Chapter I: Part 1

THE KILTARTAN WONDER BOOK

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THE KILTARTAN
WONDER BOOK
BY LADY GREGORY
ILLUSTRATED BY
MARGARET GREGORY

MAUNSEL & CO. LTD.
96 MIDDLE ABBEY STREET DUBLIN.

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To
R. G. G.
A Kiltartan Child

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CONTENTS

PAGE
THE MULE 1
BESWARRAGAL 8
THE SEVEN FISHERS 22
SHAWNEEN 31
THE MAN THAT SERVED THE SEA 52
THE BULLOCKEEN 59
THE THREE SONS 66
KING SOLOMON 75
THE ROBINEEN 79
THE BALL OF THREAD 85
THE HORSE AND FOAL 89
THE WOMAN THAT WAS A GREAT FOOL 91
THE DANES 94
CAILLEAC-NA-CEARC 97
THE GOATS 100
THE CURIOUS WOMAN 102

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ILLUSTRATIONS

HE CAME DOWN SPREAD-LEGS ON A MULE _Frontispiece_
THE KING WAS HID IN THE YELLOW EGG _Facing page_ 6
BESWARRAGAL AND HER MAIDENS BATHE 10
BESWARRAGAL AND THE MAN WITH WINGS 18
IT IS IN THAT FOX CROAGCILL’S LIFE WAS 28
A GENTLEMAN’S DEMESNE AND WALLS ABOUT IT 34
THE BLACK BULLOCKEEN DIES 64
THE THIRD THING I’LL BE TAKING IS YOURSELF 76

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THE MULE

Well, I will tell you the story of a Mule was in the world one time, says the old man who had promised me a codfish and had only brought me a hake.

There were three sons of a King that had died, and they were living together, and there was a stable and a bird, and one of the sons was a bit simple. The bird used to be coming to the stable every morning and to be singing sweetly, and they all three fell in love with it and used to be trying to take it, but they could not. But one day the one that was a bit simple, that they called the Fool, took the tail off it. The bird said to him then: ‘You must follow me now until you find me;’ and it went away, and he went following after it. And when he was on the height it was in the hollow, and when he was in the hollow it was on the height, and he never could come up with it; and at last it went out of his sight.

He came then to a wall, and he made a leap over it, and where did he come down but spread-legs on the back of a Mule that was in the field. ‘Are you a good jock?’ says the Mule. ‘I am middling good,’ says he. ‘Hold on so,’ says the Mule, ‘and I will bring you to the place where the bird is.’ There was a wall in front of them—a double wall—and the Mule faced it, and went over it with one leap, and the Fool on his back. ‘You are the best jock ever I saw,’ says the Mule. ‘You are the best Mule ever I saw,’ says the Fool. They went on then as far as they could through the course of the day, till the Mule said: ‘I’m hungry now; go get me a few grains of oats.’ ‘How can I do that,’ says the Fool, ‘when I have no money?’ ‘Go in there to that inn and get it for me, as I told you,’ says the Mule. ‘How much will do you?’ says he. ‘Seven stone,’ says the Mule. So they stopped at the inn, and the Fool put him into the stable and bade the innkeeper to give him seven stone of oats. ‘Go in now and get your own dinner,’ says the Mule. So he went in and he got his dinner; and when he was ready to go, the innkeeper asked for the money. ‘I have none,’ says he. ‘Well, I will keep the Mule in the stable till such time as you can pay me,’ says the innkeeper, and he went out and was going to lock the stable door, and the Mule gave a kick that broke his leg, and there he was lying on the ground. ‘Come on now,’ says the Mule; and the Fool got up on his back, and away with them again, and they came to a wall that was five miles in height. ‘At it now,’ says the Fool, and the Mule faced at it and crossed it with one leap. ‘You are a jock that can’t be beat,’ says the Mule. ‘You are a Mule that can’t be beat,’ says the Fool.

