will not be possible to hunt Turch Truith without Drudwyn the whelp of
Greid, the son of Eri, and know that throughout the world there is not
a huntsman who can hunt with this dog, except Mabon the son of Modron.
He was taken from his mother when three nights old, and it is not
known where he is now, nor whether he is living or dead."
"It will be easy for me to compass this, although thou mayest think
that it will not be easy."
"Though thou get this, there is yet that which thou wilt not get. Thou
wilt not get Mabon, for it is not known where he is, unless thou find
Eidoel, his kinsman in blood, the son of Aer. For it would be useless
to seek for him. He is his cousin."
"It will be easy for me to compass this, although thou mayest think
that it will not be easy. Horses shall I have, and chivalry; and my
lord and kinsman Arthur will obtain for me all these things. And I
shall gain thy daughter, and thou shalt lose thy life."
"Go forward. And thou shalt not be chargeable for food or raiment for
my daughter while thou art seeking these things; and when thou hast
compassed all these marvels, thou shalt have my daughter for wife."
Now, when they told Arthur how they had sped, Arthur said, "Which of
these marvels will it be best for us to seek first?"
"It will be best," said they, "to seek Mabon the son of Modron; and he
will not be found unless we first find Eidoel, the son of Aer, his
kinsman."
Then Arthur rose up, and the warriors of the Islands of Britain with
him, to seek for Eidoel; and they proceeded until they came before the
castle of Glivi, where Eidoel was imprisoned.
Glivi stood on the summit of his castle, and said, "Arthur, what
requirest thou of me, since nothing remains to me in this fortress,
and I have neither joy nor pleasure in it; neither wheat nor oats?"
Said Arthur, "Not to injure thee came I hither, but to seek for the
prisoner that is with thee."
"I will give thee my prisoner, though I had not thought to give him up
to any one; and therewith shalt thou have my support and my aid."
His followers then said unto Arthur, "Lord, go thou home, thou canst
not proceed with thy host in quest of such small adventures as these."
Then said Arthur, "It were well for thee, Gwrhyr Gwalstawt Ieithoedd,
to go upon this quest, for thou knowest all languages, and art
familiar with those of the birds and the beasts. Go, Eidoel, likewise
with my men in search of thy cousin. And as for you, Kay and Bedwyr, I
have hope of whatever adventure ye are in quest of, that ye will
achieve it. Achieve ye this adventure for me."
These went forward until they came to the Ousel of Cilgwri, and Gwrhyr
adjured her for the sake of Heaven, saying, "Tell me if thou knowest
aught of Mabon, the son of Modron, who was taken when three nights old
from between his mother and the wall."
And the ousel answered, "When I first came here there was a smith's
anvil in this place, and I was then a young bird, and from that time
no work has been done upon it, save the pecking of my beak every
evening, and now there is not so much as the size of a nut remaining
thereof; yet the vengeance of Heaven be upon me if during all that
time I have ever heard of the man for whom you inquire. Nevertheless,
there is a race of animals who were formed before me, and I will be
your guide to them."
So they proceeded to the place where was the Stag of Redynvre.
"Stag of Redynvre, behold we are come to thee, an embassy from Arthur,
for we have not heard of any animal older than thou. Say, knowest thou
aught of Mabon?"
The stag said, "When first I came hither, there was a plain all around
me, without any trees save one oak sapling, which grew up to be an oak
with an hundred branches. And that oak has since perished, so that
now nothing remains of it but the withered stump; and from that day to
this I have been here, yet have I never heard of the man for whom you
inquire. Nevertheless, I will be your guide to the place where there
is an animal which was formed before I was."
So they proceeded to the place where was the Owl of Cwm Cawlwyd, to
inquire of him concerning Mabon.
And the owl said, "If I knew I would tell you. When first I came
hither, the wide valley you see was a wooded glen. And a race of men
came and rooted it up. And there grew there a second wood, and this
wood is the third. My wings, are they not withered stumps? Yet all
this time, even until to-day, I have never heard of the man for whom
you inquire. Nevertheless, I will be the guide of Arthur's embassy
until you come to the place where is the oldest animal in this world,
and the one who has travelled most, the Eagle of Gwern Abwy."
When they came to the eagle, Gwrhyr asked it the same question; but it
replied, "I have been here for a great space of time, and when I first
came hither there was a rock here, from the top of which I pecked at
the stars every evening, and now it is not so much as a span high.
