lloman Mac Conchobair would not have fallen.'

'Strive further, O Little Hound, it is no reproach to thy honour
and no disgrace to thy valour.'

'Stay here for us to-night, O warrior,' said Cuchulainn, 'that we
may together avenge the boys on the hosts.'

'I will not stay indeed,' said the warrior, 'for however great the
contests of valour and deeds of arms any one does near thee, it is
not on him there will be the renown of it or the fame or the
reputation, but it is on thee; therefore I will not stay. But ply
thy deed of arms thyself alone on the hosts, for not with them is
there power over thy life this time.'

'The scythe-chariot, O my friend Loeg!' said Cuchulainn; 'can you
yoke it? and is its equipment here? If you can yoke it, and if you
have its equipment, yoke it; and if you have not its equipment, do
not yoke it at all.'

It is then that the charioteer arose, and he put on his hero's
dress of charioteering. This was his hero's dress of charioteering
that he put on: his soft tunic of skin, light and airy,
well-turned [Note: Lit. 'kneaded.'], made of skin, sewn, of
deer-skin, so that it did not restrain the movement of his hands
outside. He put on his black (?) upper-cloak over it outside: Simon
Magus had made it for Darius, King of the Romans, so that Darius
gave it to Conchobar, and Conchobar gave it to Cuchulainn, and
Cuchulainn gave it to his charioteer. The charioteer took first
then his helm, ridged, like a board (?), four-cornered, with much
of every colour and every form, over the middle of his shoulders.
This was well-measured (?) to him, and it was not an overweight.
His hand brought the circlet of red-yellow, as though it were a
plate of red-gold, of refined gold smelted over the edge of an
anvil, to his brow, as a sign of his charioteering, in distinction
to his master.

He took the goads (?) of his horses, and his whip (?) inlaid in his
right hand. He took the reins to hold back his horses in his left
hand. [Note: Gloss incorporated in text: 'i. e. to direct his
horses, in his left hand, for the great power of his charioteering.']
Then he put the iron inlaid breastplates on the horses, so that
they were covered from forehead to forefoot with spears and points
and lances and hard points, so that every motion in this chariot
was spear-near, so that every corner and every point and every
end and every front of this chariot was a way of tearing. It is
then that he cast a spell of covering over