LITERAL TRANSLATION
It happened that his cows had been in the meanwhile stolen. His mother
came to him. "Not active (or "lucky") of journey hast thou gone; it
shall cause much of trouble to thee," she says. "Thy cows have been
stolen, and thy three sons, and thy wife, so that they are in the
mountain of Elpa. Three cows of them are in Alba of the North with the
Cruthnechi (the Picts)." "Query, what shall I do?" he says to his
mother. "Thou shalt do a non-going for seeking them; thou wouldest not
give thy life for them," she says. "Thou shalt have cows at my hands
besides them." "Not so this," he says: "I have pledged my hospitality
and my soul to go to Ailill and to Medb with my cows to the Spoil of
the Cows from Cualnge." "What thou seekest shall not be obtained,"
says his mother. At this she goes off from him then.
He then sets out with three nines, and a wood-cuckoo (hawk), and a
hound of tie with them, until he goes to the territory of the
Ulstermen, so that he meets with Conall Cernach (Conall the Victorious)
at Benna Bairchi (a mountain on the Ulster border).
He tells his quest to him. "What awaits thee," says the latter, "shall
not be lucky for thee. Much of trouble awaits thee," he says, "though
in it the mind should be." "It will come to me," says Fraech to
Connall, "that thou wouldest help me any time we should meet." (?) "I
shall go truly," says Conall Cernach. They set of the three (i.e. the
three nines) over sea, over Saxony of the North, over the Sea of Icht
(the sea between England and France), to the north of the Long-bards
(the dwellers of Lombardy), until they reached the mountains of Elpa.
They saw a herd-girl at tending of the sheep before them. "Let us go
south," says Conall, "O Fraech, that we may address the woman yonder,
and let our youths stay here."
They went then to a conversation. She said, "Whence are ye?" "Of the
men of Erin," says Conall. "It shall not be lucky for the men of Erin
truly, the coming to this country. From the men of Erin too is my
mother. Aid thou me on account of relationship."
"Tell us something about our movements. What is the quality of the
land we have to come to?" "A grim hateful land with troublesome
warriors, who go on every side for carrying off cows and women as
captives," she says. "What is the latest thing they have carried off?"
says Fraech. "The cows of Fraech, son of Idath, from the west of Erin,
and his wife, and his three sons. Here is his wife here in the house
of the king, here are his cows in the country in front of you." "Let
thy aid come to us," says Conall. Little is my power, save guidance
only." "This is Fraech," says Conall, and they are his cows that have
been carried off." "Is the woman constant in your estimation?" she
says. "Though constant in our estimation when she went, perchance she
is not constant after coming." "The woman who frequents the cows, go
ye to her; tell ye of your errand; of the men of Ireland her race; of
the men of Ulster exactly."
They come to her; they receive her, and they name themselves to her,
and she bids welcome to them. "What hath led you forth?" she says.
"Trouble hath led us forth," says Conall; "ours are the cows and the
woman that is in the Liss."
"It shall not be lucky for you truly," she says, "the going up to the
multitude of the woman; more troublesome to you than everything," she
says, "is the serpent which is at guarding of the Liss." "She is not
my country-name(?)," says Fraech, "she is not constant in my
estimation; thou art constant in my estimation; we know thou wilt not
lead us astray, since it is from the men of Ulster thou art." "Whence
are ye from the men of Ulster?" she says. "This is Conall Cernach
here, the bravest hero with the men of Ulster," says Fraech. She
flings two hands around the throat of Conall Cernach. "The destruction
has come in this expedition," she says, "since he has come to us; for
it is to him the destruction of this dun has been prophesied. I shall
go out to my house,"[FN#41] she says, "I shall not be at the milking of
the cows. I shall leave the Liss opened; it is I who close it every
night.[FN#42] I shall say it is for drink the calves were sucking.
Come thou into the dun, when they are sleeping; only trouble. some to
you is the serpent which is at the dun; several tribes are let loose
from it."
[FN#41] "To my house" is in the Egerton MS. only.
[FN#42] "Every night" is in the Egerton MS. only.
"We will go truly," says Conall. They attack the Liss; the serpent
darts leap into the girdle of Conall Cernach, and they plunder the dun
at once. They save off then the woman and the three sons, and they
carry away whatever was the best of the gems of the dun, and Conall
lets the serpent out of his girdle, and neither of them did harm to the
other. And they came to the territory of the people of the Picts,
until they saw three cows of their cows in it. They drove off to the
Fort of Ollach mac Briuin (now Dunolly near Oban) with them, until they
were at Ard Uan Echach (high-foaming Echach). It is there the gillie
of Conall met his death at the driving of the cows, that is Bicne son
of Loegaire; it is from this is (the name of) Inver Bicne (the Bicne
estuary) at Benchor. They brought their cows over it thither. It is
there they flung their horns from them, so that it is thence is (the
name of) Tracht Benchoir (the Strand of Horn casting, perhaps the
modern Bangor?).
Fraech goes away then to his territory after, and his wife, and his
sons, and his cows with him, until he goes with Ailill and Medb for the
Spoil of the Cows from Cualnge.
THE RAID FOR DARTAID'S CATTLE
INTRODUCTION
This tale is given by Windisch (Irische Texte, II. pp. 185-205), from
two versions; one, whose translation he gives in full, except for one
doubtful passage, is from the manuscript in the British Museum, known
as Egerton, 1782 (dated 1414); the other is from the Yellow Book of
Lecan (fourteenth century), in the library of Trinity College, Dublin.
The version in the Yellow Book is sometimes hard to read, which seems
to be the reason why Windisch prefers to translate the younger
authority, but though in some places the Egerton version is the fuller,
the Yellow Book version (Y.B.L.) often adds passages, some of which
Windisch has given in notes; some he has left untranslated. In the
following prose version as much of Y.B.L. as adds anything to the
Egerton text has been translated, with marks of interrogation where the
attempted rendering is not certain: variants from the text adopted are
placed below the prose version as footnotes. The insertions from
Y.B.L. are indicated by brackets; but no note is taken of cases where
the Egerton version is fuller than Y.B.L.
The opening of the story (the first five lines in the verse rendering)
is in the eleventh century Book of the Dun Cow: the fragment agrees
closely with the two later texts, differing in fact from Y.B.L. in one
word only. All three texts are given in the original by Windisch.
The story is simple and straightforward, but is a good example of fairy
vengeance, the description of the appearance of the troop recalls
similar descriptions in the Tain bo Fraich, and in the Courtship of
Ferb. The tale is further noticeable from its connection with the
province of Munster: most of the heroic tales are connected with the
other three provinces only. Orlam, the hero of the end of the tale, was
one of Cuchulain's earliest victims in the Tain bo Cualgne.
THE RAID FOR DARTAID'S CATTLE
FROM THE EGERTON MS. 1782 (EARLY FIFTEENTH-CENTURY), AND THE YELLOW
BOOK OF LECAN (FOURTEENTH-CENTURY)
EOCHO BEC,[FN#43] the son of Corpre, reigning in the land of
Clew,[FN#44]
Dwelt in Coolny's[FN#45] fort; and fostered sons of princes not a few:
Forty kine who grazed his pastures gave him milk to rear his wards;
Royal blood his charges boasted, sprung from Munster's noblest lords.
Maev and Ailill sought to meet him: heralds calling him they sent:
"Seven days hence I come" said Eocho; and the heralds from him went.
Now, as Eocho lay in slumber, in the night a vision came;
By a youthful squire attended, rose to view a fairy dame:
"Welcome be my greeting to you!" said the king: "Canst thou discern
Who we are?" the fairy answered, "how didst thou our fashion learn?"
"Surely," said the king, "aforetime near to me hath been thy place!"
"Very near thee have we hovered, yet thou hast not seen my face."
"Where do ye abide?" said Eocho. "Yonder dwell we, with the Shee:[FN#46]
"In the Fairy Mound of Coolny!" "Wherefore come ye hereto me?"
"We have come," she said, "a counsel as a gift to thee to bring!"
"Speak! and tell me of the counsel ye have brought me," said the king.
"Noble gifts," she said, "we offer that renown for thee shall gain
When in foreign lands thou ridest; worship in thine own domain;
For a troop shall circle round thee, riding close beside thy hand:
Stately it shall be, with goodly horses from a foreign land!"
"Tell me of that troop," said Eocho, "in what numbers should we ride? "
Fifty horsemen is the number that befits thee," she replied:
[FN#43] Pronounced Yeo-ho Bayc.
[FN#44] Cliu, a district in Munster.
[FN#45] Spelt Cuillne, in Y.B.L. it is Cuille.
[FN#46] The Fairies, spelt Sidh.
"Fifty horses, black in colour; gold and silver reins and bits;
Fifty sets of gay equipment, such as fairies well befits;
These at early dawn to-morrow shall my care for thee provide:
Let thy foster-children with thee on the road thou makest ride!