From that day to this I have been here, and I have never heard of the
man for whom you inquire, except once when I went in search of food as
far as Llyn Llyw. And when I came there, I stuck my talons into a
salmon, thinking he would serve me as food for a long time. But he
drew me into the deep, and I was scarcely able to escape from him.
After that I went with my whole kindred to attack him, and to try to
destroy him, but he sent messengers and made peace with me, and came
and besought me to take fifty fish spears out of his back. Unless he
know something of him whom you seek, I cannot tell you who may.
However, I will guide you to the place where he is."
So they went thither, and the eagle said, "Salmon of Llyn Llyw, I have
come to thee with an embassy from Arthur to ask thee if thou knowest
aught concerning Mabon, the son of Modron, who was taken away at three
nights old from between his mother and the wall."
And the salmon answered, "As much as I know I will tell thee. With
every tide I go along the river upwards, until I come near to the
walls of Gloucester, and there have I found such wrong as I never
found elsewhere; and to the end that ye may give credence thereto, let
one of you go thither upon each of my two shoulders."
So Kay and Gwrhyr went upon his shoulders, and they proceeded till
they came to the wall of the prison, and they heard a great wailing
and lamenting from the dungeon.
Said Gwrhyr, "Who is it that laments in this house of stone?"
And the voice replied, "Alas, it is Mabon, the son of Modron, who is
here imprisoned!"
Then they returned and told Arthur, who, summoning his warriors
attacked the castle.
[Illustration: Gwrhyr and Eidoel talk with the Eagle of Gwern Abwy.]
And whilst the fight was going on, Kay and Bedwyr, mounting on the
shoulders of the fish, broke into the dungeon, and brought away with
them Mabon, the son of Modron.
Then Arthur summoned unto him all the warriors that were in the three
islands of Britain and in the three islands adjacent; and he went as
far as Esgeir Oervel in Ireland where the Boar Truith was with his
seven young pigs. And the dogs were let loose upon him from all sides.
But he wasted the fifth part of Ireland, and then set forth through
the sea to Wales. Arthur and his hosts, and his horses, and his dogs
followed hard after him. But ever and awhile the boar made a stand,
and many a champion of Arthur's did he slay. Throughout all Wales did
Arthur follow him, and one by one the young pigs were killed. At
length, when he would fain have crossed the Severn, and escaped into
Cornwall, Mabon, the son of Modron, came up with him, and Arthur fell
upon him, together with the champions of Britain. On the one side,
Mabon, the son of Modron, spurred his steed and snatched his razor
from him, whilst Kay came up with him on the other side and took from
him the scissors. But, before they could obtain the comb, he had
regained the ground with his feet, and from the moment that he reached
the shore, neither dog nor man nor horse could overtake him until he
came to Cornwall. There Arthur and his host followed in his track
until they overtook him in Cornwall. Hard had been their trouble
before, but it was child's play to what they met in seeking the comb.
Win it they did, and the Boar Truith they hunted into the deep sea,
and it was never known whither he went.
Then Kilhuch set forward, and as many as wished ill to Yspathaden
Penkawr. And they took the marvels with them to his court. And Kaw of
North Britain came and shaved his beard, skin and flesh clean off to
the very bone from ear to ear.
"Art thou shaved man?" said Kilhuch.
"I am shaved," answered he.
"Is thy daughter mine now?"
"She is thine, but therefore needst thou not thank me, but Arthur who
hath accomplished this for thee. By my free will thou shouldst never
have had her, for with her I lose my life."
Then Goreu, the son of Custennin, seized him by the hair of his head
and dragged him after him to the keep, and cut off his head and placed
it on a stake on the citadel.
Thereafter the hosts of Arthur dispersed themselves each man to his
own country.
Thus did Kilhuch, son of Kelython, win to wife Olwen, the daughter of
Yspathaden Penkawr.
Jack and His Comrades
Once there was a poor widow, as often there has been, and she had one
son. A very scarce summer came, and they didn't know how they'd live
till the new potatoes would be fit for eating. So Jack said to his
mother one evening, "Mother, bake my cake, and kill my hen, till I go
seek my fortune; and if I meet it, never fear but I'll soon be back to
share it with you."
So she did as he asked her, and he set out at break of day on his
journey. His mother came along with him to the yard gate, and says
she, "Jack, which would you rather have, half the cake and half the
hen with my blessing, or the whole of 'em with my curse?"
