In the old days Culain, the smith of the gods, was living in the Isle
of Mann. It was the time when Conchubar was at the court of the King
of Ulster, and had nothing but the sword in his hand. He was a fine
handsome young man, and he had made up his mind to make himself a
king. So he went one day to the Druid of Clogher to ask him what he
had best do.
'Go thy way,' said the Druid, 'to the Isle of Mann. There thou wilt
find the great smith Culain. Get him to make thee a sword and a spear
and a shield, and with these thou shalt win the kingdom of Ulster.'
Conchubar went away, and hired a boat and put out to sea. He landed in
Mann and made straight for Culain's smithy. It was night when he got
there, and the red glow of the furnace shone out into the dark. He
could hear from inside the smithy the roar of the bellows and the
clanging of the hammer on the anvil. When he came near, a great
dog, as large as a calf, began to bay and to growl like thunder,
and brought his master out.
'Who art thou, young man?' said he.
'Oh Culain!' cried Conchubar, 'it is from the Druid of Clogher that
I come, and he bade me ask thee to make me a sword and a spear and
a shield, for only with weapons of thy making can I win the Kingdom
of Ulster.'
Culain's face grew black at first, but after he had gazed for a while
at Conchubar, he saw that he had the look about him of one who would
go far, and he said:
'It shall be done for thee, but thou must wait, for the work is long.'
So Culain began to make the weapons, and Conchubar waited in the
island.
Early one brave morning in May when the sun had just risen over
Cronk-yn-Irree-Laa, he was walking on the strand, wondering to himself
how much longer Culain would be making his weapons and thinking it
was full time for him to return. The tide was going out, and the
sun was shining on the wet sand. Suddenly he saw something flashing
at the edge of the waves a few paces from him. He ran up to it and,
behold, it was the most beautiful woman he had ever put sight on,
fast asleep. Her hair was golden, like the gorse in bloom; her skin
whiter than the foam of the sea, her lips red as the coral, and her
cheeks rosy like the little clouds that were flying before the face
of the rising sun. The fringe of her dress of many coloured seaweeds
rose and fell with the ebb and flow of the waves. Pearls gleamed on
her neck and arms. Conchubar stood and looked on her. He knew that she
was a Mermaid and that as soon as she awoke she would slip back into
the ocean and be lost to him. So he bound her fast with his girdle.
Then she awoke and opened her eyes, which were blue as the sea,
and when she saw that she was bound, she cried out with terror,
'Loose me, man, loose me!'
Conchubar did not answer, so she said again, 'Loose me, I beg thee!' in
a voice as sweet as the music of Hom Mooar, the Fairy Fiddler.
By this time Conchubar was feeling that he would give all he had to
keep her. He answered, trembling, 'Woman, my heart, who art thou?'
'I am Teeval, Princess of the Ocean,' said she. 'Set me free, I
pray thee.'
'But if I set thee free,' said Conchubar, 'thou wilt leave me.'
'I cannot stay with thee, Conchubar,' she cried; 'set me free, and
I will give thee a precious gift.'
'I will loose thee,' answered Conchubar. 'It is not for the gift,
but because I cannot resist thee.'
He unfastened the girdle from her and she said, 'My gift to thee
is this: Go now to Culain who is making thy shield, and tell him
that Teeval, Princess of the Ocean, bids him to put her figure on
the shield and round it to grave her name. Then thou shalt wear it
always in battle, and when thou shalt look on my face and call my
name, thy enemies' strength shall go from them and shall come into
thee and thy men.' When she had said this, she waved her white arm
to Conchubar and plunged into the waves. He looked sadly for a long
time at the spot where she had disappeared, and then walked slowly
to the forge of Culain, and gave him the message.
Culain finished the mighty shield as the Princess had said, and
forged also for Conchubar a golden-hilted magic sword, and a spear
set with precious stones. Then Conchubar, in his crimson mantle and
white gold-embroidered tunic, and armed with his great shield and
his mighty weapons, went back to Ireland.
All that the Princess of the Ocean had said came true. When he went
into battle he looked at the beautiful face in his shield and cried
'Help, Teeval.'
Then he felt strength come into him like the strength of a giant,
and he cut his enemies down like grass. Before long he was famous
all over Ireland for his great deeds, and in the end he became King
of Ulster. Then he invited Culain to come and live in his kingdom,
and gave him the plain of Murthemny to dwell in.
But he never again saw the lovely Mermaid.