Maev

“ There was a scattering of fire and a clashing of swords and spears, when the word went from Maev. Soon all were at the Stones beneath the great oak.
“Cut the bonds from the feet of the sea-rovers, and let them stand.” Thus commanded the Queen.
The tall fair men out of Lochlin stood, with their hands bound behind them. In their eyes burned wrath and shame, because that they were the sport of women. A bitter death theirs, with no sword-song for music. “Take each by his long yellow hair,” said Scathach, “and tie the hair of each to a down-caught bough of the oak.” ”

“ Maev now tried to tempt him by great largesse to desert the cause of Ulster, and had a colloquy with him, the two standing on opposite sides of a glen across which they talked. She scanned him closely, and was struck by his slight and boyish appearance. She failed to move him from his loyalty to Ulster, and death descends more thickly than ever upon the Connacht host; the men are afraid to move out for plunder save in twenties and thirties, and at night the stones from Cuchulain's sling whistle continually through the camp, braining or maiming. ”

“ Though Maev made peace with Ulster after the battle of Garech she vowed the death of Cuchulain for all the shame and loss he had brought upon her and on her province, and she sought how she might take her vengeance upon him.
Now the wife of the wizard Calatin, whom Cuchulain slew at the Ford, brought forth, after her husband's death, six children at a birth, namely, three sons and three daughters. Misshapen, hideous, poisonous, born for evil were they; and Maev, hearing of these, sent them to learn the arts of magic, not in Ireland only, but in Alba ”

“ Gathering together men from all the other four provinces of Ireland, Maev marched against Ulster, the leaders of her army being herself, her husband Ailill, and Fergus the son of Rog, an exile from Ulster, and formerly, according to one account, king of that province. Not only had Maev great superiority in force, but the time she Ed chosen for the war was when Conor, king of Ulster, and with him nearly all his principal warriors, were on their sick-bed in accordance with a curse that had fallen on them in return for a cruel deed that he and his people had done. ”

“ When, mid-ford, on Uladh's border, young Cuchullin stood alone,
Maev and all her hosts withstanding:— ‘Now, for love of knightly play,
Yield the youth his soul's demanding; let the hosts their marchings stay,
“'Till the death he craves be given; and, upon his burial stone
Champion-praises duly graven, make his name and glory known;
For, in speech-containing token, age to ages never gave
Salutation better spoken, than, “Behold a hero's grave.”’
“What, another and another, and he still or combat calls? ”

“ Conor, many a field who gaineth,
Chief of Ulster's lords in fight,
Rage and fury naught restraineth
Till he sack Glenn Geirg to-night!
Maev.
Why of Conor be affrighted?
He will hardly win the glen!
Gerg, to Mani's power united,
Is enough for Conor's men.
The Bade.
Mani is of noble figure,
Lofty courage fires his mind;
Yet too small to-night his vigour
In the glen the war shall find.
Maev.
Well, if Mani More is dying,
Death shall rage through vanquished hosts;
Connaught raises heroes, vieing
With the best that Eman boasts! ”

“ Maev with her own hand struck down sixteen warriors, also the two Amalgaid, even the two sons of Conor. One hundred of the men of Ulster were slain; but four hundred of the men of Connaught and the people of Maev fell in the fight, and Maev was defeated. Then the men of Ulster went to the burg (where Gerg had dwelt) , and none of the folk of that burg escaped from their hands ”

“ AT the time which is commonly known as the Heroic Age in Ireland, which tradition places in the first century of our era, the ruler of the kingdom of Connaught was the celebrated Queen Maev. In the tale of "The Courtship of Ferb" we hear that the son of Maev and her husband Alill, was a youth called Māni, usually known by the name of Māni More or Māni the tall, who surpassed in beauty and skill all the young men in Connaught of his time. ”

“ Maev selected seven hundred armed men, the best that could at the time be found in Croghan. Then came Donnell the Red, surnamed Donnell of the broad countenance, the son of Duban, who was the son of Ingamain; he was the best warrior under shield and sword and spear to be found in the province of Connaught, and he also was foster-brother to Mani. And he followed on the track of Fiannamail in front of all the others; thirty warriors had he with him, and the name of each one of them was Donnell. Maev also followed with her host behind Donnell and his men. ”

