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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Heroic Romances of Ireland Volume 1,
+by A. H. Leahy
+
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+this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
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+*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****
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+
+Title: Heroic Romances of Ireland Volume 1
+
+Author: A. H. Leahy
+
+Release Date: May, 2004  [EBook #5678]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on August 7, 2002]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, HEROIC ROMANCES OF IRELAND V1 ***
+
+
+
+
+This eBook was produced by John B. Hare and Carrie Lorenz.
+
+
+
+HEROIC ROMANCES OF IRELAND
+
+
+TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH PROSE AND VERSE, WITH PREFACE, SPECIAL
+INTRODUCTIONS AND NOTES
+
+BY
+
+A. H. LEAHY
+
+
+IN TWO VOLUMES
+
+VOL. I
+
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+At a time like the present, when in the opinion of many the great
+literatures of Greece and Rome are ceasing to hold the influence that
+they have so long exerted upon human thought, and when the study of the
+greatest works of the ancient world is derided as "useless," it may be
+too sanguine to hope that any attention can be paid to a literature
+that is quite as useless as the Greek; which deals with a time, which,
+if not actually as far removed from ours as are classical times, is yet
+further removed in ideas; a literature which is known to few and has
+yet to win its way to favour, while the far superior literature of
+Greece finds it hard to defend the position that it long ago won.  It
+may be that reasons like these have weighed with those scholars who
+have opened up for us the long-hidden treasures of Celtic literature;
+despairing of the effort to obtain for that literature its rightful
+crown, and the homage due to it from those who can appreciate literary
+work for itself, they have been contented to ask for the support of
+that smaller body who from philological, antiquarian, or, strange as it
+may appear, from political reasons, are prepared to take a modified
+interest in what should be universally regarded as in its way one of
+the most interesting literatures of the world.
+
+The literary aspect of the ancient literature of Ireland has not indeed
+been altogether neglected.  It has been used to furnish themes on which
+modern poems can be written; ancient authority has been found in it for
+what is essentially modern thought: modern English and Irish poets have
+claimed the old Irish romances as inspirers, but the romances
+themselves have been left to the scholars and the antiquarians.
+
+This is not the position that Irish literature ought to fill.  It does
+undoubtedly tell us much of the most ancient legends of modern Europe
+which could not have been known without it; but this is not its sole,
+or even its chief claim to be heard.  It is itself the connecting-link
+between the Old World and the New, written, so far as can be
+ascertained, at the time when the literary energies of the ancient
+world were dead, when the literatures of modern Europe had not been
+born,[FN#1] in a country that had no share in the ancient civilisation
+of Rome, among a people which still retained many legends and possibly
+a rudimentary literature drawn from ancient Celtic sources, and was
+producing the men who were the earliest classical scholars of the
+modern world.
+
+
+[FN#1]  The only possible exceptions to this, assuming the latest
+possible date for the Irish work, and the earliest date for others, are
+the kindred Welsh literature and that of the Anglo-Saxon invaders of
+Britain.
+
+
+The exact extent of the direct influence of Irish literature upon the
+development of other nations is hard to trace, chiefly because the
+influence of Ireland upon the Continent was at its height at the time
+when none of the languages of modern Europe except Welsh and
+Anglo-Saxon had reached a stage at which they might be used for
+literary purposes, and a Continental literature on which the Irish one
+might have influence simply did not exist.  Its subsequent influence,
+in the tenth and eleventh centuries, upon Welsh, and through Welsh upon
+the early Breton literature (now lost) appears to be established; it is
+usually supposed that its action upon the earliest French compositions
+was only through the medium of these languages, but it is at least
+possible that its influence in this case also was more direct.  In
+Merovingian and early Carlovingian times, when French songs were
+composed, which are now lost but must have preceded the extant chansons
+de geste, the Irish schools were attracting scholars from the
+neighbouring countries of Europe; Ireland was sending out a steady
+stream of "learned men" to France, Germany, and Italy; and it is at
+least possible that some who knew the Irish teachers realized the merit
+of the literary works with which some of these teachers must have been
+familiar.  The form of the twelfth-century French romance, "Aucassin
+and Nicolete," is that of the chief Irish romances, and may well have
+been suggested by them; whilst the variety of the rhythm and the
+elaborate laws of the earliest French poetry, which, both in its
+Northern and Southern form, dates from the first half of the twelfth
+century, almost imply a pre-existing model; and such a model is more
+easily traced in Irish than in any other vernacular literature that was
+then available.  It is indeed nearly as hard to suppose that the
+beautiful literature of Ireland had absolutely no influence upon
+nations known to be in contact with it, as it would be to hold to the
+belief that the ancient Cretan civilisation had no effect upon the liter
+ary development that culminated in the poems of Homer.
+
+Before speaking of what the Irish literature was, it may be well to say
+what it was not.  The incidents related in it date back, according to
+the "antiquaries" of the ninth to the twelfth centuries, some to the
+Christian era, some to a period long anterior to it; but occasional
+allusions to events that were unknown in Ireland before the
+introduction of Christianity, and a few to classical personages, show
+that the form of the present romances can hardly be pre-Christian, or
+even close translations into Old or Middle Irish of Druidic tales.  It
+has therefore been the fashion to speak of the romances as inaccurate
+survivals of pre-Christian works, which have been added to by
+successive generations of "bards," a mode of viewing our versions of
+the romances which of course puts them out of the category of original
+literature and hands them over to the antiquarians; but before they
+suffer this fate, it is reasonable to ask that their own literary merit
+should be considered in a more serious manner than has yet been
+attempted.
+
+The idea that our versions of the romances are inaccurate reproductions
+of Druidic tales is not at all borne out by a study of the romances
+themselves; for each of these, except for a few very manifestly late
+insertions, has a style and character of its own.  There were,
+undoubtedly, old traditions, known to the men who in the sixth and
+seventh centuries may have written the tales that we have, known even
+to men who in the tenth and eleventh centuries copied them and
+commented upon them; but the romances as they now stand do not look
+like pieces of patchwork, but like the works of men who had ideas to
+convey; and to me at least they seem to bear approximately the same
+relation to the Druid legends as the works of the Attic tragedians bear
+to the archaic Greek legends on which their tragedies were based.  In
+more than one case, as in the "Courtship of Etain," which is more fully
+discussed below, there are two versions of the same tale, the framework
+being the same in both, while the treatment of the incidents and the
+view of the characters of the actors is essentially different; and when
+the story is treated from the antiquarian point of view, that which
+regards both versions as resting upon a common prehistoric model, the
+question arises, which of the two more nearly represents the "true"
+version? There is, I would submit, in such cases, no true version.  The
+old Druidic story, if it could be found, would in all probability
+contain only a very small part of either of our two versions; it would
+be bald, half-savage in tone, like one of the more ancient Greek myths,
+and producing no literary effect; the literary effect of both the
+versions that we have, being added by men who lived in Christian times,
+were influenced by Christian ideals, and probably were, like many of
+their contemporaries, familiar with the literary bequests of the
+ancient world.[FN#2]
+
+
+[FN#2]  It seems to be uncertain whether or not the writers of the
+Irish romances shared in the classical learning for which Ireland was
+noted in their time.  The course of study at the schools established
+for the training of the fili in the tenth and eleventh centuries was
+certainly, as has been pointed out, very different from that of the
+ecclesiastical schools (see Joyce, vol. i. p. 430).  No classical
+instruction was included in this training, but it is not certain that
+this separation of studies was so complete before what is called the
+"antiquarian age" set in.  Cormac mac Cuninan, for example, was a
+classical scholar, and at the same time skilled in the learning of the
+fili.  It should also be observed that the course at the ecclesiastical
+schools, as handed down to us, hardly seems to be classical enough to
+have produced a Columbanus or an Erigena; the studies that produced
+these men must have been of a different kind, and the lay schools as
+originally established by Sanchan Torpest may have included much that
+afterwards gave place to a more purely Irish training.  The tale of
+Troy seems to have been known to the fili, and there are in their works
+allusions to Greek heroes, to Hercules and Hector, but it has been
+pointed out by Mr. Nutt that there is little if any evidence of
+influence produced by Latin or Greek literature on the actual matter or
+thought of the older Irish work.  On this point reference may be made
+to a note on "Mae Datho's Boar" in this volume (p. 173), but even if
+this absence of classical influence is established (and it is hard to
+say what will not be found in Irish literature), it is just possible
+that the same literary feeling which made Irish writers of
+comparatively late tales keep the bronze weapons and chariots of an
+earlier date in their accounts of ancient wars, while they described
+arms of the period when speaking of battles of their own time, affected
+them in this instance also; and that they had enough restraint to
+refrain from introducing classical and Christian ideas when speaking of
+times in which they knew these ideas would have been unfamiliar.
+
+
+It may be, and often is, assumed that the appearance of grotesque or
+savage passages in a romance is an indication of high antiquity, and
+that these passages at least are faithful reproductions of Druidic
+originals, but this does not seem to be quite certain.  Some of these
+passages, especially in the case of romances preserved in the Leabhar
+na h-Uidhri (The Book of the Dun Cow), look like insertions made by
+scribes of an antiquarian turn of mind,[FN#3] and are probably of very
+ancient date; in other cases, as for example in the "Boar of Mac
+Datho," where Conall dashes Anluan's head into Ket's face, the savagery
+is quite in 'keeping with the character of the story, and way have been
+deliberately invented by an author living in Christian times, to add a
+flavour to his tale, although in doing so he probably imitated a
+similar incident in some other legend.  To take a classical parallel,
+the barbarity shown by Aeneas in Aeneid x. 518-520, in sacrificing four
+youths on the funeral pyre of Pallas, an act which would have been
+regarded with horror in Virgil's own day, does not prove that there was
+any ancient tale of the death of Pallas in which these victims were
+sacrificed, nor even that such victims were sacrificed in ancient
+Latium in Pallas' day; but it does show that Virgil was familiar with
+the fact that such victims used in some places to be sacrificed on
+funeral pyres; for, in a sense, he could not have actually invented the
+incident.
+
+
+[FN#3]  See the exhibition of the tips of tongues in the "Sick-bed of
+Cuchulain," page 57.
+
+
+Thus the appearance of an archaic element in an Irish romance is in
+itself no proof of the Druidic origin of that form of the romance, nor
+even of the existence of that element in the romance's earliest form:
+upon such a principle the archaic character of the motif of the
+"Oedipus Coloneus" would prove it to be the oldest of the Greek
+tragedies, while as
+a matter of fact it seems to be doubtful whether the introduction of
+this motif into the story of Oedipus was not due to Sophocles himself,
+although of course he drew the idea of it, if not from the original
+legend of Oedipus, from some other early legend.
+
+The most satisfactory test of the authorship of an Irish romance, and
+one of the most satisfactory tests of its date, is its literary
+character; and if we look at the literary character of the best of the
+Irish romances, there is one point that is immediately apparent, the
+blending of prose and verse.  One, the most common, explanation of
+this, is that the verse was added to the original tale, another that
+the verse is the older part, the prose being added to make a framework
+for the verse, but a general view of some of the original romances
+appears to lead to a very different conclusion.  It seems much more
+probable that the Irish authors deliberately chose a method of making
+their work at once literary and suited to please a popular audience;
+they told their stories in plain prose, adding to them verse, possibly
+chanted by the reciters of the stories, so that while the prose told
+the story in simple language, the emotions of pity, martial ardour, and
+the like were awakened by the verse.  They did not use the epic form,
+although their knowledge of classical literature must have made them
+familiar with it; the Irish epic form is Romance.  They had, besides
+the prose and what may be called the "regular" verse, a third form,
+that of rose, or as it is sometimes called rhetoric, which is a very
+irregular form of verse.  Sometimes it rhymes, but more often not; the
+lines are of varying lengths, and to scan them is often very difficult,
+an alliteration taking the place of scansion in many cases.  The
+rhetoric does not in general develop the story nor take the form of
+description, it usually consists of songs of triumph, challenges,
+prophecies, and exhortations, though it is sometimes used for other
+purposes.  It does not conform to strict grammatical rules like the
+more regular verse and the prose, and many of the literal translations
+which Irish scholars have made for us of the romances omit this
+rhetoric entirely, owing to the difficulty in rendering it accurately,
+and because it does not develop the plots of the stories.  Notable
+examples of such omissions are in Miss Faraday's translation of the
+Leabhar na h-Uidhri version of the "Great Tain," and in Whitley Stokes'
+translation of the "Destruction of Da Derga's Hostel."  With all
+respect to these scholars, and with the full consciousness of the
+difficulty of the task that has naturally been felt by one who has
+vainly attempted to make sense of what their greater skill has omitted,
+it may be suggested that the total omission of such passages injures
+the literary effect of a romance in a manner similar to the effect of
+omitting all the choric pieces in a Greek tragedy: the rhetoric indeed,
+on account of its irregularity, its occasional strophic correspondence,
+its general independence of the action of the tale, and its difficulty
+as compared with the other passages, may be compared very closely to a
+Greek "chorus."  Few of the romances written in prose and verse are
+entirely without rhetoric; but some contain very little of it; all the
+six romances of this character given in the present volume (counting as
+two the two versions of "Etain") contain some rhetoric, but there are
+only twenty-one such passages in the collection altogether, ten of
+which are in one romance, the "Sick-bed of Cuchulain."
+
+The present collection is an attempt to give to English readers some of
+the oldest romances in English literary forms that seem to correspond
+to the literary forms which were used in Irish to produce the same
+effect, and has been divided into two parts.  The first part contains
+five separate stories, all of which are told in the characteristic form
+of prose and verse: they are the "Courtship of Etain," the "Boar of Mac
+Datho," the "Sick-bed of Cuchulain," the "Death of the Sons of Usnach"
+(Book of Leinster version), and the "Combat at the Ford" out of the
+Book of Leinster version of the "Tain bo Cuailnge."  Two versions are
+given of the "Courtship of Etain "; and the "Sick-bed of Cuchulain," as
+is pointed out in the special preface prefixed to it, really consists
+of two independent versions.  It was at first intended to add the
+better-known version of the "Death of the Sons of Usnach" known as that
+of the Glenn Masain MS., but the full translation of this has been
+omitted, partly to avoid making the volume too bulky, partly because
+this version is readily attainable in a literal form; an extract from
+it has, however, been added to the Book of Leinster version for the
+purpose of comparison.  In the renderings given of these romances the
+translation of the prose is nearly literal, but no attempt has been
+made to follow the Irish idiom where this idiom sounds harsh in
+English; actives have been altered to passive forms and the reverse,
+adjectives are sometimes replaced by short sentences which give the
+image better in English, pronouns, in which Irish is very rich, are
+often replaced by the persons or things indicated, and common words,
+like iarom, iarsin, iartain, immorro, and the like (meaning thereafter,
+moreover, &c.), have been replaced by short sentences that refer back
+to the events indicated by the words.  Nothing has been added to the
+Irish, except in the Leabhar na h-Uidhri version of "Etain," where
+there is a lacuna to be filled up, and there are no omissions.  The
+translations of the verse and of the rhetoric are, so far as is
+possible, made upon similar lines; it was at first intended to add
+literal renderings of all the verse passages, but it was found that to
+do so would make the volume of an unmanageable size for its purpose.
+Literal renderings of all the verse passages in "Etain," the first of
+the tales in volume i., are given in the notes to that story; the
+literal renderings of Deirdre's lament in the "Sons of Usnach," and of
+two poems in "The Combat at the Ford," are also given in full as
+specimens, but in the case of most of the poems reference is made to
+easily available literal translations either in English or German:
+where the literal rendering adopted differs from that referred to, or
+where the poem in question has not before been translated, the literal
+rendering has been given in the notes.  These examples will, it is
+believed, give a fair indication of the relation between my verse
+translations and the originals, the deviations from which have been
+made as small as possible.  The form of four-line verse divided into
+stanzas has generally been used to render the passages in four-lined
+verse in the Irish, the only exception to this rule being in the verses
+at the end of the "Boar of Mac Datho": these are in the nature of a
+ballad version of the whole story, and have been rendered in a ballad
+metre that does not conform to the arrangement in verses of the
+original.
+
+The metre of all the Irish four-lined verses in this volume is, except
+in two short pieces, a seven-syllabled line, the first two lines
+usually rhyming with each other, and the last two similarly
+rhyming,[FN#4] in a few cases in the "Boar of Mac Datho" these rhymes
+are alternate, and in the extract from the Glenn Masain version of the
+"Sons of Usnach" there is a more complicated rhyme system.  It has not
+been thought necessary to reproduce this metre in all cases, as to do
+so would sound too monotonous in English; the metre is, however,
+reproduced once at least in each tale except in that of the "Death of
+the Sons of Usnach."  The eight-lined metre that occurs in five of the
+verse passages in the "Combat at the Ford" has in one case been
+reproduced exactly, and in another case nearly exactly, but with one
+syllable added to each line; the two passages in this romance that are
+in five-syllabled lines have been reproduced exactly in the Irish
+metre, in one case with the rhyme-system of the original.  With the
+rhetoric greater liberty has been used; sometimes the original metre
+has been followed, but more often not; and an occasional attempt has
+been made to bring out the strophic correspondence in the Irish.
+
+
+[FN#4]  An example of this metre is as follows:--
+
+All the elves of Troom seem dead,
+All their mighty deeds are fled;
+For their Hound, who hounds surpassed,
+Elves have bound in slumber fast.
+
+
+In the first volume of the collection the presentation has then been
+made as near as may be to the form and matter of the Irish; in the
+second volume, called "Versified Romances," there is a considerable
+divergence from the Irish form but not from its sense.   This part
+includes the five "Tains" or Cattle-Forays of Fraech, Dartaid, Regamon,
+Flidais, and Regamna; which in the originals differ from the five tales
+in volume i, in that they include no verse, except for a few lines in
+Regamna, most of which are untranslatable.  The last four of these are
+short pieces written in a prose extremely rapid in its action, and
+crowded with incident.  They are all expressly named as "fore-tales,"
+remscela, or preludes to the story of the great war of Cualnge, which
+is the central event in the Ulster heroic cycle, and appear suited for
+rapid prose recitations, which were apparently as much a feature in
+ancient as they are in modern Irish.  Such pieces can hardly be
+reproduced in English prose so as to bring out their character; they
+are represented in English by the narrative ballad, and they have been
+here rendered in this way.  Literal translations in prose are printed
+upon the opposite page to the verse, these translations being much more
+exact than the translations in the first volume, as the object in this
+case is to show the literal Irish form, not its literal English
+equivalent, which is in this case the verse.  The "Tain bo Fraich" is
+also, in a sense, a "fore-tale" to the Great Raid, but is of a
+different character to the others.  It consists of two parts, the
+second of which is not unlike the four that have just been mentioned,
+but the first part is of a much higher order, containing brilliant
+descriptions, and at least one highly poetic passage although its Irish
+form is prose.  Fraech has been treated like the other fore-tales, and
+rendered in verse with literal prose opposite to the verse for the
+purpose of comparison.  The notes to all the five Tana in the second
+volume accompany the text; in the first volume all the notes to the
+different romances are collected together, and placed at the end of the
+volume.  The second volume also includes a transcript from the
+facsimile of that part of the Irish text of the tale of Etain which has
+not before been published, together with an interlinear literal
+translation.  It is hoped that this arrangement may assist some who are
+not Middle Irish scholars to realise what the original romances are.
+
+
+The manuscript authorities for the eleven different romances (counting
+as two the two versions of "Etain") are all old; seven are either in
+the Leabhar na h-Uidhri, an eleventh-century manuscript, or in the Book
+of Leinster, a twelfth-century one; three of the others are in the
+fourteenth-century Yellow Book of Lecan, which is often, in the case of
+texts preserved both in it and the Leabhar na h-Uidhri, regarded as the
+better authority of the two; and the remaining one, the second version
+of "Etain," is in the fifteenth-century manuscript known as Egerton,
+1782, which gives in an accurate form so many texts preserved in the
+older manuscripts that it is very nearly as good an authority as they.
+The sources used in making the translations are also stated in the
+special introductions, but it may be mentioned as a summary that the
+four "Preludes," the Tana of Dartaid, Regamon, Flidais, and Regamna,
+are taken from the text printed with accompanying German translations
+by Windisch in Irische Texte, vol. ii.; Windisch's renderings being
+followed in those portions of the text that he translates; for the
+"Tain bo Fraich" and the "Combat at the Ford" the Irish as given by
+O'Beirne Crowe and by O'Curry, with not very trustworthy English
+translations, has been followed; in the case of the fragment of the
+Glenn Masain version of "Deirdre" little reference has been made to the
+Irish, the literal translation followed being that given by Whitley
+Stokes.  The remaining five romances, the "Boar of Mac Datho," the
+Leinster version of "Deirdre," the "Sick-bed of Cuchulain," the Egerton
+version of "Etain," and the greater part of the Leabbar na h-Uidhri
+version of the same, are taken from the Irish text printed without
+translation in Irische Texte, vol. i., the end of the Leabhar na
+h-Uidhri version omitted by Windisch being taken from the facsimile of
+the manuscript published by the Royal Irish Academy.
+
+I have to acknowledge with gratitude many corrections to O'Beirne
+Crowe's translation of the "Tain bo Fraich" kindly given me by
+Professor Kuno Meyer; in the case of O'Curry's translation of the
+"Combat at the Ford," similar help kindly given me by Mr. E. J.
+Quiggin; and in the case of the two versions of "Etain," more
+especially for the part taken direct from the facsimile, I have to
+express gratitude for the kind and ready help given to me by Professor
+Strachan.  Professor Strachan has not only revised my transcript from
+the facsimile, and supplied me with translations of the many difficult
+passages in this of which I could make no sense, but has revised all
+the translation which was made by the help of Windisch's glossary to
+the Irische Texte of both the versions of "Etain," so that the
+translations given of these two romances should be especially reliable,
+although of course I may have made some errors which have escaped
+Professor Strachan's notice.  The three other romances which have been
+translated from the Irish in Irische Texte have not been similarly
+revised, but all passages about which there appeared to be doubt have
+been referred to in the notes to the individual romances.
+
+It remains to add some remarks upon the general character of the tales,
+which, as may be seen after a very cursory examination, are very
+different both in tone and merit, as might indeed be expected if we
+remember that we are probably dealing with the works of men who were
+separated from each other by a gap of hundreds of years.  Those who
+have read the actual works of the ancient writers of the Irish romances
+will not readily indulge in the generalisations about them used by
+those to whom the romances are only known by abstracts or a
+compilation.  Perhaps the least meritorious of those in this collection
+are the "Tains" of Dartaid, Regamon, and Flidais, but the tones of
+these three stories are very different.  Dartaid is a tale of fairy
+vengeance for a breach of faith; Flidais is a direct and simple story
+of a raid like a Border raid, reminding us of the "riding ballads" of
+the Scottish Border, and does not seem to trouble itself much about
+questions of right or wrong; Regamon is a merry tale of a foray by boys
+and girls; it troubles itself with the rights of the matter even less
+than Flidais if possible, and is an example of an Irish tale with what
+is called in modern times a "good ending."  It may be noted that these
+last two tales have no trace of the supernatural element which some
+suppose that the Irish writers were unable to dispense with.  The "Tain
+bo Regamna," the shortest piece in the collection, is a grotesque
+presentation of the supernatural, and is more closely associated with
+the Great Tain than any of the other fore-tales to it, the series of
+prophecies with which it closes exactly following the action of the
+part of the Tain, to which it refers.  Some of the grotesque character
+of Regamna appears in the "Boar of Mac Datho," which, however, like
+Regamon and Flidais, has no supernatural element; its whole tone is
+archaic and savage, relieved by touches of humour, but the style of the
+composition is much superior to that of the first three stories.  A
+romance far superior to "Mae Datho" is the Leinster version of the
+well-known Deirdre story, the "Death of the Sons of Usnach."  The
+opening of the story is savage, the subsequent action of the prose is
+very rapid, while the splendid lament at the end, one of the best
+sustained laments in the language, and the restraint shown in its
+account of the tragic death of Deirdre, place this version of the story
+in a high position.  As has been already mentioned, parts of the
+fifteenth-century version of the story have been added to this version
+for purposes of comparison: the character of the Deirdre of the
+Leinster version would not have been in keeping with the sentiment of
+the lament given to her in the later account.
+
+The remaining five romances (treating as two the two versions of
+"Etain") all show great beauty in different ways.  Three of the four
+tales given in them have "good endings," and the feeling expressed in
+them is less primitive than that shown in the other stories, although
+it is an open question whether any of them rises quite so high as
+Deirdre's lament.  "Fraech" has, as has been mentioned before, two
+quite separate parts; the second part is of inferior quality, showing,
+however, an unusual amount of knowledge of countries lying outside
+Celtdom, but the first is a most graceful romance; although the hero is
+a demi-god, and the fairies play a considerable part in it, the
+interest is essentially human; and the plot is more involved than is
+the case in most of the romances.  It abounds in brilliant
+descriptions; the description of the Connaught palace is of antiquarian
+interest; and one of the most beautiful pieces of Celtic mythology, the
+parentage of the three fairy harpers, is included in it.
+
+The "Sick-bed of Cuchulain" and the Leabhar na h-Uidhri version of the
+"Courtship of Etain" seem to have had their literary effect injured by
+the personality of the compiler of the manuscript from which the
+Leabhar na h-Uidhri was copied.  Seemingly an antiquarian, interested
+in the remains of the old Celtic religion and in old ceremonies, he has
+inserted pieces of antiquarian information into several of the romances
+that he has preserved for us, and though these are often of great
+interest in themselves, they spoil the literary effect of the romances
+in which they appear.  It is possible that both the Leabhar na h-Uidhri
+version of "Etain" and the "Sick-bed" might be improved by a little
+judicious editing; they have, however, been left just as they stand in
+the manuscript.  The "Sick-bed," as is pointed out in the special
+introduction to it, consists of two separate versions; the first has
+plainly some of the compiler's comments added to it, but the second and
+longer part seems not to have been meddled with; and, although a
+fragment, it makes a stately romance, full of human interest although
+dealing with supernatural beings; and its conclusion is especially
+remarkable in early literature on account of the importance of the
+action of the two women who are the heroines of this part of the tale.
+The action of Fand in resigning her lover to the weaker mortal woman
+who has a better claim upon him is quite modern in its tone.
+
+The nearest parallel to the longer version of the "Sick-bed" is the
+Egerton version of "Etain," which is a complete one, and makes a
+stately romance.  It is full of human interest, love being its keynote;
+it keeps the supernatural element which is an essential to the original
+legend in the background, and is of quite a different character to the
+earlier Leabhar na h-Uidhri version, although there is no reason to
+assume that the latter is really the more ancient in date.  In the
+Leabbar na h-Uidhri version of "Etain," all that relates to the
+love-story is told in the baldest manner, the part which deals with the
+supernatural being highly descriptive and poetic.  I am inclined to
+believe that the antiquarian compiler of the manuscript did here what
+he certainly did in the case of the "Sick-bed of Cuchulain," and pieced
+together two romances founded upon the same legend by different
+authors.  The opening of the story in Fairyland and the concluding part
+where Mider again appears are alike both in style and feeling, while
+the part that comes between is a highly condensed version of the
+love-story of the Egerton manuscript, and suggests the idea of an
+abstract of the Egerton version inserted into the story as originally
+composed, the effect being similar to that which would be produced upon
+us if we had got Aeschylus' "Choaphorae" handed down to us with a
+condensed version of the dialogue between Electra and Chrysothemis out
+of Sophocles' "Electra" inserted by a conscientious antiquarian who
+thought that some mention of Chrysothemis was necessary.  This version
+of the legend, however, with its strong supernatural flavour, its
+insistence on the idea of re-birth, its observation of nature, and
+especially the fine poem in which Mider invites Etain to Fairyland, is
+a most valuable addition to the literature, and we have to lament the
+gap in it owing to the loss of a column in that part of the Leabhar na
+h-Uidhri manuscript which has been preserved.
+
+The last piece to be mentioned is the extract from the "Tain be
+Cuailnge" known as the "Combat at the Ford."  This seems to me the
+finest specimen of old Irish work that has been preserved for us; the
+brilliance of its descriptions, the appropriate changes in its metres,
+the chivalry of its sentiments, and the rapidity of its action should,
+even if there were nothing to stand beside it in Irish literature, give
+that literature a claim to be heard: as an account of a struggle
+between two friends, it is probably the finest in any literature.  It
+has been stated recently, no doubt upon sound authority, that the
+grammatical forms of this episode show it to be late, possibly dating
+only to the eleventh century.  The manuscript in which it appears,
+however, is of the earlier part of the twelfth century; no literary
+modem work other than Irish can precede it in time; and if it is the
+work of an eleventh-century author, it does seem strange that his name
+or the name of some one of that date who could have written it has not
+been recorded, as MacLiag's name has been as the traditional author of
+the eleventh-century "Wars of the Gaedhill and the Gaill," for the
+names of several Irish authors of that period axe well known, and the
+Early Middle Irish texts of that period are markedly of inferior
+quality.  Compare for example the Boromaean Tribute which Stokes
+considers to take high rank among texts of that period (Revue Celtique,
+xiii. p. 32).  One would certainly like to believe that this episode of
+the "Combat at the Ford" belongs to the best literary period, with
+which upon literary grounds it seems to be most closely connected.
+
+But, whether this comparative lateness of the "Combat at the Ford" be
+true or not, it, together with all the varied work contained in this
+collection, with the possible exception of the short extract from the
+Glenn Masain "Deirdre," is in the actual form that we have it, older
+than the Norman Conquest of Ireland, older than the Norse Sagas.  Its
+manuscript authority is older than that of the Volsunga Saga; its
+present form precedes the birth of Chretien de Troyes, the first
+considerable name in French literature, and, in a form not much unlike
+that in which we have it, it is probably centuries older than its
+actual manuscript date.  The whole thing stands at the very beginning
+of the literature of Modern Europe, and compares by no means
+unfavourably with that which came after, and may, in part, have been
+inspired by it.  Surely it deserves to be raised from its present
+position as a study known only to a few specialists, and to form part
+of the mental equipment of every man who is for its own sake interested
+in and a lover of literature.
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION IN VERSE
+
+
+
+'Tis hard an audience now to win
+For lore that Ireland's tales can teach;
+And faintly, 'mid the modern din,
+Is heard the old heroic speech.
+
+For long the tales in silence slept;
+The ancient tomes by few were read;
+E'en those who still its knowledge kept
+Have thought the living music dead.
+
+And some, to save the lore from death,
+With modern arts each tale would deck,
+Inflate its rhymes with magic breath,
+As if to buoy a sinking wreck.
+
+They graft new morbid magic dreams
+On tales where beating life is felt:
+In each romance find mystic gleams,
+And traces of the "moody Celt."
+
+Yet, though with awe the grassy mound
+That fairies haunt, is marked to-day;
+And though in ancient tales are found
+Dim forms of gods, long passed away;
+
+Though later men to magic turned,
+Inserting many a Druid spell;
+And ill the masters' craft had learned
+Who told the tales, and told them well;
+
+No tale should need a magic dress
+Or modern art, its life to give:
+Each for itself, or great, or less,
+Should speak, if it deserves to live.
+
+Think not a dull, a scribal pen
+Dead legends wrote, half-known, and feared:
+In lettered lands to poet men
+Romance, who lives to-day, appeared.
+
+For when, in fear of warrior bands,
+Had Learning fled the western world,
+And, raised once more by Irish hands,
+Her banner stood again unfurled;
+
+'Twas there, where men her laws revered,
+That Learning aided Art's advance;
+And Ireland bore, and Ireland reared
+These Eldest Children of Romance.
+
+Her poets knew the Druid creeds;
+Yet not on these their thoughts would rest:
+They sang of love, of heroes' deeds,
+Of kingly pomp, of cheerful jest.
+
+Not as in Greece aspired their thought,
+They joyed in battles wild and stern;
+Yet pity once to men they taught
+From whom a fiercer age could learn.
+
+Their frequent theme was war: they sang
+The praise of chiefs of courage high;
+Yet, from their harps the accents rang
+That taught to knighthood chivalry.
+
+Their heroes praise a conquered foe,
+Oppose their friends for honour's sake,
+To weaker chieftains mercy show,
+And strength of cruel tyrants break.
+
+Their nobles, loving fame, rejoice
+In glory, got from bards, to shine;
+Yet thus ascends Cuchulain's voice:
+"No skill indeed to boast is mine!"
+
+They sang, to please a warlike age,
+Of wars, and women's wild lament,
+Yet oft, restraining warriors' rage,
+Their harps to other themes were bent.
+
+They loved on peaceful pomp to dwell,
+Rejoiced in music's magic strains,.
+All Nature's smiling face loved well,
+And "glowing hues of flowery plains."
+
+Though oft of Fairy Land they spoke,
+No eerie beings dwelled therein,
+'Twas filled throughout with joyous folk
+Like men, though freed from death and sin.
+
+And sure those bards were truest knights
+Whose thoughts of women high were set,
+Nor deemed them prizes, won in fights,
+But minds like men's, and women yet.
+
+With skilful touch they paint us each,
+Etain, whose beauty's type for all;
+Scathach, whose warriors skill could teach
+Emer, whose words in wisdom fall;
+
+Deirdre the seer, by love made keen;
+Flidais, whose bounty armies feeds
+The prudent Mugain, Conor's queen;
+Crund's wife, more swift than Conor's steeds;
+
+Finnabar, death for love who dared;
+Revengeful Ferb, who died of grief
+Fand, who a vanquished rival spared;
+Queen Maev, who Connaught led, its chief.
+
+Not for the creeds their lines preserve
+Should Ireland's hero tales be known
+Their pictured pages praise deserve
+From all, not learned men alone.
+
+Their works are here; though flawed by time,
+To all the living verses speak
+Of men who taught to Europe rhyme,
+Who knew no masters, save the Greek.
+
+In forms like those men loved of old,
+Naught added, nothing torn away,
+The ancient tales again are told,
+Can none their own true magic sway?
+
+
+
+
+PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES
+
+
+
+The following list of suggested pronunciations does not claim to be
+complete or to be necessarily correct in all cases.  Some words like
+Ferdia and Conchobar (Conor) have an established English pronunciation
+that is strictly speaking wrong; some, like Murthemne are doubtful; the
+suggestions given here are those adopted by the editor for such
+information as is at his disposal.  It seems to be unnecessary to give
+all the names, as the list would be too long; this list contains those
+names in the first volume as are of frequent occurrence; names that
+occur less commonly, and some of those in the following list, have a
+pronunciation indicated in foot-notes.  The most important names are in
+small capitals.
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF NAMES
+
+
+
+Aife (Ee-fa), pp. 117, 129, 1342 141, 148, an instructress of
+Cuchulain, Ferdia, and others in the art of war.
+
+Cathbad (Cah-ba), pp. 91, 92, 93, 95, a Druid.
+
+Cualgne (Kell-ny), mentioned in the Preface, Introductions, the
+"Combat" and elsewhere; a district corresponding to County Louth.
+
+Cuchulain (Cu-hoo-lin), the hero of the "Sick-bed" and the "Combat,"
+and of the Ulster Heroic cycle in general.
+
+Deirdre (Dire-dree), the heroine of the "Exile of the Sons of Usnach."
+
+Dubhtach (Doov-ta), pp. 48, 97, 98, 107, an Ulster hero.
+
+Eochaid Airem (Yeo-hay Arrem), the king in the "Courtship of Etain."
+
+Eochaid Juil (Yeo-hay Yool), pp. 63, 70, 76, 79, a fairy king killed by
+Cuchulain.
+
+Eogan mac Durthacht (Yeogan mac Door-ha), pp. 43, 48, 93, 97, 101, 107;
+an Ulster hero, the slayer of the sons of Usnach.
+
+Etain (Et-oyn), the heroine of the "Courtship of Etain."
+
+Ferdia (Fer-dee-a), Cuchulain's opponent in the "Combat at the Ford."
+The true pronunciation is probably Fer-deed.
+
+Fuamnach (Foom-na), pp. 79 9, 10, 19, 26, a sorceress.
+
+Laeg (Layg), son of Riangabra (Reen-gabra), the charioteer and friend
+of Cuchulain, frequently mentioned in the "Sick-bed" and the "Combat at
+the Ford."
+
+Laegaire (Leary), pp. 42, 46, 67, an Ulster hero.
+
+Leabhar na h-Uidhri (Lyow-er na hoorie), frequently mentioned, the
+oldest Irish manuscript of romance.  It means the "Book of the Dun
+Cow," sometimes referred to as L.U.
+
+Mac Datho (Mac Da-ho), king of Leinster in the "Boar of Mac Datho," the
+word means "son of two mutes."
+
+Murthemne (Moor-temmy), pp. 57, 59, 61, 73, 77, 78, a district in
+Ulster, with which Cuchulain is connected in the "Sick-bed" (in the
+"Combat" he is "Cuchulain of Cualgne").
+
+Naisi (Nay-see), the hero of the "Exile of the Sons of Usnach."
+
+Scathach (Ska-ha), pp. 117, 129) 131, 134, 141, 149, 151 a sorceress in
+the Isle of Skye, instructress of Cuchulain in war.
+
+Uathach (Oo-ha), pp. 117, 129, 134; 141) 149, daughter of Scathach.
+
+
+
+
+Other prominent characters, in the pronunciation of whose names as
+given in the text no special assistance is required, are:
+
+
+
+Ailill mac Mata (Al-ill), king of Connaught.
+
+Ailill Anglonnach, lover of Etain, in the "Courtship of Etain."
+
+Conall Cernach, Conall the Victorious, second champion of Ulster after
+Cuchulain.
+
+Conor (properly spelt Conchobar and pronounced Con-ower), king of
+Ulster.
+
+Emer, wife of Cuchulain, appears often in the "Sick-bed."  This name is
+by some pronounced A-vair, probably from a different spelling.
+
+Fand, the fairy princess, in love with Cuchulain, in the "Sick-bed."
+
+Fergus, son of Rog, prominent in the "Exile of the Sons of Usnach," and
+in "Combat"; step-father to King Conor, he appears in most of the
+romances.
+
+Ket (spelt Cet), son of Mata, the Connaught champion, appears in the
+"Boar of Mac Datho."
+
+Maev (spelt Medb), the great Queen of Connaught.
+
+Mider, Etain's fairy lover, in the "Courtship of Etain."
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+
+THE COURTSHIP OF ETAIN
+
+MAC DATHO'S BOAR
+
+THE SICK-BED OF CUCHULAIN
+
+THE EXILE OF THE SONS OF USNACH
+
+THE COMBAT AT THE FORD
+
+SPECIAL NOTE ON THE COMBAT AT THE FORD
+
+GENERAL NOTES
+
+
+
+
+THE COURTSHIP OF ETAIN
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+The date which tradition assigns to the events related in the tale of
+the "Courtship of Etain" is about B.C. 100, two or, according to some
+accounts, three generations before the king Conaire Mor, or Conary,
+whose death is told in the tale called the "Destruction of Da Derga's
+Hostel."  This king is generally spoken of as a contemporary of the
+chief personages of what is called more especially the "Heroic Age" of
+Ireland; and the two versions of the "Courtship of Etain" given in this
+volume at once introduce a difficulty; for the sub-kings who were
+tributary to Eochaid, Etain's husband, are in both versions stated to
+be Conor, Ailill mac Mata, Mesgegra, and Curoi, all of whom are
+well-known figures in the tales of the Heroic Age.  As Conary is
+related to have ruled sixty years, and several of the characters of the
+Heroic Age survived him, according to the tale that describes his
+death, the appearance of the names of Conor and Ailill in a tale about
+his grandfather (or according to the Egerton version his
+great-grandfather) introduces an obvious discrepancy.
+
+It appears to be quite impossible to reconcile the dates given to the
+actors in the tales of the Heroic and preceding age.  They seem to have
+been given in the "antiquarian age" of the tenth and eleventh
+centuries; not only do they differ according to different chronologers
+by upwards of a hundred years, but the succession of kings in the
+accounts given by the same chronologer is often impossible in view of
+their mutual relationships.  The real state of things appears to be
+that the "Courtship of Etain," together with the story of Conary, the
+lost tale of the destruction of the Fairy Hill of Nennta,[FN#5] and the
+tale of the Bull-Feast and election of Lugaid Red-Stripes as king of
+Ireland, forms a short cycle of romance based upon ancient legends that
+had originally no connection at all with those on which the romances of
+the Heroic Age were built.  The whole government of the country is
+essentially different in the two cycles; in the Etain cycle the idea is
+that of a land practically governed by one king, the vassal kings being
+of quite small importance; in the tales of the Heroic Age proper, the
+picture we get is of two, if not of four, practically independent
+kingdoms, the allusions to any over-king being very few, and in great
+part late.  But when the stories of Etain and of Conary assumed their
+present forms, when the writers of our romances formed them out of the
+traditions which descended to them from pro-Christian sources, both
+cycles of tradition were pretty well known; and there was a natural
+tendency to introduce personages from one cycle into the other,
+although these personages occupy a subordinate position in the cycle to
+which they do not properly belong.  Even Conall Cernach, who is a
+fairly prominent figure in the tale of the death of Conary, has little
+importance given to him compared with the people who really belong to
+the cycle, and the other warriors of the Heroic Age mentioned in the
+tale are little but lay figures compared with Conary, Ingcel, and Mac
+Cecht.  A wish to connect the two cycles probably accounts for the
+connection of Lugaid Red-Stripes with Cuchulain, the introduction of
+Conor and Ailill into the story of Etain may be due to the same cause,
+and there is no need to suppose that the authors of our versions felt
+themselves bound by what other men had introduced into the tale of
+Conary.  The practice of introducing heroes from one cycle into another
+was by no means uncommon, or confined to Ireland; Greek heroes' names
+sometimes appear in the Irish tales; Cuchulain, in much later times,
+comes into the tales of Finn; and in Greece itself, characters who
+really belong to the time of the Trojan War appear in tales of the
+Argonauts.
+
+
+[FN#5]  A short account of this is in the story of King Dathi (O'Curry
+Lectures, p. 286). The tale seems to be alluded to in the quatrain on
+p. 10 of this volume.
+
+
+There are very few corresponding allusions to personages from the small
+Etain cycle found in the great cycle of romances that belong to the
+Heroic Age, but MacCecht's name appears in a fifteenth-century
+manuscript which gives a version of the tale of Flidais; and I suspect
+an allusion to the Etain story in a verse in the "Sick-bed of
+Cuchulain" (see note, p. 184).  It may be observed that the
+introduction of Conor and his contemporaries into the story of Conary's
+grandparents is an additional piece of evidence that our form of the
+story of Etain precedes the "antiquarian age"; for at that time the
+version which we have of the story of Conary must have been classical
+and the connection of Conor's warriors with Conary well-known.  A keen
+eye was at that time kept on departures from the recognised historical
+order (compare a note by Mr. Nutt in the "Voyage of Bran," vol. ii. p.
+61); and the introduction of Conor into our version of the tale of
+Etain must have been at an earlier date.
+
+The two versions of the "Courtship of Etain," the Egerton one, and that
+in the Leabhar na h-Uidhri, have been compared in the general preface
+to the volume, and little more need be said on this point; it may,
+however, be noted that eight pages of the Egerton version (pp. 11 to
+18) are compressed into two pages in L.U. (pp. 23 and 24).  References
+to the Etain story are found in different copies of the "Dindshenchas,"
+under the headings of Rath Esa, Rath Croghan, and Bri Leith; the
+principal manuscript authorities, besides the two translated here, are
+the Yellow Book of Lecan, pp. 91 to 104, and the Book of Leinster, 163b
+(facsimile).  These do not add much to our versions; there are,
+however, one or two new points in a hitherto untranslated manuscript
+source mentioned by O'Curry ("Manners and Customs," vol. ii. p 192 to
+194).
