The Ancient Irish Epic Tale Táin Bó Cúalnge 9 – Dunn · Verses Across
Literature · Historical Fiction
The Ancient Irish Epic Tale Táin Bó Cúalnge 9The Slaying of Orlam
18
Literature · Historical Fiction
The Ancient Irish Epic Tale Táin Bó Cúalnge 9
The Slaying of Orlam
DunnEnglish
[W.1393.] The four grand provinces of Erin set forth on the morrow eastwards over Cronn ('the Round'), which is a mountain. Cuchulain had gone out before them, till he came upon the charioteer of Orlam son of Aililla and of Medb. This was at Tamlacht Orlaim ('Orlam's Gravestone') a little to the north of Disert Lochaid ('Lochat's Hermitage'). The charioteer was engaged in cutting chariot-poles from a holly-tree in the wood. But according to another version it is the hind pole of Cuchulain's chariot that was broken and it was to cut a pole he had gone when Orlam's charioteer came up. According to this version, it was the charioteer who was cutting the pole.
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 772.
[2-2] YBL. 773-775.
[3-3] LU. 773-775.
Not long was the battle-victorious Hound there when he heard a sound and an uproar. "Behold, O Laeg," cried Cuchulain; "who of the host of the foe have come into this land to carry off a share of cattle and booty from the province wherein they came? How bold are the ways of the Ulstermen, if it be they that cut down the woods in this fashion in the face of the men of Erin. But, check the horses and hold the chariot. Tarry thou here a little, till I know who cuts down the woods in this manner." Then Cuchulain went on till he came up to Orlam's charioteer, [W.1401.] to stop him; he thought he was one of the men of Ulster. "What dost thou here, gilla?" asked Cuchulain. "Indeed, then," answered the gilla, "I cut chariot-poles from this holm, because our chariots were broken yesterday in pursuit of that famous wildling, namely Cuchulain. And for thy manhood's sake, young warrior, pray come to my aid, so that that famous Cuchulain come not upon me." "Take thy choice, gilla," said Cuchulain, "to gather or to trim them, either." "I will see to gathering them, for it is easier," the gilla answered. Cuchulain started to cut the poles and he drew them between the forks of his feet and his hands against their bends and their knots, so that he made them smooth and straight and slippery and trimmed; he polished them so that not even a midge could find footing thereon when he had passed them away from him. Then full sure the gilla gazed upon him. "Far then, meseems, from fitting is the task I put on thee. And for love of thy valour, who art thou, say, O warrior?" the gilla asked, for he was sore affrighted. "That same renowned Cuchulain am I of whom thou spakest a while ago in the morning." "Woe is me then, by reason of this," cried the gilla; "for this am I lost forever." [LL.fo.68b.] "Whence comest thou and who art thou?" Cuchulain asked. "Charioteer am I of Orlam, Ailill's son and Medb's," said he. "Fear nothing; I will not slay thee at all, boy," said Cuchulain; "for I slay nor charioteers nor horseboys nor persons unarmed. But, prithee, where is thy master, gilla?" "Over yonder by the trench, with his back to the pillar-stone," answered the gilla. "Off with thee thither to him and bear him a warning that he be on his guard. For if we meet he shall fall by my hand."
[4-4] H. 2. 17.
[5-5] H. 2. 17.
[6-6] H. 2. 17.
[7-7] Stowe.
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 777.
[2-2] Stowe.
[3-3] H. 2. 17.
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 786
[5-5] H. 2. 17.
[6-6] LU. and YBL. 786-787.
[7-7] H. 2. 17.
[8-8] LU. 787.
[9-9] LU. and YBL. 789.
[10-10] H. 2. 17.
[11-11] H. 2. 17.
[W.1419.] Thereupon the charioteer repaired by one way to his master, and Cuchulain went by another, and fast as the gilla sped to Orlam, faster still Cuchulain did reach him and offered him combat and he struck off his head, and raising it aloft displayed it to the men of Erin, and he flourished it in the presence of the host. Then he put the head on the charioteer's back and said, "Take this with thee, and so go to the camp. Unless thou goest so, a stone out of my sling will reach thee."
