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Self Directed Learning with ICT Theory Practice and
Assessment 1st Edition Digital Instant Download
ISBN(s): 9789810883003, 9810883005
Edition: 1
File Details: PDF, 3.98 MB
Year: 2011
Language: english

Copyright © 2011 Ministry of Education, Singapore
vision
Ministry of Education
logy Di
a Drive
Educational Techno
North Buona Vist
ingapore 138675
1
S
First Edition
ICT: Theory, Practice and Assessment
Self‐Directed Learning with
SBN: 978‐981‐08‐8300‐3
I
ublished in Singapore
P
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the
copyright owner.

Preface
This monograph about Self‐Directed Learning (SDL) is written with the
Singapore educational context in mind, particularly within the context of formal
schooling. It also explores the use of information and communication
technologies (ICT) when promoting SDL in different learning scenarios. As
former teachers in Singapore, we are mindful of the teacher’s needs and
responsibilities. Hence, the main audience of this book is teachers from primary
schools to junior colleges. As educators in our different capacities, we hope that
teachers in Singapore have a better idea of what it means to promote SDL as a
21st century skill in schools. Our intent is to use this book as a catalyst to more
fruitful conversations on promoting SDL among our learners in Singapore.

2
CONTENTS
Preface 1
Table of Contents 2
List of Tables 3
List of Figures 4
Introduction 5
Chapter 1: Self‐Directed Learning – A Natural Process of Learning 8
Chapter 2: Principles for Designing SDL 19
Chapter 3: Worked examples of SDL 28
Chapter 4: Assessment and SDL 44
Concluding thoughts 59
References 60

3
LIST of TABLES
Table 1 Possible behavioural indicators of the salient aspects of
SDL
16
Table 2 Students’ self‐assessment of SDL behaviours 48
Table 3 An example of an assessment rubric for a science project 50
Table 4 Assessing students’ SDL behaviours 54
Table 5 Teachers’ self‐assessment of scaffolding for SDL 56

4
LIST of FIGURES
Figure 1 SDL spectrum and student’s readiness 20
Figure 2 Design principles for SDL 21
Figure 3 Key processes of a learning portfolio 53

5
Introduction
The world that we live in today is a knowledge society. According to United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Bindé, 2005),
otherwise known as UNESCO, a knowledge society values creation and sharing of
new knowledge, so that the new knowledge can be applied for the well‐being of
its people and solutions to global problems such as poverty and environmental
damage. The health and wealth of a nation are now dependent on what is
commonly known as knowledge workers, that is, workers who are able, flexible,
creative, confident, good team players and are able to solve new problems; the
most efficient production workers who can only follow standard procedures do
not fit the bill in today’s world.
To put it differently, the social and cultural characteristics of a knowledge society
require citizens to be highly adaptive. Our societies today are fast‐changing,
multi‐cultural, multi‐racial and multi‐religious, which can be attributed to high
mobility and connectivity amongst people. In addition, the rapid development in
social media such as Facebook and blogs helps to promote social interactions
amongst people, breaking the boundaries of time and space. As a result, many
modern societies are becoming global villages. Constantly learning about the
diverse cultures, beliefs, languages, and customs of the people we meet is
essential. Interactive and social media are also empowering people towards
self‐actualisation that is characterised by greater autonomy and lifelong learning.
To develop our students as confident citizens in today’s knowledge society
means that access to education, the capacity to learn, a disposition for lifelong
learning, competencies in communication and collaboration in knowledge

6
creation activities are becoming increasingly important for participation in a
socially and culturally diverse world.
It can be argued that the demands of globalisation necessitate the need for our
students to become more conscious, controlled, independent and active in their
learning. This way of learning enables our students to adapt to the ever‐changing
situations in our work lives, personal lives and social lives in the knowledge
society. It is therefore no longer sufficient to help our students achieve only the
learning objectives specified in the national syllabi. Rather, learning needs to be
broadened to develop students’ competencies in learning how to learn; this may
include the ability to identify, manage and mobilise resources for learning and
the ability to monitor their own progress in learning. We need to foster amongst
our students an acute sense of inquiry so that they are intrinsically motivated to
understand things surrounding them. In this way, we will develop learners who
learn actively while they are studying in a formal institution, and seize every
opportunity to engage themselves in lifelong learning.
Needless to say, technology is indispensible in our globalised world. Developing
students’ competencies in using information and communication technologies
(ICT) is vital to their participation in the knowledge society. Many education
departments or ministries in more developed countries have charted roadmaps
that aim to develop ICT skills that prepare students with the necessary skills,
knowledge and dispositions to become confident citizens in the globalised world
(Plomp, Anderson, Law, & Quale, 2009). Countries like Finland, Hong Kong,
Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States have been implementing
nation‐wide policies on the use of ICT in education; in fact, many of them are into
their second or third nation‐wide ICT master plans. This concern is shared by
Singapore, which anchors its ICT masterplans in the philosophy that “education
should continually anticipate the future needs of society and work towards
fulfilling these needs” (Ministry of Education, 2002, p. 1). In the current third ICT
masterplan in Singapore, it is stated that the Education Ministry aims to develop

7
each of our Singapore students into “a self‐directed learner who takes
responsibility for his own learning, who questions, reflects and perseveres in the
pursuit of learning” through the use of ICT (Ministry of Education, 2009, p. 1).
Bearing in mind the demands of globalisation in the knowledge society and with
the aim to support the Singapore Education Ministry’s goal of developing
self‐directed learners through the use of ICT, we purport to unpack the notion of
self‐directed learning (SDL) that is culturally appropriate for our Singapore
context. In chapter 1, we first present an overview of the differing notions of SDL
in literature from various disciplines and examine the processes that are
commonly entailed in this way of learning. We then move on to chapter 2 where
we aim to present the extent SDL can take place in educational scenarios that are
familiar to our local teachers. In the same chapter, we also make explicit the
principles that are necessary considerations for classroom teachers who intend
to design SDL in their instructional approaches. In chapter 3, we succinctly
present examples to illuminate our ideas of how SDL can be actualised in our
Singapore context. In this chapter, we also emphasise the affordances of some
technological tools that can possibly support SDL. Through the examples, we
hope that teachers can envision how they can support SDL as they implement the
third ICT Masterplan in their teaching and learning. We move on to discuss
assessment issues pertaining to SDL in chapter 4. We examine ways of assessing
SDL with examples of rubrics that teachers will appreciate when considering
ways of developing students’ capacity in self‐assessment and guiding students
when they self‐direct their learning. Chapter 5 summarises our concluding
thoughts on fostering SDL in the context of our formal schooling in Singapore.

