'Await him, Men of Erin, and be strong!'
Their faces blanch'd, their bodies shook with fear--
'Now link thy shields and close together throng,
And shout the war-cry loud and fierce and long
Then Ere, with cunning of his evil heart,
Set heroes forth in pairs to feign to fight apart
As furious tempests, that in deep woods roar
Assault the giant trees and lay them low,
As billows toss the seaweed on the shore,
As sweeping sickles do the ripe fields mow--
Cuchullin, rolling fiercely on the foe,
Broke through the linked ranks upon the plain,
To drench the field with blood and round him heap the slain
And when he reach'd a warrior-pair that stood
In feignèd strife upon a knoll of green,
Their weapons clashing but unstained with blood,
A satirist him besought to intervene,
Whereat he slew them as he drave between--
"Thy spear to me," the satirist cried the while,
The hero answering, "Nay," he cried, "I'll thee revile."
'Reviled for churlishness I ne'er have been,"
Cuchullin call'd, up-rising in his pride,
And cast his ashen spear bronze-tipp'd and keen
And slew the satirist and nine beside,
Then his fresh onslaught made the host divide
And flee before him clamouring with fear,
The while the stealthy Lugaid seized Cuchullin's spear
"O sons of Calatin," did Lugaid call,
"What falleth by the weapon I hold here?"
Together they acclaim'd, "A King will fall,
For so foretold," they said, "the aged seer."
Then at the chariot he flung the spear,
And Laegh was stricken unto death and fell
Cuchullin drew the spear and bade a last farewell
"The victor I, and eke the charioteer!"
He cried, and drave the war-steeds fierce and fast.
Another pair he slew, "To me thy spear,"
Again a satirist call'd. The spear was cast,
And through the satirist and nine men pass'd
But Lugaid grasps it, and again doth call,--
"What falleth by this spear?" They shout, "A King will fall"
"Then fall," cried Lugaid, as he flung the spear--
The Grey of Macha sank in death's fierce throes,
Snapping the yoke, the while the Black ran clear:
Cuchullin groan'd, and dash'd upon his foes;
Another pair he slew with rapid blows,
And eke the satirist and nine men near:
Then once more Lugaid sprang to seize the charmèd spear.
"What falleth by this weapon?" he doth call
"A King will fall," they answer him again ...
"But twice before ye said, 'A King will fall'" ...
They cried, "The King of Steeds hath fled the plain,
And lo, the King of Charioteers is slain!" ...
For the last time he drave the spear full well,
And smote the great Cuchullin--and Cuchullin fell
The Black steed snapp'd the yoke, and left alone
The King of Heroes dying on the plain:
"I fain would drink," they heard Cuchullin groan,
"From out yon loch" ... He thirsted in fierce pain.
"We give thee leave, but thou must come again,"
His foemen said; then low made answer he,
"If I will not return, I'll bid you come to me"
His wound he bound, and to the loch did hie,
And drank his drink, and wash'd, and made no moan.
Then came the brave Cuchullin forth to die,
Sublimely fearless, strengthless and alone ...
He wended to the standing pillar-stone,
Clutching his sword and leaning on his spear,
And to his foemen called, "Come ye, and meet me here."
A vision swept upon his fading brain--
A passing vision glorious and sweet,
That hour of youth return'd to him again
When he took arms with fearless heart a-beat,
As Cathbad, the magician, did repeat,
"Who taketh arms upon this day of grief,
His name shall live forever and his life be brief"
Fronting his foes, he stood with fearless eye,
His body to the pillar-stone he bound,
Nor sitting nor down-lying would he die ...
He would die standing ... so they gathered round
In silent wonder on the blood-drench'd ground,
And watch'd the hero who with Death could strive;
But no man durst approach ... He seem'd to be alive ...
LOST SONGS.
Harp of my fathers--on the mouldering wall
Of days forgotten--like a far-off wind
Hushing the fir-wood at soft even-fall,
Thy low-heard whispers to my heart recall
The wistful songs, to Silence Old consigned,
That Ossian sang when he was frail and blind.
Thy fitful notes from the melodious trees,
I fain would echo in my feeble rhyme--
The inner music quivering on the breeze
I hear; and throbbing from the beating seas,
On ancient shores, the wearied pulse of Time
That mingles with thy melodies sublime.
OTHER POEMS.
THE DREAM.
'Twas when I woke I knew it was a dream,
Measured by moments, that to me did seem,
A life-long spell of joy and peace to be--
Will that last dream that comes ere death descends,
From which I shall not wake to know it ends,
Thus seem to live on through Eternity?
FREE WILL.
