Ossian Collection > Loch Etive and the sons of Uisnach

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LOCH ETIVE AND THE SONS OF UISNACH.
yours. Near it was the palace of the old Kings of Connaught,
and it was not far from Carrick-on-Shannon. The king and
queen, Aillil and Meave, people of whom I told you, who lived
about nineteen hundred years ago, were amusing themselves
one winter evening with their followers, and they were, I dare
say, all bragging of their courage, when the king said he would
give his sword, a gold-hilted one, to the man who would go
out in the dark and bring a twig that was round the leg of one
of two men who had been hanged, and were still hanging.
Nera was a spirited youth and went, but on coming back he
saw as it were the palace on fire, and a host of men met him
who seemed to have plundered it. They passed but did not
take notice of him, and he followed. They went to a well-
known cave on the hill of Cruachan, whilst Nera followed.
But he was seized and taken before the king of the Tuatha De
Danann. Now this cave was not visible to ordinary human
eyes, but Nera's had been enlightened and he could even show
the place to others. The king said little to him, but ordered
him to bring a bundle of fire-wood to the kitchen" every day.
On one of these days he saw a blind man carrying a lame
man and depositing him near a fountain, and they had a dis-
pute about the right spot. He asked a woman, from whom
the king had told him to take instructions, who these people
were, and she said they were guardians of the Barr or Mind, a
crown of gold which the king wears, and these people were
trusted by the king. The fountain was in the cave, and the Barr
in the fountain. Nera told this at Cruachan, and King Aillil
obtained the assistance of Fergus MacRoigh and the Ulster
champions who had left home because of the murder of the
Sons of Uisnach, and plundered the cave and obtained the