The Razzia of the cows of Frâech

Here is the story of the Raid of the cows of Fraech, of the red branch of the mythology Irish.

Raid of the Fraech cows

Fraech, son of Idach of Connacht, was son of Befinn of the Fairies, who was sister of Boinn. He was Ireland's finest male hero andScotland. But he did not live long.

His mother had given him ten fairy cows; they were white with red ears. He stayed at home for eight years without taking a wife. Fifty sons of kings formed his house; they were all the same age, the same appearance as him, both height and posture.

Findabair, daughter of Ailill and Mève, fell in love with him over the reports that were made to him. We tell him in his house. So he decided to go talk to the girl, and discuss this matter with his people. - "Go find your mother's sister to bring back some wonderful clothes and presents from the fairies. So he went to the sister, that is to say, Boinn, and entered the plain of Breg; he took fifty blue coats, each of which was like the back of a beetle and had four dark gray ears and wore a red gold brooch, fifty white tunics with gold and silver animals; fifty silver shields with borders; a royal candle in the hand of each of the men with fifty rivets of white brass, fifty embosses of refined gold in each of them; at their end, carbuncle tips; precious stones on the head, which in the night shone like the rays of the sun. They had fifty gold-hilted swords, and each a gray-soft horse, with a gold bit, and a silver buckle with golden bells around its neck. Fifty crimson caparisons with silver fringes, gold and silver buckles and animal heads. Fifty white brass whips with gold hooks at the end of each. And seven hunting dogs with silver chains and a golden apple between each; bronze leggings where no color was missing. Seven horn-ringers with horns of gold and silver, dresses of all colors, long golden and yellow hair, shiny coats. Three druids were in front of them, with silver diadems adorned with gold. Each had a shield with embossed emblems, with crested hooks, with bronze ribs on the sides. Three harpists, each with a royal demeanor.

So they left for Cruachan in this crew. The lookout, from the top of the castle, saw them when they reached the plain of Cruachan. I see a large company approaching the chateau, he said; since Ailill and Mève took power, there has never come and there will never be a more beautiful and brilliant company. As if my head was in a vat of wine is the breeze blowing over them. The tricks and games played by the young man among them, I have never seen such a thing. He throws his javelin into the distance of a reach away from him; before he reaches the ground, the seven dogs with the seven silver chains catch him. " 

Thereupon, the troop which was in the castle of Cruachan came to watch them; people crashed into each other so that sixteen men died looking at them. They dismounted at the castle gate. They unleashed their horses and let loose their dogs. These brought down seven deer to the ramparts of Cruachan and seven foxes and seven beasts of the plain and seven wild boars; the young people killed them in the first courtyard of the castle. Then the dogs jump into the Bray and catch seven otters and bring them to the same mound, to the door of the first enclosure. Then they sat down. They came to be found on behalf of the king. They were asked where they were from. They named each other with their true lineage. - "Frâech son of Idach is there", they said. They went to tell the king and the queen. - "Welcome," said Ailill and Mève. "He's a noble young man," Ailill added. Let him enter the courtyard! They were given a quarter of the house.

Here is the description of the house: seven golden beds, from the hearth to the wall, in the house all around; a bronze pediment at each bed; partitions of nicely spotted red yew, three bands of bronze around each bed; seven bands of copper, from the beef cauldron to the roof of the house. The house was of fir, covered on the outside with shingles. There were sixteen windows in the house and copper frames in each. A copper yoke across the hole in the roof. Four copper pillars on the beds of Ailill and Mève; they were all made of copper bronze and the bed was in the very center. Around it were two silver pediments covered with gold. A silver rod from the pediment joined the rails of the house and surrounded it from door to door.

They hung their weapons in the house; they sat down and they were welcomed: "Welcome," said Ailill and Mève. "That's why we came," replied Frâech. "It wouldn't be easy to quarrel," said Mève. Then Ailill and Mève began to play chess. So Frâech begins a game of chess with a man from his house. The game was splendid: the white bronze chessboard with four ears and golden elbows; a precious stone candle lit it; the chess pieces were gold and silver. "Prepare food for the young men," said Ailill. - That's not what we want, said Mève, but I want to play chess with Frâech. "I don't mind you going," Ailill said. So Mève will find Frâech and play with him. During this time, the people of the house were cooking the game.

