Kayn Mac Loy said, "I have never deceived a man: I am he."

The big man said to him:

"Stretch out your leg, Kayn, till I put a salve of herbs and

healing to it. Salve and binding herb and the poultice are

cooling; the worm is channering. Pressure and haste hard bind me,

for I must hear Mass in the great church at Rome, and be in

Norway before I sleep."

Kayn Mac Loy said:

"May it be no foot to Kayn or a foot to any one after one, or I

be Kayn son of Loy, if I stretch out my foot for you to put a

salve of herbs and healing on it, till you tell me why you have

no church of your own in Norway, so as, as now, to be going to

the great church of Rome to Rome to-morrow. Unless you deceive me

you are Machkan-an-Athar, the son of the King of Lochlann."

The big man said, "I have never deceived any man: I am he. I am now

going to tell you why we have not a church in Lochlann. Seven masons

came to build a church, and they and my father were bargaining about the

building of it. The agreement that the masons wanted was that my mother

and sister would go to see the interior of the church when it would be

finished. My father was glad to get the church built so cheaply. They

agreed accordingly; and the masons went in the morning to the place

where the church was to be built. My father pointed out the spot for the

foundation. They began to build in the morning, and the church was

finished before the evening. When it was finished they requested my

mother and sister to go to see its interior. They had no sooner entered

than the doors were shut; and the church went away into the skies in the

form of a tuft of mist.

[Illustration]

"Stretch out your leg, Kayn, till I put a salve of herbs and

healing to it. Salve and binding herb and the poultice are

cooling; the worm is channering. Pressure and haste hard bind me,

for I must hear Mass in the great church at Rome, and be in

Norway before I sleep."

Kayn Mac Loy said:

"May it be no foot to Kayn or a foot to any one after one, or I

be Kayn son of Loy, if I stretch out my foot for you to put a

salve of herbs and healing on it, till you tell me if you heard

what befell your mother and sister."

"Ah!" said the big man, "the mischief is upon you; that tale is long to

tell; but I will tell you a short tale about the matter. On the day on

which they were working at the church I was away in the hill hunting

game; and when I came home in the evening my brother told me what had

happened, namely, that my mother and sister had gone away in the form of

a tuft of mist. I became so cross and angry that I resolved to destroy

the world till I should find out where my mother and sister were. My

brother said to me that I was a fool to think of such a thing. 'I'll

tell you,' said he, 'what you'll do. You will first go to try to find

out where they are. When you find out where they are you will demand

them peaceably, and if you do not get them peaceably you will fight for

them.'

"I took my brother's advice, and prepared a ship to set off with. I set

off alone, and embraced the ocean. I was overtaken by a great mist, and

I came upon an island, and there was a large number of ships at anchor

near it; I went in amongst them, and went ashore. I saw there a big, big

woman reaping rushes; and when she would raise her head she would throw

her right breast over her shoulder and when she would bend it would fall

down between her legs. I came once behind her, and caught the breast

with my mouth, and said to her, 'You are yourself witness, woman, that I

am the foster-son of your right breast.' 'I perceive that, great hero,'

said the old woman, 'but my advice to you is to leave this island as

fast as you can.' 'Why?' said I. 'There is a big giant in the cave up

there,' said she, 'and every one of the ships that you see he has taken

in from the ocean with his breath, and he has killed and eaten the men.

He is asleep at present, and when he wakens he will have you in a

similar manner. A large iron door and an oak door are on the cave. When

the giant draws in his breath the doors open, and when he emits his

breath the doors shut; and they are shut as fast as though seven small

bars, and seven large bars, and seven locks were on them. So fast are

they that seven crowbars could not force them open.' I said to the old

woman, 'Is there any way of destroying him?' 'I'll tell you,' said she,

'how it can be done. He has a weapon above the door that is called the

short spear: and if you succeed in taking off his head with the first

blow it will be well; but if you do not, the case will be worse than it

was at first.'

"I set off, and reached the cave, the two doors of which opened. The

giant's breath drew me into the cave; and stools, chairs, and pots were

by its action dashing against each other, and like to break my legs. The

door shut when I went in, and was shut as fast as though seven small

bars, and seven large bars, and seven locks were on it; and seven

crowbars could not force it open; and I was a prisoner in the cave. The

giant drew in his breath again, and the doors opened. I gave a look

upwards, and saw the short spear, and laid hold of it. I drew the short

spear, and I warrant you that I dealt him such a blow with it as did not

require to be repeated; I swept the head off him. I took the head down

to the old woman, who was reaping the rushes, and said to her, 'There is

the giant's head for you.' The old woman said, 'Brave man! I knew that

you were a hero. This island had need of your coming to it to-day.

Unless you deceive me, you are Mac Connachar son of the King of

Lochlann.' 'I have never deceived a man. I am he,' said I. 'I am a

soothsayer,' said she, 'and know the object of your journey. You are

going in quest of your mother and sister.' 'Well,' said I, 'I am so far

on the way if I only knew where to go for them.' 'I'll tell you where

they are,' said she; 'they are in the kingdom of the Red Shield, and the

King of the Red Shield is resolved to marry your mother, and his son is

resolved to marry your sister. I'll tell you how the town is situated. A

canal of seven times seven paces breadth surrounds it. On the canal

there is a drawbridge, which is guarded during the day by two creatures

that no weapon can pierce, as they are covered all over with scales,

except two spots below the neck in which their death-wounds lie. Their

names are Roar and Rustle. When night comes the bridge is raised, and

the monsters sleep. A very high and big wall surrounds the king's

palace.'

"Stretch out your leg, Kayn, till I put a salve of herbs and

healing to it. Salve and binding herb and the poultice are

cooling; the worm is channering. Pressure and haste hard bind me,

for I must hear Mass in the great church at Rome, and be in

Norway before I sleep."