Rightly do we come to help thee, who so valiantly in fray
Guardest for us soil and country!" And the fairy passed away.
Eocho's folk at dawn have risen; fifty steeds they all behold:
Black the horses seemed; the bridles, stiff with silver and with gold,
Firmly to the gate were fastened; fifty silver breeches there
Heaped together shone, encrusted all with gold the brooches were:
There were fifty knightly vestments, bordered fair with golden thread:
Fifty horses, white, and glowing on their ears with deepest red,
Nigh them stood; of reddish purple were the sweeping tails and manes;
Silver were the bits; their pasterns chained in front with brazen
chains:
And, of fair findruine[FN#47] fashioned, was for every horse a whip,
Furnished with a golden handle, wherewithal the goad to grip.
[FN#47] Pronounced "findroony."
Then King Eocho rose, and ready made him; in that fair array
Forth they rode, nor did they tarry till they came to Croghan[FN#48] Ay.
Scarcely could the men of Connaught bear to see that sight, amazed
At the dignity and splendour of the host on which they gazed;
For that troop was great; in serried ranks the fifty riders rode,
Splendid with the state recounted; pride on all their faces glowed.
"Name the man who comes!" said Ailill; "Easy answer!" all replied,
Eocho Bee, in Clew who ruleth, hither to thy court would ride":
Court and royal house were opened; in with welcome came they all;
Three long days and nights they lingered, feasting in King Ailill's
hall.
Then to Ailill, king of Connaught, Eocho spake: "From out my land
{50} Wherefore hast thou called me hither?" "Gifts are needed from thy
hand,"
Ailill said; "a heavy burden is that task upon me laid,
To maintain the men of Ireland when for Cualgne's kine we raid."
[FN#48] Pronounced Crow-han.
Eocho spoke: "What gift requirest thou from me?" "For milking-kine,"
Ailill said, "I ask"; and Eocho, "Few of these indeed are mine!
Forty sons of Munster's princes have I in my halls to rear;
These, my foster-sons, beside me m my troop have journeyed here;
Fifty herdsmen guard the cattle, forty cows my wards to feed,
Seven times twenty graze beside them, to supply my people's need."
"If, for every man who follows thee as liege, and owns a farm,
Thou a cow wilt yield," said Ailill, "then from foes with power to harm
I will guard thee in the battle!" "Keep then faithfully thy vows,"
Eocho said, "this day as tribute shall to Croghan come the cows."
Thrice the sun hath set and risen while they feasting there abide,
Maev and Ailill's bounty tasting, homeward then they quickly ride:
But the sons of Glaschu met them, who from western Donnan came;
Donnan, from the seas that bound it, Irross Donnan hath for name;
Seven times twenty men attacked them, and to battle they were brought,
At the isle of O'Canàda, fiercely either party fought;
With his foster children round him, Eocho Bec in fight was killed,
All the forty princes perished, with that news the land was filled;
All through Ireland lamentation rose for every youthful chief;
Four times twenty Munster princes, weeping for them, died of grief.
Now a vision came to Ailill, as in sleep he lay awhile,
or a youth and dame approached him, fairer none in Erin's Isle:
"Who are ye?" said Ailill; "Conquest," said the fairy, "and Defeat
"Though Defeat I shun," said Ailill, "Conquest joyfully I meet."
"Conquest thou shalt have!" she answered: "Of the future I would ask,
Canst thou read my fate?" said Ailill: "Light indeed for me the task,"
Said the dame: "the kine of Dartaid, Eocho's daughter, may be won:
Forty cows she owns; to gain them send to her thy princely son,
Orlam, whom that maiden loveth: let thy son to start prepare,
Forty youths from Connaught with him, each of them a prince's heir:
Choose thou warriors stout and stately; I will give them garments
bright,
Even those that decked the princes who so lately fell in fight:
Bridles, brooches, all I give thee; ere the morning sun be high
Thou shalt count that fairy treasure: to our country now we fly."
Swiftly to the son of Tassa sped they thence, to Corp the Gray:
On the northern bank of Naymon was his hold, and there he lay;
And before the men of Munster, as their champion did he stand:
He hath wrought-so runs the proverb-evil, longer than his hand.
As to Corp appeared the vision: "Say," he cried, "what names ye boast!"
"Ruin, one is called," they answered; "one, The Gathering of the Host!"
An assembled host I welcome," answered them the gray Corp Lee;
"Ruin I abhor": "And ruin," they replied, "is far from thee;
Thou shalt bring on sons of nobles, and of kings a ruin great":
"Fairy," said Corp Lee, the Gray one, "tell me of that future fate."
"Easy is the task," she answered, "youths of every royal race
That in Connaught's land hath dwelling, come to-morrow to this place;
Munster's kine they hope to harry, for the Munster princes fell
Yesterday with Connaught fighting; and the hour I plainly ten:
At the ninth hour of the morning shall they come: the band is small:
Have thou valiant men to meet them, and upon the raiders fall!
Munster's honour hath been tarnished! clear it by a glorious deed!
Thou shalt purge the shame if only in the foray thou succeed."
"What should be my force?" he asked her: "Take of heroes seven score
For that fight," she said, "and with them seven times twenty warriors
more:
Far from thee we now are flying; but shall meet thee with thy power
When to-morrow's sun is shining; at the ninth, the fated hour."
At the dawn, the time appointed, all those steeds and garments gay
Were in Connaught, and they found them at the gate of Croghan Ay;
All was there the fay had promised, all the gifts of which we told:
All the splendour that had lately decked the princes they behold.
Doubtful were the men of Connaught; some desired the risk to face;
Some to go refused: said Ailill, "It should bring us to disgrace
If we spurned such offered bounty": Orlam his reproaches felt;
Sprang to horse; and towards the country rode, where Eocho's daughter
dwelt:
And where flows the Shannon river, near that water's southern shore,
Found her home; for as they halted, moated Clew[FN#49] rose high before.
[FN#49] Spelt Cliu.
Dartaid met them ere they halted, joyful there the prince to see:
All the kine are not assembled, of their count is lacking three!"
"Tarry not for search," said Orlam, "yet provision must we take
On our steeds, for hostile Munster rings us round. Wilt home forsake,
Maiden? wilt thou ride beside us?" "I will go indeed," she said.
Then, with all thy gathered cattle, come with us; with me to wed!
So they marched, and in the centre of their troop the kine were set,
And the maiden rode beside them: but Corp Lee, the Gray, they met;
Seven times twenty heroes with him; and to battle they must go,
And the Connaught nobles perished, fighting bravely with the foe:
All the sons of Connaught's princes, all the warriors with them died:
Orlam's self escaped the slaughter, he and eight who rode beside:
Yet he drave the cows to Croghan; ay, and fifty heifers too!
But, when first the foe made onset, they the maid in battle slew.
Near a lake, did Eocho's[FN#50] daughter, Dartaid, in the battle fall,
From that lake, and her who perished, hath been named that region all:
Emly Darta is that country; Tain bo Dartae is the tale:
And, as prelude, 'tis recited, till the Cualgne[FN#51] Raid they hail.
[FN#50] Pronounced Yeo-ho.
[FN#51] Pronounced Kell-ny.
THE RAID FOR DARTAID'S CATTLE
LITERAL TRANSLATION
The Passages that occur only in the Yellow Book (Y.B.L.) are indicated
by being placed in square brackets.
EOCHO BEC, the son of Corpre, king of Cliu, dwelt in the Dun of
Cuillne,[FN#52] and with him were forty fosterlings, all sons of the
kings of Munster; he had also forty milch-cows for their sustenance. By
Ailill and Medb messengers were sent, asking him to come to a
conference. "[In a week,"][FN#53] said Eocho, "I will go to that
conference;" and the messengers departed from him.
[FN#52] The eleventh century MS., the Leabhar na h-Uidhri, which gives
the first four lines of this tale as a fragment, adds here as a note:
"this is in the land of the O'Cuanach": apparently the O'Briens of
Cuanach.
[FN#53] At Samhuin day (Egerton).
One night Eocho lay there in his sleep, when he saw something approach
him; a woman, and a young man in her attendance. "Ye are welcome!"
said Eocho. ["Knowest thou us?"] said she, "Where hast thou learned to
know us?" "It seems to me as if I had been near to you." "I think
that we have been very near to one another, though we have not seen
each other face to face!" "In what place do ye dwell?" said Eocho.
"Yonder in Sid Cuillne (the fairy mound of Cuillne)," said she. "And,
wherefore have ye come?" "In order to give thee counsel," said she.
For what purpose is the counsel," said he, "that thou givest me?"
"Something," she said, "that will bring thee honour and renown on thy
journey at home and abroad. A stately troop shall be round thee, and
goodly foreign horses shall be under thee."[FN#54] "With how many
shall I go?" said Eocho. "Fifty horsemen is the number that is
suitable for thee," she answered.
