For soon, though young, I come my grave unto:
My grief is stronger than the strength of sea;
Thou, Conor, knowest well my word is true.
"Whom dost thou hate the most," said Conor, "of these whom thou now
seest?"
"Thee thyself," she answered, "and with thee Eogan the son of
Durthacht."
[FN#44] Pronounced find-roony; usually translated "white bronze."
"Then," said Conor, "thou shalt dwell with Eogan for a year;" and he
gave Deirdre over into Eogan's hand.
Now upon the morrow they went away over the festal plain of Macha, and
Deirdre sat behind Eogan in the chariot; and the two who were with her
were the two men whom she would never willingly have seen together upon
the earth, and as she looked upon them, "Ha, Deirdre," said Conor, "it
is the same glance that a ewe gives when between two rams that thou
sharest now between me and Eogan!" Now there was a great rock of stone
in front of them, and Deirdre struck her head upon that stone, and she
shattered her head, and so she died.
This then is the tale of the exile of the sons of Usnach, and of the
Exile of Fergus, and of the death of Deirdre.
THE LAMENT OF DEIRDRE OVER THE SONS OF USNACH
ACCORDING TO THE GLENN MASAIN VERSION
ALSO THE CONCLUSION OF THE TALE FROM THE SAME VERSION
I grieved not, Usna's sons beside;
But long, without them, lags the day:
Their royal sire no guest denied;
Three lions from Cave Hill were they.
Three dragons bred in Mona's fort
Are dead: to them from life I go;
Three chiefs who graced the Red Branch Court,
Three rocks, who broke the rush of foe.
O loved by many a British maid!
O swift as hawks round Gullion's peak!
True sons of king, who warriors swayed,
To whom bent chiefs in homage meek.
No vassal look those champions wore;
Full grief is mine that such should die!
Those sons, whom Cathbad's daughter bore;
Those props, who Cualgne's[FN#45] war held high.
[FN#45] Pronounced Kell-ny.
Three bears of might, to war they came;
From Oona's walls, like lions, burst;
Three hero-chiefs, who loved their fame;
Three sons, on Ulster's bosom nursed.
Twas Aife[FN#46] reared them; 'neath her yoke
A kingdom bowed, and tribute brought;
They propped the war, when armies broke,
Those foster-sons, whom Scathach[FN#47] taught.
The Three, who once from Bohvan's skill
All feats have learned that heroes know;
King Usna's glorious sons! 'tis ill
That these afar from me should go.
That I should live, with Naisi dead,
Let none such shame believe of me;
When Ardan's life, when Ainnle's fled,
But short my life I knew would be.
Great Ulster's king my hand had won;
I left him, Naisi's love to find;
Till Naisi's funeral rites be done,
I wait a little while behind.
This widowed life no more I'll bear;
The Three rejoiced, when toil they faced;
Where'er 'twas found, the war they'd dare,
And proffered fight with joy embraced.
A curse on Cathbad's wizard spell!
'Twas Naisi's death! and I the cause!
None came to aid that king, who well
To all the world might grant his laws.
[FN#46] Pronounced Eefa.
[FN#47] Pronounced Ska-ha.
O man, who diggest low the grave,
And from my sight my love would hide,
Make wide the tomb; its room I crave,
I come to seek my hero's side.
Great load of hardship I'd endure with joy,
If yet those heroes my companions were;
No lack of house or fire could then annoy,
No gloom I'd know with them, nor aught of care.
Ah! many a time each shield and guardian spear
To make my couch have piled those noble Three:
O labouring man, their grave who diggest here,
Their hardened swords above well set should be.
The hounds of all the Three their masters lack,
Their hawks no quarry leave, nor hear their call;
The three are dead, who battle's line held back
Who learned their skill in Conall Cernach's hall!
Their hounds I view; from out my heart that sight
Hath struck a groan; behind their leashes trail,
'Twas mine to hold them once, and keep them tight;,
Now slack they lie, and cause me thus to wail.
Oft in the desert I and they have strayed,
Yet never lonely was that desert known
For all the Three a grave to-day is made,
And here I sit, and feel indeed alone.
I gazed on Naisi's grave, and now am blind,
For naught remains to see; the worst is spent;
My soul must leave me soon, no help I find,
And they are gone, the folk of my lament.
'Twas guile that crushed them: they would save my life
And died therefor; themselves three billows strong:
Ere Usna's children fell in cruel strife,
Would I had died, and earth had held me long!