Kayn Mac Loy said:

"May it be no foot to Kayn or a foot to any one after one, or I

be Kayn son of Loy, if I stretch out my foot for you to put a

salve of herbs and healing on it, till you tell me if you went

farther in search of your mother and sister, or if you returned

home, or what befell you."

"Ah!" said the big man, "the mischief is upon you; that tale is long to

tell; but I will tell you another tale. I set off, and reached the big

town of the Red Shield; and it was surrounded by a canal, as the old

woman told me; and there was a drawbridge on the canal. It was night

when I arrived, and the bridge was raised, and the monsters were asleep.

I measured two feet before me and a foot behind me of the ground on

which I was standing, and I sprang on the end of my spear and on my

tiptoes, and reached the place where the monsters were asleep; and I

drew the short spear, and I warrant you that I dealt them such a blow

below the neck as did not require to be repeated. I took up the heads

and hung them on one of the posts of the bridge. I then went on to the

wall that surrounded the king's palace. This wall was so high that it

was not easy for me to spring over it; and I set to work with the short

spear, and dug a hole through it, and got in. I went to the door of the

palace and knocked; and the doorkeeper called out, 'Who is there?' 'It

is I,' said I. My mother and sister recognised my speech; and my mother

called, 'Oh! it is my son; let him in.' I then got in, and they rose to

meet me with great joy. I was supplied with food, drink, and a good bed.

In the morning breakfast was set before us; and after it I said to my

mother and sister that they had better make ready, and go with me. The

King of the Red Shield said, 'It shall not be so. I am resolved to marry

your mother, and my son is resolved to marry your sister.' 'If you wish

to marry my mother, and if your son wishes to marry my sister, let both

of you accompany me to my home, and you shall get them there.' The King

of the Red Shield said, 'So be it.'

[Illustration]

"We then set off, and came to where my ship was, went on board of it,

and sailed home. When we were passing a place where a great battle was

going on, I asked the King of the Red Shield what battle it was, and the

cause of it. 'Don't you know at all?' said the King of the Red Shield.

'I do not,' said I. The King of the Red Shield said, 'That is the battle

for the daughter of the King of the Great Universe, the most beautiful

woman in the world; and whoever wins her by his heroism shall get her in

marriage. Do you see yonder castle?' 'I do,' said I. 'She is on the top

of that castle, and sees from it the hero that wins her,' said the King

of the Red Shield. I requested to be put on shore, that I might win her

by my swiftness and strength. They put me on shore; and I got a sight

of her on the top of the castle. Having measured two feet behind me and

a foot before me, I sprang on the end of my spear and on my tiptoes, and

reached the top of the castle; and I caught the daughter of the King of

the Universe in my arms and flung her over the castle. I was with her

and intercepted her before she reached the ground, and I took her away

on my shoulder, and set off to the shore as fast as I could, and

delivered her to the King of the Red Shield to be put on board the ship.

'Am I not the best warrior that ever sought you?' said I. 'You can jump

well' said she, 'but I have not seen any of your prowess.' I turned back

to meet the warriors, and attacked them with the short spear, and did

not leave a head on a neck of any of them. I then returned, and called

to the King of the Red Shield to come in to the shore for me. Pretending

not to hear me, he set the sails in order to return home with the

daughter of the King of the Great Universe, and marry her. I measured

two feet behind me and a foot before me, and sprang on the end of my

spear and on my tiptoes and got on board the ship. I then said to the

King of the Red Shield, 'What were you going to do? Why did you not wait

for me?' 'Oh!' said the king, 'I was only making the ship ready and

setting the sails to her before going on shore for you. Do you know what

I am thinking of?' 'I do not,' said I. 'It is,' said the King, 'that I

will return home with the daughter of the King of the Great Universe,

and that you shall go home with your mother and sister.' 'That is not to

be the way of it,' said I. 'She whom I have won by my prowess neither

you nor any other shall get.'

"The king had a red shield, and if he should get it on, no weapon could

make an impression on him. He began to put on the red shield, and I

struck him with the short spear in the middle of his body, and cut him

in two, and threw him overboard. I then struck the son, and swept his

head off, and threw him overboard.

"Stretch out your leg, Kayn, till I put a salve of herbs and

healing to it. Salve and binding herb and the poultice are

cooling; the worm is channering. Pressure and haste hard bind me,

for I must hear Mass in the great church at Rome, and be in

Norway before I sleep."

Kayn Mac Loy said:

"May it be no foot to Kayn or a foot to any one after one, or I

be Kayn son of Loy, if I stretch out my foot for you to put a

salve of herbs and healing on it, till you tell me whether any

search was made for the daughter of the King of the Universe."

"Ah! the mischief is upon you," said the big man; "I will tell

you another short tale. I came home with my mother and sister,

and the daughter of the King of the Universe, and I married the

daughter of the King of the Universe. The first son I had I named

Machkan-na-skaya-jayrika (son of the red shield). Not long after this

a hostile force came to enforce compensation for the King of the Red

Shield, and a hostile force came from the King of the Universe to

enforce compensation for the daughter of the King of the Universe. I

took the daughter of the King of the Universe with me on the one

shoulder and Machkan-na-skaya-jayrika on the other, and I went on

board the ship and set the sails to her, and I placed the ensign of

the King of the Great Universe on the one mast, and that of the King

of the Red Shield on the other, and I blew a trumpet, and passed

through the midst of them, and I said to them that here was the man,

and that if they were going to enforce their claims, this was the

time. All the ships that were there chased me; and we set out on the

expanse of ocean. My ship would be equalled in speed by but few. One

day a thick dark mist came on, and they lost sight of me. It happened

that I came to an island called The Wet Mantle. I built a hut there;

and another son was born to me, and I called him Son of the Wet

Mantle.