 Let your harpists play us something now, Ailill said. - So play, "said Frâech. An otter skin sack, edged with scarlet leather, gold, and silver, surrounded each harp; in the center, the skin of a deer, as white as snow, but with dark gray eyes in the middle, and linen trimmings on the strings, as white as a swan's mantle. The harps were gold, silver, and white bronze, with figures of snakes, birds, and dogs in gold and silver. When you touched the ropes, these figures ran in circles around the men. So they played, and twelve of the house of Ailill and Mève died from crying and grieving.

These three harpists were good melodists, and the laws of Uaithne were then. This famous trio consisted of three brothers: Pleureur, Laughter, Sleeper. Boinn the fairy was their mother and they were named thus of the airs played by Uaithné, the harp of Dagdé. When their mother was in labor, the harp wept with sadness at the first pains; she smiles, laughs and rejoices in the middle, at the birth of the first two sons; she fell asleep gently at the birth of the last, which was painful. This is where the third part of the music was named. Then Boinn woke up from his sleep. - "I accept," she said, "the three sons, O Uaithne full of ardor, since there will be sleep, laughter and tears on the cows and the women who will go with Mève and Ailill. Men will die, who will listen to their charms. " 

They then stopped playing in the palace. He came beautifully, said Fergus. - Distribute the food brought home to us, ”said Frâech. Lothar walked around the house distributing the food. He cut every knuckle on the palm of his hand with his sword, and he did not touch meat or skin. Since he was in charge of distributing the portions, his hand never wasted them.

For three days and three nights, Mève and Frâech played chess by the glow of precious stones. Finally Frâech addressed Mève: "It is enough," he said, "that I won you; I don't take your bet; do not be offended. - Since you've been in this castle, said Mève, this is the day that seemed the longest to me - It's obvious, said Frâech, we've been playing chess for three days and three nights. " 

Thereupon Mève got up; she found it shameful to have left the young people without eating. She walked over to Ailill and said, “We made some nice ones! The young people who came from outside did not have anything to eat! "You liked playing chess better," Ailill said. This does not prevent distributing food to people in the house. - There are three days and three nights, she said, but there is no night counting because of the sparkle of the precious stones in the house. "Tell them then," said Ailill, "to cease their wailing until the distribution is made to them." Food was distributed to them; they were satisfied and they continued to feast for three days and three nights.

Then Frâech was called into the house by Ailill and Mève and they asked him what had brought him. - "I wanted, he said, to visit you. "The household is not sorry to know you," said Ailill; your presence is better than your absence. - So I will stay, said Frâech, another week with you. So they stayed in the castle until the end of the fortnight, and each day they hunted and brought back the product of their hunt to the castle. The Connacians came to visit them.

Frâech was annoyed not to have had an interview with the girl, which was the reason which had brought him. One day he got up at the end of the night to wash his hands at the fountain. At the same time, she had also come with her maid to the same fountain to wash her hands. He immediately took her hands. "Just talk to me," he said; it is for you that we have come. - It would be good luck for me, said the young girl, if I could, but I can do nothing for you. - Tell me, would you run away with me? said Frâech. 'I wouldn't run away,' Findabair said, 'for I am the daughter of a king and a queen. Your poverty is not such that you cannot get me from my family, and I would rather go with you. It is you that I loved. Take this ring, said the girl, and it will be a pledge between us. My mother gave it to me to keep and I will say that I lost it. Then they parted ways.

 "I am afraid," said Ailill, "of the flight of that young girl with Frâech. - However, we could give it to him; it would not be lost, Mève said, on condition that he came with his cattle to help us in the raid. "So Frâech came into the house to talk to them:" Is it a secret that there is between you? he said. "Whatever it is, however, you can take part in it," Ailill said. - Will you give me your daughter? »Said Frâech. So people look at each other. We'll give it to you, Ailill said, if you give me the dower I ask for. - You will have it, said Frâech. “I am asking for three twenty dark gray horses for me,” said Ailill, “with their bits of gold and silver, twelve milking cows each of which gives milk for fifty people, and each with a white calf with red ears; I also ask you to come with us with all your troop and your musicians, to the raid of Cualngé; my daughter will be yours, as long as you come to the expedition. - I swear by my shield, my sword and my weapons, said Frâech, that I would not give such a dower, even for Mève de Cruachan. So he left them and walked out of the house.

