rose up at the feast after a while, and his smooth horn in his\nhand, and it is what he said: \"If I could find among you, men of\nIreland, any man that would keep Teamhair till the break of day\nto-morrow without being burned by Aillen, son of Midhna, I would give\nhim whatever inheritance is right for him to have, whether it be much or\nlittle.\"\n\nBut the men of Ireland made no answer, for they knew well that at the\nsound of the sweet pitiful music made by that comely man of the Sidhe,\neven women in their pains and men that were wounded would fall asleep.\n\nIt is then Finn rose up and spoke to the King of Ireland. \"Who will be\nyour sureties that you will fulfil this?\" he said. \"The kings of the\nprovinces of Ireland,\" said the king, \"and Cithruadh with his Druids.\"\nSo they gave their pledges, and Finn took in hand to keep Teamhair safe\ntill the breaking of day on the morrow.\n\nNow there was a fighting man among the followers of the King of Ireland,\nFiacha, son of Conga, that Cumhal, Finn's father, used to have a great\nliking for, and he said to Finn: \"Well, boy,\" he said, \"what reward\nwould you give me if I would bring you a deadly spear, that no false\ncast was ever made with?\" \"What reward are you asking of me?\" said Finn.\n\"Whatever your right hand wins at any time, the third of it to be mine,\"\nsaid Fiacha, \"and a third of your trust and your friendship to be mine.\"\n\"I will give you that,\" said Finn. Then Fiacha brought him\nthe spear, unknown to the sons of Morna or to any other person, and he\nsaid: \"When you will hear the music of the Sidhe, let you strip the\ncovering off the head of the spear and put it to your forehead, and the\npower of the spear will not let sleep come upon you.\"\n\nThen Finn rose up before all the men of Ireland, and he made a round of\nthe whole of Teamhair. And it was not long till he heard the sorrowful\nmusic, and he stripped the covering from the head of the spear, and he\nheld the power of it to his forehead. And Aillen went on playing his\nlittle harp, till he had put every one in their sleep as he was used;\nand then he let a flame of fire out from his mouth to burn Teamhair.\nAnd Finn held up his fringed crimson cloak against the flame, and it\nfell down through the air and went into the ground, bringing the\nfour-folded cloak with it deep into the earth.\n\nAnd when Aillen saw his spells were destroyed, he went back to Sidhe\nFinnachaidh on the top of Slieve Fuad; but Finn followed after him\nthere, and as Aillen was going in at the door he made a cast of the\nspear that went through his heart. And he struck his head off then, and\nbrought it back to Teamhair, and fixed it on a crooked pole and left it\nthere till the rising of the sun over the heights and invers of the\ncountry.\n\nAnd Aillen's mother came to where his body was lying, and there was\ngreat grief on her, and she made this complaint:--\n\n\"Ochone! Aillen is fallen, chief of the Sidhe of Beinn Boirche; the slow\nclouds of death are come on him. Och! he was pleasant, Och! he was kind.\nAillen, son of Midhna of Slieve Fuad.\n\n\"Nine times he burned Teamhair. It is a great name he was always looking\nfor, Ochone, Ochone, Aillen!\"\n\nAnd at the breaking of day, the king and all the men of Ireland came out\nupon the lawn at Teamhair where Finn was. \"King,\" said Finn, \"there is\nthe head of the man that burned Teamhair, and the pipe and the harp that\nmade his music. And it is what I think,\" he said, \"that Teamhair and all\nthat is in it is saved.\"\n\nThen they all came together into the place of counsel, and it is what\nthey agreed, the headship of the Fianna of Ireland to be given to Finn.\nAnd the king said to Goll, son of Morna: \"Well, Goll,\" he said, \"is it\nyour choice to quit Ireland or to put your hand in Finn's hand?\" \"By my\nword, I will give Finn my hand,\" said Goll.\n\nAnd when the charms that used to bring good luck had done their work,\nthe chief men of the Fianna rose up and struck their hands in Finn's\nhand, and Goll, son of Morna, was the first to give him his hand the way\nthere would be less shame on the rest for doing it.\n\nAnd Finn kept the headship of the Fianna until the end; and the place he\nlived in was Almhuin of Leinster, where the white dun was made by Nuada\nof the Tuatha de Danaan, that was as white as if all the lime in Ireland\nwas put on it, and that got its name from the great herd of cattle that\ndied fighting one time around the well, and that left their horns there,\nspeckled horns and white.\n\nAnd as to Finn himself, he was a king and a seer and a poet; a Druid and\na knowledgeable man; and everything he said was sweet-sounding to his\npeople. And a better fighting man than Finn never struck his hand into a\nking's hand, and whatever any one ever said of him, he was three times\nbetter. And of his justice it used to be said, that if his enemy and his\nown son had come before him to be judged, it is a fair judgment he would\nhave given between them. And as to his generosity it used to be said, he\nnever denied any man as long as he had a mouth to eat with, and legs to\nbring away what he gave him; and he left no woman without her\nbride-price, and no man without his pay; and he never promised at night\nwhat he would not fulfil on the morrow, and he never promised in the day\nwhat he would not fulfil at night, and he never forsook his right-hand\nfriend. And if he was quiet in peace he was angry in battle, and Oisin\nhis son and Osgar his son's son followed him in that. There was a young\nman of Ulster came and claimed kinship with them one time, saying they\nwere of the one blood. \"If that is so,\" said Oisin, \"it is from the men\nof Ulster we took the madness and the angry heart we have in battle.\"\n\"That is so indeed,\" said Finn.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II. FINN'S HOUSEHOLD\n\n\nAnd the number of the Fianna of Ireland at that time was seven score and\nten chief men, every one of them having three times nine righting men\nunder him. And every man of them was bound to three things, to take no\ncattle by oppression, not to refuse any man, as to cattle or riches; no\none of them to fall back before nine fighting men. And there was no man\ntaken into the Fianna until his tribe and his kindred would give\nsecurities for him, that even if they themselves were all killed he\nwould not look for satisfaction for their death. But if he himself would\nharm others, that harm was not to be avenged on his people. And there\nwas no man taken into the Fianna till he knew the twelve books of\npoetry. And before any man was taken, he would be put into a deep hole\nin the ground up to his middle, and he having his shield and a hazel rod\nin his hand. And nine men would go the length of ten furrows from him\nand would cast their spears at him at the one time. And if he got a\nwound from one of them, he was not thought fit to join with the Fianna.\nAnd after that again, his hair would be fastened up, and he put to run\nthrough the woods of Ireland, and the Fianna following after him to try\ncould they wound him, and only the length of a branch between themselves\nand himself when they started. And if they came up with him and wounded\nhim, he was not let join them; or if his spears had trembled in his\nhand, or if a branch of a tree had undone the plaiting of his hair, or\nif he had cracked a dry stick under his foot, and he running. And they\nwould not take him among them till he had made a leap over a stick the\nheight of himself, and till he had stooped under one the height of his\nknee, and till he had taken a thorn out from his foot with his nail,\nand he running his fastest. But if he had done all these things, he was\nof Finn's people.\n\nIt was good wages Finn and the Fianna got at that time; in every\ndistrict a townland, in every house the fostering of a pup or a whelp\nfrom Samhain to Beltaine, and a great many things along with that. But\ngood as the pay was, the hardships and the dangers they went through for\nit were greater. For they had to hinder the strangers and robbers from\nbeyond the seas, and every bad thing, from coming into Ireland. And they\nhad hard work enough in doing that.\n\nAnd besides the fighting men, Finn had with him his five Druids, the\nbest that ever came into the west, Cainnelsciath, of the Shining Shield,\none of them was, that used to bring down knowledge from the clouds in\nthe sky before Finn, and that could foretell battles. And he had his\nfive wonderful physicians, four of them belonging to Ireland, and one\nthat came over the sea from the east. And he had his five high poets and\nhis twelve musicians, that had among them Daighre, son of Morna, and\nSuanach, son of Senshenn, that was Finn's teller of old stories, the\nsweetest that ever took a harp in his hand in Ireland or in Alban. And\nhe had his three cup-bearers and his six door-keepers and his\nhorn-players and the stewards of his house and his huntsman, Comhrag of\nthe five hundred hounds, and his serving-men that were under\nGarbhcronan, of the Rough Buzzing; and a great troop of others along\nwith them.\n\nAnd there were fifty of the best sewing-women in Ireland brought\ntogether in a rath on Magh Feman, under the charge of a daughter of the\nKing of Britain, and they used to be making clothing for the Fianna\nthrough the whole of the year. And three of them, that were a king's\ndaughters, used to be making music for the rest on a little silver\nharp; and there was a very great candlestick of stone in the middle of\nthe rath, for they were not willing to kindle a fire more than three\ntimes in the year for fear the smoke and the ashes might harm the\nneedlework.\n\nAnd of all his musicians the one Finn thought most of was Cnu Deireoil,\nthe Little Nut, that came to him from the Sidhe.\n\nIt was at Slieve-nam-ban, for hunting, Finn was the time he came to him.\nSitting down he was on the turf-built grave that is there; and when he\nlooked around him he saw a small little man about four feet in height\nstanding on the grass. Light yellow hair he had, hanging down to his\nwaist, and he playing music on his harp. And the music he was making had\nno fault in it at all, and it is much that the whole of the Fianna did\nnot fall asleep with the sweetness of its sound. He came up then, and\nput his hand in Finn's hand. \"Where do you come from, little one,\nyourself and your sweet music?\" said Finn. \"I am come,\" he said, \"out of\nthe place of the Sidhe in Slieve-nam-ban, where ale is drunk and made;\nand it is to be in your company for a while I am come here.\" \"You will\nget good rewards from me, and riches and red gold,\" said Finn, \"and my\nfull friendship, for I like you well.\" \"That is the best luck ever came\nto you, Finn,\" said all the rest of the Fianna, for they were well\npleased to have him in their company. And they gave him the name of the\nLittle Nut; and he was good in speaking, and he had so good a memory he\nnever forgot anything he heard east or west; and there was no one but\nmust listen to his music, and all the Fianna liked him well. And there\nwere some said he was a son of Lugh Lamh-Fada, of the Long Hand.\n\nAnd the five musicians of the Fianna were brought to him, to learn the\nmusic of the Sidhe he had brought from that other place; for there was\nnever any music heard on earth but his was better. These were the three\nbest things Finn ever got, Bran and Sceolan that were without fault, and\nthe Little Nut from the House of the Sidhe in Slieve-nam-ban.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III. BIRTH OF BRAN.\n\n\nThis, now, is the story of the birth of Bran.\n\nFinn's mother, Muirne, came one time to Almhuin, and she brought with\nher Tuiren, her sister. And Iollan Eachtach, a chief man of the Fianna\nof Ulster, was at Almhuin at the time, and he gave his love to Tuiren,\nand asked her in marriage, and brought her to his own house. But before\nthey went, Finn made him gave his word he would bring her back safe and\nsound if ever he asked for her, and he bade him find sureties for\nhimself among the chief men of the Fianna. And Iollan did that, and the\nsureties he got were Caoilte and Goll and Lugaidh Lamha, and it was\nLugaidh gave her into the hand of Iollan Eachtach.\n\nBut before Iollan made that marriage, he had a sweetheart of the Sidhe,\nUchtdealb of the Fair Breast; and there came great jealousy on her when\nshe knew he had taken a wife. And she took the appearance of Finn's\nwoman-messenger, and she came to the house where Tuiren was, and she\nsaid: \"Finn sends health and long life to you, queen, and he bids you to\nmake a great feast; and come with me now,\" she said, \"till I speak a few\nwords with you, for there is hurry on me.\"\n\nSo Tuiren went out with her, and when they were away from the house the\nwoman of the Sidhe took out her dark Druid rod from under her cloak and\ngave her a blow of it that changed her into a hound, the most beautiful\nthat was ever seen. And then she went on, bringing the hound with her,\nto the house of Fergus Fionnliath, king of the harbour of Gallimh. And\nit is the way Fergus was, he was the most unfriendly man to dogs in the\nwhole world, and he would not let one stop in the same house with him.\nBut it is what Uchtdealb said to him: \"Finn wishes you life and health,\nFergus, and he says to you to take good care of his hound till he comes\nhimself; and mind her well,\" she said, \"for she is with young, and do\nnot let her go hunting when her time is near, or Finn will be no way\nthankful to you.\" \"I wonder at that message,\" said Fergus, \"for Finn\nknows well there is not in the world a man has less liking for dogs than\nmyself. But for all that,\" he said, \"I will not refuse Finn the first\ntime he sent a hound to me.\"\n\nAnd when he brought the hound out to try her, she was the best he ever\nknew, and she never saw the wild creature she would not run down; and\nFergus took a great liking for hounds from that out.\n\nAnd when her time came near, they did not let her go hunting any more,\nand she gave birth to two whelps.\n\nAnd as to Finn, when he heard his mother's sister was not living with\nIollan Eachtach, he called to him for the fulfilment of the pledge that\nwas given to the Fianna. And Iollan asked time to go looking for Tuiren,\nand he gave his word that if he did not find her, he would give himself\nup in satisfaction for her. So they agreed to that, and Iollan went to\nthe hill where Uchtdealb was, his sweetheart of the Sidhe, and told her\nthe way things were with him, and the promise he had made to give\nhimself up to the Fianna. \"If that is so,\" said she, \"and if you will\ngive me your pledge to keep me as your sweetheart to the end of your\nlife, I will free you from that danger.\" So Iollan gave her his promise,\nand she went to the house of Fergus Fionnliath, and she brought Tuiren\naway and put her own shape on her again, and gave her up to Finn. And\nFinn gave her to Lugaidh Lamha that asked her in marriage.\n\nAnd as to the two whelps, they stopped always with Finn, and the names\nhe gave them were Bran and Sceolan.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV. OISIN'S MOTHER.\n\n\nIt happened one time Finn and his men were coming back from the hunting,\na beautiful fawn started up before them, and they followed after it, men\nand dogs, till at last they were all tired and fell back, all but Finn\nhimself and Bran and Sceolan. And suddenly as they were going through a\nvalley, the fawn stopped and lay down on the smooth grass, and Bran and\nSceolan came up with it, and they did not harm it at all, but went\nplaying about it, licking its neck and its face.\n\nThere was wonder on Finn when he saw that, and he went on home to\nAlmhuin, and the fawn followed after him playing with the hounds, and it\ncame with them into the house at Almhuin. And when Finn was alone late\nthat evening, a beautiful young woman having a rich dress came before\nhim, and she told him it was she herself was the fawn he was after\nhunting that day. \"And it is for refusing the love of Fear Doirche, the\nDark Druid of the Men of Dea,\" she said, \"I was put in this shape. And\nthrough the length of three years,\" she said, \"I have lived the life of\na wild deer in a far part of Ireland, and I am hunted like a wild deer.\nAnd a serving-man of the Dark Druid took pity on me,\" she said, \"and he\nsaid that if I was once within the dun of the Fianna of Ireland, the\nDruid would have no more power over me. So I made away, and I never\nstopped through the whole length of a day till I came into the district\nof Almhuin. And I never stopped then till there was no one after me but\nonly Bran and Sceolan, that have human wits; and I was safe with them,\nfor they knew my nature to be like their own.\"\n\nThen Finn gave her his love, and took her as his wife, and she stopped\nin Almhuin. And so great was his love for her, he gave up his hunting\nand all the things he used to take pleasure in, and gave his mind to no\nother thing but herself.\n\nBut at last the men of Lochlann came against Ireland, and their ships\nwere in the bay below Beinn Edair, and they landed there.\n\nAnd Finn and the battalions of the Fianna went out against them, and\ndrove them back. And at the end of seven days Finn came back home, and\nhe went quickly over the plain of Almhuin, thinking to see Sadbh his\nwife looking out from the dun, but there was no sign of her. And when he\ncame to the dun, all his people came out to meet him, but they had a\nvery downcast look. \"Where is the flower of Almhuin, beautiful gentle\nSadbh?\" he asked them. And it is what they said: \"While you were away\nfighting, your likeness, and the likeness of Bran and of Sceolan\nappeared before the dun, and we thought we heard the sweet call of the\nDord Fiann. And Sadbh, that was so good and so beautiful, came out of\nthe house,\" they said, \"and she went out of the gates, and she would not\nlisten to us, and we could not stop her.\" \"Let me go meet my love,\" she\nsaid, \"my husband, the father of the child that is not born.\" And with\nthat she went running out towards the shadow of yourself that was before\nher, and that had its arms stretched out to her. But no sooner did she\ntouch it than she gave a great cry, and the shadow lifted up a hazel\nrod, and on the moment it was a fawn was standing on the grass. Three\ntimes she turned and made for the gate of the dun, but the two hounds\nthe shadow had with him went after her and took her by the throat and\ndragged her back to him. \"And by your hand of valour, Finn,\" they said,\n\"we ourselves made no delay till we went out on the plain after her. But\nit is our grief, they had all vanished, and there was not to be seen\nwoman, or fawn or Druid, but we could hear the quick tread of feet on\nthe hard plain, and the howling of dogs. And if you would ask every one\nof us in what quarter he heard those sounds, he would tell you a\ndifferent one.\"\n\nWhen Finn heard that, he said no word at all, but he struck his breast\nover and over again with his shut hands. And he went then to his own\ninside room, and his people saw him no more for that day, or till the\nsun rose over Magh Lif\u00e9 on the morrow.\n\nAnd through the length of seven years from that time, whenever he was\nnot out fighting against the enemies of Ireland, he went searching and\never searching in every far corner for beautiful Sadbh. And there was\ngreat trouble on him all the time, unless he might throw it off for a\nwhile in hunting or in battle. And through all that time he never\nbrought out to any hunting but the five hounds he had most trust in,\nBran and Sceolan and Lomaire and Brod and Lomluath, the way there would\nbe no danger for Sadbh if ever he came on her track.\n\nBut after the end of seven years, Finn and some of his chief men were\nhunting on the sides of Beinn Gulbain, and they heard a great outcry\namong the hounds, that were gone into some narrow place. And when they\nfollowed them there, they saw the five hounds of Finn in a ring, and\nthey keeping back the other hounds, and in the middle of the ring was a\nyoung boy, with high looks, and he naked and having long hair. And he\nwas no way daunted by the noise of the hounds, and did not look at them\nat all, but at the men that were coming up. And as soon as the fight was\nstopped Bran and Sceolan went up to the little lad, and whined and\nlicked him, that any one would think they had forgotten their master.\nFinn and the others came up to him then, and put their hands on his\nhead, and made much of him. And they brought him to their own hunting\ncabin, and he ate and drank with them, and before long he lost his\nwildness and was the same as themselves. And as to Bran and Sceolan,\nthey were never tired playing about him.\n\nAnd it is what Finn thought, there was some look of Sadbh in his face,\nand that it might be he was her son, and he kept him always beside him.\nAnd little by little when the boy had learned their talk, he told them\nall he could remember. He used to be with a deer he loved very much, he\nsaid, and that cared and sheltered him, and it was in a wide place they\nused to be, having hills and valleys and streams and woods in it, but\nthat was shut in with high cliffs on every side, that there was no way\nof escape from it. And he used to be eating fruits and roots in the\nsummer, and in the winter there was food left for him in the shelter of\na cave. And a dark-looking man used to be coming to the place, and\nsometimes he would speak to the deer softly and gently, and sometimes\nwith a loud angry voice. But whatever way he spoke, she would always\ndraw away from him with the appearance of great dread on her, and the\nman would go away in great anger. And the last time he saw the deer, his\nmother, the dark man was speaking to her for a long time, from softness\nto anger. And at the end he struck her with a hazel rod, and with that\nshe was forced to follow him, and she looking back all the while at the\nchild, and crying after him that any one would pity her. And he tried\nhard to follow after her, and made every attempt, and cried out with\ngrief and rage, but he had no power to move, and when he could hear his\nmother no more he fell on the grass and his wits went from him. And when\nhe awoke it is on the side of the hill he was, where the hounds found\nhim. And he searched a long time for the place where he was brought up,\nbut he could not find it.\n\nAnd the name the Fianna gave him was Oisin, and it is he was their maker\nof poems, and their good fighter afterwards.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V. THE BEST MEN OF THE FIANNA\n\n\nAnd while Oisin was in his young youth, Finn had other good men along\nwith him, and the best of them were Goll, son of Morna, and Caoilte, son\nof Ronan, and Lugaidh's Son.\n\nAs to Goll, that was of Connacht, he was very tall and light-haired, and\nsome say he was the strongest of all the Fianna. Finn made a poem in\npraise of him one time when some stranger was asking what sort he was,\nsaying how hardy he was and brave in battle, and as strong as a hound or\nas the waves, and with all that so kind and so gentle, and open-handed\nand sweet-voiced, and faithful to his friends.\n\nAnd the chessboard he had was called the Solustairtech, the Shining\nThing, and some of the chessmen were made of gold, and some of them of\nsilver, and each one of them was as big as the fist of the biggest man\nof the Fianna; and after the death of Goll it was buried in Slieve\nBaune.\n\nAnd as to Caoilte, that was a grey thin man, he was the best runner of\nthem all. And he did a good many great deeds; a big man of the Fomor he\nkilled one time, and he killed a five-headed giant in a wheeling door,\nand another time he made an end of an enchanted boar that no one else\ncould get near, and he killed a grey stag that had got away from the\nFianna through twenty-seven years. And another time he brought Finn out\nof Teamhair, where he was kept by force by the High King, because of\nsome rebellion the Fianna had stirred up. And when Caoilte heard Finn\nhad been brought away to Teamhair, he went out to avenge him. And the\nfirst he killed was Cuireach, a king of Leinster that had a great name,\nand he brought his head up to the hill that is above Buadhmaic. And\nafter that he made a great rout through Ireland, bringing sorrow into\nevery house for the sake of Finn, killing a man in every place, and\nkilling the calves with the cows.\n\nAnd every door the red wind from the east blew on, he would throw it\nopen, and go in and destroy all before him, setting fire to the fields,\nand giving the wife of one man to another.\n\nAnd when he came to Teamhair, he came to the palace, and took the\nclothes off the door-keeper, and he left his own sword that was worn\nthin in the king's sheath, and took the king's sword that had great\npower in it. And he went into the palace then in the disguise of a\nservant, to see how he could best free Finn.\n\nAnd when evening came Caoilte held the candle at the king's feast in the\ngreat hall, and after a while the king said: \"You will wonder at what I\ntell you, Finn, that the two eyes of Caoilte are in my candlestick.\" \"Do\nnot say that,\" said Finn, \"and do not put reproach on my people although\nI myself am your prisoner; for as to Caoilte,\" he said, \"that is not the\nway with him, for it is a high mind he has, and he only does high\ndeeds, and he would not stand serving with a candle for all the gold of\nthe whole world.\"\n\nAfter that Caoilte was serving the King of Ireland with drink, and when\nhe was standing beside him he gave out a high sorrowful lament. \"There\nis the smell of Caoilte's skin on that lament,\" said the king. And when\nCaoilte saw he knew him he spoke out and he said: \"Tell me what way I\ncan get freedom for my master.\" \"There is no way to get freedom for him\nbut by doing one thing,\" said the king, \"and that is a thing you can\nnever do. If you can bring me together a couple of all the wild\ncreatures of Ireland,\" he said, \"I will give up your master to you\nthen.\"\n\nWhen Caoilte heard him say that he made no delay, but he set out from\nTeamhair, and went through the whole of Ireland to do that work for the\nsake of Finn. It is with the flocks of birds he began, though they were\nscattered in every part, and from them he went on to the beasts. And he\ngathered together two of every sort, two ravens from Fiodh da Bheann;\ntwo wild ducks from Loch na Seillein; two foxes from Slieve Cuilinn; two\nwild oxen from Burren; two swans from blue Dobhran; two owls from the\nwood of Faradhruim; two polecats from the branchy wood on the side of\nDruim da Raoin, the Ridge of the Victories; two gulls from the strand of\nLoch Leith; four woodpeckers from white Brosna; two plovers from\nCarraigh Dhain; two thrushes from Leith Lomard; two wrens from Dun\nAoibh; two herons from Corrain Cleibh; two eagles from Carraig of the\nstones; two hawks from Fiodh Chonnach; two sows from Loch Meilghe; two\nwater-hens from Loch Erne; two moor-hens from Monadh Maith; two\nsparrow-hawks from Dubhloch; two stonechats from Magh Cuillean; two\ntomtits from Magh Tuallainn; two swallows from Sean Abhla; two\ncormorants from Ath Cliath; two wolves from Broit Cliathach; two\nblackbirds from the Strand of the Two Women; two roebucks from Luachair\nIre; two pigeons from Ceas Chuir; two nightingales from Leiter Ruadh;\ntwo starlings from green-sided Teamhair; two rabbits from Sith Dubh\nDonn; two wild pigs from Cluaidh Chuir; two cuckoos from Drom Daibh; two\nlapwings from Leanain na Furraich; two woodcocks from Craobh Ruadh; two\nhawks from the Bright Mountain; two grey mice from Luimneach; two otters\nfrom the Boinn; two larks from the Great Bog; two bats from the Cave of\nthe Nuts; two badgers from the province of Ulster; two landrail from the\nbanks of the Sionnan; two wagtails from Port Lairrge; two curlews from\nthe harbour of Gallimh; two hares from Muirthemne; two deer from Sith\nBuidhe; two peacocks from Magh Mell; two cormorants from Ath Cliath; two\neels from Duth Dur; two goldfinches from Slieve na-n Eun; two birds of\nslaughter from Magh Bhuilg; two bright swallows from Granard; two\nredbreasts from the Great Wood; two rock-cod from Cala Chairge; two\nsea-pigs from the great sea; two wrens from Mios an Chuil; two salmon\nfrom Eas Mhic Muirne; two clean deer from Gleann na Smoil; two cows from\nMagh Mor; two cats from the Cave of Cruachan; two sheep from bright\nSidhe Diobhlain; two pigs of the pigs of the son of Lir; a ram and a\ncrimson sheep from Innis.\n\nAnd along with all these he brought ten hounds of the hounds of the\nFianna, and a horse and a mare of the beautiful horses of Manannan.\n\nAnd when Caoilte had gathered all these, he brought them to the one\nplace. But when he tried to keep them together, they scattered here and\nthere from him; the raven went away southward, and that vexed him\ngreatly, but he overtook it again in Gleann da Bheann, beside Loch\nLurcan. And then his wild duck went away from him, and it was not easy\nto get it again, but he followed it through every stream to grey Accuill\ntill he took it by the neck and brought it back, and it no way willing.\n\nAnd indeed through the length of his life Caoilte remembered well all he\nwent through that time with the birds, big and little, travelling over\nhills and ditches and striving to bring them with him, that he might set\nFinn his master free.\n\nAnd when he came to Teamhair he had more to go through yet, for the king\nwould not let him bring them in before morning, but gave him a house\nhaving nine doors in it to put them up in for the night. And no sooner\nwere they put in than they raised a loud screech all together, for a\nlittle ray of light was coming to them through fifty openings, and they\nwere trying to make their escape. And if they were not easy in the\nhouse, Caoilte was not easy outside it, watching every door till the\nrising of the sun on the morrow.\n\nAnd when he brought out his troop, the name the people gave them was\n\"Caoilte's Rabble,\" and there was no wonder at all in that.\n\nBut all the profit the King of Ireland got from them was to see them\ntogether for that one time. For no sooner did Finn get his freedom than\nthe whole of them scattered here and there, and no two of them went by\nthe same road out of Teamhair.\n\nAnd that was one of the best things Caoilte, son of Ronan, ever did. And\nanother time he ran from the wave of Cliodna in the south to the wave of\nRudraige in the north. And Colla his son was a very good runner too, and\none time he ran a race backwards against the three battalions of the\nFianna for a chessboard. And he won the race, but if he did, he went\nbackward over Beinn Edair into the sea.\n\nAnd very good hearing Caoilte had. One time he heard the King of the\nLuigne of Connacht at his hunting, and Blathmec that was with him said,\n\"What is that hunt, Caoilte?\" \"A hunt of three packs of hounds,\" he\nsaid, \"and three sorts of wild creatures before them. The first hunt,\"\nhe said, \"is after stags and large deer and the second hunt is after\nswift small hares, and the third is a furious hunt after heavy boars.\"\n\"And what is the fourth hunt, Caoilte?\" said Blathmec. \"It is the\nhunting of heavy-sided, low-bellied badgers.\" And then they heard coming\nafter the hunt the shouts of the lads and of the readiest of the men and\nthe serving-men that were best at carrying burdens. And Blathmec went\nout to see the hunting, and just as Caoilte had told him, that was the\nway it was.\n\nAnd he understood the use of herbs, and one time he met with two women\nthat were very downhearted because their husbands had gone from them to\ntake other wives. And Caoilte gave them Druid herbs, and they put them\nin the water of a bath and washed in it, and the love of their husbands\ncame back to them, and they sent away the new wives they had taken.\n\nAnd as to Lugaidh's Son, that was of Finn's blood, and another of the\nbest men of the Fianna, he was put into Finn's arms as a child, and he\nwas reared up by Duban's daughter, that had reared eight hundred\nfighting men of the Fianna, till his twelfth year, and then she gave him\nall he wanted of arms and of armour, and he went to Chorraig Conluain\nand the mountains of Slieve Bladhma, where Finn and the Fianna were at\nthat time.\n\nAnd Finn gave him a very gentle welcome, and he struck his hand in\nFinn's hand, and made his agreement of service with him. And he stopped\nthrough the length of a year with the Fianna; but he was someway\nsluggish through all that time, so that under his leading not more than\nnine of the Fianna got to kill so much as a boar or a deer. And along\nwith that, he used to beat both his servants and his hounds.\n\nAnd at last the three battalions of the Fianna went to where Finn was,\nat the Point of the Fianna on the edge of Loch Lein, and they made their\ncomplaint against Lugaidh's Son, and it is what they said: \"Make your\nchoice now, will you have us with you, or will you have Lugaidh's Son by\nhimself.\"\n\nThen Lugaidh's Son came to Finn, and Finn asked him, \"What is it has put\nthe whole of the Fianna against you?\" \"By my word,\" said the lad, \"I do\nnot know the reason, unless it might be they do not like me to be doing\nmy feats and casting my spears among them.\"\n\nThen Finn gave him an advice, and it is what he said: \"If you have a\nmind to be a good champion, be quiet in a great man's house; be surly in\nthe narrow pass. Do not beat your hound without a cause; do not bring a\ncharge against your wife without having knowledge of her guilt; do not\nhurt a fool in fighting, for he is without his wits. Do not find fault\nwith high-up persons; do not stand up to take part in a quarrel; have no\ndealings with a bad man or a foolish man. Let two-thirds of your\ngentleness be showed to women and to little children that are creeping\non the floor, and to men of learning that make the poems, and do not be\nrough with the common people. Do not give your reverence to all; do not\nbe ready to have one bed with your companions. Do not threaten or speak\nbig words, for it is a shameful thing to speak stiffly unless you can\ncarry it out afterwards. Do not forsake your lord so long as you live;\ndo not give up any man that puts himself under your protection for all\nthe treasures of the world. Do not speak against others to their lord,\nthat is not work for a good man. Do not be a bearer of lying stories, or\na tale-bearer that is always chattering. Do not be talking too much; do\nnot find fault hastily; however brave you may be, do not raise factions\nagainst you. Do not be going to drinking-houses, or finding fault with\nold men; do not meddle with low people; this is right conduct I am\ntelling you. Do not refuse to share your meat; do not have a niggard for\nyour friend; do not force yourself on a great man or give him occasion\nto speak against you. Hold fast to your arms till the hard fight is well\nended. Do not give up your opportunity, but with that follow after\ngentleness.\"\n\nThat was good advice Finn gave, and he was well able to do that; for it\nwas said of him that he had all the wisdom of a little child that is\nbusy about the house, and the mother herself not understanding what he\nis doing; and that is the time she has most pride in him.\n\nAnd as to Lugaidh's Son, that advice stayed always with him, and he\nchanged his ways, and after a while he got a great name among the poets\nof Ireland and of Alban, and whenever they would praise Finn in their\npoems, they would praise him as well.\n\nAnd Aoife, daughter of the King of Lochlann, that was married to Mal,\nson of Aiel, King of Alban, heard the great praise the poets were giving\nto Lugaidh's Son, and she set her love on him for the sake of those\nstories.\n\nAnd one time Mal her husband and his young men went hunting to\nSlieve-mor-Monaidh in the north of Alban. And when he was gone Aoife\nmade a plan in her sunny house where she was, to go over to Ireland,\nherself and her nine foster-sisters. And they set out and went over the\nmanes of the sea till they came to Beinn Edair, and there they landed.\n\nAnd it chanced on that day there was a hunting going on, from Slieve\nBladhma to Beinn Edair. And Finn was in his hunting seat, and his\nfosterling, brown-haired Duibhruinn, beside him. And the little lad was\nlooking about him on every side, and he saw a ship coming to the\nstrand, and a queen with modest looks in the ship, and nine women along\nwith her. They landed then, and they came up to where Finn was, bringing\nevery sort of present with them, and Aoife sat down beside him. And Finn\nasked news of her, and she told him the whole story, and how she had\ngiven her love to Lugaidh's Son, and was come over the sea looking for\nhim; and Finn made her welcome.\n\nAnd when the hunting was over, the chief men of the Fianna came back to\nwhere Finn was, and every one asked who was the queen that was with him.\nAnd Finn told them her name, and what it was brought her to Ireland. \"We\nwelcome her that made that journey,\" said they all; \"for there is not in\nIreland or in Alban a better man than the man she is come looking for,\nunless Finn himself.\"\n\nAnd as to Lugaidh's Son, it was on the far side of Slieve Bladhma he was\nhunting that day, and he was the last to come in. And he went into\nFinn's tent, and when he saw the woman beside him he questioned Finn the\nsame as the others had done, and Finn told him the whole story. \"And it\nis to you she is come,\" he said; \"and here she is to you out of my hand,\nand all the war and the battles she brings with her; but it will not\nfall heavier on you,\" he said, \"than on the rest of the Fianna.\"\n\nAnd she was with Lugaidh's Son a month and a year without being asked\nfor. But one day the three battalions of the Fianna were on the Hill of\nthe Poet in Leinster, and they saw three armed battalions equal to\nthemselves coming, against them, and they asked who was bringing them.\n\"It is Mal, son of Aiel, is bringing them,\" said Finn, \"to avenge his\nwife on the Fianna. And it is a good time they are come,\" he said, \"when\nwe are gathered together at the one spot.\"\n\nThen the two armies went towards one another, and Mal, son of Aiel,\ntook hold of his arms, and three times he broke through the Fianna, and\nevery time a hundred fell by him. And in the middle of the battle he and\nLugaidh's Son met, and they fought against one another with spear and\nsword. And whether the fight was short or long, it was Mal fell by\nLugaidh's Son at the last.\n\nAnd Aoife stood on a hill near by, as long as the battle lasted. And\nfrom that out she belonged to Lugaidh's Son, and was a mother of\nchildren to him.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK TWO: FINN'S HELPERS\n\nCHAPTER I. THE LAD OF THE SKINS\n\n\nBesides all the men Finn had in his household, there were some that\nwould come and join him from one place or another. One time a young man\nwearing a dress of skins came to Finn's house at Almhuin, and his wife\nalong with him, and he asked to take service with Finn.\n\nAnd in the morning, as they were going to their hunting, the Lad of the\nSkins said to Finn: \"Let me have no one with me but myself, and let me\ngo into one part of the country by myself, and you yourself with all\nyour men go to another part.\" \"Is it on the dry ridges you will go,\"\nsaid Finn, \"or is it in the deep bogs and marshes, where there is danger\nof drowning?\" \"I will go in the deep boggy places,\" said he.\n\nSo they all went out from Almhuin, Finn and the Fianna to one part, and\nthe Lad of the Skins to another part, and they hunted through the day.\nAnd when they came back at evening, the Lad of the Skins had killed more\nthan Finn and all his men together.\n\nWhen Finn saw that, he was glad to have so good a servant. But Conan\nsaid to him: \"The Lad of the Skins will destroy ourselves and the whole\nof the Fianna of Ireland unless you will find some way to rid yourself\nof him.\" \"I never had a good man with me yet, Conan,\" said Finn, \"but\nyou wanted me to put him away; and how could I put away a man like\nthat?\" he said. \"The way to put him away,\" said Conan, \"is to send him\nto the King of the Floods to take from him the great cauldron that is\nnever without meat, but that has always enough in it to feed the whole\nworld. And let him bring that cauldron back here with him to Almhuin,\"\nhe said.\n\nSo Finn called to the Lad of the Skins, and he said: \"Go from me now to\nthe King of the Floods and get the great cauldron that is never empty\nfrom him, and bring it here to me.\" \"So long as I am in your service I\nmust do your work,\" said the Lad of the Skins. With that he set out,\nleaping over the hills and valleys till he came to the shore of the sea.\nAnd then he took up two sticks and put one of them across the other, and\na great ship rose out of the two sticks. The Lad of the Skins went into\nthe ship then, and put up the sails and set out over the sea, and he\nheard nothing but the whistling of eels in the sea and the calling of\ngulls in the air till he came to the house of the King of the Floods.\nAnd at that time there were hundreds of ships waiting near the shore;\nand he left his ship outside them all, and then he stepped from ship to\nship till he stood on land.\n\nThere was a great feast going on at that time in the king's house, and\nthe Lad of the Skins went up to the door, but he could get no farther\nbecause of the crowd. So he stood outside the door for a while, and no\none looked at him, and he called out at last: \"This is a hospitable\nhouse indeed, and these are mannerly ways, not to ask a stranger if\nthere is hunger on him or thirst.\" \"That is true,\" said the king; \"and\ngive the cauldron of plenty now to this stranger,\" he said, \"till he\neats his fill.\"\n\nSo his people did that, and no sooner did the Lad of the Skins get a\nhold of the cauldron than he made away to the ship and put it safe into\nit. But when he had done that he said: \"There is no use in taking the\npot by my swiftness, if I do not take it by my strength.\" And with that\nhe turned and went to land again. And the whole of the men of the army\nof the King of the Floods were ready to fight; but if they were, so was\nthe Lad of the Skins, and he went through them and over them all till\nthe whole place was quiet.\n\nHe went back to his ship then and raised the sails and set out again\nfor Ireland, and the ship went rushing back to the place where he made\nit. And when he came there, he gave a touch of his hand to the ship, and\nthere was nothing left of it but the two sticks he made it from, and\nthey lying on the strand before him, and the cauldron of plenty with\nthem. And he took up the cauldron on his back, and brought it to Finn,\nson of Cumhal, at Almhuin. And Finn gave him his thanks for the work he\nhad done.\n\nOne day, now, Finn was washing himself at the well, and a voice spoke\nout of the water, and it said: \"You must give back the cauldron, Finn,\nto the King of the Floods, or you must give him battle in place of it.\"\n\nFinn told that to the Lad of the Skins, but the answer he got from him\nwas that his time was up, and that he could not serve on time that was\npast. \"But if you want me to go with you,\" he said, \"let you watch my\nwife, that is Manannan's daughter, through the night; and in the middle\nof the night, when she will be combing her hair, any request you make of\nher, she cannot refuse it. And the request you will make is that she\nwill let me go with you to the King of the Floods, to bring the cauldron\nto his house and to bring it back again.\"\n\nSo Finn watched Manannan's daughter through the night, and when he saw\nher combing her hair, he made his request of her. \"I have no power to\nrefuse you,\" she said; \"but you must promise me one thing, to bring my\nhusband back to me, alive or dead. And if he is alive,\" she said, \"put\nup a grey-green flag on the ship coming back; but if he is dead, put up\na red flag.\"\n\nSo Finn promised to do that, and he himself and the Lad of the Skins set\nout together for the dun of the King of the Floods, bringing the\ncauldron with them.\n\nNo sooner did the king see them than he gave word to all his armies to\nmake ready. But the Lad of the Skins made for them and overthrew them,\nand he went into the king's dun, and Finn with him, and they overcame\nhim and brought away again the cauldron that was never empty.\n\nBut as they were going back to Ireland, they saw a great ship coming\ntowards them. And when the Lad of the Skins looked at the ship, he said:\n\"I think it is an old enemy of my own is in that ship, that is trying to\nbring me to my death, because of my wife that refused him her love.\" And\nwhen the ship came alongside, the man that was in it called out: \"I know\nyou well, and it is not by your dress I know you, son of the King of the\nHills.\" And with that he made a leap on to the ship, and the two fought\na great battle together, and they took every shape; they began young\nlike two little boys, and fought till they were two old men; they fought\nfrom being two young pups until they were two old dogs; from being two\nyoung horses till they were two old horses. And then they began to fight\nin the shape of birds, and it is in that shape they killed one another\nat the last. And Finn threw the one bird into the water, but the other,\nthat was the Lad of the Skins, he brought with him in the ship. And when\nhe came in sight of Ireland, he raised a red flag as he had promised the\nwoman.\n\nAnd when he came to the strand, she was there before him, and when she\nsaw Finn, she said: \"It is dead you have brought him back to me.\" And\nFinn gave her the bird, and she asked was that what she was to get in\nthe place of her husband. And she was crying over the bird, and she\nbrought it into a little boat with her, and she bade Finn to push out\nthe boat to sea.\n\nAnd he pushed it out, and it was driven by wind and waves till at last\nshe saw two birds flying, having a dead one between them. And the two\nliving birds let down the dead one on an island; and it was not long\ntill it rose up living, and the three went away together.\n\nAnd when Manannan's daughter saw that, she said: \"There might be some\ncure for my man on the island, the way there was for that dead bird.\"\n\nAnd the sea brought the boat to the island, and she went searching\naround, but all she could find was a tree having green leaves. \"It might\nbe in these leaves the cure is,\" she said; and she took some of the\nleaves and brought them to where the Lad of the Skins was, and put them\nabout him. And on that moment he stood up as well and as sound as ever\nhe was.\n\nThey went back then to Ireland, and they came to Almhuin at midnight,\nand the Lad of the Skins knocked at the door, and he said: \"Put me out\nmy wages.\" \"There is no man, living or dead, has wages on me but the Lad\nof the Skins,\" said Finn; \"and I would sooner see him here to-night,\" he\nsaid, \"than the wages of three men.\" \"If that is so, rise up and you\nwill see him,\" said he.\n\nSo Finn rose up and saw him, and gave him a great welcome, and paid him\nhis wages.\n\nAnd after that he went away and his wife with him to wherever his own\ncountry was; but there were some said he was gone to the country of his\nwife's father, Manannan, Son of the Sea.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II. BLACK, BROWN, AND GREY\n\n\nFinn was hunting one time near Teamhair of the Kings, and he saw three\nstrange men coming towards him, and he asked what were their names.\n\"Dubh and Dun and Glasan, Black, Brown, and Grey, are our names,\" they\nsaid, \"and we are come to find Finn, son of Cumhal, Head of the Fianna,\nand to take service with him.\"\n\nSo Finn took them into his service, and when evening came he said: \"Let\neach one of you watch through a third part of the night.\" And there was\na trunk of a tree there, and he bade them make three equal parts of it,\nand he gave a part to each of the three men, and he said: \"When each one\nof you begins his watch, let him set fire to his own log, and as long as\nthe wood burns let him watch.\"\n\nThen they drew lots, and the lot fell to Dubh to go on the first watch.\nSo he set fire to his log, and he went out around the place, and Bran\nwith him. He went farther and farther till at last he saw a bright\nlight, and when he came to the place where it was, he saw a large house.\nHe went inside, and there was a great company of very strange-looking\nmen in it, and they drinking out of a single cup. One of the men, that\nseemed to be the highest, gave the cup to the man nearest him; and after\nhe had drunk his fill he passed it on to the next, and so on to the\nlast. And while it was going round, he said: \"This is the great cup that\nwas taken from Finn, son of Cumhal, a hundred years ago, and however\nmany men may be together, every man of them can drink his fill from it,\nof whatever sort of drink he has a mind for.\"\n\nDubh was sitting near the door, on the edge of the crowd, and when the\ncup came to him he took a drink from it, and then he slipped away in the\ndark, bringing it with him. And when he came to the place where Finn\nwas, his log was burned out.\n\nThen it was the turn of Dun to go out, for the second lot had fallen on\nhim, and he put a light to his log, and went out, and Bran with him.\n\nHe walked on through the night till he saw a fire that was shining from\na large house, and when he went in he saw a crowd of men, and they\nfighting. And a very old man that was in a high place above the rest\ncalled out: \"Stop fighting now, for I have a better gift for you than\nthe one you lost to-night.\" And with that he drew a knife out of his\nbelt and held it up, and said: \"This is the wonderful knife, the small\nknife of division, that was stolen from Finn, son of Cumhal, a hundred\nyears ago; and you have but to cut on a bone with that knife and you\nwill get your fill of the best meat in the world.\" Then he gave the\nknife to the man nearest him, and a bare bone with it, and the man began\nto cut, and there came off the bone slices of the best meat in the\nworld.\n\nThe knife and the bone were sent round then from man to man till they\ncame to Dun, and as soon as he had the knife in his hand he slipped out\nunknown and hurried back, and he had just got to the well where Finn\nwas, when his part of the log burned out.\n\nThen Glasan lighted his log and went out on his watch till he came to\nthe house, the same way the others did. And he looked in and he saw the\nfloor full of dead bodies, and he thought to himself: \"There must be\nsome great wonder here. And if I lie down on the floor and put some of\nthe bodies over me,\" he said, \"I will be able to see all that happens.\"\n\nSo he lay down and pulled some of the bodies over him, and he was not\nlong there till he saw an old hag coming into the house, having one leg\nand one arm and one upper tooth, that was long enough to serve her in\nplace of a crutch. And when she came inside the door she took up the\nfirst dead body she met with, and threw it aside, for it was lean. And\nas she went on, she took two bites out of every fat body she met with,\nand threw away every lean one.\n\nShe had her fill of flesh and blood before she came to Glasan, and she\ndropped down on the floor and fell asleep, and Glasan thought that every\nbreath she drew would bring down the roof on his head. He rose up then\nand looked at her, and wondered at the bulk of her body. And at last he\ndrew his sword and hit her a slash that killed her; but if he did, three\nyoung men leaped out of her body. And Glasan made a stroke that killed\nthe first of them, and Bran killed the second, but the third made his\nescape.\n\nGlasan made his way back then, and just when he got to where Finn was,\nhis log of wood was burned out, and the day was beginning to break.\n\nAnd when Finn rose up in the morning he asked news of the three\nwatchers, and they gave him the cup and the knife and told him all they\nhad seen, and he gave great praise to Dubh and to Dun; but to Glasan he\nsaid: \"It might have been as well for you to have left that old hag\nalone, for I am in dread the third young man may bring trouble on us\nall.\"\n\nIt happened at the end of twenty-one years, Finn and the Fianna were at\ntheir hunting in the hills, and they saw a Red-Haired Man coming\ntowards them, and he spoke to no one, but came and stood before Finn.\n\"What is it you are looking for?\" said Finn. \"I am looking for a master\nfor the next twenty-one years,\" he said. \"What wages are you asking?\"\nsaid Finn. \"No wages at all, but only if I die before the twenty-one\nyears are up, to bury me on Inis Caol, the Narrow Island.\" \"I will do\nthat for you,\" said Finn.\n\nSo the Red-Haired Man served Finn well through the length of twenty\nyears. But in the twenty-first year he began to waste and to wither\naway, and he died.\n\nAnd when he was dead, the Fianna were no way inclined to go to Inis Caol\nto bury him. But Finn said he would break his word for no man, and that\nhe himself would bring his body there. And he took an old white horse\nthat had been turned loose on the hills, and that had got younger and\nnot older since it was put out, and he put the body of the Red-Haired\nMan on its back, and let it take its own way, and he himself followed\nit, and twelve men of the Fianna.\n\nAnd when they came to Inis Caol they saw no trace of the horse or of the\nbody. And there was an open house on the island, and they went in. And\nthere were seats for every man of them inside, and they sat down to rest\nfor a while.\n\nBut when they tried to rise up it failed them to do it, for there was\nenchantment on them. And they saw the Red-Haired Man standing before\nthem in that moment.\n\n\"The time is come now,\" he said, \"for me to get satisfaction from you\nfor the death of my mother and my two brothers that were killed by\nGlasan in the house of the dead bodies.\" He began to make an attack on\nthem then, and he would have made an end of them all, but Finn took\nhold of the Dord Fiann, and blew a great blast on it.\n\nAnd before the Red-Haired Man was able to kill more than three of them,\nDiarmuid, grandson of Duibhne, that had heard the sound of the Dord\nFiann, came into the house and made an end of him, and put an end to the\nenchantment. And Finn, with the nine that were left of the Fianna, came\nback again to Almhuin.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III. THE HOUND\n\n\nOne day the three battalions of the Fianna came to Magh Femen, and there\nthey saw three young men waiting for them, having a hound with them; and\nthere was not a colour in the world but was on that hound, and it was\nbigger than any other hound.\n\n\"Where do you come from, young men?\" said Finn. \"Out of the greater\nIruath in the east,\" said they; \"and our names are Dubh, the Dark, and\nAgh, the Battle, and Ilar, the Eagle.\" \"What is it you came for?\" \"To\nenter into service, and your friendship,\" said they. \"What good will it\ndo us, you to be with us?\" said Finn. \"We are three,\" said they, \"and\nyou can make a different use of each one of us.\" \"What uses are those?\"\nsaid Finn. \"I will do the watching for all the Fianna of Ireland and of\nAlban,\" said one of them. \"I will take the weight of every fight and\nevery battle that will come to them, the way they can keep themselves in\nquiet,\" said the second. \"I will meet every troublesome thing that might\ncome to my master,\" said the third; \"and let all the wants of the world\nbe told to me and I will satisfy them. And I have a pipe with me,\" he\nsaid; \"and all the men of the world would sleep at the sound of it, and\nthey in their sickness. And as to the hound,\" he said, \"as long as there\nare deer in Ireland he will get provision for the Fianna every second\nnight. And I myself,\" he said, \"will get it on the other nights.\" \"What\nwill you ask of us to be with us like that?\" said Finn. \"We will ask\nthree things,\" they said: \"no one to come near to the place where we\nhave our lodging after the fall of night; nothing to be given out to us,\nbut we to provide for ourselves; and the worst places to be given to us\nin the hunting.\" \"Tell me by your oath now,\" said Finn, \"why is it you\nwill let no one see you after nightfall?\" \"We have a reason,\" said they;\n\"but do not ask it of us, whether we are short or long on the one path\nwith you. But we will tell you this much,\" they said, \"every third\nnight, one of us three is dead and the other two are watching him, and\nwe have no mind for any one to be looking at us.\"\n\nSo Finn promised that; but if he did there were some of the Fianna were\nnot well pleased because of the ways of those three men, living as they\ndid by themselves, and having a wall of fire about them, and they would\nhave made an end of them but for Finn protecting them.\n\nAbout that time there came seven men of poetry belonging to the people\nof Cithruadh, asking the fee for a poem, three times fifty ounces of\ngold and the same of silver to bring back to Cithruadh at Teamhair.\n\"Whatever way we get it, we must find some way to get that,\" said a man\nof the Fianna. Then the three young men from Iruath said: \"Well, men of\nlearning,\" they said, \"would you sooner get the fee for your poem\nto-night or to-morrow?\" \"To-morrow will be time enough,\" said they.\n\nAnd the three young men went to the place where the hound had his bed a\nlittle way off from the rath, and the hound threw out of his mouth\nbefore them the three times fifty ounces of gold and three times fifty\nof silver, and they gave them to the men of poetry, and they went away.\n\nAnother time Finn said: \"What can the three battalions of the Fianna do\nto-night, having no water?\" And one of the men of Iruath said: \"How many\ndrinking-horns are with you?\" \"Three hundred and twelve,\" said Caoilte.\n\"Give me the horns into my hand,\" said the young man, \"and whatever you\nwill find in them after that, you may drink it.\" He filled the horns\nthen with beer and they drank it, and he did that a second and a third\ntime; and with the third time of filling they were talkative and their\nwits confused. \"This is a wonderful mending of the feast,\" said Finn.\nAnd they gave the place where all that happened the name of the Little\nRath of Wonders.\n\nAnd one time after that again there came to Finn three bald red clowns,\nholding three red hounds in their hands, and three deadly spears. And\nthere was poison on their clothes and on their hands and their feet, and\non everything they touched. And Finn asked them who were they. And they\nsaid they were three sons of Uar, son of Indast of the Tuatha de Danaan;\nand it was by a man of the Fianna, Caoilte son of Ronan, their father\nwas killed in the battle of the Tuatha de Danaan on Slieve nan Ean, the\nMountain of Birds, in the east. \"And let Caoilte son of Ronan give us\nthe blood-fine for him now,\" they said. \"What are your names?\" said\nFinn. \"Aincel and Digbail and Espaid; Ill-wishing and Harm and Want are\nour names. And what answer do you give us now, Finn?\" they said. \"No one\nbefore me ever gave a blood-fine for a man killed in battle, and I will\nnot give it,\" said Finn. \"We will do revenge and robbery on you so,\"\nsaid they. \"What revenge is that?\" said Finn. \"It is what I will do,\"\nsaid Aincel, \"if I meet with two or three or four of the Fianna, I will\ntake their feet and their hands from them.\" \"It is what I will do,\"\nsaid Digbail, \"I will not leave a day without loss of a hound or a\nserving-boy or a fighting man to the Fianna of Ireland.\" \"And I myself\nwill be always leaving them in want of people, or of a hand, or of an\neye,\" said Espaid. \"Without we get some help against them,\" said\nCaoilte, \"there will not be one of us living at the end of a year.\"\n\"Well,\" said Finn, \"we will make a dun and stop here for a while, for I\nwill not be going through Ireland and these men following after me, till\nI find who are the strongest, themselves or ourselves.\"\n\nSo the Fianna made little raths for themselves all about Slieve Mis, and\nthey stopped there through a month and a quarter and a year. And through\nall that time the three red bald-headed men were doing every sort of\nhurt and harm upon them.\n\nBut the three sons of the King of Iruath came to speak with Finn, and it\nis what they said: \"It is our wish, Finn, to send the hound that is with\nus to go around you three times in every day, and however many may be\ntrying to hurt or to rob you, they will not have power to do it after\nthat. But let there be neither fire nor arms nor any other dog in the\nhouse he goes into,\" they said. \"I will let none of these things go into\nthe one house with him,\" said Finn, \"and he will go safe back to you.\"\nSo every day the hound would be sent to Finn, having his chain of ridges\nof red gold around his neck, and he would go three times around Finn,\nand three times he would put his tongue upon him. And to the people that\nwere nearest to the hound when he came into the house it would seem like\nas if a vat of mead was being strained, and to others there would come\nthe sweet smell of an apple garden.\n\nAnd every harm and sickness the three sons of Uar would bring on the\nFianna, the three sons of the King of Iruath would take it off them\nwith their herbs and their help and their healing.\n\nAnd after a while the High King of Ireland came to Slieve Mis with a\ngreat, troop of his men, to join with Finn and the Fianna. And they told\nthe High King the whole story, and how the sons of Uar were destroying\nthem, and the three sons of the King of Iruath were helping them against\nthem. \"Why would not the men that can do all that find some good spell\nthat would drive the sons of Uar out of Ireland?\" said the High King.\n\nWith that Caoilte went looking for the three young men from Iruath and\nbrought them to the High King. \"These are comely men,\" said the High\nKing, \"good in their shape and having a good name. And could you find\nany charm, my sons,\" he said, \"that will drive out these three enemies\nthat are destroying the Fianna of Ireland?\" \"We would do that if we\ncould find those men near us,\" said they; \"and it is where they are\nnow,\" they said, \"at Daire's Cairn at the end of the raths.\" \"Where are\nGarb-Cronan, the Rough Buzzing One, and Saltran of the Long Heel?\" said\nFinn. \"Here we are, King of the Fianna,\" said they. \"Go out to those men\nbeyond, and tell them I will give according to the judgment of the King\nof Ireland in satisfaction for their father.\" The messengers went out\nthen and brought them in, and they sat down on the bank of the rath.\n\nThen the High King said: \"Rise up, Dubh, son of the King of Iruath, and\ncommand these sons of Uar with a spell to quit Ireland.\" And Dubh rose\nup, and he said: \"Go out through the strength of this spell and this\ncharm, you three enemies of the Fianna, one-eyed, lame-thighed,\nleft-handed, of the bad race. And go out on the deep bitter sea,\" he\nsaid, \"and let each one of you strike a blow of his sword on the head\nof his brothers. For it is long enough you are doing harm and\ndestruction on the King of the Fianna, Finn, son of Cumhal.\"\n\nWith that the hound sent a blast of wind under them that brought them\nout into the fierce green sea, and each of them struck a blow on the\nhead of the others. And that was the last that was seen of the three\ndestroying sons of Uar, Aincel and Digbail and Espaid.\n\nBut after the time of the Fianna, there came three times in the one\nyear, into West Munster, three flocks of birds from the western sea\nhaving beaks of bone and fiery breath, and the wind from their wings was\nas cold as a wind of spring. And the first time they came was at reaping\ntime, and every one of them brought away an ear of corn from the field.\nAnd the next time they came they did not leave apple on tree, or nut on\nbush, or berry on the rowan; and the third time they spared no live\nthing they could lift from the ground, young bird or fawn or silly\nlittle child. And the first day they came was the same day of the year\nthe three sons of Uar were put out in the sea.\n\nAnd when Caoilte, that was one of the last of the Fianna, and that was\nliving yet, heard of them, he remembered the sons of Uar, and he made a\nspell that drove them out into the sea again, and they perished there by\none another.\n\nIt was about the length of a year the three sons of the King of Iruath\nstopped with Finn. And at the end of that time Donn and Dubhan, two sons\nof the King of Ulster, came out of the north to Munster. And one night\nthey kept watch for the Fianna, and three times they made a round of the\ncamp. And it is the way the young men from Iruath used to be, in a place\nby themselves apart from the Fianna, and their hound in the middle\nbetween them; and at the fall of night there used a wall of fire to be\naround them, the way no one could look at them.\n\nAnd the third time the sons of the King of Ulster made the round of the\ncamp, they saw the fiery wall, and Donn said: \"It is a wonder the way\nthose three young men are through the length of a year now, and their\nhound along with them, and no one getting leave to look at them.\"\n\nWith that he himself and his brother took their arms in their hands, and\nwent inside the wall of fire, and they began looking at the three men\nand at the hound. And the great hound they used to see every day at the\nhunting was at this time no bigger than a lap-dog that would be with a\nqueen or a high person. And one of the young men was watching over the\ndog, and his sword in his hand, and another of them was holding a vessel\nof white silver to the mouth of the dog; and any drink any one of the\nthree would ask for, the dog would put it out of his mouth into the\nvessel.\n\nThen one of the young men said to the hound: \"Well, noble one and brave\none and just one, take notice of the treachery that is done to you by\nFinn.\" When the dog heard that he turned to the King of Ulster's sons,\nand there rose a dark Druid wind that blew away the shields from their\nshoulders and the swords from their sides into the wall of fire. And\nthen the three men came out and made an end of them; and when that was\ndone the dog came and breathed on them, and they turned to ashes on the\nmoment, and there was never blood or flesh or bone of them found after.\n\nAnd the three battalions of the Fianna divided themselves into companies\nof nine, and went searching through every part of Ireland for the King\nof Ulster's two sons.\n\nAnd as to Finn, he went to Teamhair Luachra, and no one with him but the\nserving-lads and the followers of the army. And the companies of nine\nthat were looking for the King of Ulster's sons came back to him there\nin the one night; but they brought no word of them, if they were dead or\nliving.\n\nBut as to the three sons of the King of Iruath and the hound that was\nwith them, they were seen no more by Finn and the Fianna.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV. RED RIDGE\n\n\nThere was another young man came and served Finn for a while; out of\nConnacht he came, and he was very daring, and the Red Ridge was the name\nthey gave him. And he all but went from Finn one time, because of his\nwages that were too long in coming to him. And the three battalions of\nthe Fianna came trying to quiet him, but he would not stay for them. And\nat the last Finn himself came, for it is a power he had, if he would\nmake but three verses he would quiet any one. And it is what he said:\n\"Daring Red Ridge,\" he said, \"good in battle, if you go from me to-day\nwith your great name it is a good parting for us. But once at Rath Cro,\"\nhe said, \"I gave you three times fifty ounces in the one day; and at Cam\nRuidhe I gave you the full of my cup of silver and of yellow gold. And\ndo you remember,\" he said, \"the time we were at Rath Ai, when we found\nthe two women, and when we ate the nuts, myself and yourself were there\ntogether.\"\n\nAnd after that the young man said no more about going from him.\n\nAnd another helper came to Finn one time he was fighting at a ford, and\nall his weapons were used or worn with the dint of the fight. And there\ncame to him a daughter of Mongan of the Sidhe, bringing him a flat stone\nhaving a chain of gold to it. And he took the stone and did great deeds\nwith it. And after the fight the stone fell into the ford, that got the\nname of Ath Liag Finn.\n\nAnd that stone will never be found till the Woman of the Waves will find\nit, and will bring it to land on a Sunday morning; and on that day seven\nyears the world will come to an end.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK THREE: THE BATTLE OF THE WHITE STRAND.\n\nCHAPTER I. THE ENEMIES OF IRELAND\n\n\nOf all the great battles the Fianna fought to keep the foreigners out of\nIreland, the greatest was the one that was fought at Finntraigh the\nWhite Strand, in Munster; and this is the whole story of it, and of the\nway the Fianna came to have so great a name.\n\nOne time the enemies of Ireland gathered together under Daire Donn, High\nKing of the Great World, thinking to take Ireland and to put it under\ntribute.\n\nThe King of Greece was of them, and the King of France, and the King of\nthe Eastern World, and Lughman of the Broad Arms, King of the Saxons,\nand Fiacha of the Long Hair, King of the Gairean, and Tor the son of\nBreogan, King of the Great Plain, and Sligech, son of the King of the\nMen of Cepda, and Comur of the Crooked Sword, King of the Men of the\nDog-Heads, and Caitchenn, King of the Men of the Cat-Heads, and Caisel\nof the Feathers, King of Lochlann, and Madan of the Bent Neck, son of\nthe King of the Marshes, and three kings from the rising of the sun in\nthe east, and Ogarmach, daughter of the King of Greece, the best\nwoman-warrior that ever came into the world, and a great many other\nkings and great lords.\n\nThe King of the World asked then: \"Who is there can give me knowledge of\nthe harbours of Ireland?\" \"I will do that for you, and I will bring you\nto a good harbour,\" said Glas, son of Bremen, that had been put out of\nIreland by Finn for doing some treachery.\n\nThen the armies set out in their ships, and they were not gone far when\nthe wind rose and the waves, and they could hear nothing but the wild\nplaying of the sea-women, and the screams of frightened birds, and the\nbreaking of ropes and of sails. But after a while, when the wind found\nno weakness in the heroes, it rose from them and went up into its own\nhigh place. And then the sea grew quiet and the waves grew tame and the\nharbours friendly, and they stopped for a while at an island that was\ncalled the Green Rock. But the King of the World said then: \"It is not a\nharbour like this you promised me, Glas, son of Dremen, but a shore of\nwhite sand where my armies could have their fairs and their gatherings\nthe time they would not be fighting.