"O musha, mother," says Jack, "why do you ax me that question? sure
you know I wouldn't have your curse and Damer's estate along with it."
"Well, then, Jack," says she, "here's the whole lot of 'em, with my
thousand blessings along with them." So she stood on the yard fence
and blessed him as far as her eyes could see him.
Well, he went along and along till he was tired, and ne'er a farmer's
house he went into wanted a boy At last his road led by the side of a
bog, and there was a poor ass up to his shoulders near a big bunch of
grass he was striving to come at.
"Ah, then, Jack asthore," says he, "help me out or I'll be drowned."
"Never say't twice," says Jack, and he pitched in big stones and sods
into the slob, till the ass got good ground under him.
"Thank you, Jack," says he, when he was out on the hard road; "I'll do
as much for you another time. Where are you going?"
"Faith, I'm going to seek my fortune till harvest comes in, God bless
it!"
"And if you like," says the ass, "I'll go along with you; who knows
what luck we may have!"
"With all my heart; it's getting late, let us be jogging."
Well, they were going through a village, and a whole army of gossoons
were hunting a poor dog with a kettle tied to his tail. He ran up to
Jack for protection, and the ass let such a roar out of him, that the
little thieves took to their heels as if the ould boy was after them.
"More power to you, Jack," says the dog.
"I'm much obleeged to you: where is the baste and yourself going?"
"We're going to seek our fortune till harvest comes in."
"And wouldn't I be proud to go with you!" says the dog, "and get rid
of them ill-conducted boys; purshuin' to 'em."
"Well, well, throw your tail over your arm, and come along."
They got outside the town, and sat down under an old wall, and Jack
pulled out his bread and meat, and shared with the dog; and the ass
made his dinner on a bunch of thistles. While they were eating and
chatting, what should come by but a poor half-starved cat, and the
moll-row he gave out of him would make your heart ache.
"You look as if you saw the tops of nine houses since breakfast," says
Jack; "here's a bone and something on it."
"May your child never know a hungry belly!" says Tom; "it's myself
that's in need of your kindness. May I be so bold as to ask where yez
are all going?"
"We're going to seek our fortune till the harvest comes in, and you
may join us if you like."
"And that I'll do with a heart and a half," says the cat, "and thank
'ee for asking me."
Off they set again, and just as the shadows of the trees were three
times as long as themselves, they heard a great cackling in a field
inside the road, and out over the ditch jumped a fox with a fine black
cock in his mouth.
"Oh, you anointed villain!" says the ass, roaring like thunder.
"At him, good dog!" says Jack, and the word wasn't out of his mouth
when Coley was in full sweep after the Red Dog. Reynard dropped his
prize like a hot potato, and was off like a shot, and the poor cock
came back fluttering and trembling to Jack and his comrades.
"O musha, naybours!" says he, "wasn't it the height o' luck that threw
you in my way! Maybe I won't remember your kindness if ever I find you
in hardship; and where in the world are you all going?"
"We're going to seek our fortune till the harvest comes in; you may
join our party if you like, and sit on Neddy's crupper when your legs
and wings are tired."
Well, the march began again, and just as the sun was gone down they
looked around, and there was neither cabin nor farm house in sight.
"Well, well," says Jack, "the worse luck now the better another time,
and it's only a summer night after all. We'll go into the wood, and
make our bed on the long grass."
No sooner said than done. Jack stretched himself on a bunch of dry
grass, the ass lay near him, the dog and cat lay in the ass's warm
lap, and the cock went to roost in the next tree.
Well, the soundness of deep sleep was over them all, when the cock
took a notion of crowing.
"Bother you, Black Cock!" says the ass; "you disturbed me from as nice
a whisp of hay as ever I tasted. What's the matter?"
"It's daybreak that's the matter; don't you see light yonder?"
"I see a light indeed," says Jack, "but it's from a candle it's
coming, and not from the sun. As you've roused us we may as well go
over and ask for lodging."
So they all shook themselves, and went on through grass, and rocks,
and briars, till they got down into a hollow, and there was the light
coming through the shadow, and along with it came singing, and
laughing, and cursing.
"Easy, boys!" says Jack; "walk on your tippy toes till we see what
sort of people we have to deal with."
So they crept near the window, and there they saw six robbers inside,
with pistols, and blunderbushes, and cutlashes, sitting at a table,
eating roast beef and pork, and drinking mulled beer, and wine, and
whisky punch.
