These heads, O Connal, are worthless;
Though thou must have blooded thine arms.
These heads thou bear’st upon that withe,
Can’st tell their owners, now thy spoil?
Daughter of Orgill of the steeds,
Youthful Evir, so sweet of speech,
’Twas to avenge Cuchullin’s death,
That I took these numerous heads.
Whose is that hairy, black, great head,
With cheeks than any rose more red,
That which hangs nighest thy left arm,
The head whose colour has not changed?
That head the king of swift steeds own’d,
Said Cairbar’s son of vigorous lance;
In vengeance for my foster son,
I took that head and bore it far.
What head is that I see beyond,
Covered with smooth, soft, flowing hair,
His eye like grass, his teeth like bloom,
His beauty such as none is like?
Manadh, the man that own’d the steeds,
Aoife’s son, who plunder’d every sea;
I left his trunk ’reft of its head,
I slew his people, every man.
What head is that I see thee grasp,
Great Connal of the gentle streams;
Since that Cuchullin[129] now is dead,
Whom to avenge him did’st thou take?
’Tis the head of Mac Fergus of steeds,
He in extremity so bold,
My sister’s son from the tall tower,
His head I from his body wrenched.
What fair-haired head is that to the east,
Whose hand might well have seized the heads;
Well did I know his voice of old,
For he and I were friends awhile?
Down there it was the Cu did fall,
His body cast in fairest mould;
Cu, son of Con, of poets’ king,
Among the last I took his head.
What two heads are those farthest out,
Great Connal of the sweetest voice;
Of thy great love hide not from me
The names of them so dark in arms?
’Tis Laoghar’s head and that of Cuilt,
The two who fell pierced by my arms;
One of them had Cuchullin struck,
Hence his red blood my weapons dyes.
What two heads are those to the east,
Great Connal of the famous deeds;
Alike the colour of their hair,
Than hero’s blood more red their cheeks?
Cullin the handsome, and Cunlad brave,
Two who e’er triumphed in their wrath;
Evir, their heads are to the east,
I left their bodies streaming red.
What are those six hideous heads
I see in front facing the north;
Blue in the face, their hair so black,
From which thou turn’st thy look, brave Connal?
These are six of Cuchullin’s foes,
Calliden’s sons, who triumphed oft;
These are now the senseless six
Who all, full armed, fell by my hand.
Great Connal, father to a king,
What is that head, noblest of all;
How bushy the golden yellow locks,
Covering it with so much grace?
The head of M’Finn, M’Ross the red,
The son of Cruith, slain by my stroke;
Evir, he was king, chief of them all,
In Leinster of the spotted swords.
Great Connal, now please change thy tale,
Tell us the number slain by thine arm,
Of all the noble famous men,
In vengeance for the head of Con?
Ten and seven score hundred men,
I tell the truth, the number is,
That fell by me, all back o’er back,
Fruit of my bravery and power.
Connal, tell how the women feel
In Innisfail, the Cu being dead;
Do they sadly, sorely mourn,
Now that like me themselves have grief?
O Evir, what am I to do,
Now that my Cu is ta’en away;
My foster-son of fairest form,
Now that he’s left me desolate?
O Connal, lay me in my grave,
And raise my stone o’er that of Cu;
In grief I’ll soon from this depart,
Let my lips touch Cu’s lips in death.
Evir am I, of fairest form,
No vengeance can me satisfy;
In tears no pleasure I can find,
’Tis sad that I am left behind.[130]
Connal.
[128] This is the most ancient of all the Ossianic Poets. He was
contemporary of Cuchullin, who flourished, according to Irish
historians, in the first century. Cuchullin was his foster-son, and
upon his being slain, Conall took vengeance upon his enemies by putting
them all to death. In this poem he tells Evir, who was either the
wife or the betrothed of Cuchullin, the names of those thus put to
death, and whose heads he carried on a withe. The name M’Edarscoil is
represented now by that of O’Driscol; “Cearnach” means _victorious_, so
that the poet’s name is really, The Victorious Conall O’Driscoll.
[129] Cuchullin, or _The Hound of Cullin_, is often spoken of simply
as “An Cu,” or _The Hound_. In the Gaelic this is either “Cu” or
“Con,” according as the word is in the nominative or genitive case.
In the English version it is uniformly translated Cu, as it would be
impossible to follow intelligibly the variations of the Gaelic grammar
in the cases of a proper noun.
[130] This poem is usually called “Laoidh nan ceann,” or _The Lay of
the Heads_. It bears many marks of genuineness and antiquity. It is
well known in the Highlands, but the Editor has never seen or heard any
reference to its authorship, except in the MS. of the Dean.