Chapter 17

[1]Pronounced "Taun Bo Hooiln'ya."

[2]Yet in the Brehon law a woman is valued at only the seventh part of a man, three cows instead of twenty-one; but if she is young and handsome she has her additional "honour price."

[3]"Findruini." See Book of Leinster, f. 42, for the old text of this, but I am here using a modern copy, not trusting myself to translate accurately from the old text.

[4]This is the mysterious sickness which seizes upon all the Ultonians at intervals except Cuchulain.Seech. XXIV, note3.

[5]For more about the Gaileóin see p. 598 of Rhys's Hibbert Lectures, and O'Curry, "M. and C.," vol. ii. p. 260.

[6]They were countrymen of Oilioll's.

[7]Crann-tábhail; it is doubtful what kind of missile weapon this really was. It was certainly of the nature of a sling, but was partly composed of wood.

[8]Seeabove, p.54and291.Rigúis the old form ofroghan.

[9]"ὁ δέ Κύπριν ἐπῴχετο νηλέι χαλκῷΓιγνώσκων ὅτ᾽ ἄναλκις ἔην θεός, οὐδὲ θεάωνΤάων αἵ τ᾽ ἀνδρῶν πόλεμον κατα κοιρανέουσιν,Οὔτ᾽ ἄρ᾽ Ἀθηναίη, οὔτε πτολίπορθος Ἐνυώ.Ἀλλ ὅτε δή ῥ᾽ ἐκίχανε πολὺν καθ᾽ ὅμιλον ὀπάζων,Ἐνθ᾽ ἐπορεξάμενος, μεγαθύμου Τυδέος υἱὸςἌκρην οὔτασε χεῖρα, μετάλμενος ὀξέϊ δουρὶἈβληχρήν. εἶθαρ δὲ δόρυ χροὸς ἀντετόρησενἈμβροσίου διὰ πέπλου, ὁν οἱ Χάριτες κάμον αὐταὶ,Πρυμνὸν ὑπερ θέναρος ῥέε δ᾽ ἄμβροτον αἷμα θεοῖοἸχώρ, οἷος πέρ τε ῥέει μακάρεσσι θεοῖσιν."Iliad, v. 330.A better instance except for the sex is where he afterwards wounds Ares. (Seev. 855.)

A better instance except for the sex is where he afterwards wounds Ares. (Seev. 855.)

[10]In Irish,sidh.The stranger is really Cuchulain's divine father.

[11]This is incredible, for the sickness of the Ultonians could not have endured so long.

[12]The prominence given to and the laudatory comments on the non-Gaelic or non-Milesian races, such as the Gaileóins and Firbolg in this saga is very remarkable. It seems to me a proof of antiquity, because in later times these races were not prominent.

[13]These are the three blisters mentioned in Cormac's Glossary under the wordgaire. Nede satirises—wrongfully—his uncle Caier, king of Connacht; "Caier arose next morning early and went to the well. He put his hand over his countenance, he found on his face three blisters which the satire had caused, namely, Stain, Blemish, and Defect [on, anim, eusbaidh], to wit, red and green and white."

[14]I give here, for the most part, the translation given by Sullivan in his Addenda to O'Curry's "Manners and Customs," but it is an exceedingly faulty and defective one from a linguistic point of view. However, even though some words may be mistranslated or their sense mistaken, it is immaterial here. Windisch is said to have finished a complete translation of the Táin, but it has not as yet appeared anywhere. Max Netlau has studied the texts of the Ferdiad episode in vols. x. and xi. of the "Revue Celtique."

[15]This is the metre of the original. The last lines are literally, "A man is constrained to come unto the sod where his final grave shall be." The metre of the last line is wrong in the Book of Leinster.

[16]Tortbullech = toirt-bhuilleach.

[17]A common trait even in the modern Gaelic tales, as in the story of Iollan, son of the king of Spain, whose sweetheart urges him to the battle by chanting his pedigree; and in Campbell's story of Conall Gulban, where the daughter of the King of Lochlann urges her bard to exhort her champion in the fight lest he may be defeated, and to give him "Brosnachadh file fir-ghlic,"i.e., the urging of a truly wise poet.

[18]Compare this with the Berserker rage of the Northmen.

[19]Cf.the common Gaelic folk-lore formula, "they would make soft of the hard and hard of the soft, and bring cold springs of fresh water out of the hard rock with their wrestling."

[20]Or Findabar, the fair-eyebrowed one.

[21]"Tulmuing."Seep.7.

[22]I do not think this is rightly translated, but the passage is obscure to me.

[23]Alluding to Fergus serving with Queen Mève.

[24]The Finnbheannach, pronounced "Fin-van-ach." Both the bulls were endowed with intelligence. One of the virtues of the Dun Bull was that neither Bocanachs nor Bananachs nor demons of the glens could come into one cantred to him. There emanated from him, too, when returning home every evening, a mysterious music, so that the men of the cantred where he was, required no other music. The war-goddess herself, the Mór-rigú, speaks to him.

[25]Every place in Ireland, says the saga, that is called Cluain-na-dtarbh, Magh-na-dtarbh, Bearna-na-dtarbh, Druim-na-dtarbh, Loch-na-dtarbh,i.e., the Bull's meadow, plain, gap, ridge, lake, etc., has its name from them!

Although Cuchulain won for himself in this war an imperishable fame, yet he was not destined to enjoy it long, for he perished before arriving at middle age.[1]The account of his death is preserved in the Book of Leinster, a manuscript of the middle of the twelfth century, which quotes incidentally from an Irish poet[2]of the seventh century, thus showing that Cuchulain was at this early age the hero of the poets. Unfortunately the opening of the story in the Book of Leinster is lost, but many modern extensions of the saga still exist, from one of which in my possession I shall supply what is missing.[3]

Cuchulain had three formidable enemies, who were bent upon his life, these were Lughaidh [Lewy] the son of theMomonian king Curigh,[4]whom Cuchulain had slain, Erc, the son of Cairbré Niafer king of all Ireland, who was slain in the battle of Rosnaree,[5]and the descendants of the wizard Calatin, who with his twenty sons and his son-in-law fell by Cuchulain in one of the combats at the Ford, during the raid of the Táin. His wife, however, brought into the world three posthumous children, daughters.[6]These unhappy creatures Mève mutilated by cutting off their right legs and left arms, so that they might be odious and horrible, and all the fitter for the dread profession she proposed for them—evil wizardry. She reared them carefully, and so soon as they were of a fitting age she sent them into the world to gain a knowledge of charms and spells, and druidism, and witchcraft, and incantations. In pursuit of this knowledge they roamed throughout the world, and at last returned to the queen as perfect adepts as might be.

