by Irish Myths
cooking-spit.
And when Brian saw it, he took it up in his hand and he was
66
IRISH MYTHS AND LEGENDS
going to bring it with him to the door. And all the women began
laughing when they saw him doing that, and it is what they said:
"It is a brave deed you put your hand to; for even if your brothers
were along with you, the least of the three times fifty women of us
would not let the spit go with you or with them. But for all that,"
they said, "take a spit of the spits with you, since you had the daring to try and take it in spite of us."
Brian bade them farewell then, and went to look for the boat.
And his brothers thought it was too long he was away from them,
and just as they were going to leave the place they were, they saw
him coming towards them, and that raised their courage greatly.
And he went into the boat, and they went on to look for the
Hill of Miochaoin. And when they came there, Miochaoin, that
was the guardian of the hill, came towards them; and when Brian
saw him he attacked him, and the fight of those two champions
was like the fight of two lions, till Miochaoin fell at the last.
And after Miochaoin had fallen, his three sons came out to
fight with the three sons of Tuireann. And if any one ever came
from the east of the world to look at any fight, it is to see the fight
of these champions he had a right to come, for the greatness of
their blows and the courage of their minds. The names of the
sons of Miochaoin were Core and Conn and Aedh, and they
drove their three spears through the bodies of the sons of Tuireann, and that did not discourage them at all and they put their own three spears through the bodies of the sons of Miochaoin, so
that they fell into the clouds and the faintness of death.
And then Brian said: "What way are you now, my dear brothers? " "We are near our death," said they. "Let us rise up," he said,
"and give three shouts upon the hill, for I see the signs of death
coming on us. " "We are not able to do that," said they. Then Brian
rose up and raised each of them with one hand, and he shedding
blood heavily all the time, until they gave the three shouts.
After that Brian brought them with him to the boat, and they
were travelling the sea for a long time, but at last Brian said: "I see
Beinn Edair and our father's dun, and Teamhair of the Kings. "
LUGH OF THE LONG HAND
67
"We would have our fill of health if we could see that," said the
others; "and for the love of your good name, brother," they said,
"raise up our heads on your breast till we see Ireland again, and
life or death will be the same to us after that. And 0 Brian," they
said, "Flame of Valour without treachery, we would sooner death
to bring ourselves away, than to see you with wounds upon your
body, and with no physician to heal you."
Then they came to Beinn Edair, and from that they went on
to their father's house, and Brian said to Tuireann: "Go, dear
father, to Teamhair, and give this spit to Lugh, and bring the skin
that has healing in it for our relief. Ask it from him for the sake
of friendship," he said, "for we are of the one blood, and let him
not give hardness for hardness. And 0 dear father," he said, "do
not be long on your journey, or you will not find us alive before you. "
Then Tuireann went to Teamhair, and he found Lugh o f the
Long Hand before him, and he gave him the spit, and he asked
for the skin of him to heal his children, and Lugh said he would
not give it. And Tuireann came back to them and told them he
had not got the skin. And Brian said: "Bring me with you to Lugh,
to see would I get it from him."
So they went to Lugh, and Brian asked the skin of him. And
Lugh said he would not give it, and that if they would give him
the breadth of the earth in gold for it, he would not take it from
them, unless he was sure their death would come on them in satisfaction for the deed they had done.
When Brian heard that, he went to the place his two brothers
were, and he lay down between them, and his life went out from
him, and out from the other two at the same time.
And their father cried and lamented over his three beautiful
sons, that had the making of a king of Ireland in each of them,
and his strength left him and he died; and they were buried in the
one grave.
68
CHAPTER III.
THE GREAT BATTLE OF MAGH TUIREADH
And it was not long after Lugh had got the fine from the sons of
Tuireann that the Fomor came and landed at Scetne.
The whole host of the Fomor were come this time, and their
king, Balor, of the Strong Blows and of the Evil Eye, along with
them; and Bres, and Indech, son of De Domnann, a king of the
Fomor, and Elathan, son of Lobos, and Goll and Ingol, and Octriallach, son of Indech, and Ela than, son of Delbaeth.
Then Lugh sent the Dagda to spy out the Fomor, and to delay
them till such time as the men of Ireland would come to the battle.
So the Dagda went to their camp, and he asked them for a
delay, and they said he might have that. And then to make sport
of him, the Fomor made broth for him, for he had a great love for
broth. So they filled the kings cauldron with four times twenty
gallons of new milk, and the same of meal and fat, and they put in
goats and sheep and pigs along with that, and boiled all together,
and then they poured it all out into a great hole in the ground.
And they called him to it then, and told him he should eat his fill,
the way the Fomor would not be reproached for want of hospitality the way Bres was. "We will make an end of you if you leave any part of it after you," said Indech, son of De Domnann.
