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https://listserv.heanet.ie/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind1211&L=SEANCHASL&D=0&P=24515
Lon mac Liomhtha's cow Glas was the source of seven steams: "This
cow would fill with her milk any vessel, be it never so large, into
which she was milked, and it became a saying in the neighbourhood
that no vessel could be found which the Glas would not fill at one
milking. At last, two women laid a wager on this point, one insisting
that no vessel, be it never so large, could be found in Ireland which
the smith's cow would not fill, and the other that there could. The
'beats' being placed in secure hands, the latter lady went to her
barn, and took out a sieve, which she took to Slieve-na-Glaise, and
into which, by consent of Lon Mac Liomhtha, she milked the cow.
And, behold, the milk passing through the bottom of the sieve, and
even overflowing it, fell to the ground, and divided into seven
rivulets [seacht srotha na taescaighe), the seven streams of the
overflowing. Taescach (Teeskagh), that is, the 'overflowing,' or
'irrigation,' is now the name of a Townland lying to the W. of Slievena-Glaise. 'Clear streams of water now run through the channels
then formed by the copious floods of the milk of the Glas, and one of
them forms in winter a beautiful waterfall. On the east side of
Slieve-na-Glaise is a small valley, in which is shown a spot, called
Leaba-na-Glaise, in which the cow is said to have slept every night,
and near it another spot, called the 'Bed of her Calf.'" From "The
dolmens of Ireland" by William Copeland Borlase, 1897, p. 885.
"The well of Connla great of cheer was 'neath the dark bluerimmed') sea; seven streams whose fame was not alike (flowed)
from it. Shannon among the seven." From "Irish Miscellany" by
Osborn Bergin and Carl Marstander, 1912, p. 193 Seven streams
from a Glas the mythical cow and seven streams from the mythical
well of Connla are analogies? Norse likewise had a stream
originating form a mythical cow: "Then said Gangleri: 'Where dwelt
Ymir, or wherein did he find sustenance?' Hrr answered:
'Straightway after the rime dripped, there sprang from it the cow
called Audumla; four streams of milk ran from her udders, and she
nourished
Ymir.'"
From
Snorri
Sturluson's
Prose
Edda,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Au%C3%B0umbla So is Glas Irish
or Norse? Yet I have read of similar concepts in Slavic mythology,
were rain/water is thought of in terms of cattle. Vedic tradition is
clear in is comparsion with river water to cows, the Rig Veda: "He
[Indra] who killed the serpent and loosed the seven rivers, who
drove out the cows that had been pent up by Vala [Bala]."
http://college.cengage.com/history/primary_sources/world/ri
g_veda.htm [Who steals Glas the source of the streams is not the
demon Bala, but Balor? Bala's festival (his death) is an important

ancestral festival (much like All Saints) and marks the being of
sowing year., iva in Trouble, 2008.] I think it is clear from internal
analogies within Gaelic folktales and analogies with mythologies
with the same root; that the cow Glas as a representation (an
analogy) of farmer needs for fresh water and her (Glas's) theft is a
mythical struggle explaining the natural science of rain/streams. So
why
is
the
water
stolen
from
the
Smith
god?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glas_Gaibhnenn

There is a similar story in Scottish oral tradition, about the White

Cow of Calanais. She rises up out of the sea in times of famine, and
fills all of the pails that are left out for her. These pails then become
ever-full, similar to the cauldrons in which Goibhniu's pigs are
cooked in the Otherworld.

