Lady Augusta Gregory

by Irish Myths

of the treasures their father had left, and the quarrel was so hot it

  seemed likely it would come to a battle in the end.

  And the Sons of the Gael wondered to see them quarrelling

  about such things, and they having so fruitful an island, where

  the air was so wholesome, and the sun not too strong, or the cold

  too bitter, and where there was such a plenty of honey and

  acorns, and of milk, and of fish, and of com, and room enough

  for them all.

  Great grandeur they were living in, and their Druids about

  them, at the palace of Teamhair. And Amergin went to them, and

  it is what he said, that they must give up the kingship there and

  then, or they must leave it to the chance of a battle. And he said

  he asked this in revenge for the death of Ith, of the race of the

  Gael, that had come to their court before that time, and that had

  been killed by treachery.

  When the sons of Cermait Honey-Mouth heard Amergin saying such fierce words, there was wonder on them, and it is what they said, that they were not willing to fight at that time, for their

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  IRISH MYTHS AND LEGENDS

  army was not ready. "But let you make an offer to us," they said,

  ''for we see well you have good judgment and knowledge. But if

  you make an offer that is not fair," they said, "we will destroy you

  with our enchantments. "

  At that Amergin bade the men that were with him to go back to

  Inver Sceine, and to hurry again into their ships with the rest of the

  Sons of the Gael, and to go out the length of nine waves from the

  shore. And then he made his offer to the Tuatha de Danaan, that if

  they could hinder his men from landing on their island, he and all

  his ships would go back again to their own country, and would

  never make any attempt to come again; but that if the Sons of the

  Gael could land on the coast in spite of them, then the Tuatha de

  Danaan should give up the kingship and be under their sway.

  The Tuatha de Danaan were well pleased with that offer, for

  they thought that by the powers of their enchantments over the

  winds and the sea, and by their arts, they would be well able to

  keep them from ever setting foot in the counny again.

  So the Sons of the Gael did as Amergin bade them and they

  went back into their ship and drew up their anchors, and moved

  out to the length of nine waves from the shore. And as soon as the

  Men of Dea saw they had left the land, they took to their enchantments and spells, and they raised a great wind that scattered the ships of the Gael, and drove them from one another. But Amergin

  knew it was not a natural storm was in it, and Arranan, son of

  Miled, knew that as well, and he went up in the mast of his ship

  to look about him. But a great blast of wind came against him,

  and he fell back into the ship and died on the moment. And there

  was great confusion on the Gael, for the ships were tossed to and

  fro, and had like to be lost. And the ship that Donn, son of Miled,

  was in command of was parted from the others by the dint of the

  storm, and was broken in pieces, and he himself and all with him

  were drowned, four-and-twenty men and women in all. And Ir,

  son of Miled, came to his death in the same way, and his body was

  cast on the shore, and it was buried in a small island that is now

  called Sceilg Michill. A brave man Ir was, leading the Sons of the

  THE COMING OF THE GAEL

  83

  Gael to the front of every battle, and their help and their shelter in

  battle, and his enemies were in dread of his name.

  And Heremon, another of the sons of Miled, with his share of

  the ships, was driven to the left of the island, and it is hardly he

  got safe to land. And the place where he landed was called Inver

  Colpa, because Colpa of the Sword, another of the sons of Miled,

  was drowned there, and he trying to get to land. Five of the sons

  of Miled in all were destroyed by the storm and the winds the

  Men of Dea had raised by their enchantments, and there were but

  three of them left, Heber, and Heremon, and Amergin.

  And one of them, Donn, before he was swept into the sea,

  called out: "It is treachery our knowledgeable men are doing on

  us, not to put down this wind. " "There is no treachery," said Amergin, his brother. And he rose up then before them, and whatever enchantment he did on the winds and the sea, he said these

  words along with it:

  "That they that are tossing in the great wide food giving sea

  may reach now to the land.

  "That they may find a place upon its plains, its mountains, and

  its valleys; in its forests that are full of nuts and of all fruits; on its

  rivers and its streams, on its lakes and its great waters.

  "That we may have our gatherings and our races in this land;

  that there may be a king of our own in Teamhair; that it may be

  the possession of our many kings.

  "That the sons of Miled may be seen in this land, that their

  ships and their boats may find a place there.

  "This land that is now under darkness, it is for it we are asking; let our chief men, let their learned wives, ask that we may come to the noble woman, great Eriu."

  After he had said this, the wind went down and the sea was

  quiet again on the moment.

  And those that were left of the sons of Miled and of the Sons of

  the Gael landed then at Inver Sceine.

  And Amergin was the first to put his foot on land, and when

  he stood on the shore of Ireland, it is what he said:

  IRISH MYTHS AND LEGENDS

  "I am the wind on the sea;

  I am the wave of the sea;

  I am the bull of seven battles;

  I am the eagle on the rock;

  I am a flash from the sun;

  I am the most beautiful of plants;

  I am a strong wild boar;

  I am a salmon in the water;

  I am a lake in the plain;

  I am the word of knowledge;

  I am the head of the spear in battle;

  I am the god that puts fire in the head;

  Who spreads light in the gathering on the hills?

