| Now
at the time when the Tuatha de Danaan chose a king for themselves
after the battle of Tailltin, and Lir heard the kingship was given
to Bodb Dearg, it did not please him, and he left the gathering
without leave and with no word to any one; for he thought it was
he himself had a right to be made king. But if he went away himself,
Bodb was given the kingship none the less, for not one of the
five begrudged it to him but only Lir. And it is what they determined,
to follow after Lir, and to burn down his house, and to attack
himself with spear and sword, on account of his not giving obedience
to the king they had chosen. "We will not do that,"
said Bodb Dearg, "for that man would defend any place he
is in; and besides that," he said, "I am none the less
king over the Tuatha de Danaan, although he does not submit to
me."
All
went on like that for a good while, but at last a great misfortune
came on Lir, for his wife died from him after a sickness of three
nights. And that came very hard on Lir, and there was heaviness
on his mind after her. And there was great talk of the death of
that woman in her own time.
And
the news of it was told all through Ireland, and it came to the
house of Bodb, and the best of the Men of Dea were with him at
that time. And Bodb said: "If Lir had a mind for it,"
he said, "my help and my friendship would be good for him
now, since his wife is not living to him. For I have here with
me the three young girls of the best shape, and the best appearance,
and the best name in all Ireland, Aobh, Aoife, and Ailbhe, the
three daughters of Oilell of Aran, my own three nurslings."
The Men of Dea said then it was a good thought he had, and that
what he said was true.
Messages
and messengers were sent then from Bodb Dearg to the place Lir
was, to say that if he had a mind to join with the Son of the
Dagda and to acknowledge his lordship, he would give him a foster-child
of his foster-children. And Lir thought well of the offer, and
he set out on the morrow with fifty chariots from Sidhe Fionnachaidh;
and he went by every short way till he came to Bodb's dwelling-place
at Loch Dearg, and there was a welcome before him there, and all
the people were merry and pleasant before him, and he and his
people got good attendance that night.
And
the three daughters of Oilell of Aran were sitting on the one
seat with Bodb Dearg's wife, the queen of the Tuatha de Danaan,
that was their foster-mother. And Bodb said: "You may have
your choice of the three young girls, Lir." "I cannot
say," said Lir, "which one of them is my choice, but
whichever of them is the eldest, she is the noblest, and it is
best for me to take her." "If that is so," said
Bodb, "it is Aobh is the eldest, and she will be given to
you, if it is your wish." "It is my wish," he said.
And he took Aobh for his wife that night, and he stopped there
for a fortnight, and then he brought her away to his own house,
till he would make a great wedding-feast.
And
in the course of time Aobh brought forth two children, a daughter
and a son, Fionnuala and Aodh their names were. And after a while
she was brought to bed again, and this time she gave birth to
two sons, and they called them Fiachra and Conn. And she herself
died at their birth. And that weighed very heavy on Lir, and only
for the way his mind was set on his four children he would have
gone near to die of grief.
The
news came to Bodb Dearg's place, and all the people gave out three
loud, high cries, keening their nursling. And after they had keened
her it is what Bodb Dearg said: "It is a fret to us our daughter
to have died, for her own sake and for the sake of the good man
we gave her to, for we are thankful for his friendship and his
faithfulness. However," he said, "our friendship with
one another will not be broken, for I will give him for a wife
her sister Aoife."
When
Lir heard that, he came for the girl and married her, and brought
her home to his house. And there was honour and affection with
Aoife for her sister's children; and indeed no person at all could
see those four children without giving them the heart's love.
And
Bodb Dearg used often to be going to Lir's house for the sake
of those children; and he used to bring them to his own place
for a good length of time, and then he would let them go back
to their own place again. And the Men of Dea were at that time
using the Feast of Age in every hill of the Sidhe in turn; and
when they came to Lir's hill those four children were their joy
and delight, for the beauty of their appearance; and it is where
they used to sleep, in beds in sight of their father Lir. And
he used to rise up at the break of every morning, and to lie down
among his children.