"I was a long time in that island; but there was enough of fruit, fish,

and birds in it. My two sons had grown to be somewhat big. As I was one

day out killing birds, I saw a big, big man coming towards the island,

and I ran to try if I could get into the house before him. He met me,

and caught me, and put me into a bog up to the armpits, and he went into

the house, and took out on his shoulder the daughter of the King of the

Universe, and passed close to me in order to irritate me the more. The

saddest look that I ever gave or ever shall give was that I gave when I

saw the daughter of the King of the Universe on the shoulder of another,

and could not take her from him. The boys came out where I was; and I

bade them bring me the short spear from the house. They dragged the

short spear after them, and brought it to me; and I cut the ground

around me with it till I got out.

"I was a long time in the Wet Mantle, even till my two sons grew to be

big lads. They asked me one day if I had any thought of going to seek

their mother. I told them that I was waiting till they were stronger,

and that they should then go with me. They said that they were ready to

go with me at any time. I said to them that we had better get the ship

ready, and go. They said, 'Let each of us have a ship to himself.' We

arranged accordingly; and each went his own way.

"As I happened one day to be passing close to land I saw a great battle

going on. Being under vows never to pass a battle without helping the

weaker side, I went on shore, and set to work with the weaker side, and

I knocked the head off every one with the short spear. Being tired, I

lay myself down among the bodies and fell asleep.

"Stretch out your leg, Kayn, till I put a salve of herbs and

healing to it. Salve and binding herb and the poultice are

cooling; the worm is channering. Pressure and haste hard bind me,

for I must hear Mass in the great church at Rome, and be in

Norway before I sleep."

Kayn Mac Loy said:

"May it be no foot to Kayn or a foot to any one after one, or I

be Kayn son of Loy, if I stretch out my foot for you to put a

salve of herbs and healing on it, till you tell me if you found

the daughter of the King of the Universe, or if you went home, or

what happened to you."

[Illustration]

"The mischief is upon you," said the big man; "that tale is long to

tell, but I will tell another short tale. When I awoke out of sleep I

saw a ship making for the place where I was lying, and a big giant with

only one eye dragging it after him: and the ocean reached no higher than

his knees. He had a big fishing-rod with a big strong line hanging from

it on which was a very big hook. He was throwing the line ashore, and

fixing the hook in a body, and lifting it on board, and he continued

this work till the ship was loaded with bodies. He fixed the hook once

in my clothes; but I was so heavy that the rod could not carry me on

board. He had to go on shore himself, and carry me on board in his arms.

I was then in a worse plight than I ever was in. The giant set off with

the ship, which he dragged after him, and reached a big, precipitous

rock, in the face of which he had a large cave: and a damsel as

beautiful as I ever saw came out, and stood in the door of the cave. He

was handing the bodies to her, and she was taking hold of them and

putting them into the cave. As she took hold of each body she said, 'Are

you alive?' At last the giant took hold of me, and handed me in to her,

and said, 'Keep him apart; he is a large body, and I will have him to

breakfast the first day that I go from home.' My best time was not when

I heard the giant's sentence upon me. When he had eaten enough of the

bodies, his dinner and supper, he lay down to sleep. When he began to

snore the damsel came to speak to me; and she told me that she was a

king's daughter the giant had stolen away and that she had no way of

getting away from him. 'I am now,' she said, 'seven years except two

days with him, and there is a drawn sword between us. He dared not come

nearer me than that till the seven years should expire.' I said to her,

'Is there no way of killing him?' 'It is not easy to kill him, but we

will devise an expedient for killing him,' said she. 'Look at that

pointed bar that he uses for roasting the bodies. At dead of night

gather the embers of the fire together, and put the bar in the fire till

it be red. Go, then, and thrust it into his eye with all your strength,

and take care that he does not get hold of you, for if he does he will

mince you as small as midges.' I then went and gathered the embers

together, and put the bar in the fire, and made it red, and thrust it

into his eye; and from the cry that he gave I thought that the rock had

split. The giant sprang to his feet and chased me through the cave in

order to catch me; and I picked up a stone that lay on the floor of the

cave, and pitched it into the sea; and it made a plumping noise. The bar

was sticking in his eye all the time. Thinking it was I that had sprung

into the sea, he rushed to the mouth of the cave, and the bar struck

against the doorpost of the cave, and knocked off his brain-cap. The

giant fell down cold and dead, and the damsel and I were seven years and

seven days throwing him into the sea in pieces.

[Illustration: KOISHA KAYN]

"I wedded the damsel, and a boy was born to us. After seven years I

started forth again.

"I gave her a gold ring, with my name on it, for the boy, and when he

was old enough he was sent out to seek me.

"I then set off to the place where I fought the battle, and found the

short spear where I left it; and I was very pleased that I found it, and

that the ship was safe. I sailed a day's distance from that place, and

entered a pretty bay that was there, hauled my ship up above the shore,

and erected a hut there, in which I slept at night. When I rose next day

I saw a ship making straight for the place where I was. When it struck

the ground, a big, strong champion came out of it, and hauled it up; and

if it did not surpass my ship it was not a whit inferior to it; and I

said to him, 'What impertinent fellow are you that has dared to haul up

your ship alongside of my ship?' 'I am Machkan-na-skaya-jayrika,' said

the champion, 'going to seek the daughter of the King of the Universe

for Mac Connachar, son of the King of Lochlann.' I saluted and welcomed

him, and said to him, 'I am your father: it is well that you have come.'

We passed the night cheerily in the hut.

