Lady Augusta Gregory

by Irish Myths

"cities and courts and duns and lime-white houses, and shining

  sunny-houses and palaces. And one time we saw beside us a

  hornless deer running hard, and an eager white red-eared hound

  following after it. And another time we saw a young girl on a

  horse and having a golden apple in her right hand, and she going

  over the tops of the waves; and there was following after her a

  young man riding a white horse, and having a crimson cloak and

  a gold-hilted sword in his right hand."

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  IRISH MYTHS AND LEGENDS

  "Follow on with your story, pleasant Oisin," said Patrick, "for

  you did not tell us yet what was the country you went to."

  "The Country of the Young, the Country of Victory, it was,"

  said Oisin. "And 0 Patrick," he said, "there is no lie in that name;

  and if there are grandeurs in your Heaven the same as there are

  there, I would give my friendship to God.

  "We turned our backs then to the dun," he said, "and the

  horse under us was quicker than the spring wind on the backs of

  the mountains. And it was not long till the sky darkened, and the

  wind rose in every part, and the sea was as if on fire, and there

  was nothing to be seen of the sun.

  "But after we were looking at the clouds and the stars for a

  while the wind went down, and the storm, and the sun brightened. And we saw before us a very delightful country under full blossom, and smooth plains in it, and a king's dun that was very

  grand, and that had every colour in it, and sunny-houses beside it,

  and palaces of shining stones, made by skilled men. And we saw

  coming out to meet us three fifties of armed men, very lively and

  handsome. And I asked Niamh was this the Country of the Young,

  and she said it was. 'And indeed, Oisin,' she said, 'I told you no lie

  about it, and you will see all I promised you before you for ever.'

  "And there came out after that a hundred beautiful young

  girls, having cloaks of silk worked with gold, and they gave me a

  welcome to their own country. And after that there came a great

  shining army, and with it a strong beautiful king, having a shirt of

  yellow silk and a golden cloak over it, and a very bright crown on

  his head. And there was following after him a young queen, and

  fifty young girls along with her.

  "And when all were come to the one spot, the king took me by

  the hand, and he said out before them all: 'A hundred thousand

  welcomes before you, Oisin, son of Finn. And as to this country

  you are come to,' she said, 'I will tell you news of it without a lie.

  It is long and lasting your life will be in it, and you yourself will

  be young for ever. And there is no delight the heart ever thought

  of,' he said, 'but it is here against your coming. And you can

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  407

  believe my words, Oisin,' he said, •for I myself am the King of the

  Country of the Young, and this is its comely queen, and it was

  golden-headed Niamh our daughter that went over the sea looking for you to be her husband for ever.' I gave thanks to him then, and I stooped myself down before the queen, and we went forward to the royal house, and all the high nobles came out to meet us, both men and women, and there was a great feast made there

  through the length of ten days and ten nights.

  "And that is the way I married Niamh of the Golden Hair,

  and that is the way I went to the Country of the Young, although

  it is sorrowful to me to be telling it now, 0 Patrick from Rome,"

  said Oisin.

  "Follow on with your story, Oisin of the destroying arms," said

  Patrick, .. and tell me what way did you leave the Country of the

  Young, for it is long to me till I hear that; and tell us now had you

  any children by Niamh, and was it long you were in that place. "

  "Two beautiful children I had by Niamh," said Oisin, .. two

  young sons and a comely daughter. And Niamh gave the two sons

  the name of Finn and of Osgar, and the name I gave to the daughter was The Flower.

  "And I did not feel the time passing, and it was a long time I

  stopped there," he said, "till the desire came on me to see Finn

  and my comrades again. And I asked leave of the king and of

  Niamh to go back to Ireland. 'You will get leave from me,' said

  Niamh; 'but for all that,' she said, 'it is bad news you are giving

  me , for I am in dread you will never come back here again

  through the length of your days.' But I bade her have no fear,

  since the white horse would bring me safe back again from Ireland. 'Bear this in mind, Oisin,' she said then, 'if you once get off the horse while you are away, or if you once put your foot to

  ground, you will never come back here again. And 0 Oisin,' she

  said, 'I tell it to you now for the third time, if you once get down

  from the horse, you will be an old man, blind and withered, without liveliness, without mirth, without running, without leaping.

  And it is a grief to me, Oisin,' she said, 'you ever to go back to

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  IRISH MYTHS AND LEGENDS

  green Ireland; and it is not now as it used to be, and you will not

  see Finn and his people, for there is not now in the whole of Ireland but a Father of Orders and armies of saints; and here is my kiss for you, pleasant Oisin,' she said, 'for you will never come

  back any more to the Country of the Young.'

  "And that is my story, Patrick, and I have told you no lie in it,"

  said Oisin. "And 0 Patrick," he said, "if I was the same the day I

  came here as I was that day, I would have made an end of all your

  clerks, and there would not be a head left on a neck after me."