[1-1] H. 2. 17.
[2-2] H. 2. 17.
[3-3] H. 2. 17.
[4-4] Stowe, LU. and YBL. 792.
When the charioteer came nigh to the camp he took the head from his back and told his adventures to Ailill and Medb. "It is not the same, this exploit and the catching of birds," quoth she. "And he told me" (said the boy), "unless I brought it on my back to the camp, he would break my head with a stone." Hence Leaca Orlaim ('Orlam's Flagstones') to the north of Disert Lochaid is the name of the place where he fell. Tamlachta ('Gravestones') is another name for it, and it is for this reason it is so called because of the little gravestones and the violent deaths which Cuchulain worked on it."
[5-5] LU. and YBL. 793-799.
[6-6] H. 2. 17.
VIIIa
THE SLAYING OF THE THREE MacARACH
[W.1425.] Then came the three macArach on to the ford at Ard Ciannacht to encounter Cuchulain: Lon ('Ousel'), Uala ('Pride'), and Diliu ('Deluge');--Meslir ('Lir's Fosterling'), and Meslaoc ('Hero's Fosterling'), and Meslethain ('Lethan's Fosterling') were the names of their charioteers. This is why they came to engage with Cuchulain, for the deed he had done the day before they deemed past bearing, when the two sons of Nera son of Nuatar, son of Tacan, were slain at Ath Gabla ('Fork-ford'), and Orlam, Ailill's son and Medb's, was slain withal and his head displayed to the men of Erin, so that their desire was to kill Cuchulain in the same manner in revenge for him, and that they should be the ones to rid the host of that pest and bring his head with them to set it aloft. They went into the wood and cut off three great white-hazel wood-strips (and put them) into the hands of their charioteers, so that the six of them might engage in battle at one and the same time with Cuchulain. Cuchulain turned on them and smote their six heads from them. Thus fell the macArach at the hands of Cuchulain, because they observed not fair fight with him. At that same time Orlam's charioteer was between Ailill and Medb. Cuchulain slung a stone at him, so that it broke his head and his brains came out over his ears. Fertedil was his name. Hence it is not true that Cuchulain slew no charioteers. Albeit he slew them not without fault.
[1-1] H. 2. 17, and, similarly, LU. fo. 64a, in the margin. LU. reads MacGarach.
[2-2] Stowe.
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 806.
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 806-807.
[5-5] H. 2. 17.
[6-6] LU. and YBL. 808-812.
VIIIb
THE COMBAT OF LETHAN AND CUCHULAIN
[W.1439.] There came also Lethan ('the Broad') to his ford on the Nith in the land of Conalle Murthemni, to fight with Cuchulain. He was angered at what Cuchulain had wrought. He came upon him at the ford. Ath Carpait ('Chariot-ford') is the name of the ford where they fought, for their chariots were broken in the combat on the ford. It is there that Mulcha, Lethan's charioteer, fell on the shoulder of the hill between the two fords, for he had offered battle and combat to Laeg son of Riangabair. Hence it is called Guala Mulchi ('Mulcha's Shoulder') ever since. It is there, too, that Cuchulain and Lethan met, and Lethan fell at Cuchulain's hands and he smote his head from his neck on the ford and left it therewith, that is, he left the head with the trunk. Wherefore the name of the ford of the Nith was called Ath Lethain ('Lethain's Ford') ever since in the district of Conalle Murthemni.
[1-1] The superscription is taken from Stowe.
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 837.
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 841.
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 841.
[5-5] H. 2. 17.
[6-6] LU. and YBL. 839 and Stowe.
Then came unto them the Crutti Cainbili ('the Tuneful Harpers'), from Ess Ruaid in the north to amuse them, out of friendship for Ailill and Medb. They opined it was to spy upon them they were come from Ulster. When they came within sight of the camp of the men of Erin, fear, terror, and dread possessed them, and the hosts pursued [W.1450.] them as never men pursued, far and wide, till they escaped them in the shapes of deer near the standing stones at Lia Mor ('Great Stone') in the north. For though they were known as the 'Mellifluous Harpers' they were druids, men of great cunning and great power of augury and magic.
