Grainne, Diarmuid and Finn McCool

The Flight
Doire da Both
Three Royal Chiefs
Deirdru of Dub Silab
The Quicken Tree
The Game of Chess
The King of Alba
The Boar of Benn Gulban

Part 1 The Flight
On a certain day when Finn MacCool rose at early morn in Almu, in Leinster,
and sat upon the grass-green plain, having neither servant nor attendant
with him, there followed him two of his people; that is, Oisin the son of
Minn, and Diorruing the son of Dobar O' Baoiscne. Oisin Spoke, and what
he said was: "What is the cause of this early rising of thine,
O Finn?" said he. "Not without cause have I made this early rising,"
said Finn, '"for I am without a wife since Maignes the daughter of Garad
Glundub Mac Moirne died; for he is not wont to have slumber nor sweet sleep
who happens to be without a fitting wife, and that is the cause of my early
rising O Oisin." "What forceth thee to be thus?" said Oisin; "for
there is not a wife nor a mate in the green-landed island of Erin upon whom
thou mightest turn the light of thine eyes or of thy sight, whom we would
not bring by fair means or by foul to thee." And then spoke Diorruing, and what he said was: "I
myself could discover for thee a wife and a mate befitting thee." "Who is she?" said Finn. "She is Grainne the daughter of Cormac the son of
Art the son of Conn the Hundred-Fighter," said Diorruing, "that is, the
woman that is fairest of feature and form and speech of the women of the
world together." "By my hand, O Diorruing," said Finn, "there has
been strife and variance between Cormac and myself for a long time, and
I think it not good nor seemly that he should give me a refusal of marriage;
and I had rather that ye should both go to ask the marriage of his daughter
for me of Cormac, for I could better endure a refusal of marriage to be
given to you than to myself." "We will go there," said Oisin, "though there be
no profit for us there, and let no man know of our journey until we come
back again." After that, those two good warriors went their way,
and they took farewell of Finn, and it is not told how they fared until
they reached Tara. The king of Erin chanced to be holding a gathering and
a muster before them upon the plain of Tara, and the chiefs and the great
nobles of his people were with him. A friendly welcome was given to Oisin
and Diorruing, and the gathering was then put off until another day, for
the king was certain that it was upon some pressing matter that those two
had come to him. Afterwards Oisin called the king of Erin to one side, and
told him that it was to ask of him the marriage of his daughter for Finn
MacCool that they themselves were then come. Cormac spoke, and what
he said was: "There is not a son of a king or of a great prince,
a hero a battle-champion in Erin, to whom my daughter has not given refuse
of marriage, and it is on me that all and every one lays the blame for that;
so I will not give you any formal decision until ye betake yourselves before
my daughter, for it is better that ye hear her own words than that ye be
displeased with me." After that they went their way to the dwelling of
the women, and Cormac sat him upon the side of the couch and of the high
bed by Grainne; and he said:"Here, O Grainne," said he, "are two of the
people of Finn MacCool coming to ask thee as wife and mate for him,
and what answer wouldst thou give them?" Grainne answered, and what she said was: "If he be
a fitting son-in-law for thee, why should he not be a fitting husband and
mate for me?" Then they were satisfied; and after that a feast
and banquet was made for them in the bower with Grainne and the women, so
that they became exhilarated and mirthful; and Cormac made a tryst with
them and with Finn a fortnight from that night at Tara. Thereafter Oisin and Diorruing arrived again at Almu,
where they found Finn and the Fian, and they told them their news from beginning
to end. Now as every thing wears away, so also did that space of time; and
then Finn collected and assembled the seven battalions of the standing Fian,
from every quarter where they were, and they came where Finn was, in Almu
the great and broad of Leinster; and on the last day of that period of time
they went forth in great bands, in troops, and in impetuous fierce impenetrable
companies, and we are not told how they fared until they reached Tara. Cormac
was before them upon the plain with the chiefs and the great nobles of the
men of Erin about him, and they made a gentle welcome for Finn and all the
Fian, and after that they went to the king's mirthful house called Midcuart.
The king of Erin sat down to enjoy drinking and pleasure, with his wife
at his left shoulder, that is, Eitche, the daughter of Atan of Corcaig,
and Grainne at her shoulder, and Finn mac Cumall at the king's right hand'
and Cairbre Liffecair the son of Cormac sat at one side of the same royal
house, and Oisin the son of Finn at the other side, and each one of them
sat according to his rank and to his patrimony from that down. There sat there a druid and a skillful man of knowledge
of the people of Finn before Grainne the daughter of Cormac; that is, Daire
Duanach Mac Morna; and it was not long before there arose gentle talking
and mutual discourse between himself and Grainne. Then Daire Duanach mac
Morna arose and stood before Grainne, and sang her the songs and the verses
and the sweet poems of her fathers and of her ancestors;and then Grainne
spoke and asked the druid, "What is the reason where fore Finn is come to this
place tonight?" "If thou knowest not that," said the druid, "it is
no wonder that I know it not." "I desire to learn it of thee," said Grainne. "Well then," said the druid, " it is to ask thee
as wife and as mate that Finn is come to this place to-night." "It is a great marvel to me," said Grainne, "that
it is not for Oisin that Finn asks me, for it were fitter to give me such
as he, than a man that is older than my father." "Say not that," said the druid, "for were Finn to
hear thee he himself would not have thee, neither would Oisin dare to take
thee." "Tell me know," said Grainne, "who is that warrior
at the right shoulder of Oisin the son of Finn?" "Yonder," said the druid, "is Goll mac Morna, the
active, the warlike." "Who is that warrior at the shoulder of Goll?" said
Graine. "Oscar the son of Oisin," said the druid. "Who is that graceful-legged man at the shoulder
of Oscar?" said Grainne. "Cailte mac Ronain," said the druid. "What haughty impetuous warrior is that yonder at
the shoulder of Cailte?" said Brainne. "The son of Lugaid of the mighty hand, and that man
is sister's son to Finn MacCool," said the druid. "Who is that freckled sweet-worded man upon whom
is the curling dusky-black hair and the two red ruddy cheeks, upon the left
hand of Oisin the son of Finn?" "That man is Diarmuid the grandson of Dubne, the
white-toothed, of the light-some countenance; that is, the best lover of
women and of maidens that is in the whole world." "Who is that at the shoulder of Diarmuid?" said Grainne.
"Diorruing the son of Dobar Damad O'Baoiscne, and
that man is a druid and a skillful man of science," said Daire Duanach.
"That is a goodly company," said Grainne; and she
called her attendant handmaid to her, and told her to bring to her the jeweled
golden-chased goblet which was in the bower behind her. The handmaid brought
the goblet, and Grainne filled the goblet forthwith, and it contained the
drink of nine times nine men. Grainne said, "Take the goblet to Finn first, and bid him drink
a draught out of it, and disclose to him that it is I that sent it to him."
The handmaid took the goblet to Finn, and told him
everything that Grainne had bidden her say to him. Finn took the goblet,
and no sooner had he drunk a draught out of it than there fell upon him
a stupor of sleep and of deep slumber. Cormac took the draught and the same
sleep fell upon him, and Eitche, the wife of Cormac, took the goblet and
drank a draught out of it, and the same sleep fell upon her as upon all
the others. Then Grainne called the attendant handmaid to her, and said
to her: "Take this goblet to Cairbre Liffecair and tell him
to drink a draught out of it, and give the goblet to those sons of king
by him" The handmaid took the goblet to Cairbre, and he was
not well able to give it to him that was next to him, before a stupor of
sleep and of deep slumber fell upon him too, and each one that took the
goblet, one after another, fell into a stupor of sleep and of deep slumber.
When Grainne saw that they were in a state of drunkenness
and of trance, she rose fairly and softly from the seat on which she was,
and spoke to Oisin, and what she said was: "I marvel at Finn MacCool that he should seek
such a wife as I , for it were fitter for him to give me my own equal to
marry than a man older than my father." "Say not that, O Grainne," said Osisin, "for if Finn
were to hear thee he would not have thee, neither would I dare to take thee."
"Wilt thou receive courtship from me, O Oisin?" said
Grainne. "I will not," said Oisin. "For whatsoever woman is
betrothed to Finn, I would not meddle with her." Then Grainne turned her face to Diarmuid O' Duibne,
and what she said to him was:" Wilt thou receive courtship from me, O O'Duibne,
since Oisin received it not from me?" "I will not," said Diarmuid," for whatever woman
is betrothed to Oisin I may not take her, even were she not betrothed to
Finn." "Then, " said Grainne, "I put thee under taboos of
danger and destruction, O Diarmuid, that is, under the taboos of mighty druidism, if thou take me not with
thee out of this household to-night, ere Finn and the king of Erin arise
out of that sleep." "Evil bonds are those under which thou hast laid
me, O woman," said Diarmuid; "and wherefore hast thou laid those taboos
upon me before all the sons of kings and of high princes in the king's mirthful
house called Midcuart this night, seeing that there is not of all those
one less worthy to be loved by a woman than myself?" "By thy hand, O O'Duibne, it is not without cause
that I have laid those taboos on thee, as I will tell thee now. "One day when the king of Erin was presiding over
a gathering and muster on the plain of Tara, Finn and the seven battalions
of the standing Fian chanced to be there that day; and there arose a great
goaling match between Cairbre Liffecair the son of Cormac, and the son of
Lugaid, and the men of Mag Breg, and of Cerna, and the stout champions of
Tara arose on the side of Cairbre, and the Fian of Erin on the other side
of the son of Lugaid; and there were none sitting in the gathering that
day but the king, and Finn, and thyself, O Diarmuid. It happened that the
game was going against the son of Lugaid, and thou didst rise and stand,
and tookest his hurly-stick from the next man to thee, and didst throw him
to the ground and to the earth, and thou wentest into the game, and didst
with the goal three times upon Caribre and upon the warriors of Tara. I
was at that time in my bower of the clear view, of the blue windows of glass,
gazing upon thee; and I turned the light of mine eyes and of my sight upon
thee that day , and I never gave that love to any other man from that time
to this, and will not for ever."

"It is a wonder that though shouldest give me that
love instead of Finn," said Diarmuid, "seeing that there is not in Erin
a man that is fonder of a woman than he; and knowest thou, O Grainne, on
the night that Finn is in Tara that he it is that has the keys of Tara,
and that so we cannot leave the stronghold ?" "There is a wicket-gate to my bower,' said Grainne,
" and we will pass out through it." "It is a prohibited thing for me to pass through
any wicket gate whatsoever," said Diarmuid. "Howbeit, I hear," said Grainne, "that every warrior
and battle champion can pass by the shafts of his javelins and by the staves
of his spears, in or out over the rampart of every fort and of every stronghold
and I will pass out by the wicker gate, and do thou follow me so." Grainne went her way out, and Diarmuid spoke to his
people, and what he said was:"O Oisin, son of Finn, what shall I do with
this taboo that has been laid on me?" "Thou art not guilty of the taboo which has been
laid upon thee," said Oisin, "and I tell thee to follow Grainne, and keep
thyself well against the wiles of Finn." "O Oscar, son of Oisin, what is good for me to do
as to those bonds which have been laid upon me?" "I tell thee to follow Grainne," said Oscar, " for
he is a sorry wretch that fails to keep his taboos." "What counsel dost thou give me, O Cailte?" said
Diarmuid. "I say said Cailte, "that I have a fitting wife,
and yet I had rather than the wealth of the world that it had been to me
that Grainne gave that love." "What counsel givest thou me, O Diorruing?" "I tell thee to follow Grainne, though thy death
will come of it, and I grieve for it." "Is that the counsel of you all to me?" said Diarmuid.
"It is," said Oisin, and said all the others together.
After that Diarmuid arose and stood, and stretched
forth his active warrior hand over his broad weapons, and took leave and
farewell of Oisin and of the chiefs of the Fian; and not bigger is a smooth-crimson
whortleberry than was each tear that Diarmuid shed from his eyes at parting
with his people. Diarmuid went to the top of the stronghold, and put the
shafts of his two javelins under him, and rose with an airy, very light,
exceeding high, birdlike leap, until he attained the breadth of his two
soles of the beautiful grass-green earth on the plain without, and Grainne
met him. Then Diarmuid spoke, and what he said was:" I believe, O Grainne,
that this is an evil course upon which thou art come; for it were better
for thee to have Finn MacCool for a lover than myself, seeing that I
know not what nook or corner, or remote part of Erin I can take thee to
now, and return again home, without Fin's learning what thou hast done."
"It is certain that I will not go back," said Grainne,
" and that I will not part from thee until death part me from thee." "Then go forward, O Grainne," said Diarmuid. Diarmuid and Grainne went their way after that, and
they had not gone beyond a mile from Tara when Grainne said, "I indeed am
wearying, O O' Duibne." "It is a good time to weary, O Grainne," said Diarmuid,
" and return now to thine old household again, for I plight the word of
a true warrior that I will never carry thee, nor any other woman, to all
eternity." "So needst thou not do," said Grainne, "for my father's
horses are in a fenced meadow by themselves, and they have chariots; and
return thou to them ,and yoke two horses of them to a chariot, and I will
wait for thee on this spot till thou overtake me again." Diarmuid returned
to the horses, and he yoked two horses of them to a chariot. It is not told
how Diarmuid and Grainne fared until they reached Beul Atha Luain.
And Diarmuid spoke to Grainne, and said: " it is
all the easier for Finn to follow our track, O Grainne, that we have the
horses." " Then," said Grainne, "leave the horses upon this spot, and I
will journey on foot by thee henceforth." Diarmuid got down at the edge
of the ford, and took a horse with him over across the ford, and thus left
one of them upon each side of the stream, and he and Grainne went a mile
with the stream westward, and reached land at the side of the province of
Connacht. It is not told how they fared until they arrived at Doire Da Both,
in the midst of Clan Ricard; and Diarmuid cut down the grove around him,
and made to it seven doors of wattles, and he settled a bed of soft rushes
and of the tops of the birch under Grainne in the very midst of that wood.

