Ultonians

“ For the war-steeds of the Ultonians neighed loudly in their stables, and from the Tec Brac, the Speckled House of the Red Branch, rose a clangour of brass, the roar of the shield called Ocean, and the booming of the Gate-of-Battle, and the singing of swords long silent, and the brazen thunder of the revolution of wheels; and he saw strange forms and faces in the air, and the steady sun dancing in the heavens, and a man standing beside the stranger whose face was like the sun. The son of Amargin saw and heard all, for he was a seer and a prophet no less than a warrior. ”

“ Cuchulain despatches him to urge the Ultonians to his assistance. "Tell them how you found me," he said; "there is not the place of the point of a needle in me from head to foot without a wound, there is not a hair upon my body without a dew of crimson blood upon the top of every point, except my left hand alone that was holding my shield."
And now the Ultonians begin to rally and face the men of Erin. Troops are seen to pour in from every quarter of [Pg 336] Ulster, gathering upon the plains of Meath for the great battle that was impending. ”

“ This Irish classification, otherwise expressed, assumes a quasi-historical aspect: the Ultonian cycle of stories substitute the Ultonians under Conchobar for the Tuatha Dé under Nuada, and the Men of Erinn, that is to say, of Leinster, Munster and Connaught, for Fomori and Fir Bolg, whilst Lug, the great warrior of the Tuatha Dé, has his counterpart among the Ultonians in Lug's later self, Cúchulainn. The ranging of the Ultonians or the Men of Ulster against the Men of the rest of Erinn, looks like an anticipation of the history of Ireland in later times ”

“ When they reached Ulster, the Ultonian braves were in their couvade, and the frontier was left in the charge of Cúchulainn and his father. But when at last the Ultonians career forth in their war-chariots and pursue the western foe in his retreat, Conohobar and Fergus meet face to face in battle, and the former reminds the latter of his having driven him forth from his lands and inheritance to the haunts of the deer, the hare and the fox: we seem to be going to have a wordy description of a mighty combat ”

“ Then, son of Sualtam, how in thy guileless breast thy heart leaped when thou heardest the thundering of the great war-car and the wild neighing of the immortal steeds, as they broke from the dark stable into the clear-shining light of day, and heard behind them the ancient roaring of the brazen wheels, as in the days when they bore forth Macha and her martial groom against the giants of old, and mightily established in Eiria the Red Branch of the Ultonians! ”

“ To the land of the Ultonians there came on the morrow a mighty host, and the Red Branch was wiped out for ever. Emain Macha was cast into ruins, and Conor died in a madness of sorrow.
And still, in that land of Erin where she died, still in the lonely cleuchs and glens, and up the mist-hung mountain sides of Loch Etive, where she knew her truest happiness, we can sometimes almost hear the wind sighing the lament: “Deirdrê the beautiful is dead ... is dead!” ”

“ Her union with a man will be a cause of great sorrow to the Ultonians. Let her, therefore, be exposed after birth; or, if you would not slay the Arch-Poet’s only child, let her be sternly immured; let her be reared to womanhood in utter and complete and inviolable solitude, and live and die in her virginity.”
The Ultonians determined that the child should live and be immured. These things took place in the reign of Factna the Righteous, father of Concobar. When the child was born she was called Deirdre. The Ultonians appointed for her a nurse and tutoress named Levarcam. ”

“ The next group of tales to be mentioned gives us, for comparison with Gwydion and others, a remarkable Ultonian poet called Aitherne, who belonged to Conchobar mac Nessa's court at a time when the Ultonians are represented enjoying such prosperity and power that they were occasionally much puzzled how to find an excuse for invading and plundering their neighbours; but, when no other means of fomenting a respectable quarrel could be found, the poets and bards might be safely entrusted to do the work ”

