Lady Augusta Gregory

by Irish Myths

  cooking-spit.

  And when Brian saw it, he took it up in his hand and he was

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  IRISH MYTHS AND LEGENDS

  going to bring it with him to the door. And all the women began

  laughing when they saw him doing that, and it is what they said:

  "It is a brave deed you put your hand to; for even if your brothers

  were along with you, the least of the three times fifty women of us

  would not let the spit go with you or with them. But for all that,"

  they said, "take a spit of the spits with you, since you had the daring to try and take it in spite of us."

  Brian bade them farewell then, and went to look for the boat.

  And his brothers thought it was too long he was away from them,

  and just as they were going to leave the place they were, they saw

  him coming towards them, and that raised their courage greatly.

  And he went into the boat, and they went on to look for the

  Hill of Miochaoin. And when they came there, Miochaoin, that

  was the guardian of the hill, came towards them; and when Brian

  saw him he attacked him, and the fight of those two champions

  was like the fight of two lions, till Miochaoin fell at the last.

  And after Miochaoin had fallen, his three sons came out to

  fight with the three sons of Tuireann. And if any one ever came

  from the east of the world to look at any fight, it is to see the fight

  of these champions he had a right to come, for the greatness of

  their blows and the courage of their minds. The names of the

  sons of Miochaoin were Core and Conn and Aedh, and they

  drove their three spears through the bodies of the sons of Tuireann, and that did not discourage them at all and they put their own three spears through the bodies of the sons of Miochaoin, so

  that they fell into the clouds and the faintness of death.

  And then Brian said: "What way are you now, my dear brothers? " "We are near our death," said they. "Let us rise up," he said,

  "and give three shouts upon the hill, for I see the signs of death

  coming on us. " "We are not able to do that," said they. Then Brian

  rose up and raised each of them with one hand, and he shedding

  blood heavily all the time, until they gave the three shouts.

  After that Brian brought them with him to the boat, and they

  were travelling the sea for a long time, but at last Brian said: "I see

  Beinn Edair and our father's dun, and Teamhair of the Kings. "

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  67

  "We would have our fill of health if we could see that," said the

  others; "and for the love of your good name, brother," they said,

  "raise up our heads on your breast till we see Ireland again, and

  life or death will be the same to us after that. And 0 Brian," they

  said, "Flame of Valour without treachery, we would sooner death

  to bring ourselves away, than to see you with wounds upon your

  body, and with no physician to heal you."

  Then they came to Beinn Edair, and from that they went on

  to their father's house, and Brian said to Tuireann: "Go, dear

  father, to Teamhair, and give this spit to Lugh, and bring the skin

  that has healing in it for our relief. Ask it from him for the sake

  of friendship," he said, "for we are of the one blood, and let him

  not give hardness for hardness. And 0 dear father," he said, "do

  not be long on your journey, or you will not find us alive before you. "

  Then Tuireann went to Teamhair, and he found Lugh o f the

  Long Hand before him, and he gave him the spit, and he asked

  for the skin of him to heal his children, and Lugh said he would

  not give it. And Tuireann came back to them and told them he

  had not got the skin. And Brian said: "Bring me with you to Lugh,

  to see would I get it from him."

  So they went to Lugh, and Brian asked the skin of him. And

  Lugh said he would not give it, and that if they would give him

  the breadth of the earth in gold for it, he would not take it from

  them, unless he was sure their death would come on them in satisfaction for the deed they had done.

  When Brian heard that, he went to the place his two brothers

  were, and he lay down between them, and his life went out from

  him, and out from the other two at the same time.

  And their father cried and lamented over his three beautiful

  sons, that had the making of a king of Ireland in each of them,

  and his strength left him and he died; and they were buried in the

  one grave.

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  CHAPTER III.

  THE GREAT BATTLE OF MAGH TUIREADH

  And it was not long after Lugh had got the fine from the sons of

  Tuireann that the Fomor came and landed at Scetne.

  The whole host of the Fomor were come this time, and their

  king, Balor, of the Strong Blows and of the Evil Eye, along with

  them; and Bres, and Indech, son of De Domnann, a king of the

  Fomor, and Elathan, son of Lobos, and Goll and Ingol, and Octriallach, son of Indech, and Ela than, son of Delbaeth.

  Then Lugh sent the Dagda to spy out the Fomor, and to delay

  them till such time as the men of Ireland would come to the battle.

  So the Dagda went to their camp, and he asked them for a

  delay, and they said he might have that. And then to make sport

  of him, the Fomor made broth for him, for he had a great love for

  broth. So they filled the kings cauldron with four times twenty

  gallons of new milk, and the same of meal and fat, and they put in

  goats and sheep and pigs along with that, and boiled all together,

  and then they poured it all out into a great hole in the ground.

  And they called him to it then, and told him he should eat his fill,

  the way the Fomor would not be reproached for want of hospitality the way Bres was. "We will make an end of you if you leave any part of it after you," said Indech, son of De Domnann.