But
it is what came of all this, that a fire of jealousy was kindled
in Aoife, and she got to have a dislike and a hatred of her sister's
children.
Then
she let on to have a sickness, that lasted through nearly the
length of a year. And the end of that time she did a deed of jealousy
and cruel treachery against the children of Lir.
And
one day she got her chariot yoked, and she took the four children
in it, and they went forward towards the house of Bodb Dearg;
but Fionnuala had no mind to go with her, for she knew by her
she had some plan for their death or their destruction, and she
had seen in a dream that there was treachery against them in Aoife's
mind. But all the same she was not able to escape from what was
before her.
And
when they were on their way Aoife said to her people: "Let
you kill now," she said, "the four children of Lir,
for whose sake their father has given up my love, and I will give
you your own choice of a reward out of all the good things of
the world." "We will not do that indeed," said
they; "and it is a bad deed you have thought of, and harm
will come to you out of it."
And
when they would not do as she bade them, she took out a sword
herself to put an end to the children with; but she being a woman
and with no good courage, and with no great strength in her mind,
she was not able to do it.
They
went on then west to Loch Dairbhreach, the Lake of the Oaks, and
the horses were stopped there, and Aoife bade the children of
Lir to go out and bathe in the lake, and they did as she bade
them. And as soon as Aoife saw them out in the lake she struck
them with a Druid rod, and put on them the shape of four swans,
white and beautiful. And it is what she said: "Out with you,
children of the king, your luck is taken away from you for ever;
it is sorrowful the story will be to your friends; it is with
flocks of birds your cries will be heard for ever." 
And
Fionnuala said: "Witch, we know now what your name is, you
have struck us down with no hope of relief; but although you put
us from wave to wave, there are times when we will touch the land.
We shall get help when we are seen; help, and all that is best
for us; even though we have to sleep upon the lake, it is our
minds will be going abroad early."
And
then the four children of Lir turned towards Aoife, and it is
what Fionnuala said: "It is a bad deed you have done, Aoife,
and it is a bad fulfilling of friendship, you to destroy us without
cause; and vengeance for it will come upon you, and you will fall
in satisfaction for it, for your power for our destruction is
not greater than the power of our friends to avenge it on you;
and put some bounds now," she said, "to the time this
enchantment is to stop on us." "I will do that,"
said Aoife, "and it is worse for you, you to have asked it
of me. And the bounds set to your time are this, till the Woman
from the South and the Man from the North will come together.
And since you ask to hear it of me," she said, "no friends
and no power that you have will be able to bring you out of these
shapes you are in through the length of your lives, until you
have been three hundred years on Loch Dairbhreach, and three hundred
years on Sruth na Maoile between Ireland and Alban, and three
hundred years at Irrus Domnann and Inis Gluaire; and these are
to be your journeys from this out," she said.
But
then repentance came on Aoife, and she said: "Since there
is no other help for me to give you now, you may keep your own
speech; and you will be singing sweet music of the Sidhe, that
would put the men of the earth to sleep, and there will be no
music in the world equal to it; and your own sense and your own
nobility will stay with you, the way it will not weigh so heavy
on you to be in the shape of birds. And go away out of my sight
now, children of Lir," she said, "with your white faces,
with your stammering Irish. It is a great curse on tender lads,
they to be driven out on the rough wind. Nine hundred years to
be on the water, it is a long time for any one to be in pain;
it is I put this on you through treachery, it is best for you
to do as I tell you now.
"Lir,
that got victory with so many a good cast, his heart is a kernel
of death in him now; the groaning of the great hero is a sickness
to me, though it is I that have well earned his anger."
And
then the horses were caught for Aoife, and the chariot yoked for
her, and she went on to the palace of Bodb Dearg, and there was
a welcome before her from the chief people of the place. And the
son of the Dagda asked her why she did not bring the children
of Lir with her. "I will tell you that," she said. "It
is because Lir has no liking for you, and he will not trust you
with his children, for fear you might keep them from him altogether."