“ But Ardan came forth, and put out the fire, and slew three hundred men, and after he had gone in, then came Ailne forth, and slew a countless multitude beside.
A glimmering ray of dim grey light now broke, and spread over the forms of dead and dying men.
It was at that hour that Nathos kissed Deirdre and went forth from the House. And there was not a man but quailed as the hero rushed upon the Ultonians and slew a thousand men.
When Concobar heard this, he sent for that Wise Man who in the house of Felim the Harper had foretold the sorrow that would come upon his realm. ”

“ Then Cathvah the Ard-Druid [Footnote: High Druid, or Chief Druid. Similarly we have Ard-Ri or High King.] spake.
“It hath been foretold,” he said, “long since, that the Ultonians shall win glory such as never was and never will be, and that their fame shall endure till the world’s end. But, first, there are prophecies to be accomplished and predictions to be fulfilled. For ere these things may be there shall come a child to Emain Macha, attended by clear portents from the gods; through him shall arise our deathless fame. ”

“ Gladly would I welcome them back!”
“We ourselves,” replied the Ultonians, “would have counselled this long ago had we dared, O King!”
“Then I will send one of my three best champions to fetch them,” said Conchobar. “Either Conall the Victorious, or Cuchulainn, the son of Sualtam, or Fergus, the son of Roy; and I will find out which of those three loves me best.”
First he called Conall to him secretly.
“What would you do, O Conall,” he asked, “if you were sent to fetch the sons of Usnach, and they were killed here, in spite of your safe-conduct?” ”

“ This is the Irish Sohrab and Rustum, the Celtic Hildebrand and Hadubrand. The son comes into Ireland, but in consequence of his mother's command, refuses to tell his name. This is looked upon as indicating hostility, and many of the Ultonians fight with him, but he overcomes them all, even the great Conall Cearnach. Conor in despair sends for Cuchulain, who with difficulty slays him by the feat of the Gae-Bolg, and then finds out when too late that the dying champion is his own son. ”

“ You preface your verses on Ulster by words from the mysterious oracles of humanity as if you had been inflamed and inspired by the prophet of God; and you go on to sing of faith in peril and patriotism betrayed and the danger of death and oppression by those who do murder by night, which things, if one truly feels, he speaks of without consideration of commerce or what it shall profit him to speak. ”

“ For now, as he looked upon the hideous features of Ulpius, as he saw the forbidden robe of priesthood in which the Pagan was arrayed, he beheld not only the traitor who had successfully plotted against the prosperity of his household, but the madman as well,—the moral leper of the whole human family—the living Body and the dead Soul—the disinherited of that Divine Light of Life which it is the awful privilege of mortal man to share with the angels of God. ”

“ Belonging to a Christian family he was educated in the principles of the Christian religion, and became a bishop. He taught the Goths the truths of the Bible, and many embraced Christianity. Indeed, so successful were the good bishop's labors among the people, that their chief showed his displeasure by persecuting the Christians. Then Ulfila and many of his followers, those whom he had shown the way of life, left the Goths, and, securing the permission of the Roman emperor, they settled upon Roman territory. ”

“ Such was the silence that if a needle fell from the roof to the floor it would be heard.
One of the prohibitions of the Ulstermen was to speak before the king; and one of the prohibitions of the king was to speak before his druids. ”

“ During the preceding century Christianity had been planted sporadically among the Goths beyond the Danube, through the agency in part of Christian captives, many of whom belonged to the order of clergy, and in part of merchants and traders. Ulfilas may therefore have been a convert to Christianity when he reached Constantinople. But it was here probably that he came into contact with the Arian doctrines which gave the form to his later teaching, and here that he acquired his command over Greek and Latin. ”

“ Oh, sweet Ulrica! Oh, most savage— (turns, and comes against countess.) Mercy! do I see right?
Count. You see your aunt, the countess Roland, who regrets extremely she didn't see you on your last visit—but you saw Ulrica; and if, as I presume, you come once more to see her— (Christopher more and more frightened.) You do; your looks, your fears, your agitation proves it; and to end at once yours, hers, and my anxiety—Ulrica!
Chris. Don't—don't alarm the family! Upon my honour. (appealing.)
Count. When I selected the son of baron Ravensburg, I hadn't the honor of knowing my charming nephew. ”

