Folk Tales of Scotland (32 page)

Finn was filled with sorrow as he looked on his fallen friend.

‘What can I do to help you, Diarmid?’ he said.

‘A drink from the palms of Finn’s hands will save me,’ said Diarmid.

Finn fetched the water, but as he thought about Grainne, he spilled the water. When he thought about Diarmid he was filled with sorrow and carried the water, but by the time he reached him,
Diarmid was dead.

Finn and the Feinne walked up the side of the burn till they came to the place where Grainne was, and they went inside. There they saw the two beds set apart and they knew that Diarmid was
without guilt. They were all filled with sorrow for all that had happened from beginning to end. And they burned

ING
Arthur’s sons, and their sister, Burd Ellen, were playing at the ball. Childe
Rowland kicked it, caught it with his knee, and sent it over the kirk. Burd Ellen went to look for the ball and did not come back. So her eldest brother went to the warlock Merlin.

‘Do you know where my sister, Burd Ellen, is?’

‘Burd Ellen,’ said Merlin, ‘was carried away by the fairies. She is now in the King of Elfland’s castle.’

‘If it is possible to bring her back,’ said her brother, ‘I’ll do it, or die.’

‘It is possible,’ said Merlin, ‘but woe to him who tries it if he is not clear beforehand what to do.’

Burd Ellen’s brother made up his mind to try and rescue his sister. Merlin trained him, and he set out. But he failed to carry out Merlin’s instructions, and was heard of no
more.

The second brother set out in the same way. But he too failed to carry out Merlin’s instructions, and was heard of no more.

Childe Rowland, the youngest brother, got the Queen’s consent to look for his sister. He took his father’s good sword, that never struck in vain, and went to Merlin’s cave. The
warlock gave him all the necessary instructions for his journey.

‘After you have entered Elfland, you must do everything I tell you, or you’ll be in trouble,’ said Merlin. ‘You must strike off the head of
everyone
you meet with your good sword, whether you want to or not. You’ll be offered food and drink, but you must not eat a bite nor drink a drop, no matter how hungry or thirsty you may be, or
you’ll never again see middle-earth.’

Childe Rowland said that he would be careful to do all that Merlin had told him, then he set out, and travelled on and farther on, till he came to a field where the King of Elfland’s
horseherd was feeding the King’s horses. He knew then that he was in Elfland and that he must be very careful.

‘Tell me,’ said he, ‘where is the King of Elfland’s castle?’

‘I can’t tell you,’ said the horseherd, ‘but go on a little farther, and you’ll come to the cowherd. Maybe he can tell you.’

Then Childe Rowland drew the good sword that never struck in vain and cut off the horseherd’s head. He went on a little farther till he met the King of Elfland’s cowherd, tending the
King’s cows.

‘Tell me,’ said Childe Rowland, ‘where is the King of Elfland’s castle?’

‘I can’t tell you,’ said the cowherd, ‘but go on a little farther, and you’ll come to the shepherd. Maybe he can tell you.’

Then Childe Rowland drew the good sword that never struck in vain, and cut off the cowherd’s head. He went on a little farther till he met the King of Elfland’s shepherd, tending the
King’s sheep.

‘Tell me, where is the King of Elfland’s castle?’

‘I can’t tell you,’ said the shepherd, ‘but go on a little farther, and you’ll come to the goatherd. Maybe he can tell you.’

Then Childe Rowland drew the good sword that never struck in vain, and cut off the shepherd’s head. He went on a little farther, till he met the King of Elfland’s goatherd, tending
the King’s goats.

‘Tell me, where is the King of Elfland’s castle?’

‘I can’t tell you,’ said the goatherd, ‘but go on a little farther till you meet the swineherd. Maybe he’ll tell you.’

Then Childe Rowland drew the good sword that never struck in vain, and cut off the goatherd’s head. And he went on a little farther till he met the King of Elfland’s swineherd,
feeding the King’s swine.

‘Tell me, where is the King of Elfland’s castle?’

‘I can’t tell you,’ said the swineherd, ‘but go on a little farther till you come to the hen-wife. Maybe she’ll tell you.’

Then Childe Rowland drew his good sword that never struck in vain, and cut off the swineherd’s head. And he went on a little farther till he met the King of Elfland’s hen-wife,
feeding the King’s hens.

‘Tell me, where is the King of Elfland’s castle?’

