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 Presented to the Department of Romance 
 Languages 
 
 BY 
 
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 .548 
 
ANCIENT CUKES, CHAKMS, AND USAGES 
 OF IEELAND. 
 
ANCIENT CURES, CHARMS, AN] 
 USAGES OF IRELAND. 
 
 CONTRIBUTIONS TO IRISH IORE, 
 
 BY 
 
 LADY WILDE, 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 "ANCIENT LEGENDS OF IRELAND," "DRIFTWOOD FROM SCANDINAVIA 
 
 ETC. 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 WARD AND DOWNEY, 
 
 IK STREET, COVENT GARDEN, W.C. 
 
 1890. 
 
 [All rights reserved^] 
 
A 
 
 CHARLES DICKENS AND EVANS, 
 CHYSTAL PALACE FBESS. 
 
 50 
 
 &*- 
 
 t?§ 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 THE EARLY RACES .... 
 THE IRISH DOCTORS .... 
 THE TUATHA-DE-DANAN 
 ANCIENT DOCTORS OP IRELAND . 
 ANCIENT MEDICAL MANUSCRIPTS . 
 DRU1DIC CHARMS .... 
 
 ANCIENT CHARMS — 
 
 For the Falling Sickness 
 
 A Charm against Accidents, Fire, Tempests, 
 Water, Knife, or Lance .... 
 
 For a Sprain ....... 
 
 For the Ague ....... 
 
 PAGE 
 
 1 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 7 
 
 10 
 
 i.O 
 11 
 11 
 
CONTEXTS. 
 
 ancient charms {continued) — 
 For a Wound that Bleeds 
 For Toothache . 
 A Cure for Weakness 
 For Consumption 
 For Inflammation 
 For Whooping Cough 
 
 PAGB 
 11 
 
 12 
 12 
 12 
 12 
 13 
 
 ANCIENT CUBES — 
 
 For Cramp 
 
 For the Nine-day Fever 
 
 For Mumps 
 
 13 
 13 
 13 
 
 CHARMS AND CURES — 
 
 For a Sprain 
 
 For Rickets 
 
 For Epilepsy 
 
 For the Staunching of Blood 
 
 For a Burn 
 
 Another Charm for Burns 
 
 14 
 14 
 14 
 14 
 IP 
 15 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 ANCIENT CORES — 
 
 For Whooping Cough 
 
 For a Mote in the Eye 
 
 For Contusions 
 
 For the Bite of a Mad Dog 
 
 For Suspected Witchcraft 
 
 For Jaundice . 
 
 For Sore Eyes . 
 
 16 
 16 
 17 
 17 
 17 
 18 
 19 
 
 3HARMS AND CUBES — 
 
 For Dyspepsia . 
 For Asthma 
 Dropsy 
 
 Fasting Spittle . 
 For the Night Fever 
 
 21 
 
 22 
 22 
 22 
 23 
 
 ANCIENT CURES — 
 
 For the King's Evil 
 For Rheumatism 
 To Remove Warts 
 For a Stye 
 
 v/ 
 
 24 
 24 
 24 
 25 
 
viii CONTENTS. 
 
 
 CHARMS AND CURBS — 
 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 For a Headache .... 
 
 . 26 
 
 Ancient Cures . . . . ■ 
 
 . 26 
 
 POPULAR CURBS 
 
 
 The Falling Sickness .... 
 
 . 28 
 
 For Sore Eyes (1460). 
 
 . 28 
 
 Mesmerism ..... 
 
 . 29 
 
 Erysipelas ...... 
 
 . 30 
 
 Love Charms ..... 
 
 . 32 
 
 Madness ...... 
 
 . 33 
 
 The Falling Sickness .... 
 
 . 33 
 
 Insanity ...... 
 
 . 34 
 
 For Lumbago ..... 
 
 . 37 
 
 For the Liver Complaint . 
 
 37 
 
 For Dysentery ..... 
 
 . 38 
 
 ANCIENT CURES 
 
 
 For the Falling Sickness . 
 
 . 38 
 
 To Cure a Fairy-stricken Child . 
 
 41 
 
 For Deafness ..... 
 
 . 42 
 
 For Falling Sickness .... 
 
 . 42 
 
 Hydrophobia . ... 
 
 . 4; 
 
MALIKIC CHARMS 
 MALEDICTIONS . 
 THE DEAD HAND 
 
 >/ 
 
 WITCHCRAFT 
 THE EVIL EYE . 
 SUPERSTITIONS . 
 FOOD OF THE IRISH 
 FOR THE MEMORY 
 SUPERSTITIONS . 
 E LEPREHAUN 
 CONCERNING TREES 
 THE SACRED TREE 
 THE BRIAR 
 CONCERNING BIRDS 
 SUPERSTITIONS . 
 BURYING-GROUNDS 
 SUPERSTITIONS . 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 ix 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 
 . 47 
 
 
 . 48 
 
 ■ 
 
 . 49 
 
 
 . 51 
 
 
 . 51 
 
 . 
 
 . 52 
 
 
 . 53 
 
 
 . 54 
 
 
 . 55 
 
 
 . 56 
 
 
 . 56 
 
 
 . 58 
 
 
 . 58 
 
 
 . 59 
 
 
 . 62 
 
 
 . 65 
 
 
 . 68 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 OMENS 
 
 V t: 
 
 THE NATURE OP FAIRIES . 
 
 y 
 
 \/ the banshee .... 
 
 the demon bride 
 
 st. Patrick's day, 17th march 
 
 a legend of st. patrick . 
 
 st. patrick and the witch 
 
 festivals — 
 </ May Day in Ireland 
 The May-Day Dance 
 Advice to Maidens 
 May Eve . 
 May-Day Usages 
 Whitsuntide 
 Hallowtide in Ireland 
 Garland Sunday 
 
 PEASANT GAMES 
 WAKE GAMES 
 
 PAGE 
 
 74 
 75 
 83 
 84 
 85 
 92 
 93 
 
 97 
 106 
 106 
 107 
 107 
 108 
 115 
 125 
 
 127 
 
 129 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PEASANT TALES 
 
 
 v^A Night with the Fairies . 
 
 . 135 
 
 A Legend of Shark . 
 
 . 141 
 
 The Doctor's Visit 
 
 . 144 
 
 S^Fairy Help .... 
 
 . 147 
 
 The Western Isles 
 
 . 149 
 
 PEASANT TALES OP THE DEAD- 
 
 The Spectre Bride .... 
 
 . 157 
 
 The Witch-Girl 
 
 . 160 
 
 The Headless Horses .... 
 
 . 163 
 
 The Woman with the Teeth 
 
 . 164 
 
 The Punishment .... 
 
 . 166 
 
 IRISH MINSTRELSY ..... 
 
 . 169 
 
 ANCIENT IRISH GOLD ..... 
 
 . 179 
 
 PRIMITIVE MAN ...... 
 
 . 191 
 
 THE NEW RACES ..... 
 
 . 196 
 
 THE AMERICAN IRISH 
 
 . . 198 
 
 CONCERNING IRISH PROVERBS 
 
 . 244 
 
 SELECTED PROVERBS . . . . 
 
 . 247 
 
 MYSTERIES AND USAGES .... 
 
 . 255 
 
{CONTRIBUTIONS TO IRISH LORE. 
 
 i 
 
 ANCIENT CURES, CHARMS, AND USAGES 
 ' OF IRELAND. 
 
 i The Eaelt Eaoes. 
 
 i All nations and races from the earliest time have 
 I held the intuitive belief that mystic beings were 
 I always around them, influencing, though unseen, 
 
 every action of life, and all the forces of nature. 
 I They felt the presence of a spirit in the winds, and 
 I the waves, and the swaying branches of the forest 
 
 trees, and in the primal elements of all that exists. 
 
 Fire was to them the sacred symbol of the divine 
 I essence, ever striving towards ascension; and 
 
 water, ever seeking a level, was the emblem of the 
 
 purification that should cover all daily life; while 
 ( in the elemental earth they reverenced the power 
 'that produces all things, and where all that lives 
 
 finds a grave, yet also a resurrection. 
 
 Thus to the primitive races of mankind the 
 
 unseen world of mystery was a vital and vivid- 
 
 ' B 
 
2 ANCIENT CUBES, CHABMS, AND 
 
 reality ; the great over-soal of the visible, holding 
 a mystic and psychic relation to humanity, and 
 ruling it through the instrumentality of beings who 
 had a strange power either for good or evil over 
 human lives and actions. 
 
 We turn back the leaves of the national legends 
 of all countries and peoples, and find stamped on 
 the first page the words " God and Immortality." j 
 These two ideas are at the base of all the old-world J 
 thought and culture, and underlie all myths, 
 rituals, and monuments, and all the antique usages ' 
 and mystic lore of charms, incantations, and 
 sacrificial observances. 
 
 The primal idea may be often degraded, j 
 debased, and obscured by the low instincts of , 
 savage man ; yet, religious faith is the basis of all I 
 superstitions, and in all of them can be traced the \ 
 ceaseless and instinctive effort of humanity to i 
 incarnate and make manifest this prescience within \ 
 the soul of the unseen dominating the seen, with ' 
 the desire, also, to master the forces of nature 
 through the aid of these invisible spirits. ( 
 
 It is worthy of note, also, that the mythology 
 and superstitions of a people are far more faithful < 
 
 guides as to the origin and affinity of races than 
 language, which, through commerce and conquest, is i 
 perpetually changing, till the ancient idiom is at 
 last crushed out and lost by the dominance of the - > 
 stronger and conquering nation. ; 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 3 
 
 But the myths, superstitions, and legends 
 (which, are the expression of a people's faith), 
 remain fixed and fast through successive genera- 
 tions, and finally become so inwoven with the daily 
 life of the people that they form part of the national 
 character and cannot be dissevered from it. 
 
 This is especially true of the Irish, who, having ^ 
 been wholly separated from European thought and 
 culture for countless centuries, by their language 
 and insular position at the extreme limit of the known 
 world, have remained unchanged in temperament 
 and nature ; still clinging to the old traditions with 
 a fervour and faith that would make them, even 
 now, suffer death sooner than violate a superstition, 
 or neglect those ancient usages of their fathers 
 which have held them in bonds since the first dawn 
 of history. For the customs and usages of the Irish 
 race can be traced far back, even to the Egyptian 
 and Pelasgian influence that dominated the primal 
 tribes of humanity, ever wandering westward by 
 the shores and islands of the great sea. The Celtic 
 tribes followed the earlier Pelasgian along the 
 same line of westward migration, carrying with 
 them Egyptian and Pelasgian ideas even beyond the 
 Pillars of Hercules, till they reached the shores of 
 the distant Hibernia, where pre-historic monu- 
 ments, supposed to be of Pelasgian origin, are still 
 existing to attest the presence of that ancient 
 people — such as the grand and wonderful Temple 
 
 I B 2 
 
4 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 of New Grange, at the Boyne, one of those eternal 
 works of the hand of man over which time seems 
 to have no power. 
 v Irish customs also resemble the Hebrew in 
 
 many things; for all nations have preserved frag- 
 ments of the one primal creed, and have many 
 elements in common as regards religious beliefs 
 f~and ritual. The Jews borrowed from Egypt, as 
 i the Egyptians borrowed from Babylon and Chaldea. 
 jThus the creeds, symbols, and usages of all the 
 Ijsarly nations have a certain basis of identity. 
 
 The Irish, however, have retained more of the 
 ancient superstitions than any other European 
 people, and hold to them with a reverential belief 
 that cannot be shaken by any amount of modern 
 \ philosophic teaching. They are also, perhaps, 
 lindebted to Egypt for the wonderful knowledge 
 of the power of herbs, which has always characterised 
 the Irish, both amongst the adepts and the peasants. 
 
 The Ikish Doctors. 
 
 Prom the most ancient pagan times, the Irish 
 doctors were renowned for their skill in the treat- 
 ment of disease, and the professors of medicine 
 held a high and influential position in the Druid 
 order. They were allowed a distinguished place at 
 the royal table, next to the nobles, and above the 
 armourers, smiths, and workers in metals ; they were 
 also entitled to wear a special robe of honour when, 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 5 
 
 ,at the courts of the kings, and were always attended 
 by a large staff of pupils, who assisted the master 
 in the diagnosis and treatment of disease, and the 
 preparations necessary for the curative potions. 
 
 The skill of the Irish physicians was based 
 chiefly upon a profound knowledge of the healing 
 toature and properties of herbs ; and they were also 
 ■well acquainted with the most deadly and concen- 
 trated poisons that can be found in the common 
 field plants. 
 
 But, in addition to the aid given by science and 
 observation, they also practised magic with great 
 effect, knowing well how strongly charms, incanta- 
 tions, and fairy cures can act on the nerves and 
 impress the mind of a patient. Consequently theirA 
 treatment of disease was of a medico-religious 
 character, in which various magic ceremonials 
 largely helped tbe curative process. \ 
 
 The Tuatha-de-Danan. 
 
 The oldest record of physicians in Ireland dates 
 from the battle of Magh-tura (Moytura, the plain 
 of the Towers) fought about three thousand years 
 ago between the Firbolgs, the primitive, unlettered 
 dwellers in Erin, and the Tuatha-de-Danans, a 
 new set of invaders from the Isles of the Sea, 
 more learned and powerful than the Firbolgs, 
 skilled as metal workers, and famous as warriors 
 and physicians. 
 
6 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 ! 
 At this great historic battle of Moytura,Dianecht, i 
 the chief physician of the Tuatha, had a bath of j 
 herbs prepared, at the rear of the army, of singular' 
 V efficacy, into which the wounded were plunged,) 
 and from which they emerged healed and wholeJ 
 During the fierce combat, Nuada, the King of the! 
 Tuatha, lost his hand; but it is recorded that! 
 Dianecht made for him a silver hand, fashioned 
 with the most perfect mechanical and artistic skill ; 
 and henceforth the KiDg was known as Nuadii, 
 Airgeat-lamh (Nuad of the silver hand), and by 
 this name he lives in history. Owing to their 
 great knowledge and skill in metallurgy, the 
 Firbolgs looked on the powerful invaders as necro- 
 mancers and enchanters, and fled before them to 
 the extreme limit of the western coast, even' 
 out to the remote Arran Isles, where they built, 
 for shelter and protection from the enemy, those 
 marvellous Cyclopean forts, whose stupendous, 
 ruins, with the causeway leading to them, formed 
 of enormous masses of stone, can be seen to this 
 day. After this, until the final conquest of Ireland 
 by the Milesians from Spain, the Tuatha long- 
 remained masters of Ireland, and learning and 
 art flourished under their rule. An ancient poet 
 thus describes their great medical power : 
 
 The Tuatha by force of potent spells, 
 
 Could raise a slaughtered army from the earth, 
 
 And make them live, and breathe, and fight again. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 7 
 
 i 
 
 Adjoining the royal palace or "Tara of the 
 [Kings/' they erected a hospital called "The 
 House of Sorrow/' where the wounded knights 
 and chiefs were carried after the battles and 
 forays to be healed of their wounds, and were 
 attended there by the doctor and his staff of 
 pupils until quite restored. 
 
 But if the liaigh, or leech, took up his abode at 
 ^he house of the patient, he was entitled to his 
 diet, along with four of his pupils, in addition to 
 bis fees, during the healing of the wound. If the 
 cure, however, did not make satisfactory progress, 
 the liaigh was obliged to pay for the food already 
 consumed, and to refund the fees, which were 
 
 handed over to a better liaigh. 
 
 I 
 
 Ancient Doctors of Ireland. 
 
 | The practice of physic was hereditary in certain 
 families, and each of the nobles had a special phy- 
 sician attached to his service. In the more ancient 
 times, medical knowledge was handed down by 
 oral tradition from father to son ; then, as learning 
 advanced, by written books, carefully preserved 
 in each family. The sons were generally educated 
 by their fathers in the practice of physic, but it 
 is said that Dianecht, being jealous of the superior 
 skill of his son, caused him to be slain, when from 
 , the grave of the youth sprang a number of herbs, 
 
8 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND j 
 
 i 
 all efficacious in curing disease ; and thus, though,; 
 dead, he carried on his work. I 
 
 After the introduction of Christianity by St.j 
 Patrick, schools were established both for law; 
 and physic, where Latin was sedulously taught 
 and freely spoken. Camden describes these schools,, 
 and says of them : " They speak Latin there like the! 
 vulgar tongue, conning by rote the aphorisms of 
 Hippocrates, Galen, Avicenna, and others amongsti 
 
 the great masters of surgery.' 5 i 
 
 i 
 
 Ancient Medical Manusceipts. 
 
 Numerous copies of these ancient writers were 
 made by the learned doctors and freely distributed 
 amongst the profession, so that many of the manu-r' 
 scripts can still be found in the chief libraries 01 
 Europe. They are written on vellum, and are 
 beautiful specimens of penmanship. A commentary) 
 in Irish was sometimes added, besides which, several 
 translations into Irish of the chief medical works^ 
 whole and entire, are in existence. 
 
 In proof of the great and accurate knowledge! 
 of these Irish physicians, it is stated by Sir William; 
 Wilde, that when preparing "The Status of Diseased 
 from the Earliest Times," for the Irish census, he 
 was able to tabulate seventy-five fatal diseases 
 accurately described by the native doctors, with 1 
 many that were not fatal ; and he asserts that ' 
 the Irish terms for the principal diseases were of 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 9 
 
 far more appropriate significance than those at 
 present employed in English, or derived from the ? 
 Latin and Greek. f\J^ \ J* Y>s e_ 
 
 Deuidic Charms. / --* wj- 
 
 Meantime, the ancient Druidic charms and in- 
 vocations continued to hold their power over the 
 people, who believed in them with undoubting 
 faith. No doubt, in pagan times, the invocations 
 were made in the names of ;Baal aa4_ Ash taroth, "^ 
 and by the power of the sun, the moon, and 
 fte winds ; but the Christian converts, while still J 
 retaining the form of the ancient charms, sub- 1 
 stituted the names of the Trinity and the words of I 
 the Christian Ritual as still more powerful in effect-/ 
 ing cures. And in this mode they are used to the\ 
 present day amongst the peasants, who consider 
 them as talismans of magic power when said over 
 the sick ; and no amount of argument would shake 
 their faith in these mystic formulas which have 
 pome down to them through centuries of tra- 
 dition ; nor would any one venture to laugh at 
 them, or an evil fate would certainly fall on 
 the scorner. For, above all things, fervent faith 
 is necessary while the mystic words are uttered, 
 <2>r the charm will not work for good; and charms 
 kre set with most effect upon Wednesdays and 
 
 Fridays, and must be set fasting, generally before 
 
 i 
 
 jaunnse. 
 
J 
 
 10 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 I 
 ANCIENT CHARMS. , ; 
 
 A few examples of these ancient cures and 
 
 charms may be given to show their simple, half-; 
 
 religious character, so well calculated to impress a. 
 
 people like the Irish, of intense faith and a strong 
 
 instinct for the mystic and the supernatural.* 
 
 i 
 Foe the Falling Sickness. i 
 
 " By the wood of the Cross, by the Man that 
 overcame death, be thou healed.-" These words are 
 to be said in the left ear while the fit is on th|e 
 patient, and he is to be signed three times with 
 the sign of the Cross, in. the name of G-od and th 
 blessed Lord, when by virtue of the charm he wil 
 be cured. i 
 
 A Charm against Accidents, Fire, TempestsJ 
 Water, Knife, or Lance. i 
 
 "Jesus, Saviour of men. In Jesus trust, and[ 
 in Mary trust truly for all grace. 
 
 " This is the measure of the wounds of Christ 
 upon the Cross, which was brought to Constants 
 nople to the Emperor as a most precious relic, so! 
 that no evil enemy might have power over him 1 .. 
 
 * I have already included many ancient Irish charms 
 in my published work, entitled " Ancient Legends of| 
 Ireland," to which I must refer the reader who may bei 
 interested in the subject. 
 
USAGES OF IBELAND. 11 
 
 And whoever reads it, or tears it, cannot be hurt 
 by fire or tempest, or the knife, or the lance ; 
 neither can the devil have power over him, nor will 
 hfe die an untimely death, but safety from all 
 dangers will be his to the end." 
 
 Foe a Speain. 
 
 As St. Agnes went over the moor to the 
 
 mountain of Moses, she fell with her foot turned. 
 
 But sinew to sinew, and bone to bone, God makes 
 
 all right to him who has faith : and be thou healed, 
 
 C> man, in Jesu's name. Amen. 
 
 i' 
 i 
 
 Foe the Ague. 
 
 i 
 
 1 When Christ first saw the cross on which He 
 was to be crucified, He trembled very exceedingly. 
 And the Jews asked Him, "Hast Thou the fever, 
 or the ague?" "No," He answered, "neither of 
 these do I fear, for God is above all." 
 I Wherefore, when the fit comes on, let the 
 person afflicted repeat these words of Christ, and 
 be will be calmed. 
 
 Foe a Wound that Bleeds. 
 i 
 ' "A child was baptized in the river Jordan; 
 
 and the water was dark and muddy, but the 
 
 child was pure and beautiful." Say these words 
 
 <pver the wound, placing the finger on the spot 
 
 I 
 I 
 
12 ANCIENT OURES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 where the blood flows, adding: "In the name of 
 God and of the Lord Christ, let the blood bp 
 staunched." And if the patient have faith, so ilfc 
 
 will be. 
 
 Foe Toothache. I 
 
 Drink water from a human skull; or take a 
 pinch of clay from a priest's grave, and put it in 
 your mouth. Then kneel down, say a Pater and 
 an Ave, and you will have no more toothache as 
 long as you live. J 
 
 A Cure j?oe Weakness. 
 
 Drink of the water of a river forming the 
 
 boundary of three properties for nine Sunday 
 
 mornings, before sunrise, fasting, and before any 
 
 one has crossed the stream. In silence it must 
 
 be done, and without speaking to any one; buifc 
 
 afterwards repeat nine Aves and the Credo. < 
 
 I 
 Foe Consumption. | 
 
 The Crov-Darrig, or Red Hand, to be pulled, 
 by tying it to a cock's leg, or the leg of a dogj 
 otherwise it is fatal to the one who pulls it. The! 
 leaves to be squeezed, and the juice taken, fasting, 
 every Wednesday morning. The leaves then to bp 
 carefully burned. 
 
 Foe Inflammation. , 
 
 Nine handfuls of mountain moss, dried on a pan! 
 to powder. Nine pinches of it, and nine pinches ofj 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 13 
 
 tike ashes from the hearth, to be mixed in whey, 
 t&ken every Tuesday and Thursday. 
 
 Foe Whooping Cough. 
 
 Put a live trout into the child's mouth, fasting. 
 Then put it back alive into the stream. If a trout 
 cinnot be had, a frog may be tried. The tooth of 
 a' dead horse or the hand of a dead man rubbed 
 oyer the jaw, will also be found effective to ease 
 
 the pain of an ailing tooth. 
 
 i 
 
 ANCIENT CURES. 
 
 i 
 
 Foe Champ. 
 
 An eel's skin tied round the knee alleviates pain, 
 aud for deafness nothing is esteemed better than 
 constant anointing with the oil of eels, used per- 
 fectly fresh. 
 
 Foe the Nine-day Fevee. 
 
 Write the name of Jesus nine times on a slip 
 ol paper, then cut the paper into small bits, mix 
 the pieces with some soft food, and make the 
 pktient swallow it. So will he be cured if he trusts 
 
 irf the Lord. 
 
 Foe Mumps. 
 
 Tie a halter round the child's neck, then lead 
 u to a brook and bathe him, c 
 times in the name of the Trinity. 
 
 Him to a brook and bathe him, dipping him three 
 
14 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 CHARMS AND CURES. 
 
 Foe a Sprain. 
 
 A young girl, under fourteen years of age, spins 
 a thread dry, that is, without using saliva; then 
 she ties it round the leg or the arm afflicted, 
 and when the cure is completed the thre4d 
 miraculously disappears. Chickweed is also us4d 
 as a poultice. Galen notices the virtue of this herb, 
 and extols its use to remove stiffness or swellings] 
 
 Foe Rickets. . 
 
 A blacksmith, whose fathers have been smiths for 
 three generations, must carry the child in his aprOn 
 three times round the anvil for seven days :in 
 succession, repeating the Paternoster each timfe. 
 But no money must be accepted for the cure. 
 
 For Epilepsy. 
 
 Cut a twig of elder tree into nine parts, and string 
 the pieces as a necklace to be tied round the 
 patient's neck ; but should the necklace fall and 
 touch the ground, it must be burned, and anew oAe 
 made. I 
 
 Foe the Staunching op Blood. 
 
 "There came a man from Bethlehem to bb 
 baptized in the river Jordan ; but the water was so 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 15 
 
 muddy that it stopped flowing. So let the blood 1 
 So let the blood ! Let it stop flowing in the 
 name of Jesus, and by the power of Christ ! " This 
 is said in a loud voice over the patient, while a 
 scarlet worsted is tied tightly round the wrists and 
 round the throat, to stop the course of the blood. 
 
 Foe a Btjen. 
 
 A lone widow-woman from the Antrim shore, 
 who had the gift of second-sight and the knowledge 
 of many charms, used the following to cure a burn : 
 Laj your right hand very softly over the burn, 
 theti repeat these words three times over unto 
 yourself, giving a gentle blast each time from your 
 mouth on the place burned : 
 
 Old clod beneath the clay, 
 
 Burn away, burn away. 
 
 In the name of God be thou healed. Amen. 
 
 After this the pain will cease, and a deep sleep will 
 fall on the patient. 
 
 Anothee Chaem foe Buens. 
 
 Blow upon the burn three times, repeating the 
 w Jrds : 
 
 Two angels sat upon a stone, 
 One was Fire, the other Frost, 
 Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 
 
16 ANCIENT CURES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 It is believed in the South and West, that if a. 
 person is licked by the lizard called the "Man- 
 keeper," he will never suffer from burns, and can 
 even heal them in another by his touch ; for a man 
 one day having trod on a lizardj found that he had 
 acquired this power by the contact. 
 
 In modern times a plaster of potatoes, scraped 
 
 as for starch, is constantly applied for a burn, and 
 
 gives great ease. Fried cabbage-leaves are also 
 
 used by the people to deaden the pain ; but a plant 
 
 of house-leek affixed to the thatch of the roof 
 
 should not be forgotten, as this preserves the' 
 
 inmates of the cabin from scalds, burns, and the- 
 
 danger of fire as long as it remains untouched. 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 ANCIENT CURBS. ', 
 
 Fob Whooping Cough. 
 
 i 
 Take a mug of water from a running streatn,. 
 against the current ; give the child a drink, th^n 
 throw the rest away with the current; repeat this 
 for three mornings before sunrise, and the cure will- 
 be perfected. ! 
 
 Foe a Mote in the Bye. 
 
 An incantation is to be said by a fairy-woman 
 over a plate of water. Then the patient is to look. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 17 
 
 steadily at the plate, and the mote will drop into 
 the water, and the eye become clear. 
 
 The most powerful charm against ill-luck is 
 a horse-shoe made red-hot, then tied up at the 
 entrance door, and never after touched or taken 
 down. 
 
 Foe Contusions. 
 
 Heat a great stone in the fire, and, when red- 
 hot, throw it into water, and bathe the bruise with 
 the liquid. Repeat this treatment twice a day, 
 always first heating the stone, and the cure is 
 certain in a few days. 
 
 Foe the Bite op a Mad Dog. 
 
 A charm which Columkill applied to a wound, 
 brimful of poison, and it took away the venom : 
 "Arise, Cormac O'Clunan, through Christ be thou 
 healed. By the hand of Christ be thou healed, in 
 blood, marrow, and bone, and may the poison die 
 in thee as I sign the sign of the Cross." 
 
 This oration to be said over the person bitten, 
 while butter is given him to eat. It may also be 
 said over a cow or a horse, but never over a hog or 
 dog. 
 
 Foe Suspected Witchceapt. 
 
 The forge dust of three different forges, well 
 mixed together, to be given to the patient while 
 Paters and Aves are recited ; or the herb called 
 
 I c 
 
18 ANCIENT CURES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 Lusmore may be used as very effectual against 
 witchcraft. It is a powerful poison, and the patient 
 is rubbed all over with it, though the practice is 
 dangerous, as the bewitched person may die under 
 the treatment, especially if tied naked to a stake, as 
 was the custom in old times, while the imprecation 
 is said : " If you are bewitched, or fairy-struck, 
 may the devil take you away, with the curse on 
 your head for ever and ever." 
 
 For Jaundice. 
 
 Elder ointment is of great repute ; also a salad 
 made of various herbs by the wise women, called 
 the green ointment, is considered a sovereign 
 remedy. 
 
 All the ancient cures were derived from the 
 animal and the vegetable world, never from the 
 mineral kingdom. A very ancient belief pervaded 
 the South and West, that twelve large earth-worms 
 baked upon a shovel, then reduced to powder, and 
 made into a philter to be drank every morning, 
 was an unfailing remedy for jaundice ; but not 
 long since the child of a gentleman of rank in the 
 West was nearly poisoned by a dose of this physic, 
 for the nurse, being dissatisfied with the treatment 
 of the doctor in attendance, secretly gave a drink 
 of the philter to the little patient, who so nearly 
 died of it that the nurse was tried for an attempt 
 to murder. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 19 
 
 The Homoeopathic adepts amongst the Irish 
 doctors always employ yellow medicines for the 
 jaundice, as saffron, turmeric, sulphur, and even 
 yellow soap. The Allopaths employ other remedies, 
 especially the leaves of the barbary tree, which is 
 held to be a specific, if brewed to a strong drink, 
 and taken every morning, fasting, for nine days 
 in succession. 
 
 An adept in the County Galway attracted great 
 crowds to his dwelling recently by his wonderful 
 cures for jaundice and other diseases. The remedy 
 used was simply a dose of tartar emetic, adminis- 
 tered freely for every form of ailment, and often the 
 result was most satisfactory. 
 
 The fairy-doctors use the following cure : 
 
 Nine young shoots from the root of an ash tree 
 that had been cut down. These are placed in a 
 bottle, which is then buried in a secluded spot, the 
 patient not being allowed to see it. 
 
 As long as the bottle remains in the ground, he 
 is safe from the disease; but, should it be broken, 
 he will have a relapse and probably die from 
 mental emotion, caused by fear of the result, 
 before many days are over. 
 
 Foe Sore Eyes. 
 
 The most efficacious treatment for diseases of 
 the eye is a pilgrimage to a holy well, for the 
 
 c 2 
 
20 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 blessed waters have a healing power for all ophthal- 
 mic ailments, and can even give sight to the blind. 
 
 Pearls upon the eye are said to be removed 
 by an amber bead, the tenth upon the rosary, 
 rubbed upon the eye ; and the wise woman of the 
 village will show the amber bead, with a white 
 substance adhering, which she affirms is the 
 pearl removed by the mystic attraction of the 
 amber. Also the shell of a living snail is pierced 
 with a pin, and the fluid that exudes is used as 
 healing for the eyes. This cure is called the 
 " Snail Drop." Severe counter-irritation upon the 
 crown of the head has been long used by the wise 
 women, and with wonderful success. The crown 
 of the head is first shaved, and then a plaster is 
 applied, made of coarse lint and white of egg spread 
 upon a piece of tow. This is left on till a blister 
 rises, when the cure speedily follows. 
 
 This remedy of counter-irritation is, however, 
 now well known and recognised by the medical 
 profession, and largely used in ophthalmic surgery. 
 
 Fasting spittle is considered of great efficacy by 
 the peasants for sore eyes, especially if mixed with 
 clay taken from a holy well. This is made into a 
 paste and applied to the eyes, and the people say 
 "nothing beats the fasting spittle for blessedness.'" 
 
 To avert the evil eye from child or beast, it is 
 necessary to spit upon it on entering a cabin ; and 
 if a stranger looks fixedly and admiringly on a 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 21 
 
 child, he is at once requested to spit upon it; this 
 saving process being perhaps unknown to him ■ or 
 if he should not understand Irish, and omit the rite 
 that preserves from evil, then the old mother will 
 rise up from her seat by the fire and perform the 
 ceremony herself, that so good luck may not depart 
 from the house. 
 
 CHARMS AND CURES. 
 Foe Dyspepsia. 
 
 Fix a small piece of candle on a penny piece, 
 then lay the patient on his back and place the 
 penny on the region of the stomach; light the 
 candle, and over all place a well-dried tumbler, when 
 the skin will be drawn up, as in cupping. This is 
 called " the lifting of the evil from the body." 
 
 For epilepsy there are many cures, but chiefly 
 by exorcism. When the priest is called upon to 
 exorcise the evilspirit,he puts on his sacred garments 
 for the ceremony, sprinkles the patient with holy 
 water, and recites prayers over him till the fit leaves 
 him. If, however, this treatment does not succeed, 
 the priest will not repeat the exorcism, saying : 
 " Leave him to God. The will of the Lord must 
 be done." 
 
 Another cure is also used : A harrow-pin, a 
 piece of money, and cuttings of the hair and nails 
 of the patient are buried deep down in the earth, 
 
22 ANCIENT CURES, CHASMS, AND 
 
 on the spot where lie fell in the fit, and he is given 
 a drink of holy water, in which nine hairs from the 
 tail of a black cat have been steeped. 
 
 Foe Asthma. 
 
 Let the patient drink of a potion made of 
 dandelion (dent-de-lion — lion's tooth) or of ground- 
 ivy, made and used in the same way, with prayer 
 said over it before drinking. 
 
 The red rash is cured by applying unsalted 
 butter to the part affected, while the Ave Maria 
 is said. Also the blood of a hare is very efficacious 
 if applied to the skin with a red rag, and the rag 
 afterwards buried. 
 
 For whooping cough, a lock of hair, cut from the 
 head of a person who never saw his father, is to be 
 tied up in a piece of red cloth and worn round the 
 neck. 
 
 Dropsy. 
 
 This disorder was not prevalent in Ireland in 
 early times, but since the general use of potatoes 
 as diet amongst the villagers, along with the 
 copious amount of whisky drank in the towns, the 
 disease has become very common. 
 
 Fasting Spittle. 
 
 In former times spittle was used in baptism, 
 and in many of the daily transactions of life, as 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 23 
 
 a lucky and confirmatory act ; and even now no 
 bargain is concluded at fair or market till the 
 receiver lays the money in the palm of Lis hand 
 and spits upon it. The head of the faction fight 
 likewise spits upon his blackthorn stick to make 
 the blow more deadly and certain. But, for a 
 perfect result, the saliva should be used fasting, 
 especially after a black fast, when the person had 
 not even tasted water. It is also effectual as a 
 cure for chapped lips when mixed with dust and 
 applied in the name of the Trinity. 
 
 Foe the Night Fjever. 
 
 Take a ribbon and tie it tightly round the head 
 of the sick person, saying: "In the name of 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, let the fever go 
 from thy head, man, and be thou healed." 
 
 ANCIENT CUKES. 
 
 If a cow becomes restive, plunges about, or lies 
 down with ber nose to the ground, she is said to 
 have the feist, or worm. To cure this, a long 
 string is taken and twisted into a knot, like a 
 coiled worm; and the curious knot seems so firmly 
 knitted that it never could be untied. Tet there 
 is a mode of drawing out the two ends, when the 
 
24 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 coil disappears and the string is quite free. This 
 is done three times while the Paternoster is said 
 over the animal, when the most beneficial result is 
 sure to follow. This cure is called snaidhen- 
 na-peista (the worm's knot), and is of great 
 antiquity. 
 
 For the King's Evil. 
 
 There are certain wise men amongst the 
 peasants who keep pieces of paper, transmitted 
 from their fathers, which, they say, have been 
 steeped in a king's blood. And if the paper is 
 rubbed over the patient in the name of the Trinity, 
 he will be cured. 
 
 Foe Rheumatism. 
 
 The bone of the haddock that lies under the 
 mark of Christ's fingers is always to be carried in 
 the pocket. This bone has many other virtues, and 
 always works good to the owner ; but it must not 
 be exhibited, and it should never be lent, or touched 
 except by the owner. 
 
 To Remove Warts. 
 
 Tie up some pebbles in a bag with a piece of 
 silver money, and throw it on the road; whoever 
 finds the bag and keeps the money, to him the 
 warts will go, and leave you for ever. Also, steal a 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 25 
 
 piece of meat and apply it raw to the warts ; then, 
 bury it in the ground, and as the meat decays the 
 warts will disappear. Bat the charm is of no use 
 unless the meat is stolen, and no one should see 
 you either stealing or burying it. 
 
 For other ailments there are many curious 
 usages employed by the people that have come 
 down by tradition, and in which they have the 
 greatest faith, and the faith, perhaps, effects the 
 cure. 
 
 For the slaedan, or influenza, some clay must 
 be scraped off the threshold, made into a paste and 
 applied as a plaster to the chest. But, to be 
 effective, the clay must be taken from the very 
 spot where a person first sets his foot on entering 
 the house, when it is the custom to say, " God save 
 all here," for these numerous blessings have given 
 the clay a peculiar power to cure the chest and 
 help the voice when it is affected, But the holy 
 power is only for him who believes, for by his faith 
 he will be made whole. 
 
 For a Stye. 
 
 The tail of a black cat, if rubbed over the eye, 
 will effect a speedy cure. It is good, also, to point 
 nine thorns in succession at the eye, without 
 touching it, throwing away each one after use 
 over the left shoulder. 
 
26 ANCIENT CURES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 CHARMS AND CURES. 
 
 Foe a Headache. 
 
 Measuring the head for nervous headache is 
 much practised. The measuring doctor has certain 
 days for practising his art, and receives or visits 
 his patients on no other occasions. He first 
 measures the head with a piece of tape above the 
 ears and across the forehead, then from ear to ear 
 over the crown of the head, then diagonally across 
 the vertex. After this he uses strong compression 
 with his hands, and declares that the head is "too 
 open/'' And he mutters certain prayers and charms 
 at the same time. 
 
 This process is repeated for three days, until at 
 last the doctor asserts that the head is closing and 
 has grown much smaller — in proof he shows his 
 measurements; and the cure is completed when 
 he pronounces the head to be " quite closed," on 
 which the headache immediately vanishes, and the 
 patient is never troubled by it again. 
 
 Ancient Cures. 
 
 They say in Shark Island, that any man who 
 rubs his tongue over a lizard's back will be given 
 power to cure a burn by applying the tongue to 
 the part affected. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 27 
 
 Some wool taken, from a black sheep, and worn, 
 constantly in the ear, is a sure remedy for earache. 
 
 Spiders are of great use in curing disease. A 
 few tied up in a bag, and worn round the neck, will 
 keep off fever and ague ; but none, save the fairy 
 doctor, must ever open the bag to look at the 
 contents, or the charm would be broken. Also a 
 black spider, laid as a sandwich between two slices 
 of bread-and-butter, and eaten — one every morning 
 — will be found a great strengthener of the body. 
 
 The king's evil is cured by the blood of a 
 black cat. A peasant woman had a cat whose tail 
 was almost entirely nipped off by the repeated 
 applications made for a drop of the creature's blood. 
 Finally the cat was carried away altogether, pro- 
 bably to effect a speedy cure by the more copious 
 use of poor pussy's healing blood. 
 
 POPULAR CURES. 
 
 Spiders are used for many ailments, especially 
 for ague. A small living spider should be rolled 
 up in a cobweb, then put into a lump of butter and 
 eaten while the fit is on. Pills, also, may be made 
 of the cobwebs in which the eggs remain, and 
 taken daily for three days ; after which time it 
 would be dangerous to continue the treatment. 
 The spider's web is also an excellent styptic, and 
 
28 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 is still in use amongst all classes for the staunch- 
 ing of blood, or any abrasion of the skin. 
 
 In the operation of bleeding, salt was first 
 sprinkled on the plate and in the cup, and the 
 lips of the patient were touched with the first 
 drops of blood that flowed. It is considered 
 unlucky to bleed a young girl in the arm; the 
 operator therefore, when possible, bleeds her in 
 the foot, which is first placed for some time in 
 warm water. 
 
 Duckweed boiled down, and the liquid drauk 
 three times a day, is an excellent potion for the 
 sick. 
 
 The Falling Sickness. 
 
 Burn the patient with a red-hot church key 
 along the head, and he will be cured. Should he 
 fall in the fit, put the juice of absinthe, or iennel 
 juice, or sage juice into his mouth, and he will 
 get well at once. 
 
 Foe Soke Eyes (1460). 
 
 A charge of great power, called "The Charge 
 of the Artificer's Son," and from the Danes it was 
 got ; and these are the herbs : onions and dillisk, 
 with ambrosia and garlic; and let the plants be 
 broken and boiled upon beer; then add the gall 
 of a hog's liver and a drop of wine or of doe's 
 milk, and, when well strained, pour it into an 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 29 
 
 amphora of brass, and apply the liquid to the 
 •eye, when the benefit is certain. 
 
 Another illustrious charge is made of white 
 lily, valerian, and the leaves of the rowan tree. 
 Also yarrow, and honey, and the gall of fish boiled 
 together and strained, then applied to the eye, will 
 ■carry off every description of blindness and clear 
 the pains of the head. 
 
 Mesmeeism. 
 
 Charms, relics, holy wells, stroking by an 
 adept, and the hand of a seventh son, are all 
 esteemed infallible curative agents. But the 
 seventh son born in succession, without a daughter 
 intervening, has the power of curing pains and 
 aches by merely waving his hand over the part 
 affected. He must, however, first pray in silence 
 for power and strength. 
 
