Page:The courtship of Ferb (Leahy).djvu/92

 and her guards, as their custom was, bore her safely back; and Conor followed hard upon her routed host till he passed beyond Mag Ini. Then back he turned him, and he made for the castle of Gerg with the intent to lay it in ruins. Thereupon the people of Gerg gathered together, and Cobhtach of the fair-skin, who was the son of Gerg, led them to the fight; a violent and a well-matched battle they fought in defence of their fortress. But Conor rushed upon them like a wolf among sheep, and he and Cobhtach fought in single combat, and Cobhtach fell in that fight, and then fell also all of his people that were doomed to death. And Conor took with him whatsoever he found there of gold and of silver and of white bronze and of horn and of beakers and of vessels and of weapons and of apparel. He took with him also the brazen vat that stood in the house, which when full of beer was wont to be sufficient for the whole land of Ulster, and this is that vat which by the men of Ulster was called the Ol Guala or Coal-vat, since a fire of coals (guail) was wont to be in that house in Eman in which that vat was drunk. And from it hath been named Loch Guala Umai in the island of Daim, which is in the realm of Ulster; for underneath the lake unto this day is that vat, hidden in a secret place. Also Conor took with him the queen, even Nuagel, the daughter of Erg, and her daughter Ferb, and three times fifty maidens with her. And immediately after this, Ferb and her