-'"':!:;>
MYTHS AND FOLK-LORE
OF
IRELAND
MYTHS AND FOLK-LORE
or
IRELAND
Bv JEREMIAH CURTIN
BOSTON
LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY
1911
Copyright, 1889
BY JEREMIAH CURTIN
8. J. PARKHILL & Co., BOSTON, U. S. A.
MAJOR J. W. POWELL, LL.D.,
OF HARVARD AND HEIDELBERG,
Chief of the Geological Survey of the United States, Director
of the Bureau of Ethnology, Smithsonian Insti-
tution, Washington^ D. C.
SIR,
You inherit the name and possibly the blood
of one of the great lawgivers of Europe, Howell Dda,
or Howell the Good, of Wales. The name has come
down to us in three forms, I believe, Powell (shortened
from Ap Howell, son of Howell), Howell, and Ho wells.
The Welsh or Kymric people, whether at home, or
abroad, are famous for devotion to letters and the effec-
tual and tender care with which they have guarded and
cherished the language of their fathers, a language
which contains so much that is beautiful, so much that
it would be a sin to let die.
In many States of our Union the Kymri meet at great
festivals, where they contend for rewards of literary ex-
cellence with a spirit which gives them a place of peculiar
distinction among men who have settled America.
In their native land, Welshmen have maintained their
intellectual integrity with such resolution and success that
2061404
iv Dedication.
the great English statesman of the age, in noting this fact,
has described the people, with their country, in three
words which will be associated henceforth with the name
of William Ewart Gladstone.
These three words are, " Gallant little Wales."
To you, a distinguished American of Kymric descent,
I beg to inscribe this my first contribution to the ancient
lore of the Kelts, because you are deeply devoted to the
early history of man, and because through you I wish to
express my respect for the people of Wales, whose action
deserves to be studied and weighed by their kinsmen, the
Gael of Alba and Erin.
JEREMIAH CURTIN.
CASCADE MOUNTAINS,
STATE OF WASHINGTON,
Nov. 30, 1889.
CONTENTS.
PACK
INTRODUCTION 7
THE SON OF THE KING OF ERIN, AND THE GIANT
OF LOCH LfiN 3 2
THE THREE DAUGHTERS OF KING O'HARA ... 50
THE WEAVER'S SON AND THE GIANT OF THE WHITE
HILL 64
FAIR, BROWN, AND TREMBLING 78
THE KING OF ERIN AND THE QUEEN OF THE LONE-
SOME ISLAND 93
THE SHEE AN GANNON AND THE GRUAGACH GAIRE 114
THE THREE DAUGHTERS OF THE KING OF THE EAST,
AND THE SON OF A KlNG IN ERIN .... 129
THE FISHERMAN'S SON AND THE GRUAGACH OF
TRICKS 139
THE THIRTEENTH SON OF THE KlNG OF ERIN . . 157
KIL ARTHUR 175
SHAKING-HEAD 186
BIRTH OF FIN MACCUMHAIL AND ORIGIN OF THE
FENIANS OF ERIN 204
vi Contents.
PAGE
FlN MACCUMIIAIL AND THE FENIANS OF ERIN IN
THE CASTLE OF FEAR DUBH 221
FlN MACCUMHAIL AND THE KNIGHT OF THE FULL
AXE 232
GILLA NA GRAKIN AND FIN MACCUMHAIL . . 244
FIN MACCUMHAIL, THE SEVEN BROTHERS, AND THE
KING OF FRANCE 270
BLACK, BROWN, AND GRAY 281
FIN MACCUMHAIL AND THE SON OF THE KING OF
ALBA 292
CUCULIN 304
OlSIN IN TlR NA N-OG 327
NOTES 343
MYTHS AND FOLK-LORE OF IRELAND.
INTRODUCTION.
r I ^HE myth tales in the present volume were
-* collected by me personally in the West of
Ireland, in Kerry, Galway, and Donegal, during
the year 1887.
All the tales in my collection, of which those
printed in this volume form but a part, were taken
down from the mouths of men who, with one or
two exceptions, spoke only Gaelic, or but little
English, and that imperfectly. These men belong
to a group of persons, all of whom are well ad-
vanced in years, and some very old; with them
will pass away the majority of the story-tellers of
Ireland, unless new interest in the ancient language
and lore of the country is roused.
For years previous to my visit of 1887 I was
not without hope of finding some myth tales in a
good state of preservation. I was led to entertain
8 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
this hope by indications in the few Irish stories
already published, and by certain tales and beliefs
that I had taken down myself from old Irish per-
sons in the United States. Still, during the earlier
part of my visit in Ireland I was greatly afraid that
the best myth materials had perished. Inquiries
as to who might be in possession of these old
stories seemed fruitless for a considerable time.
The persons whom I met that were capable of read-
ing the Gaelic language had never collected stories,
and could refer only in a general way to the dis-
tricts in which the ancient language was still living.
All that was left was to seek out the old people
for whom Gaelic is the every-day speech, and trust
to fortune to find the story-tellers.
Comforting myself with the old Russian proverb
that " game runs to meet the hunter," I set out on
my pilgrimage, giving more prominence to the
study and investigation of Gaelic, which, though
one of the two objects of my visit, was not the first.
In this way I thought to come more surely upon
men who had myth tales in their minds than if I
went directly seeking for them. I was not disap-
pointed, for in all my journeyings I did not meet a
single person who knew a myth tale or an old story
who was not fond of Gaelic and specially expert in
Introduction.
the use of it ; while I found very few story-tellers
from whom a myth tale could be obtained unless
in the Gaelic language ; and in no case have I found
a story in the possession of a man or woman who
knew only English.
Any one who reads the myth tales contained in
this volume will find that they are well preserved.
At first thought it may seem quite wonderful that
tales of this kind should be found in such condi-
tion while the whole body of tales are passing
away so rapidly; on examination, however, this
will appear not only reasonable, but as the inevi-
table outcome of the political and social condition
of the people.
There is no country in Europe so special in its
conditions as Ireland, none in which hitherto there
has been in some things a more resolute conserva-
tism, coupled with such a frivolous surrender of
the chief mental possession of the people, cherished
during so many centuries of time, a frivolous sur-
render of the possession which beyond all others
distinguishes a nation ; for the character and mould
of a nation's thought are found in its language as
nowhere else, and the position of a nation in the
scale of humanity is determined irrevocably by its
thought.
io Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
Owing to this conservatism of a part of the
people, for which science should be grateful, there
are still some myth tales left in Ireland, as well, if
not better, preserved than any in the remotest cor-
ners of eastern and northern Europe.
Since all mental training in Ireland is directed
by powers both foreign and hostile to everything
Gaelic, the moment a man leaves the sphere of
that class which uses Gaelic as an every-day lan-
guage and which clings to the ancient ideas of the
people, everything which he left behind seems to
him valueless, senseless, and vulgar ; consequently
he takes no care to retain it either in whole or in
part. Hence the clean sweep of myth tales in one
part of the country, the greater part, occupied
by a majority of the people ; while they are still pre-
served in other and remoter districts, inhabited by
men who for the scholar and the student of man-
kind are by far the most interesting in Ireland.
Though in some countries of Europe the
languages of the earlier inhabitants, and notably
those of the Western Slavs, are forced into inferior
political positions, no language has been treated
with such cruelty and insult by its enemies and
with such treasonable indifference by the majority
of the people to whom it belongs as the Gaelic.
Introduction. 1 1
In modern times no language of Aryan stock has
been driven first from public use, and then dropped
from the worship of God and the life of the fire-
side, but the Gaelic alone. On the European main-
land myth tales continue to be told in the language
of the country to which they belong, the lan-
guage in which they have been told for centuries ;
and if these tales become blurred and less distinct,
they become so in proportion as the conditions for
their existence disappear: but they are not cut
down as a forest is felled by the axe.
This, it seems to me, explains the peculiar con-
dition of myth tales in Ireland, so well preserved
where the Gaelic language is still living, and swept
away completely where the language has perished.
A notable characteristic of Irish tales is the defi-
niteness of names and places in a majority of them.
In the Irish myths we are told who the charac-
ters are, what their condition of life is, and where
they lived and acted ; the heroes and their fields
of action are brought before us with as much defi-
niteness as if they were persons of to-day or yester-
day. This is a characteristic much less frequently
met with in middle and eastern Europe. In the
Magyar stories the usual formula is, " Where there
was or where there was not, there was in the world."
1 2 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
Even the Russian stories, which are much more
definite than the Magyar, and which have a good
number of local myth-heroes, are less definite than
the Gaelic. " In a certain State in a certain king-
dom there was, or there lived, there was a man,"
is a very frequent formula ; and so on through all
Europe. The actor is often unspecified, and the
place unknown. If he goes anywhere, he simply
travels across forty-nine kingdoms or beyond thrice
nine lands. But in the Irish tales he is always a
person of known condition in a specified place.
This is a very interesting characteristic ; since in
all the mythologies which are intact, such as those
of America, the myth is a story in which the
characters are persons as definite as if they were
actual neighbors of the people who tell the stories
and listen to them. This alone would seem to
prove that the Gaelic mythology, so far as it is
preserved in Ireland, is better preserved than the
mythology of any other European country.
A mythology in the time of its greatest vigor
puts its imprint on the whole region to which it be-
longs ; the hills, rivers, mountains, plains, villages,
trees, rocks, springs, and plants are all made sacred.
The country of the mythology becomes, in the
fullest sense of the word, a " holy land."
Introduction. 13
When by invasion and the superposition of strange
races, by change of religion or other causes, myths
are lost, or nothing retained save the argument,
the statement of the myth, and that but in part,
then all precision and details with reference to
persons and places vanish, they become indefinite,
are in some kingdom, some place, nowhere in
particular.
A myth tale may be considered a thing of value
from three different points of view, and conse-
quently for three different classes of readers. To
one class it is valuable for its wonderful story and
the way in which this story is told. So that a
beautiful tale has a value for most men, irrespec-
tive of its scientific worth, and considered apart
altogether from how well or ill the primitive
character of its personages is preserved; just as
a paragraph in a given language may be valuable
to the general reader, irrespective of the form
or philological value of its words.
To a second class of readers a tale is inter-
esting for the social or antiquarian data which it
preserves, or for purposes of comparison with
tales of another race.
To a third, and very small class as yet, a tale is
valuable for the myth material which it contains,
14 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
f
for the amount of its contribution to the history
of the human mind.
The first class of readers will, it seems to me,
accord a high value to Gaelic tales, and when a
sufficient number of them is presented to the world,
they will receive their proper rank among the
myth tales of Europe.
The second class of readers will find a large
amount of interesting material in Gaelic myth
tales, and they will know how to find what they
want without further comment.
To students of mythology, forming the third
the most restricted, but in the eye of science the
most important class of readers, some remarks
concerning mythology, myth, and myth tale may
not be out of place nor unwelcome.
First, as to the origin of the term " mythology."
There are two nouns in the Greek language which
have a long and interesting history behind them ;
these are mythos and logos. Originally they had the
same power in ordinary speech; for in Homer's
time they were used indifferently, sometimes one
being taken, and sometimes the other, with the
meaning that " word " has in our language.
Strictly speaking, there was of course a differ-
ence from the very beginning, which, though slight
Introduction. 1 5
enough to be disregarded in ordinary use, or by
poets, was sure to be developed in proportion as
men felt the need of making precise distinctions.
Logos grew to mean the inward constitution as
well as the outward form of thought, and conse-
quently became the expression of exact thought,
which is exact because it corresponds to universal
and unchanging principles, and reached its high-
est exaltation in becoming not only the reason in
man, but the reason in the universe, the Divine
Logos, the thought of God, the Son of God, God
himself. Thus we have in the Gospel of Saint John,
" In the beginning was the Word (logos], and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God."
Mythos meant, in the widest sense, everything
uttered by the mouth of man, a word, an account
of something, a story as understood by the narrator.
In Attic Greek mythos signified a prehistoric
story of the Greeks ; with Aristotle it was the plot
of a tragedy, which is the Attic me aning with a
narrower application ; for the tragedies were all
taken from the prehistoric stories of Greece, and
the prehistoric stories of Greece were narratives
of divinities and heroes, that is, forces and prin-
ciples of Nature ; though this was not known to
the Greeks of that time.
1 6 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
When mythos received its most definite as well as
its most important application as a story of prehis-
toric Greece, its fate was settled ; for these stories,
on account of being understood neither in their ori-
gin nor true character, fell into discredit among the
Greeks themselves before the Christian era. After
the Christian era they found a lower deep still :
they were not only fables, but wicked and harmful
fables, the lies and absurdities of a false religion.
Logos and mythos, two words with such a long
history, words starting with the same value, but
reaching results diametrically opposite, one be-
coming during its career the reason of the uni-
verse, everything ; the other, a fiction, nothing,
gave us the term " mythology," which, analyzed in
dictionary fashion, means, " an account of myths,
a body of myths," or, as some define it, " the sci-
ence of myths." But no man, I think, who knows
the present vagueness of opinion as to the origin
and nature of myths would venture to call myth-
ology a science. It will undoubtedly become a
science, but it is not a science yet, and cannot be
till we are in a position to give a scientific state-
ment of what myths are.
The application of the word " myth " among
scholars is plain enough up to a certain point ; for
Introduction. 1 7
from being a myth of Greece only, it is now used
to mean a myth of any tribe or people on earth.
So far there is no misunderstanding ; but then we
have not gone very far. When we ask what is the
nature and origin of the story to which the name
" myth " is given, different and contradictory an-
swers are returned. Hence the perplexity of those
who take an interest in mythology, and believe that
it contains something of value, without knowing
precisely in what that value consists.
The result is that mythology, considered as a
whole, is supposed in a certain rough kind of way
to be a species of codification of the errors of
primitive men, out of which, by some method as
yet unexplained, curious and interesting conclu-
sions are to be drawn.
The word " myth," taken apart from mythology
and used in the ordinary language of the day,
means " non-existent." A myth is a nothing with
a name. For instance, if a man is said to be
possessed of wealth, and is really without a dollar,
it is said that his wealth is a myth ; in other words,
his wealth is non-wealth, nothing, a myth. Some
months ago the newspapers contained an account
of a marvellous cradle of mother-of-pearl and gold,
owned by the wife of a railroad millionnaire. A
1 8 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
few days later it was stated that this cradle was a
myth, for the wife of the millionnaire rocked her
baby in a wicker basket. This last illustration is
an excellent one; the popular idea being that a
myth is a nonentity of which an entity is affirmed, '
a nothing which is said to be something.
Let us examine, not the scientific definition of a
myth, for we have none such to examine, but a
couple of myth theories put forward by two men in
England, each a leader in his own sphere, Pro-
fessor Max Miiller and Herbert Spencer.
The first of these theories, which might be called
" the theory of oblivion," though it is usually called
" the linguistic theory," is founded on the hypothe-
sis that men did not and could not make myths till
they had forgotten who the chief actors in these
myths were ; that myth-makers only began to work
when they had no means of knowing what they
were really working with, or with whom they had
to deal in making their stories; Miiller's dictum
being : It is the essential character of a true
myth that it should no longer be intelligible by
reference to spoken language.
According to this theory the origin of myths is to
be sought in what is called " a disease of language."
Now Professor Max Miiller's disease of language is
Introduction, 1 9
merely an incident in the history of mythology, not
the great central and germinal principle which he
makes it. Neither from Max Miiller's theory of
oblivion nor Herbert Spencer's theory of confusion
can a definition be obtained which would apply to
the myths of America, nor to the great body of
myths of India and Persia, nor, for that matter, to
any body of myths on earth.
If we examine closely these two theories, we shall
find that they owe their origin to the overpowering,
influence of the previous pursuits of the two men,
and the scant and faulty materials at their command.
Max Miiller, when he published his essays on
mythology, was fresh from the occupation of com-
paring portions of the Aryan languages with each
other, especially Sanscrit and Greek. When he
found, or fancied he found, certain names of Greek
mythology in Sanscrit, some of which were mean-
ingless names in Greek, but significant in Sanscrit,
he thought he had discovered the origin of myths,
which he found in the misinterpretation of names
whose meanings were really forgotten, but whose
forms misled men into identifying them with names
whose meanings were known, but altogether differ-
ent from the forgotten meanings for which they
were now substituted.
2O Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
Mythology, according to his theory, is an out-
growth of error founded on mistaken identity of
names ; and the explanation of mythology follows
on the discovery of the real meaning of those
names by the aid of kindred languages in which
their meanings are preserved.
Some stories connected with mythology have
arisen in the way mentioned, and such stories
cannot be explained, if explained at all, without the
aid of kindred languages; but these stories no
more constitute mythology than the bayous and
creeks of the Amazon constitute the main body of
that great river. Even if all that Professor Max
Miiller advances regarding Greek and Sanscrit
names were demonstrated beyond a doubt, it would
explain, not the origin of myths, but the origin of
the particular stories with which he connects these
names ; for he has put in the place of mythology as
a whole, the outcroppings of a part of mythology
at a comparatively late period of its history, and
has not touched the real origin of mythology,
which, at the time he fixes for its birth, had
already attained a most vigorous growth.
Herbert Spencer's theory of confusion is founded
on the hypothesis that myths owe their origin to a
confusion in the minds of primitive people, who
Introduction. 2 1
worship their own earthly and natural ancestors
under the guise of beasts, birds, reptiles, and plants,
these ancestors when alive having received the
names of beasts, birds, reptiles, and plants because
they resembled them in some way, and after being
dead two or three generations were confounded
by their descendants with the creatures or plants
after which they were named. So the people who
began by worshipping the ghosts of ordinary human
beings, their own fathers, fell to worshipping wild
beasts, snakes, birds, and insects, from which they
thought themselves descended by the ordinary
process of fleshly generation. To fill out the whole
list, men, if their ancestors came from the East,
were descended from the sun ; if from a mountain,
the mountain was their ancestor ; if from beyond
the sea, they were descended from the sea.
This theory is discussed with as much serious-
ness as if it had foundation or proof in the world,
as if it had ascertained facts on which to rest ; and
on the basis of this theory it is shown that the
ghost of a savage chief grows, through accretions
of respect and awe, to be an ethnic god of
incalculable power.
Now, what is a myth ?
The oldest myth, or rather cycle of myths, In
2 2 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
America is that which refers to an order of things
which preceded the present order, and a race of
beings who inhabited the earth and the country be-
yond the sky before man existed. At that period
the earth a sort of featureless region, without the
characteristic marks which it now possesses, though
not infrequently it is represented as having at least
some of them was occupied by personages who
are called people, though it is well understood at all
times that they were not human ; they were persons,
individuals. These people had great power : what-
ever they wished for they had ; all they needed was
to name a thing, and it was there before them ;
they knew in their own minds when any one was
thinking about them, and what that one thought ;
they knew of the approach of people without
seeing them, and knew why they were coming.
After they had lived on an indefinite period, they
appear as a vast number of groups, which form
two camps, which may be called the good and the
bad. In the good camp are the persons who ori-
ginate all the different kinds of food, establish
all institutions, arts, games, amusements, dances,
and religious ceremonies for the coming race.
In the other camp are cunning, deceitful beings,
ferocious and hungry man-eaters, the harmful
Introduction . 2 3
powers of every description. The heroes of the
good camp overcome these one after another by
stratagem, superior skill, swiftness, or the use of
the all-powerful wish ; but they are immortal, and,
though overcome, cannot be destroyed. At the
moment when the contest is decided, the victor
says to the conquered : " You will be nothing here-
after but a " and here he mentions the beast,
bird, insect, plant, rock, or element into which his
opponent is to be changed. But though the word
has been uttered which nothing in the universe can
turn aside or resist, the conquered uses in some
cases his equally effective word ; he turns at once
to use it for the last time, and says to the victor :
"Henceforth you'll be nothing but a " and
here he tells the conqueror what he is to be.
These struggles are described variously in differ-
ent American mythologies, but the results are
similar in all.
When the present race of men (that is, Indians) ap-
pear on the scene, the people of the previous order
of affairs have vanished. One division, vast in num-
ber, a part of the good and all the bad ones, have
become the beasts, birds, fishes, reptiles, insects,
plants, stones, cold, heat, light, darkness, fire, rain,
snow, earthquake, sun, moon, stars, have become,
24 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
in fact, every living thing, object, agency, phenom-
enon, process, and power outside of man. Another
party much smaller in number, who succeeded in
avoiding entanglement in the struggle of preparing
the world for man, left the earth. According to
some myths they went beyond the sky to the upper
land ; according to others they sailed in boats over
the ocean to the West, sailed till they went out
beyond the setting sun, beyond the line where the
sky touches the earth. There they are living now
free from pain, disease, and death, which came into
the world just before they left, but before the
coming of man and through the agency of this
first people.
The final voyage over the ocean of that remnant
of the elemental people, the gods of America, is
described with considerable detail in some myths.
It is on the eve of man's appearance. The smoke
that preceded his coming was rising from the
ground and curling up the hillsides ; the distant
shout of his approach was heard as the boats
moved quickly to the West.
This earliest American myth-cycle really de-
scribes a period in the beginning of which all things
and there was no thing then which was not a
person lived in company without danger to each
In tr eduction . 2 5
other or trouble. This was the period of primaeval
innocence, of which we hear so many echoes in
tradition and early literature, when that infinite
variety of character and quality now manifest in the
universe was still dormant and hidden, practically
uncreated. This was the " golden age " of so
many mythologies, the " golden age " dreamed of
so often, but never seen by mortal man ; a period
when, in their original form and power, the panther
and the deer, the wolf and the antelope, lay down
together, when the rattlesnake was as harmless as
the rabbit, when trees could talk and flowers sing,
when both could move as nimbly as the swiftest on
earth.
Such, in a sketch exceedingly meagre and im-
perfect, a hint rather than a sketch, is the first great
cycle of American mythology, the creation-myth
of the New World. From this cycle are borrowed
the characters and machinery for myths of later
construction and stories of inferior importance;
myths relating to the action of all observed forces
and phenomena ; struggles of the seasons, winds,
light and darkness ; and stories in great number
containing adventures without end of the present
animals, birds, reptiles, and insects, people of
the former world in their fallen state.
26 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
Some of these stories contain a certain amount
of what might be termed broken myth material,
while others correspond exactly to the amusing or
satirical fables of literature in which beasts, birds,
and plants take the place of men.
To whatever race they may belong, the earliest
myths, whether of ancient record or recent collec-
tion, point with unerring indication to the same
source as those of America, for the one reason that
there is no other source. The personages of any
given body of myths are such manifestations of
force in the world around them, or the result of
such manifestations, as the ancient myth-makers
observed ; and whether they went backwards or
forwards, these were the only personages possible
to them, because they were the only personages
accessible to their senses or conceivable to their
minds.
The primitive myth-makers, therefore, had no
choice but to take that crowd of what to them were
independent and unconnected forces, each being an
individual person having its spring of action within
itself, as the personages of their stories, in which
were told the tale of all things.
Since they had passions varying like those of
men, the myth-makers narrate the origin of these
Introduction. 27
passions, and carried their personages back to a
period of peaceful and innocent chaos, when there
was no motive as yet in existence. After awhile
the shock came. The motive appeared in the form
of revenge for acts done through cupidity or igno-
rance ; strife began, and never left the world of the
gods till one quota of them was turned into animals,
plants, heavenly bodies, everything in the universe,
and the other went away unchanged to a place of
happy enjoyment.
All myths have the same origin, and all run
parallel up to a certain point, which may be taken
as the point to which the least-developed people
have risen. After this the number in the company
decreases till the Aryan mythology in its high-
est development stands alone, containing myths
and myth-conceptions of the loftiest and purest
character connected with religions of Europe and
Asia.
It is to the explanation of the Aryan mytho-
logy that we are to turn our efforts, and in explain-
ing it, create a science. In this work there is no
mythology that will not bear its part, for the high-
est forms of Aryan myth-thought have beginnings
as simple as those of the lowliest race on earth.
These Aryan beginnings are partly preserved,
28 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
partly blurred, and partly lost ; but we may come
to see in various degrees, from absolute accuracy
to different kinds of approximation, what the lost
and blurred beginnings were, and we shall continue
to find this aid till we have parted company with
the last of the non-Aryan myths.
Gaelic mythology contains many myth facts
which have perished elsewhere. The Gaelic lan-
guage shows that the Kelts left the home of the
Aryan race at a period far anterior to any of the
other migrations.
The present of the verb " to be " and the pronouns
would suffice to prove this without reference to
the body of the language, which even in present use
preserves through its whole structure remarkable
traces of antiquity in that freedom of arranging
word-elements which is common to all languages
at an early period of growth, but which in the other
forms of Aryan speech has disappeared, though
still common in so many non-Aryan languages.
There is not in the oldest books of Persia and India,
nor in any Aryan language, dead or alive, except
Gaelic, a single instance of the substantive verb
with the predicate between that part which is called
the root and the pronominal particle.
The Gaelic speaker of to-day, if he wishes to say
Introduction . 2 9
" I am a man," says, " Is fear me ; " where, if he
followed the usage of other Aryan languages, he
would say, " Fear isme." The Sanscrit speaker in
the earliest literary period had to say " Nri asmi."
There was a time when in Sanscrit it was proper to
put the predicate between the two parts of the verb,
as it is yet in Gaelic, and say " As nri mi," instead
of " Nri asmi ; " assuming, of course, that these
were the correct forms of that early period.
It cannot well be less than three, and in all likeli-
hood it is nearer four than three, thousand years
since Sanscrit and all other Aryan languages, ex-
cept those of the Keltic migration, lost this ancient
freedom of verbal arrangement.
Gaelic mythology, removed from the home of
the race before this very important linguistic
change, shows survivals of that ancient time which
will throw light on many myths, and aid in con-
necting non- Aryan with Aryan mythology; thus
rendering a service which we should look for in
vain elsewhere.
The reason is of ancient date why myths have
come, in vulgar estimation, to be synonymous with
lies ; though true myths and there are many such
are the most comprehensive and splendid state-
ments of truth known to man.
30 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
A myth, even when it contains a universal prin-
ciple, expresses it in a special form, using with its
peculiar personages the language and accessories
of a particular people, time, and place ; persons to
whom this particular people, with the connected
accidents of time and place, are familiar and dear,
receive the highest enjoyment from the myth, and
the truth goes with it as the soul with the body.
But another people, to whom all things connected
with this myth are unknown and incredible, regard
it as absurd and untrue, that is, if they consider it
at all. This people, however, have a myth of the
same character, and perhaps containing the same
principle, as that expressed in the first myth, and
they are as much attached to it as the first people
are to theirs. This phenomenon is repeated all
over the world. And for each people in a certain
state of development the myths and beliefs of their
neighbors are untrue, because the personages and
actions in them are not identical with their own,
though expressing in most cases identical things in
a different way.
It is only when we come to examine them in the
light of the general principle which they contain,
each in its own special form, that myths reveal the
truth that is in them. When thus treated they
Introduction. 3 1
become an object of vast interest, and a source of
unceasing delight to the mind.
The time, perhaps, may not be so distant when,
on the basis of correct information, the erroneous
opinions on myths and mythology now held by
most men will be reversed, a thing quite possible
in this America of ours, where the printed word is
so far reaching and so strong.
JEREMIAH CURTIN.
HOOPA VALLEY, HUMBOLDT COUNTY,
CALIFORNIA, 1889.
THE SON OF THE KING OF ERIN AND
THE GIANT OF LOCH LEIN. 1
ON a time there lived a king and a queen in
Erin, and they had an only son. They
were very careful and fond of this son ; whatever
he asked for was granted, and what he wanted he
had.
When grown to be almost a young man the son
went away one day to the hills to hunt. He could
find no game, saw nothing all day. Towards
evening he sat down on a hillside to rest, but soon
stood up again and started to go home empty-
handed. Then he heard a whistle behind him, and
turning, saw a giant hurrying down the hill.
The giant came to him, took his hand, and said :
" Can you play cards? "
" I can indeed," said the king's son.
" Well, if you can," said the giant, " we '11 have
a game here on this hillside."
So the two sat down, and the giant had out a
pack of cards in a twinkling. " What shall we play
for? " asked the giant.
1 Loch Lin, former name of one of the Lakes of Killarney.
The Son of the King of Erin, etc. 33
" For two estates," answered the king's son.
They played : the young man won, and went
home the better for two estates. He was very
glad, and hurried to tell his father the luck he had.
Next day he went to the same place, and did n't
wait long till the giant came again.
" Welcome, king's son," said the giant. " What
shall we play for to-day? "
" I '11 leave that to yourself," answered the young
man.
" Well," said the giant, " I have five hundred
bullocks with golden horns and silver hoofs, and
I '11 play them against as many cattle belonging to
you."
" Agreed," said the king's son.
They played. The giant lost again. He had
the cattle brought to the place ; and the king's son
went home with the five hundred bullocks. The
king his father was outside watching, and was more
delighted than the day before when he saw the
drove of beautiful cattle with horns of gold and
hoofs of silver.
When the bullocks were driven in, the king sent
for the old blind sage (Sean dall Glic), to know
what he would say of the young man's luck.
" My advice," said the old blind sage, " is not to
let your son go the way of the giant again, for if
he plays with him a third time he '11 rue it."
3
34 Myths and Folk-L ore of Ireland.
But nothing could keep the king's son from
playing the third time. Away he went, in spite of
every advice and warning, and sat on the same
hillside.
He waited long, but no one came. At last he
rose to go home. That moment he heard a whistle
behind him, and turning, saw the giant coming.
"Well, will you play with me to-day?" asked
the giant.
" I would," said the king's son, " but I have
nothing to bet."
" You have indeed."
" I have not," said the king's son.
" Haven't you your head? " asked the giant of
Loch L6in, for it was he that was in it.
" I have," answered the king's son.
"So have I my head," said the giant; "and
we '11 play for each other's heads."
This third time the giant won the game ; and
the king's son was to give himself up in a year
and a day to the giant in his castle.
The young man went home sad and weary.
The king and queen were outside watching, and
when they saw him approaching, they knew great
trouble was on him. When he came to where they
were, he would n't speak, but went straight into the
castle, and would n't eat or drink.
He was sad and lamenting for a good while, till
The Son of the King of Erin, etc. 35
at last he disappeared one day, the king and queen
knew not whither. After that they did n't hear of
him, did n't know was he dead or alive.
The young man after he left home was walking
along over the kingdom for a long time. One day
he saw no house, big or little, till after dark he
came in front of a hill, and at the foot of the hill
saw a small light. He went to the light, found a
small house, and inside an old woman sitting at a
warm fire, and every tooth in her head as long as
a staff.
She stood up when he entered, took him by the
hand, and said, " You are welcome to my house,
son of the king of Erin." Then she brought warm
water, washed his feet and legs from the knees
down, gave him supper, and put him to bed.
When he rose next morning he found breakfast
ready before him. The old woman said : " You
were with me last night ; you '11 be with my sister
to-night, and what she tells you to do, do, or your
head '11 be in danger. Now take the gift I give
you. Here is a ball of thread : do you throw it in
front of you before you start, and all day the ball
will be rolling ahead of you, and you '11 be follow-
ing behind winding the thread into another ball."
He obeyed the old woman, threw the ball down,
and followed. All the day he was going up hill
and down, across valleys and open places, keeping
36 Myths and Folk-L ore of Ireland.
the ball in sight and winding the thread as he went,
till evening, when he saw a hill in front, and a
small light at the foot of it.
He went to the light and found a house, which
he entered. There was no one inside but an old
woman with teeth as long as a crutch.
" Oh ! then you are welcome to my house, king's
son of Erin," said she. " You were with my sister
last night ; you are with me to-night ; and it 's glad
I am to see you."
She gave him meat and drink and a good bed to
lie on.
When he rose next morning breakfast was there
before him, and when he had eaten and was ready
for the journey, the old woman gave him a ball of
thread, saying: " You were with my younger sister
the night before last; you were with me last night;
and you '11 be with my elder sister to-night. You
must do what she tells you, or you '11 lose your
head. You must throw this ball before you, and
follow the clew till evening."
He threw down the ball : it rolled on, showing
the way up and down mountains and hills, across
valleys and braes. All day he wound the ball;
unceasingly it went till nightfall, when he came to a
light, found a little house, and went in. Inside was
an old woman, the eldest sister, who said : " You are
welcome, and glad am I to see you, king's son."
The Son of the King of Erin , etc. 37
She treated him as well as the other two had
done. After he had eaten breakfast next morning,
she said :
" I know well the journey you are on. You
have lost your head to the Giant of Loch Lin, and
you are going to give yourself up. This giant has
a great castle. Around the castle are seven hun-
dred iron spikes, and on every spike of them but
one is the head of a king, a queen, or a king's son.
The seven hundredth spike is empty, and nothing
can save your head from that spike if you don't
take my advice.
" Here is a ball for you : walk behind it till you
come to a lake near the giant's castle. When
you come to that lake at midday the ball will be
unwound.
" The giant has three young daughters, and they
come at noon every day of the year to bathe in the
lake. You must watch them well, for each will
have a lily on her breast, one a blue, another a
white, and the third a yellow lily. You mustn't
let your eyes off the one with the yellow lily.
Watch her well : when she undresses to go into the
water, see where she puts her clothes ; when the
three are out in the lake swimming, do you slip
away with the clothes of Yellow Lily.
" When the sisters come out from bathing, and
find that the one with the yellow lily has lost her
38 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
clothes, the other two will laugh and make game
of her, and she will crouch down crying on the
shore, with nothing to cover her, and say, ' How
can I go home now, and everybody making sport
of me? Whoever took my clothes, if he'll give
them back to me, I "11 save him from the danger he
is in, if I have the power.' "
The king's son followed the ball till nearly noon,
when it stopped at a lake not far from the giant's
castle. Then he hid behind a rock at the water's
edge, and waited.
At midday the three sisters came to the lake,
and, leaving their clothes on the strand, went into
the water. When all three were in the lake swim-
ming and playing with great pleasure and sport,
the king's son slipped out and took the clothes of
the sister with the yellow lily.
After they had bathed in the lake to their hearts'
content, the three sisters came out. When the
two with the blue and the white lilies saw their
sister on the shore and her clothes gone, they
began to laugh and make sport of her. Then,
cowering and crouching down, she began to cry
and lament, saying: "How can I go home now,
with my own sisters laughing at me? If I stir
from this, everybody will see me and make sport
of me."
The sisters went home and left her there. When
The Son of the King of Erin, etc. 39
they were gone, and she was alone at the water
crying and sobbing, all at once she came to herself
and called out: "Whoever took my clothes, I'll
forgive him if he brings them to me now, and
I '11 save him from the danger he is in if I
can."
When he heard this, the king's son put the
clothes out to her, and stayed behind himself till
she told him to come forth.
Then she said : "I know well where you are
going. My father, the Giant of Loch Lein, has a
soft bed waiting for you, a deep tank of water
for your death. But don't be uneasy; go into
the water, and wait till I come to save you. Be at
that castle above before my father. When he
comes home to-night and asks for you, take no
meat from him, but go to rest in the tank when
he tells you."
The giant's daughter left the king's son, who
went his way to the castle alone at a fair and easy
gait, for he had time enough on his hands and to
spare.
When the Giant of Loch L6in came home that
night, the first question he asked was, " Is the son
of the king of Erin here? "
" I am," said the king's son.
" Come," said the giant ' . nd get your evening's
meat."
40 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
" I '11 take no meat now, for I don't need it,"
said the king's son.
" Well, come with me then, and I '11 show you
your bed." He went, and the giant put the king's
son into the deep tank of water to drown, and be-
ing tired himself from hunting all day over the
mountains and hills of Erin, he went to sleep.
That minute his youngest daughter came, took
the king's son out of the tank, placed plenty to eat
and to drink before him, and gave him a good bed
to sleep on that night.
The giant's daughter watched till she heard her
father stirring before daybreak; then she roused
the king's son, and put him in the tank again.
Soon the giant came to the tank and called out :
" Are you here, son of the king of Erin?"
" I am," said the king's son.
" Well, come out now. There is a great work
for you to-day. I have a stable outside, in which
I keep five hundred horses, and that stable has not
been cleaned these seven hundred years. My
great-grandmother when a girl lost a slumber-pin
(bar an suan) somewhere in that stable, and never
could find it. You must have that pin for me
when I come home to-night; if you don't, your
head will be on the seven hundredth spike to-
morrow."
Then two shovels were brought for him to choose
The Son of the King of Erin, etc. 4 1
from to clean out the stable, an old and a new
one. He chose the new shovel, and went to
work.
For every shovelful he threw out, two came
in ; and soon the door of the stable was closed
on him. When the stable-door was closed, the
giant's daughter called from outside : " How are
you thriving now, king's son? "
"I'm not thriving at all," said the king's son;
" for as much as I throw out, twice as much comes
in, and the door is closed against me."
" You must make a way for me to come in, and
I '11 help you," said she.
" How can I do that? " asked the king's son.
However, she did it. The giant's daughter made
her way into the stable, and she was n't long in-
side till the stable was cleared, and she saw the
bar an suan.
" There is the pin over there in the corner,"
said she to the king's son, who put it in his bosom
to give to the giant.
Now he was happy, and the giant's daughter had
good meat and drink put before him.
When the giant himself came home, he asked :
" How did you do your work to-day? "
" I did it well ; I thought nothing of it."
" Did you find the bar an suan?"
" I did indeed ; here 't is for you."
42 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
" Oh ! then," said the giant, " it is either the
devil or my daughter that helped you to do that
work, for I know you never did it alone."
" It 's neither the devil nor your daughter, but my
own strength that did the work," said the son of
the king of Erin.
" You have done the work ; now you must have
your meat."
" I want no meat to-day; I am well satisfied as I
am," said the king's son.
" Well," said the giant, " since you '11 have no
meat, you must go to sleep in the tank."
He went into the tank. The giant himself was
soon snoring, for he was tired from hunting over
Erin all day.
The moment her father was away, Yellow Lily
came, took the king's son out of the tank, gave
him a good supper and bed, and watched till the
giant was stirring before daybreak. Then she
roused the king's son and put him in the tank.
"Are you alive in the tank? " asked the giant at
daybreak.
" I am," said the king's son.
" Well, you have a great work before you to-day.
That stable you cleaned yesterday has n't been
thatched these seven hundred years, and if you
don't have it thatched for me when I come home
to-night, with birds' feathers, and not two feathers
The Son of the King of Erin, etc. 43
of one color or kind, I '11 have your head on the
seven hundredth spike to-morrow."
" Here are two whistles, an old, and a new one ;
take your choice of them to call the birds."
The king's son took the new whistle, and set out
over the hills and valleys, whistling as he went.
But no matter how he whistled, not a bird came
near him. At last, tired and worn out with travel-
ling and whistling, he sat down on a hillock and
began to cry.
That moment Yellow Lily was at his side with a
cloth, which she spread out, and there was a grand
meal before him. He had n't finished eating and
drinking, before the stable was thatched with birds'
feathers, and no two of them of one color or kind.
When he came home that evening the giant
called out: " Have you the stable thatched for me
to-night?"
" I have indeed," said the king's son ; " and small
trouble I had with it."
" If that 's true," said the giant, " either the devil
or my daughter helped you."
" It was my own strength, and not the devil or
your daughter that helped me," said the king's
son.
He spent that night as he had the two nights
before.
Next morning, when the giant found him alive in
44 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
the tank, he said : " There is great work before you
to-day, which you must do, or your head '11 be on
the spike to-morrow. Below here, under my castle,
is a tree nine hundred feet high, and there is n't a
limb on that tree, from the roots up, except one
small limb at the very top, where there is a crow's
nest. The tree is covered with glass from the
ground to the crow's nest. In the nest is one egg :
you must have that egg before me here for my
supper to-night, or I '11 have your head on the
seven hundredth spike to-morrow."
The giant went hunting, and the king's son went
down to the tree, tried to shake it, but could not
make it stir. Then he tried to climb ; but no use, it
was all slippery glass. Then he thought, " Sure I 'm
done for now; I must lose my head this time."
He stood there in sadness, when Yellow Lily
came, and said : " How are you thriving in your
work?"
" I can do nothing," said the king's son.
" Well, all that we have done up to this time is
nothing to climbing this tree. But first of all let
us sit down together and eat, and then we '11 talk,"
said Yellow Lily.
They sat down, she spread the cloth again, and
they had a splendid feast. When the feast was
over she took out a knife from her pocket and
said :
The Son of the King of Erin, etc. 45
" Now you must kill me, strip the flesh from my
bones, take all the bones apart, and use them as
steps for climbing the tree. When you are climb-
ing the tree, they will stick to the glass as if they
had grown out of it; but when you are coming
down, and have put your foot on each one, they will
drop into your hand when you touch them. Be
sure and stand on each bone, leave none untouched ;
if you do, it will stay behind. Put all my flesh into
this clean cloth by the side of the spring at the
roots of the tree. When you come to the earth,
arrange my bones together, put the flesh over
them, sprinkle it with water from the spring, and
I shall be alive and well before you. But don't
forget a bone of me on the tree."
" How could I kill you," asked the king's son,
" after what you have done for me? "
" If you won't obey, you and I are done for,"
said Yellow Lily. " You must climb the tree, or
we are lost ; and to climb the tree you must do as
I say."
The king's son obeyed. He killed Yellow Lily,
cut the flesh from her body, and unjointed the
bones, as she had told him.
As he went up, the king's son put the bones of
Yellow Lily's body against the side of the tree,
using them as steps, till he came under the nest
and stood on the last bone.
46 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
Then he took the crow's egg; and coming down,
put his foot on every bone, then took it with him,
till he came to the last bone, which was so near
the ground that he failed to touch it with his
foot.
He now placed all the bones of Yellow Lily in
order again at the side of the spring, put the flesh
on them, sprinkled it with water from the spring.
She rose up before him, and said : " Did n't I tell
you not to leave a bone of my body without step-
ping on it ? Now I am lame for life ! You left
my little toe on the tree without touching it, and
I have but nine toes."
When the giant came home that night, the first
words he had were, " Have you the crow's egg
for my supper? "
" I have," said the king's son.
" If you have, then either the devil or my daugh-
ter is helping you."
" It is my own strength that 's helping me," said
the king's son.
" Well, whoever it is, I must forgive you now,
and your head is your own."
So the king's son was free to go his own road,
and away he went, and never stopped till he came
home to his own father and mother, who had a
great welcome before him ; and why not ? for they
thought he was dead.
The Son of tke King of Erin, etc. 47
When the son was at home a time, the king
called up the old blind sage, and asked, " What
must I do with my son now?"
" If you follow my advice," said the old blind
sage, " you '11 find a wife for him ; and then he '11
not go roaming away again, and leave you as he
did before."
The king was pleased with the advice, and he
sent a message to the king of Lochlin l to ask his
daughter in marriage.
The king of Lochlin came with the daughter
and a ship full of attendants, and there was to be a
grand wedding at the castle of the king of Erin.
Now, the king's son asked his father to invite
the Giant of Loch Lein and Yellow Lily to the
wedding. The king sent messages for them to
come.
The day before the marriage there was a great
feast at the castle. As the feast went on, and all
were merry, the Giant of Loch Lin said : " I
never was at a place like this but one man sang a
song, a second told a story, and the third played
a trick."