So the Dagda took the ladle, and it big enough for a man and a
woman to lie in the bowl of it, and he took out bits with it, the
half of a salted pig, and a quarter of lard a bit would be. "If the
broth tastes as well as the bits taste, this is good food," he said.
And he went on putting the full of the ladle into his mouth till the
hole was empty; and when all was gone he put down his hand
and scraped up all that was left among the earth and the gravel.
Sleep came on him then after eating the broth, and the Fomor
were laughing at him, for his belly was the size of the cauldron of a
great house. But he rose up after a while, and, heavy as he was, he
made his way home; and indeed his dress was no way sightly, a
cape to the hollow of the elbows, and a brown coat, long in the
LUGH OF THE LONG HAND
69
breast and short behind, and on his feet brogues of horse hide,
with the hair outside, and in his hand a wheeled fork it would take
eight men to carry, so that the track he left after him was deep
enough for the boundary ditch of a province. And on his way he
saw the Battle-Crow, the Morrigu, washing herself in the river
Unius of Connacht, and one of her two feet at Ullad Echne, to the
south of the water, and the other at Loscuinn, to the north of the
water, and her hair hanging in nine loosened locks. And she said
to th
e Dagda, that she would bring the heart's blood of Indech, son
of De Domnann, that had threatened him, to the men of Ireland.
And while he was away Lugh had called together the Druids,
and smiths, and physicians, and law-makers, and chariot-drivers
of Ireland, to make plans for the battle.
And he asked the great magician Mathgen what could he do to
help them. "It is what I can do," said Mathgen, "through my
power I can throw down all the mountains of Ireland on the
Fomor, until their tops will be rolling on the ground. And the
twelve chief mountains of Ireland will bring you their help," he
said, "and will fight for you: Slieve Leag and Denda Ulad, and
Bennai Boirche and Bri Ruri, and Slieve Bladma and Slieve Snechtae, and Slieve Mis and Blai-Slieve, and Nemthann and Slieve Macca Belgodon, and Segois and Cruachan Aigle. "
Then he asked the cup-bearers what help they could give. "We
will put a strong thirst on the Fomor," they said, "and then we will
bring the twelve chief lochs of Ireland before them, and however
great their thirst may be, they will find no water in them: Den:
Loch, Loch Luimnech, Loch Orbsen, Loch Righ, Loch Mescdhae,
Loch Cuan, Loch Laeig, Loch Echach, Loch Febail, Loch Decket,
Loch Riach, Mor-Loch. And we will go," they said, "to the twelve
chief rivers of Ireland: the Buas, the Boinn, the Banna, the Nern,
the Laoi, the Sionnan, the Muaid, the Sligech, the Samair, the
Flonn, the Ruirtech, the Siuir; and they will all be hidden away
from the Fomor the way they will not find a drop in them. But as
for the men of Ireland," they said, "there will be drink for them if
they were to be in the battle to the end of seven years. "
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IRISH MYTHS AND LEGENDS
And Figol, son of Mamos, the Druid, was asked then what he
would do, and he said: "It is what I will do, I will cause three
showers of fire to pour on the faces of the army of the Fomor,
and I will take from them two-thirds of their bravery and their
strength, and I will put sickness on their bodies, and on the
bodies of their horses. But as to the men of Ireland," he said,
"every breath they breathe will be an increase of strength and of
bravery to them; and if they are seven years in the battle they will
never be any way tired. "
Then Lugh asked his two witches , Bechulle and Dianan:
"What power can you bring to the battle? " "It is easy to say that,"
they said. "We will put enchantment on the trees and the stones
and the sods of the earth, till they become an armed host against
the Fomor, and put terror on them and put them to the rout."
Then Lugh asked Carpre, the poet, son of Etain, what could
he do. "It is not hard to say that," said Carpre. "I will make a
satire on them at sunrise, and the wind from the north, and I on a
hill-top and my back to a thorn-tree, and a stone and a thorn in
my hand. And with that satire," he said, "I will put shame on
them and enchantment, the way they will not be able to stand
against fighting men."
Then he asked Goibniu the Smith what would he be able to
do. "I will do this," he said. "If the men of Ireland stop in the battle to the end of seven years, for every sword that is broken and for every spear that is lost from its shaft, I will put a new one in its
place. And no spear-point that will be made by my hand," he said,
"will ever miss its mark; and no man it touches will ever taste life
again. And that is more than Dolb, the smith of the Fomor, can
do," he said.
"And you, Credne," Lugh said then to his worker in brass,
"what help can you give to our men in the battle? " "It is not
hard to tell that," said Credne, "rivets for their spears and hilts for
their swords and bosses and rims for their shields, I will supply
them all."
