Myths & Legends of the Celtic Race Part 19

Another good man that Finn had was Geena, the son of Luga; his mother was the warrior-daughter of Finn, and his father was a near kinsman of hers.

He was nurtured by a woman that bore the name of Fair Mane, who had brought up many of the Fianna to manhood. When his time to take arms was come he stood before Finn and made his covenant of fealty, and Finn gave him the captaincy of a band. But mac Luga proved slothful and selfish, for ever vaunting himself and his weapon-skill, and never training his men to the chase of deer or boar, and he used to beat his hounds and his serving-men. At last the Fians under him came with their whole company to Finn at Loch Lena, in Killarney, and there they laid their complaint against mac Luga, and said: Choose now, O Finn, whether you will have us or the son of Luga by himself.

Then Finn sent to mac Luga and questioned him, but mac Luga could say nothing to the point as to why the Fianna would none of him. Then Finn taught him the things befitting a youth of n.o.ble birth and a captain of men, and they were these:

*Maxims of the Fianna*

Son of Luga, if armed service be thy design, in a great mans household be quiet, be surly in the narrow pa.s.s.

Without a fault of his beat not thy hound; until thou ascertain her guilt, bring not a charge against thy wife.

In battle meddle not with a buffoon, for, O mac Luga, he is but a fool.

Censure not any if he be of grave repute; stand not up to take part in a brawl; have naught to do with a madman or a wicked one.

Two-thirds of thy gentleness be shown to women and to those that creep on the floor (little children) and to poets, and be not violent to the common people.

Utter not swaggering speech, nor say thou wilt not yield what is right; it is a shameful thing to speak too stiffly unless that it be feasible to carry out thy words.

So long as thou shalt live, thy lord forsake not; neither for gold nor for other reward in the world abandon one whom thou art pledged to protect.

To a chief do not abuse his people, for that is no work for a man of gentle blood.

Be no tale-bearer, nor utterer of falsehoods; be not talkative nor rashly censorious. Stir not up strife against thee, however good a man thou be.

Be no frequenter of the drinking-house, nor given to carping at the old; meddle not with a man of mean estate.

Dispense thy meat freely; have no n.i.g.g.ard for thy familiar.

Force not thyself upon a chief, nor give him cause to speak ill of thee.

Stick to thy gear; hold fast to thy arms till the stern fight with its weapon-glitter be ended.

Be more apt to give than to deny, and follow after gentleness, O son of Luga.

And the son of Luga, it is written, heeded these counsels, and gave up his bad ways, and he became one of the best of Finns men.

*Character of Finn*

Suchlike things also Finn taught to all his followers, and the best of them became like himself in valour and gentleness and generosity. Each of them loved the repute of his comrades more than his own, and each would say that for all n.o.ble qualities there was no man in the breadth of the world worthy to be thought of beside Finn.

It was said of him that he gave away gold as if it were the leaves of the woodland, and silver as if it were the foam of the sea; and that whatever he had bestowed upon any man, if he fell out with him afterwards, he was never known to bring it against him.

The poet Oisin once sang of him to St. Patrick:

These are the things that were dear to Finn The din of battle, the banquets glee, The bay of his hounds through the rough glen ringing, And the blackbird singing in Letter Lee,

The shingle grinding along the sh.o.r.e When they dragged his war-boats down to sea, The dawn wind whistling his spears among, And the magic song of his minstrels three.

*Tests of the Fianna*

In the time of Finn no one was ever permitted to be one of the Fianna of Erin unless he could pa.s.s through many severe tests of his worthiness. He must be versed in the Twelve Books of Poetry, and must himself be skilled to make verse in the rime and metre of the masters of Gaelic poesy. Then he was buried to his middle in the earth, and must, with a shield and a hazel stick, there defend himself against nine warriors casting spears at him, and if he were wounded he was not accepted. Then his hair was woven into braids, and he was chased through the forest by the Fians. If he were overtaken, or if a braid of his hair were disturbed, or if a dry stick cracked under his foot, he was not accepted. He must be able to leap over a lath level with his brow, and to run at full speed under one level with his knee, and he must be able while running to draw out a thorn from his foot and never slacken speed. He must take no dowry with a wife.

