by Irish Myths
terrible fury, the Morrigu, to get help for Cuchulain. And she had
a dispute with Cuchulain one time he met her, and she bringing
away a cow from the Hill of Cruachan; and another time she
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helped Talchinem, a Druid of the household of Conaire Mor, to
bring away a bull his wife had set her mind on. And indeed she
was much given to meddling with cattle, and one time she
brought away a cow from Odras, that was of the household of the
cow-chief of Cormac Hua Cuined, and that was going after her
husband with cattle. And the Morrigu brought the cow away with
her to the Cave of Cruachan, and the Hill of the Sidhe. And Odras
followed her there till sleep fell on her in the oak-wood of Falga;
and the Morrigu awoke her and sang spells over her, and made of
her a pool of water that went to the river that flows to the west of
Slieve Buane.
And in the battle of Magh Rath, she fluttered over Congal
Claen in the shape of a bird, till he did not know friend from foe.
And after that again at the battle of Cluantarbh, she was flying
over the head of Murchadh, son of Brian; for she had many
shapes, and it was in the shape of a crow she would sometimes
fight her battles.
And if it was not the Morrigu, it was Badb that showed herself
in the battle of Dunbolg, where the men of Ireland were fighting
under Aedh, son of Niall; and Brigit was seen in the same battle
on the side of the men of Leinster.
CHAPTER V
AINE
And as to Aine, that some said was a daughter of Manannan, but
some said was the Morrigu herself, there was a stone belonging to
her that was called Cathair Aine. And if any one would sit on that
stone he would be in danger of losing his wits, and any one that
would sit on it three times would lose them for ever. And people
whose wits were astray would make their way to it, and mad dogs
would come from all parts of the country, and would flock around
it, and then they would go into the sea to Aine's place there. But
those that did cures by herbs said she had power over the whole
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99
body; and she used to give gifts of poetry and of music, and she
often gave her love to men, and they called her the Leanan Sidhe,
the Sweetheart of the Sidhe.
And it was no safe thing to offend Aine , for she was very
revengeful. Oilioll Oluim, a king of Ireland, killed her brother one
time, and it is what she did, she made a great yew tree by enchantment beside the river Maigh in Luimnech, and she put a little man in it, playing sweet music on a harp. And Oilioll's son
was passing the river with his step-brother, and they saw the tree
and heard the sweet music from it. And first they quarrelled as to
which of them would have the little harper, and then they quarrelled about the tree, and they asked a judgment from Oilioll, and he gave it for his own son. And it was the bad feeling about that
judgment that led to the battle of Magh Mucruimhe, and Oilioll
and his seven sons were killed there, and so Aine got her revenge.
CHAPTER VI.
AOIBHELL
And Aoibhell, another woman of the Sidhe, made her dwellingplace in Craig Liath, and at the time of the battle of Cluantarbh she set her love on a young man of Munster, Dubhlaing ua Artigan, that had been sent away in disgrace by the King of Ireland.
But before the battle he came back to join with Murchadh, the
king's son, and to fight for the Gael. And Aoibhell came to stop
him; and when he would not stop with her she put a Druid covering about him, the way no one could see him.
And he went where Murchadh was fighting, and he made a
great attack on the enemies of Ireland, and struck them down on
every side. And Murchadh looked around him, and he said: "It
seems to me I hear the sound of the blows of Dubhlaing ua Artigan, but I do not see himself. " Then Dubhlaing threw off the Druid covering that was about him, and he said: "I will not keep
this covering upon me when you cannot see me through it. And
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come now across the plain to where Aoibhell is," he said, "for she
can give us news of the battle."
So they went where she was, and she bade them both to quit
the battle, for they would lose their lives in it. But Murchadh said
to her, "I will tell you a little true story," he said; "that fear for my
own body will never make me change my face. And if we fall," he
said, "the strangers will fall with us; and it is many a man will fall
by my own hand, and the Gael will be sharing their strong
places." "Stop with me, Dubhlaing," she said then, "and you will
have two hundred years of happy life with myself. " "I will not
give up Murchadh," he said, "or my own good name, for silver or
gold. " And there was anger on Aoibhell when he said that, and
she said: "Murchadh will fall, and you yourself will fall, and your
proud blood will be on the plain tomorrow. " And they went back
into the battle, and got their death there.
And it was Aoibhell gave a golden harp to the son of Meardha
the time he was getting his learning at the school of the Sidhe in
Connacht and that he heard his father had got his death by the
King of Lochlann. And whoever heard the playing of that harp
would not live long after it. And Meardha's son went where the
three sons of the King of Lochlann were, and played on his harp
for them, and they died.
