by Irish Myths
which of us will fight best for Ireland."
So Madan came to the land, and the two attacked one another,
and made a very hard fight; but as it was not in the prophecy that
Glas would find his death there, it was the son of the King of the
Marshes that got his death by him.
And not long after that Conn Crither came back to Glas, and
he gave Glas great praise for all he had done.
CHAPTER V.
THE HELP OF THE MEN OF DEA
Then Taistellach that was one of Finn's messengers, came to the
White Strand asking news; and Conn bade him go back to where
Finn was and tell him the way things were. But Taistellach would
not go until he had wetted his sword in the blood of one of the
enemies of Ireland, the same as the others had done. And he sent
a challenge to the ships, and Coimhleathan, a champion that was
very big and tall, came and fought with him on the strand, and
took him in his arms to bring him back living to the ship of the
High King; but Taistellach struck his head off in the sea and
brought it back to land.
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IRISH MYTHS AND LEGENDS
"Victory and blessing be with you ! " said Conn Crither. "And
go now to-night," he said, "to the house of Bran, son of Febal my
father at Teamhair Luachra, and bid him to gather all the Tuatha
de Danaan to help us; and go on to-morrow to the Fianna of Ireland." So Taistellach went on to Bran's house, and he told him the whole story and gave him the message.
Then Bran, son of Febal, went out to gather the Tuatha de
Danaan, and he went to Dun Sesnain in Ui Conall Gabra, where
they were holding a feast at that time. And there he found three of
the best young men of the Tuatha de Danaan, Ilbrec the Many
Coloured, son of Manannan, and Nemanach the Pearly, son of
Angus Og, and Sigmall, grandson of Midhir, and they made him
welcome and bade him to stop with them. "There is a greater thing
than this for you to do, Men of Dea," said Bran; and he told them
the whole story, and the way Conn Crither his son was. "Stop with
me to-night," said Sesnan, "and my son Dolb will go to Bodb Dearg,
son of the Dagda, and gather in the Tuatha in Danaan to us."
So he stopped there, and Dolb, son of Sesnan, went to Sidhe
Bean Finn above Magh Femen, and Bodb Dearg was there at that
time, and Do lb gave him his message. "Young man," said Bodb
Dearg, "we are no way bound to help the men of Ireland out of
that strait. " "Do not say that," said Dolb, "for there is not a king's
son or a prince or a leader of the Fianna of Ireland without having
a wife or a mother or a foster-mother or a sweetheart of the
Tuatha de Danaan; and it is good help they have given you every
time you were in want of it." "I give my word," said Bodb Dearg,
"it is right to give a good answer to so good a messenger." With
that he sent word to the Tuatha de Danaan in every place where
they were, and they gathered to him. and from that they went on
to Dun Sesnain, and they stopped there through the night. And
they rose up in the morning and put on their shirts of the dearest
silk and their embroidered coats of rejoicing, and they took their
green shields and their swords and their spears. And their leaders
at that time besides Bodb Dearg were Midhir of Bri Leith, and Lir
of Sidhe Finnachaidh, and Abarthach, son of Ildathach, and
THE BATTLE OF THE WHITE STRAND
2 1 1
Ilbrec, son of Manannan, and Fionnbhar of Magh Suil, and Argat
Lamh, the Silver Hand, from the Sionnan, and the Man of Sweet
Speech from the Boinn.
And the whole army of them came into Ciarraighe Luachra,
and to red-haired Slieve Mis, and from that to the harbour of the
White Strand. "O Men of Dea," said Abarthach then, "let a high
mind and high courage rise within you now in the face of the battle. For the doings of every one among you," he said, "will be told till the end of the world; and let you fulfil now the big words you
have spoken in the drinking-houses. " "Rise up, Glas , son of
Dremen," said Bodb Dearg then, "and tell out to the King of the
World that I am come to do battle. " Glas went then to the King of
the World. "Are those the Fianna of Ireland I see?" said the king.
"They are not," said Glas, "but another part of the men of Ireland
that do not dare to be on the face of the earth, but that live in hidden houses under the earth, and it is to give warning of battle from them I am come." "Who will answer the Tuatha de Danaan
for me?" said the King of the World. "We will go against them,"
said two of the kings that were with him, Comur Cromchenn,
King of the Men of the Dog-Heads, and Caitchenn, King of the
Men of the Cat-Heads. And they had five red-armed battalions
with them, and they went to the shore like great red waves. "Who
is there to match with the King of the Dog-Heads for me?" said
Bodb Dearg. "I will go against him," said Lir of Sidhe Finnachaidh, "though I heard there is not in the world a man with stronger hands than himself." "Who will be a match for the King
of the Cat-Heads?" said Bodb Dearg. "I will be a match for him,"
said Abarthach, son of Ildathach.
