{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_36540/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_36540","id":"gutenberg_36540","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36540","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Fairy tales -- Ireland","Tales -- Ireland"],"text":"</pre>\n\nE-text prepared by Ruth Morrison, Matthew Wheaton, David Edwards, and the\nOnline Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)\n\n\n\nMYTHS AND FOLK TALES OF IRELAND\n\nby\n\nJEREMIAH CURTIN\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n    THE SON OF THE KING OF ERIN, AND THE GIANT OF LOCH LEIN    1\n\n    THE THREE DAUGHTERS OF KING O'HARA                        15\n\n    THE WEAVER'S SON AND THE GIANT OF THE WHITE HILL          26\n\n    FAIR, BROWN, AND TREMBLING                                37\n\n    THE KING OF ERIN AND THE QUEEN OF THE LONESOME\n    ISLAND                                                    49\n\n    THE SHEE AN GANNON AND THE GRUAGACH GAIRE                 65\n\n    THE THREE DAUGHTERS OF THE KING OF THE EAST,\n    AND THE SON OF A KING IN ERIN                             77\n\n    THE FISHERMAN'S SON AND THE GRUAGACH OF TRICKS            85\n\n    THE THIRTEENTH SON OF THE KING OF ERIN                    99\n\n    KIL ARTHUR                                               113\n\n    SHAKING-HEAD                                             121\n\n    BIRTH OF FIN MACCUMHAIL AND ORIGIN OF THE\n    FENIANS OF ERIN                                          135\n\n    FIN MACCUMHAIL AND THE FENIANS OF ERIN IN\n    THE CASTLE OF FEAR DUBH                                  148\n\n    FIN MACCUMHAIL AND THE KNIGHT OF THE FULL AXE            157\n\n    GILLA NA GRAKIN AND FIN MACCUMHAIL                       166\n\n    FIN MACCUMHAIL, THE SEVEN BROTHERS, AND THE\n    KING OF FRANCE                                           186\n\n    BLACK, BROWN, AND GRAY                                   195\n\n    FIN MACCUMHAIL AND THE SON OF THE KING OF ALBA           203\n\n    CUCULIN                                                  212\n\n    OISIN IN TIR NA N-OG                                     230\n\n    NOTES                                                    243\n\n\n\n\nMYTHS AND FOLK TALES OF IRELAND\n\n\n\n\nTHE SON OF THE KING OF ERIN AND THE GIANT OF LOCH LEIN.[1]\n\n[1] Loch LA(C)in, former name of one of the Lakes of Killarney.\n\n\nOn a time there lived a king and a queen in Erin, and they had an only\nson. They were very careful and fond of this son; whatever he asked for\nwas granted, and what he wanted he had.\n\nWhen grown to be almost a young man the son went away one day to the\nhills to hunt. He could find no game,--saw nothing all day. Towards\nevening he sat down on a hillside to rest, but soon stood up again and\nstarted to go home empty-handed. Then he heard a whistle behind him, and\nturning, saw a giant hurrying down the hill.\n\nThe giant came to him, took his hand, and said: \"Can you play cards?\"\n\n\"I can indeed,\" said the king's son.\n\n\"Well, if you can,\" said the giant, \"we'll have a game here on this\nhillside.\"\n\nSo the two sat down, and the giant had out a pack of cards in a\ntwinkling. \"What shall we play for?\" asked the giant.\n\n\"For two estates,\" answered the king's son.\n\nThey played: the young man won, and went home the better for two\nestates. He was very glad, and hurried to tell his father the luck he\nhad.\n\nNext day he went to the same place, and didn't wait long till the giant\ncame again.\n\n\"Welcome, king's son,\" said the giant. \"What shall we play for to-day?\"\n\"I'll leave that to yourself,\" answered the young man.\n\n\"Well,\" said the giant, \"I have five hundred bullocks with golden horns\nand silver hoofs, and I'll play them against as many cattle belonging to\nyou.\"\n\n\"Agreed,\" said the king's son.\n\nThey played. The giant lost again. He had the cattle brought to the\nplace; and the king's son went home with the five hundred bullocks. The\nking his father was outside watching, and was more delighted than the\nday before when he saw the drove of beautiful cattle with horns of gold\nand hoofs of silver.\n\nWhen the bullocks were driven in, the king sent for the old blind sage\n(Sean dall Glic), to know what he would say of the young man's luck.\n\n\"My advice,\" said the old blind sage, \"is not to let your son go the way\nof the giant again, for if he plays with him a third time he'll rue it.\"\n\nBut nothing could keep the king's son from playing the third time. Away\nhe went, in spite of every advice and warning, and sat on the same\nhillside.\n\nHe waited long, but no one came. At last he rose to go home. That moment\nhe heard a whistle behind him, and turning, saw the giant coming.\n\n\"Well, will you play with me to-day?\" asked the giant.\n\n\"I would,\" said the king's son, \"but I have nothing to bet.\"\n\n\"You have indeed.\"\n\n\"I have not,\" said the king's son.\n\n\"Haven't you your head?\" asked the giant of Loch LA(C)in, for it was he\nthat was in it.\n\n\"I have,\" answered the king's son.\n\n\"So have I my head,\" said the giant; \"and we'll play for each other's\nheads.\"\n\nThis third time the giant won the game; and the king's son was to give\nhimself up in a year and a day to the giant in his castle.\n\nThe young man went home sad and weary. The king and queen were outside\nwatching, and when they saw him approaching, they knew great trouble was\non him. When he came to where they were, he wouldn't speak, but went\nstraight into the castle, and wouldn't eat or drink.\n\nHe was sad and lamenting for a good while, till at last he disappeared\none day, the king and queen knew not whither. After that they didn't\nhear of him,--didn't know was he dead or alive.\n\nThe young man after he left home was walking along over the kingdom for\na long time. One day he saw no house, big or little, till after dark he\ncame in front of a hill, and at the foot of the hill saw a small light.\nHe went to the light, found a small house, and inside an old woman\nsitting at a warm fire, and every tooth in her head as long as a staff.\n\nShe stood up when he entered, took him by the hand, and said, \"You are\nwelcome to my house, son of the king of Erin.\" Then she brought warm\nwater, washed his feet and legs from the knees down, gave him supper,\nand put him to bed.\n\nWhen he rose next morning he found breakfast ready before him. The old\nwoman said: \"You were with me last night; you'll be with my sister\nto-night, and what she tells you to do, do, or your head'll be in\ndanger. Now take the gift I give you. Here is a ball of thread: do you\nthrow it in front of you before you start, and all day the ball will be\nrolling ahead of you, and you'll be following behind winding the thread\ninto another ball.\"\n\nHe obeyed the old woman, threw the ball down, and followed. All the day\nhe was going up hill and down, across valleys and open places, keeping\nthe ball in sight and winding the thread as he went, till evening, when\nhe saw a hill in front, and a small light at the foot of it.\n\nHe went to the light and found a house, which he entered. There was no\none inside but an old woman with teeth as long as a crutch.\n\n\"Oh! then you are welcome to my house, king's son of Erin,\" said she.\n\"You were with my sister last night; you are with me to-night; and it's\nglad I am to see you.\"\n\nShe gave him meat and drink and a good bed to lie on.\n\nWhen he rose next morning breakfast was there before him, and when he\nhad eaten and was ready for the journey, the old woman gave him a ball\nof thread, saying: \"You were with my younger sister the night before\nlast; you were with me last night; and you'll be with my elder sister\nto-night. You must do what she tells you, or you'll lose your head. You\nmust throw this ball before you, and follow the clew till evening.\"\n\nHe threw down the ball: it rolled on, showing the way up and down\nmountains and hills, across valleys and braes. All day he wound the\nball; unceasingly it went till nightfall, when he came to a light, found\na little house, and went in. Inside was an old woman, the eldest sister,\nwho said: \"You are welcome, and glad am I to see you, king's son.\"\n\nShe treated him as well as the other two had done. After he had eaten\nbreakfast next morning, she said:--\n\n\"I know well the journey you are on. You have lost your head to the\nGiant of Loch LA(C)in, and you are going to give yourself up. This giant\nhas a great castle. Around the castle are seven hundred iron spikes, and\non every spike of them but one is the head of a king, a queen, or a\nking's son. The seven hundredth spike is empty, and nothing can save\nyour head from that spike if you don't take my advice.\n\n\"Here is a ball for you: walk behind it till you come to a lake near the\ngiant's castle. When you come to that lake at midday the ball will be\nunwound.\n\n\"The giant has three young daughters, and they come at noon every day of\nthe year to bathe in the lake. You must watch them well, for each will\nhave a lily on her breast,--one a blue, another a white, and the third a\nyellow lily. You mustn't let your eyes off the one with the yellow lily.\nWatch her well: when she undresses to go into the water, see where she\nputs her clothes; when the three are out in the lake swimming, do you\nslip away with the clothes of Yellow Lily.\n\n\"When the sisters come out from bathing, and find that the one with the\nyellow lily has lost her clothes, the other two will laugh and make game\nof her, and she will crouch down crying on the shore, with nothing to\ncover her, and say, 'How can I go home now, and everybody making sport\nof me? Whoever took my clothes, if he'll give them back to me, I'll save\nhim from the danger he is in, if I have the power.'\"\n\nThe king's son followed the ball till nearly noon, when it stopped at a\nlake not far from the giant's castle. Then he hid behind a rock at the\nwater's edge, and waited.\n\nAt midday the three sisters came to the lake, and, leaving their\nclothes on the strand, went into the water. When all three were in the\nlake swimming and playing with great pleasure and sport, the king's son\nslipped out and took the clothes of the sister with the yellow lily.\n\nAfter they had bathed in the lake to their hearts' content, the three\nsisters came out. When the two with the blue and the white lilies saw\ntheir sister on the shore and her clothes gone, they began to laugh and\nmake sport of her. Then, cowering and crouching down, she began to cry\nand lament, saying: \"How can I go home now, with my own sisters laughing\nat me? If I stir from this, everybody will see me and make sport of me.\"\n\nThe sisters went home and left her there. When they were gone, and she\nwas alone at the water crying and sobbing, all at once she came to\nherself and called out: \"Whoever took my clothes, I'll forgive him if he\nbrings them to me now, and I'll save him from the danger he is in if I\ncan.\"\n\nWhen he heard this, the king's son put the clothes out to her, and\nstayed behind himself till she told him to come forth.\n\nThen she said: \"I know well where you are going. My father, the Giant of\nLoch LA(C)in, has a soft bed waiting for you,--a deep tank of water for\nyour death. But don't be uneasy; go into the water, and wait till I come\nto save you. Be at that castle above before my father. When he comes\nhome to-night and asks for you, take no meat from him, but go to rest in\nthe tank when he tells you.\"\n\nThe giant's daughter left the king's son, who went his way to the castle\nalone at a fair and easy gait, for he had time enough on his hands and\nto spare.\n\nWhen the Giant of Loch LA(C)in came home that night, the first question he\nasked was, \"Is the son of the king of Erin here?\"\n\n\"I am,\" said the king's son.\n\n\"Come,\" said the giant, \"and get your evening's meat.\"\n\n\"I'll take no meat now, for I don't need it,\" said the king's son.\n\n\"Well, come with me then, and I'll show you your bed.\" He went, and the\ngiant put the king's son into the deep tank of water to drown, and being\ntired himself from hunting all day over the mountains and hills of Erin,\nhe went to sleep.\n\nThat minute his youngest daughter came, took the king's son out of the\ntank, placed plenty to eat and to drink before him, and gave him a good\nbed to sleep on that night.\n\nThe giant's daughter watched till she heard her father stirring before\ndaybreak; then she roused the king's son, and put him in the tank again.\n\nSoon the giant came to the tank and called out: \"Are you here, son of\nthe king of Erin?\"\n\n\"I am,\" said the king's son.\n\n\"Well, come out now. There is a great work for you to-day. I have a\nstable outside, in which I keep five hundred horses, and that stable has\nnot been cleaned these seven hundred years. My great-grandmother when a\ngirl lost a slumber-pin (_bar an suan_) somewhere in that stable, and\nnever could find it. You must have that pin for me when I come home\nto-night; if you don't, your head will be on the seven hundredth spike\nto-morrow.\"\n\nThen two shovels were brought for him to choose from to clean out the\nstable, an old and a new one. He chose the new shovel, and went to work.\n\nFor every shovelful he threw out, two came in; and soon the door of the\nstable was closed on him. When the stable-door was closed, the giant's\ndaughter called from outside: \"How are you thriving now, king's son?\"\n\n\"I'm not thriving at all,\" said the king's son; \"for as much as I throw\nout, twice as much comes in, and the door is closed against me.\"\n\n\"You must make a way for me to come in, and I'll help you,\" said she.\n\n\"How can I do that?\" asked the king's son.\n\nHowever, she did it. The giant's daughter made her way into the stable,\nand she wasn't long inside till the stable was cleared, and she saw the\n_bar an suan_.\n\n\"There is the pin over there in the corner,\" said she to the king's son,\nwho put it in his bosom to give to the giant.\n\nNow he was happy, and the giant's daughter had good meat and drink put\nbefore him.\n\nWhen the giant himself came home, he asked: \"How did you do your work\nto-day?\"\n\n\"I did it well; I thought nothing of it.\"\n\n\"Did you find the _bar an suan_?\"\n\n\"I did indeed; here 'tis for you.\"\n\n\"Oh! then,\" said the giant, \"it is either the devil or my daughter that\nhelped you to do that work, for I know you never did it alone.\"\n\n\"It's neither the devil nor your daughter, but my own strength that did\nthe work,\" said the son of the king of Erin.\n\n\"You have done the work; now you must have your meat.\" \"I want no meat\nto-day; I am well satisfied as I am,\" said the king's son.\n\n\"Well,\" said the giant, \"since you'll have no meat, you must go to sleep\nin the tank.\"\n\nHe went into the tank. The giant himself was soon snoring, for he was\ntired from hunting over Erin all day.\n\nThe moment her father was away, Yellow Lily came, took the king's son\nout of the tank, gave him a good supper and bed, and watched till the\ngiant was stirring before daybreak. Then she roused the king's son and\nput him in the tank.\n\n\"Are you alive in the tank?\" asked the giant at daybreak.\n\n\"I am,\" said the king's son.\n\n\"Well, you have a great work before you to-day. That stable you cleaned\nyesterday hasn't been thatched these seven hundred years, and if you\ndon't have it thatched for me when I come home to-night, with birds'\nfeathers, and not two feathers of one color or kind, I'll have your head\non the seven hundredth spike to-morrow.\"\n\n\"Here are two whistles,--an old, and a new one; take your choice of them\nto call the birds.\"\n\nThe king's son took the new whistle, and set out over the hills and\nvalleys, whistling as he went. But no matter how he whistled, not a bird\ncame near him. At last, tired and worn out with travelling and\nwhistling, he sat down on a hillock and began to cry.\n\nThat moment Yellow Lily was at his side with a cloth, which she spread\nout, and there was a grand meal before him. He hadn't finished eating\nand drinking, before the stable was thatched with birds' feathers, and\nno two of them of one color or kind.\n\nWhen he came home that evening the giant called out: \"Have you the\nstable thatched for me to-night?\"\n\n\"I have indeed,\" said the king's son; \"and small trouble I had with it.\"\n\n\"If that's true,\" said the giant, \"either the devil or my daughter\nhelped you.\"\n\n\"It was my own strength, and not the devil or your daughter that helped\nme,\" said the king's son.\n\nHe spent that night as he had the two nights before.\n\nNext morning, when the giant found him alive in the tank, he said:\n\"There is great work before you to-day, which you must do, or your\nhead'll be on the spike to-morrow. Below here, under my castle, is a\ntree nine hundred feet high, and there isn't a limb on that tree, from\nthe roots up, except one small limb at the very top, where there is a\ncrow's nest. The tree is covered with glass from the ground to the\ncrow's nest. In the nest is one egg: you must have that egg before me\nhere for my supper to-night, or I'll have your head on the seven\nhundredth spike to-morrow.\"\n\nThe giant went hunting, and the king's son went down to the tree, tried\nto shake it, but could not make it stir. Then he tried to climb; but no\nuse, it was all slippery glass. Then he thought, \"Sure I'm done for now;\nI must lose my head this time.\"\n\nHe stood there in sadness, when Yellow Lily came, and said: \"How are you\nthriving in your work?\"\n\n\"I can do nothing,\" said the king's son.\n\n\"Well, all that we have done up to this time is nothing to climbing this\ntree. But first of all let us sit down together and eat, and then we'll\ntalk,\" said Yellow Lily.\n\nThey sat down, she spread the cloth again, and they had a splendid\nfeast. When the feast was over she took out a knife from her pocket and\nsaid:--\n\n\"Now you must kill me, strip the flesh from my bones, take all the bones\napart, and use them as steps for climbing the tree. When you are\nclimbing the tree, they will stick to the glass as if they had grown out\nof it; but when you are coming down, and have put your foot on each one,\nthey will drop into your hand when you touch them. Be sure and stand on\neach bone, leave none untouched; if you do, it will stay behind. Put all\nmy flesh into this clean cloth by the side of the spring at the roots of\nthe tree. When you come to the earth, arrange my bones together, put the\nflesh over them, sprinkle it with water from the spring, and I shall be\nalive and well before you. But don't forget a bone of me on the tree.\"\n\n\"How could I kill you,\" asked the king's son, \"after what you have done\nfor me?\"\n\n\"If you won't obey, you and I are done for,\" said Yellow Lily. \"You must\nclimb the tree, or we are lost; and to climb the tree you must do as I\nsay.\"\n\nThe king's son obeyed. He killed Yellow Lily, cut the flesh from her\nbody, and unjointed the bones, as she had told him.\n\nAs he went up, the king's son put the bones of Yellow Lily's body\nagainst the side of the tree, using them as steps, till he came under\nthe nest and stood on the last bone.\n\nThen he took the crow's egg; and coming down, put his foot on every\nbone, then took it with him, till he came to the last bone, which was so\nnear the ground that he failed to touch it with his foot.\n\nHe now placed all the bones of Yellow Lily in order again at the side\nof the spring, put the flesh on them, sprinkled it with water from the\nspring. She rose up before him, and said: \"Didn't I tell you not to\nleave a bone of my body without stepping on it? Now I am lame for life!\nYou left my little toe on the tree without touching it, and I have but\nnine toes.\"\n\nWhen the giant came home that night, the first words he had were, \"Have\nyou the crow's egg for my supper?\"\n\n\"I have,\" said the king's son.\n\n\"If you have, then either the devil or my daughter is helping you.\"\n\n\"It is my own strength that's helping me,\" said the king's son.\n\n\"Well, whoever it is, I must forgive you now, and your head is your\nown.\"\n\nSo the king's son was free to go his own road, and away he went, and\nnever stopped till he came home to his own father and mother, who had a\ngreat welcome before him; and why not? For they thought he was dead.\n\nWhen the son was at home a time, the king called up the old blind sage,\nand asked, \"What must I do with my son now?\"\n\n\"If you follow my advice,\" said the old blind sage, \"you'll find a wife\nfor him; and then he'll not go roaming away again, and leave you as he\ndid before.\"\n\nThe king was pleased with the advice, and he sent a message to the king\nof Lochlin[2] to ask his daughter in marriage.\n\n[2] Lochlin,--Denmark.\n\nThe king of Lochlin came with the daughter and a ship full of\nattendants, and there was to be a grand wedding at the castle of the\nking of Erin. Now, the king's son asked his father to invite the Giant\nof Loch LA(C)in and Yellow Lily to the wedding. The king sent messages for\nthem to come.\n\nThe day before the marriage there was a great feast at the castle. As\nthe feast went on, and all were merry, the Giant of Loch LA(C)in said: \"I\nnever was at a place like this but one man sang a song, a second told a\nstory, and the third played a trick.\"\n\nThen the king of Erin sang a song, the king of Lochlin told a story, and\nwhen the turn came to the giant, he asked Yellow Lily to take his place.\n\nShe threw two grains of wheat in the air, and there came down on the\ntable two pigeons. The cock pigeon pecked at the hen and pushed her off\nthe table. Then the hen called out to him in a human voice, \"You\nwouldn't do that to me the day I cleaned the stable for you.\"\n\nNext time Yellow Lily put two grains of wheat on the table. The cock ate\nthe wheat, pecked the hen, and pushed her off the table to the floor.\nThe hen said: \"You would not do that to me the day I thatched the stable\nfor you with birds' feathers, and not two of one color or kind.\"\n\nThe third time Yellow Lily put two more grains of wheat on the table.\nThe cock ate both, and pushed the hen off to the floor. Then the hen\ncalled out: \"You wouldn't do that to me the day you killed me and took\nmy bones to make steps up the glass tree nine hundred feet high to get\nthe crow's egg for the supper of the Giant of Loch LA(C)in, and forget my\nlittle toe when you were coming down, and left me lame for life.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the king's son to the guests at the feast, \"when I was a\nlittle younger than I am now, I used to be everywhere in the world\nsporting and gaming; and once when I was away, I lost the key of a\ncasket that I had. I had a new key made, and after it was brought to me\nI found the old one. Now, I'll leave it to any one here to tell what am\nI to do,--which of the keys should I keep?\"\n\n\"My advice to you,\" said the king of Lochlin, \"is to keep the old key,\nfor it fits the lock better, and you're more used to it.\"\n\nThen the king's son stood up and said: \"I thank you, king of Lochlin,\nfor a wise advice and an honest word. This is my bride, the daughter of\nthe Giant of Loch LA(C)in. I'll have her, and no other woman. Your daughter\nis my father's guest, and no worse, but better, for having come to a\nwedding in Erin.\"\n\nThe king's son married Yellow Lily, daughter of the Giant of Loch LA(C)in,\nthe wedding lasted long, and all were happy.\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE DAUGHTERS OF KING O'HARA.\n\n\nThere was a king in Desmond whose name was Coluath O'Hara, and he had\nthree daughters. On a time when the king was away from home, the eldest\ndaughter took a thought that she'd like to be married. So she went up in\nthe castle, put on the cloak of darkness which her father had, and\nwished for the most beautiful man under the sun as a husband for\nherself.\n\nShe got her wish; for scarcely had she put off the cloak of darkness,\nwhen there came, in a golden coach with four horses, two black and two\nwhite, the finest man she had ever laid eyes on, and took her away.\n\nWhen the second daughter saw what had happened to her sister, she put on\nthe cloak of darkness, and wished for the next best man in the world as\na husband.\n\nShe put off the cloak; and straightway there came, in a golden coach\nwith four black horses, a man nearly as good as the first, and took her\naway.\n\nThe third sister put on the cloak, and wished for the best white dog in\nthe world.\n\nPresently he came, with one man attending, in a golden coach and four\nsnow-white horses, and took the youngest sister away.\n\nWhen the king came home, the stable-boy told him what had happened while\nhe was gone. He was enraged beyond measure when he heard that his\nyoungest daughter had wished for a white dog, and gone off with him.\n\nWhen the first man brought his wife home he asked: \"In what form will\nyou have me in the daytime,--as I am now in the daytime, or as I am now\nat night?\"\n\n\"As you are now in the daytime.\"\n\nSo the first sister had her husband as a man in the daytime; but at\nnight he was a seal.\n\nThe second man put the same question to the middle sister, and got the\nsame answer; so the second sister had her husband in the same form as\nthe first.\n\nWhen the third sister came to where the white dog lived, he asked her:\n\"How will you have me to be in the daytime,--as I am now in the day, or\nas I am now at night?\"\n\n\"As you are now in the day.\"\n\nSo the white dog was a dog in the daytime, but the most beautiful of men\nat night.\n\nAfter a time the third sister had a son; and one day, when her husband\nwas going out to hunt, he warned her that if anything should happen the\nchild, not to shed a tear on that account.\n\nWhile he was gone, a great gray crow that used to haunt the place came\nand carried the child away when it was a week old.\n\nRemembering the warning, she shed not a tear for the loss.\n\nAll went on as before till another son was born. The husband used to go\nhunting every day, and again he said she must not shed a tear if\nanything happened.\n\nWhen the child was a week old a great gray crow came and bore him away;\nbut the mother did not cry or drop a tear.\n\nAll went well till a daughter was born. When she was a week old a great\ngray crow came and swept her away. This time the mother dropped one tear\non a handkerchief, which she took out of her pocket, and then put back\nagain.\n\nWhen the husband came home from hunting and heard what the crow had\ndone, he asked the wife, \"Have you shed tears this time?\"\n\n\"I have dropped one tear,\" said she.\n\nThen he was very angry; for he knew what harm she had done by dropping\nthat one tear.\n\nSoon after their father invited the three sisters to visit him and be\npresent at a great feast in their honor. They sent messages, each from\nher own place, that they would come.\n\nThe king was very glad at the prospect of seeing his children; but the\nqueen was grieved, and thought it a great disgrace that her youngest\ndaughter had no one to come home with her but a white dog.\n\nThe white dog was in dread that the king wouldn't leave him inside with\nthe company, but would drive him from the castle to the yard, and that\nthe dogs outside wouldn't leave a patch of skin on his back, but would\ntear the life out of him.\n\nThe youngest daughter comforted him. \"There is no danger to you,\" said\nshe, \"for wherever I am, you'll be, and wherever you go, I'll follow and\ntake care of you.\"\n\nWhen all was ready for the feast at the castle, and the company were\nassembled, the king was for banishing the white dog; but the youngest\ndaughter would not listen to her father,--would not let the white dog\nout of her sight, but kept him near her at the feast, and divided with\nhim the food that came to herself.\n\nWhen the feast was over, and all the guests had gone, the three sisters\nwent to their own rooms in the castle.\n\nLate in the evening the queen took the cook with her, and stole in to\nsee what was in her daughters' rooms. They were all asleep at the time.\nWhat should she see by the side of her youngest daughter but the most\nbeautiful man she had ever laid eyes on.\n\nThen she went to where the other two daughters were sleeping; and there,\ninstead of the two men who brought them to the feast, were two seals,\nfast asleep.\n\nThe queen was greatly troubled at the sight of the seals. When she and\nthe cook were returning, they came upon the skin of the white dog. She\ncaught it up as she went, and threw it into the kitchen fire.\n\nThe skin was not five minutes in the fire when it gave a crack that woke\nnot only all in the castle, but all in the country for miles around.\n\nThe husband of the youngest daughter sprang up. He was very angry and\nvery sorry, and said: \"If I had been able to spend three nights with you\nunder your father's roof, I should have got back my own form again for\ngood, and could have been a man both in the day and the night; but now I\nmust go.\"\n\nHe rose from the bed, ran out of the castle, and away he went as fast as\never his two legs could carry him, overtaking the one before him, and\nleaving the one behind. He was this way all that night and the next day;\nbut he couldn't leave the wife, for she followed from the castle, was\nafter him in the night and the day too, and never lost sight of him. In\nthe afternoon he turned, and told her to go back to her father; but she\nwould not listen to him. At nightfall they came to the first house they\nhad seen since leaving the castle. He turned and said: \"Do you go inside\nand stay in this house till morning; I'll pass the night outside where I\nam.\"\n\nThe wife went in. The woman of the house rose up, gave her a pleasant\nwelcome, and put a good supper before her. She was not long in the house\nwhen a little boy came to her knee and called her \"Mother.\"\n\nThe woman of the house told the child to go back to his place, and not\nto come out again.\n\n\"Here are a pair of scissors,\" said the woman of the house to the king's\ndaughter, \"and they will serve you well. Whatever ragged people you see,\nif you cut a piece off their rags, that moment they will have new\nclothes of cloth of gold.\"\n\nShe stayed that night, for she had good welcome. Next morning when she\nwent out, her husband said: \"You'd better go home now to your father.\"\n\n\"I'll not go to my father if I have to leave you,\" said she.\n\nSo he went on, and she followed. It was that way all the day till night\ncame; and at nightfall they saw another house at the foot of a hill, and\nagain the husband stopped and said: \"You go in; I'll stop outside till\nmorning.\"\n\nThe woman of the house gave her a good welcome. After she had eaten and\ndrunk, a little boy came out of another room, ran to her knee, and said,\n\"Mother.\" The woman of the house sent the boy back to where he had come\nfrom, and told him to stay there.\n\nNext morning, when the princess was going out to her husband, the woman\nof the house gave her a comb, and said: \"If you meet any person with a\ndiseased and a sore head, and draw this comb over it three times, the\nhead will be well, and covered with the most beautiful golden hair ever\nseen.\"\n\nShe took the comb, and went out to her husband.\n\n\"Leave me now,\" said he, \"and go back to your own father.\"\n\n\"I will not,\" said she, \"but I will follow you while I have the power.\"\nSo they went forward that day, as on the other two.\n\nAt nightfall they came to a third house, at the foot of a hill, where\nthe princess received a good welcome. After she had eaten supper, a\nlittle girl with only one eye came to her knee and said, \"Mother.\"\n\nThe princess began to cry at sight of the child, thinking that she\nherself was the cause that it had but one eye. Then she put her hand\ninto her pocket where she kept the handkerchief on which she had dropped\nthe tear when the gray crow carried her infant away. She had never used\nthe handkerchief since that day, for there was an eye on it.\n\nShe opened the handkerchief, and put the eye in the girl's head. It grew\ninto the socket that minute, and the child saw out of it as well as out\nof the other eye; and then the woman of the house sent the little one to\nbed.\n\nNext morning, as the king's daughter was going out, the woman of the\nhouse gave her a whistle, and said: \"Whenever you put this whistle to\nyour mouth and blow on it, all the birds of the air will come to you\nfrom every quarter under the sun. Be careful of the whistle, as it may\nserve you greatly.\"\n\n\"Go back to your father's castle,\" said the husband when she came to\nhim, \"for I must leave you to-day.\"\n\nThey went on together a few hundred yards, and then sat on a green\nhillock, and he told the wife: \"Your mother has come between us; but for\nher we might have lived together all our days. If I had been allowed to\npass three nights with you in your father's house, I should have got\nback my form of a man both in the daytime and the night. The Queen of\nTir na n-Og [the land of youth] enchanted and put on me a spell, that\nunless I could spend three nights with a wife under her father's roof in\nErin, I should bear the form of a white dog one half of my time; but if\nthe skin of the dog should be burned before the three nights were over,\nI must go down to her kingdom and marry the queen herself. And 'tis to\nher I am going to-day. I have no power to stay, and I must leave you; so\nfarewell, you'll never see me again on the upper earth.\"\n\nHe left her sitting on the mound, went a few steps forward to some\nbulrushes, pulled up one, and disappeared in the opening where the rush\nhad been.\n\nShe stopped there, sitting on the mound lamenting, till evening, not\nknowing what to do. At last she bethought herself, and going to the\nrushes, pulled up a stalk, went down, followed her husband, and never\nstopped till she came to the lower land.\n\nAfter a while she reached a small house near a splendid castle. She went\ninto the house and asked, could she stay there till morning. \"You can,\"\nsaid the woman of the house, \"and welcome.\"\n\nNext day the woman of the house was washing clothes, for that was how\nshe made a living. The princess fell to and helped her with the work.\nIn the course of that day the Queen of Tir na n-Og and the husband of\nthe princess were married.\n\nNear the castle, and not far from the washerwoman's, lived a henwife\nwith two ragged little daughters. One of them came around the\nwasherwoman's house to play. The child looked so poor and her clothes\nwere so torn and dirty that the princess took pity on her, and cut the\nclothes with the scissors which she had.\n\nThat moment the most beautiful dress of cloth of gold ever seen on woman\nor child in that kingdom was on the henwife's daughter.\n\nWhen she saw what she had on, the child ran home to her mother as fast\nas ever she could go.\n\n\"Who gave you that dress?\" asked the henwife.\n\n\"A strange woman that is in that house beyond,\" said the little girl,\npointing to the washerwoman's house.\n\nThe henwife went straight to the Queen of Tir na n-Og and said: \"There\nis a strange woman in the place, who will be likely to take your husband\nfrom you, unless you banish her away or do something to her; for she has\na pair of scissors different from anything ever seen or heard of in this\ncountry.\"\n\nWhen the queen heard this she sent word to the princess that, unless the\nscissors were given up to her without delay, she would have the head off\nher.\n\nThe princess said she would give up the scissors if the queen would let\nher pass one night with her husband.\n\nThe queen answered that she was willing to give her the one night. The\nprincess came and gave up the scissors, and went to her own husband;\nbut the queen had given him a drink, and he fell asleep, and never woke\ntill after the princess had gone in the morning.\n\nNext day another daughter of the henwife went to the washerwoman's house\nto play. She was wretched-looking, her head being covered with scabs and\nsores.\n\nThe princess drew the comb three times over the child's head, cured it,\nand covered it with beautiful golden hair. The little girl ran home and\ntold her mother how the strange woman had drawn the comb over her head,\ncured it, and given her beautiful golden hair.\n\nThe henwife hurried off to the queen and said: \"That strange woman has a\ncomb with wonderful power to cure, and give golden hair; and she'll take\nyour husband from you unless you banish her or take her life.\"\n\nThe queen sent word to the princess that unless she gave up the comb,\nshe would have her life.\n\nThe princess returned as answer that she would give up the comb if she\nmight pass one night with the queen's husband.\n\nThe queen was willing, and gave her husband a draught as before. When\nthe princess came, he was fast asleep, and did not waken till after she\nhad gone in the morning.\n\nOn the third day the washerwoman and the princess went out to walk, and\nthe first daughter of the henwife with them. When they were outside the\ntown, the princess put the whistle to her mouth and blew. That moment\nthe birds of the air flew to her from every direction in flocks. Among\nthem was a bird of song and new tales. The princess went to one side\nwith the bird. \"What means can I take,\" asked she, \"against the queen to\nget back my husband? Is it best to kill her, and can I do it?\"\n\n\"It is very hard,\" said the bird, \"to kill her. There is no one in all\nTir na n-Og who is able to take her life but her own husband. Inside a\nholly-tree in front of the castle is a wether, in the wether a duck, in\nthe duck an egg, and in that egg is her heart and life. No man in Tir na\nn-Og can cut that holly-tree but her husband.\"\n\nThe princess blew the whistle again. A fox and a hawk came to her. She\ncaught and put them into two boxes, which the washerwoman had with her,\nand took them to her new home.\n\nWhen the henwife's daughter went home, she told her mother about the\nwhistle. Away ran the henwife to the queen, and said: \"That strange\nwoman has a whistle that brings together all the birds of the air, and\nshe'll have your husband yet, unless you take her head.\"\n\n\"I'll take the whistle from her, anyhow,\" said the queen. So she sent\nfor the whistle.\n\nThe princess gave answer that she would give up the whistle if she might\npass one night with the queen's husband.\n\nThe queen agreed, and gave him a draught as on the other nights. He was\nasleep when the princess came and when she went away.\n\nBefore going, the princess left a letter with his servant for the\nqueen's husband, in which she told how she had followed him to Tir na\nn-Og, and had given the scissors, the comb, and the whistle, to pass\nthree nights in his company, but had not spoken to him because the queen\nhad given him sleeping draughts; that the life of the queen was in an\negg, the egg in a duck, the duck in a wether, the wether in a holly-tree\nin front of the castle, and that no man could split the tree but\nhimself.\n\nAs soon as he got the letter the husband took an axe, and went to the\nholly-tree. When he came to the tree he found the princess there before\nhim, having the two boxes with the fox and the hawk in them.\n\nHe struck the tree a few blows; it split open, and out sprang the\nwether. He ran scarce twenty perches before the fox caught him. The fox\ntore him open; then the duck flew out. The duck had not flown fifteen\nperches when the hawk caught and killed her, smashing the egg. That\ninstant the Queen of Tir na n-Og died.\n\nThe husband kissed and embraced his faithful wife. He gave a great\nfeast; and when the feast was over, he burned the henwife with her\nhouse, built a palace for the washerwoman, and made his servant\nsecretary.\n\nThey never left Tir na n-Og, and are living there happily now; and so\nmay we live here.\n\n\n\n\nTHE WEAVER'S SON AND THE GIANT OF THE WHITE HILL.\n\n\nThere was once a weaver in Erin who lived at the edge of a wood; and on\na time when he had nothing to burn, he went out with his daughter to get\nfagots for the fire.\n\nThey gathered two bundles, and were ready to carry them home, when who\nshould come along but a splendid-looking stranger on horseback. And he\nsaid to the weaver: \"My good man, will you give me that girl of yours?\"\n\n\"Indeed then I will not,\" said the weaver.\n\n\"I'll give you her weight in gold,\" said the stranger, and he put out\nthe gold there on the ground.\n\nSo the weaver went home with the gold and without the daughter. He\nburied the gold in the garden, without letting his wife know what he had\ndone. When she asked, \"Where is our daughter?\" the weaver said: \"I sent\nher on an errand to a neighbor's house for things that I want.\"\n\nNight came, but no sight of the girl. The next time he went for fagots,\nthe weaver took his second daughter to the wood; and when they had two\nbundles gathered, and were ready to go home, a second stranger came on\nhorseback, much finer than the first, and asked the weaver would he give\nhim his daughter.\n\n\"I will not,\" said the weaver.\n\n\"Well,\" said the stranger, \"I'll give you her weight in silver if\nyou'll let her go with me;\" and he put the silver down before him.\n\nThe weaver carried home the silver and buried it in the garden with the\ngold, and the daughter went away with the man on horseback.\n\nWhen he went again to the wood, the weaver took his third daughter with\nhim; and when they were ready to go home, a third man came on horseback,\ngave the weight of the third daughter in copper, and took her away. The\nweaver buried the copper with the gold and silver.\n\nNow, the wife was lamenting and moaning night and day for her three\ndaughters, and gave the weaver no rest till he told the whole story.\n\nNow, a son was born to them; and when the boy grew up and was going to\nschool, he heard how his three sisters had been carried away for their\nweight in gold and silver and copper; and every day when he came home he\nsaw how his mother was lamenting and wandering outside in grief through\nthe fields and pits and ditches, so he asked her what trouble was on\nher; but she wouldn't tell him a word.\n\nAt last he came home crying from school one day, and said: \"I'll not\nsleep three nights in one house till I find my three sisters.\" Then he\nsaid to his mother: \"Make me three loaves of bread, mother, for I am\ngoing on a journey.\"\n\nNext day he asked had she the bread ready. She said she had, and she was\ncrying bitterly all the time. \"I'm going to leave you now, mother,\" said\nhe; \"and I'll come back when I have found my three sisters.\"\n\nHe went away, and walked on till he was tired and hungry; and then he\nsat down to eat the bread that his mother had given him, when a\nred-haired man came up and asked him for something to eat. \"Sit down\nhere,\" said the boy. He sat down, and the two ate till there was not a\ncrumb of the bread left.\n\nThe boy told of the journey he was on; then the red-haired man said:\n\"There may not be much use in your going, but here are three things\nthat'll serve you,--the sword of sharpness, the cloth of plenty, and the\ncloak of darkness. No man can kill you while that sword is in your hand;\nand whenever you are hungry or dry, all you have to do is to spread the\ncloth and ask for what you'd like to eat or drink, and it will be there\nbefore you. When you put on the cloak, there won't be a man or a woman\nor a living thing in the world that'll see you, and you'll go to\nwhatever place you have set your mind on quicker than any wind.\"\n\nThe red-haired man went his way, and the boy travelled on. Before\nevening a great shower came, and he ran for shelter to a large oak-tree.\nWhen he got near the tree his foot slipped, the ground opened, and down\nhe went through the earth till he came to another country. When he was\nin the other country he put on the cloak of darkness and went ahead like\na blast of wind, and never stopped till he saw a castle in the distance;\nand soon he was there. But he found nine gates closed before him, and no\nway to go through. It was written inside the cloak of darkness that his\neldest sister lived in that castle.\n\nHe was not long at the gate looking in when a girl came to him and said,\n\"Go on out of that; if you don't, you'll be killed.\"\n\n\"Do you go in,\" said he to the girl, \"and tell my sister, the woman of\nthis castle, to come out to me.\" The girl ran in; out came the sister,\nand asked: \"Why are you here, and what did you come for?\"\n\n\"I have come to this country to find my three sisters, who were given\naway by my father for their weight in gold, silver, and copper; and you\nare my eldest sister.\"\n\nShe knew from what he said that he was her brother, so she opened the\ngates and brought him in, saying: \"Don't wonder at anything you see in\nthis castle. My husband is enchanted. I see him only at night. He goes\noff every morning, stays away all day, and comes home in the evening.\"\n\nThe sun went down; and while they were talking, the husband rushed in,\nand the noise of him was terrible. He came in the form of a ram, ran up\nstairs, and soon after came down a man.\n\n\"Who is this that's with you?\" asked he of the wife.\n\n\"Oh! that's my brother, who has come from Erin to see me,\" said she.\n\nNext morning, when the man of the castle was going off in the form of a\nram, he turned to the boy and asked, \"Will you stay a few days in my\ncastle? You are welcome.\"\n\n\"Nothing would please me better,\" said the boy; \"but I have made a vow\nnever to sleep three nights in one house till I have found my three\nsisters.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the ram, \"since you must go, here is something for you.\"\nAnd pulling out a bit of his own wool, he gave it to the boy, saying:\n\"Keep this; and whenever a trouble is on you, take it out, and call on\nwhat rams are in the world to help you.\" Away went the ram. The boy\ntook farewell of his sister, put on the cloak of darkness, and\ndisappeared. He travelled till hungry and tired, then he sat down, took\noff the cloak of darkness, spread the cloth of plenty, and asked for\nmeat and drink. After he had eaten and drunk his fill, he took up the\ncloth, put on the cloak of darkness, and went ahead, passing every wind\nthat was before him, and leaving every wind that was behind.\n\nAbout an hour before sunset he saw the castle in which his second sister\nlived. When he reached the gate, a girl came out to him and said: \"Go\naway from that gate, or you'll be killed.\"\n\n\"I'll not leave this till my sister who lives in the castle comes out\nand speaks to me.\"\n\nThe girl ran in, and out came the sister. When she heard his story and\nhis father's name, she knew that he was her brother, and said: \"Come\ninto the castle, but think nothing of what you'll see or hear. I don't\nsee my husband from morning till night. He goes and comes in a strange\nform, but he is a man at night.\"\n\nAbout sunset there was a terrible noise, and in rushed the man of the\ncastle in the form of a tremendous salmon. He went flapping upstairs;\nbut he wasn't long there till he came down a fine-looking man.\n\n\"Who is that with you?