  "Go on with your story," said Patrick, "and you will get the

  same good treatment from me you got from Finn, for the sound

  of your voice is pleasing to me."

  So Oisin went on with his story, and it is what he said: "I have

  nothing to tell of my journey till I came back into green Ireland,

  and I looked about me then on all sides, but there were no tidings

  to be got of Finn. And it was not long till I saw a great troop of

  riders, men and women, coming towards me from the west. And

  when they came near they wished me good health; and there was

  wonder on them all when they looked at me, seeing me so unlike

  themselves, and so big and so tall.

  "I asked them then did they hear if Finn was still living, or any

  other one of the Fianna, or what had happened them. We often

  heard of Finn that lived long ago,' said they, 'and that there never

  was his equal for strength or bravery or a great name; and there is

  many a book written down,' they said, 'by the sweet poets of the

  Gael, about his doings and the doings of the Fianna, and it would

  be hard for us to tell you all of them. And we heard Finn had a

  son,' they said, 'that was beautiful and shining, and that there

  came a young girl looking for him, and he went away with her to

  the Country of the Young.'

  "And when I knew by their talk that Finn was not living or

  any of the Fianna, it is downhearted I was, and tired, and very

  sorrowful after them. And I made no delay, but I turned my face

  and went on to Almhuin of Leinster. And there was great wonder

  on me when I came there to see no sign at all of
Finn's great

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  404

  dun, and his great hall, and nothing in the place where it was but

  weeds and nettles. "

  And there was grief on Oisin then, and he said: "Och, Patrick !

  Och, ochone, my grief! It is a bad journey that was to me; and to

  be without tidings of Finn or the Fianna has left me under pain

  through my lifetime. "

  "Leave o ff fretting, Oisin," said Patrick, "and shed your tears to

  the God of grace. Finn and the Fianna are slack enough now, and

  they will get no help for ever. " "It is a great pity that would be,"

  said Oisin, "Finn to be in pain for ever; and who was it gained the

  victory over him, when his own hand had made an end of so

  many a hard fighter?"

  "It is God gained the victory over Finn," said Patrick, "and not

  the strong hand of an enemy; and as to the Fianna, they are condemned to hell along with him, and tormented for ever. "

  "O Patrick," said Oisin, "show me the place where Finn and

  his people are, and there is not a hell or a heaven there but I will

  put it down. And if Osgar, my own son, is there," he said, "the

  hero that was bravest in heavy battles, there is not in hell or in the

  Heaven of God a troop so great that he could not destroy it. "

  "Let us leave off quarrelling on each side now," said Patrick

  "and go on, Oisin, with your story. What happened you after you

  knew the Fianna to be at an end?"

  "I will tell you that, Patrick," said Oisin. "I was turning to go

  away, and I saw the stone trough that the Fianna used to be

  putting their hands in, and it full of water. And when I saw it I

  has such a wish and such a feeling for it that I forgot what I was

  told, and I got off the horse. And in the minute all the years came

  on me, and I was lying on the ground, and the horse took fright

  and went away and left me there, an old man, weak and spent,

  without sight, without shape , without comeliness , without

  strength or understanding, without respect.

  "There, Patrick, is my story for you now," said Oisin, ··and no

  lie in it, of all that happened me going away and coming back

  again from the Country of the Young."

  4 1 0

  CHAPTER II.

  OISIN IN PATRICK'S HOUSE

  And Oisin stopped on with S. Patrick, but he was not very well content with the way he was treated. And one time he said: "They say I am getting food, but God knows I am not, or drink; and I Oisin,

  son of Finn, under a yoke, drawing stones." "It is my opinion you

  are getting enough," said S. Patrick then, "and you getting a quarter

  of beef and a chum of butter and a griddle of bread every day." "I

  often saw a quarter of a blackbird bigger than your quarter of beef,"

  said Oisin, "and a rowan berry as big as your chum of butter, and

  an ivy leaf as big as your griddle of bread." S. Patrick was vexed

  when he heard that, and he said to Oisin that he had told a lie.

  There was great anger on Oisin then, and he went where there

  was a litter of pups, and he bade a serving-boy to nail up the hide

  of a freshly killed bullock to the wall, and to throw the pups

  against it one by one. And every one that he threw fell down from

  the hide till it came to the last, and he held on to it with his teeth

  and his nails. "Rear that one," said Oisin, "and drown all the rest. "

  Then he bade the boy to keep the pup in a dark place, and to

  care it well, and never to let it taste blood or see the daylight. And

  at the end of a year, Oisin was so well pleased with the pup, that

  he gave it the name of Bran Og, young Bran.

