Legends That Every Child Should Know

Dearg, it did not please him, and he left the gathering without leave and with no word to any one; for he thought it was he himself had a right t

ount of his not giving obedience to the king they had chosen. "We will not do that," said Bodb Dearg, "for that man would defend an

died from him after a sickness of three nights. And that came very hard on Lir, and there was hea

my help and my friendship would be good for him now, since his wife is not living to him. For I have here with me the three young girls of the best shape, and the best appearance, and the best na

a foster-child of his foster-children. And Lir thought well of the offer, and he set out on the morrow with fifty chariots from Sidhe Fionna-chaidh; and he went by every short way till he cam

r." "I cannot say," said Lir, "which one of them is my choice, but whichever of them is the eldest, she is the noblest, and it is better for me to take her." "If that is so," said Bodb, "it is Aobh is the eldest, and she will be

was brought to bed again, and this time she gave birth to two sons, and they called them Fiachra and Conn. And she herself died at their b

odb Dearg said: "It is a fret to us our daughter to have died, for her own sake and for the sake of the good man we gave her to, for we are thankful for hi

ouse. And there was honour and affection with Aoife for her sister's children; and inde

r own place again. And the Men of Dea were at that time using the Feast of Age in every hill of the Sidhe in turn; and when they came to Lir's hill those four children were their joy and delight fo

ealousy was kindled in Aoife, and she got to have

y the length of a year. And the end of that time she did a de

t Fionnuala had no mind to go with her, for she knew by her she had some plan for their death or their destruction, and she had seen

sake their father has given up my love, and I will give you your own choice of a reward out of all the good things of the wor

to put an end to the children with; but she being a woman and with no good

he bade them. And as soon as Aoife saw them out in the lake she struck them with a Druid rod, and put on them the shape of four swans, white and beautiful. And it is what she said: "Out

h you put us from wave to wave, there are times when we will touch the land. We shall get help when we are seen; help,

avenge it on you; and put some bounds now," she said, "to the time this enchantment is to stop on us." "I will do that," said Aoife, "and it is worse for you, you to have asked it of me. And the bounds I I set to your time are this, till the Woman from the South and the Man from the North will come together. And since you ask to hear it of me," she said, "no friend

the world equal to it; and your own sense and your own nobility will stay with you, the way it will not weigh so heavy on you to be in the shape of birds. And go away out of my sight now, children of Lir," she said, "with your white faces, with your stammer

kernel of death in him now; the groaning of the great hero is a

her from the chief people of the place. And the son of the Dagda asked her why she did not bring the children of Lir with her. "I will tell you that

oing on him, and it is what he did, he sent messengers to the North to Sidhe Fionnachaidh. And Lir asked them what did they come for. "On the head of your ch

t. And when he was as far as the shore of Loch Dairbhreach, the four children saw the horses coming toward them, and it is what Fionnuala said: "A welcome to the troop of horses I see coming near to the lake; the people they are bringing are

notice of the swans having the voice of living peop

mother, through the dint of her jealousy." "Is there any way to put you into your own shapes again?" said Lir. "There is no way," said Fionnuala, "fo

they gave out three great heavy sh

Fionnuala, "to live with any person at all from this time; but we have our own language, the Irish, and we have the power to sing sweet music, and it is

e swans, and they slept there quietly that night. And Lir rose u

ep though I am in my lying down. To be parted from

of Oilell of Aran, to the house. I would never have follow

he beautiful arms; it is not ready I am to go away fr

" said Lir. "It is not I that would not bring my children along with me; it was Aoife there beyond, your own foster-child and the sister of their mother, that put them in the shape o

very sharp reproach to Aoife, and he said: "This treachery will be worse for yourself in the end, Ao

odb. And with that he struck her with a Druid wand, and she was turned into a witch of the air there and then,

o the shore of Loch Dairbhreach, and they made their

And they used to be telling stories, and to be talking with the men of Ireland every day, and with their teachers and their fellow-pupils and their friends. And every night they used to sing very sweet music of the S

Dairbhreach through the length of three hundred years. And it is then Fionnuala said to her brothers: "

same as to be living people again, to be talking with their friends and their companions on

ir father and with their foster-father, and they ba

knowledge is in pledge. And farewell to our father

art from you, O pleasant company; my grief

rades, it is on the tormented course of the Maoil w

f the men of Domnann, it is a pity for the four comely children

you, let them all leave the lake now, the great tr

n Ireland and Alban. And that was a grief to the men of Ireland, and they gave out an order no swan

the wide coast about them, they were filled with cold and with sorrow, and they thought nothing

