#a.h. leahy

[nec-dextrorsum-nec-sinistrorsum]

A red woman was in the chariot, and a red mantle about her, she had two red eye-brows, and the mantle fell between the two ferta of her chariot behind till it struck upon the ground behind her. A great man was beside her chariot, a red cloak was upon him, and a forked staff of hazel at his back, he drove a cow in front of him. "That cow is not joyful at being driven by you!" said Cuchulain. "The cow does not belong to you," said the woman, "she is not the cow of any friend or acquaintance of yours." "The cows of Ulster," said Cuchulain, "are my proper care." "Dost thou give a decision about the cow?" said the woman; "the task is too great to which thy hand is set, O Cuchulain." "Why is it the woman who answers me?" said Cuchulain, "why was it not the man?" "It was not the man whom you addressed," said the woman. "Ay," said Cuchulain, "(I did address him), though thyself hath answered for him:" "h-Uar-gaeth-sceo-luachair-sceo is his name," said she. "Alas! his name is a wondrous one," said Cuchulain. "Let it be thyself who answers, since the man answers not. What is thine own name?" said Cuchulain. "The woman to whom thou speakest," said the man, "is Faebor-begbeoil-cuimdiuir-folt-scenbgairit-sceo-uath." "Do ye make a fool of me?" cried Cuchulain, and on that Cuchulain sprang into her chariot: he set his two feet on her two shoulders thereupon, and his spear on the top of her head. "Play not sharp weapons on me!" "Name thyself then by thy true name!" said Cuchulain. "Depart then from me!" said she: "I am a female satirist in truth," she said, "and he is Daire mac Fiachna from Cualnge: I have brought the cow as fee for a master-poem." "Let me hear the poem then," said Cuchulain. "Only remove thyself from me," said the woman; "it is none the better for thee that thou shakest it over my head." Thereon he left her until he was between the two poles (ferta) of her chariot, and she sang to him **** Cuchulain threw a spring at her chariot, and he saw not the horse, nor the woman, nor the chariot, nor the man, nor the cow. Then he saw that she had become a black bird upon a branch near to him. "A dangerous (or magical) woman thou art," said Cuchulain: "Henceforward," said the woman, "this clay-land shall be called dolluid (of evil,)" and it has been the Grellach Dolluid ever since.

The Cattle-Raid of Regamna

[tuatha-de-danann-blog]

Master List of Stories of the Tuatha dé Danann Pt. Three

How the Dagda Got His Magic Staff

Bergin, Osborn. Medieval Studies in Memory of Gertrude Schoepperle Loomis. NY: Columbia University Press, 1927.

The Taking of the Sid

De Gabáil in t-Sída; Book of Leinster ; Translated by John Carey

The Wooing of Etain

Yellow Book of Lecan; Heroic Romances of Ireland, Volume II ed. and trans. A.H. Leahy. London: David Nutt, 1906.

The Dream of Oengus

Aislinge Oengusso; Translated by Ed. Müller

The Cattle-Raid of Regamna

The Yellow Book of Lecan; Heroic Romances of Ireland, Volume II ed. and trans. A.H. Leahy. London: David Nutt, 1906.

[nec-dextrorsum-nec-sinistrorsum]

At the ford of the Double Wonder, at Ah Fayrta, the car made stand For a chariot rattled toward them, from the clay-soiled Coolgarry land And before them came that chariot; and strange was the sight they saw: For a one-legged chestnut charger was harnessed the car to draw; And right through the horse's body the pole of the car had passed, To a halter across his forehead was the pole with a wedge made fast: A red woman sat in the chariot, bright red were her eyebrows twain A crimson cloak was round her: the folds of it touched the plain: Two poles were behind her chariot: between them her mantle flowed; And close by the side of that woman a mighty giant strode; On his back was a staff of hazel, two-forked, and the garb he wore Was red, and a cow he goaded, that shambled on before.     To that woman and man cried Cuchulain, "Ye who drive that cow do wrong, For against her will do ye drive her!" "Not to thee doth that cow belong," Said the woman; "no byre of thy comrades or thy friends hath that cow yet barred." "The kine of the land of Ulster," said Cuchulain, "are mine to guard!" "Dost thou sit on the seat of judgment?" said the dame, "and a sage decree On this cow would'st thou give, Cuchulain?--too great is that task for thee!" Said the hero, "Why speaketh this woman? hath the man with her never a word?" "'Twas not him you addressed," was her answer, "when first your reproaches we heard." "Nay, to him did I speak," said Cuchulain, "though 'tis thou to reply who would'st claim!" 'Ooer-gay-skyeo-loo-ehar-skyeo is the name that he bears," said the dame.

The Apparition of The Great Queen to Cuchulain