Ulster Folklore

Each story keeps the passage it was read from. Open one to read the passage as the book has it, and, where the companion has written its own telling, that too.

1. The murder of Dr. Hamilton and Mrs Waller near Fahan

   Fahan · town · Donegal · 1797

   While visiting Dr Waller at the rectory of Sharon near Fahan, Dr Hamilton and his hostess Mrs Waller were murdered when armed men broke into the house, firing shots and dragging Hamilton outside to kill him, an event reported to the Irish House of Commons in March 1797.

   Read the passage

   "As that gentleman (Dr. Hamilton) was sitting with the family in Mr. Waller's house, several shots were fired in upon them, the house was broken open, and Mrs. Waller, in endeavouring to protect her helpless husband by covering him with her body, was murdered. Mr. Hamilton, from the natural love of life, had taken refuge in the lower apartments. Thence they forced him, and as he endeavoured to hold the door they held fire under his hand until they made him quit his hold. They then dragged him a few yards from the house, and murdered him in the most inhuman and barbarous manner."[119]

   From a letter written by Dr. Hall to the _Gentleman's Magazine_ (March, 1797), we learn that the assassins retired unmolested and undiscovered. Nor were any of them ever brought to justice, although popular tradition, among both Catholics and Protestants, says that misfortune dogged their footsteps, and each one of them came to an untimely end. Dr. Hamilton's body remained exposed during the night, and was only removed the following morning, when it was taken to Londonderry and interred in the Cathedral graveyard. Here his name is recorded on the family tombstone; and in 1890 his descendants erected a tablet to his memory in the chancel of the Cathedral.

   Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 11

   As the companion tells it

   You are coming through Fahan, in Donegal. In 1797 this place was the scene of a notorious double murder. Dr Hamilton was visiting at the rectory of Sharon, the home of Mr and Mrs Waller. He was sitting with the family when several shots were fired in upon them. The house was broken open. Mrs Waller tried to protect her helpless husband, covering him with her body, and was murdered. Hamilton, from the natural love of life, had taken refuge in the lower apartments. They forced him from there. As he tried to hold the door, they held fire under his hand until he quit his hold. They dragged him a few yards from the house and murdered him, in the words of the report, in the most inhuman and barbarous manner. The assassins retired unmolested and undiscovered. None were ever brought to justice, though popular tradition among both Catholics and Protestants says misfortune dogged their footsteps and each came to an untimely end. Hamilton's body remained exposed through the night, removed only the following morning, taken to Londonderry and buried in the Cathedral graveyard. His name is on the family tombstone there, and in 1890 his descendants erected a tablet to his memory in the chancel.

2. Balor imprisons his daughter at Tormore

   Tormore · minor feature · Donegal

   King Balor, fearing a prophecy that his daughter's son would kill him, shut his daughter up in Tormore on Tory Island with twelve ladies to prevent her from bearing children.

   Read the passage

   King Balor, it is true, is not of diminutive stature. I heard much of this chieftain with the eye at the back of his head, which, if uncovered, would kill anyone exposed to its gaze. He knew it had been said in old times that he should die by the hand of his daughter's son, and he determined his daughter should remain childless. He shut her up in Tormore, with twelve ladies to wait on her. Balor had no smith on the island, but at Cloghanealy, on the mainland, there lived a smith who had the finest cow in the world, named Glasgavlen. He kept a boy to watch it, but, notwithstanding this precaution, two of Balor's servants carried off the cow. When the herd-boy saw it was gone, he wept bitterly, for the smith had told him his head would be taken off if he did not bring her back. Suddenly a fairy, Geea Dubh, came out of the rock, and told the boy the cow was in Tory, and if he followed her advice he would get it back. She made a curragh for him, and he crossed over to Tory, but he did not get the cow. The tale now becomes confused. We hear of twelve children, and how Balor ordered them all to be drowned, but his daughter's son was saved. The fairy told the herd-boy that, if the child were taken care of, it would grow up like a crop which, when put into the earth one day, sprouts up the next.

   The boy took service under Balor, and the child was sent to the ladies, who brought him up for three years. At the end of that time the herd boy took him to the mainland, where he grew up a strong youth, and worked for the smith. On one occasion Balor sent messengers across to the mainland, but the lad attacked them and cut out their tongues. The maimed messengers returned to Tory, and when Balor saw them he knew that he who had done this deed was the dreaded grandson. He set out to kill him; but when the youth saw Balor approaching the forge, he drew the poker from the fire and thrust it into the eye at the back of the King's head.

   Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 7

3. Finglas drowned in Lough Finn

   near Lough Finn · lake or lakes · Donegal

   In the story of a fight between the giant Fargowan and a wild boar, his sister Finglas, misled by an echo, jumped back and forth across Lough Finn until her hair became entangled and she drowned; her coffin, with boards 14 feet long, was said to have been found when the railway was built.

   Read the passage

   In the tales of the giants we are brought face to face with beings of great strength, but in a low stage of civilization. Balor, we have seen, had no smith on Tory Island, and in a story of the fight between the giant Fargowan and a wild boar, his sister Finglas goes to his assistance with her apron filled with stones. Misled by the echo, she jumps backwards and forwards across Lough Finn until at last her long hair becomes entangled and she is drowned. It is believed that her coffin was found when the railway was being made; the boards were 14 feet long. Sometimes the works of Nature are ascribed to the giants; we have all heard of Finn McCoul as the artificer of the Giant's Causeway, and near Glenties I was shown perched blocks, which had been thrown by the giants. On the other hand, these giants, with all their magic, are often very human; perhaps we are listening to the tales of a small race, who exaggerated the feats of their large but savage neighbours. Writing in 1860, J. F. Campbell, in his introduction to the "Tales of the West Highlands," says: "Probably, as it seems to me, giants are simply the nearest savage race at war with the race who tell the tales. If they performed impossible feats of strength, they did no more than Rob Roy, whose putting-stone is now shown to Saxon tourists ... in the shape of a boulder of many tons."[79] Turning to fairies, the same writer says: "I believe there was once a small race of people in these islands, who are remembered as fairies.... They are always represented as living in green mounds. They pop up their heads when disturbed by people treading on their houses. They steal children. They seem to live on familiar terms with the people about them when they treat them well, to punish them when they ill-treat them.... There are such people now. A Lapp is such a man; he is a little flesh-eating mortal, having control over the beasts, and living in a green mound, when he is not living in a tent or sleeping out of doors, wrapped in his deerskin shirt."[80]

   Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 7

4. M'Combridge and the fairy house at Glenravel

   near Glenravel · population centre · Antrim

   A man named M'Combridge from Glenravel went looking for his heifer one evening and found a great house that had not been there before, where fairies killed and cooked his heifer, forced him to drink its broth, and detained him overnight, after which he woke on the grass near his own home.