8
1
Self‐Directed Learning (SDL) –
A Natural Process of Learning
Introduction
In our introduction, we stress the urgency in looking beyond immediate learning
goals in schools to prepare our students to thrive in a knowledge society that is
globalised and diverse socially and culturally. It has been widely acknowledged
that the purpose of education is no longer simply producing manpower to fill the
existing job vacancies, but anticipating the needs of future and preparing for jobs
that are yet to be created in the new economy (Koh & Lee, 2008). In this chapter,
we explore the differing notions of SDL and identify a feasible notion that is
relevant to Singapore. We contend that SDL is a critical life skill for today’s young
people. It enables a person to be highly adaptive to new situations and
environments, to gather resources and learn quickly so as to solve new problems
or handle new jobs or situations they encounter.
SDL is a process that occurs naturally for everyone (Gibbons, 2002). Take the
study conducted by Md Nor and Saeednia (2009) as an example. They argue that
children as young as nine years of age are capable of self‐directing their learning.
In their study, they reported that the children were able to demonstrate differing
extents of self‐discipline, curiosity, independence, persistence, goal orientation,
responsibility, and enjoyment in their learning. Drawing on our daily lives, it is
common to observe some of these traits in young children. Children can be so
curious in their world that it is not surprising to see how they find ways to learn
something new to them, be it a fallen leaf on a road or a rubber door wedge; they
will use all their senses to explore the new object. Take the following vignette for

9
an example. It illustrates how a one‐year‐old baby learnt to use a straw to drink
water from a cup.
Vignette: SDL is a natural process of learning developed from a young age
Grace just turned one. Her mother bought her a cute little baby cup which came with
a straw that was attached to the lid. Prior to this, she had been drinking from milk
bottles with silicone teats. She was curious about the cup; she shook it and chuckled
at the noise the water made. At first, she used the same method of drinking from a
milk bottle ‐ biting the straw, treating it like a teat and tilting the cup up to drink the
water. Failing to drink the water, she played with it like a toy. One day, Grace sat
next to a girl who used a similar cup to drink some water. She observed the girl
intensively for a while. She must have realized that she could drink water from the
cup, but not in the same way as drinking it from a milk bottle. Later that day when
she was at home, she was observed sucking the straw from her cup in the same way
as the older girl she observed. It took her a few attempts before she got it right. She
was so thrilled that she drank up all the water in the cup.
The point we are making here is this: We learn not just in schools but also in our
everyday lives and our learning endeavours develop naturally from the
experience that we draw on. Amongst young people and adults, SDL is also
prevalent. Take for an example, after buying any new technological gadget, we
learn how to use the gadget and its applications in multiple ways. Some prefer to
learn by exploring the applications through trial and errors while others prefer
to read the manual or search for tips on the YouTube and other websites. Other
examples of SDL in our everyday lives that are familiar to many of us include
filling in a web‐based tax return form, driving to a new shopping mall, knowing
the best spot to park at the new shopping mall, or learning how to operate a new
camera.

10
If SDL is intuitive and natural as some have argued (Gibbons, 2002), why is it
worthy to study it as a special field of work on its own? What can a deeper
understanding of SDL offer teachers who are interested in improving their
practices in the context of formal schooling? We begin addressing these
questions by first reviewing the historical development of SDL that has its roots
in adult education.
Historical Development of SDL
It was in the early 20th century that SDL was systematically studied, partly due
to the development in the field of adult learning. Adult education was recognised
as a professional field of practice in the 1920s. Prior to this, much of the research
on adult learning in this period was modelled after how children learnt. The
researchers and practitioners felt a need to differentiate the ways children and
adults learnt. This quest for differentiation thus gave rise to the development of
two theories (Merriam, 2001) ‐ andragogy and SDL ‐ which we shall elaborate
below.
Theories of adult learning as a distinctive field has been widely developed in
Europe to identify educational needs for adults before Malcolm Knowles (1980)
popularised the term, andragogy, in the United States in the 1960s. According to
Knowles (1980), andragogy is “the art and science of helping adults learn” (p.43)
and it is distinctive from pre‐adult schooling. According to Merriam, Mott and Lee
(1996), there are some salient assumptions about the learner pertaining to
andragogy, namely, the learner
 is accountable for his or her learning
 has accumulated vast experiences that provide the foundation for learning
 has learning needs that are related to social changes and the learning needs
are problem‐centred and create opportunities for immediate application
 engages in learning that is internally motivated

11
Later in the 20th century, researchers began to question whether andragogy, as
described by Knowles (1980), was truly unique to the adult learners. For
example, Hanson (1996) argued that the characteristics of an adult learner were
also found amongst children. Like adults, children could possess intrinsic
motivation to learn. If the problem was of interest to the child, he or she would
make attempts to address the need for knowledge in order to solve the problem.
In fact, in certain situations, children’s experiences were richer than adults and
these experiences provided the relevant foundation to their learning (Hanson,
1996). This then alerts us to the fact that learning should not only focus on the
maturity of the learner but also on the situation in which learning occurs. For
example, some adult learners may require their teachers to structure their
learning while some children fare better if they are given opportunities to direct
their learning. What these studies point to is the argument that SDL seems to be
dependent on the readiness of a learner, the content and the context of learning,
rather than on the age of the learner.
Parallel to the development of andragogy in the European continents in the 20th
century, SDL emerged in the United States as a formal field of study to help
comprehend how adults learnt. Tough (1967,1971) conducted the pioneering
work on SDL and found that typically an adult spent around 500 hours a year on
intentional learning projects outside formal education. Since then, researchers
have focused on the instructional design for adult learners by analysing the
learner, identifying relevant resources, selecting instructional formats and
evaluating learning outcomes.
Starting from the 1980s, researchers have begun to focus more on the learning
processes, namely the learner characteristics, the learning context and the nature
of learning itself. A well‐known example is Grow’s (1991, 1994) Staged
Self‐Directed Learning model (SSDL). The matrix presented in this model enables
learners to identify their stage of readiness for SDL. The teachers then provide

12
the appropriate scaffolds and learning guidance based on the learner’s needs to
help them to learn effectively.
SDL as a 21st Century Skill
Interestingly, as we crossed into the new millennium, a number of reports on
K‐12 education – such as “enGauge®21st Century Skills: Literacy in the Digital
Age” (North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, 2003) and “Results that
matter: 21st Century skills and high school reform” (Partnership for 21st Century
Skills, 2006) – began to question the adequacy of school education in preparing
students for new challenges in the twenty‐first century, which culminated into
recommendations for 21st Century skills amongst our students. SDL is listed as a
key component of the 21st Century skills. SDL is also intricately linked to lifelong
learning, which has been listed as a demand for modern society by international
organizations such as UNESCO and OECD. Concomitantly, there is increased
research activity on self‐direction amongst K‐12 students. In short, self‐direction
is now recognised as an important 21st Century skill for our learners.
Amongst these diverse perspectives of SDL, we find the definition proffered by
Gibbons (2002) most useful for our formal education in Singapore. According to
Gibbons (2002), SDL is “any increase in knowledge, skill, accomplishment, or
personal development that an individual selects and brings about by his or her
own efforts using any method in any circumstances at any time” (p.2). Gibbons’
(2002) notion of SDL stresses the importance of developing ownership of
learning as it will motivate a learner to pursue a learning goal and persist in the
learning process. Based on his perspective, SDL involves initiating personally
challenging activities and developing personal knowledge and skills to pursue
the challenges successfully. This notion of SDL resonates with what our
Singapore Education Ministry aims to achieve through the third ICT masterplan.
Specifically, we think it leads to three important aspects entailed in self‐directed