Thereupon she convened a second muster of the men of the four provinces, and joined by Lewy the son of Curigh, and Erc the son of Cairbré Niafer, both of whose parents had fallen by Cuchulain, and having with her the odious but powerful children of Calatin, eager to avenge the death of their father and their family, she again marched upon Ulsterduring the sickness of their warriors, and began to plunder and to burn and to drive away a mighty prey. King Conor immediately surmised that it was against Cuchulain the expedition was prepared, and without a moment's delay he depatched Lavarcam his female messenger, to desire him instantly to leave his palace and his patrimony at Dundealgan[7]in the plain of Muirtheimhne, and come to himself at Emania, there to be under the King's immediate orders. This command he gave, thinking to rescue Cuchulain from the possible effects of his own valour and rashness, for there was scarcely a man of distinction in any of the four provinces of Erin some of whose relatives had not been slain by him.

Lavarcam found the hero upon the shore, between sea and land, intent upon the slaying of sea-fowl with his sling, but though birds many flew over him and past him, not one could he bring down—they all escaped him. And this was to him the first bad omen. Very reluctantly did he obey the call of Conor, and sorely loath was he to leave his patrimony. He accompanied Lavarcam, however, to Emania, and abode there in his own bright-lighted crystalgrianán. Then Conor consulted with his druids as to how best to keep him there, and they sent the bright ladies of Emania, and his wife Emer, and the poets and the musicians, and the men of science, to surround and distract and amuse him, with conversation and music and banquets.

In the meantime, however, Mève's army had advanced upon and burned Dundealgan, and the children of Calatin had promised that within three days and three nights they would bring Cuchulain to his doom.

And now ensues what is to my mind one of the most powerful incidents in all this saga—the malignant ghoulish efforts of the children of Calatin to draw forth Cuchulain from his place of safety, and on the other side the anxiety of the druids and ladies, and the frenzied heart-sick efforts of hiswife, and his mistress, to detain him. The loathsome wizards flew through the air and stationed themselves upon the plain outside Emania—

"They smote the soil and beat and tore it up around them, so that they made of fuz-balls, and of stalks ofsanna, and of the fine foliage of the oaks, as it were ordered battalions, and hosts, and multitudes of men, and the confused shoutings of the battalions and of the war-bands, and the battle array, were heard on all sides, as it were striking and attacking the fortress."

Geanan the druid, the son of old Cathbadh, was watching Cuchulain this day. As soon as the sounds of war and shouting reached him Cuchulain rose and "looked forth, and he saw the battalions smiting each other unsparingly," as he thought, and he burned at once with fury and shame; but the druid cast his two arms round him in time to prevent him from bursting forth to relieve the apparently foe-beleaguered town. Over and over again must the druid assure him that all he saw was blind-work and magic, and unreal phantoms, employed by the clan Calatin to lure him forth to his destruction.[8]It was impossible, however, to keep Cuchulain from at least looking, and, the next time he looked forth,

"he thought he beheld the battalions drawn up upon the plains, and the next time he looked after that he thought he saw Gradh son of Lir upon the plain, and it was ageis(tabu) to him to see that, and then he thought moreover that he heard the harp of the son of Mangur playing musically, ever-sweetly, and it was ageisto him to listen to those pleasing fairy sounds, and he recognised from these things that his virtue was indeed overcome, and that hisgeasa(tabus) were broken, and that the end of his career had arrived, and that his valour and prowess were destroyed by the children of Calatin."

After that one of the daughters of the wizard Calatin,assuming the form of a crow, came flying over him and incited him with taunts to go and rescue his homestead and his patrimony from the hands of his enemies. And although Cuchulain now understood that these were enchantments that were working against him, yet was he none the less anxious to rush forth and oppose them, for he felt moved and troubled in himself at the shouting of the imaginary hosts, and his memory, and his senses, and his right mind were afflicted by the sounds of that ever-thrilling harp.

Then the druid used all his influence, explaining to him that if he would only remain for three days more in Emania the spells would have no power, and he would go forth again, "and the whole world would be full of his victories and his lasting renown," and thereafter the ladies of Emania and the musicians closed round him, and they sang sweet melodies, and they distracted his mind, and the day drew to a close:—the clan Calatin retired baffled, and Cuchulain was himself once more.

During that night the ladies and the druids took council together and determined to carry him away to a glen so remote and lonely that it was called the Deaf Valley, and to hide him there, preparing for him a splendid banquet, with music, and poets, and delights of every kind.

Next morning came the accursed wizards and inspected the city, and they marvelled that they saw not Cuchulain, and that he was neither beside his wife, nor yet amongst the other heroes of the Red Branch. Then they understood that he had been hidden away by Cathbadh the druid, "and they raised themselves aloft, lightly and airily, upon a blast of enchanted wind, which they created to lift them," and went soaring over the entire province of Ulster to discover his retreat. This they do by perceiving Cuchulain's grey steed, the Liath Macha, standing outside at the entrance to the glen. Then the three begin their wizardry anew, and made, as it were, battalions of warriors to appear round the glen,and they raised anew the sounds of arms and the shouts of war and conflict, as they had done at Emania.

The instant the ladies round Cuchulain heard it they also shouted, and the musicians struck up—but in vain; Cuchulain had caught the sound. They succeeded, however, in calming his mind, and in inducing him to pay no heed to the false witcheries of the clan Calatin. These continued for a long time waiting and filling the air with their unreal battle tumult, but Cuchulain did not appear. Then they understood that the druids had been more powerful than they. Mad with impotent fury one of them enters the glen, and pushes her way right into the very fortress where Cuchulain was feasting. Once there she changes herself into the form of the beautiful Niamh [Nee-av], Cuchulain's love and sweetheart. First she stood at the door in the likeness of an attendant damsel, and beckoned to the lady to come to her outside. Niamh, thinking she has something to communicate, follows her through the door and out into the valley, and the other ladies follow Niamh. Instantly she raises an enchanted fog between them and the dún, so that they wander astray, and their minds are troubled. But she, assuming the form of the lady Niamh herself, slips back into the fortress, comes to Cuchulain, and cries to him: "Up, O Cuchulain, and meet the men of Erin, or thy fame shall be lost for ever, and the province shall be destroyed." At this speech Cuchulain is astounded, for Niamh had bound him by an oath that he would not go forth or take arms until she herself should give him leave, and this leave he never thought to receive of her until the fatal time was over. "I shall go," said Cuchulain, "and that is a pity, O Niamh," said he, "and after that it is difficult to trust to woman, for I had thought thou hadst not given me that leave for the gold of the world, but since it is thou who dost let me go to face the men of Erin, I shall go." After that he rose and left the dún. "I have no reason for preserving my life longer," said Cuchulain, "for the end of my time is come, and all mygeasa(tabus) are lost, and Niamh has let me go to face the men of Erin; and since she has let me, I shall go."