[7-7] H. 2. 17.
[8-8] H. 2. 17.
[9-9] Stowe.
[10-10] H. 2. 17.
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 835.
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 835.
VIIIc
THE KILLING OF THE SQUIRREL AND OF THE TAME BIRD
[W.1456.] Then Cuchulain made a threat in Methe that wherever he saw Medb he would cast a stone at her and that it would not go far from the side of her head. That he also fulfilled. In the place where he saw Medb west of the ford he cast a stone from his sling at her, so that it killed the pet bird that was on her shoulder. Medb passed over the ford eastwards, and again he cast a stone from his sling at her east of the ford, so that it killed the tame squirrel that was on her shoulder. Hence the names of those places are still, Meide in Togmail ('Squirrel's Neck') and Meide ind Eoin ('Bird's Neck'). And Ath Srethe ('Ford of the Throw') is the name of the ford over which Cuchulain cast the stone from his sling.
[1-1] The superscription is taken from LU. fo. 64a, in the margin.
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 813.
Then Reuin was drowned in his lake. Hence is Loch Reuin. "Your companion is not afar off from you," cried Ailill to the Mane. They stood up and looked around. When they sat down again, Cuchulain struck one of them so that his head was split. "It is well it was thou hast essayed that; thy[a] mirth was not seemly," quoth Mane the fool; "it is I would have taken his head off." Cuchulain flung a stone at him, so that his head was split. Thus these people were slain: Orlam, first of all, on his hill; the three sons of Arach[a] on their ford; Fertidil in his ... (?); Maenan on his hill. "I swear by the god by whom my people swear," cried Ailill; "the man that scoffs at Cuchulain here I will make two halves of. But above all let us hasten our way by day and by night," Ailill continued, "till we come to Cualnge. That man will slay two-thirds of your host in this fashion."
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 820-831 and, partly, in Eg. 1782.
[a] Literally, 'your.'
[a] 'Garech,' LU. and YBL. 827.
Then did the men of Erin deliberate about going to ravage and lay waste Mag Breg and Meath and the plain of Conall and the land of Cuchulain; and it was in the presence of Fergus macRoig they discussed it.
[1-1] H. 2. 17.
[W.1465.] The four grand provinces of Erin moved out on the morrow, and began to harry the plains of Breg and Murthemne. And the sharp, keen-edged anxiety [LL.fo.69a.] for Cuchulain came over his fosterer Fergus. And he bade the men of Erin be on their guard that night, for that Cuchulain would come upon them. And here again he sang in his praise, as we wrote it before,[b] and he uttered the lay:--
"If Cuchulain, Cualnge's Hound,
And Red Branch chiefs on you come,
Men will welter in their blood,
Laying waste Murthemne's plain!
"Woe to him possesses wealth,
'Less he find a way to 'scape;
And your wives will be enslaved,
And your chiefs fill pools of blood!
"Far away he[c] held his course,
Till he reached Armenia's heights;
Battle dared he, past his wont,
And the Burnt-breasts[d] put to death!
"Hardest for him was to drive
Necht's sons from their chieftest haunts;
And the smith's hound--mighty deed--
Hath he slain with single hand!
[W.1483.] "More than this I've naught to say,
As concerns Dechtire's son;
My belief, in troth, is this:
Ye will now meet with your fate."
[b] See above, p. 41.
[4-4] H. 2. 17.
[c] That is, Cuchulain.
[d] That is, the Amazons.
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 820-831 and, partly, in Eg. 1782.