Then the king of Erin sang a song, the king
of Lochlin told a story, and when the turn came
to the giant, he asked Yellow Lily to take his
place.
1 Lochlin, Denmark.
48 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
She threw two grains of wheat in the air, and
there came down on the table two pigeons. The
cock pigeon pecked at the hen and pushed her off
the table. Then the hen called out to him in a
human voice, " You would n't do that to me the
day I cleaned the stable for you."
Next time Yellow Lily put two grains of wheat
on the table. The cock ate the wheat, pecked the
hen, and pushed her off the table to the floor.
The hen said : " You would not do that to me the
day I thatched the stable for you with birds' feath-
ers, and not two of one color or kind."
The third time Yellow Lily put two more grains
of wheat on the table. The cock ate both, and
pushed the hen off to the floor. Then the hen
called out: "You wouldn't do that to me the day
you killed me and took my bones to make steps
up the glass tree nine hundred feet high to get the
crow's egg for the supper of the Giant of Loch
L6in, and forget my little toe when you were
coming down, and left me lame for life."
" Well," said the king's son to the guests at the
feast, " when I was a little younger than I am now,
I used to be everywhere in the world sporting and
gaming ; and once when I was away, I lost the key
of a casket that I had. I had a new key made,
and after it was brought to me I found the old
one. Now, I '11 leave it to any one here to tell
The Son of the King of Erin, etc. 49
what am I to do, which of the keys should 7
keep?"
" My advice to you," said the king of Lochlin,
" is to keep the old key, for it fits the lock better,
and you 're more used to it."
Then the king's son stood up and said : " I thank
you, king of Lochlin, for a wise advice and an
honest word. This is my bride, the daughter of the
Giant of Loch Lein. I '11 have her, and no other
woman. Your daughter is my father's guest, and
no worse, but better, for having come to a wedding
in Erin."
The king's son married Yellow Lily, daughter
of the Giant of Loch Le"in, the wedding lasted
long, and all were happy.
THE THREE DAUGHTERS OF KING
O'HARA.
'"INHERE was a king in Desmond whose name
^- was Coluath O'Hara, and he had three
daughters. On a time when the king was away
from home, the eldest daughter took a thought
that she 'd like to be married. So she went up in
the castle, put on the cloak of darkness which her
father had, and wished for the most beautiful man
under the sun as a husband for herself.
She got her wish ; for scarcely had she put off
the cloak of darkness, when there came, in a golden
coach with four horses, two black and two white,
the finest man she had ever laid eyes on, and took
her away.
When the second daughter saw what had hap-
pened to her sister, she put on the cloak of dark-
ness, and wished for the next best man in the
world as a husband.
She put off the cloak ; and straightway there
came, in a golden coach with four black horses, a
man nearly as good as the first, and took her
away.
The Daughters of King O 1 Hara. 5 1
The third sister put on the cloak, and wished for
the best white dog in the world.
Presently he came, with one man attending, in a
golden coach and four snow-white horses, and took
the youngest sister away.
When the king came home, the stable-boy told
him what had happened while he was gone. He
was enraged beyond measure when he heard that
his youngest daughter had wished for a white dog,
and gone off with him.
When the first man brought his wife home he
asked : " In what form will you have me in the
daytime, as I am now in the daytime, or as I am
now at night? "
" As you are now in the daytime."
So the first sister had her husband as a man in
the daytime ; but at night he was a seal.
The second man put the same question to the
middle sister, and got the same answer; so the
second sister had her husband in the same form as
the first.
When the third sister came to where the white
dog lived, he asked her: " How will you have me
to be in the daytime, as I am now in the day,
or as I am now at night? "
" As you are now in the day."
So the white dog was a dog in the daytime, but
the most beautiful of men at night.
52 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
After a time the third sister had a son; and
one day, when her husband was going out to
hunt, he warned her that if anything should
happen the child, not to shed a tear on that
account.
While he was gone, a great gray crow that used
to haunt the place came and carried the child away
when it was a week old.
Remembering the warning, she shed not a tear
for the loss.
All went on as before till another son was born.
The husband used to go hunting every day, and
again he said she must not shed a tear if anything
happened.
When the child was a week old a great gray
crow came and bore him away ; but the mother
did not cry or drop a tear.
All went well till a daughter was born. When
she was a week old a great gray crow came and
swept her away. This time the mother dropped
one tear on a handkerchief, which she took out of
her pocket, and then put back again.
When the husband came home from hunting
and heard what the crow had done, he asked the
wife, " Have you shed tears this time? "
" I have dropped one tear," said she.
Then he was very angry ; for he knew what harm
she had done by dropping that one tear.
The Daughters of King O* Har a. 53
Soon after their father invited the three sisters
to visit him and be present at a great feast in their
honor. They sent messages, each from her own
place, that they would come.
The king was very glad at the prospect of see-
ing his children ; but the queen was grieved, and
thought it a great disgrace that her youngest
daughter had no one to come home with her but
a white dog.
The white dog was in dread that the king
would n't leave him inside with the company, but
would drive him from the castle to the yard, and
that the dogs outside would n't leave a patch of
skin on his back, but would tear the life out of him.
The youngest daughter comforted him. " There
is no danger to you," said she, " for wherever I am,
you '11 be, and wherever you go, I '11 follow and
take care of you."
When all was ready for the feast at the castle, and
the company were assembled, the king was for ban-
i c hing the white dog; but the youngest daughter
would not listen to her father, would not let the
white dog out of her sight, but kept him near her
at the feast, and divided with him the food that
came to herself.
When the feast was over, and all the guests had
gone, the three sisters went to their own rooms in
the castle.
54 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
Late in the evening the queen took the cook
with her, and stole in to see what was in her
daughters' rooms. They were all asleep at the
time. What should she see by the side of her
youngest daughter but the most beautiful man she
had ever laid eyes on.
Then she went to where the other two daughters
were sleeping; and there, instead of the two men
who brought them to the feast, were two seals,
fast asleep.
The queen was greatly troubled at the sight of
the seals. When she and the cook were returning,
they came upon the skin of the white dog. She
caught it up as she went, and threw it into the
kitchen fire.
The skin was not five minutes in the fire when it
gave a crack that woke not only all in the castle,
but all in the country for miles around.
The husband of the youngest daughter sprang
up. He was very angry and very sorry, and said :
" If I had been able to spend three nights with
you under your father's roof, I should have got
back my own form again for good, and could have
been a man both in the day and the night; but
now I must go."
He rose from the bed, ran out of the castle, and
away he went as fast as ever his two legs could carry
him, overtaking the one before him, and leaving the
The Daughters of King O'Hara. 55
one behind. He was this way all that night and the
next day; but he could n't leave the wife, for she
followed from the castle, was after him in the night
and the day too, and never lost sight of him.
In the afternoon he turned, and told her to go
back to her father; but she would not listen to him.
At nightfall they came to the first house they had
seen since leaving the castle. He turned and said :
" Do you go inside and stay in this house till morn-
ing; I '11 pass the night outside where I am."
The wife went in. The woman of the house rose
up, gave her a pleasant welcome, and put a good
supper before her. She was not long in the house
when a little boy came to her knee and called her
" mother."
The woman of the house told the child to go
back to his place, and not to come out again.
" Here are a pair of scissors," said the woman of
the house to the king's daughter, " and they will
serve you well. Whatever ragged people you see,
if you cut a piece off their rags, that moment they
will have new clothes of cloth of gold."
She stayed that night, for she had good welcome.
Next morning when she went out, her husband
said : " You 'd better go home now to your
father."
" I '11 not go to my father if I have to leave
you," said she.
56 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
So he went on, and she followed. It was that
way all the day till night came; and at nightfall
they saw another house at the foot of a hill, and
again the husband stopped and said : " You go in ;
I '11 stop outside till morning."
The woman of the house gave her a good wel-
come. After she had eaten and drunk, a little boy
came out of another room, ran to her knee, and
said, " Mother." The woman of the house sent the
boy back to where he had come from, and told him
to stay there.
Next morning, when the princess was going out
to her husband, the woman of the house gave her a
comb, and said : " If you meet any person with a
diseased and a sore head, and draw this comb over
it three times, the head will be well, and covered
with the most beautiful golden hair ever seen."
She took the comb, and went out to her husband.
" Leave me now," said he, " and go back to your
own father."
" I will not," said she, " but I will follow you
while I have the power." So they went forward
that day, as on the other two.
At nightfall they came to a third house, at the
foot of a hill, where the princess received a good
welcome. After she had eaten supper, a little girl
with only one eye came to her knee and said,
" Mother."
The Daughters of King OHara. 57
The princess began to cry at sight of the child,
thinking that she herself was the cause that it had
but one eye. Then she put her hand into her
pocket where she kept the handkerchief on which
she had dropped the tear when the gray crow
carried her infant away. She had never used the
handkerchief since that day, for there was an eye
on it.
She opened the handkerchief, and put the eye in
the girl's head. It grew into the socket that min-
ute, and the child saw out of it as well as out of the
other eye ; and then the woman of the house sent
the little one to bed.
Next morning, as the king's daughter was going
out, the woman of the house gave her a whistle, and
said : " Whenever you put this whistle to your
mouth and blow on it, all the birds of the air will
come to you from every quarter under the sun.
Be careful of the whistle, as it may serve you
greatly."
" Go back to your father's castle," said the hus-
band when she came to him, " for I must leave you
to-day."
They went on together a few hundred yards, and
then sat on a green hillock, and he told the wife :
" Your mother has come between us ; but for her
we might have lived together all our days. If I had
been allowed to pass three nights with you in your
58 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
father's house, I should have got back my form
of a man both in the daytime and the night.
The Queen of Tir na n-Og [the land of youth] en-
chanted and put on me a spell, that unless I could
spend three nights with a wife under her father's
roof in Erin, I should bear the form of a white
dog one half of my time ; but if the skin of the
dog should be burned before the three nights
were over, I must go down to her kingdom and
marry the queen herself. And 't is to her I am
going to-day. I have no power to stay, and I
must leave you ; so farewell, you '11 never see me
again on the upper earth."
He left her sitting on the mound, went a few
steps forward to some bulrushes, pulled up one,
and disappeared in the opening where the rush
had been.
She stopped there, sitting on the mound lament-
ing, till evening, not knowing what to do. At last
she bethought herself, and going to the rushes,
pulled up a stalk, went down, followed her hus-
band, and never stopped till she came to the lower
land.
After a while she reached a small house near a
splendid castle. She went into the house and asked,
could she stay there till morning. " You can," said
the woman of the house, " and welcome."
Next day the woman of the house was washing
The Daughters of King O'Hara. 59
clothes, for that was how she made a living. The
princess fell to and helped her with the work.
In the course of that day the Queen of Tir na n-Og
and the husband of the princess were married.
Near the castle, and not far from the washer-
woman's, lived a henwife with two ragged little
daughters. One of them came around the washer-
woman's house to play. The child looked so
poor and her clothes were so torn and dirty that
the princess took pity on her, and cut the clothes
with the scissors which she had.
That moment the most beautiful dress of cloth
of gold ever seen on woman or child in that king-
dom was on the henwife's daughter.
When she saw what she had on, the child ran
home to her mother as fast as ever she could go.
"Who gave you that dress?" asked the hen-
wife.
" A strange woman that is in that house be-
yond," said the little girl, pointing to the washer-
woman's house.
The henwife went straight to the Queen of Tir
na n-Og and said : " There is a strange woman in
the place, who will be likely to take your husband
from you, unless you banish her away or do some-
thing to her ; for she has a pair of scissors differ-
ent from anything ever seen or heard of in this
country."
60 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
When the queen heard this she sent word to the
princess that, unless the scissors were given up to
her without delay, she would have the head off
her.
The princess said she would give up the scissors
if the queen would let her pass one night with her
husband.
The queen answered that she was willing to give
her the one night. The princess came and gave
up the scissors, and went to her own husband ; but
the queen had given him a drink, and he fell asleep,
and never woke till after the princess had gone in
the morning.
Next day another daughter of the henwife went
to the washerwoman's house to play. She was
wretched-looking, her head being covered with
scabs and sores.
The princess drew the comb three times over the
child's head, cured it, and covered it with beautiful
golden hair. The little girl ran home and told her
mother how the strange woman had drawn the
comb over her head, cured it, and given her beau-
tiful golden hair.
The henwife hurried off to the queen and said :
" That strange woman has a comb with wonderful
power to cure, and give golden hair; and she'll
take your husband from you unless you banish her
or take her life."
The Daughters of King O'Hara. 6 1
The queen sent word to the princess that un-
less she gave up the comb, she would have her
life.
The princess returned as answer that she would
give up the comb if she might pass one night with
the queen's husband.
The queen was willing, and gave her husband a
draught as before. When the princess came, he
was fast asleep, and did not waken till after she
had gone in the morning.
On the third day the washerwoman and the
princess went out to walk, and the first daughter
of the henwife with them. When they were out-
side the town, the princess put the whistle to her
mouth and blew. That moment the birds of the
air flew to her from every direction in flocks.
Among them was a bird of song and new tales.
The princess went to one side with the bird.
" What means can I take," asked she, " against
the queen to get back my husband? Is it best to
kill her, and can I do it? "
" It is very hard," said the bird, " to kill her.
There is no one in all Tir na n-Og who is able to
take her life but her own husband. Inside a holly-
tree in front of the castle is a wether, in the wether
a duck, in the duck an egg, and in that egg is her
heart and life. No man in Tir na n-Og can cut that
holly-tree but her husband."
62 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
The princess blew the whistle again. A fox and
a hawk came to her. She caught and put them
into two boxes, which the washerwoman had with
her, and took them to her new home.
When the henwife's daughter went home, she
told her mother about the whistle. Away ran the
henwife to the queen, and said : " That strange
woman has a whistle that brings together all the
birds of the air, and she '11 have your husband yet,
unless you take her head."
" I '11 take the whistle from her, anyhow," said
the queen. So she sent for the whistle.
The princess gave answer that she would give
up the whistle if she might pass one night with the
queen's husband.
The queen agreed, and gave him a draught as
on the other nights. He was asleep when the
princess came and when she went away.
Before going, the princess left a letter with his
servant for the queen's husband, in which she told
how she had followed him to Tir na n-Og, and had
given the scissors, the comb, and the whistle, to
pass three nights in his company, but had not
spoken to him because the queen had given him
sleeping draughts ; that the life of the queen was
in an egg, the egg in a duck, the duck in a wether,
the wether in a holly-tree in front of the castle,
and that no man could split the tree but himself.
The Daughters of King OHara. 63
As soon as he got the letter the husband took
an axe, and went to the holly-tree. When he
came to the tree he found the princess there be-
fore him, having the two boxes with the fox and
the hawk in them.
He struck the tree a few blows ; it split open,
and out sprang the wether. He ran scarce twenty
perches before the fox caught him. The fox tore
him open ; then the duck flew out. The duck
had not flown fifteen perches when the hawk
caught and killed her, smashing the egg. That
instant the Queen of Tir na n-Og died.
The husband kissed and embraced his faithful
wife. He gave a great fcast ; and when the feast
was over, he burned the henwife with her house,
built a palace for the washerwoman, and made his
servant secretary.
They never left Tir na n-Og, and are living there
happily now ; and so may we live here.
THE WEAVER'S SON AND THE GIANT
OF THE WHITE HILL.
THERE was once a weaver in Erin who lived
at the edge of a wood ; and on a time when
he had nothing to burn, he went out with his
daughter to get fagots for the fire.
They gathered two bundles, and were ready to
carry them home, when who should come along but
a splendid-looking stranger on horseback. And he
said to the weaver: " My good man, will you give
me that girl of yours?"
" Indeed then I will not," said the weaver.
" I '11 give you her weight in gold," said the
stranger, and he put out the gold there on the
ground.
So the weaver went home with the gold and
without the daughter. He buried the gold in the
garden, without letting his wife know what he had
done. When she asked, " Where is our daugh-
ter? " the weaver said: " I sent her on an errand
to a neighbor's house for things that I want."
Night came, but no sight of the girl. The next
time he went for fagots, the weaver took his
Weaver s Son and Giant of White Hill, 65
second daughter to the wood ; and when they had
two bundles gathered, and were ready to go home,
a second stranger came on horseback, much finer
than the first, and asked the weaver would he give
him his daughter.
" I will not," said the weaver.
" Well," said the stranger, " I '11 give you her
weight in silver if you '11 let her go with me ; " and
he put the silver down before him.
The weaver carried home the silver and buried
it in the garden with the gold, and the daughter
went away with the man on horseback.
When he went again to the wood, the weaver took
his third daughter with him ; and when they were
ready to go home, a third man came on horseback,
gave the weight of the third daughter in copper,
and took her away. The weaver buried the copper
with the gold and silver.
Now, the wife was lamenting and moaning night
and day for her three daughters, and gave the
weaver no rest till he told the whole story.
Now, a son was born to them ; and when the boy
grew up and was going to school, he heard how his
three sisters had been carried away for their weight
i.n gold and silver and copper ; and every day when
he came home he saw how his mother was lament-
ing and wandering outside in grief through the
fields and pits and ditches, so he asked her what
5
66 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
trouble was on her; but she wouldn't tell him
a word.
At last he came home crying from school one
day, and said : " I '11 not sleep three nights in one
house till I find my three sisters." Then he said to
his mother: " Make me three loaves of bread,
mother, for I am going on a journey."
Next day he asked had she the bread ready. She
said she had, and she was crying bitterly all the
time. " I 'm going to leave you now, mother,"
said he ; " and I '11 come back when I have found
my three sisters."
He went away, and walked on till he was tired
and hungry; and then he sat down to eat the bread
that his mother had given him, when a red-haired
man came up and asked him for something to eat.
" Sit down here," said the boy. He sat down,
and the two ate till there was not a crumb of the
bread left.
The boy told of the journey he was on ; then the
red-haired man said: "There may not be much
use in your going, but here are three things that '11
serve you, the sword of sharpness, the cloth of
plenty, and the cloak of darkness. No man can
kill you while that sword is in your hand ; and when-
ever you are hungry or dry, all you have to do is
to spread the cloth and ask for what you 'd like to
eat or drink, and it will be there before you. When
Weavers Son and Giant of White Hill. 67
you put on the cloak, there won't be a man or a
woman or a living thing in the world that '11 see
you, and you '11 go to whatever place you have set
your mind on quicker than any wind."
The red-haired man went his way, and the boy
travelled on. Before evening a great shower came,
and he ran for shelter to a large oak-tree. When
he got near the tree his foot slipped, the ground
opened, and down he went through the earth till
he came to another country. When he was in the
other country he put on the cloak of darkness and
went ahead like a blast of wind, and never stopped
till he saw a castle in the distance ; and soon he was
there. But he found nine gates closed before him,
and no way to go through. It was written snside
the cloak of darkness that his eldest sister lived in
that castle.
He was not long at the gate looking in when a
girl came to him and said, " Go on out of that; if
you don't, you '11 be killed."
" Do you go in," said he to the girl, " and tell
my sister, the woman of this castle, to come out to
me."
The girl ran in ; out came the sister, and asked :
" Why are you here, and what did you come
for?"
" I have come to this country to find my three
sisters, who were given away by my father for their
68 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
weight in gold, silver, and copper; and you are
my eldest sister."
She knew from what he said that he was her
brother, so she opened the gates and brought
him in, saying: " Don't wonder at anything you
see in this castle. My husband is enchanted. I
see him only at night. He goes off every morn-
ing, stays away all day, and comes home in the
evening."
The sun went down ; and while they were talking,
the husband rushed in, and the noise of him was
terrible. He came in the form of a ram, ran up
stairs, and soon after came down a man.
" Who is this that 's with you ? " asked he of the
wife.
" Oh ! that 's my brother, who has come from
Erin to see me," said she.
Next morning, when the man of the castle was
going off in the form of a ram, he turned to the
boy and asked, " Will you stay a few days in my
castle? You are welcome."
" Nothing would please me better," said the
boy; "but I have made a vow never to sleep
three nights in one house till I have found my
three sisters."
" Well," said the ram, " since you must go, here
is something for you." And pulling out a bit of
his own wool, he gave it to the boy, saying: " Keep
Weavers Son and Giant of White Hill. 69
this; and whenever a trouble is on you, take it out,
and call on what rams are in the world to help
you."
Away went the ram. The boy took farewell of
his sister, put on the cloak of darkness, and disap-
peared. He travelled till hungry and tired, then
he sat down, took off the cloak of darkness, spread
the cloth of plenty, and asked for meat and drink.
After he had eaten and drunk his fill, he took up
the cloth, put on the cloak of darkness, and went
ahead, passing every wind that was before him, and
leaving every wind that was behind.
About an hour before sunset he saw the castle
in which his second sister lived. When he reached
the gate, a girl came out to him and said : " Go
away from that gate, or you '11 be killed."
" I '11 not leave this till my sister who lives in
the castle comes out and speaks to me."
The girl ran in, and out came the sister. When
she heard his story and his father's name, she knew
that he was her brother, and said : " Come into the
castle, but think nothing of what you '11 see or
hear. I don't see my husband from morning till
night. He goes and comes in a strange form, but
he is a man at night."
About sunset there was a terrible noise, and in
rushed the man of the castle in the form of a tre-
mendous salmon. He went flapping upstairs;
70 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
but he was n't long there till he came down a fine-
looking man.
" Who is that with you? " asked he of the wife.
".I thought you would let no one into the castle
while I was gone."
" Oh ! this is my brother, who has come to see
me," said she.
" If he 's your brother, he 's welcome," said the
man.
They supped, and then slept till morning.
When the man of the castle was going out again, in
the form of a great salmon, he turned to the boy
and said: "You'd better stay here with us a
while."
" I cannot," said the boy. " I made a vow
never to sleep three nights in one house till I had
seen my three sisters. I must go on now and find
my third sister."
The salmon then took off a piece of his fin and
gave it to the boy, saying: " If any difficulty meets
you, or trouble comes on you, call on what salmons
are in the sea to come and help you."
They parted. The boy put on his cloak of
darkness, and away he went, more swiftly than any
wind. He never stopped till he was hungry and
thirsty. Then he sat down, took off his cloak
of darkness, spread the cloth of plenty, and ate his
fill ; when he had eaten, he went on again till near
Weavers Son and Giant of White Hill. 7 1
sundown, when he saw the castle where his third
sister lived. All three castles were near the sea.
Neither sister knew what place she was in, and
neither knew where the other two were living.
The third sister took her brother in just as the
first and second had done, telling him not to won-
der at anything he saw.
They were not long inside when a roaring noise
was heard, and in came the greatest eagle that
ever was seen. The eagle hurried upstairs, and
soon came down a man.
" Who is that stranger there with you? " asked
he of the wife. (He, as well as the ram and sal-
mon, knew the boy; he only wanted to try his
wife.)
" This is my brother, who has come to see me."
They all took supper and slept that night.
When the eagle was going away in the morning,
he pulled a feather out of his wing, and said to
the boy : " Keep this ; it may serve you. If you
are ever in straits and want help, call on what
eagles are in the world, and they '11 come to
you."
There was no hurry now, for the third sister was
found ; and the boy went upstairs with her to ex-
amine the country all around, and to look at the
sea. Soon he saw a great white hill, and on the
top of the hill a castle.
72 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
" In that castle on the white hill beyond," said
the sister, " lives a giant, who stole from her home
the most beautiful young woman in the world.
From all parts the greatest heroes and champions
and kings' sons are coming to take her away from
the giant and marry her. There is not a man of
them all who is able to conquer the giant and free
the young woman ; but the giant conquers them,
cuts their heads off, and then eats their flesh.
When he has picked the bones clean, he throws
them out; and the whole place around the castle
is white with the bones of the men that the giant
has eaten."
" I must go," said the boy, " to that castle to
know can I kill the giant and bring away the
young woman."
So he took leave of his sister, put on the cloak
of darkness, took his sword with him, and was soon
inside the castle. The giant was fighting with
champions outside. When the boy saw the young
woman he took off the cloak of darkness and spoke
to her.
" Oh ! " said she, " what can you do against the
giant? No man has ever come to this castle without
losing his life. The giant kills every man ; and no
one has ever come here so big that the giant did
not eat him at one meal."
" And is there no way to kill him ? " asked the boy.
Weavers Son and Giant of White Hill. 73
" I think not," said she.
" Well, if you '11 give me something to eat, I '11
stay here ; and when the giant comes in, I '11 do
my best to kill him. But don't let on that I am
here."
Then he put on the cloak of darkness, and no
one could see him. When the giant came in, he
had the bodies of two men on his back. He threw
down the bodies and told the young woman to get
them ready for his dinner. Then he snuffed around,
and said : " There 's some one here ; I smell the
blood of an Erineach."
" I don't think you do," said the young woman ;
" I can't see any one."
" Neither can I," said the giant; " but I smell a
man."
With that the boy drew his sword ; and when the
giant was struck, he ran in the direction of the blow
to give one back; then he was struck on the
other side.
They were at one another this way, the giant and
the boy with the cloak of darkness on him, till the
giant had fifty wounds, and was covered with blood.
Every minute he was getting a slash of a sword,
but never could give one back. At last he called
out: "Whoever you are, wait till to-morrow, and
I '11 face you then."
So the fighting stopped ; and the young woman
74 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
began to cry and lament as if her heart would break
when she saw the state the giant was in. " Oh !
you'll be with me no longer; you'll be killed
now : what can I do alone without you ? " and she
tried to please him, and washed his wounds.
"Don't be afraid," said the giant; "this one,
whoever he is, will not kill me, for there is no man
in the world that can kill me." Then the giant
went to bed, and was well in the morning.
Next day the giant and the boy began in the
middle of the forenoon, and fought till the middle
of the afternoon. The giant was covered with
wounds, and he had not given one blow to the boy,
and could not see him, for he was always in his
cloak of darkness. So the giant had to ask for rest
till next morning.
While the young woman was washing and dress-
ing the wounds of the giant she cried and lamented
all the time, saying : " What '11 become of me now ?
I 'm afraid you '11 be killed this time ; and how can
I live here without you ? "
" Have no fear for me," said the giant ; " I '11 put
your mind at rest. In the bottom of the sea is
a chest locked and bound, in that chest is a duck,
in the duck an egg; and I never can be killed un-
less some one gets the egg from the duck in the
chest at the bottom of the sea, and rubs it on the
mole that is under my right breast."
Weavers Son and Giant of White Hill. 75
While the giant was telling this to the woman to
put her mind at rest, who should be listening to
the story but the boy in the cloak of darkness.
The minute he heard of the chest in the sea, he
thought of the salmons. So off he hurried to the
seashore, which was not far away. Then he took
out the fin that his eldest sister's husband had given
him, and called on what salmons were in the sea to
bring up the chest with the duck inside, and put it
out on the beach before him.
He had not long to wait till he saw nothing but
salmon, the whole sea was covered with them,
moving to land ; and they put the chest out on the
beach before him.
But the chest was locked and strong ; how could
he open it? He thought of the rams; and taking
out the lock of wool, said : " I want what rams
are in the world to come and break open this
chest ! "
That minute the rams of the world were running
to the seashore, each with a terrible pair of horns
on him ; and soon they battered the chest to splin-
ters. Out flew the duck, and away she went over
the sea.
The boy took out the feather, and said : " I want
what eagles are in the world to get me the egg from
that duck."
That minute the duck was surrounded by the
76 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
eagles of the world, and the egg was soon brought
to the boy. He put the feather, the wool, and the
fin in his pocket, put on the cloak of darkness, and
went to the castle on the white hill, and told the
young woman, when she was dressing the wounds
of the giant again, to raise up his arm.
Next day they fought till the middle of the
afternoon. The giant was almost cut to pieces, and
called for a cessation.
The young woman hurried to dress the wounds,
and he said : " I see you would help me if you
could : you are not able. But never fear, I shall
not be killed." Then she raised his arm to wash
away the blood, and the boy, who was there in his
cloak of darkness, struck the mole with the egg.
The giant died that minute.
The boy took the young woman to the castle of
his third sister. Next day he went back for the
treasures of the giant, and there was more gold in
the castle than one horse could draw.
They spent nine days in the castle of the eagle
with the third sister. Then the boy gave back the
feather, and the two went on till they came to the
castle of the salmon, where they spent nine more
days with the second sister ; and he gave back the
fin.
When they came to the castle of the ram, they
spent fifteen days with the first sister, and had
Weavers Son and Giant of White Hill. 77
great feasting and enjoyment. Then the boy gave
back the lock of wool to the ram, and taking fare-
well of his sister and her husband, set out for home
with the young woman of the white castle, who was
now his wife, bringing presents from the three
daughters to their father and mother.
At last they reached the opening near the tree,
came up through the ground, and went on to where
he met the red-haired man. Then he spread the
cloth of plenty, asked for every good meat and
drink, and called the red-haired man. He came.
The three sat down, ate and drank with enjoyment.
When they had finished, the boy gave back to
the red-haired man the cloak of darkness, the
sword of sharpness, and the cloth of plenty, and
thanked him.
" You were kind to me," said the red-haired
man ; " you gave me of your bread when I asked
for it, and told me where you were going. I took
pity on you ; for I knew you never could get what
you wanted unless I helped you. I am the brother
of the eagle, the salmon, and the ram."
They parted. The boy went home, built a castle
with the treasure of the giant, and lived happily
with his parents and wife.
FAIR, BROWN, AND TREMBLING.
KING AEDH CtfRUCHA lived in Tir Conal,
and he had three daughters, whose names
were Fair, Brown, and Trembling.
Fair and Brown had new dresses, and went to
church every Sunday. Trembling was kept at
home to do the cooking and work. They would
not let her go out of the house at all ; for she was
more beautiful than the other two, and they were
in dread she might marry before themselves.
They carried on in this way for seven years. At
the end of seven years the son of the king of
Omanya 1 fell in love with the eldest sister.
One Sunday morning, after the other two had
gone to church, the old henwife came into the
kitchen to Trembling, and said : " It 's at church
you ought to be this day, instead of working here
at home."
"How could I go?" said Trembling. " I have
no clothes good enough to wear at church ; and if
my sisters were to see me there, they 'd kill me for
going out of the house."
1 The ancient Emania in Ulster.
Fair, Brown, and Trembling, 79
" I '11 give you," said the henwifc, " a finer
dress than either of them has ever seen. And now
tell me what dress will you have?"
" I '11 have," said Trembling, " a dress as white
as snow, and green shoes for my feet."
Then the henwife put on the cloak of darkness,
clipped a piece from the old clothes the young
woman had on, and asked for the whitest robes in
the world and the most beautiful that could be
found, and a pair of green shoes.
That moment she had the robe and the shoes,
and she brought them to Trembling, who put them
on. When Trembling was dressed and ready, the
henwife said : " I have a honey-bird here to sit on
your right shoulder, and a honey-finger to put on
your left. At the door stands a milk-white mare,
with a golden saddle for you to sit on, and a golden
bridle to hold in your hand."
Trembling sat on the golden saddle ; and when
she was ready to start, the henwife said : " You
must not go inside the door of the church, and the
minute the people rise up at the end of Mass, do
you make off, and ride home as fast as the mare
will carry you."
When Trembling came to the door of the church
there was no one inside who could get a glimpse
of her but was striving to know who she was ; and
when they saw her hurrying away at the end of
8o Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
Mass, they ran out to overtake her. But no use in
their running; she was away before any man could
come near her. From the minute she left the
church till she got home, she overtook the wind
before her, and outstripped the wind behind.
She came down at the door, went in, and found
the henwife had dinner ready. She put off the
white robes, and had on her old dress in a
twinkling.
When the two sisters came home the henwife
asked : " Have you any news to-day from the
church? "
" We have great news," said they. " We saw a
wonderful, grand lady at the church-door. The
like of the robes she had we have never seen on
woman before. It 's little that was thought of our
dresses beside what she had on ; and there was n't
a man at the church, from the king to the beggar,
but was trying to look at her and know who she
was."
The sisters would give no peace till they had
two dresses like the robes of the strange lady ; but
honey-birds and honey-fingers were not to be
found.
Next Sunday the two sisters went to church again,
and left the youngest at home to cook the dinner.
After they had gone, the henwife came in and
asked : " Will you go to church to-day? "
Fair, Brown, and Trembling. 81
" I would go," said Trembling, " if I could get
the going."
"What robe will you wear?" asked the hen-
wife.
" The finest black satin that can be found, and
red shoes for my feet."
" What color do you want the mare to be? "
" I want her to be so black and so glossy that I
can see myself in her body."
The henwife put on the cloak of darkness, and
asked for the robes and the mare. That moment
she had them. When Trembling was dressed, the
henwife put the honey-bird on her right shoulder
and the honey-finger on her left. The saddle on
the mare was silver, and so was the bridle.
When Trembling sat in the saddle and was going
away, the henwife ordered her strictly not to go
inside the door of the church, but to rush away
as soon as the people rose at the end of Mass,
and hurry home on the mare before any man could
stop her.
That Sunday the people were more astonished
than ever, and gazed at her more than the first
time ; and all they were thinking of was to know
who she was. But they had no chance ; for the mo-
ment the people rose at the end of Mass she slipped
from the church, was in the silver saddle, and home
before a man could stop her or talk to her.
6
82 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
The henwife had the dinner ready. Trembling
took off her satin robe, and had on her old clothes
before her sisters got home.
"What news have you to-day?" asked the
henwife of the sisters when they came from the
church.
" Oh, we saw the grand strange lady again !
And it 's little that any man could think of our
dresses after looking at the robes of satin that she
had on ! And all at church, from high to low,
had their mouths open, gazing at her, and no man
was looking at us."
The two sisters gave neither rest nor peace
till they got dresses as nearly like the strange
lady's robes as they could find. Of course they
were not so good ; for the like of those robes
could not be found in Erin.
When the third Sunday came, Fair and Brown
went to church dressed in black satin. They left
Trembling at home to work in the kitchen, and
told her to be sure and have dinner ready when
they came back.
After they had gone and were out of sight, the
henwife came to the kitchen and said : " Well, my
dear, are you for church to-day?"
" I would go if I had a new dress to wear."
" I '11 get you any dress you ask for. What
dress would you like?" asked the henwife.
Fair, Brown, and Trembling. 83
" A dress red as a rose from the waist down, and
white as snow from the waist up ; a cape of green
on my shoulders ; and a hat on my head with a red,
a white, and a green feather in it ; and shoes for my
feet with the toes red, the middle white, and the
backs and heels green."
The henwife put on the cloak of darkness,
wished for all these things, and had them. When
Trembling was dressed, the henwife put the honey-
bird on her right shoulder and the honey-finger
on her left, and placing the hat on her head,
clipped a few hairs from one lock and a few from
another with her scissors, and that moment the
most beautiful golden hair was flowing down over
the girl's shoulders. Then the henwife asked what
kind of a mare she would ride. She said white,
with blue and gold-colored diamond-shaped spots
all over her body, on her back a saddle of gold,
and on her head a golden bridle.
The mare stood there before the door, and a
bird sitting between her ears, which began to sing
as soon as Trembling was in the saddle, and never
stopped till she came home from the church.
The fame of the beautiful strange lady had gone
out through the world, and all the princes and
great men that were in it came to church that
Sunday, each one hoping that it was himself would
have her home with him after Mass.
84 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
The son of the king of Omanya forgot all about
the eldest sister, and remained outside the church,
so as to catch the strange lady before she could
hurry away.
The church was more crowded than ever be-
fore, and there were three times as many outside.
There was such a throng before the church that
Trembling could only come inside the gate.
As soon as the people were rising at the end of
Mass, the lady slipped out through the gate, was in
the golden saddle in an instant, and sweeping away
ahead of the wind. But if she was, the prince of
Omanya was at her side, and, seizing her by the
foot, he ran with the mare for thirty perches, and
never let go of the beautiful lady till the shoe was
pulled from her foot, and he was left behind with
it in his hand. She came home as fast as the mare
could carry her, and was thinking all the time that
the henwife would kill her for losing the shoe.
Seeing her so vexed and so changed in the face,
the old woman asked : " What 's the trouble that 's
on you now? "
" Oh ! I Ve lost one of the shoes off my feet,"
said Trembling.
" Don't mind that; don't be vexed," said the hen-
wife ; " maybe it 's the best thing that ever happened
to you."
Then Trembling gave up all the things she had
Fair, Brown, and Trembling. 85
to the henwife, put on her old clothes, and went
to work in the kitchen. When the sisters came
home, the henwife asked : " Have you any news
from the church ? "
"We have indeed," said they; "for we saw the
grandest sight to-day. The strange lady came
again, in grander array than before. On herself
and the horse she rode were the finest colors of
the world, and between the ears of the horse was
a bird which never stopped singing from the time
she came till she went away. The lady herself is
the most beautiful woman ever seen by man in
Erin."
After Trembling had disappeared from the
church, the son of the king of Omanya said to the
other kings' sons : "I will have that lady for my
own."
They all said : " You did n't win her just by taking
the shoe off her foot, you '11 have to win her by the
point of the sword; you'll have to fight for her
with us before you can call her your own."
"Well," said the son of the king of Omanya,
" when I find the lady that shoe will fit, I '11 fight for
her, never fear, before I leave her to any of you."
Then all the kings' sons were uneasy, and
anxious to know who was she that lost the shoe ;
and they began to travel all over Erin to know
could they find her. The prince of Omanya and
86 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
all the others went in a great company together,
and made the round of Erin; they went every-
where, north, south, east, and west. They visited
every place where a woman was to be found, and
left not a house in the kingdom they did not
search, to know could they find the woman the
shoe would fit, not caring whether she was rich or
poor, of high or low degree.
The prince of Omanya always kept the shoe ; and
when the young women saw it, they had great
hopes, for it was of proper size, neither large nor
small, and it would beat any man to know of what
material it was made. One thought it would fit her
if she cut a little from her great toe ; and another,
with too short a foot, put something in the tip of her
stocking. But no use, they only spoiled their feet,
and were curing them for months afterwards.
The two sisters, Fair and Brown, heard that the
princes of the world were looking all over Erin for
the woman that could wear the shoe, and every day
they were talking of trying it on ; and one day
Trembling spoke up and said: "Maybe it's my
foot that the shoe will fit."
" Oh, the breaking of the dog's foot on you !
Why say so when you were at home every
Sunday?"
They were that way waiting, and scolding the
younger sister, till the princes were near the place.
Fair, Brown, and Trembling. 87
The day they were to come, the sisters put Trem-
bling in a closet, and locked the door on her.
When the company came to the house, the prince
of Omanya gave the shoe to the sisters. But
though they tried and tried, it would fit neither
of them.
" Is there any other young woman in the
house?" asked the prince.
" There is," said Trembling, speaking up in the
closet; " I'm here."
" Oh ! we have her for nothing but to put out the
ashes," said the sisters.
But the prince and the others would n't leave the
house till they had seen her ; so the two sisters had
to open the door. When Trembling came out, the
shoe was given to her, and it fitted exactly.
The prince of Omanya looked at her and said :
" You are the woman the shoe fits, and you are the
woman I took the shoe from."
Then Trembling spoke up, and said: " Do you
stay here till I return."
Then she went to the henwife's house. The old
woman put on the cloak of darkness, got every-
thing for her she had the first Sunday at church,
and put her on the white mare in the same fashion.
Then Trembling rode along the highway to the
front of the house. All who saw her the first time
said : " This is the lady we saw at church."
88 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
Then she went away a second time, and a second
time came back on the black mare in the second
dress which the henwife gave her. All who saw
her the second Sunday said : " That is the lady we
saw at church."
A third time she asked for a short absence, and
soon came back on the third mare and in the third
dress. All who saw her the third time said :
" That is the lady we saw at church." Every man
was satisfied, and knew that she was the woman.
Then all the princes and great men spoke up,
and said to the son of the king of Omanya:
" You '11 have to fight now for her before we let
her go with you."
" I 'm here before you, ready for combat," an-
swered the prince.
Then the son of the king of Lochlin stepped
forth. The struggle began, and a terrible struggle
it was. They fought for nine hours ; and then the
son of the king of Lochlin stopped, gave up his
claim, and left the field. Next day the son of the
king of Spain fought six hours, and yielded his
claim. On the third day the son of the king of
Nyerfoi fought eight hours, and stopped. The
fourth day the son of the king of Greece fought
six hours, and stopped. On the fifth day no more
strange princes wanted to fight; and all the sons
of kings in Erin said they would not fight with a
Fair, Brown, and Trembling. 89
man of their own land, that the strangers had had
their chance, and as no others came to claim the
woman, she belonged of right to the son of the
king of Omanya.
The marriage-day was fixed, and the invitations
were sent out. The wedding lasted for a year and
a day. When the wedding was over, the king's son
brought home the bride, and when the time came
a son was born. The young woman sent for her
eldest sister, Fair, to be with her and care for her.
One day, when Trembling was well, and when her
husband was away hunting, the two sisters went out
to walk ; and when they came to the seaside, the
eldest pushed the youngest sister in. A great
whale came and swallowed her.
The eldest sister came home alone, and the hus-
band asked, " Where is your sister?"
" She has gone home to her father in Bally-
shannon ; now that I am well, I don't need her."
" Well," said the husband, looking at her, " I 'm
in dread it 's my wife that has gone."
" Oh ! no," said she ; " it 's my sister Fair that 's
gone."
Since the sisters were very much alike, the
prince was in doubt. That night he put his
sword between them, and said : " If you are my
wife, this sword will get warm ; if not, it will
stay cold."
90 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
In the morning when he rose up, the sword was
as cold as when he put it there.
It happened when the two sisters were walking
by the seashore, that a little cowboy was down
by the water minding cattle, and saw Fair push
Trembling into the sea; and next day, when the
tide came in, he saw the whale swim up and throw
her out on the sand. When she was on the sand
she said to the cowboy: "When you go home
in the evening, with the cows, tell the master that
my sister Fair pushed me into the sea yesterday ;
that a whale swallowed me, and then threw me
out, but will come again and swallow me with
the coming of the next tide ; then he '11 go out
with the tide, and come again with to-morrow's
tide, and throw me again on the strand. The
whale will cast me out three times. I 'm under
the enchantment of this whale, and cannot leave
the beach or escape myself. Unless my hus-
band saves me before I 'm swallowed the fourth
time, I shall be lost. He must come and shoot
the whale with a silver bullet when he turns on the
broad of his back. Under the breast-fin of the
whale is a reddish-brown spot. My husband must
hit him in that spot, for it is the only place in
which he can be killed."
When the cowboy got home, the eldest sister
gave him a draught of oblivion, and he did not tell.
Fair, Brown, and Trembling. 91
Next day he went again to the sea. The whale
came and cast Trembling on shore again. She
asked the boy: " Did you tell the master what I
told you to tell him?"
" I did not," said he; "I forgot."
" How did you forget? " asked she.
" The woman of the house gave me a drink that
made me forget."
"Well, don't forget telling him this night; and
if she gives you a drink, don't take it from her."