  Who can tell the ages of the moon?

  Who can tell the place where the sun rests?"

  CHAPTER II.

  THE BATTLE OF TAILLTIN

  And three days after the landing of the Gael, they were attacked

  by Eriu, wife of Mac Greine, Son of the Sun, and she having a

  good share of men with her. And they fought a hard battle, and

  many were killed on both sides. And this was the first battle

  fought between the Sons of the Gael and the Men of Dea for the

  kingship of Ireland.

  It was in that battle Fais, wife of Un, was killed in a valley at

  the foot of the mountain, and it was called after her, the Valley of

  Fais. And Scota, wife of Miled, got her death in the battle, and she

  was buried in a valley on the north side of the mountain near the

  sea. But the Sons of the Gael lost no more than three hundred

  men, and they beat back the Men of Dea and killed a thousand of

  them. And Eriu was beaten back to Tailltin, and as many of her

  men as she could hold together; and when she came there she

  told the people how she had been worsted in the battle, and the

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THE GAEL

  85

  best of her men had got their death. But the Gael stopped on the

  battle-field, and buried their dead, and they gave a great burial to

  two of their Druids, Aer and Eithis, that were killed in the fight.

  And after they had rested for a while, they went on to Inver

  Colpa in Leinster, and Heremon and his men joined them there.

  And then they sent messengers to the three kings of Ireland, the

  three sons of Cermait Honey-Mouth, and bade them to come out

  and fight a battle that would settle the ownership of the country

  once for all.

  So they came out, and the best of the fighters of the Tuatha de

  Danaan with them, to Tailltin. And there they attacked one another, and the Sons of the Gael remembered the death of Ith, and there was great anger on them, and they fell on the Men of Dea to

  avenge him, and there was a fierce battle fought. And for a while

  neither side got the better of the other, but at the last the Gael

  broke through the army of the Men of Dea and put them to the

  rout, with great slaughter, and drove them out of the place. And

  their three kings were killed in the rout, and the three queens of

  Ireland, Eriu and Fodhla and Banba. And when the Tuatha de

  Danaan saw their leaders were dead they fell back in great disorder, and the Sons of the Gael followed after them. But in following them they lost two of their best leaders, Cuailgne, son

  of Breagan, at Slieve Cuailgne, and Fuad, his brother, at Slieve

  Fuad. But they were no way daunted by that, but followed the

  Men of Dea so hotly that they were never able to bring their army

  together again, but had to own themselves beaten, and give up

  the country to the Gael.

  And the leaders, the sons of Miled, divided the provinces of

  Ireland between them. Heber took the two provinces of Munster,

  and he gave a share of it to Amergin; and Heremon got Leinster

  and Connacht for his share, and Ulster was divided between

  Eimhir, son of Ir, son of Miled, and some others of their chief

  men. And it was of the sons of Eimhir, that were called the Children of Rudraighe , and that lived in Emain Macha for nine hundred years, some of the best men of Ireland came; Fergus,

  IRISH MYTHS AND LEGENDS

  son of Rogh, was of them, and Conall Cearnach, of the Red

  Branch of Ulster.

  And from the sons of Ith, the first of the Gael to get his death in

  Ireland, there came in the after time Fathadh Canaan, that got the

  sway over the whole world from the rising to the setting sun, and

  that took hostages of the streams and the birds and the languages.

  And it is what the poets of Ireland used to be saying, that every

  brave man, good at fighting, and every man that could do great

  deeds and not be making much talk about them, was of the Sons

  of the Gael; and that every skilled man that had music and that '

  did enchantments secretly, was of the Tuatha de Danaan. But they

  put a bad name on the Firbolgs and the men of Domnand and the

  Gaileoin, for lies and for big talk and injustice. But for all that

  there were good fighters among them, and Ferdiad, that made so

  good a stand against Cuchulain, in the war for the Bull of Cuailgne was one of them. And the Gaileoin fought well in the same war; but the men of Ireland had no great liking for them, and

  their Druids drove them out of the country afterwards.

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  B O OK F O U R :

  THE EVER-LIVING LIVING ONES

  CHAPTER I.

  BODB DEARG

  But as to the Tuatha de Danaan after they were beaten, they

  would not go under the sway of the sons of Miled, but they went

  away by themselves. And because Manannan, son of Lir, understood all enchantments, they left it to him to find places for them where they would be safe from their enemies. So he chose out the

  most beautiful of the hills and valleys of Ireland for them to settle

  in; and he put hidden walls about them, that no man could see

  through, but they themselves could see through them and pass

  through them.

