Folk Tales of Scotland (33 page)

‘Where are you, my little hero?’ said he.

‘I’m here in the horn,’ said Cuchulainn.

The giant tried to take him out, but he could not put his hand far enough down. At last he straddled his legs, drove his hand into the horn, got hold of Cuchulainn between his two fingers, and
brought him up.

Cuchulainn went home with the cattle at the going down of the sun.

HE
Feinne were together on a mountainside. It was a wild night, with pouring rain and
snow falling from the north. About midnight, there was a knock at Finn’s door. When Finn opened the door he saw a weird woman with long hair down to her heels.

‘Let me in out of the storm!’ she cried.

‘Strange, ugly creature,’ said Finn, ‘with hair down to your heels. How can you ask
me
to let you in?’

She went away from his door and screamed. She went to Ossian’s door, and asked for shelter.

‘Strange, ugly creature,’ said Ossian, ‘with hair down to your heels. How can you ask
me
to let you in?’

She went away from his door and screamed. Then she went to Diarmid’s door, and asked for shelter.

‘Strange, ugly creature,’ said Diarmid, ‘with hair down to your heels. But come in!’ She came in out of the storm.

‘Oh, Diarmid,’ she said, ‘for seven years I have been wandering over ocean and sea, and in all that time I have not passed a night indoors, till tonight. Let me come in to the
warm fire!’

‘Come in!’ said Diarmid, but when she came in, she was so hideous some people began to leave the room.

‘Go to the other side of the fire,’ said Diarmid, ‘and let the creature warm herself.’

They went to the other side of the fire, to make room for her, but she had not been long by the fire before she tried to creep under Diarmid’s blanket.

‘You are growing too bold,’ said Diarmid. ‘First you come in out of the storm, then you warm yourself by the fire. Now you want to come under my blanket, but come!’

She crept under his blanket, but he folded it in the middle to separate them. She had not been long there, till he gave a sudden start and stared at her. He saw the finest woman that ever was,
from the beginning of the world to the end of the world. He shouted to the others to come over to his bed.

‘Isn’t she the most beautiful woman man ever saw?’ he asked them.

‘She is the most beautiful woman man ever saw,’ they said, but Finn and Ossian were jealous of Diarmid, and angry that they had not welcomed the beautiful lady when she first
arrived. Now she was asleep, and did not know they were looking at her. Diarmid let her sleep on, and did not wake her. But shortly after she awoke.

‘Are you awake, Diarmid?’ she asked.

‘I am awake,’ said Diarmid.

‘If you had the finest castle you ever saw,’ she said, ‘where would you like it to be?’

‘If I had my choice,’ said Diarmid, ‘it would be on this mountain.’ They fell asleep again.

Early in the morning, about dawn, a man mounted his horse and, on a hill, saw a castle where no castle had been before. He rubbed his eyes and looked again. The castle was still there. He went
back to his house and said nothing. Another man went out, shortly afterwards, saw the castle, although he knew there had been no castle there. He too went back to his house and said nothing. When
the day was brighter, two men went out and saw the castle, and when each man knew that the other man saw the castle where no castle should be, they both came back to tell the others.

‘Get up, Diarmid!’ said the beautiful lady, sitting up in bed. ‘Go up to your castle, and don’t lie there all morning!’

‘If there is a castle I can go to,’ said Diarmid, half asleep.

‘Look outside, and see if there’s a castle there!’ said she. He went to the door, and looked out. He looked at the castle, and came back to the lady.

‘I’ll go up to the castle,’ he said, ‘if you’ll go with me.’

‘I’ll do that, Diarmid, but don’t tell me three times how you found me.’

‘I’ll never say to you how I found you,’ said Diarmid. Both of them went to the castle, and it was very beautiful. There were maidservants and manservants and food on the
table. Diarmid was most interested in a greyhound bitch and her three pups. He spent three days with the lady in the castle.

‘You are unhappy,’ said the lady at the end of the three days, ‘because you are not with the rest of the Feinne. Go back to them during the day, but come back at night. Food
and drink will always be ready for your return.’