13
learning: (a) ownership of learning; (b) self‐management and self‐monitoring; as
well as (c) extension of learning.
Ownership of learning
The learner’s characteristics or personal attributes are important to SDL,
particularly possessing personal responsibility in learning. Brockett and
Hiemstra (1991) argue that personal responsibility is the “cornerstone of
self‐direction in learning” (p. 27). Learners who take personal responsibility in
learning have ownership of their learning, set learning goals, and accept the
consequences of their thoughts and actions. Candy (1991) suggests that
developing personal responsibility in SDL can take place within an institutional
setting such as a school; learners are capable of developing personal autonomy
or certain amount of control in making decisions about their own learning.
Developing a sense of ownership of learning is closely related to the motivation
to learn. According to Garrison (1997), there is a difference between entering
motivation and task motivation. Entering motivation refers to how much the
learner is attracted and committed to the learning goal. This is affected by
various factors, for example, whether the learning goals will meet the learners’
needs, whether they perceive the goals as achievable, and how they perceive
their own self‐efficacy in relation to the goals. Providing opportunities and
control for learners to set their learning goals can enhance their entering
motivation. While entering motivation affects a learner’s choice of learning goals,
task motivation affects the learner’s sustaining effort towards the learning goal. It
is affected by extrinsic rewards and more importantly, the intrinsic motivation to
work on a task. Thus, it is important to provide opportunities for learner’s
control in managing and monitoring their learning, and help develop their
capacity in this aspect.

Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content

Then the heroes of Ulster drew near, and Cuchulain named them
all, and Conall Cernach amongst them, and the boy put his arms
round the neck of one hero after the other, and kissed them, and
then once more he put his arms round the neck of his own father,
and with that he died.
When Cuchulain saw that his son was dead, he laid him on the
earth, and he stood up, and a burst of anguish like the breaking of a
heart came from him. And he cried aloud: “The end is come indeed
for me:
“‘I am a man without son, without wife,
I am the Father who slew his own child,
I am a broken, rudderless bark,
Tossed from wave to wave in the tempest wild;
An apple blown loose from the garden wall,
I am over-ripe, and about to fall.’”
Then the men of Ulster came about Cuchulain and tried to comfort
him, and they raised the body of Conla on a shield, as it is wont to
do with heroes, and they made for him a noble grave, and buried
him there, with a pillar-stone to mark the spot, and his name and his
deeds written thereon. And all Ulster wept for him, and the King
commanded that for three days no merriment or feasting should
take place within the borders of Ulster, as is wont to be done on the
death of a king.

Y
CHAPTER XXVIII
The Hound at Bay
et all this while Cuchulain’s foes drew closer round him,
watching their opportunity, and the land was filled with smoke
and flame, and omens foretold that the Hound was at bay at
last, and that the King of the Heroes of Erin was doomed to die. For
though Meave entered not again into open war with Ulster, never
had she forgotten the disgrace put upon her armies by Cuchulain, in
that he alone had beaten and held back her troops during the whole
winter’s length, slaying and destroying her chosen men. His kindness
to her in her weakness she soon forgot, or if she remembered it, it
was made bitter by the laugh of Fergus; she felt humiliated that she,
the mighty warrior queen, and leader of her forces, had stooped to
ask help from the hands of her enemy. So she awaited the moment
of revenge.
Throughout all Ireland she sent messengers to stir up strife
against Cuchulain, so that he was harassed and pursued on every
hand; nor did he ever sleep a night in peace. To all those men
whose fathers or brothers or sons Cuchulain had slain she whispered
of revenge, and glad and pleased she was when one and another fell
upon him unawares or led a raid into the country of Murthemne, to
burn and spoil the land. Above all, she stirred up Luga, son of Curoi,
prince of Munster, and Erc, the son of Tara’s royal king; and these
awaited but a chance to fall upon Cuchulain unawares.
But worst of all, she sent a brood of monstrous, ill-shaped sprites,
half-women, half-goblins, in their forms and minds, to learn
throughout the whole wide distant world some secret way to bring
Cuchulain to his death. Monstrous they were, for but one single eye
was in their foreheads, and their right legs and left arms were

lopped off at the stump. They did not move along the earth like
men, but on the broad back of the whistling winds and wrapped in
magic clouds of their own making, they sped o’er land and sea.
Hideous and frightful were they to behold, and hideous were their
thoughts and their designs. When they drew near, a poisonous ill-
wind preceded them, and all the sky was dark with venomous clouds
about them and above, so that although they saw them not, men
shrank with fear and felt but ill at ease. These creatures then she
sent through the wide spaces of the universe to learn all cruel magic
arts that hurt and trouble men. And for five years they wandered
through the earth, until they reached the fearful realm where Vulcan
forged his weapons in the fire.
The secret of all poisonous herbs they learned, the use of every
charm that spoils men’s lives and drives them to despair; they
learned to raise a magic stormy sea upon dry land, in which men
might be drowned; and out of forest twigs and fluttering leaves they
learned to form a host of fighting-men and armed them with the
spiked thorn of the thistle leaves or with the blackthorn’s barb.
From Vulcan’s hand three cruel spears they took, their names,
‘Wind,’ ‘Good-luck,’ and ‘Cast’; three swords of magic power, too,
they got, the ‘Wounder,’ and the ‘Hacker,’ and the ‘Hewer.’ “By these
three spears or these three swords the splendid Hound shall die,”
was Vulcan’s word; “each one of them shall kill a king of Erin, and
among those kings will be the mighty king of Erin’s hero-chiefs, the
triumphant, heavy-smiting, noble youth, whom men call ‘Ulster’s
Hound.’”
Then with a fierce and cruel glee those hideous children of the
storm bade Vulcan and his crew farewell, and on the rough and
whistling blast that blows keen from the east, they rose on high and
made their way to Erin’s coasts, alighting on the plain before the fort
of Meave. She, rising early on the morrow, looked forth out of her
bower, and saw them resting, each upon one leg perched on the
rampart’s top. Her five-fold crimson mantle flung about her,
straightway she stepped forth and made them welcome, and with a