As for Finn MacCool, I will tell his tidings
clearly . All that were in Tara rose at early morn on the morrow, and they
found Diarmuid and Grainne wanting from among them and a burning jealousy
and rage seized upon Finn. He found his trackers before him on the plain,
that is the Clan Neamuin, and he bade them follow Diarmuid and Grainne.
Then they carried the track as far as Beul Atha Luain, and Finn and the
Fian of Erin followed them; but they could not follow the track over across
the ford so that Finn pledged his word that if they followed not the track
out speedily, he would hang them on either side of the ford. Then the Clan Neamuin went up to the stream, and
found a horse on either side of the stream; and they went a mile with the
stream westward, and found the track by the side of the province of Connacht,
and Finn and the Fian of Erin followed them. Then spoke Finn, and what he
said was. "Well I know where Diarmuid and Grainne shall be found now, that
is in Doire Da Both." Oisin, and Oscar, and Cailte, and Diorruing son of
Dobar Damad O' Baoiscene, were listening to Finn speaking these words, and
Oisin spoke, and what he said was:"We are in danger lest Diarmuid and Grainne
be yonder, and we must needs send him some warning. And look where Bran
is, that is, the hound of Finn mac Cumail, that we may send him to him,
for Finn himself is not dearer to him than Diarmuid is; and O Oscar, tell
Bran to go with a warning to Diarmuid, who is in Doire Da Both" and Oscar
told that to Bran. Bran understood that without knowledge and wisdom, and
went back to the hinder part of the host where Finn might not see him, and
followed Diarmuid and Grainne by their track until he reached Doire Da Both,
and thrust his head into Diarmuid's bosom, and he asleep.
Then Diarmuid sprang out of his sleep, and awoke
Grainne also and said to her: "There is Bran, the hound of Finn mac Cumall,
coming with a warning to us before Finn himself" "Take that warning, " said Grainne, "
and fly." "I will not take it," said Diarmuid, "for I would
not that Finn caught me at any other time rather than now, since I cannot
escape from him." When Grainne heard this, dread and great fear seized her;
and Bran departed from them. Then Oisin the son of Finn spoke and said: "We are
in danger lest Bran have not gotten opportunity to go to Diarmuid, and we
must needs give him some other warning; and look for Feargoir the henchman
of Cailte." " He is with me, " said Cailte. Now Feargoir was
so, that every shout he gave used to be heard in the three nearest districts
to him. Then they made him give three shouts, in order that Diarmuid might
hear him. Diarmuid heard Feargoir, and awoke Grainne out of her sleep, and
what he said was: "I hear the henchman of Cailte mac Ronain, and it is with
Cailte he is, and it is with Finn that Cailte is, and this is a warning
they are sending me." "Take that warning,"said Grainne. "I will not," said Diarmuid, "for we shall not leave
this wood until Finn and the Fian of Erin overtake us"; and fear and great dread seized Grainne when she
heard that..........

Part 2 - Doire Da Both
Upon hearing the warning of the hounds Grainne said:
<"Take that warning," said Grainne. "I will not," said Diarmuid, " for we shall not leave
this wood until Finn and the Fian of Erin overtake us"; and fear and great
dread seized Grainne when she heard that. As for Finn, I will tell his tidings clearly. He
did not abandon the chase until he reached Doire Da Both, and he sent the
tribe of Emain to search out the wood, and they saw Diarmuid and a woman
by him. They returned back again where were Finn and the Fian of Erin, and
Finn asked of them whether Diarmuid or Grainne were in the wood. "Diarmuid
is there," they said, " and there is some woman by him; who she is we know
not for we know Diarmuid's track, and we know not the track of Grainne."
"Foul fall the friends of Daiarmuid O'Duibne for
his sake," said Finn, "and he shall not leave the wood until he give me
satisfaction for every thing he has done to me' "It is a great token of jealousy in thee, O Finn,"
said Oisin, " to think that Diarmuid would stay upon the plain of Maenmag,
seeing that there is there no stronghold but Doire Da Both, and thou too
awaiting him," "That shall profit thee nothing, O Oisin," said Finn,"
and well I knew the three shouts that Cailte's servant gave, that it was
ye that sent my own hound, that is Bran, with another warning to him: but
it shall profit you nothing to have sent him any of those warnings; for
he shall not leave Doire Da Both until he give me compensation for everything
that he hath done to me, and for every slight that he hath put on me." "Great foolishness it is for thee, O Finn," said
Oscar the son of Oisin, " to suppose that Diarmuid would stay in the midst
of this plain, and thou waiting to take his head from him." "Who else cut the wood thus, and made a close warm
enclosure thereof, with seven tight slender-narrow doors to it? And with
which of us, O Diarmuid, is the truth, with myself or with Oscar?" said
Finn. "Thou didst never err in thy good judgment, O Finn,"
said Diarmuid," and I indeed and Grainne are here." Then Finn bade the fian
of Erin come round Diarmuid and take him for himself. Thereupon Diarmuid
rose up and gave Grainne three kisses in the presence of Finn and of the
fian, so that a burning of jealousy and rage seized Finn upon seeing that,
and he said that Diarmuid should give his head for those kisses. As for Angus of the Brug, that is the tutor in learning
of Diarmuid O'Duibne, who was a in the Brug upon the Boyne, he saw the extremity
in which his foster-son Diarmuid, then was; and he proceeded accompanying
the pure-cold wind, and he halted not till he reached Doire Da Both Then
he went unknown to Finn or to the fian of Erin to the place wherein were
Diarmuid and Grainne, and he greeted Diarmuid and what he said was: " What
is this thing that thou hast done, O O'Dubine?" "This it is," said Diarmuid; " the daughter of the
king of Erin has fled secretly with me from her father and from Finn, and
it is not of my will that she has come with me.." "Then let one of you come under either border of
my mantle," said Angus, " and I will take you out of the place
where ye are without the knowledge of Finn or of the fian of Erin." "Take thou Grainne with the," said Diarmuid, "but
as for me, I will never go with the; howbeit, if I be alive presently I
will follow thee, and if I do not, do thou send Grainne to her father, and
let him treat her well or ill." After that Angus put Grainne under the border of
her mantle, and went his way without knowledge of Finn or of the fian of
Erin, and no tale is told of them until they reached Ros Da Soileach which
is now called Luimneach. After Angus and Grainne had departed from Diarmuid
he arose as a straight pillar and stood upright, and girded his arms and
his armor and his various sharp weapons about him. After that he drew near
to one of the seven wattled doors that there were in the enclosure and asked
who was at it. "No foe to thee is any man who is at it," said they who were
without, " for here are Oisin the son of Finn, and Oscar the son of Oisin,
and the chieftains of the Clan Baoiscne together with us; and come out to
us, and none will dare to do thee harm, hurt, or damage." "I will not go to you," said Diarmuid, "until I see
at which door Finn himself is." He drew near to another wattled door, and
asked who was at it. "Cailte the son of Crannacar mac Ronain, and the
Clan Ronain together with him; and come out to us and we will fight and
die for thy sake.." "I will not go to you," said Diarmuid, "for I will
not cause Finn to be angry with you for well doing to myself." He drew near
to another wattled door, and asked who was at it. " Here are Conan the son of Finn of Liathluacra,
and the Clan Morna together with him; and we are enemies to Finn and thou
art far dearer to us than he, and for that reason come out to us, and none
will dare meddle with thee." "Surely I will not go," said Diarmuid, "for Finn
had rather the death of every man of you should come to pass, than that
I should be let out." He drew near to another wattled door, and asked who
was there. "A friend and a dear comrade of thine is here, that
is , Finn the son of Cuadan mac Murchada, the royal a chief of the fian
of Munster, and the Munster fian together with him; and we are of one land
and one country with thee, O Diarmuid, and we will give our bodies and our
lives for thee and for thy sake." "I will not go out to you," said Diarmuid, "for I
will not cause Finn to be displeased with you for well doing to myself."
He drew near to another wattled door and asked who was at it. "It is Finn the son of Glor, the royal chief of the
fian of Ulster, and the Ulster fian along with him; and come out to us,
and none will dare cut or wound thee." "I will not go out to you," said Diarmuid, "for thou
art a friend to me, and thy father; and I would not that he should bear
the enmity of Finn for my sake." He drew near to another wattled door, and
asked who was at it. "No friend to thee is any that is here," said they,
" for here are Aed Beg of Emain, and Aed Fada of Emain, and Caol Croda of
Emain, and Goineacch of Emain, and Gothan Gilmeurach of Emain, and Aife
the daughter of Gothan Gilmeurach of Emain, and Cuadan Lorrgaire of Emain;
and we bear thee no love, and if thou wouldst come out to us we would wound
thee till thou shouldst be like a stone, without respite." "Evil the company that is there," Said Diarmuid,
"O ye of the lie, and of the tracking, and of the one brogue; and it is
not the fear of your hand that is upon me, but from enmity to you I will
not go out to you." He drew near to another wattled door, and asked who
was at it. "Here are Finn MacCool, the son of Art, the son
of Trenmor O' Baoiscne, and four hundred hirelings with him; and we bear
thee no love, and if thou shouldst come out to us we would cleave thy bones
asunder." "I pledge my word," said Diarmuid, "That the door
at which thou art, O Finn, is the very door by which I will pass of all
the doors." Having heard that, Finn charged his battalions on
pain of death and instant destruction not to let Diarmuid pass with them
without their knowledge. Diarmuid having heard hat arose with an airy, high,
exceeding light bound, by the shafts of his javelins and by the staves of
his spears, and went a great way out beyond Finn and beyond his people without
their knowledge or perception. He looked back upon them and proclaimed to
them that he had passed them, and slung his shield upon the broad arched
expanse of his back, and so went straight westward; and he was not long
in going out of the sight of Finn and of the fian. Then when he saw that
they followed him not, he turned back where he had seen Angus and Grainne
departing out of the wood, and he followed them by their track, holding
a straight course, until he reached Ros Da Soileach. He found Angus and Grainne there in a warm well-lighted
hut, and a great wide-flaming fire kindled before them, with half a wild
boar upon spits. Diarmuid greeted them, and the very life of Grainne all
but fled out through her mouth with joy at meeting Diarmuid. Diarmuid told
them his tidings from the beginning to end; and they ate their meal that
night, and Diarmuid and Grainne went to sleep together until the day came
with its full light on the morrow. Angus arose early, and what he said to
Diarmuid was; "I will now depart, O O'Dubine, and this counsel
I leave thee; not to go into a tree having but one trunk in flying before
Finn; and not to go into a cave of the earth to which there shall be but
the one door; and not to go on to an island of the sea with but one channel
between it and the land. And in whatever place thou shalt cook thy meal,
there eat it not; and in whatever place thou shalt eat, there sleep not;
and in whatever place thou shalt sleep, there rise not on the morrow."
He took leave and farewell of them and went his way
after that.

