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.