Afterwards the real Niamh overtakes him at the entrance to the glen, and assured him with torrents of tears, and wild sobs, that it was not she who had given him leave, but the vile enchantress who had assumed her form, and she conjured him with prayers and piteous entreaties to remain with her. But Cuchulain would not believe her, and urged Laeg to catch his steeds and yoke them, for he thought that he beheld—

"The great battle-battalions ranged upon the green of Emania, and the whole plain filled up and crowded with broad bands of hundreds of men, with champions, and steeds, and arms, and armour, and he thought he heard the awful shoutings, and [saw] the burnings extending, widely-let-loose through the buildings of Conor's city, and him-seemed that there was nor hill nor rising ground about Emania that was not full of spoils, and it appeared to him that Emer's sunny-house was overthrown and had fallen out over the ramparts of Emania, and that the House of the Red Branch was in one blaze, and that all Emania was one meeting-place of fire, and of black, dark, spacious, brown-red smoke."[9]

Then Cuchulain's brooch fell from his hand and pierced his foot, another omen of ill. Nor would his noble grey war-horse allow himself to be caught. It was only when Cuchulain addressed him with persuasive words of verse that he consented to let himself be harnessed to the chariot, and even then "helets fall upon his fore feet, from his eyes, two large tears of blood." In vain did the ladies of Emania try to bar his passage, in vain did fifty queens uncover their bosoms before him in supplication. "He is the first," says the saga, "of whom it is recounted that women uncovered before him their bosoms."[10]

Thereafter another evil omen overtook him, for as he pursued the high road leading to the south,

"and had passed the plain of Mogna, he perceived something, three hags of the half-blind race,[11]who were on the track before him cooking a poisoned dog's flesh upon spits of holly. Now it was ageis(tabu) to Cuchulain to pass a cooking-fire without visiting it and accepting food. It was anothergeisto eat of his own name" [i.e., a hound, he is Cu-Chulain or Culan's hound], "so he pauses not, but passes the three hags. Then one of them cries to him—"'Come, visit us, Cuchulain.'"'I shall not visit you,' said Cuchulain."'There is something to eat here,' replied the hag; 'we have a dog to offer thee. If our cooking-place were great,' said she, 'thou wouldst come, but because it is small thou comest not; a great man who despises the small, deserves no honour.'"Cuchulain then moved over to the hag, and she with her left hand offered him half the dog. Cuchulain ate, and it was with his left hand he took the piece, and he placed part of it under his left thigh, and his left hand and his left thigh were cursed, and the curse reached all his left side, which from his head to his feet lost a great part of its power."

"'Come, visit us, Cuchulain.'

"'I shall not visit you,' said Cuchulain.

"'There is something to eat here,' replied the hag; 'we have a dog to offer thee. If our cooking-place were great,' said she, 'thou wouldst come, but because it is small thou comest not; a great man who despises the small, deserves no honour.'

"Cuchulain then moved over to the hag, and she with her left hand offered him half the dog. Cuchulain ate, and it was with his left hand he took the piece, and he placed part of it under his left thigh, and his left hand and his left thigh were cursed, and the curse reached all his left side, which from his head to his feet lost a great part of its power."

At last Cuchulain meets the enemy on his ancestral patrimony of Moy Muirtheimhne, drawn up in battle array, with shield to shield as though it were one solid plank that was around them. Cuchulain displays his feats from his chariot, especially "his three thunder-feats—the thunder of an hundred, the thunder of three hundred, the thunder of thrice nine men."

"He played equally with spear, shield, and sword, he performed all the feats of a warrior. As many as there are of grains of sand in the sea, of stars in the heaven, of dewdrops in May, of snowflakes in winter, of hailstones in a storm, of leaves in a forest, of ears of corn in the plains of Bregia, of sods beneath the feet of the steeds of Erin on a summer's day, so many halves of heads, and halves of shields, and halves of hands and halves of feet, so many red bones were scattered by him throughout the plain of Muirtheimhne, it became grey with the brains of his enemies, so fierce and furious was Cuchulain's onslaught."

The plan which Erc, son of the late High-king Cairbré Niafer had adopted was to place two men pretending to fight with one another upon each flank of the army and a druid standing near who should first make Cuchulain separate the combatants, and should then demand from him his spear, since there ran a prophecy to the effect that Cuchulain's spear should kill a king, but if they could get the spear from him they at least would be safe from the prophecy; it would not be one of them who should be slain by it.

Cuchulain separates the fighters as the druid asks him, by killing each of them with a blow.

"'You have separated them,' said the druid, 'they shall do each other no more harm.'"'They would not be so silenced,' said Cuchulain, 'hadst thou not prayed me to interfere between them.'"'Give me thy spear, O Cuchulain,' said the druid."'I swear by the oath which my nation swears,' said Cuchulain, 'you have no greater need of the spear than I. All the warriors of Erin are come together against me, and I must defend myself.'"'If thou refuse me,' said the druid, 'I shall solemnly utter against thee a magic curse.'"'Up to this time,' replied Cuchulain, 'no curse has ever been levelled against me for any act of refusal on my part.'"

"'You have separated them,' said the druid, 'they shall do each other no more harm.'

"'They would not be so silenced,' said Cuchulain, 'hadst thou not prayed me to interfere between them.'

"'Give me thy spear, O Cuchulain,' said the druid.

"'I swear by the oath which my nation swears,' said Cuchulain, 'you have no greater need of the spear than I. All the warriors of Erin are come together against me, and I must defend myself.'

"'If thou refuse me,' said the druid, 'I shall solemnly utter against thee a magic curse.'

"'Up to this time,' replied Cuchulain, 'no curse has ever been levelled against me for any act of refusal on my part.'"

And with that he reversed his spear and threw it at the druid butt foremost, killing him and nine more. Lewy, the son of Curigh, immediately picked it up.

"'Whom,' said he to the children of Calatin, 'is this to overthrow?'

"'It is a king whom that spear shall slay,' said they.

"Lewy hurled it at Cuchulain's chariot, and it pierced Laeg, his charioteer.

"Cuchulain bade his charioteer farewell.

"'To-day,' said Cuchulain, 'I shall be both warrior and charioteer.'"

The same incident happens again. Cuchulain kills the second druid in the same way, and his spear is picked up by Erc.

"'Children of Calatin,' said Erc, 'what exploit shall this spear perform?'"'It shall overthrow a king,' said they."'You said this spear would overthrow a king when Lewy hurled it some time ago,' said Erc."'Nor were we deceived,' said they, 'that spear has brought down the king of the charioteers of Ireland, Laeg, the son of Riangabhra, Cuchulain's charioteer.'"

"'Children of Calatin,' said Erc, 'what exploit shall this spear perform?'

"'It shall overthrow a king,' said they.