There was before them a lake that was five miles in length and five miles in breadth. ‘I am thirsty now,’ says the Mule, ‘after that feed I had. And I’ll stop now till I’ll take a drink,’ he says. ‘Do not,’ says the Fool, ‘or you will be heavy and not able to go.’ ‘Wait till you see that,’ says the Mule. So he stopped and he began to drink, and he never stopped till he had drunk up the whole of the lake that was five miles in length and five miles in breadth. They went on again till they came to a mountain that was before them, and the whole of the mountain was in one blaze, and there was a high wall before it, fifteen feet high. ‘Hold on now,’ says the Mule. ‘Here, at it,’ says the Fool, and the Mule crossed it with one leap; and when he came where the blaze was, he let out of his mouth all the water of the lake he had swallowed, and it quenched the blaze, and there they saw before them the bird. But if they did it went under ground, and the Mule followed it under ground into the enchanted place where it lived; and when they got there, it was not a bird, but the finest young lady that could be seen, and a King’s daughter. The Fool asked her then to come along with him till he would marry her. ‘I will not,’ she said, ‘until such time as you will find my father, that I have hidden away from you.’ So he brought the Mule out to the stable, and he didn’t know where to go look for the King. And when they were in the stable the Mule said: ‘The young lady has a hen clutching, and the place where it is clutching is in her own room, under her bed. And under it you will find eleven eggs,’ he said, ‘and one of them is yellow and spotted. And take that one in your hand, and be going to smash it against the floor, and the King that is inside of it will cry out and will ask you to spare his life.’ So he went looking for the hen, and all happened as the Mule had said. ‘Will you marry me now?’ says he to the young lady. ‘I will not,’ says she, ‘till you find my father that I have hidden a second time.’ So the place where she hid her father that time was in a duck’s bill, and she put the duck out swimming in the middle of a pond. The young man went then to the stable and asked the Mule did he know where the King was hidden, and the Mule told him it was in the duck’s bill. ‘And look at my tail,’ he said, ‘and see is there e’er a grey rib in it.’ So he looked, and there was a grey rib. ‘Pull it out,’ says the Mule, ‘and bring it to the pond where the duck is, and throw it out over the water, and however far the duck is, that rib will bring it back to the land. And catch a hold of it then, and threaten to cut the neck of it, and the King will cry out from its bill and ask you to spare him.’ So he did all that, and he spared the King, and then he went to the King’s daughter. ‘Will you marry me this time?’ says he. ‘I will not,’ says she, ‘till you find my father the third time.’ The place she hid him the third time was in a block of wood, and the Mule said to the young man: ‘Take a nail out from my shoe and drive it into the block of wood till you will split it.’ So he drew the nail, and he put it on the block of wood, and was going to split it, and the King called out for mercy, and he spared him.

After that he married the young lady, and himself and herself and the old King lived together, and there never were three people happier. And the Mule said: ‘Where will I go now?’ ‘Go back,’ says the Fool, ‘to your own place, for you know the way well to it. But come back here at the end of seven years,’ he said, ‘till you’ll see how am I getting on.’ So at the end of the seven years the Mule came back, and he asked to be taken into service. ‘I will never make a servant of you,’ says the Fool, ‘when I remember all the things you did for me, and all you helped me.’ ‘If that is so,’ says the Mule, ‘go and root up that little bush you see beyond, and give me three blows with the stump of it.’ So he did that, and with the three blows of the bush the enchantment went from the Mule, and who was he but the young man’s own father, the King that was thought to be dead. So they all four lived together then and ever since, and the time I saw them myself they were well and happy and having great riches.

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BESWARRAGAL

I will tell you the story of Beswarragal, said the old man of a hundred years old.

There was a King of Ireland out walking one time with his Grand Adviser. And they came to the side of a pool, and they saw in it a wild duck with a flock of twelve young ones, and she was pushing and beating away one of the young ones to make it leave the flock. ‘I wonder why is it the bird is doing that?’ said the King. ‘It is the right thing, whenever there is a family of twelve, to send one of them away to seek a fortune for himself,’ says the Grand Adviser. ‘If that is so,’ says the King, ‘what way can I know which one of my sons must I send away?’ ‘I will tell you that,’ says the Grand Adviser. ‘Let you watch them to-morrow the time they are coming home from the school, and close the gate on whichever one of them will be last, and let him be the one you will send away.’ So the next day they watched the twelve sons coming from the school, and the one that was last at the gate was the youngest of them all. ‘Oh, give him another chance,’ says the King. So the next day they watched again, and it was the same one, the youngest, that was last at the gate; and the third day it was the same thing. ‘Oh,’ says the King, ‘it is worse to me the youngest to go than any two of the others.’ ‘You need not mind that,’ says the Grand Adviser, ‘for I can tell you that the life he will have will be a happy one.’ ‘I am content so,’ says the King.

So the King sent for him then, and he gave him a purse of money that would last him for ten years or for twenty years, and he bade him go make a way for himself.

So the King’s son set out, and he travelled the roads till night time, and he saw a cottage before him, and a light in it, and he opened the door and went in, and all he saw in it was one old man. ‘A welcome before you, King’s son,’ says the old man. ‘I thank you for that welcome,’ says he; ‘but how is it you know me to be a King’s son?’ So the old man showed him a sword that hung over the top of the door. ‘If any man comes through that door,’ he says, ‘that is not a King’s son, that sword will fall and will whip the head of him. And it is a good time you came here,’ he said, ‘and you could have come at no better time.’ ‘Why is that?’ says the young man. ‘There is a pool there beyond,’ says the old man, ‘and one morning in the whole year, there comes to it Beswarragal, that is the most beautiful woman of the whole world, having her twelve waiting maids with her, and they go swimming in that pool. And to-morrow is the day they are coming,’ he said, ‘and let you hide yourself till they will go into the water, and Beswarragal will be the last to strip, and let you take her clothes and hide them, and she will not be able to go away, and whatever you will ask her she will do it. And what you will ask of her is herself,’ he said.