Say not the will of man is free
Within the limits of his soul--
Who from his heritage can flee?
Who can his destiny control?
In vain we wage perpetual strife,
'Gainst instincts dumb and blind desires--
Who leads must serve.. The pulse of life
Throbs with the dictates of our sires.
Since when the world began to be,
And life through hidden purpose came,
From sire to son unceasingly
The task bequeathed hath been the same.
We strive, while fetters bind us fast,
We seek to do what needs must be--
We move through bondage with the past
In service to posterity.
STRIFE.
Weary of strife--
The surge and clash of city life--
I sought for peace in solitude,
Within the hushed and darkened wood
And on the lonesome moor--
But found contending leaf and root
Engaged in conflict fierce though mute,
While what was frail was slain
By what was strong in dire dispute--
I sought for peace in vain!
The world, sustained by strife, endures in pain.
"All things that are in conflict be,"
I murmured on the shelving strand,
Where struggling winds would fain be free--
The tides in conflict with the wind's command,
Turned tossing, wearily--
I heard the loud sea labouring to the land--
I saw the dumb land striving with the sea.
SONNET.
(_Written in the Stone Gallery of St Paul's._)
The drowsing city sparkles in the heat,
And murmur in mine ears unceasingly
The surging tides of that vast human sea--
The billows of life that break with muffled beat
And vibrate through this high and lone retreat;
While over all, serene, and fair, and free,
Thy dome is reared in naked majesty
Grey, old St Paul's ... In thee the Ages meet,
Slumbering amidst the trophies of their strife.
And in their dreams thou hearest, while the cries
Of triumph and despair ascend from Life,
The murmurings of immortality--
Thou Sentinel of Hope that doth despise
What was and is not, waiting what shall be!
"OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES."
"Is baby dead?" he whispered, with wide eyes
Tearless, but full of eloquent regret,
His childish face grown prematurely wise--
Pond'ring the problem death before him set.
"Baby is dead," I answered, as I laid
My hand on her frail forehead with a sigh;
"Oh! daddy, why did God do this?" he said,
And silently my heart made answer, "Why?"
He touched her white, worn face, and said, "How cold
Is our wee baby now." ... His eyes were deep ...
Then came his little brother, two years old,
He looked, and lisped, "The baby is asleep."
NOTES.
_The Wee Folk_.--In Gaelic they are usually called "The Peace People"
(sithchean). Other names are "Wee Folk" (daoine beaga); "Light Folk"
(slaugh eutrom), etc. As in the Lowlands, they are also referred to as
"guid fowk" and "guid neighbours."
_The Banshee_ (Beanshith).--Sometimes referred to as "The Fairy Queen,"
sometimes as "The Green Lady." She sings a song while she washes the
clothes of one about to meet a swift and tragic fate. In the Fian poems
she converses with those who see her, and foretells the fate of warriors
going to battle.
_The Blue Men of the Minch_ (Na Fir Ghorm).--Between the Shant Isles
(Charmed Isles) and Lewis is the "Stream of the Blue Men." They are the
"sea-horses" of the island Gaels. Their presence in the strait was
believed to be the cause of its billowy restlessness and swift currents.
_The Changeling_.--When the fairies robbed a mother of her babe, they
left behind a useless, old, and peevish fairy, who took the form of a
child. This belief may have originated in the assumption that when a
baby became ill and fretful, it was a changeling.
_The Urisk_ is, if anything, a personification of fear. It is a silent,
cloudy shape which haunts lonely moors, and follows travellers, but
rarely does more than scare them.
_My Fairy Lover_.--Fairies fell in love with human beings, and deserted
them when their love was returned. Women of unsound mind, given to
wandering alone in solitary places, were believed to be the victims of
fairy love.
_Yon Fairy Dog_ (An Cu Sith) was heard howling on stormy nights. He was
"big as a stirk," one informant has declared The "fearsome tail" appears
to have been not the least impressive thing about it. The MacCodrums
were brave and fearless, and were supposed to be descended from Seals,
which were believed to be human beings under spells.
_My Gunna_.--This kindly, but solitary, elf herded cattle by night, and
prevented them from falling over the rocks. He was seen only by those
gifted with the faculty of "second sight." The Gunna resembles the
Lowland "Brownie."
_Her Evil Eye_.--Belief in the Evil Eye is still quite common, even
among educated people, in the Highlands. Not a few children wear "the
cord," to which a silver coin is appended, as a charm against the
influence of "the eye."
_The Little Old Man of the Barn_ (Bodachan Sabhaill).--Like the Gunna,
he is a variety the kindly Brownie, and assisted the needy.