 Mesmerism has been practised in Ireland from 
 Druidic times, and cures were effected by waving 
 of the hands without contact, or by stroking. The 
 phenomenon of clairvoyance, called in Irish the 
 " enlightenment," was also well known to the Druids, 
 who by this means ascertained the will of the gods 
 in important matters, and by its aid prophecies 
 were made and the thoughts of the heart revealed. 
 
 Kheumatism was chiefly cured by stroking, and 
 all remedies that acted on the imagination, such 
 
30 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 as lying in a saint's bed, mesmeric charms, and 
 incantations, were deemed most effectual. Latin 
 words were used as charms, sewn up in a bag and 
 carried in the pocket, tied round the hind legs 
 of a hare. An eel-skin had great virtue placed 
 on the chest, or tied round the knee. Forge 
 water had many virtues and could allay rheu- 
 matic pains; also potato water, used hot, with the 
 froth on. 
 
 Erysipelas. 
 
 Called by the Irish the " wild fire," is believed 
 to originate from fairy malice; and blood must be 
 spilled to cure the disease. The blood of a black 
 cat is best, consequently few of these animals can 
 be seen with an entire tail, for it is nipped off bit 
 by bit to perform the cure. 
 
 The black cat is a very weird and mysterious 
 creature. If you manage to possess one particular 
 bone of it, you can at will render yourself invisible. 
 To obtain this, boil the cat alive, then take the 
 bones one by one, and hold each singly in your 
 mouth before a looking-glass, strictly observing if 
 the bone is reflected there ; for should you happen to 
 hold one in your mouth that is not reflected, then 
 you may know that the mystic bone at last is found 
 which will make you invisible at pleasure. 
 
 If a cow is sick, the witch-man or charmer 
 mounts astride on the animal, and is given a 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 31 
 
 bannock to eat, well buttered, along with a bowl 
 of cream ; these he takes, saying : " A bite, a sup, a 
 bite, a sup ; if it be so ordained, let the beast get 
 well; if not, leave it to its fate; but the bannock I 
 will eat." 
 
 A wise woman, learned in the mysteries, has 
 been known to cure the depression of spirits, called 
 in Irish " the sinking of the heart," in the following 
 manner. Holding a cup of meal close to the 
 patient, the operator says in Irish : " Base to the 
 heart, ease to the heart," at the same time re- 
 peating the words of an invocation known only 
 to herself, and which has never been written down. 
 This is done on Monday, Thursday, and the 
 Monday following, each time the meal being cast 
 into the fire after use. Then a cake is made of the 
 remainder, the patient sitting by till it is baked, 
 taking care that neither cat, nor dog, nor any living 
 thing passes between him and the fire till the cake 
 is baked and the sign of the Cross made over it. 
 It is then eaten with nine sprigs of water- 
 cress, and if any is left, it must be thrown into the 
 fire, so that no animal should touch it, the sign 
 of the blessed Cross being stamped thereon. 
 
 The peasants have such faith in the ancient 
 cures that, in case of accident or sickness, they 
 wonld far sooner trust the wise woman of the 
 village than all the dispensary doctors in Ireland. 
 
 One of these authorised practitioners narrates 
 
32 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 that a woman once consulted him about a severe 
 affection of the throat, and when examining her he 
 found that she had a scarlet worsted thread tied 
 round the throat, and another round the wrists. 
 Asking the meaning of this, she said that the old 
 wise woman of the place had given them to her the 
 night before as a certain cure. " So, as they did 
 no harm," added the doctor, " I left them on, 
 though meanwhile I added what I considered best, 
 and under the usual medical treatment she soon 
 became quite well. But, all the same, she believed 
 in the scarlet thread, and secretly thought that by 
 its power she was cured of her ailment." 
 
 Love Charms. 
 
 Philters, love powders, and charms to procure 
 affection were frequently used in Ireland, and the 
 belief in them existed from the most ancient times. 
 
 The bardic legends have frequent allusions to 
 love charms; but the most awful of all is the dead 
 strip. Girls have been known to go to a grave- 
 yard at night, exhume a corpse that had been nine 
 days buried, and tear down a strip of the skin from 
 head to foot ; this they manage to tie round the 
 leg or arm of the man they love while he sleeps, 
 taking care to remove it before his awaking. And 
 so long as the girl keeps this strip of skin in her 
 possession, secretly hidden from all eyes, so long 
 will she retain the man's love. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 33 
 
 Madness. 
 
 There was a terrible care employed in old times 
 for insanity, which the people believed in with 
 implicit faith. It consisted in burying the patient 
 for three days and three nights in the earth. A pit 
 was dug, three feet wide and six feet deep, in 
 which the patient was placed, only the head being 
 left uncovered ; and during the time of the cnre 
 he was allowed no food, and no one was permitted 
 to speak to him, or even to approach him. A 
 harrow-pin was placed over his body, for the 
 harrow-pin is supposed to have peculiar mystic 
 attributes, and was always used in ancient sorceries, 
 and then the unhappy patient was left alone. If 
 he survived the living burial, he was generally 
 taken out of the pit more dead than alive, perished 
 with cold and hunger, and more mad than ever. 
 Yet it was averred that sometimes the senses were 
 actually restored by this inhuman treatment. 
 
 The Falling Sickness. 
 
 This sickness is best cured by the hand of a 
 priest. But it is said that if on the first attack 
 the person's shirt be taken off and thrown into the 
 fire and burned, his hair cropped, and his nails 
 pared, and the hair and the parings buried, 
 together with a young cock put down into the 
 
34 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 grave alive, then lie will never have another attack 
 while he lives. 
 
 Madness is also cured by giving the person three 
 substances not procured by human means, and not 
 made by the hand of man. These are honey, milk, 
 and salt, and they are to be given him to drink 
 before sunrise in a sea-shell. Madness and the 
 falling sickness are both considered hereditary, and 
 caused by demoniacal possession. 
 
 For king's evil, a most effective cure of proved 
 power is made of burdock roots, the common dock, 
 bog-bean, and rose-noble boiled in water, of which 
 the patient must drink three times a day. 
 
 Vervain and the mountain ash are the best 
 preservatives for cattle against witchcraft. Some 
 should be tied round the cow's horns and her tail. 
 Then no fairy or witch can do harm while the herbs 
 of power are on her. 
 
 Insanity. 
 
 Exorcism and incantations by a witch-doctor 
 is another remedy • but as it is a laborious under- 
 taking, a good supply of whisky is always provided 
 for the adept. When any person in the village 
 showed signs of madness, this man was sent for, 
 and, after a good pull at the whisky, the caster out 
 of devils began his exorcism by pouring forth a 
 torrent of gibberish in a loud voice, which he 
 called Latin prayers ; while at the same time he 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 05 
 
 dashed holy water all over the room and the patient. 
 Then, taking a stout blackthorn stick, he proceeded 
 to thrash the demented person most vigorously, the 
 patient being held firmly all the time by three or 
 four of the friends or neighbours. When the poor 
 victim was half stupefied, and unable even to yell any 
 longer, the operator announced that the devil had 
 gone out of him ; but as the evil spirit was still 
 lurking somewhere about, he must be expelled by 
 force or magic. Whereupon he commenced to 
 whirl the blackthorn stick round in all directions, 
 striking everything, animate and inanimate, that 
 lay in his way, as if crazed with fury; especially 
 beating the doors, by which, he said, the devil 
 might escape, and he was determined to have a 
 good blow at him; and all the time, during the 
 process of beating, he kept on reciting the gibberish 
 Latin in a loud, strong voice, fortifying his efforts 
 at exorcism by frequent appeals to the whisky 
 jar. ' 
 
 A singular case of attempted cure took place 
 lately in Roscommon. A young man named Davy 
 Mynn became suddenly raving mad, or " elf- 
 stricken" as the people say, and the great witch- 
 man of the place was sent for one Sunday morning 
 in all haste. He found him bound hand and foot, 
 and foaming at the moutb, while five or six strong 
 men were trying to hold him down ; and a great 
 crowd was gathered round the door, who declared 
 
 d 2 
 
36 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 that the wretched madman was not Davy Flynn at 
 all, the handsome Davy, once the pride of the village 
 for beauty and strength, but a fairy demon who had 
 taken his shape. So the witcb-man baving examined 
 him, and performed sundry strange rites and 
 invocations, pronounced bis opinion that the lunatic 
 was certainly not Davy Flynn, but an old Frencb 
 charger, a fine stalwart [horse in his time, once 
 belonging to a Frencb general/who came to Ireland 
 long ago in tbe time of the troubles ; and to keep 
 the real man alive, who was now in Fairyland, the 
 substitute must be well fed witb the proper food for 
 a horse. 
 
 On bearing this the friends ran for a sheaf of 
 oats, and crammed tbe straw down the wretched 
 maniac's throat, after which tbe exorcist prepared 
 for his mortal combat witb the devil, aided of 
 course by the poteen, five kegs of which were 
 brought in for the general strengthening of the 
 company. 
 
 The operator first tied a white apron over his 
 shoulders, then, witb a wave of the band in the 
 form of a cross, he commanded silence. After 
 which, be began the invocation by a volley of 
 gibberish Latin, thundered forth between tbe oc- 
 casional draughts of whisky, while poor Davy had 
 only a bucket of cold water thrown on his head,, 
 to whicb he responded by terrible cries. 
 
 At last tbe people got tired of tbe work, and 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 37 
 
 one of them secretly cat the cord of the halter, 
 which held the supposed French charger, while the 
 witch-man was busy over the poteen. Davy, thus 
 finding himself free, sprang at the doctor as if he 
 would tear him to pieces, on which a panic seized 
 the crowd, who rushed from the house, the witch- 
 man following, while the maniac leaped after them 
 with hideous yells and curses. At length the 
 maniac was secured and tied down by a strong rope 
 till the magistrate arrived, who ordered him off to 
 the Roscommon Lunatic Asylum, whither he was at 
 once taken, and where he eventually died, to the 
 great relief of his friends, who really believed that 
 he was the old French charger, and that till the death 
 of the demon-substitute, poor Davy had no chance 
 of being released from the bondage he was under in 
 Fairyland. 
 
 Foe Lumbago. 
 
 Dog-fern roots and shamrocks should be 
 cleaned and pounded well, then mixed with butter 
 — made on May morning — and holy salt, till a kind 
 of paste is formed. This is rubbed all over the 
 back, while the Lord's Prayer is said, and the 
 Hail Mary ; and the paste is by no means to be 
 washed off, but left till the cure is perfected. 
 
 For the Livee Complaint. 
 The leaves of plantain, wild sage, the shamrock 
 
33 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 and dock-leaf, with valerian and the flower of the 
 daisy, are to be plucked by the person before sun- 
 rise, and fasting, on Mondays and Wednesdays, 
 while Hail Mary is said, and the Paternoster ; all 
 these are to be boiled and strained, and the herbs- 
 after wards to be carefully burned. A glassful of 
 the liquor to be taken twice a day. 
 
 Foe Dysentery. 
 
 Woodbine and maiden-hair, pounded and boiled 
 in new rnilk, with oatmeal, and taken three times a 
 day, the leaves to be afterwards burned. 
 
 ANCIENT CURES. 
 
 (From an Irish Manuscript in the Royal Irish Academy, 
 dated about 1450.) 
 
 Foe the Falling Sickness. 
 
 Put salt and white snails into a vessel for three 
 nights, add 7 lb. woodbine leaves, and mis them 
 to a paste ; a poultice of this applied for nine days- 
 will cure. 
 
 Or, the heart of a crow, beaten up with his 
 blood, and drank for nine days, will relieve the 
 disease. 
 
 Or, a plaster made of mandragore and ground- 
 ivy, boiled and laid upon the head. If the 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 39 
 
 patient sleeps lie will do well, and iE not, he will 
 not. 
 
 Or, a band of the fresh skin of a wolf worn 
 round the body as a girdle, and as long as the 
 patient wears it he will be free from the falling 
 sickness. 
 
 Or, pour wine upon a pound of hemlock, fresh 
 gathered, and let it be drank while the person is in 
 the fit. 
 
 Or, three hairs of a milk-white greyhound to be 
 tied up and worn on the neck as an amulet. 
 This keeps the fit away. 
 
 The scribe who copied these receipts says of 
 himself, "I am Conlan Mac Liagk son of: the 
 doctor, and in the Monastery of Tuam I am 
 this 14th day of the moon's age, and a thousand 
 years, four hundred years, and nine years the age 
 of the Lord." 
 
 Pettigrew, in his interesting book on medical 
 superstitions, mentions the ancient idea that black 
 hellebore was to be plucked, not cut, and this with 
 the right hand, which was then covered with the 
 robe, while the herb was secretly conveyed to the left 
 hand. The person gathering it, also, was to be clad 
 in white, and to offer a sacrifice of bread and wine. 
 He also mentions that vervain, one of the sacred 
 herbs of the Irish, was to be gathered on the rising 
 of the Dog-star, when neither sun nor moon was 
 shining, an expiatory sacrifice of fruit and honey 
 
40 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 being previously offered to the earth. Hence the 
 power of vervain to cure fevers, eradicate poison, 
 and render the possessor invulnerable. And he 
 makes mention of the virtues of the elder tree as 
 being widely known for effecting a cure in cases of 
 epilepsy; also the use of spiders and their webs 
 for curing ague, applied in the same manner as is 
 usual with the Irish. Barton, in his "Anatomy of 
 Melancholy," mentions having himself used a 
 plaster of spiders, the web being effective for the 
 staunching of blood, as also the moss from a dead 
 man's skull brought over from Ireland, 
 
 A porridge advised by Dianecht, chief physician 
 of the Tuatha-de-Dauans, has been handed down 
 through the centuries for relief of ailments of the 
 body, as cold, phlegm, throat cats, and the presence 
 of living things in the body, as worms. It con- 
 sists of hazel-buds, dandelion, chickweed, and wood 
 sorrel, all boiled together with oatmeal. This 
 porridge to be taken morning and evening, when 
 the cold and the trouble will soon disappear. Also 
 a poultice of yellow baywort tied round the throat 
 is excellent as a cure for the throat cats. 
 
 According to Dianecht, there are fourteen dis- 
 orders of the stomach, and he gave recipes for all, 
 consisting mostly of plants and herbs. Against 
 witchcraft he ordered a potiou to be made of the 
 roots of the alder tree and the roots of the apple 
 tree that grow downward in the earth. These to 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 41 
 
 be boiled with the brains of a wild bog, and drank 
 fasting, till the bewitched person casts up the evil 
 thing: that was in the stomach. 
 
 To Cuke a Fairy- stricken Child. 
 
 Make a good fire, throw into it a handful or 
 more of certain herbs ordered by the fairy-women ; 
 wait till a great smoke rises, then carry the child 
 three times round the fire, reciting an incantation 
 against evil, and sprinkling holy water all around. 
 But during the process no door must be opened, 
 or the fairies would come in to see what you were 
 doing. Continue reciting the incantation till the 
 child sneezes three times ; then you may know that 
 the fairy spell is broken, and the child has been 
 redeemed from fairy thraldom for evermore. It is 
 good, however, in addition, to tie a small bag round 
 his neck, with three rounds of red ribbon or thread, 
 containing a nail from the shoe of an ass and some 
 hair of a black cat, and let this be worn for a year 
 and a day. 
 
 A black cat without any white spot has great 
 power either for or against witchcraft, and the hair 
 must be taken from a cat of this description, for 
 the demons fear it. Also, about midnight, give the 
 child a drink mixed with the blood of a crowing 
 hen ; then he will be safe from fairy, or demon, or 
 the evil of witchcraft. 
 
42 ANCIENT CURES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 Foe Deafness. 
 
 Take the cowslip, roots, blossom, and leaves, 
 clean them well, then bruise and press them in a 
 linen cloth, add honey to the juice thus pressed out, 
 put it ia a bottle, and pour a few drops into the 
 nostrils and ears of the patient, he lying on his 
 back. Then, after some time, turn him on his face 
 till the water pours out, carrying away whatever 
 obstruction lay on the brain. This may be re- 
 peated for three days. Or fold up two eels in a 
 cabbage-leaf, place them on the fire till they are 
 soff, then press out the juice and drop it into 
 the ears. 
 
 But for ordinary disease there is nothing so 
 good as the native poteen, for it is peculiarly 
 adapted to the climate, and, as the people say, it 
 keeps away ague and rheumatism, and the chill that 
 strikes the heart ; and if the gaugers would only 
 let the private stills alone, not a bit of sickness 
 would there be in the whole country round. 
 
 Foe Falling Sickness. 
 
 No oue should touch the person ia the fit, only the 
 man who works the charm. He first takes a bundle of 
 unbleached linen yarn, and ties it round the patient, 
 then cuts his hair, and the finger and toe nails ; 
 these clippings he gathers together and burns with. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 4,3 
 
 the linen yarn. The ashes are then divided into 
 two parts, after which the patient is laid flat on the 
 earth and two holes are made, one at his head the 
 other at his feet ; into these are poured the divided 
 ashes, while a harrow-pin is placed over all. So 
 they leave him for a day and a night. And thus 
 the falling sickness is buried for ever in that spot, 
 never to rise up again while the ashes aud the iron 
 remain untouched. 
 
 Hydrophobia. 
 
 Many of the cures, however, used by the people 
 and the witch-doctors are not merely superstitious 
 practices, but are based upon the accurate know- 
 ledge of herbs, and their mystic power on the human 
 frame, which the Irish have possessed in all ages 
 from the remotest times. For the rules and tenets 
 of this primitive science have been transmitted! 
 orally through countless generations, with sacred 
 reverence and solemn care, chiefly in the direct line 
 of special families, who are the trusted guardians of 
 the mysteries, and are bound by strict custom and 
 traditional law not to divulge the secrets of herbal 
 lore, except to the eldest son of the eldest son 
 in direct succession. 
 
 In the County Cavan, the MacGowans, for 
 instance, have a wonderful but secret cure for 
 hydrophobia, known only to themselves, and 
 acquired in this way : About one hundred and fifty 
 
44 ANCIENT GORES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 years ago, two brothers of the name, living at 
 opposite sides of the lake, used frequently to cross 
 •over in their boat to visit each other. One day a 
 strange dog came swimming towards them and was 
 lifted into the boat, but he instantly bit one of the 
 brothers severely, and showed all the signs of 
 decided madness. The young man gave himself up 
 for lost, and wandered about the fields all night, till 
 at last, overcome by fatigue, he lay down in his own 
 garden and fell asleep. Then and there a dream 
 came to him, that under his head grew a herb that 
 would cure him, if prepared in a certain way 
 revealed to him as in a vision. 
 
 On awakening, he at once sought for the herb, 
 and having found it, to his great joy, set about the 
 preparations for the potion exactly as it had been 
 ■shown to him in the dream. The result was his 
 perfect restoration f rom the fatal disease ; and the 
 strange story, having got abroad, the MacGowans 
 became famous throughout the country for the cure 
 of hydrophobia ; large sums being paid to them 
 for the exercise of their skill and knowledge. 
 
 Thus they amassed a deal of money, for the 
 wonderful herb seldom failed to cure the terrible 
 malady; but no amount of money could tempt 
 the brothers to reveal the name of the herb or the 
 mode of preparation. This great secret remains, 
 therefore, a mystery to this day, known only to 
 the head of the MacGowans, who preserves the tra- 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 45- 
 
 dition, and will transmit it only to his eldest son. 
 But to ensure a pei'fect cure, certain rules and 
 orders must be rigidly observed. First, the patient 
 must be brought under care within nine days 
 after the attack, before the hydrophobia has 
 become virulent ; secondly, he must not cross 
 water during the progress of the cure. 
 
 Quite recently a curious case happened which 
 tested the power of the MacGowans, and excited 
 the greatest interest throughout the country. 
 
 A pet cat, belonging to a farmer's family, 
 suddenly showed signs of savage ferocity, and 
 flew at every one, inflicting severe bites. Sis of 
 the children were laid up, aud even the farmer 
 himself was attacked before the animal could be 
 killed, Evidently the beast was mad, and, in 
 terror of the consequences, the family sent an 
 urgent request to the MacGowans to come and 
 help them. 
 
 Three brothers of the name were living at the 
 time, and the eldest agreed to go and try the cure, 
 if fifty shillings were paid down to him before 
 starting. This was a large sum for the farmer 
 to give ; but as six of the children were lying half 
 dead from fright, he consented, and paid the money. 
 
 MacGowan at once set forth on his mission of 
 mystic healing, bringing with him two kegs of 
 liquid, each containing about five gallons, also a 
 largo stock of garlic and hazel-nuts. The fluid 
 
'1 
 
 46 AN,GIENT GUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 was of a green colour, and very nauseous to the 
 taste. The people said it was made of the Atherlus 
 (ground-ivy) which has singular mystic properties; 
 but MacGowan kept strict silence on the subject, 
 and no one dared to ask him a question as to the 
 nature of the ingredients. 
 
 The family, meanwhile, were ordered to provide 
 two stone of barley-meal and three pounds of 
 butter, and with these cakes were to be made, 
 moistened with the fluid from the keg, of which also 
 the patients were to drink copiously; and during 
 the three days appointed for the cure they were to 
 have no other sustenance, save the barley cakes 
 and the green fluid. 
 
 If at the end of that time the cure was not 
 effected, then the patients would surely die, their 
 only chance was over, nothing more could be done 
 to help them. Happily, however, the cure was 
 quite successful. The children were all restored, 
 and, consequently, the fame of the MacGowans in- 
 creased, and no end of presents and money were 
 sent to them in addition to the sum paid down. 
 
 Still the head of the race resisted all entreaties 
 to reveal the name of the herb or the secret of the 
 green fluid, and to this day no man nor mortal, not 
 even the priest himself, has ever obtained a know- 
 ledge of the mystery, save only the eldest son of the 
 •eldest son in each successive generation of the 
 MacGowan family. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 47 
 
 But other modes of curing the bite of a mad 
 dog are used in different districts ; one is to apply- 
 some of the hair of the dog to the wound and 
 leave it there, bound tightly, till all danger is over. 
 Another is to take out the liver of the dog, grind 
 it to powder, then mix with water, and give it to 
 the patient to drink. 
 
 In old times, in Ireland, people afflicted with 
 canine madness were put to death by smothering 
 between two feather beds ; the near relatives 
 standing round until asphyxia was produced, and 
 death followed. 
 
 Malific Charms. 
 
 Not only are charms and incantations employed 
 for curing disease, but they are also used to induce 
 disease and death, in the form of maledictions and 
 curses, and in the name of the Evil One. 
 
 A sheaf of corn is sometimes buried with a 
 ■certain form of dedication to Satan, in the belief 
 that as the corn rots in the ground, so will the 
 person wither away who is under the curse. 
 
 Another form of malediction is to bury a lighted 
 •candle by night in a churchyard, with certain 
 weird ceremonies. A young village girl, who had 
 been treated badly by her lover, determined on 
 revenge, and adopted this mode of curse upon him. 
 He was a fine, healthy young fellow ; but suddenly 
 he began to pine and dwindle away, and then every 
 
48 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 one knew that the girl must have buried a candle 
 against him. Great efforts were made to induce- 
 her to tell where it was buried, but she resisted all 
 entreaty. At last, however, the candle was found, 
 and the man had to eat it in order to neutralise the 
 curse. Yet even this disagreeable remedy was of 
 no avail, for the young man still continued to pine 
 away, and in a short time he lay dead. 
 
 Maledictions. 
 
 Epidemic diseases that will carry off an entire 
 family can also be produced by the devil's magic, 
 and smiths and old women are generally adepts in 
 the black art. St. Patrick prayed to be delivered 
 from smiths, women, and Druids ; and even to the 
 present time the smith is considered powerful in 
 the working of charms, either for a blessing or a 
 curse, and the peasants are cautious not to offend 
 him. 
 
 The Lusmore, or Fairy-finger, is a deadly 
 poison, and sometimes has been used in malice to 
 produce convulsions in children. 
 
 In the case of a sudden fainting or swoon, the 
 individual is supposed to be struck by a curse, and 
 if he is unable to answer questions, he is tried with 
 a grannoge, or hedgehog, and if it erects the spine 
 it is a sure sign that the person is under the 
 influence of the devil. Or the suspected person is 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 49 
 
 wrapped in a woman's red cloak, with the hood over 
 the head, and laid in a grave cut two feet deep. 
 There he remains some hours covered with clay, all 
 but the face, and if he becomes delirious and raves, 
 then the people know that the devils are round 
 him, and his death is considered certain. 
 
 Imbas forosma (the knowledge that enlightens) 
 was a weird and fearful pagan ceremony by which 
 evil was invoked, and men gained knowledge of the 
 future after offerings made to their idol gods. The 
 performance was accompanied by strange and 
 solemn incantations and mystic rites, but all of too 
 terrible a nature to be revealed to the people. 
 They were known only to the Druid priests, and 
 by them held sacred. 
 
 If an infant is very small and weakly, it is sup- 
 posed to be a fairy changeling, and under a curse. 
 To test its nature, the child is placed upon a shovel 
 before the fire. If it is a fairy imp, it will as- 
 suredly, after a little while, fly up the chimney, and 
 disappear ; but, while waiting for the solution of 
 the question, the poor baby is often so dreadfully 
 burned that it dies in great torture, though its 
 cries are heard with callous indifference by the 
 family around. 
 
 The Dead Hand. 
 
 To obtain the power and secrets of witchcraft, it 
 is necessary to visit a churchyard at midnight, and 
 
50 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 cut off the hand of a recently buried corpse with 
 your own hand. This is preserved by drying or 
 smoking, and can then be used with great and fatal 
 effect. Old women are known as the strongest 
 tools of the devil, and as having the most fatal 
 powers of witchcraft. These witch-women are re- 
 cognised at once by their glittering eyes and long, 
 skeleton fingers ; and if they have a dead hand in 
 their possession, their influence is irresistible. 
 
 If a witch-woman overlooks a beautiful child, it 
 is doomed to die. If she overlooks the churn, the 
 butter will be carried off to her own churn, though 
 she has nothing but water in it. Beware of her. 
 When she enters the place, put a red coal under 
 the churn, and tie a branch of the rowan tree on 
 the child's cradle, and a red string on the cow's tail 
 then they are safe. Every one who enters while 
 churning is going on should take a turn with the 
 dash, and say : " God bless the work ; " but a witch- 
 woman dare not say the words ; therefore, if she 
 refuses, she is known at once to be fatal and 
 unlucky. 
 
 Stroking by the hand of a dead man can cure 
 many diseases. It has also the power to bring 
 butter to the churn, if the milk is stirred round nine 
 times with it while a witch-prayer is recited. Bat 
 many awful things must be done, and evil rites 
 practised, before the witch-words can be learned 
 and uttered. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 61 
 
 Witchcraft. 
 
 An oath taken upon a skull brought from the 
 churchyard is used for clearing from guilt. But 
 should the oath be taken falsely, the sin will rest 
 upon the race to the seventh generation, and all the 
 sins of the man whose skull was used for the 
 clearing will be upon the head of the false swearer 
 also. 
 
 There are two stones in Joyce country, Conne- 
 mara, and if any one who is falsely maligned turns 
 these stones while he prays a prayer against the 
 wrong-doer, the prayer will be granted, and some 
 evil luck will fall on the wrong-doer as a punish- 
 ment from the hand of God. 
 
 If a young man is suddenly taken with weakness 
 and depression of spirits, it is believed that a field- 
 mouse crept down his throat while he lay sleeping 
 under the hayrick, and to cure him he must be 
 well beaten, in the name of the Trinity, with a stick 
 cut from a tree, in the hollow of which a field-mouse 
 lay hidden. And, after the beating, the mouse 
 is struck by the same stick till it dies. 
 
 The Evil Eye. 
 
 If any one suspected of the evil eye looks 
 fixedly at you, say at once : " The curse be upon 
 thine eye." The evil-eye influence is particularly 
 
 e 2 
 
52 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 strong at Beltaine (May Eve). And it is then 
 advisable to sprinkle oatmeal on the cow's back, 
 and to bleed the cattle and taste of the blood. In 
 old times, the men and women were likewise bled, 
 and their blood was sprinkled on the ground ; but 
 this practice has now died out, even in the western 
 islands, though sacrifice through blood is always 
 considered sacred and beneficial. 
 
 The blight on cattle comes from some individual 
 whose glance has a natural malignant power. You 
 may know such persons at once by their lowering 
 brows and sunken eyes. Distrust them, they are 
 evil. Persons of defective baptism are also dan- 
 gerous, for the devil already claims them for his 
 own. 
 
 To break the spell of the evil eye, drive the 
 cattle at once to a holy well, and make them drink 
 of the blessed water. But if in going they chance 
 to look at a graveyard, the cure will not succeed. 
 Prayers, also, must be recited while the cattle are 
 drinking at the well, and through the prayer of 
 faith the spell will be broken. 
 
 Superstitions. 
 
 The popular superstitions of the Irish people 
 seem to have remained unchanged from the earliest 
 time to the present day. A writer who travelled 
 in Ireland in 1690 — Lawrence Eochard, of Christ 
 College, Cambridge — mentions several of the usages 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 53 
 
 which none of the peasants would dare to trans- 
 gress, that came under his observation. 
 
 " The people," he says, " think it wrong to rub 
 down or curry their horses, or to gather grass to 
 feed them, upon Saturdays. 
 
 " They also esteem her wicked and a witch who 
 asks for fire on May morning, and butter would 
 only be given to a sick body, and then with a 
 curse. 
 
 " If butter is stolen, they cut away some of the 
 thatch from over the door and cast it into the fire, 
 believing that so the butter will be restored. 
 
 " When going out in the morning, they are 
 very careful who they meet first, for good luck, or 
 ill luck, may come for the day in that manner to a 
 man. 
 
 " Before sowing the corn, some salt is flung on 
 the earth ; and in the towns, when a magistrate first 
 enters on his office, the wives and daughters, along 
 the street, fling wheat and salt down on him and 
 his followers." 
 
 Food of the Iktsh. 
 
 He also notes the very simple diet of the people, 
 and their temperance as to food. 
 
 " The Irish," he says, " feed much upon herbs, 
 watercresses, shamrocks, mushrooms, and roots. 
 They also take beef broth, and flesh, sometimes 
 raw, from which they have pressed out the blood. 
 
51 ANCIENT CURES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 They do not care much for bread ; but they give 
 the corn to their horses, of whom they are very 
 careful. They also bleed their kine, and as the 
 blood stiffens to a jelly, they stew it with butter, 
 and eat it with great reiish, washing it down with 
 huge draughts of usquebaugh." 
 
 Amongst the stimulants recommended by the 
 later Irish physicians, we find saffron named as "the 
 most excellent of tonics; " also aqua vitce and sugar, 
 with bread soaked in it, that it may not harm 
 the brain, is specially advised as an energetic 
 strengthener of the organs of the body. 
 
 Foe the Memoey. 
 
 White frankincense beaten up with white wine is 
 profitable for the brain and the stomach, and an 
 excellent cordial may be made of one part gentian, 
 and two parts centaury, bruised well together, and 
 mixed with distilled water for a drink. But these 
 things are for the learned and the aristocrats. The 
 peasants still cling to their simple herbal cures and 
 mystic charms, and the ancient usages of the old- 
 world times. 
 
 To ascertain the result of a fever the people 
 will take a black cock, split him open, and apply 
 the halves, while still hot, to the soles of the feet. 
 Should they stick on, the patient will recover ; but 
 if the pieces fall to the ground, then death is 
 certain. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 55 
 
 If any feathers of wild fowl be in a bed the 
 patient will not sleep, and his death will be dis- 
 turbed and painful. The only help is to hang a 
 horse-shoe on the bed, or to place the sick person's 
 shoe face downward. 
 
 SlJPEESTITIONS. 
 
 On St. Bridget's day a crop of peeled rushes is 
 nailed to the door, and a mat of fresh hay is laid 
 down for the Saint to kneel on, in case she comes 
 to pray for any sick member of the family. 
 
 St. Bridget was very high -tempered and 
 haughty in her ways. One day she came to 
 attend mass at St. Mark's chapel, but found, when 
 she arrived, that the ceremony was all over. Then 
 she was angry, being accustomed to much reverence, 
 and asked the Saint, indignantly, why he had not 
 waited for her arrival, to which St. Mark answered : 
 " For no man nor woman shall I delay the holy rites 
 of the Church." Then Bridget grew more angry, 
 and prayed that a lake might cover the Saint's 
 court and chapel. And so it was, for the waters 
 began to rise till the court, and chapel, and the 
 Saint's cell were all submerged, and the great lake 
 was formed as it now exists. But once every seven 
 years, on St. Mark's day, the bells can be heard 
 ringingin the lake, and the chant of the choristers ; 
 and of a summer's day, down deep in the water, 
 ■can be plainly seen a heap of stones, and the people 
 
56 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 know that they are looking on the ruins of St. 
 Mark's chapel, banned and doomed by the power- 
 of the holy Bridget. 
 
 The Leprehaun. 
 
 The little gray Leprehaun has the secret of 
 hidden gold, and by the power of a certain herb he 
 can discover it and thus become master of unlimited 
 wealth. But no one has ever yet obtained from the 
 tricksy little sprite the name of the herb or the 
 words of the charm which reveal the hidden 
 treasure, only the Leprehaun has the knowledge-. 
 
 There are also herbs of grace to be gathered on 
 May morning which give wealth to him who knows- 
 the proper form of incantation ; but if he reveals 
 the mystery he dies. So the adepts keep the secret,, 
 being afraid of the doom. Yet the peasantry still 
 make constant efforts to find the hidden gold, and 
 many curious rites are practised by them to obtain 
 a knowledge of the mystic herbs. 
 
 Concerning Trees. 
 
 The most sacred trees in Ireland are the yew 
 tree, the rowan, the hazel, and the willow. The 
 hazel is the most effective against demon power and 
 witchcraft. It was by the use of a hazel wand that 
 St. Patrick drove out the serpents from Ireland, one 
 only escaping, who plunged into the Great Lake afe- 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 57 
 
 Killarney, and remains there to this day crying to 
 be released. And with a hazel stick a person can 
 draw a circle round himself, within which no evil 
 thing can enter — fairy, or demon, or serpent, or evil 
 spirit. But the stick must be cut on May morning,, 
 and before sunrise, to make it powerful. 
 
 The rowan tree is very sacred, and branches of 
 it should be hung on May morning over the child's 
 cradle, and over the churn and the door, to keep 
 away evil spirits and evil hands. The blessed 
 power of the hazel and the rowan is firmly believed 
 in to the present day, and is still used as the best 
 safeguard against witches ; for the Irish, like 
 their Persian ancestors, are fervent tree-worshippers,, 
 and no tree is considered malignant in its influence. 
 
 The willow is thought to have a soul in it which 
 speaks in music; for this reason the Irish harps 
 were generally made of the wood. Brian Borohm's- 
 ancient harp, still in existence, is made of the- 
 willow tree. 
 
 Whoever has the four-leaved shamrock has 
 good luck in all things. He cannot be cheated in- 
 a bargain, nor deceived, and whatever he undertakes- 
 will prosper. It enlightens the brain, and makes 
 one see and know the truth ; and by its aid wondrous 
 things can be done. So the people say : "Whoever 
 has the four-leaved shamrock can work miracles." 
 But it must never be shown to man nor mortal, or 
 the power would exist no more. 
 
58 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 The Sacked Tree. 
 
 It is very dangerous and unlucky to cut down an 
 ancient tree made sacred by the memory of a saint. 
 One cold, winter's day, during the hungry times, a 
 farmer was tempted to cut down a few branches 
 •of a huge alder that shadowed the ancient well of 
 St. Moling; when, on looking back, he saw his 
 house in flames. Immediately he rushed to the 
 spot, but, on reaching home, found that all was safe 
 and no flames were visible. So he returned to his 
 work of cutting off the branches, when again the 
 red flames rose high over his cottage, and again he 
 hastened to the spot to extinguish the fire ; but 
 with the same result — all was safe at his home. 
 So, determined not to be disappointed a third time 
 in getting the branches, he returned to the tree, 
 and lopped off as much as he required from the 
 sacred alder, and carried the bundle safe home ; 
 when, to his dismay, he found that the cottage was 
 burned to the ground, and he was left without a 
 roof over his head. 
 
 The Briar. 
 
 Great virtue is attributed to the briar, especially 
 in cases of a sprain, or dislocation; the species 
 bearing a reddish flower being the best for use. A 
 strong twig of this is taken, about a yard long, 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 59 
 
 •and split evenly from end. to end. The pieces are 
 then held by two men with clean hands, about 
 three feet apart — the mystery-man pronouncing an 
 incantation, and waving his hands over them until 
 the twigs seem endowed with life, and rise up 
 and approach each other till they touch ; then a 
 piece is cut off at the point of contact, and bound 
 firmly over the sprain, the mystery-man all the time 
 never ceasing his incantations, nor the waving of 
 his hands. The ligature is left on for three days, 
 after which time the sprain is found to be perfectly 
 cured ; but the power of the split sticks is entirely 
 neutralised, should either of the men holding 
 them be illegitimate. 
 
 The buds of the briar are used in spring to 
 make a refreshing drink for the sick, and the roots 
 in winter. The roots are boiled for twelve hours 
 in an earthen vessel, then a small cupful of the 
 liquid is administered frequently to the patient, 
 who, after some time, falls into a deep sleep from 
 which he will awake perfectly cured. 
 
 Concerning Birds. 
 
 Everything in nature, above and around them, 
 exercises a mysterious influence over the Irish 
 mind, and is connected, the people believe, with 
 their fortune and destiny, either for good or evil. 
 Trees are venerated and held to be sacred and 
 
60 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 beneficial ; but, strange to say, birds are not trusted, 
 as if some malign spirit were in them. They come 
 and go, according to the popular belief, with signi- 
 ficant messages from the unseen world of good or 
 bad omen, but generally with warning and pro- 
 . phecies of doom. The water-wagtail is particularly 
 disliked, for it has strange mystical powers, and 
 its presence always forebodes something fatal. 
 
 A gentleman in the County Cork happened to 
 be suffering from an attack of fever ; but no danger 
 was apprehended until one morning early, when a 
 water-wagtail came to the window and tapped 
 furiously at the glass with his bill, as if trying to- 
 break the glass and enter the room. For three 
 mornings this was repeated, by which time the 
 sick man's nerves were so completely shaken that 
 he gave himself up for lost, and in four days he 
 was dead. But, to the surprise and terror of the 
 family, the bird still continued to come each morniDg 
 and strike the window as before. Then, the wife, 
 who was kneeling by her husband's coffin in prayer, 
 rose up and said : " Behold ! the spirit of doom 
 has come for another of the family; one death is 
 not enough : let us watch and pray." And the evil 
 came as foretold, for when returning from his 
 father's funeral, the eldest son was thrown violently 
 from the carriage, the horses having taken fright 
 in some unaccountable manner, and the young man 
 was carried home dead to his unhappy mother. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 61 
 
 The robin redbreast is the only bird looked 
 upon with favour and veneration by the peasantry ; 
 for they believe that he once hid the Lord Jesus 
 from his enemies, by covering Him with moss, 
 but the water-wagtail plucked away the moss and 
 so discovered our Lord to the Jews ; for which act 
 the bird has even been considered unholy and un- 
 lucky, while the robin is held sacred, and no one 
 would dare to injure it. 
 
 When a raven is seen hovering round a cottage, 
 evil is near, and a death may follow, or some great 
 disaster ; therefore to turn away ill luck, say at 
 once : " May fire and water be in you, bird of 
 evil, and may the curse of God be on your head 
 for ever and ever." 
 
 If any one is sick in the house, and the cock 
 crows with his head to the fire, recovery may be 
 expected; but if he crows with his head to the door, 
 then death is certain. 
 
 If a hen crows on the roost it is a sign that the 
 fairies have struck it, and the head of the hen must 
 be immediately cut off and flung on the ground, or 
 •one of the family will surely die before the year is 
 out. 
 
 Never disturb the swallows, wherever they may 
 build, and neither remove nor destroy their nests ; 
 for they are wise birds, and will mark your conduct 
 either for punishment or favour. 
 
 The first time you hear the cuckoo, look down 
 
62 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 at your feet; if a hair is lying there you will lire to- 
 co mb your own gray locks at a good old agev 
 There is an old rhyme respecting this bird : 
 
 If a cuckoo sits on a bare thorn, 
 Tou may sell your cow and buy corn ; 
 But if she sits on a green bough, 
 Tou may sell your corn and buy a cow. 
 
 Superstitions. 
 
 When a person is dying, twelve rush-lights are- 
 lighted and stuck in a bowl of meal, and left burn- 
 ing till the death takes place; then the candles are 
 extinguished, and the meal is given to the first 
 pauper who passes the door. The corners of the 
 sheet, also, that wrapped the corpse, are care- 
 fully cut off and laid by as charms for disease. 
 The pins, likewise, used in laying out the dead, are 
 preserved reverentially, for they have great power 
 as mystic charms ever after. 
 
 Amongst fatal signs, the most fatal is to break 
 a looking-glass, for then it is certain that some one 
 in the house will die before the year is out. And 
 there is no mode of averting the evil fate. This 
 superstition still holds its power over the people ; 
 indeed, amongst all classes to the present day the 
 omen is looked upon with dread, and a firm belief 
 in its fatal significance. 
 
 To break the spell of witchcraft, it is good to eat 
 of barley cakes over which the exorcist has said an 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 63 
 
 incantation. But the patient must eat of them only 
 on Mondays and Thursdays, and the Monday 
 following; never on a Friday. 
 
