XIX.
From that they came to an island in which was a disciple of Christ. Glorious and beautiful was that island; and on it stood a church and a kingly shrine. As they came near they heard some one singing the Pater to God in the door of the church: whereupon one of the clerics said:--
"Welcome the prayer of our father and teacher, Jesus."
And the priest who stood praying at the door said:--
"Why say you so? Who are ye; and where have ye seen Him?"
And when they had told him that they were servants of Jesus, he spoke again:--
"I too am one of His disciples. And when I first took Him for my Lord I was faithful and steady; but after a time I left Him and came to sea in my curragh, and rowed till I came to this island. For a long time I lived on fruit and herbs; till at length an angel came from heaven to visit me. And he said to me:--
"'Thou hast not done well: nevertheless thou shalt abide on this island, eating the same food without either decay or death till the Judgment Day.' And so I have lived here to this hour: and no daily meal is sent to me, but I eat of the herbs and fruit that grow on the island."
Then they all went together into one house; and being very hungry, they prayed fervently for food. And presently an angel came down from heaven; and while they looked on he placed a supper for them on a flagstone hard by the strand, namely, a cake with a slice of fish for each. And while they ate, whatsoever taste each man separately wished for, that taste he found on the food. In the morning, when they were about to bid the cleric farewell, he foretold all that should happen to them, saying:--
"Ye shall go from me now on sea till ye reach the western point of Spain. And as ye near the land, ye shall meet a boat with a crew of men fishing, who will bring you with them to land."
Then turning to the bishop, he said:--"Immediately after leaving the curragh, as soon as thou hast reached the land, prostrate thyself three times to God. And the place on which thou shalt first set thy foot, there a great crowd shall gather round thee from every quarter. And they will treat thee kindly, and will give thee land on which they will build a church for thee; and after this thy fame shall spread over the whole world. And the successor of Peter (the Pope) shall bring thee eastwards to Rome. Yonder priest thou shalt leave as thy successor in the church, and the deacon thou shalt leave to be his sacristan. That place and that church shall be revered, and shall be preserved for ever. And thou shalt leave the Gilla in Britain, where he will live for the rest of his life."
After this they bade the old man farewell and left the island. And all fell out just as he had foretold. And the bishop went to Rome; and he afterwards related these adventures to Saerbrethach bishop of West Munster, and to Mocolmoc, one of the holy men of Aran, as we have set them down here.
Thus far the Voyage of the Sons of O'Corra.
FOOTNOTES:
[CLV.] I translated this tale fifteen years ago (as mentioned in Preface, page xiii) from two Royal Irish Academy MSS., 23. N. 15 and 23. M. 50; and I subsequently made some modifications after I had an opportunity of consulting the more correct text of the Book of Fermoy. This last text has since been published, with literal translation, by Dr. Whitley Stokes, in the _Revue Celtique_ (Jan. 1893). After comparing my somewhat free version with Dr. Stokes's close translation, I have not thought it necessary to make any changes.
A few of the adventures in this tale are identical with those described in the Voyage of Maildun: the description of these I have omitted here. Lochan, Enna, and Silvester, the chief characters in this extraordinary fiction, are historical: they were saints of the primitive Irish church, and lived in the sixth century.
[CLVI.] _Brugaid_, a sort of local officer who maintained a large establishment as keeper of a house of public hospitality. See my "Short History of Ireland," p. 57.
[CLVII.] Chess-playing was a favourite amusement among the ancient Irish.
[CLVIII.] Cairderga: original _Caer-derg_, red berry.
[CLIX.] _Erenach_, the holder or _impropriator_ of a church and its lands: usually a layman.
[CLX.] Clogher in Tyrone where there was a monastery.
[CLXI.] Tuam-da-Gualann, where was formerly a celebrated ecclesiastical establishment: now Tuam in Galway.
[CLXII.] Greenan: original _grianan_, literally a sunny place: a summer-house: the most lightsome, airy, and pleasant apartment of a house. See this word discussed in my "Irish Names of Places," vol. i. p. 291.
[CLXIII.] For St. Finnen of Clonard in the County Meath, see my "Short History of Ireland," p. 175
[CLXIV.] _Kenn-Mara_, now Kinvarra on Galway bay.
[CLXV.] _Curragh_, see note 17 at end. Some curraghs were made with two--some with three--hides, one outside another, for the better security.