[FN#54] Y.B.L. adds a passage that Windisch does not translate: it
seems to run thus: "Unknown to thee is the half of what thou hast met:
it seems to us that foreign may be thy splendour"(?)
"To-morrow in the morning fifty black horses, furnished with bridles of
gold and silver, shall come to thee from me; and with them fifty sets
of equipment of the equipment of the Side; and all of thy
foster-children shall go with thee; well it becomes us to help thee,
because thou art valiant in the defence of our country and our soil."
Then the woman left him.
Early in the morning they arise, there they see something: the fifty
black horses, furnished with bridles of gold and silver tied fast to
the gate of the castle, also fifty breeches of silver with
embellishment of gold; and fifty youths' garments with their edges of
spun gold, and fifty white horses with red ears and long tails,
purple-red were all their tails and their manes, with silver bits
(?)[FN#55] and foot-chains of brass upon each horse; there were also
fifty whips of white bronze (findruine), with end pieces of gold that
thereby they might be taken into hands.[FN#56]
[FN#55] co m-belgib (?) Windisch translates "bridles," the same as
cona srianaib above.
[FN#56] Y.B.L. adds, "Through wizardry was all that thing: it was
recited (?) how great a thing had appeared, and he told his dream to
his people."
Then King Eocho arises, and prepares himself (for the journey): they
depart with this equipment to Cruachan Ai:[FN#57] and the people were
well-nigh overcome with their consequence and appearance: their troop
was great, goodly, splendid, compact: [fifty heroes, all with that
appearance that has just been related.
"How is that man named?" said Ailill. "Not hard, Eocho Bec, the king
of Cliu." They entered the Liss (outer court), and the royal house;
welcome was given to them, he remained there three days and three
nights at the feasting.]
[FN#57] Egerton here gives "Ailill and Medb made them welcome;" it
omits the long passage in square brackets.
"Wherefore have I have been invited to come?" said Eocho to Ailill: "To
learn if I can obtain a gift from thee," said Ailill; "for a heavy need
weighs upon me, even the sustenance of the men of Ireland for the
bringing of the cattle from Cualgne."
"What manner of gift is it that thou desirest?" said Eocho. "Nothing
less than a gift of milking-kine," said Ailill. "There is no
superfluity of these in my land," said Eocho; "I have forty
fosterlings, sons of the kings of Munster, to bring them up (to
manhood); they are here in my company, there are forty cows to supply
the needs of these, to supply my own needs are seven times twenty
milch-cows [there are fifty men for this cause watching over them].
"Let me have from thee," said Ailill, "one cow from each farmer who is
under thy lordship as my share; moreover I will yield thee assistance
if at any time thou art oppressed by superior might." "Thus let it be
as thou sayest," said Eocho; "moreover, they shall come to thee this
very day."
For three days and three nights they were hospitably entertained by
Ailill and Medb, and then they departed homewards, till they met the
sons of Glaschu, who came from Irross Donnan (the peninsula of Donnan,
now Mayo); the number of those who met them was seven times twenty men,
and they set themselves to attack each other, and to strive with each
other in combat, and [at the island of O'Conchada (Inse Ua Conchada)]
they fought together. In that place fell the forty sons of kings round
Eocho Bec, and that news was spread abroad over all the land of
Ireland, so that four times twenty kings' sons, of the youths of
Munster, died, sorrowing for the deaths of these princes.
On another night, as Ailill lay in his sleep, upon his bed, he saw some
thing, a young man and a woman, the fairest that could be found in
Ireland. "Who are ye?" said Ailill. "Victory and Defeat are our
names," she said. "Victory indeed is welcome to me, but not so
Defeat," said Ailill. "Victory shall be thine in each form!" said she.
["What is the next thing after this that awaits us?" said Ailill.
"Not hard to tell thee," said she] "let men march out from thy palace
in the morning, that thou mayest win for thyself the cattle of Dartaid,
the daughter of Eocho. Forty is the number of her milch-cows, it is
thine own son, Orlam mac Ailill, whom she loves. Let Orlam prepare for
his journey with a stately troop of valiant men, also forty sons of
those kings who dwell in the land of Connaught; and by me shall be
given to them the same equipment that the other youths had who fell in
yon fight, bridles and garments and brooches; [early in the morning
shall count of the treasure be made, and now we go to our own land,"
said she].
Then they depart from him, and forthwith they go to [Corp[FN#58] Liath
(the Gray),] who was the son of Tassach. His castle was on the bank of
the river Nemain, upon the northern side, he was a champion of renown
for the guarding of the men of Munster; longer than his hand is the
evil he hath wrought. To this man also they appeared, and "What are
your names?" said he: "Tecmall and Coscrad (Gathering of Hosts, and
Destruction)," said they. "Gathering of Hosts is indeed good," said
Corp Liath, "an evil thing is destruction": "There will be no
destruction for thee, and thou shalt destroy the sons of kings and
nobles": "And what," said Corp Liath, "is the next thing to be done?"
[FN#58] The Egerton MS. gives the name, Corb Cliach.
"That is easy to say," they said;[FN#59] "each son of a king and a
queen, and each heir of a king that is in Connaught, is now coming upon
you to bear off cows from your country, for that the sons of your kings
and queens have fallen by the hand of the men of Connaught. To-morrow
morning, at the ninth hour they will come, and small is their troop; so
if valiant warriors go thither to meet them, the honour of Munster
shall be preserved; if indeed thine adventure shall meet with success."
[FN#59] Y.B.L. gives the passage thus: "Assemble with you the sons of
kings, and heirs of kings, that you may destroy the sons of kings and
heirs of kings." "Who are they?" said Corp Liath. "A noble youth it
is from Connaught: he comes to yon to drive your cows before him, after
that your young men were yesterday destroyed by him, at the ninth hour
of the morning they will come to take away the cows of Darta, the
daughter of Eocho."
"With what number should I go?" he said. "Seven times twenty heroes
thou shouldest take with thee," she replied, ["and seven times twenty
warriors besides"]: "And now" said the woman, "we depart to meet thee
to-morrow at the ninth hour."
At the time (appointed), when morning had come, the men of Connaught
saw the horses and the raiment of which we have spoken, at the gate of
the fort of Croghan, [even as she (the fairy) had foretold, and as we
have told, so that at that gate was all she had promised, and all that
had been seen on the sons of kings aforetime], and there was a doubt
among the people whether they should go on that quest or not. "It is
shame," said Ailill, "to refuse a thing that is good"; and upon that
Orlam departed [till[FN#60] he came to the house of Dartaid, the
daughter of Eocho, in Cliu Classach (Cliu the Moated), on the Shannon
upon the south (bank).
[FN#60] Egerton Version has only "towards Chu till he came to the home
of Dartaid, the daughter of Eocho: the maiden rejoiced," &c. From this
point to the end the version in the Yellow Book is much fuller.
[There they halted], and the maiden rejoiced at their coming: "Three of
the kine are missing." "We cannot wait for these; let the men take
provision on their horses, [for rightly should we be afraid in the
midst of Munster. Wilt thou depart with me, O maiden?" said he. "I
will indeed go with thee," said she]. "Come then thou," said he, "and
with thee all of thy cows."
[Then the young men go away with the cows in the midst, and the maiden
was with them; but Corp Liath, the son of Tassach, met them with seven
times twenty warriors to oppose their march. A battle was fought], and
in that place fell the sons of the kings of Connaught, together with
the warriors who had gone with them, all except Orlam and eight
others,[FN#61] who carried away with them the kine, even the forty
milch-cows, and fifty heifers, [so that they came into the land of
Connaught]; but the maiden fell at the beginning of the fight.
[FN#61] Y.B.L. inserts Dartaid's death at this point: "and Dartaid
fell at the beginning of the fight, together with the stately sons of
Connaught."
Hence is that place called Imlech Dartaid, (the Lake Shore of Darta),
in the land of Cliu, [where Dartaid, the daughter of Eocho, the son of
Corpre, fell: and for this reason this story is called the Tain bo
Dartae, it is one of the preludes to the Tain bo Cualnge].
THE RAID FOR THE CATTLE OF REGAMON
INTRODUCTION
The two versions of this tale, given by Windisch in the Irische Texte,
II. pp. 224-238, are from the same manuscripts as the two versions of
the Raid of the Cattle of Dartaid; namely the Yellow Book of Lecan, and
the Egerton MS. 1782. In the case of this tale, the Yellow Book
version is more legible, and, being not only the older, but a little
more full than the other version, Windisch has translated this text
alone: the prose version, as given here, follows this manuscript,
nearly as given by Windisch, with only one addition from the Egerton
MS.; the omissions in the Egerton MS. are not mentioned, but one or two
changes in words adopted from this MS. are mentioned in the foot-notes
to the prose rendering.