As soon as the cowboy came home, the eldest
sister offered him a drink. He refused to take it
till he had delivered his message and told all to the
master. The third day the prince went down with
his gun and a silver bullet in it. He was not long
down when the whale came and threw Trembling
upon the beach as the two days before. She had
no power to speak to her husband till he had
killed the whale. Then the whale went out, turned
over once on the broad of his back, and showed
the spot for a moment only. That moment the
prince fired. He had but the one chance, and
a short one at that; but he took it, and hit the
spot, and the whale, mad with pain, made the sea
all around red with blood, and died.
That minute Trembling was able to speak, and
went home with her husband, who sent word to
her father what the eldest sister had done. The
92 Mytks and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
father came, and told him any death he chose to
give her to give it. The prince told the father he
would leave her life and death with himself. The
father had her put out then on the sea in a barrel,
with provisions in it for seven years.
In time Trembling had a second child, a daugh-
ter. The prince and she sent the cowboy to school,
and trained him up as one of their own children,
and said : " If the little girl that is born to us now
lives, no other man in the world will get her but
him."
The cowboy and the prince's daughter lived on
till they were married. The mother said to her
husband : " You could not have saved me from
the whale but for the little cowboy; on that ac-
count I don't grudge him my daughter."
The son of the king of Omanya and Trembling
had fourteen children, and they lived happily till
the two died of old age.
THE KING OF ERIN AND THE QUEEN
OF THE LONESOME ISLAND.
THERE was a king in Erin long ago, and this
king went out hunting one day, but saw
nothing till near sunset, when what should come
across him but a black pig.
" Since I 've seen nothing all day but this black
pig, I '11 be at her now," said the king ; so he put
spurs to his horse and raced after the pig.
When the pig was on a hill he was in the valley
behind her ; when he was on a hill, the pig was in
the valley before him. At last they came to the
sea-side, and the pig rushed out into the deep
water straight from the shore. The king spurred
on his horse and followed the black pig through
the sea till his horse failed under him and was
drowned.
Then the king swam on himself till he was grow-
ing weak, and said : " It was for the death of me
that the black pig came in my way."
But he swam on some distance yet, till at last he
saw land. The pig went up on an island ; the king
too went on shore, and said to himself: " Oh ! it is
94 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
for no good that I came here; there is neither
house nor shelter to be seen." But he cheered up
after a while, walked around, and said : " I 'm a
useless man if I can't find shelter in some place."
After going on a short space he saw a great
castle in a valley before him. When he came to
the front of the castle he saw that it had a low door
with a broad threshold all covered with sharp-edged
razors, and a low lintel of long-pointed needles.
The path to the castle was covered with gravel of
gold. The king came up, and went in with a jump
over the razors and under the needles. When in-
side he saw a great fire on a broad hearth, and
said to himself, " I '11 sit down here, dry my
clothes, and warm my body at this fire."
As he sat and warmed himself, a table came out
before him with every sort of food and drink, with-
out his seeing any one bring it.
" Upon my honor and power," said the king of
Erin, " there is nothing bad in this ! I '11 eat and
drink my fill."
Then he fell to, and ate and drank his fill.
When he had grown tired, he looked behind him,
and if he did he saw a fine room, and in it a bed
covered with gold. " Well," said he, " I '11 go
back and sleep in that bed a while, I 'm so tired."
He stretched himself on the bed and fell asleep.
In the night he woke up, and felt the presence of a
The King of Erin, etc. 95
woman in the room. He reached out his hand
towards her and spoke, but got no answer; she
was silent.
When morning came, and he made his way out
of the castle, she spread a beautiful garden with
her Druidic spells over the island, so great that
though he travelled through it all day he could not
escape from it. At sunset he was back at the door
of the castle ; and in he went over the razors and
under the needles, sat at the fire, and the table came
out before him as on the previous evening. He ate,
drank, and slept on the bed ; and when he woke
in the night, there was the woman in the room ;
but she was silent and unseen as before.
When he went out on the second morning the
king of Erin saw a garden three times more beau-
tiful than the one of the day before. He travelled
all day, but could not escape, could not get out
of the garden. At sunset he was back at the door
of the castle ; in he went over the razors and under
the needles, ate, drank, and slept, as before.
In the middle of the night he woke up, and felt the
presence of the woman in the room. " Well," said
he, " it is a wonderful thing for me to pass three
nights in a room with a woman, and not see her
nor know who she is ! "
" You won't have that to say again, king of
Erin," answered a voice. And that moment the
96 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
room was filled with a bright light, and the king
looked upon the finest woman he had ever seen.
" Well, king of Erin, you are on Lonesome Island.
I am the black pig that enticed you over the land
and through the sea to this place, and I am queen
of Lonesome Island. My two sisters and I are un-
der a Druidic spell, and we cannot escape from this
spell till your son and mine shall free us. Now,
king of Erin, I will give you a boat to-morrow morn-
ing, and do you sail away to your own kingdom."
In the morning she went with him to the sea-
shore to the boat. The king gave the prow of the
boat to the sea, and its stern to the land ; then he
raised the sails, and went his way. The music he
had was the roaring of the wind with the whistling
of eels, and he broke neither oar nor mast till he
landed under his own castle in Erin.
Three quarters of a year after, the queen of
Lonesome Island gave birth to a son. She reared
him with care from day to day and year to year
till he was a splendid youth. She taught him
the learning of wise men one half of the day, and
warlike exercises with Druidic spells the other half.
One time the young man, the prince of Lone-
some Island, came in from hunting, and found his
mother sobbing and crying.
" Oh! what has happened to you, mother? " he
asked.
The King of Erin, etc. 97
" My son, great grief has come on me. A
friend of mine is going to be killed to-morrow."
"Who is he?"
" The king of Erin. The king of Spain has
come against him with a great army. He wishes
to sweep him and his men from the face of the
earth, and take the kingdom himself."
" Well, what can we do? If I were there, I 'd
help the king of Erin."
" Since you say that, my son, I '11 send you this
very evening. With the power of my Druidic
spells, you '11 be in Erin in the morning."
The prince of Lonesome Island went away that
night, and next morning at the rising of the sun
he drew up his boat under the king's castle in Erin.
He went ashore, and saw the whole land black with
the forces of the king of Spain, who was getting
ready to attack the king of Erin and sweep him
and his men from the face of the earth.
The prince went straight to the king of Spain,
and said, " I ask one day's truce."
" You shall have it, my champion," answered
the king of Spain.
The prince then went to the castle of the king
of Erin, and stayed there that day as a guest.
Next morning early he dressed himself in his
champion's array, and, taking his nine-edged
sword, he went down alone to the king of
7
98 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
Spain, and, standing before him, bade him guard
himself.
They closed in conflict, the king of Spain with
all his forces on one side, and the prince of
Lonesome Island on the other. They fought an
awful battle that day from sunrise till sunset.
They made soft places hard, and hard places soft ;
they made high places low, and low places high ;
they brought water out of the centre of hard gray
rocks, and made dry rushes soft in the most dis-
tant parts of Erin till sunset; and when the sun
went down, the king of Spain and his last man
were dead on the field.
Neither the king of Erin nor his forces took part
in the battle. They had no need, and they had
no chance.
Now the king of Erin had two sons, who were
such cowards that they hid themselves from fright
during the battle ; but their mother told the king
of Erin that her elder son was the man who had
destroyed the king of Spain and all his men.
There was great rejoicing and a feast at the
castle of the king of Erin. At the end of the feast
the queen said : " I wish to give the last cup to
this stranger who is here as a guest ; " and taking
him to an adjoining chamber which had a window
right over the sea, she seated him in the open win-
dow and gave him a cup of drowsiness to drink.
The King of Erin, etc. 99
When he had emptied the cup and closed his eyes,
she pushed him out into the darkness.
The prince of Lonesome Island swam on the
water for four days and nights, till he came to a
rock in the ocean, and there he lived for three
months, eating the seaweeds of the rock, till one
foggy day a vessel came near and the captain cried
out: "We shall be wrecked on this rock! " Then
he said, "There is some one on the rock; go and
see who it is."
They landed, and found the prince, his clothes all
gone, his body black from the seaweed, which was
growing all over it.
" Who are you? " asked the captain.
" Give me first to eat and drink, and then I '11
talk," said he.
They brought him food and drink ; and when he
had eaten and drunk, the prince said to the cap-
tain : " What part of the world have you come
from?"
" I have just sailed from Lonesome Island," said
the captain. " I was obliged to sail away, for fire
was coming from every side to burn my ship."
" Would you like to go back? "
" I should indeed."
' Well, turn around ; you '11 have no trouble if I
am with you."
The captain returned- The queen of Lone-
ioo Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
some Island was standing on the shore as the ship
came in.
" Oh, my child ! " cried she, " why have you been
away so long? "
" The queen of Erin threw me into the sea after
I had kept the head of the king of Erin on him,
and saved her life too."
" Well, my son, that will come up against the
queen of Erin on another day."
Now, the prince lived on Lonesome Island three
years longer, till one time he came home from
hunting, and found his mother wringing her hands
and shedding bitter tears.
" Oh ! what has happened ? " asked he.
" I am weeping because the king of Spain has
gone to take vengeance on the king of Erin for the
death of his father, whom you killed."
" Well, mother, I '11 go to help the king of Erin,
if you give me leave."
" Since you have said it, you shall go this very
night."
He went to the shore. Putting the prow of his
bark to the sea and her stern to land, he raised
high the sails, and heard no sound as he went but
the pleasant wind and the whistling of eels, till he
pulled up his boat next morning under the castle
of the king of Erin and went on shore.
The whole country was black with the troops of
The King of Erin, etc. 101
the king of Spain, who was just ready to attack,
when the prince stood before him, and asked a
truce till next morning.
" That you shall have, my champion," answered
the king. So there was peace for that day.
Next morning at sunrise, the prince faced the
king of Spain and his army, and there followed a
struggle more terrible than that with his father;
but at sunset neither the king of Spain nor one of
his men was left alive.
The two sons of the king of Erin were frightened
almost to death, and hid during the battle, so that
no one saw them or knew where they were. But
when the king of Spain and his army were de-
stroyed, the queen said to the king : " My elder
son has saved us." Then she went to bed, and
taking the blood of a chicken in her mouth, spat it
out, saying : " This is my heart's blood ; and noth-
ing can cure me now but three bottles of water
from Tubber Tintye, the flaming well."
When the prince was told of the sickness of
the queen of Erin, he came to her and said : " I '11
go for the water if your two sons will go with me."
" They shall go," said the queen; and away went
the three young men towards the East, in search of
the flaming well.
In the morning they came to a house on the
roadside ; and going in, they saw a woman who had
IO2 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
washed herself in a golden basin which stood be-
fore her. She was then wetting her head with the
water in the basin, and combing her hair with a
golden comb. She threw back her hair, and look-
ing at the prince, said : " You are welcome, sister's
son. What is on you ? Is it the misfortune of the
world that has brought you here ? "
" It is not ; I am going to Tubber Tintye for three
bottles of water."
" That is what you '11 never do ; no man can cross
the fiery river or go through the enchantments
around Tubber Tintye. Stay here with me, and
I '11 give you all I have."
" No, I cannot stay, I must go on."
"Well, you'll be in your other aunt's house to-
morrow night, and she will tell you all."
Next morning, when they were getting ready to
take the road, the elder son of the queen of Erin
was frightened at what he had heard, and said :
" I am sick; I cannot go farther."
" Stop here where you are till I come back,"
said the prince. Then he went on with the younger
brother, till at sunset they came to a house where
they saw a woman wetting her head from a golden
basin, and combing her hair with a golden comb.
She threw back her hair, looked at the prince, and
said : " You are welcome, sister's son ! What
brought you to this place? Was it the misfortune
The King of Erin, etc. 103
of the world that brought you to live under Druidic
spells like me and my sisters? " This was the elder
sister of the queen of the Lonesome Island.
" No," said the prince; " I am going to Tubber
Tintye for three bottles of water from the flaming
well."
" Oh, sister's son, it 's a hard journey you 're on !
But stay here to-night ; to-morrow morning I '11 tell
you all."
In the morning the prince's aunt said : " The
queen of the Island of Tubber Tintye has an enor-
mous castle, in which she lives. She has a count-
less army of giants, beasts, and monsters to guard the
castle and the flaming well. There are thousands
upon thousands of them, of every form and size.
When they get drowsy, and sleep comes on them,
they sleep for seven years without waking. The
queen has twelve attendant maidens, who live in
twelve chambers. She is in the thirteenth and
innermost chamber herself. The queen and the
maidens sleep during the same seven years as the
giants and beasts. When the seven years are over,
they all wake up, and none of them sleep again for
seven other years. If any man could enter the
castle during the seven years of sleep, he could do
what he liked. But the island on which the castle
stands is girt by a river of fire and surrounded by
a belt of poison-trees."
IO4 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
The aunt now blew on a horn, and all the birds
of the air gathered around her from every place
under the heavens, and she asked each in turn
where it dwelt, and each told her ; but none knew
of the flaming well, till an old eagle said : " I left
Tubber Tintye to-day."
"How are all the people there?" asked the
aunt.
" They are all asleep since yesterday morning,"
answered the old eagle.
The aunt dismissed the birds ; and turning to the
prince, said, " Here is a bridle for you. Go to
the stables, shake the bridle, and put it on what-
ever horse runs out to meet you."
Now the second son of the queen of Erin said :
" I am too sick to go farther."
"Well, stay here till I come back," said the
prince, who took the bridle and went out.
The prince of the Lonesome Island stood in
front of his aunt's stables, shook the bridle, and
out came a dirty, lean little shaggy horse.
" Sit on my back, son of the king of Erin and
the queen of Lonesome Island," said the little
shaggy horse.
This was the first the prince had heard of his
father. He had often wondered who he might be,
but had never heard who he was before.
He mounted the horse, which said : " Keep a
The King of Erin, etc. 105
firm grip now, for I shall clear the river of fire at
a single bound, and pass the poison-trees ; but if
you touch any part of the trees, even with a thread
of the clothing that 's on you, you '11 never eat
another bite ; and as I rush by the end of the castle
of Tubber Tintye with the speed of the wind, you
must spring from my back through an open win-
dow that is there ; and if you don't get in at the
window, you 're done for. I '11 wait for you out-
side till you are ready to go back to Erin."
The prince did as the little horse told him.
They crossed the river of fire, escaped the touch
of the poison-trees, and as the horse shot past the
castle, the prince sprang through the open window,
and came down safe and sound inside.
The whole place, enormous in extent, was filled
with sleeping giants and monsters of sea and land,
great whales, long slippery eels, bears, and
beasts of every form and kind. The prince passed
through them and over them till he came to a
great stairway. At the head of the stairway he
went into a chamber, where he found the most
beautiful woman he had ever seen, stretched on a
couch asleep. " I '11 have nothing to say to you,"
thought he, and went on to the next ; and so he
looked into twelve chambers. In each was a
woman more beautiful than the one before. But
when he reached the thirteenth chamber and
io6 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
opened the door, the flash of gold took the sight
from his eyes. He stood a while till the sight
came back, and then entered. In the great bright
chamber was a golden couch, resting on wheels of
gold. The wheels turned continually; the couch
went round and round, never stopping night or
day. On the couch lay the queen of Tubber
Tintye ; and if her twelve maidens were beautiful,
they would not be beautiful if seen near her. At
the foot of the couch was Tubber Tintye itself, the
well of fire. There was a golden cover upon the
well, and it went around continually with the couch
of the queen.
" Upon my word," said the prince, " I '11 rest
here a while." And he went up on the couch,
and never left it for six days and nights.
On the seventh morning he said, " It is time for
me now to leave this place." So he came down
and filled the three bottles with water from the
flaming well. In the golden chamber was a table
of gold, and on the table a leg of mutton with a
loaf of bread ; and if all the men in Erin were to
eat for a twelvemonth from the table, 'the mutton
and the bread would be in the same form after the
eating as before.
The prince sat down, ate his fill of the loaf and
the leg of mutton, and left them as he had found
them. Then he rose up, took his three bottles,
The King of Erin, etc. 107
put them in his wallet, and was leaving the
chamber, when he said to himself: " It would be a
shame to go away without leaving something by
which the queen may know who was here while she
slept." So he wrote a letter, saying that the son of
the king of Erin and the queen of the Lonesome
Island had spent six days and nights in the gol-
den chamber of Tubber Tintye, had taken away
three bottles of water from the flaming well, and
had eaten from the table of gold. Putting this
letter under the pillow of the queen, he went out,
stood in the open window, sprang on the back of
the lean and shaggy little horse, and passed the
trees and the river unharmed.
When they were near his aunt's house, the horse
stopped, and said : " Put your hand into my ear,
and draw out of it a Druidic rod ; then cut me into
four quarters, and strike each quarter with the
rod. Each one of them will become the son
of a king, for four princes were enchanted and
turned into the lean little shaggy horse that
carried you to Tubber Tintye. When you have
freed the four princes from this form you can
free your two aunts from the spell that is on
them, and take them with you to Lonesome
Island."
The prince did as the horse desired ; and straight-
way four princes stood before him, and thanking
io8 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
him for what he had done, they departed at once,
each to his own kingom.
The prince removed the spell from his aunts,
and, travelling with them and the two sons of the
queen of Erin, all soon appeared at the castle of
the king.
When they were near the door of their mother's
chamber, the elder of the two sons of the queen
of Erin stepped up to the prince of Lonesome
Island, snatched the three bottles from the wallet
that he had at his side, and running up to his
mother's bed, said : " Here, mother, are the three
bottles of water which I brought you from Tubber
Tintye."
" Thank you, my son; you have saved my life,"
said she.
The prince went on his bark and sailed away
with his aunts to Lonesome Island, where he lived
with his mother seven years.
When seven years were over, the queen of
Tubber Tintye awoke from her sleep in the golden
chamber ; and with her the twelve maidens and all
the giants, beasts, and monsters that slept in the
great castle.
When the queen opened her eyes, she saw a boy
about six years old playing by himself on the floor.
He was very beautiful and bright, and he had gold
on his forehead and silver on his poll. When she
The King of Erin, etc. 109
saw the child, she began to cry and wring her
hands, and said : " Some man has been here while
I slept."
Straightway she sent for her Seandallglic (old
blind sage), told him about the child, and asked:
"What am I to do now?"
The old blind sage thought a while, and then
said : " Whoever was here must be a hero ; for the
child has gold on his forehead and silver on his
poll, and he never went from this place without
leaving his name behind him. Let search be
made, and we shall know who he was."
Search was made, and at last they found the
letter of the prince under the pillow of the couch.
The queen was now glad, and proud of the child.
Next day she assembled all her forces, her
giants and guards ; and when she had them drawn
up in line, the army was seven miles long from van
to rear. The queen opened through the river of
fire a safe way for the host, and led it on till she
came to the castle of the king of Erin. She held
all the land near the castle, so the king had the sea
on one side, and the army of the queen of Tubber
Tintye on the other, ready to destroy him and all
that he had. The queen sent a herald for the
king to come down.
"What are you going to do?" asked the king
when he came to her tent. " I have had trouble
no Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
enough in my life already, without having more
of it now."
" Find for me," said the queen, " the man who
came to my castle and entered the golden chamber
of Tubber Tintye while I slept, or I '11 sweep you
and all you have from the face of the earth."
The king of Erin called down his elder son, and
asked : " Did you enter the chamber of the queen
of Tubber Tintye?"
" I did."
" Go, then, and tell her so, and save us."
He went ; and when he told the queen, she said :
" If you entered my chamber, then mount my gray
steed."
He mounted the steed ; and if he did, the steed
rose in the air with a bound, hurled him off his
back, in a moment, threw him on a rock, and dashed
the brains out of his head.
The king called down his second son, who said
that he had been in the golden chamber. Then he
mounted the gray steed, which killed him as it had
his brother.
Now the queen called the king again, and said :
" Unless you bring the man who entered my gold-
en chamber while I slept, I '11 not leave a sign
of you or anything you have upon the face of
the earth."
Straightway the king sent a message to the
The King of Erin, etc. \ 1 1
queen of Lonesome Island, saying: "Come to
me with your son and your two sisters ! "
The queen set out next morning, and at sunset
she drew up her boat under the castle of the king
of Erin. Glad were they to see her at the castle,
for great dread was on all.
Next morning the king went down to the queen
of Tubber Tintye, who said : " Bring me the man
who entered my castle, or I '11 destroy you and all
you have in Erin this day."
The king went up to the castle ; immediately
the prince of Lonesome Island went to the queen.
" Are you the man who entered my castle?"
asked she.
" I don't know," said the prince.
" Go up now on my gray steed ! " said the
queen.
He sat on the gray steed, which rose under him
into the sky. The prince stood on the back of
the horse, and cut three times with his sword as he
went up under the sun. When he came to the
earth again, the queen of Tubber Tintye ran over
to him, put his head on her bosom, .and said:
" You are the man."
Now she called the queen of Erin to her tent,
and drawing from her own pocket a belt of silk,
slender as a cord, she said : " Put this on."
The queen of Erin put it on, and then the queen
1 1 2 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
of Tubber Tintye said : " Tighten, belt ! " The
belt tightened till the queen of Erin screamed with
pain. " Now tell me," said the queen of Tubber
Tintye, " who was the father of your elder son."
" The gardener," said the queen of Erin.
Again the queen of Tubber Tintye said :
" Tighten, belt ! " The queen of Erin screamed
worse than before; and she had good reason, for
she was cut nearly in two. " Now tell me who
was the father of your second son."
" The big brewer," said the queen of Erin.
Said the queen of Tubber Tintye to the king of
Erin : " Get this woman dead."
The king put down a big fire then, and when it
was blazing high, he threw the wife in, and she was
destroyed at once.
" Now do you marry the queen of Lonesome
Island, and my child will be grandchild to you
and to her," said the queen of Tubber Tintye.
This was done, and the queen of Lonesome
Island became queen of Erin and lived in the
castle by the sea. And the queen of Tubber
Tintye married the prince of Lonesome Island, the
champion who entered the golden chamber while
she slept.
Now the king of Erin sent ten ships with mes-
sages to all the kings of the world, inviting them
to come to the wedding of the queen of Tubber
The King of Erin, etc. 113
Tintye and his son, and to his own wedding with
the queen of Lonesome Island.
The queen removed the Druidic spells from her
giants, beasts, and monsters; then went home,
and made the prince of Lonesome Island king of
Tubber Tintye and lord of the golden chamber.
THE SHEE AN GANNON AND THE
GRUAGACH GAIRE.
THE Shee an Gannon 1 was born in the morn-
ing, named at noon, and went in the evening
to ask his daughter of the king of Erin.
" I will give you my daughter in marriage," said
the king of Erin ; " you won't get her, though,
unless you go and bring me back the tidings that
I want, and tell me what it is that put a stop to
the laughing of the Gruagach Gaire, 2 who before
this laughed always, and laughed so loud that the
whole world heard him. There are twelve iron
spikes out here in the garden behind my castle.
On eleven of the spikes are the heads of kings'
sons who came seeking my daughter in marriage,
and all of them went away to get the knowledge
I wanted. Not one was able to get it and tell me
what stopped the Gruagach Gaire from laughing.
I took the heads off them all when they came
back without the tidings for which they went, and
1 Shee an Gannon, in Gaelic " Sighe an Gannon," the fairy
of the Gannon.
2 The laughing Gruagach.
Shee an Gannon and Gruagach Gaire. 115
I 'm greatly in dread that your head "11 be on the
twelfth spike, for I '11 do the same to you that I did
to the eleven kings' sons unless you tell what put a
stop to the laughing of the Gruagach."
The Shee an Gannon made no answer, but left
the king and pushed away to know could he find
why the Gruagach was silent.
He took a glen at a step, a hill at a leap, and
travelled all day till evening. Then he came to a
house. The master of the house asked him what
sort was he, and he said : " A young man looking
for hire."
" Well," said the master of the house, " I was
going to-morrow to look for a man to mind my
cows. If you '11 work for me, you '11 have a good
place, the best food a man could have to eat in this
world, and a soft bed to lie on."
The Shee an Gannon took service, and ate his
supper. Then the master of the house said : " I
am the Gruagach Gaire; now that you are my
man and have eaten your supper, you '11 have a
bed of silk to sleep on."
Next morning after breakfast the Gruagach said
to the Shee an Gannon : " Go out now and loosen
my five golden cows and my bull without horns,
and drive them to pasture; but when you have
them out on the grass, be careful you don't let
them go near the land of the giant."
1 1 6 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
The new cowboy drove the cattle to pasture,
and when near the land of the giant, he saw it was
covered with woods and surrounded by a high
wall. He went up, put his back against the wall,
and threw in a great stretch of it ; then he went
inside and threw out another great stretch of the
wall, and put the five golden cows and the bull
without horns on the land of the giant.
Then he climbed a tree, ate the sweet apples
himself, and threw the sour ones down to the
cattle of the Gruagach Gaire.
Soon a great crashing was heard in the woods,
the noise of young trees bending, and old trees
breaking. The cowboy looked around, and saw a
five-headed giant pushing through the trees ; and
soon he was before him.
"Poor miserable creature!" said the giant;
" but were n't you impudent to come to my land
and trouble me in this way? You 're too big for
one bite, and too small for two. I don't know what
to do but tear you to pieces."
" You nasty brute," said the cowboy, coming
down to him from the tree, " 't is little I care for
you ; " and then they went at each other. So great
was the noise between them that there was nothing
in the world but what was looking on and listening
to the combat.
They fought till late in the afternoon, when the
Shee an Gannon and Gruagach Gaire. 1 1 7
giant was getting the upper hand ; and then the
cowboy thought that if the giant should kill him,
his father and mother would never find him or set
eyes on him again, and he would never get the
daughter of the king of Erin. The heart in his
body grew strong at this thought. He sprang on
the giant, and with the first squeeze and thrust
he put him to his knees in the hard ground, with
the second thrust to his waist, and with the third
to his shoulders.
" I have you at last ; you 're done for now ! " said
the cowboy. Then he took out his knife, cut the
five heads off the giant, and when he had them off
he cut out the tongues and threw the heads over
the wall.
Then he put the tongues in his pocket and
drove home the cattle. That evening the Grua-
gach could n't find vessels enough in all his place
to hold the milk of the five golden cows.
After supper the cowboy would give no talk to
his master, but kept his mind to himself, and went
to the bed of silk to sleep.
Next morning after breakfast the cowboy drove
out his cattle, and going on farther than the day
before, stopped at a high wall. He put his back
to the wall, threw in a long stretch of it, then went
in and threw out another long stretch of it.
After that he put the five golden cows and the
1 1 8 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
bull without horns on the land, and going up on a
tree, ate sweet apples himself, and threw down the
sour ones to the cattle.
Now the son of the king of Tisean set out from
the king of Erin on the same errand, after asking
for his daughter ; and as soon as the cowboy drove
in his cattle on the second day, he came along by
the giant's land, found the five heads of the giant
thrown out by the cowboy the day before, and
picking them up, ran off to the king of Erin and
put them down before him.
" Oh, you have done good work ! " said the king.
" You have won one third of my daughter."
Soon after the cowboy had begun to eat sweet
apples, and the son of the king of Tisean had run
off with the five heads, there came a great noise
of young trees bending, and old trees breaking,
and presently the cowboy saw a giant larger than
the one he had killed the day before.
" You miserable little wretch ! " cried the giant ;
" what brings you here on my land? "
" You wicked brute ! " said the cowboy, " I
don't care for you ; " and slipping down from the
tree, he fell upon the giant.
The fight was fiercer than his first one; but
towards evening, when he was growing faint, the
cowboy remembered that if he should fall, neither
his father nor mother would see him again, and
Shee an Gannon and Gruagach Gaire. 119
he would never get the daughter of the king of
Erin.
This thought gave him strength; and jumping
up, he caught the giant, put him with one thrust
to his knees in the hard earth, with a second to
his waist, with a third to his shoulders, and then
swept the five heads off him and threw them over
the wall, after he had cut out the tongues and put
them in his pocket.
Leaving the body of the giant, the cowboy
drove home the cattle, and the Gruagach had still
greater trouble in finding vessels for the milk of
the five golden cows.
After supper the cowboy said not a word, but
went to sleep.
Next morning he drove the cattle still farther,
and came to green woods and a strong wall.
Putting his back to the wall, he threw in a great
piece of it, and going in, threw out another piece.
Then he drove the five golden cows and the bull
without horns to the land inside, ate sweet apples
himself, and threw down sour ones to the cattle.
The son of the king of Tisean came and carried
off the heads as on the day before.
Presently a third giant came crashing through
the woods, and a battle followed more terrible
than the other two.
Towards evening the giant was gaining the up-
1 20 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
per hand, and the cowboy, growing weak, would
have been killed ; but the thought of his parents
and the daughter of the king of Erin gave him
strength, and he swept the five heads off the giant,
and threw them over the wall after he had put the
tongues in his pocket.
Then the cowboy drove home his cattle ; and the
Gruagach did n't know what to do with the milk
of the five golden cows, there was so much of it.
But when the cowboy was on the way home
with the cattle, the son of the king of Tisean came,
took the five heads of the giant, and hurried to the
king of Erin.
" You have won my daughter now," said the
king of Erin when he saw the heads; " but you '11
not get her unless you tell me what stops the
Gruagach Gaire from laughing."
On the fourth morning the cowboy rose before
his master, and the first words he said to the Grua-
gach were :
" What keeps you from laughing, you who
used to laugh so loud that the whole world heard
you?"
" I 'm sorry," said the Gruagach, " that the
daughter of the king of Erin sent you here."
" If you don't tell me of your own will, I '11 make
you tell me," said the cowboy ; and he put a face
on himself that was terrible to look at, and run-
Shee an Gannon and Gruagach Gaire. 121
ning through the house like a madman, could find
nothing that would give pain enough to the Grua-
gach but some ropes made of untanned sheepskin
hanging on the wall.
He took these down, caught the Gruagach, fas-
tened his two hands behind him, and tied his feet
so that his little toes were whispering to his ears.
When he was in this state the Gruagach said:
" I '11 tell you what stopped my laughing if you
set me free."
So the cowboy unbound him, the two sat down
together, and the Gruagach said :
" I lived in this castle here with my twelve sons.
We ate, drank, played cards, and enjoyed our-
selves, till one day when my sons and I were play-
ing, a wizard hare came rushing in, jumped on
our table, defiled it, and ran away.
" On another day he came again ; but if he did,
we were ready for him, my twelve sons and my-
self. As soon as he defiled our table and ran off,
we made after him, and followed him till nightfall,
when he went into a glen. We saw a light before
us. I ran on, and came to a house with a great
apartment, where there was a man with twelve
daughters, and the hare was tied to the side of
the room near the women.
" There was a large pot over the fire in the
room, and a great stork boiling in the pot. The
122 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland,
man of the house said to me : ' There are bundles
of rushes at the end of the room, go there and sit
down with your men ! '
" He went into the next room and brought out
two pikes, one of wood, the other of iron, and
asked me which of the pikes would I take. I
said, ' I '11 take the iron one ; ' for I thought in my
heart that if an attack should come on me, I could
defend myself better with the iron than the wooden
pike.
" The man of the house gave me the iron pike,
and the first chance of taking what I could out of
the pot on the point of the pike. I got but a
small piece of the stork, and the man of the house
took all the rest on his wooden pike. We had
to fast that night; and when the man and his
twelve daughters ate the flesh of the stork, they
hurled the bare bones in the faces of my sons and
myself.
" We had to stop all night that way, beaten on
the faces by the bones of the stork.
" Next morning, when we were going away, the
man of the house asked me to stay a while ; and
going into the next room, he brought out twelve
loops of iron and one of wood, and said to me :
' Put the heads of your twelve sons into the iron
loops, or your own head into the wooden one; '
and I said : ' I '11 put the twelve heads of my sons
Shee an Gannon and Gruagach Gaire. 123
in the iron loops, and keep my own out of the
wooden one.'
" He put the iron loops on the necks of my
twelve sons, and put the wooden one on his own
neck. Then he snapped the loops one after
another, till he took the heads off my twelve sons
and threw the heads and bodies out of the house ;
but he did nothing to hurt his own neck.
" When he had killed my sons he took hold of
me and stripped the skin and flesh from the small
of my back down, and when he had done that he
took the skin of a black sheep that had been hang-
ing on the wall for seven years and clapped it on
my body in place of my own flesh and skin ; and
the sheepskin grew on me, and every year since
then I shear myself, and every bit of wool I use
for the stockings that I wear I clip off my own
back."
When he had said this, the Gruagach showed
the cowboy his back covered with thick black
wool.
After what he had seen and heard, the cowboy
said : " I know now why you don't laugh, and
small blame to you. But does that hare come
here still to spoil your table?"
" He does indeed," said the Gruagach.
Both went to the table to play, and they were
not long playing cards when the hare ran in ; and
124 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
before they could stop him he was on the table,
and had put it in such a state that they could not
play on it longer if they had wanted to.
But the cowboy made after the hare, and the
Gruagach after the cowboy, and they ran as fast
as ever their legs could carry them till nightfall ;
and when the hare was entering the castle where
the twelve sons of the Gruagach were killed, the
cowboy caught him by the two hind legs and
dashed out his brains against the wall; and the
skull of the hare was knocked into the chief room
of the castle, and fell at the feet of the master of
the place.
" Who has dared to interfere with my fighting
pet? " screamed he.
"I," said the cowboy; "and if your pet had
had manners, he might be alive now."
The cowboy and the Gruagach stood by the fire.
A stork was boiling in the pot, as when the Grua-
gach came the first time. The master of the house
went into the next room and brought out an iron
and a wooden pike, and asked the cowboy which
would he choose.
" I '11 take the wooden one," said the cowboy ;
" and you may keep the iron one for yourself."
So he took the wooden one ; and going to the
pot, brought out on the pike all the stork except
a small bite, and he and the Gruagach fell to eat-
Shee an Gannon and Gruagach Gaire. 125
ing, and they were eating the flesh of the stork all
night. The cowboy and the Gruagach were at
home in the place that time.
In the morning the master of the house went
into the next room, took down the twelve iron
loops with a wooden one, brought them out, and
asked the cowboy which would he take, the twelve
iron or the one wooden loop.
" What could I do with the twelve iron ones for
myself or my master? I '11 take the wooden one."
He put it on, and taking the twelve iron loops,
put them on the necks of the twelve daughters of
the house, then snapped the twelve heads off
them, and turning to their father, said : " I '11 do
the same thing to you unless you bring the twelve
sons of my master to life, and make them as well
and strong as when you took their heads."
The master of the house went out and brought
the twelve to life again ; and when the Gruagach
saw all his sons alive and as well as ever, he let a
laugh out of himself, and all the Eastern world
heard the laugh.
Then the cowboy said to the Gruagach : " It 's
a bad thing you have done to me, for the daughter
of the king of Erin will be married the day after
your laugh is heard."
" Oh ! then we must be there in time," said the
Gruagach ; and they all made away from the place
1 26 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
as fast as ever they could, the cowboy, the Grua-
gach, and his twelve sons.
On the road they came to a woman who was
crying very hard.
" What is your trouble? " asked the cowboy.
" You need have no care," said she, " for I will
not tell you."
" You must tell me," said he, " for I '11 help you
out of it."
" Well," said the woman, " I have three sons,
and they used to play hurley with the three sons
of the king of the Sasenach, 1 and they were more
than a match for the king's sons. And it was the
rule that the winning side should give three wallops
of their hurleys to the other side; and my sons
were winning every game, and gave such a beating
to the king's sons that they complained to their
father, and the king carried away my sons to
London, and he is going to hang them there
to-day."
" I '11 bring them here this minute," said the
cowboy.
" You have no time," said the Gruagach.
"Have you tobacco and a pipe?" asked the
cowboy of the Gruagach.
" I have not," said he.
"Well, I have," said the cowboy; and putting
1 Sasenach, English.
Shee an Gannon and Gruagach Gaire. 127
his hand in his pocket, he took out tobacco and
a pipe, gave them to the Gruagach, and said:
" I '11 be in London and back before you can put
tobacco in this pipe and light it."
He disappeared, was back from London with
the three boys all safe and well, and gave them
to their mother before the Gruagach could get a
taste of smoke out of the pipe.
" Now come with us," said the cowboy to the
woman and her sons, " to the wedding of the
daughter of the king of Erin."
They hurried on ; and when within three miles
of the king's castle there was such a throng of
people that no one could go a step ahead. " We
must clear a road through this," said the cowboy.
" We must indeed," said the Gruagach ; and at
it they went, threw the people some on one side
and some on the other, and soon they had an
opening for themselves to the king's castle.
As they went in, the daughter of the king of
Erin and the son of the king of Tisean were on
their knees just going to be married. The cow-
boy drew his hand on the bridegroom, and gave
a blow that sent him spinning till he stopped under
a table at the other side of the room.
" What scoundrel struck that blow?" asked the
king of Erin.
" It was I," said the cowboy.
128 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
" What reason had you to strike the man who
won my daughter? "
" It was I who won your daughter, not he ; and
if you don't believe me, the Gruagach Gaire is here
himself. He '11 tell you the whole story from be-
ginning to end, and show you the tongues of the
giants."
So the Gruagach came up and told the king the
whole story, how the Shee an Gannon had become
his cowboy, had guarded the five golden cows and
the bull without horns, cut off the heads of the five-
headed giants, killed the wizard hare, and brought
his own twelve sons to life. " And then," said the
Gruagach, " he is the only man in the whole world
I have ever told why I stopped laughing, and the
only one who has ever seen my fleece of wool."
When the king of Erin heard what the Gruagach
said, and saw the tongues of the giants fitted into
the heads, he made the Shee an Gannon kneel
down by his daughter, and they were married on
the spot.
Then the son of the king of Tisean was thrown
into prison, and the next day they put down a
great fire, and the deceiver was burned to ashes.
The wedding lasted nine days, and the last day
was better than the first.
THE THREE DAUGHTERS OF THE KING
OF THE EAST, AND THE SON OF A
KING IN ERIN.
r I ^HERE was once a king in Erin, and he had
*- an only son. While this son was a little child
his mother died.
After a time the king married and had a sec-
ond son.
The two boys grew up together; and as the
elder was far handsomer and better than the
younger, the queen became jealous, and was for
banishing him out of her sight.
The king's castle stood near the shore of Loch
Erne, and three swans came every day to be in
the water and swim in the lake. The elder brother
used to go fishing ; and once when he sat at the
side of the water, the three swans made young
women of themselves, came to where he sat, and
talked to the king's son.
The queen had a boy minding cows in the place,
and when he went home that night he told about
what he had seen, that there were three young
women at the lake, and the king's son was talking
9
1 30 Myths and Fo Ik-Lore of Ireland.
to the three that day. Next morning the queen
called the cowboy to her, and said : " Here is a
pin of slumber ; and do you stick it in the clothes
of the king's son before the young women come,
and when they go away, take out the pin and bring
it back to me."
That day when the cowboy saw the three young
women coming, he went near and threw the pin,
which stuck in the clothes of the king's son. That
instant he fell asleep on the ground.
When the young women came, one of them took
a towel, dipped it in the cold water of the lake,
and rubbed his face ; but she could not rouse him.
When their time came to go, they were crying and
lamenting because the young man was asleep ; and
one of the three put a gold pin in his bosom, so
that when he woke up he would find it and keep
her in mind.
After they had gone a couple of hours, the cow-
boy came up, took out the sleeping-pin, and hur-
ried off. The king's son woke up without delay ;
and finding the gold pin in his bosom, he knew
the young woman had come to see him.
Next day he fished and waited again. When
the cowboy saw the young women coming out of
the lake, he stole up a second time, and threw the
pin, which stuck in his clothes, and that moment
he was drowsy and fell asleep. When the young
Daughters of the King of the East, etc. 1 3 1
women came he was lying on the ground asleep.
One of them rubbed him with a towel dipped in
the water of the lake; but no matter what she did,
he slept on, and when they had to go, she put a
gold ring in his bosom. When the sisters were
leaving the lake, and had put on their swan-skins
and become swans, they all flew around him and
flapped their wings in his face to know could they
rouse him ; but there was no use in trying.
After they had gone, the cowboy came and took
out the sleeping-pin. When the king's son was
awake he put his hand in his bosom, found the
keepsake, and knew that the sisters had come
to him.
When he went fishing the third day, he called up
the cowboy and said: " I fall asleep every day. I
know something is done to me. Now do you tell
me all. In time I '11 reward you well. I know my
stepmother sends something by you that takes my
senses away."
" I would tell," said the cowboy, " but I 'm in
dread my mistress might kill or banish me."
" She will not, for I '11 put you in the way she '11
not harm you. You see my fishing-bag here?
Now throw the pin, which I know you have,
towards me, and hit the bag."
The cowboy did as he was told, and threw the
pin into the fishing-bag, where it remained without
132 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
harm to any one. The cowboy went back to his
cattle, and the prince fished on as before. The
three swans were out in the middle of the lake
swimming around for themselves in the water, and
the prince moved on, fishing, till he came to a
bend in the shore. On one side of him a tongue
of land ran out into the lake. The swans came to
the shore, leaving the piece of land between them-
selves and the prince. Then they took off their swan-
skins, were young women, and bathed in the lake.
After that they came out, put on the dress of
young women, and went to where the king's son
was fishing.
He spoke to them, and asked where were they
from, in what place were they born, and why were
they swans.
They said : " We are three sisters, daughters of
the king of the East, and we have two brothers.
Our mother died, and our father married again,
and had two other daughters ; and these two are
not so good looking nor so well favored as we, and
their mother was in dread they would n't get such
fine husbands as we, so she enchanted us, and now
we are going about the world from lake to lake in
the form of swans."
Then the eldest of the three sisters said to the
king's son : " What kind are you, and where were
you born? "
Daughters of the King of the East, etc. 133
" I was born in Erin," said he ; " and when I was
a little boy my mother died, my father married
again and had a second son, and that son was n't
to the eye what I was, and my stepmother was for
banishing me from my father's house because she
thought her own son was not so good as I was, and
I am fishing here every day by the lake to keep
out of her sight."
" Well," said the eldest sister, " I thought you
were a king's son, and so I came to you in my
own form to know could we go on in the world
together."
" I don't know yet what to do," said the king's
son.
" Well, be sure of your mind to-morrow, for that
will be the last day for me here."
When the cowboy was going home, the king's
son gave him the sleeping-pin for the stepmother.
When he had driven in the cattle, the cowboy told
the queen that the young man had fallen asleep as
on the two other days.
But there was an old witch in the place who
was wandering about the lake that day. She saw
everything, went to the queen, and told her how
the three swans had made young women of them-
selves, and talked with her stepson.
When the queen heard the old witch, she fell
into a terrible rage at the cowboy for telling her
1 34 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
a lie, and banished him out of her sight forever.
Then she got another cowboy, and sent him off
with the sleeping-pin next day. When he came
near the lake, the king's son tried to drive him off;
but the cowboy threw the sleeping-pin into his
clothes, and he fell down near the edge of the
water without sight or sense.
The three sisters came, and found him sleeping.
They rubbed him, and threw water on his face, but
they could not wake him. And the three were la-
menting sorely, for they had brought a swan's
skin with them that day, so the king's son might
make a swan of himself and fly away with them,
for this was their last day at that place ; but they
could do nothing now, for he lay there dead asleep
on the ground before them.