So the young man went down to the pool, and Beswarragal and her twelve beautiful waiting maids were in the water, and he took her clothes and hid them. And when they were tired swimming they put their clothes on, and then they turned to birds and they flew away, all but Beswarragal, and she could not fly. So the King’s son came to her and he gave her the clothes. ‘What will you give me now?’ says he. ‘I will give you anything you will ask,’ says she. ‘I ask nothing but yourself,’ says he; ‘you to marry me and to be my wife.’ ‘How will you go away with me and you not able to fly?’ says she. But she put a loop of the chain she had about his neck, and she took him by the hand and she flew away with him to a garden, and she brought him into the gardener’s house. ‘And there is one thing I have to tell you,’ she said; ‘you must never wonder at me or say anything about me at all.’ ‘I will never do that,’ says he. And every day she brought him food to the gardener’s house, and they lived together there for a while.

(The old man of a hundred years was getting tired, and the old woman that was his wife sent out the old woman sitting on the doorstep to get him a glass of porter. The old man drank a sup of it, and then the story went on.)

But at last one day she passed by him in the garden, and when he saw her so beautiful he turned and he said to the gardener: ‘There was never a lady so beautiful as mine in the whole world.’ ‘There never was,’ says the gardener. ‘And you will be without her now,’ he says.

So the next morning Beswarragal brought him his breakfast, and, ‘Oh,’ she said, ‘why did you speak of me and wonder at me, for I must go away from you now to Righ-na-Sluagh, and you will never see me again.’ ‘How could I help wondering at you,’ he said, ‘and you so beautiful passing by? And I will go following after you for ever,’ he said.

So she went away, and before she went she left five drops of honey on his five fingers. And he left the garden, and went following after and looking for her in every place.

He walked on all through the day, and at the fall of night he came to a house that had but an old man in it. ‘God be with the company left me to-day,’ says he. ‘What company was that?’ says the King’s son. ‘Beswarragal and her twelve young girls,’ says he. ‘That is the one I am looking for,’ says the King’s son. ‘You never will get her,’ says the old man. ‘But I will do this for you,’ he says; ‘I will give you a ball when you leave this to-morrow, and you can go throwing it before you, and if you can come up with it as fast as it goes, you will come to my brother and he might help you.’

So after breakfast he took the ball, and he went throwing it and following it through the day till he came to a house where the old man’s brother was, and he went in. ‘God be with the company that left me to-day—that was Beswarragal and her twelve young ladies,’ says the old man. ‘She is the one I am looking for,’ says the King’s son. ‘You never will get up to her,’ says the old man; ‘but I will do this for you,’ he says. ‘There are twelve horses in the stable outside; and go into it,’ he says, ‘and take down the bridle you will see behind the stable door, and shake it, and whatever horse will come and put its head in it, let you get up on it, and it will bring you on the road she is gone.’ So after breakfast in the morning he went out into the stable and got the bridle and shook it, and a little _gioblacan_ of an Arabian horse came running and put his head into it. ‘The devil’s welcome to you,’ says he, ‘and all the good horses there are in the stable!’ ‘He’ll answer you well,’ says the old man, ‘and get up on him now. And are you a good jock?’ he says. ‘I am,’ says the King’s son, and he got up on it. ‘Let you leap that now,’ says the old man, and he turned the horse to where there was a big estate-wall at the side of the place. ‘It is humbugging you are,’ says the King’s son, ‘for there is no one would be able to leap that wall.’ But the little Arabian of a horse rose off the ground, and made the wild cat’s bow in the air, and he came down the other side of the wall, but the King’s son fell on the ground. But he rose up again and got up on the little horse. ‘We will make a start now,’ he says. ‘You will never get to the place where Beswarragal is,’ says the old man, ‘for there is a place between this and it, and the birds that fly high in the air fall down in ashes passing over that place, with all the fire that is blazing up a mile high from it, and that is thrown up out of it.’

The pony set out then, and the King’s son on his back, and away with them till they came in sight of the fiery place. ‘Put your hand in my ear,’ says the pony, ‘and take out a bottle that is in it, and you will find food for yourself and white-water for myself in it.’ So he took the bottle and he gave white-water to the horse, and he rubbed what was in the bottle to its hoofs, and it made a great leap into the air and over the fiery place, and pitched five miles on the other side, and nothing harmed but that the hair was burned off its belly.