 On Twelfth night the people make a cake of 
 yellow clay taken from a churchyard, then stick 
 twelve bits of candle in it, and recite their prayers,, 
 kneeling round, until all the lights have burned 
 down. A name is given to each light, and the first 
 that goes out betokens death to the person whose- 
 name it bears, before the year is out. 
 
 On Candlemas night the same trick is practised ;, 
 twelve lighted candles are named after the family,, 
 the first whose light burns out, dies first; and so on 
 to the last, who will be the survivor of all. 
 
 On Ash Wednesday, every one is marked on the- 
 forehead with the blessed ashes, and the black mark 
 is retained carefully through the day, the priest him- 
 self having touched the brow with his finger. Also, a 
 coal is brought from the priest's house to kindle the- 
 fire, for the consecrated coal brings good fortune to- 
 the house and the inmates. 
 
 It is good to cut the hair at the new moon, and' 
 by the light of the moon itself; but never should 
 the hair be cut on a Friday, for it is the most 
 unlucky day of all the year, and no one should 
 begin a journey, or move into a new house, or 
 comtnence business, or cut out a new dress on a 
 Friday; and, above all, never bring a cat from, 
 one house to another on a Friday. 
 
•64 ANCIENT CURES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 The creation of Adam, the Fall, the expulsion 
 from Eden, and the death of Christ, all took place 
 on a Friday; hence its evil repute and fatal 
 influence, above all other days of the week, upon 
 human actions. But the fairies have great power 
 on that day, and mortals should stay at home after 
 sunset, for the fairies always hold their revels upon 
 Fridays, and resent being interfered with or troubled 
 by the human presence. 
 
 It is unlucky to meet a red-haired man or woman 
 "the first thing in the morning ; but a freckled, red- 
 haired woman is particularly dangerous. Should 
 she be in your path on first going out, turn back 
 at once, for danger is in the way. Some say that 
 Judas Iscariot had red hair, hence the tradition of 
 its evil augury. 
 
 It is unlucky to offer your left hand in saluta- 
 tion, for there is an old saying: "A curse with the 
 left hand to those we hate, but the right hand to 
 those we honour." 
 
 It is unlucky to sit down thirteen to dinner, for 
 one of the party will certainly die before the year 
 is out. This is a most wide-spread superstition, 
 and extends to all classes from the highest to the 
 lowest. It probably originated from the fact that 
 Judas was the thirteenth at the Last Supper, and 
 the evil was in his heart as he sat at meat. 
 
 There are some days in the week considered 
 unpropitious by the people for certain work or 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 65 
 
 projects. Thus, no one should undertake any 
 business of importance on Wednesdays or Fridays, 
 nor set out on a journey, nor get married; and 
 should the ancient superstition he disregarded, evil 
 will fall on the sinner, and whether it comes from 
 heaven or hell, come it will, so the peasants believe, 
 for the fairies are out on those nights, and have 
 their revels and dances, and no mortal should 
 trouble them. But the fairies never have three 
 parties in the week, for that is the number of the 
 Trinity, and is sacred and holy ; so they leave the 
 other days free to men. There is a popular rhyme 
 concerning days and children : 
 
 Monday's child fair in the face, 
 Tuesday's child fair of grace, 
 "Wednesday's child lone and sad, 
 Thursday's child merry and glad, 
 Friday's child must work for a living, 
 Saturday's child is Godly given, but 
 Sunday's child will go straight to heaven. 
 
 Bubying-Gkootds. 
 
 In old times it was thought right and proper to 
 have separate burying-grounds for the different 
 classes. There was one for aged strangers, another 
 for infants who died unbaptized, for they could not 
 be admitted into consecrated ground. Suicides were 
 buried separately, in a place called, " The Wounded 
 Man's Grave." Women who died in child-birth 
 had also a special burial-ground, and the men were 
 
66 ANCIENT CUBES, CHABMS, AND 
 
 buried alone. In the County Tyrone there is a 
 male burying-ground, and if a woman enters it and 
 stands upon a grave, she will assuredly die before 
 the year is out. Consequently, no living woman 
 will pass the gate, only the dead men. The 
 dead are very strict as to form and usage, 
 and would all rise up from their graves if 
 one, not of their class, were laid amongst them. 
 Also, if anything lies heavy on the conscience of a 
 dead man, he will appear to his people and give 
 them no rest till the disturbing cause is removed. 
 A very respectable aged man having died near Dun- 
 more Castle some few years ago, his brother buried 
 him with all honour in the graveyard near by ; 
 but the corpse would not rest quiet. At night, 
 and in lonely places, the ghost would appear and 
 fix his dead eyes on the brother, but say no word, 
 and look so mournful, that the poor man had no 
 joy in life and knew not what to do. Then he 
 consulted the priest at last, and his reverence gave 
 him some holy water blessed and consecrated by 
 himself with special prayers, and told him to take 
 the flask with him at night to the place where he 
 usually met the ghost, and question him as to the 
 cause of his disquiet. So the man went as desired, 
 and drew a circle round himself as he stood, and 
 poured the holy water all over the place. And at 
 twelve o'clock exactly the ghost appeared ; and 
 when he got within the circle the man felt brave 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 67 
 
 enough to speak, for he knew he was protected by 
 the holy water. So he asked the ghost : " Why 
 have you left the grave to trouble me ? " Then 
 the ghost told him that only one thing prevented 
 him getting to heaven, and he would never have 
 rest unless this sin were removed from him, for the 
 thread that sewed his grave-clothes was stolen 
 thread, and the angels wouldn't touch him while it 
 was there, so he had to wander about, and had no 
 place of rest either ou earth or in heaven, and he 
 bade the brother go to the grave and rip the 
 clothes, and take away all the thread and burn it, 
 and get a mass said for the repose of his soul, after 
 which he would have rest. And all this the brother 
 did, even as he was desired, and the ghost was 
 seen no more. 
 
 A corpse must not be touched by any hand, nor 
 keened over, until two hours at least have passed 
 after death, for the soul must be given time to 
 settle quietly in its new place of rest ; and the 
 voice of the mourners might quicken the dead into 
 a brief return to temporal life, when the pangs of 
 a second death would be greater even than those of 
 the first. The body is then washed with soap and 
 water, and dried with a liuen cloth ; and the use 
 being over, the water is spilled, and the cloth 
 buried in a hidden place in the earth, where no 
 foot will tread and no eye will behold them till a 
 twelvemonth has passed by; for if any person 
 
 f 2 
 
68 ANOIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 stood upon the ground where the water was spilled; 
 he would be fated to wander about the fields all' 
 night, not knowing where to find his house till the 
 cock-crow in the early morn. 
 
 Superstitions. 
 
 When the body is laid in the coffin, the priest 
 sanctifies a handful of earth and sprinkles it over 
 the corpse. And this is done because, if any self- 
 murdered person were brought to the churchyard 
 to be buried, all the dead would turn in their 
 coffins, unless only those on whose bodies the 
 blessed earth had been sprinkled by the priest. 
 
 If the face of a first-born child is turned down- 
 wards in the coffin, the parents will never have any 
 more children. 
 
 Never cut an infant's nails till it is a twelve- 
 month old, or it will be light-fingered, and addicted 
 to stealing. 
 
 Never get married in harvest, or you will have 
 no rest from worries and troubles, and will always 
 be overworked, and laden with cares and anxieties 
 all your life long. 
 
 A new-married couple should retire to rest at 
 the same time, for if the bride were left alone, the 
 fairies would come and steal her away for the sake 
 of her fine clothes. 
 
 When a person sneezes, the people around say 
 at once : " The blessing of God and the Holy Mary 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 69 
 
 be on you," otherwise the fairies would do some 
 evil turn. Or they say : " The consecration be 
 upon you," meaning the holy water. This will at 
 once avert all fairy spite and malice. 
 
 It is very unlucky to meet a weasel coming 
 towards you in the early morning, and you should 
 at once spit at him, for^ if he spits at you first, a 
 great danger will fall on you before the sun sets. 
 Tet, you must never kill a weasel ; it is fatal, and 
 will bring sure destruction on yourself, for the 
 whole family of the murdered weasel will take 
 vengeance and cause something dreadful to happen 
 to you within the year. 
 
 When changing your residence, it is unlucky to 
 bring a cat with you, especially across a stream, 
 and a red and white cat is particularly ominous 
 and dangerous. If a black cat comes of her own 
 accord to your house, keep her, she is a good spirit; 
 but do not bring her, she must come freely, of her 
 own good will. 
 
 The tail of a black cat rubbed on the eyes has mar- 
 vellous curative properties, and the blood of a black 
 «at is largely used in all mystic cures for disease. 
 
 If a cow suddenly falls sick, without any ap- 
 parent cause, it is believed that she has swallowed an 
 insect of the beetle kind, called Berih, which lives in 
 ditches and stagnant pools. The remedy is to strike 
 the animal three times across the loins, with a gar- 
 ment belonging to any one of the name of Cassidy. 
 
70 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 But if a cow is bewitched by the fairies and gives 
 no milk, the owner must lead her three times round 
 one of the ancient stone monuments near a holy- 
 well, casting an elf stone each time on the heap. 
 And if this is not successful, then elf stones must 
 be tied up in a cloth with a piece of money, and 
 thrown into a vessel of water for the animal to 
 drink. Some butter, also, may be added to pro- 
 pitiate the saint of the well, and after this the cow 
 will surely recover. 
 
 There is a large stone at Dunsang, County Louth,, 
 bearing a rude resemblance to a chair. This is 
 called " The Madman's Stone/' and the people 
 believe that if a lunatic is placed on it, seated, 
 he will recover his reason. 
 
 At Porfcrane, County Dublin, is a well called " The- 
 Chink Well," which at high tide is covered by the 
 salt water, yet always remains itself fresh and pure. 
 Any one seeking a cure should leave a piece of 
 bread on the brink of the well, and if this is carried 
 away by the next tide the disease will depart also- 
 along with it. 
 
 At the village of Dunas, County Clare, once the 
 property of Sir Hugh Massy, is a well noted for 
 many healing virtues, from having been blessed by 
 St. Lenanus, who dwelt near it, and has left the- 
 impress of his hands and knees as he prayed on 
 the flat rock near the brink. The people try to 
 kneel in these indentations as they stoop to drink,, 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 71 
 
 and never fail to find relief if they touch the 
 impress left by the Saint. 
 
 A most efficacious cure for disease of any kind 
 is to eat a piece of the bread of which the Apostles 
 gathered twelve baskets full after Christ's miracle 
 of feeding the multitude. 
 
 The wandering friars carry about with them 
 some of this miraculous bread, and sell it to the 
 people in small quantities for urgent cases, especially 
 amongst the crowd surrounding the holy wells ; 
 for if the blessed bread is added to the power of 
 the holy well, the cure cannot fail of success. 
 
 The peasants have also great faith iu the 
 scapular, which is worn tied round the neck as a 
 talisman or charm against all evil demons, fairies, 
 or witches. 
 
 If a woman is iu great danger of death during 
 her confinement, and is not wearing the scapular, 
 she must be invested at once, and the midwife 
 always carries one with her ready for the purpose. 
 A strip of the skin of an ass and a piece of the 
 hoof are also tied round her neck, in memory of 
 the travail of the Holy Mother in the manger at 
 Bethlehem. But if the woman is dying, the 
 scapular must be at once removed, for if she dies 
 with it on, she carries away the blessing out of it, 
 and it has no more virtue until reblessed by the 
 priest. It is generally taken from the dying 
 woman by the nearest female relative, who 
 
72 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 reverently places it around her own neck, there 
 to remain until she also has to give up her soul 
 to God. 
 
 Until a woman has gone through the ceremony 
 of churching, after the birth of her child, she is the 
 most dangerous being on earth. 
 
 No one should eat food from her hand, and 
 myriads of demons are always around her trying to 
 do harm, until the priest comes and sprinkles holy 
 water over her. Even if she goes to the river 
 to wash, the fish will all go away from her 
 in tremor and fear. For fishes are a very pious 
 race, and cannot bear to be touched by unholy 
 hands ever since the mark of Christ's fingers was 
 on them. Indeed, they were once by accident 
 auditors of an argument against transubstantiation 
 held by a heretic, and were so shocked at his 
 language that they all left the river, and the 
 disappointed angler could not help regretting that 
 the fish were so very particular as to the tenets of 
 the Holy Church. 
 
 If a man leave home after his wife's confine- 
 ment, some of his clothes should be spread over 
 the mother and infant, or the fairies will carry 
 them both off. For the fairy queen desires, above 
 all things, a mortal woman as a nurse for her 
 fairy offspring. And if her own child happens to 
 be an ugly little sprite, she will gladly change it 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 73 
 
 for the beautiful human babe, who henceforth will 
 live entirely in Fairyland, and never more see his 
 kindred or home. 
 
 When a woman is nervous or hysterical, she is 
 often supposed to be fairy-struck ; but if the symp- 
 toms are severe, she is pronounced to be in Fairyland, 
 while a simulacrum, or fairy sprite, has taken her 
 place in the house, and assumed her features and 
 appearance. Then the priest is sent for ; but if his 
 prayers are of no avail, the family apply to the 
 fairy-doctor, who begins his operations by filling a 
 vessel with oatmeal, over which he mutters an 
 incantation. If half the oatmeal disappears sud- 
 denly, then he pronounces that a fairy is present in 
 the woman's form, and the remainder of the meal 
 being made into a cake, is given to her to eat ; 
 solemn incantations being recited all the time, 
 while the doctor lays his hands on the head of the 
 patient. This process is repeated for three days, 
 after which the true woman comes back from 
 Fairyland, and is able to resume her household 
 duties, being perfectly restored in health. 
 
 If a male child is born in Trinity week, he is 
 fated to take away life, his own or another's. To 
 break the fatality, a little bird is caught and held 
 close in the child's hand till it dies. Then the danger 
 is over, and the evil spell is broken through the 
 sacrifice of the bird as an offering to death. 
 
74 ANCIENT CUBES, C HARMS, AND 
 
 Omens. 
 
 To break a mirror is the most unlucky accident- 
 that can happen. It portends many coming crosses- 
 and trials, and sometimes foretells a death. It 
 happened once that a gentleman, who was just 
 married, drove up in his carriage to the door of his 
 residence with his bride ; his little niece, hearing 
 the arrival, ran to the window and dashed back the 
 glass door, never heeding that it struck a handsome 
 pier-glass by the violent swing, till the broken 
 pieces fell to the ground. Her nurse was terribly 
 alarmed at first ; but then hastily picking up two 
 pieces of glass, she ran out to hide them in the folds 
 of the bride's dress, before she entered the house, 
 and this she accomplished while no one was irfinding 
 her, in the hurry of the arrival. Thus the child 
 was saved, for the ill luck was transferred to the 
 bride, who had, indeed, a sad life after, of cares and 
 crosses ; but the little girl grew up well and happy,, 
 and was noted for her good fortune in all things 
 she set her mind on. 
 
 The cricket is looked upon as a most lucky 
 inmate of a house, and woe to the person who 
 may happen to kill one ; for all the other crickets 
 will meet in general -assembly and eat up the 
 offender's clothes, as a just retribution for the- 
 loss of a friend and relation. 
 
 Every woman in charge of a dairy should wear 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 75 
 
 three rings blessed in the name of the Trinity, 
 
 one to guard from the wiles of women, the second 
 
 from the wiles of men, the third from the wiles of 
 
 witches. 
 
 The Nature of Faieies. 
 
 In Connaught the people have many strange 
 superstitions of great antiquity. If a child spills 
 its tin of milk on the ground, the mother says : 
 " That to the fairies, leave it to them and welcome," 
 and the child is never scolded, lest that might bring 
 ill luck. For the fairies hate everything that looks 
 mean and niggardly, being themselves of a bright, 
 free, joyous nature ; except, indeed, the Banshee, 
 who is the spirit of sorrow and doom. 
 
 And the fairies like people who are kind and 
 considerate, and who leave food on the dresser and 
 fire in the grate at night for them when they hold 
 their councils ; yet not too much fire, for they 
 dislike smoke, and the good woman of the house- 
 must never throw out water after dark, without 
 saying : " Take care of the water ; " for the fairies 
 are very nice in their ways, and resent any such 
 awkward chance as might spoil their pretty gay caps 
 and feathers. They also greatly desire human aid, 
 and are very clever and acute in obtaining it. 
 Sometimes they carry off a man at night, put him 
 on a horse, jump up behind him, and away they go 
 fleet as the wind. 
 
 But when the man comes back in the morniDg 
 
76 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 to his home, wearied and exhausted, he finds that, 
 instead of a splendid horse, he has only been riding 
 •a log of wood, or perhaps a sucking-calf, and he 
 can hear the laughter of the fairies as he flings 
 himself down on the hay to rest after their malicious 
 tricks. Yet the fairies often strive to have human 
 help in their battles, and, above all, a human leader ; 
 for whichever side has a living man for its 
 general will surely gain the day ; and they try to 
 ■obtain him by sundry tricks, as in this way : They 
 dress up an old broomstick like a man and place 
 it in deep water, then, when any one goes over 
 to examine it, they toss the broom into the stream 
 and carry off the man. 
 
 But, after the battle, if he gains it for them, 
 ■they send him back laden with fairy gifts, and he 
 lias good luck ever after. Though if he is un- 
 successful, they strike him, and send him home 
 lame of a leg or with a crooked neck. 
 
 The fairies may be propitiated, but are never 
 worshipped by the people, who look on them as 
 inferior beings to themselves ; and they know well 
 that all the fairy spite against them is caused by 
 ■envy and jealousy because man has been created 
 immortal, while the Sidhe race is doomed to ex- 
 tinction at the last day. Bat saints and angels 
 receive full homage from the people, and they are 
 invoked against all evil influences with the most 
 earnest faith and trust. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 77 
 
 The people are very suspicious of fairy influence 
 being used for gain, and if a farmer amongst them 
 makes more money than his neighbours, they 
 become indignant and often do an injury to his 
 cattle as a punishment. 
 
 There was a man living in Innistush, one of the 
 western islands, who had a wonderful cow with 
 only one horn ; but she gave more milk than any 
 other cow on the island, and always came of herself 
 to be milked. So the people said : " Surely he hath 
 sold himself to the evil one for luck, but no luck 
 will come to him though he gathers ever so much 
 gold/' and they determined to do him an ill turn- 
 Now the man was out fishing one day, when a 
 vision came to him that his cow was dead, and as 
 he lamented he heard a voice saying : " Go to the 
 great cave on the hill and call her three times, and 
 she will answer you and come back to you." 
 
 So the man hastened home, and as he neared the 
 house he heard a great cry, and there, sure enough, 
 was his wife weeping and lamenting because the 
 cow was dead ; and all the women were round her, 
 trying to comfort her. 
 
 " "Whisht, Alanna," he said, " the cow is all 
 safe. She is under a fairy spell and is hidden 
 away in the great cave under the hill ; but, never 
 fear, for I'll put a stronger spell on her by the 
 power I learned in my dream." 
 
 So that same night he took fire with him and 
 
78 ANCIENT CURES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 went to the cave, and called three times on the 
 cow : " Come forth, come forth, come forth," but 
 she came not. Then he lit the turf all round the 
 cave and called out again : "See, I have the power 
 of the fire and I will burn down the hill unless the 
 cow is restored to me." 
 
 Then a little man came forth and his face flamed 
 with wrath. " May your fire be accursed," he said ; 
 "" take your cow away with you, but never more will 
 she do you any good, for the curse of the fairies is 
 upon her." 
 
 And he entered the cave and led her forth. 
 But she trembled, and began to moan when her 
 master tried to lead her away. Then the farmer 
 was sorely grieved, for he saw that she was be- 
 witched, and would never leave the fairies and 
 come with him. And as he turned away lamenting, 
 and very sorrowful, a young girl came up close and 
 whispered in his ear : " Ask for the spansel, or 
 you will never get her back." 
 
 On this the farmer called out again : " Bring 
 me the spansel, or I'll burn down the hill and not 
 leave a soul that is not scorched by the fire." 
 
 So the old man came forth again from the cave 
 looking still more wrathful, and he cried out 
 fiercely : "Accursed be your fire for evermore. The 
 spansel shall be yours. Only leave me in peace." 
 
 And he bade a young lad, who was by, to enter 
 the cave and bring forth the spansel. So when the 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 79 
 
 farmer got it, lie was content; for the evil spell 
 was broken at last through the judgment of fire. 
 
 And the cow came back with her master, and 
 gave milk enough ever after to keep him and his 
 wife in plenty and comfort ; and the neighbours 
 were afraid to play any more wicked tricks, for 
 they saw that a good man can conquer even the 
 power of the fairies, and all the envy and malice of 
 men, through wisdom and the help of God. 
 
 The exorcism by fire and water, these being the 
 two most powerful elements in nature, is of great 
 antiquity and is still held in high respect by the 
 fairy-doctors. It was practised by the Druids in 
 their solemn rites, and St. Patrick in his conflict 
 with the pagan priesthood made use of the double 
 ordeal of fire and water. 
 
 As already stated, there is a prevalent belief 
 that Friday is the most unlucky day of all the year, 
 for the fairies are very powerful then, and mortal 
 people should be very cautious about opening the 
 door after sunset and allowing a stranger to enter 
 the house. But there was a farmer's wife in Shark 
 Island, who was so good and kindly, that she never 
 refused a handful of meal or a light of the pipe to 
 any wayfarer that passed her door. And one day 
 (it chanced to be Friday) as she was churning, 
 towards evening, a lame woman, with a red cloak 
 wrapped about her head, tapped gently, and 
 begged the good mistress would just let her come 
 
80 ANCIENT CURES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 in and eat a bit, for she was very weary, and had 
 
 travelled far. 
 
 "Come in and welcome/' said Mrs. Sullivan, 
 
 "and there is a seat ready for you by the fire," and 
 
 she went on churning as the woman came in. 
 
 Now there chanced to be a can of water just 
 
 near the fire, and the old woman turned it over by 
 accident as she sat down, and all the water ran 
 under the churn. This, of course, was a sign of 
 ill luck ; but the woman expressed so much sorrow, 
 that poor Mrs. Sullivan could not scold her nor 
 turn her away, and she even gave her a drink 
 of milk to comfort her. 
 
 " Now, Alanna," said the lame woman, " I'll not 
 trouble you any more ; but just put a little milk 
 in my can to help me on the road when the thirst 
 is on me, and give me a light of my pipe, and then 
 I'll be off, for the sun is down, and I must meet 
 my people on the hill before it grows dark." 
 
 " That I'll do and welcome," said the mistress 
 of the house, "so hero is the fill of your can for 
 you of milk, and a good lump of butter, too, at the 
 top, and now light your pipe and go in peace." 
 
 Then the lame woman rose up and took the can 
 of milk with thanks. " And now, by your leave, 
 before I go, I'll just light my pipe," she said, and 
 with that she took a piece of burning sod from the 
 fire, and carried it outside to light her pipe, and 
 then went her way, throwing the fire on the road. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 81 
 
 Some time after, the farmer came home, 
 ^nd his wife told him all that had happened. 
 "Woman," he said, "you have destroyed our luck. 
 You allowed a lame woman to come in here and sit 
 down, while you were churning ; you let the water 
 be spilled on the floor under the churn ; you gave 
 away milk and butter on a Friday, and also 
 allowed fire to be taken out of the house on a 
 Friday by that lame witch; our luck is gone for 
 ever by your folly." 
 
 And so it was, for from that day the butter 
 grew less and less, and there was so little money 
 left in the house that the children cried from 
 hunger, and there was nothing to give them to eat, 
 and the poor mother was at her wits' end for sorrow, 
 and worked like a slave for the morsel they had. 
 But one evening, coming home late, she met the lame 
 woman in the field, carrying her big can as before. 
 
 " What have you got, now, in the can ? " asked 
 Mrs. Sullivan. 
 
 " Why, what else should it be but your own 
 butter," said the lame woman ; " see, the can is full 
 to the top with the loveliest butter eyes could see, 
 and all your own." 
 
 "But how can that be, good woman, for we 
 have none — our luck is gone?" cried poor Mrs. 
 Sullivan, weeping. 
 
 "Well, I'll tell you, just in this way. Every 
 morning, long before sunrise, while you are fast 
 
 a 
 
82 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 asleep, I milk the cow and carry off the milk in my 
 big can here ; and so I have always the richest 
 butter in the whole island for myself and my 
 people/' and the lame woman laughed as she told 
 her story. 
 
 " Oh, Maia, mother ! " cried poor Mrs. Sullivan, 
 in tears, " what am I to do, and my children dying 
 of hunger, and not a bit of food in the house, and 
 no money nor nothing ? " 
 
 " Well now," said the lame woman, " don't fret, 
 I shall have pity on you ; for you were good to me 
 the day I rested at your house. Bat take my 
 advice, for I am wise, and what I say is true and 
 must be done ; go home and tie a red string on the 
 cow's tail and another on her horns, and do not let 
 her out before sunrise ; this will keep her from the 
 witches, my particular friends, and I'll bring them 
 to another place for their milk and butter, so yours 
 shall be safe. But mind, never again give away 
 butter on a Friday ; nor let water be spilled under 
 the churn ; nor let fire be taken out of your house on 
 a Friday, for on that day the witches are powerful,, 
 and through the fire and water the spell of evil was 
 made and laid upon you. Attend, therefore, to my 
 words, for I am the head of the witches, and my 
 word is law," and with that she disappeared and 
 was seen no more. Then Mrs. Sullivan hastened 
 home, wondering at the words, but she did as was 
 desired and tied the red strips on the cow's tail and 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 83 
 
 horns; and next day, to her great delight, she had 
 her pail full of milk ; and the churning went on 
 even better than ever ; and the butter was the 
 richest and best in the whole country; for she 
 always put a live coal under the churn before 
 beginning, and on Fridays she watched the door 
 carefully, and allowed no stranger to come in to 
 carry away milk or fire, especially no lame woman ; 
 and so the old luck came back, and the children 
 laughed again and were happy, for they had enough 
 of the best to eat ; and the farmer forgave his wife ; 
 and, henceforth, they had plenty of money, and 
 peace, and rest, and happiness. 
 
 The Banshee. 
 
 The Ban-Sidhe, the fairy spirit of doom, never 
 
 appears but to aristocrats. She is an appanage 
 
 only of the highest families, who are always 
 
 followed by the shadow of this spirit of deatb, 
 
 supposed to be a beautiful young girl of the race, 
 
 who cannot enter heaven until some other member 
 
 of the family, who must be likewise young and 
 
 beautiful, takes her place through death. Ban, or 
 
 Van, means woman ; and Vanitha, the lady of the 
 
 house, in Sanscrit, as in Irish, comes from the root 
 
 Van — to love, to desire. To this day the lady of 
 
 the house is called The Vanitha by the Irish, the 
 
 word having the same meaning as Venus, " the 
 
 loved one," in its original signification. 
 
 g 2 
 
84 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 At Lord O'Neil's residence, Shane's Castle, 
 there is a room appropriated to the use of the 
 Banshee, and she often appears there ; sometimes 
 shrouded and muffled in a dark, mist-like cloak. 
 At other times, she is seen as a beautiful young 
 girl, with long, red-gold hair, and wearing a green 
 kirtle and scarlet mantle, brooched with gold, after 
 the Irish fashion. 
 
 There is no harm or fear of evil in her mere 
 presence, unless she is seen in the act of crying; 
 but this is a fatal sign, and the mournful wail 
 is a sure and certain prophecy that the angel of 
 death is waiting for one of the family. 
 
 The Demon Beide. 
 
 The ancient churchyard of Truagh, County 
 Monaghan, is said to be haunted by an evil spirit, 
 whose appearance generally forebodes death. 
 
 The legend runs that at funerals the spirit 
 watches for the person who remains last in the 
 graveyard. If it be a young man who is there 
 alone, the spirit takes the form of a beautiful 
 young girl, inspires him with an ardent passion, 
 and exacts a promise that he will meet her that 
 day month in the churchyai - d. The promise is then 
 sealed by a kiss, which sends a fatal fire through 
 his veins, so that he is unable to resist her caresses, 
 and makes the promise required. Then she dis- 
 appears, and the young man proceeds homewards ; 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 85 
 
 but no sooDer has he passed the boundary wall 
 of the churchyard, than the whole story of the 
 evil spirit rushes on his mind, and he knows that 
 he has sold himself, soul and body, for a demon's 
 kiss. Then terror and dismay take hold of him, 
 till despair becomes insanity, and on the very day 
 month fixed for the meeting with the demon bride, 
 the victim dies the death of a raving lunatic, and is 
 laid in the fatal graveyard of Truagh. 
 
 In a recent case, where a young man was 
 reported to have fallen under the influence of this 
 weird temptation, the priest was sent for by the 
 family to try if by his power he could absolve the 
 victim from the promise given. Still no exorcism 
 had any effect. On the very day of the intended 
 meeting, the young man fell to the earth with 
 the glare of madness in his eyes, and when they 
 tried to lift him he was dead. 
 
 But the evil spirit does not limit its operations 
 to the graveyard ; for sometimes the beautiful 
 demon form appears at weddings or festivities, 
 and never fails to secure its victims, by dancing 
 them into the fever that maddens the brain, and 
 too surely ends in death. 
 
 St. Patkick's Day, 17th March. 
 St. Patrick, the great apostle, teacher, and 
 guide of the Irish people out of the darkness of 
 paganism, holds a most remarkable and eminent 
 
86 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 place in the early history of humanity. He was a 
 man of culture and learning, and of extraordinary 
 wisdom, power, and mental force. This is proved 
 by his rapid and decisive overthrow of paganism 
 and of the strong Druidic priesthood in Ireland, 
 through the daring and successful measures he 
 adopted for the establishment of Christianity. 
 
 Baal and Moloch fell before him at once, and he 
 raised the Christian altar by the side of the pillar 
 to the Sun God — an altar and a faith that have now 
 remained fixed and fast for fourteen hundred years. 
 Therefore on his day, the 17th of March, twenty 
 millions of Irish all over the world celebrate the 
 Saint's name, and honour his memory. 
 
 When Patrick arrived in Ireland with his little 
 band of faithful followers, it is told of him that he 
 saw a dense ring of demons round the island, 
 extending a six days' journey from it on every side. 
 These obstructionists, however, he subdued without 
 much difficulty; but, of all the doctrines he preached 
 to the men of Erin the Irish found that forgiveness 
 of injuries was the hardest, and the nation in this 
 respect seems unchanged to this day. St. Bridget, 
 afterwards the great Abbess of Kildare, was his 
 first convert, and worked with him all through his 
 apostolate ; hence these two names were conse- 
 crated to the use of all the children born since in 
 Ireland, and have become the expression of Irish 
 nationality. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 87 
 
 The opening of Patrick's mission was bold and 
 grand. By the King's command no fire was to be 
 lit in Erin on the morning of the Baal festival, until 
 the Royal fire was first kindled at Tara, under pain 
 of death ; but Patrick, disdaining obedience, boldly 
 lighted his Paschal fire on the hill of Slane, so that 
 it could be seen by the whole country round. On 
 this the King was wroth, and sent forth from Tara 
 nine chariots and armed men to seize Patrick and 
 slay him. But the Saint covered them with dark- 
 ness, and when the Magi and the Druids beheld his 
 power their hearts failed, and they bade the King 
 cease his efforts, for that " a fire was that day 
 kindled in Erin that would never be extinguished." 
 Afterwards Patrick and his band of followers 
 appeared suddenly in the midst of the King's Court, 
 and the Queen, struck with fear and terror by his 
 preaching, was at once converted. It was at this 
 time, also, that Patrick composed that wonderful 
 hymn which still holds its place in Irish literature, 
 unequalled for strength and simple grandeur. In 
 this he prays against " the spells of women, smiths, 
 and Druids," and invokes, in fine resonant words : 
 
 The power of God to guide me, 
 The wisdom of God to teach me, 
 The eye of God to watch over me, 
 The ear of God to hear me, 
 The shield oE God to defend me. 
 
 For this hymn Patrick is described by Sechnall, 
 
88 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 one of his disciples, as "the flame of a splendid 
 sun, a stream of wisdom with splendour;" and 
 he calls the hymn " a diadem of princes, chanted 
 music, a noble solace for men." Further, it was on 
 this memorable occasion that, in the presence of the- 
 King, and Queen, and Court, Patrick, taking the 
 shamrock in his hand, addressed the people and 
 taught them the mystery of the Trinity from the 
 triune leaf, which has since been the national 
 symbol of Ireland for a thousand years. But the 
 Saint not only gave religion but culture to Ireland, 
 for wherever he went he established schools, 
 churches, and monasteries, where the Latin letters 
 and alphabet were taught to the people, who before 
 that had only the Ogham writing; and after this 
 time Greek and Latin were freely taught in the 
 Irish schools, and Latin became the ordinary tongue 
 amongst the men of letters and learning. Thus, 
 under his powerful guidance, the conversion of 
 Ireland proceeded rapidly. Kings, queens, princes, 
 chiefs and nobles, bards and Druids, were all 
 brought into the fold, and before his death the 
 conquest over paganism was complete. For his 
 mode of action was full of tact ; he did not over- 
 throw the pagan rites, but converted them to 
 Christian usages. Thus, Beltaine, or the day of the 
 Baal fire, became sacred as the Easter festival ; and 
 Samhain, the day of the dead and of demons, 
 became Hallow Eve, the Day of Saints. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 8» 
 
 Patrick also confirmed the Brehon laws in so 
 far as they were just, and upheld the privileges- 
 of the bard, he himself being a poet, at the same- 
 time giving honour to the priesthood above all. Thus, 
 the bard was allowed seven colours in his raiment; 
 but Patrick permitted eight colours in the sacred 
 satin robe worn by the priest at the sacrament. 
 This was called " the robe of offering." And 
 before his time only three had the right to speak in 
 public — namely, the historian, the poet, and the 
 judge — but Patrick added another, "the man of 
 the lasting language" — that is, the priest of the Holy 
 Canon. Learning he upheld in. high honour, and he 
 himself taught the Latin letters to the converts. 
 So that form of writing spread rapidly, and has 
 remained in use ever since as the Irish alphabet. 
 The scribe, or man of letters, was esteemed a 
 personage of such importance that whoever shed 
 his blood was liable to the penalty of death, or 
 obliged to pay a forfeit of seven slave girls, each 
 girl being value three cows. But the Saint was 
 cruel and remorseless against sin. His fair young 
 sister Lupait angered him because she broke her 
 vows and gave herself to her lover ; on which 
 Patrick cursed her and her lover Colmain, and 
 vowed to keep them out of heaven. Then Lupait 
 went forth to meet Patrick in the way as he drove 
 in his chariot, and fell down on her knees before 
 him, praying for mercy and that he would not 
 
-90 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 take heaven away from her lover and their son 
 Aedan. But Patrick sternly bade the charioteer to 
 ■drive over her. Yet still she prayed for grace, and 
 three times she ran in front of the chariot, and, 
 kneeling down, entreated pardon and forgiveness. 
 Then Patrick at last promised his sister that as she 
 repented he would not take away heaven from her, 
 yet that she must surely die ; and again be bade 
 the charioteer to drive on. So the third time the 
 chariot passed over Lupait, and she lay dead before 
 him in the path. Then Patrick had the Requiem 
 sung, and she was buried as she died, in the place 
 where the cross now stands ; but her soul was 
 suffered to enter heaven. 
 
 A softer and gentler spirit is in the story of the 
 two princesses converted to the Christian faith by 
 the Sanctus Patricius Episcopalus. One day the 
 two daughters of the King of Meath, Ethna and 
 Pedalma, on going down to the river to bathe, 
 beheld St. Patrick and his converts all draped in 
 flowing white robes, for they were celebrating 
 morning prayers ; and the princesses thought they 
 must be of the fairy race (the Daine Sidhe), and 
 they questioned them, on which Patrick expounded 
 the Christian truth to them. And the maidens 
 asked him many questions. " Who is your God ? 
 Is he young ? Is he handsome ? Has he sons and 
 daughters ? Are his daughters as handsome as we 
 are ? Is he rich ? Is he young or aged ? Is he to 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 91 
 
 die like us, or does he live for ever ? " Then Patrick 
 having satisfied them on all those points, the two 
 maidens, Bthna and Fedalma, were baptized, and 
 became zealous workers for the Christian cause at 
 their father's royal Court of Tara of the Kings. 
 
 St. Patrick was a great favourite with the Lord, 
 and He sent His angel to him. to ask what things he 
 desired most to be granted to him. On which the 
 Saint made seven requests, among others, that no 
 Outlander should ever rule over Ireland; that he, 
 Patrick, should alone judge the Irish at the last 
 day, even as the twelve who were deputed to judge 
 Israel ; and that every Thursday and Saturday 
 twelve souls of the Irish people should be freed 
 from the pains of hell. 
 
 It is interesting to reflect on the permanence of 
 symbols and memories when once they have taken 
 root in the heart of a nation. A thousand years may 
 have passed by, yet still on the Saint's day every 
 child in Ireland will wear a Patrick's cross on the 
 shoulder, made in the national colour, of green 
 ribbon, and every Irishman throughout the world 
 will be known by the shamrock in his hat, and every 
 Irishwoman will have her bouquet of the Seamrog- 
 leanne, while to many an Irish exile in foreign lands 
 the verdant and sacred symbol, fresh from the 
 native sod, will be carefully sent by post as the 
 most acceptable of presents, and at night there will 
 be the great annual ball at Dublin Castle, in St. 
 
92 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 Patrick's Hall, when the Lord Lieutenant and all 
 his suite will wear huge bunches of the national 
 emblem, and all the ladies will have it mingled with 
 their garlands and in the adornments of their dress. 
 Even a Royal levee will be held in London in the 
 Saint's honour, where princes and peers will appear 
 with the glittering insignia of the Order of St. 
 Patrick ; a special compliment to Ireland, for there 
 is no Leek day, nor Thistle day, recognised in 
 Court ceremonials. And no doubt the day of the 
 festival will be fine, for St. Patrick made this a 
 particular point with the angel sent to him to know 
 his wishes, that on his special day, the 17th of 
 March, no rain should fall ; but the weather always 
 be bright and fair, to allow the attendance of the 
 faithful at the service of the Church. 
 
 And thus it has been for fourteen hundred years, 
 for from that time till now no rain has fallen upon 
 the Saint's day throughout the length and breadth 
 of green Erin, no matter what may happen in the 
 less favoured regions of the earth outside the pale 
 of " Holy Ireland/' the Insula Sanctorum, blessed 
 for evermore by the great apostle, Saint, and 
 guardian of the Irish race, whose sacred symbol we 
 all wear in his honour. 
 
 A Legend op St. Patrick. 
 
 One day three young princes came to Tara, 
 where Patrick had erected his altar, and fell pros- 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 93 
 
 trate before the holy Saint, weeping bitterly. And 
 they told him how they had fled away from the 
 Court of the King because, in his anger, he had 
 vowed to slay them with the sword unless they 
 gave up their new religion and prayed again to the 
 ancient idols ; for they had become converts to the 
 faith of Christ and worshipped only the God of 
 the holy Patrick. 
 
 And their tears fell fast in the dust at the 
 Saint's feet as they told their story, and said they 
 were ready and willing to give up life itself, but 
 never their faith in the one true God, whom they 
 had learned to know from Patrick's teaching. 
 
 Then the Saint being greatly moved with pity 
 and tenderness, laid his finger on the cheek of each 
 youth as the tears fell, and lo ! the tears changed 
 to pearls. " Now, swallow them," said the Saint, 
 " and three sons will be born of you whose destiny 
 is to overthrow the idolatries and the devil-worship 
 of Erin." 
 
 And so it happened, for one of the sons born 
 afterwards was the renowned St. Columba, the 
 glory of the Church, and the light of Ireland and 
 of the world. 
 
 St. Patkick and the Witch. 
 
 When Patrick came over to Ireland to convert 
 the pagans, no one would give him a lodging, for 
 so the Druid priests had ordered. 
 
94 ANCIENT CURES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 And lie wandered on till at last he came to a- 
 small inn, where he was allowed to rest, the people 
 not knowing him. And in the night he was thirsty,, 
 and asked for water ; bnt the mistress told him she 
 had forgotten to fill the vessels and there was no 
 water except at the well, and not one of her ser- 
 vants or people would venture to go there at such 
 an hour, so he must just bear the thirst on him till 
 morning; for there was no use fighting the devil, 
 and never a one ever came back from the well if 
 they tried to brave him. Then Patrick said he would 
 go himself and fill the can, and fetch it home. 
 
 On this the woman wondered greatly, and asked 
 what country he came from to be so brave, for a 
 great enchanter lived by the well, and no one dared 
 to go near it in the dark night. The Saint, how- 
 ever, made answer that he feared no harm, for God 
 and the angels would guard him. So she gave him 
 a wooden noggin with a lid to carry the water,, 
 and bade him take care how he lifted his eyes to- 
 look at the light set on the rock where the en- 
 chanter dwelt, or he would certainly fall down- 
 dazed and die. 
 
 But Patrick, nothing fearing, went forth ; and 
 when he came to the rock by the well, he cast a 
 strong spell over the place in the name of the- 
 Trinity, and the magician trembled and uttered a 
 loud cry, and then dropped down dead on his face- 
 and spake no word. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 95 
 
 So Patrick was at peace to fill the vessel with 
 water from the well, and he returned safe to the 
 inn. 
 
 And it was a saying afterwards amongst the 
 Irish, if they were offended or suffered injury, 
 " The curse of St. Patrick on the man of the well 
 be on your head for evermore ! " 
 
 Now, the magician had a mother — a wicked 
 witch called Churana — and she vowed vengeance- 
 on Patrick, and turned her sorceries against him. 
 
