"
Then Finn rose up before all the men of Ireland, and he made a round of
the whole of Teamhair. And it was not long till he heard the sorrowful
music, and he stripped the covering from the head of the spear, and he
held the power of it to his forehead. And Aillen went on playing his
little harp, till he had put every one in their sleep as he was used;
and then he let a flame of fire out from his mouth to burn Teamhair.
And Finn held up his fringed crimson cloak against the flame, and it
fell down through the air and went into the ground, bringing the
four-folded cloak with it deep into the earth.
And when Aillen saw his spells were destroyed, he went back to Sidhe
Finnachaidh on the top of Slieve Fuad; but Finn followed after him
there, and as Aillen was going in at the door he made a cast of the
spear that went through his heart. And he struck his head off then, and
brought it back to Teamhair, and fixed it on a crooked pole and left it
there till the rising of the sun over the heights and invers of the
country.
And Aillen's mother came to where his body was lying, and there was
great grief on her, and she made this complaint:--
"Ochone! Aillen is fallen, chief of the Sidhe of Beinn Boirche; the slow
clouds of death are come on him. Och! he was pleasant, Och! he was kind.
Aillen, son of Midhna of Slieve Fuad.
"Nine times he burned Teamhair. It is a great name he was always looking
for, Ochone, Ochone, Aillen!"
And at the breaking of day, the king and all the men of Ireland came out
upon the lawn at Teamhair where Finn was.
Pages:
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219