To Red-Branch Hall we made our mournful way;
Deceitful Fergus led; our lives he stole;
A soft sweet speech indeed he'd learned to say,
For me, for them was ruin near that goal.
All Ulster's pleasures now are nothing worth
I shun them all, each chief, each ancient friend;
Alone I sit, as left behind on earth,
And soon my lonely life in death shall end.
I am Deirdre, the joyless,
For short time alive,
Though to end life be evil,
'Tis worse to survive.
And, after she had made this lament, Deirdre seated herself in the
tomb, and she gave three kisses to Naisi before that he was laid in his
grave; and with heaviness and grief Cuchulain went on to Dun Delga.
And Cathbad the Druid laid a curse upon Emain Macha to take vengeance
for that great evil, and he said that, since that treachery had been
done, neither king Conor nor any other of his race should hold that
burg.
And as for Fergus, the son of Rossa the Red, he came to Emain Macha on
the morrow after the sons of Usnach had been slain. And, when he found
that they had been slain, and that his pledge had been dishonoured, he
himself, and Cormac the Partner of Exile, king Conor's own son, also
Dubhtach, the Beetle of Ulster, and the armies they had with them, gave
battle to the household of Conor; and they slew Maine the son of Conor,
and three hundred of Conor's people besides. And Emain Macha was
destroyed, and burned by them, and Conor's women were slain, and they
collected their adherents on every side; the number of their host was
three thousand warriors. And they went away to the land of Connaught,
even to Ailill the Great, who was the king of Connaught at that time,
and to Maev of Croghan, and with them they found a welcome and support.
Moreover Fergus and Cormac the Partner of Exile and their warriors,
after that they had come to the land of Connaught, never let pass one
single night wherein reavers went not forth from them to harry and burn
the land of Ulster, so that the district which men to-day call the land
of Cualgne was subdued by them; and from that in the after-time came
between the two kingdoms much of trouble and theft; and in this fashion
they spent seven years, or, as some say, ten years; nor was there any
truce between them, no, not for one single hour.
And while those deeds were doing, Deirdre abode by Conor in his
household for a whole year after the sons of Usnach had been slain.
And, though it might have seemed but a small thing for her to raise her
head, or to let laughter flow over her lips, yet she never did these
things during all that time. And when Conor saw that neither sport nor
kindness could hold her; and that neither jesting nor pleasing honour
could raise her spirits, he sent word to Eogan the son of Durthacht,
the lord of Fernmay;[FN#48] as some tell the story, it was this Eogan
who had slain Naisi in Emain Macha. And after that Eogan had come to
the place where Conor was, Conor gave command to Deirdre that, since he
himself had failed to turn her heart from her grief, she must depart to
Eogan, and spend another space of time with him. And with that she was
placed behind Eogan in his chariot, and Conor went also in the chariot
in order to deliver Deirdre into Eogan's hand. And as they went on
their way, she cast a fierce glance at Eogan in front of her, and
another at Conor behind her; for there was nothing in all the world
that she hated more than those two men. And when Conor saw this, as he
looked at her and at Eogan, he said: "Ah Deirdre! it is the glance of a
ewe when set between two rams that thou castest on me and on Eogan!"
And when Deirdre heard that, she sprang up, and she made a leap out of
the chariot, and she struck her head against the stony rocks that were
in front of her, and she shattered her head so that the brains leapt
out, and thus came to Deirdre her death.
[FN#48] The Irish is Fernmag; written Fearnmhuidh in the late
manuscript of this part of the tale.
This is the Tree of their race, and an account of the kinships of some
of the Champions of the Red Branch, which is given here before we
proceed to speak of the Deeds of Cuchulain:
'Twas Cathbad first won Magach's love, and arms around her threw;
From Maelchro's loins, the Battle Chief, his princely source he drew;
Two, more in love she knew, of these the wrath was long and dread,
Fierce Rossa, named the Ruddy-Faced, and Carbre, thatched with red.
To all the three were children born, and all with beauty graced,
To Cathbad, and to Carbre Red, and Rossa Ruddy-faced;
A gracious three indeed were they to whom she gave her love,
Fair Magach, brown the lashes were that slept her eyes above.
Three sons to Rossa Ruddy-faced as children Magach bore;
To Carbre sons again she gave, the count of these was four;
And three white shoots of grace were hers, on these no shame shall fall;
To Cathbad children three she bare, and these were daughters all.
