by Irish Myths
there was great grief on her, and she made this complaint:
"Ochone ! Aillen is fallen, chief of the Sidhe of Beinn Boirche;
the slow clouds of death are come on him. Och! he was pleasant,
Och ! he was kind, Aillen, son of Midhna of Slieve Fuad.
"Nine times he burned Teamhair. It is a great name he was
always looking for, Ochone, Ochone, Aillen! "
And at the breaking of day, the king and all the men of Ireland
came out upon the lawn at Teamhair where Finn was. "King,"
said Finn, "there is the head of the man that burned Teamhair,
and the pipe and the harp that made his music. And it is what I
think," he said, "that Teamhair and all that is in it is saved."
Then they all came together into the place of counsel, and it is
what they agreed, the headship of the Fianna of Ireland to be
given to Finn. And the king said to Goll, son of Moma: "Well,
Goll," he said, "is it your choice to quit Ireland or to put your
hand in Finn's hand?" "By my word, I will give Finn my hand,"
said Goll.
And when the charms that used to bring good luck had done
their work, the chief men of the Fianna rose up and struck their
hands in Finn's hand, and Goll, son of Morna, was the first to give
him his hand the way there would be less shame on the rest for
doing it.
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And Finn kept the headship of the Fianna until the end; and
the place he lived in was Almhuin of Leinster, where the white dun
was made by Nuada of the Tuatha de Danaan, that was as white as
if all the lime in Ireland was put on it, and that got its name from
the great herd of cattle that died fighting one time around the well,
and that left their horns there, speckled horns and white.
And as to Finn himself, he was a king and a seer and a poet; a
Druid and a knowledgeable man; and everything he said was
sweet-sounding to his people. And a better fighting man than
Finn never struck his hand into a king's hand, and whatever any
one ever said of him, he was three times better. And of his justice
it used to be said, that if his enemy and his son had come before
him to be judged, it is a fair judgment he would have given
between them. And as to his generosity it used to be said, he
never denied any man as long as he had a mouth to eat with, and
legs to bring away what he gave him; and he left no woman without her bride-price, and no man without his pay; and he never promised at night what he would not fulfil on the morrow, and he
never promised in the day what he would not fulfil at night, and
he never forsook his right-hand friend. And if he was quiet in
peace he was angry in battle, and Oisin his son and Osgar his
son's son followed him in that. There was a young man of Ulster
came and claimed kinship with them one time, saying they were
of the one blood. "If that is so," said Oisin, "it is from the men
of Ulster we took the madness and the angry heart we have in
battle. " "That is so indeed," said Finn.
CHAPTER II.
FINN'S HOUSEHOLD
And the number of the Fianna of Ireland at that time was seven
score and ten chief men, every one of them having three times
nine fighting men under him. And every man of them was bound
to three things, to take no cattle by oppression, not to refuse any
FINN, SON OF CUMHAL
1 7 1
man, as to cattle or riches; no one of them to fall back before nine
fighting men. And there was no man taken into the Fianna until
his tribe and his kindred would give securities for him, that even
if they themselves were all killed he would not look for satisfaction for their death. But if he himself would harm others, that harm was not to be avenged on his people. And there was no man
taken into the Fianna till he knew the twelve books of poetry.
And before any man was taken, he would be put into a deep hole
in the ground up to his middle, and he having his shield and a
hazel rod in his hand. And nine men would go the length of ten
furrows from him and would cast their spears at him at the one
time . And if he got a wound from one of them , he was not
thought fit to join with the Fianna. And after that again, his hair
would be fastened up, and he put to run through the woods of
Ireland, and the Fianna following after him to try could they
wound him, and only the length of a branch between themselves
and himself when they started. And if they came up with him and
wounded him, he was not let join them; of if his spears had trembled in his hand, or if a branch of a tree had undone the plaiting of his hair, or if he had cracked a dry stick under his foot, and he
running. And they would not take hirn among them till he had
made a leap over a stick the height of himself, and till he had
stooped under one the height of his knee, and till he had taken a
thorn out from his foot with his nail, and he running his fastest.
But if he had done all these things, he was of Finn's people.
It was good wages Finn and the Fianna got at that time; in
every district a townland, in every house the fostering of a pup or
a whelp from Samhain to Beltaine, and a great many things along
with that. But good as the pay was, the hardships and the dangers
they went through for it were greater. For they had to hinder the
strangers and robbers from beyond the seas, and every bad thing,
from coming into Ireland. And they had hard work enough in
doing that.