Part 3 The Three royal chiefs of the Sea of Wight

After Angus had left them giving his warning....
Diarmuid and Grainne journeyed with the Shannon on
their right hand westward until they reached Garb Alba of the Fian, which
is now called Leaman; and Diarmuid killed a salmon on the bank of the Leaman,
and put it on a spit to broil. Then he himself and Grainne went over across
the stream to eat it, as Angus had told them; and they went thence westward
to sleep. Diarmuid and Grainne rose early on the morrow, and journeyed straight
westward until they reached the marshy moor of Finnliath, and they met a
youth upon the moor, and the feature and form of that youth were good, but
he had not fitting arms nor armor. Then Diarmuid greeted that youth, and
asked tidings of him. "I am a young warrior seeking a lord," said he, "and
Muadan is my name." "What wilt thou do for me, O youth?" said Diarmuid.
"I will do thee service by day, and I will watch
thee by night," said Muadan. "I tell thee to retain that youth." Said Grainne,
"for thou canst not always remain without followers." Then they made bonds
of compact and agreement one with the other, and journeyed forth westward
until they reached the Carrthach; and when they had reached the stream,
Muadan asked Diarmuid and Graine to go upon his back so that he might bear
them across over the stream. "That were a great burden for thee," said Grainne.
Then he nevertheless took Diarmuid and Grainne upon his back and bore them
over across the stream. They journeyed forth westward until they reached
the Beith, and when they had reached the stream Muadan did likewise with
them, and they went into a cave of the earth at the side of Currach Cinn
Admuid, over Tonn Toime; and Muadan dressed a bed of soft rushes and of
birch-tops for Diarmuid and Grainne in the further part of that cave. He
himself went into the next wood to him and plucked in it a straight long
rod of a quicken tree; and he put a hair and a hook upon the rod, and put
a holly berry upon the hook and wen and stood over the stream, and caught
a fish that cast. He put on a second berry, and caught a second fish; and
he put up a third berry, and caught a third fish. He then put the hook and
the hair under his girdle, and the rod into the earth, and took his three
fish with him to where Diarmuid and Grainne were, and put the fish upon
spits. When they were broiled Muadan said: "I give the dividing of these
fish to thee, Diarmuid." "I had rather that thou shouldst divide them thyself,"
said Diarmuid. "Then." Said Muadan, "I give the dividing of these
fish to thee, O Grainne." "It suffices me that thou divide them." Said Grainne.
"Now hadst thou divided the fish, O Diarmuid," said
Muadan, "thou wouldst have given the largest share to Grainne; and had it
been Grainne that divided them, it is to thee she would have given the largest
share; and since it is I that am dividing it, have thou the largest fish,
O Diarmuid, and let Grainne have the second largest fish, and let me have
the smallest fish." Know o reader that Diarmuid kept himself from Grainne,
and that he left a spit of flesh uncooked in Doire Da Both as a token to
Finn and to the Fian that he had not sinned with Grainne, and know also
that he left the second times seven salmon uncooked upon the bank of the
Leaman, wherefore it was that Finn hastened eagerly after him. They ate
their meal that night, and Diarmuid and Graine went to sleep in the further
part of the cave, and Muadan kept watch and ward for them until the day
arose with its full light on the morrow. Diarmuid arose early, and made Grainne sit up; and
told her to keep watch for Muadan, and that he himself would go to walk
the country. Diarmuid went his way and went upon the top of the nearest
hill to him ,and he stood gazing upon the four quarters around him; that
is, eastward and westward, southward and northward. He had not been a long
time there before he saw a great swift fleet, and a fearful company of ships,coming
towards the land straight from the west; and the course of that the people
of the fleet took in coming to land was to the foot of the hill upon which
was Diarmuid. Nine times nine of the chieftains of that fleet came ashore,
and Diarmuid went to ask tidings of them; and he greeted them and inquired
of them news, of what land or what country they were.
"We are the three royal chiefs of the Sea of Wight,"
said they, "and Finn MacCool hath sent for us because of a forest marauder
and a rebellious enemy and his that he has outlawed, who is called Diarmuid
O' Duibne; and to curb him are we now come. Also we have three savage hounds,
and we will loose them upon his track, and it will be but a short time before
we get tidings of him; fire burns them not, water drowns them not, and weapons
do not wound them; and we ourselves number twenty hundreds of stout stalwart
men, and each man of us is a man commanding a hundred. Moreover, tell us
who thou thyself art, or hast thou any word of the tidings of O'Duibne?"
"saw him yesterday." Said Diarmuid, "and I myself
am but a warrior who am walking the world by the strength of my hand and
the temper of my sword; and I vow that ye will have to deal with no ordinary
man if Fiarmuid meets you." "Well no one has been found yet," said they.
"What are ye called yourselves?" said Diarmuid. "Dub-cosach, Finn-cosach, and Tren-cosach are our
names," said they. "Is there wine in your ships?" asked Diarmuid. "There is," they said.

"If ye were pleased to bring out a tun of wine,"
said Diarmuid, "I would perform a feat for you." Certain men were sent to
seek the tun, and when it was come Diarmuid raised It between his two arms
and drank a draught out of it, and the others drank the rest of it. After
that Diarmuid lifted the tun and took it to the top of the hill, and he
himself mounted upon it, and rolled it down the steep of the hill until
it reached the lower part of it. And he rolled the tun up the hill again,
and he did that fat three times in the presence of the strangers, and reminded
himself upon the tun as it both came and went. The said that he was one
that seen a good feat, seeing that he called that a feat; and with that
one of them got upon the tun. Diarmuid gave the tun a kick, and the stranger
fell to the ground before even the tun began to roll; and the tun rolled
over that young warrior, so that it caused his bowels and his entrails to
come out about his feet. Thereupon Diarmuid followed the tun and brought
it up again , and a second man mounted upon it. When Diarmuid saw that,
he gave it a kick, and the first man had not been more speedily slain than
was the second. Diarmuid urged the tun up again and the third man mounted
upon it; and he too was slain like the others. Thus were slain fifty of
their people by Diarmuid's trick that day, and as many as were not slain
of them went to their ships that night. Diarmuid went to his own people,
and Muadan put his hair and his hook upon his rod, and caught three salmon.
He stuck the rod into the ground and the hair under his girdle, and took
the fish to Diarmuid and Grainne, and they ate their meal that night; and
Muadan dressed a bed under Diarmuid and under Grainne in the further part
of the cave, and he went himself to the door of the cave to keep watch and
ward for them until the clear bright day arose on the morrow. Diarmuid arose at early day and beaming dawn on the
morrow, and roused Grainne, and told her to watch while Murdan slept. He
went himself to the top of the same hill, and he had not been there long
before the three chiefs came towards him, and he inquired of them whether
they would like to perform any more feats. They said that they had rather
find tidings of Diarmuid O'Duibne. "I have seen a man who saw him to-day,"
said Diarmuid; and thereupon Diarmuid put from him his weapons and his armor
upon the hill, every thing but the shirt that was next his skin, and he
stuck his javelin, the Crann Buide of Manannan mac Lir, upright with its
point uppermost. Then Diarmuid rose with a light, bird-like bound, so that
he descended from above upon the javelin, and came down fairly and cunningly
off it, having neither wound nor cut upon him. A young warrior of the people of the foreigners said,
"Thou art one that never hast seen a good feat since thou wouldst call that
a feat"; and with that he put his weapons and his armor from him, and he
rose in like manner lightly over the javelin, and descended upon it full
heavily and helplessly, so that the point of the javelin went up through
his heart and he fell down dead to the earth. Dairmuid drew the javelin
out and placed it standing the second time; and the second man of them arose
to do the feat, and he too was slain like the other. Likewise ,fifty of
the people of the foreigners fell by Diarmuid's feat on that day; and they
bade him take away the javelin, saying that he should slay no more of their
people with that feat. And they went to their ships. And Diarmuid went to Muadan and Grainne and Muadan
brought them the fish of that night, and Diarmuid and Grainne slept by each
other that night, and Muadan kept watch and ward for them until morning.
Diarmuid rose on the morrow, and took with him to
the aforesaid hill two forked poles out of the next wood, and placed them
upright; and the Moralltach, that is the sword of Angus of the Brug, between
the two forked poles upon its edge. Then he himself rose exceedingly lightly
over it, and thrice measured the sword by paces from the hilt to its point,
and he came down and asked if there was a man of them who could perform
that feat. "That is a bad question", said a man of them, "for
there never was done in Erin any feat which some one of us would not do."
He then rose and went over the sword, and as he was descending from above
it happened to him one of his legs slipped down on either side of the sword,
so that there was made of him two halves to the crown of his head. Then
a second man rose, and as he descended from above he chanced to fall crossways
upon the sword, so that there were two portions made of him. In like manner,
there had not fallen more of the people of the foreigners of the Sea of
Wight on the two days before that, than there fell upon that day. Then they
told him to take away his sword, saying that already too many of their people
had fallen by him; and they asked him whether he had gotten any word of
the tidings of Diarmuid O'Duibne. "I have seen them that saw him today,"
said Diarmuid, "and I will go to seek tidings to-night" Diarmuid went where were Grainne and Muadan, and
Muadan caught three fish for them that night; so they ate their meal, and
Diarmuid and Grainne went to sleep in the hinder part of the cave, and Muadan
kept watch and ward for them. Diiarmuid rose at early dawn of the morning, and
girt about him his suit of battle and of conflict; under which , through
which, or over which, it was not possible to wound him; and he took the
Moralltach, that is, the sword of Angus of the Brug, at his left side; which
sword left no stroke nor blow unfinished at the first trial. He took likewise his tow thick-shafted javelins of
battle, that is, the Gae Buide ("Yellow Javelin"), and the Gae Derg ("Red
javelin"), from which none recovered, or man or woman, that had ever been
wounded by them After that Diarmuid roused Grainne, and bade her keep watch
and ward for Muadan, saying that he himself would go to view the four quarters
around him. When Grainne beheld Diarmuid, brave and daring, clothed in his
suit of anger and of battle, fear and great dread seized her, for she knew
that it was for a combat and an encounter that he was so equipped; and she
asked of him what he intended to do. "Thou seest me thus for fear lest my
foes should beet me." That soothed Grainne, and then Diarmuid went in that
array to meet the foreigners. They came to land forthwith ,and inquired of him
tidings of O'Duibne. "I saw him not long ago," said Diarmuid. "Then show us where he is," said they, " that we
may take his head before Finn MacCool." "I should be keeping him but ill," said Diarmuid,
"if I did as ye say; for the body and life of Diarmuid are under the protection
of my prowess and of my valor, and therefore I will do him no treachery."
"Is that true?" said they. "It is true, indeed," said Diarmuid. "Then shat thou thyself not quit his spot," said
they, "and we will take thy head before Finn, since thou art a foe to him."
"I should doubtless be bound," said Diarmuid, "should
I let my head go with you"; and as he thus spoke, he drew the sword Moralltach
from its sheath, and dealt a furious stroke of destruction at the head of
him that was next to him, so that he made two halves of it. Then he drew
near to the host of the foreigners, and began to slaughter and to attack
them heroically and with swift valor. He rushed under them, through them,
and over them as a hawk would go through small birds, or a wolf through
a large flock of small sheep; even thus it was that Diarmuid hewed crossways
the glittering very beautiful mail of his opponents, so that there went
not form them that spot a man to tell tidings or to boast of great deeds,
without having the grievousness of death and the final end of life executed
upon him, except the three chiefs and a small number of their people that
fled to their ship. Diarmuid returned back having no cut nor wound, and
went his way till he reached Muadan and Grainne. They gave him welcome,
and Graine asked him whether he had received any word of the tidings of
Finn MacCool and of the Fian of Erin. He said that he had not, and they
ate their food and their meat that night. Diarmuid rose at early day and beaming down on the
morrow, and halted not until he had reached the aforesaid hill, and having
gotten there he struck his shield mightily and soundingly, so that he caused
the shore to tremble with the noise around him. Then said he foreign chief
Dub-cosach that he would himself go to fight with Diarmuid, and straightway
went ashore. Then he and Diarmuid rushed upon one another like wrestlers,
making mighty and ferocious efforts, straining their arms and their swollen
sinews, as it were two savage oxen, or two frenzied bulls, or two raging
lions, or two fearless hawks on the edge of a cliff. And this is the form
and fashion of the hot, sore, fearful strife that took place betwixt them.
They both threw their weapons out of their hands,
and ran to encounter each other, and locked their knotty hands across one
anther's graceful backs. Then each gave the other a violent mighty twist;
but Diarmuid hove Dub-cosach upon his shoulder, and hurled his body to the
earth, and bound him firm and fast upon the spot. Afterwards came Finn-cosach
and Tren-cosach to combat with him, one after the other; and he bound them
with the same binding, and said that he would take their heads from them,
were it not that he had rather leave them in those bonds to increase their
torments: "for none can loosen you," said he; and he left them there weary
and in heavy grief. As for Diarmuid, he went to look for Muadan and for
Grainne; and they ate their meal and their meat that night, and Diarmuid
and Grainne went to sleep, and Muadan kept watch and ward for them until
morning. Diarmuid rose and told Grainne that their enemies
were near them; and he told her the tale of the strangers from beginning
to end, how three fifties of their people had fallen three days one after
the other by his feats, and how fifteen hundred of their host had fallen
on the fourth day by the fury of his hand, and how he had bound the three
chiefs on the fifth day. "And they have three deadly hounds by a chain to
do me evil," said he," and no weapon can wound them." "Hast thou taken their heads from those three chiefs?"
said Grainne. <br>
"I have not" said Diarmuid. "For I had rather give
them long torment than short; for it is not in the power of any warrior
nor hero in Erin to loose the binding with which they are bound, but only
four; that is, Oisin the son of Finn, and Oscar the son of Oisin, and Lugaid
of the Mighty Hand, and Conan mac Morna; and I know that none of those four
will loose them. Nevertheless Finn will shortly get tidings of them, and
that will sting his heart in his bosom; and we must depart out of this cave
lest Finn and the deadly hounds overtake us."

