How Dermot Got His Love Spot

I first heard the tale of how Dermot got his love spot from Kate Corkery at Festival at the Edge, 2022, though I tend to remember it by the name of “The Cottage”, “Woodland Cottage”, or “The Cottage, the Cat and the Goat”.

My recollection is that the version I heard featured Goll Mac Morna, Conan, Diarmuid and Cuilthe rather than Oscar (I think I prefer the story with Cuilthe in it).

As a tale to tell, the story provides a great way of allowing a quick character sketch of four leading lights of the Fianna as their actions and responses play out to the various events. It’s also really fun to tell!

So let’s see an example of one telling of it:

How Diarmuid Got His Love Spot, Lady Gregory, 1904

From Gods and fighting men : the story of the Tuatha de Danaan and of the Fiana of Ireland, Lady Gregory, preface by W. B. Yeats, 1904, p317-9:

DIARMUID and Conan and Goll and Osgar went one day hunting, and they went so far they could not get home in the evening, and they spent the first part of the night walking through the woods and pulling berries and eating them. And when it was about midnight they saw a light, and they went towards it, and they found a little house before them, and the light shining from it They went in then, and they saw an old man there, and he bade them welcome, and he called them all by their names. And they saw no one in the house but the old man and a young girl and a cat. And the old man bade the girl to make food ready for the Fianna of Ireland, for there was great hunger on them.

And when the food was ready and put on the table, there came a great wether that was fastened up in the back of the house, and he rose up on the table where they were eating, and when they saw that, they looked at one another. “ Rise up, Conan,” said Goll, “ and fasten that wether in the place it was before.” Conan rose up and took hold of it, but the wether gave itself a shake that threw Conan under one of its feet. The rest were looking at that, and Goll said : “ Let you rise up, Diarmuid, and fasten up* the wether.”

So Diarmuid rose up and took hold of it, but it gave itself a shake the same way as before; and when Diarmuid was down it put one of its feet on him. Goll and Osgar looked at one another then, and shame came on them, a wether to have done so much as that And Osgar got up, but the wether put him down under one of his feet, so that it had now the three men under him. Then Goll rose up and took hold of it and threw it down ; but if he did, it rose up again in spite of him, and put Goll under his fourth foot.

“ It is a great shame,” said the old man then, “the like of that to be done to the Fianna of Ireland. And rise up now, cat,” he said, “ and tie the wether in the place where he was.” The cat rose up then and took hold of, the wether, and brought it over and tied it in its place at the end of the house.

The men rose up then, but they had no mind to go on eating, for there was shame on them at what the wether had done to them. “ You may go on eating,” said the old man ; “ and when you are done I will show you that now you are the bravest men of the world.” So they ate their fill then, and the old man spoke to them, and it is what he said : “ Goll,” he said, “ you are the bravest of all the men of the world, for you have wrestled with the world and you threw it down. The strength of the world is in the wether, but death will come to the world itself; and that is death,” he said, showing them the cat.

They were talking together then, and they had their food eaten, and the old man said their beds were ready for them that they could go to sleep. The four of them went then into the one room, and when they were in their beds the young girl came to sleep in the same room with them, and the light of her beauty was shining on the walls like as if it was the light of a candle.

And when Conan saw her he went over to the side of the bed where she was. Now, it was Youth the young girl was, and when she saw Conan coming to her : “ Go back to your bed, Conan,” she said ; “ I belonged to you once, and I will never belong to you again.” Conan went back to his bed then, and Osgar had a mind to go over where she was. Then she said to him : “ Where are you going ? “ “ I am going over to yourself for a while,” said he.

“ Go back again, Osgar,” she said ; “ I belonged to you once, and I will never belong to you again.”