So Lir and the King of the Dog-Heads attacked one another,
and they made a hard fight; but after a while Lir was getting the
worst of it. "It is a pity the way Lir is," said Bodb Dearg; "and let
some of you rise up and help him," he said. Then Ilbrec, son of
Manannan, went to his help; but if he did, he got a wound himself and could do nothing. Then Sigmal, grandson of Midhir, went to his help, and after him the five sons of Finnaistucan, and
2 1 2
IRISH MYTHS AND LEGENDS
others of the Men of Dea, but they were all driven off by the King
of the Dog-Heads. But at that time Abarthach had made an end of
the King of the Cat-Heads, and he rose on his spear, and made a
leap, and came down between Lir and his enemy. "Leave off now
and look on at the fight," he said to Lir, "and leave it to me and
the foreigner. " With that he took his sword in his left hand and
made a thrust with his spear in through the king's armour. And as
the king was arising up his shield, he struck at him with the sword
that was in his left hand, and cut off both his legs at the knees,
and the king let fall his shield then, and Abarthach struck off his
head. And the two kings being dead, their people broke away and
ran, but the Men of Dea followed them and made an end of them
all; but if they did, they lost a good many of their own men.
CHAPTER VI.
THE MARCH OF THE FIANNA
And Finn and the Fianna were at the house of Credhe yet, and
they saw Taistellach coming towards them. It was the custom,
now, with Finn when he sent any one looking for news, that it
was to himself it was to be told first, the way that if he got bad
news he would let on not to mind it; and if it was good news he
got, he would have the satisfaction of telling it himself. So Taistellach told him how the foreigners were come to the harbour of the White Strand.
Then Finn turned to his chief men, and he said: "Fianna of
Ireland, there never came harm or danger to Ireland to be put
/>
aside this great danger that is come against us now. And you get
great tribute and great service from the chief men of Ireland," he
said, "and if you take that from them it is right for you to defend
them now. "
And the Fianna all said they would not go back one step from
the defence of Ireland. And as to Credhe, she gave every one of
them a battle dress, and they were taking leave of her, and Finn
THE BATTLE OF THE WHITE STRAND
2 1 3
said: "Let the woman come along with us till we know is it good
or bad the end of this journey will be." So she came with them,
bringing a great herd of cattle; and through the whole length of
the battle, that lasted a year and a day, she had new milk for them,
and it was to her house the wounded were brought for healing.
Then the Fianna set out, and they went to the borders of Ciarraighe Luachra and across by the shores of the Bannlid with their left hand to Slieve Mis, and they made shelters for themselves that
night, and kindled fires.
But Caoilte and Oisin and Lugaidh's Son said to one another
they would go on to the harbour, the way they would have time
to redden their hands in the blood of the foreigners before the rest
of the Fianna would come.
And at that time the King of the World bade some of his chief
men to go on shore and to bring him back some spoils. So they
went to land and they gave out a great shout, and the people of
the ships gave out a great shout at the same time. "I swear by the
oath my people swear by," said Caoilte, "I have gone round the
whole world, but I never heard so many voices together in the
one place. " And with that he himself and Oisin and Lugaidh's Son
made an attack on the strangers, and struck great blows at them.
And when Conn Crither and Glas, son of Dremen, heard the
noise of those blows, they knew they were struck by some of the
Fianna of Ireland, and they came and joined with them, and did
great destruction on the strangers, till there was not one left of all
that had come to land.
CHAPTER VII.
THE FIRST FIGHTERS
And in the morning they saw Finn and all his people coming to
the rath that is above the harbour. "My father Finn," said Oisin
then, "let us fight now with the whole of the foreigners altogether. " "That is not my advice," said Finn, "for the number of
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IRISH MYTHS AND LEGENDS
their armies is too great for us, and we could not stand against
them. "But we will send out every day," he said, "some son of a
king or of a leader against some king of the kings of the world
that is equal in blood to ourselves. And let none of you redden
your arms," he said, "but against a king or a chief man at first, for
when a king is fallen, his people will be more inclined to give way.
And who will give out a challenge of battle from me now?" he
said. "I will do that," said the son of Cuban, leader of the Fianna
of Munster. "Do not go, my son," said Finn, "for it is not showed
to me that you will have good luck in the battle, and I never sent
out any man to fight without I knew he would come back safe to
me. " "Do not say that," said Cuban's son, "for I would not for the
treasure of the whole world go back from a fight on account of a
bad foretelling. And as it is my own country they have done their
robbery in first," he said, "I will defend it for you." "It is sorrowful
I am for that," said Finn, "for whichever of the kings of the world
will meet you to-day, yourself and himself will fall together."
