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Gods and Fighting Men by Lady I. A. Gregory

L >> Lady I. A. Gregory >> Gods and Fighting Men




CHAPTER I. THE KING OF BRITAIN'S SON


Arthur, son of the King of Britain, came one time to take service with
Finn, and three times nine men along with him. And they went hunting one
day on Beinn Edair, and Finn took his place on the Cairn of the Fianna
between the hill and the sea, and Arthur took his stand between the hunt
and the sea, the way the deer would not escape by swimming.

And while Arthur was there he took notice of three of Finn's hounds,
Bran, and Sceolan and Adhnuall, and he made a plan in his mind to go
away across the sea, himself and his three nines, bringing those three
hounds along with him. So he did that, and he himself and his men
brought away the hounds and crossed the sea, and the place where they
landed was Inver Mara Gamiach on the coast of Britain. And after they
landed, they went to the mountain of Lodan, son of Lir, to hunt on it.

And as to the Fianna, after their hunting was done they gathered
together on the hill; and as the custom was, all Finn's hounds were
counted. Three hundred full-grown hounds he had, and two hundred whelps;
and it is what the poets used to say, that to be counting them was like
counting the branches on a tree.

Now on this day when they were counted, Bran and Sceolan and Adhnuall
were missing; and that was told to Finn. He bade his people to search
again through the three battalions of the Fianna, but search as they
would, the hounds were not to be found.

Then Finn sent for a long-shaped basin of pale gold, and water in it,
and he put his face in the water, and his hand over his face, and it was
showed him what had happened, and he said: "The King of Britain's son
has brought away the hound. And let nine men be chosen out to follow
after them," he said. So nine men were chosen out, Diarmuid, grandson of
Duibhne; Goll, son of Morna; Oisin, son of Finn; Faolan, the friend of
the hounds, son of a woman that had come over the sea to give her love
to Finn; Ferdoman, son of Bodb Dearg; two sons of Finn, Raighne Wide Eye
and Cainche the Crimson-Red; Glas, son of Enchered Bera, with Caoilte
and Lugaidh's Son. And their nine put their helmets on their heads, and
took their long spears in their hands, and they felt sure they were a
match for any four hundred men from the east to the west of the world.

They set out then, till they came to the mountain of Lodan, son of Lir;
and they were not long there till they heard talk of men that were
hunting in that place.

Arthur of Britain and his people were sitting on a hunting mound just at
that time, and the nine men of the Fianna made an attack on them and
killed all of them but Arthur, that Goll, son of Morna, put his two arms
about and saved from death. Then they turned to go back to Ireland,
bringing Arthur with them, and the three hounds. And as they were going,
Goll chanced to look around him and he saw a dark-grey horse, having a
bridle with fittings of worked gold. And then he looked to the left and
saw a bay mare that was not easy to get hold of, and it having a bridle
of silver rings and a golden bit. And Goll took hold of the two, and he
gave them into Oisin's hand, and he gave them on to Diarmuid.

They went back to Finn then, bringing his three hounds with them, and
the King of Britain's son as a prisoner; and Arthur made bonds with
Finn, and was his follower till he died.

And as to the horse and the mare, they gave them to Finn; and the mare
bred eight times, at every birth eight foals, and it is of that seed
came all the horses of the fair Fianna of the Gael, for they had used
no horses up to that time.

And that was not the only time Finn was robbed of some of his hounds.
For there was a daughter of Roman was woman-Druid to the Tuatha de
Danaan, and she set her love on Finn. But Finn said, so long as there
was another woman to be found in the world, he would not marry a witch.
And one time, three times fifty of Finn's hounds passed by the hill
where she was; and she breathed on the hounds and shut them up in the
hill, and they never came out again. It was to spite Finn she did that,
and the place got the name of Duma na Conn, the Mound of the Hounds.

And as to Adhnuall, one of the hounds Finn thought most of, and that was
brought back from the King of Britain's son, this is the way he came to
his death afterwards.

There was a great fight one time between the Fianna and Macoon, son of
Macnia, at some place in the province of Leinster, and a great many of
the Fianna were killed. And the hound Adhnuall went wandering northward
from the battle and went astray; and three times he went round the whole
of Ireland, and then he came back to the place of the battle, and to a
hill where three young men of the Fianna that had fallen there were
buried after their death, and three daughters of a King of Alban that
had died for love of them. And when Adhnuall came to that hill, he gave
three loud howls and he stretched himself out and died.