\" asked he of the wife. \"I thought you would let\nno one into the castle while I was gone.\"\n\n\"Oh! this is my brother, who has come to see me,\" said she.\n\n\"If he's your brother, he's welcome,\" said the man.\n\nThey supped, and then slept till morning. When the man of the castle was\ngoing out again, in the form of a great salmon, he turned to the boy\nand said: \"You'd better stay here with us a while.\"\n\n\"I cannot,\" said the boy. \"I made a vow never to sleep three nights in\none house till I had seen my three sisters. I must go on now and find my\nthird sister.\"\n\nThe salmon then took off a piece of his fin and gave it to the boy,\nsaying: \"If any difficulty meets you, or trouble comes on you, call on\nwhat salmons are in the sea to come and help you.\"\n\nThey parted. The boy put on his cloak of darkness, and away he went,\nmore swiftly than any wind. He never stopped till he was hungry and\nthirsty. Then he sat down, took off his cloak of darkness, spread the\ncloth of plenty, and ate his fill; when he had eaten, he went on again\ntill near sundown, when he saw the castle where his third sister lived.\nAll three castles were near the sea. Neither sister knew what place she\nwas in, and neither knew where the other two were living.\n\nThe third sister took her brother in just as the first and second had\ndone, telling him not to wonder at anything he saw.\n\nThey were not long inside when a roaring noise was heard, and in came\nthe greatest eagle that ever was seen. The eagle hurried upstairs, and\nsoon came down a man.\n\n\"Who is that stranger there with you?\" asked he of the wife. (He, as\nwell as the ram and salmon, knew the boy; he only wanted to try his\nwife.)\n\n\"This is my brother, who has come to see me.\"\n\nThey all took supper and slept that night. When the eagle was going away\nin the morning, he pulled a feather out of his wing, and said to the\nboy: \"Keep this; it may serve you. If you are ever in straits and want\nhelp, call on what eagles are in the world, and they'll come to you.\"\n\nThere was no hurry now, for the third sister was found; and the boy went\nupstairs with her to examine the country all around, and to look at the\nsea. Soon he saw a great white hill, and on the top of the hill a\ncastle.\n\n\"In that castle on the white hill beyond,\" said the sister, \"lives a\ngiant, who stole from her home the most beautiful young woman in the\nworld. From all parts the greatest heroes and champions and kings' sons\nare coming to take her away from the giant and marry her. There is not a\nman of them all who is able to conquer the giant and free the young\nwoman; but the giant conquers them, cuts their heads off, and then eats\ntheir flesh. When he has picked the bones clean, he throws them out; and\nthe whole place around the castle is white with the bones of the men\nthat the giant has eaten.\"\n\n\"I must go,\" said the boy, \"to that castle to know can I kill the giant\nand bring away the young woman.\"\n\nSo he took leave of his sister, put on the cloak of darkness, took his\nsword with him, and was soon inside the castle. The giant was fighting\nwith champions outside. When the boy saw the young woman he took off the\ncloak of darkness and spoke to her.\n\n\"Oh!\" said she, \"what can you do against the giant? No man has ever come\nto this castle without losing his life. The giant kills every man; and\nno one has ever come here so big that the giant did not eat him at one\nmeal.\"\n\n\"And is there no way to kill him?\" asked the boy.\n\n\"I think not,\" said she.\n\n\"Well, if you'll give me something to eat, I'll stay here; and when the\ngiant comes in, I'll do my best to kill him. But don't let on that I am\nhere.\"\n\nThen he put on the cloak of darkness, and no one could see him. When the\ngiant came in, he had the bodies of two men on his back. He threw down\nthe bodies and told the young woman to get them ready for his dinner.\nThen he snuffed around, and said: \"There's some one here; I smell the\nblood of an Erineach.\"\n\n\"I don't think you do,\" said the young woman; \"I can't see any one.\"\n\n\"Neither can I,\" said the giant; \"but I smell a man.\"\n\nWith that the boy drew his sword; and when the giant was struck, he ran\nin the direction of the blow to give one back; then he was struck on the\nother side.\n\nThey were at one another this way, the giant and the boy with the cloak\nof darkness on him, till the giant had fifty wounds, and was covered\nwith blood. Every minute he was getting a slash of a sword, but never\ncould give one back. At last he called out: \"Whoever you are, wait till\nto-morrow, and I'll face you then.\"\n\nSo the fighting stopped; and the young woman began to cry and lament as\nif her heart would break when she saw the state the giant was in. \"Oh!\nyou'll be with me no longer; you'll be killed now: what can I do alone\nwithout you?\" and she tried to please him, and washed his wounds.\n\n\"Don't be afraid,\" said the giant; \"this one, whoever he is, will not\nkill me, for there is no man in the world that can kill me.\" Then the\ngiant went to bed, and was well in the morning.\n\nNext day the giant and the boy began in the middle of the forenoon, and\nfought till the middle of the afternoon. The giant was covered with\nwounds, and he had not given one blow to the boy, and could not see him,\nfor he was always in his cloak of darkness. So the giant had to ask for\nrest till next morning.\n\nWhile the young woman was washing and dressing the wounds of the giant\nshe cried and lamented all the time, saying: \"What'll become of me now?\nI'm afraid you'll be killed this time; and how can I live here without\nyou?\"\n\n\"Have no fear for me,\" said the giant; \"I'll put your mind at rest. In\nthe bottom of the sea is a chest locked and bound, in that chest is a\nduck, in the duck an egg; and I never can be killed unless some one gets\nthe egg from the duck in the chest at the bottom of the sea, and rubs it\non the mole that is under my right breast.\"\n\nWhile the giant was telling this to the woman to put her mind at rest,\nwho should be listening to the story but the boy in the cloak of\ndarkness. The minute he heard of the chest in the sea, he thought of the\nsalmons. So off he hurried to the seashore, which was not far away. Then\nhe took out the fin that his eldest sister's husband had given him, and\ncalled on what salmons were in the sea to bring up the chest with the\nduck inside, and put it out on the beach before him.\n\nHe had not long to wait till he saw nothing but salmon,--the whole sea\nwas covered with them, moving to land; and they put the chest out on the\nbeach before him.\n\nBut the chest was locked and strong; how could he open it? He thought\nof the rams; and taking out the lock of wool, said: \"I want what rams\nare in the world to come and break open this chest!\"\n\nThat minute the rams of the world were running to the seashore, each\nwith a terrible pair of horns on him; and soon they battered the chest\nto splinters. Out flew the duck, and away she went over the sea.\n\nThe boy took out the feather, and said: \"I want what eagles are in the\nworld to get me the egg from that duck.\"\n\nThat minute the duck was surrounded by the eagles of the world, and the\negg was soon brought to the boy. He put the feather, the wool, and the\nfin in his pocket, put on the cloak of darkness, and went to the castle\non the white hill, and told the young woman, when she was dressing the\nwounds of the giant again, to raise up his arm.\n\nNext day they fought till the middle of the afternoon. The giant was\nalmost cut to pieces, and called for a cessation.\n\nThe young woman hurried to dress the wounds, and he said: \"I see you\nwould help me if you could: you are not able. But never fear, I shall\nnot be killed.\" Then she raised his arm to wash away the blood, and the\nboy, who was there in his cloak of darkness, struck the mole with the\negg. The giant died that minute.\n\nThe boy took the young woman to the castle of his third sister. Next day\nhe went back for the treasures of the giant, and there was more gold in\nthe castle than one horse could draw.\n\nThey spent nine days in the castle of the eagle with the third sister.\nThen the boy gave back the feather, and the two went on till they came\nto the castle of the salmon, where they spent nine more days with the\nsecond sister; and he gave back the fin.\n\nWhen they came to the castle of the ram, they spent fifteen days with\nthe first sister, and had great feasting and enjoyment. Then the boy\ngave back the lock of wool to the ram, and taking farewell of his sister\nand her husband, set out for home with the young woman of the white\ncastle, who was now his wife, bringing presents from the three daughters\nto their father and mother.\n\nAt last they reached the opening near the tree, came up through the\nground, and went on to where he met the red-haired man. Then he spread\nthe cloth of plenty, asked for every good meat and drink, and called the\nred-haired man. He came. The three sat down, ate and drank with\nenjoyment.\n\nWhen they had finished, the boy gave back to the red-haired man the\ncloak of darkness, the sword of sharpness, and the cloth of plenty, and\nthanked him.\n\n\"You were kind to me,\" said the red-haired man; \"you gave me of your\nbread when I asked for it, and told me where you were going. I took pity\non you; for I knew you never could get what you wanted unless I helped\nyou. I am the brother of the eagle, the salmon, and the ram.\"\n\nThey parted. The boy went home, built a castle with the treasure of the\ngiant, and lived happily with his parents and wife.\n\n\n\n\nFAIR, BROWN, AND TREMBLING.\n\n\nKing Aedh Curucha lived in Tir Conal, and he had three daughters, whose\nnames were Fair, Brown, and Trembling.\n\nFair and Brown had new dresses, and went to church every Sunday.\nTrembling was kept at home to do the cooking and work. They would not\nlet her go out of the house at all; for she was more beautiful than the\nother two, and they were in dread she might marry before themselves.\n\nThey carried on in this way for seven years. At the end of seven years\nthe son of the king of Omanya[3] fell in love with the eldest sister.\n\n[3] The ancient Emania in Ulster.\n\nOne Sunday morning, after the other two had gone to church, the old\nhenwife came into the kitchen to Trembling, and said: \"It's at church\nyou ought to be this day, instead of working here at home.\"\n\n\"How could I go?\" said Trembling. \"I have no clothes good enough to wear\nat church; and if my sisters were to see me there, they'd kill me for\ngoing out of the house.\"\n\n\"I'll give you,\" said the henwife, \"a finer dress than either of them\nhas ever seen. And now tell me what dress will you have?\"\n\n\"I'll have,\" said Trembling, \"a dress as white as snow, and green shoes\nfor my feet.\"\n\nThen the henwife put on the cloak of darkness, clipped a piece from the\nold clothes the young woman had on, and asked for the whitest robes in\nthe world and the most beautiful that could be found, and a pair of\ngreen shoes.\n\nThat moment she had the robe and the shoes, and she brought them to\nTrembling, who put them on. When Trembling was dressed and ready, the\nhenwife said: \"I have a honey-bird here to sit on your right shoulder,\nand a honey-finger to put on your left. At the door stands a milk-white\nmare, with a golden saddle for you to sit on, and a golden bridle to\nhold in your hand.\"\n\nTrembling sat on the golden saddle; and when she was ready to start, the\nhenwife said: \"You must not go inside the door of the church, and the\nminute the people rise up at the end of Mass, do you make off, and ride\nhome as fast as the mare will carry you.\"\n\nWhen Trembling came to the door of the church there was no one inside\nwho could get a glimpse of her but was striving to know who she was; and\nwhen they saw her hurrying away at the end of Mass, they ran out to\novertake her. But no use in their running; she was away before any man\ncould come near her. From the minute she left the church till she got\nhome, she overtook the wind before her, and outstripped the wind behind.\n\nShe came down at the door, went in, and found the henwife had dinner\nready. She put off the white robes, and had on her old dress in a\ntwinkling.\n\nWhen the two sisters came home the henwife asked: \"Have you any news\nto-day from the church?\"\n\n\"We have great news,\" said they. \"We saw a wonderful, grand lady at the\nchurch-door. The like of the robes she had we have never seen on woman\nbefore. It's little that was thought of our dresses beside what she had\non; and there wasn't a man at the church, from the king to the beggar,\nbut was trying to look at her and know who she was.\"\n\nThe sisters would give no peace till they had two dresses like the robes\nof the strange lady; but honey-birds and honey-fingers were not to be\nfound.\n\nNext Sunday the two sisters went to church again, and left the youngest\nat home to cook the dinner.\n\nAfter they had gone, the henwife came in and asked: \"Will you go to\nchurch to-day?\"\n\n\"I would go,\" said Trembling, \"if I could get the going.\"\n\n\"What robe will you wear?\" asked the henwife.\n\n\"The finest black satin that can be found, and red shoes for my feet.\"\n\n\"What color do you want the mare to be?\"\n\n\"I want her to be so black and so glossy that I can see myself in her\nbody.\"\n\nThe henwife put on the cloak of darkness, and asked for the robes and\nthe mare. That moment she had them. When Trembling was dressed, the\nhenwife put the honey-bird on her right shoulder and the honey-finger on\nher left. The saddle on the mare was silver, and so was the bridle.\n\nWhen Trembling sat in the saddle and was going away, the henwife ordered\nher strictly not to go inside the door of the church, but to rush away\nas soon as the people rose at the end of Mass, and hurry home on the\nmare before any man could stop her.\n\nThat Sunday the people were more astonished than ever, and gazed at her\nmore than the first time; and all they were thinking of was to know who\nshe was. But they had no chance; for the moment the people rose at the\nend of Mass she slipped from the church, was in the silver saddle, and\nhome before a man could stop her or talk to her.\n\nThe henwife had the dinner ready. Trembling took off her satin robe, and\nhad on her old clothes before her sisters got home.\n\n\"What news have you to-day?\" asked the henwife of the sisters when they\ncame from the church.\n\n\"Oh, we saw the grand strange lady again! And it's little that any man\ncould think of our dresses after looking at the robes of satin that she\nhad on! And all at church, from high to low, had their mouths open,\ngazing at her, and no man was looking at us.\"\n\nThe two sisters gave neither rest nor peace till they got dresses as\nnearly like the strange lady's robes as they could find. Of course they\nwere not so good; for the like of those robes could not be found in\nErin.\n\nWhen the third Sunday came, Fair and Brown went to church dressed in\nblack satin. They left Trembling at home to work in the kitchen, and\ntold her to be sure and have dinner ready when they came back.\n\nAfter they had gone and were out of sight, the henwife came to the\nkitchen and said: \"Well, my dear, are you for church to-day?\"\n\n\"I would go if I had a new dress to wear.\"\n\n\"I'll get you any dress you ask for. What dress would you like?\" asked\nthe henwife.\n\n\"A dress red as a rose from the waist down, and white as snow from the\nwaist up; a cape of green on my shoulders; and a hat on my head with a\nred, a white, and a green feather in it; and shoes for my feet with the\ntoes red, the middle white, and the backs and heels green.\"\n\nThe henwife put on the cloak of darkness, wished for all these things,\nand had them. When Trembling was dressed, the henwife put the honey-bird\non her right shoulder and the honey-finger on her left, and placing the\nhat on her head, clipped a few hairs from one lock and a few from\nanother with her scissors, and that moment the most beautiful golden\nhair was flowing down over the girl's shoulders. Then the henwife asked\nwhat kind of a mare she would ride. She said white, with blue and\ngold-colored diamond-shaped spots all over her body, on her back a\nsaddle of gold, and on her head a golden bridle.\n\nThe mare stood there before the door, and a bird sitting between her\nears, which began to sing as soon as Trembling was in the saddle, and\nnever stopped till she came home from the church.\n\nThe fame of the beautiful strange lady had gone out through the world,\nand all the princes and great men that were in it came to church that\nSunday, each one hoping that it was himself would have her home with him\nafter Mass.\n\nThe son of the king of Omanya forgot all about the eldest sister, and\nremained outside the church, so as to catch the strange lady before she\ncould hurry away.\n\nThe church was more crowded than ever before, and there were three times\nas many outside. There was such a throng before the church that\nTrembling could only come inside the gate.\n\nAs soon as the people were rising at the end of Mass, the lady slipped\nout through the gate, was in the golden saddle in an instant, and\nsweeping away ahead of the wind. But if she was, the prince of Omanya\nwas at her side, and, seizing her by the foot, he ran with the mare for\nthirty perches, and never let go of the beautiful lady till the shoe was\npulled from her foot, and he was left behind with it in his hand. She\ncame home as fast as the mare could carry her, and was thinking all the\ntime that the henwife would kill her for losing the shoe.\n\nSeeing her so vexed and so changed in the face, the old woman asked:\n\"What's the trouble that's on you now?\"\n\n\"Oh! I've lost one of the shoes off my feet,\" said Trembling.\n\n\"Don't mind that; don't be vexed,\" said the henwife; \"maybe it's the\nbest thing that ever happened to you.\"\n\nThen Trembling gave up all the things she had to the henwife, put on her\nold clothes, and went to work in the kitchen. When the sisters came\nhome, the henwife asked: \"Have you any news from the church?\"\n\n\"We have indeed,\" said they; \"for we saw the grandest sight to-day. The\nstrange lady came again, in grander array than before. On herself and\nthe horse she rode were the finest colors of the world, and between the\nears of the horse was a bird which never stopped singing from the time\nshe came till she went away. The lady herself is the most beautiful\nwoman ever seen by man in Erin.\"\n\nAfter Trembling had disappeared from the church, the son of the king of\nOmanya said to the other kings' sons: \"I will have that lady for my\nown.\"\n\nThey all said: \"You didn't win her just by taking the shoe off her\nfoot, you'll have to win her by the point of the sword; you'll have to\nfight for her with us before you can call her your own.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the son of the king of Omanya, \"when I find the lady that\nshoe will fit, I'll fight for her, never fear, before I leave her to any\nof you.\"\n\nThen all the kings' sons were uneasy, and anxious to know who was she\nthat lost the shoe; and they began to travel all over Erin to know could\nthey find her. The prince of Omanya and all the others went in a great\ncompany together, and made the round of Erin; they went\neverywhere,--north, south, east, and west. They visited every place\nwhere a woman was to be found, and left not a house in the kingdom they\ndid not search, to know could they find the woman the shoe would fit,\nnot caring whether she was rich or poor, of high or low degree.\n\nThe prince of Omanya always kept the shoe; and when the young women saw\nit, they had great hopes, for it was of proper size, neither large nor\nsmall, and it would beat any man to know of what material it was made.\nOne thought it would fit her if she cut a little from her great toe; and\nanother, with too short a foot, put something in the tip of her\nstocking. But no use, they only spoiled their feet, and were curing them\nfor months afterwards.\n\nThe two sisters, Fair and Brown, heard that the princes of the world\nwere looking all over Erin for the woman that could wear the shoe, and\nevery day they were talking of trying it on; and one day Trembling spoke\nup and said: \"Maybe it's my foot that the shoe will fit.\"\n\n\"Oh, the breaking of the dog's foot on you! Why say so when you were at\nhome every Sunday?\" They were that way waiting, and scolding the\nyounger sister, till the princes were near the place. The day they were\nto come, the sisters put Trembling in a closet, and locked the door on\nher. When the company came to the house, the prince of Omanya gave the\nshoe to the sisters. But though they tried and tried, it would fit\nneither of them.\n\n\"Is there any other young woman in the house?\" asked the prince.\n\n\"There is,\" said Trembling, speaking up in the closet; \"I'm here.\"\n\n\"Oh! we have her for nothing but to put out the ashes,\" said the\nsisters.\n\nBut the prince and the others wouldn't leave the house till they had\nseen her; so the two sisters had to open the door. When Trembling came\nout, the shoe was given to her, and it fitted exactly.\n\nThe prince of Omanya looked at her and said: \"You are the woman the shoe\nfits, and you are the woman I took the shoe from.\"\n\nThen Trembling spoke up, and said: \"Do you stay here till I return.\"\n\nThen she went to the henwife's house. The old woman put on the cloak of\ndarkness, got everything for her she had the first Sunday at church, and\nput her on the white mare in the same fashion. Then Trembling rode along\nthe highway to the front of the house. All who saw her the first time\nsaid: \"This is the lady we saw at church.\"\n\nThen she went away a second time, and a second time came back on the\nblack mare in the second dress which the henwife gave her. All who saw\nher the second Sunday said: \"That is the lady we saw at church.\" A\nthird time she asked for a short absence, and soon came back on the\nthird mare and in the third dress. All who saw her the third time said:\n\"That is the lady we saw at church.\" Every man was satisfied, and knew\nthat she was the woman.\n\nThen all the princes and great men spoke up, and said to the son of the\nking of Omanya: \"You'll have to fight now for her before we let her go\nwith you.\"\n\n\"I'm here before you, ready for combat,\" answered the prince.\n\nThen the son of the king of Lochlin stepped forth. The struggle began,\nand a terrible struggle it was. They fought for nine hours; and then the\nson of the king of Lochlin stopped, gave up his claim, and left the\nfield. Next day the son of the king of Spain fought six hours, and\nyielded his claim. On the third day the son of the king of NyerfA cubedi\nfought eight hours, and stopped. The fourth day the son of the king of\nGreece fought six hours, and stopped. On the fifth day no more strange\nprinces wanted to fight; and all the sons of kings in Erin said they\nwould not fight with a man of their own land, that the strangers had had\ntheir chance, and as no others came to claim the woman, she belonged of\nright to the son of the king of Omanya.\n\nThe marriage-day was fixed, and the invitations were sent out. The\nwedding lasted for a year and a day. When the wedding was over, the\nking's son brought home the bride, and when the time came a son was\nborn. The young woman sent for her eldest sister, Fair, to be with her\nand care for her. One day, when Trembling was well, and when her husband\nwas away hunting, the two sisters went out to walk; and when they came\nto the sea-side, the eldest pushed the youngest sister in. A great whale\ncame and swallowed her.\n\nThe eldest sister came home alone, and the husband asked, \"Where is your\nsister?\"\n\n\"She has gone home to her father in Ballyshannon; now that I am well, I\ndon't need her.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the husband, looking at her, \"I'm in dread, it's my wife\nthat has gone.\"\n\n\"Oh! no,\" said she; \"it's my sister Fair that's gone.\"\n\nSince the sisters were very much alike, the prince was in doubt. That\nnight he put his sword between them, and said: \"If you are my wife, this\nsword will get warm; if not, it will stay cold.\"\n\nIn the morning when he rose up, the sword was as cold as when he put it\nthere.\n\nIt happened when the two sisters were walking by the seashore, that a\nlittle cowboy was down by the water minding cattle, and saw Fair push\nTrembling into the sea; and next day, when the tide came in, he saw the\nwhale swim up and throw her out on the sand. When she was on the sand\nshe said to the cowboy: \"When you go home in the evening with the cows,\ntell the master that my sister Fair pushed me into the sea yesterday;\nthat a whale swallowed me, and then threw me out, but will come again\nand swallow me with the coming of the next tide; then he'll go out with\nthe tide, and come again with to-morrow's tide, and throw me again on\nthe strand. The whale will cast me out three times. I'm under the\nenchantment of this whale, and cannot leave the beach or escape myself.\nUnless my husband saves me before I'm swallowed the fourth time, I\nshall be lost. He must come and shoot the whale with a silver bullet\nwhen he turns on the broad of his back. Under the breast-fin of the\nwhale is a reddish-brown spot. My husband must hit him in that spot, for\nit is the only place in which he can be killed.\"\n\nWhen the cowboy got home, the eldest sister gave him a draught of\noblivion, and he did not tell.\n\nNext day he went again to the sea. The whale came and cast Trembling on\nshore again. She asked the boy: \"Did you tell the master what I told you\nto tell him?\"\n\n\"I did not,\" said he; \"I forgot.\"\n\n\"How did you forget?\" asked she.\n\n\"The woman of the house gave me a drink that made me forget.\"\n\n\"Well, don't forget telling him this night; and if she gives you a\ndrink, don't take it from her.\"\n\nAs soon as the cowboy came home, the eldest sister offered him a drink.\nHe refused to take it till he had delivered his message and told all to\nthe master. The third day the prince went down with his gun and a silver\nbullet in it. He was not long down when the whale came and threw\nTrembling upon the beach as the two days before. She had no power to\nspeak to her husband till he had killed the whale. Then the whale went\nout, turned over once on the broad of his back, and showed the spot for\na moment only. That moment the prince fired. He had but the one chance,\nand a short one at that; but he took it, and hit the spot, and the\nwhale, mad with pain, made the sea all around red with blood, and died.\n\nThat minute Trembling was able to speak, and went home with her husband,\nwho sent word to her father what the eldest sister had done. The father\ncame, and told him any death he chose to give her to give it. The prince\ntold the father he would leave her life and death with himself. The\nfather had her put out then on the sea in a barrel, with provisions in\nit for seven years.\n\nIn time Trembling had a second child, a daughter. The prince and she\nsent the cowboy to school, and trained him up as one of their own\nchildren, and said: \"If the little girl that is born to us now lives, no\nother man in the world will get her but him.\"\n\nThe cowboy and the prince's daughter lived on till they were married.\nThe mother said to her husband: \"You could not have saved me from the\nwhale but for the little cowboy; on that account I don't grudge him my\ndaughter.\"\n\nThe son of the king of Omanya and Trembling had fourteen children, and\nthey lived happily till the two died of old age.\n\n\n\n\nTHE KING OF ERIN AND THE QUEEN OF THE LONESOME ISLAND.\n\n\nThere was a king in Erin long ago, and this king went out hunting one\nday, but saw nothing till near sunset, when what should come across him\nbut a black pig.\n\n\"Since I've seen nothing all day but this black pig, I'll be at her\nnow,\" said the king; so he put spurs to his horse and raced after the\npig.\n\nWhen the pig was on a hill he was in the valley behind her; when he was\non a hill, the pig was in the valley before him. At last they came to\nthe sea-side, and the pig rushed out into the deep water straight from\nthe shore. The king spurred on his horse and followed the black pig\nthrough the sea till his horse failed under him and was drowned.\n\nThen the king swam on himself till he was growing weak, and said: \"It\nwas for the death of me that the black pig came in my way.\"\n\nBut he swam on some distance yet, till at last he saw land. The pig went\nup on an island; the king too went on shore, and said to himself: \"Oh!\nit is for no good that I came here; there is neither house nor shelter\nto be seen.\" But he cheered up after a while, walked around, and said:\n\"I'm a useless man if I can't find shelter in some place.\"\n\nAfter going on a short space he saw a great castle in a valley before\nhim. When he came to the front of the castle he saw that it had a low\ndoor with a broad threshold all covered with sharp-edged razors, and a\nlow lintel of long-pointed needles. The path to the castle was covered\nwith gravel of gold. The king came up, and went in with a jump over the\nrazors and under the needles. When inside he saw a great fire on a broad\nhearth, and said to himself, \"I'll sit down here, dry my clothes, and\nwarm my body at this fire.\"\n\nAs he sat and warmed himself, a table came out before him with every\nsort of food and drink, without his seeing any one bring it.\n\n\"Upon my honor and power,\" said the king of Erin, \"there is nothing bad\nin this! I'll eat and drink my fill.\"\n\nThen he fell to, and ate and drank his fill. When he had grown tired, he\nlooked behind him, and if he did he saw a fine room, and in it a bed\ncovered with gold. \"Well,\" said he, \"I'll go back and sleep in that bed\na while, I'm so tired.\"\n\nHe stretched himself on the bed and fell asleep. In the night he woke\nup, and felt the presence of a woman in the room. He reached out his\nhand towards her and spoke, but got no answer; she was silent.\n\nWhen morning came, and he made his way out of the castle, she spread a\nbeautiful garden with her Druidic spells over the island,--so great that\nthough he travelled through it all day he could not escape from it. At\nsunset he was back at the door of the castle; and in he went over the\nrazors and under the needles, sat at the fire, and the table came out\nbefore him as on the previous evening. He ate, drank, and slept on the\nbed; and when he woke in the night, there was the woman in the room; but\nshe was silent and unseen as before.\n\nWhen he went out on the second morning the king of Erin saw a garden\nthree times more beautiful than the one of the day before. He travelled\nall day, but could not escape,--could not get out of the garden. At\nsunset he was back at the door of the castle; in he went over the razors\nand under the needles, ate, drank, and slept, as before.\n\nIn the middle of the night he woke up, and felt the presence of the\nwoman in the room. \"Well,\" said he, \"it is a wonderful thing for me to\npass three nights in a room with a woman, and not see her nor know who\nshe is!\"\n\n\"You won't have that to say again, king of Erin,\" answered a voice. And\nthat moment the room was filled with a bright light, and the king looked\nupon the finest woman he had ever seen. \"Well, king of Erin, you are on\nLonesome Island. I am the black pig that enticed you over the land and\nthrough the sea to this place, and I am queen of Lonesome Island. My two\nsisters and I are under a Druidic spell, and we cannot escape from this\nspell till your son and mine shall free us. Now, king of Erin, I will\ngive you a boat to-morrow morning, and do you sail away to your own\nkingdom.\"\n\nIn the morning she went with him to the seashore to the boat. The king\ngave the prow of the boat to the sea, and its stern to the land; then he\nraised the sails, and went his way. The music he had was the roaring of\nthe wind with the whistling of eels, and he broke neither oar nor mast\ntill he landed under his own castle in Erin.\n\nThree quarters of a year after, the queen of Lonesome Island gave birth\nto a son. She reared him with care from day to day and year to year till\nhe was a splendid youth. She taught him the learning of wise men one\nhalf of the day, and warlike exercises with Druidic spells the other\nhalf. One time the young man, the prince of Lonesome Island, came in\nfrom hunting, and found his mother sobbing and crying.\n\n\"Oh! what has happened to you, mother?\" he asked.\n\n\"My son, great grief has come on me. A friend of mine is going to be\nkilled to-morrow.\"\n\n\"Who is he?\"\n\n\"The king of Erin. The king of Spain has come against him with a great\narmy. He wishes to sweep him and his men from the face of the earth, and\ntake the kingdom himself.\"\n\n\"Well, what can we do? If I were there, I'd help the king of Erin.\"\n\n\"Since you say that, my son, I'll send you this very evening. With the\npower of my Druidic spells, you'll be in Erin in the morning.\"\n\nThe prince of Lonesome Island went away that night, and next morning at\nthe rising of the sun he drew up his boat under the king's castle in\nErin. He went ashore, and saw the whole land black with the forces of\nthe king of Spain, who was getting ready to attack the king of Erin and\nsweep him and his men from the face of the earth.\n\nThe prince went straight to the king of Spain, and said, \"I ask one\nday's truce.\"\n\n\"You shall have it, my champion,\" answered the king of Spain.\n\nThe prince then went to the castle of the king of Erin, and stayed there\nthat day as a guest. Next morning early he dressed himself in his\nchampion's array, and, taking his nine-edged sword, he went down alone\nto the king of Spain, and, standing before him, bade him guard himself.\n\nThey closed in conflict, the king of Spain with all his forces on one\nside, and the prince of Lonesome Island on the other. They fought an\nawful battle that day from sunrise till sunset. They made soft places\nhard, and hard places soft; they made high places low, and low places\nhigh; they brought water out of the centre of hard gray rocks, and made\ndry rushes soft in the most distant parts of Erin till sunset; and when\nthe sun went down, the king of Spain and his last man were dead on the\nfield.\n\nNeither the king of Erin nor his forces took part in the battle. They\nhad no need, and they had no chance.\n\nNow the king of Erin had two sons, who were such cowards that they hid\nthemselves from fright during the battle; but their mother told the king\nof Erin that her elder son was the man who had destroyed the king of\nSpain and all his men.\n\nThere was great rejoicing and a feast at the castle of the king of Erin.\nAt the end of the feast the queen said: \"I wish to give the last cup to\nthis stranger who is here as a guest;\" and taking him to an adjoining\nchamber which had a window right over the sea, she seated him in the\nopen window and gave him a cup of drowsiness to drink. When he had\nemptied the cup and closed his eyes, she pushed him out into the\ndarkness.\n\nThe prince of Lonesome Island swam on the water for four days and\nnights, till he came to a rock in the ocean, and there he lived for\nthree months, eating the seaweeds of the rock, till one foggy day a\nvessel came near and the captain cried out: \"We shall be wrecked on this\nrock!\" Then he said, \"There is some one on the rock; go and see who it\nis.\"\n\nThey landed, and found the prince, his clothes all gone, his body black\nfrom the seaweed, which was growing all over it.\n\n\"Who are you?\" asked the captain.\n\n\"Give me first to eat and drink, and then I'll talk,\" said he.\n\nThey brought him food and drink; and when he had eaten and drunk, the\nprince said to the captain: \"What part of the world have you come from?\"\n\n\"I have just sailed from Lonesome Island,\" said the captain. \"I was\nobliged to sail away, for fire was coming from every side to burn my\nship.\"\n\n\"Would you like to go back?\"\n\n\"I should indeed.\"\n\n\"Well, turn around; you'll have no trouble if I am with you.\"\n\nThe captain returned. The queen of Lonesome Island was standing on the\nshore as the ship came in.\n\n\"Oh, my child!\" cried she, \"why have you been away so long?\"\n\n\"The queen of Erin threw me into the sea after I had kept the head of\nthe king of Erin on him, and saved her life too.\"\n\n\"Well, my son, that will come up against the queen of Erin on another\nday.\"\n\nNow, the prince lived on Lonesome Island three years longer, till one\ntime he came home from hunting, and found his mother wringing her hands\nand shedding bitter tears.\n\n\"Oh! what has happened?\" asked he.\n\n\"I am weeping because the king of Spain has gone to take vengeance on\nthe king of Erin for the death of his father, whom you killed.\"\n\n\"Well, mother, I'll go to help the king of Erin, if you give me leave.\"\n\"Since you have said it, you shall go this very night.\"\n\nHe went to the shore. Putting the prow of his bark to the sea and her\nstern to land, he raised high the sails, and heard no sound as he went\nbut the pleasant wind and the whistling of eels, till he pulled up his\nboat next morning under the castle of the king of Erin and went on\nshore.\n\nThe whole country was black with the troops of the king of Spain, who\nwas just ready to attack, when the prince stood before him, and asked a\ntruce till next morning.\n\n\"That you shall have, my champion,\" answered the king. So there was\npeace for that day.\n\nNext morning at sunrise, the prince faced the king of Spain and his\narmy, and there followed a struggle more terrible than that with his\nfather; but at sunset neither the king of Spain nor one of his men was\nleft alive.\n\nThe two sons of the king of Erin were frightened almost to death, and\nhid during the battle, so that no one saw them or knew where they were.\nBut when the king of Spain and his army were destroyed, the queen said\nto the king: \"My elder son has saved us.\" Then she went to bed, and\ntaking the blood of a chicken in her mouth, spat it out, saying: \"This\nis my heart's blood; and nothing can cure me now but three bottles of\nwater from Tubber Tintye, the flaming well.\"\n\nWhen the prince was told of the sickness of the queen of Erin, he came\nto her and said: \"I'll go for the water if your two sons will go with\nme.\"\n\n\"They shall go,\" said the queen; and away went the three young men\ntowards the East, in search of the flaming well.\n\nIn the morning they came to a house on the roadside; and going in, they\nsaw a woman who had washed herself in a golden basin which stood before\nher. She was then wetting her head with the water in the basin, and\ncombing her hair with a golden comb. She threw back her hair, and\nlooking at the prince, said: \"You are welcome, sister's son. What is on\nyou? Is it the misfortune of the world that has brought you here?\"\n\n\"It is not; I am going to Tubber Tintye for three bottles of water.\"\n\n\"That is what you'll never do; no man can cross the fiery river or go\nthrough the enchantments around Tubber Tintye. Stay here with me, and\nI'll give you all I have.\"\n\n\"No, I cannot stay, I must go on.\"\n\n\"Well, you'll be in your other aunt's house to-morrow night, and she\nwill tell you all.\"\n\nNext morning, when they were getting ready to take the road, the elder\nson of the queen of Erin was frightened at what he had heard, and said:\n\"I am sick; I cannot go farther.\"\n\n\"Stop here where you are till I come back,\" said the prince. Then he\nwent on with the younger brother, till at sunset they came to a house\nwhere they saw a woman wetting her head from a golden basin, and combing\nher hair with a golden comb. She threw back her hair, looked at the\nprince, and said: \"You are welcome, sister's son! What brought you to\nthis place? Was it the misfortune of the world that brought you to live\nunder Druidic spells like me and my sisters?\" This was the elder sister\nof the queen of the Lonesome Island.\n\n\"No,\" said the prince; \"I am going to Tubber Tintye for three bottles of\nwater from the flaming well.\"\n\n\"Oh, sister's son, it's a hard journey you're on! But stay here\nto-night; to-morrow morning I'll tell you all.\"\n\nIn the morning the prince's aunt said: \"The queen of the Island of\nTubber Tintye has an enormous castle, in which she lives. She has a\ncountless army of giants, beasts, and monsters to guard the castle and\nthe flaming well. There are thousands upon thousands of them, of every\nform and size. When they get drowsy, and sleep comes on them, they sleep\nfor seven years without waking. The queen has twelve attendant maidens,\nwho live in twelve chambers. She is in the thirteenth and innermost\nchamber herself. The queen and the maidens sleep during the same seven\nyears as the giants and beasts. When the seven years are over, they all\nwake up, and none of them sleep again for seven other years. If any man\ncould enter the castle during the seven years of sleep, he could do what\nhe liked. But the island on which the castle stands is girt by a river\nof fire and surrounded by a belt of poison-trees.\"\n\nThe aunt now blew on a horn, and all the birds of the air gathered\naround her from every place under the heavens, and she asked each in\nturn where it dwelt, and each told her; but none knew of the flaming\nwell, till an old eagle said: \"I left Tubber Tintye to-day.\"\n\n\"How are all the people there?\" asked the aunt.\n\n\"They are all asleep since yesterday morning,\" answered the old eagle.\n\nThe aunt dismissed the birds; and turning to the prince, said, \"Here is\na bridle for you. Go to the stables, shake the bridle, and put it on\nwhatever horse runs out to meet you.\"\n\nNow the second son of the queen of Erin said: \"I am too sick to go\nfarther.\"\n\n\"Well, stay here till I come back,\" said the prince, who took the bridle\nand went out.\n\nThe prince of the Lonesome Island stood in front of his aunt's stables,\nshook the bridle, and out came a dirty, lean little shaggy horse.\n\n\"Sit on my back, son of the king of Erin and the queen of Lonesome\nIsland,\" said the little shaggy horse.\n\nThis was the first the prince had heard of his father. He had often\nwondered who he might be, but had never heard who he was before.\n\nHe mounted the horse, which said: \"Keep a firm grip now, for I shall\nclear the river of fire at a single bound, and pass the poison-trees;\nbut if you touch any part of the trees, even with a thread of the\nclothing that's on you, you'll never eat another bite; and as I rush by\nthe end of the castle of Tubber Tintye with the speed of the wind, you\nmust spring from my back through an open window that is there; and if\nyou don't get in at the window, you're done for. I'll wait for you\noutside till you are ready to go back to Erin.\"\n\nThe prince did as the little horse told him. They crossed the river of\nfire, escaped the touch of the poison-trees, and as the horse shot past\nthe castle, the prince sprang through the open window, and came down\nsafe and sound inside.\n\nThe whole place, enormous in extent, was filled with sleeping giants and\nmonsters of sea and land,--great whales, long slippery eels, bears, and\nbeasts of every form and kind. The prince passed through them and over\nthem till he came to a great stairway. At the head of the stairway he\nwent into a chamber, where he found the most beautiful woman he had ever\nseen, stretched on a couch asleep. \"I'll have nothing to say to you,\"\nthought he, and went on to the next; and so he looked into twelve\nchambers. In each was a woman more beautiful than the one before. But\nwhen he reached the thirteenth chamber and opened the door, the flash of\ngold took the sight from his eyes. He stood a while till the sight came\nback, and then entered. In the great bright chamber was a golden couch,\nresting on wheels of gold. The wheels turned continually; the couch went\nround and round, never stopping night or day. On the couch lay the queen\nof Tubber Tintye; and if her twelve maidens were beautiful, they would\nnot be beautiful if seen near her. At the foot of the couch was Tubber\nTintye itself,--the well of fire. There was a golden cover upon the\nwell, and it went around continually with the couch of the queen.\n\n\"Upon my word,\" said the prince, \"I'll rest here a while.\" And he went\nup on the couch, and never left it for six days and nights.\n\nOn the seventh morning he said, \"It is time for me now to leave this\nplace.\" So he came down and filled the three bottles with water from the\nflaming well. In the golden chamber was a table of gold, and on the\ntable a leg of mutton with a loaf of bread; and if all the men in Erin\nwere to eat for a twelvemonth from the table, the mutton and the bread\nwould be in the same form after the eating as before.\n\nThe prince sat down, ate his fill of the loaf and the leg of mutton, and\nleft them as he had found them. Then he rose up, took his three bottles,\nput them in his wallet, and was leaving the chamber, when he said to\nhimself: \"It would be a shame to go away without leaving something by\nwhich the queen may know who was here while she slept.\" So he wrote a\nletter, saying that the son of the king of Erin and the queen of the\nLonesome Island had spent six days and nights in the golden chamber of\nTubber Tintye, had taken away three bottles of water from the flaming\nwell, and had eaten from the table of gold. Putting this letter under\nthe pillow of the queen, he went out, stood in the open window, sprang\non the back of the lean and shaggy little horse, and passed the trees\nand the river unharmed.\n\nWhen they were near his aunt's house, the horse stopped, and said: \"Put\nyour hand into my ear, and draw out of it a Druidic rod; then cut me\ninto four quarters, and strike each quarter with the rod. Each one of\nthem will become the son of a king, for four princes were enchanted and\nturned into the lean little shaggy horse that carried you to Tubber\nTintye. When you have freed the four princes from this form you can free\nyour two aunts from the spell that is on them, and take them with you to\nLonesome Island.\"\n\nThe prince did as the horse desired; and straightway four princes stood\nbefore him, and thanking him for what he had done, they departed at\nonce, each to his own kingdom.\n\nThe prince removed the spell from his aunts, and, travelling with them\nand the two sons of the queen of Erin, all soon appeared at the castle\nof the king.\n\nWhen they were near the door of their mother's chamber, the elder of the\ntwo sons of the queen of Erin stepped up to the prince of Lonesome\nIsland, snatched the three bottles from the wallet that he had at his\nside, and running up to his mother's bed, said: \"Here, mother, are the\nthree bottles of water which I brought you from Tubber Tintye.\"\n\n\"Thank you, my son; you have saved my life,\" said she.\n\nThe prince went on his bark and sailed away with his aunts to Lonesome\nIsland, where he lived with his mother seven years.