AT the time Finn
was born his father Cumhal, of the sons of Baiscne, Head of the Fianna of
Ireland, had been killed in battle by the sons of Morna that were fighting
with him for the leadership. And his mother, that was beautiful
long-haired Muirne,
daughter of Tadg, son of Nuada
of the Tuatha de Danaan and of
Ethlinn, mother of
Lugh of the Long Hand, did
not dare to keep him with her; and two women, Bodhmall, the woman Druid, and
Liath Luachra, came and brought him away to care for him.
It was to the woods of Slieve Bladhma they brought him, and
they nursed him secretly, because of his father’s enemies, the sons of
Morna, and they kept him there a long time.
And Muirne, his mother, took another husband that was king
of Carraighe; but at the end of six years she came to see Finn, going through
every lonely place till she came to the wood, and there she found the little
hunting cabin, and the boy asleep in it, and she lifted him up in her arms and
kissed him, and she sang a little sleepy song to him; and then she said
farewell to the women, and she went away again.
And the two women went on caring him till he came to
sensible years; and one day when he went out he saw a wild duck on the lake
with her clutch, and he made a cast at her that cut the wings off her that she
could not fly, and he brought her back to the cabin, and that was his first
hunt.
And they gave him good training in running and leaping and
swimming. One of them would run round a tree, and she having a thorn switch,
and Finn after her with another switch, and each one trying to hit at the
other; and they would leave him in a field, and hares along with him, and
would bid him not to let the hares quit the field, but to keep before them
whichever way they would go; and to teach him swimming they would throw him
into the water and let him make his way out.
But after a while he went away with a troop of poets, to
hide from the sons of Morna, and they hid him in the mountain of Crotta
Cliach; but there was a robber in Leinster at that time, Fiacuil, son of
Codhna, and he came where the poets were in Fidh Gaible and killed them all.
But he spared the child and brought him to his own house, that was in a cold
marsh. But the two women, Bodhmall and Liath, came looking for him after a
while, and Fiacuil gave him up to them, and they brought him back to the same
place he was before.
He grew up there, straight and strong and fair-haired and
beautiful. And one day he was out in Slieve Bladhma, and the two women along
with him, and they saw before them a herd of the wild deer of the mountain.
"It is a pity," said the old women, "we not to be able to get a
deer of those deer." "I will get one for you," said Finn; and
with that he followed after them, and caught two stags of them and brought
them home to the hunting cabin. And after that he used to be hunting for them
every day. But at last they said to him:
"It is best for you to leave us now, for the sons of
Morna are watching again to kill you."
So he went away then by himself, and never stopped till he
came to Magh Lifé, and there he saw young lads swimming in a lake, and they
called to him to swim against them. So he went into the lake, and he beat them
at swimming. "Fair he is and well shaped," they said when they saw
him swimming, and it was from that time he got the name of Finn, that is,
Fair. But they got to be jealous of his strength, and he went away and left
them.
He went on then till he came to Loch Lein, and he took
service there with the King of Finntraigh; and there was no hunter like him,
and the king said: "If Cumhal had left a son, you would be that
son."
He went from that king after, and he went into Carraighe,
and there he took service with the king, that had taken his mother Muirne for
his wife. And one day they were playing chess together, and he won seven games
one after another. "Who are you at all?" said the king then. "I
am a son of a countryman of the Luigne of Teamhair," said Finn.
"That is not so," said the king, "but you are the son that
Muirne my wife bore to Cumhal. And do not stop here any longer," he said,
"that you may not be killed under my protection."
From that he went into Connacht looking for his father’s
brother, Crimall, son of Trenmor; and as he was going on his way he heard the
crying of a lone woman. He went to her, and looked at her, and tears of blood
were on her face. "Your face is red with blood, woman," he said.