CHAPTER II. THE CAVE OF CEISCORAN


Finn called for a great hunt one time on the plains of Magh Chonaill and
in the forest parts of Cairbre of the Nuts. And he himself went up to
the top of Ceiscoran, and his two dogs Bran and Sceolan with him.

And the Fianna were shouting through the whole country where they were
hunting, the way the deer were roused in their wild places and the
badgers in their holes, and foxes in their wanderings, and birds on the
wing.

And Conaran, son of Imidd, of the Tuatha de Danaan, had the sway in
Ceiscoran at that time, and when he heard the shouting and the cry of
the hounds all around, he bade his three daughters that had a great
share of enchantments, to do vengeance on Finn for his hunting.

The three women went then to the opening of a cave that was in the
hills, and there they sat down together, and they put three strong
enchanted hanks of yarn on crooked holly-sticks, and began to reel them
off outside the cave.

They were not long there till Finn and Conan came towards them, and saw
the three ugly old hags at their work, their coarse hair tossed, their
eyes red and bleary, their teeth sharp and crooked, their arms very
long, their nails like the tips of cows' horns, and the three spindles
in their hands.

Finn and Conan passed through the hanks of yarn to get a better look at
the hags. And no sooner had they done that, than a deadly trembling came
on them and a weakness, and the bold hags took hold of them and put them
in tight bonds.

Two other men of the Fianna came up then, and the sons of Menhann along
with them, and they went through the spindles to where Finn and Conan
were, and their strength went from them in the same way, and the hags
tied them fast and carried them into the cave.

They were not long there till Caoilte and Lugaidh's Son came to the
place, and along with them the best men of the sons of Baiscne. The sons
of Morna came as well, and no sooner did they see the hanks than their
strength and their bravery went out of them the same as it went from the
others.

And in the end the whole number of them, gentle and simple, were put in
bonds by the hags, and brought into the cave. And there began at the
mouth of the cave a great outcry of hounds calling for their masters
that had left them there. And there was lying on the hillside a great
heap of deer, and wild pigs, and hares, and badgers, dead and torn, that
were brought as far as that by the hunters that were tied up now in the
cave.

Then the three women came in, having swords in their hands, to the place
where they were lying, to make an end of them. But first they looked out
to see was there ever another man of the Fianna to bring in and to make
an end of with the rest.

And they saw coming towards them a very tall man that was Goll, son of
Morna, the Flame of Battle. And when the three hags saw him they went to
meet him, and they fought a hard battle with him. And great anger came
on Goll, and he made great strokes at the witches, and at the last he
raised up his sword, and with one blow he cut the two that were nearest
him through and through.

And then the oldest of the three women wound her arms about Goll, and he
beheading the two others, and he turned to face her and they wrestled
together, till at last Goll gave her a great twist and threw her on the
ground. He tied her fast then with the straps of a shield, and took his
sword to make an end of her. But the hag said: "O champion that was
never worsted, strong man that never went back in battle, I put my body
and my life under the protection of your bravery. And it is better for
you," she said, "to get Finn and the Fianna safe and whole than to have
my blood; and I swear by the gods my people swear by," she said, "I will
give them back to you again."

With that Goll set her free, and they went together into the hill where
the Fianna were lying. And Goll said: "Loose off the fastenings first
from Fergus of the True Lips and from the other learned men of the
Fianna; and after that from Finn, and Oisin, and the twenty-nine sons of
Morna, and from all the rest."

She took off the fastenings then, and the Fianna made no delay, but rose
up and went out and sat down on the side of the hill. And Fergus of the
Sweet Lips looked at Goll, son of Morna, and made great praises of him,
and of all that he had done.




CHAPTER III. DONN SON OF MIDHIR


One time the Fianna were at their hunting at the island of Toraig to the
north of Ireland, and they roused a fawn that was very wild and
beautiful, and it made for the coast, and Finn and six of his men
followed after it through the whole country, till they came to
Slieve-nam-Ban. And there the fawn put down its head and vanished into
the earth, and none of them knew where was it gone to.

A heavy snow began to fall then that bent down the tops of the trees
like a willow-gad, and the courage and the strength went from the Fianna
with the dint of the bad weather, and Finn said to Caoilte: "Is there
any place we can find shelter to-night?" Caoilte made himself supple
then, and went over the elbow of the hill southward.