And besides the fighting men, Finn had with him his five
Druids, the best that ever came into the west, Cainnelsciath, of
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the Shining Shield, one of them was, that used to bring down
knowledge from the clouds in the sky before Finn, and that could
foretell battles. And he had his five wonderful physicians, four of
them belonging to Ireland, and one that came over the sea from
the east. And he had his five high poets and his twelve musicians,
that had among them Daighre, son of Morna, and Suanach, son of
Senshenn, that was Finn's teller of old stories, the sweetest that
ever took a harp in his hand in Ireland or in Alban. And he had
his three cup-bearers and his six door-keepers and his hornplayers and the stewards of his house and his huntsman , Comhrag of the five hundred hounds, and his serving-men, that
were under Garbhcronan, of the Rough Buzzing; and a great
troop of others along with them.
And there were fifty of the best sewing-women in Ireland
brought together in a rath on Magh Fernan, under the charge of a
daughter of the King of Britain, and they used to be making clothing for the Fianna through the whole of the year. And three of them, that were a kings daughters, used to be making music for
the rest on a little silver harp; and there was a very great candlestick of stone in the middle of the rath, for they were not willing to kindle a fire more than three times in the year for fear the
smoke and the ashes might harm the needlework.
And of all his musicians the one Finn thought most of was
Cnu Deireoil, the Little Nut, that came to him from the Sidhe.
It was at Slieve-nam-ban, for hunting, Fin
n was the time he
came to him. Sitting down he was on the turf-built grave that is
there; and when he looked around him he saw a small little man
about four feet in height standing on the grass. Light yellow hair
he had, hanging down to his waist, and he playing music on his
harp. And the music he was making had no fault in it at all, and it
is much that the whole of the Fianna did not fall asleep with the
sweetness of its sound. He came up then, and put his hand in
Finn's hand. "Where do you come from, little one, yourself and
your sweet music?" said Finn. "I am come," he said, "out of the
place of the Sidhe in Slieve-nam-ban, where ale is drunk and
FINN, SON OF CUMHAL
1 73
made; and it is to be in your company for a while I am come here."
"You will get good rewards from me, and riches and red gold," said
Finn, "and my full friendship, for I like you well. " "That is the best
luck ever came to you, Finn," said all the rest of the Fianna, for
they were well pleased to have him in their company. And they
gave him the name of the Little Nut; and he was good in speaking,
and he had so good a memory he never forgot anything he heard
east or west; and there was no one but must listen to his music,
and all the Fianna liked him well. And there were some said he
was a son of Lugh Lamh-Fada, of the Long Hand.
And the five musicians of the Fianna were brought to him, to
learn the music of the Sidhe he had brought from that other
place; for there was never any music heard on earth but his was
better. These were the three best things Finn ever got, Bran and
Sceolan that were without fault, and the Little Nut from the
House of the Sidhe in Slieve-nam-ban.
CHAPTER III.
BIRTH OF BRAN.
This, now is the story of the birth of Bran.
Finn's mother, Muime, came one time to Almhuin, and she
brought with her Tuiren, her sister. And Iollan Eachtach, a chief
man of the Fianna of Ulster, was at Almhuin at the time, and he
gave his love to Tuiren, and asked her in marriage, and brought
her to his own house. But before they went, Finn made him give
his word he would bring her back safe and sound if ever he asked
for her, and he bade him find sureties for himself among the chief
men of the Fianna. And Iollan did that, and the sureties he got
were Caoilte and Goll and Lugaidh Lamha, and it was Lugaidh
gave her into the hand of Iollan Eachtach.
But before Iollan made that marriage, he had a sweetheart of
the Sidhe, Uchtdealb of the Fair Breast; and there came great jealousy on her when she knew he had taken a wife. And she took
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the appearance of Finn's woman-messenger, and she came to the
house where Tuiren was, and she said: "Finn sends health and
long life to you, queen, and he bids you to make a great feast; and
come with me now," she said, "till I speak a few words with you,
for there is hurry on me. "
So Tuiren went out with her, and when they were away from
the house the woman of the Sidhe took out her dark Druid rod
from under her cloak and gave her a blow of it that changed her
into a hound, the most beautiful that was ever seen. And then she
went on, bringing the hound with her, to the house of Fergus
Fionnliath, king of the harbour of Gallirnh. And it is the way Fergus was, he was the most unfriendly man to dogs in the whole world, and he would not let one stop in the same house with him.
But it is what Uchtdealb said to him: "Finn wishes you life and
health, Fergus, and he says to you to take good care of his hound
till he comes himself; and mind her well," she said, "for she is with
young, and do not let her go hunting when her time is near, or
Finn will be no way thankful to you." "I wonder at that message,"
said Fergus, "for Finn knows well there is not in the world a man
has less liking for dogs than myself. But for all that," he said, "I will
not refuse Finn the first time he sent a hound to me."