+
+The Leabhar na h-Uidhri version is defective both at the beginning and
+at the end; there is also a complete column torn from the manuscript,
+making the description of the chess match defective.  These three gaps
+have been filled up by short passages enclosed in square brackets, at
+the commencement of the Prologue, on p. 28, and at the end of the L.U.
+version.  The two first of these insertions contain no matter that
+cannot be found by allusions in the version itself; the conclusion of
+the tale is drawn, partly from the "Dindshenchas" of Rath Esa, partly
+from the passage in O'Curry's "Manners and Customs."
+
+The only alteration that has been made is that, following a suggestion
+in Windisch (Irische Texte, i. p. 132), the poem on page 26 has been
+placed four pages earlier than the point at which it occurs in the
+manuscript.  Three very difficult lines (Leabhar na h-Uidhri, 132a,
+lines 12 to 14) have not been attempted; there are no other omissions,
+and no insertions except the three noted above.  The Prologue out of
+the L.U. version has been placed first, as it is essential to the
+understanding of any version, then follows the Egerton version as the
+longer of the two, then the L.U. version of the Courtship, properly so
+called.
+
+
+
+
+PROLOGUE IN FAIRYLAND
+
+
+
+FROM THE LEABHAR NA H-UIDHRI
+
+
+Etain of the Horses, the daughter of Ailill, was the wife of Mider, the
+Fairy Dweller in Bri Leith.[FN#6]  Now Mider had also another wife
+named Fuamnach[FN#7] who was filled with jealousy against Etain, and
+sought to drive her from her husband's house.  And Fuamnach sought out
+Bressal Etarlam the Druid and besought his aid; and by the spells of
+the Druid, and the sorcery of Fuamnach, Etain was changed into the
+shape of a butterfly that finds its delight among flowers.  And when
+Etain was in this shape she was seized by a great wind that was raised
+by Fuamnach's spells; and she was borne from her husband's house by
+that wind for seven years till she came to the palace of Angus Mac O'c
+who was son to the Dagda, the chief god of the men of ancient Erin.
+Mac O'c had been fostered by Mider, but he was at enmity with his
+foster-father, and he recognised Etain, although in her transformed
+shape, as she was borne towards him by the force] of the wind.  And he
+made a bower for Etain with clear windows for it through which she
+might pass, and a veil of purple was laid upon her; and that bower was
+carried about by Mac O'c wherever he went.  And there each night she
+slept beside him by a means that he devised, so that she became
+well-nourished and fair of form; for that bower was filled with
+marvellously sweet-scented shrubs, and it was upon these that she
+thrived, upon the odour and blossom of the best of precious herbs.
+
+
+[FN#6]  Pronounced Bree Lay.
+
+[FN#7]  Pronounced Foom-na.
+
+
+Now to Fuamnach came tidings of the love and the worship that Etain had
+from Mac O'c, and she came to Mider, and "Let thy foster-son," said
+she, "be summoned to visit thee, that I may make peace between you two,
+and may then go to seek for news of Etain."  And the messenger from
+Mider went to Mac O'c, and Mac O'c went to Mider to greet him; but
+Fuamnach for a long time wandered from land to land till she was in
+that very mansion where Etain was; and then she blew beneath her with
+the same blast as aforetime, so that the blast carried her out of her
+bower, and she was blown before it, as she had been before for seven
+years through all the land of Erin, and she was driven by the wind of
+that blast to weakness and woe.  And the wind carried her over the roof
+of a house where the men of Ulster sat at their ale, so that she fell
+through the roof into a cup of gold that stood near the wife of Etar
+the Warrior, whose dwelling-place was near to the Bay of Cichmany in
+the province that was ruled over by Conor.  And the woman swallowed
+Etain together with the milk that was in the cup, and she bare her in
+her womb, till the time came that she was born thereafter as in earthly
+maid, and the name of Etain, the daughter of Etar, was given to her.
+And it was one thousand and twelve years since the time of the first
+begetting of Etain by Ailill to the time when she was born the second
+time as the daughter of Etar.
+
+Now Etain was nurtured at Inver Cichmany in the house of Etar, with
+fifty maidens about her of the daughters of the chiefs of the land; and
+it was Etar himself who still nurtured and clothed them, that they
+might be companions to his daughter Etain.  And upon a certain day,
+when those maidens were all at the river-mouth to bathe there, they saw
+a horseman on the plain who came to the water towards them.  A horse he
+rode that was brown, curvetting, and prancing, with a broad forehead
+and a curly mane and tail.  Green, long, and flowing was the cloak that
+was about him, his shirt was embroidered with embroidery of red gold,
+and a great brooch of gold in his cloak reached to his shoulder on
+either side.  Upon the back of that man was a silver shield with a
+golden rim; the handle for the shield was silver, and a golden boss was
+in the midst of the shield: he held in his hand a five-pointed spear
+with rings of gold about it from the haft to the head.  The hair that
+was above his forehead was yellow and fair; and upon his brow was a
+circlet of gold, which confined the hair so that it fell not about his
+face.  He stood for a while upon the shore of the bay; and he gazed
+upon the maidens, who were all filled with love for him, and then he
+sang this song:
+
+West of Alba, near the Mound[FN#8]
+Where the Fair-Haired Women play,
+There, 'mid little children found,
+Etain dwells, by Cichmain's Bay.
+
+She hath healed a monarch's eye
+By the well of Loch-da-lee;
+Yea, and Etar's wife, when dry,
+Drank her: heavy draught was she!
+
+Chased by king for Etain's sake,
+Birds their flight from Teffa wing:
+'Tis for her Da-Arbre's lake
+Drowns the coursers of the king.
+
+Echaid, who in Meath shall reign,
+Many a war for thee shall wage;
+He shall bring on fairies bane,
+Thousands rouse to battle's rage.
+
+Etain here to harm was brought,
+Etain's form is Beauty's test;
+Etain's king in love she sought:
+Etain with our folk shall rest!
+
+
+[FN#8]  The metre of these verses is that of the Irish.
+
+
+And after that he had spoken thus, the young warrior went away from the
+place where the maidens were; and they knew not whence it was that he
+had come, nor whither he departed afterwards.
+Moreover it is told of Mac O'c, that after the disappearance of Etain
+he came to the meeting appointed between him and Mider; and when he
+found that Fuamnach was away: "'Tis deceit," said Mider, "that this
+woman hath practised upon us; and if Etain shall be seen by her to be
+in Ireland, she will work evil upon Etain."  "And indeed," said Mac
+O'c, "it seemeth to me that thy guess may be true. For Etain hath long
+since been in my own house, even in the palace where I dwell; moreover
+she is now in that shape into which that woman transformed her; and
+'tis most likely that it is upon her that Fuamnach hath rushed."  Then
+Mac O'c went back to his palace, and he found his bower of glass empty,
+for Etain was not there. And Mac O'c turned him, and he went upon the
+track of Fuamnach, and he overtook her at Oenach Bodbgnai, in the house
+of Bressal Etarlam the Druid.  And Mac O'c attacked her, and he struck
+off her head, and he carried the head with him till he came to within
+his own borders.
+
+Yet a different tale hath been told of the end of Fuamnach, for it hath
+been said that by the aid of Manannan both Fuamnach and Mider were
+slain in Bri Leith, and it is of that slaying that men have told when
+they said:
+
+Think on Sigmall, and Bri with its forest:
+Little wit silly Fuamnach had learned;
+Mider's wife found her need was the sorest,
+When Bri Leith by Manannan was burned.
+
+
+
+
+THE COURTSHIP OF ETAIN
+
+
+
+EGERTON VERSION
+
+
+Once there was a glorious and stately king who held the supreme
+lordship over all the land of Ireland.  The name of the king was
+Eochaid Airemm, and he was the son of Finn, who was the son of Finntan;
+who was the son of Rogan the Red; who was the son of Essamain; who was
+the son of Blathecht; who was the son of Beothecht; who was the son of
+Labraid the Tracker; who was the son of Enna the Swift; who was the son
+of Angus of Tara, called the Shamefaced; who was the son of Eochaid the
+Broad-jointed; who was the son of Ailill of the Twisted Teeth; who was
+the son of Connla the Fair; who was the son of Irer; who was the son of
+Melghe the Praiseworthy; who was the son of Cobhtach the Slender from
+the plain of Breg; who was the son of Ugaine the Great; who was the son
+of Eochaid the Victorious.
+
+Now all the five provinces of Ireland were obedient to the rule of
+Eochaid Airemm: for Conor the son of Ness, the king of Ulster, was
+vassal to Eochaid; and Messgegra the king of Leinster was his vassal;
+and so was Curoi, the son of Dare, king of the land of Munster; and so
+were Ailill and Maev, who ruled over the land of Connaught.  Two great
+strongholds were in the hands of Eochaid: they were the strongholds of
+Fremain in Meath, and of Fremain in Tethba; and the stronghold that he
+had in Tethba was more pleasing to him than any of those that he
+possessed.
+Less than a year had passed since Eochaid first assumed the sovereignty
+over Erin, when the news was proclaimed at once throughout all the land
+that the Festival of Tara should be held, that all the men of Ireland
+should come into the presence of their king, and that he desired full
+knowledge of the tributes due from, and the customs proper to each.
+And the one answer that all of the men of Ireland made to his call was:
+"That they would not attend the Festival of Tara during such time,
+whether it be long or short, that the king of Ireland remained without
+a wife that was worthy of him;" for there is no noble who is a wifeless
+man among the men of Ireland; nor can there be any king without a
+queen; nor does any man go to the Festival of Tara without his wife;
+nor does any wife go thither without her husband.
+
+Thereupon Eochaid sent out from him his horsemen, and his wizards, and
+his officers who had the care of the roads, and his couriers of the
+boundaries throughout all Ireland; and they searched all Ireland as
+they sought for a wife that should be worthy of the king, in her form,
+and her grace, and her countenance, and her birth.  And in addition to
+all this there yet remained one condition: that the king would take as
+his wife none who had been before as a wife to any other man before him.
+
+And after that they had received these commands, his horsemen, and his
+wizards, and his officers who had the care of the roads, and the
+couriers of the boundaries went out; and they searched all Ireland
+south and north; and near to the Bay of Cichmany they found a wife
+worthy of the king; and her name was Etain the daughter of Etar, who
+was the king of Echrad.  And his messengers returned to Eochaid, and
+they told him of the maiden, of her form, and her grace, and her
+countenance.  And Eochaid came to that place to take the maiden thence,
+and this was the way that he took; for as he crossed over the ground
+where men hold the assembly of Bri Leith, he saw the maiden at the
+brink of the spring.  A clear comb of silver was held in her hand, the
+comb was adorned with gold; and near her, as for washing, was a bason
+of silver whereon four birds had been chased, and there were little
+bright gems of carbuncle on the rims of the bason.  A bright purple
+mantle waved round her; and beneath it was another mantle, ornamented
+with silver fringes: the outer mantle was clasped over her bosom with a
+golden brooch.  A tunic she wore, with a long hood that might cover her
+head attached to it; it was stiff and glossy with green silk beneath
+red embroidery of gold, and was clasped over her breasts with
+marvellously wrought clasps of silver and gold; so that men saw the
+bright gold and the green silk flashing against the sun.  On her head
+were two tresses of golden hair, and each tress had been plaited into
+four strands; at the end of each strand was a little ball of gold.  And
+there was that maiden, undoing her hair that she might wash it, her two
+arms out through the armholes of her smock.  Each of her two arms was
+as white as the snow of a single night, and each of her cheeks was as
+rosy as the foxglove.  Even and small were the teeth in her head, and
+they shone like pearls.  Her eyes were as blue as a hyacinth, her lips
+delicate and crimson; very high, soft, and white were her shoulders.
+Tender, polished, and white were her wrists; her fingers long, and of
+great whiteness; her nails were beautiful and pink.  White as the snow,
+or as the foam of the wave, was her side; long was it, slender, and as
+soft as silk.  Smooth and white were her thighs; her knees were round
+and firm and white; her ankles were as straight as the rule of a
+carpenter.  Her feet were slim, and as white as the ocean's foam;
+evenly set were her eyes; her eyebrows were of a bluish black, such as
+ye see upon the shell of a beetle.  Never a maid fairer than she, or
+more worthy of love, was till then seen by the eyes of men; and it
+seemed to them that she must be one of those who have come from the
+fairy mounds: it is of this maiden that men have spoken when it hath
+been said: "All that's graceful must be tested by Etain; all that's
+lovely by the standard of Etain."
+
+Grace with Etain's grace compare!
+Etain's face shall test what's fair!
+
+And desire of her seized upon the king; and he sent a man of his people
+in front of him to go to her kindred, in order that she might abide to
+await his coming.  And afterwards the king came to the maiden, and he
+sought speech from her: "Whence art thou sprung, O maiden?" says
+Eochaid, "and whence is it that thou hast come?"  "It is easy to answer
+thee," said the maiden: "Etain is my name, the daughter of the king of
+Echrad; 'out of the fairy mound' am I"  "Shall an hour of dalliance
+with thee be granted to me?" said Eochaid.  "'Tis for that I have come
+hither under thy safeguard," said she.  "And indeed twenty years have I
+lived in this place, ever since I was born in the mound where the
+fairies dwell, and the men who dwell in the elf-mounds, their kings and
+their nobles, have been a-wooing me: yet to never a one of them was
+granted sleep with me, for I have loved thee, and have set my love and
+affection upon thee; and that ever since I was a little child, and had
+first the gift of speech.  It was for the high tales of thee, and of
+thy splendour, that I have loved thee thus; and though I have never
+seen thee before, I knew thee at once by reason of the report of thee
+that I had heard; it is thou, I know, to whom we have attained."  "It
+is no evil-minded lover who now inviteth thee," says Eochaid.  "Thou
+shalt be welcomed by me, and I will leave all women for thy sake, and
+thine alone will I be so long as it is pleasing to thee."  "Let the
+bride-price that befits me be paid," said the maiden, "and after that
+let my desire be fulfilled."  "It shall be as thou hast said," the king
+answered her; and he gave the value of seven cumals to be her
+brideprice; and after that he brought her to Tara, whereon a fair and
+hearty welcome was made to her.
+
+Now there were three brothers of the one blood, all sons of Finn,
+namely, Eochaid Airem, and Eochaid, and Ailill Anglonnach, or Ailill of
+the Single Stain, because the only stain that was upon him was the love
+that he had for his brother's wife.  And at that time came all the men
+of Ireland to hold the festival of Tara; they were there for fourteen
+days before Samhain, the day when the summer endeth, and for fourteen
+days after that day.  It was at the feast of Tara that love for Etain
+the daughter of Etar came upon Ailill Anglonnach; and ever so long as
+they were at the Tara Feast, so long he gazed upon the maid.  And it
+was there that the wife of Ailill spoke to him; she who was the
+daughter of Luchta of the Red Hand, who came from the province of
+Leinster: "Ailill," said she, "why dost thou gaze at her from afar? for
+long gazing is a token of love."  And Ailill gave blame to himself for
+this thing, and after that he looked not upon the maid.
+
+Now it followed that after that the Feast of Tara had been consumed,
+the men of Ireland parted from one another, and then it was that Ailill
+became filled with the pangs of envy and of desire; and he brought upon
+himself the choking misery of a sore sickness, and was borne to the
+stronghold of Fremain in Tethba after that he had fallen into that woe.
+ There also, until a whole year had ended, sickness long brooded over
+Ailill, and for long was he in distress, yet he allowed none to know of
+his sickness.  And there Eochaid came to learn of his brother's state,
+and he came near to his brother, and laid his hand upon his chest; and
+Ailill heaved a sigh.  "Why," said Eochaid, "surely this sickness of
+thine is not such as to cause thee to lament; how fares it with thee?"
+"By my word," said Ailill, "'tis no easier that I grow; but it is worse
+each day, and each night."  "Why, what ails thee?" said Eochaid, "By my
+word of truth," said Ailill, "I know not."  "Bring one of my folk
+hither," said Eochaid, "one who can find out the cause of this illness."
+
+Then Fachtna, the chief physician of Eochaid, was summoned to give aid
+to Ailill, and he laid his hand upon his chest, and Ailill heaved a
+sigh.  "Ah," said Fachtna, "there is no need for lament in this matter,
+for I know the cause of thy sickness; one or other of these two evils
+oppresseth thee, the pangs of envy, or the pangs of love: nor hast thou
+been aided to escape from them until now."  And Ailill was full of
+shame, and he refused to confess to Fachtna the cause of his illness,
+and the physician left him.
+
+Now, after all this, king Eochaid went in person to make a royal
+progress throughout the realm of Ireland, and he left Etain behind him
+in his fortress; and "Lady," said he, "deal thou gently with Ailill so
+long as he is yet alive; and, should he die," said he, "do thou see
+that his burial mound be heaped for him; and that a standing-stone be
+set up in memory of him; and let his name be written upon it in letters
+of Ogham."  Then the king went away for the space of a year, to make
+his royal progress throughout the realm of Ireland, and Ailill was left
+behind, in the stronghold of Fremain of Tethba; there to pass away and
+to die.
+
+Now upon a certain day that followed, the lady Etain came to the house
+where Ailill lay in his sickness, and thus she spoke to him: "What is
+it," she said, "that ails thee? thy sickness is great, and if we but
+knew anything that would content thee, thou shouldest have it."  It was
+thus that at that time she spoke, and she sang a verse of a song, and
+Ailill in song made answer to her:
+
+
+Etain
+
+Young man, of the strong step and splendid,
+What hath bound thee? what ill dost thou bear?
+Thou hast long been on sick-bed extended,
+Though around thee the sunshine was fair.
+
+
+Ailill
+
+There is reason indeed for my sighing,
+I joy naught at my harp's pleasant sound;
+Milk untasted beside me is lying;
+And by this in disease am I bound.
+
+
+Etain
+
+Tell me all, thou poor man, of thine ailing;
+For a maiden am I that is wise;
+Is there naught, that to heal thee availing,
+Thou couldst win by mine aid, and arise
+
+
+Ailill
+
+If I told thee, thou beautiful maiden,
+My words, as I formed them, would choke,
+For with fire can eyes' curtains be laden:
+Woman-secrets are evil, if woke.
+
+
+Etain
+
+It is ill woman-secrets to waken;
+Yet with Love, its remembrance is long;
+And its part by itself may be taken,
+Nor a thought shall remain of the wrong.
+
+
+Ailill
+
+I adore thee, white lady, as grateful;
+Yet thy bounty deserve I but ill:
+To my soul is my longing but hateful,
+For my body doth strive with me still.
+
+Eocho Fedlech,[FN#9] his bride to him taking,
+Made thee queen; and from thence is my woe:
+For my head and my body are aching,
+And all Ireland my weakness must know.
+
+
+Etain
+
+If, among the white women who near me abide,
+There is one who is vexing, whose love thou dost hide;
+To thy side will I bring her, if thus I may please;
+And in love thou shalt win her, thy sickness to ease.
+
+
+Ah lady! said Ailill, "easily could the cure of my sickness be wrought
+by the aid of thee, and great gain should there come from the deed, but
+thus it is with me until that be accomplished:
+
+
+Long ago did my passion begin,
+A full year it exceeds in its length;
+And it holds me, more near than my skin,
+And it rules over wrath in its strength.
+
+And the earth into four it can shake,
+Can reach up to the heights of the sky
+And a neck with its might it can break,
+Nor from fight with a spectre would fly.
+
+In vain race up to heaven 'tis urged;
+It is chilled, as with water, and drowned:
+'Tis a weapon, in ocean submerged;
+'Tis desire for an echo, a sound.
+
+'Tis thus my love, my passion seem; 'tis thus I strive in vain
+To win the heart of her whose love I long so much to gain.
+
+
+[FN#9]  Pronounced Yeo-ho Fayllya, see note, p. 166.
+
+
+And the lady stood there in that place, and she looked upon Ailill, and
+the sickness in which he lay was perceived by her; and she was grieved
+on account of it: so that upon a certain day came the lady to Ailill,
+and "Young man," she said, "arouse thyself quickly, for in very truth
+thou shalt have all that thou desirest; and thereon did she make this
+lay:
+
+
+Now arouse thyself, Ailill the royal:
+Let thy heart, and thy courage rise high;
+Every longing thou hast shall be sated,
+For before thee, to heal thee, am I.
+
+Is my neck and its beauty so pleasing?
+'Tis around it thine arms thou shalt place;
+And 'tis known as a courtship's beginning
+When a man and a woman embrace.
+
+And if this cometh not to content thee,
+O thou man, that art son to a king!
+I will dare to do crime for thy healing,
+And my body to please thee will bring.
+
+There were steeds, with their bridles, one hundred,
+When the price for my wedding was told;
+And one hundred of gay-coloured garments,
+And of cattle, and ounces of gold.
+
+Of each beast that men know, came one hundred;
+And king Eocho to grant them was swift:
+When a king gave such dowry to gain me,
+Is't not wondrous to win me, as gift?
+
+
+Now each day the lady came to Ailill to tend him, and to divide for him
+the portion of food that was allotted to him; and she wrought a great
+healing upon him: for it grieved her that he should perish for her
+sake.  And one day the lady spoke to Ailill: "Come thou to-morrow,"
+said she, "to tryst with me at the break of day, in the house which
+lieth outside, and is beyond the fort, and there shalt thou have
+granted thy request and thy desire."  On that night Ailill lay without
+sleep until the coming of the morning; and when the time had come that
+was appointed for his tryst, his sleep lay heavily upon him; so that
+till the hour of his rising he lay deep in his sleep.  And Etain went
+to the tryst, nor had she long to wait ere she saw a man coming towards
+her in the likeness of Ailill, weary and feeble; but she knew that he
+was not Ailill, and she continued there waiting for Ailill.  And the
+lady came back from her tryst, and Ailill awoke, and thought that he
+would rather die than live; and he went in great sadness and grief.
+And the lady came to speak with him, and when he told her what had
+befallen him: "Thou shalt come," said she, "to the same place, to meet
+with me upon the morrow."  And upon the morrow it was the same as upon
+the first day; each day came that man to her tryst.  And she came again
+upon the last day that was appointed for the tryst, and the same man
+met her.  "'Tis not with thee that I trysted," said she, "why dost thou
+come to meet me? and for him whom I would have met here; neither from
+desire of his love nor for fear of danger from him had I appointed to
+meet him, but only to heal him, and to cure him from the sickness which
+had come upon him for his love of me."  "It were more fitting for thee
+to come to tryst with me," says the man, "for when thou wast Etain of
+the Horses, and when thou wast the daughter of Ailill, I myself was thy
+husband.  "Why," said she, "what name hast thou in the land? that is
+what I would demand of thee."  "It is not hard to answer thee," he
+said; "Mider of Bri Leith is my name."  "And what made thee to part
+from me, if we were as thou sayest?" said Etain.  "Easy again is the
+answer," said Mider; "it was the sorcery of Fuamnach and the spells of
+Bressal Etarlam that put us apart."  And Mider said to Etain: "Wilt
+thou come with me?"
+
+"Nay," answered Etain, "I will not exchange the king of all Ireland for
+thee; for a man whose kindred and whose lineage is unknown."  "It was I
+myself indeed," said Mider, "who filled all the mind of Ailill with
+love for thee: it was I also who prevented his coming to the tryst with
+thee, and allowed him not thine honour to spoil it."
+
+After all this the lady went back to her house, and she came to speech
+with Ailill, and she greeted him.  "It hath happened well for us both,"
+said Ailill, "that the man met thee there: for I am cured for ever from
+my illness, thou also art unhurt in thine honour, and may a blessing
+rest upon thee!"  "Thanks be to our gods," said Etain, "that both of us
+do indeed deem that all this hath chanced so well."  And after that
+Eochaid came back from his royal progress, and he asked at once for his
+brother; and the tale was told to him from the beginning to the end,
+and the king was grateful to Etain, in that she had been gracious to
+Ailill; and, "What hath been related in this tale," said Eochaid, "is
+well-pleasing to ourselves."
+
+And, for the after history of Eochaid and Etain, it is told that once
+when Eochaid was in Fremain, at such time as the people had prepared
+for themselves a great gathering and certain horse-races; thither also
+to that assembly came Etain, that she might see the sight.  Thither
+also came Mider, and he searched through that assembly to find out
+where Etain might be; and he found Etain, and her women around her, and
+he bore her away with him, also one of her handmaidens, called Crochen
+the Ruddy: hideous was the form in which Mider approached them.  And
+the wives of the men of Ireland raised cries of woe, as the queen was
+carried off from among them; and the horses of Ireland were loosed to
+pursue Mider, for they knew not whether it was into the air or into the
+earth he had gone.  But, as for Mider, the course that he had taken was
+the road to the west, even to the plain of Croghan; and as he came
+thither, "How shall it profit us," said Crochen the Ruddy, "this
+journey of ours to this plain?"  "For evermore," said Mider, "shall thy
+name be over all this plain:" and hence cometh the name of the plain of
+Croghan, and of the Fort of Croghan.  Then Mider came to the Fairy
+Mound of Croghan; for the dwellers in that mound were allied to him,
+and his friends; and for nine days they lingered there, banqueting and
+feasting; so that "Is this the place where thou makest thy home?" said
+Crochen to Mider.  "Eastwards from this is my dwelling," Mider answered
+her; "nearer to the rising-place of the sun;" and Mider, taking Etain
+with him, departed, and came to Bri Leith, where the son of Celthar had
+his palace.
+
+Now just at the time when they came to this palace, king Eochaid sent
+out from him the horsemen of Ireland, also his wizards, and his
+officers who had the care of the roads, and the couriers of the
+boundaries, that they might search through Ireland, and find out where
+his wife might be; and Eochaid himself wandered throughout Ireland to
+seek for his wife; and for a year from that day until the same day upon
+the year that followed he searched, and he found nothing to profit him.
+
+Then, at the last, king Eochaid sent for his Druid, and he set to him
+the task to seek for Etain; now the name of the Druid was Dalan.  And
+Dalan came before him upon that day; and he went westwards, until he
+came to the mountain that was after that known as Slieve Dalan; and he
+remained there upon that night.  And the Druid deemed it a grievous
+thing that Etain should be hidden from him for the space of one year,
+and thereupon he made three wands of yew; and upon the wands he wrote
+an ogham; and by the keys of wisdom that he had, and by the ogham, it
+was revealed to him that Etain was in the fairy mound of Bri Leith, and
+that Mider had borne her thither.
+
+Then Dalan the Druid turned him, and went back to the east; and he came
+to the stronghold of Fremain, even to the place where the king of
+Ireland was; and Eochaid asked from the Druid his news.  Thither also
+came the horsemen, and the wizards, and the officers who had the care
+of the roads, and the couriers of the boundaries, to the king of
+Ireland, and he asked them what tidings they had, and whether they had
+found news of Mider and Etain.  And they said that they had found
+nothing at all; until at the last said his Druid to him: "A great evil
+hath smitten thee, also shame, and misfortune, on account of the loss
+of thy wife.  Do thou assemble the warriors of Ireland, and depart to
+Bri Leith, where is the palace of the son of Celthar; let that palace
+be destroyed by thy hand, and there thou shalt find thy wife: by
+persuasion or by force do thou take her thence."
+
+Then Eochaid and the men of Ireland marched to Bri Leith, and they set
+themselves to destroy that fairy dwelling, and to demand that Etain be
+brought to them, and they brought her not.  Then they ruined that fairy
+dwelling, and they brought Etain out from it; and she returned to
+Fremain, and there she had all the worship that a king of Ireland can
+bestow, fair wedded love and affection, such as was her due from
+Eochaid Airemm.  This is that Eochaid who ruled over Ireland for twelve
+years, until the fire burned him in Fremain; and this tale is known by
+the name of the "Sick-bed of Ailill," also as "The Courtship of Etain."
+ Etain bore no children to Eochaid Airemm, save one daughter only; and
+the name of her mother was given to her, and she is known by the name
+of Etain, the daughter of Eochaid Airemm.  And it was her daughter
+Messbuachalla who was the mother of king Conary the Great, the son of
+Eterscel, and it was for this cause that the fairy host of Mag Breg and
+Mider of Bri Leith violated the tabus of king Conary, and devastated
+the plain of Breg, and out off Conary's life; on account of the capture
+of that fairy dwelling, and on account of the recovery of Etain, when
+she was carried away by violence, even by the might of Eochaid Airemm.
+
+
+
+
+THE COURTSHIP OF ETAIN
+
+
+
+LEABHAR NA H-UIDHRI VERSION
+
+
+Eochaid Airemon took the sovereignty over Erin, and the five provinces
+of Ireland were obedient to him, for the king of each province was his
+vassal.  Now these were they who were the kings of the provinces at
+that time, even Conor the son of Ness, and Messgegra, and Tigernach
+Tetbannach, and Curoi, and Ailill the son of Mata of Muresc.  And the
+royal forts that belonged to Eochaid were the stronghold of Fremain in
+Meath, and the stronghold of Fremain in Tethba; moreover the stronghold
+of Fremain in Tethba was more pleasing to him than any other of the
+forts of Erin.
+
+Now a year after that Eochaid had obtained the sovereignty, he sent out
+his commands to the men of Ireland that they should come to Tara to
+hold festival therein, in order that there should be adjusted the taxes
+and the imposts that should be set upon them, so that these might be
+settled for a period of five years.  And the one answer that the men of
+Ireland made to Eochaid was that they would not make for the king that
+assembly which is the Festival of Tara until he found for himself a
+queen, for there was no queen to stand by the king's side when Eochaid
+first assumed the kingdom.
+
+Then Eochaid sent out the messengers of each of the five provinces to
+go through the land of Ireland to seek for that woman or girl who was
+the fairest to be found in Erin; and he bade them to note that no woman
+should be to him as a wife, unless she had never before been as a wife
+to any one of the men of the land.  And at the Bay of Cichmany a wife
+was found for him, and her name was Etain, the daughter of Etar; and
+Eochaid brought her thereafter to his palace, for she was a wife meet
+for him, by reason of her form, and her beauty, and her descent, and
+her brilliancy, and her youth, and her renown.
+
+Now Finn the son of Findloga had three sons, all sons of a queen, even
+Eochaid Fedlech, and Eochaid Airemm, and Ailill Anguba.  And Ailill
+Anguba was seized with love for Etain at the Festival of Tara, after
+that she had been wedded to Eochaid; since he for a long time gazed
+upon her, and, since such gazing is a token of love, Ailill gave much
+blame to himself for the deed that he was doing, yet it helped him not.
+ For his longing was too strong for his endurance, and for this cause
+he fell into a sickness; and, that there might be no stain upon his
+honour, his sickness was concealed by him from all, neither did he
+speak of it to the lady herself.  Then Fachtna, the chief physician of
+Eochaid, was brought to look upon Ailill, when it was understood that
+his death might be near, and thus the physician spoke to him: "One of
+the two pangs that slay a man, and for which there is no healing by
+leechcraft, is upon thee; either the pangs of envy or the pangs of
+love.  And Ailill refused to confess the cause of his illness to the
+physician, for he was withheld by shame and he was left behind in
+Fremain of Tethba to die; and Eochaid went upon his royal progress
+throughout all Erin, and he left Etain behind him to be near Ailill, in
+order that the last rites of Ailill might be done by her; that she
+might cause his grave to be dug, and that the keen might be raised for
+him, and that his cattle should be slain for him as victims.  And to
+the house where Ailill lay in his sickness went Etain each day to
+converse with him, and his sickness was eased by her presence; and, so
+long as Etain was in that place where he was, so long was he accustomed
+to gaze at her.
+
+Now Etain observed all this, and she bent her mind to discover the
+cause, and one day when they were in the house together, Etain asked of
+Ailill what was the cause of his sickness.  "My sickness," said Ailill,
+"comes from my love for thee."  "'Tis pity," said she, "that thou hast
+so long kept silence, for thou couldest have been healed long since,
+had we but known of its cause."  "And even now could I be healed," said
+Ailill, "did I but find favour in thy sight."  "Thou shalt find
+favour," she said.  Each day after they had spoken thus with each
+other, she came to him for the fomenting of his head, and for the
+giving of the portion of food that was required by him, and for the
+pouring of water over his hands; and three weeks after that, Ailill was
+whole.  Then he said to Etain: "Yet is the completion of my cure at thy
+hands lacking to me; when may it be that I shall have it?"  "'Tis
+to-morrow it shall be," she answered him, "but it shall not be in the
+abode of the lawful monarch of the land that this felony shall be done.
+ Thou shalt come," she said, "on the morrow to yonder hill that riseth
+beyond the fort: there shall be the tryst that thou desirest."
+
+Now Ailill lay awake all that night, and he fell into a sleep at the
+hour when he should have kept his tryst, and he woke not from his sleep
+until the third hour of the day.  And Etain went to her tryst, and she
+saw a man before her; like was his form to the form of Ailill, he
+lamented the weakness that his sickness had caused him, and he gave to
+her such answers as it was fitting that Ailill should give.  But at the
+third hour of the day, Ailill himself awoke: and he had for a long time
+remained in sorrow when Etain came into the house where he was; and as
+she approached him, "What maketh thee so sorrowful?" said Etain.  "'Tis
+because thou wert sent to tryst with me," said Ailill, "and I came not
+to thy presence, and sleep fell upon me, so that I have but now
+awakened from it; and surely my chance of being healed hath now gone
+from me."  "Not so, indeed," answered Etain, "for there is a morrow to
+follow to-day."  And upon that night he took his watch with a great
+fire before him, and with water beside him to put upon his eyes.
+
+At the hour that was appointed for the tryst, Etain came for her
+meeting with Ailill; and she saw the same man, like unto Ailill, whom
+she had seen before; and Etain went to the house, and saw Ailill still
+lamenting.  And Etain came three times, and yet Ailill kept not his
+tryst, and she found that same man there every time.  "'Tis not for
+thee," she said, "that I came to this tryst: why comest thou to meet
+me?  And as for him whom I would have met, it was for no sin or evil
+desire that I came to meet him; but it was fitting for the wife of the
+king of Ireland to rescue the man from the sickness under which he hath
+so long been oppressed."  "It were more fitting for thee to tryst with
+me myself," said the man, "for when thou wert Etain of the Horses, the
+daughter of Ailill, it was I who was thy husband.  And when thou camest
+to be wife to me, thou didst leave a great price behind thee; even a
+marriage price of the chief plains and waters of Ireland, and as much
+of gold and of silver as might match thee in value."  "Why," said she,
+"what is thy name?"  "'Tis easy to say," he answered; "Mider of Bri
+Leith is my name."  "Truly," said she; "and what was the cause that
+parted us?"  "That also is easy," he said; "it was the sorcery of
+Fuamnach, and the spells of Bressal Etarlam.  And then Mider said to
+Etain:
+
+
+Wilt thou come to my home, fair-haired lady? to dwell
+In the marvellous land of the musical spell,
+Where the crowns of all heads are, as primroses, bright,
+And from head to the heel all men's bodies snow-white.
+
+In that land of no "mine" nor of "thine" is there speech,
+But there teeth flashing white and dark eyebrows hath each;
+In all eyes shine our hosts, as reflected they swarm,
+And each cheek with the pink of the foxglove is warm.
+
+With the heather's rich tint every blushing neck glows,
+In our eyes are all shapes that the blackbird's egg shows;
+And the plains of thine Erin, though pleasing to see,
+When the Great Plain is sighted, as deserts shall be.
+
+Though ye think the ale strong in this Island of Fate,
+Yet they drink it more strong in the Land of the Great;
+Of a country where marvel abounds have I told,
+Where no young man in rashness thrusts backward the old.
+
+There are streams smooth and luscious that flow through that land,
+And of mead and of wine is the best at each hand;
+And of crime there is naught the whole country within,
+There are men without blemish, and love without sin.
+
+Through the world of mankind, seeing all, can we float,
+And yet none, though we see them, their see-ers can note;
+For the sin of their sire is a mist on them flung,
+None may count up our host who from Adam is sprung.
+
+Lady, come to that folk; to that strong folk of mine;
+And with gold on thy head thy fair tresses shall shine:
+'Tis on pork the most dainty that then thou shalt feed,
+And for drink have thy choice of new milk and of mead.
+
+"I will not come with thee," answered Etain, "I will not give up the
+king of Ireland for thee, a man who knows not his own clan nor his
+kindred."  "It was indeed myself," said Mider, "who long ago put
+beneath the mind of Ailill the love that he hath felt for thee, so that
+his blood ceased to run, and his flesh fell away from him: it was I
+also who have taken away his desire, so that there might be no hurt to
+thine honour.  But wilt thou come with me to my land," said Mider, "in
+case Eochaid should ask it of thee?"  "I would come in such case,"
+answered to him Etain.
+
+After all this Etain departed to the house.  "It hath indeed been good,
+this our tryst," said Ailill, "for I have been cured of my sickness;
+moreover, in no way has thine honour been stained."  "'Tis glorious
+that it hath fallen out so," answered Etain.  And afterwards Eochaid
+came back from his royal progress, and he was grateful for that his
+brother's life had been preserved, and he gave all thanks to Etain for
+the great deed she had done while he was away from his palace.
+
+Now upon another time it chanced that Eochaid Airemm, the king of Tara,
+arose upon a certain fair day in the time of summer; and he ascended
+the high ground of Tara to behold the plain of Breg; beautiful was the
+colour of that plain, and there was upon it excellent blossom, glowing
+with all hues that are known.  And, as the aforesaid Eochaid looked
+about and around him, he saw a young strange warrior upon the high
+ground at his side.  The tunic that the warrior wore was purple in
+colour, his hair was of a golden yellow, and of such length that it
+reached to the edge of his shoulders.  The eyes of the young warrior
+were lustrous and grey; in the one hand he held a five-pointed spear,
+in the other a shield with a white central boss, and with gems of gold
+upon it.  And Eochaid held his peace, for he knew that none such had
+been in Tara on the night before, and the gate that led into the Liss
+had not at that hour been thrown open.
+
+The warrior came, and placed himself under the protection of Eochaid;
+and "Welcome do I give," said Eochaid, "to the hero who is yet unknown."
+
+"Thy reception is such as I expected when I came," said the warrior.
+
+"We know thee not," answered Eochaid.
+
+"Yet thee in truth I know well!" he replied.
+
+"What is the name by which thou art called?" said Eochaid.
+
+"My name is not known to renown," said the warrior; "I am Mider of Bri
+Leith."
+
+"And for what purpose art thou come?" said Eochaid.
+
+"I have come that I may play a game at the chess with thee," answered
+Mider.  "Truly," said Eochaid, "I myself am skilful at the chess-play."
+
+"Let us test that skill! said Mider.
+
+"Nay," said Eochaid, the queen is even now in her sleep; and hers is
+the palace in which the chessboard lies."
+
+"I have here with me," said Mider, "a chessboard which is not inferior
+to thine."  It was even as he said, for that chessboard was silver, and
+the men to play with were gold; and upon that board were costly stones,
+casting their light on every side, and the bag that held the men was of
+woven chains of brass.
+
+Mider then set out the chessboard, and he called upon Eochaid to play.
+"I will not play," said Eochaid, "unless we play for a stake."
+
+"What stake shall we have upon the game then?" said Mider.
+
+"It is indifferent to me," said Eochaid.
+
+"Then," said Mider, "if thou dost obtain the forfeit of my stake, I
+will bestow on thee fifty steeds of a dark grey, their heads of a
+blood-red colour, but dappled; their ears pricked high, and their
+chests broad; their nostrils wide, and their hoofs slender; great is
+their strength, and they are keen like a whetted edge; eager are they,
+high-standing, and spirited, yet easily stopped in their course."
+
+[Many games were played between Eochaid and Mider; and, since Mider did
+not put forth his whole strength, the victory on all occasions rested
+with Eochaid.  But instead of the gifts which Mider had offered,
+Eochaid demanded that Mider and his folk should perform for him
+services which should be of benefit to his realm; that he should clear
+away the rocks and stones from the plains of Meath, should remove the
+rushes which made the land barren around his favourite fort of Tethba,
+should cut down the forest of Breg, and finally should build a causeway
+across the moor or bog of Lamrach that men might pass freely across it.
+ All these things Mider agreed to do, and Eochaid sent his steward to
+see how that work was done.  And when it came to the time after sunset,
+the steward looked, and he saw that Mider and his fairy host, together
+with fairy oxen, were labouring at the causeway over the bog;] and
+thereupon much of earth and of gravel and of stones was poured into it.
+ Now it had, before that time, always been the custom of the men of
+Ireland to harness their oxen with a strap over their foreheads, so
+that the pull might be against the foreheads of the oxen; and this
+custom lasted up to that very night, when it was seen that the
+fairy-folk had placed the yoke upon the shoulders of the oxen, so that
+the pull might be there; and in this way were the yokes of the oxen
+afterwards placed by Eochaid, and thence cometh the name by which he is
+known; even Eochaid Airemm, or Eochaid the Ploughman, for he was the
+first of all the men of Ireland to put the yokes on the necks of the
+oxen, and thus it became the custom for all the land of Ireland.  And
+this is the song that the host of the fairies sang, as they laboured at
+the making of the road:
+
+
+Thrust it in hand! force it in hand!
+Nobles this night, as an ox-troop, stand:
+Hard is the task that is asked, and who
+From the bridging of Lamrach shall gain, or rue?
+
+
+Not in all the world could a road have been found that should be better
+than the road that they made, had it not been that the fairy folk were
+observed as they worked upon it; but for that cause a breach hath been
+made in that causeway.  And the steward of Eochaid thereafter came to
+him; and he described to him that great labouring band that had come
+before his eyes, and he said that there was not over the chariot-pole
+of life a power that could withstand its might.  And, as they spake
+thus with each other, they saw Mider standing before them; high was he
+girt, and ill-favoured was the face that he showed; and Eochaid arose,
+and he gave welcome to him.  "Thy welcome is such as I expected when I
+came," said Mider.  "Cruel and senseless hast thou been in thy
+treatment of me, and much of hardship and suffering hast thou given me.
+ All things that seemed good in thy sight have I got for thee, but now
+anger against thee hath filled my mind!"  "I return not anger for
+anger," answered Eochaid; "what thou wishest shall be done."  "Let it
+be as thou wishest," said Mider; "shall we play at the chess?" said he.
+"What stake shall we set upon the game?" said Eochaid.  "Even such
+stake as the winner of it shall demand," said Mider. And in that very
+place Eochaid was defeated, and he forfeited his stake.
+
+"My stake is forfeit to thee," said Eochaid.
+
+"Had I wished it, it had been forfeit long ago," said Mider.
+
+"What is it that thou desirest me to grant?" said Eochaid.
+
+"That I may hold Etain in my arms, and obtain a kiss from her!"
+answered Mider.
+
+Eochaid was silent for a while and then he said: "One month from this
+day thou shalt come, and the very thing that thou hast asked for shall
+be given to thee."  Now for a year before that Mider first came to
+Eochaid for the chess-play, had he been at the wooing of Etain, and he
+obtained her not; and the name which he gave to Etain was Befind, or
+Fair-haired Woman, so it was that he said:
+
+
+Wilt thou come to my home, fair-haired lady?