cruel joy she heard their news. The venomed spears and hard-
wrought swords she took into her hands, and waved and brandished
them to try their power, but though from point to hilt she bent them
back, no sign of crack or failure could she find. “Well-tempered
swords are these, indeed,” she cried, “by these my deadly foe shall
fall at last.”
Then straight to Ulster she sent forth the brood of ill-formed
goblin women. “Seek out Cuchulain where he lies,” she said, “and on
him try your spells. Set right before his face your magic tide of
ocean-waves that he may rush into the flood and come thus to his
death; or, if that fail, tempt him with magic troops and armed
battalions made out of puff-balls or of fluttering leaves and armed
with sharp and prickly thistle-spikes. Thus lure him forth, for I have
heard it said that Emer and her women hold him with their gentle
wiles within his own strong fort, till he be healed of all his pain and
wounds. Tempt you him out into the open plain, and there his foes
will find and speak with him and utterly and for ever strike him
down. My hosts are there, and Luga’s hosts and Erc’s. Give to each
one of them your magic spears, that he may not escape. Thus shall
the strength of Ulster fall at last! Thus shall our vengeance come!
Within the space of three short days bring in his head to me.”
So with deep wiles Meave laid her cruel plans, plotting Cuchulain’s
death; Murthemne and Cuchulain’s country she filled with war-
bands, marching through the land wasting and marauding, and they
burned the villages and the forests of the plain, so that the whole
region was a cloud of fire about them. Now the friends of Cuchulain,
and Emer, his dear wife, had taken the hero away with them from
his own home at Dun Dalgan to a secret glen in Ulster, that is called
the Glen of the Deaf, because no sound of war or tumult reached it,
where was a pleasant summer palace retired from mankind. There
they entertained him with sweet music and pleasant tales and
games of chess, to hold him back from rushing to meet the foe; and
they took from him his chariot and his weapons, and turned his
chariot-steeds out into the fenced green, for they knew that if he
should go forth at this time, he must surely fall. But the hero was

restless and unhappy, and save that he had plighted his word to
Emer and to all his friends he would not have entered the Glen. For
Emer’s sake and theirs he went with them to the lightsome summer
palace, and sat down with the poets and artists and the women-folk
to listen to sweet beguiling music and tales of ancient deeds to while
away the time.
Everywhere throughout the Province the horrid brood of mis-
shaped children sought him, but they found him not, neither in Dun
Dalgan nor in Emain, nor in his own country of Murthemne’s Plain;
but at last one of them soared up to the very clouds of heaven and
surveyed the whole wide land of Ulster, and from a hidden forest
glen she heard the sound of joyous revelry and the high, shrill voice
of women’s laughter, and the cheerful noise of a great company
keeping festival together.
Then she transformed herself into the shape of a black raven, and
swooped down and perched above the seat on which Cuchulain sat.
And it seemed to Cuchulain that he heard words, inciting him to go
forth.
“Dun Dalgan is burned,” they said to him, “and all the province is
laid waste; the war-bands and the hosts of Meave have ravaged all
the land, and everywhere but smoke and flames are seen. Arise, O
Hound, arise!”
But to the rest it seemed as though the raven croaked, and they
laughed loud to hear the bird of ill-omen croaking in the house.
Cuchulain sprang to his feet to rush forth; but, as he rose, his
mantle caught beneath his feet, and he was thrown backwards on
his seat. Once more he rose in haste and red with shame, but the
great kingly brooch that fastened his mantle, being loosened by his
fall, dropped on his foot, and dropping pierced his skin. “Alas! alas!”
he cried, “even my mantle warns me of ill-luck!” And Emer said, “’Tis
even so; heed now the warning of a friend. Let this pass, Cu; for
three days stay with us, and then in peace thou mayest go forth to
fight. For three days only have the Children of the Blast their fatal
power. Not for thyself or thine own safety do we thus entreat, but

for the sake of Ulster and her king. For Ulster is destroyed if
Cuchulain falls. For three days then abide.” And for the sake of Ulster
Cuchulain stayed, though heaviness and shame sat deep upon him,
and in his heart he longed to go. And wearily he sat down again to
play his game of chess.
For that night the Wild Women of the Blast went back, and they
waited until another day was past, but towards the fall of night the
horrid brood of mis-shaped children betook them to the Glen. On the
swift magic wind of their own making they soared aloft, and at the
very entrance to the Glen they lighted on the ground. There they
began to work their noisome spells. Out of the light wee puff-balls
and the rustling forest leaves they formed great lines of fighting-
men, all armed with battle-weapons of the hooded sharp-spiked
thistle-stalks. All round the lightsome, pleasant house the army
stood, in marshalled band on band, and all the country rang with
battle-shouts and cries of war and trumpetings, and loud pealing
laughter, and the taunts of strong men when they mock at cowards.
In the palace Cuchulain caught the uproar and the mocking
laughter of the phantom fairy hosts. He started up and would have
rushed madly from the hall, but those around him stayed and
hindered. “Close fast the doors,” they said, “if for this one day and
to-morrow we can keep him fast, the magic evil spell is past.” And
Emer came to him and said, “This one day yet abide, O dear one,
noblest of the whole world’s race, my one and only love. These are
but shows and phantoms that thou hearest wrought by the sprites to
lure thee to thy doom. To-morrow, or the next day, or the next,
comes Conall Cernach back from travelling. Alone, thou fallest; with
him thou art a match for any host. For Ulster’s sake and ours, and
for thine own, abide.”
Then at this thing Cu felt a mighty shame; his soul was filled with
storms of anger and reproach. “Alas! alas!” he cried, “henceforth
there is no cause to guard my life. My span is ended, my honour is
destroyed. Better for me than all the gold and riches of the world, if
I had died before there fell on me this shame. In every tongue this

noble saying is recorded, “Fame outlives life”; but by your urgency I
keep my life, when all my fame and honour is destroyed. Come
death, come life, to-morrow I go forth.”
And gloomily and sadly he sat down, nor would he play or listen to
the music of the bards, or hold sweet converse with the women, but
all that night, till break of day, he tried and proved his weapons, and
his spears and sword he polished lovingly, and he sent Laeg out to
catch his chariot-steeds and bring them to the green beside the
house. And his heart revived within him when he heard without the
neigh of the Grey of Macha and the Black Steed of the Glen.
But the foul Children of the Blast were disappointed and dismayed
because they could not tempt Cuchulain out. And all that night they
sat in council, devising plans to snare him. “We have but one day
more,” they said, “before our power is lost. To-morrow then and
verily, we lure him forth.”
Before the morning’s sun was well arisen, on the blast of the swift
moaning wind of their own making, and all unseen, they came
around the glen. Then they put forth their magic spells and round
the house they made the likeness of a mighty sea that wave on
wave rolled ever nearer to the pleasure-house, threatening to
overwhelm it as it stood. Amid the women’s talk and loving laughter,
and the sweet music of the harps and singing men, Cuchulain heard
the lapping of the waves, and the low distant ocean’s roar, and
whistling of the wind upon the sea. Then he rose up and seized his
weapons in his hand, and for all Emer and the rest could do, he
rushed forth from the house. And madness came upon him when he
saw the rolling billows rising ever towards the house, and all the
land covered with mist and spray; and he called Emer, and would
have lifted her up above the waves to carry her in safety through the
billows. But Emer and the rest could see no waves, only the green
waving grasses of the pleasure-field, and nought they heard save
the soft rustling breath of spring that whispered through the leaves.
And Emer said: “Little Cu, O my first love and darling of all earth’s
men, never until this hour have I or any of thy women-folk put

