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then they raised three feeble shouts on Midkena's Hill. CHAPTER XV.

RETURN AND DEATH OF THE SONS OF TURENN.

Making no further delay, he led them to their ship, and they set sail for Erin. While they were yet far off, Brian, gazing over the sea towards the west, suddenly cried out--

"Lo, I see Ben Edar[XLVIII.] yonder, rising over the waters; and I see also Dun Turenn farther towards the north."

And Ur answered from where he reclined with Urcar on the deck, "If we could but get one sight of Ben Edar methinks we should regain our health and strength; and as thou lovest us, and as thou lovest[92] thy own renown, my brother, come and raise our heads and rest them on thy breast, that we may see Erin once more. After that, we shall welcome either life or death."

Ur.

O brother, torch of valour, strong of hand, Come, place our weary heads upon thy breast; And let us look upon our native land,

Before we sink to everlasting rest! Brian.

Beloved sons of Turenn, woe is me!

My wounds are deep, my day of strength is past; Yet not for this I grieve, but that I see

Your lives, my noble brothers, ebbing fast! Ur.

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Would we could give our lives to purchase thine; Ah, gladly would we die to ease thy pain!

For art thou not the pride of Turenn's line, The noblest champion of green Erin's plain? Brian.

That mighty Dannan healer, Dianket;[XLIX.]

Or Midac, who excelled his sire in skill; The maiden-leech, Armedda, mightier yet, Who knew the herbs to cure, the herbs to kill: Oh, were they here; or had we now at hand Those gifted apples from the distant East; Then might we hope to reach our native land, And live again in joy and peace and rest!

[93] Ur.

Brother, methinks could we but see once more Ben Edar's slopes, or Bregia's[L.] dewy plain, Tailltenn,[LI.] or Bruga's[LII.] mystic mansion hoar, Our blood would course in health and strength again. Or let us once behold our father's home,

Or winding Liffey down by Ahaclee,[LIII.]

Old Frevan's hill,[LIV.] or Tara's[LV.] regal dome; Then welcome death or life, whiche'er may be!

So Brian raised their heads and rested them on his breast, and they gazed on the rocky cliffs and green slopes of Ben Edar while the ship wafted slowly towards land.

Soon after this they landed on the north side of Ben Edar, from which they made their way slowly to Dun Turenn. And when they had reached the green in front of the house, Brian cried out--

"Father, dear father, come forth to thy children!"

Turenn came forth and saw his sons all wounded and pale and feeble. [94]

And Brian said, "Go, beloved father--go quick to Tara, and quickly return. Bring this cooking-spit to Luga, and tell him that we have given the three shouts on Midkena's Hill. Say that we have now paid the full eric-fine, and bring back from him the apples of the Garden of Hisberna, to heal our wounds, else we die."

Brian.

Father, our wounds are deadly; nought can save

Thy children's lives but Luga's friendly hand:

Go, seek him, father--fare thee fast--and crave The healing apples from Hisberna's land! Turenn.

In vain, my sons, ye seek to fly your doom;

The stern Ildana's mind too well I know: Alas! far liefer would he see your tomb,

Than all the treasures all this world could show! Brian.

But he is just; and though his sire we slew,

Have we not paid full eric for the deed? The great Ildana is our kinsman too, And will relent in this our time of need.

Then go, my father, thou art swift and strong; Speed like the wind--why linger here to mourn? Go straight to Luga's home, nor tarry long;

Or, father, we shall die ere thou return!

Turenn set out and travelled like the wind till he reached Tara, where he found Luga.

He gave him the cooking-spit, and said, "Behold, my three sons have now paid thee the full eric-fine, for they have given the three shouts on Midkena's Hill. But they are wounded even unto death; and[95] now give me, I pray thee, the apples from the Garden of Hisberna, to cure them, else they die."

But Luga refused, and turned away from Turenn.

Turenn hastened back to his sons with a sorrowful heart, and told them that he had failed to get the apples.

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Then Brian said, "Take me with thee to Tara. I will see him, and perchance he may have pity on us, and give us the apples." And it was done so. But when Brian begged for the apples, Luga said--

"I will not give them to thee. If thou shouldst offer me the full of the whole earth of gold, I would not give them to thee. Thou and thy brothers committed a wicked and pitiless deed when you slew my father. For that deed you must suffer, and with nothing short of your death shall I be content."

For the blood that you spilled, For the hero you killed--

The deed is avenged, and your doom is fulfilled!

