Ossian Collection > Waifs and strays of Celtic tradition > Volume 4

Fioniis Ransom. 245
man stood and said to them, "If you could not acquit
yourselves better than that, you might as well have
remained where you were," and he gave a bound and
reached the top of the mast. When he came down
he said to Fionn, " It is too large to be a hooded
crow, and too small to be land ; but keep the course
you are on." Next day they were in harbour in the
Kingdom of Big Men. When they reached the anchor-
ing ground they could not get to land. There were
three Fiery Darts gleaming all round the harbour. Then
the little, low-set, waddling man put a hollow-shaped,
resisting shield on his right hand, and on his left gave
the standing (or magic) leap of three bounds, and reached
land. After that he took Fionn and his three foster
brothers safely on shore with him. The four then
began to walk abroad through the island. On their way
they met a tall woman with a brown, fat, little lap-dog
at her heels, and every time the lap-dog looked at Fionn
his lost teeth were in their place in his mouth as they
should be, but when the lap-dog turned from him the
teeth dropped out.
The foster-brothers now thought they had found
Fionn's ransom, and they carried off with them the
tall woman and the lap-dog to the ship, and left the
little, low-set Swaddler alone on the island. He was
travelling, and ever moving right on before him. In the
dusk of the evening he saw a small dwelling-house, with
a light in it, by the road-side. He entered and found a
large fire burning, but there was no one before him.
However, he was not long waiting and listening when a
tall man returned home and said, " What news has the
little low-set Swaddler?" He replied that he had no
news, unless he got any from the tall man who had
come home.
" My news are but sorrowful," said the tall man, " for
my beautiful sister, who used to put me in the bath