+
+
+as has before been recited.  And it was at that time that Etain said:
+"If thou obtainest me from him who is the master of my house, I will
+go; but if thou art not able to obtain me from him, then I will not
+go."  And thereon Mider came to Eochaid, and allowed him at the first
+to win the victory over him, in order that Eochaid should stand in his
+debt; and therefore it was that he paid the great stakes to which he
+had agreed; and therefore also was it that he had demanded of him that
+he should play that game in ignorance of what was staked.  And when
+Mider and his folk were paying those agreed-on stakes, which were paid
+upon that night; to wit, the making of the road, and the clearing of
+the stones from Meath, the rushes from around Tethba, and of the forest
+that is over Breg, it was thus that he spoke, as it is written in the
+Book of Drom Snechta:
+
+
+Pile on the soil; thrust on the soil:
+Red are the oxen around who toil:
+Heavy the troops that my words obey;
+Heavy they seem, and yet men are they.
+Strongly, as piles, are the tree-trunks placed
+Red are the wattles above them laced:
+Tired are your hands, and your glances slant;
+One woman's winning this toil may grant!
+Oxen ye are, but revenge shall see;
+Men who are white shall your servants be:
+Rushes from Teffa are cleared away:
+Grief is the price that the man shall pay:
+Stones have been cleared from the rough Meath ground;
+Whose shall the gain or the harm be found?
+
+
+Now Mider appointed a day at the end of the month when he was to meet
+Eochaid, and Eochaid called the armies of the heroes of Ireland
+together, so that they came to Tara; and all the best of the champions
+of Ireland, ring within ring, were about Tara, and they were in the
+midst of Tara itself, and they guarded it, both without and within; and
+the king and the queen were in the midst of the palace, and the outer
+court thereof was shut and locked, for they knew that the great might
+of men would come upon them.  And upon the appointed night Etain was
+dispensing the banquet to the kings, for it was her duty to pour out
+the wine, when in the midst of their talk they saw Mider standing
+before them in the centre of the palace.  He was always fair, yet
+fairer than he ever was seemed Mider to be upon that night.  And he
+brought to amazement all the hosts on which he gazed, and all thereon
+were silent, and the king gave a welcome to him.
+
+"Thy reception is such as I expected when I came," said Mider; "let
+that now be given to me that hath been promised.  'Tis a debt that is
+due when a promise hath been made; and I for my part have given to thee
+all that was promised by me."
+
+"I have not yet considered the matter," said Eochaid.
+
+"Thou hast promised Etain's very self to me," said Mider; "that is what
+hath come from thee." Etain blushed for shame when she heard that word.
+
+"Blush not," said Mider to Etain, "for in nowise hath thy wedding-feast
+been disgraced.  I have been seeking thee for a year with the fairest
+jewels and treasures that can be found in Ireland, and I have not taken
+thee until the time came when Eochaid might permit it.  'Tis not
+through any will of thine that I have won thee."  "I myself told thee,"
+said Etain, "that until Eochaid should resign me to thee I would grant
+thee nothing.  Take me then for my part, if Eochaid is willing to
+resign me to thee."
+
+"But I will not resign thee!" said Eochaid; "nevertheless he shall take
+thee in his arms upon the floor of this house as thou art."
+
+"It shall be done!" said Mider.
+
+He took his weapons into his left hand and the woman beneath his right
+shoulder; and he carried her off through the skylight of the house.
+And the hosts rose up around the king, for they felt that they had been
+disgraced, and they saw two swans circling round Tara, and the way that
+they took was the way to the elf-mound of Femun.  And Eochaid with an
+army of the men of Ireland went to the elf-mound of Femun, which men
+call the mound of the Fair-haired-Women.  And he followed the counsel
+of the men of Ireland, and he dug up each of the elf-mounds that he
+might take his wife from thence.  [And Mider and his host opposed them
+and the war between them was long: again and again the trenches made by
+Eochaid were destroyed, for nine years as some say lasted the strife of
+the men of Ireland to enter into the fairy palace.  And when at last
+the armies of Eochaid came by digging to the borders of the fairy
+mansion, Mider sent to the side of the palace sixty women all in the
+shape of Etain, and so like to her that none could tell which was the
+queen.  And Eochaid himself was deceived, and he chose, instead of
+Etain, her daughter Messbuachalla (or as some say Esa.)  But when he
+found that he had been deceived, he returned again to sack Bri Leith,
+and this time Etain made herself known to Eochaid, by proofs that he
+could not mistake, and he bore her away in triumph to Tara, and there
+she abode with the king.]
+
+
+
+
+MAC DATHO'S BOAR
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+The tale of "Mac Datho's Boar" seems to deal with events that precede
+the principal events of the Heroic Period; most of the characters named
+in it appear as the chief actors in other romances; Conor and Ailill
+are as usual the leaders of Ulster and Connaught, but the king of
+Leinster is Mesroda Mac Datho, not his brother Mesgegra, who appears in
+the "Siege of Howth" (see Hull, Cuchullin Saga, p. 87), and the Ulster
+champion is not Cuchulain, but his elder comrade, Conall Cernach.
+
+The text followed is that of the Book of Leinster as printed by
+Windisch in Irische Texte, vol. i.; the later Harleian manuscript's
+readings given by Windisch have been taken in a few cases where the
+Leinster text seems untranslatable.  There is a slightly different
+version, given by Kuno Meyer in the Anecdota Oxoniensia, taken from
+Rawlinson, B. 512, a fifteenth-century manuscript, but the text is
+substantially that of the Leinster version, and does not give, as in
+the case of the tale of Etain, a different view of the story.  The
+verse passages differ in the two versions; two verse passages on pages
+37 and 46 have been inserted from the Rawlinson manuscript, otherwise
+the rendering follows the Leinster text.
+
+The style of the tale is more barbaric than that of the other romances,
+but is relieved by touches of humour; the only supernatural touch
+occurs in one of the variations of the Rawlinson manuscript.  Some of
+the chief variations en in this manuscript are pointed out in the
+notes; the respectful men on of Curoi mac Dari, who seems to have been
+a Munster hero, overshadowed in the accepted versions by the superior
+glory of Ulster, may be noted; also the remark that Ferloga did not get
+his cepoc, which seems to have been inserted by a later band of a
+critic who disapproved of the frivolity of the original author, or was
+jealous for the honour of the Ulster ladies.
+
+
+
+
+MAC DATHO'S BOAR
+
+
+
+FROM THE BOOK OF LEINSTER (TWELFTH-CENTURY MS.)
+
+
+With some Additions from Rawlinson, B. 512, written about 1560
+
+
+A glorious king once hold rule over the men of Leinster; his name was
+Mesroda Mac Datho.  Now Mac Datho had among his possessions a hound
+which was the guardian of all Leinster; the name of the hound was
+Ailbe, and all of the land of Leinster was filled with reports of the
+fame of it, and of that hound hath it been sung:
+
+
+Mesroda, son of Datho,
+Was he the boar who reared;
+And his the hound called Ailbe;
+No lie the tale appeared!
+The splendid hound of wisdom,
+The hound that far is famed,
+The hound from whom Moynalvy
+For evermore is named.
+
+
+By King Ailill and Queen Maev were sent folk to the son of Datho to
+demand that hound, and at that very hour came heralds from Conor the
+son of Ness to demand him; and to all of these a welcome was bid by the
+people of Mac Datho, and they were brought to speak with Mac Datho in
+his palace.
+
+At the time that we speak of, this palace was a hostelry that was the
+sixth of the hostelries of Ireland.; there were beside it the hostelry
+of Da Derga in the land of Cualan in Leinster; also the hostelry of
+Forgall the Wily, which is beside Lusk; and the hostelry of Da Reo in
+Breffny; and the hostelry of Da Choca in the west of Meath; and the
+hostelry of the landholder Blai in the country of the men of Ulster.
+There were seven doors to that palace, and seven passages ran through
+it; also there stood within it seven cauldrons, and in every one of the
+cauldrons was seething the flesh of oxen and the salted flesh of swine.
+ Every traveller who came into the house after a journey would thrust a
+fork into a cauldron, and whatsoever he brought out at the first
+thrust, that had he to eat: if he got nothing at the first thrust, no
+second attempt was allowed him.
+
+They brought the heralds before Mac Datho as he sat upon his throne,
+that he might learn of their requests before they made their meal, and
+in this manner they made known their message.  "We have come," said the
+men who were sent from Connaught, "that we might ask for thy hound;
+'tis by Ailill and Maev we are sent.  Thou shalt have in payment for
+him six thousand milch cows, also a two-horsed chariot with its horses,
+the best to be had in Connaught, and at the end of a year as much again
+shall be thine."  "We also," said the heralds from Ulster, "have come
+to ask for thy hound; we have been sent by Conor, and Conor is a friend
+who is of no less value than these.  He also will give to thee
+treasures and cattle, and the same amount at the end of a year, and he
+will be a stout friend to thee."
+
+Now after he had received this message Mac Datho sank into a deep
+silence, he ate nothing, neither did he sleep, but tossed about from
+one side to another, and then said his wife to him:
+"For a long time hast thou fasted; food is before thee, yet thou eatest
+not; what is it that ails thee? and Mac Datho made her no answer,
+whereupon she said:
+
+
+The Wife[FN#10]
+
+Gone is King Mac Datho's sleep,
+Restless cares his home invade;
+Though his thoughts from all he keep,
+Problems deep his mind hath weighed.
+
+He, my sight avoiding, turns
+Towards the wall, that hero grim;
+Well his prudent wife discerns
+Sleep hath passed away from him.
+
+
+[FN#10]  The Irish metre is followed in the first four verses.
+
+
+Mac Datho
+
+Crimthann saith, Nar's sister's son,
+"Secrets none to women tell.
+Woman's secret soon is won;
+Never thrall kept jewel well."
+
+
+The Wife
+
+Why against a woman speak
+Till ye test, and find she fails?
+When thy mind to plan is weak,
+Oft another's wit avails.
+
+
+Mac Datho
+
+At ill season indeed came those heralds
+Who his hound from Mac Datho would take;
+In more wars than by thought can be counted
+Fair-haired champions shall fall for its sake.
+
+If to Conor I dare to deny him,
+He shall deem it the deed of a churl
+Nor shall cattle or country be left me
+By the hosts he against me can hurl.
+
+If refusal to Ailill I venture,
+With all Ireland my folk shall he sack;
+From our kingdom Mac Mata shall drive us,
+And our ashes may tell of his track.
+
+
+The Wife
+
+Here a counsel I find to deliver,
+And in woe shall our land have no share;
+Of that hound to them both be thou giver,
+And who dies for it little we care.
+
+
+Mac Datho
+
+Ah! the grief that I had is all ended,
+I have joy for this speech from thy tongue
+Surely Ailbe from heaven descended,
+There is none who can say whence he sprung.
+
+After these words the son of Datho rose up, and he shook himself, and
+May this fall out well for us," said he, "and well for our guests who
+come here to seek for him."  His guests abode three days and three
+nights in his house, and when that time was ended, he bade that the
+heralds from Connaught be called to confer with him apart, and he spoke
+thus: "I have been," he said, "in great vexation of spirit, and for
+long have I hesitated before I made a decision what to do.  But now
+have I decided to give the hound to Ailill and Maev, let them come with
+splendour to bear it away.  They shall have plenty both to eat and to
+drink, and they shall have the hound to hold, and welcome shall they
+be."  And the messengers from Connaught were well pleased with this
+answer that they had.
+
+Then he went to where the heralds from Ulster were, and thus he
+addressed them: "After long hesitation," said he, "I have awarded the
+hound to Conor, and a proud man should he be.  Let the armies of the
+nobles of Ulster come to bear him away; they shall have presents, and I
+will make them welcome;" and with this the messengers from Ulster were
+content.
+
+Now Mac Datho had so planned it that both those armies, that from the
+East and that from the West, should arrive at his palace upon the
+selfsame day.  Nor did they fail to keep their tryst; upon the same day
+those two provinces of Ireland came to Mac Datho's palace, and Mac
+Datho himself went outside and greeted them: "For two armies at the
+same time we were not prepared; yet I bid welcome to you, ye men.
+Enter into the court of the house."
+
+Then they went all of them into the palace; one half of the house
+received the Ulstermen, and the other half received the men of
+Connaught.  For the house was no small one: it had seven doors and
+fifty couches between each two doors; and it was no meeting of friends
+that was then seen in that house, but the hosts that filled it were
+enemies to each other, for during the whole time of the three hundred
+years that preceded the birth of Christ there was war between Ulster
+and Connaught.
+
+Then they slaughtered for them Mac Datho's Boar; for seven years had
+that boar been nurtured upon the milk of fifty cows, but surely venom
+must have entered into its nourishment, so many of the men of Ireland
+did it cause to die.  They brought in the boar, and forty oxen as
+side-dishes to it, besides other kind of food; the son of Datho himself
+was steward to their feast: "Be ye welcome!" said he; "this beast
+before you hath not its match; and a goodly store of beeves and of
+swine may be found with the men of Leinster!  And, if there be aught
+lacking to you, more shall be slain for you in the morning."
+
+"It is a mighty Boar," said Conor.
+
+"'Tis a mighty one indeed," said Ailill. "How shall it be divided, O
+Conor?" said he.
+
+"How?" cried down Bricriu,[FN#11] the son of Carbad, from above; "in
+the place where the warriors of Ireland are gathered together, there
+can be but the one test for the division of it, even the part that each
+man hath taken in warlike deeds and strife: surely each man of you hath
+struck the other a buffet on the nose ere now!"
+
+"Thus then shall it be," said Ailill.
+
+"'Tis a fair test," said Conor in assent; "we have here a plenty of
+lads in this house who have done battle on the borders."
+
+"Thou shalt lose thy lads to-night, Conor," said Senlaech the
+charioteer, who came from rushy Conalad in the West; "often have they
+left a fat steer for me to harry, as they sprawled on their backs upon
+the road that leadeth to the rushes of Dedah."
+
+"Fatter was the steer that thou hadst to leave to us," said
+Munremur,[FN#12] the son of Gerrcind; "even thine own brother,
+Cruachniu, son of Ruadlam; and it was from Conalad of Cruachan that he
+came."
+
+"He was no better," cried Lugaid the son of Curoi of Munster, "than
+Loth the Great, the son of Fergus Mac Lete; and Echbel the son of Dedad
+left him lying in Tara Luachra."[FN#13]
+
+
+[FN#11]  Pronounced Brik-roo.
+
+[FN#12]  Pronounced Moon-raymer.
+
+[FN#13]  Pronounced Looch-ra.
+
+
+"What sort of a man was he whom ye boast of?" cried Celtchar of Ulster.
+ "I myself slew that horny-skinned son of Dedad, I cut the head from
+his shoulders."
+
+At the last it fell out that one man raised himself above all the men
+of Ireland; he was Ket, the son of Mata, he came from the land of
+Connaught.  He hung up his weapons at a greater height than the weapons
+of any one else who was there, he took a knife in his hand, and he
+placed himself at the side of the Boar.
+
+"Find ye now," said he, "one man among the men of Ireland who can equal
+my renown, or else leave the division of the Boar to me."
+
+All of the Ulstermen were thrown into amazement.  "Seest thou that, O
+Laegaire?"[FN#14] said Conor.
+
+
+[FN#14]  Pronounced Leary.
+
+
+"Never shall it be," said Laegaire the Triumphant, "that Ket should
+have the division of this Boar in the face of us all."
+
+"Softly now, O Laegaire!" said Ket; "let me hold speech with thee.
+With you men of Ulster it hath for long been a custom that each lad
+among you who takes the arms of a warrior should play first with us the
+game of war: thou, O Laegaire, like to the others didst come to the
+border, and we rode against one another.  And thou didst leave thy
+charioteer, and thy chariot and thy horses behind thee, and thou didst
+fly pierced through with a spear.  Not with such a record as that shalt
+thou obtain the Boar;" and Laegaire sat himself down.
+
+"It shall never come to pass," said a great fair-haired warrior,
+stepping forward from the bench whereon he had sat, "that the division
+of the Boar shall be left to Ket before our very eyes."
+
+"To whom then appertains it?" asked Ket.
+
+"To one who is a better warrior than thou," he said, "even to Angus,
+the son of Lama Gabaid (Hand-in-danger) of the men of Ulster."
+
+"Why namest thou thy father 'Hand-in-danger?" said Ket.
+
+"Why indeed, I know not," he said.
+
+"Ah! but I know it!" said Ket.  "Long ago I went upon a journey in the
+east, a war-cry was raised against me, all men attacked me, and Lama
+Gabaid was among them.  He made a cast of a great spear against me, I
+hurled the same spear back upon him, and the spear cut his hand from
+him so that it lay upon the ground.  How dares the son of that man to
+measure his renown with mine?" and Angus went back to his place.
+
+"Come, and claim a renown to match mine," said Ket; "else let me divide
+this Boar."
+
+"It shall never be thy part to be the first to divide it," said a great
+fair-haired warrior of the men of Ulster.
+
+"Who then is this?" said Ket.
+
+"'Tis Eogan, son of Durthacht,"[FN#15] said they all; "Eogan, the lord
+of Fernmay."
+
+"I have seen him upon an earlier day," said Ket.
+
+"Where hast thou seen me?" said Eogan.
+
+"It was before thine own house," said Ket.  "As I was driving away thy
+cattle, a cry of war was raised in the lands about me; and thou didst
+come out at that cry.  Thou didst hurl thy spear against me, and it was
+fixed in my shield; but I hurled the same spear back against thee, and
+it tore out one of thy two eyes.  All the men of Ireland can see that
+thou art one-eyed; here is the man that struck thine other eye out of
+thy head," and he also sat down.
+
+"Make ye ready again for the strife for renown, O ye men of Ulster!"
+cried Ket.  "Thou hast not yet gained the right to divide the Boar,"
+said Munremur, Gerrcind's son.
+
+"Is that Munremur?" cried Ket; "I have but one short word for thee, O
+Munremur!  Not yet hath the third day passed since I smote the heads
+off three warriors who came from your lands, and the midmost of the
+three was the head of thy firstborn son!" and Munremur also sat down.
+
+"Come to the strife for renown!" cried Ket.
+
+"That strife will I give to thee," said Mend the son of Salcholcam (the
+Sword-heeled).
+
+"Who is this?" asked Ket.
+
+"'Tis Mend," said all who were there.
+
+"Hey there!" cried Ket. "The son of the man with the nickname comes to
+measure his renown with mine!  Why, Mend, it was by me that the
+nickname of thy father came; 'twas I who cut the heel from him with my
+sword so that he hopped away from me upon one leg! How shall the son of
+that one-legged man measure his renown with mine?" and he also sat down.
+
+
+[FN#15]  Pronounced Yeogan, son of Doorha.
+
+
+"Come to the strife for renown!" cried Ket.
+
+"That warfare shalt thou have from me!" said an Ulster warrior, tall,
+grey, and more terrible than the rest.
+
+"Who is this?" asked Ket.
+
+"'Tis Celtchar, the son of Uitechar," cried all.
+
+"Pause thou a little, Celtchar," said Ket, "unless it be in thy mind to
+crush me in an instant.  Once did I come to thy dwelling, O Celtchar, a
+cry was raised about me, and all men hurried up at that cry, and thou
+also camest beside them.  It was in a ravine that the combat between us
+was held; thou didst hurl thy spear against me, and against thee I also
+hurled my spear; and my spear pierced thee through the leg and through
+the groin, so that from that hour thou hast been diseased, nor hath son
+or daughter been born to thee.  How canst thou strive in renown with
+me?" and he also sat down.
+
+"Come to the strife for renown!" cried Ket.
+
+"That strife shalt thou have," said Cuscrid the Stammerer, of Macha,
+king Conor's son.
+
+"Who is this?" said Ket. "'Tis Cuscrid," said all; "he hath a form
+which is as the form of a king."
+
+"Nor hath he aught to thank thee for," said the youth.
+
+"Good!" said Ket.  "It was against me that thou didst come on the day
+when thou didst first make trial of thy weapons, my lad: 'twas in the
+borderland that we met.  And there thou didst leave the third part of
+thy folk behind thee, and thou didst fly with a spear-thrust through
+thy throat so that thou canst speak no word plainly, for the spear cut
+in sunder the sinews of thy neck; and from that hour thou hast been
+called Cuscrid the Stammerer."  And in this fashion did Ket put to
+shame all the warriors of the province of Ulster.
+
+But as he was exulting near to the Boar, with his knife in his hand,
+all saw Conall, the Victorious enter the palace; and Conall sprang into
+the midst of the house, and the men of Ulster hailed him with a shout;
+and Conor himself took his helmet from his head, and swung it on high
+to greet him.
+
+"'Tis well that I wait for the portion that befalls me!" said Conall.
+Who is he who is the divider of the Boar for ye?"
+
+"That office must be given to the man who stands there," said Conor,
+"even to Ket, the son of Mata."
+
+"Is this true, O Ket?" said Conall.  "Art thou the man to allot this
+Boar?"  And then sang Ket:
+
+
+Conall, all hail!
+Hard stony spleen
+Wild glowing flame!
+Ice-glitter keen!
+Blood in thy breast
+Rageth and boils;
+Oft didst thou wrest
+Victory's spoils:
+Thou scarred son of Finuchoem,[FN#16] thou truly canst claim
+To stand rival to me, and to match me in fame!
+
+
+And Conall replied to him:
+
+Hail to thee, Ket!
+Well are we met!
+Heart icy-cold,
+Home for the bold!
+Ender of grief!
+Car-riding chief!
+Sea's stormy wave!
+Bull, fair and brave!
+Ket! first of the children of Matach!
+The proof shall be found when to combat we dart,
+The proof shall be found when from combat we part;
+He shall tell of that battle who guardeth the stirks,
+He shall tell of that battle at handcraft who works;
+And the heroes shall stride to the wild lion-fight,
+For by men shall fall men in this palace to-night:
+Welcome, Ket![FN#17]
+
+
+[FN#16]  Pronounced Finn-hoom.
+
+[FN#17]  The short lines of this rhetoric have the metre of the
+original Irish.
+
+
+"Rise thou, and depart from this Boar," said Conall.
+
+"What claim wilt thou bring why I should do this?" said Ket.
+
+"'Tis true indeed," said Conall, "thou art contending in renown with
+me.  I will give thee one claim only, O Ket!  I swear by the oath of my
+tribe that since the day that I first received a spear into my hand I
+have seldom slept without the head of a slain man of Connaught as my
+pillow; and I have not let pass a day or a night in which a man of
+Connaught hath not fallen by my hand."
+
+"'Tis true indeed," said Ket, "thou art a better warrior than I.  Were
+but Anluan here, he could battle with thee in another fashion; shame
+upon us that he is not in this house!"
+
+"Aye, but Anluan is here! "cried Conall, and therewith he plucked
+Anluan's head from his belt.  And he threw the head towards Ket, so
+that it smote him upon the chest, and a gulp of the blood was dashed
+over his lips.  And Ket came away from the Boar, and Conall placed
+himself beside it.
+
+"Now let men come to contend for renown with me!" cried Conall.  But
+among the men of Connaught there was none who would challenge him, and
+they raised a wall of shields, like a great vat around him, for in that
+house was evil wrangling, and men in their malice would make cowardly
+casts at him.  And Conall turned to divide the Boar, and he took the
+end of the tail in his mouth.  And although the tail was so great that
+it was a full load for nine men, yet he sucked it all into his mouth so
+that nothing of it was left; and of this hath been said:
+
+
+Strong hands on a cart thrust him forward;
+His great tail, though for nine men a load,
+Was devoured by the brave Conall Cernach,
+As the joints he so gaily bestowed.
+
+
+Now to the men of Connaught Conall gave nothing except the two
+fore-legs of the Boar, and this share seemed to be but small to the men
+of Connaught, and thereon they sprang up, and the men of Ulster also
+sprang up, and they rushed at each other.  They buffeted each other so
+that the heap of bodies inside the house rose as high as the side-walls
+of it; and streams of blood flowed under the doors.
+
+The hosts brake out through the doors into the outer court, and great
+was the din that uprose; the blood upon the floor of the house might
+have driven a mill, so mightily did each man strike out at his fellow.
+And at that time Fergus plucked up by the roots a great oak-tree that
+stood in the outer court in the midst of it; and they all burst out of
+the court, and the battle went on outside.
+
+Then came out Mac Datho, leading the hound by a leash in his hand, that
+he might let him loose between the two armies, to see to which side the
+sense of the hound would turn.  And the hound joined himself with the
+men of Ulster, and he rushed on the defeated Connaughtmen, for these
+were in flight.  And it is told that in the plain of Ailbe, the hound
+seized hold of the poles of the chariot in which Ailill and Maev rode:
+and there Fer-loga, charioteer to Ailill and Maev, fell upon him, so
+that he cast his body to one side, and his head was left upon the poles
+of the chariot.  And they say that it is for that reason that the plain
+of Ailbe is so named, for from the hound Ailbe the name hath come.
+
+The rout went on northwards, over Ballaghmoon, past Rurin Hill, over
+the Midbine Ford near to Mullaghmast, over Drum Criach Ridge which is
+opposite to what is Kildare to-day, over Rath Ingan which is in the
+forest of Gabla, then by Mac Lugna's Ford over the ridge of the two
+plains till they came to the Bridge of Carpre that is over the Boyne.
+And at the ford which is known as the Ford of the Hound's Head, which
+standeth in the west of Meath, the hound's head fell from the chariot.
+
+And, as they went over the heather of Meath, Ferloga the charioteer of
+Ailill fell into the heather, and he sprang behind Conor who followed
+after them in his chariot, and he seized Conor by the head.
+
+"I claim a boon from thee if I give thee thy life, O Conor!" said he.
+
+"I choose freely to grant that boon," said Conor.
+
+"'Tis no great matter," said Ferloga.  "Take me with thee to Emain
+Macha, and at each ninth hour let the widows and the growing maidens of
+Ulster serenade me[FN#18] with the song: 'Ferloga is my darling.'"
+
+
+[FN#18]  Literally, "sing me a cepoc," or a choral song.
+
+
+And the women were forced to do it; for they dared not to deny him,
+fearing the wrath of Conor; and at the end of a year Ferloga crossed
+byAthlone into Connaught, and he took with him two of Conor's horses
+bridled with golden reins.
+
+And concerning all this hath it been sung:
+
+Hear truth, ye lads of Connaught;
+No lies your griefs shall fill,
+A youth the Boar divided;
+The share you had was ill.
+
+Of men thrice fifty fifties
+Would win the Ailbe Hound;
+In pride of war they struggled,
+Small cause for strife they found.
+Yet there came conquering Conor,
+And Ailill's hosts, and Ket;
+No law Cuchulain granted,
+And brooding Bodb[FN#19] was met.
+
+Dark Durthacht's son, great Eogan,
+Shall find that journey hard;
+From east came Congal Aidni,
+And Fiaman,[FN#20] sailor bard;
+Three sons of Nera, famous
+For countless warlike fields;
+Three lofty sons of Usnach,
+With hard-set cruel shields.
+
+From high Conalad Croghan
+Wise Senlaech[FN#21] drave his car;
+And Dubhtach[FN#22] came from Emain,
+His fame is known afar;
+And Illan came, whom glorious
+For many a field they hail:
+Loch Sail's grim chief, Munremur;
+Berb Baither, smooth of tale;
+
+
+[FN#19]  Pronounced Bobe, with sound of 'robe.'
+
+[FN#20]  Pronounced Feeman.
+
+[FN#21]  Pronounced Senlay, with the light final ch.
+
+[FN#22]  Pronounced Doov-ta.
+
+
+And Celtchar, lord in Ulster;
+And Conall's valour wild;
+And Marcan came; and Lugaid
+Of three great hounds the child.
+
+Fergus, awaiting the glorious hound,
+Spreadeth a cloak o'er his mighty shield,
+Shaketh an oak he hath plucked from ground,
+Red was the woe the red cloak concealed.
+
+Yonder stood Cethern,[FN#23] of Finntan son,
+Holding them back; till six hours had flown
+Connaughtmen's slaughter his hand hath done,
+Pass of the ford he hath held alone.
+
+Armies with Feidlim[FN#24] the war sustain,
+Laegaire the Triumpher rides on east,
+Aed, son of Morna, ye hear complain,
+Little his thought is to mourn that beast.
+
+High are the nobles, their deeds show might,
+Housefellows fair, and yet hard in fight;
+Champions of strength upon clans bring doom,
+Great are the captives, and vast the tomb.
+
+
+[FN#23]  Pronounced Kay-hern.
+
+[FN#24]  Pronounced Fay-lim.
+
+
+
+
+THE SICK-BED OF CUCHULAIN
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+The romance called the "Sick-bed of Cuchulain," the latter part of
+which is also known as the "Jealousy of Emer," is preserved in two
+manuscripts, one of which is the eleventh-century Leabhar na h-Uidhri,
+the other a fifteenth century manuscript in the Trinity College
+Library.  These two manuscripts give substantially the same account,
+and are obviously taken from the same source, but the later of the two
+is not a copy of the older manuscript, and sometimes preserves a better
+reading.
+ The eleventh-century manuscript definitely gives a yet older book, the
+Yellow Book of Slane, now lost, as its authority, and this may be the
+ultimate authority for the tale as we have it.  But, although there is
+only one original version of the text, it is quite plain from internal
+evidence that the compiler of the Yellow Book of Slane, or of an
+earlier book, had two quite different forms of the story to draw from,
+and combined them in the version that we have.  The first, which may be
+called the "Antiquarian" form, relates the cause of Cuchulain's
+illness, tells in detail of the journey of his servant Laeg to
+Fairyland, in order to test the truth of a message sent to Cuchulain
+that he can be healed by fairy help, and then breaks off.  In both the
+Leabhar na h-Uidhri and in the fifteenth-century manuscript, follows a
+long passage which has absolutely nothing to do with the story,
+consisting of an account how Lugaid Red-Stripes was elected to be king
+over Ireland, and of the Bull Feast at which the coming of Lugaid is
+prophesied.  Both manuscripts then give the counsel given by Cuchulain
+to Lugaid on his election (this passage being the only justification
+for the insertion, as Cuchulain is supposed to be on his sick-bed when
+the exhortation is given); and both then continue the story in a quite
+different form, which may be called the "Literary" form.  The cause of
+the sickness is not given in the Literary form, which commences with
+the rousing of Cuchulain from his sick-bed, this rousing being due to
+different agency from that related in the Antiquarian form, for in the
+latter Cuchulain is roused by a son of the fairy king, in the former b
+his wife Emer.  The journey of Laeg to Fairyland is then told in the
+literary form with different detail to that given in the Antiquarian
+one, and the full conclusion is then supplied in this form alone; so
+that we have, although in the same manuscript version, two quite
+distinct forms of the original legend, the first defective at the end
+of the story, the other at its beginning.
+
+Not only are the incidents of the two forms of the story different in
+many respects, but the styles are so absolutely different that it would
+seem impossible to attribute them to the same author.  The first is a
+mere compilation by an antiquarian; it is difficult to imagine that it
+was ever recited in a royal court, although the author may have had
+access to a better version than his own.  He inserts passages which do
+not develop the interest of the story; hints at incidents (the
+temporary absence of Fergus and Conall) which are not developed or
+alluded to afterwards, and is a notable early example of the way in
+which Irish literature can be spoiled by combining several different
+independent stories into one.  There is only one gem, strictly so
+called, and that not of a high order; the only poetic touches occur in
+the rhetoric, and, although in this there is a weird supernatural
+flavour, that may have marked the original used by the compiler of this
+form ' the human interest seems to be exceptionally weak.
+
+The second or Literary form is as different from the other as it is
+possible for two compositions on the same theme to be.  The first few
+words strike the human note in Cuchulain's message to his wife: "Tell
+her that it goeth better with me from hour to hour;" the poems are
+many, long, and of high quality; the rhetoric shows a strophic
+correspondence; the Greek principle of letting the messenger tell the
+story instead of relating the facts, in a narrative of events (the
+method followed in the Antiquarian version) is made full use of; the
+modest account given by Cuchulain of his own deeds contrasts well with
+the prose account of the same deeds; and the final relation of the
+voluntary action of the fairy lady who gives up her lover to her rival,
+and her motives, is a piece of literary work centuries in advance of
+any other literature of modern Europe.
+
+Some modern accounts of this romance have combined the two forms, and
+have omitted the irrelevant incidents in the Antiquarian version; there
+are literary advantages in this course, for the disconnected character
+of the Antiquarian opening, which must stand first, as it alone gives
+the beginning of the story, affords little indication of the high
+quality of the better work of the Literary form that follows; but, in
+order to heighten the contrast, the two forms are given just as they
+occur in the manuscripts, the only omissions being the account of the
+election of Lugaid, and the exhortation of Cuchulain to the new king.
+
+Thurneysen, in his Sagen aus dem Alten Irland, places the second
+description of Fairyland by Laeg with the Antiquarian form, and this
+may be justified not only by the allusion to Ethne, who does not appear
+elsewhere in the Literary form, but from the fact that there is a touch
+of rough humour in this poem, which appears in the Antiquarian form,
+but not elsewhere in the Literary one, where the manuscripts place this
+poem.  But on the other hand the poetry of this second description, and
+its vividness, come much closer to the Literary form, and it has been
+left in the place that the manuscript gives to it.
+
+The whole has been translated direct from the Irish in Irische Texte,
+vol. i., with occasional reference to the facsimile of the Leabhar na
+h-Uidhri; the words marked as doubtful by Windisch in his glossary,
+which are rather numerous, being indicated by marks of interrogation in
+the notes, and, where Windisch goes not indicate a probable meaning, a
+special note is made on the word, unless it has been given in
+dictionaries subsequent to that of Windisch.  Thurneysen's translation
+has sometimes been made use of, when there is no other guide; but he
+omits some passages, and Windisch has been followed in the rendering
+given in his glossary in cases where there would seem to be a
+difference, as Thurneysen often translates freely.
+
+
+
+
+THE SICK-BED OF CUCHULAIN
+
+
+
+Transcribed from the Lost Yellow Book of Slane
+
+
+By Maelmuiri mac Ceileachair into the Leabhar na h-Uidhri in the
+Eleventh Century
+
+
+Every year the men of Ulster were accustomed to hold festival together;
+and the time when they held it was for three days before Samhain, the
+Summer-End, and for three days after that day, and upon Samhain itself.
+ And the time that is spoken of is that when the men of Ulster were in
+the Plain of Murthemne, and there they used to keep that festival every
+year; nor was there an thing in the world that they would do at that
+time except sports, and marketings, and splendours, and pomps, and
+feasting and eating; and it is from that custom of theirs that the
+Festival of the Samhain has descended, that is now held throughout the
+whole of Ireland.
+
+Now once upon a time the men of Ulster held festival upon the Murthemne
+Plain, and the reason that this festival was held was that every man of
+them should then give account of the combats he had made and of his
+valour every Summer-End.  It was their custom to hold that festival in
+order to give account of these combats, and the manner in which they
+gave that account was this: Each man used to cut off the tip of the
+tongue of a foe whom he had killed, and he bore it with him in a pouch.
+ Moreover, in order to make more great the numbers of their contests,
+some used to bring with them the tips of the tongues of beasts, and
+each man publicly declared the fights he had fought, one man of them
+after the other.  And they did this also--they laid their swords over
+their thighs when they declared the strifes, and their own swords used
+to turn against them when the strife that they declared was false; nor
+was this to be wondered at, for at that time it was customary for demon
+beings to scream from the weapons of men, so that for this cause their
+weapons might be the more able to guard them.
+
+To that festival then came all the men of Ulster except two alone, and
+these two were Fergus the son of Rog, and Conall the Victorious.  "Let
+the festival be held!" cried the men of Ulster.  "Nay," said Cuchulain,
+"it shall not be held until Conall and Fergus come," and this he said
+because Fergus was the foster-father of Cuchulain, and Conall was his
+comrade.  Then said Sencha: "Let us for the present engage in games of
+chess; and let the Druids sing, and let the jugglers play their feats;"
+and it was done as he had said.
+
+Now while they were thus employed a flock of birds came down and
+hovered over the lake; never was seen in Ireland more beautiful birds
+than these.  And a longing that these birds should be given to them
+seized upon the women who were there; and each of them began to boast
+of the prowess of her husband at bird-catching.  "How I wish," said
+Ethne Aitencaithrech, Conor's wife, "that I could have two of those
+birds, one of them upon each of my two shoulders."  "It is what we all
+long for," said the women; and "If any should have this boon, I should
+be the first one to have it," said Ethne Inguba, the wife of Cuchulain.
+
+"What are we to do now?" said the women.  "'Tis easy to answer you,"
+said Leborcham, the daughter of Oa and Adarc; "I will go now with a
+message from you, and will seek for Cuchulain."  She then went to
+Cuchulain, and "The women of Ulster would be well pleased," she said,
+"if yonder birds were given to them by thy hand."  And Cuchulain made
+for his sword to unsheathe it against her: "Cannot the lasses of Ulster
+find any other but us," he said, "to give them their bird-hunt to-day?"
+ "'Tis not seemly for thee to rage thus against them," said Leborcham,
+"for it is on thy account that the women of Ulster have assumed one of
+their three blemishes, even the blemish of blindness."  For there were
+three blemishes that the women of Ulster assumed, that of crookedness
+of gait, and that of a stammering in their speech, and that of
+blindness.  Each of the women who loved Conall the Victorious had
+assumed a crookedness of gait; each woman who loved Cuscraid Mend, the
+Stammerer of Macha, Conor's son, stammered in her speech; each woman in
+like manner who loved Cuchulain had assumed a blindness of her eyes, in
+order to resemble Cuchulain; for he, when his mind was angry within
+him, was accustomed to draw in the one of his eyes so far that a crane
+could not reach it in his head, and would thrust out the other so that
+it was great as a cauldron in which a calf is cooked.
+
+"Yoke for us the chariot, O Laeg!" said Cuchulain.  And Laeg yoked the
+chariot at that, and Cuchulain went into the chariot, and he cast his
+sword at the birds with a cast like the cast of a boomerang, so that
+they with their claws and wings flapped against the water.  And they
+seized upon all the birds, and they gave them and distributed them
+among the women; nor was there any one of the women, except Ethne
+alone, who had not a pair of those birds.  Then Cuchulain returned to
+his wife; and "Thou art enraged," said he to her.  "I am in no way
+enraged," answered Ethne, "for I deem it as being by me that the
+distribution was made.  And thou hast done what was fitting," she said,
+"for there is not one of these woman but loves thee; none in whom thou
+hast no share; but for myself none hath any share in me except thou
+alone."  "Be not angry," said Cuchulain, "if in the future any birds
+come to the Plain of Murthemne or to the Boyne, the two birds that are
+the most beautiful among those that come shall be thine."
+
+A little while after this they saw two birds flying over the lake,
+linked together by a chain of red gold.  They sang a gentle song, and a
+sleep fell upon all the men who were there; and Cuchulain rose up to
+pursue the birds.  "If thou wilt hearken to me," said Laeg, and so also
+said Ethne, "thou shalt not go against them; behind those birds is some
+especial power.  Other birds may be taken by thee at some future day."
+"Is it possible that such claim as this should be made upon me?" said
+Cuchulain.  "Place a stone in my sling, O Laeg!"  Laeg thereon took a
+stone, and he placed it in the sling, and Cuchulain launched the stone
+at the birds, but the cast missed.  "Alas!" said he.  He took another
+stone, and he launched this also at the birds, but the stone flew past
+them.  "Wretched that I am," he cried, "since the very first day that I
+assumed arms, I have never missed a cast until this day!"  And he cast
+his spear at them, and the spear went through the shield of the wing of
+one of the birds, and the birds flew away, and went beneath the lake.
+
+After this Cuchulain departed, and he rested his back against a stone
+pillar, and his soul was angry within him, and a sleep fell upon him.
+Then saw he two women come to him; the one of them had a green mantle
+upon her, and upon the other was a purple mantle folded in five folds.
+And the woman in the green mantle approached him, and she laughed a
+laugh at him, and she gave him a stroke with a horsewhip.  And then the
+other approached him, and she also laughed at him, and she struck him
+in the like manner; and for a long time were they thus, each of them in
+turn coming to him and striking him until he was all but dead; and then
+they departed from him.
+
+Now the men of Ulster perceived the state in which Cuchulain was in;
+and they cried out that he should be awakened; but "Nay," said Fergus,
+"ye shall not move him, for he seeth a vision;" and a little after that
+Cuchulain came from his sleep.  "What hath happened to thee?" said the
+men of Ulster; but he had no power to bid greeting to them.  "Let me be
+carried," he said, "to the sick-bed that is in Tete Brecc; neither to
+Dun Imrith, nor yet to Dun Delga."  "Wilt thou not be carried to Dun
+Delga to seek for Emer?" said Laeg.  "Nay," said he, "my word is for
+Tete Brecc;" and thereon they bore him from that place, and he was in
+Tete Brecc until the end of one year, and during all that time he had
+speech with no one.
+
+Now upon a certain day before the next Summer-End, at the end of a
+year, when the men of Ulster were in the house where Cuchulain was,
+Fergus being at the side-wall, and Conall Cernach at his head, and
+Lugaid Red-Stripes at his pillow, and Ethne Inguba at his feet; when
+they were there in this manner, a man came to them, and he seated
+himself near the entrance of the chamber in which Cuchulain lay.  "What
+hath brought thee here?" said Conall the Victorious.  "No hard question
+to answer," said the man.  "If the man who lies yonder were in health,
+he would be a good protection to all of Ulster; in the weakness and the
+sickness in which he now is, so much the more great is the protection
+that they have from him.  I have no fear of any of you," he said, "for
+it is to give to this man a greeting that I come."  "Welcome to thee,
+then, and fear nothing," said the men of Ulster; and the man rose to
+his feet, and he sang them these staves:
+
+
+Ah! Cuchulain, who art under sickness still,
+Not long thou its cure shouldst need;
+Soon would Aed Abra's daughters, to heal thine ill,
+To thee, at thy bidding, speed.
+
+Liban, she at swift Labra's right hand who sits,
+Stood up on Cruach's[FN#25] Plain, and cried:
+"'Tis the wish of Fand's heart, she the tale permits,
+To sleep at Cuchulain's side.
+
+
+[FN#25]  Pronounced something like Croogh.
+
+
+"'If Cuchulain would come to me,' Fand thus told,
+'How goodly that day would shine!
+Then on high would our silver be heaped, and gold,
+Our revellers pour the wine.
+
+"'And if now in my land, as my friend, had been
+Cuchulain, of Sualtam[FN#26] son,
+The things that in visions he late hath seen
+In peace would he safe have won.
+
+"'In the Plains of Murthemne, to south that spread,
+Shall Liban my word fulfil:
+She shall seek him on Samhain, he naught need dread,
+By her shall be cured his ill.'"
+
+
+[FN#26]  Pronounced Sooltam.
+
+
+"Who art thou, then, thyself?" said the men of Ulster.  "I am Angus,
+the son of Aed Abra," he answered; and the man then left them, nor did
+any of them know whence it was he had come, nor whither he went.
+Then Cuchulain sat up, and he spoke to them.  "Fortunate indeed is
+this!" said the men of Ulster; "tell us what it is that hath happened
+to thee."  "Upon Samhain night last year," he said, "I indeed saw a
+vision;" and he told them of all he had seen.  "What should now be
+done, Father Conor?" said Cuchulain.  "This hast thou to do," answered
+Conor, "rise, and go until thou comest to the pillar where thou wert
+before."
