‘Tell me, where is the King of Elfland’s castle?’
‘I can’t tell you,’ said the goatherd, ‘but go on a little farther till you meet the swineherd. Maybe he’ll tell you.’
Then Childe Rowland drew the good sword that never struck in vain, and cut off the goatherd’s head. And he went on a little farther till he met the King of Elfland’s swineherd, feeding the King’s swine.
‘Tell me, where is the King of Elfland’s castle?’
‘I can’t tell you,’ said the swineherd, ‘but go on a little farther till you come to the hen-wife. Maybe she’ll tell you.’
Then Childe Rowland drew his good sword that never struck in vain, and cut off the swineherd’s head. And he went on a little farther till he met the King of Elfland’s hen-wife, feeding the King’s hens.
‘Tell me, where is the King of Elfland’s castle?’
‘Go on a little farther,’ said the hen-wife, ‘till you come to a round green hill surrounded by rings from the bottom to the top. Go round it three times widdershins, and every time say, ‘Open, door! Open, door! and let me come in!’ The third time, the door will open, and you may go in.’
Then Childe Rowland drew the good sword that never struck in vain, and cut off the hen-wife’s head.
He went three times widdershins round the green hill, crying, ‘Open, door! Open, door! and let me come in!’ The third time, the door opened, and he went in. The door closed behind him.
He went through a long passage, where the air was warm. There were neither windows nor candles, and the half-light came from the walls and the ceiling.
He came to two wide and high folding doors, standing ajar. He entered a great hall, rich and brilliant, extending the whole length and height of the hill. From the centre of the ceiling was hung, by a gold chain, an immense lamp of one hollow translucent pearl, in the centre of which was suspended a great carbuncle, that by the power of magic, turned round and shed over the hall a clear and gentle light, like the setting sun.
At the farther end of the hall, under a canopy and seated on a sofa of velvet and silk and gold, combing her yellow hair with a silver comb, sat his sister, Burd Ellen.
Under the power of a magic she could not resist, Burd Ellen brought him a bowl of bread and milk. But he remembered Merlin’s warnings. ‘I will neither taste nor touch food nor drink, till I have set you free,’ said Childe Rowland to his sister.
At that moment, the folding doors opened, and the King of Elfland came in, with
‘Fe, fi, fo and fum!
I smell the blood of a Christian man!
Be he dead, be he living, with my brand
I’ll clash his brains from his brain-pan!’
‘Strike then, Bogle, if you dare!’ said Childe Rowland. He drew his good sword that never struck in vain.
In the fight that followed, the King of Elfland was struck to the ground. Childe Rowland spared him, but the King of Elfland had to give him back his sister, Burd Ellen, and his two brothers who lay in a trance in a corner of the hall. The King of Elfland brought a small crystal phial holding a bright red liquid. With it he anointed the lips, nostrils, eyelids, ears and finger tips of the two young men, who at once woke up, and the four of them returned home.
CUCHULAINN AND THE TWO GIANTS
NCE upon a time there was a King in Scotland whose name was Cumhal. He had a great dog that used to watch the herd. When the cattle were sent out, the dog would lead them to good grass. The dog would herd them there for a day, and in the evening would bring them home.
A man and his wife lived near the King’s house, and they had one son. Every evening they sent their son on errands to the King’s house.
One evening the boy was on his way there. He had a ball and a stick, and was playing shinty on the way. The King’s dog met him and began to play with the ball, lifting it in his mouth and running with it.
The boy struck the ball in the dog’s mouth, drove it down the dog’s throat and choked him. After that the boy had to keep the King’s cattle instead of the dog. He drove the cattle to grass in the morning, herded them all day and brought them home in the evening.
So he was called Cuchulainn, which means Cumhal’s dog.
One day Cuchulainn was driving the cattle when he saw a giant so big he could see the sky between his legs. The giant came toward him, driving a great ox. The two great horns on the ox had their points backward instead of forward.