\" \"I know a harbour of that sort in\nthe west of Ireland,\" said Glas, \"the Harbour of the White Strand in\nCorca Duibhne.\" So they went into their ships again, and went on over\nthe sea towards Ireland.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II. CAEL AND CREDHE\n\n\nNow as to Finn, when it was shown to him that the enemies of Ireland\nwere coming, he called together the seven battalions of the Fianna. And\nthe place where they gathered was on the hill that was called\nFionntulach, the White Hill, in Munster. They often stopped on that hill\nfor a while, and spear-shafts with spells on them were brought to them\nthere, and they had every sort of thing for food, beautiful\nblackberries, haws of the hawthorn, nuts of the hazels of Cenntire,\ntender twigs of the bramble bush, sprigs of wholesome gentian,\nwatercress at the beginning of summer. And there would be brought to\ntheir cooking-pots birds out of the oak-woods, and squirrels from\nBerramain, and speckled eggs from the cliffs, and salmon out of\nLuimnech, and eels of the Sionnan, and woodcocks of Fidhrinne, and\notters from the hidden places of the Doile, and fish from the coasts of\nBuie and Beare, and dulse from the bays of Cleire.\n\nAnd as they were going to set out southwards, they saw one of their\nyoung men, Gael, grandson of Nemhnain, coming towards them. \"Where are\nyou come from, Cael?\" Finn asked him. \"From Brugh na Boinne,\" said he.\n\"What were you asking there?\" said Finn. \"I was asking to speak with\nMuirenn, daughter of Derg, that was my own nurse,\" said he. \"For what\ncause?\" said Finn. \"It was about a high marriage and a woman of the\nSidhe that was showed to me in a dream; Credhe it was I saw, daughter of\nthe King of Ciarraighe Luachra.\" \"Do you know this, Cael,\" said Finn,\n\"that she is the greatest deceiver of all the women of Ireland; and\nthere is hardly a precious thing in Ireland but she has coaxed it away\nto her own great dun.\" \"Do you know what she asks of every man that\ncomes asking for her?\" said Cael. \"I know it,\" said Finn; \"she will let\nno one come unless he is able to make a poem setting out the report of\nher bowls and her horns and her cups, her grand vessels and all her\npalaces.\" \"I have all that ready,\" said Cael; \"it was given to me by my\nnurse, Muirenn, daughter of Derg.\"\n\nThey gave up the battle then for that time, and they went on over every\nhilly place and every stony place till they came to Loch Cuire in the\nwest; and they came to the door of the hill of the Sidhe and knocked at\nit with the shafts of their long gold-socketted spears. And there came\nyoung girls having yellow hair to the windows of the sunny houses; and\nCredhe herself, having three times fifty women with her, came out to\nspeak with them. \"It is to ask you in marriage we are come,\" said Finn.\n\"Who is it is asking for me?\" said she. \"It is Cael, the hundred-killer,\ngrandson of Nemhnain, son of the King of Leinster in the east.\" \"I have\nheard talk of him, but I have never seen him,\" said Credhe. \"And has he\nany poem for me?\" she said. \"I have that,\" said Cael, and he rose up\nthen and sang his poem:\n\n\"A journey I have to make, and it is no easy journey, to the house of\nCredhe against the breast of the mountain, at the Paps of Dana; it is\nthere I must be going through hardships for the length of seven days. It\nis pleasant her house is, with men and boys and women, with Druids and\nmusicians, with cup-bearer and door-keeper, with horse-boy that does not\nleave his work, with distributer to share food; and Credhe of the Fair\nHair having command over them all.\n\n\"It would be delightful to me in her dun, with coverings and with down,\nif she has but a mind to listen to me.\n\n\"A bowl she has with juice of berries in it to make her eyebrows black;\ncrystal vats of fermenting grain; beautiful cups and vessels. Her house\nis of the colour of lime; there are rushes for beds, and many silken\ncoverings and blue cloaks; red gold is there, and bright drinking-horns.\nHer sunny house is beside Loch Cuire, made of silver and yellow gold;\nits ridge is thatched without any fault, with the crimson wings of\nbirds. The doorposts are green, the lintel is of silver taken in battle.\nCredhe's chair on the left is the delight of delights, covered with gold\nof Elga; at the foot of the pleasant bed it is, the bed that was made of\nprecious stones by Tuile in the east. Another bed there is on the right,\nof gold and silver, it is made without any fault, curtains it has of the\ncolour of the foxglove, hanging on rods of copper.\n\n\"The people of her house, it is they have delight, their cloaks are not\nfaded white, they are not worn smooth; their hair is fair and curling.\nWounded men in their blood would sleep hearing the birds of the Sidhe\nsinging in the eaves of the sunny house.\n\n\"If I have any thanks to give to Credhe, for whom the cuckoo calls, she\nwill get better praise than this; if this love-service I have done is\npleasing to her, let her not delay, let her say, 'Your coming is\nwelcome to me.'\n\n\"A hundred feet there are in her house, from one corner to another;\ntwenty feet fully measured is the width of her great door; her roof has\nits thatch of the wings of blue and yellow birds, the border of her well\nis of crystals and carbuncles.\n\n\"There is a vat there of royal bronze; the juice of pleasant malt is\nrunning from it; over the vat is an apple-tree with its heavy fruit;\nwhen Credhe's horn is filled from the vat, four apples fall into it\ntogether.\n\n\"She that owns all these things both at low water and at flood, Credhe\nfrom the Hill of the Three Peaks, she is beyond all the women of Ireland\nby the length of a spear-cast.\n\n\"Here is this song for her, it is no sudden bride-gift it is, no hurried\nasking; I bring it to Credhe of the beautiful shape, that my coming may\nbe very bright to her.\"\n\nThen Credhe took him for her husband, and the wedding-feast was made,\nand the whole of the Fianna stopped there through seven days, at\ndrinking and pleasure, and having every good thing.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III. CONN CRITHER\n\n\nFinn now, when he had turned from his road to go to Credhe's house, had\nsent out watchmen to every landing-place to give warning when the ships\nof the strangers would be in sight. And the man that was keeping watch\nat the White Strand was Conn Crither, son of Bran, from Teamhair\nLuachra.\n\nAnd after he had been a long time watching, he was one night west from\nthe Round Hill of the Fianna that is called Cruachan Adrann, and there\nhe fell asleep. And while he was in his sleep the ships came; and what\nroused him was the noise of the breaking of shields and the clashing of\nswords and of spears, and the cries of women and children and of dogs\nand horses that were under flames, and that the strangers were making an\nattack on.\n\nConn Crither started up when he heard that, and he said: \"It is great\ntrouble has come on the people through my sleep; and I will not stay\nliving after this,\" he said, \"for Finn and the Fianna of Ireland to see\nme, but I will rush into the middle of the strangers,\" he said, \"and\nthey will fall by me till I fall by them.\"\n\nHe put on his suit of battle then and ran down towards the strand. And\non the way he saw three women dressed in battle clothes before him, and\nfast as he ran he could not overtake them. He took his spear then to\nmake a cast of it at the woman was nearest him, but she stopped on the\nmoment, and she said: \"Hold your hand and do not harm us, for we are not\ncome to harm you but to help you.\" \"Who are you yourselves?\" said Conn\nCrither. \"We are three sisters,\" she said, \"and we are come from Tir nan\nOg, the Country of the Young, and we have all three given you our love,\nand no one of us loves you less than the other, and it is to give you\nour help we are come.\" \"What way will you help me?\" said Conn. \"We will\ngive you good help,\" she said, \"for we will make Druid armies about you\nfrom stalks of grass and from the tops of the watercress, and they will\ncry out to the strangers and will strike their arms from their hands,\nand take from them their strength and their eyesight. And we will put a\nDruid mist about you now,\" she said, \"that will hide you from the armies\nof the strangers, and they will not see you when you make an attack on\nthem. And we have a well of healing at the foot of Slieve Iolair, the\nEagle's Mountain,\" she said, \"and its waters will cure every wound made\nin battle. And after bathing in that well you will be as whole and as\nsound as the day you were born. And bring whatever man you like best\nwith you,\" she said, \"and we will heal him along with you.\"\n\nConn Crither gave them his thanks for that, and he hurried on to the\nstrand. And it was at that time the armies of the King of the Great\nPlain were taking spoils from Traigh Moduirn in the north to Finntraighe\nin the south. And Conn Crither came on them, and the Druid army with\nhim, and he took their spoils from them, and the Druid army took their\nsight and their strength from them, and they were routed, and they made\naway to where the King of the Great Plain was, and Conn Crither\nfollowed, killing and destroying. \"Stop with me, king-hero,\" said the\nKing of the Great Plain, \"that I may fight with you on account of my\npeople, since there is not one of them that turns to stand against you.\"\n\nSo the two set their banners in the earth and attacked one another, and\nfought a good part of the day until Conn Crither struck off the king's\nhead. And he lifted up the head, and he was boasting of what he had\ndone. \"By my word,\" he said, \"I will not let myself be parted from this\nbody till some of the Fianna, few or many, will come to me.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV. GLAS, SON OF BREMEN\n\n\nThe King of the World heard that, and he said: \"It is a big word that\nman is saying,\" he said; \"and rise up now, Glas, son of Dremen, and see\nwhich of the Fianna of Ireland it is that is saying it.\"\n\nGlas left the ship then, and he went to where Conn\n\nCrither was, and he asked who was he. \"I am Conn Crither, son of Bran,\nfrom Teamhair Luachra,\" said he. \"If that is so,\" said Glas, \"you are of\nthe one blood with myself, for I am Glas, son of Bremen from Teamhair\nLuachra.\" \"It is not right for you to come fighting against me from\nthose foreigners, so,\" said Conn. \"It is a pity indeed,\" said Glas; \"and\nbut for Finn and the Fianna driving me from them, I would not fight\nagainst you or against one of themselves for all the treasures of the\nwhole world.\" \"Do not say that,\" said Conn, \"for I swear by my hand of\nvalour,\" he said, \"if you had killed Finn's own son and the sons of his\npeople along with him, you need not be in dread of him if only you came\nunder his word and his protection.\" \"I think indeed the day is come for\nme to fight beside you,\" said Glas, \"and I will go back and tell that to\nthe King of the World.\"\n\nHe went back then to where the king was, and the king asked him which of\nthe men of the Fianna was in it. \"It is a kinsman of my own is in it,\nHigh King,\" said Glas; \"and it is weak my heart is, he to be alone, and\nI have a great desire to go and help him.\" \"If you go,\" said the King of\nthe World, \"it is what I ask you, to come and to tell me every day how\nmany of the Fianna of Ireland have fallen by me; and if a few of my own\nmen should fall,\" he said, \"come and tell me who it was they fell by.\"\n\"It is what I ask you,\" said Glas, \"not to let your armies land till the\nFianna come to us, but to let one man only come to fight with each of us\nuntil that time,\" he said.\n\nSo two of the strangers were sent against them that day, and they got\ntheir death by Glas and by Conn Crither. Then they asked to have two men\nsent against each of them, and that was done; and three times nine fell\nby them before night. And Conn Crither was covered with wounds after\nthe day, and he said to Glas: \"Three women came to me from the Country\nof the Young, and they promised to put me in a well of healing for my\nwounds. And let you watch the harbour to-night,\" he said, \"and I will go\nlook for them.\" So he went to them, and they bathed him in the well of\nhealing, and he was whole of his wounds.\n\nAnd as to Glas, son of Dremen, he went down to the harbour, and he said:\n\"O King of the World,\" he said, \"there is a friend of mine in the ships,\nMadan of the Bent Neck, son of the King of the Marshes; and it is what\nhe said in the great world in the east, that he himself would be enough\nto take Ireland for you, and that he would bring it under tribute to you\nby one way or another. And I ask you to let him come alone against me\nto-night, till we see which of us will fight best for Ireland.\"\n\nSo Madan came to the land, and the two attacked one another, and made a\nvery hard fight; but as it was not in the prophecy that Glas would find\nhis death there, it was the son of the King of the Marshes that got his\ndeath by him.\n\nAnd not long after that Conn Crither came back to Glas, and he gave Glas\ngreat praise for all he had done.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V. THE HELP OF THE MEN OF DEA\n\n\nThen Taistellach that was one of Finn's messengers came to the White\nStrand asking news; and Conn bade him go back to where Finn was and tell\nhim the way things were. But Taistellach would not go until he had\nwetted his sword in the blood of one of the enemies of Ireland, the same\nas the others had done. And he sent a challenge to the ships, and\nCoimhleathan, a champion that was very big and tall, came and fought\nwith him on the strand, and took him in his arms to bring him back\nliving to the ship of the High King; but Taistellach struck his head off\nin the sea and brought it back to land.\n\n\"Victory and blessing be with you!\" said Conn Crither. \"And go now\nto-night,\" he said, \"to the house of Bran, son of Febal my father at\nTeamhair Luachra, and bid him to gather all the Tuatha de Danaan to help\nus; and go on to-morrow to the Fianna of Ireland.\" So Taistellach went\non to Bran's house, and he told him the whole story and gave him the\nmessage.\n\nThen Bran, son of Febal, went out to gather the Tuatha de Danaan, and he\nwent to Dun Sesnain in Ui Conall Gabra, where they were holding a feast\nat that time. And there he found three of the best young men of the\nTuatha de Danaan, Ilbrec the Many Coloured, son of Manannan, and\nNemanach the Pearly, son of Angus Og, and Sigmall, grandson of Midhir,\nand they made him welcome and bade him to stop with them. \"There is a\ngreater thing than this for you to do, Men of Dea,\" said Bran; and he\ntold them the whole story, and the way Conn Crither his son was. \"Stop\nwith me to-night,\" said Sesnan, \"and my son Dolb will go to Bodb Dearg,\nson of the Dagda, and gather in the Tuatha de Danaan to us.\"\n\nSo he stopped there, and Dolb, son of Sesnan, went to Sidhe Bean Finn\nabove Magh Femen, and Bodb Dearg was there at that time, and Dolb gave\nhim his message. \"Young man,\" said Bodb Dearg, \"we are no way bound to\nhelp the men of Ireland out of that strait.\" \"Do not say that,\" said\nDolb, \"for there is not a king's son or a prince or a leader of the\nFianna of Ireland without having a wife or a mother or a foster-mother\nor a sweetheart of the Tuatha de Danaan; and it is good help they have\ngiven you every time you were in want of it.\" \"I give my word,\" said\nBodb Dearg, \"it is right to give a good answer to so good a messenger.\"\nWith that he sent word to the Tuatha de Danaan in every place where they\nwere, and they gathered to him. And from that they went on to Dun\nSesnain, and they stopped there through the night And they rose up in\nthe morning and put on their shirts of the dearest silk and their\nembroidered coats of rejoicing, and they took their green shields and\ntheir swords and their spears. And their leaders at that time besides\nBodb Dearg were Midhir of Bri Leith, and Lir of Sidhe Finnachaidh, and\nAbarthach, son of Ildathach, and Ilbrec, son of Manannan, and Fionnbhar\nof Magh Suil, and Argat Lamh, the Silver Hand, from the Sionnan, and the\nMan of Sweet Speech from the Boinn.\n\nAnd the whole army of them came into Ciarraighe Luachra, and to\nred-haired Slieve Mis, and from that to the harbour of the White Strand.\n\"O Men of Dea,\" said Abarthach then, \"let a high mind and high courage\nrise within you now in the face of the battle. For the doings of every\none among you,\" he said, \"will be told till the end of the world; and\nlet you fulfil now the big words you have spoken in the\ndrinking-houses.\" \"Rise up, Glas, son of Dremen,\" said Bodb Dearg then,\n\"and tell out to the King of the World that I am come to do battle.\"\nGlas went then to the King of the World. \"Are those the Fianna of\nIreland I see?\" said the king. \"They are not,\" said Glas, \"but another\npart of the men of Ireland that do not dare to be on the face of the\nearth, but that live in hidden houses under the earth, and it is to give\nwarning of battle from them I am come.\" \"Who will answer the Tuatha de\nDanaan for me?\" said the King of the World. \"We will go against them,\"\nsaid two of the kings that were with him, Comur Cromchenn, King of the\nMen of the Dog-Heads, and Caitchenn, King of the Men of the Cat-Heads.\nAnd they had five red-armed battalions with them, and they went to the\nshore like great red waves. \"Who is there to match with the King of the\nDog-Heads for me?\" said Bodb Dearg. \"I will go against him,\" said Lir of\nSidhe Finnachaidh, \"though I heard there is not in the world a man with\nstronger hands than himself.\" \"Who will be a match for the King of the\nCat-Heads?\" said Bodb Dearg. \"I will be a match for him,\" said\nAbarthach, son of Ildathach.\n\nSo Lir and the King of the Dog-Heads attacked one another, and they made\na hard fight; but after a while Lir was getting the worst of it. \"It is\na pity the way Lir is,\" said Bodb Dearg; \"and let some of you rise up\nand help him,\" he said. Then Ilbrec, son of Manannan, went to his help;\nbut if he did, he got a wound himself and could do nothing. Then Sigmal,\ngrandson of Midhir, went to his help, and after him the five sons of\nFinnaistucan, and others of the Men of Dea, but they were all driven off\nby the King of the Dog-Heads. But at that time Abarthach had made an end\nof the King of the Cat-Heads, and he rose on his spear, and made a leap,\nand came down between Lir and his enemy. \"Leave off now and look on at\nthe fight,\" he said to Lir, \"and leave it to me and the foreigner.\" With\nthat he took his sword in his left hand and made a thrust with his spear\nin through the king's armour. And as the king was raising up his shield,\nhe struck at him with the sword that was in his left hand, and cut off\nboth his legs at the knees, and the king let fall his shield then, and\nAbarthach struck off his head. And the two kings being dead, their\npeople broke away and ran, but the Men of Dea followed them and made an\nend of them all; but if they did, they lost a good many of their own\nmen.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI. THE MARCH OF THE FIANNA\n\n\nAna Finn and the Fianna were at the house of Credhe yet, and they saw\nTaistellach coming towards them. It was the custom, now, with Finn when\nhe sent any one looking for news, that it was to himself it was to be\ntold first, the way that if he got bad news he would let on not to mind\nit; and if it was good news he got, he would have the satisfaction of\ntelling it himself. So Taistellach told him how the foreigners were come\nto the harbour of the White Strand.\n\nThen Finn turned to his chief men, and he said: \"Fianna of Ireland,\nthere never came harm or danger to Ireland to be put aside this great\ndanger that is come against us now. And you get great tribute and great\nservice from the chief men of Ireland,\" he said, \"and if you take that\nfrom them it is right for you to defend them now.\"\n\nAnd the Fianna all said they would not go back one step from the defence\nof Ireland. And as to Credhe, she gave every one of them a battle dress,\nand they were taking leave of her, and Finn said: \"Let the woman come\nalong with us till we know is it good or bad the end of this journey\nwill be.\" So she came with them, bringing a great herd of cattle; and\nthrough the whole length of the battle, that lasted a year and a day,\nshe had new milk for them, and it was to her house the wounded were\nbrought for healing.\n\nThen the Fianna set out, and they went to the borders of Ciarraighe\nLuachra and across by the shores of the Bannlid with their left hand to\nSlieve Mis, and they made shelters for themselves that night, and\nkindled fires.\n\nBut Caoilte and Oisin and Lugaidh's Son said to one another they would\ngo on to the harbour, the way they would have time to redden their hands\nin the blood of the foreigners before the rest of the Fianna would come.\n\nAnd at that time the King of the World bade some of his chief men to go\non shore and to bring him back some spoils. So they went to land and\nthey gave out a great shout, and the people of the ships gave out a\ngreat shout at the same time. \"I swear by the oath my people swear by,\"\nsaid Caoilte, \"I have gone round the whole world, but I never heard so\nmany voices together in the one place.\" And with that he himself and\nOisin and Lugaidh's Son made an attack on the strangers, and struck\ngreat blows at them. And when Conn Crither and Glas, son of Bremen,\nheard the noise of those blows, they knew they were struck by some of\nthe Fianna of Ireland, and they came and joined with them, and did great\ndestruction on the strangers, till there was not one left of all that\nhad come to land.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII. THE FIRST FIGHTERS\n\n\nAnd in the morning they saw Finn and all his people coming to the rath\nthat is above the harbour. \"My father Finn,\" said Oisin than, \"let us\nfight now with the whole of the foreigners altogether.\" \"That is not my\nadvice,\" said Finn, \"for the number of their armies is too great for us,\nand we could not stand against them. But we will send out every day,\"\nhe said, \"some son of a king or of a leader against some king of the\nkings of the world that is equal in blood to ourselves. And let none of\nyou redden your arms,\" he said, \"but against a king or a chief man at\nfirst, for when a king is fallen, his people will be more inclined to\ngive way. And who will give out a challenge of battle from me now?\" he\nsaid. \"I will do that,\" said the son of Cuban, leader of the Fianna of\nMunster. \"Do not go, my son,\" said Finn, \"for it is not showed to me\nthat you will have good luck in the battle, and I never sent out any man\nto fight without I knew he would come back safe to me.\" \"Do not say\nthat,\" said Cuban's son, \"for I would not for the treasure of the whole\nworld go back from a fight on account of a bad foretelling. And as it is\nmy own country they have done their robbery in first,\" he said, \"I will\ndefend it for you.\" \"It is sorrowful I am for that,\" said Finn, \"for\nwhichever of the kings of the world will meet you to-day, yourself and\nhimself will fall together.\"\n\nThen Glas, son of Dremen, gave out a challenge of fight from Cuban's\nson, and the King of Greece answered it. And the two fought hand to\nhand, and the King of Greece made a great cast of his thick spear at\nCuban's son, that went through his body and broke his back in two. But\nhe did not take that blow as a gift, but he paid for it with a strong\ncast of his own golden spear that went through the ringed armour of the\nKing of Greece. And those two fell together, sole to sole, and lip to\nlip. \"There is grief on me, Cuban's son to have fallen,\" said Finn, \"for\nno one ever went from his house unsatisfied; and a man that I would not\nkeep, or the High King of Ireland would not keep for a week, he would\nkeep him in his house through the length of a year. And let Follamain,\nhis son, be called to me now,\" he said, \"and I will give him his\nfather's name and place.\"\n\nThey stopped there then till the next morning. \"Who will go and fight\nto-day?\" said Finn then. \"I will do that,\" said Goll Garb, son of the\nKing of Alban and of the daughter of Goll, son of Morna.\n\nSo he put on his battle dress, and there came against him the three\nkings from the rising of the sun in the east, and their three battalions\nwith them. And Goll Garb rushed among their men, and wounded and maimed\nand destroyed them, and blinded their eyes for ever, so that their wits\nwent from them, and they called to him to stop his deadly sword for a\nwhile. So he did that; and it is what they agreed to take their three\nkings and to give them over to Goll Garb that he might stop doing\ndestruction with his sword.\n\n\"Who will go out and fight to-day?\" said Finn, on the morning of the\nmorrow. \"I will go,\" said Oisin, \"and the chief men of the sons of\nBaiscne with me; for we get the best share of all the pleasant things of\nIreland, and we should be first to defend her.\" \"I will answer that\nchallenge,\" said the King of France, \"for it is against Finn I am come\nto Ireland, on account of my wife that he brought away from me; and\nthese men will fall by me now,\" he said, \"and Finn himself at the last;\nfor when the branches of a tree are cut off, it is not hard to cut down\nthe tree itself.\"\n\nSo the King of France and Oisin met one another at the eastern end of\nthe strand, and they struck their banners of soft silk into the green\nhill, and bared their swords and made a quick attack on one another. And\nat one time the king struck such a great blow that he knocked a groan\nout of Oisin. But for all that he was worsted in the end, and great fear\ncame on him, like the fear of a hundred horses at the sound of thunder,\nand he ran from Oisin, and he rose like a swallow, that his feet never\ntouched the earth at all; and he never stopped till he came to Gleann\nna-n Gealt, the Valley of Wild Men. And ever since that time, people\nthat have lost their wits make for that valley; and every mad person in\nIreland, if he had his way, would go there within twenty-four hours.\n\nAnd there rose great cries of lamentation from the armies of the World\nwhen they saw him going from them, and the Fianna of Ireland raised\ngreat shouts of joy.\n\nAnd when the night was coming on, it is what Finn said: \"It is sad and\ngloomy the King of the World is to-night; and it is likely he will make\nan attack on us. And which of you will keep watch over the harbour\nthrough the night?\" he said. \"I will,\" said Oisin, \"with the same number\nthat was fighting along with me to-day; for it is not too much for you\nto fight for the Fianna of Ireland through a day and a night,\" he said.\n\nSo they went down to the harbour, and it was just at that time the King\nof the World was saying, \"It seems to me, men of the World, that our\nluck of battle was not good to-day. And let a share of you rise up now,\"\nhe said, \"and make an attack on the Fianna of Ireland.\" Then there rose\nup the nine sons of Garb, King of the Sea of Icht, that were smiths, and\nsixteen hundred of their people along with them, and they all went on\nshore but Dolar Durba that was the eldest of them. And the sons of\nBaiscne were ready for them, and they fought a great battle till the\nearly light of the morrow. And not one of them was left alive on either\nside that could hold a weapon but only Oisin and one of the sons of\nGarb. And they made rushes at one another, and threw their swords out of\ntheir hands, and closed their arms about one another, and wrestled\ntogether, so that it was worth coming from the east to the west of the\nworld to see the fight of those two. Then the foreigner gave a sudden\ngreat fall to Oisin, to bring him into the sea, for he was a great\nswimmer, and he thought to get the better of him there. And Oisin\nthought it would not be worthy of him to refuse any man his place of\nfighting. So they went into the water together, and they were trying to\ndrown one another till they came to the sand and the gravel of the clear\nsea. And it was a torment to the heart of the Fianna, Oisin to be in\nthat strait. \"Rise up, Fergus of the Sweet Lips,\" said Finn then, \"and\ngo praise my son and encourage him.\" So Fergus went down to the edge of\nthe sea, and he said: \"It is a good fight you are making, Oisin, and\nthere are many to see it, for the armies of the whole world are looking\nat you, and the Fianna of Ireland. And show now,\" he said, \"your ways\nand your greatness, for you never went into any place but some woman of\nhigh beauty or some king's daughter set her love on you.\" Then Oisin's\ncourage increased, and anger came on him and he linked his hands behind\nthe back of the foreigner and put him down on the sand under the sea\nwith his face upwards, and did not let him rise till the life was gone\nfrom him. And he brought the body to shore then, and struck off his head\nand brought it to the Fianna.\n\nBut there was great grief and anger on Dolar Durba, the eldest of the\nsons of Garb, that had stopped in the ship, and he made a great oath\nthat he would have satisfaction for his brothers. And he went to the\nHigh King, and he said: \"I will go alone to the strand, and I will kill\na hundred men every day till I have made an end of the whole of the\narmies of Ireland; and if any one of your own men comes to interfere\nwith me,\" he said, \"I will kill him along with them.\"\n\nThe next morning Finn asked who would lead the battle that day. \"I\nwill,\" said Dubhan, son of Donn. \"Do not,\" said Finn, \"but let some\nother one go.\"\n\nBut Dubhan went to the strand, and a hundred men along with him; and\nthere was no one there before him but Dolar Durba, and he said he was\nthere to fight with the whole of them. And Dubhan's men gave a great\nshout of laughter when they heard that; but Dolar Durba rushed on them,\nand he made an end of the whole hundred, without a man of them being\nable to put a scratch on him. And then he took a hurling stick and a\nball, and he threw up the ball and kept it in the air with the hurl from\nthe west to the east of the strand without letting it touch the ground\nat all. And then he put the ball on his right foot and kicked it high\ninto the air, and when it was coming down he gave it a kick of his left\nfoot and kept it in the air like that, and he rushing like a blast of\nMarch wind from one end of the strand to the other. And when he had done\nthat he walked up and down on the strand making great boasts, and\nchallenging the men of Ireland to do the like of those feats. And every\nday he killed a hundred of the men that were sent against him.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII. THE KING OF ULSTER'S SON\n\n\nNow it chanced at that time that news of the great battle that was going\non reached to the court of the King of Ulster. And the king's son, that\nwas only twelve years of age, and that was the comeliest of all the\nyoung men of Ireland, said to his father: \"Let me go to help Finn, son\nof Cumhal, and his men.\" \"You are not old enough, or strong enough, boy;\nyour bones are too soft,\" said the king. And when the boy went on\nasking, his father shut him up in some close place, and put twelve\nyoung men, his foster-brothers, in charge of him.\n\nThere was great anger on the young lad then, and he said to his\nfoster-brothers: \"It is through courage and daring my father won a great\nname for himself in his young youth, and why does he keep me from\nwinning a name for myself? And let you help me now,\" he said, \"and I\nwill be a friend to you for ever.\" And he went on talking to them and\npersuading them till he got round them all, and they agreed to go with\nhim to join Finn and the Fianna. And when the king was asleep, they went\ninto the house where the arms were kept, and every lad of them brought\naway with him a shield and a sword and a helmet and two spears and two\ngreyhound whelps. And they went across Ess Ruadh in the north, and\nthrough Connacht of many tribes, and through Caille an Chosanma, the\nWoods of Defence, that were called the choice of every king and the true\nhonour of every poet, and into Ciarraighe, and so on to the White\nStrand.\n\nAnd when they came there Dolar Durba was on the strand, boasting before\nthe men of Ireland. And Oisin was rising up to go against him, for he\nsaid he would sooner die fighting with him than see the destruction he\nwas doing every day on his people. And all the wise men and the fighting\nmen and the poets and the musicians of the Fianna gave a great cry of\nsorrow when they heard Oisin saying that.\n\nAnd the King of Ulster's son went to Finn and stood before him and\nsaluted him, and Finn asked who was he, and where did he come from. \"I\nam the son of the King of Ulster,\" he said; \"and I am come here, myself\nand my twelve foster-brothers, to give you what help we can.\" \"I give\nyou a welcome,\" said Finn.\n\nJust then they heard the voice of Dolar Durba, very loud and boastful.\n\"Who is that I hear?\" said the king's son. \"It is a man of the\nforeigners asking for a hundred of my men to go and meet him,\" said\nFinn.\n\nNow, when the twelve foster-brothers heard that, they said no word but\nwent down to the strand, unknown to the king's son and to Finn.\n\n\"You are not a grown man,\" said Conan; \"and neither yourself or your\ncomrades are fit to face any fighting man at all.\" \"I never saw the\nFianna of Ireland till this day,\" said the young lad; \"but I know well\nthat you are Conan Maol, that never says a good word of any man. And you\nwill see now,\" he said, \"if I am in dread of that man on the strand, or\nof any man in the world, for I will go out against him by myself.\"\n\nBut Finn kept him back and was talking with him; but then Conan began\nagain, and he said: \"It is many men Dolar Durba has made an end of, and\nthere was not a man of all those that could not have killed a hundred of\nthe like of you every day.\"\n\nWhen the king's son heard that, there was great anger on him, and he\nleaped up, and just then Dolar Durba gave a great shout on the strand.\n\"What is he giving, that shout for?\" said the king's son. \"He is shouting\nfor more men to come against him,\" said Conan, \"for he is just after\nkilling your twelve comrades.\" \"That is a sorrowful story,\" said the\nking's son.\n\nAnd with that he took hold of his arms, and no one could hold him or\nhinder him, and he rushed down to the strand where Dolar Durba was. And\nall the armies of the strangers gave a great shout of laughter, for they\nthought all Finn's men had been made an end of, when he sent a young lad\nlike that against their best champion. And when the boy heard that, his\ncourage grew the greater, and he fell on Dolar Durba and gave him many\nwounds before he knew he was attacked at all. And they fought a very\nhard fight together, till their shields and their swords were broken in\npieces. And that did not stop the battle, but they grappled together\nand fought and wrestled that way, till the tide went over them and\ndrowned them both. And when the sea went over them the armies on each\nside gave out a great sorrowful cry.\n\nAnd after the ebb-tide on the morrow, the two bodies were found cold and\nquiet, each one held fast by the other. But Dolar Durba was beneath the\nking's son, so they knew it was the young lad was the best and had got\nthe victory. And they buried him, and put a flag-stone over his grave,\nand keened him there.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX. THE HIGH KING'S SON\n\n\nThen Finn said he would send a challenge himself to Daire Bonn, the King\nof the Great World. But Caoilte asked leave to do that day's fighting\nhimself. And Finn said he would agree to that if he could find enough of\nmen to go with him. And he himself gave him a hundred men, and Oisin did\nthe same, and so on with the rest. And he gave out his challenge, and it\nwas the son of the King of the Great Plain that answered it. And while\nthey were in the heat of the fight, a fleet of ships came into the\nharbour, and Finn thought they were come to help the foreigners. But\nOisin looked at them, and he said: \"It is seldom your knowledge fails\nyou, Finn, but those are friends of our own: Fiachra, son of the King of\nthe Fianna of the Bretons, and Duaban Donn, son of the King of\nTuathmumain with his own people.\"\n\nAnd when those that were in the ships came on shore, they saw Caoilte's\nbanner going down before the son of the King of the Great Plain. And\nthey all went hurrying on to his help, and between them they made an\nend of the king's son and of all his people.\n\n\"Who will keep watch to-night?\" said Finn then. \"We will,\" said the nine\nGarbhs of the Fianna, of Slieve Mis, and Slieve Cua, and Slieve Clair,\nand Slieve Crot, and Slieve Muice, and Slieve Fuad, and Slieve Atha\nMoir, and Dun Sobairce and Dundealgan.\n\nAnd they were not long watching till they saw the King of the Men of\nDregan coming towards them, and they fought a fierce battle; and at the\nend of the night there were left standing but three of the Garbhs, and\nthe King of the Men of Dregan. And they fought till their wits were gone\nfrom them; and those four fell together, sole against sole, and lip\nagainst lip.\n\nAnd the fight went on from day to day, and from week to week, and there\nwere great losses on both sides. And when Fergus of the Sweet Lips saw\nthat so many of the Fianna were fallen, he asked no leave but went to\nTeamhair of the Kings, where the High King of Ireland was, and he told\nhim the way it was with Finn and his people. \"That is good,\" said the\nHigh King, \"Finn to be in that strait; for there is no labouring man\ndares touch a pig or a deer or a salmon if he finds it dead before him\non account of the Fianna; and there is no man but is in dread to go from\none place to another without leave from Finn, or to take a wife till he\nknows if she has a sweetheart among the Fianna of Ireland. And it is\noften Finn has given bad judgments against us,\" he said, \"and it would\nbe better for us the foreigners to gain the day than himself.\"\n\nThen Fergus went out to the lawn where the High King's son was playing\nat ball. \"It is no good help you are giving to Ireland,\" said Fergus\nthen, \"to be playing a game without lasting profit, and strangers taking\naway your country from you.\" And he was urging him and blaming him, and\ngreat shame came on the young man, and he threw away the stick and went\nthrough the people of Teamhair and brought together all the young men, a\nthousand and twenty of them that were in it. And they asked no leave and\nno advice from the High King, but they set out and went on till they\ncame to Finntraigh. And Fergus went to where Finn was, and told him the\nson of the High King of Ireland was come with him; and all the Fianna\nrose up before the young man and bade him welcome. And Finn said: \"Young\nman,\" he said, \"we would sooner see you coming at a time when there\nwould be musicians and singers and poets and high-up women to make\npleasure for you than at the time we are in the straits of battle the\nway we are now.\" \"It is not for playing I am come,\" said the young man,\n\"but to give you my service in battle.\" \"I never brought a lad new to\nthe work into the breast of battle,\" said Finn, \"for it is often a lad\ncoming like that finds his death, and I would not wish him to fall\nthrough me.\" \"I give my word,\" said the young man, \"I will do battle\nwith them on my own account if I may not do it on yours.\" Then Fergus of\nthe Fair Lips went out to give a challenge of battle from the son of the\nHigh King of Ireland to the King of the World.\n\n\"Who will answer the King of Ireland's son for me?\" said the King of the\nWorld. \"I will go against him,\" said Sligech, King of the Men of Cepda;\nand he went on shore, and his three red battalions with him. And the\nHigh King's son went against them, and his comrades were near him, and\nthey were saying to him: \"Take a good heart now into the fight, for the\nFianna will be no better pleased if it goes well with you than if it\ngoes well with the foreigner.\" And when the High King's son heard that,\nhe made a rush through the army of the foreigners, and began killing and\noverthrowing them, till their chief men were all made an end of. Then\nSligech their king came to meet him, very angry and destroying, and\nthey struck at one another and made a great fight, but at the last the\nKing of Ireland's son got the upper hand, and he killed the King of the\nMen of Cepda and struck off his head.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X. THE KING OF LOCHLANN AND HIS SONS\n\n\nAnd the fighting went on from day to day, and at last Finn said to\nFergus of the Sweet Lips: \"Go out, Fergus, and see how many of the\nFianna are left for the fight to-day.\" And Fergus counted them, and he\nsaid: \"There is one battalion only of the Fianna left in good order; but\nthere are some of the men of it,\" he said, \"are able to fight against\nthree, and some that are able to fight against nine or thirty or a\nhundred.\" \"If that is so,\" said Finn, \"rise up and go to where the King\nof the World is, and bid him to come out to the great battle.\"\n\nSo Fergus went to the King of the World, and it is the way he was, on\nhis bed listening to the music of harps and pipes. \"King of the World,\"\nsaid Fergus, \"it is long you are in that sleep; and that is no shame for\nyou,\" he said, \"for it will be your last sleep. And the whole of the\nFianna are gone out to their place of battle,\" he said, \"and let you go\nout and answer them.\" \"In my opinion,\" said the King of the World,\n\"there is not a man of them is able to fight against me; and how many\nare there left of the Fianna of Ireland?\" \"One battalion only that is in\ngood order,\" said Fergus. \"And how many of the armies of the World are\nthere left?\" he said. \"Thirty battalions came with me to Ireland; and\nthere are twenty of them fallen by the Fianna, and what is left of them\nis ten red battalions in good order. And there are eight good fighters\nof them,\" he said, \"that would put down the men of the whole world if\nthey were against me; that is, myself, and Conmail my son, and Ogarmach,\nthe daughter of the King of Greece, that is the best hand in battle of\nthe whole world after myself, and Finnachta of the Teeth, the chief of\nmy household, and the King of Lochlann, Caisel Clumach of the Feathers,\nand his three sons, Tocha, and Forne of the Broad Shoulders, and Mongach\nof the Sea.\"\n\n\"I swear by the oath of my people,\" said the King of Lochlann then, \"if\nany man of the armies goes out against the Fianna before myself and my\nthree sons, we will not go at all, for we would not get the satisfaction\nwe are used to, unless our swords get their fill of blood.\" \"I will go\nout against them alone,\" said Forne, the youngest son of the King of\nLochlann. With that he put on his battle suit, and he went among the\nFianna of Ireland, and a red-edged sword in each of his hands. And he\ndestroyed those of their young men that were sent against him, and he\nmade the strand narrow with their bodies.\n\nAnd Finn saw that, and it was torment to his heart, and danger of death\nand loss of wits to him, and he was encouraging the men of Ireland\nagainst Forne. And Fergus of the True Lips stood up, and it is what he\nsaid: \"Fianna of Ireland,\" he said, \"it is a pity the way you are under\nhardship and you defending Ireland. And one man is taking her from you\nto-day,\" he said, \"and you are like no other thing but a flock of little\nbirds looking for shelter in a bush from a hawk that is after them. And\nit is going into the shelter of Finn and Oisin and Caoilte you are,\" he\nsaid; \"and not one of you is better than another, and none of you sets\nhis face against the foreigner.\" \"By my oath,\" said Oisin, \"all that is\ntrue, and no one of us tries to do better than another keeping him off.\"\n\"There is not one of you is better than another,\" said Fergus. Then\nOisin gave out a great shout against the King of Lochlann's son. \"Stop\nhere with me, king's son,\" he said, \"until I fight with you for the\nFianna.\" \"I give my word it is short the delay will be,\" said Forne.\n\nThen he himself and Oisin made an attack on one another, and it seemed\nfor a while that the battle was going against Oisin. \"By my word, Man of\nPoetry,\" said Finn then to Fergus of the True Lips, \"it is a pity the\nway you sent my son against the foreigner. And rise up and praise him\nand hearten him now,\" he said. So Fergus went down to where the fight\nwas, and he said: \"There is great shame on the Fianna, Oisin, seeing you\nso low in this fight; and there is many a foot messenger and many a\nhorsemen from the daughters of the kings and princes of Ireland looking\nat you now,\" he said. And great courage rose in Oisin then, and he drove\nhis spear through the body of Forne, the King of Lochlann's son. And he\nhimself came back to the Fianna of Ireland.\n\nThen the armies of the World gave out a great cry, keening Forne; and\nthere was anger and not fear on his brothers, for they thought it no\nright thing he to have fallen by a man of the Fianna. And Tocha, the\nsecond son of the King of Lochlann, went on shore to avenge his brother.\nAnd he went straight into the middle of the Fianna, and gave his sword\ngood feeding on their bodies, till they broke away before him and made\nno stand till Lugaidh's Son turned round against him. And those two\nfought a great fight, till their swords were bent and their spears\ncrumbled away, and they lost their golden shields. And at the last\nLugaidh's Son made a stroke of his sword that cut through the\nforeigner's sword, and then he made another stroke that cut his heart\nin two halves. And he came back high and proud to the Fianna.\n\nThen the third son of the King of Lochlann, Mongach of the Sea, rose up,\nand all the armies rose up along with him. \"Stop here, Men of the\nWorld,\" he said, \"for it is not you but myself that has to go and ask\nsatisfaction for the bodies of my brothers.\" So he went on shore; and it\nis the way he was, with a strong iron flail in his hand having seven\nballs of pure iron on it, and fifty iron chains, and fifty apples on\nevery chain, and fifty deadly thorns on every apple. And he made a rush\nthrough the Fianna to break them up entirely and to tear them into\nstrings, and they gave way before him. And great shame came on Fidach,\nson of the King of the Bretons, and he said: \"Come here and praise me,\nFergus of the True Lips, till I go out and fight with the foreigner.\"\n\"It is easy to praise you, son,\" said Fergus, and he was praising him\nfor a long time.\n\nThen the two looked at one another and used fierce, proud words. And\nthen Mongach of the Sea raised his iron flail and made a great blow at\nthe King of the Bretons' son. But he made a quick leap to one side and\ngave him a blow of his sword that cut off his two hands at the joint;\nand he did not stop at that, but made a blow at his middle that cut him\ninto two halves. But as he fell, an apple of the flail with its deadly\nthorns went into Fidach's comely mouth and through his brain, and it was\nfoot to foot those two fell, and lip to lip.\n\nAnd the next that came to fight on the strand was the King of Lochlann\nhimself, Caisel of the Feathers. And he came to the battle having his\nshield on his arm; and it is the way the shield was, that was made for\nhim by the smith of the Fomor, there were red flames coming from it; and\nif it was put under the sea itself, not one of its flames would stop\nblazing. And when he had that shield on his arm no man could come near\nhim.\n\nAnd there was never such destruction done on the men of Ireland as on\nthat day, for the flames of fire that he sent from his shield went\nthrough the bodies of men till they blazed up like a splinter of oak\nthat was after hanging through the length of a year in the smoke of a\nchimney; and any one that would touch the man that was burning would\ncatch fire himself. And every other harm that ever came into Ireland\nbefore was small beside this.\n\nThen Finn said: \"Lift up your hands, Fianna of Ireland, and give three\nshouts of blessing to whoever will hinder this foreigner.\" And the\nFianna gave those three shouts; and the King of Lochlann gave a great\nlaugh when he heard them. And Druimderg, grandson of the Head of the\nFianna of Ulster, was near him, and he had with him a deadly spear, the\nCroderg, the Red-Socketed, that came down from one to another of the\nsons of Rudraighe. And he looked at the King of Lochlann, and he could\nsee no part of him without armour but his mouth that was opened wide,\nand he laughing at the Fianna. Then Druimderg made a cast with the\nCroderg that hit him in the open mouth, and he fell, and his shield fell\nalong with its master, and its flame went out. And Druimderg struck the\nhead from his body, and made great boasts of the things he had done.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI. LABRAN'S JOURNEY\n\n\nIt is then Fergus of the True Lips set out again and went through the\nlength of Ireland till he came to the house of Tadg, son of Nuada, that\nwas grandfather to Finn.\n\nAnd there was great grief on Muirne, Finn's mother, and on Labran of the\nLong Hand her brother, and on all her people, when they knew the great\ndanger he was in. And Tadg asked his wife who did she think would escape\nwith their lives from the great fighting at the White Strand. \"It is a\npity the way they are there,\" said she; \"for if all the living men of\nthe world were on one side, Daire Donn, the King of the World, would put\nthem all down; for there are no weapons in the world that will ever be\nreddened on him. And on the night he was born, the smith of the Fomor\nmade a shield and a sword, and it is in the prophecy that he will fall\nby no other arms but those. And it is to the King of the Country of the\nFair Men he gave them to keep, and it is with him they are now.\" \"If\nthat is so,\" said Tadg, \"you might be able to get help for Finn, son of\nCumhal, the only son of your daughter. And bid Labran Lamfada to go and\nask those weapons of him,\" he said. \"Do not be asking me,\" said she, \"to\ngo against Daire Donn that was brought up in my father's house.\" But\nafter they had talked for a while, they went out on the lawn, and they\nsent Labran looking for the weapons in the shape of a great eagle.\n\nAnd he went on from sea to sea, till at noon on the morrow he came to\nthe dun of the King of the Country of the Fair Men; and he went in his\nown shape to the dun and saluted the king, and the king bade him\nwelcome, and asked him to stop with him for a while. \"There is a thing I\nwant more than that,\" said Labran, \"for the wife of a champion of the\nFianna has given me her love, and I cannot get her without fighting for\nher; and it is the loan of that sword and that shield you have in your\nkeeping I am come asking now,\" he said.\n\nThere were seven rooms, now, in the king's house that opened into one\nanother, and on the first door was one lock, and on the second two\nlocks, and so on to the door of the last room that had seven locks; and\nit was in that the sword and the shield that were made by the smith of\nthe Fomor were kept. And they were brought out and were given to Labran,\nand stalks of luck were put with them, and they were bound together with\nshield straps.\n\nThen Labran of the Long Hand went back across the seas again, and he\nreached his father's dun between the crowing of the cock and the full\nlight of day; and the weakness of death came on him. \"It is a good\nmessage you are after doing, my son,\" said Tadg, \"and no one ever went\nthat far in so short a time as yourself.\" \"It is little profit that is\nto me,\" said Labran, \"for I am not able to bring them to Finn in time\nfor the fight to-morrow.\"\n\nBut just at that time one of Tadg's people saw Aedh, son of Aebinn, that\nwas as quick as the wind over a plain till the middle of every day, and\nafter that, there was no man quicker than he was. \"You are come at a\ngood time,\" said Tadg. And with that he gave him the sword and the\nshield to bring to Finn for the battle.\n\nSo Aedh, son of Aebinn, went with the swiftness of a hare or of a fawn\nor a swallow, till at the rising of the day on the morrow he came to the\nWhite Strand. And just at that time Fergus of the True Lips was rousing\nup the Fianna for the great fight, and it is what he said: \"Fianna of\nIreland,\" he said, \"if there was the length of seven days in one day,\nyou would have work to fill it now; for there never was and there never\nwill be done in Ireland a day's work like the work of to-day.\"\n\nThen the Fianna of Ireland rose up, and they saw Aedh, son of Aebinn,\ncoming towards them with his quick running, and Finn asked news from\nhim. \"It is from the dun of Tadg, son of Nuada, I am come,\" he said,\n\"and it is to yourself I am sent, to ask how it is you did not redden\nyour weapons yet upon the King of the World.\" \"I swear by the oath of my\npeople,\" said Finn, \"if I do not redden my weapons on him, I will crush\nhis body within his armour.\" \"I have here for you, King of the Fianna,\"\nsaid Aedh then, \"the deadly weapons that will bring him to his death;\nand it was Labran of the Long Hand got them for you through his Druid\narts.\" He put them in Finn's hand then, and Finn took the coverings off\nthem, and there rose from them flashes of fire and deadly bubbles; and\nnot one of the Fianna could stay looking at them, but it put great\ncourage into them to know they were with Finn. \"Rise up now,\" said Finn\nto Fergus of the True Lips, \"and go where the King of the World is, and\nbid him to come out to the place of the great fight.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII. THE GREAT FIGHT\n\n\nThen the King of the World came to the strand, and all his armies with\nhim; and all that were left of the Fianna went out against them, and\nthey were like thick woods meeting one another, and they made great\nstrokes, and there were swords crashing against bones, and bodies that\nwere hacked, and eyes that were blinded, and many a mother was left\nwithout her son, and many a comely wife without her comrade.\n\nThen the creatures of the high air answered to the battle, foretelling\nthe destruction that would be done that day; and the sea chattered of\nthe losses, and the waves gave heavy shouts keening them, and the\nwater-beasts roared to one another, and the rough hills creaked with the\ndanger of the battle, and the woods trembled mourning the heroes, and\nthe grey stones cried out at their deeds, and the wind sobbed telling\nthem, and the earth shook, foretelling the slaughter; and the cries of\nthe grey armies put a blue cloak over the sun, and the clouds were dark;\nand the hounds and the whelps and the crows, and the witches of the\nvalley, and the powers of the air, and the wolves of the forests, howled\nfrom every quarter and on every side of the armies, urging them against\none another.\n\nIt was then Conan, son of Morna, brought to mind that himself and his\nkindred had done great harm to the sons of Baiscne, and he had a wish to\ndo some good thing for them on account of that, and he raised up his\nsword and did great deeds.\n\nAnd Finn was over the battle, encouraging the Fianna; and the King of\nthe World was on the other side encouraging the foreigners. \"Rise up\nnow, Fergus,\" said Finn, \"and praise Conan for me that his courage may\nbe the greater, for it is good work he is doing on my enemies.\" So\nFergus went where Conan was, and at that time he was heated with the\ndust of the fight, and he was gone outside to let the wind go about him.\n\n\"It is well you remember the old quarrel between the sons of Morna and\nthe sons of Baiscne, Conan,\" said Fergus; \"and you would be ready to go\nto your own death if it would bring harm on the sons of Baiscne,\" he\nsaid. \"For the love of your good name, Man of Poetry,\" said Conan, \"do\nnot be speaking against me without cause, and I will do good work on the\nforeigners when I get to the battle again.\" \"By my word,\" said Fergus,\n\"that would be a good thing for you to do.\" He sang a verse of praise\nfor him then, and Conan went back into the battle, and his deeds were\nnot worse this time than they were before. And Fergus went back to where\nFinn was.\n\n\"Who is best in the battle now?\" said Finn. \"Duban, son of Cas, a\nchampion of your own people,\" said Fergus, \"for he never gives but the\none stroke to any man, and no man escapes with his life from that\nstroke, and three times nine and eighty men have fallen by him up to\nthis time.\" And Duban Donn, great-grandson of the King of Tuathmumhain,\nwas there listening to him, and it is what he said: \"By my oath,\nFergus,\" he said, \"all you are saying is true, for there is not a son of\na king or of a lord is better in the battle than Duban, son of Cas; and\nI will go to my own death if I do not go beyond him.\" With that he went\nrushing through the battle like flames over a high hill that is thick\nwith furze. Nine times he made a round of the battle, and he killed nine\ntimes nine in every round.\n\n\"Who is best in the battle now?\" said Finn, after a while. \"It is Duban\nDonn that is after going from us,\" said Fergus. \"For there has been no\none ahead of him since he was in his seventh year, and there is no one\nahead of him now.\" \"Rise up and praise him that his courage may be the\ngreater,\" said Finn. \"It is right to praise him,\" said Fergus, \"and the\nforeigners running before him on every side as they would run from a\nheavy drenching of the sea.\" So Fergus praised him for a while, and he\nwent back then to Finn.\n\n\"Who is best in the battle now?\" said Finn. \"It is Osgar is best in it\nnow,\" said Fergus, \"and he is fighting alone against two hundred Franks\nand two hundred of the men of Gairian, and the King of the Men of\nGairian himself. And all these are beating at his shield,\" he said, \"and\nnot one of them has given him a wound but he gave him a wound back for\nit.\" \"What way is Caoilte, son of Ronan?\" said Finn. \"He is in no great\nstrait after the red slaughter he has made,\" said Fergus. \"Go to him\nthen,\" said Finn, \"and bid him to keep off a share of the foreigners\nfrom Osgar.\" So Fergus went to him. \"Caoilte,\" he said, \"it is great\ndanger your friend Osgar is in under the blows of the foreigners, and\nlet you rise up and give him some help,\" he said.\n\nCaoilte went then to the place where Osgar was, and he gave a straight\nblow of his sword at the man who was nearest him, that made two halves\nof him. Osgar raised his head then and looked at him. \"It is likely,\nCaoilte,\" he said, \"you did not dare redden your sword on any one till\nyou struck down a man that was before my sword. And it is a shame for\nyou,\" he said, \"all the men of the great world and the Fianna of Ireland\nto be in the one battle, and you not able to make out a fight for\nyourself without coming to take a share of my share of the battle. And I\ngive my oath,\" he said, \"I would be glad to see you put down in your bed\nof blood on account of that thing.\" Caoilte's mind changed when he heard\nthat, and he turned again to the army of the foreigners with the redness\nof anger on his white face; and eighty fighting men fell in that rout.\n\n\"What way is the battle now?\" said Finn. \"It is a pity,\" said Fergus,\n\"there never came and there never will come any one that can tell the\nway it is now. For by my word,\" he said, \"the tree-tops of the thickest\nforest in the whole of the western world are not closer together than\nthe armies are now. For the bosses of their shields are in one another's\nhands. And there is fire coming from the edges of their swords,\" he\nsaid, \"and blood is raining down like a shower on a day of harvest; and\nthere were never so many leaves torn by the wind from a great forest as\nthere are locks of long golden hair, and of black curled hair, cut off\nby sharp weapons, blowing into the clouds at this time. And there is no\nperson could tell one man from another, now,\" he said, \"unless it might\nbe by their voices.\" With that he went into the very middle of the fight\nto praise and to hearten the men of the Fianna.\n\n\"Who is first in the battle now, Fergus?\" said Finn, when he came back\nto him. \"By my oath, it is no friend of your own is first in it,\" said\nFergus, \"for it is Daire Donn, the King of the World; and it is for you\nhe is searching through the battle,\" he said, \"and three times fifty of\nhis own people were with him. But two of the men of your Fianna fell on\nthem,\" he said, \"Cairell the Battle Striker, and Aelchinn of Cruachan,\nand made an end of them. But they were not able to wound the King of the\nWorld,\" he said, \"but the two of them fell together by him.\"\n\nThen the King of the World came towards Finn, and there was no one near\nhim but Arcallach of the Black Axe, the first that ever brought a wide\naxe into Ireland. \"I give my word,\" said Arcallach, \"I would never let\nFinn go before me into any battle.\" He rose up then and made a terrible\ngreat blow of his axe at the king, that went through his royal crown to\nthe hair of his head, but that did not take a drop of blood out of him,\nfor the edge of the axe turned and there went balls of fire over the\nplain from that blow. And the King of the World struck back at\nArcallach, and made two halves of him.\n\nThen Finn and the King of the World turned on one another. And when the\nking saw the sword and the shield in Finn's hand, he knew those were the\nweapons that were to bring him to his death, and great dread came on\nhim, and his comeliness left him, and his fingers were shaking, and his\nfeet were unsteady, and the sight of his eyes was weakened.\n\nAnd then the two fought a great fight, striking at one another like two\ndays of judgment for the possession of the world.\n\nBut the king, that had never met with a wound before, began to be\ngreatly weakened in the fight. And Finn gave great strokes that broke\nhis shield and his sword, and that cut off his left foot, and at the\nlast he struck off his head. But if he did, he himself fell into a faint\nof weakness with the dint of the wounds he had got.\n\nThen Finnachta of the Teeth, the first man of the household of the King\nof the World, took hold of the royal crown of the king, and brought it\nwhere Conmail his son was, and put it on his head.\n\n\"That this may bring you success in many battles, my son,\" he said. And\nhe gave him his father's weapons along with it; and the young man went\nthrough the battle looking for Finn, and three fifties of the men of the\nFianna fell by him. Then Goll Garbh the Rough, son of the King of Alban,\nsaw him and attacked him, and they fought a hard fight. But the King of\nAlbain's son gave him a blow under the shelter of the shield, in his\nleft side, that made an end of him.\n\nFinnachta of the Teeth saw that, and he made another rush at the royal\ncrown, and brought it to where Ogarmach was, the daughter of the King of\nGreece. \"Put on that crown, Ogarmach,\" he said, \"as it is in the\nprophecy the world will be owned by a woman; and it will never be owned\nby any woman higher than yourself,\" he said.\n\nShe went then to look for Finn in the battle, and Fergus of the True\nLips saw her, and he went where Finn was. \"O King of the Fianna,\" he\nsaid then, \"bring to mind the good fight you made against the King of\nthe World and all your victories before that; for it is a great danger\nis coming to you now,\" he said, \"and that is Ogarmach, daughter of the\nKing of Greece.\"\n\nWith that the woman-fighter came towards him. \"O Finn,\" she said, \"it is\nlittle satisfaction you are to me for all the kings and lords that have\nfallen by you and by your people; but for all that,\" she said, \"there is\nnothing better for me to get than your own self and whatever is left of\nyour people.\" \"You will not get that,\" said Finn, \"for I will lay your\nhead in its bed of blood the same as I did to every other one.\" Then\nthose two attacked one another like as if there had risen to smother\none another the flooded wave of Cliodna, and the seeking wave of Tuaigh,\nand the big brave wave of Rudraighe. And though the woman-warrior fought\nfor a long time, a blow from Finn reached to her at last and cut through\nthe royal crown, and with a second blow he struck her head off. And then\nhe fell himself in his bed of blood, and was the same as dead, but that\nhe rose again.\n\nAnd the armies of the World and the Fianna of Ireland were fallen side\nby side there, and there were none left fit to stand but Cael, son of\nCrimthan of the Harbours, and the chief man of the household of the King\nof the World, Finnachta of the Teeth. And Finnachta went among the dead\nbodies and lifted up the body of the King of the World and brought it\nwith him to his ship, and he said: \"Fianna of Ireland,\" he said,\n\"although it is bad this battle was for the armies of the World, it was\nworse for yourselves; and I am going back to tell that in the East of\nthe World,\" he said. Finn heard him saying that, and he lying on the\nground in his blood, and the best men of the sons of Baiscne about him,\nand he said: \"It is a pity I not to have found death before I heard the\nforeigner saying those words. And nothing I myself have done, or the\nFianna of Ireland, is worth anything since there is left a man of the\nforeigners alive to go back into the great world again to tell that\nstory. And is there any one left living near me?\" he said. \"I am,\" said\nFergus of the True Lips. \"What way is the battle now?\" said Finn. \"It is\na pity the way it is,\" said Fergus, \"for, by my word,\" he said, \"since\nthe armies met together to-day, no man of the foreigners or of the men\nof Ireland took a step backward from one another till they all fell foot\nto foot, and sole to sole. And there is not so much as a blade of grass\nor a grain of sand to be seen,\" he said, \"with the bodies of fighting\nmen that are stretched on them; and there is no man of the two armies\nthat is not stretched in that bed of blood, but only the chief man of\nthe household of the King of the World, and your own foster-son, Cael,\nson of Crimthan of the Harbours.\" \"Rise up and go to him,\" said Finn. So\nFergus went where Cael was, and asked what way was he. \"It is a pity the\nway I am,\" said Cael, \"for I swear by my word that if my helmet and my\narmour were taken from me, there is no part of my body but would fall\nfrom the other; and by my oath,\" he said, \"it is worse to me to see that\nman beyond going away alive than I myself to be the way I am. And I\nleave my blessing to you, Fergus,\" he said; \"and take me on your back to\nthe sea till I swim after the foreigner, and it is glad I would be the\nforeigner to fall by me before the life goes out from my body.\" Fergus\nlifted him up then and brought him to the sea, and put him swimming\nafter the foreigner. And Finnachta waited for him to reach the ship, for\nhe thought he was one of his own people. And Cael raised himself up when\nhe came beside the ship, and Finnachta stretched out his hand to him.\nAnd Cael took hold of it at the wrist, and clasped his fingers round it,\nand gave a very strong pull at him, that brought him over the side. Then\ntheir hands shut across one another's bodies, and they went down to the\nsand and the gravel of the clear sea.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII. CREDHE'S LAMENT\n\n\nThen there came the women and the musicians and the singers and the\nphysicians of the Fianna of Ireland to search out the kings and the\nprinces of the Fianna, and to bury them; and every one that might be\nhealed was brought to a place of healing.\n\nAnd Credhe, wife of Cael, came with the others, and went looking\nthrough the bodies for her comely comrade, and crying as she went. And\nas she was searching, she saw a crane of the meadows and her two\nnestlings, and the cunning beast the fox watching the nestlings; and\nwhen the crane covered one of the birds to save it, he would make a rush\nat the other bird, the way she had to stretch herself out over the\nbirds; and she would sooner have got her own death by the fox than her\nnestlings to be killed by him. And Credhe was looking at that, and she\nsaid: \"It is no wonder I to have such love for my comely sweetheart, and\nthe bird in that distress about her nestlings.\"\n\nThen she heard a stag in Druim Ruighlenn above the harbour, that was\nmaking great lamentations for his hind from place to place, for they had\nbeen nine years together, and had lived in the wood at the foot of the\nharbour, Fidh Leis, and Finn had killed the hind, and the stag was\nnineteen days without tasting grass or water, lamenting after the hind.\n\"It is no shame for me,\" said Credhe, \"I to die for grief after Cael,\nsince the stag is shortening his life sorrowing after the hind.\"\n\nThen she met with Fergus of the True Lips. \"Have you news of Cael for\nme, Fergus?\" she said. \"I have news,\" said Fergus, \"for he and the last\nman that was left of the foreigners, Finnachta Fiaclach, are after\ndrowning one another in the sea.\"\n\nAnd at that time the waves had put Cael back on the strand, and the\nwomen and the men of the Fianna that were looking for him raised him up,\nand brought him to the south of the White Strand.\n\nAnd Credhe came to where he was, and she keened him and cried over him,\nand she made this complaint:--\n\n\"The harbour roars, O the harbour roars, over the rushing race of the\nHeadland of the Two Storms, the drowning of the hero of the Lake of the\nTwo Dogs, that is what the waves are keening on the strand.\n\n\"Sweet-voiced is the crane, O sweet-voiced is the crane in the marshes\nof the Ridge of the Two Strong Men; it is she cannot save her nestlings,\nthe wild dog of two colours is taking her little ones.\n\n\"Pitiful the cry, pitiful the cry the thrush is making in the Pleasant\nRidge, sorrowful is the cry of the blackbird in Leiter Laeig.