"The Giants Chip"
Posted: Tuesday, 12 April 2005 |
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loved this story, write more, write more
luca from new york city
That's nothing on the story of Fingal's Cave...
The story goes - Finn MacCool was going about his daily duties on the north coast of Ireland when one of his adversaries, a Scottish giant named Ruiscare, started shouting and ridiculing Finn's fighting ability.
This angered Finn who lifted a lump of earth and pelted it to Scotland as a challenge to this giant. Ruiscare retaliated with a rock back to Finn shouting that if he could get his hand on him, he would make sure that Finn would never fight again but adding that unfortunately he could not swim the short distance across the Channel, so Finn would be spared that fate. Finn got enraged by this and tore large pieces from the cliffs, he pushed them into the ocean bed and made a sturdy causeway to Scotland, when he had finished he shouted 'Now you'll had no excuse'. Fearing to lose his own reputation and pride Ruiscare had no alternative but come over the causeway.
Finn was tired, he had not slept for the week he worked on the causeway and did not feel ready for fighting. He fell asleep thinking about how he could buy some time and recuperate to face the Scottish giant, and so his wife Oonagh came up with an ingenious plan. Quickly she made a large cot put her husband in it disguised as a baby ...and waited.
Ruiscare arrived at Finn's house shouting, 'Where is that coward MacCool', he noticed the crib and the baby inside it and his eyes widened in fear, he thought to himself, my goodness if this is the size of the baby? What size is the Father?.
Oonagh offered Ruiscare a pie filled with irons and bricks saying 鈥淭his was for the baby but as he鈥檚 asleep maybe you鈥檇 like a snack?鈥
Finn climbed out of the cot and towered above the Scottish giant, this terrified him even more and in fear of meeting the father of this child he turned on his heels and ran like he had never ran before, back across the causeway to Scotland with Finn flinging huge lumps of earth after him. One of the large holes he creates fills with water and becomes Lough Neagh, the largest lake in Ireland. One large lump of earth misses the giant and falls into the Irish Sea; this lump is now known as the Isle of Man.
Ruiscare is said to be buried north of Dundalk in the Cooley mountains, they say his outline can still be seen on Slieve Foy today, behind Carlingford town, whilst Finn is said to be resting in a cave till Ireland鈥檚 greatest time of need.
Other stories claim the Scottish Giant was called Benandonner, but maybe that was a different Giants Fight altogether.
Giant Man from Staffa
Hi IW,
Just saying hello and hoping you are well.
regards tony
Tony from Coll
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