Glangevlin in traditional thought was said to derive from the

mythical cow Glas Gaibhleann which belonged to Gaibhnen, the
blacksmith of the Tuatha D Danann. The Book of Magauran, written
c.1340, spells it as Ghleann Gaibhle, which might make Glangevlin
be "Glen with the Fork" as in the modern interpretation. However
Glas Gaibhleann is a variant of Glas Gaibhneann. Glangevlin is also
spelled as Gleann Gaibhneann, as in this scribal note to the Poems
on the O'Reillys: "I am in Gleann Gaibhneann, now called Gleann
Gaibhle, to-day, the vigil of the feast of John the Baptist, 1599" John
O'Donovan visited Glan on Monday 16th May 1836 for the purpose
of the Ordnance Survey then taking place. He states: ". We
lodged in a farmer's house in Glen Gavlen for two days; on Tuesday
we directed our course northwards through the parish of
Templeport, over a very bad, rough, rocky road and indulged our
curiosity by visiting the large spring well in the Townland of
Derrylahan in which the Shannon (according to tradition) had its
source. It is a round deep pool throwing out a stream of considerable
size which the country people call the Shannon. The pool itself is
called by some Poll Lagan Sionna, and Lag Bhun na Sionna by
others. . Derrylahan is within the Catholic parish of Glangevlin.
This could imply the above claim origin of the Shannon is from a
well in the Glen of the mythical cow Glas Gaibhneann. Which would
connect the Well of Connla that is the source of the Shannon and
the milk streams of Glas Gaibhneann? [Looking Glas up in www.dil.ie
I find one mean for Glas is stream so is Glas Gaibhneann, mean
stream of Goibhniu?]

But, at the same time, there is quite a deal of evidence that the
Bovinda (Boyne) the White Cow, while in one sense representing
the world river here on earth, is *also* representative of the Milky
Way in the sky (which a few thousand years ago lay more around
the horizon than today), and of course this notion of the stars of the
milky way as drops of milk is found all over the place. So the idea
that the milky way is called the stream (ie river) (glas) of Gobniu is
really very neat....
Additional Cu-Roi who kidnapes cows which seem strongly related to
Glas Gaibhnenn and I understand there is alternative version where
they are stolen from Midir who is in the Isle of Man, i.e. the source of
streams is stolen from an otherworld and once in Ireland flow
without being milk. Is this rain from the clouds? "Then he kidnapped
at their own hand, the cows and the boiler and the Maiden.
Cuchulainn followed him. He put his hand (?) on the handle of the
boiler. The young man turned against him. He threw him
(Cuchulainn) through the earth, once up to his knees, another time
to his rump, the other time up to his waist, the other up to his
armpits. Thereafter he led the cows and the girl to Caher Conree
between *** and the sea in the west. There the cows let their milk
flowing, thereafter without being milked, they were hanging around.
From this there grew a herb. Its name is bo-Eirne. For Curoi is one of
the Erainn." http://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/curoi.html
>But I wonder whether there isnt another metaphor going on here?
have you ever come across anything that suggests Gobniu is
striking off sparks to become stars? that seems logical to me, but I
can't say offhand I've ever seen this in any literature... but it could
lie at the heart of why Gobniu is said to own the cow. The answer
to the above is yes! there is a tale (but I can't find it offhand, if
someone knows where this comes from please let us know), that is
about a magical smith (it might be Lon? ) and each night at sunset
he throws his forge ?east/?west, and wonderful showers of jewels
fall from it.
The below passage summaries some of the things we know about
Goibniu/Lon Mac Liomhan: 1. His cow has left his mark on the Gaelic
landscape. 2. He was the first smith that ever made swords of iron in
Ireland,which makes him directly compariable with slavic Sravog
role. 3. His cow (water) is stolen by the demon Balor. 4. Not mention
here, but I think implied is that the hero who rescues Gobniu's cow
(water) is armed by Gobniu (the creator). The stories says that
either that the cow was stolen while a sword was being made,
others tell of the arming of the important Gaelic great heros by
smiths with magical swords/spears. Transactions of the Ossianic
Society, 1857, Vol 7, p.57. Note "3 THE Cow. The large quantity of