Then Glas, son of Dremen, gave out a challenge of fight from
Cuban's son, and the King of Greece answered it. And the two
fought hand to hand, and the King of Greece made a great cast of
his thick spear at Cuban's son, that went through his body and
broke his back in two. But he did not take that blow as a gift, but
he paid for it with a strong cast of his own golden spear that went
through the ringed armour of the King of Greece. And those two
fell together, sole to sole, and lip to lip. "There is grief on me,
Cuban's son to have fallen," said Finn, "for no one ever went from
his house unsatisfied; and a man that I would not keep, or the
High King of Ireland would not keep for a week, he would keep
him in his house through the length of a year. And let Follamain,
his son, be called to me now," he said, "and I will give him his
father's name and place. "
They stopped there then till the next morning. "Who will
go and fight to-day?" said Finn then. "I will do that," said Goll
Garb, son of the King of Alban and of the daughter of Goll, son
of Morna.
THE BATTLE OF THE WHITE STRAND
2 1 5
So he put on his battle dress, and there came against him the
three kings from the rising of the sun in the east, and their three
battalions with them. And Goll Garb rushed among their men,
and wounded and maimed and destroyed them, and blinded their
eyes for ever, so that their wits went from them, and they called to
him to stop his deadly sword for a while. So he did that; and it is
what they agreed to take their three kings and to give them over
to Goll Garb that he might stop doing destruction with his sword.
"Who will go out and fight to-day? " said Finn, on the morning
of the morrow. "I will go," said Oisin, "and the chief men of the
sons of Baiscne with me; for we get the best share of all the pleasant things of Ireland, and we should be first to defend her. " "I will answer that challenge," said the King of France, "for it is against
Finn I am come to Ireland, on account of my wife that he brought
away from me; and these men will fall by me now," he said, "and
Finn himself at the last; for when the branches of a tree are cut
off, it is not hard to cut down the tree itself. "
So the King of France and Oisin met one another at the eastern end of the strand, and they struck their banners of soft silk into the green hill, and bared their swords and made a quick
attack on one another. And at one time the king struck such a
great blow that he knocked a groan out of Oisin. But for all that
he was worsted in the end, and great fear came on him, like the
fear of a hundred horses at the sound of thunder, and he ran from
Oisin, and he rose like a swallow, that his feet never touched the
earth at all; and he never stopped till he came to Gleann na-n
Gealt, the Valley of Wild Men. And ever since that time, people
that have lost their wits make for that valley; and every mad
person in Ireland , if he had his way, would go there within
twenty-four hours.
And there rose great cries of lamentation from the armies of
the World when they saw him going from them, and the Fianna
of Ireland raised great shouts of joy.
And when the night was coming on, it is what Finn said: "It is
sad and gloomy the King of the World is to-night; and it is likely
2 1 6
IRISH MYTHS AND LEGENDS
he will make an attack on us. And which of you will keep watch
over the harbour through the night?" he said. "I will," said Oisin,
&nb
sp; "with the same number that was fighting along with me to-day;
for it is not too much for you to fight for the Fianna of Ireland
through a day and a night," he said.
So they went down to the harbour, and it was just at that time
the King of the World was saying, "It seems to me, men of the
World, that our luck of battle was not good to-day. And let a share
of you rise up now," he said, "and make an attack on the Fianna
of Ireland. " Then there rose up the nine sons of Garb, King of the
Sea of Icht, that were smiths, and sixteen hundred of their people
along with them, and they all went on shore but Dolar Durba that
was the eldest of them. And the sons of Baiscne were ready for
them, and they fought a great battle till the early light of the morrow. And not one of them was left alive on either side that could hold a weapon but only Oisin and one of the sons of Garb. And
they made rushes at one another, and threw their swords out of
their hands, and closed their arms about one another, and wrestled together, so that it was worth coming from the east to the west of the world to see the fight of those two. Then the foreigner
gave a sudden great fall to Oisin, to bring him into the sea, for he
was a great swimmer, and he thought to get the better of him
there. And Oisin thought it would not be worthy of him to refuse
any man his place of fighting. So they went into the water
together, and they were trying to drown one another till they
came to the sand and the gravel of the clear sea. And it was a torment to the heart of the Fianna, Oisin to be in that strait. "Rise up, Fergus of the Sweet Lips," said Finn then, "and go praise my
son and encourage him." So Fergus went down to the edge of the
sea, and he said: "It is a good fight you are making, Oisin, and
there are many to see it, for the armies of the whole world are
looking at you, and the Fianna of Ireland. And show now," he
said, "your ways and your greatness, for you never went into any
place but some woman of high beauty or some king's daughter set
her love on you." Then Oisin's courage increased, and anger came
THE BATTLE OF THE WHITE STRAND
2 1 7
on him and he linked his hands behind the back of the foreigner
and put him down on the sand under the sea with his face
upwards, and did not let him rise till the life was gone from him.