"I
wonder at that," said Bodb Dearg, "for those children
are dearer to me than my own children." And he thought in
his own mind it was deceit the woman was doing on him, and it
is what he did, he sent messengers to the north to Sidhe Fionnachaidh.
And Lir asked them what did they come for. "On the head of
your children," said they. "Are they not gone to you
along with Aoife?" he said. "They are not," said
they; "and Aoife said it was yourself would not let them
come."
It
is downhearted and sorrowful Lir was at that news, for he understood
well it was Aoife had destroyed or made an end of his children.
And early in the morning of the morrow his horses were caught,
and he set out on the road to the south-west And when he was as
far as the shore of Loch Dairbhreach, the four children saw the
horses coming towards them, and it is what Fionnuala said: "A
welcome to the troop of horses I see coming near to the lake;
the people they are bringing are strong, there is sadness on them;
ft is us they are following, it is for us they are looking; let
us move over to the shore, Aodh, Fiachra, and comely Conn. Those
that are coming can be no others in the world but only Lir and
his household. Then Lir came to the edge of the lake, and he took
notice of the swans having the voice of living people, and he
asked them why was it they had that voice.
"I
will tell you that, Lir," said Fionnuala. "We are your
own four children, that are after being destroyed by your wife,
and by the sister of our own mother, through the dint of her jealousy."
"Is there any way to put you into your own shapes again?"
said Lir. "There is no way," said Fionnuala, "for
all the men of the world could not help us till we have gone through
our time, and that will not be," she said, "till the
end of nine hundred years."
When
Lir and his people heard that, they gave out three great heavy
shouts of grief and sorrow and crying.
"Is
there a mind with you," said Lir, "to come to us on
the land, since you have your own sense and your memory yet?"
"We have not the power," said Fionnuala, "to live
with any person at all from this time; but we have our own language,
the Irish, and we have the power to sing sweet music, and it is
enough to satisfy the whole race of men to be listening to that
music. And let you stop here to-night," she said, "and
we will be making music for you.
So
Lir and his people stopped there listening to the music of the
swans, and they slept there quietly that night. And Lir rose up
early on the morning of the morrow and he made this complaint:
--
"It
is time to go from this place. I do not sleep though I am in my
lying down. To be parted from my dear children, it is that is
tormenting my heart.
"It
is a bad net I put over you, bringing Aoife, daughter of Oilell
of Aran, to the house. I would never have followed that advice
if I had known what it would bring upon me.
"O
Fionnuala, and comely Conn, O Aodh, O Fiachra of the beautiful
arms; it is not ready I am to go away from you, from the border
of the harbour where you are.
Then
Lir went on to the palace of Bodb Dearg, and there was a welcome
before him there; and he got a reproach from Bodb Dearg for not
bringing his children along with him. "My grief!" said
Lir. "It is not I that would not bring my children along
with me; it was Aoife there beyond, your own foster-child and
the sister of their mother, that put them in the shape of four
white swans on Loch Dairbhreach, in the sight of the whole of
the men of Ireland; but they have their sense with them yet, and
their reason, and their voice, and their Irish."
Bodb
Dearg gave a great start when he heard that, and he knew what
Lir said was true, and he gave a very sharp reproach to Aoife,
and he said: "This treachery will be worse for yourself in
the end, Aoife, than to the children of Lir. And what shape would
you yourself think worst of being in?" he said.
"I
would think worst of being a witch of the air," she said.
"It is into that shape I will put you now," said Bodb.
And with that he struck her with a Druid wand, and she was turned
into a witch of the air there and then, and she went away on the
wind in that shape, and she is in it yet, and will be in it to
the end of life and time.