‘Who will take care of the greyhound bitch and her three pups?’ said Diarmid.

‘What is there to fear?’ she said. So he returned that day to the Feinne, but though they welcomed him, Finn, his mother’s brother, and Ossian were very jealous of Diarmid. The
woman had come first to them, and they had turned their backs. However, they were interested in the greyhound bitch and her three pups when Diarmid praised them, while describing his new
castle.

After Diarmid had gone, the lady left the castle for a short walk. Soon she saw someone approaching the castle very quickly. She waited for him, and it was Finn. She greeted him, and he caught
her by the hand.

‘You are not angry with me?’ said Finn.

‘Not at all!’ said the lady. ‘Come into the castle for a drink!’

‘I’ll come if you give me what I ask,’ said Finn.

‘What is it you want?’ said the lady.

‘One of the pups of the greyhound bitch,’ said Finn.

‘Oh, that is not much to ask,’ said the lady. ‘Take the pup you like best!’ So Finn chose the most promising pup, and went away.

Diarmid came at the opening of the night. The greyhound met him outside the castle gate, and howled once. The lady told him about Finn and how she had given him one of the pups. Diarmid was
annoyed, remembering how Finn had turned his back on the lady, when she first asked for shelter, how he had seen Finn’s jealousy, but he was most angry that Finn should come to his castle
when he was not at home, and take away one of his dogs.

‘If you had remembered how I gave you shelter when you came in from the storm, with your hair down to your heels, you would not have given the pup to Finn who turned his back on
you.’

‘What did I ask you not to do? This is the first of three times.’

‘I am sorry,’ said Diarmid.

‘I forgive you this first time,’ said the lady. They went into the castle together for food and drink, and Diarmid slept in the castle that night. Next morning he returned to the
Feinne.

Ossian, who had admired the pup Finn had brought home, came to the castle and asked the lady for a pup, which she gave him. When Diarmid came home to his castle at the opening of the night, the
greyhound bitch met him at the gate and howled twice. Although the lady was beside him, Diarmid spoke to the bitch.

‘They’ve taken another pup from you, my lass. But if she had remembered how I gave her shelter, after Ossian had turned his back on her, with her hair down to her heels, she would
not have given the pup to Ossian.’

‘This is the second of three times you have said that.’

‘I am sorry,’ said Diarmid.

‘I forgive you this second time,’ said the lady. They went into the castle hand in hand for food and drink, and Diarmid slept in the castle that night. Next morning he returned to
the Feinne. Next day the third and last pup was taken away, and when Diarmid returned to the castle the
greyhound bitch howled three times when she saw him. Although the lady
was standing near, Diarmid spoke to the bitch.

‘Yes, my lass, you are without any family. If she had remembered how I gave her shelter when she came in from the storm, with her hair down to her heels, she would not have given your
third pup away.’

‘This is the last of three times,’ said the lady sadly.

‘I am sorry,’ said Diarmid. He slept in the castle that night and, in the morning, woke up on the hillside, in a mossy hollow. He looked round but his castle had vanished. He could
not find one stone of it. He decided to look for the lady.

He began to walk across the country. He saw neither house by day nor fire by night. He came on the dead body of the greyhound bitch, lifted her by the tail, and slung her over his shoulder. He
loved her so much he could not part from her. He saw a herd on the hillside above him.

‘Have you seen a woman, today or yesterday, passing this way?’ asked Diarmid.

‘I saw a woman early yesterday morning, walking fast,’ said the herd.

‘Which way was she going?’ said Diarmid.

‘She went down the headland to the shore, and I did not see her after that.’

Diarmid took the same road till he could go no further. He saw a ship. Using his spear as a vaulting pole, he jumped to the ship, and then to the opposite shore. He lay down on the side of a
hill, and went to sleep. When he awoke the ship was gone. He had not long sat on a little hill, when he saw a man rowing a boat in his direction. He went down to the boat, put the greyhound in, and
jumped after it. The boat went over the sea, and then under the sea to a land where he could walk. He had gone only a short distance, when he saw a clot of blood on the ground. He lifted it,
wrapped it in a handkerchief, and put it in his pouch. He found two more clots of blood, wrapped them up, and put them with the other one. He found only three.

