At
the battle of Gowra fell Oscar, son of Oisin, and Finn at the battle
of Brea, as the historians tell us; and the lays of Oisin, whose death
no man knows the manner of, are sung by our harpers at great men's
feasts. But now the Talkenn,[25] Patrick, has come into Ireland and
has preached to us the One God and Christ His Son, by whose might
these old days and ways are done away with, and Finn and his Fianna,
with their feasting and hunting and songs of war and of love, have no
such reverence among us as the monks and virgins of holy Patrick, and
the psalms and prayers that go up daily to cleanse us from sin and to
save us from the fire of judgment." But Oisin replied, half hearing
and still less comprehending what was said to him, "If thy God have
slain Finn and Oscar, I would say that God is a strong man." Then they
all cried out upon him, and some picked up stones, but the overseer
bade them let him be until the Talkenn had spoken with him, and till
he should order what was to be done.
[25] Talkenn or "Adze-head" was a name given to St Patrick by
the Irish. Probably it referred to the shape of his tonsure.
So they brought him to Patrick, who entreated him gently and
hospitably, and to Patrick he told the story of all that had befallen
him. But Patrick bade his scribes write all carefully down, that the
memory of the heroes whom Oisin had known, and of the joyous and free
life they had led in the woods and glens and wild places of Erinn,
should never be forgotten among men.
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