heroes, the two warriors, the two champions of western lands, the two
gift-bestowing hands of the northwest of the world, the two beloved
pillars of the valor of the Gael, the two keys of the bravery of the
Gael, brought to fight from afar through the schemes of Meave the queen.
They began to shoot with their missiles from the dawn of the day, from
early morning till noon. And when midday came the ire of the men waxed
more furious, and they drew nearer together. Then Cuculain sprang from
the river-bank against the boss of the shield of Ferdiad, son of Daman,
to strike at his head over the rim of the shield from above. But Ferdiad
gave the shield so strong a turn with his left arm that he cast Cuculain
from him like a bird. Cuculain sprang again upon him, to strike him from
above. But the son of Daman so struck the shield with his left knee that
he cast Cuculain from him like a child.
Then the charioteer of Cuculain spoke to chide him: "Woe for thee, whom
the warrior thus casts aside as an evil mother casts away her offspring.
He throws thee as foam is thrown by the river. He grinds thee as a mill
would grind fresh grain. He pierces thee as the ax of the woodman
cleaves the oak. He binds thee as the woodbine binds the tree. He darts
on thee as the hawk darts on finches, so that henceforth thou hast no
claim or name or fame for valor, until thy life's end, thou
phantom sprite!"
Then Cuculain sprang up fleet as the wind and swift as the swallow,
fierce as a dragon, strong as a lion, advancing against Ferdiad through
clouds of dust, and forcing himself upon his shield, to strike at him
from above. Yet even then Ferdiad shook him off, driving him backwards
into the ford.
Then Cuculain's countenance was changed, and his heart swelled and grew
great within him till he towered demoniac and gigantic, rising like one
of the Fomor upon Ferdiad. So fierce was the fight they now fought that
their heads met above and their feet below and their arms in the midst,
past the rims of the shields. So fierce was the fight they fought that
they cleft the shields to their centers. So fierce was the fight they
fought that their spears were shivered from socket to haft. So fierce
was the fight they fought that the demons of the air screamed along the
rims of the shields, and from the hilts of their swords and from the
hafts of their spears. So fierce was the fight they fought that they
cast the river out of its bed, so that not a drop of water lay there
unless from the fierceness of the champion heroes hewing each other in
the midst of the ford. So fierce was the fight they fought that the
horses of the Gael fled away in fright, breaking their chains and their
yokes, and the women and youths and camp-followers broke from the camp,
flying forth southwards and westwards.
They were fighting with the edges of their swords, and Ferdiad, finding
a break in the guard of Cuculain, gave him a stroke of the
straight-edged sword, burying it in his body until the blood fell into
his girdle, until the ford was red with the blood of the hero's body.
Then Cuculain thrust an unerring spear over the rim of the shield, and
through the breast of Ferdiad's armor, so that the point of the spear
pierced his heart and showed through his body.
"That is enough, now," said Ferdiad: "I fall for that!" Then Cuculain
ran towards him, and clasped his two arms about him, and bore him with
his arms and armor across the ford northwards. Cuculain laid Ferdiad
down there, bowing over his body in faintness and weakness. But the
charioteer cried to him, "Rise up, Cuculain, for the host is coming upon
us, and it is not single combat they will give thee, since Ferdiad, son
of Daman, son of Dairé, has fallen before thee!"
"Friend," Cuculain made answer, "what avails it for me to rise after him
that has fallen by me?"
Thus did Cuculain keep the ford, still known as the ford of Ferdiad,
Ath-Fhirdia on the Dee, in the midst of the green plain of Louth. And
while he fought at the ford of Ferdiad the army of Ulad assembled, and
coming southwards over the hills before Emain, turned back the host of
Meave the queen and pursued them. The army of Meave fled westwards and
southwards towards Connacht, passing the Yellow Ford of Athboy and the
Hill of Ward, the place of sacrifice, where the fires on the Day of
Spirits summoned the priests and Druids to the offering. Fleeing still
westwards from the Yellow Ford, they passed between the lakes of Owel
and Ennel, with the men of Ulad still hot in their rear. Thus came
pursued and pursuers to Gairec, close by Athlone--the Ford of Luan--and
the wooded shore of the great Lough Ree. There was fought a battle
hardly less fatal to victors than to vanquished, for though the hosts of
Meave were routed, yet Concobar's men could not continue the pursuit.
Thus Meave escaped and Fergus with her, and came to their great fort on
the green hillside of Cruacan amid the headwaters of the Shannon.
