PAGE
St Bride of the Isles 11
The Three Marvels of Iona 55
The Melancholy of Ulad 85
Ula and Urla 101
The Dark Nameless One 115
The Smoothing of the Hand 129
The Anointed Man 139
The Hills of Ruel 151
The Fisher of Men 159
The Last Supper 179
The Awakening of Angus Ogue 197
_NOTE_
The tales in this volume which have not hitherto appeared are “The
Melancholy of Ulad” and “The Hills of Ruel.” “The Awakening of Angus
Ogue” is also for the first time printed in book form, though it
appeared in the Winter number of _The Evergreen_. Of the re-issued
stories “The Anointed Man” is from _The Sin-Eater_, and the others are
from _The Washer of the Ford_. As these tales have not been re-set, they
are, except in the matter of pagination and re-arrangement, necessarily
unaltered.
_ST BRIDE OF THE ISLES_
_NOTE_
_This legendary romance is based upon the ancient and still current
(though often contradictory) legends concerning Brighid, or Bride,
commonly known as “Muime Chriosd”—i.e. the Foster-Mother of Christ. From
the universal honour and reverence in which she was and is held—second
only in this respect to the Virgin herself—she is also called “Mary of
the Gael.” Another name, frequent in the West, is
“Brighde-nam-Brat”—i.e. St Bride of the Mantle, a name explained in the
course of my legendary story. Brighid the Christian saint should not,
however, be confused with a much earlier and remoter Brighid, the
ancient Celtic Muse of Song._