\n\n\"Sorrowful the call, O sorrowful the call of the deer in the Ridge of\nTwo Lights; the doe is lying dead in Druim Silenn, the mighty stag cries\nafter her.\n\n\"Sorrowful to me, O sorrowful to me the death of the hero that lay\nbeside me; the son of the woman of the Wood of the Two Thickets, to be\nwith a bunch of grass under his head.\n\n\"Sore to me, O sore to me Cael to be a dead man beside me, the waves to\nhave gone over his white body; it is his pleasantness that has put my\nwits astray.\n\n\"A woeful shout, O a woeful shout the waves are making on the strand;\nthey that took hold of comely Cael, a pity it is he went to meet them.\n\n\"A woeful crash, O a woeful crash the waves are making on the strand to\nthe north, breaking against the smooth rock, crying after Cael now he is\ngone.\n\n\"A sorrowful fight, O a sorrowful fight, the sea is making with the\nstrand to the north; my beauty is lessened; the end of my life is\nmeasured.\n\n\"A song of grief, O a song of grief is made by the waves of Tulcha Leis;\nall I had is gone since this story came to me. Since the son of\nCrimthann is drowned I will love no one after him for ever; many a king\nfell by his hand; his shield never cried out in the battle.\"\n\nAfter she had made that complaint, Credhe laid herself down beside Cael\nand died for grief after him. And they were put in the one grave, and\nit was Caoilte raised the stone over them.\n\nAnd after that great battle of the White Strand, that lasted a year and\na day, there was many a sword and shield left broken, and many a dead\nbody lying on the ground, and many a fighting man left with a foolish\nsmile on his face.\n\nAnd the great name that was on the armies of the World went from them to\nthe Fianna of Ireland; and they took the ships and the gold and the\nsilver and all the spoils of the armies of the World. And from that time\nthe Fianna had charge of the whole of Ireland, to keep it from the Fomor\nand from any that might come against it.\n\nAnd they never lost power from that time until the time of their last\nbattle, the sorrowful battle of Gabhra.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK FOUR: HUNTINGS AND ENCHANTMENTS.\n\nCHAPTER I. THE KING OF BRITAIN'S SON\n\n\nArthur, son of the King of Britain, came one time to take service with\nFinn, and three times nine men along with him. And they went hunting one\nday on Beinn Edair, and Finn took his place on the Cairn of the Fianna\nbetween the hill and the sea, and Arthur took his stand between the hunt\nand the sea, the way the deer would not escape by swimming.\n\nAnd while Arthur was there he took notice of three of Finn's hounds,\nBran, and Sceolan and Adhnuall, and he made a plan in his mind to go\naway across the sea, himself and his three nines, bringing those three\nhounds along with him. So he did that, and he himself and his men\nbrought away the hounds and crossed the sea, and the place where they\nlanded was Inver Mara Gamiach on the coast of Britain. And after they\nlanded, they went to the mountain of Lodan, son of Lir, to hunt on it.\n\nAnd as to the Fianna, after their hunting was done they gathered\ntogether on the hill; and as the custom was, all Finn's hounds were\ncounted. Three hundred full-grown hounds he had, and two hundred whelps;\nand it is what the poets used to say, that to be counting them was like\ncounting the branches on a tree.\n\nNow on this day when they were counted, Bran and Sceolan and Adhnuall\nwere missing; and that was told to Finn. He bade his people to search\nagain through the three battalions of the Fianna, but search as they\nwould, the hounds were not to be found.\n\nThen Finn sent for a long-shaped basin of pale gold, and water in it,\nand he put his face in the water, and his hand over his face, and it was\nshowed him what had happened, and he said: \"The King of Britain's son\nhas brought away the hound. And let nine men be chosen out to follow\nafter them,\" he said. So nine men were chosen out, Diarmuid, grandson of\nDuibhne; Goll, son of Morna; Oisin, son of Finn; Faolan, the friend of\nthe hounds, son of a woman that had come over the sea to give her love\nto Finn; Ferdoman, son of Bodb Dearg; two sons of Finn, Raighne Wide Eye\nand Cainche the Crimson-Red; Glas, son of Enchered Bera, with Caoilte\nand Lugaidh's Son. And their nine put their helmets on their heads, and\ntook their long spears in their hands, and they felt sure they were a\nmatch for any four hundred men from the east to the west of the world.\n\nThey set out then, till they came to the mountain of Lodan, son of Lir;\nand they were not long there till they heard talk of men that were\nhunting in that place.\n\nArthur of Britain and his people were sitting on a hunting mound just at\nthat time, and the nine men of the Fianna made an attack on them and\nkilled all of them but Arthur, that Goll, son of Morna, put his two arms\nabout and saved from death. Then they turned to go back to Ireland,\nbringing Arthur with them, and the three hounds. And as they were going,\nGoll chanced to look around him and he saw a dark-grey horse, having a\nbridle with fittings of worked gold. And then he looked to the left and\nsaw a bay mare that was not easy to get hold of, and it having a bridle\nof silver rings and a golden bit. And Goll took hold of the two, and he\ngave them into Oisin's hand, and he gave them on to Diarmuid.\n\nThey went back to Finn then, bringing his three hounds with them, and\nthe King of Britain's son as a prisoner; and Arthur made bonds with\nFinn, and was his follower till he died.\n\nAnd as to the horse and the mare, they gave them to Finn; and the mare\nbred eight times, at every birth eight foals, and it is of that seed\ncame all the horses of the fair Fianna of the Gael, for they had used\nno horses up to that time.\n\nAnd that was not the only time Finn was robbed of some of his hounds.\nFor there was a daughter of Roman was woman-Druid to the Tuatha de\nDanaan, and she set her love on Finn. But Finn said, so long as there\nwas another woman to be found in the world, he would not marry a witch.\nAnd one time, three times fifty of Finn's hounds passed by the hill\nwhere she was; and she breathed on the hounds and shut them up in the\nhill, and they never came out again. It was to spite Finn she did that,\nand the place got the name of Duma na Conn, the Mound of the Hounds.\n\nAnd as to Adhnuall, one of the hounds Finn thought most of, and that was\nbrought back from the King of Britain's son, this is the way he came to\nhis death afterwards.\n\nThere was a great fight one time between the Fianna and Macoon, son of\nMacnia, at some place in the province of Leinster, and a great many of\nthe Fianna were killed. And the hound Adhnuall went wandering northward\nfrom the battle and went astray; and three times he went round the whole\nof Ireland, and then he came back to the place of the battle, and to a\nhill where three young men of the Fianna that had fallen there were\nburied after their death, and three daughters of a King of Alban that\nhad died for love of them. And when Adhnuall came to that hill, he gave\nthree loud howls and he stretched himself out and died.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II. THE CAVE OF CEISCORAN\n\n\nFinn called for a great hunt one time on the plains of Magh Chonaill and\nin the forest parts of Cairbre of the Nuts. And he himself went up to\nthe top of Ceiscoran, and his two dogs Bran and Sceolan with him.\n\nAnd the Fianna were shouting through the whole country where they were\nhunting, the way the deer were roused in their wild places and the\nbadgers in their holes, and foxes in their wanderings, and birds on the\nwing.\n\nAnd Conaran, son of Imidd, of the Tuatha de Danaan, had the sway in\nCeiscoran at that time, and when he heard the shouting and the cry of\nthe hounds all around, he bade his three daughters that had a great\nshare of enchantments, to do vengeance on Finn for his hunting.\n\nThe three women went then to the opening of a cave that was in the\nhills, and there they sat down together, and they put three strong\nenchanted hanks of yarn on crooked holly-sticks, and began to reel them\noff outside the cave.\n\nThey were not long there till Finn and Conan came towards them, and saw\nthe three ugly old hags at their work, their coarse hair tossed, their\neyes red and bleary, their teeth sharp and crooked, their arms very\nlong, their nails like the tips of cows' horns, and the three spindles\nin their hands.\n\nFinn and Conan passed through the hanks of yarn to get a better look at\nthe hags. And no sooner had they done that, than a deadly trembling came\non them and a weakness, and the bold hags took hold of them and put them\nin tight bonds.\n\nTwo other men of the Fianna came up then, and the sons of Menhann along\nwith them, and they went through the spindles to where Finn and Conan\nwere, and their strength went from them in the same way, and the hags\ntied them fast and carried them into the cave.\n\nThey were not long there till Caoilte and Lugaidh's Son came to the\nplace, and along with them the best men of the sons of Baiscne. The sons\nof Morna came as well, and no sooner did they see the hanks than their\nstrength and their bravery went out of them the same as it went from the\nothers.\n\nAnd in the end the whole number of them, gentle and simple, were put in\nbonds by the hags, and brought into the cave. And there began at the\nmouth of the cave a great outcry of hounds calling for their masters\nthat had left them there. And there was lying on the hillside a great\nheap of deer, and wild pigs, and hares, and badgers, dead and torn, that\nwere brought as far as that by the hunters that were tied up now in the\ncave.\n\nThen the three women came in, having swords in their hands, to the place\nwhere they were lying, to make an end of them. But first they looked out\nto see was there ever another man of the Fianna to bring in and to make\nan end of with the rest.\n\nAnd they saw coming towards them a very tall man that was Goll, son of\nMorna, the Flame of Battle. And when the three hags saw him they went to\nmeet him, and they fought a hard battle with him. And great anger came\non Goll, and he made great strokes at the witches, and at the last he\nraised up his sword, and with one blow he cut the two that were nearest\nhim through and through.\n\nAnd then the oldest of the three women wound her arms about Goll, and he\nbeheading the two others, and he turned to face her and they wrestled\ntogether, till at last Goll gave her a great twist and threw her on the\nground. He tied her fast then with the straps of a shield, and took his\nsword to make an end of her. But the hag said: \"O champion that was\nnever worsted, strong man that never went back in battle, I put my body\nand my life under the protection of your bravery. And it is better for\nyou,\" she said, \"to get Finn and the Fianna safe and whole than to have\nmy blood; and I swear by the gods my people swear by,\" she said, \"I will\ngive them back to you again.\"\n\nWith that Goll set her free, and they went together into the hill where\nthe Fianna were lying. And Goll said: \"Loose off the fastenings first\nfrom Fergus of the True Lips and from the other learned men of the\nFianna; and after that from Finn, and Oisin, and the twenty-nine sons of\nMorna, and from all the rest.\"\n\nShe took off the fastenings then, and the Fianna made no delay, but rose\nup and went out and sat down on the side of the hill. And Fergus of the\nSweet Lips looked at Goll, son of Morna, and made great praises of him,\nand of all that he had done.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III. DONN SON OF MIDHIR\n\n\nOne time the Fianna were at their hunting at the island of Toraig to the\nnorth of Ireland, and they roused a fawn that was very wild and\nbeautiful, and it made for the coast, and Finn and six of his men\nfollowed after it through the whole country, till they came to\nSlieve-nam-Ban. And there the fawn put down its head and vanished into\nthe earth, and none of them knew where was it gone to.\n\nA heavy snow began to fall then that bent down the tops of the trees\nlike a willow-gad, and the courage and the strength went from the Fianna\nwith the dint of the bad weather, and Finn said to Caoilte: \"Is there\nany place we can find shelter to-night?\" Caoilte made himself supple\nthen, and went over the elbow of the hill southward.\n\nAnd when he looked around him he saw a house full of light, with cups\nand horns and bowls of different sorts in it. He stood a good while\nbefore the door of the house, that he knew to be a house of the Sidhe,\nthinking would it be best go in and get news of it, or to go back to\nFinn and the few men that were with him. And he made up his mind to go\ninto the house, and there he sat down on a shining chair in the middle\nof the floor; and he looked around him, and he saw, on the one side,\neight-and-twenty armed men, each of them having a well-shaped woman\nbeside him. And on the other side he saw six nice young girls,\nyellow-haired, having shaggy gowns from their shoulders. And in the\nmiddle there was another young girl sitting in a chair, and a harp in\nher hand, and she playing on it and singing. And every time she stopped,\na man of them would give her a horn to drink from, and she would give it\nback to him again, and they were all making mirth around her.\n\nShe spoke to Caoilte then. \"Caoilte, my life,\" she said, \"give us leave\nto attend on you now.\" \"Do not,\" said Caoilte, \"for there is a better\nman than myself outside, Finn, son of Cumhal, and he has a mind to eat\nin this house to-night.\" \"Rise up, Caoilte, and go for Finn,\" said a man\nof the house then; \"for he never refused any man in his own house, and\nhe will get no refusal from us.\"\n\nCaoilte went back then to Finn, and when Finn saw him he said: \"It is\nlong you are away from us, Caoilte, for from the time I took arms in my\nhands I never had a night that put so much hardship on me as this one.\"\n\nThe six of them went then into the lighted house and their shields and\ntheir arms with them. And they sat down on the edge of a seat, and a\ngirl having yellow hair came and brought them to a shining seat in the\nmiddle of the house, and the newest of every food, and the oldest of\nevery drink was put before them. And when the sharpness of their hunger\nand their thirst was lessened, Finn said: \"Which of you can I question?\"\n\"Question whoever you have a mind to,\" said the tallest of the men that\nwas near him. \"Who are you yourself then?\" said Finn, \"for I did not\nthink there were so many champions in Ireland, and I not knowing them.\"\n\n\"Those eight-and-twenty armed men you see beyond,\" said the tall man,\n\"had the one father and mother with myself; and we are the sons of\nMidhir of the Yellow Hair, and our mother is Fionnchaem, the fair,\nbeautiful daughter of the King of the Sidhe of Monaid in the east. And\nat one time the Tuatha de Danaan had a gathering, and gave the kingship\nto Bodb Dearg, son of the Dagda, at his bright hospitable place, and he\nbegan to ask hostages of myself and of my brothers; but we said that\ntill all the rest of the Men of Dea had given them, we would not give\nthem. Bodb Dearg said then to our father: 'Unless you will put away your\nsons, we will wall up your dwelling-place on you.' So the\neight-and-twenty brothers of us came out to look for a place for\nourselves; and we searched all Ireland till we found this secret hidden\nplace, and we are here ever since. And my own name,\" he said, \"is Donn,\nson of Midhir. And we had every one of us ten hundred armed men\nbelonging to himself, but they are all worn away now, and only the\neight-and-twenty of us left.\" \"What is it is wearing you away?\" said\nFinn. \"The Men of Dea,\" said Donn, \"that come three times in every year\nto give battle to us on the green outside.\" \"What is the long new grave\nwe saw on the green outside?\" said Finn. \"It is the grave of Diangalach,\na man of enchantments of the Men of Dea; and that is the greatest loss\ncame on them yet,\" said Donn; \"and it was I myself killed him,\" he\nsaid. \"What loss came next to that?\" said Finn. \"All the Tuatha de\nDanaan had of jewels and riches and treasures, horns and vessels and\ncups of pale gold, we took from them at the one time.\" \"What was the\nthird greatest loss they had?\" said Finn. \"It was Fethnaid, daughter of\nFeclach, the woman-harper of the Tuatha de Danaan, their music and the\ndelight of their minds,\" said Donn.\n\n\"And to-morrow,\" he said, \"they will be coming to make an attack on us,\nand there is no one but myself and my brothers left; and we knew we\nwould be in danger, and that we could make no stand against them. And we\nsent that bare-headed girl beyond to Toraig in the North in the shape of\na foolish fawn, and you followed her here. It is that girl washing\nherself, and having a green cloak about her, went looking for you.\n\n\"And the empty side of the house,\" he said, \"belonged to our people that\nthe Men of Dea have killed.\"\n\nThey spent that night in drinking and in pleasure. And when they rose up\nin the morning of the morrow, Donn, son of Midhir, said to Finn, \"Come\nout with me now on the lawn till you see the place where we fight the\nbattles every year.\" They went out then and they looked at the graves\nand the flag-stones, and Donn said: \"It is as far as this the Men of Dea\ncome to meet us.\" \"Which of them come here?\" said Finn.\n\n\"Bodb Dearg with his seven sons,\" said Donn; \"and Angus Og, son of the\nDagda, with his seven sons; and Finnbharr of Cnoc Medha with his\nseventeen sons; Lir of Sidhe Fionnachaidh with his twenty-seven sons and\ntheir sons; Tadg, son of Nuada, out of the beautiful hill of Almhuin;\nDonn of the Island and Donn of the Vat; the two called Glas from the\ndistrict of Osraige; Dobhran Dubthaire from the hill of Liamhain of the\nSmooth Shirt; Aedh of the Island of Rachrainn in the north; Ferai and\nAillinn and Lir and Fainnle, sons of Eogobal, from Cnoc Aine in Munster;\nCian and Coban and Conn, three sons of the King of Sidhe Monaid in\nAlban; Aedh Minbhreac of Ess Ruadh with his seven sons; the children of\nthe Morrigu, the Great Queen, her six-and-twenty women warriors, the two\nLuaths from Magh Life; Derg and Drecan out of the hill of Beinn Edair in\nthe east; Bodb Dearg himself with his great household, ten hundred ten\nscore and ten. Those are the chief leaders of the Tuatha de Danaan that\ncome to destroy our hill every year.\"\n\nFinn went back into the hill then, and told all that to his people.\n\n\"My people,\" he said, \"it is in great need and under great oppression\nthe sons of Midhir are, and it is into great danger we are come\nourselves. And unless we make a good fight now,\" he said, \"it is likely\nwe will never see the Fianna again.\"\n\n\"Good Finn,\" every one of them said then, \"did you ever see any\ndrawing-back in any of us that you give us that warning?\" \"I give my\nword,\" said Finn, \"if I would go through the whole world having only\nthis many of the Fianna of Ireland along with me, I would not know fear\nnor fright. And good Donn,\" he said, \"is it by day or by night the Men\nof Dea come against you?\" \"It is at the fall of night they come,\" said\nDonn, \"the way they can do us the most harm.\"\n\nSo they waited till night came on, and then Finn said: \"Let one of you\ngo out now on the green to keep watch for us, the way the Men of Dea\nwill not come on us without word or warning.\"\n\nAnd the man they set to watch was not gone far when he saw five strong\nbattalions of the Men of Dea coming towards him. He went back then to\nthe hill and he said: \"It is what I think, that the troops that are come\nagainst us this time and are standing now around the grave of the Man\nof Enchantments are a match for any other fighting men.\"\n\nFinn called to his people then, and he said: \"These are good fighters\nare come against you, having strong red spears. And let you all do well\nnow in the battle. And it is what you have to do,\" he said, \"to keep the\nlittle troop of brothers, the sons of Midhir, safe in the fight; for it\nwould be a treachery to friendship any harm to come on them, and we\nafter joining them; and myself and Caoilte are the oldest among you, and\nleave the rest of the battle to us.\"\n\nThen from the covering time of evening to the edge of the morning they\nfought the battle. And the loss of the Tuatha de Danaan was no less a\nnumber than ten hundred ten score and ten men. Then Bodb Dearg and\nMidhir and Fionnbhar said to one another: \"What are we to do with all\nthese? And let Lir of Sidhe Fionnachaidh give us an advice,\" they said,\n\"since he is the oldest of us.\" And Lir said: \"It is what I advise, let\nevery one carry away his friends and his fosterlings, his sons and his\nbrothers, to his own place. And as for us that stop here,\" he said, \"let\na wall of fire be made about us on the one side, and a wall of water on\nthe other side.\" Then the Men of Dea put up a great heap of stones, and\nbrought away their dead; and of all the great slaughter that Finn and\nhis men and the sons of Midhir had made, there was not left enough for a\ncrow to perch upon.\n\nAnd as to Finn and his men, they went back into the hill, hurt and\nwounded and worn-out.\n\nAnd they stopped in the hill with the sons of Midhir through the whole\nlength of a year, and three times in the year the Men of Dea made an\nattack on the hill, and a battle was fought.\n\nAnd Conn, son of Midhir, was killed in one of the battles; and as to the\nFianna, there were so many wounds on them that the clothing was held\noff from their bodies with bent hazel sticks, and they lying in their\nbeds, and two of them were like to die. And Finn and Caoilte and\nLugaidh's Son went out on the green, and Caoilte said: \"It was a bad\njourney we made coming to this hill, to leave two of our comrades after\nus.\" \"It is a pity for whoever will face the Fianna of Ireland,\" said\nLugaidh's Son, \"and he after leaving his comrades after him.\" \"Whoever\nwill go back and leave them, it will not be myself,\" said Finn. Then\nBonn, son of Midhir, came to them. \"Good Donn,\" said Finn, \"have you\nknowledge of any physician that can cure our men?\" \"I only know one\nphysician could do that,\" said Donn; \"a physician the Tuatha de Danaan\nhave with them. And unless a wounded man has the marrow of his back cut\nthrough, he will get relief from that physician, the way he will be\nsound at the end of nine days.\" \"How can we bring that man here,\" said\nFinn, \"for those he is with are no good friends to us?\" \"He goes out\nevery morning at break of day,\" said Donn, \"to gather healing herbs\nwhile the dew is on them.\" \"Find some one, Donn,\" said Caoilte, \"that\nwill show me that physician, and, living or dead, I will bring him with\nme.\"\n\nThen Aedh and Flann, two of the sons of Midhir, rose up. \"Come with us,\nCaoilte,\" they said, and they went on before him to a green lawn with\nthe dew on it; and when they came to it they saw a strong young man\narmed and having a cloak of the wool of the seven sheep of the Land of\nPromise, and it full of herbs of healing he was after gathering for the\nMen of Dea that were wounded in the battle. \"Who is that man?\" said\nCaoilte. \"That is the man we came looking for,\" said Aedh. \"And mind him\nwell now,\" he said, \"that he will not make his escape from us back to\nhis own people.\"\n\nThey ran at him together then, and Caoilte took him by the shoulders\nand they brought him away with them to the ford of the Slaine in the\ngreat plain of Leinster, where the most of the Fianna were at that time;\nand a Druid mist rose up about them that they could not be seen.\n\nAnd they went up on a little hill over the ford, and they saw before\nthem four young men having crimson fringed cloaks and swords with gold\nhilts, and four good hunting hounds along with them. And the young man\ncould not see them because of the mist, but Caoilte saw they were his\nown two sons, Colla and Faolan, and two other young men of the Fianna,\nand he could hear them talking together, and saying it was a year now\nthat Finn, son of Cumhal, was gone from them. \"And what will the Fianna\nof Ireland do from this out,\" said one of them, \"without their lord and\ntheir leader?\" \"There is nothing for them to do,\" said another, \"but to\ngo to Teamhair and to break up there, or to find another leader for\nthemselves.\" And there was heavy sorrow on them for the loss of their\nlord; and it was grief to Caoilte to be looking at them.\n\nAnd he and the two sons of Midhir went back then by the Lake of the Two\nBirds to Slieve-nam Ban, and they went into the hill.\n\nAnd Finn and Donn gave a great welcome to Luibra, the physician, and\nthey showed him their two comrades that were lying in their wounds.\n\"Those men are brothers to me,\" said Donn, \"and tell me how can they be\ncured?\" Luibra looked then at their wounds, and he said: \"They can be\ncured if I get a good reward.\" \"You will get that indeed,\" said Caoilte;\n\"and tell me now,\" he said, \"how long will it take to cure them?\" \"It\nwill take nine days,\" said Luibra. \"It is a good reward you will get,\"\nsaid Caoilte, \"and this is what it is, your own life to be left to you.\nBut if these young men are not healed,\" he said, \"it is my own hand will\nstrike off your head.\"\n\nAnd within nine days the physician had done a cure on them, and they\nwere as well and as sound as before.\n\nAnd it was after that time the High King sent a messenger to bring the\nFianna to the Feast of Teamhair. And they all gathered to it, men and\nwomen, boys and heroes and musicians. And Goll, son of Morna, was\nsitting at the feast beside the king. \"It is a great loss you have had,\nFianna of Ireland,\" said the king, \"losing your lord and your leader,\nFinn, son of Cumhal.\" \"It is a great loss indeed,\" said Goll.\n\n\"There has no greater loss fallen on Ireland since the loss of Lugh, son\nof Ethne,\" said the king. \"What orders will you give to the Fianna now,\nking?\" said Goll. \"To yourself, Goll,\" said the king, \"I will give the\nright of hunting over all Ireland till we know if the loss of Finn is\nlasting.\" \"I will not take Finn's place,\" said Goll, \"till he has been\nwanting to us through the length of three years, and till no person in\nIreland has any hope of seeing him again.\"\n\nThen Ailbe of the Freckled Face said to the king: \"What should these\nseventeen queens belonging to Finn's household do?\" \"Let a safe, secret\nsunny house be given to every one of them,\" said the king; \"and let her\nstop there and her women with her, and let provision be given to her for\na month and a quarter and a year till we have knowledge if Finn is alive\nor dead.\"\n\nThen the king stood up, and a smooth drinking-horn in his hand, and he\nsaid: \"It would be a good thing, men of Ireland, if any one among you\ncould get us news of Finn in hills or in secret places, or in rivers or\ninvers, or in any house of the Sidhe in Ireland or in Alban.\"\n\nWith that Berngal, the cow-owner from the borders of Slieve Fuad, that\nwas divider to the King of Ireland, said: \"The day Finn came out from\nthe north, following after a deer of the Sidhe, and his five comrades\nwith him, he put a sharp spear having a shining head in my hand, and a\nhound's collar along with it, and he bade me to keep them till he would\nmeet me again in the same place.\" Berngal showed the spear and the\ncollar then to the king and to Goll, and they looked at them and the\nking said: \"It is a great loss to the men of Ireland the man is that\nowned this collar and this spear. And were his hounds along with him?\"\nhe said. \"They were,\" said Berngal; \"Bran and Sceolan were with Finn,\nand Breac and Lainbhui with Caoilte, and Conuall and Comrith with\nLugaidh's Son.\"\n\nThe High King called then for Fergus of the True Lips, and he said: \"Do\nyou know how long is Finn away from us?\" \"I know that well,\" said\nFergus; \"it is a month and a quarter and a year since we lost him. And\nindeed it is a great loss he is to the Fianna of Ireland,\" he\nsaid, \"himself and the men that were with him.\" \"It is a great loss\nindeed,\" said the king, \"and I have no hope at all of finding those six\nthat were the best men of Ireland or of Alban.\"\n\nAnd then he called to Cithruadh, the Druid, and he said: \"It is much\nriches and many treasures Finn gave you, and tell us now is he living or\nis he dead?\" \"He is living,\" said Cithruadh then. \"But as to where he\nis, I will give no news of that,\" he said, \"for he himself would not\nlike me to give news of it.\" There was great joy among them when they\nheard that, for everything Cithruadh had ever foretold had come true.\n\"Tell us when will he come back?\" said the king. \"Before the Feast of\nTeamhair is over,\" said the Druid, \"you will see the Leader of the\nFianna drinking at it.\"\n\nAnd as to Finn and his men, they stopped in the House of the Two Birds\ntill they had taken hostages for Donn, son of Midhir, from the Tuatha de\nDanaan. And on the last day of the Feast of Teamhair they came back to\ntheir people again.\n\nAnd from that time out the Fianna of Ireland had not more dealings with\nthe people living in houses than they had with the People of the Gods of\nDana.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV. THE HOSPITALITY OF CUANNA'S HOUSE\n\n\nIt happened one day Finn and Oisin and Caoilte and Diarmuid and\nLugaidh's Son went up on the top of Cairn Feargall, and their five\nhounds with them, Bran and Sceolan, Sear Dubh, Luath Luachar and\nAdhnuall. And they were not long there till they saw a giant coming\ntowards them, very tall and rough and having an iron fork on his back\nand a squealing pig between the prongs of the fork. And there was a\nbeautiful eager young girl behind the giant, shoving him on before her.\n\"Let some one go speak with those people,\" said Finn. So Diarmuid went\ntowards them, but they turned away before he came to them. Then Finn and\nthe rest rose up and went after them, but before they came to the giant\nand the girl, a dark Druid mist rose up that hid the road. And when the\nmist cleared away, Finn and the rest looked about them, and they saw a\ngood light-roofed house at the edge of a ford near at hand. They went on\nto the house, and there was a green lawn before it, and in the lawn two\nwells, and on the edge of one well there was a rough iron vessel, and on\nthe edge of the other a copper vessel. They went into the house then,\nand they found there a very old white-haired man, standing to the right\nhand of the door, and the beautiful young girl they saw before, sitting\nnear him, and the great rough giant beside the fire, and he boiling a\npig. And on the other side of the fire there was an old countryman,\nhaving dark-grey hair and twelve eyes in his head, and his twelve eyes\nwere twelve sons of battle. And there was a ram in the house having a\nwhite belly and a very black head, and dark-blue horns and green feet.\nAnd there was a hag in the end of the house and a worn grey gown on her,\nand there was no one in the house but those.\n\nAnd the man at the door gave them a welcome, and then the five of them\nsat down on the floor of the house, and their hounds along with them.\n\n\"Let great respect be shown to Finn, son of Cumhal, and to his people,\"\nsaid the man at the door. \"It is the way I am,\" said the giant, \"to be\nasking always and getting nothing.\" But for all that he rose up and\nshowed respect to Finn.\n\nPresently there came a great thirst on Finn, and no one took notice of\nit but Caoilte, and he began complaining greatly. \"Why are you\ncomplaining, Caoilte?\" said the man at the door; \"you have but to go out\nand get a drink for Finn at whichever of the wells you will choose.\"\nCaoilte went out then, and he brought the full of the copper vessel to\nFinn, and Finn took a drink from it, and there was the taste of honey on\nit while he was drinking, and the taste of gall on it after, so that\nfierce windy pains and signs of death came on him, and his appearance\nchanged, that he would hardly be known. And Caoilte made greater\ncomplaints than he did before on account of the way he was, till the man\nat the door bade him to go out and to bring him a drink from the other\nwell. So Caoilte did that, and brought in the full of the iron vessel.\nAnd Finn never went through such great hardship in any battle as he did\ndrinking that draught, from the bitterness of it; but no sooner did he\ndrink it than his own colour and appearance came back to him and he was\nas well as before, and his people were very glad when they saw that.\n\nThen the man of the house asked was the pig ready that was in the\ncauldron. \"It is ready,\" said the giant; \"and leave the dividing of it\nto me,\" he said. \"What way will you divide it?\" said the man of the\nhouse. \"I will give one hind quarter to Finn and his dogs,\" said the\ngiant, \"and the other hind quarter to Finn's four comrades; and the fore\nquarter to myself, and the chine and the rump to the old man there by\nthe fire and the hag in the corner; and the entrails to yourself and to\nthe young girl that is beside you.\" \"I give my word,\" said the man of\nthe house, \"you have shared it well.\" \"I give my word,\" said the ram,\n\"it is a bad division to me, for you have forgotten my share in it.\"\nWith that he took hold of the quarter that was before the Fianna, and\nbrought it into a corner and began to eat it. On that the four of them\nattacked him with their swords, but with all the hard strokes they gave\nthey could not harm him at all, for the swords slipped from his back the\nsame as they would from a rock. \"On my word it is a pity for any one\nthat has the like of you for comrades,\" said the man with the twelve\neyes, \"and you letting a sheep bring away your food from you.\" With that\nhe went up to the ram and took him by the feet and threw him out from\nthe door that he fell on his back, and they saw him no more.\n\nIt was not long after that, the hag rose up and threw her pale grey gown\nover Finn's four comrades, and they turned to four old men, weak and\nwithered, their heads hanging. When Finn saw that there came great dread\non him, and the man at the door saw it, and he bade him to come over to\nhim, and to put his head in his breast and to sleep. Finn did that, and\nthe hag took her covering off the four men, the way that when Finn awoke\nthey were in their own shape again, and it is well pleased he was to see\nthat.\n\n\"Is there wonder on you, Finn?\" said the man at the door, \"at the ways\nof this house?\" \"I never wondered more at anything I ever saw,\" said\nFinn. \"I will tell you the meaning of them, so,\" said the man. \"As to\nthe giant you saw first,\" he said, \"having the squealing pig in the\nprongs of his fork, Sluggishness is his name; and the girl here beside\nme that was shoving him along is Liveliness, for liveliness pushes on\nsluggishness, and liveliness goes farther in the winking of an eye than\nthe foot can travel in a year. The old man there beyond with the twelve\nbright eyes betokens the World, and he is stronger than any other, and\nhe showed that when he made nothing of the ram. The ram you saw betokens\nthe Desires of Men. The hag is Old Age, and her gown withered up your\nfour comrades. And the two wells you drank the two draughts out of,\" he\nsaid, \"betoken Lying and Truth; for it is sweet to people to be telling\na lie, but it is bitter in the end. And as to myself,\" he said, \"Cuanna\nfrom Innistuil is my name, and it is not here I am used to be, but I\ntook a very great love for you, Finn, because of your wisdom and your\ngreat name, and so I put these things in your way that I might see you.\nAnd the hospitality of Cuanna's house to Finn will be the name of this\nstory to the end of the world. And let you and your men come together\nnow,\" he said, \"and sleep till morning.\"\n\nSo they did that, and when they awoke in the morning, it is where they\nwere, on the top of Cairn Feargall, and their dogs and their arms beside\nthem.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V. CAT-HEADS AND DOG-HEADS\n\n\nNine of the Fianna set out one time, looking for a pup they wanted, and\nthey searched through many places before they found it. All through Magh\nLeine they searched, and through the Valley of the Swords, and through\nthe storm of Druim Cleibh, and it is pleasant the Plain of the Life\nlooked after it; but not a pup could they find. Then they went searching\nthrough Durlass of the generous men, and great Teamhair and Dun Dobhran\nand Ceanntsaile, men and dogs searching the whole of Ireland, but not a\npup could they find.\n\nAnd while they were going from place to place, and their people with\nthem, they saw the three armies of the sons of the King of Ruadhleath\ncoming towards them. Cat-headed one army was, and the one alongside of\nit was Dog-headed, and the men of the third army were White-backed.\n\nAnd when the Fianna saw them coming, Finn held up his shining spear, and\nlight-hearted Caoilte gave out a great shout that was heard in Almhuin,\nand in Magh Leine, and in Teamhair, and in Dun Reithlein. And that shout\nwas answered by Goll, son of Morna, and by Faolan, Finn's son that was\nwith him, and by the Stutterers from Burren, and by the two sons of\nMaith Breac, and by Iolunn of the Sharp Edge, and by Cael of the Sharp\nSword, that never gave his ear to tale-bearers.\n\nIt is pleasant the sound was then of the spears and the armies and of\nthe silken banners that were raised up in the gusty wind of the morning.\nAnd as to the banners, Finn's banner, the Dealb-Greine, the Sun-Shape,\nhad the likeness of the sun on it; and Coil's banner was the Fulang\nDuaraidh, that was the first and last to move in a battle; and Faolan's\nbanner was the Coinneal Catha, the Candle of Battle; and Oisin's banner\nwas the Donn Nimhe, the Dark Deadly One; and Caoilte's was the Lamh\nDearg, the Red Hand; and Osgar's was the Sguab Gabhaidh that had a Broom\nof rowan branches on it, and the only thing asked when the fight was at\nthe hottest was where that Broom was; and merry Diarmuid's banner was\nthe Liath Loinneach, the Shining Grey; and the Craobh Fuileach, the\nBloody Branch, was the banner of Lugaidh's Son. And as to Conan, it is a\nbriar he had on his banner, because he was always for quarrels and for\ntrouble. And it used to be said of him he never saw a man frown without\nstriking him, or a door left open without going in through it.\n\nAnd when the Fianna had raised their banners they attacked the three\narmies; and first of all they killed the whole of the Cat-Heads, and\nthen they took the Dog-Heads in hand and made an end of them, and of the\nWhite-Backs along with them.\n\nAnd after that they went to a little hill to the south, having a double\ndun on it, and it is there they found a hound they were able to get a\npup from.\n\nAnd by that time they had searched through the whole of Ireland, and\nthey did not find in the whole of it a hundred men that could match\ntheir nine.\n\nAnd as well as their banners, some of the Fianna had swords that had\nnames to them, Mac an Luin, Son of the Waves, that belonged to Finn; and\nCeard-nan Gallan, the Smith of the Branches, that was Oisin's; and\nCaoilte's Cruadh-Chosgarach, the Hard Destroying One; and Diarmuid's\nLiomhadoir, the Burnisher; and Osgar's Cosgarach Mhor, the Great\nTriumphant One.\n\nAnd it is the way they got those swords: there came one time to where\nFinn and Caoilte and some others of the Fianna were, a young man, very\nbig and ugly, having but one foot and one eye; a cloak of black skins he\nhad over his shoulders, and in his hand a blunt ploughshare that was\nturning to red. And he told them he was Lon, son of Liobhan, one of the\nthree smiths of the King of Lochlann. And whether he thought to go away\nfrom the Fianna, or to bring them to his smithy, he started running, and\nthey followed after him all through Ireland, to Slieve-na-Righ, and to\nLuimnech, and to Ath Luain, and by the right side of Cruachan of\nConnacht, and to Ess Ruadh and to Beinn Edair, and so to the sea.\n\nAnd wherever it was they found the smithy, they went into it, and there\nthey found four smiths working, and every one of them having seven\nhands. And Finn and Caoilte and the rest stopped there watching them\ntill the swords were made, and they brought them away with them then,\nand it is good use they made of them afterwards.\n\nAnd besides his sword, Mac an Luin, Finn had a shield was called Sgiath\nGailbhinn, the Storm Shield; and when it called out it could be heard\nall through Ireland.\n\nAnd whether or not it was the Storm Shield, Finn had a wonderful shield\nthat he did great deeds with, and the story of it is this:\n\nAt the time of the battle of the Great Battle of Magh Tuireadh, Lugh,\nafter he had struck the head off Balor of the Evil Eye, hung it in the\nfork of a hazel-tree. And the tree split, and the leaves fell from it\nwith the dint of the poison that dropped from the head. And through the\nlength of fifty years that tree was a dwelling-place of crows and of\nravens. And at the end of that time Manannan, son of Lir, was passing\nby, and he took notice of the tree that it was split and withered, and\nhe bade his men to dig it up. And when they began to dig, a mist of\npoison rose up from the roots, and nine of the men got their death from\nit, and another nine after them, and the third nine were blinded. And\nLuchtaine the Carpenter made a shield of the wood of that hazel for\nManannan. And after a while Manannan gave it, and a set of chessmen\nalong with it, to Tadg, son of Nuada; and from him it came to his\ngrandson, Finn, son of Muirne and of Cumhal.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI. LOMNA'S HEAD\n\nFINN took a wife one time of the Luigne of Midhe. And at the same time\nthere was in his household one Lomna, a fool.\n\nFinn now went into Tethra, hunting with the Fianna, but Lomna stopped at\nthe house. And after a while he saw Coirpre, a man of the Luigne, go in\nsecretly to where Finn's wife was.\n\nAnd when the woman knew he had seen that, she begged and prayed of Lomna\nto hide it from Finn. And Lomna agreed to that, but it preyed on him to\nhave a hand in doing treachery on Finn. And after a while he took a\nfour-square rod and wrote an Ogham on it, and these were the words he\nwrote:--\"An alder stake in a paling of silver; deadly night-shade in a\nbunch of cresses; a husband of a lewd woman; a fool among the\nwell-taught Fianna; heather on bare Ualann of Luigne.\"\n\nFinn saw the message, and there was anger on him against the woman; and\nshe knew well it was from Lomna he had heard the story, and she sent a\nmessage to Coirpre bidding him to come and kill the fool.\n\nSo Coirpre came and struck his head off, and brought it away with him.\n\nAnd when Finn came back in the evening he saw the body, and it without a\nhead. \"Let us know whose body is this,\" said the Fianna. And then Finn\ndid the divination of rhymes, and it is what he said: \"It is the body of\nLomna; it is not by a wild boar he was killed; it is not by a fall he\nwas killed; it is not in his bed he died; it is by his enemies he died;\nit is not a secret to the Luigne the way he died. And let out the hounds\nnow on their track,\" he said.\n\nSo they let out the hounds, and put them on the track of Coirpre, and\nFinn followed them, and they came to a house, and Coirpre in it, and\nthree times nine of his men and he cooking fish on a spit; and Lomna's\nhead was on a spike beside the fire.\n\nAnd the first of the fish that was cooked Coirpre divided between his\nmen, but he put no bit into the mouth of the head. And then he made a\nsecond division in the same way. Now that was against the law of the\nFianna, and the head spoke, and it said: \"A speckled white-bellied\nsalmon that grows from a small fish under the sea; you have shared a\nshare that is not right; the Fianna will avenge it upon you, Coirpre.\"\n\"Put the head outside,\" said Coirpre, \"for that is an evil word for us.\"\nThen the head said from outside: \"It is in many pieces you will be; it\nis great fires will be lighted by Finn in Luigne.\"\n\nAnd as it said that, Finn came in, and he made an end of Coirpre, and of\nhis men.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII. ILBREC OF ESS RUADH\n\nOne time Caoilte was hunting on Beinn Gulbain, and he went on to Ess\nRuadh. And when he came near the hill of the Sidhe that is there, he saw\na young man waiting for him, having a crimson fringed cloak about him,\nand on his breast a silver brooch, and a white shield, ornamented with\nlinked beasts of red gold, and his hair rolled in a ball at the back,\nand covered with a golden cup. And he had heavy green weapons, and he\nwas holding two hounds in a silver chain.\n\nAnd when Caoilte came up to him he gave him three loving kisses, and sat\ndown beside him on the grass. \"Who are you, young champion?\" said\nCaoilte. \"I am Derg, son of Eoghan of the people of Usnach,\" he said,\n\"and foster-brother of your own.\" Caoilte knew him then, and he said:\n\"And what is your life with your mother's people, the Tuatha de Danaan\nin Sidhe Aedha?\" \"There is nothing wanting to us there of food or of\nclothing,\" said the young man. \"But for all that,\" he said, \"I would\nsooner live the life of the worst treated of the serving-boys of the\nFianna than the life I am living in the hill of the Sidhe.\" \"Lonely as\nyou are at your hunting to-day,\" said Caoilte, \"it is often I saw you\ncoming to the Valley of the Three Waters in the south, where the Siuir\nand the Beoir and the Berba come together, with a great company about\nyou; fifteen hundred young men, fifteen hundred serving-boys, and\nfifteen hundred women.\" \"That was so,\" said Derg; \"and although myself\nand my gentle hound are living in the hill of the Sidhe, my mind is\nalways on the Fianna. And I remember well the time,\" he said, \"when you\nyourself won the race against Finn's lasting black horse. And come now\ninto the hill,\" he said, \"for the darkness of the night is coming on.\"\n\nSo he brought Caoilte into the hill with him, and they were set down in\ntheir right places.\n\nIt was at that time, now, there was great war between Lir of Sidhe\nFionnachaidh and Ilbrec of Ess Ruadh. There used a bird with an iron\nbeak and a tail of fire to come every evening to a golden window of\nIlbrec's house, and there he would shake himself till he would not leave\nsword on pillow, or shield on peg, or spear in rack, but they would come\ndown on the heads of the people of the house; and whatever they would\nthrow at the bird, it is on the heads of some of themselves it would\nfall. And the night Caoilte came in, the hall was made ready for a\nfeast, and the bird came in again, and did the same destruction as\nbefore, and nothing they threw at him would touch him at all. \"Is it\nlong the bird has been doing this?\" said Caoilte. \"Through the length of\na year now,\" said Derg, \"since we went to war with Sidhe Fionnachaidh.\"\n\nThen Caoilte put his hand within the rim of his shield, and he took out\nof it a copper rod he had, and he made a cast of it at the bird, that\nbrought it down on the floor of the hall. \"Did any one ever make a\nbetter cast than that?\" said Ilbrec. \"By my word,\" said Caoilte, \"there\nis no one of us in the Fianna has any right to boast against another.\"\nThen Ilbrec took down a sharp spear, having thirty rivets of gold in it,\nfrom its place, and he said: \"That is the Spear of Fiacha, son of\nCongha, and it is with that Finn made an end of Aillen, son of Midhna,\nthat used to burn Teamhair. And keep it beside you now, Caoilte,\" he\nsaid, \"till we see will Lir come to avenge his bird on us.\"\n\nThen they took up their horns and their cups, and they were at drinking\nand pleasure, and Ilbrec said: \"Well, Caoilte,\" he said, \"if Lir comes\nto avenge his bird on us, who will you put in command of the battle?\" \"I\nwill give the command to Derg there beyond,\" said he. \"Will you take it\nin hand, Derg?\" said the people of the hill. \"I will take it,\" said\nDerg, \"with its loss and its gain.\"\n\nSo that is how they spent the night, and it was not long in the morning\ntill they heard blowing of horns, and rattling of chariots, and clashing\nof shields, and the uproar of a great army that came all about the hill.\nThey sent some of their people out then to see were there many in it,\nand they saw three brave armies of the one size. \"It would be a great\nvexation to me,\" said Aedh Nimbrec, the Speckled, then, \"we to get our\ndeath and Lir's people to take the hill.\" \"Did you never hear, Aedh,\"\nsaid Caoilte, \"that the wild boar escapes sometimes from both hounds and\nfrom wolves, and the stag in the same way goes away from the hounds with\na sudden start; and what man is it you are most in dread of in the\nbattle?\" he said. \"The man that is the best fighter of all the Men of\nDea,\" said they all, \"and that is Lir of Sidhe Fionnachaidh.\" \"The\nthing I have done in every battle I will not give up to-day,\" said\nCaoilte, \"to meet the best man that is in it hand to hand.\" \"The two\nthat are next to him in fighting,\" they said then, \"are Donn and Dubh.\"\n\"I will put down those two,\" said Derg.\n\nThen the host of the Sidhe went out to the battle, and the armies\nattacked one another with wide green spears and with little casting\nspears, and with great stones; and the fight went on from the rising of\nthe day till midday. And then Caoilte and Lir met with one another, and\nthey made a very fierce fight, and at the last Lir of Sidhe Fionnachaidh\nfell by the hand of Caoilte.\n\nThen the two good champions Dubh and Donn, sons of Eirrge, determined to\ngo on with the battle, and it is how they fought, Dubh in the front of\nthe whole army, and Donn behind all, guarding the rear. But Derg saw\nthat, and he put his finger into the thong of his spear and made a cast\nat the one that was nearest him, and it broke his back and went on into\nthe body of the other, so that the one cast made an end of the two. And\nthat ended the battle, and all that was left of the great army of Lir\nwent wearing away to the north. And there was great rejoicing in the\nhill at Ess Ruadh, and Ilbrec took the spoils of the beaten army for his\npeople, and to Caoilte he gave the enchanted spear of Fiacha, together\nwith nine rich cloaks and nine long swords with hilts and guards of\ngold, and nine hounds for hunting. And they said farewell to one\nanother, and Caoilte left his blessing to the people of the hill, and he\nbrought their thanks with him. And as hard as the battle had been, it\nwas harder again for Derg to part from his comrade, and the day he was\nparted from Finn and from all the Fianna was no sadder to him than this\nday.\n\nIt was a long time after that Caoilte went again to the hill of Ilbrec\nat Ess Ruadh, and this is the way it happened.\n\nIt was in a battle at Beinn Edair in the east that Mane, son of the King\nof Lochlann, made a cast at him in the middle of the battle with a\ndeadly spear. And he heard the whistling of the spear, and it rushing to\nhim; and he lifted his shield to protect his head and his body, but that\ndid not save him, for it struck into his thigh, and left its poison in\nit, so that he had to go in search of healing. And it is where he went,\nto the hill of the Sidhe at Ess Ruadh, to ask help of Bebind, daughter\nof Elcmar of Brugh na Boinne, that had the drink of healing of the\nTuatha de Danaan, and all that was left of the ale of Goibniu that she\nused to be giving out to them.\n\nAnd Caoilte called to Cascorach the Musician, son of Caincenn, and bade\nhim bring his harp and come along with him. And they stopped for a night\nin the hill of the Sidhe of Druim Nemed in Luigne of Connacht, and from\nthat they went forward by Ess Dara, the Fall of the Oaks, and Druim\nDearg na Feinne, the Red Ridge of the Fianna, and Ath Daim Glas, the\nFord of the Grey Stag, and to Beinn Gulbain, and northward into the\nplain of Ceitne, where the Men of Dea used to pay their tribute to the\nFomor; and up to the Footstep of Ess Ruadh, and the High Place of the\nBoys, where the boys of the Tuatha de Danaan used to be playing their\nhurling. And Aedh of Ess Ruadh and Ilbrec of Ess Ruadh were at the door\nof the hill, and they gave Caoilte a true welcome. \"I am glad of that\nwelcome,\" said Caoilte. And then Bebind, daughter of Elcmar of Brugh na\nBoinne, came out, and three times fifty comely women about her, and she\nsat down on the green grass and gave three loving kisses to the three,\nto Caoilte and to Cascorach and to Fermaise, that had come with them out\nof the hill of the Sidhe in Luigne of Connacht. And all the people of\nthe hill welcomed them, and they said: \"It is little your friendship\nwould be worth if you would not come to help us and we in need of help.\"\n\"It was not for bravery I was bade come,\" said Cascorach; \"but when the\nright time comes I will make music for you if you have a mind to hear\nit.\" \"It is not for deeds of bravery we are come,\" said Fermaise, \"but\nwe will give you our help if you are in need of it.\" Then Caoilte told\nthem the cause of his journey. \"We will heal you well,\" said they. And\nthen they all went into the hill and stayed there three days and three\nnights at drinking and pleasure.\n\nAnd indeed it was good help Caoilte and Cascorach gave them after that.\nFor there was a woman-warrior used to come every year with the ships of\nthe men of Lochlann to make an attack on the Tuatha de Danaan. And she\nhad been reared by a woman that knew all enchantments, and there was no\nprecious thing in all the hills of the Sidhe but she had knowledge of\nit, and would bring it away. And just at this time there came a\nmessenger to the door of the hill with news that the harbour was full of\nships, and that a great army had landed, and the woman-warrior along\nwith it.\n\nAnd it was Cascorach the Musician went out against her, having a shield\nhe got the loan of from Donn, son of Midhir; and she used high words\nwhen she saw so young a man coming to fight with her, and he alone. But\nhe made an end of her for all her high talk, and left her lying on the\nstrand with the sea foam washing up to her.\n\nAnd as to Caoilte, he went out in a chariot belonging to Midhir of the\nYellow Hair, son of the Dagda, and a spear was given him that was called\nBen-badb, the War-Woman, and he made a cast of the spear that struck the\nKing of Lochlann, that he fell in the middle of his army, and the life\nwent from him. And Fermaise went looking for the king's brother, Eolus,\nthat was the comeliest of all the men of the world; and he knew him by\nthe band of gold around his head, and his green armour, and his red\nshield, and he killed him with a cast of a five-pronged spear. And when\nthe men of Lochlann saw their three leaders were gone, they went into\ntheir ships and back to their own country. And there was great joy\nthrough the whole country, both among the men of Ireland and the Tuatha\nde Danaan, the men of Lochlann to have been driven away by the deeds of\nCaoilte and Fermaise and Cascorach.\n\nAnd that was not all they did, for it was at that time there came three\nflocks of beautiful red birds from Slieve Fuad in the north, and began\neating the green grass before the hill of the Sidhe. \"What birds are\nthose?\" said Caoilte. \"Three flocks they are that come and destroy the\ngreen every year, eating it down to the bare flag-stones, till they\nleave us no place for our races,\" said Ilbrec. Then Caoilte and his\ncomrades took up three stones and threw them at the flocks and drove\nthem away. \"Power and blessings to you,\" said the people of the Sidhe\nthen, \"that is a good work you have done. And there is another thing you\ncan do for us,\" they said, \"for there are three ravens come to us every\nyear out of the north, and the time the young lads of the hill are\nplaying their hurling, each one of the ravens carries off a boy of them.\nAnd it is to-morrow the hurling will be,\" they said.\n\nSo when the full light of day was come on the morrow, the whole of the\nTuatha de Danaan went out to look at the hurling; and to every six men\nof them was given a chess-board, and a board for some other game to\nevery five, and to every ten men a little harp, and a harp to every\nhundred men, and pipes that were sharp and powerful to every nine.\n\nThen they saw the three ravens from the north coming over the sea, and\nthey pitched on the great tree of power that was on the green, and they\ngave three gloomy screeches, that if such a thing could be, would have\nbrought the dead out of the earth or the hair off the head of the\nlisteners; and as it was, they took the courage out of the whole\ngathering.\n\nThen Cascorach, son of Caincenn, took a man of the chessmen and made a\ncast at one of the ravens that struck his beak and his throat, and made\nan end of him; and Fermaise killed the second of them, and Caoilte the\nthird of them in the same way.\n\n\"Let my cure be done now,\" said Caoilte, \"for I have paid my fee for it,\nand it is time.\" \"You have paid it indeed,\" said Ilbrec. \"And where is\nBebind, daughter of Elcmar?\" he said. \"I am here,\" said she.\n\n\"Bring Caoilte, son of Ronan, with you into some hidden place,\" he said,\n\"and do his cure, and let him be well served, for he has driven every\ndanger from the Men of Dea and from the Sons of the Gael. And let\nCascorach make music for him, and let Fermaise, son of Eogabil, be\nwatching him and guarding him and attending him.\"\n\nSo Elcmar's daughter went to the House of Arms, and her two sons with\nher, and a bed of healing was made ready for Caoilte, and a bowl of pale\ngold was brought to her, and it full of water. And she took a crystal\nvessel and put herbs into it, and she bruised them and put them in the\nwater, and gave the bowl to Caoilte, and he drank a great drink out of\nit, that made him cast up the poison of the spear that was in him. Five\ndrinks of it he took, and after that she gave him new milk to drink; but\nwith the dint of the reaching he was left without strength through the\nlength of three days and three nights.\n\n\"Caoilte, my life,\" she said then, \"in my opinion you have got relief.\"\n\"I have got it indeed,\" he said, \"but that the weakness of my head is\ntroubling me.\" \"The washing of Flann, daughter of Flidais, will be done\nfor you now,\" she said, \"and the head that washing is done for will\nnever be troubled with pain, or baldness, or weakness of sight.\" So that\ncure was done to him for a while; and the people of the hill divided\nthemselves into three parts; the one part of their best men and great\nnobles, and another of their young men, and another of their women and\npoets, to be visiting him and making mirth with him as long as he would\nbe on his bed of healing. And everything that was best from their\nhunting, it was to him they would bring it.\n\nAnd one day, when Elcmar's daughter and her two sons and Cascorach and\nFermaise were with Caoilte, there was heard a sound of music coming\ntowards them from the waters of Ess Ruadh, and any one would leave the\nmusic of the whole world for that music. And they put their harps on the\ncorners of the pillars and went out, and there was wonder on Caoilte\nthat they left him. And he took notice that his strength and the\nstrength of his hands was not come to him yet, and he said: \"It is many\na rough battle and many a hard fight I went into, and now there is not\nenough strength in me so much as to go out along with the rest,\" and he\ncried tears down.\n\nAnd the others came back to him then, and he asked news of them. \"What\nwas that sound of music we heard?\" he said. \"It was Uaine out of the\nhill of the Sidhe, at the Wave of Cliodna in the south,\" said they; \"and\nwith her the birds of the Land of Promise; and she is musician to the\nwhole of that country. And every year she goes to visit one of the hills\nof the Sidhe, and it is our turn this time.\" Then the woman from the\nLand of Promise came into the house, and the birds came in along with\nher, and they pitched on the pillars and the beams, and thirty of them\ncame in where Caoilte was, began singing together. And Cascorach took\nhis harp, and whatever he would play, the birds would sing to it. \"It is\nmuch music I have heard,\" said Caoilte, \"but music so good as that I\nnever heard before.\"\n\nAnd after that Caoilte asked to have the healing of his thigh done, and\nthe daughter of Elcmar gave herself to that, and all that was bad was\nsucked from the wound by her serving people till it was healed. And\nCaoilte stopped on where he was for three nights after that.\n\nAnd then the people of the hill rose up and went into the stream to\nswim. And Caoilte said: \"What ails me now not to go swim, since my\nhealth has come back to me?\" And with that he went into the water. And\nafterwards they went back into the hill, and there was a great feast\nmade that night.\n\nAnd Caoilte bade them farewell after that, and Cascorach, but Fermaise\nstopped with them for a while. And the people of the hill gave good\ngifts to Caoilte; a fringed crimson cloak of wool from the seven sheep\nof the Land of Promise; and a fish-hook that was called Aicil mac Mogha,\nand that could not be set in any river or inver but it would take fish;\nand along with that they gave him a drink of remembrance, and after that\ndrink there would be no place he ever saw, or no battle or fight he ever\nwas in, but it would stay in his memory. \"That is a good help from\nkinsmen and from friends,\" said Caoilte.\n\nThen Caoilte and Cascorach went out from the hill, and the people of it\nmade a great lamentation after them.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII. THE CAVE OF CRUACHAN\n\n\nCAOLITE was one time at Cruachan of Connacht, and Cascorach was with\nhim, and there he saw sitting on a heap of stones a man with very rough\ngrey hair, having a dark brown cloak fastened with a pin of bronze, and\na long stick of white hazel in his hand; and there was a herd of cattle\nbefore him in a fenced field.\n\nCaoilte asked news of him. \"I am steward to the King of Ireland,\" said\nthe old man, \"and it is from him I hold this land. And we have great\ntroubles on us in this district,\" he said. \"What troubles are those?\"\nsaid Caoilte. \"I have many herds of cattle,\" he said, \"and every year at\nSamhain time, a woman comes out of the hill of the Sidhe of Cruachan and\nbrings away nine of the best out of every herd. And as to my name, I am\nBairnech, son of Carbh of Collamair of Bregia.\"\n\n\"Who was the best man that ever came out of Collamair?\" said Caoilte. \"I\nknow, and the men of Ireland and of Alban know,\" said he, \"it was\nCaoilte, son of Ronan. And do you know where is that man now?\" he said.\n\"I myself am that man and your own kinsman,\" said Caoilte.\n\nWhen Bairnech heard that, he gave him a great welcome, and Caoilte gave\nhim three kisses. \"It seems to me that to-night is Samhain night,\" said\nCaoilte. \"If that is so, it is to-night the woman will come to rob us,\"\nsaid Bernech. \"Let me go to-night to the door of the hill of the Sidhe,\"\nsaid Cascorach. \"You may do that, and bring your arms with you,\" said\nCaoilte.\n\nSo Cascorach went then, and it was not long till he saw the girl going\npast him out of the hill of Cruachan, having a beautiful cloak of one\ncolour about her; a gown of yellow silk tied up with a knot between her\nthighs, two spears in her hands, and she not in dread of anything before\nher or after her.\n\nThen Cascorach blew a blast against her, and put his finger into the\nthong of his spear, and made a cast at the girl that went through her,\nand that is the way she was made an end of by Cascorach of the Music.\n\nAnd then Bernech said to Caoilte: \"Caoilte,\" he said, \"do you know the\nother oppression that is on me in this place?\" \"What oppression is\nthat?\" said Caoilte. \"Three she-wolves that come out of the Cave of\nCruachan every year and destroy our sheep and our wethers, and we can do\nnothing against them, and they go back into the cave again. And it will\nbe a good friend that will rid us of them,\" he said. \"Well, Cascorach,\"\nsaid Caoilte, \"do you know what are the three wolves that are robbing\nthis man?\" \"I know well,\" said Cascorach, \"they are the three daughters\nof Airetach, of the last of the people of oppression of the Cave of\nCruachan, and it is easier for them to do their robbery as wolves than\nas women.\" \"And will they come near to any one?\" said Caoilte. \"They\nwill only come near to one sort,\" said Cascorach; \"if they see the\nworld's men having harps for music, they will come near to them.\" \"And\nhow would it be for me,\" he said, \"to go to-morrow to the cairn beyond,\nand to bring my harp with me?\"\n\nSo in the morning he rose up and went to the cairn and stopped on it,\nplaying his harp till the coming of the mists of the evening. And while\nhe was there he saw the three wolves coming towards him, and they lay\ndown before him, listening to the music. But Cascerach found no way to\nmake an attack on them, and they went back into the cave at the end of\nthe day.\n\nCascorach went back then to Caoilte and told him what had happened. \"Go\nup to-morrow to the same place,\" said Caoilte, \"and say to them it would\nbe better for them to be in the shape of women for listening to music\nthan in the shape of wolves.\"\n\nSo on the morrow Cascorach went out to the same cairn, and set his\npeople about it, and the wolves came there and stretched themselves to\nlisten to the music. And Cascorach was saying to them: \"If you were ever\nwomen,\" he said, \"it would be better for you to be listening to the\nmusic as women than as wolves.\" And they heard that, and they threw off\nthe dark trailing coverings that were about them, for they liked well\nthe sweet music of the Sidhe.\n\nAnd when Caoilte saw them there side by side, and elbow by elbow, he\nmade a cast of his spear, and it went through the three women, that they\nwere like a skein of thread drawn together on the spear. And that is the\nway he made an end of the strange, unknown three. And that place got the\nname of the Valley of the Shapes of the Wolves.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX. THE WEDDING AT CEANN SLIEVE\n\nFinn and the Fianna made a great hunting one time on the hill of Torc\nthat is over Loch Lein and Feara Mor. And they went on with their\nhunting till they came to pleasant green Slieve Echtge, and from that it\nspread over other green-topped hills, and through thick tangled woods,\nand rough red-headed hills, and over the wide plains of the country. And\nevery chief man among them chose the place that was to his liking, and\nthe gap of danger he was used to before. And the shouts they gave in the\nturns of the hunt were heard in the woods all around, so that they\nstarted the deer in the wood, and sent the foxes wandering, and the\nlittle red beasts climbing rocks, and badgers from their holes, and\nbirds flying, and fawns running their best. Then they let out their\nangry small-headed hounds and set them hunting. And it is red the hands\nof the Fianna were that day, and it is proud they were of their hounds\nthat were torn and wounded before evening.\n\nIt happened that day no one stopped with Finn but only Diorraing, son of\nDomhar. \"Well, Diorraing,\" said Finn, \"let you watch for me while I go\nasleep, for it is early I rose to-day, and it is an early rising a man\nmakes when he cannot see the shadow of his five fingers between himself\nand the light of day, or know the leaves of the hazel from the leaves of\nthe oak.\" With that he fell into a quiet sleep that lasted till the\nyellow light of the evening. And the rest of the Fianna, not knowing\nwhere he was gone, gave over the hunt.\n\nAnd the time was long to Diorraing while Finn was asleep, and he roused\nhim and told him the Fianna must have given up the hunt, for he could\nnot hear a cry or a whistle from them. \"The end of day is come,\" said\nFinn then, \"and we will not follow them to-night. And go now to the\nwood,\" he said, \"and bring timber and dead branches for a shelter, and I\nwill go looking for food for the night.\" So Diorraing went to the wood,\nbut he was not gone far till he saw a fine well-lighted house of the\nSidhe before him on the edge of the wood near at hand, and he went back\nto Finn with the news. \"Let us go to it,\" said Finn, \"for we ought not\nto be working in this place, and people living so near at hand.\" They\nwent then to the door of the house and knocked at it, and the\ndoor-keeper came to it. \"Whose house is this?\" said Diorraing. \"It\nbelongs to Conan of Ceann Slieve,\" said the door-keeper. \"Tell him,\"\nsaid Diorraing, \"there are two of the Fianna of the Gael at the door.\"\n\nThe door-keeper went in then and told Conan there were two men of the\nFianna at the door. \"The one of them,\" he said, \"is young and strong,\nand quiet and fair-haired, and more beautiful than the rest of the men\nof the world, and he has in his hand a small-headed, white-breasted\nhound, having a collar of rubbed gold and a chain of old silver. And the\nother of them,\" he said, \"is brown and ruddy and white-toothed, and he\nis leading a yellow-spotted hound by a chain of bright bronze.\" \"It is\nwell you have made your report of them,\" said Conan, \"and I know them by\nit; for the man you spoke of first is Finn, son of Cumhal, Head of the\nFianna of Ireland, and Bran in his hand; and the other is Diorraing, and\nSceolan in his hand. And go now quickly and let them in,\" he said.\n\nFinn and Diorraing were brought in then, and they got good attendance,\nand their arms were taken from them, and a grand feast was made ready\nthat pleased them well. And the wife of Conan was at the one side of\nFinn, and his daughter, Finndealbh, of the Fair Shape, was at his other\nside. And they had a great deal of talk together, and at last, seeing\nher so beautiful, the colour of gold on her curled hair, and her eyes as\nblue as flowers, and a soft four-cornered cloak fastened at her breast\nwith a silver pin, he asked her of Conan for his wife. \"Leave asking\nthat, Finn,\" said Conan, \"for your own courage is not greater than the\ncourage of the man she is promised to.\" \"Who is that?\" said Finn. \"He is\nFatha, son of the King of Ess Ruadh,\" said Conan. \"Your wounds and your\ndanger on yourself,\" said Diorraing; \"and it would be right,\" he said,\n\"that stammering tongue that gave out those words to be tied and to be\nshortened for ever, and a drink of death to be given to you; for if the\nwhole of the Men of Dea,\" he said, \"could be put into the one body, Finn\nwould be better than them all.