Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
The Life of St Féchín of Fore (Author: [unknown])

section 39

Once upon a time, because of the great labour of the monks in grinding their rations with a quern, Féchín proceeded to build a watermill. The mill was built and was ready (to work). But the millwright said that he would deem his life long enough if he lived until water came to the mill.44 ‘God is able’, says Féchín, ‘(to cause) water to come to it.’ Féchín went to Loch Lebinn, and cast his crozier into the lake, and the crozier went through the mountain, and the water came in rivers on the track of the crozier and


p.347

drowned the wright who was asleep in the place of the mill-pond. Caemán the Speckled, the wright's lord, came to expostulate with Féchín about the wright, and Féchín brought him back to life, and gave him his choice, to go with Caemán the Speckled or to remain at Fore. The wright declared that he would stay: ‘for’, says he, ‘if the world's men were chosen out of Fore, heaven would be granted to them all.’