“ No, generous Ravensburg! Remonstrate with your father, and increase the esteem of Ulrica, by wiping away tears, which flow from silent, genuine passion! Hearts such as yours and Agnes's can best reward each other," Exalted woman! I will remonstrate with my father—now, instantly, and come what will, no nuptials shall be solemnized, but those which love shall crown— (taking her hand) —if you refute not what Ulrica writes. ”

“ There are others who say that it is the men of Ulster—and they like to saddle the whole thing upon the men of Ulster, as if there are no Protestants in any other part of Ireland— (hear, hear) —and they have invented that witty saying of Ulsteria. I think that our fellow subjects ought to be learning rapidly that it is nothing of the kind. ”

“ On hearing this rumour, Ulpius immediately joined the few who attended the new orator's discourses, and there heard enough to convince him that he listened to the most determined zealot for Christianity in the city of Rome. To gain this man's confidence, to frustrate every effort that he might make in his new vocation, to ruin his credit with his hearers, and to threaten his personal safety by betraying his inmost secrets to his powerful enemies in the Church, were determinations instantly adopted by the Pagan as duties demanded by the exigencies of his creed. ”

“ In one of these piratical expeditions, a prey of 'many thousand men' was brought across the sea, and placed as slaves among the tribes of Ulster. Among the rest was a young lad of sixteen, son of a deacon and grandson of a priest, who was destined by God to be thus prepared for a great mission, and to be the instrument in His hands of leading a whole nation to the knowledge of the truth. ”

“ Multitudes scaled the walls, gained the outer porticoes, and slaughtered their Pagan defenders, but were incessantly repulsed in their turn ere they could make their advantage good. Over and over again did the assailants seem on the point of storming the temple successfully, but the figure of Ulpius, invariably appearing at the critical moment among his disheartened followers, acted like a fatality in destroying the effect of the most daring exertions and the most important triumphs. ”

“ Thou art the first I have seen for twenty years by whom God was feared or man regarded; and dost thou bid me despair?"
"I bid thee repent," said Cedric; "but I cannot, I will not, longer abide with thee."
"Stay yet a moment!" said Ulrica. "Revenge henceforth shall possess me wholly, and thou thyself shalt say that, whatever was the life of Ulrica, her death well became the daughter of the noble Torquil. Hasten to lead your forces to the attack, and when thou shalt see a red flag wave from the eastern turret, press the Normans hard; they will have enough to do within. ”

“ You can't get rid of the Ulstermen—we are fighting fellows with England behind us; and if you could get rid of us it would be a gross injustice, for time settles such disputes as ours, and we have been here two hundred years. Make good Irishmen of us and the battle with England is won. And why not? Thirty years ago we were better Irishmen than any of you, and I assert that we might, could, would, and should become so again. But when an Orangeman is maimed in a Catholic riot the most moderate Protestant in Ulster thrills with sympathy. ”

“ What flood of emotions rushed into the vacant mind of Ulpius at the instant when he discerned the long-loved, well-known image of the Egyptian god, there was nothing for some moments outwardly visible in him to betray. His moral insensibility appeared but to be deepened as his gaze was now fixed with rigid intensity on the temple portico. ”

“ While still, through all that opposed him, the same fierce tenacity of purpose would have been invariably visible in every action of Ulpius, constantly confirming him in his mad resolution to make his victim the follower of his progress through the wall, ever guiding him with a strange instinct through every hindrance, and preserving him from every danger in his path, until it brought him forth triumphant, with his prisoner still in his power, again free to tread the desolate streets and mingle with the famine-stricken citizens of Rome. ”

“ Another influence not less powerful than religion had at the same time come into play. It had become the English policy to place great bodies of English and Scotch settlers on the land that was confiscated in consequence of rebellion, and under the impulse of the strong spirit of adventure which grew up in the generation that followed the Reformation, streams of English and Scotch adventurers poured over. The great settlement of Ulster under James I. proved ultimately a success, and laid the foundation of the prosperity of that province. ”