+
+Then Cuchulain went forth until he came to the pillar, and then saw he
+the woman in the green mantle come to him.  "This is good, O
+Cuchulain!" said she.  "'Tis no good thing in my thought," said
+Cuchulain.  "Wherefore camest thou to me last year?" he said.  "It was
+indeed to do no injury to thee that we came," said the woman, "but to
+seek for thy friendship. I have come to greet thee," she said, "from
+Fand, the daughter of Aed Abra; her husband, Manannan the Son of the
+Sea, hath released her, and she hath thereon set her love on thee.  My
+own name is Liban, and I have brought to thee a message from my spouse,
+Labraid the Swift, the Sword-Wielder,
+that he will give thee the woman in exchange for one day's service to
+him in battle against Senach the Unearthly, and against Eochaid
+Juil,[FN#27] and against Yeogan the Stream."  "I am in no fit state,"
+he said, "to contend with men to-day."  "That will last but a little
+while," she said; "thou shalt be whole, and all that thou hast lost of
+thy strength shall be increased to thee.  Labraid shall bestow on thee
+that boon, for he is the best of all warriors that are in the world."
+
+
+[FN#27]  Pronounced, nearly, Yeo-hay Yool.
+
+
+"Where is it that Labraid dwelleth?" asked Cuchulain.
+
+"In Mag Mell,[FN#28] the Plain of Delight," said Liban; "and now I
+desire to go to another land," said she.
+
+
+[FN#28]  Pronounced Maw Mel.
+
+
+"Let Laeg go with thee," said Cuchulain, "that he may learn of the land
+from which thou hast come."  "Let him come, then," said Liban.
+
+They departed after that, and they went forward until they came to a
+place where Fand was.  And Liban turned to seek for Laeg, and she set
+him upon her shoulder.  "Thou wouldest never go hence, O Laeg!" said
+Liban, "wert thou not under a woman's protection."  "'Tis not a thing
+that I have most been accustomed to up to this time," said Laeg, "to be
+under a woman's guard."  "Shame, and everlasting shame," said Liban,
+"that Cuchulain is not where thou art."  "It were well for me,"
+answered Laeg, "if it were indeed he who is here."
+
+They passed on then, and went forward until they came opposite to the
+shore of an island, and there they saw a skiff of bronze lying upon the
+lake before them.  They entered into the skiff, and they crossed over
+to the island, and came to the palace door, and there they saw the man,
+and he came towards them.  And thus spoke Liban to the man whom they
+saw there:
+
+
+Say where He, the Hand-on-Sword,
+Labra swift, abideth?
+He who, of the triumphs lord,
+In strong chariot rideth.
+When victorious troops are led,
+Labra hath the leading;
+He it is, when spears are red,
+Sets the points a-bleeding.
+
+
+And the man replied to her, and spoke thus:
+
+
+Labra, who of speed is son,
+Comes, and comes not slowly;
+Crowded hosts together run,
+Bent on warfare wholly.
+Soon upon the Forest Plain
+Shall be set the killing;
+For the hour when men are slain
+Fidga's[FN#29] Fields are filling![FN#30]
+
+
+[FN#29]  Pronounced, nearly, Feega.
+
+[FN#30]  Irish metre approximately imitated in these stanzas.
+
+
+They entered then into the palace, and they saw there thrice fifty
+couches within the palace, and three times fifty women upon the
+couches, and the women all bade Laeg welcome, and it was in these words
+that they addressed him:
+
+
+Hail! for the guide,
+Laeg! of thy quest:
+Laeg we beside
+Hail, as our guest!
+
+
+"What wilt thou do now?" said Liban; "wilt thou go on without a delay,
+and hold speech with Fand?"
+
+"I will go," he answered, "if I may know the place where she is."
+
+"That is no hard matter to tell thee," she answered; "she is in her
+chamber apart."  They went therein, and they greeted Fand, and she
+welcomed Laeg in the same fashion as the others had done.
+
+Fand is the daughter of Aed Abra; Aed means fire, and he is the fire of
+the eye: that is, of the eye's pupil: Fand moreover is the name of the
+tear that runs from the eye; it was on account of the clearness of her
+beauty that she was so named, for there is nothing else in the world
+except a tear to which her beauty could be likened.
+
+Now, while they were thus in that place, they heard the rattle of
+Labraid's chariot as he approached the island.  "The spirit of Labraid
+is gloomy to-day," said Liban, "I will go and greet him."  And she went
+out, and she bade welcome to Labraid, and she spoke as follows:
+
+
+Hail! the man who holdeth sword, the swift in fight!
+Heir of little armies, armed with javelins light;
+Spears he drives in splinters; bucklers bursts in twain;
+Limbs of men are wounded; nobles by him slain.
+He for error searcheth, streweth gifts not small,
+Hosts of men destroyeth; fairer he than all!
+Heroes whom he findeth feel his fierce attack;
+Labra! swiftest Sword-Hand! welcome to us back!
+
+
+Labraid made no reply to her, and the lady spoke again thus:
+
+
+Welcome! swift Labra,
+Hand to sword set!
+All win thy bounty,
+Praise thou shalt get;
+Warfare thou seekest,
+Wounds seam thy side;
+Wisely thou speakest,
+Law canst decide;
+Kindly thou rulest,
+Wars fightest well;
+Wrong-doers schoolest,
+Hosts shalt repel.
+
+
+Labraid still made no answer, and she sang another lay thus:
+
+
+Labra! all hail!
+Sword-wielder, swift:
+War can he wage,
+Warriors can sift;
+Valiant is he,
+Fighters excels;
+More than in sea
+Pride in him swells;
+Down in the dust
+Strength doth he beat;
+They who him trust
+Rise to their feet
+Weak ones he'll raise,
+Humble the strong;
+Labra! thy praise
+Peals loud and long!
+
+
+"Thou speakest not rightly, O lady," said Labraid; and he then spoke to
+her thus:
+
+
+O my wife! naught of boasting or pride is in me;
+No renown would I claim, and no falsehood shall be:
+Lamentation alone stirs my mind, for hard spears
+Rise in numbers against me: dread contest appears:
+The right arms of their heroes red broadswords shall swing;
+Many hosts Eochaid Juil holds to heart as their king:
+Let no pride then be ours; no high words let there be;
+Pride and arrogance far should be, lady, from me!
+
+
+"Let now thy mind be appeased," said the lady Liban to him.  "Laeg, the
+charioteer of Cuchulain, is here; and Cuchulain hath sent word to thee
+that he will come to join thy hosts."
+
+Then Labraid bade welcome to Laeg, and he said to him: "Welcome, O
+Laeg! for the sake of the lady with whom thou comest, and for the sake
+of him from whom thou hast come.  Do thou now go to thine own land, O
+Laeg!" said Labraid, "and Liban shall accompany thee."
+
+Then Laeg returned to Emain, and he gave news of what he had seen to
+Cuchulain, and to all others beside; and Cuchulain rose up, and he
+passed his hand over his face, and he greeted Laeg brightly, and his
+mind was strengthened within him for the news that the lad had brought
+him.
+
+[At this point occurs the break in the story indicated in the preface,
+and the description of the Bull-Feast at which Lugaid Red-Stripes is
+elected king over all Ireland; also the exhortation that Cuchulain,
+supposed to be lying on his sick-bed, gives to Lugaid as to the duties
+of a king.  After this insertion, which has no real connection with the
+story, the story itself proceeds, but from another point, for the
+thread is taken up at the place where Cuchulain has indeed awaked from
+his trance, but is still on his sick-bed; the message of Angus appears
+to have been given, but Cuchulain does not seem to have met Liban for
+the second time, nor to have sent Laeg to inquire.  Ethne has
+disappeared as an actor from the scene; her place is taken by Emer,
+Cuchulain's real wife; and the whole style of the romance so alters for
+the better that, even if it were not for the want of agreement of the
+two versions, we could see that we have here two tales founded upon the
+same legend but by two different hands, the end of the first and the
+beginning of the second alike missing, and the gap filled in by the
+story of the election of Lugaid.
+
+Now as to Cuchulain it has to be related thus: He called upon Laeg to
+come to him; and "Do thou go, O Laeg!" said Cuchulain, "to the place
+where Emer is; and say to her that women of the fairies have come upon
+me, and that they have destroyed my strength; and say also to her that
+it goeth better with me from hour to hour, and bid her to come and seek
+me;" and the young man Laeg then spoke these words in order to hearten
+the mind of Cuchulain:
+
+
+It fits not heroes lying
+On sick-bed in a sickly sleep to dream:
+Witches before thee flying
+Of Trogach's fiery Plain the dwellers seem:
+They have beat down thy strength,
+Made thee captive at length,
+And in womanish folly away have they driven thee far.
+
+Arise! no more be sickly!
+Shake off the weakness by those fairies sent:
+For from thee parteth quickly
+Thy strength that for the chariot-chiefs was meant:
+Thou crouchest, like a youth!
+Art thou subdued, in truth?
+Have they shaken thy prowess and deeds that were meet for the war
+
+Yet Labra's power hath sent his message plain:
+Rise, thou that crouchest: and be great again.
+
+
+And Laeg, after that heartening, departed; and he went on until he came
+to the place where Emer was; and he told her of the state of Cuchulain:
+"Ill hath it been what thou hast done, O youth!" she said; "for
+although thou art known as one who dost wander in the lands where the
+fairies dwell; yet no virtue of healing hast thou found there and
+brought for the cure of thy lord.  Shame upon the men of Ulster!" she
+said, "for they have not sought to do a great deed, and to heal him.
+Yet, had Conor thus been fettered; had it been Fergus who had lost his
+sleep, had it been Conall the Victorious to whom wounds had been dealt,
+Cuchulain would have saved them."  And she then sang a song, and in
+this fashion she sang it:
+
+
+Laeg! who oft the fairy hill[FN#31]
+Searchest, slack I find thee still;
+Lovely Dechtire's son shouldst thou
+By thy zeal have healed ere now.
+
+Ulster, though for bounties famed,
+Foster-sire and friends are shamed:
+None hath deemed Cuchulain worth
+One full journey through the earth.
+
+Yet, if sleep on Fergus fell,
+Such that magic arts dispel,
+Dechtire's son had restless rode
+Till a Druid raised that load.
+
+Aye, had Conall come from wars,
+Weak with wounds and recent scars;
+All the world our Hound would scour
+Till he found a healing power.
+
+Were it Laegaire[FN#32] war had pressed,
+Erin's meads would know no rest,
+Till, made whole from wounds, he won
+Mach's grandchild, Conna's son.
+
+Had thus crafty Celthar slept,
+Long, like him, by sickness kept;
+Through the elf-mounds, night and day,
+Would our Hound, to heal him, stray.
+
+Furbaid, girt by heroes strong,
+Were it he had lain thus long;
+Ah! our Hound would rescue bear
+Though through solid earth he fare.
+
+
+[FN#31]  The metre of these verses is that of the Irish.
+
+[FN#32]  Pronounced Leary.
+
+
+All the elves of Troom[FN#33] seem dead;
+All their mighty deeds have fled;
+For their Hound, who hounds surpassed,
+Elves have bound in slumber fast.
+
+Ah! on me thy sickness swerves,
+Hound of Smith who Conor serves!
+Sore my heart, my flesh must be:
+May thy cure be wrought by me.
+
+Ah! 'tis blood my heart that stains,
+Sick for him who rode the plains:
+Though his land be decked for feast,
+He to seek its plain hath ceased.
+
+He in Emain still delays;
+'Tis those Shapes the bar that raise:
+Weak my voice is, dead its tone,
+He in evil form is shown.
+
+Month-long, year-long watch I keep;
+Seasons pass, I know not sleep:
+Men's sweet speech strikes not mine ear;
+Naught, Riangabra's[FN#34] son, I hear.
+
+
+[FN#33]  Spelt Truim.
+
+[FN#34]  Pronounced Reen-gabra.
+
+
+And, after that she had sung that song, Emer went forward to Emain that
+she might seek for Cuchulain; and she seated herself in the chamber
+where Cuchulain was, and thus she addressed him: "Shame upon thee!" she
+said, "to lie thus prostrate for a woman's love! well may this long
+sickbed of thine cause thee to ail!"  And it was in this fashion that
+she addressed him, and she chanted this lay:
+
+
+Stand up, O thou hero of Ulster!
+Wake from sleep! rise up, joyful and sound!
+Look on Conor the king! on my beauty,
+Will that loose not those slumbers profound?
+
+See the Ulstermen's clear shining shoulders!
+Hear their trumpets that call to the fight!
+See their war-cars that sweep through the valleys,
+As in hero-chess, leaping each knight.
+
+See their chiefs, and the strength that adorns them,
+Their tall maidens, so stately with grace;
+The swift kings, springing on to the battle,
+The great queens of the Ulstermen's race!
+
+The clear winter but now is beginning;
+Lo! the wonder of cold that hangs there!
+'Tis a sight that should warn thee; how chilly!
+Of what length I yet of colour how bare!
+
+This long slumber is ill; it decays thee:
+'Tis like "milk for the full" the saw saith
+Hard is war with fatigue; deadly weakness
+Is a Prince who stands second to Death.
+
+Wake! 'tis joy for the sodden, this slumber;
+Throw it off with a great glowing heat:
+Sweet-voiced friends for thee wait in great number:
+Ulster's champion! stand up on thy feet!
+
+
+And Cuchulain at her word stood up; and he passed his hand over his
+face, and he cast all his heaviness and his weariness away from him,
+and then he arose, and went on his way before him until he came to the
+enclosure that he sought; and in that enclosure Liban appeared to him.
+And Liban spoke to him, and she strove to lead him into the fairy hill;
+but "What place is that in which Labraid dwelleth?" said Cuchulain.  It
+is easy for me to tell thee!" she said:
+
+
+Labra's home's a pure lake, whither
+Troops of women come and go;
+Easy paths shall lead thee thither,
+Where thou shalt swift Labra know.
+
+Hundreds his skilled arm repelleth;
+Wise be they his deeds who speak:
+Look where rosy beauty dwelleth;
+Like to that think Labra's cheek.
+
+Head of wolf, for gore that thirsteth,
+Near his thin red falchion shakes;
+Shields that cloak the chiefs he bursteth,
+Arms of foolish foes he breaks.
+
+Trust of friend he aye requiteth,
+Scarred his skin, like bloodshot eye;
+First of fairy men he fighteth;
+Thousands, by him smitten, die.
+
+Chiefs at Echaid[FN#35] Juil's name tremble;
+Yet his land-strange tale-he sought,
+He whose locks gold threads resemble,
+With whose breath wine-scents are brought.
+
+More than all strife-seekers noted,
+Fiercely to far lands he rides;
+Steeds have trampled, skiffs have floated
+Near the isle where he abides.
+
+Labra, swift Sword-Wielder, gaineth
+Fame for actions over sea;
+Sleep for all his watch sustaineth!
+Sure no coward hound is he.
+
+The chains on the necks of the coursers he rides,
+And their bridles are ruddy with gold:
+He hath columns of crystal and silver besides,
+The roof of his house to uphold.
+
+
+[FN#35]  Pronounced, apparently, Ech-ay, the ch like the sound in
+"loch."
+
+
+"I will not go thither at a woman's call," said Cuchulain.  "Let Laeg
+then go," said the lady, "and let him bring to thee tidings of all that
+is there."  "Let him depart, then," said Cuchulain; and Laeg rose up
+and departed with Liban, and they came to the Plain of Speech, and to
+the Tree of Triumphs, and over the festal plain of Emain, and over the
+festal plain of Fidga, and in that place was Aed Abra, and with him his
+daughters.
+
+Then Fand bade welcome to Laeg, and "How is it," said she, "that
+Cuchulain hath not come with thee?"  "It pleased him not," said Laeg,
+"to come at a woman's call; moreover, he desired to know whether it was
+indeed from thee that had come the message, and to have full knowledge
+of everything."  "It was indeed from me that the message was sent," she
+said; "and let now Cuchulain come swiftly to seek us, for it is for
+to-day that the strife is set."  Then Laeg went back to the place where
+he had left Cuchulain, and Liban with him; and "How appeareth this
+quest to thee, O Laeg?" said Cuchulain.  And Laeg answering said, "In a
+happy hour shalt thou go," said he, "for the battle is set for to-day;"
+and it was in this manner that he spake, and he recited thus:
+
+
+I went gaily through regions,
+Though strange, seen before:
+By his cairn found I Labra,
+A cairn for a score.
+
+There sat yellow-haired Labra,
+His spears round him rolled;
+His long bright locks well gathered
+Round apple of gold.
+
+On my five-folded purple
+His glance at length fell,
+And he said, "Come and enter
+Where Failbe doth dwell."
+
+In one house dwells white Failbe,
+With Labra, his friend;
+And retainers thrice fifty
+Each monarch attend.
+
+On the right, couches fifty,
+Where fifty men rest;
+On the left, fifty couches
+By men's weight oppressed.
+
+For each couch copper frontings,
+Posts golden, and white;
+And a rich flashing jewel
+As torch, gives them light.
+
+Near that house, to the westward,
+Where sunlight sinks down,
+Stand grey steeds, with manes dappled
+And steeds purple-brown.
+
+On its east side are standing
+Three bright purple trees
+Whence the birds' songs, oft ringing
+The king's children please.
+
+From a tree in the fore-court
+Sweet harmony streams;
+It stands silver, yet sunlit
+With gold's glitter gleams.
+
+Sixty trees' swaying summits
+Now meet, now swing wide;
+Rindless food for thrice hundred
+Each drops at its side.
+
+Near a well by that palace
+Gay cloaks spread out lie,
+Each with splendid gold fastening
+Well hooked through its eye.
+
+They who dwell there, find flowing
+A vat of glad ale:
+'Tis ordained that for ever
+That vat shall not fail.
+
+From the hall steps a lady
+Well gifted, and fair:
+None is like her in Erin;
+Like gold is her hair.
+
+And so sweet, and so wondrous
+Her words from her fall,
+That with love and with longing
+She breaks hearts of all.
+
+"Who art thou?" said that lady,
+"For strange thou art here;
+But if Him of Murthemne
+Thou servest, draw near."
+
+Slowly, slowly I neared her;
+I feared for my fame:
+And she said, "Comes he hither,
+Of Dechtire who came?"
+
+Ah! long since, for thy healing,
+Thou there shouldst have gone,
+And have viewed that great palace
+Before me that shone.
+
+Though I ruled all of Erin
+And yellow Breg's hill,
+I'd give all, no small trial,
+To know that land still.
+
+"The quest then is a good one?" said Cuchulain.  "It is goodly indeed,"
+said Laeg, "and it is right that thou shouldest go to attain it, and
+all things in that land are good."  And thus further also spoke Laeg,
+as he told of the loveliness of the fairy dwelling:
+
+
+I saw a land of noble form and splendid,
+Where dwells naught evil; none can speak a lie:
+There stands the king, by all his hosts attended,
+Brown Labra, swift to sword his hand can fly.
+
+We crossed the Plain of Speech, our steps arrested
+Near to that Tree, whose branches triumphs bear;
+At length upon the hill-crowned plain we rested,
+And saw the Double-Headed Serpent's lair.
+
+Then Liban said, as we that mount sat under:
+"Would I could see--'twould be a marvel strange--
+Yet, if I saw it, dear would be that wonder,
+if to Cuchulain's form thy form could change."
+
+Great is the beauty of Aed Abra's daughters,
+Unfettered men before them conquered fall;
+Fand's beauty stuns, like sound of rushing waters,
+Before her splendour kings and queens seem small.
+
+Though I confess, as from the wise ones hearing,
+That Adam's race was once unstained by sin; -
+Yet did I swear, when Fand was there appearing,
+None in past ages could such beauty win.
+
+I saw the champions stand with arms for slaying,
+Right splendid was the garb those heroes bore;
+Gay coloured garments, meet for their arraying,
+'Twas not the vesture of rude churls they wore.
+
+Women of music at the feast were sitting,
+A brilliant maiden bevy near them stood;
+And forms of noble youths were upwards flitting
+Through the recesses of the mountain wood.
+
+I saw the folk of song; their strains rang sweetly,
+As for the lady in that house they played;
+Had I not I fled away from thence, and fleetly,
+Hurt by that music, I had weak been made.
+
+I know the hill where Ethne took her station,
+And Ethne Inguba's a lovely maid;
+But none can drive from sense a warlike nation
+Save she alone, in beauty then displayed.
+
+
+And Cuchulain, when he had heard that report, went on with Liban to
+that land, and he took his chariot with him.  And they came to the
+Island of Labraid, and there Labraid and all the women that were there
+bade them welcome; and Fand gave an especial welcome to Cuchulain.
+"What is there now set for us to do?" said Cuchulain.  "No hard matter
+to answer," said Labraid; "we must go forth and make a circuit about
+the army."  They went out then, and they came to the army, and they let
+their eyes wander over it; and the host seemed to them to be
+innumerable.  "Do thou arise, and go hence for the present," said
+Cuchulain to Labraid; and Labraid departed, and Cuchulain remained
+confronting the army.  And there were two ravens there, who spake, and
+revealed Druid secrets, but the armies who heard them laughed.  "It
+must surely be the madman from Ireland who is there," said the army;
+"it is he whom the ravens would make known to us;" and the armies
+chased them away so that they found no resting-place in that land.
+
+Now at early morn Eochaid Juil went out in order to bathe his hands in
+the spring, and Cuchulain saw his shoulder through the hood of his
+tunic, and he hurled his spear at him, and he pierced him.  And he by
+himself slew thirty-and-three of them, and then Senach the Unearthly
+assailed him, and a great fight was fought between them, and Cuchulain
+slew him; and after that Labraid approached, and he brake before him
+those armies.
+
+Then Labraid entreated Cuchulain to stay his hand from the slaying; and
+"I fear now," said Laeg, "that the man will turn his wrath upon us; for
+he hath not found a war to suffice him.  Go now," said Laeg, "and let
+there be brought three vats of cold water to cool his heat.  The first
+vat into which he goeth shall boil over; after he hath gone into the
+second vat, none shall be able to bear the heat of it: after he hath
+gone into the third vat, its water shall have but a moderate heat."
+
+And when the women saw Cuchulain's return, Fand sang thus:
+
+
+Fidga's[FN#36] plain, where the feast assembles,
+Shakes this eve, as his car he guides;
+All the land at the trampling trembles;
+Young and beardless, in state he rides.
+
+Blood-red canopies o'er him swinging
+Chant, but not as the fairies cry;
+Deeper bass from the car is singing,
+Deeply droning, its wheels reply.
+
+Steeds are bounding beneath the traces,
+None to match them my thought can find;
+Wait a while! I would note their graces:
+On they sweep, like the spring's swift wind.
+
+High in air, in his breath suspended,
+Float a fifty of golden balls;
+Kings may grace in their sports have blended,
+None his equal my mind recalls.
+
+
+[FN#36]  Pronounced, nearly, Fee-ga.
+
+
+Dimples four on each cheek are glowing,
+One seems green, one is tinged with blue,
+One dyed red, as if blood were flowing,
+One is purple, of lightest hue.
+
+Sevenfold light from his eyeballs flashes,
+None may speak him as blind, in scorn;
+Proud his glances, and dark eyelashes
+Black as beetle, his eyes adorn.
+
+Well his excellence fame confesses,
+All through Erin his praise is sung;
+Three the hues of his high-piled tresses;
+Beardless yet, and a stripling young.
+
+Red his blade, it hath late been blooded;
+Shines above it its silver hilt;
+Golden bosses his shield have studded,
+Round its rim the white bronze is spilt.
+
+O'er the slain in each slaughter striding,
+War he seeketh, at risk would snatch:
+Heroes keen in your ranks are riding,
+None of these is Cuchulain's match.
+
+From Murthemne he comes, we greet him,
+Young Cuchulain, the champion strong;
+We, compelled from afar to meet him,
+Daughters all of Aed Abra, throng.
+
+Every tree, as a lordly token,
+Stands all stained with the red blood rain
+War that demons might wage is woken,
+Wails peal high as he raves again.
+
+
+Liban moreover bade a welcome to Cuchulain, and she chanted as follows:
+
+
+Hail to Cuchulain!
+Lord, who canst aid;
+Murthemne ruling,
+Mind undismayed;
+Hero-like, glorious,
+Heart great and still
+Battle-victorious,
+Firm rock of skill;
+Redly he rageth,
+Foemen would face;
+Battle he wageth
+Meet for his race!
+Brilliant his splendour, like maidens' eyes,
+Praises we render: praise shall arise!
+
+
+"Tell us now of the deeds thou hast done, O Cuchulain! cried Liban, and
+Cuchulain in this manner replied to her:
+
+
+From my hand flew a dart, as I made my cast,
+Through the host of Stream-Yeogan the javelin passed;
+Not at all did I know, though great fame was won,
+Who my victim had been, or what deed was done.
+
+Whether greater or less was his might than mine
+I have found not at all, nor can right divine;
+In a mist was he hid whom my spear would slay,
+Yet I know that he went not with life away.
+
+A great host on me closed, and on every side
+Rose around me in hordes the red steeds they ride;
+From Manannan, the Son of the Sea, came foes,
+From Stream-Yeogan to call them a roar arose.
+
+And I went to the battle with all at length,
+When my weakness had passed, and I gat full strength;
+And alone with three thousands the fight I fought,
+Till death to the foes whom I faced was brought.
+
+I heard Echaid Juil's groan, as he neared his end,
+The sound came to mine ears as from lips of friend;
+Yet, if truth must be told, 'twas no valiant deed,
+That cast that I threw, if 'twas thrown indeed.
+
+
+Now, after all these things had passed, Cuchulain slept with the lady,
+and he abode for a month in her company, and at the end of the month he
+came to bid her farewell.  "Tell me," she said, "to what place I may go
+for our tryst, and I will be there;" and they made tryst at the strand
+that is known as the Strand of the Yew-Tree's Head.
+
+Now word was brought to Emer of that tryst, and knives were whetted by
+Emer to slay the lady; and she came to the place of the tryst, and
+fifty women were with her.  And there she found, Cuchulain and Laeg,
+and they were engaged in the chess-play, so that they perceived not the
+women's approach.  But Fand marked it, and she cried out to Laeg: "Look
+now, O Laeg!" she said, "and mark that sight that I see."  "What sight
+is that of which thou speakest?" said Laeg, and he looked and saw it,
+and thus it was that the lady, even Fand, addressed him:
+
+
+Laeg! look behind thee!
+Close to thine ear
+Wise, well-ranked women
+Press on us near;
+Bright on each bosom
+Shines the gold clasp;
+Knives, with green edges
+Whetted, they grasp:
+As for the slaughter chariot chiefs race,
+Comes Forgall's daughter; changed is her face.
+
+"Have no fear," said Cuchulain, "no foe shalt thou meet;
+Enter thou my strong car, with its sunny bright seat:
+I will set thee before me, will guard thee from harm
+Against women, from Ulster's four quarters that swarm:
+Though the daughter of Forgall the war with thee vows,
+Though her dear foster-sisters against thee she rouse,
+No deed of destruction bold Emer will dare,
+Though she rageth against thee, for I will be there."
+
+
+Moreover to Emer he said:
+
+
+I avoid thee, O lady, as heroes
+Avoid to meet friends in a strife;
+The hard spear thy hand shakes cannot injure,
+Nor the blade of thy thin gleaming knife;
+For the wrath pent within thee that rageth
+Is but weak, nor can cause mine affright:
+It were hard if the war my might wageth
+Must be quenched by a weak woman's might!
+
+"Speak! and tell me, Cuchulain," cried Emer,
+"Why this shame on my head thou wouldst lay?
+Before women of Ulster dishonoured I stand,
+And all women who dwell in the wide Irish land,
+And all folk who love honour beside:
+Though I came on thee, secretly creeping,
+Though oppressed by thy might I remain,
+And though great is thy pride in the battle,
+If thou leavest me, naught is thy gain:
+Why, dear youth, such attempt dost thou make?
+
+"Speak thou, Emer, and say," said Cuchulain,
+"Should I not with this lady delay?
+For this lady is fair, pare and bright, and well skilled,
+A fit mate for a monarch, in beauty fulfilled,
+And the billows of ocean can ride:
+She is lovely in countenance, lofty in race,
+And with handicraft skilled can fine needlework trace,
+Hath a mind that with firmness can guide:
+
+And in steeds hath she wealth, and much cattle
+Doth she own; there is naught under sky
+A dear wife for a spouse should be keeping
+But that gift with this lady have I:
+Though the vow that I made thee I break,
+Thou shalt ne'er find champion
+Rich, like me, in scars;
+Ne'er such worth, such brilliance,
+None who wins my wars."
+
+
+"In good sooth," answered Emer, "the lady to whom thou dost cling is in
+no way better than am I myself!  Yet fair seems all that's red; seems
+white what's new alone; and bright what's set o'erhead; and sour are
+things well known!  Men worship what they lack; and what they have
+seems weak; in truth thou hast all the wisdom of the time!  O youth!"
+she said, "once we dwelled in honour together, and we would so dwell
+again, if only I could find favour in thy sight!" and her grief weighed
+heavily upon her.  "By my word," said Cuchulain, "thou dost find
+favour, and thou shalt find it so long as I am in life."
+
+"Desert me, then!" cried Fand.  "Nay," said Emer, "it is more fitting
+that I should be the deserted one."  "Not so, indeed," said Fand.  "It
+is I who must go, and danger rusheth upon me from afar."  And an
+eagerness for lamentation seized upon Fand, and her soul was great
+within her, for it was shame to her to be deserted and straightway to
+return to her home; moreover the mighty love that she bare to Cuchulain
+was tumultuous in her, and in this fashion she lamented, and lamenting
+sang this song:
+
+
+Mighty need compels me,
+I must go my way;
+Fame for others waiteth,
+Would I here could stay!
+
+Sweeter were it resting
+Guarded by thy power,
+Than to find the marvels
+In Aed Abra's bower.
+
+Emer! noble lady!
+Take thy man to thee:
+Though my arms resign him,
+Longing lives in me.
+
+Oft in shelters hidden
+Men to seek me came;
+None could win my trysting,
+I myself was flame.
+
+Ah! no maid her longing
+On a man should set
+Till a love full equal
+To her own she get.
+
+Fifty women hither,
+Emer! thou hast brought
+Thou wouldst Fand make captive,
+Hast on murder thought.
+
+Till the day I need them
+Waits, my home within;
+Thrice thy host! fair virgins,
+These my war shall win.
+
+
+Now upon this it was discerned by Manannan that Fand the daughter of
+Aed Abra was engaged in unequal warfare with the women of Ulster, and
+that she was like to be left by Cuchulain.  And thereon Manannan came
+from the east to seek for the lady, and he was perceived by her, nor
+was there any other conscious of his presence saving Fand alone.  And,
+when she saw Manannan, the lady was seized by great bitterness of mind
+and by grief, and being thus, she made this song:
+
+
+Lo! the Son of the Sea-Folk from plains draws near
+Whence Yeogan, the Stream, is poured;
+'Tis Manannan, of old he to me was dear,
+And above the fair world we soared.
+
+Yet to-day, although excellent sounds his cry,
+No love fills my noble heart,
+For the pathways of love may be bent awry,
+Its knowledge in vain depart.
+
+When I dwelt in the bower of the Yeogan Stream,
+At the Son of the Ocean's side,
+Of a life there unending was then our dream,
+Naught seemed could our love divide.
+
+When the comely Manannan to wed me came,
+To me, as a spouse, full meet;
+Not in shame was I sold, in no chessmen's game
+The price of a foe's defeat.
+
+When the comely Manannan my lord was made,
+When I was his equal spouse,
+This armlet of gold that I bear he paid
+As price for my marriage vows.
+
+Through the heather came bride-maids, in garments brave
+Of all colours, two score and ten;
+And beside all the maidens my bounty gave
+To my husband a fifty men.
+
+Four times fifty our host; for no frenzied strife
+In our palace was pent that throng,
+Where a hundred strong men led a gladsome life,
+One hundred fair dames and strong.
+
+Manannan draws near: over ocean he speeds,
+From all notice of fools is he free;
+As a horseman he comes, for no vessel he needs
+Who rides the maned waves of the sea.
+
+He hath passed near us now, though his visage to view
+Is to all, save to fairies, forbid;
+Every troop of mankind his keen sight searcheth through,
+Though small, and in secret though hid.
+
+But for me, this resolve in my spirit shall dwell,
+Since weak, being woman's, my mind;
+Since from him whom so dearly I loved, and so well,
+Only danger and insult I find.
+
+I will go! in mine honour unsullied depart,
+Fair Cuchulain! I bid thee good-bye;
+I have gained not the wish that was dear to my heart,
+High justice compels me to fly.
+
+It is flight, this alone that befitteth my state,
+Though to some shall this parting be hard:
+O thou son of Riangabra! the insult was great:
+Not by Laeg shall my going be barred.
+
+I depart to my spouse; ne'er to strife with a foe
+Shall Manannan his consort expose;
+And, that none may complain that in secret I go,
+Behold him! his form I disclose!
+
+
+Then that lady rose behind Manannan as he passed, and Manannan greeted
+her: "O lady!" he said, "which wilt thou do? wilt thou depart with me,
+or abide here until Cuchulain comes to thee?"  "By my troth," answered
+Fand, "either of the two of ye were a fitting spouse to adhere to; and
+neither of you two is better than the other; yet, Manannan, it is with
+thee that I go, nor will I wait for Cuchulain, for he hath betrayed me;
+and there is another matter, moreover, that weigheth with me, O thou
+noble prince!" said she, "and that is that thou hast no consort who is
+of worth equal to thine, but such a one hath Cuchulain already."
+And Cuchulain saw the lady as she went from him to Manannan, and he
+cried out to Laeg: "What meaneth this that I see?"  "'Tis no hard
+matter to answer thee," said Laeg. "Fand goeth away with Manannan the
+Son of the Sea, since she hath not been pleasing in thy sight!"
+
+Then Cuchulain bounded three times high into the air, and he made three
+great leaps towards the south, and thus he came to Tara Luachra,[FN#37]
+and there he abode for a long time, having no meat and no drink,
+dwelling upon the mountains, and sleeping upon the high-road that
+runneth through the midst of Luachra.
+Then Emer went on to Emain, and there she sought out king Conor, and
+she told Conor of Cuchulain's state, and Conor sent out his learned men
+and the people of skill, and the Druids of Ulster, that they might seek
+for Cuchulain, and might bind him fast, and bring him with them to
+Emain.  And Cuchulain strove to slay the people of skill, but they
+chanted wizard and fairy songs against him, and they bound fast his
+feet and his hands until he came a little to his senses.  Then he
+begged for a drink at their hands, and the Druids gave him a drink of
+forgetfulness, so that afterwards he had no more remembrance of Fand
+nor of anything else that he had then done; and they also gave a drink
+of forgetfulness to Emer that she might forget her jealousy, for her
+state was in no way better than the state of Cuchulain.  And Manannan
+shook his cloak between Cuchulain and Fand, so that they might never
+meet together again throughout eternity.
+
+
+[FN#37]  Pronounced Looch-ra: Tara Luachra is on the borders of
+Limerick and Kerry.
+
+
+
+
+THE EXILE OF THE SONS' OF USNACH
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+The version given in the following pages of the well-known tale of
+Deirdre has been translated from the Irish text of the Book of Leinster
+version as printed by Windisch in Irische Texte, vol. i.  Readings from
+the two parallel texts of the Book of Lecan, and Egerton, 1782, have
+been used where the Leinster text is deficient or doubtful, but the
+older MS. has in the main been followed, the chief alterations being
+indicated in the notes.  The only English translation hitherto given of
+this version is the unreliable one in Atlantis, vol. iii.  There is a
+German translation in Thurneysen's Sagen aus dem alten Irland which may
+be consulted for literal renderings of most of the verse portions,
+which, however, are sometimes nearer the original than Thurneysen's
+renderings.
+
+It was at first intended to place beside this version the much better
+known version of the tale given by the Glenn Masain manuscript and its
+variants; but, as this version is otherwise available in
+English,[FN#38] it has been thought better to omit most of it: a verse
+translation of Deirdre's final lament in this version has, however,
+been added for the purpose of comparing it with the corresponding
+lament in the Leinster text.  These two poems are nearly of the same
+length, but have no other point in common; the lament in the Leinster
+version strikes the more personal note, and it has been suggested that
+it shows internal evidence that it must have been written by a woman.
+The idea of Deirdre as a seer, which is so prominent in the Glenn
+Masain version of the tale, does not appear in the older Leinster text;
+the supernatural Druidic mist, which even in the Glenn Masain version
+only appears in the late manuscript which continues the story after the
+fifteenth-century manuscript breaks off, does not appear in the Book of
+Leinster; and the later version introduces several literary artifices
+that do not appear in the earlier one.  That portion of the Glenn
+Masain version immediately following after Deirdre's lament is given as
+an instance of one of these, the common artifice of increase of horror
+at a catastrophe by the introduction of irrelevant matter, the tragedy
+of Deirdre's death being immediately followed by a cheerful account of
+the relationships of the chief heroes of the Heroic Period; a still
+better example of this practice in the old Irish literature is the
+almost comic relief that is introduced at the most tragic part of the
+tale of the murder of the son of Ronan.
+
+
+[FN#38]  See Irische Texte, vol. ii., and the Celtic Review, vol. i.
+1904-1905.
+
+
+
+
+THE EXILE OF THE SONS OF USNACH
+
+
+
+BOOK OF LEINSTER VERSION
+
+
+In the house of Feidlimid,[FN#39] the son of Dall, even he who was the
+narrator of stories to Conor the king, the men of Ulster sat at their
+ale; and before the men, in order to attend upon them, stood the wife
+of Feidlimid, and she was great with child.  Round about the board went
+drinking-horns, and portions of food; and the revellers shouted in
+their drunken mirth.  And when the men desired to lay themselves down
+to sleep, the woman also went to her couch; and, as she passed through
+the midst of the house, the child cried out in her womb, so that its
+shriek was heard throughout the whole house, and throughout the outer
+court that lay about it.  And upon that shriek, all the men sprang up;
+and, head closely packed by head, they thronged together in the house,
+whereupon Sencha, the son of Ailill, rebuked them: "Let none of you
+stir!" cried he, "and let the woman be brought before us, that we may
+learn what is the meaning of that cry."  Then they brought the woman
+before them, and thus spoke to her Feidlimid, her spouse:
+
+
+What is that, of all cries far the fiercest,
+In thy womb raging loudly and long?
+Through all ears with that clamour thou piercest;
+With that scream, from Bides swollen and strong:
+Of great woe, for that cry, is foreboding my heart;
+That is torn through with terror, and sore with the smart.
+
+
+[FN#39]  Pronounced Feylimid.
+
+
+Then the woman turned her, and she approached Cathbad[FN#40] the Druid,
+for he was a man of knowledge, and thus she spoke to him:
+
+
+[FN#40]  Pronounced Cah-ba.
+
+
+Give thou ear to me, Cathbad, thou fair one of face,
+Thou great crown of our honour, and royal in race;
+Let the man so exalted still higher be set,
+Let the Druid draw knowledge, that Druids can get.
+For I want words of wisdom, and none can I fetch;
+Nor to Felim a torch of sure knowledge can stretch:
+As no wit of a woman can wot what she bears,
+I know naught of that cry from within me that tears.
+
+
+And then said Cathbad:
+
+
+'Tis a maid who screamed wildly so lately,
+Fair and curling shall locks round her flow,
+And her eyes be blue-centred and stately;
+And her cheeks, like the foxglove, shall glow.
+For the tint of her skin, we commend her,
+In its whiteness, like snow newly shed;
+And her teeth are all faultless in splendour
+And her lips, like to coral, are red:
+A fair woman is she, for whom heroes,
+that fight In their chariots for Ulster, to death shall be dight.
+
+'Tis a woman that shriek who hath given,
+Golden-haired, with long tresses, and tall;
+For whose love many chiefs shall have striven,
+And great kings for her favours shall call.
+To the west she shall hasten, beguiling
+A great host, that from Ulster shall steal:
+Red as coral, her lips shall be smiling,
+As her teeth, white as pearls, they reveal:
+Aye, that woman is fair, and great queens shall be fain
+Of her form, that is faultless, unflawed by a stain.
+
+
+Then Cathbad laid his hand upon the body of the woman; and the little
+child moved beneath his hand: "Aye, indeed," he said, "it is a woman
+child who is here: Deirdre shall be her name, and evil woe shall be
+upon her."
+
+Now some days after that came the girl child into the world; and then
+thus sang Cathbad:
+
+
+O Deirdre! of ruin great cause thou art;
+Though famous, and fair, and pale:
+Ere that Felim's hid daughter from life shall part,
+All Ulster her deeds shall wail.
+
+Aye, mischief shall come, in the after-time,
+Thou fair shining maid, for thee;
+Hear ye this: Usna's sons, the three chiefs sublime,
+To banishment forced shall be.
+
+While thou art in life, shall a fierce wild deed
+In Emain, though late, be done:
+Later yet, it shall mourn it refused to heed
+The guard of Rog's powerful son.
+
+O lady of worth! It is to thee we owe
+That Fergus to exile flies;
+That a son of king Conor we hail in woe,
+When Fiachna[FN#41] is hurt, and dies.
+
+O lady of worth! It is all thine the guilt!
+Gerrc, Illadan's son, is slain;
+And when Eogan mac Doorha's great life is spilt,
+Not less shall be found our pain.
+
+Grim deed shalt thou do, and in wrath shalt rave
+Against glorious Ulster's king:
+In that spot shall men dig thee thy tiny grave;
+Of Deirdre they long shall sing.
+
+
+[FN#41]  Pronounced Feena.
+
+
+"Let that maiden be slain!" cried out the young men of Ulster; but "Not
+so!" said Conor; "she shall in the morning be brought to me, and shall
+be reared according to my will, and she shall be my wife, and in my
+companionship shall she dwell."
+
+The men of Ulster were not so hardy as to turn him from his purpose,
+and thus it was done.  The maiden was reared in a house that belonged
+to Conor, and she grew up to be the fairest maid in all Ireland.  She
+was brought up at a distance from the king's court; so that none of the
+men of Ulster might see her till the time came when she was to share
+the royal couch: none of mankind was permitted to enter the house where
+she was reared, save only her foster-father, and her foster-mother; and
+in addition to these Levorcham, to whom naught could any refuse, for
+she was a witch.
+
+Now once it chanced upon a certain day in the time of winter that the
+foster-father of Deirdre had employed himself in skinning a calf upon
+the snow, in order to prepare a roast for her, and the blood of the
+calf lay upon the snow, and she saw a black raven who came down to
+drink it.  And "Levorcham," said Deirdre, "that man only will I love,
+who hath the three colours that I see here, his hair as black as the
+raven, his cheeks red like the blood, and his body as white as the
+snow."  "Dignity and good fortune to thee!" said Levorcham; "that man
+is not far away.  Yonder is he in the burg which is nigh; and the name
+of him is Naisi, the son of Usnach."  "I shall never be in good health
+again," said Deirdre, "until the time come when I may see him."
+
+It befell that Naisi was upon a certain day alone upon the rampart of
+the burg of Emain, and he sent his warrior-cry with music abroad: well
+did the musical cry ring out that was raised by the sons of Usnach.
+Each cow and every beast that heard them, gave of milk two-thirds more
+than its wont; and each man by whom that cry was heard deemed it to be
+fully joyous, and a dear pleasure to him.  Goodly moreover was the play
+that these men made with their weapons; if the whole province of Ulster
+had been assembled together against them in one place, and they three
+only had been able to set their backs against one another, the men of
+Ulster would not have borne away victory from those three: so well were
+they skilled in parry and defence.  And they were swift of foot when
+they hunted the game, and with them it was the custom to chase the
+quarry to its death.
+
+Now when this Naisi found himself alone on the plain, Deirdre also soon
+escaped outside her house to him, and she ran past him, and at first he
+know not who she might be.