The eldest sister pulled out her handkerchief,
and the falling tears dropped on it. Then she
took a knife, and cut one of the nipples from her
breast. The second sister wrote on the handker-
chief: " Keep this in mind till you get more ac-
count from us." They put it in his bosom and
went away.
As soon as the sisters had gone, the cowboy
came, drew out the pin, and hurried away. The
stepmother was always trying to banish the king's
son, hoping that something might happen to him,
and her own son be the heir. So now he went oft
Daughters of the King of the East, etc. 135
and wandered away through Erin, always inquir-
ing for the eldest sister, but never could find
her.
At the end of seven years he came home, and
was fishing at the side of Loch Erne again, when
a swan flew up to him and said : " Your love is
lying on her death-bed, unless you go to save her.
She is bleeding from the breast, and you must go
to her now. Go straight to the East ! "
The king's son went straight to the East, and on
the way there rose up storm and fog against him ;
but they did not stop him. He was going on al-
ways, and when he was three weeks' journey from
his father's castle he stumbled one dark, misty day
and fell over a ditch. When he rose up there
stood on the other side of the ditch before him a
little horse, all bridled and saddled, with a whip on
the saddle. The horse spoke up and said: " If you
are the king's son, I was sent here to meet you, and
carry you to the castle of the king of the East.
There is a young woman at the castle who thinks
it long till she sees you. Now ask me no ques-
tions, for I 'm not at liberty to talk to you till I
bring you to the East."
" I suppose we are to be a long time going? "
said the king's son.
"Don't trouble yourself about the going; I'll
take you safely. Sit on my back now, and be sure
1 36 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
you 're a good rider, and you '11 not be long on the
road. This is my last word."
They went on, and were going always ; and as
he travelled, the prince met the wind that was be-
fore him, and the wind that blew behind could not
come up with him. When he was hungry the
pommel of the saddle opened, and he found the
best of eating inside.
They went on sweeping over the world for two
weeks, and when they were near the East the horse
said: " Get down from my back now, for it's tired
I am."
"How far are we from the castle?" asked the
king's son.
" Five days' journey," answered the horse.
" When you come to the castle, don't stop a mo-
ment till you ask where the young woman is
lying; and tell them to be sure to give good sta-
bling and food to the horse. Come and see me
yourself every day. If you don't, there will be
nothing for me but fasting ; and that 's what I don't
like."
When the king's son came to the castle it was
evening. The two younger sisters welcomed him.
(These were two of the swans at the lake in Erin,
and now at home by the enchantment of their step-
mother. They were swans in the daytime, and
women only at night, so as not to be under the
Daughters of the King of the East, etc. 137
eye of young men when these came to see the
stepmother's own daughters.) They said : " Our
sister is on an island, and we '11 go to her." They
got a boat for the young man, and went with him
to where their sister was lying. They said to her :
" The son of the king of Erin is here."
" Let him come in, that I may look at him,"
said she.
The king's son went in, and when she saw him
she was glad. " Have you anything that belongs
to me ? " asked she.
" I have."
" Then throw it on my breast."
He threw the handkerchief on her breast and
went away. Next day she rose from the bed as
well as ever. On the third day after his arrival,
the son of the king of Erin married the eldest
daughter of the king of the East, and the step-
mother's enchantment was destroyed; and there
was the grandest wedding that ever was seen in
that kingdom.
The king's son, thinking only of his bride, for-
got all about the horse that had brought him over
the long road. When at last he went to see him,
the stable was empty ; the horse had gone. And
neither his father in Erin nor the stepmother came
to his mind, he was living so pleasantly in the East.
But after he had been there a long time, and a
1 38 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
son and a daughter had been born to him, he re-
membered his father. Then he made up his mind
not to let the stepmother's son be heir to the king-
dom in place of himself. So taking his wife and
children, he left the East and travelled to Erin.
He stopped on the road, and sent word to the
father that he was coming.
When the stepmother heard the news, a great
weakness came on her. She fell into a fit and
died.
The king's son waited in a convenient place till
the funeral was over, and then he came to the castle
and lived with his father. He was not long in the
place when he sent messengers to know could they
find the cowboy that the stepmother banished for
telling about the sleeping-pin. They brought the
cowboy to the castle, and the king made him his
coachman.
The cowboy was not twelve months in his new
place before he married. Then the king's son
gave him a fine piece of land to live on, with six
cows and four horses. There was not a happier
man in the kingdom than the cowboy. When the
father died, the king's son became king in Erin
himself.
THE FISHERMAN'S SON AND THE
GRUAGACH OF TRICKS.
THERE was an old fisherman once in Erin who
had a wife and one son.
The old fisherman used to go about with a
fishing-rod and tackle to the rivers and lochs and
every place where fish resort, and he was killing
salmon and other fish to keep the life in himself
and his wife and son.
The son was not so keen nor so wise as another,
and the father was instructing him every day in
fishing, so that if himself should be taken from
the world, the son would be able to support the
old mother and get his own living.
One day when the father and son were fishing
in a river near the sea, they looked out over the
water and saw a small dark speck on the waves.
It grew larger and larger, till they saw a boat, and
when the boat drew near they saw a man sitting in
the stern of it.
There was a nice beach near the place where
they were fishing. The man brought the boat
straight to the beach, and stepping out drew it
up on the sand.
140 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
They saw then that the stranger was a man of
high degree (duine uasal}.
After he had put the boat high on the sand, he
came to where the two were at work, and said:
" Old fisherman, you 'd better let this son of
yours with me for a year and a day, and I will
make a very wise man of him. I am the Gruagach
na g-cleasan 1 (Gruagach of tricks), and I'll bind
myself to be here with your son this day year."
" I can't let him go," said the old fisherman,
" till he gets his mother's advice."
" Whatever goes as far as women I '11 have noth-
ing to do with," said the Gruagach. " You had
better give him to me now, and let the mother
alone."
They talked till at last the fisherman promised
to let his son go for the year and a day. Then
the Gruagach gave his word to have the boy there
at the seashore that day year.
The Gruagach and the boy went into the boat
and sailed away.
When the year and a day were over, the old
fisherman went to the same place where he had
parted with his son and the Gruagach, and stood
looking over the sea, thinking would he see his
son that day.
At last he saw a black spot on the water, then
a boat. When it was near he saw two men sitting
i Pronounced nd gldssan.
The Fisherman s Son and the Gruagach. 141
in the stern of the boat. When it touched land,
the two, who were duine uasal in appearance,
jumped out, and one of them pulled the boat to
the top of the strand. Then that one, followed by
the other, came to where the old fisherman was
waiting, and asked : " What trouble is on you now,
my good man? "
" I had a son that was n't so keen nor so wise as
another, and myself and this son were here fishing,
and a stranger came, like yourself to-day, and
asked would I let my son with him for a year and
a day. I let the son go, and the man promised to
be here with him to-day, and that 's why I am
waiting at this place now."
" Well," said the Gruagach, " am I your son? "
" You are not," said the fisherman.
" Is this man here your son? "
" I don't know him," said the fisherman.
" Well, then, he is all you will have in place of
your son," said the Gruagach.
The old man looked again, and knew his son.
He caught hold of him and welcomed him home.
" Now," said the Gruagach, " is n't he a better
man than he was a year ago ? "
" Oh, he 's nearly a smart man now ! " said the
old fisherman.
" Well," said the Gruagach, " will you let him
with me for another year and a day?"
142 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
"I will not," said the old man; "I want him
myself."
The Gruagach then begged and craved till the
fisherman promised to let the son with him for a
year and a day again. But the old man forgot to
take his word of the Gruagach to bring back the
son at the end of the time ; and when the Gruagach
and the boy were in the boat, and had pushed
out to sea, the Gruagach shouted to the old man :
" I kept my promise to bring back your son to-
day. I have n't given you my word at all now.
I '11 not bring him back, and you '11 never see him
again."
The fisherman went home with a heavy and
sorrowful heart, and the old woman scolded him
all that night till next morning for letting her son
go with the Gruagach a second time.
Then himself and the old woman were lament-
ing a quarter of a year ; and when another quarter
had passed, he said to her: " I '11 leave you here
now, and I '11 be walking on myself till I wear my
legs off up to my knees, and from my knees to
my waist, till I find where is my son."
So away went the old man walking, and he used
to spend but one night in a house, and not two
nights in any house, till his feet were all in blisters.
One evening late he came to a hut where there
was an old woman sitting at a fire.
The Fisherman s Son and the Gruagach. 143
" Poor man ! " said she, when she laid eyes on
him, " it 's a great distress you are in, to be so
disfigured with wounds and sores. What is the
trouble that 's on you ? "
" I had a son," said the old man, " and the Grua-
gach na g-cleasan came on a day and took him
from me."
" Oh, poor man ! " said she. " I have a son with
that same Gruagach. these twelve years, and I have
never been able to get him back or get sight of
him, and I 'm in dread you '11 not be able to get
your son either. But to-morrow, in the morning,
I '11 tell you all I know, and show you the road
you must go to find the house of the Gruagach
na g-cleasan."
Next morning she showed the old fisherman the
road. He was to come to the place by evening.
When he came and entered the house, the
Gruagach shook hands with him, and said : " You
are welcome, old fisherman. It was I that put
this journey on you, and made you come here
looking for your son."
" It was no one else but you," said the fisherman.
" Well," said the Gruagach, " you won't see
your son to-day. At noon to-morrow I '11 put a
whistle in my mouth and call together all the birds
in my place, and they '11 come. Among others
will be twelve doves. I '11 put my hand in my
1 44 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
pocket, this way, and take out wheat and throw it
before them on the ground. The doves will eat
the wheat, and you must pick your son out of the
twelve. If you find him, you '11 have him ; if you
don't, you '11 never get him again."
After the Gruagach had said these words the
old man ate his supper and went to bed.
In the dead of night the old fisherman's son
came. " Oh, father ! " said h^ " it would be hard
for you to pick me out among the twelve doves,
if you had to do it alone; but I'll tell you.
When the Gruagach calls us in, and we go to
pick up the wheat, I '11 make a ring around the
others, walking for myself; and as I go I '11 give
some of them a tip of my bill, and I '11 lift my
wings when I 'm striking them. There was a spot
under one of my arms when I left home, and
you '11 see that spot under my wing when I raise
it to-morrow. Don't miss the bird that I '11 be,
and don't let your eyes off it ; if you do, you '11
lose me forever."
Next morning the old man rose, had his break-
fast, and kept thinking of what his son had told
him.
At midday the Gruagach took his whistle and
blew. Birds came to him from every part, and
among others the twelve doves.
He took wheat from his pocket, threw it to the
The Fisherman s Son and the Gruagach. 145
doves, and said to the father : " Now pick out your
son from the twelve."
The old man was watching, and soon he saw
one of the doves walking around the other eleven
and hitting some of them a clip of its bill, and
then it raised its wings, and the old man saw the
spot. The bird let its wings down again, and went
to eating with the rest.
The father never let his eyes off the bird. After
a while he said to the Gruagach : " I '11 have that
bird there for my son."
" Well," said the Gruagach, " that is your son.
I can't blame you for having him; but I blame
your instructor for the information he gave you,
and I give him my curse."
So the old fisherman got his son back in his
proper shape, and away they went, father and son,
from the house of the Gruagach. The old man
felt stronger now, and they never stopped travel-
ling a day till they came home.
The old mother was very glad to see her son,
and see him such a wise, smart man.
After coming home they had no means but the
fishing ; they were as poor as ever before.
At this time it was given out at every cross-
road in Erin, and in all public places in the king-
dom, that there were to be great horse-races. Now,
when the day came, the old fisherman's son said :
10
146 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
" Come away with me, father, to the races."
The old man went with him, and when they
were near the race-course, the son said : " Stop
here till I tell you this : I '11 make myself into the
best horse that 's here to-day, and do you take me
to the place where the races are to be, and when
you take me in, I '11 open my mouth, trying to kill
and eat every man that '11 be near me, I '11 have
such life and swiftness; and do you find a rider
for me that '11 ride me, and don't let me go till the
other horses are far ahead on the course. Then
let me go. I '11 come up to them, and I '11 run
ahead of them and win the race. After that every
rich man there will want to buy me of you ; but
don't you sell me to any man for less than five
hundred pounds ; and be sure you get that price
for me. And when you have the gold, and you
are giving me up, take the bit out of my mouth,
and don't sell the bridle for any money. Then
come to this spot, shake the bridle, and I '11 be
here in my own form before you."
The son made himself a horse, and the old
fisherman took him to the race. He reared and
snorted, trying to take the head off every man that
came near him.
The old man shouted for a rider. A rider
came; he mounted the horse and held him in.
The old man did n't let him start till the other
The Fisherman s Son and the Gruagach. 147
horses were well ahead on the course ; then he let
him go.
The new horse caught up with the others and
shot past them. So they had not gone half way
when he was in at the winning-post.
When the race was ended, there was a great noise
over the strange horse. Men crowded around the
old fisherman from every corner of the field, ask-
ing what would he take for the horse.
" Five hundred pounds," said he.
" Here 'tis for you," said the next man to him.
In a moment the horse was sold, and the money
in the old man's pocket. Then he pulled the
bridle off the horse's head, and made his way out
of the place as fast as ever he could.
It was not long till he was at the spot where the
son had told him what to do. The minute he
came, he shook the bridle, and the son was there
before him in his own shape and features.
Oh, but the old fisherman was glad when he
had his son with him again, and the money in his
pocket !
The two went home together. They had money
enough now to live, and quit the fishing. They
had plenty to eat and drink, and they spent their
lives in ease and comfort till the next year, when
it was given out at all the cross-roads in Erin, and
every public place in the kingdom, that there was
1 48 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
to be a great hunting with hounds, in the same
place where the races had been the year before.
When the day came, the fisherman's son said:
" Come, father, let us go away to this hunting."
" Ah ! " said the old man, " what do we want to
go for? Have n't we plenty to eat at home, with
money enough and to spare? What do we care
for hunting with hounds?"
" Oh ! they '11 give us more money," said the
son, " if we go."
The fisherman listened to his son, and away they
went. When the two came to the spot where the
son had made a horse of himself the year before,
he stopped, and said to the father: " I '11 make a
hound of myself to-day, and when you bring me
in sight of the game, you '11 see me wild with
jumping and trying to get away; but do you
hold me fast till the right time comes, then let go.
I '11 sweep ahead of every hound in the field, catch
the game, and win the prize for you.
" When the hunt is over, so many men will come
to buy me that they '11 put you in a maze ; but be
sure you get three hundred pounds for me, and
when you have the money, and are giving me
up, don't forget to keep my rope. Come to this
place, shake the rope, and I '11 be here before you,
as I am now. If you don't keep the rope, you '11
go home without me."
The Fisherman s Son and the Gruagach. 149
The son made a hound of himself, and the old
father took him to the hunting-ground.
When the hunt began, the hound was springing
and jumping like mad; but the father held him
till the others were far out in the field. Then he
let him loose, and away went the son.
Soon he was up with the pack, then in front of
the pack, and never stopped till he caught the
game and won the prize.
When the hunt was over, and the dogs and
game brought in, all the people crowded around
the old fisherman, saying: " What do you want of
that hound? Better sell him; he's no good to
you."
They put the old man in a maze, there were so
many of them, and they pressed him so hard.
He said at last: " I '11 sell the hound; and three
hundred pounds is the price I want for him."
" Here 't is for you," said a stranger, putting the
money into his hand.
The old man took the money and gave up the
dog, without taking off the rope. He forgot his
son's warning.
That minute the Gruagach na g-cleasan called
out: "I'll take the worth of my money out of
your son now; " and away he went with the
hound.
The old man walked home alone that night, and
1 50 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
it is a heavy heart he had in him when he came to
the old woman without the son. And the two
were lamenting their lot till morning.
Still and all, they were better off than the first
time they lost their son, as they had plenty of
everything, and could live at their ease.
The Gruagach went away home, and put the
fisherman's son in a cave of concealment that he
had, bound him hand and foot, and tied hard
knots on his neck up to the chin. From above
there fell on him drops of poison, and every drop
that fell went from the skin to the flesh, from
the flesh to the bone, from the bone to the mar-
row, and he sat there under the poison drops, with-
out meat, drink, or rest.
In the Gruagach's house was a servant-maid,
and the fisherman's son had been kind to her the
time he was in the place before.
On a day when the Gruagach and his eleven
sons were out hunting, the maid was going with a
tub of dirty water to throw it into the river that
ran by the side of the house. She went through
the cave of concealment where the fisherman's son
was bound, and he asked of her the wetting of his
mouth from the tub.
" Oh ! the Gruagach would take the life of me,"
said she, " when he comes home, if I gave you as
much as one drop."
The Fisherman s Son and the Gruagach. 151
" Well," said he, " when I was in this house be-
fore, and when I had power in my hands, it 's good
and kind I was to you ; and when I get out of this
confinement I '11 do you a turn, if you give me the
wetting of my mouth now."
The maid put the tub near his lips.
"Oh ! I can't stoop to drink unless you untie one
knot from my throat," said he.
Then she put the tub down, stooped to him,
and loosed one knot from his throat. When she
loosed the one knot he made an eel of himself,
and dropped into the tub. There he began shak-
ing the water, till he put some of it on the ground,
and when he had the place about him wet, he
sprang from the tub, and slipped along out under
the door. The maid caught him; but could not
hold him, he was so slippery. He made his way
from the door to the river, which ran near the side
of the house.
When the Gruagach na g-cleasan came home
in the evening with his eleven sons, they went to
take a look at the fisherman's son ; but he was not
to be seen.
Then the Gruagach called the maid, and taking
his sword, said : " I '11 take the head off you if you
don't tell me this minute what happened while I
was gone."
" Oh ! " said the maid, " he begged so hard for
152 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
a drop of dirty water to wet his mouth that I
had n't the heart to refuse, for 't is good he was to
me and kind each time he saw me when he was
here in the house before. When the water touched
his mouth, he made an eel of himself, spilled water
out of the tub, and slipped along over the wet
place to the river outside. I caught him to bring
him back, but I could n't hold him ; in spite of all
I could do, he made away."
The Gruagach dropped his sword, and went to
the water side with his sons.
The sons made eleven eels of themselves, and
the Gruagach their father was the twelfth. They
went around in the water, searching in every place,
and there was not a stone in the river that they
passed without looking under and around it for
the old fisherman's son.
And when he knew that they were after him,
he made himself into a salmon; and when they
knew he was a salmon, the sons made eleven otters
of themselves, and the Gruagach made himself the
twelfth.
When the fisherman's son found that twelve otters
were after him, he was weak with hunger, and when
they had come near, he made himself a whale. But
the eleven brothers and their father made twelve
cannon whales of themselves, for they had all gone
out of the river, and were in the sea now.
The Fisherman s Son and the Gruagach. 153
When they were coming near him, the fisher-
man's son was weak from pursuit and hunger, so
he jumped up out of the water, and made a swal-
low of himself; but the Gruagach and his sons
became twelve hawks, and chased the swallow
through the air; and as they whirled round and
darted, they pressed him hard, till all of them came
near the castle of the king of Erin.
Now the king had made a summer-house for his
daughter; and where should she be at this time
but sitting on the top of the summer-house.
The old fisherman's son dropped down till he
was near her ; then he fell into her lap in the form
of a ring. The daughter of the king of Erin
took up the ring, looked at it, and put it on her
finger. The ring took her fancy, and she was
glad.
When the Gruagach and his sons saw this, they
let themselves down at the king's castle, having
the form of the finest men that could be seen in
the kingdom.
When the king's daughter had the ring on her
finger she looked at it and liked it. Then the
ring spoke, and said : " My life is in your hands
now ; don't part from the ring, and don't let it go
to any man, and you '11 give me a long life."
The Gruagach na g-cleasan and his eleven sons
went into the king's castle and played on every
154 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
instrument known to man, and they showed every
sport that could be shown before a king. This
they did for three days and three nights. When
that time was over, and they were going away, the
king spoke up and asked:
" What is the reward that you would like, and
what would be pleasing to you from me?"
" We want neither gold nor silver," said the
Gruagach ; " all the reward we ask of you is the
ring that I lost on a time, and which is now on
your daughter's finger."
" If my daughter has the ring that you lost, it
shall be given to you," said the king.
Now the ring spoke to the king's daughter and
said : " Don't part with me for anything till you
send your trusted man for three gallons of strong
spirits and a gallon of wheat; put the spirits and
the wheat together in an open barrel before the
fire. When your father says you must give up
the ring, do you answer back that you have never
left the summer-house, that you have nothing on
your hand but what is your own and paid for.
Your father will say then that you must part with
me, and give me up to the stranger. When he
forces you in this way, and you can keep me no
longer, then throw me into the fire ; and you '11 see
great sport and strange things."
The king's daughter sent for the spirits and the
The Fisherman s Son and the Gruagach. 155
wheat, had them mixed together, and put in an
open barrel before the fire.
The king called the daughter in, and asked :
" Have you the ring which this stranger lost?"
" I have a ring," said she, " but it 's my own,
and I '11 not part with it. I '11 not give it to him
nor to any man."
" You must," said the king, " for my word is
pledged, and you must part with the ring ! "
When she heard this, she slipped the ring from
her finger and threw it into the fire.
That moment the eleven brothers made eleven
pairs of tongs of themselves ; their father, the old
Gruagach, was the twelfth pair.
The twelve jumped into the fire to know in what
spark of it would they find the old fisherman's son ;
and they were a long time working and searching
through the fire, when out flew a spark, and into
the barrel.
The twelve made themselves men, turned over
the barrel, and spilled the wheat on the floor.
Then in a twinkling they were twelve cocks strut-
ting around.
They fell to and picked away at the wheat to
know which one would find the fisherman's son.
Soon one dropped on one side, and a second on
the opposite side, until all twelve were lying drunk
from the wheat.
156 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
Then the old fisherman's son made a fox of
himself, and the first cock he came to was the old
Gruagach na g-cleasan himself. He took the head
off the Gruagach with one bite, and the heads off
the eleven brothers with eleven other bites.
When the twelve were dead, the old fisherman's
son made himself the finest-looking man in Erin,
and began to give music and sport to the king;
and he entertained him five times better than had
the Gruagach and his eleven sons.
Then the king's daughter fell in love with him,
and she set her mind on him to that degree that
there was no life for her without him.
When the king saw the straits that his daughter
was in, he ordered the marriage without delay.
The wedding lasted for nine days and nine
nights, and the ninth night was the best of all.
When the wedding was over, the king felt he
was losing his strength, so he took the crown off
his own head, and put it on the head of the old
fisherman's son, and made him king of Erin in
place of himself.
The young couple were the luck, and we the
stepping-stones. The presents we got at the mar-
riage were stockings of buttermilk and shoes of
paper, and these were worn to the soles of our
feet when we got home from the wedding.
THE THIRTEENTH SON OF THE KING
OF ERIN.
'T^HERE was a king in Erin long ago who had
* thirteen sons, and as they grew up he taught
them good learning and every exercise and art
befitting their rank.
One day the king went hunting, and saw a swan
swimming in a lake with thirteen little ones. She
kept driving away the thirteenth, and would not let
it come near the others.
The king wondered greatly at this, and when he
came home he summoned his Sean dall Glic (old
blind sage), and said: "I saw a great wonder
to-day while out hunting, a swan with thirteen
cygnets, and she driving away the thirteenth con-
tinually, and keeping the twelve with her. Tell
me the cause and reason of this. Why should a
mother hate her thirteenth little one, and guard
the other twelve?"
" I will tell you," said the old blind sage : " all
creatures on earth, whether beast or human, which
have thirteen young, should put the thirteenth
away, and let it wander for itself through the
158 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
world and find its fate, so that the will of Heaven
may work upon it, and not come down on the
others. Now you have thirteen sons, and you
must give the thirteenth to the Diachbha." 1
" Then that is the meaning of the swan on the
lake, I must give up my thirteenth son to the
Diachbha? "
" It is," said the old blind sage ; " you must give
up one of your thirteen sons."
" But how can I give one of them away when I
am so fond of all; and which one shall it be? "
" I '11 tell you what to do. When the thirteen
come home to-night, shut the door against the
last that comes."
Now one of the sons was slow, not so keen nor
so sharp as another; but the eldest, who was
called Sean Ruadh, was the best, the hero of them
all. And it happened that night that he came
home last, and when he came his father shut the
door against him. The boy raised his hands and
said : " Father, what are you going to do with
me; what do you wish?"
" It is my duty," said the father, " to give one
of my sons to the Diachbha ; and as you are the
thirteenth, you must go."
"Well, give me my outfit for the road."
The outfit was brought, Sean Ruadh put it on ;
1 Diachbha, " divinity," " fate."
Thirteenth Son of the King of Erin. 1 59
then the father gave him a black-haired steed that
could overtake the wind before him, and outstrip
the wind behind.
Sean Ruadh mounted the steed and hurried
away. He went on each day without rest, and
slept in the woods at night.
One morning he put on some old clothes which
he had in a pack on the saddle, and leaving his
horse in the woods, went aside to an opening.
He was not long there when a king rode up and
stopped before him.
" Who are you, and where are you going? "
asked the king.
" Oh ! " said Sean Ruadh, " I am astray. I do
not know where to go, nor what I am to do."
" If that is how you are, I'll tell you what to
do, come with me."
" Why should I go with you ? " asked Sean
Ruadh.
" Well, I have a great many cows, and I have
no one to go with them, no one to mind them. I
am in great trouble also. My daughter will die a
terrible death very soon."
" How will she die? " asked Sean Ruadh.
" There is an urfeist, 1 a great serpent of the sea,
a monster which must get a king's daughter to
devour every seven years. Once in seven years
1 Urfeist, "great serpent."
1 60 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
this thing comes up out of the sea for its meat.
The turn has now come to my daughter, and we
don't know what day will the urfeist appear. The
whole castle and all of us are in mourning for my
wretched child."
" Perhaps some one will come to save her," said
Sean Ruadh.
" Oh ! there is a whole army of kings' sons who
have come, and they all promise to save her; but
I 'm in dread none of them will meet the urfeist."
Sean Ruadh agreed with the king to serve for
seven years, and went home with him.
Next morning Sean Ruadh drove out the king's
cows to pasture.
Now there were three giants not far from the
king's place. They lived in three castles in sight
of each other, and every night each of these giants
shouted just before going to bed. So loud was
the shout that each let out of himself that the
people heard it in all the country around.
Sean Ruadh drove the cattle up to the giant's
land, pushed down the wall, and let them in. The
grass was very high, three times better than any
on the king's pastures.
As Sean Ruadh sat watching the cattle, a giant
came running towards him and called out: "I
don't know whether to put a pinch of you in my
nose, or a bite of you in my mouth ! "
Thirteenth Son of the King of Erin. \ 6 1
" Bad luck to me," said Sean Ruadh, " if I
came here but to take the life out of you ! "
" How would you like to fight, on the gray
stones, or with sharp swords? " asked the giant.
" I '11 fight you," said Sean Ruadh, " on the gray
stones, where your great legs will be going down,
and mine standing high."
They faced one another then, and began to fight.
At the first encounter Sean Ruadh put the giant
down to his knees among the hard gray stones,
at the second he put him to his waist, and at the
third to his shoulders.
" Come, take me out of this," cried the giant,
" and I '11 give you my castle and all I Ve got.
I '11 give you my sword of light that never fails to
kill at a blow. I '11 give you my black horse that
can overtake the wind before, and outstrip the
wind behind. These are all up there in my
castle."
Sean Ruadh killed the giant and went up to
the castle, where the housekeeper said to him :
" Oh ! it is you that are welcome. You have
killed the dirty giant that was here. Come with
me now till I show you all the riches and
treasures."
She opened the door of the giant's store-room
and said : " All these are yours. Here are the
keys of the castle."
ii
1 62 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
" Keep them till I come again, and wake me in
the evening," said Sean Ruadh, lying down on the
giant's bed.
He slept till evening; then the housekeeper
roused him, and he drove the king's cattle home.
The cows never gave so much milk as that night.
They gave as much as in a whole week before.
Sean Ruadh met the king, and asked : " What
news from your daughter?"
" The great serpent did not come to-day," said
the king; "but he may come to-morrow."
" Well, to-morrow he may not come till another
day," said Sean Ruadh.
Now the king knew nothing of the strength of
Sean Ruadh, who was bare-footed, ragged, and
shabby.
The second morning Sean Ruadh put the king's
cows in the second giant's land. Out came the
second giant with the same questions and threats
as the first, and the cowboy spoke as on the day
before.
They fell to fighting; and when the giant was
to his shoulders in the hard gray rocks, he said :
" I '11 give you my sword of light and my brown-
haired horse if you '11 spare my life."
" Where is your sword of light? " asked Sean
Ruadh.
" It is hung up over my bed."
Thirteenth Soil of the King of Erin. 163
Sean Ruadh ran to the giant's castle, and took
the sword, which screamed out when he seized it ;
but he held it fast, hurried back to the giant, and
asked, " How shall I try the edge of this sword? "
" Against a stick," was the reply.
" I see no stick better than your own head," said
Sean Ruadh ; and with that he swept the head off
the giant.
The cowboy now went back to the castle and
hung up the sword. " Blessing to you," said the
housekeeper ; " you have killed the giant ! Come,
now, and I '11 show you his riches and treasures,
which are yours forever."
Sean Ruadh found more treasure in this castle
than in the first one. When he had seen all, he
gave the keys to the housekeeper till he should
need them. He slept as on the day before, then
drove the cows home in the evening.
The king said : "I have the luck since you came
to me. My cows give three times as much milk
to-day as they did yesterday."
" Well," said Sean Ruadh, " have you any ac-
count of the urfeist?"
" He didn't come to-day," said the king; " but
he may come to-morrow."
Sean Ruadh went out with the king's cows on
the third day, and drove them to the third giant's
land, who came out and fought a more desperate
1 64 Myths and Folk-L ore of Ireland.
battle than either of the other two ; but the cow-
boy pushed him down among the gray rocks to
his shoulders and killed him.
At the castle of the third giant he was received
with gladness by the housekeeper, who showed
him the treasures and gave him the keys ; but he
left the keys with her till he should need them.
That evening the king's cows had more milk than
ever before.
On the fourth day Sean Ruadh went out with
the cows, but stopped at the first giant's castle.
The housekeeper at his command brought out the
dress of the giant, which was all black. He put
on the giant's apparel, black as night, and girded
on his sword of light. Then he mounted the black-
haired steed, which overtook the wind before, and
outstripped the wind behind ; and rushing on be-
tween earth and sky, he never stopped till he came
to the beach, where he saw hundreds upon hun-
dreds of kings' sons, and champions, who were
anxious to save the king's daughter, but were so
frightened at the terrible urfeist that they would
not go near her.
When he had seen the princess and the tremb-
ling champions, Sean Ruadh turned his black
steed to the castle. Presently the king saw, riding
between earth and sky, a splendid stranger, who
stopped before him.
Thirteenth Son of tJte King of Erin. 165
" What is that I see on the shore ? " asked the
stranger. " Is it a fair, or some great meeting?"
" Have n't you heard," asked the king, " that
a monster is coming to destroy my daughter
to-day? "
" No, I have n't heard anything," answered the
stranger, who turned away and disappeared.
Soon the black horseman was before the prin-
cess, who was sitting alone on a rock near the sea.
As she looked at the stranger, she thought he
was the finest man on earth, and her heart was
cheered.
" Have you no one to save you? " he asked.
" No one."
" Will you let me lay my head on your lap till
the urfeist comes? Then rouse me."
He put his head on her lap and fell asleep.
While he slept, the princess took three hairs from
his head and hid them in her bosom. As soon
as she had hidden the hairs, she saw the urfeist
coming on the sea, great as an island, and throwing
up water to the sky as he moved. She roused the
stranger, who sprang up to defend her.
The urfeist came upon shore, and was advan-
cing on the princess with mouth open and wide
as a bridge, when the stranger stood before him
and said : " This woman is mine, not yours ! "
Then drawing his sword of light, he swept off
1 66 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
the monster's head with a blow; but the head
rushed back to its place, and grew on again.
In a twinkle the urfeist turned and went back
to the sea; but as he went, he said: "I'll be
here again to-morrow, and swallow the whole world
before me as I come."
" Well," answered the stranger, " maybe another
will come to meet you."
Sean Ruadh mounted his black steed, and was
gone before the princess could stop him. Sad
was her heart when she saw him rush off between
the earth and sky more swiftly than any wind.
Sean Ruadh went to the first giant's castle and
put away his horse, clothes, and sword. Then he
slept on the giant's bed till evening, when the
housekeeper woke him, and he drove home the
cows. Meeting the king, he asked: " Well, how
has your daughter fared to-day? "
" Oh ! the urfeist came out of the sea to carry
her away; but a wonderful black champion came
riding between earth and sky and saved her."
"Who was he?"
" Oh ! there is many a man who says he did it.
But my daughter is n't saved yet, for the urfeist
said he'd come to-morrow."
"Well, never fear; perhaps another champion
will come to-morrow."
Next morning Sean Ruadh drove the king's
Thirteenth Son of the King of Erin. 167
cows to the land of the second giant, where he
left them feeding, and then went to the castle,
where the housekeeper met him and said : " You
are welcome. I 'm here before you, and all is
well."
" Let the brown horse be brought; let the giant's
apparel and sword be ready for me," said Sean
Ruadh.
The apparel was brought, the beautiful blue
dress of the second giant, and his swctJ of light.
Sean Ruadh put on the apparel, took the sword,
mounted the brown steed, and sped away between
earth and air three times more swiftly than the
day before.
He rode first to the seashore, saw the king's
daughter sitting on the rock alone, and the princes
and champions far away, trembling in dread of the
urfeist. Then he rode to the king, enquired about
the crowd on the seashore, and received the same
answer as before. " But is there no man to save
her?" asked Sean Ruadh.
" Oh ! there are men enough," said the king,
" who promise to save her, and say they are brave ;
but there is no man of them who will stand to his
word and face the urfeist when he rises from
the sea."
Sean Ruadh was away before the king knew it,
and rode to the princess in his suit of blue, bearing
1 68 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
his sword of light. " Is there no one to save
you ? " asked he.
" No one."
" Let me lay my head on your lap, and when
the urfeist comes, rouse me."
He put his head on her lap, and while he slept
she took out the three hairs, compared them with
his hair, and said to herself: " You are the man
who was here yesterday."
When the urfeist appeared, coming over the sea,
the princess roused the stranger, who sprang up
and hurried to the beach.
The monster, moving at a greater speed, and
raising more water than on the day before, came
with open mouth to land. Again Sean Ruadh stood
in his way, and with one blow of the giant's sword
made two halves of the urfeist. But the two
halves rushed together, and were one as before.
Then the urfeist turned to the sea again, and
said as he went : " All the champions on earth
won't save her from me to-morrow ! "
Sean Ruadh sprang to his steed and back to the
castle. He went, leaving the princess in despair at
his going. She tore her hair and wept for the loss
of the blue champion, the one man who had
dared to save her.
Sean Ruadh put on his old clothes, and drove
home the cows as usual. The king said : " A
Thirteenth Son of the King of Erin. 169
strange champion, all dressed in blue, saved my
daughter to-day; but she is grieving her life away
because he is gone."
"Well, that is a small matter, since her life is
safe," said Sean Ruadh.
There was a feast for the whole world that night
at the king's castle, and gladness was on every face
that the king's daughter was safe again.
Next day Sean Ruadh drove the cows to the
third giant's pasture, went to the castle, and told
the housekeeper to bring the giant's sword and
apparel, and have the red steed led to the door.
The third giant's dress had as many colors as there
are in the sky, and his boots were of blue glass.
Sean Ruadh, dressed and mounted on his red
steed, was the most beautiful man in the world.
When ready to start, the housekeeper said to him :
" The beast will be so enraged this time that no
arms can stop him; he will rise from the sea
with three great swords coming out of his mouth,
and he could cut to pieces and swallow the whole
world if it stood before him in battle. There is
only one way to conquer the urfeist, and I will
show it to you. Take this brown apple, put it in
your bosom, and when he comes rushing from the
sea with open mouth, do you throw the apple
down his throat, and the great urfeist will melt
away and die on the strand."
1 70 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
Sean Ruadh went on the red steed between
earth and sky, with thrice the speed of the day
before. He saw the maiden sitting on the rock
alone, saw the trembling kings' sons in the dis-
tance watching to know what would happen, and
saw the king hoping for some one to save his
daughter; then he went to the princess, and put
his head on her lap ; when he had fallen asleep,
she took the three hairs from her bosom, and look-
ing at them, said : " You are the man who saved
me yesterday."
The urfeist was not long in coming. The prin-
cess roused Sean Ruadh, who sprang to his feet
and went to the sea. The urfeist came up enor-
mous, terrible to look at, with a mouth big enough
to swallow the world, and three sharp swords com-
ing out of it. When he saw Sean Ruadh, he
sprang at him with a roar ; but Sean Ruadh threw
the apple into his mouth, and the beast fell help-
less on the strand, flattened out and melted away
to a dirty jelly on the shore.
Then Sean Ruadh went towards the princess and
said : " That urfeist will never trouble man or
woman again."
The princess ran and tried to cling to him ; but
he was on the red steed, rushing away between
earth and sky, before she could stop him. She
held, however, so firmly to one of the blue glass
Thirteenth Son of the King of Erin. 1 7 1
boots that Sean Ruadh had to leave it in her
hands.
When he drove home the cows that night, the
king came out, and Sean Ruadh asked : " What
news from the urfeist?"
" Oh ! " said the king, " I 've had the luck since
you came to me. A champion wearing all the
colors of the sky, and riding a red steed between
earth and air, destroyed the urfeist to-day. My
daughter is safe forever ; but she is ready to kill her-
self because she has n't the man that saved her."
That night there was a feast in the king's
castle such as no one had ever seen before. The
halls were filled with princes and champions, and
each one said : " I am the man that saved the
princess ! "
The king sent for the old blind sage, and asked,
what should he do to find the man who saved his
daughter. The old blind sage said,
" Send out word to all the world that the man
whose foot the blue glass boot will fit is the cham-
pion who killed the urfeist, and you '11 give him
your daughter in marriage."
The king sent out word to the world to come
to try on the boot. It was too large for some, too
small for others. When all had failed, the old
sage said,
" All have tried the boot but the cowboy."
172 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
" Oh ! he is always out with the cows ; what use
in his trying," said the king.
" No matter," answered the old blind sage ; " let
twenty men go and bring down the cowboy."
The king sent up twenty men, who found the
cowboy sleeping in the shadow of a stone wall.
They began to make a hay rope to bind him ; but
he woke up, and had twenty ropes ready before
they had one. Then he jumped at them, tied the
twenty in a bundle, and fastened the bundle to
the wall.
They waited and waited at the castle for the
twenty men and the cowboy, till at last the king
sent twenty men more, with swords, to know what
was the delay.
When they came, this twenty began to make a
hay rope to tie the cowboy; but he had twenty
ropes made before their one, and no matter how
they fought, the cowboy tied the twenty in a
bundle, and the bundle to the other twenty men.
When neither party came back, the old blind
sage said to the king : " Go up now, and throw
yourself down before the cowboy, for he has tied
the forty men in two bundles, and the bundles to
each other."
The king went and threw himself down before
the cowboy, who raised him up and said : " What
is this for? "
Thirteenth Son of the King of Erin. 173
" Come down now and try on the glass boot,"
said the king.
" How can I go, when I have work to do here ? "
" Oh ! never mind ; you '11 come back soon
enough to do the work."
The cowboy untied the forty men and went
down with the king. When he stood in front of
the castle, he saw the princess sitting in her upper
chamber, and the glass boot on the window-sill
before her.
That moment the boot sprang from the window
through the air to him, and went on his foot of
itself. The princess was downstairs in a twinkle,
and in the arms of Sean Ruadh.
The whole place was crowded with kings' sons
and champions, who claimed that they had saved
the princess.
"What are these men here for?" asked Sean
Ruadh.
" Oh ! they have been trying to put on the boot,"
said the king.
With that Sean Ruadh drew his sword of light,
swept the heads off every man of them, and threw
heads and bodies on the dirt-heap behind the
castle.
Then the king sent ships with messengers to all
the kings and queens of the world, to the kings of
Spain, France, Greece, and Lochlin, and to Diar-
1 74 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
muid, son of the monarch of light, to come to
the wedding of his daughter and Sean Ruadh.
Sean Ruadh, after the wedding, went with his
wife to live in the kingdom of the giants, and left
his father-in-law on his own land.
KIL ARTHUR.
THERE was a time long ago, and if we had
lived then, we should n't be living now.
In that time there was a law in the world that
if a young man came to woo a young woman, and
her people would n't give her to him, the young
woman should get her death by the law.
There was a king in Erin at that time who had
a daughter, and he had a son too, who was called
Kil Arthur, son of the monarch of Erin.
Now, not far from the castle of the king there
was a tinker ; and one morning he said to his
mother : " Put down my breakfast for me, mother."
" Where are you going? " asked the mother.
" I 'm going for a wife."
"Where?"
" I am going for the daughter of the king of
Erin."
" Oh ! my son, bad luck is upon you. It is
death to ask for the king's daughter, and you a
tinker."
" I don't care for that," said he.
So the tinker went to the king's castle. They
1 76 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
were at dinner when he came, and the king trembled
as he saw him.
Though they were at table, the tinker went
into the room.
The king asked : " What did you come for at
this time?"
" I came to marry your daughter."
" That life and strength may leave me if ever
you get my daughter in marriage ! I 'd give her
to death before I would to a tinker."
Now Kil Arthur, the king's son, came in, caught
the tinker and hanged him, facing the front of the
castle. When he was dead, they made seven parts
of his body, and flung them into the sea.
Then the king had a box made so close and tight
that no water could enter, and inside the box they
fixed a coffin ; and when they had put a bed with
meat and drink into the coffin, they brought the
king's daughter, laid her on the bed, closed the box,
and pushed it into the open sea. The box went
out with the tide and moved on the water for a
long time ; where it was one day it was not the
next, carried along by the waves day and night,
till at last it came to another land.
Now, in the other land was a man who had
spent his time in going to sea, till at length he got
very poor, and said : " I '11 stay at home now, since
God has let me live this long. I heard my father
Kil Arthur. 177
say once that if a man would always rise early
and walk along the strand, he would get his
fortune from the tide at last."
One morning early, as this man was going along
the strand, he saw the box, and brought it up to
the shore, where he opened it and took out the
coffin. When the lid was off the coffin, he found
a woman inside alive.
" Oh ! " said he, " I 'd rather have you there than
the full of the box of gold."
" I think the gold would be better for you,"
said the woman.
He took the stranger to his house, and gave her
food and drink. Then he made a great cross on
the ground, and clasping hands with the woman,
jumped over the arms of the cross, going in the
same direction as the sun. This was the form of
marriage in that land.
They lived together pleasantly. She was a
fine woman, worked well for her husband, and
brought him great wealth, so that he became
richer than any man ; and one day, when out walk-
ing alone, he said to himself: " I am able to give
a grand dinner now to Ri Fohin, Sladaire Mor
[king under the wave, the great robber], who
owns men, women, and every kind of beast."