   Read the passage

   A curious story was told me by an old woman in the Cottage Hospital at Cushendall. A man at Glenravel named M'Combridge went out one evening to look for his heifer, but could not find it. He saw a great house in one of his fields, where no house had been before, and, wondering much at this, he went in. An old woman sat by the fire, and soon two men came in leading the heifer. They killed it with a blow on the head and put it into a pot. M'Combridge was too much afraid to make any objection; he rose, however, to leave the house, but the old woman said: "Wait; you must have some of the broth of your own heifer." Three times she made him partake of the broth, and he was then unable to leave the house. She put him to bed, and the man gave birth to a son. He fell asleep, but was wakened by something touching his ear, and found himself on the grass near his home, and the heifer close to his ear.

   This fantastic story no doubt represents a dream, but does it contain a reminiscence of the couvade, where, after the birth of the child, the father goes to bed? Sir E. B. Tylor, in the "Early History of Mankind," has shown how widespread this custom was both in the Old and the New World.

   Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 9

5. Tragic tale of the heather beer secret at Ballycairn Fort

   Ballycairn · townland · Derry

   Near Ballycairn Fort the story was told of the last of the Danes, where a father chose death rather than reveal the secret of brewing heather beer, even after his son was hanged to force the confession.

   Read the passage

   In a former paper I referred to the lost secret of the heather beer, and the tragic ending of the last of the Danes.[37] As the story was told me near Ballycairn Fort, the father said: "Give my son the first lilt of the rope, and I will reveal our secret"; but when the son was dead the father cried: "Slay me also, for none shall ever know how the heather beer was brewed!"

   In a paper read to this club Mr. McKean[38] mentioned that this story had been told to him in Kerry, where I, too, heard it. It appears to be almost universal in Ulster. When visiting Navan Fort, the ancient Emania, near Armagh, I was told that on this fort the Danes made heather beer. I asked if any heather grew in the neighbourhood, but the answer was, not now. There are variants of the tale. In some parts of Donegal it is wine, not beer, that the Danes are said to have made. As a rule the slaughter is taken for granted, and very little said about it; but a farmer in Co. Antrim gave me a full account of the massacre, how at a great feast a Roman Catholic sat beside each Dane, and at a given signal plunged his dirk into his neighbour's side, until only one man and his son remained alive; then followed the usual sequel.

   Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 5

6. Fairy fort destroyed for the Belfast-Ballymena railway at Lenagh

   Lenagh · townland · Antrim · 1848

   About sixty-five years before writing, an old fort with fairy bushes in the townland of Lenagh stood in the way of the Belfast to Ballymena railway line. Workers were unwilling to touch it, one was injured cutting a thorn bush, and the fort was eventually blown up by railway officials, revealing a fine spearhead and other implements underneath.

   Read the passage

   Here we have an instance of the strong belief that to interfere in any way with stone, tree, or fort, belonging to the fairies is certain to bring disaster. About sixty-five years ago, when the railway was being made between Belfast and Ballymena, an old fort with fairy bushes in the townland of Lenagh stood on the intended track, and had to be removed. The men working on the line were most unwilling to meddle with either fort or bushes. One, however, braver than the rest began to cut down a thorn, when he met with an accident which strengthened the others in their refusal. In the end the fort had to be blown up, I believe by the officials of the railway, and underneath it a very fine spearhead and other implements were found.[98]

   A fort near Glasdrumman, Co. Down, was demolished by the owner, but the country-people noted that the man who struck the first blow was injured and died soon afterwards, while the owner himself became a permanent invalid. A woman living near this fort related that in the evening after the work was begun she heard an awful screech from the fort; presumably the fairies were leaving their home.

   Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 9

7. The Grey Man's Path at Fair Head

   near Benmore or Fair Head · promontory · Antrim · 1858

   A fissure on the face of Benmore or Fair Head allows a good climber to ascend the cliff, and is associated with the Grey Man, possibly the sea-god Manannan. Near the mouth of the Bush River, two youths reported the Grey Man appearing to them.

   Read the passage

   [49] The Grey Man's Path is a fissure on the face of Benmore or Fair Head, by which a good climber can ascend the cliff. It has been suggested that this Grey Man is one of the old gods, possibly Manannan, the Irish sea-god. In the _Ulster Journal of Archæology_ for 1858, vol. vi., p. 358, there is an account given of the Grey Man appearing near the mouth of the Bush River to two youths, who believed they would have seen his cloven foot had he not been standing in the water. They had at first mistaken the apparition for an ordinary man.

   [50] A place inhabited by fairies, or "gentlefolk."

   Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 7

8. The seal-man of Arranmore

   near Aran Island · island or archipelago · Donegal

   Islanders of Arranmore refused to attack seals, believing them to be humans transformed by their own witchcraft, illustrated by the tale of a man named Rodgers who wounded a seal in a cave and later met the same being, now a man in Scotland, bearing the scar.

