At some time there was a king and a queen, and they had one son; but the queen died, and the king married another wife. The name of the son that the first queen had, was Iain Direach. He was a handsome lad; he was a hunter, and there was no bird at which he would cast his arrow, that he would not fell; and he would kill the deer and the roes at a great distance from him; there was no day that he would go out with his bow and his quiver, that he would not bring venison home.
He was one day in the hunting hill hunting, and he got no game at all; but there came a blue falcon past him, and he let an arrow at her, but he did but drive a feather from her wing. He raised the feather and he put it into his hunting bag, and he took it home; and when he came home his stepmother said to him, “Where is thy game to-day?” and he put his hand into the hunting bag, and he took out the feather and he gave it to her. And his stepmother took the feather in her hand, and she said, “I am setting it as crosses, and as spells, and as the decay of the year on thee; that thou be not without a pool in thy shoe, and that thou be wet, cold, and soiled, until thou gettest for me the bird from which that feather came.”
And he said to his stepmother, “I am setting it as crosses and as spells, and as the decay of the year on thee; that thou be standing with the one foot on the great house, and the other foot on the castle; and that thy face be to the tempest whatever wind blows, until I return back.”
And MacIain Direach went away as fast as he could to seek the bird from which the feather came, and his stepmother was standing with the one foot on the castle, and the other on the great house, till he should come back; and her front was to the face of the tempest, however long he might be without coming.
MacIain Direach was gone, travelling the waste to see if he could see the falcon, but the falcon he could not see; and much less than that, he could not get her; and he was going by himself through the waste, and it was coming near to the night. The little fluttering birds were going from the bush tops, from tuft to tuft, and to the briar roots, going to rest; and though they were, he was not going there, till the night came blind and dark; and he went and crouched at the root of a briar; and who came the way but An Gille Mairtean, the fox; and he said to him, “Thou’rt down in the mouth, MacIain Direach; thou camest on a bad night; I have myself but one wether’s trotter and a sheep’s cheek, but needs must do with it.”
They kindled a fire, and they roasted flesh, and they ate the wether’s trotter and the sheep’s cheek; and in the morning Gille Mairtean said to the king’s son, “Oh son of Iain Direach, the falcon thou seekest is by the great giant of the Five Heads, and the Five Humps, and the Five Throttles, and I will shew thee where his house is; and it is my advice to thee to go to be as his servant, and that thou be nimble and ready to do each thing that is asked of thee, and each thing that is trusted thee; and be very good to his birds, and it well may be that he will trust thee with the falcon to feed; and when thou gettest the falcon to feed be right good to her, till thou gettest a chance; at the time when the giant is not at home run away with her, but take care that so much as one feather of her does not touch any one thing that is within the house, or if it touches, it will not go well with thee.”
MacIain Direach said that he would take care of that; and he went to the giant’s house; he arrived, he struck at the door.
The giant shouted, “Who is there?”
“It is me,” said MacIain Direach, “one coming to see if thou has hast need of a lad.”
“What work canst thou do?” said the giant.
“It is this” said MacIain Direach, “I can feed birds and swine, and feed and milk a cow, or goats or sheep.”
“It is the like of thee that I want,” said the giant.
The giant came out and he settled wages on MacIain Direach; and he was taking right good care of everything that the giant had, and he was very kind to the hens and to the ducks; and the giant took notice how well he was doing; and he said that his table was so good since MacIain Direach had come, by what it was before, that he had rather one hen of those which he got now, than two of those he used to get before. “My lad is so good that I begin to think I may trust him the falcon to feed;” and the giant gave the falcon to MacIain Direach to feed, and he took exceeding care of the falcon; and when the giant saw how well MacIain Direach was taking care of the falcon, he thought that he might trust her to him when he was away from the house; and the giant gave him the falcon to keep, and he was taking exceeding care of the falcon.
The giant thought each thing was going right, and he went from the house one day; and MacIain Direach thought that was the time to run away with the falcon, and he seized the falcon to go away with her; and when he opened the door and the falcon saw the light, she spread her wings to spring, and the point of one of the feathers of one of her wings touched one of the posts of the door, and the door post let out a screech.
The giant came home running, and he caught MacIain Direach, and he took the falcon from him; and he said to him, “I would not give thee my falcon, unless thou shouldst get for me the White Glave of Light that the Big Women of Dhiurradh have;” and the giant sent MacIain away.