After this lay, that was the day that Donn ('the Brown Bull') of Cualnge came into the land of Margine to Sliab Culinn and with him fifty heifers of the heifers of Ulster; and there he was pawing and digging up the earth in that place, in the land of Margine, in Cualnge; that is, he flung the turf over him with his heels. While the hosts were marching over Mag Breg, Cuchulain in the meanwhile laid hands on their camps. It was on the same day that the Morrigan, daughter of Ernmas, the prophetess of the fairy-folk, came in the form of a bird, and she perched on the standing-stone in Temair of Cualnge giving the Brown Bull of Cualnge warning and lamentations before the men of Erin. Then she began to address him and what she said was this: "Good, now, O luckless one, thou Brown Bull of Cualnge," so spake the Morrigan; "take heed; for the men of Erin. are on thy track and seeking thee and they will come upon thee, and if thou art taken they will carry thee away to their camp like any ox on a raid, unless thou art on thy guard." And she commenced to give warning to him in this fashion, telling him he would be slain on the Tain, and she delivered this judgement and spake these words aloud:[a]--
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 853.
[2-2] Stowe.
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 857.
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 842-843.
[5-5] H. 2. 17.
[6-6] LU. and YBL. 844.
[7-7] H. 2. 17.
[8-8] H. 2. 17.
[9-9] H. 2. 17.
[10-10] H. 2. 17.
[11-11] H. 2. 17.
[a] The following passage in 'rosc' is exceedingly difficult and obscure, and the translation given here is consequently incomplete and uncertain.
"Knows not the restless Brown of the truly deadly [W.1502.] fray that is not uncertain?--A raven's[a] croak--The raven that doth not conceal--Foes range your checkered plain--Troops on raids--I have a secret--Ye shall know ... The waving fields--The deep-green grass ... and rich, soft plain--Wealth of flowers' splendour--Badb's cow-lowing--Wild the raven--Dead the men--A tale of woe--Battle-storms[b] on Cualnge evermore, to the death of mighty sons--Kith looking on the death of kin!"
[12-12] LU. and YBL. 846, and Stowe.
[a] The Morrigan, the Irish goddess of battle, most often appeared in the form of a raven.
[1-1] Reading with H. 2. 17.
[b] Translating cloe, as suggested by Windisch.
When the Brown Bull of Cualnge heard those words he moved on to Glenn na Samaisce ('Heifers' Glen') in Sliab Culinn ('Hollymount') in the north of Ulster, and fifty of his heifers with him, and his herdsman accompanied him; Forgemen was the name of the cowherd. And he threw off the thrice fifty boys who were wont to play on his back and he destroyed two-thirds of the boys. This was one of the magic virtues of the Brown Bull of Cualnge: Fifty heifers he would cover every day. These calved before that same hour on the next day and such of them that calved not at the due time burst with the calves, because they could not suffer the begetting of the Brown Bull of Cualnge. One of the magic virtues of the Brown Bull of Cualnge were the fifty grown youths who engaged in games, who on his fine back found room every evening to play draughts and assembly[c] and leaping; he would not put them from him nor would he totter under them. Another of the magic virtues of the Brown Bull of Cualnge was the hundred warriors [W.1535.] he screened from the heat and the cold under his shadow and shelter. Another of the magic virtues of the Brown Bull of Cualnge was that no goblin nor boggart nor sprite of the glen dared come into one and the same cantred with him. Another of the magic virtues of the Brown Bull of Cualnge was his musical lowing every evening as he returned to his haggard, his shed and his byre. It was music enough and delight for a man in the north and in the south, in the east and the west, and in the middle of the cantred of Cualnge, the lowing he made at even as he came to his haggard, his shed, and his byre. These, then, are some of the magic virtues of the Brown Bull of Cualnge.
[2-2] Stowe.
[3-3] H. 2. 17.
[4-4] LU. and YBL. 854, and H. 2. 17.
[5-5] LU. and YBL. 855-856.
[6-6] Stowe.
[7-7] H. 2. 17.
[8-8] H. 2. 17.
[9-9] H. 2. 17.
[c] Apparently the name of some game.
[10-10] H. 2. 17.
[11-11] H. 2. 17.
[1-1] H. 2. 17.
