Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 17, 1906.djvu/180

 1 68 The European Sky -God.

to harvest there was not as much wind as would stir a cow's tail, and the cattle were without keepers because of the greatness of peace. And in his reign there were the three crowns in Ireland, the crown of flowers, the crown of acorns, and the crown of wheatears.'^

If the Irish king was thus related to the birds^ we can understand why, when Laegaire Buadach, Conall Cearnach, and Cuchulain competed for the championship of Ulster, Laegaire wore ' a cover of strange birds' feathers over his head ' and Conall a similar covering ' over the wicker frame of his chariot ' ; ^ also why Laegaire was presented with a ' cup of bronze, having a bird in raised silver on the bottom,' Conall with ' a silver cup. . . having a bird on the bottom in raised gold,' Cuchulain with 'a gold cup. . . having on the bottom of it a bird in precious stones.'^ The golden birds glittering with carbuncles in Conchobar's chamber at Emain Macha,* and the thatching of Manan- nan's palace with the wings of white birds,^ appear to have the same significance. Indeed, it may be conjectured that the magic birds so constantly connected with the

thunder boomed through the air, and Lughna upon hearing the sound uttered : — "Noise — thunder — birth of king . . . ".'

^ Lady Gregory Cuchulain of Muirthemne p. 82. ff. The version pubhshed by Max Nettlau in the Revue celtique xii. 241 ff. adds some details, e.g. that the two servants of Cormac, bidden to destroy the babe, left it out of pity in a hole beneath an oak-tree.

^Lady Gregory Cuchulain of Muirthemne p. 64 f. D'Arbois Vipop^e celtique pp. Ill, 1 1 3 translates : ' sur son char un pavilion de plumages d'oiseaux du pays,' ' un pavilion en plumage d'oiseaux du pays surmonte la caisse cuivree de son char.'

^Lady Gregory Cuchulain of Muirthemne p. 71 f., D'Arbois Vipopee celtique p. 121 ff. The cup given to Cuchulain was accepted as proof that the champion's portion belonged to him. Probably the gold cup found in the fourth shaft-grave at Mycenae (G. Perrot and C. Chipiez Histoire de fart dans r antiquity Paris 1894 vi. 960 ff. fig. 531) and Nestor's famous cup {Iliad II. 632 ff.), both of which had golden doves upon the handles, were similar regalia.

'^ Supra p. 160. ^ Supra p. 152.