   Read the passage

   A story illustrating the same belief is told by John Sweeney, an inspector of National Schools, who wrote about forty years ago a series of letters describing Donegal and its inhabitants.[82] In his account of Arranmore he says: "Until lately the islanders could not be induced to attack a seal, they being strongly under the impression that these animals were human beings metamorphosed by the power of their own witchcraft. In confirmation of this notion, they used to repeat the story of one Rodgers of their island, who, being alone in his skiff fishing, was overtaken by a storm, and driven on the shore of the Scotch Highlands. Having landed, he approached a house which was close to the beach, and on entering it was accosted by name. Expressing his surprise at finding himself known in a strange country, and by one whom he had never seen, the old man who addressed him bared his head, and, pointing to a scar on his skull, reminded Rodgers of an encounter he had with a seal in one of the caves of Arranmore. 'I was,' he said, 'that seal, and this is the mark of the wound you inflicted on me. I do not blame you, however, for you were not aware of what you were doing.'"

   I fear I have lingered too long over these old-world stories. To me they point to a far-distant past, when Ulster was covered with forests, in which the red deer and perhaps the Irish elk roamed, and inhabited by rude tribes, some of them of dwarfish stature, others tall; but these giants were apparently even less civilized than their smaller neighbours. Wars were frequent; the giant could hurl the unwieldy mass of stone, and the dwarfish man could send his arrow tipped with flint. Even more common was the stealthy raid, when women and children were carried off to the gloomy souterrain. How long did these rude tribes survive? It would be difficult to say; possibly until after the days of St. Patrick and St. Columkill.

   Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 7

9. Tragic fairy abduction story told at Armoy

   near Armoy · parish · Antrim

   An old woman at Armoy told a terrible tale of a man's first wife being carried off by fairies; when he attempted to rescue her at midnight as she rode past with the fairy host, his second wife interfered and the woman was dragged off and murdered.

   Read the passage

   A terrible story, showing how the fairies can punish their captives, was told me by an old woman at Armoy, in Co. Antrim, who vouched for it as being "candid truth." A man's wife was carried away by the fairies; he married again, but one night his first wife met him, told him where she was, and besought him to release her, saying that if he would do so she would leave that part of the country and not trouble him any more. She begged him, however, not to make the attempt unless he were confident he could carry it out, as if he failed she would die a terrible death. He promised to save her, and she told him to watch at midnight, when she would be riding past the house with the fairies; she would put her hand in at the window, and he must grasp it and hold tight. He did as she bade him, and although the fairies pulled hard, he had nearly saved her, when his second wife saw what was going on, and tore his hand away. The poor woman was dragged off, and across the fields he heard her piercing cries, and saw next morning the drops of blood where the fairies had murdered her.

   Another woman was more fortunate; she was carried off by the fairies at Cushendall, but was able to inform her friends when she and the fairies would be going on a journey, and she told them that if they stroked her with the branch of a rowan-tree she would be free. They did as she desired. She returned to them, apparently having suffered no injury, and in the course of time she married.

   Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 4

10. John Friel's fairy bride at Gortnalughoge Bay

    Gortnalughoge Bay · bay · Donegal

    A lad above Gortnalughoge Bay told a variant in which John Friel from Fanad rode with fairies to Dublin, rescued a stolen girl, and kept her at his mother's cottage in Fanad until she was cured and reunited with her parents.

    Read the passage

    During the Field Club Conference at Rosapenna a variant of this story was told me by a lad on the heights above Gortnalughoge Bay. Here the man who rode with the fairies was John Friel, from Fanad. They went to Dublin and brought away a young girl from her bed, leaving something behind, which the parents believed to be their dead daughter. Meanwhile the young girl was taken northwards by the fairies. As they drew near to Fanad, John Friel begged to be allowed to carry her, and quickly taking her to his own cottage, kept her there with his mother. The girl was deaf and dumb, but there was no mention of the magic circle or of the blow from the fairy's hand. At the end of the year John Friel, like Owen Boyle, pays another visit to the fairies, overhears their conversation, snatches the bottle, and a few drops from it restore speech and hearing to the girl. He takes her to Dublin. Her parents cannot at first believe that she is truly their daughter, but the mother recognizes her by a mark on the shoulder, and the tale ends with great rejoicing.[74]

    In these stories we see the relations between fairies and mortals. The fairy man marries a human wife; he appears solicitous for her health, and is willing to pay a high reward to the nurse, but the caution his wife gives to her mother shows her fear of him, and when the latter forgets this warning and speaks to the husband, he effectively stops all intercourse between her and her daughter.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 7

11. Deaths following the demolition of Glasdrumman fort

    Glasdrumman · townland · Down

    A fort near Glasdrumman, Co. Down, was demolished by its owner; the man who struck the first blow was injured and died soon after, and the owner himself became a permanent invalid. A local woman reported hearing an awful screech from the fort as the fairies apparently left their home.

    Read the passage

    A fort near Glasdrumman, Co. Down, was demolished by the owner, but the country-people noted that the man who struck the first blow was injured and died soon afterwards, while the owner himself became a permanent invalid. A woman living near this fort related that in the evening after the work was begun she heard an awful screech from the fort; presumably the fairies were leaving their home.

    A curious story was told me by an old woman in the Cottage Hospital at Cushendall. A man at Glenravel named M'Combridge went out one evening to look for his heifer, but could not find it. He saw a great house in one of his fields, where no house had been before, and, wondering much at this, he went in. An old woman sat by the fire, and soon two men came in leading the heifer. They killed it with a blow on the head and put it into a pot. M'Combridge was too much afraid to make any objection; he rose, however, to leave the house, but the old woman said: "Wait; you must have some of the broth of your own heifer." Three times she made him partake of the broth, and he was then unable to leave the house. She put him to bed, and the man gave birth to a son. He fell asleep, but was wakened by something touching his ear, and found himself on the grass near his home, and the heifer close to his ear.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 9

12. Finn McCoul as builder of the Giant's Causeway

    near Giant's Causeway · population centre · Antrim

    Tradition holds that Finn McCoul was the artificer of the Giant's Causeway.

