Chapter II: Appendix: E

Notes on Books VI and VII 491

Abbreviations used in the Appendices 494

THE FINDING OF THE TÁIN

THE FINDING OF THE TÁIN.

Shen´-cawn, the agéd poet, asked the poets
Of Erin (for Mar-vawn´, the Swineherd-Saint,
Had laid that task on him) whether a poet
Amidst them could relate the Táin Bo Cooley
Unbroken from its opening; and no poet
Amidst them could relate the Táin Bo Cooley
Except in broken fragments. And the book,
Wherein ’twas written, had been reft away
And lost in Latin lands. And Shen´-cawn then
(Because Mar-vawn´ had laid that task on him)
Said to his band of three times fifty poets,
Both to the Ollavs and the humblest learners,
“We must go forth throughout the lands of Erin,
And must not tarry two nights in one stead
Till we get knowledge of the Táin.” Whereon
The poets travelled through the lands of Erin,
And searched from west to east and north to south;
But they obtained no knowledge of the Táin
Except in broken fragments; and they all
Were weary, gloomy, downcast, and in sorrow.
They came to Leinster, then, to Connra Cae,
The bounteous one, to whom they said, “O King,
Give us a boat to put us o’er the waves
To Alba, that we there may seek some poet
Who knows the Táin.” A ship was cleared for them
And filled; and over the white-blossomed sea
Northward they fared, and passed the crags of Manann,
And came to Alba; and a year they searched
From south to north and west to east through Alba,
But got no knowledge of the Táin. Then Shen´-cawn
In trouble said, “Return we now to Erin.”
And o’er the proud-voiced ocean they returned;
And put their prows on shore against Ath Cleea;
And they were weary, downcast, and in sorrow.
Then they beheld Neev Caillin, who to Shen´-cawn
Was mother’s son: and he bestowed on Shen´-cawn
Three kisses, and asked tidings, and they told him
They yet had got no knowledge of the Táin.
Then Caillin said: “I will now go with you
To Connaught to Mar-vawn´; for he alone,
Who laid this task on Shen´-cawn, can reveal
Knowledge by help of which ye may obtain
The Táin Bo Cooley whole.” And so the poets
Went to Mar-vawn´ in Connaught; and Mar-vawn´,
Chief-prophet of the Heaven and the Earth,
Gave kisses to Neev Caillin and to Shen´-cawn,
And welcomed the thrice fifty weary poets,
And said, “O Ollavs, there is not in Erin,
Amongst the living or amongst the dead,
One who can tell the Táin Bo Cooley wholly
With all its deeds and feats—save only Fergus
The son of Roy. Ye must send messengers
To the chief saints amidst the saints of Erin,
Bidding them come, and, by the grave of Fergus,
Fast to the Deity three days and nights,
That He may send them Fergus to relate
The Táin Bo Cooley wholly.” Then Neev Caillin
Went forth; and he besought the saints of Erin,
And brought them; and they feasted for one night;
And on the morrow went with only Shen´-cawn
By desert ways to Aenloch on Moy Wee,
And found the flag-stone o’er the lying-place
And grave of that great Fergus; and they prayed;
And they were pleading and were fasting there
That that great Fergus might be sent to them.

These were the saints who visited that grave.

Neev Columkillé, who, for splendid radiance
Of noble birth, was as a moon in the air,
Having a hue of gold on it, and shining
Over Iona and the north-east sea.
Neev Kieran son of Faylim, who, for radiance
Of holy mercy, was as a moon in the air,
Having a hue of gold on it, and shining
O’er the wide Shannon and the heart of Erin.
Neev Brendan, who, that he might find a land,
Hidden, delightful, very far from men,
Wherein to love the Lord, had voyaged far
O’er the intolerable sea, and seen
The gate of Hell,—and who once more should voyage
For seven years, and at last find a land
Hidden, delightful, lofty, lovable,
And there abide in love of Christ the Lord.
Neev Kieran of green Sayer, who was old,
Weighted with years; for he was the first saint
E’er born in Erin, and his earliest monks
Had been a fox and brock and wolf and doe,
Who humbled themselves gently and were righteous,
And dwelt with him within vast desert woods.
Neev Findian of Clonard, the pious one
And scholar, in whose school three thousand saints
Had studied wisdom, ere they wandered forth
To build their cells and churches through vast Erin.
Neev Findian of Movilla, who was bishop
And sage in Ulster, and a shining star.
Neev Caillin, who had brought these saints together.
And they were gathered in that desert place
Round the flat flag above the grave of Fergus.
Then Shen´-cawn sang a poem to the gravestone,
As though he sang to Fergus. “Rise,” he said,
“For these have supplicated Jesus Christ
That Fergus may appear to us and tell
That history, the wondrous Táin Bo Cooley,
With its beginning and its deeds and end,
Which were enacted in old far-back days,
Before the Tal-kend brought the Faith to Erin.”
With that, a mighty mist and fog grew round
Those holy men and Shen´-cawn, who were there;
So that if any man had sought to find them,
He had not found them through the mist.
And Fergus
Came from the grave where five times five score years
He had been hidden. And a beautiful
And rich appearance was upon that warrior.
Brown hair was on him; and a hooded layna
With red inweaving of red gold. A bratt
Of bright grass-green was round him; and he wore
A golden-hilted sword, and round-toed shoes
Wrought all of bronze. And when that warrior, Fergus,
Perceived the holy men of Erin nigh him,
It was his wish to stand, and standing, tell
The Táin he had to tell. Howbeit those saints
Would not hear aught from him till courteously
They gave him seat; and, seated so amidst them,
The while they fasted for three days and nights,
Folded by mist, that warrior from the grave
Taught them this History, the Táin Bo Cooley,
With its beginning and its deeds and end,
E’en as it had been acted in old days,
Before Neev Patrick brought the Faith to Erin.

BOOK I