And where they pitched there was a little house, and an old woman in it, and she gave them shelter for the night. And in the night seven men came in, and some having but half a head, and some with their hands and their arms cut off them. ‘Who are those and what happened them?’ said the King’s son. ‘They are my own sons,’ says the old woman, ‘and every night through seven years there are men coming in boats and fighting them, and that leave them that way. And all they kill of them are alive again in the morning,’ she said, ‘and they themselves will be healed again in the morning as well as before.’ ‘I will go and kill them,’ says the King’s son. So he went down to the boats and drove away the men.

Then he went on to a house that was within a quarter of a mile of the house where Beswarragal was, and he asked lodging. ‘Why would you come in here,’ says the man of the house, ‘and why wouldn’t you go where everyone is going—to that big house beyond, where the wedding is going to be?’ So he asked for a cook’s suit, and he put it on him, and he went on to Beswarragal’s house, and there were hundreds and hundreds going into it for her wedding. ‘Are you wanting a cook?’ says the King’s son at the door. ‘He was never more wanted,’ said they, ‘and if there were ten of them they would be welcome.’

So they sent him to the kitchen, and he asked the head cook for flour and things to mix a cake, and he mixed it; and when he had it made ready to bake he put the print of his five fingers on the top of it, and put it in the oven. And when it was baked he put a cover over it and gave it to the servants that were bringing up the dinner, and he said: ‘Give that cake to Beswarragal and to no other one.’

So it was put before her on the table, and she took it to eat a bit of it; and when she tasted it, and that she broke it and saw the five drops of honey in it, she said: ‘Where is the man that made that cake? And wherever he is send him up to me,’ she said. For she had found the five drops of honey inside the cake.

So they went for him, and he asked leave to change his cook’s suit, and they gave him that. And he came up and Beswarragal knew him, and she put her arms about him. And the man that was to be her husband, he jumped out of the window and broke his skull on the pavement.

So the King’s son and Beswarragal went away back to the garden; but it wasn’t long till a man came that had wings and could fly, and he stooped down and took up Beswarragal, as if she was a child, and brought her away. The King’s son went following her then, and he went on till he came to the man that had wings, and he asked her of him. ‘There was a man came that could not fly, but that was a better man than myself,’ says he, ‘and he took her from me.’ So the King’s son went on till he found that man, and he asked her of him. ‘There was a man came,’ he said, ‘that had seven colours in his eyes, and that took her from me,’ he said.

So he went on till he came to the man that had seven colours in his eyes and asked her of him. ‘She was brought away from me,’ says he, ‘by the Queen of the Black Wood. And there is no one will be able to take her out of her hands,’ he said.

So the King’s son went on, and he had no knowledge what way to get to the Black Wood. And he was passing through a field, and a white _garran_ that was in the field spoke to him and said: ‘Get up now on my back, and I will bring you as far as the stile that leads into the Black Wood. But there is no one can go into it,’ he said, ‘because it is as dark as night; and there is no one can face the strength of the Queen that is in that wood.’

So the King’s son got up on the _garran_, and they went on till they came to the road that was outside the Black Wood, and there was an old man there was building a castle on a very large flagstone, and he asked the King’s son where was he going, and he said he was going to bring away his wife from the Queen of the Black Wood. ‘There is no one can do that,’ says the old man, ‘unless it is the man that will put this castle five yards off the flagstone, with one shove he will give it.’ So the King’s son went at it, and he gave it one shove, and if he did he put the castle eight yards from the flagstone. ‘Oh,’ says the old man when he saw that, ‘I know you must be my sister’s son, for there is no one in the whole world could do that unless my sister’s son.’ And he put his arms about him and kissed him. And then he bade him to move the flagstone and he did that, and there was a sword under it. ‘Take up that sword,’ says the old man, ‘and be shaking it this way and that way. And according as you will be shaking it, the strength will be going out of the Queen of the Black Wood, and you can go to her when she is left weak,’ he said.

So the King’s son did as he bade him, and by the time he came to the Queen, all he had to do was to whip the head off her.

So he brought Beswarragal out of the wood, and they went back safe and well again to the garden.

‘Is there any meaning in the name Beswarragal?’

‘Not a meaning; it was all the name ever she had, and it will be her name ever and always.’

The old wife of the man of a hundred years, who had fallen asleep listening, says to the old woman who was sitting on the doorstep. ‘Would you say was there any meaning in the name?’ And she says, ‘I suppose she was just an enchanted woman.’ ‘Ah,’ says the old man, ‘I’ll give you three words that will bring you to Heaven as easy as walking out into that street. And I will tell you now about the Seven Fishers.’