hindrance in thy way in any exploit or battle-raid that thou didst
desire. Though oft we wept, and many a time we thought thou
never wouldst return, we never held thee back. But now for my
sake, my own chosen sweetheart, go not forth. No sea is that thou
seest upon the green, but only waving grasses and the fluttering
leaves. Heed not the magic noisome spells of those thy enemies, but
one day more abide. Then never till the end of life or time will we
restrain or hold thee back again.” But Cuchulain said, “Emer, restrain
me not; I see the horses of Manannan riding on the waves; I hear
Manannan’s fairy harp play gently o’er the billows; Manannan’s
ancient face I see beckoning me o’er the main.”
Then Emer knew that the hour of Cuchulain’s fate was come, and
that nought of all that ever they could do would avail to turn him
back. For the seer had prophesied that when Cuchulain should see
the horses of the ancient Ocean god upon the waves, and when he
should hear Manannan’s harp play sweetly, the hour of his fate was
come, and he must e’en go back to Shadowland.
Then she herself called Laeg to prepare his chariot and harness
his horses, and to set his fighting-gear in order, that not by
phantasies or magic wild imaginings, but as a chariot-chief and
champion facing his foes he might go forth to die; and she brought
out his helmet and set it upon his head, and placed his mighty shield
within his hand, that he might die as a hero should.
And when Cuchulain saw his chariot standing ready for him, and
Laeg therein awaiting him, and the noble steeds pawing the ground,
the phantoms of his brain passed away from him, and his warrior
strength and joyousness of mind came back, and he donned his
armour with good-will and gladness, and made to spring into the
chariot. But for the first time since the day when they rose out of the
magic lake, the steeds obeyed not his hand, but started from him
and turned the chariot round, evading him. And when Laeg drew
them back, and Cuchulain prepared to spring again into the chariot,
they fled away before him. “How now, how now is this, good
steeds?” said Laeg; “full oft before ye two came bounding at your

master’s call, nor ever turned away. Ill deed is this of thine, for never
upon any former day did he and I need help from you as now we
need it. Presage of evil is this freak of thine!” This when the Grey of
Macha heard he stood quite still, the Black Steed by his side, and
they let Cuchulain mount into the chariot; but even as he sprang to
take his seat, his weapons all fell down about his feet; to him a grim
foreshadowing of ill. He saw, moreover, that from the horses’ eyes
and down their cheeks coursed tears of dusky blood.
Yet for all that he stayed not, but without farewells or partings of
any kind at all, joyously he set forth towards Murthemne’s Plain, to
meet the hosts of Meave. But when the cruel Children of the Blast
saw the imprisoned champion go forth and take the level road
across the plain, up to the highest heavens they rose aloft with wild
shrill cries and shriekings of delight, and through the air upon the
whistling wind they sped before him, hastening to arouse the hosts
of Meave to meet him in their strength. Before Cuchulain’s eyes they
raised a vision of battle-troops and marshalled lines standing round
Emain, with chariots, steeds and weapons in great plenty. He saw
the city red and dark with flames, and heard the shouting of the foe
as Emain sank in ashes. That vision passed away, and then another
came before his mind. He saw Dun Dalgan, his own home, aglow,
like Emain, in the ruddy flame. He saw the women flying from the
flames, with hair dishevelled, and with streaming eyes. He heard the
crashing of the blazing walls, as inward one and then another fell.
He saw the foe behind with swords upraised, slaying and cutting
down the women as they ran. Then he saw Emer, his own loving
wife, standing alone upon the outer wall, scanning the distant plain.
She raised her hands and called on him for help, and down her face
ran torrents of salt tears. Then he could see behind her, creeping
slowly on, a fierce relentless warrior of Meave’s host. And with one
spring he saw him seize her hair, the soft long locks Cuchulain loved
to touch, and backward with his cruel pitiless hand he drew her
head, and with a single blow he sheared it off, flinging it in disdain
out o’er the rampart’s wall, and trampling her fair body under foot.

When he had seen that deed, Cuchulain groaned, and sped along
the plain with greater haste.
Then passing o’er a stream they saw a maiden stooping on the
brink, as though she washed and rinsed the garments of the slain.
Slender and white her body and her hands, but all the waters ran
with crimson blood, and still she washed, and wept, and wrung her
hands, and all her yellow hair hung down in tresses slowly dropping
blood. Sharply and quick, without a word or pause, Laeg turned the
chariot when he saw the girl, and made as though to flee. “How
now?” said Cu; “what dost thou, Master Laeg? What spoils are these
the maiden wrings and washes in the stream? and who and what is
she?” “She is the Watcher of the Ford,” Laeg cried, “the daughter of
the goddess of grim war. She wrings the garments of the slain, or
those about to die. Dost thou not see that they are thine own
garments that she washes out to-day; that it is thine own sword that
runs with blood, dying the river red? Alas! alas! while there is time,
let us now turn and flee.”
“Dear comrade, it is well,” the hero said, “I may not turn me back
from this my hour of vengeance on the men of Erin, revenge for all
the ill that they have wrought on us. What though the fairy woman
wash my spoils? great spoil of arms, of armour and of gear, is that
which by my spear shall shortly fall and lie there drenched in blood.
None knows it better than I know myself that in this coming
onslaught I must fall; whether I stay I am devoted to death, or
whether I go, the span of my life is run out. No more then hinder or
delay my course, for sad as you may be to see me go to Death, even
so glad and cheerful I myself go forth to meet my fate. Let me but
once more thus avenge my country’s wrongs, and gladly and with
joy I give my life.”
So he turned again and faced the enemy, and all his gloom and
heaviness passed from Cuchulain, and the delusions of the
gruesome fairy folk troubled him no more. Cheerfully and free from
care he rode on towards the host, and from his forehead, brighter
than the sun, shone out the Hero’s Light. Right terrible and beautiful

he stood, his mighty sword uplifted in his hand, his eyes beneath his
helmet flashing fire. And when they saw him coming thus alone, a
shout of triumph rose from all the host, and mounted to the very
clouds of heaven.

