The Red Branch knights are gathered For Ulsters honour at Bailes strand Hither from across the waves A young boy with a merry face But armed as if for fighting Came onto the shore Thou shall not land on Erins soil, Cuinaire cried out, Until thou hast revealed thy name! For all you ask I can reveal but I must conceal My name and lineage Nor from my course you can make me stray away For I am under bounds and cannot disobey In battle I will not give way Nor ever will I speak my name If challenged I will draw my blade Here on this strand I will meet my fate Ill only answer with my blade No man can stray me from my way Then you shall die, Cuinaire replied, For no one unknown may enter our realm For Ulsters honour many warriors were sent But to none did he give his unhallowed name To wound them or kill, the spell to fulfil The geasa forced upon his infinite will Any attempt to impede him was doomed and destined to fail Ill only answer with my blade No man can stray me from my way In battle I will not give way Nor ever will I speak my name Finally Cuchulainn himself was summoned, The King had ordered him to defeat this foe And towards tragedy he strode A fierce battle ensued, More than a match for Cuchulainn, The young boy proved Dealing blow after blow, The lad forced Chuchulainn back With a strength and speed The hound of Culan had never met As the battle continued in the water Two times Cuchulainn almost drowned, Yet on the third, he remembered the Gae Bolg And with the strength of the heros light He threw it through the waves with all his might The Gae Bolg, is it true? Only one may wield it, is it really you? To a tragic end the story seems to have come Together they would have crushed the gates of Rome As Cuchulainn bore the boy in his arms towards the shore He saw his own ring that the brave boy had worn Hence the father realized what he had just done Oh Lord, he had slain his only son! But what he did not know, at that time on that shore Through Elatans ring Conloachs soul now soared To take his place into myth and memory Amongst the Riders of the Daoine Sidhe
cuchulainn, cuinaire, bolg, gae, ulster