As
to Bodb Dearg and the Tuatha de Danaan they came to the shore
of Loch Dairbhreach, and they made their camp there to be listening
to the music of the swans.
And
the Sons of the Gael used to be coming no less than the Men of
Dea to hear them from every part of Ireland, for there never was
any music or any delight heard in Ireland to compare with that
music of the swans. And they used to be telling stories, and to
be talking with men of Ireland every day, and with their teachers
and their fellow-pupils and their friends. And every night they
used to sing very sweet music of the Sidhe; and every one that
heard that music would sleep sound and quiet whatever trouble
or long sickness might be on him; for every one that heard the
music of the birds, it is happy and contented he would be after
it.
These
two gatherings now of the Tuatha de Danaan and of the Sons of
the Gael stopped there around Loch Dairbhreach through the length
of three hundred years. And it is then Fionnuala said to her brothers:
"Do you know," she said, "we have spent all we
have to spend of our time here, but this one night only."
And
there was great sorrow on the sons of Lir when they heard that,
for they thought it the same as to be living people again, to
be talking with their friends and their companions on Loch Dairbhreach,
in comparison with going on the cold, fretful sea of the Maoil
in the north.
And
they came on the morrow to speak with their father and with their
foster-father, and they bade them farewell, and Fionnuala made
this complaint: --
"Farewell
to you, Bodb Dearg, the man with whom all knowledge is in pledge.
And farewell to our father along with you, Lir of the Hill of
the White Field.
"The
time is come, as I think, for us to part from you, O pleasant
company; my grief it is not on a visit we are going to you.
"From
this day out, O friends of our heart, our comrades, it is on the
tormented course of the Maoil we will be, without the voice of
any person near us.
"Three
hundred years there, and three hundred years in the bay of the
men of Domnann, it is a pity for the four comely children of Lir,
the salt waves of the sea to be their covering by night.
"O
three brothers, with the ruddy faces gone from you, let them all
leave the lake now, the great troop that loved us, it is sorrowful
our parting is." After that complaint they took to flight,
lightly, airily, till they came to Sruth na Maoile between Ireland
and Alban. And that was a grief to the men of Ireland, and they
gave out an order no swan was to be killed from that out, whatever
chance might be of killing one, all through Ireland.
It
was a bad dwelling-place for the children of Lir they to be on
Sruth na Maoile. When they saw the wide coast about them, they
were filled with cold and with sorrow, and they thought nothing
of all they had gone through before, in comparison to what they
were going through on that sea.
Now
one night while they were there a great storm came on them, and
it is what Fionnuala said: "My dear brothers," she said,
"it is a pity for us not to be making ready for this night,
for it is certain the storm will separate us from one another.
And let us," she said, "settle on some place where we
can meet afterwards, if we are driven from one another in the
night."
"Let
us settle," said the others, "we meet one another at
Carraig na Ron, the Rock of the Seals, for we all have knowledge
of it"
And
when midnight came, the wind came on them with it, and the noise
of the waves increased, and the lightning was flashing, and a
rough storm came sweeping down, the way the children of Lir were
scattered over the great sea, and the wideness of it set them
astray, so that no one of them could know what way the others
went But after that storm a great quiet came on the sea, and Fionnuala
was alone on Sruth na Maoile; and when she took notice that her
brothers were wanting she was lamenting after them greatly, and
she made this complaint: --
"It
is a pity for me to be alive in the state I am; it is frozen to
my sides my wings are; it is little that the wind has not broken
my heart in my body, with the loss of Aodh.
"To
be three hundred years on Loch Dairbhreach without going into
my own shape, it is worse to me the time I am on Sruth na Maoile.
"The
three I loved, Och! the three I loved, that slept under the shelter
of my feathers; till the dead come back to the living I will see
them no more for ever.
