_Liban the Mermaid._
Liban was the daughter of Ecca, son of Mario, King of Munster. Ecca,
having conquered the lordship of the half of Ulster, settled down with
his people in the plain of the Grey Copse, which is now covered by the
waters of Lough Necca, now Lough Neagh. A magic well had sprung up in
the plain, and not being properly looked after by the woman in charge
of it, its waters burst forth over the plain, drowning Ecca and nearly
all his family. Liban, although swept away like the others, was not
drowned. She lived for a whole year, with her lap-dog, in a chamber
beneath the lake, and God protected her from the water. At the end of
that time she was weary, and when she saw the speckled salmon swimming
and playing all round her, she prayed to be changed into a salmon that
she might swim with the others through the green, salt sea. Her prayer
was granted; she took the shape of a salmon, except her face and
breast, which did not change. And her lap-dog was changed into an
otter, and attended her afterwards whithersoever she went as long as
she lived in the sea.
It is nearly eight hundred years ago since the story was transcribed
from some old authority into the Book of the Dun Cow, the oldest
manuscript of Gaelic literature we possess.--Joyce's "Old Celtic
Romances," p. 97.