It was that harp Cuchulain heard the time his enemies were
gathering against him at Muirthemne, and he knew by it that his
life was near its end.
CHAPTER VII.
MIDHIR AND ETAIN
And Midhir took a hill for himself, and his wife Fuamach was with
him there, and his daughter, Bri. And Leith, son of Celtchar of
Cualu, was the most beautiful among the young men of the Sidhe
of Ireland at that time, and he loved Bri, Midhirs daughter. And Bri
went out with her young girls to meet him one time at the Grave of
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101
the Daughters beside Teamhair. And Leith came and his young men
along with him till he was on the Hill of the After Repentance. And
they could not come nearer to one another because of the slingers
on Midhir's hill that were answering one another till their spears
were as many as a swarm of bees on a day of beauty. And Cochlan,
Leith's servant, got a sharp wound from them and he died.
Then the girl turned back to Midhir's hill, and her heart broke
in her and she died. And Leith said: "Although I am not let come
to this girl, I will leave my name with her." And the hill was called
Bri Leith from that time.
After a while Midhir took Etain Echraide to be his wife. And
there was great jealousy on Fuamach, the wife he had before,
when she saw the love that Midhir gave to Etain, and she called to
the Druid, Bresal Etarlaim to help her, and he put spells on Etain
the way Fuamach was able to drive her away.
And when she was driven out of Bri Leith, Angus Og, son of
the Dagda, took her into his keeping
; and when Midhir asked her
back, he would not give her up, but he brought her about with
him to every place he went. And wherever they rested, he made a
sunny house for her, and put sweet-smelling flowers in it, and he
made invisible walls about it, that no one could see through and
that could not be seen.
But when news came to Fuamach that Etain was so well cared
by Angus, anger and j ealousy came on her again, and she
searched her mind for a way to destroy Etain altogether.
And it is what she did, she persuaded Midhir and Angus to go
out and meet one another and to make peace, for there had been
a quarrel between them ever since the time Etain was sent away.
And when Angus was away from Brugh na Boinn, Fuamach went
and found Etain there, in her sunny house. And she turned her
with Druid spells into a fly, and then she sent a blast of wind into
the house, that swept her away through the window.
But as to Midhir and Angus, they waited a while for Fuamach
to come and join them. And when she did not come they were
uneasy in their minds, and Angus hurried back to Brugh na
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Boinn. And when he found the sunny house empty, he went in
search of Fuamach, and it was along with Etarlaim, the Druid, he
found her, and he struck her head off there and then.
And for seven years Etain was blown to and fro through Ireland in great misery. And at last she came to the house of Etar, of Inver Cechmaine, where there was a feast going on, and she fell
from a beam of the roof into the golden cup that was beside Etar's
wife. And Etar's wife drank her down with the wine, and at the
end of nine months she was born again as Etar's daughter.
And she had the same name as before, Etain; and she was
reared as a king's daughter, and there were fifty young girls,
daughters of princes, brought up with her to keep her company.
And it happened one day Etain and all the rest of the young
girls were out bathing in the bay at Inver Cechmaine, and they
saw from the water a man, with very high looks, coming towards
them over the plain, and he riding a bay horse with mane and tail
curled. A long green cloak he had on him, and a shirt woven with
threads of red gold, and a brooch of gold that reached across to
his shoulders on each side. And he had on his back a shield of silver with a rim of gold and a boss of gold, and in his hand a sharp-pointed spear covered with rings of gold from heel to
socket. Fair yellow hair he had, coming over his forehead, and it
bound with a golden band to keep it from loosening.
And when he came near them he got down from his horse,
and sat down on the bank, and it is what he said:
"It is here Etain is to-day, at the Mound of Fair Women. It is
among little children is her life on the strand of Inver Cechmaine.
"It is she healed the eye of the king from the well of Loch da
Lig; it is she was swallowed in a heavy drink by the wife of Etar.
"Many great battles will happen for your sake to Echaid of
Midhe; destruction will fall upon the Sidhe, and war on thousands of men."
And when he had said that, he vanished, and no one knew
where he went. And they did not know the man that had come to
them was Midhir of Bri Leith.
THE EVER-LIVING LIVING ONES
1 03
And when Etain was grown to be a beautiful young woman,
she was seen by Eochaid Feidlech, High King of Ireland, and this
is the way that happened.
He was going one time over the fair green of Bri Leith, and he
saw at the side of a well a woman, with a bright comb of gold and
silver, and she washing in a silver basin having four golden birds
on it, and little bright purple stones set in the rim of the basin. A
beautiful purple cloak she had, and silver fringes to it, and a gold
brooch; and she had on her a dress of green silk with a long hood,
embroidered in red gold, and wonderful clasps of gold and silver
on her breasts and on her shoulder. The sunlight was falling on
her, so that the gold and the green silk were shining out. Two
plaits of hair she had, four locks in each plait, and a bead at the
point of every lock, and the colour of her hair was like yellow
flags in summer, or like red gold after it is rubbed.