The victory of Concobar's men was like a defeat. There was not food that
pleased him, nor did sleep come to him by flight, so that the Ulad
wondered, and Catbad the right-wonderful Druid, himself a warrior who
had taught Concobar and reared him, went to Concobar to learn the secret
of his trouble. Therefore Catbad asked of Concobar what wound had
wounded him, what obstinate sickness had come upon him, making him faint
and pale, day after day.
"Great reason have I for it," answered Concobar, "for the four great
provinces of Erin have come against me, bringing with them their bards
and singers, that their ravages and devastations might be recorded, and
they have burned our fortresses and dwellings, and Ailill and Meave have
gained a battle against me. Therefore I would be avenged upon Meave
the queen."
"Thou hast already avenged it sternly, O Red-handed Concobar," Catbad
made answer, "by winning the battle over the four provinces of Erin."
"That is no battle," Concobar answered, "where a strong king falls not
by hard fighting and by fury. That an army should escape from a goodly
battle! Unless Ailill should fall, and Meave, by me in this encounter
with valorous hosts, I tell you that my heart will break, O Catbad!"
"This is my counsel for thee," replied Catbad, "to stay for the present.
For the winds are rough, and the roads are foul, and the streams and the
rivers are in flood, and the hands of the warriors are busy making forts
and strongholds among strangers. So wait till the summer days come upon
us, till every grassy sod is a pillow, till our horses are full of
spirit and our colts are strong, till our men are whole of their wounds
and hurts, till the nights are short to watch and to ward and to guard
in the land of enemies and in the territories of strangers. Spring is
not the time for an invasion. But meanwhile let tidings be sent to thy
friends in absence, in the islands and throughout the northern seas."
Therefore messengers were sent with the tidings, and the friends in
absence of Concobar were summoned. They set forth with ships from the
islands of the northern seas, and came forward with the tide to the
Cantyre headland. The green surges of the tremendous sea rose about
them, and a mighty storm rose against them. Such was the strength of the
storm that the fleet was parted in three. A third of them, with the son
of Amargin, came under the cliffs of Fair Head, to the Bay of Murbolg,
where huge columns tower upward on the face of the cliff, high as the
nests of the eagles; cliffs ruddy and mighty, frowning tremendous across
the channel to Cantyre and Islay and far-away Jura. A third of the ships
came to the safer harbor of Larne, where bands of white seam the cliff's
redness, where the great headland is thrust forth northwards, sheltering
the bay from the eastern waves. A third of the fleet came to the strand
beside Dundelga, hard by the great hill of earth where was reared the
stronghold of Cuculain.
At that same time came Concobar with a thousand men to the fort of
Cuculain, and feasting was prepared for him at the House of Delga. Nor
was Concobar long there till he saw the bent spars of sails and the
full-crewed ships, and the scarlet pavilions, and the many-colored
banners, and the blue bright lances, and the weapons of war. Then
Concobar called on the chiefs that were about him, for the territory
and land he had bestowed upon them, and for the jewels he had given
them, to stand firm and faithful. For he knew not whether the ships were
ships of his foes, of the Galian of Lagin, now called Leinster, or the
Munstermen of great Muma, or the men of Olnemact, called afterwards
Connacht; for the estuary of the river and the strand were full of men.
Then Senca son of Ailill answered for the chieftains: "I give my word,
indeed, that Erin holds not a soldier who lays his hand in the hand of a
chieftain that is not known to me. If they be the men of Erin thy foes
that are there, I shall ask a truce of battle from them; but if they be
thy friends and allies, thou shalt the more rejoice."
Then Senca son of Ailill went forward to the place where the ships were,
and learned that they were the friends in absence of Concobar, come to
be his allies against the four provinces of Erin. Then Concobar spoke
to Cuculain:
"Well, O Cuculain, let the horses of the plain of Murtemni be caught by
thee; let four-wheeled chariots be harnessed for them; bring with them
hither my friends from the ships in chariots and four-wheeled cars,
that feasting and enjoyment may be prepared for them."
[Illustration: Gray Man's Path, Fair Head.]
They were brought in chariots to the feast, and carvers carved for them,
and serving-men carried the cups of mead. Songs were sung to them, and
they tarried there till sunrise on the morrow. Then Concobar spoke again
to Cuculain:
"It is well, Cuculain. Let messengers now be sent through the lands of
the Ulaid to the warriors of the Ulaid, that the foreign friends may be
ministered to by them also, while I make my camp here by the river. And
bid the thrice fifty veteran champions come hither to me, that I may
have their aid and counsel in battle."