"And you, Luchta," he said then to his carpenter, "what will
LUGH OF THE LONG HAND
7 1
you do?" "I will give them all they want of shields and of spear
shafts," said Luchta.
Then he asked Diancecht, the physician, what would he do, and
it is what he said: "Every man that will be wounded there, unless
his head is struck off, or his brain or his marrow cut through, I will
make him whole and sound again for the battle of the morrow. "
Then the Dagda said: "Those great things you are boasting you
will do, I will do them all with only myself. " "It is you are the
good god! " said they, and they all gave a great shout of laughter.
Then Lugh spoke to the whole army and put strength in them,
so that each one had the spirit in him of a king or a great lord.
Then when the delay was at an end, the Fomor and the men of
Ireland came on towards one another till they came to the plain of
Magh Tuireadh. That now was not the same Magh Tuireadh where
the first battle was fought, but it was to the north, near Ess Dara.
And then the two armies threatened one another. "The men of
Ireland are daring enough to offer battle to us, " said Bres to
Indech, son of De Domnann. "I give my word," said Indech, "it is
in small pieces their bones will be, if they do not give in to us and
pay their tribute. "
Now the Men of Dea had determined not to let Lugh go into
the battle, because of the loss his death would be to them; and
they left nine of their men keeping a watch on him.
And on the first day none of the kings or princes went into the
battle, but only the common fighting men, and they fierce and
proud enough.
And the battle went on like that from day to day with no great
advantage to one or the other side. But there was wonder on the
Fomor on account of one thing. Such of their own weapons as
were broken or blunted in the fight lay there as they were, and
such of their own men as were killed showed no sign of life on
the morrow; but it was not so with the Tuatha de Danaan, for if
their men were killed or their weapons were broken to-day, they
were as good as before on the morrow.
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IRISH MITHS AND LEGENDS
And this is the way that happened. The well of Slaine lay to
the west of Magh Tuireadh to the east of Loch Arboch. And
Diancecht and his son Octruil and his daughter Airmed used
to be singing spells over the well and to be putting herbs in it;
and the men that were wounded to death in the battle would
be brought to the well and put into it as dead men, and they
would come out of it whole and sound, through the power of
the spells. And not only were they healed, but there was such fire
put into them that they would be quicker in the fight than they
were before.
And as to the arms, it is the way they were made new every
day. Goibniu the Smith used to be in the forge making swords and
spears, and he would make a spearhead by three turns, and then
Luchta the Carpenter would make the shaft by three cuts, and the
third cut was a finish, and would set it in the ring of the spear.
And when the spear-heads were stuck in the side of the forge, he
would throw the shaft and the rings the way they would go into
/>
the spear-head and want no more setting. And then Credne the
Brazier would make the rivets by three turns and would cast the
rings of the spears to them, and with that they were ready and
were set together.
And all this went against the Fomor, and they sent one of their
young men to spy about the camp and to see could he find out
how these things were done. It was Ruadan, son of Bres and of
Brigit daughter of the Dagda they sent, for he was a son and
grandson of the Tuatha de Danaan. So he went and saw all that
was done, and came back to the Fomor.
And when they heard his story it is what they thought, that
Goibniu the Smith was the man that hindered them most. And
they sent Ruadan back again, and bade him make an end of him.
So he went back again to the forge, and he asked Goibniu
would he give him a spear-head. And then he asked rivets of
Credne, and a shaft of the carpenter, and all was given to him as
he asked. And there was a woman there, Cron, mother to Fianlug,
grinding the spears.
LUGH OF THE LONG HAND
7 3
And after the spear being given to Ruadan, he turned and
threw it at Goibniu, that it wounded him. But Goibniu pulled it
out and made a cast of it at Ruadan, that it went through him and
he died; and Bres, his father, and the army of the Fomor, saw him
die. And then Brigit came and keened her son with shrieking and
with crying.
And as to Goibniu, he went into the well and was healed. But
after that Octriallach, son of Indech, called to the Fomor and bade
each man of them bring a stone of the stones of Drinnes and throw
them into the well of Slane. And they did that till the well was
dried up, and a cairn raised over it, that is called Octriallach's Cairn.
And it was while Goibniu was making spear-heads for the battle of Magh Tuireadh, a charge was brought against his wife. And it was seen that it was heavy news to him, and that jealousy came
on him. And it is what he did, there was a spear-shaft in his hand
when he heard the story, Nes its name was; and he sang spells
over the spear-shaft, and any one that was struck with that spear
afterwards, it would bum him up like fire.
And at last the day of the great battle came, and the Fomor
came out of their camp and stood in strong ranks. And there was