Thereupon on the morrow the hosts proceeded among the rocks and dunes of the land of Conalle Murthemni. Cuchulain killed no one from Saile ('the Sea') around Dorthe in the land of Conalle, until he reached Cualnge. At that time Cuchulain was in Cuince, that is a mountain. He had threatened that, where he would see Medb, he would hurl a stone at her head. It was not easy to do this, for it was thus Medb went, with half the host around her and their canopy of shields over her head. And Medb ordered a canopy of shields to be held over her head in order that Cuchulain might not strike her from the hills or hillocks or heights. Howbeit on that day, no killing nor attack came from Cuchulain upon the men of Erin, in the land of Murthemne among the rocks and dunes of Conalle Murthemni.
[2-2] LU. 860.
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 858-863.
VIIId
THE SLAYING OF LOCHE
[W.1552.] The warriors of four of the five grand provinces of Erin bided their time in Rede Loche in Cualnge and pitched camp and took quarters therein for that night. Medb bade her fair handmaiden from amongst her attendants to go for her to the river for water for drinking and washing. Loche was the name of the maiden. Thereupon Loche went, and fifty[a] women in her train and the queen's diadem of gold on her head. And Cuchulain espied them and he put a stone on his sling and cast [LL.fo.69b.] a stone from his staff-sling at her, so that he broke the diadem of gold in three pieces and killed the maiden on her plain. Thence is Rede Loche ('the Plain of Loche') in Cualnge. For Cuchulain had thought, for want of acquaintance and knowledge, that it was Medb that was there.
[1-1] LU. fo. 65a, in the margin.
[a] 'forty,' H. 2. 17.
[2-2] H. 2. 17.
[3-3] Stowe.
[4-4] H. 2. 17.
From Finnabair of Cualnge the hosts divided and set the country on fire. They gathered all their women and boys and girls and cattle in Cualnge together so that they all were in Finnabair. "Ye have not fared well," quoth Medb; "I see not the bull amongst you." "He is not in the land at all," replied every one. They summoned Lothar, the cowherd, to Medb. "Where, thinkest thou, is the bull?" she asked. "I have great fear to tell," said the cowherd. "The night," said he, "that the Ulstermen fell into their 'Pains,' the Donn went and three score heifers along with him; and he is at Dubcaire Glinni Gat ('the Black Corrie of the Osier-glen')." "Rise," said Medb, "and take a withy between each two of you." And they do accordingly. Hence is the name, Glenn Gatt, of that glen.
[5-5] LU. and YBL. 867-887.]
Then they led the bull to Finnabair. In the place where the bull saw Lothar, the cowherd, he attacked him, and soon he carried his entrails out on his horns and together with his thrice fifty heifers he attacked the camp, so that fifty warriors perished. Hence this is the Tragical Death of Lothar on the Tain and the Finding of the Bull according to this version. Thereafter the bull went from them away from the camp and they knew not whither he had gone from them and they were ashamed. Medb asked the cowherd if he might know where the bull was. "I trow he is in the wilds of Sliab Culinn." Then they turned back ravaging Cualnge and they found not the bull there.
[1-1] YBL. 882, which adds: 'We will not follow it further here.'
[2-2] LU., edition of Strachan and O'Keeffe, page 34, note 16.
[5-5] LU. and YBL. 867-887.
VIIIe
THE KILLING OF UALA
[W.1563.] Early on the morrow the hosts continued their way to lay waste the plain of Murthemne and to sack Mag Breg and Meath and Machaire Conaill ('Conall's Plain') and the land of Cualnge. It was then that the streams and rivers of Conalle Murthemni rose to the tops of the trees, and the streams of the Cronn rose withal, until the hosts arrived at Glaiss Cruinn ('Cronn's Stream'). And they attempted the stream and failed to cross it because of the size of its waves, so that they slept on its bank. And Cluain Carpat ('Chariot-meadow') is the name of the first place where they reached it. This is why Cluain Carpat is the name of that place, because of the hundred[a] chariots which the river carried away from them to the sea. Medb ordered her people that one of the warriors should go try the river. And on the morrow there arose a great, stout, wonderful warrior of the particular people of Medb and Ailill, Uala by name, and he took on his back a massy rock, to the end that Glaiss Cruinn might not carry him back. And he went to essay the stream, and the stream threw him back dead, lifeless, with his [W.1571.] stone on his back and so he was drowned. Medb ordered that he be lifted out of the river then by the men of Erin and his grave dug and his keen made and his stone raised over his grave, so that it is thence Lia Ualann ('Uala's Stone') on the road near the stream in the land of Cualnge.