Shortly after, he saw a woman who looked crazy, who was gathering rushes. He asked her what news she had.

‘The daughter of the King under the Waves has come home,’ said the woman. ‘She has been seven years under a spell, and she is ill. The doctors have come to cure her, but none
of them know how to do it. A bed of rushes is what she finds most comfortable.’

‘I would be very much in your debt, if you could take me where the Princess is.’

‘I’ll see to that,’ said the woman. ‘I’ll put you into a sheaf of rushes, with rushes under you and over you, and I’ll carry you on my back.’

‘You couldn’t do that. I am too heavy,’ said Diarmid.

‘Leave that to me!’ said the woman. She put Diarmid into a bundle of rushes and slung him on her back. When she reached the Princess’s room, she laid the bundle down.

‘Oh, hurry up!’ said the daughter of the King under the Waves. Diarmid came out of the bundle, and seized the Princess by the hands. They were delighted to meet again.

‘Three parts of my illness are gone, but I am still not well. Every time I thought of you on my way here, I lost blood from my heart.’

‘I have three clots of your heart’s blood in my pouch. Take them in a drink, and you will be well again,’ said Diarmid.

‘I will not take them,’ said the Princess. ‘There is one thing missing, which I shall never find in the world.’

‘What is that?’ asked Diarmid. ‘If it’s on the surface of the world, I’ll find it. Tell me what it is!’

‘What I need is three draughts from the cup of the King of the Plain of Wonder.’

‘Is he far from here?’ said Diarmid.

‘He is near my father,’ said the Princess, ‘but there is a small river before you get there, and a sailing ship with the wind behind her would take a day and a year to cross
it.’

Diarmid followed her directions, and reached the small river. He spent a long time walking along the river, and decided that the Princess was right. It could not be
crossed. Just as he thought this, he saw a little red man standing in the middle of the river.

‘What would you give a man who would help you? Come here, and put your foot on my palm!’ said the little red man.

Diarmid put his foot on the little man’s palm, and reached the other side.

‘I’ll come with you to King Mag, whose cup you are looking for,’ said the little red man. Outside the palace of the King of the Plain of Wonder, Diarmid shouted for the cup to
be sent out, or an army. The King sent out an army of twice four hundred men, and in two hours Diarmid had killed them all.

He shouted again for the cup, or for battle. They sent out twice eight hundred men, and in three hours Diarmid had killed them all.

He shouted again for the cup, or for battle, and they sent out twice nine hundred heroes, and in four hours Diarmid left no man of them alive.

‘Where has this man come from?’ said the King. ‘He has brought my kingdom to ruin. If it is this hero’s pleasure, let him tell me where he comes from!’

‘It is this hero’s pleasure,’ shouted Diarmid. ‘I am one of the Feinne. I am Diarmid.’

‘Why didn’t you send a message to say who you were?’ said King Mag. ‘I would not have spent my realm on you, for you would have killed every one of my men. This was
written in the books of prophecy, seven years before you were born. What do you want?’

‘The cup of healing from your own hand,’ said Diarmid, and the King of the Plain of Wonder gave him the cup, and offered him a ship. But Diarmid said he had a ferry of his own, and
departed with the cup. He suddenly realised that he had forgotten the little red man, and had possibly offended him. But the little man again lifted him over the river.

‘I know that you are going to cure the daughter of the King under the Waves. She is the girl you love best in the world. You will go to a well you will find in that
direction. By the side of the well you will find a bottle. Fill the bottle with water from the well and take it with you. When you have reached the Princess’s room, you will put some water in
the cup, and a clot of blood in the water, which she will drink. You will do this a second time, and a third time, and she will be well. But when that happens she will be the girl you love least in
all the world.