  And one day he called to the serving-boy to come on a journey

  with him, and to bring the pup in a chain. And they set out and

  passed by Slieve-nam-ban, where the witches of the Sidhe do be

  spinning with their spinning-wheels; and then they turned eastward into Gleann-na-Smol. And Oisin raised a rock that was there, and he bade the lad take from under it three things, a great

  sounding horn of the Fianna, and a ball of iron they had for

  throwing, and a very sharp sword. And when Oisin saw those

  things, he took them in his hands, and he said: "My thousand

  farewells to the day when you were put here ! " He bade the lad to

  clean them well then; and when he had done that, he bade him to

  sound a blast on the horn. So the boy did that, and Oisin asked

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  4 1 1

  him did he see anything strange. "I did not," said the boy. "Sound

  it again as loud as you can," said Oisin. "That is as hard as I can

  sound it, and I can see nothing yet," said the boy when he had

  done that. Then Oisin took the horn himself, and he put it to his

  mouth, and blew three great blasts on it. "What do you see now?"

  he said. "I see three great clouds coming," he said, "and they are

  settling down in the valley; and the first cloud is a flight of very

  big birds, and the second cloud is a flight of birds that are bigger

  again, and the third flight is of the biggest and the blackest birds

  the world ever saw. " "What is the dog doing?" said Oisin. "The

  eyes are starting from his head, and there is not a rib of hair on

  him but is standing up. " "Let him loose now," said Oisin.

  The dog rushed down to the valley then, and he made an

  attack on one of the birds, that was the biggest of all, and that had

  a shadow like a cloud. And they fought a very fierce fight, but at

  last Bran Og made an end of the big bird, and lapped its blood.

  But if he did, madness came on him, and he came rushing back

  towards Oisin, his jaws open and his eyes like fire. "There is dread

  on me, Oisin," said the boy, "for the dog is making for us, mad

  and raging. " "Take this iron ball and make a cast at him when he

  comes near," said Oisin. "I am in dread to do that," said the boy.

  "Put it in my hand, and tum it towards him," said Oisin. The boy

  did that, and Oisin made a cast of the ball that went into the

  mouth and the throat of the dog, and choked him, and he fell

  down the slope, twisting and foaming.

  Then they went where the great bird was left dead, and Oisin

  bade the lad to cut a quarter off it with the sword, and he did so.

  And then he bade him cut open the body, and in it he found a

  rowan berry, the biggest he had ever seen, and an ivy leaf that was

  bigger than the biggest griddle.

  So Oisin turned back then, and went to where S. Patrick was,

  and he showed him the quarter of the bird that was bigger than

  any quarter of a bullock, and the rowan berry that was bigger

  than a churning of butter, and the leaf. "And you know now,

  Patrick of the Bells, he said, "that I told no lie; and it is what kept

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  IRISH MYTHS AND LEGENDS

  us all through our lifetime," he said, "truth that was in our hearts,

  and strength in our arms, and fulfilment in our tongues."

  "You told no lie indeed," said Patrick.

  And when Oisin had no sight left at all, he used every night to

  put up one of the serving-men on his shoulders, and to bring him

  out to see how were the cattle doing. And one night the servants

  had no mind to go, and they agree
d together to tell him it was a

  very bad night.

  And it is what the first of them said; "It is outside there is a

  heavy sound with the heavy water dropping from the tops of

  trees; the sound of the waves is not to be heard for the loud

  splashing of the rain. " And then the next one said: "The trees of

  the wood are shivering, and the birch is turning black; the snow is

  killing the birds; that is the story outside. " And the third said: "It

  is to the east they have turned their face, the white snow and the

  dark rain; it is what is making the plain so cold as the snow that is

  dripping and getting hard."

  But there was a serving-girl in the house, and she said: "Rise

  up, Oisin, and go out to the white-headed snows, since the cold

  wind is plucking the trees from the hills."

  Oisin went out then, and the serving-man on his shoulders; but

  it is what the serving-man did, he brought a vessel of water and a

  birch broom with him, and he was dashing water in Oisin's face,

  the way he would think it was rain. But when they came to the

  pen where the cattle were, Oisin found the night was quiet, and

  after that he asked no more news of the weather from the servants.

  CHAPTER III.

  THE ARGUMENTS

  And S. Patrick took in hand to convert Oisin, and to bring him to

  baptism; but it was no easy work he had to do, and everything he

  would say, Oisin would have an answer for it. And it is the way

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  4 1 3

  they used to be talking and arguing with one another, as it was

  put down afterwards by the poets of lreland:-

  PATRICK. "Oisin, it is long your sleep is. Rise up and listen to

  the Psalm. Your strength and your readiness are gone from you,

  though you used to be going into rough fights and battles."

  01s1N. "My readiness and my strength are gone from me since

  Finn has no armies living; I have no liking for clerks, their music

  is not sweet to me after his."

  PATRICK. "You never heard music so good from the beginning

  of the world to this day; it is well you would serve an army on a

  hill, you that are old and silly and grey. "

  01s1N. "I used to serve an army on a hill, Patrick of the closedup mind; it is a pity you to be faulting me; there was never shame put on me till now:

  "I have heard music was sweeter than your music, however much