, "it is a pity for us not to be making ready for this night, for it is certain the storm will separate us from one another

the others, "to meet o

Seals, for we all h

en of Lir were scattered over the great sea, and the wideness of it set them astray, so that no one of them could know what way the others went. But after that storm a great quiet c

frozen to my sides my wings are; it is little that the win

ach without going into my own shape, it is

t under the shelter of my feathers; till the dead com

and after comely Conn, and with no account of them; m

s wet through and his head hanging, and her heart gave him a great welcome; and then Fiachra came wet and perished and worn out, and he could not say a word they could underst

put him in under the feathers of her breast, and Fiachra under her right wing and Conn under her left wing, the way she could put her fea

the night and the greatness of the snow and the hardness of the wind. And after they had suffered cold to the end of a year, a worse night again came on them, in the middle of winter. And they were on Carraig na Ron, and the water froze about them, and as they rested on t

ar the salt water to touch us, and there are bonds on us not to leave it; and if the salt

thers to cover our bodies; it is cold the r

e time she played enchantments on us,

the foam of flying manes of the sea; our share o

lefts of the rocks we are; it is on the hard

void it or to get shelter from it. And they were there by the shore under that hardship till such time as their feathers grew again, and their wings, and till t

ey saw a troop of riders, beautiful, of the one colour, with well-trained pure w

e riders are, sons of

y they might be some troop of the Sons o

know who they were, and when the riders saw them they ca

ach, of the chess, and a third part of the Riders of the Sidhe along with them, and it was for the swans they had bee

of all the men of Dea, and above all

nnachaidh, using the Feast of Age pleasantly and happily, and with no uneasiness on them, only for being

"for we have gone through great hardship and uneasine

ade this

ty of ale with them and of wine, although it is in a cold

covered over with curved feathers; but it is often we

and the bitter water of the sea; it is often we drank

wer of the waves; it is often there used to be spr

and through the noise of the waves, it is often a company of

over the current of the Maoil the way I never was use

ver of my wings on the sea. Aodh has his place under

Dearg on the pleasant ridge; the voice of Angus, his swee

n all the birds had gone through, and the state they were in. "We have no power over them," the

aid: "The time is come for us to leave this place. And it is to Irrus Domnann we must go now," she said, "after our three hundred years here. And indeed there will be no re

ed, and it is a life of misery and a cold life they led there. And one time the sea froze about them that they could not move a

nt. And then Fionnuala said: "The time is come for us to go back to Sidhe Fion

well to hear th

before them, and nothing in it but green hillocks and thickets of nettles, without a house, without a fire, without a hearthsto

a house, without a dwelling-place. To see it the w

hout women, without great kings; we never knew

he lighted house; without young men, without riders

chone! it is grief to my heart! It is plain to my

g and the gathering of people! I think it is a gr

going from one wave to another of the sea, we never

and bushes; the man is not living that would know

orning of the morrow and went to Inis Gluarie, and all the birds of the country gathered near them on Loch na-n Ean, the Lake of the Birds. And they used to go out to feed every day to the far parts of the cou

e often took notice of the birds, and their singing was sweet to him and he loved them greatly, and they love

of what happened the

the first night he came to the island, the children of Lir heard the voice of his bell, ringing near them. And the broth

Fionnuala; "and it is through that bell," she said

l the matins were done, and then they began

hat the children of Lir were singing it. And on the morning of the morrow he went forward to the Lake of the Birds, and he sa

ndeed," s

o this island beyond any other island, and let you come to land now," he said,

And he got a good smith and bade him make chains of bright silver for them, and he put a chain between Aodh and Fionnuala, and a chain between Conn and Fachra

of Cobthach, and Deoch, daughter of Finghin, was his wife. And that was the coming tog

came on her to get them, and she bade Lairgnen to bring

use there and then. And Lairgnen sent messengers after her to bring her back, and they did not overtake her till she was at Ci

d he. At that Lairgnen rose up, and he took hold of the swans, and pulled them off the altar, two birds in each hand, to bring them away to Deoch. But no sooner had he

death comes; and it is certain you do not think worse of parting with us than we do of parting with you. And make our grave afterward," she said, "and lay Conn on my

hra and Conn one at each side of her, and Aohd before her face. And a stone was put over them, and t

e fate of the