Part 4 Deirdru of Dub Silab - And the Hounds

Diarmuid had finished telling of the defeat of the
kings and of the dogs and the three prepared to move on....
After this, Diarmuid and Grainne and Muadan came
forth out of the cave, and went their way westward until they reached the
moor of Finnlaith. Grainne began to weary then, and Muadan took her upon
his back until they reached the great Silab Luchra. Then Diarmuid sat him
down on the brink of the stream which wound through the heart of the mountain;
and Grainne washing her hands, and she asked Diarmuid for his dagger to
cut her nails. As for the strangers, as many of them were alive,
they came upon the hill where the three chiefs were bound and thought to
loose them speedily, but those bonds were such that they only drew the tighter
upon them. They had not been long thus before they saw the woman
messenger of Finn MacCool coming with the speed of a swallow, or weasel,
or like a blast of a sharp pure-swift wind , over the top of every high
hill and bare mountain towards them; and she inquired of them who it was
that had made that great,fearful, destroying slaughter of them.

"Who art thou that askest?" said they. "I am the female messenger of Finn MacCool,"
said she; "and Deirdru of Dub Silab (Black Mountain) is my name, and it
is to look for you that Finn has sent me." "Well then, we know not who he was," said they, "but
we will inform thee of his appearance; that is, he was a warrior having
curling dusky-black hair, and two red ruddy cheeks, and he it is that hath
made this great slaughter of us; and we are yet more sorely grieved that
our three chiefs are bound, and that we cannot loose them; he was likewise
three days one after the other fighting with us." "Which way went that man from you?" said Deirdru.
"He parted from us late last night," said they; "therefore
we cannot tell." "I swear," said Deirdru, "that it was Diarmuid O'Duibne
himself that was there, and do ye bring your hounds with you and loose them
on his track, and I will send Finn and the fian of Erin to you."

Then they brought their hounds with them out of their
ship, and loosed them upon the track of Diarmuid; but they left a druid
attending upon the three chiefs that were bound. As for them they followed
the hounds upon the track of Diarmuid until they reached the door of the
cave, and they went into the hinder part of the cave, and found the bed
of Diarmuid and Grainne there. Afterwards they went their way towards the
west till they reached Carrthach, and thence to the moor of Finnliath, and
to Garb Alba of the Fian, which is called Leaman now, and to the fair plain
of Concon, and to the vast and high Sliab Luachra. Howbeit, Diarmuid did not perceive them coming after
him in that pursuit until he beheld the banners of soft silk, and the threatening
standards, and three mighty warriors in the foreground of the hosts, full
fierce, and bold, and dauntless, having their three hounds by three chains
in their hands. When Diarmuid saw them coming towards him in that manner,
he became filled with hatred and great abhorrence of them. An there was
a green well-dyed mantle upon him that was in the forefront of the company,
and he was out far beyond the others: then Grainne reached the dagger to
Diarmuid, and Diarmuid thrust it upon his thigh, and said:"I suspect thou
bearest the youth of the green mantle no love, Grainne." 'Truly I do not," quoth Grainne, "and I would I never
to this day had borne love to any." Diarmuid drew his dagger and thrust
it into its sheath and went his way after that, and then Muadan put Grainne
upon his back and carried her a mile up the length of the mountain. It was not long before one of the three deadly hounds
was loosed after Diarmuid, and Muadan told Diarmuid to follow Grainne, saying
that he would ward off the hound from him. Then Muadan went back and took
a hound's welp from beneath his girdle, and set him upon his palm. When
the whelp saw the hound rushing towards him, having his jaws and throat
open, he rose from Murdan's palm and sprang into the gullet of the hound,
so that he reached the heart and rent it out through his side; and then
he sprang back again upon Muadan's palm, leaving the hound dead after him.
Muadan departed after Diarmuid and Grainne, and took
up Grainne again, and bore her another mile up the mountain. Then was loosed
the second hound after them, and Diarmuid spoke to Muadan, and what he said
was:" I indeed hear that there can no spells be laid upon weapons that wound
by magic, nor upon the throat of any beast whatever, and will ye stand until
I put the Gae Derg through the body, the chest, and the heart of yonder
hound?" and Muadan and Grainne stood to see that cast. Then Diarmuid aimed
a cast at the hound, and put the javelin through his navel, so that he let
out his bowels, and having drawn out the javelin he followed his own companions.
They had not been long after that before the third
hound was loosed upon them; Grainne spoke, and what she said was:"That is
the fiercest of them all, and I greatly fear him, and keep thyself well
against him, O Diarmuid." It was not long before the hound reached them,
and the place where he overtook them was Lic Dubain on Sliab Luchra. He
rose with an airy light bond over Diarmuid, and would fain have siezed Grainne,
but Diarmuid caught his two hind legs, and struck a blow of his carcass
against the nearest rock, so that he let out his brains through the openings
of his head and of his ears. Thereupon Diarmuid took his arms and armor,
and put his tapering finger into the silken string of the Gae Derg, and
aimed a triumphant cast at the youth of the green mantle that was in the
forefront of the host, so that he slew him with that cast; he made also
a second cast at the second man, and slew him; and the third man he slew
likewise. Then since it is not usual for defense to be made after the fall
of lords, when the strangers saw that their chiefs and their lords were
fallen they suffered defeat, and betook themselves to utter flight; and
Diarmuid pursued them, violently scattering them and slaughtering them,
so that unless some one fled over the tops of the forests or under the green
earth, or under the water, there escaped not even a messenger nor a man
to tell tidings. The gloom of death and instant destruction was executed
upon every one of them except Deirdriu of Dub Sliab, that is , the woman
messenger of Finn MacCool, who went wheeling and hovering around whilst
Diarmuid was making slaughter of the strangers. As for Finn, when he heard
the tidings of the foreigners being bound by Diarmuid, he loudly summoned
the fian of Erin ; and they went forth by the shortest ways and by the straightest
paths until they reached the hill where the three chiefs were bound, and
that was torment of heart to Finn when he saw them. Then Finn spoke and
what he said was: "O Oisin, loose the three chiefs for me." "I will not," said Oisin,
"for Diarmuid bound me not to loose any warrior whom he should bind."
"O Oscar loose them" said Finn. "Nay," said Oscar, "I vow that I would fain put more
bonds upon them." Then Lugaid and Conan refused likewise to loose them.
Howbeit, they had not been long at this discourse before the three chiefs
died of the hard bonds that were on them. Then Finn caused to be dug three
wide-sodded graves for them; and a tombstone was put over their graves,
and their names were written in ogam, and their burial ceremony was performed,
and weary and heavy in heart was Finn after that.
At that very time and hour Finn saw coming towards
him Deirdriu of Dub Sliab, with her legs failing, and her tongue raving,
and her eyes dropping in her head; and when Finn saw her come towards him
in that plight he asked tidings of her. "I have great and evil tidings to
tell thee, and methinks I am one without a lord"; and she told him the tale
from first to last of all the slaughter that Diarmuid O' Duibne had made,
and how the three deadly hounds had fallen by him; " and hardly I have escaped
myself," said she. "Whither went Diarmuid O'Duibne?" said Finn. "That I
know not," said she. And then Finn and the fian of Erin departed, and no
tidings are told of them until they reached Almu in Leinster.