"I have reason for it," said she, "for my only son is after
being killed by a great fighting man that came on us." And Finn followed
after the big champion and fought with him and killed him. And the man he
killed was the same man that had given Cumhal his first wound in the battle
where he got his death, and had brought away his treasure-bag with him.
Now as to that treasure-bag, it is of a crane skin it was
made, that was one time the skin of Aoife, the beautiful sweetheart of Ilbrec,
son of Manannan, that was put into the shape of a crane through jealousy. And
it was in Manannan’s house it used to be, and there were treasures kept in
it, Manannan’s shirt and his knife, and the belt and the smith’s hook of Goibniu, and the shears of the King of Alban, and the helmet of the King of
Lochlann, and a belt of the skin of a great fish, and the bones of Asal’s
pig that had been brought to Ireland by the sons of Tuireann. All those
treasures would be in the bag at full tide, but at the ebbing of the tide it
would be empty. And it went from Manannan to Lugh, son of Ethlinn, and after
that to Cumhal, that was husband to Muirne, Ethlinn’s daughter.
And Finn took the bag and brought it with him till he found
Crimall, that was now an old man, living in a lonely place, and some of the
old men of the Fianna were with him, and used to go hunting for him. And Finn
gave him the bag, and told him his whole story.
And then he said farewell to Crimall, and went on to learn
poetry from Finegas, a poet that was living at the Boinn, for the poets
thought it was always on the brink of water, poetry was revealed to them. And
he did not give him his own name, but he took the name of Deimne.
Seven years,
now, Finegas had stopped at the Boinn, watching the salmon, for it was in the
prophecy that he would eat the salmon of knowledge that would come there, and
that he would have all knowledge after. And when at the last the salmon of
knowledge came, he brought it to where Finn was, and bade him to roast it, but
he bade him not to eat any of it.
And when Finn brought him the salmon after a
while he said: "Did you eat any of it at all, boy?" "I did
not," said Finn; "but I burned my thumb putting down a blister that
rose on the skin, and after that, I put my thumb in my mouth." "What
is your name, boy?" said Finegas. "Deimne," said he. "It
is not, but it is Finn your name is, and it is to you and not to myself the
salmon was given in the prophecy." With that he gave Finn the whole of
the salmon, and from that time Finn had the knowledge that came from the nuts
of the nine hazels of wisdom that grow beside the well that is below the sea.
And besides the wisdom he got then, there was a second
wisdom came to him another time, and this is the way it happened. There was a
well of the moon belonging to Beag, son of Buan, of the Tuatha de
Danaan, and
whoever would drink out of it would get wisdom, and after a second drink he
would get the gift of foretelling.
And the three daughters of Beag, son of
Buan, had charge of the well, and they would not part with a vessel of it for
anything less than red gold. And one day Finn chanced to be hunting in the
rushes near the well, and the three women ran out to hinder him from coming to
it, and one of them that had a vessel of water in her hand, threw it at him to
stop him, and a share of the water went into his mouth. And from that out he
had all the knowledge that the water of that well could give.
And he learned the three ways of poetry; and this is the
poem he made to show he had got his learning well: —
"It is the month of May is the pleasant time; its face
is beautiful; the blackbird sings his full song, the living wood is his
holding, the cuckoos are singing and ever singing; there is a welcome before
the brightness of the summer.
"Summer is lessening the rivers, the swift horses are
looking for the pool; the heath spreads out its long hair, the weak white
bog-down grows. A wildness comes on the heart of the deer; the sad restless
sea is asleep.
"Bees with their little strength carry a load reaped
from the flowers; the cattle go up muddy to the mountains; the ant has a good
full feast.
"The harp of the woods is playing music; there is
colour on the hills, and a haze on the full lakes, and entire peace upon every
sail.
"The corncrake is speaking, a loud-voiced poet; the
high lonely waterfall is singing a welcome to the warm pool, the talking of
the rushes has begun.
"The light swallows are darting; the loudness of music
is around the hill; the fat soft mast is budding; there is grass on the
trembling bogs.