Then he went home and invited Ri Fohin to
dinner. He came with all the men, women, and
12
1 78 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
beasts he had, and they covered the country for
six miles.
The beasts were fed outside by themselves, but
the people in the house. When dinner was over,
he asked Ri Fohin : " Have you ever seen a house
so fine and rich, or a dinner so good, as mine
to-night?"
" I have not," said Ri Fohin.
Then the man went to each person present.
Each gave the same answer, and said, " I have
never seen such a house nor such a dinner."
He asked his wife, and she said : " My praise
is no praise here; but what is this to the house
and the feasting of my father, the king of
Erin?"
" Why did you say that? " asked the man, and
he went a second and a third time to the guests
and to his wife. All had the same answers for
him. Then he gave his wife a flip of the thumb
on her ear, in a friendly way, and said : " Why
don't you give good luck to my house; why do
you give it a bad name ? "
Then all the guests said : " It is a shame to
strike your wife on the night of a feast."
Now the man was angry and went out of his
house. It was growing dark, but he saw a cham-
pion coming on a black steed between earth and
air; and the champion, who was no other than Kil
Kil Arthur. 1 79
Arthur, his brother-in-law, took him up and bore
him away to the castle of the king of Erin.
When Kil Arthur arrived they were just sitting
down to dinner in the castle, and the man dined
with his father-in-law. After dinner the king of
Erin had cards brought and asked his son-in-law :
" Do you ever play with these?"
" No, I have never played with the like of
them."
" Well, shuffle them now," said the king. He
shuffled ; and as they were enchanted cards and
whoever held them could never lose a game he
was the best player in the world, though he had
never played a game before in his life.
The king said, " Put them in your pocket, they
may do you good." Then the king gave him a
fiddle, and asked :
" Have you ever played on the like of this? "
" Indeed I have not," said the man.
" Well, play on it now," said the king.
He played, and never in his life had he heard
such music.
" Keep it," said the king; " as long as you don't
let it from you, you 're the first musician on earth.
Now I '11 give you something else. Here is a cup
which will always give you every kind of drink
you can wish for ; and if all the men in the world
were to drink out of it they could never empty it.
1 80 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
Keep these three things ; but never raise hand on
your wife again."
The king of Erin gave him his blessing; then
Kil Arthur took him up on the steed, and going
between earth and sky he was soon back at his
own home.
Now Ri Fohin had carried off the man's wife
and all that he had while he was at dinner with
the King of Erin. Going out on the road the
king's son-in-law began to cry: "Oh, what shaU
I do ; what shall I do ! " and as he cried, who
should come but Kil Arthur on his steed, who
said, " Be quiet, I '11 go for your wife and goods."
Kil Arthur went, and killed Ri Fohin and all his
people and beasts, did n't leave one alive. Then
he brought back his sister to her husband, and
stayed with them for three years.
One day he said to his sister : " I am going to
leave you. I don't know what strength I have ; I '11
walk the world now till I know is there a man in
it as good as myself."
Next morning he bade good-bye to his sister,
and rode away on his black-haired steed, which
overtook the wind before and outstripped the
wind behind. He travelled swiftly till evening,
spent the night in a forest, and the second day
hurried on as he had the first.
The second night he spent in a forest ; and next
Kit Arthur. 181
morning as he rose from the ground he saw before
him a man covered with blood from righting, and
the clothes nearly torn from his body.
"What have you been doing?" asked Kil
Arthur.
" I have been playing cards all night. And
where are you going?" inquired the stranger of
Kil Arthur.
" I am going around the world to know can I
find a man as good as myself."
" Come with me," said the stranger, " and I '11
show you a man who could n't find his match till
he went to fight the main ocean."
Kil Arthur went with the ragged stranger till
they came to a place from which they saw a giant
out on the ocean beating the waves with a club.
Kil Arthur went up to the giant's castle, and
struck the pole of combat such a blow that the
giant in the ocean heard it above the noise of his
club as he pounded the waves.
"What do you want?" asked the giant in the
ocean, as he stopped from the pounding.
" I want you to come in here to land," said Kil
Arthur, " and fight with a better man than yourself."
The giant came to land, and standing near his
castle said to Kil Arthur : " Which would you
rather fight with, gray stones or sharp weap-
ons?"
1 82 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
" Gray stones," said Kil Arthur.
They went at each other, and fought the most
terrible battle that either of them had ever seen
till that day. At last Kil Arthur pushed the giant
to his shoulders through solid earth.
" Take me out of this," cried the giant, " and I '11
give you my sword of light that never missed a
blow, my Druidic rod of most powerful enchant-
ment, and my healing draught which cures every
sickness and wound."
" Well," said Kil Arthur, " I '11 go for your sword
and try it."
He went to the giant's castle for the sword, the
rod, and the healing draught. When he returned the
giant said : " Try the sword on that tree out there."
" Oh," said Kil Arthur, " there is no tree so good
as your own neck," and with that he swept off the
head of the giant; took it, and went on his way
till he came to a house. He went in and put the
head on a table ; but that instant it disappeared,
went away of itself. Food and drink of every
kind came on the table. When Kil Arthur had
eaten and the table was cleared by some invisible
power, the giant's head bounded on to the table,
and with it a pack of cards.
" Perhaps this head wants to play with me,"
thought Kil Arthur, and he cut his own cards and
shuffled them.
Kil Arthur. 183
The head took up the cards and played with its
mouth as well as any man could with his hands.
It won all the time, was n't playing fairly. Then
Kil Arthur thought: "I'll settle this;" and he
took the cards and showed how the head had
taken five points in the game that did n't belong
to it. Then the head sprang at him, struck and
beat him till he seized and hurled it into the fire.
As soon as he had the head in the fire a beau-
tiful woman stood before him, and said : " You
have killed nine of my brothers, and this was the
best of the nine. I have eight more brothers who
go out to fight with four hundred men each day,
and they kill them all ; but next morning the four
hundred are alive again and my brothers have to
do battle anew. Now my mother and these eight
brothers will be here soon ; and they '11 go down on
their bended knees and curse you who killed my
nine brothers, and I 'm afraid your blood will rise
within you when you hear the curses, and you '11
kill my eight remaining brothers."
" Oh," said Kil Arthur, " I '11 be deaf when the
curses are spoken ; I '11 not hear them." Then he
went to a couch and lay down. Presently the
mother and eight brothers came, and cursed Kil
Arthur with all the curses they knew. He heard
them to the end, but gave no word from himself.
Next morning he rose early, girded on his nine-
1 84 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
edged sword, went forth to where the eight brothers
were going to fight the four hundred, and said to
the eight: "Sit down, and I'll fight in your
place."
Kil Arthur faced the four hundred, and fought
with them alone ; and exactly at mid-day he had
them all dead. " Now some one," said he, " brings
these to life again. I '11 lie down among them and
see who it is
Soon he saw an old hag coming with a brush in
her hand, and an open vessel hanging from her
neck by a string. When she came to the four
hundred she dipped the brush into the vessel and
sprinkled the liquid which was in it over the
bodies of the men. They rose up behind her as
she passed along.
" Bad luck to you," said Kil Arthur, " you are
the one that keeps them alive ; " then he seized
her. Putting one of his feet on her two ankles, and
grasping her by the head and shoulders, he twisted
her body till he put the life out of her.
When dying she said : " I put you under a
curse, to keep on this road till you come to the
' ram of the five rocks,' and tell him you have
killed the hag of the heights and all her care."
He went to the place where the ram of the five
rocks lived and struck the pole of combat before
his castle. Out came the ram, and they fought
Kit Arthur. 185
till Kil Arthur seized his enemy and dashed the
brains out of him against the rocks.
Then he went to the castle of the beautiful
woman whose nine brothers he had killed, and for
whose eight brothers he had slain the four hun-
dred. When he appeared the mother rejoiced;
the eight brothers blessed him and gave him their
sister in marriage ; and Kil Arthur took the beau-
tiful woman to his father's castle in Erin, where
they both lived happily and well.
SHAKING-HEAD.
THERE was once a king of a province in Erin
who had an only son. The king was very
careful of this son, and sent him to school for
good instruction.
The other three kings of provinces in Erin had
three sons at the same school ; and the three sent
word by this one to his father, that if he did n't
put his son to death they would put both father
and son to death themselves.
When the young man came home with this
word to his father and mother, they were grieved
when they heard it. But the king's son said that
he would go out into the world to seek his fortune,
and settle the trouble in that way. So away he
went, taking with him only five pounds in money
for his support.
The young man travelled on till he came to a
grave-yard, where he saw four men fighting over a
coffin. Then he went up to the four, and saw that
two of them were trying to put the coffin down
into a grave, and the other two preventing them
and keeping the coffin above ground. When the
Shaking-Head. 187
king's son came near the men, he asked : " Why
do you fight in such a place as this, and why do
you keep the coffin above ground?"
Two of the men answered, and said : " The
body of our brother is in this coffin, and these two
men won't let us bury it."
The other two then said : " We have a debt of
five pounds on the dead man, and we won't let his
body be buried till the debt is paid."
The king's son said : " Do you let these men
bury their brother, and I will pay what you ask."
Then the two let the brothers of the dead man
bury him. The king's son paid the five pounds,
and went away empty-handed, and, except the
clothes on his back, he had no more than on
the day he was born. After he had gone on
his way awhile and the grave-yard was out of
sight he turned and saw a sprightly red-haired
man (fear ruadk} hurrying after him. When he
came up, the stranger asked : " Don't you want a
serving man? "
" I do not," answered the king's son, " I have
nothing to support myself with, let alone a serving
man."
" Well, never mind that," said the red-haired
man ; " I'll be with you wherever you go, whether
you have anything or not."
" What is your name? " asked the king's son.
1 88 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
" Shaking-head," answered the red man.
When they had gone on a piece of the way to-
gether the king's son stopped and asked : " Where
shall we be to-night? "
" We shall be in a giant's castle where there will
be small welcome for us," said Shaking-head.
When evening came they found themselves in
front of a castle. In they went and saw no one
inside only a tall old hag. But they were not long
in the place till they heard a loud, rushing noise
outside, and a blow on the castle. The giant came ;
and the first words he let out of his mouth were :
" I 'm glad to have an Erinach on my supper-table
to eat to-night." Then turning to the two he
said: "What brought you here this evening;
what do you want in my castle?"
" All the champions and heroes of Erin are going
to take your property from you and destroy your-
self; we have come to warn you, and there is
nobody to save you from them but us," said
Shaking-head.
When the giant heard these words he changed
his treatment entirely. He gave the king's son
and Shaking-head a hearty welcome and a kindly
greeting. When he understood the news they
brought, he washed them with the tears of his
eyes, dried them with kisses, and gave them a
good supper and a soft bed that night.
Shaking-Head. 189
Next morning the giant was up at an early hour,
and he went to the bed-side of each man and told
him to rise and have breakfast. Shaking-head
asked his reward of the giant for telling him of
the champions of Erin and the danger he was in.
" Well," said the giant, " there 's a pot of gold
over there under my bed ; take as much out of it
as ever you wish, and welcome."
" It is n't gold I want for my service," said Shak-
ing-head ; " you have a gift which suits me better."
" What gift is that? " asked the giant.
" The light black steed in your stable."
" That 's a gift I won't give you," said the giant,
" for when any one comes to trouble or attack me,
all I have to do is to throw my leg over that steed,
and away he carries me out of sight of every
enemy."
" Well," said Shaking-head, " if you don't give
me that steed I '11 bring all the kingdom of Erin
against you, and you '11 be destroyed with all
you have."
The giant stopped a moment, and said : " I be-
lieve you 'd do that thing, so you may take the
steed." Then Shaking-head took the steed of the
giant, gave him to the king's son, and away they
went.
At sunset Shaking-head said : " We are near
the castle of another giant, the next brother to the
1 90 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
one who entertained us last night. He has n't
much welcome for us either; but he will treat us
well when he is threatened."
The second giant was going to eat the king's
son for supper, but when Shaking-head told him
about the forces of Erin he changed his manner
and entertained them well.
Next morning after breakfast, Shaking-head said :
" You must give me a present for my services in
warning you."
" There is a pot of gold under my bed," said the
giant; " take all you want of it."
" I don't want your gold," said Shaking-head,
" but you have a gift which suits me well."
" What is that? " asked the giant.
" The two-handed black sword that never fails r
blow."
" You won't get that gift from me," said the
giant; " and I can't spare it; for if a whole army
were to come against me, as soon as I 'd have my
two hands on the hilt of that sword, I 'd let no man
near me without sweeping the head off him."
"Well," said Shaking-head, " I have been keep-
ing back your enemies this long time ; but I '11 let
them at you now, and I '11 raise up more. I '11 put
the whole kingdom of Erin against you."
The giant stopped a moment, and said : " I be-
lieve you 'd do that if it served you." So he took
Shaking-Head. 191
the sword off his belt and handed it to his
guest. Shaking-head gave it to the king's
son, who mounted his steed, and they both went
away.
When they had gone some distance from the
giant's castle Shaking-head said to the king's
son, "Where shall we be to-night? you have
more knowledge than I."
" Indeed then I have not," said the king's son ;
" I have no knowledge at all of where we are go-
ing ; it is you who have the knowledge."
" Well," said Shaking-head, " we '11 be at the
third and youngest giant's castle to-night, and at first
he '11 treat us far worse and more harshly, but still
we '11 take this night's lodging of him, and a good
gift in the morning."
Soon after sunset they came to the castle
where they met the worst reception and the
harshest they had found on the road. The giant
was going to eat them both for supper ; but when
Shaking-head told him of the champions of Erin,
he became as kind as his two brothers, and gave
good entertainment to both.
Next morning after breakfast, Shaking-head
asked for a present in return for his services.
" Do you see the pot of gold in the corner
there under my bed? take all you want and
welcome," said the giant.
1 92 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
" It's not gold I want," said Shaking-head, " but
the cloak of darkness."
" Oh," said the giant, " you '11 not get that cloak
of me, for I want it myself. If any man were to
come against me, all I 'd have to do would be to
put that cloak on my shoulders, and no one in the
world could see me, or know where I 'd be."
" Well," said Shaking-head, " it 's long enough
that I am keeping your enemies away ; and if you
don't give me that cloak now I'll raise all the king-
dom of Erin and still more forces to destroy you,
and it 's not long you '11 last after they come."
The giant thought a moment, and then said : " I
believe you 'd do what you say. There 's the
black cloak hanging on the wall before you ;
take it."
Shaking-head took the cloak, and the two went
away together, the king's son riding on the light
black steed, and having the double-handed sword
at his back. When out of sight of the giant,
Shaking-head put on the cloak, and was n't to be
seen, and no other man could have been seen in
his place. Then the king's son looked around,
and began to call and search for his man, he
was lonely without him and grieved not to see
him. Shaking-head, glad to see the affection of
the king's son, took off the cloak and was at his
side again.
Shaking-Head. 193
" Where are we going now? " asked the king's son.
"We are going on a long journey to (Ri Chuil
an Or) King Behind the Gold, to ask his daughter
of him."
The two travelled on, till they came to the castle
of King Behind the Gold. Then Shaking-head
said : " Go in you, and ask his daughter of the
king, and I '11 stay here outside with the cloak on
me." So he went in and spoke to the king, and
the answer he got was this :
" I am willing to give you my daughter, but you
won't get her unless you do what she will ask of
you. And I must tell you now that three hundred
kings' sons, lacking one, have come to ask for my
daughter, and in the garden behind my castle are
three hundred iron spikes, and every spike of
them but one is covered with the head of a king's
son who could n't do what my daughter wanted of
him, and I 'm greatly in dread that your own head
will be put on the one spike that is left uncovered."
" Well," said the king's son, " I '11 do my best
to keep my head where it is at present."
" Stay here in my castle," said the king, " and
you '11 have good entertainment till we know can
you do what will be asked of you."
At night when the king's son was going to bed,
the princess gave him a thimble, and said : " Have
this for me in the morning."
13
1 94 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
He put the thimble on his finger; and she
thought it could be easily taken away, if he would
sleep. So she came to him in the night, with a
drink, and said : " I give you this in hopes I '11
gain more drink by you." He swallowed the
liquor, and the princess went away with the empty
cup. Then the king's son put the thimble in his
mouth between his cheek and his teeth for safe
keeping, and was soon asleep.
When the princess came to her own chamber,
she struck her maid with a slat an draoichta (a
rod of enchantment) and turned her into a rat;
then she made such music of fifes and trumpets to
sound throughout the castle, that every soul in it
fell asleep. That minute, she sent the rat to where
the king's son was sleeping, and the rat put her
tail into the nostrils of the young man, tickled his
nose so that he sneezed and blew the thimble out
of his mouth. The rat caught it and ran away to
the princess, who struck her with the rod of en-
chantment and turned her into a maid again.
Then the princess and the maid set out for
the eastern world, taking the thimble with them.
Shaking-head, who was watching with his cloak on,
unseen by all, had seen everything, and now
followed at their heels. In the eastern world, at
the sea-side was a rock. The princess tapped it
with her finger, and the rock opened ; there was
Shaking-Head. 195
a great house inside, and in the house a giant.
The princess greeted him and gave him the thim-
ble, saying: "You're to keep this so no man
can get it."
" Oh," said the giant, taking the thimble and
throwing it aside, " you need have no fear; no man
can find me in this place."
Shaking-head caught the thimble from the
ground and put it in his pocket. When she had
finished conversation with the giant, the princess
kissed him, and hurried away. Shaking-head fol-
lowed her step for step, till they came at break
of day to the castle of King Behind the Gold.
Shaking-head went to the king's son and asked:
"Was anything given you to keep last night?"
" Yes, before I came to this chamber the
princess gave me her thimble, and told me to
have it for her in the morning."
" Have you it now? " asked Shaking-head.
" It is not in my mouth where I put it last night,
it is not in the bed ; I 'm afraid my head is lost,"
said the king's son.
"Well, look at this," said Shaking-head, taking
the thimble out of his pocket and giving it to him.
" The whole kingdom is moving to-day to see your
death. All the people have heard that you are
here asking for the princess, and they think your
head '11 be put on the last spike in the garden,
1 96 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
with the heads of the other kings' sons. Rise up
now, mount your light black steed, ride to the
summer-house of the princess and her father, and
give her the thimble."
The king's son did as Shaking-head told him,
When he gave up the thimble, the king said, "You
have won one third of my daughter." But the
princess was bitterly angry and vexed to the
heart, that any man on earth should know that
she had dealings with the giant; she cared more
for that than anything else.
When the second day had passed, and the king's
son was going to bed, the princess gave him a
comb to keep, and said : " If you don't have this
for me in the morning, your head will be put on
the spike that's left in my father's garden."
The king's son took the comb with him.
wrapped it in a handkerchief, and tied it to his
head.
In the night the princess came with a draught
which she gave him, and soon he was asleep.
Going back to her own chamber, she struck the
maid with her rod of enchantment, and made a
great yellow cat of her. Then she caused such mu-
sic of fifes and trumpets to sound throughout the
castle that every soul was in a deep sleep before
the music was over, and that moment she sent the
cat to the chamber of the king's son. The cat
Shaking-Head. 197
worked the handkerchief off his head, took out
the comb and ran with it to the princess, who
turned her into a maid again.
The two set out for the eastern world straight-
way ; but if they did, Shaking-head followed them
in his cloak of darkness, till they came to the
house of the giant in the great rock at the end of
the road, at the sea. The princess gave the giant
the comb, and said : " The thimble that I gave
you to keep last night was taken from you, for the
king's son in Erin brought it back to me this morn-
ing, and has done one third of the work of winning
me, and I did n't expect you 'd serve me in this
way."
When the giant heard this, he was raging, and
threw the comb into the sea behind him. Then
with Druidic spells he raised thunder and light-
ning and wind. The sea was roaring with storm
and rain ; but the comb had not touched the water
when Shaking-head caught it.
When her talk was over the princess gave the
giant a kiss, and home she went with the maid ;
but Shaking-head followed them step by step.
In the morning Shaking-head went to the king's
son, roused him, and asked : " What was your
task last night?"
" The princess gave me a comb to have for her
this morning," answered the king's son.
1 98 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
" Where is it now? " asked Shaking-head.
" Here on my head," said the king's son, put-
ting up his hand to get it; but the comb was
gone. " I 'm done for now," said the king's son ;
" my head will be on the last spike to-day unless
I have the comb for the princess."
" Here it is for you," said Shaking-head, taking
the comb out of his pocket. " And now," said
he, " the whole kingdom is coming to this castle
to-day to see your head put on the last spike in
the garden of King Behind the Gold, for all men
think the same will happen to you that has hap-
pened to every king's son before you. Go up on
your steed and ride to the summer-house where
the king and his daughter are sitting, and give her
the comb."
The king's son did as Shaking-head bade him.
When he saw the comb the king said, " Now you
have my daughter two-thirds won." But her face
went from the princess entirely, she was so vexed
that any man should know of her dealings with
the giant.
The third night when he was going to bed the
princess said to the king's son, " If you will not
have at my father's castle to-morrow morning the
head I will kiss to-night, you '11 die to-morrow, and
your own head will be put on the last spike in my
father's garden." Later in the night she came to
Shaking-Head. 1 99
the bedside of the king's son with a draught, which
he drank, and before she was back in her chamber,
he slept. Then she made such music all over the
castle that not a soul was awake when the music
had ceased. That moment she hurried away with
her maid to the eastern world ; but Shaking-head
followed her in his cloak of darkness. This time
he carried with him the two-handed sword that
never failed a blow.
When she came to the rock in the eastern world
and entered the house of the giant, the princess
said, " You let my two gifts go with the son of the
king in Erin, and he '11 have me won to-morrow if
he '11 have your head at my father's castle in the
morning."
" Never fear," said the giant, " there is nothing in
the world to take the head off me but the double-
handed sword of darkness that never fails a blow,
and that sword belongs to my brother in the
western world."
The princess gave the giant a kiss at parting;
and as she hurried away with her maid the giant
turned to look at her. His head was covered
with an iron cap ; but as he looked he laid bare
a thin strip of his neck. Shaking-head was
there near him, and said in his mind: "Your
brother's sword has never been so close to your
neck before ; " and with one blow he swept the
2OO Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
head off him. Then began the greatest struggle
that Shaking-head ever had, to keep the head
from the body of the giant. The head fought
to put itself on again, and never stopped till
the body was dead; then it fell to the ground.
Shaking-head seized, but could n't stir the head,
could n't move it from its place. Then he
searched all around it and found a (bar an suan)
pin of slumber near the ear. When he took the
pin away he had no trouble in carrying the head ;
and he made no delay but came to the castle at
daybreak, and threw the head to a herd of pigs
that belonged to the - king. Then he went to the
king's son, and asked :
" What happened to you last night? "
" The princess came to me, and said that if I
would 'nt bring to her father's castle this morning
the head she was to kiss last night, my own head
would be on the last spike to-day."
" Come out with me now to the pigs," said
Shaking-head.
The two went out, and Shaking-head said : " Go
in among the pigs, and take the head with you to
the king ; and a strange head it is to put before a
king."
So the king's son went on his steed to the sum-
mer-house, and gave the head to the king and his
daughter, and turning to the princess, said :
Shaking-Head. 2 o I
" This is the head you kissed last night, and it 's
not a nice looking head either."
" You have my daughter won now entirely," said
the king, " and she is yours. And do you take that
head to the great dark hole that is out there on
one side of my castle grounds, and throw it down."
The king's son mounted his steed, and rode off
with the head till he came to the hole going deep
into the earth. When he let down the head it
went to the bottom with such a roaring and such
a noise that every mare and cow and every beast
in the whole kingdom cast its young, such was the
terror that was caused by the noise of the head in
going to the bottom of the hole.
When the head was put away the king's son
went back to the castle, and married the daughter
of King Behind the Gold. The wedding lasted
nine days and nights, and the last night was better
than the first.
When the wedding was over Shaking-head went
to the king, and said : " You have provided no for-
tune for your daughter, and it is but right that you
should remember her."
" I have plenty of gold and silver to give her,"
said the king.
" It is n't gold and silver that your son-in-law
wants, but men to stand against his enemies, when
they come on him."
202 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
" I have more treasures than men," said King
Behind the Gold ; " but I won't see my daughter
conquered for want of an army."
They were satisfied with the king's word, and
next day took the road to Erin, and kept on their
way till they came opposite the grave-yard. Then
Shaking-head said to the king's son : " You are
no good, you have never told me a story since the
first day I saw you."
" I have but one story to tell you, except what
happened since we met."
" Well, tell me what happened before we met."
" I was passing this place before I saw you," said
the king's son, "and four men were fighting over a
coffin. I spoke to them, and two of them said they
were burying the body of their brother which was
in the coffin, and the others said the dead man
owed them five pounds, and they would n't let the
coffin into the ground until they got the money.
I paid five pounds and the body was buried."
" It was my body was in the coffin," said Shak-
ing-head, " and I came back into this world to do
you a good turn ; and now I am going, and you '11
never see me again unless trouble is on you."
Shaking-head disappeared, and the king's son
went home. He was n't with his father long till
the other three kings' sons heard he had come
back to Erin with the daughter of Kine Behind
Shaking-Head. 203
the Gold. They sent word, saying: "We'll take
the head off you now, and put an end to your
father and yourself."
The king's son went out to walk alone, and as
he was lamenting the fate he had brought on his
father, who should come along to meet him but
Shaking-head.
" What trouble is on you now? " asked he.
" Oh, three kings' sons are coming with their
fleets and armies to destroy my father and myself,
and what can we do with our one fleet and one
army? "
" Well," said Shaking-head, " I '11 settle that
for you without delay." Then he sent a message
straight to King Behind the Gold, who gave a fleet
and an army, and they came to Erin so quickly
that they were at the castle before the forces of
the three kings' sons. And when the three came
the battle began on sea and land at both sides of
the castle.
The three fleets of the three kings' sons were
sunk, their armies destroyed, and the three heads
taken off themselves. When the battle was over
and the country safe the king resigned the castle
and power to his son, and the son of a king in a
province became king over all the land of Erin.
BIRTH OF FIN MACCUMHAIL. 1
/"^UMHAL MAC ART was a great champion
V*"" in the west of Erin, and it was prophesied of
him that if ever he married he would meet death
in the next battle he fought.
For this reason he had no wife, and knew no
woman for a long time ; till one day he saw the
king's daughter, who was so beautiful that he
forgot all fear and married her in secret.
Next day after the marriage, news came that a
battle had to be fought.
Now a Druid had told the king that his daugh-
ter's son would take the kingdom from him ; so he
made up his mind to look after the daughter, and
not let any man come near her.
Before he went to the battle, Cumhal told his
mother everything, told her of his relations
with the king's daughter.
He said, " I shall be killed in battle to-day,
according to the prophecy of the Druid, and I 'm
afraid if his daughter has a son the king will kill
1 Cumhail, genitive of Cumhal, after Mac = son; pro-
nounced Cool.
Birth of Fin MacCumhail. 205
the child, for the prophecy is that he will lose
the kingdom by the son of his own daughter.
Now, if the king's daughter has a son do you
hide and rear him, if you can ; you will be his
only hope and stay."
Cumhal was killed in the battle, and within that
year the king's daughter had a son.
By command of his grandfather, the boy was
thrown out of the castle window into a loch, to
be drowned, on the day of his birth.
The boy sank from sight; but after remaining
a while under the water, he rose again to the sur-
face, and came to land holding a live salmon in
his hand.
The grandmother of the boy, Cumhal's mother,
stood watching on the shore, and said to herself
as she saw this : " He is my grandson, the true
son of my own child," and seizing the boy, she
rushed away with him, and vanished, before the
king's people could stop her.
When the king heard that the old woman had
escaped with his daughter's son, he fell into a
terrible rage, and ordered all the male children
born that day in the kingdom to be put to death,
hoping in this way to kill his own grandson, and
save the crown for himself.
After she had disappeared from the bank of
the loch, the old woman, Cumhal's mother, made
206 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
her way to a thick forest, where she spent that
night as best she could. Next day she came to
a great oak tree. Then she hired a man to cut
out a chamber in the tree.
When all was finished, and there was a nice
room in the oak for herself and her grandson, and
a whelp of the same age as the boy, and which
she had brought with her from the castle, she
said to the man : " Give me the axe which you
have in your hand, there is something here that
I want to fix."
The man gave the axe into her hand, and that
minute she swept the head off him, saying:
" You '11 never tell any man about this place
now."
One day the whelp ate some of the fine chip-
pings (dran) left cut by the carpenter from the
inside of the tree. The old woman said: "You'll
be called Bran from this out."
All three lived in the tree together, and the old
woman did not take her grandson out till the end
of five years ; and then he could n't walk, he had
been sitting so long inside.
When the old grandmother had taught the boy
to walk, she brought him one day to the brow of
a hill from which there was a long slope. She
took a switch and said : " Now, run down this
place. I will follow and strike you with this
Birth of Fin MacCumhail. 207
switch, and coming up I will run ahead, and you
strike me as often as you can."
The first time they ran down, his grandmother
struck him many times. In coming up the first
time, he did not strike her at all. Every time
they ran down she struck him less, and every time
they ran up he struck her more.
They ran up and down for three days ; and at
the end of that time she could not strike him
once, and he struck her at every step she took.
He had now become a great runner.
When he was fifteen years of age, the old woman
went with him to a hurling match between the
forces of his grandfather and those of a neighboring
king. Both sides were equal in skill ; and neither
was able to win, till the youth opposed his grand-
father's people. Then, he won every game. When
the ball was thrown in the air, he struck it coming
down, and so again and again, never letting the
ball touch the ground till he had driven it through
the barrier.
The old king, who was very angry, and greatly
mortified, at the defeat of his people, exclaimed, as
he saw the youth, who was very fair and had white
hair: " Who is that fin cumhal 1 [white cap] ? "
1 Cumhal, the name of Fin's father. Denotes also a cap
or head-covering, fin = white. The punning resemblance
suggested to the old woman the full name, Fin MacCumhail.
208 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
" Ah, that is it ; Fin will be his name, and Fin
MacCumhail he is," said the old woman.
The king ordered his people to seize and put
the young man to death, on the spot. The old
woman hurried to the side of her grandson. They
slipped from the crowd and away they went, a hill
at a leap, a glen at a step, and thirty-two miles at
a running-leap. They ran a long distance, till Fin
grew tired ; then the old grandmother took him on
her back, putting his feet into two pockets which
were in her dress, one on each side, and ran on
with the same swiftness as before, a hill at a leap,
a glen at a step, and thirty-two miles at a running-
leap.
After a time, the old woman felt the approach
of pursuit, and said to Fin : " Look behind, and
tell me what you see."
" I see," said he, " a white horse with a cham-
pion on his back."
" Oh, no fear," said she ; " a white horse has no
endurance; he can never catch us, we are safe
from him." And on they sped. A second time
she felt the approach of pursuit, and again she
said : " Look back, and see who is coming."
Fin looked back, and said : " I see a warrior
riding on a brown horse."
" Never fear," said the old woman ; " there is
never a brown horse but is giddy, he cannot
Birth of Fin MacCumhail. 209
overtake us." She rushed on as before. A third
time she said : " Look around, and see who is
coming now."
Fin looked, and said : " I see a black warrior on
a black horse, following fast."
" There is no horse so tough as a black horse,"
said the grandmother. " There is no escape
from this one. My grandson, one or both of us
must die. I am old, my time has nearly come.
I will die, and you and Bran save yourselves.
(Bran had been with them all the time.) Right
here ahead is a deep bog ; you jump off my back,
and escape as best you can. I '11 jump into the
bog up to my neck; and when the king's men
come, I '11 say that you are in the bog before me,
sunk out of sight, and I 'm trying to find you. As
my hair and yours are the same color, they will
think my head good enough to carry back. They
will cut it off, and take it in place of yours, and
show it to the king ; that will satisfy his anger."
Fin slipped down, took farewell of his grand-
mother, and hurried on with Bran. The old
woman came to the bog, jumped in, and sank to
her neck. The king's men were soon at the edge
of the bog, and the black rider called out to the
old woman: "Where is Fin?"
" He is here in the bog before me, and I 'm
trying can I find him."
2 io Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
As the horsemen could not find Fin, and
thought the old woman's head would do to carry
back, they cut it off, and took it with them, saying :
" This will satisfy the king."
Fin and Bran went on till they came to a great
cave, in which they found a herd of goats. At
the further end of the cave was a smouldering
fire. The two lay down to rest.
A couple of hours later, in came a giant with
a salmon in his hand. This giant was of awful
height, he had but one eye, and that in the mid-
dle of his forehead, as large as the sun in heaven.
When he saw Fin, he called out : " Here, take
this salmon and roast it ; but be careful, for if you
raise a single blister on it I '11 cut the head off you.
I Ve followed this salmon for three days and three
nights without stopping, and I never let it out of
my sight, for it is the most wonderful salmon in the
world."
The giant lay down to sleep in the middle of the
cave. Fin spitted the salmon, and held it over
the fire.
The minute the giant closed the one eye in his
head, he began to snore. Every time he drew
breath into his body, he dragged Fin, the spit,
the salmon, Bran, and all the goats to his mouth ;
and every time he drove a breath out of himself,
he threw them back to the places they were in
Birth of Fin MacCumhail. 2 1 1
before. Fin was drawn time after time to the
mouth of the giant with such force, that he was
in dread of going down his throat.
When partly cooked, a blister rose on the
salmon. Fin pressed the place with his thumb, to
know could he break the blister, and hide from
the giant the harm that was done. But he burned
his thumb, and, to ease the pain, put it between
his teeth, and gnawed the skin to the flesh, the
flesh to the bone, the bone to the marrow; and
when he had tasted the marrow, he received the
knowledge of all things. Next moment, he was
drawn by the breath of the giant right up to his
face, and, knowing from his thumb what to do, he
plunged the hot spit into the sleeping eye of the
giant and destroyed it.
That instant the giant with a single bound was
at the low entrance of the cave, and, standing with
his back to the wall and a foot on each side of the
opening, roared out: "You '11 not leave this place
alive."
Now Fin killed the largest goat, skinned him as
quickly as he could, then putting the skin on him-
self he drove the herd to where the giant stood ;
the goats passed out one by one between his legs.
When the great goat came the giant took him by
the horns. Fin slipped from the skin, and ran
out.
212 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
" Oh, you Ve escaped, " said the giant, " but be-
fore we part let me make you a present."
" I 'm afraid to go near you," said Fin ; " if you
wish to give me a present, put it out this way, and
then go back."
The giant placed a ring on the ground, then
went back. Fin took up the ring and put it on
the end of his little finger above the first joint. It
clung so firmly that no man in the world could
have taken it off.
The giant then called out, " Where are
you?"
" On Fin's finger, " cried the ring. That in-
stant the giant sprang at Fin and almost came
down on his head, thinking in this way to crush
him to bits. Fin sprang to a distance. Again the
giant asked, "Where are you? "
" On Fin's finger," answered the ring.
Again the giant made a leap, coming down just
in front of Fin. Many times he called and many
times almost caught Fin, who could not escape
with the ring on his finger. While in this terrible
struggle, not knowing how to escape, Bran ran
up and asked :
" Why don't you chew your thumb? "
Fin bit his thumb to the marrow, and then knew
what to do. He took the knife with which he had
skinned the goat, cut off his finger at the first
Birth of Fin MacCumhail. 213
joint, and threw it, with the ring still on, into a
deep bog near by.
Again the giant called out, "Where are you?"
and the ring answered, " On Fin's finger."
Straightway the giant sprang towards the voice,
sank to his shoulders in the bog, and stayed there.
Fin with Bran now went on his way, and trav-
elled till he reached a deep and thick wood, where
a thousand horses were drawing timber, and men
felling and preparing it.
"What is this?" asked Fin of the overseer of
the workmen.
" Oh, we are building a dun (a castle) for the
king ; we build one every day, and every night it is
burned to the ground. Our king has an only
daughter ; he will give her to any man who will
save the dun, and he '11 leave him the kingdom at
his death. If any man undertakes to save the dun
and fails, his life must pay for it; the king will
cut his head off. The best champions in Erin have
tried and failed ; they are now in the king's dun-
geons, a whole army of them, waiting the king's
pleasure. He 's going to cut the heads off them
all in one day."
"Why don't you chew your thumb?" asked
Bran.
Fin chewed his thumb to the marrow, and then
knew that on the eastern side of the world there
2 1 4 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
lived an old hag with her three sons, and every
evening at nightfall she sent the youngest of these
to burn the king's dun.
" I will save the king's dun," said Fin.
" Well," said the overseer, " better men than
you have tried and lost their lives."
" Oh," said Fin, " I 'm not afraid ; I '11 try for
the sake of the king's daughter."
Now Fin, followed by Bran, went with the over-
seer to the king. " I hear you will give your
daughter to the man who saves your dun," said
Fin.
" I will," said the king; "but if he fails I must
have his head."
" Well," said Fin, " I '11 risk my head for the sake
of your daughter. If I fail I 'm satisfied." The
king gave Fin food and drink; he supped, and
after supper went to the dun.
" Why don't you chew your thumb? " said Bran ;
" then you'll know what to do." He did. Then Bran
took her place on the roof, waiting for the old
woman's son. Now the old woman in the east
told her youngest son to hurry on with his
torches, burn the dun, and come back without
delay; for the stirabout was boiling and he must
not be too late for supper.
He took the torches, and shot off through the
air with a wonderful speed. Soon he was in sight
Birth of Fin Mac Cum/tail. 215
of the king's dun, threw the torches upon the
thatched roof to set it on fire as usual.
That moment Bran gave the torches such a push
with her shoulders, that they fell into the stream
which ran around the dun, and were put out.
" Who is this," cried the youngest son of the old
hag, " who has dared to put out my lights, and
interfere with my hereditary right? "
" I," said Fin, who stood in front of him. Then
began a terrible battle between Fin and the old
woman's son. Bran came down from the dun to
help Fin ; she bit and tore his enemy's back, strip-
ping the skin and flesh from his head to his
heels.
After a terrible struggle such as had not been in
the world before that night, Fin cut the head off
his enemy. But for Bran, Fin could never have
conquered.
The time for the return of her son had passed ;
supper was ready. The old woman, impatient and
angry, said to the second son : " You take torches
and hurry on, see why your brother loiters. I '11
pay him for this when he comes home ! But be
careful and don't do like him, or you '11 have your
pay too. Hurry back, for the stirabout is boiling
and ready for supper."
He started off, was met and killed exactly as his
brother, except that he was stronger and the battle
2 1 6 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
fiercer. But for Bran, Fin would have lost his life
that night.
The old woman was raging at the delay, and
said to her eldest son, who had not been out of
the house for years : (It was only in case of the
greatest need that she sent him. He had a cat's
head, and was called Pus an Chuine, " Puss of the
Corner ; " he was the eldest and strongest of all
the brothers.) " Now take torches, go and see
what delays your brothers ; I '11 pay them for this
when they come home."
The eldest brother shot off through the air,
came to the king's dun, and threw his torches upon
the roof. They had just singed the straw a little,
when Bran pushed them off with such force that
they fell into the stream and were quenched.
" Who is this," screamed Cat-head, " who dares
to interfere with my ancestral right? " 1
" I," shouted Fin. Then the struggle began
fiercer than with the second brother. Bran helped
from behind, tearing the flesh from his head to his
heels; but at length Cat-head fastened his teeth
into Fin's breast, biting and gnawing till Fin cut
the head off. The body fell to the ground, but the
head lived, gnawing as terribly as before. Do
what they could it was impossible to kill it. Fin
hacked and cut, but could neither kill nor pull it
off. When nearly exhausted, Bran said :
Birth of Fin MacCumhail. 217
" Why don't you chew your thumb? "
Fin chewed his thumb, and reaching the marrow
knew that the old woman in the east was ready to
start with torches to find her sons, and burn the
dun herself, and that she had a vial of liquid with
which she could bring the sons to life; and that
nothing could free him from Cat-head but the old
woman's blood.
After midnight the old hag, enraged at the delay
of her sons, started and shot through the air like
lightning, more swiftly than her sons. She threw
her torches from afar upon the roof of the dun ; but
Bran as before hurled them into the stream.
Now the old woman circled around in the air
looking for her sons. Fin was getting very weak
from pain and loss of blood, for Cat-head was
biting at his breast all the time.
Bran called out : " Rouse yourself, oh, Fin ; use
all your power or we are lost ! If the old hag
gets a drop from the vial upon the bodies of her
sons, they will come to life, and then we're
done for."
Thus roused, Fin with one spring reached the
old woman in the air, and swept the bottle from
her grasp; which falling upon the ground was
emptied.
The old hag gave a scream which was heard all
over the world, came to the ground and closed
2 1 8 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
with Fin. Then followed a battle greater than the
world had ever known before that night, or has
ever seen since. Water sprang out of gray rocks,
cows cast their calves even when they had none,
and hard rushes grew soft in the remotest corner
of Erin, so desperate was the fighting and so
awful, between Fin and the old hag. Fin would
have died that night but for Bran.
Just as daylight was coming Fin swept the head
off the old woman, caught some of her blood, and
rubbed it around Cat-head, who fell off dead.
He rubbed his own wounds with the blood and
was cured ; then rubbed some on Bran, who had
been singed with the torches, and she was as well
as ever. Fin, exhausted with . fighting, dropped
down and fell asleep.
While he was sleeping the chief steward of the
king came to the dun, found it standing safe and
sound, and seeing Fin lying there asleep knew that
he had saved it. Bran tried to waken Fin, pulled
and tugged, but could not rouse him.
The steward went to the king, and said : " I
have saved the dun, and I claim the reward."
" It shall be given you," answered the king ; and
straightway the steward was recognized as the
king's son-in-law, and orders were given to make
ready for the wedding.
Bran had listened to what was going on, and
Birth of Fin MacCumhaiL 219
when her master woke, exactly at midday, she told
him of all that was taking place in the castle of the
king.
Fin went to the king, and said : "I have saved
your dun, and I claim the reward."
" Oh," said the king, " my steward claimed the
reward, and it has been given to him."
" He had nothing to do with saving the dun ; I
saved it," said Fin.
" Well," answered the king, " he is the first man
who told me of its safety and claimed the reward."
" Bring him here : let me look at him," said Fin.
He was sent for, and came. " Did you save the
king's dun ? " asked Fin. " I did," said the
steward.
" You did not, and take that for your lies," said
Fin ; and striking him with the edge of his open
hand he swept the head off his body, dashing it
against the other side of the room, flattening it
like paste on the wall.
" You are the man," said the king to Fin, " who
saved the dun ; yours is the reward. All the
champions, and there is many a man of them, who
have failed to save it are in the dungeons of my
fortress; their heads must be cut off before the
wedding takes place."
"Will you let me see them? " asked Fin.
" I will," said the king.
2 2O Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
Fin went down to the men, and found the first
champions of Erin in the dungeons. " Will you
obey me in all things if I save you from death?"
said Fin. " We will," said they. Then he went
back to the king and asked:
" Will you give me the lives of these champions
of Erin, in place of your daughter's hand?"
" I will," said the king.