"'You said this spear would overthrow a king when Lewy hurled it some time ago,' said Erc.

"'Nor were we deceived,' said they, 'that spear has brought down the king of the charioteers of Ireland, Laeg, the son of Riangabhra, Cuchulain's charioteer.'"

Erc hurls the spear and it passes through the side of Cuchulain's noble steed, the Liath Macha. Cuchulain took a fond farewell of the animal who galloped with half the yoke around its neck to the lake from whence he had first taken it, on the mountain of Fuad in far-off Armagh.

The third time a druid demands his spear, and is killed by Cuchulain, who throws it to him handle foremost. The spear is picked up this time by Lewy son of Curigh.

"'What feat shall this spear perform, ye children of Calatin?' said Lewy."It shall overthrow a king,' said they."'Ye said as much when Erc hurled it this morning,' answered Lewy."'Yes,' answered the children of Calatin, 'and our word was true. The spear which Erc hurled has wounded mortally the king of the steeds of Ireland, the Liath Macha.'"'I swear then,' said Lewy, 'by the oath which my nation swears, that Erc's blow smote not the king which this spear is to slay.'"

"'What feat shall this spear perform, ye children of Calatin?' said Lewy.

"It shall overthrow a king,' said they.

"'Ye said as much when Erc hurled it this morning,' answered Lewy.

"'Yes,' answered the children of Calatin, 'and our word was true. The spear which Erc hurled has wounded mortally the king of the steeds of Ireland, the Liath Macha.'

"'I swear then,' said Lewy, 'by the oath which my nation swears, that Erc's blow smote not the king which this spear is to slay.'"

Then Lewy hurls the spear, and this time pierces Cuchulain through the body, and Cuchulain's other steed burst the yokeand rushed off and never ceased till he, too, had plunged into the lake from which Cuchulain had taken him in far-off Munster.[12]Cuchulain remained behind, dying in his chariot. With difficulty and holding in his entrails with one hand, he advanced to a little lake hard by, and drank from it, and washed off his blood. Then he propped himself against a high stone a few yards from the lake, and tied himself to it with his girdle. "He did not wish to die either sitting or lying, it was standing," says the saga, "that he wished to meet death."

But his grey steed, the Liath Macha,[13]returned once more to defend his lord, and made three terrible charges, scattering with tooth and hoof all who would approach the stone where Cuchulain was dying. At last a bird was seen to alight upon his shoulder. "Yon pillar used not to be a settling place for birds," said Erc. They knew then that he was dead. Lewy, the son of Curigh, seized him by the back hair and severed his head from his body.

But Cuchulain was too important an epic hero to thus finish with him. Another very celebrated, but probably later épopée tells of how his friend Conall Cearnach pursued the retreating army and exacted vengeance for his death. A brief digest of Conall's revenge is contained in the Book of Leinster, but modern copies of much longer and more literary versions exist, and there was no more celebrated poem amongst the later Gael than thatcalled the Lay of the Heads in which Conall Cearnach returns to Emer, Cuchulain's wife, to Emania, with a large bundle of heads strung upon a gad, or withy-wand, thrust through their mouths from cheek to cheek, and there explains in a lay to Emer who they were.

In the ancient version in the Book of Leinster it is only Lewy who is slain by Conall. In my more modern recension he slays Erc and the children of Calatin as well, and recovers the head of Cuchulain, which he found being used as a football by two men near Tara. "If this city," said he of Tara, "were Erc's own lordship and patrimony I would burn it down, but since it is the very navel and meeting-point of the men of Ireland, I shall affront it no more."

Emer's joy and her grief on recovering her husband's head are touchingly described.

"She washed clean the head and she joined it on to its body, and she pressed it to her heart and her bosom, and fell to lamenting and heavily sorrowing over it, and began to suck in its blood and to drink it,[14]and she placed around the head a lovely satin cloth. 'Ochone!' said she, 'good was the beauty of this head, although it is low this day, and it is many of the kings and princes of the world would be keening it if they thought it was like this; and the men who demand gold and treasure, and ask petitions of the men of Erin and Alba [i.e., the poets and druids] thou wast their one love and their one choice of the men of the earth, and woe for me that I remain behind this day; for there was not of the women of Erin, nor in the whole great world, a woman mated with a husband, or unmated, not a single one, who, until this day, was not envious of me; for many were the goods and jewels and rents and tributes from the countries of the world that thou broughtest to me, with the valour and strength of thy hand,' and she took his hand in hers and fell to making lamentations over it, and to telling of its fame and its exploits, and 't was what she said, 'Alas!' said she, 'it is many of the kings and of the chieftains and of the strong men of the world that fell by this hand, and it ismany of the goods and treasures of this world that were scattered by it upon poets and men of knowledge,' and she spake the lay,"'Ochone O head, Ochone O head,'" etc.

"'Ochone O head, Ochone O head,'" etc.

Afterwards Conall Cearnach arrives with his pile of heads and planted them carefully "all round about the wide grass-green lawn" upon pointed sticks, and relates to Emer who they were and how they fell.[15]

"Thereafter," says the saga, "Emer desired Conall to make a wide very deep tomb for Cuchulain," and she laid herself down in it along with her gentle mate, and she set her mouth to his mouth, and she spake—

"'Love of my soul,' she said, 'O friend, O gentle sweetheart, and O thou one choice of the men of the earth, many is the woman envied me thee until now, and I shall not live after thee;' and her soul departed out of her, and she herself and Cuchulain were laid in the one grave by Conall, and he raised their stone over their tomb, and he wrote their names in Ogam, and their funeral games were performed by him and by the Ultonians."THUS FAR THE RED ROUT OF CONALL CEARNACH."

"THUS FAR THE RED ROUT OF CONALL CEARNACH."

[1]He died at the age of twenty-seven years, according to the Annals of Tighearnach, and also according to a note in the Book of Ballymote, which Charles O'Conor of Belinagare identifies as an extract from the Synchronisms of Flann of Monasterboice, who died in 1056. But an account in a MS. H. 3. 17, in Trinity College, Dublin, which was copied about the year 1460, asserts that Cuchulain died in his fifty-ninth year. (SeeO'Curry's MS. Mat., p. 507.)

[2]Cennfaelad, son of Ailill.

[3]This MS., which contains many of the Cuchulain sagas, was copied about a hundred years ago by a scribe named Seághain O'Mathghamhna on an island in the Shannon.

[4]The older form of this name is Curoi. A detailed account of this saga is given by Keating.Seep. 282 of O'Mahony's edition. The saga is also told under the title ofAided Conrui, in Egerton 88, British Museum.

[5]The saga of the battle of Rosnaree has recently been published with a translation by Rev. Ed. Hogan, S.J.

