The Ancient Irish Epic Tale Tain Bo Cualnge Part 20

Then came [7]unto them[7] the Crutti Cainbili ('the Tuneful Harpers'), from Ess Ruaid in the north to amuse them, [8]out of friendship for Ailill and Medb.[8] They opined it was to spy upon them [9]they were come[9] from Ulster. [10]When they came within sight of the camp of the men of Erin, fear, terror, and dread possessed them,[10] and the hosts pursued [W.1450.]

them as never men pursued, far and wide, till they escaped them in the shapes of deer near the standing stones at Lia Mor ('Great Stone') [1]in the north.[1] For though they were known as the 'Mellifluous Harpers' they were [2]druids,[2] men of great cunning and great power of augury and magic.

[7-7] H. 2. 17.

[8-8] H. 2. 17.

[9-9] Stowe.

[10-10] H. 2. 17.

[1-1] LU. and YBL. 835.

[2-2] LU. and YBL. 835.

[Page 88]

VIIIc

[1]THE KILLING OF THE SQUIRREL AND OF THE TAME BIRD[1]

[W.1456.] Then Cuchulain made a threat [2]in Methe[2] that wherever he saw Medb he would cast a stone at her and that it would not go far from the side of her head. That he also fulfilled. In the place where he saw Medb west of the ford he cast a stone from his sling at her, so that it killed the pet bird that was on her shoulder. Medb pa.s.sed over the ford eastwards, and again he cast a stone from his sling at her east of the ford, so that it killed the tame squirrel that was on her shoulder. Hence the names of those places are still, Meide in Togmail ('Squirrel's Neck') and Meide ind Eoin ('Bird's Neck'). And Ath Srethe ('Ford of the Throw') is the name of the ford over which Cuchulain cast the stone from his sling.

[1-1] The superscription is taken from LU. fo. 64a, in the margin.

[2-2] LU. and YBL. 813.

[3]Then Reuin was drowned in his lake. Hence is Loch Reuin. "Your companion is not afar off from you," cried Ailill to the Mane. They stood up and looked around. When they sat down again, Cuchulain struck one of them so that his head was split. "It is well it was thou hast essayed that; thy[a]

mirth was not seemly," quoth Mane the fool; "it is I would have taken his head off." Cuchulain flung a stone at him, so that his head was split. Thus these people were slain: Orlam, first of all, on his hill; the three sons of Arach[a] on their ford; Fertidil in his ... (?); Maenan on his hill. "I swear by the G.o.d by whom my people swear," cried Ailill; "the man that scoffs at Cuchulain here I will make two halves of. But above all let us hasten our way by day and by night," Ailill continued, "till we come to Cualnge. That man will slay two-thirds of your host in this fashion."[3]

[3-3] LU. and YBL. 820-831 and, partly, in Eg. 1782.

[a] Literally, 'your.'

[a] '_Garech_,' LU. and YBL. 827.

[1]Then did the men of Erin deliberate about going to ravage and lay waste Mag Breg and Meath and the plain of Conall and the land of Cuchulain; and it was in the presence of Fergus macRoig they discussed it.[1]

[1-1] H. 2. 17.

[W.1465.] The four grand provinces of Erin moved out on the morrow, and began to harry the plains of Breg and Murthemne. And the sharp, keen-edged anxiety [LL.fo.69a.] for Cuchulain came over his fosterer Fergus. And he bade the men of Erin be on their guard that night, for that Cuchulain would come upon them. And here again he sang in his praise, as we wrote it before,[b] and he uttered the lay:--

"If Cuchulain, Cualnge's Hound, And Red Branch chiefs on you come, Men will welter in their blood, Laying waste Murthemne's plain!

[4]"Woe to him possesses wealth, 'Less he find a way to 'scape; And your wives will be enslaved, And your chiefs fill pools of blood![4]

"Far away he[c] held his course, Till he reached Armenia's heights; Battle dared he, past his wont, And the Burnt-b.r.e.a.s.t.s[d] put to death!

"Hardest for him was to drive Necht's sons from their chieftest haunts; And the smith's hound--mighty deed-- Hath he slain with single hand!

[W.1483.] "More than this I've naught to say, As concerns Dechtire's son; My belief, in troth, is this: Ye will now meet with your fate."

[b] See above, p. 41.

[4-4] H. 2. 17.

[c] That is, Cuchulain.

[d] That is, the Amazons.

[3-3] LU. and YBL. 820-831 and, partly, in Eg. 1782.

After this lay, that was the day that Donn ('the Brown Bull') of Cualnge came into the land of Margine [1]to Sliab Culinn[1] and with him fifty heifers of the heifers [2]of Ulster;[2] and there he was pawing and digging up the earth in that place, [3]in the land of Margine, in Cualnge;[3] that is, he flung the turf over him with his heels. [4]While the hosts were marching over Mag Breg, Cuchulain in the meanwhile laid hands on their camps.[4] It was on the same day that the Morrigan, daughter of Ernmas, [5]the prophetess[5] of the fairy-folk, came [6]in the form of a bird,[6]

and she perched on the standing-stone in Temair of Cualnge giving the Brown Bull of Cualnge warning [7]and lamentations[7] before the men of Erin. Then she began to address him and what she said was this: "Good, now, O luckless one, thou Brown Bull of Cualnge," so spake the Morrigan; "take heed; for the men of Erin. [8]are on thy track and seeking thee[8] and they will come upon thee, and [9]if thou art taken[9] they will carry thee away to their camp [10]like any ox on a raid,[10] unless thou art on thy guard."

And she commenced to give warning to him in this fashion, [11]telling him he would be slain on the Tain, and she delivered this judgement[11] and spake these words aloud:[a]--

[1-1] LU. and YBL. 853.

[2-2] Stowe.

[3-3] LU. and YBL. 857.

[4-4] LU. and YBL. 842-843.

[5-5] H. 2. 17.

[6-6] LU. and YBL. 844.

[7-7] H. 2. 17.

[8-8] H. 2. 17.

[9-9] H. 2. 17.

[10-10] H. 2. 17.

[11-11] H. 2. 17.

[a] The following pa.s.sage in '_rosc_' is exceedingly difficult and obscure, and the translation given here is consequently incomplete and uncertain.

"Knows not the restless Brown of the [12]truly deadly[12] [W.1502.] fray that is not uncertain?--A raven's[a] croak--The raven that doth not conceal--Foes range your checkered plain--[1]Troops on raids[1]--I have a secret--Ye shall know ... The waving fields--The deep-green gra.s.s ... and rich, soft plain--Wealth of flowers' splendour--Badb's cow-lowing--Wild the raven--Dead the men--A tale of woe--Battle-storms[b] on Cualnge evermore, to the death of mighty sons--Kith looking on the death of kin!"

[12-12] LU. and YBL. 846, and Stowe.