All the champions were liberated, and left the
king's castle that day. Ever after they followed
the orders of Fin, and these were the beginning of
his forces and the first of the Fenians of Erin.
FIN MACCUMHAIL AND THE FENIANS OF
ERIN IN THE CASTLE OF FEAR DUBH.
IT was the custom with Fin MacCumhail and
the Fenians of Erin, when a stranger from
any part of the world came to their castle, not to
ask him a question for a year and a day.
On a time, a champion came to Fin and his
men, and remained with them. He was not at all
pleasant or agreeable.
At last Fin and his men took counsel together ;
they were much annoyed because their guest was
so dull and morose, never saying a word, always
silent.
While discussing what kind of man he was, Diar-
muid Duivne offered to try him ; so one evening
when they were eating together, Diarmuid came
and snatched from his mouth the hind-quarter of
a bullock, which he was picking.
Diarmuid pulled at one part of the quarter,
pulled with all his strength, but only took the
part that he seized, while the other kept the part
he held. All laughed ; the stranger laughed too,
222 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
as heartily as any. It was the first laugh they had
heard from him.
The strange champion saw all their feats of arms
and practised with them, till the year and a day
were over. Then he said to Fin and his men:
" I have spent a pleasant year in your com-
pany; you gave me good treatment, and the least
I can do now is to give you a feast at my own
castle."
No one had asked what his name was up to that
time. Fin now asked his name. He answered:
" My name is Fear Dubh, of Alba."
Fin accepted the invitation ; and they appointed
the day for the feast, which was to be in Erin, since
Fear Dubh did not wish to trouble them to go to
Alban. He took leave of his host and started for
home.
When the day for the feast came, Fin and the
chief men of the Fenians of Erin set out for the
castle of Fear Dubh.
They went, a glen at a step, a hill at a leap, and
thirty-two miles at a running leap, till they came
to the grand castle where the feast was to be
given.
They went in; everything was ready, seats at
the table, and every man's name at his seat in the
same order as at Fin's castle. Diarmuid, who
was always very sportive, fond of hunting, and
Fin Mac Cum hail. 223
paying court to women, was not with them ; he had
gone to the mountains with his dogs.
All sat down, except Conan Maol MacMorna
(never a man spoke well of him) ; no seat was
ready for him, for he used to lie on the flat of
his back on the floor, at Fin's castle.
When all were seated the door of the castle
closed of itself. Fin then asked the man nearest
the door, to rise and open it. The man tried to
rise ; he pulled this way and that, over and hither,
but he could n't get up. Then the next man tried,
and the next, and so on, till the turn came to Fin
himself, who tried in vain.
Now, whenever Fin and his men were in trouble
and great danger it was their custom to raise a
cry of distress (a voice of howling), heard all
over Erin. Then all men knew that they were
in peril of death ; for they never raised this cry
except in the last extremity.
Fin's son, Fialan, who was three years old and
in the cradle, heard the cry, was roused, and
jumped up.
" Get me a sword ! " said he to the nurse. "My
father and his men are in distress ; I must go to
aid them."
" What could you do, poor little child."
Fialan looked around, saw an old rusty sword-
blade laid aside for ages. He took it down, gave
224 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
it a snap ; it sprang up so as to hit his arm, and
all the rust dropped off; the blade was pure as
shining silver.
" This will do," said he ; and then he set out
towards the place where he heard the cry, going
a glen at a step, a hill at a leap, and thirty-two
miles at a running leap, till he came to the door
of the castle, and cried out.
Fin answered from inside, " Is that you, my
child?"
" It is," said Fialan.
"Why did you come?"
" I heard your cry, and how could T stay at
home, hearing the cry of my father and the
Fenians of Erin ! "
" Oh, my child, you cannot help us much."
Fialan struck the door powerfully with his
sword, but no use. Then, one of the men inside
asked Fin to chew his thumb, to know what was
keeping them in, and why they were bound.
Fin chewed his thumb, from skin to blood, from
blood to bone, from bone to marrow, and dis-
covered that Fear Dubh had built the castle by
magic, and that he was coming himself with a
great force to cut the head off each one of them.
(These men from Alba had always a grudge
against the champions of Erin.)
Said Fin to Fialan : " Do you go now, and
Fin MacCumhail. 225
stand at the ford near the castle, and meet Fear
Dubh."
Fialan went and stood in the middle of the ford.
He was n't long there when he saw Fear Dubh
coming with a great army.
" Leave the ford, my child," said Fear Dubh,
who knew him at once. " I have not come to
harm your father. I spent a pleasant year at his
castle. I Ve only come to show him honor."
" I know why you have come," answered Fialan.
" You Ve come to destroy my father and all his
men, and I '11 not leave this ford while I can
hold it."
" Leave the ford ; I don't want to harm your
father, I want to do him honor. If you don't let
us pass my men will kill you," said Fear Dubh.
" I will not let you pass so long as I 'm alive
before you," said Fialan.
The men faced him; and if they did Fialan
kept his place, and a battle commenced, the like
of which was never seen before that day. Fialan
went through the army as a hawk through a flock
of sparrows on a March morning, till he killed
every man except Fear Dubh. Fear Dubh told
him again to leave the ford, he didn't want t<?
harm his father.
" Oh ! " said Fialan, " I know well what you
want."
15
226 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
" If you don't leave that place I '11 make you
leave it ! " said Fear Dubh. Then they closed in
combat ; and such a combat was never seen before
between any two warriors. They made springs to
rise through the centre of hard gray rocks, cows
to cast their calves whether they had them or not.
All the horses of the country were racing about
and neighing in dread and fear, and all created
things were terrified at the sound and clamor of
the fight, till the weapons of Fear Dubh went to
pieces in the struggle, and Fialan made two halves
of his own sword.
Now they closed in wrestling. In the first round
Fialan put Fear Dubh to his knees in the hard
bottom of the river ; the second round he put him
to his hips, and the third, to his shoulders.
"Now," said he, "I have you," giving him a
stroke of the half of his sword, which cut the
head off him.
Then Fialan went to the door of the castle and
told his father what he had done.
Fin chewed his thumb again, and knew what
other danger was coming. " My son," said he to
Fialan, " Fear Dubh has a younger brother more
powerful than he was; that brother is coming
against us now with greater forces than those
which you have destroyed."
As soon as Fialan heard these words he hurried
Fin MacCumhail. 227
to the ford, and waited till the second army came
up. He destroyed this army as he had the other,
and closed with the second brother in a fight
fiercer and more terrible than the first ; but at last
he thrust him to his armpits in the hard bottom
of the river and cut off his head.
Then he went to the castle, and told his father
what he had done. A third time Fin chewed his
thumb, and said: " My son, a third army more to
be dreaded than the other two is coming now to
destroy us, and at the head of it is the youngest
brother of Fear Dubh, the most desperate and
powerful of the three."
Again Fialan rushed off to the ford ; and, though
the work was greater than before, he left not a
man of the army alive. Then he closed with the
youngest brother of Fear Dubh, and if the first
and second battles were terrible this was more ter-
rible by far ; but at last he planted the youngest
brother up to his armpits in the hard bottom of
the river, and swept the head off him.
Now, after the heat and struggle of combat
Fialan was in such a rage that he lost his mind
from fury, not having any one to fight against ; and
if the whole world had been there before him he
would have gone through it and conquered it all.
But having no one to face him he rushed along
the river-bank, tearing the flesh from his own
228 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
body. Never had such madness been seen in any
created being before that day.
Diarmuid came now and knocked at the door of
the castle, having the dog Bran with him, and
asked Fin what had caused him to raise the cry
of distress.
" Oh, Diarmuid," said Fin, " we are all fastened
in here to be killed. Fialan has destroyed three
armies, and Fear Dubh with his two brothers.
He is raging now along the bank of the river;
you must not go near him, for he would tear you
limb from limb. At this moment he would n't spare
me, his own father ; but after a while he will cease
from raging and die down; then you can go.
The mother of Fear Dubh is coming, and will
soon be at the ford. She is more violent, more
venomous, more to be dreaded, a greater warrior
than her sons. The chief weapon she has are the
nails on her ringers; each nail is seven perches
long, of the hardest steel on earth. She is coming
in the air at this moment with the speed of a hawk,
and she has a kufan (a small vessel), with liquor
in it, which has such power that if she puts three
drops of it on the mouths of her sons they will rise
up as well as ever ; and if she brings them to life
there is nothing to save us.
" Go to the ford ; she will be hovering over the
corpses of the three armies to know can she find
Fin Mac Cum/tail. 229
her sons, and as soon as she sees them she will
dart down and give them the liquor. You must
rise with a mighty bound upon her, dash the
kuran out of her hand and spill the liquor.
" If you can kill her save her blood, for nothing
in the world can free us from this place and open
the door of the castle but the blood of the old
hag. I 'm in dread you '11 not succeed, for she is
far more terrible than all her sons together. Go
now ; Fialan is dying away, and the old woman is
coming; make no delay."
Diarmuid hurried to the ford, stood watching
a while ; then he saw high in the air something no
larger than a hawk. As it came nearer and nearer
he saw it was the old woman. She hovered high
in the air over the ford. At last she saw her sons,
and was swooping down, when Diarmuid rose with
a bound into the air and struck the vial a league
out of her hand.
The old hag gave a shriek that was heard
to the eastern world, and screamed : " Who has
dared to interfere with me or my sons?"
" I," answered Diarmuid ; " and you '11 not go
further till I do to you what has been done to
your sons."
The fight began ; and if there ever was a fight,
before or since, it could not be more terrible than
this one ; but great as was the power of Diarmuid
230 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
he never could have conquered but for Bran the
dog.
The old woman with her nails stripped the skin
and flesh from Diarmuid almost to the vitals.
But Bran tore the skin and flesh off the old
woman's back from her head to her heels.
From the dint of blood-loss and fighting, Diar-
muid was growing faint. Despair came on him,
and he was on the point of giving way, when a
little robin flew near to him, and sitting on a bush,
spoke, saying:
" Oh, Diarmuid, take strength ; rise and sweep
the head off the old hag, or Fin and the Fenians
of Erin are no more."
Diarmuid took courage, and with his last
strength made one great effort, swept the head
off the old hag and caught her blood in a vessel.
He rubbed some on his own wounds, they were
cured ; then he cured Bran.
Straightway he took the blood to the castle,
rubbed drops of it on the door, which opened, and
he went in.
All laughed with joy at the rescue. He freed
Fin and his men by rubbing the blood on the
chairs ; but when he came as far as Conan Maol
the blood gave out.
All were going away. " Why should you leave
me here after you ; " cried Conan Maol, " I would
Fin MacCumhail. 231
rather die at once than stay here for a lingering
death. Why don't you, Oscar, and you, Gol Mac-
Morna, come and tear me out of this place ; any-
how you '11 be able to drag the arms out of me
and kill me at once ; better that than leave me to
die alone."
Oscar and Gol took each a hand, braced their
feet against his feet, put forth all their strength
and brought him standing; but if they did, he left
all the skin and much of the flesh from the back of
his head to his heels on the floor behind him. He
was covered with blood, and by all accounts was
in a terrible condition, bleeding and wounded.
Now there were sheep grazing near the castle.
The Fenians ran out, killed and skinned the larg-
est and best of the flock, and clapped the fresh
skin on Conan's back ; and such was the healing
power in the sheep, and the wound very fresh, that
Conan's back healed, and he marched home with
the rest of the men, and soon got well ; and if he
did, they sheared off his back wool enough every
year to make a pair of stockings for each one of
the Fenians of Erin, and for Fin himself.
And that was a great thing to do and useful, for
wool was scarce in Erin in those days. Fin and
his men lived pleasantly and joyously for some
time ; and if they did n't, may we.
FIN MACCUMHAIL AND THE KNIGHT
OF THE FULL AXE.
r T"*HERE was a day when Fin went on an ex-
*- pedition by himself. He walked out to his
currochan on the seashore, gave it a kick that
sent it out nine leagues from land, then with a
spring he jumped into the boat and rowed over
the sea.
After he had gone some distance he saw a giant
coming towards him, walking through the water,
which did not reach his knees. Looking up, Fin
could see nothing between the head of the giant
and the sky.
With one step the giant was in front of Fin,
and it seemed that he and his boat would be lost
in a moment between the legs of the terrible
monster.
" Poor, little helpless creature ! what brings you
here in my way?" asked the giant. He was just
going to lay hold of the boat and toss it far off to
one side, when Fin called out:
"Won't you give fair play; just let me put
foot on solid land, and see what will happen.
Fin MacCumhail. 233
Don't attack me here ; I 'm not afraid to meet
you once I have earth for my two feet to stand
on."
" If that is all you want I can take you to land
very soon." And seizing the boat as he would a
grass-blade, the giant drew it to the shore of the
sea opposite to that from which Fin started, and
in front of his own castle.
" What will you do now? " asked the giant.
" I '11 fight with you," said Fin.
The giant brought out his battle-axe, which
had a blade seven acres in size. Fin was ready
with his sword, and now began a most terrible
battle.
Fin faced the giant, slashing at him with his
sword, and when the giant made an offer of the
axe at him, Fin would dart to one side ; and when
the axe missing him struck the ground, it went in-
to the handle. The giant was a long time striving
to know could he draw out the axe ; and while at
this Fin ran behind and cut steps with his sword
into the leg of his enemy ; and by the time the
giant had the axe out of the ground, Fin was ready
for him again and in front of him, striking and vex-
ing him with his sword. It was another long while
till a blow came down ; and when the axe went
into the ground again, Fin ran behind a second
time, cut more steps in the leg and body of the
234 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
giant, so as to reach his neck and cut the head
off him.
When the axe was coming to the ground the
third time, Fin slipped and fell under one corner
of it, and between the feet of the giant, who closed
his legs with a clap that was heard to the end of
the Western World. He thought to catch Fin ;
but Fin was too quick for him, and though badly
hurt he was able to cut more steps and climb to
the neck of the giant. With one blow he swept
the head off him, and a big head it was ; by all
accounts as broad as the moon.
The battle was fought in front of the giant's
castle. Fin was terribly wounded; the axe had
cut that deep that his bowels were to be seen.
He dropped at the side of the giant, and lay help-
less on the ground.
After the fall of the giant twelve women came
out of his castle, and when they drew near
and saw him dead they laughed from joy; but
seeing Fin with his wound they began to
mourn.
" Oh, then," said Fin, " is it making sport of me
you are after the evil day that I Ve had ? "
" Indeed it is not. We are twelve daughters of
kings, stolen from our fathers. We saw the giant
fall, and came here to look at him dead ; we grieve
for you and mourn for the sorrow that is on you,
Fin MacCumhail. 235
but we are so glad the giant is killed that we
cannot help laughing."
" Well," said Fin, " if you mourn for me and
are glad that I have killed the giant, will you carry
me to my currochan, lay me in it, and push it out
to sea? The waves may bear me home, and I
care for nothing else if only one day my bones
may come to land in Erin."
The twelve women took him up carefully and
put him in the boat, and when the tide came they
pushed it out to sea.
Fin lay in the bottom of the boat barely alive.
It floated along, and he was borne over the waves.
Hither and thither went the boat, till at last one
day a blackbird came down on the body of Fin
MacCumhail, and began to pick at his entrails.
The blackbird said :
" Many a long day have I watched and waited
for this chance, and glad am I to have it now."
That moment the blackbird turned into a lit-
tle man not more than' three feet high. Then he
said : " I was under a Druidic spell, to be a black-
bird till I should get three bites of fat from the
entrails of Fin MacCumhail. I have followed you
(everywhere; have watched you in battle and hunt,
on sea and land, but never have I been able to
get the chance till this day. Now I have it, I
have also the power to make you well again."
236 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
He put Fin's entrails into their proper place,
rubbed him with an ointment that he had, and
Fin was well as ever.
The little man, who said his name was Ridiri
na Ian tur (Knight of the Full Axe) had a small
axe, his only weapon. As they floated along he
said to Fin : " I wish to show you some strange
things, such as you have never seen in Erin.
We are near a country where the king's daughter
is to be married to-night. We will prevent the
ceremony."
" Oh no," said Fin, " I would rather go to my
own home."
" Never mind," said the little man, " nothing
can harm you in my company; come with me.
This is a wonderful king, and he has a wonderful
daughter. It's a strange country, and I want to
show you the place. We '11 tell him that you are
Fin MacCumhail, monarch of Erin ; that we have
been shipwrecked, and ask for a night's shelter."
Fin consented at last, and with the Knight of
the Full Axe landed, drew the boat on shore, and
went to the king's castle. There was noise and
tumult; great crowds of people had come to do
honor to the king's daughter. Never before had
such preparations been made in that kingdom.
The Knight of the Full Axe knocked at the
door, and asked admission for himself and Fin
Fin MacCumhail. 237
MacCumhail, monarch of Erin, shipwrecked on
that shore. (The country was north of Erin, far
out in the sea.)
The attendants said : " No strangers may enter
here, but there is a great house further on; go
there and welcome."
The house to which they were directed was
twenty-one miles long, ten miles wide, and about
five miles distant from the castle ; inhabited by the
strangest men in the world, body-guards of the king,
fed from the king's house, and a terrible feeding it
was, human flesh. All strangers who came to
the king's castle were sent to that house, where the
guards tore them to pieces and ate them up.
These guards had to be fed well; if not they
would devour the whole country.
With Fin and the Knight of the Full Axe there
went a messenger, who was careful not to go near
the house ; he pointed it out from a distance, and
ran home.
Fin and the knight knocked at the door. When
it was opened all inside laughed; as they laughed,
Fin could see their hearts and livers they were so
glad. The Knight of the Full Axe asked, " Why
do you laugh in this way? "
" Oh," answered they, " we laugh because you
are so small you '11 not make a mouthful for one
of us."
238 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
The guards barred the door and put a prop
against it. Now the knight put a second prop
against the door ; the guards asked, " Why do you
do that? "
" I do it so none of you may escape me," an-
swered the knight. Then seizing two of the
largest of the guards, one in each hand, he used
them as clubs and killed the others with them.
He ran the length of the house, striking right and
left, till he walloped the life out of all. that was in
it, but the two. To them he said : " I spare you
to clean out the house, and make the place fit
for the monarch of Erin to spend the night in.
Bring rushes, and make ready to receive Fin
MacCumhail."
And from wherever they got them, they brought
two baskets of rushes, each basket as big as a
mountain, and spread litter on the ground two feet
deep through the whole house; and then at the
knight's command they brought a pile of turf,
and made a grand fire.
Late in the evening the king's attendants brought
food, which they left near the house of the guards ;
these monsters were fed twice a day, morning and
evening. To their great surprise the attendants
saw the bodies of the dead giants piled up outside
the house ; they ran off quickly to tell the news.
Now the Knight of the Full Axe sat by the fire
Fin MacCumhail. 239
The two guards that he had spared tried to chat
and be agreeable ; but the knight snapped at them
and said : " What company are you for the mon-
arch of Erin ? " Then he caught the two, squeezed
the life out of them, and threw them on the pile
outside.
" Now," said the knight to Fin, " there is no
suitable food for you ; I must get you something
good to eat from the castle."
So off he started, reached the castle quickly,
knocked at the door, and demanded the best of
food, saying, " 'T is fine treatment you are giving
the monarch of Erin to-night ! "
They trembled at the voice of the little man,
and without words or delay gave him the best
they had in the castle. He carried it back and
placed it before Fin. " Now," said he, " they
have given us no wine; we must have wine, and
that of the best."
" Oh, we have no need of wine ! " said Fin ;
but off went the knight.
Again he demanded supplies at the castle. He
took a hogshead of the best wine, threw it over
his shoulder, and, as he hurried out, he struck a
jamb off the door and swept it along with the
hogshead.
"Now," said the knight, after they had eaten
and drunk, " 't is too bad for the monarch of Erin
240 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
to sleep on rushes ; he should have the best bed
in the land."
" Oh, trouble yourself no further," said Fin ;
" better sleep on rushes than all this noise."
But the knight would listen to nothing; away
he went to the castle, and shouted : " Give me the
best bed in this place ! I want it for Fin Mac-
Cumhail, the monarch of Erin."
They gave him the bed in a moment. With
hurried steps he was back, and said to Fin : " Rest
on this bed. Now I '11 stop the wedding of the
princess ; you may take her to Erin if you like."
" Oh, that would not be right ! I am well as I
am," said Fin, who was getting in dread of the
knight himself.
" No, you 'd better have the princess," and off
rushed the knight. He entered the castle. All
were in terror ; hither and thither they hurried, not
knowing what to do. The Knight of the Full
Axe seized the princess. " The monarch of Erin
is a better man than your bridegroom," said he ;
and clapping her under his arm, away he went.
Not a man had the courage to stir.
All was confusion and fear in the king's castle.
The princess was gone and no one could save her.
All were in terrible dread, knowing what had been
done at the long house.
At last an old hag, one of the queen's waiting-
Fin MacCumhail, 241
women, said : " I '11 go and see what has become
of the princess. I '11 go on the chimney and look
down."
Off ran the hag, and never rested till she was on
the top of the chimney, sticking down her head to
know what could she see. The chimney was wide,
for the king's guards had cooked all their food
below on the fire. The Knight of the Full Axe
was looking up at the time and saw the two eyes
staring down at him.
" Go on out of that," cried he, flinging his axe ;
which stuck in the old woman's forehead. Off she
rushed to the castle. She had seen nothing of
the princess; all she knew was that a little man
was sitting by the fire warming himself, that he
had thrown his axe at her, and it had stuck in
her forehead.
At daylight the knight spoke to Fin, who rose
at once. " Now," said he, " I have no strength
left; all my strength is in the axe. While I had
that I could do anything, now I can do nothing.
We are in great danger ; but there is such dread of
us on the people here that we may mend matters
yet. Do you put on the dress of a leech, get herbs
and vials, and pretend you have great skill in heal-
ing. Go to the castle, and say you can take the
axe out of the old hag's head. No man there can
do that without killing her; she will die the minute
16
242 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
it is drawn. Get at her, seize the axe, pull it out,
and with it you will have the greatest power on
earth."
Fin went to the castle, and said : " I am a great
doctor. I can take the axe out of the old woman's
head without trouble."
They took him to the hag, who was sitting up-
right in bed ; her head was so sore she could n't lie
down. He felt her head around the axe, sent the
people away ; when they were gone he took hold
of the handle. With one snap he made two halves
of the old woman's head.
Fin ran out with the axe, leaving the old hag
dead behind him. He never stopped till he came
where he had left the knight.
Fin MacCumhail was now the strongest man on
earth, and the knight the weakest. " You may
keep the axe," said the little man; "I shall not
envy you, but will go with you and you will
protect me."
" No," said Fin, " it shall never be said that I
took the axe from you, though I know its value
and feel its power."
The knight was glad to get back his axe, and
now the two set out for Erin. Fin kicked the
boat three leagues from land, and with a bound
they both came down in it, and floated on till they
saw the coast of Erin. Then the little man said :
Fin MacCumhaiL 243
" I must leave you now. Though of your kin,
I cannot land in Erin. But if you need me at
any time you have only to look over your right
shoulder, call my name, and you will see me
before you."
Now Fin sprang ashore; he had been absent
a year and more, and no man knew where he was
while gone. All thought him lost. Great was the
gladness when Fin came home, and told the
Fenians of Erin of what he had seen and what
he had done.
GILLA NA GRAKIN AND FIN MAC-
CUMHAIL.
r I ""HERE was a blacksmith in Dun Kinealy be-
* yond Killybegs, and he had two young men
serving him whose names were Ce"sa MacRi na
Tulach and Lun Dubh MacSmola.
When their time was up the young men settled
with the blacksmith and took their pay of him.
After they had eaten breakfast in the morning
they went away together.
When they had gone some distance from the
house they changed their gait, so that when they
took one step forward they took two backwards ;
and when evening came they were not five perches
away from the house where they had eaten break-
fast in the morning.
Then one said to the other : " I suppose what
is on one of us is on the other."
" What 's that? " asked the first.
" We are both in love with Sce"hide ni Wan-
anan."
" That is true," said the other, " we are both in
love with the blacksmith's maid."
Gilla na Grakin and Fin MacCumhail. 245
When this was said they turned and went back
to the house. The blacksmith welcomed them,
and was glad.
"You need not welcome us," said they; "we
have not come back to you to seek hire ; but we
are both in love with Sce*hide ni Wananan, and
you '11 have to settle the matter for us."
" Well," said the blacksmith, " I can do that.
We '11 open the two doors of the forge, and let you
and the maiden go in and stand in the middle
of the place. Then do you two go out, one at
each door, and the man she '11 follow will have
her."
The three came in, one man went out at each
door of the forge ; Scehide followed Lun Dubh.
When he saw this Cesa spoke up, and said:
" I 'm willing to leave her with you ; but turn back
a moment here to me, for the word that '11 be
between us."
Lun Dubh turned back into the forge, and Ce"sa
said: " Put your finger on this anvil."
Lun Dubh put his finger on the anvil. Ce"sa,
catching up a good spike, which the old black-
smith had made, and a hammer drove the spike
through the finger of Lun Dubh, fastening him to
the anvil.
" Now," said Lun Dubh to Ce"sa ; " let me go free,
and do you take Sc6hide ; but I must have the first
246 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland,
blow on you in battle or war, or wherever else I
meet you in the world."
" I will give you that," said Cesa. So he freed
his comrade from the anvil. The young men
parted from each other, Lun Dubh went one
way alone, and Cesa another with Scehide ni
Wananan.
As Cesa went along he bought a skin at every
house where he could find one, until he had enough
to make clothes in which to disguise himself; for
he was in dread of Lun Dubh, on account of the
first blow which he had the right to strike when
they met.
He put on the skin clothes, and changed his
name to Gilla na Grakin (the fellow of the skins).
Gilla and his wife held on their way till they
came to the castle of Fin MacCumhail; and the
time they came there was no one in the place but
women.
" Where is Fin MacCumhail with his men
to-day?" asked Gilla na Grakin.
" They are all out hunting," said the women.
Now Gilla saw that the castle stood with open
door facing the wind, and turning again to the
women he asked : " Why do you have the door of
the castle to the wind? "
"When Fin and his men are at home and the
wind comes in at the door, they all go out, take
Gilla na Grakin and Fin MacCumhail. 247
hold of the castle and turn it around till the door
is on the sheltered side."
When Gilla na Grakin heard this he went out,
put his hands to the castle, and turned it around
till the door was on the sheltered side.
In the evening when Fin and the Fenians of
Erin were coming from the hunt, they saw the
castle turned around, and Fin said to the men :
" I 'm afraid we have n't half enough of game for
the supper of the strangers who have come to visit
us to-day, there are so many of them that they
have turned the castle around."
When they came home they saw there was no
man there but Gilla na Grakin, and they wondered
at the work he had done.
Gilla stood before Fin, and said : " Do you want
a serving man? "
" I do indeed," said Fin.
" What wages will you give me for a year and a
day? " asked Gilla.
" What yourself will ask," replied Fin.
" I wont ask much," said Gilla; " five pounds for
myself, and a room in the castle for my wife."
" You shall have both," said Fin.
" I'm your man now," said Gilla.
The whole company spent the first part of that
night in ease, the second in sport, and the third in
a short sleep.
248 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
The next morning all the Fenians of Erin were
going to hunt, as the day before, and Fin said to
Gilla na Grakin : " Will you take any man to help
you?"
" I '11 take no man with me but myself; and do
you let me go in one part of the country alone,
and go yourself with all your men in another
part."
" Well," said Fin," will you find dry glens of
ridges, or go in deep boggy places where there is
danger of drowning? "
" I will go in deep boggy places."
All left the castle to hunt. Fin and the Fenians
of Erin went in one direction, and Gilla na Grakin
in another, and hunted all day.
When they came home in the evening Gilla na
Grakin had a thousand times more game than Fin
and all his men together.
When Fin saw this he was glad to have such a
good man, and was pleased beyond measure with
Gilla na Grakin. The whole company spent that
night as they had the night before, in ease and
sport and sleep.
Next day Conan Maol was outside with Fin, and
he said : " Gilla na Grakin will destroy the Fenians
of Erin and put you and all of us to death, unless
you banish him in some way from this castle."
" Well," said Fin to Conan Maol, " I 've never had
Gilla na Grakin and Fin MacCumhail. 249
a good man but you wanted me to put him away.
And how could I banish such a man as this if I
tried?"
" The way to banish him," said Conan Maol, " is
to send him to the king of Lochlin to take from him
the pot of plenty that 's never without meat, but
has always enough in it to feed the whole world,
and bring that pot to this castle."
Fin called Gilla na Grakin, and said : "You '11
have to go for me now to the king of Lochlin, and
get from him the pot of plenty that is never with-
out meat, and bring it here to me."
" Well," said Gilla, " as long as I 'm in your ser-
vice I can 't refuse to do your work."
So away went Gilla. He took a glen at a step
and a hill at a leap till he came to the shore of the
sea, where he caught up two sticks, put one across
the other, then gave them a tip of the hand, and
a fine vessel rose out of the two pieces of wood.
Gilla na Grakin went on board the vessel, hoisted
the sails, and off he went in a straight line. The
music he heard on his way was the whistling of
eels in the sea and the calling of gulls in the air,
till he came under the king's castle in Lochlin.
When he came, there were hundreds of ships
standing near the shore, and he had to anchor
outside them all ; then he stepped from ship to ship
till he stood on land.
250 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
What should there be at the time he landed but
a great feast in the castle of the king. So Gilla
went to the front of the castle and stood outside
at the door; but he could go no further for the
crowd, and no one looked at him. At last he
shouted : " This is a very hospitable feast, and you
are a people of fine manners not to ask a stranger
is he hungry or thirsty."
" You are right," said the king, who turned to
the people and said : " Give the pot of plenty to
the stranger till he eats his fill."
The people obeyed the king, and when Gilla na
Grakin got hold of the pot he made for the ship,
and never stopped till he was on board. He put
the pot in a safe place below. Then standing on
deck he said to himself: " It is no use to take
the pot by my swiftness unless I take it by my
strength."
So he turned and went to land again. All the
heroes and champions of the king of Lochlin and
his whole army were ready to fight, but if they
were so was Gilla na Grakin.
When he came up to the army he began and
went through it as a hawk goes through a flock of
swallows, till he made one heap of their heads
and another heap of their weapons. Then he went
to the castle, caught the king in one hand and the
queen in the other, and putting them under his
Gilla na Grakin and Fin MacCumhaiL 251
two arms brought them out in front of the castle
and killed each with the other.
All was quiet and still at the castle. There
wasn't a man alive to stand up against Gilla na
Grakin, who went to his ship, raised the sails, and
started for Erin. All he heard was the spouting of
whales, the whistling of eels, the calling of gulls,
and the roar of the wind, as the ship rushed back
to the place where he had made it in Erin. When
he reached that place he gave the ship a tip of his
hand, and there before him was the pot of plenty,
and with it the two sticks which he had found on
the shore of the sea when he was going to the
castle of the king of Lochlin.
He left the sticks where he found them, put the
pot on his back, and hurried away to the castle of
Fin MacCumhail.
Fin and all the Fenians of Erin were glad to see
Gilla na Grakin, and Fin thanked him for the work
he had done.
The first part of that night they spent in ease,
the second in sport, the third in a hurried sleep.
Next morning they rose and had breakfast from
the pot. From that day out they hunted for
pleasure alone. They had enough and to spare
from the pot of plenty.
Another day Conan Maol was outside the castle
with Fin, and he said: "Gilla na Grakin will
252 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
destroy you and me and all of us unless we find
some way of putting him to death."
"What do you want him to do now?" asked
Fin.
" Let him go," said Conan Maol, to the king of
the Flood, " and bring back the cup that is never
drained."
Fin went to the castle and called up Gilla na
Grakin. " I want you to go now," said he, " to the
king of the Flood, and bring me his cup that is
never dry."
When he heard Fin's words, Gilla went off without
delay ; he took a glen at a step, and a hill at a leap,
till he came to the sea. There he took up two
sticks of wood, threw one across the other, and
they became a fine large ship.
Away he sailed in a straight line, listening as he
went to the spouting of whales, the whistling of
eels and the calling of gulls, and never stopped
till he anchored outside the castle of the king
of the Flood. There was many a ship at land
before him, so he stopped outside them all, and
stepped from ship to ship till he reached the
shore.
The king of the Flood was giving a great feast
that day. Gilla na Grakin went to the castle, but
could not enter, so great was the throng. He
stood at the door a while, and then called out, " You
Gilla na Grakin and Fin MacCumhaiL 253
are an ill-mannered people, not to ask a stranger is
he hungry or dry ! "
The king heard these words, and said, " You are
right ; " and turning to his people said, " Give this
stranger the cup till he drinks his fill."
As soon as ever Gilla got the cup in his hands,
he made for the ship and never stopped till he put
the cup in the hold of the vessel. Then he came
on deck, and thought, " It 's no use to take the cup
with my swiftness, unless I take it with my
strength."
So back he turned to the castle, and when he
reached land, the whole army and all the cham-
pions of the king of the Flood stood ready to
oppose him. When he came up, he went through
them as a hawk through a flock of swallows. He
made a heap of their heads in one place, and a
heap of their weapons in another, and then went
back to the ship without thinking of the king and
the queen of the Flood forgot them.
He raised his sails and went away, listening to
music on the sea till he touched land in Erin.
Then he took the cup in one hand, struck the
ship with the other, turned it into the two sticks
which he had found on the shore, and travelled
on till he came to the castle of Fin MacCumhail
and gave up the cup.
" You 're the best man I have ever had," said
254 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
Fin ; " and I give you my thanks and praise for
the work you have done."
In the castle they spent the first part of that
night in ease, the second in sport, and the third in
a hurried sleep.
Next morning said Fin to the Fenians of Erin,
" We need n't leave the house now unless we like.
We have the best of eating from the pot, and the
best of drinking from the cup. The one is never
empty, and the other is never dry, and we '11 go
hunting in future only to pass the time for our-
selves."
One day Conan Maol was out with Fin a third
time, and said he : " If we don't find some way to
kill Gilla na Grakin, he '11 destroy you and me,
and all the Fenians of Erin."
" Well," asked Fin, " where do you want to send
him this time."
" I want him to go to the eastern world, and find
out what was it that left the Gruagach with but the
one hair on his head."
Fin went to the castle, called up Gilla na Grakin,
and said:
" You must go for me now to the eastern world,
to know what was it that left the Gruagach with
the one hair on his head."
" Well," said Gilla, " I never knew that you
wanted to put me to death till this minute ; I know
Gilla na Grakin and Fin MacCumhaiL 255
it now. But still so long as I 'm in your service I
can't refuse to do your work."
Then Gilla na Grakin stepped out of the castle
door, and away he went to the eastern world. He
took a glen at a step, a hill at a leap, and lochs
and seas at a bound till he entered the Gruagach's
house in the eastern world.
" What is your errand to me," asked the Grua-
gach, " and why have you come to my house? "
" I have come," said Gilla, " to know what was
it that left you with the one hair on your
head."
" Sit down here and rest yourself to-night, and
if you are a good man, I '11 tell you to-morrow,"
said the Gruagach.
When bedtime came the Gruagach said : " There
is an iron harrow there beyond, with teeth on both
sides of it; go now and stretch yourself on that
harrow, and sleep till morning."
When daylight came, the Gruagach was on his
feet, and asked Gilla was he up.
" I am," said he.
After they had eaten breakfast, the Gruagach
went to another room and brought out two iron
loops. One of these he put on Gilla's neck, and the
other on his own, and then they began to jerk the
loops and pull one another and they fought till
late in the afternoon ; neither had the upper hand,
256 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
but if one man was weaker than the other, that
man was Gilla na Grakin.
" And now," thought he to himself, "the Grua-
gach will take my life, and my wife will never know
what became of me." The thought gave him
strength and power, so up he sprang, and with the
first pull he gave he put the Gruagach to his knees
in the ground, with the second he put him to his
waist, with the third to his shoulders.
" Indeed," said Gilla, " it would be easier for me
to strike the head off you now, than to let you go ;
but if I took your head I should n't have my
master's work done."
" If you let me go," said the Gruagach, " I '11
tell you what happened to me, and why I have but
the one hair on my head."
Gilla set him free, then the two sat down to-
gether, and the Gruagach began :
" I was living here, without trouble or annoy-
ance from any man, till one day a hare ran in,
made an unseemly noise under that table there,
and insulted us. I was here myself at the time with
my wife and my son and my daughter; and we
had a hound, a beagle, and a black horse.
" The hare ran out from under the table, and I
made after the hare, and my wife and son and
daughter, with the horse and the two dogs, followed
me.
Gilla na Grakin and Fin MacCumhaiL 257
" When the hare was on the top of a hill, I had
almost hold of his hind legs, but I never caught
him.
" When night was near, the hare came to the
walls of a great castle, and as he was jumping over,
I hit him a blow on the hind leg with a stick, but
in he went to the castle.
" Out came an old hag, and screamed, ' Who is
it that worried the pet of this castle ! '
" I said it was myself that did it. Then she faced
me, and made at me and the fight began between
us. We fought all that night, and the next day till
near evening. Then she turned around and pulled
a Druidic rod out of herself, ran from me and struck
my wife and son and daughter and the two hounds
and the horse with the Druidic rod and made stones
of them.
" Then she turned on me again and there was n't
but the one hair left on my head from the desperate
fighting, and she looked at me, and said :
" 'I'll let you go this time but I'll give you a
good payment before you leave.' She caught hold
of me then in the grip of her one hand and with
the other she took a sharp knife and stripped all
the skin and flesh off my back, from my waist to
my heels. Then, taking the skin of a rough
shaggy goat, she clapped it on to me in place of
my own skin and flesh, and told me to go my way.
17
258 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
" I left the old hag and the castle behind, but the
skin grew to me and I wear it to this day." And
here the Gruagach turned to Gilla na Grakin and
showed him the goatskin growing on his body in
place of his own skin and flesh.
" Well," said Gilla, when he saw the shaggy back
of the Gruagach, " does that hare come here to
insult you yet? "
" He does, indeed," said the Gruagach, " but I
have n't taken a bite nor a sup off that table since
his first visit."
" Let us sit down there now," said Gilla na
Grakin.
They sat down at the table, but they were not
sitting long till the hare came, repeated the insult,
and ran out.
Gilla na Grakin made after the hare, and the
Gruagach after Gilla.
Gilla ran as fast as ever his legs could carry him,
and he was often that near that he used to stretch
his arm out after the hare, and almost catch him ;
but he never touched him till near night, when he
was clearing the wall. Then Gilla caught him by
the two hind legs, and, swinging him over his own
shoulder, dashed him against the wall, tore the
head from the body, and sent it bounding across
the courtyard of the castle.
Out rushed an old hag that minute. She had
Gilla na Grakin and Fin MacCumliaiL 259
but one tooth and that in her upper jaw, and she
used this tooth for a crutch.
" Who has killed the pet of this castle ! "
shrieked she.
" It was I that killed him," said Gilla na Grakin.
Then the two made at one another, the hag
and Gilla. They fought all that night and next
day. With their fighting they made the hard
rocks soft, and water to spring out through the
middle of them. All the land of the eastern
world was trembling as the evening drew near,
and if one of the two was getting weak from the
struggle and tired, that one was Gilla na Grakin.
When he saw this he thought to himself, " Is n't it
a pity if an old hag puts me to death, me, who has
put to death many a strong hero."
At this thought he sprang up and seized the
hag. With the first thrust which he gave her
into the ground he put her to the knees, with
the second to her waist, with the third to her
shoulders.
" Now," said the old hag to Gilla, " don't kill me,
and I '11 give you the rod of druidism (enchantment),
which I have between my skin and flesh."
" Oh, you wicked old wretch ! I '11 have that
after your death, and no thanks to you," said Gilla.
With that he swept the head off of her with a single
blow.
260 Myths and Fo Ik-Lore of Ireland.
Then the head jumped at the body, and tried to
get its place again, but Gilla stood between them,
and kept the head off till the body was cold.
Then he took out the rod of enchantment from
between the skin and the flesh, and threw the body
and the head of the old hag aside.
The Gruagach came up, and Gilla said, " Show
me now the stones which were once your wife and
children, your dogs and your horse."
The Gruagach went with him to the stones.
Gilla struck each with the rod, and the wife,
the son, the daughter, the hounds and the horse of
the Gruagach were alive again.
When this was done, Gilla turned to the
Gruagach, struck the goatskin from his body, and
gave him his own skin and flesh back again with
the power of the rod.
When all were restored, they started for the
Gruagach's house, and when there the Gruagach
said to Gilla na Grakin,
" Stay here with me till you get your rest. We
won't leave this place for a year and a day, and
then I '11 go with you to the castle of Fin Mac-
Cumhail and give witness to Fin of all that has
happened to me and all you have done."
" Oh," said Gilla na Grakin, " I can't stay to rest,
I must go now ! "
The Gruagach was so glad that he had got back
Gilla na Grakin and Fin MacCumhail. 261
all his family and his own flesh that he followed
Gilla, and they set out for the castle of Fin Mac-
Cumhail in Erin.
They took a glen at a step, a hill at a leap, and
the sea at a bound.
Conan Maol, who was outside the castle when
they came in sight, ran in and said to Fin, " Gilla
na Grakin and the Gruagach are coming, and
they '11 destroy all that 's about the castle, and all
that 's inside as well ! "
" If they do," said Fin, " it 's your own fault, and
you have no one to blame but yourself."
"Well," said Conan Maol, "I'll lie down here
in the cradle, and put a steel cap on my head."
Conan lay down in the cradle. Gilla and the
Gruagach came into the castle. The Gruagach
sat down near the cradle. Then he said to Fin, " I
came here with Gilla na Grakin to bear witness
to you of all that has happened to me, and of
all he has done."
Then he told Fin the whole story of what they
had gone through and what they had done.
With that the Gruagach put his hand behind
him and asked : " How old is this child lying here
in the cradle?"
" Only three years," said Fin's wife.
Then the Gruagach took the steel cap between
his thumb and fingers, thinking it was the head of
262 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
the child, and squeezed till the steel cracked with a
loud snap, but the child did n't cry.
" Oh, there 's the making of a man in him. If he
gets age he '11 be a champion," said the Gruagach.
Next day the Gruagach left Fin's castle and went
to his own place and family.
Gilla na Grakin's time was now up, for he had
served a year and a day.
Fin went out to wash himself in a spring near
the castle, and when he looked into the spring a
spirit spoke up out of the water to him and said :
" You must give back his cup to the king of
the Flood, or you must give him battle in its
place."
Fin went back to the castle, lamenting the state
he was in.
Conan Maol said, " You look like a sorrowful
man."
"Why shouldn't I be?" said Fin. "A spirit
spoke to me from the spring outside, and told me
I must give back the cup to the king of the Flood,
or give him battle in place of it. Now Gilla's time
is up, and I don't know what to do."
"Well," said Conan Maol, " do you go now and
speak to him, and maybe he '11 do you a good
turn."
Fin went to Gilla na Grakin, and told him what
happened at the spring.