There she was, letting down her hair to wash it, and her arms
out through the sleeve-holes of her shift. Her soft hands were as
white as the snow of a single night, and her eyes as blue as any
blue flower, and her lips as red as the berries of the rowan-tree,
and her body as white as the foam of a wave. The bright light of
the moon was in her face, the highness of pride in her eyebrows,
a dimple of delight in each of her cheeks, the light of wooing in
her eyes, and when she walked she had a step that was steady and
even like the walk of a queen.
And Eochaid sent his people to bring her to him, and he asked
her name, and she told him her name was Etain, daughter of Etar,
King of the Riders of the Sidhe. And Eochaid gave her his love,
and he paid the bride-price, and brought her home to Teamhair as
his wife, and there was a great welcome before her there.
And after a while there was a great feast made at Teamhair, and
all the chief men of Ireland came to it, and it lasted from the fortnight before Samhain to the fortnight after it. And King Eochaid's brother Ailell, that was afterwards called Ailell Anglonach, of the
Only Fault, came to the feast. And when he saw his brother's wife
Etain, he fell in love with her on the moment, and all through the
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IRISH MYTHS AND LEGENDS
length of the feast he was not content unless he could be looking
at her. And a woman, the daughter of Luchta Lamdearg, of the
Red Hand, took notice of it, and she said: "What far thing are you
looking at, Ailell? It is what I think, that to be looking the way
you are doing is a sign of love." Then Ailell checked himself, and
did not look towards Etain any more.
But when the feast was at an end, and the gathering broke up,
great desire and envy came on Ailell, so that he fell sick, and they
brought him to a house in Teffia. And he stopped there through
the length of a year, and he was wasting away, but he told no one
the cause of his sickness. And at the end of the year, Eochaid
came to visit his brother, and he passed his hand over his breast,
and Ailell let a groan. "What way are you?" said Eochaid then.
"Are you getting any easier, for you must not let this illness come
to a bad end." "By my word," said Ailell, "it is not easier I am, but
worse and worse every day and every night. " "What is it ails
you?" said Eochaid. "And what is it that is coming against you?"
"By my word, I cannot tell you that," said Ailell. "I will bring one
here that will know the cause of your sickness," said the king.
With that he sent Fachtna, his own physician, to Ailell; and
when he came he passed his hand over Ailell's heart, and at that
he groaned again. "This sickness will not be your death," said
Fachtna then; "and I know well what it comes from. It is eithe
r
from the pains of jealousy, or from love you have given, and that
you have not found a way out of." But there was shame on Ailell,
and he would not confess to the physician that what he said was
right. So Fachtna went away then and left him.
As to King Eochaid, he went away to visit all the provinces
of Ireland that were under his kingship, and he left Etain after
him, and it is what he said: "Good Etain," he said, "take tender
care of Ailell so long as he is living; and if he should die from us,
make a sodded grave for him, and raise a pillar stone over it, and
write his name on it in Ogham. " And with that he went away on
his journey.
One day, now, Etain went into the house where Ailell was
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105
lying in his sickness, and they talked together, and then she made
a little song for him, and it is what she said:
"What is it ails you, young man, for it is a long time you are
wasted with this sickness , and it is not the hardness of the
weather has stopped your light footstep."
And Ail ell answered her in the same way, and he said: "I have
good cause for my hurt; the music of my own harp does not
please me; there is no sort of food is pleasant to me, and so I am
wasted away." Then Etain said: "Tell me what is it ails you, for I
am a woman that is wise. Tell me is there anything that would
cure you, the way I may help you to it? " And Ailell answered
her: "O kind, beautiful woman, it is not good to tell a secret to a
woman, but sometimes it may be known through the eyes." And
Etain said: "Though it is bad to tell a secret, yet it ought to be told
now, or how can help be given to you?" And Ailell answered: "My
blessing on you, fair-haired Etain. It is not fit I am to be spoken
with; my wits have been no good help to me; my body is a rebel
to me. All Ireland knows, 0 king's wife, there is sickness in my
head and in my body." And Etain said: "If there is a woman of the
fair-faced women of Ireland tormenting you this way, she must
come to you here if it pleases you; and it is I myself will woo her
for you," she said.
Then Ailell said to her: "Woman, it would be easy for you
yourself to put my sickness from me. And my desire," he said, "is