To Cathbad, who in wizard lore and all its arts had might,
Three daughters lovely Magach bore, each clothed in beauty white;
All maids who then for grace were famed in grace those maids surpassed,
And Finuchoem,[FN#49] Ailbhe twain he named, and Deithchim named the
last.
[FN#49] Pronounced Finn-hoom, Ail-vy, and Die-himm.
To Finnchoem, wizard Cathbad's child, was born a glorious son,
And well she nursed him, Conall wild, who every field hath won;
And Ailbhe glorious children bare in whom no fear had place,
These Ardan, Ainnle, Naisi were, who came of Usnach's race.
A son to Deithchim fair was born, a bright-cheeked mother she;
She bore but one: Cuchulain of Dun Delga's hold was he:
Of those whom Cathbad's daughters reared the names full well ye know,
And none of these a wound hath feared, or therefore shunned a foe.
The sons of Usnach, who like shields their friends protected well,
By might of hosts on battle-field to death were borne, and fell;
And each was white of skin, and each his friends in love would hold,
Now naught remains for song to teach, the Third of Griefs is told.
THE COMBAT AT THE FORD
INTRODUCTION
This version of the "Combat at the Ford," the best-known episode of the
Irish romance or romantic epic, the "War of Cualnge," will hardly be,
by Irish scholars, considered to want a reference. It is given in the
Book of Leinster, which cannot have been written later than 1150 A.D.,
and differs in many respects from the version in the fourteenth-century
Book of Lecan, which is, for the purposes of this text, at least equal
in authority to the Leabbar na h-Uidhri, which must have been written
before 1100 A.D. Mr. Alfred Nutt has kindly contributed a note on the
comparison of the two versions, which has been placed as a special note
at the end of the translation of the "Combat." To this note may be
added the remark that the whole of the Leabhar na h-Uidhri version of
the "War of Cualnge" seems, to be subject to the same criticisms that
have to be passed on the "Sickbed" and the "Courtship of Etain" in the
same volume, viz. that it is a compilation from two or three different
versions of the same story, and is not a connected and consistent
romance, which the version in the Book of Leinster appears to be. As
an illustration of this, the appearance of Conall Cernach as on the
side of Connaught in the early part of the L.U. version may be
mentioned; he is never so represented in other versions of the "War."
In the description of the array of Ulster at the end of L.U., he is
noted as being expected to be with the Ulster army but as absent
(following in this the Book of Leinster, but not a later manuscript
which agrees with the Book of Leinster in the main); then at the end of
the L.U. version Conall again appears in the Connaught army and saves
Conor from Fergus, taking the place of Cormac in the Book of Leinster
version. Miss Faraday, in her version of the "War" as given in L.U.,
notes the change of style at page 82 of her book. Several difficulties
similar to that of the position of Conall could be mentioned; and on
the whole it seems as if the compiler of the manuscript from which both
the Leabhar na h-Uidhri and the Yellow Book of Lecan were copied,
combined into one several different descriptions of the "War," one of
which is represented by the Book of Leinster version.
This version shows no signs of patchwork, at any rate in the story of
the "Combat at the Ford;" which has, ever since it was reintroduced to
the world by O'Curry, been renowned for the chivalry of its action. It
forms one of the books of Aubrey de Vere's "Foray of Queen Meave," and
is there well reproduced, although with several additions; perhaps
sufficient attention has not. been paid to the lofty position of the
character, as distinguished from the prowess, that this version gives
to Cuchulain. The first verse, put in Cuchulain's mouth, strikes a new
note, contrasting alike with the muddle-headed bargaining of Ferdia and
Maev, and the somewhat fussy anxiety of Fergus. The contrast between
the way in which Cuchulain receives Fergus's report of the valour of
Ferdia, and that in which Ferdia receives the praises of Cuchulain from
his charioteer, is well worked out; Cuchulain, conscious of his own
strength, accepts all Fergus's praises of his opponent and adds to
them; Ferdia cannot bear to hear of Cuchulain's valour, and charges his
servant with taking a bribe from his enemy in order to frighten him.
Ferdia boasts loudly of what he will do, Cuchulain apologises for his
own confidence in the issue of the combat, and gently banters Fergus,
who is a bit of a boaster himself, on the care he had taken to choose
the time for the war when king Conor was away, with a modest
implication that he himself was a poor substitute for the king.