Thereupon Ailill and Mève conferred together at home. They said, "If he takes our daughter, it will hurt us with many kings and lords of Ireland. What would be better would be to pounce on him and kill him on the spot, before he destroys us. 'It's wrong,' said Mève, 'and it's a disgrace for us. “It won't be a disgrace,” said Ailill, “in the way I will use it. " 

Ailill and Mève enter the palace. Let's go out now, Ailill said, to see the dogs hunt until noon and until they're tired. Then they all go to the river to bathe. I have been told, said Ailill, that you are good in water, O Frâech; go into the pond, let us see you swimming. - How is this pond? he said. “We don't know any danger there,” said Ailill, “and we bathe there frequently. So Frâech takes off his clothes and goes into the pond, leaving his belt on the ground. Ailill opens the purse, finds the ring there and recognizes it immediately. Come here, said Ailill, O Mève! Mève came to where Ailill was, and presented the ring to her. »Do you recognize him? he said. - Certainly, I recognize it, "said Mève. Ailill throws him into the river. But Frâech noticed it: he saw the salmon jump on it and put it in his mouth. Frâech jumps on the salmon, takes it by the gills, carries it over the land and places it in a hidden place on the shore. Then he started to come out of the water. Don't get out of the water, Ailill said, without bringing me a branch of that rowan over there by the riverside. I find its berries pretty. So he leaves to reach the rowan tree, breaks a branch of the tree and, carrying it on his shoulder, crosses the water to return. Findabair remarks that, whatever beautiful thing she had seen, she found it more beautiful to see Frâech on the Black Pond of Brei: his very white body, his very beautiful hair, his pretty face, his blue eyes, a tender young man without no defect: the face narrow from the bottom, wide from the top; her straight waist without blemish; the branch with its sorbs between its neck and its white face. This is what Findabair says: “I saw nothing that, half or third, came close to her beauty. " 

So he threw the branches out of the water: “The berries are splendid and superb; bring us some more, ”says Ailill. Frâech returns to the middle of the water. The Beast grabs it there: "Pass me a sword," he said, "the Beast has me. But there was no man on the shore who dared give him one, for fear of Ailill and Mève. So Findabair quickly takes off his clothes and jumps into the water, with Frâech's sword. His father throws him a five-pointed javelin at the distance of a staff; the javelin crosses its two braids, but Frâech grabs it in the hand, and throws it towards the earth, with the Beast still at his side; he throws it away with such skill that he slipped through Ailill's purple robe and tunic. So the young people gather around Ailill. Findabair comes out of the water and leaves the sword to Frâech; the latter cuts off the head of the Beast; she stayed on her side and he brought her back to the ground with him. From there comes the name of the Black Pond of Frâech, in the Bray, on the territory of Connacht.

Then Ailill and Mève returned to their castle. - "This is a great deal we made! said Mève. - We repent of what we did against this man, because he is not guilty. As for our daughter, he said, her lips will die tomorrow evening, and it will not be the fault of having brought the sword which will be imputed to her. Prepare a bath for this man! said Ailill, a fresh fatty broth of chopped heifer meat, and brought it to him in the bath. Everything was done as he had said.

The horn blowers, before that, went to the castle. They rang so that thirty of Ailill and Mève's own friends died from the plaintive charm of the music. Then Frâech entered the castle and took to the bath, and the women gathered around him near the tub to rub him and wash his head; then they took him out of the bath and made a bed for him.

Then a lamentation was heard over Cruachan, in the neighborhood, and three fifty women were seen in purple tunics, with green headdresses, with silver bracelets on their wrists. They sent to them to find out the story that caused their lament. - "It is Frâech, son of Idach," said the woman, "the favorite son of the king of the fairies of Ireland. Thereupon Frâech heard the lamentation. "Lift me up," he said to his family, "it is the lamentation of my mother and the women of Boinn." Immediately, we lift it up and carry it towards them. The women surround him and take him to Cruachan.

