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Mar a mharbh an gille òg trì fuamhairean agus an dràgon.

Date 1962
Track ID 37084
Part 1

Track Information

Original Track ID

SA1962.43.A

Original Tape ID

SA1962.043

Summary

How the young lad killed the three giants and the dragon.

A young lad, a widow's son, left home to earn his living as a cowherd. The night before he left, an old lady gave him a black chanter, an arrow and a gun flint. The first two farmers did not give the lad good wages. He heard about a big farmer with whom the cowherds would only stay for one day. Every day, when they took the cattle to the wood, they would come back with one cow less. The farmer promised that the lad would get double wages if he took all the cattle home safely the first day.

He was out in the wood with the cattle when a giant came, warning that the land was his and that he would kill the lad. They came to an agreement that the lad would play a tune on the chanter. The giant was dancing to the music. He fell and the boy killed him with the arrow. The lad killed a bird, lit a fire with the gun flint and ate his food.

The second day, the giant's brother came out and the boy killed him with the arrow as well. The next day the boy gave the third giant poisoned food before he killed him. Before the giant died, he asked for forgiveness and gave the lad all that was in his cave: silver, gold, clothes, reins and a whistle. When the whistle was blown, a horse, which was exceptionally fast, would come.

The cowherd went home. The people of the village were extremely concerned because a dragon was going to come out of the loch. This happened every seven years. They had cast lots to see who the dragon was going to get to eat. The lot fell on the landlord's daughter. The landlord would give half of the estate and his daughter's hand in marriage to anyone who would kill the dragon.

An old soldier offered to do this but he fled when he saw the dragon. The cowherd came on the horse given to him by the giant and he beheaded the dragon with the giant's sword. But the soldier insisted that he was worthy of getting half the estate and the landlord's hand in marriage. The landlord gave the choice to his daughter. She asked that all the men of the village would walk past her father's gate. Eventually, the cowherd came with the horse, the giant's sword and the dragon's head. He challenged anyone who thought they were more worthy of the reward to fight him. The soldier fled. The cowherd and the landlord's daughter were married. They were happy and rich. His mother and the old lady who gave him the chanter, arrow and gun flint lacked nothing after that.

The contributor heard this story in the cèilidh house but he cannot remember one source in particular.

Recording Location

County - Inverness-shire

Parish - North Uist

Island - Grimsay

Language

Gaelic

Genre

Story

Collection

SoSS

Classification

AT592 AT300

Source Type

Reel to reel

Audio Quality

Good