Ossian Collection > Fictions of our forefathers

20 THE FICTIONS OF OUR FOREFATHERS.
The giant passed on before me, and crossed Eas Roe (now Ballj-
shannon) of the sua of Modhuirn, without wetting his foot • I
leaped over it after him. He then directed his course towards the
estuary of B inn-Eda ir, keepi ng the circ uit of Ei re to his ri<;ht hanci .
T he gia nt le¥^ed^ avier~(the estuar y), and it was_ajea2_sitniiar to a
tligFt over the sea] I sprang after him, an~d~having caught iimTTjy
the small of the back, laid him prostrate on the earth. * You have
dealt unjustly by me, O Fionn,' cried the giant, * for it was not with
you I arranged the combat, but with the Fenians.' I replied, that
the Fenians were not perfect, except I myself were with them. We
had not remained long thus, whe n Liaghan Luaimn each.fro m Luach ar
Deaghaidh came up to us ; he was followed b y~Caoilte Mac K onaiT7
together with the swiftest of the Fenians. Each of them cou^ed
his javelin, intending to drive it through the giant, and kill him in my
arms, but I protected him from their attacks. Soon after this the
main body of the Fenians arrived : they enquired what was the
cause of the delay, that the giant had not yet been slain. ' That is
bad counsel," said the giant, • for a better man than I am would be
slain in my eric' We bound the giant strongly on that occasion ;
and soon after Bran Beag O'B uadlichan came to invite me to a
feast, and all the 1< enians of Eire, wTio~were present, accompanied
him to his house. The banqueting hall had been prepared for our
reception at that time, and the giant was dragged into the middle of
the house, and was there placed in the sight of all present. They
asked him who he was. ' Roc, son of Diocan, is my name,' replied
he, ' that is, I am son to t he Letjislator of Aengus of the ^/up-A in
Jhe south. My wife poured a current of surprising affection and a'
torrent of deep love upon Sgiath Breac, son of Dathcaoin yonder,
who is your foster son, O Fionn. It hurt my feelings severely to hear
her boast of the swiftness and bravery of her lover in particular, and
of the Fenians in general, and I declared 1. would challenge him and
all the Fenians of Eire, to run a race with me ; but she sneered at
me. I then went to my beloved friend, Aengus of the Brugh, to
bemoan my fate ; and he metamorphosed me thus, and bestowed on
me the swiftness of a druidical wind, as you have seen.* This is my
history for you ; and you ought to be well satisfied with all the hurt
and injury you have inflicted on me already.' The giant was there-
7
• The wind was one of the deities of the pagan Irish.
The murmuring of the Red Wind from the east.
Is heard in its course by the strong as well as the weak ;
A wind that blasts the bottom of the trees.
And withers men, is that Red Wind!
Old Poem.
Hence we see that there was a supernatural agency attributed to
the Red Wind from the east by the Irish ; in fact the wind being
one of the pagan deities, it never lost any of its baneful influences in
the popular superstitions of the Celtic race, and charm-mongers
attributed much evil influence to its eflfects, and were wont to conjure
it very menacingly in their spells. (Translator).