And as to Eochaid, it was said
of him that he never took a step backwards in flight, and his house was
never without music or drinking of ale. And it was said of Fiacha that
there was no man of his time braver than himself, and that he never said
a word too much. And as to Ruide, he never refused any one, and never
asked anything at all of any man.
And when their lifetime was over, they went back to the Tuatha de
Danaan, for they belonged to them through their wives, and there they
have stopped ever since.
And Bodb Dearg had a daughter, Scathniamh, the Flower of Brightness,
that gave her love to Caoilte in the time of the Fianna; and they were
forced to part from one another, and they never met again till the time
Caoilte was, old and withered, and one of the last that was left of the
Fianna. And she came to him out of the cave of Cruachan, and asked him
for the bride-price he had promised her, and that she was never able to
come and ask for till then. And Caoilte went to a cairn that was near
and that was full up of gold, that was wages earned by Conan Maol and
hidden there, and he gave the gold to Bodb Dearg's daughter. And the
people that were there wondered to see the girl so young and comely, and
Caoilte so grey and bent and withered. "There is no wonder in that,"
said Caoilte, "for I am of the sons of Miled that wither and fade away,
but she is of the Tuatha de Danaan that never change and that never
die."
CHAPTER II.
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