Gilia na Grakin and Fin MacCumhail. 263
"My time is up, as you know," said Gilla, " and
I cannot serve on time that is past; but if you
want me to go, you must watch my wife Scehide ni
Wananan on Friday night; and in the middle of
the night, when she is combing her hair, any re-
quest you '11 make of her she can't refuse. The
request you '11 make is that she '11 let me go with
you to the king of the Flood, to take the cup to
his castle and bring it back again."
Fin watched the time closely, and when the
middle of Friday night came, he looked through
a hole in the door and saw Scehide combing her
hair. Then he asked his request of her.
" Well," answered she, " I can't refuse, but you
must promise me to bring back Gilla, dead or alive."
Fin promised her that.
Next morning Fin MacCumhail and Gilla na
Grakin set out for the castle of the king of the
Flood, taking the cup with them.
They walked over Erin till they came to the
shore of the sea. There Gilla caught up two
pieces of wood, and putting one across the other,
struck them a tip of his fingers, and out of them
rose a fine ship. He and Fin went on board,
sailed away, and never stopped till they cast
anchor outside all the ships, under the castle of
the king of the Flood. The two walked on from
deck to deck till they stood on shore.
264 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
They went a short distance from the castle of
the king and pitched a tent.
Said Gilla to Fin, " Now we are hungry, and I
must find food for you and myself."
So Gilla na Grakin went to the castle and asked
food of the king of the Flood.
" You '11 get nothing to eat from me. I have no
food in this place to give you or the like of you ;
but there is a wild bull in the wood outside. Find
him : if you kill him, you '11 have something to eat ;
if not you '11 go fasting," said the king of the
Flood to Gilla na Grakin.
Gilla went out to the wood, and when the wild
bull saw a man coming towards him he drove his
horns into the ground, and put an acre of land
over his own back. Then he threw up an oak-tree,
roots and all, till it nearly reached the sky, and
made at Gilla na Grakin. But if he did, Gilla was
ready for him and faced him, and when the bull
came up, he caught him by the horns and threw
him to the ground; then putting a foot on one
horn, he took the other in his two hands, split the
bull from muzzle to tail, and made two halves of
him.
Gilla carried the carcass to the tent, and when
he had taken off the skin he said to Fin, "We
have no pot to boil the meat in. Well, I '11 go to
the king again."
Gilla na Grakin and Fin MacCumhail. 265
So off he went and knocked at the castle
door.
" What do you want now? " asked the king.
" I want a pot," said Gilla, " to boil the wild
bull."
" Well," said the king, " I have no pot for you
but that big pot back in the yard, in which we
boil stuff for the pigs. I '11 give you the loan of
that if you are able to carry it."
" It 's good to get that itself from a bad person,"
said Gilla na Grakin, and away he went to look for
the pot behind the castle.
At last he found it, and when he put it down at
the tent he said to Fin, " We have nothing now to
boil the pot with, nothing to make a fire."
Then he went a third time to the castle, knocked
at the door, and out came the king. " What do
you want now?" asked he.
" Fire to boil the bull."
" Go to the wood and get firewood for your-
self, or do without it. You '11 get no firewood from
me," said the king of the Flood.
Gilla went out, got plenty of wood and boiled
the whole bull.
" We are well off now," said he to Fin ; " we
have plenty to eat."
Next morning Gilla na Grakin went to the castle
and knocked.
266 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
" Who is that? " asked the king, without opening
the door.
" I want no chat nor questions from you," said
Gilla, " but get me a breakfast."
" I have no breakfast now," said the king; " but
wait a minute and you '11 get a hot breakfast from
me."
That moment the signal was sounded for the
armies of the king of the Flood to take Gilla
na Grakin and his master.
When the armies stood ready Gilla began and
went through them as a hawk through sparrows.
He made one heap of their heads and another of
their weapons, did n't leave a man living. Then
he went into the castle and taking the king of the
Flood in one hand and the queen in the other, he
killed each of them against the other.
Now all was quiet at the castle. Gilla na Grakin
struck the tent and went to the ship with Fin
MacCumhail, who had the cup that was never
dry.
They raised the sails and went over the sea
toward Erin, till they saw a large ship on one side
of them.
" If it 's going to help us that ship is," said Fin,
" 't is all the better for us, but if 't is going against
us she is, that's the bad part of it."
As the ship came near, Gilla na Grakin looked
Gilla na Grakin and Fin MacCumhail. 267
at her sharply, and said to Fin, " I think it 's Lun
Dubh that 's on that ship."
" Well," said Fin, " may be he '11 not know you
in a strange dress."
When Lun Dubh came alongside, he called out :
" I know you well, and it 's not by your dress that
I know you, Cesa MacRi na Tulach." Then Lun
Dubh sprang on deck, raised his hand, struck Gilla,
and stretched him dead.
Fin sailed away with the body of Gilla na Grakin,
and when he came in sight of the shore of Erin
he raised a black flag ; for he had promised Gilla's
wife to raise a white flag if her husband was well,
but a black one if he was dead.
When he came to the shore, Scehide ni Wana-
nan was there before him, and she had a large,
roomy box. When she saw Fin she said, " You
have him dead with you?"
" I have," said Fin.
" What will you do with him now? " asked she.
" I will bury him decently," said Fin.
" You will not," said she ; " you will put him in
this box."
Then Fin put him in the box. She went aside
and got some fresh shamrock and went into the
box with Gilla. Then she told Fin to push the
box out to sea, and putting down the cover
fastened it inside.
268 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
Fin pushed the box out into the sea, and away
it went driven by wind and waves, till one day
Scehide looked out through a hole and saw two
sparrows flying and a dead one between them.
The two living sparrows let the dead one down
on an island. Soon they rose up again, and the
dead one was living.
Said Scehide to herself, " There might be
something on that island that would cure my
husband as it cured the dead bird."
Now the sea put the box in on the island.
Scehide unfastened the cover, came out, and
walked around the island. Nothing could she
find but a small spring of water in a rock. " It 's
in this the cure may be," thought she, as she
looked at the water. Then taking off one of her
shoes she put it full of the water, took it to the
box, and poured it on Gilla na Grakin. That mo-
ment he stood up alive and well.
Gilla walked along the shore till he found two
pieces of wood. He threw one across the other,
gave them a tip of his hand, a fine large ship stood
there at the shore, and in it he sailed with Scehide
back to Erin.
When they landed he turned the vessel into two
sticks again with a tip of the hand, and set out
with his wife for the castle of Fin MacCumhail in
TirConal.
Gilla na Grakin and Fin MacCumhaiL 269
They came to the castle of Fin at midnight.
Gilla knocked and said, " Put my wages out to
me."
" Well," said Fin inside, " there is no man, alive
or dead, that has wages on me but Gilla na Grakin,
and I would rather see that fellow here than the
wages of three men."
" Well, rise up now and you '11 see him," said
Gilla.
Fin rose up, saw his man, gave him his wages
with thanks and Gilla departed.
At the break of day they saw a great house
before them. A man walked out with a kerchief
bound on his head.
When Gilla na Grakin came up, he knew the
man, and raising his hand, struck him dead with
a blow.
" I have satisfaction on Lun Dubh, now," said
Gilla to the wife. The two went into the house
and stayed there, and may be there yet for any-
thing we know. We are the luck and they are
the winners.
FIN MACCUMHAIL.
THE SEVEN BROTHERS AND THE KING OF
FRANCE.
\T 7HEN Fin MacCumhail with seven companies
of the Fenians of Erin was living at Tara
of the Kings, he went hunting one day with the
seven companies ; and while out on the mountains
seven young men came towards him and when
they came up and stood before him he asked their
names of them.
Each gave his name in turn, beginning with
the eldest, and their names were Strong, son of
Strength ; Wise, son of Wisdom ; Builder, son of
Builder; Whistler, son of Whistler; Guide, son
of Guide; Climber, son of Climber; Thief, son
of Thief.
The seven young men pleased Fin ; they were
looking for service, so he hired them for a year
and a day.
When Fin and the Fenians of Erin went home
that night from the hunt there was a message at
the castle before them from the king of France
Fin MacCumhail. 271
to Fin MacCumhail and the Fenians of Erin, ask-
ing them to come over to him on a most important
affair.
Fin held a council straightway and said, " France
is a thousand miles from this and the sea between
it and Erin ; how can we go to the king of France? "
Then Strong, son of Strength, spoke up and
said: "What is the use of hiring us if we can't
do this work and the like of it? If you '11 make
a ship here, or in any place, I '11 pull it in the
sea."
" And I," said Builder, " will make a ship fit
for you or any king on earth with one blow of
this axe in my hand."
" That 's what I want," said Fin, " and now do
you make that ship for me."
" I will," said Builder.
" Well," said Strong, " I '11 put your ship in the
sea."
Builder made the ship there at Tara of the
Kings and then Strong brought it to the seashore
and put it in the water. Fin and the Fenians of
Erin went on board, and Guide took the ship from
Erin to France.
When Fin and his men went to the king of
France he was glad to see them and said :
" I '11 tell you the reason now I asked you here,
and the business I have with you. This time three
272 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
years ago my wife had a son, two years ago a sec-
ond, one year ago a third, and the neighbors' wives
are thinking she '11 have another child soon. Im-
mediately they were born the three were taken
away, and I want you to save the fourth ; for we
all think it will be taken from us like the other
three. When each one of the others was sleeping,
a hand came down the chimney to the cradle and
took the child away with it up the chimney. There
is meat and drink in plenty in that room for you
and the Fenians of Erin. My only request is that
you '11 watch the child."
" We '11 do that," said Fin, and he went into the
chamber with men enough to watch and the seven
brothers with him. Then the seven said : " Do
you and the men go to sleep for yourselves, and
we '11 do the watching."
So Fin and the men went to sleep. The child
was born early in the evening and put in the
cradle. At the dead of night Wise said to Strong :
" Now is your time; the hand is near; keep your
eye on it."
Soon he saw the hand coming lower and lower
and moving towards the child; and when it was
going into the cradle, Strong caught the hand and
it drew him up nearly to the top of the chimney.
Then he pulled it down to the ashes ; again it drew
him up.
Fin MacCumhail. 273
They were that way all night, the hand draw-
ing Strong almost to the top of the chimney and
out of the house and Strong dragging the hand
down to the hearth. They were up and down the
chimney till break of day ; and every stone in the
castle of the king of France was trembling in its
place from the struggle.
But at break of day Strong tore from its shoul-
der the arm with the hand, and there was peace.
Now all rose up at the castle. The king came and
was glad when he saw the child.
Then Fin spoke up and said : " We have done
no good thing yet till we bring back the other
three to you."
Wise spoke up and said : " I know very well
where the other three are, and I '11 show you the
place."
So all set out and they followed him to the
castle of Mai MacMulcan and there they saw the
three sons of the King of France carrying water
to MacMulcan to cool the shoulder from which
the arm had been torn by Strong.
Then Wise said to Climber : " Now is your time
to take the children away ; for we can do it without
being seen ; but if Mai MacMulcan were to see the
children going from him, he 'd destroy the whole
world. But as it is when he finds the children
are gone, he has a sister there near himself, and
18
274 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
he '11 break her head against the wall of the
castle."
Then Climber took a clew from his pocket and
threw it over the walls of the castle, and the walls
were so high that no bird of the air could fly over
them. Then they fixed a rope ladder on the
castle. Wise, Guide, and Climber went up the
ladder and at break of day they brought away
the three children and gave them to the king of
France that morning. And the king of France
was so glad when he saw his three sons that he
said to Fin: "I will give you your ship full of the
most precious stuffs in my kingdom."
" I will take nothing for myself," said Fin; " but
do you give what you like to my seven young men
who have done the work ; " and the seven said they
would n't take anything while they were serving
with him. So Fin took the present from the king
of France and set sail for Erin with the Fenians
and the seven young men.
While they were on the way to Erin they saw
the sea raging after them. Wise, son of Wisdom,
said : " That is Mai MacMulcan coming to get
satisfaction out of us."
Then MacMulcan caught hold of the ship by
the stern and pulled it down till the masts
touched the sea. Strong caught him by the left
remaining hand, and the two began to fight, and
Fin MacCumhail. 275
at last Strong pulled him on to the deck of the
ship.
" Our ship will be sunk," said Wise, " and Fin
with the Fenians of Erin and the seven of us will
be drowned unless you make a flail out of Mac-
Mulcan and thrash the head off his body on the
deck of the ship."
Strong made a flail out of MacMulcan and killed
him, and the sea was filled with blood in a minute
of time. Then the ship moved on without harm
till they came to the same spot in Erin from which
they had sailed.
When Fin came to the place where he had hired
the seven young men the year and a day were
over. He paid them their hire and they left him.
Then he came to his own castle at Tara of the Kings-
One day Fin went out walking alone, and he
met an old hag by the way. She spoke up to
him and asked : " Would you play a game of
cards with me?"
" I would," said Fin, " if I had the means of
playing."
The old hag pulled out a pack of cards and
said : " Here you have the means of playing as
many games as you like."
They sat down and played ; Fin got the first
game on the old woman. Then she said, " Put
the sentence on me now."
276 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
" I will not," said Fin ; " I '11 do nothing till we
play another game."
They played again and she won the second
game. Then she said to Fin, " You will have to
go and bring here for me the head of Curucha
na Gras and the sword that guards his castle ;
and I won't give you leave to take away any of
your men with you but one, and he is the worst of
them all, ' Iron back without action,' and the time
for your journey is a year and a day. Now what
is your sentence on me?" said the old hag.
" You '11 put one foot," said Fin, " on the top of
my castle in Tara of the Kings, and the other on
a hill in Mayo, and you '11 stand with your back to
the wind and your face to the storm, a sheaf of
wheat on the ground before the gate will be all
you '11 have to eat, and any grain that will be
blown out of it, if you catch that you '11 have it,
and you '11 be that way till I come back."
So Fin went away with himself and " Iron back
without action." And when they had gone as far
as a large wood that was by the roadside, a thick
fog came on them, and rain, and they sat down at
the edge of the wood and waited. Soon they saw
a red-haired boy with a bow and arrows shooting
birds, and whenever he hit a bird he used to put
the arrow through its two eyes and not put a drop
of blood on its feathers.
Fin MacCumhaiL 277
And when the red boy came near Fin, he drew
his bow, sent an arrow through " Iron back without
action," and put the life out of him.
When he did that Fin said, " You have left me
without any man, though this was the worst of all
I have/'
" You 'd better hire me," said the red boy ;
" you Ve lost nothing, for you were without a man
when you had that fellow the same as you are now."
So Fin hired the red boy and asked him his
name. " I won't tell you that," said he, " but do
you put the name on me that'll please yourself."
" Well," said Fin, " since I met you in the rain
and the mist I '11 call you Misty."
" That'll be my name while I 'm with you," said
the red boy, " and now we '11 cast lots to see which
of us will carry the other ; " and the lot fell upon
Misty. He raised Fin on his back to carry him,
and the first leap he took was six miles, and every
step a mile, and he went on without stopping till
he was in the Western World. When they came
to the castle of Curucha na Gras, Fin and Misty put
up a tent for themselves and they were hungry
enough after the long road, and Misty said, " I will
go and ask Curucha for something to eat." He
went to the castle and put a fighting blow on the
door. Curucha came out and Misty asked him for
bread.
278 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
" I would n't give you the leavings of my pigs,"
said Curucha.
Misty turned and left him, but on the way he
met the bakers bringing bread from the bake
house and he caught all their loaves from them and
ran home to Fin. " We have plenty to eat now,"
said Misty, " but nothing at all to drink. I must
go to Curucha to know will he give us something
to drink."
He went a second time to the castle, put a fight-
ing blow on the door, and out came Curucha.
" What do you want this time? " asked he.
" I want drink for myself and my master, Fin
MacCumhail."
" You '11 get no drink from me. I would n't give
you the dirty ditch-water that 's outside my
castle."
Misty turned to go home, but on the way he
met twelve boys each carrying the full of his arms
of bottles of wine. He took every bottle from
them, and it was n't long till he was in the tent.
" Now we can eat and drink our fill."
" We can indeed," said Fin. Next morning
Misty put another fighting blow on the door of
the castle. Out flew Curucha with his guardian
sword in his hand, and he made at Misty. With
the first blow he gave him, he took an ear off his
head.
Fin MacCumhaiL 279
Misty sprang back, drew his bow, and sent an
arrow into Curucha's breast. It flew out through
his head and he fell lifeless on the ground. Then
Misty drew his knife, cut off the head, and carried
the head and the sword to Fin MacCumhail, and
Fin was glad to get them both.
" Take the head," said Misty, " and put it on top
of the holly bush that 's out here above us." Fin
put the head on the holly bush, and the minute he
put it there the head burnt the bush to the earth,
and the earth to the clay.
Then they took the best horse that could be
found about Curucha's castle, Fin sat on the
horse, with the sword and head in front of him ;
and Misty followed behind.
They went their way and never stopped till they
came to the place where Misty sent the arrow
through " Iron back without action " and killed
him. When they came to that spot, Misty asked
Fin would he tell him a story, and Fin answered,
" I have no story to tell except that we are in the
place now where you killed my man."
" Oh, then," said Misty, " I 'm glad you put
that in my mind for I '11 give him back to you
now." So they went and took " Iron back with-
out action " out of the ground; then Misty struck
him with a rod of enchantment which he had, and
brought life into him again.
280 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland,
Then Misty turned to Fin and said : " I am a
brother of the seven boys who went with you to
save the children of the king of France. I was
too young for action at that time, but my mother
sent me here now as a gift to help you and tell
you what to do. When you go to the hag she '11
ask you for the sword, but you '11 not give it, you '11
only show it to her. And when she has seen the
sword she '11 ask for the head. And you '11 not
give the head to her either, you '11 only show it ;
and when she sees the head, she '11 open her mouth
with joy at seeing the head of her brother; and
when you see her open her mouth be sure to strike
her on the breast with the head ; and if you don't do
that, the whole world would n't be able to kill her."
Then Fin left Misty where he met him and with
"Iron back without action " he made for Tara of
the Kings.
When he came in front of the old hag she
asked him had he the gifts. Fin said he had. She
asked for the sword but she did n't get it, Fin only
showed it to her. Then she asked for the head,
and when she saw the head, she opened her mouth
with delight at seeing the head of her brother.
While she stood there with open mouth gazing,
Fin picked out the mark and struck her on the
breast with the head. She fell to the ground ;
they left her there dead and went into the castle.
BLACK, BROWN, AND GRAY.
a day Fin MacCumhail was near Tara of the
Kings, south of Ballyshannon, hunting with
seven companies of the Fenians of Erin.
During the day they saw three strange men
coming towards them, and Fin said to the Fenians :
" Let none of you speak to them, and if they have
good manners they '11 not speak to you nor to any
man till they come to me."
When the three men came up, they said nothing
till they stood before Fin himself. Then he asked
what their names were and what they wanted.
They answered :
" Our names are Dubh, Dun, and Glasdn [Black,
Brown, and Gray]. We have come to find Fin
MacCumhail, chief of the Fenians of Erin, and take
service with him."
Fin was so well pleased with their looks that he
brought them home with him that evening and
called them his sons. Then he said, " Every man
who comes to this castle must watch the first
night for me, and since three of you have come
together, each will watch one third of the night.
282 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
You '11 cast lots to see who '11 watch first and
second."
Fin had the trunk of a tree brought, three equal
parts made of it, and one given to each of the men.
Then he said, "When each of you begins his
watch he will set fire to his own piece of wood, and
so long as the wood burns he will watch."
The lot fell to Dubh to go on the first watch.
Dubh set fire to his log, then went out around
the castle, the dog Bran with him. He wandered
on, going further and further from the castle, and
Bran after him. At last he saw a bright light and
went towards it. When he came to the place
where the light was burning, he saw a large house.
He entered the house and when inside saw a great
company of most strange looking men, drinking
out of a single cup.
The chief of the party, who was sitting on a
high place, gave the cup to the man nearest him ;
and when he had drunk his fill out of it, he passed
it to his neighbor, and so on to the last.
While the cup was going the round of the
company, the chief said, " This is the great cup
that was taken from Fin MacCumhail a hundred
years ago; and as much as each man wishes to
drink he always gets from it, and no matter how
many men there may be, or what they wish for,
they always have their fill."
Black, Brown, and Gray. 283
Dubh sat near the door on the edge of the
crowd, and when the cup came to him he drank a
little, then slipped out and hurried away in the
dark ; when he came to the fountain at the castle
of Fin MacCumhail, his log was burned.
As the second lot had fallen on Dun, it was now
his turn to watch, so he set fire to his log and
went out, in the place of Dubh, with the dog Bran
after him.
Dun walked on through the night till he saw a
fire. He went towards it, and when he had come
near he saw a large house, which he entered ; and
when inside he saw a crowd of strange looking
men, fighting. They were ferocious, wonderful to
look at, and fighting wildly.
The chief, who had climbed on the crossbeams
of the house to escape the uproar and struggle,
called out to the crowd below : " Stop fighting now ;
for I have a better gift than the one you have lost
this night." And putting his hand behind his belt,
he drew out a knife and held it before them, say-
ing: " Here is the wonderful knife, the small knife
of division, that was stolen from Fin MacCumhail
a hundred years ago, and if you cut on a bone
with the knife, you '11 get the finest meat in the
world, and as much of it as ever your hearts can
wish for."
Then he passed down the knife and a bare bone
284 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
to the man next him, and the man began to cut;
and off came slices of the sweetest and best meat
in the world.
The knife and the bone passed from man to
man till they came to Dun, who cut a slice off the
bone, slipped out unseen, and made for Fin's castle
as fast as his two legs could carry him through the
darkness and over the ground.
When he was by the fountain at the castle, his
part of the log was burned and his watch at an
end.
Now Glasan set fire to his stick of wood and
went out on his watch and walked forward till he
saw the light and came to the same house that
Dubh and Dun had visited. Looking in he saw
the place full of dead bodies, and thought, " There
must be some great wonder here. If I lie down in
the midst of these and put some of them over me
to hide myself, I shall be able to see what is going
on."
He lay down and pulled some of the bodies
over himself. He was n't there long when he saw
an old hag coming into the house. She had but
one leg, one arm, and one upper tooth, which was
as long as her leg and served her in place of a
crutch.
When inside the door she took up the first
corpse she met and threw it aside ; it was lean.
Black, Brown, and Gray. 285
As she went on she took two bites out of every
fat corpse she met, and threw every lean one
aside.
She had her fill of flesh and blood before she
came to Glasan ; and as soon as she had that, she
dropped down on the floor, lay on her back, and
went to sleep.
Every breath she drew, Glasan was afraid she 'd
drag the roof down on top of his head, and every
time she let a breath out of her he thought she 'd
sweep the roof off the house.
Then he rose up, looked at her, and wondered
at the bulk of her body. At last he drew his
sword, hit her a slash, and if he did, three young
giants sprang forth.
Glasan killed the first giant, the dog Bran killed
the second, and the third ran away.
Glasan now hurried back, and when he reached
the fountain at Fin's castle, his log of wood was
burned, and day was dawning.
When all had risen in the morning, and the
Fenians of Erin came out, Fin said to Dubh,
" Have you anything new or wonderful to tell me
after the night's watching?"
" I have," said Dubh ; " for I brought back the
drinking-cup that you lost a hundred years ago.
I was out in the darkness watching. I walked on,
and the dog Bran with me till I saw a light. When
286 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
I came to the light I found a house, and in the
house a company feasting. The chief was a very
old man, and sat on a high place above the rest.
He took out the cup and said : ' This is the cup
that was stolen from Fin MacCumhail a hundred
years ago, and it is always full of the best drink
in the world ; and when one of you has drunk
from the cup pass it on to the next.'
" They drank and passed the cup till it came to
me. I took it and hurried back. When I came
here, my log was burned and my watch was
finished. Here now is the cup for you," said
Dubh to Fin MacCumhail.
Fin praised him greatly for what he had done,
and turning to Dun said : " Now tell us what
happened in your watch."
" When my turn came I set fire to the log
which you gave me, and walked on ; the dog Bran
following, till I saw a light. When I came to the
light, I found a house in which was a crowd of
people, all fighting except one very old man on
a high place above the rest. He called to them
for peace, and told them to be quiet. ' For,' said
he, ' I have a better gift for you than the one you
lost this night,' and he took out the small knife
of division with a bare bone, and said: 'This is
the knife that was stolen from Fin MacCumhail, a
hundred years ago, and whenever you cut on the
Blacky Brown, and Gray. 287
bone with the knife, you '11 get your fill of the best
meat on earth.'
" Then he handed the knife and the bone to the
man nearest him, who cut from it all the meat he
wanted, and then passed it to his neighbor. The
knife went from hand to hand till it came to me,
then I took it, slipped out, and hurried away.
When I came to the fountain, my log was burned,
and here are the knife and bone for you."
" You have done a great work, and deserve my
best praise," said Fin. " We are sure of the best
eating and drinking as long as we keep the cup
and the knife."
" Now what have you seen in your part of the
night?" said Fin to Glasdn.
" I went out," said Glasdn, " with the dog Bran,
and walked on till I saw a light, and when I came
to the light I saw a house, which I entered. Inside
were heaps of dead men, killed in fighting, and I
wondered greatly when I saw them. At last I lay
down in the midst of the corpses, put some of
them over me and waited to see what would
happen.
" Soon an old hag came in at the door, she had
but one arm, one leg, and the one tooth out of
her upper jaw, and that tooth as long as her leg,
and she used it for a crutch as she hobbled along.
She threw aside the first corpse she met and took
288 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
two bites out of the second, for she threw every
lean corpse away and took two bites out of every
fat one. When she had eaten her fill, she lay down
on her back in the middle of the floor and went
to sleep. I rose up then to look at her, and every
time she drew a breath I was in dread she would
bring down the roof of the house on the top of my
head, and every time she let a breath out of her,
I thought she 'd sweep the roof from the building,
so strong was the breath of the old hag.
" Then I drew my sword and cut her with a
blow, but if I did three young giants sprang up
before me. I killed the first, Bran killed the sec-
ond, but the third escaped. I walked away then,
and when I was at the fountain outside, daylight
had come and my log was burned."
" Between you and me," said Fin, " it would
have been as well if you had let the old hag alone.
I am greatly in dread the third young giant will
bring trouble on us all."
For twenty-one years Fin MacCumhail and the
Fenians of Erin hunted for sport alone. They had
the best of eating from the small knife of division,
and the best of drinking from the cup that was
never dry.
At the end of twenty-one years Dubh, Dun, and
Glasan went away, and one day, as Fin and the
Fenians of Erin were hunting on the hills and
Black, Brown, and Gray. 289
mountains, they saw a Fear Ruadh (a red haired
man) coming toward them.
" There is a bright looking man coming this
way," said Fin, " and don't you speak to him."
" Oh, what do we care for him? " asked Conan
Maol.
" Don't be rude to a stranger," said Fin.
The Fear Ruadh came forward and spoke to no
man till he stood before Fin.
" What have you come for? " asked Fin.
" To find a master for twenty-one years."
" What wages do you ask?" inquired Fin.
" No wages but this, that if I die before the
twenty-one years have passed, I shall be buried
on Inis Caol (Light Island)."
" I '11 give you those wages," said Fin, and he
hired the Fear Ruadh for twenty-one years.
He served Fin for twenty years to his satisfac-
tion ; but toward the end of the twenty-first year
he fell into a decline, became an old man, and
died.
When the Fear Ruadh was dead, the Fenians of
Erin said that not a step would they go to bury
him ; but Fin declared that he would n't break his
word for any man, and must take the corpse to
Inis Caol.
Fin had an old white horse which he had turned
out to find a living for himself as he could on the
19
2 go Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
hillsides and in the woods. And now he looked
for the horse and found that he had become
younger than older in looks since he had put him
out. So he took the old white horse and tied
a coffin, with the body of the Fear Ruadh in it,
on his back. Then they started him on ahead
and away he went followed by Fin and twelve men
of the Fenians of Erin.
When they came to the temple on Inis Caol
there were no signs 'of the white horse and the
coffin ; but the temple was open and in went Fin
and the twelve.
There were seats for each man inside. They
sat down and rested awhile and then Fin tried to
to rise but could n't. He told the men to rise, but
the twelve were fastened to the seats, and the seats
to the ground, so that not a man of them could
come to his feet.
" Oh, " said Fin, " I 'm in dread there is some
evil trick played on us."
At that moment the Fear Ruadh stood before
them in all his former strength and youth and said :
" Now is the time for me to take satisfaction
out of you for my mother and brothers," Then
one of the men said to Fin, " Chew your thumb
to know is there any way out of this."
Fin chewed his thumb to know what should he
do. When he knew, he blew the great whistle with
Black, Brown, and Gray. 291
his two hands; which was heard by Donogh Kam-
cosa and Diarmuid O'Duivnc.
The Fear Ruadh fell to and killed three of the
men; but before he could touch the fourth
Donogh and Diarmuid were there, and put an end
to him. Now all were free, and Fin with the nine
men went back to their castle south of Bally
shannon.
FIN MACCUMHAIL AND THE SON OF
THE KING OF ALBA.
/^\N a day Fin went out hunting with his dog
Bran, on Knock an Ar ; and he killed so much
game that he did n't know what to do with it or
how to bring it home. As he stood looking and
thinking, all at once he saw a man running towards
him, with a rope around his waist so long that half
his body was covered with it ; and the man was
of such size that, as he ran, Fin could see the
whole world between his legs and nothing between
his head and the sky. When he came up, the
man saluted Fin, who answered him most kindly.
"Where are you going? " asked Fin. "I am out
looking for a master." " Well," said Fin, " I am
in sore need of a man; what can you do? " " Do
you see this rope on my body? Whatever this
rope will bind I can carry." " If that is true," said
Fin, " you are the man I want Do you see the
game on this hillside?" "I do," said the man.
" Well, put that into the rope and carry it to my
castle."
The man put all the game into the rope, made a
great bundle, and threw it on his back.
Fin MacCumhail. 293
" Show me the way to the castle now," said he.
Fin started on ahead, and though he ran with all
his might, he could not gain one step on the man
who followed with the game. The sentry on guard
at the castle saw the man running while yet far off.
He stepped inside the gate and said : " There is
a man coming with a load on his back as big as a
mountain." Before he could come out again to his
place the man was there and the load off his back.
When the game came to the ground, it shook the
castle to its foundations. Next day the man was
sent to herd cows for a time, and while he was
gone, Conan Maol said to Fin: " If you don't put
this cowherd to death, he will destroy all the
Fenians of Erin." " How could I put such a good
man to death?" asked Fin. "Send him," said
Conan, " to sow corn on the brink of a lake in the
north of Erin. Now, in that lake lives a serpent that
never lets a person pass, but swallows every man
that goes that way." Fin agreed to this, and the
next morning after breakfast he called the man, gave
him seven bullocks, a plough, and a sack of grain,
and sent him to the lake in the north of Erin to sow
corn. When he came to the lake, the man started
to plough, drew one furrow. The lake began to boil
up, and as he was coming back, making the second
furrow, the serpent was on the field before him
and swallowed the seven bullocks and the plough
294 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
up to the handles. But the man held fast to what
he had in his two hands, gave a pull, and dragged
the plough and six of the bullocks out of the belly
of the serpent. The seventh one remained inside.
The serpent went at him and they fought for seven
days and nights. At the end of that time the ser-
pent was as tame as a cat, and the man drove him
and the six bullocks home before him.
When he was in sight of Fin's castle, the sentry
at the gate ran in and cried : " That cowherd is
coming with the size of a mountain before him ! "
" Run out," said Conan Maol, " and tell him to tie
the serpent to that oak out there."
They ran out, and the man tied the serpent to
the oak-tree, then came in and had a good
supper.
Next morning the man went out to herd cows
as before. " Well," said Conan Maol to Fin, " if
you don't put this man to death, he '11 destroy you
and me and all the Fenians of Erin."
" How could I put such a man to death ? "
" There is," said Conan, " a bullock in the north
of Erin, and he drives fog out of himself for seven
days and then he draws it in for seven other
days. To-morrow is the last day for drawing it
in. If any one man comes near, he '11 swallow him
alive."
When the cowherd came to supper in the even-
Fin MacCumhail, 295
ing, Fin said to him : " I am going to have a feast
and need fresh beef. Now there is a bullock in
that same valley by the lake in the north of Erin
where you punished the serpent; and if you go
there and bring the bullock to me, you '11 have my
thanks."
" I '11 go," said the man, " the first thing after
breakfast in the morning."
So off he went next morning; and when he came
near the valley, he found the bullock asleep and
drawing in the last of the fog; and soon he found
himself going in with it. So he caught hold of a
great oak-tree for safety. The bullock woke up
then and saw him, and letting a roar out of himself,
faced him, and gave him a pitch with his horn
which sent him seven miles over the top of a wood.
And when he fell to the ground, the bullock was on
him again before he had time to rise, and gave him
another pitch which sent him back and broke
three ribs in his body.
" This will never do," said the man, as he rose,
and pulling up an oak-tree by the roots for a club,
he faced the bullock. And there they were at one
another for five days and nights, till the bullock
was as tame as a cat and the man drove him home
to Fin's castle.
The sentry saw them coming and ran inside the
gate with word. " Tell the man to tie the bullock
296 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
to that oak-tree beyond," said Conan. "We don't
want him near this place." The cowherd tied the
bullock, and told Fin to send four of the best
butchers in Erin to kill him with an axe ; and the
four of them struck him one after another and any
of them could n't knock him.
"Give me an axe," said the man to the butchers.
They gave him the axe, and the first stroke he
gave, he knocked the bullock. Then they began
to skin him ; but the man did n't like the way they
were doing the work, so he took his sword and had
three quarters of the bullock skinned before they
could skin one.
Next morning the cowherd went out with the
cows ; but he was n't long gone when Conan Maol
came to Fin and said: " If you don't put an end to
that man, he '11 soon put an end to you and to me
and to all of us, so there won't be a man of the
Fenians of Erin left alive."
" How could I put an end to a man like him?"
asked Fin.
"There is in the north of Erin," said Conan,
" a wild sow who has two great pigs of her own ;
and she and her two pigs have bags of poison in
their tails ; and when they see any man, they run at
him and shake their poison bags ; and if the smallest
drop of the poison touches him, it is death to him
that minute. And, if by any chance he should
Fin MacCumhail. 297
escape the wild sow and the pigs, there is a fox-
man called the Gruagach, who has but one eye and
that in the middle of his forehead. The Gruagach
carries a club of a ton weight, and if the cowherd
gets one welt of that club, he '11 never trouble the
Fenians of Erin again."
Next morning Fin called up the cowherd and
said, " I am going to have a feast in this castle, and
I would like to have some fresh pork. There is a
wild sow in the north of Erin with two pigs, and if
you bring her to me before the feast, you '11 have
my thanks."
" I '11 go and bring her to you," said the cowherd.
So after breakfast he took his sword, went to the
north of Erin, and stole up to the sow and two
pigs, and whipped the tails off the three of them,
before they knew he was in it. Then he faced the
wild sow and fought with her for four days and
five nights, and on the morning of the fifth day he
knocked her dead. At the last blow, his sword
stuck in her backbone and he could n't draw it
out. But with one pull he broke the blade, and
stood there over her with only the hilt in his hand.
Then he put his foot on one of her jaws, took the
other in his hands, and splitting her evenly from
the nose to the tail, made two halves of her.
He threw one half on his shoulder; and that
minute the big Gruagach with one eye in his head
298 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
came along and made an offer of his club at him
to kill him. But the cowherd jumped aside, and
catching the Gruagach by one of his legs, threw
him up on to the half of the wild sow on his shoulder,
and taking the other half of her from the ground,
clapped that on the top of the Gruagach, and ran
away to Fin's castle as fast as his legs could carry
him.
The sentry at the castle gate ran in and said :
" The cowherd is running to the castle, and the size
of a mountain on his back." " Go out now," said
Conan Maol, " and stop him where he is, or he '11
throw down the castle if he comes here with the
load that 's on him." But before the sentry was
back at his place, the cowherd was at the gate
shaking the load off his back and the castle to its
foundations, so that every dish and vessel in it was
broken to bits.
The Gruagach jumped from the ground, rubbed
his legs and every part of him that was sore from
the treatment he got. He was so much in dread
of the cowherd that he ran with all the strength
that was in him, and never stopped to look back
till he was in the north of Erin.
Next morning the cowherd went out with the
cows, drove them back in the evening, and while
picking the thigh-bone of a bullock for his supper,
Oscar, son of Oisin,the strongest man of the Fenians
Fin MacCumhail. 299
of Erin, came up to him and took hold of the bone
to pull it from his hand. The cowherd held one
end and Oscar the other, and pulled till they made
two halves of the bone. " What did you carry
away?" asked the cowherd. "What I have in my
hand," said Oscar. " And I kept what I held in
my fist," said the cowherd. " There is that for
you now," said Oscar, and he hit him a slap.
The cowherd said no word in answer, but next
morning he asked his wages of Fin. " Oh, then,"
said Fin, " I '11 pay you and welcome, for you are
the best man I have ever had or met with."
Then the cowherd went away to Cahirciveen in
Kerry where he had an enchanted castle. But be-
fore he went he invited Fin MacCumhail and the
Fenians of Erin to have a great feast with him.
"For," said he to Fin, " I 'm not a cowherd at all,
but the son of the king of Alba, and I '11 give you
good cheer."
When the Fenians came to the place, they
found the finest castle that could be seen. There
were three fires in each room and seven spits at
every fire. When they had gone and sat down
in their places, there was but one fire in each
room.
" Rise up, every man of you," said Fin, " or we
are lost ; for this is an enchanted place."
They tried to rise, but each man was fastened to
300 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
his seat, and the seat to the floor ; and not one of
them could stir. Then the last fire went out and
they were in darkness.
"Chew your thumb," said Conan to Fin, "and
try is there any way out of here." Fin chewed
his thumb and knew what trouble they were in.
Then he put his two hands into his mouth and
blew the old-time whistle. And this whistle was
heard by Pogan and Ceolan, two sons of Fin who
were in the North at that time, one fishing and
the other hurling.
When they heard the whistle, they said : " Our
father and the Fenians of Erin are in trouble." And
they faced towards the sound and never stopped
till they knocked at the door of the enchanted
castle of the son of Alba at Cahirciveen.
"Who is there?" asked Fin.
" Your two sons," said one of them.
" Well," said Fin, " we are in danger of death
to-night. That cowherd I had in my service was
no cowherd at all, but the son of the king of
Alba ; and his father has said that he will not eat
three meals off one table without having my head.
There is an army now on the road to kill us to-
night. There is no way in or out of this castle
but by one ford, and to that ford the army of the
king of Alba is coming."
The two sons of Fin went out at nightfall and
Fin MacCumhail. 301
stood in the ford before the army. The son of
the king of Alba knew them well, and calling
each by name, said: "Won't you let us pass?"
" We will not," said they ; and then the fight be-
gan. The two sons of Fin MacCumhail, Pogdn and
Ceolan, destroyed the whole army and killed every
man except the son of the king of Alba.
After the battle the two went back to their
father. " We have destroyed the whole army at
the ford," said they.
" There is a greater danger ahead," said Fin.
" There is an old hag coming with a little pot. She
will dip her finger in the pot, touch the lips of
the dead men, and bring the whole army to life.
But first of all there will be music at the ford, and
if you hear the music, you '11 fall asleep. Now go,
but if you do not overpower the old hag, we are
lost."
" We '11 do the best we can," said the two sons
of Fin.
They were not long at the ford when one said,
" I am falling asleep from that music." " So am
I," said the other. " Knock your foot down on
mine," said the first. The other kicked his foot
and struck him, but no use. Then each took his
spear and drove it through the foot of the other,
but both fell asleep in spite of the spears.
The old hag went on touching the lips of the
302 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
dead men, who stood up alive ; and she was cross-
ing the ford at the head of the army when she
stumbled over the two sleeping brothers and spilt
what was in the pot over their bodies.
They sprang up fresh and well, and picking up
two stones of a ton weight each that were there in
the ford, they made for the champions of Alban and
never stopped till they killed the last man of them ;
and then they killed the old hag herself.
Pogan and Ceolan then knocked at the door of
the castle.
" Who 's there? " asked Fin.
" Your two sons," said they ; " and we have killed
all the champions of Alban and the old hag as
well."
" You have more to do yet," said Fin. "There
are three kings in the north of Erin who have
three silver goblets. These kings are holding a
feast in a fort to-day. You must go and cut the
heads off the three, put their blood in the goblets
and bring them here. When you come, rub the
blood on the keyhole of the door and it will open
before you. When you come in, rub the seats
and we shall all be free."
The three goblets of blood were brought to
Cahirciveen, the door of the castle flew open, and
light came into every room. The brothers rubbed
blood on the chairs of all the Fenians of Erin and
Fin Mac Cum/tail. 303
freed them all, except Conan Maol, who had no
chair, but sat on the floor with his back to the wall.
When they came to him the last drop of blood was
gone.
All the Fenians of Erin were hurrying past,
anxious to escape, and paid no heed to Conan,
who had never a good word in his mouth for any
man. Then Conan turned to Diarmuid, and said :
" If a woman were here in place of me, you
would n't leave her to die this way." Then Diar-
muid turned, took him by one hand, and Goll
MacMorna by the other, and pulling with all their
might, tore him from the wall and the floor. But
if they did, he left all the skin of his back from
his head to his heels on the floor^and the wall
behind him. But when they were going home
through the hills of Tralee, they found a sheep
on the way, killed it, and clapped the skin on
Conan. The sheepskin grew to his body ; and he
was so well and strong that they sheared him every
year, and got wool enough from his back to make
flannel and frieze for the Fenians of Erin ever
after.
CUCtiLIN.
HPHERE was a king in a land not far from
- Greece who had two daughters, and the
younger was fairer than the elder daughter.
This old king made a match between the king
of Greece and his own elder daughter ; but he kept
the younger one hidden away till after the mar-
riage. Then the younger daughter came forth to
view; and when the king of Greece saw her, he
would n't look at his own wife. Nothing would do
him but to get the younger sister and leave the
elder at home with her father.
The king would n't listen to this, would n't agree
to the change, so the king of Greece left his wife
where she was, went home alone in a terrible rage
and collected all his forces to march against the
kingdom of his father-in-law.
He soon conquered the king and his army and,
so far as he was able, he vexed and tormented him.
To do this the more completely, he took from him
a rod of Druidic spells, enchantment, and ring of
youth which he had, and, striking the elder sister
with the rod, he said : " You will be a serpent of
Cuculin. 305
the sea and live outside there in the bay by the
castle."
Then turning to the younger sister, whose name
was Gil an Og, he struck her, and said : " You '11
be a cat while inside this castle, and have your own
form only when you are outside the walls."
After he had done this, the king of Greece went
home to his own country, taking with him the rod
of enchantment and the ring of youth.
The king died in misery and grief, leaving his
two daughters spellbound.
Now there was a Druid in that kingdom, and the
younger sister went to consult him, and asked :
" Shall I ever be released from the enchantment
that's on me now?"
" You will not, unless you find the man to re-
lease you ; and there is no man in the world to
do that but a champion who is now with Fin Mac-
Cumhail in Erin."
" Well, how can I find that man? " asked she.