‘I’m going to sleep here,’ said the giant. ‘If you see another giant coming, wake me. I’ll not be easily wakened.’
‘What’s the best way to waken you?’ said Cuchulainn.
‘Take the biggest stone you can find,’ said the giant, ‘and strike me on the chest. That’ll waken me!’
The giant lay and slept. He hadn’t slept long when Cuchulainn saw another giant coming. He was so big he could see the sky between his legs.
Cuchulainn tried to waken the first giant, but waken him he could not. At last he lifted a large stone, and struck the giant on the chest. The giant woke up.
‘Is there another giant coming?’ said he.
‘There he comes!’ said Cuchulainn, pointing.
‘Hi, Crumple Toes, you’ve stolen my ox!’ said the other giant.
‘I didn’t steal it, Shamble Shanks,’ said the first giant.
Shamble Shanks seized one horn of the ox, and Crumple Toes the other. Shamble Shanks broke the horn off at the bone. He threw it away and it fell foremost into the earth.
He seized the head of the ox, and the two giants hauled. They tore the ox apart, through the middle to the root of the tail. Then they began to wrestle.
Cuchulainn started to cut steps up the back of the second giant’s leg, to make a stair. Shamble Shanks felt something stinging the back of his leg, so he put his hand down and threw Cuchulainn away.
Cuchulainn went feet first into the ox’s horn, and could not climb out. Crumple Toes seized his chance, knocked Shamble Shanks down, and killed him. He looked about for Cuchulainn, but could not see him.
‘Where are you, my little hero?’ said he.
‘I’m here in the horn,’ said Cuchulainn.
The giant tried to take him out, but he could not put his hand far enough down. At last he straddled his legs, drove his hand into the horn, got hold of Cuchulainn between his two fingers, and brought him up.
Cuchulainn went home with the cattle at the going down of the sun.
DAUGHTER OF THE KING UNDER THE WAVES
HE Feinne were together on a mountainside. It was a wild night, with pouring rain and snow falling from the north. About midnight, there was a knock at Finn’s door. When Finn opened the door he saw a weird woman with long hair down to her heels.
‘Let me in out of the storm!’ she cried.
‘Strange, ugly creature,’ said Finn, ‘with hair down to your heels. How can you ask me to let you in?’
She went away from his door and screamed. She went to Ossian’s door, and asked for shelter.
‘Strange, ugly creature,’ said Ossian, ‘with hair down to your heels. How can you ask me to let you in?’
She went away from his door and screamed. Then she went to Diarmid’s door, and asked for shelter.
‘Strange, ugly creature,’ said Diarmid, ‘with hair down to your heels. But come in!’ She came in out of the storm.
‘Oh, Diarmid,’ she said, ‘for seven years I have been wandering over ocean and sea, and in all that time I have not passed a night indoors, till tonight. Let me come in to the warm fire!’
‘Come in!’ said Diarmid, but when she came in, she was so hideous some people began to leave the room.
‘Go to the other side of the fire,’ said Diarmid, ‘and let the creature warm herself.’
They went to the other side of the fire, to make room for her, but she had not been long by the fire before she tried to creep under Diarmid’s blanket.
‘You are growing too bold,’ said Diarmid. ‘First you come in out of the storm, then you w
arm yourself by the fire. Now you want to come under my blanket, but come!’
She crept under his blanket, but he folded it in the middle to separate them. She had not been long there, till he gave a sudden start and stared at her. He saw the finest woman that ever was, from the beginning of the world to the end of the world. He shouted to the others to come over to his bed.
‘Isn’t she the most beautiful woman man ever saw?’ he asked them.
‘She is the most beautiful woman man ever saw,’ they said, but Finn and Ossian were jealous of Diarmid, and angry that they had not welcomed the beautiful lady when she first arrived. Now she was asleep, and did not know they were looking at her. Diarmid let her sleep on, and did not wake her. But shortly after she awoke.
‘Are you awake, Diarmid?’ she asked.
‘I am awake,’ said Diarmid.