Brian turned away and went back to his brothers, and, lying down between them, his life departed; and his brothers died at the same moment.

Then their father and their sister stood hand in hand over their bodies, lamenting. And Turenn spoke this lay-- Oh, pulseless is my heart this woful hour,

My strength is gone, my joy for ever fled;

Three noble champions, Erin's pride and power, My three fair youths, my children, cold and dead! [96]

Mild Ur, the fair-haired; Urcar, straight and tall; The kings of Banba[LVI.] worthy both to be; And Brian, bravest, noblest, best of all,

Who conquered many lands beyond the sea: Lo, I am Turenn, your unhappy sire,

Mourning with feeble voice above your grave; No life, no wealth, no honours I desire;

A place beside my sons is all I crave!

After this Turenn and Ethnea fell on the bodies of the three young heroes and died. And they were all buried in one grave.

This is the story of the Fate of the Children of Turenn. [97]

THE OVERFLOWING OF LOUGH NEAGH, AND THE

STORY OF LIBAN THE MERMAID.

In the days of old a good king ruled over Muman,[LVII.] whose name was Marid Mac Carido. He had two sons, Ecca and Rib. Ecca was restless and unruly, and in many ways displeased the king; and he told his brother Rib that he had made up his mind to leave

his home, and win lands for himself in some far off part of the country. Rib tried hard to dissuade him; but though this delayed his departure for a while, he was none the less bent on going.

At last Ecca, being wrought upon by his stepmother Ebliu (from whom Slieve Eblinne[LVIII.] was afterwards named), did a grievous wrong to his father, and fled from Muman with all his people; and his brother Rib and his stepmother Ebliu went with him. Ten hundred men they were in all,[98] besides women and children; and they turned their faces towards the north.

After they had travelled for some time, their druids[3] told them that it was not fated for them to settle in the same place; and accordingly, when they had come to the Pass of the two Pillar Stones, they parted.

Rib and his people turned to the west, and they journeyed till they came to the plain of Arbthenn. And there the water of a fountain

burst forth over the land, and drowned them all; and a great lake was formed, which to this day is called the Lake of Rib.[LIX.] Ecca continued his journey northwards; and he and his people fared slowly on till they came near to Bruga[LX.] of the Boyne, the palace of Mac Indoc, where they were fain to rest. No sooner had they halted, than a tall man came forth from the palace, namely, Angus Mac Indoc of the Bruga, son of the Dagda, and commanded them to leave the place without delay. But they, being spent with the toil of travel, heeded not his words, and, pitching their tents, they rested on the plain before the palace. Whereupon Angus, being wroth that his commands were unheeded, killed all their horses that night.

Next day, he came forth again, and he said to them, "Your horses I slew last night; and now, unless ye depart from this place, I will

slay your people to-night." [99]

And Ecca said to him, "Much evil hast thou done to us already, for thou hast killed all our horses. And now we cannot go, even though we desire it, for without horses we cannot travel."

Then Angus brought to them a very large horse in full harness, and they put all their goods on him. And when they were about to go, he said to them--

"Beware that ye keep this great steed walking continually; not even a moment's rest shall ye give him, otherwise he will certainly be the cause of your death."[14]

After this they set out again, on a Sunday in the mid-month of autumn, and travelled on till they reached the Plain of the Grey

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Copse,[LXI.] where they intended to abide. They gathered then round the great steed to take their luggage off him, and each was busy seeing after his own property, so that they forgot to keep the horse moving. And the moment he stood still, a magic well sprang up beneath his feet.[14]

Now Ecca, when he saw the well spring up, was troubled, remembering Angus's warning. And he caused a house to be built round it, and near it he built his palace, for the better security. And he chose a woman to take care of the well, charging her strictly to keep the door locked, except when the people of the palace came for water.

After that the King of Ulad,[LXII.] that is to say, Muridach,[100] the son of Fiaca Findamnas (who was grandson of Conal Carna

of the Red Branch[15]) came against Ecca to drive him forth from Ulad. But Ecca made a stout fight, so that he won the lordship of

half of Ulad from Muridach. And after that his people settled down on the Plain of the Grey Copse.

Now Ecca had two daughters, Ariu and Liban, of whom Ariu was the wife of Curnan the Simpleton. And Curnan went about among the people, foretelling that a lake would flow over them from the well, and urging them earnestly to make ready their boats. Come forth, come forth, ye valiant men; build boats, and build ye fast!