The whole tone of the tale is very unlike the tragic character of those
romances, which have been sometimes supposed to represent the general
character of old Irish literature: there is not even a hint of the
super-natural; the story contains no slaughter; the youthful raiders
seem to be regarded as quite irresponsible persons, and the whole is an
excellent example of an old Celtic: romance with what is to-day called
a "good ending."
THE RAID FOR THE CATTLE OF REGAMON
FROM THE YELLOW BOOK OF LECAN
(A MANUSCRIPT OF THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY)
When Ailill and Maev in the Connaught land abode, and the lordship held,
A chief who many a field possessed in the land of Connaught dwelled:
A great, and a fair, and a goodly herd of kine had the chieftain won:
And his fame in the fight was in all men's word; his name was Regamon.
Now seven daughters had Regamon; they dwelt at home with their sire:
Yet the seven sons of King Ailill and Maev their beauty with love could
fire:
All those seven sons were as Mani[FN#62] known; the first was as Morgor
hailed,
For his love was great: it was Mingar's fate that in filial love he
failed:
The face was seen of the mother-queen on the third; and his father's
face
Did the fourth son show: they the fifth who know cannot speak all his
strength and grace:
The sixth son spoke, from his lips the words like drops of honey fell:
And last came one who all gifts possessed that the tongue of a man can
tell;
For his father's face that Mani had, in him was his mother seen;
And in him abode every grace bestowed on the king of the land or the
queen.
[FN#62] Pronounced Mah-nee.
Of the daughters of Regamon now we speak: two names those maidens bore:
For as Dunnan three ever known shall be; Dunlaith[FN#63] was the name
for four:
And in Breffny's land is the Ford Dunlaith, and the fame of the four
recalls;
The three ye know where the Dunnan's flow in western Connaught falls.
With Fergus, Ailill and Maev were met: as at council all conferred;
"It were well for our folk," thus Ailill spoke, "if the lord of that
cattle-herd,
That strays in the fields of Regamon, would tribute to us pay:
And to gain that end, let us heralds send, to his burg who may make
their way,
And bear to our court that tribute back; for greatly we soon shall need
Such kine when we in the time of war our hosts shall have to feed;
And all who share in our counsels know that a burden will soon be mine,
When the men must be fed of Ireland, led on the Raid for the
Cuailgne[FN#64] Kine!"
Thus Ailill spoke; and Queen Maev replied, "The men to perform that task
Right well I know; for our sons will go, if we for their aid but ask!
The seven daughters of Regamon do the Mani in love now seek:
If those maidens' hands they can gain by the deed, they will heed the
words we speak."
To his side King Ailill has called his sons, his mind to the youth he
shows.
"Best son," says Maev, "and grateful he, from filial love who goes!"
And Morgor said, "For the love that we owe, we go at our sire's behest:"
"Yet a greater reward," thus Mingar spake, "must be ours, if we go on
this quest!
For naught have we of hero-craft; and small shall be found our might;
And of valiant breed are the men," said he, "with whom we shall have to
fight.
[FN#63] Pronounced Dun-lay.
[FN#64] Pronounced Kell-ny.
As men from the shelter of roof who go, and must rest in the open field,
So thy sons shall stand, if they come to a land where a foe might be
found concealed!
We have dwelt till now in our father's halls, too tenderly cared for
far:
Nor hath any yet thought, that to us should be taught the arts that
belong to war!"
Queen Maev and Ailill their sons have sped, away on the quest they went,
With seven score men for the fight, whom the queen for help of her sons
had sent:
To the south of the Connaught realm they reached, the burg that they
sought was plain
For to Ninnus land they had come, and were nigh to the Corcomroe domain.
"From our band," said Mani Morgor, "some must go, of that burg to learn
How entrance we may attain to win, and back with the news return
We must test the strength of the maidens' love!" On Mingar the task was
set,
And with two beside him, he searched the land, till three of the maids
they met:
By springs of water they found the maids, drew swords, and against them
leapt!
"O grant our lives!" was the maiden's cry, "and your lives shall be
safely kept!"
"For your lives," he said, "will ye grant a boon, set forth in three
words of speech?"
"At our hands," said she, "shall granted be, whatever thy tongue shall
teach;
Yet ask not cattle; those kine have we no power to bestow, I fear":
"Why, 'tis for the sake of the kine," he said, "that all of us now are
here!"
"Who art thou then?" from her faltering broke: "Mani Mingar am I," he
replied;
I am son to King Ailill and Maev: And to me thou art welcome," the
maiden cried;
"But why have ye come to this land?" said she: For kine and for
brides," he said,
Have we come to seek: And 'tis right," said she, such demands in a
speech to wed:
Yet the boon that you ask will our folk refuse, and hard will your task
be found;
For a valiant breed shall you meet, I fear, in the men who guard this
ground!"
"Give your aid," he said, "then as friends: But time," said she, "we
must have for thought;
For a plan must be made, e'er thy word be obeyed, and the kine to thy
hands be brought:
Have ye journeyed here with a force of men? how great is the strength
of your band?"
"Seven score are there here for the fight," he said, "the warriors are
near at hand!"
"Wait here," said she; "to my sisters four I go of the news to tell:
"And with thee we side!" all the maidens cried, "and we trust we shall
aid thee well,"
Away from the princes the maidens sped, they came to their sisters four,
And thus they spoke: "From the Connaught land come men, who are here at
your door;
The sons of Ailill and Maev have come; your own true loves are they!"
"And why have they come to this land?" they said; "For kine and for
brides, they say,
Have they come to seek:" "And with zeal their wish would we joyfully
now fulfil
If but powers to aid were but ours," they said, "which would match with
our right good will:
But I fear the youths in this burg who dwell, the plans that we make
may foil;
or far from the land may chase that band, and drive them away from
their spoil!"
"Will ye follow us now, with the prince to speak?" They willingly gave
consent,
And together away to the water-springs the seven maidens went.
They greeted Mani; "Now come!" said he, "and bring with you out your
herds:
And a goodly meed shall reward your deed, if you but obey my words;
For our honour with sheltering arms is nigh, and shall all of you
safely keep,
Ye seven daughters of Regamon!" The cattle, the swine, and sheep
Together the maidens drove; none saw them fly, nor to stay them sought,
Till safe to the place where the Mani stood, the herd by the maids was
brought.
The maidens greeted the sons of Maev, and each by her lover stood;
And then Morgor spoke: "Into twain this herd of kine to divide were
good,
At the Briuin[FN#65] Ford should the hosts unite; too strait hath the
path been made
For so vast a herd": and to Morgor's word they gave heed, and his
speech obeyed.
Now it chanced that Regamon, the king, was far from his home that day,
For he to the Corco Baiscinn land had gone, for a while to stay;
[FN#65] Pronounced Brewin.
With the Firbolg[FN#66] clans, in debate, he sat; and a cry as the
raiders rode,
Was behind him raised: to the king came men, who the news of that
plunder showed:
Then the king arose, and behind his foes he rode, and o'ertook their
flight,
And on Mani Morgor his host pressed hard, and they conquered his men in
the fight.
"To unite our band," thus Morgor cried, "fly hence, and our comrades
find!
Call the warriors back from the cattle here, and leave the maids behind;
Bid the maidens drive to our home the herd as far as the Croghan Fort,
And to Ailill and Maev of our perilous plight let the maidens bear
report."
The maidens went to the Croghan Fort, to Maev with their news they
pressed:
"Thy sons, O Maev, at the Briuin Ford are pent, and are sore distressed,
And they pray thee to aid them with speed": and Maev her host for the
war prepared,
With Ailill the warriors of Connaught came; and Fergus beside them
fared,
And the exiles came, who the Ulster name still bore, and towards that
Ford
All that host made speed, that their friends in need might escape from
the vengeful sword.
[FN#66] Pronounced Feer-bol.
Now Ailill's sons, in the pass of that Ford, had hurdles strongly set:
And Regamon failed through the ford to win, ere Ailill's troops were
met:
Of white-thorn and of black-thorn boughs were the hurdles roughly
framed,
And thence the name of the ford first came, that the Hurdle Ford is
named;
For, where the O'Feara[FN#67] Aidne folk now dwell, can ye plainly see
In the land of Beara[FN#68] the Less, that Ford, yet called Ath[FN#69]
Clee Maaree,
In the north doth it stand; and the Connaught land divideth from
Corcomroe;
And thither, with Regamon's troops to fight, did Ailill's army go.
[FN#67] Pronounced O'Fayra Ain-ye.
[FN#68] Pronounced Bayra.
[FN#69] Spelt Ath Cliath Medraidi. Ath is pronounced like Ah.
Then a truce they made; to the youths, that Raid who designed, they
gave back their lives;
And the maidens fair all pardoned were, who had fled with the youths,
as wives,
Who had gone with the herd, by the maids conferred on the men who the
kine had gained:
But the kine, restored to their rightful lord, in Regamon's hands
remained;
The maiden band in the Connaught land remained with the sons of Maev;
And a score of cows to each maiden's spouse the maidens' father gave:
As his daughters' dower, did their father's power his right in the cows
resign,
That the men might be fed of Ireland, led on the Raid for the
Cualgne[FN#70] Kine.
