Lady Augusta Gregory

by Irish Myths

  of silver for him, with movement in every finger of it, and put it

  on him. And from that he was called Nuada Argat-lamh, of the

  Silver Hand, for ever after.

  Now Miach, son of Diancecht, was a better hand at healing

  than his father, and had done many things. He met a young man,

  having but one eye, at Teamhair one time, and the young man

  said: "If you are a good physician you will put an eye in the place

  of the eye I lost. " "I could put the eye of that cat in your lap in its

  place," said Miach. "I would like that well," said the young man.

  So Miach put the cat's eye in his head; but he would as soon have

  been without it after, for when he wanted to sleep and take his

  rest, it is then the eye would start at the squeaking of the mice, or

  the flight of the birds, or the movement of the rushes; and when

  he was wanting to watch an army or a gathering, it is then it was

  sure to be in a deep sleep.

  And Miach was not satisfied with what his father had done to

  the king, and he took Nuada's own hand that had been struck off,

  and brought it to him and set it in its place, and he said: ''.Joint to

  joint, and sinew to sinew. " Three days and three nights he was

  with the king; the first day he put the hand against his side, and

  the second day against his breast, till it was covered with skin,

  and the third day he put bulrushes that were blackened in the fire

  on it, and at the end of that time the king was healed.

  But Diancecht was vexed when he saw his son doing a better

  cure than himself, and he threw his sword at his head, that it cut

  the flesh, but the lad healed the wound by means of his skill. Then

  Diancecht threw it a second time, that it reached the bone, but the

  lad was able to cure the wound. Then he struck him the third time

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  and the fourth, till he cut out the brain, for he knew no physician

  could cure him after that blow; and Miach died, and he buried him.

  And herbs grew up from his grave, to the number of his joints

  and sinews, three hundred and sixty-five. And Airmed, his sister,

  came and spread out her cloak and laid out the herbs in it,

  according to their virtue. But Diancecht saw her doing that, and

  he came and mixed up the herbs, so that no one knows all their

  right powers to this day.

  Then when the Tuatha de Danaan saw Nuada was well as he

  was before, they gathered together to Teamhair, where Bres was,

  and they bade him give up the kingship, for he had held it long

  enough. So he had to give it up, though he was not very willing,

  and Nuada was put back in the kingship again.

  There was great vexation on Bres then, and he searched his

  mind to know how could he be avenged on those that had put

  him out, and how he could gather an army against them; and he

  went to his mother, Eri, daughter of Delbaith, and bade her tell

  him what his race was.

  "I know that well," she said; and she told him then that his

  father was a king of the Fomor, Elathan, son of Dalbaech, and

  that he came to her one time over a level sea in some great vessel

  that seemed to be of silver, but she could not see its shape, and he

  himself having the appearance of a young man with yellow hair,

  and his clothes sewed with gold, and five rings of gold about his

  neck. And she that had refused the love of all the young men of

  her own people, gave him her love, and she cried when he left

  her. And he gave her a ring from his hand, and bade her give it

  only to the man whose finger it would fit, and he went away then

  the same way as he had come.

  And she brought out the ring then to Bres, and he put it round

  his middle finger, and it fitted him well. And they went then

  together to the hill where she was the time she saw the silver vessel coming, and down to the strand, and she and Bres and his people set out for the country of the Fomor.

  And when they came to that country they found a great plain

  THE COMING OF THE TUATHA DE DANAAN

  37

  with many gatherings of people on it, and they went to the gathering that looked the best, and the people asked where did they come from, and they said they were come from Ireland. "Have

  you hounds with you? " they asked them then, for it was the custom at that time, when strangers came to a gathering to give them some friendly challenge. "We have hounds," said Bres. So the

  hounds were matched against one another, and the hounds of the

  Tuatha de Danaan were better than the hounds of the Fomor.

  "Have you horses for a race? " they asked then. "We have," said

  Bres. And the horses of the Tuatha de Danaan beat the horses of

  the Fomor.

  Then they asked was any one among them a good hand with

  the sword, and they said Bres was the best. But when he put his

  hand to his sword, Elathan, his father, that was among them,

  knew the ring, and he asked who was this young man. Then his

  mother answered him and told the whole story, and that Bres was

  his own son.

  There was sorrow on his father then, and he said: "What was it

  drove you out of the country you were king over?" And Bres said:

  "Nothing drove me out but my own injustice and my own hardness; I took away their treasures from the people, and their jewels, and their food itself. And there were never taxes put on them

  before I was their king."

  "That is bad," said his father; "it is of their prosperity you had

  a right to think more than of your own kingship. And their goodwill would be better than their curses," he said; "and what is it you are come to look for here?" "I am come to look for fighting

  men," said Bres, "that I may take Ireland by force. " "You have no

  right to get it by injustice when you could not keep it by justice,"

  said his father. "What advice have you for me then?" said Bres.