[1-1] LU. fo. 65a, in the margin.
[2-2] H. 2. 17.
[3-3] H. 2. 17.
[4-4] Stowe.
[5-5] LU. 887, a gloss.
[a] H. 2. 17 has 'fifty charioteers.'
[6-6] LU. and YBL. 889.
[7-7] LU. and YBL. 889.
[8-8] H. 2. 17.
[9-9] H. 2. 17.
[10-10] H. 2. 17.
[1-1] H. 2. 17.
[2-2] Stowe.
[3-3] H. 2. 17.
[4-4] H. 2. 17.
[5-5] H. 2. 17.
[6-6] LU. and YBL. 891.
Cuchulain clung close to the hosts that day provoking them to encounter and combat. Four and seven score kings fell at his hands at that same stream, and he slew a hundred of their armed, kinglike warriors around Roen and Roi, the two chroniclers of the Tain. This is the reason the account of the Tain was lost and had to be sought afterwards for so long a time.
[7-7] LU. and YBL. 900.
[8-8] Stowe and H. 2. 17.
[9-9] H. 2. 17.
[10-10] H. 2. 17; the story of the finding of the Tain is told in the Imtheacht na Tromdhaimhe ("The Proceedings of the Great Bardic Institution"), edited by Owen Connellan, in the Transactions of the Ossianic Society, vol. v, 1857, pp. 103 fl.
Medb called upon her people to go meet Cuchulain in encounter and combat for the sake of the hosts. "It will not be I," and "It will not be I," spake each and every one from his place. "No caitiff is due from my people. Even though one should be due, it is not I would go to oppose Cuchulain, for no easy thing is it to do battle with him."
When they had failed to find the Donn Cualnge, the hosts kept their way along the river around the river Cronn to its source, being unable to cross it, till they reached the place where the river rises out of the mountains, and, had they wished it, they would have gone between the river and the mountain, but Medb would not allow it, so they had to dig and hollow out the mountain [W.1585.] before her in order that their trace might remain there forever and that it might be for a shame and reproach to Ulster.
[11-11] Stowe.
[12-12] H. 2. 17.
[13-13] LU. and YBL. 893.
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 895.
They tarried there three days and three nights till they had dug out the earth before them. And Bernais ('the Gap') of the Foray of Medb and the Gap of the Foray of Cualnge is another name for the place ever since, for it is through it the drove afterwards passed. There Cuchulain killed Cronn and Coemdele and ...
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 896.
[4-4] H. 2. 17.
[3-3] LU. and YBL. 898-899.
The warriors of the four grand provinces of Erin pitched camp and took quarters that night at Belat Aileain ('the Island's Crossway'). Belat Aileain was its name up to then, but Glenn Tail ('Glen of Shedding') is henceforth its name because of the abundance of curds and of milk and of new warm milk which the droves of cattle and the flocks of the land of Conalle and Murthemne yielded there that night for the men of Erin. And Liasa Liac ('Stone Sheds') is another name for it to this day, and it is for this it bears that name, for it is there that the men of Erin raised cattle-stalls and byres for their herds and droves between Cualnge and Conalle. Botha is still another name for it, for the men of Erin erected bothies and huts there.
[5-5] Stowe.
[6-6] H. 2. 17.
[7-7] H. 2. 17.
[8-8] H. 2. 17.
[9-9] LU. and YBL. 909.
[10-10] H. 2. 17.