And when he looked around him he saw a house full of light, with cups
and horns and bowls of different sorts in it. He stood a good while
before the door of the house, that he knew to be a house of the Sidhe,
thinking would it be best go in and get news of it, or to go back to
Finn and the few men that were with him. And he made up his mind to go
into the house, and there he sat down on a shining chair in the middle
of the floor; and he looked around him, and he saw, on the one side,
eight-and-twenty armed men, each of them having a well-shaped woman
beside him. And on the other side he saw six nice young girls,
yellow-haired, having shaggy gowns from their shoulders. And in the
middle there was another young girl sitting in a chair, and a harp in
her hand, and she playing on it and singing. And every time she stopped,
a man of them would give her a horn to drink from, and she would give it
back to him again, and they were all making mirth around her.

She spoke to Caoilte then. "Caoilte, my life," she said, "give us leave
to attend on you now." "Do not," said Caoilte, "for there is a better
man than myself outside, Finn, son of Cumhal, and he has a mind to eat
in this house to-night." "Rise up, Caoilte, and go for Finn," said a man
of the house then; "for he never refused any man in his own house, and
he will get no refusal from us."

Caoilte went back then to Finn, and when Finn saw him he said: "It is
long you are away from us, Caoilte, for from the time I took arms in my
hands I never had a night that put so much hardship on me as this one."

The six of them went then into the lighted house and their shields and
their arms with them. And they sat down on the edge of a seat, and a
girl having yellow hair came and brought them to a shining seat in the
middle of the house, and the newest of every food, and the oldest of
every drink was put before them. And when the sharpness of their hunger
and their thirst was lessened, Finn said: "Which of you can I question?"
"Question whoever you have a mind to," said the tallest of the men that
was near him. "Who are you yourself then?" said Finn, "for I did not
think there were so many champions in Ireland, and I not knowing them."

"Those eight-and-twenty armed men you see beyond," said the tall man,
"had the one father and mother with myself; and we are the sons of
Midhir of the Yellow Hair, and our mother is Fionnchaem, the fair,
beautiful daughter of the King of the Sidhe of Monaid in the east. And
at one time the Tuatha de Danaan had a gathering, and gave the kingship
to Bodb Dearg, son of the Dagda, at his bright hospitable place, and he
began to ask hostages of myself and of my brothers; but we said that
till all the rest of the Men of Dea had given them, we would not give
them. Bodb Dearg said then to our father: 'Unless you will put away your
sons, we will wall up your dwelling-place on you.' So the
eight-and-twenty brothers of us came out to look for a place for
ourselves; and we searched all Ireland till we found this secret hidden
place, and we are here ever since. And my own name," he said, "is Donn,
son of Midhir. And we had every one of us ten hundred armed men
belonging to himself, but they are all worn away now, and only the
eight-and-twenty of us left." "What is it is wearing you away?" said
Finn. "The Men of Dea," said Donn, "that come three times in every year
to give battle to us on the green outside." "What is the long new grave
we saw on the green outside?" said Finn. "It is the grave of Diangalach,
a man of enchantments of the Men of Dea; and that is the greatest loss
came on them yet," said Donn; "and it was I myself killed him," he
said. "What loss came next to that?" said Finn. "All the Tuatha de
Danaan had of jewels and riches and treasures, horns and vessels and
cups of pale gold, we took from them at the one time." "What was the
third greatest loss they had?" said Finn. "It was Fethnaid, daughter of
Feclach, the woman-harper of the Tuatha de Danaan, their music and the
delight of their minds," said Donn.

"And to-morrow," he said, "they will be coming to make an attack on us,
and there is no one but myself and my brothers left; and we knew we
would be in danger, and that we could make no stand against them. And we
sent that bare-headed girl beyond to Toraig in the North in the shape of
a foolish fawn, and you followed her here. It is that girl washing
herself, and having a green cloak about her, went looking for you.

"And the empty side of the house," he said, "belonged to our people that
the Men of Dea have killed."

They spent that night in drinking and in pleasure. And when they rose up
in the morning of the morrow, Donn, son of Midhir, said to Finn, "Come
out with me now on the lawn till you see the place where we fight the
battles every year." They went out then and they looked at the graves
and the flag-stones, and Donn said: "It is as far as this the Men of Dea
come to meet us." "Which of them come here?" said Finn.