 So he pursued her to Croagh-Patrick, where 
 she lived, and ascended the mountain after her, 
 though she flung down great rocks on him to stop 
 his way. But he prayed to the Lord, who gave 
 him strength to fling them aside, and still he went 
 on up the mountain. Then the witch caused a 
 great fog to arise, and he was left alone, for none 
 of his disciples could find their way to follow 
 him in the darkness. Still Patrick went on all 
 alone, until, by chance, his foot struck against a 
 bell on the mountain path ; and when he rang 
 it, his followers heard and came to him. And. 
 at last they gained the top, though all was black 
 darkness around them by reason of the fog. 
 
 And it was the first Sunday in harvest-time,, 
 which Sunday was called ever after through all 
 the years Donagh-fram-dubh ("the Sunday of 
 Gloom"). 
 
 Then they began to descend the mountain.. 
 
So ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 But the witch caused water to be poured over 
 tli em that was nauseous to the smell and taste; so 
 the Sunday is also called "Garlic Sunday" ever 
 since. Still, never heeding, they pursued her even 
 --as far as the great lake, where the evil witch 
 plunged into the water. But Patrick struck her 
 with the bell as she passed him and slew her ; and 
 her blood changed that water to red, so that the 
 lake was known ever after as Lough-Dearg, or 
 the " Red Lake." 
 
 And Patrick, in memory of his deliverance, 
 ■established a station there and founded a monastery. 
 And yet once more he ascended Croagh-Patrick, 
 and beheld all the country lying westward ; but, 
 finding that his time was short, and that he could 
 not visit Connemara nor the lands near, he lifted 
 up his hands and invoked a blessing on the bays, 
 and the harbours, and the shores of Connemara, 
 ■even a sevenfold blessing. So ever since the fish 
 are abundant there beyond all other places on the 
 •coast of Ireland. 
 
 Nor yet had he time to visit Erris ; but, un- 
 happily, he forgot, before leaving the mountain, to 
 invoke a blessing on the island, so the people of 
 Erris are still pagan in all their ways — rakish and 
 prodigal, and given to strong drink, even to this 
 clay — for the blessing of Patrick never rested on 
 them, nor on their land or coasts. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 97 
 
 FESTIVALS. 
 Mat Day in Ireland. 
 
 Every race since Creation has tried to express 
 man's intuitive belief in the invisible world by 
 some visible image, or occult symbol, or mystic 
 legend ; and thus the primitive traditions of 
 humanity have been faithfully preserved as a 
 sacred ritual that it would be fatal to disregard. 
 
 In Ireland the ancient usages are still adhered 
 to as firmly as they were three thousand years 
 ago, when they expressed a religion, and the gods 
 of the people were the visible forces of nature. 
 The awakening of spring to life and beauty, after 
 the death-sleep of winter, especially touched the 
 human heart with joy and hope, and was cele- 
 brated with garlands, and music, and song. Mystic 
 symbols were fashioned to represent the mysteries 
 of nature, and strange mystic stories of the rush 
 of spirit-life through the world were repeated by 
 every successive generation till they became in- 
 delibly stamped on the national heart and memory. 
 They are still recited at the popular festivals by 
 the professional village bards, and crooned over 
 by the old women at the wakes and christenings, 
 or told with awful solemnity to the listening 
 children as they crouch round the turf fire of a 
 winter's night, eager to hear the weird stories 
 
98 ANCIENT CUBES, CHAEHS, AND 
 
 of witches and demons ; of the dead who walk 
 in their white shrouds on certain nights, when to 
 meet them is fatal to the living ; or of the mys- 
 terious fairy race, the fallen angels of heaven, who 
 have been cast down to earth to expiate their sins, 
 and who live in crystal caves paved with gold be- 
 neath the sea, or in the mountain clefts, where 
 the caverns are lit by the diamonds that stud 
 the rocks, and who sip nectar from the cups of 
 the flowers, and weave their gossamer robes of 
 the sunbeam and the glittering dewdrops. And 
 many a pretty girl, as she listens, longs to 
 dance in the moonlight with these fairy beings 
 under the scented hawthorn tree, for the Sidhe 
 (the fairies) are more beautiful and graceful than 
 any of the children of earth, though a deep 
 sorrow rests ever on them, knowing that at the 
 last day they are destined to eternal death, while 
 the human race will live in heaven for ever- 
 more. 
 
 A number of ancient traditions circle especially 
 round May Day, ca lled in Irish La-Bel-Taine (the 
 day of the sacred \Baal_jfire), because in the old 
 pagan times, on May Eve, the Druids lit the great 
 sacred fire at Tara, and as the signal flames rose up 
 high in the air, a fire was kindled on every hill in 
 Erin, till the whole island was circled by a zone of 
 flame. It is a saying amongst the Irish, " Fire and 
 salt are the two most precious things given to 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 99 
 
 man." Fire, above all, was held sacred by them, 
 as the symbol of Deity and the mystic means of 
 purification, and three things were never given 
 away by them on May Day — fire, milk, or butter — 
 for this would be to give away luck. No one was 
 permitted to carry a lighted sod out of the house, 
 or to borrow fire in any way. And no strange 
 hand was allowed to milk the cow, for if the first 
 can were filled in the name of the devil there 
 would be no more milk that year for the family — 
 it would all be secretly taken away by the fairies. 
 The first three days of May were very dangerous to 
 cattle, for the fairies had then great power given 
 them of the Evil One; therefore they were well 
 guarded by lighted fires and branches of the rowan, 
 and the milkmaid made the sign of the Cross after 
 milking, with the froth of the milk. Nothing else 
 was so effective against witches and demons. 
 During the first three days of May, also, it was 
 necessary to take great precautions against the 
 fairies entering the house, for if once they gained 
 admittance they worked mischief. They would 
 come disguised as old women or wayfarers in order 
 to steal a burning coal — a most fatal theft — or to 
 carry off the herbs of power, that were always 
 gathered on May morning with the dew on them. 
 But the best preventive against fairy or demon 
 power was to scatter primroses on the threshold, 
 for no fairy could pass the flower, and the house 
 
 h 2 
 
100 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 and household were left in peace, though all 
 strangers were looked upon with great suspicion. 
 A young student was nearly killed one time by 
 the people, for they saw him walking up and down 
 on May morning on the grass, while he read aloud 
 from a book in some strange language; and they 
 concluded that he was trying to bewitch the herbs 
 of grace, which are for healing. Fortunately, 
 however, a priest came by, and having examined 
 the book, found it was a copy of Virgil ; so he 
 informed the excited crowd that the young man 
 was simply going through his college duties in the 
 grand old language that St. Patrick had brought 
 to Ireland, and which was sacred for ever to the 
 use of the Church. On this they were pacified, 
 and the young student was allowed to depart in 
 safety. 
 
 A curious superstition is still prevalent among 
 the people that on May Day the ancient kings 
 of Ireland arise from their graves and gather 
 together a great army of the dead, horse and 
 foot, and they tell the troops that the hour has 
 come to fight for Ireland, and they must be ready 
 to march as commanded. Then the spectral 
 warriors clash their shields and respond with 
 wild cries to the kings and chiefs and captains 
 of the nation. The last time the kings arose 
 from their graves was, it is said, in 1848, when 
 the tramp and the shouts of the marching men 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 101 
 
 resounded distinctly through the hills; but when 
 the people rushed to the spot where the shields 
 ■clashed and the voices sounded, not a form was 
 visible ; the hosts of the dead warriors had 
 vanished into air. Many of the old customs still 
 remain among the peasants. Among others it is 
 thought right and proper to have the threshold 
 swept clean on May Eve. Ashes are then lightly 
 sprinkled over it, and iu the morning the print of a 
 foot is looked for. IE it turn inward a marriage 
 is certain, but if outward then a death will happen 
 in the family before the year is out. The cattle 
 also are still singed along the back with a lighted 
 wisp of straw, and a bunch of primroses is tied to 
 the cow's tail, for the evil spirits cannot touch 
 anything guarded by these flowers, if they are 
 plucked before sunrise, not else. But the rowan 
 tree is the best preservative against evil ; if a 
 branch be woven into the roof, the house is safe 
 for a year at least, and if mixed with the timber 
 of a boat no storm will upset it, and no man be 
 drowned in it for the next twelvemonth. 
 
 May Day in old time was the period of greatest 
 rejoicing in Ireland, a festival of dances and gar- 
 lands to celebrate the Resurrection of Nature, 
 as November was a time of solemn gloom and 
 mourning for the dying sun ; for the year was V 
 divided into these two epochs, symbolising death 
 and resurrection, and the year itself was expressed 
 
102 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 by a word meaning "the circle of the sun," the- 
 symbol of which was a hoop, always carried in the 
 popular processions, wreathed with the rowan and 
 the marsh marigold, and bearing, suspended within 
 it, two balls to represent the sun and moon, some- 
 times covered with gold [and silver paper. This 
 emblem of the hoop and the balls is still carried on 
 May Day by the villagers, though the meaning has 
 been lost when it was consecrated to Baal, ac- 
 cording to the solemn oath of the Irish, " by the- 
 sun, moon, stars, and wind." At the great long 
 dance held on May Day all the people held hands- 
 and danced round a tall May bush erected on a 
 mound, the girls wearing garlands, while the pipers 
 and harpers, with gold and green sashes, directed 
 the movements. The oldest worship of the world 
 included homage to the tree and the serpent- 
 Trees were the symbol of knowledge, and the 
 dance round the May bush, which simulated the 
 sinuous curves of the serpent, was part of the 
 ancient ophite ritual associated with the worship- 
 of Baal. The dance and the May bush still exist,, 
 but the fairy music seems to be lost for ever. In 
 the ancient days it was heard upon May Eve on 
 all the hills of Erin, and the most beautiful tunes 
 wera thus caught up by the people and the native- 
 musicians. Carolan, it is said, the celebrated bard, 
 acquired all the magic melody of his notes by 
 sleeping out on a fairy rath at night, when the- 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 103 
 
 fairy music came to him in dreams, and on awaking 
 he played the airs from memory; but since his 
 time the fairies seem to keep silence on the hills, 
 and no more exquisite airs have been added to the 
 pathetic national music of Ireland. 
 
 The educated and learned are as susceptible to 
 the mysterious prescience of an invisible spiritual 
 world as the illiterate Irish peasant. Every one 
 is conscious of the strange influence upon life of 
 omens and dreams, and of days when the malific 
 powers, whose mission seems to be to torture the 
 human race, are fearful and strong, and ruthlessly 
 crush all our wishes and resolves, showing us how 
 weak and powerless we are to order life as we 
 desire, or to gain control over even the simplest 
 events ; of days when all things are fatally unlucky; 
 of the presence of certain persons who chill the 
 heart and stifle the eloquence of the lips ; or of 
 others who pour a warm flood of genius into the 
 veins and make us divine for the moment that we 
 are under their magic spell. So we may sympathise 
 with the Irish peasant, who has given definite forms 
 to the superstitions that we only dimly feel, and 
 recognise the kinship of all races and classes by the 
 universal intuition, common to all humanity, of a 
 mysterious, unseen world of spiritual beings around 
 us. These are for ever influencing our actions or 
 directing our destiny, though we cannot hear them 
 playing their sweet music on the hills, or see them 
 
101 ANCIENT CURES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 dancing under the scented hawthorn, like the Irish 
 peasant, who watches the Baal fires on the moun- 
 tains flaming up through the midnight to announce 
 the coming of May. 
 
 The fairies exercise a very powerful influence for 
 evil at Bel-Taine, or May time ; so as a preservative 
 against their malice and the fairy darts, which at this 
 season wound and kill, it is the custom on May 
 morning, at sunrise, to bleed the cattle and taste of 
 the blood mingled with milk. Men and women were 
 also bled, and their blood was sprinkled on the 
 ground. This practice, however, has died out, 
 even in the remote West ; but the children are still 
 lifted through the fire when it has burned low, and 
 the cattle are driven through the hot embers — as in 
 ancient times both children and cattle were "passed 
 through the fire to Moloch" — and the young men 
 still leap through the flames after the dance round 
 the burning bush is over, and they carry home a 
 lighted branch of the sacred tree to give good luck 
 to the family during the coming year. 
 
 May Day in pagan Ireland was the great festival 
 of Baal, or (Qria?t\ the Sun. Then the fires were 
 lighted on the Druid altars, and the great sacrifice 
 of the year was offered. November, the month of 
 gloom, was also sacred to the Sun, when the fires 
 were lighted to guide him in his descent to the 
 kingdom of death ; and at both seasons the sacrifices 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 105 
 
 and ceremonies were made sacred through fire, the 
 great symbol of the creative, all-sustaining God, 
 and the source of all life through the universe. 
 
 The origin of the May bush, or burning tree, 
 was thus described by an intelligent peasant, who 
 had it from his father, an old man about eighty years 
 of age, well versed in the old traditions of the people: 
 
 " The lighted May bushes," the old man said 
 unto me, " were first set up in honour of the great 
 Milesians, who gave battle on May Day to the 
 Tuatha de Danans, and conquered. Then a power- 
 ful magician of the Tuatha caused innumerable 
 fiery darts to go forth against the Prince of the 
 Milesians to kill him ; but, in passing, they were all 
 stopped by a bush that stood between the chief and 
 the magician, so that a flame arose, and the bush 
 withered and burned away. And from that time 
 the May bushes are lit by fire and left to burn, for 
 so evil is carried away from the land ; and we 
 believe and know that no lightning, nor thunder, 
 nor evil enchantments can ever enter a house before 
 which stands the sacred bush with the yellow 
 flowers that represent the flame of fire ; and the 
 people dance round it, and pass their cattle through 
 the smoke, with also the young children, to pre- 
 serve them from the spell of witchcraft." This 
 was the story told by the peasant, as he heard it 
 through the traditions of his father. 
 
106 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 The Mat-Day Dance. 
 
 Dancing was the most important of the sacred 
 rites in all ancient religions ; and the circular 
 serpent-dance round the tree has been practised 
 from the remotest antiquity. 
 
 In Ireland it is still retained as the favourite 
 pastime of the people on the La-Bel-Taine (May 
 Day), when all the young men and maidens hold 
 hands, and dance in a circle round a tree hung 
 with ribbons and garlands, or round a bonfire, 
 moving in curves from right to left, as if imitating 
 the windings of a serpent, though quite uncon- 
 scious of the cryptic meaning of the movement,, 
 which is, in reality, a true ophite hieroglyph of 
 the earliest traditions of humanity concerning the 
 serpent and the tree. 
 
 Advice to Maidens. 
 
 On May morning, before sunrise, go out to the- 
 garden, and the first snail you see take up, and 
 put it on a plate sprinkled lightly with flour, place- 
 a cabbage-leaf over, and so leave it till after sun- 
 rise, when yon will find the initial letters of your 
 lover's name traced on the flour. 
 
 Should the snail be quite within his house 
 when you take him up, your lover will be rich ; 
 but should the snail be almost out of his shell, 
 then your future husband will be poor, and pro- 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 107 
 
 bably will have no house or home to take you 
 
 to when you wed him. Therefore take good heed 
 
 of the warning giveu to you by the snail, or avoid 
 
 trying your future fate if you are afraid of the 
 
 result. 
 
 Mat Eve. 
 
 Great precautions must be taken on May Eve, 
 for the fairies have fatal power over the human 
 race upon that night, and steal the children and 
 bewitch the cattle if they can find an opportunity; 
 therefore no door should be left open after sunset, 
 and young persons should not go out alone on the 
 hills, nor listen to the singing of young girls in 
 the night, for they are fairies in disguise, and will 
 work harm. And, above all, fire, should not be 
 given away, for fire is the life of man ; and if 
 any food, boiled, roast, or baked, is left over from 
 May Eve to May Day, it must not be eaten, but 
 buried in the garden, or thrown over the boundary 
 of the town-land for the dogs, because the fairies 
 stole away the real food at night, and left in its 
 place only lumps of turf sod, made to look like 
 food, and to touch them would be fatal. 
 
 May-Day Usages. 
 
 On May morning the peasant girls delight in 
 gathering May dew before sunrise, to beautify K 
 their faces, and they believe that the sun will 
 then have no power over their complexions to spoil 
 
108 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 them by the summer heat ; and no fire is lighted 
 
 in any home until the smoke is seen rising from 
 
 the chimney of the priest's house, which, to the 
 
 modern world, is like the first fire on the Druid 
 
 altar of old, that gave the signal of the uprising of 
 
 the Sun-God. 
 
 Whitsuntide. 
 
 Whitsuntide has always been considered by 
 the Irish as a very fatal and unlucky time — for 
 the people hold that fairies and evil spirits have 
 then great power over men and cattle, both by 
 sea and land, and work their deadly spells with 
 malign and mysterious efficacy. Children born at 
 Whitsuntide, it is said, are foredoomed ; they will 
 -either have the evil eye, or commit a murder, 
 or die a violent death. Water, also, is very dan- 
 gerous; no one should bathe, or go a journey 
 where a stream has to be crossed, or sail in a 
 boat, for the risk is great of being drowned, unless, 
 indeed, a bride steers, and then the boat is safe 
 from harm. Great precautions are necessary, like- 
 wise, within the house ; and no one should venture 
 to light a candle without making the sign of the 
 Cross over the flame to keep off evil; and young 
 men should be very cautious not to be out late 
 at night, for all the dead who have been drowned 
 in the sea round about come up and ride over 
 the waves on white horses, and hold strange 
 revels, and try to carry off the young men, or 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. w» 
 
 to kill them with their fiery darts and draw them 
 down under the sea to live with the dead for 
 evermore. A story is told of a man named Murrey, 
 who stayed out late fishing one Whitsuntide, quite 
 forgetting it was the night of the death-ride. 
 But at last he neared the shore, and drew up 
 his boat to unload the fish, and then make his 
 way home with all speed. Just at the moment, 
 however, he heard a great rush of the waves 
 behind him, and looking round he saw a crowd 
 of the dead on their white horses making over 
 to the boat to seize him ; and their faces were 
 pale as the face of a corpse, but their eyes burned 
 like fire. And they stretched out their long skeleton 
 arms to try and lay hold of him, but he sprang 
 at once from the boat to the shore, and then he 
 knew he was safe, though one of them rode over 
 close to him by the edge of the rocks, and he 
 knew him as a friend of his own, who had been 
 drowned the year before; and he heard the voice 
 of the dead man calling to him through the rush 
 of water, saying : " Hasten, hasten to your home, 
 for the dead who are with me want you for their 
 company, and if once a dead hand touches you, 
 there is no help, you are lost for ever. Hasten, 
 or you will never see your home again, but be 
 with the dead for ever." Then Murrey knew that 
 the spirit spoke the truth, and he left the boat 
 and the fish on the beach and fled away home, 
 
110 ANCIENT CURES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 and never looked back at the dead on their white 
 horses, for his heart was filled with. fear. And 
 never again did he go out to fish at Whitsuntide, 
 though the dead waited for him to seize him, 
 but he came not, and lived henceforth safe from 
 harm. At this season, also, the fairy queens make 
 great efforts to carry off the fine stalwart young 
 men of the country to the fairy palace in the 
 cleft of the hills, or to lure them to their dancing 
 grounds, where they are lulled into dreams by 
 the sweet, subtle fairy music, and forget home 
 and kith and kindred, and never desire to return 
 again to their own people : or even if the spell 
 is broken, and they are brought back by some 
 strong incantation, yet they are never the same; 
 for every one knows by the dream-look in their 
 eyes that they have danced with the fairies on 
 the hill, and been loved by one of the beautiful 
 but fatal race, who, when they take a fancy to 
 a handsome mortal lover, cast their spells over 
 him with resistless power. 
 
 A case of this kind happened some years ago 
 in the County Wexford. Two brothers, fine young 
 fellows of the farming class, were returning home 
 one evening in Whitsuntide from their day's holi- 
 day, when, to their surprise, as they crossed a 
 broad, beautiful field, lit up by the red rays of 
 the setting sun, they saw a group of girls dancing, 
 and they were all draped in white, and their lono- 
 
USAGES OF I HE LAND. ill 
 
 hair fell floating over their shoulders. So lovely- 
 was the sight that the young men could not choose 
 but stop and watch the dancers ; yet, strange to 
 say, they were all strangers; not a familiar face 
 was among them from the whole country round. 
 And as they looked and wondered, one of the 
 girls left the dance, and, coming over to the 
 younger brother, laid her hand on his arm, while 
 she murmured softly in his ear : " Come, dance 
 with me, Brian. I have waited long for you. 
 Come, come ! " and she drew him gently away. 
 Then Brian flung down his stick on the ground, 
 and taking her hand, they were soon whirling 
 away in the dance, the handsomest pair that ever 
 trod a measure on the green sod. Long, long 
 they danced, till the red light passed away, and 
 the darkness began to cover the hills, but still 
 they danced on and on, for Brian heeded nothing 
 save the young girl with her long hair floating 
 on his shoulder, and the fire of her eyes that burned 
 into his heart. At last the elder brother called 
 to him, "Brian, come home; leave the dance; 
 the mother will be waiting for us ! " " Not yet, 
 not yet," answered Brian ; " I must finish this 
 round. Leave me, and I will follow you. ' So 
 the elder brother left, and he and the mother 
 watched and waited till midnight for Brian's return, 
 but he never came. Then, the next morning, the 
 brother went to see after him, searching every- 
 
I 
 112 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 •where, though in vain. And all that day to sunset 
 and the night he searched, still no tidings could 
 be had. No one had seen him in the dance, nor 
 the young girls with the white dresses and the 
 floating hair, though when the neighbours heard 
 the story they looked very solemn, and said there was 
 no help for the doomed young man, for the fairy 
 power was strong at Whitsuntide, and no doubt 
 they had carried him down under the earth to 
 the fairy palace, and he would never, never come 
 back to his home again. 
 
 Then the poor mother fell into terrible grief, 
 and she sent for the wisest fairy-doctor in the 
 place, and asked his advice. Now, the old man 
 came of a great race who had known the fairy 
 secrets and the mysteries through many generations, 
 though they kept the knowledge to themselves, 
 and would tell no one how they gained power 
 over fairies and demons. "Well, now, my good 
 woman," he said, " the fairies have your son, for 
 the daughter of the great fairy chief loves him, 
 and will not let him go. And if he has eaten 
 their food or drunk of their wine no one can 
 help him, not even I myself, until a year has 
 passed by. But next Whitsuntide, when the fairies 
 come for their mad revels and dances out of the 
 heart of the mountains and up from the depths 
 of the sea, they will bring your son with them, and 
 if my power can reach him he will be free from this 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 113 
 
 witchcraft, and the spell shall be broken. So let 
 his brother go and meet him in the same field 
 at the same hour, and there he will find him 
 dancing in the sunset with his fairy bride ; or 
 go yourself, if you are alive, and I will give you a 
 spell and a charm that has power to break the 
 strongest fairy thrall." So when Whitsuntide 
 came round, the elder brother set out on his 
 search, and there, sure enough, in the very same 
 green field, with the red sunset streaming down, was 
 the group of young girls in their white dresses 
 dancing to the music of the fairy pipes ; and in 
 the midst was Brian, dancing with his fairy bride, 
 and her long yellow hair floated over his shoulder, 
 and her eyes burned into his like coals of fire. 
 " Come away, come away, Brian," cried the 
 brother ; " you have been dancing long enough, 
 and the mother is at home, sad, and sorrowful, 
 and lonely, waiting for you. Come away, before 
 the darkness falls and the night comes on.'" " Not 
 yet, not yet," answered Brian; "I must finish 
 this dance." And the fairy bride wound her 
 beautiful white arms round him and held him 
 fast. So the brother lost heart, for he feared to 
 enter the circle lest the enchantment should 
 fall on him; and he went back home to tell of 
 his failure. 
 
 Then the mother rose up, and taking the charm 
 which the fairy-man had given her, she hung it 
 
11-1 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 round her neck and went forth to look for the 
 missing son. And at last she came to the field and 
 saw him dancing and dancing like mad, with the 
 witch- girl in his arms ; and she called to him,. 
 " Come back, come back to us, Brian darling ; 
 come back ; it is your mother calls." But Brian 
 danced on and on, and never looked at her nor 
 heeded her. Then, for the sorrow made her brave, 
 she went over in the very midst of the fairy dancers 
 with their glittering eyes, and taking the spell 
 from her neck, she flung it over Brian, and clasping 
 his arm laid her head down on his shoulder, weeping 
 bitterly. Then, all at once, the demon spell was 
 broken, for a mother's tears have strange power,, 
 and he let her take his hand and draw him away 
 from the magic circle ; and the form of the fairy 
 bride seemed to melt into the sunset, and the whole 
 scene passed away like a mist, the music and the- 
 dancers with their floating hair, and only Brian and 
 his mother were left in the field. Then she led him 
 home, but he spake no word, only lay down to- 
 sleep, and so for seven days they watched by him,, 
 but still he slept. Then at the end of the seven 
 days he rose up strong and well as ever, and all 
 the past seemed to him only as a dream. Yet, for 
 fear of the fairies, his mother still made him wear 
 the magic spell round his neck to keep him from 
 harm, though in process of time a still "stronger 
 spell was woven round his life, for he married a fair 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 115 
 
 young girl of the village before the next Whit- 
 suntide, good as well as beautiful, and from that 
 time the fairies and witches had no more power over 
 him, for a pure, true wife is the best safeguard against 
 witchcraft and devils' wiles that a man can take to 
 his heart as the angel of the house. 
 
 Hallowtide in Iheland. 
 
 The ancient Irish had two great divisions of the 
 year, Samradh and Geimradh — summer and winter 
 — corresponding to the May and November of our 
 calendar ; one represented the resurrection of 
 nature and all things to life ; the other the descent 
 of all things to darkness and death. 
 
 La-samnah, or Hallow Eve, was considered the 
 summer end, the first day of winter, when the 
 Sun-God entered the kingdom of death ; therefore, 
 on that night of gloom the great sacred fire was 
 lighted on every Druid altar to guide him on his 
 downward path; and the Druid priests sacrificed a 
 black sheep, and offered libations to the dead who 
 had died within the year. 
 
 It was a weird season of dread and ill omen ; 
 and for this reason November was called by the \/ 
 Irish " the month of mourning/' Then it was 
 thatG3aal] the lord of death, summoned before him 
 the souls of the dead to receive judgment for the 
 works done in the human life; and on the vigil of 
 Saman, or Hallow Eve, the dead had strange power 
 
 i 2 
 
116 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 over the living, and could work them harm, and 
 take revenge for any wrong done to them while 
 they lived. Even now, according to the popular 
 belief, it is not safe to be near a churchyard on 
 Hallow Eve, and people should not leave their 
 homes after dark, or the ghosts would pursue them. 
 For on that one night of the year power is given to 
 the dead, and they rise from their graves and go 
 forth amidst the living, and can work good or evil, 
 no man hindering ; and at midnight they hold a 
 festival like the fairies of the hill, and drink red 
 wine from fairy cups, and dance in their white 
 shrouds to fairy music till the first red dawn of 
 day. For Hallow Eve is the great festival of the 
 dead, when their bonds are loosed, and they revel 
 with mad joy in the life of the living. And if on 
 that night you hear footsteps following you, beware 
 of looking round; it is the dead who are behind 
 you ; and if you meet their glance, assuredly you 
 must die. 
 
 The first day of November was dedicated to the 
 spirit that presides over fruits and seeds, and was 
 called La-mas-abhal, the day of the apple fruit; 
 but this being pronounced Lamabool, the English 
 settlers corrupted the word into lamb's-wool, 
 which name they gave to a strong composition 
 made of apples, sugar, and ale. So on this night 
 in every house the table was piled with apples and 
 the gathering of the nut trees, and handfuls of nuts 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 117 
 
 were flung into the fire by the young people to 
 burn ; for it was believed that strange and startling 
 prognostications of fate and future fortune could 
 be made from tie ashes. Many weird and fearful 
 rites were also practised at this season to obtain a 
 knowledge oE the future, for all incantations at 
 Hallowtide were made in the name of the Evil 
 One ; and this solemn and gloomy ritual of death 
 and sorcery lasted through the entire month of 
 November, until a prophecy of hope, as it were, 
 arose with December, called by the Irish Mi- 
 Nolagh, " the month of the new-born. " 
 
 The number two is esteemed the most unlucky 
 of all numbers; therefore the second day of 
 November was appointed for the sacrifice to the 
 dead, and certain incantations were used to bring 
 up the spirits from the grave and compel them to 
 answer questions. But for this purpose blood must 
 be spilled, for it is said the spirits love blood ; the 
 colour excites them, and gives them for the moment 
 the sensation of life. However, during the incan- 
 tations, very strange and fatal results sometimes 
 happened to the questioner. On one occasion a 
 dead man in his shroud answered the call, and 
 drew away the girl who had performed the rite 
 from the midst of the people assembled; but the 
 fright turned her brain, and she never afterwards 
 recovered her reason. 
 
 On the Vigil of Saman, or Hallow Eve, the 
 
118 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 peasants of Ireland used to assemble with sticks 
 and clubs, the ancient emblems of laceration, and 
 go about collecting barley cakes, butter, eggs, 
 meal, and all things necessary for a feast ; likewise 
 money to purchase the black sheep, so important 
 for the sacrifice. After this candles were lighted, 
 before which they prayed for the souls of the dead, 
 and at midnight the unholy practices began, from 
 which the young men and maidens tried to learn 
 the secrets of the future. Then the hemp seed was 
 sown in the name of the Evil One, and the girls 
 would hang a garment before the fire, and watch 
 from a corner to see the shadowy apparition of the 
 destined husband come down the chimney to turn 
 it; and a ball of yarn was flung from the window, 
 when the apparition would appear below and wind 
 the yarn, while the Paternoster was recited 
 backwards. 
 
 But the incantation before the looking-glass 
 was the most fearful of all, for the face of the 
 future husband would appear in the glass, though 
 sometimes a form filled up the surface of the 
 mirror too terrible to describe. A young girl once 
 practised this evil rite all alone in her room, the 
 door being closed. After some time a violent 
 scream was heard, and when her friends rushed in 
 to the rescue they found her fainting with terror. 
 Yet she kept silent, and would reveal nothing, and 
 next night she announced her intention to repeat 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 119 
 
 'the spell all alone, with closed door. They tried to 
 dissuade her, but in vain. Alone she entered the 
 room, and a profound silence followed. Her 
 friends thought no danger was to be feared, and 
 they were jesting and laughing when a terrible 
 shriek resounded from the apartment, and on 
 entering they found the girl lying dead upon the 
 floor, her features horribly contorted, while the 
 looking-glass was shivered to atoms. 
 
 Another practice is to carry the looking-glass 
 outside, and let the rays of the moon fall on the 
 surface, when a face will be revealed, connected for 
 good or evil with the future fate of the holder of 
 the mirror. 
 
 The young girls also visit the neighbouring 
 gardens at night, blindfold, to tear up cabbages by 
 the root. If the one first seized is a close, white 
 cabbage, an old man is the destined husband ; but 
 if an open, green head, then a young lover may be 
 hoped for. Another custom is to make a cake of 
 yellow clay taken from a churchyard, then stick 
 twelve pieces of caudle in it, and, kneeling down, 
 recite a form of witch-prayer while all the candles 
 are lighted, and a name is given to each one of 
 them. According as the lights burn out, so will 
 the fate be of the person whose name it bears, and 
 the first that is extinguished betokens death. 
 
 To obtain a knowledge of the future is the 
 •object of all the strange and mystic rites practised 
 
120 ANCIENT CUBES, OEABMS, AND 
 
 at Hallowtide. The young girls sometimes rake 
 out the ashes of the fire overnight, making a. 
 perfectly flat surface on the hearth. This is done 
 in the name of the Evil One, and the result is sure 
 to come in a certain and fatal sign, for in the 
 morning the print of a foot will be found distinctly 
 marked in the ashes. 
 
 If the impress is perfectly flat, it indicates 
 marriage and a long life ; but if the toes are bent 
 down into the ashe3, death will inevitably follow. 
 They also make a cake of flour, mixed with soot 
 and a spoonful of salt, bake it, and eat it. It will 
 cause thirst, and if a man offers a drink at the 
 time, the girl will assuredly be married before the 
 year is out. 
 
 The young men seeking brides have other 
 forms of incantation. If a man on Hallow Eve 
 creeps under the long, trailing branches of the 
 briar on which blackberries grow, he will see the 
 shadow of the girl he is to marry ; but he must first 
 pronounce some words too awful to be^ written 
 down, for they come of the Evil Spirit's teaching. 
 And if a gambler hides under the tendrils of the 
 briar, and invokes the aid of the Prince of Dark- 
 ness, he will have luck at cards, no matter what 
 colour he bets on. But the words he uses are too 
 diabolical to repeat ; only a witch-woman can utter 
 them, and she whispers the spell into the ears of 
 the man at dead of night, none hearing her. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 121 
 
 From old times in Ireland the people attached 
 great importance to the grave-clothes in which one- 
 they love is buried ; for a belief is prevalent that 
 the dead continue to wear the clothes they last 
 used in this world whenever they may have occasion, 
 to appear on earth. It is, therefore, considered 
 very lucky for the dead person to have a new or a 
 good suit of clothes in his possession at the time of 
 death, for then he will always appear respectable 
 when he goes amongst the other ghosts, as they rise 
 from their graves and meet together on the night 
 of the festival of the dead. The nearest relation 
 may wear the clothes in the daytime, but at night 
 the dead come back and require them, should they 
 have any work to do in the neighbourhood of the 
 churchyard. For this reason no alteration in size 
 is permitted of the death garments, as the ghost 
 would be exceedingly angry if, by any such practice 
 on the part of the relations, the clothes proved to 
 be a misfit, just, perhaps, at the very time when he- 
 wanted to begin his midnight rambles amidst the 
 living on the solemn and awful November festival. 
 If possible, therefore, the people procure a religious 
 habit for the burial, as this distinction, they know, 
 will be esteemed a high compliment by the dead, and 
 give them dignity amongst the other ghosts. . Thus, it 
 is told that a poor woman haviDg lost her only son,, 
 expended all her hoarded savings on the purchase of 
 a habit for his burial, and in this he was laid in the 
 
122 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS., AND 
 
 grave; yet night after night for a week her son 
 appeared to her in dreams, looking unutterably sad, 
 though he spake no word. 
 
 On this the mother became much troubled in 
 her mind, and prayed the Lord God to show her in 
 what way she had failed in her duty as regarded 
 the burial rites. So the next night in her dream 
 she saw her son again, and he came over quite close 
 to her bed, and looking at her with hollow, mournful 
 eyes, said, " Look here, my mother, do you not see 
 how all my legs are scorched in purgatory, because 
 the habit you gave me is too short, and only comes 
 down to the knees ? So unless you can add a good 
 piece to lengthen it, my legs will be burned off 
 entirely before ever I come before the angels in 
 heaven ; and as to going out with the other ghosts 
 for the festival, why, they would only mock at me. 
 Help me, then, my mother, before it is too late." 
 And with that he departed; but the poor mother 
 heeded his words, and next day she had the coffin 
 raised and opened, and with her, own hands she 
 sewed a good piece of stuff all round the habit to 
 lengthen it and make it proper and right. Then 
 the coffin was closed and laid in the earth again, 
 and after that the mother was troubled no more 
 with dreams, for the dead rested quiet in the grave, 
 and the soul was at peace. 
 
 Amongst the most solemn of the adepts who 
 practised weird and mystical charms at Hallowtide, 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 123 
 
 ■and recited prayers to the Evil One, to give them a 
 knowledge of the future, there was a certain class 
 "who followed the strictest rules of living, and ab- 
 stained entirely from the stimulating poteen during 
 the performance of their incantations; but others, 
 who desired power over demons and evil spirits, 
 worked up their energies to a species of delirium 
 by copious draughts of the national beverage, 
 ■which they considered a potent strengthener of 
 the organs of the body, and powerful to give 
 courage to the heart of a man if properly taken 
 with honey and bread, so as prevent harm to the 
 liver or the brain, according to the advice of the 
 native doctors. 
 
 The English settlers were not slow to recognise 
 •the merits of poteen, and Richard Stanihurst, in 
 his description of Ireland, thus eulogises the Irish 
 stimulant : 
 
 " Being moderately taken, its sloweth age, it 
 strengtheneth youth, it helpeth digestion, it cutteth 
 phlegm, it abandoneth melancholy, it relisheth 
 the heart, it lighteneth the mind, it quickeneth 
 the spirit, it cureth hydropsis, it pounceth the 
 stone, it keepeth the head from whirling, the eyes 
 from dazzling, the tongue from lisping, the mouth 
 from maffling, the teeth from chattering, and the 
 throat from rattling. It keepeth the weason from 
 stifling, the stomach from wambling, the heart 
 from swelling, the hands from shivering, and the 
 
124 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 sinews from shrinking, the veins from crumbling, 
 the bones from aching, and the marrow from 
 softening." 
 
 This hymn to poteen shows the genial spirit 
 in which Irish ideas were received and assimilated 
 in former times by the English colonists, who thus 
 became, according to the words of the chronicle, 
 "more Irish than the Irish themselves." 
 
 Such a stimulant was indeed necessary for the 
 people at Hallowtide, when the air was filled with 
 the presence of the dead, and everything around 
 became a symbol or prophecy of fate. The name 
 of a person called from the outside was a most 
 dangerous omen; but if repeated three times, the 
 result was fatal. Birds also came as messengers 
 of fate during Hallowtide, and their appearance 
 was generally a prognostication of evil. Once, at 
 a great lord's house, a white pigeon came for three 
 days in succession and perched on the window-sill, 
 outside a room where the lady of the castle was 
 iying ill. " Oh, my God! "she exclaimed, at last, 
 " that white bird has come for me ! " and the omen 
 was fatally true ; for before the week was out 
 the young mother lay dead, with her baby beside 
 her, and both were buried in the one coffin. 
 
 But it is well to know that if a bird of ill omen 
 should happen to come to the house, such as the 
 raven or the water-wagtail, who is Satan's own 
 emissary, the best way to turn aside the evil 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 125 
 
 influence is to say at once: "Fire and water be 
 on you, and in your mouth; and may the curse 
 be on your head, bird of evil, for evermore." 
 And further, three candles must never be left 
 lighted at once in the room. If these and other 
 precautions are duly taken against evil spirits, 
 then Hallowtide, or " the month of gloom," may 
 pass over safely, without the fear of a dead hand 
 being suddenly laid upon the shoulder, or words 
 of doom being whispered in the ear by an unseen 
 spirit, while the apples and nuts are piled upon the 
 board for the ancient festival of La-mas-abhal. 
 
 Garland Sunday. 
 (The first Sunday in September.) 
 This was a great festival with the people from 
 the most ancient times, and was devoted by the 
 Irish to solemn rites in honour of their dead 
 kindred. The garland, or hoop, was decorated the 
 night before with coloured ribbons, but the flowers 
 that encircled it were not plucked till the morning 
 of the great day, and only unmarried girls were 
 allowed to gather the flowers and wreathe the 
 garland, for the touch of a married woman's hand 
 in the decorations was deemed unlucky. Then all 
 the company proceeded to the churchyard, the 
 finest young man in the village being chosen to 
 carry the garland. From the topmost hoop some 
 apples were suspended by their stalks, and if one 
 
126 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 dropped off during the procession, it was considered 
 a lucky omen for the garland-bearer, a prophecy of 
 long life and success in love ; but if an apple fell 
 after the garland was set up in the graveyard, it 
 was looked on as a sign of ill luck and coming evil,, 
 especially to those who were dancing at the time ; 
 for a dance always closed the festival, after prayers 
 were said, and flowers were strewn, with weeping 
 and wailing, over the recent graves. The Irish 
 nature passes lightly from sorrow to mirth, and 
 the evening that began in tears ended in feastiDg 
 and dances, while the garland of hospitality was 
 offered to the mourning strangers, who had come, 
 perhaps, a long distance to do honour to their dead 
 kindred. 
 
 Sometimes a romance is interwoven with the 
 ceremonial. A widow is seen superintending the 
 making of the garland for her dead husband by 
 the hands of her daughter, the pretty Eileen; 
 while the girl's lover, the handsomest young 
 fellow in the village, is selected to be the gar- 
 land-bearer. Next day they join the procession 
 to the churchyard, the widow and Eileen walking 
 beside the young man. At times he shakes the 
 pole bearing the garland, hoping to bring down 
 an apple for luck, but none falls. Then the prayers- 
 are said, and the mourning is made round the 
 garland, as they place it in the shadow of the 
 old sacred ruin in the graveyard; after which a 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 127 
 
 plank is laid for the dancing at the place where- 
 the garland is fixed, and all the youths and the- 
 garland maidens commence the dance. But Eileen 
 will not join it, though her lover prays her to 
 dance with him. Still she refuses, saying she must, 
 stay with her mother while she prays. At last,, 
 however, she consents, and dances with her lover,, 
 looking radiant and happy; when suddenly two 
 apples fall at their feet from the garland, but iu 
 the excitement of the dance the evil omen is 
 scarcely heeded. A month after the young lovers 
 were married, and the sign of coming evil was 
 quite forgotten. Yet the evil came; for while 
 out boating with some friends duriDg the week of 
 the marriage festivities, a storm suddenly came on,, 
 and the boat was upset. All, however, were saved,, 
 except the pretty bride and her handsome husband- 
 lover, who were engulfed in the stormy waves, and 
 seen no more ; for the ancient signs of good and 
 evil are true and certain, and no one can evade- 
 their destiny. As it is foretold, so it must come,, 
 be it for ban or blessing. 
 