"It
is a pity I to stay after Fiachra, and after Aodh, and after comely
Conn, and with no account of them; my grief I to be here to face
every hardship this night"
She
stopped all night there upon the Rock of the Seals until the rising
of the sun, looking out over the sea on every side till at last
she saw Conn coming to her, his feathers wet through and his head
hanging, and her heart gave him a great welcome; and then Fiachra
came wet and perished and worn out, and he could not say a word
they could understand with the dint of the cold and the hardship
he had gone through. And Fionnuala put him under her wings, and
she said: "We would be well off now if Aodh would but come
to us."
It
was not long after that, they saw Aodh coming, his head dry and
his feathers beautiful, and Fionnuala gave him a great welcome,
and she put him in under the feathers of her breast, and Fiachra
under her right wing and Conn under her left wing, the way she
could put her feathers over them all. "And Och! my brothers,"
she said, "this was a bad night to us, and it is many of
its like are before us from this out."
They
stayed there a long time after that, suffering cold and misery
on the Maoil, till at last a night came on them they had never
known the like of before, for frost and snow and wind and cold.
And they were crying and lamenting the hardship of their life,
and the cold of the night and the greatness of the snow and the
hardness of the wind. And after they had suffered cold to the
end of a year, a worse night again came on them, in the middle
of winter. And they were on Carraig na Ron, and the water froze
about them, and as they rested on the rock, their feet and their
wings and their feathers froze to the rock, the way they were
not able to move from it. And they made such a hard struggle to
get away, that they left the skin of their feet and their feathers
and the tops of their wings on the rock after them.
"My
grief, children of Lir," said Fionnuala, "it is bad
our state is now, for we cannot bear the salt water to touch us,
and there are bonds on us not to leave it; and if the salt water
goes into our sores," she said, "we will get our death."
And she made this complaint: --
"It
is keening we are to-night; without feathers to cover our bodies;
it is cold the rough, uneven rocks are under our bare feet.
"It
is bad our stepmother was to us the time she played enchantments
on us, sending us out like swans upon the sea.
"Our
washing place is on the ridge of the bay, in the foam of flying
manes of the sea; our share of the ale feast is the salt water
of the blue tide.
"One
daughter and three sons; it is in the clefts of the rocks we are;
it is on the hard rocks we are, it is a pity the way we are."
However,
they came on to the course of the Maoil again, and the salt water
was sharp and rough and bitter to them, but if it was itself,
they were not able to avoid it or to get shelter from it. And
they were there by the shore under that hardship till such time
as their feathers grew again, and their wings, and till their
sores were entirely healed. And then they used to go every day
to the shore of Ireland or of Alban, but they had to come back
to Sruth na Maoile every night.
Now
they came one day to the mouth of the Banna, to the north of Ireland,
and they saw a troop of riders, beautiful, of the one colour,
with well-trained pure white horses under them, and they travelling
the road straight from the south-west
"Do
you know who those riders are, sons of Lir?" said Fionnuala.
"We
do not," they said; "but it is likely they might be
some troops of the Sons of Gael, or of the Tuatha de Danaan."
They
moved over closer to the shore then, that they might know who
they were, and when the riders saw them they came to meet them
until they were able to hold talk together.
And
the chief men among them were two sons of Bodb Dearg, Aodh Aithfhiosach,
of the quick wits, and Fergus Fithchiollach, of the chess, and
a third part of the Riders of the Sidhe along with them, and it
was for the swans they had been looking for a long while before
that, and when they came together they wished one another a kind
and loving welcome.
And
the children of Lir asked for news of all the Men of Dea, and
above all of Lir, and Bodb Dearg and their people.
"They
are well, and they are in the one place together," said they,
"in your father's house at Sidhe Fionnachaidh, using the
Feast of Age pleasantly and happily, and with no uneasiness on
them, only for being without yourselves, and without knowledge
of what happened you from the day you left Loch Dairbhreach."
"That
has not been the way with us," said Fionnuala, "for
we have gone through great hardship and uneasiness and misery
on the tides of the sea until this day."