"Bodb Dearg with his seven sons," said Donn; "and Angus Og, son of the
Dagda, with his seven sons; and Finnbharr of Cnoc Medha with his
seventeen sons; Lir of Sidhe Fionnachaidh with his twenty-seven sons and
their sons; Tadg, son of Nuada, out of the beautiful hill of Almhuin;
Donn of the Island and Donn of the Vat; the two called Glas from the
district of Osraige; Dobhran Dubthaire from the hill of Liamhain of the
Smooth Shirt; Aedh of the Island of Rachrainn in the north; Ferai and
Aillinn and Lir and Fainnle, sons of Eogobal, from Cnoc Aine in Munster;
Cian and Coban and Conn, three sons of the King of Sidhe Monaid in
Alban; Aedh Minbhreac of Ess Ruadh with his seven sons; the children of
the Morrigu, the Great Queen, her six-and-twenty women warriors, the two
Luaths from Magh Life; Derg and Drecan out of the hill of Beinn Edair in
the east; Bodb Dearg himself with his great household, ten hundred ten
score and ten. Those are the chief leaders of the Tuatha de Danaan that
come to destroy our hill every year."

Finn went back into the hill then, and told all that to his people.

"My people," he said, "it is in great need and under great oppression
the sons of Midhir are, and it is into great danger we are come
ourselves. And unless we make a good fight now," he said, "it is likely
we will never see the Fianna again."

"Good Finn," every one of them said then, "did you ever see any
drawing-back in any of us that you give us that warning?" "I give my
word," said Finn, "if I would go through the whole world having only
this many of the Fianna of Ireland along with me, I would not know fear
nor fright. And good Donn," he said, "is it by day or by night the Men
of Dea come against you?" "It is at the fall of night they come," said
Donn, "the way they can do us the most harm."

So they waited till night came on, and then Finn said: "Let one of you
go out now on the green to keep watch for us, the way the Men of Dea
will not come on us without word or warning."

And the man they set to watch was not gone far when he saw five strong
battalions of the Men of Dea coming towards him. He went back then to
the hill and he said: "It is what I think, that the troops that are come
against us this time and are standing now around the grave of the Man
of Enchantments are a match for any other fighting men."

Finn called to his people then, and he said: "These are good fighters
are come against you, having strong red spears. And let you all do well
now in the battle. And it is what you have to do," he said, "to keep the
little troop of brothers, the sons of Midhir, safe in the fight; for it
would be a treachery to friendship any harm to come on them, and we
after joining them; and myself and Caoilte are the oldest among you, and
leave the rest of the battle to us."

Then from the covering time of evening to the edge of the morning they
fought the battle. And the loss of the Tuatha de Danaan was no less a
number than ten hundred ten score and ten men. Then Bodb Dearg and
Midhir and Fionnbhar said to one another: "What are we to do with all
these? And let Lir of Sidhe Fionnachaidh give us an advice," they said,
"since he is the oldest of us." And Lir said: "It is what I advise, let
every one carry away his friends and his fosterlings, his sons and his
brothers, to his own place. And as for us that stop here," he said, "let
a wall of fire be made about us on the one side, and a wall of water on
the other side." Then the Men of Dea put up a great heap of stones, and
brought away their dead; and of all the great slaughter that Finn and
his men and the sons of Midhir had made, there was not left enough for a
crow to perch upon.

And as to Finn and his men, they went back into the hill, hurt and
wounded and worn-out.

And they stopped in the hill with the sons of Midhir through the whole
length of a year, and three times in the year the Men of Dea made an
attack on the hill, and a battle was fought.

And Conn, son of Midhir, was killed in one of the battles; and as to the
Fianna, there were so many wounds on them that the clothing was held
off from their bodies with bent hazel sticks, and they lying in their
beds, and two of them were like to die. And Finn and Caoilte and
Lugaidh's Son went out on the green, and Caoilte said: "It was a bad
journey we made coming to this hill, to leave two of our comrades after
us." "It is a pity for whoever will face the Fianna of Ireland," said
Lugaidh's Son, "and he after leaving his comrades after him." "Whoever
will go back and leave them, it will not be myself," said Finn. Then
Bonn, son of Midhir, came to them. "Good Donn," said Finn, "have you
knowledge of any physician that can cure our men?" "I only know one
physician could do that," said Donn; "a physician the Tuatha de Danaan
have with them. And unless a wounded man has the marrow of his back cut
through, he will get relief from that physician, the way he will be
sound at the end of nine days." "How can we bring that man here," said
Finn, "for those he is with are no good friends to us?" "He goes out
every morning at break of day," said Donn, "to gather healing herbs
while the dew is on them." "Find some one, Donn," said Caoilte, "that
will show me that physician, and, living or dead, I will bring him with
me."