Part 5 The Quicken Tree

Touching Diarmuid and Grainne, a further tale is told. They Sliab Luchra,
and through the territory of Ui Conaill Gabra,
and thence with their left hand to he Shannon eastward to Ros Da Soileach,
which is called Limerick now, and Diarmuid killed for them that night a
wild deer; then they ate and drank their fill of flesh and pure water, and
slept till the morn on the morrow. Muadan rose early and spoke to Diarmuid,
and said that he would now depart. "Thou shouldst not do so," said Diarmuid,
"for all that I promised thee has been fulfilled without dispute." Muadan
did not suffer Diarmuid to hinder him, and took leave and farewell of them,
and left them on the spot, and gloomy and grieved were Diarmuid and Grainne
after Muadan.
After that they journeyed on straight northward towards
Sliab Echtge, and thence to the district of Ui Faichrach, and as they passed
through that district Grainne wearied; and when she considered that she
had no man to carry her but Diarmuid, seeing that Muadan had departed, she
took heart and began to walk by Diarmuid's side boldly.. When they were
come into the forest Diarmuid made a hunting booth in the very midst of
the forest, and slew a wild deer that night; so that he and Grainne ate
and drank their fill of flesh and pure water. Diarmuid rose early and went
to the Searban Lochlannach, and made bonds of covenant and compact with
him, and got from him license to hunt and to chase provided that he would
never meddle with his berries. As for Finn and the fian, having reached Almu, they
were not long there before they saw fifty warriors coming toward them, and
two that were tall, heroic, valiant, and that exceeded the others for the
bulk and beauty in the very front of that company and troop; and Finn inquired
of the fian whether they knew them. "We know them not," they said, "and canst thou tell
who they are,O Finn?" "I cannot," said Finn; "but I think they are enemies
to me." That company of warriors came before Finn during
this discourse, and they greeted him. Finn answered them and asked tidings
of them, from what land or region they were. They told him that the were
in deed enemies to him, that their fathers had been at the slaying of Cumall
the soon of Trenmor O'Baoiscne at the battle of Cnucha, "and our fathers
themselves died for that deed; and it is to ask peace of thee we are now
come." "Where were ye yourselves when your fathers were
slain?" said Finn. "In our mother's wombs," says they, "and our mothers
were two women of the Tuatha De Danann, and we think it time to get our
father's place and station among the fian." "I will grant you that," said Finn, "but ye must
give me a recompense for thy father." "Methinks," said Finn, "were one to kill me that
it would be an easy matter to satisfy thee in my recompense, O Oisin; and
none shall come among the fian but he that shall give me a fine for my father."
"What fine askest thou?" said Angus the son of Art
Oc mac Morna. "I ask but the head of a warrior, or a fistful of
the berries of the quicken tree of Dubros." "I will give you good counsel. O children of Morna,"
said Oisin: "return to where ye were reared, and do not ask peace
of Finn as long as ye shall live. It is no light matter for you to bring
to Finn anything he asks of you, for know ye what head that is which Finn
asks you to bring him as a fine?" "We know not," said they. "The head of Diarmuid O'Duibne is the head that Finn
asks of you, and were ye as many in number as twenty hundred men of full
strength, Diarmuid O' Duibne would not let that head go with you, that is,
his own head." "What berries are they that Finn asks of us?" said
they. "Nothing is more difficult for you to get than that,"
said Oisin, "as I will tell you now. There arose a dispute between two women
of the Tuatha De Danann, that is, Aife the daughter of Manannan, and Aine
the other daughter of Manannan the son of Lir. Aife had become enamored
of the son of Lugaid, hat is, sister's son to Finn MacCool, and Aine
had become enamored of Lin of the fairy mound of Finnchad, so that each
woman of them said that her own man was a better hurler than the other;
and the fruit of that dispute was that a great goaling match was arranged
between the Tuatha De Danann and the fian of Erin, and the place where that
goal was played was upon a fair plain by loch Lein of the rough pools. "The fian of Erin and the Tuatha De Danann came to
that tryst, and these are the noblest and proudest of the Tuatha De Danann
that came there; namely, the three Garbs of Sliab Mis, and the three Mases
of Sliab Luchra, and the three yellow-haired Murcads, and the three Eochaids
of Aine, and the three heroic Loegaires, and the three Conalls of Collanman,
and the three Finns of Finnmur, and the three Sgals of Brug, and the three
Ronans of Ath na Rig, and the three Eogans from Es Ruad mac Badairn, and
the Cathbuilleach, and the three Ferguses, and the Glas of Mag Breg, and
the Suirgeach Suaire from Lionan, and the Meidir from Benn Liath, and Donn
from the fairy-mound of Breg, and the man of Sweet Speech from the Boyne,
and Colla Crincosach from Bernan Eile, and Donn Dumach, and Donn of Leinenoe,
and Bruitha Abac, and Dolb the Bright-Toothed, and the five sons of Finn
of the fairy-mound of Cairn Cain, and the Ilbreac son of Manannan, and Neamanach
the son of Angus, and Bodb Derg the son of the Dagda, and Manannan the son
of Lir, and Abortach the son of Ildathach, and Figmuin of Finnmur, and many
others who are not enumerated here. "We, the fian of Erin, and they were for the space
of three days an three nights playing hurly from Garbaba of the fian, which
is called Leaman, to Cromglen of the fian, which is called Glenn Fleisce
now; and neither of us won a goal. Now the whole of the Tuatha De Danann
were all at that time without our knowledge on either side of Loch Lein,
and they understood that if we, the fian, were united, all the men of Erin
could not win from us. And the counsel which the Tuatha De Danann took,
was to depart back again and not to play out that goal with us. The provisions
that the Tuatha De Danann had brought with them from Tir Tairngire (fairy
land) were these: crimson nuts, catkin apples, and fragrant berries; and
as they passed through the district of Ui Fiacrach by the Muaid; one of
the berries fell from them, and a quicken tree grew out of that berry, and
that quicken tree and its berries have many virtues; for no disease or sickness
seizes any one that eats three berries of them, and they who eat feel the
exhilaration of wine and the satisfying of old mead; and were it at the
age of a century, he that tasted them would return again to be thirty years
old. "When the Tuatha De Danann heard that those virtues
belonged to the quicken tree, they sent from them a guard over it that is,
the Searban Lochlannach, a youth of their own people, that is a thick-boned,
large nosed, crooked-tusked, red-eyed swart-bodied giant of the children
of wicked Cam the son of Noa; whom neither weapons wounds, nor fire burns,
nor water drowns, so great is his magic. He has but one eye only in the
fair middle of his black forehead, and there is a thick collar of iron round
that giant's body, and he is fated not to die until there be struck upon
him three strokes of the iron club that he has. He sleeps in the top of
that quicken tree by night, and he remains at its foot by day to watch it;
and those, O children of Morna, are the berries which Finn asks of you,"
said Oisin. "Howbeit, it is not easy for you to meddle with them by any
means; for that Searban Lochlannach has made a wilderness of the districts
around him, so that Finn and the fian dare not chase or hunt there for the
dread of that terrible one." Aod the son of Audala mac Morna spoke, and what he
said was, that he had rather perish in seeking those berries than go back
again to his mother's country; and he bade Oisin keep his people until they
returned again; and should he and his brother fall in that adventure, to
restore his people to Tir Tairngire. And the two good warriors took leave
and farewell of Oisin and of the chiefs of the fian, and went their way;
nor is it told how they fared until they reached Ros Da Soileach, which
is called Luimneach now, and it is not told how they were entertained that
night. They rose early on the morrow, nor halted until they reached Dubros
of Ui Fiacrach, and as they went towards the forest they found the track
of Diarmuid and Grainne there, and they followed the track to the door of
the hunting booth in which were Diarmuid and Grainne. Diarmuid heard them
coming to the hunting booth, and stretched an active warrior hand over his
broad weapons, and asked who they were that were at the door. "We are of
the Clan Morna," said they. "Which of the Clan Morna are ye?" said Diarmuid.
"Aod the son of Andala mac Morna, and Angus the son
of Art Oc mac Morna," said they. "Wherefore are ye come to this forest?" said Diarmuid.
"Finn MacCool has sent us to seek thy head, if
thou be Diarmuid O' Duibne." "I am he, indeed," said Diarmuid. "Well then," said they, "Finn will not choose but
get thy head, or the full of his fist of the berries of the quicken of Dubros
from us as a fine for his father." "It is no easy matter for you to get either of those
things," said Diarmuid," and woe to him that may fall under the power of
that man. I also know that he it was that slew your fathers, and surely
that should suffice him as recompense from you." "What berries are those that Finn requires," asked
Grainne, "that they cannot be got for him?" "They are these," said Diarmuid:"the Tuatha De Danann
left a quicken tree in the district of Ui Fiachrach, and in all berries
that grow upon that tree there are many virtues, that is, there is in every
berry of them the exhilaration of wine and the satisfying of old mead; and
whoever should eat three berries of that tree, had he completed a hundred
years he would return to the age of thirty years. Nevertheless there is
a giant hideous and foul to behold, keeping that quicken tree; every day
he is at the foot of it, and every night he sleeps at the top. Moreover,
he has made a desert of the district round about him ,and he cannot be slain
until three terrible strokes be struck upon him with an iron club that he
has, and that club is thus; it has a thick ring of iron through its end,
and the ring around the giant's body; he has moreover forced an agreement
with Finn and with the fian of Erin not to hunt in that district, and when
Finn outlawed me and became my enemy, I got of him leave to hunt, provided
that I should never meddle with the berries. And, O children of Morna,"
said Diarmuid, "choose ye between combat with me for my head, and going
to seek the berries from the giant." "I swear by the rank of my tribe among the fian,
" said each of the children of Morna, "that I would rather do battle with
thee." Thereupon those good warriors, that is, the children
of Morna and Diarmuid, harnessed their comely bodies in their array of weapons
of valor and battle, and the combat that they resolved upon was to fight
by the strength of their hands. The outcome of the contest was that Diarmuid vanquished
and bound them both upon that spot." Thou hast fought that strive well,"
said Grainne, "and I vow that even if the children of Morna go not to seek
those berries, I will never lie in thy bed unless I get a portion of them,
although that is not fit thing for a woman to do being pregnant; and I indeed
am now heavy and pregnant, and I shall not life if I taste not those berries."
"Force me not to break peace with the Searban Lochlannach,"
said Diarmuid, "for he would not the more readily let me take them." "Loose these bonds from us," said the children of
Morna, "and we will go with thee, and we will give ourselves for thy sake."
"Ye shall not come with me," said Diarmuid,"for were
ye to see one glimpse of the giant, ye would more likely die than live after
it." "Then do us the grace," said they, "to slacken the
bonds on us and let us go with thee privately that we may see thy battle
with the giant before thou hew the heads from our bodies"; and Diarmuid
did so. Then Diarmuid went his way to the Searban Lochlannach,
and the giant chanced to be asleep before him. He dealt him a stroke of
his foot, so that the giant raised his head and gazed up at Diarmuid, and
what he said was," Dost thou wish to break peace O O'Duibne?" "It is not that," said Diarmuid, "but that Grainne
the daughter of Cormac is heavy and pregnant, and she has conceived a desire
for those berries which thou hast, and it is to ask the full of a fist of
those berries from thee that I am now come." "I swear," said the giant, " were it even that thou
shouldst have no children except that birth now in her womb, and were there
but Grainne of the race of Cormac the son of Art, and were I sure hat she
should perish in bearing that child, that she should never taste one berry
of those berries." "I may not deceive the," said Diarmuid; "therefore
I now tell thee it is to seek them by fair means or foul that I am come."
The giant having heard that, rose up and stood, and
put his club over his shoulder, and dealt Diarmuid three mighty strokes
so that the wrought him some little hurt in spite of the shelter of his
shield. And when Diarmuid marked the giant off his guard he cast his weapons
upon the ground, and made an eager exceedingly strong spring upon the giant,
so that he was able with his two hands to grasp the club. Then he hove the
giant from the earth and hurled him round him, and the iron ring that was
about the giant's body and through the end of the club stretched, and when
the club reached Diarmuid he struck three mighty strokes upon the giant,
so that he dashed his brains out through the opening of his head and of
his ears, and left him dead without life; and those two of the Clan Morna
were looking at Diarmuid as he fought that strife. When they saw the giant fall they too came forth,
and Diarmuid sat him down weary and spent after that combat, and bade the
children of Morna bury the giant under the brushwood of the forest so that
Grainne might not see him, " and after that go ye to seek her also, and
bring her." The children of Morna drew the giant forth into the wood, and
put him underground, and went after Grainne and brought her to Diarmuid.
"There, O Grainne," said Diarmuid, "are the berries thou didst ask for,
and do thou thyself pluck of them whatever pleases thee." "I swear," said Grainne, "that I will not taste a
single berry of them but the berry that thy hand shall pluck, O Diarmuid."
Thereupon Diarmuid rose and stood, and plucked the berries for Grainne and
for the children of Morna, so that they ate their fill of them.. When they were filled Diarmuid spoke, and said:"O
children of Morna, take as many as ye can of these berries and tell Finn
that it was ye yourselves that slew the Searban Lochlannach." "We swear," said they, "that we grudge what we shall
take to Finn of them"; and Diarmuid plucked them a load of the berries.
Then the children of Morna spoke their gratitude and thanks to Diarmuid
after the gifts they had received from him, and went their way to where
Finn and the fian of Erin were. Now Diarmuid and Grainne went into the top
of the quicken tree, and laid them in the bed of the Searban Lochlannach,
and the berries below were but bitter berries compared to the berries that
were upon the top of the tree. The children of Morna reached Finn, and Finn asked
their news of them from first to last. "We have slain the Searban Lochlannach,"
said they, "and have brought the berries of Dubros as a fine for thy father's
death, if perchance we may get peace for them." Then they gave the berries into the hand of Finn,
and he knew the berries, and put them under his nose, and said to the children
of Morna, "I swear," said Finn, "that it was Diarmuid o"Duibine that gathered
these berries, for I know the smell of O' Duibne's skin on them, and full
sure I am that he it was that slew the Searban Lochlannach; and I will go
to learn whether he is alive at the quicken tree. But it shall profit you
nothing to have brought the berries to me, and ye shall not get your father's
place among the fian until ye give me the recompense for my father."