But Cuculain would not. Therefore Concobar went himself to summon the
veterans. When they asked the cause of his coming, Concobar answered,
"Have you not heard how the four provinces of Erin came against us,
bringing with them their bards and singers, that their ravages and
devastations might the better be recorded, and burning and plundering
our fortresses and dwellings? Therefore I would make an expedition of
hostility against them, and with your guidance and counsel would I make
the expedition."
"Let our old steeds be caught by thee," they answered, "and let our old
chariots be yoked by thee, so that we may go on this journey and
expedition with thee." Then their old chargers were caught, and their
old chariots yoked, so that they too came to the camp at the Water
of Luachan.
This was told to the four provinces. The Three Waves of Erin thundered
in the night; the Wave of Clidna at Glandore in the South; the Wave of
Rudraige along the bent-carpeted sandhills of Dundrum, under the
Mountains of Mourne; and the Wave of Tuag Inbir, at the bar of northern
Bann. For these are the Three Waves of Fate in Erin. Then the four
provinces hosted their men. The son of Lucta, the north Munster king,
assembled his tribes at the Hill of Luchra, between the Shannon mouth
and the Summit of Prospects. Ailill and Meave hosted the men of the west
at Cruacan. Find, son of Ros, king over the Galian of Leinster, gathered
his army at Dinn-Rig by the Barrow. Cairpré Nia Fer assembled his host
about him at Tara, in the valley of the Boyne.
This was the proposal of Eocu, son of Lucta, king of north Munster by
the Shannon: That everything should have its payment, and that
reparation should be made to Concobar for the invasion; that a fort
should be paid for every fort, for every house a house, for every cow a
cow, for every bull a bull; that the great brown bull should be sent
back, that the breadth of the face of the bull in red gold should be
given to Concobar, and that there should be no more hostility among the
men of Erin.
This was reported to Meave, but the queen answered, "A false hand was
his who gave this counsel. For so long as there shall be among us one
who can hold a sword, who can wear the shield-strap about his neck, that
proposal shall not go to him."
"Thy counsel is not mine," replied Ailill, "for not greater shall be our
part of that payment than the part of all the four provinces who went on
that raid for the bull." Therefore Meave consented, and messengers were
sent, and came to Tara by the Boyne, where were Find, son of Ros, king
of Leinster, and his brother Cairpré Nia Fer, king of Tara. Thence they
sent messengers to treat with Concobar, but Concobar rejected the terms.
"I give my word, indeed," answered Concobar, "that I will not take terms
from you till my tent has been pitched in every province of Erin."
"Good, O Concobar," they replied; "where wilt thou now make thy
encampment to-night?"
"In the Headland of the Kings, by the clear bright Boyne," answered
Concobar, for Concobar concealed not ever from his enemy the place in
which he would take station or camp, that they might not say that it was
fear or dread that caused him not to say it. Concobar, therefore,
marched toward the Headland of the Kings, across the Boyne to the
southward, and facing the northern bank where are the pyramids of the
Dagda Mor and the De Danaans. But the southern armies were there
already, so Concobar halted before the river. Then were their positions
fixed and their pavilions pitched, their huts and their tents were made.
Their fires were kindled, cooking and food and drink were prepared;
baths of clean bathing were made by them, and their hair was
smooth-combed; their bodies were minutely cleansed, supper and food were
eaten by them; and tunes and merry songs and eulogies were sung by them.
Then Concobar sent men to reconnoitre the southern and western armies.
Two went and returned not, falling indeed into the hands of the foe. It
seemed long to Concobar that the two were gone. He spoke, therefore, to
his kinsman: "Good indeed, Irgalac, son of Macclac, son of Congal, son
of Rudraige, sayest thou who is proper to go to estimate and to
reconnoitre the army?"
"Who should go there," answered Irgalac, "but Iriel good at arms,
great-kneed son of Conall Cernac. He is a Conall for havoc, a Cuculain
for dexterity of feats. He is a Catbad, a right-wonderful Druid, for
intelligence and counsel, he is a Senca son of Ailill for peace and for
good speech, he is a Celtcair son of Utecar for valor, he is a Concobar
son of Factna Fatac for kingliness and wide-eyed-ness, for giving of
treasures and of wealth and of riches. Who but Iriel should go?"
Therefore Iriel went forward: standing on the pyramid of the Dagda, he
began measuring and reconnoitering the army. His spirit, or his mind, or
his thoughts did not fret over them at all. He brought their description
with him to the place in which Concobar was.