Then Aedh and Flann, two of the sons of Midhir, rose up. "Come with us,
Caoilte," they said, and they went on before him to a green lawn with
the dew on it; and when they came to it they saw a strong young man
armed and having a cloak of the wool of the seven sheep of the Land of
Promise, and it full of herbs of healing he was after gathering for the
Men of Dea that were wounded in the battle. "Who is that man?" said
Caoilte. "That is the man we came looking for," said Aedh. "And mind him
well now," he said, "that he will not make his escape from us back to
his own people."

They ran at him together then, and Caoilte took him by the shoulders
and they brought him away with them to the ford of the Slaine in the
great plain of Leinster, where the most of the Fianna were at that time;
and a Druid mist rose up about them that they could not be seen.

And they went up on a little hill over the ford, and they saw before
them four young men having crimson fringed cloaks and swords with gold
hilts, and four good hunting hounds along with them. And the young man
could not see them because of the mist, but Caoilte saw they were his
own two sons, Colla and Faolan, and two other young men of the Fianna,
and he could hear them talking together, and saying it was a year now
that Finn, son of Cumhal, was gone from them. "And what will the Fianna
of Ireland do from this out," said one of them, "without their lord and
their leader?" "There is nothing for them to do," said another, "but to
go to Teamhair and to break up there, or to find another leader for
themselves." And there was heavy sorrow on them for the loss of their
lord; and it was grief to Caoilte to be looking at them.

And he and the two sons of Midhir went back then by the Lake of the Two
Birds to Slieve-nam Ban, and they went into the hill.

And Finn and Donn gave a great welcome to Luibra, the physician, and
they showed him their two comrades that were lying in their wounds.
"Those men are brothers to me," said Donn, "and tell me how can they be
cured?" Luibra looked then at their wounds, and he said: "They can be
cured if I get a good reward." "You will get that indeed," said Caoilte;
"and tell me now," he said, "how long will it take to cure them?" "It
will take nine days," said Luibra. "It is a good reward you will get,"
said Caoilte, "and this is what it is, your own life to be left to you.
But if these young men are not healed," he said, "it is my own hand will
strike off your head."

And within nine days the physician had done a cure on them, and they
were as well and as sound as before.

And it was after that time the High King sent a messenger to bring the
Fianna to the Feast of Teamhair. And they all gathered to it, men and
women, boys and heroes and musicians. And Goll, son of Morna, was
sitting at the feast beside the king. "It is a great loss you have had,
Fianna of Ireland," said the king, "losing your lord and your leader,
Finn, son of Cumhal." "It is a great loss indeed," said Goll.

"There has no greater loss fallen on Ireland since the loss of Lugh, son
of Ethne," said the king. "What orders will you give to the Fianna now,
king?" said Goll. "To yourself, Goll," said the king, "I will give the
right of hunting over all Ireland till we know if the loss of Finn is
lasting." "I will not take Finn's place," said Goll, "till he has been
wanting to us through the length of three years, and till no person in
Ireland has any hope of seeing him again."

Then Ailbe of the Freckled Face said to the king: "What should these
seventeen queens belonging to Finn's household do?" "Let a safe, secret
sunny house be given to every one of them," said the king; "and let her
stop there and her women with her, and let provision be given to her for
a month and a quarter and a year till we have knowledge if Finn is alive
or dead."

Then the king stood up, and a smooth drinking-horn in his hand, and he
said: "It would be a good thing, men of Ireland, if any one among you
could get us news of Finn in hills or in secret places, or in rivers or
invers, or in any house of the Sidhe in Ireland or in Alban."

With that Berngal, the cow-owner from the borders of Slieve Fuad, that
was divider to the King of Ireland, said: "The day Finn came out from
the north, following after a deer of the Sidhe, and his five comrades
with him, he put a sharp spear having a shining head in my hand, and a
hound's collar along with it, and he bade me to keep them till he would
meet me again in the same place." Berngal showed the spear and the
collar then to the king and to Goll, and they looked at them and the
king said: "It is a great loss to the men of Ireland the man is that
owned this collar and this spear. And were his hounds along with him?"
he said. "They were," said Berngal; "Bran and Sceolan were with Finn,
and Breac and Lainbhui with Caoilte, and Conuall and Comrith with
Lugaidh's Son."

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