[6]Some say six children—three daughters and three sons. The MS. H. i. 8, in Trinity College, which dates from about 1460, according to O'Curry, relates thus: "And the sons of Cailitin were eight years after the Táin before they went to pursue their learning, for they were but infants in cradles at the time their father was killed. Nine years for them after that pursuing their learning. Seven years after finishing their learning was spent in making their weapons, because there could be found but one day in the year to make their spears. And three years after that did the sons of Cailitin spend in assembling and marching the men of Erin to Belach Mic Uilc in Magh Muirtheimhne (Cuchulain's patrimony)."

[7]Now Dundalk in the County Louth.

[8]"Ni bhfuil acht saobh-lucht siabhartha ann súd, sian-sgarrtha duaibh-siocha draoidheachta do dhealbhadar clann cuirpthe Chailitin go claon-mhillteach fad' chómhair-se, dod' chealgadh, agus dod' chomh-bhuaidh-readh, a churaidh chalma chath-bhuadhaigh."

[9]Up to this I have followed the version of my own modern manuscript. From this out, however, the version in the twelfth-century Book of Leinster is used. Monsieur d'Arbois de Jubainville, in his introduction to the fragment of the saga in the Book of Leinster, seems to think that Emania was really besieged, and women and children slaughtered round its walls by the men of Erin, whereas it would appear that the lost part of the saga refers to some such version as I have given from my manuscript, and that it was only the wizardry and sorcery of the children of Calatin, who raised these phantasms. This is the more evident because Cuchulain, when he issues forth, meets no enemy until he has arrived at the plain of Muirtheimhne. Jubainville's words are, "Cependant les cris de douleur des femmes et des enfants qu'on massacrait jusqu'au pied des remparts d'Emain macha [Emania] parvinrent à son oreille: on en verra un peu plus bas les conséquences, dont la dernière fut la mort du heros."

[10]It wasgeis, or tabu, to him to behold the exposed breast of a woman.Seeabove, p.301.

[11]These are in my version the three daughters of Calatin.

[12]The belief in water-horses is quite common even still amongst the old people in all parts of Connacht, and, I think, over the most of Ireland.

[13]With the Liath Macha so renowned throughout the whole Cuchulain saga compare Areiōn, the celebrated steed of Adrastus, who saved his master at the rout of the Argeian chiefs round Thebes. The Liath Macha returns to thewaterfrom whence it came, and Areiōn, too, was believed to have been the offspring of Poseidōn. He is alluded to by Nestor in the Iliad xxiii. 346:κ ἔσθ᾿ ὅς κέ σ᾿ἕλῃσι μετάλμενος ὀυδὲ παρέλθῃ,οὐδ᾿ εἴ κεν μετόπιφσθεν Ἀρείονα δῖον ἔλαυνοι,Ἀδρήστου ταχύν ἵππον ὃς ἐκ θεόφιν γένος ἦεν.He appears, however, to have been black not grey. Hesiod alludes to him as μέγαν ἵππον Ἀρείονα κυανοχαίτην.

κ ἔσθ᾿ ὅς κέ σ᾿ἕλῃσι μετάλμενος ὀυδὲ παρέλθῃ,οὐδ᾿ εἴ κεν μετόπιφσθεν Ἀρείονα δῖον ἔλαυνοι,Ἀδρήστου ταχύν ἵππον ὃς ἐκ θεόφιν γένος ἦεν.

He appears, however, to have been black not grey. Hesiod alludes to him as μέγαν ἵππον Ἀρείονα κυανοχαίτην.

[14]"Do rinne an ceann do niamhghlanadh agus do chuir ar a chollain féin é, agus do dhruid re na h-ucht agus n-a h-urbhruinne é, agus do ghaibh ag tuirse agus ag trom-mhéala os a chionn, agus do ghaibh ag sughadh a choda fola agus ag a h-ól," etc. This was to express affection. Déirdre does the same when her husband is slain, she laps his blood.

[15]This is the celebrated Laoi na gceann, or Lay of the Heads, which begins by Emer asking—"A Chonaill cia h-iad na cinn?Is dearbh linn gar dheargais h-airm,Na cinn o thárla ar an ngadSlointear leat na fir d'ar baineadh."It was popular in the Highlands also. There is a copy in the book of the Dean of Lismore, published by Cameron in his "Reliquiæ Celticæ," vol. i. p. 66. Also in the Edinburgh MSS. 36 and 38. Seeibid.pp. 113 and 115. The piece consists of 116 lines. The oldest form of Emer's lament over Cuchulain, "Nuallguba Emire," is in the Book of Leinster, p. 123,a.20. It is a kind of unrhymed chant. The lament I have given is from my own modern manuscript.

[15]This is the celebrated Laoi na gceann, or Lay of the Heads, which begins by Emer asking—

"A Chonaill cia h-iad na cinn?Is dearbh linn gar dheargais h-airm,Na cinn o thárla ar an ngadSlointear leat na fir d'ar baineadh."

It was popular in the Highlands also. There is a copy in the book of the Dean of Lismore, published by Cameron in his "Reliquiæ Celticæ," vol. i. p. 66. Also in the Edinburgh MSS. 36 and 38. Seeibid.pp. 113 and 115. The piece consists of 116 lines. The oldest form of Emer's lament over Cuchulain, "Nuallguba Emire," is in the Book of Leinster, p. 123,a.20. It is a kind of unrhymed chant. The lament I have given is from my own modern manuscript.

Another saga belonging to this cycle affords so curious a picture of pagan customs that it is worth while to give here some extracts from it. This is the story of Mac Dáthó's Pig and Hound, which is contained in the Book of Leinster, a MS. copied about the year 1150. It was first published without a translation by Windisch in his "Irische Texte," from the Book of Leinster copy collated with two others. It has since been translated by Kuno Meyer from a fifteenth-century vellum.[1]The story runs as follows.

Mac Dáthó was a famous landholder in Leinster, and he possessed a hound so extraordinarily strong and swift that it could run round Leinster in a day. All Ireland was full of the fame of that hound, and every one desired to have it. It struck Mève and Oilioll, king and queen of Connacht, to send an embassy to Mac Dáthó to ask him for his hound, at the same time that the notion came to Conor, king of Ulster, that he also would like to possess it. Two embassies reach Mac Dáthó's house at the same time, the one from Connacht and the other from Ulster, and both ask for the hound for their respective masters. Mac Dáthó's house was one of those openhostelries[2]of which there were five at that time in Ireland.

"Seven doors," says the saga, "there were in each hostelry, seven roads through it, and seven fireplaces therein. Seven caldrons in the seven fireplaces. An ox and a salted pig would go into each of these caldrons, and the man that came along the road would (i.e., any traveller who passed the way was entitled to) thrust the flesh fork into the caldron, and whatever he brought up with the first thrust, that he would eat, and if nothing were brought up with the first thrust there was no other for him."

