by Irish Myths
And he brought the body to shore then, and struck off his head
and brought it to the Fianna.
But there was great grief and anger on Dolar Durba, the eldest
of the sons of Garb, that had stopped in the ship, and he made a
great oath that he would have satisfaction for his brothers. And he
went to the High King, and he said: "I will go alone to the strand,
and I will kill a hundred men every day till I have made an end of
the whole of the armies of Ireland; and if any one of your own
men comes to interfere with me," he said, "I will kill him along
with them. "
The next morning Finn asked who would lead the battle that
day. "I will," said Dubhan, son of Donn. "Do not," said Finn, "but
let some other one go. "
But Dubhan went to the strand, and a hundred men along
with him; and there was no one there before him but Dolar
Durba, and he said he was there to fight with the whole of them.
And Dubhan's men gave a great shout of laughter when they
heard that; but Dolar Durba rushed on them, and he made an end
of the whole hundred, without a man of them being able to put a
scratch on him. And then he took a hurling stick and a ball, and
he threw up the ball and kept it in the air with the hurl from the
west to the east of the strand without letting it touch the ground
at all. And then he put the ball on his right foot and kicked it high
into the air, and when it was coming down he gave it a kick of his
left foot and kept it in the air like that, and he rushing like a blast
of March wind from one end of the strand to the other. And when
he had done that he walked up and down on the strand making
great boasts, and challenging the men of Ireland to do the like of
those feats. And every day he killed a hundred of the men that
were sent against him.
2 l 8
CHAPTER VIII.
THE KING OF ULSTER'S SON
Now it chanced at that time that news of the great battle that was
going on reached to the court of the King of Ulster. And the king's
son, that was only twelve years of age, and that was the comeliest
of all the young men of Ireland, said to his father: "Let me go to
help Finn, son of Cumhal, and his men." "You are not old enough,
or strong enough, boy; your bones are too soft," said the king.
And when the boy went on asking, his father shut him up in some
close place, and put twelve young men, his foster-brothers, in
charge of him.
There was great anger on the young lad then, and he said to
his foster-brothers: "It is through courage and daring my father
won a great name for himself in his young youth, and why does
he keep me from winning a name for myself? And let you help
me now," he said, "and I will be a friend to you for ever. " And he
went on talking to them and persuading them till he got round
them all, and they agreed to go with him to join Finn and the
Fianna. And when the king was asleep, they went into the house
where the arms were kept, and every lad of them brought away
with him a shield and a sword and a helmet and two spears and
two greyhound whelps. And they went across Ess Ruadh in the
north, and through Connacht of many tribes, and through Caille
an Chosanma, the Woods of Defence, that were called the choice
of every king and the true honour of every poet, and into Ciarraighe, and so on to the White Strand.
And when they came there Dolar Durba was on the strand,
boasting before the men of Ireland. And Oisin was rising up to go
against him, for he said he would sooner die fighting with him
than see the destruction he was doing every day on his people.
And all the wise men and the fighting men and the poets and the
musicians of the Fianna gave a great cry of sorrow when they
heard Oisin saying that.
And the King of Ulster's son went to Finn and stood before
THE BATTLE OF THE WHITE STRAND
219
him and saluted him, and Finn asked who was he, and where did
he come from. "I am the son of the King of Ulster," he said; "and I
am come here, myself and my twelve foster-brothers, to give you
what help we can." "I give you a welcome," said Finn.
just then they heard the voice of Dolar Durba, very loud and
boastful. "Who is that I hear? " said the king's son. "It is a man of
the foreigners asking for a hundred of my men to go and meet
him," said Finn.
Now, when the twelve foster-brothers heard that, they said no
word but went down to the strand, unknown to the king's son
and to Finn.
"You are not a grown man," said Conan; "and neither yourself
or your comrades are fit to face any fighting man at all." "I never
saw the Fianna of Ireland till this day," said the young lad; "but I
know well that you are Conan Maol, that never says a good word
of any man. And you will see now," he said, "if I am in dread of
that man on the strand, or of any man in the world, for I will go
out against him by myself. "
But Finn kept him back and was talking with him, but then
Conan began again, and he said: "It is many men Dolar Durba has
made an end of, and there was not a man of all those that could
not have killed a hundred of the like of you every day."
When the king's son heard that, there was great anger on him,
and he leaped up, and just then Dolar Durba gave a great shout
on the strand. "What is he giving that shout for? " said the king's
son. "He is shouting for more men to come against him," said
Conan, "for he is just after killing your twelve comrades." "That
is a sorrowful story," said the king's son.