"Wasn't that a fine haul we made at the Lord of Dunlavin's?" says one
ugly-looking thief with his mouth full, "and it's little we'd get only
for the honest porter! here's his purty health!"
"The porter's purty health!" cried out every one of them, and Jack
bent his finger at his comrades.
[Illustration:]
"Close your ranks, my men," says he in a whisper, "and let every one
mind the word of command."
So the ass put his fore-hoofs on the sill of the window, the dog got
on the ass's head, the cat on the dog's head, and the cock on the
cat's head. Then Jack made a sign, and they all sang out like mad.
"Hee-haw, hee-haw!" roared the ass; "bow-wow!" barked the dog;
"meaw-meaw!" cried the cat; "cock-a-doodle-doo!" crowed the cock.
"Level your pistols!" cried Jack, "and make smithereens of 'em. Don't
leave a mother's son of 'em alive; present, fire!"
With that they gave another halloo, and smashed every pane in the
window. The robbers were frightened out of their lives. They blew out
the candles, threw down the table, and skelped out at the back door as
if they were in earnest, and never drew rein till they were in the
very heart of the wood.
Jack and his party got into the room, closed the shutters, lighted the
candles, and ate and drank till hunger and thirst were gone. Then they
lay down to rest;--Jack in the bed, the ass in the stable, the dog on
the door-mat, the cat by the fire, and the cock on the perch.
At first the robbers were very glad to find themselves safe in the
thick wood, but they soon began to get vexed.
"This damp grass is very different from our warm room," says one.
"I was obliged to drop a fine pig's foot," says another.
"I didn't get a tayspoonful of my last tumbler," says another.
"And all the Lord of Dunlavin's gold and silver that we left behind,"
says the last.
"I think I'll venture back," says the captain, "and see if we can
recover anything."
"That's a good boy," said they all, and away he went.
The lights were all out, and so he groped his way to the fire, and
there the cat flew in his face, and tore him with teeth and claws. He
let a roar out of him, and made for the room door, to look for a
candle inside. He trod on the dog's tail, and if he did, he got the
marks of his teeth in his arms, and legs, and thighs.
"Thousand murders!" cried he; "I wish I was out of this unlucky
house."
When he got to the street door, the cock dropped down upon him with
his claws and bill, and what the cat and dog done to him was only a
flay-bite to what he got from the cock.
"Oh, tattheration to you all, you unfeeling vagabones!" says he, when
he recovered his breath; and he staggered and spun round and round
till he reeled into the stable, back foremost, but the ass received
him with a kick on the broadest part of his small clothes, and laid
him comfortably on the dunghill.
When he came to himself, he scratched his head, and began to think
what happened him; and as soon as he found that his legs were able to
carry him, he crawled away, dragging one foot after another, till he
reached the wood.
"Well, well," cried them all, when he came within hearing, "any chance
of our property?"
"You may say chance," says he, "and it's itself is the poor chance all
out. Ah, will any of you pull a bed of dry grass for me? All the
sticking-plaster in Enniscorthy will be too little for the cuts and
bruises I have on me. Ah, if you only knew what I have gone through
for you! When I got to the kitchen fire, looking for a sod of lighted
turf, what should be there but an old woman carding flax, and you may
see the marks she left on my face with the cards. I made to the room
door as fast as I could, and who should I stumble over but a cobler
and his seat, and if he did not work at me with his awls and his
pinchers, you may call me a rogue. Well, I got away from him somehow,
but when I was passing through the door, it must be the divil himself
that pounced down on me with his claws, and his teeth, that were equal
to sixpenny nails, and his wings--ill luck be in his road! Well, at
last I reached the stable, and there, by way of salute, I got a pelt
from a sledge-hammer that sent me half a mile off. If you don't
believe me, I'll give you leave to go and judge for yourselves."
"Oh, my poor captain," says they, "we believe you to the nines. Catch
us, indeed, going within a hen's race of that unlucky cabin!"
Well, before the sun shook his doublet next morning, Jack and his
comrades were up and about. They made a hearty breakfast on what was
left the night before, and then they all agreed to set off to the
castle of the Lord of Dunlavin, and give him back all his gold and
silver. Jack put it all in the two ends of a sack and laid it across
Neddy's back, and all took the road in their hands. Away they went,
through bogs, up hills, down dales, and sometimes along the yellow
high road, till they came to the hall-door of the Lord of Dunlavin,
and who should be there, airing his powdered head, his white
stockings, and his red breeches, but the thief of a porter.