"How, my life, Iriel?" said Concobar. "I give my word truly," said
Iriel; "it seems to me that there is not ford on river, or stone on
hill, nor highway nor road in the territory of Breg or Mide, that is not
full of their horse-teams and of their servants. It seems to me that
their apparel and their gear and their garments are the blaze of a royal
house from the plain."
"Good, O Ulaid," said Concobar, "what is your advice to us for the
battle?" "Our advice is," said the Ulaid, "to wait till our strong men
and our leaders and our commanders and our supporters of battle come."
Not long was their waiting, and not great was their stay, till they saw
three chariot-warriors approaching them, and a band of twelve hundred
along with each rider of them. It is these that were there--three of the
goodly men of science of the Ulaid, to wit, Catbad the right-wonderful
Druid, and Aiterni the Importunate, and Amargin the man of science and
art. After them came other valiant leaders with troops. Then Concobar
arose and took his gear of battle and of conflict and of combat about
him, saying, "Why should we not give battle?"
A third of the army of the Ulaid rose with him, too. And they went over
the river Boyne. And the other armies arose against them as they were
crossing the river. And each of them took to hacking and to cutting down
the other, destroying and wounding till there was no similitude of the
Ulaid at that point of time, unless it were a huge sturdy oakwood in
the middle of the plain, and a great army were to go close to it, and
the slender and the small of the wood were cut off, but its huge sturdy
oaks were left behind. Thus their young were cut off, and none but their
champions and their battle-warriors and their good heroes of valor
were left.
The shield of Concobar was struck so that it moaned, and the three Waves
of Erin, the Wave of Clidna, the Wave of Rudraige, and the Wave of Tuag
Inbir echoed that moan, and all the shields of the Ulaid resounded,
every one of them that was on their shoulders and in their chariots. As
the Ulaid were retreating, fresh troops came up for them under Conall
Cernac. A tree of shelter and a wreath of laurel and a hand above them
was Conall to them. So their flight was stayed. Then Conall drew the
sharp long sword out of its sheath of war and played the music of his
sword on the armies. The ring of Conall's sword was heard through the
battalions on both sides. And when they heard the music of Conall's
sword their hearts quaked and their eyes fluttered and their faces
whitened, and each of them withdrew back into his place of battle and of
combat. But so fierce was the onset of the southern armies that the
fight of the Ulaid against them was as a breast against a great flood,
or an arrow against the rock, or the striking of a head against cliffs.
Yet through the great might of Cuculain the Ulaid prevailed, and Cairpré
the King of Tara was slain. After the battle, Concobar spoke thus:
"There were three sons of Ros Ruad the king--Find in Alend, Ailill in
Cruac, Cairpré in Tara; together they performed their deeds of valor,
the three brothers in every strife; together they used to give their
battle. They were three pillars of gold about their hills, abiding in
strength; great is their loss since the third son has fallen."
VII.
FIND AND OSSIN.
A.D. 200--290.
Seventeen centuries ago, two hundred summers after the death of Cuculain
the hero, came the great and wonderful time of Find the son of Cumal,
Ossin the son of Find, and Find's grandson Oscur. It was a period of
growth and efflorescence; the spirit and imaginative powers of the
people burst forth with the freshness of the prime. The life of the land
was more united, coming to a national consciousness.
The five kingdoms were now clearly defined, with Meath, in the central
plain, predominant over the others, and in a certain sense ruling all
Ireland from the Hill of Tara. The code of honor was fixed; justice had
taken well-defined forms; social life had ripened to genial urbanity.
The warriors were gathered together into something like a regular army,
a power rivaling the kings. Of this army, Find, son of Cumal, was the
most renowned leader--a warrior and a poet, who embodied in himself the
very genius of the time, its fresh naturalness, its ripeness, its
imagination. No better symbol of the spirit of his age could be found
than Find's own "Ode to Spring":
"May-day! delightful time! How beautiful the color! The blackbirds sing
their full lay. Would that Laigay were here! The cuckoos call in
constant strains. How welcome is ever the noble brightness of the
season. On the margin of the leafy pools the summer swallows skim the
stream. Swift horses seek the pools. The heath spreads out its long
hair. The white, gentle cotton-grass grows. The sea is lulled to rest.
Flowers cover the earth."
Find's large and imaginative personality is well drawn in one of the
poems of his golden-tongued son Ossin, though much of the beauty of
Ossin's form is lost in the change of tongue:
"Six thousand gallant men of war
We sought the rath o'er Badamar;
To the king's palace home we bent
Our way. His bidden guests we went.