T
CHAPTER XXIX
Fame outlives Life
hroughout that day the battle rolled and raged. No time to eat
or drink Cuchulain gave, but from the dewy morn to fall of
night he wrought upon his foes death-dealing blows, cutting
them down as hailstones crush small flowers. And though he was
alone against a host, they fled in terror from his path, so like a god
of battles and of war the hero seemed. In his first onset men and
horses, hounds and charioteers gave way before him, as the corn
gives way, bowing before the scythe; and all around his path the
bodies of the slain were piled. Throughout the day, they rallied once
and then again, but still they could not take him whole or strike him
dead. From off his helmet and the armour Scáth had given, their
weapons broke and shattered in their hands; no sword would
wound, no spear would pierce his skin. His chariot-steeds, like
horses god-possessed, trampled their men to death; the fire
breathing from their nostrils consumed all who ventured near. Thus
through the hosts from side to side Cuchulain urged his steeds, and
all his way was heaped and piled with dead. Twice seemed it that
the victory was his, but at the last, the warriors rallied and held him
back. Then, at the third time, the Wild Women-Goblins of the Blast,
who watched the fight, screaming above the slain, swooped down.
Into the hands of Luga and young Erc, but late ascended Tara’s royal
seat, and into the dread hand of dark Curoi, they placed the
venomous spears of magic might brought out of fairy-land. “The
time is come,” said they; “take these and strike; with each of these
three spears a king shall fall.”
Together those three foes drew near, and first Curoi threw his
weapon, aiming it at Cu. But from his mantle once again it swerved,

missing its mark. But glancing off from him, it pierced the Grey of
Macha, pinning the gallant creature to the ground.
Cuchulain, when he saw his steed transfixed, without a thought
for his own safety, bounded from his chariot, and stooped to draw
the weapon from the wound; but for all he tugged and pulled, he
could not get it out. While he was bending down to help his steed,
Erc, the young king of Erin, flung the second spear, hoping to kill
Cuchulain. It touched his hip and wounded him, but fell upon his
charioteer, inflicting a mortal wound. “Alas, my little Cu,” cried Laeg,
“by this wound now I die; never before in any fight or foray that we
have faced together have I been wounded past thy guard!”
“Not past, but through me went that spear,” Cuchulain said, “see, I
am hurt by it. My blessing with thee, Laeg, and leave me now, ere
faintness falls on thee; seek shelter far beyond the host, thither will I
in safety lead the way. If haply thou shouldst escape and live so
long, back to Dun Dalgan make thy way, where Emer of the waving
hair still looks for my return. My blessing take to her and my dear
love; tell her I love her yet, and had I lived, not all the women of the
whole globe’s space would e’er have lured or drawn my love from
her. Tell her again, tell Conor and tell Conall, how for their sakes I
wage this awful fight, tight closed in grips with all the hosts of
Meave. ’Tis Ulster’s honour and mine own I avenge. Let Emer weep
awhile that I am dead, and mourn my loss; surely she will not live
when I am gone. Yet for their bitter weeping and their tears, the
dead return not to their friends who mourn. My blessing take, O
Laeg; no chariot-chief had ever man so faithful and so true. My word
I swear upon my weapons here, all Erin’s hosts shall hear how I
avenged thy loss. In grief and gloom we part! Thou goest and Emer
goes! No more as in old days from foreign lands in gallant glee shall
I return to her.”
Thus to each other, in heaviness and grief, the hero and his
servant bade farewell. Yet for awhile, so long as he could stand,
from a low hillock Laeg looked on and watched the fight. Then (for
the Black Steed followed him, and would not turn away) upon the

back of his own chariot-horse he took his way straight to Cuchulain’s
home.
But after his farewell, the hero turned him back into the fray, and
on his foes he took a fierce revenge. No sword or armour could
withstand his blows. On every side he seemed to be at once, now
here, now there, dealing death-bearing wounds. Before him, and on
every side, the men of Erin fled, while, like the avenging god of war,
Cuchulain pressed behind.
Then when the cruel Children of the Blast beheld the rout, one of
the three limped to where Luga stood, and ugly was her face, and
black her scowl. “Why fling you not the spear we brought to you? A
king will fall by it if it is thrown.”
“I heard you say a king would fall before, when Erc and Curoi
flung their venomed spears. Yet Cuchulain lives,” Luga replied.
“And so it was,” she said; “the King of Erin’s steeds, the King of
Erin’s charioteers have fallen by those spears. One King lives yet,
and by your spear the King of Erin’s heroes is to fall.”
Then Luga flung the spear. Straight, vehement, and true the aim
he took, and over all the heads of all the host it rose and fell,
piercing Cuchulain to the very earth.
Then out of sudden fear the host stood back, seeing Cuchulain
fall. No shout went up, but silence deep and awful seized the host.
They ceased to fly and turned, but none of all of them advanced to
aid or slay the wounded man.
In a wide circle as they turned they stood each leaning on his
spear, and in the empty space, near where Cuchulain fell, in silence
Luga stood to watch the hero die. Thus all alone, without a single
friend, the king of Erin’s mighty heroes lay, dying upon the plain.
Slowly Cuchulain rose in mortal pain, and stooped to drag the
weapon from the wound; but he could not, for it broke off at the
head, leaving the metal fastened in the flesh. And as he tugged, the
red blood trickled slowly to his feet and made a stream that ran
away along a furrow of the plain. Cuchulain saw an otter that crept

up from the rushes on the margin of the lake. Stealthily the creature
drew towards him, attracted by the blood, and in a timid way began
to drink. It vexed Cuchulain when he saw the cringing beast drinking
his blood while he was yet alive, and he ceased tugging at the
buried spear-head, and made shift to stoop and pick up the fallen
shaft and fling it at the beast. At that a raven came fluttering down
and hesitatingly drew near, and dipped its beak into the hero’s
blood; but in the slippery stream its claws were caught and so the
bird upset. When he saw that, Cuchulain laughed aloud, and well he
knew that laugh would be his last.
For, even as he laughed, Death’s mists and swoonings fell on him.
He closed his eyes, and when at length he opened them again, the
warrior-host had moved, drawn nearer to the place where he was
lying still; but such an awe was on them that in that mighty ring of
warrior-hosts, armed all with clanking weapons and with arms, no
sound was heard; they stood as silent as a nurse might stand within
the dark sick-room, to watch the champion die.
Then came a mighty thirst upon the wounded man. “Fain would I
go,” he said to them, “and quench my thirst beside the loch.”
“We give thee leave to go,” they said, “but only if thou come again
to us.”
“If I come not to you again myself, I bid you come for me,” the
hero said.
So he gathered himself together and went slowly to the loch. And
he drank his drink and washed himself, and came forth to die, calling
upon his foes to come and meet him.

Cuchulain comes at last to his Death
Now his eye lighted upon a tall pillar-stone that was beside the
loch in the midst of the plain. And he drew himself to the stone, and
leaned his back against it, and with the girdle that was about his
breast, he bound himself to the stone, standing up facing the men of
Erin. And in his hand he grasped his naked sword and held it up
aloft, and in his other hand he took his shield, and placed it close
beside him on the ground. For he said, “I will not die before the men
of Erin lying down nor sitting on the ground, but I will die before
them standing up.” And the Grey of Macha found him where he
stood, and came up, dragging the spear that still held in his wound;
and it laid its head upon Cuchulain’s breast, weeping great dropping
tears of dusky blood. And all about his shoulders hovered carrion
birds, yet still the host dared not venture nigh, for the hero’s light
shone from his forehead, and they knew not whether he were alive
or dead.
Then went Luga near to see if he were yet alive, and as he came
beside him, the great sword fell from the dying Champion’s hand,
and struck the hand of Luga, and smote it off, so that the sword and
hand fell to the ground together. Cuchulain heaved a deep and
troubled sigh, and with that sigh his soul parted from his body. Yea,
with the greatness of that sigh the pillar-stone was split, as may be
seen to this day. Men call it still the Pillar of the Hero’s dying Sigh.

