heir names to Ireland afterwards; and Eadon,
the nurse of poets; and Brigit, that was a woman of poetry, and poets
worshipped her, for her sway was very great and very noble. And she was
a woman of healing along with that, and a woman of smith's work, and it
was she first made the whistle for calling one to another through the
night. And the one side of her face was ugly, but the other side was
very comely. And the meaning of her name was Breo-saighit, a fiery
arrow. And among the other women there were many shadow-forms and great
queens; but Dana, that was called the Mother of the Gods, was beyond
them all.

And the three things they put above all others were the plough and the
sun and the hazel-tree, so that it was said in the time to come that
Ireland was divided between those three, Coll the hazel, and Cecht the
plough, and Grian the sun.

And they had a well below the sea where the nine hazels of wisdom were
growing; that is, the hazels of inspiration and of the knowledge of
poetry. And their leaves and their blossoms would break out in the same
hour, and would fall on the well in a shower that raised a purple wave.
And then the five salmon that were waiting there would eat the nuts, and
their colour would come out in the red spots of their skin, and any
person that would eat one of those salmon would know all wisdom and all
poetry. And there were seven streams of wisdom that sprang from that
well and turned back to it again; and the people of many arts have all
drank from that well.

It was on the first day of Beltaine, that is called now May Day, the
Tuatha de Danaan came, and it was to the north-west of Connacht they
landed. But the Firbolgs, the Men of the Bag, that were in Ireland
before them, and that had come from the South, saw nothing but a mist,
and it lying on the hills.

Eochaid, son of Erc, was king of the Firbolgs at that time, and
messengers came to him at Teamhair, and told him there was a new race of
people come into Ireland, but whether from the earth or the skies or on
the wind was not known, and that they had settled themselves at Magh
Rein.

They thought there would be wonder on Eochaid when he heard that news;
but there was no wonder on him, for a dream had come to him in the
night, and when he asked his Druids the meaning of the dream, it is what
they said, that it would not be long till there would be a strong enemy
coming against him.

Then King Eochaid took counsel with his chief a