\n\nWhen seven years were over, the queen of Tubber Tintye awoke from her\nsleep in the golden chamber; and with her the twelve maidens and all the\ngiants, beasts, and monsters that slept in the great castle.\n\nWhen the queen opened her eyes, she saw a boy about six years old\nplaying by himself on the floor. He was very beautiful and bright, and\nhe had gold on his forehead and silver on his poll. When she saw the\nchild, she began to cry and wring her hands, and said: \"Some man has\nbeen here while I slept.\"\n\nStraightway she sent for her Seandallglic (old blind sage), told him\nabout the child, and asked: \"What am I to do now?\"\n\nThe old blind sage thought a while, and then said: \"Whoever was here\nmust be a hero; for the child has gold on his forehead and silver on his\npoll, and he never went from this place without leaving his name behind\nhim. Let search be made, and we shall know who he was.\"\n\nSearch was made, and at last they found the letter of the prince under\nthe pillow of the couch. The queen was now glad, and proud of the child.\n\nNext day she assembled all her forces, her giants and guards; and when\nshe had them drawn up in line, the army was seven miles long from van to\nrear. The queen opened through the river of fire a safe way for the\nhost, and led it on till she came to the castle of the king of Erin. She\nheld all the land near the castle, so the king had the sea on one side,\nand the army of the queen of Tubber Tintye on the other, ready to\ndestroy him and all that he had. The queen sent a herald for the king to\ncome down.\n\n\"What are you going to do?\" asked the king when he came to her tent. \"I\nhave had trouble enough in my life already, without having more of it\nnow.\"\n\n\"Find for me,\" said the queen, \"the man who came to my castle and\nentered the golden chamber of Tubber Tintye while I slept, or I'll sweep\nyou and all you have from the face of the earth.\"\n\nThe king of Erin called down his elder son, and asked: \"Did you enter\nthe chamber of the queen of Tubber Tintye?\"\n\n\"I did.\"\n\n\"Go, then, and tell her so, and save us.\"\n\nHe went; and when he told the queen, she said: \"If you entered my\nchamber, then mount my gray steed.\"\n\nHe mounted the steed; and if he did, the steed rose in the air with a\nbound, hurled him off his back, in a moment, threw him on a rock, and\ndashed the brains out of his head.\n\nThe king called down his second son, who said that he had been in the\ngolden chamber. Then he mounted the gray steed, which killed him as it\nhad his brother.\n\nNow the queen called the king again, and said: \"Unless you bring the man\nwho entered my golden chamber while I slept, I'll not leave a sign of\nyou or anything you have upon the face of the earth.\" Straightway the\nking sent a message to the queen of Lonesome Island, saying: \"Come to me\nwith your son and your two sisters!\"\n\nThe queen set out next morning, and at sunset she drew up her boat under\nthe castle of the king of Erin. Glad were they to see her at the castle,\nfor great dread was on all.\n\nNext morning the king went down to the queen of Tubber Tintye, who said:\n\"Bring me the man who entered my castle, or I'll destroy you and all you\nhave in Erin this day.\"\n\nThe king went up to the castle; immediately the prince of Lonesome\nIsland went to the queen.\n\n\"Are you the man who entered my castle?\" asked she.\n\n\"I don't know,\" said the prince.\n\n\"Go up now on my gray steed!\" said the queen.\n\nHe sat on the gray steed, which rose under him into the sky. The prince\nstood on the back of the horse, and cut three times with his sword as he\nwent up under the sun. When he came to the earth again, the queen of\nTubber Tintye ran over to him, put his head on her bosom, and said: \"You\nare the man.\"\n\nNow she called the queen of Erin to her tent, and drawing from her own\npocket a belt of silk, slender as a cord, she said: \"Put this on.\"\n\nThe queen of Erin put it on, and then the queen of Tubber Tintye said:\n\"Tighten, belt!\" The belt tightened till the queen of Erin screamed with\npain. \"Now tell me,\" said the queen of Tubber Tintye, \"who was the\nfather of your elder son.\"\n\n\"The gardener,\" said the queen of Erin.\n\nAgain the queen of Tubber Tintye said; \"Tighten, belt!\" The queen of\nErin screamed worse than before; and she had good reason, for she was\ncut nearly in two. \"Now tell me who was the father of your second son.\"\n\n\"The big brewer,\" said the queen of Erin.\n\nSaid the queen of Tubber Tintye to the king of Erin: \"Get this woman\ndead.\"\n\nThe king put down a big fire then, and when it was blazing high, he\nthrew the wife in, and she was destroyed at once.\n\n\"Now do you marry the queen of Lonesome Island, and my child will be\ngrandchild to you and to her,\" said the queen of Tubber Tintye.\n\nThis was done, and the queen of Lonesome Island became queen of Erin and\nlived in the castle by the sea. And the queen of Tubber Tintye married\nthe prince of Lonesome Island, the champion who entered the golden\nchamber while she slept.\n\nNow the king of Erin sent ten ships with messages to all the kings of\nthe world, inviting them to come to the wedding of the queen of Tubber\nTintye and his son, and to his own wedding with the queen of Lonesome\nIsland.\n\nThe queen removed the Druidic spells from her giants, beasts, and\nmonsters; then went home, and made the prince of Lonesome Island king of\nTubber Tintye and lord of the golden chamber.\n\n\n\n\nTHE SHEE AN GANNON AND THE GRUAGACH GAIRE.\n\n\nThe Shee an Gannon[4] was born in the morning, named at noon, and went\nin the evening to ask his daughter of the king of Erin.\n\n[4] Shee an Gannon, in Gaelic \"Sighe an Gannon,\" the fairy of the\nGannon.\n\n\"I will give you my daughter in marriage,\" said the king of Erin; \"you\nwon't get her, though, unless you go and bring me back the tidings that\nI want, and tell me what it is that put a stop to the laughing of the\nGruagach Gaire,[5] who before this laughed always, and laughed so loud\nthat the whole world heard him. There are twelve iron spikes out here in\nthe garden behind my castle. On eleven of the spikes are the heads of\nkings' sons who came seeking my daughter in marriage, and all of them\nwent away to get the knowledge I wanted. Not one was able to get it and\ntell me what stopped the Gruagach Gaire from laughing. I took the heads\noff them all when they came back without the tidings for which they\nwent, and I'm greatly in dread that your head'll be on the twelfth\nspike, for I'll do the same to you that I did to the eleven kings' sons\nunless you tell what put a stop to the laughing of the Gruagach.\"\n\n[5] The laughing Gruagach.\n\nThe Shee an Gannon made no answer, but left the king and pushed away to\nknow could he find why the Gruagach was silent.\n\nHe took a glen at a step, a hill at a leap, and travelled all day till\nevening. Then he came to a house. The master of the house asked him what\nsort was he, and he said: \"A young man looking for hire.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the master of the house, \"I was going to-morrow to look for\na man to mind my cows. If you'll work for me, you'll have a good place,\nthe best food a man could have to eat in this world, and a soft bed to\nlie on.\"\n\nThe Shee an Gannon took service, and ate his supper. Then the master of\nthe house said: \"I am the Gruagach Gaire; now that you are my man and\nhave eaten your supper, you'll have a bed of silk to sleep on.\"\n\nNext morning after breakfast the Gruagach said to the Shee an Gannon:\n\"Go out now and loosen my five golden cows and my bull without horns,\nand drive them to pasture; but when you have them out on the grass, be\ncareful you don't let them go near the land of the giant.\"\n\nThe new cowboy drove the cattle to pasture, and when near the land of\nthe giant, he saw it was covered with woods and surrounded by a high\nwall. He went up, put his back against the wall, and threw in a great\nstretch of it; then he went inside and threw out another great stretch\nof the wall, and put the five golden cows and the bull without horns on\nthe land of the giant.\n\nThen he climbed a tree, ate the sweet apples himself, and threw the sour\nones down to the cattle of the Gruagach Gaire.\n\nSoon a great crashing was heard in the woods,--the noise of young trees\nbending, and old trees breaking. The cowboy looked around, and saw a\nfive-headed giant pushing through the trees; and soon he was before\nhim. \"Poor miserable creature!\" said the giant; \"but weren't you\nimpudent to come to my land and trouble me in this way? You're too big\nfor one bite, and too small for two. I don't know what to do but tear\nyou to pieces.\"\n\n\"You nasty brute,\" said the cowboy, coming down to him from the tree,\n\"'tis little I care for you;\" and then they went at each other. So\ngreat was the noise between them that there was nothing in the world but\nwhat was looking on and listening to the combat.\n\nThey fought till late in the afternoon, when the giant was getting the\nupper hand; and then the cowboy thought that if the giant should kill\nhim, his father and mother would never find him or set eyes on him\nagain, and he would never get the daughter of the king of Erin. The\nheart in his body grew strong at this thought. He sprang on the giant,\nand with the first squeeze and thrust he put him to his knees in the\nhard ground, with the second thrust to his waist, and with the third to\nhis shoulders.\n\n\"I have you at last; you're done for now!\" said the cowboy. Then he took\nout his knife, cut the five heads off the giant, and when he had them\noff he cut out the tongues and threw the heads over the wall.\n\nThen he put the tongues in his pocket and drove home the cattle. That\nevening the Gruagach couldn't find vessels enough in all his place to\nhold the milk of the five golden cows.\n\nAfter supper the cowboy would give no talk to his master, but kept his\nmind to himself, and went to the bed of silk to sleep.\n\nNext morning after breakfast the cowboy drove out his cattle, and going\non farther than the day before, stopped at a high wall. He put his back\nto the wall, threw in a long stretch of it, then went in and threw out\nanother long stretch of it.\n\nAfter that he put the five golden cows and the bull without horns on the\nland, and going up on a tree, ate sweet apples himself, and threw down\nthe sour ones to the cattle.\n\nNow the son of the king of Tisean set out from the king of Erin on the\nsame errand, after asking for his daughter; and as soon as the cowboy\ndrove in his cattle on the second day, he came along by the giant's\nland, found the five heads of the giant thrown out by the cowboy the day\nbefore, and picking them up, ran off to the king of Erin and put them\ndown before him.\n\n\"Oh, you have done good work!\" said the king. \"You have won one third of\nmy daughter.\"\n\nSoon after the cowboy had begun to eat sweet apples, and the son of the\nking of Tisean had run off with the five heads, there came a great noise\nof young trees bending, and old trees breaking, and presently the cowboy\nsaw a giant larger than the one he had killed the day before.\n\n\"You miserable little wretch!\" cried the giant; \"what brings you here on\nmy land?\"\n\n\"You wicked brute!\" said the cowboy, \"I don't care for you;\" and\nslipping down from the tree, he fell upon the giant.\n\nThe fight was fiercer than his first one; but towards evening, when he\nwas growing faint, the cowboy remembered that if he should fall, neither\nhis father nor mother would see him again, and he would never get the\ndaughter of the king of Erin.\n\nThis thought gave him strength; and jumping up, he caught the giant,\nput him with one thrust to his knees in the hard earth, with a second to\nhis waist, with a third to his shoulders, and then swept the five heads\noff him and threw them over the wall, after he had cut out the tongues\nand put them in his pocket.\n\nLeaving the body of the giant, the cowboy drove home the cattle, and the\nGruagach had still greater trouble in finding vessels for the milk of\nthe five golden cows.\n\nAfter supper the cowboy said not a word, but went to sleep.\n\nNext morning he drove the cattle still farther, and came to green woods\nand a strong wall. Putting his back to the wall, he threw in a great\npiece of it, and going in, threw out another piece. Then he drove the\nfive golden cows and the bull without horns to the land inside, ate\nsweet apples himself, and threw down sour ones to the cattle.\n\nThe son of the king of Tisean came and carried off the heads as on the\nday before.\n\nPresently a third giant came crashing through the woods, and a battle\nfollowed more terrible than the other two.\n\nTowards evening the giant was gaining the upper hand, and the cowboy,\ngrowing weak, would have been killed; but the thought of his parents and\nthe daughter of the king of Erin gave him strength, and he swept the\nfive heads off the giant, and threw them over the wall after he had put\nthe tongues in his pocket.\n\nThen the cowboy drove home his cattle; and the Gruagach didn't know what\nto do with the milk of the five golden cows, there was so much of it.\n\nBut when the cowboy was on the way home with the cattle, the son of the\nking of Tisean came, took the five heads of the giant, and hurried to\nthe king of Erin.\n\n\"You have won my daughter now,\" said the king of Erin when he saw the\nheads; \"but you'll not get her unless you tell me what stops the\nGruagach Gaire from laughing.\"\n\nOn the fourth morning the cowboy rose before his master, and the first\nwords he said to the Gruagach were:\n\n\"What keeps you from laughing, you who used to laugh so loud that the\nwhole world heard you?\"\n\n\"I'm sorry,\" said the Gruagach, \"that the daughter of the king of Erin\nsent you here.\"\n\n\"If you don't tell me of your own will, I'll make you tell me,\" said the\ncowboy; and he put a face on himself that was terrible to look at, and\nrunning through the house like a madman, could find nothing that would\ngive pain enough to the Gruagach but some ropes made of untanned\nsheepskin hanging on the wall.\n\nHe took these down, caught the Gruagach, fastened his two hands behind\nhim, and tied his feet so that his little toes were whispering to his\nears. When he was in this state the Gruagach said: \"I'll tell you what\nstopped my laughing if you set me free.\"\n\nSo the cowboy unbound him, the two sat down together, and the Gruagach\nsaid:--\n\n\"I lived in this castle here with my twelve sons. We ate, drank, played\ncards, and enjoyed ourselves, till one day when my sons and I were\nplaying, a wizard hare came rushing in, jumped on our table, defiled it,\nand ran away.\n\n\"On another day he came again; but if he did, we were ready for him, my\ntwelve sons and myself. As soon as he defiled our table and ran off, we\nmade after him, and followed him till nightfall, when he went into a\nglen. We saw a light before us. I ran on, and came to a house with a\ngreat apartment, where there was a man with twelve daughters, and the\nhare was tied to the side of the room near the women.\n\n\"There was a large pot over the fire in the room, and a great stork\nboiling in the pot. The man of the house said to me: 'There are bundles\nof rushes at the end of the room, go there and sit down with your men!'\n\n\"He went into the next room and brought out two pikes, one of wood, the\nother of iron, and asked me which of the pikes would I take. I said,\n'I'll take the iron one;' for I thought in my heart that if an attack\nshould come on me, I could defend myself better with the iron than the\nwooden pike.\n\n\"The man of the house gave me the iron pike, and the first chance of\ntaking what I could out of the pot on the point of the pike. I got but a\nsmall piece of the stork, and the man of the house took all the rest on\nhis wooden pike. We had to fast that night; and when the man and his\ntwelve daughters ate the flesh of the stork, they hurled the bare bones\nin the faces of my sons and myself.\n\n\"We had to stop all night that way, beaten on the faces by the bones of\nthe stork.\n\n\"Next morning, when we were going away, the man of the house asked me to\nstay a while; and going into the next room, he brought out twelve loops\nof iron and one of wood, and said to me: 'Put the heads of your twelve\nsons into the iron loops, or your own head into the wooden one;' and I\nsaid: 'I'll put the twelve heads of my sons in the iron loops, and keep\nmy own out of the wooden one.'\n\n\"He put the iron loops on the necks of my twelve sons, and put the\nwooden one on his own neck. Then he snapped the loops one after another,\ntill he took the heads off my twelve sons and threw the heads and bodies\nout of the house; but he did nothing to hurt his own neck.\n\n\"When he had killed my sons he took hold of me and stripped the skin and\nflesh from the small of my back down, and when he had done that he took\nthe skin of a black sheep that had been hanging on the wall for seven\nyears and clapped it on my body in place of my own flesh and skin; and\nthe sheepskin grew on me, and every year since then I shear myself, and\nevery bit of wool I use for the stockings that I wear I clip off my own\nback.\"\n\nWhen he had said this, the Gruagach showed the cowboy his back covered\nwith thick black wool.\n\nAfter what he had seen and heard, the cowboy said: \"I know now why you\ndon't laugh, and small blame to you. But does that hare come here still\nto spoil your table?\"\n\n\"He does indeed,\" said the Gruagach.\n\nBoth went to the table to play, and they were not long playing cards\nwhen the hare ran in; and before they could stop him he was on the\ntable, and had put it in such a state that they could not play on it\nlonger if they had wanted to.\n\nBut the cowboy made after the hare, and the Gruagach after the cowboy,\nand they ran as fast as ever their legs could carry them till\nnightfall; and when the hare was entering the castle where the twelve\nsons of the Gruagach were killed, the cowboy caught him by the two hind\nlegs and dashed out his brains against the wall; and the skull of the\nhare was knocked into the chief room of the castle, and fell at the feet\nof the master of the place.\n\n\"Who has dared to interfere with my fighting pet?\" screamed he.\n\n\"I,\" said the cowboy; \"and if your pet had had manners, he might be\nalive now.\"\n\nThe cowboy and the Gruagach stood by the fire. A stork was boiling in\nthe pot, as when the Gruagach came the first time. The master of the\nhouse went into the next room and brought out an iron and a wooden pike,\nand asked the cowboy which would he choose.\n\n\"I'll take the wooden one,\" said the cowboy; \"and you may keep the iron\none for yourself.\"\n\nSo he took the wooden one; and going to the pot, brought out on the pike\nall the stork except a small bite, and he and the Gruagach fell to\neating, and they were eating the flesh of the stork all night. The\ncowboy and the Gruagach were at home in the place that time.\n\nIn the morning the master of the house went into the next room, took\ndown the twelve iron loops with a wooden one, brought them out, and\nasked the cowboy which would he take, the twelve iron or the one wooden\nloop.\n\n\"What could I do with the twelve iron ones for myself or my master? I'll\ntake the wooden one.\"\n\nHe put it on, and taking the twelve iron loops, put them on the necks of\nthe twelve daughters of the house, then snapped the twelve heads off\nthem, and turning to their father, said: \"I'll do the same thing to you\nunless you bring the twelve sons of my master to life, and make them as\nwell and strong as when you took their heads.\"\n\nThe master of the house went out and brought the twelve to life again;\nand when the Gruagach saw all his sons alive and as well as ever, he let\na laugh out of himself, and all the Eastern world heard the laugh.\n\nThen the cowboy said to the Gruagach: \"It's a bad thing you have done to\nme, for the daughter of the king of Erin will be married the day after\nyour laugh is heard.\"\n\n\"Oh! then we must be there in time,\" said the Gruagach; and they all\nmade away from the place as fast as ever they could, the cowboy, the\nGruagach, and his twelve sons.\n\nOn the road they came to a woman who was crying very hard.\n\n\"What is your trouble?\" asked the cowboy.\n\n\"You need have no care,\" said she, \"for I will not tell you.\"\n\n\"You must tell me,\" said he, \"for I'll help you out of it.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the woman, \"I have three sons, and they used to play hurley\nwith the three sons of the king of the Sasenach,[6] and they were more\nthan a match for the king's sons. And it was the rule that the winning\nside should give three wallops of their hurleys to the other side; and\nmy sons were winning every game, and gave such a beating to the king's\nsons that they complained to their father, and the king carried away my\nsons to London, and he is going to hang them there to-day.\"\n\n[6] Sasenach, English.\n\n\"I'll bring them here this minute,\" said the cowboy. \"You have no\ntime,\" said the Gruagach.\n\n\"Have you tobacco and a pipe?\" asked the cowboy of the Gruagach.\n\n\"I have not,\" said he.\n\n\"Well, I have,\" said the cowboy; and putting his hand in his pocket, he\ntook out tobacco and a pipe, gave them to the Gruagach, and said: \"I'll\nbe in London and back before you can put tobacco in this pipe and light\nit.\"\n\nHe disappeared, was back from London with the three boys all safe and\nwell, and gave them to their mother before the Gruagach could get a\ntaste of smoke out of the pipe.\n\n\"Now come with us,\" said the cowboy to the woman and her sons, \"to the\nwedding of the daughter of the king of Erin.\"\n\nThey hurried on; and when within three miles of the king's castle there\nwas such a throng of people that no one could go a step ahead. \"We must\nclear a road through this,\" said the cowboy.\n\n\"We must indeed,\" said the Gruagach; and at it they went, threw the\npeople some on one side and some on the other, and soon they had an\nopening for themselves to the king's castle.\n\nAs they went in, the daughter of the king of Erin and the son of the\nking of Tisean were on their knees just going to be married. The cowboy\ndrew his hand on the bridegroom, and gave a blow that sent him spinning\ntill he stopped under a table at the other side of the room.\n\n\"What scoundrel struck that blow?\" asked the king of Erin.\n\n\"It was I,\" said the cowboy.\n\n\"What reason had you to strike the man who won my daughter?\"\n\n\"It was I who won your daughter, not he; and if you don't believe me,\nthe Gruagach Gaire is here himself. He'll tell you the whole story from\nbeginning to end, and show you the tongues of the giants.\"\n\nSo the Gruagach came up and told the king the whole story, how the Shee\nan Gannon had become his cowboy, had guarded the five golden cows and\nthe bull without horns, cut off the heads of the five-headed giants,\nkilled the wizard hare, and brought his own twelve sons to life. \"And\nthen,\" said the Gruagach, \"he is the only man in the whole world I have\never told why I stopped laughing, and the only one who has ever seen my\nfleece of wool.\"\n\nWhen the king of Erin heard what the Gruagach said, and saw the tongues\nof the giants fitted into the heads, he made the Shee an Gannon kneel\ndown by his daughter, and they were married on the spot.\n\nThen the son of the king of Tisean was thrown into prison, and the next\nday they put down a great fire, and the deceiver was burned to ashes.\n\nThe wedding lasted nine days, and the last day was better than the\nfirst.\n\n\n\n\nTHE THREE DAUGHTERS OF THE KING OF THE EAST, AND THE SON\nOF A KING IN ERIN.\n\n\nThere was once a king in Erin, and he had an only son. While this son\nwas a little child his mother died.\n\nAfter a time the king married and had a second son.\n\nThe two boys grew up together; and as the elder was far handsomer and\nbetter than the younger, the queen became jealous, and was for banishing\nhim out of her sight.\n\nThe king's castle stood near the shore of Loch Erne, and three swans\ncame every day to be in the water and swim in the lake. The elder\nbrother used to go fishing; and once when he sat at the side of the\nwater, the three swans made young women of themselves, came to where he\nsat, and talked to the king's son.\n\nThe queen had a boy minding cows in the place, and when he went home\nthat night he told about what he had seen,--that there were three young\nwomen at the lake, and the king's son was talking to the three that day.\nNext morning the queen called the cowboy to her, and said: \"Here is a\npin of slumber; and do you stick it in the clothes of the king's son\nbefore the young women come, and when they go away, take out the pin and\nbring it back to me.\"\n\nThat day when the cowboy saw the three young women coming, he went near\nand threw the pin, which stuck in the clothes of the king's son. That\ninstant he fell asleep on the ground.\n\nWhen the young women came, one of them took a towel, dipped it in the\ncold water of the lake, and rubbed his face; but she could not rouse\nhim. When their time came to go, they were crying and lamenting because\nthe young man was asleep; and one of the three put a gold pin in his\nbosom, so that when he woke up he would find it and keep her in mind.\n\nAfter they had gone a couple of hours, the cowboy came up, took out the\nsleeping-pin, and hurried off. The king's son woke up without delay; and\nfinding the gold pin in his bosom, he knew the young woman had come to\nsee him.\n\nNext day he fished and waited again. When the cowboy saw the young women\ncoming out of the lake, he stole up a second time, and threw the pin,\nwhich stuck in his clothes, and that moment he was drowsy and fell\nasleep. When the young women came he was lying on the ground asleep. One\nof them rubbed him with a towel dipped in the water of the lake; but no\nmatter what she did, he slept on, and when they had to go, she put a\ngold ring in his bosom. When the sisters were leaving the lake, and had\nput on their swan-skins and become swans, they all flew around him and\nflapped their wings in his face to know could they rouse him; but there\nwas no use in trying.\n\nAfter they had gone, the cowboy came and took out the sleeping-pin. When\nthe king's son was awake he put his hand in his bosom, found the\nkeepsake, and knew that the sisters had come to him.\n\nWhen he went fishing the third day, he called up the cowboy and said:\n\"I fall asleep every day. I know something is done to me. Now do you\ntell me all. In time I'll reward you well. I know my stepmother sends\nsomething by you that takes my senses away.\"\n\n\"I would tell,\" said the cowboy, \"but I'm in dread my mistress might\nkill or banish me.\"\n\n\"She will not, for I'll put you in the way she'll not harm you. You see\nmy fishing-bag here? Now throw the pin, which I know you have, towards\nme, and hit the bag.\"\n\nThe cowboy did as he was told, and threw the pin into the fishing-bag,\nwhere it remained without harm to any one. The cowboy went back to his\ncattle, and the prince fished on as before. The three swans were out in\nthe middle of the lake swimming around for themselves in the water, and\nthe prince moved on, fishing, till he came to a bend in the shore. On\none side of him a tongue of land ran out into the lake. The swans came\nto the shore, leaving the piece of land between themselves and the\nprince. Then they took off their swan-skins, were young women, and\nbathed in the lake.\n\nAfter that they came out, put on the dress of young women, and went to\nwhere the king's son was fishing.\n\nHe spoke to them, and asked where were they from, in what place were\nthey born, and why were they swans.\n\nThey said: \"We are three sisters, daughters of the king of the East, and\nwe have two brothers. Our mother died, and our father married again, and\nhad two other daughters; and these two are not so good looking nor so\nwell favored as we, and their mother was in dread they wouldn't get such\nfine husbands as we, so she enchanted us, and now we are going about\nthe world from lake to lake in the form of swans.\"\n\nThen the eldest of the three sisters said to the king's son: \"What kind\nare you, and where were you born?\"\n\n\"I was born in Erin,\" said he; \"and when I was a little boy my mother\ndied, my father married again and had a second son, and that son wasn't\nto the eye what I was, and my stepmother was for banishing me from my\nfather's house because she thought her own son was not so good as I was,\nand I am fishing here every day by the lake to keep out of her sight.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the eldest sister, \"I thought you were a king's son, and so\nI came to you in my own form to know could we go on in the world\ntogether.\"\n\n\"I don't know yet what to do,\" said the king's son.\n\n\"Well, be sure of your mind to-morrow, for that will be the last day for\nme here.\"\n\nWhen the cowboy was going home, the king's son gave him the sleeping-pin\nfor the stepmother. When he had driven in the cattle, the cowboy told\nthe queen that the young man had fallen asleep as on the two other days.\n\nBut there was an old witch in the place who was wandering about the lake\nthat day. She saw everything, went to the queen, and told her how the\nthree swans had made young women of themselves, and talked with her\nstepson.\n\nWhen the queen heard the old witch, she fell into a terrible rage at the\ncowboy for telling her a lie, and banished him out of her sight forever.\nThen she got another cowboy, and sent him off with the sleeping-pin next\nday. When he came near the lake, the king's son tried to drive him off;\nbut the cowboy threw the sleeping-pin into his clothes, and he fell down\nnear the edge of the water without sight or sense.\n\nThe three sisters came, and found him sleeping. They rubbed him, and\nthrew water on his face, but they could not wake him. And the three were\nlamenting sorely, for they had brought a swan's skin with them that day,\nso the king's son might make a swan of himself and fly away with them,\nfor this was their last day at that place; but they could do nothing\nnow, for he lay there dead asleep on the ground before them.\n\nThe eldest sister pulled out her handkerchief, and the falling tears\ndropped on it. Then she took a knife, and cut one of the nipples from\nher breast. The second sister wrote on the handkerchief: \"Keep this in\nmind till you get more account from us.\" They put it in his bosom and\nwent away.\n\nAs soon as the sisters had gone, the cowboy came, drew out the pin, and\nhurried away. The stepmother was always trying to banish the king's son,\nhoping that something might happen to him, and her own son be the heir.\nSo now he went off and wandered away through Erin, always inquiring for\nthe eldest sister, but never could find her.\n\nAt the end of seven years he came home, and was fishing at the side of\nLoch Erne again, when a swan flew up to him and said: \"Your love is\nlying on her death-bed, unless you go to save her. She is bleeding from\nthe breast, and you must go to her now. Go straight to the East!\"\n\nThe king's son went straight to the East, and on the way there rose up\nstorm and fog against him; but they did not stop him. He was going on\nalways, and when he was three weeks' journey from his father's castle he\nstumbled one dark, misty day and fell over a ditch. When he rose up\nthere stood on the other side of the ditch before him a little horse,\nall bridled and saddled, with a whip on the saddle. The horse spoke up\nand said: \"If you are the king's son, I was sent here to meet you, and\ncarry you to the castle of the king of the East. There is a young woman\nat the castle who thinks it long till she sees you. Now ask me no\nquestions, for I'm not at liberty to talk to you till I bring you to the\nEast.\"\n\n\"I suppose we are to be a long time going?\" said the king's son.\n\n\"Don't trouble yourself about the going; I'll take you safely. Sit on my\nback now, and be sure you're a good rider, and you'll not be long on the\nroad. This is my last word.\"\n\nThey went on, and were going always; and as he travelled, the prince met\nthe wind that was before him, and the wind that blew behind could not\ncome up with him. When he was hungry the pommel of the saddle opened,\nand he found the best of eating inside.\n\nThey went on sweeping over the world for two weeks, and when they were\nnear the East the horse said: \"Get down from my back now, for it's tired\nI am.\"\n\n\"How far are we from the castle?\" asked the king's son.\n\n\"Five days' journey,\" answered the horse. \"When you come to the castle,\ndon't stop a moment till you ask where the young woman is lying; and\ntell them to be sure to give good stabling and food to the horse. Come\nand see me yourself every day. If you don't, there will be nothing for\nme but fasting; and that's what I don't like.\"\n\nWhen the king's son came to the castle it was evening. The two younger\nsisters welcomed him. (These were two of the swans at the lake in Erin,\nand now at home by the enchantment of their stepmother. They were swans\nin the daytime, and women only at night, so as not to be under the eye\nof young men when these came to see the stepmother's own daughters.)\nThey said: \"Our sister is on an island, and we'll go to her.\" They got a\nboat for the young man, and went with him to where their sister was\nlying. They said to her: \"The son of the king of Erin is here.\"\n\n\"Let him come in, that I may look at him,\" said she.\n\nThe king's son went in, and when she saw him she was glad. \"Have you\nanything that belongs to me?\" asked she.\n\n\"I have.\"\n\n\"Then throw it on my breast.\"\n\nHe threw the handkerchief on her breast and went away. Next day she rose\nfrom the bed as well as ever. On the third day after his arrival, the\nson of the king of Erin married the eldest daughter of the king of the\nEast, and the stepmother's enchantment was destroyed; and there was the\ngrandest wedding that ever was seen in that kingdom.\n\nThe king's son, thinking only of his bride, forgot all about the horse\nthat had brought him over the long road. When at last he went to see\nhim, the stable was empty; the horse had gone. And neither his father in\nErin nor the stepmother came to his mind, he was living so pleasantly in\nthe East. But after he had been there a long time, and a son and a\ndaughter had been born to him, he remembered his father. Then he made up\nhis mind not to let the stepmother's son be heir to the kingdom in place\nof himself. So taking his wife and children, he left the East and\ntravelled to Erin. He stopped on the road, and sent word to the father\nthat he was coming.\n\nWhen the stepmother heard the news, a great weakness came on her. She\nfell into a fit and died.\n\nThe king's son waited in a convenient place till the funeral was over,\nand then he came to the castle and lived with his father. He was not\nlong in the place when he sent messengers to know could they find the\ncowboy that the stepmother banished for telling about the sleeping-pin.\nThey brought the cowboy to the castle, and the king made him his\ncoachman.\n\nThe cowboy was not twelve months in his new place before he married.\nThen the king's son gave him a fine piece of land to live on, with six\ncows and four horses. There was not a happier man in the kingdom than\nthe cowboy. When the father died, the king's son became king in Erin\nhimself.\n\n\n\n\nTHE FISHERMAN'S SON AND THE GRUAGACH OF TRICKS.\n\n\nThere was an old fisherman once in Erin who had a wife and one son.\n\nThe old fisherman used to go about with a fishing-rod and tackle to the\nrivers and lochs and every place where fish resort, and he was killing\nsalmon and other fish to keep the life in himself and his wife and son.\n\nThe son was not so keen nor so wise as another, and the father was\ninstructing him every day in fishing, so that if himself should be taken\nfrom the world, the son would be able to support the old mother and get\nhis own living.\n\nOne day when the father and son were fishing in a river near the sea,\nthey looked out over the water and saw a small dark speck on the waves.\nIt grew larger and larger, till they saw a boat, and when the boat drew\nnear they saw a man sitting in the stern of it.\n\nThere was a nice beach near the place where they were fishing. The man\nbrought the boat straight to the beach, and stepping out drew it up on\nthe sand.\n\nThey saw then that the stranger was a man of high degree (_duine\nuasal_).\n\nAfter he had put the boat high on the sand, he came to where the two\nwere at work, and said: \"Old fisherman, you'd better let this son of\nyours with me for a year and a day, and I will make a very wise man of\nhim. I am the Gruagach na g-cleasan[7] (Gruagach of tricks), and I'll\nbind myself to be here with your son this day year.\"\n\n[7] Pronounced nAi glAissan.\n\n\"I can't let him go,\" said the old fisherman, \"till he gets his mother's\nadvice.\"\n\n\"Whatever goes as far as women I'll have nothing to do with,\" said the\nGruagach. \"You had better give him to me now, and let the mother alone.\"\n\nThey talked till at last the fisherman promised to let his son go for\nthe year and a day. Then the Gruagach gave his word to have the boy\nthere at the seashore that day year.\n\nThe Gruagach and the boy went into the boat and sailed away.\n\nWhen the year and a day were over, the old fisherman went to the same\nplace where he had parted with his son and the Gruagach, and stood\nlooking over the sea, thinking would he see his son that day.\n\nAt last he saw a black spot on the water, then a boat. When it was near\nhe saw two men sitting in the stern of the boat. When it touched land,\nthe two, who were _duine uasal_ in appearance, jumped out, and one of\nthem pulled the boat to the top of the strand. Then that one, followed\nby the other, came to where the old fisherman was waiting, and asked:\n\"What trouble is on you now, my good man?\"\n\n\"I had a son that wasn't so keen nor so wise as another, and myself and\nthis son were here fishing, and a stranger came, like yourself to-day,\nand asked would I let my son with him for a year and a day. I let the\nson go, and the man promised to be here with him to-day, and that's why\nI am waiting at this place now.\" \"Well,\" said the Gruagach, \"am I your\nson?\"\n\n\"You are not,\" said the fisherman.\n\n\"Is this man here your son?\"\n\n\"I don't know him,\" said the fisherman.\n\n\"Well, then, he is all you will have in place of your son,\" said the\nGruagach.\n\nThe old man looked again, and knew his son. He caught hold of him and\nwelcomed him home.\n\n\"Now,\" said the Gruagach, \"isn't he a better man than he was a year\nago?\"\n\n\"Oh, he's nearly a smart man now!\" said the old fisherman.\n\n\"Well,\" said the Gruagach, \"will you let him with me for another year\nand a day?\"\n\n\"I will not,\" said the old man; \"I want him myself.\"\n\nThe Gruagach then begged and craved till the fisherman promised to let\nthe son with him for a year and a day again. But the old man forgot to\ntake his word of the Gruagach to bring back the son at the end of the\ntime; and when the Gruagach and the boy were in the boat, and had pushed\nout to sea, the Gruagach shouted to the old man: \"I kept my promise to\nbring back your son to-day. I haven't given you my word at all now. I'll\nnot bring him back, and you'll never see him again.\"\n\nThe fisherman went home with a heavy and sorrowful heart, and the old\nwoman scolded him all that night till next morning for letting her son\ngo with the Gruagach a second time.\n\nThen himself and the old woman were lamenting a quarter of a year; and\nwhen another quarter had passed, he said to her: \"I'll leave you here\nnow, and I'll be walking on myself till I wear my legs off up to my\nknees, and from my knees to my waist, till I find where is my son.\" So\naway went the old man walking, and he used to spend but one night in a\nhouse, and not two nights in any house, till his feet were all in\nblisters. One evening late he came to a hut where there was an old woman\nsitting at a fire.\n\n\"Poor man!\" said she, when she laid eyes on him, \"it's a great distress\nyou are in, to be so disfigured with wounds and sores. What is the\ntrouble that's on you?\"\n\n\"I had a son,\" said the old man, \"and the Gruagach na g-cleasan came on\na day and took him from me.\"\n\n\"Oh, poor man!\" said she. \"I have a son with that same Gruagach these\ntwelve years, and I have never been able to get him back or get sight of\nhim, and I'm in dread you'll not be able to get your son either. But\nto-morrow, in the morning, I'll tell you all I know, and show you the\nroad you must go to find the house of the Gruagach na g-cleasan.\"\n\nNext morning she showed the old fisherman the road. He was to come to\nthe place by evening.\n\nWhen he came and entered the house, the Gruagach shook hands with him,\nand said: \"You are welcome, old fisherman. It was I that put this\njourney on you, and made you come here looking for your son.\"\n\n\"It was no one else but you,\" said the fisherman.\n\n\"Well,\" said the Gruagach, \"you won't see your son to-day. At noon\nto-morrow I'll put a whistle in my mouth and call together all the birds\nin my place, and they'll come. Among others will be twelve doves. I'll\nput my hand in my pocket, this way, and take out wheat and throw it\nbefore them on the ground. The doves will eat the wheat, and you must\npick your son out of the twelve. If you find him, you'll have him; if\nyou don't, you'll never get him again.\"\n\nAfter the Gruagach had said these words the old man ate his supper and\nwent to bed.\n\nIn the dead of night the old fisherman's son came. \"Oh, father!\" said\nhe, \"it would be hard for you to pick me out among the twelve doves, if\nyou had to do it alone; but I'll tell you. When the Gruagach calls us\nin, and we go to pick up the wheat, I'll make a ring around the others,\nwalking for myself; and as I go I'll give some of them a tip of my bill,\nand I'll lift my wings when I'm striking them. There was a spot under\none of my arms when I left home, and you'll see that spot under my wing\nwhen I raise it to-morrow. Don't miss the bird that I'll be, and don't\nlet your eyes off it; if you do, you'll lose me forever.\"\n\nNext morning the old man rose, had his breakfast, and kept thinking of\nwhat his son had told him.\n\nAt midday the Gruagach took his whistle and blew. Birds came to him from\nevery part, and among others the twelve doves.\n\nHe took wheat from his pocket, threw it to the doves, and said to the\nfather: \"Now pick out your son from the twelve.\"\n\nThe old man was watching, and soon he saw one of the doves walking\naround the other eleven and hitting some of them a clip of its bill, and\nthen it raised its wings, and the old man saw the spot. The bird let its\nwings down again, and went to eating with the rest.\n\nThe father never let his eyes off the bird. After a while he said to the\nGruagach: \"I'll have that bird there for my son.\" \"Well,\" said the\nGruagach, \"that is your son. I can't blame you for having him; but I\nblame your instructor for the information he gave you, and I give him my\ncurse.\"\n\nSo the old fisherman got his son back in his proper shape, and away they\nwent, father and son, from the house of the Gruagach. The old man felt\nstronger now, and they never stopped travelling a day till they came\nhome.\n\nThe old mother was very glad to see her son, and see him such a wise,\nsmart man.\n\nAfter coming home they had no means but the fishing; they were as poor\nas ever before.\n\nAt this time it was given out at every crossroad in Erin, and in all\npublic places in the kingdom, that there were to be great horse-races.\nNow, when the day came, the old fisherman's son said:\n\n\"Come away with me, father, to the races.\"\n\nThe old man went with him, and when they were near the race-course, the\nson said:\n\n\"Stop here till I tell you this: I'll make myself into the best horse\nthat's here to-day, and do you take me to the place where the races are\nto be, and when you take me in, I'll open my mouth, trying to kill and\neat every man that'll be near me, I'll have such life and swiftness; and\ndo you find a rider for me that'll ride me, and don't let me go till the\nother horses are far ahead on the course. Then let me go. I'll come up\nto them, and I'll run ahead of them and win the race. After that every\nrich man there will want to buy me of you; but don't you sell me to any\nman for less than five hundred pounds; and be sure you get that price\nfor me. And when you have the gold, and you are giving me up, take the\nbit out of my mouth, and don't sell the bridle for any money. Then come\nto this spot, shake the bridle, and I'll be here in my own form before\nyou.\"\n\nThe son made himself a horse, and the old fisherman took him to the\nrace. He reared and snorted, trying to take the head off every man that\ncame near him.\n\nThe old man shouted for a rider. A rider came; he mounted the horse and\nheld him in. The old man didn't let him start till the other horses were\nwell ahead on the course; then he let him go.\n\nThe new horse caught up with the others and shot past them. So they had\nnot gone half way when he was in at the winning-post.\n\nWhen the race was ended, there was a great noise over the strange horse.\nMen crowded around the old fisherman from every corner of the field,\nasking what would he take for the horse.\n\n\"Five hundred pounds,\" said he.\n\n\"Here 'tis for you,\" said the next man to him.\n\nIn a moment the horse was sold, and the money in the old man's pocket.\nThen he pulled the bridle off the horse's head, and made his way out of\nthe place as fast as ever he could.\n\nIt was not long till he was at the spot where the son had told him what\nto do. The minute he came, he shook the bridle, and the son was there\nbefore him in his own shape and features.\n\nOh, but the old fisherman was glad when he had his son with him again,\nand the money in his pocket!\n\nThe two went home together. They had money enough now to live, and quit\nthe fishing. They had plenty to eat and drink, and they spent their\nlives in ease and comfort till the next year, when it was given out at\nall the cross-roads in Erin, and every public place in the kingdom,\nthat there was to be a great hunting with hounds, in the same place\nwhere the races had been the year before.\n\nWhen the day came, the fisherman's son said: \"Come, father, let us go\naway to this hunting.\"\n\n\"Ah!\" said the old man, \"what do we want to go for? Haven't we plenty to\neat at home, with money enough and to spare? What do we care for hunting\nwith hounds?\"\n\n\"Oh! they'll give us more money,\" said the son, \"if we go.\"\n\nThe fisherman listened to his son, and away they went. When the two came\nto the spot where the son had made a horse of himself the year before,\nhe stopped, and said to the father: \"I'll make a hound of myself to-day,\nand when you bring me in sight of the game, you'll see me wild with\njumping and trying to get away; but do you hold me fast till the right\ntime comes, then let go. I'll sweep ahead of every hound in the field,\ncatch the game, and win the prize for you.