"When I arose on the following day I saw another ship making straight

for the place where I was; and a big, strong hero came out of it, and

hauled it up alongside of our ships; and if it did not surpass them it

was not a whit inferior to them. 'What impertinent fellow are you that

has dared to haul up your ship alongside of our ships?' said I. 'I am,'

said he, 'the Son of the Wet Mantle, going to seek the daughter of the

King of the Universe for Mac Connachar, son of the King of Lochlann.' 'I

am your father, and this is your brother: it is well that you have

come,' said I. We passed the night together in the hut, my two sons and

I.

"When I rose next day I saw another ship coming, and making straight for

the place where I was. A big, strong champion sprang out of it, and

hauled it up alongside of our ships; and if it was not higher than they,

it was not lower. I went down where he was, and said to him, 'What

impertinent fellow are you that has dared to haul up your ship alongside

of our ships?' 'I am the Son of the Wet Mantle,' said he, 'going to seek

the daughter of the King of the Universe for Mac Connachar, son of the

King of Lochlann.' 'Have you any token in proof of that?' said I. 'I

have,' said he: 'here is a ring that my mother gave me at my father's

request.' I took hold of the ring, and saw my name on it: and the matter

was beyond doubt. I said to him, 'I am your father, and here are two

half-brothers of yours. We are now stronger for going in quest of the

daughter of the King of the Universe. Four piles are stronger than three

piles.' We spent that night cheerily and comfortably together in the

hut.

"On the morrow we met a soothsayer, and he spoke to us: 'You are going

in quest of the daughter of the King of the Universe. I will tell you

where she is: she is with the Son of the Blackbird.'

"Machkan-na-skaya-jayrika then went and called for combat with a hundred

fully trained heroes, or the sending out to him of the daughter of the

King of the Universe. The hundred went out; and he and they began on

each other, and he killed every one of them. The Son of the Wet Mantle

called for combat with another hundred, or the sending out of the

daughter of the King of the Universe. He killed that hundred with the

short spear. The Son of Secret called for combat with another hundred,

or the daughter of the King of the Universe. He killed every one of

these with the short spear. I then went out to the field, and sounded a

challenge on the shield, and made the town tremble. The Son of the

Blackbird had not a man to send out: he had to come out himself; and he

and I began on each other, and I drew the short spear, and swept his

head off. I then went into the castle, and took out the daughter of the

King of the Universe. It was thus that it fared with me.

"Stretch out your leg, Kayn, till I put a salve of herbs and

healing to it. Salve and binding herb and the poultice are

cooling; the worm is channering. Pressure and haste hard bind me,

for I must hear Mass in the great church at Rome, and be in

Norway before I sleep."

Kayn Mac Loy stretched his leg; and the big man applied to it leaves of

herbs and healing; and it was healed. The big man took him ashore from

the island, and allowed him to go home to the king.

Thus did O'Cronicert win and lose a wife, and thus befell the Leeching

of the leg of Kayn, son of Loy.

How Fin went to the Kingdom of the Big Men.

[Illustration: F]

Fin and his men were in the Harbour of the Hill of Howth on a hillock,

behind the wind and in front of the sun, where they could see every

person, and nobody could see them, when they saw a speck coming from the

west. They thought at first it was the blackness of a shower; but when

it came nearer, they saw it was a boat. It did not lower sail till it

entered the harbour. There were three men in it; one for guide in the

bow, one for steering in the stern, and one for the tackle in the

centre. They came ashore, and drew it up seven times its own length in

dry grey grass, where the scholars of the city could not make it stock

for derision or ridicule.

They then went up to a lovely green spot, and the first lifted a handful

of round pebbles or shingle, and commanded them to become a beautiful

house, that no better could be found in Ireland; and this was done. The

second one lifted a slab of slate, and commanded it to be slate on the

top of the house, that there was not better in Ireland; and this was

done. The third one caught a bunch of shavings and commanded them to be

pine-wood and timber in the house, that there was not in Ireland better;

and this was done.

This caused much wonder to Fin, who went down where the men were, and

made inquiries of them, and they answered him. He asked whence they

were, or whither they were going. They said, "We are three Heroes whom

the King of the Big Men has sent to ask combat of the Fians." He then

asked, "What was the reason for doing this?" They said they did not

know, but they heard that they were strong men, and they came to ask

combat of Heroes from them. "Is Fin at Home?" "He is not." (Great is a

man's leaning towards his own life). Fin then put them under crosses and

under enchantments, that they were not to move from the place where they

were till they saw him again.

He went away and made ready his coracle, gave its stern to land and prow

to sea, hoisted the spotted towering sails against the long, tough,

lance-shaped mast, cleaving the billows in the embrace of the wind in

whirls, with a soft gentle breeze from the height of the sea-coast, and

from the rapid tide of the red rocks, that would take willom from the

hill, foliage from the tree, and heather from its stock and roots. Fin

was guide in her prow, helm in her stern, and tackle in her middle; and

stopping of head or foot he did not make till he reached the Kingdom of

the Big Men. He went ashore and drew up his coracle in grey grass. He

went up, and a Big Wayfarer met him. Fin asked who he was. "I am," he

said, "the Red-haired Coward of the King of the Big Men; and," said he

to Fin, "you are the one I am in quest of. Great is my esteem and

respect towards you; you are the best maiden I have ever seen; you will

yourself make a dwarf for the King, and your dog (this was Bran) a

lapdog. It is long since the King has been in want of a dwarf and a

lapdog." He took with him Fin; but another Big Man came, and was going

to take Fin from him. The two fought; but when they had torn each

other's clothes, they left it to Fin to judge. He chose the first one.