MacIain Direach went out again and through the waste, and the Gille Mairtean met with him, and he said—
“Thou art down in the mouth MacIain Direach; thou didst not, and thou wilt not do as I tell thee; bad is the night on which thou hast come; I have but one wether’s trotter and one sheep’s cheek, but needs must do with that.”
They roused a fire, and they made ready the wether’s trotter and the sheep’s check, and they took their meat and sleep; and on the next day the Gille Mairtean said, “We will go to the side of the ocean.”
They went and they reached the side of the ocean, and the Gille Mairtean said:
“I will grow into a boat, and go thou on board of her, and I will take thee over to Dhiurradh; and go to the seven great women of Dh’urra’h and ask service, that thou be a servant with them; and when they ask thee what thou canst do, say to them that thou art good at brightening iron and steel, gold and silver, and that thou canst make them bright, clear, and shiny; and take exceeding care that thou dost each thing right, till they trust thee the White Glave of Light; and when thou gettest a chance run away with it, but take care that the sheath does not touch anything on the inner side of the house, or it will make a screech, and thy matter will not go with thee.”
The Gille Mairtean grew into a boat, and MacIain Direach went on board of her, and he came on shore at Creagan nan Deargan, on the northern side of Dhiurradh, and MacIain Direach leaped on shore, and he went to take service with the Seven Big Women of Dhiurradh. He reached, and he struck at the door; the Seven Big Women came out, and they asked what he was seeking. He said he could brighten, or make clear, white and shiny, gold and silver, or iron or steel. They said, “We have need of thy like;” and set wages on him. And he was right diligent for six weeks, and put everything in exceeding order; and the Big Women noticed it; and they kept saying to each other, “This is the best lad we have ever had; we may trust him the White Glave of Light.”
They gave him the White Glave of Light to keep in order; and he was taking exceeding care of the White Glave of Light, till one day that the Big Women were not at the house, he thought that was the time for him to run away with the White Glave of Light. He put it into the sheath, and he raised it on his shoulder; but when he was going out at the door the point of the sheath touched the lintel, and the lintel made a screech; and the Big Women ran home, and took the sword from him; and they said to him, “We would not give thee our White Glave of Light, unless thou shouldst get for us the Yellow Bay Filly of the King of Eirinn.”
MacIain Direach went to the side of the ocean and the Gille Mairtean met him, and he said to him, “Thou’rt down in the mouth, MacIain Direach; thou didst not, and thou wilt not do as I ask thee; I have tonight but one wether’s trotter and one sheep’s cheek, but needs must do with it.”
They kindled a fire, and they roasted flesh, and they were satisfied. On the next day the Gille Mairtean said to MacIain Direach, “I will grow into a barque, and go thou on board of her, and I will go to Eirinn with thee; and when we reach Eirinn go thou to the house of the king, and ask service to be a stable lad with him; and when thou gettest that, be nimble and ready to do each thing that is to be done, and keep the horses and the harness in right good order, till the king trusts the Yellow Bay Filly to thee; and when thou gettest a chance run away with her; but take care when thou art taking her out that no bit of her touches anything that is on the inner side of the gate, except the soles of her feet; or else thy matter will not prosper with thee.”
And then the Gille Mairtean put himself into the form of a barque, MacIain Direach went on board, and the barque sailed with him to Eirinn. When they reached the shore of Eirinn, MacIain Direach leaped on land, and he went to the house of the king; and when he reached the gate, the gate-keeper asked where he was going; and he said that he was going to see if the king had need of a stable lad; and the gate-keeper let him past, and he reached the king’s house; he struck at the door and the king came out; and the king said, “What art thou seeking here?”
Said he, “With your leave, I came to see if you had need of a stable lad.”
The king asked, “What canst thou do?”
Said he, “I can clean and feed the horses, and clean the silver work, and the steel work, and make them shiny.”
The king settled wages on him, and he went to the stable; and he put each thing in good order; he took good care of the horses, he fed them well, and he kept them clean, and their skin was looking sleek; and the silver work and the steel work shiny to look at; and the king never saw them so well in order before. And he said, “This is the best stable lad I have ever had, I may trust the Yellow Bay Filly to him.”
The king gave the Yellow Bay Filly to MacIain Direach to keep; and MacIain Direach took very great care of the Yellow Bay Filly; and he kept her clean, till her skin was so sleek and slippery, and she so swift, that she would leave the one wind and catch the other. The king never saw her so good.