\n\n\"When the hunt is over, so many men will come to buy me that they'll put\nyou in a maze; but be sure you get three hundred pounds for me, and when\nyou have the money, and are giving me up, don't forget to keep my rope.\nCome to this place, shake the rope, and I'll be here before you, as I am\nnow. If you don't keep the rope, you'll go home without me.\"\n\nThe son made a hound of himself, and the old father took him to the\nhunting-ground.\n\nWhen the hunt began, the hound was springing and jumping like mad; but\nthe father held him till the others were far out in the field. Then he\nlet him loose, and away went the son.\n\nSoon he was up with the pack, then in front of the pack, and never\nstopped till he caught the game and won the prize.\n\nWhen the hunt was over, and the dogs and game brought in, all the people\ncrowded around the old fisherman, saying: \"What do you want of that\nhound? Better sell him; he's no good to you.\"\n\nThey put the old man in a maze, there were so many of them, and they\npressed him so hard.\n\nHe said at last: \"I'll sell the hound; and three hundred pounds is the\nprice I want for him.\"\n\n\"Here 'tis for you,\" said a stranger, putting the money into his hand.\n\nThe old man took the money and gave up the dog, without taking off the\nrope. He forgot his son's warning.\n\nThat minute the Gruagach na g-cleasan called out: \"I'll take the worth\nof my money out of your son now;\" and away he went with the hound.\n\nThe old man walked home alone that night, and it is a heavy heart he had\nin him when he came to the old woman without the son. And the two were\nlamenting their lot till morning.\n\nStill and all, they were better off than the first time they lost their\nson, as they had plenty of everything, and could live at their ease.\n\nThe Gruagach went away home, and put the fisherman's son in a cave of\nconcealment that he had, bound him hand and foot, and tied hard knots on\nhis neck up to the chin. From above there fell on him drops of poison,\nand every drop that fell went from the skin to the flesh, from the flesh\nto the bone, from the bone to the marrow, and he sat there under the\npoison drops, without meat, drink, or rest.\n\nIn the Gruagach's house was a servant-maid, and the fisherman's son had\nbeen kind to her the time he was in the place before.\n\nOn a day when the Gruagach and his eleven sons were out hunting, the\nmaid was going with a tub of dirty water to throw it into the river that\nran by the side of the house. She went through the cave of concealment\nwhere the fisherman's son was bound, and he asked of her the wetting of\nhis mouth from the tub.\n\n\"Oh! the Gruagach would take the life of me,\" said she, \"when he comes\nhome, if I gave you as much as one drop.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said he, \"when I was in this house before, and when I had power\nin my hands, it's good and kind I was to you; and when I get out of this\nconfinement I'll do you a turn, if you give me the wetting of my mouth\nnow.\"\n\nThe maid put the tub near his lips.\n\n\"Oh! I can't stoop to drink unless you untie one knot from my throat,\"\nsaid he.\n\nThen she put the tub down, stooped to him, and loosed one knot from his\nthroat. When she loosed the one knot he made an eel of himself, and\ndropped into the tub. There he began shaking the water, till he put some\nof it on the ground, and when he had the place about him wet, he sprang\nfrom the tub, and slipped along out under the door. The maid caught him;\nbut could not hold him, he was so slippery. He made his way from the\ndoor to the river, which ran near the side of the house.\n\nWhen the Gruagach na g-cleasan came home in the evening with his eleven\nsons, they went to take a look at the fisherman's son; but he was not to\nbe seen. Then the Gruagach called the maid, and taking his sword, said:\n\"I'll take the head off you if you don't tell me this minute what\nhappened while I was gone.\"\n\n\"Oh!\" said the maid, \"he begged so hard for a drop of dirty water to wet\nhis mouth that I hadn't the heart to refuse, for 'tis good he was to me\nand kind each time he saw me when he was here in the house before. When\nthe water touched his mouth, he made an eel of himself, spilled water\nout of the tub, and slipped along over the wet place to the river\noutside. I caught him to bring him back, but I couldn't hold him; in\nspite of all I could do, he made away.\"\n\nThe Gruagach dropped his sword, and went to the water side with his\nsons.\n\nThe sons made eleven eels of themselves, and the Gruagach their father\nwas the twelfth. They went around in the water, searching in every\nplace, and there was not a stone in the river that they passed without\nlooking under and around it for the old fisherman's son.\n\nAnd when he knew that they were after him, he made himself into a\nsalmon; and when they knew he was a salmon, the sons made eleven otters\nof themselves, and the Gruagach made himself the twelfth.\n\nWhen the fisherman's son found that twelve otters were after him, he was\nweak with hunger, and when they had come near, he made himself a whale.\nBut the eleven brothers and their father made twelve cannon whales of\nthemselves, for they had all gone out of the river, and were in the sea\nnow.\n\nWhen they were coming near him, the fisherman's son was weak from\npursuit and hunger, so he jumped up out of the water, and made a\nswallow of himself; but the Gruagach and his sons became twelve hawks,\nand chased the swallow through the air; and as they whirled round and\ndarted, they pressed him hard, till all of them came near the castle of\nthe king of Erin.\n\nNow the king had made a summer-house for his daughter; and where should\nshe be at this time but sitting on the top of the summer-house.\n\nThe old fisherman's son dropped down till he was near her; then he fell\ninto her lap in the form of a ring. The daughter of the king of Erin\ntook up the ring, looked at it, and put it on her finger. The ring took\nher fancy, and she was glad.\n\nWhen the Gruagach and his sons saw this, they let themselves down at the\nking's castle, having the form of the finest men that could be seen in\nthe kingdom.\n\nWhen the king's daughter had the ring on her finger she looked at it and\nliked it. Then the ring spoke, and said: \"My life is in your hands now;\ndon't part from the ring, and don't let it go to any man, and you'll\ngive me a long life.\"\n\nThe Gruagach na g-cleasan and his eleven sons went into the king's\ncastle and played on every instrument known to man, and they showed\nevery sport that could be shown before a king. This they did for three\ndays and three nights. When that time was over, and they were going\naway, the king spoke up and asked:\n\n\"What is the reward that you would like, and what would be pleasing to\nyou from me?\"\n\n\"We want neither gold nor silver,\" said the Gruagach; \"all the reward we\nask of you is the ring that I lost on a time, and which is now on your\ndaughter's finger.\" \"If my daughter has the ring that you lost, it\nshall be given to you,\" said the king.\n\nNow the ring spoke to the king's daughter and said: \"Don't part with me\nfor anything till you send your trusted man for three gallons of strong\nspirits and a gallon of wheat; put the spirits and the wheat together in\nan open barrel before the fire. When your father says you must give up\nthe ring, do you answer back that you have never left the summer-house,\nthat you have nothing on your hand but what is your own and paid for.\nYour father will say then that you must part with me, and give me up to\nthe stranger. When he forces you in this way, and you can keep me no\nlonger, then throw me into the fire; and you'll see great sport and\nstrange things.\"\n\nThe king's daughter sent for the spirits and the wheat, had them mixed\ntogether, and put in an open barrel before the fire.\n\nThe king called the daughter in, and asked: \"Have you the ring which\nthis stranger lost?\"\n\n\"I have a ring,\" said she, \"but it's my own, and I'll not part with it.\nI'll not give it to him nor to any man.\"\n\n\"You must,\" said the king, \"for my word is pledged, and you must part\nwith the ring!\"\n\nWhen she heard this, she slipped the ring from her finger and threw it\ninto the fire.\n\nThat moment the eleven brothers made eleven pairs of tongs of\nthemselves; their father, the old Gruagach, was the twelfth pair.\n\nThe twelve jumped into the fire to know in what spark of it would they\nfind the old fisherman's son; and they were a long time working and\nsearching through the fire, when out flew a spark, and into the barrel.\nThe twelve made themselves men, turned over the barrel, and spilled the\nwheat on the floor. Then in a twinkling they were twelve cocks strutting\naround.\n\nThey fell to and picked away at the wheat to know which one would find\nthe fisherman's son. Soon one dropped on one side, and a second on the\nopposite side, until all twelve were lying drunk from the wheat.\n\nThen the old fisherman's son made a fox of himself, and the first cock\nhe came to was the old Gruagach na g-cleasan himself. He took the head\noff the Gruagach with one bite, and the heads off the eleven brothers\nwith eleven other bites.\n\nWhen the twelve were dead, the old fisherman's son made himself the\nfinest-looking man in Erin, and began to give music and sport to the\nking; and he entertained him five times better than had the Gruagach and\nhis eleven sons.\n\nThen the king's daughter fell in love with him, and she set her mind on\nhim to that degree that there was no life for her without him.\n\nWhen the king saw the straits that his daughter was in, he ordered the\nmarriage without delay.\n\nThe wedding lasted for nine days and nine nights, and the ninth night\nwas the best of all.\n\nWhen the wedding was over, the king felt he was losing his strength, so\nhe took the crown off his own head, and put it on the head of the old\nfisherman's son, and made him king of Erin in place of himself.\n\nThe young couple were the luck, and we the stepping-stones. The presents\nwe got at the marriage were stockings of buttermilk and shoes of paper,\nand these were worn to the soles of our feet when we got home from the\nwedding.\n\n\n\n\nTHE THIRTEENTH SON OF THE KING OF ERIN.\n\n\nThere was a king in Erin long ago who had thirteen sons, and as they\ngrew up he taught them good learning and every exercise and art\nbefitting their rank.\n\nOne day the king went hunting, and saw a swan swimming in a lake with\nthirteen little ones. She kept driving away the thirteenth, and would\nnot let it come near the others.\n\nThe king wondered greatly at this, and when he came home he summoned his\nSean dall Glic (old blind sage), and said: \"I saw a great wonder to-day\nwhile out hunting,--a swan with thirteen cygnets, and she driving away\nthe thirteenth continually, and keeping the twelve with her. Tell me the\ncause and reason of this. Why should a mother hate her thirteenth little\none, and guard the other twelve?\"\n\n\"I will tell you,\" said the old blind sage: \"all creatures on earth,\nwhether beast or human, which have thirteen young, should put the\nthirteenth away, and let it wander for itself through the world and find\nits fate, so that the will of Heaven may work upon it, and not come down\non the others. Now you have thirteen sons, and you must give the\nthirteenth to the Diachbha.\"[8]\n\n[8] Diachbha, \"divinity,\" \"fate.\"\n\n\"Then that is the meaning of the swan on the lake,--I must give up my\nthirteenth son to the Diachbha?\"\n\n\"It is,\" said the old blind sage; \"you must give up one of your thirteen\nsons.\"\n\n\"But how can I give one of them away when I am so fond of all; and which\none shall it be?\"\n\n\"I'll tell you what to do. When the thirteen come home to-night, shut\nthe door against the last that comes.\"\n\nNow one of the sons was slow, not so keen nor so sharp as another; but\nthe eldest, who was called Sean Ruadh, was the best, the hero of them\nall. And it happened that night that he came home last, and when he came\nhis father shut the door against him. The boy raised his hands and said:\n\"Father, what are you going to do with me; what do you wish?\"\n\n\"It is my duty,\" said the father, \"to give one of my sons to the\nDiachbha; and as you are the thirteenth, you must go.\"\n\n\"Well, give me my outfit for the road.\"\n\nThe outfit was brought, Sean Ruadh put it on; then the father gave him a\nblack-haired steed that could overtake the wind before him, and outstrip\nthe wind behind.\n\nSean Ruadh mounted the steed and hurried away. He went on each day\nwithout rest, and slept in the woods at night.\n\nOne morning he put on some old clothes which he had in a pack on the\nsaddle, and leaving his horse in the woods, went aside to an opening. He\nwas not long there when a king rode up and stopped before him.\n\n\"Who are you, and where are you going?\" asked the king. \"Oh!\" said Sean\nRuadh, \"I am astray. I do not know where to go, nor what I am to do.\"\n\n\"If that is how you are, I'll tell you what to do,--come with me.\"\n\n\"Why should I go with you?\" asked Sean Ruadh.\n\n\"Well, I have a great many cows, and I have no one to go with them, no\none to mind them. I am in great trouble also. My daughter will die a\nterrible death very soon.\"\n\n\"How will she die?\" asked Sean Ruadh.\n\n\"There is an urfeist,[9] a great serpent of the sea, a monster which\nmust get a king's daughter to devour every seven years. Once in seven\nyears this thing comes up out of the sea for its meat. The turn has now\ncome to my daughter, and we don't know what day will the urfeist appear.\nThe whole castle and all of us are in mourning for my wretched child.\"\n\n[9] Urfeist, \"great serpent.\"\n\n\"Perhaps some one will come to save her,\" said Sean Ruadh.\n\n\"Oh! there is a whole army of kings' sons who have come, and they all\npromise to save her; but I'm in dread none of them will meet the\nurfeist.\"\n\nSean Ruadh agreed with the king to serve for seven years, and went home\nwith him.\n\nNext morning Sean Ruadh drove out the king's cows to pasture.\n\nNow there were three giants not far from the king's place. They lived in\nthree castles in sight of each other, and every night each of these\ngiants shouted just before going to bed. So loud was the shout that each\nlet out of himself that the people heard it in all the country around.\n\nSean Ruadh drove the cattle up to the giant's land, pushed down the\nwall, and let them in. The grass was very high,--three times better than\nany on the king's pastures.\n\nAs Sean Ruadh sat watching the cattle, a giant came running towards him\nand called out: \"I don't know whether to put a pinch of you in my nose,\nor a bite of you in my mouth!\"\n\n\"Bad luck to me,\" said Sean Ruadh, \"if I came here but to take the life\nout of you!\"\n\n\"How would you like to fight,--on the gray stones, or with sharp\nswords?\" asked the giant.\n\n\"I'll fight you,\" said Sean Ruadh, \"on the gray stones, where your great\nlegs will be going down, and mine standing high.\"\n\nThey faced one another then, and began to fight. At the first encounter\nSean Ruadh put the giant down to his knees among the hard gray stones,\nat the second he put him to his waist, and at the third to his\nshoulders.\n\n\"Come, take me out of this,\" cried the giant, \"and I'll give you my\ncastle and all I've got. I'll give you my sword of light that never\nfails to kill at a blow. I'll give you my black horse that can overtake\nthe wind before, and outstrip the wind behind. These are all up there in\nmy castle.\"\n\nSean Ruadh killed the giant and went up to the castle, where the\nhousekeeper said to him: \"Oh! it is you that are welcome. You have\nkilled the dirty giant that was here. Come with me now till I show you\nall the riches and treasures.\"\n\nShe opened the door of the giant's store-room and said: \"All these are\nyours. Here are the keys of the castle.\"\n\n\"Keep them till I come again, and wake me in the evening,\" said Sean\nRuadh, lying down on the giant's bed.\n\nHe slept till evening; then the housekeeper roused him, and he drove the\nking's cattle home. The cows never gave so much milk as that night. They\ngave as much as in a whole week before.\n\nSean Ruadh met the king, and asked: \"What news from your daughter?\"\n\n\"The great serpent did not come to-day,\" said the king; \"but he may come\nto-morrow.\"\n\n\"Well, to-morrow he may not come till another day,\" said Sean Ruadh.\n\nNow the king knew nothing of the strength of Sean Ruadh, who was\nbare-footed, ragged, and shabby.\n\nThe second morning Sean Ruadh put the king's cows in the second giant's\nland. Out came the second giant with the same questions and threats as\nthe first, and the cowboy spoke as on the day before.\n\nThey fell to fighting; and when the giant was to his shoulders in the\nhard gray rocks, he said: \"I'll give you my sword of light and my\nbrown-haired horse if you'll spare my life.\"\n\n\"Where is your sword of light?\" asked Sean Ruadh.\n\n\"It is hung up over my bed.\"\n\nSean Ruadh ran to the giant's castle, and took the sword, which screamed\nout when he seized it; but he held it fast, hurried back to the giant,\nand asked, \"How shall I try the edge of this sword?\"\n\n\"Against a stick,\" was the reply.\n\n\"I see no stick better than your own head,\" said Sean Ruadh; and with\nthat he swept the head off the giant.\n\nThe cowboy now went back to the castle and hung up the sword. \"Blessing\nto you,\" said the housekeeper; \"you have killed the giant! Come, now,\nand I'll show you his riches and treasures, which are yours forever.\"\n\nSean Ruadh found more treasure in this castle than in the first one.\nWhen he had seen all, he gave the keys to the housekeeper till he should\nneed them. He slept as on the day before, then drove the cows home in\nthe evening.\n\nThe king said: \"I have _the_ luck since you came to me. My cows give\nthree times as much milk to-day as they did yesterday.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Sean Ruadh, \"have you any account of the urfeist?\"\n\n\"He didn't come to-day,\" said the king; \"but he may come to-morrow.\"\n\nSean Ruadh went out with the king's cows on the third day, and drove\nthem to the third giant's land, who came out and fought a more desperate\nbattle than either of the other two; but the cowboy pushed him down\namong the gray rocks to his shoulders and killed him.\n\nAt the castle of the third giant he was received with gladness by the\nhousekeeper, who showed him the treasures and gave him the keys; but he\nleft the keys with her till he should need them. That evening the king's\ncows had more milk than ever before.\n\nOn the fourth day Sean Ruadh went out with the cows, but stopped at the\nfirst giant's castle. The housekeeper at his command brought out the\ndress of the giant, which was all black. He put on the giant's apparel,\nblack as night, and girded on his sword of light. Then he mounted the\nblack-haired steed, which overtook the wind before, and outstripped the\nwind behind; and rushing on between earth and sky, he never stopped\ntill he came to the beach, where he saw hundreds upon hundreds of kings'\nsons, and champions, who were anxious to save the king's daughter, but\nwere so frightened at the terrible urfeist that they would not go near\nher.\n\nWhen he had seen the princess and the trembling champions, Sean Ruadh\nturned his black steed to the castle. Presently the king saw, riding\nbetween earth and sky, a splendid stranger, who stopped before him.\n\n\"What is that I see on the shore?\" asked the stranger. \"Is it a fair, or\nsome great meeting?\"\n\n\"Haven't you heard,\" asked the king, \"that a monster is coming to\ndestroy my daughter to-day?\"\n\n\"No, I haven't heard anything,\" answered the stranger, who turned away\nand disappeared.\n\nSoon the black horseman was before the princess, who was sitting alone\non a rock near the sea. As she looked at the stranger, she thought he\nwas the finest man on earth, and her heart was cheered.\n\n\"Have you no one to save you?\" he asked.\n\n\"No one.\"\n\n\"Will you let me lay my head on your lap till the urfeist comes? Then\nrouse me.\"\n\nHe put his head on her lap and fell asleep. While he slept, the princess\ntook three hairs from his head and hid them in her bosom. As soon as she\nhad hidden the hairs, she saw the urfeist coming on the sea, great as an\nisland, and throwing up water to the sky as he moved. She roused the\nstranger, who sprang up to defend her.\n\nThe urfeist came upon shore, and was advancing on the princess with\nmouth open and wide as a bridge, when the stranger stood before him and\nsaid: \"This woman is mine, not yours!\"\n\nThen drawing his sword of light, he swept off the monster's head with a\nblow; but the head rushed back to its place, and grew on again.\n\nIn a twinkle the urfeist turned and went back to the sea; but as he\nwent, he said: \"I'll be here again to-morrow, and swallow the whole\nworld before me as I come.\"\n\n\"Well,\" answered the stranger, \"maybe another will come to meet you.\"\n\nSean Ruadh mounted his black steed, and was gone before the princess\ncould stop him. Sad was her heart when she saw him rush off between the\nearth and sky more swiftly than any wind.\n\nSean Ruadh went to the first giant's castle and put away his horse,\nclothes, and sword. Then he slept on the giant's bed till evening, when\nthe housekeeper woke him, and he drove home the cows. Meeting the king,\nhe asked: \"Well, how has your daughter fared to-day?\"\n\n\"Oh! the urfeist came out of the sea to carry her away; but a wonderful\nblack champion came riding between earth and sky and saved her.\"\n\n\"Who was he?\"\n\n\"Oh! there is many a man who says he did it. But my daughter isn't saved\nyet, for the urfeist said he'd come to-morrow.\"\n\n\"Well, never fear; perhaps another champion will come to-morrow.\"\n\nNext morning Sean Ruadh drove the king's cows to the land of the second\ngiant, where he left them feeding, and then went to the castle, where\nthe housekeeper met him and said: \"You are welcome. I'm here before you,\nand all is well.\" \"Let the brown horse be brought; let the giant's\napparel and sword be ready for me,\" said Sean Ruadh.\n\nThe apparel was brought, the beautiful blue dress of the second giant,\nand his sword of light. Sean Ruadh put on the apparel, took the sword,\nmounted the brown steed, and sped away between earth and air three times\nmore swiftly than the day before.\n\nHe rode first to the seashore, saw the king's daughter sitting on the\nrock alone, and the princes and champions far away, trembling in dread\nof the urfeist. Then he rode to the king, enquired about the crowd on\nthe seashore, and received the same answer as before. \"But is there no\nman to save her?\" asked Sean Ruadh.\n\n\"Oh! there are men enough,\" said the king, \"who promise to save her, and\nsay they are brave; but there is no man of them who will stand to his\nword and face the urfeist when he rises from the sea.\"\n\nSean Ruadh was away before the king knew it, and rode to the princess in\nhis suit of blue, bearing his sword of light. \"Is there no one to save\nyou?\" asked he.\n\n\"No one.\"\n\n\"Let me lay my head on your lap, and when the urfeist comes, rouse me.\"\n\nHe put his head on her lap, and while he slept she took out the three\nhairs, compared them with his hair, and said to herself: \"You are the\nman who was here yesterday.\"\n\nWhen the urfeist appeared, coming over the sea, the princess roused the\nstranger, who sprang up and hurried to the beach.\n\nThe monster, moving at a greater speed, and raising more water than on\nthe day before, came with open mouth to land. Again Sean Ruadh stood in\nhis way, and with one blow of the giant's sword made two halves of the\nurfeist. But the two halves rushed together, and were one as before.\n\nThen the urfeist turned to the sea again, and said as he went: \"All the\nchampions on earth won't save her from me to-morrow!\"\n\nSean Ruadh sprang to his steed and back to the castle. He went, leaving\nthe princess in despair at his going. She tore her hair and wept for the\nloss of the blue champion,--the one man who had dared to save her.\n\nSean Ruadh put on his old clothes, and drove home the cows as usual. The\nking said: \"A strange champion, all dressed in blue, saved my daughter\nto-day; but she is grieving her life away because he is gone.\"\n\n\"Well, that is a small matter, since her life is safe,\" said Sean Ruadh.\n\nThere was a feast for the whole world that night at the king's castle,\nand gladness was on every face that the king's daughter was safe again.\n\nNext day Sean Ruadh drove the cows to the third giant's pasture, went to\nthe castle, and told the housekeeper to bring the giant's sword and\napparel, and have the red steed led to the door. The third giant's dress\nhad as many colors as there are in the sky, and his boots were of blue\nglass.\n\nSean Ruadh, dressed and mounted on his red steed, was the most beautiful\nman in the world. When ready to start, the housekeeper said to him: \"The\nbeast will be so enraged this time that no arms can stop him; he will\nrise from the sea with three great swords coming out of his mouth, and\nhe could cut to pieces and swallow the whole world if it stood before\nhim in battle. There is only one way to conquer the urfeist, and I will\nshow it to you. Take this brown apple, put it in your bosom, and when he\ncomes rushing from the sea with open mouth, do you throw the apple down\nhis throat, and the great urfeist will melt away and die on the strand.\"\n\nSean Ruadh went on the red steed between earth and sky, with thrice the\nspeed of the day before. He saw the maiden sitting on the rock alone,\nsaw the trembling kings' sons in the distance watching to know what\nwould happen, and saw the king hoping for some one to save his daughter;\nthen he went to the princess, and put his head on her lap; when he had\nfallen asleep, she took the three hairs from her bosom, and looking at\nthem, said: \"You are the man who saved me yesterday.\"\n\nThe urfeist was not long in coming. The princess roused Sean Ruadh, who\nsprang to his feet and went to the sea. The urfeist came up enormous,\nterrible to look at, with a mouth big enough to swallow the world, and\nthree sharp swords coming out of it. When he saw Sean Ruadh, he sprang\nat him with a roar; but Sean Ruadh threw the apple into his mouth, and\nthe beast fell helpless on the strand, flattened out and melted away to\na dirty jelly on the shore.\n\nThen Sean Ruadh went towards the princess and said: \"That urfeist will\nnever trouble man or woman again.\"\n\nThe princess ran and tried to cling to him; but he was on the red steed,\nrushing away between earth and sky, before she could stop him. She held,\nhowever, so firmly to one of the blue glass boots that Sean Ruadh had to\nleave it in her hands.\n\nWhen he drove home the cows that night, the king came out, and Sean\nRuadh asked: \"What news from the urfeist?\"\n\n\"Oh!\" said the king, \"I've had the luck since you came to me. A champion\nwearing all the colors of the sky, and riding a red steed between earth\nand air, destroyed the urfeist to-day. My daughter is safe forever; but\nshe is ready to kill herself because she hasn't the man that saved her.\"\n\nThat night there was a feast in the king's castle such as no one had\never seen before. The halls were filled with princes and champions, and\neach one said: \"I am the man that saved the princess!\"\n\nThe king sent for the old blind sage, and asked, what should he do to\nfind the man who saved his daughter. The old blind sage said,--\n\n\"Send out word to all the world that the man whose foot the blue glass\nboot will fit is the champion who killed the urfeist, and you'll give\nhim your daughter in marriage.\"\n\nThe king sent out word to the world to come to try on the boot. It was\ntoo large for some, too small for others. When all had failed, the old\nsage said,--\n\n\"All have tried the boot but the cowboy.\"\n\n\"Oh! he is always out with the cows; what use in his trying,\" said the\nking.\n\n\"No matter,\" answered the old blind sage; \"let twenty men go and bring\ndown the cowboy.\"\n\nThe king sent up twenty men, who found the cowboy sleeping in the shadow\nof a stone wall. They began to make a hay rope to bind him; but he woke\nup, and had twenty ropes ready before they had one. Then he jumped at\nthem, tied the twenty in a bundle, and fastened the bundle to the wall.\nThey waited and waited at the castle for the twenty men and the cowboy,\ntill at last the king sent twenty men more, with swords, to know what\nwas the delay.\n\nWhen they came, this twenty began to make a hay rope to tie the cowboy;\nbut he had twenty ropes made before their one, and no matter how they\nfought, the cowboy tied the twenty in a bundle, and the bundle to the\nother twenty men.\n\nWhen neither party came back, the old blind sage said to the king: \"Go\nup now, and throw yourself down before the cowboy, for he has tied the\nforty men in two bundles, and the bundles to each other.\"\n\nThe king went and threw himself down before the cowboy, who raised him\nup and said: \"What is this for?\"\n\n\"Come down now and try on the glass boot,\" said the king.\n\n\"How can I go, when I have work to do here?\"\n\n\"Oh! never mind; you'll come back soon enough to do the work.\"\n\nThe cowboy untied the forty men and went down with the king. When he\nstood in front of the castle, he saw the princess sitting in her upper\nchamber, and the glass boot on the window-sill before her.\n\nThat moment the boot sprang from the window through the air to him, and\nwent on his foot of itself. The princess was downstairs in a twinkle,\nand in the arms of Sean Ruadh.\n\nThe whole place was crowded with kings' sons and champions, who claimed\nthat they had saved the princess.\n\n\"What are these men here for?\" asked Sean Ruadh. \"Oh! they have been\ntrying to put on the boot,\" said the king.\n\nWith that Sean Ruadh drew his sword of light, swept the heads off every\nman of them, and threw heads and bodies on the dirt-heap behind the\ncastle.\n\nThen the king sent ships with messengers to all the kings and queens of\nthe world,--to the kings of Spain, France, Greece, and Lochlin, and to\nDiarmuid, son of the monarch of light,--to come to the wedding of his\ndaughter and Sean Ruadh.\n\nSean Ruadh, after the wedding, went with his wife to live in the kingdom\nof the giants, and left his father-in-law on his own land.\n\n\n\n\nKIL ARTHUR.\n\n\nThere was a time long ago, and if we had lived then, we shouldn't be\nliving now.\n\nIn that time there was a law in the world that if a young man came to\nwoo a young woman, and her people wouldn't give her to him, the young\nwoman should get her death by the law.\n\nThere was a king in Erin at that time who had a daughter, and he had a\nson too, who was called Kil Arthur, son of the monarch of Erin.\n\nNow, not far from the castle of the king there was a tinker; and one\nmorning he said to his mother: \"Put down my breakfast for me, mother.\"\n\n\"Where are you going?\" asked the mother.\n\n\"I'm going for a wife.\"\n\n\"Where?\"\n\n\"I am going for the daughter of the king of Erin.\"\n\n\"Oh! my son, bad luck is upon you. It is death to ask for the king's\ndaughter, and you a tinker.\"\n\n\"I don't care for that,\" said he.\n\nSo the tinker went to the king's castle. They were at dinner when he\ncame, and the king trembled as he saw him.\n\nThough they were at table, the tinker went into the room.\n\nThe king asked: \"What did you come for at this time?\"\n\n\"I came to marry your daughter.\"\n\n\"That life and strength may leave me if ever you get my daughter in\nmarriage! I'd give her to death before I would to a tinker.\"\n\nNow Kil Arthur, the king's son, came in, caught the tinker and hanged\nhim, facing the front of the castle. When he was dead, they made seven\nparts of his body, and flung them into the sea.\n\nThen the king had a box made so close and tight that no water could\nenter, and inside the box they fixed a coffin; and when they had put a\nbed with meat and drink into the coffin, they brought the king's\ndaughter, laid her on the bed, closed the box, and pushed it into the\nopen sea. The box went out with the tide and moved on the water for a\nlong time; where it was one day it was not the next,--carried along by\nthe waves day and night, till at last it came to another land.\n\nNow, in the other land was a man who had spent his time in going to sea,\ntill at length he got very poor, and said: \"I'll stay at home now, since\nGod has let me live this long. I heard my father say once that if a man\nwould always rise early and walk along the strand, he would get his\nfortune from the tide at last.\"\n\nOne morning early, as this man was going along the strand, he saw the\nbox, and brought it up to the shore, where he opened it and took out the\ncoffin. When the lid was off the coffin, he found a woman inside alive.\n\n\"Oh!\" said he, \"I'd rather have you there than the full of the box of\ngold.\"\n\n\"I think the gold would be better for you,\" said the woman.\n\nHe took the stranger to his house, and gave her food and drink. Then he\nmade a great cross on the ground, and clasping hands with the woman,\njumped over the arms of the cross, going in the same direction as the\nsun. This was the form of marriage in that land. They lived together\npleasantly. She was a fine woman, worked well for her husband, and\nbrought him great wealth, so that he became richer than any man; and one\nday, when out walking alone, he said to himself: \"I am able to give a\ngrand dinner now to Ri Fohin, Sladaire Mor [king under the wave, the\ngreat robber], who owns men, women, and every kind of beast.\"\n\nThen he went home and invited Ri Fohin to dinner. He came with all the\nmen, women, and beasts he had, and they covered the country for six\nmiles.\n\nThe beasts were fed outside by themselves, but the people in the house.\nWhen dinner was over, he asked Ri Fohin: \"Have you ever seen a house so\nfine and rich, or a dinner so good, as mine to-night?\"\n\n\"I have not,\" said Ri Fohin.\n\nThen the man went to each person present. Each gave the same answer, and\nsaid, \"I have never seen such a house nor such a dinner.\"\n\nHe asked his wife, and she said: \"My praise is no praise here; but what\nis this to the house and the feasting of my father, the king of Erin?\"\n\n\"Why did you say that?\" asked the man, and he went a second and a third\ntime to the guests and to his wife. All had the same answers for him.\nThen he gave his wife a flip of the thumb on her ear, in a friendly way,\nand said: \"Why don't you give good luck to my house; why do you give it\na bad name?\"\n\nThen all the guests said: \"It is a shame to strike your wife on the\nnight of a feast.\"\n\nNow the man was angry and went out of his house. It was growing dark,\nbut he saw a champion coming on a black steed between earth and air;\nand the champion, who was no other than Kil Arthur, his brother-in-law,\ntook him up and bore him away to the castle of the king of Erin.\n\nWhen Kil Arthur arrived they were just sitting down to dinner in the\ncastle, and the man dined with his father-in-law. After dinner the king\nof Erin had cards brought and asked his son-in-law: \"Do you ever play\nwith these?\"\n\n\"No, I have never played with the like of them.\"\n\n\"Well, shuffle them now,\" said the king. He shuffled; and as they were\nenchanted cards and whoever held them could never lose a game he was the\nbest player in the world, though he had never played a game before in\nhis life.\n\nThe king said, \"Put them in your pocket, they may do you good.\" Then the\nking gave him a fiddle, and asked:\n\n\"Have you ever played on the like of this?\"\n\n\"Indeed I have not,\" said the man.\n\n\"Well, play on it now,\" said the king.\n\nHe played, and never in his life had he heard such music.\n\n\"Keep it,\" said the king; \"as long as you don't let it from you, you're\nthe first musician on earth. Now I'll give you something else. Here is a\ncup which will always give you every kind of drink you can wish for; and\nif all the men in the world were to drink out of it they could never\nempty it. Keep these three things; but never raise hand on your wife\nagain.\"\n\nThe king of Erin gave him his blessing; then Kil Arthur took him up on\nthe steed, and going between earth and sky he was soon back at his own\nhome.\n\nNow Ri Fohin had carried off the man's wife and all that he had while he\nwas at dinner with the King of Erin. Going out on the road the king's\nson-in-law began to cry: \"Oh, what shall I do; what shall I do!\" and as\nhe cried, who should come but Kil Arthur on his steed, who said, \"Be\nquiet, I'll go for your wife and goods.\"\n\nKil Arthur went, and killed Ri Fohin and all his people and\nbeasts,--didn't leave one alive. Then he brought back his sister to her\nhusband, and stayed with them for three years.\n\nOne day he said to his sister: \"I am going to leave you. I don't know\nwhat strength I have; I'll walk the world now till I know is there a man\nin it as good as myself.\"\n\nNext morning he bade good-bye to his sister, and rode away on his\nblack-haired steed, which overtook the wind before and outstripped the\nwind behind. He travelled swiftly till evening, spent the night in a\nforest, and the second day hurried on as he had the first.\n\nThe second night he spent in a forest; and next morning as he rose from\nthe ground he saw before him a man covered with blood from fighting, and\nthe clothes nearly torn from his body.\n\n\"What have you been doing?\" asked Kil Arthur.\n\n\"I have been playing cards all night. And where are you going?\" inquired\nthe stranger of Kil Arthur.\n\n\"I am going around the world to know can I find a man as good as\nmyself.\"\n\n\"Come with me,\" said the stranger, \"and I'll show you a man who couldn't\nfind his match till he went to fight the main ocean.\"\n\nKil Arthur went with the ragged stranger till they came to a place from\nwhich they saw a giant out on the ocean beating the waves with a club.\n\nKil Arthur went up to the giant's castle, and struck the pole of combat\nsuch a blow that the giant in the ocean heard it above the noise of his\nclub as he pounded the waves.\n\n\"What do you want?\" asked the giant in the ocean, as he stopped from the\npounding.\n\n\"I want you to come in here to land,\" said Kil Arthur, \"and fight with a\nbetter man than yourself.\"\n\nThe giant came to land, and standing near his castle said to Kil Arthur:\n\"Which would you rather fight with,--gray stones or sharp weapons?\"\n\n\"Gray stones,\" said Kil Arthur.\n\nThey went at each other, and fought the most terrible battle that either\nof them had ever seen till that day. At last Kil Arthur pushed the giant\nto his shoulders through solid earth.\n\n\"Take me out of this,\" cried the giant, \"and I'll give you my sword of\nlight that never missed a blow, my Druidic rod of most powerful\nenchantment, and my healing draught which cures every sickness and\nwound.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Kil Arthur, \"I'll go for your sword and try it.\"\n\nHe went to the giant's castle for the sword, the rod, and the healing\ndraught. When he returned the giant said: \"Try the sword on that tree\nout there.\"\n\n\"Oh,\" said Kil Arthur, \"there is no tree so good as your own neck,\" and\nwith that he swept off the head of the giant; took it, and went on his\nway till he came to a house. He went in and put the head on a table; but\nthat instant it disappeared,--went away of itself. Food and drink of\nevery kind came on the table. When Kil Arthur had eaten and the table\nwas cleared by some invisible power, the giant's head bounded on to the\ntable, and with it a pack of cards. \"Perhaps this head wants to play\nwith me,\" thought Kil Arthur, and he cut his own cards and shuffled\nthem.\n\nThe head took up the cards and played with its mouth as well as any man\ncould with his hands. It won all the time,--wasn't playing fairly. Then\nKil Arthur thought: \"I'll settle this;\" and he took the cards and showed\nhow the head had taken five points in the game that didn't belong to it.\nThen the head sprang at him, struck and beat him till he seized and\nhurled it into the fire.\n\nAs soon as he had the head in the fire a beautiful woman stood before\nhim, and said: \"You have killed nine of my brothers, and this was the\nbest of the nine. I have eight more brothers who go out to fight with\nfour hundred men each day, and they kill them all; but next morning the\nfour hundred are alive again and my brothers have to do battle anew. Now\nmy mother and these eight brothers will be here soon; and they'll go\ndown on their bended knees and curse you who killed my nine brothers,\nand I'm afraid your blood will rise within you when you hear the curses,\nand you'll kill my eight remaining brothers.\"\n\n\"Oh,\" said Kil Arthur, \"I'll be deaf when the curses are spoken; I'll\nnot hear them.\" Then he went to a couch and lay down. Presently the\nmother and eight brothers came, and cursed Kil Arthur with all the\ncurses they knew. He heard them to the end, but gave no word from\nhimself.\n\nNext morning he rose early, girded on his nine-edged sword, went forth\nto where the eight brothers were going to fight the four hundred, and\nsaid to the eight: \"Sit down, and I'll fight in your place.\"\n\nKil Arthur faced the four hundred, and fought with them alone; and\nexactly at midday he had them all dead. \"Now some one,\" said he,\n\"brings these to life again. I'll lie down among them and see who it\nis.\"\n\nSoon he saw an old hag coming with a brush in her hand, and an open\nvessel hanging from her neck by a string. When she came to the four\nhundred she dipped the brush into the vessel and sprinkled the liquid\nwhich was in it over the bodies of the men. They rose up behind her as\nshe passed along.\n\n\"Bad luck to you,\" said Kil Arthur, \"you are the one that keeps them\nalive;\" then he seized her. Putting one of his feet on her two ankles,\nand grasping her by the head and shoulders, he twisted her body till he\nput the life out of her.\n\nWhen dying she said: \"I put you under a curse, to keep on this road till\nyou come to the 'ram of the five rocks,' and tell him you have killed\nthe hag of the heights and all her care.\"\n\nHe went to the place where the ram of the five rocks lived and struck\nthe pole of combat before his castle. Out came the ram, and they fought\ntill Kil Arthur seized his enemy and dashed the brains out of him\nagainst the rocks.\n\nThen he went to the castle of the beautiful woman whose nine brothers he\nhad killed, and for whose eight brothers he had slain the four hundred.\nWhen he appeared the mother rejoiced; the eight brothers blessed him and\ngave him their sister in marriage; and Kil Arthur took the beautiful\nwoman to his father's castle in Erin, where they both lived happily and\nwell.\n\n\n\n\nSHAKING-HEAD.\n\n\nThere was once a king of a province in Erin who had an only son. The\nking was very careful of this son, and sent him to school for good\ninstruction.\n\nThe other three kings of provinces in Erin had three sons at the same\nschool; and the three sent word by this one to his father, that if he\ndidn't put his son to death they would put both father and son to death\nthemselves.\n\nWhen the young man came home with this word to his father and mother,\nthey were grieved when they heard it. But the king's son said that he\nwould go out into the world to seek his fortune, and settle the trouble\nin that way. So away he went, taking with him only five pounds in money\nfor his support.\n\nThe young man travelled on till he came to a grave-yard, where he saw\nfour men fighting over a coffin. Then he went up to the four, and saw\nthat two of them were trying to put the coffin down into a grave, and\nthe other two preventing them and keeping the coffin above ground. When\nthe king's son came near the men, he asked: \"Why do you fight in such a\nplace as this, and why do you keep the coffin above ground?\"\n\nTwo of the men answered, and said: \"The body of our brother is in this\ncoffin, and these two men won't let us bury it.\"\n\nThe other two then said: \"We have a debt of five pounds on the dead man,\nand we won't let his body be buried till the debt is paid.\" The king's\nson said: \"Do you let these men bury their brother, and I will pay what\nyou ask.\"\n\nThen the two let the brothers of the dead man bury him. The king's son\npaid the five pounds, and went away empty-handed, and, except the\nclothes on his back, he had no more than on the day he was born. After\nhe had gone on his way awhile and the grave-yard was out of sight he\nturned and saw a sprightly red-haired man (_fear ruadh_) hurrying after\nhim. When he came up, the stranger asked: \"Don't you want a serving\nman?\"\n\n\"I do not,\" answered the king's son, \"I have nothing to support myself\nwith, let alone a serving man.\"\n\n\"Well, never mind that,\" said the red-haired man; \"I'll be with you\nwherever you go, whether you have anything or not.\"\n\n\"What is your name?\" asked the king's son.\n\n\"Shaking-head,\" answered the red man.\n\nWhen they had gone on a piece of the way together the king's son stopped\nand asked: \"Where shall we be to-night?\"\n\n\"We shall be in a giant's castle where there will be small welcome for\nus,\" said Shaking-head.\n\nWhen evening came they found themselves in front of a castle. In they\nwent and saw no one inside, only a tall old hag. But they were not long\nin the place till they heard a loud, rushing noise outside, and a blow\non the castle. The giant came; and the first words he let out of his\nmouth were: \"I'm glad to have an Erinach on my supper-table to eat\nto-night.\" Then turning to the two he said: \"What brought you here this\nevening; what do you want in my castle?\"\n\n\"All the champions and heroes of Erin are going to take your property\nfrom you and destroy yourself; we have come to warn you, and there is\nnobody to save you from them but us,\" said Shaking-head.\n\nWhen the giant heard these words he changed his treatment entirely. He\ngave the king's son and Shaking-head a hearty welcome and a kindly\ngreeting. When he understood the news they brought, he washed them with\nthe tears of his eyes, dried them with kisses, and gave them a good\nsupper and a soft bed that night.\n\nNext morning the giant was up at an early hour, and he went to the\nbedside of each man and told him to rise and have breakfast.\nShaking-head asked his reward of the giant for telling him of the\nchampions of Erin and the danger he was in.\n\n\"Well,\" said the giant, \"there's a pot of gold over there under my bed;\ntake as much out of it as ever you wish, and welcome.\"\n\n\"It isn't gold I want for my service,\" said Shaking-head; \"you have a\ngift which suits me better.\"\n\n\"What gift is that?\" asked the giant.\n\n\"The light black steed in your stable.\"\n\n\"That's a gift I won't give you,\" said the giant, \"for when any one\ncomes to trouble or attack me, all I have to do is to throw my leg over\nthat steed, and away he carries me out of sight of every enemy.