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- Labhradh Longseach, son of Olioll Aine, 70th Monarch of Ireland from 541 to 522 BC. (Irish Pedigrees by John O'Hart, Published in 1892 by James Duffy & Co. Ltd. Dublin.)
Also called Maon.
Maon, as a child, was brought into Covac's presence, and was compelled, says Keating, to swallow a portion of his father's and grandfather's hearts, and also a mouse with her young. From the disgust he felt, the child lost his speech, and seeing him dumb, and therefore innocuous, Covac let him go. The boy was then taken into Munster, to the kingdom of Feramorc, of which Scoriath was king, and remained with him some time, but afterwards went to Gaul, his great-grandmother Kesair's country, where his guards told the king he was heir to the throne of Ireland, and he was treated with great honour and grew up into a noble youth. But he left behind him in the heart of Moriath, daughter of the King of Feramorc, a passion that could not be stilled, and she resolved to bring him back to Ireland. She accordingly equipped her father's harper, Craftiny, with many rich gifts, and wrote for him a love-lay, in which her passion for Maon was set forth, and to which Craftiny composed an enchanting melody. Arrived in France, Craftiny made his way to the king's court, and found occasion to pour out his lay to Maon. So deeply stirred was he by the beauty and passion of the song that his speech returned to him and he broke out in praises of it, and thenceforth was dumb no more.
The King of Gaul then equipped him with an armed force and sent him to Ireland to regain his kingdom. Learning that Covac was at a place near at hand named Dinrigh, Maon and his body of Gauls made a sudden attack upon him and slew him there and then, with all his nobles and guards. After the slaughter a Druid of Covac's company asked one of the Gaul's who their leader was. "The Marriner" (Longseach), replied the Gaul, meaning the captain of the fleet- i.e. Maon. "Can he speak?" inquired the Druid, who had begun to suspect the truth. "He does speak" (Labraidh), said the man; and henceforth the name of "Labra the Marriner" clung to Maon son of Ailill, nor was he known by any other. He then sought out Moriath, wedded her, and reigned over Ireland for ten years.
From this invasion of the Gauls the name of the province of Leinster is traditionally derived. They were armed with spears having broad blue-green iron heads called 'laighne' (pronounced 'lyna'), and as they were allotted lands in Leinster and settled there, the province was called in Irish 'Laighin ('Ly-in') after them - the Province of the Spearmen. ('ster' is of Norse origin).
Of Labra the Marriner, after his accession, a curious tale is told. He was accustomed, it is said, to have his hair cropped but once a year, and the man to do this was chosen by lot, and was immediately afterwards put to death. The reason for this was that, like King Midas in the similar Greek myth, he had long ears like those of a horse, and he would not have this deformity known. Once it fell however, that the person chosen to crop his hair was the only son of a poor widow, by whose tears and entreaties the king was prevailed upon to let him live, on condition that he swore by the Wind and the Sun to tell no man what he might see. The oath was taken, and the young man returned to his mother. But by-and-by the secret so preyed on his mind that he fell into a sore sickness, and was near death, when a wise druid was called to heal him. "It is the secret that is killing him," said the Druid, "and he will never be well till he reveals it. Let him therefore go along the high-road till he come to a place where the four roads meet. Let him there turn to the right, and the first tree he shall meet on the road, let him tell his secret to that, and he shall be rid of it and recover." So the youth did; and the first tree was a willow. He laid his lips close to the bark, whispered his secret to it, and went home, light-hearted as of old. But it chanced that shortly after this the harper Craftiny broke his harp and needed a new one, and his luck would have it the first suitable tree he came to was the willow that had the king;s secret. He cut it down, made his harp from it, and performed that night as usual in the king's hall; when, to the amazement of all, as soon as the harper touched the strings the assembled guests heard them chime the words, "Two horse's ears hath Labra the Marriner." The king then, seeing the secret was out, plucked off his hood and showed himself plainly; nor was any man put to death again on account of this mystery. We have seen that the compelling power of Craftiny's music had formerly cured Labra's dumbness. The sense of something magical in music, as though supernatural powers spoke through it, is of constant recurrence in Irish legend. (Celtic - Myths and Legends - T W Rolleston [Senate Press])
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- 522 B.C.