  And Elathan bade him go to the chief king of the Fomor,

  Balor of the Evil Eye, to see what advice and what help would he

  give him.

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  BOO K T w o :

  LUGH OF THE LONG HAND

  CHAPTER I.

  THE COMING OF LUGH

  Now as to Nuada of the Silver Hand, he was holding a great feast

  at Teamhair one time, after he was back in the kingship. And

  there were two door-keepers at Teamhair, Gamal, son of Figal,

  and Camel, son of Riagall. And a young man came to the door

  where one of them was, and bade him bring him in to the king.

  "Who are you yourself? " said the door-keeper. "I am Lugh, son of

  Cian of the Tuatha de Danaan, and of Ethlinn, daughter of Balor,

  King of the Fomor," he said; "and I am foster-son of Taillte ,

  daughter of the King of the Great Plain, and of Echaid the Rough,

  son of Duach. " "What are you skilled in? " said the door-keeper;

  "for no one without an art comes into Teamhair." "Question me,"

  said Lugh; "I am a carpenter. " "We do not want you; we have a

  carpenter ourselves, Luchtar, son of Luachaid. " "Then I am a

  smith. " "We have a smith ourselves, Colum Cuaillemech of the

  Three New Ways. " "Then I am a champion. " "That is no use to

  us; we have a champion before, Ogma, brother to the king. "

  "Question me again
," he said; "I am a harper." "That is no use to

  us; we have a harper ourselves, Abhean, son of Bicelmos, that the

  Men of the Three Gods brought from the hills. " "I am a poet," he

  said then, "and a teller of tales. " "That is no use to us; we have a

  teller of tales ourselves, Ere, son of Ethaman. " "And I am a magician." "That is no use to us; we have plenty of magicians and people of power. " "I am a physician," he said. "That is no use; we

  have Diancecht for our physician." "Let me be a cup-bearer," he

  said. "We do not want you; we have nine cup-bearers ourselves."

  "I am a good worker in brass." "We have a worker in brass ourselves, that is Credne Cerd. "

  Then Lugh said: "Go and ask the king if he has any one man

  LUGH OF THE LONG HAND

  39

  that can do all these things, and if he has, I will not ask to come

  into Teamhair." The door-keeper went into the king's house then

  and told him all that. "There is a young man at the door," he said,

  "and his name should be Ildanach, the Master of all Arts, for

  all the things the people of your house can do , he himself is

  able to do every one of them. " "Try him with the chess-boards,"

  said Nuada. So the chess-boards were brought out, and every

  game that was played, Lugh won it. And when Nuada was told

  that, he said: "Let him in, for the like of him never came into

  Teamhair before."

  Then the door-keeper let him pass, and he came into the king's

  house and sat down in the seat of knowledge. And there was a

  great flag-stone there that could hardly be moved by four times

  twenty yoke of oxen, and Ogma took it up and hurled it out

  through the house, so that it lay on the outside of Teamhair, as a

  challenge to Lugh. But Lugh hurled it back again that it lay in the

  middle of the king's house. He played the harp for them then, and

  he had them laughing and crying, till he put them asleep at the

  end with a sleepy tune. And when Nuada saw all the things Lugh

  could do, he began to think that by his help the country might

  get free of the taxes and the tyranny put on it by the Fomor. And

  it is what he did, he came down from his throne, and he put Lugh

  on it in his place, for the length of thirteen days, the way they

  might all listen to the advice he would give.

  This now is the story of the birth of Lugh. The time the Fomor

  used to be coming to Ireland, Balor of the Strong Blows, or, as

  some called him, of the Evil Eye, was living on the Island of the

  Tower of Glass. There was danger for ships that went near that

  island, for the Fomor would come out and take them. And some

  say the sons of Nemed in the old time, before the Firbolgs were in

  Ireland, passed near it in their ships, and what they saw was a

  tower of glass in the middle of the sea, and on the tower something that had the appearance of men, and they went against it with Druid spells to attack it. And the Fomor worked against

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  them with Druid spells of their own; and the sons of Nemed

  attacked the tower, and it vanished, and they thought it was

  destroyed. But a great wave rose over them then, and all their

  ships went down and all that were in them.

  And the tower was there as it was before, and Balor living in it.

  And it is the reason he was called "of the Evil Eye," there was a

  power of death in one of his eyes, so that no person could look at

  it and live. It is the way it got that power, he was passing one time

  by a house where his father's Druids were making spells of death,

  and the window being open he looked in, and the smoke of the

  poisonous spells was rising up, and it went into his eye. And from

  that time he had to keep it closed unless he wanted to be the

  death of some enemy, and then the men that were with him

  would lift the eyelid with a ring of ivory.