“ And the Druid said only: “Whoever comes hack in safety, or comes not, thou thyself shalt come.” But on her journey back she saw suddenly standing before her chariot-pole a young maiden with tresses of yellow hair that fell below her knees, and clad in a mantle of green; and with a shuttle of gold she wove a fabric upon a loom. “Who art thou, girl?” said Maev, [pg 206] “and what dost thou?” “I am the prophetess, Fedelma, from the Fairy Mound of Croghan,” said the maid, “and I weave the four provinces of Ireland together for the foray into Ulster.” “How seest thou our host?” asked Maev. ”

“ Then one day, watching his opportunity by the shores of Loch Ryve, he saw Maev enter the water, and putting a bullet in his sling he shot at her with so good an aim that he smote her in the centre of the forehead and she fell dead.
The great warrior-queen had reigned in Connacht, it was said, for eighty-eight years. She is a signal example [pg 246] of the kind of women whom the Gaelic bards delighted to portray. Gentleness and modesty were by no means their usual characteristics, but rather a fierce overflowing life. ”

“ When the men must be fed of Ireland, led on the Raid for the
Cuailgne [FN#64] Kine!"
Thus Ailill spoke; and Queen Maev replied, "The men to perform that task
Right well I know; for our sons will go, if we for their aid but ask!
The seven daughters of Regamon do the Mani in love now seek:
If those maidens' hands they can gain by the deed, they will heed the
words we speak." ”

“ Bricriu approaches Fergus on his return, and induces him to go in the guise of an ambassador to Ailill the Fair, with the secret intention of carrying off Flidais. Fergus receives the sanction of Maev and her husband for his errand, and departs, but not as in the older version with a few followers; all the Ulster exiles are with him. Dubhtach, by killing a servant of Maev, embroils Fergus with the queen of Connaught; and the expedition reaches Ailill the Fair's castle. Fergus sends Bricriu, who has most unwillingly accompanied him, to ask for hospitality ”

“ A tomb above the dead they raise, and sad the tale will
⁠run:
Badb [1] shall destroy! force wild and dread from Maev
⁠the field shall win;
The slain lie heaped, her host hath fled; how sad the
⁠storm wind's din!
"If ye be obedient to my counsel," said the Druid, "this very night shall ye depart from the castle." And Mani was wroth, and with anger he rebuked the Druid for the words which he had spoken; and "No cause," said Gerg, "is there why ye should be in terror for him of whom he hath warned you, since no muster of heroes or of warriors from Ulster hath Conor with him at all. ”

“ Her brother's death with grief will fill her breast.
She'll weep for Ferb who such a loss must bear.
Nor Maev, nor Alill, on Mag Ay [6] who dwell,
Can yet endure to live and bear such woes;
And none thy countenance so changed can tell,
Alas, my cup of sorrow overflows!
Then came to the side of Conor his two sons, even Niall and Feradach. And Maev drew nigh till she was in sight of the field of battle, and seven hundred warriors was the following that she had with her. She formed her troops into a compact and stubborn band, and she raised weapons fit for the battle before her ”

“ Forty kine who grazed his pastures gave him milk to rear his wards;
Royal blood his charges boasted, sprung from Munster's noblest lords.
Maev and Ailill sought to meet him: heralds calling him they sent:
"Seven days hence I come" said Eocho; and the heralds from him went.
Now, as Eocho lay in slumber, in the night a vision came;
By a youthful squire attended, rose to view a fairy dame:
"Welcome be my greeting to you!" said the king: "Canst thou discern
Who we are?" the fairy answered, "how didst thou our fashion learn?" ”

“ Pronounced Kell-ny.
"O my friend Ferdia!" said Cuchulain, "it was not right for thee to have come to the combat and the fight with me, at the instigation and the meddling of Ailill and Maev: none of those who came before thee have gained for themselves victory or success, and they all fell at my hand; neither shalt thou win victory or success from this battle, by me shalt thou fall." And it was in this manner that he was speaking, and he recited these words, and Ferdia hearkened to him:
Come not near, thou powerful man! ”