Part 6 the Game of Chess

After sending away the children of Morna Finn sets
out himself to go to the quicken tree. After that he caused the seven battalions of the
standing fian to assemble in one place, and he went his way to Dubros of
Ui Fiachbrach; and followed Diarmuid's track to the food to the quicken
tree, and found the berries without any watch upon them, so that they all
ate their fill of them. The great heat of the noon day then overtook them,
and Finn said that he would stay at the foot of the quicken tree till that
heat should be past:" for I know that Diarmuid is in the top of the tree."
"It is a great sign of envy in thee, O Finn, to suppose
that Diarmuid would abide in the top of the quicken tree, and he knowing
that thou art intent on slaying him," said Oisin. After this Finn asked for a chessboard to play, and
he said to Oisin, "I would play a game with thee upon this chessboard."
They sat down at either side of the board; namely Oisin and Oscar and the
son of Lugaid and Diorruing the son of Dobar O'Baoiscene on one side, and
Finn upon the other side. Thus they were playing that game of chess with skill
and exceeding cunning, and Finn so played the game against Oisin that he
had but one move alone to make, and Finn said:"One move there is to win
thee the game, O Oisin, but I am not there to teach thee that move." "It is worse for thee that thou art thyself," said
Grainne, "in the bed of the Searban Lochlannach, in the top of the quicken
tree, with the seven battalions of the standing fian round about thee intent
upon thy destruction, than that Oisin should lack that move." Then Diarmuid
plucked one of the berries, and aimed at the man that should be moved; and
Oisin moved that man and thus turned the game against Finn. They began to
play again and Oisin was again worsted. When Diarmuid beheld that, he cast
a second berry upon the man that should be moved; and Oisin moved that man
and turned the game against Finn as before. Finn was about to win the game
against Oisin the third time, Diarmuid struck a third berry upon the man
that would give Oisin the game, and the fian raised a mighty shout at that
game. Finn spoke, and what he said was: "I marvel not at thy winning that
game, O Oisin, seeing that Oscar is doing is best for thee, and that thou
hast with thee the zeal of Diorruing, the skilled knowledge of the son of
Luagid, and the prompting of Diarmuid." "It shows great envy in thee, O Finn," said Oscar,
"to think that Diarmuid O' Duibne would stay in the top of this tree with
thee in wait for him." "With which of us is the truth, O O'Duibne, " said
Finn, "with me or with Oscar?" "Thou didst never err in thy good judgment, O Finn,"
said Diarmuid, " and I indeed and Grainne are here in the bed of the Searban
Lochlannach." Then Diarmuid caught ?Grainne, and gave her three kisses in
the presence of Finn and the fian. "It grieves me more that the seven battalions of
the standing fian and all the men of Erin should have witnessed thee the
night thou didst take Grainne from Tara, seeing that thou wast my guard
that night, than that these that are here should witness thee; and thou
shalt give thy head for those kisses," said Finn. Thereupon Finn arose with the four hundred hirelings
that he had on wages and on stipend, with intent to kill Diarmuid; and Finn
put their hands into each other's hands round about that quicken tree, and
warned them on pain of losing their heads, and as they would preserver their
life, not to let Diarmuid pass out by them. Moreover, he promised them that
to whatever man of the fian of Erin should go up and bring him the head
of Diarmuid, he would give his arms and armor, with his father's and his
grandfather's rank among the fian freely. Garb of sliab Cua answered, and
what he said was, that it was Diarmuid's father Doonn O' Donnucda, who had
slain his father; and to requite hat he would go to avenge him upon Diarmuid,
and he went his way up. Now it was shown to Angus of the Brug, Diarmuid's
foster father, what a straight Dairmuid was in , and he came to succor him
without knowledge of the fian; and when Garb of Silib Cua had got up into
the top of the quicken tree, Diarmuid gave him a strike of his foot and
flung him down into the midst of the fian, so that Finn's hirelings took
off his head, for Angus had put the form of Diarmuid upon him. After he
was slain his own shape came upon him again, and Finn and the fian of Erin
knew him and they said that it was Garb that was fallen. Then said Garb of Sliab Crot that he would go to
avenge his father also upon Diarmuid, and he went up, and Angus gave him
a kick, so that he flung him down in the midst of the fian with the form
of Diarmuid upon him, and Finn's people took off his head; and Finn said
that that was not Diarmuid but Garb, for Garb assumed his own form again.
Garb of Sliab Guaire said that he too would go, and
that it was Donn O' Donncuda that had slain his father, and that therefore
he would go to avenge him upon O'Duibne, and he climbed into the top of
the quicken tree. Diarmuid gave him also a kick, so that he flung him down,
and Angus put the form of Diarmuid upon him, so that the fian slew him.
Now the nine Garbs of the fian were thus slain under
a false appearance by the people of Finn. As for Finn, after the fall of
the nine Garbs of the fian, he was full of anguish and of faintheartedness
and of grief. Angus of the Brug then said that he would take Grainne
with him. "Take her," said Diarmuid, "and if I be alive at evening I shall
follow you; and if Finn kills me, whatever children Grainne may have rear
or bring them up well, and send Grainne to her own father to Tara." Angus
took leave and farewell of Diarmuid, and flung his magic mantle about Grainne
and about himself, and they departed, without knowledge of the fian, and
no tidings are told of them until they reached the Brug upon the Boyne.
Then Diarmuid spoke, and what he said was:"I will
go down to thee, O Finn, and to the fian; and I will deal slaughter and
discomfiture upon thee and upon thy people, seeing that I am certain thy
wish is to allow me no deliverance, but to work my death in some place;
and moreover, it is not mine to escape form this danger which is before
me, since I have no friend nor companion in the far regions of the great
world under whose safeguard or protection I may go, because full often have
I wrought the warriors of the world death and desolation for love of thee.
For there never came upon thee battle nor combat, strait nor extremity in
my time, but I would adventure myself into it for thy sake and for the sake
of the fian, and moreover I used to do battle before thee and after thee.
And I swear, O Finn, that I will well avenge myself, and that thou shalt
not get me for nothing." "Therein Diarmuid speaks truth," said Oscar, " and
give him mercy and forgiveness." "I will not", said Finn, "to all eternity; and he
shall not get peace nor rest for ever till he give me satisfaction for every
slight that he has put upon me." "It is a foul shame and sign of jealousy in thee
to say that," said Oscar; "and I pledge the word of a true warrior," said
he, "that unless the firmament fall down upon me, or the earth open beneath
my feet, I will not suffer thee nor the fian of Erin to give him cut nor
wound; and I take his body and his life under the protection of my bravery
and my valor, vowing that I will save him in spite of the men of Erin. And,
O Diarmuid, come down out of the tree, since Finn will not grant thee mercy;
and I take thee, pledging my body and my life that no evil shall be done
thee today." Then Diarmuid rose and stood upon a high bough of
the tree, and rose up with an airy bound, light,birdlike, by the shafts
of his spears, so that he got the breadth of his two soles of the grass
green earth, and he passed out far beyond Finn and the fian of Erin. After that Oscar and Diarmuid proceeded onwards,
neither one or other of them being cut nor wounded, and no tidings are told
of them until they reached the Brug upon the Boyne, and Grainne and Angus
met them with joy and good courage. Then Diarmuid told them his tidings
from the first to last, and it lacked but little of Grainne's falling into
the numb stupor of instant death through the fear and the horror of that
story. After the departure of Diarmuid and of Oscar, Finn
found nine chieftains and ten hundred warriors in a mangled bloody mass
and he sent every one that was curable where he might be healed, and caused
to be dug a broad-sodded grave , and put into it every one that was dead.
Heavy, weary, and mournful was Finn after that time, and he swore and vowed
that he would take no rest until he should have avenged upon Diarmuid all
that he had done to him. Then he told his trusty people to equip his ship,
and to put a store of meat and drink into her. Thus did they and, the ship
being ready, he himself and a thousand warriors of his people together with
him went on board. They weighed her anchors forthwith, and urged the ship
forward with exceedingly strong rowing, so that they launched her forth
the space of nine waves into the blue-streamed ocean, and they caught the
wind in the bosom of the sails of the mast, and it is not told how they
fared until they took haven and harbor in the north of Alba.

Part 7 The King of Alba

Once Finn and his men reached Alba they made fast
the ship to the mooring posts of the harbor, and Finn with five of his people
went to the stronghold of the king of Alba, and Finn struck the knocker
upon the door. The doorkeeper asked who was there; and it was told him that
Finn MacCool was there. "Let him be admitted," said the king. Finn was
thereupon admitted, and he himself and his people went before he king. A
kindly welcome was given to Finn by the king, and he caused Finn to sit
down in his own seat. Thereafter were given to them mead mild and pleasant
to drink, and strong fermented liquors, and the king set to fetch the rest
of the people of Finn, and he made them welcome in the stronghold. Then
Finn told the king the cause and matter for which he was a come from the
beginning to end, and that it was to seek counsel and aid against Diarmuid
O'Duibne that he was then come. " And truly thou oughtest to give me an
army, for Diarmuid it was that slew thy father and thy two brothers and
many of thy chiefs likewise." "That is true," said the king, " and I will give
thee my own two sons and a host of a thousand about each man of them." Joyful
was Finn at the soldiers that the king of Alba had given him, and Finn with
his people took leave and farewell of the king and of his household, and
left them good wishes for life and health, and the king sent the same on
with the fian. Finn and his company went their way, and no tidings are told
of them until they reached the Brug upon the Boyne, and he and his people
went ashore. After that Finn sent messengers to the house of Angus of the
Brug to proclaim battle against Diarmuid. "What shall I do about this, O Oscar?" said Diarmuid.
"We will both of us give them battle, and destroy
them , and rend their flesh, and not suffer a servant to escape alive of
them, but we will slay them all," said Oscar. The next morning Diarmuid and Oscar rose, and harnessed
their fair bodies in their suits of arms of valor and battle, and those
two mighty heroes went their way to the place of that combat, and woe to
those, either many or few, who might meet those two good warriors in anger.
Then Diarmuid and Oscar bound the rims of their shields together that they
might not separate from one another in the fight. After that they proclaimed
battle against Finn, and then the soldiers of the king of Alba said that
they and their people would go to strive with them first. They came ashore
forthwith, and rushed to meet and to encounter them, and Diarmuid passed
under them, through them , and over them, as a hawk would go through small
birds, or a whale through small fish, or a fox through a large flock of
sheep; and such was the dispersion and terror and scattering that those
good warriors wrought upon the strangers, that not a man to tell tidings
or to boast of great deeds escaped of them ,but all of them fell by Diarmuid
and by Oscar before the night came, and they themselves were smooth and
free from hurt, having neither cut nor wound. When Finn saw that great slaughter,
he and his people returned out to sea, and no tidings are told of them until
they reached Tir Tairngire (fairyland), where Finn's nurse was. Finn came
to her, and she received him joyfully. Finn told the cause of his travel
and of his journey to the hag from first to last, and the reason of his
strife with Diarmuid, and he told her that it was to seek counsel from her
that he was then come; also that no strength of a host or a multitude could
conquer Diarmuid, if perchance magic alone might not conquer him. "I will
go with thee," said the hag, " and I will practice magic against him." Finn
was joyful threat, and he remained with the hag that night; and they resolved
to depart on the morrow. Now it is not told how they fared until they reached
the Brug upon the Boyne, and the hag threw a spell of magic about Finn and
the fian, so that the men of Erin knew not that they were there. It was
the day before hat Oscar had parted from Dairmuid, and Diarmuid chanced
to be hunting and chasing on the day that the hag concealed the fian. This
was a revealed to the hag, and she caused herself to fly by magic upon the
leaf of a water Lilly having a hole in the middle of it, in the fashion
of the quern-stone of a mill, so that she rose with the blast of the pure
cold wind and came over Diarmuid, and began to aim at and strike him through
the hole with deadly darts, so that she wrought the hero great hurt in the
midst of his weapons and armor, and that he was unable to escape, so greatly
was he oppressed; and every evil that had ever come upon him was little
compared to that evil. What he thought in his own mind was, that unless
he might strike the hag through the hole that was in the leaf she would
cause his death upon the spot; and Diarmuid laid him upon his back having
the Gae Derg in his hand, and made a triumphant cast of exceeding courage
with the javelin, so that he reached the hag through the hole, and she fell
dead upon the spot. Diarmuid beheaded her there and then and took her head
with him to Angus of the Brug. Diarmuid rose early on the morrow, and Angus rose
and went where Finn was, and asked him whether he would make peace with
Diarmuid. Finn said that he would, in whatever way Diarmuid would make peace.
Then Angus went where the king of Erin was to ask peace for Diarmuid, and
Cormack said that he would grant him that. Again Angus went where Diarmuid
and Grainne were, and asked Diarmuid whether he would make peace with Cormack
and with Finn. Diarmuid said that he would if he obtained the conditions
which he should ask of them. " What are those conditions?" said Angus. "The district," said Diarmuid, " which my father
had, that is the district of O'Duibne, Finn shall not hunt nor chase therein,
and it must be free of rent or tribute to the king of Erin; also the district
of Benn Damuis, that is, Dubcarn in Leinster as a gift for myself from Finn,
for it is the best district in Erin; and the district of Ces Corann from
the high king of Erin as dowry with his daughter; and those are the conditions
upon which I would make peace with them." "Wouldst thou make peace on those conditions if thou
wert to get them?" asked Angus. "I could better bear to make peace by getting those
conditions." Said Diarmuid. Then Angus went with those tidings to where
the king of Erin and Finn were, and he got those conditions from him every
one, and they forgave Diarmuid all he had done as long as he had been outlawed,
namely for the space of sixteen years; and Cormac gave his other daughter
for wife and mate to Finn, that he might let Diarmuid be, and so they made
peace with each other; and the place that Diarmuid and Grainne settled in
was Rath Grainne in the district of Ces Corann, far from Finn and from Cormac.
Then Grainne bore Diarmuid four sons and one daughter; namely, Donnead,
Eochaid, Connla, Selbsercach, and Druime; and he gave the district of Benn
Damuis, that is, Dubearn in Leinster, to the daughter, and he sent attendants
to server her there. They abode a long time fulfilling the terms of the
peace with each other, and people used to say that there was not living
at the same time with him a man richer in gold and silver ,in kine and cattle-herds
and sheep, and who made more successful raids, than Diarmuid.

Part 8 and last Part- the Boar of Benn Gulban

Upon a certain day Grainne spoke to Diarmuid and
what she said was, that it was a shame for them, seeing the number of their
people and the greatness of their household, and that their expenditure
was untold, that the two best men in Erin had never been in their house,
that is, Cormac the High-King of Erin and Finn mac Cumail. "Wherefore sayest
thou so, O Graine, " said Diarmuid, "when they are enemies to me?"

" I would fain," said Grainne, "give them a feast, that so thou mightiest win their love."

"I permit that," said Diarmuid. "Then," said Grainne, "send word and messengers to
thy daughter to bid her to prepare another feast, so that we may take the
king of Erin and Finn MacCool to her house; and how do we but there she might get a fitting husband?"