D
CHAPTER XXX
The Red Rout
aily upon the ramparts of Dun Dalgan Emer of the beauteous
hair looked out and waited for Cuchulain, for nought of Laeg’s
grim tale, that he was dead or dying on the Plain, would take
hold on her mind. But still and evermore he came not home.
Upon a certain day, far off she saw a single horseman coming
towards the fort, upon a horse that wearily and weakly moved along,
dropping red blood at every step. Weary the horseman seemed, and
in his hand he bore a rod made out of osiers of the stream, and on it
hung the gory heads of lately slaughtered men. Then trembling and
affright fell on the queen. Full well she knew the horse that dripped
with blood, the Grey of Macha, Cuchulain’s chariot-steed, but on his
back another rider sat. “’Tis Conall the Victorious,” she exclaimed,
“he rides Cuchulain’s horse. With evil news he comes to me this day.
The tale is true that Laeg told, Cuchulain in his blood lies on
Murthemne’s Plain, dying or dead. Woe that another rides
Cuchulain’s steed! Woe that the Hound of Ulster draws not near. Full
many a day in triumphant pride by this same path he hath come
home to me! Full many a day along this beaten way in gallant glee
he hath gone forth to war!” Sadly and sorrowfully drew Conall near
and greeted Emer. And Emer said, “What gory heads are those thou
bearest on the withe? How and in what fight didst thou come by
them?” “These are the heads of those who slew thy hero and my
friend! Alas! that I in distant lands was wandering when Cuchulain
died. Too late I came to save him, if perchance he still might shun
the hour of his death; but not too late my promise to redeem and to
avenge his fall. See here upon the withe is Luga’s head, and here
the head of dark Curoi mac Daire, and here is Erc’s, the fair young
lad who stained his youth with blood, the blood of Ulster’s Guardian

and its Hound. These and the others I bear here with me in token of
my duty well performed, my promise kept. Where’er men speak the
praise of Ulster’s Hound and tell his deeds, there also shall they
speak of the Red Rout of Conall Cernach, in vengeance of his death!”
Then trembling Emer said, “One head I see not here upon the
withe; yet in thy bosom surely thou hast yet one head for me. I see
fair hair, O Conall, bring it forth; give back to me my lover and my
friend.”
Then Conall said: “Listen, O Emer, to the tale I tell. When round
the men of Erin in my wrath and battle-fury I had passed, cutting
and hewing down their chiefs and leaders and their mighty men,
close up to Tara’s wall I made my way, seeking for Erc, who fled
before my steps surrounded by his chosen counsellors. Passing the
playing-fields without the fort, I saw men playing hurley with a head,
a human head in place of hurley-balls, a human head yet fresh and
wet with blood. My own blood froze within my veins! It was the head
of Ulster’s Hound they struck and flung from hand to hand! And at
the shame of it methought its cheeks blushed hot and rosy red. Even
as I came the head was struck; it bounded up, and nobly took the
goal. A shout went up from all those reckless men. ‘So, so, the
Hound of Ulster wins again; good man, good man, we hit him under
once and took his head from him, but he would take revenge upon
us now.’
“‘Revenge,’ I cried, ‘revenge he’ll find indeed,’ and at that word
into their midst I sprang, dealing on every hand death-bringing
blows. Like corn before the mower’s scythe, or like grown grass
beneath the feet of many hosts, I hewed them down. Harsh cries
went up, for all unarmed they fell, helpless and with no power to
withstand, and Erc came out upon the green, and stood there in
dismay. I held Cuchulain’s head on high in my left hand. ‘Thy head
to match with his,’ I cried, and ere he raised a sound his head was
rolling at my feet. I picked it up and hither came to seek thee, gentle
queen.”

Then Emer, white as death, and trembling as a rush that bows
before the onward-flowing stream, put forth her hands, and said,
“Give me Cuchulain’s head.” But when with reverence Conall placed
within her hands Cuchulain’s head, a cry of sorrow and of grief rang
out from Emer’s lips, and pierced the souls of all who heard it in the
fort. She bent to kiss the head, and at that moment her sad heart
broke within her breast, and o’er Dun Dalgan’s rampart Emer fell,
her fair hair mingled with the hair of Cuchulain, her mantle rent and
torn, and all her lovely face splashed o’er with blood. Gently and
reverently they raised her up, and bore her, with the head still
clasped within her arms, to where the body of Cuchulain lay. There
on Murthemne’s plain they buried them, two lovers and two friends
within one tomb, husband and wife. And when the grave was digged
and filled again, the Grey of Macha roamed away; through all the
fields and furrows of the plain, through all the glens and hills in
Erin’s bounds he seemed to search and closely scrutinise, as though
to find some being he had lost. But when he found him not, back to
the lonely loch among the reeds, where first Cuchulain found and
mastered him, he came again; and with one bound he leaped into
the very centre of the loch, and so appeared no more. This
witnessing, the Black Steed neighed in mournful wise, and went
back to the glen in Donegal, and no man dared to seek or follow
him, nor ever found they trace of him again.
But to the three times fifty queens who wept for him, the soul of
Cuchulain, radiant and noble as in life, appeared once more; and on
the ramparts of Emain by night, old warriors tell how, when men are
asleep, the spirit-chariot of a spirit-chief, clad in his battle armour as
of yore, moves round the walls, guarding the outer ramparts from
the foe; and all men sleep in safety, for the Hound of Ulster wakes.
And as, with slow and stately pace the chariot moves, drawn by
two noble horses, white and black, a chant goes up upon the
midnight air, not like the pagan chants of other days, but sweet and
gentle as a summer-song, and with a note of triumph in its sound,
telling the coming of a hero-chief, who shall be called the Christ, and
who will bring great peace and rest to men. And when that song is

heard, rising with its sweet strain o’er all the fort, the fires of war
and hate are softened in the chieftains’ hearts, and women smile
upon their little babes and hug them to their breasts. And all, the
young and old, set forward minds to welcome the new time when
wars shall cease, and peace shall come to men.

