Gods and Fighting Men, Lady I. A Gregory [best e books to read TXT] 📗

asked him to come to his house. They went on then

till they came to a beautiful plain, and there they saw a king's rath,

and a golden tree at its door, and inside the rath a grand house with a

roof of white bronze. So they went into the house, and the rider that

had come to meet them was there before them, in his royal seat, and

there had never been seen a man like him in Teamhair for comeliness or

for beauty, or the wonder of his face.

 

And there was a young woman in the house, having a band of gold on her

head, and a silver vessel with hoops of gold beside her, and it full of

red ale, and a golden bowl on its edge, and a golden cup at its mouth.

She said then to the master of the house: "Who am I to serve drink to?"

"Serve it to Conn of the Hundred Battles," he said, "for he will gain a

hundred battles before he dies." And after that he bade her to pour out

the ale for Art of the Three Shouts, the son of Conn; and after that he

went through the names of all the kings of Ireland that would come after

Conn, and he told what would be the length of their lifetime. And the

young woman left the vessel with Conn, and the cup and the bowl, and she

gave him along with that the rib of an ox and of a hog; twenty-four feet

was the length of the ox-rib.

 

And the master of the house told them the young woman was the Kingship

of Ireland for ever. "And as for myself," he said, "I am Lugh of the

Long Hand, son of Ethlinn."

 

 

 

 

BOOK THREE: THE COMING OF THE GAEL.

 

CHAPTER I. THE LANDING

 

 

It is not known, now, for what length of time the Tuatha de Danaan had

the sway over Ireland, and it is likely it was a long time they had it,

but they were put from it at last.

 

It was at Inver Slane, to the north of Leinster, the sons of Gaedhal of

the Shining Armour, the Very Gentle, that were called afterwards the

Sons of the Gael, made their first attempt to land in Ireland to avenge

Ith, one of their race that had come there one time and had met with his

death.

 

It is under the leadership of the sons of Miled they were, and it was

from the south they came, and their Druids had told them there was no

country for them to settle in till they would come to that island in the

west. "And if you do not get possession of it yourselves," they said,

"your children will get possession of it."

 

But when the Tuatha de Danaan saw the ships coming, they flocked to the

shore, and by their enchantments they cast such a cloud over the whole

island that the sons of Miled were confused, and all they could see was

some large thing that had the appearance of a pig.

 

And when they were hindered from landing there by enchantments, they

went sailing along the coast till at last they were able to make a

landing at Inver Sceine in the west of Munster.

 

From that they marched in good order as far as Slieve Mis. And there

they were met by a queen of the Tuatha de Danaan, and a train of

beautiful women attending on her, and her Druids and wise men following

her. Amergin, one of the sons of Miled, spoke to her then, and asked her

name, and she said it was Banba, wife of Mac Cuill, Son of the Hazel.

 

They went on then till they came to Slieve Eibhline, and there another

queen of the Tuatha de Danaan met them, and her women and her Druids

after her, and they asked her name, and she said it was Fodhla, wife of

Mac Cecht, Son of the Plough.

 

They went on then till they came to the hill of Uisnech, and there they

saw another woman coming towards them. And there was wonder on them

while they were looking at her, for in the one moment she would be a

wide-eyed most beautiful queen, and in another she would be a

sharp-beaked, grey-white crow. She came on to where Eremon, one of the

sons of Miled, was, and sat down before him, and he asked her who was

she, and she said: "I am Eriu, wife of Mac Greine, Son of the Sun."

 

And the names of those three queens were often given to Ireland in the

after time.

 

The Sons of the Gael went on after that to Teamhair, where the three

sons of Cermait Honey-Mouth, son of the Dagda, that had the kingship

between them at that time held their court. And these three were

quarrelling with one another about the division of the treasures their

father had left, and the quarrel was so hot it seemed likely it would

come to a battle in the end.

