Finn always enjoyed a hunting excursion. In those days, when all the
fighting was done with sword and spear, hunting was a different sport
from what it is today. All the champions had fleet hounds, and they,
themselves, from their training in speed, lagged little behind the dogs
in the chase.
Finn had two beautiful hounds, Bran and Skolawn, which went with him at
all times. He was very fond of them both. The stories tell that there
were only two times in his life that he shed tears, and one of these was
at the death of Bran.
One day Finn was out on the chase when the hounds gave tongue and set
off at a rapid pace. You may be sure that Finn was not far behind them.
When he came to a little glade among the trees, he saw a peculiar sight.
There, on the turf beside a little stream, stood a beautiful doe. Finn
raised his spear, but the strange behavior of the dogs stayed his hand.
Instead of rushing at the deer, they approached her gently and licked
the hair of her neck and shoulders.
The other Fenians came up and would have killed the animal had not Finn
stopped them.
“No”, he cried. “She shall not be killed! If the dogs do not wish to
harm her no one else shall.”
When Finn went back to his camp, the deer followed him with his dogs.
When he went into his house, she lay down on the outside.
That night he awoke suddenly to find standing at his bedside the most
beautiful woman he had ever seen.
“Who are you?” he stammered, struggling from his sleep and rubbing his
eyes.
“I am Saba, O Finn,” answered the maiden. “I am the deer you spared
today.”
“The deer!” exclaimed Finn.
“That shape was put upon me by the Black Druid because I would not
become his wife. I have wandered in the forest, pursued by man and
beast, and many times I have nearly lost my life. I should have given up
all hope had not a kindly slave of the Druid told me that if I could
come safely into your camp I would be freed from the enchantment. I
feared both dogs and men, but I trusted myself to your two hounds, which
seemed to realize my helplessness.”
“Have no fear, fair Saba,” said Finn. “The Fenians fear no enchantment,
and you will be safe while under our protection.”
Then Finn called his servants and had them prepare a room for the
maiden. The remainder of the night he spent in dreams of the beautiful
girl, who had come to him for protection.
Next morning Finn did not go out on the chase. He stayed in camp and
talked to Saba. He found her even more beautiful in the daylight. The
thought that she had to come to him for aid, added to her many charms,
caused him to neglect everything for her. It ended by them both falling
deeply in love with one another.
The feast for the wedding of Finn and Saba was an event in the life of
the Fenians. Never had such a celebration been held in Ireland. Conn,
the High King, and his son, Cormack, came. It could safely have been
said that no king nor prince ever had a finer wedding or a more
beautiful bride.
For months Finn would not leave his young wife. Adventures had no call
to him; hunting had no charms. The love of this couple is one of the
most beautiful ones in history.
But later there came a call to duty. Word came to Finn that the Danes
had landed on the north coast of Erin, and that the Fenians were
battling without their leader. This Finn could not allow. He got out his
weapons and shield, mounted his horse and left for the scene of the
battle.
His farewell to Saba was very touching. That she might have perfect
protection while he was absent, he left behind a guard of some of his
bravest men, with cautions that they must give their lives rather than
lot her come under the power of the Black Druid.
For eight days and nights he fought the Danes. At the end of that time,
with the foe driven back into the sea, he hastened to his young bride.
His heart was filled with joyousness at the thought of being with her
again.
But when he approached his home, he saw his men standing around in
open-mouthed astonishment. Noting their look of fear, he called the
chief of them to him.
“What has happened?” he asked. “Why is it my men look at me in such
surprise. Did they not expect me to return?”
The chief seemed puzzled, too. “Were you not here three days ago?” he
asked.
“Certainly not,” answered Finn. “Where is Saba? Did the Black Druid—”
“I am fearful, O Finn, that it was indeed he,” replied the chief. “Three
days ago we saw you approaching with your two dogs at your side. Your
wife went joyously forth to meet you. The man we thought was you took
her up behind him, and then all disappeared in a mist. If it was not
you, it must have been the Druid appearing in your shape.”
Finn, with his heart sad within him, searched every place from one end
of Erin to the other, but without success. It was too true. His wife had
disappeared as into a mist. It was undoubtedly the work of the Black
Druid.
[Illustration:
The boy stood with his back to the tree waiting for the hounds to
attack
From the Story of Saba]
Finn throughout all his life never ceased to mourn for Saba, nor to
search for her. Six years after her disappearance, while hunting in the
forest, he came upon a wild boy with straggly hair and fierce eyes. His
only clothing was the skins of beasts. The hounds had found him, and
when Finn came up, the boy was standing with his back to a tree, waiting
to strangle the hounds if they came at him.
The sight reminded Finn of his own boyhood days. He called off the dogs
and took the boy home with him. At first the little fellow was too timid
and unused to language to speak. Gradually, however, his fear left him
and he became able to tell of his life in the forest.
He could remember a woman who had dwelt with him in a cave. A dark man
had come and pleaded with her for several days, but always she had
refused to do what the man asked. At last he had become angry, had left
the cave and had never returned. The little boy remembered that he had
never seen the woman again. After that he had been tended by a beautiful
deer.
Then Finn knew that the woman was Saba and that the wild boy was his own
son. He understood what the boy could not. The Black Druid had enticed
his wife away and tried once more to get her to marry him. When she
persistently refused him, he had turned her back into a deer.
Once more Finn searched the forest, hoping that he might again find the
gentle deer, which had come to him before. His quest was without result.
Possibly the Druid saw to it that she should never get near him, but it
was more likely that some hunter had killed her. Finn mourned her as
dead and gave his attention to the raising of his boy.
He named the child Ossian, which means Little Faun. He taught him the
poetry of the day and trained him in feats of arms. Ossian grew up to be
a worthy son of his father. In all the later battles we read of what a
splendid fighter he was. He and his son, Oscar, were always in the front
in time of danger.
But Ossian was not only a great warrior. He inherited his father’s love
for poetry and the ability to write it. We have great numbers of stories
about the deeds of Finn and the Fenians, and the greater number are
written by the poet, Ossian.