 Peasant Games. 
 
 There is a curious ancient game called " The- 
 Game of the Eope," which is still very popular, 
 even at the present day, amongst the young people 
 when assembled at a wake or a festival. The 
 account of it may be best given in the words of 
 
128 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 a peasant artisan, who in his youth was often 
 present at these wake ceremonies, and thus de- 
 scribes the game : 
 
 " I am the son of a peasant, and was reared 
 in the wildest part of Mayo, on the line of the 
 mountains of Partry. There I learned the trade 
 ■of a tailor, and had always plenty of work to do 
 at home, besides being asked to all the villages 
 round, whenever there was a wake, or wedding, or 
 any other diversion going on. For the young men 
 always wanted me at such times to make them 
 smart and nice for the dances and fun. 
 
 " Slapping hands is the first game played at a 
 wake, just while the company is coming in and 
 -sitting down. Then more regular games begin, 
 when the handsomest girls are led out first, and 
 the best partners are chosen for them. But 'The 
 Game of the Rope' is the prime favourite after all. 
 
 " Two short ropes, made of hay and twisted as 
 hard as they can be made, are held by two men, 
 standing at each side of a chair placed at some 
 little distance from the corpse lying in the coffin. 
 Then a young man is led forward, who takes his 
 seat on the chair, and they ask him who is his 
 sweetheart. If he objects to tell, they beat him 
 till he names one of the girls present. Then he is 
 asked would he like to kiss her, and they beat him 
 till he answers yes. 
 
 "The girl is then led over and seated on the 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 129 
 
 chair, while the lover kisses her ; but as he is 
 beaten all the time with the rope, he makes the 
 ceremony as brief as possible. 
 
 "The girl is then asked if she is content, 
 and sometimes, for fun, she tells them that the 
 lover they gave her had no idea of a proper kiss at 
 all, on which the young man is beaten again with 
 the ropes, till he cries out that he will try again. 
 But the girl won't have him; and so the game 
 goes on, till every young man in the room has been 
 seated on the chair in succession, and every girl 
 has been kissed. And so ends, with much laughter, 
 'The Game of the Rope.' " 
 
 Wake Games. 
 
 There are also many^other wake games still 
 in use amongst the people. A peasant who was 
 familiar with these " wake tricks," as he called 
 them, thus describes some of them : 
 
 "In the game of ' Shuffle the Brogue' twenty 
 or thirty of the young people sit round on bundles 
 of straw, forming a circle, all close together, the 
 knees drawn up to the chin, and the feet pointiDg 
 to the centre. A young man then takes his place 
 ■within the circle — generally a fine, active young 
 fellow — and his office is to find the brogue and 
 capture it as it is shuffled rapidly round the circle. 
 Often during the search he gets many a blow on 
 the back, and tries, unsuccessfully, to seize the 
 
 K 
 
130 AXCIENT CUBES, GHABMS, AND 
 
 assailant. But at length he is lncky enough to 
 capture the brogue ; and then he is asked to name 
 his sweetheart, and permission is given to kiss her 
 as his reward. But no girl is allowed to be kissed 
 twice in the evening ; it is enough to have been 
 kissed once by her lover." 
 
 Another game is called " The Horse Fair." The 
 leader or chief man, holding a brogue in his hand, 
 ties a string of puny young men together as horses, 
 and drives them round the circle, while another 
 man goes in front and drags them on by the 
 rope, striking any who are restive with the brogue. 
 Then a blacksmith and a horse-dealer appear, and 
 they examine the horses and put them through 
 their paces. A short, stout young fellow is named 
 the "Cob," another with long legs is the "Race 
 Horse," a jolly young man is the "Pony;" and 
 after they are all tried, the horse-dealer declares he 
 must see them jump before lie bids for them. So 
 a great circle is made, a man being in the centre, 
 bent as in leap-frog, for them to leap over, while the 
 young girls sit round, and the best jumper is 
 allowed the privilege of choosing the maiden he 
 likes best, and giving her a salute. The young 
 horses generally succeed in the jump, th6 reward is 
 so attractive, though two men are never allowed to 
 kiss the same girl. Should one man fail in the 
 jump, he is derided and beaten with brogues, and 
 ordered to be sent for further training, and the 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 131 
 
 smith is desired to see to his shoes. So he is laid 
 flat on the ground, while the smith examines his 
 shoes, and beats the sole of the foot with a big 
 stick to see if a nail is loose and wants to be 
 fastened ; but then his sweetheart intervenes, and 
 ho is let off, and even allowed to salute her as a 
 recompense for all he has gone through. 
 
 Another game is called "The Mock Marriage." 
 Two clever young wake-men dress themselves 
 fantastically as priest and clerk, the latter carrying 
 a linen bag filled with turf ashes, which he swings 
 about to keep order, giving a good hit now and 
 then, while the dust promotes a good deal of cough- 
 ing amongst the crowd. But nothing irreverent 
 is meant ; for it is considered that whatever keeps 
 up the spirits at a wake is allowable, and 
 harmless in the sight of God. 
 
 The priest then takes his place in the circle, 
 the clerk at his elbow, and pours forth a volley of 
 gibberish Latin, after which he calls out the names 
 of those who are to be married, the selection being" 
 always most incongruous; and the clerk seizes them 
 and hurries them forward, the bag of ashes enforcing 
 ■obedience to the call. 
 
 As the name3 are called out, each man takes 
 his place by the bride named for him, and the 
 priest begins the ceremony in Irish, adding a 
 homily, describing the hoVrid life probably reserved 
 for the bride and bridegroom, owing to their vile 
 
 k 2 
 
132 ANCIENT CUBES, OEARMB, AND 
 
 temper and other bad qualities. Bat this is all 
 pure fun, as nothing private or personal would be 
 permitted. 
 
 Then the clerk whirls his bag of ashes, and 
 threatens to strike any man who grumbles at the 
 wife he has got, and he demands his fee. Something 
 must be given to him, a penny, or even a button, and 
 the bride must give an article of her own property;, 
 but this is returned to her, and she is told they only 
 wanted to test her obedience. After the ceremony 
 is over, whisky is served round, and priest and 
 clerk and the bridegroom drink a glass for good 
 luck, while the bride sips a little from her husband's 
 glass. 
 
 No widow or widower, or married man or 
 woman, is allowed to take part in this game, and 
 nothing is said that could offend or lead to quarrel- 
 ling and fighting. 
 
 Meantime, the corner of the room where the- 
 corpse lies in a coffin is kept sacred from the games 
 and the players. Here the nearest relatives are 
 seated, some weeping, or some crooning a lament 
 for the dead, and reciting the virtues of the de- 
 ceased, but taking no part or interest in the games. 
 
 Yet much reverence is shown by the people 
 on these occasions. On first entering the cabin,, 
 each person kneels down on the threshold and 
 prays for the repose of the soul of the departed,, 
 and several times during the evening, the whole- 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 133 
 
 ■company will kneel down and recite a prayer to- 
 gether, especially when one of the wake tricks 
 is over. Then an old man will rise, take off his hat, 
 and say in a loud voice : "Let us pray for the soul 
 of the dead." 
 
 At once the laughter is stilled, and all present 
 join in the prayer with the most grave and solemn 
 demeanour. 
 
 After this the funeral wail will be raised by the 
 relatives round the corpse, and when it is over, 
 there is a solemn silence for some minutes, which 
 has a most impressive effect. After this the games 
 go on again with renewed vigour, and the laughter 
 and fun is ,kept up through the night. Then the 
 party breaks up, the young men seeing the girls 
 home, while the mourners are left alone with the 
 dead. 
 
 These are the customs of a true country wake ; 
 but in towns the fun often degenerates into license 
 and drinking, and many games have been therefore 
 forbidden by the priesthood, particularly the one 
 called " The Mock Marriage," which often gave 
 •occasion to much scandal, and tumult, and fighting 
 amongst the young men, whereas, in the country 
 wake, it would be deemed a disgrace for a man 
 to create a disturbance, or even lose his temper, 
 and the women and young girls were treated with 
 the utmost respect. No persons of doubtful cha- 
 racter were admitted, and the women knew they 
 
134, ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 were safe and protected. The fathers of the village 
 considered it their duty to send their sons to do 
 honour to a dead neighbour, and the mothers sent 
 their girls without fear to the house of death, 
 where they took their places with quiet decorum 
 and joined in the prayers, though quite ready 
 afterwards for the fun, and the laughter, and the 
 curious dramatic games that had been preserved 
 traditionally amongst the people from the most 
 ancient times. 
 
 There is always a plate full of tobacco and 
 another of snuff placed on a table by the side of the 
 corpse, and each man, as he enters, is expected to 
 fill his pipe, and pray in silence for a few moments. 
 While the married people and elders are present, 
 the wake is very solemn; there are no games, but 
 ancient poems are often recited in Irish by the 
 professional story-teller. Then, when the elders 
 leave, about ten o'clock, the fun begins, and all 
 sorts of tricks and jokes are practised. But at one 
 country wake held not very long ago, and still well 
 remembered by the people, there was no sign of 
 merriment. A beautiful young girl was one day 
 struck dead by lightning while walking in the- 
 hay-field with her two young sisters, who were 
 untouched. The children ran home to tell the 
 sad tale, and the greatest consternation prevailed 
 through the country. At the crowded wake held 
 afterwards in her honour, not a laugh was heard, not 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 135 
 
 a trick was played. There was nothing save prayer 
 aud weeping, or the deep silence of sorrow, after 
 which the wail. of the women would rise up again 
 to almost a shriek of despair. And so passed the 
 whole long night of gloom in tears and lamenta- 
 tions, and bitter cries of the mourning kindred over 
 the fair young form of the dead. 
 
 Wake ceremonies are still held in the Irish 
 cabins, where the meu drink and smoke, and tell 
 ancient stories ; though the highly dramatic games 
 of former times have almost entirely died out; 
 "for," as the peasant narrator added, when con- 
 cluding his account of the scenes he had witnessed 
 in his early youth, "there is no mirth or laughter 
 to be heard any more in the country ; the spirit has 
 gone from our people, and all the old fun is frozen, 
 and the music is dumb in poor Ireland now." 
 
 PEASANT TALES. 
 A Night with the Fairies. 
 In a remote part of the mountain district of the 
 West of Ireland, there dwelt, once on a time, a 
 young man named Denis Ryan, as fine a young 
 fellow as ever lived, and as brave as he was 
 handsome. But his home was very lonely and 
 desolate, for hardly a human being ever came 
 that way. So by degrees he grew weary of his 
 life altogether, and longed to follow the clouds that 
 
V36 ANCIENT CUBE 8, CHARMS, AND 
 
 went sailing away over his head on to the great, 
 wide sea, beyond which were bright, beautiful new 
 lands, where, perhaps, he might be happy. And, 
 finally, he could bear the desolate loneliness no 
 longer, but one day threw up his work and 
 resolved to go down amidst the people of the 
 plains, and see if they knew anything of joy and 
 laughter, and the free life that stirs the soul of 
 youth. 
 
 So early one morning, before sunrise, he began 
 boldly to descend the mountain, not knowing 
 which path to take, but walked on and on, till 
 he was dead tired, without meeting a soul ; when, 
 just at nightfall, as the black darkness was coming 
 on, he came to a rude hut in a lonely glen with 
 nothing but bare heath all around. And the hut 
 looked dreary and queer ; but he was so pressed 
 by hunger and fatigue, that he resolved to brave 
 the worst, and, lifting the latch, he entered. 
 
 No one was there but an old woman crouching 
 over the fire, and she looked very angry, and 
 told him to begone, for that was no place for him 
 to find shelter and food. 
 
 " But, mother," he said, " let me rest, for there 
 is no other place in all the country round for miles 
 and miles, and I am weary and hungry after crossing 
 the mountains and travelling since dawn. Let me 
 rest in peace." 
 
 Then the old woman grew softer and gentler, 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 137 
 
 and let him sit down by the fire, and gave him 
 food. But when he was rested, she told him that 
 he had now better leave at once, as strange people 
 were coming who would be wroth if they saw him, 
 and certainly do him some injury. 
 
 "Yet, mother," he said, "let me stay till 
 daylight, for I am so weary and in need of rest. 
 Let me stay, in the name of God, and the blessing 
 ■of the Lord will be on you." 
 
 " Hush ! " she cried, with an angry voice, "that 
 name is never to be named here. There are people 
 coming who would kill you if you uttered that 
 word before them. Now, mind what I tell you. 
 At midnight they will be here, and you must hold 
 your peace, and be civil and quiet; but ask no 
 questions, and eat no food they may offer you, and 
 beware of making the sign of the Cross, or of 
 naming the Name." 
 
 So he watched and waited, and at midnight a 
 tramping was heard outside, as of the rushing of 
 many feet, and the door flew open, and in came 
 a crowd of little men, each wearing a red doublet 
 and cape, and a small cocked hat on the head, with 
 a white feather. 
 
 They stared at the stranger with bold, fearless 
 •eyes, but were not unfriendly; and when the old 
 woman spread out the table with food, they all sat 
 down to supper in the highest glee, and asked the 
 young man to join them and eat. 
 
13S ANCIENT CURES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 This, however, lie refused, saying he had already- 
 eaten his supper, thanks to the good, "kind lady of 
 the hut ; so they let him alone, and were very 
 merry amongst themselves. And after the food, 
 each man produced a bottle, and drink was poured 
 out in tiny cups with much laughter and merriment. 
 
 Now when the young wayfarer saw the beautiful 
 red wine, he longed for it so much, that when they 
 offered him a cup he was loth to refuse, but drank 
 it off, and then another and another, though the 
 old woman held up her finger, and made signs to 
 him to warn him of the danger. And after they 
 had all drank, and laughed, and made merry, 
 the chief of the little men rose up and said : 
 " Comrades, it is time we were off, the moon is up, 
 the wine is out, and we must go and search for 
 more. I know of a grand gentleman in the far 
 North who has the best cellars in the whole country 
 round ; let us go at once to him, before the day 
 dawns, and while all the household sleep we can 
 fill our bottles and be away before their morning 
 dreams are over." And turning to the stranger, 
 he asked: "Young man, will you go with us?'"' 
 " Ay, that I will," replied the young fellow, for 
 the wine had made him valiant. " Then here's to 
 the North ! " shouted all the little men, and he 
 shouted: "Here's to the North!" as loudly as 
 any of them. 
 
 "Then let us be off," said the leader; "bub 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 139' 
 
 first give our friend here a red cape and a hat with 
 a white feather." So they dressed him up just like 
 one of themselves, and then they all rushed out 
 into the night like a whirlwind of fallen leaves ; 
 and presently they stopped before the gate of a 
 stately castle, and the leader just touched the lock 
 and it opened at once; and they entered a great 
 hall and passed down a flight of stairs till they 
 came to a cellar underground, locked and bolted; 
 but the leader just touched the door with his 
 thumb, and it opened freely; and they all went in 
 and filled their bottles, and drank besides, as much 
 wine as they liked of the best and rarest. 
 
 "Come, now," said the leader at last, "we have 
 had enough. Let us be off to Connaught. This is 
 right good Spanish wine, and we'll know where to 
 find it again ; but now we must go before the day 
 dawns." 
 
 So they all scampered off again like a rush of 
 leaves before the wind. 
 
 But Denis had taken so much wine that he was- 
 unable to follow them, and he lay helpless on the 
 floor of the cellar. 
 
 So when morning came, the master of the place- 
 coming in found him there fast asleep. " Ah, my 
 fine fellow ! " he exclaimed, " have I caught you at 
 last ? And all my good Spanish wine spilled about,. 
 and ever so many bottles stolen. You shall hang 
 for this, as sure as fate." 
 
140 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 So the poor youth was carried off to gaol, and 
 being fairly tried by judge and jury, was condemned 
 to be hanged, for he had no defence to offer. It 
 was quite evident that he had broken open the 
 •cellar door and stolen the wine, and consequently 
 deserved his fate. 
 
 And when the fatal day came, all the town was 
 crowded to see young Denis dance the rope-dance ; 
 and the priest walked by him saying the prayers, 
 and the hangman stood there holding the cap to 
 cover the face of the poor young man for his 
 execution; and the sheriff looked on to see that 
 all was right and proper. 
 
 "Now," said the unhappy criminal, speaking up 
 for the last time, " I have just one favour to ask of 
 these good gentlemen before I die. Do not put 
 that ugly thing over my face which the hangman 
 is holding in his hand, but give me my own red cap 
 with the white feather that I had on when I was 
 arrested in the cellar, and let me die with it on my 
 head, and nothing else." Now, the sheriff was a 
 tender-hearted man, and he pitied the young 
 fellow, so he said, " Let him have the cap ; go, 
 fetch it for him, and let him die in peace." "Ay," 
 said Denis, " I shall now die happy," and he took 
 the cap with the white feather in his hand, and 
 placing it at once upon his head, he cried out in a 
 loud voice, " Here's for home ! " And then arose 
 a great commotion amongst all the officials round 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. HI 
 
 the gallows, and the sheriff and the priest and the 
 hangman stared at each other speechless with 
 amazement, for the young man had disappeared, 
 cap and all, and from that hour to this no tale or 
 tidings of him could be heard; and the sheriff and 
 the hangman looked very foolish as they made their 
 way home amidst the hooting and the laughter of 
 the crowd, who shouted for joy that the' gallows had 
 been cheated, for that time at least, of so fine a 
 young fellow for a victim as Denis Kyan. 
 
 A Legend oe Shark. 
 
 On Shark Island there lived some years ago a 
 woman named Mary Callan, with her one only child. 
 Indeed, she never had another, from the fright she 
 got some weeks after her baby was born, and this 
 was her strange story. Suddenly, at dead of night,, 
 she was awoke by the child crying, and starting up, 
 she lit the candle, when to her horror she saw two 
 straDge men standing beside her bed, and they 
 threw a mantle over her and drew her out of the 
 house into the dark night ; and there at the door 
 she saw a horse waiting, and one of them lifted her 
 up, and then sprang up himself, and they rode away 
 like the wind into the darkness. 
 
 Presently they came to a great, black-looking 
 house, where a woman was waiting, who brought 
 her in, and she found herself all at once in a splendid 
 hall lit up with torches and hung with silk. And the 
 
142 ANCIENT CURBS, CBABMS, AND 
 
 woman told her to sit down and wait till she was 
 called, as there was very important business for her 
 to attend to. Now, when the woman left her alone, 
 Mary began to look about her with great curiosity, 
 and a large silver pot on the table, filled with sweet- 
 smelling ointment, especially attracted her, so that 
 she could not help rubbing some on her hands, and 
 touched her eyes with the fragrant salve. 
 
 Then suddenly a strange thing happened, for 
 the room seemed filled with children, but she knew 
 that they were all dead, for some of them were from 
 her own village, and she remembered their names, 
 and when they died. And as she watched them, 
 one of the children came over quite close, and look- 
 ing fixedly at her, asked : " What brought you 
 here, Mary, to this dreadful place ? For no one can 
 leave it until the Judgment Day, and we dwell for 
 ever in sorrow for the life that has been taken from 
 ns. And the men went for your child to-night, to 
 bring it here amongst the dead, but when you 
 struck a light they could do no harm ; yet they are 
 still watching for it, so hasten back, or it will be 
 too late, and the child will die. And tell my 
 mother that I am with the spirits of the hill, and 
 not to fret, for we shall meet again on the Judg- 
 ment Day." 
 
 "But how can I go out in the darkness?" 
 asked Mary, "for I know not my way." 
 
 " Never mind," said the child ; " here, take this 
 
USAGES OF IltJELAND. 143 
 
 leaf, and crush it close in your hand, and ib will 
 guide you safe from harm." And she placed a 
 green leaf in the woman's hand, and on the instant 
 Mary found herself outside the door of the great 
 house ; but a tremor fell on. her, for loud voices 
 were heard calling her back, and footsteps seemed 
 to pursue her as she fled away. Then, just as she 
 was sinking to the earth with fright, she grasped 
 the leaf close in her hand, and iu a moment she was 
 at her own door, and the footsteps of the pursuers 
 ceased ; but she heard a groat cry within the house, 
 and a woman rushed out and seized her arm. 
 "Come, Mary,'"' she said, "come quickly. Tour 
 child is dying. Something is strangling it, and we 
 cannot help or save him." 
 
 Then Mary, wild with fear, sprang to the little 
 bed where lay the child, and he was quite black in 
 the face, as if some one was holding him by the 
 "throat ; but, quick as thought, Mary took the leaf 
 and crushed it into the child's hand. And 
 gradually the convulsion passed away, and the 
 natural colour came back, and in a little while he 
 slept peacefully in his mother's arms, and she laid 
 him in his bed and watched by him all night ; but 
 no harm came, and no evil thing touched him. 
 And in the morning he smiled up at his mother, 
 bright and rosy as ever, and then she knew that the 
 fairy power was broken, and the child was saved by 
 ±he spell of the leaf that had come to her from the 
 
144 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 hands of the dead that dwell in the Spirit Land, 
 And Mary made a case for the leaf, and worked it 
 richly, and tied it round her neck to wear for ever- 
 more. And from that day the fairies ceased to 
 molest her, and her child grew and prospered, for 
 the spirits of the dead watched over him to keep 
 him safe from harm. 
 
 The Doctor's Visit. 
 
 The fairies have always an earnest desire for 
 the aid of a mortal physician in sickness, especially 
 if a fairy baby is expected. One evening, late in 
 summer, a servant in rich livery rode up to the 
 house of the chief doctor of Roscommon, and 
 handed him a letter requesting his attendance- 
 immediately for a lady of rank, who had been taken 
 suddenly ill, and was in great danger. 
 
 The doctor, with that alacrity in cases of 
 emergency for which his honourable profession 
 is distinguished, instantly ordered his horse ; but 
 as he was quite unacquainted with the locality men- 
 tioned, and had never even heard the name of the 
 residence before, he requested the servant to accom- 
 pany him, and they rode off together at a brisk pace. 
 
 After a couple of hours' ride they came to a fine 
 house in a park thickly wooded, and there on the 
 steps of the mansion was a grand, stately gentle- 
 man awaiting them, like a nobleman in dress and 
 bearing, who received the doctor with great 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND.. 145 
 
 •courtesy, and led him into the house, where a 
 number of servants in splendid livery were in 
 attendance. 
 
 Having passed through a spacious hall, the 
 doctor and the gentleman entered a gorgeous saloon 
 hung with silk and tapestry, and from that they 
 passed into the lady's sleeping-chamber, when the 
 master of the house withdrew, leaving the doctor 
 alone with the lady, who lay on a gilded couch, with 
 rich silken curtains falling all round her. 
 
 The doctor lost no time in making use of his 
 professional skill, and with the best results, but all 
 the time the lady had a black veil over her face, 
 and spoke no word. However, when all had ended 
 satisfactorily, the doctor rang the bell, and the 
 gentleman appeared. 
 
 He made no remark to the veiled lady, but 
 courteously thanking the doctor, handed him forty 
 golden guineas as his fee, and then requested him to 
 come to supper, which was awaiting them in the 
 grand saloon. 
 
 There the doctor found many noble guests 
 assembled, and ladies glittering with jewels, and a 
 gorgeous feast covered the table ; but he was tired, 
 and threw himself on the sofa to rest, when all the 
 company gathered round him and entreated him to 
 eat and drink. And the master handed him a silver 
 cup of ruby wine, and told him he must drink the 
 lady's health, and he pressed the cup into his hand. 
 
146 ANCIENT CURES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 So the doctor was too polite to refuse, and he rose- 
 up with the cup in his hand to quaff the wine in 
 honour of the lady, when a beautiful young girl 
 near him touched his foot, and whispered, gently :. 
 " Beware of the wine ; touch nothing here ; it is 
 fatal," and she drew him down again on the sofa, 
 and sat beside him, holding his hand. And it 
 seemed to him nothing on earth could surpass her 
 in beauty, with her golden hair, and glittering eyes; 
 and still she held his hand, and murmured soft 
 words in his ear till a faintness came over him, and 
 gradually his eyes closed in a deep sleep, and he 
 knew nothing more till the sound of his own name,, 
 called in a loud voice, aroused him. 
 
 He started up and looked round. The morning- 
 sun was bright in the east, but all the glory and 
 the beauty of the festival had vanished, and he was 
 in a churchyard alone. No, not quite alone, for 
 his faithful servant Terry was beside him, assisting 
 him to rise. 
 
 " Where am I ? " exclaimed the bewildered 
 doctor, " and what has brought me here ? " 
 
 "Look there," said Terry, "your honour is just- 
 lying on Father Byrne's tombstone. And lucky it- 
 is the sign of the Cross is upon it, so I knew your 
 honour was safe when I called you ; and glad I am, 
 for I have been looking for you since daylight, and 
 never would have thought of trying the churchyard, 
 only the mare, poor beast, was at the gate, as if: 
 
• USAGES OF IRELAND. U7 
 
 trying to get in. Though how your honour came 
 here is a wonder, unless you were carried over the 
 wall, for the gate was locked, and I ran myself to 
 get the key. And it's a hard bed you've had, and 
 a cold bolster," added Terry, rolling away a big 
 stone that bad been placed under the doctor's head 
 for a pillow. " God protect us, master dear, but 
 the good people must have had a hand in this work, 
 and bad luck would have come of it, only your 
 honour lay down on the sign of the blessed Cross, 
 and so your honour is safe this time, anyway." 
 
 " Well, Terry, help me up," said the doctor, who 
 was rather benumbed, and a little crestfallen, think- 
 ing of that beautiful young creature who had 
 played hiin such a trick — " and, Terry, go and 
 fetch the mare, for I must be home at once." 
 
 So while the mare was coming round, the doctor 
 put his hand in his pocket just to comfort himself 
 with a sight of the golden guineas; but, lo ! nothing 
 was there save a handful of moss, and the doctor 
 rode home a sadder and a wiser man. 
 
 Fairy Help. 
 
 Every district in Ireland has its peculiar and 
 separate fairy chief or king. Finvarra, as every 
 one knows, has his palace on the hill of Knockma, 
 at Tuam, deep under the ground, where the walls 
 are of crystal, and the floor is paved with gold. 
 And he has power over all the fairies of that 
 
 l 2 
 
148 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 region, and is adored by them, for he is handsome 
 and splendid, and all the fairy ladies of his Court 
 are beautiful as a garden of roses. Bat another 
 chief rules over the western sea-coast of the 
 Atlantic, whose name is Fiachra. 
 
 Now there was a gentleman of ancient lineage 
 living in that part of the country, of the great race 
 of the O'Haras ; and Lochlin O'Hara was noted 
 above all others for the open house and the liberal 
 hand, for he spent his money like a king right 
 royally ; but bad times came, he got engaged in a 
 lawsuit which carried off all his money, and Lochlin 
 O'Hara was on the verge of despair, when at last 
 the good news came that the cause was given in his 
 favour, and all the land of his forefathers was to be 
 restored to him. 
 
 So he resolved to make a great feast to all 
 comers to celebrate his triumph ; but when he began 
 to reckon up the numerous friends and relations who 
 were sure to assemble to drink his health, and all 
 the guests from the country round, he grew alarmed, 
 for there was not wine enough in the cellars for 
 them all; and the weather was bad, and no boat 
 could get to Galway. So he thought of Fiachra, 
 the fairy chief, who was always good to the old 
 families, especially the O'Haras ; and he wrote him 
 a letter telling of his great need, and asking for 
 the royal help of the fairy king. And he threw the. 
 letter into the sea and waited the result. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. Hi, 
 
 Not long, however, had he to wait, for the next 
 day there was a storm along the coast, and a great 
 keg of Spanish wine was flung up on the beach 
 as if from a shipwreck. But O'Hara knew that 
 Fiachra had sent it, and he and his friends feasted 
 and drank right merrily, and in no man's memory 
 had such wine ever been poured out at a feast as 
 Lochlin O'Hara gave on that night to the assembled 
 guests in the home of his fathers. 
 
 For Fiachra honoured the old race because they 
 
 had ever been good to the fairies, and never 
 
 meddled with their hunting-grounds, but always 
 
 respected their raths and mounds, and the ancient 
 
 hawthorns where they sheltered and lived happily, 
 
 and danced all night in the moonlight to the fairy 
 
 music. 
 
 The Western Isles. 
 
 The islanders in these remote places are firm 
 believers in witchcraft to this day, and still practise 
 many strange spells among themselves. There was 
 a man called Ned Flaherty, who was specially 
 suspected by his neighbours as being in league 
 with the Evil One, for, though he had only a 
 small patch of ground, yet he had always plenty 
 of corn to bring to the market, and was rich and 
 well off and wanted for nothing. So they all 
 determined to watch by turns ; and one morning 
 the neighbour who was set to spy over the field 
 saw something black going to and fro, each time 
 
150 ANCIENT CURES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 carrying a grain of corn, which, then it set m 
 the ground and returned for more, till many grains 
 were thus carried away and planted. Then at last 
 the man got near, and saw that it was a hideous 
 black insect doing all the work, and he stooped 
 down and caught it, and put it in a horn snuff-box 
 that he happened to have with him, and shut down 
 the lid close and carried it home. 
 
 Now in a little while there was a great com- 
 motion, for Flaherty's wife had disappeared, and 
 all the next day they searched for her, but without 
 success. Then the man happening to tell the story 
 of the insect in his snuff-box to a neighbour, 
 "How do you know," said his friend, "but this 
 may be Flaherty's wife you have in the box ? " 
 And Flaherty himself, hearing of the tale, came 
 to the house and heard the whole story, after 
 which he begged the man to come home with him, 
 and bring the box with him and open it in his 
 presence. This the man did, before Flaherty and 
 several of the neighbours, that all might judge 
 of the truth of the strange story. And when the 
 box was opened, out crawled a large black insect 
 like a beetle, and ran direct into the woman's 
 room as hard as it could go. And after a little 
 while out came Mrs. Flaherty, looking very pale, 
 and with one of her fingers bleeding. 
 
 " What means this blood ? " asked the man. 
 
 "Why," said Flaherty, "when you shut down' 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 151 
 
 the box, you snapped off a little bit of the beetle's 
 ■claw that was outside, so my wife suffers." 
 
 Then all the people saw that there was witch- 
 craft in the house, and the Flaherfcys were shunned 
 by every one, and finally they sailed away from the 
 island and were seen no more. 
 
 In Shark Island they tell a story of a man 
 ■called Dermot, whose wife died of a fever, leaving 
 two children, a boy and a girl. The girl died a 
 year and a day after the mother, but the boy throve 
 well, until one day when the fever seized him, and 
 he cried out that his mother had come for him, 
 and was calling him. And he asked for a drink 
 of water, but there was none in the house. So a 
 girl took a can and ran down to the well to fill it ; 
 and as she was stooping down a black shadow fell 
 on her and covered her. Then she saw the dead 
 mother close beside her, and nearly fainted with 
 fright. 
 
 " Never fear, ' Mary alanna," said the woman, 
 •" but do as I bid you. When you go home, you 
 ■will see a black cock by the head of the child's 
 bed. This is the Spirit of Death come to carry 
 away the boy; but you must prevent him. There- 
 fore do as I tell you. Batch a crowing hen and 
 kill her, and sprinkle the blood over the bed, and 
 take ten straws and throw the tenth away, and stir 
 the blood with the rest ; then lay them on the 
 •child, and he will sleep and do well." On this the 
 
152 ANCIENT CUBES, CHABMS, AND 
 
 dead woman vanished, and the girl went home and 
 did as she was ordered; the hen was killed, and 
 the blood sprinkled. And the boy slept after the 
 blood touched him, and slept on and on till the 
 morning. Then he sat up and asked for food, and 
 said he was dow quite well, and must go and play. 
 So they let him get up, and he was as strong as 
 ever, and no harm came to him any more. 
 
 And the heart of the father was glad that the 
 child was given back to him through the sprinkling 
 of the blood. 
 
 Now it happened that about three months after, 
 a child of one of the neighbours grew sick, and was 
 like to die. Then the man's wife rose up and said r 
 " See, now, our child is like to die, but look how 
 Dermot cured his son through the sprinkling of 
 blood. Let us do the like." So they caught 
 a crowing hen and killed her, and sprinkled the 
 blood over the sick child. But, lo ! a terrible 
 thing happened, for the door was flung open,, 
 and in walked two monstrous black cats. " How 
 dare you kill my kitten ? " said one of them—" my 
 darling only kitten ! But you shall suffer for it." 
 "Ay," said the other, "we'll teach you how to- 
 rn suit a royal cat again, and kill one of our great 
 race just to save your own wretched child," and 
 they flew at the man and tore his face and hands. 
 Then the wife rushed at them with the churn-dash, 
 while the man strove to defend himself with & 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 15* 
 
 spade. But all the same the cats had the best of 
 it, and clawed and tore and scratched till the 
 miserable pair could not see for the blood streaming- 
 down their faces. 
 
 Luckily, however, the neighbours, hearing the- 
 scrimmage, rushed in and helped to fight the cats ; 
 but soon they had to fly, for the cats were too 
 strong for them, and not a soul could stand before 
 them. However, at last the cats grew tired, and 
 after licking their paws and washing their faces, 
 they moved towards the door to go away, first 
 saying to the man : "Now we have done enough to 
 punish you for this time, and your baby will live, 
 for Death can take but one this night, and he has 
 taken our child. So yours is safe, and this we 
 swear by the blood, and by the power of the great 
 king of the cats." So they whisked out of the 
 house, and were never more seen by man or mortal 
 on the island of Shark. 
 
 But many other strange things have also hap- 
 pened on the island according to the narration of 
 the islanders, who are extremely accurate in all the 
 details they give, and never exaggerate, only tell 
 the simple truth, which we are bound to accept 
 unquestioned ; for the people are too simple to 
 invent. They only tell in their plain, unvarnished 
 idiom, what they have seen or heard. A man and 
 his wife on the island had two children, lovely as 
 angels, and were very happy. But in process of 
 
154 ANCIENT CURES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 time a third child was bora, a son, and he was two 
 inches longer than any baby that ever yet was seen, 
 and had a great head of black hair, and even some- 
 thing like a beard. And he went on growing up 
 fast to three years old, and was as wise as a man, 
 besides eating a power of food. 
 
 But after that he dwindled down, and became 
 quite weeshee and no size at all, though he ate as 
 much as ever. And he was queer in his ways, and 
 with his wizened little face looked just like the 
 sprite of an old man or an ugly dwarf. 
 
 Well, one Sunday the parents went to mass, 
 leaving a young girl to tako care of the children. 
 And, while she was out in the garden picking 
 flowers, suddenly she heard the merriest, jolliest 
 dance-tune from the bagpipes, played by some one 
 in the house. 
 
 That must be Tom the Piper, she said, as she 
 went in ; but lo and behold, there was the little 
 imp stuck up in his grandmother's arm-chair, and 
 he playing away with all his might the sweetest 
 music on a set of paper pipes, and with his wizened 
 face looking fifty years old at least. " Ob, the Lord 
 between us and harm !" exclaimed the girl, rushing 
 out of the house, and screaming at the top of her 
 voice: "Help! help! sure it's the devil himself 
 is sitting there, and not the child at all ! " And the 
 neighbours ran when they heard the screams, and 
 went back with her into the house, but not a sign 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 155 
 
 of the little imp was to be seen, though, after much 
 searching he was discovered behind the meal-tub, 
 a mere little sheeoge, not the size of a sod of 
 turf, and burned black as any coal, and quite dead, 
 stiff and stark, with the withered face of an old, old 
 man. 
 
 So they all knew he was a witch-child. And 
 ■when the parents came home they had him put 
 outside on the shovel, and before night he was 
 gone; the devil or the fairies had carried him 
 away. And right glad were the man and his wife 
 to be so well rid of the imp of Satan, who was 
 never more seen or heard of in the house from that 
 hour. 
 
 The islanders seem to live for ever in the 
 presence of the spiritual; and every event of their 
 lives, whether for good or ill luck, is attributed to 
 the influence of unseen beings, who are sometimes 
 good, but more often malign to mortals. Every 
 sickness or accident or misfortune is believed to be 
 the work of the invisible Sidhe, or fairy race; and 
 all the primitive science of the people, their 
 knowledge of herbs, and of powerful charms 
 .and incantation, is used to break the spells and 
 ■counteract the sinister designs of the active sprites 
 who haunt the house, and are especially anxious to 
 get possession of the children and carry them off 
 to the fairy homes. A pretty little girl was out 
 •one day weeding in the turnip-field, when a sudden 
 
 n/ 
 
156 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 blast swept over the place, and gave her a chill, so 
 that she lost the use of her limbs for the time, and 
 was carried home and put to bed. Six months 
 she lay there, and grew thinner and thinner, till 
 she looked like a little old woman. So the people 
 saw at last that she was fairy-struck, and no doubt 
 was away every night with the fairies on the hill, 
 though she seemed to be lying there helpless in her 
 bed. And they beat her and starved her to make 
 her tell them how she got away, and what she 
 did when with the fairies. 
 
 But the poor child cried to them, " Sure, I am 
 little Mary, and never a foot have I stirred out 
 since you laid me in this bed." Yet not a word 
 would they believe, and set to work to make a 
 powerful fairy potion of known potency against 
 witch-work ; three drops to be poured into her 
 ear and three drops down her throat, and the 
 remainder to be used for washing her. And they 
 sent for a wise fairy-woman to see what could be 
 done. But Mary said, "I will not drink the 
 potion. Let me die, for then I shall go to heaven 
 and be at peace." 
 
 " Well," said the wise woman, " there is one 
 thing yet may be done to break the devil's spell 
 that is over the child, and if that fails she must die. 
 Let her father carry her to the bog every morning 
 before sunrise, and dip her down for twice seven 
 days in the name of the Holy Trinity and the 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 157 
 
 blessed saints. And if that does not help and cure 
 her, then the power of the Evil One is too strong, 
 and I can do no more. But let her father try it, iu 
 the name of God." 
 
 So each morning for twice seven days the 
 father carried the child to the bog, and dipped her 
 down before the sun had risen. And gradually 
 her health and strength returned, and at the end 
 •of the twice seven days, on the final day of the 
 cure, she was able to walk all the way back to her 
 own place. And the weakness passed from her 
 •limbs, and the colour and beauty came back to her 
 face, for the spell of the fairies was broken at last 
 through the words of the wise woman, and her 
 power over the spirits of evil. 
 
 PEASANT TALES OF THE DEAD. 
 
 The Spectre Beide. 
 
 In one of the southern villages there was once a 
 beautiful young girl who promised her lover, by 
 the sign of the blessed Cross, that she would marry 
 no one else save him alone. But her parents 
 objected, and forbid him the house, and told her 
 she must never more see him, or walk with him, or 
 talk with him ; for they wanted her to marry a 
 rich old farmer, a widower, who lived near by. 
 Then the poor girl fell into a black despair, and 
 ■ determined to kill herself. So, in the madness of 
 
158 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 her sorrow, she came to the rock of St. Finian to 
 fulfil her intention, and cast herself down from 
 thence into the river and was drowned. 
 
 Now it happened that the next night the 
 young man she so dearly loved came by that way,, 
 and she appeared to him suddenly. And when he 
 beheld her, he was so enchanted that he tried to- 
 throw his arms around her, for he had no fear;, 
 but she waved him back, and told him he must not 
 touch her, or put a hand on her, else she would 
 have to go back to the dead, and he would see her 
 no more. But he might take hold of the corner of 
 her apron, and walk with her in the moonlight for 
 a little while. So they wandered by the river's 
 bank until the hour came when the dead must go 
 back to the dead, and she faded away in the moon- 
 light, telling him that she would meet him again at 
 the same spot the following night. 
 
 And so he met her a second time, and they 
 walked as before till the midnight hour; but on 
 the third night she told him to come no more, as- 
 she meant to go and visit him at his own place, 
 where he lived, though he must tell no one, nor 
 allow any one to see her ; therefore, she would not 
 come till dead of night, when he would be all 
 alone. 
 
 Now the next night, when the hour was near 
 for the meeting, he grew terribly frightened, and 
 could not help telling a friend and asking his- 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 159' 
 
 advice. "This do," said the friend. "Take a 
 large, black-handled knife from the farmyard, and 
 place it between yourself and her whenever and 
 wherever she appears; for as long as the knife is 
 there between you she can do you no harm — of this 
 be certain." 
 
 So he got the knife as desired, and laid it down- 
 across the door of the barn where he slept, and. 
 went and lay down, thinking he was safe. And> 
 exactly at midnight she came, and tried to enter 
 through the door, but could not ; and he heard the 
 sorrowing wail of her voice outside. 
 
 But there was a chink in the wall at the 
 opposite side of the barn, quite close to his bed, 
 and through tkis he heard her trying to force her 
 way ; so he made a dash for the knife, and laid it 
 in his bed just as she glided in through the split in 
 the wall. 
 
 Then she talked long to him, and told him how 
 she loved him, and asked as a favour if he would 
 only let her lie down at his feet on the bed till 
 the hour came when they must part; but as 
 sbe lay down, her hand happened to touch the 
 knife that was between them, and she fell back 
 with a fearful cry. " Now," she said, " the power 
 I had over you is gone, and the spell is broken 
 that gave me life for a moment ; for by means of 
 that knife whicb you have placed between us, we 
 are parted for ever. Alas! we might have had 
 
160 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 a happy bridal, but now I must go back to the 
 dead for evermore/' and so saying, she laid her 
 band upon his face, and left him blind all the days 
 ■of his life; and then the pale ghost of the girl 
 rose up from the bed, and disappeared in a flash 
 of fire, leaving the unhappy lover senseless from 
 terror. 
 
 v The Witch- Girl. 
 