‘If you had the finest castle you ever saw,’ she said, ‘where would you like it to be?’
‘If I had my choice,’ said Diarmid, ‘it would be on this mountain.’ They fell asleep again.
Early in the morning, about dawn, a man mounted his horse and, on a hill, saw a castle where no castle had been before. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. The castle was still there. He went back to his house and said nothing. Another man went out, shortly afterwards, saw the castle, although he knew there had been no castle there. He too went back to his house and said nothing. When the day was brighter, two men went out and saw the castle, and when each man knew that the other man saw the castle where no castle should be, they both came back to tell the others.
‘Get up, Diarmid!’ said the beautiful lady, sitting up in bed. ‘Go up to your castle, and don’t lie there all morning!’
‘If there is a castle I can go to,’ said Diarmid, half asleep.
‘Look outside, and see if there’s a castle there!’ said she. He went to the door, and looked out. He looked at the castle, and came back to the lady.
‘I’ll go up to the castle,’ he said, ‘if you’ll go with me.’
‘I’ll do that, Diarmid, but don’t tell me three times how you found me.’
‘I’ll never say to you how I found you,’ said Diarmid. Both of them went to the castle, and it was very beautiful. There were maidservants and manservants and food on the table. Diarmid was most interested in a greyhound bitch and her three pups. He spent three days with the lady in the castle.
‘You are unhappy,’ said the lady at the end of the three days, ‘because you are not with the rest of the Feinne. Go back to them during the day, but come back at night. Food and drink will always be ready for your return.’
‘Who will take care of the greyhound bitch and her three pups?’ said Diarmid.
‘What is there to fear?’ she said. So he returned that day to the Feinne, but though they welcomed him, Finn, his mother’s brother, and Ossian were very jealous of Diarmid. The woman had come first to them, and they had turned their backs. However, they were interested in the greyhound bitch and her three pups when Diarmid praised them, while describing his new castle.
After Diarmid had gone, the lady left the castle for a short walk. Soon she saw someone approaching the castle very quickly. She waited for him, and it was Finn. She greeted him, and he caught her by the hand.
‘You are not angry with me?’ said Finn.
‘Not at all!’ said the lady. ‘Come into the castle for a drink!’
‘I’ll come if you give me what I ask,’ said Finn.
‘What is it you want?’ said the lady.
‘One of the pups of the greyhound bitch,’ said Finn.
‘Oh, that is not much to ask,’ said the lady. ‘Take the pup you like best!’ So Finn chose the most promising pup, and went away.
Diarmid came at the opening of the night. The greyhound met him outside the castle gate, and howled once. The lady told him about Finn and how she had given him one of the pups. Diarmid was annoyed, remembering how Finn had turned his back on the lady, when she first asked for shelter, how he had seen Finn’s jealousy, but he was most angry that Finn should come to his castle when he was not at home, and take away one of his dogs.
‘If you had remembered how I gave you shelter when you came in from the storm, with your hair down to your heels, you would not have given the pup to Finn who turned his back on you.’
‘What did I ask you not to do? This is the first of three times.’
‘I am sorry,’ said Diarmid.
‘I forgive you this first time,’ said the lady. They went into the castle together for food and drink, and Diarmid slept in the castle that night. Next morning he returned to the Feinne.
Ossian, who had admired the pup Finn had brought home, came to the castle and asked the lady for a pup, which she gave him. When Diarmid came home to his castle at the opening of the night, the greyhound bitch met him at the gate and howled twice. Although the lady was beside him, Diarmid spoke to the bitch.
‘They’ve taken another pup from you, my lass. But if she had remembered how I gave her shelter, after Ossian had turned his back on her, with her hair down to her heels, she would not have given the pup to Ossian.’
‘This is the second of three times you have said that.’
‘I am sorry,’ said Diarmid.
‘I forgive you this second time,’ said the lady. They went into the castle hand in hand for food and drink, and Diarmid slept in the castle that night. Next morning he returned to the Feinne. Next day the third and last pup was taken away, and when Diarmid returned to the castle the greyhound bitch howled three times when she saw him. Although the lady was standing near, Diarmid spoke to the bitch.
