Here is the story of Bailé with gentle speech, from the historical cycle Irish.
Contents
ToggleBailé in sweet language
Bailé was Buan's only son; he was the favorite of Aillinn, daughter of Lugaid son of Fergus of the Sea, or daughter of Eoghan son of Dathi, and he was the favorite of all who saw or heard of him, men and women, because of what people said about him. Aillinn and he agreed to meet in a romantic rendezvous at Ross na Rig, at Maelduib's, on the bank of the Boyne in Bregia.
The man came from the north to meet him, from Emain Macha by the mountain of Fuat and by Murthemné until the beach of Bailé. There they unhitched the wagons, they put the horses to graze, and they gave themselves over to pleasure and joy.
As they were there, they saw a horrible ghost coming to them from the south; his walk was rapid and he advanced quickly. His way of progressing on land was like that of a hawk that hurls himself from the top of a cliff, or that of the wind that comes from the great sea. His left was turned towards the land.
"Let us go to him," said Winged B, "and ask him where he is going, where he comes from, and what is the cause of his haste.
- It is to Tuagh-Inber that I am going, north now, coming from Mount Suidhe in Leinster, and I only have news of the daughter of Lugaid son of Fergus; she had fallen in love with Bailé son of Buan and she was coming to meet him when the warriors of Leinster surprised and killed her; for it was foretold by the druids and the prophets that they would not meet in their lifetime, but that they would meet after death, never to separate. Here is my news. "
When Bailé heard this, he fell dead in the square; their grave was dug; they made their mound; a stone was placed on it, and funeral games were given by the men of Ulster. A yew grew in his grave and, at the top of the tree, you could see the shape and appearance of Bailé's head. Hence the name Grève de Bailé.
Then the same man went south to where young Aillinn was and he entered her summer house: "Where did this man come from that we do not know?" said the young girl. - From the north of Ireland, from Tuagh-Inber, and afterwards towards the mountain of Suidhe in Leinster. - Have you any news? she says. - I have no news worth reporting now, except that I saw the Ulates give funeral games and make a mound and raise a stone and write the name of Bailé son of Buan, royal heir to Ulster, dead by the side of Bailé's beach, as he came to meet the beloved woman to whom he had given his love; for their destiny was not to join each other during their lifetime nor for one of them to see the other alive. He left, after giving the bad news. Aillinn fell dead in the square. They dug his grave; they made their mound; a stone was placed on it. An apple tree grew in his grave and became a beautiful tree after seven years and the shape of Aillinn's head was seen at its top.
At the end of seven years, the poets, the prophets and the visionaries cut the yew which was on the tomb of Bailé, and they made a poet's tablet, on which they wrote the Visions, the Marriage, the Loves, the Courtises of the Ulates. In the same way the Courtises of Leinster were engraved on the tablet which one made with the apple tree of Aillinn.
So came Samain, a long time later, and the feast was given by Cormac son of Art. Poets and artists of all kinds came to this festival, as was the custom, and they brought their tablets with them, and this one came. Art saw them and asked them for them. They brought him the two tablets and he took them in his hands, face to face. And suddenly one of the tablets sprang up towards the other and they united like a honeysuckle curls up in a branch, and it was not possible to separate them. They remained with all the jewels in Tara's treasure, until the moment when Dunlang son of Enna burned them, when he killed the young girls in Tara.