Part 19 (1/2)
Now the boat in which she was brought to land was kept half full of sea water, in which she remained swimming about. And many came to see her; and all were filled with wonder when they saw her strange shape and heard her story.
Among the rest came the chief of the tribe of Hua-Conang, wearing a purple cloak; and she kept gazing at him earnestly. The young chief, seeing this, said to her--
”Dost thou wish to have this cloak? If so, I will give it to thee willingly.”
But she answered, ”Not so: I desire not thy cloak. But it brings to my mind my father Ecca; for on the day he was drowned, he wore a cloak of purple like thine. But may good luck be on thee for thy gentleness, and on him who shall come after thee in thy place; and in every a.s.sembly where thy successor sits, may he be known to all without inquiry.”
After that there came up a large-bodied, dark-visaged, fierce hero, and killed her lap-dog. Whereupon she was grieved; and she told him that the heroism of himself and his tribe should be stained by the baseness of their minds, and that they should not be able to defend themselves against injuries till they should do penance, by fasting, for her sake.
Then the warrior repented what he had done, and humbled himself before her.
And now there arose a contention about her, as to whom she should belong. Comgall said she was his, forasmuch as she was caught in his territory. But Fergus urged that she belonged to him by right, as it was in his net she was taken. And Beoc said he had the best right of all to her, on account of the promise she had made to him.
And as no one could settle the dispute, these three saints fasted and prayed that G.o.d would give a judgment between them, to show who should own Liban.
And an angel said to one of the company, ”Two wild oxen will come hither to-morrow from Carn-Arenn, that is to say, from the grave-mound of Liban's sister, Ariu. Yoke a chariot to them, and place the mermaid in it; and into whatsoever territory they shall bring her, she shall remain with the owner thereof.”
The oxen came on the morrow, as the angel had foretold. And when they were yoked, and when Liban was placed in the chariot, they brought her straightway to Beoc's church, namely to Tec-Da-Beoc.
Then the saints gave her a choice--either to die immediately after baptism, and go to heaven; or to live on earth as long as she had lived in the sea, and then to go to heaven after these long ages. And the choice she took was to die immediately. Whereupon Comgall baptised her; and he gave her the name of Murgen, that is, ”Sea-born,” or Murgelt, that is ”Mermaid.”
And she is counted among the holy virgins, and held in honour and reverence, as G.o.d ordained for her in heaven; and wonders and miracles are performed through her means at Tec-Da-Beoc.
FOOTNOTES:
[LVII.] Muman, _i.e._ Munster.
[LVIII.] Slieve Eblinne, now Slieve Eelim or Slieve Phelim, in Tipperary, sometimes called the Twelve Hills of Evlinn. ”Eblinne” is the genitive of ”Ebliu.”
[LIX.] Now Lough Ree, on the Shannon.
[LX.] See note, page 62; see also note 1 at the end of the book.
[LXI.] The Plain of the Grey Copse, according to the legend, was the name of the plain now covered by Lough Neagh.
[LXII.] Ulad, _i.e._ Ulster.
[LXIII.] Lough Necca, now Lough Neagh.
[LXIV.] Gregory, _i.e._ Pope Gregory.
[LXV.] Dalaradia, the old name of a territory which included the southern half of the county Antrim and a part of Down.
[LXVI.] Inver Ollarba, _i.e._ the _inver_, or mouth of the river Ollarba, which was the ancient name of the Larne Water, in Antrim.
[LXVII.] Miluc, or Meelick, the name of an ancient ecclesiastical establishment in the county Antrim. See ”Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Down, Connor, and Dromore” (page 3), by the Rev. William Reeves, M.B., M.R.I.A.
CONNLA OF THE GOLDEN HAIR, AND THE FAIRY MAIDEN.