\" \"Leave off, Diorraing,\" said Finn, \"for\nit is not fighting I am here, but asking a wife, and I will get her\nwhether the Men of Dea think good or bad of it.\" \"I will not be making a\nquarrel with you,\" said Conan, \"but I put you under bonds as a true\nhero to answer me everything I am going to ask you.\" \"I will do that,\"\nsaid Finn.\n\nWith that Conan put questions to Finn as to his birth and his rearing,\nand the deeds he had done since he came to the Fianna, and Finn gave\nfull answers to them all. And at last he said: \"Let us go on with this\nno longer, but if you have musicians with you, let them be brought to us\nnow; for it is not my custom,\" he said, \"to be for a single night\nwithout music.\" \"Tell me this first,\" said Conan, \"who was it made the\nDord Fiann, the Mutterer of the Fianna, and when was it made?\" \"I will\ntell you the truth of that,\" said Finn; \"it was made in Ireland by the\nthree sons of Cearmait Honey-Mouth; and nine men used to be sounding it,\nand since it came to me I have fifty men sounding it.\" \"And tell me\nthis,\" said Conan, \"what is the music pleased you best of all you ever\nheard?\" \"I will tell you that,\" said Finn; \"the time the seven\nbattalions of the Fianna are gathered in the one place and raise their\nspear-shafts over their heads, and the sharp whining of the clear, cold\nwind goes through them, that is very sweet to me. And when the\ndrinking-hall is set out in Almhuin, and the cup-bearers give out the\nbright cups to the chief men of the Fianna, that is very sweet to me;\nand it is sweet to me to be listening to the voice of the sea-gull and\nthe heron, and the noise of the waves of Traig Liath, the song of the\nthree sons of Meardha, the whistle of Lugaidh's Son, and the voice of\nthe cuckoo in the beginning of summer, and the grunting of the pigs on\nthe Plain of Eithne, and the shouting of laughter in Doire.\" And it is\nwhat he said: \"The Dord in the green-topped woods, the lasting wash of\nthe waves against the shore, the noise of the waves at Traig Liath\nmeeting with the river of the White Trout; the three men that came to\nthe Fianna, a man of them gentle and a man of them rough, another man of\nthem ploughing the clouds, they were sweeter than any other thing.\n\n\"The grey mane of the sea, the time a man cannot follow its track; the\nswell that brings the fish to the land, it is sleep-music, its sound is\nsweet.\n\n\"Feargall, son of Fionn, a man that was ready-handed, it is long his\nleap was, it is well marked his track is; he never gave a story that did\nnot do away with secrets; it is his voice was music of sleep to me.\"\n\nAnd when Finn had answered all the questions so well, Conan said he\nwould give him his daughter, and that he would have a wedding-feast\nready at the end of a month.\n\nThey spent the rest of the night then in sleep; but Finn saw a dreadful\nvision through his sleep that made him start three times from his bed.\n\"What makes you start from your bed, Finn?\" said Diorraing. \"It was the\nTuatha de Danaan I saw,\" said he, \"taking up a quarrel against me, and\nmaking a great slaughter of the Fianna.\"\n\nNow as to the Fianna, they rested at Fotharladh of Moghna that night,\nand they were downhearted, having no tidings of Finn. And early on the\nmorrow two of them, Bran Beag and Bran Mor, rose up and went to\nMac-an-Reith, son of the Ram, that had the gift of true knowledge, and\nthey asked him where did Finn spend the night. And Mac-an-Reith was\nsomeway unwilling to tell them, but at the last he said it was at the\nhouse of Conan of Ceann Slieve.\n\nThe two Brans went on then to Conan's house, and Finn made them welcome;\nbut they blamed him when they heard he was taking a wife, and none of\nhis people with him. \"Bid all the Fianna to come to the feast at the end\nof a month,\" said Conan then. So Finn and Diorraing and the two Brans\nwent back to where the Fianna were and told them all that had happened,\nand they went on to Almhuin.\n\nAnd when they were in the drinking-hall at Almhuin that night, they saw\nthe son of the King of Ireland coming to where they were. \"It is a pity\nthe king's son to have come,\" said Finn; \"for he will not be satisfied\nwithout ordering everything in the hall in his own way.\" \"We will not\ntake his orders,\" said Oisin, \"but we will leave the half of the hall to\nhim, and keep the other half ourselves.\"\n\nSo they did that; but it happened that in the half of the house that was\ngiven up to the King of Ireland's son, there were sitting two of the Men\nof Dea, Failbhe Mor and Failbhe Beag; and it is what they said, that it\nis because they were in that side of the hall it was given up. \"It is a\npity,\" said Failbhe Beag, \"this shame and this great insult to have been\nput on us to-night; and it is likely Finn has a mind to do more than\nthat again to us,\" he said, \"for he is going to bring away the woman\nthat is promised to the third best man of the Tuatha de Danaan, and\nagainst the will of her father and mother.\" And these two went away\nearly in the morning to Fionnbhar of Magh Feabhail, and told him of the\ninsults Finn and the Fianna of Ireland had a mind to put on the Tuatha\nde Danaan.\n\nAnd when Fionnbhar that was king over the Tuatha de Danaan heard that,\nhe sent out messengers through the length of Ireland to gather them all\nto him. And there came six good battalions to him on the edge of Loch\nDerg Dheirc at the end of a month; and it was the same day Conan had the\nwedding-feast made ready for Finn and his people.\n\nAnd Finn was at Teamhair Luachra at that time, and when he heard the\nfeast was ready, he set out to go to it. And it chanced that the most of\nthe men he had with him at that time were of the sons of Morna. And when\nthey were on their way, Finn said to Goll, \"O Goll,\" he said, \"I never\nfelt any fear till now going to a feast. And there are but few of my\npeople with me,\" he said; \"and I know there is no good thing before me,\nbut the Men of Dea are going to raise a quarrel against me and to kill\nmy people.\" \"I will defend you against anything they may do,\" said Goll.\n\nThey went on then to Conan's house, and there was a welcome before them,\nand they were brought into the drinking-hall, and Finn was put in the\nplace beside the door, and Goll on his right and Finndeilb, of the Fair\nShape, on his left, and all the rest in the places they were used to.\n\nAnd as to Fionnbhar of Magh Feabhail and the Tuatha de Danaan, they put\na Druid mist about themselves and went on, hidden and armed, in sixteen\nbattalions, to the lawn before Conan's house. \"It is little profit we\nhave being here,\" they said then, \"and Goll being with Finn against us.\"\n\"Goll will not protect him this time,\" said Ethne, the woman-Druid, \"for\nI will entice Finn out of the house, however well he is watched.\"\n\nShe went on to the house then, and took her stand before Finn outside.\n\"Who is that before me?\" she said then. \"It is I myself,\" said Finn. \"I\nput you under the bonds a true hero never broke,\" she said, \"to come out\nto me here.\" When Finn heard that, he made no delay and went out to her;\nand for all there were so many in the house, not one of them took notice\nof him going, only Caoilte, and he followed him out. And at the same\ntime the Tuatha de Danaan let out a flock of blackbirds having fiery\nbeaks, that pitched on the breasts of all the people in the house, and\nburned them and destroyed them, till the young lads and the women and\nchildren of the place ran out on all sides, and the woman of the house,\nConan's wife, was drowned in the river outside the dun.\n\nBut as to Ethne, the woman-Druid, she asked Finn would he run against\nher. \"For it is to run a race against you I called you out,\" she said.\n\"What length of a race?\" said Finn. \"From Doire da Torc, the Wood of the\nTwo Boars, to Ath Mor, the Great Ford,\" she said. So they set out, but\nFinn got first over the ford. And Caoilte was following after them, and\nFinn was urging him, and he said: \"It is ashamed of your running you\nshould be, Caoilte, a woman to be going past you.\" On that Caoilte made\na leap forward, and when he was in front of the witch he turned about\nand gave a blow of his sword that made two equal halves of her.\n\n\"Power and good luck to you, Caoilte!\" said Finn; \"for though it is many\na good blow you have struck, you never struck a better one than this.\"\n\nThey went back then to the lawn before Conan's dun, and there they found\nthe whole company of the Tuatha de Danaan, that had put the Druid mist\noff them. \"It seems to me, Caoilte,\" said Finn, \"that we are come into\nthe middle of our enemies.\"\n\nWith that they turned their backs to one another, and they were attacked\non all sides till groans of weakness from the unequal fight were forced\nfrom Finn. And when Goll, that was in the house, heard that, he said:\n\"It is a pity the Tuatha de Danaan to have enticed Finn and Caoilte away\nfrom us; and let us go to their help and make no delay,\" he said.\n\nThen he rushed out, and all that were there of the Fianna with him, and\nConan of Ceann Slieve and his sons. And great anger came on Goll, that\nhe looked like a tall mountain under his grey shield in the battle. And\nhe broke through the Tuatha de Danaan till he reached to Fionnbhar their\nleader, and they attacked one another, cutting and wounding, till at the\nlast Fionnbhar of Magh Feabhail fell by the strokes of Goll. And a great\nmany others fell in that battle, and there never was a harder battle\nfought in Ireland, for there was no man on one side or the other had a\nmind to go back one step before whoever he was fighting against. For\nthey were the two hardest fighting troops to be found in the four parts\nof the world, the strong, hardy Fianna of the Gael, and the beautiful\nMen of Dea; and they went near to being all destroyed in that battle.\n\nBut after a while they saw the rest of the Fianna that were not in the\nbattle coming from all parts of Ireland. And when the Tuatha de Danaan\nsaw them coming, they put the Druid mist about themselves again and made\naway. And clouds of weakness came on Finn himself, and on them that were\nwith him, with the dint of the fight. And there were many men of the\nFianna lost in that battle; and as to the rest, it is a long time they\nstopped in Almhuin of Leinster, till their wounds were entirely healed.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X. THE SHADOWY ONE\n\n\nAnd indeed Finn had no great luck in going to look for a wife that time;\nand he had no better luck another time he asked a wife from among the\nSidhe. And this is the way that happened.\n\nIt was on the mountain of Bearnas Mor he was hunting, and a great wild\npig turned on the hounds of the Fianna and killed the most of them, but\nBran made an attack on it then and got the best of it. And the pig began\nto scream, and with that a very tall man came out of the hill and he\nasked Finn to let the pig go free. And when he agreed to that, the man\nbrought them into the hill of the Sidhe at Glandeirgdeis; and when they\ncame to the door of the house he struck the pig with his Druid rod, and\non the moment it changed into a beautiful young woman, and the name he\ncalled her by was Scathach, the Shadowy One.\n\nAnd he made a great feast for the Fianna, and Finn asked the young girl\nin marriage, and the tall man, her father, said he would give her to him\non that very night.\n\nBut when night came on, Scathach asked the loan of a harp, and it was\nbrought to her. One string it had of iron, and one of bronze, and one of\nsilver. And when the iron string would be played, it would set all the\nhosts of the world crying and ever crying; and when the bright bronze\nstring would be played, it would set them all laughing from the one day\nto the same hour on the morrow; and when the silver string would be\nplayed, all the men of the whole world would fall into a long sleep.\n\nAnd it is the sleepy silver string the Shadowy One played upon, till\nFinn and Bran and all his people were in their heavy sleep.\n\nAnd when they awoke at the rising of the sun on the morrow, it is\noutside on the mountain of Bearnas they were, where they first saw the\nwild pig.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI. FINN'S MADNESS\n\n\nOne time Finn and the Fianna were come to a ford of the Slaine, and they\nsat down for a while. And as they were sitting there they saw on the\nround rock up over the ford a young woman, having a dress of silk and a\ngreen cloak about her, and a golden brooch in the cloak, and the golden\ncrown that is the sign of a queen on her head. \"Fianna of Ireland,\" she\nsaid, \"let one of you come now and speak with me.\"\n\nThen Sciathbreac, of the Speckled Shield, went towards her. \"Who is it\nyou are wanting?\" he said, \"Finn, son of Cumhal,\" said she. Finn went\nover then to talk with her. \"Who are you?\" he said, \"and what is it you\nare wanting?\" \"I am Daireann, daughter of Bodb Dearg, son of the Dagda,\"\nshe said; \"and I am come to be your wife if you will give me the\nbride-gift I ask.\" \"What bride-gift is that?\" said Finn. \"It is your\npromise,\" said she, \"I to be your only wife through the length of a\nyear, and to have the half of your time after that.\" \"I will not give\nthat promise,\" said Finn, \"to any woman of the world, and I will not\ngive it to you,\" he said.\n\nOn that the young woman took a cup of white silver from under a\ncovering, and filled it with strong drink, and she gave it to Finn.\n\"What is this?\" said Finn. \"It is very strong mead,\" said she. Now there\nwere bonds on Finn not to refuse anything belonging to a feast, so he\ntook the cup and drank what was in it, and on the moment he was like one\ngone mad. And he turned his face towards the Fianna, and every harm and\nevery fault and every misfortune in battle that he knew against any one\nof them, he sprang it on them, through the mad drunkenness the young\nwoman had put on him.\n\nThen the chief men of the Fianna of Ireland rose up and left the place\nto him, every one of them setting out for his own country, till there\nwas no one left upon the hill but Finn and Caoilte. And Caoilte rose up\nand followed after them, and he said: \"Fianna of Ireland,\" he said, \"do\nnot leave your lord and your leader through the arts and the tricks of a\nwoman of the Sidhe.\" Thirteen times he went after them, bringing them\nback to the hill in that way. And with the end of the day and the fall\nof night the bitterness went from Finn's tongue; and by the time Caoilte\nhad brought back the whole of the Fianna, his sense and his memory were\ncome back to him, and he would sooner have fallen on his sword and got\nhis death, than have stayed living.\n\nAnd that was the hardest day's work Caoilte ever did, unless the day he\nbrought the flock of beasts and birds to Teamhair, to ransom Finn from\nthe High King of Ireland.\n\nAnother time Maer, wife of Bersa of Berramain, fell in love with Finn,\nand she made nine nuts of Segair with love charms, and sent them to\nFinn, and bade him eat them. \"I will not,\" said Finn; \"for they are not\nnuts of knowledge, but nuts of ignorance; and it is not known what they\nare, unless they might be an enchantment for drinking love.\" So he\nburied them a foot deep in the earth.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII. THE RED WOMAN\n\n\nOne time the Fianna were in Almhuin with no great work to do, and there\ncame a very misty morning, and Finn was in dread that sluggishness would\ncome on his men, and he rose up, and he said: \"Make yourselves ready,\nand we will go hunting to Gleann-na-Smol.\"\n\nThey all said the day was too misty to go hunting; but there was no use\nin talking: they had to do as Finn bade them. So they made themselves\nready and went on towards Gleann-na-Smol; and they were not gone far\nwhen the mist lifted and the sun came shining out.\n\nAnd when they were on the edge of a little wood, they saw a strange\nbeast coming towards them with the quickness of the wind, and a Red\nWoman on its track. Narrow feet the beast had, and a head like the head\nof a boar, and long horns on it; but the rest of it was like a deer, and\nthere was a shining moon on each of its sides.\n\nFinn stopped, and he said: \"Fianna of Ireland,\" he said, \"did you ever\nsee a beast like that one until now?\" \"We never did indeed,\" said they;\n\"and it would be right for us to let out the hounds after it.\" \"Wait a\nwhile,\" said Finn, \"till I speak with the Red Woman; but do not let the\nbeast go past you,\" he said. They thought to keep back the beast then,\ngoing before it; but they were hardly able to hinder it at all, and it\nwent away through them.\n\nAnd when the Red Woman was come up to them, Finn asked her what was the\nname of the beast she was following. \"I do not know that,\" she said,\n\"though I am on its track since I left the borders of Loch Dearg a month\nago, and I never lost sight of it since then; and the two moons that are\non its two sides shine through the country all around in the night time.\nAnd I must follow it till it falls,\" she said, \"or I will lose my own\nlife and the lives of my three sons that are the best fighting men in\nthe whole world.\" \"We will take the beast for you if you have a mind,\"\nsaid Finn. \"Do not try to do that,\" she said, \"for I myself am swifter\nthan you are, and I cannot come up with it.\" \"We will not let it go till\nwe know what sort of a beast is it,\" said Finn. \"If you yourself or your\nshare of men go after it, I will bind you hand and foot,\" said she. \"It\nis too stiff your talk is,\" said Finn. \"And do you not know,\" he said,\n\"I am Finn, son of Cumhal; and there are fourscore fighting men along\nwith me that were never beaten yet.\" \"It is little heed I give to\nyourself or your share of men,\" said the Red Woman; \"and if my three\nsons were here, they would stand up against you.\" \"Indeed it will be a\nbad day,\" said Finn, \"when the threat of a woman will put fear on myself\nor on the Fianna of Ireland.\" With that he sounded his horn, and he\nsaid: \"Let us all follow now, men and dogs, after that beast that we\nsaw.\"\n\nHe had no sooner said that word than the woman made a great water-worm\nof herself, and made an attack on Finn, and she would have killed him\nthen and there but for Bran being with him. Bran took a grip of the worm\nand shook it, and then it wound itself round Bran's body, and would\nhave crushed the life out of her, but Finn thrust his sharp sword into\nits throat. \"Keep back your hand,\" said the worm then, \"and you will not\nhave the curse of a lonely woman upon you.\" \"It is what I think,\" said\nFinn, \"that you would not leave me my life if you could take it from me;\nbut go out of my sight now,\" he said, \"and that I may never see you\nagain.\"\n\nThen she made herself into a Red Woman again, and went away into the\nwood.\n\nAll the Fianna were gone on the track of the beast while Finn was\ntalking and fighting with the Red Woman; and he did not know in what\nplace they were, but he went following after them, himself and Bran. It\nwas late in the evening when he came up with a share of them, and they\nstill on the track of the beast. The darkness of the night was coming\non, but the two moons in the sides of the beast gave a bright light, and\nthey never lost it from sight. They followed it on always; and about\nmidnight they were pressing on it, and it began to scatter blood after\nit, and it was not long till Finn and his men were red from head to\nfoot. But that did not hinder them, and they followed him on till they\nsaw him going in at the foot of Cnoc-na-righ at the breaking of day.\n\nWhen they came to the foot of the hill the Red Woman was standing there\nbefore them. \"You did not take the beast,\" she said. \"We did not take\nit, but we know where it is,\" said Finn.\n\nShe took a Druid rod then, and she struck a blow on the side of the\nhill, and on the moment a great door opened, and they heard sweet music\ncoming from within. \"Come in now,\" said the Red Woman, \"till you see the\nwonderful beast.\" \"Our clothing is not clean,\" said Finn, \"and we would\nnot like to go in among a company the way we are,\" he said.\n\nShe put a horn to her mouth and blew it, and on the moment there came\nten young men to her. \"Bring water for washing,\" she said, \"and four\ntimes twenty suits of clothes, and a beautiful suit and a crown of\nshining stones for Finn, son of Cumhal.\" The young men went away then,\nand they came back at the end of a minute with water and with clothing.\n\nWhen the Fianna were washed and dressed, the Red Woman brought them into\na great hall, where there was the brightness of the sun and of the moon\non every side. From that she brought them into another great room; and\nalthough Finn and his men had seen many grand things up to that time,\nthey had never seen any sight so grand as what they saw in this place.\nThere was a king sitting in a golden chair, having clothes of gold and\nof green, and his chief people were sitting around him, and his\nmusicians were playing. And no one could know what colour were the\ndresses of the musicians, for every colour of the rainbow was in them.\nAnd there was a great table in the middle of the room, having every sort\nof thing on it, one better than another.\n\nThe king rose up and gave a welcome to Finn and to his men, and he bade\nthem to sit down at the table; and they ate and drank their fill, and\nthat was wanting to them after the hunt they had made. And then the Red\nWoman rose up, and she said: \"King of the Hill, if it is your will, Finn\nand his men have a mind to see the wonderful beast, for they spent a\nlong time following after it, and that is what brought them here.\"\n\nThe king struck a blow then on his golden chair, and a door opened\nbehind him, and the beast came through it and stood before the king. And\nit stooped down before him, and it said: \"I am going on towards my own\ncountry now; and there is not in the world a runner so good as myself,\nand the sea is the same to me as the land. And let whoever can come up\nwith me come now,\" it said, \"for I am going.\"\n\nWith that the beast went out from the hill as quick as a blast of wind,\nand all the people that were in it went following after it. It was not\nlong till Finn and his men were before the rest, in the front of the\nhunt, gaining on the beast.\n\nAnd about midday Bran made the beast turn, and then she forced it to\nturn a second time, and it began to put out cries, and it was not long\nuntil its strength began to flag; and at last, just at the setting of\nthe sun, it fell dead, and Bran was at its side when it fell.\n\nThen Finn and his men came up, but in place of a beast it was a tall man\nthey saw lying dead before them. And the Red Woman came up at the same\ntime, and she said: \"High King of the Fianna, that is the King of the\nFirbolgs you have killed; and his people will put great troubles on this\ncountry in the time to come, when you yourself, Finn, and your people\nwill be under the sod. And I myself am going now to the Country of the\nYoung,\" she said, \"and I will bring you with me if you have a mind to\ncome.\" \"We give you our thanks for that,\" said Finn, \"but we would not\ngive up our own country if we were to get the whole world as an estate,\nand the Country of the Young along with it.\" \"That is well,\" said the\nRed Woman; \"but you are going home empty after your hunt.\" \"It is likely\nwe will find a deer in Gleann-na-Smol,\" said Finn. \"There is a fine deer\nat the foot of that tree beyond,\" said the Red Woman, \"and I will rouse\nit for you.\" With that she gave a cry, and the deer started out and\naway, and Finn and his men after it, and it never stopped till it came\nto Gleann-na-Smol, but they could not come up with it. Then the Red\nWoman came to them, and she said: \"I think you are tired now with\nfollowing after the deer; and call your hounds off now,\" she said, \"and\nI will let out my own little dog after it.\" So Finn sounded a little\nhorn he had at his side, and on the moment the hounds came back to him.\nAnd then the Red Woman brought out a little hound as white as the snow\nof the mountains, and put it after the deer; and it was not long till it\nhad come up with the deer and killed it, and then it came back and made\na leap in under the cloak of the Red Woman. There was great wonder on\nFinn; but before he could ask a question of the Red Woman, she was gone\nout of sight. And as to the deer, Finn knew there was enchantment on it,\nand so he left it there after him. And it is tired and empty the Fianna\nwere, going back to Almhuin that night.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII. FINN AND THE PHANTOMS\n\n\nFinn went to a gathering one time at Aonach Clochair, and a great many\nof the men of Munster crowded to it. And the horses of the Fianna were\nbrought there, and the horses of the men of Munster, and they ran races\nagainst one another.\n\nAnd Fiachu, son of Eoghan, was in it; and when the games were over he\ngave good presents to Finn, a lasting black horse that won the three\nprizes of the gathering, and a chariot, and a horse for the\nchariot-driver, and a spear, having a deadly spell, and weapons of\nsilver, and three comely hounds, Feirne and Derchaem and Dialath, having\ncollars of yellow gold and chains of white bronze.\n\nAnd Finn rose up and gave his thanks to Fiachu, son of Eoghan, and he\nand his people set out to the house of Cacher at Cluain-da-loch. And\nthey stopped three days feasting in Cacher's house, and then Finn gave\nhim the price of his feast and of his ale, fifty rings, and fifty horses\nand fifty cows.\n\nAnd he himself and the Fianna went on from that over Luachair to the\nstrand at Berramain. And Finn went trying his black horse on the strand,\nand Caoilte and Oisin went racing against him; but it was only folly for\nthem to do that, for he gave a blow to his horse, and away with him to\nTraigh Liath and over the Plain of Health to the Old Yew of the Old\nValley, and to the inver of the Flesc and the inver of the Lemain to\nLoch Lein, till he came to the hill of Bairnech, and Caoilte and Oisin\nafter him.\n\n\"Night is coming on us,\" said Finn then; \"and go look for some place\nwhere we can sleep,\" he said. He looked round then at the rocks on his\nleft hand and he saw a house, and a fire shining out from it in the\nvalley below. \"I never knew of a house in this valley,\" he said.\n\n\"It is best for us to go see it,\" said Caoilte, \"for there are many\nthings we have no knowledge of.\"\n\nThe three went on then to the house, and they heard screams and crying\nfrom it; and when they came to the house, the people of it were very\nfierce and rough; and a big grey man took hold of their horses and\nbrought them in and shut the door of the house with iron hooks. \"My\nwelcome to you, Finn of the great name,\" he said then; \"it is a long\ntime you were in coming here.\"\n\nThey sat down then on the hard boards of a bed, and the grey man kindled\na fire, and he threw logs of elder-wood on it, till they went near being\nsmothered with the smoke. They saw a hag in the house then having three\nheads on her lean neck; and there was on the other side a man without a\nhead, having one eye, and it in his breast. \"Rise up, you that are in\nthe house, and make music for the King of the Fianna,\" said the grey man\nthen.\n\nWith that nine bodies rose up out of the corner nearest the Fianna, and\nnine heads rose up on the other side of the bed, and they raised nine\nharsh screeches together, that no one would like to be listening to. And\nthen the hag answered to them, and the headless man answered; and if all\nof that music was harsh, there was none of it that you would not wish to\nhear sooner than the music of the one-eyed man. And the music that was\nsung went near to breaking the bones of their heads; and indeed it is no\nsweet music that was.\n\nThen the big grey man rose up and took the axe that was for cutting\nlogs, and he began striking at the horses, flaying and destroying them.\nThen there were brought fifty pointed spits of the rowan-tree, and he\nput a piece of the horse's flesh on each one of the spits, and settled\nthem on the hearth. But when he took the spits from the fire and put\nthem before Finn, it is raw the flesh was on them yet. \"Take your food\naway,\" said Finn then, \"for I have never eaten meat that was raw, and I\nnever will eat it because of being without food for one day.\" \"If you\nare come into our house to refuse our food,\" said the grey man, \"we will\nsurely go against yourselves, Finn and Caoilte and Oisin.\"\n\nWith that all in the house made an attack on the three; and they were\ndriven back into the corner, and the fire was quenched, and the fight\nwent on through the whole night in the darkness, and but for Finn and\nthe way he fought, they would have been put down.\n\nAnd when the sun rose and lighted up the house on the morrow, a mist\ncame into the head of each of the three, so that they fell as if dead on\nthe floor.\n\nBut after awhile they rose up again, and there was nothing to be seen of\nthe house or of the people of the house, but they had all vanished. And\ntheir horses were there, and they took them and went on, very weak and\ntired, for a long way, till they came to the strand of Berramain.\n\nAnd those three that fought against them were the three Shapes out of\nthe Valley of the Yew Tree that came to avenge their sister, Cuillen of\nthe Wide Mouth.\n\nNow as to Cuillen, she was a daughter of the King of Munster, and her\nhusband was the King of Ulster's son. And they had a son that was called\nFear Og, the Young Man; and there was hardly in Ireland a man so good as\nhimself in shape and in courage and in casting a spear. And one time he\njoined in a game with the Fianna, and he did better than them all, and\nFinn gave him a great reward. And after that he went out to a hunt they\nmade, and it was by him and by none of the Fianna the first blood was\ngot of pig or of deer. And when they came back, a heavy sickness fell on\nthe young man through the eyes and the envy of the Fianna, and it left\nhim without life at the end of nine days. And he was buried under a\ngreen hill, and the shining stone he used to hold in his hand, and he\ndoing his feats, was put over his head.\n\nAnd his mother, Cuillen, came to his grave keening him every day through\nthe length of a year. And one day she died there for grief after her\nson, and they put her into the same green hill.\n\nBut as to Finn, he was afraid of no earthly thing, and he killed many\ngreat serpents in Loch Cuilinn and Loch Neathach, and at Beinn Edair;\nand Shadow-Shapes at Loch Lein and Drom Cleib and Loch Liath, and a\nserpent and a cat in Ath Cliath.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV. THE PIGS OF ANGUS\n\n\nAngus Og, son of the Dagda, made a feast one time at Brugh na Boinne for\nFinn and the Fianna of the Gael. Ten hundred of them were in it, and\nthey wearing green clothing and crimson cloaks; and as to the people of\nAngus' house, it is clothing of red silk they had.\n\nAnd Finn was sitting beside Angus in the beautiful house, and it is\nlong since the like of those two were seen in Ireland. And any stranger\nwould wonder to see the way the golden cups were going from hand to\nhand.\n\nAnd Angus said out in a loud voice that every one could hear: \"It is a\nbetter life this is than to be hunting.\" There was anger on Finn then,\nand he said: \"It is a worse life than hunting to be here, without\nhounds, without horses, without battalions, without the shouting of\narmies.\" \"Why are you talking like that, Finn?\" said Angus, \"for as to\nthe hounds you have,\" he said, \"they would not kill so much as one pig.\"\n\"You have not yourself,\" said Finn, \"and the whole host of the Tuatha de\nDanaan have not a pig that ever went on dry land that Bran and Sceolan\nwould not kill.\" \"I will send you a pig,\" said Angus, \"that will go from\nyou and your hounds, and that will kill them in the end.\"\n\nThe steward of the house called out then in a loud voice: \"Let every one\ngo now to his bed, before the lightness of drunkenness comes on you.\"\nBut Finn said to his people: \"Let us make ready and leave this; for we\nare but a few,\" he said, \"among the Men of Dea.\" So they set out and\nwent westward till they came to Slieve Fuad where the Fianna were at\nthat time.\n\nAnd through the whole length of a year after that, the Tuatha de Danaan\nwere boasting how they would get the better of the Fianna, and the\nFianna were thinking how they could do best in the hunt. And at the end\nof that time Angus sent messengers to Finn, asking him with great\nrespect if he was ready to keep his word. And Finn said he was, and the\nhounds were brought out, and he himself was holding Bran and Sceolan,\none in each hand, and Caoilte had Adhnuall, and Oisin had Ablach, and\nmerry Bran Beag had Lonn, and Diarmuid was holding Eachtach, and Osgar\nwas holding Mac an Truim, and Garraidh was held by Faolan, and Rith\nFada, of the Long Run, by hungry Conan.\n\nAnd they were not long there with their hounds till they saw on the\nplain to the east a terrible herd of great pigs, every one of them the\nheight of a deer. And there was one pig out in front of the rest was\nblacker than a smith's coal, and the bristles on its head were like a\nthicket of thorn-trees.\n\nThen Caoilte let out Adhnuall, and she was the first to kill a pig of\nthe herd. And then Bran made away from the leash that Finn was holding,\nand the pigs ran their best, but she came up with them, and took hold of\na pig of them. And at that Angus said: \"O Bran, fosterling of\nfair-haired Fergus, it is not a right thing you are doing, to kill my\nown son.\" But when Bran heard that, her ways changed and it was like an\nenemy she took hold of the pig, and did not let it go, and held her\nbreath back and kept it for the Fianna.\n\nAnd it was over Slieve Cua the hunt went, and Slieve Crot, and from Magh\nCobha to Cruachan, and to Fionnabraic and to Finnias. And at evening\nwhen the hunt was over, there was not one pig of the whole herd without\na hurt, and there were but a hundred and ten pigs left living. But if\nthe hunt brought destruction on Angus, it brought losses on the Fianna\nas well, for there were ten hundred of their men missing besides\nserving-lads and dogs.\n\n\"Let us go to Brugh na Boinne and get satisfaction for our people,\" said\nOisin then. \"That is the advice of a man without sense,\" said Finn; \"for\nif we leave these pigs the way they are, they will come to life again.\nAnd let us burn them,\" he said, \"and throw their ashes in the sea.\"\n\nThen the seven battalions of the Fianna made seven fires to every\nbattalion; but for all they could do, they could not set fire to one\npig. Then Bran, that had great sense and knowledge, went away, and she\ncame back bringing three logs along with her, but no one knows what wood\nit was they came from. And when the logs were put on the fire they lit\nup like a candle, and it is with them the pigs were burned; and after\nthat their ashes were thrown into the sea.\n\nThen Oisin said again: \"Let us go now to Brugh na Boinne and avenge the\ndeath of our people.\" So the whole of the Fianna set out for Brugh na\nBoinne, and every step they made could surely be heard through the whole\nof the skies.\n\nAnd Angus sent out messengers to where Finn was, offering any one thing\nto him if he would spare his people. \"I will take no gift at all from\nyou, Angus of the slender body,\" said Finn, \"so long as there is a room\nleft in your house, north or east, without being burned.\" But Angus\nsaid: \"Although you think bad of the loss of your fine people that you\nhave the sway over, yet, O Finn, father of Oisin, it is sorrowful to me\nthe loss of my own good son is. For as to the black pig that came before\nyou on the plain,\" he said, \"it was no common pig was in it, but my own\nson. And there fell along with him,\" he said, \"the son of the King of\nthe Narrow Sea, and the son of the King of the Sea of Gulls, and the son\nof Ilbhrec, son of Manannan, and seven score of the comely sons of kings\nand queens. And it is what destroyed my strength and my respect\nentirely, they to have been burned away from me in a far place. And it\nis a pity for you, sweet daring Bran,\" he said, \"fosterling of Fergus of\nthe thirty woods and plains, that you did not do something worth praise\nbefore killing your own foster-brother. And I will put a curse on you,\nBran,\" he said, \"beyond every hound in Ireland, that you will never see\nwith your eyes any deer you may ever kill.\"\n\nThere was anger on Finn when he heard that, and he said: \"If you put a\ncurse on Bran, Angus, there will not be a room left, east or west, in\nthe whole of your great house without being burned.\" \"If you do that,\"\nsaid Angus, \"I will put trees and stones in front of you in every\nbattle; and I will know what number of men you have in your armies,\" he\nsaid, \"looking at them through my ring.\"\n\nThen Oisin, that was wise, said: \"It is best for you to agree between\nyourselves now; and let us be helpful to one another,\" he said, \"and pay\nwhatever fines are due.\"\n\nSo they agreed to that, and they made peace, and gave children to be\nfostered by one another: a son of Finn's to Angus, and son of Angus Og\nto the Fianna.\n\nBut for all that, it is not very friendly to Finn Angus was afterwards,\nat the time he was following after Diarmuid and Grania through the whole\nlength of Ireland.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV. THE HUNT OF SLIEVE CUILINN\n\n\nFinn was one time out on the green of Almhuin, and he saw what had the\nappearance of a grey fawn running across the plain. He called and\nwhistled to his hounds then, but neither hound nor man heard him or came\nto him, but only Bran and Sceolan. He set them after the fawn, and near\nas they kept to her, he himself kept nearer to them, till at last they\nreached to Slieve Cuilinn in the province of Ulster.\n\nBut they were no sooner at the hill than the fawn vanished from them,\nand they did not know where was she gone, and Finn went looking for her\neastward, and the two hounds went towards the west.\n\nIt was not long till Finn came to a lake, and there was sitting on the\nbrink of it a young girl, the most beautiful he had ever seen, having\nhair of the colour of gold, and a skin as white as lime, and eyes like\nthe stars in time of frost; but she seemed to be some way sorrowful and\ndownhearted. Finn asked her did she see his hounds pass that way. \"I did\nnot see them,\" she said; \"and it is little I am thinking of your hounds\nor your hunting, but of the cause of my own trouble.\" \"What is it ails\nyou, woman of the white hands?\" said Finn; \"and is there any help I can\ngive you?\" he said. \"It is what I am fretting after,\" said she, \"a ring\nof red gold I lost off my finger in the lake. And I put you under bonds,\nFinn of the Fianna,\" she said, \"to bring it back to me out of the lake.\"\n\nWith that Finn stripped off his clothes and went into the lake at the\nbidding of the woman, and he went three times round the whole lake and\ndid not leave any part of it without searching, till he brought back the\nring. He handed it up to her then out of the water, and no sooner had he\ndone that than she gave a leap into the water and vanished.\n\nAnd when Finn came up on the bank of the lake, he could not so much as\nreach to where his clothes were; for on the moment he, the head and the\nleader of the Fianna of Ireland, was but a grey old man, weak and\nwithered.\n\nBran and Sceolan came up to him then, but they did not know him, and\nthey went on round the lake, searching after their master.\n\n\nIn Almhuin, now, when he was missed, Caoilte began asking after him.\n\"Where is Finn,\" he said, \"of the gentle rule and of the spears?\" But no\none knew where was he gone, and there was grief on the Fianna when they\ncould not find him. But it is what Conan said: \"I never heard music\npleased me better than to hear the son of Cumhal is missing. And that he\nmay be so through the whole year,\" he said, \"and I myself will be king\nover you all.\" And downhearted as they were, it is hardly they could\nkeep from laughing when they heard Conan saying that.\n\nCaoilte and the rest of the chief men of the Fianna set out then looking\nfor Finn, and they got word of him; and at last they came to Slieve\nCuilinn, and there they saw a withered old man sitting beside the lake,\nand they thought him to be a fisherman. \"Tell us, old man,\" said\nCaoilte, \"did you see a fawn go by, and two hounds after her, and a tall\nfair-faced man along with them?\" \"I did see them,\" he said, \"and it is\nnot long since they left me.\" \"Tell us where are they now?\" said\nCaoilte. But Finn made no answer, for he had not the courage to say to\nthem that he himself was Finn their leader, being as he was an ailing,\ndownhearted old man, without leaping, without running, without walk,\ngrey and sorrowful.\n\nCaoilte took out his sword from the sheath then, and he said: \"It is\nshort till you will have knowledge of death unless you will tell us what\nhappened those three.\"\n\nThen Finn told them the whole story; and when the seven battalions of\nthe Fianna heard him, and knew it was Finn that was in it, they gave\nthree loud sorrowful cries. And to the lake they gave the name of Loch\nDoghra, the Lake of Sorrow.\n\nBut Conan of the sharp tongue began abusing Finn and all the Fianna by\nturns. \"You never gave me right praise for my deeds, Finn, son of\nCumhal,\" he said, \"and you were always the enemy of the sons of Morna;\nbut we are living in spite of you,\" he said, \"and I have but the one\nfault to find with your shape, and that is, that it was not put on the\nwhole of the Fianna the same as on yourself.\" Caoilte made at him then;\n\"Bald, senseless Conan,\" he said, \"I will break your mouth to the bone.\"\nBut Conan ran in then among the rest of the Fianna and asked protection\nfrom them, and peace was made again.\n\nAnd as to Finn, they asked him was there any cure to be found for him.\n\"There is,\" he said; \"for I know well the enchantment was put on me by a\nwoman of the Sidhe, Miluchradh, daughter of Cuilinn, through jealousy of\nher sister Aine. And bring me to the hill that belongs to Cuilinn of\nCuailgne,\" he said, \"for he is the only one can give me my shape again.\"\n\nThey came around him then, and raised him up gently on their shields,\nand brought him on their shoulders to the hill of the Sidhe in Cuailgne,\nbut no one came out to meet them. Then the seven battalions began\ndigging and rooting up the whole hill, and they went on digging through\nthe length of three nights and three days. And at the end of that time\nCuilinn of Cuailgne, that some say was Manannan, son of Lir, came out of\nthe hill, holding in his hand a vessel of red gold, and he gave the\nvessel into Finn's hand. And no sooner did Finn drink what was in the\nvessel than his own shape and his appearance came back to him. But only\nhis hair, that used to be so fair and so beautiful, like the hair of a\nwoman, never got its own colour again, for the lake that Cuilinn's\ndaughter had made for Finn would have turned all the men of the whole\nworld grey if they had gone into it.\n\nAnd when Finn had drunk all that was in the vessel it slipped from his\nhand into the earth, that was loosened with the digging, and he saw it\nno more. But in the place where it went into the earth, a tree grew up,\nand any one that would look at the branches of that tree in the morning,\nfasting, would have knowledge of all that was to happen on that day.\n\nThat, now, is the way Finn came by his grey hair, through the jealousy\nof Miluchradh of the Sidhe, because he had not given his love to her,\nbut to her sister Aine.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK FIVE: OISIN'S CHILDREN\n\n\nNow as to Oisin, that was so brave and so comely, and that could\novertake a deer at its greatest speed, and see a thistle thorn on the\ndarkest night, the wife he took was Eibhir of the plaited yellow hair,\nthat was the foreign sweetheart of the High King of Ireland.\n\nIt is beyond the sea she lived, in a very sunny place; and her father's\nname was lunsa, and her sunny house was thatched with the feathers of\nbirds, and the doorposts were of gold, and the doors of ribbed grass.\nAnd Oisin went there looking for her, and he fought for her against the\nHigh King and against an army of the Firbolgs he had helping him; and he\ngot the better of them all, and brought away Eibhir of the yellow hair\nto Ireland.\n\nAnd he had a daughter that married the son of Oiliol, son of Eoghan, and\nof Beara, daughter of the King of Spain. It was that Eoghan was driven\nout of Ireland one time, and it is to Spain he went for safety. And\nBeara, that was daughter of the King of Spain, was very shining and\nbeautiful, and her father had a mind to know who would be her husband,\nand he sent for his Druid and asked the question of him. \"I can tell you\nthat,\" said the Druid, \"for the man that is to be her husband will come\nto land in Spain this very night. And let your daughter go eastward to\nthe river Eibhear,\" he said, \"and she will find a crimson-spotted salmon\nin that river, having shining clothing on him from head to tail. And let\nher strip that clothing off him,\" he said, \"and make with it a shining\nshirt for her husband.\"\n\nSo Beara went to the river Eibhear, and found the golden salmon as the\nDruid had said, and she stripped him of his crimson clothing and made a\nshining shirt of it.\n\nAnd as to Eoghan, the waves of the shore put a welcome before him, and\nhe came the same night to the king's house. And the king gave him a\nfriendly welcome; and it is what all the people said, that there was\nnever seen a comelier man than Eoghan, or a woman more beautiful than\nBeara, and that it was fitting for them to come together. And Eoghan's\nown people said they would not be sorry for being sent away out of\nIreland, if only Eoghan could get her for his wife.\n\nAnd after a while the king sent his Druid to ask Eoghan why he did not\nask for Beara. \"I will tell you that,\" said Eoghan; \"it would not be\nfitting for me to be refused a wife, and I am but an exile in this\ncountry, and I have brought no treasures or goods with me out of Ireland\nfor giving to learned men and to poets. But for all that,\" he said, \"the\nking's daughter is dear to me, and I think I have the friendship of the\nking.\"\n\nThe Druid went back with that message. \"That is the answer of a king,\"\nsaid the King of Spain; \"and bid my daughter to sit at Eoghan's right\nhand,\" he said, \"and I will give her to him this very night.\" And when\nBeara, the king's daughter, heard that, she sent out her serving-maid to\nbring the shirt she had made for Eoghan, and he put it on him over his\narmour, and its shining was seen in every place; and it was from wearing\nthat shirt he got the name of Eoghan the Bright.\n\nAnd Oiliol was the first son they had; it was he that had his ear bitten\noff by Aine of the Sidhe in revenge for her brother, and it was his son\nmarried Oisin's daughter afterwards.\n\nAnd as to Osgar, that was Oisin's son, of all the young men of the\nFianna he was the best in battle. And when he was but a young child he\nwas made much of by the whole of the Fianna, and it is for him they used\nto keep the marrow bones, and they did not like to put any hardship on\nhim. And he grew up tall and idle, and no one thought he would turn out\nso strong as he did. And one day there was an attack made on a troop of\nthe Fianna, and all that were in it went out to fight, but they left\nOsgar after them. And when he knew the fight was going on, he took a log\nof wood that was the first thing he could find, and attacked the enemy\nand made a great slaughter, and they gave way and ran before him. And\nfrom that out there was no battle he did not go into; and he was said to\nbe the strongest of all the Fianna, though the people of Connacht said\nthat Goll was the strongest. And he and Diarmuid, grandson of Duibhne,\nwere comrades and dear friends; and it was Diarmuid taught him feats of\narms and of skill, and chess-playing. And Oisin his father took great\npride in him, and his grandfather Finn. And one time Finn was holding a\nfeast at Almhuin, and he asked the chief men of the Fianna that were\nthere what was the music they thought the best. \"To be playing at\ngames,\" said Conan, \"that is the best music I ever heard;\" for though\nConan was a good hand against an enemy, there never was a man had less\nsense. \"The music I like the best is to be talking with a woman,\" said\nDiarmuid. \"My music is the outcry of my hounds, and they putting a deer\nto its last stand,\" said Lugaidh's Son. \"The music of the woods is best\nto me,\" said Oisin; \"the sound of the wind and of the cuckoo and the\nblackbird, and the sweet silence of the crane.\"\n\nAnd then Osgar was asked, and he said: \"The best music is the striking\nof swords in a battle.\" And it is likely he took after Finn in that, for\nin spite of all the sweet sounds he gave an account of the time he was\nat Conan's house, at Ceann Slieve, it used to be said by the Fianna that\nthe music that was best with Finn was what happened.\n\nThis now is the way Osgar met with his wife.\n\nOne time Finn and his men came to Slieve Crot, and they saw a woman\nwaiting there before them, having a crimson fringed cloak, and a gold\nbrooch in it, and a band of yellow gold on her forehead. Finn asked her\nname, and where she came from. \"Etain of the Fair Hair is my name,\" she\nsaid, \"daughter of Aedh of the White Breast, of the hill of the Sidhe at\nBeinn Edair, son of Angus Og.\" \"What is it brought you here, girl?\" said\nFinn. \"To ask a man of the Fianna of Ireland to run a race with me.\"\n\"What sort of a runner are you?\" said Diarmuid. \"I am a good runner,\"\nsaid the girl; \"for it is the same to me if the ground is long or short\nunder my feet.\"\n\nAll of the Fianna that were there then set out to run with her, and they\nran to the height over Badhamair and on to Ath Cliath, and from that on\nto the hill of the Sidhe at Beinn Edair.\n\nAnd there was a good welcome before them, and they were brought meat and\nwine for drinking, and water for washing their feet. And after a while\nthey saw a nice fair-haired girl in front of the vats, and a cup of\nwhite silver in her hand, and she giving out drink to every one. \"It\nseems to me that is the girl came asking the Fianna to race against her\nat Slieve Crot,\" said Finn. \"It is not,\" said Aedh of the White Breast,\n\"for that is the slowest woman there is among us.\" \"Who was it so?\" said\nFinn. \"It was Be-mannair, daughter of Ainceol, woman-messenger of the\nTuatha de Danaan. And it is she that changes herself into all shapes;\nand she will take the shape of a fly, and of a true lover, and every one\nleaves their secret with her. And it was she outran you coming from the\neast,\" he said, \"and not this other girl that was drinking and making\nmerry here in the hall.\" \"What is her name?\" said Finn. \"Etain of the\nFair Hair,\" he said; \"a daughter of my own, and a darling of the Tuatha\nde Danaan. And it is the way with her, she has a lover of the men of the\nFianna.\" \"That is well,\" said Finn; \"and who is that lover?\" \"It is\nOsgar, son of Oisin,\" said Aedh; \"and it is she herself sent her\nmessenger for you,\" he said, \"in her own shape, to Slieve Crot in the\nsouth. And the son of the High King of Ireland has offered a great\nbride-price to the Men of Dea for her,\" he said, \"three hundreds of the\nland nearest to Bregia and to Midhe, and to put himself and his weight\nof gold into a balance, and to give it all to her. But we did not take\nit,\" he said, \"since she had no mind or wish for it herself, and so we\nmade no dealing or agreement about her.\" \"Well,\" said Finn, \"and what\nconditions will you ask of Osgar?\" \"Never to leave me for anything at\nall but my own fault,\" said the girl. \"I will make that agreement with\nyou indeed,\" said Osgar. \"Give me sureties for it,\" said she; \"give me\nthe sureties of Goll for the sons of Morna, and of Finn, son of Cumhal,\nfor the Fianna of Ireland.\"\n\nSo they gave those sureties, and the wedding-feast was made, and they\nstopped there for twenty nights. And at the end of that time Osgar asked\nFinn where would he bring his wife. \"Bring her to wide Almhuin for the\nfirst seven years,\" said Finn.\n\nBut a while after that, in a great battle at Beinn Edair, Osgar got so\nheavy a wound that Finn and the Fianna were as if they had lost their\nwits. And when Etain of the Fair Hair came to the bed where Osgar was\nlying, and saw the way he was, and that the great kinglike shape he had\nwas gone from him, greyness and darkness came on her, and she raised\npitiful cries, and she went to her bed and her heart broke in her like a\nnut; and she died of grief for her husband and her first love.\n\nBut it was not at that time Osgar got his death, but afterwards in the\nbattle of Gabhra.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK SIX: DIARMUID.\n\nCHAPTER I. BIRTH OF DIARMUID\n\n\nDiarmuid, now, was son of Bonn, son of Duibhne of the Fianna, and his\nmother was Crochnuit, that was near in blood to Finn. And at the time he\nwas born, Bonn was banished from the Fianna because of some quarrel they\nhad with him, and Angus Og took the child from him to rear him up at\nBrugh na Boinne.\n\nAnd after a while Crochnuit bore another son to Roc Diocain, that was\nHead Steward to Angus. Roc Diocain went then to Donn, and asked would he\nrear up his son for him, the way Angus was rearing Donn's son. But Donn\nsaid he would not take the son of a common man into his house, and it\nwould be best for Angus to take him. So Angus took the child into Brugh\nna Boinne, and he and Diarmuid were reared up together.\n\nAnd one day Finn was on the great Hill at Almhuin of Leinster, and no\none with him but Donn and a few of the poets and learned men of the\nFianna, and their hounds and dogs, and Bran Beag came in and asked did\nhe remember there were bonds on him, not to stop in Almhuin for ten\nnights together. Finn asked the people about him then where would he go\nand be entertained for that night, and Donn said: \"I will bring you to\nthe house of Angus, son of the Dagda, where my young son is being\nreared.\"\n\n\nSo they went together to the house of Angus at Brugh na Boinne, and the\nchild Diarmuid was there, and it is great love Angus had for him. And\nthe Steward's son was with him that night, and the people of the\nhousehold made as much of him as Angus made of Diarmuid; and there was\ngreat vexation on Donn when he saw that. It chanced after a while a\ngreat fight rose between two of Finn's hounds about some broken meat\nthat was thrown to them; and the women and the common people of the\nplace ran from them, and the others rose up to part them from one\nanother. And in running away, the Steward's child ran between the knees\nof Donn, and Donn gave the child a strong squeeze between his two knees\nthat killed him on the moment, and he threw him under the feet of the\nhounds. And when the Steward came after that and found his son dead, he\ngave a long very pitiful cry, and he said to Finn: \"There is not a man\nin the house to-night has suffered more than myself from this uproar,\nfor I had but one son only, and he has been killed; and what\nsatisfaction will I get from you for that, Finn?\" he said. \"Try can you\nfind the mark of a tooth or of a nail of one of the hounds on him,\" said\nFinn, \"and if you can, I will give you satisfaction for him.\"\n\nSo they looked at the child, and there was no scratch or mark of a tooth\non him at all. Then the Steward put Finn under the destroying bonds of\nthe Druid cave of Cruachan, to give him knowledge of who it was killed\nhis son. And Finn asked for a chess-board, and for water to be brought\nto him, in a basin of pale gold, and he searched, and it was shown to\nhim truly that it was Donn had killed the Steward's son between his two\nknees. When Finn knew that, he said he would take the fine on himself;\nbut the Steward would not consent to that, but forced him to tell who\nwas it had done him the wrong. And when he knew it was Donn had killed\nthe child, he said: \"There is no man in the house it is easier to get\nsatisfaction from than from him, for his own son is here, and I have but\nto put him between my two knees, and if I let him go from me safe, I\nwill forgive the death of my son.\" Angus was vexed at what the Steward\nsaid, and as to Donn, he thought to strike his head off till Finn put\nhim back from him. Then the Steward came again, having a Druid rod with\nhim, and he struck his own son with the rod, and he made of him a wild\nboar, without bristle or ear or tail, and he said: \"I put you under\nbonds to bring Diarmuid, grandson of Duibhne, to his death; and your\nown life will be no longer than his life,\" he said. With that the wild\nboar rose up and ran out of the open door; and he was called afterwards\nthe Boar of Slieve Guillion, and it was by him Diarmuid came to his\ndeath at the last.\n\nAnd when Diarmuid came to his full strength he was given a place among\nthe Fianna of Ireland; and all women loved him, and he did many great\ndeeds, fighting with the enemies of the Fianna and of Ireland; and one\ntime he fought a wild ox through the length of seven days and seven\nnights on the top of the Mountain of Happiness.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II. HOW DIARMUID GOT HIS LOVE-SPOT\n\n\nDiarmuid and Conan and Goll and Osgar went one day hunting, and they\nwent so far they could not get home in the evening, and they spent the\nfirst part of the night walking through the woods and pulling berries\nand eating them. And when it was about midnight they saw a light, and\nthey went towards it, and they found a little house before them, and the\nlight shining from it. They went in then, and they saw an old man there,\nand he bade them welcome, and he called them all by their names. And\nthey saw no one in the house but the old man and a young girl and a cat.\nAnd the old man bade the girl to make food ready for the Fianna of\nIreland, for there was great hunger on them.\n\nAnd when the food was ready and put on the table, there came a great\nwether that was fastened up in the back of the house, and he rose up on\nthe table where they were eating, and when they saw that, they looked at\none another. \"Rise up, Conan,\" said Goll, \"and fasten that wether in\nthe place it was before.\" Conan rose up and took hold of it, but the\nwether gave itself a shake that threw Conan under one of its feet. The\nrest were looking at that, and Goll said: \"Let you rise up, Diarmuid,\nand fasten up the wether.\" So Diarmuid rose up and took hold of it, but\nit gave itself a shake the same way as before; and when Diarmuid was\ndown it put one of its feet on him. Goll and Osgar looked at one another\nthen, and shame came on them, a wether to have done so much as that. And\nOsgar got up, but the wether put him down under one of his feet, so that\nit had now the three men under him. Then Goll rose up and took hold of\nit and threw it down; but if he did, it rose up again in spite of him,\nand put Goll under his fourth foot.\n\n\"It is a great shame,\" said the old man then, \"the like of that to be\ndone to the Fianna of Ireland. And rise up now, cat,\" he said, \"and tie\nthe wether in the place where he was.\" The cat rose up then and took\nhold of the wether, and brought it over and tied it in its place at the\nend of the house.\n\nThe men rose up then, but they had no mind to go on eating, for there\nwas shame on them at what the wether had done to them. \"You may go on\neating,\" said the old man; \"and when you are done I will show you that\nnow you are the bravest men of the world.\" So they ate their fill then,\nand the old man spoke to them, and it is what he said: \"Goll,\" he said,\n\"you are the bravest of all the men of the world, for you have wrestled\nwith the world and you threw it down. The strength of the world is in\nthe wether, but death will come to the world itself; and that is death,\"\nhe said, showing them the cat.\n\nThey were talking together then, and they had their food eaten, and the\nold man said their beds were ready for them that they could go to sleep.\nThe four of them went then into the one room, and when they were in\ntheir beds the young girl came to sleep in the same room with them, and\nthe light of her beauty was shining on the walls like as if it was the\nlight of a candle.\n\nAnd when Conan saw her he went over to the side of the bed where she\nwas.\n\nNow, it was Youth the young girl was, and when she saw Conan coming to\nher: \"Go back to your bed, Conan,\" she said; \"I belonged to you once,\nand I will never belong to you again.\" Conan went back to his bed then,\nand Osgar had a mind to go over where she was. Then she said to him:\n\"Where are you going?\" \"I am going over to yourself for a while,\" said\nhe.\n\n\"Go back again, Osgar,\" she said; \"I belonged to you once, and I will\nnever belong to you again.\"\n\nThen Diarmuid rose up to go to her: \"Where are you going, Diarmuid?\" she\nsaid. \"I am going over to yourself for a while,\" said he. \"O Diarmuid,\"\nshe said, \"that cannot be; I belonged to you once, and I can never\nbelong to you again; but come over here to me, Diarmuid,\" she said, \"and\nI will put a love-spot on you, that no woman will ever see without\ngiving you her love.\" So Diarmuid went over to her, and she put her hand\non his forehead, and she left the love-spot there, and no woman that\never saw him after that was able to refuse him her love.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III. THE DAUGHTER OF KING UNDER-WAVE\n\n\nOne snowy night of winter the Fianna were come into the house after\ntheir hunting. And about midnight they heard a knocking at the door, and\nthere came in a woman very wild and ugly, and her hair hanging to her\nheels. She went to the place Finn was lying, and she asked him to let\nher in under the border of his covering. But when he saw her so strange\nand so ugly and so wild-looking he would not let her in. She gave a\ngreat cry then, and she went to where Oisin was, and asked him to let\nher shelter under the border of his covering. But Oisin refused her the\nsame way. Then she gave another great scream, and she went over where\nDiarmuid was. \"Let me in,\" she said, \"under the border of your\ncovering.\" Diarmuid looked at her, and he said: \"You are strange-looking\nand wild and ugly, and your hair is down to your heels. But come in for\nall that,\" he said.\n\nSo she came in under the border of his covering.\n\n\"O Diarmuid,\" she said then, \"I have been travelling over sea and ocean\nthrough the length of seven years, and in all that time I never got\nshelter any night till this night. And let me to the warmth of the fire\nnow,\" she said. So Diarmuid brought her over to the fire, and all the\nFianna that were sitting there went away from it seeing her so ugly and\nso dreadful to look at. And she was not long at the fire when she said:\n\"Let me go under the warmth of the covering with you now.\" \"It is asking\ntoo much you are,\" said Diarmuid; \"first it was to come under the border\nyou asked, and then to come to the fire, and now it is under the\nbed-covering with me you want to be. But for all that you may come,\" he\nsaid.\n\nSo she came in under the covering, and he turned a fold of it between\nthem. But it was not long till he looked at her, and what he saw was a\nbeautiful young woman beside him, and she asleep. He called to the\nothers then to come over, and he said: \"Is not this the most beautiful\nwoman that ever was seen?\" \"She is that,\" they said, and they covered\nher up and did not awaken her.\n\nBut after a while she stirred, and she said: \"Are you awake, Diarmuid?\"\n\"I am awake,\" he said. \"Where would you like to see the best house\nbuilt that ever was built?\" she said. \"Up there on the hillside, if I\nhad my choice,\" said he, and with that he fell asleep.\n\nAnd in the morning two men of the Fianna came in, and they said they\nwere after seeing a great house up on the hill, where there was not a\nhouse before. \"Rise up, Diarmuid,\" said the strange woman then; \"do not\nbe lying there any longer, but go up to your house, and look out now and\nsee it,\" she said. So he looked out and he saw the great house that was\nready, and he said: \"I will go to it, if you will come along with me.\"\n\"I will do that,\" she said, \"if you will make me a promise not to say to\nme three times what way I was when I came to you.\" \"I will never say it\nto you for ever,\" said Diarmuid.\n\nThey went up then to the house, and it was ready for them, with food and\nservants; and everything they could wish for they had it. They stopped\nthere for three days, and when the three days were ended, she said: \"You\nare getting to be sorrowful because you are away from your comrades of\nthe Fianna.\" \"I am not sorrowful indeed,\" said Diarmuid. \"It will be\nbest for you to go to them; and your food and your drink will be no\nworse when you come back than they are now,\" said she. \"Who will take\ncare of my greyhound bitch and her three pups if I go?\" said Diarmuid.\n\"There is no fear for them,\" said she.\n\nSo when he heard that, he took leave of her and went back to the Fianna,\nand there was a great welcome before him. But for all that they were not\nwell pleased but were someway envious, Diarmuid to have got that grand\nhouse and her love from the woman they themselves had turned away.\n\nNow as to the woman, she was outside the house for a while after\nDiarmuid going away, and she saw Finn, son of Cumhal, coming towards\nher, and she bade him welcome. \"You are vexed with me, Queen?\" he said.\n\"I am not indeed,\" she said; \"and come in now and take a drink of wine\nfrom me.\" \"I will go in if I get my request,\" said Finn. \"What request\nis there that you would not get?\" said she. \"It is what I am asking, one\nof the pups of Diarmuid's greyhound bitch.\" \"That is no great thing to\nask,\" she said; \"and whichever one you choose of them you may bring it\naway.\"\n\nSo he got the pup, and he brought it away with him.\n\nAt the fall of night Diarmuid came back to the house, and the greyhound\nmet him at the door and gave a yell when she saw him, and he looked for\nthe pups, and one of them was gone. There was anger on him then, and he\nsaid to the woman: \"If you had brought to mind the way you were when I\nlet you in, and your hair hanging, you would not have let the pup be\nbrought away from me.\" \"You ought not to say that, Diarmuid,\" said she.\n\"I ask your pardon for saying it,\" said Diarmuid. And they forgave one\nanother, and he spent the night in the house.\n\nOn the morrow Diarmuid went back again to his comrades, and the woman\nstopped at the house, and after a while she saw Oisin coming towards\nher. She gave him a welcome, and asked him into the house, and he said\nhe would come if he would get his request. And what he asked was another\nof the pups of the greyhound.\n\nSo she gave him that, and he went away bringing the pup with him. And\nwhen Diarmuid came back that night the greyhound met him, and she cried\nout twice. And he knew that another of the pups was gone, and he said to\nthe greyhound, and the woman standing there: \"If she had remembered the\nway she was when she came to me, she would not have let the pup be\nbrought away.\"\n\nThe next day he went back again to the Fianna, and when he was gone, the\nwoman saw Caoilte coming towards her, and he would not come in to take a\ndrink from her till he had got the promise of one of the pups the same\nas the others.\n\nAnd when Diarmuid came back that night the greyhound met him and gave\nthree yells, the most terrible that ever were heard. There was great\nanger on him then, when he saw all the pups gone, and he said the third\ntime: \"If this woman remembered the way she was when I found her, and\nher hair down to her heels, she would not have let the pup go.\" \"O\nDiarmuid, what is it you are after saying?\" she said. He asked\nforgiveness of her then, and he thought to go into the house, but it was\ngone and the woman was gone on the moment, and it was on the bare ground\nhe awoke on the morrow. There was great sorrow on him then, and he said\nhe would search in every place till he would find her again.\n\nSo he set out through the lonely valleys, and the first thing he saw was\nthe greyhound lying dead, and he put her on his shoulder and would not\nleave her because of the love he had for her. And after a while he met\nwith a cowherd, and he asked him did he see a woman going the way. \"I\nsaw a woman early in the morning of yesterday, and she walking hard,\"\nsaid the cowherd. \"What way was she going?\" said Diarmuid. \"Down that\npath below to the strand, and I saw her no more after that,\" he said.\n\nSo he followed the path she took down to the strand till he could go no\nfarther, and then he saw a ship, and he leaned on the handle of his\nspear and made a light leap on to the ship, and it went on till it came\nto land, and then he got out and lay down on the side of a hill and fell\nasleep, and when he awoke there was no ship to be seen. \"It is a pity\nfor me to be here,\" he said, \"for I see no way of getting from it\nagain.\"\n\nBut after a while he saw a boat coming, and a man in the boat rowing it,\nand he went down and got into the boat, and brought the greyhound with\nhim. And the boat went out over the sea, and then down below it; and\nDiarmuid, when he went down, found himself on a plain. And he went\nwalking along it, and it was not long before he met with a drop of\nblood. He took it up and put it in a napkin. \"It is the greyhound lost\nthis,\" he said. And after a while he met with another drop of blood, and\nthen with a third, and he put them in the napkin. And after that again\nhe saw a woman, and she gathering rushes as if she had lost her wits.\n\nHe went towards her and asked her what news had she. \"I cannot tell it\ntill I gather the rushes,\" she said. \"Be telling it while you are\ngathering them,\" said Diarmuid. \"There is great haste on me,\" she said.\n\"What is this place where we are?