And with that he took hold of his arms, and no one could hold
him or hinder him, and he rushed down to the strand where
Dolar Durba was. And all the armies of the strangers gave a great
shout of laughter, for they thought all Finn's men had been made
an end of, when he sent a young lad like that against their champion. And when the boy heard that, his courage grew the greater, and he fell on Dolar Durba and gave him many wounds before he
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IRISH MYTHS AND LEGENDS
knew he was attacked at all. And they fought a very hard fight
together, till their shields and their swords were broken in pieces.
And that did not stop the battle, but they grappled together and
fought and wrestled that way, till the tide went over them and
drowned them both. And when the sea went over them the
armies on each side gave out a great sorrowful cry.
And after the ebb-tide on the morrow, the two bodies were
found cold and quiet, each one held fast by the other. But Dolar
Durba was beneath the king's son, so they knew it was the young
lad was the best and had got the victory. And they buried him,
and put a flag-stone over his grave, and keened him there.
CHAPTER IX.
THE HIGH KING'S SON
Then Finn said he would send a challenge himself to Daire Donn,
the King of the Great World. But Caoilte asked leave to do that
day's fighting himself. And Finn said he would agree to that if he
could find
enough of men to go with him. And he himself gave
him a hundred men, and Oisin did the same, and so on with the
rest. And he gave out his challenge, and it was the son of the King
of the Great Plain that answered it. And while they were in the
heat of the fight, a fleet of ships came into the harbour, and Finn
thought they were come to help the foreigners. But Oisin looked
at them, and he said: "It is seldom your knowledge fails you ,
Finn, but those are friends of our own: Fiachra, son of the King of
the Fianna of the Bretons, and Duaban Donn, son of the King of
Tuathmumain with his own people. "
And when those that were in the ships came on shore, they saw
Caoiltes banner going down before the son of the King of the Great
Plain. And they all went hurrying on to his help, and between
them they made an end of the king's son and of all his people.
"Who will keep watch to-night? " said Finn then. "We will,"
said the nine Garbhs of the Fianna, of Slieve Mis, and Slieve Cua,
THE BATTLE OF THE WHITE STRAND
221
and Slieve Clair, and Slieve Crot, and Slieve Muice, and Slieve
Fuad, and Slieve Atha Moir, and Dun Sobairce and Dundealgan.
And they were not long watching till they saw the King of the
Men of Oregan coming towards them, and they fought a fierce
battle; and at the end of the night there were left standing but
three of the Garbhs, and the King of the Men of Oregan. And they
fought till their wits were gone from them; and those four fell
together, sole against sole, and lip against lip.
And the fight went on from day to day, and from week to week,
and there were great losses on both sides. And when Fergus of the
Sweet Lips saw that so many of the Fianna were fallen, he asked
no leave but went to Teamhair of the Kings, where the High King
of Ireland was, and he told him the way it was with Finn and his
people. "That is good," said the High King. "Finn to be in that
strait; for there is no labouring man dares touch a pig or a deer or
a salmon if he finds it dead before him on account of the Fianna;
and there is no man but is in dread to go from one place to
another without leave from Finn, or to take a wife till he knows if
she has a sweetheart among the Fianna of Ireland. And it is often
Finn has given bad judgments against us," he said, "and it would
be better for us the foreigners to gain the day than himself."
Then Fergus went out to the lawn where the High King's son
was playing at ball. "It is no good help you are giving to Ireland,"
said Fergus then, "to be playing a game without lasting profit, and
strangers taking away your country from you." And he was urging him and blaming him, and great shame came on the young man, and he threw away the stick and went through the people of
Teamhair and brought together all the young men, a thousand
and twenty of them that were in it. And they asked no leave and
no advice from the High King, but they set out and went on till
they came to Finntraigh. And Fergus went to where Finn was,
and told him the son of the High King of Ireland was come with
him; and all the Fianna rose up before the young man and bade
him welcome. And Finn said: "Young man," he said, "we would
sooner see you coming at a time when there would be musicians
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IRISH MITHS AND LEGENDS
and singers and poets and high-up women to make pleasure for
you than at the time we are in the straits of battle the way we are
now." "It is not for playing I am come," said the young man, "but
to give you any service in battle. " "I never brought a lad new to
the work into the breast of battle," said Finn, "for it is often a lad
coming like that finds his death, and I would not wish him to fall
through me." "I give my word," said the young man, "I will do
battle with them on my own account if I may not do it on yours."
Then Fergus of the Fair Lips went out to give a challenge of battle
from the son of the High King of Ireland to the King of the World.