The messengers are brought before Mac Dáthó to his bed, and questioned as to the cause of their coming.

"'To ask for the hound are we come,' said the messengers of Connacht, 'from Oilioll and from Mève, and in exchange for it there shall be given three score hundred milch cows at once, and a chariot with the two horses that are best in Connacht under it, and as much again at the end of the year besides all that.'"'We, too, have come to ask for it,' said the messengers of Ulster, 'and Conor is no worse a friend than Oilioll and Mève, and the same amount shall be given from the north (i.e., from the Ultonians) and be added to, and there will be good friendship from it continually.'"Mac Dáthó fell into a great silence, and was three days and nights without sleeping, nor could he eat food for the greatness of his trouble, but was moving about from one side to another. It was then his wife addressed him and said, 'Long is the fast in which thou art,' said she; 'there is plenty of food by thee, though thou dost not eat it.'"And then she said—"'Sleeplessness was broughtTo Mac Dáthó into his house.There was something on which he deliberatedThough he speaks to none.[3]He turns away from me to the wall,The Hero of the Féne of fierce valour,His prudent wife observesThat her mate is without sleep.'"

"'We, too, have come to ask for it,' said the messengers of Ulster, 'and Conor is no worse a friend than Oilioll and Mève, and the same amount shall be given from the north (i.e., from the Ultonians) and be added to, and there will be good friendship from it continually.'

"Mac Dáthó fell into a great silence, and was three days and nights without sleeping, nor could he eat food for the greatness of his trouble, but was moving about from one side to another. It was then his wife addressed him and said, 'Long is the fast in which thou art,' said she; 'there is plenty of food by thee, though thou dost not eat it.'

"And then she said—

"'Sleeplessness was broughtTo Mac Dáthó into his house.There was something on which he deliberatedThough he speaks to none.[3]He turns away from me to the wall,The Hero of the Féne of fierce valour,His prudent wife observesThat her mate is without sleep.'"

A dialogue in verse follows. The wife advises her husbandto promise the hound to both sets of messengers. In his perplexity he weakly decides to do this. After the messengers had stayed with him for three nights and days, feasting, he called to him first the envoys of Connacht and said to them—

"'I was in great doubt and perplexity, and this is what is grown out of it, that I have given the hound to Oilioll and Mève, and let them come for it splendidly and proudly, with as many warriors and nobles as they can get, and they shall have drink and food and many gifts besides, and shall take the hound and be welcome.'"He also went with the messengers of Ulster and said to them, 'After much doubting I have given the hound to Conor, and let him and the flower of the province come for it proudly, and they shall have many other gifts and you shall be welcome.' But for one and the same day he made his tryst with them all."

"He also went with the messengers of Ulster and said to them, 'After much doubting I have given the hound to Conor, and let him and the flower of the province come for it proudly, and they shall have many other gifts and you shall be welcome.' But for one and the same day he made his tryst with them all."

Accordingly on the appointed day the warriors and men of each province arrive at his hostelry in great state and pomp.

"He himself went to meet them and bade them welcome. ''Tis welcome ye are, O warriors,' said he, 'come within into the close.'"Then they went over, and into the hostelry; one half of the house for the men of Connacht and the other half for the men of Ulster. That house was not a small one. Seven doors in it and fifty beds between (every) two doors. Those were not faces of friends at a feast, the people who were in that house, for many of them had injured other. For three hundred years before the birth of Christ there had been war between them.[4]"'Let the pig be killed for them,' said Mac Dáthó."

"He himself went to meet them and bade them welcome. ''Tis welcome ye are, O warriors,' said he, 'come within into the close.'

"Then they went over, and into the hostelry; one half of the house for the men of Connacht and the other half for the men of Ulster. That house was not a small one. Seven doors in it and fifty beds between (every) two doors. Those were not faces of friends at a feast, the people who were in that house, for many of them had injured other. For three hundred years before the birth of Christ there had been war between them.[4]

"'Let the pig be killed for them,' said Mac Dáthó."

This celebrated pig had been fed for seven years on the milk of three score milch cows, and it was so huge that it took sixty men to draw it when slain. Its tail alone was a load for nine men.

"'The pig is good,'" said Conor, king of Ulster.

"'It is good,'" said Oilioll, king of Connacht.

Then there arose a difficulty about the dividing of the pig. As in the case of the "heroes' bit" the best warrior was todivide it. King Oilioll asked King Conor what they should do about it, when suddenly the mischievous, ill-minded Bricriu spoke from a chamber overhead and asked, "How should it be divided except by a contest of arms seeing that all the valorous warriors of Connacht were there."