And when he brought the hound out to uy her, she was the
best he ever knew, and she never saw the wild creature she would
not run down; and Fergus took a great liking for hounds from that.
And when her time came near, they did not let her go hunting
any more, and she gave birth to two whelps.
And as to Finn, when he heard his mother's sister was not living with Iollan Eachtach, he called to him for the fulfilment of the pledge that was given to the Fianna. And Iollan asked time to go
looking for Tuiren, and he gave his word that if he did not find her,
he would give himself up in satisfaction for her. So they agreed to
that, and Iollan went to the hill where Uchtdealb was, his sweetheart of the Sidhe, and told her the way things were with him, and the promise he had made to give himself up to the Fianna. "If that
is so," said she, "and if you will give me your pledge to keep me as
FINN, SON OF CUMHAL
1 75
your sweetheart to the end of your life, I will free you from that
danger." So Iollan gave her his promise, and she went to the house
of Fergus Fionnliath, and she brought Tuiren away and put her
own shape on her again, and gave her up to Finn. And Finn gave
her to Lugaidh Lamha that asked her in marriage.
And as to the two whelps, they stopped always with Finn, and
the names he gave them were Bran and Sceolan.
CHAPTER IV.
OISIN'S MOTHER
It happened one time Finn and his men were coming back from
the hunting, a beautiful fawn started up before them, and they
followed after it, men and dogs, till at last they were all tired and
fell back, all but Finn himself and Bran and Sceolan. And suddenly as they were going through a valley, the fawn stopped and lay down on the smooth grass, and Bran and Sceolan came up
with it, and they did not harm it at all, but went playing about it,
licking its neck and its face.
There was wonder on Finn when he saw that, and he went on
home to Almhuin, and the fawn followed after him playing with
the hounds, and it came with them into the house at Almhuin.
And when Finn was alone late that evening, a beautiful young
woman having a rich dress came before him, and she told him it
was she herself was the fawn he was after hunting that day. "And
it is for refusing the love of Fear Doirche, the Dark Druid of the
Men of Dea," she said, "I was put in this shape. And through the
length of three years," she said, "I have lived the life of a wild deer
in a far part of Ireland, and I am hunted like a wild deer. And a
serving-man of the Dark Druid took pity on me," she said, "and
he said that if I was once within the dun of the Fianna of Ireland,
the Druid would have no more power over me. So I made away,
and I never stopped through the whole length of a day till I came
into the district of Almhuin. And I never stopped then till there
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was no one after me but only Bran and Sceolan, that have human
wits; and I was safe with them, for they knew my nature to be like
their own. "
Then Finn gave he
r his love, and took her as his wife, and she
stopped in Almhuin. And so great was his love for her, he gave up
his hunting and all the things he used to take pleasure in, and
gave his mind to no other thing but herself.
But at last the men of Lochlann came against Ireland, and their
ships were in the bay below Beinn Edair, and they landed there.
And Finn and the battalions of the Fianna went out against
them, and drove them back. And at the end of seven days Finn
came back home, and he went quickly over the plain of Almhuin,
thinking to see Sadbh his wife looking out from the dun, but
there was no sign of her. And when he came to the dun, all his
people came out to meet him, but they had a very downcast look.
"Where is the flower of Almhuin, beautiful gentle Sadbh? " he
asked them. And it is what they said: "While you were away fighting, your likeness , and the likeness of Bran and of Sceolan appeared before the dun, and we thought we heard the sweet call
of the Dord Fiann. And Sadbh, that was so good and so beautiful,
came out of the house," they said, "and she went out of the gates,
and she would not listen to us, and we could not stop her." "Let
me go meet my love," she said, "my husband, the father of the
child that is not born . " And with that she went running out
towards the shadow of yourself that was before her, and that had
its arms stretched out to her. But no sooner did she touch it than
she gave a great cry, and the shadow lifted up a hazel rod, and on
the moment it was a fawn was standing on the grass. Three times
she turned and made for the gate of the dun, but the two hounds
the shadow had with him went after her and took her by the
throat and dragged her back to him. "And by your hand of valour,
Finn," they said, "we ourselves made no delay till we went out on
the plain after her. But it is our grief, they had all vanished, and
there was not to be seen woman, or fawn or Druid, but we could
hear the quick tread of feet on the hard plain, and the howling of
FINN, SON OF CUMHAL
1 77
dogs. And if you would ask every one of us in what quarter he
heard those sounds, he would tell you a different one."
When Finn heard that, he said no word at all, but he struck
his breast over and over again with his shut hands. And he went