*Keelta and St. Patrick*

It was said that one of the Fians, namely, Keelta, lived on to a great age, and saw St. Patrick, by whom he was baptized into the faith of the Christ, and to whom he told many tales of Finn and his men, which Patricks scribe wrote down. And once Patrick asked him how it was that the Fianna became so mighty and so glorious that all Ireland sang of their deeds, as Ireland has done ever since. Keelta answered: Truth was in our hearts and strength in our arms, and what we said, that we fulfilled.

This was also told of Keelta after he had seen St. Patrick and received the Faith. He chanced to be one day by Leyney, in Connacht, where the Fairy Folk of the Mound of Duma were wont to be sorely hara.s.sed and spoiled every year by pirates from oversea. They called Keelta to their aid, and by his counsel and valour the invaders were overcome and driven home; but Keelta was sorely wounded. Then Keelta asked that Owen, the seer of the Fairy Folk, might foretell him how long he had to live, for he was already a very aged man. Owen said: It will be seventeen years, O Keelta of fair fame, till thou fall by the pool of Tara, and grievous that will be to all the kings household. Even so did my chief and lord, my guardian and loving protector, Finn, foretell to me, said Keelta. And now what fee will ye give me for my rescue of you from the worst affliction that ever befell you? A great reward, said the Fairy Folk, even youth; for by our art we shall change you into a young man again with all the strength and activity of your prime. Nay, G.o.d forbid, said Keelta, that I should take upon me a shape of sorcery, or any other than that which my Maker, the true and glorious G.o.d, hath bestowed upon me.

And the Fairy Folk said: It is the word of a true warrior and hero, and the thing that thou sayest is good. So they healed his wounds, and every bodily evil that he had, and he wished them blessing and victory, and went his way.

*The Birth of Oisin*

One day, as Finn and his companions and dogs were returning from the chase to their dun on the Hill of Allen, a beautiful fawn started up on their path, and the chase swept after her, she taking the way which led to their home. Soon all the pursuers were left far behind save only Finn himself and his two hounds Bran and Skolawn. Now these hounds were of strange breed; for Tyren, sister to Murna, the mother of Finn, had been changed into a hound by the enchantment of a woman of the Fairy Folk, who loved Tyrens husband Ullan; and the two hounds of Finn were the children of Tyren, born to her in that shape. Of all hounds in Ireland they were the best, and Finn loved them much, so that it was said he wept but twice in his life, and once was for the death of Bran.

At last, as the chase went on down a valley-side, Finn saw the fawn stop and lie down, while the two hounds began to play round her, and to lick her face and limbs. So he gave commandment that none should hurt her, and she followed them to the Dun of Allen, playing with the hounds as she went.

The same night Finn awoke and saw standing by his bed the fairest woman his eyes had ever beheld.

I am Saba, O Finn, she said, and I was the fawn ye chased to-day.

Because I would not give my love to the Druid of the Fairy Folk, who is named the Dark, he put that shape upon me by his sorceries, and I have borne it these three years. But a slave of his, pitying me, once revealed to me that if I could win to thy great Dun of Allen, O Finn, I should be safe from all enchantments, and my natural shape would come to me again.

But I feared to be torn in pieces by thy dogs, or wounded by thy hunters, till at last I let myself be overtaken by thee alone and by Bran and Skolawn, who have the nature of man and would do me no hurt. Have no fear, maiden, said Finn; we, the Fianna, are free, and our guest-friends are free; there is none who shall put compulsion on you here.

So Saba dwelt with Finn, and he made her his wife; and so deep was his love for her that neither the battle nor the chase had any delight for him, and for months he never left her side. She also loved him as deeply, and their joy in each other was like that of the Immortals in the Land of Youth. But at last word came to Finn that the warships of the Northmen were in the Bay of Dublin, and he summoned his heroes to the fight; For, said he to Saba, the men of Erin give us tribute and hospitality to defend them from the foreigner, and it were shame to take it from them and not to give that to which we, on our side, are pledged. And he called to mind that great saying of Goll mac Morna when they were once sore bestead by a mighty host. A man, said Goll, lives after his life, but not after his honour.

