Nay, thou art too apt to blame the pleadings of other men; plead for
thyself."

So the court was set, and Socht was called upon to prove that the
sword was his. He swore that it was a family treasure, and thus it had
come down to him.

The steward said, "Well, O Cormac, the oath that Socht has uttered is
a lie."

"What proof hast thou of that?" asked Cormac.

"Not hard to declare," replied the steward. "If the sword be mine, my
name stands graved therein, concealed within the hilt of the sword."

"That will soon be known," says Cormac, and therewith he had the
brazier summoned. The brazier comes and breaks open the hilt and the
name of Dubdrenn stands written within it. Thus a dead thing testified
in law against a living man.

Then Socht said, "Hear ye, O men of Erinn and Cormac the King! I
acknowledge that this man is the owner of the sword." And to Dubdrenn
he said, "The property therein and all the obligations of it pass from
me to thee."

Dubdrenn said, "I acknowledge property in the sword and all its
obligations."

Then said Socht, "This sword was found in the neck of my grandfather
Angus, and till this day it never was known who had done that murder.
Do justice, O King, for this crime."

Said the King to Dubdrenn, "Thou art liable for more than the sword is
worth." So he awarded to Socht the price of seven bondwomen as
blood-fine for the slaying of Angus, and restitution of the sword to
Socht. Then the steward confessed the story of the sword, and Cormac
levied seven other cumals from the brazier. But Cormac said, "This is
in truth the sword of Cuchulain, and by it was slain my grandfather,
even Conn of the Hundred Battles, at the hands of the King of Ulster,
of whom it is written:--

"With a host, with a valiant band Well did he go into Connacht. Alas,
that he saw the blood of Conn On the side of Cuchulain's sword!"

Then Cormac and Fithel agreed that the sword be given to Cormac as
blood-fine for the death of Conn, and his it was; and it was the third
best of the royal treasures that were in Erin: namely, Cormac's Cup,
that broke if a falsehood were spoken over it and became whole if a
truth were spoken; and the Bell Branch that he got in Fairyland, whose
music when it was shaken would put to sleep wounded men, and women in
travail; and the Sword of Cuchulain, against which, and against the
man that held it in his hand, no victory could ever be won.

VIII

THE DISAPPEARANCE OF CORMAC

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