milk yielded by the cow mentioned in this work would induce one to
identify her with the Glas Gaibhne, or the grey cow of the smith, of
which so many wonderful stories have been related by our
Shanchees. She was the property of Lon Mac Liomhtha of the Tuath
Dedanan colony, who was the first smith that ever made swords of
iron in Ireland. The Glas suplied him and his numerous family and
servants with plenty of milk and butter. On that account she was
coveted by all those who heard of her good qualities, and they
wished to be possessed of her. It was not, however, an easy matter
to steal her from the smith, as he had her watched by day, and by
night she betook herself to some mountain fastness ; and her hoofs
being reversed she always deceived those who sought after her. At
length Balor Balc Beimionnach of Tory Island, the general of the
Fomorians in the battle of Magh Tuireadh, succeeded in getting
possession of her. She is said to have lived to the time of the Fians
of Erin in the third century of the Christian era, and that she
supplied them all with abundance of milk. At every place they
encamped there was a cow-house constructed for the Glas, and
hence many places throughout Ireland bear her name, such as
Ardnaglass, or Ard-na-Glaise, i.e., the height or elevated ground of
the Glas-Gaibhne. And to the present day the figurative saying is
applied to a goodly lactiferous cow that she gives as much milk as
the
Glas-Gavne.
.
http://archive.org/stream/transactionsofos05ossiuoft#page/
58/mode/2up/search/cow
It seems amongst certainly people of the Indo European traddition
that milk was a methophor for water and the milch-cow as the
source of the water: Sarasvati is goddess and river in Vedic-Indian
traddtion: RV 2.41.16 Sarasvati is "best mother, best river, best
goddess". RV 7.95. "Sarasvati, chief of rivers, flowing clearly from
the mountains to to ocean, gave butter and milk to Nahusa, knowing
of the many-shaped world"
While cows are clear treat as rivers:
RV 3.33.1, describing two rivers: "Like two bright mother cows who
lick their youngling, Vipas and Sutudri speed down their waters. "
The same is true of Indo-Iranian who use methophor of milch cow to
stand for water: "Names two to four epitomize the Indo-lranian
metaphor in which milch cows stand for water. The tertium
comparationis between the waters and the cow is the liquid state of
the waters, on the one hand, and the liquid yielded by the cow, i.e.
the milk, on the other. The concept of 'mother cows' as a metaphor
for the 'waters' has equivelents in the Rigveda, where there former
are imagined to be 'mothers' with teats. The latter are a metaphor
for the rain clouds which the Marut draw from, while the rain is
precieved as the 'milk of the sky' (see Y.38.5 no.3 at the end). ...."
From "A Zoroastrian liturgy" p.14 Additional again from Rig Veda:
"VICTORY OVER VRITRA I will declare the manly deeds of Indra, the
first that he achieved, the thunder-wielder. He slew the dragon, then