Cuchulain's first two stanzas in the opening dialogue between himself
and Ferdia show a spirit quite as truculent as that of his opponent;
the reason of this being, as indicated in the first of these stanzas
and more explicitly stated in the preceding prose, that his anxiety for
his country is outweighing his feeling for his friend; but in the third
stanza he resumes the attitude of conscious strength that marks all his
answers to Fergus; and this, added to a feeling of pity for his
friend's inevitable fate, is maintained up to the end of the tale. In
the fourth stanza, which is an answer to a most insulting speech from
Ferdia, he makes the first of those appeals to his former friend to
abandon his purpose that come from him throughout the first three days
of the fight; even in the fatal battle of the fourth day, he will not
at first put forward all his strength, and only uses the irresistible
Gae-Bulg when driven to it by his foe. The number of Cuchulain's
laments after the battle--there are five of these (one in prose),
besides his answers to Laeg--has been adversely criticised; and it is
just possible that one or more of these come from some other version,
and have been incorporated by a later hand than that of the author; but
the only one that seems to me not to develop the interest is the
"brooch of gold," which it may be noticed is very like the only lament
which is preserved in the Book of Lecan text of the L.U. version.
Cuchulain's allusion to Aife's only son in the first verse lament is
especially noticeable (see note, p. 196).
Ferdia's character, although everywhere inferior to that of his victor,
is also a heroic one; he is represented at the commencement of the
episode as undertaking the fight for fear of disgrace if he refused;
and this does appear to be represented throughout as the true reason;
his early boasts and taunts are obviously intended to conquer a secret
uneasiness, and the motif of a passion for Finnabar with which
Cuchulain charges him hardly appears outside Cuchulain's speeches, and
has not the importance given to it in the Leabhar na h-Uidhri version.
The motif of resentment against Cuchulain for a fancied insult,
invented by Maev, which is given in the L.U. version as the determining
cause, does not appear in the Leinster version at all; and that of race
enmity of the Firbolg against the Celt, given to him by Aubrey de Vere,
is quite a modern idea and is in none of the old versions. His
dialogue with Maev suggests that, as stated in the text, he was then
slightly intoxicated; his savage language to his servant gives the idea
of a man who feels himself in the wrong and makes himself out to be
worse than he is by attributing to himself the worst motives, the hope
of pay; but as the battle proceeds he shows himself equal to Cuchulain
in generosity, and in the dialogue at the beginning of the third day's
fight his higher character comes out, for while his old boastfulness
appears in one passage of it, and is immediately repressed, the
language of both heroes in this dialogue is noticeable for a true
spirit of chivalry. The mutual compliments, "thy kingly might," "fair
graceful Hound" "gently ruling Hound" recall the French "Beausire"; it
may be also noted that these compliments are paid even when Ferdia is
protesting against Cuchulain's reproaches; similar language is used
elsewhere, as "much thine arms excel" (page 122), and "Cuchulain for
beautiful feats renowned" (page 134). It may be considered that these
passages are an indication that the episode is late, but it should be
noticed that the very latest date that can possibly be assigned to it,
the eleventh century, precedes that of all other known romances of
chivalry by at least a hundred years. To this later attitude of
Ferdia, and to that maintained by Cuchulain throughout the whole
episode, nothing in French or Welsh romance of approximately so early a
date can be compared. Is it not possible that the chivalric tone of
the later Welsh romances, like the "Lady of the Fountain," which is
generally supposed to have come from France, really came from an Irish
model? and that this tone, together with the Arthurian Saga, passed to
the Continent?
A great contrast to both the two heroes is afforded by the introduction
of Laeg with his cries of exultation, which come between the dying
groans of Ferdia and the fine prose lament of Cuchulain, increasing the
effect of both. Laeg seems quite unable to see his master's point of
view, and he serves as a foil for Ferdia, just as the latter's
inferiority increases the character of Cuchulain. The consistency of
the whole, and the way in which our sympathy is awakened for Ferdia
contrast with the somewhat disconnected character of the L.U. version,
which as it stands gives a poor idea of the defeated champion;
although, as Mr. Nutt suggests, the lost part may have improved this
idea, and the version has beauties of its own.