Then Diarmuid rose up to go to her : “ Where are you going, Diarmuid ? “ she said. “ I am going over to yourself for a while,” said he. “ O Diarmuid,” she said, “ that cannot be ; I belonged to you once, and I can never belong to you again; but come over here to me, Diarmuid,” she said, “ and I will put a love-spot on you, that no woman will ever see without giving you her love.” So Diarmuid went over to her, and she put her hand on his forehead, and she left the love-spot there, and no woman that ever saw him after that was able to refuse him her love.

The tale is also found in Myths and legends ; the Celtic race by Thomas W. Rolleston, 1910, with a reference to Dr Hyde as the source of the original translation. A useful preface, by way of an introduction to Diarmuid / Dermot, is found at p290:

Tales of Dermot

A number of curious legends centre on Dermot O’Dyna, who has been referred to as one of Finn mac Cumhail’s most notable followers. He might be described as a kind of Gaelic Adonis, a type of beauty and attraction, the hero of innumerable love tales ; and, like Adonis, his death was caused by a wild boar.

The story of how Dermot got his love spot then begins at p291-2:

How Dermot Got the Love Spot, Rolleston, 1910

He was called Dermot of the Love Spot, and a curious and beautiful folk-tale recorded by Dr. Douglas Hyde [Taken down from the recital of a peasant in Co. Galway and published at Rennes in Dr. Hyde's " An Sgeuluidhe Gaodhalach," vol. ii. (no translation).] tells how he got this appellation. With three comrades, Goll, Conan, and Oscar, he was hunting one day, and late at night they sought a resting-place. They soon found a hut, in which were an old man, a young girl, a wether sheep, and a cat. Here they asked for hospitality, and it was granted to them. But, as usual in these tales, it was a house of mystery.

When they sat down to dinner the wether got up and mounted on the table. One after another the Fianna strove to throw it off, but it shook them down on the floor. At last Goll succeeded in flinging it off the table, but him too it vanquished in the end, and put them all under its feet. Then the old man bade the cat lead tne wether back and fasten it up, and it did so easily. The four champions, overcome with shame, were for leaving the house at once ; but the old man explained that they had suffered no discredit — the wether they had been fighting with was the World, and the cat was the power that would destroy the world itself, namely, Death.

At night the four heroes went to rest in a large chamber, and the young maid came to sleep in the same room ; and it is said that her beauty made a light on the walls of the room like a candle. One after another the Fianna went over to her couch, but she repelled them all. “I belonged to you once,” she said to each, “and I never will again.” Last of all Dermot went. “ O Dermot,” she said, “ you, also, I belonged to once, and I never can again, for I am Youth ; but come here and I will put a mark on you so that no woman can ever see you without loving you.” Then she touched his forehead, and left the Love Spot there ; and that drew the love of women to him as long as he lived.

A scholarly review of the tale is provided by Rosemary Power in An Óige, An Saol agus an Bás’, “Feis Tighe Chonáin” and ‘Pórr’s Visit to ÚtgarÐa-Loki’, Béaloideas, Iml. 53 (1985), pp. 217-294. The story - named An Óige, an Saol agus an Bás [Youth, the World, and Death] — is summarised as follows:

Summary of Youth, the World, and Death

The Fianna are out hunting one ay on the hills. The leader, who is usually Fionn but may be Goll, together with a few of the other heroes, become separated from their companions, and wander away as it grows dark and a mist descends. After a while they see a light and they make towards it. The come to a house where they are hospitably received by an old man. Also present are a beautiful young woman and a sheep, ram or lamb. In many versions there is also another character present, who is seated by the fire — a very aged man; or a small, slender man or boy; or a cat. The companions are invited to eat and food is prepared for them, but as soon as they sit down to eat it the sheep frees itself and overturns the table. The companions try in turn to tie up the sheep, but they fail. Eventually the character by the fire, or, if he is not present, the host, gets up and binds the sheep without difficulty. The FIanna then eat their meal and a place is prepared for them to sleep. During the evening or night, the men in turn make approaches to the woman, but she rejects each of them, saying: ‘You had me once and will not have me again’, or ‘You had me once and thought little of me then’, or ‘You used me ill then’. Each man is astonished as he has never seen her before. In some versions the woman gives Diarmaid his famus love-spot, which causes all women who see it to fall in love with him.