 A long while ago there was a youDg lad em- 
 ployed about the Castle at Castle Derby, and he 
 had a deal of work to do from morning to night, 
 find was often weary of his life by reason of the 
 work. So one evening, when the sunset was on 
 the hills, he threw himself down on the grass to 
 rest, and as he lay there, half in a dream, he was 
 aware of some one bending over him, and on look- 
 ing up, he beheld a young girl with long golden 
 hair, draped all in white, standing in the red glow 
 of the sunset, and her eyes, like glittering stars, 
 were fixed upon him with a love-light in them that 
 made him tremble. At once young Dermot sprang 
 to his feet, and taking her two hands in his, 
 questioned her as to where she had come from, 
 and why she was watching him while he slept. 
 "Because I love you," she answered, "and pity 
 you, and I have come to help you in the work.''' 
 So she stayed till the dark of the evening came on, 
 and helped him to herd the cattle and set the 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 161 
 
 farmyard in order, for she was fleet of foot and 
 firm of hand, and the beasts and fowl followed 
 quietly wherever she led. And the next day she 
 came also, and the next, and worked so well that 
 Dermot had scarcely anything to do at last, except 
 to look at her beautiful eyes, and listen to her 
 sweet singing, as he lay on the grass when the 
 work was all over. 
 
 At length, however, a sad time came for the 
 lovers, for one day she told him that perhaps he 
 would see her no more, as her people had sent for 
 her. And he was sorely grieved, and fell down on 
 the earth weeping. Then she comforted him, and 
 promised if all ended well that she would see him 
 soon again, and go on with their work and happy 
 life together. But now she must leave ; for her 
 kindred were summoned to a battle far away, and it 
 was her place to watch by the wounded. Yet she 
 also might be slain; who could say if her life would 
 be given to her ? So let him heed the sign she 
 gave him by which he would know if she were 
 living. And the sign she gave him was this : 
 
 " Go/' she said, " to-morrow-evening at sunset 
 to the well near this, where we have so often been 
 together, and if you see the water red, like blood, 
 then you may know that I am dead, and you will 
 never, never see me more. So take this ointment, 
 and in the morning rub it into your eyes, and if I 
 am dead you will see my funeral passing this way, 
 
 M 
 
162 ANCIENT CURES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 where we have been so happy." And she laid a 
 little box of ointment in his hand, and disappeared. 
 
 Now the next day Dermot waited very im- 
 patiently till evening to visit the well; but, when 
 he saw the water in the sunset light, lo, it was red 
 like blood ; and his bitter cries rose up, and 
 lamentations, so that no one could comfort him ; 
 nor could he tell to any one the story of his lost 
 love, for she had bound him to silence. He could 
 only cry aloud : " My friend, my friend is dead. I 
 shall see her no more." 
 
 Now the next day, when the funeral was to 
 pass, he rubbed the ointment on his eyes, and 
 presently he saw it coming along the road, but the 
 sight of the coffin made him quite frantic, and 
 he clapped his hands and tore his hair, like one in 
 madness. Then the men who bore the coffin, 
 seeing his state, stopped in pity, and asked him 
 would he like to see the face of the girl once more, 
 for they were touched by his prayers and tears, and 
 they opened the lid; but when he looked into the 
 coffin, in place of the beautiful girl he had loved, 
 there lay in her shroud the form of a hideous old 
 hag, with long, protruding teeth, that came down 
 over her lips and reached to her chin like the fangs 
 of a wild beast, and as he screamed in horror she 
 lifted one skinny hand and tried to clutch him, 
 while her eyes rolled as if they would start from 
 her head ; but he fled away, and never again did the 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 163 
 
 ■witch-girl appear to him living or dead. And a 
 sadness was on him all his life long for ever after. 
 
 The Headless Horses. 
 
 All the world one time was going to the great 
 fair at Navan, and amongst them was one Denis 
 Molony, a cow-jobber, a well-to-do, honest man, 
 who had cattle along with him to sell at the fair. 
 But when he reached the outside of the town, 
 night was coming on black dark ; so he thought 
 he'd wait awhile, and just let the cattle graze as 
 they liked, while he laid himself down under the 
 hedge till the morning. 
 
 At that moment, however, a loud moaning and 
 screaming came to his ear, and a woman rushed past 
 him all in white, as if a winding-sheet were round 
 her, and her cries of despair were terrible to hear. 
 Then, after her, a great black coach came thun- 
 dering along the road, drawn by two black horses; 
 but when Denis looked close at them, he saw that 
 the horses had no heads, and the coachman had 
 no head, and out sprang two men from the coach, 
 and they had no heads either ; and they seized 
 the woman, and carried her by force into the 
 carriage, and then drove off. 
 
 Now Denis was terribly frightened, and he went 
 back on the road to a house he had passed some 
 time before, and narrated all he had seen to the 
 people. 
 
 m 2 
 
164 ANCIENT CUBES, CHASMS, AND 
 
 On which they told him that the woman he 
 saw was an evil liver, and a wicked sinner, and 
 no doubt the devils were carrying her off from the 
 churchyard, for she had been buried that morning. 
 But never a prayer would she say, nor make con- 
 fession to the priest before her death ; so God and 
 the holy saints had given her up to punishment, 
 and the devil had his own at last. But to make 
 sure, they went next morning to the churchyard 
 to examine the grave, and there sure enough was 
 the coffin, but it was open, and not a trace of the 
 dead woman was to be seen. So they knew that 
 an evil fate had come on her, and that her soul was 
 gone to eternal torture. 
 
 The Woman with the Teeth. 
 
 The road to Navan has always had an unlucky 
 reputation, and formerly it was consi jred very 
 dangerous to persons travelling alone between dark 
 and midnight ; for it was haunted by a ghost, who 
 appeared sometimes as a bag or a pack of wool 
 rolling along, and no hands touching it, or as a 
 shrouded woman with gleaming white teeth, or 
 sometimes as a dog, the worst of all shapes for 
 a ghost to appear in. 
 
 And many persons were killed by this ghost, 
 and were found in the morning lying dead, with a 
 black mark round the throat, as if they had been 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 165 
 
 strangled. So great fear was on the people, and 
 few dared to venture on the road after dark. 
 
 But there was a fine young farmer one time at 
 the fair at Navan, and after drinking and making 
 merry with his friends, he declared that he would 
 go home by that road and no other, and he 
 would fight the ghost, and not leave a shred of it 
 together. 
 
 So he mounted his horse and rode off just as 
 night was falling; and all seemed clear on the road 
 for some distance as he went on, when suddenly 
 a woman sprang across the path, and leaped up 
 behind him on the horse before he could hinder her. 
 And she put her two arms round his waist and bade 
 him look round at her beautiful white teeth, for 
 there were no such teeth in all the country round. 
 But he would not. Then she tried to entice him 
 many times to look at her; for it was by this means 
 she killed her victims, the moment they looked at 
 her their doom was certain. 
 
 The young man, however, had a brave, resolute 
 heart, and he told her he would not look at her 
 then, but he would bring her home with him, and 
 as they sat by the fire in his own house he might 
 take a look at her wonderful teeth, and be the best 
 of good company to her and treat her well. With 
 that he took off his broad leathern belt and slung it 
 round her, buckling it again fast to his own body, 
 
166 ANCIENT CUBES, CKARMS, AND 
 
 so that she could not move ; and then the two rode- 
 home as quick as the wind, and never a word more 
 did she speak. 
 
 ■ Now when he reached his house, all the people 
 were waiting outside to see what had become of 
 him, and they set up a great shout of .laughter 
 when he rode up ; for there, buckled round his waist 
 at the back, was a great log of wood, but no sign of 
 the woman. So he unstrapped the wood, and after- 
 wards chopped it up into small pieces, and from 
 every piece fell drops of blood. And then they all 
 saw that it was devil's work ; so he flung the pieces 
 outside; but next morning when he went to look 
 for the wood it was all gone. And from that time- 
 forth the evil ghost disappeared, to the great 
 comfort of the people. Thus the young farmer did 
 a good piece of work by that night's ride. 
 
 The Punishment. 
 
 There was once upon a time a man of very evil 
 repute, named Donegan, who lived all alone by 
 himself in a wretched little hut close by the bog of 
 Allen. And no one knew how he got any money at 
 all to live by, unless it was by robbery and murder; 
 for he did no work, and neither tilled nor planted- 
 So ail the people were afraid of him, and said he 
 was a tool of the devil. And no one would venture 
 near his hut, or have any dealings with him, or say,, 
 " God save you kindly " when they met him on the 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 167 
 
 road. But lie cared nothing, only looked at them 
 askance from under his shaggy brows, and went 
 on his way in silence. For he himself liked to be 
 alone, and would never let any one, not even the 
 priest himself, cross his threshold. 
 
 Now there was no window in the hut, only an 
 open slib to let in the daylight, and when night 
 came he used to put a good wisp of straw and a 
 plank of wood over the opening to keep all safe. 
 But one night, after he was in bed, he heard the 
 sound of some one trying to push away the plank, 
 as if to enter the hut. Now, Donegan knew that 
 no one would come in to rob, for there was nothing 
 to steal, and he also knew that none of the neigh- 
 bours or villagers would venture to his hut at such 
 a time of night, though some one might come just 
 to annoy him, he was so hated by the people ; so 
 he sprang up, and pressed against the plank to 
 keep it from moving. But all was of no use; the 
 force outside was too strong, and in a moment 
 Donegan was flung flat on the floor on his back, 
 and the plank along with him, and a great, tall, 
 strange man entered and stood beside him, wearing 
 a mask over his face. Now, Donegan was strong and 
 fierce, and accustomed to fight for his life, and leap- 
 ing to his feet at once, he hit the stranger a terrible 
 Mow, full in the face ; but to his surprise, the blow 
 went right through him, as if he were but air, and left 
 no mark. Still Donegan was not to be frightened. 
 
163 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 "Man or devil," he shouted, "you shall not escape 
 me," and he hit him another tremendous blow. 
 Yet he was only beating the air, and the man never 
 moved, but stood fixed, staring with red, fiery eyes 
 through his mask. 
 
 Then Donegan grew furious. "I never was 
 afraid yet," he cried, " of father or mother, priest or 
 parson, God or hell, and I am not afraid of you, 
 even if you are a ghost from the dead." And he 
 tried to hurl the man to the ground, but still he 
 only struck the air. 
 
 Then, at last, the ghost lifted up his arm and 
 took the mask from his face, and Donegan saw 
 before him the terrible, ghastly features of the 
 murdered dead, come from the grave to take ven- 
 geance on the murderer, and he fell to the ground 
 helpless and paralysed with fear ; but the ghost 
 had no mercy, he clutched the unhappy wretch, 
 and dashed him against the wall of the hut, then 
 followed and clutched him again and dashed him 
 back to the opposite wall, and so continued till 
 Donegan was almost senseless. Then the ghost 
 left him, for the hour had come when the dead 
 return to their graves; but before his departure he 
 clasped Donegan round the wrist and burned a 
 red circle right through to the bone, saying : " Now 
 you will believe there is a devil, and that the fires 
 of hell are waiting for your sinful soul." 
 
 After this fearful adventure, Donegan lost all 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 169 
 
 strength and power, and sent for the priest, to 
 whom he made a full confession of his many- 
 crimes, too terrible to be uttered to any other 
 ears ; but that same night he disappeared, and no 
 one knew from that day forth whither he had gone, 
 or what became of him. He left no sign, and was 
 never seen afterwards by living man; but the 
 people believe that he was carried off bodily by 
 the devil himself, for an evil fate was on him, and 
 both in life and death he was accursed. 
 
 Irish Minsteelsy. 
 Music was held in much repute iu the ancient 
 world as a curative agent, besides being the in- 
 spiration that gave force to life, stimulating or 
 soothing as the moment required ; for music, above 
 all arts, has a subtle power over the nervous 
 system, and is able to interpret and direct all 
 the sudden, swift, and varied phases of human 
 emotion. It can stir the soul to its inmost depths 
 till the tears fall in silent sorrow, or fill the brain 
 with a passionate enthusiasm, which is a prophecy 
 of victory. All the great nations of antiquity 
 recognised the relation between emotion and music. 
 Plato made it a direct educational agent, even as 
 Pythagoras had done when he showed the people 
 how, by its wonderful power, it could melt the soul 
 to divine pity, or kindle it to the sublime madness 
 that creates great deeds. 
 
170 ANCIENT CURES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 The Irish, from the earliest times, have shown 
 their belief in the mystic influence of music upon 
 life; and their legends record how the musician 
 could soothe the wounded or calm the dying, and 
 even make those in agony forget their pains. At 
 the festivals and religious ceremonies, and the 
 banquets of kings and chiefs, the bard swept the 
 chords of the harp till the waves of human passion 
 surged or fell in rhythmic harmony with the bardic 
 song. And, above all men, at the royal Court, the 
 bard was honoured for his divine gift. He was 
 given a noble income by law, freely and of grace,, 
 to lift him above the necessity of servile cares~ 
 His place at the royal table was next the monarch, 
 and above the nobles, and wearing his robe of 
 seven colours, and the circlet of gold upon his 
 brow, he sat a prince amongst princes. But civili- 
 sation no longer recognises the true mission of 
 music as a redemptive power, able to calm the 
 nerves or exorcise the evil spirit, when the soul 
 sinks under the shadow of coming sorrow. Even 
 our hospitals never seem to think of utilising music- 
 as a curative agent, either to lull pain or waken 
 the dormant faculties to a new sense of the joy of 
 life ; yet the wards are often filled with the rich 
 perfume of flowers sent by loving hands, though 
 flowery, unlike music, may be at times a dangerous,, 
 even a deadly offering to the sick. 
 
 Music, however, still retains its subtle, spiritual 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. m 
 
 influence over the Irish heart, and no great political 
 movement was ever yet inaugurated in Ireland 
 without the aid of the priesthood of song; but as 
 a powerful agent to relieve pain or act on the 
 nervous system, music is no longer used, as 
 formerly, by the fairy-doctor or the wise woman 
 of the village to help or to effect a cure. 
 
 Thus, in the direction of therapeutics, its use 
 seems to have wholly ceased; but, as a spiritual 
 power, it can still excite and inspire the Irish 
 nature with the same vivid force that in old times 
 made music supreme above all other arts in its 
 mystic influence upon the human soul. A recent 
 volume of Irish poems, collected and edited by 
 Mr. Halliday Sparling,* proves that the instinctive 
 tendency of the Irish people to set their wrongs to 
 music still exists as vividly as ever. 
 
 Music and song have illustrated all the great 
 epochs of modern Irish history : the era of Grattan 
 and the Volunteers ; of O'Connell and Emanci- 
 pation, when Moore, in his " Lalla Rookh," under 
 the disguise of " The Fire Worshippers," incarnated 
 the fierce resolve of Catholic Ireland to break the 
 bondage of the penal yoke. And then came the 
 era of 1848, when the intellect of the nation 
 received its most splendid impulse, and with the 
 noblest results. Emancipation had been gained, 
 
 * "Irish Minstrelsy," by Halliday Sparling. London, 
 Canterbury Series. 
 
172 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 and the Catholics of Ireland, after two centuries of 
 insult and degradation, were just then beginning 
 to feel and know that they had human rights, and 
 strength to gain them if they so willed. But the 
 utterance of a people, though always vehement, is 
 often incoherent, and then it is that the men of 
 education and culture are needed to interpret and 
 formulate the vague longings and ambitions of the 
 passionate hearts around. Thus the literature of 
 1848, under the guidance of eminent and gifted 
 men, became the glowing incarnation of the desire 
 of a whole people to raise their country to a fitting 
 place among the nations ; and the spirit-power was 
 the mighty force they used to overthrow narrow 
 intolerance and prejudice, and to give the fierce, 
 popular instincts for right and justice, a higher 
 direction than mere reckless revenge over the op- 
 pressor. The leaders soon gathered round them by 
 •elective affinity all the glowing genius of the 
 country, an impassioned race of poets and orators, 
 famous afterwards in the history of the period as 
 the " Young Ireland " party, whose words of power, 
 to use Chaucer's phrase, were "like a trumpet thun- 
 dering" in the ears of the people. The poets, above 
 all, touched the heart of the nation, when, with a 
 madness of inspiration, they chanted the wrongs 
 and hopes of the people in rhythmic words. Most 
 of the songs in Mr. Sparling's collection date from 
 this period, when the whole life of the nation moved 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 173- 
 
 to music. Even the peasants and artisans of the 
 time became poets, and some of their strong, fiery- 
 verses, the product of powerful emotion, show how 
 even the rudest elements were kindled and trans- 
 figured by the glory of the new light. 
 
 Thomas Davis, the chief of this young band 
 of thinkers and workers, was an incarnation of 
 passionate genius — the most powerful of the poets, 
 the most brilliant of the essayists. His words, 
 like a fiery cross, flashed through the length and 
 breadth of the land, awakening mind, heart, and 
 brain, from the dull apathy of centuries of oppres- 
 sion. With the tempest in his soul, and the 
 lightning on his lips, he poured out for the people- 
 the divine wine of intellect that lifts humanity 
 from the animal to the god. But his brief life 
 of work for Ireland soon ended; it was scarcely 
 more than a three years' fever, and then in the very 
 prime of his youth and genius, and the full triumph 
 of his successful leadership, as with a rainbow 
 gleam he sprang into the sunlight and so died. He 
 is well represented in the selections by several of his 
 most striking poems : " Fontenoy," and " The 
 Geraldines," "The Volunteers of '82," and others 
 as celebrated and as popular. Charles Gavan 
 Duffy, however, as editor of The Nation, had the 
 chief direction of the new movement. A man of 
 the highest culture, of exquisite literary taste, and 
 a clear and powerful writer, both in prose and 
 
3 74 ANCIENT CURES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 verse, lie was eminently fitted for guide and coun- 
 sellor to all the young, fiery intellects that composed 
 his staff, while his winning manners and earnest 
 sympathy with all that was noble and beautiful in 
 literature and art gained their admiration and love. 
 As a poet he stands in the first rank of the national 
 bards. One of his best poems, "The Muster of 
 the North/' by the strong, fierce music of the 
 rhythm, shows the true Celtic fire and force of his 
 nature. 
 
 The leaders of Young Ireland were often likened 
 to the men of the great French Revolution. Gavan 
 Duffy was the Vergniaud, the organiser and in- 
 spirer. Meagher, in his beautiful youth, and with 
 the passionate fervour of his eloquence, was the 
 St. Just without his cruelty. John Mitchell, strong 
 in words and powerful in purpose, was Danton, 
 with his fearless gospel of audacity ; while Isaac 
 Butt, with his tossed masses of black hair, his 
 flashing eyes, and splendid rush of classic oratory, 
 was the Mirabeau of the party. Smith O'Brien 
 was honoured as leader, from his lineage and rank. 
 Stately as a king, of rare and stainless honour, he 
 seemed never to forget that he was the descendant 
 of kings, and might even one day claim the title 
 himself, if the revolution succeeded. John Dillon, 
 father of the young patriot of the present day, was 
 a grand specimen of the Spanish-Irish type, and the 
 southern fire ran warm through his veins. He was 
 
USA0E8 OF IRELAND. 175 
 
 one of the most impassioned speakers of the gifted 
 band, and no assembly could resist the volcanic 
 torrent of his burning words. These were the 
 orators of Young Ireland. Like the Girondists, 
 they set up a lofty ideal for humanity : to re- 
 generate the people by culture, noble aims, noble 
 lives, and the service of solemn devotion to their 
 •country. But there was no Marat among them ; 
 they had no plans of cruel vengeance and plunder ; 
 they counselled no crimes ; their lives were as pure 
 as their doctrines, and not a shadow rests upon 
 their fair fame. As a poet described them, so were 
 
 they : 
 
 Souls of fire like columns pointing 
 
 Flamelike upward to the skies, 
 Glorious brows which God's anointing 
 
 Consecrated altarwise ; 
 Stainless hearts, like temples olden 
 
 None but priests hath ever trod, 
 Hands as pure as were the golden 
 
 Staves that bore the Ark of God. 
 
 Yet these singers and scholars, these brilliant 
 young orators and writers, who showed to what 
 height Irish genius might rise if trained and guided, 
 with their sublime ideal of nationhood and heroic 
 means of action, were deemed more dangerous by 
 England than even the assassin's knife ; for en- 
 lightenment means independence. 
 
 But the selections in Mr. Sparling's work are 
 not limited to one party or one theme. Every 
 
176 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 name of note down to the present day, and all 
 political tendencies, with every chord that has 
 vibrated to Celtic sentiment and feeling, will be 
 found in the collection, making this pretty volume 
 of Irish minstrelsy the most interesting and the 
 most comprehensive compendium of national poetic 
 genius yet given to the public. About twenty 
 names will be found in the list of poets. Among 
 them Florence McCarthy, the translator of Calderon; 
 and Sir Samuel Ferguson, the bard and Brehon, 
 who took the rude legends of early history and 
 transfigured them by his poetic power into the 
 stately majesty of national epics ; and John Francis 
 Waller, the sweetest living lyrist of Ireland, who 
 unites all the subtle charm of faultless form 
 and tender grace with perfect melody. And the 
 weird fancies of Clarence Mangan are not for- 
 gotten ; nor the spiritual delicacy and fine touch 
 of William Allingham, nor the classic verse of 
 Aubrey de Vere, glowing in thought and carefully 
 chiselled, with well-skilled workmanship, contrasting 
 well with the rough-hewn rocks of Banim's power- 
 ful verse streaked with rich veins of gold. And 
 we have the playful humour of Sam Lover, that 
 turns to music in the utterance ; and the pathetic 
 beauty of Lady Dufferin's songs, like the well- 
 known "I'm sitting on the stile, Mary," which 
 has been steeped in the tears of two hemispheres ; 
 and the fierce defiance of iDgram's great poem, 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 177 
 
 ■""Who fears to speak of '98;" while the strong 
 minstrelsy of the fiery North is illustrated by such 
 ballads as Colonel Blacke's famous " Still put your 
 trust in God, my boys, but keep your powder dry ; '' 
 and the stirring strains of " The Boyne Water " 
 and "No Surrender/ 5 poems still chanted at all 
 convivial meetings by the strong Ulster men, who 
 always mean what they say and sing. Nor is Dion 
 Boucicault omitted, with his intensely Irish grace, 
 music, fun, and pathos. There are, besides, quite a 
 number of the peasant and street ballads, with all 
 their floating philosophy and picturesque idiom 
 correctly given for the first time in a poetical 
 anthology, such as " The Wearing of the Green/' 
 so dear to the popular heart; the quaint and mystic 
 Shan-van-Vocht, with its mysterious and cryptic 
 meaning, and the rollicking humour of such ballads 
 as " The night before Larry was stretched/' with 
 all its rich vernacular Dublin slang that recalls the 
 almost extinct race of wandering blind Homers, of 
 which the eminent " Zozimus " was perhaps the 
 last representative. Happily, also, we find in the 
 minstrelsy the last great poem that has attained 
 marked celebrity — " God save Ireland," by T. D. 
 Sullivan, M.P., late Lord Mayor of Dublin, the 
 most ardent and powerful of the living Irish poets. 
 This spirited chant, which has all the strong, 
 musical beat for which Mr. Sullivan's verses are 
 Boted, at once took the heart of the people by 
 
 N 
 
178 ANOIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 storm, and the chorus, caught up and echoed by 
 twenty millions of the Irish race, was heard 
 throughout the world : 
 
 God save Ireland ! say we proudly, 
 
 God save Ireland, say we all, 
 Whether on the scaffold high, 
 Or the battlefield we die, 
 what matter, when for Erin dear we fall. 
 
 Al l these illustrations of the passionate genius of 
 Ireland find a place in Mr. Sparling's " Pantheon 
 of Poets." And he well deserves the thanks of all 
 true lovers of song for the admirable manner in 
 which he has fulfilled his task, and the lucid 
 arrangements of his materials. All the various 
 strings of the Irish harp have been touched, and 
 made to give up the strange, fitful, and wayward 
 music that can move at will to tears or laughter,, 
 and which never fails to vibrate in the Irish heart. 
 For music and soQg are part of the life of the 
 people ; they give a glow to the stormy twilight of 
 their troubled lives, and strength to bear the tragic- 
 terrors of a bitter destiny. Through music and 
 song the Irish race has always uttered the strongest 
 emotions of the vivid Celtic nature, and their 
 poets and orators have ever had a sovereign power 
 to lift them above the relentless tortures of priva- 
 tion and persecution, and to redeem them from the 
 darkness of despair. 
 
 The passionate dreams of political enthusiasts- 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 179 
 
 may pass away, but the literary value of the songs 
 remain as a richly illuminated page of Irish history. 
 Nothing really good in a nation's life is ever lost. 
 It remains an influence for all time ; and the 
 people will never now go back to the servile bond- 
 age of soul and spirit that held them enchained 
 before the fetters were rent and the bonds broken 
 by the genius and intellectual force, the lofty 
 teaching, and the cadenced words of the men of 
 '48. 
 
 Ancient Irish Gold. 
 
 There is every reason to believe that gold 
 existed abundantly in Ireland in former times, 
 and the mines of the South were worked, and 
 the gold smelted in the various gold districts, pro- 
 bably a thousand years before the Christian Bra. 
 The earliest race, however, the men of the Stone 
 Age, do not seem to have had any knowledge of 
 metals, and no gold ornaments have been found 
 in the ancient crannoges, or lacustrine habitations, 
 or with the earliest remains of the dead. 
 
 But the next race, the Tuatha-de-Danans, were 
 skilled in metallurgy, and eminent as artificers in 
 gold and silver; so that in the popular belief 
 they were held to be necromancers, and in league 
 with the fairies and the spirits of the hill. 
 
 Dianecht, the chief smith of the Tuatha-de- 
 Danans, still holds an enduring place in Irish 
 tradition for his skill in the production of an 
 
 n 2 
 
180 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 artificial hand, fashioned of silver, which he made 
 for Nuadhe, the king, who had lost his own hand 
 in the great battle fought with the Firbolgs for 
 the possession of Ireland, and in confirmation of 
 this story the king is henceforth known in history 
 as " Nuadhe of the silver hand." 
 
 The Milesians who followed and conquered the 
 Tuatha, were a Celtic-Spanish race, according to 
 tradition, and from them the chief existing noble 
 families of Ireland claim descent, such as the 
 O'Neills, the O'Connors, the O'Briens, and others, 
 whose descendants are still honoured by the people 
 for their ancient and noble blood. 
 
 The Milesians were a splendid and powerful 
 people, wise and learned, who, after the conquest 
 of Ireland, became the founders of a just and 
 extended code of laws, and of a well-defined 
 political social system. 
 
 To this great Milesian race may be attributed 
 the vast quantity of manufactured gold which 
 has been dug up from time to time from the soil 
 and bogs of Ireland. 
 
 The ancient bardic legends and poems make 
 frequent mention of the costly personal decora- 
 tions worn by the kings and queens, the chiefs 
 and princes, bards and Brehons; the massive 
 torques, diadems, amulets, rings, and brooches; 
 the gold trapping for the horses, the rich clasps 
 for the royal mantles, and other ornaments of 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. lei 
 
 beautiful form and workmanship, all made by the 
 native goldsmiths, who had a certain fixed size 
 and weight for each ornament to suit the rank 
 of the wearer. Even the very nature of the orna- 
 ment was specified by law. Thus we read, that by 
 command of one of the chief monarchs of Erin, 
 at all the great festivals held at the Court of Tara, 
 the princes were ordered to wear torques of gold 
 and chains upon the neck, to distinguish them 
 from the common people; and the nobles, rings 
 of gold upon the fingers. 
 
 The bards were distinguished by a golden fillet 
 round the brow, while the queens and royal ladies 
 bound their long flowing locks with the circlet, 
 or asion of gold. And we find it related of Maeoe, 
 the great Queen of Oonnaught, that when going 
 to battle she rode in an open chariot, accompanied 
 by four other chariots before her, behind her, 
 and one on each side, to keep the golden asion 
 on her head, and her royal robes from being defiled 
 by the dust raised by the tramp of the horses 
 and the men-at-arms as they rushed by. For all 
 the sovereigns of Erin sat crowned as they drove 
 in their war-chariots to battle, as well as at the 
 public feasts and ceremonies. 
 
 Gold rings were also used as current money for 
 barter, tribute, or reward. And the victor in a 
 battle was often styled "The Exactor of Eings," 
 because of the ransom he demanded from the 
 
182 ANCIENT CURES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 vanquished. Of Queen Boanna, wife of the Poet- 
 King of Munster, who gave her name to the River 
 Boyne, it is told that, when she sat at the festivals 
 beside the king, she had her arms covered with 
 rings oE gold, ready for bestowal on the poets who 
 pleased her best by their recitations. 
 
 In the ancient " Book of Rights," gold-adorned 
 shields are mentioned, also gold trappings for the 
 horses, gold-trimmed cloaks and tunics, and. rings 
 of " the red gold." The amount of gold given on 
 various occasions is also distinctly stated by the 
 chroniclers. Thus, Brian Boru, the king, made an 
 offering of twenty ounces of gold at the shrine of 
 St. Patrick; and Dermot MacMorrough, who first 
 brought the Normans over to Ireland, gave a 
 hundred ounces of gold to O'Rourke, Prince of 
 Bresney, as an einach, or atonement, for having 
 carried off his wife ; while Devorgill, the fatal and 
 faithless spouse, when, repentant and sorrowful 
 after seeing the invasion of her country, she 
 entered the Abbey of Melifont to end her days, 
 made an offering on the altar of a golden chalice, 
 along with twenty ounces of gold, as an expiation 
 for her sin. 
 
 When the King of Ulster visited Tara, the chief 
 monarch of Ireland was bound to present him with 
 a minn, or lunula, a crescent-shaped ornament for 
 the head, " of the full breadth of his face in gold." 
 And the provincial kings had rings of gold upon 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 183 
 
 every finger. Caps of gold were frequently offered 
 by one king to another, and the tribute paid 
 annually to the chief monarch by the minor kings 
 included steeds with golden bridle-bits, and cloaks 
 with golden clasps, swords, shields, and numerous 
 caps of gold. The drinking-horns and wine-cups 
 were inlaid with gold ; the sacred shrines were 
 plated with gold, and encrusted with jewels; and 
 the golden chalices, and other adornments for altar 
 service, were of such splendour that the churches 
 were frequently plundered by the Danes and other 
 piratical Norsemen, for the sake of the rich spoil. 
 
 In 1169, "The Four Masters" record that 
 Donogh O'Canoll, Lord of Airghialla, gave, when 
 dying, three hundred ounces of gold to the clerics 
 and churches for the love of God. From costly gifts 
 of this kind, made by the kings and nobles, a vast 
 amount of treasure was accumulated in the abbeys 
 and monasteries, much of which became the prey 
 of the rude invaders, and was carried off by them 
 to their northern home. 
 
 As no native gold is found in Denmark, it is 
 supposed that the Danes melted down the Irish 
 gold, and then fashioned vessels and ornaments 
 after their own manner, giving them the distinctive 
 impress of Scandinavian art ; and thus the presence 
 of so many gold articles in the great northern 
 museums may be accounted for. 
 
 The amount of ancient manufactured gold 
 
184 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 which has been found in Ireland is almost in- 
 credible. No other country in north-western 
 Europe possesses so much belonging to early- 
 times; and it is remarkable that the same special 
 character of ornamentation can be traced through- 
 out all these magnificent specimens, called by 
 Kemble the Opus Hibemicum, proving that they 
 were the genuine product of Irish artistic skill. 
 
 In 1802, ten golden bracelets, of the open shape 
 common to Egypt and the Bast, were found in 
 Connaught, buried deep down in a bog, and sold 
 afterwards for seven hundred pounds — the mere 
 value in weight. 
 
 In 1854, while making the Bnnis railway, the 
 workmen came upon a vast number of gold orna- 
 ments, all in one hoard. This great " Clare Find," 
 as it is called, was discovered deep down in the 
 ground, packed together in a little stone receptacle, 
 the ornaments being neatly piled one upon the 
 other, and covered with clay. The hoard com- 
 prised one hundred and thirty-seven rings of gold, 
 numerous torques, gorgets, fibulae, bracelets, circlets, 
 amulets, and other ornaments, all of pure gold, and 
 bright as if just fresh from the goldsmith's hand, 
 the value being estimated at five thousand pounds 
 in mere weight, without considering the perfect 
 workmanship. The hoard was supposed to be the 
 spoil of a foray, carefully secreted by the victors, 
 but never removed, probably from some adverse 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 185 
 
 chance of war; and so the precious deposit had 
 remained hidden and untouched in the earth for 
 more than a thousand years. 
 
 A second hoard was discovered some time after 
 when cutting another portion of the railway, of the- 
 value of two thousand pounds. Many of these 
 costly articles were secured for the National 
 Museum of the Royal Irish Academy, which now 
 contains above three hundred specimens of manu- 
 factured gold, forming the most interesting Celtic- 
 collection to be found in Europe. The British 
 Museum also obtained some specimens from the 
 great " Clare Find," but a large portion disappeared 
 in the smelting-pot. Gold diadems have been 
 frequently found in the soil or the bogs. There 
 are ten in the Dublin Museum, weighing from four 
 to sixteen ounces. The finest was discovered twelve 
 feet deep in a bog, in the County Limerick, and 
 measures above eleven inches in height. The form 
 is perfect and beautiful, having large gold discs to 
 finish off the ends at the ears, and the ornamenta- 
 tion is, in the highest degree, artistic. 
 
 There are also thirty-seven gold torques in the 
 museum, two of them being the most splendid 
 specimens known, measuring above five feet in, 
 length, and each being more than twenty-seven 
 ounces in weight. They were discovered in 1810' 
 by a peasant boy, at Tara, the ancient Court of the 
 Kings, and after many vicissitudes, these costly 
 
186 ANCIENT CURES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 historic relics found their way into the possession 
 of the late Duke of Sussex, but were finally pur- 
 chased by the Royal Irish Academy. 
 
 The torque, as a personal decoration, was well 
 known to the ancient world, to Egypt, Persia, and, 
 later, to the Romans. It can be seen in the 
 Pompeian Mosaics and on the neck of " The Dying 
 -Gladiator ; " and it is a well-known historic fact 
 that the name Torquatos was given to Titus 
 Manlius and his race for having taken a torque 
 from the neck of a Celtic Gaul in battle. But, 
 above all, it seems to have been the favourite 
 ornament of the Celtic chiefs, and more golden 
 torques have been found in Ireland, and of greater 
 size, than exist in any Continental collection. 
 
 The torque (or tore in Irish), was in form 
 a large hoop made of twisted ropes of gold, and 
 was worn on the neck, or round the waist. The 
 size and splendour of these magnificent personal 
 ornaments show the instinctive love of the Irish for 
 bright and glittering decorations. 
 
 It is recorded of Cormac Mac-Art, who reigned 
 at Tara, that he sat at the banquet crowned with 
 gold, wearing a fine, purple garment, a golden 
 brooch on his breast, a collar or tore of gold round 
 his neck, and a belt adorned with gold and precious 
 stones encircling his waist. In the museum of 
 Trinity College, Dublin, there is a fibula of pure 
 gold, eight and a half inches long, and weighing 
 
V SAGES OF IRELAND. 187 
 
 thirty-five ounces, the heaviest as yet known to 
 exist. It was no doubt one of the ancient regal 
 ornaments used to fasten the mantle of the king 
 on the shoulder. 
 
 Of the lunette (called minn or meend in Irish), 
 there are eighteen specimens in the Royal Irish 
 Academy, from five to eleven inches high, and 
 there are three in the British Museum, brought 
 over from Ireland. They were worn by chiefs, and 
 the victors in a battle, and by royal ladies. It is 
 recorded of Maireen, Queen of Dermot, chief 
 monarch at Tara, that being bald, she wore one on 
 her head to cover the defect ; but a favourite of 
 King Dermot's, being jealous of her, bribed a 
 woman to tear the golden minn from the queen's 
 head as she sat at the festival surrounded by the 
 princes and nobles. " May God preserve me ! " 
 exclaimed Maireen, when she was conscious of the 
 insult, placing her hand upon her head, when lo ! 
 before any of the Court had time to look, or mock 
 at her, a flowing mass of golden hair fell down 
 upon the queen's shoulders, covering her with its 
 beauty. And thus she triumphed over her enemies. 
 
 Manufactured gold is generally found in Ireland 
 hidden deep in the bogs, or, in isolated specimens 
 of great value, in the vicinity of the ancient forts 
 and battle-grounds, as if dropped by the vanquished 
 in a hasty retreat, or buried, on some sudden 
 surprise, for fear of the plundering invader. 
 
188 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 The south-west is richer in these treasures than 
 the north-west ; but they are scattered broadcast 
 over the country. The soil of Ireland seems 
 literally strewn with gold, and many rich hoards 
 will, no doubt, be discovered in time, according 
 as the bogs are drained, or new cuttings for 
 railroads made through the remote districts of the 
 South and West. 
 
 Unfortunately, large quantities have been 
 already destroyed and lost, from the ignorance of 
 the finders respecting the antiquarian value of the 
 articles, or through fear of detection ; but chiefly 
 from the absence of all law of treasure-trove ; the 
 present law, chiefly obtained through the valuable 
 services and exertions of the late learned and gifted 
 Lord Talbot-de-Malahide, having only come into 
 operation in the year 1861. 
 
 Before that period the jewellers purchased 
 largely from the finders for the purpose of melting 
 down the gold. The leading goldsmiths of the 
 present day estimate that within the last few years 
 upwards of ten thousand pounds' worth of gold 
 ornaments have passed into the crucible. A 
 splendid fibula from one of the finds was sold for 
 fifty-two guineas, its exact weight, and so has been 
 lost to the national collection. But now, by the 
 law of treasure-trove, the finder, if he brings the 
 article to the nearest police-station, is given a receipt, 
 with the promise of full value to be paid by the 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 189 
 
 Government; the antiquarian value being four 
 pounds the ounce, or even more, if the article is 
 •of special rarity or beauty. 
 
 According to the best Irish authorities, there is 
 proof that the gold mines of Wicklow were worked 
 fully three thousand years ago. They were well 
 known to the people, and from the quantity of the 
 metal found in the plain of the Liffey, the men of 
 Leinster were anciently styled "The Lagenians of 
 the Gold." 
 
 Gold is still found in Wicklow, but the mines 
 are not worked, as the result was not considered 
 «qual to the cost of working; yet in 1796, an 
 experiment having been made, ten thousand pounds' 
 worth of the precious metal was procured in a few 
 weeks from one of the Wicklow mines, and in the 
 very place where, according to the old annalists, 
 gold was first smelted and fashioned into ornaments. 
 
 Besides Wicklow, there are several other 
 auriferous districts in Ireland : Wexford, Dublin, 
 Kildare, Antrim, and Londonderry have all pro- 
 duced gold ; and many places are associated with 
 the word Oir (gold) from the quantity found there, 
 either unwrought or manufactured. Thus in Kerry 
 there is a place called Dun-an-oir, the Fort of the 
 Gold, from the number of gold ornaments found 
 secreted in one hoard, deep in the ground. 
 
 Irish gold in its native state is generally found 
 in grains or nodules, frequently on the surface, 
 
190 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 washed down by the mountain streams and rivers- 
 It is always slightly alloyed with silver and copper. 
 The silver was much used by the ancient artificers,, 
 and brooches were made of thin plates oE gold 
 hammered down on a basis of silver. A slight 
 artificial alloy of silver or copper was also often 
 used by the ancient goldsmiths to produce the 
 colour required for manufactured ornaments, silver 
 giving a pale hue, while the admixture of copper 
 produced what is called " the red gold." 
 
 Renewed efforts will probably now be made to 
 work the gold districts of Ireland, the attention of 
 the Empire having been recently aroused to the 
 value and importance of native gold by the interest- 
 ing and very successful explorations in Wales. 
 
 Only a year ago operations were commenced in> 
 Merionethshire, through the influence and generous- 
 aid of Mr. Pritchard Morgan, the great Australian 
 capitalist; it being well known that gold existed 
 there, and had been worked in former times. 
 
 The result has been most encouraging ; for 
 within four months above four thousand ounces of 
 gold were obtained by the miners ; the value being 
 over fourteen thousand pounds. 
 
 Mr. Pritchard Morgan is now turning his 
 attention to Ireland, and has already obtained 
 Crown leases of fifty-four square miles of land in 
 Wicklow, which he proposes working for gold, 
 being convinced that with capital and proper- 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 191 
 
 machinery the Irish gold districts can still be 
 worked with great commercial profit ; but as a pre- 
 liminary step, he is anxious that an influential gold- 
 mining company should be formed, as in Wales,, 
 without delay, to supply the necessary funds, and 
 to direct and secure the success of the explorations. 
 Thus a rich source of wealth, and a new and 
 profitable industry, may be opened to the Irish 
 people to stimulate their energies, and to send a tide 
 of fresh activity through the land. 
 
 Pkihitive Man. 
 
 No matter how far civilisation may have pro- 
 gressed in any country during the long lapse of 
 ages, yet the beginning of the life of humanity was 
 simple and uniform throughout the entire world. 
 
 Man formed implements to aid his own natural 
 force, which is limited, and by their aid he has 
 gradually made it almost infinite. To provide for 
 his daily subsistence, he had to invent the axe, the 
 wedge, the bow, the canoe, and if he had not made 
 tools to help himself to sustain life, he would have 
 remained far inferior to the animal creation in 
 power and resources, though they are only guided 
 by instinct. 
 