For the convenience of those readers who may be unacquainted with the
story of the war, the following short introduction is given:--
At a time given by the oldest Irish annalists as A.D. 29, the War of
Cualnge was undertaken by Maev, queen of Connaught, against the kingdom
or province of Ulster. Gathering together men from all the other four
provinces of Ireland, Maev marched against Ulster, the leaders of her
army being herself, her husband Ailill, and Fergus the son of Rog, an
exile from Ulster, and formerly, according to one account, king of that
province. Not only had Maev great superiority in force, but the time
she Ed chosen for the war was when Conor, king of Ulster, and with him
nearly all his principal warriors, were on their sick-bed in accordance
with a curse that had fallen on them in return for a cruel deed that he
and his people had done. One hero however, Cuchulain, the greatest of
the Ulster heroes, was unaffected by this curse; and he, with only a
few followers, but with supernatural aid from demi-gods of whose race
he came, had caused much loss to the queen and her army, so that Maev
finally made this compact: she was each day to provide a champion to
oppose Cuchulain, and was to be permitted to advance so long as that
combat lasted; if her champion was killed, she was to halt her army
until the next morning. Before the Combat at the Ford between
Cuchulain and Ferdia, Cuchulain had killed many of Maev's champions in
duel, and the epic romance of the "War of Cualnge" gives the full story
of these combats and of the end of the war. The episode given in the
following pages commences at the camp of Queen Maev, where her chiefs
are discussing who is to be their champion against Cuchulain on the
following day.
THE COMBAT AT THE FORD
AN EPISODE OF THE CATTLE SPOIL OF CUALNGE IN THE BOOK OF LEINSTER
VERSION
At that time debate was held among the men of Ireland who should be the
man to go early in the morning of the following day to make combat and
fight with Cuchulain. And all agreed that Ferdia, the son of Daman,
the son of Dire, was the man who should go; even the great and valiant
champion of the men of Irross Donnand, for the manner in which he
fought and did battle was like to the manner of Cuchulain. They had
got their skill in arms, and valour, and bravery from the same
teachers, from Scathach, from Uathach, and from Aife[FN#50]; nor had
either of them advantage over the other except that Cuchulain alone
could perform the feat of the Gae-bulg. Yet Ferdia was fenced by a
horny skin-protecting armour, and this should guard him when he faced a
hero in battle and combat at the Ford. So to Ferdia were sent
messengers and heralds; but Ferdia denied the heralds, and he refused
to depart with them, for well he knew why it was he was called; even to
fight against his own friend, his comrade and fellow-pupil Cuchulain;
and for that cause he came not with the heralds who were sent.
[FN#50] Pronounced Scaha, Ooha, and Eefa: Scaha and Ooha end with a
slight guttural like the ch in the Scotch lock, difficult to express in
English.
And then did Maev send to Ferdia Druids, and satirists and revilers, in
order that against him should be made three crushing reproaches, and
three satires; that the stains of shame, and of blemish, and of
disgrace should be raised on his face; so that even if he died not at
once, death should be his within the space of nine days if he went with
them not. And for the sake of his honour, Ferdia came at their call;
for to him it was better to fall before the shafts of valour, of
bravery, and of daring than by the stings of satire, of abuse, and of
reproach. And he, when he arrived, was received with all worship and
service, and was served with pleasant, sweet intoxicating liquor, so
that his brain reeled, and he became gently merry. And these were the
great rewards that were promised to him if he consented to make that
combat and fight: a chariot of the value of four times seven cumals,
and the equipment of twelve men with garments of all colours, and the
length and breadth of his own territory on the choice part of the
plains of Maw Ay; free of tribute, without purchase, free from the
incidents of attendance at courts and of military service, that therein
his son, and his grandson, and all his descendants might dwell in
safety to the end of life and time; also Finnabar the daughter of Maev
as his wedded wife, and the golden brooch which was in the cloak of
Queen Maev in addition to all this. And thus ran the speech of Maev,
and she spake these words, and thus did Ferdia reply:
Maev
Of rings great treasure sending,[FN#51]
Wide plains and woodlands bending
I grant: till time hath ending
I free thy tribe and kin.
O thou who oft o'ercamest!
'Tis thine what gift thou namest!
Why hold'st thou back, nor claimest
A boon that all would win?
[FN#51] The metre of this dialogue and rhyme-system are taken from the
Irish but one syllable has been added to each line. The exact Irish
metre is that given on page 129.
Ferdia
A bond must hold thee tightly,
No force I lend thee lightly;
Dread strife 'twill be; for rightly
He bears that name of "Hound."
For sharp spear-combat breaketh
That morn; hard toil it waketh
The war Cuchulain maketh
Shall fearless war be found.
Maev