disclosed the waters, and cleft the channels of the mountain

torrents. He slew the dragon lying on the mountain: his heavenly
bolt of thunder Twashtar[1] fashioned. Like lowing cows in rapid flow
descending, the waters glided downward to the ocean. Impetuous
as a bull, he chose the Soma, and quaffed in threefold sacrifice the
juices. ..." and also: "WHO IS INDRA? ... He who killed the serpent
and loosed the seven rivers, who drove out the cows that had been
pent up by Vala, who gave birth to fire between two stones, the
winner of booty in combats--he, my people, is Indra." ... He, the
mighty bull who with his seven reins let loose the seven rivers to
flow, who with his thunderbolt in his hand hurled down Rauhina[14]
as he was climbing up to the sky, he, my people, is Indra. The
water is the cows and he Indra is the bull. They same concept
seems true for the Slavs: The enmity of the two gods was
explained by Veles' theft of Perun's cattle, or by Perun's theft of
Veles' cattle (since Veles was the god of cattle, the matter of
ownership here is not clear). The motif of stealing divine cattle is
also a common one in Indo-European mythology; the cattle in fact
may be understood simply as a metaphor for heavenly water or
rain. Thus, Veles steals rain water from Perun, or Perun steals water
for rain from Veles (again, since Veles is associated with waters, and
Perun with sky and clouds, it is unclear to whom rain should belong).
An
additional
reason
for
this
enmity
may
be
wifetheft.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavic_mythology
He we
have Vala (Bala) and Veles stealing the needed water (the IndoEuropean where concerned about drought). Now Balor steals
Goibnenn cow Glas (Glas being Irish for Stream and Balor being very
close to Bala and Vele) would be the same story. (However Ireland is
not know for its droughts, however water is lock in snow capped
mountains or frozen in the ground ...?) Maybe someone can offer a
more authoritive explanation of the Indo-European tradition of the
Milch cow as metaphor for water?
Elin Gow is another name for as Lon MacLiomhtha (MacLiobhain) /
Gobniu / Goban (Boban) Soar / ...
From the introduction from
Curtin's Hero Tales of Ireland": "In Elin Gow, the swordsmith, we
have a character quite as primitive as the cow or her owners. Elin
Gow is found in Scotland as well as in Ireland. Ellin Gowan's Height,
in Guy Mannering, is simply Elin Gow's Height, Gowan (Gobhan in
Gaelic) being merely the genitive case of Gow (Gobha). Elin Gow
means simply Elin the smith. Under whatever name, or wherever he
may be, Elin Gow occupies a position in Gaelic similar to that of
Hephaestos in Greek, or Vulcan in Latin mythology he is the maker
of weapons, the forger of the bolt. In a short tale of Glas Gavlen,
which I obtained near Carrick, County Donegal, it is stated that the
cow came down from the sky. According to the tale, she gives milk
in unlimited quantities to all people without exception. Time after
time the rich or powerful try to keep her for their own use

exclusively, but she escapes. Appearing first at Dun Kinealy. she

goes finally to Glen Columkil near the ocean, where a strong man
tries to confine her ; but she rises in the air, and, clearing the high
ridge on the northern side of the glen, disappears. Since then, there
is no free milk in Erin, and none but that which common cows give.
The cow, Glas Gainach or Gaunach or Gavlen, for all three refer to
the same beast, betrays at once her relationship with those cows of
India so famous in the Rig Veda, those cloud cows whose milk was
rain, cows which the demon Vritra used to steal and hide away, thus
causing drought and suffering. Indra brought death to this demon
with a lightning bolt ; for this deed he received the name Vritrahan
(slayer of Vritra). The cows were freed then from confinement ; and
the world was refreshed by their milk, which came to all, rich and
poor, in like manner. So far the main characters of the tale are quite
recognizable. Cian and Cormac are simply names current in Irish
history, and are substituted for names of original heroes, who were
characters as far from human and as mythologic as King Under the
Wave or Glas Gainach."

https://listserv.heanet.ie/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind1211&L=SEANCHASL&P=40542
Glas Gaineach, story from Teelin in CO. Donegal
In a short tale of Glas Gavlen, which I obtained near Carrick, County
Donegal, it is stated that the cow came down from the sky.
According to the tale, she gives milk in unlimited quantities to all
people without exception. Time after time the rich or powerful try to
keep her for their own use exclusively, but she escapes. Appearing

first at Dun Kinealy. she goes finally to Glen Columkil near the
ocean, where a strong man tries to confine her ; but she rises in the
air, and, clearing the high ridge on the northern side of the glen,
disappears. Since then, there is no free milk in Erin, and none but
that which common cows give. The cow, Glas Gainach or Gaunach
or Gavlen, for all three refer to the same beast, betrays at once her
relationship with those cows of India so famous in the Rig Veda,
those cloud cows whose milk was rain, cows which the demon Vritra
used to steal and hide away, thus causing drought and suffering.
Indra brought death to this demon with a lightning bolt ; for this
deed he received the name Vritrahan (slayer of Vritra). The cows
were freed then from confinement ; and the world was refreshed by
their milk, which came to all, rich and poor, in like manner. So far
the main characters of the tale are quite recognizable. Cian and
Cormac are simply names current in Irish history, and are
substituted for names of original heroes, who were characters as far
from human and as mythologic as King Under the Wave or Glas
Gainach."