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Shaking-head, \"if you don't give me that steed I'll bring\nall the kingdom of Erin against you, and you'll be destroyed with all\nyou have.\"\n\nThe giant stopped a moment, and said: \"I believe you'd do that thing, so\nyou may take the steed.\" Then Shaking-head took the steed of the giant,\ngave him to the king's son, and away they went.\n\nAt sunset Shaking-head said: \"We are near the castle of another giant,\nthe next brother to the one who entertained us last night. He hasn't\nmuch welcome for us either; but he will treat us well when he is\nthreatened.\"\n\nThe second giant was going to eat the king's son for supper, but when\nShaking-head told him about the forces of Erin he changed his manner and\nentertained them well.\n\nNext morning after breakfast, Shaking-head said: \"You must give me a\npresent for my services in warning you.\"\n\n\"There is a pot of gold under my bed,\" said the giant; \"take all you\nwant of it.\"\n\n\"I don't want your gold,\" said Shaking-head, \"but you have a gift which\nsuits me well.\"\n\n\"What is that?\" asked the giant.\n\n\"The two-handed black sword that never fails a blow.\"\n\n\"You won't get that gift from me,\" said the giant; \"and I can't spare\nit; for if a whole army were to come against me, as soon as I'd have my\ntwo hands on the hilt of that sword, I'd let no man near me without\nsweeping the head off him.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Shaking-head, \"I have been keeping back your enemies this\nlong time; but I'll let them at you now, and I'll raise up more. I'll\nput the whole kingdom of Erin against you.\"\n\nThe giant stopped a moment, and said: \"I believe you'd do that if it\nserved you.\" So he took the sword off his belt and handed it to his\nguest. Shaking-head gave it to the king's son, who mounted his steed,\nand they both went away.\n\nWhen they had gone some distance from the giant's castle Shaking-head\nsaid to the king's son, \"Where shall we be to-night?--you have more\nknowledge than I.\" \"Indeed then I have not,\" said the king's son; \"I\nhave no knowledge at all of where we are going; it is you who have the\nknowledge.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Shaking-head, \"we'll be at the third and youngest giant's\ncastle to-night, and at first he'll treat us far worse and more harshly,\nbut still we'll take this night's lodging of him, and a good gift in the\nmorning.\"\n\nSoon after sunset they came to the castle where they met the worst\nreception and the harshest they had found on the road. The giant was\ngoing to eat them both for supper; but when Shaking-head told him of the\nchampions of Erin, he became as kind as his two brothers, and gave good\nentertainment to both.\n\nNext morning after breakfast, Shaking-head asked for a present in return\nfor his services.\n\n\"Do you see the pot of gold in the corner there under my bed?--take all\nyou want and welcome,\" said the giant.\n\n\"It's not gold I want,\" said Shaking-head, \"but the cloak of darkness.\"\n\n\"Oh,\" said the giant, \"you'll not get that cloak of me, for I want it\nmyself. If any man were to come against me, all I'd have to do would be\nto put that cloak on my shoulders, and no one in the world could see me,\nor know where I'd be.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Shaking-head, \"it's long enough that I am keeping your\nenemies away; and if you don't give me that cloak now I'll raise all the\nkingdom of Erin and still more forces to destroy you, and it's not long\nyou'll last after they come.\"\n\nThe giant thought a moment, and then said: \"I believe you'd do what you\nsay. There's the black cloak hanging on the wall before you; take it.\"\n\nShaking-head took the cloak, and the two went away together, the king's\nson riding on the light black steed, and having the double-handed sword\nat his back. When out of sight of the giant, Shaking-head put on the\ncloak, and wasn't to be seen, and no other man could have been seen in\nhis place. Then the king's son looked around, and began to call and\nsearch for his man,--he was lonely without him and grieved not to see\nhim. Shaking-head, glad to see the affection of the king's son, took off\nthe cloak and was at his side again.\n\n\"Where are we going now?\" asked the king's son.\n\n\"We are going on a long journey to (Ri Chuil an Or) King Behind the\nGold, to ask his daughter of him.\"\n\nThe two travelled on, till they came to the castle of King Behind the\nGold. Then Shaking-head said: \"Go in you, and ask his daughter of the\nking, and I'll stay here outside with the cloak on me.\" So he went in\nand spoke to the king, and the answer he got was this:--\n\n\"I am willing to give you my daughter, but you won't get her unless you\ndo what she will ask of you. And I must tell you now that three hundred\nkings' sons, lacking one, have come to ask for my daughter, and in the\ngarden behind my castle are three hundred iron spikes, and every spike\nof them but one is covered with the head of a king's son who couldn't do\nwhat my daughter wanted of him, and I'm greatly in dread that your own\nhead will be put on the one spike that is left uncovered.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the king's son, \"I'll do my best to keep my head where it\nis at present.\"\n\n\"Stay here in my castle,\" said the king, \"and you'll have good\nentertainment till we know can you do what will be asked of you.\" At\nnight when the king's son was going to bed, the princess gave him a\nthimble, and said: \"Have this for me in the morning.\"\n\nHe put the thimble on his finger; and she thought it could be easily\ntaken away, if he would sleep. So she came to him in the night, with a\ndrink, and said: \"I give you this in hopes I'll gain more drink by you.\"\nHe swallowed the liquor, and the princess went away with the empty cup.\nThen the king's son put the thimble in his mouth between his cheek and\nhis teeth for safe keeping, and was soon asleep.\n\nWhen the princess came to her own chamber, she struck her maid with a\n_slat an draoichta_ (a rod of enchantment) and turned her into a rat;\nthen she made such music of fifes and trumpets to sound throughout the\ncastle, that every soul in it fell asleep. That minute, she sent the rat\nto where the king's son was sleeping, and the rat put her tail into the\nnostrils of the young man, tickled his nose so that he sneezed and blew\nthe thimble out of his mouth. The rat caught it and ran away to the\nprincess, who struck her with the rod of enchantment and turned her into\na maid again.\n\nThen the princess and the maid set out for the eastern world, taking the\nthimble with them. Shaking-head, who was watching with his cloak on,\nunseen by all, had seen everything, and now followed at their heels. In\nthe eastern world, at the sea-side was a rock. The princess tapped it\nwith her finger, and the rock opened; there was a great house inside,\nand in the house a giant. The princess greeted him and gave him the\nthimble, saying: \"You're to keep this so no man can get it.\"\n\n\"Oh,\" said the giant, taking the thimble and throwing it aside, \"you\nneed have no fear; no man can find me in this place.\"\n\nShaking-head caught the thimble from the ground and put it in his\npocket. When she had finished conversation with the giant, the princess\nkissed him, and hurried away. Shaking-head followed her step for step,\ntill they came at break of day to the castle of King Behind the Gold.\nShaking-head went to the king's son and asked: \"Was anything given you\nto keep last night?\"\n\n\"Yes, before I came to this chamber the princess gave me her thimble,\nand told me to have it for her in the morning.\"\n\n\"Have you it now?\" asked Shaking-head.\n\n\"It is not in my mouth where I put it last night, it is not in the bed;\nI'm afraid my head is lost,\" said the king's son.\n\n\"Well, look at this,\" said Shaking-head, taking the thimble out of his\npocket and giving it to him. \"The whole kingdom is moving to-day to see\nyour death. All the people have heard that you are here asking for the\nprincess, and they think your head'll be put on the last spike in the\ngarden, with the heads of the other kings' sons. Rise up now, mount your\nlight black steed, ride to the summer-house of the princess and her\nfather, and give her the thimble.\"\n\nThe king's son did as Shaking-head told him. When he gave up the\nthimble, the king said, \"You have won one third of my daughter.\" But the\nprincess was bitterly angry and vexed to the heart, that any man on\nearth should know that she had dealings with the giant; she cared more\nfor that than anything else.\n\nWhen the second day had passed, and the king's son was going to bed, the\nprincess gave him a comb to keep, and said: \"If you don't have this for\nme in the morning, your head will be put on the spike that's left in my\nfather's garden.\"\n\nThe king's son took the comb with him, wrapped it in a handkerchief, and\ntied it to his head.\n\nIn the night the princess came with a draught which she gave him, and\nsoon he was asleep. Going back to her own chamber, she struck the maid\nwith her rod of enchantment, and made a great yellow cat of her. Then\nshe caused such music of fifes and trumpets to sound throughout the\ncastle that every soul was in a deep sleep before the music was over,\nand that moment she sent the cat to the chamber of the king's son. The\ncat worked the handkerchief off his head, took out the comb and ran with\nit to the princess, who turned her into a maid again.\n\nThe two set out for the eastern world straightway; but as they did,\nShaking-head followed them in his cloak of darkness, till they came to\nthe house of the giant in the great rock at the end of the road, at the\nsea. The princess gave the giant the comb, and said: \"The thimble that I\ngave you to keep last night was taken from you, for the king's son in\nErin brought it back to me this morning, and has done one third of the\nwork of winning me, and I didn't expect you'd serve me in this way.\"\n\nWhen the giant heard this, he was raging, and threw the comb into the\nsea behind him. Then with Druidic spells he raised thunder and lightning\nand wind. The sea was roaring with storm and rain; but the comb had not\ntouched the water when Shaking-head caught it.\n\nWhen her talk was over the princess gave the giant a kiss, and home she\nwent with the maid; but Shaking-head followed them step by step.\n\nIn the morning Shaking-head went to the king's son, roused him, and\nasked: \"What was your task last night?\"\n\n\"The princess gave me a comb to have for her this morning,\" answered the\nking's son.\n\n\"Where is it now?\" asked Shaking-head.\n\n\"Here on my head,\" said the king's son, putting up his hand to get it;\nbut the comb was gone. \"I'm done for now,\" said the king's son; \"my head\nwill be on the last spike to-day unless I have the comb for the\nprincess.\"\n\n\"Here it is for you,\" said Shaking-head, taking the comb out of his\npocket. \"And now,\" said he, \"the whole kingdom is coming to this castle\nto-day to see your head put on the last spike in the garden of King\nBehind the Gold, for all men think the same will happen to you that has\nhappened to every king's son before you. Go up on your steed and ride to\nthe summer-house where the king and his daughter are sitting, and give\nher the comb.\"\n\nThe king's son did as Shaking-head bade him. When he saw the comb the\nking said, \"Now you have my daughter two-thirds won.\" But her face went\nfrom the princess entirely, she was so vexed that any man should know of\nher dealings with the giant.\n\nThe third night when he was going to bed the princess said to the king's\nson, \"If you will not have at my father's castle to-morrow morning the\nhead I will kiss to-night, you'll die to-morrow, and your own head will\nbe put on the last spike in my father's garden.\" Later in the night she\ncame to the bedside of the king's son with a draught, which he drank,\nand before she was back in her chamber, he slept. Then she made such\nmusic all over the castle that not a soul was awake when the music had\nceased. That moment she hurried away with her maid to the eastern world;\nbut Shaking-head followed her in his cloak of darkness. This time he\ncarried with him the two-handed sword that never failed a blow.\n\nWhen she came to the rock in the eastern world and entered the house of\nthe giant, the princess said, \"You let my two gifts go with the son of\nthe king in Erin, and he'll have me won to-morrow if he'll have your\nhead at my father's castle in the morning.\"\n\n\"Never fear,\" said the giant, \"there is nothing in the world to take the\nhead off me but the double-handed sword of darkness that never fails a\nblow, and that sword belongs to my brother in the western world.\"\n\nThe princess gave the giant a kiss at parting; and as she hurried away\nwith her maid the giant turned to look at her. His head was covered with\nan iron cap; but as he looked he laid bare a thin strip of his neck.\nShaking-head was there near him, and said in his mind: \"Your brother's\nsword has never been so close to your neck before;\" and with one blow he\nswept the head off him. Then began the greatest struggle that\nShaking-head ever had, to keep the head from the body of the giant. The\nhead fought to put itself on again, and never stopped till the body was\ndead; then it fell to the ground. Shaking-head seized, but couldn't stir\nthe head,--couldn't move it from its place. Then he searched all around\nit and found a (_bar an suan_) pin of slumber near the ear. When he took\nthe pin away he had no trouble in carrying the head; and he made no\ndelay but came to the castle at daybreak, and threw the head to a herd\nof pigs that belonged to the king. Then he went to the king's son, and\nasked:\n\n\"What happened to you last night?\"\n\n\"The princess came to me, and said that if I wouldn't bring to her\nfather's castle this morning the head she was to kiss last night, my own\nhead would be on the last spike to-day.\"\n\n\"Come out with me now to the pigs,\" said Shaking-head.\n\nThe two went out, and Shaking-head said: \"Go in among the pigs, and take\nthe head with you to the king; and a strange head it is to put before a\nking.\"\n\nSo the king's son went on his steed to the summer-house, and gave the\nhead to the king and his daughter, and turning to the princess, said:\n\n\"This is the head you kissed last night, and it's not a nice looking\nhead either.\"\n\n\"You have my daughter won now entirely,\" said the king, \"and she is\nyours. And do you take that head to the great dark hole that is out\nthere on one side of my castle grounds, and throw it down.\"\n\nThe king's son mounted his steed, and rode off with the head till he\ncame to the hole going deep into the earth. When he let down the head it\nwent to the bottom with such a roaring and such a noise that every mare\nand cow and every beast in the whole kingdom cast its young, such was\nthe terror that was caused by the noise of the head in going to the\nbottom of the hole.\n\nWhen the head was put away the king's son went back to the castle, and\nmarried the daughter of King Behind the Gold. The wedding lasted nine\ndays and nights, and the last night was better than the first.\n\nWhen the wedding was over Shaking-head went to the king, and said: \"You\nhave provided no fortune for your daughter, and it is but right that you\nshould remember her.\"\n\n\"I have plenty of gold and silver to give her,\" said the king.\n\n\"It isn't gold and silver that your son-in-law wants, but men to stand\nagainst his enemies, when they come on him.\"\n\n\"I have more treasures than men,\" said King Behind the Gold; \"but I\nwon't see my daughter conquered for want of an army.\"\n\nThey were satisfied with the king's word, and next day took the road to\nErin, and kept on their way till they came opposite the grave-yard. Then\nShaking-head said to the king's son: \"You are no good, you have never\ntold me a story since the first day I saw you.\"\n\n\"I have but one story to tell you, except what happened since we met.\"\n\n\"Well, tell me what happened before we met.\"\n\n\"I was passing this place before I saw you,\" said the king's son, \"and\nfour men were fighting over a coffin. I spoke to them, and two of them\nsaid they were burying the body of their brother which was in the\ncoffin, and the others said the dead man owed them five pounds, and they\nwouldn't let the coffin into the ground until they got the money. I paid\nfive pounds and the body was buried.\"\n\n\"It was my body was in the coffin,\" said Shaking-head, \"and I came back\ninto this world to do you a good turn; and now I am going, and you'll\nnever see me again unless trouble is on you.\"\n\nShaking-head disappeared, and the king's son went home. He wasn't with\nhis father long till the other three kings' sons heard he had come back\nto Erin with the daughter of King Behind the Gold. They sent word,\nsaying: \"We'll take the head off you now, and put an end to your father\nand yourself.\"\n\nThe king's son went out to walk alone, and as he was lamenting the fate\nhe had brought on his father, who should come along to meet him but\nShaking-head.\n\n\"What trouble is on you now?\" asked he.\n\n\"Oh, three kings' sons are coming with their fleets and armies to\ndestroy my father and myself, and what can we do with our one fleet and\none army?\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Shaking-head, \"I'll settle that for you without delay.\"\nThen he sent a message straight to King Behind the Gold, who gave a\nfleet and an army, and they came to Erin so quickly that they were at\nthe castle before the forces of the three kings' sons. And when the\nthree came the battle began on sea and land at both sides of the castle.\n\nThe three fleets of the three kings' sons were sunk, their armies\ndestroyed, and the three heads taken off themselves. When the battle was\nover and the country safe the king resigned the castle and power to his\nson, and the son of a king in a province became king over all the land\nof Erin.\n\n\n\n\nBIRTH OF FIN MACCUMHAIL.[10]\n\n[10] Cumhail, genitive of Cumhal, after Mac = son; pronounced Cool.\n\n\nCumhal Macart was a great champion in the west of Erin, and it was\nprophesied of him that if ever he married he would meet death in the\nnext battle he fought.\n\nFor this reason he had no wife, and knew no woman for a long time; till\none day he saw the king's daughter, who was so beautiful that he forgot\nall fear and married her in secret.\n\nNext day after the marriage, news came that a battle had to be fought.\n\nNow a Druid had told the king that his daughter's son would take the\nkingdom from him; so he made up his mind to look after the daughter, and\nnot let any man come near her.\n\nBefore he went to the battle, Cumhal told his mother everything,--told\nher of his relations with the king's daughter.\n\nHe said, \"I shall be killed in battle to-day, according to the prophecy\nof the Druid, and I'm afraid if his daughter has a son the king will\nkill the child, for the prophecy is that he will lose the kingdom by the\nson of his own daughter. Now, if the king's daughter has a son do you\nhide and rear him, if you can; you will be his only hope and stay.\"\n\nCumhal was killed in the battle, and within that year the king's\ndaughter had a son. By command of his grandfather, the boy was thrown\nout of the castle window into a loch, to be drowned, on the day of his\nbirth.\n\nThe boy sank from sight; but after remaining a while under the water, he\nrose again to the surface, and came to land holding a live salmon in his\nhand.\n\nThe grandmother of the boy, Cumhal's mother, stood watching on the\nshore, and said to herself as she saw this: \"He is my grandson, the true\nson of my own child,\" and seizing the boy, she rushed away with him, and\nvanished, before the king's people could stop her.\n\nWhen the king heard that the old woman had escaped with his daughter's\nson, he fell into a terrible rage, and ordered all the male children\nborn that day in the kingdom to be put to death, hoping in this way to\nkill his own grandson, and save the crown for himself.\n\nAfter she had disappeared from the bank of the loch, the old woman,\nCumhal's mother, made her way to a thick forest, where she spent that\nnight as best she could. Next day she came to a great oak tree. Then she\nhired a man to cut out a chamber in the tree.\n\nWhen all was finished, and there was a nice room in the oak for herself\nand her grandson, and a whelp of the same age as the boy, and which she\nhad brought with her from the castle, she said to the man: \"Give me the\naxe which you have in your hand, there is something here that I want to\nfix.\"\n\nThe man gave the axe into her hand, and that minute she swept the head\noff him, saying: \"You'll never tell any man about this place now.\" One\nday the whelp ate some of the fine chippings (_bran_) left cut by the\ncarpenter from the inside of the tree. The old woman said: \"You'll be\ncalled Bran from this out.\"\n\nAll three lived in the tree together, and the old woman did not take her\ngrandson out till the end of five years; and then he couldn't walk, he\nhad been sitting so long inside.\n\nWhen the old grandmother had taught the boy to walk, she brought him one\nday to the brow of a hill from which there was a long slope. She took a\nswitch and said: \"Now, run down this place. I will follow and strike you\nwith this switch, and coming up I will run ahead, and you strike me as\noften as you can.\"\n\nThe first time they ran down, his grandmother struck him many times. In\ncoming up the first time, he did not strike her at all. Every time they\nran down she struck him less, and every time they ran up he struck her\nmore.\n\nThey ran up and down for three days; and at the end of that time she\ncould not strike him once, and he struck her at every step she took. He\nhad now become a great runner.\n\nWhen he was fifteen years of age, the old woman went with him to a\nhurling match between the forces of his grandfather and those of a\nneighboring king. Both sides were equal in skill; and neither was able\nto win, till the youth opposed his grandfather's people. Then, he won\nevery game. When the ball was thrown in the air, he struck it coming\ndown, and so again and again,--never letting the ball touch the ground\ntill he had driven it through the barrier.\n\nThe old king, who was very angry, and greatly mortified, at the defeat\nof his people, exclaimed, as he saw the youth, who was very fair and\nhad white hair: \"Who is that _fin cumhal_[11] [white cap]?\"\n\n[11] Cumhal, the name of Fin's father. Denotes also a cap or\nhead-covering, fin = white. The punning resemblance suggested to the old\nwoman the full name, Fin MacCumhail.\n\n\"Ah, that is it; Fin will be his name, and Fin MacCumhail he is,\" said\nthe old woman.\n\nThe king ordered his people to seize and put the young man to death, on\nthe spot. The old woman hurried to the side of her grandson. They\nslipped from the crowd and away they went, a hill at a leap, a glen at a\nstep, and thirty-two miles at a running-leap. They ran a long distance,\ntill Fin grew tired; then the old grandmother took him on her back,\nputting his feet into two pockets which were in her dress, one on each\nside, and ran on with the same swiftness as before, a hill at a leap, a\nglen at a step, and thirty-two miles at a running-leap.\n\nAfter a time, the old woman felt the approach of pursuit, and said to\nFin: \"Look behind, and tell me what you see.\"\n\n\"I see,\" said he, \"a white horse with a champion on his back.\"\n\n\"Oh, no fear,\" said she; \"a white horse has no endurance; he can never\ncatch us, we are safe from him.\" And on they sped. A second time she\nfelt the approach of pursuit, and again she said: \"Look back, and see\nwho is coming.\"\n\nFin looked back, and said: \"I see a warrior riding on a brown horse.\"\n\n\"Never fear,\" said the old woman; \"there is never a brown horse but is\ngiddy, he cannot overtake us.\" She rushed on as before. A third time she\nsaid: \"Look around, and see who is coming now.\" Fin looked, and said:\n\"I see a black warrior on a black horse, following fast.\"\n\n\"There is no horse so tough as a black horse,\" said the grandmother.\n\"There is no escape from this one. My grandson, one or both of us must\ndie. I am old, my time has nearly come. I will die, and you and Bran\nsave yourselves. (Bran had been with them all the time.) Right here\nahead is a deep bog; you jump off my back, and escape as best you can.\nI'll jump into the bog up to my neck; and when the king's men come, I'll\nsay that you are in the bog before me, sunk out of sight, and I'm trying\nto find you. As my hair and yours are the same color, they will think my\nhead good enough to carry back. They will cut it off, and take it in\nplace of yours, and show it to the king; that will satisfy his anger.\"\n\nFin slipped down, took farewell of his grandmother, and hurried on with\nBran. The old woman came to the bog, jumped in, and sank to her neck.\nThe king's men were soon at the edge of the bog, and the black rider\ncalled out to the old woman: \"Where is Fin?\"\n\n\"He is here in the bog before me, and I'm trying can I find him.\"\n\nAs the horsemen could not find Fin, and thought the old woman's head\nwould do to carry back, they cut it off, and took it with them, saying:\n\"This will satisfy the king.\"\n\nFin and Bran went on till they came to a great cave, in which they found\na herd of goats. At the further end of the cave was a smouldering fire.\nThe two lay down to rest.\n\nA couple of hours later, in came a giant with a salmon in his hand. This\ngiant was of awful height, he had but one eye, and that in the middle\nof his forehead, as large as the sun in heaven.\n\nWhen he saw Fin, he called out: \"Here, take this salmon and roast it;\nbut be careful, for if you raise a single blister on it I'll cut the\nhead off you. I've followed this salmon for three days and three nights\nwithout stopping, and I never let it out of my sight, for it is the most\nwonderful salmon in the world.\"\n\nThe giant lay down to sleep in the middle of the cave. Fin spitted the\nsalmon, and held it over the fire.\n\nThe minute the giant closed the one eye in his head, he began to snore.\nEvery time he drew breath into his body, he dragged Fin, the spit, the\nsalmon, Bran, and all the goats to his mouth; and every time he drove a\nbreath out of himself, he threw them back to the places they were in\nbefore. Fin was drawn time after time to the mouth of the giant with\nsuch force, that he was in dread of going down his throat.\n\nWhen partly cooked, a blister rose on the salmon. Fin pressed the place\nwith his thumb, to know could he break the blister, and hide from the\ngiant the harm that was done. But he burned his thumb, and, to ease the\npain, put it between his teeth, and gnawed the skin to the flesh, the\nflesh to the bone, the bone to the marrow; and when he had tasted the\nmarrow, he received the knowledge of all things. Next moment, he was\ndrawn by the breath of the giant right up to his face, and, knowing from\nhis thumb what to do, he plunged the hot spit into the sleeping eye of\nthe giant and destroyed it.\n\nThat instant the giant with a single bound was at the low entrance of\nthe cave, and, standing with his back to the wall and a foot on each\nside of the opening, roared out: \"You'll not leave this place alive.\"\n\nNow Fin killed the largest goat, skinned him as quickly as he could,\nthen putting the skin on himself he drove the herd to where the giant\nstood; the goats passed out one by one between his legs. When the great\ngoat came the giant took him by the horns. Fin slipped from the skin,\nand ran out.\n\n\"Oh, you've escaped,\" said the giant, \"but before we part let me make\nyou a present.\"\n\n\"I'm afraid to go near you,\" said Fin; \"if you wish to give me a\npresent, put it out this way, and then go back.\"\n\nThe giant placed a ring on the ground, then went back. Fin took up the\nring and put it on the end of his little finger above the first joint.\nIt clung so firmly that no man in the world could have taken it off.\n\nThe giant then called out, \"Where are you?\"\n\n\"On Fin's finger,\" cried the ring. That instant the giant sprang at Fin\nand almost came down on his head, thinking in this way to crush him to\nbits. Fin sprang to a distance. Again the giant asked, \"Where are you?\"\n\n\"On Fin's finger,\" answered the ring.\n\nAgain the giant made a leap, coming down just in front of Fin. Many\ntimes he called and many times almost caught Fin, who could not escape\nwith the ring on his finger. While in this terrible struggle, not\nknowing how to escape, Bran ran up and asked:\n\n\"Why don't you chew your thumb?\" Fin bit his thumb to the marrow, and\nthen knew what to do. He took the knife with which he had skinned the\ngoat, cut off his finger at the first joint, and threw it, with the ring\nstill on, into a deep bog near by.\n\nAgain the giant called out, \"Where are you?\" and the ring answered, \"On\nFin's finger.\"\n\nStraightway the giant sprang towards the voice, sank to his shoulders in\nthe bog, and stayed there.\n\nFin with Bran now went on his way, and travelled till he reached a deep\nand thick wood, where a thousand horses were drawing timber, and men\nfelling and preparing it.\n\n\"What is this?\" asked Fin of the overseer of the workmen.\n\n\"Oh, we are building a dun (a castle) for the king; we build one every\nday, and every night it is burned to the ground. Our king has an only\ndaughter; he will give her to any man who will save the dun, and he'll\nleave him the kingdom at his death. If any man undertakes to save the\ndun and fails, his life must pay for it; the king will cut his head off.\nThe best champions in Erin have tried and failed; they are now in the\nking's dungeons, a whole army of them, waiting the king's pleasure. He's\ngoing to cut the heads off them all in one day.\"\n\n\"Why don't you chew your thumb?\" asked Bran.\n\nFin chewed his thumb to the marrow, and then knew that on the eastern\nside of the world there lived an old hag with her three sons, and every\nevening at nightfall she sent the youngest of these to burn the king's\ndun.\n\n\"I will save the king's dun,\" said Fin.\n\n\"Well,\" said the overseer, \"better men than you have tried and lost\ntheir lives.\" \"Oh,\" said Fin, \"I'm not afraid; I'll try for the sake of\nthe king's daughter.\"\n\nNow Fin, followed by Bran, went with the overseer to the king. \"I hear\nyou will give your daughter to the man who saves your dun,\" said Fin.\n\n\"I will,\" said the king; \"but if he fails I must have his head.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Fin, \"I'll risk my head for the sake of your daughter. If I\nfail I'm satisfied.\" The king gave Fin food and drink; he supped, and\nafter supper went to the dun.\n\n\"Why don't you chew your thumb?\" said Bran; \"then you'll know what to\ndo.\" He did. Then Bran took her place on the roof, waiting for the old\nwoman's son. Now the old woman in the east told her youngest son to\nhurry on with his torches, burn the dun, and come back without delay;\nfor the stirabout was boiling and he must not be too late for supper.\n\nHe took the torches, and shot off through the air with a wonderful\nspeed. Soon he was in sight of the king's dun, threw the torches upon\nthe thatched roof to set it on fire as usual.\n\nThat moment Bran gave the torches such a push with her shoulders, that\nthey fell into the stream which ran around the dun, and were put out.\n\"Who is this,\" cried the youngest son of the old hag, \"who has dared to\nput out my lights, and interfere with my hereditary right?\"\n\n\"I,\" said Fin, who stood in front of him. Then began a terrible battle\nbetween Fin and the old woman's son. Bran came down from the dun to help\nFin; she bit and tore his enemy's back, stripping the skin and flesh\nfrom his head to his heels.\n\nAfter a terrible struggle such as had not been in the world before that\nnight, Fin cut the head off his enemy. But for Bran, Fin could never\nhave conquered.\n\nThe time for the return of her son had passed; supper was ready. The old\nwoman, impatient and angry, said to the second son: \"You take torches\nand hurry on, see why your brother loiters. I'll pay him for this when\nhe comes home! But be careful and don't do like him, or you'll have your\npay too. Hurry back, for the stirabout is boiling and ready for supper.\"\n\nHe started off, was met and killed exactly as his brother, except that\nhe was stronger and the battle fiercer. But for Bran, Fin would have\nlost his life that night.\n\nThe old woman was raging at the delay, and said to her eldest son, who\nhad not been out of the house for years: (It was only in case of the\ngreatest need that she sent him. He had a cat's head, and was called Pus\nan Chuine, \"Puss of the Corner;\" he was the eldest and strongest of all\nthe brothers.) \"Now take torches, go and see what delays your brothers;\nI'll pay them for this when they come home.\"\n\nThe eldest brother shot off through the air, came to the king's dun, and\nthrew his torches upon the roof. They had just singed the straw a\nlittle, when Bran pushed them off with such force that they fell into\nthe stream and were quenched.\n\n\"Who is this,\" screamed Cat-head, \"who dares to interfere with my\nancestral right?\"\n\n\"I,\" shouted Fin. Then the struggle began fiercer than with the second\nbrother. Bran helped from behind, tearing the flesh from his head to his\nheels; but at length Cat-head fastened his teeth into Fin's breast,\nbiting and gnawing till Fin cut the head off. The body fell to the\nground, but the head lived, gnawing as terribly as before. Do what they\ncould it was impossible to kill it. Fin hacked and cut, but could\nneither kill nor pull it off. When nearly exhausted, Bran said:\n\n\"Why don't you chew your thumb?\"\n\nFin chewed his thumb, and reaching the marrow knew that the old woman in\nthe east was ready to start with torches to find her sons, and burn the\ndun herself, and that she had a vial of liquid with which she could\nbring the sons to life; and that nothing could free him from Cat-head\nbut the old woman's blood.\n\nAfter midnight the old hag, enraged at the delay of her sons, started\nand shot through the air like lightning, more swiftly than her sons. She\nthrew her torches from afar upon the roof of the dun; but Bran as before\nhurled them into the stream.\n\nNow the old woman circled around in the air looking for her sons. Fin\nwas getting very weak from pain and loss of blood, for Cat-head was\nbiting at his breast all the time.\n\nBran called out: \"Rouse yourself, oh, Fin; use all your power or we are\nlost! If the old hag gets a drop from the vial upon the bodies of her\nsons, they will come to life, and then we're done for.\"\n\nThus roused, Fin with one spring reached the old woman in the air, and\nswept the bottle from her grasp; which falling upon the ground was\nemptied.\n\nThe old hag gave a scream which was heard all over the world, came to\nthe ground and closed with Fin. Then followed a battle greater than the\nworld had ever known before that night, or has ever seen since. Water\nsprang out of gray rocks, cows cast their calves even when they had\nnone, and hard rushes grew soft in the remotest corner of Erin, so\ndesperate was the fighting and so awful, between Fin and the old hag.\nFin would have died that night but for Bran.\n\nJust as daylight was coming Fin swept the head off the old woman, caught\nsome of her blood, and rubbed it around Cat-head, who fell off dead.\n\nHe rubbed his own wounds with the blood and was cured; then rubbed some\non Bran, who had been singed with the torches, and she was as well as\never. Fin, exhausted with fighting, dropped down and fell asleep.\n\nWhile he was sleeping the chief steward of the king came to the dun,\nfound it standing safe and sound, and seeing Fin lying there asleep knew\nthat he had saved it. Bran tried to waken Fin, pulled and tugged, but\ncould not rouse him.\n\nThe steward went to the king, and said: \"I have saved the dun, and I\nclaim the reward.\"\n\n\"It shall be given you,\" answered the king; and straightway the steward\nwas recognized as the king's son-in-law, and orders were given to make\nready for the wedding.\n\nBran had listened to what was going on, and when her master woke,\nexactly at midday, she told him of all that was taking place in the\ncastle of the king.\n\nFin went to the king, and said: \"I have saved your dun, and I claim the\nreward.\"\n\n\"Oh,\" said the king, \"my steward claimed the reward, and it has been\ngiven to him.\"\n\n\"He had nothing to do with saving the dun; I saved it,\" said Fin.\n\n\"Well,\" answered the king, \"he is the first man who told me of its\nsafety and claimed the reward.\" \"Bring him here: let me look at him,\"\nsaid Fin.\n\nHe was sent for, and came. \"Did you save the king's dun?\" asked Fin. \"I\ndid,\" said the steward.\n\n\"You did not, and take that for your lies,\" said Fin; and striking him\nwith the edge of his open hand he swept the head off his body, dashing\nit against the other side of the room, flattening it like paste on the\nwall.\n\n\"You are the man,\" said the king to Fin, \"who saved the dun; yours is\nthe reward. All the champions, and there is many a man of them, who have\nfailed to save it are in the dungeons of my fortress; their heads must\nbe cut off before the wedding takes place.\"\n\n\"Will you let me see them?\" asked Fin.\n\n\"I will,\" said the king.\n\nFin went down to the men, and found the first champions of Erin in the\ndungeons. \"Will you obey me in all things if I save you from death?\"\nsaid Fin. \"We will,\" said they. Then he went back to the king and asked:\n\n\"Will you give me the lives of these champions of Erin, in place of your\ndaughter's hand?\"\n\n\"I will,\" said the king.\n\nAll the champions were liberated, and left the king's castle that day.\nEver after they followed the orders of Fin, and these were the beginning\nof his forces and the first of the Fenians of Erin.\n\n\n\n\nFIN MACCUMHAIL AND THE FENIANS OF ERIN IN THE CASTLE OF FEAR DUBH.\n\n\nIt was the custom with Fin MacCumhail and the Fenians of Erin, when a\nstranger from any part of the world came to their castle, not to ask him\na question for a year and a day.\n\nOn a time, a champion came to Fin and his men, and remained with them.\nHe was not at all pleasant or agreeable.\n\nAt last Fin and his men took counsel together; they were much annoyed\nbecause their guest was so dull and morose, never saying a word, always\nsilent.\n\nWhile discussing what kind of man he was, Diarmuid Duivne offered to try\nhim; so one evening when they were eating together, Diarmuid came and\nsnatched from his mouth the hind-quarter of a bullock, which he was\npicking.\n\nDiarmuid pulled at one part of the quarter,--pulled with all his\nstrength, but only took the part that he seized, while the other kept\nthe part he held. All laughed; the stranger laughed too, as heartily as\nany. It was the first laugh they had heard from him.\n\nThe strange champion saw all their feats of arms and practised with\nthem, till the year and a day were over. Then he said to Fin and his\nmen:\n\n\"I have spent a pleasant year in your company; you gave me good\ntreatment, and the least I can do now is to give you a feast at my own\ncastle.\"\n\nNo one had asked what his name was up to that time. Fin now asked his\nname. He answered: \"My name is Fear Dubh, of Alba.\"\n\nFin accepted the invitation; and they appointed the day for the feast,\nwhich was to be in Erin, since Fear Dubh did not wish to trouble them to\ngo to Alban. He took leave of his host and started for home.\n\nWhen the day for the feast came, Fin and the chief men of the Fenians of\nErin set out for the castle of Fear Dubh.\n\nThey went, a glen at a step, a hill at a leap, and thirty-two miles at a\nrunning leap, till they came to the grand castle where the feast was to\nbe given.\n\nThey went in; everything was ready, seats at the table, and every man's\nname at his seat in the same order as at Fin's castle. Diarmuid, who was\nalways very sportive,--fond of hunting, and paying court to women, was\nnot with them; he had gone to the mountains with his dogs.\n\nAll sat down, except Conan Maol MacMorna (never a man spoke well of\nhim); no seat was ready for him, for he used to lie on the flat of his\nback on the floor, at Fin's castle.\n\nWhen all were seated the door of the castle closed of itself. Fin then\nasked the man nearest the door, to rise and open it. The man tried to\nrise; he pulled this way and that, over and hither, but he couldn't get\nup. Then the next man tried, and the next, and so on, till the turn came\nto Fin himself, who tried in vain.\n\nNow, whenever Fin and his men were in trouble and great danger it was\ntheir custom to raise a cry of distress (a voice of howling), heard all\nover Erin. Then all men knew that they were in peril of death; for they\nnever raised this cry except in the last extremity.\n\nFin's son, Fialan, who was three years old and in the cradle, heard the\ncry, was roused, and jumped up.\n\n\"Get me a sword!\" said he to the nurse. \"My father and his men are in\ndistress; I must go to aid them.\"\n\n\"What could you do, poor little child.\"\n\nFialan looked around, saw an old rusty sword-blade laid aside for ages.\nHe took it down, gave it a snap; it sprang up so as to hit his arm, and\nall the rust dropped off; the blade was pure as shining silver.\n\n\"This will do,\" said he; and then he set out towards the place where he\nheard the cry, going a glen at a step, a hill at a leap, and thirty-two\nmiles at a running leap, till he came to the door of the castle, and\ncried out.\n\nFin answered from inside, \"Is that you, my child?\"\n\n\"It is,\" said Fialan.\n\n\"Why did you come?\"\n\n\"I heard your cry, and how could I stay at home, hearing the cry of my\nfather and the Fenians of Erin!\"\n\n\"Oh, my child, you cannot help us much.\"\n\nFialan struck the door powerfully with his sword, but no use. Then, one\nof the men inside asked Fin to chew his thumb, to know what was keeping\nthem in, and why they were bound.\n\nFin chewed his thumb, from skin to blood, from blood to bone, from bone\nto marrow, and discovered that Fear Dubh had built the castle by magic,\nand that he was coming himself with a great force to cut the head off\neach one of them. (These men from Alba had always a grudge against the\nchampions of Erin.)\n\nSaid Fin to Fialan: \"Do you go now, and stand at the ford near the\ncastle, and meet Fear Dubh.\"\n\nFialan went and stood in the middle of the ford. He wasn't long there\nwhen he saw Fear Dubh coming with a great army.\n\n\"Leave the ford, my child,\" said Fear Dubh, who knew him at once. \"I\nhave not come to harm your father. I spent a pleasant year at his\ncastle. I've only come to show him honor.\"\n\n\"I know why you have come,\" answered Fialan. \"You've come to destroy my\nfather and all his men, and I'll not leave this ford while I can hold\nit.\"\n\n\"Leave the ford; I don't want to harm your father, I want to do him\nhonor. If you don't let us pass my men will kill you,\" said Fear Dubh.\n\n\"I will not let you pass so long as I'm alive before you,\" said Fialan.\n\nThe men faced him; and if they did Fialan kept his place, and a battle\ncommenced, the like of which was never seen before that day. Fialan went\nthrough the army as a hawk through a flock of sparrows on a March\nmorning, till he killed every man except Fear Dubh. Fear Dubh told him\nagain to leave the ford, he didn't want to harm his father.\n\n\"Oh!\" said Fialan, \"I know well what you want.\"\n\n\"If you don't leave that place I'll make you leave it!\" said Fear Dubh.\nThen they closed in combat; and such a combat was never seen before\nbetween any two warriors. They made springs to rise through the centre\nof hard gray rocks, cows to cast their calves whether they had them or\nnot. All the horses of the country were racing about and neighing in\ndread and fear, and all created things were terrified at the sound and\nclamor of the fight, till the weapons of Fear Dubh went to pieces in the\nstruggle, and Fialan made two halves of his own sword.\n\nNow they closed in wrestling. In the first round Fialan put Fear Dubh to\nhis knees in the hard bottom of the river; the second round he put him\nto his hips, and the third, to his shoulders.\n\n\"Now,\" said he, \"I have you,\" giving him a stroke of the half of his\nsword, which cut the head off him.\n\nThen Fialan went to the door of the castle and told his father what he\nhad done.\n\nFin chewed his thumb again, and knew what other danger was coming. \"My\nson,\" said he to Fialan, \"Fear Dubh has a younger brother more powerful\nthan he was; that brother is coming against us now with greater forces\nthan those which you have destroyed.\"\n\nAs soon as Fialan heard these words he hurried to the ford, and waited\ntill the second army came up. He destroyed this army as he had the\nother, and closed with the second brother in a fight fiercer and more\nterrible than the first; but at last he thrust him to his armpits in the\nhard bottom of the river and cut off his head.\n\nThen he went to the castle, and told his father what he had done. A\nthird time Fin chewed his thumb, and said: \"My son, a third army more to\nbe dreaded than the other two is coming now to destroy us, and at the\nhead of it is the youngest brother of Fear Dubh, the most desperate and\npowerful of the three.\"\n\nAgain Fialan rushed off to the ford; and, though the work was greater\nthan before, he left not a man of the army alive. Then he closed with\nthe youngest brother of Fear Dubh, and if the first and second battles\nwere terrible this was more terrible by far; but at last he planted the\nyoungest brother up to his armpits in the hard bottom of the river, and\nswept the head off him.\n\nNow, after the heat and struggle of combat Fialan was in such a rage\nthat he lost his mind from fury, not having any one to fight against;\nand if the whole world had been there before him he would have gone\nthrough it and conquered it all.\n\nBut having no one to face him he rushed along the river-bank, tearing\nthe flesh from his own body. Never had such madness been seen in any\ncreated being before that day.\n\nDiarmuid came now and knocked at the door of the castle, having the dog\nBran with him, and asked Fin what had caused him to raise the cry of\ndistress.\n\n\"Oh, Diarmuid,\" said Fin, \"we are all fastened in here to be killed.\nFialan has destroyed three armies, and Fear Dubh with his two brothers.