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THE SEVEN FISHERS

There were Seven Fishers went out one time from Galway, and a strange sort of a wind blew one of the seven a long way off out into the sea. And when the fisherman came back, he went up to the house and he called to his daughter and he said: ‘I have but the one fish, but let you clean it and bring it to the shop, and it will get us our supper.’

So she brought it out of the boat, and she was cleaning it and rubbing it, and while she was doing that it turned to be a tall fine man standing before her. And he stopped with her for a while, and when he was going away he said: ‘You will have two sons, and you will never know want, and your father will get fish every time he will go out. And here is a letter,’ he said, ‘and give it to the sons at whatever time they will ask tidings of their father.’

So all happened as he said, and she brought up the sons and reared them, and at the last she sent them to get learning in Dublin. And when they got there they saw ball-playing going on, and there was a dispute, and those that were disputing called out to the young men to settle it, and they gave their opinion. ‘Ah,’ said the ball-players then, ‘who are those that are giving a judgment? Scamps that don’t know who is their father.’

Then the young men looked one at another. ‘That is true,’ they said, ‘and we have no business here, but let us go home again.’ So they turned and went back, and when they came to Galway there was a hurling, and a gentleman that was at the head of one side came to them and said: ‘Two of my own men have failed me, and come you take their place at the hurling.’ ‘We never played it, and we know nothing of it,’ said they. ‘No matter,’ says he; ‘come and stand up now.’ So they stood up, and when the ball came near them, the one of them made a leap and struck it, and the other got the goal. And when they were leaving the field they heard the people saying to one another: ‘It is the Fish’s sons were the best.’

They looked at one another then, and they went home and asked the mother was she their own mother. ‘I am that,’ says she. Then they asked news of their father, and she gave them the letter he had left with her. And it gave directions to the eldest son to go to such a cliff, and he would find a flagstone with a keyhole and a key, and it bade him turn the key and take out what he would find in it.

So he went to the cliff and he opened the flagstone, and under it he found a good suit and a horse, and he put on the suit and he got up on the horse. ‘How long will you stop on me?’ says the horse. ‘As long as the saddle is under me,’ says he. ‘That is not enough,’ says the horse. ‘Well, as long as the skin is left on you,’ says he. ‘That will do,’ says the horse. So he set out then till he came to the Court of the King of Munster, that had never spoken a word and never made a laugh for seven years.

The Fish’s son went in and he asked the King why was he seven years without speaking a word. ‘It is my daughter that was brought away from me,’ says he, ‘by Croagcill, that beat me in a battle, and that no man can beat; for he has the strength of a man in every rib of his hair.’ ‘I will go bring her back to you,’ says the Fish’s son.

So they made ready a cake for him, and away with him till he met with an old man, and he asked him did he know where was Croagcill living. ‘I never came to the place where he is living,’ said the old man, ‘and I have been walking for the last four hundred years.’

The Fish’s son went on then till he came to a wood and he met with a white hound, and she searching after food. ‘It is hungry you are,’ says the Fish’s son. ‘I am not,’ says the hound, ‘but the young ones I have are hungry.’ So he gave her then the half of the cake, and she was very thankful, and she said she would come to his help at any time he would be in need of her, and he to give a call for her, or a whistle. He went on then till he came to the strand, and he sat down to eat the half of the cake he had left, and there came a hawk and asked a share of it, and he gave her a share. ‘Can you give me any tidings of Croagcill and of where he is living?’ says he to the hawk. ‘I went as far as Croagcill once,’ says the hawk; ‘and I will give you a little canoe of a boat,’ says she, ‘will bring you to him. But it will be hard for you to kill him,’ says she, ‘for there is no one knows where his body is or where he has it hid. And call to me if I can give help to you,’ says she, ‘and any good anyone can do for you I’ll do it.’

So he went in the boat, and it had charms in it, that it brought him as far as Croagcill’s house. The King’s daughter saw him coming, and she ran out to meet him. ‘My thousand welcomes to you,’ says she, ‘for I thought I never would see one of Ireland’s men again.’ So he told her he had come to bring her back to her father in Munster. ‘Oh, what can I do with you now,’ says she; ‘for when Croagcill comes home he will kill you?’

She put him in hiding before evening in a box, and Croagcill came in, and having a heavy deer upon his shoulders. He drew it through the fire, and through the ashes, and through his long, cold teeth, and there was not one bit left but the bones. ‘Fru, fra, feasog,’ he says then; ‘I feel the smell of a sweet-voiced liar of an Irishman in some place that is not far off.’ ‘My dear and my love, and my man that is better than his father,’ says the King’s daughter, ‘it is that I myself was at the top of the house, and there came a little bird from Ireland and perched upon my hand.’ ‘Maybe so, maybe so,’ says he. ‘You to get your death,’ says the King’s daughter; ‘what at all would I do being left in this strange house?’ ‘Och,’ says he, ‘I will never get my death; for there is no one knows where the life of my body is hid.’ ‘Oh, and where is it?’ says the King’s daughter. ‘It is in the green plot that is outside the door,’ says he.