 Primitive man picked up the hardest flints,, 
 struck them together and produced fire. Then he 
 shaped and fashioned the flint chips by the aid of 
 each other, and with these first rude elements of 
 
192 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 human power he could hew wood, dig the ground, 
 kill his prey, and make war, or defend himself from. 
 other tribes. 
 
 The flint axe was the first symbol in the history of 
 humanity, it is contemporary with the mastodon, and 
 is the oldest record of human work to be found on 
 the face of the globe. There is nothing more 
 ancient than this tool, and nothing more humble; 
 yet archaeologists can read the history of the primal 
 race by it, as the astronomers calculate the orbit of 
 a planet from measuring an arc of the circle. The 
 first chapter in human life was the Age of Stone; 
 the beginning of all things ; when men dwelt in 
 caves, and with their implements of flint or wood 
 slew the wild animals for food and made clothing 
 of the skins, deftly sewn together with thongs, using 
 a fish bone for a needle; or wove tunics of plaited 
 rushes, and cut their mocassins out of untanned 
 hide, sewn in a like manner with the sinews of 
 animals. But primitive man had also abundance of 
 oysters for his sustenance, as has been proved by the 
 enormous mounds of oyster-shells still existing in 
 Denmark, amongst which may be sometimes found, 
 even now, the flint knives used by the cave-men 
 for opening the nutritive bivalve. 
 
 The Age of Stone, when men cleared a path 
 through the central forests of Europe with their 
 stone axes, and fought for existence with the 
 bear and the hyaena, may have lasted for countless 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 1P3 
 
 ages, while the world was preparing for the Adamic 
 race — the last and highest that has yet appeared 
 on earth; but it seems almost certain that the 
 cave-men, the antediluvian or pre-Adamic race, 
 never attained to a more advanced grade, for no 
 evidence of a knowledge of metals has been found 
 amongst their remains. 
 
 Metal, for the most part, remains hidden in 
 the earth and the rocks, and cannot be used with- 
 out much, labour and dexterous manipulation ; but 
 stone lies at the feet of man, before his eyes, and 
 by the simplest effort can be made into a tool 
 or a weapon, from the rudest hatchet to the highly 
 finished flint implement which has received the 
 modern name of celt, from celtis, a chisel, though 
 some people erroneously imagine from the word 
 that the implement owed its origin to the Celtic 
 race. But the Celtic people, from whom the Irish 
 are descended, are infinitely dissevered from the 
 lower primal race of the cave-men, and did not 
 follow in their track till perhaps a thousand years 
 after the men of the Stone Age had spread over 
 the world and were passing into oblivion. The 
 Celts, when they first reached the West of Europe 
 from their Eastern home, were to a certain degree 
 advanced in culture, and had the knowledge of 
 metals, at least of copper, which in time they 
 learned to combine with tin, and thus formed the 
 beautiful bronze weapons and tools, of which so 
 
 o 
 
194 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 many hundreds have been found in Ireland, unsur- 
 passed in any modern work for the brilliancy and 
 beauty of the metal, which shines like burnished gold. 
 
 The Celts found the stone hatchet in the hands 
 of the indigenous race, and adopted the form 
 which they reproduced in bronze, and added to 
 the weapons and tools they had already in use. 
 
 The first furrows of civilisation were traced 
 and dug by the primitive man with his rude stone 
 implements and without the aid of metal ; but 
 the higher race, the Adamic, seems, if we trust 
 the Bible, to have had a knowledge of metals 
 from the very beginning, and the Age of Copper 
 was the first in date of the two great metallic 
 ages ; copper being comparatively easy to extract 
 and to work. The Celts of Ireland used it for 
 their weapons from the earliest dawn of history, 
 and it was the first metal which became of im- 
 portance to man, being smelted without difficulty, 
 and even hammered into shape easily in its native 
 condition. But finally, brass, like the stone that 
 preceded it, gave place to a still more powerful 
 metal, and the Age of Iron succeeded. 
 
 This metal produced an immense revolution in 
 the world, and is the source of all the higher 
 developments of human industry, for its power 
 is illimitable and its uses are infinite ; and modern 
 jife and civilisation date from the knowledge and 
 employment of iron beyond that of any other metal. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 195 
 
 Thus, in the history of humanity, the law may 
 be formulated — the Age of Stone first, the Age of 
 Iron last, the Age of Brass intermediate and 
 transitional. And legend and mythology have a 
 certain basis of truth when they divide the epochs 
 of the world into the Age of Gold, of Brass, and of 
 Iron. For the knowledge of gold certainly preceded 
 that of all other metals. As Sir John Lubbock 
 remarks in his important and valuable work, 
 " Prehistoric Times : " " Gold was the metal which 
 no doubt first attracted the attention of man, as it 
 is often found on the surface, and in many rivers, 
 and by its bright colour would certainly prove 
 attractive even to the rudest savage tribes, 
 who instinctively love colour and personal decora- 
 tion." Silver was not in use until long after gold, 
 and was preceded by both copper and tin; but 
 gold was often used in its crude state for orna- 
 mental purposes by savage tribes, though it never 
 was of importance to human life for industrial 
 purposes. A few years ago a cave was discovered 
 in Spain containing several skeletons, all clothed 
 in tunics of woven rushes, but decorated on the 
 neck and arms with bracelets and collars of crude 
 gold pressed into shape ; and one skeleton, who, 
 perhaps, was the king or chief, wore in addition 
 a circlet of gold round the head — but no gold has 
 been discovered as yet in Ireland belonging to the 
 Stone Age. 
 
196 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS,. AND 
 
 The New Eaces. 
 
 The cave-men, who had originally made the 
 world their own, and overspread the whole earth, 
 seem at last to have entirely passed away, having 
 fulfilled their mission, as pioneers of the higher 
 humanity that was to come ; and they finally became 
 extinct, along with the mammoth and the mastodon, 
 and the great Cervus Megaceros of Ireland, and the 
 many other giants of land and sea, that were 
 contemporary with the rudimental humanity of 
 the first ages of life. So when the world was 
 sufficiently prepared for the new race, the men 
 of the Stone Age died out, leaving no descendants, 
 and no other evidence of their existence save 
 the silent but eternal symbols of stone, by which 
 we can see how they lived and worked, and had 
 their being, and take the measure of their mental 
 standard, which, though the lowest of the human 
 types, yet was not without some instincts of art 
 and design, for they drew rude sketches on the- 
 walls of their caves, and their weapons had often. 
 a rude ornamentation, the product perhaps of their 
 leisure hours. 
 
 The races that followed to people the world 
 belonged to a new creation, a higher humanity ;. 
 and to them we owe all, the great representatives 
 of mankind iu history, and all the existing peoples 
 of the earth. . Chief amongst them may be named 
 the Semitic, Teutonic, and the Celtic races — the 
 
USAQES OF IRELAND. 197 
 
 ■Semite being always eminent for religion ; the 
 Teuton for conquest, rule, and power ; and the Celt 
 for art and intellect. The Celtic race that founded 
 our own Irish nation, and from whom the Irish 
 nature obtains all its peculiar characteristics, was 
 the first to bring culture to Ireland, architecture, 
 the symbols of writing, and the arts of weaving 
 and metal work, along with a code of laws that 
 trained the people to a sense of right and justice. 
 Intellect amongst them was deemed worthy of 
 the highest honour; and while all Europe lay in 
 darkness, the Celts of Ireland in the early Christian 
 centuries were distinguished for their love of art 
 and learning, and sent forth from their schools 
 many a man of eminence to carry the torch of 
 light through the world; and to this day in all the 
 highest illustrations of intellect in Europe can be 
 traced a strain of the Celtic blood. 
 
 It is remarkable that through all the lapse of 
 ages, the distinctive characteristics of a race never 
 change or alter. The Semite is still the priest, 
 the Teuton the warrior, and the Celt the artist 
 and poet of the world. Three thousand years may 
 have passed by, yet the Semitic race stands, as of 
 old, at the head of the highest religious code and 
 doctrine. The Teuton has never ceased going forth 
 ■conquering and to conquer, till nearly the whole 
 world is now under his sway; and the Celt (with 
 whom we Irish have a living affinity), is still the pas- 
 
198 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 sionate poet and orator, the centrifugal force of the- 
 huraan polity, ever sending forth a rush of new 
 thought into the world, to kiudle as with light and 
 flame the hopes and aspirations of oppressed peoples 
 and nations, and to arouse their energies for the- 
 holy war against wrong, and for the sublime cause^ 
 of human right. 
 
 THE AMERICAN IRISH. 
 The Irish of To-day. 
 
 The record of Irish wrong is now, perhaps,, 
 scarcely remembered by the nation whose struggles 
 for conquest so long made Ireland a land of mourn- 
 ing and woe; but the tale still lives in Irish hearts 
 with enduring vitality. Every century has wit- 
 nessed some fierce effort to throw off the foreign 
 yoke, and every generation adds new names to the 
 long roll of martyrs and victims doomed to suffer 
 for the vain but beautiful dream of national inde- 
 pendence. Exile, confiscation, the prison, and the- 
 scaffold form the leading chapters of Irish history,, 
 even to our own day — an endless martyrology 
 written in tears and blood. 
 
 Yet, some good has come of the evil. 
 
 Many holy and sacred things spring up in a 
 nation's soul from the seed sown by persecution. 
 Suffering purifies and refines, and a people learns 
 the value of coherence and unity mainly throuo-h 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 19D 
 
 oppression. There is also something ennobling in 
 the love of an object out of self, in the devotion to 
 an abstraction called Country ; in this dream of 
 freedom, with all the word means — dignity, honour, 
 self-reverence, and self-respect. It will be a sad 
 day, perhaps, for the higher national life when 
 Ireland has no more dreams, and the country no 
 more martyrs, for then an ideal will have passed 
 out of the life of the people, and a nation without 
 an ideal aim on which to concentrate the passions, 
 soon becomes hopelessly materialised, inarticulate, 
 and dull. The subtle, spiritual fancies, and the 
 finer issues of human feeling, are stifled by the 
 sensuous, selfish enjoyment of the actual and the 
 present ; and nations, as well as individuals, become 
 hard and cold, without the divine impulse of 
 sacrifice and self-abnegation. To the impassioned 
 nationality of the Irisb, with its large indefinite- 
 ness of aim and instincts of resistance, may be also 
 due much of the fervour of Irish eloquence. All 
 oppressed nations are eloquent. When laws forbid 
 a people to arm, they can only speak or sing. 
 Words become their weapons, and the Irish armoury 
 is always bright and burning. Nationality, this 
 dream of an ideal future, illumines their poetry 
 and oratory, their music and song, with a vague 
 splendour of passion and pathos, and preserves 
 even the common speech and popular literature 
 of the people from the coarseness and vulgarity 
 
200 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 so obtrusively characteristic of the English lower 
 classes. 
 
 Ireland, then, has some compensation for her 
 sufferings ; many fine-toned chords in the nature 
 of her people, a gentle courtesy of manner that 
 is almost reverential, and a power of winning 
 sympathy and love which the stolid English 
 organisation, with its plethoric prosperity and 
 self-centred egotism, is entirely without. 
 
 It is remarkable, also, that wherever the Irish 
 are located in other lands, they never forget the 
 old country. It is still the Mecca to which their 
 eyes are ever turned. Exile even seems to intensify 
 their feelings, and the fearless oratory of passion 
 glows with a fervour that would be impossible in 
 the police-ruled country at home. In America, 
 more especially, free speech knows no limit with 
 regard to the past and future of Ireland. Irish 
 festivals are celebrated there with words that clang 
 like swords, while memorial rituals keep the 
 martyrs of freedom for ever living before the eyes 
 of the people. Armed clubs are named after the 
 chief leaders of Irish revolt, and solemn processions 
 mark the anniversary of each national tragedy, for 
 there are no triumphs to record in Irish history. 
 The Greeks of old wrote the names of their heroes 
 in letters of gold upon the walls of their temples ; 
 the Irish must search for the names of their heroes 
 on the walls of a prison. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 201 
 
 This consecration of revolt, this canonisation of 
 the victims of rebellion, has a powerful influence on 
 the young generation of American Irish. It kindles 
 ■a bitter and deathless indignation in their hearts, 
 and, like a warm gulf stream, the tide of their 
 passion surges across the Atlantic to raise the 
 temperature at home to the revolutionary heat, 
 which, in these days, generally culminates in the 
 endeavour to found a Republic. It is singular that 
 the Irish may live for years in England, yet they 
 never acquire the Euglish manner — calm, grave, 
 and self-possessed ; nor the English habits of order 
 and routine; nor even the English accent — while 
 in America they rapidly become Americanised, bold 
 in speech, audacious in enterprise, self-asserting in 
 manner, and, above all, Republican in sentiment. 
 No Irishman returns from America loyal to 
 Monarchy. On the contrary, he laughs to scorn 
 the old bonds of servile feudalism, with all its 
 superstitions of class worship ; and his opinions 
 soon gain many followers. The American flag 
 holds the place of honour at all popular demonstra- 
 tions in Ireland, and is always greeted with enthu- 
 siastic cheers, while the flag of England is nowhere 
 seen.* 
 
 * It was the American flag that waved over the 
 liberated Fenian prisoners during the great torchlight 
 procession in Dublin to welcome their return. The English 
 flag was not visible anywhere. 
 
202 ANCIENT CURES, CHASMS, AND 
 
 These are some of the outward and visible signs- 
 of the rapid spread of American influence and 
 Republican tendencies amongst the Irish people,, 
 and it is a natural result, considering the incessant 
 intercourse, and the strong relationship existing 
 between Ireland and America. 
 
 Tear by year Ireland sends forth thousands 
 of her people in the emigrant ships, like outcast 
 weeds to be flung on the shores of America, a 
 helpless crowd of crushed, dispirited, unlettered 
 peasants ; slaves and serfs -who have never even 
 known their rights as freemen, dulled by want, 
 oppression, and despair; speaking, perhaps, no 
 language save the ancient tongue of the primitive 
 Celt, through which no new light of thought has 
 flashed for a thousand years ; seeing nothing, 
 knowing nothing in all God's great universe save 
 the two awful and irresistible forces that for them 
 rule earth and heaven, the landlord and the priest. 
 Silent and troubled, with the scared, sad look of 
 the hunted deer, they gather on the beach amid 
 the wild cries of their kindred, and sail away in 
 the exile ship, with all its unknown horrors, to- 
 the unknown land beyond the sea, as if they 
 were passing to another life through the gates 
 of death. But, in the next decade the children 
 of these serfs of the desolated lives, the bewildered 
 brain, and the darkened soul, spring up at once- 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 205 
 
 to the level of the nineteenth century — ardent in 
 purpose, fearless in word, eager for action, and 
 filled with a glowing ambition to scale those heights 
 which under a Republic are accessible to all who 
 have intellect and daring. The past is not for- 
 gotten, but they stand on it as on a pedestal, 
 from whence they take a wider survey of their 
 position, and recognise the truth at last that life 
 means something more to man than mere passive 
 endurance of the negation of all things that build 
 up a nation, or a human soul. They are no longer 
 helpless, incoherent masses of ignorant and un- 
 organised men, waifs driven by the storm-winds 
 of despair, with only bitter memories, or vengeful 
 hopes to guide, that, like torches held over an 
 abyss by an uncertain hand, too often lead but 
 to dismay and ruin. 
 
 The American Irish are the opposite of all this. 
 They receive a soldier's training, with full privi- 
 leges of freemen and citizens. They are educated 
 and organised; important by their numbers, and 
 by that ready talent and indomitable spirit which 
 is rapidly gaining for them the highest positions 
 as statesmen, generals, orators, writers, and jour- 
 nalists in the States. 
 
 Laws and Governments have an immense in- 
 fluence upon the moral nature of a people, and 
 help to create a national character as much, or 
 
204 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 even more, than the ethnical elements out of which 
 a nation is formed. Under a Republic, men acquire 
 those noble qualities of self -reverence, self-respect, 
 and personal dignity, rarely found amongst op- 
 pressed races ; and the Irish nature, so long 
 trodden down and humbled, and made almost 
 abjectly servile through fear and coercion and 
 penal laws, gains a new force and sense of strength 
 under Republican teaching that is like an awakening 
 from a death sleep. 
 
 The vastness of America, the gigantic enter- 
 prise, the infinite extent of her resources, the 
 boundless wealth waiting on every side for the 
 skilful hand and the energetic brain, have a pecu- 
 liarly stimulating effect upon the multitudes who 
 have quitted a country where energy finds no 
 work for hand or brain, and intellect has neither 
 honour nor reward. The lassitude and languor 
 induced by the utter stagnation of all things at 
 home is thrown off, and men begin to feel that 
 if they have the gifts to win success, they have 
 also a right to share those splendid rewards which 
 under a Monarchy are reserved almost exclusively 
 for a favoured few, but which a Republic offers 
 freely to all. And the American Irish are now 
 powerful enough to command success. They have 
 become a great and mighty people in the land 
 of their adoption — a nation greater than the nation 
 at home. There are twice as many Irish now 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 205- 
 
 in America as there are in Ireland. They form 
 a third of the population of all the great cities, and 
 are banded together in one powerful organisation 
 by race, religion, memory, and hopes. 
 
 They have also one aim, which is to create a 
 new era in the history of Ireland. This is the 
 fanaticism of their lives — but they bide their time ; 
 the individual dies, the nation lives and waits. The 
 English sneer down the idea ; yet nothing will 
 eradicate the splendid dream from the Celtic 
 imagination that some day the Irish race will be 
 powerful enough to recross the Atlantic with ships 
 and arms and money, overthrow English rule, and 
 annex Ireland to the great Federal Eepublic under 
 the Stars and Stripes. And it must be confessed 
 that the project is not wholly improbable or im- 
 possible, should there be some new arrangement 
 of the nationalities of the world, for America needs 
 a standpoint in Europe ; and Ireland would form 
 a capital Atrium for the unresting, eternally moving 
 masses of the American people, who, having already 
 swept along the whole coast of the Pacific, will 
 soon be surging across the Atlantic to seek new 
 homes. Indeed the subject has already been openly 
 discussed, and even a suggestion offered that 
 America should purchase Ireland from the English 
 Government in a peaceable, orderly way ; for con- 
 sidering what a thorn in the flesh the Green Isle 
 has ever been to England, the severance, it is 
 
206 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 thought, might bo made without much grief on 
 either side. Meanwhile, the American Irish boast 
 of their ten millions, all ready to pour across the 
 Atlantic when the fitting moment comes in which 
 they can reconstruct their ancient motherland 
 upon the newest Republican principles. 
 
 We are accustomed to think of Ireland as 
 only a nation of five millions, according to 
 home statistics and census reports; but, including 
 Australia with America, the Irish may be counted 
 at eighteen or twenty millions ; and in case of 
 some violent European complication, or of war 
 between England and the United States, it may 
 be interesting to speculate on which side these 
 millions would range themselves. Gratitude would 
 bind them to America ; they could never fight 
 against the flag that sheltered them in their 
 adversity, when evil laws and bitter tyranny forced 
 them to abandon their own unhappy country; and 
 they could scarcely be expected to show an en- 
 thusiastic desire to support England even at the 
 sacrifice of their lives. 
 
 So tremendous a catastrophe, however, as war 
 between England and the States will probably 
 never happen ; but revolutions may come silently 
 and with spirit steps. Such a revolution, silent 
 gradual, but certain, is now going on in the Irish 
 mind abroad and at home, and some day the new 
 ideas will find visible expression in perhaps a 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 207 
 
 higher national life than any Ireland has yet known. 
 Education will create a new history; it is the force 
 that above all others moulds the destiny of a people, 
 and teaches them how to utilise their chances and 
 opportunities. Hitherto the Irish have groped 
 blindly after their ideal, which is National Indepen- 
 dence — this is the magic phrase that binds them 
 together as one people all over the world, as if it 
 symbolised a religion ; and if they have striven for 
 it through seven centuries of darkness and dis- 
 organisation, they are not likely to give it up now 
 in this nineteenth century, when Liberty from the 
 shores of America holds high her torch for men to 
 read their rights by ; and America has, in an 
 especial manner, constituted herself the teacher of 
 the Irish people. Lectures upon Irish history, 
 poetry, oratory, and all that illustrates the genius, 
 sufferings, wrongs, and destiny of the Irish, are the 
 most popular of all subjects throughout the States, 
 and attract eager and sympathetic crowds ; for, 
 strange to say, these subjects have also the 
 additional charm of novelty. The Irish people are 
 reared upon traditions, but have little accurate 
 knowledge of their own history, while the upper 
 classes are notoriously ignorant of it, with the 
 exception of a few learned Academicians who 
 study it curiously, as they do the Vedas, for mere 
 ethnological or philological purposes. 
 
 The reason of this national ignorance is simply 
 
208 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 that Irish history is not taught in any of the schools? 
 of Ireland ; not in the National schools, nor the 
 endowed schools ; nor is it included in the course 
 at the Queen's Colleges or the Dublin University, 
 to qualify for a degree. In Irish education, Irish 
 history is steadily ignored by schools, academies, 
 and colleges ; a national annihilation that probably 
 could find no counterpart in all the rest of Europe. 
 Irish children may recite the kings of the Heptarchy, 
 or the causes of the Punic Wars, but of the long, 
 heroic struggles of their forefathers against foreign 
 domination, they are taught never a word. 
 
 Naturally, the object of an alien Government 
 was to extinguish the idea of a country ; to degrade 
 and obliterate heroic memories ; to brand a patriot 
 as a traitor, and nationality as treason ; and in this 
 manner the pride, self-respect, and self-reliance of 
 the Irish people have been slowly murdered through 
 the centuries — for strong and noble qualities like 
 these are only found amongst a people who are 
 taught the dignity of nationhood, and to reverence 
 the men of their race who have toiled, and fought, 
 and suffered for some great idea, or some sublime 
 word. 
 
 America, however, fully responds to the eager 
 desire of the Irish amongst them for fuller know- 
 ledge and clearer light. Many influential journal* 
 are almost wholly devoted to Irish subjects, and, 
 the past and future of Ireland are discussed with a 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 209 
 
 fearless audacity unknown here ; for, as Emerson 
 remarks : " There is a boundless freedom in the 
 States, and people have been put to death in other 
 countries for uttering what are but the commonplaces 
 of American writers/' One of the best of these 
 journals is The Boston Pilot, edited by an Irishman, 
 John Boyle O'Reilly, the distinguished author of 
 " Songs from the Southern Seas," a series of wild, 
 fierce tales of adventure, remarkable for startling 
 originality of conception, nervous language, and a 
 full flow of sonorous harmonies in the versification. 
 Another journal of considerable critical ability, 
 The New York Nation, is also edited by an Irishman, 
 Mr. Grodkin, son of the author of " Ireland and her 
 Churches," and other works. The Irish World, the 
 favourite organ of the ultra-democratic party, has a 
 fiercer inspiration, and openly advocates an armed 
 invasion of Ireland, and the redistribution of all 
 the confiscated estates. This journal is indeed so 
 violently anti-English, and the illustrations are 
 so bitterly sarcastic on the Eaglish Court (although 
 •with none of the revolting ribaldry permitted to 
 appear in some of the London papers), that recently 
 it has been stopped at the Irish Post Office, and the 
 priesthood discourage its circulation amongst the 
 people. It is, however, extremely popular with the 
 extreme section of the American Irish, and is held 
 to be a true exponent of their views. 
 
 Amongst the many works issued by the American 
 
 p 
 
•210 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 press on Irish subjects, the most recent, and by far 
 the most important, is the "History of the Successive 
 Confiscations of Ireland," by Mr. Amory, including 
 lists of the families whose estates were seized and 
 divided amongst the English adventurers.* The- 
 work has excited great attention in America, for 
 descendants of all these families may be found in 
 the States, and they are proud of their kinship with 
 the old historic clans. j- 
 
 Mr. Amory, the author, an American of distin- 
 guished position, influence, and wealth, whose- 
 opinion is of the highest value, writes with much 
 kindly feeling of the Irish, yet with fairness and 
 moderation, while he states the truth boldly at the 
 same time, with respect to English policy, as 
 only an American may dare to do. "If Ireland," 
 he says, " still remains turbulent and disaffected, 
 the fault is due to England, who never strove to 
 gain the love of the people, but crushed, and 
 despoiled, and exterminated in place of affiliating.. 
 Had Irishmen, " he continues, " been left lords of 
 their own lands, and not made bondsmen to- 
 strangers, they would have been the honour and 
 
 * "The Transfer of Erin," by Thomas "0. Amory. 
 Lippencott & Co., Philadelphia, 187?. 
 
 t An immense interest has been recently manifested in 
 America on the subject of family history. Since the close 
 of the war people have had little to do, and so have taken 
 to heraldry, and we may soon expect a Columbian King-at- 
 arms, and an American Debrett. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 211 
 
 safety of the united realm, and proved themselves, 
 as they are in America, an intelligent, thrifty, law- 
 abiding, brave, generous, and noble-hearted people." 
 And when the Irish have shown themselves so 
 worthy of freedom, he considers it " base and 
 unjust in the highest degree for English writers to 
 pursue them across the Atlantic, casting obloquy 
 on their nation, their history, and their traditions, 
 with the sole aim apparently of lowering them in 
 the eyes of the people -who shelter and protect 
 them." 
 
 In the interest, therefore, of fair play, he under- 
 took the work "to show the true nature of English 
 rule from which sprang all the evils of Irish des- 
 tiny." And ho has accomplished his task with 
 great ability. Every page shows careful and 
 extensive reading, and patient study of the involved 
 and complicated details of Irish history, along with 
 a generous, high-spirited feeling towards Ireland, 
 that contrasts very favourably with the usual tone 
 of English writers on the same subject. 
 
 In the early portion of the " History," he chiefly 
 follows "the Four Masters," but he has also 
 amassed material from many other sources, ancient 
 and ^modern, so that his volume is really a con- 
 densed history of Ireland down to the time of 
 Elizabeth, when the last gleam of independent 
 sovereignty died out with the submission of the 
 great O'Neill, after a ceaseless war of four hundred 
 
 p 2 
 
212 ANCIENT CURES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 years between the two races. A second volume 
 will tell the story of Irish confiscations from 
 James I. to Cromwell and William of the Boyne ; 
 after which the gloom of the penal laws settled on 
 the country, and the Irish had no more land to be 
 confiscated, nor even a legal right to hold any land 
 on their own soil. " For a far less amount of 
 wrong," Mr. Amory remarks, " the Americans 
 cast off the English yoke for ever, and proclaimed 
 independence." 
 
 The early portion of Irish history is passed over 
 slightly, for there were no confiscations prior to 
 the Norman invasion. The land belonged to the 
 clan, and the goods of life were abundant and 
 shared by all alike. The condition of the Irish 
 people was better a thousand years ago than it is 
 now ; the progress of civilisation makes the rich 
 richer, but the poor poorer.* They seem to have 
 lived happily in those primitive days, with music 
 and song and cosherings and feastings, where they 
 drank at their banquets of " the best seven sorts of 
 wine," and never a care troubled them save an 
 occasional brush with the Danes, or with each 
 
 * A thousand years ago the people of Ireland had their 
 share in the cattle of the plains, the salmon of the rivers, 
 and the deer of the forest ; now the railroads carry off all 
 the produce of land and rivers for export. Th-3 great 
 proprietors in consequence grow wealthy, but the peasants 
 are reduced to the level of a root-eating people, and never 
 taste meat but twice a year — at Christmas and Easter. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 2113 
 
 other, to keep their shields bright and their swords 
 clean. Nor were they deficient in artistic culture; 
 their golden diadems, torques, bracelets, and other 
 personal ornaments were costly and splendid, and 
 evinced a skill in workmanship rarely equalled in 
 this day. Like the Greeks, they prized highly 
 personal gifts, and their kings were chosen for their 
 stature, strength, and ' beauty. Courage they 
 esteemed as one of the noblest virtues, and victory 
 the highest glory. "What do you desire?" 
 asked Saint Bridget of a great chief. "Shall I 
 pray that the crown may never depart from your 
 race, and that your soul may find rest in heaven ? " 
 " I care not for heaven," he answered, "of which I 
 know nothing, but for long life in this world, in 
 which I greatly delight, and for victory over my 
 enemies." And Saint Patrick, having questioned 
 the king on the eve of battle: "Which will you 
 have — for my prayers are powerful — defeat to-day 
 and heaven for ever, or victory and hell ? " received 
 the emphatic answer, " Hell to all eternity ; so the 
 victory is mine to-day in the battle ! " 
 
 When the Normans came, the Irish were no 
 rude barbarians, as some English writers have 
 endeavoured to represent them. They had a 
 Christian civilisation of seven centuries ; a learned 
 priesthood, honoured throughout Europe ; colleges 
 for instruction, the resort of many Saxon princes ; 
 musicians eminent in their art above all others ; 
 
214 ANCIENT CURES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 and a code of wise, just laws, including evidences 
 of much tender feelin°- towards the weak and help- 
 less. Even in the pagan time a queen of Ireland 
 erected a hospital near her own royal residence 
 for the sick and those wounded in battle, and 
 called it "The House of Sorrow." The many- 
 stately abbeys, the sculptured crosses, the illu- 
 minated manuscripts (which to the Normans seemed 
 the work of angels) attest their wonderful sense of 
 symmetry and beauty, and their reverence for all 
 things pertaining to religion ; while evidences of a 
 still older art and culture exist in those mystic 
 towers which Giraldus Cambrensis gazed upon with 
 awe and wonder above six centuries ago, and which 
 happily, though volumes have been written on the 
 subject, still remain inscrutable, for nothing could 
 be more revolting to the imaginative mind than 
 the satisfactory solution of a world-old mystery. 
 - — Farther back, even in the very night of time, are 
 the sepulchres of the Boyne, and the Cyclopean 
 Temple of New Grange, relics of the same mighty 
 race that dwelt on the Argive plain, and were 
 the Cyclopean builders of Mycenae. Rude in art, 
 but powerful in strength, their tombs stand to this 
 day in all their awful and majestic grandeur in 
 Ireland as in Greece, memorials of the great, silent 
 race, that had no literature and no alphabet, but 
 whose colossal symbols of expression were temples 
 and tombs. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 215 
 
 The Celts in many things have a strong affinity 
 "with the Greeks, the highest honours were given to 
 learning and poetry, and their music had the same 
 subtle power ascribed to the Dorian measure, which 
 had " such strange influence over the human soul, 
 that the bards were often summoned to heal feuds 
 by their divine harmony." 
 
 A. people of this sensitive temperament, proud, 
 passionate', and warlike, accustomed to think greatly 
 of their race, who had owned the soil for nearly two 
 thousand years before the coming of the Normans, 
 and had never endured the yoke of the Cassars, nor 
 the presence of a foreign enemy, save the pirate 
 Danes of the coasts, was ill-fitted to bear the 
 hard, insulting tyranny of English rule. The stolid 
 Saxons had a different temperament, they were 
 rapidly crushed, and humbled, and made the serfs 
 •of their Norman masters ; and after a while they 
 patiently accepted their fate, and became the 
 traders, and toilers, and factory hands of the 
 Empire, no man pitying them. It was evident 
 that nature meant them for a destiny of inferiority, 
 for a servile race, and so they have remained 
 ever since, emphatically "the lower classes" of 
 England. 
 
 The Celts, on the contrary, with their Greek 
 nature, love glory, and beauty, and distinction, 
 •everything that is free and splendid, but they 
 hate toil and despise trade. They were made 
 
216 ANOIENT CUBES, C HARMS,. AND 
 
 for warriors and orators, for a life of excitement 
 and daring, lit by swift impulses, fast and fiery 
 as electric flashes. They will do anything for love 
 or fame. They adore a hero, but they will never 
 tamely submit to coercion, injustice, and a position 
 of inferiority, like the apathetic, dull -brained 
 Saxon. 
 
 It would indeed be impossible to find natures 
 more entirely antagonistic than the Saxon and the 
 Celt. The English live under method and rule>- 
 laboriously and industriously, without excitement 
 or ambition, and will even bear oppression, so as a 
 chance of gain comes with it. They will manufac- 
 ture muskets for their own country, or for the 
 foreign army that fights against England, with 
 equal readiness, and dispassionate commercial calm; 
 and they will shout for war with the Turk or th© 
 Christian, or against them, not for the sake of God,, 
 but for the sake of cotton. 
 
 But of all races the Celt is the most easily led 
 by the affections. If the people believe that their 
 popular hero really loves Ireland, they would 
 sacrifice their lives for him. The English are 
 grateful for benefits to self, the Irish are grateful 
 for sympathy with their country. When they say 
 of a man, " He died for Ireland," the voice is low 
 and tender, as if they spoke of the passion of 
 Christ. 
 
 The great mistake of England was not trying 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 217 
 
 to gain the love of this people. The Irish de- 
 mand some visible personal object for their homage 
 and devotion, but England's rule was only known 
 to them through cruel Acts of Parliament, and 
 to her demand for " gratitude " they might have 
 answered : 
 
 "We, for all our good things, have at your hands — 
 Death, barrenness, child slaughter, curses, cares, 
 Sea leaguer, and land shipwreck, which of thsse — 
 Which shall we first give thanks for ? 
 
 The Irish are naturally loyal, with an almost 
 oriental abnegation of self, to those they love ; 
 but the English never cultivated their affection, 
 and never comprehended the deeply reverential 
 Irish nature, so full of passionate fanaticism, that 
 sympathy with their ideal, whatever that may be, 
 whether in politics or religion, is more to them 
 than if gold were showered upon their path; but 
 as they never received sympathy or affection, but 
 only taunts, insults, and penal laws, the history 
 of Ireland, from the fatal year 1172 to the present 
 hour, is the saddest in Europe. 
 
 Yet the first invaders conquered more through 
 love than war. The Normans were a fine, brave, 
 high-spirited race, one of the leonine races with 
 firm noses, as Victor Hugo describes them, destined 
 to conquer. They intermarried rapidly with the 
 royal families of Ireland, and thus immense estates 
 passed into their hands, many of which are held by 
 
218 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 tlieir descendants to this day. The five daughters 
 of Isabel, grand-daughter of King Dermot Mac- 
 Murrougb, had each a county for her dower ; they 
 all wedded English nobles, and it is remarkable 
 that to this line can be traced all the highest names 
 in the English peerage, the royal family of England, 
 and, through the Stuarts, all the leading crowned 
 heads of Europe. 
 
 The Norman Irish, the descendants of these 
 mixed marriages, grew into a splendid and power- 
 ful race, the Geraldines at their head. Queen 
 Elizabeth came of this blood through her mother 
 and the Ormonds, indeed, Mr. Hepworth Dixon 
 imputes the fascinations of Anne Boleyn to this 
 Irish strain ; and the Irish gradually came to love 
 these Norman nobles who lived amongst them, 
 adopted their speech and dress, and often fought 
 with the clans against England. But these strong 
 bonds of friendship soon excited the jealousy of 
 the English kings, and it is a singular fact that the 
 first coercion laws in Ireland were enacted to break 
 this amity between the two races. Marriage was 
 strictly forbidden with the Irish, and fosterage — 
 for the children grew so fond of tlieir foster 
 kindred, that they often refused to leave them, and 
 renouncing allegiance to England, adopted the 
 Irish mode of life and dress. But no laws were 
 found adequate to prevent intermarriage. Even 
 Spenser, the poet, when he came over to receive 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 219 
 
 Ins three thousand, ncres of the forfeited estates, 
 took to wife an Irish girl, whose portrait he has 
 sketched so prettily in the " Epithalamium ; " and 
 ■all Cromwell's troopers, when they settled down 
 with their land warrants, married Irishwomen, 
 despite the severest penalties. Then a new danger 
 alarmed England, for the children of these mar- 
 riages spoke nothing but Irish, and complaints 
 were made by the officials that the English tongue 
 was almost dying out in Ireland; farther efforts 
 "were made in consequence to force the English 
 settlers to put away their Irish wives, but in vain. 
 Thus a second mixed race spi'ang up in Ireland, 
 still known as " the Cromwellian Irish," strong 
 Protestants, but Liberal in politics, and rather 
 Republican in theory. Meanwhile the Irish dis- 
 dained to use the language of the invaders, or 
 adopt their dress, for "the tribes of Eriu ever 
 hated foreign modes." The English kings some- 
 times sent over presents of costly robes to the great 
 chieftains, but they refused to wear them ; and 
 Shane O'Neill appeared at the Court of Queen 
 Elizabeth in the long flowing yellow mantle, 
 brooched with gold, after the Irish fashion, and 
 .addressed her Majesty in Irish, which sbe was 
 ungracious enough to say resembled "the howling 
 •of a dog." When asked to confer in English with 
 the Commissioners, he replied, indignantly: "What ! 
 shall an O'Neill writhe his mouth in clattering 
 
.220 ANGIENT CURBS, CHARMS, AND 
 
 English ? " The husband of Grana-Uaile, a De 
 Burgho, could speak French, and Latin, and Irish, 
 but no English ; and one frequently reads in the 
 annals of some Norman noble, who swore brother- 
 hood with an Irish chieftain, and assumed the 
 Irish dress, and Irish speech, in sign of friendship. 
 In order therefore to crush more completely 
 the tendency to union between the two races, 
 drawn together by sentiments of chivalry and love, 
 a policy of the most insulting degradation was 
 adopted towards the Irish of the Pale. They were 
 forced to give up their old historic names, and 
 assume hideous and unmeaning surnames, from 
 colours, as black, white, gray, green, brown ; or 
 from fishes, as salmon, cod, haddock, plaice ; and 
 every other stupid appellation that malice could 
 invent, and by which the old associations of noble 
 descent might be obliterated. They were also 
 excluded from all places of trust and honour ; the 
 son had to follow his father's trade, lest by some 
 chance he should rise in the social scale ; and at 
 all times it seems to have been held a praiseworthy 
 act to kill an Irishman, without let or hindrance, 
 fear of law, or punishment of the slayer. The 
 Norman nobles who sided with the clans were also 
 persecuted, and great portions of their estates were 
 given over to a new lot of English colonists less 
 friendly to the Irish. The Geral dines especially, 
 being the most powerful, were treated with most 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 221 
 
 severity. In the reign of Henry VIII., six nobles 
 of the Geraldines were executed in London for 
 aiding rebellion amongst the Irish, but even this 
 bitter vengeance could not quench their national 
 zeal. From Silken Thomas to the fated and in- 
 teresting Lord Edward Fitzgerald, the great house 
 of Kildare has always been on the side of the Irish 
 nation. 
 
 The war of races lasted without intermission 
 for four hundred years, dating from the invasion 
 until the fall of O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, the last 
 independent prince of Ulster.* Then followed the 
 still fiercer war of religions, which has not even 
 yet ended. Queen Elizabeth resolved that the 
 Irish should become Protestant, and burnings, 
 massacres, and devastation were the persuasive 
 means employed. 
 
 All who would not conform were driven from 
 their homes, and left to perish in the bogs and 
 woods where they tried to find a shelter. All the 
 South was confiscated and divided amongst a set 
 ■of Protestant English adventurers. The Irish were 
 cast forth to die, and the horrible work of destruc- 
 tion went on until even the Queen complained that 
 she would soon reign only over ashes and corpses. 
 Spenser, the poet, has left a vivid description of 
 
 * The Rev. 0. P. Meehan has graphically described 
 this memorable epoch of Irish history in his admirable 
 volume entitled, " The Flight of the Earls." 
 
222 ANCIENT CURES, CHABUS, AND 
 
 the state of Ireland at that time. He describes the 
 land as "the fairest upon earth," but the people 
 wandered about like ghosts from the grave, house- 
 less and starving, and all the roads were strewn 
 with the unburied dead. 
 
 When King James came to the throne the Irish 
 had a gleam of hope. He was a Stuart of the line- 
 of their ancient kings, and they looked for tender- 
 ness at his hands for the sake of his Catholic 
 mother; but the hope was vain. The war of 
 religions waxed fiercer, and the persecution was 
 more bitter and cruel. Queen Elizabeth had con- 
 fiscated the South ; King James confiscated the 
 North, and handed over the fishful rivers and broad 
 lands of Ulster to the Worshipful Fishmongers of 
 London, who rejoice in their possession even unto 
 this day. And again, massacres, burnings, and 
 devastation were the means employed to get rid of 
 the unhappy natives of the soil. It was not wonder- 
 ful that a terrible vendetta should be the result- 
 In the memorable year 1641 the Irish rose en masse, 
 headed by Lord Maguire, Earl of Enniskillen, with 
 the avowed object of sweeping all the English out 
 of the island at once, seizing Dublin Castle, and 
 proclaiming a national independent Government. 
 But the project failed, as all projects against English 
 power have failed in Ireland. Lord Maguire was- 
 captured and brought over to London for trial. He 
 was but twenty-six (the leaders of revolutions are 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 223- 
 
 all young), and he met his fate with the calmness 
 of a martyr for religion. When they teased him 
 with taunts upon Romish doctrines, and advice to 
 abjure them, he only answered : "I pray you, gentle- 
 men, let me have peace that I may pray." He 
 earnestly pleaded to be tried by his peers in 
 deference to his rank, and to be beheaded in place 
 of being hung : these requests were denied, and 
 having been degraded from his title of Lord 
 Enniskillen, which afterwards was conferred upon 
 one of the Cole family, he was drawn on a sledge 
 from the Tower through London, and on to Tyburn, 
 where, being removed into a cart, he kneeled down 
 and prayed, awhile, and so was executed.* The 
 war of religions went on with still increasing 
 bitterness during the Republican period between 
 the Irish, who held for King Charles, and the 
 Parliamentary forces, until Cromwell himself at last 
 appeared upon the scene, and stifled Royalists and 
 Catholics alike in a bath of blood. South and 
 North had already been confiscated. Cromwell 
 completed the work by confiscating all the rest of 
 Ireland. His policy was extermination, and this 
 he carried out with a ruthless ferocity that has made 
 
 * An interesting novel founded on the rising of 1641, 
 entitled " Tully Castle," by Mr. Magennis, of Fermanagh,, 
 has recently appeared. The hero is Lord Maguire, and the 
 trial scene and his tragic death are drawn with much 
 power and minute accuracy of detail. 
 
