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- Amergin, son of Miled, was a Poet (file) and this is often synonymous with Druid. He was slain by Heremon dying without issue.
When the poet Amergin set foot upon the soil of Ireland it is said that he chanted a strange and mystical lay:
"I am the Wind that blows over the sea,
I am the Wave of the Ocean;
I am the murmur of the billows;
I am the Ox of the Seven Combats;
I am the Vulture upon the rock;
I am a Ray of the Sun;
I am the fairest of Plants;
I am a Wild Boar in Valour;
I am a Salmon in the Water;
I am a Lake in the plain;
I am the Craft of the artificer;
I am a Word of Science;
I am the Spear-point that gives battle;
I am the god that creates in the head of man the fire of thought.
Who is it that enlightens the assembly upon the mountain, if not I?
Who telleth the ages of the moon, if not I?
Who showeth the place where the sun goes to rest, if not I?"
Two other poems are attributed to Amergin, in which he invokes the land and physical features of Ireland to aid him:
"I invoke the land of Ireland,
Shining, shining sea;
Fertile, fertile Mountain;
Gladed, gladed wood!
Abundant river, abundant in water!
Fish-abounding lake!"
(Both Poems are from translations by De Jubainvile in "Irish Mythological Cycle")
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The Milesian host, after landing (in Ireland), advance to Tara, where they find the three kings of the Danaans awaiting them, and summon them to deliver up the island. The Danaans ask for three days' time to consider whether they shall quit Ireland, or submit, or give battle; and they propose to leave the decision, upon their request, to Amergin. Amergin pronounces judgement - "the first judgement which was delivered in Ireland." He agrees that the Milesians must not take their foes by surprise-they are to withdraw the length of nine waves from the shore, and then return; if they then conquer the Danaans the land is to be fairly theirs by right of battle.
The Milesians submit to this decision and embark on their ships. But no sooner have they drawn off for the mystical distance of the nine waves than a mist and storm are raised by the sorceries of the Danaans-the coast of Ireland is hidden from their sight, and they wonder dispersed upon the ocean. To ascertain if it is a natural or Druidic tempest which afflicts them, a man named Aranan is sent up to the masthead to see if the wind is blowing there also or not. He is flung from the swaying mast, but as he falls to his death he cries his message to his shipmates: "There is no storm aloft". Amergin, who takes lead in all critical situations, thereupon chants his incantation to the land of Erin. The wind falls, and they turn their prows, rejoicing, towards the shore.
A great battle with the Danaans at Telltown (named after the goddess Telta) then follows. The three kings and three queens of the Danaans, with many of their people, are slain, and the children of Miled-the last of the mythical invaders of Ireland-enter upon the sovereignty of Ireland. But the people of Dana do not withdraw. By their magic art they cast over themselves a veil of invisibility, which they can put on or off as they choose. There are two Irelands henceforward, the spiritual and the earthly. The Danaans dwell in the spiritual Ireland which is portioned out among them by their great overlord, the Dagda. Where the human eye can see but green mounds and ramparts, the relics of ruined fortresses or sepulchres, there rise fairy palaces of the defeated divinities; there they hold revels in eternal sunshine, nourished by the magic meat and ale that give them undying youth and beauty; and thence they come forth at times to mingle with mortal men in love or in war. The ancient mythical literature conceives them as heroic and splendid in strength and beauty. In later times, and as Christian influences grew stronger, they dwindle into fairies, the People of the Sidhe (pronounced 'Shee'. It means literally the People of the [Fairy] Mounds); but they have never wholly perished; to this day the Land of Youth and its inhabitants live in the imagination of the Irish peasant.
('Celtic - Myths and Legends - T W Rolleston [Senate Press]) [1]
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