I see the water surging out, a torrent deep and vast;

I see our chief and all his host o'erwhelmed beneath the wave; And Ariu, too, my best beloved, alas! I cannot save.

But Liban east and west shall swim

Long ages on the ocean's rim, By mystic shores and islets dim, And down in the deep sea cave!

And he ceased not to warn all he met, repeating this verse continually; but the people gave no heed to the words of the Simpleton. Now the woman who had charge of the well, on a certain occasion forgot to close the door, so that the spell was free to work evil. And immediately the water burst forth over the plain, and formed a great lake, namely the Lake of the Copse. And Ecca and all his family and all his folk were drowned, save only his daughter Liban, and Conang, and Curnan the Simpleton. And they buried Ariu, and raised a mound over her, which is called from her Carn-Arenn.

[101]

Of Conang nothing more is told. But as to Curnan, he died of grief after his wife Ariu; and he was buried in a mound, which is called Carn-Curnan to this day in memory of him.

And thus the great Lake of the Copse was formed, which is now called Lough Necca,[LXIII.] in memory of Ecca, the son of Marid.

And it was the overflow of this lake which, more than all other causes, scattered the Ultonians over Erin.

Now as to Liban. She also was swept away like the others; but she was not drowned. She lived for a whole year with her lap-dog, in her chamber beneath the lake, and God protected her from the water. At the end of the year she was weary; and when she saw the speckled salmon swimming and playing all round her, she prayed and said--

"O my Lord, I wish I were a salmon, that I might swim with the others through the clear green sea!"

And at the words she took the shape of a salmon, except her face and breast, which did not change. And her lap-dog was changed to

an otter, and attended her afterwards whithersoever she went, as long as she lived in the sea.

And so she remained swimming about from sea to sea for three hundred years; that is to say, from the time of Ecca, the son of

Marid, to the time of Comgall of Bangor.[16]

Now on one occasion, Comgall sent Beoc, the son[102] of Indli, from Bangor to Rome, to talk with Gregory[LXIV.] concerning some matters of order and rule. And when Beoc's curragh[17] was sailing over the sea, he and his crew heard sweet singing in the waters beneath them, as it were the chanting of angels.

And Beoc, having listened for a while, looked down into the water, and asked what the chant was for, and who it was that sang. And Liban answered, "I am Liban, the daughter of Ecca, son of Marid; and it is I who sang the chant thou hast heard."

"Why art thou here?" asked Beoc.

And she replied, "Lo, I have lived for three hundred years beneath the sea; and I have come hither to fix a day and a place of meeting with thee. I shall now go westward; and I beseech thee, for the sake of the holy men of Dalaradia,[LXV.] to come to Inver Ollarba[LXVI.] to meet me, on this same day at the end of a year. Say also to Comgall and to the other holy men of Bangor, all that I say to thee. Come with thy boats and thy fishing-nets, and thou shalt take me from the waters in which I have lived."

"I shall not grant thee the boon thou askest," said Beoc, "unless thou give me a reward." "What reward dost thou seek?" asked Liban.

[103]

"That thou be buried in one grave with me in my own monastery," answered Beoc. "That shall be granted to thee," said Liban.

Beoc then went on his way to Rome. And when he had returned, he related to Comgall and to the other saints of the monastery at

Bangor, the story of the mermaid. And now the end of the year was nigh.

Then they made ready their nets, and on the day appointed they went in their boats to Inver Ollarba, a goodly company of the saints of Erin. And Liban was caught in the net of Fergus of Miluc:[LXVII.] and her head and shoulders were those of a maiden, but she had the body of a fish.

Now the boat in which she was brought to land was kept half full of sea water, in which she remained swimming about. And many

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came to see her; and all were filled with wonder when they saw her strange shape and heard her story.

Among the rest came the chief of the tribe of Hua-Conang, wearing a purple cloak; and she kept gazing at him earnestly. The young chief, seeing this, said to her--

"Dost thou wish to have this cloak? If so, I will give it to thee willingly."

But she answered, "Not so: I desire not thy cloak. But it brings to my mind my father Ecca;[104] for on the day he was drowned, he wore a cloak of purple like thine. But may good luck be on thee for thy gentleness, and on him who shall come after thee in thy place; and in every assembly where thy successor sits, may he be known to all without inquiry."

After that there came up a large-bodied, dark-visaged, fierce hero, and killed her lap-dog. Whereupon she was grieved; and she told

him that the heroism of himself and his tribe should be stained by the baseness of their minds, and that they should not be able to

defend themselves against injuries till they should do penance, by fasting, for her sake.

