with their followers, to fetch it on a given day. The Ultonians came; so did the men of Connaught; and either company was surprised to meet the other at Mac Dáthó's gate. He welcomed all, and killed the great swine to feast them: by this time its stomach alone would have been a load for nine men. No sooner was the banquet ready than the question arose who was to carve the colossal carcase; and they proceeded to decide it according to the merits of the men of Ulster and Connaught in the raids which each had made into the other's country. One after another of the would-be carvers had to give way to somebody whose claim was superior to his, until at length it looked as if the Connaught brave named Cét mac Magach was to be the man; but at the last moment Conall Cernach rushed into the room. Cét, who recognized in him a formidable rival, but knew not what business had made him late, addressed him in words to the following effect:[1]
- ↑ For the text, see Windisch, p. 96, &c., and for an abstract of the story, see O'Curry's MS. Mat. p. 486, note; also his Battle of Magh Lena, p. 14, note.
- ↑ The Irish fochích I treat as involving cích, usually signifying a breast or pap; but I have been influenced in the translation by the Welsh equivalent cig, meaning simply flesh: so fochích would mean 'beneath the breast or beneath the flesh,' in the sense of 'in the body or person of.' Perhaps Lug should here be treated as lug, and rendered 'light.'
- ↑ The text, Bk. of Leinster, 113b, has adcomsa, which I do not understand, so I have treated it as adcímsa or adciimsa.