He went out in the morning, and the King’s daughter rose up and she took roses and posies and every sort that was pretty, and she put them out on the green plot. And she let the Fish’s son come out for the daytime, and she put him back in the box at night. When Croagcill drew to the house in the evening there was a big beast upon his shoulders, and he drew it through the fire, and through the ashes, and through his long, cold teeth, and there was not a bit left on it. ‘Fru, fra, feasog, I get the smell of the sweet-voiced, lying Irishman coming to my house to-night,’ says he. ‘My love and my secret, there is nothing at all but what is used to be in it,’ says she. ‘There is, and more,’ says he. ‘Oh, I was up at the top of the castle, and a little bird from Ireland came and perched on my head,’ says she. ‘Maybe so, maybe so,’ says Croagcill. He went out then. ‘What is the reason the green plot to be full of roses and posies?’ says he. ‘Didn’t I hear you say,’ says she, ‘that is the place your life is?’ ‘Och,’ says he, ‘you to know the place where my life is, it is likely you would have affection for it.’ ‘I would indeed be fond of it,’ says she. ‘Well,’ says he, ‘there is a green holly-bush beyond at the brink of the sea, and it is inside that tree my life is, and I will never get my death till the Fish’s son from Ireland will come and will cut down that tree with his sword, and that is a thing will not happen for ever.’

In the morning Croagcill went out to the wood, and the Fish’s son took his sword and began to cut the holly-tree. And when he had it near cut through, the red fox ran out from the roots, and it is in that fox Croagcill’s life was. Then the Fish’s son gave a call and a whistle, and the white hound from the wood came and followed after the fox, and they were going up and down and there and hither in every part, and at the last the hound got a grip of the fox. But with that it changed into a bird and went flying up high over the tide. ‘Oh, where is now the grey hawk of the dark earth?’ says the Fish’s son. So the hawk was there on the minute, and she made a dart at the bird in the air, and caught it in her claws and killed it that it dropped into the sea, and at that minute Croagcill dropped dead where he was, and there was an end of him.

They gathered all he had of riches, and they went back to the King of Munster’s house. The King was very glad to see them coming home. ‘You can take my daughter now,’ says the King, ‘and you can join and be married to one another.’ So they married and wedded together, and there was a wedding feast for a year and a day for them, and it was as good the last day as at the first.

SHAWNEEN

There was a King one time was very much put out because he had no son, and he went at last to consult his Chief Adviser. And the Chief Adviser said: ‘It is easy enough managed if you do as I tell you. Let you send some one,’ says he, ‘to such a place to catch a fish. And when the fish is brought in, give it to the Queen, your wife, to eat.’

So the King sent as he was bade, and the fish was caught and brought in, and he gave it to the cook, and bade her put it before the fire, but to be careful with it, and not to let any blob or blister rise on it. But it is impossible to cook a fish before the fire without the skin of it rising in some place or other, and so there came a blob on the skin, and the cook put her finger on it to smooth it down, and then she put her finger into her mouth to cool it, and so she got a taste of the fish. And then it was sent up to the Queen, and she ate it, and what was left of it was thrown out into the yard, and there was a mare in the yard, and a greyhound, and they ate the bits that were thrown out.

And before a year was out the Queen had a young son, and the cook had a young son, and the mare had two foals, and the greyhound had two pups.

And the two young men were sent off for a while to some place to be cared, and when they came back they were so much like one another no person could say which was the Queen’s son and which was the cook’s. And the Queen was vexed at that, and she went to the Chief Adviser and said: ‘Tell me some way that I can know which is my own son, for I don’t like to be giving the same eating and drinking to the cook’s son as to my own.’ ‘It is easy to know that,’ said the Chief Adviser, ‘if you will do as I tell you. Go you outside, and stand at the door they will be coming in by, and when they see you, your own son will bow his head, but the cook’s son will only laugh.’

So she did that, and when her own son bowed his head her servants put a mark on him, that she would know him again. And when they were all sitting at their dinner after that, she said to Shawneen, that was the cook’s son: ‘It is time for you to go away out of this, for you are not my son.’ And her own son, that we will call Shamus, said: ‘Do not send him away; are we not brothers?’ But Shawneen said: ‘I would have been long ago out of this house if I knew it was not my own father and mother owned it.’ And for all Shamus could say to him, he would not stop. But before he went they were by the well that was in the garden, and he said to Shamus: ‘If harm ever happens to me, that water on the top of the well will be blood, and the water below will be honey.’