\nHe is raging now along the bank of the river; you must not go near him,\nfor he would tear you limb from limb. At this moment he wouldn't spare\nme, his own father; but after a while he will cease from raging and die\ndown; then you can go. The mother of Fear Dubh is coming, and will soon\nbe at the ford. She is more violent, more venomous, more to be dreaded,\na greater warrior than her sons. The chief weapon she has are the nails\non her fingers; each nail is seven perches long, of the hardest steel\non earth. She is coming in the air at this moment with the speed of a\nhawk, and she has a k??an (a small vessel), with liquor in it,\nwhich has such power that if she puts three drops of it on the mouths of\nher sons they will rise up as well as ever; and if she brings them to\nlife there is nothing to save us.\n\n\"Go to the ford; she will be hovering over the corpses of the three\narmies to know can she find her sons, and as soon as she sees them she\nwill dart down and give them the liquor. You must rise with a mighty\nbound upon her, dash the k??an out of her hand and spill the\nliquor.\n\n\"If you can kill her save her blood, for nothing in the world can free\nus from this place and open the door of the castle but the blood of the\nold hag. I'm in dread you'll not succeed, for she is far more terrible\nthan all her sons together. Go now; Fialan is dying away, and the old\nwoman is coming; make no delay.\"\n\nDiarmuid hurried to the ford, stood watching a while; then he saw high\nin the air something no larger than a hawk. As it came nearer and nearer\nhe saw it was the old woman. She hovered high in the air over the ford.\nAt last she saw her sons, and was swooping down, when Diarmuid rose with\na bound into the air and struck the vial a league out of her hand.\n\nThe old hag gave a shriek that was heard to the eastern world, and\nscreamed: \"Who has dared to interfere with me or my sons?\"\n\n\"I,\" answered Diarmuid; \"and you'll not go further till I do to you what\nhas been done to your sons.\"\n\nThe fight began; and if there ever was a fight, before or since, it\ncould not be more terrible than this one; but great as was the power of\nDiarmuid he never could have conquered but for Bran the dog.\n\nThe old woman with her nails stripped the skin and flesh from Diarmuid\nalmost to the vitals. But Bran tore the skin and flesh off the old\nwoman's back from her head to her heels.\n\nFrom the dint of blood-loss and fighting, Diarmuid was growing faint.\nDespair came on him, and he was on the point of giving way, when a\nlittle robin flew near to him, and sitting on a bush, spoke, saying:\n\n\"Oh, Diarmuid, take strength; rise and sweep the head off the old hag,\nor Fin and the Fenians of Erin are no more.\"\n\nDiarmuid took courage, and with his last strength made one great effort,\nswept the head off the old hag and caught her blood in a vessel. He\nrubbed some on his own wounds,--they were cured; then he cured Bran.\n\nStraightway he took the blood to the castle, rubbed drops of it on the\ndoor, which opened, and he went in.\n\nAll laughed with joy at the rescue. He freed Fin and his men by rubbing\nthe blood on the chairs; but when he came as far as Conan Maol the blood\ngave out.\n\nAll were going away. \"Why should you leave me here after you;\" cried\nConan Maol, \"I would rather die at once than stay here for a lingering\ndeath. Why don't you, Oscar, and you, Gol MacMorna, come and tear me out\nof this place; anyhow you'll be able to drag the arms out of me and kill\nme at once; better that than leave me to die alone.\"\n\nOscar and Gol took each a hand, braced their feet against his feet, put\nforth all their strength and brought him standing; but if they did, he\nleft all the skin and much of the flesh from the back of his head to his\nheels on the floor behind him. He was covered with blood, and by all\naccounts was in a terrible condition, bleeding and wounded.\n\nNow there were sheep grazing near the castle. The Fenians ran out,\nkilled and skinned the largest and best of the flock, and clapped the\nfresh skin on Conan's back; and such was the healing power in the sheep,\nand the wound very fresh, that Conan's back healed, and he marched home\nwith the rest of the men, and soon got well; and if he did, they sheared\noff his back wool enough every year to make a pair of stockings for each\none of the Fenians of Erin, and for Fin himself.\n\nAnd that was a great thing to do and useful, for wool was scarce in Erin\nin those days. Fin and his men lived pleasantly and joyously for some\ntime; and if they didn't, may we.\n\n\n\n\nFIN MACCUMHAIL AND THE KNIGHT OF THE FULL AXE.\n\n\nThere was a day when Fin went on an expedition by himself. He walked out\nto his currochAin on the seashore, gave it a kick that sent it out nine\nleagues from land, then with a spring he jumped into the boat and rowed\nover the sea.\n\nAfter he had gone some distance he saw a giant coming towards him,\nwalking through the water, which did not reach his knees. Looking up,\nFin could see nothing between the head of the giant and the sky.\n\nWith one step the giant was in front of Fin, and it seemed that he and\nhis boat would be lost in a moment between the legs of the terrible\nmonster.\n\n\"Poor, little helpless creature! what brings you here in my way?\" asked\nthe giant. He was just going to lay hold of the boat and toss it far off\nto one side, when Fin called out:\n\n\"Won't you give fair play; just let me put foot on solid land, and see\nwhat will happen. Don't attack me here; I'm not afraid to meet you once\nI have earth for my two feet to stand on.\"\n\n\"If that is all you want I can take you to land very soon.\" And seizing\nthe boat as he would a grass-blade, the giant drew it to the shore of\nthe sea opposite to that from which Fin started, and in front of his own\ncastle. \"What will you do now?\" asked the giant.\n\n\"I'll fight with you,\" said Fin.\n\nThe giant brought out his battle-axe, which had a blade seven acres in\nsize. Fin was ready with his sword, and now began a most terrible\nbattle.\n\nFin faced the giant, slashing at him with his sword, and when the giant\nmade an offer of the axe at him, Fin would dart to one side; and when\nthe axe missing him struck the ground, it went into the handle. The\ngiant was a long time striving to know could he draw out the axe; and\nwhile at this Fin ran behind and cut steps with his sword into the leg\nof his enemy; and by the time the giant had the axe out of the ground,\nFin was ready for him again and in front of him, striking and vexing him\nwith his sword. It was another long while till a blow came down; and\nwhen the axe went into the ground again, Fin ran behind a second time,\ncut more steps in the leg and body of the giant, so as to reach his neck\nand cut the head off him.\n\nWhen the axe was coming to the ground the third time, Fin slipped and\nfell under one corner of it, and between the feet of the giant, who\nclosed his legs with a clap that was heard to the end of the Western\nWorld. He thought to catch Fin; but Fin was too quick for him, and\nthough badly hurt he was able to cut more steps and climb to the neck of\nthe giant. With one blow he swept the head off him,--and a big head it\nwas; by all accounts as broad as the moon.\n\nThe battle was fought in front of the giant's castle. Fin was terribly\nwounded; the axe had cut that deep that his bowels were to be seen. He\ndropped at the side of the giant, and lay helpless on the ground. After\nthe fall of the giant twelve women came out of his castle, and when they\ndrew near and saw him dead they laughed from joy; but seeing Fin with\nhis wound they began to mourn.\n\n\"Oh, then,\" said Fin, \"is it making sport of me you are after the evil\nday that I've had?\"\n\n\"Indeed it is not. We are twelve daughters of kings, stolen from our\nfathers. We saw the giant fall, and came here to look at him dead; we\ngrieve for you and mourn for the sorrow that is on you, but we are so\nglad the giant is killed that we cannot help laughing.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Fin, \"if you mourn for me and are glad that I have killed\nthe giant, will you carry me to my currochAin, lay me in it, and push it\nout to sea? The waves may bear me home, and I care for nothing else if\nonly one day my bones may come to land in Erin.\"\n\nThe twelve women took him up carefully and put him in the boat, and when\nthe tide came they pushed it out to sea.\n\nFin lay in the bottom of the boat barely alive. It floated along, and he\nwas borne over the waves. Hither and thither went the boat, till at last\none day a blackbird came down on the body of Fin MacCumhail, and began\nto pick at his entrails. The blackbird said:\n\n\"Many a long day have I watched and waited for this chance, and glad am\nI to have it now.\"\n\nThat moment the blackbird turned into a little man not more than three\nfeet high. Then he said: \"I was under a Druidic spell, to be a blackbird\ntill I should get three bites of fat from the entrails of Fin\nMacCumhail. I have followed you everywhere; have watched you in battle\nand hunt, on sea and land, but never have I been able to get the chance\ntill this day. Now I have it, I have also the power to make you well\nagain.\"\n\nHe put Fin's entrails into their proper place, rubbed him with an\nointment that he had, and Fin was well as ever.\n\nThe little man, who said his name was Ridiri na lan tur (Knight of the\nFull Axe) had a small axe, his only weapon. As they floated along he\nsaid to Fin: \"I wish to show you some strange things, such as you have\nnever seen in Erin. We are near a country where the king's daughter is\nto be married to-night. We will prevent the ceremony.\"\n\n\"Oh no,\" said Fin, \"I would rather go to my own home.\"\n\n\"Never mind,\" said the little man, \"nothing can harm you in my company;\ncome with me. This is a wonderful king, and he has a wonderful daughter.\nIt's a strange country, and I want to show you the place. We'll tell him\nthat you are Fin MacCumhail, monarch of Erin; that we have been\nshipwrecked, and ask for a night's shelter.\"\n\nFin consented at last, and with the Knight of the Full Axe landed, drew\nthe boat on shore, and went to the king's castle. There was noise and\ntumult; great crowds of people had come to do honor to the king's\ndaughter. Never before had such preparations been made in that kingdom.\n\nThe Knight of the Full Axe knocked at the door, and asked admission for\nhimself and Fin MacCumhail, monarch of Erin, shipwrecked on that shore.\n(The country was north of Erin, far out in the sea.)\n\nThe attendants said: \"No strangers may enter here, but there is a great\nhouse further on; go there and welcome.\"\n\nThe house to which they were directed was twenty-one miles long, ten\nmiles wide, and about five miles distant from the castle; inhabited by\nthe strangest men in the world, body-guards of the king, fed from the\nking's house, and a terrible feeding it was,--human flesh. All strangers\nwho came to the king's castle were sent to that house, where the guards\ntore them to pieces and ate them up.\n\nThese guards had to be fed well; if not they would devour the whole\ncountry.\n\nWith Fin and the Knight of the Full Axe there went a messenger, who was\ncareful not to go near the house; he pointed it out from a distance, and\nran home.\n\nFin and the knight knocked at the door. When it was opened all inside\nlaughed; as they laughed, Fin could see their hearts and livers they\nwere so glad. The Knight of the Full Axe asked, \"Why do you laugh in\nthis way?\"\n\n\"Oh,\" answered they, \"we laugh because you are so small you'll not make\na mouthful for one of us.\"\n\nThe guards barred the door and put a prop against it. Now the knight put\na second prop against the door; the guards asked, \"Why do you do that?\"\n\n\"I do it so none of you may escape me,\" answered the knight. Then\nseizing two of the largest of the guards, one in each hand, he used them\nas clubs and killed the others with them. He ran the length of the\nhouse, striking right and left, till he walloped the life out of all\nthat was in it, but the two. To them he said: \"I spare you to clean out\nthe house, and make the place fit for the monarch of Erin to spend the\nnight in. Bring rushes, and make ready to receive Fin MacCumhail.\"\n\nAnd from wherever they got them, they brought two baskets of rushes,\neach basket as big as a mountain, and spread litter on the ground two\nfeet deep through the whole house; and then at the knight's command they\nbrought a pile of turf, and made a grand fire.\n\nLate in the evening the king's attendants brought food, which they left\nnear the house of the guards; these monsters were fed twice a day,\nmorning and evening. To their great surprise the attendants saw the\nbodies of the dead giants piled up outside the house; they ran off\nquickly to tell the news.\n\nNow the Knight of the Full Axe sat by the fire. The two guards that he\nhad spared tried to chat and be agreeable; but the knight snapped at\nthem and said: \"What company are you for the monarch of Erin?\" Then he\ncaught the two, squeezed the life out of them, and threw them on the\npile outside.\n\n\"Now,\" said the knight to Fin, \"there is no suitable food for you; I\nmust get you something good to eat from the castle.\"\n\nSo off he started, reached the castle quickly, knocked at the door, and\ndemanded the best of food, saying, \"'Tis fine treatment you are giving\nthe monarch of Erin to-night!\"\n\nThey trembled at the voice of the little man, and without words or delay\ngave him the best they had in the castle. He carried it back and placed\nit before Fin. \"Now,\" said he, \"they have given us no wine; we must have\nwine, and that of the best.\"\n\n\"Oh, we have no need of wine!\" said Fin; but off went the knight.\n\nAgain he demanded supplies at the castle. He took a hogshead of the best\nwine, threw it over his shoulder, and, as he hurried out, he struck a\njamb off the door and swept it along with the hogshead.\n\n\"Now,\" said the knight, after they had eaten and drunk, \"'tis too bad\nfor the monarch of Erin to sleep on rushes; he should have the best bed\nin the land.\"\n\n\"Oh, trouble yourself no further,\" said Fin; \"better sleep on rushes\nthan all this noise.\"\n\nBut the knight would listen to nothing; away he went to the castle, and\nshouted: \"Give me the best bed in this place! I want it for Fin\nMacCumhail, the monarch of Erin.\"\n\nThey gave him the bed in a moment. With hurried steps he was back, and\nsaid to Fin: \"Rest on this bed. Now I'll stop the wedding of the\nprincess; you may take her to Erin if you like.\"\n\n\"Oh, that would not be right! I am well as I am,\" said Fin, who was\ngetting in dread of the knight himself.\n\n\"No, you'd better have the princess,\" and off rushed the knight. He\nentered the castle. All were in terror; hither and thither they hurried,\nnot knowing what to do. The Knight of the Full Axe seized the princess.\n\"The monarch of Erin is a better man than your bridegroom,\" said he; and\nclapping her under his arm, away he went. Not a man had the courage to\nstir.\n\nAll was confusion and fear in the king's castle. The princess was gone\nand no one could save her. All were in terrible dread, knowing what had\nbeen done at the long house.\n\nAt last an old hag, one of the queen's waiting-women, said: \"I'll go and\nsee what has become of the princess. I'll go on the chimney and look\ndown.\"\n\nOff ran the hag, and never rested till she was on the top of the\nchimney, sticking down her head to know what could she see. The chimney\nwas wide, for the king's guards had cooked all their food below on the\nfire. The Knight of the Full Axe was looking up at the time and saw the\ntwo eyes staring down at him.\n\n\"Go on out of that,\" cried he, flinging his axe; which stuck in the old\nwoman's forehead. Off she rushed to the castle. She had seen nothing of\nthe princess; all she knew was that a little man was sitting by the fire\nwarming himself, that he had thrown his axe at her, and it had stuck in\nher forehead.\n\nAt daylight the knight spoke to Fin, who rose at once. \"Now,\" said he,\n\"I have no strength left; all my strength is in the axe. While I had\nthat I could do anything, now I can do nothing. We are in great danger;\nbut there is such dread of us on the people here that we may mend\nmatters yet. Do you put on the dress of a leech, get herbs and vials,\nand pretend you have great skill in healing. Go to the castle, and say\nyou can take the axe out of the old hag's head. No man there can do that\nwithout killing her; she will die the minute it is drawn. Get at her,\nseize the axe, pull it out, and with it you will have the greatest power\non earth.\"\n\nFin went to the castle, and said: \"I am a great doctor. I can take the\naxe out of the old woman's head without trouble.\"\n\nThey took him to the hag, who was sitting upright in bed; her head was\nso sore she couldn't lie down. He felt her head around the axe, sent the\npeople away; when they were gone he took hold of the handle. With one\nsnap he made two halves of the old woman's head. Fin ran out with the\naxe, leaving the old hag dead behind him. He never stopped till he came\nwhere he had left the knight.\n\nFin MacCumhail was now the strongest man on earth, and the knight the\nweakest. \"You may keep the axe,\" said the little man; \"I shall not envy\nyou, but will go with you and you will protect me.\"\n\n\"No,\" said Fin, \"it shall never be said that I took the axe from you,\nthough I know its value and feel its power.\"\n\nThe knight was glad to get back his axe, and now the two set out for\nErin. Fin kicked the boat three leagues from land, and with a bound they\nboth came down in it, and floated on till they saw the coast of Erin.\nThen the little man said:\n\n\"I must leave you now. Though of your kin, I cannot land in Erin. But if\nyou need me at any time you have only to look over your right shoulder,\ncall my name, and you will see me before you.\"\n\nNow Fin sprang ashore; he had been absent a year and more, and no man\nknew where he was while gone. All thought him lost. Great was the\ngladness when Fin came home, and told the Fenians of Erin of what he had\nseen and what he had done.\n\n\n\n\nGILLA NA GRAKIN AND FIN MACCUMHAIL.\n\n\nThere was a blacksmith in Dun Kinealy beyond Killybegs, and he had two\nyoung men serving him whose names were CA(C)sa MacRi na Tulach and Lun Dubh\nMacSmola.\n\nWhen their time was up the young men settled with the blacksmith and\ntook their pay of him. After they had eaten breakfast in the morning\nthey went away together.\n\nWhen they had gone some distance from the house they changed their gait,\nso that when they took one step forward they took two backwards; and\nwhen evening came they were not five perches away from the house where\nthey had eaten breakfast in the morning.\n\nThen one said to the other: \"I suppose what is on one of us is on the\nother.\"\n\n\"What's that?\" asked the first.\n\n\"We are both in love with ScA(C)hide ni WAinanan.\"\n\n\"That is true,\" said the other, \"we are both in love with the\nblacksmith's maid.\"\n\nWhen this was said they turned and went back to the house. The\nblacksmith welcomed them, and was glad.\n\n\"You need not welcome us,\" said they; \"we have not come back to you to\nseek hire; but we are both in love with ScA(C)hide ni WAinanan, and you'll\nhave to settle the matter for us.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the blacksmith, \"I can do that. We'll open the two doors\nof the forge, and let you and the maiden go in and stand in the middle\nof the place. Then do you two go out, one at each door, and the man\nshe'll follow will have her.\"\n\nThe three came in,--one man went out at each door of the forge; ScA(C)hide\nfollowed Lun Dubh.\n\nWhen he saw this CA(C)sa spoke up, and said: \"I'm willing to leave her with\nyou; but turn back a moment here to me, for the word that'll be between\nus.\"\n\nLun Dubh turned back into the forge, and CA(C)sa said: \"Put your finger on\nthis anvil.\"\n\nLun Dubh put his finger on the anvil. CA(C)sa, catching up a good spike,\nwhich the old blacksmith had made, and a hammer drove the spike through\nthe finger of Lun Dubh, fastening him to the anvil.\n\n\"Now,\" said Lun Dubh to CA(C)sa; \"let me go free, and do you take ScA(C)hide;\nbut I must have the first blow on you in battle or war, or wherever else\nI meet you in the world.\"\n\n\"I will give you that,\" said CA(C)sa. So he freed his comrade from the\nanvil. The young men parted from each other,--Lun Dubh went one way\nalone, and CA(C)sa another with ScA(C)hide ni WAinanan.\n\nAs CA(C)sa went along he bought a skin at every house where he could find\none, until he had enough to make clothes in which to disguise himself;\nfor he was in dread of Lun Dubh, on account of the first blow which he\nhad the right to strike when they met.\n\nHe put on the skin clothes, and changed his name to Gilla na Grakin (the\nfellow of the skins).\n\nGilla and his wife held on their way till they came to the castle of Fin\nMacCumhail; and the time they came there was no one in the place but\nwomen.\n\n\"Where is Fin MacCumhail with his men to-day?\" asked Gilla na Grakin.\n\n\"They are all out hunting,\" said the women.\n\nNow Gilla saw that the castle stood with open door facing the wind, and\nturning again to the women he asked: \"Why do you have the door of the\ncastle to the wind?\"\n\n\"When Fin and his men are at home and the wind comes in at the door,\nthey all go out, take hold of the castle and turn it around till the\ndoor is on the sheltered side.\"\n\nWhen Gilla na Grakin heard this he went out, put his hands to the\ncastle, and turned it around till the door was on the sheltered side.\n\nIn the evening when Fin and the Fenians of Erin were coming from the\nhunt, they saw the castle turned around, and Fin said to the men: \"I'm\nafraid we haven't half enough of game for the supper of the strangers\nwho have come to visit us to-day, there are so many of them that they\nhave turned the castle around.\"\n\nWhen they came home they saw there was no man there but Gilla na Grakin,\nand they wondered at the work he had done.\n\nGilla stood before Fin, and said: \"Do you want a serving man?\"\n\n\"I do indeed,\" said Fin.\n\n\"What wages will you give me for a year and a day?\" asked Gilla.\n\n\"What yourself will ask,\" replied Fin.\n\n\"I won't ask much,\" said Gilla; \"five pounds for myself, and a room in\nthe castle for my wife.\"\n\n\"You shall have both,\" said Fin.\n\n\"I'm your man now,\" said Gilla. The whole company spent the first part\nof that night in ease, the second in sport, and the third in a short\nsleep.\n\nThe next morning all the Fenians of Erin were going to hunt, as the day\nbefore, and Fin said to Gilla na Grakin: \"Will you take any man to help\nyou?\"\n\n\"I'll take no man with me but myself; and do you let me go in one part\nof the country alone, and go yourself with all your men in another\npart.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Fin, \"will you find dry glens of ridges, or go in deep\nboggy places where there is danger of drowning?\"\n\n\"I will go in deep boggy places.\"\n\nAll left the castle to hunt. Fin and the Fenians of Erin went in one\ndirection, and Gilla na Grakin in another, and hunted all day.\n\nWhen they came home in the evening Gilla na Grakin had a thousand times\nmore game than Fin and all his men together.\n\nWhen Fin saw this he was glad to have such a good man, and was pleased\nbeyond measure with Gilla na Grakin. The whole company spent that night\nas they had the night before,--in ease and sport and sleep.\n\nNext day Conan Maol was outside with Fin, and he said: \"Gilla na Grakin\nwill destroy the Fenians of Erin and put you and all of us to death,\nunless you banish him in some way from this castle.\"\n\n\"Well;\" said Fin to Conan Maol, \"I've never had a good man but you\nwanted me to put him away. And how could I banish such a man as this if\nI tried?\"\n\n\"The way to banish him,\" said Conan Maol, \"is to send him to the king of\nLochlin to take from him the pot of plenty that's never without meat,\nbut has always enough in it to feed the whole world, and bring that pot\nto this castle.\"\n\nFin called Gilla na Grakin, and said: \"You'll have to go for me now to\nthe king of Lochlin, and get from him the pot of plenty that is never\nwithout meat, and bring it here to me.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Gilla, \"as long as I'm in your service I can't refuse to do\nyour work.\"\n\nSo away went Gilla. He took a glen at a step and a hill at a leap till\nhe came to the shore of the sea, where he caught up two sticks, put one\nacross the other, then gave them a tip of the hand, and a fine vessel\nrose out of the two pieces of wood.\n\nGilla na Grakin went on board the vessel, hoisted the sails, and off he\nwent in a straight line. The music he heard on his way was the whistling\nof eels in the sea and the calling of gulls in the air, till he came\nunder the king's castle in Lochlin. When he came, there were hundreds of\nships standing near the shore, and he had to anchor outside them all;\nthen he stepped from ship to ship till he stood on land.\n\nWhat should there be at the time he landed but a great feast in the\ncastle of the king. So Gilla went to the front of the castle and stood\noutside at the door; but he could go no further for the crowd, and no\none looked at him. At last he shouted: \"This is a very hospitable feast,\nand you are a people of fine manners not to ask a stranger is he hungry\nor thirsty.\"\n\n\"You are right,\" said the king, who turned to the people and said: \"Give\nthe pot of plenty to the stranger till he eats his fill.\"\n\nThe people obeyed the king, and when Gilla na Grakin got hold of the pot\nhe made for the ship, and never stopped till he was on board. He put\nthe pot in a safe place below. Then standing on deck he said to himself:\n\"It is no use to take the pot by my swiftness unless I take it by my\nstrength.\"\n\nSo he turned and went to land again. All the heroes and champions of the\nking of Lochlin and his whole army were ready to fight, but if they were\nso was Gilla na Grakin.\n\nWhen he came up to the army he began and went through it as a hawk goes\nthrough a flock of swallows, till he made one heap of their heads and\nanother heap of their weapons. Then he went to the castle, caught the\nking in one hand and the queen in the other, and putting them under his\ntwo arms brought them out in front of the castle and killed each with\nthe other.\n\nAll was quiet and still at the castle. There wasn't a man alive to stand\nup against Gilla na Grakin, who went to his ship, raised the sails, and\nstarted for Erin. All he heard was the spouting of whales, the whistling\nof eels, the calling of gulls, and the roar of the wind, as the ship\nrushed back to the place where he had made it in Erin. When he reached\nthat place he gave the ship a tip of his hand, and there before him was\nthe pot of plenty, and with it the two sticks which he had found on the\nshore of the sea when he was going to the castle of the king of Lochlin.\n\nHe left the sticks where he found them, put the pot on his back, and\nhurried away to the castle of Fin MacCumhail.\n\nFin and all the Fenians of Erin were glad to see Gilla na Grakin, and\nFin thanked him for the work he had done.\n\nThe first part of that night they spent in ease, the second in sport,\nthe third in a hurried sleep.\n\nNext morning they rose and had breakfast from the pot. From that day\nout they hunted for pleasure alone. They had enough and to spare from\nthe pot of plenty.\n\nAnother day Conan Maol was outside the castle with Fin, and he said:\n\"Gilla na Grakin will destroy you and me and all of us unless we find\nsome way of putting him to death.\"\n\n\"What do you want him to do now?\" asked Fin.\n\n\"Let him go,\" said Conan Maol, to the king of the Flood, \"and bring back\nthe cup that is never drained.\"\n\nFin went to the castle and called up Gilla na Grakin. \"I want you to go\nnow,\" said he, \"to the king of the Flood, and bring me his cup that is\nnever dry.\"\n\nWhen he heard Fin's words, Gilla went off without delay; he took a glen\nat a step, and a hill at a leap, till he came to the sea. There he took\nup two sticks of wood, threw one across the other, and they became a\nfine large ship.\n\nAway he sailed in a straight line, listening as he went to the spouting\nof whales, the whistling of eels and the calling of gulls, and never\nstopped till he anchored outside the castle of the king of the Flood.\nThere was many a ship at land before him, so he stopped outside them\nall, and stepped from ship to ship till he reached the shore.\n\nThe king of the Flood was giving a great feast that day. Gilla na Grakin\nwent to the castle, but could not enter, so great was the throng. He\nstood at the door a while, and then called out, \"You are an ill-mannered\npeople, not to ask a stranger is he hungry or dry!\"\n\nThe king heard these words, and said, \"You are right;\" and turning to\nhis people said, \"Give this stranger the cup till he drinks his fill.\"\n\nAs soon as ever Gilla got the cup in his hands, he made for the ship and\nnever stopped till he put the cup in the hold of the vessel. Then he\ncame on deck, and thought, \"It's no use to take the cup with my\nswiftness, unless I take it with my strength.\"\n\nSo back he turned to the castle, and when he reached land, the whole\narmy and all the champions of the king of the Flood stood ready to\noppose him. When he came up, he went through them as a hawk through a\nflock of swallows. He made a heap of their heads in one place, and a\nheap of their weapons in another, and then went back to the ship without\nthinking of the king and the queen of the Flood--forgot them.\n\nHe raised his sails and went away, listening to music on the sea till he\ntouched land in Erin. Then he took the cup in one hand, struck the ship\nwith the other, turned it into the two sticks which he had found on the\nshore, and travelled on till he came to the castle of Fin MacCumhail and\ngave up the cup.\n\n\"You're the best man I have ever had,\" said Fin; \"and I give you my\nthanks and praise for the work you have done.\"\n\nIn the castle they spent the first part of that night in ease, the\nsecond in sport, and the third in a hurried sleep.\n\nNext morning said Fin to the Fenians of Erin, \"We needn't leave the\nhouse now unless we like. We have the best of eating from the pot, and\nthe best of drinking from the cup. The one is never empty, and the other\nis never dry, and we'll go hunting in future only to pass the time for\nourselves.\"\n\nOne day Conan Maol was out with Fin a third time, and said he: \"If we\ndon't find some way to kill Gilla na Grakin, he'll destroy you and me,\nand all the Fenians of Erin.\"\n\n\"Well,\" asked Fin, \"where do you want to send him this time?\"\n\n\"I want him to go to the eastern world, and find out what was it that\nleft the Gruagach with but the one hair on his head.\"\n\nFin went to the castle, called up Gilla na Grakin, and said:\n\n\"You must go for me now to the eastern world, to know what was it that\nleft the Gruagach with the one hair on his head.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Gilla, \"I never knew that you wanted to put me to death\ntill this minute; I know it now. But still so long as I'm in your\nservice I can't refuse to do your work.\"\n\nThen Gilla na Grakin stepped out of the castle door, and away he went to\nthe eastern world. He took a glen at a step, a hill at a leap, and lochs\nand seas at a bound till he entered the Gruagach's house in the eastern\nworld.\n\n\"What is your errand to me,\" asked the Gruagach, \"and why have you come\nto my house?\"\n\n\"I have come,\" said Gilla, \"to know what was it that left you with the\none hair on your head.\"\n\n\"Sit down here and rest yourself to-night, and if you are a good man,\nI'll tell you to-morrow,\" said the Gruagach.\n\nWhen bedtime came the Gruagach said: \"There is an iron harrow there\nbeyond, with teeth on both sides of it; go now and stretch yourself on\nthat harrow, and sleep till morning.\"\n\nWhen daylight came, the Gruagach was on his feet, and asked Gilla was he\nup.\n\n\"I am,\" said he. After they had eaten breakfast, the Gruagach went to\nanother room and brought out two iron loops. One of these he put on\nGilla's neck, and the other on his own, and then they began to jerk the\nloops and pull one another and they fought till late in the afternoon;\nneither had the upper hand, but if one man was weaker than the other,\nthat man was Gilla na Grakin.\n\n\"And now,\" thought he to himself, \"the Gruagach will take my life, and\nmy wife will never know what became of me.\" The thought gave him\nstrength and power, so up he sprang, and with the first pull he gave he\nput the Gruagach to his knees in the ground, with the second he put him\nto his waist, with the third to his shoulders.\n\n\"Indeed,\" said Gilla, \"it would be easier for me to strike the head off\nyou now, than to let you go; but if I took your head I shouldn't have my\nmaster's work done.\"\n\n\"If you let me go,\" said the Gruagach, \"I'll tell you what happened to\nme, and why I have but the one hair on my head.\"\n\nGilla set him free, then the two sat down together, and the Gruagach\nbegan:--\n\n\"I was living here, without trouble or annoyance from any man, till one\nday a hare ran in, made an unseemly noise under that table there, and\ninsulted us. I was here myself at the time with my wife and my son and\nmy daughter; and we had a hound, a beagle, and a black horse.\n\n\"The hare ran out from under the table, and I made after the hare, and\nmy wife and son and daughter, with the horse and the two dogs, followed\nme.\n\n\"When the hare was on the top of a hill, I had almost hold of his hind\nlegs, but I never caught him.\n\n\"When night was near, the hare came to the walls of a great castle, and\nas he was jumping over, I hit him a blow on the hind leg with a stick,\nbut in he went to the castle.\n\n\"Out came an old hag, and screamed, 'Who is it that worried the pet of\nthis castle!'\n\n\"I said it was myself that did it. Then she faced me, and made at me and\nthe fight began between us. We fought all that night, and the next day\ntill near evening. Then she turned around and pulled a Druidic rod out\nof herself, ran from me and struck my wife and son and daughter and the\ntwo hounds and the horse with the Druidic rod and made stones of them.\n\n\"Then she turned on me again and there wasn't but the one hair left on\nmy head from the desperate fighting, and she looked at me, and said:\n\n\"'I'll let you go this time but I'll give you a good payment before you\nleave.' She caught hold of me then in the grip of her one hand and with\nthe other she took a sharp knife and stripped all the skin and flesh off\nmy back, from my waist to my heels. Then, taking the skin of a rough\nshaggy goat, she clapped it on to me in place of my own skin and flesh,\nand told me to go my way.\n\n\"I left the old hag and the castle behind, but the skin grew to me and I\nwear it to this day.\" And here the Gruagach turned to Gilla na Grakin\nand showed him the goatskin growing on his body in place of his own skin\nand flesh.\n\n\"Well,\" said Gilla, when he saw the shaggy back of the Gruagach, \"does\nthat hare come here to insult you yet?\"\n\n\"He does, indeed,\" said the Gruagach, \"but I haven't taken a bite nor a\nsup off that table since his first visit.\" \"Let us sit down there now,\"\nsaid Gilla na Grakin.\n\nThey sat down at the table, but they were not sitting long till the hare\ncame, repeated the insult, and ran out.\n\nGilla na Grakin made after the hare, and the Gruagach after Gilla.\n\nGilla ran as fast as ever his legs could carry him, and he was often\nthat near that he used to stretch his arm out after the hare, and almost\ncatch him; but he never touched him till near night, when he was\nclearing the wall. Then Gilla caught him by the two hind legs, and,\nswinging him over his own shoulder, dashed him against the wall, tore\nthe head from the body, and sent it bounding across the courtyard of the\ncastle.\n\nOut rushed an old hag that minute. She had but one tooth and that in her\nupper jaw, and she used this tooth for a crutch.\n\n\"Who has killed the pet of this castle!\" shrieked she.\n\n\"It was I that killed him,\" said Gilla na Grakin. Then the two made at\none another,--the hag and Gilla. They fought all that night and next\nday. With their fighting they made the hard rocks soft, and water to\nspring out through the middle of them. All the land of the eastern world\nwas trembling as the evening drew near, and if one of the two was\ngetting weak from the struggle and tired, that one was Gilla na Grakin.\nWhen he saw this he thought to himself, \"Isn't it a pity if an old hag\nputs me to death, me, who has put to death many a strong hero.\"\n\nAt this thought he sprang up and seized the hag. With the first thrust\nwhich he gave her into the ground he put her to the knees, with the\nsecond to her waist, with the third to her shoulders.\n\n\"Now,\" said the old hag to Gilla, \"don't kill me, and I'll give you the\nrod of druidism (_enchantment_), which I have between my skin and\nflesh.\"\n\n\"Oh, you wicked old wretch! I'll have that after your death, and no\nthanks to you,\" said Gilla. With that he swept the head off of her with\na single blow.\n\nThen the head jumped at the body, and tried to get its place again, but\nGilla stood between them, and kept the head off till the body was cold.\nThen he took out the rod of enchantment from between the skin and the\nflesh, and threw the body and the head of the old hag aside.\n\nThe Gruagach came up, and Gilla said, \"Show me now the stones which were\nonce your wife and children, your dogs and your horse.\"\n\nThe Gruagach went with him to the stones. Gilla struck each with the\nrod, and the wife, the son, the daughter, the hounds and the horse of\nthe Gruagach were alive again.\n\nWhen this was done, Gilla turned to the Gruagach, struck the goatskin\nfrom his body, and gave him his own skin and flesh back again with the\npower of the rod.\n\nWhen all were restored, they started for the Gruagach's house, and when\nthere the Gruagach said to Gilla na Grakin,--\n\n\"Stay here with me till you get your rest. We won't leave this place for\na year and a day, and then I'll go with you to the castle of Fin\nMacCumhail and give witness to Fin of all that has happened to me and\nall you have done.\"\n\n\"Oh,\" said Gilla na Grakin, \"I can't stay to rest, I must go now!\"\n\nThe Gruagach was so glad that he had got back all his family and his\nown flesh that he followed Gilla, and they set out for the castle of Fin\nMacCumhail in Erin.\n\nThey took a glen at a step, a hill at a leap, and the sea at a bound.\n\nConan Maol, who was outside the castle when they came in sight, ran in\nand said to Fin, \"Gilla na Grakin and the Gruagach are coming, and\nthey'll destroy all that's about the castle, and all that's inside as\nwell!\"\n\n\"If they do,\" said Fin, \"it's your own fault, and you have no one to\nblame but yourself.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Conan Maol, \"I'll lie down here in the cradle, and put a\nsteel cap on my head.\"\n\nConan lay down in the cradle. Gilla and the Gruagach came into the\ncastle. The Gruagach sat down near the cradle. Then he said to Fin, \"I\ncame here with Gilla na Grakin to bear witness to you of all that has\nhappened to me, and of all he has done.\"\n\nThen he told Fin the whole story of what they had gone through and what\nthey had done.\n\nWith that the Gruagach put his hand behind him and asked: \"How old is\nthis child lying here in the cradle?\"\n\n\"Only three years,\" said Fin's wife.\n\nThen the Gruagach took the steel cap between his thumb and fingers,\nthinking it was the head of the child, and squeezed till the steel\ncracked with a loud snap, but the child didn't cry.\n\n\"Oh, there's the making of a man in him. If he gets age he'll be a\nchampion,\" said the Gruagach.\n\nNext day the Gruagach left Fin's castle and went to his own place and\nfamily.\n\nGilla na Grakin's time was now up, for he had served a year and a day.\n\nFin went out to wash himself in a spring near the castle, and when he\nlooked into the spring a spirit spoke up out of the water to him and\nsaid:\n\n\"You must give back his cup to the king of the Flood, or you must give\nhim battle in its place.\"\n\nFin went back to the castle, lamenting the state he was in.\n\nConan Maol said, \"You look like a sorrowful man.\"\n\n\"Why shouldn't I be?\" said Fin. \"A spirit spoke to me from the spring\noutside, and told me I must give back the cup to the king of the Flood,\nor give him battle in place of it. Now Gilla's time is up, and I don't\nknow what to do.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Conan Maol, \"do you go now and speak to him, and maybe\nhe'll do you a good turn.\"\n\nFin went to Gilla na Grakin, and told him what happened at the spring.\n\n\"My time is up, as you know,\" said Gilla, \"and I cannot serve on time\nthat is past; but if you want me to go, you must watch my wife ScA(C)hide\nni WAinanan on Friday night; and in the middle of the night, when she is\ncombing her hair, any request you'll make of her she can't refuse. The\nrequest you'll make is that she'll let me go with you to the king of the\nFlood, to take the cup to his castle and bring it back again.\"\n\nFin watched the time closely, and when the middle of Friday night came,\nhe looked through a hole in the door and saw ScA(C)hide combing her hair.\nThen he asked his request of her.\n\n\"Well,\" answered she, \"I can't refuse, but you must promise me to bring\nback Gilla, dead or alive.\"\n\nFin promised her that.\n\nNext morning Fin MacCumhail and Gilla na Grakin set out for the castle\nof the king of the Flood, taking the cup with them.\n\nThey walked over Erin till they came to the shore of the sea. There\nGilla caught up two pieces of wood, and putting one across the other,\nstruck them a tip of his fingers, and out of them rose a fine ship. He\nand Fin went on board, sailed away, and never stopped till they cast\nanchor outside all the ships, under the castle of the king of the Flood.\nThe two walked on from deck to deck till they stood on shore.\n\nThey went a short distance from the castle of the king and pitched a\ntent.\n\nSaid Gilla to Fin, \"Now we are hungry, and I must find food for you and\nmyself.\"\n\nSo Gilla na Grakin went to the castle and asked food of the king of the\nFlood.\n\n\"You'll get nothing to eat from me. I have no food in this place to give\nyou or the like of you; but there is a wild bull in the wood outside.\nFind him: if you kill him, you'll have something to eat; if not you'll\ngo fasting,\" said the king of the Flood to Gilla na Grakin.\n\nGilla went out to the wood, and when the wild bull saw a man coming\ntowards him he drove his horns into the ground, and put an acre of land\nover his own back. Then he threw up an oak-tree, roots and all, till it\nnearly reached the sky, and made at Gilla na Grakin. But if he did,\nGilla was ready for him and faced him, and when the bull came up, he\ncaught him by the horns and threw him to the ground; then putting a foot\non one horn, he took the other in his two hands, split the bull from\nmuzzle to tail, and made two halves of him.\n\nGilla carried the carcass to the tent, and when he had taken off the\nskin he said to Fin, \"We have no pot to boil the meat in. Well, I'll go\nto the king again.\"\n\nSo off he went and knocked at the castle door.\n\n\"What do you want now?\" asked the king.\n\n\"I want a pot,\" said Gilla, \"to boil the wild bull.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the king, \"I have no pot for you but that big pot back in\nthe yard, in which we boil stuff for the pigs. I'll give you the loan of\nthat if you are able to carry it.\"\n\n\"It's good to get that itself from a bad person,\" said Gilla na Grakin,\nand away he went to look for the pot behind the castle.\n\nAt last he found it, and when he put it down at the tent he said to Fin,\n\"We have nothing now to boil the pot with, nothing to make a fire.\"\n\nThen he went a third time to the castle, knocked at the door, and out\ncame the king. \"What do you want now?\" asked he.\n\n\"Fire to boil the bull.\"\n\n\"Go to the wood and get firewood for yourself, or do without it. You'll\nget no firewood from me,\" said the king of the Flood.\n\nGilla went out, got plenty of wood and boiled the whole bull.\n\n\"We are well off now,\" said he to Fin; \"we have plenty to eat.\"\n\nNext morning Gilla na Grakin went to the castle and knocked.\n\n\"Who is that?\" asked the king, without opening the door.\n\n\"I want no chat nor questions from you,\" said Gilla, \"but get me a\nbreakfast.\" \"I have no breakfast now,\" said the king; \"but wait a\nminute and you'll get a hot breakfast from me.\"\n\nThat moment the signal was sounded for the armies of the king of the\nFlood to take Gilla na Grakin and his master.\n\nWhen the armies stood ready Gilla began and went through them as a hawk\nthrough sparrows. He made one heap of their heads and another of their\nweapons,--didn't leave a man living. Then he went into the castle and\ntaking the king of the Flood in one hand and the queen in the other, he\nkilled each of them against the other.\n\nNow all was quiet at the castle. Gilla na Grakin struck the tent and\nwent to the ship with Fin MacCumhail, who had the cup that was never\ndry.\n\nThey raised the sails and went over the sea toward Erin, till they saw a\nlarge ship on one side of them.\n\n\"If it's going to help us that ship is,\" said Fin, \"'tis all the better\nfor us, but if 'tis going against us she is, that's the bad part of it.\"\n\nAs the ship came near, Gilla na Grakin looked at her sharply, and said\nto Fin, \"I think it's Lun Dubh that's on that ship.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Fin, \"maybe he'll not know you in a strange dress.\"\n\nWhen Lun Dubh came alongside, he called out: \"I know you well, and it's\nnot by your dress that I know you, CA(C)sa MacRi na Tulach.\" Then Lun Dubh\nsprang on deck, raised his hand, struck Gilla, and stretched him dead.\n\nFin sailed away with the body of Gilla na Grakin, and when he came in\nsight of the shore of Erin he raised a black flag; for he had promised\nGilla's wife to raise a white flag if her husband was well, but a black\none if he was dead.\n\nWhen he came to the shore, ScA(C)hide ni WAinanan was there before him, and\nshe had a large, roomy box. When she saw Fin she said, \"You have him\ndead with you?\"\n\n\"I have,\" said Fin.\n\n\"What will you do with him now?\" asked she.\n\n\"I will bury him decently,\" said Fin.\n\n\"You will not,\" said she; \"you will put him in this box.\"\n\nThen Fin put him in the box. She went aside and got some fresh shamrock\nand went into the box with Gilla. Then she told Fin to push the box out\nto sea, and putting down the cover fastened it inside.\n\nFin pushed the box out into the sea, and away it went driven by wind and\nwaves, till one day ScA(C)hide looked out through a hole and saw two\nsparrows flying and a dead one between them. The two living sparrows let\nthe dead one down on an island. Soon they rose up again, and the dead\none was living.\n\nSaid ScA(C)hide to herself, \"There might be something on that island that\nwould cure my husband as it cured the dead bird.