He took Fin with him to the palace of the King, whose worthies and high

nobles assembled to see the little man. The king lifted him upon the

palm of his hand, and went three times round the town with Fin upon one

palm and Bran upon the other. He made a sleeping-place for him at the

end of his own bed. Fin was waiting, watching, and observing everything

that was going on about the house. He observed that the King, as soon as

night came, rose and went out, and returned no more till morning. This

caused him much wonder, and at last he asked the King why he went away

every night and left the Queen by herself. "Why," said the King, "do you

ask?" "For satisfaction to myself," said Fin; "for it is causing me much

wonder." Now the King had a great liking for Fin; he never saw anything

that gave him more pleasure than he did; and at last he told him. "There

is," he said, "a great Monster who wants my daughter in marriage, and to

have half my kingdom to himself; and there is not another man in the

kingdom who can meet him but myself; and I must go every night to hold

combat with him." "Is there," said Fin, "no man to combat with him but

yourself?" "There is not," said the King, "one who will war with him for

a single night." "It is a pity," said Fin, "that this should be called

the Kingdom of the Big Men. Is he bigger than yourself?" "Never you

mind," said the King. "I will mind," said Fin; "take your rest and sleep

to-night, and I shall go to meet him." "Is it you?" said the King; "you

would not keep half a stroke against him."

When night came, and all men went to rest, the King was for going away

as usual; but Fin at last prevailed upon him to allow himself to go. "I

shall combat him," said he, "or else he knows a trick." "I think much,"

said the King, "of allowing you to go, seeing he gives myself enough to

do." "Sleep you soundly to-night," said Fin, "and let me go; if he comes

too violently upon me, I shall hasten home."

Fin went and reached the place where the combat was to be. He saw no one

before him, and he began to pace backwards and forwards. At last he saw

the sea coming in kilns of fire and as a darting serpent, till it came

down below where he was. A Huge Monster came up and looked towards him,

and from him. "What little speck do I see there?" he said. "It is I,"

said Fin. "What are you doing here?" "I am a messenger from the King of

the Big Men; he is under much sorrow and distress; the Queen has just

died, and I have come to ask if you will be so good as to go home

to-night without giving trouble to the kingdom." "I shall do that," said

he; and he went away with the rough humming of a song in his mouth.

Fin went home when the time came, and lay down in his own bed, at the

foot of the King's bed. When the King awoke, he cried out in great

anxiety, "My kingdom is lost, and my dwarf and my lapdog are killed!"

"They are not," said Fin; "I am here yet; and you have got your sleep, a

thing you were saying it was rare for you to get." "How," said the King,

"did you escape, when you are so little, while he is enough for myself,

though I am so big." "Though you," said Fin, "are so big and strong, I

am quick and active."

[Illustration]

Next night the King was for going; but Fin told him to take his sleep

to-night again. "I shall stand myself in your place, or else a better

hero than yonder one must come." "He will kill you," said the King. "I

shall take my chance," said Fin.

He went, and as happened the night before, he saw no one; and he began

to pace backwards and forwards. He saw the sea coming in fiery kilns and

as a darting serpent; and that Huge Man came up. "Are you here to-night

again?" said he. "I am, and this is my errand: when the Queen was being

put in the coffin, and the King heard the coffin being nailed, and the

joiner's stroke, he broke his heart with pain and grief; and the

_Parliament_ has sent me to ask you to go home to-night till they get

the King buried." The Monster went this night also, roughly humming a

song; and Fin went home when the time came.

In the morning the King awoke in great anxiety, and called out, "My

kingdom is lost, and my dwarf and my lapdog are killed!" and he greatly

rejoiced that Fin and Bran were alive, and that he himself got rest,

after being so long without sleep.

Fin went the third night, and things happened as before. There was no

one before him, and he took to pacing to and fro. He saw the sea coming

till it came down below him: the Big Monster came up; he saw the little

black speck, and asked who was there, and what he wanted. "I have come

to combat you," said Fin.

Fin and Bran began the combat. Fin was going backwards, and the Huge Man

was following. Fin called to Bran, "Are you going to let him kill me?"

Bran had a venomous shoe; and he leaped and struck the Huge Man with the

venomous shoe on the breast-bone, and took the heart and lungs out of

him. Fin drew his sword, Mac-a-Luin, cut off his head, put it on a

hempen rope, and went with it to the Palace of the King. He took it into

the _Kitchen_, and put it behind the door. In the morning the servant

could not turn it, nor open the door. The King went down; he saw the

Huge Mass, caught it by the top of the head, and lifted it, and knew it

was the head of the Man who was for so long a time asking combat from

him, and keeping him from sleep. "How at all," said he, "has this head

come here? Surely it is not my dwarf that has done it." "Why," said Fin,

"should he not?"

Next night the King wanted to go himself to the place of combat;

"because," said he, "a bigger one than the former will come to-night,

and the kingdom will be destroyed, and you yourself killed; and I shall

lose the pleasure I take in having you with me." But Fin went, and that

Big Man came, asking vengeance for his son, and to have the kingdom for

himself, or equal combat. He and Fin fought; and Fin was going

backwards. He spoke to Bran, "Are you going to allow him to kill me?"

Bran whined, and went and sat down on the beach. Fin was ever being

driven back, and he called out again to Bran. Then Bran jumped and

struck the Big Man with the venomous shoe, and took the heart and the

lungs out of him. Fin cut the head off, and took it with him, and left

it in front of the house. The King awoke in great terror, and cried out,

"My kingdom is lost, and my dwarf and my lapdog are killed!" Fin raised

himself up and said, "They are not"; and the King's joy was not small

when he went out and saw the head that was in front of the house.

The next night a Big Hag came ashore, and the tooth in the door of her

mouth would make a distaff. She sounded a challenge on her shield: "You

killed," she said, "my husband and my son." "I did kill them," said Fin.