This tale, as the Tain bo Regamon, is known in the Irish tongue;
And this lay they make, when the harp they wake, ere the Cualgne Raid
be sung.
[FN#70] Pronounced Kell-ny.
THE RAID FOR THE CATTLE OF REGAMON
LITERAL TRANSLATION
In the time of Ailill and Medb, a glorious warrior and holder of land
dwelt in the land of Connaught, and his name was Regamon. He had many
herds of cattle, all of them fair and well-shaped: he had also seven
daughters with him. Now the seven sons of Ailill and Medb loved these
(daughters): namely the seven Maine, these were Maine Morgor (Maine
with great filial love), Maine Mingar (Maine with less filial love),
Maine Aithremail (Maine like his father), Maine Mathremail (Maine like
his mother), Maine Milbel (Maine with the mouth of honey),[FN#71] Maine
Moepert (Maine too great to be described), Maine Condageb-uile (Maine
who combined all qualities): now this one had the form both of father
and mother, and had all the glory that belonged to both parents.
[FN#71] The name of Maine Annai, making an eighth son, is given in
Y.B.L., but not in the Egerton MS.
The seven daughters of Regamon were the three Dunann, and the four
Dunlaith;[FN#72] from the names of these is the estuary of Dunann in
western Connaught, and the Ford of Dunlaith in Breffny.
[FN#72] So Egerton, which Windisch follows here; the reading of Y.B.L.
is Dunmed for the daughters, and Dumed for the corresponding ford.
Now at a certain time, Ailill and Medb and Fergus held counsel
together. "Some one from us," said Ailill, "should go to Regamon, that
a present of cattle may be brought to us from him; to meet the need
that there is on us for feeding the men of Ireland, when the kine are
raided from Cualgne." "I know," said Medb, "who would be good to go
thither, if we ask it of them; even the Maine; on account of their love
for the daughters."
His sons were called to Ailill, and he spoke with them. "Grateful is
he, and a better journey does he go," said Maev, "who goes for the sake
of his filial love." "Truly it shall be that it is owing to filial
love that we go," said Mani Morgor. "But the reward should (also) for
this be the better," said Mani Mingar; "it stands ill with our heroism,
ill with our strength.
It is like going from a house into the fields, (going) into the domains
or the land of foes. Too tenderly have we been brought up; none hath
let us learn of wars; moreover the warriors are valiant towards whom we
go!"
They took leave of Ailill and Medb, and betook themselves to the quest.
They set out, seven times twenty heroes was the number, till they were
in the south of Connaught, in the neighbourhood of the domain of
Corcomroe[FN#73] in the land of Ninnus, near to the burg. "Some of
you," said Mani Morgor, "should go to find out how to enter into the
burg; and to test the love of maidens." Mani Mingar, with two others,
went until he came upon three of the maidens at the water-springs, and
at once he and his comrades drew their swords against them. "Give life
for life!" said the maiden. "Grant to me then my three full words!"
said Mani Mingar. "Whatever thy tongue sets forth shall be done," said
the maiden, "only let it not be cows,[FN#74] for these have we no power
to give thee." "For these indeed," said Mani, "is all that now we
do."[FN#75]
[FN#73] Properly "Coremodruad," the descendants of Modh Ruadh, third
son of Fergus by Maev; now Corcomroe in County Clare.
[FN#74]"Only let it not be cows" is in the Egerton MS. alone.
[FN#75] "That we do" is Egerton MS. (cich indingnem), Y.B.L. has
"cechi m-bem."
"Who art thou?" said she: "Mani Mingar, son of Ailill and Medb," said
he: "Welcome then," she said, "but what hath brought with you here?"
"To take with us cattle and maidens," he said: "'Tis right," she said,
"to take these together; (but) I fear that what has been demanded will
not be granted, the men are valiant to whom you have come." "Let your
entreaties be our aid!" he said. "We would desire," she said, "that it
should be after that counsel hath been taken that we obey you."
"What is your number?" said she: "Seven times twenty heroes," he said,
"are with us." "Remain here," she said, "that we may speak with the
other maidens": "We shall assist you," said the maidens, "as well as we
can."
They went from them, and came to the other maidens, and they said to
them: "Young heroes from the lands of Connaught are come to you, your
own true loves, the seven sons of Ailill and Medb." "Wherefore are
they come?" "To take back with them cattle and wives." "That would we
gladly have, if only we could; (but) I fear that the warriors will
hinder them or drive them away," said she. "Go ye out, that ye may
speak with the man." "We will speak with him," they said. The seven
maidens went to the well, and they greeted Mani. "Come ye away," he
said, "and bring your cattle with you. That will be a good deed. We
shall assist you with our honour and our protection, O ye daughters of
Regamon," said he.[FN#76] The maidens drove together their cows and
their swine, and their sheep, so that none observed them; and they
secretly passed on till they came to the camp of their comrades. The
maidens greeted the sons of Ailill and Medb, and they remained there
standing together. "The herd must be divided in two parts," said Mani
Merger, "also the host must divide, for it is too great to travel by
the one way; and we shall meet again at Ath Briuin (the Ford of
Briuin)." So it was done.
[FN#76] Windisch conjectures this instead of "said the warriors,"
which is in the text of Y.B.L.
King Regamon was not there on that day. He was in the domain of Corco
Baiscinn,[FN#77] to hold a conference with the Firbolgs. His people
raised a cry behind him, message was brought to Regamon, and he went in
pursuit with his army. The whole of the pursuing host overtook Mani
Morgor, and brought defeat upon him.
[FN#77] In the south-west of Clare.
"We all," said Mani, "must go to one place, and some of you shall be
sent to the cattle to summon the young men hither, and the maidens
shall drive the cattle over the ford to Cruachan, and shall give Ailill
and Medb tidings of the plight in which we are here." The maidens went
to Cruachan, and told all the tale. "Thy sons are at Ath Briuin in
distress, and have said that help should be brought to them." The men
of Connaught with Ailill, and Medb, and Fergus, and the banished men of
Ulster went to Ath Briuin to help their people.
The sons of Ailill had for the moment made hurdles of white-thorn and
black-thorn in the gut[FN#78] of the ford, as defence against Regamon
and his people, so that they were unable to pass through the ford ere
Ailill and his army came; so thence cometh the name Ath Cliath
Medraidi[FN#79] (the Hurdle Ford of Medraide), in the country of Little
Bethra in the northern part of the O'Fiachrach Aidne between Connaught
and Corcomroe. There they met together with all their hosts.
[FN#78] Literally "mouth."
[FN#79] Ath Cliath oc Medraige, now Maaree, in Ballycourty parish, Co.
Galway (Stokes, Bodleian Dinnshenchus, 26). It may be mentioned that
in the Dinnshenchus, the cattle are said to have been taken "from
Dartaid, the daughter of Regamon in Munster," thus confusing the Raids
of Regamon and Dartaid, which may account for O'Curry's incorrect
statement in the preface to Leabhar na h-Uidhri, p. xv.
A treaty was then made between them on account of the fair young men
who had carried off the cattle, and on account of the fair maidens who
had gone with them, by whose means the herd escaped. Restitution of
the herd was awarded to Regamon, and the maidens abode with the sons of
Ailill and Medb; and seven times twenty milch-cows were given up, as a
dowry for the maidens, and for the maintenance of the men of Ireland on
the occasion of the assembly for the Tain bo Cualnge; so that this tale
is called the Tain bo Regamon, and it is a prelude to the tale of the
Tain bo Cualnge. Finit, amen.
THE DRIVING OF THE CATTLE OF FLIDAIS
INTRODUCTION
The Tain bo Flidais, the Driving of the Cows of Flidais, does not, like
the other three Preludes to the Tain bo Cualnge, occur in the Yellow
Book of Lecan; but its manuscript age is far the oldest of the four, as
it occurs in both the two oldest collections of Old Irish romance, the
Leabbar na h-Uidhri (abbreviated to L.U.), and the Book of Leinster
(abbreviated to L.L.), besides the fifteenth century Egerton MS., that
contains the other three preludes. The text of all three, together
with a translation of the L.U. text, is given by Windisch in Irische
Texte, II. pp. 206-223; the first part of the story is missing in L.U.
and is supplied from the Book of Leinster (L.L.) version. The prose
translation given here follows Windisch's translation pretty closely,
with insertions occasionally from L.L. The Egerton version agrees
closely with L.L., and adds little to it beyond variations in spelling,
which have occasionally been taken in the case of proper names. The
Leabhar na h-Uidhri version is not only the oldest, but has the most
details of the three; a few passages have, however, been supplied from
the other manuscripts which agree with L.U. in the main.