[CLXVI.] _Crossans_: travelling gleemen: the clothes, musical instruments, &c., were the property of the company. This word is the origin of the Scotch and Irish family name MacCrossan, now often changed to Crosbie. A company of crossans had always among them a _fuirseoir_, i.e. a juggler or buffoon.
[CLXVII.] According to very ancient legends, which are still vividly remembered and recounted all over the country, almost every lake in Ireland has a tremendous hairy reptile in its waters. Some say they are demons, sent by St. Patrick to reside at the bottom of the lakes to the Day of Judgment.
[CLXVIII.] St. Ailbe, the patron of Munster, was a contemporary of St. Patrick. He founded his great monastery and school at Emly in the County Limerick.
THE FATE OF THE SONS OF USNA.[CLXIX.]
Avenging and bright fall the swift sword of Erin On him who the brave sons of Usna betrayed.
MOORE.
FOOTNOTES:
[CLXIX.] The translation that follows is my own, and is of course copyright, like all the other translations in this book. On this fine story is founded the epic poem of "Deirdre," by Robert Dwyer Joyce, M.D.
## CHAPTER I.
THE FLIGHT TO ALBAN.
Concobar mac Nessa, king of Ulaid,[CLXX.] ruled in Emain. And his chief story-teller, Felimid, made a feast for the king and for the knights of the Red Branch,[CLXXI.] who all came to partake of it in his house. While they were feasting right joyously, listening to the sweet music of the harps and the mellow voices of the bards, a messenger brought word that Felimid's wife had given birth to a little daughter, an infant of wondrous beauty. And when Caffa, the king's druid and seer, who was of the company, was ware of the birth of the child, he went forth to view the stars and the clouds, if he might thereby glean knowledge of what was in store for that little babe.[CLXXII.] And when he had returned to his place, he sat deep pondering for a time: and then standing up and obtaining silence, he said:--
"This child shall be called Deir-dr[)e][CLXXIII.]; and fittingly is she so named: for much of woe will befall Ulaid and Erin in general on her account. There shall be jealousies, and strifes, and wars: evil deeds will be done: many heroes will be exiled: many will fall."
When the heroes heard this, they were sorely troubled, and some said that the child should be killed. But the king said:--"Not so, ye Knights of the Red Branch; it is not meet to commit a base deed in order to escape evils that may never come to pass. This little maid shall be reared out of the reach of mischief, and when she is old enough she shall be my wife: thus shall I be the better able to guard against those evils that Caffa forecasts for us."
And the Ultonians did not dare to gainsay the word of the king.
Then king Concobar caused the child to be placed in a strong fortress on a lonely spot nigh the palace, with no opening in front, but with door and windows looking out at the back on a lovely garden watered by a clear rippling stream: and house and garden were surrounded by a wall that no man could surmount. And those who were put in charge of her were, her tutor, and her nurse, and Concobar's poetess, whose name was Lavarcam: and save these three, none were permitted to see her. And so she grew up in this solitude, year by year, till she was of marriageable age, when she excelled all the maidens of her time for beauty.
One snowy day as she and Lavarcam looked forth from the window, they saw some blood on the snow, where her tutor had killed a calf for dinner; and a raven alighted and began to drink of it. "I should like," said Deirdre, "that he who is to be my husband should have these three colours: his hair as black as the raven: his cheeks red as the blood: his skin like the snow. And I saw such a youth in a dream last night; but I know not where he is, or whether he is living on the ridge of the world."
"Truly," said Lavarcam, "the young hero that answers to thy words is not far from thee; for he is among Concobar's knights: namely, Naisi the son of Usna."
Now Naisi and his brothers, Ainnli and Ardan, the three sons of Usna, were the best beloved of all the Red Branch Knights, so gracious and gentle were they in time of peace, so skilful and swift-footed in the chase, so strong and valiant in battle.
And when Deirdre heard Lavarcam's words, she said:--"If it be as thou sayest, that this young knight is near us, I shall not be happy till I see him: and I beseech thee to bring him to speak to me."
"Alas, child," replied Lavarcam, "thou knowest not the peril of what thou askest me to do: for if thy tutor come to know of it, he will surely tell the king; and the king's anger none can bear."
Deirdre answered not: but she remained for many days sad and silent: and her eyes often filled with tears through memory of her dream: so that Lavarcam was grieved: and she pondered on the thing if it could be done, for she loved Deirdre very much, and had compassion on her. At last she contrived that these two should meet without the tutor's knowledge: and the end of the matter was that they loved each other: and Deirdre said she would never wed the king, but she would wed Naisi.
