84 English Fairy Tales malison what like; so she gave him the whole cake, and her malison along with it. Then he took his brother aside, and gave him a knife to keep till he should come back, desiring him to look at it every morning, and as long as it continued to be clear, then he might be sure that the owner of it was well; but if it grew dim and rusty, then for certain some ill had befallen him. So the young man went to seek his fortune. And he went all that day, and all the next day; and on the third day, in the afternoon, he came up to where a shepherd was sitting with a flock of sheep. And he went up to the shepherd and asked him who the sheep belonged to; and he answered: “The Red Ettin of Ireland Once lived in Ballygan, And stole King Malcolm’s daughter The king of fair Scotland. He beats her, he binds her, He lays her on a band; And every day he strikes her With a bright silver wand. Like Julian the Roman, He’s one that fears no man. It’s said there’s one predestinate To be his mortal foe; But that man is yet unborn, And long may it be so.” This shepherd also told him to beware of the beasts he should next meet, for they were of a very different kind from any he had yet seen. So the young man went on, and by-and-by he saw a mul- titude of very dreadful beasts, with two heads, and on every head four horns. And he was sore frightened, and ran away from them as fast as he could; and glad was he when he came to a castle that stood on a hillock, with the door stand- ing wide open to the wall. And he went into the castle for shelter, and there he saw an old wife sitting beside the kitchen fire. He asked the wife if he might stay for the night, as he was tired with a long journey; and the wife said he might,