The whole tale is much more like an old Border riding ballad than are
the other three Preludes; it resembles the tone of Regamon, but differs
from it in having a good deal of slaughter to relate, though it can
hardly be called tragic, like Deirdre and Ferb, the killing being taken
as a matter of course. There is nothing at all supernatural about the
story as contained in the old manuscripts, but a quite different'
version of the story given in the Glenn Masain Manuscript, a fifteenth
century manuscript now in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, gives
another complexion to the tale.
The translation of this manuscript is at present being made in the
Celtic Review by Professor Mackinnon; the version it gives of the story
is much longer and fuller than that in the Leabhar na h-Uidhri, and its
accompanying manuscripts. The translation as printed in the Celtic
Review is not as yet (July 1905) completed, but, through Professor
Mackinnon's kindness, an abstract of the general features of the end of
the story may be given here.
The Glenn Masain version makes Bricriu, who is a subordinate character
in the older version, one of the principal actors, and explains many of
the allusions which are difficult to understand in the shorter version;
but it is not possible to regard the older version as an abridgment of
that preserved in the Glenn Masain MS., for the end of the story in
this manuscript is absolutely different from that in the older ones,
and the romance appears to be unique in Irish in that it has versions
which give two quite different endings, like the two versions of
Kipling's The Light that Failed.
The Glenn Masain version commences with a feast held at Cruachan, when
Fergus and his exiles had joined their forces with Connaught as a
result of the murder of the Sons of Usnach, as told in the earlier part
of the manuscript. At this feast Bricriu. engages in conversation with
Fergus, reproaching him for his broken promises to the Ulstermen who
had joined him, and for his dalliance with Queen Maev. Bricriu, who in
other romances is a mere buffoon, here appears as a distinguished poet,
and a chief ollave; his satire remains bitter, but by no means
scurrilous, and the verses put into his mouth, although far beneath the
standard of the verses given to Deirdre in the earlier part of the
manuscript, show a certain amount of dignity and poetic power. As an
example, the following satire on Fergus's inability to keep his
promises may be cited:--
Fergus, hear thy friend lamenting!
Blunted is thy lofty mind;
Thou, for hire, to Maev consenting,
Hast thy valour's pride resigned.
Ere another year's arriving,
Should thy comrades, thou didst vow,
Three-score chariots fair be driving,
Shields and weapons have enow!
When thy ladies, bent on pleasure,
Crowd towards the banquet-hall,
Thou of gold a goodly measure
Promised hast to grant to all!
Ill to-night thy friends are faring,
Naught hath Fergus to bestow;
He a poor man's look is wearing,
Never yet was greater woe!
After the dialogue with Fergus, Bricriu, with the poets that attend
him, undertakes a journey to Ailill the Fair, to obtain from him the
bounty that Fergus had promised but was unable to grant. He makes a
fairly heavy demand upon Ailill's bounty, but is received hospitably,
and gets all he had asked for, as well as honour for his poetic
talents. He then asks about Ailill's wife Flidais, and is told about
her marvellous cow, which was able to supply milk to more than three
hundred men at one night's milking. Flidais returns from a journey, is
welcomed by Bricriu, who produces a poem in honour of her and her cow,
and is suitably recompensed.
A long conversation is then recorded between Flidais and Bricriu in
which Bricriu extols the great deeds of Fergus, supplying thereby a
commentary on the short statement at the beginning of the older
version, that Flidais' love to Fergus was on account of the great deeds
which had been told her that he had done. Flidais declares to Bricriu
her love for Fergus, and Bricriu, after a vain attempt to dissuade the
queen from her purpose, consents to bring a message to Fergus that
Flidais and her cow will come to him if he comes to her husband's
castle to seek her. He then returns to Connaught laden with gifts.
The story now proceeds somewhat upon the lines of the older version.
Bricriu approaches Fergus on his return, and induces him to go in the
guise of an ambassador to Ailill the Fair, with the secret intention of
carrying off Flidais. Fergus receives the sanction of Maev and her
husband for his errand, and departs, but not as in the older version
with a few followers; all the Ulster exiles are with him. Dubhtach, by
killing a servant of Maev, embroils Fergus with the queen of Connaught;
and the expedition reaches Ailill the Fair's castle. Fergus sends
Bricriu, who has most unwillingly accompanied him, to ask for
hospitality; he is hospitably received by Ailill, and when under the
influence of wine reveals to Ailill the plot. Ailill does not, as in
the older version, refuse to receive Fergus, but seats him beside
himself at a feast, and after reproaching him with his purpose
challenges him to a duel in the morning. The result of the duel, and
of the subsequent attack on the castle by Fergus' friends, is much as
stated in the older version, but the two stories end quite differently.
The L.U. version makes Flidais assist in the War of Cualgne by feeding
the army of Ailill each seventh day with the produce of her cows; she
dies after the war as wife of Fergus; the Glenn Masain version, in the
"Pursuit of the Cattle of Flidais," makes the Gamanrad clan, the
hero-clan of the West of Ireland, pursue Maev and Fergus, and rescue
Flidais and her cow; Flidais then returns to the west with Muiretach
Menn, the son of her murdered husband, Ailill the Fair.
The comparison of these two versions, from the literary point of view,
is most interesting. The stress laid on the supernatural cow is
peculiar to the version in the later manuscript, the only analogy in
the eleventh century version is the semi-supernatural feeding of the
army of Ireland, but in this it is a herd (buar), not a single animal,
that is credited with the feat, and there is really nothing
supernatural about the matter; it is only the other version that
enables us to see the true bearing of the incident. The version in the
Glenn Masain Manuscript looks much more ancient in idea than that in
the older texts, and is plainly capable of a mythic interpretation. It
is not of course suggested that the Glenn Masain version is ancient as
it stands: there are indeed enough obvious allusions in the text to
comparatively late works to negative such a supposition, independently
of linguistic evidence, but it does look as if the author of the
eleventh century text had a super natural tale to work upon, some of
whose incidents are preserved in the Glenn Masain version, and that he
succeeded in making out of the traditional account a story that
practically contains no supernatural element at all, so that it
requires a knowledge of the other version to discover the slight trace
of the supernatural that he did keep, viz. the feeding of the army of
Ireland by the herd (not the cow) of Flidais.
It is possible that the common origin of the two versions is preserved
for us in another place, the Coir Annam, which, though it as it stands
is a Middle Irish work, probably keeps ancient tradition better than
the more finished romances. In this we find, following Stokes'
translation, given in Irische Texte, III. P. 295, the following
entries:--
"Adammair Flidaise Foltchain, that is Flidais the Queen, one of the
tribe of the god-folk (the Tuatha de Danaan), she was wife of Adammair,
the son of Fer Cuirp, and from her cometh the name Buar Flidaise, the
Cattle of Flidais.
"Nia Segamain, that is seg (deer) are a main (his treasure), for in his
time cows and does were milked in the same way every day, so that he
had great wealth in these things beyond that of all other kings. The
Flidais spoken of above was the mother of Nia Segamain, Adammair's son,
for two kinds of cattle, cows and does, were milked in the days of Nia
Segamain, and by his mother was that fairy power given to him."
It seems, then, not impossible that the original legend was much as
stated in the Coir Annam, viz. that Flidais was a supernatural being,
milking wild deer like cows, and that she was taken into the Ulster
Cycle and made part of the tale of Fergus.
This adoption was done by an author who made a text which may be
regarded as the common original of the two versions; in his tale the
supernatural character of Flidais was retained. The author of the L.U.
version cut out the supernatural part, and perhaps the original embassy
of Bricriu; it may, however, be noted that the opening of the older
version comes from the L.L. text, which is throughout shorter than that
in L.U., and the lost opening of L.U. may have been fuller. The author
of the Glenn Masain version kept nearer to the old story, adding,
however, more modern touches. Where the new character of Bricriu comes
from is a moot point; I incline to the belief that the idea of Bricriu
as a mere buffoon is a later development. But in neither version is
the story, as we have it, a pre-Christian one. The original
pre-Christian idea of Flidais was, as in the Coir Annam, that of a
being outside the Ulster Cycle altogether.
THE DRIVING OF THE CATTLE OF FLIDAIS
FROM THE LEABHAR NA H-UIDHRI (ELEVENTH-CENTURY MS.), THE BEGINNING AND
A FEW ADDITIONS FROM THE BOOK OF LEINSTER (TWELFTH CENTURY)
A land in West Roscommon, as Kerry known of old,
Was ruled by Ailill Fair-haired; of him a tale is told:
How Flidais,[FN#80] Ailill's[FN#81] consort, each week, and near its
end,
To Ro's great son, to Fergus, her herald still would send;
'Twas Fergus' love she sought for; the deeds by Fergus done,
In glorious tales recited, had Flidais' fancy won.
[FN#80] Pronounced Flid-das.
[FN#81] Pronounced Al-ill.
