Part 14 (1/2)

But he saw more. Instead of the old horse he had ridden into the lake he was bestride a n.o.ble steed, and as the steed swam to the bank the dwarf felt a change coming over himself, and an unknown vigor in his limbs.

When the steed touched the sh.o.r.e he galloped up the hillside, and on the top of the hill was a silver s.h.i.+eld, bright as the sun, resting against a spear standing upright in the ground.

The dwarf jumped off, and, running towards the s.h.i.+eld, he saw himself as in a looking-gla.s.s.

He was no longer a dwarf, but a gallant knight. At that moment his memory came back to him, and he knew he was Conal, one of the Knights of the Red Branch, and he remembered now that the spell of dumbness and deformity had been cast upon him by the Witch of the Palace of the Quicken Trees.

Slinging his s.h.i.+eld upon his left arm, he plucked the spear from the ground and leaped on to his horse. With a light heart he swam back over the lake, and nowhere could he see the black Cormorants of the Western Seas, but three white swans floating abreast followed him to the bank.

When he reached the bank he galloped down to the sea, and crossed to the sh.o.r.e.

Then he flung the reins upon his horse's neck, and swifter than the wind the gallant horse swept on and on, and it was not long until he was bounding over the enchanted moor. Wherever his hoofs struck the ground, gra.s.s and flowers sprang up, and great trees with leafy branches rose on every side.

At last the knight reached the little hut. Three times he struck the s.h.i.+eld with the haft and three times with the blade of his spear. At the last blow the hut disappeared, and standing before him was the little princess.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ”Standing before him was the little princess”]

The knight took her in his arms and kissed her; then he lifted her on to the horse, and, leaping up before her, he turned towards the north, to the palace of the Red Branch Knights, and as they rode on beneath the leafy trees from every tree the birds sang out, for the spell of silence over the lonely moor was broken for ever.

NOTES

I

_Liban the Mermaid_

Liban was the daughter of Ecca, son of Mario, King of Munster. Ecca, having conquered the lords.h.i.+p of the half of Ulster, settled down with his people in the plain of the Gray Copse, which is now covered by the waters of Lough Necca, now Lough Neagh. A magic well had sprung up in the plain, and not being properly looked after by the woman in charge of it, its waters burst forth over the plain, drowning Ecca and nearly all his family. Liban, although swept away like the others, was not drowned.

She lived for a whole year, with her lap-dog, in a chamber beneath the lake, and G.o.d protected her from the water. At the end of that time she was weary, and when she saw the speckled salmon swimming and playing all round her, she prayed to be changed into a salmon that she might swim with the others through the green, salt sea. Her prayer was granted; she took the shape of a salmon, except her face and breast, which did not change. And her lap-dog was changed into an otter, and attended her afterwards whithersoever she went as long as she lived in the sea.

It is nearly eight hundred years ago since the story was transcribed from some old authority into the ”Book of the Dun Cow,” the oldest ma.n.u.script of Gaelic literature we possess.--Joyce's ”Old Celtic Romances,” p. 97.

II

_The House in the Lake_

In the Irish annals lake dwellings, which were formerly common in Ireland, are called _crannogs_, from _crann_, a tree, either because of the timber framework of which the island was formed or of the wooden huts erected thereon.

Some _crannogs_ appear to have been veritable islands, the only means of communication with the land being canoes. Remains of these have been frequently found near the dwelling, in some instances alongside the landing stage, as if sunk at their moorings.

”Favorite sites for _crannogs_ were marshes, small loughs surrounded by woods and large sheets of water. As providing good fis.h.i.+ng grounds the entrance to or exit of a stream from a lake was eagerly selected.”--”Lake Dwellings of Ireland,” Col. Wood Martin, M.R.I.A.

III