The Scottish Celtic review

138 Notes on the Tuairisgeul Mor.Knight of the Red Shield, where the king, seated upon a hillock,sees the " shadow of shower coming from the western airt, andthe rider of a black filly coming cheerily after it." The gamblingbetween the magician and the hero takes the same course as inCampbell, No. 1, The Younr) King of Esaidh Ruadh. There, ashere, the prince wins twice and loses the third time, takes thewoman as his first stake, and, by her advice, the horse as hissecond. In Campbell, however, the hero is helped by a" seanagal," and the woman does not instruct him beforehand howhe may guard against the magician's winning the third time.the Y. King of E. R. the magician lays it as crosses and as spellsupon him that he get the Glaive of light. Our story is here morelike Camphell, No. 4C, Maclain Direach (the best and fullesttask miirchen in Campbell's collection) ; the terms of the spell,"I am setting it as crosses and as spells, and as the decay of theyear on thee ; that thou be not without a pool in thy shoe," etc.are almost the same, and in both stories the hero foils his adversaryby forcing him to remain on the same spot until the task beaccomplished. The referring of the hero to three brothers is])erhaps the commonest incident in the " task " series : it appears,though in difierent form, in the oldest task story known, that ofPerseus, where the hero must seek aid and counsel from theGraiai and the Hesperides. In the Norse tale of East o' the Sumand West o' the Moon, the three brothers are the winds. InFrench folk-tale the brothers, or brother, are almost invariablyhermits, as, for instance, in Luzel, Veille'es Bretonnes, No. 1, LaPrincesse Blondine. The hero then starts off upon the steed hehad won from the magician. In many task stories it is noticeablethat the hero acts entirely under the advice and aid of his horse,as, for instance, in the Norse Dapplegrim, in Luzel, Veille'esBretonnes, No. 4, Petit Louis. This is not the case in our story,where the horse plays a comparatively small part. The adventureat the houses of the three squires is, I believe, not found in anyvariant. The curious method by which the hero is to strengthenhis steed before passing the loch is found likewise in Camphell,51, The Fair Gruagach, in which the hero, transformed into abrown ambler, carries Fionn to the house of the Tree Lion, andrequires three wheaten loaves, three stoups of wine, and to becombed against and with the hair before scaling the fortress ofthe Tree Lion. Common likewise in folk-tales is the advicegiven to the hero not to take gold or silver, but some seeminglyIn