Page:Origin and Growth of Religion (Rhys).djvu/489

Rh Son, whose story, however, differs very widely from the others, owing, it may be, at least in part, to racial reasons. It is also conceivable that Mac Con or Mac na Tri Con originally meant merely Him of the Hound, or of the Three Hounds, in reference to a simple or triple Cerberus as companion of the Plutonic deity: Gwyn ab Nûᵭ: had likewise both a horse and a hound of a formidable kind.

Now the mother of Lugaid of the Three Hounds was, according to one account, Bláthnat, wife of Cúroi mac Daire, a great magician associated with the mountain range of Slieve Mis in Kerry, where his stronghold has given a lofty height between Tralee and Dingle its name of Cathair Chonroi, 'Cúroi's Fortress,' Anglicized Caher Conree. Now Bláthnat's name, derived from bláth, 'bloom,' reminds one of that of Blodeueᵭ, from blodeu, 'flowers,' and she is herself represented as unfaithful a wife to Cúroi as Blodeueᵭ was to Lleu (p. 239); for she is not only said to have loved others, but a tragic tale relates how she became Cúchulainn's wife after he had slain Cúroi with her aid. Cúchulainn and two other Ultonians had paid a friendly visit to Cúroi at his abode in the west; and Cúchulainn, whether then or later we are not told, found opportunity of coming to a treacherous understanding with Bláthnat. So at the time fixed upon by her, namely, November-eve, Cúchulainn and his followers stationed themselves at the bottom of the hill watching the stream that came down past Cúroi's fort; nor had they to wait long before they observed its waters turning white: it was the signal given by Bláthnat, for she had agreed to empty the milk of Mider's three cows from Mider's cauldron into the stream, which has ever