He gave a cross look to the visitors, and says he to Jack, "What do
you want here, my fine fellow? there isn't room for you all."
"We want," says Jack, "what I'm sure you haven't to give us--and that
is, common civility."
"Come, be off, you lazy strollers!" says he, "while a cat 'ud be
licking her ear, or I'll let the dogs at you."
"Would you tell a body," says the cock that was perched on the ass's
head, "who was it that opened the door for the robbers the other
night?"
Ah! maybe the porter's red face didn't turn the colour of his frill,
and the Lord of Dunlavin and his pretty daughter, that were standing
at the parlour window unknownst to the porter, put out their heads.
"I'd be glad, Barney," says the master, "to hear your answer to the
gentleman with the red comb on him."
"Ah, my lord, don't believe the rascal; sure I didn't open the door to
the six robbers."
"And how did you know there were six, you poor innocent?" said the
lord.
"Never mind, sir," says Jack, "all your gold and silver is there in
that sack, and I don't think you will begrudge us our supper and bed
after our long march from the wood of Athsalach."
"Begrudge, indeed! Not one of you will ever see a poor day if I can
help it."
So all were welcomed to their hearts' content, and the ass and the dog
and the cock got the best posts in the farmyard, and the cat took
possession of the kitchen. The lord took Jack in hands, dressed him
from top to toe in broadcloth, and frills as white as snow, and
turnpumps, and put a watch in his fob. When they sat down to dinner,
the lady of the house said Jack had the air of a born gentleman about
him, and the lord said he'd make him his steward. Jack brought his
mother, and settled her comfortably near the castle, and all were as
happy as you please.
The Shee an Gannon and the Gruagach Gaire
The Shee an Gannon was born in the morning, named at noon, and went in
the evening to ask his daughter of the king of Erin.
"I will give you my daughter in marriage," said the king of Erin; "you
won't get her, though, unless you go and bring me back the tidings
that I want, and tell me what it is that put a stop to the laughing of
the Gruagach Gaire, who before this laughed always, and laughed so
loud that the whole world heard him. There are twelve iron spikes out
here in the garden behind my castle. On eleven of the spikes are the
heads of kings' sons who came seeking my daughter in marriage, and all
of them went away to get the knowledge I wanted. Not one was able to
get it and tell me what stopped the Gruagach Gaire from laughing. I
took the heads off them all when they came back without the tidings
for which they went, and I'm greatly in dread that your head'll be on
the twelfth spike, for I'll do the same to you that I did to the
eleven kings' sons unless you tell what put a stop to the laughing of
the Gruagach."
The Shee an Gannon made no answer, but left the king and pushed away
to know could he find why the Gruagach was silent.
He took a glen at a step, a hill at a leap, and travelled all day till
evening. Then he came to a house. The master of the house asked him
what sort was he, and he said: "A young man looking for hire."
"Well," said the master of the house, "I was going to-morrow to look
for a man to mind my cows. If you'll work for me, you'll have a good
place, the best food a man could have to eat in this world, and a soft
bed to lie on."
The Shee an Gannon took service, and ate his supper. Then the master
of the house said: "I am the Gruagach Gaire; now that you are my man
and have eaten your supper, you'll have a bed of silk to sleep on."
Next morning after breakfast the Gruagach said to the Shee an Gannon:
"Go out now and loosen my five golden cows and my bull without horns,
and drive them to pasture; but when you have them out on the grass, be
careful you don't let them go near the land of the giant."
The new cowboy drove the cattle to pasture, and when near the land of
the giant, he saw it was covered with woods and surrounded by a high
wall. He went up, put his back against the wall, and threw in a great
stretch of it; then he went inside and threw out another great stretch
of the wall, and put the five golden cows and the bull without horns
on the land of the giant.
Then he climbed a tree, ate the sweet apples himself, and threw the
sour ones down to the cattle of the Gruagach Gaire.
Soon a great crashing was heard in the woods,--the noise of young
trees bending, and old trees breaking. The cowboy looked around, and
saw a five-headed giant pushing through the trees; and soon he was
before him.
"Poor miserable creature!" said the giant; "but weren't you impudent
to come to my land and trouble me in this way? You're too big for one
bite, and too small for two. I don't know what to do but tear you to
pieces."
"You nasty brute," said the cowboy, coming down to him from the tree,
"'tis little I care for you"; and then they went at each other. So
great was the noise between them that there was nothing in the world
but what was looking on and listening to the combat.