And after these things had been done, Flidais went to Fergus mac Rog according to the decree of Ailill and Medb, that they might thence have sustenance (lit. that their sustenance might be) on the occasion of the Raid of the Cows of Cualgne. As[FN#101] a result of this, Flidais was accustomed each seventh day from the produce of her cows to support the men of Ireland, in order that during the Raid she might provide them with the means of life. This then was the Herd of Flidais.
[FN#101] L.L. and Egerton give "For him used every seventh day," &c.
In consequence[FN#102] of all this Flidais went with Fergus to his home, and he received the lordship of a part of Ulster, even Mag Murthemni (the plain of Murthemne), together with that which had been in the hands of Cuchulain, the son of Sualtam. So Flidais died after some time at Trag Bàli (the shore of Bali), and the state of Fergus' household was none the better for that. For she used to supply all Fergus' needs whatsoever they might be (lit. she used to provide for Fergus every outfit that he desired for himself). Fergus died after some time in the land of Connaught, after the death of his wife, after he had gone there to obtain knowledge of a story. For, in order to cheer himself, and to fetch home a grant of cows from Ailill and Medb, he had gone westwards to Cruachan, so that it was in consequence of this journey that he found his death in the west, through the jealousy of Ailill.
[FN#102] L.L. and Egerton give "thereafter," adopted in verse translation.
This, then, is the story of the Tain bo Flidais; it[FN#103] is among the preludes of the Tain bo Cualnge.
[FN#103] This sentence does not occur in the Leabhar na h-Uidhri. It is given as in the Egerton version: the Book of Leinster gives "it is among the preludes of the Tain."
THE APPARITION OF THE GREAT QUEEN TO CUCHULAIN
(TAIN BO REGAMNA)
INTRODUCTION
This tale is given by the same two manuscripts that give the Tain bo
Dartada and the Tain bo Regamon; namely the Yellow Book of Lecan, and
Egerton 1782. The text of both is given by Windisch, Irische Texte,
II. pp. 239-254; he gives a translation of the version in the Yellow
Book, with a few insertions from the Egerton MS., where the version in
Y.B.L. is apparently corrupt: Miss Hull gives an English translation of
Windisch's rendering, in the Cuchullin Saga, pages 103 to 107. The
prose version given here is a little closer to the Irish than Miss
Hull's, and differs very little from that of Windisch. The song sung
by the Morrigan to Cuchulain is given in the Irish of both versions by
Windisch; he gives no rendering, as it is difficult and corrupt: I can
make nothing of it, except that it is a jeering account of the War of
Cualgne.