\" said Diarmuid. \"It is\nLand-under-Wave,\" said she. \"And what use have you for the rushes when\nthey are gathered?\" \"The daughter of King Under-Wave is come home,\" she\nsaid, \"and she was for seven years under enchantment, and there is\nsickness on her now, and all the physicians are gathered together and\nnone of them can do her any good, and a bed of rushes is what she finds\nthe wholesomest.\" \"Will you show me where the king's daughter is?\" said\nDiarmuid. \"I will do that,\" said the woman; \"I will put you in the sheaf\nof rushes, and I will put the rushes under you and over you, and I will\ncarry you to her on my back.\" \"That is a thing you cannot do,\" said\nDiarmuid. But she put the rushes about him, and lifted him on her back,\nand when she got to the room she let down the bundle. \"O come here to\nme,\" said the daughter of King Under-Wave, and Diarmuid went over to\nher, and they took one another's hands, and were very joyful at that\nmeeting. \"Three parts of my sickness is gone from me now,\" she said\nthen; \"but I am not well yet, and I never will be, for every time I\nthought of you, Diarmuid, on my journey, I lost a drop of the blood of\nmy heart.\" \"I have got those three drops here in this napkin,\" said\nDiarmuid, \"and take them now in a drink and you will be healed of your\nsickness.\" \"They would do nothing for me,\" she said, \"since I have not\nthe one thing in the world that I want, and that is the thing I will\nnever get,\" she said. \"What thing is that?\" said Diarmuid. \"It is the\nthing you will never get, nor any man in the world,\" she said, \"for it\nis a long time they have failed to get it.\" \"If it is in any place on\nthe whole ridge of the world I will get it,\" said Diarmuid. \"It is three\ndraughts from the cup of the King of Magh an Ionganaidh, the Plain of\nWonder,\" she said, \"and no man ever got it or ever will get it.\" \"Tell\nme where that cup is to be found,\" said Diarmuid, \"for there are not as\nmany men as will keep it from me on the whole ridge of the world.\" \"That\ncountry is not far from the boundary of my father's country,\" she said;\n\"but there is a little river between, and you would be sailing on that\nriver in a ship, having the wind behind it, for a year and a day before\nyou would reach to the Plain of Wonder.\"\n\nDiarmuid set out then, and he came to the little river, and he was a\ngood while walking beside it, and he saw no way to cross it. But at last\nhe saw a low-sized, reddish man that was standing in the middle of the\nriver. \"You are in straits, Diarmuid, grandson of Duibhne,\" he said;\n\"and come here and put your foot in the palm of my hand and I will bring\nyou through.\" Diarmuid did as he bade him, and put his foot in the red\nman's palm, and he brought him across the river. \"It is going to the\nKing of the Plain of Wonder you are,\" he said, \"to bring away his cup\nfrom him; and I myself will go with you.\"\n\nThey went on then till they came to the king's dun, and Diarmuid called\nout that the cup should be sent out to him, or else champions to fight\nwith him should be sent out. It was not the cup was sent out, but twice\neight hundred fighting men; and in three hours there was not one of them\nleft to stand against him. Then twice nine hundred better fighters\nagain were sent out against him, and within four hours there was not one\nof them left to stand against him. Then the king himself came out, and\nhe stood in the great door, and he said: \"Where did the man come from\nthat has brought destruction on the whole of my kingdom?\" \"I will tell\nyou that,\" said he; \"I am Diarmuid, a man of the Fianna of Ireland.\" \"It\nis a pity you not to have sent a messenger telling me that,\" said the\nking, \"and I would not have spent my men upon you; for seven years\nbefore you were born it was put in the prophecy that you would come to\ndestroy them. And what is it you are asking now?\" he said. \"It is the\ncup of healing from your own hand I am asking,\" said Diarmuid. \"No man\never got that cup from me but yourself,\" said the king, \"but it is easy\nfor me to give it to you, whether or not there is healing in it.\"\n\nThen the King of the Plain of Wonder gave Diarmuid the cup, and they\nparted from one another; and Diarmuid went on till he came to the river,\nand it was then he thought of the red man, that he had given no thought\nto while he was at the king's house. But he was there before him, and\ntook his foot in the palm of his hand and brought him over the river. \"I\nknow where it is you are going, Diarmuid,\" he said then; \"it is to heal\nthe daughter of King Under-Wave that you have given your love to. And it\nis to a well I will give you the signs of you should go,\" he said, \"and\nbring a share of the water of that well with you. And when you come\nwhere the woman is, it is what you have to do, to put that water in the\ncup, and one of the drops of blood in it, and she will drink it, and the\nsame with the second drop and the third, and her sickness will be gone\nfrom her from that time. But there is another thing will be gone along\nwith it,\" he said, \"and that is the love you have for her.\"\n\n\"That will not go from me,\" said Diarmuid. \"It will go from you,\" said\nthe man; \"and it will be best for you make no secret of it, for she will\nknow, and the king will know, that you think no more of her then than of\nany other woman. And King Under-Wave will come to you,\" he said, \"and\nwill offer you great riches for healing his daughter. But take nothing\nfrom him,\" he said, \"but ask only a ship to bring you home again to\nIreland. And do you know who am I myself?\" he said. \"I do not know,\"\nsaid Diarmuid. \"I am the messenger from beyond the world,\" he said; \"and\nI came to your help because your own heart is hot to come to the help of\nanother.\"\n\nSo Diarmuid did as he bade him, and he brought the water and the cup and\nthe drops of blood to the woman, and she drank them, and at the third\ndraught she was healed. And no sooner was she healed than the love he\nhad for her was gone, and he turned away from her. \"O Diarmuid,\" she\nsaid, \"your love is gone from me.\" \"O, it is gone indeed,\" said he.\n\nThen there was music made in the whole place, and the lamenting was\nstopped, because of the healing of the king's daughter. And as to\nDiarmuid, he would take no reward and he would not stop there, but he\nasked for a ship to bring him home to Ireland, to Finn and the Fianna.\nAnd when he came where they were, there was a joyful welcome before him.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV. THE HARD SERVANT\n\n\nThe Fianna went hunting one time in the two proud provinces of Munster.\nThey went out from Almhuin by the nearest paths till they came to the\nBrosna river in Slieve Bladhma, and from there to the twelve mountains\nof Eiblinne, and on to Aine Cliach, the harp of Aine.\n\nThey scattered themselves then and hunted through the borders of the\nforest that is called Magh Breogain, through blind trackless places and\nthrough broken lands, over beautiful level plains and the high hills of\nDesmumum, under pleasant Slieve Crot and smooth Slieve na Muc, along the\nlevel banks of the blue Siuir and over the green plain of Feman and the\nrough plain of Eithne, and the dark woods of Belach Gabrain.\n\nAnd Finn was at the side of a hill, and the chief men of the Fianna\nalong with him, to watch the hunting; for they liked to be listening to\nthe outcry of the hounds and the hurried cries of the boys, and the\nnoise and the whistling and the shouts of the strong men.\n\nFinn asked then which of the men that were with him would go and keep\nwatch on the side of the hill where they were. And Finnbane, son of\nBresel, said he would go. And he went on to the top of the hill, where\nhe could see about him on all sides. And he was not long there till he\nsaw coming from the east a very big man, ugly and gloomy and deformed;\nand it is how he was, a dark-coloured shield on his back, a wide sword\non his crooked left thigh, two spears on his shoulder, a torn loose\ncloak over his limbs, that were as black as a quenched coal. A sulky\nhorse he had with him that had no good appearance, bony and thin as to\nbody, and weak in the legs, and he leading it with a rough iron halter;\nand it was a great wonder the head was not pulled from the horse's body,\nor the arms pulled out of his owner, with the sudden stands and stops\nand the jerks it made. And the big man was striking blows on the horse\nwith an iron cudgel to try and knock some going out of him, and the\nsound of the blows was like the breaking of strong waves.\n\nAnd when Finnbane saw all that, he thought to himself it would not be\nright to let the like of that stranger go up unknown to Finn and the\nFianna, and he ran back in haste to where they were and told them all he\nhad seen.\n\nAnd when he had told his story, they saw the big man coming towards\nthem; but as short as he was from them he was long in coming, from the\nbadness of his walk and his going.\n\nAnd when he came into Finn's presence he saluted him, and bowed his head\nand bent his knee, making signs of humility.\n\nFinn raised his hand over his head then, and asked news of him, and if\nhe was of the noble or of the mean blood of the great world. He answered\nthat he had no knowledge who he came from, but only that he was a man of\nthe Fomor, travelling in search of wages to the kings of the earth, \"and\nI heard,\" he said, \"that Finn never refused wages to any man.\" \"I never\ndid indeed,\" said Finn, \"and I will not refuse you. But why is it,\" he\nsaid, \"you are without a boy to mind your horse?\" \"I have a good reason\nfor that,\" said the big man; \"there is nothing in the world is worse to\nme than a boy to be with me; for it is a hundred men's share of food,\"\nhe said, \"that serves me for one day, and it is little enough I think\nit, and I would begrudge a boy to be sharing it with me.\" \"What is the\nname you have?\" said Finn. \"The name I have is the Gilla Decair, the\nHard Servant,\" said he. \"Why did you get that name?\" said Finn. \"There\nis a good reason for that,\" said the big man, \"for there is nothing in\nthe world is harder to me than to do anything at all for my master, or\nwhatever person I am with. And tell me this, Conan, son of Morna,\" he\nsaid, \"who gets the best wages, a horseman or a man afoot?\" \"A horseman\ngets twice as much,\" said Conan. \"Then I call you to witness, Conan,\" he\nsaid, \"that I am a horseman, and that it was as a horseman I came to the\nFianna. And give me your guarantee now, Finn, son of Cumhal, and the\nguarantee of the Fianna, and I will turn out my horse with your horses.\"\n\"Let him out then,\" said Finn.\n\nThe big man pulled off the iron halter then from his horse, and it made\noff as hard as it could go, till it came where the horses of the Fianna\nwere; and it began to tear and to kick and to bite at them, killing and\nmaiming. \"Take your horse out of that, big man,\" said Conan; \"and by the\nearth and the sky,\" he said, \"only it was on the guarantee of Finn and\nthe Fianna you took the halter off him, I would let out his brains\nthrough the windows of his head; and many as is the bad prize Finn has\nfound in Ireland,\" he said, \"he never got one as bad as yourself.\" \"And\nI swear by earth and sky as well as yourself,\" said the big man, \"I will\nnever bring him out of that; for I have no serving-boy to do it for me,\nand it is not work for me to be leading my horse by the hand.\"\n\nConan, son of Morna, rose up then and took the halter and put it on the\nhorse, and led it back to where Finn was, and held it with his hand.\n\"You would never have done a horse-boy's service, Conan,\" said Finn, \"to\nany one of the Fianna, however far he might be beyond this Fomor. And if\nyou will do what I advise,\" he said, \"you will get up on the horse now,\nand search out with him all the hills and hollows and flowery plains of\nIreland, till his heart is broken in his body in payment for the way he\ndestroyed the horses of the Fianna.\"\n\nConan made a leap then on to the horse, and struck his heels hard into\nhim, but with all that the horse would not stir. \"I know what ails him,\"\nsaid Finn, \"he will not stir till he has the same weight of horsemen on\nhim as the weight of the big man.\"\n\nOn that thirteen men of the Fianna went up behind Conan, and the horse\nlay down with them and rose up again. \"I think that you are mocking at\nmy horse and at myself,\" said the big man; \"and it is a pity for me to\nbe spending the rest of the year with you, after all the humbugging I\nsaw in you to-day, Finn. And I know well,\" he said, \"that all I heard\nabout you was nothing but lies, and there was no cause for the great\nname you have through the world. And I will quit you now, Finn,\" he\nsaid.\n\nWith that he went from them, slow and weak, dragging himself along till\nhe had put a little hill between himself and the Fianna. And as soon as\nhe was on the other side of it, he tucked up his cloak to his waist, and\naway with him, as if with the quickness of a swallow or a deer, and the\nrush of his going was like a blast of loud wind going over plains and\nmountains in spring-time.\n\nWhen the horse saw his master going from him, he could not bear with it,\nbut great as his load was he set out at full gallop following after him.\nAnd when Finn and the Fianna saw the thirteen men behind Conan, son of\nMorna, on the horse, and he starting off, they shouted with mocking\nlaughter.\n\nAnd when Conan found that he was not able to come down off the horse, he\nscreeched and shouted to them not to let him be brought away with the\nbig man they knew nothing of, and he began abusing and reproaching them.\n\"A cloud of death over water on you, Finn,\" he said, \"and that some son\nof a slave or a robber of the bad blood, one that is a worse son of a\nfather and mother even than yourself, may take all that might protect\nyour life, and your head along with that, unless you follow us to\nwhatever place or island the big man will carry us to, and unless you\nbring us back to Ireland again.\"\n\nFinn and the Fianna rose up then, and they followed the Gilla Decair\nover every bald hill, and through every valley and every river, on to\npleasant Slieve Luachra, into the borders of Corca Duibhne; and the big\nman, that was up on the horse then along with Conan and the rest, faced\ntowards the deep sea. And Liagan Luath of Luachar took hold of the\nhorse's tail with his two hands, thinking to drag him back by the hair\nof it; but the horse gave a great tug, and away with him over the sea,\nand Liagan along with him, holding on to his tail.\n\nIt was a heavy care to Finn, those fourteen men of his people to be\nbrought away from him, and he himself under bonds to bring them back.\n\"What can we do now?\" Oisin asked him. \"What should we do, but to follow\nour people to whatever place or island the big man has brought them,\nand, whatever way we do it, to bring them back to Ireland again.\" \"What\ncan we do, having neither a ship or any kind of boat?\" said Oisin. \"We\nhave this,\" said Finn, \"the Tuatha de Danaan left as a gift to the\nchildren of the Gael, that whoever might have to leave Ireland for a\nwhile, had but to go to Beinn Edair, and however many would go along\nwith him, they would find a ship that would hold them all.\" Finn looked\ntowards the sea then, and he saw two strong armed men coming towards\nhim. The first one had on his back a shield ribbed and of many colours,\nhaving shapes of strange, wonderful beasts engraved on it, and a heavy\nsword at his side, and two thick spears on his shoulders; a cloak of\nlasting crimson about him, with a gold brooch on the breast; a band of\nwhite bronze on his head, gold under each of his feet; and the other was\ndressed in the same way. They made no delay till they came to where Finn\nwas, and they bowed their heads and bent their knees before him, and\nFinn raised his hand over their heads, and bade them to give an account\nof themselves. \"We are sons of the King of the Eastern World,\" they\nsaid, \"and we are come to Ireland asking to be taken into the service of\nFinn; for we heard there was not a man in all Ireland,\" they said,\n\"would be better than yourself to judge of the skill we have.\" \"What is\nyour name, and what skill is that?\" said Finn. \"My name is Feradach,\nthe Very Brave,\" he said; \"and I have a carpenter's axe and a sling, and\nif there were so many as thirty hundred of the men of Ireland along with\nme in one spot, with three blows of the axe on the sling-stick I could\nget a ship that would hold them all. And I would ask no more help of\nthem,\" he said, \"than to bow down their heads while I was striking those\nthree blows.\" \"That is a good art,\" said Finn. \"And tell me now,\" he\nsaid, \"what can the other man do?\" \"I can do this,\" he said, \"I can\nfollow the track of the teal over nine ridges and nine furrows until I\ncome on her in her bed; and it is the same to me to do it on sea as on\nland,\" he said. \"That is a good art,\" said Finn; \"and it would be a good\nhelp to us if you would come following a track with us now.\" \"What is\ngone from you?\" said one of the men. Finn told them then the whole story\nof the Hard Servant.\n\nThen Feradach, the Very Brave, struck three blows on his sling-stick\nwith the axe that he had, and the whole of the Fianna bowed their heads,\nand on the moment the whole of the bay and of the harbour was filled\nwith ships and with fast boats. \"What will we do with that many ships?\"\nsaid Finn. \"We will do away with all you make no use of,\" he said.\n\nCaoilte rose up then and let out three great shouts, and all the Fianna\nof Ireland, in whatever places they were, heard them, and they thought\nFinn and his people to be in some kind of danger from men from beyond\nthe sea.\n\nThey came then in small companies as they chanced to be, till they came\nto the stepping-stones of the Cat's Head in the western part of Corca\nDuibhne. And they asked news of Finn, what had happened that he called\nthem away from their hunting, and Finn told them all that had happened.\nThen Finn and Oisin went into council together, and it is what they\nagreed; that as but fifteen of his people were brought away from Finn,\nhe himself with fifteen others would go on their track; Oisin to be left\nat the head of the Fianna to guard Ireland.\n\nAnd they said farewell to one another, and a grand ship was made ready\nfor Finn and his people, and there was food put in it for using and gold\nfor giving away. The young men and the heroes took to their seats then,\nand took hold of the oars, and they set out over the restless hills and\nthe dark valleys of the great sea.\n\nAnd the sea rose up and bellowed, and there was madness on the broken\ngreen waters; but to Finn and his people it was a call in the morning\nand a sleepy time at night to be listening to the roaring and the\ncrooning that was ever and always about the sides of the ship.\n\nThey went on like that for three days and three nights, and saw no\ncountry or island. But at the end of that time a man of them went up\ninto the head of the ship, and he saw out before them a great, rough\ngrey cliff. They went on towards it then, and they saw on the edge of\nthe cliff a high rock, round-shaped, having sides more slippery than an\neel's back. And they found the track of the Hard Servant as far as to\nthe foot of the rock.\n\nFergus of the True Lips said then to Diarmuid: \"It is no brave thing you\nare doing, Diarmuid, grandson of Duibhne, to hold back like this, for it\nwas with Manannan the Powerful, son of Lir, you were reared and got your\nlearning, in the Land of Promise and in the coasts of the harbours, and\nwith Angus Og, the Dagda's son. And are you without any share of their\nskill and their daring now,\" he said, \"that would bring Finn and his\npeople up this rock?\"\n\nDiarmuid's face reddened when he heard those words, and he took hold of\nManannan's staves of power that were with him, and he reddened again,\nand he rose on the staves and gave a leap, and got a standing-place for\nhis two feet on the overhanging rock. He looked down from that on Finn\nand his people, but whatever wish he had to bring them up to where he\nwas, he was not able to do it.\n\nHe left the rock behind him then, and he was not gone far when he saw a\nwild tangled place before him, with thick woods that were of all he had\never walked the most leafy and the fullest of the sounds of wind and\nstreams and birds, and of the humming of bees.\n\nHe went on walking the plain, and as he was looking about him, he saw a\ngreat tree with many twigs and branches, and a rock beside it, and a\nsmooth-pointed drinking-horn on it, and a beautiful fresh well at its\nfoot. And there was a great drouth on Diarmuid after the sea-journey,\nand he had a mind to drink a hornful of the water. But when he stooped\nto it he heard a great noise coming towards him, and he knew then there\nwas enchantment in the water.\n\n\"I will drink my fill of it for all that,\" he said. And it was not long\nafter that till he saw a Man of Enchantments coming towards him armed,\nhaving no friendly look. And it was in no friendly way he spoke to\nDiarmuid when he came up to him, but he gave him great abuse. \"It is no\nright thing,\" he said, \"to be walking through my thickets and to be\ndrinking up my share of water.\" With that they faced one another\nangrily, and they fought till the end of the day.\n\nThe Enchanter thought it well to leave off fighting then, and he made a\nleap into the bottom of the well away from him, but there was vexation\non Diarmuid to be left like that.\n\nHe looked around him then, and he saw a herd of deer coming through the\nscrub, and he went towards them, and threw a spear that went through the\nnearest stag and drove the bowels out of him. He kindled a fire then,\nand he cut thin bits of the flesh and put them on spits of white hazel,\nand that night he had his fill of meat and of the water of the well.\n\nHe rose up early on the morrow, and he found the Enchanter at the well\nbefore him. \"It seems to me, Grandson of Duibhne,\" he said, \"that it is\nnot enough for you to be walking my scrub and my woods without killing\nmy deer as well.\" With that they started again, giving one another blow\nfor blow, thrust for thrust, and wound for wound till the end of the day\ncame on them. And Diarmuid killed another great deer that night, and in\nthe morning the fight began again. But in the evening, when the\nEnchanter was making his leap into the well, Diarmuid threw his arms\nabout his neck, thinking to stop him, but it is what happened, he fell\nin himself. And when he was at the bottom of the well the Enchanter left\nhim.\n\nDiarmuid went then following after the Enchanter, and he found before\nhim a beautiful wide flowery plain, and a comely royal city in the\nplain, and on the green before the dun he saw a great army; and when\nthey saw Diarmuid following after the Enchanter, they left a way and a\nroyal road for the Enchanter to pass through till he got inside the dun.\nAnd then they shut the gates, and the whole army turned on Diarmuid.\n\nBut that put no fear or cowardice on him, but he went through them and\nover them like a hawk would go through little birds, or a wild dog\nthrough a flock of sheep, killing all before him, till some of them made\naway to the woods and wastes, and another share of them through the\ngates of the dun, and they shut them, and the gates of the city after\nthem. And Diarmuid, all full of hurts and wounds after the hard fight,\nlay down on the plain. A very strong daring champion came then and\nkicked at him from behind, and at that Diarmuid roused himself up, and\nput out his brave ready hand for his weapons.\n\n\"Wait a while, Grandson of Duibhne,\" the champion said then; \"it is not\nto do you any hurt or harm I am come, but to say to you it is a bad\nsleeping-place for you to have, and it on your ill-wisher's lawn. And\ncome now with me,\" he said, \"and I will give you a better\nresting-place.\"\n\nDiarmuid followed him then, and they went a long, long way from that,\ntill they came to a high-topped city, and three times fifty brave\nchampions in it, three times fifty modest women, and another young woman\non a bench, with blushes in her cheeks, and delicate hands, and having a\nsilken cloak about her, and a dress sewed with gold threads, and on her\nhead the flowing veil of a queen.\n\nThere was a good welcome before Diarmuid for his own sake and the sake\nof his people, and he was put in a house of healing that was in the\ncity, and good herbs were put to his hurts till he was smooth and sound\nagain.\n\nAnd a feast was made then, and the tables and the benches were set, and\nno high person was put in the place of the mean, or mean in the place of\nthe high, but every one in his own place, according to his nobility, or\nhis descent, or his art. Plenty of good food was brought to them then,\nand well-tasting strong drinks, and they spent the first part of the\nnight in drinking, and the second part with music and delight and\nrejoicing of the mind, and the third part in sound sleep that lasted\ntill the sun rose over the heavy sodded earth on the morrow.\n\nThree days and three nights Diarmuid stopped in that city, and the best\nfeast he ever found was given to him all through. And at the end of that\ntime he asked what was the place he was in, and who was head of it. And\nthe champion that brought him there told him it was Land-Under-Wave, and\nthat the man that had fought with him was its king. \"And he is an enemy\nof the Red Hand to me,\" he said. \"And as to myself,\" he said, \"I was\none time getting wages from Finn, son of Cumhal, in Ireland, and I never\nput a year over me that pleased me better. And tell me now,\" he said,\n\"what is the journey or the work that is before you?\"\n\nAnd Diarmuid told him the story of the Hard Servant then from beginning\nto end.\n\nNow, as to Finn and his people, when they thought Diarmuid was too long\naway from them, they made ladders of the cords of the ship and put them\nagainst the rock, looking for him.\n\nAnd after a while they found the leavings of the meat he had eaten, for\nDiarmuid never ate meat without leaving some after him.\n\nFinn looked then on every side, and he saw a rider coming towards him\nover the plain on a dark-coloured beautiful horse, having a bridle of\nred gold. Finn saluted him when he came up, and the rider stooped his\nhead and gave Finn three kisses, and asked him to go with him. They went\non a long way till they came to a wide, large dwelling-place full of\narms, and a great troop of armed men on the green before the fort. Three\nnights and three days Finn and his people stopped in the dun, and the\nbest feast they ever got was served out to them.\n\nAt the end of that time Finn asked what country was he in, and the man\nthat brought him there told him it was the land of Sorcha, and that he\nhimself was its king. \"And I was with yourself one time, Finn, son of\nCumhal,\" he said, \"taking your wages through the length of a year in\nIreland.\"\n\nThen Finn and the King of Sorcha called a great gathering of the people\nand a great meeting. And when it was going on they saw a woman-messenger\ncoming to them through the crowd, and the king asked news of her. \"I\nhave news indeed,\" she said; \"the whole of the bay and the harbour is\nfull of ships and of boats, and there are armies all through the country\nrobbing all before them.\" \"I know well,\" said the king, \"it is the High\nKing of Greece is in it, for he has a mind to put the entire world under\nhim, and to get hold of this country like every other.\" The King of\nSorcha looked at Finn then, and Finn understood it was help from him he\nwas asking, and it is what he said: \"I take the protection of this\ncountry on myself so long as I am in it.\" He and his people rose up\nthen, and the King of Sorcha along with them, and they went looking for\nthe strange army. And when they came up with it they made great\nslaughter of its champions, and those they did not kill ran before them,\nand made no better stand than a flock of frightened birds, till there\nwere hardly enough of them left to tell the story.\n\nThe High King spoke then, and it is what he said: \"Who is it has done\nthis great slaughter of my people? And I never heard before,\" he said,\n\"any talk of the courage or of the doings of the men of Ireland either\nat this time or in the old times. But from this out,\" he said, \"I will\nbanish the Sons of the Gael for ever to the very ends of the earth.\"\n\nBut Finn and the King of Sorcha raised a green tent in view of the ships\nof the Greeks.\n\nThe King of the Greeks called then for help against Finn and the King of\nSorcha, to get satisfaction for the shame that was put on his people.\nAnd the sons of kings of the eastern and southern world came to his\nhelp, but they could make no stand against Finn and Osgar and Oisin and\nGoll, son of Morna. And at the last the King of Greece brought all his\npeople back home, the way no more of them would be put an end to.\n\nAnd then Finn and the King of Sorcha called another great gathering. And\nwhile it was going on, they saw coming towards them a great troop of\nchampions, bearing flags of many-coloured silk, and grey swords at\ntheir sides and high spears reared up over their heads. And in the front\nof them was Diarmuid, grandson of Duibhne.\n\nWhen Finn saw him, he sent Fergus of the True Lips to ask news of him,\nand they told one another all that had happened.\n\nAnd it would take too long to tell, and it would tire the hearers, how\nFinn made the Hard Servant bring home his fifteen men that he had\nbrought away. And when he had brought them back to Ireland, the whole of\nthe Fianna were watching to see him ride away again, himself and his\nlong-legged horse. But while they were watching him, he vanished from\nthem, and all they could see was a mist, and it stretching out towards\nthe sea.\n\nAnd that is the story of the Hard Servant, and of Diarmuid's adventures\non the island Under-Wave.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V. THE HOUSE OF THE QUICKEN TREES\n\n\nAnd it is often the Fianna would have been badly off without the help of\nDiarmuid. It was he came to their help the time Miodac, the son of the\nKing of Lochlann, brought them into the enchanted House of the Quicken\nTrees.\n\nIt was by treachery he brought them in, giving himself out to be a poet,\nand making poems for Finn to make out the meaning of. A verse he made\nabout a great army that he saw riding over the plains to victory, and\nrobbing all before it, and the riders of it having no horses but plants\nand branches. \"I understand that,\" said Finn, \"it was an army of bees\nyou saw, that was gathering riches from the flowers as it went.\" And\nanother verse Miodac made was about a woman in Ireland that was swifter\nthan the swiftest horse. \"I know that,\" said Finn, \"that woman is the\nRiver Boinn; and if she goes slow itself, she is swifter in the end than\nthe swiftest horse, for her going never stops.\" And other verses he made\nabout Angus' house at Brugh na Boinn, but Finn made them all out.\n\nAnd after that he said he had a feast ready for them, and he bade them\ngo into his House of the Quicken Trees till he would bring it. And they\ndid that, and went in, and it was a beautiful house, having walls of\nevery colour, and foreign coverings of every colour on the floor, and a\nfire that gave out a very pleasant smoke. And they sat down there, and\nafter a while Finn said: \"It is a wonder such a beautiful house to be\nhere.\" \"There is a greater wonder than that,\" said Goll; \"that fire that\nwas so pleasant when we came in is giving out now the worst stench in\nthe world.\" \"There is a greater wonder than that,\" said Glas; \"the walls\nthat were of all colours are now but rough boards joined together.\"\n\"There is a greater wonder than that,\" said Fiacha; \"where there were\nseven high doors to the house there is now but one little door, and it\nshut.\" \"Indeed, there is a more wonderful thing than that,\" said Conan;\n\"for we sat down on beautiful coverings, and now there is nothing\nbetween us and the bare ground, and it as cold as the snow of one\nnight.\" And he tried to rise up, but he could not stir, or any of the\nrest of them, for there was enchantment that kept them where they were.\n\nAnd it was the treachery of Miodac, and the spells of the Three Kings of\nthe Island of the Floods that had brought them into that danger. And\nFinn knew by his divination that their enemies were gathering to make an\nend of them, and he said to his people there was no use in making\ncomplaints, but to sound the music of the Dord Fiann.\n\nAnd some of the Fianna that were waiting for him not far off heard that\nsorrowful music, and came fighting against Miodac and his armies, and\nthey fought well, but they could not stand against them. And at the last\nit was Diarmuid, grandson of Duibhne, that made an end of Miodac that\nwas so treacherous, and of the Three Kings of the Island of the Floods,\nand took the enchantment off the floor of the House of the Rowan Trees\nwith their blood.\n\nAnd when he was freeing the Fianna, Conan called out, asking him to\nbring him a share of the feast Miodac had made ready for his own\nfriends, for there was hunger on him. And when Diarmuid took no heed of\nhim, he said: \"If it was a comely woman was speaking to you, Diarmuid,\nyou would not refuse to listen.\"\n\nFor if many women loved Diarmuid, there were many he himself gave his\nlove to; and if he was often called Diarmuid the brave, or the hardy, or\nthe comely, or the Hawk of Ess Ruadh, it is often he was called as well\nthe friend and the coaxer of women, Diarmuid-na-man.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK SEVEN: DIARMUID AND GRANIA.\n\nCHAPTER I. THE FLIGHT FROM TEAMHAIR\n\n\nFinn rose up one morning early in Almhuin of Leinster, and he sat out\nalone on the green lawn without a boy or a servant being with him. And\nOisin followed him there, and Diorraing the Druid. \"What is the cause of\nyour early rising, Finn?\" said Oisin. \"It is not without cause, indeed,\nI rise early,\" said Finn, \"for I am without a wife or a companion since\nMaighneis, daughter of Black Garraidh, died from me; for quiet sleep is\nnot used to come to a man that is without a fitting wife.\" \"Why would\nyou be like that?\" said Oisin, \"for there is not a woman in all green\nIreland you would throw a look on but we would bring her to you, willing\nor unwilling.\" \"I myself could find a wife would be fitting for you,\"\nsaid Diorraing. \"Who is that?\" said Finn. \"It is Grania, daughter of the\nHigh King of Ireland,\" said Diorraing; \"and she is the woman of the best\nmake and shape and the best speech of the women of the whole world.\" \"By\nmy word, Diorraing,\" said Finn, \"there is strife and disagreement\nbetween the High King and myself this long time, and it would not be\npleasing to me to get a refusal from him. And it is best for you two to\ngo together,\" he said, \"and to ask his daughter for me in marriage; the\nway that if he gives a refusal, it will be to you and not to myself he\nwill give it.\" \"We will go,\" said Oisin, \"even if it is little profit we\nwill get by it. And let no one at all know of our going,\" he said,\n\"until such time as we are come back again.\"\n\nAfter that the two bade farewell to Finn, and set out, and it is not\ntold what they did till they came to Teamhair. The King of Ireland was\nholding a gathering at that time on the green of Teamhair, and the chief\nnobles of his people were with him. And there was a friendly welcome\ngiven to Oisin and to Diorraing, and the king put off the gathering\ntill the next day, for he was sure it was some pressing thing had\nbrought these two men of the Fianna to Teamhair. And Oisin went aside\nwith him, and told him it was to ask his daughter Grania in marriage\nthey were come from Finn, Head of the Fianna of Ireland.\n\nThe king spoke, and it is what he said: \"There is not a son of a king or\nof a great prince, there is not a champion in Ireland my daughter has\nnot given a refusal to, and it is on me they all lay the blame of that.\nAnd I will give you no answer at all,\" he said, \"till you go to herself;\nfor it is better for you to get her own answer, than to be displeased\nwith me.\"\n\nSo they went together to the sunny house of the women, and the king sat\ndown at the head of the high seat beside Grania, and he said: \"Here,\nGrania, are two of the people of Finn, son of Cumhal, come to ask you as\na wife for him, and what answer have you a mind to give them?\" And it is\nwhat Grania said: \"If he is a fitting son-in-law for you, why would he\nnot be a fitting husband for me?\"\n\nThey were satisfied then, and there was a feast made for them that night\nin Grania's sunny house, and the king settled for a meeting a fortnight\nfrom that time between himself and Finn at Teamhair.\n\nSo Oisin and Diorraing went back again to Almhuin, and told Finn their\nstory from beginning to end. And as everything wears away, so did that\ntime of delay.\n\nAnd then Finn gathered together the seven battalions of the Fianna from\nevery part where they were to Almhuin. And they set out in great bands\nand troops till they came to Teamhair.\n\nThe king was out on the green before them, and the great people of the\nmen of Ireland, and there was a great welcome before Finn and the\nFianna.\n\nBut when Grania saw grey-haired Finn, she said: \"It is a great wonder\nit was not for Oisin Finn asked me, for he would be more fitting for me\nthan a man that is older than my father.\"\n\nBut they talked together for a while, and Finn was putting questions to\nGrania, for she had the name of being very quick with answers. \"What is\nwhiter than snow?\" he said. \"The truth,\" said Grania. \"What is the best\ncolour?\" said Finn. \"The colour of childhood,\" said she. \"What is hotter\nthan fire?\" \"The face of a hospitable man when he sees a stranger coming\nin, and the house empty.\" \"What has a taste more bitter than poison?\"\n\"The reproach of an enemy.\" \"What is best for a champion?\" \"His doings\nto be high, and his pride to be low.\" \"What is the best of jewels?\" \"A\nknife.\" \"What is sharper than a sword?\" \"The wit of a woman between two\nmen.\" \"What is quicker than the wind?\" said Finn then. \"A woman's mind,\"\nsaid Grania. And indeed she was telling no lie when she said that. And\nfor all their talk together she had no liking for Finn, and she felt the\nblood in her heart to be rising against him.\n\nAnd the wedding-feast was made ready then, and they all went into the\nking's feasting-house in the Middle Court. And the king sat down to take\nhis share of drinking and pleasure, and his wife at his left side, and\nGrania beside her again; and Finn, son of Cumhal, at the right hand of\nthe king, and Oisin at the other side, and every other one according to\nhis nobility and his birth.\n\nThen Daire of the poems stood up before Grania, and sang the songs and\ngood poems of her fathers to her. And there was sitting near to Grania a\nknowledgeable man, a Druid of Finn's people, and it was not long until\nthey began to talk together. \"Tell me now,\" said Grania, \"who is that\nman on the right hand of Oisin?\" \"That is Goll, son of Morna,\" said the\nDruid, \"the ready fighter.\" \"Who is that beside Goll?\" said Grania.\n\"Osgar, son of Oisin,\" said the Druid. \"And who is that thin-legged man\nbeside Osgar?\" \"That is Caoilte, son of Ronan.\" \"Who is that proud,\nhasty man beside Caoilte?\" \"Lugaidh's Son of the Strong Hand.\" \"Who is\nthat sweet-worded man,\" she said then, \"with the dark hair, and cheeks\nlike the rowan berry, on the left side of Oisin, son of Finn?\" \"That is\nDiarmuid, grandson of Duibhne,\" said the Druid, \"that is the best lover\nof women in the whole world.\" \"That is a good company,\" said Grania.\n\nAnd after the feast had gone on a while, their own feast was made for\nthe dogs outside. And the dogs began to fight with one another, and the\nnoise was heard in the hall, and the chief men of the Fianna went to\ndrive them away from one another.\n\nNow Diarmuid was used to keep his cap always over the love-spot the\nwoman had left on his forehead, for no woman could see that spot but she\nwould give him her love. And it chanced, while he was driving the dogs\napart, the cap fell from him, and Grania was looking cut at him as it\nfell, and great love for him came on her there and then. And she called\nher serving-maid to her, and bade her bring the great golden cup that\nheld drink for nine times nine men from the sunny house. And when the\nserving-maid brought the cup, she filled it with wine that had\nenchantment in it, and she said: \"Give the cup first to Finn, and bid\nhim take a drink from it, and tell him it is I myself sent it to him.\"\nSo the serving-maid did that, and Finn took the cup and drank out of it,\nand no sooner did he drink than he fell into a deep sleep. And then the\ncup was given to the king, and the queen, and the sons of kings, and the\nwhole company, but only Oisin and Osgar and Caoilte and Diarmuid, and\nDiorraing the Druid. And all that drank of it fell into the same heavy\nsleep.\n\nAnd when they were all in their sleep, Grania rose up softly from the\nseat where she was, and she turned her face to Diarmuid, and she said:\n\"Will you take my love, Diarmuid, son of Duibhne, and will you bring me\naway out of this house to-night?\"\n\n\"I will not,\" said Diarmuid; \"I will not meddle with the woman that is\npromised to Finn.\" \"If that is so,\" said Grania, \"I put you under Druid\nbonds, to bring me out of this house to-night before the awaking of Finn\nand of the King of Ireland from their sleep.\"\n\n\"It is under bad bonds you are putting me, Grania,\" said Diarmuid. \"And\nwhy is it,\" he said, \"that you put them on me more than on the great men\nand sons of kings that are in the Middle Court to-night? for there is\nnot one of them all but is as well worthy of a woman's love as myself.\"\n\"By my hand, Diarmuid, it is not without cause I laid those bonds on\nyou,\" said Grania; \"for I was at the door a while ago when you were\nparting the dogs,\" she said, \"and my eyes fell on you, and I gave you\nthe love there and then that I never gave to any other, and never will\ngive for ever.\"\n\n\"It is a wonder you to give that love to me, and not to Finn,\" said\nDiarmuid, \"for there is not in Ireland a man is a better lover of a\nwoman than himself. And do you know this, Grania,\" he said, \"the night\nFinn is in Teamhair it is he himself is the keeper of its gates. And as\nthat is so, we cannot leave the town.\" \"There is a side door of escape\nat my sunny house,\" said Grania, \"and we will go out by it.\" \"It is a\nthing I will never do,\" said Diarmuid, \"to go out by any side door of\nescape at all.\" \"That may be so,\" said Grania, \"but I heard it said that\nevery fighting man has leave to pass over the walls of any dun and of\nany strong place at all by the shafts of his spears. And I will go out\nthrough the door,\" she said, \"and let you follow me like that.\"\n\nWith that she went out, and Diarmuid spoke to his people, and it is what\nhe said, \"O Oisin, son of Finn, what must I do with these bonds that\nare laid on me?\" \"You are not guilty if the bonds were laid on you,\"\nsaid Oisin; \"and I tell you to follow Grania, and to keep yourself well\nout of the hands of Finn.\" \"Osgar, son of Oisin,\" he said then, \"what\nmust I do with these bonds that are put on me?\" \"I tell you to follow\nGrania,\" said Osgar, \"for it is a pitiful man that would break his\nbonds.\" \"What advice do you give me, Caoilte?\" said Diarmuid. \"It is\nwhat I say,\" said Caoilte, \"that I myself have a fitting wife; and that\nit would be better to me than all the riches of the world Grania to have\ngiven me that love.\" \"What advice do you give me, Diorraing?\" \"I tell\nyou to follow Grania,\" said Diorraing, \"although you will get your death\nby it, and that is bad to me.\" \"Is that the advice you all give me?\"\nsaid Diarmuid. \"It is,\" said Oisin, and all the rest with him. With that\nDiarmuid stood up and stretched out his hand for his weapons, and he\nsaid farewell to Oisin and the others, and every tear he shed was of the\nsize of a mountain berry. He went out then to the wall of the dun, and\nhe put the shafts of his two spears under him, and he rose with a light\nleap and he came down on the grassy earth outside, and Grania met him\nthere. Then Diarmuid said: \"It is a bad journey you are come on, Grania.\nFor it would be better for you to have Finn, son of Cumhal, as a lover\nthan myself, for I do not know any part or any western corner of Ireland\nthat will hide you. And if I do bring you with me,\" he said, \"it is not\nas a wife I will bring you, but I will keep my faith to Finn. And turn\nback now to the town,\" he said, \"and Finn will never get news of what\nyou are after doing.\" \"It is certain I will not turn back,\" said Grania,\n\"and I will never part with you till death parts us.\" \"If that is so,\nlet us go on, Grania,\" said Diarmuid.\n\nThey went on then, and they were not gone far out from the town when\nGrania said: \"I am getting tired, indeed.\" \"It is a good time to be\ntired,\" said Diarmuid, \"and go now back again to your own house. For I\nswear by the word of a true champion,\" he said, \"I will never carry\nyourself or any other woman to the end of life and time.\" \"That is not\nwhat you have to do,\" said Grania, \"for my father's horses are in a\ngrass field by themselves, and chariots with them; and turn back now,\nand bring two horses of them, and I will wait in this place till you\ncome to me again.\"\n\nDiarmuid went back then for the horses, and we have no knowledge of\ntheir journey till they reached to the ford on the Sionnan, that is\ncalled now Ath-luain.\n\nAnd Diarmuid said then to Grania: \"It is easier to Finn to follow our\ntrack, the horses being with us.\" \"If that is so,\" said Grania: \"leave\nthe horses here, and I will go on foot from this out.\"\n\nDiarmuid went down to the river then, and he brought a horse with him\nover the ford, and left the other horse the far side of the river. And\nhe himself and Grania went a good way with the stream westward, and they\nwent to land at the side of the province of Connacht. And wherever they\nwent, Diarmuid left unbroken bread after him, as a sign to Finn he had\nkept his faith with him.\n\nAnd from that they went on to Doire-da-Bhoth, the Wood of the Two Huts.\nAnd Diarmuid cut down the wood round about them, and he made a fence\nhaving seven doors of woven twigs, and he set out a bed of soft rushes\nand of the tops of the birch-tree for Grania in the very middle of the\nwood.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II. THE PURSUIT\n\n\nAnd as to Finn, son of Cumhal, I will tell out his story now.\n\nAll that were in Teamhair rose up early in the morning of the morrow,\nand they found Diarmuid and Grania were wanting from them, and there\ncame a scorching jealousy and a weakness on Finn. He sent out his\ntrackers then on the plain, and bade them to follow Diarmuid and Grania.\nAnd they followed the track as far as the ford on the Sionnan, and Finn\nand the Fianna followed after them, but they were not able to carry the\ntrack across the ford. And Finn gave them his word that unless they\nwould find the track again without delay, he would hang them on each\nside of the ford.\n\nThen the sons of Neamhuin went up against the stream, and they found a\nhorse on each side of it, and then they went on with the stream\nwestward, and they found the track going along the side of the Province\nof Connacht, and Finn and the Fianna of Ireland followed it on. And Finn\nsaid: \"I know well where we will find Diarmuid and Grania now; it is in\nDoire-da-Bhoth they are.\" Oisin and Osgar and Caoilte and Diorraing were\nlistening when Finn said those words. And Osgar spoke to the others, and\nit is what he said: \"There is danger they might be there, and it would\nbe right for us to give them some warning; and look now, Osgar, where is\nBran the hound, for Finn himself is no dearer to him than Diarmuid, and\nbid him go now with a warning to him.\"\n\nSo Osgar told Bran, and Bran understood him well, and she went to the\nrear of the whole troop the way Finn would not see her, and she followed\non the track of Diarmuid and Grania till she came to Doire-da-Bhoth, and\nshe put her head into Diarmuid's bosom, and he in his sleep.\n\nDiarmuid started up out of his sleep then, and he awoke Grania, and said\nto her: \"Here is Bran, Finn's hound, and she is come with a warning to\ntell us Finn himself is coming.\" \"Let us take that warning, then,\" said\nGrania, \"and make your escape.\" \"I will not take it,\" said Diarmuid,\n\"for if I cannot escape Finn, I would as soon he took me now as at any\nother time.\" When Grania heard that, great fear came on her.\n\nBran went away from them then, and when Oisin saw her coming back, he\nsaid: \"I am in dread Bran found no chance to get to Diarmuid, and we\nshould send him some other warning. And look where is Fearghoin,\" he\nsaid, \"Caoilte's serving-man.\" Now it was the way with Fearghoin, every\nshout he would give would be heard in the three nearest hundreds to him.\nSo they made him give out three shouts the way Diarmuid would hear him.\nAnd Diarmuid heard him, and he said to Grania: \"I hear Caoilte's\nserving-man, and it is with Caoilte he is, and it is along with Finn\nCaoilte is, and those shouts were sent as a warning to me.\" \"Take that\nwarning,\" said Grania. \"I will not take it,\" said Diarmuid, \"for Finn\nand the Fianna will come up with us before we leave the wood.\" And fear\nand great dread came on Grania when she heard him say that.\n\nAs for Finn, he did not leave off following the track till he came to\nDoire-da-Bhoth, and he sent the sons of Neamhuin to search through the\nwood, and they saw Diarmuid, and the woman along with him. They came\nback then where Finn was, and he asked them were Diarmuid and Grania in\nthe wood? \"Diarmuid is in it,\" they said, \"and there is some woman with\nhim, but we knew Diarmuid, and we do not know Grania.\" \"May no good come\nto the friends of Diarmuid for his sake,\" said Finn, \"and he will not\nquit that wood till he has given me satisfaction for everything he has\ndone to me.\"\n\n\"It is jealousy has put you astray, Finn,\" said Oisin; \"you to think\nDiarmuid would stop here on the plain of Maen Mhagh, and no close place\nin it but Doire-da-Bhoth, and you following after him.\" \"Saying that\nwill do you no good,\" said Finn, \"for I knew well when I heard the three\nshouts Caoilte's serving-man gave out, it was you sent them to Diarmuid\nas a warning. And another thing,\" he said, \"it was you sent my own\nhound Bran to him. But none of those things you have done will serve\nyou, for he will not leave Doire-da-Bhoth till he gives me satisfaction\nfor everything he has done to me, and every disgrace he has put on me.\"\n\"It is great foolishness for you, Finn,\" said Osgar then, \"to be\nthinking Diarmuid would stop in the middle of this plain and you waiting\nhere to strike the head off him.\" \"Who but himself cut the wood this\nway,\" said Finn, \"and made this close sheltered place with seven woven\nnarrow doors to it. And O Diarmuid,\" he said out then, \"which of us is\nthe truth with, myself or Oisin?\" \"You never failed from your good\njudgment, Finn,\" said Diarmuid, \"and indeed I myself and Grania are\nhere.\" Then Finn called to his men to go around Diarmuid and Grania, and\nto take them.\n\nNow it was shown at this time to Angus Og, at Brugh na Boinne, the great\ndanger Diarmuid was in, that was his pupil at one time, and his dear\nfoster-son. He set out then with the clear cold wind, and did not stop\nin any place till he came to Doire-da-Bhoth. And he went unknown to Finn\nor the Fianna into the place where Diarmuid and Grania were, and he\nspoke kind words to Diarmuid, and he said: \"What is the thing you have\ndone, grandson of Duibhne?\" \"It is,\" said Diarmuid, \"the daughter of the\nKing of Ireland that has made her escape with me from her father and\nfrom Finn, and it is not by my will she came.\" \"Let each of you come\nunder a border of my cloak, so,\" said Angus, \"and I will bring you out\nof the place where you are without knowledge of Finn or his people.\"\n\"Bring Grania with you,\" said Diarmuid, \"but I will never go with you;\nbut if I am alive I will follow you before long. And if I do not,\" he\nsaid, \"give Grania to her father, and he will do well or ill to her.\"\n\nWith that Angus put Grania under the border of his cloak, and brought\nher out unknown to Finn or the Fianna, and there is no news told of them\ntill they came to Ros-da-Shoileach, the Headland of the Two Sallows.\n\nAnd as to Diarmuid, after Angus and Grania going from him, he stood up\nas straight as a pillar and put on his armour and his arms, and after\nthat he went to a door of the seven doors he had made, and he asked who\nwas at it. \"There is no enemy to you here,\" they said, \"for there are\nhere Oisin and Osgar and the best men of the sons of Baiscne along with\nus. And come out to us now, and no one will have the daring to do any\nharm or hurt on you.\" \"I will not go out to you,\" said Diarmuid, \"till I\nsee at what door Finn himself is.\" He went then to another door of the\nseven and asked who was at it. \"Caoilte, son of Ronan, and the rest of\nthe sons of Ronan along with him; and come out to us now, and we will\ngive ourselves for your sake.\" \"I will not go out to you,\" said\nDiarmuid, \"for I will not put you under Finn's anger for any well-doing\nto myself.\" He went on to another door then and asked who was at it.\n\"There is Conan, son of Morna, and the rest of the sons of Morna along\nwith him; and it is enemies to Finn we are, and you are a great deal\nmore to us than he is, and you may come out and no one will dare lay a\nhand on you.\" \"I will not indeed,\" said Diarmuid, \"for Finn would be\nbetter pleased to see the death of every one of you than to let me\nescape.\" He went then to another door and asked who was at it. \"A friend\nand a comrade of your own, Fionn, son of Cuadan, head of the Fianna of\nMunster, and his men along with him; and we are of the one country and\nthe one soil, and we will give our bodies and our lives for your sake.\"\n\"I will not go out to you,\" said Diarmuid, \"for I would not like Finn to\nhave a grudge against you for any good you did to me.\" He went then to\nanother door and asked who was at it. \"It is Fionn, son of Glor, head\nof the Fianna of Ulster, and his men along him; and come out now to us\nand there is no one will dare hurt or harm you.\" \"I will not go out to\nyou,\" said Diarmuid, \"for you are a friend to me, and your father along\nwith you, and I would not like the unfriendliness of Finn to be put on\nyou for my sake.\" He went then to another door, and he asked who was at\nit. \"There is no friend of yours here,\" they said, \"for there is here\nAodh Beag the Little from Eamhuin, and Aodh Fada the Long from Eamhuin,\nand Caol Crodha the Fierce, and Goineach the Wounder, and Gothan the\nWhite-fingered, and Aoife his daughter, and Cuadan the Tracker from\nEamhuin; and we are unfriendly people to you, and if you come out to us\nwe will not spare you at all, but will make an end of you.\" \"It is a bad\ntroop is in it,\" said Diarmuid; \"you of the lies and of the tracking and\nof the one shoe, and it is not fear of your hands is upon me, but\nbecause I am your enemy I will not go out.\"\n\nHe went then to the last of the seven doors and asked who was at it. \"No\nfriend of yours,\" they said, \"but it is Finn, son of Cumhal, and four\nhundred paid fighting men along with him; and if you will come out to us\nwe will make opened marrow of you.\" \"I give you my word, Finn,\" said\nDiarmuid, \"that the door you are at yourself is the first door I will\npass out of.\"\n\nWhen Finn heard that, he warned his battalions on pain of lasting death\nnot to let Diarmuid past them unknown. But when Diarmuid heard what he\nsaid, he rose on the staves of his spears and he went with a very high,\nlight leap on far beyond Finn and his people, without their knowledge.\nHe looked back at them then, and called out that he had gone past them,\nand he put his shield on his back and went straight on towards the west,\nand it was not long before he was out of sight of Finn and the Fianna.\nThen when he did not see any one coming after him, he turned back to\nwhere he saw Angus and Grania going out of the wood, and he followed on\ntheir track till he came to Ros-da-Shoileach.\n\nHe found Angus and Grania there in a sheltered, well-lighted cabin, and\na great blazing fire kindled in it, and the half of a wild boar on\nspits. Diarmuid greeted them, and the life of Grania all to went out of\nher with joy before him.\n\nDiarmuid told them his news from beginning to end, and they ate their\nshare that night, and they went to sleep till the coming of the day and\nof the full light on the morrow. And Angus rose up early, and he said to\nDiarmuid: \"I am going from you now, grandson of Duibhne; and I leave\nthis advice with you,\" he said, \"not to go into a tree with one trunk,\nand you flying before Finn, and not to be going into a cave of the earth\nthat has but one door, and not to be going to an island of the sea that\nhas but one harbour. And in whatever place you cook your share of food,\"\nhe said, \"do not eat it there; and in whatever place you eat it, do not\nlie down there; and in whatever place you lie down, do not rise up there\non the morrow.\" He said farewell to them after that, and went his way.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III. THE GREEN CHAMPIONS\n\nThen Diarmuid and Grania went along the right bank of the Sionnan\nwestward till they came to Garbh-abha-na-Fiann, the rough river of the\nFianna. And Diarmuid killed a salmon on the brink of the river, and put\nit to the fire on a spit. Then he himself and Grania went across the\nstream to eat it, as Angus bade them; and then they went westward to\nsleep.\n\nThey rose up early on the morrow, and they travelled straight westward\ntill they came to the marsh of Finnliath.\n\nAnd on the marsh they met with a young man, having a good shape and\nappearance, but without fitting dress or arms. Diarmuid greeted the\nyoung man, and asked news of him. \"A fighting lad I am, looking for a\nmaster,\" he said, \"and Muadhan is my name.\" \"What would you do for me,\nyoung man?\" said Diarmuid. \"I would be a servant to you in the day, and\nwatch for you in the night,\" he said. \"I tell you to keep that young\nman,\" said Grania, \"for you cannot be always without people.\"\n\nThen they made an agreement with him, and bound one another, and they\nwent on together westward till they reached the Carrthach river. And\nthen Muadhan bade Diarmuid and Grania to go up on his back till he would\ncarry them over the stream.\n\n\"That would be a big load for you,\" said Grania. But he put them upon\nhis back and carried them over. Then they went on till they came to the\nBeith, and Muadhan brought them over on his back the same way. And they\nwent into a cave at the side of Currach Cinn Adhmuid, the Woody Headland\nof the Bog, over Tonn Toime, and Muadhan made ready beds of soft rushes\nand tops of the birch for them in the far end of the cave. And he went\nhimself into the scrub that was near, and took a straight long rod of a\nquicken-tree, and he put a hair and a hook on the rod, and a holly berry\non the hook, and he went up the stream, and he took a salmon with the\nfirst cast. Then he put on a second berry and killed another fish, and\nhe put on a third berry and killed the third fish. Then he put the hook\nand the hair under his belt, and struck the rod into the earth, and he\nbrought the three salmon where Diarmuid and Grania were, and put them on\nspits. When they were done, Muadhan said: \"I give the dividing of the\nfish to you, Diarmuid.\" \"I would sooner you to divide it than myself,\"\nsaid Diarmuid. \"I will give the dividing of the fish to you, so,\nGrania,\" said he. \"I am better satisfied you to divide it,\" said Grania.\n\"If it was you that divided the fish, Diarmuid,\" said Muadhan, \"you\nwould have given the best share to Grania; and if it was Grania divided\nit, she would have given you the best share; and as it is myself is\ndividing it, let you have the biggest fish, Diarmuid, and let Grania\nhave the second biggest, and I myself will have the one is smallest.\"\n\nThey spent the night there, and Diarmuid and Grania slept in the far\npart of the cave, and Muadhan kept watch for them until the rising of\nthe day and the full light of the morrow.\n\nDiarmuid rose up early, and he bade Grania keep watch for Muadhan, and\nthat he himself would go and take a walk around the country. He went out\nthen, and he went up on a hill that was near, and he was looking about\nhim, east and west, north and south. He was not long there till he saw a\ngreat fleet of ships coming from the west, straight to the bottom of the\nhill where he was. And when they were come to land, nine times nine of\nthe chief men of the ships came on shore, and Diarmuid went down and\ngreeted them, and asked news of them, and to what country they belonged.\n\n\"Three kings we are of the Green Champions of Muir-na-locht,\" said they;\n\"and Finn, son of Cumhal, sent looking for us by cause of a thief of the\nwoods, and an enemy of his own that has gone hiding from him; and it is\nto hinder him we are come. And we are twenty hundred good fighting men,\nand every one of us is a match for a hundred, and besides that,\" he\nsaid, \"we have three deadly hounds with us; fire will not burn them, and\nwater will not drown them, and arms will not redden on them, and we will\nlay them on his track, and it will be short till we get news of him.\nAnd tell us who you are yourself?\" they said, \"and have you any word of\nthe grandson of Duibhne?\" \"I saw him yesterday,\" said Diarmuid; \"and I\nmyself,\" he said, \"am but a fighting man, walking the world by the\nstrength of my hand and by the hardness of my sword. And by my word,\" he\nsaid, \"you will know Diarmuid's hand when you will meet it.\" \"Well, we\nfound no one up to this,\" said they. \"What are your own names?\" said\nDiarmuid. \"Dubh-chosach, the Black-footed, Fionn-chosach, the\nFair-footed, and Treun-chosach, the Strong-footed,\" they said.\n\n\"Is there wine in your ships?\" said Diarmuid. \"There is,\" said they. \"If\nyou have a mind to bring out a tun of wine,\" said Diarmuid, \"I will do a\ntrick for you.\" They sent men to get the tun, and when it came Diarmuid\ntook it between his two hands and drank a drink out of it, and the\nothers drank what was left of it. Diarmuid took up the tun after that,\nand brought it to the top of the hill, and he went up himself on the\ntun, and let it go down the steep of the hill till it was at the bottom.\nAnd then he brought the tun up the hill again, and he himself on it\ncoming and going, and he did that trick three times before the\nstrangers. But they said he was a man had never seen a good trick when\nhe called that a trick; and with that a man of them went up on the tun,\nbut Diarmuid gave a stroke of his foot at it and the young man fell from\nit before it began to move, and it rolled over him and crushed him, that\nhe died. And another man went on it, and another after him again, till\nfifty of them were killed trying to do Diarmuid's trick, and as many of\nthem as were not killed went back to their ships that night.\n\nDiarmuid went back then to where he left Grania; and Muadhan put the\nhair and the hook on the rod till he killed three salmon; and they ate\ntheir meal that night, and he kept watch for them the same way he did\nbefore.\n\nDiarmuid went out early the next day again to the hill, and it was not\nlong till he saw the three strangers coming towards him, and he asked\nthem would they like to see any more tricks. They said they would sooner\nget news of the grandson of Duibhne. \"I saw a man that saw him\nyesterday,\" said Diarmuid. And with that he put off his arms and his\nclothes, all but the shirt that was next his skin, and he struck the\nCrann Buidhe, the spear of Manannan, into the earth with the point\nupwards. And then he rose with a leap and lit on the point of the spear\nas light as a bird, and came down off it again without a wound on him.\nThen a young man of the Green Champions said: \"It is a man has never\nseen feats that would call that a feat\"; and he put off his clothing and\nmade a leap, and if he did he came down heavily on the point of the\nspear, and it went through his heart, and he fell to the ground. The\nnext day Diarmuid came again, and he brought two forked poles out of the\nwood and put them standing upright on the hill, and he put the sword of\nAngus Og, the Mor-alltach, the Big-fierce one, between the two forks on\nits edge. Then he raised himself lightly over it, and walked on the\nsword three times from the hilt to the point, and he came down and asked\nwas there a man of them could do that feat.\n\n\"That is a foolish question,\" said a man of them then, \"for there was\nnever any feat done in Ireland but a man of our own would do it.\" And\nwith that he rose up to walk on the sword; but it is what happened, he\ncame down heavily on it the way he was cut in two halves.\n\nThe rest of the champions bade him take away his sword then, before any\nmore of their people would fall by it; and they asked him had he any\nword of the grandson of Duibhne. \"I saw a man that saw him to-day,\" said\nDiarmuid, \"and I will go ask news of him to-night.\"\n\nHe went back then to where Grania was, and Muadhan killed three salmon\nfor their supper, and kept a watch for them through the night. And\nDiarmuid rose up at the early break of day, and he put his battle\nclothes on him, that no weapon could go through, and he took the sword\nof Angus, that left no leavings after it, at his left side, and his two\nthick-handled spears, the Gae Buidhe and the Gae Dearg, the Yellow and\nthe Red, that gave wounds there was no healing for. And then he wakened\nGrania, and he bade her to keep watch for Muadhan, and he himself would\ngo out and take a look around.\n\nWhen Grania saw him looking so brave, and dressed in his clothes of\nanger and of battle, great fear took hold of her, and she asked what was\nhe going to do. \"It is for fear of meeting my enemies I am like this,\"\nsaid he. That quieted Grania, and then Diarmuid went out to meet the\nGreen Champions.\n\nThey came to land then, and they asked had he news of the grandson of\nDuibhne. \"I saw him not long ago,\" said Diarmuid. \"If that is so, let us\nknow where is he,\" said they, \"till we bring his head to Finn, son of\nCumhal.\" \"I would be keeping bad watch for him if I did that,\" said\nDiarmuid, \"for his life and his body are under the protection of my\nvalour, and by reason of that I will do no treachery on him.\" \"Is that\ntrue?\" said they. \"It is true indeed,\" said Diarmuid. \"Let you yourself\nquit this place, so,\" they said, \"or we will bring your head to Finn\nsince you are an enemy to him.\" \"It is in bonds I would be,\" said\nDiarmuid, \"the time I would leave my head with you.\" And with that he\ndrew his sword the Mor-alltach out of its sheath, and he made a fierce\nblow at the head nearest him that put it in two halves. Then he made an\nattack on the whole host of the Green Champions, and began to destroy\nthem, cutting through the beautiful shining armour of the men of\nMuir-na-locht till there was hardly a man but got shortening of life and\nthe sorrow of death, or that could go back to give news of the fight,\nbut only the three kings and a few of their people that made their\nescape back to their ships. Diarmuid turned back then without wound or\nhurt on him, and he went to where Crania and Muadhan were. They bade him\nwelcome, and Grania asked him did he hear any news of Finn and the\nFianna of Ireland, and he said he did not, and they ate their food and\nspent the night there.\n\nHe rose up again with the early light of the morrow and went back to the\nhill, and when he got there he struck a great blow on his shield that\nset the strand shaking with the sound. And Dubh-chosach heard it, and he\nsaid he himself would go fight with Diarmuid, and he went on shore there\nand then.\n\nAnd he and Diarmuid threw the arms out of their hands and rushed on one\nanother like wrestlers, straining their arms and their sinews, knotting\ntheir hands on one another's backs, fighting like bulls in madness, or\nlike two daring hawks on the edge of a cliff. But at the last Diarmuid\nraised up Dubh-chosach on his shoulder and threw his body to the ground,\nand bound him fast and firm on the spot. And Fionn-chosach and\nTreun-chosach came one after the other to fight with him then, and he\nput the same binding on them; and he said he would strike the heads off\nthem, only he thought it a worse punishment to leave them in those\nbonds. \"For there is no one can free you,\" he said. And he left them\nthere, worn out and sorrowful.\n\nThe next morning after that, Diarmuid told Grania the whole story of the\nstrangers from beginning to end, and of all he had done to them, and how\non the fifth day he had put their kings in bonds. \"And they have three\nfierce hounds in a chain ready to hunt me,\" he said. \"Did you take the\nheads off those three kings?\" said Grania, \"I did not,\" said Diarmuid,\n\"for there is no man of the heroes of Ireland can loosen those bonds but\nfour only, Oisin, son of Finn, and Osgar, son of Oisin, and Lugaidh's\nSon of the Strong Hand, and Conan, son of Morna; and I know well,\" he\nsaid, \"none of those four will do it. But all the same, it is short till\nFinn will get news of them, and it is best for us to be going from this\ncave, or Finn and the three hounds might come on us.\"\n\nAfter that they left the cave, and they went on till they came to the\nbog of Finnliath. Grania began to fall behind them, and Muadhan put her\non his back and carried her till they came to the great Slieve Luachra.\nThen Diarmuid sat down on the brink of the stream that was flowing\nthrough the heart of the mountain, and Grania was washing her hands, and\nshe asked his knife from him to cut her nails with.