_Nimble Men_ (Na Fir Chlis) are "The Merry Dancers," or Aurora Borealis.
It was believed that, when the streamers were coloured, the "men and
maids" were dancing, and that after the dance the lovers fought for the
love of the queen. When the streamers are particularly vivid, a pink
cloud is seen below them, and this is called "the pool of blood." It
drips upon blood-stones, the spots on which are referred to as fairy
blood (fuil siochaire). A wizard could, by waving his wand, summon the
"Nimble Men" to dance in the northern sky.
_The Water Horse_ haunted lonely lochs, and lured human beings to a
terrible death. When a hand was laid on its main, power to remove it was
withdrawn.
_A Cursing_--The Gaelic curses are quaint in translation, but terrible
in the original.
_Bonnach Fallaidh_.--It was considered unlucky to throw away the
remnants of a baking. So the good-wife made a little bannock, which was
pierced in the middle, as a charm against fairy influence. It was given
to a child for performing an errand, but the charm would be broken if
the reason for gifting it were explained. That was the good-wife's
secret. It was also unlucky to count the bannocks, and when they fell,
"bad luck" was foretold. Finlay's bannock was not kneaded on the board
or placed on the brander, but, unlike the other bannocks, was toasted in
front of the fire.
_The Gruagach_ was a gentlemanly Brownie, who haunted byres. It was
never seen, although its shadow occasionally danced on the wall as it
flitted about. Often, when chased, it was heard tittering round corners.
In some barns, Clach-na-gruagach--"the Gruagach's stone"--is still
seen. Milkers pour an offering of milk into the hollowed stone "for
luck." The cream might not rise and the churn yield no butter if this
service were neglected. A favourite trick of the Gruagach was to untie
the cattle in the byre, so as to bring out the milkmaid, especially if
she had forgotten to leave the offering of milk.
_Tober Mhuire_ (St Mary's Well) is situated at Tarradale, Ross-shire.
When a sick person asks for a drink of Tober Mhuire water, it is taken
as a sign of approaching death. It is a curious thing that this
reverence for holy water should be perpetuated among a Presbyterian
people. Wishing and curative wells are numerous in the North.
_The Fians of Knockfarrel_.--This story belongs to the Ossianic or Fian
cycle of Gaelic tales in prose and verse. Hugh Miller makes reference to
it, but speaks of the Fians as giants. In Strathpeffer district the tale
is well known, and it is referred to in "Waifs and Strays of Celtic
Tradition." It is also localised in Skye. There are several Fian
place-names in the Highlands. The warriors are supposed to lie in a
charmed sleep in Craig-a-howe Cave, near Munlochy, Ross-shire. Caoilte,
the swift runner, was a famous Fian. Finn was chief, and Goll and Garry
were of Clan Morna, which united with the Fians. "Moolachie" is a little
babe, and "clarsach," a harp.
_Ledbag's Warning_.--Children who twist their mouths, or squint, are
warned that, if the wind changes, their contortions will remain. The
fate of the flounder, which mocked the cod, is cited as a terrible
example.
_Conn, Son of the Red_ is a Fian tale of which several old Gaelic
versions have been collected. Goll, the "first hero" of the Fians, slew
the Red when Conn, his son, was seven years old. In the fullness of time
the young hero, whom his enemies admire as well as fear, crossed the sea
to avenge his father's death, and engaged in a long and fierce duel with
Goll.
_Death of Cuchullin_ is from the Cuchullin Cycle of Bronze Age heroic
tales. The enemy have invaded and laid waste the province of Ulster, and
the chief warriors of the Red Branch, except Cuchullin, who must needs
fight alone, are laid under spells by the magicians of the invaders. The
poem is suffused with evidences of magical beliefs and practices.
Cuchullin goes forth knowing that he will meet his doom. His name
signifies "hound of Culann." In his youth he slew Culann's ferocious
watch-hound which attacked him, and took its place until another was
trained. It was "geis" (taboo) for him to partake of the flesh of a
hound (his totem), or eat at a cooking hearth; but he must needs accept
the hospitality of the witches. The satirists are satirical bards who,
it was believed, could not only lampoon a hero, but infuse their
compositions with magical powers like incantations. Cuchullin cannot be
slain except by his own spear, which he must deliver up to a satirist
who demands it. Emania, the capital of Ulster, was the home of the Bed
Branch warriors.
_Sleepy Song_.--When Diarmid eloped with Grianne, as Paris did with
Helen, the Fians followed them, so that Finn, their chief, might be
avenged. Diarmid, who is the unwilling victim of Grainne's spells,
dreads to meet Finn, and is in constant fear of discovery.