Then the warrior repented what he had done, and humbled himself before her.

And now there arose a contention about her, as to whom she should belong. Comgall said she was his, forasmuch as she was caught in his territory. But Fergus urged that she belonged to him by right, as it was in his net she was taken. And Beoc said he had the best right of all to her, on account of the promise she had made to him.

And as no one could settle the dispute, these three saints fasted and prayed that God would give a judgment between them, to show

who should own Liban.

And an angel said to one of the company, "Two wild oxen will come hither to-morrow from Carn-Arenn, that is to say, from the grave-mound of Liban's sister, Ariu. Yoke a chariot to them, and place the mermaid in it; and into whatsoever territory they shall bring her, she shall remain with the owner thereof."

[105]

The oxen came on the morrow, as the angel had foretold. And when they were yoked, and when Liban was placed in the chariot,

they brought her straightway to Beoc's church, namely to Tec-Da-Beoc.

Then the saints gave her a choice--either to die immediately after baptism, and go to heaven; or to live on earth as long as she had lived in the sea, and then to go to heaven after these long ages. And the choice she took was to die immediately. Whereupon Comgall baptised her; and he gave her the name of Murgen, that is, "Sea-born," or Murgelt, that is "Mermaid."

And she is counted among the holy virgins, and held in honour and reverence, as God ordained for her in heaven; and wonders and miracles are performed through her means at Tec-Da-Beoc.

[106]

CONNLA OF THE GOLDEN HAIR, AND THE FAIRY MAIDEN.

Connla of the Golden Hair was the son of Conn the Hundred-fighter.[18] One day as he stood with his father on the royal Hill of Usna,[LXVIII.] he saw a lady a little way off, very beautiful, and dressed in strange attire. She approached the spot where he stood; and when she was near, he spoke to her, and asked who she was, and from what place she had come.

The lady replied, "I have come from the Land of the Living[19]--a land where there is neither death nor old age, nor any breach of law. The inhabitants of earth call us Aes-shee,[19] for we have our dwellings within large, pleasant, green hills. We pass our time very pleasantly in feasting and harmless amusements, never growing old; and we have no quarrels or contentions."

The king and his company marvelled very much; for though they heard this conversation, no one saw the lady except Connla alone.

"Who is this thou art talking to, my son?" said the king. [107]

And anon she answered for the youth, "Connla is speaking with a lovely, noble-born young lady, who will never die, and who will never grow old. I love Connla of the Golden Hair, and I have come to bring him with me to Moy-mell,[19] the plain of never-ending pleasure. On the day that he comes with me he shall be made king; and he shall reign for ever in Fairyland, without weeping and without sorrow. Come with me, O gentle Connla of the ruddy cheek, the fair, freckled neck, and the golden hair! Come with me, beloved Connla, and thou shalt retain the comeliness and dignity of thy form, free from the wrinkles of old age, till the awful day of judgment!"

Thy flowing golden hair, thy comely face,

Thy tall majestic form of peerless grace,

That show thee sprung from Conn's exalted race.

King Conn the Hundred-fighter, being much troubled, called then on his druid,[3] Coran, to put forth his power against the witchery

of the banshee[19]--

"O Coran of the mystic arts and of the mighty incantations, here is a contest such as I have never been engaged in since I was made king at Tara--a contest with an invisible lady, who is beguiling my son to Fairyland by her baleful charms. Her cunning is beyond my skill, and I am not able to withstand her power; and if thou, Coran, help not, my son will be taken away from me by the wiles and witchery of a woman from the fairy hills."

[108]

Coran, the druid, then came forward, and began to chant against the voice of the lady. And his power was greater than hers for that time, so that she was forced to retire.

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As she was going away she threw an apple to Connla, who straightway lost sight of her; and the king and his people no longer heard her voice.

The king and the prince returned with their company to the palace; and Connla remained for a whole month without tasting food or drink, except the apple. And though he ate of it each day, it was never lessened, but was as whole and perfect in the end as at the beginning. Moreover, when they offered him aught else to eat or drink, he refused it; for while he had his apple he did not deem any other food worthy to be tasted. And he began to be very moody and sorrowful, thinking of the lovely fairy maiden.

At the end of the month, as Connla stood by his father's side among the nobles, on the Plain of Arcomin, he saw the same lady approaching him from the west. And when she had come near, she addressed him in this manner--