’Then the fairy king came and asked what was he doing.  “I am burning you out of the place,” he said, “till you give back speech to my wife.”  So the king agreed to that, and they made friends again; and the young man went home, and found his wife speaking.  And she wrote a letter then to her father and mother, the King and Queen of Spain; and they were very glad to hear that she was well, and they sent her money and clothes of all sorts.

’Then the fairy king came and asked the young man to go with him to Germany to help him to bring back a wife for himself from the king’s court there.  So he agreed to go; and before he went, the wife said:  “When you come back, you will bring a title for yourself and put an O to your name.  And it is what you must do,” she said, “when you are near the land, cut off your hand, and throw it on the shore, and bring it back to me after.”

’So they went to Germany, and brought away a wife for the fairy king.  And when they were coming home and were near the strand, the young man cut off his hand, and threw it on the land.

’And his wife put the hand on to him again after; and he was O’Connor from that time, that was the first of all; and the fairy king put an O to his name, and he was O’Neill, that was second.

’But now at this time, there isn’t a Tom, Dick, or John, but puts an O before his name.’

* * * * *

An old one-eyed man gave me a new version of Deirdre’s story.  He said:  ’The King of Ulster and his men were out hunting one time; and they met with the fairy king, Mannanan of the Hill.  They sat down with him; and himself and the King of Ulster began to play cards together, and whichever of them won could put some command upon the other.  It was Mannanan won; and what he put on the King of Ulster was to follow after him to whatever place he would go.

’With that he changed into the shape of a hare, and away with him, and the hounds after him, and the king and his men after them again; but they lost sight of him.  But the hounds followed on till they came to a hill, and an old stump of a tree on top of it; and they began scratching at the stump where it was rotten.  And when there was a hole scratched in it, the king looked down; and he saw steps; and he and his men went down the steps; and they passed through gardens and beside a pond with flowers about it; and then they came to a big house, and in it an old man sitting on a chair reading a book; and they knew him to be Mannanan that they were looking for.

’And he rose up and bade them welcome; and there was a feast spread out before them, with every sort of food and drink.  And while they were at the feast they heard something like the cry of a child from an inner room.  And the King of Ulster rose up, and he said:  “I will go see what is in there; for that is the cry of a child.”

’So he went in; and he came back again, bringing a baby in his arms, the most beautiful that was ever seen, and her hair like gold.  “I will bring away this child with me, and rear her up,” he said.  “Do not,” said Mannanan; “for if you do, your country will be destroyed, and your throne will be lost through her, and there will be a great many killed for her sake.”