Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race - Knowledge Rush

CHAPTER V: TALES OF THE ULTONIAN CYCLE 213they promise to make the plains before the palace of Fergus standthick with corn every year without ploughing or sowing, but all [249]is vain. At last, however, Fergus agrees to ransom Iubdan againstthe best of his fairy treasures, so Iubdan recounts them—thecauldron that can never be emptied, the harp that plays of itself;and finally he mentions a pair of water-shoes, wearing which aman can go over or under water as freely as on dry land. Fergusaccepts the shoes, and Iubdan is released.The Blemish of FergusBut it is hard for a mortal to get the better of Fairyland—atouch of hidden malice lurks in magical gifts, and so it provednow. Fergus was never tired of exploring the depths of the lakesand rivers of Ireland; but one day, in Loch Rury, he met with ahideous monster, the Muirdris, or river-horse, which inhabitedthat lake, and from which he barely saved himself by flying tothe shore. With the terror of this encounter his face was twistedawry; but since a blemished man could not hold rule in Ireland,his queen and nobles took pains, on some pretext, to banish allmirrors from the palace, and kept the knowledge of his conditionfrom him. One day, however, he smote a bondmaid with a switch,for some negligence, and the maid, indignant, cried out: “It werebetter for thee, Fergus, to avenge thyself on the river-horse thathath twisted thy face than to do brave deeds on women!” Fergusbade fetch him a mirror, and looked in it. “It is true,” he said;“the river-horse of Loch Rury has done this thing.”Death of FergusThe conclusion may be given in the words of Sir SamuelFerguson's fine poem on this theme. Fergus donned the magic [250]shoes, took sword in hand, and went to Loch Rury:“For a day and nightBeneath the waves he rested out of sight,But all the Ultonians on the bank who stoodSaw the loch boil and redden with his blood.When next at sunrise skies grew also red