224 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 his name eternally abhorred in Ireland. "The curse 
 •of Cromwell on you " is the bitterest malediction a 
 peasant can utter even to this day. 
 
 The Irish were the Canaanites to be hewed 
 down branch and root. Had the nation had but 
 one neck he would have struck it off. The priests 
 were massacred by hundreds, the nobles were driven 
 into exile, the women and children were sold in 
 thousands as slaves to the West India planters. 
 The whole of the land was seized, and five million 
 -acres were parcelled out by lot to his troops in 
 payment of their arrears of pay. 
 
 The bleakest portion of Connaught alone was 
 ■reserved for the remnant of the Irish people amidst 
 the wild, treeless mountains of the West, and 
 thither the fugitives were driven during all the 
 rigours of winter, with orders not to approach 
 within five miles of the sea under penalty of death 
 — the object being to shut up the last survivors of 
 the Irish nation from all intercourse with the 
 world, and, if possible, to extirpate them wholly by 
 famine and sickness. 
 
 One should read this tragic tale of the uprooting 
 of a nation in Mr. Prendergast's great historic work, 
 "The Cromwellian Settlement of Ireland"* No 
 nation ever endured greater horrors, and no people 
 
 * One of the most valuable contributions which this 
 age has given to Irish history, and perfectly trustworthy, 
 being compiled from authentic sources and State papers. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 225 
 
 but the Irish could have survived them. The land 
 remained untilled, the cattle and corn were de- 
 stroyed, and food had to be imported from "Wales 
 for Cromwell's soldiery. A court-martial sat in St. 
 Patrick's Cathedral, and all delinquents who refused 
 to go to Connaught were hanged, with a placard 
 on the breast, "for not transplanting." The corpses 
 of the slain and the famine-struck were flung into 
 the ditches; multitudes perished from want, and 
 the roads were covered with the unburied dead. 
 The wolves came down from the mountains in 
 such numbers to seize their prey, that travelling 
 became dangerous because of them. Then a price 
 was set on the wolves and on the men who still 
 wandered about the woods and bogs near their 
 ancient homes — five pounds for the skin of a wolf, 
 ten pounds for the head of an Irishman, even 
 twenty pounds if he were distinguished ; still the 
 heads did not come in fast enough, and a free 
 pardon was then offered to any Irishman who 
 killed another and brought his head to claim the 
 reward. 
 
 At length Parliament interfered, with a sugges- 
 tion that it were better not to extirpate the whole 
 nation, but to leave some to till the ground, as the 
 Commissioners reported that four-fifths of the 
 richest land lay waste and uninhabited. 
 
 The English had now been governing Ireland for 
 five hundred years, and this was the result. The 
 
 Q 
 
226 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 accession of James II., however, promised better 
 times. He was a Stuart and a Catholic, and 
 the Irish always clung with fatal fondness to 
 the Stuart race, as being of their own blood. But 
 loyalty had no better fate than disaffection. They 
 had leagued with Spain for the sake of King 
 Charles ; they now leagued with France for the sake 
 of King James. Cromwell avenged the first, and 
 William of Orange the second attempt to support 
 English royalty by foreign arms ; and after the 
 decisive conflict of 1688 a deeper darkness settled 
 upon Ireland. The policy of Elizabeth and her 
 successors was confiscation ; that of Cromwell exter- 
 mination, but the policy of King William, or rather of 
 his Parliament, was degradation, for the penal laws 
 meant social and moral death; and statesmen then 
 sedulously set themselves the task of debasing a 
 whole people below the level of humanity. As a 
 hero, William loved heroism ; and the splendid 
 valour of the Irish, their devotion to their king, their 
 country, and their faith filled him with wonder and 
 admiration. " Give them any terms they ask," he 
 wrote to his generals at Limerick. And when 
 twenty thousand of the best and bravest in Ireland 
 went forth from the surrendered city and ranged 
 themselves under the French flag, to pass from 
 thence into the armies of his hereditary foe, how 
 bitterly he regretted that such men should be driven 
 into exile, or degraded to slaves if they remained 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 227 
 
 at home. Earnestly lie offered them everything 
 men naturally desire — rank, wealth, a position as 
 high in his army as they held in their own, if they 
 would only enter his service. But the Irish heeded 
 not ; they kneeled down reverently to kiss the Irish 
 soil for a last farewell, and then passed on to the 
 ships amidst such lamentations as never were heard 
 before in Ireland, and sailed away from their native 
 land never to behold it more.* 
 
 The laws of William's Parliament were cruel, 
 but those of Queen Anne were ferocious. No other 
 nation ever invented a code so fitted to destroy 
 both soul and body. The son was set against the 
 father, brother against brother, for the law decreed 
 that the informer and betrayer should be rewarded 
 with the estates and property of his victim. 
 
 During the whole of the eighteenth century this 
 atrocious code was endured by 'the Irish without 
 any open revolt ; but at last the bitter indignation 
 of the people burst forth in the great rebellion of 
 1798 — a movement, strange to say, which origi- 
 nated with the Presbyterians of Ulster, the descen- 
 dants of the Scotch settlers of King James. Their 
 object at first was simply to repeal the infamous 
 
 * "The History of the Irish Brigade," by Mr. O'Callaghan, 
 gives a full account of the fate and fortune of these dis- 
 tinguished Irishmen and their descendants. Many of them 
 founded noble families on the Continent, as the MacMahons 
 of Prance, the O'Donnells of Spain, the Nugents, TaafEes, 
 and O'Reillys of Austria, and many others. 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 penal laws, but gradually the organisation became 
 Republican under French influence, and the leader- 
 ship of the fated Lord Edward Fitzgerald. 
 
 How the rebellion was put down is still fresh in 
 the minds of the people, for the generation is not 
 yet extinct whose fathers witnessed the atrocities 
 practised. 
 
 The pitch cap was the favourite amusement of 
 the English soldiery ; piles of these caps were kept 
 in readiness at the barracks, and when filled with 
 burning pitch one was pressed tightly on the head 
 of the victim, who, half-blinded and maddened by 
 the agony, was then turned out to run the gauntlet 
 of his savage tormentors until he dropped dead 
 amidst their shouts of ferocious laughter. 
 
 Gunpowder was rubbed into the hair and then 
 set on fire ; the ears were cut off ; priests and 
 gentlemen of station were half hung to extort infor- 
 mation. Irish vengeance in return was often 
 fierce and terrible, but deliberate torture does not 
 seem to have been practised at the rebel camp,. 
 and many impulsive acts of generosity in saving 
 life are recorded of the insurgents.* 
 
 * On the day the rebels entered "Wexford, the rector, 
 Archdeacon Elgee, my grandfather, assembled a few of his 
 parishioners in the church to partake of the sacrament 
 together, knowing that a dreadful death awaited them. On 
 his return, the rebels were already forcing their way into- 
 his house ; they seized him, and the pikes were already at 
 his breast, when a man stepped forth and told of some- 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 229 
 
 At leDgth '98 was put down ; seventy thousand 
 Irish lay dead, hut the penal laws remained un- 
 changed. The Irish Parliament at last began 
 seriously to consider the disaffected state of the 
 nation. Splendid men of genius and high purpose 
 rose up to denounce wrong, injustice, and tyranny • 
 and the most magnificent advocacy of a people's 
 rights ever uttered was heard in the Irish Parliament 
 just before its fall. But the answer England gave 
 to the noble appeal of the Irish patriots was brief 
 and decisive; she simply annihilated the Parlia- 
 ment, and the voices of the prophets of freedom 
 were heard no more. 
 
 The degradation of Ireland was now complete. 
 After the Union, the palaces of the nobles were 
 left desolate ; wealth, spirit, enterprise, all the 
 brilliancy of social and intellectual life vanished 
 from the capital ; the various trades died out one 
 by one; literature became extinct; the publishing 
 trade, once so vigorous and flourishing, almost en- 
 tirely disappeared; the currents of thought and 
 
 great act of kindness which, the Archdeacon had shown his 
 family. 
 
 In an instant the feeling changed, and the leader gave 
 ■orders that the Archdeacon and all that belonged to him 
 should be held safe from harm. A rebel guard was set 
 over his house and not a single act of violence was permitted. 
 
 But that same evening all the leading gentlemen of the 
 town were dragged from their houses and piked by the 
 rebels upon Wexford Bridge . 
 
230 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 energy set to London, and have continued to flow 
 there ever since, draining the life-blood of Ireland 
 to fill the veins of England, and all that makes a 
 nation great and strong and self-respecting was 
 annihilated. 
 
 With splendid eloquence the great orators, 
 Grattan, Plunkett, Bushe, denounced the evils of 
 the Union, and their burning words have fed the 
 flame of disaffection to it ever since, but with little 
 result. Concessions, indeed, were made at last, but 
 they came tardily and grudgingly. It is only 
 within a few years that Catholics have been admitted 
 to social and political equality with Protestants — 
 the Catholics of to-day are the children of the 
 bond-slaves of yesterday ; they were born in fetters, 
 and the concessions of England, as they generally 
 do, came too late for gratitude from the embittered 
 hearts of a long oppressed people. But the Irish 
 themselves are also much to blame ; their efforts 
 are never organised with the strength and una- 
 nimity that produce great results. B,eligious ani- 
 mosity is the upas tree perpetually distilling its 
 fatal poison upon every broad and liberal project 
 of national advancement. The great French Revo- 
 lution overthrew the feudal tyranny of a thousand 
 years. Freedom was purchased with much blood,, 
 still it was gained ; but Irish revolt against oppres- 
 sion only strengthened the fetters ; the love of 
 liberty that originated the movement soon de- 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 231 
 
 generated into a rabid hatred of race and creed, 
 and no good fruit has ever grown upon that evil 
 tree. 
 
 Other nations have had their seven years' war, 
 or thirty years' war, but Ireland has carried on an 
 utterly unavailing war of seven hundred years, 
 and even yet scarcely recognises the truth that to 
 raise Ireland to the splendid position in the 
 Empire to which she is entitled, there should be 
 a clear, dignified programme of measures, to which 
 all noble natures could say Amen, and the united 
 action of a whole people to obtain their fulfil- 
 ment. Disaffection is not an evil where wrongs 
 exist, it is the lever of progress, but incoherent dis- 
 affection only scatters and weakens the energies 
 of a people. This is painfully evident in Ireland 
 at the present time, when a mournful and hope- 
 less stagnation rests upon all things ; the pro- 
 fessions languish, the nobility are absentees, the 
 commercial classes are merely agents for the 
 English manufacturers ; there is no stimulus to 
 work, no career, no rewards for intellect, no wealth 
 to support art or literature ; and every young man 
 of education and culture must look abroad for a 
 fair opening for his gifts, and be content to leave 
 Ireland to her destiny as a mere cattle-pen for 
 England, and a co-operative store to sell her 
 surplus goods. 
 
 The ignorance of English statesmen, also, 
 
232 ANCIENT CURES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 respecting the needs, the history, and even the 
 existing condition of the people, has been highly- 
 prejudicial to the country. No large, liberal measures 
 are ever thought of as a remedy for acknowledged 
 " disaffection." Complaint is answered by a coer- 
 cion bill, and the only remedial act is to proclaim a 
 district. Lord Beaconsfield, though Prime Minister, 
 never visited Ireland, and knew so little of the 
 country he governed — a country that has been 
 devastated, plundered, and three times confiscated, 
 and reduced by want and famine from eight millions 
 to five millions during the last thirty years — that 
 he imputed all the discontent of the Irish solely 
 to their position beside " the melancholy ocean." 
 
 English statesmen might study with advantage 
 the mode by which the Greeks, the great colonisers 
 of the ancient world, gained the love of all peoples. 
 Like England, the Greeks carried on extensive 
 commerce with many strange nations, but they 
 never sought to exterminate ; they humanised. 
 Their trade swept by many shores, but not to 
 destroy, or burn, or ravage. They opened bazaars, 
 they built temples, they planted corn, and erected 
 factories. If they wanted land they took it, but 
 civilised the people, and drew them up into their 
 own higher civilisation ; they gave their wine and 
 oil for the corn and flax of the stranger, but still 
 more, the wine and oil of their own richly gifted 
 intellects, and they freely intermarried with the 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 233 
 
 foreign peoples, especially with the Celts, between 
 whom and the Greeks there was ever a strong 
 affinity of nature, temperament, and character. 
 
 So they passed on in ceaseless migration, found- 
 ing states wherever they landed, but leaving every 
 state to be self-governed, though bound to Greece 
 by the strong bonds of love and gratitude. 
 
 Above all people, the Greeks seem to have been 
 endowed with the gift of personal fascination ; the 
 English as a nation have none of it, though capable 
 of splendid acts of individual generosity. The colo- 
 nists were proud to be called Greek, and felt a 
 pride in the triumphs of the Greek name ; but in 
 Ireland the word Sassenach inspired only fear, 
 and dread, and hatred. The English strove to crush 
 the mind of the subject race, knowing that culture 
 is power, but the Greeks gave civilisation and 
 refinement, art, science, and philosophy. They 
 conquered by their divine gifts, and the colonists 
 in return glorified Greece by their genius ; wherever 
 the Greeks passed they left a trail of light, but 
 England a trail of blood. 
 
 England never had a divine idea in the treat- 
 ment of nationalities, least of all in Ireland. 
 
 Nothing grand or noble in policy was ever 
 thought of to lift the people to their true height. 
 Self was the only motive power; greed of land, 
 greed of wealth the only aim ; the lust of gold 
 everywhere, the love of God nowhere; spoliation 
 
234 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 and insult the only policy ; the result being that 
 no nation has ever been so unsuccessful in gaining 
 the love of subject states as England. It is told of 
 the Emperor Aurelian that having decreed the 
 destruction of the city of Tyana, the philosopher 
 Apollonius appeared to him in a dream and said : 
 " Aurelian, if you would conquer, abstain from the 
 destruction of cities ; Aurelian, if you would reign, 
 abstain from the blood of the innocent; Aurelian,. 
 if you would be loved, be just and merciful/' It is 
 strange that royal races so seldom seem to under- 
 stand that their only claim to loyalty is in so far as 
 they promote the good of the people. In the 
 government of a nation there should be one thing 
 steadfast — Right; one thing ever sacred — Truth ^ 
 one thing ever manifested — Love; but this is a 
 gospel seldom preached by statesmen. The pros- 
 perity of a country means to them its commercial 
 value, not the moral elevation of the souls com- 
 mitted to their charge. 
 
 But no doubt there is also some instinctive 
 antagonism, or deficiency of sympathy between 
 English and Irish nature, to account for the eternal 
 war of races, and religions, and temperaments 
 through so many centuries. The English are half 
 made of iron, like their soil ; robust, stern, steadfast 
 in purpose, without illusions, without dreams, with- 
 out reverence ; but in the soft, relaxing air of 
 Ireland, the energies of the people are only stirred 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 235- 
 
 fitfully, like the sudden storms of their own moun- 
 tain lakes. There is no persistent force, and the 
 utter stagnation of life, the absence of all motive 
 to exertion forces the people to live in the past, or 
 the future, rather than energetically in the present. 
 They are always dreaming that to-morrow will 
 give them all they require, for to-day gives them 
 nothing. The English, on the contrary, in their 
 full overflowing life of the present, have no time 
 for vain lamentations over the past. What English- 
 man now cares for the devastations of the Common- 
 wealth, even with its solemn tragedy of a king's 
 death, or for the deadly struggle of Guelph and 
 Stuart ? The exports of cotton and the price of 
 corn are more to them than the story of all the 
 dynasties since the Conquest. They never loved 
 any of their kings. They have no popular idol in 
 all their history. No great historic fact has become 
 part of the national life. No lofty aspiration in- 
 spires their oratory. They live wholly in the 
 sensuous and the actual. The Irish live on dreams 
 and prayer. Eeligion and country are the two 
 words round which their lives revolve. 
 
 The frame-work, also, is different in which their 
 souls are set. The factory smoke is so thick in 
 England the people cannot see heaven. In their 
 hard industrial life their eyes are never lifted from 
 toil ; in their ears is only the rush of the wheels- 
 and the stroke of the hammer ; and the air they 
 
236 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 breathe is the poison dust of a world-wide com- 
 merce. But the Irish, without manufactures or 
 commerce, or anything to do save tend the cattle 
 for English food, can at least live, as it were, in the 
 visible presence of God, in the free enjoyment of 
 lake and river, and mountain unsullied by the 
 smoke of labour. The world above is a reality to 
 the Irish peasant. No people have more intense 
 faith in the unseen. It is their religious tempera- 
 ment, so childlike in its simplicity and trust, that 
 alone makes their life of privation endurable, and 
 enables them to meet all sorrows, even death itself, 
 with the pathetic fatalism expressed in the phrase 
 so often heard from peasant lips, " It was the will 
 of God." 
 
 The round, stolid English head, and pale, cold 
 eyes, denote the nation of practical aims, a people 
 made for commerce and industry ; while the small 
 oval head of the Celt, and deep, passionate eyes, 
 denote a people made for religion and art ; and, 
 therefore, the greatest mistake ever made by 
 England was the endeavour to force the Reforma- 
 tion on a people like the Irish. Protestantism, 
 without art, or beauty, or ritual, or symbol, or 
 reverence, suited the self-asserting, dogged egotism 
 of the English. The right of private judgment 
 means to them simply that every man is as good 
 a judge as the parson, or better. The stolid 
 parishioner pays the clergyman to do a certain 
 
USAQES OF IRELAND. 237 
 
 duty, as he pays the doctor and the lawyer, but no 
 sanctity surrounds the Protestant priesthood. 
 
 The Reformation was a genuine outcome of 
 Saxon nature ; a rude revolt against grace, refine- 
 ment, the beautiful, and the mystic ; a cold appeal 
 to the lowest level of the understanding; not a 
 sublime and unquestioning acceptance of an awful 
 revelation from the lips of a consecrated priesthood.. 
 
 Both in religion and politics the Irish need the 
 visible symbol. Their ideal must be impersonated 
 in some form they can reverence, worship, and love- 
 What sad Irish mother, with her half-famished 
 children round her in their miserable cabin, could 
 bear with life day by day without the infinite trust 
 in the Divine Mother who, she believes, is watching 
 over and pitying her ? What could Protestantism 
 with its hard scholastic dogmas do for such a 
 people ? In place of the Divine Mother, the solemn 
 emotional ritual, the mystic symbols of altar and 
 cross, they were offered the abstractions of theology 
 in the Thirty-nine Articles ; while, with the blas- 
 phemous boast that it was the work of God, their 
 stately and beautiful abbeys were plundered and 
 made desolate, where, not self, but the abnegation 
 of self, was the pure ideal of the high ascetic life, 
 and in their place were set up the bare, bleak, 
 whitewashed parish churches. 
 
 The Irish, however, found no comfort in the 
 Thirty-nine Articles, and would not enter the parish 
 
-238 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 churches. They preferred to die, and so thousands 
 of them were slaughtered with their priests, and the 
 rest were degraded to pariahs in their own land ; 
 •still, through all the fires of persecution, they clung 
 to their ancient faith, with a fervour that makes the 
 devotion of the Irish to their creed and priesthood, 
 during the bitter martyrdom of three hundred years, 
 one of the most touching chapters in all human 
 history. 
 
 But new paths opened through the darkness. 
 God has many agents by which peoples and nations 
 are driven forth to be trained and educated by 
 strong, fresh influences. They seem evil at first, 
 yet it is by such means — war, pestilence, and famine 
 — that the human race has been made to drift on, 
 ever westward, during the last three thousand 
 years. 
 
 The terrible famine that came upon Ireland was 
 one of these agents of God. A million perished 
 miserably, but a million also of the people emigrated. 
 The Irish peasant was forced at last to rise up 
 from his tireless hearth and blighted fields, to seek 
 a new home across the ocean. From the dismal 
 death-in-life of his wretched existence, with a frame 
 wasted by hunger, and a soul lying torpid in 
 bonds, he was sent forth to gain wealth, power, 
 freedom, and light by contact with a great people 
 of illimitable energies, who needed his toiling hand 
 in exchange for their gold, to build up the chain 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 239 
 
 •of cities from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and to lay 
 the rails that span a continent for the traffic of the 
 world. 
 
 What may be the future of the much tried, but 
 ineffaceable Irish race, none can tell. No definite 
 line of action has yet been formed, but a people 
 who are learning, under the teaching of America, 
 the dignity and value of human rights, are not 
 likely to acquiesce tamely in the degraded position 
 Ireland holds in Europe, decay stamped on her 
 cities and her institutions, helpless poverty on her 
 people, who yet own a country larger, richer, and 
 better placed for all the purposes of commerce than 
 half the autonomous States of Europe. The Irish 
 never forget their motherland or give up the hope 
 of national independence ; even amongst the kind- 
 bearted Americans they have not eaten of the 
 lotus that makes tbem forget Ithaca. But the 
 regeneration and re-creation of Ireland will not 
 come through " Home Rule " as understood by its 
 present supporters and leaders, if, indeed, that hollow 
 fiction is not even now almost extinct. No one 
 «an seriously believe that the Irish nobles will ever 
 come back to their ancient palaces, or the Queen 
 take up her residence at Dublin Castle in a desolated 
 city and a land of poverty, torpor, and universal 
 decadence. 
 
 " Home Rule," with its old feudal distinctions of 
 class and caste, is looked upon with bitter disdain 
 
240 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 by the advanced party in Irish politics, and it will 
 never be galvanised into life again by any amount 
 of platform platitudes. 
 
 A National Convention, with supreme power 
 over all that concerns Ireland, and control of the 
 revenues, to be composed of members elected by 
 universal suffrage, and secured in power for a 
 definite time, is the idea most prominently set forth 
 now by the American Irish. Of course a National 
 Convention without the command of the revenues 
 of the nation would be a cheat and a delusion, for 
 the power to make laws and decree improvements- 
 would be of little avail as long as the revenue 
 of Ireland was poured into the treasury of another 
 country. 
 
 The new movement will have a larger and more 
 comprehensive aim than the mere "Repeal of th& 
 Union." The American Irish, with their bolder 
 views, desire to create a new system of things, not 
 merely to resuscitate the old, for it is not from the- 
 shrivelled rags of effete worn-out ideas that a people 
 can weave the garment of the new age. The new 
 wine must be poured into new bottles ; and a higher- 
 object even than to increase the material prosperity 
 of a country is to create the moral dignity of a 
 people, to bring the torpid, slumbering energies of 
 Ireland within the influence of the powerful electric 
 forces that everywhere else are stirring humanity 
 into new life. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 241 
 
 The influence, however, must come from without ; 
 Ireland alone and unaided has never yet accom- 
 plished one oE these great revolutions such as 
 France, Italy, and England have had, that sweep 
 off at once the accumulated evils of centuries, 
 because Ireland has no firm organisation, and 
 therefore no power, only a vague nameless dis- 
 content, only a bitter sense of wrong. One thing, 
 however, is certain : there is a stir in men's minds 
 now that is a prophecy of change; the feverish 
 unrest that has driven the young generation of 
 Ireland to America will one day drive them back 
 again all alight with her ideas, and ready to pro- 
 claim that in a Republic alone is to be found the true 
 force that emancipates the soul and the life of man. 
 
 England should have counted the cost before 
 compelling the Irish people to take shelter iu the 
 arms of the mighty mother of freedom. 
 
 Yet there is nothing to alarm in the word 
 " Republic." It simply means the Government of 
 common-sense for the common good. Every one 
 is wearied with the old system of things, and all 
 long to throw off the iucubus of prejudice, and 
 routine, and fetish worship, and to start afresh on 
 a new career under new condition. 
 
 The American Irish are eager to join this world- 
 wide movement, which is straining towards a goal 
 set far beyond all merely local aims, or the progress 
 •of one's own race and country. 
 
 R 
 
242 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 America is the great teacher of the nations, and 
 her lessons will eventually lead the world. In '9$ 
 American ideas overthrew the thousand-year-old 
 Monarchy of France, and they will probably over- 
 throw the Monarchies of all Europe in time. The 
 next great movement in Ireland will not be a 
 rising of the peasantry against the police, it will 
 be as a part of the European struggle of the masses 
 against a dominant minority. Lines, like hidden 
 electrical wires, of Republican feeling, traverse un- 
 seen the whole soil of Ireland • a touch will wake 
 them into action. 
 
 What the unknown future may bring, none can 
 predict, but another half - century will witness 
 assuredly a new order of things in society and 
 politics. One can hear already the low murmur of 
 the advancing waves of change, and in the endless 
 mutation of all things, Governments, and peoples, 
 and ideas, even Ireland may hope that change will 
 bring progress. It is given to every nation once 
 to touch the zenith, and perhaps the hour of her 
 advancement draws nigh. 
 
 But whether the change will come through the 
 clash of war or the peaceful organisation of a great 
 European brotherhood of freedom, none can say. 
 The great world-movers of the future will probably 
 cast down before they build up. The iconoclasts 
 will precede the constructors, and the present time 
 is emphatically iconoclastic. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 243 
 
 All the old-world opinions, dogmas, traditions of 
 custom and usage, all the cumbrous machinery of 
 old-world life and political systems, have been flung 
 into the crucible of the critics and philosophers ; 
 but what the residuum will be when the dross is 
 eliminated, who can say ? 
 
 We can but read the signs of the times, not 
 strive after vain prophecies. It is important, how- 
 ever, that those who rule the nations should study 
 diligently the tendencies of the age throughout 
 Europe, while to England it is of special import- 
 ance to study the influences from America that are 
 so powerfully affecting the tone of Irish thought, 
 for Ireland may yet be the battle-ground where 
 the destinies of the Empire will be decided. The 
 American Irish are prepared for any effort, any 
 sacrifice to obtain the autonomy of Ireland — that 
 natural right of self-government which, as Mr. 
 Gladstone says, belongs to all peoples. 
 
 Peril and danger may be in the way, but they 
 accept and brave all consequences. 
 
 They wait beneath the furnace blast, 
 
 The pangs of transformation ; 
 Not painlessly doth God recast, 
 
 Or mould anew a nation. 
 
 Meanwhile England, all-powerful England, may 
 effect a social revolution peacefully, and without 
 any danger to the integrity of the Empire, if wise 
 and just measures are organised in time for the 
 
244 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 true advancement and prosperity of Ireland ; and 
 the Irish people, in return, will stand faithfully by 
 England in those hours of peril which seem 
 gathering in clouds of darkness upon the horizon, 
 and threatening dangers which only a united 
 Empire can meet and overcome. 
 
 CONCERNING IRISH PROVERBS. 
 
 A vast amount of characteristic popular wisdom 
 has existed for ages amongst the Irish peasantry, 
 condensed in proverbial sayings that show a subtle 
 itjsight into motives and conduct, with a deep 
 knowledge of all the varied influences that stir the 
 human heart ; but though well worthy of a place 
 in our national literature, these proverbs of the 
 people have remained unknown to the general 
 reader, from the fact of their being hidden away 
 in the obscurity of the original vernacular. This 
 hindrance, however, has now, to a great extent, 
 been removed; for, within the last few decades, 
 several eminent Celtic scholars have taken up the 
 subject, and devoted both time and learning, with 
 patient, loving zeal, to the collection and translation 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 245 
 
 into English of many of those interesting examples 
 of ancient thought — the result being that many- 
 hundred Irish proverbs have now been rescued 
 from obscurity and made known to English lite- 
 rature, chiefly through the labours of such dis- 
 tinguished men as John O'Donovan ; the Rev. 
 Canon Ulick Burke, of St. Jautath's, Tuam, one of 
 the most learned Irish scholars of the age; and 
 Robert MacAdam, of Belfast, editor of The Ulster 
 Journal of Archaeology, whose attention was more 
 particularly devoted to the proverbs of the North 
 of Ireland. 
 
 National proverbs form a kind of synthesis of 
 national character and of the moral tendencies of 
 a race. There may be no written code amongst 
 the peasantry of morals or manners, yet deeper 
 truths concerning human actions, motives, and 
 tendencies often lie at the base of the popular 
 proverbs, than could be gathered from even the 
 most learned and diffuse essays of the philosopher. 
 
 Irish proverbs are especially remarkable for 
 their concise and forcible expression of truths con- 
 cerning life, conduct, and action. The matured 
 wisdom of the centuries is in them, and they bear 
 witness to the acute vision of the ancient seers and 
 Pileas, who could fathom the very depths of the 
 human soul, and reveal the mysteries of life in 
 these strong, enduring maxims of steadfast truth. 
 A keen sense, also, of the sad and bitter realities of 
 
246 ANCIENT CURE 8, G HARMS, AND 
 
 human destiny is observable in them — the result of 
 shrewd observation, shadowed by the melancholy 
 of age and experience. 
 
 The peasants rarely speak on any subject that 
 touches them deeply without illustrating their 
 opinions by a proverb, uttered with the firm de- 
 cision of assured conviction. Indeed, the peculiar 
 veneration in which the Irish hold the sacred 
 wisdom of their ancestors has given rise to the 
 saying, " It is impossible to contradict the old 
 word'" (the proverb). 
 
 The Irish people have always believed that 
 their Kings, Brehons, Ollamhs, and Bards were 
 gifted with singular and peculiar intelligence, and 
 a mystic power of reading the secrets of the heart. 
 Hence the sayings of these great wise men of 
 ancient renown have passed through the mind of 
 the people in each successive generation, and are 
 still for ever on their lips as so many sacred 
 maxims, to be accepted, without questioning, as 
 undeniable truths respecting their life, words, and 
 works ; for many of these proverbs show, in a 
 marked manner, the still ineffaceable peculiarities 
 of Irish nature — the kindness and sensitiveness of 
 the people, their instinctive sense of the grace of 
 courtesy of manner, their love of distinction, their 
 trust in good luck rather than in work, their 
 eminently social qualities, especially the love of 
 conversation, and the pathetic acceptance of the 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 247 
 
 •doom that want and poverty bring on life, " because 
 it is the will of G-od." 
 
 These qualities have been connected with the 
 Irish race throughout all history, and are as true 
 now, in the present time, as they have been in the 
 past. Above a hundred years ago, Lord Macartney, 
 the great Ambassador of England to the East, thus 
 described the native Irish : " They are active in 
 body; bold and daring; patient of cold, hunger, 
 and fatigue; dauntless in danger, and regardless of 
 life when glory is in view ; warm in love and 
 friendship, quick in resentment, and implacable in 
 hatred; generous and hospitable beyond all bounds 
 of prudence ; credulous, superstitious, and vain ; 
 talkative, disputatious, and strongly disposed to 
 turbulence and contest. They are all fond of learn- 
 ing, and are endowed with excellent parts, but are 
 usually more remarkable for liveliness of thought 
 than accuracy of expression." 
 
 Many of these national and enduring race 
 •characteristics will be found expressed with much 
 force and freedom in the following selections from 
 the terse and acute sayings of ancient Irish wisdom. 
 
 Selected Proverbs. 
 True greatness knows gentleness. 
 When wrathful words arise a closed mouth is 
 soothing. 
 
 Have a mouth of ivy and a heart of holly. 
 
248 ANCIENT CURES, CHARMS, AND' 
 
 A silent mouth is musical. 
 
 Associate with the nobles, but be not cold to- 
 the poor and lowly. 
 
 A short visit is best, and that not too often,, 
 even to the house of a friend. 
 
 Blind should be the eyes in the abode of another. 
 
 Great minds live apart; people may meet, but 
 the mountains and the rocks never. 
 
 A man with loud talk makes truth itself seem 
 folly. 
 
 Much loquacity brings a man's good sense into 
 disrepute, and by a superfluity of words, truth is 
 obscured. 
 
 No rearing, no manners. 
 
 Tell not your complaints to him who has no pity. 
 
 Neither praise nor dispraise thyself; the well 
 bred are always modest. 
 
 It is difficult to soothe the proud. 
 
 Every nursliDg as it is nursed; every web as it 
 is woven. 
 
 Without store no friends; without rearing no- 
 manners. 
 
 A little relationship is better than much friend- 
 ship. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 249- 
 
 Gentleness is better than haughtiness. 
 A constant guest is never welcome. 
 The peacemaker is never in the way. 
 Forsake not a friend of many years for the- 
 acquaintance of a day. 
 
 No heat like that of shame. 
 
 No pain like that of refusal. 
 
 No sorrow like the loss of friends. 
 
 No feast till there is the roast. 
 
 No galling trial till one gets married. 
 
 Praise youth, and it will advance to success. 
 
 Reputation is more enduriug than life. 
 
 Wine is pleasant, unpleasant the price. 
 
 Drinking is the brother of robbery. 
 
 Character is better than wealth. 
 
 If the head cannot bear the glory of the crown, 
 better be without it. 
 
 Face the sun, but turn your back to the storm. 
 
 Do your work, and heed not boasting. 
 
 Without money fame is dead. 
 
 He who is up is extolled; he who is down is- 
 trampled on. 
 
 Sweet is the voice of the man who has wealth. 
 
•250 ANCIENT CUBES, CHASMS, AND 
 
 but the voice of the indigent man is harsh — no one 
 heeds him. 
 
 How many mourn the want of possessions ; yet 
 the strong, the brave, and the rich, all go to the 
 grave at last ; like the poor, and the emaciated, and 
 the infant. 
 
 God is nigher to us even than the door. God 
 stays long, but He strikes at last. 
 
 Death is the poor man's best physician. 
 Many a day we shall rest in the clay. 
 
 A hound's tooth, a thorn in the hand, and a 
 fool's retort are the three sharpest things of all. 
 
 Do not credit the buzzard, nor the raven, nor 
 the word of a woman. 
 
 No wickeder being exists than a woman of evil 
 temper. 
 
 The lake is not encumbered by the swan; nor 
 the steed by the bridle ; nor the sheep by the wool; 
 nor the man by the soul that is in him. 
 
 Conversation is the cure for every sorrow. Even 
 contention is better than loneliness. 
 
 Bad is a bad servant, but he is better than none. 
 
 It is sad to have no friend ; sad to have unfor- 
 tunate children ; sad to have only a poor hut ; but 
 sadder to have nothing good or bad. 
 
 There is nothing malicious but treachery. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 251 
 
 Idleness is a fool's desire. 
 
 Gold is light with a fool. 
 
 A long disease does not tell a lie, it kills at last. 
 
 Do not take the thatch from your own roof to 
 buy slates for another man's house. 
 
 The tree remains, but not the hand that 
 planted it. 
 
 A heavy purse makes a light heart. 
 
 Better April showers than the breadth of the 
 ocean in gold. 
 
 Never count your crops till June is over. 
 
 Autumn days come quickly, like the running of 
 a hound upon the moor. 
 
 Send round the glass to the south, from the left 
 to the right hand ; all things should front the south. 
 
 He that spies is the one that kills. 
 
 A meeting in the sunlight is lucky, and a 
 burying ia the rain. 
 
 Winter comes fast on the lazy. 
 
 There are three without rule — a mule, a pig, and 
 & woman. 
 
 The beginning of a ship is a board ; of a kiln, 
 a stone ; of a king's reign, salutation ; and the 
 beginning of health is sleep. 
 
252 ANOIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 Have sense, patience, and self-restraint, and no 
 mischief will come. 
 
 Four things to be hated : A worthless hound, 
 a slow horse, a chief without wisdom, a wife 
 without children. 
 
 Better a good run than a long standing. 
 
 Falling is easier than rising. 
 
 One morsel of a rabbit is worth two of a cat. 
 
 Cleverness is better than strength. 
 
 Good fortune often abides with a fool. 
 
 If I am yellow, I have a fair heart. 
 
 If the day is long, night comes at last. 
 
 "Whether the sun rise late or early, the day is as 
 God pleases. 
 
 There is no joy without affliction. 
 
 No one seeks relationship to the unfortunate. 
 
 A foot at rest meets nothing. 
 
 The day of storm is not the day for thatching. 
 
 Virtue is everlasting wealth. 
 
 Avarice is the foundation of every evil. 
 
 Wisdom excels all riches. 
 
 Shun a prying thief and a deceiver. 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 253 
 
 An empty vessel has the greatest sound. 
 
 Three good things are often thrown away : A 
 good thing done for an old man, for an ill-natured 
 man, or for a child ; for the old man dies, the other 
 is false, and the child forgets. 
 
 In slender currents comes good luck ; in rolling 
 torrents comes misfortune. 
 
 Misfortune follows fortune inch by inch. 
 
 God never closed one gap but He opened an- 
 other. 
 
 Good begets goodness, and bad badness. Money 
 begets money, and wealth friendship. 
 
 Gentleness is better than haughtiness; adjust- 
 ment than going to law. A small house and full 
 store, than a large house and little food. 
 
 Better to spare in time than out of time. 
 
 The son of a widow who has plenty of cattle, 
 the foal of an old mare at grass, and the miller's 
 dog who has always plenty of meal, are the three 
 happiest creatures living. 
 
 Good luck is better than early rising. 
 
 It is better to be lucky than wise. 
 
 Every man has bad luck awaiting him some time 
 or other. But leave the bad luck to the last ; 
 perchance it may never come. 
 
254 ANCIENT CUBES, CHARMS, AND 
 
 Have a kind look for misery, but a frown for an 
 enemy. 
 
 A misty winter brings a pleasant spring. A 
 pleasant winter a misty spring. 
 
 Red in the South means rain and cold. 
 
 Red in the Bast is a sign of frost. 
 
 Red in the North rain and wind. 
 
 Red in the West sunshine and thaw. 
 
 You will live during the year, for we were just 
 speaking of you. 
 
 There is wisdom in the raven's head. 
 
 A poem ought to be well made at first, for 
 there is many a one to spoil it afterwards. 
 
 A man may be his own ruin. It is a wedge- 
 from itself that splits the oak-tree. 
 
 Want, slavery, scarcity of provisions, plagues,, 
 battles, conflicts, defeat in battle, inclement weather, 
 rapine, from the unworthiness of a prince do spring- 
 In contradistinction to this statement, the reign 
 of a good prince, it is asserted, brings a blessing on 
 the land. In the time of Cormac-Mac-Art, "The 
 world was delightful and happy, nine nuts grew on 
 each twig, and nine sure twigs on each rod." And 
 in the reign of Cathal-Crovh-dhearg, "The grass 
 was so abundant that it reached above the horns of 
 the cattle, when they lay down to rest in the field." 
 
USAGES OF IRELAND. 255- 
 
 Mysteries and Usaqes. 
 
 The ancient Druids, priests, and magi possessed 
 many wonderful secrets. The priest, by waving of 
 his wand, could throw a person into a deep sleep, 
 and while under the influence of this Druidical 
 operation, the patient could describe what was 
 passing at a distance, and exhibit all the phenomena 
 of clairvoyance as known to the moderns. The 
 magi had also the power of prolonging life, and for 
 this purpose an Irish pearl was swallowed, which 
 rendered the swallower as youthful as when in 
 his prime. The Tuatha-de-Danans possessed this 
 secret, hence the tradition of their long existence 
 secreted in caves, after their defeat by the Milesians.. 
 
 The Druids believed that the moon exercised a 
 powerful influence over the human frame, and pro- 
 duced a violent pulsation in the blood-vessels 
 during the space of twenty-four hours. 
 
 It is reported that the ancient Irish used 
 poisoned weapons, and the poison was extracted 
 from hellebore and the berries of the yew tree. 
 
 It is believed that if any of the Irish of noble 
 race should die abroad, the dead are so anxious to 
 "rest in the ancestral home, that their dust flies 
 on the winds of heaven over land and sea, blasting 
 every green and living thing in its passage as it 
 goes by, until it reaches the hereditary burial- 
 ground, and there rests in peace. And this fatal. 
 
.256 ANCIENT CURBS, CHARMS, ETC. 
 
 and baneful rush of the dust of the dead, which 
 blights the crops and the fruit, is called by the 
 people, "The red wind of the hills," and is held by 
 th<3m in the utmost dread. 
 
 In the time of the Fenian Princes, the dead 
 were not burned but interred in the earth, the feet 
 to the east, the head to the west; and a cairn of 
 stones was raised over them. Through this, a 
 passage with doors led to the place where the dead 
 lay. A grave of one door for a man of science ; a 
 grave of two doors for a woman ; mounds over 
 foreigners of distinction ; and enclosures round 
 those who died of the deadly plague. Thus, sex 
 and rank were distinguished by the construction of 
 the grave. 
 
 • There was also another mode of burial for 
 warriors. The dead were placed in a standing 
 position, their arms and shield beside them, and a 
 great circular cairn of earth and stones was raised 
 over them. Thus the heroic King of Munster, slain 
 in battle, was placed in his grave. " Mogha-Neid lies 
 in his sepulchre, with his javelin by his shoulder, 
 with his club which was strong in battle, with his 
 helmet, with his sword ; long shall he be lamented 
 with deep love, and his absence be the cause of 
 darkest sorrow." 
 
 THE END. 
 
 CHARLES DICKENS AND EVANS, CRYSTAL PALACE PEES 
 
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