"The bog is as dark as the feathers of the raven; the
cuckoo makes a loud welcome; the speckled salmon is leaping; as strong is the
leaping of the swift fighting man.
"The man is gaining; the girl is in her comely growing
power; every wood is without fault from the top to the ground, and every wide
good plain.
"It is pleasant is the colour of the time; rough
winter is gone; every plentiful wood is white; summer is a joyful peace.
"A flock of birds pitches in the meadow; there are
sounds in the green fields, there is in them a clear rushing stream.
"There is a hot desire on you for the racing of
horses; twisted holly makes a leash for the hound; a bright spear has been
shot into the earth, and the flag-flower is golden under it.
"A weak lasting little bird is singing at the top of
his voice; the lark is singing clear tidings; May without fault, of beautiful
colours.
"I have another story for you; the ox is lowing, the
water is creeping in, the summer is gone. High and cold the wind, low the sun,
cries are about us; the sea is quarrelling.
"The ferns are reddened and their shape is hidden; the
cry of the wild goose is heard; the cold has caught the wings of the birds; it
is the time of ice-frost, hard, unhappy."
And after that, Finn being but a young lad yet, made
himself ready and went up at Samhain time to the gathering of the High King at
Teamhair. And it was the law at that gathering, no one to raise a quarrel or
bring out any grudge against another through the whole of the time it lasted.
And the king and his chief men, and Goll, son of Morna, that was now Head of
the Fianna, and
Caoilte, son of Ronan, and Conan, son of Morna, of the sharp
words, were sitting at a feast in the great house of the Middle Court; and the
young lad came in and took his place among them, and none of them knew who he
was.
The High King looked at him then, and the horn of meetings
was brought to him, and he put it into the boy’s hand, and asked him who was
he.
"I am Finn, son of Cumhal," he said, "son of
the man that used to be head over the Fianna, and king of Ireland; and I am
come now to get your friendship, and to give you my service."
"You are son of a friend, boy," said the king,
"and son of a man I trusted."
Then Finn rose up and made his agreement of service and of
faithfulness to the king; and the king took him by the hand and put him
sitting beside his own son, and they gave themselves to drinking and to
pleasure for a while.
Every year, now, at Samhain time, for nine years, there had
come a man of the Tuatha de Danaan out of Sidhe Finnachaidh in the north, and
had burned up Teamhair. Aillen, son of Midhna, his name was, and it is the way
he used to come, playing music of the Sidhe, and all the people that heard it
would fall asleep. And when they were all in their sleep, he would let a flame
of fire out of his mouth, and would blow the flame till all Teamhair was
burned.
The king rose up at the feast after a while, and his smooth
horn in his hand, and it is what he said: "If I could find among you, men
of Ireland, any man that would keep Teamhair till the break of day to-morrow
without being burned by Aillen, son of Midhna, I would give him whatever
inheritance is right for him to have, whether it be much or little."
But the men of Ireland made no answer, for they knew well
that at the sound of the sweet pitiful music made by that comely man of the
Sidhe, even women in their pains and men that were wounded would fall asleep.
It is then Finn rose up and spoke to the King of Ireland.
"Who will be your sureties that you will fulfil this?" he said.
"The kings of the provinces of Ireland," said the king, "and
Cithruadh with his Druids." So they gave their pledges, and Finn took in
hand to keep Teamhair safe till the breaking of day on the morrow.
Now there was a fighting man among the followers of the
King of Ireland, Fiacha, son of Conga, that Cumhal, Finn’s father, used to
have a great liking for, and he said to Finn: "Well, boy," he said,
"what reward would you give me if I would bring you a deadly spear, that
no false cast was ever made with?"
"What reward are you asking of
me?" said Finn. "Whatever your right hand wins at any time, the
third of it to be mine," said Fiacha, "and a third of your trust and
your friendship to be mine." "I will give you that," said Finn.