‘Go on a little farther,’ said the hen-wife, ‘till you come to a round green hill surrounded by rings from the bottom to the top. Go round it three times widdershins, and every
time say, ‘Open, door! Open, door! and let me come in!’ The third time, the door will open, and you may go in.’

Then Childe Rowland drew the good sword that never struck in vain, and cut off the hen-wife’s head.

He went three times widdershins round the green hill, crying, ‘Open, door! Open, door! and let me come in!’ The third time, the door opened, and he went in. The
door closed behind him.

He went through a long passage, where the air was warm. There were neither windows nor candles, and the half-light came from the walls and the ceiling.

He came to two wide and high folding doors, standing ajar. He entered a great hall, rich and brilliant, extending the whole length and height of the hill. From the centre of the ceiling was
hung, by a gold chain, an immense lamp of one hollow translucent pearl, in the centre of which was suspended a great carbuncle, that by the power of magic, turned round and shed over the hall a
clear and gentle light, like the setting sun.

At the farther end of the hall, under a canopy and seated on a sofa of velvet and silk and gold, combing her yellow hair with a silver comb, sat his sister, Burd Ellen.

Under the power of a magic she could not resist, Burd Ellen brought him a bowl of bread and milk. But he remembered Merlin’s warnings. ‘I will neither taste nor touch food nor drink,
till I have set you free,’ said Childe Rowland to his sister.

At that moment, the folding doors opened, and the King of Elfland came in, with

‘Strike then, Bogle, if you dare!’ said Childe Rowland. He drew his good sword that never struck in vain.

In the fight that followed, the King of Elfland was struck to the ground. Childe Rowland spared him, but the King of Elfland had to give him back his sister, Burd Ellen, and his two brothers who
lay in a trance in a corner
of the hall. The King of Elfland brought a small crystal phial holding a bright red liquid. With it he anointed the lips, nostrils, eyelids, ears
and finger tips of the two young men, who at once woke up, and the four of them returned home.

NCE
upon a time there was a King in Scotland whose name was Cumhal. He had a great dog
that used to watch the herd. When the cattle were sent out, the dog would lead them to good grass. The dog would herd them there for a day, and in the evening would bring them home.

A man and his wife lived near the King’s house, and they had one son. Every evening they sent their son on errands to the King’s house.

One evening the boy was on his way there. He had a ball and a stick, and was playing shinty on the way. The King’s dog met him and began to play with the ball, lifting it in his mouth and
running with it.

The boy struck the ball in the dog’s mouth, drove it down the dog’s throat and choked him. After that the boy had to keep the King’s cattle instead of the dog. He drove the
cattle to grass in the morning, herded them all day and brought them home in the evening.

So he was called Cuchulainn, which means Cumhal’s dog.

One day Cuchulainn was driving the cattle when he saw a giant so big he could see the sky between his legs. The giant came toward him, driving a great ox. The two great horns on the ox had their
points backward instead of forward.

‘I’m going to sleep here,’ said the giant. ‘If you see another giant coming, wake me. I’ll not be easily wakened.’

‘What’s the best way to waken you?’ said Cuchulainn.

‘Take the biggest stone you can find,’ said the giant, ‘and strike me on the chest. That’ll waken me!’

The giant lay and slept. He hadn’t slept long when Cuchulainn saw another giant coming. He was so big he could see the sky between his legs.

Cuchulainn tried to waken the first giant, but waken him he could not. At last he lifted a large stone, and struck the giant on the chest. The giant woke up.

‘Is there another giant coming?’ said he.

‘There he comes!’ said Cuchulainn, pointing.

‘Hi, Crumple Toes, you’ve stolen my ox!’ said the other giant.

‘I didn’t steal it, Shamble Shanks,’ said the first giant.

Shamble Shanks seized one horn of the ox, and Crumple Toes the other. Shamble Shanks broke the horn off at the bone. He threw it away and it fell foremost into the earth.

He seized the head of the ox, and the two giants hauled. They tore the ox apart, through the middle to the root of the tail. Then they began to wrestle.

Cuchulainn started to cut steps up the back of the second giant’s leg, to make a stair. Shamble Shanks felt something stinging the back of his leg, so he put his hand down and threw
Cuchulainn away.

Cuchulainn went feet first into the ox’s horn, and could not climb out. Crumple Toes seized his chance, knocked Shamble Shanks down, and killed him. He looked about for Cuchulainn, but
could not see him.