    Read the passage

    In the tales of the giants we are brought face to face with beings of great strength, but in a low stage of civilization. Balor, we have seen, had no smith on Tory Island, and in a story of the fight between the giant Fargowan and a wild boar, his sister Finglas goes to his assistance with her apron filled with stones. Misled by the echo, she jumps backwards and forwards across Lough Finn until at last her long hair becomes entangled and she is drowned. It is believed that her coffin was found when the railway was being made; the boards were 14 feet long. Sometimes the works of Nature are ascribed to the giants; we have all heard of Finn McCoul as the artificer of the Giant's Causeway, and near Glenties I was shown perched blocks, which had been thrown by the giants. On the other hand, these giants, with all their magic, are often very human; perhaps we are listening to the tales of a small race, who exaggerated the feats of their large but savage neighbours. Writing in 1860, J. F. Campbell, in his introduction to the "Tales of the West Highlands," says: "Probably, as it seems to me, giants are simply the nearest savage race at war with the race who tell the tales. If they performed impossible feats of strength, they did no more than Rob Roy, whose putting-stone is now shown to Saxon tourists ... in the shape of a boulder of many tons."[79] Turning to fairies, the same writer says: "I believe there was once a small race of people in these islands, who are remembered as fairies.... They are always represented as living in green mounds. They pop up their heads when disturbed by people treading on their houses. They steal children. They seem to live on familiar terms with the people about them when they treat them well, to punish them when they ill-treat them.... There are such people now. A Lapp is such a man; he is a little flesh-eating mortal, having control over the beasts, and living in a green mound, when he is not living in a tent or sleeping out of doors, wrapped in his deerskin shirt."[80]

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 7

13. Massacre of the Danes recounted by an Antrim farmer

    near Antrim · town · Antrim

    A farmer in Co. Antrim gave a full account of a massacre in which a Roman Catholic sat beside each Dane at a feast and, at a signal, plunged a dirk into his neighbour, leaving only one man and his son alive.

    Read the passage

    In a paper read to this club Mr. McKean[38] mentioned that this story had been told to him in Kerry, where I, too, heard it. It appears to be almost universal in Ulster. When visiting Navan Fort, the ancient Emania, near Armagh, I was told that on this fort the Danes made heather beer. I asked if any heather grew in the neighbourhood, but the answer was, not now. There are variants of the tale. In some parts of Donegal it is wine, not beer, that the Danes are said to have made. As a rule the slaughter is taken for granted, and very little said about it; but a farmer in Co. Antrim gave me a full account of the massacre, how at a great feast a Roman Catholic sat beside each Dane, and at a given signal plunged his dirk into his neighbour's side, until only one man and his son remained alive; then followed the usual sequel.

    These short Danes are said to have had large feet, and one man described their arms as so long that they could pick anything off the ground without stooping. Long arms are also a characteristic of the traditional dwarf of Japan, probably an ancestor of the Aino.[39] As I mentioned in a previous paper,[40] large feet are also a traditional characteristic of the Pechts, who are generally said to have been clad in skins or in grey clothes. They have occasionally superhuman attributes ascribed to them. The same man who spoke of the long arms of the Danes said the Pechts could creep through keyholes--they were like "speerits"--and he evidently regarded both them and the fairies as evil spirits. At the same time he said they would thresh corn or work for a man, but if they were given food, they would be offended, and go away.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 5

14. The Pedlar's Dream of Treasure at Kinnagoe

    Kinnagoe · townland · Donegal

    A local variant of the Pedlar of Swaffham legend was told of a man named Doherty from Kinnagoe near Buncrana, who dreamt of hearing of treasure on London Bridge. There he met a stranger who unknowingly revealed that treasure was buried at Kinnagoe, leading Doherty to find gold and become wealthy.

    Read the passage

    In "Folklore as an Historical Science" Sir G. Laurence Gomme has given several variants of the story of the Pedlar of Swaffham and London Bridge. Most of these come from England, Scotland, and Wales, but among them there are also a Breton and a Norse version. I have found a local variant in Donegal. An elderly woman told me that at Kinnagoe a "toon" or small hamlet about three miles from Buncrana, there lived a man whose name, she believed, was Doherty. He dreamt one night that on London Bridge he should hear of a treasure. He set out at once for London, and when he came there walked up and down the bridge until he was wearied. At last a man accosted him and asked him why he loitered there. In reply, Doherty told his dream, upon which the other said: "Ah, man! Do you believe in drames? Why, I dreamt the other night that at a place called Kinnagoe a pot of gold is buried. Would I go to look for it? I might loss my time if I paid attention to drames." "That's true," answered Doherty, who now hurried home, found the pot of gold, bought houses and land, and became a wealthy man.

    Whether this story embodies an earlier Irish legend I do not know, but I should say that the mention of London Bridge points to its having been brought over by English settlers. Sir G. L. Gomme tells us that "the earliest version of this legend is quoted from the manuscripts of Sir Roger Twysden, who obtained it from Sir William Dugdale, of Blyth Hall, in Warwickshire, in a letter dated January 29, 1652-53. Sir William says of it that 'it was the tradition of the inhabitants, as it was told me there.'"

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 8

    As the companion tells it

    Somewhere around here, a story was told that belongs to a family of legends found across England, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, and Norway. An elderly woman told the folklorist that at Kinnagoe, a small hamlet about three miles from Buncrana, there lived a man whose name she believed was Doherty. He dreamt one night that on London Bridge he should hear of a treasure. He set out at once for London. When he came there he walked up and down the bridge until he was wearied. At last a man accosted him and asked him why he loitered there. Doherty told his dream, upon which the other said, "Ah, man! Do you believe in drames? Why, I dreamt the other night that at a place called Kinnagoe a pot of gold is buried. Would I go to look for it? I might loss my time if I paid attention to drames." Doherty answered, "That's true," and hurried home. He found the pot of gold, bought houses and land, and became a wealthy man. The folklorist thought the mention of London Bridge pointed to the story being brought over by English settlers. Sir G. Laurence Gomme had collected several variants of the Pedlar of Swaffham tale. The earliest version came from the manuscripts of Sir Roger Twysden, who obtained it from Sir William Dugdale of Blyth Hall in Warwickshire, in a letter dated January 29, 1652. Sir William said it was the tradition of the inhabitants, as it was told him there.