Notes on the Sources
“Táin bó Cuailnge.” The two oldest versions of the long tale of the
“Táin bó Cuailnge,” or “Cattle-Raid of Cooley,” from which the main
part of Chapters ii.-vi. and ix.-xix. of this book are taken, are those
found in the old vellum manuscripts known as the “Leabhar na h-
Uidhre” (L.U.), compiled about the year 1100 in the monastery of
Clonmacnois on the Shannon, and preserved in the Library of the
Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, and that occurring in the Book of
Leinster (L.L.), preserved in Trinity College, Dublin, the larger portion
of which appears to belong to the twelfth century. A version found in
the Yellow Book of Lecan corresponds closely to that in L.U., and
seems to contain an even earlier text. The text of this older version
is in course of publication in Ériu, the journal of the School of Irish
Learning in Dublin, and a translation has been made of it by Miss W.
Faraday (Grimm Library Series, vol. xvi.). The lengthy L.L. version
has been published with a German translation, and copious notes
and glossary, by Dr Ernst Windisch, 1905.
Among the later versions of parts of this long tale, is a copy found
in the British Museum (marked Add. 18748) 1800 A.D., which
coincides in the main with that of the Book of Leinster. A translation
of large portions of this manuscript was contributed by Dr Standish
H. O’Grady to the present author’s “Cuchullin Saga in Irish
Literature” (Grimm Library, vol. viii.).
The story of “The Education of Cuchulain” in Alba or Scotland,
with the amazon Scáth, originally formed part of the tale of “The
Wooing of Emer,” but separate accounts exist of these adventures.
For the details of Chapter vii., I have drawn partly upon the incidents
contained in the longer version of “The Wooing of Emer,” and partly

upon two late manuscripts found in the British Museum (Egerton,
106 and 145). These have since been edited by Dr Whitley Stokes in
the Revue Celtique, vol. xxix.
“The Wooing of Emer.” This story is taken from Dr Kuno Meyer’s
edition of the tale found in Stowe MS. 992, and first published by
him in the Archæological Review, vol. i.
The story of “Cuchulain’s Visit to Fairy-land,” usually known as
“The Sick-bed of Cuchulain” (our Chapters xx., xxi.), is adapted from
the accounts as given in the only two copies known to exist of it,
one found in L.U. and the other in a fifteenth-century manuscript in
Trinity College, Dublin. It was first published by O’Curry in Atlantis,
vols. i. and ii., and later Dr Windisch edited the tale in Irische Texte,
vol. i. An English translation will be found in Leahy’s “Heroic
Romances of Ireland,” vol. i.
The story of “Deirdre,” usually called “The Tragical Fate of the
Sons of Usnach,” is one of three favourite titles that for the last two
hundred years at least have been known as “The Three Sorrowful
Tales of Erin,” the other two being “The Fate of the Children of Lir”
and “The Fate of the Children of Tuireann.” There is, however, no
connection or similarity between these tales. The story is found in
numerous versions dating from the twelfth century down to the
present day, and it has undergone much modification in the course
of repetition. It is still a popular story in the Highlands of Scotland,
and all round Loch Etive and its neighbourhood are the remains of
forts and sites bearing the names of the unfortunate lovers.
No single version contains the entire story, and I have therefore
been obliged to combine the accounts given in various versions
belonging to different ages, slightly altering the arrangement in
order to fit them together. In the chapter called “The Sleep-
Wanderer,” and in the account of “The Death of the Sons of Usnach,”

I have drawn largely on a very beautiful and poetic Gaelic folk-
version taken down by Dr Alexander Carmichael from the lips of an
old man of eighty-three years of age, John Macneill or “Iain Donn” of
Barra, and first published by him in the Trans. of the Gaelic Society
of Inverness, vols. xiii., xiv. It has since been republished under the
title of “Deirdre.”
Some suggestions I have also taken from a modern manuscript
found by Dr Douglas Hyde in the Belfast Museum, part of which was
printed by him in Zeit. für Celt. Phil., vol. ii.
But the main body of the story follows the mediæval version,
which has been printed repeatedly, one of the best recent editions
being that of Dr Whitley Stokes in Irische Texte, 2nd series, pt. 2.
In the oldest version, that found in the Book of Leinster, Deirdre is
made to survive the sons of Usnach, and is forced to come into
Conor’s house; but she will neither eat nor smile, and finally she
puts an end to her intolerable existence by springing from a chariot
and dashing her head against a rock. This version is much ruder and
more barbaric than any of those belonging to a later period.
“The Tragical Death of Conla (or Conlaech), Son of Aiffe.”
Apparently the oldest form of this story, which is the Irish parallel to
the Persian story of “Sohrab and Rustem,” is that found in the Yellow
Book of Lecan, recently edited by Dr Kuno Meyer in Ériu, vol. i. pt. I;
Mr J. G. O’Keeffe gives another ancient version in the same journal.
The story is usually told in verse, and is still alive in Gaelic-speaking
parts of Ireland and in the Highlands of Scotland. Miss Brooke has
published one of these poetical forms in her “Reliques of Irish
Poetry,” 1789.
“The Tragical Death of Cuchulain.” The incidents connected with
the death of Cuchulain, and immediately preceding and following it,
are chiefly taken from, or suggested by, two good but comparatively
recent manuscripts in the British Museum (Egerton, 132, and Add.

18947) dating from the early eighteenth and the nineteenth
centuries respectively. They contain the cycle of events known as
“The Great Defeat on the Plain of Murthemne,” “The Death of
Cuchulain,” “The Red Rout of Conall Cernach,” “The Lay of the
Heads,” and “Emer’s Death.” Portions of the material from the first of
these two manuscripts were translated for my “Cuchullin Saga” by
Dr S. H. O’Grady, but these five stories as a consecutive whole have
not yet been published. An older (L.L.) version of Cuchulain’s death
was published by Dr Whitley Stokes in Revue Celtique, vol. iii.
Murthemne, or Cuchulain’s country, formed part of the present Co.
Louth, and a great pillar stone is still pointed out by the people as
the place of Cuchulain’s death, a split in the side having been
caused, according to living tradition, by the dying sigh of the hero.
The poem on p. 141 is reprinted by kind permission of Mr T. Fisher
Unwin.

FOOTNOTES:
[1] This story has been published by Dr Wh. Stokes in Rev. Celt.
xxix. (1908), since the above was written.
[2] The raths or earthworks of Emain Macha are still to be
discerned two miles west of Armagh, at a place now called Navan
Fort.
[3] Cruachan (now Rath Crogan) is in Co. Roscommon; tumuli
mark the site of the ancient kingly fort.
[4] From Dr George Sigerson’s Bards of the Gael and Gall. The
translation is in the metre and style of the original.

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been corrected after
careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and consultation of
external sources.
Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text and
inconsistent or archaic usage have been retained. For example, lookout, look-
out; fairy-maid, fairy maid; Shadowland, Shadow-land; curvetted; engraven;
unweaponed; whinneyed; loth; draggled; forbad; phantasies; digged.
Pg 10, 'orginally recited' replaced by 'originally recited'.
Pg 27, 'future renoun' replaced by 'future renown'.
Pg 56, 'Fiacha, who told' replaced by 'Fiacra, who told'.
Pg 144, 'fairyland drew' replaced by 'fairy-land drew'.
Pg 153, 'seasoned wariors' replaced by 'seasoned warriors'.
Pg 181, 'and is own' replaced by 'and his own'.
Pg 190, 'today; and for ever' replaced by 'to-day; and for ever'.
Pg 197, 'what constallations' replaced by 'what constellations'.
Pg 249, 'stranger boy got the' replaced by 'stranger-boy got the'.
Pg 272, 'trembing as a rush' replaced by 'trembling as a rush'.

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