'Twas Clocar Fair,
And Find was there,
The Fians from the hills around
Had gathered to the race-course ground.
From valley deep and wooded glen
Fair Munster sent its mighty men;
And Fiaca, Owen's son, the king,
Was there the contest witnessing.
'Twas gallant sport! With what delight
Leaped thousand pulses at the sight.
How all hearts bound
As to the ground
First are brought forth the Fian steeds,
Then those from Luimnea's sunny meads.
Three heats on Mac Mareda's green
They run; and foremost still is seen
Dill Mac Decreca's coal-black steed.
At Crag-Lochgur he takes the lead.
"His is the day--and, lo! the king
The coal-black steed soliciting
From Dill the Druid!--'Take for it
A hundred beeves; for it is fit
The black horse should be mine to pay
Find for his deeds of many a day.'
"Then spoke the Druid, answering
His grandson, Fiaca the king:
'Take my blessing; take the steed,
For the hero's fitting meed:
Give it for thy honor's sake.'
And to Find the King thus spake
"'Hero, take the swift black steed,
Of thy valor fitting meed;
And my car, in battle-raid
Gazed on by the foe with fear;
And a seemly steed for thy charioteer.
Chieftain, be this good sword thine,
Purchased with a hundred kine,
In thine hand be it our aid.
Take this spear, whose point the breath
Of venomed words has armed with death,
And the silver-orbèd shield,
Sunbeam of the battlefield!
And take with thee
My grayhounds three,
Slender and tall,
Bright-spotted all,
Take them with thee, chieftain bold,
With their chainlets light
Of the silver white,
And their neck-rings of the tawny gold.
Slight not thou our offering,
Son of Cumal, mighty king!"
"Uprose Find our chieftain bold,
Stood before the Fian ranks,
To the king spoke gracious thanks,
Took the gifts the monarch gave;
Then each to each these champions brave
Glorious sight to see and tell,
Spoke their soldier-like farewell!
"The way before us Find led then;
We followed him, six thousand men,
From out the Fair, six thousand brave,
To Caicer's house of Cloon-na-Dave.
"Three nights, three days, did all of us
Keep joyous feast in Caicer's house;
Fifty rings of the yellow gold
To Caicer Mac Caroll our chieftain told;
As many cows and horses gave
To Caicer Mac Caroll our chieftain brave.
Well did Find of Innisfail
Pay the price of his food and ale.
"Find rode o'er the Luacra, joyous man,
Till he reached the strand at Barriman;
At the lake where the foam on the billow's top
Leaps white, did Find and the Fians stop.
"'Twas then that our chieftain rode and ran
Along the strand of Barriman;
Trying the speed
Of his swift black steed,--
Who now but Find was a happy man?
"Myself and Cailté at each side,
In wantonness of youthful pride,
Would ride with him where he might ride.
Fast and furious rode he,
Urging his steed to far Tralee.
On from Tralee by Lerg duv-glass,
And o'er Fraegmoy, o'er Finnass,
O'er Moydeo, o'er Monaken,
On to Shan-iber, o'er Shan-glen,
Till the clear stream of Flesk we win,
And reach the pillar of Crofinn;
O'er Sru-Muny, o'er Moneket,
And where the fisher spreads his net
To snare the salmon of Lemain,
And thence to where our coursers' feet
Wake the glad echoes of Loch Leane;
And thus fled he,
Nor slow were we;
Through rough and smooth our course we strain.
"Long and swift our stride,--more fleet
Than the deer of the mountain our coursers' feet!
Away to Flesk by Carnwood dun;
And past Mac Scalvé's Mangerton,
Till Find reached Barnec Hill at last;
There rested he, and then we passed
Up the high hill before him, and:
'Is there no hunting hut at hand?'
He thus addressed us; 'The daylight
Is gone, and shelter for the night
We lack.' He scarce had ended, when
Gazing adown the rocky glen,
On the left hand, just opposite,
He saw a house with its fire lit;
'That house till now I've never seen,
Though many a time and oft I've been
In this wild glen. Come, look at it!'
"Yes, there are things that our poor wit
Knows little of,' said Cailté; 'thus
This may be some miraculous
Hostel we see, whose generous blaze
Thy hospitality repays,
Large-handed son of Cumal!'--So
On to the house all three we go...."
Of their entry to the mysterious house, of the ogre and the witch they
found there, of the horrors that gathered on all sides, when