Then Fiacha brought him the spear, unknown to the sons of Morna or to any
other person, and he said: "When you will hear the music of the Sidhe,
let you strip the covering off the head of the spear and put it to your
forehead, and the power of the spear will not let sleep come upon you."
Then Finn rose up before all the men of Ireland, and he
made a round of the whole of Teamhair. And it was not long till he heard the
sorrowful music, and he stripped the covering from the head of the spear, and
he held the power of it to his forehead.
And Aillen went on playing his little
harp, till he had put every one in their sleep as he was used; and then he let
a flame of fire out from his mouth to burn Teamhair. And Finn held up his
fringed crimson cloak against the flame, and it fell down through the air and
went into the ground, bringing the four-folded cloak with it deep into the
earth.
And when Aillen saw his spells were destroyed, he went back
to Sidhe Finnachaidh on the top of Slieve Fuad; but Finn followed after him
there, and as Aillen was going in at the door he made a cast of the spear that
went through his heart. And he struck his head off then, and brought it back
to Teamhair, and fixed it on a crooked pole and left it there till the rising
of the sun over the heights and invers of the country.
And Aillen’s mother came to where his body was lying, and
there was great grief on her, and she made this complaint: —
"Ochone! Aillen is fallen, chief of the Sidhe of Beinn
Boirche; the slow clouds of death are come on him. Och! he was pleasant, Och!
he was kind. Aillen, son of Midhna of Slieve Fuad.
"Nine times he burned Teamhair. It is a great name he
was always looking for, Ochone, Ochone, Aillen!"
And at the breaking of day, the king and all the men of
Ireland came out upon the lawn at Teamhair where Finn was. "King,"
said Finn, "there is the head of the man that burned Teamhair, and the
pipe and the harp that made his music. And it is what I think," he said,
"that Teamhair and all that is in it is saved."
Then they all came together into the place of counsel, and
it is what they agreed, the headship of the Fianna of Ireland to be given to
Finn. And the king said to Goll, son of Morna: "Well, Goll," he
said, "is it your choice to quit Ireland or to put your hand in Finn’s
hand?" "By my word, I will give Finn my hand," said Goll.
And when the charms that used to bring good luck had done
their work, the chief men of the Fianna rose up and struck their hands in
Finn’s hand, and Goll, son of Morna, was the first to give him his hand the
way there would be less shame on the rest for doing it.
And Finn kept the headship of the Fianna until the end; and
the place he lived in was Almhuin of Leinster, where the white dun was made by
Nuada of the Tuatha de Danaan, that was as white as if all the lime in Ireland
was put on it, and that got its name from the great herd of cattle that died
fighting one time around the well, and that left their horns there, speckled
horns and white.
And as to Finn himself, he was a king and a seer and a
poet; a Druid and a knowledgeable man; and everything he said was
sweet-sounding to his people. And a better fighting man than Finn never struck
his hand into a king’s hand, and whatever any one ever said of him, he was
three times better.
And of his justice it used to be said, that if his enemy
and his own son had come before him to be judged, it is a fair judgment he
would have given between them. And as to his generosity it used to be said, he
never denied any man as long as he had a mouth to eat with, and legs to bring
away what he gave him; and he left no woman without her bride-price, and no
man without his pay; and he never promised at night what he would not fulfil
on the morrow, and he never promised in the day what he would not fulfil at
night, and he never forsook his right-hand friend.
And if he was quiet in peace he was angry in battle, and
Oisin his son and Osgar his son’s son followed him in that. There was a
young man of Ulster came and claimed kinship with them one time, saying they
were of the one blood. "If that is so," said Oisin, "it is from
the men of Ulster we took the madness and the angry heart we have in
battle." "That is so indeed," said Finn.
Source: Lady Gregory - Gods
and Fighting Men, first published 1904.
republished by Colin Smythe Ltd. 1970.
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