Thereupon two great feasts were prepared by Grainne and by her daughter or the length
of a year, and at the end of that space and season word and messengers were
sent for the king of Erin, and for Finn MacCool, and for the seven battalions
of the standing fian, and for the chiefs of Erin likewise, and they were
for a year and a day enjoying that feast. Now on the last day of the year Diarmuid was in Rath
Grainne asleep; and Diarmuid heard the voice of a hound in his sleep in
the night, and that caused Diarmuid to stir out of his sleep, so that Grainne
caught him and threw her two arms about him and asked him what he had seen.
"It is the voice of a hound I have heard," said Diarmuid, "and I marvel
to hear it in the night." "Mayest thou be kept safely," said Grainne, "for
it is the Tuatha De Danann that are doing that to thee to spite Angus of
the Brug, and lay thee down on thy bed again. " Nevertheless no slumber
or sleep fell upon Diarmuid then, but again the voice of the hound roused
him, and he was fain to go to seek the hound. Grainne caught him and laid
him down the second time , and told him it was not meet for him to go look
for a hound because of hearing its voice in the night. Diarmuid laid him
upon his couch, and a heaviness of slumber and of sweet sleep fell upon
him, and the third time the voice of the hound awoke him. The day came then with its full light, and he said,
"I will go to seek the hound whose voice I have heard, since it is day."
"Well then," said Grainne, "take with thee the Moraltach,
that is the sword of Manannan, and the Gae Derg." "I will not, " said Diarmuid, "but I will take the
Begalthach and the Gae Buide with me in my hand, and my hound Mac an Cuil
by a chain in my other hand." Then Diarmuid went forth from Rath Grainne, and made
no halt nor stopping until he reached the summit of Benn Gulban, and he
found Finn before him there without anyone with him or in his company. Diarmuid
gave him no greetings, but asked him whether it was he that was holding
that chase. Finn said that it was not he, but that a company of the fian
had risen out after midnight, " and one of our hounds, being loose by our
side, came across the track of a wild pig, but they have not hitherto been
able to overtake him. Now it is the wild boar of Benn Gulban that the hound
has met, and the fian do but foolishly in following him; for oftentimes
ere now he has escaped them, and thirty warriors of the fian were slain
by him this morning. He is even now coming up against the mountain towards
us, with the fian fleeing before him, and let us leave this hill to him."
Diarmuid said that he would not leave the hill through fear of him. ' It is not meet for thee to do thus, " said Finn,
" for thou art under taboos never to hunt a pig." "Wherefore were those taboos laid upon me? " said
Diarmuid. "That I will tell thee," said Finn. " on a certain day I chanced to be in Almu in Leinster
, with the seven battalions of the standing fian about me, Bran Beg O'Buideain
came in and asked me whether I remembered not that it was one of my taboos
not to be ten nights one after the other in Almu without being out of it
for a single night; now those taboos had not been laid upon any man of the
fian but upon myself alone. The fian went into the great hall that night,
and no man staid by me but thy father and a small number of the bards and
learned men of the fian, with our staghounds and our other dogs. Then I
asked of them that were with me where we should go to be entertained that
night. Thy father, that is , Donn O'Donncuda, said that he would give me
entertainment for that night, for if thou remember, O Finn, said Donn, "when
I was outlawed and banished by thee and from the fian, Croenuit the daughter
of Currac of Liffe became pregnant by me, and bore a smooth beautiful man-child
of that heavy pregnancy , and Angus of the Brug took that son from me to
foster him. Croenuit bore another son after that to Roc mac Dicain, and
Roc asked me to take that son to foster him, seeing that Angus had my son,
and he said that he would provide a sufficient meal for nine men at the
house of Angus every evening. I said that I thought it not fitting to take
the commoner's son and I sent to Angus praying him to receive that son to
foster him. Angus received the commoner's son, and there was not a time
thenceforth that Roc did not send a nine men's meal to the house of Angus
for me. Howbeit, I have not seen him for a year, and we shall, as many as
there are here of us get entertainment for this night there." "I an Donnn went our way after that," said Finn,
"to the house of Angus of the Brug, and thou wast there that night O Diarmuid,
and Angus showed thee great fondness. The son of the steward was thy companion
that night, and not greater was the fondness that Angus showed the son of
the steward, and thy father suffered great derision of that. It was no long
time after that that there arose a quarrel between tow of my stag hounds
about some broken meat that was thrown them, and the women and the lesser
people of the place fled before them and the others rose to separate them.
The son of the steward went between thy father's knees, flying before the
stag hounds, and he gave the child a mighty, powerful, strong squeeze of
his two knees, so hat he slew him upon the spot, and he cast him under the
feet of the stag hounds. The steward came and found his son dead, and he
uttered a long very pitiful cry. Then he came before me, and what he said
was:" there is not in this house tonight a man that hath got out of this
uproar worse than myself, for I had no children but one son only, and he
has been slain; and how shall I get a recompense from thee, O Finn?" I told
him to examine his son, and if he found the trace of a stagehand's tooth
or nail upon him that I would myself give him a fine for him. The child
was examined, and no trace of a stag hound's tooth or nail was found on
him. Then the steward laid me under the fearful perilous taboos of Drum
Fruidecta that I should show him who had slain his son. I asked for a chessboard
and water to be brought to me, and I washed my hands and put my thumb under
my tooth of divination, so that true and exact divination was shown me,
namely, that thy father had slain the son of the steward between his two
knees. I offered a fin myself when that was shown to me, but the steward
refused that; so that I was forced to tell him that it was thy father that
had slain his son. The steward said that the was not in the house a man
for whom it was more easy to give a fine than thy father, for that he himself
had a son therein, and that he would not take any fine whatever except that
thou shouldst be placed between his tow legs and his two knees, and that
the would forgive the death of his son if he let thee from him safe. Angus
became angry with the steward at that speech, and thy father thought to
take off his head, until I separated them. Then came the steward again with
a magic wand of sorcery, and struck his son with that wand so that he made
of him a cropped green pig, having neither ears nor tail, and he said, "I
conjure thee that thou have the same length of life as Diarmuid O' Duibne,
and that it be by thee that he shall fall at last. " Then the wild boar
rose and stood, and rushed out by the open door. When Angus heard those
spells laid upon thee, he conjured thee never to hunt a swine; and that
wild boar is the wild boar of Benn Gulban, and it is not beet for thee to
await him upon this hill.." " I knew not of those conjuration's hitherto, " said
Diarmuid, "nor will I leave this hill through fear of him before he comes
to me, and do thou leave me thy hound Bran beside Mac an Cuil." "I will not," said Finn, "for oftentimes this wild
boar has escaped him before." Finn went his way after that, and left Diarmuid
alone and solitary upon the summit of the hill. "By my word," said Diarmuid, "it is to slay me that
thou hast made this hunt, O Finn; and if it be here I am fated to die I
have no power now to shun it." The wild boar then came up the face of he mountain
with the fian after him. Diarmuid slipped Mac an Cuill from his leash against
him, and that profited him nothing for he did not await the wild boar but
fled before him. Diarmuid said, " Woe to him that heeds not the counsel
of a good wife, for Grainne bade me at early morn today take with me the
Moralltach and the Gae Derg." Then Diarmuid put his small white colored
ruddy nailed finger into the silken string of the Gae Buide, and made a
careful cast at the pig, so that he smote him in the fair middle of his
face and his forehead' nevertheless he cut not a single bristle upon him,
nor did he give him wound or scratch. Diarmuid's courage was lessened at
that, and thereupon he drew the Begalltach from the sheath in which it was
kept, and struck a heavy stroke thereof upon the wild boar's back stoutly
and bravely, yet he cut not a single bristle upon him, but made two pieces
of his sword. Then the wild boar made a fearless spring upon Diarmuid, so
that he tripped him and made him fall headlong, and when he rose up again
it happened that one of his legs was on either side of the wild boar, and
his face looking backward toward the hinder part of the wild boar. The wild
boar fled down the fall of the hill and was unable to put off Diarmuid during
that space. After that he fled away until he reached Es Ruad (the Red Waterfall)
of Mac Badairn, and having reached the red stream he gave three nimble leaps
across the fall hither and thither, yet he could not put off Diarmuid during
hat space; and he came back by the same path until he reached up the height
of the mountain again.And when he had reached the top of the hill he put
Diarmuid from his back; and when he was fallen to the earth the wild boar
made an eager exceeding mighty spring upon him, and ripped out his bowels
and his entrails so that they fell about his legs. Howbeit, as the boar
was leaving the hill, Diarmuid made a triumphant cast of the hilt of the
sword that chanced to be still in his hand, so that he dashed out the boar's
brains and left him dead without life. Therefore Rath n h-Amrann (Rath of
the Marvel) is the name of he place that is on the top of the mountain from
that time to this. It was no long time after that when Finn and the
fian of Erin came up, and the agonies of death and of instant dissolution
were then coming upon Diarmuid. " It likes me well to see thee in that plight,
O Diarmuid," said Finn; "and I grieve that all the women of Erin are not
now gazing upon thee: for thy excellent beauty is turned to ugliness, and
thy choice form to deformity." "Nevertheless it is in thy power to heal me , O Finn,"
said Diarmuid, "if it were thy pleasure to do so." "How should I heal thee?" said Finn.
"Easily," said Diarmuid; " for when though didst
get the noble precious gift of divining at the Boyne, it was granted thee
that to whomsoever thou should give a drink from the palms of thy hands
he should after that be young, fresh, and sound from any sickness he might
have at that time." "Thou hast not deserved it of me that I should give
thee that drink" said Finn "That is not true, " said Diarmuid, "well have I
deserved it of thee; for when thou wentest to the house of Derc the son
of Donnartad, and the chiefs and great nobles of Erin with thee, to enjoy
a banquet and feast, Cairbre Liffecair son of Cormac son of Art, and the
men of Mag Breg, and of Mide, and of Cerna, and the stout mighty pillars
of Tara came around the stronghold against thee, and uttered three shouts
loudly about thee, and threw fire and firebrands into it. Thereupon thou
didst rise and stand, and wouldst fain have gone out; but I bade thee stay
within enjoying drinking and pleasure, and that I would myself go out to
avenge it upon them Then I went out and quenched the flames ,ad mad three
deadly courses about the stronghold, so that I slew fifty at each course,
and came in having no cut nor wound after them. And thou wast cheerful,
joyous, and of good courage before me that night, O Finn," said Diarmuid;
" and had it been that night that I asked thee for a drink, thou wouldst
have given it to me, and thou wouldst not have done so more justly that
night than now." "That is not true," said Finn; "thou hast ill deserved
of me that I should give thee a d rink or do the any good thing; for the
night that thou wentest with me to Tara thou didst bear away Grainne from
me in the presence of all the men of Erin when thou wast thyself my guard
over her in Tara that night." "The guilt of that was not mine, O Finn.." said Diarmuid,
"but Grainne put a taboo upon me, and I would not have failed to keep my
bonds for the gold of the world, and nothing, O Finn is true of all that
thou sayest, for thou wouldst own that I have well deserved of thee that
thou shouldst give me a drink, if thou didst remember the night that Midach
son of Colgan made the feast of Bruiden Chaorthalnn (the Hostel of the Quicken
Tree). He had a stronghold upon land ,and a stronghold upon wave (upon an
island) and he brought the king of the world and the three kings of Innis
Tuile to the stronghold hat he had upon the wave, with intent to take thy
head from thee. The feast was being given in the stronghold that he had
on land, and he sent and bade thee and the seven battalions of the standing
fian to go and enjoy the feast in Bruiden Chaorthainn. Now thou wentist
and certain o the chiefs of the fian together with thee, to enjoy that banquet
in Bruiden Chaorthainn, and Midach caused some of the mould of Innis Tuyile
to be placed under the, so that thy feet and thy hands clove to the ground;
and when the king of the world heard that thou wast thus bound down, he
sent a chief of an hundred to seek thy head. Then thou didst put they thumb
under thy tooth of divination, and knowledge and enlightenment was shewn
thee. At that very time I came after thee to Bruiden Chaorthainn, and thou
didst know me as I came to the stronghold, and didst make known to me that
the king of the world and the three kings of Innis Tuile were in the stronghold
of the island upon the Shannon, and that it would not be long ere some one
would come from them to seek thy head and take it to the king of the world.
When I heard that, I took the protection of thy body and of thy life upon
me till the dawning of the day on the morrow, and I went to the ford which
was by the stronghold to defend it. "I had not been long by the ford before there came
a chief of an hundred to me of the people of the king of the world, and
we fought together; and I took his head from him, and made slaughter of
his people, and brought the head even to the stronghold of the island where
the king of the world was enjoying drinking and pleasure with the three
kings of Innis Tuile by him. I took their heads from them, and put them
in the hollow of my shield, and brought in my left hand the jeweled golden-chased
goblet, full of old mead, pleasant to drink, which was before the king.
Then I wrought sharply with my sword around me, and came by virtue of my
fortune and of my valor to Bruiden Chaorthainn, and brought those heads
with me. I gave thee the goblet in token of victory, and rubbed the blood
of those three kings on thee and on the fian, as many of them as were bound,
so that I restored to thee thy power over thy hands and the motion of thy
feet; and hid I asked a drink of thee that night, O Finn, I would have got
it! Many is the straight, moreover, that hath overtaken thee and the fian
of Erin from the first day that I came among, you, in which I have periled
my body and my life for thy sake; and therefore thou shouldst not do me
this foul treachery. Moreover, many a brave warrior and valiant hero of
great prowess hath fallen by thee, nor is there an end of them yet; and
shortly there will come a dire disaster upon the fian which will not leave
them many descendants. Nor is it for thee that I grieve, O Finn; but for
Oisin, and for Oscar, and for the rest of my faithful, fond comrades. And
as for thee, O Oisin, thou shat be left to lament after the fian, and thou
shalt sorely lack me yet, O Finn." Then said Oscar, "O Finn, though I am more nearly
akin to thee than to Diarmuid O' Duibne, I will not allow thee to withhold
the drink from Diarmuid; and I swear, moreover, that were any other prince
in the world to do Diarmuid O' Duibne such treachery, there should only
escape whichever of us should have the strongest hand, and bring him a drink
without delay." "I know no well whatever upon this mountain," said Finn