\"\n\nNow the sea put the box in on the island. ScA(C)hide unfastened the cover,\ncame out, and walked around the island. Nothing could she find but a\nsmall spring of water in a rock. \"It's in this the cure may be,\" thought\nshe, as she looked at the water. Then taking off one of her shoes she\nput it full of the water, took it to the box, and poured it on Gilla na\nGrakin. That moment he stood up alive and well. Gilla walked along the\nshore till he found two pieces of wood. He threw one across the other,\ngave them a tip of his hand, a fine large ship stood there at the shore,\nand in it he sailed with ScA(C)hide back to Erin.\n\nWhen they landed he turned the vessel into two sticks again with a tip\nof the hand, and set out with his wife for the castle of Fin MacCumhail\nin TirConal.\n\nThey came to the castle of Fin at midnight. Gilla knocked and said, \"Put\nmy wages out to me.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Fin inside, \"there is no man, alive or dead, that has wages\non me but Gilla na Grakin, and I would rather see that fellow here than\nthe wages of three men.\"\n\n\"Well, rise up now and you'll see him,\" said Gilla.\n\nFin rose up, saw his man, gave him his wages with thanks and Gilla\ndeparted.\n\nAt the break of day they saw a great house before them. A man walked out\nwith a kerchief bound on his head.\n\nWhen Gilla na Grakin came up, he knew the man, and raising his hand,\nstruck him dead with a blow.\n\n\"I have satisfaction on Lun Dubh, now,\" said Gilla to the wife. The two\nwent into the house and stayed there, and may be there yet for anything\nwe know. We are the luck and they are the winners.\n\n\n\n\nFIN MACCUMHAIL, THE SEVEN BROTHERS AND THE KING OF FRANCE.\n\n\nWhen Fin MacCumhail with seven companies of the Fenians of Erin was\nliving at Tara of the Kings, he went hunting one day with the seven\ncompanies; and while out on the mountains seven young men came towards\nhim and when they came up and stood before him he asked their names of\nthem.\n\nEach gave his name in turn, beginning with the eldest, and their names\nwere Strong, son of Strength; Wise, son of Wisdom; Builder, son of\nBuilder; Whistler, son of Whistler; Guide, son of Guide; Climber, son of\nClimber; Thief, son of Thief.\n\nThe seven young men pleased Fin; they were looking for service, so he\nhired them for a year and a day.\n\nWhen Fin and the Fenians of Erin went home that night from the hunt\nthere was a message at the castle before them from the king of France to\nFin MacCumhail and the Fenians of Erin, asking them to come over to him\non a most important affair.\n\nFin held a council straightway and said, \"France is a thousand miles\nfrom this and the sea between it and Erin; how can we go to the king of\nFrance?\"\n\nThen Strong, son of Strength, spoke up and said: \"What is the use of\nhiring us if we can't do this work and the like of it? If you'll make a\nship here, or in any place, I'll pull it in the sea.\"\n\n\"And I,\" said Builder, \"will make a ship fit for you or any king on\nearth with one blow of this axe in my hand.\"\n\n\"That's what I want,\" said Fin, \"and now do you make that ship for me.\"\n\n\"I will,\" said Builder.\n\n\"Well,\" said Strong, \"I'll put your ship in the sea.\"\n\nBuilder made the ship there at Tara of the Kings and then Strong brought\nit to the seashore and put it in the water. Fin and the Fenians of Erin\nwent on board, and Guide took the ship from Erin to France.\n\nWhen Fin and his men went to the king of France he was glad to see them\nand said:\n\n\"I'll tell you the reason now I asked you here, and the business I have\nwith you. This time three years ago my wife had a son, two years ago a\nsecond, one year ago a third, and the neighbors' wives are thinking\nshe'll have another child soon. Immediately they were born the three\nwere taken away, and I want you to save the fourth; for we all think it\nwill be taken from us like the other three. When each one of the others\nwas sleeping, a hand came down the chimney to the cradle and took the\nchild away with it up the chimney. There is meat and drink in plenty in\nthat room for you and the Fenians of Erin. My only request is that\nyou'll watch the child.\"\n\n\"We'll do that,\" said Fin, and he went into the chamber with men enough\nto watch and the seven brothers with him. Then the seven said: \"Do you\nand the men go to sleep for yourselves, and we'll do the watching.\" So\nFin and the men went to sleep. The child was born early in the evening\nand put in the cradle. At the dead of night Wise said to Strong: \"Now is\nyour time; the hand is near; keep your eye on it.\"\n\nSoon he saw the hand coming lower and lower and moving towards the\nchild; and when it was going into the cradle, Strong caught the hand and\nit drew him up nearly to the top of the chimney. Then he pulled it down\nto the ashes; again it drew him up.\n\nThey were that way all night,--the hand drawing Strong almost to the top\nof the chimney and out of the house and Strong dragging the hand down to\nthe hearth. They were up and down the chimney till break of day; and\nevery stone in the castle of the king of France was trembling in its\nplace from the struggle.\n\nBut at break of day Strong tore from its shoulder the arm with the hand,\nand there was peace. Now all rose up at the castle. The king came and\nwas glad when he saw the child.\n\nThen Fin spoke up and said: \"We have done no good thing yet till we\nbring back the other three to you.\"\n\nWise spoke up and said: \"I know very well where the other three are, and\nI'll show you the place.\"\n\nSo all set out and they followed him to the castle of Mal MacMulcan and\nthere they saw the three sons of the King of France carrying water to\nMacMulcan to cool the shoulder from which the arm had been torn by\nStrong.\n\nThen Wise said to Climber: \"Now is your time to take the children away;\nfor we can do it without being seen; but if Mal MacMulcan were to see\nthe children going from him, he'd destroy the whole world. But as it is\nwhen he finds the children are gone, he has a sister there near himself,\nand he'll break her head against the wall of the castle.\"\n\nThen Climber took a clew from his pocket and threw it over the walls of\nthe castle, and the walls were so high that no bird of the air could fly\nover them. Then they fixed a rope ladder on the castle. Wise, Guide, and\nClimber went up the ladder and at break of day they brought away the\nthree children and gave them to the king of France that morning. And the\nking of France was so glad when he saw his three sons that he said to\nFin: \"I will give you your ship full of the most precious stuffs in my\nkingdom.\"\n\n\"I will take nothing for myself,\" said Fin; \"but do you give what you\nlike to my seven young men who have done the work;\" and the seven said\nthey wouldn't take anything while they were serving with him. So Fin\ntook the present from the king of France and set sail for Erin with the\nFenians and the seven young men.\n\nWhile they were on the way to Erin they saw the sea raging after them.\nWise, son of Wisdom, said: \"That is Mal MacMulcan coming to get\nsatisfaction out of us.\"\n\nThen MacMulcan caught hold of the ship by the stern and pulled it down\ntill the masts touched the sea. Strong caught him by the left remaining\nhand, and the two began to fight, and at last Strong pulled him on to\nthe deck of the ship.\n\n\"Our ship will be sunk,\" said Wise, \"and Fin with the Fenians of Erin\nand the seven of us will be drowned unless you make a flail out of\nMacMulcan and thrash the head off his body on the deck of the ship.\"\n\nStrong made a flail out of MacMulcan and killed him, and the sea was\nfilled with blood in a minute of time. Then the ship moved on without\nharm till they came to the same spot in Erin from which they had sailed.\n\nWhen Fin came to the place where he had hired the seven young men the\nyear and a day were over. He paid them their hire and they left him.\nThen he came to his own castle at Tara of the Kings.\n\nOne day Fin went out walking alone, and he met an old hag by the way.\nShe spoke up to him and asked: \"Would you play a game of cards with me?\"\n\n\"I would,\" said Fin, \"if I had the means of playing.\"\n\nThe old hag pulled out a pack of cards and said: \"Here you have the\nmeans of playing as many games as you like.\"\n\nThey sat down and played; Fin got the first game on the old woman. Then\nshe said, \"Put the sentence on me now.\"\n\n\"I will not,\" said Fin; \"I'll do nothing till we play another game.\"\n\nThey played again and she won the second game. Then she said to Fin,\n\"You will have to go and bring here for me the head of Curucha na Gras\nand the sword that guards his castle; and I won't give you leave to take\naway any of your men with you but one, and he is the worst of them\nall,--'Iron back without action,' and the time for your journey is a\nyear and a day. Now what is your sentence on me?\" said the old hag.\n\n\"You'll put one foot,\" said Fin, \"on the top of my castle in Tara of the\nKings, and the other on a hill in Mayo, and you'll stand with your back\nto the wind and your face to the storm, a sheaf of wheat on the ground\nbefore the gate will be all you'll have to eat, and any grain that will\nbe blown out of it, if you catch that you'll have it, and you'll be that\nway till I come back.\"\n\nSo Fin went away with himself and \"Iron back without action.\" And when\nthey had gone as far as a large wood that was by the roadside, a thick\nfog came on them, and rain, and they sat down at the edge of the wood\nand waited. Soon they saw a red-haired boy with a bow and arrows\nshooting birds, and whenever he hit a bird he used to put the arrow\nthrough its two eyes and not put a drop of blood on its feathers.\n\nAnd when the red boy came near Fin, he drew his bow, sent an arrow\nthrough \"Iron back without action,\" and put the life out of him.\n\nWhen he did that Fin said, \"You have left me without any man, though\nthis was the worst of all I have.\"\n\n\"You'd better hire me,\" said the red boy; \"you've lost nothing, for you\nwere without a man when you had that fellow the same as you are now.\"\n\nSo Fin hired the red boy and asked him his name. \"I won't tell you\nthat,\" said he, \"but do you put the name on me that'll please yourself.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Fin, \"since I met you in the rain and the mist I'll call\nyou Misty.\"\n\n\"That'll be my name while I'm with you,\" said the red boy, \"and now\nwe'll cast lots to see which of us will carry the other;\" and the lot\nfell upon Misty. He raised Fin on his back to carry him, and the first\nleap he took was six miles, and every step a mile, and he went on\nwithout stopping till he was in the Western World. When they came to\nthe castle of Curucha na Gras, Fin and Misty put up a tent for\nthemselves and they were hungry enough after the long road, and Misty\nsaid, \"I will go and ask Curucha for something to eat.\" He went to the\ncastle and put a fighting blow on the door. Curucha came out and Misty\nasked him for bread.\n\n\"I wouldn't give you the leavings of my pigs,\" said Curucha.\n\nMisty turned and left him, but on the way he met the bakers bringing\nbread from the bake house and he caught all their loaves from them and\nran home to Fin. \"We have plenty to eat now,\" said Misty, \"but nothing\nat all to drink. I must go to Curucha to know will he give us something\nto drink.\"\n\nHe went a second time to the castle, put a fighting blow on the door,\nand out came Curucha.\n\n\"What do you want this time?\" asked he.\n\n\"I want drink for myself and my master, Fin MacCumhail.\"\n\n\"You'll get no drink from me. I wouldn't give you the dirty ditch-water\nthat's outside my castle.\"\n\nMisty turned to go home, but on the way he met twelve boys each carrying\nthe full of his arms of bottles of wine. He took every bottle from them,\nand it wasn't long till he was in the tent.\n\n\"Now we can eat and drink our fill.\"\n\n\"We can indeed,\" said Fin. Next morning Misty put another fighting blow\non the door of the castle. Out flew Curucha with his guardian sword in\nhis hand, and he made at Misty. With the first blow he gave him, he took\nan ear off his head.\n\nMisty sprang back, drew his bow, and sent an arrow into Curucha's\nbreast. It flew out through his head and he fell lifeless on the ground.\nThen Misty drew his knife, cut off the head, and carried the head and\nthe sword to Fin MacCumhail, and Fin was glad to get them both.\n\n\"Take the head,\" said Misty, \"and put it on top of the holly bush that's\nout here above us.\" Fin put the head on the holly bush, and the minute\nhe put it there the head burnt the bush to the earth, and the earth to\nthe clay.\n\nThen they took the best horse that could be found about Curucha's\ncastle. Fin sat on the horse, with the sword and head in front of him;\nand Misty followed behind.\n\nThey went their way and never stopped till they came to the place where\nMisty sent the arrow through \"Iron back without action\" and killed him.\nWhen they came to that spot, Misty asked Fin would he tell him a story,\nand Fin answered, \"I have no story to tell except that we are in the\nplace now where you killed my man.\"\n\n\"Oh, then,\" said Misty, \"I'm glad you put that in my mind for I'll give\nhim back to you now.\" So they went and took \"Iron back without action\"\nout of the ground; then Misty struck him with a rod of enchantment which\nhe had, and brought life into him again.\n\nThen Misty turned to Fin and said: \"I am a brother of the seven boys who\nwent with you to save the children of the king of France. I was too\nyoung for action at that time, but my mother sent me here now as a gift\nto help you and tell you what to do. When you go to the hag she'll ask\nyou for the sword, but you'll not give it, you'll only show it to her.\nAnd when she has seen the sword she'll ask for the head. And you'll not\ngive the head to her either, you'll only show it; and when she sees the\nhead, she'll open her mouth with joy at seeing the head of her brother;\nand when you see her open her mouth be sure to strike her on the breast\nwith the head; and if you don't do that, the whole world wouldn't be\nable to kill her.\"\n\nThen Fin left Misty where he met him and with \"Iron back without action\"\nhe made for Tara of the Kings.\n\nWhen he came in front of the old hag she asked him had he the gifts. Fin\nsaid he had. She asked for the sword but she didn't get it, Fin only\nshowed it to her. Then she asked for the head, and when she saw the\nhead, she opened her mouth with delight at seeing the head of her\nbrother.\n\nWhile she stood there with open mouth gazing, Fin picked out the mark\nand struck her on the breast with the head. She fell to the ground; they\nleft her there dead and went into the castle.\n\n\n\n\nBLACK, BROWN, AND GRAY.\n\n\nOn a day Fin MacCumhail was near Tara of the Kings, south of\nBallyshannon, hunting with seven companies of the Fenians of Erin.\n\nDuring the day they saw three strange men coming towards them, and Fin\nsaid to the Fenians: \"Let none of you speak to them, and if they have\ngood manners they'll not speak to you nor to any man till they come to\nme.\"\n\nWhen the three men came up, they said nothing till they stood before Fin\nhimself. Then he asked what their names were and what they wanted. They\nanswered:--\n\n\"Our names are Dubh, Dun, and GlasAin [Black, Brown, and Gray]. We have\ncome to find Fin MacCumhail, chief of the Fenians of Erin, and take\nservice with him.\"\n\nFin was so well pleased with their looks that he brought them home with\nhim that evening and called them his sons. Then he said, \"Every man who\ncomes to this castle must watch the first night for me, and since three\nof you have come together, each will watch one third of the night.\nYou'll cast lots to see who'll watch first and second.\"\n\nFin had the trunk of a tree brought, three equal parts made of it, and\none given to each of the men.\n\nThen he said, \"When each of you begins his watch he will set fire to his\nown piece of wood, and so long as the wood burns he will watch.\"\n\nThe lot fell to Dubh to go on the first watch. Dubh set fire to his\nlog, then went out around the castle, the dog Bran with him. He wandered\non, going further and further from the castle, and Bran after him. At\nlast he saw a bright light and went towards it. When he came to the\nplace where the light was burning, he saw a large house. He entered the\nhouse and when inside saw a great company of most strange looking men,\ndrinking out of a single cup.\n\nThe chief of the party, who was sitting on a high place, gave the cup to\nthe man nearest him; and when he had drunk his fill out of it, he passed\nit to his neighbor, and so on to the last.\n\nWhile the cup was going the round of the company, the chief said, \"This\nis the great cup that was taken from Fin MacCumhail a hundred years ago;\nand as much as each man wishes to drink he always gets from it, and no\nmatter how many men there may be, or what they wish for, they always\nhave their fill.\"\n\nDubh sat near the door on the edge of the crowd, and when the cup came\nto him he drank a little, then slipped out and hurried away in the dark;\nwhen he came to the fountain at the castle of Fin MacCumhail, his log\nwas burned.\n\nAs the second lot had fallen on Dun, it was now his turn to watch, so he\nset fire to his log and went out, in the place of Dubh, with the dog\nBran after him.\n\nDun walked on through the night till he saw a fire. He went towards it,\nand when he had come near he saw a large house, which he entered; and\nwhen inside he saw a crowd of strange looking men, fighting. They were\nferocious, wonderful to look at, and fighting wildly.\n\nThe chief, who had climbed on the crossbeams of the house to escape the\nuproar and struggle, called out to the crowd below: \"Stop fighting now;\nfor I have a better gift than the one you have lost this night.\" And\nputting his hand behind his belt, he drew out a knife and held it before\nthem, saying: \"Here is the wonderful knife, the small knife of division,\nthat was stolen from Fin MacCumhail a hundred years ago, and if you cut\non a bone with the knife, you'll get the finest meat in the world, and\nas much of it as ever your hearts can wish for.\"\n\nThen he passed down the knife and a bare bone to the man next him, and\nthe man began to cut; and off came slices of the sweetest and best meat\nin the world.\n\nThe knife and the bone passed from man to man till they came to Dun, who\ncut a slice off the bone, slipped out unseen, and made for Fin's castle\nas fast as his two legs could carry him through the darkness and over\nthe ground.\n\nWhen he was by the fountain at the castle, his part of the log was\nburned and his watch at an end.\n\nNow GlasAin set fire to his stick of wood and went out on his watch and\nwalked forward till he saw the light and came to the same house that\nDubh and Dun had visited. Looking in he saw the place full of dead\nbodies, and thought, \"There must be some great wonder here. If I lie\ndown in the midst of these and put some of them over me to hide myself,\nI shall be able to see what is going on.\"\n\nHe lay down and pulled some of the bodies over himself. He wasn't there\nlong when he saw an old hag coming into the house. She had but one leg,\none arm, and one upper tooth, which was as long as her leg and served\nher in place of a crutch. When inside the door she took up the first\ncorpse she met and threw it aside; it was lean. As she went on she took\ntwo bites out of every fat corpse she met, and threw every lean one\naside.\n\nShe had her fill of flesh and blood before she came to GlasAin; and as\nsoon as she had that, she dropped down on the floor, lay on her back,\nand went to sleep.\n\nEvery breath she drew, GlasAin was afraid she'd drag the roof down on top\nof his head, and every time she let a breath out of her he thought she'd\nsweep the roof off the house.\n\nThen he rose up, looked at her, and wondered at the bulk of her body. At\nlast he drew his sword, hit her a slash, and if he did, three young\ngiants sprang forth.\n\nGlasAin killed the first giant, the dog Bran killed the second, and the\nthird ran away.\n\nGlasAin now hurried back, and when he reached the fountain at Fin's\ncastle, his log of wood was burned, and day was dawning.\n\nWhen all had risen in the morning, and the Fenians of Erin came out, Fin\nsaid to Dubh, \"Have you anything new or wonderful to tell me after the\nnight's watching?\"\n\n\"I have,\" said Dubh; \"for I brought back the drinking-cup that you lost\na hundred years ago. I was out in the darkness watching. I walked on,\nand the dog Bran with me till I saw a light. When I came to the light I\nfound a house, and in the house a company feasting. The chief was a very\nold man, and sat on a high place above the rest. He took out the cup and\nsaid: 'This is the cup that was stolen from Fin MacCumhail a hundred\nyears ago, and it is always full of the best drink in the world; and\nwhen one of you has drunk from the cup pass it on to the next.'\n\n\"They drank and passed the cup till it came to me. I took it and hurried\nback. When I came here, my log was burned and my watch was finished.\nHere now is the cup for you,\" said Dubh to Fin MacCumhail.\n\nFin praised him greatly for what he had done, and turning to Dun said:\n\"Now tell us what happened in your watch.\"\n\n\"When my turn came I set fire to the log which you gave me, and walked\non; the dog Bran following, till I saw a light. When I came to the\nlight, I found a house in which was a crowd of people, all fighting\nexcept one very old man on a high place above the rest. He called to\nthem for peace, and told them to be quiet. 'For,' said he, 'I have a\nbetter gift for you than the one you lost this night,' and he took out\nthe small knife of division with a bare bone, and said: 'This is the\nknife that was stolen from Fin MacCumhail, a hundred years ago, and\nwhenever you cut on the bone with the knife, you'll get your fill of the\nbest meat on earth.'\n\n\"Then he handed the knife and the bone to the man nearest him, who cut\nfrom it all the meat he wanted, and then passed it to his neighbor. The\nknife went from hand to hand till it came to me, then I took it, slipped\nout, and hurried away. When I came to the fountain, my log was burned,\nand here are the knife and bone for you.\"\n\n\"You have done a great work, and deserve my best praise,\" said Fin. \"We\nare sure of the best eating and drinking as long as we keep the cup and\nthe knife.\"\n\n\"Now what have you seen in your part of the night?\" said Fin to GlasAin.\n\n\"I went out,\" said GlasAin, \"with the dog Bran, and walked on till I saw\na light, and when I came to the light I saw a house, which I entered.\nInside were heaps of dead men, killed in fighting, and I wondered\ngreatly when I saw them. At last I lay down in the midst of the corpses,\nput some of them over me and waited to see what would happen.\n\n\"Soon an old hag came in at the door, she had but one arm, one leg, and\nthe one tooth out of her upper jaw, and that tooth as long as her leg,\nand she used it for a crutch as she hobbled along. She threw aside the\nfirst corpse she met and took two bites out of the second,--for she\nthrew every lean corpse away and took two bites out of every fat one.\nWhen she had eaten her fill, she lay down on her back in the middle of\nthe floor and went to sleep. I rose up then to look at her, and every\ntime she drew a breath I was in dread she would bring down the roof of\nthe house on the top of my head, and every time she let a breath out of\nher, I thought she'd sweep the roof from the building, so strong was the\nbreath of the old hag.\n\n\"Then I drew my sword and cut her with a blow, but if I did three young\ngiants sprang up before me. I killed the first, Bran killed the second,\nbut the third escaped. I walked away then, and when I was at the\nfountain outside, daylight had come and my log was burned.\"\n\n\"Between you and me,\" said Fin, \"it would have been as well if you had\nlet the old hag alone. I am greatly in dread the third young giant will\nbring trouble on us all.\"\n\nFor twenty-one years Fin MacCumhail and the Fenians of Erin hunted for\nsport alone. They had the best of eating from the small knife of\ndivision, and the best of drinking from the cup that was never dry. At\nthe end of twenty-one years Dubh, Dun, and GlasAin went away, and one\nday, as Fin and the Fenians of Erin were hunting on the hills and\nmountains, they saw a Fear Ruadh (a red haired man) coming toward them.\n\n\"There is a bright looking man coming this way,\" said Fin, \"and don't\nyou speak to him.\"\n\n\"Oh, what do we care for him?\" asked Conan Maol.\n\n\"Don't be rude to a stranger,\" said Fin.\n\nThe Fear Ruadh came forward and spoke to no man till he stood before\nFin.\n\n\"What have you come for?\" asked Fin.\n\n\"To find a master for twenty-one years.\"\n\n\"What wages do you ask?\" inquired Fin.\n\n\"No wages but this,--that if I die before the twenty-one years have\npassed, I shall be buried on Inis Caol (Light Island).\"\n\n\"I'll give you those wages,\" said Fin, and he hired the Fear Ruadh for\ntwenty-one years.\n\nHe served Fin for twenty years to his satisfaction; but toward the end\nof the twenty-first year he fell into a decline, became an old man, and\ndied.\n\nWhen the Fear Ruadh was dead, the Fenians of Erin said that not a step\nwould they go to bury him; but Fin declared that he wouldn't break his\nword for any man, and must take the corpse to Inis Caol.\n\nFin had an old white horse which he had turned out to find a living for\nhimself as he could on the hillsides and in the woods. And now he looked\nfor the horse and found that he had become younger than older in looks\nsince he had put him out. So he took the old white horse and tied a\ncoffin, with the body of the Fear Ruadh in it, on his back. Then they\nstarted him on ahead and away he went followed by Fin and twelve men of\nthe Fenians of Erin.\n\nWhen they came to the temple on Inis Caol there were no signs of the\nwhite horse and the coffin; but the temple was open and in went Fin and\nthe twelve.\n\nThere were seats for each man inside. They sat down and rested awhile\nand then Fin tried to rise but couldn't. He told the men to rise, but\nthe twelve were fastened to the seats, and the seats to the ground, so\nthat not a man of them could come to his feet.\n\n\"Oh,\" said Fin, \"I'm in dread there is some evil trick played on us.\"\n\nAt that moment the Fear Ruadh stood before them in all his former\nstrength and youth and said: \"Now is the time for me to take\nsatisfaction out of you for my mother and brothers,\" Then one of the men\nsaid to Fin, \"Chew your thumb to know is there any way out of this.\"\n\nFin chewed his thumb to know what should he do. When he knew, he blew\nthe great whistle with his two hands; which was heard by Donogh Kamcosa\nand Diarmuid O'Duivne.\n\nThe Fear Ruadh fell to and killed three of the men; but before he could\ntouch the fourth Donogh and Diarmuid were there, and put an end to him.\nNow all were free, and Fin with the nine men went back to their castle\nsouth of Ballyshannon.\n\n\n\n\nFIN MACCUMHAIL AND THE SON OF THE KING OF ALBA.\n\n\nOn a day Fin went out hunting with his dog Bran, on Knock an Ar; and he\nkilled so much game that he didn't know what to do with it or how to\nbring it home. As he stood looking and thinking, all at once he saw a\nman running towards him, with a rope around his waist so long that half\nhis body was covered with it; and the man was of such size that, as he\nran, Fin could see the whole world between his legs and nothing between\nhis head and the sky. When he came up, the man saluted Fin, who answered\nhim most kindly. \"Where are you going?\" asked Fin. \"I am out looking for\na master.\" \"Well,\" said Fin, \"I am in sore need of a man; what can you\ndo?\" \"Do you see this rope on my body? Whatever this rope will bind I\ncan carry.\" \"If that is true,\" said Fin, \"you are the man I want. Do you\nsee the game on this hillside?\" \"I do,\" said the man. \"Well, put that\ninto the rope and carry it to my castle.\"\n\nThe man put all the game into the rope, made a great bundle, and threw\nit on his back.\n\n\"Show me the way to the castle now,\" said he. Fin started on ahead, and\nthough he ran with all his might, he could not gain one step on the man\nwho followed with the game. The sentry on guard at the castle saw the\nman running while yet far off. He stepped inside the gate and said:\n\"There is a man coming with a load on his back as big as a mountain.\"\nBefore he could come out again to his place the man was there and the\nload off his back. When the game came to the ground, it shook the castle\nto its foundations. Next day the man was sent to herd cows for a time,\nand while he was gone, ConAin Maol said to Fin: \"If you don't put this\ncowherd to death, he will destroy all the Fenians of Erin.\" \"How could I\nput such a good man to death?\" asked Fin. \"Send him,\" said ConAin, \"to\nsow corn on the brink of a lake in the north of Erin. Now, in that lake\nlives a serpent that never lets a person pass, but swallows every man\nthat goes that way.\" Fin agreed to this, and the next morning after\nbreakfast he called the man, gave him seven bullocks, a plough, and a\nsack of grain, and sent him to the lake in the north of Erin to sow\ncorn. When he came to the lake, the man started to plough, drew one\nfurrow. The lake began to boil up, and as he was coming back, making the\nsecond furrow, the serpent was on the field before him and swallowed the\nseven bullocks and the plough up to the handles. But the man held fast\nto what he had in his two hands, gave a pull, and dragged the plough and\nsix of the bullocks out of the belly of the serpent. The seventh one\nremained inside. The serpent went at him and they fought for seven days\nand nights. At the end of that time the serpent was as tame as a cat,\nand the man drove him and the six bullocks home before him.\n\nWhen he was in sight of Fin's castle, the sentry at the gate ran in and\ncried: \"That cowherd is coming with the size of a mountain before him!\"\n\"Run out,\" said ConAin Maol, \"and tell him to tie the serpent to that oak\nout there.\"\n\nThey ran out, and the man tied the serpent to the oak-tree, then came in\nand had a good supper.\n\nNext morning the man went out to herd cows as before. \"Well,\" said\nConAin Maol to Fin, \"if you don't put this man to death, he'll destroy\nyou and me and all the Fenians of Erin.\"\n\n\"How could I put such a man to death?\"\n\n\"There is,\" said ConAin, \"a bullock in the north of Erin, and he drives\nfog out of himself for seven days and then he draws it in for seven\nother days. To-morrow is the last day for drawing it in. If any one man\ncomes near, he'll swallow him alive.\"\n\nWhen the cowherd came to supper in the evening, Fin said to him: \"I am\ngoing to have a feast and need fresh beef. Now there is a bullock in\nthat same valley by the lake in the north of Erin where you punished the\nserpent; and if you go there and bring the bullock to me, you'll have my\nthanks.\"\n\n\"I'll go,\" said the man, \"the first thing after breakfast in the\nmorning.\"\n\nSo off he went next morning; and when he came near the valley, he found\nthe bullock asleep and drawing in the last of the fog; and soon he found\nhimself going in with it. So he caught hold of a great oak-tree for\nsafety. The bullock woke up then and saw him, and letting a roar out of\nhimself, faced him, and gave him a pitch with his horn which sent him\nseven miles over the top of a wood. And when he fell to the ground, the\nbullock was on him again before he had time to rise, and gave him\nanother pitch which sent him back and broke three ribs in his body.\n\n\"This will never do,\" said the man, as he rose, and pulling up an\noak-tree by the roots for a club, he faced the bullock. And there they\nwere at one another for five days and nights, till the bullock was as\ntame as a cat and the man drove him home to Fin's castle. The sentry\nsaw them coming and ran inside the gate with word. \"Tell the man to tie\nthe bullock to that oak-tree beyond,\" said ConAin. \"We don't want him\nnear this place.\" The cowherd tied the bullock, and told Fin to send\nfour of the best butchers in Erin to kill him with an axe; and the four\nof them struck him one after another and any of them couldn't knock him.\n\n\"Give me an axe,\" said the man to the butchers. They gave him the axe,\nand the first stroke he gave, he knocked the bullock. Then they began to\nskin him; but the man didn't like the way they were doing the work, so\nhe took his sword and had three quarters of the bullock skinned before\nthey could skin one.\n\nNext morning the cowherd went out with the cows; but he wasn't long gone\nwhen ConAin Maol came to Fin and said: \"If you don't put an end to that\nman, he'll soon put an end to you and to me and to all of us, so there\nwon't be a man of the Fenians of Erin left alive.\"\n\n\"How could I put an end to a man like him?\" asked Fin.\n\n\"There is in the north of Erin,\" said ConAin, \"a wild sow who has two\ngreat pigs of her own; and she and her two pigs have bags of poison in\ntheir tails; and when they see any man, they run at him and shake their\npoison bags; and if the smallest drop of the poison touches him, it is\ndeath to him that minute. And, if by any chance he should escape the\nwild sow and the pigs, there is a fox-man called the Gruagach, who has\nbut one eye and that in the middle of his forehead. The Gruagach carries\na club of a ton weight, and if the cowherd gets one welt of that club,\nhe'll never trouble the Fenians of Erin again.\"\n\nNext morning Fin called up the cowherd and said, \"I am going to have a\nfeast in this castle, and I would like to have some fresh pork. There is\na wild sow in the north of Erin with two pigs, and if you bring her to\nme before the feast, you'll have my thanks.\"\n\n\"I'll go and bring her to you,\" said the cowherd. So after breakfast he\ntook his sword, went to the north of Erin, and stole up to the sow and\ntwo pigs, and whipped the tails off the three of them, before they knew\nhe was in it. Then he faced the wild sow and fought with her for four\ndays and five nights, and on the morning of the fifth day he knocked her\ndead. At the last blow, his sword stuck in her backbone and he couldn't\ndraw it out. But with one pull he broke the blade, and stood there over\nher with only the hilt in his hand. Then he put his foot on one of her\njaws, took the other in his hands, and splitting her evenly from the\nnose to the tail, made two halves of her.\n\nHe threw one half on his shoulder; and that minute the big Gruagach with\none eye in his head came along and made an offer of his club at him to\nkill him. But the cowherd jumped aside, and catching the Gruagach by one\nof his legs, threw him up on to the half of the wild sow on his\nshoulder, and taking the other half of her from the ground, clapped that\non the top of the Gruagach, and ran away to Fin's castle as fast as his\nlegs could carry him.\n\nThe sentry at the castle gate ran in and said: \"The cowherd is running\nto the castle, and the size of a mountain on his back.\" \"Go out now,\"\nsaid ConAin Maol, \"and stop him where he is, or he'll throw down the\ncastle if he comes here with the load that's on him.\" But before the\nsentry was back at his place, the cowherd was at the gate shaking the\nload off his back and the castle to its foundations, so that every\ndish and vessel in it was broken to bits.\n\nThe Gruagach jumped from the ground, rubbed his legs and every part of\nhim that was sore from the treatment he got. He was so much in dread of\nthe cowherd that he ran with all the strength that was in him, and never\nstopped to look back till he was in the north of Erin.\n\nNext morning the cowherd went out with the cows, drove them back in the\nevening, and while picking the thigh-bone of a bullock for his supper,\nOscar, son of Oisin, the strongest man of the Fenians of Erin, came up\nto him and took hold of the bone to pull it from his hand. The cowherd\nheld one end and Oscar the other, and pulled till they made two halves\nof the bone. \"What did you carry away?\" asked the cowherd. \"What I have\nin my hand,\" said Oscar. \"And I kept what I held in my fist,\" said the\ncowherd. \"There is that for you now,\" said Oscar, and he hit him a slap.\n\nThe cowherd said no word in answer, but next morning he asked his wages\nof Fin. \"Oh, then,\" said Fin, \"I'll pay you and welcome, for you are the\nbest man I have ever had or met with.\"\n\nThen the cowherd went away to Cahirciveen in Kerry where he had an\nenchanted castle. But before he went he invited Fin MacCumhail and the\nFenians of Erin to have a great feast with him. \"For,\" said he to Fin,\n\"I'm not a cowherd at all, but the son of the king of Alba, and I'll\ngive you good cheer.\"\n\nWhen the Fenians came to the place, they found the finest castle that\ncould be seen. There were three fires in each room and seven spits at\nevery fire. When they had gone and sat down in their places, there was\nbut one fire in each room. \"Rise up, every man of you,\" said Fin, \"or\nwe are lost; for this is an enchanted place.\"\n\nThey tried to rise, but each man was fastened to his seat, and the seat\nto the floor; and not one of them could stir. Then the last fire went\nout and they were in darkness.\n\n\"Chew your thumb,\" said ConAin to Fin, \"and try is there any way out of\nhere.\" Fin chewed his thumb and knew what trouble they were in. Then he\nput his two hands into his mouth and blew the old-time whistle. And this\nwhistle was heard by PogAin and CeolAin, two sons of Fin who were in the\nNorth at that time, one fishing and the other hurling.\n\nWhen they heard the whistle, they said: \"Our father and the Fenians of\nErin are in trouble.\" And they faced towards the sound and never stopped\ntill they knocked at the door of the enchanted castle of the son of Alba\nat Cahirciveen.\n\n\"Who is there?\" asked Fin.\n\n\"Your two sons,\" said one of them.\n\n\"Well,\" said Fin, \"we are in danger of death to-night. That cowherd I\nhad in my service was no cowherd at all, but the son of the king of\nAlba; and his father has said that he will not eat three meals off one\ntable without having my head. There is an army now on the road to kill\nus to-night. There is no way in or out of this castle but by one ford,\nand to that ford the army of the king of Alba is coming.\"\n\nThe two sons of Fin went out at nightfall and stood in the ford before\nthe army. The son of the king of Alba knew them well, and calling each\nby name, said: \"Won't you let us pass?\" \"We will not,\" said they; and\nthen the fight began. The two sons of Fin MacCumhail, PogAin and CeolAin,\ndestroyed the whole army and killed every man except the son of the\nking of Alba.\n\nAfter the battle the two went back to their father. \"We have destroyed\nthe whole army at the ford,\" said they.\n\n\"There is a greater danger ahead,\" said Fin. \"There is an old hag coming\nwith a little pot. She will dip her finger in the pot, touch the lips of\nthe dead men, and bring the whole army to life. But first of all there\nwill be music at the ford, and if you hear the music, you'll fall\nasleep. Now go, but if you do not overpower the old hag, we are lost.\"\n\n\"We'll do the best we can,\" said the two sons of Fin.\n\nThey were not long at the ford when one said, \"I am falling asleep from\nthat music.\" \"So am I,\" said the other. \"Knock your foot down on mine,\"\nsaid the first. The other kicked his foot and struck him, but no use.\nThen each took his spear and drove it through the foot of the other, but\nboth fell asleep in spite of the spears.\n\nThe old hag went on touching the lips of the dead men, who stood up\nalive; and she was crossing the ford at the head of the army when she\nstumbled over the two sleeping brothers and spilt what was in the pot\nover their bodies.\n\nThey sprang up fresh and well, and picking up two stones of a ton weight\neach that were there in the ford, they made for the champions of Alban\nand never stopped till they killed the last man of them; and then they\nkilled the old hag herself.\n\nPogAin and CeolAin then knocked at the door of the castle.\n\n\"Who's there?\" asked Fin.\n\n\"Your two sons,\" said they; \"and we have killed all the champions of\nAlban and the old hag as well.\" \"You have more to do yet,\" said Fin.\n\"There are three kings in the north of Erin who have three silver\ngoblets. These kings are holding a feast in a fort to-day. You must go\nand cut the heads off the three, put their blood in the goblets and\nbring them here. When you come, rub the blood on the keyhole of the door\nand it will open before you. When you come in, rub the seats and we\nshall all be free.\"\n\nThe three goblets of blood were brought to Cahirciveen, the door of the\ncastle flew open, and light came into every room. The brothers rubbed\nblood on the chairs of all the Fenians of Erin and freed them all,\nexcept ConAin Maol, who had no chair, but sat on the floor with his back\nto the wall. When they came to him the last drop of blood was gone.\n\nAll the Fenians of Erin were hurrying past, anxious to escape, and paid\nno heed to ConAin, who had never a good word in his mouth for any man.\nThen ConAin turned to Diarmuid, and said: \"If a woman were here in place\nof me, you wouldn't leave her to die this way.\" Then Diarmuid turned,\ntook him by one hand, and Goll MacMorna by the other, and pulling with\nall their might, tore him from the wall and the floor. But if they did,\nhe left all the skin of his back from his head to his heels on the floor\nand the wall behind him. But when they were going home through the hills\nof Tralee, they found a sheep on the way, killed it, and clapped the\nskin on ConAin. The sheepskin grew to his body; and he was so well and\nstrong that they sheared him every year, and got wool enough from his\nback to make flannel and frieze for the Fenians of Erin ever after.\n\n\n\n\nCUCULIN.\n\n\nThere was a king in a land not far from Greece who had two daughters,\nand the younger was fairer than the elder daughter.\n\nThis old king made a match between the king of Greece and his own elder\ndaughter; but he kept the younger one hidden away till after the\nmarriage. Then the younger daughter came forth to view; and when the\nking of Greece saw her, he wouldn't look at his own wife. Nothing would\ndo him but to get the younger sister and leave the elder at home with\nher father.\n\nThe king wouldn't listen to this, wouldn't agree to the change, so the\nking of Greece left his wife where she was, went home alone in a\nterrible rage and collected all his forces to march against the kingdom\nof his father-in-law.\n\nHe soon conquered the king and his army and, so far as he was able, he\nvexed and tormented him. To do this the more completely, he took from\nhim a rod of Druidic spells, enchantment, and ring of youth which he\nhad, and, striking the elder sister with the rod, he said: \"You will be\na serpent of the sea and live outside there in the bay by the castle.\"\n\nThen turning to the younger sister, whose name was Gil an Og, he struck\nher, and said: \"You'll be a cat while inside this castle, and have your\nown form only when you are outside the walls.\"\n\nAfter he had done this, the king of Greece went home to his own country,\ntaking with him the rod of enchantment and the ring of youth. The king\ndied in misery and grief, leaving his two daughters spellbound.\n\nNow there was a Druid in that kingdom, and the younger sister went to\nconsult him, and asked: \"Shall I ever be released from the enchantment\nthat's on me now?\"\n\n\"You will not, unless you find the man to release you; and there is no\nman in the world to do that but a champion who is now with Fin\nMacCumhail in Erin.\"\n\n\"Well, how can I find that man?\" asked she.\n\n\"I will tell you,\" said the Druid. \"Do you make a shirt out of your own\nhair, take it with you, and never stop till you land in Erin and find\nFin and his men; the man that the shirt will fit is the man who will\nrelease you.\"\n\nShe began to make the shirt and worked without stopping till it was\nfinished. Then she went on her journey and never rested till she came to\nErin in a ship. She went on shore and inquired where Fin and his men\nwere to be found at that time of the year.\n\n\"You will find them at Knock an Ar,\" was the answer she got.\n\nShe went to Knock an Ar carrying the shirt with her. The first man she\nmet was Conan Maol, and she said to him: \"I have come to find the man\nthis shirt will fit. From the time one man tries it all must try till I\nsee the man it fits.\"\n\nThe shirt went from hand to hand till Cuculin put it on. \"Well,\" said\nshe, \"it fits as your own skin.\"\n\nNow Gil an Og told Cuculin all that had happened,--how her father had\nforced her sister to marry the king of Greece, how this king had made\nwar on her father, enchanted her sister and herself, and carried off\nthe rod of enchantment with the ring of youth, and how the old Druid\nsaid the man this shirt would fit was the only man in the world who\ncould release them.\n\nNow Gil an Og and Cuculin went to the ship and sailed across the seas to\nher country and went to her castle.\n\n\"You'll have no one but a cat for company to-night,\" said Gil an Og. \"I\nhave the form of a cat inside this castle, but outside I have my own\nappearance. Your dinner is ready, go in.\"\n\nAfter the dinner Cuculin went to another room apart, and lay down to\nrest after the journey. The cat came to his pillow, sat there and purred\ntill he fell asleep and slept soundly till morning.\n\nWhen he rose up, a basin of water, and everything he needed was before\nhim, and his breakfast ready. He walked out after breakfast; Gil an Og\nwas on the green outside before him and said:\n\n\"If you are not willing to free my sister and myself, I shall not urge\nyou; but if you do free us, I shall be glad and thankful. Many king's\nsons and champions before you have gone to recover the ring and the rod;\nbut they have never come back.\"\n\n\"Well, whether I thrive or not, I'll venture,\" said Cuculin.\n\n\"I will give you,\" said Gil an Og, \"a present such as I have never given\nbefore to any man who ventured out on my behalf; I will give you the\nspeckled boat.\"\n\nCuculin took leave of Gil an Og and sailed away in the speckled boat to\nGreece, where he went to the king's court, and challenged him to combat.\n\nThe king of Greece gathered his forces and sent them out to chastise\nCuculin. He killed them all to the last man. Then Cuculin challenged\nthe king a second time.\n\n\"I have no one now to fight but myself,\" said the king; \"and I don't\nthink it becomes me to go out and meet the like of you.\"\n\n\"If you don't come out to me,\" said Cuculin, \"I'll go in to you and cut\nthe head off you in your own castle.\"\n\n\"That's enough of impudence from you, you scoundrel,\" said the king of\nGreece. \"I won't have you come into my castle, but I'll meet you on the\nopen plain.