‘Yes, my lass, you are without any family. If she had remembered how I gave her shelter when she came in from the storm, with her hair down to her heels, she would not have given your third pup away.’
‘This is the last of three times,’ said the lady sadly.
‘I am sorry,’ said Diarmid. He slept in the castle that night and, in the morning, woke up on the hillside, in a mossy hollow. He looked round but his castle had vanished. He could not find one stone of it. He decided to look for the lady.
He began to walk across the country. He saw neither house by day nor fire by night. He came on the dead body of the greyhound bitch, lifted her by the tail, and slung her over his shoulder. He loved her so much he could not part from her. He saw a herd on the hillside above him.
‘Have you seen a woman, today or yesterday, passing this way?’ asked Diarmid.
‘I saw a woman early yesterday morning, walking fast,’ said the herd.
‘Which way was she going?’ said Diarmid.
‘She went down the headland to the shore, and I did not see her after that.’
Diarmid took the same road till he could go no further. He saw a ship. Using his spear as a vaulting pole, he jumped to the ship, and then to the opposite shore. He lay down on the side of a hill, and went to sleep. When he awoke the ship was gone. He had not long sat on a little hill, when he saw a man rowing a boat in his direction. He went down to the boat, put the greyhound in, and jumped after it. The boat went over the sea, and then under the sea to a land where he could walk. He had gone only a short distance, when he saw a clot of blood on the ground. He lifted it, wrapped it in a handkerchief, and put it in his pouch. He found two more clots of blood, wrapped them up, and put them with the other one. He found only three.
Shortly after, he saw a woman who looked crazy, who was gathering rushes. He asked her what news she had.
‘The daughter of the King under the Waves has come home,’ said the woman. ‘She has been seven years under a spell, and she is ill. The doctors have come to cure her, but none of them know how to do it. A bed of rushes is what she finds most comfortable.’
‘I would be very much in your debt, if you could take me where the Princess is.’
‘I’ll see to that,’ said the woman. ‘I’ll put you into a sheaf of rushes, with rushes under you and over you, and I’ll carry you on my back.’
‘You couldn’t do that. I am too heavy,’ said Diarmid.
‘Leave that to me!’ said the woman. She put Diarmid into a bundle of rushes and slung him on her back. When she reached the Princess’s room, she laid the bundle down.
‘Oh, hurry up!’ said the daughter of the King under the Waves. Diarmid came out of the bundle, and seized the Princess by the hands. They were delighted to meet again.
‘Three parts of my illness are gone, but I am still not well. Every time I thought of you on my way here, I lost blood from my heart.’
‘I have three clots of your heart’s blood in my pouch. Take them in a drink, and you will be well again,’ said Diarmid.
‘I will not take them,’ said the Princess. ‘There is one thing missing, which I shall never find in the world.’
‘What is that?’ asked Diarmid. ‘If it’s on the surface of the world, I’ll find it. Tell me what it is!’
‘What I need is three draughts from the cup of the King of the Plain of Wonder.’
‘Is he far from here?’ said Diarmid.
‘He is near my father,’ said the Princess, ‘but there is a small river before you get there, and a sailing ship with the wind behind her would take a day and a year to cross it.’
Diarmid followed her directions, and reached the small river. He spent a long time walking along the river, and decided that the Princess was right. It could not be crossed. Just as he thought this, he saw a little red man standing in the middle of the river.
‘What would you give a man who would help you? Come here, and put your foot on my palm!’ said the little red man.
Diarmid put his foot on the little man’s palm, and reached the other side.
‘I’ll come with you to King Mag, whose cup you are looking for,’ said the little red man. Outside the palace of the King of the Plain of Wonder, Diarmid shouted for the cup to be sent out, or an army. The King sent out an army of twice four hundred men, and in two hours Diarmid had killed them all.
Folk Tales of Scotland Page 21