Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
The Irish ordeals, Cormac's adventure in the Land of Promise, and the decision as to Cormac's sword (Author: Unknown)

section 12

MORANN MAC MAIN'S COLLAR.

Morann son of Carpre Cat-head, of the race of the peasants was he. Carpre Cat-head assumed the kingship of Ireland, and he slew all the nobles of Ireland save three boys, namely Corp Bare-ear and Tibraite Tírech and Feradach Findfechtnach, who were carried off in their mothers' wombs, and were born


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in Scotland. Now Carpre, Morann's father, had a cat's snout, and every son that was born to him used to have a blemish, and so then he killed them. Carpre had a famous wife and of a noble race. She gave him this advice: to hold the Feast of Tara, and to summon to it the men of Erin in order that they might make prayer to their gods so that, may be, some profitable children might be given him. He held the Feast, and the men of Ireland were at it till the end of three months; and in each month they all used to fast and to pray a prayer to God that prosperous offspring might be born of Carpre and his wife. And that was done then, in spite of him, because he was a wicked man. So then the wife conceived, and bore a man-child, and it seemed as if he were all one hood (?) from his two shoulders upwards, and no mouth was seen in him, nor any (other) apertures. Said the queen: ‘I have borne a maen (mute). He is equal (?) to thy other son. (This) is the blessing of the men of Ireland to thee their enemy!’ ‘Take him’, says Carpre, to his steward, ‘tomorrow to the slough and drown him.’ That night a man of the fairy-mound appeared to the boy's mother and said to her: ‘It is to the sea that the child must be taken, and let his head be placed on the surface till nine waves come over it. The boy will be noble: he will be king. 'Morann', this shall be his name’ (he was mór 'great' and he was find 'fair').