"Who will answer the King of Ireland's son for me?" said the
King of the World. "I will go against him," said Sligech, King of
the Men of Cepda; and he went on shore, and his three red battalions with him. And the High King's son went against them, and his comrades were near him, and they were saying to him? "Take
a good heart now into the fight, for the Fianna will be no better
pleased if it goes well with you than if it goes well with the foreigner." And when the High King's son heard that, he made a rush through the army of the foreigners, and began killing and overthrowing them, till their chief men were all made an end of. Then Sligech their king came to meet him, very angry and destroying,
and they struck at one another and made a great fight, but at the
last the King of Ireland's son got the upper hand, and he killed the
King of the Men of Cepda and struck off his head.
CHAPTER X.
THE KING OF LOCHLANN AND HIS SONS
And the fighting went on from day to day, and at last Finn said to
Fergus of the Sweet Lips: "Go out, Fergus, and see how many of
the Fianna are left for the fight to-day. " And Fergus counted
them, and he said, "There is one battalion only of the Fianna left
in good order; but there are some of the men of it," he said, "are
able to fight against three, and some that are able to fight against
THE BATTLE OF THE WHITE STRAND
223
nine or thirty or a hundred. " ••If that is so," said Finn, ··rise up
and go to where the King of the World is, and bid him to come
out to the great battle. "
So Fergus went to the King of the World, and it is the way he
was, on his bed listening to the music of harps and pipes. ··King of
the World," said Fergus, ••it is long you are in that sleep; and that
is no shame for you," he said, "for it will be your last sleep. And
the whole of the Fianna are gone out to their place of battle," he
said, ··and let you go out and answer them. " ··In my opinion," said
the King of the World, ··there is not a man of them is able to fight
against me; and how many are there left of the Fianna of Ireland?"
··one battalion only that is in good order," said Fergus. "And how
many of the armies of the World are there left?" he said. ··Thirty
battalions came with me to Ireland; and there are twenty of them
fallen by the Fianna, and what is left of them is ten red battalions
in good order. And there are eight good fighters of them," he said,
"that would put down the men of the whole world, if they were
against me; that is, myself, and Conmail my son, and Ogarmach,
the daughter of the King of Greece, that is the best hand in battle
of the whole world after myself, and Finnachta of the Teeth, the
chief of my household, and the King of Lochlann, Caisel Clumach
of the Feathers, and his three sons, Techa, and Fome of the Broad
Shoulders, and Mongach of the Sea."
"I swear by the oath of my people," said the King of Lochlann
then, ••if any man of the armies goes out against the Fianna before
myself and my three sons, we will not go at all, for we would not
g
et the satisfaction we are used to, unless our swords get their fill
of blood. " "I will go out against them alone," said Forne, the
youngest son of the King of Lochlann. With that he put on his
battle suit, and he went among the Fianna of Ireland, and a rededged sword in each of his hands. And he destroyed those of their young men that were sent against him, and he made the strand
narrow with their bodies.
And Finn saw that, and it was torment to his heart, and danger
of death and loss of wits to him, and he was encouraging the men
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IRISH MYTHS AND LEGENDS
of Ireland against Fome. And Fergus of the True Lips stood up,
and it is what he said: "Fianna of Ireland," he said, "it is a pity the
way you are under hardship and you defending Ireland. And one
man is taking her from you to-day," he said, "and you are like no
other thing but a flock of little birds looking for shelter in a bush
from a hawk that is after them. And it is going into the shelter of
Finn and Oisin and Caoilte you are," he said; "and not one of you
is better than another, but none of you sets his face against the
foreigner. " "By my oath," said Oisin, "all that is true, and no one
of us tries to do better than another keeping him off. " "There is
not one of you is better than another," said Fergus. Then Oisin
gave out a great shout against the King of Lochlann's son. "Stop
here with me, king's son," he said, "until I fight with you for the
Fianna. " "I give my word it is short the delay will be," said Fome.
Then he himself and Oisin made an attack on one another,
and it seemed for a while that the battle was going against Oisin.
"By my word, Man of Poetry," said Finn then to Fergus of the
True Lips, "it is a pity the way you sent my son against the foreigner. And rise up and praise him and hearten him now," he said.
So Fergus went down to where the fight was, and he said: "There
is great shame on the Fianna, Oisin, seeing you so low in this
fight; and there is many a foot messenger and many a horsemen
from the daughters of the kings and princes of Ireland looking at
you now," he said. And great courage rose in Oisin then, and he
drove his spear through the body of Fome, the King of Lochlann's
son. And he himself came back to the Fianna of Ireland.
Then the armies of the World gave out a great cry, keening
