Scotland's Storybook: stories in English (1.1 - Education Scotland

whole of Ireland. Her flaxen hair, grey/green eyes and rose-red lips set his blood
boiling with lust and he started to plan their wedding. Deirdre had no idea what
was going on or who this old man was who came to visit, and why he looked at
her in that way. He was kind enough to her, but his grey hair and beard and his
wrinkled face could never set her pulse racing with passion.
One winter’s day Deirdre stood on the castle’s battlements with Levarcham
her nurse by her side, and she saw that a servant had killed a calf which lay on
the ground before the castle. Suddenly, a raven with blue/black feathers landed
on the snow where the calf had been killed and started to peck at the blood that
stained the snow that blanketed the land. Deidre sighed as she watched the
hungry bird, and said to Levarcham,
‘Oh, dear Levarcham! How I wish there were men in the world who had hair
as black as that raven, skin as smooth and white as the snow and cheeks and lips
as red as that blood.’
Levarcham looked at the beautiful young girl, and her heart sank at the
though of her soon having to be held in the embrace of the aged king; a
withered old man in his twilight years. She knew that she should say nothing,
but she couldn’t stop the words from coming.
‘Oh, Deirdre, my beloved girl. There is such a man in Ulster who has hair as
black as that raven, skin as smooth and white as the snow and cheeks and lips as
red as that blood. His name is Naoise, the bravest warrior in all of Ulster. He and
his two brothers are known as the Sons of Usna, and they are the finest flowers
of all the men in Ireland.’
As soon as Deirdre heard about Naoise she begged and pleaded with
Levarcham to take her to see him. At first the old nurse refused, but in her heart
she knew that it was wrong to give this beautiful young maiden to that old, dried
up man, and so she eventually agreed. She took Deirdre in secret to the castle
where Naoise lived, and there she saw him. He was even more beautiful to
Deirdre than she had ever dreamed, and her pulse started to race at the sight of
him. She saw him stride from the castle and she quickly followed him along the
road until she managed to slip past him unseen. She stepped out onto the road
in front of Naoise and walked by him. He stared at her in wonderment; she was
so beautiful. He thought that this had to be the Deirdre that he had heard talk
of, as no other woman could be more beautiful than she was.
As Deirdre passed he said, ‘Fair is the heifer that passes me.’
‘Heifers grow large where there are no bulls,’ she replied.
‘But you have the best bull in the land,’ said Naoise, ‘the king himself!’
‘I would rather have a young bull like you!’
Naoise knew that he was in danger, as this girl was betrothed to the king that
he was duty bound to serve. He stepped back, remembering the druid’s
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