Pictish Mystic · Lore · Ulster Cycle
The Tragic Death of Cú Roí mac Dáiri
An old Ulster Cycle tale of a stolen bride, a white river and a burning fort, told here from Cross and Slover's translation. These are legends from medieval manuscripts, not recorded history.
The Cauldron and the Cows
The men of Ulster besieged the Fir Falgae, the people of King Iuchna. From that siege came Blathnat, his daughter, and his three cows. Little birds sat on the cows' ears and sang to them, and while they sang the cows filled a cauldron that held thirty cows' milking. The cauldron was full of gold and silver too.
The Man in the Grey Mantle
Cú Roí mac Dáiri came to the siege with them, but no one knew him, so they called him the man in the grey mantle. Every time a head was brought out of the fort, Conchobar and the stranger each said, "I and the man in the grey mantle." When the spoil was shared, they gave him nothing.
He Took It All
So he drove the cows before him, gathered the birds into his belt, put Blathnat under one arm and walked off with the cauldron on his back. Only Cú Chulainn could get near him. Cú Roí thrust him into the earth up to his armpits, cropped his hair with his sword, rubbed cow-dung into his head and went home.
The Black Birds
For a whole year Cú Chulainn kept away from the Ulstermen. Then he saw a great flock of black birds over the sea and killed one in every land he passed through, until he came to Srub Brain in the west, near Cú Roí's stronghold. There he spoke with Blathnat, who had loved him before she was carried over the sea, and they made a tryst for Samhain night.
The Wall of Stones
Blathnat told Cú Roí to build a great wall round his stronghold from every pillar-stone standing or lying in Ireland. The Clan Dedad went off to fetch them, and Cú Roí was left alone. She poured the milk of Iuchna's cows down the river towards the Ulstermen, and it ran white. The tale says that is why it was called Finnglas.
The King in the Bath
She was picking through his hair outside the stronghold when he looked up and saw the host of Ulster coming along the glen. She told him it was his own people with the stones and oaks. "If they are oaks, 'tis swiftly they travel," he said. Then she bathed him, bound his hair to the bedposts, took his sword from its scabbard and threw open the stronghold.
The Fortress Burns
The Ulstermen filled the house. Cú Roí rose and killed a hundred of them with kicks and blows of his fists, and an attendant killed thirty more. On his side Senfiacal, Cairbre Cuanach and Eochaid son of Daire each killed a hundred. The Clan Dedad dropped the pillar-stones and ran back to fight. But Cú Chulainn cut off Cú Roí's head, and the fortress went up in flames.
The Poet's Revenge
Cú Roí's poet Ferchertne said that if the son of Daire were alive, the fort would not burn. Conchobar asked if Cú Roí had been kind to him. "He was kind, indeed," he said, but he could not speak of it now, his heart was so sad for his king. When he saw Blathnat at the cliff of Cenn Bera, he caught her in his arms and hurled her over the edge with him. The tale says their grave is on the strand under the rock, and the fighting went on from Samhain to the middle of spring.
These are legends from medieval manuscripts, not recorded history.
First shared on X @dalriada36963 and TikTok @johnshaw333.
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