They fought; and it was worse for Fin to guard himself from the tooth

than from the hand of the Big Hag. When she had nearly done for him Bran

struck her with the venomous shoe, and killed her as he had done to the

rest. Fin took with him the head, and left it in front of the house. The

King awoke in great anxiety, and called out, "My kingdom is lost, and my

dwarf and my lapdog are killed!" "They are not," said Fin, answering

him; and when they went out and saw the head, the King said, "I and my

kingdom will have peace ever after this. The mother herself of the brood

is killed; but tell me who you are. It was foretold for me that it would

be Fin-mac-Coul that would give me relief, and he is only now eighteen

years of age. Who are you, then, or what is your name?" "There never

stood," said Fin, "on hide of cow or horse, one to whom I would deny my

name. I am Fin, the Son of Coul, son of Looach, son of Trein, son of

Fin, son of Art, son of the young High King of Erin; and it is time for

me now to go home. It has been with much wandering out of my way that I

have come to your kingdom; and this is the reason why I have come, that

I might find out what injury I have done to you, or the reason why you

sent the three heroes to ask combat from me, and bring destruction on my

Men." "You never did any injury to me," said the King; "and I ask a

thousand pardons. I did not send the heroes to you. It is not the truth

they told. They were three men who were courting three fairy women, and

these gave them their shirts; and when they have on their shirts, the

combat of a hundred men is upon the hand of every one of them. But they

must put off the shirts every night, and put them on the backs of

chairs; and if the shirts were taken from them they would be next day as

weak as other people."

Fin got every honour, and all that the King could give him, and when he

went away, the King and the Queen and the people went down to the shore

to give him their blessing.

Fin now went away in his coracle, and was sailing close by the side of

the shore, when he saw a young man running and calling out to him. Fin

came in close to land with his coracle, and asked what he wanted. "I

am," said the young man, "a good servant wanting a master." "What work

can you do?" said Fin. "I am," said he, "the best soothsayer that there

is." "Jump into the boat then." The soothsayer jumped in, and they went

forward.

They did not go far when another youth came running. "I am," he said, "a

good servant wanting a master." "What work can you do?" said Fin. "I am

as good a thief as there is." "Jump into the boat, then"; and Fin took

with him this one also. They saw then a third young man running and

calling out. They came close to land. "What man are you?" said Fin. "I

am," said he, "the best climber that there is. I will take up a hundred

pounds on my back in a place where a fly could not stand on a calm

summer day." "Jump in"; and this one came in also. "I have my pick of

servants now," said Fin; "it cannot be but these will suffice."

They went; and stop of head or foot they did not make till they reached

the Harbour of the Hill of Howth. He asked the soothsayer what the three

Big Men were doing. "They are," he said, "after their supper, and making

ready for going to bed."

He asked a second time. "They are," he said, "after going to bed; and

their shirts are spread on the back of chairs."

After a while, Fin asked him again, "What are the Big Men doing now?"

"They are," said the soothsayer, "sound asleep." "It would be a good

thing if there was now a thief to go and steal the shirts." "I would do

that," said the thief, "but the doors are locked, and I cannot get in."

"Come," said the climber, "on my back, and I shall put you in." He took

him up upon his back to the top of the chimney, and let him down, and he

stole the shirts.

Fin went where the Fian band was; and in the morning they came to the

house where the three Big Men were. They sounded a challenge upon their

shields, and asked them to come out to combat.

They came out. "Many a day," said they, "have we been better for combat

than we are to-day," and they confessed to Fin everything as it was.

"You were," said Fin, "impertinent, but I will forgive you"; and he made

them swear that they would be faithful to himself ever after, and ready

in every enterprise he would place before them.

[Illustration]

How Cormac Mac Art went to Faery.

[Illustration: C]

Cormac, son of Art, son of Conn of the Hundred Battles, was high King of

Ireland, and held his Court at Tara. One day he saw a youth upon the

green having in his hand a glittering fairy branch with nine apples of

red. And whensoever the branch was shaken, wounded men and women

enfeebled by illness would be lulled to sleep by the sound of the very

sweet fairy music which those apples uttered, nor could any one upon

earth bear in mind any want, woe, or weariness of soul when that branch

was shaken for him.

"Is that branch thy own?" said Cormac.

"It is indeed mine."

"Wouldst thou sell it? and what wouldst thou require for it?"

"Will you give me what I ask?" said the youth.

The king promised, and the youth then claimed his wife, his daughter,

and his son. Sorrowful of heart was the king, heaviness of heart filled

his wife and children when they learned that they must part from him.

But Cormac shook the branch amongst them, and when they heard the soft

sweet music of the branch they forgot all care and sorrow and went forth

to meet the youth, and he and they took their departure and were seen no

more. Loud cries of weeping and mourning were made throughout Erin when

this was known: but Cormac shook the branch so that there was no longer

any grief or heaviness of heart upon any one.

After a year Cormac said: "It is a year to-day since my wife, my son,

and my daughter were taken from me. I will follow them by the same path

that they took."

Cormac went off, and a dark magical mist rose about him, and he chanced

to come upon a wonderful marvellous plain. Many horsemen were there,

busy thatching a house with the feathers of foreign birds; when one side

was thatched they would go and seek more, and when they returned not a

feather was on the roof. Cormac gazed at them for a while and then went

forward.

Again, he saw a youth dragging up trees to make a fire; but before he

could find a second tree the first one would be burnt, and it seemed to

Cormac that his labour would never end.

Cormac journeyed onwards until he saw three immense wells on the border

of the plain, and on each well was a head. From out the mouth of the

first head there flowed two streams, into it there flowed one; the

second head had a stream flowing out of and another stream into its

mouth, whilst three streams were flowing from the mouth of the third

head. Great wonder seized Cormac, and he said: "I will stay and gaze

upon these wells, for I should find no man to tell me your story." With

that he set onwards till he came to a house in the middle of a field. He

entered and greeted the inmates. There sat within a tall couple clad in

many-hued garments, and they greeted the king, and bade him welcome for

the night.