" I will tell you," said the Druid. " Do you make
a shirt out of your own hair, take it with you, and
never stop till you land in Erin and find Fin and
his men ; the man that the shirt will fit is the man
who will release you."
She began to make the shirt and worked without
stopping till it was finished. Then she went on her
journey and never rested till she came to Erin in
20
306 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
a ship. She went on shore and inquired where
Fin and his men were to be found at that time of
the year.
" You will find them at Knock an Ar," was the
answer she got.
She went to Knock an Ar carrying the shirt
with her. The first man she met was Conan Maol,
and she said to him : " I have come to find the
man this shirt will fit. From the time one man
tries it all must try till I see the man it fits."
The shirt went from hand to hand till Cuculin
put it on. "Well," said she, "it fits as your own
skin."
Now Gil an Og told . Cuculin all that had hap-
pened, how her father had forced her sister to
marry the king of Greece, how this king had made
war on her father, enchanted her sister and herself,
and carried off the rod of enchantment with the
ring of youth, and how the old Druid said the man
this shirt would fit was the only man in the world
who could release them.
Now Gil an Og and Cuculin went to the ship
and sailed across the seas to her country and went
to her castle.
" You '11 have no one but a cat for company to-
night," said Gil an Og. " I have the form of a cat
inside this castle, but outside I have my own ap-
pearance. Your dinner is ready, go in."
Cuculin, 307
After the dinner Cuculin went to another room
apart, and lay down to rest after the journey.
The cat came to his pillow, sat there and purred
till he fell asleep and slept soundly till morning.
When he rose up, a basin of water, and every-
thing he needed was before him, and his breakfast
ready. He walked out after breakfast; Gil an Og
was on the green outside before him and said :
" If you are not willing to free my sister and my-
self, I shall not urge you ; but if you do free us, I
shall be glad and thankful. Many king's sons and
champions before you have gone to recover the
ring and the rod; but they have never come
back."
"Well, whether I thrive or not, I'll venture,"
said Cuculin.
" I will give you," said Gil an Og, " a present
such as I have never given before to any man who
ventured out on my behalf; I will give you the
speckled boat."
Cuculin took leave of Gil an Og and sailed away
in the speckled boat to Greece, where he went
to the king's court, and challenged him to
combat.
The king of Greece gathered his forces and sent
them out to chastise Cuculin. He killed them all
to the last man. Then Cuculin challenged the
king a second time.
308 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
" I have no one now to fight but myself," said
the king; " and I don't think it becomes me to go
out and meet the like of you."
" If you don't come out to me," said Cuculin,
" I '11 go in to you and cut the head off you in
your own castle."
" That "s enough of impudence from you, you
scoundrel," said the king of Greece. " I won't have
you come into my castle, but I '11 meet you on the
open plain."
The king went out, and they fought till Cuculin
got the better of him, bound him head and heels,
and said : " I '11 cut the head off you now unless
you give me the ring of youth and the rod of
enchantment that you took from the father of
Gil an Og."
" Well, I did carry them away," said the king,
" but it would n't be easy for me now to give them
to you or to her ; for there was a man who came
and carried them away, who could take them from
you and from me, and from as many more of us, if
they were here."
" Who was that man? " asked Cuculin.
" His name," said the king, " is Lug 1 Longhand.
And if I had known what you wanted, there would
have been no difference between us. I '11 tell
you how I lost the ring and rod and I '11 go with
1 Pronounced "Loog."
Cuculin. 309
you and show you where Lug Longhand lives.
But do you come to my castle. We '11 have a
good time together."
They set out next day, and never stopped till
they came opposite Lug Longhand castle, and
Cuculin challenged his forces to combat.
" I have no forces," said Lug, " but I '11 fight
you myself." So the combat began, and they
spent the whole day at one another, and neither
gained the victory.
The king of Greece himself put up a tent on
the green in front of the castle, and prepared
everything necessary to eat and drink (there was
no one else to do it). After breakfast next day,
Cuculin and Lug began fighting again. The king
of Greece looked on as the day before.
They fought the whole day till near evening,
when Cuculin got the upper hand of Lug Long-
hand and bound him head and heels, saying: " I '11
cut the head off you now unless you give me the
rod and the ring that you carried away from the
king of Greece."
" Oh, then," said Lug, " it would be hard for me
to give them to you or to him ; for forces came and
took them from me ; and they would have taken
them from you and from him, if you had been here."
" Who in the world took them from you ? " asked
the king of Greece.
3 1 o Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
" Release me from this bond, and come to my
castle, and I '11 tell you the whole story," said Lug
Longhand.
Cuculin released him, and they went to the
castle. They got good reception and entertain-
ment from Lug that night, and the following morn-
ing as well. He said : " The ring and the rod were
taken from me by the knight of the island of the
Flood. This island is surrounded by a chain, and
there is a ring of fire seven miles wide between the
chain and the castle. No man can come near the
island without breaking the chain, and the moment
the chain is broken the fire stops burning at that
place ; and the instant the fire goes down the knight
rushes out and attacks and slays every man that 's
before him."
The king of Greece, Cuculin, and Lug Longhand
now sailed on in the speckled boat towards the
island of the Flood. On the following morning
when the speckled boat struck the chain, she was
thrown back three days' sail, and was near being
sunk, and would have gone to the bottom of the
sea but for her own goodness and strength.
As soon as Cuculin saw what had happened, he
took the oars, rowed on again, and drove the ves-
sel forward with such venom that she cut through
the chain and went one third of her length on to
dry land. That moment the fire was quenched
Cuculin. 311
where the vessel struck, and when the knight of the
Island saw the fire go out, he rushed to the shore
and met Cuculin, the king of Greece, and Lug
Longhand.
When Cuculin saw him, he threw aside his
weapons, caught him, raised him above his head,
hurled him down on the flat of his back, bound
him head and heels, and said : " I '11 cut the head
off you unless you give me the ring and the rod
that you carried away from Lug Longhand."
" I took them from him, it 's true," said the
knight; " but it would be hard for me to give them
to you now ; for a man came and took them from
me, who would have taken them from you and all
that are with you, and as many more if they had
been here before him."
" Who in the world could that man be? " asked
Cuculin.
" The dark Gruagach of the Northern Island.
Release me, and come to my castle. I '11 tell you
all and entertain you well."
He took them to his castle, gave them good
cheer, and told them all about the Gruagach and
his island. Next morning all sailed away in
Cuculin's vessel, which they had left at the shore
of the island, and never stopped till they came to
the Gruagach's castle, and pitched their tents in
front of it.
312 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
Then Cuculin challenged the Gruagach. The
others followed after to know would he thrive.
The Gruagach came out and faced Cuculin, and
they began and spent the whole day at one another
and neither of them gained the upper hand. When
evening came, they stopped and prepared for
supper and the night.
Next day after breakfast Cuculin challenged
the Gruagach again, and they fought till evening ;
when Cuculin got the better in the struggle, dis-
armed the Gruagach, bound him, and said : " Un-
less you give up the rod of enchantment and the
ring of youth that you took from the knight of the
island of the Flood, I '11 cut the head off you
now."
" I took them from him, 't is true ; but there was
a man named Thin-in-Iron, who took them from
me, and he would have taken them from you and
from me, and all that are here, if there were twice
as many. He is such a man that sword cannot cut
him, fire cannot burn him, water cannot drown him,
and 't is no easy thing to get the better of him. But
if you '11 free me now and come to my castle, I '11
treat you well and tell you all about him." Cuculin
agreed to this.
Next morning they would not stop nor be
satisfied till they went their way. They found the
castle of Thin-in-Iron, and Cuculin challenged him
Cuculin. 313
to combat. They fought ; and he was cutting the
flesh from Cuculin, but Cuculin's sword cut no
flesh from him. They fought till Cuculin said:
" It is time now to stop till to-morrow."
Cuculin was scarcely able to reach the tent.
They had to support him and put him to bed. Now,
who should come to Cuculin that night but Gil
an Og, and she said : " You have gone further
than any man before you, and I '11 cure you now,
and you need go no further for the rod of enchant-
ment and the ring of youth."
" Well," said Cuculin, " I '11 never give over till I
knock another day's trial out of Thin-in-Iron."
When it was time for rest, Gil an Og went away,
and Cuculin fell asleep for himself. On the
following morning all his comrades were up and
facing his tent. They thought to see him dead, but
he was in as good health as ever.
They prepared breakfast, and after breakfast
Cuculin went before the door of the castle to
challenge his enemy.
Thin-in-Iron thrust his head out and said: "That
man I fought yesterday has come again to-day.
It would have been a good deed if I had cut
the head off him last night. Then he would n't be
here to trouble me this morning. I won't come
home this day till I bring his head with me. Then
I '11 have peace."
3 1 4 Myths and Folk-L ore of Ireland.
They met in combat and fought till the night was
coming. Then Thin-in-Iron cried out for a cessa-
tion, and if he did, Cuculin was glad to give it; for
his sword had no effect upon Thin-in-Iron except
to tire and nearly kill him (he was enchanted and
no arms could cut him). When Thin-in-Iron went
to his castle, he threw up three sups of blood, and
said to his housekeeper: "Though his sword could
not penetrate me, he has nearly broken my heart."
Cuculin had to be carried to his tent. His com-
rades laid him on his bed and said : " Whoever
came and healed him yesterday, may be the same
will be here to-night." They went away and were
not long gone when Gil an Og came and said :
" Cuculin, if you had done my bidding, you
would n't be as you are to-night. But if you neglect
my words now, you '11 never see my face again.
I '11 cure you this time and make you as well as
ever ; " and whatever virtue she had she healed him
so he was as strong as before.
"Oh, then," said Cuculin, "whatever comes on
me I '11 never turn back till I knock another day's
trial out of Thin-in-Iron."
" Well," said she, " you are a stronger man than
he, but there is no good in working at him with a
sword. Throw your sword aside to-morrow, and
you '11 get the better of him and bind him. You '11
not see me again."
Cuculin. 3 1 5
She went away and he fell asleep. His com-
rades came in the morning and found him sleeping.
They got breakfast, and, after eating, Cuculin went
out and called a challenge.
" Oh, 't is the same man as yesterday," said
Thin-in-Iron, " and if I had cut the head off him
then, it would n't be he that would trouble me
to-day. If I live for it, I '11 bring his head in my
hand to-night, and he '11 never disturb me again."
When Cuculin saw Thin-in-Iron coming, he
threw his sword aside, and facing him, caught him
by the body, raised him up, then dashed him to
the ground, and said, " If you don't give me what I
want, I '11 cut the head off you."
" What do you want of me ? " asked Thin-in-Iron.
" I want the rod of enchantment and the ring of
youth you carried from the Gruagach."
" I did indeed carry them from him, but it would
be no easy thing for me to give them to you or
any other man ; for a force came which took them
from me."
"What could take them from you?" asked
Cuculin.
" The queen of the Wilderness, an old hag that
has them now. But release me from this bondage
and I '11 take you to my castle and entertain you
well, and I '11 go with you and the rest of the com-
pany to see how will you thrive."
3 1 6 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
So he took Cuculin and his friends to the castle
and entertained them joyously, and he said :
" The old hag, the queen of the Wilderness, lives
in a round tower, which is always turning on
wheels. There is but one entrance to the tower,
and that high above the ground, and in the one
chamber in which she lives, keeping the ring and
the rod, is a chair, and she has but to sit on the
chair and wish herself in any part of the world, and
that moment she is there. She has six lines of
guards protecting her tower, and if you pass all
of these, you '11 do what no man before you has
done to this day. The first guards are two lions
that rush out to know which of them will get the
first bite out of the throat of any one that tries to
pass. The second are seven men with iron hurlies
and an iron ball, and with their hurlies they wallop
the life out of any man that goes their way. The
third is Hung-up-Naked, who hangs on a tree with
his toes to the earth, his head cut from his shoul-
ders and lying on the ground, and who kills every
man who comes near him. The fourth is the bull
of the Mist that darkens the woods for seven miles
around, and destroys everything that enters the
Mist. The fifth are seven cats with poison tails ;
and one drop of their poison would kill the
strongest man."
Next morning all went with Cuculin as far as the
Cuculin. 317
lions who guarded the queen of the Wilderness,
an old hag made young by the ring of youth.
The two lions ran at Cuculin to see which would
have the first bite out of him.
Cuculin wore a red silk scarf around his neck
and had a fine head of hair. He cut the hair off
his head and wound it around one hand, took his
scarf and wrapped it around the other. Then rush-
ing at the lions, he thrust a hand down the throat
of each lion (for lions can bite neither silk nor
hair). He pulled the livers and lights out of the
two and they fell dead before him. His comrades
looking on, said : " You '11 thrive now since you
have done this deed ; " and they left him and went
home, each to his own country.
Cuculin went further. The next people he met
were the seven men with the iron hurlies (ball
clubs), and they said; "T is long since any man
walked this way to us ; we '11 have sport now."
The first one said : " Give him a touch of the
hurly and let the others do the same; and we'll
wallop him till he is dead."
Now Cuculin drew his sword and cut the head
off the first man before he could make an offer of
the hurly at him ; and then he did the same to the
other six.
He went on his way till he came to Hung-up-
Naked, who was hanging from a tree, his head on
3 1 8 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
the ground near him. The queen of the Wilderness
had fastened him to the tree because he would n't
marry her; and she said: " If any man comes who
will put your head on you, you '11 be free." And
she laid the injunction on him to kill every man
who tried to pass his way without putting the
head on him.
Cuculin went up, looked at him, and saw heaps
of bones around the tree. The body said : " You
can't go by here. I fight with every man who tries
to pass."
" Well, I 'm not going to fight with a man unless
he has a head on him. Take your head." And
Cuculin, picking up the head, clapped it on the
body, and said, " Now I '11 fight with you ! "
The man said : " I 'm all right now. I know
where you are going. I '11 stay here till you come ;
if you conquer you '11 not forget me. Take the
head off me now; put it where you found it; and
if you succeed, remember that I shall be here
before you on your way home."
Cuculin went on, but soon met the bull of the
Mist that covered seven miles of the wood with
thick mist. When the bull saw him, he made at
him and stuck a horn in his ribs and threw him
three miles into the wood, against a great oak
tree and broke three ribs in his side.
" Well," said Cuculin, when he recovered, " if I
Cuculin. 319
get another throw like that, I '11 not be good for
much exercise." He was barely on his feet when
the bull was at him again ; but when he came up
he caught the bull by both horns and away they
went wrestling and struggling. For three days
and nights Cuculin kept the bull in play, till the
morning of the fourth day, when he put him on
the flat of his back. Then he turned him on the
side, and putting a foot on one horn and taking the
other in his two hands, he said : " T is well I earned
you ; there is not a stitch on me that is n't torn to
rags from wrestling with you." He pulled the
bull asunder from his horns to his tail, into two
equal parts, and said : " Now that I have you in
two, it's in quarters I'll put you." He took his
sword, and when he struck the backbone of the
bull, the sword remained in the bone and he
could n't pull it out.
He walked away and stood awhile and looked.
" T is hard to say," said he, " that any good
champion would leave his sword behind him." So
he went back and made another pull and took the
hilt off his sword, leaving the blade in the back of
the bull. Then he went away tattered and torn,
the hilt in his hand, and he turned up towards the
forge of the Strong Smith. One of the Smith's
boys was out for coal at the time : he saw Cuculin
coming with the hilt in his hand, and ran in, say-
320 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
ing : " There is a man coming up and he looks
like a fool ; we '11 have fun ! "
" Hold your tongue ! " said the master. " Have
you heard any account of the bull of the Mist
these three days ? "
" We have not," said the boys.
" Perhaps," said the Strong Smith, " that 's a
good champion that 's coming, and do you mind
yourselves."
At that moment Cuculin walked in to the forge
where twelve boys and the master were working.
He saluted them and asked, " Can you put a blade
in this hilt? "
"We can," said the master. They put in the
blade. Cuculin raised the sword and took a shake
out of it and broke it to bits.
" This is a rotten blade," said he. " Go at it
again."
They made a second blade. The boys were in
dread of him now. He broke the second blade in
the same way as the first. They made six blades,
one stronger than the other. He did the same to
them all.
" There is no use in talking," said the Strong
Smith ; " we have no stuff that would make a right
blade for you. Go down now," said he to two of
the boys, " and bring up an old sword that 's down
in the stable full of rust."
Cuculin. 321
They went and brought up the sword on two
hand-spikes between them ; it was so heavy that
one could n't carry it. They gave it to Cuculin,
and with one blow on his heel he knocked the dust
from it and went out at the door and took a shake
out of it; and if he did, he darkened the whole
place with the rust from the blade.
" This is my sword, whoever made it," said he.
" It is," said the master; "it's yours and wel-
come. I know who you are now, and where you
are going. Remember that I 'm in bondage here."
The Strong Smith took Cuculin then to his house,
gave him refreshment and clothes for the journey.
When he was ready, the Smith said : " I hope
you '11 thrive. You have done a deal more than
any man that ever walked this way before. There
is nothing now to stand in your way till you come
to the seven cats outside the turning tower. If
they shake their tails and a drop of poison comes
on you, it will penetrate to your heart. You must
sweep off their tails with your sword. 'T is equal
to you what their bodies will do after that."
Cuculin soon came to them and there was n't
one of the seven cats he did n't strip of her tail
before she knew he was in it. He cared nothing
for the bodies so he had the tails. The cats ran
away.
Mow he faced the tower turning on wheels. The
21
322 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
queen of the Wilderness was in it. He had been
told by Thin-in-Iron that he must cut the axle.
He found the axle, cut it, and the tower stopped
that instant. Cuculin made a spring and went in
through the single passage.
The old hag was preparing to sit on the chair as
she saw him coming. He sprang forward, pushed
the chair away with one hand, and, catching her by
the back of the neck with the other, said : " You
are to lose your head now, old woman ! "
" Spare me, and what you want you '11 get," said
she. " I have the ring of youth and the rod of
enchantment," and she gave them to him. He
put the ring on his ringer, and saying, " You '11
never do mischief again to man ! " he turned her
face to the entrance, and gave her a kick. Out
she flew through the opening and down to the
ground, where she broke her neck and died on
the spot.
Cuculin made the Strong Smith king over all
the dominions of the queen of the Wilderness, and
proclaimed that any person in the country who
refused to obey the new king would be put to
death.
Cuculin turned back at once, and travelled till
he came to Hung-up-Naked. He took him down
and, putting the head on his body, struck him a
blow of the rod and made the finest looking man
Cuculin. 323
of him that could be found. The man went back
to his own home happy and well.
Cuculin never stopped till he came to the castle
of Gil an Og. She was outside with a fine wel-
come before him; and why not, to be sure, for
he had the rod of enchantment and the ring of
youth !
When she entered the castle and took the form
of a cat, he struck her a blow of the rod and she
gained the same form and face she had before
the king of Greece struck her. Then he asked,
"Where is your sister?"
" In the lake there outside," answered Gil an Og,
" in the form of a sea-serpent." She went out with
him, and the moment they came to the edge of
the lake the sister rose up near them. Then
Cuculin struck her with the rod and she came to
land in her own shape and countenance.
Next day they saw a deal of vessels facing the
harbor, and what should they be but a fleet of
ships, and on the ships were the king of Greece,
Lug Longhand, the knight of the island of the
Flood, the Dark Gruagach of the Northern Island
and Thin-in-Iron : and they came each in his
own vessel to know was there any account of
Cuculin. There was good welcome for them all,
and when they had feasted and rejoiced together
Cuculin married Gil an Og. The king of Greece
324 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
took Gil an Og's sister, who was his own wife at
first, and went home.
Cuculin went away himself with his wife Gil an
Og, never stopping till he came to Erin ; and when
he came, Fin MacCumhail and his men were at
KilConaly, near the river Shannon.
When Cuculin went from Erin he left a son
whose mother was called the Virago of Alba:
she was still alive and the son was eighteen years
old. When she heard that Cuculin had brought
Gil an Og to Erin, she was enraged with jealousy
and madness. She had reared the son, whose
name was Conlan, like any king's son, and now
giving him his arms of a champion she told him to
go to his father.
" I would," said he, " if I knew who my father is."
" His name is Cuculin, and he is with Fin
MacCumhail. I bind you not to yield to any
man," said she to her son, " nor tell your name to
any man till you fight him out."
Conlan started from Ulster where his mother
was, and never stopped till he was facing Fin and
his men, who were hunting that day along the
cliffs of KilConaly.
When the young man came up Fin said, "There
is a single man facing us."
Conan Maol said, " Let some one go against
him, ask who he is and what he wants."
Cuculin. 325
" I never give an account of myself to any man,"
said Conldn, " till I get an account from him."
" There is no man among us," said Conan,
" bound in that way but Cuculin." They called on
Cuculin ; he came up and the two fought. Conldn
knew by the description his mother had given that
Cuculin was his father, but Cuculin did not know
his son. Every time Conlan aimed his spear he
threw it so as to strike the ground in front of
Cuculin's toe, but Cuculin aimed straight at him.
They were at one another three days and three
nights. The son always sparing the father, the
father never sparing the son.
Conan Maol came to them the fourth morning.
" Cuculin," said he, " I did n't expect to see any
man standing against you three days, and you such
a champion."
When Conlan heard Conan Maol urging the
father to kill him, he gave a bitter look at Conan,
and forgot his guard. Cuculin's spear went through
his head that minute, and he fell. " I die of that
blow from my father," said he.
" Are you my son? " said Cuculin.
" I am," said Conlan.
Cuculin took his sword and cut the head off him
sooner than leave him in the punishment and pain
he was in. Then he faced all the people, and Fin
was looking on.
326 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
" There 's trouble on Cuculin," said Fin.
" Chew your thumb," said Conan Maol, " to
know what 's on him."
Fin chewed his thumb, and said, " Cuculin is
after killing his own son, and if I and all my men
were to face him before his passion cools, at the
end of seven days, he 'd destroy every man of us."
" Go now," said Conan, " and bind him to go
down to Bale strand and give seven days' fighting
against the waves of the sea, rather than kill us
all."
So Fin bound him to go down. When he went
to Bale strand Cuculin found a great white stone.
He grasped his sword in his right hand and cried
out: " If I had the head of the woman who sent
her son into peril of death at my hand, I 'd split it
as I split this stone," and he made four quarters of
the stone. Then he strove with the waves seven
days and nights till he fell from hunger and weak-
ness, and the waves went over him.
OISIN IN TIR NA N-OG.
THERE was a king in Tir na n-Og (the land
of Youth) who held the throne and crown
for many a year against all comers ; and the law
of the kingdom was that every seventh year the
champions and best men of the country should
run for the office of king.
Once in seven years they all met at the front of
the palace and ran to the top of a hill two miles
distant. On the top of that hill was a chair and
the man that sat first in the chair was king of Tir
na n-Og for the next seven years. After he had
ruled for ages, the king became anxious ; he was
afraid that some one might sit in the chair before
him, and take the crown off his head. So he
called up his Druid one day and asked : " How
long shall I keep the chair to rule this land, and
will any man sit in it before me and take the
crown off my head ? "
" You will keep the chair and the crown for-
ever," said the Druid, " unless your own son-in-
law takes them from you."
The king had no sons and but one daughter,
the finest woman in Tir na n-Og; and the like of
328 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
her could not be found in Erin or any kingdom in
the world. When the king heard the words of
the Druid, he said, "I '11 have no son-in-law, for
I '11 put the daughter in a way no man will marry
her."
Then he took a rod of Druidic spells, and calling
the daughter up before him, he struck her with the
rod, and put a pig's head on her in place of her
own.
Then he sent the daughter away to her own
place in the castle, and turning to the Druid said :
" There is no man that will marry her now."
When the Druid saw the face that was on the
princess with the pig's head that the father gave
her, he grew very sorry that he had given such
information to the king; and some time after he
went to see the princess.
" Must I be in this way forever?" asked she of
the Druid.
" You must," said he, " till you marry one of
the sons of Fin MacCumhail in Erin. If you marry
one of Fin's sons, you '11 be freed from the blot
that is on you now, and get back your own head
and countenance."
When she heard this she was impatient in her
mind, and could never rest till she left Tir na n-Og
and came to Erin. When she had inquired she
heard that Fin and the Fenians of Erin were at
Oisin in Tir na n-Og. 329
that time living on Knock an Ar, and she made
her way to the place without delay and lived there
a while; and when she saw Oisin, he pleased her;
and when she found out that he was a son of Fin
MacCumhail, she was always making up to him and
coming towards him. And it was usual for the
Fenians in those days to go out hunting on the
hills and mountains and in the woods of Erin, and
when one of them went he always took five or six
men with him to bring home the game.
On a day Oisin set out with his men and dogs to
the woods ; and he went so far and killed so much
game that when it was brought together, the men
were so tired, weak, and hungry that they could n't
carry it, but went away home and left him with
the three dogs, Bran, Sciolan, and Bugten, 1 to shift
for himself.
Now the daughter of the king of Tir na n-Og,
who was herself the queen of Youth, followed
closely in the hunt all that day, and when the men
left Oisin she came up to him; and as he stood
looking at the great pile of game and said, " I am
very sorry to leave behind anything that I Ve had
the trouble of killing," she looked at him and
said, " Tie up a bundle for me, and I '11 carry it to
lighten the load off you."
Oisin gave her a bundle of the game to carry,
1 Celebrated dogs of Fin MacCumhail,
330 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
and took the remainder himself. The evening
was very warm and the game heavy, and after
they had gone some distance, Oisin said, " Let us
rest a while." Both threw down their burdens, and
put their backs against a great stone that was by
the roadside. The woman was heated and out of
breath, and opened her dress to cool herself.
Then Oisin looked at her and saw her beautiful
form and her white bosom.
" Oh, then," said he, " it 's a pity you have the
pig's head on you ; for I have never seen such an
appearance on a woman in all my life before."
" Well," said she, " my father is the king of
Tir na n-Og, and I was the finest woman in his
kingdom and the most beautiful of all, till he put
me under a Druidic spell and gave me the pig's
head that 's on me now in place of my own. And
the Druid of Tir na n-Og came to me afterwards,
and told me that if one of the sons of Fin Mac-
Cumhail would marry me, the pig's head would
vanish, and I should get back my face in the same
form as it was before my father struck me with
the Druid's wand. When I heard this I never
stopped till I came to Erin, where I found your
father and picked you out among the sons of Fin
MacCumhail, and followed you to see would you
marry me and set me free."
" If that is the state you are in, and if marriage
Oisin in Tir na n-Og. 331
with me will free you from the spell, I '11 not leave
the pig's head on you long."
So they got married without delay, not waiting
to take home the game or to lift it from the
ground. That moment the pig's head was gone,
and the king's daughter had the same face and
beauty that she had before her father struck her
with the Druidic wand.
" Now," said the queen of Youth to Oisin, " I
cannot stay here long, and unless you come with
me to Tir na n-Og we must part."
" Oh," said Oisin, " wherever you go I '11 go,
and wherever you turn I '11 follow."
Then she turned and Oisin went with her, not
going back to Knock an Ar to see his father or his
son. That very day they set out for Tir na n-Og
and never stopped till they came to her father's
castle ; and when they came, there was a welcome
before them, for the king thought his daughter
was lost. That same year there was to be a choice
of a king, and when the appointed day came at
the end of the seventh year all the great men and
the champions, and the king himself, met together
at the front of the castle to run and see who should
be first in the chair on the hill ; but before a man
of them was half way to the hill, Oisin was sitting
above in the chair before them. After that time
no one stood up to run for the office against Oisin,
332 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
and he spent many a happy year as king in Tir na
n-Og. At last he said to his wife : " I wish I could
be in Erin to-day to see my father and his men."
" If you go," said his wife, " and set foot on the
land of Erin, you '11 never come back here to me,
and you '11 become a blind old man. How long
do you think it is since you came here?"
" About three years," said Oisin.
" It is three hundred years," said she, " since
you came to this kingdom with me. If you must
go to Erin, I '11 give you this white steed to carry
you ; but if you come down from the steed or
touch the soil of Erin with your foot, the steed
will come back that minute, and you '11 be where
he left you, a poor old man."
" I '11 come back, never fear," said Oisin. " Have
I not good reason to come back? But I must see
my father and my son and my friends in Erin once
more ; I must have even one look at them."
She prepared the steed for Oisin and said, " This
steed will carry you wherever you wish to go."
Oisin never stopped till the steed touched the
soil of Erin ; and he went on till he came to
Knock Patrick in Munster, where he saw a man
herding cows. In the field, where the cows were
grazing there was a broad flat stone.
" Will you come here," said Oisin to the herds-
man, " and turn over this stone?"
Oisin in Tir na n-Og. 333
" Indeed, then, I will not," said the herdsman ;
" for I could not lift it, nor twenty men more
like me."
Oisin rode up to the stone, and, reaching down,
caught it with his hand and turned it over.
Underneath the stone was the great horn of the
Fenians (borabu), which circled round like a sea-
shell, and it was the rule that when any of the
Fenians of Erin blew the borabu, the others would
assemble at once from whatever part of the coun-
try they might be in at the time.
" Will you bring this horn to me ! " asked Oisin
of the herdsman.
" I will not," said the herdsman ; " for neither I
nor many more like me could raise it from the
ground."
With that Oisin moved near the horn, and
reaching down took it in his hand ; but so eager
was he to blow it, that he forgot everything, and
slipped in reaching till one foot touched the earth.
In an instant the steed was gone, and Oisin lay
on the ground a blind old man. The herdsman
went to Saint Patrick, who lived near by, and told
him what had happened.
Saint Patrick sent a man and a horse for Oisin,
brought him to his own house, gave him a room
by himself, and sent a boy to stay with him to
serve and take care of him. And Saint Patrick
334 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
commanded his cook to send Oisin plenty of meat
and drink, to give him bread and beef and butter
every day.
Now Oisin lived a while in this way. The cook
sent him provisions each day, and Saint Patrick
himself asked him all kinds of questions about the
old times of the Fenians of Erin. Oisin told him
about his father, Fin MacCumhail, about himself,
his son Osgar, Goll MacMorna, Conan Maol,
Diarmuid, and all the Fenian heroes ; how they
fought, feasted, and hunted, how they came under
Druidic spells, and how they were freed from
them.
At the same time, Saint Patrick was putting up
a great building; but what his men used to put
up in the daytime was levelled at night, and Saint
Patrick lamented over his losses in the hearing of
Oisin. Then Oisin said in the hearing of Saint
Patrick, " If I had my strength and my sight, I 'd
put a stop to the power that is levelling your
work."
" Do you think you 'd be able to do that," said
Saint Patrick, " and let my building go on? "
" I do, indeed," said Oisin.
So Saint Patrick prayed to the Lord, and the
sight and strength came back to Oisin. He went
to the woods and got a great club and stood at
the building on guard.
Oisin in Tir na n-Og. 335
What should come in the night but a great
beast in the form of a bull, which began to uproot
and destroy the work. But if he did Oisin faced
him, and the battle began hot and heavy between
the two ; but in the course of the night Oisin got
the upper hand of the bull and left him dead be-
fore the building. Then he stretched out on the
ground himself and fell asleep.
Now Saint Patrick was waiting at home to know
how would the battle come out, and thinking
Oisin too long away he sent a messenger to the
building; and when the messenger came he saw
the ground torn up, a hill in one place and a
hollow in the next. The bull was dead and Oisin
sleeping after the desperate battle. He went back
and told what he saw.
" Oh," said Saint Patrick, " it 's better to knock
the strength out of him again ; for he '11 kill us all
if he gets vexed."
Saint Patrick took the strength out of him, and
when Oisin woke up he was a blind old man and
the messenger went out and brought him home.
Oisin lived on for a time as before. The cook
sent him his food, the boy served him, and Saint
Patrick listened to the stories of the Fenians of
Erin.
Saint Patrick had a neighbor, a Jew, a very rich
man but the greatest miser in the kingdom, and
336 Myths and Folk-L ore of Ireland.
he had the finest haggart of corn in Erin. Well,
the Jew and Saint Patrick got very intimate with
one another and so great became the friendship
of the Jew for Saint Patrick at last, that he said
he 'd give him, for the support of his house, as
much corn as one man could thrash out of the
haggart 1 in a day.
When Saint Patrick went home after getting the
promise of the corn, he told in the hearing of
Oisin about what the Jew had said.
" Oh, then," said Oisin, " if I had my sight and
strength, I 'd thrash as much corn in one day as
would do your whole house for a twelvemonth
and more."
" Will you do that for me? " said Saint Patrick.
" I will," said Oisin.
Saint Patrick prayed again to the Lord, and the
sight and strength came back to Oisin. He went
to the woods next morning at daybreak, Oisin did,
pulled up two fine ash-trees and made a flail of
them. After eating his breakfast he left the house
and never stopped till he faced the haggart of the
Jew. Standing before one of the stacks of wheat
he hit it a wallop of his flail and broke it asunder.
He kept on in this way till he slashed the whole
haggart to and fro, and the Jew running like mad
up and down the highroad in front of the haggart,
1 Haggart, hay-yard.
Oisin in Tir na n-Og. 337
tearing the hair from his head when he saw what
was doing to his wheat, and the face gone from
him entirely he was so in dread of Oisin.
When the haggart was thrashed clean, Oisin
went to Saint Patrick and told him to send his
men for the wheat ; for he had thrashed out the
whole haggart. When Saint Patrick saw the
countenance that was on Oisin, and heard what he
had done he was greatly in dread of him, and
knocked the strength out of him again, and Oisin
became an old, blind man as before.
Saint Patrick's men went to the haggart and
there was so much wheat they did n't bring the
half of it away with them and they did n't want
it.
Oisin again lived for a while as before and then
he was vexed because the cook did n't give him
what he wanted. He told Saint Patrick that he
was n't getting enough to eat. Then Saint Patrick
called up the cook before himself and Oisin and
asked her what she was giving Oisin to eat. She
said : " I give him at every meal what bread is
baked on a large griddle and all the butter I make
in one churn, and a quarter of beef besides."
" That ought to be enough for you," said Saint
Patrick.
" Oh, then," said Oisin, turning to the cook,
" I have often seen the leg of a blackbird bigger
338 Myths and Folk- Lore of Ireland.
than the quarter of beef you give me, I have often
seen an ivy leaf bigger than the griddle on which
you bake the bread for me, and I have often seen
a single rowan berry [the mountain ash berry]
bigger than the bit of butter you give me to
eat."
" You lie ! " said the cook, " you never did."
Oisin said not a word in answer.
Now there was a hound in the place that was
going to have her first whelps, and Oisin said to
the boy who was tending him : " Do you mind
and get the first whelp she '11 have and drown the
others."
Next morning the boy found three whelps, and
coming back to Oisin, said : " There are three
whelps and 'tis unknown which of them is the
first."
At Saint Patrick's house they had slaughtered
an ox the day before, and Oisin said : " Go now
and bring the hide of the ox and hang it up in
this room." When the hide was hung up Oisin
said, " Bring here the three whelps and throw
them up against the hide." The boy threw up
one of the whelps against the oxhide. " What
did he do?" asked Oisin.
" What did he do," said the boy, " but fall to
the ground."
" Throw up another," said Oisin. The boy
Oisin in Tir na n-Og. 339
threw another. " What did he do? " asked Oisin.
" What did he do but to fall the same as the
first."
The third whelp was thrown and he held fast to
the hide, didn't fall. "What did he do?"
asked Oisin.
" Oh," said the boy, " he kept his hold."
"Take him down," said Oisin; "give him to
the mother : bring both in here ; feed the mother
well and drown the other two."
The boy did as he was commanded, and fed the
two well, and when the whelp grew up the mother
was banished, the whelp chained up and fed for
a year and a day. And when the year and a day
were spent, Oisin said, " We '11 go hunting to-
morrow, and we '11 take the dog with us."
They went next day, the boy guiding Oisin,
holding the dog by a chain. They went first to
the place where Oisin had touched earth and lost
the magic steed from Tir na n-Og. The borabu
of the Fenians of Erin was lying on the ground
there still. Oisin took it up and they went on to
Glen na Smuil (Thrushs's Glen). When at the
edge of the glen Oisin began to sound the borabu.
Birds and beasts of every kind came hurrying
forward. He blew the horn till the glen was full
of them from end to end.
" What do you see now? " asked he of the boy.
340 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
" The glen is full of living things."
" What is the dog doing? "
" He is looking ahead and his hair is on end."
" Do you see anything else? "
" I see a great bird all black settling down on
the north side of the glen."
" That 's what I want," said Oisin ; " what is the
dog doing now?"
" Oh, the eyes are coming out of his head, and
there is n't a rib of hair on his body that is n't
standing up."
" Let him go now," said Oisin. The boy let
slip the chain and the dog rushed through the
glen killing everything before him. When all the
others were dead he turned to the great blackbird
and killed that. Then he faced Oisin and the boy
and came bounding toward them with venom and
fierceness. Oisin drew out of his bosom a brass
ball and said : " If you don't throw this into the
dog's mouth he '11 destroy us both ; knock the dog
with the ball or he '11 tear us to pieces."
" Oh," said the boy, " I '11 never be able to
throw the ball, I 'm so in dread of the dog."
" Come here at my back, then," said Oisin,
" and straighten my hand towards the dog." The
boy directed the hand and Oisin threw the ball
into the dog's mouth and killed him on the spot.
" What have we done? " asked Oisin.
Oisin in Tir na n-Og. 34 1
" Oh, the dog is knocked," said the boy.
" We are all right then," said Oisin, " and do
you lead me now to the blackbird of the earn,
I don't care for the others."
They went to the great bird, kindled a fire and
cooked all except one of its legs. Then Oisin ate
as much as he wanted and said ; " I Ve had a
good meal of my own hunting and it "s many
and many a day since I have had one. Now
let us go on farther."
They went into the woods, and soon Oisin asked
the boy; " Do you see anything wonderful?"
" I see an ivy with the largest leaves I have ever
set eyes on."
" Take one leaf of that ivy," said Oisin.
The boy took the leaf. Near the ivy they found
a rowan berry, and then went home taking the
three things with them, the blackbird's leg, the
ivy leaf, and the rowan berry. When they reached
the house Oisin called for the cook, and Saint
Patrick made her come to the fore. When she
came Oisin pointed to the blackbird's leg and
asked, " Which is larger, that leg or the quarter
of beef you give me?"
" Oh, that is a deal larger," said the cook.
" You were right in that case," said Saint Patrick
to Oisin.
Then Oisin drew out the ivy leaf and asked,
34 2 Myths and Folk-Lore of Ireland.
" Which is larger, this or the griddle on which you
made bread for me ? "
" That is larger than the griddle and the bread
together," said the cook.
" Right again," said Saint Patrick.
Oisin now took out the rowan berry and asked :
" Which is larger, this berry or the butter of one
churning which you give me?"
" Oh, that is bigger," said the cook, " than both
the churn and the butter."
" Right, every time," said Saint Patrick.
Then Oisin raised his arm and swept the head
off the cook with a stroke from the edge of his
hand, saying, " You '11 never give the lie to an
honest man again."
NOTES.
Aedh Curucha (Aedh Crochthd), Hugh, the " sus-
pended " or " hung up." As Aedh means also a fire-
spark as well as the modern name Hugh, Aedh Curucha
means the hung up or suspended fire-spark.
Alba, former name of Scotland.
Bar an Snan, " pin of slumber," met with frequently in
Gaelic mythology, is found among the Slavs, but not so
often. It appears in a Russian story, one of the most
beautiful in European folk-lore.
Cesa MacRi na Tulach, " Cesa, son of the king of the
hill," said by my Donegal informant to be a small dark-
gray bird.
C&rucha na Gros ( Crochtha na g-cros), " hung on the
crosses," is a very interesting name, as is also that of the
father of Fair, Brown, and Trembling, Aedh Curucha, q. v.
Condn Maol MacMorna, the Gaelic Thersites, always
railing, causing trouble, unpopular, and attracting attention.
This species of person is as well known in the mythology
of the North American Indians as in Aryan myths.
Diachbha (pronounced Dyeeachva), " divinity," or the
working of a power outside of us in shaping the careers
of men ; fate.
Diarmuid (pronounced Dyeearmud), the final //sounded
as if one were to begin to utter y after it), one of the
most remarkable characters in Gaelic mythology, a great
344 Notes.
hunter and performer of marvellous feats. The promi-
nent event of his life was the carrying off of Grainne,
bride of Fin MacCumhail, at her own command. After
many years of baffled pursuit, Fin was forced to make
peace ; but he contrived at last to bring about Diarmuid's
death by causing him to hunt an enchanted boar of green
color and without ears or tail. The account of this pur-
suit and the death of Diarmuid forms one of the cele-
brated productions of Gaelic literature. Diarmuid had
a mole on his forehead, which he kept covered usually ;
but when it was laid bare and a woman saw it, she fell
in love with him beyond recall. This was why Grainne
deserted Fin, not after she was married, but at the feast
of betrothal. The evident meaning of the word is " bright "
or " divine-weaponed." It is very interesting to find Diar-
muid called also Son of the Monarch of Light, in another
story.
Donoch Kam cosa, ".Donoch, crooked feet."
Draoiachta (pronounced Dreeachta), "Druidism," or
" enchantment."
Erineaeh, or Eirineach, "a man of Erin."
Gil an Og, " water of youth."
Gilla na Grakin (Gilla na g-croiceari), "the fellow (or
youth) of the skins," /. e., the serving man of the skins.
This word " Gilla " enters into the formation of many
Gaelic names, such as Gilchrist, Gilfillin, MacGillacuddy.
Gruagach (pronounced GrooagacJi), "the hairy one,"
from gruag, hair. We are more likely to be justified in
finding a solar agent concealed in the person of the laugh-
ing Gruagach or the Gruagach of tricks than in many of
the sun-myths put forth by some modern writers.
Inis Cool, " light island," /. <?., not heavy.
Notes. 345
Iron-back-without-adion ( Ton iaran gan tapuil) .
Knock an Ar, " hill of slaughter," a mountain near the
mouth of the Shannon in Kerry.
Lun Dubh MacSmola, " blackbird," son of thrush.
Mai MacMulcan. Mulcan in this name is evidently
Vulcan, substituted for some old Gaelic myth-power.
Oisin. In the Gaelic of Ireland this name is accented
on the last syllable ; in that of Scotland on the first, which
gives in English Ossian, the poet made known to the
world by Macpherson. The poems of Ossian are of course
nothing more nor less than the ballads of Fin MacCum-
hail and the Fenians of Erin, taken from Ireland to Scot-
land by the Gael when they settled in the latter country,
and modified in some degree by Macpherson. Oisin is
pronounced Ushen in Ireland, u sounded as in but.
Ri Fohin (Rifo thuinn), " king under the wave."
Sean Ruadh, "John the Red," pronounced Shawn
Roo.
Tisean (pronounced Tishydn ; an as in pan\ " envy."
Son of King Tisean means " Son of King Envy."
Urfiist. This word is made up of Ur and ptist. Ur
is kindred with the German Ur, and in a compound like
this means the " original " or " greatest." Ptist
" worm," " beast," " monster" is changed to flist here,
according to a rule of aspiration in Gaelic grammar.
THE END.
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