15. Fairy spinning-wheel escape story at Camlough

    near Camlough · village · Armagh

    At Camlough near Newry, three fairies visited a woman spinning and were tricked into fleeing when she pretended to see a fire-signal on a fort; one left behind a spinning-wheel said to now be in Dublin Castle.

    Read the passage

    A woman was spinning one evening when three fairies came into the house, each bringing a spinning-wheel. They said they would help her with her work, and one of them asked for a drink of water. The woman went to the well to fetch it. When there she was warned, apparently by a friendly fairy, that the others had come only to mock and harm her. Acting on the advice of this friend, the woman, as soon as she had given water to the three, turned again to the open door, and stood looking intently towards a fort. They asked what she was gazing at, and the reply was: "At the blaze on the fort." No sooner had she uttered these words than the three fairies rushed out with such haste that one of them left her spinning-wheel behind, which, according to the story, is now to be seen in Dublin Castle. The woman then shut her door, and put a pin in the keyhole, thus effectually preventing the return of her visitors.

    In this story we have probably an allusion to the signal fires which are believed by the peasantry to have been lit on the forts in time of danger, one fort being always within view of another. These forts, or raths, appear to have been the favourite abode of the fairies. To use the language of the peasantry, these little people live in the "coves of the forths," an expression which puzzled me until I found that coves, or caves, meant underground passages--in other words, souterrains.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 2

16. Legend of Finn McCoul, the Scotch giant, and the Grey Man of the Path

    Glenshesk · valley · Antrim

    At Glenshesk it was told that a Scotch giant came to fight Finn McCoul and was slain; celebrating this, Finn invited the Grey Man of the Path to a feast and, failing to find enough deer, slew his own dog Brown in anger, an act he later regretted.

    Read the passage

    The following story was related to me on the spot: A Scotch giant came over to fight Finn McCoul, but was conquered and slain. To celebrate this victory Finn invited the Grey Man of the Path to a feast; but as hares and rabbits would have been too small to furnish a repast for this giant, Finn took his dog and went out to hunt red deer. They were unsuccessful, and in anger he slew his dog Brown,[48] which afterwards caused him much sorrow.

    In the Grey Man of the Path we have, doubtless, a purely mythical character, an impersonation of the mists which gather round Benmore,[49] while Finn McCoul, or MacCumaill, is one of Ireland's greatest traditional heroes. According to a well-known legend, he was a giant, and united Scotland and Ireland by a stupendous mole, of which the cave at Staffa and the Giant's Causeway are the two remaining fragments. In Glenshesk he is only a tall man, between seven and eight feet in height. Sometimes he is said to have been chief of the Pechts; sometimes he is spoken of as their master, and it is said they worked as slaves to him and the Fians.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 6

17. The lost town of Bannow buried by sand

    Bannow · townland · Wexford

    The town of Bannow in Wexford was a flourishing borough in the early seventeenth century, but by Hamilton's day the site was marked only by ruins above heaps of barren sand, so that at election time a fallen chimney served as the council table of the ancient corporation.

    Read the passage

    Before this letter was published, Hamilton had accepted the living of Clondevaddock in Donegal, and had taken up his abode amid the wild but beautiful scenery surrounding Mulroy Bay. Here he expected to spend a tranquil life, watching over the education of his large family, and combining with his clerical duties the pursuit of science and literature. In a favourable situation for observing variations of temperature and the action of rain, wind, and tide, he pursued the investigation of a subject which had already engaged his attention before leaving Dublin. In a memoir[118] published after his death he suggests that the cutting down of the forests may have affected a sensible change in the climate of Ireland, and gives several instances of the encroachment of the sea sand on fertile and inhabited land. Perhaps the most striking is that of the town of Bannow in Wexford. It was a flourishing borough in the early part of the seventeenth century, while in his day the site was marked only by a few ruins, appearing above heaps of barren sand, and where at the time of an election a fallen chimney was used as the council table of that ancient and loyal corporation.

    When we read the closing pages of this paper it is difficult to believe that troubled times were so near at hand; and even when he wrote his "Letters on the French Revolution," Hamilton could not have foreseen that he was soon to fall before the same spirit of wild vengeance, which claimed so many noble victims on the banks of the Seine and the Loire.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 11

18. The weeping seal-mother at Glenties

    Glenties · town · Donegal

    At Glenties a story was told of a man who killed a young seal but was startled when its mother cried out in Irish, 'My child, my child!'; he never killed a seal again.

    Read the passage

    Throughout Donegal we find many traces of the primitive belief that men or women can change themselves into animals. At Rosapenna I was told of a hare standing on its hind-legs like an old woman and sucking a cow, the inference being plainly that the witch had transformed herself into a hare. I heard similar stories at Glenties. Here I was told of a man who killed a young seal, but was startled when the mother, weeping, cried out in Irish: "My child, my child!" Never again did he kill a seal.

    A story illustrating the same belief is told by John Sweeney, an inspector of National Schools, who wrote about forty years ago a series of letters describing Donegal and its inhabitants.[82] In his account of Arranmore he says: "Until lately the islanders could not be induced to attack a seal, they being strongly under the impression that these animals were human beings metamorphosed by the power of their own witchcraft. In confirmation of this notion, they used to repeat the story of one Rodgers of their island, who, being alone in his skiff fishing, was overtaken by a storm, and driven on the shore of the Scotch Highlands. Having landed, he approached a house which was close to the beach, and on entering it was accosted by name. Expressing his surprise at finding himself known in a strange country, and by one whom he had never seen, the old man who addressed him bared his head, and, pointing to a scar on his skull, reminded Rodgers of an encounter he had with a seal in one of the caves of Arranmore. 'I was,' he said, 'that seal, and this is the mark of the wound you inflicted on me. I do not blame you, however, for you were not aware of what you were doing.'"