Then the wife bade her husband seek food, and he arose and returned with

a huge wild boar upon his back and a log in his hand. He cast down the

swine and the log upon the floor, and said: "There is meat; cook it for

yourselves."

"How can I do that?" said Cormac.

"I will teach you," said the youth. "Split this great log, make four

pieces of it, and make four quarters of the hog; put a log under each

quarter; tell a true story, and the meat will be cooked."

"Tell the first story yourself," said Cormac.

"Seven pigs I have of the same kind as the one I brought, and I could

feed the world with them. For if a pig is killed I have but to put its

bones into the stye again, and it will be found alive the next morning."

The story was true, and a quarter of the pig was cooked.

Then Cormac begged the woman of the house to tell a story.

"I have seven white cows, and they fill seven cauldrons with milk every

day, and I give my word that they yield as much milk as would satisfy

the men of the whole world if they were out on yonder plain drinking

it."

That story was true, and a second quarter of the pig was cooked.

Cormac was bidden now to tell a story for his quarter, and he told how

he was upon a search for his wife, his son and his daughter that had

been borne away from him a year before by a youth with a fairy branch.

"If what thou sayest be true," said the man of the house, "thou art

indeed Cormac, son of Art, son of Conn of the Hundred Battles."

"Truly I am," quoth Cormac.

That story was true, and a quarter of the pig was cooked.

"Eat thy meal now," said the man of the house.

"I never ate before," said Cormac, "having only two people in my

company."

"Wouldst thou eat it with three others?"

"If they were dear to me, I would," said Cormac.

Then the door opened, and there entered the wife and children of Cormac:

great was his joy and his exultation.

Then Manannan mac Lir, lord of the fairy Cavalcade, appeared before him

in his own true form, and said thus:

"I it was, Cormac, who bore away these three from thee. I it was who

gave thee this branch, all that I might bring thee here. Eat now and

drink."

"I would do so," said Cormac, "could I learn the meaning of the wonders

I saw to-day."

"Thou shalt learn them," said Manannan. "The horsemen thatching the roof

with feathers are a likeness of people who go forth into the world to

seek riches and fortune; when they return their houses are bare, and so

they go on for ever. The young man dragging up the trees to make a fire

is a likeness of those who labour for others: much trouble they have,

but they never warm themselves at the fire. The three heads in the wells

are three kinds of men. Some there are who give freely when they get

freely; some who give freely though they get little; some who get much

and give little, and they are the worst of the three, Cormac," said

Manannan.

After that Cormac and his wife and his children sat down, and a

table-cloth was spread before them.

"That is a very precious thing before thee," said Manannan, "there is no

food however delicate that shall be asked of it but it shall be had

without doubt."

"That is well," quoth Cormac.

After that Manannan thrust his hand into his girdle and brought out a

goblet and set it upon his palm. "This cup has this virtue," said he,

"that when a false story is told before it, it makes four pieces of it,

and when a true story is related it is made whole again."

"Those are very precious things you have, Manannan," said the king.

"They shall all be thine," said Manannan, "the goblet, the branch and

the tablecloth."

Then they ate their meal, and that meal was good, for they could not

think of any meat but they got it upon the table-cloth, nor of any drink

but they got it in the cup. Great thanks did they give to Manannan.

When they had eaten their meal a couch was prepared for them and they

laid down to slumber and sweet sleep.

Where they rose on the morrow morn was in Tara of the kings, and by

their side were tablecloth, cup, and branch.

Thus did Cormac fare at the Court of Manannan, and this is how he got

the fairy branch.

The Ridere of Riddles.

[Illustration: T]

There was a king once, and he married a great lady, and she departed on

the birth of her first son. And a little after this the king married

another wife, and she too had a son. The two lads grew up tall and

strong. Then it struck the queen that it was not her son who would come

into the kingdom; and she set it before her that she would poison the

eldest son. And so she sent advice to the cooks that they should put

poison in the drink of the heir; but as luck was in it, the youngest

brother heard them, and he told his brother not to take the draught, nor

to drink it at all; and so he did. But the queen wondered that the lad

was not dead; and she thought that there was not enough of poison in the

drink, and she asked the cook to put in more on the second night. It was

thus they did: and when the cook made up the drink, she said that he

would not be long alive after this draught. But his brother heard this

also, and told him likewise. The eldest thought he would put the draught

into a little bottle, and he said to his brother--"If I stay in this

house I have no doubt she will do for me some way or other, and the

quicker I leave the house the better. I will take the world for my

pillow, and there is no knowing what fortune will be on me." His brother

said that he would go with him, and they took themselves off to the

stable, and they put saddles on two horses and they took their soles out

of that.

They had not gone very far from the house when the eldest one

said--"There is no knowing if poison was in the drink at all, though we

went away. Try it in the horse's ear and we shall see." The horse did

not go far before he fell. "That was only a rattle-bones of a horse

anyway," said the eldest one, and they got up together on the other

horse, and so they went forwards. "But," said he, "I can scarce believe

that there is any poison in the drink; let's try it on this horse." That

he did, and they went not far when the horse fell cold dead. They

thought they'd take the hide off him, and that it would keep them warm

at night which was close at hand. In the morning when they woke they saw

twelve ravens come and light on the carcase of the horse, and they were

not long there when they fell down dead.