When Fergus fled from Ulster, and Connaught's land he sought,
To Ailill, king of Connaught, this tale of love he brought:
"Now give me rede," said Fergus, "how best we here should act,
That Connaught's fame and honour by none may stand attacked;
Say, how can I approach them, and strip thy kingdom bare,
And yet the fame of Ailill, that country's monarch, spare?"
"'Tis hard indeed to teach thee," cried Ailill, sore perplexed;
"Let Maev come nigh with counsel what course to follow next!"
"Send thou to Ailill Fair-haired to ask for aid!" said Maev,
"He well may meet a herald, who comes his help to crave
Let Fergus go to crave it: no harm can there be seen;
And better gifts from Ailill shall Fergus win, I ween!"
So forth to Ailill Fair-haired went Fergus, son of Ro;
And thirty, Dubhtach[FN#82] leading, he chose with him to go;
And yet another Fergus his aid to Fergus brought;
Mac Oonlama[FN#83] men called him; his sire one-handed fought.
[FN#82] Pronounced Doov-ta.
[FN#83] Spelt Mac Oenlama, son of the one-handed one.
Beside the Ford of Fenna, in Kerry's north they came,
They neared the hold, and from it rang welcome's loud acclaim:
"What quest," said Ailill Fair-haired, "hath brought these warriors
here?"
"Of Ailill, son of Magach, we stand," they said, "in fear;
A feud we hold against him; with thee would fain abide!"
"For each of these," said Ailill, "who Fergus march beside,
If they were foes to Connaught, for long they here might stay,
And ne'er till peace was granted, I'd drive these men away:
For Fergus, naught I grant him a tale of him men tell
That Fergus 'tis whom Flidais, my wife, doth love too well!"
"It is kine that I ask for," said Fergus, "and hard is the task on me
set:
For the men who have marched here beside me, the means to win life I
must get."
"I will give no such present," said Ailill," thou comest not here as my
guest:
Men will say, 'twas from fear that I gave it, lest my wife from my arms
thou should'st wrest:
Yet an ox of my herds, and some bacon, if thou wilt, shall my hand to
thee give;
That the men who have marched here beside thee on that meat may be
stayed, and may live!"
"I eat no bread thus thrown me!" fierce Fergus straight replied:
"I asked a gift of honour; that gift thine hand denied."
"Avoid my house," said Ailill in wrath, "now get thee hence!
"We go indeed," said Fergus; "no siege we now commence:
Yet here," he cried, "for duel beside yon ford I wait,
If thou canst find a champion to meet me at thy gate."
Then up and answered Ailill: "'Tis mine this strife must be
And none shall hurt mine honour, or take this task from me:
None hold me back from battle!"--the ford for fight he sought:
"Now Dubhtach, say," said Fergus, "to whom this war is brought!
Or thou or I must meet him." And Dubhtach said, "I go;
For I am younger, Fergus, and bolder far with foe."
To the ford for the battle with Ailill he hies,
And he thrust at him fiercely, and pierced through his thighs;
But a javelin by Ailill at Dubhtach was cast,
And right through his body the shaft of it passed:
And a shield over Dubhtach, laid low in the dust,
Spread Fergus; and Ailill his spear at him thrust;
And through Fergus' shield had the spear made its way,
When Fergus Mae Oonlama joined in the fray,
And his shield he uplifted, his namesake to guard;
But at Fergus Mac Oonlama Ailill thrust hard,
And he brake through the fence of Mac Oonlama's shield;
And he leaped in his pain; as they lay on the field,
On his comrades he fell: Flidais forth to them flew,
And her cloak on the warriors to shield them she threw.
Then against all the comrades of Fergus turned Ailill the Fair-haired
to fight,
And he chased them away from his castle, and slew as they scattered in
flight;
A twenty he reached, and he slew them: they fell, on that field to
remain;
And but seven there were of that thirty who fled, and their safety
could gain:
They came to the palace of Croghan, they entered the gates of that hold,
And to Maev and to Ailill of Connaught the tale of the slaughter they
told.
Then roused himself King Ailill, of Connaught's land the king,
With Maev to march to battle, their aid to friends to bring:
And forth from Connaught's kingdom went many a lord of worth,
Beside them marched the exiles who gat from Ulster birth:
So forward went that army, and reached to Kerry's land,
And near the Ford of Fenna they came, and there made stand.
While this was done, the wounded three
Within the hold lay still,
And Flidais cared for all, for she
To heal their wounds had skill.
To Ailill Fair-Haired's castle the Connaught host was led,
And toward the foeman's ramparts the Connaught herald sped;
He called on Ailill Fair-haired to come without the gate,
And there to meet King Ailill, and with him hold debate.
"I come to no such meeting," the angry chief replied;
"Yon man is far too haughty: too grossly swells his pride!"
Yet 'twas peaceful meeting,
So the old men say,
Ailill willed; whose greeting
Heralds bore that day.
Fergus, ere he perished,
First he sought to aid
He that thought who cherished
Friendship's claims obeyed:
Then his foe he vainly
Hoped in truce to bind:
Peace, 'tis said, was plainly
Dear to Connaught's mind!
The wounded men, on litters laid,
Without the walls they bore
To friendly hands, with skill to aid,
And fainting health restore.
At the castle of Ailill the Fair-Haired the Connaught-men rushed in
attack,
And to win it they failed: from his ramparts in defeat were his foes
driven back:
For long in that contest they struggled, yet naught in the fight they
prevailed -
For a week were the walls of the castle of Ailill the Fair-Haired
assailed,
Seven score of the nobles of Connaught, and all of them warriors of
might,
For the castle of Ailill contended, and fell as they strove in the
fight.
"'Tis sure that with omen of evil this castle was sought by our folk!"
Thus Bricroo,[FN#84] the Poisonous Scoffer, in mockery, jeering them,
spoke:
"The taunt," answered Ailill Mae Mata, "is true, and with grief I
confess
That the fame of the heroes of Ulster hereafter is like to be less,
For a three of the Ulstermen's champions in stress of the fight have
been quelled;
And the vengeance we wait for from Ulster hath long been by Ulster
withheld;
As a pillar of warfare each hero, 'twas claimed, could a battle sustain;
Yet by none of the three in this battle hath a foeman been conquered,
or slain!
In the future for all of these champions shall scorn and much mocking
befall:
One man hath come forth from yon castle; alone he hath wounded them
all--
Such disgrace for such heroes of valour no times that are past ever saw,
For three lords of the battle lie conquered by mannikins, fashioned of
straw!"
[FN#84] Spelt Bricriu. The usual epithet of Bricriu, "Bricriu of the
Poison Tongue," is indicated in the verse rendering.
"Ah! woe is me," said Bricroo, "how long, thus stretched on ground,
The length of Father Fergus hath here by all been found!
But one he sought to conquer; a single fight essayed,
And here he met his victor, and low on land is laid."
Then rose the men of Ulster a hardy war to wage,
And forward rushed, though naked, in strong and stubborn rage:
Against the castle gateway in wrathful might they dashed,
And down the shattered portal within the castle crashed.
Then close by Ulster's champions was Connaught's battle formed;
And Connaught's troops with Ulster by might the castle stormed;
But fitly framed for battle were men whom there they met,
Wild war, where none showed pity between the hosts was set:
And well they struck; each hero commenced with mighty blows
To crush and slay, destruction was heaped by foe on foes.
Of the wounding at length and the slaughter all weary the champions had
grown,
And the men who the castle of Ailill had held were at length over
thrown:
Of those who were found in that castle, and its walls had defended so
well,
Seven hundred by warriors of Ulster were smitten to death, and they
fell:
And there in his castle fell Ailill the Fair-haired, and fighting he
died,
And a thirty of sons stood about him, and all met their death by his
side.
The chief of those who perished, by Ailill's side who stood
Within his hold, were Noodoo;[FN#85] and Awley[FN#86] named the Good;
And Feeho[FN#87] called the Broad-backed; and Corpre Cromm the Bent;
An Ailill, he from Breffny to help of Ailill went;
A three whose name was Angus-fierce was each warrior's face;
Three Eochaid, sea-girt Donnan[FN#88] had cradled erst their race;
And there fell seven Breslen, from plains of Ay[FN#89] who came;
And fifty fell beside them who all had Donnell's name.
[FN#85] Spelt Nuado.
[FN#86] Spelt Amalgaid.
[FN#87] Spelt Fiacho.
[FN#88] Irross Donnan, the promontory of Donnan (now Mayo).
[FN#89] Mag Ai, a plain in Roscommon.
For to Ailill the Fair-Haired for warfare had marched all the
Gamanra[FN#90] clan,
And his friends from the sea-girded Donnan had sent to his aid every
man;
All these had with Ailill been leaguered, their help to him freely they
brought,
And that aid from them Ailill. took gladly, he knew that his hold would
be sought;
He knew that the exiles of Ulster his captives from prison would save,
And would come, their surrender demanding; that Ailill mac Mata and Maev
Would bring all Connaught's troops to the rescue: for Fergus that aid
they would lend,
And Fergus the succour of Connaught could claim, and with right, as a
friend.