  And he made the Feast of Age for them, and what they drank

  at it was the ale of Goibniu the Smith, that kept whoever tasted it

  from age and from sickness and from death. And for food at the

  feast he gave them his own swine, that though they were killed

  and eaten one day, would be alive and fit for eating again the next

  day, and that would go on in that way for ever.

  And after a while they said: "It would be better for us one king

  to be over us, than to be scattered the way we are through the

  whole of Ireland. "

  Now the men among them that had the best chance o f getting

  the kingship at that time were Bodb Dearg, son of the Dagda; and

  Ilbrech of Ess Ruadh; and Lir of Sidhe Fionnachaidh, the Hill of

  the White Field, on Slieve Fuad; and Midhir the Proud of Bri

  Leith, and Angus Og, son of the Dagda; but he did not covet the

  kingship at all, but would sooner be left as he was. Then all the

  chief men but those five went into council together, and it is what

  they agreed, to give the kingship to Bodb Dearg, for the sake of

  his father, for his own sake, and because he was the eldest among

  the children of the Dagda.

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  It was in Sidhe Femen Bodb Dearg had his house, and he put

  great enchantments about it. Cliach, the Harper of the King of the

  Three Rosses in Connacht, went one time to ask one of his

  daughters in marriage, and he stayed outside the place through

  the whole length of a year, playing his harp, and able to get no

  nearer to Bodb or to his daughter. And he went on playing till a

  lake burst up under his feet, the lake that is on the top of a mountain, Loch Bel Sead.

  It was Bodbs swineherd went to Da Dergas Inn, and his squealing pig along with him, the night Conaire, the High King of Ireland, met with his death; and it was said that whatever feast that swineherd would go to, there would blood be shed before it was over.

  And Bodb had three sons, Angus, and Artrach, and Aedh. And

  they used often to be living among men in the time of the Fianna

  afterwards. Artrach had a house with seven doors, and a free welcome for all that came, and the king's son of Ireland, and of Alban, used to be coming to Angus to learn the throwing of

  spears and darts; and troops of poets from Alban and from Ireland

  used to be with Aedh, that was the comeliest of Bodb's sons, so

  that his place used to be called "The Rath of Aedh of the Poets."

  And indeed it was a beautiful rath at that time, with golden-yellow apples in it and crimson-pointed nuts of the wood. But after the passing away of the Fianna, the three brothers went back to

  the Tuatha de Danaan.

  And Bodb Dearg was not always in his own place but sometimes he was with Angus at Brugh na Boinn.

  Three sons of Lugaidh Menn, King of Ireland, Eochaid, and

  Fiacha, and Ruide, went there one time for their father refused

  them any land till they would win it for themselves. And when he

  said that, they rose with the ready rising of one man, and went

  and sat down on the green of Brugh na Boinn, and fasted there on

  the Tuatha de Danaan, to see if they could win some good thing

  from them.

  And they were not long there till they saw a young man, qu
iet

  and with pleasant looks, coming towards them, and he wished

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  89

  them good health, and they answered him the same way. "Where

  are you come from? " they asked him then. "From the rath beyond, with the many lights," he said. "And I am Bodb Dearg, son of the Dagda," he said, "and come in with me now to the rath."

  So they went in, and supper was made ready for them, but

  they did not use it. Bodb Dearg asked them then why was it they

  were using nothing. "It is because our father has refused land to

  us," said they; "and there are in Ireland but two races, the Sons of

  the Gael and the Men of Dea, and when the one failed us we are

  come to the other."

  Then the Men of Dea consulted together. And the chief among

  them was Midhir of the Yellow Hair, and it is what he said: "Let us

  give a wife to every one of these three men, for it is from a wife

  that good or bad fortune comes."

  So they agreed to that, and Midhir's three daughters, Dairenn,

  and Aife, and Aillbhe, were given to them. Then Midhir asked

  Bodb to say what marriage portion should be given to them. "I will

  tell you that," said Bodb. "We are three times fifty sons of kings in

  this hill; let every kings son give three times fifty ounces of red

  gold. And I myself," he said, "will give them along with that, three

  times fifty suits of clothing of all colours." "I will give them a gift,"

  said a young man of the Tuatha de Danaan, from Rachlainn in the

  sea. "A horn I will give them, and a vat. And there is nothing wanting but to fill the vat with pure water, and it will tum into mead, fit to drink, and strong enough to make drunken. And into the

  horn," he said, "you have but to put salt water from the sea, and it

  will tum into wine on the moment. " "A gift to them from me,"

  said Lir of Sidhe Fionnachaidh, "three times fifty swords, and three

  times fifty well-riveted long spears." "A gift from me," said Angus

  Og, son of the Dagda, "a rath and a good town with high walls,

  and with bright sunny houses, and with wide houses, in whatever

  place it will please them between Rath Chobtaige and Teamhair."

  "A gift to them from me," said Aine, daughter of Modham, "a

  woman-cook that I have, and there is geasa on her not to refuse

  food to any; and according as she serves it out, her store fills up of

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