towards him: he reproached her for what she had done, and she explained that she and her sister had come, not to harm him, but to seek his love: Fand, she said, had been forsaken by Manannán mac Lir, and had set her heart on him, Cúchulainn; moreover, she had a message now from her own husband, Labraid of the Swift Hand on the Sword, to the effect that he would give him Fand to wife for one day's assistance against his enemies. Cúchulainn objected that he was not well enough to fight; but he was induced to send Loeg his charioteer with Liban to see the mysterious land to which he was invited. Loeg, after conversing with Fand and Labraid of the Swift Hand on the Sword, returned with a glowing account of what he had seen. This revived the drooping spirits of his master, who passed his hand over his face and rapidly recovered his strength. Even then he would not go to Labraid's Isle on a woman's invitation, and Loeg had to visit it again and assure him that Labraid was impatiently expecting him for the war that was about to be waged. Then at length he went thither in his chariot and fought. He abode there a month with Fand, and when he left her he made an appointment to meet her at Ibar Cinn Trachta, or the Yew at the Strand's End, the spot, according to O'Curry, where Newry now stands.[1] This came to the ears of Emer, Cúchulainn's wedded wife, and she, with the ladies of Ulster, repaired there, provided with sharp knives to slay Fand. A touching scene follows, in which Emer recovers Cúchulainn's love, and Fand beholds herself about to be forsaken, whereupon she begins to bewail the happy days
- ↑ Atlantis, Vol. ij. p. 115.