“ Woe to him who here on hillock stands, that Hound to wait;
Emain Macha's perfect Hound is he, foretold by fate:
Last year I cried
That him I spied
Who guards his land from foe:
That battle-Hound, on whom are found all hues to glow:
'Twas then from far I heard that car: its sound I know.
"O my servant!" said Ferdia, "wherefore is it: that thou hast continued in thy praise of this man ever since the time that I left my tent? surely it must be a reward that thou seekest at his hand, so greatly dost thou extol him; yet Ailill and Maev have foretold that it is by me he shall fall. ”

“ In pre-historic times all this country side at the foot of Burren, from Gort to Loughrea, and for miles apart, is said to have been the favourite hunting-ground of Queen Maev. Kinvara, away on an inlet of Galway Bay, is a fishing village, and the locality is celebrated for the "succulent oysters"—which in the season are to be found in every restaurant in Dublin. The antiquary will find his way easily to Corcomroe Abbey—the church is still in a good state of preservation. Donald More O'Brien, King of Limerick, is commonly believed to have built it in the twelfth century. ”

“ All these were the gifts that the fairy gave, and gaily they made their
start,
And to Croghan's [FN#3] hold, in that guise so brave, away did the host
depart.
[FN#3] Pronounced Crow-han.
On the fort stands a watchman to view them,
And thus news down to Croghan he calls:
"From yon plain comes, in fulness of numbers,
A great army to Croghan's high walls;
And, since Ailill the throne first ascended,
Since the day we hailed Maev as our Queen,
Never army so fair nor so splendid
Yet hath come, nor its like shall be seen." ”

“ Have ye journeyed here with a force of men? how great is the strength
of your band?"
"Seven score are there here for the fight," he said, "the warriors are
near at hand!"
"Wait here," said she; "to my sisters four I go of the news to tell:
"And with thee we side!" all the maidens cried, "and we trust we shall
aid thee well,"
Away from the princes the maidens sped, they came to their sisters four,
And thus they spoke: "From the Connaught land come men, who are here at
your door;
The sons of Ailill and Maev have come; your own true loves are they!" ”

“ In the hours of your greatest need ye shall be weak and helpless as women in childbirth, and this shall endure for five days and four nights—to the ninth generation the curse shall be upon you.” And so it came to pass; and this is the cause of the Debility of the Ultonians that was wont to afflict the warriors of the province.
Conor mac Nessa
The chief occasion on which this Debility was manifested was when Maev, Queen of Connacht, made the famous Cattle-raid of Quelgny (Tain Bo Cuailgné) , which forms the subject of the greatest tale in Irish literature. ”

“ Before them went three Druids with crowns of silver on their heads; their mantles were of many colours, their shields were of copper, and the rims of the shields were brass. They were attended by three harp-players in purple cloaks, each of them kingly to look upon.
In this fashion then they came to Croghan, and three times they paraded upon the plain of Croghan. They parted from Maev and from Alill, and they turned to the road for the journey to Rath Ini. "Fair is the start that you make," said Briccriu, as he saw them go, " but will you look so fair when you return? ”

“ One hero however, Cuchulain, the greatest of the Ulster heroes, was unaffected by this curse; and he, with only a few followers, but with supernatural aid from demi-gods of whose race he came, had caused much loss to the queen and her army, so that Maev finally made this compact: she was each day to provide a champion to oppose Cuchulain, and was to be permitted to advance so long as that combat lasted; if her champion was killed, she was to halt her army until the next morning. ”

“ Hoarse Mævius reads his hobbling verse To all, and at all times, And finds them both divinely smooth, His voice as well as rhymes.
Yet folks say Mævius is no ass; But Mævius makes it clear That he's a monster of an ass,— An ass without an ear!
————
Swans sing before they die,—'t were no bad thing Did certain persons die before they sing. ”

“ The L.U. version makes Flidais assist in the War of Cualgne by feeding the army of Ailill each seventh day with the produce of her cows; she dies after the war as wife of Fergus; the Glenn Masain version, in the "Pursuit of the Cattle of Flidais," makes the Gamanrad clan, the hero-clan of the West of Ireland, pursue Maev and Fergus, and rescue Flidais and her cow; Flidais then returns to the west with Muiretach Menn, the son of her murdered husband, Ailill the Fair. ”