"That is not true," said Diarmuid; "for but nine
paces from thee is the best well of pure water in the world." After that Finn went to the well, and raised the
full of his two hands of the water; but he had not reached more than half
way to Diarmuid when he let the water run down through his hands and he
said he could not bring the water. "I swear,"said Diarmuid, "That of thine
own will thou didst let it from thee." Finn went for the water the second
time, and he had not come more than the same distance when he let it through
his hands, having thought upon Grainne. Then Diarmuid hove a piteous sigh
of anguish when he saw that. "I swear upon my arms," said Oscar, "that if
thou bring not the water speedily, O Finn, there shall not leave this hill
but either thou or I." Finn returned to the well the third time because
of that speech which Oscar had made to him, and brought the water to Diarmuid,
and as he came up the life parted from the body of Diarmuid. Then that company of the fian of Erin that were present
raised three great exceeding loud shouts, wailing for Diarmuid, and Oscar
looked fiercely and wrathfully upon Finn and said, "that it was a great
pity that Diarmuid should be dead than it would have been had Finn perished,
and that the fian had lost their mainstay in battle by means of him." Finn then said, "Let us leave this hill, for fear
that Angus of the Brug and the Tuatha De Danann might catch us; and though
we have no part in the slaying of Diarmuid, he would none the more readily
believe us." "I swear," said Oscar, "had I known that it was with
intent to kill Diarmuid that thou madest the hunt of Benn Gulban, that thou
wouldst never have made it. " Then Finn and the fian of Erin went their
way from the hill, Finn holding Diarmuid's stag hound that is Mac an Cuill,
but Oisin, and Oscar, and Cailte, and the son of Lugaid returned, and threw
their four mantles about Diarmuid, and after that they went their way after
Finn. It is not told how they fared until they reached
Rath Grainne. Grainne was before them out upon the ramparts of the stronghold,
and she saw Finn and the fian of Erin coming to her. Then said Grainne,
"that if Diarmuid were alive it was not by Finn that Mac an Cuill would
be held coming to this place." Now Grainne was at that time heavy and pregnant,
and she fell out over the ramparts of the stronghold, and brought forth
three dead sons upon the spot. When Oisin saw Grainne in that plight he
sent away Finn and the Fian of Erin; and as Finn and the fian of Erin were
leaving the place Grainne lifted up her head and asked Finn to leave her
Mac an Cuill. He said that he would not give him to her, and that he thought
it not too much he himself should inherit so much of Diarmuid; but when
Oisin heard that he took the stag hound from the hand of Finn, gave him
to Grainne, and then followed his people. Then Grainne felt sure of the death of Diarmuid and
she uttered a long exceedingly piteous cry, so that it was heard in the
distant parts of the stronghold; and her women and the rest of her people
came to her, and asked her what had thrown her into that excessive grief.
Grainne told them how Diarmuid had perished by the wild boar of Benn Gulban,
by means of the hunt that Finn MacCool had made. "And truly my very
heart is grieved,"said Grainne, "that I am not myself able to fight with
Finn, for were I so I would not have suffered him to leave this place in
safety." Having heard of the death of Diarmuid, they too uttered three loud
fearful, vehement cries together with Grainne, so that those loud shouts
were heard in the clouds of heaven, and in the wastes of the firmament;
and then Grainne bade the five hundred that she had for her household to
go to Benn Gulban,and bring her the body of Diarmuid. At that very time and season it was shown to Angus
that Diarmuid was dead upon Benn Gulban, for he had had no watch over him
the night before, and he proceeded, on the wings of the pure-cold wind,
so that he reached Benn Gulban at the same time with the people of Grainne;
and when Grainne's household recognized Angus they held out the rough side
of their shields in token of peace, and Angus knew them. Then when they
were met together upon Benn Gulban, they and the people of Angus raised
three exceeding great terrible cries over the body of Diarmuid, so that
they were heard in the clouds of heaven, and in the wastes of the firmament
of the air, and in the provinces of Erin likewise. Then Angus spoke and what he said was:" I have never
been for one night, since I took thee with me to the Brug of the Boyne,
at the age of nine months, that I did not watch thee and carefully keep
thee against thy foes, until last night, O Diarmuid! And alas for the treachery
that Finn hath done thee, for all that thou wast at peace with him." And
he sang the following lay:

Alas, O Diarmuid O'Duibne,
O thou of the white teeth, thou bright and fair one;
Alas for thine own blood upon thy spear,
The blood of thy body hath been shed.
Alas for the deadly flashing tusk of the boar,

Thou hast been sharply, sorely, violently lopped off;
Through the malicious, fickle, treacherous one.
Numbing venom hath entered his wounds,
At rath Finn he met his death;
The Boar of Benn Gulban with fierceness,
Hath laid low Diarmuid the bright-faced.
Raise ye fairy shouts without gainsaying,
Let Diarmuid of the bright weapons be lifted by you;
To the smooth Brug of the everlasting rocks-
Surely it is we that feel great pity.

After that lay Angus asked the household of Grainne wherefore they were
come to that spot. They said Grainne hath sent them for the body of
Diarmuid to bring it to her to Rath Grainne. Angus said that he would
not let them take Diarmuid's body but that he would himself bear it
to the Brug upon the Boyne; "and since I cannot restore him to life
I will send a soul into him, so that he may talk to me each day." After
that Angus caused the body to be borne upon a gilded bier, with his
(Diarmuid's) javelins over him pointed upwards, and he went to the Brug
of the Boyne. As for Grainne's household, they returned back
to Rath Grainne, and they told how Angus would not let them bring the
body of Diarmuid, but that he himself had taken it to the Brug upon
the Boyne; and Grainne said that she had no power over him. After wards
Grainne sent word and messengers for her children to the district of
Corca O'Duibne, where they were being reared and protected; now those
children of Diarmuid had sons of warriors and of wealthy chieftains
serving them, and each son of them owned a district. Now Donnchad the
son of Diarmuid O'Duibne was the eldest son of them, and to him the
other sons were subject; that is, Eochaid, Connla, Selbsercach, and
Ollann the long-bearded, the son of Diarmuid, that is, the son of he
daughter of the king of Leinster; and Grainne bore great love and affection
to none of her own children than to Ollann. Those messengers thereupon
went to the place where those youths were, and they told them the cause
of their journey and of their coming from first to last; and as the
youths were setting out with the full number of their household and
of their gathering, their people of trust asked them what they should
do since their lords were now going to encounter war and perilous adventure
against Finn MacCool and the fian of Erin. Donnchad the son of Diarmuid
bade them abide in their own places, and that if they made peace with
Finn their people need fear nothing; and if not, to choose which lord
they would have, that is, to ride with Finn or to adhere to their own
chiefs as they pleased. And no tidings are told of them until they reached
Rath Grainne, where Grainne gave them a a gentle welcome, and gave a
kiss and a welcome to the son of the daughter of the king of Leinster;
and they entered together into Rath Grainne, and sat at the sides of
the royal stronghold according to their rank, and their patrimony, and
according to the age of each one of them. There were given them mead
mild and pleasant to drink, and well-prepared sweet ale, and strong
fermented draughts in fair chased drinking horns, so that they became
exhilarated and mirthful. And then Grainne spoke with an exceeding loud
and clear voice, and what she said was: "O dear children, your father
has been slain by Finn MacCool against his bonds and covenants of
peace with him; now you are bound to avenge that upon him well; and
there is your portion of the inheritance of your father," said she,
"that is, his arms, and his armor, and his various sharp weapons, and
his feats of valor and bravery likewise. I will myself portion them
out among you and may the getting of them bring you success in battle.
And I myself will have the goblets and the drinking horns, and the beautiful
golden -chased cups, and the kine and the cattle-herds undivided." And
she sang this lay as follows:

Arise ye, O children of Diarmuid
Go forth and learn that I may see;
May your adventures be prosperous to you;
The tidings of a good man have come to you
The sword for Donnchaid,
The best son that Diarmuid had;
And let Eochaid have the Gae Derg;
They lead to every advantage.
Give his armor from me to Ollann,
Safe every body upon which it may be put;
And his shield to Connla,
To him that keeps the battalions firm.
The goblets and the drinking horns,
The cups and the bowls;
They are a woman's treasure without thanks;
I alone shall have them all.
Slay ye woman and children, Through hatred to your foes;
Do no guile nor treachery,
Hasten ye and depart.

After that lay Grainne bade them depart, and learn carefully all practice
of bravery and of valor till they should
have reached their full strength. And they were to spend a portion of
their time with Bolcan, the smith of hell. Then those good youths betook them to their journey,
and they took farewell of Grainne and of her household, and left them
wishes of life and health, and Grainne and her people sent the same
with them: and they left not a warrior, a hero, nor a woman-warrior
in the distant regions of the world, which whom they spent not a portion
of their time, learning from hem until they attained fullness of strength;
and they were three years with Bolcan. When Finn was informed that those children of
Diarmuid had departed upon that journey, he was filled with hatred and
great fear of them; and forthwith called a muster of the seven battalions
of the standing fian from every quarter where they were, and when they
were come to one place Finn told them in a loud, clear voice the story
of that journey, of the children of Diarmuid from first to last, and
asked what he should do. "For it is with intent to rebel against me,"
said he, "that they are gone upon that journey." Oisin spoke, and what he said was: "The guilt
of that is no man's but thine, and we will not go to make up for the
deed that we have not done. Foul is the treachery that thou didst show
towards Diarmuid, though at peace with him, when Cormac also would have
given thee his other daughter, in order that thou mightiest bear Diarmuid
no enmity nor malice. According as thou hast planted the oak so bend
it thyself." Finn was grieved at those words of Oisin, nevertheless
he could do nothing against him. When Finn saw that Oisin, and Oscar, and all
the Clan Baoiscne had abandoned him he considered within his own mind
that he would be unable to crush that danger if he did not win over
Grainne: and he went therefore to Rath Grainne without the knowledge
of he fian of Erin and without bidding them farewell, and greeted her
craftily, and cunningly, and with sweet words. Grainne neither heeded
nor hardened to him, but told him to leave her sight, and straightway
assailed him with her keen, sharp pointed tongue. However, Finn left
not plying her with sweet words and with gentle loving discourse, until
he brought her to his own will; and he had the desire of his heart and
soul of her. After that Finn and Grainne went their ways, and no tidings
are told of them until they reached the fian of Erin; and when the fian
saw Finn and Grainne coming towards them in that manner, they gave one
shout of derision and mockery at her, so that Grainne bowed her head
through shame. "We trow, O Finn," said Oisin "that thou wilt keep Grainne
well from henceforth." As for the children of Diarmuid, after having
spent seven years in learning all that beseems a warrior, they came
out of the far regions of the great world, and it is not told how they
fared until they reached Rath Grainne. When they had heard how Grainne
had fled with Finn MacCool without taking leave of them or of the
king of Erin , they said hat they could do nothing. After that they
went to Almu of Leinster to seek Finn and the fian, and they proclaimed
battle against Finn. "Rise, O Diorruing and ask them how many they require,"
said Finn. Diorruing went and asked them "We require a hundred men against
each of us, or single combat," said they . Finn sent a hundred to fight
with them, and when they had reached the battle field those youths rushed
under them, through them, and over them and made three heaps of them,
namely, a heap of their heads, a heap of their bodies, and a heap of
heir arms and armor. "Our hosts will not last," said Finn, "if a hundred
be slain each day. What shall we do concerning those youths, O Grainne?"
"I will go to them," said Grainne, " to try whether
I may be able to make peace between you. " "I should be well pleased at that," said Finn,
"and I would give them and their posterity freedom for ever, and their
father's place among the fian, and bonds and securities for the fulfillment
thereof to them for ever and ever." Grainne went to meet them, gave them a welcome,
and made them those offers. At last Grainne made peace between them,
and the bonds and securities were given to them, and they got their
father's place among the fian form Finn MacCool. After that a banquet
and feast was prepared for them, so hat they became exhilarated and
mirthful. And Finn and Grainne stayed by one another until they died.