The king went one day to the hunting hill, and MacIain Direach thought that was the time to run away with the Yellow Bay Filly; and he set her in what belonged to her, with a bridle and saddle; and when he took her out of the stable, he was taking her through the gate, she gave a switch with her tail, and the point of her tail touched the post of the gate, and it let out a screech.
The king came running, and he took the filly from MacIain Direach; and he said to him, “I would not give thee the Yellow Bay Filly, unless thou shouldst get for me the daughter of the king of the French.”
And MacIain Direach needs must go; and when he was within a little of the side of the sea the Gille Mairtean met him; and he said to him, “Thou art down in the mouth, oh son of Iain Direach; thou didst not, and thou wilt not do as I ask thee; we must now go to France. I will make myself a ship, and go thou on board, and I will not be long till I take thee to France.”
The Gille Mairtean put himself in the shape of a ship, and MacIain Direach went on board of her, and the Gille Mairtean sailed to France with him, and he ran himself high up on the face of a rock, on dry land; and he said to MacIain Direach to go up to the king’s house and to ask help, and to say that his skipper had been lost, and his ship thrown on shore.
MacIain Direach went to the king’s house, and he struck at the door; one came out to see who was there; he told his tale and he was taken into the fort. The king asked him whence he was, and what he was doing here.
He told them the tale of misery; that a great storm had come on him, and the skipper he had was lost; and the ship he had thrown on dry land, and she was there, driven up on the face of a rock by the waves, and that he did not know how he should get her out.
The king and the queen, and the family together, went to the shore to see the ship; and when they were looking at the ship, exceeding sweet music began on board; and the King of France’s daughter went on board to see the musical instrument, together with MacIain Direach; and when they were in one chamber, the music would be in another chamber; but at last they heard the music on the upper deck of the ship, and they went above on the upper deck of the ship, and so it was that the ship was out on the ocean, and out of sight of land.
And the King of France’s daughter said, “Bad is the trick thou hast done to me. Where art thou for going with me?”
“I am,” said MacIain Direach, “going with thee to Eirinn, to give thee as a wife to the King of Eirinn, so that I may get from him his Yellow Bay Filly, to give her to the Big Women of Dhiurradh, that I may get from them their White Glave of Light, to give it to the Great Giant of the Five Heads, and Five Humps, and Five Throttles, that I may get from him his Blue Falcon, to take her home to my stepmother, that I may be free from my crosses, and from my spells, and from the bad diseases of the year.”
And the King of France’s daughter said, “I had rather be as a wife to thyself.”
And when they came to shore in Eirinn, the Gille Mairtean put himself in the shape of a fine woman, and he said to MacIain Direach, “Leave thou the King of France’s daughter here till we return, and I will go with thee to the King of Eirinn; I will give him enough of a wife.”
MacIain Direach went with the Gille Mairtean in the form of a fine maiden, with his hand in the oxter of MacIain Direach. When the King of Eirinn saw them coming he came to meet them; he took out the Yellow Bay Filly, and a golden saddle on her back, and a silver bridle in her head.
MacIain Direach went with the filly where the King of France’s daughter was. The King of Eirinn was right well pleased with the young wife he had got; ...but little did the King of Eirinn know that he had got Gille Mairtean; and they had not long been gone to rest, when the Gille Mairtean sprung on the king, and he did not leave a morsel of flesh between the back of his neck and his haunch that he did not take off him. And the Gille Mairtean left the King of Eirinn a pitiful wounded cripple; and he went running where MacIain Direach was, and the King of France’s daughter, and the Yellow Bay Filly.
Said the Gille Mairtean, “I will go into the form of a ship, and go you on board of her, and I will take you to Dhiurradh;” he grew into the form of a ship; and MacIain Direach put in the Yellow Bay Filly first, and he himself and the King of France’s daughter went in after her, and the Gille Mairtean sailed with them to Dhiurradh, and they went on shore at Creagan nan Deargan, at Cilla-mhoire, at the northern end of Dhiurradh; and when they went on shore, the Gille Mairtean said, “Leave thou the Yellow Bay Filly here, and the king’s daughter, till thou return; and I will go in the form of a filly, and I will go with thee to the Big Women of Dhiurradh, and I will give them enough of filly-ing.”