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 7

19. Balor of Tory Island and the formation of a great lough

    Tory Island · townland · Donegal

    The great Fomorian giant Balor of Tory Island had an eye at the back of his head that dealt destruction to all who met its gaze. When Balor was mortally wounded, water fell so copiously from his eye that it formed the biggest lough in the world, deeper than Lough Foyle.

    Read the passage

    We have read, too, of how the Shetlander captured the sealskin of the Finn woman, without which she could not return as a seal to her husband.[95] It should also be noted that the fairy ogress is a large woman, apparently a giantess, while her three sons have the red hair so often associated with the fairies. At the end of the tale Finn and his men are saved by Manannan, the Celtic god of the sea, who has given his name to the Isle of Man. In Balor of Tory Island the great Fomorian chief, we have another giant, with an eye at the back of his head, which dealt destruction to all who encountered its gaze. I was told in Tory Island that when Balor was mortally wounded water fell so copiously from his eye that it formed the biggest lough in the world, deeper even than Lough Foyle.[96]

    These giants belonged to an olden time and a very primitive race. They have passed away, and are no longer like the fairies--objects of fear or awe.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 9

20. Black-dressed fairies of Tory Island linked to the Fomorians

    Tory Island · townland · Donegal

    Tory Island inhabitants say fairies there can change size and have hair of red, white or black, but uniquely dress in black, which the author links to Tory's history as a Fomorian stronghold.

    Read the passage

    According to the inhabitants of this island, fairies can make themselves large or small; their hair may be red, white, or black; but they dress in black--a very unusual colour for fairies to appear in. It may perhaps be explained by remembering that Tory Island, or Toirinis, was a stronghold of the Fomorians, whom Keating describes as "sea rovers of the race of Cam, who fared from Africa."[76] I need hardly add that "Cam" is an old name for "Ham." I should infer that the fairies of Tory Island represent a dark race.

    King Balor, it is true, is not of diminutive stature. I heard much of this chieftain with the eye at the back of his head, which, if uncovered, would kill anyone exposed to its gaze. He knew it had been said in old times that he should die by the hand of his daughter's son, and he determined his daughter should remain childless. He shut her up in Tormore, with twelve ladies to wait on her. Balor had no smith on the island, but at Cloghanealy, on the mainland, there lived a smith who had the finest cow in the world, named Glasgavlen. He kept a boy to watch it, but, notwithstanding this precaution, two of Balor's servants carried off the cow. When the herd-boy saw it was gone, he wept bitterly, for the smith had told him his head would be taken off if he did not bring her back. Suddenly a fairy, Geea Dubh, came out of the rock, and told the boy the cow was in Tory, and if he followed her advice he would get it back. She made a curragh for him, and he crossed over to Tory, but he did not get the cow. The tale now becomes confused. We hear of twelve children, and how Balor ordered them all to be drowned, but his daughter's son was saved. The fairy told the herd-boy that, if the child were taken care of, it would grow up like a crop which, when put into the earth one day, sprouts up the next.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 7

21. Cave of Finn McCoul in Glenshesk

    Glenshesk · valley · Antrim

    The author visited the souterrain known as the cave of Finn McCoul in Glenshesk near Ballycastle, a narrow underground chamber roofed with whinstone slabs, said to extend some twenty perches with several chambers, and reputed as the hero's hiding-place.

    Read the passage

    I was told that this cave was the hiding-place of Finn McCoul. His garden was pointed out to me on rising ground at some little distance, and I was also informed that about fifty years ago his castle stood on the hill; but nothing now remains of it, the stones having been used when roads were made.

    The following story was related to me on the spot: A Scotch giant came over to fight Finn McCoul, but was conquered and slain. To celebrate this victory Finn invited the Grey Man of the Path to a feast; but as hares and rabbits would have been too small to furnish a repast for this giant, Finn took his dog and went out to hunt red deer. They were unsuccessful, and in anger he slew his dog Brown,[48] which afterwards caused him much sorrow.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 6

22. Deafness after fairy encounter near Maghera

    Maghera · parish · Down

    A man at Maghera told how his brother, as a child, was seen surrounded by little dancing men about two feet high; after his father drove them off, the child became deaf for ten years and died at seventeen.

    Read the passage

    In another case deafness followed intercourse with the fairies. An elderly man at Maghera, Co. Down, told me that his brother when four or five years old went out with his father. The child lay down on the grass. After a while the father heard a great noise, and looking up saw little men about two feet in height dancing round his son. He called to them to be gone, and they ran towards a fort and disappeared. The child became deaf, and did not recover his hearing for ten years. He died at the age of seventeen.

    To cut down a fairy thorn or to injure the house of a fairy is regarded as certain to bring misfortune. An old woman also living at Maghera, related how her great-grandmother had received a visit from a small old woman, who forbade the building of a certain turf-stack, saying that evil would befall anyone who injured the chimneys of her house. The warning was disregarded, the turf-stack built, and before long four cows died.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 2

23. Robert Bruce's defence of Rathlin castle

    near Rathlin Island · island or archipelago · Antrim

    Hamilton visited Rathlin Island and examined the ruins of the old castle where Robert Bruce is said to have made a gallant defence against his enemies, finding cinders in the mortar showing coal had been used in building the walls.

    Read the passage

    Hamilton was one of the founders of the Royal Irish Academy, and dedicated his "Letters concerning the Coast of Antrim" to the Earl of Charlemont, the first president of that body. The book opens with an account of his visit to the Island of Raghery or Rathlin, where he was charmed with the primitive manners of the people and the friendly relations existing between them and their landlord. He examined the white cliffs, the dark basaltic columns, and the ruins of the old castle, where Robert Bruce is said to have made a gallant defence against his enemies. Here he found cinders embedded in the mortar, showing that the lime used in building the walls had been burnt with coal. This is adduced as a proof that the coal-beds near Fair Head had been known at an early period, possibly at a time anterior to the Danish incursions of the ninth and tenth centuries--a view confirmed by the discovery of an ancient gallery extending many hundred yards underground, and in which the remains of the tools and baskets of the prehistoric miners were found.

