The Coming of Cuculain. Standish O'Grady

about his forefathers, and at last my anger rose, and with a flat hand I slew him in the middle of his speech, and paid no eric, for he was nothing. We have the blood of heroes in our veins, and we sit here nightly boasting about them; about Rury, whose name we bear, being all his children; and Macha the warrioress, who brought hither bound the sons of Dithorba and made them rear this mighty dun; and Combat son of Fiontann; and my namesake Fergus,[Footnote: This was the king already referred to who slew the sea-monster. The monster had left upon him that mark and memorial of the struggle.] whose crooked mouth was no dishonour, and the rest of our hero sires; and we consume the rents and tributes of Ulster which they by their prowess conquered to us, and which flow hither in abundance from every corner of the province. Valiant men, too, will one day come hither and slay us as I slew that boaster, and here in Emain Macha their bards will praise them. Then in the halls of the dead shall we say to our sires, ‘All that you got for us by your blood and your sweat that have we lost, and the glory of the Red Branch is at an end.’ ”

      That speech was pleasing to the Red Branch, and they cried out that Fergus Mac Roy had spoken well. Then all at once, on a sudden impulse, they sang the battle-song of the Ultonians, and shouted for the war so that the building quaked and rocked, and in the hall of the weapons there was a clangour of falling shields, and men died that night for extreme dread, so mightily shouted the Ultonians around their king and around Fergus. When the echoes and reverberations of that shout ceased to sound in the vaulted roof and in the far recesses and galleries, then there arose somewhere upon the night a clear chorus of treble voices, singing, too, the war-chant of the Ultonians, as when rising out of the clangour of brazen instruments of music there shrills forth the clear sound of fifes. For the immature scions of the Red Branch, boys and tender youths, awakened out of slumber, heard them, and from remote dormitories responded to their sires, and they cried aloud together and shouted. The trees of Ulster shed their early leaves and buds at that shout, and birds fell dead from the branches.

      Concobar struck the brazen canopy with his silver rod. The smitten brass rang like a bell, and the Ultonians in silence hearkened for the words of their clear-voiced king.

      “No ruler of men,” he said, “however masterful and imperious, could withstand this torrent of martial ardour which rolls to-night through the souls of the children of Rury, still less I, newly come to this high throne, having been but as it were yesterday your comrade and equal, till Fergus, to my grief, resigned the sovereignty, and caused me, a boy, to be made king of Ulla and captain of the Red Branch. But now I say, ere we consider what province or territory shall first see the embattled Red Branch cross her borders, let us enquire of Cathvah the Ard-Druid, whether the omens be propitious, and whether through his art he is able to reveal to us some rite to be performed or prohibition to be observed.”

      That proposal was not pleasing to Fergus, but it pleased the Red Branch, and they praised the wisdom of their king.

      Then Cathvah the Ard-Druid [Footnote: High Druid, or Chief Druid. Similarly we have Ard-Ri or High King.] spake.

      “It hath been foretold,” he said, “long since, that the Ultonians shall win glory such as never was and never will be, and that their fame shall endure till the world’s end. But, first, there are prophecies to be accomplished and predictions to be fulfilled. For ere these things may be there shall come a child to Emain Macha, attended by clear portents from the gods; through him shall arise our deathless fame. Also it hath been foretold that there shall be great divisions and fratricidal strife amongst the children of Rury, a storm of war which shall strip the Red Branch nigh bare.”

      Fergus was wroth at this, and spoke words of scorn concerning the diviner, and concerning all omens, prohibitions, and prophecies. Concobar, too, and all the Red Branch, rebuked the prophet. Yet he stood against them like a rock warred on by winds which stand immovable, let them rage as they will, and refused to take back his words. Then said Concobar:

      “Many are the prophecies which came wandering down upon the mouths of men, but they are not all to be trusted alike. Of those which have passed thy lips, O Cathvah, we utterly reject the last, and think the less of thee for having reported it. But the former which concerns the child of promise hath been ever held a sure prophecy, and as such passed down through all the diviners from the time of Amargin, the son of Milesius, who first prophesied for the Gael. And now being arch-king of the Ultonians, I command thee to divine for us when the coming of the child shall be.”

      Then Cathvah, the Ard-Druid, put on his divining apparel and took his divining instruments in his hands, and made his symbols of power upon the air. And at first he was silent, and, being in a trance, stared out before him with wide eyes full of wonder and amazement, directing his gaze to the east. In the end he cried out with a loud voice, and prophesying, sang this lay:

      “Yea, he is coming. He draweth nigh.

       Verily It is he whom I behold—

       The predicted one—the child of many prophecies—

       Chief flower of the Branch that is over all—

       The mainstay of Emaiti Macha—the battle-prop of the Ultonians—

       The torch of the valour and chivalry of the North—

       The star that is to shine for ever upon the forehead of the Gael.

       It is he who slumbers upon Slieve Fuad—

       The child who is like a star—

       Like a star upon Slieve Fuad.

       There is a light around him never kindled at the hearth of Lu,

       The Grey of Macha keeps watch and ward for him,

       [Footnote: Madia’s celebrated grey war-steed. The meaning

       of the allusion will be understood presently.]

       And the whole mountain is filled with the Tuatha de Danan.”

       [Footnote: These were the gods of the pagan Irish.

       Tuatha=nations, De=gods, Danan=of Dana. So it means

       the god nations sprung from Dana also called Ana. She

       is referred to in an ancient Irish Dictionary as Mater

       deorurn Hibernensium.]

      Then his vision passed from the Druid, he raised up his long white hands and gave thanks to the high gods of Erin that he had lived to see this day.

      When Cathvah had made an end of speaking there was a great silence in the hall.

CHAPTER II. — THE BOYS OF THE ULTONIANS

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      “And dear the school-boy spot

       We ne’er forget though there we are forgot.”

       BYRON.

      “There were his young barbarians all at play.”

       BYRON.

      In the morning Fergus Mac Roy said to the young king, “What shall we do this day, O Concobar? Shall we lead forth our sweet-voiced hounds into the woods and rouse the wild boar from his lair, and chase the swift deer, or shall we drive afar in our chariots and visit one of our subject kings and take his tribute as hospitality, which, according to thee, wise youth, is the best, for it is agreeable to ourselves and not displeasing to the man that is tributary.”

      “Nay,” said Concobar, “let us wait and watch this day. Hast thou forgotten the words of Cathvah?”

      “Truly, in a manner I had,” said Fergus, “for I never much regarded, the race of seers, or deemed the birds more than pleasant songsters, and the stars as a fair spectacle, or druidic instruments aught but toys.”

      “Let us play at chess on the lawn of the dun,” said the king, “while our boys exercise themselves at hurling on the green.”

      “It is agreeable to me,” said