Seven days was Finn absent, and he drove the Northmen from the sh.o.r.es of Erin. But on the eighth day he returned, and when he entered his dun he saw trouble in the eyes of his men, and of their fair womenfolk, and Saba was not on the rampart expecting his return. So he bade them tell him what had chanced, and they said:

Whilst thou, our father and lord, wert afar off smiting the foreigner, and Saba looking ever down the pa.s.s for thy return, we saw one day as it were the likeness of thee approaching, and Bran and Skolawn at thy heels.

And we seemed also to hear the notes of the Fian hunting-call blown on the wind. Then Saba hastened to the great gate, and we could not stay her, so eager was she to rush to the phantom. But when she came near she halted and gave a loud and bitter cry, and the shape of thee smote her with a hazel wand, and lo, there was no woman there any more, but a deer. Then those hounds chased it, and ever as it strove to reach again the gate of the dun they turned back. We all now seized what arms we could and ran out to drive away the enchanter, but when we reached the place there was nothing to be seen, only still we heard the rushing of flying feet and the baying of dogs, and one thought it came from here, and another from there, till at last the uproar died away and all was still. What we could do, O Finn, we did; Saba is gone.

Finn then struck his hand on his breast, but spoke no word, and he went to his own chamber. No man saw him for the rest of that day, nor for the day after. Then he came forth, and ordered the matters of the Fianna as of old, but for seven years thereafter he went searching for Saba through every remote glen and dark forest and cavern of Ireland, and he would take no hounds with him save Bran and Skolawn. But at last he renounced all hope of finding her again, and went hunting as of old.

One day as he was following the chase on Ben Bulban, in Sligo, he heard the musical bay of the dogs change of a sudden to a fierce growling and yelping, as though they were in combat with some beast, and running hastily up he and his men beheld, under a great tree, a naked boy with long hair, and around him the hounds struggling to seize him, but Bran and Skolawn fighting with them and keeping them off. And the lad was tall and shapely, and as the heroes gathered round he gazed undauntedly on them, never heeding the rout of dogs at his feet. The Fians beat off the dogs and brought the lad home with them, and Finn was very silent and continually searched the lads countenance with his eyes. In time the use of speech came to him, and the story that he told was this:

He had known no father, and no mother save a gentle hind, with whom he lived in a most green and pleasant valley shut in on every side by towering cliffs that could not be scaled or by deep chasms in the earth.

In the summer he lived on fruits and suchlike, and in the winter store of provisions was laid for him in a cave. And there came to them sometimes a tall, dark-visaged man, who spoke to his mother, now tenderly, and now in loud menace, but she always shrank away in fear, and the man departed in anger. At last there came a day when the dark man spoke very long with his mother in all tones of entreaty and of tenderness and of rage, but she would still keep aloof and give no sign save of fear and abhorrence. Then at length the dark man drew near and smote her with a hazel wand; and with that he turned and went his way, but she this time followed him, still looking back at her son and piteously complaining. And he, when he strove to follow, found himself unable to move a limb; and crying out with rage and desolation he fell to the earth, and his senses left him.

When he came to himself he was on the mountain-side on Ben Bulban, where he remained some days, searching for that green and hidden valley, which he never found again. And after a while the dogs found him; but of the hind his mother and of the Dark Druid there is no man knows the end.

Finn called his name Oisin (Little Fawn), and he became a warrior of fame, but far more famous for the songs and tales that he made; so that of all things to this day that are told of the Fianna of Erin men are wont to say: Thus sang the bard Oisin, son of Finn.

*Oisin and Niam*

It happened that on a misty summer morning as Finn and Oisin with many companions were hunting on the sh.o.r.es of Loch Lena they saw coming towards them a maiden, beautiful exceedingly, riding on a snow-white steed. She wore the garb of a queen; a crown of gold was on her head, and a dark-brown mantle of silk, set with stars of red gold, fell around her and trailed on the ground. Silver shoes were on her horses hoofs, and a crest of gold nodded on his head. When she came near she said to Finn: From very far away I have come, and now at last I have found thee, Finn son of c.u.mhal.

Then Finn said: What is thy land and race, maiden, and what dost thou seek from me?

My name, she said, is Niam of the Golden Hair. I am the daughter of the King of the Land of Youth, and that which has brought me here is the love of thy son Oisin. Then she turned to Oisin, and she spoke to him in the voice of one who has never asked anything but it was granted to her.

Wilt thou go with me, Oisin, to my fathers land?