 

And the Sons of the Gael wondered to see them quarrelling about such

things, and they having so fruitful an island, where the air was so

wholesome, and the sun not too strong, or the cold too bitter, and where

there was such a plenty of honey and acorns, and of milk, and of fish,

and of corn, and room enough for them all.

 

Great grandeur they were living in, and their Druids about them, at the

palace of Teamhair. And Amergin went to them, and it is what he said,

that they must give up the kingship there and then, or they must leave

it to the chance of a battle. And he said he asked this in revenge for

the death of Ith, of the race of the Gael, that had come to their court

before that time, and that had been killed by treachery.

 

When the sons of Cermait Honey-Mouth heard Amergin saying such fierce

words, there was wonder on them, and it is what they said, that they

were not willing to fight at that time, for their army was not ready.

"But let you make an offer to us," they said, "for we see well you have

good judgment and knowledge. But if you make an offer that is not fair,"

they said, "we will destroy you with our enchantments."

 

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

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

the Gael, and to go out the length of nine waves from the shore. And

then he made his offer to the Tuatha de Danaan, that if they could

hinder his men from landing on their island, he and all his ships would

go back again to their own country, and would never make any attempt to

come again; but that if the Sons of the Gael could land on the coast in

spite of them, then the Tuatha de Danaan should give up the kingship and

be under their sway.

 

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

that by the powers of their enchantments over the winds and the sea, and

by their arts, they would be well able to keep them from ever setting

foot in the country again.

 

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

their ship and drew up their anchors, and moved out to the length of

nine waves from the shore. And as soon as the Men of Dea saw they had

left the land, they took to their enchantments and spells, and they

raised a great wind that scattered the ships of the Gael, and drove them

from one another. But Amergin knew it was not a natural storm was in

it, and Arranan, son of Miled, knew that as well, and he went up in the

mast of his ship to look about him. But a great blast of wind came

against him, and he fell back into the ship and died on the moment. And

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

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

in command of was parted from the others by the dint of the storm, and

was broken in pieces, and he himself and all with him were drowned,

four-and-twenty men and women in all. And Ir, son of Miled, came to his

death in the same way, and his body was cast on the shore, and it was

buried in a small island that is now called Sceilg Michill. A brave man

Ir was, leading the Sons of the Gael to the front of every battle, and

their help and their shelter in battle, and his enemies were in dread of

his name.

 

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

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

land. And the place where he landed was called Inver Colpa, because

Colpa of the Sword, another of the sons of Miled, was drowned there, and

he trying to get to land. Five of the sons of Miled in all were

destroyed by the storm and the winds the Men of Dea had raised by their

enchantments, and there were but three of them left, Heber, and Heremon,

and Amergin.

 

And one of them, Donn, before he was swept into the sea, called out: "It

is treachery our knowledgeable men are doing on us, not to put down this

wind." "There is no treachery," said Amergin, his brother. And he rose

up then before them, and whatever enchantment he did on the winds and

the sea, he said these words along with it:

 

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

now to the land.

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

our many kings.

 

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

their boats may find a place there.

 

"This land that is now under darkness, it is for it we are asking; let

our chief men, let their learned wives, ask that we may come to the

noble woman, great Eriu."

 

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

on the moment.

 

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

Gael landed then at Inver Sceine.

 

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

the shore of Ireland, it is what he said:

 

   "I am the wind on the sea;

     I am the wave of the sea;

     I am the bull of seven battles;

     I am the eagle on the rock;

     I am a flash from the sun;

     I am the most beautiful of plants;

     I am a strong wild boar;

     I am a salmon in the water;

     I am a lake in the plain;

     I am the word of knowledge;

     I am the head of the spear in battle;

     I am the god that puts fire in the head;

     Who spreads light in the gathering on the hills?

     Who can tell the ages of the moon?

     Who can tell the place where the sun rests?"

 

CHAPTER II. (THE BATTLE OF TAILLTIN)

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

Eriu, wife of Mac Greine, Son of the Sun, and she