    In a later letter a history is given of the Giant's Causeway, and of the various opinions which have been held regarding its origin. Beginning with the old tradition[110] that the stones had been cut and placed in position by the giant, Fin McCool or Fingal, when constructing a mighty mole to unite Ireland to Scotland, Hamilton alludes to the crude notions exhibited in some papers published in the early Transactions of the Royal Society. He criticizes severely "A True Prospect of the Giant's Causeway," printed in 1696 for the Dublin Society, showing how the imagination of the artist had planted luxuriant forest-trees on the wild bay of Port Noffer, and transformed basaltic rocks into comfortable dwelling-houses. The two beautiful paintings made by Mrs. Susanna Drury in 1740 are referred to in very different language, and anyone who has seen engravings of these will endorse his opinion, and feel that this lady has depicted, with almost photographic accuracy, the Causeway and the successive galleries of basaltic columns, which lend a weird and peculiar grandeur to the headlands of Bengore.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 11

24. Woman rescued from fairies at Cushendall

    Cushendall · townland · Antrim

    At Cushendall, a woman carried off by the fairies managed to inform her friends of a journey she would take with them, and by being stroked with a rowan-tree branch as instructed, she was freed and later married.

    Read the passage

    Another woman was more fortunate; she was carried off by the fairies at Cushendall, but was able to inform her friends when she and the fairies would be going on a journey, and she told them that if they stroked her with the branch of a rowan-tree she would be free. They did as she desired. She returned to them, apparently having suffered no injury, and in the course of time she married.

    This story was told me by a man ninety years of age, living in Glenshesk, in the north of Co. Antrim. He spoke of the fairies as being about two feet in height, said they were dressed in green, and had been seen in daylight making hats of rushes. In Donegal I was also told that the fairies wore high peaked hats made of plaited rushes; but there, as in most parts of Ulster, and indeed of Ireland, the fairies are said to wear red, not green. In Antrim the fairies, like their Scotch kinsfolk, dress in green, but even there are often said to have red or sandy hair.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 4

25. Finn McCoul and Goll at Lough Salt

    near Lough Salt · lake or lakes · Donegal

    On the banks of Lough Salt in Donegal, a legend was told of the giant Finn McCoul hiding in a baby's cradle out of fear of the bigger giant Goll; his wife deceived Goll into believing the disguised Finn was merely his infant son, causing Goll to flee in fear of Finn's true size.

    Read the passage

    In the stories of giants we no doubt often have traditions of a tall race, who are sometimes represented as of inferior mental capacity. At other times we appear to be listening to an early interpretation of the works of Nature. The Donegal peasant at the present day believes that the perched block on the side of the hill has been thrown by the arm of a giant. In the compact columns of the Giant's Causeway and of Fingal's Cave at Staffa primitive man saw a work of great skill and ingenuity, which he attributed to a giant artificer; and Finn McCoul is credited with having made a stupendous mole, uniting Scotland and Ireland. This Finn McCoul has many aspects. He does not show to much advantage in the following legend, which I heard on the banks of Lough Salt in Donegal: Finn was a giant but there was a bigger giant named Goll, who came to fight Finn, and Finn was afraid. His wife bade him creep into the cradle, and she would give an answer to Goll. When the latter appeared, he asked where was Finn. The wife replied he was out, and she was alone with the baby in the cradle. Goll looked at the child, and thought, if that is the size of Finn's infant, what must Finn himself be? and without more ado he turned and took his departure.[91] This Finn had an eye at the back of his head, and was so tall his feet came out at the door of his house. We are not told, however, what was the size of the house.

    [Illustration: PLATE XI. [_R. Welch, Photo._

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 8

26. Grogach threshing tale at Ballycastle

    near Ballycastle · town · Antrim

    At Ballycastle a man was said to leave out bundles of corn each night for a Grogach to thresh; when he once forgot and threw his flail on the stack instead, the Grogach attempted the whole task and was found dead the next morning, mourned by the farmer and his wife.

    Read the passage

    I was told at Ballycastle of one man who always laid out at night the bundles of corn he expected the Grogach to thresh, and each morning the appointed task was accomplished. One night he forgot to lay the corn on the floor of the barn, and threw his flail on the top of the stack. The poor Grogach imagined that he was to thresh the whole, and set to work manfully; but the task was beyond his strength, and in the morning he was found dead. The farmer and his wife buried him, and mourned deeply the loss of their small friend.

    Clough-na-murry Fort is said to be a "gentle"[50] place, yet an old man living near it told me he did not believe in the Grogachs; he thought it was the Danes who had worked for the farmers. He said these Danes were a persevering people, and that when they were in distress they would thresh corn for the farmers, if food were left out for them. Others say that the Danes were too proud to work.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 6

27. Herd-boy silenced after entering fairy dwelling near Buncrana

    Buncrana · town · Donegal

    A herd-boy near Buncrana crept through a cleft in rocks and found a fairy woman spinning with her children; after his sister called him out, he was never able to speak again.

    Read the passage

    I have heard several similar stories, and have not found that any evil consequences were supposed to follow from partaking of food brought by the fairies. Men have been carried off by them, have heard their beautiful music, seen them dancing, or witnessed a fairy battle without bringing any misfortune on themselves. On the other hand, according to a story I heard at Buncrana, Co. Donegal, a little herd-boy paid dearly for having entered one of their dwellings. As he was climbing among the rocks, he saw a cleft, and creeping through it came to where a fairy woman was spinning with her "weans," or children, around her. His sister missed him, and after searching for a time, she too, came to the cleft, and looking down saw her brother, and called to him to come out. He came, but was never able to speak again.