\"\n\nThe king went out, and they fought till Cuculin got the better of him,\nbound him head and heels, and said: \"I'll cut the head off you now\nunless you give me the ring of youth and the rod of enchantment that you\ntook from the father of Gil an Og.\"\n\n\"Well, I did carry them away,\" said the king, \"but it wouldn't be easy\nfor me now to give them to you or to her; for there was a man who came\nand carried them away, who could take them from you and from me, and\nfrom as many more of us, if they were here.\"\n\n\"Who was that man?\" asked Cuculin.\n\n\"His name,\" said the king, \"is Lug[12] Longhand. And if I had known what\nyou wanted, there would have been no difference between us. I'll tell\nyou how I lost the ring and rod and I'll go with you and show you where\nLug Longhand lives. But do you come to my castle. We'll have a good time\ntogether.\"\n\n[12] Pronounced \"Loog.\"\n\nThey set out next day, and never stopped till they came opposite Lug\nLonghand castle, and Cuculin challenged his forces to combat.\n\n\"I have no forces,\" said Lug, \"but I'll fight you myself.\" So the\ncombat began, and they spent the whole day at one another, and neither\ngained the victory.\n\nThe king of Greece himself put up a tent on the green in front of the\ncastle, and prepared everything necessary to eat and drink (there was no\none else to do it). After breakfast next day, Cuculin and Lug began\nfighting again. The king of Greece looked on as the day before.\n\nThey fought the whole day till near evening, when Cuculin got the upper\nhand of Lug Longhand and bound him head and heels, saying: \"I'll cut the\nhead off you now unless you give me the rod and the ring that you\ncarried away from the king of Greece.\"\n\n\"Oh, then,\" said Lug, \"it would be hard for me to give them to you or to\nhim; for forces came and took them from me; and they would have taken\nthem from you and from him, if you had been here.\"\n\n\"Who in the world took them from you?\" asked the king of Greece.\n\n\"Release me from this bond, and come to my castle, and I'll tell you the\nwhole story,\" said Lug Longhand.\n\nCuculin released him, and they went to the castle. They got good\nreception and entertainment from Lug that night, and the following\nmorning as well. He said: \"The ring and the rod were taken from me by\nthe knight of the island of the Flood. This island is surrounded by a\nchain, and there is a ring of fire seven miles wide between the chain\nand the castle. No man can come near the island without breaking the\nchain, and the moment the chain is broken the fire stops burning at that\nplace; and the instant the fire goes down the knight rushes out and\nattacks and slays every man that's before him.\" The king of Greece,\nCuculin, and Lug Longhand now sailed on in the speckled boat towards the\nisland of the Flood. On the following morning when the speckled boat\nstruck the chain, she was thrown back three days' sail, and was near\nbeing sunk, and would have gone to the bottom of the sea but for her own\ngoodness and strength.\n\nAs soon as Cuculin saw what had happened, he took the oars, rowed on\nagain, and drove the vessel forward with such venom that she cut through\nthe chain and went one third of her length on to dry land. That moment\nthe fire was quenched where the vessel struck, and when the knight of\nthe Island saw the fire go out, he rushed to the shore and met Cuculin,\nthe king of Greece, and Lug Longhand.\n\nWhen Cuculin saw him, he threw aside his weapons, caught him, raised him\nabove his head, hurled him down on the flat of his back, bound him head\nand heels, and said: \"I'll cut the head off you unless you give me the\nring and the rod that you carried away from Lug Longhand.\"\n\n\"I took them from him, it's true,\" said the knight; \"but it would be\nhard for me to give them to you now; for a man came and took them from\nme, who would have taken them from you and all that are with you, and as\nmany more if they had been here before him.\"\n\n\"Who in the world could that man be?\" asked Cuculin.\n\n\"The Dark Gruagach of the Northern Island. Release me, and come to my\ncastle. I'll tell you all and entertain you well.\"\n\nHe took them to his castle, gave them good cheer, and told them all\nabout the Gruagach and his island. Next morning all sailed away in\nCuculin's vessel, which they had left at the shore of the island, and\nnever stopped till they came to the Gruagach's castle, and pitched their\ntents in front of it.\n\nThen Cuculin challenged the Gruagach. The others followed after to know\nwould he thrive. The Gruagach came out and faced Cuculin, and they began\nand spent the whole day at one another and neither of them gained the\nupper hand. When evening came, they stopped and prepared for supper and\nthe night.\n\nNext day after breakfast Cuculin challenged the Gruagach again, and they\nfought till evening; when Cuculin got the better in the struggle,\ndisarmed the Gruagach, bound him, and said: \"Unless you give up the rod\nof enchantment and the ring of youth that you took from the knight of\nthe island of the Flood, I'll cut the head off you now.\"\n\n\"I took them from him, 'tis true; but there was a man named\nThin-in-Iron, who took them from me, and he would have taken them from\nyou and from me, and all that are here, if there were twice as many. He\nis such a man that sword cannot cut him, fire cannot burn him, water\ncannot drown him, and 'tis no easy thing to get the better of him. But\nif you'll free me now and come to my castle, I'll treat you well and\ntell you all about him.\" Cuculin agreed to this.\n\nNext morning they would not stop nor be satisfied till they went their\nway. They found the castle of Thin-in-Iron, and Cuculin challenged him\nto combat. They fought; and he was cutting the flesh from Cuculin, but\nCuculin's sword cut no flesh from him. They fought till Cuculin said:\n\"It is time now to stop till to-morrow.\"\n\nCuculin was scarcely able to reach the tent. They had to support him\nand put him to bed. Now, who should come to Cuculin that night but Gil\nan Og, and she said: \"You have gone further than any man before you, and\nI'll cure you now, and you need go no further for the rod of enchantment\nand the ring of youth.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said Cuculin, \"I'll never give over till I knock another day's\ntrial out of Thin-in-Iron.\"\n\nWhen it was time for rest, Gil an Og went away, and Cuculin fell asleep\nfor himself. On the following morning all his comrades were up and\nfacing his tent. They thought to see him dead, but he was in as good\nhealth as ever.\n\nThey prepared breakfast, and after breakfast Cuculin went before the\ndoor of the castle to challenge his enemy.\n\nThin-in-Iron thrust his head out and said: \"That man I fought yesterday\nhas come again to-day. It would have been a good deed if I had cut the\nhead off him last night. Then he wouldn't be here to trouble me this\nmorning. I won't come home this day till I bring his head with me. Then\nI'll have peace.\"\n\nThey met in combat and fought till the night was coming. Then\nThin-in-Iron cried out for a cessation, and if he did, Cuculin was glad\nto give it; for his sword had no effect upon Thin-in-Iron except to tire\nand nearly kill him (he was enchanted and no arms could cut him). When\nThin-in-Iron went to his castle, he threw up three sups of blood, and\nsaid to his housekeeper: \"Though his sword could not penetrate me, he\nhas nearly broken my heart.\"\n\nCuculin had to be carried to his tent. His comrades laid him on his bed\nand said: \"Whoever came and healed him yesterday, may be the same will\nbe here to-night.\" They went away and were not long gone when Gil an Og\ncame and said: \"Cuculin, if you had done my bidding, you wouldn't be as\nyou are to-night. But if you neglect my words now, you'll never see my\nface again. I'll cure you this time and make you as well as ever;\" and\nwhatever virtue she had she healed him so he was as strong as before.\n\n\"Oh, then,\" said Cuculin, \"whatever comes on me I'll never turn back\ntill I knock another day's trial out of Thin-in-Iron.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said she, \"you are a stronger man than he, but there is no good\nin working at him with a sword. Throw your sword aside to-morrow, and\nyou'll get the better of him and bind him. You'll not see me again.\"\n\nShe went away and he fell asleep. His comrades came in the morning and\nfound him sleeping. They got breakfast, and, after eating, Cuculin went\nout and called a challenge.\n\n\"Oh, 'tis the same man as yesterday,\" said Thin-in-Iron, \"and if I had\ncut the head off him then, it wouldn't be he that would trouble me\nto-day. If I live for it, I'll bring his head in my hand to-night, and\nhe'll never disturb me again.\"\n\nWhen Cuculin saw Thin-in-Iron coming, he threw his sword aside, and\nfacing him, caught him by the body, raised him up, then dashed him to\nthe ground, and said, \"If you don't give me what I want, I'll cut the\nhead off you.\"\n\n\"What do you want of me?\" asked Thin-in-Iron.\n\n\"I want the rod of enchantment and the ring of youth you carried from\nthe Gruagach.\"\n\n\"I did indeed carry them from him, but it would be no easy thing for me\nto give them to you or any other man; for a force came which took them\nfrom me.\"\n\n\"What could take them from you?\" asked Cuculin.\n\n\"The queen of the Wilderness, an old hag that has them now. But release\nme from this bondage and I'll take you to my castle and entertain you\nwell, and I'll go with you and the rest of the company to see how will\nyou thrive.\"\n\nSo he took Cuculin and his friends to the castle and entertained them\njoyously, and he said: \"The old hag, the queen of the Wilderness, lives\nin a round tower, which is always turning on wheels. There is but one\nentrance to the tower, and that high above the ground, and in the one\nchamber in which she lives, keeping the ring and the rod, is a chair,\nand she has but to sit on the chair and wish herself in any part of the\nworld, and that moment she is there. She has six lines of guards\nprotecting her tower, and if you pass all of these, you'll do what no\nman before you has done to this day. The first guards are two lions that\nrush out to know which of them will get the first bite out of the throat\nof any one that tries to pass. The second are seven men with iron\nhurlies and an iron ball, and with their hurlies they wallop the life\nout of any man that goes their way. The third is Hung-up-Naked, who\nhangs on a tree with his toes to the earth, his head cut from his\nshoulders and lying on the ground, and who kills every man who comes\nnear him. The fourth is the bull of the Mist that darkens the woods for\nseven miles around, and destroys everything that enters the Mist. The\nfifth are seven cats with poison tails; and one drop of their poison\nwould kill the strongest man.\"\n\nNext morning all went with Cuculin as far as the lions who guarded the\nqueen of the Wilderness, an old hag made young by the ring of youth.\nThe two lions ran at Cuculin to see which would have the first bite out\nof him.\n\nCuculin wore a red silk scarf around his neck and had a fine head of\nhair. He cut the hair off his head and wound it around one hand, took\nhis scarf and wrapped it around the other. Then rushing at the lions, he\nthrust a hand down the throat of each lion (for lions can bite neither\nsilk nor hair). He pulled the livers and lights out of the two and they\nfell dead before him. His comrades looking on, said: \"You'll thrive now\nsince you have done this deed;\" and they left him and went home, each to\nhis own country.\n\nCuculin went further. The next people he met were the seven men with the\niron hurlies (ball clubs), and they said; \"'Tis long since any man\nwalked this way to us; we'll have sport now.\"\n\nThe first one said: \"Give him a touch of the hurly and let the others do\nthe same; and we'll wallop him till he is dead.\"\n\nNow Cuculin drew his sword and cut the head off the first man before he\ncould make an offer of the hurly at him; and then he did the same to the\nother six.\n\nHe went on his way till he came to Hung-up-Naked, who was hanging from a\ntree, his head on the ground near him. The queen of the Wilderness had\nfastened him to the tree because he wouldn't marry her; and she said:\n\"If any man comes who will put your head on you, you'll be free.\" And\nshe laid the injunction on him to kill every man who tried to pass his\nway without putting the head on him.\n\nCuculin went up, looked at him, and saw heaps of bones around the tree.\nThe body said: \"You can't go by here. I fight with every man who tries\nto pass.\"\n\n\"Well, I'm not going to fight with a man unless he has a head on him.\nTake your head.\" And Cuculin, picking up the head, clapped it on the\nbody, and said, \"Now I'll fight with you!\"\n\nThe man said: \"I'm all right now. I know where you are going. I'll stay\nhere till you come; if you conquer you'll not forget me. Take the head\noff me now; put it where you found it; and if you succeed, remember that\nI shall be here before you on your way home.\"\n\nCuculin went on, but soon met the bull of the Mist that covered seven\nmiles of the wood with thick mist. When the bull saw him, he made at him\nand stuck a horn in his ribs and threw him three miles into the wood,\nagainst a great oak tree and broke three ribs in his side.\n\n\"Well,\" said Cuculin, when he recovered, \"if I get another throw like\nthat, I'll not be good for much exercise.\" He was barely on his feet\nwhen the bull was at him again; but when he came up he caught the bull\nby both horns and away they went wrestling and struggling. For three\ndays and nights Cuculin kept the bull in play, till the morning of the\nfourth day, when he put him on the flat of his back. Then he turned him\non the side, and putting a foot on one horn and taking the other in his\ntwo hands, he said: \"'Tis well I earned you; there is not a stitch on me\nthat isn't torn to rags from wrestling with you.\" He pulled the bull\nasunder from his horns to his tail, into two equal parts, and said: \"Now\nthat I have you in two, it's in quarters I'll put you.\" He took his\nsword, and when he struck the backbone of the bull, the sword remained\nin the bone and he couldn't pull it out.\n\nHe walked away and stood awhile and looked. \"'Tis hard to say,\" said he,\n\"that any good champion would leave his sword behind him.\" So he went\nback and made another pull and took the hilt off his sword, leaving the\nblade in the back of the bull. Then he went away tattered and torn, the\nhilt in his hand, and he turned up towards the forge of the Strong\nSmith. One of the Smith's boys was out for coal at the time: he saw\nCuculin coming with the hilt in his hand, and ran in, saying: \"There is\na man coming up and he looks like a fool; we'll have fun!\"\n\n\"Hold your tongue!\" said the master. \"Have you heard any account of the\nbull of the Mist these three days?\"\n\n\"We have not,\" said the boys.\n\n\"Perhaps,\" said the Strong Smith, \"that's a good champion that's coming,\nand do you mind yourselves.\"\n\nAt that moment Cuculin walked in to the forge where twelve boys and the\nmaster were working. He saluted them and asked, \"Can you put a blade in\nthis hilt?\"\n\n\"We can,\" said the master. They put in the blade. Cuculin raised the\nsword and took a shake out of it and broke it to bits.\n\n\"This is a rotten blade,\" said he. \"Go at it again.\"\n\nThey made a second blade. The boys were in dread of him now. He broke\nthe second blade in the same way as the first. They made six blades, one\nstronger than the other. He did the same to them all. \"There is no use\nin talking,\" said the Strong Smith; \"we have no stuff that would make a\nright blade for you. Go down now,\" said he to two of the boys, \"and\nbring up an old sword that's down in the stable full of rust.\"\n\nThey went and brought up the sword on two hand-spikes between them; it\nwas so heavy that one couldn't carry it. They gave it to Cuculin, and\nwith one blow on his heel he knocked the dust from it and went out at\nthe door and took a shake out of it; and if he did, he darkened the\nwhole place with the rust from the blade.\n\n\"This is my sword, whoever made it,\" said he.\n\n\"It is,\" said the master; \"it's yours and welcome. I know who you are\nnow, and where you are going. Remember that I'm in bondage here.\" The\nStrong Smith took Cuculin then to his house, gave him refreshment and\nclothes for the journey. When he was ready, the Smith said: \"I hope\nyou'll thrive. You have done a deal more than any man that ever walked\nthis way before. There is nothing now to stand in your way till you come\nto the seven cats outside the turning tower. If they shake their tails\nand a drop of poison comes on you, it will penetrate to your heart. You\nmust sweep off their tails with your sword. 'Tis equal to you what their\nbodies will do after that.\"\n\nCuculin soon came to them and there wasn't one of the seven cats he\ndidn't strip of her tail before she knew he was in it. He cared nothing\nfor the bodies so he had the tails. The cats ran away.\n\nNow he faced the tower turning on wheels. The queen of the Wilderness\nwas in it. He had been told by Thin-in-Iron that he must cut the axle.\nHe found the axle, cut it, and the tower stopped that instant. Cuculin\nmade a spring and went in through the single passage.\n\nThe old hag was preparing to sit on the chair as she saw him coming. He\nsprang forward, pushed the chair away with one hand, and, catching her\nby the back of the neck with the other, said: \"You are to lose your head\nnow, old woman!\"\n\n\"Spare me, and what you want you'll get,\" said she. \"I have the ring of\nyouth and the rod of enchantment,\" and she gave them to him. He put the\nring on his finger, and saying, \"You'll never do mischief again to man!\"\nhe turned her face to the entrance, and gave her a kick. Out she flew\nthrough the opening and down to the ground, where she broke her neck and\ndied on the spot.\n\nCuculin made the Strong Smith king over all the dominions of the queen\nof the Wilderness, and proclaimed that any person in the country who\nrefused to obey the new king would be put to death.\n\nCuculin turned back at once, and travelled till he came to\nHung-up-Naked. He took him down, and putting the head on his body,\nstruck him a blow of the rod and made the finest looking man of him that\ncould be found. The man went back to his own home happy and well.\n\nCuculin never stopped till he came to the castle of Gil an Og. She was\noutside with a fine welcome before him; and why not, to be sure, for he\nhad the rod of enchantment and the ring of youth!\n\nWhen she entered the castle and took the form of a cat, he struck her a\nblow of the rod and she gained the same form and face she had before the\nking of Greece struck her. Then he asked, \"Where is your sister?\" \"In\nthe lake there outside,\" answered Gil an Og, \"in the form of a\nsea-serpent.\" She went out with him, and the moment they came to the\nedge of the lake the sister rose up near them. Then Cuculin struck her\nwith the rod and she came to land in her own shape and countenance.\n\nNext day they saw a deal of vessels facing the harbor, and what should\nthey be but a fleet of ships, and on the ships were the king of Greece,\nLug Longhand, the knight of the island of the Flood, the Dark Gruagach\nof the Northern Island and Thin-in-Iron: and they came each in his own\nvessel to know was there any account of Cuculin. There was good welcome\nfor them all, and when they had feasted and rejoiced together Cuculin\nmarried Gil an Og. The king of Greece took Gil an Og's sister, who was\nhis own wife at first, and went home.\n\nCuculin went away himself with his wife Gil an Og, never stopping till\nhe came to Erin; and when he came, Fin MacCumhail and his men were at\nKilConaly, near the river Shannon.\n\nWhen Cuculin went from Erin he left a son whose mother was called the\nVirago of Alba: she was still alive and the son was eighteen years old.\nWhen she heard that Cuculin had brought Gil an Og to Erin, she was\nenraged with jealousy and madness. She had reared the son, whose name\nwas ConlAin, like any king's son, and now giving him his arms of a\nchampion she told him to go to his father.\n\n\"I would,\" said he, \"if I knew who my father is.\"\n\n\"His name is Cuculin, and he is with Fin MacCumhail. I bind you not to\nyield to any man,\" said she to her son, \"nor tell your name to any man\ntill you fight him out.\"\n\nConlAin started from Ulster where his mother was, and never stopped till\nhe was facing Fin and his men, who were hunting that day along the\ncliffs of KilConaly.\n\nWhen the young man came up Fin said, \"There is a single man facing us.\"\n\nConan Maol said, \"Let some one go against him, ask who he is and what he\nwants.\"\n\n\"I never give an account of myself to any man,\" said ConlAin, \"till I get\nan account from him.\"\n\n\"There is no man among us,\" said Conan, \"bound in that way but Cuculin.\"\nThey called on Cuculin; he came up and the two fought. ConlAin knew by\nthe description his mother had given that Cuculin was his father, but\nCuculin did not know his son. Every time ConlAin aimed his spear he threw\nit so as to strike the ground in front of Cuculin's toe, but Cuculin\naimed straight at him.\n\nThey were at one another three days and three nights. The son always\nsparing the father, the father never sparing the son.\n\nConan Maol came to them the fourth morning. \"Cuculin,\" said he, \"I\ndidn't expect to see any man standing against you three days, and you\nsuch a champion.\"\n\nWhen ConlAin heard Conan Maol urging the father to kill him, he gave a\nbitter look at Conan, and forgot his guard. Cuculin's spear went through\nhis head that minute, and he fell. \"I die of that blow from my father,\"\nsaid he.\n\n\"Are you my son?\" said Cuculin.\n\n\"I am,\" said ConlAin.\n\nCuculin took his sword and cut the head off him sooner than leave him in\nthe punishment and pain he was in. Then he faced all the people, and Fin\nwas looking on.\n\n\"There's trouble on Cuculin,\" said Fin. \"Chew your thumb,\" said Conan\nMaol, \"to know what's on him.\"\n\nFin chewed his thumb, and said, \"Cuculin is after killing his own son,\nand if I and all my men were to face him before his passion cools, at\nthe end of seven days, he'd destroy every man of us.\"\n\n\"Go now,\" said Conan, \"and bind him to go down to Bale strand and give\nseven days' fighting against the waves of the sea, rather than kill us\nall.\"\n\nSo Fin bound him to go down. When he went to Bale strand Cuculin found a\ngreat white stone. He grasped his sword in his right hand and cried out:\n\"If I had the head of the woman who sent her son into peril of death at\nmy hand, I'd split it as I split this stone,\" and he made four quarters\nof the stone. Then he strove with the waves seven days and nights till\nhe fell from hunger and weakness, and the waves went over him.\n\n\n\n\nOISIN IN TIR NA N-OG.\n\n\nThere was a king in Tir na n-Og (the land of Youth) who held the throne\nand crown for many a year against all comers; and the law of the kingdom\nwas that every seventh year the champions and best men of the country\nshould run for the office of king.\n\nOnce in seven years they all met at the front of the palace and ran to\nthe top of a hill two miles distant. On the top of that hill was a chair\nand the man that sat first in the chair was king of Tir na n-Og for the\nnext seven years. After he had ruled for ages, the king became anxious;\nhe was afraid that some one might sit in the chair before him, and take\nthe crown off his head. So he called up his Druid one day and asked:\n\"How long shall I keep the chair to rule this land, and will any man sit\nin it before me and take the crown off my head?\"\n\n\"You will keep the chair and the crown forever,\" said the Druid, \"unless\nyour own son-in-law takes them from you.\"\n\nThe king had no sons and but one daughter, the finest woman in Tir na\nn-Og; and the like of her could not be found in Erin or any kingdom in\nthe world. When the king heard the words of the Druid, he said, \"I'll\nhave no son-in-law, for I'll put the daughter in a way no man will marry\nher.\"\n\nThen he took a rod of Druidic spells, and calling the daughter up before\nhim, he struck her with the rod, and put a pig's head on her in place of\nher own. Then he sent the daughter away to her own place in the castle,\nand turning to the Druid said: \"There is no man that will marry her\nnow.\"\n\nWhen the Druid saw the face that was on the princess with the pig's head\nthat the father gave her, he grew very sorry that he had given such\ninformation to the king; and some time after he went to see the\nprincess.\n\n\"Must I be in this way forever?\" asked she of the Druid.\n\n\"You must,\" said he, \"till you marry one of the sons of Fin MacCumhail\nin Erin. If you marry one of Fin's sons, you'll be freed from the blot\nthat is on you now, and get back your own head and countenance.\"\n\nWhen she heard this she was impatient in her mind, and could never rest\ntill she left Tir na n-Og and came to Erin. When she had inquired she\nheard that Fin and the Fenians of Erin were at that time living on Knock\nan Ar, and she made her way to the place without delay and lived there a\nwhile; and when she saw Oisin, he pleased her; and when she found out\nthat he was a son of Fin MacCumhail, she was always making up to him and\ncoming towards him. And it was usual for the Fenians in those days to go\nout hunting on the hills and mountains and in the woods of Erin, and\nwhen one of them went he always took five or six men with him to bring\nhome the game.\n\nOn a day Oisin set out with his men and dogs to the woods; and he went\nso far and killed so much game that when it was brought together, the\nmen were so tired, weak, and hungry that they couldn't carry it, but\nwent away home and left him with the three dogs, Bran, SciolAin, and\nBuglA(C)n,[13] to shift for himself.\n\n[13] Celebrated dogs of Fin MacCumhail.\n\nNow the daughter of the king of Tir na n-Og, who was herself the queen\nof Youth, followed closely in the hunt all that day, and when the men\nleft Oisin she came up to him; and as he stood looking at the great pile\nof game and said, \"I am very sorry to leave behind anything that I've\nhad the trouble of killing,\" she looked at him and said, \"Tie up a\nbundle for me, and I'll carry it to lighten the load off you.\"\n\nOisin gave her a bundle of the game to carry, and took the remainder\nhimself. The evening was very warm and the game heavy, and after they\nhad gone some distance, Oisin said, \"Let us rest a while.\" Both threw\ndown their burdens, and put their backs against a great stone that was\nby the roadside. The woman was heated and out of breath, and opened her\ndress to cool herself. Then Oisin looked at her and saw her beautiful\nform and her white bosom.\n\n\"Oh, then,\" said he, \"it's a pity you have the pig's head on you; for I\nhave never seen such an appearance on a woman in all my life before.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said she, \"my father is the king of Tir na n-Og, and I was the\nfinest woman in his kingdom and the most beautiful of all, till he put\nme under a Druidic spell and gave me the pig's head that's on me now in\nplace of my own. And the Druid of Tir na n-Og came to me afterwards, and\ntold me that if one of the sons of Fin MacCumhail would marry me, the\npig's head would vanish, and I should get back my face in the same form\nas it was before my father struck me with the Druid's wand. When I heard\nthis I never stopped till I came to Erin, where I found your father and\npicked you out among the sons of Fin MacCumhail, and followed you to see\nwould you marry me and set me free.\"\n\n\"If that is the state you are in, and if marriage with me will free you\nfrom the spell, I'll not leave the pig's head on you long.\"\n\nSo they got married without delay, not waiting to take home the game or\nto lift it from the ground. That moment the pig's head was gone, and the\nking's daughter had the same face and beauty that she had before her\nfather struck her with the Druidic wand.\n\n\"Now,\" said the queen of Youth to Oisin, \"I cannot stay here long, and\nunless you come with me to Tir na n-Og we must part.\"\n\n\"Oh,\" said Oisin, \"wherever you go I'll go, and wherever you turn I'll\nfollow.\"\n\nThen she turned and Oisin went with her, not going back to Knock an Ar\nto see his father or his son. That very day they set out for Tir na n-Og\nand never stopped till they came to her father's castle; and when they\ncame, there was a welcome before them, for the king thought his daughter\nwas lost. That same year there was to be a choice of a king, and when\nthe appointed day came at the end of the seventh year all the great men\nand the champions, and the king himself, met together at the front of\nthe castle to run and see who should be first in the chair on the hill;\nbut before a man of them was halfway to the hill, Oisin was sitting\nabove in the chair before them. After that time no one stood up to run\nfor the office against Oisin, and he spent many a happy year as king in\nTir na n-Og. At last he said to his wife: \"I wish I could be in Erin\nto-day to see my father and his men.\"\n\n\"If you go,\" said his wife, \"and set foot on the land of Erin, you'll\nnever come back here to me, and you'll become a blind old man. How long\ndo you think it is since you came here?\"\n\n\"About three years,\" said Oisin. \"It is three hundred years,\" said she,\n\"since you came to this kingdom with me. If you must go to Erin, I'll\ngive you this white steed to carry you; but if you come down from the\nsteed or touch the soil of Erin with your foot, the steed will come back\nthat minute, and you'll be where he left you, a poor old man.\"\n\n\"I'll come back, never fear,\" said Oisin. \"Have I not good reason to\ncome back? But I must see my father and my son and my friends in Erin\nonce more; I must have even one look at them.\"\n\nShe prepared the steed for Oisin and said, \"This steed will carry you\nwherever you wish to go.\"\n\nOisin never stopped till the steed touched the soil of Erin; and he went\non till he came to Knock Patrick in Munster, where he saw a man herding\ncows. In the field, where the cows were grazing there was a broad flat\nstone.\n\n\"Will you come here,\" said Oisin to the herdsman, \"and turn over this\nstone?\"\n\n\"Indeed, then, I will not,\" said the herdsman; \"for I could not lift it,\nnor twenty men more like me.\"\n\nOisin rode up to the stone, and, reaching down, caught it with his hand\nand turned it over. Underneath the stone was the great horn of the\nFenians (_borabu_), which circled round like a seashell, and it was the\nrule that when any of the Fenians of Erin blew the borabu, the others\nwould assemble at once from whatever part of the country they might be\nin at the time.\n\n\"Will you bring this horn to me!\" asked Oisin of the herdsman.\n\n\"I will not,\" said the herdsman; \"for neither I nor many more like me\ncould raise it from the ground.\" With that Oisin moved near the horn,\nand reaching down took it in his hand; but so eager was he to blow it,\nthat he forgot everything, and slipped in reaching till one foot touched\nthe earth. In an instant the steed was gone, and Oisin lay on the ground\na blind old man. The herdsman went to Saint Patrick, who lived near by,\nand told him what had happened.\n\nSaint Patrick sent a man and a horse for Oisin, brought him to his own\nhouse, gave him a room by himself, and sent a boy to stay with him to\nserve and take care of him. And Saint Patrick commanded his cook to send\nOisin plenty of meat and drink, to give him bread and beef and butter\nevery day.\n\nNow Oisin lived a while in this way. The cook sent him provisions each\nday, and Saint Patrick himself asked him all kinds of questions about\nthe old times of the Fenians of Erin. Oisin told him about his father,\nFin MacCumhail, about himself, his son Osgar, Goll MacMorna, Conan Maol,\nDiarmuid, and all the Fenian heroes; how they fought, feasted, and\nhunted, how they came under Druidic spells, and how they were freed from\nthem.\n\nAt the same time, Saint Patrick was putting up a great building; but\nwhat his men used to put up in the daytime was levelled at night, and\nSaint Patrick lamented over his losses in the hearing of Oisin. Then\nOisin said in the hearing of Saint Patrick, \"If I had my strength and my\nsight, I'd put a stop to the power that is levelling your work.\"\n\n\"Do you think you'd be able to do that,\" said Saint Patrick, \"and let my\nbuilding go on?\"\n\n\"I do, indeed,\" said Oisin. So Saint Patrick prayed to the Lord, and\nthe sight and strength came back to Oisin. He went to the woods and got\na great club and stood at the building on guard.\n\nWhat should come in the night but a great beast in the form of a bull,\nwhich began to uproot and destroy the work. But if he did Oisin faced\nhim, and the battle began hot and heavy between the two; but in the\ncourse of the night Oisin got the upper hand of the bull and left him\ndead before the building. Then he stretched out on the ground himself\nand fell asleep.\n\nNow Saint Patrick was waiting at home to know how would the battle come\nout, and thinking Oisin too long away he sent a messenger to the\nbuilding; and when the messenger came he saw the ground torn up, a hill\nin one place and a hollow in the next. The bull was dead and Oisin\nsleeping after the desperate battle. He went back and told what he saw.\n\n\"Oh,\" said Saint Patrick, \"it's better to knock the strength out of him\nagain; for he'll kill us all if he gets vexed.\"\n\nSaint Patrick took the strength out of him, and when Oisin woke up he\nwas a blind old man and the messenger went out and brought him home.\n\nOisin lived on for a time as before. The cook sent him his food, the boy\nserved him, and Saint Patrick listened to the stories of the Fenians of\nErin.\n\nSaint Patrick had a neighbor, a Jew, a very rich man but the greatest\nmiser in the kingdom, and he had the finest haggart of corn in Erin.\nWell, the Jew and Saint Patrick got very intimate with one another and\nso great became the friendship of the Jew for Saint Patrick at last,\nthat he said he'd give him, for the support of his house, as much corn\nas one man could thrash out of the haggart[14] in a day.\n\n[14] Haggart, hay-yard.\n\nWhen Saint Patrick went home after getting the promise of the corn, he\ntold in the hearing of Oisin about what the Jew had said.\n\n\"Oh, then,\" said Oisin, \"if I had my sight and strength, I'd thrash as\nmuch corn in one day as would do your whole house for a twelvemonth and\nmore.\"\n\n\"Will you do that for me?\" said Saint Patrick.\n\n\"I will,\" said Oisin.\n\nSaint Patrick prayed again to the Lord, and the sight and strength came\nback to Oisin. He went to the woods next morning at daybreak, Oisin did,\npulled up two fine ash-trees and made a flail of them. After eating his\nbreakfast he left the house and never stopped till he faced the haggart\nof the Jew. Standing before one of the stacks of wheat he hit it a\nwallop of his flail and broke it asunder. He kept on in this way till he\nslashed the whole haggart to and fro,--and the Jew running like mad up\nand down the highroad in front of the haggart, tearing the hair from his\nhead when he saw what was doing to his wheat, and the face gone from him\nentirely he was so in dread of Oisin.\n\nWhen the haggart was thrashed clean, Oisin went to Saint Patrick and\ntold him to send his men for the wheat; for he had thrashed out the\nwhole haggart. When Saint Patrick saw the countenance that was on Oisin,\nand heard what he had done he was greatly in dread of him, and knocked\nthe strength out of him again, and Oisin became an old, blind man as\nbefore.\n\nSaint Patrick's men went to the haggart and there was so much wheat\nthey didn't bring the half of it away with them and they didn't want it.\n\nOisin again lived for a while as before and then he was vexed because\nthe cook didn't give him what he wanted. He told Saint Patrick that he\nwasn't getting enough to eat. Then Saint Patrick called up the cook\nbefore himself and Oisin and asked her what she was giving Oisin to eat.\nShe said: \"I give him at every meal what bread is baked on a large\ngriddle and all the butter I make in one churn, and a quarter of beef\nbesides.\"\n\n\"That ought to be enough for you,\" said Saint Patrick.\n\n\"Oh, then,\" said Oisin, turning to the cook, \"I have often seen the leg\nof a blackbird bigger than the quarter of beef you give me, I have often\nseen an ivy leaf bigger than the griddle on which you bake the bread for\nme, and I have often seen a single rowan berry [the mountain ash berry]\nbigger than the bit of butter you give me to eat.\"\n\n\"You lie!\" said the cook, \"you never did.\"\n\nOisin said not a word in answer.\n\nNow there was a hound in the place that was going to have her first\nwhelps, and Oisin said to the boy who was tending him: \"Do you mind and\nget the first whelp she'll have and drown the others.\"\n\nNext morning the boy found three whelps, and coming back to Oisin, said:\n\"There are three whelps and 'tis unknown which of them is the first.\"\n\nAt Saint Patrick's house they had slaughtered an ox the day before, and\nOisin said: \"Go now and bring the hide of the ox and hang it up in this\nroom.\" When the hide was hung up Oisin said, \"Bring here the three\nwhelps and throw them up against the hide.\" The boy threw up one of the\nwhelps against the oxhide. \"What did he do?\" asked Oisin.\n\n\"What did he do,\" said the boy, \"but fall to the ground.\"\n\n\"Throw up another,\" said Oisin. The boy threw another. \"What did he do?\"\nasked Oisin.\n\n\"What did he do but to fall the same as the first.\"\n\nThe third whelp was thrown and he held fast to the hide,--didn't fall.\n\"What did he do?\" asked Oisin.\n\n\"Oh,\" said the boy, \"he kept his hold.\"\n\n\"Take him down,\" said Oisin; \"give him to the mother: bring both in\nhere; feed the mother well and drown the other two.\"\n\nThe boy did as he was commanded, and fed the two well, and when the\nwhelp grew up the mother was banished, the whelp chained up and fed for\na year and a day. And when the year and a day were spent, Oisin said,\n\"We'll go hunting to-morrow, and we'll take the dog with us.\"\n\nThey went next day, the boy guiding Oisin, holding the dog by a chain.\nThey went first to the place where Oisin had touched earth and lost the\nmagic steed from Tir na n-Og. The borabu of the Fenians of Erin was\nlying on the ground there still. Oisin took it up and they went on to\nGlen na Smuil (Thrush's Glen). When at the edge of the glen Oisin began\nto sound the borabu. Birds and beasts of every kind came hurrying\nforward. He blew the horn till the glen was full of them from end to\nend.\n\n\"What do you see now?\" asked he of the boy.\n\n\"The glen is full of living things.\"\n\n\"What is the dog doing?\" \"He is looking ahead and his hair is on end.\"\n\n\"Do you see anything else?\"\n\n\"I see a great bird all black settling down on the north side of the\nglen.\"\n\n\"That's what I want,\" said Oisin; \"what is the dog doing now?\"\n\n\"Oh, the eyes are coming out of his head, and there isn't a rib of hair\non his body that isn't standing up.\"\n\n\"Let him go now,\" said Oisin. The boy let slip the chain and the dog\nrushed through the glen killing everything before him. When all the\nothers were dead he turned to the great blackbird and killed that. Then\nhe faced Oisin and the boy and came bounding toward them with venom and\nfierceness. Oisin drew out of his bosom a brass ball and said: \"If you\ndon't throw this into the dog's mouth he'll destroy us both; knock the\ndog with the ball or he'll tear us to pieces.\"\n\n\"Oh,\" said the boy, \"I'll never be able to throw the ball, I'm so in\ndread of the dog.\"\n\n\"Come here at my back, then,\" said Oisin, \"and straighten my hand\ntowards the dog.\" The boy directed the hand and Oisin threw the ball\ninto the dog's mouth and killed him on the spot.\n\n\"What have we done?\" asked Oisin.\n\n\"Oh, the dog is knocked,\" said the boy.\n\n\"We are all right then,\" said Oisin, \"and do you lead me now to the\nblackbird of the carn, I don't care for the others.\"\n\nThey went to the great bird, kindled a fire and cooked all except one of\nits legs. Then Oisin ate as much as he wanted and said; \"I've had a good\nmeal of my own hunting and it's many and many a day since I have had\none. Now let us go on farther.\" They went into the woods, and soon\nOisin asked the boy; \"Do you see anything wonderful?\"\n\n\"I see an ivy with the largest leaves I have ever set eyes on.\"\n\n\"Take one leaf of that ivy,\" said Oisin.\n\nThe boy took the leaf. Near the ivy they found a rowan berry, and then\nwent home taking the three things with them,--the blackbird's leg, the\nivy leaf, and the rowan berry. When they reached the house Oisin called\nfor the cook, and Saint Patrick made her come to the fore. When she came\nOisin pointed to the blackbird's leg and asked, \"Which is larger, that\nleg or the quarter of beef you give me?\"\n\n\"Oh, that is a deal larger,\" said the cook.\n\n\"You were right in that case,\" said Saint Patrick to Oisin.\n\nThen Oisin drew out the ivy leaf and asked, \"Which is larger, this or\nthe griddle on which you made bread for me?\"\n\n\"That is larger than the griddle and the bread together,\" said the cook.\n\n\"Right again,\" said Saint Patrick.\n\nOisin now took out the rowan berry and asked: \"Which is larger, this\nberry or the butter of one churning which you give me?\"\n\n\"Oh, that is bigger,\" said the cook, \"than both the churn and the\nbutter.\"\n\n\"Right, every time,\" said Saint Patrick.\n\nThen Oisin raised his arm and swept the head off the cook with a stroke\nfrom the edge of his hand, saying, \"You'll never give the lie to an\nhonest man again.\"\n\n\n\n\nNOTES.\n\n\n_Aedh Curucha_ (_Aedh Crochtha_), Hugh, the \"suspended\" or \"hung up.\" As\nAedh means also a fire-spark as well as the modern name Hugh, Aedh\nCurucha means the hung up or suspended fire-spark.\n\n_Alba_, former name of Scotland.\n\n_Bar an Suan_, \"pin of slumber,\" met with frequently in Gaelic\nmythology, is found among the Slavs, but not so often. It appears in a\nRussian story,--one of the most beautiful in European folk-lore.\n\n_Cesa MacRi na Tulach_, \"Cesa, son of the king of the hill,\" said by my\nDonegal informant to be a small dark-gray bird.\n\n_Curucha na Gros_ (_Crochtha na g-cros_), \"hung on the crosses,\" is a\nvery interesting name, as is also that of the father of Fair, Brown, and\nTrembling, Aedh Curucha, _q. v._\n\n_ConAin Maol MacMorna_, the Gaelic Thersites, always railing, causing\ntrouble, unpopular, and attracting attention. This species of person is\nas well known in the mythology of the North American Indians as in Aryan\nmyths.\n\n_Diachbha_ (pronounced DyeA(C)achva), \"divinity,\" or the working of a power\noutside of us in shaping the careers of men; fate.\n\n_Diarmuid_ (pronounced Dyeearmud), the final _d_ sounded as if one were\nto begin to utter _y_ after it, one of the most remarkable characters in\nGaelic mythology, a great hunter and performer of marvellous feats. The\nprominent event of his life was the carrying off of Grainne, bride of\nFin MacCumhail, at her own command. After many years of baffled pursuit,\nFin was forced to make peace; but he contrived at last to bring about\nDiarmuid's death by causing him to hunt an enchanted boar of green color\nand without ears or tail. The account of this pursuit and the death of\nDiarmuid forms one of the celebrated productions of Gaelic literature.\nDiarmuid had a mole on his forehead, which he kept covered usually; but\nwhen it was laid bare and a woman saw it, she fell in love with him\nbeyond recall. This was why Grainne deserted Fin, not after she was\nmarried, but at the feast of betrothal. The evident meaning of the word\nis \"bright\" or \"divine-weaponed.\" It is very interesting to find\nDiarmuid called also Son of the Monarch of Light, in another story.\n\n_Donoch Kam cosa_, \"Donoch, crooked feet.\"\n\n_Draoiachta_ (pronounced DreA(C)achta), \"Druidism,\" or \"enchantment.\"\n\n_Erineach_, or _Eirineach_, \"a man of Erin.\"\n\n_Gil an Og_, \"water of youth.\"\n\n_Gilla na Grakin_ (_Gilla na g-croicean_), \"the fellow (or youth) of the\nskins,\"--_i. e._, the serving man of the skins. This word \"Gilla\" enters\ninto the formation of many Gaelic names, such as Gilchrist, Gilfillin,\nMacGillacuddy.\n\n_Gruagach_ (pronounced _GrA cubedoagach_), \"the hairy one,\" from _gruag_,\nhair. We are more likely to be justified in finding a solar agent\nconcealed in the person of the laughing Gruagach or the Gruagach of\ntricks than in many of the sun-myths put forth by some modern writers.\n\n_Inis Caol_, \"light island,\"--_i. e._, not heavy.\n\n_Iron-back-without-action_ (_Ton iaran gan tapuil_).\n\n_Knock an Ar_, \"hill of slaughter,\" a mountain near the mouth of the\nShannon in Kerry.\n\n_Lun Dubh MacSmola_, \"blackbird,\" son of thrush.\n\n_Mal MacMulcan._ Mulcan in this name is evidently Vulcan, substituted\nfor some old Gaelic myth-power.\n\n_Oisin._ In the Gaelic of Ireland this name is accented on the last\nsyllable; in that of Scotland on the first, which gives in English\nOssian, the poet made known to the world by Macpherson. The poems of\nOssian are of course nothing more nor less than the ballads of Fin\nMacCumhail and the Fenians of Erin, taken from Ireland to Scotland by\nthe Gael when they settled in the latter country, and modified in some\ndegree by Macpherson. Oisin is pronounced UshA(C)en in Ireland, _u_ sounded\nas in _but_.\n\n_Ri FohA-n_ (_Ri fo thuinn_), \"king under the wave.\"\n\n_Sean Ruadh_, \"John the Red,\" pronounced Shawn Roo.\n\n_Tisean_ (pronounced _TishyAin_; _an_ as in _pan_), \"envy.\" Son of King\nTisean means \"Son of King Envy.\"\n\n_UrfA(C)ist._ This word is made up of _Ur_ and _pA(C)ist_. _Ur_ is kindred\nwith the German _Ur_, and in a compound like this means the \"original\"\nor \"greatest.\" _PA(C)ist_--\"worm,\" \"beast,\" \"monster\"--is changed to\n_fA(C)ist_ here, according to a rule of aspiration in Gaelic\ngrammar.\n\n\n\n\n      *      *      *      *      *\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's note:\n\nThis e-text has been produced from the 1975 Dover edition of _Myths and\nFolk Tales of Ireland_ (ISBN 0-486-22430-9), which is an unabridged\nrepublication of the work originally published in Boston by Little,\nBrown and Company in 1890 under the title _Myths and Folk-Lore of\nIreland_. The 1975 Dover edition did not contain the original\nintroduction, frontispiece and dedication.\n\nText in italics is enclosed by underscores _like this_.\n\nText in small capitals are indicated by full capitalization\n_LIKE THIS_.\n\nMinor punctuation errors have been changed without notice.\n\nArchaic inconsistent spelling and all other anomalies such as _if_ and\n_when_ used interchangeably are as in the original.\n\n\n\n<pre id=\"pg-footer\">","title":"Myths and Folk Tales of Ireland","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":72570}