Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race - Knowledge Rush

226 Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race[264]“Stick to thy gear; hold fast to thy arms till the stern fight withits weapon-glitter be ended.“Be more apt to give than to deny, and follow after gentleness,O son of Luga.”And the son of Luga, it is written, heeded these counsels, andgave up his bad ways, and he became one of the best of Finn'smen.Character of FinnSuchlike things also Finn taught to all his followers, and thebest of them became like himself in valour and gentleness andgenerosity. Each of them loved the repute of his comrades morethan his own, and each would say that for all noble qualities therewas no man in the breadth of the world worthy to be thought ofbeside Finn.It was said of him that “he gave away gold as if it were theleaves of the woodland, and silver as if it were the foam of thesea”; and that whatever he had bestowed upon any man, if he fellout with him afterwards, he was never known to bring it againsthim.The poet Oisīn once sang of him to St. Patrick:“These are the things that were dear to Finn—The din of battle, the banquet's glee,The bay of his hounds through the rough glen ringing,And the blackbird singing in Letter Lee,“The shingle grinding along the shoreWhen they dragged his war-boats down to sea,The dawn wind whistling his spears among,And the magic song of his minstrels three.”