+
+
+"Fair is the young heifer that springs past me!" he cried.
+
+"Well may the young heifers be great," she said, "in a place where none
+may find a bull."
+
+"Thou hast, as thy bull," said he, "the bull of the whole province of
+Ulster, even Conor the king of Ulster."
+
+"I would choose between you two," she said, "and I would take for
+myself a younger bull, even such as thou art."
+
+"Not so indeed," said Naisi, "for I fear the prophecy of Cathbad."
+
+"Sayest thou this, as meaning to refuse me?" said she.
+
+"Yea indeed," he said; and she sprang upon him, and she seized him by
+his two ears.  "Two ears of shame and of mockery shalt thou have," she
+cried, "if thou take me not with thee."  "Release me, O my wife!" said
+he.
+
+"That will I."
+
+Then Naisi raised his musical warrior-cry, and the men of Ulster heard
+it, and each of them one after another sprang up: and the sons of
+Usnach hurried out in order to hold back their brother.
+
+"What is it," they said, "that thou dost? let it not be by any fault of
+thine that war is stirred up between us and the men of Ulster."
+
+Then he told them all that had been done; and "There shall evil come on
+thee from this," said they; "moreover thou shalt lie under the reproach
+of shame so long as thou dost live; and we will go with her into
+another land, for there is no king in all Ireland who will refuse us
+welcome if we come to him."
+
+Then they took counsel together, and that same night they departed,
+three times fifty warriors, and the same number of women, and dogs, and
+servants, and Deirdre went with them.  And for a long time they
+wandered about Ireland, in homage to this man or that; and often Conor
+sought to slay them, either by ambuscade or by treachery; from round
+about Assaroe, near to Ballyshannon in the west, they journeyed, and
+they turned them back to Benn Etar, in the north-east, which men to-day
+call the Mountain of Howth.  Nevertheless the men of Ulster drave them
+from the land, and they came to the land of Alba, and in its
+wildernesses they dwelled.  And when the chase of the wild beasts of
+the mountains failed them, they made foray upon the cattle of the men
+of Alba, and took them for themselves; and the men of Alba gathered
+themselves together with intent to destroy them.  Then they took
+shelter with the king of Alba, and the king took them into his
+following, and they served him in war.  And they made for themselves
+houses of their own in the meadows by the king's burg: it was on
+account of Deirdre that these houses were made, for they feared that
+men might see her, and that on her account they might be slain.
+
+Now one day the high-steward of the king went out in the early morning,
+and he made a cast about Naisi's house, and saw those two sleeping
+therein, and he hurried back to the king, and awaked him: "We have,"
+said he, "up to this day found no wife for thee of like dignity to
+thyself.  Naisi the son of Usnach hath a wife of worth sufficient for
+the emperor of the western world!  Let Naisi be slain, and let his wife
+share thy couch."
+
+"Not so!" said the king, "but do thou prepare thyself to go each day to
+her house, and woo her for me secretly."
+
+Thus was it done; but Deirdre, whatsoever the steward told her, was
+accustomed straightway to recount it each even to her spouse; and since
+nothing was obtained from her, the sons of Usnach were sent into
+dangers, and into wars, and into strifes that thereby they might be
+overcome.  Nevertheless they showed themselves to be stout in every
+strife, so that no advantage did the king gain from them by such
+attempts as these.
+
+The men of Alba were gathered together to destroy the sons of Usnach,
+and this also was told to Deirdre.  And she told her news to Naisi:
+"Depart hence!" said she, "for if ye depart not this night, upon the
+morrow ye shall he slain!"  And they marched away that night, and they
+betook themselves to an island of the sea.
+
+Now the news of what had passed was brought to the men of Ulster.
+"'Tis pity, O Conor!" said they, "that the sons of Usnach should die in
+the land of foes, for the sake of an evil woman.  It is better that
+they should come under thy protection,[FN#42] and that the (fated)
+slaying should be done here, and that they should come into their own
+land, rather than that they should fall at the hands of foes."  "Let
+them come to us then," said Conor, "and let men go as securities to
+them."  The news was brought to them.
+
+
+[FN#42]  Literally, "It is better their protection, and their slaying,
+and coming for them to their own land, &c."  If this reading is right
+(and three MSS. agree), the extended words of the text seem to give the
+intention: it is, however, possible that the reading should be, "It is
+better their protection than their slaying" (oldaas for ocus), which
+would make sense at once.  The idea of the text seems to be that the
+sons of Usnach were, owing to Cathbad's prophecy, thought of as fated
+men; and it was only a question where they should be put to death.
+
+
+"This is welcome news for us," they said; "we will indeed come, and let
+Fergus come as our surety, and Dubhtach, and Cormac the son of Conor."
+These then went to them, and they moved them to pass over the sea.
+
+But at the contrivance of Conor, Fergus was pressed to join in an
+ale-feast, while the sons of Usnach were pledged to eat no food in
+Erin, until they had eaten the food of Conor.  So Fergus tarried behind
+with Dubhtach and Cormac; and the sons of Usnach went on, accompanied
+by Fiacha, Fergus' son; until they came to the meadows around Emain.
+
+Now at that time Eogan the son of Durthacht had come to Emain to make
+his peace with Conor, for they had for a long time been at enmity; and
+to him, and to the warmen of Conor, the charge was given that they
+should slay the sons of Usnach, in order that they should not come
+before the king.  The sons of Usnach stood upon the level part of. the
+meadows, and the women sat upon the ramparts of Emain.  And Eogan came
+with his warriors across the meadow, and the son of Fergus took his
+place by Naisi's side.  And Eogan greeted them with a mighty thrust of
+his spear, and the spear brake Naisi's back in sunder, and passed
+through it.  The son of Fergus made a spring, and he threw both arms
+around Naisi, and he brought him beneath himself to shelter him, while
+he threw himself down above him; and it was thus that Naisi was slain,
+through the body of the son of Fergus.  Then there began a murder
+throughout the meadow, so that none escaped who did not fall by the
+points of the spears, or the edge of the sword, and Deirdre was brought
+to Conor to be in his power, and her arms were bound behind her back.
+
+Now the sureties who had remained behind, heard what had been done,
+even Fergus and Dubhtach, and Cormac.  And thereon they hastened
+forward, and they forthwith performed great deeds.  Dubhtach slew, with
+the one thrust of his spear, Mane a son of Conor, and Fiachna the son
+of Feidelm, Conor's daughter; and Fergus struck down Traigthren, the
+son of Traiglethan, and his brother.  And Conor was wrath at this, and
+he came to the fight with them; so that upon that day three hundred of
+the men of Ulster fell and Dubhtach slew the women of Ulster; and, ere
+the day dawned, Fergus set Emain on fire.  Then they went away into
+exile, and betook them to the land of Connaught to find shelter with
+Ailill and Maev, for they knew that that royal pair would give them
+good entertainment.  To the men of Ulster the exiles showed no love:
+three thousand stout men went with them; and for sixteen years never
+did they allow cries of lamentation and of fear among the Ulstermen to
+cease: each night their vengeful forays caused men to quake, and to
+wail.
+
+Deirdre lived on for a year in the household of Conor; and during all
+that time she smiled no smile of laughter; she satisfied not herself
+with food or with sleep, and she raised not her head from her knee.
+And if any one brought before her people of mirth, she used to speak
+thus:
+
+
+Though eager troops, and fair to see,[FN#43]
+May home return, though these ye wait:
+When Usna's sons came home to me,
+They came with more heroic state.
+
+With hazel mead, my Naisi stood:
+And near our fire his bath I'd pour;
+On Aindle's stately back the wood;
+On Ardan's ox, or goodly boar.
+
+Though sweet that goodly mead ye think
+That warlike Conor drinks in hall,
+I oft have known a sweeter drink,
+Where leaps in foam the waterfall:
+
+Our board was spread beneath the tree,
+And Naisi raised the cooking flame:
+More sweet than honey-sauced to me
+Was meat, prepared from Naisi's game.
+
+
+[FN#43]  A literal rendering of this poem will be found in the notes,
+p. 187.
+
+
+Though well your horns may music blow,
+Though sweet each month your pipes may sound,
+I fearless say, that well I know
+A sweeter strain I oft have found.
+
+Though horns and pipes be sounding clear,
+Though Conor's mind in these rejoice,
+More magic strain, more sweet, more dear
+Was Usna's Children's noble voice.
+
+Like sound of wave, rolled Naisi's bass;
+We'd hear him long, so sweet he sang:
+And Ardan's voice took middle place;
+And clearly Aindle's tenor rang.
+
+Now Naisi lies within his tomb:
+A sorry guard his friends supplied;
+His kindred poured his cup of doom,
+That poisoned cup, by which he died.
+
+Ah! Berthan dear! thy lands are fair;
+Thy men are proud, though hills be stern:
+Alas! to-day I rise not there
+To wait for Usna's sons' return.
+
+That firm, just mind, so loved, alas!
+The dear shy youth, with touch of scorn,
+I loved with him through woods to pass,
+And girding in the early morn.
+
+When bent on foes, they boded ill,
+Those dear grey eyes, that maids adored;
+When, spent with toil, his troops lay still,
+Through Irish woods his tenor soared.
+
+For this it is, no more I sleep;
+No more my nails with pink I stain:
+No joy can break the watch I keep;
+For Usna's sons come not again.
+
+For half the night no sleep I find;
+No couch can me to rest beguile:
+'Mid crowds of thoughts still strays my mind;
+I find no time to eat or smile.
+
+In eastern Emain's proud array
+No time to joy is left for me;
+For gorgeous house, and garments gay,
+Nor peace, nor joy, nor rest can be.
+
+
+And when Conor sought to soothe her; thus Deirdre would answer him:
+
+
+Ah Conor! what of thee! I naught can do!
+Lament and sorrow on my life have passed:
+The ill you fashioned lives my whole life through;
+A little time your love for me would last.
+
+The man to me most fair beneath the sky,
+The man I loved, in death away you tore:
+The crime you did was great; for, till I die,
+That face I loved I never shall see more.
+
+That he is gone is all my sorrow still;
+Before me looms the shape of Usna's son;
+Though o'er his body white is yon dark hill,
+There's much I'd lavish, if but him I won.
+
+I see his cheeks, with meadow's blush they glow;
+Black as a beetle, runs his eyebrows' line;
+His lips are red; and, white as noble snow
+I see his teeth, like pearls they seem to shine.
+
+Well have I known the splendid garb he bears,
+Oft among Alba's warriors seen of old:
+A crimson mantle, such as courtier wears,
+And edged with border wrought of ruddy gold.
+
+Of silk his tunic; great its costly price;
+For full one hundred pearls thereon are sewn;
+Stitched with findruine,[FN#44] bright with strange device,
+Full fifty ounces weighed those threads alone.
+
+Gold-hilted in his hand I see his sword;
+Two spears he holds, with spear-heads grim and green;
+Around his shield the yellow gold is poured,
+And in its midst a silver boss is seen.
+
+Fair Fergus ruin on us all hath brought!
+We crossed the ocean, and to him gave heed:
+His honour by a cup of ale was bought;
+From him hath passed the fame of each high deed.
+
+If Ulster on this plain were gathered here
+Before king Conor; and those troops he'd give,
+I'd lose them all, nor think the bargain dear,
+If I with Naisi, Usna's son, could live.
+
+Break not, O king, my heart to-day in me;
+For soon, though young, I come my grave unto:
+My grief is stronger than the strength of sea;
+Thou, Conor, knowest well my word is true.
+
+
+"Whom dost thou hate the most," said Conor, "of these whom thou now
+seest?"
+
+"Thee thyself," she answered, "and with thee Eogan the son of
+Durthacht."
+
+
+[FN#44]  Pronounced find-roony; usually translated "white bronze."
+
+
+"Then," said Conor, "thou shalt dwell with Eogan for a year;" and he
+gave Deirdre over into Eogan's hand.
+
+Now upon the morrow they went away over the festal plain of Macha, and
+Deirdre sat behind Eogan in the chariot; and the two who were with her
+were the two men whom she would never willingly have seen together upon
+the earth, and as she looked upon them, "Ha, Deirdre," said Conor, "it
+is the same glance that a ewe gives when between two rams that thou
+sharest now between me and Eogan!"  Now there was a great rock of stone
+in front of them, and Deirdre struck her head upon that stone, and she
+shattered her head, and so she died.
+
+This then is the tale of the exile of the sons of Usnach, and of the
+Exile of Fergus, and of the death of Deirdre.
+
+
+
+
+THE LAMENT OF DEIRDRE OVER THE SONS OF USNACH
+
+
+
+ACCORDING TO THE GLENN MASAIN VERSION
+
+ALSO THE CONCLUSION OF THE TALE FROM THE SAME VERSION
+
+
+I grieved not, Usna's sons beside;
+But long, without them, lags the day:
+Their royal sire no guest denied;
+Three lions from Cave Hill were they.
+
+Three dragons bred in Mona's fort
+Are dead: to them from life I go;
+Three chiefs who graced the Red Branch Court,
+Three rocks, who broke the rush of foe.
+
+O loved by many a British maid!
+O swift as hawks round Gullion's peak!
+True sons of king, who warriors swayed,
+To whom bent chiefs in homage meek.
+
+No vassal look those champions wore;
+Full grief is mine that such should die!
+Those sons, whom Cathbad's daughter bore;
+Those props, who Cualgne's[FN#45] war held high.
+
+
+[FN#45]  Pronounced Kell-ny.
+
+
+Three bears of might, to war they came;
+From Oona's walls, like lions, burst;
+Three hero-chiefs, who loved their fame;
+Three sons, on Ulster's bosom nursed.
+
+Twas Aife[FN#46] reared them; 'neath her yoke
+A kingdom bowed, and tribute brought;
+They propped the war, when armies broke,
+Those foster-sons, whom Scathach[FN#47] taught.
+
+The Three, who once from Bohvan's skill
+All feats have learned that heroes know;
+King Usna's glorious sons! 'tis ill
+That these afar from me should go.
+
+That I should live, with Naisi dead,
+Let none such shame believe of me;
+When Ardan's life, when Ainnle's fled,
+But short my life I knew would be.
+
+Great Ulster's king my hand had won;
+I left him, Naisi's love to find;
+Till Naisi's funeral rites be done,
+I wait a little while behind.
+
+This widowed life no more I'll bear;
+The Three rejoiced, when toil they faced;
+Where'er 'twas found, the war they'd dare,
+And proffered fight with joy embraced.
+
+A curse on Cathbad's wizard spell!
+'Twas Naisi's death! and I the cause!
+None came to aid that king, who well
+To all the world might grant his laws.
+
+
+[FN#46]  Pronounced Eefa.
+
+[FN#47]  Pronounced Ska-ha.
+
+
+O man, who diggest low the grave,
+And from my sight my love would hide,
+Make wide the tomb; its room I crave,
+I come to seek my hero's side.
+
+Great load of hardship I'd endure with joy,
+If yet those heroes my companions were;
+No lack of house or fire could then annoy,
+No gloom I'd know with them, nor aught of care.
+
+Ah! many a time each shield and guardian spear
+To make my couch have piled those noble Three:
+O labouring man, their grave who diggest here,
+Their hardened swords above well set should be.
+
+The hounds of all the Three their masters lack,
+Their hawks no quarry leave, nor hear their call;
+The three are dead, who battle's line held back
+Who learned their skill in Conall Cernach's hall!
+
+Their hounds I view; from out my heart that sight
+Hath struck a groan; behind their leashes trail,
+'Twas mine to hold them once, and keep them tight;,
+Now slack they lie, and cause me thus to wail.
+
+Oft in the desert I and they have strayed,
+Yet never lonely was that desert known
+For all the Three a grave to-day is made,
+And here I sit, and feel indeed alone.
+
+I gazed on Naisi's grave, and now am blind,
+For naught remains to see; the worst is spent;
+My soul must leave me soon, no help I find,
+And they are gone, the folk of my lament.
+
+'Twas guile that crushed them: they would save my life
+And died therefor; themselves three billows strong:
+Ere Usna's children fell in cruel strife,
+Would I had died, and earth had held me long!
+
+To Red-Branch Hall we made our mournful way;
+Deceitful Fergus led; our lives he stole;
+A soft sweet speech indeed he'd learned to say,
+For me, for them was ruin near that goal.
+
+All Ulster's pleasures now are nothing worth
+I shun them all, each chief, each ancient friend;
+Alone I sit, as left behind on earth,
+And soon my lonely life in death shall end.
+
+I am Deirdre, the joyless,
+For short time alive,
+Though to end life be evil,
+'Tis worse to survive.
+
+
+And, after she had made this lament, Deirdre seated herself in the
+tomb, and she gave three kisses to Naisi before that he was laid in his
+grave; and with heaviness and grief Cuchulain went on to Dun Delga.
+And Cathbad the Druid laid a curse upon Emain Macha to take vengeance
+for that great evil, and he said that, since that treachery had been
+done, neither king Conor nor any other of his race should hold that
+burg.
+
+And as for Fergus, the son of Rossa the Red, he came to Emain Macha on
+the morrow after the sons of Usnach had been slain.  And, when he found
+that they had been slain, and that his pledge had been dishonoured, he
+himself, and Cormac the Partner of Exile, king Conor's own son, also
+Dubhtach, the Beetle of Ulster, and the armies they had with them, gave
+battle to the household of Conor; and they slew Maine the son of Conor,
+and three hundred of Conor's people besides.  And Emain Macha was
+destroyed, and burned by them, and Conor's women were slain, and they
+collected their adherents on every side; the number of their host was
+three thousand warriors.  And they went away to the land of Connaught,
+even to Ailill the Great, who was the king of Connaught at that time,
+and to Maev of Croghan, and with them they found a welcome and support.
+ Moreover Fergus and Cormac the Partner of Exile and their warriors,
+after that they had come to the land of Connaught, never let pass one
+single night wherein reavers went not forth from them to harry and burn
+the land of Ulster, so that the district which men to-day call the land
+of Cualgne was subdued by them; and from that in the after-time came
+between the two kingdoms much of trouble and theft; and in this fashion
+they spent seven years, or, as some say, ten years; nor was there any
+truce between them, no, not for one single hour.
+
+And while those deeds were doing, Deirdre abode by Conor in his
+household for a whole year after the sons of Usnach had been slain.
+And, though it might have seemed but a small thing for her to raise her
+head, or to let laughter flow over her lips, yet she never did these
+things during all that time.  And when Conor saw that neither sport nor
+kindness could hold her; and that neither jesting nor pleasing honour
+could raise her spirits, he sent word to Eogan the son of Durthacht,
+the lord of Fernmay;[FN#48] as some tell the story, it was this Eogan
+who had slain Naisi in Emain Macha.  And after that Eogan had come to
+the place where Conor was, Conor gave command to Deirdre that, since he
+himself had failed to turn her heart from her grief, she must depart to
+Eogan, and spend another space of time with him.  And with that she was
+placed behind Eogan in his chariot, and Conor went also in the chariot
+in order to deliver Deirdre into Eogan's hand.  And as they went on
+their way, she cast a fierce glance at Eogan in front of her, and
+another at Conor behind her; for there was nothing in all the world
+that she hated more than those two men.  And when Conor saw this, as he
+looked at her and at Eogan, he said: "Ah Deirdre! it is the glance of a
+ewe when set between two rams that thou castest on me and on Eogan!"
+And when Deirdre heard that, she sprang up, and she made a leap out of
+the chariot, and she struck her head against the stony rocks that were
+in front of her, and she shattered her head so that the brains leapt
+out, and thus came to Deirdre her death.
+
+
+[FN#48]  The Irish is Fernmag; written Fearnmhuidh in the late
+manuscript of this part of the tale.
+
+
+This is the Tree of their race, and an account of the kinships of some
+of the Champions of the Red Branch, which is given here before we
+proceed to speak of the Deeds of Cuchulain:
+
+
+'Twas Cathbad first won Magach's love, and arms around her threw;
+From Maelchro's loins, the Battle Chief, his princely source he drew;
+Two, more in love she knew, of these the wrath was long and dread,
+Fierce Rossa, named the Ruddy-Faced, and Carbre, thatched with red.
+
+To all the three were children born, and all with beauty graced,
+To Cathbad, and to Carbre Red, and Rossa Ruddy-faced;
+A gracious three indeed were they to whom she gave her love,
+Fair Magach, brown the lashes were that slept her eyes above.
+
+Three sons to Rossa Ruddy-faced as children Magach bore;
+To Carbre sons again she gave, the count of these was four;
+And three white shoots of grace were hers, on these no shame shall fall;
+To Cathbad children three she bare, and these were daughters all.
+
+To Cathbad, who in wizard lore and all its arts had might,
+Three daughters lovely Magach bore, each clothed in beauty white;
+All maids who then for grace were famed in grace those maids surpassed,
+And Finuchoem,[FN#49] Ailbhe twain he named, and Deithchim named the
+last.
+
+
+[FN#49]  Pronounced Finn-hoom, Ail-vy, and Die-himm.
+
+
+To Finnchoem, wizard Cathbad's child, was born a glorious son,
+And well she nursed him, Conall wild, who every field hath won;
+And Ailbhe glorious children bare in whom no fear had place,
+These Ardan, Ainnle, Naisi were, who came of Usnach's race.
+
+A son to Deithchim fair was born, a bright-cheeked mother she;
+She bore but one: Cuchulain of Dun Delga's hold was he:
+Of those whom Cathbad's daughters reared the names full well ye know,
+And none of these a wound hath feared, or therefore shunned a foe.
+
+The sons of Usnach, who like shields their friends protected well,
+By might of hosts on battle-field to death were borne, and fell;
+And each was white of skin, and each his friends in love would hold,
+Now naught remains for song to teach, the Third of Griefs is told.
+
+
+
+
+THE COMBAT AT THE FORD
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+This version of the "Combat at the Ford," the best-known episode of the
+Irish romance or romantic epic, the "War of Cualnge," will hardly be,
+by Irish scholars, considered to want a reference.  It is given in the
+Book of Leinster, which cannot have been written later than 1150 A.D.,
+and differs in many respects from the version in the fourteenth-century
+Book of Lecan, which is, for the purposes of this text, at least equal
+in authority to the Leabbar na h-Uidhri, which must have been written
+before 1100 A.D.  Mr. Alfred Nutt has kindly contributed a note on the
+comparison of the two versions, which has been placed as a special note
+at the end of the translation of the "Combat."  To this note may be
+added the remark that the whole of the Leabhar na h-Uidhri version of
+the "War of Cualnge" seems, to be subject to the same criticisms that
+have to be passed on the "Sickbed" and the "Courtship of Etain" in the
+same volume, viz. that it is a compilation from two or three different
+versions of the same story, and is not a connected and consistent
+romance, which the version in the Book of Leinster appears to be.  As
+an illustration of this, the appearance of Conall Cernach as on the
+side of Connaught in the early part of the L.U. version may be
+mentioned; he is never so represented in other versions of the "War."
+In the description of the array of Ulster at the end of L.U., he is
+noted as being expected to be with the Ulster army but as absent
+(following in this the Book of Leinster, but not a later manuscript
+which agrees with the Book of Leinster in the main); then at the end of
+the L.U. version Conall again appears in the Connaught army and saves
+Conor from Fergus, taking the place of Cormac in the Book of Leinster
+version.  Miss Faraday, in her version of the "War" as given in L.U.,
+notes the change of style at page 82 of her book.  Several difficulties
+similar to that of the position of Conall could be mentioned; and on
+the whole it seems as if the compiler of the manuscript from which both
+the Leabhar na h-Uidhri and the Yellow Book of Lecan were copied,
+combined into one several different descriptions of the "War," one of
+which is represented by the Book of Leinster version.
+
+This version shows no signs of patchwork, at any rate in the story of
+the "Combat at the Ford;" which has, ever since it was reintroduced to
+the world by O'Curry, been renowned for the chivalry of its action.  It
+forms one of the books of Aubrey de Vere's "Foray of Queen Meave," and
+is there well reproduced, although with several additions; perhaps
+sufficient attention has not. been paid to the lofty position of the
+character, as distinguished from the prowess, that this version gives
+to Cuchulain.  The first verse, put in Cuchulain's mouth, strikes a new
+note, contrasting alike with the muddle-headed bargaining of Ferdia and
+Maev, and the somewhat fussy anxiety of Fergus.  The contrast between
+the way in which Cuchulain receives Fergus's report of the valour of
+Ferdia, and that in which Ferdia receives the praises of Cuchulain from
+his charioteer, is well worked out; Cuchulain, conscious of his own
+strength, accepts all Fergus's praises of his opponent and adds to
+them; Ferdia cannot bear to hear of Cuchulain's valour, and charges his
+servant with taking a bribe from his enemy in order to frighten him.
+Ferdia boasts loudly of what he will do, Cuchulain apologises for his
+own confidence in the issue of the combat, and gently banters Fergus,
+who is a bit of a boaster himself, on the care he had taken to choose
+the time for the war when king Conor was away, with a modest
+implication that he himself was a poor substitute for the king.
+Cuchulain's first two stanzas in the opening dialogue between himself
+and Ferdia show a spirit quite as truculent as that of his opponent;
+the reason of this being, as indicated in the first of these stanzas
+and more explicitly stated in the preceding prose, that his anxiety for
+his country is outweighing his feeling for his friend; but in the third
+stanza he resumes the attitude of conscious strength that marks all his
+answers to Fergus; and this, added to a feeling of pity for his
+friend's inevitable fate, is maintained up to the end of the tale.  In
+the fourth stanza, which is an answer to a most insulting speech from
+Ferdia, he makes the first of those appeals to his former friend to
+abandon his purpose that come from him throughout the first three days
+of the fight; even in the fatal battle of the fourth day, he will not
+at first put forward all his strength, and only uses the irresistible
+Gae-Bulg when driven to it by his foe.  The number of Cuchulain's
+laments after the battle--there are five of these (one in prose),
+besides his answers to Laeg--has been adversely criticised; and it is
+just possible that one or more of these come from some other version,
+and have been incorporated by a later hand than that of the author; but
+the only one that seems to me not to develop the interest is the
+"brooch of gold," which it may be noticed is very like the only lament
+which is preserved in the Book of Lecan text of the L.U. version.
+Cuchulain's allusion to Aife's only son in the first verse lament is
+especially noticeable (see note, p. 196).
+
+Ferdia's character, although everywhere inferior to that of his victor,
+is also a heroic one; he is represented at the commencement of the
+episode as undertaking the fight for fear of disgrace if he refused;
+and this does appear to be represented throughout as the true reason;
+his early boasts and taunts are obviously intended to conquer a secret
+uneasiness, and the motif of a passion for Finnabar with which
+Cuchulain charges him hardly appears outside Cuchulain's speeches, and
+has not the importance given to it in the Leabhar na h-Uidhri version.
+The motif of resentment against Cuchulain for a fancied insult,
+invented by Maev, which is given in the L.U. version as the determining
+cause, does not appear in the Leinster version at all; and that of race
+enmity of the Firbolg against the Celt, given to him by Aubrey de Vere,
+is quite a modern idea and is in none of the old versions.  His
+dialogue with Maev suggests that, as stated in the text, he was then
+slightly intoxicated; his savage language to his servant gives the idea
+of a man who feels himself in the wrong and makes himself out to be
+worse than he is by attributing to himself the worst motives, the hope
+of pay; but as the battle proceeds he shows himself equal to Cuchulain
+in generosity, and in the dialogue at the beginning of the third day's
+fight his higher character comes out, for while his old boastfulness
+appears in one passage of it, and is immediately repressed, the
+language of both heroes in this dialogue is noticeable for a true
+spirit of chivalry.  The mutual compliments, "thy kingly might," "fair
+graceful Hound" "gently ruling Hound" recall the French "Beausire"; it
+may be also noted that these compliments are paid even when Ferdia is
+protesting against Cuchulain's reproaches; similar language is used
+elsewhere, as "much thine arms excel" (page 122), and "Cuchulain for
+beautiful feats renowned" (page 134).  It may be considered that these
+passages are an indication that the episode is late, but it should be
+noticed that the very latest date that can possibly be assigned to it,
+the eleventh century, precedes that of all other known romances of
+chivalry by at least a hundred years.  To this later attitude of
+Ferdia, and to that maintained by Cuchulain throughout the whole
+episode, nothing in French or Welsh romance of approximately so early a
+date can be compared.  Is it not possible that the chivalric tone of
+the later Welsh romances, like the "Lady of the Fountain," which is
+generally supposed to have come from France, really came from an Irish
+model? and that this tone, together with the Arthurian Saga, passed to
+the Continent?
+
+A great contrast to both the two heroes is afforded by the introduction
+of Laeg with his cries of exultation, which come between the dying
+groans of Ferdia and the fine prose lament of Cuchulain, increasing the
+effect of both.  Laeg seems quite unable to see his master's point of
+view, and he serves as a foil for Ferdia, just as the latter's
+inferiority increases the character of Cuchulain.  The consistency of
+the whole, and the way in which our sympathy is awakened for Ferdia
+contrast with the somewhat disconnected character of the L.U. version,
+which as it stands gives a poor idea of the defeated champion;
+although, as Mr. Nutt suggests, the lost part may have improved this
+idea, and the version has beauties of its own.
+
+For the convenience of those readers who may be unacquainted with the
+story of the war, the following short introduction is given:--
+
+At a time given by the oldest Irish annalists as A.D. 29, the War of
+Cualnge was undertaken by Maev, queen of Connaught, against the kingdom
+or province of Ulster.  Gathering together men from all the other four
+provinces of Ireland, Maev marched against Ulster, the leaders of her
+army being herself, her husband Ailill, and Fergus the son of Rog, an
+exile from Ulster, and formerly, according to one account, king of that
+province.  Not only had Maev great superiority in force, but the time
+she Ed chosen for the war was when Conor, king of Ulster, and with him
+nearly all his principal warriors, were on their sick-bed in accordance
+with a curse that had fallen on them in return for a cruel deed that he
+and his people had done.  One hero however, Cuchulain, the greatest of
+the Ulster heroes, was unaffected by this curse; and he, with only a
+few followers, but with supernatural aid from demi-gods of whose race
+he came, had caused much loss to the queen and her army, so that Maev
+finally made this compact: she was each day to provide a champion to
+oppose Cuchulain, and was to be permitted to advance so long as that
+combat lasted; if her champion was killed, she was to halt her army
+until the next morning.  Before the Combat at the Ford between
+Cuchulain and Ferdia, Cuchulain had killed many of Maev's champions in
+duel, and the epic romance of the "War of Cualnge" gives the full story
+of these combats and of the end of the war.  The episode given in the
+following pages commences at the camp of Queen Maev, where her chiefs
+are discussing who is to be their champion against Cuchulain on the
+following day.
+
+
+
+
+THE COMBAT AT THE FORD
+
+
+
+AN EPISODE OF THE CATTLE SPOIL OF CUALNGE IN THE BOOK OF LEINSTER
+VERSION
+
+
+At that time debate was held among the men of Ireland who should be the
+man to go early in the morning of the following day to make combat and
+fight with Cuchulain.  And all agreed that Ferdia, the son of Daman,
+the son of Dire, was the man who should go; even the great and valiant
+champion of the men of Irross Donnand, for the manner in which he
+fought and did battle was like to the manner of Cuchulain.  They had
+got their skill in arms, and valour, and bravery from the same
+teachers, from Scathach, from Uathach, and from Aife[FN#50]; nor had
+either of them advantage over the other except that Cuchulain alone
+could perform the feat of the Gae-bulg.  Yet Ferdia was fenced by a
+horny skin-protecting armour, and this should guard him when he faced a
+hero in battle and combat at the Ford.  So to Ferdia were sent
+messengers and heralds; but Ferdia denied the heralds, and he refused
+to depart with them, for well he knew why it was he was called; even to
+fight against his own friend, his comrade and fellow-pupil Cuchulain;
+and for that cause he came not with the heralds who were sent.
+
+
+[FN#50]  Pronounced Scaha, Ooha, and Eefa: Scaha and Ooha end with a
+slight guttural like the ch in the Scotch lock, difficult to express in
+English.
+
+
+And then did Maev send to Ferdia Druids, and satirists and revilers, in
+order that against him should be made three crushing reproaches, and
+three satires; that the stains of shame, and of blemish, and of
+disgrace should be raised on his face; so that even if he died not at
+once, death should be his within the space of nine days if he went with
+them not.  And for the sake of his honour, Ferdia came at their call;
+for to him it was better to fall before the shafts of valour, of
+bravery, and of daring than by the stings of satire, of abuse, and of
+reproach.  And he, when he arrived, was received with all worship and
+service, and was served with pleasant, sweet intoxicating liquor, so
+that his brain reeled, and he became gently merry.  And these were the
+great rewards that were promised to him if he consented to make that
+combat and fight: a chariot of the value of four times seven cumals,
+and the equipment of twelve men with garments of all colours, and the
+length and breadth of his own territory on the choice part of the
+plains of Maw Ay; free of tribute, without purchase, free from the
+incidents of attendance at courts and of military service, that therein
+his son, and his grandson, and all his descendants might dwell in
+safety to the end of life and time; also Finnabar the daughter of Maev
+as his wedded wife, and the golden brooch which was in the cloak of
+Queen Maev in addition to all this.  And thus ran the speech of Maev,
+and she spake these words, and thus did Ferdia reply:
+
+
+Maev
+
+Of rings great treasure sending,[FN#51]
+Wide plains and woodlands bending
+I grant: till time hath ending
+I free thy tribe and kin.
+O thou who oft o'ercamest!
+'Tis thine what gift thou namest!
+Why hold'st thou back, nor claimest
+A boon that all would win?
+
+
+[FN#51]  The metre of this dialogue and rhyme-system are taken from the
+Irish but one syllable has been added to each line. The exact Irish
+metre is that given on page 129.
+
+
+Ferdia
+
+A bond must hold thee tightly,
+No force I lend thee lightly;
+Dread strife 'twill be; for rightly
+He bears that name of "Hound."
+For sharp spear-combat breaketh
+That morn; hard toil it waketh
+The war Cuchulain maketh
+Shall fearless war be found.
+
+
+Maev
+
+Our chiefs, with oaths the gravest,
+Shall give the pledge thou cravest;
+For thee, of all men bravest,
+Brave bridled steeds shall stand.
+From tax my word hath freed thee,
+To hostings none shall lead thee,
+As bosom friend I need thee,
+As first in all the land.
+
+
+Ferdia
+
+Mere words are naught availing
+If oaths to bind be failing;
+That wondrous Ford-Fight hailing,
+All time its tale shall greet:
+Though sun, moon, sea for ever
+And earth from me I sever;
+Though death I win--yet never,
+Unpledged, that war I'll meet.
+
+
+Maev
+
+These kings and chiefs behind me
+Their oaths shall pledge to bind me:
+With boundless wealth thou'lt find me,
+With wealth too great to pay.
+'Tis thou who oaths delayest;
+'Tis done whate'er thou sayest;
+For well I know thou slayest
+The foe who comes to slay.
+
+
+Ferdia
+
+Ere thou to slaughter lure me,
+Six champions' oaths procure me;
+Till these rewards assure me
+I meet, for thee, no foe:
+If six thou grant as gages,
+I'll face the war he wages,
+And where Cuchulain rages,
+A lesser chief, I go.
+
+
+Maev
+
+In chariots Donnal raceth,
+Fierce strife wild Neeman faceth,
+Their halls the bards' song graceth,
+Yet these in troth I bind.
+Firm pledge Morand is making,
+None Carpri Min knew breaking
+His troth: thine oath he's taking;
+Two sons to pledge I find.
+
+
+Ferdia
+
+Much poison, Maev, inflameth
+Thy heart; no smile thee tameth
+But well the land thee nameth
+Proud queen of Croghan's hold;
+Thy power no man can measure;
+'Tis I will do thy pleasure;
+Now send thy silken treasure,
+Thy silver gifts, and gold.
+
+
+Maev
+
+This brooch, as champion's token,
+I give of troth unbroken;
+All words my lips have spoken
+Performed shall Sunday see.
+Thou glorious chief, who darest
+This fight, I give thee rarest
+Of gifts on earth, and fairest,
+Yea greater meed shall be.
+For Findabar my daughter;
+All Elgga's chiefs have sought her;
+When thou that Hound shalt slaughter,
+I give in love to thee.
+
+
+And then did Maev bind Ferdia in an easy task; that on the next day he
+was to come to combat and fight with six of her champions, or to make
+duel against Cuchulain; whichever of the two he should think the
+easier.  And Ferdia on his side bound her by a condition that seemed to
+him easy for her to fulfil: even that she should lay it upon those same
+six champions to see to it that all those things she had promised to
+him should be fulfilled, in case Cuchulain should meet death at
+Ferdia's hand.
+
+Thereupon Fergus caused men to harness for him his horses, and his
+chariot was yoked, and he went to that place where Cuchulain was that
+he might tell him what had passed, and Cuchulain bade him welcome.  I
+am rejoiced at your coming, O my good friend Fergus," said Cuchulain.
+And I gladly accept thy welcome, O my pupil," said Fergus.  But I have
+now come hither in order to tell thee who that man is who comes to
+combat and fight with thee early on the morning of the day which is at
+hand."  "We shall give all heed to thy words," said Cuchulain.  "'Tis
+thine own friend," said Fergus, "thy companion, and thy fellow pupil;
+thine equal in feats and in deeds and in valour: even Ferdia, the son
+of Daman, the son of Dare, the great and valiant champion of the men of
+Irross Donnan."  "Truly," said Cuchulain, "I make mine oath to thee
+that I am sorry that my friend should come to such a duel."
+"Therefore," said Fergus, "it behoves thee to be wary and prepared, for
+unlike to all those men who have come to combat and fight with thee
+upon the Tain be Cuailgne is Ferdia, the son of Daman, the son of
+Dare."  "I have stood here," said Cuchulain, "detaining and delaying
+the men of the four great provinces of Ireland since the first Monday
+in Samhain (November) till the beginning of the spring, and not one
+foot have I gone back before any one man during all that time, nor
+shall I, as I trust, yield before him."  And in this manner did Fergus
+continue to put him on his guard, and these were the words that he
+spoke, and thus did Cuchulain reply:
+
+
+Fergus
+
+Rise, Cuchulain! foes are near,[FN#52]
+All their covenant is clear;
+Daman's ruddy son in rage
+Comes the war with thee to wage.
+
+
+[FN#52]  The metre is that of the Irish; a literal rendering of the
+whole dialogue is given in the notes, p. 191.
+
+
+Cuchulain
+
+Here I stand, whose valiant toil
+Erin's bands held back from spoil;
+Never a foot of ground they won,
+Never a foe they found me shun.
+
+
+Fergus
+
+Fierce is he in rage; his trust
+In his blade's deep searching thrust:
+Plates of horn protect his side,
+Pierced by none his strength who tried.
+
+
+Cuchulain
+
+Fergus, much thine arms excel;
+Cease, this tale no longer tell
+Land is none, nor battle-field
+Where to his my strength must yield.
+
+
+Fergus
+
+He is fierce, with scores can fight,
+Spear nor sword can on him bite;
+From that strength, a hundred's match,
+Hard 'twill be the prize to snatch.
+
+
+Cuchulain
+
+Yea! Ferdia's power I know;
+How from foughten field we go;
+How was fought our piercing war,
+Bards shall tell to ages far.
+
+
+Fergus
+
+Loss of much I'd little mourn
+Could I hear how, eastward borne,
+Great Cuchulain's bloody blade
+Proud Ferdia's spoils displayed.
+
+
+Cuchulain
+
+Though in boasts I count me weak,
+Hear me now as braggart speak:
+Daman's son, of Darry's race,
+Soon shall I, his victor, face.
+
+
+Fergus
+
+Brought by me, hosts eastward came,
+Ulster sought to hurt my fame;
+Here have come, to ease my grief,
+Many a champion, many a chief.
+
+
+Cuchulain
+
+Sickness Conor's might withheld,
+Else his sight thy host had quelled;
+Less the shouts of joy had been,
+Raised by Maev, Maw Scayl's high queen.
+
+
+Fergus
+
+Greater deeds than done by me
+O Cuchulain! thine shall be:
+Daman's son thy battle nears;
+Hear thy friend! keep hard thy spears.
+
+
+Then Fergus returned to where the army was encamped: Ferdia, also went
+from Maev and came to his own tent; and there he found his followers,
+and he told them how he had been bound to Maev as in an easy task, that
+he was on the morrow to combat and fight with six of her champions, or
+to make duel with Cuchulain, whichever of the two he might think the
+easier.  Also he told them how she had been bound by a condition that
+was easy for her to grant: that she should lay it on these same six
+champions to see that her promises to him of rewards should be
+fulfilled in case Cuchulain met his death at Ferdia's hand.
+
+There was no cheerfulness, or happiness, or even melancholy pleasure
+among the inmates of Ferdia's camp that night: they were all cheerless,
+and sorrowful, and low in spirit; for they knew that whenever those two
+champions, those two slayers of hundreds met, one of the two must fall
+in that place, or that both of them should fall: and if one only was to
+fall they were sure that that one would be their own master; for it was
+not easy for any man to combat and fight with Cuchulain on the Tain bo
+Cuailnge.
+
+Now the first part of that night Ferdia slept very heavily, and when
+the middle of the night had come his sleep had left him, and the
+dizziness of his brain has passed away, and care for the combat and the
+fight pressed heavily upon him.  Then he called for his charioteer to
+harness his horses, and to yoke his chariot; and the charioteer began
+to rebuke him, if haply he might turn him from his purpose.  "It would
+be better for thee to stay!" said the charioteer.  "Be thou silent, O
+my servant!" said Ferdia, and he then spoke the words that follow, and
+thus did his servant reply to him:--
+
+
+Ferdia
+
+'Tis a challenge provoking
+To war, and I go
+Where the ravens' hoarse croaking
+Shall rise for my foe:
+With Cuchulain still seeking
+The strife at yon ford;
+Till his strong body, reeking,
+Be pierced by my sword!
+
+
+Servant
+
+Nay, thy threats show no meekness;
+Yet here thou should'st stay;
+For on thee shall come weakness,
+Woe waits on thy way:
+For by Ulster's Rock broken
+This battle may be,
+And it long shall be spoken
+How ill 'twas to thee.
+
+
+Ferdia
+
+An ill word art thou saying;
+It fits not our race
+That a champion, delaying
+From fight, should thee grace.
+Then thy speech, my friend, fetter,
+No foe will we fear;
+But, since valour is better,
+His challenge we near.
+
+
+Then Ferdia's horses were harnessed for him, and his chariot was yoked,
+and he came forward to the ford of battle; but when he had come there
+he found that the full light of the day had not yet dawned, and "O my
+servant!" said Ferdia, "spread out for me the cushions and skins that
+are upon my chariot, that I may rest upon them till I take the deep
+repose of refreshing sleep, for during the latter part of this night
+have I taken no rest, on account of the care that I had for this combat
+and fight."  And the servant unharnessed his horses, and he placed
+together the cushions and the skins that were upon the chariot, so that
+Ferdia might rest upon them, and he sank into the deep repose of
+refreshing sleep.