\n\nAs to the strangers, as many of them as were alive yet, they came to the\nhill where their three leaders were bound, and they thought to loose\nthem; but it is the way those bonds were, all they did by meddling with\nthem was to draw them tighter.\n\nAnd they were not long there till they saw a woman coming towards them\nwith the quickness of a swallow or a weasel or a blast of wind over bare\nmountain-tops. And she asked them who was it had done that great\nslaughter on them. \"Who are you that is asking that?\" said they. \"I am\nthe Woman of the Black Mountain, the woman-messenger of Finn, son of\nCumhal,\" she said; \"and it is looking for you Finn sent me.\" \"Indeed we\ndo not know who it was did this slaughter,\" they said, \"but we will tell\nyou his appearance. A young man he was, having dark curling hair and\nruddy cheeks. And it is worse again to us,\" they said, \"our three\nleaders to be bound this way, and we not able to loose them.\" \"What way\ndid that young man go from you?\" said the woman. \"It was late last\nnight he left us,\" they said, \"and we do not know where is he gone.\" \"I\ngive you my word,\" she said, \"it was Diarmuid himself that was in it;\nand take your hounds now and lay them on his track, and I will send Finn\nand the Fianna of Ireland to you.\"\n\nThey left a woman-Druid then attending on the three champions that were\nbound, and they brought their three hounds out of the ship and laid them\non Diarmuid's track, and followed them till they came to the opening of\nthe cave, and they went into the far part of it and found the beds where\nDiarmuid and Crania had slept. Then they went on westward till they came\nto the Carrthach river, and to the bog of Finnliath, and so on to the\ngreat Slieve Luachra.\n\nBut Diarmuid did not know they were after him till he got sight of them\nwith their banners of soft silk and their three wicked hounds in the\nfront of the troop and three strong champions holding them in chains.\nAnd when he saw them coming like that he was filled with great hatred of\nthem.\n\nThere was one of them had a well-coloured green cloak on him, and he\ncame out far beyond the others, and Grania gave the knife back to\nDiarmuid. \"I think you have not much love for that young man of the\ngreen cloak, Grania,\" said Diarmuid. \"I have not indeed,\" said Grania;\n\"and it would be better if I had never given love to any man at all to\nthis day.\" Diarmuid put the knife in the sheath then, and went on; and\nMuadhan put Grania on his back and carried her on into the mountain.\n\nIt was not long till a hound of the three hounds was loosed after\nDiarmuid, and Muadhan said to him to follow Grania, and he himself would\ncheck the hound. Then Muadhan turned back, and he took a whelp out of\nhis belt, and put it on the flat of his hand. And when the whelp saw the\nhound rushing towards him, and its jaws open, he rose up and made a leap\nfrom Muadhan's hand into the throat of the hound, and came out of its\nside, bringing the heart with it, and he leaped back again to Muadhan's\nhand, and left the hound dead after him.\n\nMuadhan went on then after Diarmuid and Grania, and he took up Grania\nagain and carried her a bit of the way into the mountain. Then another\nhound was loosened after them, and Diarmuid said to Muadhan: \"I often\nheard there is nothing can stand against weapons of Druid wounding, and\nthe throat of no beast can be made safe from them. And will you stand\nnow,\" he said, \"till I put the Gae Dearg, the Red Spear, through that\nhound.\"\n\nThen Muadhan and Grania stopped to see the cast. And Diarmuid made a\ncast at the hound, and the spear went through its body and brought out\nits bowels; and he took up the spear again, and they went forward.\n\nIt was not long after that the third hound was loosed. And Grania said\nthen: \"This is the one is fiercest of them, and there is great fear on\nme, and mind yourself now, Diarmuid.\"\n\nIt was not long till the hound overtook them, and the place he overtook\nthem was Lic Dhubhain, the flag-stone of Dubhan, on Slieve Luachra. He\nrose with a light leap over Diarmuid, as if he had a mind to seize on\nGrania, but Diarmuid took him by the two hind legs, and struck a blow of\nhis carcase against the side of the rock was nearest, till he had let\nout his brains through the openings of his head and of his ears. And\nthen Diarmuid took up his arms and his battle clothes, and put his\nnarrow-topped finger into the silken string of the Gae Dearg, and he\nmade a good cast at the young man of the green cloak that was at the\nhead of the troop that killed him. Then he made another cast at the\nsecond man and killed him, and the third man in the same way. And as it\nis not the custom to stand after leaders are fallen, the strangers when\nthey saw what had happened took to flight.\n\nAnd Diarmuid followed after them, killing and scattering, so that unless\nany man of them got away over the forests, or into the green earth, or\nunder the waters, there was not a man or messenger of them left to tell\nthe news, but only the Woman-messenger of the Black Mountain, that kept\nmoving around about when Diarmuid was putting down the strangers.\n\nAnd it was not long till Finn saw her coming towards him where he was,\nher legs failing, and her tongue muttering, and her eyes drooping, and\nhe asked news of her. \"It is very bad news I have to tell you,\" she\nsaid; \"and it is what I think, that it is a person without a lord I am.\"\nThen she told Finn the whole story from beginning to end, of the\ndestruction Diarmuid had done, and how the three deadly hounds had\nfallen by him. \"And it is hardly I myself got away,\" she said. \"What\nplace did the grandson of Duibhne go to?\" said Finn. \"I do not know\nthat,\" she said.\n\nAnd when Finn heard of the Kings of the Green Champions that were bound\nby Diarmuid, he called his men to him, and they went by every short way\nand every straight path till they reached the hill, and it was torment\nto the heart of Finn to see the way they were. Then he said: \"Oisin,\" he\nsaid, \"loosen those three kings for me.\" \"I will not loosen them,\" said\nOisin, \"for Diarmuid put bonds on me not to loosen any man he would\nbind.\" \"Loosen them, Osgar,\" said Finn then. \"I give my word,\" said\nOsgar, \"it is more bonds I would wish to put on them sooner than to\nloosen them.\" Neither would Conan help them, or Lugaidh's Son. And any\nway, they were not long talking about it till the three kings died under\nthe hardness of the bonds that were on them.\n\nThen Finn made three wide-sodded graves for them, and a flag-stone was\nput over them, and another stone raised over that again, and their names\nwere written in branching Ogham, and it is tired and heavy-hearted Finn\nwas after that; and he and his people went back to Almhuin of Leinster.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV. THE WOOD OF DUBHROS\n\n\nAnd as to Diarmuid and Grania and Muadhan, they went on through Ui\nChonaill Gabhra, and left-hand ways to Ros-da-Shoileach, and Diarmuid\nkilled a wild deer that night, and they had their fill of meat and of\npure water, and they slept till the morning of the morrow. And Muadhan\nrose up early, and spoke to Diarmuid, and it is what he said, that he\nhimself was going away. \"It is not right for you to do that,\" said\nDiarmuid, \"for everything I promised you I fulfilled it, without any\ndispute.\"\n\nBut he could not hinder him, and Muadhan said farewell to them and left\nthem there and then, and it is sorrowful and downhearted Diarmuid and\nGrania were after him.\n\nAfter that they travelled on straight to the north, to Slieve Echtge,\nand from that to the hundred of Ui Fiachrach; and when they got there\nGrania was tired out, but she took courage and went on walking beside\nDiarmuid till they came to the wood of Dubhros.\n\nNow, there was a wonderful quicken-tree in that wood, and the way it\ncame to be there is this:\n\nThere rose a dispute one time between two women of the Tuatha de Danaan,\nAine and Aoife, daughters of Manannan, son of Lir, for Aoife had given\nher love to Lugaidh's Son, and Aine had given her love to a man of her\nown race, and each of them said her own man was a better hurler than the\nother. And it came from that dispute that there was a great hurling\nmatch settled between the Men of Dea and the Fianna of Ireland, and the\nplace it was to be played was on a beautiful plain near Loch Lein.\n\nThey all came together there, and the highest men and the most daring of\nthe Tuatha de Danaan were there, the three Garbhs of Slieve Mis, and the\nthree Mases of Slieve Luachra, and the three yellow-haired Murchadhs,\nand the three Eochaidhs of Aine, and the three Fionns of the White\nHouse, and the three Sgals of Brugh na Boinne, and the three Ronans of\nAth na Riogh, and the Suirgheach Suairc, the Pleasant Wooer from Lionan,\nand the Man of Sweet Speech from the Boinn, and Ilbrec, the\nMany-Coloured, son of Manannan, and Neamhanach, son of Angus Og, and\nBodb Dearg, son of the Dagda, and Manannan, son of Lir.\n\nThey themselves and the Fianna were playing the match through the length\nof three days and three nights, from Leamhain to the valley of the\nFleisg, that is called the Crooked Valley of the Fianna, and neither of\nthem winning a goal. And when the Tuatha de Danaan that were watching\nthe game on each side of Leamhain saw it was so hard for their hurlers\nto win a goal against the Fianna, they thought it as well to go away\nagain without playing out the game.\n\nNow the provision the Men of Dea had brought with them from the Land of\nPromise was crimson nuts, and apples, and sweet-smelling rowan berries.\nAnd as they were passing through the district of Ui Fiachrach by the\nMuaidh, a berry of the rowan berries fell from them, and a tree grew up\nfrom it. And there was virtue in its berries, and no sickness or disease\nwould ever come on any person that would eat them, and those that would\neat them would feel the liveliness of wine and the satisfaction of mead\nin them, and any old person of a hundred years that would eat them would\ngo back to be young again, and any young girl that would eat them would\ngrow to be a flower of beauty.\n\nAnd it happened one time after the tree was grown, there were messengers\nof the Tuatha de Danaan going through the wood of Dubhros. And they\nheard a great noise of birds and of bees, and they went where the noise\nwas, and they saw the beautiful Druid tree. They went back then and told\nwhat they had seen, and all the chief men of the Tuatha de Danaan when\nthey heard it knew the tree must have grown from a berry of the Land of\nthe Ever-Living Living Ones. And they enquired among all their people,\ntill they knew it was a young man of them, that was a musician, had\ndropped the berry.\n\nAnd it is what they agreed, to send him in search of a man of Lochlann\nthat would guard the tree by day and sleep in it by night. And the women\nof the Sidhe were very downhearted to see him going from them, for there\nwas no harper could play half so sweetly on his harp as he could play on\nan ivy leaf.\n\nHe went on then till he came to Lochlann, and he sat down on a bank and\nsleep came on him. And he slept till the rising of the sun on the\nmorrow; and when he awoke he saw a very big man coming towards him, that\nasked him who was he. \"I am a messenger from the Men of Dea,\" he said;\n\"and I am come looking for some very strong man that would be willing to\nguard a Druid tree that is in the wood of Dubhros. And here are some of\nthe berries he will be eating from morning to night,\" he said.\n\nAnd when the big man had tasted the berries, he said: \"I will go and\nguard all the trees of the wood to get those berries.\"\n\nAnd his name was the Searbhan Lochlannach, the Surly One of Lochlann.\nVery black and ugly he was, having crooked teeth, and one eye only in\nthe middle of his forehead. And he had a thick collar of iron around his\nbody, and it was in the prophecy that he would never die till there\nwould be three strokes of the iron club he had, struck upon himself. And\nhe slept in the tree by night and stopped near it in the daytime, and he\nmade a wilderness of the whole district about him, and none of the\nFianna dared go hunt there because of the dread of him that was on them.\n\nBut when Diarmuid came to the wood of Dubhros, he went into it to where\nthe Surly One was, and he made bonds of agreement with him, and got\nleave from him to go hunting in the wood, so long as he would not touch\nthe berries of the tree. And he made a cabin then for himself and for\nGrania in the wood.\n\nAs for Finn and his people, they were not long at Almhuin till they saw\nfifty armed men coming towards them, and two that were taller and\nhandsomer than the rest in the front of them. Finn asked did any of his\npeople know them. \"We do not know them,\" they said, \"but maybe you\nyourself know them, Finn.\" \"I do not,\" he said; \"but it seems to be they\nare enemies to myself.\" The troop of armed men came up to them then and\nthey greeted him, and Finn asked news of them, and from what country\nthey came. \"I am Aonghus, son of Art Og of the children of Morna,\" one\nof them said, \"and this is Aodh, son of Andela; and we are enemies of\nyour own, and our fathers were at the killing of your father, and they\nthemselves died for that deed. And it is to ask peace we are come now to\nyou,\" they said. \"Where were you the time my father was killed?\" \"In our\nmothers' wombs,\" said they; \"and our mothers were two women of the\nTuatha de Danaan, and it is time for us now to get our father's place\namong the Fianna.\" \"I will give you that,\" said Finn, \"but I must put a\nfine on you first in satisfaction for my father's death.\" \"We have\nneither gold or silver or goods or cattle to give you, Finn,\" said they.\n\"Do not put a fine on them, Finn,\" said Oisin, \"beyond the death of\ntheir fathers for your father.\" \"It is what I think,\" said Finn, \"if any\none killed myself, Oisin, it would be easy to pay the fine you would\nask. And there will no one come among the Fianna,\" he said, \"without\ngiving what I ask in satisfaction for my father's death.\" \"What is it\nyou are asking of us?\" said Aonghus, son of Art Og. \"I am asking but the\nhead of a champion, or the full of a fist of the berries of the\nquicken-tree at Dubhros.\" \"I will give you a good advice, children of\nMorna,\" said Oisin, \"to go back to the place you were reared, and not to\nask peace of Finn through the length of your lives. For it is not an\neasy thing Finn is asking of you; and do you know whose head he is\nasking you to bring him?\" \"We do not,\" said they. \"The head of Diarmuid,\ngrandson of Duibhne, is the head he is asking of you. And if you were\ntwenty hundred men in their full strength, Diarmuid would not let you\ntake that head.\" \"And what are the berries Finn is asking of us?\" they\nsaid then. \"There is nothing is harder for you to get than those\nberries,\" said Oisin.\n\nHe told them then the whole story of the tree, and of the Searbhan, the\nSurly One of Lochlann, that was put to mind it by the Tuatha de Danaan.\nBut Aodh, son of Andela, spoke then, and it is what he said, that he\nwould sooner get his death looking for those berries than to go home\nagain to his mother's country. And he said to Oisin to care his people\ntill he would come back again, and if anything should happen himself and\nhis brother in their journey, to send them back again to the Land of\nPromise. And the two said farewell then to Oisin and to the chief men of\nthe Fianna, and they went forward till they reached Dubhros. And they\nwent along the wood till they found a track, and they followed it to\nthe door of the hunting-cabin where Diarmuid and Grania were.\n\nDiarmuid heard them coming, and he put his hand on his weapons and asked\nwho was at the door. \"We are of the children of Morna,\" they said,\n\"Aodh, son of Andela, and Aonghus, son of Art Og.\" \"What brings you to\nthis wood?\" said Diarmuid. \"Finn, son of Cumhal, that put us looking for\nyour head, if you are Diarmuid, grandson of Duibhne,\" said they. \"I am\nindeed,\" said Diarmuid. \"If that is so,\" they said, \"Finn will take\nnothing from us but your head, or a fistful of the berries of the\nquicken-tree of Dubhros as satisfaction for the death of his father.\"\n\"It is not easy for you to get either of those things,\" said Diarmuid,\n\"and it is a pity for any one to be under the power of that man. And\nbesides that,\" he said, \"I know it was he himself made an end of your\nfathers, and that was enough satisfaction for him to get; and if you do\nbring him what he asks, it is likely he will not make peace with you in\nthe end.\" \"Is it not enough for you,\" said Aodh, \"to have brought his\nwife away from Finn without speaking ill of him?\" \"It is not for the\nsake of speaking ill of him I said that,\" said Diarmuid, \"but to save\nyourselves from the danger he has sent you into.\"\n\n\"What are those berries Finn is asking?\" said Grania, \"that they cannot\nbe got for him?\"\n\nDiarmuid told her then the whole story of the berry the Tuatha de Danaan\nhad lost, and of the tree that had sprung up from it, and of the man of\nLochlann that was keeping the tree. \"And at the time Finn sent me hiding\nhere and became my enemy,\" he said, \"I got leave from the Surly One to\nhunt, but he bade me never to meddle with the berries. And now, sons of\nMorna,\" he said, \"there is your choice, to fight with me for my head, or\nto go asking the berries of the Surly One.\" \"I swear by the blood of my\npeople,\" said each of them, \"I will fight with yourself first.\"\n\nWith that the two young men made ready for the fight. And it is what\nthey chose, to fight with the strength of their hands alone. And\nDiarmuid put them down and bound the two of them there and then. \"That\nis a good fight you made,\" said Grania. \"But, by my word,\" she said,\n\"although the children of Morna do not go looking for those berries, I\nwill not lie in a bed for ever till I get a share of them; and I will\nnot live if I do not get them,\" she said. \"Do not make me break my peace\nwith the Surly One,\" said Diarmuid, \"for he will not let me take them.\"\n\"Loose these tyings from us,\" said the two young men, \"and we will go\nwith you, and we will give ourselves for your sake.\" \"You must not come\nwith me,\" said Diarmuid; \"for if you got the full of your eyes of that\nterrible one, you would be more likely to die than to live.\" \"Well, do\nus this kindness,\" they said then; \"loosen these bonds on us, and give\nus time to go by ourselves and see the fight before you strike off our\nheads.\" So Diarmuid did that for them.\n\nThen Diarmuid went to the Surly One, and he chanced to be asleep before\nhim, and he gave him a stroke of his foot the way he lifted his head and\nlooked up at him, and he said: \"Have you a mind to break our peace,\nGrandson of Duibhne?\" \"That is not what I want,\" said Diarmuid; \"but it\nis Grania, daughter of the High King,\" he said, \"has a desire to taste\nthose berries, and it is to ask a handful of them I am come.\" \"I give my\nword,\" said he, \"if she is to die for it, she will never taste a berry\nof those berries.\" \"I would not do treachery on you,\" said Diarmuid;\n\"and so I tell you, willing or unwilling, I will take those berries from\nyou.\"\n\nWhen the Surly One heard that, he rose up on his feet and lifted his\nclub and struck three great blows on Diarmuid, that gave him some\nlittle hurt in spite of his shield. But when Diarmuid saw him not\nminding himself, he threw down his weapons, and made a great leap and\ntook hold of the club with his two hands. And when he had a hold of the\nclub he struck three great blows on him that put his brains out through\nhis head. And the two young men of the sons of Morna were looking at the\nwhole fight; and when they saw the Surly One was killed they came out.\nAnd Diarmuid sat down, for he was spent with the dint of the fight, and\nhe bid the young men to bury the body under the thickets of the wood,\nthe way Grania would not see it. \"And after that,\" he said, \"let you go\nback to her and bring her here.\" So they dragged away the body and\nburied it, and they went then for Grania and brought her to Diarmuid.\n\n\"There are the berries you were asking, Grania,\" he said, \"and you may\ntake what you like of them now.\" \"I give my word,\" said Grania, \"I will\nnot taste a berry of those berries but the one your own hand will pluck,\nDiarmuid.\" Diarmuid rose up then and plucked the berries for Grania, and\nfor the children of Morna, and they ate their fill of them. And he said\nthen to the young men: \"Take all you can of these berries, and bring\nthem with you to Finn, and tell him it was yourselves made an end of the\nSurly One of Lochlann.\" \"We give you our word,\" said they, \"we begrudge\ngiving any of them to Finn.\"\n\nBut Diarmuid plucked a load of the berries for them, and they gave him\ngreat thanks for all he had done; and they went back to where Finn was\nwith the Fianna. And Diarmuid and Grania went up into the top of the\ntree where the bed of the Surly One was. And the berries below were but\nbitter berries beside the ones above in the tree. And when the two young\nmen came to Finn, he asked news of them. \"We have killed the Surly One\nof Lochlann,\" they said; \"and we have brought you berries from the\nquicken-tree of Dubhros, in satisfaction for your father, that we may\nget peace from you.\" They gave the berries then into Finn's hand, and he\nknew them, and he said to the young men: \"I give you my word,\" he said,\n\"it was Diarmuid himself plucked those berries, for I know the smell of\nhis hand on them; and I know well it was he killed the Surly One, and I\nwill go now and see is he himself alive at the quicken-tree.\"\n\nAfter that he called for the seven battalions of the Fianna, and he set\nout and went forward to Dubhros. And they followed the track of Diarmuid\nto the foot of the quicken-tree, and they found the berries without\nprotection, so they ate their fill of them. And the great heat of the\nday came on them, and Finn said they would stop where they were till the\nheat would be past; \"for I know well,\" he said, \"Diarmuid is up in the\nquicken-tree.\" \"It is a great sign of jealousy in you, Finn,\" said\nOisin, \"to think that Diarmuid would stop there up in the quicken-tree\nand he knowing you are wanting to kill him.\"\n\nFinn asked for a chess-board after that, and he said to Oisin: \"I will\nplay a game with you now on this.\" They sat down then, Oisin and Osgar\nand Lugaidh's Son and Diorraing on the one side of the board, and Finn\non the other side.\n\nAnd they were playing that game with great skill and knowledge, and Finn\npressed Oisin so hard that he had no move to make but the one, and Finn\nsaid: \"There is one move would win the game for you, Oisin, and I defy\nall that are with you to show you that move.\" Then Diarmuid said up in\nthe tree where he was, and no one heard him but Grania: \"It is a pity\nyou be in straits, and without myself to show you that move.\" \"It is\nworse off you are yourself,\" said Grania, \"to be in the bed of the\nSurly One of Lochlann in the top of the quicken-tree, and the seven\nbattalions of the Fianna round about it to take your life.\"\n\nBut Diarmuid took a berry of the tree, and aimed at the one of the\nchessmen that ought to be moved, and Oisin moved it and turned the game\nagainst Finn by that move. It was not long before the game was going\nagainst Oisin the second time, and when Diarmuid saw that he threw\nanother berry at the chessman it was right to move, and Oisin moved it\nand turned the game against Finn in the same way. And the third time\nFinn was getting the game from Oisin, and Diarmuid threw the third berry\non the man that would give the game to Oisin, and the Fianna gave a\ngreat shout when the game was won. Finn spoke then, and it is what he\nsaid: \"It is no wonder you to win the game, Oisin, and you having the\nhelp of Osgar, and the watchfulness of Diorraing, and the skill of\nLugaidh's Son, and the teaching of the grandson of Duibhne with you.\"\n\"That is a great sign of jealousy in you, Finn,\" said Osgar, \"to think\nDiarmuid would stop in this tree, and you so near him.\" \"Which of us has\nthe truth, Diarmuid, grandson of Duibhne,\" Finn said out then, \"myself\nor Osgar?\" \"You never lost your good judgment, Finn,\" said Diarmuid\nthen; \"and I myself and Grania are here, in the bed of the Surly One of\nLochlann.\" Then Diarmuid rose up and gave three kisses to Grania in the\nsight of Finn and the Fianna. And a scorching jealousy and a weakness\ncame on Finn when he saw that, and he said: \"It was worse to me,\nDiarmuid, the seven battalions of the Fianna to see what you did at\nTeamhair, taking away Grania the night you were yourself my guard. But\nfor all that,\" he said, \"you will give your head for the sake of those\nthree kisses.\"\n\nWith that Finn called to the four hundred paid fighting men that were\nwith him that they might make an end of Diarmuid; and he put their\nhands into one another's hands around that quicken-tree, and bade them,\nif they would not lose their lives, not to let Diarmuid pass out through\nthem. And he said that to whatever man would take Diarmuid, he would\ngive his arms and his armour, and a place among the Fianna of Ireland.\n\nThen one of the Fianna, Garbh of Slieve Cua, said it was Diarmuid had\nkilled his own father, and he would avenge him now, and he went up the\nquicken-tree to make an end of him.\n\nNow, about that time it was made known to Angus Og, in Brugh na Boinne,\nthe danger Diarmuid was in, and he came to his help, unknown to the\nFianna. And when Garbh of Slieve Cua was coming up the tree, Diarmuid\ngave him a kick of his foot, and he fell down among the hired men, and\nthey struck off his head, for Angus Og had put the appearance of\nDiarmuid on him. But after he was killed, his own shape came on him\nagain, and the Fianna knew that it was Garbh was killed.\n\nThen Garbh of Slieve Crot said it was Diarmuid had killed his father,\nand he went up to avenge him, and the same thing happened. And in the\nend all the nine Garbhs, of Slieve Guaire, and Slieve Muice, and Slieve\nMor, and Slieve Lugha, and Ath Fraoch, and Slieve Mis and Drom-mor, went\ntrying to take Diarmuid's life and lost their own lives, every one of\nthem having the shape and appearance of Diarmuid when he died. And Finn\nwas very sorry and discouraged when he saw that these nine men had come\nto their death.\n\nThen Angus said he would bring away Grania with him. \"Do so,\" said\nDiarmuid; \"and if I am living at evening I will follow you.\" Then Angus\nsaid farewell to Diarmuid, and he put his Druid cloak about Grania and\nabout himself, and they went away in the safety of the cloak, unknown to\nFinn and the Fianna, till they came to Brugh na Boinne.\n\nThen Diarmuid, grandson of Duibhne, spoke, and it is what he said: \"I\nwill come down to you, Finn, and to the Fianna. And I will do death and\ndestruction on you and on your people, for I am certain your mind is\nmade up to give me no rest, but to bring me to my death in some place.\nAnd I have nowhere to go from this danger,\" he said, \"for I have no\nfriend or comrade under whose protection I could go in any far part of\nthe great world, for it is often I fought against the men of the great\nworld for love of you. For there never came battle or fight, danger or\ntrouble on you, but I would go into it for your sake and the sake of the\nFianna; and not only that, but I would fight before you and after you.\nAnd I give my word, Finn,\" he said, \"you will pay hard for me, and you\nwill not get me as a free gift.\" \"It is the truth Diarmuid is speaking,\"\nsaid Osgar, \"and give him forgiveness now, and peace.\" \"I will not do\nthat,\" said Finn, \"to the end of life and time; and he will not get\npeace or rest for ever till I get satisfaction from him for every\nreproach he has put on me.\" \"It is a great shame and a great sign of\njealousy you to say that,\" said Osgar. \"And I give the word of a true\nchampion,\" he said, \"that unless the skies come down upon me, or the\nearth opens under my feet, I will not let you or any one of the Fianna\nof Ireland give him cut or wound; and I take his body and his life under\nthe protection of my valour, and I will keep him safe against all the\nmen of Ireland.\" \"Those are big words you have, Osgar,\" said Goll then,\n\"to say you would bring a man away in spite of all the men of Ireland.\"\n\"It is not you will raise them up against me, Goll,\" said Osgar, \"for\nnone of them would mind what you would say.\" \"If that is what you are\nsaying, you champion of great fights,\" said Goll, \"let us see now what\nyou can do.\" \"You will have to go through with the fight you have taken\non yourself,\" said Corrioll, son of Goll, in a loud voice. And Osgar\nanswered him fiercely: \"If I do I will shorten your bones, and your\nfather's bones along with them. And come down now, Diarmuid,\" he said,\n\"since Finn has no mind to leave you in peace, and I promise on my body\nand my life there will no harm be done to you to-day.\"\n\nThen Diarmuid stood up on a high bough of the boughs of the tree, and he\nrose with a light leap by the shaft of his spear, and lit on the grass\nfar beyond Finn and the Fianna. And he himself and Osgar went towards\none another, in spite of the Fianna that went between them, and Diarmuid\nstruck down those that were in his way; and as to Osgar, the throwing of\nhis spears as he scattered the Fianna was like the sound of the wind\ngoing through a valley, or water falling over flag-stones. And Conan,\nthat was always bitter, said: \"Let the sons of Baiscne go on killing one\nanother.\" But Finn, when he saw Diarmuid was gone from him, bade them\nput their weapons up, and turn back again to Almhuin.\n\nAnd he sent those of his men that could be healed to places of healing,\nand the nine Garbhs, and the others of his men that were killed, he put\ninto wide-sodded graves. And it is tired and downhearted and sorrowful\nhe was after that, and he made an oath he would take no great rest till\nhe would have avenged on Diarmuid all that he had done.\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V. THE QUARREL\n\n\nAnd as to Osgar and Diarmuid, they went on, and no cut or wound on them,\nto where Angus and Grania were at Brugh na Boinne; and there was a good\nwelcome before them, and Diarmuid told them the whole story from\nbeginning to end, and it is much that Grania did not die then and there,\nhearing all he had gone through.\n\nAnd then she and Diarmuid set out again, and they went and stopped for\na while in a cave that was near the sea.\n\nAnd one night while they were there a great storm came on, so that they\nwent into the far part of the cave. But bad as the night was, a man of\nthe Fomor, Ciach, the Fierce One, his name was, came over the western\nocean in a currach, with two oars, and he drew it into the cave for\nshelter. And Diarmuid bade him welcome, and they sat down to play chess\ntogether. And he got the best of the game, and what he asked as his\nwinnings was Grania to be his wife, and he put his arms about her as if\nto bring her away. And Grania said: \"I am this long time going with the\nthird best man of the Fianna, and he never came as near as that to me.\"\n\nAnd Diarmuid took his sword to kill Ciach, and there was anger on Grania\nwhen she saw that, and she had a knife in her hand and she struck it\ninto Diarmuid's thigh. And Diarmuid made an end of the Fomor, and he\nsaid no word to Grania, but ran out and away through the storm.\n\nAnd Grania went following after him, and calling to him, but there was\ngreat anger on him and he would not answer her. And at last at the break\nof day she overtook him, and after a while they heard the cry of a\nheron, and she asked him what was it made the heron cry out.\n\n\"Tell me that,\" she said, \"Grandson of Duibhne, to whom I gave my love.\"\nAnd Diarmuid said: \"O Grania, daughter of the High King, woman who never\ntook a step aright, it is because she was frozen to the rocks she gave\nthat cry.\" And Grania was asking forgiveness of him, and he was\nreproaching her, and it is what he said: \"O Grania of the beautiful\nhair, though you are more beautiful than the green tree under blossom,\nyour love passes away as quickly as the cold cloud at break of day. And\nyou are asking a hard thing of me now,\" he said, \"and it is a pity what\nyou said to me, Grania, for it was you brought me away from the house of\nmy lord, that I am banished from it to this day; and now I am troubled\nthrough the night, fretting after its delight in every place.\n\n\"I am like a wild deer, or a beast that is astray, going ever and always\nthrough the long valleys; there is great longing on me to see one of my\nkindred from the host.\n\n\"I left my own people that were brighter than lime or snow; their heart\nwas full of generosity to me, like the sun that is high above us; but\nnow they follow me angrily, to every harbour and every strand.\n\n\"I lost my people by you, and my lord, and my large bright ships on\nevery sea; I lost my treasure and my gold; it is hunger you gave me\nthrough your love.\n\n\"I lost my country and my kindred; my men that were used to serve me; I\nlost quietness and affection; I lost the men of Ireland and the Fianna\nentirely.\n\n\"I lost delight and music; I lost my own right doing and my honour; I\nlost the Fianna of Ireland, my great kinsmen, for the sake of the love\nyou gave me.\n\n\"O Grania, white as snow, it would have been a better choice for you to\nhave given hatred to me, or gentleness to the Head of the Fianna.\"\n\nAnd Grania said: \"O Diarmuid of the face like snow, or like the down of\nthe mountains, the sound of your voice was dearer to me than all the\nriches of the leader of the Fianna.\n\n\"Your blue eye is dearer to me than his strength, and his gold and his\ngreat hall; the love-spot on your forehead is better to me than honey in\nstreams; the time I first looked on it, it was more to me than the whole\nhost of the King of Ireland.\n\n\"My heart fell down there and then before your high beauty; when you\ncame beside me, it was like the whole of life in one day.\n\n\"O Diarmuid of the beautiful hands, take me now the same as before; it\nwas with me the fault was entirely; give me your promise not to leave\nme.\"\n\nBut Diarmuid said: \"How can I take you again, you are a woman too fond\nof words; one day you give up the Head of the Fianna, and the next day\nmyself, and no lie in it.\n\n\"It is you parted me from Finn, the way I fell under sorrow and grief;\nand then you left me yourself, the time I was full of affection.\"\n\nAnd Grania said: \"Do not leave me now this way, and my love for you ever\ngrowing like the fresh branches of the tree with the kind long heat of\nthe day.\"\n\nBut Diarmuid would not give in to her, and he said: \"You are a woman\nfull of words, and it is you have put me under sorrow. I took you with\nmyself, and you struck at me for the sake of the man of the Fomor.\"\n\nThey came then to a place where there was a cave, and water running by\nit, and they stopped to rest; and Grania said: \"Have you a mind to eat\nbread and meat now, Diarmuid?\"\n\n\"I would eat it indeed if I had it,\" said Diarmuid.\n\n\"Give me a knife, so,\" she said, \"till I cut it.\" \"Look for the knife in\nthe sheath where you put it yourself,\" said Diarmuid.\n\nShe saw then that the knife was in his thigh where she had struck it,\nfor he would not draw it out himself. So she drew it out then; and that\nwas the greatest shame that ever came upon her.\n\nThey stopped then in the cave. And the next day when they went on again,\nDiarmuid did not leave unbroken bread like he had left every other day\nas a sign to Finn that he had kept his faith with him, but it was broken\nbread he left after him.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI. THE WANDERERS\n\n\nAnd they went on wandering after that, all through Ireland, hiding from\nFinn in every place, sleeping under the cromlechs, or with no shelter at\nall, and there was no place they would dare to stop long in. And\nwherever they went Finn would follow them, for he knew by his divination\nwhere they went. But one time he made out they were on a mountain, for\nhe saw them with heather under them; and it was beside the sea they\nwere, asleep on heather that Diarmuid had brought down from the hills\nfor their bed; and so he went searching the hills and did not find them.\n\nAnd Grania would be watching over Diarmuid while he slept, and she would\nmake a sleepy song for him, and it is what she would be saying:\n\n\"Sleep a little, a little little, for there is nothing at all to fear,\nDiarmuid, grandson of Duibhne; sleep here soundly, soundly, Diarmuid, to\nwhom I have given my love.\n\n\"It is I will keep watch for you, grandchild of shapely Duibhne; sleep a\nlittle, a blessing on you, beside the well of the strong field; my lamb\nfrom above the lake, from the banks of the strong streams.\n\n\"Let your sleep be like the sleep in the South, of Dedidach of the high\npoets, the time he took away old Morann's daughter, for all Conall could\ndo against him.\n\n\"Let your sleep be like the sleep in the North, of fair comely\nFionnchadh of Ess Ruadh, the time he took Slaine with bravery as we\nthink, in spite of Failbhe of the Hard Head.\n\n\"Let your sleep be like the sleep in the West, of Aine, daughter of\nGailian, the time she went on a journey in the night with Dubhthach from\nDoirinis, by the light of torches.\n\n\"Let your sleep be like the sleep in the East, of Deaghadh the proud,\nthe brave fighter, the time he took Coincheann, daughter of Binn, in\nspite of fierce Decheall of Duibhreann.\n\n\"O heart of the valour of the lands to the west of Greece, my heart\nwill go near to breaking if I do not see you every day. The parting of\nus two will be the parting of two children of the one house; it will be\nthe parting of life from the body, Diarmuid, hero of the bright lake of\nCarman.\"\n\nAnd then to rouse him she would make another song, and it is what she\nwould say: \"Caoinche will be loosed on your track; it is not slow the\nrunning of Caoilte will be; do not let death reach to you, do not give\nyourself to sleep for ever.\n\n\"The stag to the east is not asleep, he does not cease from bellowing;\nthough he is in the woods of the blackbirds, sleep is not in his mind;\nthe hornless doe is not asleep, crying after her speckled fawn; she is\ngoing over the bushes, she does not sleep in her home.\n\n\"The cuckoo is not asleep, the thrush is not asleep, the tops of the\ntrees are a noisy place; the duck is not asleep, she is made ready for\ngood swimming; the bog lark is not asleep to-night on the high stormy\nbogs; the sound of her clear voice is sweet; she is not sleeping between\nthe streams.\"\n\nOne time they were in a cave of Beinn Edair, and there was an old woman\nbefriending them and helping them to keep a watch. And one day she\nchanced to go up to the top of Beinn Edair, and she saw an armed man\ncoming towards her, and she did now know him to be Finn; and when he was\ncome near she asked what was he looking for. \"It is looking for a woman\nI am come,\" he said, \"and for a woman's love. And will you do all I will\nask you?\" he said.\n\n\"I will do that,\" she said; for she thought it was her own love he was\nasking.\n\n\"Tell me then,\" he said, \"where is Diarmuid, grandson of Duibhne?\"\n\nSo she told him where he was hiding, and he bade her to keep him in the\ncave till such time as he would come back with his men.\n\nThe old woman went back then, and it is what she did, she dipped her\ncloak in the sea-water before she went into the cave; and Diarmuid asked\nher why was her cloak so wet. \"It is,\" she said, \"that I never saw or\nnever heard of the like of this day for cold and for storms. There is\nfrost on every hillside,\" she said, \"and there is not a smooth plain in\nall Elga where there is not a long rushing river between every two\nridges. And there is not a deer or a crow in the whole of Ireland can\nfind a shelter in any place.\" And she was shaking the wet off her cloak,\nand she was making a complaint against the cold, and it is what she\nsaid:\n\n\"Cold, cold, cold to-night is the wide plain of Lurg; the snow is higher\nthan the mountains, the deer cannot get at their share of food.\n\n\"Cold for ever; the storm is spread over all; every furrow on the\nhillside is a river, every ford is a full pool, every full loch is a\ngreat sea; every pool is a full loch; horses cannot go through the ford\nof Ross any more than a man on his two feet.\n\n\"The fishes of Inisfail are going astray; there is no strand or no pen\nagainst the waves; there are no dwellings in the country, there is no\nbell heard, no crane is calling.\n\n\"The hounds of the wood of Cuan find no rest or no sleep in their\ndwelling-place; the little wren cannot find shelter in her nest on the\nslope of Lon.\n\n\"A sharp wind and cold ice have come on the little company of birds; the\nblackbird cannot get a ridge to her liking or shelter for her side in\nthe woods of Cuan.\n\n\"It is steady our great pot hangs from its hook; it is broken the cabin\nis on the slope of Lon; the snow has made the woods smooth, it is hard\nto climb to the ridge of Bennait Bo.\n\n\"The ancient bird of Glen Ride gets grief from the bitter wind; it is\ngreat is her misery and her pain, the ice will be in her mouth.\n\n\"Mind well not to rise up from coverings and from down, mind this well;\nthere would be no good sense in it. Ice is heaped up in every ford; it\nis for that I am saying and ever saying 'Cold.'\"\n\nThe old woman went out after that, and when she was gone, Grania took\nhold of the cloak she had left there and she put her tongue to it, and\nfound the taste of salt water on it. \"My grief, Diarmuid,\" she said\nthen, \"the old woman has betrayed us. And rise up now,\" she said, \"and\nput your fighting suit upon you.\"\n\nSo Diarmuid did that, and he went out, and Grania along with him. And no\nsooner were they outside than they saw Finn and the Fianna of Ireland\ncoming towards them. Then Diarmuid looked around him and he saw a little\nboat at hand in the shelter of the harbour, and he himself and Grania\nwent into it. And there was a man before them in the boat having\nbeautiful clothes on him, and a wide embroidered golden-yellow cloak\nover his shoulders behind. And they knew it was Angus was in it, that\nhad come again to help them to escape from Finn, and they went back with\nhim for a while to Brugh na Boinne, and Osgar came to them there.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII. FIGHTING AND PEACE\n\n\nAnd after a while Finn bade his people to make his ship ready, and to\nput a store of food and of drink in it. They did that, and he himself\nand a thousand of his men went into the ship; and they were nine days\nbetween sailing and rowing till they came to harbour in the north of\nAlban.\n\nThey bound the ship to the posts of the harbour then, and Finn with five\nof his people went to the dun of the King of Alban, and Finn struck a\nblow with the hand-wood on the door, and the door-keeper asked who was\nin it, and they told him it was Finn, son of Cumhal. \"Let him in,\" said\nthe king.\n\nThen Finn and his people went in, and the king made them welcome, and he\nbade Finn to sit down in his own place, and they were given strong\npleasant drinks, and the king sent for the rest of Finn's people and\nbade them welcome to the dun.\n\nThen Finn told what it was brought him there, and that it was to ask\nhelp and advice against the grandson of Duibhne he was come.\n\n\"And you have a right to give me your help,\" he said, \"for it was he\nthat killed your father and your two brothers, and many of your best men\nalong with them.\"\n\n\"That is true,\" said the king; \"and I will give you my own two sons and\na thousand men with each of them.\" Finn was glad when he heard that, and\nhe and his men took leave of the king and of his household, and left\nwishes for life and health with them, and the king did the same by them.\n\nAnd it was near Brugh na Boinne Finn and his people came to land, and\nFinn sent messengers to the house of Angus to give out a challenge of\nbattle against Diarmuid, grandson of Duibhne.\n\n\"What should I do about this, Osgar?\" said Diarmuid.\n\n\"We will both go out and make a stand against them, and we will not let\na serving-man of them escape, but we will make an end of them all,\" said\nOsgar.\n\nSo they rose up on the morning of the morrow and they put their suits of\nbattle on their comely bodies; and it would be a pity for those, be they\nmany or few, that would meet those two men, and their anger on them. And\nthey bound the rims of their shields together the way they would not be\nparted from one another in the right. And the sons of the King of Alban\nsaid that they themselves and their people would go first to meet them.\nSo they came to shore, and made a rush to meet Diarmuid and Osgar. But\nthe two fought so well that they beat them back and scattered them, and\nmade a great slaughter, and put great terror on them, so that at the\nlast there was not a man left to stand against them.\n\nAnd after that, Finn went out again on the sea, and his people with him,\nand there is no word of them till they came to the Land of Promise where\nFinn's nurse was. And when she saw Finn coming she was very joyful\nbefore him. And Finn told her the whole story from beginning to end, and\nthe cause of his quarrel with Diarmuid; and he said it was to ask an\nadvice from her he was come, and that it was not possible to put him\ndown by any strength of an army, unless enchantment would put him down.\n\"I will go with you,\" said the old woman, \"and I will do enchantment on\nhim.\" Finn was very glad when he heard that, and he stopped there that\nnight, and they set out for Ireland on the morrow.\n\nAnd when they came to Brugh na Boinne, the nurse put a Druid mist around\nFinn and the Fianna, the way no one could know they were there. Now the\nday before that, Osgar had parted from Diarmuid, and Diarmuid was out\nhunting by himself. That was shown to the hag, and she took a drowned\nleaf having a hole in it, like the quern of a mill, and she rose with\nthat by her enchantments on a blast of Druid wind over Diarmuid, and\nbegan to aim at him through the hole with deadly spears, till she had\ndone him great harm, for all his arms and his clothing, and he could not\nmake away he was so hard pressed. And every danger he was ever in was\nlittle beside that danger. And it is what he thought, that unless he\ncould strike the old woman through the hole that was in the leaf, she\nwould give him his death there and then. And he lay down on his back,\nand the Gae Dearg, the Red Spear, in his hand, and he made a great cast\nof the spear, that it went through the hole, and the hag fell dead on\nthe spot. And he struck off her head and brought it back with him to\nAngus Og.\n\nAnd the next morning early, Angus rose up, and he went where Finn was,\nand he asked would he make peace with Diarmuid, and Finn said he would.\nAnd then he went to the King of Ireland to ask peace for Diarmuid, and\nhe said he would agree to it.\n\nAnd then he went back to where Diarmuid and Grania were, and asked him\nwould he make peace with the High King and with Finn. \"I am willing,\"\nsaid Diarmuid, \"if they will give the conditions I will ask.\" \"What\nconditions are those?\" said Angus.\n\n\"The district my father had,\" said Diarmuid, \"that is, the district of\nUi Duibhne, without right of hunting to Finn, and without rent or\ntribute to the King of Ireland, and with that the district of Dumhais in\nLeinster, for they are the best in Ireland, and the district of Ceis\nCorainn from the King of Ireland as a marriage portion with his\ndaughter; and those are the conditions on which I will make peace with\nthem.\" \"Would you be peaceable if you got those conditions?\" said Angus.\n\"It would go easier with me to make peace if I got them,\" said Diarmuid.\n\nThen Angus went with that news to where the King of Ireland was with\nFinn. And they gave him all those conditions, and they forgave him all\nhe had done through the whole of the time he had been in his hiding,\nthat was sixteen years.\n\nAnd the place Diarmuid and Grania settled in was Rath Grania, in the\ndistrict of Ceis Corainn, far away from Finn and from Teamhair. And\nGrania bore him children there, four sons and one daughter. And they\nlived there in peace, and the people used to be saying there was not a\nman living at the same time was richer as to gold and to silver, as to\ncattle and to sheep, than Diarmuid.\n\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII. THE BOAR OF BEINN GULBAIN\n\n\nBut at last one day Grania spoke to Diarmuid, and it is what she said,\nthat it was a shame on them, with all the people and the household they\nhad, and all their riches, the two best men in Ireland never to have\ncome to the house, the High King, her father, and Finn, son of Cumhal.\n\"Why do you say that, Grania,\" said Diarmuid, \"and they being enemies to\nme?\"\n\n\"It is what I would wish,\" said Grania, \"to give them a feast, the way\nyou would get their affection.\" \"I give leave for that,\" said Diarmuid.\n\nSo Grania was making ready a great feast through the length of a year,\nand messengers were sent for the High King of Ireland, and for Finn and\nthe seven battalions of the Fianna; and they came, and they were using\nthe feast from day to day through the length of a year.\n\nAnd on the last night of the year, Diarmuid was in his sleep at Rath\nGrania; and in the night he heard the voice of hounds through his sleep,\nand he started up, and Grania caught him and put her two arms about him,\nand asked what had startled him. \"The voice of a hound I heard,\" said\nhe; \"and it is a wonder to me to hear that in the night.\" \"Safe keeping\non you,\" said Grania, \"for it is the Tuatha de Danaan are doing that on\nyou, on account of Angus of Brugh na Boinn, and lie down on the bed\nagain.\" But for all that no sleep came to him, and he heard the voice of\nthe hound again, and he started up a second time to follow after it. But\nGrania caught hold of him the second time and bade him to lie down, and\nshe said it was no fitting thing to go after the voice of a hound in the\nnight. So he lay down again, and he fell asleep, but the voice of the\nhound awakened him the third time. And the day was come with its full\nlight that time, and he said: \"I will go after the voice of the hound\nnow, since the day is here.\" \"If that is so,\" said Grania, \"bring the\nMor-alltach, the Great Fierce One, the sword of Manannan, with you, and\nthe Gae Dearg.\" \"I will not,\" he said; \"but I will take the\nBeag-alltach, the Little Fierce One, and the Gae Buidhe in the one hand,\nand the hound Mac an Chuill, the Son of the Hazel, in the other hand.\"\n\nThen Diarmuid went out of Rath Grania, and made no delay till he came to\nthe top of Beinn Gulbain, and he found Finn before him there, without\nany one at all in his company. Diarmuid gave him no greeting, but asked\nhim was it he was making that hunt. Finn said it was not a hunt he was\nmaking, but that he and some of the Fianna had gone out after midnight;\n\"and one of our hounds that was loose beside us, came on the track of a\nwild boar,\" he said, \"and they were not able to bring him back yet. And\nthere is no use following that boar he is after,\" he said, \"for it is\nmany a time the Fianna hunted him, and he went away from them every time\ntill now, and he has killed thirty of them this morning. And he is\ncoming up the mountain towards us,\" he said, \"and let us leave this hill\nto him now.\"\n\n\"I will not leave the hill through fear of him,\" said Diarmuid. \"It\nwould be best for you, Diarmuid,\" said Finn, \"for it is the earless\nGreen Boar of Beinn Gulbain is in it, and it is by him you will come to\nyour death, and Angus knew that well when he put bonds on you not to go\nhunting pigs.\" \"I never knew of those bonds,\" said Diarmuid; \"but\nhowever it is, I will not quit this through fear of him. And let you\nleave Bran with me now,\" he said, \"along with Mac an Chuill.\" \"I will\nnot,\" said Finn, \"for it is often he met this boar before and could do\nnothing against him.\" He went away then and left Diarmuid alone on the\ntop of the hill. \"I give my word,\" said Diarmuid, \"you made this hunt\nfor my death, Finn; and if it is here I am to find my death,\" he said,\n\"I have no use in going aside from it now.\"\n\nThe boar came up the face of the mountain then, and the Fianna after\nhim. Diarmuid loosed Mac an Chuill from his leash then, but that did not\nserve him, for he did not wait for the boar, but ran from him. \"It is a\npity not to follow the advice of a good woman,\" said Diarmuid, \"for\nGrania bade me this morning to bring the Mor-alltach and the Gae Dearg\nwith me.\" Then he put his finger into the silken string of the Gae\nBuidhe, and took a straight aim at the boar and hit him full in the\nface; but if he did, the spear did not so much as give him a scratch.\nDiarmuid was discouraged by that, but he drew the Beag-alltach, and made\na full stroke at the back of the boar, but neither did that make a wound\non him, but it made two halves of the sword. Then the boar made a brave\ncharge at Diarmuid, that cut the sod from under his feet and brought him\ndown; but Diarmuid caught hold of the boar on rising, and held on to\nhim, having one of his legs on each side of him, and his face to his\nhinder parts. And the boar made away headlong down the hill, but he\ncould not rid himself of Diarmuid; and he went on after that to Ess\nRuadh, and when he came to the red stream he gave three high leaps over\nit, backwards and forwards, but he could not put him from his back, and\nhe went back by the same path till he went up the height of the\nmountain again. And at last on the top of the mountain he freed himself,\nand Diarmuid fell on the ground. And then the boar made a rush at him,\nand ripped him open, that his bowels came out about his feet. But if he\ndid, Diarmuid made a cast at him with the hilt of his sword that was in\nhis hand yet, and dashed out his brains, so that he fell dead there and\nthen. And Rath na h-Amhrann, the Rath of the Sword Hilt, is the name of\nthat place to this day.\n\nIt was not long till Finn and the Fianna of Ireland came to the place,\nand the pains of death were coming on Diarmuid at that time. \"It is well\npleased I am to see you that way, Diarmuid,\" said Finn; \"and it is a\npity all the women of Ireland not to be looking at you now, for your\ngreat beauty is turned to ugliness, and your comely shape to\nuncomeliness.\" \"For all that, you have power to heal me, Finn,\" said\nDiarmuid, \"if you had a mind to do it.\" \"What way could I heal you?\"\nsaid Finn. \"Easy enough,\" said Diarmuid, \"for the time you were given\nthe great gift of knowledge at the Boinn, you got this gift with it,\nthat any one you would give a drink to out of the palms of your hands\nwould be young and well again from any sickness after it.\" \"You are not\ndeserving of that drink from me,\" said Finn. \"That is not true,\" said\nDiarmuid; \"it is well I deserve it from you; for the time you went to\nthe house of Dearc, son of Donnarthadh, and your chief men with you for\na feast, your enemies came round the house, and gave out three great\nshouts against you, and threw fire and firebrands into it. And you rose\nup and would have gone out, but I bade you to stop there at drinking and\npleasure, for that I myself would go out and put them down. And I went\nout, and put out the flames, and made three red rushes round the house,\nand I killed fifty in every rush, and I came in again without a wound.\nAnd it is glad and merry and in good courage you were that night,\nFinn,\" he said, \"and if it was that night I had asked a drink of you,\nyou would have given it; and it would be right for you to give it to me\nnow.\" \"That is not so,\" said Finn; \"it is badly you have earned a drink\nor any good thing from me; for the night you went to Teamhair with me,\nyou took Grania away from me in the presence of all the men of Ireland,\nand you being my own guard over her that night.\"\n\n\"Do not blame me for that, Finn,\" said Diarmuid, \"for what did I ever do\nagainst you, east or west, but that one thing; and you know well Grania\nput bonds on me, and I would not fail in my bonds for the gold of the\nwhole world. And you will know it is well I have earned a drink from\nyou, if you bring to mind the night the feast was made in the House of\nthe Quicken Tree, and how you and all your men were bound there till I\nheard of it, and came fighting and joyful, and loosed you with my own\nblood, and with the blood of the Three Kings of the Island of the\nFloods; and if I had asked a drink of you that night, Finn, you would\nnot have refused it. And I was with you in the smiting of Lon, son of\nLiobhan, and you are the man that should not forsake me beyond any other\nman. And many is the strait has overtaken yourself and the Fianna of\nIreland since I came among you, and I was ready every time to put my\nbody and my life in danger for your sake, and you ought not to do this\nunkindness on me now. And besides that,\" he said, \"there has many a good\nchampion fallen through the things you yourself have done, and there is\nnot an end of them yet; and there will soon come great misfortunes on\nthe Fianna, and it is few of their seed will be left after them. And it\nis not for yourself I am fretting, Finn,\" he said, \"but for Oisin and\nOsgar, and the rest of my dear comrades, and as for you, Oisin, you will\nbe left lamenting after the Fianna. And it is greatly you will feel the\nwant of me yet, Finn,\" he said; \"and if the women of the Fianna knew I\nwas lying in my wounds on this ridge, it is sorrowful their faces would\nbe at this time.\"\n\nAnd Osgar said then: \"Although I am nearer in blood to you, Finn, than\nto Diarmuid, grandson of Duibhne, I will not let you refuse him this\ndrink; and by my word,\" he said, \"if any prince in the world would do\nthe same unkindness to Diarmuid that you have done, it is only the one\nof us that has the strongest hand would escape alive. And give him a\ndrink now without delay,\" he said.\n\n\"I do not know of any well at all on this mountain,\" said Finn. \"That is\nnot so,\" said Diarmuid, \"for there is not nine footsteps from you the\nwell that has the best fresh water that can be found in the world.\"\n\nThen Finn went to the well, and he took the full of his two hands of the\nwater. But when he was no more than half-way back, the thought of Grania\ncame on him, and he let the water slip through his hands, and he said he\nwas not able to bring it. \"I give my word,\" said Diarmuid, \"it was of\nyour own will you let it from you.\" Then Finn went back the second time\nto get the water, but coming back he let it through his hands again at\nthe thought of Grania. And Diarmuid gave a pitiful sigh of anguish when\nhe saw that. \"I swear by my sword and by my spear,\" said Osgar, \"that if\nyou do not bring the water without any more delay, Finn, there will not\nleave this hill but yourself or myself.\" Finn went back the third time\nto the well after what Osgar said, and he brought the water to Diarmuid,\nbut as he reached him the life went out of his body. Then the whole\ncompany of the Fianna that were there gave three great heavy shouts,\nkeening for Diarmuid.\n\nAnd Osgar looked very fiercely at Finn, and it is what he said, that it\nwas a greater pity Diarmuid to be dead than if he himself had died. And\nthe Fianna of Ireland had lost their yoke of battle by him, he said.\n\"Let us leave this hill,\" said Finn then, \"before Angus and the Tuatha\nde Danaan come upon us, for although we have no share in the death of\nDiarmuid, he would not believe the truth from us.\" \"I give my word,\"\nsaid Osgar, \"if I had thought it was against Diarmuid you made the hunt\nof Beinn Gulbain, you would never have made it\"\n\nThen Finn and the Fianna went away from the hill, and Finn leading\nDiarmuid's hound Mac an Chuill. But Oisin and Osgar and Caoilte and\nLugaidh's Son turned back again and put their four cloaks over Diarmuid,\nand then they went after the rest of the Fianna.\n\nAnd when they came to the Rath, Grania was out on the wall looking for\nnews of Diarmuid; and she saw Finn and the Fianna of Ireland coming\ntowards her. Then she said: \"If Diarmuid was living, it is not led by\nFinn that Mac an Chuill would be coming home.\" And she was at that time\nheavy with child, and her strength went from her and she fell down from\nthe wall. And when Oisin saw the way she was he bade Finn and the others\nto go on from her, but she lifted up her head and she asked Finn to\nleave Mac an Chuill with her. And he said he would not, and that he did\nnot think it too much for him to inherit from Diarmuid, grandson of\nDuibhne.\n\nWhen Oisin heard that, he snatched the hound out of Finn's hand and gave\nit to Grania, and then he followed after his people.\n\nThen when Grania was certain of Diarmuid's death she gave out a long\nvery pitiful cry that was heard through the whole place, and her women\nand her people came to her, and asked what ailed her to give a cry like\nthat. And she told them how Diarmuid had come to his death by the Boar\nof Beinn Gulbain in the hunt Finn had made. \"And there is grief in my\nvery heart,\" she said, \"I not to be able to fight myself with Finn, and\nI would not have let him go safe out of this place.\"\n\nWhen her people heard of the death of Diarmuid they gave three great\nheavy cries in the same way, that were heard in the clouds and the waste\nplaces of the sky. And then Grania bade the five hundred that she had\nfor household to go to Beinn Gulbain for the body of Diarmuid.\n\nAnd when they were bringing it back, she went out to meet them, and they\nput down the body of Diarmuid, and it is what she said:\n\n\"I am your wife, beautiful Diarmuid, the man I would do no hurt to; it\nis sorrowful I am after you to-night.\n\n\"I am looking at the hawk and the hound my secret love used to be\nhunting with; she that loved the three, let her be put in the grave with\nDiarmuid.\n\n\"Let us be glad to-night, let us make all welcome to-night, let us be\nopen-handed to-night, since we are sitting by the body of a king.\n\n\"And O Diarmuid,\" she said, \"it is a hard bed Finn has given you, to be\nlying on the stones and to be wet with the rain. Ochone!\" she said,\n\"your blue eyes to be without sight, you that were friendly and generous\nand pursuing. O love! O Diarmuid! it is a pity it is he sent you to your\ndeath.\n\n\"You were a champion of the men of Ireland, their prop in the middle of\nthe fight; you were the head of every battle; your ways were glad and\npleasant.\n\n\"It is sorrowful I am, without mirth, without light, but only sadness\nand grief and long dying; your harp used to be sweet to me, it wakened\nmy heart to gladness. Now my courage is fallen down, I not to hear you\nbut to be always remembering your ways. Och! my grief is going through\nme.\n\n\"A thousand curses on the day when Grania gave you her love, that put\nFinn of the princes from his wits; it is a sorrowful story your death is\nto-day.\n\n\"Many heroes were great and strong about me in the beautiful plain;\ntheir hands were good at wrestling and at battle; Ochone! that I did not\nfollow them.\n\n\"You were the man was best of the Fianna, beautiful Diarmuid, that\nwomen loved. It is dark your dwelling-place is under the sod, it is\nmournful and cold your bed is; it is pleasant your laugh was to-day; you\nwere my happiness, Diarmuid.\"\n\nAnd she went back then into the Rath, and bade her people to bring the\nbody to her there.\n\nNow just at this time, it was showed to Angus at Brugh na Boinne that\nDiarmuid was dead on Beinn Gulbain, for he had kept no watch over him\nthe night before.\n\nAnd he went on the cold wind towards Beinn Gulbain, and his people with\nhim, and on the way they met with Grania's people that were bringing the\nbody to the Rath.\n\nAnd when they saw him they held out the wrong sides of their shields as\na sign of peace, and Angus knew them; and he and his people gave three\ngreat terrible cries over the body of Diarmuid.\n\nAnd Angus spoke then, and it is what he said: \"I was never one night\nsince the time I brought you to Brugh na Boinne, being nine months old,\nwithout keeping watch and protection over you till last night, Diarmuid,\ngrandson of Duibhne; and now your blood has been shed and you have been\ncut off sharply, and the Boar of Beinn Gulbain has put you down,\nDiarmuid of the bright face and the bright sword. And it is a pity Finn\nto have done this treachery,\" he said, \"and you at peace with him.\n\n\"And lift up his body now,\" he said, \"and bring it to the Brugh in the\nlasting rocks. And if I cannot bring him back to life,\" he said, \"I will\nput life into him the way he can be talking with me every day.\"\n\nThen they put his body on a golden bier, and his spears over it pointed\nupwards, and they went on till they came to Brugh na Boinne.\n\nAnd Grania's people went to her and told her how Angus would not let\nthem bring the body into the Rath, but brought it away himself to Brugh\nna Boinne. And Grania said she had no power over him.\n\nAnd she sent out then for her four sons that were being reared in the\ndistrict of Corca Ui Duibhne. And when they came she gave them a loving\nwelcome, and they came into the Rath and sat down there according to\ntheir age. And Grania spoke to them with a very loud, clear voice, and\nit is what she said: \"My dear children, your father has been killed by\nFinn, son of Cumhal, against his own bond and agreement of peace, and\nlet you avenge it well upon him. And here is your share of the\ninheritance of your father,\" she said, \"his arms and his armour, and his\nfeats of valour and power; and I will share these arms among you\nmyself,\" she said, \"and that they may bring you victory in every battle.\nHere is the sword for Donnchadh,\" she said, \"the best son Diarmuid had;\nand the Gae Dearg for Eochaidh; and here is the armour for Ollann, for\nit will keep the body it is put on in safety; and the shield for Connla.\nAnd make no delay now,\" she said, \"but go and learn every sort of skill\nin fighting, till such time as you will come to your full strength to\navenge your father.\"\n\nSo they took leave of her then, and of their household.\n\nAnd some of their people said: \"What must we do now, since our lords\nwill be going into danger against Finn and the Fianna of Ireland?\" And\nDonnchadh, son of Diarmuid, bade them stop in their own places; \"for if\nwe make peace with Finn,\" he said, \"there need be no fear on you, and if\nnot, you can make your choice between ourselves and him.\" And with that\nthey set out on their journey.\n\nBut after a while Finn went secretly and unknown to the Fianna to the\nplace where Grania was, and he got to see her in spite of all her high\ntalk, and he spoke gently to her. And she would not listen to him, but\nbade him to get out of her sight, and whatever hard thing her tongue\ncould say, she said it. But all the same, he went on giving her gentle\ntalk and loving words, till in the end he brought her to his own will.\n\nAnd there is no news told of them, until such time as they came to where\nthe seven battalions of the Fianna were waiting for Finn. And when they\nsaw him coming, and Grania with him, like any new wife with her husband,\nthey gave a great shout of laughter and of mockery, and Grania bowed\ndown her head with shame, \"By my word, Finn,\" said Oisin, \"you will keep\na good watch on Grania from this out.\"\n\nAnd some said the change had come on her because the mind of a woman\nchanges like the water of a running stream; but some said it was Finn\nthat had put enchantment on her.\n\nAnd as to the sons of Diarmuid, they came back at the end of seven\nyears, after learning all that was to be learned of valour in the far\ncountries of the world. And when they came back to Rath Grania they were\ntold their mother was gone away with Finn, son of Cumhal, without\nleaving any word for themselves or for the King of Ireland. And they\nsaid if that was so, there was nothing for them to do. But after that\nthey said they would make an attack on Finn, and they went forward to\nAlmhuin, and they would take no offers, but made a great slaughter of\nevery troop that came out against them.\n\nBut at last Grania made an agreement of peace between themselves and\nFinn, and they got their father's place among the Fianna; and that was\nlittle good to them, for they lost their lives with the rest in the\nbattle of Gabhra. And as to Finn and Grania, they stopped with one\nanother to the end.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK EIGHT: CNOC-AN-AIR.\n\nCHAPTER I. TAILC, SON OF TREON\n\n\nOne time the Fianna were all gathered together doing feats and casting\nstones. And after a while the Druid of Teamhair that was with them said:\n\"I am in dread, Finn of the Fianna, that there is some trouble near at\nhand; and look now at those dark clouds of blood,\" he said, \"that are\nthreatening us side by side overhead. And there is fear on me,\" he said,\n\"that there is some destruction coming on the Fianna.\"\n\nFinn looked up then, and he saw the great cloud of blood, and he called\nOsgar to look at it. \"That need not knock a start from you,\" said Osgar,\n\"with all the strength there is in your arms, and in the men that are\nwith you.\" Then all the Fianna looked up at the cloud, and some of them\nwere glad and cheerful and some were downhearted.\n\nThen the Druid bade Finn to call all his battalions together and to\ndivide them into two halves, that they could be watching for the coming\nof the enemy.\n\nSo Finn sounded the Dord Fiann, and they answered with a shout, every\none hurrying to be the first. And Finn bade Osgar and Goll and Faolan to\nkeep watch through the night, and he bade Conan the Bald to stop in the\ndarkness of the cave of Liath Ard. \"For it is you can shout loudest,\" he\nsaid, \"to warn us if you see the enemy coming.\" \"That I may be pierced\nthrough the middle of my body,\" said Conan, \"if I will go watching for\ntroubles or for armies alone, without some more of the Fianna being with\nme.\" \"It is not fitting for you to refuse Finn,\" said Lugaidh's Son;\n\"and it is you can shout the loudest,\" he said, \"if the enemies come\nnear the height.