Ballad Of Cathain

Ballad Of Cathain

Bid Goddess rise, from mists of memory

Rise, the fair Cathain

In battle the equal of every man

And every lover disdained

Her heart was locked in a roundtower's keep

And none that gate could unbar

Till rose a prince from Ulster's east

The hero Conchobar

A suitor's troth he brought Cathain

In wild Connemar'

He bade her teach him feats of arms

And the bloody arts of war

And what, said she, will you teach me

Who dwells here all alone?

The pleasures of love, said Conchobar

I will melt your heart of stone.

So King and warrior thus were joined

In battles blood and love

The throne belonged to Conchobar

To Cathain, the Witch's Glove

The world soon turned his heart away

So back to Connemar'

She westward rode to dwell alone

Away from Conchobar

Dark rivals rose against the king

To challenge for his throne

All Ulster in the balance hung

Without its champion

A Druid he sent to sacrifice

An offering to Cathain

A maiden fair, with flaxen hair

Not once, but two times slain

But Cathain, she would ne'r return

To rescue Conchobar

Till the Druid did a virgin bring

To Connemara far

The fair Iona pure and sweet

upon the table lain

And by the corclach's hungry stone

Was Cathain's own daughter slain

In rage the warrior goddess

From the western sea arose

Her bloody gauntlet dealt that day

a thousand fierce death-blows

The kingdom saved, her quest complete

she sank beneath the waves

Till Ulster's sons with sacrifice

Bid her return once more.

Henrique da Silva Cardoso ^^