Knowing well the doom that awaited them when Concobar came to hear of this, Naisi and his young wife and his two brothers, with thrice fifty fighting men, thrice fifty women, thrice fifty attendants, and thrice fifty hounds, fled over sea to Alban. And the king of the western part of Alban received them kindly, and took them into military service. Here they remained for a space, gaining daily in favour: but they kept Deirdre apart, fearing evil if the king should see her.
And so matters went on, till it chanced that the king's steward, coming one day by Naisi's house, saw the couple as they sat on their couch: and going directly to his master, he said:--
"O king, we have long sought in vain for a woman worthy to be thy wife, and now at last we have found her: for the woman, Deirdre, who is with Naisi, is worthy to be the wife of the king of the western world. And now I give thee this counsel:--Let Naisi be killed, and then take thou Deirdre for thy wife."
The king basely agreed to do so; and forthwith he laid a plot to slay the sons of Usna; which matter coming betimes to the ears of the brothers, they fled by night with all their people. And when they had got to a safe distance, they took up their abode in a wild place, where with much ado they obtained food by hunting and fishing. And the brothers built them three hunting booths in the forest, a little distance from that part of the seashore looking towards Erin: and the booth in which their food was prepared, in that they did not eat; and the one in which they ate, in that they did not sleep. And their people in like manner built themselves booths and huts, which gave them but scant shelter from wind and weather.
Now when it came to the ears of the Ultonians, that the sons of Usna and their people were in discomfort and danger, they were sorely grieved: but they kept their thoughts to themselves, for they dared not speak their mind to the king.
FOOTNOTES:
[CLXX.] Ulaid (pronounced _Ulla_), Ulster.
[CLXXI.] For Concobar and the Red Branch Knights, see note 15 farther on: and for much fuller information, see my "Social History of Ancient Ireland," vol. i, page 83; or the Smaller Soc. Hist., page 38.
[CLXXII.] The druids professed to be able to foretell by observing the stars and clouds. See Smaller Social History, p. 98.
[CLXXIII.] "Deirdre" is said to mean "alarm."
## CHAPTER II.
CONCOBAR'S GUILEFUL MESSAGE.
AT this same time a right joyous and very splendid feast was given by Concobar in Emain Macha to the nobles and the knights of his household. And the number of the king's household that sat them down in the great hall of Emain on that occasion was five and three score above six hundred and one thousand.[CLXXIV.] Then arose, in turn, their musicians to sound their melodious harpstrings, and their poets and their story-tellers to sing their sweet poetic strains, and to recount the deeds of the mighty heroes of the olden time. And the feasting and the enjoyment went on, and the entire assembly were gay and cheerful. At length Concobar arose from where he sat high up on his royal seat; whereupon the noise of mirth was instantly hushed. And he raised his kingly voice and said:--
"I desire to know from you, ye Nobles and Knights of the Red Branch, have you ever seen in any quarter of Erin a house better than this house of Emain, which is my mansion: and whether you see any want in it."
And they answered that they saw no better house, and that they knew of no want in it.
And the king said: "I know of a great want: namely, that we have not present among us the three noble sons of Usna. And why now should they be in banishment on account of any woman in the world?"
And the nobles replied:--"Truly it is a sad thing that the sons of Usna, our dear comrades, should be in exile and distress. They were a shield of defence to Ulaid: and now, O king, it will please us well that thou send for them and bring them back, lest they and their people perish by famine or fall by their enemies."
"Let them come," replied Concobar, "and make submission to me: and their homes, and their lands and their places among the Knights of the Red Branch shall be restored to them."
Now Concobar was mightily enraged at the marriage and flight of Naisi and Deirdre, though he hid his mind from all men; and he spoke these words pretending forgiveness and friendship. But there was guile in his heart, and he planned to allure them back to Ulaid that he might kill them.
When the feast was ended, and the company had departed, the king called unto him Fergus mac Roy, and said:--"Go thou, Fergus, and bring back the sons of Usna and their people. I promise thee that I will receive them as friends should be received, and that what awaits them here is not enmity or injury, but welcome and friendship. Take my message of peace and good will, and give thyself as pledge and surety for their safety. But these two things I charge thee to do:--That the moment you land in Ulaid on your way back, you proceed straight to Barach's house which stands on the sea cliff high over the landing place fronting Alban: and that whether the time of your arrival be by day or by night, thou see that the sons of Usna tarry not, but let them come hither direct to Emain, that they may not eat food in Erin till they eat of mine."