The next day, at None, he was seen to return, with fifty women around him: he was healed, without injury or illness; the women were the same age, the same height, the same beauty, with the appearance of fairies, and it was not possible to distinguish them from each other. People almost suffocated as they crowded around them. They left him at the courtyard gate. They continued their lamentation by going away so that the people who were in the courtyard went mad, and this is where the "Lamentation of the Fairies" comes from, among the musicians of Ireland.

Then he returns to the castle. The whole assembly rises in front of him and welcomes him, as if he had come from another world. Ailill and Mève stood up and expressed their regret for what they had done to him; they make peace with him. Then that evening they began to feast in the palace. Frâech calls a young man from his troop to him and says to him: “Go to the place where I entered the water; I left a salmon there; take it to Findabair; let her prepare and cook it well; the ring is inside. I think it is likely that it will be discussed this evening. Then drunkenness took hold of Ailill and Mève and they enjoyed the songs and the games.

Ailill said to his steward, "Bring me my jewelry! Then they all brought them to him and put them in front of him. "Wonder of wonders! Said everyone in the palace. - "Call me Findabair! Said Ailill. Findabair came to them with fifty daughters of kings and lords of Connacht. Daughter, said Ailill, the ring I gave you last year, do you still have it? Bring it to me for the young men to see; I will return it to you afterwards. - I don't know, she said, what we did with it. “Find him then,” said Ailill, “you must seek him, or your soul must leave your body. - That is not fair, said the young men; there are already a lot of goods here. - There is none of my jewels that I would not give for your daughter, said Frâech, because she brought me the sword to defend my life. "You don't have a gem that can help her if she doesn't bring the ring," Ailill said. - It is not in my power to give it to you, said the girl; do what you want with me. "I swear by the god my tribe swear, your lips will die if you don't bring the ring," Ailill said. It is because it is difficult that I ask you; for I know that until those who have died since the beginning of the world return, he will not come out of the place where he was thrown. - So he will not come for a treasure or a necessity, said the girl, the jewel that we ask for. I will bring it, since here are many times that it is requested. "You won't go," Ailill said, "but send someone to pick it up." "The young girl sent her servant to take him:" I swear by the god swear by my tribe; if it is found, I will not remain under your power any longer, even if I have no other occupation than debauchery. "I won't even stop you from going to find the stable boy, if we find the ring," said Ailill. Thereupon the servant brought the dish into the palace; on top was the cooked salmon, with a honey seasoning that the girl had prepared, and the golden ring was on the salmon. Ailill and Mève looked at him.

Then we looked at Frâech and he looked at his purse. - "It seems to me that it is attested that I left my belt," said Frâech. By your true royalty, tell us what you did with the ring. "I won't hide it from you," Ailill said. The ring that was in your purse is mine and I knew it was Findabair who gave it to you. That's why I threw it into the Black Pond. By the truth of your honor and your life, O Frâech, tell how you were able to bring it back. "I won't hide it from you," said Frâech. The day I found the ring at the courtyard gate, I saw that it was a precious gem. So I immediately squeezed it in my purse. The day I went into the water I heard the girl who had lost him look for him. I said to him: "What reward will I have from you if I find it? She told me she would give me a year of love. By chance I didn't have the ring on me; I had left it at home. We did not meet again until we found each other, when she put the sword in my hand, in the river. Then I saw you when you opened my purse and threw the ring in the water. I saw the salmon jump on it and took it into its mouth. So I grabbed the salmon, put it in a coat and passed it to the girl. It is this salmon that is on the dish. " 

The whole household was full of surprise and admiration at this story. "I won't give my thought to a young man from Ireland other than you," Findabair said. "Commit yourself to him," said Ailill and Mève; come with us, with your cows, to the Razzia de Cualngé, and when you come back from the East with your cows, you and Findabair will get married that very night. - I will do it, "said Frâech. They stayed there until the next day. Frâech and his troop equipped themselves. They said goodbye to Ailill and Mève. Then they left for their country.