"'Let it be so,' said Oilioll."'We like it well,' said Conor, 'for we have lads in the house who have many a time gone round the border.'"'There will be need of thy lads to-night, O Conor,' said a famous old warrior from Cruachna Conalath in the west. 'The roads of Luachra Dedad have often had their backs turned to them (as they fled). Many, too, the fat beeves they left with me.'"''Twas a fat beef thou leftest with me,' said Munremar mac Gerrcind, 'even thine own brother, Cruithne mac Ruaidlinde from Cruachna Conalath of Connacht.'"'He was no better,' said Lewy mac Conroi, 'than Irloth, son of Fergus, son of Leite, who was left dead by Echbél, son of Dedad, at Tara Luachra.'"'What sort of man do ye think,' said Celtchair mac Uthechair, 'was Conganchnes, son of (that same) Dedad, who was slain by myself, and me to strike the head off him?'"Each of them brought up his exploits in the face of the other, till at last it came to one man who beat every one, even Cet mac Mágach of Connacht.[5]"He raised his prowess over the host, and took his knife in his hand, and sat down by the pig. 'Now let there be found,' said he, 'among the men of Ireland one man to abide contest with me, or let me divide the pig.'"There was not at that time found a warrior of Ulster to stand up to him, and great silence fell upon them."'Stop that for me, O Laeghaire [Leary],' said Conor, [King of Ulster,i.e., 'Delay, if you can, Cet's dividing the pig']."Said Leary, 'It shall not be—Cet to divide the pig before the face of us all!'"'Wait a little, Leary,' said Cet, 'that thou mayest speak with me. For it is a custom with you men of Ulster that every youth among you who takes arms makes us his first goal.[6]Thou, too, didst come to the border, and thus leftest charioteer and chariot and horses with me, and thou didst then escape with a lance through thee. Thou shalt not get at the pig in that manner!'"Leary sat down upon his couch."'It shall not be,' said a tall, fair warrior of Ulster, coming out of his chamber above, 'that Cet divide the pig.'"'Who is this?' said Cet."'A better warrior than thou,' say all, 'even Angus, son of Hand-wail of Ulster.'"'Why is his father called Hand-wail?' said Cet."'We know not indeed,' say all."'But I know,' said Cet; 'once I went eastward (i.e., crossed the border into Ulster), an alarm-cry is raised around me, and Hand-wail came up with me, like every one else. He makes a cast of a large lance at me. I make a cast at him with the same lance, which struck off his hand, so that it was (i.e., fell) on the field before him. What brings the son of that man to stand up to me?' said Cet."Then Angus goes to his couch."'Still keep up the contest,' said Cet, 'or let me divide the pig.'"'It is not right that thou divide it, O Cet,' said another tall, fair warrior of Ulster."'Who is this?' said Cet."'Owen Mór, son of Durthacht,' say all, 'king of Fernmag.'[7]"'I have seen him before,' said Cet."'Where hast thou seen me,' said Owen."'In front of thine own house when I took a drove of cattle from thee; the alarm cry was raised in the land around me, and thou didst meet me and didst cast a spear at me, so that it stood out of my shield. I cast the same spear at thee, which passed through thyhead and struck thine eye out of thy head, and the men of Ireland see thee with one eye ever since.'"He sat down in his seat after that."'Still keep up the contest, men of Ulster,' said Cet, 'or let me divide the pig.'"'Thou shalt not divide it,' said Munremar, son of Gerrcend."'Is that Munremar?' said Cet."'It is he,' say the men of Ireland."'It was I who last cleaned my hands in thee, O Munremar,' said Cet; 'it is not three days yet since out of thine own land I carried off three warriors' heads from thee, together with the head of thy first son.'"Munremar sat down on his seat."'Still the contest,' said Cet,' or I shall divide the pig.'"'Verily thou shalt have it,' said a tall, grey, very terrible warrior of the men of Ulster."'Who is this?' said Cet."'That is Celtchair, son of Uithechar,' say all."'Wait a little, Celtchair,' said Cet, 'unless thou comest to strike me. I came, O Celtchair, to the front of thy house. The alarm was raised around me. Every one went after me. Thou comest like every one else, and going into a gap before me didst throw a spear at me. I threw another spear at thee, which went through thy loins, nor has either son or daughter been born to thee since.""After that Celtchair sat down on his seat."'Still the contest,' said Cet, 'or I shall divide the pig.'"'Thou shalt have it,' said Mend, son of Sword-heel."'Who is this?' said Cet."'Mend,' say all."'What! deem you,' said Cet, 'that the sons of churls with nicknames should come to contend with me? for it was I was the priest,[8]who christened thy father by that name, since it is I that cut off his heel, so that he carried but one heel away with him. What should bring the son of that man to contend with me?'"Mend sat down in his seat."'Still the contest,' said Cet, 'or I shall divide the pig.'"'Thou shalt have it,' said Cumscraidh, the stammerer of Macha, son of Conor."'Who is this?'"'That is Cumscraidh,' say all."He is the makings of a king, so far as his figure goes...."'Well,' said Cet, 'thou madest thy first raid on us. We met on the border. Thou didst leave a third of thy people with me, and camest away with a spear through thy throat, so that no word comes rightly over thy lips, since the sinews of thy throat were wounded, so that Cumscraidh, the stammerer of Macha, is thy name ever since.'"In that way he laid disgrace and a blow on the whole province."While he made ready with the pig and had his knife in his hand, they see ConallCeârnach[the Victorious], coming towards them into the house. He sprang on to the floor of the house. The men of Ulster gave him great welcome. 'Twas then [King] Conor threw his helmet from his head and shook himself [for joy] in his own place. 'We are glad,' said Conall, 'that our portion is ready for us, and who divides for you?' said Conall."One man of the men of Ireland has obtained by contest the dividing of it, to wit, Cet mac Mágach."'Is that true, Cet?' said Conall, 'art thou dividing the pig?'"

"'Let it be so,' said Oilioll.

"'We like it well,' said Conor, 'for we have lads in the house who have many a time gone round the border.'

"'There will be need of thy lads to-night, O Conor,' said a famous old warrior from Cruachna Conalath in the west. 'The roads of Luachra Dedad have often had their backs turned to them (as they fled). Many, too, the fat beeves they left with me.'

"''Twas a fat beef thou leftest with me,' said Munremar mac Gerrcind, 'even thine own brother, Cruithne mac Ruaidlinde from Cruachna Conalath of Connacht.'

"'He was no better,' said Lewy mac Conroi, 'than Irloth, son of Fergus, son of Leite, who was left dead by Echbél, son of Dedad, at Tara Luachra.'

"'What sort of man do ye think,' said Celtchair mac Uthechair, 'was Conganchnes, son of (that same) Dedad, who was slain by myself, and me to strike the head off him?'

"Each of them brought up his exploits in the face of the other, till at last it came to one man who beat every one, even Cet mac Mágach of Connacht.[5]

"He raised his prowess over the host, and took his knife in his hand, and sat down by the pig. 'Now let there be found,' said he, 'among the men of Ireland one man to abide contest with me, or let me divide the pig.'

"There was not at that time found a warrior of Ulster to stand up to him, and great silence fell upon them.

"'Stop that for me, O Laeghaire [Leary],' said Conor, [King of Ulster,i.e., 'Delay, if you can, Cet's dividing the pig'].

"Said Leary, 'It shall not be—Cet to divide the pig before the face of us all!'

"'Wait a little, Leary,' said Cet, 'that thou mayest speak with me. For it is a custom with you men of Ulster that every youth among you who takes arms makes us his first goal.[6]Thou, too, didst come to the border, and thus leftest charioteer and chariot and horses with me, and thou didst then escape with a lance through thee. Thou shalt not get at the pig in that manner!'

"Leary sat down upon his couch.

"'It shall not be,' said a tall, fair warrior of Ulster, coming out of his chamber above, 'that Cet divide the pig.'

"'Who is this?' said Cet.

"'A better warrior than thou,' say all, 'even Angus, son of Hand-wail of Ulster.'

"'Why is his father called Hand-wail?' said Cet.

"'We know not indeed,' say all.

"'But I know,' said Cet; 'once I went eastward (i.e., crossed the border into Ulster), an alarm-cry is raised around me, and Hand-wail came up with me, like every one else. He makes a cast of a large lance at me. I make a cast at him with the same lance, which struck off his hand, so that it was (i.e., fell) on the field before him. What brings the son of that man to stand up to me?' said Cet.

"Then Angus goes to his couch.

"'Still keep up the contest,' said Cet, 'or let me divide the pig.'

"'It is not right that thou divide it, O Cet,' said another tall, fair warrior of Ulster.

"'Who is this?' said Cet.

"'Owen Mór, son of Durthacht,' say all, 'king of Fernmag.'[7]

"'I have seen him before,' said Cet.

"'Where hast thou seen me,' said Owen.