[FN#90] Spelt Gamanrad.
Hero clans in Erin three of old were found;
One in Irross Donnan, oceans Donnan bound,
Thence came Clan Gamanra; Deda's warlike clan
Nursed in Tara Loochra[FN#91] many a fighting man.
Deda sprang from Munster; far in Ulster's north
Oft from Emain Macha Rury's[FN#92] clan went forth:
Vainly all with Rury strove to fight, the twain
Rury's clan hath vanquished; Rury all hath slain!
[FN#91] Temair Luachra, an ancient palace near Abbeyfeale, on the
borders of the counties of Limerick and Kerry. "Tara," as is well
known, is a corruption of Temair, but is now established.
[FN#92] Spelt Rudraige.
Then rose up the warriors of Ulster, the hold they had conquered to
sack;
And the folk of Queen Maev and King Ailill followed close on the
Ulstermen's track:
And they took with them captives; for Flidais away from her castle they
tore;
And the women who dwelt in the castle away to captivity bore:
And all things therein that were precious they seized on as booty; the
gold
And the silver they seized, and the treasures amassed by the men of
that hold:
The horns, and the goblets for drinking, the vats for the ale, and the
keys,
The gay robes with all hues that were glowing lay there for the raiders
to seize:
And much cattle they took; in that castle were one hundred of milk
giving kine;
And beside them a seven score oxen; three thousand of sheep and of
swine.
Then Flidais went with Fergus, his wedded wife to be;
For thus had Maev and Ailill pronounced their high decree:
They bade that when from Cualgne to drive the kine they went,
From those who then were wedded should aid for war be sent.
And thus it fell thereafter: when Ireland went that Raid,
By milk from cows of Flidais, the lives of all were stayed;
Each seventh day she sent it; and thus fulfilled her vows,
And thus the tale is ended, men tell of Flidais' Cows.
Then, all that Raid accomplished, with Fergus Flidais dwell
And he of Ulster's kingdom a part in lordship held:
He ruled in Mag I Murthemne[FN#92], yea, more than that, he won
The land where once was ruler Cuchulain, Sualtam's son:
And by the shore of Bali thereafter Flidais died,
And naught of good for Fergus did Flidais' death betide:
For worse was all his household; if Fergus aught desired,
From Flidais' wealth and bounty came all his soul required.
In the days that followed, when his wife was dead,
Fergus went to Connaught; there his blood was shed:
There with Maev and Ailill he a while would stay;
Men had made a story, he would learn the lay!
There he went to cheer him, hearing converse fair:
Kine beside were promised; home he these would bear:
So he went to Croghan, 'twas a deadly quest,
There he found his slaughter, death within the west:
Slain by jealous Ailill, Fergus low was laid:
Flidais' tale is ended: now comes Cualgne's Raid!
[FN#92] Pronounced Maw Moortemmy
THE DRIVING OF THE CATTLE OF FLIDAIS
LITERAL TRANSLATION
Flidais was the wife of Ailill Finn (the Fair-haired) in the district
of Kerry.[FN#93] She loved Fergus the son of Rog on account of the
glorious tales about him; and always there went messengers from her to
him at the end of each week.
[FN#93] Kerry is the district now called Castlereagh, in the west of
the present county of Roscommon.
So, when he came to Connaught, he brought this matter before[FN#94]
Ailill: "What[FN#95] shall I do next in this matter?" said Fergus: "it
is hard for me to lay bare your land, without there being loss to thee
of honour and renown therewith." "Yes, what shall we do next in the
matter?" said Ailill; "we will consider this in counsel with Maev."
"Let one of us go to Ailill Finn," (said Maev), "that he may help us,
and as this involves a meeting of some one with him, there is no reason
why it should not be thyself who goest to him: the gift will be all the
better for that!"
[FN#94] i.e. Ailill of Connaught.
[FN#95] This sentence to the end is taken from the Egerton version,
which seems the clearer; the Book of Leinster gives: "What shall I do
next, that there be no loss of honour or renown to thee in the matter?"
Then Fergus set out thereon, in number thirty men; the two Ferguses
(i.e. Fergus mac Rog, and Fergus mac Oen-lama) and Dubhtach; till they
were at the Ford of Fenna in the north of the land of Kerry. They go
to the burg, and welcome is brought to them.[FN#96] "What brings you
here?" said Ailill Finn. "We had the intention of staying with you on
a visit, for we have a quarrel with Ailill the son of Magach."
[FN#96] The Book of the Dun Cow (Leabhar na h-Uidhri) version begins
at this point.
"If it were one of thy people who had the quarrel, he should stay with
me until he had made his peace. But thou shalt not stay," said Ailill
Finn, "it has been told me that my wife loves thee!" "We must have a
gift of cows then," said Fergus, "for a great need lies on us, even the
sustenance of the troop who have gone with me into exile." "Thou shalt
carry off no such present from me," he said, "because thou art not
remaining with me on a visit. Men will say that it is to keep my wife
that I gave thee what thou hast required. I[FN#97] will give to your
company one ox and some bacon to help them, if such is your pleasure."
"I will eat not thy bread although offered (lit. however)," said
Fergus, "because I can get no present of honour from thee!"
[FN#97] L.L. and Egerton make the end of this speech part of the
story: "There was given to them one ox with bacon, with as much as they
wished of beer, as a feast for them."
"Out of my house with you all, then!" said Ailill.
"That shall be," said Fergus; "we shall not begin to lay siege to thee
and they betake themselves outside.
"Let a man come at once to fight me beside a ford at the gate of this
castle!" said Fergus.
"That[FN#98] will not for the sake of my honour be refused," said
Ailill; "I will not hand it (the strife) over to another: I will go
myself," said he. He went to a ford against him. "Which of us," said
Fergus, "O Dubhtach, shall encounter this man?" "I will go," said
Dubhtach; "I am younger and keener than thou art!" Dubhtach went
against Ailill. Dubhtach thrust a spear through Ailill so that it went
through his two thighs. He (Ailill) hurled a javelin at Dubhtach, so
that he drove the spear right through him, (so that it came out) on the
other side.
[FN#98] The end of the speech is from L.L.: the L.U. text gives the
whole speech thus: "For my honour's sake, I could not draw back in this
matter."
Fergus threw his shield over Dubhtach. The former (Ailill) thrust his
spear at the shield of Fergus so that he even drove the shaft right
through it. Fergus mac Oen-laimi comes by. Fergus mac Oen-laimi holds
a shield in front of him (the other Fergus). Ailill struck his spear
upon this so that it was forced right through it. He leaped so that he
lay there on the top of his companions. Flidais comes by from the
castle, and throws her cloak over the three.
Fergus' people took to flight; Ailill pursues them. There remain
(slain) by him twenty men of them. Seven of them escape to Cruachan
Ai, and tell there the whole story to Ailill and Medb.
Then Ailill and Medb arise, and the nobles of Connaught and the exiles
from Ulster: they march into the district of Kerry Ai with their troops
as far as: the Ford of Fenna.
Meanwhile the wounded men were being cared for by Flidais in the
castle, and their healing was undertaken by her.
Then the troops come to the castle. Ailill Finn is summoned to Ailill
mac Mata to come to a conference with him outside the castle. "I will
not go," he said; "the pride and arrogance of that man there is great."
It was,[FN#99] however, for a peaceful meeting that Ailill mac Mata had
come to Ailill the Fair-haired, both that he might save Fergus, as it
was right he should, and that he might afterwards make peace with him
(Ailill Fair haired), according to the will of the lords of Connaught.
[FN#99] This passage is sometimes considered to be an interpolation by
a scribe or narrator whose sympathies were with Connaught. The passage
does not occur in the Book of Leinster, nor in the Egerton MS.
Then the wounded men were brought out of the castle, on hand-barrows,
that they might be cared for by their own people.
Then the men attack him (Ailill Finn): while they are storming the
castle, and they could get no hold on him, a full week long went it
thus with them. Seven times twenty heroes from among the nobles of
Connaught fell during the time that they (endeavoured) to storm the
castle of Ailill the Fair-haired.
"It was with no good omen that with which you went to this castle,"
said Bricriu. "True indeed is the word that is spoken," said Ailill
mac Mata. "The expedition is bad for the honour of the Ulstermen, in
that their three heroes fall, and they take not vengeance for them.
Each one (of the three) was a pillar of war, yet not a single man has
fallen at the hands of one of the three! Truly these heroes are great
to be under such wisps of straw as axe the men of this castle! Most
worthy is it of scorn that one man has wounded you three!"
"O woe is me," said Bricriu, "long is the length upon the ground of my
Papa Fergus, since one man in single combat laid him low!"