  So the Dagda took the ladle, and it big enough for a man and a

  woman to lie in the bowl of it, and he took out bits with it, the

  half of a salted pig, and a quarter of lard a bit would be. "If the

  broth tastes as well as the bits taste, this is good food," he said.

  And he went on putting the full of the ladle into his mouth till the

  hole was empty; and when all was gone he put down his hand

  and scraped up all that was left among the earth and the gravel.

  Sleep came on him then after eating the broth, and the Fomor

  were laughing at him, for his belly was the size of the cauldron of a

  great house. But he rose up after a while, and, heavy as he was, he

  made his way home; and indeed his dress was no way sightly, a

  cape to the hollow of the elbows, and a brown coat, long in the

  LUGH OF THE LONG HAND

  69

  breast and short behind, and on his feet brogues of horse hide,

  with the hair outside, and in his hand a wheeled fork it would take

  eight men to carry, so that the track he left after him was deep

  enough for the boundary ditch of a province. And on his way he

  saw the Battle-Crow, the Morrigu, washing herself in the river

  Unius of Connacht, and one of her two feet at Ullad Echne, to the

  south of the water, and the other at Loscuinn, to the north of the

  water, and her hair hanging in nine loosened locks. And she said

  to th
e Dagda, that she would bring the heart's blood of Indech, son

  of De Domnann, that had threatened him, to the men of Ireland.

  And while he was away Lugh had called together the Druids,

  and smiths, and physicians, and law-makers, and chariot-drivers

  of Ireland, to make plans for the battle.

  And he asked the great magician Mathgen what could he do to

  help them. "It is what I can do," said Mathgen, "through my

  power I can throw down all the mountains of Ireland on the

  Fomor, until their tops will be rolling on the ground. And the

  twelve chief mountains of Ireland will bring you their help," he

  said, "and will fight for you: Slieve Leag and Denda Ulad, and

  Bennai Boirche and Bri Ruri, and Slieve Bladma and Slieve Snechtae, and Slieve Mis and Blai-Slieve, and Nemthann and Slieve Macca Belgodon, and Segois and Cruachan Aigle. "

  Then he asked the cup-bearers what help they could give. "We

  will put a strong thirst on the Fomor," they said, "and then we will

  bring the twelve chief lochs of Ireland before them, and however

  great their thirst may be, they will find no water in them: Den:­

  Loch, Loch Luimnech, Loch Orbsen, Loch Righ, Loch Mescdhae,

  Loch Cuan, Loch Laeig, Loch Echach, Loch Febail, Loch Decket,

  Loch Riach, Mor-Loch. And we will go," they said, "to the twelve

  chief rivers of Ireland: the Buas, the Boinn, the Banna, the Nern,

  the Laoi, the Sionnan, the Muaid, the Sligech, the Samair, the

  Flonn, the Ruirtech, the Siuir; and they will all be hidden away

  from the Fomor the way they will not find a drop in them. But as

  for the men of Ireland," they said, "there will be drink for them if

  they were to be in the battle to the end of seven years. "

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  IRISH MYTHS AND LEGENDS

  And Figol, son of Mamos, the Druid, was asked then what he

  would do, and he said: "It is what I will do, I will cause three

  showers of fire to pour on the faces of the army of the Fomor,

  and I will take from them two-thirds of their bravery and their

  strength, and I will put sickness on their bodies, and on the

  bodies of their horses. But as to the men of Ireland," he said,

  "every breath they breathe will be an increase of strength and of

  bravery to them; and if they are seven years in the battle they will

  never be any way tired. "

  Then Lugh asked his two witches , Bechulle and Dianan:

  "What power can you bring to the battle? " "It is easy to say that,"

  they said. "We will put enchantment on the trees and the stones

  and the sods of the earth, till they become an armed host against

  the Fomor, and put terror on them and put them to the rout."

  Then Lugh asked Carpre, the poet, son of Etain, what could

  he do. "It is not hard to say that," said Carpre. "I will make a

  satire on them at sunrise, and the wind from the north, and I on a

  hill-top and my back to a thorn-tree, and a stone and a thorn in

  my hand. And with that satire," he said, "I will put shame on

  them and enchantment, the way they will not be able to stand

  against fighting men."

  Then he asked Goibniu the Smith what would he be able to

  do. "I will do this," he said. "If the men of Ireland stop in the battle to the end of seven years, for every sword that is broken and for every spear that is lost from its shaft, I will put a new one in its

  place. And no spear-point that will be made by my hand," he said,

  "will ever miss its mark; and no man it touches will ever taste life

  again. And that is more than Dolb, the smith of the Fomor, can

  do," he said.

  "And you, Credne," Lugh said then to his worker in brass,

  "what help can you give to our men in the battle? " "It is not

  hard to tell that," said Credne, "rivets for their spears and hilts for

  their swords and bosses and rims for their shields, I will supply

  them all."