The four of the five grand provinces of Erin took up the march until they reached the Sechair in the west on the morrow. Sechair was the name of the river hitherto; Glaiss Gatlaig ('Osier-water') is its name henceforward. And Glaiss Gatlaig rose up against them. Now this is the reason it had that name, for it was in osiers and ropes that the men of Erin brought [W.1599.] their flocks and droves over across it, and the entire host let their osiers and ropes drift with the stream after crossing. Hence the name, Glaiss Gatlaig. Then they slept at Druim Fene in Conalle. These then are their stages from Cualnge to the plain (of Conalle Murthemni) according to this version. Other authors of this Work and other books aver that they followed another way on their journeyings from Finnabair to Conalle.
[11-11] H. 2. 17.
[12-12] LU. and YBL. 910.
[1-1] LU. and YBL. 912-914.
[2-2] YBL. 914.
VIIIf
THE HARRYING OF CUALNGE FOLLOWETH HERE BELOW
After every one had come with their spoils and they were all gathered in Finnabair of Cualnge, Medb spake: "Let the camp be divided here," said Medb; "the foray cannot be caried on by a single road. Let Ailill with half his force go by Midluachair. We and Fergus will go by Bernas Bo Ulad ('the Pass of the Cattle of Ulster')." "Not fair is the part that has fallen to us of the force," said Fergus; "the cattle cannot be driven over the mountain without dividing." This then is done. Hence cometh Bernas Bo Ulad ('the Pass of the Cattle of Ulster').
[1-1] LU. fo. 65b, in the margin.
[2-2] LU. and YBL. 916-1197, omitting 1079-1091.
Then spake Ailill to his charioteer Cuillius: "Find out for me to-day Medb and Fergus. I wot not what hath led them to keep thus together. I would fain have a token from thee." Cuillius went where Medb and Fergus wantoned. The pair dallied behind while the warriors continued their march. Cuillius stole near them and they perceived not the spy. It happened that Fergus' sword lay close by him. Cuillius drew it from its sheath and left the sheath empty. Then Cuillius betook himself to Ailill. "Well?" said Ailill. "Well, then," replied Cuillius; "thou knowest the signification of this token. As thou hast thought," continued Cuillius, "it is thus I discovered them, lying together." "It is so, then." Each of them laughs, at the other. "It is well so," said Ailill; "she had no choice; to win his help on the Tain she hath done it. Keep the sword carefully by thee," said Ailill; "put it beneath thy seat in the chariot and a linen cloth wrapped round it."
[3-3] LU. 930.]
When Fergus got up to take his sword, "Alas!" cried he. "What aileth thee?" Medb asked. "An ill deed have I done Ailill," said he. "Wait thou here till I come out of the wood," said Fergus, "and wonder not though it be long till I come." It happened that Medb knew not of the loss of the sword. Fergus went out taking his charioteer's sword with him in his hand, and he fashioned a sword from a tree in the wood. Hence is Fid Mor Thruailli ('Great Scabbard-Wood') in Ulster.
"Let us hasten after our comrades," said Fergus. The forces of all came together in the plain. They raised their tents. Fergus was summoned to Ailill for a game of chess. When Fergus entered the tent Ailill laughed at him.[a]
[a] Here follows in LU. and YBL. 946-1020, Eg. 1782, a most difficult passage, rendered more obscure by the incorporation of glossarial notes into the body of the text. It is almost incapable of translation; it consists of a dialogue or series of repartees during a game of chess, in which Ailill taunts Fergus on the episode just narrated and Fergus replies.
Cuchulain came so that he was before Ath Cruinn ('the Ford of the Cronn'). "O master Laeg," he cried to his driver, "here are the hosts for us." "I swear by the gods," said the charioteer, "I will do a mighty feat in the eyes of chariot-fighters, in quick spurring-on of the slender steeds; with yokes of silver and golden wheels shall they be urged on (?) in triumph. Thou shalt ride before heads of kings. The steeds I guide will bring victory with their bounding." "Take heed, O Laeg," said Cuchulain; "hold the reins for the great triumph of Macha, that the horses drag thee not over the mass at the ... (?) of a woman. Let us go over the straight plain of these ... (?). I call on the waters to help me," cried Cuchulain. "I beseech heaven and earth and the Cronn above all."