  Now a Druid foretold one time that it was by his own grandson he would get his death. And he had at that time but one child, a daughter whose name was Ethlinn; and when he heard

  what the Druid said, he shut her up in the tower on the island.

  And he put twelve women with her to take charge of her and to

  guard her, and he bade them never to let her see a man or hear

  the name of a man.

  So Ethlinn was brought up in the tower, and she grew to be

  very beautiful; and sometimes she would see men passing in the

  currachs, and sometimes she would see a man in her dreams. But

  when she would speak of that to the women, they would give her

  no answer.

  So there was no fear on Balor, and he went on with war and

  robbery as he was used, seizing every ship that passed by, and

  sometimes going over to Ireland to do destruction there.

  Now it chanced at that time there were three brothers of the

  Tuatha de Danaan living together in a place that was called Druim

  na Teine, the Ridge of the Fire, Goibniu and Samthainn and Cian.

  Cian was a lord of land, and Goibniu was the smith that had such

  a great name. Now Cian had a wonderful cow, the Glas Gaibhnenn, and her milk never failed. And every one that heard of her

  LUGH OF THE LONG HAND

  4 1

  coveted her, and many had tried to steal her away, so that she had

  to be watched night and day.

  And one time Cian was wanting some swords made, and he

  went to Goibnius forge, and he brought the Glas Gaibhnenn with

  him, holding her by a halter. When he came to the forge his two

  brothers were there together, for Samthainn had brought some steel

  to have weapons made for himself, and Cian bade Samthainn to

  hold the halter while he went into the forge to speak with Goibniu.

  Now Balor had set his mind for a long time on the Glas Gaibhnenn, but he had never been able to get near her up to this time.

  And he was watching not far off, and when he saw Samthainn

  holding the cow, he put on the appearance of a little boy, having red

  hair, and came up to him and told him he heard his two brothers

  that were in the forge saying to one another that they would use all

  his steel for their own swords, and make his of iron. "By my word,"

  said Samthainn, "they will not deceive me so easily. Let you hold

  the cow, little lad," he said, "and I will go in to them." With that he

  rushed into the forge, and great anger on him. And no sooner did

  Balor get the halter in his hand than he set out, dragging the Glas

  along with him, to the strand, and across the sea to his own island.

  When Cian saw his brother coming in he rushed out, and

  there he saw Balor and the Glas out in the sea. And he had nothing to do then but to reproach his brother, and to wander about as if his wits had left him, not knowing what way to get his cow

  back from Balor. At last he went to a Druid to ask an advice from

  him; and it is what the Druid told him, that so long as Balor lived,

  the cow would never be brought back, for no one would go

  within reach of his Evil Eye.

  Cian went then to a woman-Druid, Birog of the Mountain, for

  her help. And she dressed him in a woman's clothes, and brought

  him across the sea in a blast of wind, to the tower where Ethlinn was . Then she called to the women in the tower, and asked them for shelter for a high queen
she was after saving from

  some hardship, and the women in the tower did not like to refuse

  a woman of the Tuatha de Danaan, and they let her and her

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  comrade in. Then Birog by her enchantments put them all into a

  deep sleep, and Cian went to speak with Ethlinn. And when she

  saw him she said that was the face she had seen in her dreams. So

  she gave him her love; but after a while he was brought away

  again on a blast of wind.

  And when her time came, Ethlinn gave birth to a son. And

  when Balor knew that, he bade his people put the child in a cloth

  and fasten it with a pin, and throw him into a current of the sea.

  And as they were carrying the child across an arm of the sea, the

  pin dropped out, and the child slipped from the cloth into the

  water, and they thought he was drowned. But he was brought

  away by Birog of the Mountain, and she brought him to his father

  Cian; and he gave him to be fostered by Taillte, daughter of the

  King of the Great Plain. It is thus Lugh was born and reared.

  And some say Balor came and struck the head of Cian on a

  white stone, that has the blood marks on it to this day; but it is

  likely it was some other man he struck the head off, for it was by

  the sons of Tuireann that Cian came to his death.

  And after Lugh had come to Teamhair, and made his mind up

  to join with his father's people against the Fomor, he put his mind

  to the work; and he went to a quiet place in Grellach Dollaid,

  with Nuada and the Dagda, and with Ogma; and Goibniu and

  Diancecht were called to them there. A full year they stopped

  there, making their plans together in secret, the way the Fomor

  would not know they were going to rise against them till such

  time as all would be ready, and till they would know what their

  strength was. And it is from that council the place got the name

  afterwards of "The Whisper of the Men of Dea."

  And they broke up the council, and agreed to meet again that

  day three years, and every one of them went his own way, and

  Lugh went back to his own friends, the sons of Manannan.

  And it was a good while after that, Nuada was holding a great

  assembly of the people on the Hill of Uisnech, on the west side of

  LUGH OF THE LONG HAND

  43

  Teamhair. And they were not long there before they saw an armed