The Gille Mairtean went into the form of a filly, MacIain Direach put the golden saddle on his back, and the silver bridle in his head, and he went to the Seven Big Women of Dhiurradh with him. When the Seven Big Women saw him coming, they came to meet him with the White Glave of Light, and they gave it to him. MacIain Direach took the golden saddle off the back of the Gille Mairtean, and the silver bridle out of his head, and he left him with them: and he went away himself with the White Glave of Light, and he went where he left the King of France’s daughter, and the Yellow Bay Filly which he got from the King of Eirinn.
And the Big Women of Dhiurradh thought that it was the Yellow Bay Filly of the King of Eirinn that they had got, and they were in great haste to ride. They put a saddle on her back, and they bridled her head, and one of them went up on her back to ride her, another went up at the back of that one, and another at the back of that one, and there was always room for another one there, till one after one, the Seven Big Women went up on the back of the Gille Mairtean, thinking that they had got the Yellow Bay Filly.
One of them gave a blow of a rod to the Gille Mairtean; and if she gave, he ran, and he raced backwards and forwards with them through the mountain moors; and at last he went bounding on high to the top of the Monadh Mountain of Dhuirradh, and he reached the top of the face of the great crag that is there, and he moved his front to the crag, and he put his two fore feet to the front of the crag, and he threw his aftermost end on high, and he threw the Seven Big women over the crag, and he went away laughing; and he reached where were MacIain Direach and the King of France’s daughter with the Yellow Bay Filly, and the White Glave of Light.
Said the Gille Mairtean, “I will put myself in the form of a boat, and go thyself, and the daughter of the King of France on board, and take with you the Yellow Bay Filly and the White Glave of Light, and I will take you to the mainland.”
The Gille Mairtean put himself in the shape of a boat; MacIain Direach put the White Glave of Light and the Yellow Bay Filly on board, and he went himself, and the King of France’s daughter, in on board after them; and the Gille Mairtean went with them to the mainland. When they reached shore, the Gille Mairtean put himself into his own shape, and he said to MacIain Direach, “Leave thou the King of France’s daughter, the Yellow Bay Filly from the King of Eirinn, and the White Glave of Light there, and I will go into the shape of a White Glave of Light; and take thou me to the the giant and give thou me to him for the falcon, and I will give him enough of swords.”
The Gille Mairtean put himself into the form of a sword, and MacIain Direach took him to the giant; and when the giant saw him coming he put the blue falcon into a hen-basket, and he gave it to MacIain Direach, and he went away with it to where he had left the King of France’s daughter, the Yellow Bay Filly, and the White Glave of Light.
The giant went in with the Gille Mairtean in his hand, himself thinking that it was the White Glave of Light of the Big Women of Dhiurradh that he had, and he began at fencing, and at slashing with it; but at last the Gille Mairtean bent himself, and he swept the five heads off the giant, and he went where MacIain Direach was, and he said to him, “Son of John the Upright, put the saddle of gold on the filly, and the silver bridle in her head, and go thyself riding her, and take the King of France’s daughter at thy back, and the White Glave of Light with its back against thy nose; or else if thou be not so, when thy stepmother sees thee, she has a glance that is so deadly that she will bewitch thee, and thou wilt fall a faggot of firewood; but if the back of the sword is against thy nose, and its edge to her, when she tries to bewitch thee, she will fall down herself as a faggot of sticks.
MacIain Direach did as the Gille Mairtean asked him; and when he came in sight of the house, and his stepmother looked at him with a deadly bewitching eye, she fell as a faggot of sticks, and MacIain Direach set fire to her, and then he was free from fear; and he had got the Best Wife in Albainn; and the Yellow Bay Filly was so swift that she could leave the one wind and she would catch the other wind, and the Blue Falcon would keep him in plenty of game, and the White Glave of Light would keep off each foe; and MacIain Direach was steadily, luckily off.
Said MacIain Direach to the Gille Mairtean, “Thou art welcome, thou Lad of March, to go through my ground, and to take any beast thou dost desire thyself to take with thee; and I will give word to my servants that they do not let an arrow at thee, and that they do not kill thee, nor any of thy race, whatever one of the flock thou takest with thee.”
Said the Gille Mairtean, “Keep thou thy herds to thyself; there is many a one who has wethers and sheep as well as thou hast, and I will get plenty of flesh in another place without coming to put trouble on thee;” and the Fox gave a blessing to the son of Upright John, and he went away; and the tale was spent.