Then he took one of the pups, and one of the two horses that was foaled after the mare eating the fish, and the wind that was after him could not catch him, and he caught the wind that was before him. And he went on till he came to a cooper’s house, and he asked did he want a servant. ‘Well,’ says the cooper, ‘I have thirteen goats—twelve goats and a puck—and let you bring them out and be minding them to-morrow.’ ‘I will do that for you,’ says Shawneen. So the cooper engaged him, and on the morrow he brought out the goats to the place he was bade, that was the top of a mountain. And there was a gentleman’s demesne, and walls about it, and he looked in at the gate and he saw grass growing up as high as the trees. ‘Why wouldn’t my poor goats go in there,’ says he, ‘and be grazing in it, and not to be out on that red mountain where there is not a rib of grass, and what they are eating is clay?’ So he drove in the goats through the gate, and they were eating the grass, and he heard some person coming, and he went up in a tree. He saw a giant coming into the field. The giant looked at him. ‘I see where you are in the tree,’ says he. ‘And I think you too big for one mouthful,’ says he; ‘and I think you too small for two mouthfuls, and I don’t know what will I do with you unless I will grind you up and make snuff for my nose.’ ‘As you are strong be merciful,’ says Shawneen up in the tree. ‘Come down out of that, you little dwarf,’ says the giant, ‘or I’ll tear you and the tree asunder.’ So Shawneen came down. ‘Would you sooner be driving red-hot knives into one another’s hearts,’ says the giant, ‘or would you sooner be fighting one another on red-hot flags?’ ‘Fighting on red-hot flags is what I’m used to at home,’ says Shawneen; ‘and your dirty feet will be sinking in them and my feet will be rising.’ So then they began the fight. The ground that was hard they made soft, and the ground that was soft they made hard, and they made spring-wells come up through the green flags. They were like that all through the day, no one getting the upper hand of the other; and at last a little bird came and sat on the bush and said to Shawneen: ‘If you won’t make an end of him by sunset, he’ll make an end of you.’ Then Shawneen put out his strength, and he brought the giant down on his knees. ‘Give me my life,’ says the giant, ‘and I’ll give you the best gift I have.’ ‘What gift is that?’ says Shawneen. ‘A Sword that nothing can stand against,’ says the giant. ‘Where is it to be found?’ says Shawneen. ‘In that red door you see there in the hill.’ So Shawneen went and got it out. ‘Where will I try the Sword?’ says he. ‘Try it on that ugly black stump of a tree,’ says the giant. ‘I see nothing blacker or uglier than your own head,’ says Shawneen. And with that he made one stroke, and cut off the giant’s head that it went into the air, and he caught it on the Sword as it was coming down, and made two halves of it. ‘It is well for you I did not join to the body again,’ says the head, ‘or you would never have been able to strike it off again.’ ‘I did not give you the chance of that,’ says Shawneen. And he brought away the great Sword with him.

So he brought the goats home at evening, and everybody wondered at all the milk they gave that night. And when the cooper was eating his supper he said: ‘I think I only hear two roars from beyond to-night, in place of three.’

The next morning Shawneen went out again with the goats, and he saw another demesne with good grass in it, and he brought in the goats. All happened the same as the first day, but the giant that came this time had two heads, and they fought together, and the little bird came and spoke to Shawneen as before. And when the giant was brought down by Shawneen he said: ‘Give me my life and I will give you the best thing I have.’ ‘What thing is that?’ says Shawneen. ‘It is a Cloak of Darkness you can put on, and you will see everyone but no one can see you.’ ‘Where is it?’ says Shawneen. ‘It’s inside that little red door at the side of the hill.’ So Shawneen went and brought out the Cloak. And then he cut off the giant’s two heads, and caught them coming down, and made four halves of them. And they said it was well for him he had not given them time to join the body.

That night when the goats came home all the vessels that could be found were filled up with milk.

The next morning Shawneen went out again, and all happened as before, and the giant this time had four heads, and Shawneen made eight halves of them. And the giant told him to go to a little blue door in the side of the hill, and there he got a pair of Shoes of Swiftness, that when you put them on would make you run faster than the wind.

That night the goats gave so much milk there was no place to hold it. ‘Oh, what can we do for vessels to hold the milk?’ says the cooper, and they were milking the poor goats on the ground, and it was given to poor people and men passing the road. I was passing that way myself, and I got a drink of it. ‘Why is it,’ says the cooper, ‘the goats are giving so much milk these days? Are you bringing them to any other grass?’ ‘I am not,’ says Shawneen, ‘but I have a good stick, and whenever they would stop still or lie down I give them blows of it, that they jump over walls and stones and ditches; that’s the way to make them give plenty of milk.’ And that night at supper the cooper said: ‘I hear no roars at all.’