And
she made this complaint: --
"There
is delight to-night with the household of Lir! Plenty of ale with
them and of wine, although it is in a cold dwelling-place this
night are the four children of the king.
"It
is without a spot our bedclothes are, our bodies covered over
with curved feathers; but it is often we were dressed in purple,
and we drinking pleasant mead.
"It
is what our food is and our drink, the white sand and the bitter
water of the sea; it is often we drank mead of hazel-nuts from
round four-lipped drinking cups.
"It
is what our beds are, bare rocks out of the power of the waves;
it is often there used to be spread out for us beds of the breast-feathers
of birds.
"Though
it is our work now to be swimming through the frost and through
the noise of the waves, it is often a company of the sons of kings
were riding after us to the Hill of Bodb.
"It
is what wasted my strength, to be going and coming over the current
of the Maoil the way I never was used to, and never to be in the
sunshine on the soft grass.
"Fiachra's
bed and Conn's bed is to come under the cover of my wings on the
sea. Aodh has his place under the feathers of my breast, the four
of us side by side.
"The
teaching of Manannan without deceit, the talk of Bodb Dearg on
the pleasant ridge; the voice of Angus, his sweet kisses; it is
by their side I used to be without grief."
After
that the riders went on to Lir's house, and they told the chief
men of the Tuatha de Danaan all the birds had gone through, and
the state they were in. "We have no power over them,"
the chief men said, "but we are glad they are living yet,
for they will get help in the end of time.
As
to the children of Lir, they went back towards their old place
in the Maoil, and they stopped there till the time they had to
spend in it was spent. And then Fionnuala said: "The time
is come for us to leave this place. And it is to Irrus Domnann
we must go now," she said, "after our three hundred
years here. And indeed there will be no rest for us there, or
any standing ground, or any shelter from the storms. But since
it is time for us to go, let us set out on the cold wind, the
way we will not go astray."
So
they set out in that way, and left Sruth na Maoile behind them,
and went to the point of Irrus Domnann, and there they stopped,
and it is a life of misery and a cold life they led there. And
one time the sea froze about them that they could not move at
all, and the brothers were lamenting, and Fionnuala was comforting
them, for she knew there would be help come to them in the end.
And
they stayed at Irrus Domnann till the time they had to spend there
was spent. And then Fionnuala said: "The time is come for
us to go back to Sidhe Fionnachaidh, where our father is with
his household and with all our own people."
"It
pleases us well to hear that," they said.
So
they set out flying through the air lightly till they came to
Sidhe Fionnachaidh; and it is how they found the place, empty
before them, and nothing in it but green hillocks and thickets
of nettles, without a house, without a fire, without a hearthstone.
And the four pressed close to one another then, and they gave
out three sorrowful cries, and Fionnuala made this complaint:
--
"It
is a wonder to me this place is, and it without a house, without
a dwelling-place. To see it the way it is now, Ochone! it is bitterness
to my heart.
"Without
dogs, without hounds for hunting, without women, without great
kings; we never knew it to be like this when our father was in
it.
"Without
horns, without cups, without drinking in the lighted house; without
young men, without riders; the way it is to-night is a foretelling
of sorrow.
"The
people of the place to be as they are now, Ochone! it is grief
to my heart! It is plain to my mind to-night the lord of the house
is not living.
"Och,
house where we used to see music and playing and the gathering
of people! I think it a great change to see it lonely the way
it is to-night
"The
greatness of the hardships we have gone through going from one
wave to another of the sea, we never heard of the like of them
coming on any other person.
"It
is seldom this place had its part with grass and bushes; the man
is not living that would know us, it would be a wonder to him
to see us here."
However,
the children of Lir stopped that night in their father's place
and their grandfather's, where they had been reared, and they
were singing very sweet music of the Sidhe. And they rose up early
on the morning of the morrow and went to the Inis Gluaire, and
all the birds of the country gathered near them on Loch na-n Ean,
the Lake of the Birds. And they used to go out to feed every day
to the far parts of the country, to Inis Geadh and to Accuill,
the place Donn, son of Miled, and his people that were drowned
were buried, and to all the western islands of Connacht, and they
used to go back to Inis Gluaire every night.