They went and lifted the ravens, and they took them with them, and the

first town they reached they gave the ravens to a baker, and they asked

him to make a dozen pies of the ravens. They took the pies with them,

and they went forward on their journey. About the mouth of night, and

when they were in a great thick wood, there came four and twenty robbers

who bade them to deliver up their purses; but they said that they had no

purse, but only a little food which they were carrying with them. "Good

is even meat!" said the robbers, and they began to eat it, but had not

eaten much when they fell hither and thither, all stone dead. When they

saw that the robbers were dead they ransacked their pockets, and got

much gold and silver. They went forward till they reached the Knight of

Riddles.

The house of the Knight of Riddles was in the finest place in that

country, and if his house was pretty, his daughter was prettier, and she

had twelve maidens with her only less fair than she. Her like was not on

the surface of the world, altogether so handsome was she; and no one

would get her to marry but the man who could put a question to her

father that he could not solve. The brothers thought that they would go

and try to put a question to him; and the youngest was to stand in place

of gillie to the elder brother. They reached the house of the Knight of

Riddles and this was the question they put to him--"One killed two, and

two killed twelve, and twelve killed four and twenty, and two got out of

it"; and they were to be kept in great majesty and high honour till he

should solve the riddle.

They were thus a while with the Ridere, and try as he might he could not

guess the riddle. On a day of days came one of the maidens who were with

the knight's daughter to the gillie, and asked him to tell her the

question. He took her plaid from her and let her go, but he told her

nothing. The same thing happened to the twelve maidens, day after day,

and the gillie said to the last one that no creature had the answer to

the riddle but his master down below. One day after this came the

knight's daughter to the eldest brother, and looking her finest and

handsomest, and she asked him to tell her the question. And now there

was no refusing her, and he told her, but he kept her plaid. The Knight

of Riddles sent for him, and he gave him the answer of the riddle. And

the knight said that he had two choices: to lose his head, or to be set

adrift in a crazy boat without food or drink, without oar or scoop. The

elder brother spoke, and he said--"I have another riddle to put to thee

before all these things happen." "Say on," said the knight. "Myself and

my gillie were one day in the forest shooting. My gillie fired at a

hare, and she fell, and he took her skin off, and let her go; and so he

did to twelve, he took their skins off and let them go. And at last came

a great fine hare, and I myself fired at her, and I took her skin off,

and I let her go." "Indeed thy riddle is not hard to solve, my lad,"

said the knight, and he knew the lad knew he had not really guessed the

riddle, but had been told the answer. So he gave him his daughter to

wife, to make him hold his peace, and they made a great hearty wedding

that lasted a day and a year. The youngest one went home now that his

brother had got so well on his way, and the eldest brother gave him

every right over the kingdom that was at home.

Now there were near the march of the kingdom of the Knight of Riddles

three giants, and they were always murdering and slaying some of the

knight's people, and taking spoil from them. On a day of days the Knight

of Riddles said to his son-in-law, that if the spirit of a man were in

him, he would go to kill the giants, as they were always bringing such

losses on the country. Well, so it was, he went and he met the giants,

and he came home with the three giants' heads, and he threw them at the

knight's feet. "Thou art an able lad doubtless, and thy name hereafter

is the Hero of the White Shield." The name of the Hero of the White

Shield went far and near.

[Illustration]

Meanwhile the brother of the Hero of the White Shield had wandered afar

in many countries, and after long years had come to the land of the

giants where the Hero of the White Shield was now dwelling, and the

knight's daughter with him. His brother came and he asked to make a

_covrag_ or fight as a bull with him. The men began at each other, and

they took to wrestling from morning till evening. At last and at length,

when they were tired, weak, and spent, the Hero of the White Shield

jumped over a great rampart, and he asked the stranger to meet him in

the morning. This leap put the other to shame, and he said to him, "Well

may it be that thou wilt not be so supple about this time to-morrow."

The young brother now went to a poor little bothy that was near to the

house of the Hero of the White Shield, tired and drowsy, and in the

morning they dared the fight again. And the Hero of the White Shield

began to go back, till he went backwards into a river. "There must be

some of my blood in thee before that was done to me." "Of what blood art

thou?" said the youngest. "'Tis I am son of Ardan, great King of the

Albann." "'Tis I am thy brother." It was now they knew each other. They

gave luck and welcome to each other, and the Hero of the White Shield

now took him into the palace, and she it was that was pleased to see

him--the knight's daughter. He stayed a while with them, and after that

he thought that he would go home to his own kingdom; and when he was

going past a great palace that was there he saw twelve men playing at

shinny over against the palace. He thought he would go for a while and

play shinny with them; but they were not long playing shinny when they

fell out, and the weakest of them caught him and shook him as he would a

child. He thought it was no use for him to lift a hand amongst these

twelve worthies, and he asked them to whom they were sons. They said

they were children of the one father, the brother of the Hero of the

White Shield, who had not been heard of for many years. "I am your

father," said he; and he asked them if their mother was alive. They said

that she was. He went with them till he found the mother, and he took

her home with him and the twelve sons; and I don't know but that his

seed are kings on Alba till this very day.

The Tail.

[Illustration: T]

There was a shepherd once who went out to the hill to look after his

sheep. It was misty and cold, and he had much trouble to find them. At

last he had them all but one; and after much searching he found that one

too in a peat hag, half drowned; so he took off his plaid, and bent down

and took hold of the sheep's tail, and he pulled! The sheep was heavy

with water, and he could not lift her, so he took off his coat and he

_pulled!!_ but it was too much for him, so he spit on his hands, and

took a good hold of the tail and he PULLED!! and the tail broke! and if

it had not been for that this tale would have been a great deal longer.

[Illustration]

[Illustration: MAN OR WOMAN BOY OR GIRL THAT READS WHAT FOLLOWS 3 TIMES

SHALL FALL ASLEEP AN HUNDRED YEARS