  "And you, Luchta," he said then to his carpenter, "what will

  LUGH OF THE LONG HAND

  7 1

  you do?" "I will give them all they want of shields and of spear

  shafts," said Luchta.

  Then he asked Diancecht, the physician, what would he do, and

  it is what he said: "Every man that will be wounded there, unless

  his head is struck off, or his brain or his marrow cut through, I will

  make him whole and sound again for the battle of the morrow. "

  Then the Dagda said: "Those great things you are boasting you

  will do, I will do them all with only myself. " "It is you are the

  good god! " said they, and they all gave a great shout of laughter.

  Then Lugh spoke to the whole army and put strength in them,

  so that each one had the spirit in him of a king or a great lord.

  Then when the delay was at an end, the Fomor and the men of

  Ireland came on towards one another till they came to the plain of

  Magh Tuireadh. That now was not the same Magh Tuireadh where

  the first battle was fought, but it was to the north, near Ess Dara.

  And then the two armies threatened one another. "The men of

  Ireland are daring enough to offer battle to us, " said Bres to

  Indech, son of De Domnann. "I give my word," said Indech, "it is

  in small pieces their bones will be, if they do not give in to us and

  pay their tribute. "

  Now the Men of Dea had determined not to let Lugh go into

  the battle, because of the loss his death would be to them; and

  they left nine of their men keeping a watch on him.

  And on the first day none of the kings or princes went into the

  battle, but only the common fighting men, and they fierce and

  proud enough.

  And the battle went on like that from day to day with no great

  advantage to one or the other side. But there was wonder on the

  Fomor on account of one thing. Such of their own weapons as

  were broken or blunted in the fight lay there as they were, and

  such of their own men as were killed showed no sign of life on

  the morrow; but it was not so with the Tuatha de Danaan, for if

  their men were killed or their weapons were broken to-day, they

  were as good as before on the morrow.

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  IRISH MITHS AND LEGENDS

  And this is the way that happened. The well of Slaine lay to

  the west of Magh Tuireadh to the east of Loch Arboch. And

  Diancecht and his son Octruil and his daughter Airmed used

  to be singing spells over the well and to be putting herbs in it;

  and the men that were wounded to death in the battle would

  be brought to the well and put into it as dead men, and they

  would come out of it whole and sound, through the power of

  the spells. And not only were they healed, but there was such fire

  put into them that they would be quicker in the fight than they

  were before.

  And as to the arms, it is the way they were made new every

  day. Goibniu the Smith used to be in the forge making swords and

  spears, and he would make a spearhead by three turns, and then

  Luchta the Carpenter would make the shaft by three cuts, and the

  third cut was a finish, and would set it in the ring of the spear.

  And when the spear-heads were stuck in the side of the forge, he

  would throw the shaft and the rings the way they would go into
/>
  the spear-head and want no more setting. And then Credne the

  Brazier would make the rivets by three turns and would cast the

  rings of the spears to them, and with that they were ready and

  were set together.

  And all this went against the Fomor, and they sent one of their

  young men to spy about the camp and to see could he find out

  how these things were done. It was Ruadan, son of Bres and of

  Brigit daughter of the Dagda they sent, for he was a son and

  grandson of the Tuatha de Danaan. So he went and saw all that

  was done, and came back to the Fomor.

  And when they heard his story it is what they thought, that

  Goibniu the Smith was the man that hindered them most. And

  they sent Ruadan back again, and bade him make an end of him.

  So he went back again to the forge, and he asked Goibniu

  would he give him a spear-head. And then he asked rivets of

  Credne, and a shaft of the carpenter, and all was given to him as

  he asked. And there was a woman there, Cron, mother to Fianlug,

  grinding the spears.

  LUGH OF THE LONG HAND

  7 3

  And after the spear being given to Ruadan, he turned and

  threw it at Goibniu, that it wounded him. But Goibniu pulled it

  out and made a cast of it at Ruadan, that it went through him and

  he died; and Bres, his father, and the army of the Fomor, saw him

  die. And then Brigit came and keened her son with shrieking and

  with crying.

  And as to Goibniu, he went into the well and was healed. But

  after that Octriallach, son of Indech, called to the Fomor and bade

  each man of them bring a stone of the stones of Drinnes and throw

  them into the well of Slane. And they did that till the well was

  dried up, and a cairn raised over it, that is called Octriallach's Cairn.

  And it was while Goibniu was making spear-heads for the battle of Magh Tuireadh, a charge was brought against his wife. And it was seen that it was heavy news to him, and that jealousy came

  on him. And it is what he did, there was a spear-shaft in his hand

  when he heard the story, Nes its name was; and he sang spells

  over the spear-shaft, and any one that was struck with that spear

  afterwards, it would bum him up like fire.

  And at last the day of the great battle came, and the Fomor

  came out of their camp and stood in strong ranks. And there was