It was about that time it happened them to meet with a young man
of good race, and his name was Aibric; and he often took notice
of the birds, and their singing was sweet to him and he loved
them greatly, and they loved him. And it is this young man that
told the whole story of all that had happened them, and put it
in order.
And
the story he told of what happened them in the end is this.
It
was after the faith of Christ and blessed Patrick came into Ireland,
that Saint Mochaomhog came to Inis Gluaire. And the first night
he came to the island, the children of Lir heard the voice of
his bell, ringing near them. And the brothers started up with
fright when they heard it. "We do not know," they said,
"what is that weak, unpleasing voice we hear."
"That
is the voice of the bell of Mochaomhog," said Fionnuala;
"and it is through that bell," she said, "you will
be set free from pain and from misery."
They
listened to that music of the bell till the matins were done,
and then they began to sing the low, sweet music of the Sidhe.
And
Mochaomhog was listening to them, and he prayed to God to show
him who was singing that music, and it was showed to him that
the children of Lir were singing it. And on the morning of the
morrow he went forward to the Lake of the Birds, and he saw the
swans before him on the lake, and he went down to them at the
brink of the shore. "Are you the children of Lir?" he
said.
"We
are indeed," said they.
"I
give thanks to God for that," said he, "for it is for
your sakes I am come to this island beyond any other island, and
let you come to land now," he said "and give your trust
to me, that you may do good deeds and part from your sins."
They
came to the land after that, and they put trust in Mochaomhog,
and he brought them to his own dwelling-place, and they used to
be hearing Mass with him. And he got a good smith and bade him
make chains of bright silver for them, and he put a chain between
Aodh and Fionnuala, and a chain between Conn and Fiachra. And
the four of them were raising his heart and gladdening his mind,
and no danger and no distress that was on the swans before put
any trouble on them now.
Now
the king of Connacht at that time was Lairgren, son of Colman,
son of Cobthach, and Deoch, daughter of Finghin, was his wife.
And that was the coming together of the Man from the North and
the Woman from the South, that Aoife had spoken of.
And
the woman heard talk of the birds, and a great desire came on
her to get them, and she bade Lairgren to bring them to her, and
he said he would ask them of Mochaomhog.
And
she gave her word she would not stop another night with him unless
he would bring them to her. And she set out from the house there
and then. And Lairgren sent messengers after her to bring her
back, and they did not overtake her till she was at Cill Dun.
She went back home with them then, and Lairgren sent messengers
to ask the birds of Mochaomhog, and he did not get them.
There
was great anger on Lairgren then, and he went himself to the place
Mochaomhog was, and he asked was it true he had refused him the
birds. "It is true indeed," said he. At that Lairgren
rose up, and he took hold of the swans, and pulled them off the
altar, two birds in each hand, to bring them away to Deoch. But
no sooner had he laid his hand on them than their skins fell off,
and what was in their place was three lean, withered old men and
a thin withered old woman, without blood or flesh.
And
Lairgren gave a great start at that, and he went out from the
place. It is then Fionnuala said to Mochaomhog: "Come and
baptize us now, for it is short till our death comes; and it is
certain you do not think worse of parting with us than we do of
parting with you. And make our grave afterwards," she said,
"and lay Conn at my right side and Fiachra on my left side,
and Aodh before my face, between my two arms. And pray to the
God of Heaven," she said, "that you may be able to baptize
us.
The
children of Lir were baptized then, and they died and were buried
as Fionnuala had desired; Fiachra and Conn one at each side of
her, and Aodh before her face. And a stone was put over them,
and their names were written in Ogham, and they were keened there,
and heaven was gained for their souls.
And
that is the fate of the children of Lir so far. |