\" \"Do not be speaking to me any more,\" said Conan, \"for\nI will not go there alone, through the length of my days, for Finn and\nthe whole of the Fianna.\" \"Go then, Conan,\" said Osgar, \"and Aodh Beag\nwill go with you, and you can bring dogs with you, Bran and Sceolan and\nFuaim and Fearagan; and let you go now without begrudging it,\" he said.\n\nSo Conan went then to Liath Ard, and Aodh Beag and Finn's hounds along\nwith him. And as to Finn, he lay down to sleep, and it was not long till\nhe saw through his sleep Aodh Beag his son, and he without his head. And\nafter that he saw Goll fighting with a very strong man. And he awoke\nfrom his sleep, and called the Druid of the Fianna to him, and asked him\nthe meaning of what he saw. \"I am in dread there is some destruction\ncoming on the Fianna,\" said the Druid; \"but Aodh Beag will not be\nwounded in the fight, or Goll,\" he said.\n\nAnd it was not long till Finn heard a great shout, and he sounded the\nDord Fiann, and then he saw Conan running, and the hounds after him. And\nFinn sounded the Dord Fiann again before Conan came up, and when he\ncame, Osgar asked him where was Aodh Beag. \"He was at the door of the\ncave when I left it,\" said Conan, \"but I did not look behind me since\nthen,\" he said; \"and it was not Aodh Beag was troubling me.\" \"What was\ntroubling you then?\" said Osgar. \"Nothing troubles me but myself,\" said\nConan; \"although I am well pleased at any good that comes to you,\" he\nsaid.\n\nOsgar went then running hard, till he came to the cave, and there he\nfound Aodh Beag with no fear or trouble on him at all, stopping there\ntill he would hear the noise of the shields. And Osgar brought him back\nto where the Fianna were, and they saw a great army coming as if in\nsearch of them.\n\nAnd a beautiful woman, having a crimson cloak, came to them over the\nplain, and she spoke to Finn, and her voice was as sweet as music. And\nFinn asked her who was she, and who did she come looking for. \"I am the\ndaughter of Garraidh, son of Dolar Dian, the Fierce,\" she said; \"and my\ncurse upon the King of Greece that bound me to the man that is\nfollowing after me, and that I am going from, Tailc, son of Treon.\"\n\"Tell me why are you shunning him, and I will protect you in spite of\nhim,\" said Finn. \"It is not without reason I hate him,\" said she, \"for\nhe has no good appearance, and his skin is of the colour of coal, and he\nhas the head and the tail of a cat. And I have walked the world three\ntimes,\" she said, \"and I did not leave a king or a great man without\nasking help from him, and I never got it yet.\" \"I will give you\nprotection,\" said Finn, \"or the seven battalions of the Fianna will fall\nfor your sake.\"\n\nWith that they saw the big strange man, Tailc, son of Treon, coming\ntowards them, and he said no word at all of greeting to Finn, but he\ncalled for a battle on account of his wife.\n\nSo a thousand of the Fianna went out to meet him and his men; and if\nthey did they all fell, and not one of them came back again. And then\nanother thousand of the best men of the Fianna, having blue and green\nshields, went out under Caoilte, son of Ronan, and they were worsted by\nTailc and his people. And then Osgar asked leave of Finn to go out and\nfight the big man. \"I will give you leave,\" said Finn, \"although I am\nsure you will fall by him.\" So Osgar went out, and he himself and Tailc,\nson of Treon, were fighting through the length of five days and five\nnights without food or drink or sleep. And at the end of that time,\nOsgar made an end of Tailc, and struck his head off. And when the Fianna\nsaw that, they gave a shout of lamentation for those they had lost of\nthe Fianna, and two shouts of joy for the death of Tailc.\n\nAnd as to the young woman, when she saw all the slaughter that had been\ndone on account of her, shame reddened her face, and she fell dead there\nand then. And to see her die like that, after all she had gone through,\npreyed more on the Fianna than any other thing.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II. MEARGACH'S WIFE\n\n\nAnd while the Fianna were gathered yet on the hill where Tailc, son of\nTreon, had been put down, they saw a very great champion coming towards\nthem, having an army behind him. He took no notice of any one more than\nanother, but he asked in a very rough voice where was Finn, the Head of\nthe Fianna. And Aodh Beag, that had a quiet heart, asked him who was he,\nand what was he come for. \"I will tell you nothing at all, child,\" said\nthe big man, \"for it is short your years are, and I will tell nothing at\nall to any one but Finn.\" So Aodh Beag brought him to where Finn was,\nand Finn asked him his name. \"Meargach of the Green Spears is my name,\"\nhe said; \"and arms were never reddened yet on my body, and no one ever\nboasted of driving me backwards. And was it you, Finn,\" he said, \"put\ndown Tailc, son of Treon?\" \"It was not by me he fell,\" said Finn, \"but\nby Osgar of the strong hand.\" \"Was it not a great shame for you, Finn,\"\nsaid Meargach then, \"to let the queen-woman that had such a great name\ncome to her death by the Fianna?\" \"It was not by myself or by any of the\nFianna she got her death,\" said Finn; \"it was seeing the army lost that\nbrought her to her death. But if it is satisfaction for her death or the\ndeath of Tailc you want,\" he said, \"You can get it from a man of the\nFianna, or you can go quietly from this place.\" Then Meargach said he\nwould fight with any man they would bring against him, to avenge Tailc,\nson of Treon.\n\nAnd it was Osgar stood up against him, and they fought a very hard fight\nthrough the length of three days, and at one time the Fianna thought it\nwas Osgar was worsted, and they gave a great sorrowful shout. But in the\nend Osgar put down Meargach and struck his head off, and at that the\nseven battalions of the Fianna gave a shout of victory, and the army of\nMeargach keened him very sorrowfully. And after that, the two sons of\nMeargach, Ciardan the Swift and Liagan the Nimble, came up and asked\nwho would come against them, hand to hand, that they might get\nsatisfaction for their father.\n\nAnd it was Goll stood up against Ciardan, and it was not long till he\nput him down; and Conan came out against Liagan, and Liagan mocked at\nhim and said: \"It is foolishness your coming is, bald man!\" But Conan\nmade a quick blow and struck his head off before the fight was begun at\nall.\n\nAnd Faolan said that was a shameful thing to do, not to stand his ground\nand make a fair fight. But Conan said: \"If I could make an end of the\nwhole army by one blow, I would do it, and I would not be ashamed, and\nthe whole of the Fianna could not shelter them from me.\"\n\nThen the two armies came towards each other, and they were making ready\nfor the attack. And they saw a beautiful golden-haired woman coming\ntowards them, and she crying and ever crying, and the battle was given\nup on both sides, waiting for her to come; and the army of Meargach knew\nit was their queen, Ailne of the Bright Face, and they raised a great\ncry of grief; and the Fianna were looking at her, and said no word.\n\nAnd she asked where was her husband, and where were her two sons. \"High\nQueen,\" said Finn then, \"for all they were so complete and quick and\nstrong, the three you are asking for fell in fight.\"\n\nAnd when the queen-woman heard that, she cried out aloud, and she went\nto the place where her husband and her two sons were lying, and she\nstood over their bodies, and her golden hair hanging, and she keened\nthem there. And her own people raised a sharp lamentation listening to\nher, and the Fianna themselves were under grief.\n\nAnd it is what she said: \"O Meargach,\" she said, \"of the sharp green\nspears, it is many a fight and many a heavy battle your hard hand fought\nin the gathering of the armies or alone.\n\n\"I never knew any wound to be on your body after them; and it is full\nsure I am, it was not strength but treachery got the upper hand of you\nnow.\n\n\"It is long your journey was from far off, from your own kind country to\nInisfail, to come to Finn and the Fianna, that put my three to death\nthrough treachery.\n\n\"My grief! to have lost my husband, my head, by the treachery of the\nFianna; my two sons, my two men that were rough in the fight.\n\n\"My grief! my food and my drink; my grief! my teaching everywhere; my\ngrief! my journey from far off, and I to have lost my high heroes.\n\n\"My grief! my house thrown down; my grief! my shelter and my shield; my\ngrief! Meargach and Ciardan; my grief! Liagan of the wide chest.\n\n\"My grief! my protection and my shelter; my grief! my strength and my\npower; my grief! there is darkness come from this thing; my grief\nto-night you to be in your weakness.\n\n\"My grief! my gladness and my pleasure; my grief! my desire in every\nplace; my grief! my courage is gone and my strength; my grief from this\nnight out for ever.\n\n\"My grief! my guide and my going; my grief! my desire to the day of my\ndeath; my grief! my store and my sway; my grief! my heroes that were\nopen-handed.\n\n\"My grief! my bed and my sleep; my grief! my journey and my coming; my\ngrief! my teacher and my share; my sorrowful grief! my three men.\n\n\"My grief! my beauty and my ornaments; my grief! my jewels and my\nriches; my grief! my treasures and my goods; my grief! my three Candles\nof Valour.\n\n\"My grief! my friends and my kindred; my grief! my people and my\nfriends. My grief! my father and my mother; my grief and my trouble! you\nto be dead.\n\n\"My grief my portion and my welcome; my grief! my health at every time;\nmy grief! my increase and my light; my sore trouble, you to be without\nstrength.\n\n\"My grief! your spear and your sword; my grief! your gentleness and your\nlove; my grief! your country and your home; my grief! you to be parted\nfrom my reach.\n\n\"My grief! my coasts and my harbours; my grief! my wealth and my\nprosperity; my grief! my greatness and my kingdom; my grief and my\ncrying are until death.\n\n\"My grief! my luck altogether; my grief for you in time of battle; my\ngrief! my gathering of armies; my grief! my three proud lions.\n\n\"My grief! my games and my drinking; my grief! my music and my delight;\nmy grief! my sunny house and my women; my crying grief, you to be under\ndefeat.\n\n\"My grief! my lands and my hunting; my grief! my three sure fighters;\nOch! my grief! they are my sorrow, to fall far off by the Fianna.\n\n\"I knew by the great host of the Sidhe that were fighting over the dun,\ngiving battle to one another in the valleys of the air, that destruction\nwould put down my three.\n\n\"I knew by the noise of the voices of the Sidhe coming into my ears,\nthat a story of new sorrow was not far from me; it is your death it was\nforetelling.\n\n\"I knew at the beginning of the day when my three good men went from me,\nwhen I saw tears of blood on their cheeks, that they would not come back\nto me as winners.\n\n\"I knew by the voice of the battle-crow over your dun every evening,\nsince you went from me comely and terrible, that misfortune and grief\nwere at hand.\n\n\"It is well I remember, my three strong ones, how often I used to be\ntelling you that if you would go to Ireland, I would not see the joy of\nvictory on your faces.\n\n\"I knew by the voice of the raven every morning since you went from me,\nthat your fall was sure and certain; that you would never come back to\nyour own country.\n\n\"I knew, my three great ones, by your forgetting the thongs of your\nhounds, that you would not gain the day or escape from the treachery of\nthe Fianna.\n\n\"I knew, Candles of Valour, by the stream near the dun turning to blood\nwhen you set out, that there would be treachery in Finn.\n\n\"I knew by the eagle coming every evening over the dun, that it would\nnot be long till I would hear a story of bad news of my three.\n\n\"I knew by the withering of the tree before the dun, that you would\nnever come back as conquerors from the treachery of Finn, son of\nCumhal.\"\n\nWhen Grania, now, heard what the woman was saying, there was anger on\nher, and she said: \"Do not be speaking against Finn or the Fianna,\nQueen, for it was not by any treachery or any deceit your three men were\nbrought to their end.\"\n\nBut Ailne made her no answer and gave no heed to her, but she went on\nwith her complaint, and she crying and ever crying.\n\n\"I knew, looking after you the day you went out from the dun, by the\nflight of the raven before you, there was no good sign of your coming\nback again.\n\n\"I knew by Ciardan's hounds that were howling mournfully every evening,\nthat it would not be long till I would have bad news of you.\n\n\"I knew by my sleep that went from me, by my tears through every lasting\nnight, that there was no luck before you.\n\n\"I knew by the sorrowful vision that showed myself in danger, my head\nand my hands cut off, that it was yourselves were without sway.\n\n\"I knew by the voice of Uaithnin, the hound that is dearest to Liagan,\nhowling early every morning, that death was certain for my three.\n\n\"I knew when I saw in a vision a lake of blood in the place of the dun,\nthat my three were put down by the deceit that was always with Finn.\"\n\n\"Do not be faulting Finn,\" said Grania then, \"however vexed your heart\nmay be. And leave off now,\" she said, \"speaking against the Fianna and\nagainst himself; for if your men had stopped in their own country,\" she\nsaid, \"without coming to avenge the son of Treon, there would no harm\nhave happened them.\" \"I would not put any reproach on the Fianna,\nGrania,\" said Ailne, \"if my three men had been put down in fair battle,\nbut they are not living to bear witness to me,\" she said; \"and it is\nlikely they were put under Druid spells at the first, or they would\nnever have given in.\" \"If they were living, Queen,\" said Grania, \"they\nwould not be running down the Fianna, but they would tell you it was by\nbravery and the strong hand they fell.\" \"I do not believe you or the\nFianna when you say that,\" said Ailne; \"for no one that came to meet\nthem ever got the sway over them by the right of the sword.\" \"If you do\nnot believe what I am saying, beautiful Ailne,\" said Grania, \"I tell\nyou more of your great army will fall by the Fianna, and that not by\ntreachery.\" \"That is not so,\" said Ailne, \"but I have good hopes that my\nown army will do destruction on the Fianna, for the sake of the men that\nare dead.\" \"Well, Ailne,\" said Grania, \"I know it is a far journey you\nhave come. And come now and eat and drink,\" she said, \"with myself and\nwith the Fianna.\"\n\nBut Ailne would not do that, but she said it would not be fitting for\nher to take food from people that did such deeds, and what she wanted\nwas satisfaction for the death of her husband and her two sons.\n\nAnd first it was settled for two men of each side to go out against one\nanother; and then Ailne said that there should be thirty men on each\nside, and then she said she would not be satisfied to go back to her own\ncountry till she brought the head of Finn with her, or till the last of\nhis men had fallen. And there was a great battle fought in the end, and\nit is seldom the Fianna fought so hard a battle as that.\n\nAnd it would be too long to tell, and it would tire the hearers, how\nmany good men were killed on each side. But in the end Ailne of the\nBright Face was worsted, and she went back with what were left of her\nmen to their own country, and no one knew where they went.\n\nAnd the hill in the west those battles were fought on got the name of\nCnoc-an-Air, the Hill of Slaughter.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III. AILNE'S REVENGE\n\n\nOne day Finn and his people were hunting on Slieve Fuad, and a stag\nstood against them for a while and fought with his great rough horns,\nand then he turned and ran, and the Fianna followed after him till they\ncame to the green hill of Liadhas, and from that to rocky Cairgin. And\nthere they lost him again for a while, till Sceolan started him again,\nand he went back towards Slieve Fuad, and the Fianna after him.\n\nBut Finn and Daire of the Songs, that were together, went astray and\nlost the rest of their people, and they did not know was it east or west\nthey were going.\n\nFinn sounded the Dord Fiann then, and Daire played some sorrowful music\nto let their people know where they were. But when the Fianna heard the\nmusic, it seemed to be a long way off; and sometimes they thought it was\nin the north it was, and sometimes in the east, and then it changed to\nthe west, the way they did not know in the wide world where was it\ncoming from.\n\nAnd as to Finn and Daire, a Druid mist came about them, and they did not\nknow what way they were going.\n\nAnd after a while they met with a young woman, comely and pleasant, and\nthey asked who was she, and what brought her there. \"Glanluadh is my\nname,\" she said, \"and my husband is Lobharan; and we were travelling\nover the plain together a while ago, and we heard the cry of hounds, and\nhe left me and went after the hunt, and I do not know where is he, or\nwhat way did he go.\" \"Come on then with us,\" said Finn, \"and we will\ntake care of you, for we ourselves do not know what way the hunt is\ngone, east or west.\" So they went on, and before long they came to a\nhill, and they heard sleepy music of the Sidhe beside them. And after\nthat there came shouts and noises, and then the music began again, and\nheavy sleep came on Finn and Daire. And when they awoke from their sleep\nthey saw a very large lighted house before them, and a stormy blue sea\naround it. Then they saw a very big grey man coming through the waves,\nand he took hold of Finn and of Daire, and all their strength went from\nthem, and he brought them across the waves and into the house, and he\nshut the door of the house with iron hooks. \"My welcome to you, Finn of\nthe great name,\" he said then in a very harsh voice; \"it is long we are\nwaiting here for you.\"\n\nThey sat down then on the hard side of a bed, and the woman of the house\ncame to them, and they knew her to be Ailne, wife of Meargach. \"It is\nlong I am looking for you, Finn,\" she said, \"to get satisfaction for the\ntreachery you did on Meargach and on my two comely young sons, and on\nTailc, son of Treon, and all his people. And do you remember that,\nFinn?\" she said. \"I remember well,\" said Finn, \"that they fell by the\nswords of the Fianna, not by treachery but in fighting.\" \"It was by\ntreachery they fell,\" said the Grey Man then; \"and it is our witness to\nit, pleasant Ailne to be the way she is, and many a strong army under\ngrief on account of her.\" \"What is Ailne to you, man of the rough\nvoice?\" said Finn. \"I am her own brother,\" said the man.\n\nWith that he put bonds on the three, Finn and Daire and Glanluadh, and\nhe put them down into some deep shut place.\n\nThey were very sorrowful then, and they stopped there to the end of five\ndays and five nights, without food, without drink, without music.\n\nAnd Ailne went to see them then, and Finn said to her: \"O Ailne,\" he\nsaid, \"bring to mind the time you come to Cnoc-an-Air, and the way the\nFianna treated you with generosity; and it is not fitting for you,\" he\nsaid, \"to keep us now under shame and weakness and in danger of death.\"\n\"I know well I got kind treatment from Grania,\" said Ailne in a\nsorrowful voice; \"but for all that, Finn,\" she said, \"if all the Fianna\nwere in that prison along with you under hard bonds, it would please me\nwell, and I would not pity their case. And what is it set you following\nafter Finn,\" she said then to Glanluadh, \"for that is not a fitting\nthing for you to do, and his own kind wife living yet.\"\n\nThen Glanluadh told her the whole story, and how she was walking the\nplain with Lobharan her husband, and he followed the hunt, and the mist\ncame about her that she did not know east from west, and how she met\nthen with Finn that she never saw before that time. \"If that is so,\"\nsaid Ailne, \"it is not right for you to be under punishment without\ncause.\"\n\nShe called then to her brother the Grey Man, and bade him take the\nspells off Glanluadh. And when she was set free it is sorry she was to\nleave Daire in bonds, and Finn. And when she had bidden them farewell\nshe went out with Ailne, and there was food brought to her, but a cloud\nof weakness came on her of a sudden, that it was a pity to see the way\nshe was.\n\nAnd when Ailne saw that, she brought out an enchanted cup of the Sidhe\nand gave her a drink from it. And no sooner did Glanluadh drink from the\ncup than her strength and her own appearance came back to her again; but\nfor all that, she was fretting after Finn and Daire in their bonds. \"It\nseems to me, Glanluadh, you are fretting after those two men,\" said\nAilne. \"I am sorry indeed,\" said Glanluadh, \"the like of those men to be\nshut up without food or drink.\" \"If it is pleasing to you to give them\nfood you may give it,\" said Ailne, \"for I will not make an end of them\ntill I see can I get the rest of the Fianna into bonds along with them.\"\nThe two women brought food and drink then to Finn, and to Daire; and\nGlanluadh gave her blessing to Finn, and she cried when she saw the way\nhe was; but as to Ailne, she had no pity at all for the King of the\nFianna.\n\nNow as to the Grey Man, he heard them talking of the Fianna, and they\nwere saying that Daire had a great name for the sweetness of his music.\n\"I have a mind to hear that sweet music,\" said he. So he went to the\nplace where they were, and he bade Daire to let him hear what sort of\nmusic he could make. \"My music pleased the Fianna well,\" said Daire;\n\"but I think it likely it would not please you.\" \"Play it for me now,\ntill I know if the report I heard of you is true,\" said the Grey Man.\n\"Indeed, I have no mind for music,\" said Daire, \"being weak and\ndownhearted the way I am, through your spells that put down my courage.\"\n\"I will take my spells off you for so long as you play for me,\" said the\nGrey Man. \"I could never make music seeing Finn in bonds the way he is,\"\nsaid Daire; \"for it is worse to me, he to be under trouble than myself.\"\n\"I will take the power of my spells off Finn till you play for me,\" said\nthe Grey Man.\n\nHe weakened the spells then, and gave them food and drink, and it\npleased him greatly the way Daire played the music, and he called to\nGlanluadh and to Ailne to come and to listen to the sweetness of it. And\nthey were well pleased with it, and it is glad Glanluadh was, seeing\nthem not so discouraged as they were.\n\nNow as to the Fianna, they were searching for Finn and for Daire in\nevery place they had ever stopped in. And when they came to this place\nthey could hear Daire's sweet music; and at first they were glad when\nthey heard it, and then when they knew the way he himself and Finn were,\nthey made an attack on Ailne's dun to release them.\n\nBut the Grey Man heard their shouts, and he put the full power of his\nspells again on Finn and on Daire. And the Fianna heard the music as if\nstammering, and then they heard a great noise like the loud roaring of\nwaves, and when they heard that, there was not one of them but fell into\na sleep and clouds of death, under those sorrowful spells.\n\nAnd then the Grey Man and Ailne came out quietly from where they were,\nand they brought the whole of the men of the Fianna that were there into\nthe dun. And they put hard bonds on them, and put them where Finn and\nDaire were. And there was great grief on Finn and Daire when they saw\nthem, and they were all left there together for a while.\n\nThen Glanluadh said to the Grey Man: \"If Daire's music is pleasing to\nyou, let him play it to us now.\" \"If you have a mind for music,\" said\nthe Grey Man, \"Daire must play it for us, and for Finn and his army as\nwell.\"\n\nThey went then to where they were, and bade Daire to play. \"I could\nnever play sweet music,\" said Daire, \"the time the Fianna are in any\ntrouble; for when they are in trouble, I myself am in trouble, and I\ncould not sound any sweet string,\" he said, \"while there is trouble on\nany man of them.\" The Grey Man weakened the spells then on them all, and\nDaire played first the strings of sweetness, and of the noise of\nshouting, and then he sang his own grief and the grief of all the\nFianna. And at that the Grey Man said it would not be long before he\nwould put the whole of the Fianna to death; and then Daire played a tune\nof heavy shouts of lamentation. And then at Finn's bidding he played the\nmusic of sweet strings for the Fianna.\n\nThey were kept, now, a long time in that prison, and they got very hard\ntreatment; and sometimes Ailne's brother would come in and strike the\nheads off some of them, for none of them could rise up from the seats\nthey were sitting on through his enchantments. But one time he was going\nto strike the bald head off Conan, and Conan made a great leap from the\nseat; but if he did, he left strips of his skin hanging to it, that his\nback was left bare. And then he came round the Grey Man with his pitiful\nwords: \"Stop your hand now,\" he said, \"for that is enough for this time;\nand do not send me to my death yet awhile, and heal me of my wounds\nfirst,\" he said, \"before you make an end of me.\" And the reason he said\nthat was because he knew Ailne to have an enchanted cup in the dun, that\nhad cured Glanluadh.\n\nAnd the Grey Man took pity on his case, and he brought him out and bade\nAilne to bring the cup to him and to cure his wounds. \"I will not bring\nit,\" said Ailne, \"for it would be best give no time at all to him or to\nthe Fianna, but to make an end of them.\" \"It is not to be saved from\ndeath I am asking, bright-faced Ailne,\" said Conan, \"but only not to go\nto my death stripped bare the way I am.\" When Ailne heard that, she\nbrought a sheepskin and she put it on Conan's back, and it fitted and\ngrew to him, and covered his wounds. \"I will not put you to death,\nConan,\" said the Grey Man then, \"but you can stop with myself to the end\nof your life.\" \"You will never be without grief and danger and the fear\nof treachery if you keep him with you,\" said Ailne; \"for there is\ntreachery in his heart the same as there is in the rest of them.\" \"There\nis no fear of that,\" said her brother, \"or I will make no delay until I\nput the whole of the Fianna to death.\" And with that he brought Conan to\nwhere the enchanted cup was, and he put it in his hand. And just at that\nmoment they heard Daire playing very sweet sorrowful music, and the Grey\nMan went to listen to it, very quick and proud. And Conan followed him\nthere, and after a while the Grey Man asked him what did he do with the\nenchanted cup. \"I left it where I found it, full of power,\" said Conan.\n\nThe Grey Man hurried back then to the place where the treasures of the\ndun were. But no sooner was he gone than Conan took out the cup that he\nhad hidden, and he gave a drink from it to Finn and to Osgar and to the\nrest of the Fianna. And they that were withered and shaking, without\nstrength, without courage, got back their own appearance and their\nstrength again on the moment.\n\nAnd when the Grey Man came back from looking for the cup, and saw what\nhad happened, he took his sword and made a stroke at Conan. But Conan\ncalled to Osgar to defend him, and Osgar attacked the Grey Man, and it\nwas not long till he made him acquainted with death.\n\nAnd when Ailne saw that, with the grief and the dread that came on her,\nshe fell dead then and there.\n\nThen all the Fianna made a feast with what they found of food and of\ndrink, and they were very joyful and merry. But when they rose up in the\nmorning, there was no trace or tidings of the dun, but it was on the\nbare grass they were lying.\n\nBut as to Conan, the sheepskin never left him; and the wool used to grow\non it every year, the same as it would on any other skin.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK NINE: THE WEARING AWAY OF THE FIANNA.\n\nCHAPTER I. THE QUARREL WITH THE SONS OF MORNA\n\n\nOne time when the Fianna were gone here and there hunting, Black\nGarraidh and Caoilte were sitting beside Finn, and they were talking of\nthe battle where Finn's father was killed. And Finn said then to\nGarraidh: \"Tell me now, since you were there yourself, what way was it\nyou brought my father Cumhal to his death?\" \"I will tell you that since\nyou ask me,\" said Garraidh; \"it was my own hand and the hands of the\nrest of the sons of Morna that made an end of him.\" \"That is cold\nfriendship from my followers the sons of Morna,\" said Finn. \"If it is\ncold friendship,\" said Garraidh, \"put away the liking you are letting on\nto have for us, and show us the hatred you have for us all the while.\"\n\"If I were to lift my hand against you now, sons of Morna,\" said Finn,\n\"I would be well able for you all without the help of any man.\" \"It was\nby his arts Cumhal got the upper hand of us,\" said Garraidh; \"and when\nhe got power over us,\" he said, \"he banished us to every far country; a\nshare of us he sent to Alban, and a share of us to dark Lochlann, and a\nshare of us to bright Greece, parting us from one another; and for\nsixteen years we were away from Ireland, and it was no small thing to us\nto be without seeing one another through that time. And the first day we\ncame back to Ireland,\" he said, \"we killed sixteen hundred men, and no\nlie in it, and not a man of them but would be keened by a hundred. And\nwe took their duns after that,\" he said, \"and we went on till we were\nall around one house in Munster of the red walls. But so great was the\nbravery of the man in that house, that was your father, that it was\neasier to find him than to kill him. And we killed all that were of his\nrace out on the hill, and then we made a quick rush at the house where\nCumhal was, and every man of us made a wound on his body with his spear.\nAnd I myself was in it, and it was I gave him the first wound. And\navenge it on me now, Finn, if you have a mind to,\" he said.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt was not long after that, Finn gave a feast at Almhuin for all his\nchief men, and there came to it two sons of the King of Alban, and sons\nof the kings of the great world. And when they were all sitting at the\nfeast, the serving-men rose up and took drinking-horns worked by skilled\nmen, and having shining stones in them, and they poured out strong drink\nfor the champions; and it is then mirth rose up in their young men, and\ncourage in their fighting men, and kindness and gentleness in their\nwomen, and knowledge and foreknowledge in their poets.\n\nAnd then a crier rose up and shook a rough iron chain to silence the\nclowns and the common lads and idlers, and then he shook a chain of old\nsilver to silence the high lords and chief men of the Fianna, and the\nlearned men, and they all listened and were silent.\n\nAnd Fergus of the True Lips rose up and sang before Finn the songs and\nthe good poems of his forefathers; and Finn and Oisin and Lugaidh's Son\nrewarded him with every good thing. And then he went on to Goll, son of\nMorna, and told the fights and the destructions and the cattle-drivings\nand the courtings of his fathers; and it is well-pleased and high-minded\nthe sons of Morna were, listening to that.\n\nAnd Goll said then: \"Where is my woman-messenger?\" \"I am here, King of\nthe Fianna,\" said she. \"Have you brought me my hand-tribute from the men\nof Lochlann?\" \"I have brought it surely,\" said she. And with that she\nrose up and laid on the floor of the hall before Goll a load of pure\ngold, the size of a good pig, and that would be a heavy load for a\nstrong man. And Goll loosened the covering that was about it, and he\ngave Fergus a good reward from it as he was used to do; for there never\nwas a wise, sharp-worded poet, or a sweet harp-player, or any learned\nman of Ireland or of Alban, but Goll would give him gold or silver or\nsome good thing.\n\nAnd when Finn saw that, he said: \"How long is it, Goll, you have this\nrent on the men of Lochlann, and my own rent being on them always with\nit, and one of my own men, Ciaran son of Latharne, and ten hundred men\nof his household, guarding it and guarding my right of hunting?\" And\nGoll saw there was anger on Finn, and he said: \"It is a long time, Finn,\nI have that rent on the men of Lochlann, from the time your father put\nwar and quarrels on me, and the King of Ireland joined with him, and I\nwas made to quit Ireland by them. And I went into Britain,\" he said,\n\"and I took the country and killed the king himself and did destruction\non his people, but Cumhal put me out of it; and from that I went to\nFionnlochlann, and the king fell by me, and his household, and Cumhal\nput me out of it; and I went from that to the country of the Saxons, and\nthe king and his household fell by me, and Cumhal put me out of it. But\nI came back then to Ireland, and I fought a battle against your father,\nand he fell by me there. And it was at that time I put this rent upon\nthe men of Lochlann. And, Finn,\" he said, \"it is not a rent of the\nstrong hand you have put on them, but it is a tribute for having the\nprotection of the Fianna of Ireland, and I do not lessen that. And you\nneed not begrudge that tribute to me,\" he said, \"for if I had more than\nthat again, it is to you and to the men of Ireland I would give it.\"\n\nThere was great anger on Finn then, and he said: \"You tell me, Goll,\" he\nsaid, \"by your own story, that you came from the city of Beirbhe to\nfight against my father, and that you killed him in the battle; and it\nis a bold thing you to tell that to me.\" \"By your own hand,\" said Goll,\n\"if you were to give me the same treatment your father gave me, I would\npay you the same way as I paid him.\" \"It would be hard for you to do\nthat,\" said Finn, \"for there are a hundred men in my household against\nevery man there is in your household.\" \"That was the same with your\nfather,\" said Goll, \"and I avenged my disgrace on him; and I would do\nthe same on yourself if you earned it,\" he said.\n\nThen Cairell of the White Skin, son of Finn, said: \"It is many a man of\nFinn's household you have put down, Goll!\" And Bald Conan when he heard\nthat said: \"I swear by my arms, Goll was never without having a hundred\nmen in his household, every one of them able to get the better of\nyourself.\" \"And is it to them you belong, crooked-speaking, bare-headed\nConan?\" said Cairell. \"It is to them I belong, you black, feeble,\nnail-scratching, rough-skinned Cairell; and I will make you know it was\nFinn was in the wrong,\" said Conan.\n\nWith that Cairell rose up and gave a furious blow of his fist to Conan,\nand Conan took it with no great patience, but gave him back a blow in\nhis teeth, and from that they went on to worse blows again. And the two\nsons of Goll rose up to help Conan, and Osgar went to the help of\nCairell, and it was not long till many of the chief men of the Fianna\nwere fighting on the one side or the other, on the side of Finn or on\nthe side of the sons of Morna.\n\nBut then Fergus of the True Lips rose up, and the rest of the poets of\nthe Fianna along with him, and they sang their songs and their poems to\ncheck and to quiet them. And they left off their fighting at the sound\nof the poets' songs, and they let their weapons fall on the floor, and\nthe poets took them up, and made peace between the fighters; and they\nput bonds on Finn and on Goll to keep the peace for a while, till they\ncould ask for a judgment from the High King of Ireland. And that was the\nend for that time of the little quarrel at Almhuin.\n\nBut it broke out again, one time there was a falling out between Finn\nand Goll as to the dividing of a pig of the pigs of Manannan. And at\nDaire Tardha, the Oak Wood of Bulls, in the province of Connacht, there\nwas a great fight between Finn's men and the sons of Morna. And the sons\nof Morna were worsted, and fifteen of their men were killed; and they\nmade their mind up that from that time they would set themselves against\nany friends of Finn or of his people. And it was Conan the Bald gave\nthem that advice, for he was always bitter, and a maker of quarrels and\nof mischief in every place.\n\nAnd they kept to their word, and spared no one. There was a\nyellow-haired queen that Finn loved, Berach Brec her name was, and she\nwas wise and comely and worthy of any good man, and she had her house\nfull of treasures, and never refused the asking of any. And any one that\ncame to her house at Samhain time might stay till Beltaine, and have his\nchoice then to go or to stay. And the sons of Morna had fostered her,\nand they went where she was and bade her to give up Finn and she need be\nin no dread of them. But she said she would not give up her kind lover\nto please them; and she was going away from them to her ship, and Art,\nson of Morna, made a cast of his spear that went through her body, that\nshe died, and her people brought her up from the strand and buried her.\n\nAnd as to Goll, he took a little hound that Finn thought a great deal\nof, Conbeg its name was, and he drowned it in the sea; and its body was\nbrought up to shore by a wave afterwards, and it was buried under a\nlittle green hill by the Fianna. And Caoilte made a complaint over it,\nand he said how swift the little hound was after deer, or wild pigs, and\nhow good at killing them, and that it was a pity it to have died, out on\nthe cold green waves. And about that time, nine women of the Tuatha de\nDanaan came to meet with nine men of the Fianna, and the sons of Morna\nsaw them coming and made an end of them.\n\nAnd when Caoilte met with Goll, he made a cast of his spear at him that\nstruck the golden helmet off his head and a piece of his flesh along\nwith it. But Goll took it very proudly, and put on the helmet again and\ntook up his weapons, and called out to his brothers that he was no way\nashamed.\n\nAnd Finn went looking for the sons of Morna in every place to do\nvengeance on them. They were doing robbery and destruction one time in\nSlieve Echtge, that got its name from Echtge, daughter of Nuada of the\nSilver Hand, and Finn and the Fianna were to the west, at Slieve Cairn\nin the district of Corcomruadh. And Finn was in doubt if the sons of\nMorna were gone southward into Munster or north into Connacht. So he\nsent Aedan and Cahal, two sons of the King of Ulster, and two hundred\nrighting men with them, into the beautiful pleasant province of\nConnacht, and every day they used to go looking for the sons of Morna\nfrom place to place. But after a while the three battalions of the\nFianna that were in Corcomruadh saw the track of a troop of men, and\nthey thought it to be the track of the sons of Morna; and they closed\nround them at night, and made an end of them all. But when the full\nlight came on the morrow, they knew them to be their own people, that\nwere with the King of Ulster's sons, and they gave three great heavy\ncries, keening the friends they had killed in mistake.\n\nAnd Caoilte and Oisin went to Rath Medba and brought a great stone and\nput it over the king's sons, and it was called Lia an Imracail, the\nStone of the Mistake. And the place where Goll brought his men the time\nhe parted from Finn in anger got the name of Druimscarha, the Parting\nHill of Heroes.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II. DEATH OF GOLL\n\n\nAnd at last it chanced that Goll and Cairell, son of Finn, met with one\nanother, and said sharp words, and they fought in the sea near the\nstrand, and Cairell got his death by Goll. And there was great anger and\ngreat grief on Finn, seeing his son, that was so strong and comely,\nlying dead and grey, like a blighted branch.\n\nAnd as to Goll, he went away to a cave that was in a point stretching\nout into the sea; and he thought to stop there till Finn's anger would\nhave passed.\n\nAnd Osgar knew where he was, and he went to see him, that had been his\ncomrade in so many battles. But Goll thought it was as an enemy he came,\nand he made a cast of his spear at him, and though Osgar got no wound by\nit, it struck his shield and crushed it. And Finn took notice of the way\nthe shield was, and when he knew that Goll had made a cast at Osgar\nthere was greater anger again on him. And he sent out his men and bade\nthem to watch every path and every gap that led to the cave where Goll\nwas, the way they would make an end of him.\n\nAnd when Goll knew Finn to be watching for his life that way, he made no\nattempt to escape, but stopped where he was, without food, without\ndrink, and he blinded with the sand that was blowing into his eyes.\n\nAnd his wife came to a rock where she could speak with him, and she\ncalled to him to come to her. \"Come over to me,\" she said; \"and it is a\npity you to be blinded where you are, on the rocks of the waste sea,\nwith no drink but the salt water, a man that was first in every fight.\nAnd come now to be sleeping beside me,\" she said; \"and in place of the\nhard sea-water I will nourish you from my own breast, and it is I will\ndo your healing. And the gold of your hair is my desire for ever,\" she\nsaid, \"and do not stop withering there like an herb in the winter-time,\nand my heart black with grief within me.\"\n\nBut Goll would not leave the spot where he was for all she could say.\n\"It is best as it is,\" he said, \"and I never took the advice of a woman\neast or west, and I never will take it. And O sweet-voiced queen,\" he\nsaid, \"what ails you to be fretting after me; and remember now your\nsilver and your gold, and your silks and stuffs, and remember the seven\nhounds I gave you at Cruadh Ceirrge, and every one of them without\nslackness till he has killed the deer. And do not be crying tears after\nme, queen with the white hands,\" he said; \"but remember your constant\nlover, Aodh, the son of the best woman of the world, that came out from\nSpain asking for you, and that I fought at Corcar-an-Deirg; and go to\nhim now,\" he said, \"for it is bad when a woman is in want of a good\nman.\"\n\nAnd he lay down on the rocks, and at the end of twelve days he died. And\nhis wife keened him there, and made a great lamentation for her husband\nthat had such a great name, and that was the second best of the Fianna\nof Ireland.\n\nAnd when Conan heard of the death of Goll his brother, there was great\nanger on him, and he went to Garraidh, and asked him to go with him to\nFinn to ask satisfaction for Goll. \"I am not willing to go,\" said\nGarraidh, \"since we could get no satisfaction for the great son of\nMorna.\" \"Whether you have a mind to go or not, I will go,\" said Conan;\n\"and I will make an end of every man I meet with, for the sake of\nyellow-haired Goll; I will have the life of Oisin, Finn's great son, and\nof Osgar and of Caoilte and of Daire of the Songs; I will have no\nforgiveness for them; we must show no respect for Finn, although we may\ndie in the fight, having no help from Goll. And let us take that work in\nhand, and make no delay,\" he said; \"for if Finn is there, his strength\nwill be there, until we put him under his flag-stone.\"\n\nBut it is not likely Garraidh went with him, and he after speaking such\nfoolish words.\n\nAnd what happened Conan in the end is not known. But there is a cairn of\nstones on a hill of Burren, near to Corcomruadh, and the people of\nConnacht say it is there he is buried, and that there was a stone found\nthere one time, having on it in the old writing: \"Conan the\nswift-footed, the bare-footed.\" But the Munster people say it is on\ntheir own side of Burren he is buried.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III. THE BATTLE OF GABHRA\n\n\nNow, with one thing and another, the High King of Ireland had got to be\nsomeway bitter against Finn and the Fianna; and one time that he had a\ngathering of his people he spoke out to them, and he bade them to\nremember all the harm that had been done them through the Fianna, and\nall their pride, and the tribute they asked. \"And as to myself,\" he\nsaid, \"I would sooner die fighting the Fianna, if I could bring them\ndown along with me, than live with Ireland under them the way it is\nnow.\"\n\nAll his people were of the same mind, and they said they would make no\ndelay, but would attack the Fianna and make an end of them. \"And we will\nhave good days of joy and of feasting,\" they said, \"when once Almhuin is\nclear of them.\"\n\nAnd the High King began to make plans against Finn; and he sent to all\nthe men of Ireland to come and help him. And when all was ready, he sent\nand bade Osgar to come to a feast he was making at Teamhair.\n\nAnd Osgar, that never was afraid before any enemy, set out for Teamhair,\nand three hundred of his men with him. And on the way they saw a woman\nof the Sidhe washing clothes at a river, and there was the colour of\nblood on the water where she was washing them. And Osgar said to her:\n\"There is red on the clothes you are washing; and it is for the dead you\nare washing them.\" And the woman answered him, and it is what she said:\n\"It is not long till the ravens will be croaking over your own head\nafter the battle.\" \"Is there any weakness in our eyes,\" said Osgar,\n\"that a little story like that would set us crying? And do another\nforetelling for us now,\" he said, \"and tell us will any man of our\nenemies fall by us before we ourselves are made an end of?\"\n\n\"There will nine hundred fall by yourself,\" she said; \"and the High\nKing himself will get his death-wound from you.\"\n\nOsgar and his men went on then to the king's house at Teamhair, and they\ngot good treatment, and the feast was made ready, and they were three\ndays at pleasure and at drinking.\n\nAnd on the last day of the drinking, the High King called out with a\nloud voice, and he asked Osgar would he make an exchange of spears with\nhim. \"Why do you ask that exchange,\" said Osgar, \"when I myself and my\nspear were often with yourself in time of battle? And you would not ask\nit of me,\" he said, \"if Finn and the Fianna were with me now.\" \"I would\nask it from any fighting man among you,\" said the king, \"and for rent\nand tribute along with it.\" \"Any gold or any treasure you might ask of\nus, we would give it to you,\" said Osgar, \"but it is not right for you\nto ask my spear.\" There were very high words between them then, and they\nthreatened one another, and at the last the High King said: \"I will put\nmy spear of the seven spells out through your body.\" \"And I give my word\nagainst that,\" said Osgar, \"I will put my spear of the nine spells\nbetween the meeting of your hair and your beard.\"\n\nWith that he and his men rose up and went out of Teamhair, and they\nstopped to rest beside a river, and there they heard the sound of a very\nsorrowful tune, that was like keening, played on a harp. And there was\ngreat anger on Osgar when he heard that, and he rose up and took his\narms and roused his people, and they went on again to where Finn was.\nAnd there came after them a messenger from the High King, and the\nmessage he brought was this, that he never would pay tribute to the\nFianna or bear with them at all from that time.\n\nAnd when Finn heard that, he sent a challenge of battle, and he gathered\ntogether all the Fianna that were left to him. But as to the sons of\nMorna, it was to the High King of Ireland they gathered.\n\nAnd it was at the hill of Gabhra the two armies met, and there were\ntwenty men with the King of Ireland for every man that was with Finn.\n\nAnd it is a very hard battle was fought that day, and there were great\ndeeds done on both sides; and there never was a greater battle fought in\nIreland than that one.\n\nAnd as to Osgar, it would be hard to tell all he killed on that day;\nfive score of the Sons of the Gael, and five score fighting men from the\nCountry of Snow, and seven score of the Men of Green Swords that never\nwent a step backward, and four hundred from the Country of the Lion, and\nfive score of the sons of kings; and the shame was for the King of\nIreland.\n\nBut as to Osgar himself, that began the day so swift and so strong, at\nthe last he was like leaves on a strong wind, or like an aspen-tree that\nis falling. But when he saw the High King near him, he made for him like\na wave breaking on the strand; and the king saw him coming, and shook\nhis greedy spear, and made a cast of it, and it went through his body\nand brought him down on his right knee, and that was the first grief of\nthe Fianna. But Osgar himself was no way daunted, but he made a cast of\nhis spear of the nine spells that went into the High King at the meeting\nof the hair and the beard, and gave him his death. And when the men\nnearest to the High King saw that, they put the king's helmet up on a\npillar, the way his people would think he was living yet. But Osgar saw\nit, and he lifted a thin bit of a slab-stone that was on the ground\nbeside him, and he made a cast of it that broke the helmet where it was;\nand then he himself fell like a king.\n\nAnd there fell in that battle the seven sons of Caoilte, and the son of\nthe King of Lochlann that had come to give them his help, and it would\nbe hard to count the number of the Fianna that fell in that battle.\n\nAnd when it was ended, those that were left of them went looking for\ntheir dead. And Caoilte stooped down over his seven brave sons, and\nevery living man of the Fianna stooped over his own dear friends. And it\nwas a lasting grief to see all that were stretched in that place, but\nthe Fianna would not have taken it to heart the way they did, but for\nbeing as they were, a beaten race.\n\nAnd as to Oisin, he went looking for Osgar, and it is the way he found\nhim, lying stretched, and resting on his left arm and his broken shield\nbeside him, and his sword in his hand yet, and his blood about him on\nevery side. And he put out his hand to Oisin, and Oisin took it and gave\nout a very hard cry. And Osgar said: \"It is glad I am to see you safe,\nmy father.\" And Oisin had no answer to give him. And just then Caoilte\ncame where they were, and he looked at Osgar. \"What way are you now, my\ndarling?\" he said. \"The way you would like me to be,\" said Osgar.\n\nThen Caoilte searched the wound, and when he saw how the spear had torn\nits way through to the back, he cried out, and a cloud came over him and\nhis strength failed him. \"O Osgar,\" he said, \"you are parted from the\nFianna, and they themselves must be parted from battle from this out,\"\nhe said, \"and they must pay their tribute to the King of Ireland.\"\n\nThen Caoilte and Oisin raised up Osgar on their shields and brought him\nto a smooth green hill till they would take his dress off. And there was\nnot a hands-breadth of his white body that was without a wound.\n\nAnd when the rest of the Fianna saw what way Osgar was, there was not a\nman of them that keened his own son or his brother, but every one of\nthem came keening Osgar.\n\nAnd after a while, at noonday, they saw Finn coming towards them, and\nwhat was left of the Sun-banner raised on a spear-shaft. All of them\nsaluted Finn then, but he made no answer, and he came up to the hill\nwhere Osgar was. And when Osgar saw him coming he saluted him, and he\nsaid: \"I have got my desire in death, Finn of the sharp arms.\" And Finn\nsaid: \"It is worse the way you were, my son, on the day of the battle at\nBeinn Edair when the wild geese could swim on your breast, and it was my\nhand that gave you healing.\" \"There can no healing be done for me now\nfor ever,\" said Osgar, \"since the King of Ireland put the spear of seven\nspells through my body.\" And Finn said: \"It is a pity it was not I\nmyself fell in sunny scarce Gabhra, and you going east and west at the\nhead of the Fianna.\" \"And if it was yourself fell in the battle,\" said\nOsgar, \"you would not hear me keening after you; for no man ever knew\nany heart in me,\" he said, \"but a heart of twisted horn, and it covered\nwith iron. But the howling of the dogs beside me,\" he said, \"and the\nkeening of the old righting men, and the crying of the women one after\nanother, those are the things that are vexing me.\" And Finn said: \"Child\nof my child, calf of my calf, white and slender, it is a pity the way\nyou are. And my heart is starting like a deer,\" he said, \"and I am weak\nafter you and after the Fianna of Ireland. And misfortune has followed\nus,\" he said; \"and farewell now to battles and to a great name, and\nfarewell to taking tributes; for every good thing I ever had is gone\nfrom me now,\" he said.\n\nAnd when Osgar heard those words he stretched out his hands, and his\neyelids closed. And Finn turned away from the rest, and he cried tears\ndown; and he never shed a tear through the whole length of his lifetime\nbut only for Osgar and for Bran.\n\nAnd all that were left of the Fianna gave three gorrowful cries after\nOsgar, for there was not one of the Fianna beyond him, unless it might\nbe Finn or Oisin.\n\nAnd it is many of the Fianna were left dead in Gabhra, and graves were\nmade for them. And as to Lugaidh's Son, that was so tall a man and so\ngood a fighter, they made a very wide grave for him, as was fitting for\na king. And the whole length of the rath at Gabhra, from end to end, it\nis that was the grave of Osgar, son of Oisin, son of Finn.\n\nAnd as to Finn himself, he never had peace or pleasure again from that\nday.\n\n\n\n\n\nBOOK TEN: THE END OF THE FIANNA.\n\nCHAPTER I. DEATH OF BRAN\n\n\nOne day Finn was hunting, and Bran went following after a fawn. And they\nwere coming towards Finn, and the fawn called out, and it said: \"If I go\ninto the sea below I will never come back again; and if I go up into the\nair above me, it will not save me from Bran.\" For Bran would overtake\nthe wild geese, she was that swift.\n\n\"Go out through my legs,\" said Finn then. So the fawn did that, and Bran\nfollowed her; and as Bran went under him, Finn squeezed his two knees on\nher, that she died on the moment.\n\nAnd there was great grief on him after that, and he cried tears down the\nsame as he did when Osgar died.\n\nAnd some said it was Finn's mother the fawn was, and that it was to save\nhis mother he killed Bran. But that is not likely, for his mother was\nbeautiful Muirne, daughter of Tadg, son of Nuada of the Tuatha de\nDanaan, and it was never heard that she was changed into a fawn. It is\nmore likely it was Oisin's mother was in it.\n\nBut some say Bran and Sceolan are still seen to start at night out of\nthe thicket on the hill of Almhuin.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II. THE CALL OF OISIN\n\n\nOne misty morning, what were left of the Fianna were gathered together\nto Finn, and it is sorrowful and downhearted they were after the loss of\nso many of their comrades.\n\nAnd they went hunting near the borders of Loch Lein, where the bushes\nwere in blossom and the birds were singing; and they were waking up the\ndeer that were as joyful as the leaves of a tree in summer-time.\n\nAnd it was not long till they saw coming towards them from the west a\nbeautiful young woman, riding on a very fast slender white horse. A\nqueen's crown she had on her head, and a dark cloak of silk down to the\nground, having stars of red gold on it; and her eyes were blue and as\nclear as the dew on the grass, and a gold ring hanging down from every\ngolden lock of her hair; and her cheeks redder than the rose, and her\nskin whiter than the swan upon the wave, and her lips as sweet as honey\nthat is mixed through red wine.\n\nAnd in her hand she was holding a bridle having a golden bit, and there\nwas a saddle worked with red gold under her. And as to the horse, he had\na wide smooth cloak over him, and a silver crown on the back of his\nhead, and he was shod with shining gold.\n\nShe came to where Finn was, and she spoke with a very kind, gentle\nvoice, and she said: \"It is long my journey was, King of the Fianna.\"\nAnd Finn asked who was she, and what was her country and the cause of\nher coming. \"Niamh of the Golden Head is my name,\" she said; \"and I have\na name beyond all the women of the world, for I am the daughter of the\nKing of the Country of the Young.\" \"What was it brought you to us from\nover the sea, Queen?\" said Finn then. \"Is it that your husband is gone\nfrom you, or what is the trouble that is on you?\" \"My husband is not gone\nfrom me,\" she said, \"for I never went yet to any man. But O King of the\nFianna,\" she said, \"I have given my love and my affection to your own\nson, Oisin of the strong hands.\" \"Why did you give your love to him\nbeyond all the troops of high princes that are under the sun?\" said\nFinn. \"It was by reason of his great name, and of the report I heard of\nhis bravery and of his comeliness,\" she said. \"And though there is many\na king's son and high prince gave me his love, I never consented to any\ntill I set my love on Oisin.\"\n\nWhen Oisin heard what she was saying, there was not a limb of his body\nthat was not in love with beautiful Niamh; and he took her hand in his\nhand, and he said: \"A true welcome before you to this country, young\nqueen. It is you are the shining one,\" he said; \"it is you are the\nnicest and the comeliest; it is you are better to me than any other\nwoman; it is you are my star and my choice beyond the women of the\nentire world.\" \"I put on you the bonds of a true hero,\" said Niamh then,\n\"you to come away with me now to the Country of the Young.\" And it is\nwhat she said:\n\n\"It is the country is most delightful of all that are under the sun; the\ntrees are stooping down with fruit and with leaves and with blossom.\n\n\"Honey and wine are plentiful there, and everything the eye has ever\nseen; no wasting will come on you with the wasting away of time; you\nwill never see death or lessening.\n\n\"You will get feasts, playing and drinking; you will get sweet music on\nthe strings; you will get silver and gold and many jewels.\n\n\"You will get, and no lie in it, a hundred swords; a hundred cloaks of\nthe dearest silk; a hundred horses, the quickest in battle; a hundred\nwilling hounds.\n\n\"You will get the royal crown of the King of the Young that he never\ngave to any one under the sun. It will be a shelter to you night and\nday in every rough fight and in every battle.\n\n\"You will get a right suit of armour; a sword, gold-hilted, apt for\nstriking; no one that ever saw it got away alive from it.\n\n\"A hundred coats of armour and shirts of satin; a hundred cows and a\nhundred calves; a hundred sheep having golden fleeces; a hundred jewels\nthat are not of this world.\n\n\"A hundred glad young girls shining like the sun, their voices sweeter\nthan the music of birds; a hundred armed men strong in battle, apt at\nfeats, waiting on you, if you will come with me to the Country of the\nYoung.\n\n\"You will get everything I have said to you, and delights beyond them,\nthat I have no leave to tell; you will get beauty, strength and power,\nand I myself will be with you as a wife.\"\n\nAnd after she had made that song, Oisin said: \"O pleasant golden-haired\nqueen, you are my choice beyond the women of the world; and I will go\nwith you willingly,\" he said.\n\nAnd with that he kissed Finn his father and bade him farewell, and he\nbade farewell to the rest of the Fianna, and he went up then on the\nhorse with Niamh.\n\nAnd the horse set out gladly, and when he came to the strand he shook\nhimself and he neighed three times, and then he made for the sea. And\nwhen Finn and the Fianna saw Oisin facing the wide sea, they gave three\ngreat sorrowful shouts. And as to Finn, he said: \"It is my grief to see\nyou going from me; and I am without a hope,\" he said, \"ever to see you\ncoming back to me again.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III. THE LAST OF THE GREAT MEN\n\n\nAnd indeed that was the last time Finn and Oisin and the rest of the\nFianna of Ireland were gathered together, for hunting, for battle, for\nchess-playing, for drinking or for music; for they all wore away after\nthat, one after another.\n\nAs to Caoilte, that was old and had lost his sons, he used to be\nfretting and lonesome after the old times. And one day that there was\nvery heavy snow on the ground, he made this complaint:--\n\n\"It is cold the winter is; the wind is risen; the fierce high-couraged\nstag rises up; it is cold the whole mountain is to-night, yet the fierce\nstag is calling. The deer of Slievecarn of the gatherings does not lay\nhis side to the ground; he no less than the stag of the top of cold\nEchtge hears the music of the wolves.\n\n\"I, Caoilte, and brown-haired Diarmuid and pleasant light-footed Osgar,\nwe used to be listening to the music of the wolves through the end of\nthe cold night. It is well the brown deer sleeps with its hide to the\nhollow, hidden as if in the earth, through the end of the cold night.\n\n\"To-day I am in my age, and I know but a few men; I used to shake my\nspear bravely in the ice-cold morning. It is often I put silence on a\ngreat army that is very cold to-night.\"\n\nAnd after a while he went into a hill of the Sidhe to be healed of his\nold wounds. And whether he came back from there or not is not known; and\nthere are some that say he used to be talking with Patrick of the Bells\nthe same time Oisin was with him. But that is not likely, or Oisin would\nnot have made complaints about his loneliness the way he did.\n\nBut a long time after that again, there was a king of Ireland making a\njourney. And he and his people missed their way, and when night-time\ncame on, they were in a dark wood, and no path before them.\n\nAnd there came to them a very tall man, that was shining like a burning\nflame, and he took hold of the bridle of the king's horse, and led him\nthrough the wood till they came to the right road. And the King of\nIreland asked him who was he, and first he said: \"I am your\ncandlestick\"; and then he said: \"I was with Finn one time.\" And the king\nknew it was Caoilte, son of Ronan, was in it.\n\nAnd three times nine of the rest of the Fianna came out of the west one\ntime to Teamhair. And they took notice that now they were wanting their\nfull strength and their great name, no one took notice of them or came\nto speak with them at all. And when they saw that, they lay down on the\nside of the hill at Teamhair, and put their lips to the earth and died.\n\nAnd for three days and a month and a year from the time of the\ndestruction of the Fianna of Ireland, Loch Dearg was under mists.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAnd as to Finn, there are some say he died by the hand of a fisherman;\nbut it is likely that is not true, for that would be no death for so\ngreat a man as Finn, son of Cumhal. And there are some say he never\ndied, but is alive in some place yet.\n\nAnd one time a smith made his way into a cave he saw, that had a door to\nit, and he made a key that opened it. And when he went in he saw a very\nwide place, and very big men lying on the floor. And one that was bigger\nthan the rest was lying in the middle, and the Dord Fiann beside him;\nand he knew it was Finn and the Fianna were in it.\n\nAnd the smith took hold of the Dord Fiann, and it is hardly he could\nlift it to his mouth, and he blew a very strong blast on it, and the\nsound it made was so great, it is much the rocks did not come down on\nhim. And at the sound, the big men lying on the ground shook from head\nto foot. He gave another blast then, and they all turned on their\nelbows.\n\nAnd great dread came on him when he saw that, and he threw down the Dord\nFiann and ran from the caye and locked the door after him, and threw the\nkey into the lake. And he heard them crying after him, \"You left us\nworse than you found us.\" And the cave was not found again since that\ntime.\n\nBut some say the day will come when the Dord Fiann will be sounded three\ntimes, and that at the sound of it the Fianna will rise up as strong and\nas well as ever they were. And there are some say Finn, son of Cumhal,\nhas been on the earth now and again since the old times, in the shape of\none of the heroes of Ireland.\n\nAnd as to the great things he and his men did when they were together,\nit is well they have been kept in mind through the poets of Ireland and\nof Alban. And one night there were two men minding sheep in a valley,\nand they were saying the poems of the Fianna while they were there. And\nthey saw two very tall shapes on the two hills on each side of the\nvalley, and one of the tall shapes said to the other: \"Do you hear that\nman down below? I was the second doorpost of battle at Gabhra, and that\nman knows all about it better than myself.\"\n\n\n\n\n\nBOOK ELEVEN: OISIN AND PATRICK.\n\nCHAPTER I. OISIN'S STORY\n\n\nAs to Oisin, it was a long time after he was brought away by Niamh that\nhe came back again to Ireland. Some say it was hundreds of years he was\nin the Country of the Young, and some say it was thousands of years he\nwas in it; but whatever time it was, it seemed short to him.\n\nAnd whatever happened him through the time he was away, it is a withered\nold man he was found after coming back to Ireland, and his white horse\ngoing away from him, and he lying on the ground.\n\nAnd it was S. Patrick had power at that time, and it was to him Oisin\nwas brought; and he kept him in his house, and used to be teaching him\nand questioning him. And Oisin was no way pleased with the way Ireland\nwas then, but he used to be talking of the old times, and fretting after\nthe Fianna.\n\nAnd Patrick bade him to tell what happened him the time he left Finn and\nthe Fianna and went away with Niamh. And it is the story Oisin\ntold:--\"The time I went away with golden-haired Niamh, we turned our\nbacks to the land, and our faces westward, and the sea was going away\nbefore us, and filling up in waves after us. And we saw wonderful things\non our journey,\" he said, \"cities and courts and duns and lime-white\nhouses, and shining sunny-houses and palaces. And one time we saw beside\nus a hornless deer running hard, and an eager white red-eared hound\nfollowing after it. And another time we saw a young girl on a horse and\nhaving a golden apple in her right hand, and she going over the tops of\nthe waves; and there was following after her a young man riding a white\nhorse, and having a crimson cloak and a gold-hilted sword in his right\nhand.\"\n\n\"Follow on with your story, pleasant Oisin,\" said Patrick, \"for you did\nnot tell us yet what was the country you went to.\"\n\n\"The Country of the Young, the Country of Victory, it was,\" said Oisin.\n\"And O Patrick,\" he said, \"there is no lie in that name; and if there\nare grandeurs in your Heaven the same as there are there, I would give\nmy friendship to God.\n\n\"We turned our backs then to the dun,\" he said, \"and the horse under us\nwas quicker than the spring wind on the backs of the mountains. And it\nwas not long till the sky darkened, and the wind rose in every part, and\nthe sea was as if on fire, and there was nothing to be seen of the sun.\n\n\"But after we were looking at the clouds and the stars for a while the\nwind went down, and the storm, and the sun brightened. And we saw before\nus a very delightful country under full blossom, and smooth plains in\nit, and a king's dun that was very grand, and that had every colour in\nit, and sunny-houses beside it, and palaces of shining stones, made by\nskilled men. And we saw coming out to meet us three fifties of armed\nmen, very lively and handsome. And I asked Niamh was this the Country of\nthe Young, and she said it was. 'And indeed, Oisin,' she said, 'I told\nyou no lie about it, and you will see all I promised you before you for\never.'\n\n\"And there came out after that a hundred beautiful young girls, having\ncloaks of silk worked with gold, and they gave me a welcome to their own\ncountry. And after that there came a great shining army, and with it a\nstrong beautiful king, having a shirt of yellow silk and a golden cloak\nover it, and a very bright crown on his head. And there was following\nafter him a young queen, and fifty young girls along with her.\n\n\"And when all were come to the one spot, the king took me by the hand,\nand he said out before them all: 'A hundred thousand welcomes before\nyou, Oisin, son of Finn. And as to this country you are come to,' he\nsaid, 'I will tell you news of it without a lie. It is long and lasting\nyour life will be in it, and you yourself will be young for ever. And\nthere is no delight the heart ever thought of,' he said, 'but it is\nhere against your coming. And you can believe my words, Oisin,' he said,\n'for I myself am the King of the Country of the Young, and this is its\ncomely queen, and it was golden-headed Niamh our daughter that went over\nthe sea looking for you to be her husband for ever.' I gave thanks to\nhim then, and I stooped myself down before the queen, and we went\nforward to the royal house, and all the high nobles came out to meet us,\nboth men and women, and there was a great feast made there through the\nlength of ten days and ten nights.\n\n\"And that is the way I married Niamh of the Golden Hair, and that is the\nway I went to the Country of the Young, although it is sorrowful to me\nto be telling it now, O Patrick from Rome,\" said Oisin.\n\n\"Follow on with your story, Oisin of the destroying arms,\" said Patrick,\n\"and tell me what way did you leave the Country of the Young, for it is\nlong to me till I hear that; and tell us now had you any children by\nNiamh, and was it long you were in that place.\"\n\n\"Two beautiful children I had by Niamh,\" said Oisin, \"two young sons and\na comely daughter. And Niamh gave the two sons the name of Finn and of\nOsgar, and the name I gave to the daughter was The Flower.\n\n\"And I did not feel the time passing, and it was a long time I stopped\nthere,\" he said, \"till the desire came on me to see Finn and my comrades\nagain. And I asked leave of the king and of Niamh to go back to Ireland.\n'You will get leave from me,' said Niamh; 'but for all that,' she said,\n'it is bad news you are giving me, for I am in dread you will never come\nback here again through the length of your days.' But I bade her have no\nfear, since the white horse would bring me safe back again from Ireland.