Celtic Lore & Legend Read Online Free Page B

exiles of Ulster went into the Hill and robbed it and brought away the crown of Briun, son of Smetra, that was made by the smith of Angus, son of Umor, and that was kept in the well at Cruachan, to save it from the Morrigu. And Nera was left with his people in the hill, and he has not come out till now, and he will not come out till the end of life and time.
    Now one time the Morrigu brought away a cow from the Hill of the Cruachan to the Brown Bull of Cuailgne, and after she brought it back its calf was born. And one day it went out of the Hill and bellowed three times. At that time Ailell and Fergus were playing draughts, for it was after Fergus had come as an exile from Ulster because of the death of the sons of Usnach, and they heard the bellowing of the bull-calf in the plain. Then Fergus said:
    “I do not like the sound of that calf bellowing. There will be calves without cows,” he said, “when the king goes on his march.”
    But now Ailell’s bull, Finbanach, the White-Horned met the calf on the plain of Cruachan, and they fought together, and the calf was beaten and it bellowed.
    “What did the calf bellow?” Maeve asked her cow-herd Buaigle.
    “I know that, my master Fergus,” said Bricriu. “It is the song that you were singing a while ago.” On that Fergus turned and struck with his fist at his head, so that five of the chessmen that were in his hand went into Bricriu’s head and it was a lasting hurt to him.
    “Tell me now Buaigle, what did the calf bellow?” said Maeve.
    “It said indeed,” said Buaigle, “that if its father, the Brown Bull of Cuailgne would come to fight with the White-Horned, he would not been seen any more in Ai, he would be beaten through the whole plain of Ai on every side.” And it is what Maeve said:
    “I swear by the gods my people swear by, I will not lie down on feathers or drink red or white ale, till I see those two bulls fighting before my face.”

Magical Stones
    No picture of the early Celtic landscape would be complete without its stone rings or individual upright-standing stones. In fact, they have come to characterize all that is Celtic about the countryside and have become so entwined with Celtic mythology that it would be neglectful to omit references to them from this selection.
    For the early Celts also, these stones were symbolic. Many of them had been left over from the great Ice Age. To the Celtic mind, they spoke of ancient giants who had inhabited the lands before them. The great stones were the dwelling places of fierce spirits who coexisted with the Celtic peoples themselves. They were to be treated with reverence.
    It is not clear whether the stone circles that once predominated the Celtic lands are directly attributable to the Celts themselves or to an earlier people. In many instances, they are referred to as “druid circles,” but it is not certain that this is strictly accurate. They were thought to be places of ritual, not only for the Celts but also for the peoples that camebefore them. Therefore, they were places of great supernatural power. Certainly the druids, the Celtic holy men, may well have used them for their own purposes, thus adding to the occult significance of these sites.
    Possibly the most famous of all these stone circles today is Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain in England, which attracts tourists and visitors from all over the world. It is certainly currently the most impressive of all the great megaliths. But in times more ancient, it must have been only one of a number of such menhirs scattered all through the Celtic world. Stonehenge, of course, was believed to have been magically brought from Ireland (where it was known as the Dance of the Giants) in the days of Vortigern, an early Celtic king. There were other great rings in Scotland, the most famous being the Ring of Kingussie in the Upper Spey Valley at the foot of the Cairngorms, which was supposedly used as a courthouse by the infamous Wolf of Badenoch in the 14th