And Fergus, suspecting no evil design, promised to do as the king directed: for he was glad to be sent on this errand, being a fast friend to the sons of Usna.
Fergus set out straightway, bringing with him only his two sons, Illan the Fair and Buinni the Red, and his shield-bearer to carry his shield. And as soon as he had departed, Concobar sent for Barach and said to him:--
"Prepare a feast in thy house for Fergus: and when he visits thee returning with the sons of Usna, invite him to partake of it." And Barach thereupon departed for his home to do the bidding of the king and prepare the feast.
Now those heroes of old, on the day they received knighthood, were wont to make certain pledges which were to bind them for life, some binding themselves to one thing, some to another. And as they made the promises on the faith of their knighthood, with great vows, in presence of kings and nobles, they dared not violate them; no, not even if it was to save the lives of themselves and all their friends: for whosoever broke through his knighthood pledge was foully dishonoured for evermore. And one of Fergus's obligations was never to refuse an invitation to a banquet: a thing which was well known to King Concobar and to Barach.
As to Fergus mac Roy and his sons: they went on board their galley and put to sea, and made no delay till they reached the harbour nigh the campment of the sons of Usna. And coming ashore, Fergus gave the loud shout of a mighty man of chase. The sons of Usna were at that same hour in their booth; and Naisi and Deirdre were sitting with a polished chessboard between them playing a game.
And when they heard the shout, Naisi said:--"That is the call of a man from Erin."
"Not so," replied Deirdre, "it is the call of a man of Alban."
And after a little time when a second shout came, Naisi said:--"That of a certainty is the call of a man of Erin!"
But Deirdre again replied:--"No, indeed: it concerns us not: let us play our game."
But when a third shout came sounding louder than those before, Naisi arose and said:--"Now I know the voice: that is the shout of Fergus!" And straightway he sent Ardan to the shore to meet him.
Now Deirdre knew the voice of Fergus from the first: but she kept her thoughts to herself: for her heart misgave her that the visit boded evil. And when she told Naisi that she knew the first shout, he said:--"Why, my queen, didst thou conceal it then?"
And she replied:--"Lo, I saw a vision in my sleep last night: three birds came to us from Emain Macha, with three drops of honey in their beaks, and they left us the honey and took away three drops of our blood."
"What dost thou read from that vision, O princess?" said Naisi.
"It denotes the message from Concobar to us," said Deirdre; "for sweet as honey is the message of peace from a false man, while he has thoughts of blood hidden deep in his heart."
When Ardan arrived at the shore, the sight of Fergus and his two sons was to him like rain on the parched grass; for it was long since he had seen any of his dear comrades from Erin. And he cried out as he came near, "An affectionate welcome to you, my dear companions": and he fell on Fergus's neck and kissed his cheeks, and did the like to his sons. Then he brought them to the hunting-booth; and Naisi, Ainnli, and Deirdre gave them a like kind welcome; after which they asked the news from Erin.
"The best news I have," said Fergus, "is that Concobar has sent me to you with kindly greetings, to bring you back to Emain and restore you to your lands and homes, and to your places in the Red Branch; and I am myself a pledge for your safety."
"It is not meet for them to go," said Deirdre: "for here they are under no man's rule; and their sway in Alban is even as great as the sway of Concobar in Erin."
But Fergus said: "One's mother country is better than all else, and gloomy is life when a man sees not his home each morning."
"Far dearer to me is Erin than Alban," said Naisi, "even though my sway should be greater here."
It was not with Deirdre's consent he spoke these words: and she still earnestly opposed their return to Erin.
But Fergus tried to re-assure her:--"If all the men of Erin were against you," said he, "it would avail nought once I have passed my word for your safety."
"We trust in thee," said Naisi, "and we will go with thee to Erin."
FOOTNOTES:
[CLXXIV.] That is 1665. This inverted method of enumeration was often used in Ireland. But they also used direct enumeration like ours.
## CHAPTER III.
THE RETURN TO EMAIN.
Going next morning on board their galleys, Fergus and his companions put out on the wide sea: and oar and wind bore them on swiftly till they landed on the shore of Erin near the house of Barach.
And Deirdre, seating herself on a cliff, looked sadly over the waters at the blue headlands of Alban: and she uttered this farewell:--