+
+Now in this place I will tell of the acts of Cuchulain.  He rose not at
+all from his couch until the full light of the day; and this he did in
+order that the men of Ireland should not be able to say that it was
+from fear or from dread that he rose, if it had been early that he had
+arisen.  And when the full daylight had come, he commanded his
+charioteer to harness for him his horses, and to yoke his chariot: "O
+my servant!" said Cuchulain, "harness for us our horses, and put the
+yoke to our chariot, for early rises the champion who cometh to meet us
+this day: even Ferdia, the son of Daman, the son of Dare."  "The horses
+are harnessed," said the charioteer, "and the chariot is yoked; step
+thou into it, for it will bring no shame on thy valour."  Then did
+Cuchulain, the fighter of battles, the skilful in feats, the winner of
+victory, that red-sworded hero, the son of Sualtam, leap into his
+chariot.  All around him screamed the Bocanachs, and the Bananachs, and
+the wild people of the glens, and the demons of the air; for it was the
+custom of the people of the wizard race of Danu to raise their cries
+about him in every battle, on every stricken field, in every duel, and
+in every fight to which he went, that thereby in such fight the hatred,
+and the fear, and the avoidance, and the terror that men felt for him
+should be increased.  In no short time the charioteer of Ferdia heard
+the roar of Cuchulain's approach; the clamour, and the hissing, and the
+tramp; and the thunder, and the clatter, and the buzz: for he heard the
+shields that were used as missiles clank together as they touched; and
+he heard the spears hiss, and the swords clash, and the helmet tinkle,
+and the armour ring; and the arms sawed one against the other, and the
+javelins swung, and the ropes strained, and the wheels of the chariot
+clattered, and the chariot creaked, and the hoofs of the horses
+trampled on the ground as that warrior and champion came forward in
+triumph to the ford, and approached him.
+
+Then that servant of Ferdia arose, and he placed his hand upon his
+lord: "Arise now, O Ferdia!" said the servant, "for here they come
+towards thee, even to the Ford;" and this was the speech of the driver
+of the chariot of Ferdia as he stood before him:
+
+
+Lo! a chariot yoked with silver, creaking loud, draws nigh;[FN#53]
+O'er the chariot-wheels a man his perfect form rears high:
+The warlike car
+Rolls on from far
+Braeg Ross, from Braina's bounds;
+Past that burg they ride whose wooded side the roadway rounds;
+For its triumphs high in triumph cry its song resounds.
+
+
+[FN#53]  For a literal translation of the above poem and another
+rendering, see the notes.
+
+
+Urged by hero-Hound, and yoked by charioteer's hand true,
+Flies the war-car southward ever; nobler hawk ne'er flew
+Than he who speeds
+His rushing steeds,
+That chief of stubborn might;
+Soon the blood to flow from slaughtered foe shall meet his sight;
+Sure for us 'tis ill, for soon with skill he gives us fight.
+
+Woe to him who here on hillock stands, that Hound to wait;
+Emain Macha's perfect Hound is he, foretold by fate:
+Last year I cried
+That him I spied
+Who guards his land from foe:
+That battle-Hound, on whom are found all hues to glow:
+'Twas then from far I heard that car: its sound I know.
+
+
+"O my servant!" said Ferdia, "wherefore is it: that thou hast continued
+in thy praise of this man ever since the time that I left my tent?
+surely it must be a reward that thou seekest at his hand, so greatly
+dost thou extol him; yet Ailill and Maev have foretold that it is by me
+he shall fall.  Certain it is that for sake of the fee I shall gain he
+shall be slain quickly; and 'tis full time that the relief that we wait
+for should come."  Thus then it was that in that place he spoke these
+words, and thus did his servant reply:
+
+
+Ferdia
+
+'Tis time that I grant my assistance!
+Be still: let thy praise of him sink:
+Peer not, like a seer, at the distance;
+Wilt fail me on battle-field's brink?
+Though Cualgne's proud champion, displaying
+His gambols and pride thou dost see;
+Full soon shalt thou witness his slaying
+For price to be paid down to me.
+
+
+Servant
+
+If he who this glory is showing
+Be champion of Cualgne indeed;
+'Tis not in retreat he is going;
+To meet us he cometh with speed:
+He comes, nor 'tis slowly he blunders,
+Like wind his swift journey he makes;
+As stream, from the cliff-top that thunders;
+As bolt, from the storm-cloud that breaks.
+
+
+Ferdia
+
+'Tis pay at his hand thou hast taken,
+So loudly resoundeth thy praise;
+Else why, since our tent was forsaken,
+Hast sung with such frequence thy lays?
+Men, like thou, who, when foes are appearing,
+Would to chant the foe's praises begin,
+Will attack not, when battle is nearing,
+But the name of base cowards shall win.
+
+
+Now the charioteer of Ferdia was not long in that place before he saw a
+marvellous sight; for before his eyes came the beautiful five-pointed,
+four-peaked chariot, skilfully driven with swiftness and power.  A
+canopy of green overspread it; thin and well-seasoned was the body of
+it; lofty and long were the spears that adorned it; well was it
+fashioned for war.  Under the yokes of that chariot sped forward with
+great bounds two great-eared, savage, and prancing steeds; bellies had
+they like whales, broad were their chests, and quick-panting their
+hearts; their flanks were high, and their hoofs wide; their pasterns
+fine, their loins broad, and their spirits untamable.  The horse under
+one of the yokes was grey, with a long mane and with broad hind
+quarters; swiftly he galloped, and his leaps were great; the horse
+beneath the other yoke was black, his mane was in tufts, his back was
+broad, and eager was his pace.  As a hawk, on a day when the wind
+bloweth hard, darts up from the furrow; as the gusts of the wind in
+spring sweep forward over a smooth plain upon a day in March; swift as
+a going stag at the beginning of the chase, after he hath been roused
+by the cry of the hounds; such was the pace of the two steeds that bore
+forward Cuchulain and his chariot, touching upon the soil as rapidly as
+if the stones that they trod on were hot with the fire, so that the
+whole earth trembled and shook at the violence of their going.  And
+Cuchulain reached the ford, and Ferdia awaited him on the south side of
+it, and Cuchulain halted his horses upon the north.
+
+Then did Ferdia bid welcome to Cuchulain: "O Cuchulain!" said Ferdia, I
+rejoice to see thine approach."  "Thy welcome would have been received
+by me upon an earlier day," said Cuchulain, "but this day I cannot
+receive it as one from a friend.  And Ferdia," said he, "it were more
+suitable that it was I who bade welcome to thee rather than that thou
+shouldest welcome me; for out in flight before thee are my women, and
+my children; my youths, and my steeds, and my mares; my flocks, and my
+herds, and my cattle."  "Ah, Cuchulain!" said Ferdia, "how hast thou
+been persuaded to come to this fight and this battle at all? For when
+we were with Scathach, with Uathach, and with Aife, thou wert mine
+attendant; thine was the office to whet my spears, and to make ready my
+couch."  "'Tis true indeed," said Cuchulain, "but it was then as thy
+younger in years and in standing that it was my custom to perform this
+office for thee; and that is not my quality to-day; for now there is
+not in all the world any champion with whom I would refuse to fight."
+And then each of them reproached the other bitterly with breach of
+friendship, and there Ferdia spoke the words which here follow, and
+thus did Cuchulain reply:
+
+
+Ferdia
+
+Hound! why hither faring,[FN#54]
+Strife with strong ones daring?
+As if home were flaring,
+Woe shall come on thee!
+Blood from out thee draining
+Shall thy steeds be staining;
+Thou, thy home if gaining,
+Wounded sore shalt be.
+
+
+[FN#54]  The metre is that of the Irish.
+
+
+Cuchulain
+
+Hot with indignation,
+Take I battle-station,
+Face yon warrior nation,
+Round their warlike king:
+They shall see me meet thee,
+Count the strifes that greet thee,
+Watch, as down I beat thee,
+Drowning, suffering.
+
+
+Ferdia
+
+Here is one to shame thee;
+How 'twas I o'ercame thee,
+They who champion name thee
+Long the tale shall tell.
+Ulster, near thee lying,
+Soon shall see thee dying;
+All shall say, with sighing,
+Theirs the chief who fell.
+
+
+Cuchulain
+
+Thine shall be the choosing;
+Say, what warfare using
+Hosts shall see thee losing
+At the Ford this fight?
+Swords dost choose, hard-clashing
+Cars, in conflict crashing?
+Spears, thy life-blood splashing?
+'Tis thy death in sight.
+
+
+Ferdia
+
+Ere the twilight gleameth,
+Red thy life-blood streameth:
+Small thy stature seemeth,
+Like a cliff thy foe.
+Ulster's hosts who prated,
+And thy pride inflated;
+Through them feel thy hated
+Spectre sadly go.
+
+
+Cuchulain
+
+Down a chasm appalling
+Thou to death art falling;
+One thy foe: yet galling
+Weapons press thee sore.
+Proud thou wert but lately,
+Strife shall change thee greatly,
+Thee as champion stately
+Earth shall know no more.
+
+
+Ferdia
+
+Cease this endless vaunting,
+Speech for ever flaunting,
+Thou a chief! a taunting,
+Giggling child thou art.
+None would pay, or fee thee,
+I as coward see thee;
+Strength hast none to free thee,
+Caged bird! quaking heart!
+
+
+Cuchulain
+
+Ah! in bygone story
+We, as peers in glory,
+Sports and combats gory
+Shared when Scaha taught:
+Thou, of all who nearest
+To my soul appearest!
+Clansman! kinsman dearest!
+Woe thy fate hath brought!
+
+
+Ferdia
+
+Naught this strife avails thee,
+Glory fades, and fails thee;
+Cock-crow loudly hails thee,
+High on stake thy head!
+Cualgne's[FN#55] Hound, Cuchulain!
+Faults thy soul bear rule in:
+Thee to bitter schooling
+Frantic grief hath led.
+
+
+[FN#55]  Pronounced Kell-ny.
+
+"O my friend Ferdia!" said Cuchulain, "it was not right for thee to
+have come to the combat and the fight with me, at the instigation and
+the meddling of Ailill and Maev: none of those who came before thee
+have gained for themselves victory or success, and they all fell at my
+hand; neither shalt thou win victory or success from this battle, by me
+shalt thou fall."  And it was in this manner that he was speaking, and
+he recited these words, and Ferdia hearkened to him:
+
+
+Come not near, thou powerful man![FN#56]
+O Ferdia mac Daman:
+Worst of woe on thee is hurled,
+Though thy fate shall grieve the world.
+
+
+[FN#56]  The metre is that of the Irish.
+
+
+Come not near, nor right forget
+In my hand thy fate is set:
+Those recall, whom late I fought,
+Hath their fall no wisdom taught?
+
+Thou for gifts wert passed in sale,
+Purple sash, firm coat of mail;
+Never maid, O Daman's son!
+In this war of thine is won.
+
+Findabar, Maev's lovely child,
+With her form thy sense beguiled:
+Brightly though her beauty glows,
+She no love on thee bestows.
+
+Wouldst thou win the prize they bring,
+Findabar, the child of king?
+Many ere now that maid could cheat
+Here, like thee, their wounds to meet.
+
+Thou hast sworn, and plighted. troth,
+Ne'er to fight me: keep thine oath:
+Friendship's tie thee firm should hold,
+Come not nigh me, champion bold.
+
+Fifty chiefs, who sought that maid,
+Fought me, fell, in earth are laid;
+Well I know that tempting bait,
+All have found, and earned their fate.
+
+Ferbay fell, though bold his boast,
+Him obeyed a valiant host;
+Quickly here his rage I stilled;
+Cast my spear but once, and killed.
+
+Cruel fate Srub Darry slew,
+Tales of hundred dames he knew;
+Great his fame in days of yore;
+Silver none, 'twas gold he wore.
+
+Though that maid, whom Erin's best
+Hope to gain, my heart would charm;
+South and north, and east and west
+I would keep thee safe from harm.
+
+
+"And, O my friend Ferdia!" said Cuchulain "this is the cause why it was
+not thy part to come here to the combat and the fight with me.  It is
+because that when with Scathach, with Uathach, and with Aife we abode,
+it was the custom with us that together we should go to every battle,
+and to every field of battle; to every fight and to every skirmish; to
+every forest and to all wildernesses; to all things dark and
+difficult."  These were the words of his speech, and it was in that
+place that he recited these staves:
+
+
+Tuned our hearts were beating,
+We, where chiefs were meeting,
+Brotherly went: when slumbering
+One was our couch: we sought
+Fierce fights, and fought.
+Oft in woods that are far away
+Joined we stood in our skilful play;
+Scathach our feats had taught.
+
+
+And Ferdia replied to him thus:
+
+
+O Cuchulain! for beautiful feats renowned,
+Though together we learned our skill;
+Though thou tellest of friendship that once we found,
+From me shall come first thine ill;
+Ah, recall not the time of our friendship's day:
+It shall profit thee nothing, O Hound, I say.
+
+
+"For too long now have we thus waited," said Ferdia; "tell me now O
+Cuchulain! to what weapons shall we resort?"  "Thou hast the choice of
+the weapons till the night," said Cuchulain, "because thou wert the
+first to reach the Ford."  "Hast thou any remembrance," said Ferdia,
+"of the weapons for casting, that we were accustomed to practise the
+use of when we were with Scathach, with Uathach, and with Aife?"  "I do
+indeed remember them," said Cuchulain."  "If thou rememberest them, let
+us resort to them now," said Ferdia.  Then they resorted to their
+weapons used for the casting.  They took up two shields for defence,
+with devices emblazoned upon them, and their eight shields with sharp
+edges such that they could hurl, and their eight javelins, and their
+eight ivory-hilted dirks, and their eight little darts for the fight.
+To and fro from one to the other, like bees upon a sunny day, flew the
+weapons, and there was no cast that they threw that did not hit.  Each
+of them then continued to shoot at the other with their weapons for
+casting, from the dawn of the morning to the full middle of the day,
+until all of their weapons had been blunted against the faces and the
+bosses of their shields; and although their casting was most excellent,
+yet so good was the defence that neither of them wounded the other nor
+drew the other's blood during all that time.  "Cease now from these
+feats, O Cuchulain!" said Ferdia, "for it is not by means of these that
+the struggle between us shall come."  "Let us cease indeed," said
+Cuchulain, "if the time for ceasing hath arrived."  And they ceased
+from their casting, and they threw the weapons they had used for it
+into the hands of their charioteers.
+
+"To what weapons shall we next resort, O Cuchulain?" said Ferdia.
+
+"Thou hast the choice of weapons until the night," said Cuchulain,
+"because thou wert the first to reach the Ford."  "Then," said Ferdia,
+"let us turn to our straight, well-trimmed, hard, and polished
+casting-spears with tough cords of flax upon them."  "Let us do so
+indeed," said Cuchulain.  Then they took two stout shields of defence,
+and they turned to their straight, well-trimmed, hard, and polished
+casting-spears with the tough cords of flax upon them, and each of them
+continued to hurl his spears at the other from the middle of midday
+until the ninth hour of the evening: and though the defence was most
+excellent that each of them made, yet so good was the casting of the
+spears that each of them wounded the other at that time, and drew red
+blood from him.  "Let us desist from this now, O Cuchulain!" said
+Ferdia. "Let us desist indeed," said Cuchulain, "if the time has come."
+
+They ceased, and they threw away their weapons into their charioteers'
+hands; and each of them at the end of that fight sought the other, and
+each threw his arms about the other's neck, and gave him three kisses.
+Their horses were in the same paddock that night, the men who had
+driven their chariots sat by the same fire, moreover the charioteers of
+both those warriors spread couches of fresh rushes for the two, and
+supplied them with such pillows as are needed by wounded men.  And such
+folk as can heal and cure came to heal and to cure them, and they
+applied soothing and salving herbs and plants to their bruises, and
+their cuts, and their gashes, and to all their many wounds.  And of
+every soothing and salving herb and plant that was brought for the
+bruises, the cuts, and the gashes, and all the wounds of Cuchulain, he
+used to send an equal portion westward across the ford to Ferdia, so
+that in case Ferdia fell at his hand the men of Ireland should not be
+able to say that it was owing to superiority in leech-craft that he had
+done it.  And of each kind of food, and of pleasant, palatable,
+intoxicating drink that the men of Ireland brought to Ferdia, he would
+send a fair half northward across the ford to Cuchulain; for the men
+who provided food for Ferdia were more in number than they who provided
+food for Cuchulain.  All the army of the men of Ireland helped to
+provide Ferdia with food, because he was their champion to defend them
+against Cuchulain; yet to Cuchulain also food was brought by the people
+who dwell in the Breg.  And it was the custom with these that they came
+to converse with him at the dusk of each night.
+
+Thus they remained that night, but early in the morning they arose, and
+repaired to the Ford of Combat.  "What weapons shall we turn to to-day,
+O Ferdia?" said Cuchulain.  "Thou hast the choice of weapons until the
+night," answered Ferdia, "because it is I who had my choice of them in
+the day that is past."  "Let us then," said Cuchulain, "resort to our
+great, broad-bladed, heavy spears this day, for nearer shall we be to
+our battle by the thrusting of our spears this day than we were by the
+throwing weapons of yesterday: let our horses be harnessed for us, and
+our chariots yoked, that upon this day from our chariots and our horses
+we may fight."  "Let us turn to these indeed," said Ferdia.  They then
+took to them two exceedingly stout, broad shields, and they resorted to
+their great, broad-bladed, heavy spears that day.  And each of them
+continued to thrust at, and to pierce through, and to redden, and to
+tear the body of the other from the dawn of the morning until the ninth
+hour of the evening; and if it were the custom for birds in their
+flight to pass through the bodies of men, they could have passed
+through the bodies of those warriors that day, carrying with them
+pieces of their flesh from their wounds into the clouds and to the sky
+around them.  So when the ninth hour of the evening was come, the
+horses were weary, and the charioteers were weak; and they themselves,
+champions and heroes of valour as they were, had themselves become
+weary; and "Let us cease now from this, O Ferdia!" said Cuchulain, "for
+our horses are weary, and our charioteers are weak; and now that these
+are weary, why should not we be weary too?" and then it was that he
+sang this stave:
+
+
+Not like Fomorians, men of the sea,
+Stubborn, unending our struggle should be;
+Now that the clamour of combat must cease,
+Quarrels forget, and between us be peace.
+
+
+Let us cease now indeed," said Ferdia, "if the time for it hath come."
+They ceased, and they threw away their weapons into their charioteers'
+hands, and each of them at the end of that fight sought the other, and
+each threw his arms about the other's neck, and gave him three kisses.
+Their horses were in the same paddock that night, the men who had
+driven their chariots sat by the same fire, moreover the charioteers of
+both those warriors spread couches of fresh rushes for the two, and
+supplied them with such pillows as are needed by wounded men.  And such
+folk as can heal and cure came to examine into their wounds and to tend
+them that night, for they could do nothing more for them, so severe and
+so deadly were the stabs and the thrusts, and the gashes of the many
+wounds that they had, than to apply to them spells and incantations and
+charms, in order to staunch their blood, and their bleeding mortal
+wounds.  And for every spell and incantation and charm that was applied
+to the stabs and the wounds of Cuchulain, he sent a full half westward
+across the ford to Ferdia; and of each kind of food, and of pleasant,
+palatable, intoxicating drink that the men of Ireland brought to
+Ferdia, he sent a half across the ford to Cuchulain, in the north.  For
+the men who brought food to Ferdia were more in number than they who
+brought food to Cuchulain, for all the army of the men of Ireland
+helped to provide Ferdia with food, because he was their champion to
+defend them against Cuchulain; yet to Cuchulain also food was brought
+by the people who dwell in the Breg.  And it was the custom with these
+that they came to converse with him at the dusk of each night.
+
+Thus they rested that night: but early in the morning they arose, and
+repaired to the Ford of Combat; and Cuchulain saw that an evil look and
+a lowering cloud was on the face of Ferdia that day.  "Ill dost thou
+appear to me to-day, O Ferdia!" said Cuchulain.  "Thy hair hath been
+darkened to-day, and thine eye hath been dimmed, and the form and the
+features and the visage that thou art wont to have are gone from thee."
+ "'Tis from no fear or from terror of thee that I am what I am to-day,"
+said Ferdia, "for there is not in Ireland to-day a champion that I am
+not able to subdue."  And Cuchulain complained and lamented, and he
+spoke the words that follow, and thus did Ferdia reply:
+
+
+Cuchulain
+
+Is't indeed Ferdia's face?[FN#57]
+Sure his meed is dire disgrace;
+He, to war by woman led,
+Comes his comrade's blood to shed.
+
+
+[FN#57]  The metre is that of the Irish.
+
+
+Ferdia
+
+Thou who warrior art indeed,
+Champion tried! who wounds dost breed,
+I am forced the sod to see
+Where my final grave shall be.
+
+
+Cuchulain
+
+Maev her daughter, Findabar,
+Who all maids excelleth far,
+Gave thee, not at love's behest,
+She thy kingly might would test.
+
+Ferdia
+
+Gently ruling Hound, I know
+That was tested long ago;
+None so great is known to fame,
+None, till now, to match it came.
+
+
+Cuchulain
+
+All that's chanced from thee hath sprung,
+Darry's grandchild, Daman's son;
+Woman's hest hath brought thee here
+Swords to test with comrade dear.
+
+
+Ferdia
+
+Comrade! had I fled, nor found
+Fight with thee, fair graceful Hound,
+Maev my word could broken call;
+Croghan hold my fame but small.
+
+
+Cuchulain
+
+None put meat his lips between,
+None to king or stainless queen
+Yet was born, whose praise I'd gain,
+None whose scorn would win thy pain.
+
+
+Ferdia
+
+Thou who deep in wars dost wade,
+'Twas not thou, 'twas Maev betrayed:
+Back with conquest shalt thou ride,
+Fault hast none thy fame to hide.
+
+
+Cuchulain
+
+Clots of blood my faithful heart
+Choke; my soul is like to part:
+'Tis with little force my arm
+Strikes, to do Ferdia harm!
+
+
+"Greatly although thou makest complaint against me to-day," said
+Ferdia, "tell me to what arms shall we resort?"  Thine is the choice of
+weapons until the night," said Cuchulain, "because it was I who had the
+choice in the day that is past."  "Then," said Ferdia, "let us this day
+take to our heavy hard-smiting swords; for sooner shall we attain to
+the end of our strife by the edge of the sword this day than we did by
+the thrusts of our spears in the day that is gone."  "Let us do so
+indeed," said Cuchulain.  That day they took upon them two long and
+exceedingly great shields, and they resorted to their heavy and
+hard-striking swords.  And each of them began to hew, and to cut, and
+to slaughter, and to destroy till larger than the head of a month-old
+child were the masses and the gobbets of flesh which each of them cut
+from the shoulders and the thighs and the shoulder-blades of his foe.
+
+After this fashion did each of them hew at each other from the dawn of
+the day until the ninth hour of the even, and then Ferdia said, "Let us
+desist from this now, O Cuchulain!"  "Let us cease indeed," said
+Cuchulain, "if the time has come."
+
+They ceased from their strife, and they threw from them their arms into
+the hands of their charioteers.  Pleasant and cheerful and joyous was
+the meeting of the two: mournfully, and sorrowfully, and unhappily did
+they part from each other that night.  Their horses were not in the
+same paddock, their charioteers were not at the same fire, and there
+they stayed for that night.
+
+It was early in the morning when Ferdia arose, and he advanced alone
+towards the Ford of Combat.  Well did he know that the battle and the
+conflict would be decided that day; that upon that day and in that
+place one of the two would fall or that both would fall.  And then,
+before Cuchulain could come, Ferdia put on the armour that he was to
+use for that battle in the conflict and fight.  And this was the battle
+armour that he used for that conflict and fight; he put a kilt of
+striped silk, bordered with spangles of gold, next to his white skin,
+and over that he put his well-sewn apron of brown leather to protect
+the lower part of his body.  Upon his belly he put a great stone as
+large as a millstone, and over that great stone as large as a millstone
+he put his firm deep apron of purified iron, on account of the fear and
+the dread that he had of the Gae-Bulg that day.  And his crested helmet
+that he used for battle and conflict and fight he put upon his head:
+there were upon it four jewels of carbuncle, each one of them fit to
+adorn it: also it was studded with enamels, with crystals, with
+carbuncles, and with blazing rubies that had come from the East.  Into
+his right hand he took his death-dealing sharp-pointed strong spear;
+upon his left side he hung his curved sword of battle with its golden
+hilt and its pommels of red gold: upon the slope of his back he took
+his great and magnificent shield with great bosses upon it: fifty was
+the number of the bosses, and upon each of them could be supported a
+full-grown hog: moreover in the centre of the shield was a great boss
+of red gold.  Upon that day Ferdia displayed many noble, rapidly
+changing, wonderful feats of arms on high; feats which he had never
+learned from any other, either from his nurse or his tutor, or from
+Scathach, or from Uathach, or from Aife, but which he himself invented
+that day for his battle with Cuchulain.  And Cuchulain approached the
+ford, and he saw the many, rapidly changing, wonderful feats that
+Ferdia displayed on high; and "O my friend Laeg!" said Cuchulain, "I
+mark those noble, rapidly changing, wonderful feats which Ferdia
+displays, and I know that all of those feats will in turn be tried upon
+me; and for this reason if it be I who begin to go backwards this day,
+let it be thy part to rouse me by reproaches, and by evil speech, so
+that my rage and my wrath may be kindled, and increase.  And if it be I
+that shall prevail, then do thou give to me praise and approval; and
+speak good words tome, that my courage may be the greater."  "This
+indeed will I do, O Cuchulain!" said Laeg.
+
+Then did Cuchulain put on his battle armour that he used for the combat
+and fight.  And that day he displayed noble, many-changing, wonderful,
+and many feats that he had learned from none: neither from Scathach,
+from Uathach, or from Aife.  And Ferdia marked those feats, and he know
+that each in turn would be tried upon him.
+
+"O Ferdia!" said Cuchulain, "tell me to what arms we shall resort?
+
+"Thine is the choice of weapons until the night," said Ferdia.  "Then,"
+said Cuchulain, "let us try the Feat of the Ford."[FN#58]  "Let us do
+so indeed," said Ferdia; but although he thus spoke, it was with sorrow
+that he consented, for he knew that Cuchulain had ever destroyed every
+hero and champion who had contended with him at the Feat of the Ford.
+
+
+[FN#58]  i.e. in which all weapons were allowed.
+
+
+Mighty were the deeds that were done upon that day at the ford by those
+two heroes, the champions of the west of Europe; by those two hands
+which in the north-west of the world were those that best bestowed
+bounty, and pay, and reward; those twin loved pillars of valour of the
+Gael; those two keys of the bravery of the Gaels, brought to fight from
+afar, owing to the urging and the intermeddling of Ailill and Maev.
+From the dawn till the middle of the day, each began to shoot at the
+other with his massive weapons; and when midday had come, the wrath of
+the two men became more furious, and each drew nearer to the other.
+And then upon a time Cuchulain sprang from the shore of the ford, and
+he lit upon the boss of the shield of Ferdia the son of Daman, the son
+of Dare, to strike at his head from above, over the rim of his shield.
+And then it was that Ferdia gave the shield a blow of his left elbow,
+and he cast Cuchulain from him like a bird, till he came down again,
+upon the shore of the ford.  And again Cuchulain sprang from the shore
+of the ford, till he lit upon the boss of the shield of Ferdia the son
+of Daman, the son of Dare, to strike his head from above, over the rim
+of the shield.  And Ferdia, gave the shield a stroke of his left knee,
+and he cast Cuchulain from him like a little child, till he came down
+on the shore of the ford.
+
+Laeg saw what had been done.  "Ah!" said Laeg, "the warrior who is
+against thee, casts thee away as a loose woman casts her child; he
+flings thee as high as the river flings its foam; he grinds thee even
+as a mill would grind fresh malt; pierces thee as the axe would pierce
+the oak that it fells; binds thee as the woodbine binds the tree; darts
+upon thee even as the hawk darts upon little birds, so that never until
+time and life shall end, shalt thou have a call, or right, or claim for
+prowess or for valour: thou little fairy phantom!" said Laeg.  Up
+sprang Cuchulain, swift as the wind; quick as the swallow; fiery as the
+dragon; powerful as the lion; and he bounded into the air for the third
+time into the troubled clouds of it, until he lit upon the boss of the
+shield of Ferdia, the son of Daman, striving to strike his head from
+above, over the rim of the shield.  And the warrior shook his shield,
+and he threw Cuchulain from him, into the middle of the ford, just as
+if he had never been cast off at all.
+
+And then for the first time the countenance of Cuchulain was changed,
+and he rose in his full might, as if the air had entered into him, till
+he towered as a terrible and wonderful giant, with the hero-light
+playing about his head; rising as a wild man of the sea; that great and
+valiant champion, till he overtopped Ferdia.  And now so closely were
+they locked in the fight, that their heads met above them, and their
+feet below them; and in their middles met their arms over the rims and
+the bosses of their shields.  So closely were they locked in the fight,
+that they turned and bent, and shivered their spears from the points to
+the hafts; and cleft and loosened their shields from the centres to the
+rims.  So closely were they locked, that the Bocanachs, and the
+Bananachs, and the wild people of the glens, and the demons of the air
+screamed from the rims of their shields, and from the hilts of their
+swords, and from the hafts of their spears.  And so closely did they
+fight, that they cast the river from its bed and its course, so that
+there might have been a couch fit for a king and a queen to he in,
+there in the midst of the ford, for there was no drop of water left in
+it, except such as fell therein from off those two heroes and
+champions, as they trampled and hewed at each other in the midst of the
+ford.  And so fierce was their fight, that the horses of the Gaels, in
+fear and in terror, rushed away wildly and madly, bursting their
+chains, and their yokes, and their tethers, and their traces; and the
+women, and the common folk, and the followers of the camp, fled
+south-westwards out of the camp.
+
+All this time they fought with the edges of their swords.  And then it
+was that Ferdia found Cuchulain for a moment off his guard, and he
+struck him with the straight edge of his sword, so that it sank into
+his body, till the blood streamed to his girdle, and the soil of the
+ford was crimson with the blood that fell from the body of that warrior
+so valiant in fight.  And Cuchulain's endurance was at an end, for
+Ferdia continually struck at him, not attempting to guard, and his
+downright blows, and quick thrusts, and crushing strokes fell
+constantly upon him, till Cuchulain demanded of Laeg the son of
+Riangabra to deliver to him the Gae-Bulg.  Now the manner of using the
+Gae-Bulg was this: it was set with its end pointing down a stream, and
+was cast from beneath the toes of the foot: it made the wound of one
+spear on entering a person's body; but it had thirty barbs to open
+behind, and it could not be drawn out from a man's body until he was
+cut open.  And when Ferdia heard mention of the Gae-Bulg, he made a
+stroke of his shield downwards to guard the lower part of his body.
+And Cuchulain thrust his unerring thorny spear off the centre of his
+palm over the rim of the shield, and through his breast covered by
+horny defensive plates of armour, so that its further half was visible
+behind him after piercing the heart in his chest.  Ferdia gave an
+upward stroke of his shield to guard the upper part of his body, though
+too late came that help, when the danger was past.  And the servant set
+the Gae-Bulg down the stream, and Cuchulain caught it between the toes
+of his foot, and he threw it with an unerring cast against Ferdia, and
+it broke through the firm deep apron of wrought iron, and it burst the
+great stone that was as large as a millstone into three parts, and it
+passed through the protection of his body into him, so that every
+crevice and cavity in him was filled with its barbs.  "'Tis enough
+now," said Ferdia. "I have my death of that; and I have but breath
+enough to say that thou hast done an ill deed against me.  It was not
+right that thy hand should be that by which I should fall."  And thus
+did he cry, as he gasped out these words:
+
+
+Hound, of feats so fair![FN#59]
+Death from thee is ill:
+Thou the blame must bear,
+Thou my blood dost spill.
+
+Help no wretch hath found
+Down this chasm of woe:
+Sick mine accents sound,
+As a ghost, I go.
+
+Torn my ribs, and burst,
+Gore my heart hath filled:
+This of fights is worst,
+Hound! thou hast me killed.
+
+
+[FN#59]  The metre is that of the Irish.
+
+
+And after those words, Cuchulain ran towards him, and with his arms and
+armour about him, carried him northwards across the ford, in order that
+the slain man might be on the north side of the ford, and not upon the
+western side together with the men of Erin.  Then Cuchulain laid Ferdia
+down, and there it was that a trance and a faint and a weakness came
+upon Cuchulain when he saw the body of Ferdia, Laeg saw his weakness,
+and the men of Ireland all arose to come upon him.  "Rise up now, O
+Cuchulain!" said Laeg, "for the men of Erin are coming towards us, and
+no single combat will they give to us, since Ferdia the son of Daman,
+the son of Dare, has fallen by thy hand."
+
+"How shall I be the better for arising, O my servant!" said he, "now
+that he who lieth here hath fallen by me?"  And it was in this manner
+that his servant spoke to him, and he recited these words, and thus did
+Cuchulain reply:
+
+
+Laeg
+
+Now arise, Battle-Hound of Emania!
+It is joy and not grief should be sought;
+For the leader of armies, Ferdia,
+Thou hast slain, and hard battle hast fought.
+
+
+Cuchulain
+
+What availeth me triumph or boasting?
+For, frantic with grief for my deed,
+I am driven to mourn for that body
+That my sword made so sorely to bleed.
+
+
+Laeg
+
+'Tis not thou shouldst lament for his dying,
+Rejoicing should spring to thy tongue;
+For in malice, sharp javelins, flying
+For thy wounding and bleeding he flung.
+
+
+Cuchulain
+
+I would mourn, if my leg he had severed,
+Had he hewn through this arm that remains,
+That he mounts not his steeds; and for ever
+In life, immortality gains.
+
+
+Laeg
+
+To the dames of Red Branch thou art giving
+More pleasure that thus he should fall:
+They will mourn for him dead, for thee living,
+Nor shall count of thy victims be small.
+
+Great Queen Maev thou hast chased, and hast fought her
+Since the day when first Cualgne was left;
+She shall mourn for her folk, and their slaughter,
+By thy hand of her champions bereft.
+
+Neither sleep nor repose hast thou taken,
+But thy herd, her great plunder, hast chased,
+Though by all but a remnant forsaken,
+Oft at dawn to the fight thou didst haste.
+
+
+Now it was in that place that Cuchulain commenced his lament and his
+moan for Ferdia, and thus it was that he spoke:
+
+"O my friend Ferdia! unhappy was it for thee that thou didst make no
+inquiry from any of the heroes who knew of the valorous deeds I had
+done before thou camest to meet me in that battle that was too hard for
+thee!  Unhappy was it for thee that thou didst not inquire from Laeg,
+the son of Riangabra[FN#60]  about what was due from thee to a comrade.
+ Unhappy was it for thee that thou didst not ask for the honest and
+sincere counsel of Fergus.  Unhappy it was for thee that thou hast not
+sought counsel from the comely, the fresh-coloured, the cheery, the
+victorious Conall about what was due from thee to a comrade.  Well do
+these men know, that never, till life and time come to an end, shall be
+born in the land of Connaught one who shall do deeds equal to those
+which have been done by thee. And if thou hadst made inquiry from these
+men concerning the habitations, the gatherings, the promises, and the
+broken faith of the fair-haired ladies of Connaught; hadst thou asked
+them concerning spear-play and sword-play; concerning skill in
+backgammon and chess; concerning feats with horses, and chariots of
+war; they would have said that never had been found the arm of a
+champion who could wound a hero's flesh like the arm of Ferdia; he
+whose colour matched the tints of the clouds: none who like thee could
+excite the croak of the bloody-mouthed vulture, as she calls her
+friends to the feast of the many-coloured flocks; none who shall fight
+for Croghan or be the equal of thee to the end of life and time, O thou
+ruddy-cheeked son of Daman!" said Cuchulain.  And then Cuchulain stood
+over Ferdia.  "Ah! Ferdia," said Cuchulain, "great was the treachery
+and desertion that the men of Ireland had wrought upon thee, when they
+brought thee to combat and fight with me.  For it was no light matter
+to combat and fight with me on the occasion of the Tain bo Cuailnge."
+And thus it was that he spoke, and he then recited these words:
+
+
+[FN#60]  Pronounced Reen-gabra.
+
+
+'Twas guile to woe that brought thee;
+'Tis I that moan thy fate;
+For aye thy doom hath caught thee,
+And here, alone, I wait.
+
+To Scathach, glorious mother,
+Our words, when boys, we passed;
+No harm for each from other
+Should come while time should last.
+
+Alas! I loved thee dearly,
+Thy speech; thy ruddy face;
+Thy gray-blue eyes, so clearly
+That shone; thy faultless grace.
+
+In wrath for strife advances
+No chief; none shield can rear
+To piercing storm of lances
+Of Daman's son the peer.
+
+Since he whom Aife[FN#61] bore me
+By me was slain in fight,
+No champion stood before me
+Who matched Ferdia's might.
+
+He came to fight, thus trusting
+Might Findabar be won;
+Such hopes have madmen, thrusting
+With spears at sand or sun.
+
+
+[FN#61]  Pronounced Eefa. See note on this line.
+
+
+Still Cuchulain continued to gaze upon Ferdia.  And now, O my friend
+Laeg!" said Cuchulain, "strip for me the body of Ferdia, and take from
+him his armour and his garments, that I may see the brooch for the sake
+of which he undertook this combat and fight."  Then Laeg arose, and he
+stripped Ferdia; he took his armour and his garments from him, and
+Cuchulain saw the brooch, and he began to lament and to mourn for him,
+and he spake these words:
+
+
+Ah! that brooch of gold![FN#62]
+Bards Ferdia knew:
+Valiantly on foes
+With hard blows he flew.
+
+Curling golden hair,
+Fair as gems it shone;
+Leaflike sash, on side
+Tied, till life had gone.
+
+
+[FN#62]  The metre and the rhyme-system is that of the Irish. See
+notes, p. 196.
+
+
+Comrade, dear esteemed!
+Bright thy glances beamed:
+Chess play thine, worth gold:
+Gold from shield rim gleamed.
+
+None of friend had deemed
+Could such tale be told!
+Cruel end it seemed:
+Ah! that brooch of gold!
+
+
+"And now, O my friend Laeg!" said Cuchulain, "open the body of Ferdia,
+and take the Gae-Bulg out of him, for I cannot afford to be without my
+weapon."  Laeg came, and he opened Ferdia's body, and he drew the
+Gae-Bulg out of him, and Cuchulain saw his weapon all bloody and red by
+the side of Ferdia, and then he spake these words:
+
+
+Ferdia, I mourn for thy dying,
+Thou art pale, although purple with gore:
+Unwashed is my weapon still lying,
+And the blood-streams from out of thee pour.
+
+Our friends in the East who have seen us,
+When with Uathach and Scathach[FN#63] we dwelled,
+Can bear witness, no quarrel between us
+Or with words or with weapons was held.
+
+Scathach came; and to conflict inciting
+Were her accents that smote on mine ear;
+"Go ye all, where a swift battle fighting,
+German wields his green terrible spear!
+
+To Ferdia, I flew with the story,
+To the son of fair Baitan I sped,
+And to Lugaid, whose gifts win him glory,
+"Come ye all to fight German," I said.
+
+
+[FN#63]  Pronounced Ooha and Scaha.
+
+
+Where the land by Loch Formay lies hollowed
+Had we come, fit for fight was the place;
+And beside us four hundred men followed;
+From the Athisech Isles was their race.
+
+As beside me Ferdia contended
+Against German, at door of his dun;
+I slew Rind, who from Niul[FN#64] was descended,
+I slew Rood, of Finnool was he son.
+
+
+[FN#64]  Pronounced Nyool.
+
+
+'Twas Ferdia slew Bla by the water,
+Son of Cathbad red-sworded was he:
+And from Lugaid Mugarne gat slaughter,
+The grim lord of the Torrian sea.
+
+Four times fifty men, stubborn in battle,
+By my hand in that gateway were slain;
+To Ferdia, of grim mountain cattle
+Fell a bull, and a bull from the plain.
+
+Then his hold to the plunderers giving,
+Over ocean waves spangled with foam,
+Did we German the wily, still living,
+To the broad-shielded Scathach bring home.
+
+There an oath our great mistress devising,
+Both our valours with friendship she bound;
+That no anger betwixt us uprising
+Should 'mid Erin's fair nations be found.
+
+Much of woe with that Tuesday was dawning,
+When Ferdia's great might met its end;
+Though red blood-drink I served him that morning:
+Yet I loved, though I slew him, my friend.
+
+If afar thou hadst perished when striving
+With the bravest of heroes of Greece,
+'Tis not I would thy loss be surviving;
+With thy death should the life of me cease.
+
+Ah! that deed which we wrought won us sorrow,
+Who, as pupils, by Scathach were trained:
+Thou wilt drive not thy chariot to-morrow;
+I am weak, with red blood from me drained.
+
+Ah! that deed which we wrought won us anguish,
+Who, as pupils, by Scathach were taught:
+Rough with gore, and all wounded, I languish;
+Thou to death altogether art brought.
+
+Ah! that deed that we wrought there was cruel
+For us pupils, from Scathach who learned:
+I am strong; thou art slain in the duel,
+In that conflict, with anger we burned.
+
+
+"Come now, Cuchulain," said Laeg, "and let us quit this ford, for too
+long have we been here."  "Now indeed will we depart, O my friend
+Laeg!" said Cuchulain, "but every other combat and fight that I have
+made hath been only a game and a light matter to me compared with this
+combat and fight with Ferdia."  Thus it was that he spoke; and in this
+fashion he recited:
+
+
+Wars were gay, and but light was fray[FN#65]
+Ere at the Ford his steeds made stay:
+Like had we both been taught,
+Both one kind mistress swayed;
+Like the rewards we sought,
+Like was the praise she paid.
+
+
+[FN#65]  Metre and rhyme-system of the Irish imitated, but not exactly
+reproduced.
+
+
+Wars were gay, and but light was fray
+Ere at the Ford his steeds made stay:
+Like were our fights, oft fought,
+Like were our haunts in play;
+Scathach to each of us brought
+A shield one day.
+
+Wars were gay, and but light was fray
+Ere at the Ford his steeds made stay:
+Pillar of gold, loved well,
+Low at the Ford's side laid;
+He, when on troops he fell,
+Valour unmatched displayed.
+
+Wars were gay, and but light was fray
+Ere at the Ford his steeds made stay:
+Lionlike, on he sped;
+High, in his wrath, he blazed;
+Rose, as a wave of dread;
+Ruin his onset raised.
+
+Wars were gay, and but light was fray
+Ere at the Ford his steeds made stay:
+Never, till hour of doom,
+Ferdia's form shall fade;
+High as a cliff it loomed,
+Now is but left his shade.
+
+Three great armies went this Raid,[FN#66]
+All the price of death have paid;
+Choicest cattle, men, and steeds
+Lie in heaps, to tell my deeds.
+
+
+[FN#66]  The metre is that of the Irish.
+
+
+Widely spread their battle-line,
+Less than half their host was mine;
+Though to war stout Croghan came,
+All I slew, for me a game!
+
+None the battle neared like thee,
+None of all whom Banba nursed
+Passed thy fame; on land, on sea,
+Thou, of sons of kings, art first!
+
+
+
+
+SPECIAL NOTE
+
+
+
+ON THE "COMBAT AT THE FORD"
+
+
+The episode translated in the foregoing pages is not only one of the
+famous examples on which Irish literature can fairly rest its claim to
+universal recognition, but it also affords an excellent instance of the
+problems involved when it comes to be studied critically.  These
+problems, upon the solution of which must to some extent depend our
+estimate of the place of Irish in the general development of European
+literature) axe briefly dealt with in Mr. Leahy's Preface, as well as
+in his special Introduction (supra, pp. 114, 115), but may perhaps be
+thought worthy of somewhat more detailed examination.
