St Patrick - Finn McCool - Oisin
The Colloquy of the Ancients

"Oisin, sweet to me is thy voice!
A blessing on the soul of Fionn
And relate to us the great deer hunt
That day in Sliab-nam-Ban-Fionn."

"Oh, Patrick, sad is the tale,
To be after the heroes, thus feeble;
Listening to clerics and to bells,
Whilst I am a poor, blind, and old man."

"If Fionn and the Fenians lived,
I would abandon the clerics and the bells,
I would follow the deer from the glen,
And would fain lay hold of his foot."

"The warbling of the blackbird of Litir Lee,
The wave of Rughraidhe lashing the shore;
The bellowing of the ox of Magh-maoin,
And the lowing of the calf of Gleann-da-maoil."

"The resounding of the chase on Sliab g-Crot,
The noise of the fawns around Sliab Cua;
The sea-gulls scream on Lorrus, yonder,
Or the screech of the ravens over the battlefield."

"The tossing of the hulls of the barks by the wave,
The yell of the hounds at Drumlish;
The cry of Bran at Cnoc-an-air,
Or the murmur of the streams about Sliab Mis."

"Oh, delight to Fionn and the heroes
Was the cry of his hounds afar on the mountain;
The wolves starting from their dens,
The exultation of his hosts, that was his delight."

"What did Fionn do to God,
Except to attend on hosts and schools;
A great while bestowing gold,
And another while delighting in his hounds."

"Were the Clanna Morna in Hell,
Or the Clanna Baoiscne, the mighty men;
They would take Fionn out,
Or would have the house to themselves."

"If Faolan and Goll lived,
Diarmuid the brown haired and Oscar the noble;
In any house that demon or God ever formed,
Fionn and the Fenians could not be in bondage."

"Were there a place, above or below,
Better than Heaven;
'Tis there Fionn would go,
At the head of his Fianna."

"Misery attend thee, old man,
Who speakest the words of madness;
God is better for one hour,
Than all the Fians of Eire."

"O Patrick of the crooked crozier,
Who make me that impertinent answer;
Thy crozier would be in atoms,
Were Oscar present."

"Were my son Oscar and God
Hand to hand on Cnoc-na-Fiann
If I saw my son down,
I would then say God was a stronger man."

"Hadst thou seen, O chaste cleric,
The Fenians one day on yonder Southern strand;
Or at Naas of Leinster of the gentle streams,
Then the Fenians thou wouldst greatly esteemed."

"Patrick, enquire of God,
Whether he recollects when the Fenians were alive;
Or hath he seen East or West,
Men their equal, in the time of fight."

"Or, hath he seen in his own country,
Though high it be above our heads;
In conflict, in battle, or in might,
A man who was equal to Fionn."

"We never used to tell untruth,
Falsehood was never attributed to us;
By truth and the might of our hands,
We came safe out of every conflict."

"There never sat a cleric in church,
Though melodiously ye think they chant psalms,
More true to his word than the Fian,
Men who never shrank from fierce conflicts."

"A cleric never sat in a church,
O Patrick mild of sweet voice!
More hospitable than Fionn himself;
A man who was not niggardly in bestowing gold."

"Fionn never suffered in his day
Any one to be in pain or difficulty;
Without redeeming him, by silver or gold,
By battle or fight, till he got the victory."

"All that thou and thy clerics tell,
According to the laws of Heaven's king;
These were possessed by the Fian of Fionn,
And they are more powerful in God's kingdom."

"Great would be the shame for God,
Not to release Fionn, from the shackles of pain;
For if God himself were in bonds,
The cheif would fight on his behalf."

"Oisin, sweet to me thy voice,
And a blessing, furthermore. on the soul of Fionn!
Relate to us how many deer
Were slain at Sliabh-nam-Ban-Fionn."

 

Faed Fiada - St Patrick's Breastplate