An explanation of the events is given, usually the following morning, either by the host or by the young woman. The sheep that they could not overcome is the World (Saol, Domhan), and the character who overcame it is Death. The woman is Youth. Sometimes another old man or an old woman has been present and this fourth charactr personifis Old Age. In some versions, the heroes are then tol they they will be granted anything they ask for, and the gifts include the love-spot for Diarmaid, and for Oisín the grace of God. The Fianna leave, never to return there.

In a note comparing collected oral versions. Power notes that “[t]he first person to attempt the feat is Conán, the fool among the Fianna. Each of the others then tries, with Goll, ‘the strongest man in the world’, coming last. … Usually the heroes attempt the feat one by one, but sometimes they go to each other’s assistance. In some Galway versions not only are they defeated and thrown onto the floor (or even into the fire), but they are actually held down one by one by the creature so that it has a foot on each of their necks, or on the necks of three of them while it continues to scatter food or ward off the fourth contestant with its free foot.”. Power continues: “the ease with which the personification of Death overcomes and binds the creature is always stressed, although he appears to be far too frail to perform what the strongest warriors in the world have been unable to do”.

As regards the young woman (Youth), Power notes: “After the men have been humiliated in their encounter with the sheep, and in some cases mocked by their host, hey eat their meal, and the episode in which they are humilated by the woman usually follows. The men may simply go in turn to speak to the woman where she is sitting by the fire or in the other room, but in some versions there is an attempt at giving slightly more erotic conntations to the episode. The Fianna approach her one by one while all the others are in bed, and she too is often in her own bed. There is no common order in which they approach her,… and Diarmaid, if he receives his love spot in this episode, is usually the last. … She rejects all her suitors, sometimes striking on of them… Sometimes the inerview is conducted with what may have been regarded as more propriety. … [For example] she may enter the room in which they are all sleeping and they awake to fall in love with her.”.

The Hospitality of Cuanna’s House

I heard another, quite different version of the tale, via the Candlelit Tales podcast, episode 18:

This version can be found in Lady Gregory’s Gods and fighting men:

The Hospitality of Cuanna’s House, Lady Gregory, 1904

In Gods and fighting men : the story of the Tuatha de Danaan and of the Fianna of Ireland, Lady Gregory, 1904, pp.263-6:

The Hospitality of Cuanna’s House

It happened one day Finn and Oisin and Caoilte and Diarmuid and Lugaidh’s Son went up on the top of Cairn Feargall, and their five hounds with them, Bran and Sceolan, Sear Dubh, Luath Luachar and Adhnuall. And they were not long there till they saw a giant coming towards them, very tall and rough and having an iron fork on his back and a squealing pig between the prongs of the fork. And there was a beautiful eager young girl behind the giant, shoving him on before her. “ Let some one go speak with those people,” said Finn. So Diarmuid went towards them, but they turned away before he came to them. Then Finn and the rest rose up and went after them, but before they came to the giant and the girl, a dark Druid mist rose up that hid the road. And when the mist cleared away, Finn and the- rest looked about them, and they saw a good light-roofed house at the edge of a ford near at hand. They went on to the house, and there was a green lawn before it, and in the lawn two wells, and on the edge of one well there was a rough iron vessel, and on the edge of the other a copper vessel. They went into the house then, and they found there a very old white-haired man, standing to the right hand of the door, and the beautiful young girl they saw before, sitting near him, and the great rough giant beside the fire, and he boiling a pig. And on the other side of the fire there was an old countryman, having dark-grey hair and twelve eyes in his head, and his twelve eyes were twelve sons of battle. And there was a ram in the house having a white belly and a very black head, and dark-blue horns and green feet And there was a hag in the end of the house and a worn grey gown on her, and there was no one in the house but those.

And the man at the door gave them a welcome, and then the five of them sat down on the floor of the house, and their hounds along with them.