\n'Bear this in mind, Oisin,' she said then, 'if you once get off the\nhorse while you are away, or if you once put your foot to ground, you\nwill never come back here again. And O Oisin,' she said, 'I tell it to\nyou now for the third time, if you once get down from the horse, you\nwill be an old man, blind and withered, without liveliness, without\nmirth, without running, without leaping. And it is a grief to me,\nOisin,' she said, 'you ever to go back to green Ireland; and it is not\nnow as it used to be, and you will not see Finn and his people, for\nthere is not now in the whole of Ireland but a Father of Orders and\narmies of saints; and here is my kiss for you, pleasant Oisin,' she\nsaid, 'for you will never come back any more to the Country of the\nYoung.'\n\n\"And that is my story, Patrick, and I have told you no lie in it,\" said\nOisin. \"And O Patrick,\" he said, \"if I was the same the day I came here\nas I was that day, I would have made an end of all your clerks, and\nthere would not be a head left on a neck after me.\"\n\n\"Go on with your story,\" said Patrick, \"and you will get the same good\ntreatment from me you got from Finn, for the sound of your voice is\npleasing to me.\"\n\nSo Oisin went on with his story, and it is what he said: \"I have nothing\nto tell of my journey till I came back into green Ireland, and I looked\nabout me then on all sides, but there were no tidings to be got of Finn.\nAnd it was not long till I saw a great troop of riders, men and women,\ncoming towards me from the west. And when they came near they wished me\ngood health; and there was wonder on them all when they looked at me,\nseeing me so unlike themselves, and so big and so tall.\n\n\"I asked them then did they hear if Finn was still living, or any other\none of the Fianna, or what had happened them. 'We often heard of Finn\nthat lived long ago,' said they, 'and that there never was his equal for\nstrength or bravery or a great name; and there is many a book written\ndown,' they said, 'by the sweet poets of the Gael, about his doings and\nthe doings of the Fianna, and it would be hard for us to tell you all\nof them. And we heard Finn had a son,' they said, 'that was beautiful\nand shining, and that there came a young girl looking for him, and he\nwent away with her to the Country of the Young.'\n\n\"And when I knew by their talk that Finn was not living or any of the\nFianna, it is downhearted I was, and tired, and very sorrowful after\nthem. And I made no delay, but I turned my face and went on to Almhuin\nof Leinster. And there was great wonder on me when I came there to see\nno sign at all of Finn's great dun, and his great hall, and nothing in\nthe place where it was but weeds and nettles.\"\n\nAnd there was grief on Oisin then, and he said: \"Och, Patrick! Och,\nochone, my grief! It is a bad journey that was to me; and to be without\ntidings of Finn or the Fianna has left me under pain through my\nlifetime.\"\n\n\"Leave off fretting, Oisin,\" said Patrick, \"and shed your tears to the\nGod of grace. Finn and the Fianna are slack enough now, and they will\nget no help for ever.\" \"It is a great pity that would be,\" said Oisin,\n\"Finn to be in pain for ever; and who was it gained the victory over\nhim, when his own hand had made an end of so many a hard fighter?\"\n\n\"It is God gained the victory over Finn,\" said Patrick, \"and not the\nstrong hand of an enemy; and as to the Fianna, they are condemned to\nhell along with him, and tormented for ever.\"\n\n\"O Patrick,\" said Oisin, \"show me the place where Finn and his people\nare, and there is not a hell or a heaven there but I will put it down.\nAnd if Osgar, my own son, is there,\" he said, \"the hero that was bravest\nin heavy battles, there is not in hell or in the Heaven of God a troop\nso great that he could not destroy it.\"\n\n\"Let us leave off quarrelling on each side now,\" said Patrick; \"and go\non, Oisin, with your story. What happened you after you knew the Fianna\nto be at an end?\"\n\n\"I will tell you that, Patrick,\" said Oisin. \"I was turning to go away,\nand I saw the stone trough that the Fianna used to be putting their\nhands in, and it full of water. And when I saw it I had such a wish and\nsuch a feeling for it that I forgot what I was told, and I got off the\nhorse. And in the minute all the years came on me, and I was lying on\nthe ground, and the horse took fright and went away and left me there,\nan old man, weak and spent, without sight, without shape, without\ncomeliness, without strength or understanding, without respect.\n\n\"There, Patrick, is my story for you now,\" said Oisin, \"and no lie in\nit, of all that happened me going away and coming back again from the\nCountry of the Young.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II. OISIN IN PATRICK'S HOUSE\n\n\nAnd Oisin stopped on with S. Patrick, but he was not very well content\nwith the way he was treated. And one time he said: \"They say I am\ngetting food, but God knows I am not, or drink; and I Oisin, son of\nFinn, under a yoke, drawing stones.\" \"It is my opinion you are getting\nenough,\" said S. Patrick then, \"and you getting a quarter of beef and a\nchurn of butter and a griddle of bread every day.\" \"I often saw a\nquarter of a blackbird bigger than your quarter of beef,\" said Oisin,\n\"and a rowan berry as big as your churn of butter, and an ivy leaf as\nbig as your griddle of bread.\" S, Patrick was vexed when he heard that,\nand he said to Oisin that he had told a lie.\n\nThere was great anger on Oisin then, and he went where there was a\nlitter of pups, and he bade a serving-boy to nail up the hide of a\nfreshly killed bullock to the wall, and to throw the pups against it one\nby one. And every one that he threw fell down from the hide till it came\nto the last, and he held on to it with his teeth and his nails. \"Rear\nthat one,\" said Oisin, \"and drown all the rest.\"\n\nThen he bade the boy to keep the pup in a dark place, and to care it\nwell, and never to let it taste blood or see the daylight. And at the\nend of a year, Oisin was so well pleased with the pup, that he gave it\nthe name of Bran Og, young Bran.\n\nAnd one day he called to the serving-boy to come on a journey with him,\nand to bring the pup in a chain. And they set out and passed by\nSlieve-nam-ban, where the witches of the Sidhe do be spinning with their\nspinning-wheels; and then they turned eastward into Gleann-na-Smol. And\nOisin raised a rock that was there, and he bade the lad take from under\nit three things, a great sounding horn of the Fianna, and a ball of iron\nthey had for throwing, and a very sharp sword. And when Oisin saw those\nthings, he took them in his hands, and he said: \"My thousand farewells\nto the day when you were put here!\" He bade the lad to clean them well\nthen; and when he had done that, he bade him to sound a blast on the\nhorn. So the boy did that, and Oisin asked him did he see anything\nstrange. \"I did not,\" said the boy. \"Sound it again as loud as you can,\"\nsaid Oisin. \"That is as hard as I can sound it, and I can see nothing\nyet,\" said the boy when he had done that. Then Oisin took the horn\nhimself, and he put it to his mouth, and blew three great blasts on it.\n\"What do you see now?\" he said. \"I see three great clouds coming,\" he\nsaid, \"and they are settling down in the valley; and the first cloud is\na flight of very big birds, and the second cloud is a flight of birds\nthat are bigger again, and the third flight is of the biggest and the\nblackest birds the world ever saw.\"\n\n\"What is the dog doing?\" said Oisin. \"The eyes are starting from his\nhead, and there is not a rib of hair on him but is standing up.\" \"Let\nhim loose now,\" said Oisin.\n\nThe dog rushed down to the valley then, and he made an attack on one of\nthe birds, that was the biggest of all, and that had a shadow like a\ncloud. And they fought a very fierce fight, but at last Bran Og made an\nend of the big bird, and lapped its blood. But if he did, madness came\non him, and he came rushing back towards Oisin, his jaws open and his\neyes like fire. \"There is dread on me, Oisin,\" said the boy, \"for the\ndog is making for us, mad and raging.\" \"Take this iron ball and make a\ncast at him when he comes near,\" said Oisin. \"I am in dread to do that,\"\nsaid the boy. \"Put it in my hand, and turn it towards him,\" said Oisin.\nThe boy did that, and Oisin made a cast of the ball that went into the\nmouth and the throat of the dog, and choked him, and he fell down the\nslope, twisting and foaming.\n\nThen they went where the great bird was left dead, and Oisin bade the\nlad to cut a quarter off it with the sword, and he did so. And then he\nbade him cut open the body, and in it he found a rowan berry, the\nbiggest he had ever seen, and an ivy leaf that was bigger than the\nbiggest griddle.\n\nSo Oisin turned back then, and went to where S. Patrick was, and he\nshowed him the quarter of the bird that was bigger than any quarter of a\nbullock, and the rowan berry that was bigger than a churning of butter,\nand the leaf. \"And you know now, Patrick of the Bells,\" he said, \"that I\ntold no lie; and it is what kept us all through our lifetime,\" he said,\n\"truth that was in our hearts, and strength in our arms, and fulfilment\nin our tongues.\"\n\n\"You told no lie indeed,\" said Patrick.\n\nAnd when Oisin had no sight left at all, he used every night to put up\none of the serving-men on his shoulders, and to bring him out to see how\nwere the cattle doing. And one night the servants had no mind to go, and\nthey agreed together to tell him it was a very bad night.\n\nAnd it is what the first of them said; \"It is outside there is a heavy\nsound with the heavy water dropping from the tops of trees; the sound of\nthe waves is not to be heard for the loud splashing of the rain.\" And\nthen the next one said: \"The trees of the wood are shivering, and the\nbirch is turning black; the snow is killing the birds; that is the story\noutside.\" And the third said: \"It is to the east they have turned their\nface, the white snow and the dark rain; it is what is making the plain\nso cold is the snow that is dripping and getting hard.\"\n\nBut there was a serving-girl in the house, and she said: \"Rise up,\nOisin, and go out to the white-headed cows, since the cold wind is\nplucking the trees from the hills.\"\n\nOisin went out then, and the serving-man on his shoulders; but it is\nwhat the serving-man did, he brought a vessel of water and a birch broom\nwith him, and he was dashing water in Oisin's face, the way he would\nthink it was rain. But when they came to the pen where the cattle were,\nOisin found the night was quiet, and after that he asked no more news of\nthe weather from the servants.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III. THE ARGUMENTS\n\n\nAnd S. Patrick took in hand to convert Oisin, and to bring him to\nbaptism; but it was no easy work he had to do, and everything he would\nsay, Oisin would have an answer for it. And it is the way they used to\nbe talking and arguing with one another, as it was put down afterwards\nby the poets of Ireland:--\n\nPATRICK. \"Oisin, it is long your sleep is. Rise up and listen to the\nPsalm. Your strength and your readiness are gone from you, though you\nused to be going into rough fights and battles.\"\n\nOLSIN. \"My readiness and my strength are gone from me since Finn has no\narmies living; I have no liking for clerks, their music is not sweet to\nme after his.\"\n\nPATRICK. \"You never heard music so good from the beginning of the world\nto this day; it is well you would serve an army on a hill, you that are\nold and silly and grey.\"\n\nOLSIN. \"I used to serve an army on a hill, Patrick of the closed-up\nmind; it is a pity you to be faulting me; there was never shame put on\nme till now.\n\n\"I have heard music was sweeter than your music, however much you are\npraising your clerks: the song of the blackbird in Leiter Laoi, and the\nsound of the Dord Fiann; the very sweet thrush of the Valley of the\nShadow, or the sound of the boats striking the strand. The cry of the\nhounds was better to me than the noise of your schools, Patrick.\n\n\"Little Nut, little Nut of my heart, the little dwarf that was with\nFinn, when he would make tunes and songs he would put us all into deep\nsleep.\n\n\"The twelve hounds that belonged to Finn, the time they would be let\nloose facing out from the Siuir, their cry was sweeter than harps and\nthan pipes.\n\n\"I have a little story about Finn; we were but fifteen men; we took the\nKing of the Saxons of the feats, and we won a battle against the King of\nGreece.\n\n\"We fought nine battles in Spain, and nine times twenty battles in\nIreland; from Lochlann and from the eastern world there was a share of\ngold coming to Finn.\n\n\"My grief! I to be stopping after him, and without delight in games or\nin music; to be withering away after my comrades; my grief it is to be\nliving. I and the clerks of the Mass books are two that can never agree.\n\n\"If Finn and the Fianna were living, I would leave the clerks and the\nbells; I would follow the deer through the valleys, I would like to be\nclose on his track.\n\n\"Ask Heaven of God, Patrick, for Finn of the Fianna and his race; make\nprayers for the great man; you never heard of his like.\"\n\nPATRICK. \"I will not ask Heaven for Finn, man of good wit that my anger\nis rising against, since his delight was to be living in valleys with\nthe noise of hunts.\"\n\nOISIN. \"If you had been in company with the Fianna, Patrick of the\njoyless clerks and of the bells, you would not be attending on schools\nor giving heed to God.\"\n\nPATRICK. \"I would not part from the Son of God for all that have lived\neast or west; O Oisin, O shaking poet, there will harm come on you in\nsatisfaction for the priests.\"\n\nOISIN. \"It was a delight to Finn the cry of his hounds on the mountains,\nthe wild dogs leaving their harbours, the pride of his armies, those\nwere his delights.\"\n\nPATRICK. \"There was many a thing Finn took delight in, and there is not\nmuch heed given to it after him; Finn and his hounds are not living now,\nand you yourself will not always be living, Oisin.\"\n\nOISIN. \"There is a greater story of Finn than of us, or of any that have\nlived in our time; all that are gone and all that are living, Finn was\nbetter to give out gold than themselves.\"\n\nPATRICK. \"All the gold you and Finn used to be giving out, it is little\nit does for you now; he is in Hell in bonds because he did treachery and\noppression.\"\n\nOISIN. \"It is little I believe of your truth, man from Rome with the\nwhite books, Finn the open-handed head of the Fianna to be in the hands\nof devils or demons.\"\n\nPATRICK. \"Finn is in bonds in Hell, the pleasant man that gave out\ngold; in satisfaction for his disrespect to God, he is under grief in\nthe house of pain.\"\n\nOISIN. \"If the sons of Morna were within it, or the strong men of the\nsons of Baiscne, they would take Finn out of it, or they would have the\nhouse for themselves.\"\n\nPATRICK. \"If the five provinces of Ireland were within it, or the strong\nseven battalions of the Fianna, they would not be able to bring Finn out\nof it, however great their strength might be.\"\n\nOISIN. \"If Faolan and Goll were living, and brown-haired Diarmuid and\nbrave Osgar, Finn of the Fianna could not be held in any house that was\nmade by God or devils.\"\n\nPATRICK. \"If Faolan and Goll were living, and all the Fianna that ever\nwere, they could not bring out Finn from the house where he is in pain.\"\n\nOISIN. \"What did Finn do against God but to be attending on schools and\non armies? Giving gold through a great part of his time, and for another\nwhile trying his hounds.\"\n\nPATRICK. \"In payment for thinking of his hounds and for serving the\nschools of the poets, and because he gave no heed to God, Finn of the\nFianna is held down.\"\n\nOISIN. \"You say, Patrick of the Psalms, that the Fianna could not take\nout Finn, or the five provinces of Ireland along with them.\n\n\"I have a little story about Finn. We were but fifteen men when we took\nthe King of Britain of the feasts by the strength of our spears and our\nown strength.\n\n\"We took Magnus the great, the son of the King of Lochlann of the\nspeckled ships; we came back no way sorry or tired, we put our rent on\nfar places.\n\n\"O Patrick, the story is pitiful, the King of the Fianna to be under\nlocks; a heart without envy, without hatred, a heart hard in earning\nvictory.\n\n\"It is an injustice, God to be unwilling to give food and riches; Finn\nnever refused strong or poor, although cold Hell is now his\ndwelling-place.\n\n\"It is what Finn had a mind for, to be listening to the sound of Druim\nDearg; to sleep at the stream of Ess Ruadh, to be hunting the deer of\nGallimh of the bays.\n\n\"The cries of the blackbird of Leiter Laoi, the wave of Rudraighe\nbeating the strand, the bellowing of the ox of Magh Maoin, the lowing of\nthe calf of Gleann da Mhail.\n\n\"The noise of the hunt on Slieve Crot, the sound of the fawns round\nSlieve Cua, the scream of the sea-gulls there beyond on Iorrus, the\nscreech of the crows over the battle.\n\n\"The waves vexing the breasts of the boats, the howling of the hounds at\nDruim Lis; the voice of Bran on Cnoc-an-Air, the outcry of the streams\nabout Slieve Mis.\n\n\"The call of Osgar going to the hunt; the voice of the hounds on the\nroad of the Fianna, to be listening to them and to the poets, that was\nalways his desire.\n\n\"A desire of the desires of Osgar was to listen to the striking of\nshields; to be hacking at bones in a battle, it is what he had a mind\nfor always.\n\n\"We went westward one time to hunt at Formaid of the Fianna, to see the\nfirst running of our hounds.\n\n\"It was Finn was holding Bran, and it is with myself Sceolan was;\nDiarmuid of the Women had Fearan, and Osgar had lucky Adhnuall.\n\n\"Conan the Bald had Searc; Caoilte, son of Ronan, had Daol; Lugaidh's\nSon and Goll were holding Fuaim and Fothran.\n\n\"That was the first day we loosed out a share of our hounds to a\nhunting; and Och! Patrick, of all that were in it, there is not one left\nliving but myself.\n\n\"O Patrick, it is a pity the way I am now, a spent old man without\nsway, without quickness, without strength, going to Mass at the altar.\n\n\"Without the great deer of Slieve Luchra; without the hares of Slieve\nCuilinn; without going into fights with Finn; without listening to the\npoets.\n\n\"Without battles, without taking of spoils; without playing at nimble\nfeats; without going courting or hunting, two trades that were my\ndelight.\"\n\nPATRICK. \"Leave off, old man, leave your foolishness; let what you have\ndone be enough for you from this out. Think on the pains that are before\nyou; the Fianna are gone, and you yourself will be going.\"\n\nOISIN. \"If I go, may yourself not be left after me, Patrick of the\nhindering heart; if Conan, the least of the Fianna, were living, your\nbuzzing would not be left long to you.\"\n\n\"Or if this was the day I gave ten hundred cows to the headless woman\nthat came to the Valley of the Two Oxen; the birds of the air brought\naway the ring I gave her, I never knew where she went herself from me.\"\n\nPATRICK. \"That is little to trouble you, Oisin; it was but for a while\nshe was with you; it is better for you to be as you are than to be among\nthem again.\"\n\nOISIN. \"O Son of Calphurn of the friendly talk, it is a pity for him\nthat gives respect to clerks and bells; I and Caoilte my friend, we were\nnot poor when we were together.\n\n\"The music that put Finn to his sleep was the cackling of the ducks from\nthe lake of the Three Narrows; the scolding talk of the blackbird of\nDoire an Cairn, the bellowing of the ox from the Valley of the Berries.\n\n\"The whistle of the eagle from the Valley of Victories, or from the\nrough branches of the ridge by the stream; the grouse of the heather of\nCruachan; the call of the otter of Druim-re-Coir.\n\n\"The song of the blackbird of Doire an Cairn indeed I never heard\nsweeter music, if I could be under its nest.\n\n\"My grief that I ever took baptism; it is little credit I got by it,\nbeing without food, without drink, doing fasting and praying.\"\n\nPATRICK. \"In my opinion it did not harm you, old man; you will get nine\nscore cakes of bread, wine and meat to put a taste on it; it is bad talk\nyou are giving.\"\n\nOISIN. \"This mouth that is talking with you, may it never confess to a\npriest, if I would not sooner have the leavings of Finn's house than a\nshare of your own meals.\"\n\nPATRICK. \"He got but what he gathered from the banks, or whatever he\ncould kill on the rough hills; he got hell at the last because of his\nunbelief.\"\n\nOISIN. \"That was not the way with us at all, but our fill of wine and of\nmeat; justice and a right beginning at the feasts, sweet drinks and\nevery one drinking them.\n\n\"It is fretting after Diarmuid and Goll I am, and after Fergus of the\nTrue Lips, the time you will not let me be speaking of them, O new\nPatrick from Rome.\"\n\nPATRICK. \"We would give you leave to be speaking of them, but first you\nshould give heed to God. Since you are now at the end of your days,\nleave your foolishness, weak old man.\"\n\nOISIN. \"O Patrick, tell me as a secret, since it is you have the best\nknowledge, will my dog or my hound be let in with me to the court of the\nKing of Grace?\"\n\nPATRICK. \"Old man in your foolishness that I cannot put any bounds to,\nyour dog or your hound will not be let in with you to the court of the\nKing of Power.\"\n\nOISIN. \"If I had acquaintance with God, and my hound to be at hand, I\nwould make whoever gave food to myself give a share to my hound as well.\n\n\"One strong champion that was with the Fianna of Ireland would be better\nthan the Lord of Piety, and than you yourself, Patrick.\"\n\nPATRICK. \"O Oisin of the sharp blades, it is mad words you are saying.\nGod is better for one day than the whole of the Fianna of Ireland.\"\n\nOISIN. \"Though I am now without sway and my life is spent to the end, do\nnot put abuse, Patrick, on the great men of the sons of Baiscne.\n\n\"If I had Conan with me, the man that used to be running down the\nFianna, it is he would break your head within among your clerks and your\npriests.\"\n\nPATRICK. \"It is a silly thing, old man, to be talking always of the\nFianna; remember your end is come, and take the Son of God to help you.\"\n\nOISIN. \"I used to sleep out on the mountain under the grey dew; I was\nnever used to go to bed without food, while there was a deer on the hill\nbeyond.\"\n\nPATRICK. \"You are astray at the end of your life between the straight\nway and the crooked. Keep out from the crooked path of pains, and the\nangels of God will come beneath your head.\"\n\nOISIN. \"If myself and open-handed Fergus and Diarmuid were together now\non this spot, we would go in every path we ever went in, and ask no\nleave of the priests.\"\n\nPATRICK. \"Leave off, Oisin; do not be speaking against the priests that\nare telling the word of God in every place. Unless you leave off your\ndaring talk, it is great pain you will have in the end.\"\n\nOISIN. \"When myself and the leader of the Fianna were looking for a boar\nin a valley, it was worse to me not to see it than all your clerks to be\nwithout their heads.\"\n\nPATRICK. \"It is pitiful seeing you without sense; that is worse to you\nthan your blindness; if you were to get sight within you, it is great\nyour desire would be for Heaven.\"\n\nOISIN. \"It is little good it would be to me to be sitting in that city,\nwithout Caoilte, without Osgar, without my father being with me.\n\n\"The leap of the buck would be better to me, or the sight of badgers\nbetween two valleys, than all your mouth is promising me, and all the\ndelights I could get in Heaven.\"\n\nPATRICK. \"Your thoughts are foolish, they will come to nothing; your\npleasure and your mirth are gone. Unless you will take my advice\nto-night, you will not get leave on this side or that.\"\n\nOISIN. \"If myself and the Fianna were on the top of a hill to-day\ndrawing our spear-heads, we would have our choice of being here or there\nin spite of books and priests and bells.\"\n\nPATRICK. \"You were like the smoke of a wisp, or like a stream in a\nvalley, or like a whirling wind on the top of a hill, every tribe of you\nthat ever lived.\"\n\nOISIN. \"If I was in company with the people of strong arms, the way I\nwas at Bearna da Coill, I would sooner be looking at them than at this\ntroop of the crooked croziers.\n\n\"If I had Scolb Sceine with me, or Osgar, that was smart in battles, I\nwould not be without meat to-night at the sound of the bell of the seven\ntolls.\"\n\nPATRICK. \"Oisin, since your wits are gone from you be glad at what I\nsay; it is certain to me you will leave the Fianna and that you will\nreceive the God of the stars.\"\n\nOISIN. \"There is wonder on me at your hasty talk, priest that has\ntravelled in every part, to say that I would part from the Fianna, a\ngenerous people, never niggardly.\"\n\nPATRICK. \"If you saw the people of God, the way they are settled at\nfeasts, every good thing is more plentiful with them than with Finn's\npeople, however great their name was.\n\n\"Finn and the Fianna are lying now very sorrowful on the flag-stone of\npain; take the Son of God in their place; make your repentance and do\nnot lose Heaven.\"\n\nOISIN. \"I do not believe your talk now. O Patrick of the crooked staves,\nFinn and the Fianna to be there within, unless they find pleasure being\nin it.\"\n\nPATRICK. \"Make right repentance now, before you know when your end is\ncoming; God is better for one hour than the whole of the Fianna of\nIreland.\"\n\nOISIN. \"That is a daring answer to make to me, Patrick of the crooked\ncrozier; your crozier would be in little bits if I had Osgar with me\nnow.\n\n\"If my son Osgar and God were hand to hand on the Hill of the Fianna, if\nI saw my son put down, I would say that God was a strong man.\n\n\"How could it be that God or his priests could be better men than Finn,\nthe King of the Fianna, a generous man without crookedness.\n\n\"If there was a place above or below better than the Heaven of God, it\nis there Finn would go, and all that are with him of his people.\n\n\"You say that a generous man never goes to the hell of pain; there was\nnot one among the Fianna that was not generous to all.\n\n\"Ask of God, Patrick, does He remember when the Fianna were alive, or\nhas He seen east or west any man better than themselves in their\nfighting.\n\n\"The Fianna used not to be saying treachery; we never had the name of\ntelling lies. By truth and the strength of our hands we came safe out of\nevery battle.\n\n\"There never sat a priest in a church, though you think it sweet to be\nsinging psalms, was better to his word than the Fianna, or more generous\nthan Finn himself.\n\n\"If my comrades were living to-night, I would take no pleasure in your\ncrooning in the church; as they are not living now, the rough voice of\nthe bells has deafened me.\n\n\"Och! in the place of battles and heavy fights, where I used to have my\nplace and to take my pleasure, the crozier of Patrick being carried, and\nhis clerks at their quarrelling.\n\n\"Och! slothful, cheerless Conan, it is great abuse I used to be giving\nyou; why do you not come to see me now? you would get leave for making\nfun and reviling through the whole of the niggardly clerks.\n\n\"Och! where are the strong men gone that they do not come together to\nhelp me! O Osgar of the sharp sword of victory, come and free your\nfather from his bonds!\n\n\"Where is the strong son of Lugaidh? Och! Diarmuid of all the women!\nOch! Caoilte, son of Ronan, think of our love, and travel to me!\"\n\nPATRICK. \"Stop your talk, you withered, witless old man; it is my King\nthat made the Heavens, it is He that gives blossom to the trees, it is\nHe made the moon and the sun, the fields and the grass.\"\n\nOISIN. \"It was not in shaping fields and grass that my king took his\ndelight, but in overthrowing fighting men, and defending countries, and\nbringing his name into every part.\n\n\"In courting, in playing, in hunting, in baring his banner at the first\nof a fight; in playing at chess, at swimming, in looking around him at\nthe drinking-hall.\n\n\"O Patrick, where was your God when the two came over the sea that\nbrought away the queen of Lochlann of the Ships? Where was He when Dearg\ncame, the son of the King of Lochlann of the golden shields? Why did not\nthe King of Heaven protect them from the blows of the big man?\n\n\"Or when Tailc, son of Treon, came, the man that did great slaughter on\nthe Fianna; it was not by God that champion fell, but by Osgar, in the\nsight of all.\n\n\"Many a battle and many a victory was gained by the Fianna of Ireland; I\nnever heard any great deed was done by the King of Saints, or that He\never reddened His hand.\n\n\"It would be a great shame for God not to take the locks of pain off\nFinn; if God Himself were in bonds, my king would fight for His sake.\n\n\"Finn left no one in pain or in danger without freeing him by silver or\ngold, or by fighting till he got the victory.\n\n\"For the strength of your love, Patrick, do not forsake the great men;\nbring in the Fianna unknown to the King of Heaven.\n\n\"It is a good claim I have on your God, to be among his clerks the way I\nam; without food, without clothing, without music, without giving\nrewards to poets.\n\n\"Without the cry of the hounds or the horns, without guarding coasts,\nwithout courting generous women; for all that I have suffered by the\nwant of food, I forgive the King of Heaven in my will.\"\n\nOisin said: \"My story is sorrowful. The sound of your voice is not\npleasant to me. I will cry my fill, but not for God, but because Finn\nand the Fianna are not living.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV. OISIN'S LAMENTS\n\n\nAnd Oisin used to be making laments, and sometimes he would be making\npraises of the old times and of Finn; and these are some of them that\nare remembered yet:--\n\n     I saw the household of Finn; it was not the household of a soft\n     race; I had a vision of that man yesterday.\n\n     I saw the household of the High King, he with the brown,\n     sweet-voiced son; I never saw a better man.\n\n     I saw the household of Finn; no one saw it as I saw it; I saw Finn\n     with the sword, Mac an Luin. Och! it was sorrowful to see it.\n\n     I cannot tell out every harm that is on my head; free us from our\n     trouble for ever; I have seen the household of Finn.\n\nIt is a week from yesterday I last saw Finn; I never saw a braver man. A\nking of heavy blows; my law, my adviser, my sense and my wisdom, prince\nand poet, braver than kings, King of the Fianna, brave in all countries;\ngolden salmon of the sea, clean hawk of the air, rightly taught,\navoiding lies; strong in his doings, a right judge, ready in courage, a\nhigh messenger in bravery and in music.\n\nHis skin lime-white, his hair golden; ready to work, gentle to women.\nHis great green vessels full of rough sharp wine, it is rich the king\nwas, the head of his people.\n\nSeven sides Finn's house had, and seven score shields on every side.\nFifty fighting men he had about him having woollen cloaks; ten bright\ndrinking-cups in his hall; ten blue vessels, ten golden horns.\n\nIt is a good household Finn had, without grudging, without lust, without\nvain boasting, without chattering, without any slur on any one of the\nFianna.\n\nFinn never refused any man; he never put away any one that came to his\nhouse. If the brown leaves falling in the woods were gold, if the white\nwaves were silver, Finn would have given away the whole of it.\n\nBlackbird of Doire an Chairn, your voice is sweet; I never heard on any\nheight of the world music was sweeter than your voice, and you at the\nfoot of your nest.\n\nThe music is sweetest in the world, it is a pity not to be listening to\nit for a while, O son of Calphurn of the sweet bells, and you would\novertake your nones again.\n\nIf you knew the story of the bird the way I know it, you would be crying\nlasting tears, and you would give no heed to your God for a while.\n\nIn the country of Lochlann of the blue streams, Finn, son of Cumhal, of\nthe red-gold cups, found that bird you hear now; I will tell you its\nstory truly.\n\nDoire an Chairn, that wood there to the west, where the Fianna used to\nbe delaying, it is there they put the blackbird, in the beauty of the\npleasant trees.\n\nThe stag of the heather of quiet Cruachan, the sorrowful croak from the\nridge of the Two Lakes; the voice of the eagle of the Valley of the\nShapes, the voice of the cuckoo on the Hill of Brambles.\n\nThe voice of the hounds in the pleasant valley; the scream of the eagle\non the edge of the wood; the early outcry of the hounds going over the\nStrand of the Red Stones.\n\nThe time Finn lived and the Fianna, it was sweet to them to be listening\nto the whistle of the blackbird; the voice of the bells would not have\nbeen sweet to them.\n\n\nThere was no one of the Fianna without his fine silken shirt and his\nsoft coat, without bright armour, without shining stones on his head,\ntwo spears in his hand, and a shield that brought victory.\n\nIf you were to search the world you would not find a harder man, best of\nblood, best in battle; no one got the upper hand of him. When he went\nout trying his white hound, which of us could be put beside Finn?\n\nOne time we went hunting on Slieve-nam-ban; the sun was beautiful\noverhead, the voice of the hounds went east and west, from hill to hill.\nFinn and Bran sat for a while on the hill, every man was jealous for the\nhunt. We let out three thousand hounds from their golden chains; every\nhound of them brought down two deer.\n\nPatrick of the true crozier, did you ever see, east or west, a greater\nhunt than that hunt of Finn and the Fianna? O son of Calphurn of the\nbells, that day was better to me than to be listening to your\nlamentations in the church.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThere is no strength in my hands to-night, there is no power within me;\nit is no wonder I to be sorowful, being thrown down in the sorrow of old\nage.\n\nEverything is a grief to me beyond any other man on the face of the\nearth, to be dragging stones along to the church and the hill of the\npriests.\n\nI have a little story of our people. One time Finn had a mind to make a\ndun on the bald hill of Cuailgne, and he put it on the Fianna of Ireland\nto bring stones for building it; a third on the sons of Morna, a third\non myself, and a third on the sons of Baiscne.\n\nI gave an answer to Finn, son of Cumhal; I said I would be under his\nsway no longer, and that I would obey him no more.\n\nWhen Finn heard that, he was silent a long time, the man without a He,\nwithout fear. And he said to me then: \"You yourself will be dragging\nstones before your death comes to you.\"\n\nI rose up then with anger on me, and there followed me the fourth of the\nbrave battalions of the Fianna. I gave my own judgments, there were many\nof the Fianna with me.\n\nNow my strength is gone from me, I that was adviser to the Fianna; my\nwhole body is tired to-night, my hands, my feet, and my head, tired,\ntired, tired.\n\nIt is bad the way I am after Finn of the Fianna; since he is gone away,\nevery good is behind me.\n\nWithout great people, without mannerly ways; it is sorrowful I am after\nour king that is gone.\n\nI am a shaking tree, my leaves gone from me; an empty nut, a horse\nwithout a bridle; a people without a dwelling-place, I Oisin, son of\nFinn.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nIt is long the clouds are over me to-night! it is long last night was;\nalthough this day is long, yesterday was longer again to me; every day\nthat comes is long to me!\n\nThat is not the way I used to be, without fighting, without battles,\nwithout learning feats, without young girls, without music, without\nharps, without bruising bones, without great deeds; without increase of\nlearning, without generosity, without drinking at feasts, without\ncourting, without hunting, the two trades I was used to; without going\nout to battle, Ochone! the want of them is sorrowful to me.\n\nNo hunting of deer or stag, it is not like that I would wish to be; no\nleashes for our hounds, no hounds; it is long the clouds are over me\nto-night!\n\nWithout rising up to do bravery as we were used, without playing as we\nhad a mind; without swimming of our fighting men in the lake; it is long\nthe clouds are over me to-night!\n\nThere is no one at all in the world the way I am; it is a pity the way I\nam; an old man dragging stones; it is long the clouds are over me\nto-night!\n\nI am the last of the Fianna, great Oisin, son of Finn, listening to the\nvoice of bells; it is long the clouds are over me to-night!\n\n\n\n\nNOTES\n\nI. THE APOLOGY\n\n\nThe Irish text of the greater number of the stories in this book has\nbeen published, and from this text I have worked, making my own\ntranslation as far as my scholarship goes, and when it fails, taking the\nmeaning given by better scholars. In some cases the Irish text has not\nbeen printed, and I have had to work by comparing and piecing together\nvarious translations. I have had to put a connecting sentence of my own\nhere and there, and I have fused different versions together, and\ncondensed many passages, and I have left out many, using the choice that\nis a perpetual refusing, in trying to get some clear outline of the\ndoings of the heroes.\n\nI have found it more natural to tell the stories in the manner of the\nthatched houses, where I have heard so many legends of Finn and his\nfriends, and Oisin and Patrick, and the Ever-Living Ones, and the\nCountry of the Young, rather than in the manner of the slated houses,\nwhere I have not heard them.\n\nFour years ago, Dr Atkinson, a Professor of Trinity College, Dublin, in\nhis evidence before the Commission of Intermediate Education, said of\nthe old literature of Ireland:--\"It has scarcely been touched by the\nmovements of the great literatures; it is the untrained popular feeling.\nTherefore it is almost intolerably low in tone--I do not mean naughty,\nbut low; and every now and then, when the circumstance occasions it, it\ngoes down lower than low ... If I read the books in the Greek, the Latin\nor the French course, in almost every one of them there is something\nwith an ideal ring about it--something that I can read with positive\npleasure--something that has what the child might take with him as a\n[Greek: kt\u00eama eis dei]--a perpetual treasure; but if I read the Irish\nbooks, I see nothing ideal in them, and my astonishment is that through\nthe whole range of Irish literature that I have read (and I have read\nan enormous range of it), the smallness of the element of idealism is\nmost noticeable ... And as there is very little idealism there is very\nlittle imagination ... The Irish tales as a rule are devoid of it\nfundamentally.\"\n\nDr Atkinson is an Englishman, but unfortunately not only\nfellow-professors in Trinity but undergraduates there have been\ninfluenced by his opinion, that Irish literature is a thing to be\ndespised. I do not quote his words to draw attention to a battle that is\nstill being fought, but to explain my own object in working, as I have\nworked ever since that evidence was given, to make a part of Irish\nliterature accessible to many, especially among my young countrymen, who\nhave not opportunity to read the translations of the chief scholars,\nscattered here and there in learned periodicals, or patience and time to\ndisentangle overlapping and contradictory versions, that they may judge\nfor themselves as to its \"lowness\" and \"want of imagination,\" and the\nother well-known charges brought against it before the same Commission.\n\nI believe that those who have once learned to care for the story of\nCuchulain of Muirthemne, and of Finn and Lugh and Etain, and to\nrecognise the enduring belief in an invisible world and an immortal life\nbehind the visible and the mortal, will not be content with my\nredaction, but will go, first to the fuller versions of the best\nscholars, and then to the manuscripts themselves. I believe the forty\nstudents of old Irish lately called together by Professor Kuno Meyer\nwill not rest satisfied until they have explored the scores and scores\nof uncatalogued and untranslated manuscripts in Trinity College Library,\nand that the enthusiasm which the Gaelic League has given birth to will\nlead to much fine scholarship.\n\nA day or two ago I had a letter from one of the best Greek scholars and\ntranslators in England, who says of my \"Cuchulain\": \"It opened up a\ngreat world of beautiful legend which, though accounting myself as an\nIrishman, I had never known at all. I am sending out copies to Irish\nfriends in Australia who, I am sure, will receive the same sort of\nimpression, almost an impression of pride in the beauty of the Irish\nmind, as I received myself.\" And President Roosevelt wrote to me a\nlittle time ago that after he had read \"Cuchulain of Muirthemne,\" he had\nsent for all the other translations from the Irish he could get, to take\non his journey to the Western States.\n\nI give these appreciative words not, I think, from vanity, for they are\nnot for me but for my material, to show the effect our old literature\nhas on those who come fresh to it, and that they do not complain of its\n\"want of imagination.\" I am, of course, very proud and glad in having\nhad the opportunity of helping to make it known, and the task has been\npleasant, although toil-some. Just now, indeed, on the 6th October, I am\ntired enough, and I think with sympathy of the old Highland piper, who\ncomplained that he was \"withered with yelping the seven Fenian\nbattalions.\"\n\n\n\n\nII. THE AGE AND ORIGIN OF THE STORIES OF THE FIANNA\n\n\nMr Alfred Nutt says in _Ossian and the Ossianic Literature,_ No. 3 of\nhis excellent series of sixpenny pamphlets, _Popular Studies in\nMythology, Romance, and Folklore_:--\n\n\"The body of Gaelic literature connected with the name of Ossian is of\nvery considerable extent and of respectable antiquity. The oldest texts,\nprose for the most part, but also in verse, are preserved in Irish MSS.\nof the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and go back to a period from one\nhundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty years older at least. The\nbulk of Ossianic literature is, however, of later date as far as the\nform under which it has come down to us is concerned. A number of\nimportant texts, prose for the most part, are preserved in MSS. of the\nfourteenth century, but were probably redacted in the thirteenth and\ntwelfth centuries. But by far the largest mass consists of narrative\npoems, as a rule dramatic in structure. These have come down to us in\nMSS. written in Scotland from the end of the fifteenth to the middle of\nthe seventeenth century, in Ireland from the sixteenth down to the\nmiddle of the nineteenth century. The Gaelic-speaking peasantry, alike\nin Ireland and Scotland, have preserved orally a large number of these\nballads, as also a great mass of prose narratives, the heroes of which\nare Ossian and his comrades.\n\n\"Were all Ossianic texts preserved in MSS. older than the present\ncentury to be printed, they would fill some eight to ten thousand octavo\npages. The mere bulk of the literature, even if we allow for\nconsiderable repetition of incident, arrests attention. If we further\nrecall that for the last five hundred years this body of romance has\nformed the chief imaginative recreation of Gaeldom, alike in Ireland and\nScotland, and that a peasantry unable to read or write has yet preserved\nit almost entire, its claims to consideration and study will appear\nmanifest.\"\n\nHe then goes on to discuss how far the incidents in the stories can be\naccepted as they were accepted by Irish historical writers of the\neleventh century as authentic history:--\n\n\"Fortunately there is little need for me to discuss the credibility or\notherwise of the historic records concerning Finn, his family, and his\nband of warriors. They may be accepted or rejected according to\nindividual bent of mind without really modifying our view of the\nliterature. For when we turn to the romances, whether in prose or verse,\nwe find that, although the history is professedly the same as that of\nthe Annals, firstly, we are transported to a world entirely romantic, in\nwhich divine and semi-divine beings, ungainly monsters and giants, play a\nprominent part, in which men and women change shapes with animals, in\nwhich the lives of the heroes are miraculously prolonged--in short, we\nfind ourselves in a land of Faery; secondly, we find that the historic\nconditions in which the heroes are represented as living do not, for the\nmost part, answer to anything we know or can surmise of the third\ncentury. For Finn and his warriors are perpetually on the watch to guard\nIreland against the attacks of over-sea raiders, styled Lochlannac by\nthe narrators, and by them undoubtedly thought of as Norsemen. But the\nlatter, as is well known, only came to Ireland at the close of the\neighth century, and the heroic period of their invasions extended for\nabout a century, from 825 to 925; to be followed by a period of\ncomparative settlement during the tenth century, until at the opening of\nthe eleventh century the battle of Clontarf, fought by Brian, the great\nSouth Irish chieftain, marked the break-up of the separate Teutonic\norganisations and the absorption of the Teutons into the fabric of Irish\nlife. In these pages then we may disregard the otherwise interesting\nquestion of historic credibility in the Ossianic romances: firstly,\nbecause they have their being in a land unaffected by fact; secondly,\nbecause if they ever did reflect the history of the third century the\nreflection was distorted in after-times, and a pseudo-history based upon\nevents of the ninth and tenth centuries was substituted for it. What the\nhistorian seeks for in legend is far more a picture of the society in\nwhich it took rise than a record of the events which it commemorates.\"\n\nIn a later part of the pamphlet Mr Nutt discusses such questions as\nwhether we may look for examples of third-century customs in the\nstories, what part of the stories first found their way into writing,\nwhether the Oisin and Patrick dialogues were written under the influence\nof actual Pagan feeling persisting from Pagan times, or whether \"a\nchange came over the feeling of Gaeldom during the fourteenth and\nfifteenth centuries,\" when the Oisin and Patrick dialogues in their\npresent form began to be written. His final summing-up is that\n\"well-nigh the same stories that were told of Finn and his warrior\nbraves by the Gael of the eleventh century are told in well-nigh the\nsame way by his descendant to-day.\" Mr Nutt does not enquire how long\nthe stories may have been told before the first story was written down.\nLarminie, however, whose early death was the first great loss of our\nintellectual movement, pushes them backward for untold ages in the\nintroduction to his _West Irish Folk Tales and Romances_. He builds up a\ndetailed and careful argument, for which I must refer readers to his\nbook, to prove that the Scottish Highlands and Ireland have received\ntheir folk-lore both from \"Aryan and Non-Aryan sources,\" and that in the\nHighlands there is more non-Aryan influence and more non-Aryan blood\nthan in Ireland. He argues that nothing is more improbable than that all\nfolk-tales are Aryan, as has sometimes been supposed, and sums up as\nfollows:--\n\n\"They bear the stamp of the genius of more than one race. The pure and\nplacid but often cold imagination of the Aryan has been at work on some.\nIn others we trace the more picturesque fancy, the fierceness and\nsensuality, the greater sense of artistic elegance belonging to races\nwhom the Aryan, in spite of his occasional faults of hardness and\ncoarseness, has, on the whole, left behind him. But as the greatest\nresults in the realm of the highest art have always been achieved in the\ncase of certain blends of Aryan with other blood, I should hardly deem\nit extravagant if it were asserted that in the humbler regions of the\nfolk-tale we might trace the working of the same law. The process which\nhas gone on may in part have been as follows:--Every race which has\nacquired very definite characteristics must have been for a long time\nisolated. The Aryans during their period of isolation probably developed\nmany of their folk-germs into their larger myths, owing to the greater\nconstructiveness of their imagination, and thus, in a way, they used up\npart of their material. Afterwards, when they became blended with other\nraces less advanced, they acquired fresh material to work on. We have in\nIreland an instance to hand, of which a brief discussion may help to\nillustrate the whole race theory.\n\n\"The larger Irish legendary literature divides itself into three\ncycles--the divine, the heroic, the Fenian. Of these three the last is\nso well-known orally in Scotland that it has been a matter of dispute to\nwhich country it really belongs. It belongs, in fact, to both. Here,\nhowever, comes in a strange contrast with the other cycles. The first\nis, so far as I am aware, wholly unknown in Scotland, the second\ncomparatively unknown. What is the explanation? Professor Zimmer not\nhaving established his late-historical view as regards Finn, and the\ngeneral opinion among scholars having tended of recent years towards the\nmythical view, we want to know why there is so much more community in\none case than in the other. Mr O'Grady long since seeing this\ndifficulty, and then believing Finn to be historical, was induced to\nplace the latter in point of time before Cuchulain and his compeers. But\nthis view is of course inadmissible when Finn is seen not to be\nhistorical at all. There remains but one explanation. The various bodies\nof legend in question are, so far as Ireland is concerned, only earlier\nor later, as they came into the island with the various races to which\nthey belonged. The wider prevalence, then, of the Finn Saga would\nindicate that it belonged to an early race occupying both Ireland and\nScotland. Then entered the Aryan Gael, and for him henceforth, as the\nruler of the island, his own gods and heroes were sung by his own bards.\nHis legends became the subject of what I may call the court poetry, the\naristocratic literature. When he conquered Scotland, he took with him\nhis own gods and heroes; but in the latter country the bardic system\nnever became established, and hence we find but feeble echoes of the\nheroic cycle among the mountains of the North. That this is the\nexplanation is shown by what took place in Ireland. Here the heroic\ncycle has been handed down in remembrance almost solely by the bardic\nliterature. The popular memory retains but few traces of it. Its\nessentially aristocratic character is shown by the fact that the people\nhave all but forgotten it, if they ever knew it. But the Fenian cycle\nhas not been forgotten. Prevailing everywhere, still cherished by the\nconquered peoples, it held its ground in Scotland and Ireland alike,\nforcing its way in the latter country even into the written literature,\nand so securing a twofold lease of existence ... The Fenian cycle, in a\nword, is non-Aryan folk-literature partially subjected to Aryan\ntreatment.\"\n\nThe whole problem is extremely complex, and several other writers have\nwritten upon it. Mr Borlase, for instance, has argued in his big book on\nthe Dolmens that the cromlechs, and presumably the Diarmuid and Crania\nlegend, is connected with old religious rites of an erotic nature coming\ndown from a very primitive state of society.\n\nI have come to my own conclusion not so much because of any weight of\nargument, as because I found it impossible to arrange the stories in a\ncoherent form so long as I considered them a part of history. I tried to\nwork on the foundation of the Annalists, and fit the Fianna into a\ndefinite historical epoch, but the whole story seemed trivial and\nincoherent until I began to think of them as almost contemporaneous with\nthe battle of Magh Tuireadh, which even the Annalists put back into\nmythical ages. In this I have only followed some of the story-tellers,\nwho have made the mother of Lugh of the Long Hand the grandmother of\nFinn, and given him a shield soaked with the blood of Balor. I cannot\nthink of any of the stories as having had a modern origin, or that the\ncentury in which each was written down gives any evidence as to its age.\n\"How Diarmuid got his Love-Spot,\" for instance, which was taken down\nonly a few years ago from some old man's recitation by Dr Hyde, may well\nbe as old as \"Finn and the Phantoms,\" which is in one of the earliest\nmanuscripts. It seems to me that one cannot choose any definite period\neither from the vast living mass of folk-lore in the country or from the\nwritten text, and that there is as good evidence of Finn being of the\nblood of the gods as of his being, as some of the people tell me, \"the\nson of an O'Shaughnessy who lived at Kiltartan Cross.\"\n\nDr Douglas Hyde, although he placed the Fenian after the Cuchulain cycle\nin his _History of Irish Literature_, has allowed me to print this\nnote:--\n\n\"While believing in the real objective existence of the Fenians as a\nbody of Janissaries who actually lived, ruled, and hunted in King\nCormac's time, I think it equally certain that hundreds of stories,\ntraits, and legends far older and more primitive than any to which they\nthemselves could have given rise, have clustered about them. There is\nprobably as large a bulk of primitive mythology to be found in the Finn\nlegend as in that of the Red Branch itself. The story of the Fenians was\na kind of nucleus to which a vast amount of the flotsam and jetsam of a\nfar older period attached itself, and has thus been preserved.\"\n\nAs I found it impossible to give that historical date to the stories, I,\nwhile not adding in anything to support my theory, left out such names\nas those of Cormac and Art, and such more or less historical personages,\nsubstituting \"the High King.\" And in the \"Battle of the White Strand,\" I\nleft out the name of Caelur, Tadg's wife, because I had already followed\nanother chronicler in giving him Ethlinn for a wife. In the earlier part\nI have given back to Angus Og the name of \"The Disturber,\" which had, as\nI believe, strayed from him to the Saint of the same name.\n\n\n\n\nIII. THE AUTHORITIES\n\n\nThe following is a list of the authorities I have been chiefly helped by\nin putting these stories together and in translation of the text. But I\ncannot make it quite accurate, for I have sometimes transferred a mere\nphrase, sometimes a whole passage from one story to another, where it\nseemed to fit better. I have sometimes, in the second part of the book,\nused stories preserved in the Scottish Gaelic, as will be seen by my\nreferences. I am obliged to write these notes away from libraries, and\ncannot verify them, but I think they are fairly correct.\n\n\n\n\nPART ONE. BOOKS ONE, TWO, AND THREE\n\n\nTHE COMING OF THE TUATHA DE DANAAN, AND LUGH OF\nTHE LONG HAND, AND THE COMING OF THE GAEL.--\n  O'Curry, _Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish_;\n  _MSS. Materials_;\n  _Atlantis_;\n  De Jubainville, _Cycle Mythologique_;\n  Hennessy, _Chronicum Scotorum_;\n  Atkinson, _Book of Leinster_;\n  _Annals of the Four Masters_;\n  Nennius, _Hist, Brit._ (Irish Version);\n  Zimmer, _Glossae Hibernacae_;\n  Whitley Stokes, _Three Irish Glossaries_;\n  _Revue Celtique_ and _Irische Texte_;\n  _Gaedelica_;\n  Nutt, _Voyage of Bran_;\n  _Proceedings Ossianic Societ_;\n  O'Beirne Crowe, _Amra Columcille_;\n  Dean of Lismore's Book;\n  Windisch, _Irische Texte_;\n  Hennessy and others in _Revue Celtique_;\n  _Kilkenny Archaeological Journal_;\n  Keatinge's _History_;\n  _Ogyia_;\n  Curtin's _Folk Tales_;\n  _Proceedings Royal Irish Academy_, MSS. Series;\n  Dr Sigerson, _Bards of Gael and Gall_;\n  Miscellanies, _Celtic Society_.\n\n\nBOOK FOUR\n\nTHE EVER-LIVING LIVING ONES\n\nI have used many of the above, and for separate stories, I may\ngive these authorities:--\n\nMIDHIR AND ETAIN.--\n  O'Curry, _Manners and Customs_;\n  Whitley Stokes, _Dinnsenchus_;\n  M\u00fcller, _Revue Celtique_;\n  Nutt, _Voyage of Bran_;\n  De Jubainville, _Epop\u00e9e Celtique_;\n  Standish Hayes O'Grady, MS. lent me by him.\n\nMANANNAN AT PLAY.--\n  S. Hayes O'Grady, _Silva Gaedelica_.\n\nHIS CALL TO BRAN.--\n  Professor Kuno Meyer in Nutt's _Voyage of Bran_;\n  S. Hayes O'Grady, _Silva Gaedelica_;\n  De Jubainville, _Cycle Mythologique_.\n\nHIS THREE CALLS TO CORMAC.--\n  Whitley Stokes, _Irische Texte_.\n\nCLIODNA'S WAVE.--\n  S. Hayes O'Grady, _Silva Gaedelica_;\n  Whitley Stokes, _Dinnsenchus_.\n\nHIS CALL TO CONNLA.--\n  O'Beirne Crowe, _Kilkenny Arch. Journal_;\n  Windisch, _Irische Texte_.\n\nTADG IN THE ISLANDS.--\n  S. Hayes O'Grady, _Silva Gaedelica_.\n\nLAEGAIRE IN THE HAPPY PLAIN.--\n  S.H. O'Grady, _Silva Gaedelica_;\n  Kuno Meyer in Nutt's _Voyage of Bran_.\n\nFATE OF THE CHILDREN OF LIR.--\n  O'Curry, _Atlantis_.\n\n\nPART TWO. THE FIANNA\n\nTHE COMING OF FINN, AND FINN'S HOUSEHOLD.--\n  _Proceedings Ossianic Society_;\n  Kuno Meyer, _Four Songs of Summer and Winter_;\n  _Revue Celtique_;\n  S. Hayes O'Grady, _Silva Gaedelica_;\n  Curtin's _Folk Tales_.\n\nBIRTH OF BRAN.--\n  _Proc. Ossianic Society_.\n\nOISIN'S MOTHER.--\n  Kennedy, _Legendary Fictions Irish Celts_;\n  Mac Innis;\n  _Leabhar na Feinne_.\n\nBEST MEN OF THE FIANNA.--\n  Dean of Lismore's Book;\n  _Silva Gaedelica;\n  Leabhar na Feinne_.\n\nLAD OF THE SKINS.--\n  _Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition_;\n  Larminie's _Folk Tales_;\n  Curtin's _Tales_.\n\nTHE HOUND.--\n _Silva Gaedelica_;\n Whitley Stokes, _Dinnsenchus_.\n\nRED RIDGE.--\n  _Silva Gaedelica_.\n\nBATTLE OF THE WHITE STRAND.--\n  Kuno Meyer, _Anec. Oxonienses_;\n  Hanmer's _Chronicle_;\n  Dean of Lismore;\n  Curtin's _Tales_;\n  _Silva Gaedelica_.\n\nKING OF BRITAIN'S SON.--\n  _Silva Gaedelica_.\n\nTHE CAVE OF CEISCORAN.--\n  _Silva Gaedelica_.\n\nDONN, SON OF MIDHIR.--\n  _Silva Gaedelica_.\n\nHOSPITALITY OF CUANNA'S HOUSE.--\n  _Proc. Ossianic Society_.\n\nCAT-HEADS AND DOG-HEADS.--\n  Dean of Lismore;\n  _Leabhar na Feinne_;\n  Campbell's _Popular Tales of the Western Highlands_.\n\nLOMNA'S HEAD.--\n  O'Curry, _Orc. Treith_, O'Donovan, ed. Stokes.\n\nILBREC OF ESS RUADH.--\n  _Silva Gaedelica_.\n\nCAVE OF CRUACHAN.--\n  Stokes, _Irische Texts._\n\nWEDDING AT CEANN SLIEVE.--\n  _Proc. Ossianic Society_.\n\nTHE SHADOWY ONE.--\n  O'Curry.\n\nFINN'S MADNESS.--\n  _Silva Gaedelica_.\n\nTHE RED WOMAN.--\n  Hyde, _Sgealuidhe Gaedhealach_.\n\nFINN AND THE PHANTOMS.--\n  Kuno Meyer, _Revue Celtique_.\n\nTHE PIGS OF ANGUS.--\n  _Proc. Ossianic Society_.\n\nHUNT OF SLIEVE CUILINN.--\n  _Proc. Ossianic Society_.\n\nOISIN'S CHILDREN.--\n  O'Curry;\n  _Leabhar na Feinne_;\n  Campbell's _Popular Tales of the Western Highlands_;\n  Stokes, _Irische Texte_;\n  Dean of Lismore;\n  _Celtic Magazine_;\n  _Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition_.\n\nBIRTH OF DIARMUID.--\n  _Pursuit of Diarmuid and Grania_\n      (Society for Preservation of the Irish Language);\n  Campbell's _Popular Tales_.\n\nHOW DIARMUID GOT HIS LOVE-SPOT.--\n  Hyde, _Sgealuidhe Gaedhealach_.\n\nDAUGHTER OF KING UNDER-WAVE.--\n  Campbell's _Popular Tales_.\n\nTHE HARD SERVANT.--\n  _Silva Gaedelica_.\n\nHOUSE OF THE QUICKEN TREES.--\n  MSS. in Royal Irish Academy, and in Dr Hyde's possession.\n\nDIARMUID AND GRANIA.--\n  Text Published by S. Hayes O'Grady,\n      _Proc. Ossianic Society_,\n      and re-edited by N. O'Duffey for\n      Society for Preservation of the Irish Language;\n   Kuno Meyer, _Revue Celtique_, and _Four Songs_;\n   _Leabhar na Feinne_;\n   Campbell's _Popular Tales_;\n   _Kilkenny Arch. Journal_;\n   _Folk Lore_, vol. vii., 1896;\n   Dean of Lismore;\n   Nutt, _Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition_.\n\nCNOC-AN-AIR, ETC.--\n  _Proc. Ossianic Society_.\n\nWEARING AWAY OF THE FIANNA.--\n  _Silva Gaedelica_;\n  Dean of Lismore;\n  _Leabhar na Feinne_;\n  Campbell's _Popular Tales_;\n  _Proc. Ossianic Society_;\n  O'Curry;\n  _Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition_;\n  Stokes, _Irische Texte_.\n\nTHE END OF THE FIANNA.--\n  Hyde, _Sgealuidhe Gaedhealach_;\n  _Proc. Ossianic Society_;\n  _Silva Gaedelica_;\n  Miss Brooke's _Reliques_;\n  _Annals of the Four Masters_;\n  _Celtic Magazine_.\n\nOISIN AND PATRICK, AND OISIN'S LAMENTS.--\n  _Proc. Ossianic Society_;\n  Dean of Lismore;\n  _Kilkenny Arch, fournal_;\n  Curtin's _Tales_.\n\nI have taken Grania's sleepy song, and the description of Finn's shield\nand of Cumhal's treasure-bag, and the fact of Finn's descent from\nEthlinn, from _Duanaire Finn_, now being edited for the Irish Texts\nSociety by Mr John MacNeill, the proofs of which I have been kindly\nallowed to see. And I have used sometimes parts of stories, or comments\non them gathered directly from the people, who have kept these heroes so\nmuch in mind. The story of Caoilte coming to the help of the King of\nIreland in a dark wood is the only one I have given without either a\nliterary or a folk ancestry. It was heard or read by Mr Yeats, he cannot\nremember where, but he had, with it in his mind, written of \"Caoilte's\nburning hair\" in one of his poems.\n\nI and my readers owe special thanks to those good workers in the\ndiscovery of Irish literature, Professor Kuno Meyer and Mr Whitley\nStokes, translators of so many manuscripts; and to my friend and kinsman\nStandish Hayes O'Grady, for what I have taken from that wonderful\ntreasure-house, his _Silva Gaedelica_.\n\n\n\n\nIV. THE PRONUNCIATION\n\n\nThis is the approximate pronunciation of some of the more difficult\nnames:\n\nAdhnuall             Ai-noo-al.\nAilbhe.              Alva.\nAlmhuin              All-oon, _or_ Alvin.\nAobh                 Aev, _or_ Eev.\nAodh                 Ae (rhyming to \"day\").\nAoibhill             Evill.\nAoife                Eefa.\n\nBadb                 Bibe.\nBeltaine,\n    or Bealtaine     Bal-tinna.\nBladhma              Bly-ma.\nBodb Dearg           Bove Darrig.\n\nCaoilte              Cweeltia.\nCam Ruidhe           Corn Rwee.\nCiabhan              Kee-a-van.\nCliodna              Cleevna.\nCoincheann           Kun-Kann.\nCrann Buidhe         Cran bwee.\nCredhe               Crae-a.\nCumhal               Coo-al.\n\nDeaghadh             D'ya-a.\nDubhthach            Duffach.\nDuibhreann           Dhiv-ran.\nDuibhrium            Dhiv-rinn.\nDun                  Doon.\n\nEimher               Aevir.\nEmhain               Avvin.\nEochaid              Eohee.\nEoghan               Owen.\n\nFionnchad            Finn-ach-a.\nFodhla               F\u00f3la.\nFodla                Fola.\n\nGallimh              Gol-yiv.\nGlas Gaibhnenn       Glos Gov-nan.\n\nLeith Laeig          Leh Laeg.\nLoch Dairbhreach     Loch Darvragh.\nLugaidh              Loo-ee, _or_ Lewy.\nLugh                 Loo.\n\nMagh an Ionganaidh   Moy-in-eean-ee.\nMagh Cuillean        Moy Cullin.\nMagh Feabhail        Moy Fowl.\nMagh Macraimhe       Moy Mucrivva.\nMagh Mell            Moy Mal.\nMagh Rein            Moy Raen.\nMagh Tuireadh        Moytirra.\nManannan             Mananaun.\nMidhe                Mee.\nMidhna               Mec-na.\nMochaomhog           Mo-cwecv-og.\nMuadhan              Moo-aun.\nMurchadh             Murachu.\n\nNemhnain             Now-nin.\nNiamh                Nee-av.\n\nOg                   Og.\n\nRath Medba,\n    or Meadhbha      Ra Maev-a.\nRudraighe            Rury.\n\nSamhain              Sow-in.\nScathniamh           Scau-nee-av.\nSceolan              Skolaun.\nSearbhan             Sharavaun.\nSidhe                Shee.\nSlieve Echtge        Sleev Acht-ga.\n\nTadg                 Teig.\nTeamhair             T'yower, _or_ Tavvir.\nTuatha de Danaan     Too-a-ha dae Donnan.\nTuathmumhain         Too-moon.\n\nI have not followed a fixed rule as to the spelling of Irish names; I\nhave taken the spelling I give from various good authorities, but they\nvary so much that, complete accuracy not being easy, I sometimes look to\ncustom and convenience. I use, for instance, \"Slieve\" for \"Sliabh,\"\nbecause it comes so often, and a mispronunciation would spoil so many\nnames. I have treated \"Inbhir\" (a river mouth) in the same way, spelling\nit \"Inver,\" and even adopting it as an English word, because it is so\nuseful. The forty scholars of the New School of Old Irish will do us\ngood service if they work at the question both of spelling and of\npronunciation of the old names and settle them as far as is possible.\n\n\nV. THE PLACE NAMES\n\nAccuill                Achill, Co. Mayo.\nAine Cliach            Cnoc Aine, Co. Limerick.\nAlmhuin                Near Kildare.\nAth Cliath             Dublin.\nAthluain               Athlone.\nAth na Riogh           Athenry.\nBadhamain              Cahir, Co. Tipperary.\nBaile Cronin           Barony of Imokilty, Co. Cork.\nBanna                  The Bann.\nBeare                  Berehaven.\nBearna na Eadargana    Roscommon.\nBearnas Mor            Co. Donegal.\nBeinn Gulbain          Benbulban, Co. Sligo.\nBeire do Bhunadas      Berehaven.\nBel-atha Senaig        Ballyshannon.\nBelgata                In Connemara.\nBenna Boirde           Source of the Bann and Mourne Mountains.\nBerramain              Near Tralee.\nBhas                   River Bush.\nBoinn                  River Boyne.\nBri Leith              Co. Longford.\n\nCairbre                Carbury.\nCairgin                Three miles south of Londonderry.\nCarrthach River        River Carra, near Dunkerrin Mountains.\nCeanntaile             Kinsale.\nCeiscorainn            Co. Sligo.\nCill Dolun             Killaloe, Co. Clare.\nCliodna's Wave         At Glandore, Co. Cork.\nCluantarbh             Clontarf.\nCnoc Aine              Co. Limerick.\nCnoc-an-Air            Co. Kerry.\nCnoc na righ           Co. Sligo.\nCorca Duibhne          Corcaguiny, Co. Kerry.\nCorrslieve             Carlow Mountains.\nCrotta Cliach          Galtee Mountains.\nCruachan               Co. Roscommon.\nCruachan Aigle         Croagh Patrick.\n\nDoire a Cairn          Derrycarn, Co. Meath.\nDoire-da-Bhoth         In Slieve Echtge.\nDruim Cleibh           Co. Sligo.\nDruim Lis              Near Loch Gill.\nDruimscarha            Near River Arighis, Co. Cork.\nDun Sobairce           Dunsevenh, Co. Antrim.\nDurlas                 Thurles.\n\nEss Dara               Near Sligo.\nEss Ruadh              Assaroe, Co. Donegal.\nFidh Gaible            Fergill, Co. Sligo.\nFinntraighe            Ventry.\nFionn                  The Finn.\nFionnabraic            Kilfenna, Co. Clare.\nFionntutach            Co. Limerick.\nFleisge                Co. Kerry.\n\nGabhra                 Near Tara.\nGaibh atha na Fiann    River Leamhar, flows from Killarney.\nGairech and Ilgairech  Hills near Mullingar.\nGallimh                Galway.\nGleann na Caor         Co. Cork.\nGullach Dollairb       Barony of Rathconrath.\n\nHill of Bairnech       Near Killarney.\nHill of Uisnech        Co. Westmeath.\n\nInver Cechmaine        East coast of Ulster.\nInver Colpa            Drogheda.\nInver Slane            N.E. of Leinster.\nIrrus Domnann          Erris, Co. Mayo.\nIsland of Toraig       Tory Island, Co. Donegal.\n\nLaoi                   River Lee.\nLeith Laoi             Leitrim.\nLinn Feic              Near Slaney.\nLoch Bel Sead          Co. Tipperary.\nLoch C\u00e9                Co. Roscommon.\nLoch Dairbhreach       Loch Derryvaragh, Co. Westmeath.\nLoch Deirg Dheirc      Loch Derg on the Shannon.\nLoch Eirne             Loch Erne.\nLoch Feabhail          Loch Foyle.\nLoch Lein              Killarney.\nLoch Orbson            Loch Corrib.\nLoch na-n Ean          In Co. Roscommon.\nLough Neatach          Loch Neagh.\nLuimneach              Limerick.\n\nMaev Mhagh             Plain about Loughrea.\nMagh Cobha             Iveagh, Co. Down.\nMagh Cuilenn           Moycullen, Co. Galway.\nMagh Femen             Co. Tipperary.\nMagh Larg              Co. Roscommon.\nMagh Leine             King's County.\nMagh Luirg             Co. Roscommon.\nMagh Maini             Co. Wexford.\nMagh Mucraimhe         Near Athenry.\nMagh Nia               Same as Magh Tuireadh.\nMagh Rein              Co. Leitrim.\nMagh Tuireadh          Moytura near Sligo, scene of great\n                          battle, and Moytura, near\n                          Cong, scene of first battle.\nMarch of Finnliath     River Lee, near Tralee.\nMidhe                  Meath, west of Ardagh.\nMis Geadh              In Bay of Erris.\nMuaid                  River Moy.\nMuc-inis               Muckinish, off Connemara.\n\nNas                    Naas.\nNem                    The Nem.\n\nOenach Clochan         Morristown, Co. Limerick.\nOsraige                Ossory.\n\nPaps of Dana           Co. Kerry.\nPortlairge             Waterford.\n\nRiver Maigh            Co. Limerick.\nRos da Shioleach       Limerick.\nRuirlech               Liffey.\n\nSamair                 R. Cumhair, runs through Bruff.\nSionnan                River Shannon.\nSiuir                  River Suir, Co. Tipperary.\nSiuir and Beoir        Suir and Nore and Barrow.\n   and Berba\nSlieve Baisne          Co. Roscommon.\nSlieve Bladmai         Slieve Bloom.\nSlieve Buane           Slieve Banne, Co. Roscommon.\nSlieve Conaill         Border of Leitrim and Donegal.\nSlieve Crot            Co. Tipperary.\nSlieve Cua             Co. Waterford.\nSlieve Cua\n   and Slieve Crot     In Galtee Mountains.\nSlieve Cuailgne        Co. Louth.\nSlieve Echtge          Co. Galway.\nSlieve Fuad            Co. Armagh.\nSlieve Guaire          Co. Cavan.\nSlieve Luchra          Co. Kerry.\nSlieve Lugha           Co. Mayo.\nSlieve Mis             Co. Kerry.\nSlieve Muice           Co. Tipperary.\nSlieve-nam-Ban         Co. Tipperary\nSligach                Sligo.\nSrub Bruin             In West Kerry.\nSruth na Maoile        Mull of Cantire.\n\nTailltin               Telltown.\nTeamhair               Tara, Co. Meath.\nTeunhair Luchra        Near Castle Island, Co. Kerry.\nThe Beith              River Behy, Barony of Dunkerrin.\nThe Beoir              The Berba.\nThe Islands of Mod     In Clew Bay.\nThe Lemain             River Laune, Co. Kerry.\nThe Muaidh             River Moy, Co. Sligo.\nTonn Toime             Toines, near Killarney.\nTraigh Eothaile        Near Ballisodare.\nTuathmumain            Thomond.\n\nUi Chonaill Gabhra       Co. Limerick.\nUi Fiachraih, Fiachraig  Co. Mayo.\n\nWave of Rudraighe      Bay of Dundrum.","title":"Gods and Fighting Men: The story of the Tuatha de Danaan and of the Fianna of Ireland, arranged and put into English by Lady Gregory","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":171512}