The next day Shawneen brought the goats to the first meadow he went to, and there came before him the mother of the three giants, that was the strongest of them all. ‘Was it you killed my three sons?’ says she. ‘It was,’ says Shawneen. ‘I thought,’ says she, ‘the man wasn’t born in Ireland that could do that much.’ So they took a hold of one another and went wrestling, and neither of them got the better of the other through the length of the day. And it is the way it was, the two farthest back teeth in the mother’s mouth were crutches to her, that reached down to the ground, the way Shawneen would not get a good grip of her at one side or the other. And at the fall of day the little bird came and sat on the bush and said: ‘Why wouldn’t you give a tip to the crutch?’ So with that he gave a tip of his boot to the tooth, that knocked it out of her head, and the mother fell, and before she died she gave him up her estate.

Shawneen left the cooper’s house then, and he went on till he came to a large garden, and he went up in the branches of a cherry-tree, and he was eating the cherries and throwing the stones down. There came in a young lady, and she looked up and she saw him in the tree. ‘Oh, you are an unruly lad,’ says she, ‘for that tree belongs to the King that is my father, and what right have you to go plundering it down?’ So he came down then out of the tree, and he asked what could he do for her. ‘Go out and bring me news,’ says she, ‘is the Black Duke coming to make a good fight against the Fiery Dragon.’ The Fiery Dragon now was a fish that used to come every seven years, and he should get the primest lady in the land to eat and to banish. And it was the King’s daughter was to be given to him on that very day, unless the Black Duke or some other champion would get the better of him. And it was given out that whatever man would kill the Dragon would get the King’s daughter for his wife.

So Shawneen went down by the road to the sea, and he came to a cluster of brambles and of bushes that was beside the road, and he looked in, and who was hiding in it but the Black Duke. ‘Why wouldn’t you go fight?’ says Shawneen; ‘and thousands of people and carriages there looking on.’ ‘Oh, I am in dread,’ says the Black Duke; for he was a great coward, and he was afeard to go on and to face the Fiery Dragon. ‘Give me here your suit of armour,’ says Shawneen. So he got the suit of armour and he went on to the brink of the sea, and it was like the Cliffs of Moher; all the people were looking down from it, and there on the strand the King’s daughter was sitting and she crying, and tied in a silver chair. And she saw Shawneen coming, and he wearing the Black Duke’s suit. ‘Let me lie a while with my head on your knee,’ says he, ‘and you can waken me when the Dragon is coming.’ So he did that, and she saw the Fiery Dragon coming, and its mouth open and a fiery flame from it, and nine miles of the sea was dry with all he drank of it. So she wakened Shawneen, and they had a great fight, and he got the better of the Fiery Dragon. ‘Oh, let me go out of this for the night,’ says the Dragon, ‘and I’ll come back in the early morning out of the salt sea.’ So Shawneen let him go, and as to himself, he put on the Shoes of Swiftness that no one would overtake him, and he went back to the cooper’s house for the night.

Well, the next day he came again, and there was no news or tidings of the Black Duke, and all happened as before, and he drove back the Fiery Dragon till the next morning.

And the third day Shawneen came again, and he lay down to take a sleep while he was waiting, with his head in the lap of the King’s daughter. And this time she thought some way he was maybe not the Black Duke, and she took her scissors and cut off a bunch of his hair. ‘Are you cutting all the hair off my head?’ says he. ‘I am cutting it,’ says she, ‘till I’ll know who was it made an end of the Fiery Dragon.’ So she made a little packet of it and put it away, and, another thing, she drew off a golden shoe from his foot. And when she saw the Dragon coming she awoke him, and he said: ‘This time I will put the Dragon in a way he will eat no more King’s daughters.’ So he took out the Sword he had got from the giant, and he drove the Dragon to his knees out in the sea, and down to the hip, and gave him a blow that split him in two halves from the head to the tail, and there was an end of him. And he put on the Cloak of Darkness he had taken from the giant, that no one saw what way did he go, and away with him to the cooper’s house.

Then the King made ready the wedding, and he sent for the Black Duke that was to marry his daughter, and he was made much of and was the right-hand man, and there was music and shouting before him, and the greatest wedding given out that ever was. But the King’s daughter knew well it was not the Black Duke had saved her, and she took out the bunch of hair she had, and she said she would marry no one but the man whose hair would match that: and she showed the gold shoe and said she would marry no one but the man whose foot would fit it. And the Black Duke tried to put on the shoe, but so much as his toe would not go into it; and as for his hair, it did not match at all to the bunch of hair she had cut from the man that saved her.