by Pat O'Shea
Only once did he mention something of his experience to another person. He confided in his Lovable Auntie Lizzie. He described with tears in his eyes how the beautiful woman had been stricken with a most terrible disease. Auntie Lizzie made him put on a warm dressing-gown at once, and to comfort him she broke bread into a bowl and sprinkled spices and sugar over it. Then she covered it with hot milk and stirred it with a big spoon.
‘Eat your goodie, child,’ she said.
‘I wonder where she went?’ the Sergeant said in puzzlement, after a while.
‘I think that she went off round the world to forget you,’ Auntie Lizzie said, looking at him fondly.
‘Do you know,’ The Sergeant said, knitting his brows: ‘I never even knew her name.’
He finished his goodie and licked the spoon.
‘I think… .’ he began, and broke off with a bashful look.
‘What?’ Auntie Lizzie asked encouragingly.
‘I think I’ll call her My Angel,’ the Sergeant said shyly, and he blushed.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Roger Langley for his unfailing encouragement and enthusiasm, also Barbara, Ruth and Eric. Danny Rigby, my young reader, deserves thanks too, as does Maggie for her practical and invaluable help.
Books that have helped:
Celtic Heritage by Alwyn Rees & Brinley Rees.
Thames and Hudson, London 1961.
The Celtic Realms by Myles Dillon & Nora Chadwick.
Weidenfeld and Nicolson Ltd., 1967.
Irish Folk Ways by E. Estyn Evans.
Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd., 1957.
The Mountains of Ireland by D. D. C. Pochin Mould.
B. T. Batsford Ltd., London 1955.
Cúchulain of Muirthemne by Lady Gregory.
John Murray, London 1902.
(Lady Gregory’s book is a translation of old Irish manuscripts. A lot of the description of how the Seven Maines and others were dressed, and, various horse-trappings etc., comes from that book).
Glossary of Gaelic Words
(To show pronounciations, the words have been broken into parts. This shows syllables only, so if you decide to try saying the words, say them quickly by running the parts together. For example: Millskuhuch, Bowrawn, Knowneenee, and so on.)
Ailill
Queen Maeve’s husband
Al-ill
Aisling
A dream-vision
Ashling
Angus Óg
Young Angus. The God of Love
Angus is just Angus. Óg is pronounced to rhyme with ‘brogue’.
Baile-na-gCeard
Town of The Artificers
Difficult to say, but try it as Bollya-nah-Gayrd(th). The ‘d’ has a slight ‘th’ sound.
Banashee
Woman of Faery
Banashee is phonetic for Bean-na-Sidhe.
Bodbh
One of three aspects of evil of the Queen/Goddess, the Mórrígan
Bowv. Bow rhymes with ‘now’.
Bodhrán
A round one-sided drum
Bow-rawn. Bow rhymes with ‘now’ as above.
Breac
Speckled or spotted
Brack.
Cathbad
Chief of the Druids
Koth-bod. The ‘d’ at the end has the slight ‘th’ sound.
Cisheen
A basket
Kisheen.
Cluas
Ear
Kloo-ass.
Cúchulain
An ancient hero
His name means Culain’s Hound. Pronounce it Koo-(c)hullin (hull rhymes with gull). The dot on the ‘c’ is an aspirate. To get it right, you have to make a sound at the back of your throat—try breathing out while sounding the letter ‘h’
Cú Rua
Red Hound
Koo-Roo-a.
An Dagda
The Good God i.e. good for everything—a leading magician, a redoubtable warrior, an artisan, a farmer—all powerful and omniscient. He is RuadRo-Fhess, ‘Lord of Great Knowledge’.
Something like Dogda but give the ‘d’ the ‘th’ sound.
Daire
Oak tree
Darra. Again you need the ‘th’ sound. Try it with the ‘th’ as used in the words ‘there’ and ‘then’.
Fidchell
An ancient board game
Something like Fid(th)kel.
Finn
Fair or blonde
Fin (like Finland).
Fomoiri
A mythological race of giants, half-human and half-monster
Fo-mo-ree. Fo and mo rhyme with ‘go’.
Glomach
This creature was supposed to live down Biddy’s Lane in Gal way. He was said to be a huge man with black hair and his principal job was to catch children who were out after dark.
Glumuck.
Maamturk mountains
Name means Boar’s Pass
Maamturks. Maam rhymes with ‘balm’.
Macha
One of the three aspects of the evil Queen/Goddess, Morrigan known as Queen of Phantoms
Moh-(c)ha. Rhymes with ‘lough’ in Lough Ness.
Maeve
Queen of Connacht. It is said that her name means ‘drunk woman’.
Mayv.
Morrigan
Great Queen (Mór Riagan)
More Ree-an (People usually say Morrigan in English
Great Queens (Mórrígna)
More Reen-yah
Nóiníni
Daisies
Known-een-ee
Olc-Glas
The Evil Green (One)
Ulk Gloss
Poteen
Name given to illegal whiskey
Putcheen. The Gaelic way of spelling it, is poitin—means little pot.
Radairc
Sight/vision
Ryark
Seven Maines
Queen Maeve’s sons. The names are explained in the story.
Three of them are hard to pronounce at first sight: Mathrerhail—Moh-roo-al Milscothach—Mill-skuh-huch.
Sidhe
Faery People
Shee.
Tír-na-nÓg
Land of Youth (Otherworld)
Cheer-nah-Noguc. Nogue rhymes with ‘brogue’.
Tríoca Céad
Thirty Hundreds (of men in a military force)
Three-aka Kay(d)th
Pat O’Shea was born in Galway in the west of Ireland in 1931. She said it was a good place to grow up—close to the sea, to Lough Corrib, and the unspoilt countryside. The old people that she knew then were very kind, had a lot of time for children, and she heard many old stories from them.
Pat came to England in 1947 for a holiday and never left, living in Manchester, with her partner and close to her son, until she died in 2007. The Hounds of the Morrigan was her first book and has been loved by children the world over since it was published in 1985.
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Table of Contents
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue
Part One
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Part Two
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Part Three
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Glossary of Gaelic Words
About the Author
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