“ Let great respect be shown to Finn, son of Cumhal, and to his people,” said the man at the door. “ It is the way I am,” said the giant, “to be asking always and getting nothing.” But for all that he rose up and showed respect to Finn.

Presently there came a great thirst on Finn, and no one took notice of it but Caoilte, and he began complaining greatly. “ Why are you complaining, Caoilte ? “ said the man at the door ; “ you have but to go out and get a drink for Finn at whichever of the wells you will choose.” Caoilte went out then, and he brought the full of the copper vessel to Finn, and Finn took a drink from it, and there was the taste of honey on it while he was drinking, and the taste of gall on it after, so that fierce windy pains and signs of death came on him, and his appearance changed, that he would hardly be known. And Caoilte made greater complaints than he did before on account of the way he was, till the man at the door bade him to go out and to bring him a drink from the other well. So Caoilte did that, and brought in the full of the iron vessel. And Finn never went through such great hardship in any battle as he did drinking that draught, from the bitterness of it ; but no sooner did he drink it than his own colour and appearance came back to him and he was as well as before, and his people were very glad when they saw that.

Then the man of the house asked was the pig ready that was in the cauldron. “ It is ready,” said the giant ; “ and leave the dividing of it to me,” he said. “ What way will you divide it ? “ said the man of the house. “ I will give one hind quarter to Finn and his dogs,” said the giant, “and the other hind quarter to Finn’s four comrades ; and the fore quarter to myself, and the chine and the rump to the old man. there by the fire and the hag in the corner ; and the entrails to yourself and to the young girl that is beside you,” “ I give my word,” said the man of the house, “you have shared it well.” “ I give my word,” said the ram, “ it is a bad division to me, for you have forgotten my share in it.” With that he took hold of the quarter that was before the Fianna, and brought it into a corner and began to eat it. On that the four of them attacked him with their swords, but with all the hard strokes they gave they could not harm him at all, for the swords slipped from his back the same as they would from a rock. “ On my word it is a pity for any one that has the like of you for comrades,” said the man with the twelve eyes, “and you letting a sheep bring away your food from you.” With that he went up to the ram and took him by the feet and threw him out from the door that he fell on his back, and they saw him no more.

It was not long after that, the hag rose up and threw her pale grey gown over Finn’s four comrades, and they turned to four old men, weak and withered, their heads hanging. When Finn saw that there came great dread on him, and the man at the door saw it, and he bade him to come over to him, and to put his head in his breast and to sleep. Finn did that, and the hag took her covering off the four men, the way that when Finn awoke they were in their own shape again, and it is well pleased he was to see that.

“ Is there wonder on you, Finn ? “ said the man at the door, “ at the ways of this house ? “ “I never wondered more at anything I ever saw,” said Finn. “ I will tell you the meaning of them, so,” said the man. “ As to the giant you saw first,” he said, “ having the squealing pig in the prongs of his fork. Sluggishness is his name ; and the girl here beside me that was shoving him along is Liveliness, for liveliness pushes on sluggishness, and liveliness goes farther in the winking of an eye than the foot can travel in a year. The old man there beyond with the twelve bright eyes betokens the World, and he is stronger than any other, and he showed that when he made nothing of the ram. The ram you saw betokens the Desires of Men. The hag is Old Age, and her gown withered up your four comrades. And the two wells you drank the two draughts out of,” he said, “ betoken Lying and Truth ; for it is sweet to people to be telling a lie, but it is bitter in the end. And as to myself,” he said, “ Cuanna from Innistuil is my name, and it is not here I am used to be, but I took a very great love for you, Finn, because of your wisdom and your great name, and so I put these things in your way that I might see you. And the hospitality of Cuanna’s house to Finn will be the name of this story to the end of the world. And let you and your men come together now,” he said, “ and sleep till morning.”

So they did that, and when they awoke in the morning, it is where they were, on the top of Cairn Feargall, and their dogs and their arms beside them.