Horslips The Story Letras:
One night in bed, the promiscuous Connacht Queen,
Maeve, quarrels with her husband Ailill. They
argue over who has the most wealth. Ailill doesn't
like the suggestion that he's a kept man. "Her
words were sharp; they cut him deep, in a war
between the sheets". Ailill's magnificent White
Bull is the deciding factor in their subsequent
measuring of possessions. Maeve's a bad loser. Mac
Roth, her messenger, goes to Cooley to rent the
famed Brown Bull for a year, thus giving Maeve the
decider. "I once told her where she could find her
dream". The Bull's owner is agreeable until Mac
Roth and his party get very drunk and reveal that
had they not been allowed to borrow the bull they
would have taken it by force. The deal breaks
down. They go home emptyhanded. Maeve decides on
war. Having marshalled all her warriors, and
allies from Munster and Tara, and with Ailill's
six brothers and their armies standing by Maeve
receives favourable omens from her Druids. The
long march to Cooley begins. "The champions and
the Seven Sons are come to take away the Donn".
However, a sorceress appears and warns Maeve of
impending defeat at the hand of Dearg Doom, Cu
Chulainn. "Saw the host stained red in war, saw
the hero-light around the head of a dragon-boy".
The warning is ignored. Meanwhile, the men of
Ulster are ill with labour pains - the legacy of a
curse put on them for their inhuman treatment of a
pregnant woman. The one man exempt from this curse
is Cu Chulainn, whose very birth is shrouded in
mystery. Singlehandedly he takes on the defence of
Ulster, harassing Maeve's soldiers, "And like a
hawk I'll swoop and swoop again", beheading those
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who stray from the main force. "You can hear me
shout 'two heads are better than none. One hundred
heads are so much better than one'". Cu Chulainn
is a hard man. Originally called Setanta, he
became known as Cu Chulainn, the Hound of Culann,
because of his savagery. As the Connacht losses
grow greater, the deposed King of Ulster, Fergus
MacRoich, who is having a secret affair with
Maeve, meets Cu Chulainn and arranges a treaty. Cu
Chulainn agrees to singlehanded combat with any
Connacht champion provided Maeve's army does not
advance. One by one, day after day he defeats each
warrior until eventually he faces his old
foster-brother and close friend Ferdia. Cu
Chulainn pleads with Ferdia to leave. "But Ferdia
just laughed and shook his golden head and then
they fell to battle again". For three days they
fight at a ford and appear evenly matched until on
the third day Cu Chulainn flies into a rage and
lets loose his supernatural javelin, the terrible
Gae Bolga, which destroys his friend. As Ferdia
falls Cu Chulainn catches him and carries him to
the riverbank, lamenting. "Life was a game, Now I
miss your name; your golden hair". Then overcome
by despair Cu Chulainn abandons the fight. Maeve's
army moves south with the stolen bull. The Ulster
men rally and with Cu Chulainn in their ranks they
give chase. "But before you hit off, let me say
this time you bit off more than you can chew". The
Morrigan, Queen of Demons, who has been
encouraging slaughter all along, prophesies the
outcome. In the battle which follows the Connacht
army is routed. "It seems our fortunes lied
despite our gain. Our tears fall like our pride".
Maeve's life is spared by Cu Chulainn. As the
Ulstermen are taking the Brown Bull home, they
meet Ailill's Bull, the White-Horned one. The Donn
immediately attacks the White. "You can fool them
alright but can you fool the beast"? All day and
night they are locked in combat. Morning sees the
Donn victorious. The armies consider destroying
him, the cause of all their suffering, but leave
him as, dying, he staggers homewards.
Letras: The Story Horslips [final]