Now it had happened that his cows had just been stolen. His mother came to him: “He was not happy, she said, the trip you made. He will cause you a lot of trouble. Your cows have been stolen, along with your three sons and your wife, and are in the mountains of the Alps. Three of the cows are in Northern Scotland, among the Picts. – So what to do? he said to his mother. – You won't go looking for them; you're not going to give your life for them, she said. You will have other cows through me. "No, of course not," he said. It is my honor and my life to go find Ailill and Mève, with cows, for the Razzia de Cualngé. “You won't get what you're looking for,” her mother said. Thereupon he left her.

So he set out with three novenas of men, a falcon and a dog on a leash, so that he arrived in the territory of Ulster, and met Conall Cernach in the mountains of Boirche. He told her about his research. What you are doing, said the latter, will not be lucky; you will have a lot of boredom, whatever your intention. - Stay with me said Frâech to Conall, to come with me, whenever we are. "I will definitely come," said Conall.

The three of them left; they crossed the sea, the north of England, the Sea of Wight, and came to the north of Lombardy, then to the mountains of the Alps. They saw in front of them a young girl who was tending sheep. - "Let us both go," said Conall, "O Frâech, speak to the woman over there, and may our young men stay here!" So they went to talk to him. She said to them: “Where are you from? 'From Ireland,' Conall said. - It will not be lucky for the men of Ireland to come to this country. My mother is from Ireland too. "Help me," said Conall Cernach, out of friendship. Tell me a bit about our travels. What kind of country have we arrived in? he said. "In a dreadful and terrible country, with rough and cunning young warriors going all around and picking up cows, women and clothes," she said. - What have they taken lately? "The cows of Frâech, son of Idach, from the west of Ireland, with his three sons and his wife," she said. His wife is here with the king, in the castle; here are his cows in the earth before you. - Will you come to our aid? said Conall. - My power is small; I only have science, she said. 'It's Frâech who's here with me,' said Conall, 'and it's his cows, his wife and his sons who were brought here. - Do you believe the woman to be faithful? she says. - We believed her faithful when she left home; but she must not be faithful since her arrival here, says Frâech. “It’s probably true,” she said. Go find the woman who keeps the cows, tell her your business. She is of Irish race and, in particular, from Ulster. " 

They go straight to her, approach her, call themselves her, and she welcomes them. - " What brings you? she says. "It's a great boredom that brings us here," said Conall. Ours are the cows and the sons and the wife who were brought to this castle, said Conall the victorious. - It will not be lucky, of course, for you, she said, to go in search of the woman; more difficult than anything, she says, is the serpent that guards the castle. "I am not looking for the woman," said Frâech; I do not believe her to be faithful; we know you're not cheating on us, because we're from Ulster. - Which Ulster men are you? "Here is Conall the victorious by my side," said Frâech, "Ulster's best warrior," he said. She wraps her arms around the neck of the victorious Conall. "Here is destruction, this time," she said, "since you have come, O Conall; because it is you who, according to a prediction, will destroy this castle. So I am going, she said, to my house; I will not milk the cows at all this evening and I will say that the calves are to be suckled; I will leave the courtyard open in front of you, for it is I who usually close it every evening. You will come to the castle when the young people of the castle are asleep. There is nothing wrong with you except the serpent in the castle. Many people are abandoned to him. "We'll go, whatever the outcome," said Conall. They attacked the fortress at night time. The snake jumped up and fell asleep into Conall Cernach's belt. They immediately plunder the castle; they then save the woman and the three sons, taking with them the most precious jewels of the castle. Conall unbuckled the snake from his belt without either doing any harm to the other.

Then they went to the land of the Northern Picts and took their three cows there. Then they left for the castle of Ollach son of Brian, in Airdh-Ua n-Eachdach, beyond the sea, to the east. It was there that Bicné, son of Loégairé, boy of Conall Cernach, died while driving the oxen. From him comes the name "Mouth of Bicneh" at Bennchur in Ulster, and it is there that they made cross the cows, and it is then that they lost their horns at the shore of Bennchur, and it is from there that name comes from.

Frâech then left for his country with his wife, his sons and his cows, so that he went with Ailill and Mève to the Razzia de Cualngé.