+
+The existence of two markedly different versions of the "Tain bo
+Cuailnge," one, obviously older, represented by the eleventh-century
+MS. Leabhar na h-Uidhri (L.U.), and the fourteenth-century MS. Yellow
+Book of Lecan (Y.B.L.); the other, obviously younger, by the
+twelfth-century Book of Leinster (L.L.), was pointed out by Professor
+Heinrich Zimmer twenty-seven years ago in his study of the L.U. heroic
+saga texts (Keltische Studien V.: Zeitschrift für vergleichende
+Sprachforschung, vol. xxviii.).  The conclusion that he drew from the
+fact, as also from the peculiarities disclosed by his analysis of the
+L.U. texts, is substantially that stated by Mr. Leahy: "On the whole it
+seems as if the compiler of the manuscript from which both the Leabhar
+na h-Uidhri and the Yellow Book of Lecan were copied, combined into one
+several different descriptions of the 'War,' one of which is
+represented by the Book of Leinster version."  He furthermore
+emphasised a particular aspect of this compiler's activity to which Mr.
+Leahy also draws repeated attention; he (the compiler) was a man
+interested in the historical and antiquarian rather than in the
+literary side of the texts he harmonised and arranged: hence his
+preference for versions that retain archaic and emphasise mythical
+elements; hence his frequent interpolation of scraps of historical and
+antiquarian learning; hence his indifference to consistency in the
+conduct of the story, and to its artistic finish.  Professor Zimmer
+urged that the "compiler" was no other than Flann, Abbot of
+Monasterboice, who died in 1047, and was regarded as the most famous
+representative of Irish learning in his day.  There has come down to us
+under his name a considerable mass of chronological and historical
+writing, partly in prose, partly in verse, and it seems certain that he
+was one of the chief artisans in framing that pragmatic redaction of
+Irish myth, heroic legend, and historical tradition most fully
+represented by the two great compilations of the seventeenth century:
+the Annals of the Four Masters, emphasising its antiquarian, historical
+side; Keating's History, emphasising its romantic, legendary side.
+
+Whilst Professor Zimmer's conclusion as to the personality of the L.U.
+compiler has been challenged, his main thesis has remained unshaken.
+On the whole, it can be asserted positively that the common source of
+L.U. and Y.B.L. goes back to the early eleventh century; on the whole,
+that this common source itself utilised texts similar to those
+contained in the Book of Leinster.  Moreover, the progress of
+linguistic analysis during the past quarter-century has strengthened
+the contention that some of the elements used by Flann (or another) in
+compiling his eleventh-century harmony are as old, in point of
+language, as any existing remains of Irish outside the Ogham
+inscriptions; in other words, being as old as the earliest glosses,
+they may date back to the eighth or even seventh century.  In
+particular the L.U.-Y.B.L. version of the "Tain bo Cuailnge" contains a
+large proportion of such elements and may, in the main, be treated as
+an eighth-century text.
+
+It must, however, be pointed out, and for this reason I have italicised
+the qualifying "on the whole," "in the main," that this conclusion does
+not enable us to declare dogmatically (1) that all portions of the
+L.U.-Y.B.L. version must go back to the eighth century; (2) that all
+portions of the Book of Leinster version must precede the compilation
+of the common source of L.U. and Y.B.L.  For as regards (1), not only
+must the definitely ascertained activity of the eleventh-century
+compiler be taken into account, but also the possible activity of later
+scribes.  If we possessed the complete text of the L.U.-Y.B.L.
+redaction in both MSS., we could at least be sure concerning the
+possible variations introduced during the two centuries that elapsed
+between the writing of the Yellow Book (early fourteenth century) and
+that of L.U. (late eleventh century).  But most unfortunately both MSS.
+are imperfect, the Yellow Book at the opening, L.U. at the close of our
+tale.  Thus of the special episode under consideration, the "Combat at
+the Ford," the older redaction is only extant in the fourteenth-century
+MS., and it is always open to impugners of its archaic character to say
+that it has been introduced there from the rival Leinster version.
+Again, as regards (2), whilst it is practically certain that the great
+mass of the Leinster version was in existence before the time of the
+source whence both L.U. and Y.B.L. are derived, and must therefore date
+back to the early eleventh century, it is by no means certain that this
+version was not considerably altered and enlarged before it came to be
+written down in the Book of Leinster some time before 1154.
+
+The older version of the "Tain bo Cuailnge" has been translated by Miss
+Winifred Faraday (Grimm Library, No. xvi. 1904).  In her Introduction
+(p. xvii.) Miss Faraday argues against the assumption "that L.L.
+preserves an old version of the episode," and questions "whether the
+whole Fer Diad[FN#67] episode may not be late."  The truth of this one
+contention would by no means involve that of the other; and again, both
+might be true without invalidating any of the conclusions drawn by Mr.
+Leahy (supra, p. 115).  If the episode as we have it first took shape
+in the tenth century, it would be late as compared with much of the
+rest of the "Tain," and yet it would be the earliest example in
+post-classic European literature of the sentiments and emotions to
+which it gives such fine and sympathetic expression.  In comparing the
+two versions, the following fact is at once noticeable.  The Y.B.L.
+text occupies pp. 100-112 of Miss Faraday's translation, in round
+figures, 320 lines of 8 words to the line, or some 2600 words; the
+Leinster version, omitting the verse, fills some 500 lines of 14 words,
+or 7000 words.  Up to a certain point, however, the actual meeting of
+the two champions, there is no difference between the versions in
+length; the prose of both runs to about 2200 words.  But the whole of
+the actual fight (supra, pp. 129-153 in the Leinster version) is
+compressed into a page and a half in the older redaction, some 800
+words as against over 4000.  Obviously this cannot represent the
+original state of things; it would be psychologically impossible for
+any story-teller to carry on his narrative up to a given stage with the
+dramatic vigour, point, and artistically chosen detail displayed in the
+first portion of the Y.B.L. version of the combat, and then to treat
+the culmination of the tale in such a huddled, hasty, scamped manner.
+The most likely explanation is that the original from which the Y.B.L.
+scribe was copying was imperfect, and that the lacuna was supplied from
+memory, and from a very faulty memory.  No conclusion can thus, I
+think, be drawn from the fact that the details of the actual combat are
+so bald and meagre in the only extant text of the older redaction.
+
+
+[FN#67]  This is the spelling in Y. B. L. In L.L. the name appears as
+one word, "Ferdiad"; usually scanned as a dissyllable--though
+occasionally as a trisyllable.  The spelling Ferdia is the conventional
+one sanctioned by the usage of Ferguson, Aubrey de Vere, and others;
+the scansion of the word as a trisyllable is on the same authority.
+
+
+If the two versions be compared where they are really comparable, i.e.
+in that portion which both narrate at approximately the same length,
+the older redaction will be found fuller of incident, the characters
+drawn with a bolder, more realistic touch, the presentment more
+vigorous and dramatic.  Ferdiad is unwilling to go against Cuchulain
+not, apparently, solely for prudential reasons, and he has to be goaded
+and taunted into action by Medb, who displays to the full her wonted
+magnificently resourceful unscrupulousness, regardless of any and every
+consideration, so long as she can achieve her purpose.  The action of
+Fergus is far more fully dwelt upon, and the scones between him and his
+charioteer, as also between him and Cuchulain, are given with far
+greater spirit.  The hero is indignant that Fergus should think it
+necessary to warn him against a single opponent, and says roundly that
+it is lucky no one else came on such an errand.  The tone of the older
+redaction is as a whole rough, animated, individualistic as compared
+with the smoother, more generalised, less accentuated presentment of
+the Leinster version.  But to conclude from this fact that the older
+redaction of the actual combat, if we had it in its original fulness
+instead of in a bald and fragmentary summary, would not have dwelt upon
+the details of the fighting, would not have insisted upon the courteous
+and chivalrous bearing of the two champions, would not have emphasised
+the inherent pathos of the situation, seems to me altogether
+unwarranted.  On the contrary the older redaction, by touches of
+strong, vivid, archaic beauty lacking in the Leinster version leads up
+to and prepares for just such a situation as the latter describes so
+finely. One of these touches must be quoted.  Cuchulain's charioteer
+asks him what he will do the night before the struggle, and then
+continues, "It is thus Fer Diad will come to seek you, with new beauty
+of plaiting and haircutting and washing and bathing....  It would
+please me if you went to the place where you will got the same adorning
+for yourself, to the place where is Emer of the Beautiful Hair....  So
+Cuchulain went thither that night, and spent the night with his own
+wife."  There is indeed the old Irish hero faring forth to battle as a
+lover to the love tryst!  How natural, how inevitable with warriors of
+such absurd and magnificent susceptibility, such boyish love of
+swagger, how natural, I say, the free and generous emotion combined
+with an overmastering sense of personal honour, and a determination to
+win at all costs, which are so prominent in the Leinster version of the
+fight.[FN#68]
+
+
+[FN#68]  The trait must not be put down as a piece of story-teller's
+fancy.  In another text of the Ulster cycle, Cath ruis na Rig,
+Conchobor's warriors adorn and beautify themselves in this way before
+the battle.  The Aryan Celt behaved as did the Aryan Hellene.  All
+readers of Herodotus will recall how the comrades of Leonidas prepared
+for battle by engaging in games and combing out their hair, and how
+Demaretus, the counsellor of Xerxes, explained to the king "that it is
+a custom with these men that when they shall prepare to imperil their
+lives; that is the time when they adorn their heads" (Herodotus vii.
+209.)
+
+
+The contention that the older redaction, if we had it complete, would
+resemble the younger one in its insistence upon the chivalrous bearing
+of the two opponents, may also be urged on historical grounds.  The
+sentiment which gives reality and power to the situation is based upon
+the strength of the tie of blood-brotherhood; so strong is this that it
+almost balances the most potent element in the ideal of old Irish
+heroism--the sense of personal honour and pre-eminence in all that
+befits a warrior.  The tie itself and the sentiment based upon it
+certainly belong to pre-Christian times, and must have been losing
+rather than gaining in strength during the historic period, say from
+the fourth century onwards.  The episode of Cuchulain's combat with
+Ferdiad must have existed in the older redaction of the "Tain" for the
+simple reason that a tenth and eleventh century story-teller would have
+found nothing in the feelings, customs, or literary conventions of his
+own day to suggest to him such a situation and such a manner of working
+it out.  But--and this consideration may afford a ground of
+conciliation with Miss Faraday and the scholars who hold by the
+lateness of the episode--the intrinsic beauty and pathos of the
+situation, the fact of its constituting an artistic climax, would
+naturally tempt the more gifted of the story-telling class.  There
+would be a tendency to elaborate, to adorn in the newest fashion, hence
+to modernise, and it is not only conceivable but most probable that the
+original form should be farther departed from than in the case of much
+else in the epic.
+
+ALFRED NUTT.
+
+
+
+
+GENERAL NOTES
+
+
+
+THE COURTSHIP OF ETAIN
+
+
+The translation of both versions of this romance has been revised by
+Professor Strachan, and the linguistic notes are due to him, unless
+otherwise stated.  The rendering given in the text is noted as
+"doubtful," in cases where Professor Strachan does not assent.
+
+
+PAGE 7
+@@both line 17?
+Line 17.  "By a means that he devised," do airec memman, lit. "by a
+device of mind." Compare airecc memman aith (Meyer, Hib. Minora, p. 28).
+
+Line 17.  "So that she became well-nourished, &c.," lit. "till there
+came to her fatness and form;" sult probably means "fatness," and feth
+"form."
+
+
+PAGE 8
+
+Line 25.  "Curvetting and prancing," tuagmar, foran.  These are guesses
+by O'Curry: curvetting may be right, but there is little authority for
+rendering foran as "prancing "; this word is doubtful.  "With a broad
+forehead," forlethan, lit. "broad above," O'Curry renders
+"broad-rumped."
+
+Line 34.  "Upon the shore of the bay," forsin purt. Windisch's
+rendering of port is "bank, harbour"; but it is doubtful whether the
+word means more than "place."
+
+
+PAGE 9
+
+The literal rendering adopted for the poem runs thus:
+
+
+Etain is here thus
+at the elf-mound of the Fair-Haired Women west of Alba
+among little children to her
+on the shore of the Bay of Cichmaine.
+
+It is she who cured the eye of the king
+from the Well of Loch da lig,
+it is she who was drunk in a draught
+by the wife of Etar in a heavy draught.
+
+Through war for her the king will chase
+the birds from Tethba,
+and will drown his two horses
+in the lake da Airbrech.
+
+There shall be abundant and many wars
+through the war for thee on Echaid of Meath,
+destruction shall be on the elf-mounds,
+and war upon many thousands.
+
+It is she who was hurt in the land (?),
+it is she who strove to win the king,
+it is she as compared to whom men men speak of fair women,
+it is she, our Etain afterwards.
+
+
+Line 2.  "West of Alba" is literally "behind Alba," iar n-Albai: iar
+is, however, also used in the sense of "west of."
+
+Line 14 is given by Windisch "through the war over Meath rich in
+horses"; this is impossible.
+
+The translation of line 17 is not quite certain; the literal
+translation of the MS. seems to be "it is she who was hurt and the
+land."  Da Airbrech in line 12 may mean "of two chariots."
+
+
+PAGE 10
+
+Literal translation of the quatrain:
+
+
+Ignorant was Fuamnach, the wife of Mider,
+Sigmall and Bri with its trees
+in Bri Leth: it was a full trial
+were burned by means of Manannan.
+
+
+PAGE 11
+
+Line 5.  "Labraid the Tracker."  This is a very doubtful rendering, the
+text gives Labradae Luircc.
+
+Line 25.  "That he desired full knowledge of." There seems to be
+something with the Irish here; the word is co fessta which could only
+be third singular subj. pass. "that it might be known," which does not
+make grammar.  It should be co fessed or co festais, "that he (or they)
+might know."
+
+
+PAGE 12
+
+Line 9.  "His officers who had the care of the roads."  A very doubtful
+rendering; the Irish is tarraluing sligeth.
+
+Line 29.  "A bright purple mantle waved round her," lit. "a bright
+purple curling (?) mantle," but the sense of caslechta as "curling" is
+not certain.
+
+Line 30.  "Another mantle."  The word for mantle here is folai, in the
+former line it was brat.
+
+
+PAGE 13
+
+Line 3.  "As white as the snow." ba gilighuir mechto: not "whiter than
+the snow," as Windisch's Dict. gives it.
+
+Line 17.  "All that's graceful, &c.," cach cruth co hEtain, coem cach
+co hEtain.  Compare conid chucum bagthir cach n-delb. (L.U., 124b, 17,
+"Courtship of Emer "), and Ir. Text., iii. p. 356, 1. 4, from which it
+may be seen that the meaning is that Etain is the test to which all
+beauty must be compared.
+
+
+PAGE 14
+
+Line 19.  "So long as they were," not "so long as he was."  The Irish
+is cein ropas, and ropas is the impersonal preterite passive.
+
+Line 29.  "The choking misery, &c.," lit. "he let come to him the
+slaodan of a heavy sickness:" slaodan is the cough of consumption.
+
+
+PAGE 15
+
+Line 2.  Lit. "worse and worse," messa a cach.
+
+Line 18.  "His burial mound," a fert fodbuigh.  Compare Zimmer, Kuhn's
+Zeitschrift, xxx. 9, for fotbuig.
+
+
+Literal rendering of the dialogue:
+
+
+B.  What hath happened to thee, O young man?
+long is thy bed of sickness,
+prostrate is thy full and splendid pace,
+however fair the weather may be.
+
+A.  There is cause for my sighs;
+the music of my harp contents me not;
+neither does any milk please me,
+it is this that brings me into a pitiful state.
+
+E.  Tell me what ails thee, O man,
+for I am a maiden who is wise;
+tell me of anything which may be of benefit to thee
+that thy healing may be wrought by me.
+
+A.  To speak of it is not possible for me
+(lit. "finds not room in me"),
+O maiden, lovely is thy form,
+there is fire of some one behind her eyes (?)
+nor are the secrets of women good.
+
+B.  Though the secrets of women are bad,
+yet, if it is love, the remembrance remains for long;
+from the time when the matter is taken into hand
+this thing is not deserving of its (?) recognition.
+
+A.  A blessing on thee, O white maiden,
+I am not worthy of this speech to me;
+neither am I grateful to my own mind,
+my body is in opposition to me.
+
+Wretched indeed is this, O wife of the King,
+Eochaid Fedlech in very truth,
+my body and my head are sick,
+it is reported in Ireland.
+
+E.  If there is among the troops of white women
+any one who is vexing thee,
+she shall come here, if it is pleasing to thee,
+there shall be made by my help her courtship.
+
+
+In verse 3, line 2, inniss dam gach dal, dal means no more than thing
+it is not an accusative from dal, a meeting.
+
+Verse 4, line 3.  Meaning doubtful.
+
+Verse 7, line 2.  The confusion between Eochaid Airemm, the king in
+this story, and his brother Eochaid Fedlech is obvious.  It may, as
+Windisch thinks, be an indication that the poem is not part of the
+romance as originally composed, but other explanations are possible.
+
+Line 4.  "It is reported." Not quite certain; Irish is issed berair.
+
+
+PAGE 17
+
+Line 11.  "And great gain, &c." Text defective, and meaning uncertain.
+
+Line 13.  Rhetoric; the literal translation seems to be as follows, but
+some words are uncertain:
+
+
+It is love that was longer enduring (?) than a year my love,
+it is like being under the skin,
+it is the kingdom of strength over destruction.
+
+It is the dividing into quarters of the earth,
+it is summit (7) of heaven,
+it is breaking of the neck,
+it is a battle against a spectre.
+
+It is drowning with cold (or ? water),
+it is a race up heaven,
+it is a weapon under the ocean,
+it is affection for an echo;
+(so is) my affection and my love and my desire of the one on whom I
+have set (my love).
+
+
+PAGE 18
+
+Line 2.  The translation given is Windisch's, "it is sorrow under the
+skin is Strachan's rendering.
+
+Line 5.  Translation uncertain.  Irish is dichend nime.
+
+Line 8.  Is combath fri huacht (I read husce).
+
+Literal rendering of the poem:
+
+
+Arise, O glorious Ailill,
+great bravery is more proper to thee than anything;
+since thou shalt find here what was wished by thee,
+thy healing shall be done by me.
+
+If it should please thee in thy wise mind,
+place hand about my neck;
+a beginning of courtship, beautiful its colour,
+woman and man kissing each other.
+
+But, if this is not enough for thee, O good man,
+O son of a king, O royal prince,
+I will give for thy healing, O glorious crime,
+from my knee to my navel.
+
+A hundred cows, a hundred ounces of gold,
+a hundred bridled horses were collecting,
+a hundred garments of each variegated colour,
+these were brought as a price for me.
+
+A hundred of each other beast came hither,
+the drove was great;
+these to me quickly, till the sum was complete,
+gave Eochaid at the one time.
+
+
+Line 14.  Of poem.  "Were collecting," ratinol.  This is the rendering
+in Windisch's Dictionary, but is a doubtful one.
+
+Line 18.  Imerge means "drove," not "journey," as in Windisch.
+
+Line 27 of text.  "Wrought a great healing, &c." Irish, ro lessaig,
+"healed him" (Windisch); "waited upon him" (Strachan).
+
+
+PAGE 19
+
+Line 17.  "For fear of danger."  Baegal, "danger," has sometimes the
+sense of "chance," "risk."
+
+Line 23.  "That is what I would demand of thee."  Translation not quite
+certain Irish, cid rotiarfaiged.
+
+
+PAGE 20
+
+Line 2.  "That both of us do indeed deem, &c." lit. "it is so indeed
+well to us both."
+
+Line 22.  For the incident compare Bodleian Dinnshenchas (Nutt, p. 27):
+the introduction of Crochen is a human touch which seems to be
+characteristic of the author of this version.  The Dinnshenchas account
+seems to be taken from the romance, but it gives the name of Sinech as
+Mider's entertainer at Mag Cruachan.
+
+Line 25.  "The Fairy Mound of Croghan." Irish, co sith sínighe Cruachan;
+for sínighe read Maighe, "to the sid of Mag C."
+
+
+PAGE 21
+
+Line 2.  Until the same day upon the year, &c.," on lo cu cele, "from
+that day to its fellow," i.e. "till the same day next year."
+
+Line 10.  "Three wands of yew."  This looks like an early case of a
+divining-rod.
+
+Line 21.  "Hath smitten thee," rotirmass for ro-t-ormaiss, "hath hit
+thee."
+
+Line 29.  "They ruined," "docuas ar," an idiomatic phrase; "they
+overcame," an idiomatic phrase.  Compare Annals of Ulster under years
+1175, 1315, 1516.
+
+
+PAGE 22
+
+Line 2.  "Messbuachalla."  This makes Etain the great-grandmother of
+Conary, the usual account makes her the grandmother, so that there is
+here an extra generation inserted.  Yet in the opening she and Eochaid
+Airem are contemporary with kings who survived Conary!
+
+Line 4.  "The fairy host, &c."  The order of the words in the original
+is misleading and difficult sithchaire and Mider are the subjects to ro
+choillsiut and to doronsat.
+
+
+PAGE 23
+
+Line 12.  That there should be adjusted)" fri commus, lit. "for
+valuation," but commus has also the sense of "adjusting."
+
+
+PAGE 24
+
+Line 4.  "Since he for a long time, &c.," fodaig dognith abairt dia
+sirsellad. See Meyer's Contributions, s.v. abairt.
+
+Line 23.  "To gaze at her."  Up to this point the L.U. version
+(exclusive of the Prologue) bears the character of an abstract,
+afterwards the style improves.
+
+
+PAGE 25
+
+Line 2.  "But it shall not be in the abode, &c."  Windisch seems to
+have mimed the point here, he considers these lines to be an
+interpolation.
+
+
+PAGE 26
+
+Line 5.  Following Windisch's suggestion, this poem has been placed
+here instead of the later place where it occurs in the text.  This
+famous poem has been often translated; but as there appear to be points
+in it that have been missed, a complete literal rendering is appended:
+
+
+O fair-haired woman, will you come with me
+into a marvellous land wherein is music (?);
+the top of the head there is hair of primrose,
+the body up to the head is colour of snow.
+
+In that country is no "mine" and no "thine";
+white are teeth there, black are eyebrows,
+the colour of the eyes is the number of our hosts,
+each cheek there the hue of the foxglove.
+
+The purple of the plain is (on) each neck,
+the colour of the eyes is (colour of) eggs of blackbird;
+though pleasant to the sight are the plains of Fal (Ireland),
+they are a wilderness (7) for a man who has known the Great Plain.
+
+Though intoxicating to ye the ale of the island of Fal,
+the ale of the Great Country is more intoxicating
+a wonder of a land is the land I speak of,
+a young man there goes not before an old man.
+
+Stream smooth and sweet flow through the land,
+there is choice of mead and wine;
+men handsome (?) without blemish,
+conception without sin, without crime.
+
+We see all on every side,
+and yet no one seeth us,
+the cloud of the sin of Adam it is
+that encompasses us from the reckoning.
+
+O woman, if thou wilt come to my strong people,
+it is top of head of gold shall be on thy head,
+unsalted pork, new milk and mead for drink
+shalt thou have with me there, O fair-haired woman.
+
+
+Line 2.  Hi fil rind.  The meaning of rind (?) music) is uncertain.
+
+Line 3.  Is barr sobarche folt and.  This line is often translated as
+"hair is wreathed with primrose": the image would be better, but it is
+not the Irish.  Barr is "top of head," and folt is "hair."
+
+Line 4.  Is and nad bi mui na tai.  Muisse is in old Irish the
+possessive of the first sing when followed by a noun it becomes mo,
+when not so followed it is mui; tai is also found for do.  O'Curry gave
+this line as "there is no sorrow nor care."
+
+Lines 7 and 10.  Is li sula lin ar sluag and is li sula ugai luin are
+so similar that is li sula must mean the same in both, and cannot mean
+"splendour of eyes" in the first case unless it does so in the second.
+The idea in the first case seems to be that the hosts are reflected in
+the eyes; it is so rendered in the verse translation.  A blackbird's
+egg has a blue ground, but is so thickly powdered with brown spots of
+all shapes that it looks brown at a distance.  At first I was inclined
+to take the idea to be "hazel" eyes, but comparing line 7, it seems
+more likely that the idea is that all sorts of shapes appear in the
+pupil.
+
+Line 12.  The translation of annam as a "wilderness" is very doubtful,
+it more probably is "seldom"; and the line should be "seldom will it be
+so after knowledge of, &c."
+
+Line 16.  This has always been rendered "no youth there grows to old
+age."  But the Irish is ni thecht oac and re siun, and re siun can only
+mean "before an old (man)."  The sense possibly is, that as men do not
+become feeble with advancing years, the younger man has not the same
+advantage over his elders in the eyes of women that he has in this
+world.
+
+Line 17.  Teith millsi, "smooth and honey-sweet" (Meyer, MacCongl., p.
+196).
+
+Line 24.  Compare a story of some magical pigs that could not be
+counted accurately (Revue Celtique, vol. xiii. p. 449).
+
+Line 31.  Muc ur, "unsalted pork"; see Glossary to Laws, p. 770; also
+MacConglinne (Kuno Meyer), p, 99.
+
+
+PAGE 27
+
+Line 23.  "He ascended."  Fosrocaib for sosta: fosrocaib is an unknown
+compound (=fo-sro-od-gaib).  Perhaps frisocaib for sosta, "mounted on
+the heights."
+
+Line 29.  Co brainni a da imdae, "to the edges of his two shoulders";
+see braine, in Meyer's Contributions.
+
+
+PAGE 28.
+
+Line 19.  "Casting their light on every side," cacha air di = cacha
+airidi, "in every direction."
+
+Line 25.  "If thou dost obtain the forfeit of my stake," mad tu beras
+mo thocell.  For tocell see Zimmer, Kuhn's Zeitsch., xxx. 80.
+
+Line 29.  "Eager" (?), femendae.  See Bruiden da Derga (Stokes), 50, 51.
+
+Line 30.  "Easily stopped," so-ataidi suggested for sostaidi in the
+text: cf. Bruiden da Derga.  The conjecture has not Strachan's
+authority.
+
+
+PAGE 29
+
+Line 19.  Literal translation of rhetoric: "Put it in hand, place it
+close in hand, noble are oxen for hours after sunset, heavy is the
+request, it is unknown to whom the gain, to whom the loss from the
+causeway."
+
+Line 28.  "Over the chariot-pole of life" seems to be a literal
+rendering of for fertas in betha.  Strachan renders "on the face of the
+world," which is of course the meaning of the simile.
+
+Line 30.  "High was he girt," ard chustal.  The meaning of custal is
+not known; it was used of some arrangement of the dress.  See Ir.
+Text., iii. 226; also L.U. 79a, 35, L.L. 97a, 40; 98a, 51; 253a, 30.
+
+Line 31.  "Eochaid arose," Atrigestar Eochaid. Strachan thinks it much
+more likely that this is "Eochaid feared him," the verb coming from
+atagur.  It is, however, just possible that the word might be a
+deponent form from atregaim, "I arise."  Eochaid does not elsewhere
+show any fear of Mider, the meaning given agrees better with the tone
+of the story, and is grammatically possible.
+
+
+PAGE 30
+
+Line 1.  "All things that seemed good, &c.," lit. "I have been
+accustomed to get what seemed good to thee," adethaind ni bad maith.
+
+Line 3.  "Anger for anger," bara fri bure.  Compare the word bura in
+Meyer's Contributions.
+
+Line 25.  "In order that Eochaid should stand in his debt," lit. "that
+there might be cause of reproach for him to Eochaid."
+
+Line 32.  "Forest that is over Breg." MS. fid dar bre, with mark of
+abbreviation.  This is read to be dar Breg. Professor Rhys (Arthurian
+Legend, p. 28) renders "to cover Darbrech with trees."
+
+Line 33.  "As it is written in the book of Drom Snechta.  "This is a
+conjecture by Mrs. Hutton as a restoration of the words in L.U., which
+is torn just here: the words appear to be amal atbert lebor drums.
+
+
+PAGE 31
+
+Line 1.  This rhetoric is very obscure; much of it cannot be
+translated.  The text seems to be as follows, according to Strachan:
+Cuisthe illand tochre illand airderg damrad trom inchoibden clunithar fír
+ferdi buidni balc-thruim crandchuir forderg saire fedar sechuib
+slimprib snithib scítha lama indrosc cloina fo bíth oen mna. Duib in dígail
+duib in trom daim tairthim flatho fer ban fomnis fomnis in fer mbranie
+cerpiae fomnis diad dergae fer arfeid soluig fria iss esslind fer bron
+for-tí ertechta in de lamnado luachair for di Thethbi dílecud (? diclochud)
+Midi in dracht coich les coich amles ? thocur ? dar c? moin.
+
+Apparent rendering: "Place on the land, place close on the land, very
+red oxen, heavy troop which hears, truly manlike ? troops, strong heavy
+placing of trees, very red . . . is led past them with twisted wattles,
+weary hands, the eye slants aside (squints) because of one woman.  To
+you the vengeance, to you the heavy ? oxen ? splendour of sovereignty
+over white men, . . . man sorrow on thee . . . of childbirth, rushes
+over Tethba, clearing of stones from Meath . . . where the benefit
+where the evil, causeway over . . . moor."  It seems that the oxen were
+transformed people of Mider's race; this appears from fír-ferdi, which is
+taken to mean "really men"; and duib in digail duib in trom-daim, which
+is taken to mean "to you the vengeance, to you heavy oxen."
+
+Professor Strachan disagrees with this, as daim, to be "oxen," should
+not have the accent, he makes trom-daim "heavy companies."  He also
+renders clunithar fír ferdi buindi, as "which hears truth, manly troops."
+ The rest of the translation he agrees to, most of it is his own.
+
+The passage from fomnis fomnis to lamnado seems untranslatable.
+
+
+PAGE 32
+
+Line 1.  Lit. "no evil wedding feast (banais, text banas) for thee?
+
+
+
+MAC DATHO'S BOAR
+
+
+PAGE 37
+
+Line 3.  The Rawlinson version gives, instead of "who was the guardian
+of all Leinster," the variant "who would run round Leinster in a day."
+This semi-supernatural power of the hound is the only supernatural
+touch in either version of the tale.
+
+Line 6.  The verse "Mesroda son of Datho" is from the Rawlinson MS.
+The literal version of it is in Anecdota Oxoniensia, Mediaeval Series,
+part viii. p. 57.  (This reference will in future be given as A.O., p.
+57.)
+
+Line 20.  The list of the hostelries or guest-houses of Ireland
+includes the scene of the famous Togail Da Derga, in the sack of which
+Conaire, king of Ireland, was killed. Forgall the Wily was the father
+of Emer, Cuchulain's wife.  The tale of the plunder of da Choca is in
+the MS. classed as H. 3, 18 in the Trinity College, Dublin, Library.
+
+
+PAGE 38
+
+The literal version of the dialogue between Mac Datho and his wife is
+given in A.O., p. 58, following the Leinster text (there are only two
+lines of it given in the Rawlinson MS.); but I note a few divergencies
+in the literal version from which the verse translation was made.
+
+Verse 3, line 1.  Asbert Crimthann Nia Nair, "Crimthann Nia Nair has
+said" (A.O.).  Nia is "sister's son," and has been so rendered.  Nia is
+a champion, and this is the meaning given in the Coir Anmann; but nia
+has no accent in either the Leinster or Harleian manuscripts of the
+text.  The Coir Anmann (Ir. Tex., iii. 333) says that Nar was a witch.
+
+Verse 4, lines 1, 2.  Cid fri mnai atbertha-su Mani thesbad ní aire, "Why
+wouldest thou talk to a woman if something were not amiss?" (A.O.).
+"Why dost thou speak against a woman unless something fails on that
+account" seems as good a translation, and fits the sense better.
+
+Verse 7, line 2.  Leis falmag dar sin tuaith, "By him Ireland (shall be
+roused) over the people."  The omitted verb is apparently "to be," as
+above.  Line 4 of the same verse is left untranslated in A.O., it is
+ata neblai luim luaith.  It seems to mean "There is nothing on the
+plain for bareness (luim) of ashes," more literally, "There is a
+no-plain for, &c."
+
+Verse 9, lines 2, 3.  Isi ním dení cutal.  Ailbe do roid dia.  "It does not
+make sorrow for me; as for Ailbe, "God sent him" seems to be the sense;
+but the meaning of cutal is obscure.
+
+
+PAGE 41
+
+Line 8.  "Forty oxen as side-dishes," lit. "forty oxen crosswise to it"
+(dia tarsnu).  The Rawlinson MS. gives "sixty oxen to drag it" (dia
+tarraing).
+
+Line 33.  "The son of Dedad."  Clan Dedad was the Munster hero clan,
+having their fortress in Tara Luachra; they correspond to the more
+famous Clan Rury of Ulster, whose stronghold was Emain Macha.  Curoi of
+Munster seems to have been a rival hero to Cuchulain.
+
+
+PAGE 42
+
+Line 20.  "Pierced through with a spear."  The different ways in which
+Ket claims to have conquered his rivals or their relations may be
+noted; the variety of them recalls the detailed descriptions of wounds
+and methods of killing so common in Homer.  There are seven victories
+claimed, and in no two is the wound the same, a point that
+distinguishes several of the old Irish romances from the less elaborate
+folk-tales of other nations.  Arthur's knights in Malory "strike down"
+each other, very occasionally they "pierce through the breast" or
+"strike off a head," but there is seldom if ever more detail.  In the
+Volsunga Saga men "fall," or are "slain," in a few cases of the more
+important deaths they are "pierced," or "cut in half," but except in
+the later Niebelungenlied version where Siegfried is pierced through
+the cross embroidered on his back, a touch which is essential to the
+plot, none of the Homeric detail as to the wounds appears.  The same
+remark applies to the saga of Dietrich and indeed to most others; the
+only cases that I have noticed which resemble the Irish in detail are
+in the Icelandic Sagas (the Laxdale Saga and others), and even there
+the feature is not at all so prominent as here, in the "Tain be
+Cuailnge," and several other Irish romances, though it is by no means
+common to all of them.  It may be noted that the Irish version of the
+"Tale of Troy" shows this feature, and although it is possible that the
+peculiarity is due to the great clearness and sharpness of detail that
+characterises much of the early Irish work, it may be that this is a
+case of an introduction into Irish descriptions of Homeric methods.
+
+It may be also noted that six of Ket's seven rivals are named among the
+eighteen Ulster chiefs in the great gathering of Ulster on the Hill of
+Slane before the final battle of the Tain, Angus being the only one
+named here who is not in the Hill of Slane list.  Two others in the
+Hill of Slane list, Fergus mac Lets and Feidlimid, are mentioned
+elsewhere in this tale.  Several of these are prominent in other tales:
+Laegaire (Leary) is a third with Cuchulain and Conall in the Feast of
+Bricriu, and again in the "Courtship of Emer;" Cuscrid makes a third
+with the same two principal champions in the early part of the
+"Sick-bed;" Eogan mac Durthacht is the slayer of the sow of Usnach in
+the old version of that tale; and Celtchar mac Uitechar is the Master
+of the Magic Spear in the "Bruiden da Derga," and has minor romances
+personal to himself.
+
+
+PAGE 45
+
+The literal translation of the rhetoric seems to be: Ket. "Welcome,
+Conall! heart of stone: wild glowing fire: sparkle of ice: wrathfully
+boiling blood in hero breast: the scarred winner of victory: thou, son
+of Finnchoem, canst measure thyself with me!"  Conall. "Welcome, Ket!
+first-born of Mata! a dwelling place for heroes thy heart of ice: end
+of danger (7); chariot chief of the fight: stormy ocean: fair raging
+bull: Ket, Magach's son!  That will be proved if we are in combat: that
+will be proved if we are separated: the goader of oxen (?) shall tell
+of it: the handcraftsman (?) shall testify of it: heroes shall stride
+to wild lion-strife: man overturns man to-night in this house."
+
+
+PAGE 46
+
+The literal translation of the quatrain is in A.O., p. 63.  The
+quatrain does not occur in the Leinster version.
+
+
+PAGE 47
+
+Line 4.  "A great oak-tree."  After the plucking up of the oak-tree by
+Fergus, the Rawlinson MS. adds: "Others say that it was Curoi mac Dari
+who took the oak to them, and it was then that he came to them, for
+there was no man of Munster there (before) except Lugaid the son of
+Curoi and Cetin Pauci.  When Curoi had come to them, he carried off all
+alone one half of the Boar from all the northern half of Ireland."
+This exploit attributed to Curoi is an example of the survival of the
+Munster account of the Heroic Age, part of which may be preserved in
+the tales of Finn mac Cumhail.
+
+
+PAGE 48
+
+The Rawlinson manuscript adds, after mentioning the rewards given to
+Ferloga But he did not get the serenade (cepoca), though he got the
+horses."  Literal translation of the final poem:
+
+
+O lads of Connaught, I will not fill
+your heaviness with a lying tale;
+a lad, small your portion,
+divided the Boar of Mac Datho.
+
+Three fifties of fifty men
+are gone with troops of heroes;
+combat of pride for that Ailbe,
+small the fault in the matter of the dog.
+Victorious Conor came (?),
+Ailill of the hosts, and Ket;
+Bodb over the slaughters after the fight,
+Cuchulain conceded no right.
+
+Congal Aidni there from the east,
+Fiamain the man of harmony from the sea,
+(he who) suffered in journeys after that
+Eogan the son of dark Durthacht.
+three sons of Nera (famous) for numbers of battle-fields,
+three sons of Usnach, fierce shields:
+
+Senlaech the charioteer,
+he was not foolish, (came) from high Conalad Cruachan;
+Dubhtach of Emain, high his dignity;
+Berba Baither of the gentle word;
+Illan glorious for the multitude of his deeds;
+fierce Munremur of Loch Sail;
+Conall Cernach, hard his valour;
+Marcan . . .
+Celtchar the Ulsterman, man over man;
+Lugaid of Munster, son of three dogs.
+
+Fergus waits great Ailbe,
+shakes for them the . . . oak,
+took hero's cloak over very strong shield;
+red sorrow over red shield.
+
+By Cethern the son of Finntan they were smitten,
+single his number at the ford (i.& he was alone);
+the men of Connaught's host
+he released not for the time of six hours.
+
+Feidlimid with multitude of troops,
+Loegaire the Triumphant eastwards,
+was half of complaint about the dog
+with Aed son of Morna not great.
+
+Great nobles, mighty (?) deeds,
+hard heroes, fair companions in a house,
+great champions, destruction of clans,
+great hostages, great sepulchres.
+
+@@line x2?
+In this poem may be noted the reference to Cuchulain in line x2 in
+close connection with that to Bodb the Goddess of War, as indicating
+the original divine nature of Cuchulain as a war-god also the epithet
+of Lugaid, "son of three dogs."  Two of the dogs are elsewhere stated
+to be Cu-roi and Cu-chulain, the third seems uncertain.
+
+Line 26, describing Marcan, seems untranslatable; the Irish is Marcan
+sinna set rod son.  The epithet of the oak in line 32 is also obscure,
+the Irish is dairbre n-dall.
+
+
+
+THE SICK-BED OF CUCHULAIN
+
+
+PAGE 57
+
+Line 2.  "Samhain."  Samhain was held on November 1st, and on its eve,
+"Hallow-e'en".
+
+The exhibition of tips of tongues, on the principle of Indian scalps,
+has nothing at all to do with the story, and is not mentioned in the
+usual descriptions of the romance.  It is a piece of antiquarian
+information, possibly correct, and should serve to remind us that the
+original form of these legends was probably of a barbaric kind, before
+they were taken in hand by the literary men who gave to the best forms
+of the romances the character they now have.
+
+Line 23.  For the demons screaming from the weapons of warriors compare
+the Book of Leinster version of the "Combat at the Ford": pages 126,
+143 in this volume.
+
+
+PAGE 58
+
+Line 4.  The delay of Conall and Fergus leads to nothing, it is perhaps
+an introduction from some third form of the story.
+
+Line 19.  Leborcham is, in the story of Deirdre, Deirdre's nurse and
+confidant.
+
+Line 26.  "Their three blemishes."
+This disfigurement of the women of Ulster in honour of their chosen
+heroes seems to point to a worship of these heroes as gods in the
+original legend.  It may, however, be a sort of rough humour
+intentionally introduced by the author of the form of the story that we
+call the Antiquarian form; there are other instances of such humour in
+this form of the story.
+
+
+PAGE 59
+
+Line 2.  "Like the cast of a boomerang."  This is an attempt to
+translate the word taithbeim, return-stroke, used elsewhere (L.U.,
+63a., 4) for Cuchulain's method of capturing birds.
+
+Line 8.  "I deem it as being by me that the distribution was made."
+The words "I deem it" are inserted, they are not in the text.  It
+appears that what Ethne meant was that the distribution by Cuchulain
+was regarded by her as done by her through her husband.
+
+
+PAGE 60
+
+Line 9.  "Dun Imrith nor yet to Dun Delga." Dun Imrith is the castle in
+which Cuchulain was when he met the War-Goddess in the "Apparition of
+the Morrigan," otherwise called the "Tain bo Regamna."  Dun Delga or
+Dundalk is the residence usually associated with Cuchulain.  The
+mention of Emer here is noticeable; the usual statement about the
+romance is that Ethne is represented as Cuchulain's mistress, and Emer
+as his wife; the mention here of Emer in the Antiquarian form may
+support this; but this form seems to be drawn from so many sources,
+that it is quite possible that Ethne was the name of Cuchulain's wife
+in the mind of the author of the form which in the main is followed.
+There is no opposition between Emer and Ethne elsewhere hinted at.
+
+Line 15.  The appearance of Lugaid Red-Stripes gives a reason for his
+subsequent introduction in the link between the two forms of the story.
+
+Line 18.  "Near the entrance of the chamber in which Cuchulain lay."
+It does not yet seem certain whether imda was a room or a couch, and it
+would seem to have both meanings in the Antiquarian form of this story.
+ The expression forsind airiniuch na imdai which occurs here might be
+rendered "at the head of the bed"; but if we compare i n-airniuch ind
+rigthige which occurs twice in "Bricriu's Feast," and plainly means "at
+the entrance of the palace," it seems possible that airinech is here
+used in the same sense, in which case imda would mean "room," as
+Whitley Stokes takes it in the "Bruiden da Derga."  On the other hand,
+the word imda translated on page 63, line 11, certainly means "couches."
+
+Line 27.  "Ah Cuchulain, &c."  Reference may be made for most of the
+verses in this romance to Thurneysen's translation of the greater part
+of it in Sagen aus dem alten Irland but, as some of his renderings are
+not as close as the verse translations in the text, they require to be
+supplemented.  The poem on pp. 60, 61 is translated by Thurneysen, pp.
+84 and 85; but the first two lines should run:--
+
+
+Ah Cuchulain, under thy sickness
+not long would have been the remaining.
+
+
+And lines 7 and 8 should be:
+
+
+Dear would be the day if truly
+Cuchulain would come to my land.
+
+
+The epithet "fair" given to Aed Abra's daughters in line 4 by
+Thurneysen is not in the Irish, the rest of his translation is very
+close.
+
+Line 32.  "Plain of Cruach."  Cromm Cruach is the name of the idol
+traditionally destroyed by St. Patrick in the "Lives."  Cromm Cruach is
+also described In the Book of Leinster (L.L. 213b) as an idol to whom
+human sacrifices were offered.  The name of this plain is probably
+connected with this god.