"'In front of thine own house when I took a drove of cattle from thee; the alarm cry was raised in the land around me, and thou didst meet me and didst cast a spear at me, so that it stood out of my shield. I cast the same spear at thee, which passed through thyhead and struck thine eye out of thy head, and the men of Ireland see thee with one eye ever since.'

"He sat down in his seat after that.

"'Still keep up the contest, men of Ulster,' said Cet, 'or let me divide the pig.'

"'Thou shalt not divide it,' said Munremar, son of Gerrcend.

"'Is that Munremar?' said Cet.

"'It is he,' say the men of Ireland.

"'It was I who last cleaned my hands in thee, O Munremar,' said Cet; 'it is not three days yet since out of thine own land I carried off three warriors' heads from thee, together with the head of thy first son.'

"Munremar sat down on his seat.

"'Still the contest,' said Cet,' or I shall divide the pig.'

"'Verily thou shalt have it,' said a tall, grey, very terrible warrior of the men of Ulster.

"'Who is this?' said Cet.

"'That is Celtchair, son of Uithechar,' say all.

"'Wait a little, Celtchair,' said Cet, 'unless thou comest to strike me. I came, O Celtchair, to the front of thy house. The alarm was raised around me. Every one went after me. Thou comest like every one else, and going into a gap before me didst throw a spear at me. I threw another spear at thee, which went through thy loins, nor has either son or daughter been born to thee since."

"After that Celtchair sat down on his seat.

"'Still the contest,' said Cet, 'or I shall divide the pig.'

"'Thou shalt have it,' said Mend, son of Sword-heel.

"'Who is this?' said Cet.

"'Mend,' say all.

"'What! deem you,' said Cet, 'that the sons of churls with nicknames should come to contend with me? for it was I was the priest,[8]who christened thy father by that name, since it is I that cut off his heel, so that he carried but one heel away with him. What should bring the son of that man to contend with me?'

"Mend sat down in his seat.

"'Still the contest,' said Cet, 'or I shall divide the pig.'

"'Thou shalt have it,' said Cumscraidh, the stammerer of Macha, son of Conor.

"'Who is this?'

"'That is Cumscraidh,' say all.

"He is the makings of a king, so far as his figure goes....

"'Well,' said Cet, 'thou madest thy first raid on us. We met on the border. Thou didst leave a third of thy people with me, and camest away with a spear through thy throat, so that no word comes rightly over thy lips, since the sinews of thy throat were wounded, so that Cumscraidh, the stammerer of Macha, is thy name ever since.'

"In that way he laid disgrace and a blow on the whole province.

"While he made ready with the pig and had his knife in his hand, they see ConallCeârnach[the Victorious], coming towards them into the house. He sprang on to the floor of the house. The men of Ulster gave him great welcome. 'Twas then [King] Conor threw his helmet from his head and shook himself [for joy] in his own place. 'We are glad,' said Conall, 'that our portion is ready for us, and who divides for you?' said Conall.

"One man of the men of Ireland has obtained by contest the dividing of it, to wit, Cet mac Mágach.

"'Is that true, Cet?' said Conall, 'art thou dividing the pig?'"

There follows here an obscure dialogue in verse between the warriors.

"'Get up from the pig, Cet,' said Conall."'What brings thee to it?' said Cet."'Truly [for you] to seek contest from me,' said Conall, 'and I shall give you contest; I swear what my people swear since I [first] took spear and weapons, I have never been a day without having slain a Connachtman, nor a night without plundering, nor have I ever slept without the head of a Connachtman under my knee.'"'It is true,' said Cet, 'thou art even a better warrior than I, but if Anluan mac Mágach [my brother] were in the house,' said Cet, 'he would match thee contest for contest, and it is a pity that he is not in the house this night.'"'Aye, is he, though,' said Conall, taking the head of Anluan from his belt and throwing it at Cet's chest, so that a gush of blood broke over his lips. After that Conall sat down by the pig and Cet went from it."'Now let them come to the contest,' said Conall."Truly there was not then found among the men of Connacht a warrior to stand up to him in contest, for they were loath to be slain on the spot. The men of Ulster made a cover around him with their shields, for there was an evil custom in the house, the people of one side throwing stones at the other side. Then Conall proceeded to divide the pig, and he took the end of the tail in his mouth until he had finished dividing the pig."

"'Get up from the pig, Cet,' said Conall.

"'What brings thee to it?' said Cet.

"'Truly [for you] to seek contest from me,' said Conall, 'and I shall give you contest; I swear what my people swear since I [first] took spear and weapons, I have never been a day without having slain a Connachtman, nor a night without plundering, nor have I ever slept without the head of a Connachtman under my knee.'

"'It is true,' said Cet, 'thou art even a better warrior than I, but if Anluan mac Mágach [my brother] were in the house,' said Cet, 'he would match thee contest for contest, and it is a pity that he is not in the house this night.'

"'Aye, is he, though,' said Conall, taking the head of Anluan from his belt and throwing it at Cet's chest, so that a gush of blood broke over his lips. After that Conall sat down by the pig and Cet went from it.

"'Now let them come to the contest,' said Conall.

"Truly there was not then found among the men of Connacht a warrior to stand up to him in contest, for they were loath to be slain on the spot. The men of Ulster made a cover around him with their shields, for there was an evil custom in the house, the people of one side throwing stones at the other side. Then Conall proceeded to divide the pig, and he took the end of the tail in his mouth until he had finished dividing the pig."

The men of Connacht, as might be expected, were not pleased with their share. The rest of the piece recounts the battle that ensued both in the hostelry, whence "seven streams of blood burst through its seven doors," and outside in the close orlissafter the hosts had burst through the doors, the death of the hound, the flight of Oilioll and Mève into Connacht, and the curious adventures of their charioteer.

The Conception of Cuchulain,[9]the Conception of Conor,[10]the Wooing of Emer,[11]the Death of Conlaoch,[12]the Siege of Howth,[13]the Intoxication of the Ultonians,[14]Bricriu's Banquet,[15]Emer's Jealousy and Cuchulain's Pining,[16]the Battle of Rosnaree,[17]Bricriu's Feast and the Exile of the Sons of Dael Dermuit,[18]Macha's Curse on theUltonians,[19]the Death of King Conor,[20]the Wooing of Ferb,[21]the Cattle Spoil of Dartaid, the Cattle Spoil of Flidais, the Cattle Spoil of Regamon, the Táin bé Aingen, the Táin Bo Regamna,[22]the Conception of the two Swineherds[23]the Deaths of Oilioll (King of Connacht) and Conall Cearnach,[24]the Demoniac Chariot of Cuchulain,[25]the Cattle Spoil of Fraich,[26]are some of the most available of the many remaining sagas belonging to this cycle.

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