



Produced by A. Elizabeth Warren





THE KING OF IRELAND'S SON

by Padraic Colum




CONTENTS:

  FEDELMA, THE ENCHANTER'S DAUGHTER

  WHEN THE KING OF THE CATS CAME TO KING CONNAL'S DOMINION

  THE SWORD OF LIGHT AND THE UNIQUE TALE, WITH AS MUCH OF THE ADVENTURES
       OF GILLY OF THE GOAT-SKIN AS IS GIVEN IN "THE CRANESKIN BOOK"

  THE TOWN OF THE RED CASTLE

  THE KING OF THE LAND OF MIST

  THE HOUSE OF CROM DUV

  THE SPAE-WOMAN





FEDELMA, THE ENCHANTER'S DAUGHTER



I

Connal was the name of the King who ruled over Ireland at that time.
He had three sons, and, as the fir-trees grow, some crooked and some
straight, one of them grew up so wild that in the end the King and the
King's Councillor had to let him have his own way in everything. This
youth was the King's eldest son and his mother had died before she could
be a guide to him.

Now after the King and the King's Councillor left him to his own way the
youth I'm telling you about did nothing but ride and hunt all day. Well,
one morning he rode abroad--

    His hound at his heel,
    His hawk on his wrist;
    A brave steed to carry him whither he list,
    And the blue sky over him,

and he rode on until he came to a turn in the road. There he saw a gray
old man seated on a heap of stones playing a game of cards with himself.
First he had one hand winning and then he had the other. Now he would
say "That's my good right," and then he would say "Play and beat that,
my gallant left." The King of Ireland's Son sat on his horse to watch
the