+
+
+PAGE 61
+
+Line 30.  "Hath released her," Irish ros leci.  These words are usually
+taken to mean that Manannan had deserted Fand, and that she had then
+turned to Cuchulain, but to "desert" is not the only meaning of lecim.
+In the second form of the story, Fand seems to have left Manannan, and
+though of course the two forms are so different that it is not
+surprising to find a contradiction between the two, there does not seem
+to be any need to find one here; and the expression may simply mean
+that Manannan left Fand at liberty to pursue her own course, which
+divine husbands often did in other mythologies. Manannan is, of course,
+the Sea God, the Celtic Poseidon.
+
+
+PAGE 62
+
+Line 3.  Eogan Inbir (Yeogan the Stream) occurs in the Book of Leinster
+version of the Book of Invasions as one of the opponents of the Tuatha
+De Danaan, the Folk of the Gods (L.L. 9b, 45, and elsewhere).
+
+Line 15.  "Said Liban."  The text gives "said Fand."  This seems to be
+a scribal slip: there is a similar error corrected on page 79, line 21,
+where the word "Fand" is written "Emer" in the text.
+
+Line 16.  "A woman's protection."  The "perilous passage," passed only
+by a woman's help, occurs elsewhere both in Irish and in other early
+literatures. See Maelduin, para. 17; Ivain (Chretien de Troyes), vv.
+907 sqq.; and Mabinogion, "Lady of the Fountain" (Nutt's edition, p.
+177).
+
+Line 28.  "Labra."  Labraid's usual title, as given to him by Liban in
+both forms of the romance and once by Laeg in the second description of
+Fairyland, is Labraid Luath lamar-claideb, the title being as closely
+connected with him as {Greek boh`n a?gaðo`s Mene'laos}with Menelaus in
+Homer.  It is usually translated as "Labraid quick-hand-on-sword," but
+the Luath need not be joined to lam, it is not in any of the places in
+the facsimile closely joined to it, and others than Liban give to
+Labraid the title of Luath or "swift," without the addition.
+
+The literal translation of the short pieces of rhetoric on pages 62, 63
+are,
+
+
+"Where is Labraid the swift hand-on-sword,
+who is the head of troops of victory?
+(who) triumphs from the strong frame of his chariot,
+who reddens red spear-points."
+
+"Labraid the son of swiftness is there,
+he is not slow, abundant shall be
+the assembly of war, slaughter is set
+when the plain of Fidga shall be full."
+
+"Welcome to thee, O Laeg!
+for the sake of her with whom thou hast come;
+and since thou hast come,
+welcome to thee for thyself!"
+
+
+The metre of the first two pieces is spirited and unusual.  The second
+one runs:
+
+
+Ata Labraid luithe cland,
+ni ba mall bid immda
+tinol catha, cuirther ar,
+día ba Ian Mag Fidgae.
+
+
+PAGE 63
+
+Line 24.  "Fand."  The derivations of the names of Fand and of Aed Abra
+are quite in keeping with the character of the Antiquarian form, and
+would be out of place in the other form of the romance.  It may perhaps
+be mentioned that the proper meaning of Abra is "an eyelash," but the
+rendering "Aed Abra of the Fiery Eyebrows," which has been employed in
+accounts of this romance, would convey a meaning that does not seem to
+have been in the mind of the authors of either of the two forms.
+
+For the literal translations of the three invocations to Labraid, on
+pp. 63, 66, Thurneysen (p. 87) may be referred to; but there would be a
+few alterations.
+
+In the first, line 2 should be "heir of a little host, equipped with
+light spears," if Windisch's Dictionary is to be followed; line 5 would
+seem to begin "he seeketh out trespasses" (oirgniu); and line 7 should
+begin, "attacker of heroes," not "an attacking troop," which hardly
+makes sense.
+
+In the second invocation the first line should alter Labraid's title to
+"Labraid the swift hand-on-sword-of-battle;" line 3 should end with
+"wounded his side."  In line 6 and again in the third line of the third
+invocation, Thurneysen translates gus as "wrath": Windisch gives the
+word to mean "strength."
+
+Line 4 of the third invocation is rendered "he pierceth through men" by
+Thurneysen; the Irish is criathraid ocu.  Criathraim is given by
+O'Reilly as meaning "to sift": "he sifteth warriors" seems a
+satisfactory meaning, if O'Reilly is to be relied on.
+
+
+PAGE 65
+
+Labraid's answer to the three invocations seems to run thus, but the
+translation is doubtful, many words are marked unknown by Windisch: "I
+have no pride or arrogance, O lady, nor renown, it is not error, for
+lamentation is stirred our judgment" (reading na ardarc nid mell, chai
+mescthair with the second MS.), "we shall come to a fight of very many
+and very hard spears, of plying of red swords in right fists, for many
+peoples to the one heart of Echaid Juil (?), (let be) no anbi of thine
+nor pride, there is no pride or arrogance in me, O lady."  I can make
+nothing of Anbi.
+
+
+PAGE 66
+
+Thurneysen does not translate the rhetoric; the translation seems to
+run thus:
+
+
+Great unprofitableness for a hero to lie
+in the sleep of a sick-bed;
+for unearthly women show themselves,
+women of the people of the fiery plain of Trogach,
+and they have subdued thee,
+and they have imprisoned thee,
+and they have chased thee away (?) amid great womanish folly.
+
+Rouse thyself from the contest of distress
+(Gloss, "the sickness sent by the fairy women")
+for all is gone of thy vigour
+among heroes who ride in chariots,
+and thou sittest (?) in the place of the young
+and thou art conquered (? condit chellti if connected with tochell),
+and thou art disturbed (?) in thy mighty deeds,
+for that which Labraid's power has indicated
+rise up, O man who sittest (?) that thou mayest be great.
+
+"Chased thee away" in line 7, for condot ellat, perhaps connected with
+do-ellaim (?).
+
+
+PAGE 67
+
+Thurneysen's translation (p. 91) of Emer's lament may be referred to,
+but he misses some strong points. Among these are:
+
+Line 5.  "Woe to Ulster where hospitality abounds."
+
+Line 12.  "Till he found a Druid to lift the weight."
+
+Line 25.  "Were it Furbaide of the heroes."
+
+Line 27.  "The hound would search through the solid earth."
+
+Line 29.  "The hosts of the Sid of Train are dead."
+
+Line 30.  "For the hound of the Smith of Conor."
+
+Line 34.  "Sick for the horseman of the plains."
+
+Note the familiarity with the land of the fairies which Laeg is
+asserted to have in the first verse of the poem: this familiarity
+appears more than once in the Literary form of the story.  Laeg speaks
+of the land of Labraid as "known to him" in his- first description of
+that land, again in the same description Laeg is recognised by Labraid
+by his five-folded purple mantle, which seems to have been a
+characteristic fairy gift.  Also, Laeg seems at the end of the tale to
+be the only one to recognise Manannan.  There is no indication of any
+familiarity of Laeg with the fairy country in the Antiquarian form.
+
+The different Ulster heroes alluded to are mostly well-known; all
+except Furbaide are in "Mae Datho's Boar."  Furbaide was a son of
+Conor; be is one of the eighteen leaders who assemble on the Hill of
+Slane in the "Tain bo Cuailgne."
+
+The Smith of Conor is of course Culann, from whom Cuchulain got his
+name.
+
+
+PAGES 68, 69
+
+A translation of Emer's "Awakening of Cuchulain" may be found in
+Thurneysen, p. 92 but there are one or two points that seem to be noted
+as differing from the rendering there given.
+
+Lines 3 and 4 seem to mean: "Look on the king of Macha, on my beauty /
+does not that release thee from deep sleep?"  Thurneysen gives "Look on
+the king of Macha, my heart! thy sleep pleases him not." Mo crath can
+hardly mean "my heart."
+
+Line 6 is in the Irish deca a churnu co comraim! "see their horns for
+the contest!"  Instead of comraim Thurneysen seems to prefer the
+reading of the second MS., co cormaim, and translates "their horns full
+of beer."  Churnu may mean trumpets as well as drinking-horns, and Emer
+would hardly call on Cuchulain to throw off a drunken sleep (line 21)
+and then take to beer!
+
+The following translation of lines 17 to 20 seems preferable to
+Thurneysen's:
+
+
+"Heavy sleep is decay, and no good thing;
+it is fatigue against a heavy war;
+it is 'milk for the satiated,'
+the sleep that is on thee;
+death-weakness is the tanist of death."
+
+
+The last line is tanaisi d'ec ecomnart.  The tanist was the prince who
+stood next to the king; the image seems too good a one to be lost;
+Thurneysen translates "weakness is sister to death."
+
+Line 14 seems to mean "see each wonder wrought by the cold"; Emer calls
+Cuchulain's attention to the icicles which she thinks he is in danger
+of resembling.
+
+
+PAGE 69
+
+For the literal translation of Liban's invitation see Thurneysen, p. 93.
+
+Line 14 should run: "Colour of eyes his skin in the fight;" the
+allusion is, apparently, to a bloodshot eye.
+
+
+PAGE 71
+
+Line 4.  The Plain of Speech (Mag Luada) and the Tree of Triumphs (Bile
+Buada) are apparently part of the Irish mythology; they appear again in
+Laeg's second description of Fairyland, which is an additional reason
+for keeping this poem where it is in the second version, and not
+following Thurneysen in transferring it to the first.  Mag Luada is
+sometimes translated as "moving plain," apparently deriving the word
+from luath, "swift."
+
+Laeg's two descriptions of the Fairyland are (if we except the voyage
+of Bran) the two most definite descriptions of that country in Irish
+literature.  There is very little extravagance in these descriptions;
+the marvellously fruitful trees, the ever-flowing vat of mead, and the
+silver-branched tree may be noted.  Perhaps the trees of "purple glass"
+may be added, but for these, see note on line 30.  The verse
+translation has been made to follow the original as closely as
+possible; for a literal translation Thurneysen's versions (pp. 94 and
+88) may be referred to, but some alterations may be made.
+
+The first description seems to begin thus:
+
+
+I went with noble sportiveness
+to a land wonderful, yet well-known;
+until I came to a cairn for twenty of troops
+where I found Labraid the Long-haired.
+
+There I found him on that hill
+sitting among a thousand weapons,
+yellow hair on him with beautiful colour,
+an apple of gold for the confining of it.
+
+
+And it ends thus:
+
+
+Alas I that he went not long ago,
+and each cure (should come) at his searching,
+that he might see how it is
+the great palace that I saw.
+
+Though all Erin were mine
+and the kingship of yellow Bregia,
+I would resign it; no slight trial;
+for knowledge of the place to which I came.
+
+The following points should also be noted:
+
+Line 30 of this first description is tri bile do chorcor glain.  This
+undoubtedly means "three trees of purple glass"; but do chorcor glan
+would mean "of bright purple"; and this last rendering, which is quite
+a common expression (see Etain, p. 12), has been adopted in the verse
+translation.  The order of the words in the expression in the text is
+unusual, and the adoption of them would give an air of artificiality to
+the description which is otherwise quite absent from it.
+
+Lines 37 and 38 run thus:
+
+
+There are there thrice twenty trees,
+their tops meet, and meet not.
+
+
+Lines 43, 44, rendering: "Each with splendid gold fastening well hooked
+through its eye," are literally "and a brooch of gold with its
+splendour in the 'ear' of each cloak."  The ears of a cloak, usually
+described as made of the peculiar white bronze, occur elsewhere in the
+tales, and there are different speculations as to their use and
+meaning.  The most probable explanation is that they were bronze rings
+shaped like ears, and sewn into the cloak; a brooch to fasten the cloak
+being passed through the rings.  This explanation has been suggested by
+Professor Ridgeway, and seems to fit admirably the passages in which
+these "ears" occur.  Compare Fraech, line 33, in the second volume;
+also the "Courtship of Ferb" (Nutt), p. 6.
+
+There are also a few corrections necessary to Thurneysen's translation
+of the second description.
+
+Lines 13 to 20 should run thus:
+
+
+A beautiful band of women;--victory without fetters;--
+are the daughters of Aed Abra;
+the beauty of Fand is a rushing sound with splendour,
+exceeding the beauty of a queen or king.
+
+
+(The last line is more literally, "not excepting a queen or, &c.")
+
+
+I will say, since it hath been heard by me,
+that the seed of Adam was sinless;
+but the beauty of Fand up to my time
+hath not found its equal.
+
+
+For the allusion to Adams sin, compare Etain, p. 26.  Allusions like
+these show that the tales were composed in Christian times.  There
+seems no reason to suppose them to be insertions, especially in cases
+like this one, where they come in quite naturally.
+
+Line 21 is literally "with their arms for slaying"; not "who warred on
+each other with weapons" as in Thurneysen.
+
+
+PAGE 76
+
+For the cooling of Cuchulain's battle-frenzy with water compare the
+similar treatment in the account of his first foray (L.U., 63a; Miss
+Faraday's translation, p. 34).
+
+For a literal translation of Faud's triumph song over Cuchulain's
+return see Thurneysen's translation on page 97 Of the work already
+referred to.  Thurneysen's translation is very close; perhaps the last
+verse should run: "Long rain of red blood at the side of the trees, a
+token of this proud and masterful, high with wailing is the sorrow for
+his fiend-like frenzy."
+
+The description of Cuchulain's appearance in verses 5 and 6 seems to
+point to a conception of him as the sun-god.  Compare the "sunlike"
+seat of his chariot on page 79.
+
+
+PAGE 78
+
+The literal translation of Liban's rhetoric in welcome to Cuchulain
+seems to be, "Hail to Cuchulain! King who brings help, great prince of
+Murthemne! great his mind; pomp of heroes; battle-triumphing; heart of
+a hero; strong rock of skill; blood-redness of wrath; ready for true
+foes of the hero who has the valour of Ulster (?); bright his
+splendour; splendour of the eyes of maidens; Hail to Cuchulain!"
+
+Torc in the second line is glossed in the MS. by "that is, a king."
+
+Cuchulain's account of his own battle is omitted by Thurneysen,
+possibly because the account that he gives differs from that in the
+text, as is pointed out by Windisch, Ir. Text., vol. i. p. 201).  But
+it is quite in keeping with the hero's character that he should try to
+lessen his own glory; and the omission of this account destroys one of
+the features of the tale.
+
+The literal rendering is:
+
+
+I threw a cast with my light spear
+into the host of Eogan the Stream;
+not at all do I know, though renowned the price,
+the victory that I have done, or the deed.
+
+Whether he was better or inferior to my strength
+hitherto I chanced not on for my decision,
+a throw, ignorance of the man in the mist,
+certainly he came not away a living man.
+
+A white army, very red for multitudes of horses,
+they followed after me on every side (?),
+people of Manannan Mac Lir,
+Eogan the Stream called them.
+
+I set out in each manner
+when my full strength had come to me;
+one man to their thirty, hundreds,
+until I brought them to death.
+
+I heard the groan of Echaid Juil,
+lips speak in friendship,
+if it is really true, certainly it was not a fight (?),
+that cast, if it was thrown.
+
+
+The idea of a battle with the waves of the sea underlies the third
+verse of this description.
+
+
+PAGE 79
+
+Five pieces of rhetoric follow, all of which are translated by
+Thurneysen.  A few alterations may be made, but all of them would be
+small ones.  The verse translations given are, it is believed, a little
+closer to the text than Thurneysen's.  The metres of the first three
+pieces are discussed by Professor Rhys in Y Cymmrodor for 1905 (pages
+166, 167).  Professor Rhys reduces the second of these to a hexameter
+followed by three pentameters, then a hexameter followed by a
+pentameter.  The other two reduce to hexameters mixed with curtailed
+hexameters and pentameters.  The last two pieces of the five, not
+mentioned by Professor Rhys, show a strophic correspondence, which has
+been brought out in the verse translation; note especially their
+openings, and the last line of Emer's speech, cia no triallta, as
+balancing the last line but four of Cuchulain's speech, cia no
+comgellta.  The last of these five pieces shows the greatest
+differences between the verse and literal translations.  A literal
+translation of this would run:
+
+
+"Wherefore now, O Emer!" said Cuchulain, "should I not be permitted to
+delay with this lady? for first this lady here is bright, pure, and
+clear, a worthy mate for a king; of many forms of beauty is the lady,
+she can pass over waves of mighty seas, is of a goodly shape and
+countenance and of a noble race, with embroidery and skill, and with
+handiwork, with
+understanding, and sense, and firmness; with plenty of horses and many
+cattle, so that there is nothing under heaven, no wish for a dear
+spouse that she doth not.  And though it hath been promised (?), Emer,"
+he said, "thou never shalt find a hero so beautiful, so scarred with
+wounds, so battle-triumphing, (so worthy) as I myself am worthy."
+
+
+PAGE 81
+
+Line 11.  "Fair seems all that's red, &c.," is literally "fair is each
+red, white is each new, beautiful each lofty, sour is each known,
+revered is each thing absent, failure is each thing accustomed."
+
+For a translation of the poem in which Fand resigns Cuchulain reference
+may be made to Thurneysen (p. 101).  A more accurate translation of the
+first verse seems to run thus:
+
+
+I am she who will go on a journey
+which is best for me on account of strong compulsion;
+though there is to another abundance of her fame,
+(and) it were dearer to me to remain.
+
+
+Line 16 of poem, translated by Thurneysen "I was true and held my
+word," is in the original daig is misi rop iran.  Iran is a doubtful
+word, if we take it as a form of aur-an, aur being the intensitive
+prefix, a better translation may be, "I myself was greatly glowing."
+
+
+PAGE 82
+
+Line 26.  "The lady was seized by great bitterness of mind," Irish ro
+gab etere moir. The translation of etere is doubtful.
+
+
+PAGE 83
+
+For the final poem, in which Fand returns to Manannan, reference may as
+before be made to Thurneysen's translation; but a few changes may be
+noted:
+
+Line 1 should be, "See the son of the hero people of the Sea."
+
+Line 5 seems to be, "Although" (lit. "if") "it is to-day that his cry
+is excellent."
+
+Line 7 is a difficult one.  Thurneysen gives, "That indeed is the
+course of love," apparently reading rot, a road, in place of ret; but
+he leaves eraise untranslated; the Irish is is eraise in ret in t-serc.
+ Might not eraise be "turning back," connected with eraim, and the line
+run: "It is turning back of the road of love"?
+
+Lines 13 to 16 are omitted by Thurneysen.  They seem to mean:
+
+
+When the comely Manannan took me,
+he was to me a fitting spouse;
+nor did he at all gain me before that time,
+an additional stake (?) at a game at the chess.
+
+
+The last line, cluchi erail (lit. "excess") ar fidchill, is a difficult
+allusion.  Perhaps the allusion is to the capture of Etain by Mider as
+prize at chess from her husband.  Fand may be claiming superiority over
+a rival fairy beauty.
+
+Lines 17 and 18 repeat lines 13 and 14.
+
+Lines 46 and 47 are translated by Thurneysen, "Too hard have I been
+offended; Laeg, son of Riangabra, farewell," but there is no "farewell"
+in the Irish.  The lines seem to be: "Indeed the offence was great, O
+Laeg, O thou son of Riangabra," and the words are an answer to Laeg,
+who may be supposed to try to stop her flight.
+
+
+PAGE 85
+
+Line 24.  "That she might forget her jealousy," lit. "a drink of
+forgetfulness of her jealousy," deoga dermait a heta.  The translation
+seems to be an accepted one, and certainly gives sense, but it is
+doubtful whether or not eta can be regarded as a genitive of et,
+"jealousy "; the genitive elsewhere is eoit.
+
+There is a conclusion to this romance which is plainly added by the
+compiler: it is reproduced here, to show the difference between its
+style and the style of the original author:
+
+
+"This then was a token given to Cuchulain that he should be destroyed
+by the People of the Mound, for the power of the demons was great
+before the advent of the Faith; so great was that power that the demons
+warred against men in bodily form, and they showed delights and secret
+things to them; and that those demons were co-eternal was believed by
+them.  So that from the signs that they showed, men called them the
+Ignorant Folk of the Mounds, the People of the Sid."
+
+
+
+THE EXILE OF THE SONS OF USNACH
+
+
+PAGE 91
+
+The four pieces of rhetoric, at the beginning of this text are
+translated by Thurneysen, Sagen aus dem alten Irland, pp. 11 and 12.
+In the first, third, and fourth of those, the only difference of any
+importance between the text adopted and Thurneysen's versions is the
+third line of the third piece, which perhaps should run: "With stately
+eyes with blue pupils," segdaib suilib sellglassaib, taking the text of
+the Yellow Book of Lecan.
+
+The second piece appears to run as follows:
+
+
+Let Cathbad hear, the fair one, with face that all love,
+the prince, the royal diadem, let he who is extolled be increased
+by druid arts of the Druid:
+because I have no words of wisdom
+to oppose (?) to Feidlimid,
+the light of knowledge;
+for the nature of woman knows not
+what is under her body,
+(or) what in the hollow of my womb cries out.
+
+
+These rhetorics are remarkable for the great number of the
+alliterations in the original.
+
+
+PAGE 93
+
+Thurneysen omits a verse of Cathbad's poem.  A translation of the whole
+seems to run thus:
+
+
+Deirdre, great cause of destruction,
+though thou art fair of face, famous, pale,
+Ulster shall sorrow in thy time,
+thou hidden (?) daughter of Feidlimid.
+
+
+Windisch's Dict. gives "modest daughter" in the last line; the original
+is ingen fial.  But the word might be more closely connected with fial,
+"a veil."  "Modest" is not exactly the epithet that one would naturally
+apply to the Deirdre of the Leinster version, and the epithet of
+"veiled" or "hidden" would suit her much better, the reference being to
+her long concealment by Conor.
+
+
+There shall be mischief yet afterwards
+on thy account, O brightly shining woman,
+hear thou this! at that time shall be
+the exile of the three lofty sons of Usnach.
+
+It is in thy time that a violent deed
+shall be done thereupon in Emain,
+yet afterwards shall it repent the violation
+of the safeguard of the mighty son of Rog.
+
+
+Do foesam is read in the last verse, combining the Leinster and the
+Egerton texts.
+
+
+It is through thee, O woman with excellence,
+(is) the exile of Fergus from the Ulstermen,
+and a deed from which weeping will come,
+the wound of Fiachna, the son of Conor.
+
+
+Fiachna. is grandson to Conor in the Book of Leinster account of the
+battle. Fiacha is Conor's son in the Glenn Masain version.
+
+
+It is thy fault, O woman with excellence,
+the wound of Gerrc son of Illadan,
+and a deed of no smaller importance,
+the slaying of Eogan mac Durthacht.
+
+
+There is no account of the slaying of Eogan in the Book of Leinster
+version; and Eogan appears on the Hill of Slane in the Ulster army in
+the War of Cualgne.  The sequel to the Glenn Masain version, however,
+describes Eogan's death at the hand of Fergus (Celtic Review, Jan.
+1905, p. 227).
+
+
+Thou shalt do a deed that is wild and hateful
+for wrath against the king of noble Ulster;
+thy little grave shall be in that place,
+thy tale shall be renowned, O Deirdre.
+
+
+PAGE 95
+
+Line 13.  "Release me, O my wife!" eirgg uaim a ben.  It is suggested
+that the vocative ben is "wife," not "woman."  It occurs in seven other
+places besides this in Windisch's Dictionary, and in six of these it
+means wife (Emer is addressed as wife of Cuchulain in a deig-ben, in
+"Sick-bed," 44).  In the remaining case ("Fled Bricrend," 31) the word
+is abbreviated, and stands b in the text, which might be for be, "O
+lady," though we should have then expected the accent. I suggest that
+Naisi, by giving to Deirdre the name of "wife," accepts her offer, for
+no other sign of acceptance is indicated, and the subsequent action
+shows that she is regarded as his wife afterwards.
+
+Line 30.  "Near to Ballyshannon," and "which men to-day call the
+Mountain of Howth," are inserted as the modern names of the places.
+The words correspond to nothing in the Irish.
+
+
+PAGE 97
+
+Line 13.  "Fiacha."  Fiacha, the son of Fergus, corresponds to Illan in
+the better known version.  There is no one in this version who
+corresponds to the traitor son, Buinne.
+
+
+PAGE 98
+
+The "Lament of Deirdre," one of the finest of the older Irish poems,
+has been rendered by Thurneysen and by others, among which should be
+specially mentioned Miss Hull, in the Cuchullin Saga, pp. 50-51.
+O'Curry's and O'Flanagan's versions seem to be very far from correct,
+and it will be more convenient to give that literal translation which
+seems nearest to the original, instead of indicating divergencies.  The
+literal translation adopted runs as follows:
+
+
+Though fair to you seems the keen band of heroes
+who march into Emain that they lately left (lit "after departing"),
+more stately was the return to their home
+of the three heroic sons of Usnach.
+
+Naisi, with mead of delicious hazel-nuts
+(came), to be bathed by me at the fire,
+Ardan, with an ox or boar of excellence,
+Aindle, a faggot on his stately back.
+
+Though sweet be the excellent mead to you
+which is drunk by the son of Ness, the rich in strife,
+there has been known to me, ere now, leaping over a bank,
+frequent sustenance which was sweeter.
+
+
+Line 3 of the above stanza seems to be baithium riam reim for bra,
+taking reim from the Egerton text.  The allusion is to a cascade.
+
+
+When the noble Naisi spread out
+a cooking-hearth on hero-board of tree,
+sweeter than any food dressed under honey[FN#69]
+was what was captured by the son of Usnach.
+
+
+[FN#69]  For "food dressed under honey" compare Fraech, line 544, in
+the second volume.
+
+
+Though melodious to you each month
+(are the) pipers and horn-blowers,
+it is my open statement to you to-day
+I have heard melody sweeter far than these.
+
+For Conor, the king, is melody
+pipers and blowers of horns,
+more melodious to me, renowned, enchanting
+the voice given out by the sons of Usnach.
+
+Like the sound of the wave the voice of Naisi,
+it was a melodious sound, one to hearken to for ever,
+Ardan was a good barytone,
+the tenor of Aindle rang through the dwelling-place.
+
+Naisi is laid in his tomb,
+sad was the protection that he got;
+the nation by which he was reared poured out
+the cup of poison by which he died.
+
+Dear is Berthan, beautiful its lands,
+stately the men, though hilly the land,
+it is sorrowful that to-day I rise not
+to await the sons of Usnach.
+
+Dear the mind, firm, upright,
+dear the youth, lofty, modest,
+after going with him through the dark wood
+dear the girding (?) at early morning.
+
+Dear his gray eye, which women loved,
+it was evil-looking against enemies,
+after circuit of the wood (was) a noble assembly,
+dear the tenor through the dark wood.
+
+I sleep not therefor,
+and I stain not my nails with red,
+joy comes not to my wakefulness,
+for the sons of Usnach return not.
+
+
+The last line is the Egerton reading.
+
+
+I sleep not
+for half the night on my bed,
+my mind wanders amidst clouds of thoughts,
+I eat not, nor smile.
+
+There is no leisure or joy for me
+in the assemblies of eastern Emain;
+there is no peace, nor pleasure, nor repose
+in beholding fine houses or splendid ornaments.
+
+What, O Conor, of thee?
+for me only sorrow under lamentation hast thou prepared,
+such will be my life so long as it remains to me,
+thy love for me will not last.
+
+The man who under heaven was fairest to me,
+the man who was so dear
+thou hast torn from me; great was the crime;
+so that I shall not see him until I die.
+
+His absence is the cause of grief to me,
+the shape of the son of Usnach shows itself to me,
+a dark hill is above his white body
+which was desired before many things by me.
+
+His ruddy cheeks, more beautiful than meadows (?),
+red lips, eyebrows of the colour of the chafer,
+his teeth shining like pearls,
+like noble colour of snow.
+
+Well have I known his splendid garb
+among the warrior men of Alba;
+mantle of crimson, meet for an assembly,
+with a border of red gold.
+
+His tunic of satin of costly price,
+on it a hundred pearls could be counted, goodly the number
+(lit. "a smooth number" ? a round number),
+for its embroidery had been used, it was bright,
+fifty ounces of findruine (i.e. white bronze).
+
+A gold-hilted sword in his hand,
+two green spears with terrible points (?),
+a shield with border of yellow gold,
+and a boss of silver upon it.
+
+Fair Fergus brought injury upon us
+when inducing us to cross the sea;
+he has sold his honour for ale,
+the glory of his high deeds is departed.
+
+If there were upon this plain
+the warriors of Ulster in the presence of Conor,
+all of them would I give up without a struggle
+for the companionship of Naisi, the son of Usnach.
+
+Break not to-day my heart (O Conor!),
+soon shall I reach my early grave,
+stronger than the sea is my grief,
+dost thou not know it, O Conor?
+
+
+PAGE 103
+
+For the literal translations of the poems in the Glenn Masain version
+see
+Whitley Stokes in Irische Texte, ii. 2, 172 sqq.
+
+Stanzas 13 to 16 are not in LVI. (the manuscript which is the second
+authority used by Stokes for this version, and is the chief authority
+for this part of the version).  They are in the manuscript that Stokes
+calls II.  (the version used by O'Flanagan), which, like LVI., agrees
+pretty closely with the Glenn Masain text so far as the latter
+manuscript extends.
+
+Stanza 22 is also from O'Flanagan's manuscript.  This verse is not
+translated by Stokes, but it seems worth inserting.  The literal
+translation of it is:
+
+
+I am Deirdre without joy,
+it is for me the end of my life;
+since to remain behind them is the worst thing,
+not long life to myself.
+
+
+PAGE 107
+
+Line 21. Two passages, one describing Fergus' sons born in Connaught,
+the other summing up his deeds, are omitted, as it is not intended to
+reproduce this version in full.
+
+
+
+THE COMBAT AT THE FORD
+
+
+The well-known translation by O'Curry of this part of the Book of
+Leinster version of the "Tain bo Cuailgne" is given in the third volume
+of his "Manners and Customs," pp. 414-463.  There are, as has often
+been pointed out, many inaccuracies in the translation, and the present
+version does not claim to correct all or even the greater part of them;
+for the complete version of the Great Tain by Windisch which has so
+long eagerly been expected should give us a trustworthy text, and the
+present translation is in the main founded on O'Curry; to whose version
+reference may be made for literal translations for such parts of the
+verse passages as are not noted below.  A few more obvious corrections
+have been made; most of those in the prose will appear by comparing the
+rendering with O'Curry's; some of the corrections in the literal
+versions adopted for the poems are briefly indicated.  Two poems have
+been literally translated in full: in these the renderings which have
+no authority other than O'Curry's are followed by a query, in order to
+give an indication of the extent to which the translation as given may
+for the present be regarded as uncertain.  For all the more valuable of
+the corrections made to O'Curry's translation I am indebted to the
+kindness of Mr. E. J. Quiggin, Fellow of Caius College, Cambridge.
+
+
+PAGE 118
+
+Line 7 Of the first stanza.  O'Curry gives this as "Thou hast come out
+of every strife," which seems to be an impossible rendering; "Take
+whatever is thy will" seems to be nearer the sense of the passage, and
+has been adopted.
+
+Lines 5 to 8 of the fourth stanza are very uncertain; and the
+translation given, which is in part based upon O'Curry, is very
+doubtful; a more trustworthy one has not, however, been arrived at.
+
+Line 4 of the fifth stanza in O'Curry's rendering means "Here is what
+thou wilt not earn," i.e. "We can pay more than a full reward for thy
+services."
+
+Lines 5 and 6 of the sixth stanza should be, "If my request be granted
+me I will advance, though I am not his match."
+
+Line 2 Of the eighth stanza, "Not thine a pleasant smile for a
+consort."  Brachail in the next line is "guardian."
+
+Line 10 of the last stanza. Elgga is one of the names of Ireland.
+
+
+PAGE 121
+
+Line 1.  Maeth n-araig, "in an easy task," the force of which O'Curry
+seems to miss, translating it "as he thought."
+
+There are several changes to make in O'Curry's rendering of the
+dialogue between Fergus and Cuchulain.  It should run thus:
+
+
+F. O Cuchulain, manifest is the bargain,
+I see that rising is timely for thee;
+here comes to thee in anger
+Ferdiad, son of Daman, of the ruddy face.
+
+C. I am here, it is no light task
+valiantly delaying the men of Erin;
+I have not yielded a foot in retreat
+to shun the combat of any one man.
+
+F. Fierce is the man in his excited (?) rage
+because of his blood-red sword:
+a horny skin is about Ferdiad of the troops,
+against it prevails not battle or combat.
+
+C. Be silent, urge not thy story,
+O Fergus of the powerful weapons!
+on any field, on any ground,
+there is no unequal fight for me.
+
+F. Fierce is the man, a war for twenties,
+it is not easy to vanquish him,
+the strength of a hundred in his body, valiant his deed (?),
+spears pierce him not, swords cut him not.
+
+C. Should we happen to meet at a ford (i.e. a field of battle),
+I and Ferdiad of well-known valour,
+the separation shall not be without history,
+fierce shall be our edge-combat.
+
+F. Better would it be to me than reward,
+O Cuchulain of the blood-stained sword,
+that it was thou who carried eastward
+the spoils (coscur, not corcur) of the proud Ferdiad.
+
+C. I give thee my word with boasting,
+though I am not good at bragging,
+that it is I who shall gain the victory
+over the son of Daman, the son of Dare.
+
+F. It is I who gathered the forces eastwards
+in revenge for my dishonour by the men of Ulster;
+with me they have come from their lands,
+their champions and their battle warriors.
+
+C. If Conor had not been in his sickness
+hard would have been his nearness to thee;
+Medb of Magh in Scail had not made
+an expedition of so loud boastings.
+
+F. A greater deed awaits thy hand,
+battle with Ferdiad son of Daman,
+hardened bloody weapons, friendly is my speech,
+do thou have with thee, O Cuchulain!
+
+
+PAGE 124
+
+Line 7 of O'Curry's rendering of the first stanza should run: "So that
+he may take the point of a weapon through him."
+
+Stanza 2 of the poem should run thus:
+
+
+It would be better for thee to stay,
+thy threats will not be gentle,
+there will be some one who shall have sickness on that account,
+distressful will be thy departure
+to encounter the Rock of Ulster;
+and ill may this venture turn out;
+long will be the remembrance of it,
+woe shall be to him who goeth that journey.
+
+
+Line 4 of the next stanza, "I will not keep back to please you."
+
+
+PAGE 126
+
+The literal rendering of the poem seems to be:
+
+
+I hear the creaking of a chariot
+with a beautiful silver yoke,
+the figure of a man with perfection
+(rises) from the wheels of the stout chariot;
+over Breg Row, over Braine
+they come (?), over the highway
+beside the lower part of the Burg of the Trees;
+it (the chariot?) is triumphant for its victories.
+
+It is a heroic (?) hound who drives it,
+it is a trusty charioteer who yokes it,
+it is a noble hawk who scourges
+his horses to the south:
+he is a stubborn hero,
+he is certain (to cause) heavy slaughter,
+it is well-known that not with indexterity (?)
+is the bringing of the battle to us.
+
+Woe for him who shall be upon the hillock
+waiting for the hound who is fitly framed (lit. in harmony");
+I myself declared last year
+that there would come, though it be from somewhere, a hound
+the Hound of Emain Macha,
+the Hound with a form on which are hues of all colours,
+the Hound of a territory, the Hound of battle;
+I hear, we have heard.
+
+As a second rendering of the above in a metre a little closer to the
+original than that given in the text, the following may be suggested:
+
+
+Shrieks from war-car wake my hearing,
+Silver yokes are nigh appearing;
+High his perfect form is rearing,
+He those wheels who guides!
+Braina, Braeg Ross past it boundeth,
+Triumph song for conquests soundeth,
+Lo! the roadway's course it roundeth,
+Skirting wooded sides.
+
+Hero Hound the scourge hard plieth,
+Trusty servant yoke-strap tieth,
+Swift as noble hawk, he flieth,
+Southward urging steeds!
+Hardy chief is he, and story
+Soon must speak his conquests gory,
+Great for skilful war his glory;
+We shall know his deeds!
+
+Thou on hill, the fierce Hound scorning,
+Waitest; woe for thee is dawning;
+Fitly framed he comes, my warning
+Spoke him thus last year:
+"Emain's Hound towards us raceth,
+Guards his land, the fight he faceth,
+Every hue his body graceth:"
+Whom I heard, I hear.
+
+
+PAGE 127
+
+In O'Curry's rendering of the dialogue between Ferdia and his servant,
+line 3 should be, "That it be not a deed of prophecy," not "a deferred
+deed"; and line 6, With his proud sport."
+
+Last stanza of the poem:
+
+
+It seems thou art not without rewards,
+so greatly hast thou praised him;
+why else hast thou extolled him
+ever since I left my house?
+they who now extol the man
+when he is in their sight
+come not to attack him,
+but are cowardly churls.
+
+
+PAGE 128
+
+Line 34.  "As a hawk darts up from the furrow."  O'Curry gives "from
+the top of a cliff."  The word in the Irish is claiss.
+
+
+PAGE 129
+
+The metre of this poem, which is also the metre of all the preceeding
+poems except the second in this romance, but does not occur elsewhere
+in the collection, may be illustrated by quoting the original of the
+fifth verse, which runs as follows:
+
+
+Re funiud, re n-aidchi
+Madit eicen airrthe,
+Comrac dait re bairche,
+Ni ba ban in gleo:
+Ulaid acot gairmsiu,
+Ra n-gabartar aillsiu,
+Bud olc doib in taidbsiu
+Rachthair thairsiu is treo.
+
+
+Literal translation of the first two stanzas:
+
+
+What has brought thee here, O Hound,
+to fight with a strong champion?
+crimson-red shall flow thy blood
+over the breaths of thy steeds;
+woe is thy journey:
+it shall be a kindling of fuel against a house,
+need shalt thou have of healing
+if thou reach thy home (alive).
+
+I have come before warriors
+who gather round a mighty host-possessing prince,
+before battalions, before hundreds,
+to put thee under the water,
+in anger with thee, and to slay thee
+in a combat of hundreds of paths of battle,
+so that thine shall the injury
+as thou protectest thy head.
+
+
+Line 2 of the fifth stanza, "Good is thy need of height."
+
+Line 8 of the seventh stanza, "Without valour, without strength."
+
+
+PAGE 133
+
+Line 3.  Literally: "Whatever be the excellence of her beauty." A
+similar literal translation for page 138, line 10, of the dialogue; the
+same line occurs in verse 3 on page 148, but is not rendered in the
+verse translation.
+
+
+PAGE 134
+
+Line 18.  "O Cuchulain! for beautiful feats renowned."  O'Curry gives
+this as prose, but it is clearly verse in the original.
+
+
+PAGE 138
+
+Lines 5, 6 of dialogue.  "O Cuchulain! who art a breeder of wounds"
+(lit. "pregnant with wounds"); "O true warrior! O true" (?accent
+probably omitted) "champion!"
+
+Lines 7, 8.  "There is need for some one" (i.e. himself) "to go to the
+sod where his final resting-place shall be."  The Irish of line 7 is is
+eicen do neoch a thecht, which O'Curry translates "a man is constrained
+to come," and he is followed by Douglas Hyde, who renders the two lines:
+
+
+Fate constrains each one to stir,
+Moving towards his sepulchre.
+
+
+But do neoch cannot possibly mean "every man," it means "some man;"
+usually the person in question is obvious.  Compare page 125 of this
+romance, line 3, which is literally: "There will be some one who shall
+have sickness on that account," biaid nech diamba galar, meaning, as
+here, Ferdia.
+
+The line is an explanation of Ferdia's appearance, and is not a moral
+reflection.
+
+Line 29.  "O Cuchulain! with floods of deeds of valour," or "brimming
+over with deeds, &c."
+
+
+PAGE 141
+
+Line 9.  "Four jewels of carbuncle."  This is the reading of H. 2, 17;
+T.C.D; which O'Curry quotes as an alternative to "forty" of the Book of
+Leinster.  "Each one of them fit to adorn it" is by O'Curry translated
+"in each compartment."  The Irish is a cach aen chumtach: apparently
+"for each one adornment."
+
+
+PAGE 144
+
+Line 8 of poem.  "Alas for the departing of my ghost."
+
+
+PAGE 146
+
+Lines 1, 2.  "Though he had struck off the half of my leg that is
+sound, though he had smitten off half my arm."
+
+
+PAGE 148
+
+Line 5.  "Since he whom Aife bore me," literally "Never until now have
+I met, since I slew Aife's only son, thy like in deeds of battle, never
+have I found it, O Ferdia."  This is O'Curry's rendering; if it is
+correct, and it seems to be so substantially, the passage raises a
+difficulty.  Aife's only son is, according to other records, Conlaoch,
+son of Cuchulain and Aife, killed by his father, who did not at the
+time know who Conlaoch was.  This battle is usually represented as
+having taken place at the end of Cuchulain's life; but here it is
+represented as preceding the War of Cualgne, in which Cuchulain himself
+is represented to be a youth.  The allusion certainly indicates an
+early date for the fight with Conlaoch, and if we are to lay stress on
+the age of Cuchulain at the time of the War, as recorded in the Book of
+Leinster, of whose version this incident is a part, the "Son of Aife"
+would not have been a son of Cuchulain at all in the mind of the writer
+of this verse.  It is possible that there was an early legend of a
+fight with the son of Aife which was developed afterwards by making him
+the son of Cuchulain; the oldest version of this incident, that in the
+Yellow Book of Lecan, reconciles the difficulty by making Conlaoch only
+seven years old when he took up arms; this could hardly have been the
+original version.
+
+Line 23 of poem is literally: "It is like thrusting a spear into sand
+or against the sun."
+
+The metre of the poem "Ah that brooch of gold," and of that on page
+144, commencing "Hound, of feats so fair," are unique in this
+collection, and so far as I know do not occur elsewhere.  Both have
+been reproduced in the original metre, and the rather complicated
+rhyme-system has also been followed in that on page 148.  The first
+verse of the Irish of this is
+
+
+Dursan, a eo oir
+a Fhirdiad na n-dam
+a belc bemnig buain
+ba buadach do lamh.
+
+
+The last syllable of the third line has no rhyme beyond the echo in the
+second syllable of the next line; oir, "gold," has no rhyme till the
+word is repeated in the third line of the third verse, rhymed in the
+second line of the fourth, and finally repeated at the end.  The second
+verse has two final words echoed, brass and maeth; it runs thus
+
+
+Do barr bude brass
+ba cass, ba cain set;
+do chriss duillech maeth
+immut taeb gu t-ec.
+
+
+The rhymes in the last two verses are exactly those of the
+reproduction, they are cain sair, main, laim, chain, the other three
+end rhymes being oir, choir, and oir.
+
+Line 3 of this poem is "O hero of strong-striking blows."
+
+Line 4.  "Triumphant was thine arm."
+
+
+PAGE 149
+
+Lines 11 and 12 of the poem.  "Go ye all to the swift battle that shall
+come to you from German the green-terrible" (? of the terrible green
+spear).
+
+
+PAGE 150
+
+Line 12.  The Torrian Sea is the Mediterranean.
+
+
+PAGE 151
+
+Line 15.  Literally: "Thou in death, I alive and nimble."
+
+Line 23.  "Wars were gay, &c."  Cluchi cach, gaine cach, "Each was a
+game, each was little," taking gaine as gainne, the known derivative of
+gand, "scanty." O'Curry gives the meaning as "sport," and has been
+followed by subsequent translators, but there does not seem any
+confirmation of this rendering.
+
+
+PAGE 153
+
+Line 10.  Banba is one of the names of Ireland.
+
+
+
+END OF VOL. I.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, HEROIC ROMANCES OF IRELAND V1 ***
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