Then the Cronn opposes them,[a]
Holds them back from Murthemne,
Till the heroes'[b] work is done
On the mount of Ocaine![c]
[a] That is, the men of Erin.
[b] That is, Cuchulain and Laeg.
[c] See above, page 97.
Therewith the water rose up till it was in the tops of the trees.
Mane son of Ailill and Medb marched in advance of the rest. Cuchulain slew him on the ford and thirty horsemen of his people were drowned. Again Cuchulain laid low twice sixteen warriors of theirs near the stream. The warriors of Erin pitched their tents near the ford. Lugaid son of Nos grandson of Lomarc Allcomach went to parley with Cuchulain. Thirty horsemen were with him. "Welcome to thee, O Lugaid," cried Cuchulain. "Should a flock of birds graze upon the plain of Murthemne, thou shalt have a wild goose with half the other. Should fish come to the falls or to the bays, thou shalt have a salmon with as much again. Thou shalt have the three sprigs, even a sprig of cresses, a sprig of laver, and a sprig of sea-grass; there will be a man to take thy place at the ford." "This welcome is truly meant," replied Lugaid; "the choice of people for the youth whom I desire!" "Splendid are your hosts," said Cuchulain. "It will be no misfortune," said Lugaid, "for thee to stand up alone before them." "True courage and valour have I," Cuchulain made answer. "Lugaid, my master," said Cuchulain, "do the hosts fear me?" "By the god," Lugaid made answer, "I swear that no one man of them nor two men dares make water outside the camp unless twenty or thirty go with him." "It will be something for them," said Cuchulain, "if I begin to cast from my sling. He will be fit for thee, O Lugaid, this companion thou hast in Ulster, if the men oppose me one by one. Say, then, what wouldst thou?" asked Cuchulain. "A truce with my host." "Thou shalt have it, provided there be a token therefor. And tell my master Fergus that there shall be a token on the host. Tell the leeches that there shall be a token on the host, and let them swear to preserve my life and let them provide me each night with provision."
[1-1] LU. 1041.
[1-1] Literally, 'if there oppose me the strength of each single man.'
Lugaid went from him. It happened that Fergus was in the tent with Ailill. Lugaid called him out and reported that (proposal of Cuchulain's) to him. Then Ailill was heard:[a]
[a] The sense of this proposal of Ailill's, omitted in the translation (LU. 1064-1069 and Eg. 1782), is not clear.
"I swear by the god, I cannot," said Fergus, "unless I ask the lad. Help me, O Lugaid," said Fergus. "Do thou go to him, to see whether Ailill with a division may come to me to my company. Take him an ox with salt pork and a keg of wine." Thereupon Lugaid goes to Cuchulain and tells him that. "'Tis the same to me whether he go," said Cuchulain. Then the two hosts unite. They remain there till night, or until they spend thirty nights there. Cuchulain destroyed thirty of their warriors with his sling. "Your journeyings will be ill-starred," said Fergus (to Medb and Ailill); "the men of Ulster will come out of their 'Pains' and will grind you down to the earth and the gravel. Evil is the battle-corner wherein we are." He proceeds to Cul Airthir ('the Eastern Nook'). Cuchulain slays thirty of their heroes on Ath Duirn ('Ford of the Fist'). Now they could not reach Cul Airthir till night. Cuchulain killed thirty of their men there and they raised their tents in that place. In the morning Ailill's charioteer, Cuillius to wit, was washing the wheel-bands in the ford. Cuchulain struck him with a stone so that he killed him. Hence is Ath Cuillne ('Ford of Destruction') in Cul Airthir.'
[3-3] 'Lugaid,' LU. 1069.
[4-4] YBL. 1075; but, 'they would be twenty nights there, as other books say,' LU.