    In another case deafness followed intercourse with the fairies. An elderly man at Maghera, Co. Down, told me that his brother when four or five years old went out with his father. The child lay down on the grass. After a while the father heard a great noise, and looking up saw little men about two feet in height dancing round his son. He called to them to be gone, and they ran towards a fort and disappeared. The child became deaf, and did not recover his hearing for ten years. He died at the age of seventeen.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 2

    As the companion tells it

    Coming through Buncrana now, in Donegal. A story was told here about a little herd-boy who paid dearly for entering one of the fairies' dwellings. The teller had heard several similar stories, and had not found that any evil consequences were supposed to follow from partaking of food brought by the fairies. Men had been carried off by them, had heard their beautiful music, seen them dancing, witnessed a fairy battle, all without bringing any misfortune on themselves. But this herd-boy's case was different. He was climbing among the rocks, and he saw a cleft. Creeping through it, he came to where a fairy woman was spinning, with her weans, her children, around her. His sister missed him, and after searching for a time, she too came to the cleft. Looking down, she saw her brother, and called to him to come out. He came, but was never able to speak again. In another case, deafness followed intercourse with the fairies. An elderly man at Maghera, County Down, told the collector that his brother, when four or five years old, went out with his father. The child lay down on the grass. After a while the father heard a great noise, and looking up, saw little men about two feet in height dancing round his son. He called to them to be gone, and they ran towards a fort and disappeared. The child became deaf, and did not recover his hearing for ten years. He died at the age of seventeen.

28. Runic inscription found in the souterrain at Greenmount

    Greenmount · townland · Louth

    The souterrain at Greenmount appears to have been inhabited by medieval Danes, evidenced by a Runic inscription engraved on a bronze plate discovered there, the only one yet found in Ireland.

    Read the passage

    The use of the souterrains was not confined to prehistoric times. The one at Greenmount appears to have been inhabited by the medieval Danes, as a Runic inscription, engraved on a plate of bronze, has been discovered in it, the only one as yet found in Ireland. In 1317 every man dwelling in an ooan, or caher's souterrain, was summoned to join the army of Domched O'Brian.[35] The French traveller, Jorevin de Rocheford, speaks of subterranean vaults where the peasants assembled to hear Mass,[36] and in still more recent times the smuggler and the distiller of illicit whisky found them convenient places of concealment.

    In a former paper I referred to the lost secret of the heather beer, and the tragic ending of the last of the Danes.[37] As the story was told me near Ballycairn Fort, the father said: "Give my son the first lilt of the rope, and I will reveal our secret"; but when the son was dead the father cried: "Slay me also, for none shall ever know how the heather beer was brewed!"

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 5

29. The Souterrain beneath Donaghmore Glebe House and Cross

    near Donaghmore · parish · Down

    A souterrain runs under the Glebe House at Donaghmore, with its main entrance lintel formed by the base stone of an old Celtic cross. Tradition claims a rich old vicar once fashioned the passage's end into a wine-cellar, while an older tradition says it was the dressing-room of the 'small Danes' en route to an underground church chamber.

    Read the passage

    Another widespread tale is that of the fairy woman who comes to the peasant's cottage, sometimes to beg that water may not be thrown out at the door, as it comes down her chimney and puts out the fire; sometimes to ask, for a similar reason, that the "byre," or cowhouse, may be removed to another site. In some tales it is a fairy man who makes the request. If it is refused, punishment follows in sickness among the cattle; if complied with, the cows flourish and give an extra supply of milk. In one instance the "wee folk" provided money to pay a mason to build the new cowhouse. We may smile, and ask how the position of the cowhouse could affect the homes of the fairies; but if these small people lived in the souterrains, as tradition alleges, we may even at the present day find these artificial caves under inhabited houses. At a large farmhouse on the border of Counties Antrim and Londonderry I was told one ran under the kitchen. At another farm near Castlerock, Co. Londonderry, the owner opened a trapdoor in his yard, and allowed me to look down into a souterrain. At Finvoy, Co. Antrim, I was shown one of these caves over which a cottage formerly stood. A souterrain also runs under the Glebe House at Donaghmore, Co. Down. The following extract is from a work[84] in preparation, by the Rev. Dr. Cowan, Rector of the parish, who, in describing this souterrain, writes: "The lintel to the main entrance is the large stone which forms the base of the old Celtic cross, which stands a few yards south of the church. Underneath the cross is the central chamber, which is sixty-two feet long, three feet wide and upwards of four feet high, with branches in the form of transepts about thirty feet in length. From these, again, several sections extend ... one due north terminating at the Glebe House (a distance of two hundred yards) underneath the study, where, according to tradition, some rich old vicar in past times fashioned the extreme end into the dimensions of a wine-cellar."

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 8

30. Ancient coal mining traces near Fair Head

    near Benmore or Fair Head · promontory · Antrim

    Hamilton argued that cinders found embedded in the mortar of Rathlin castle proved the coal-beds near Fair Head had been known at an early period, possibly before the Danish incursions, supported by discovery of an ancient underground gallery with the remains of prehistoric miners' tools and baskets.

    Read the passage

    Hamilton was one of the founders of the Royal Irish Academy, and dedicated his "Letters concerning the Coast of Antrim" to the Earl of Charlemont, the first president of that body. The book opens with an account of his visit to the Island of Raghery or Rathlin, where he was charmed with the primitive manners of the people and the friendly relations existing between them and their landlord. He examined the white cliffs, the dark basaltic columns, and the ruins of the old castle, where Robert Bruce is said to have made a gallant defence against his enemies. Here he found cinders embedded in the mortar, showing that the lime used in building the walls had been burnt with coal. This is adduced as a proof that the coal-beds near Fair Head had been known at an early period, possibly at a time anterior to the Danish incursions of the ninth and tenth centuries--a view confirmed by the discovery of an ancient gallery extending many hundred yards underground, and in which the remains of the tools and baskets of the prehistoric miners were found.

    In a later letter a history is given of the Giant's Causeway, and of the various opinions which have been held regarding its origin. Beginning with the old tradition[110] that the stones had been cut and placed in position by the giant, Fin McCool or Fingal, when constructing a mighty mole to unite Ireland to Scotland, Hamilton alludes to the crude notions exhibited in some papers published in the early Transactions of the Royal Society. He criticizes severely "A True Prospect of the Giant's Causeway," printed in 1696 for the Dublin Society, showing how the imagination of the artist had planted luxuriant forest-trees on the wild bay of Port Noffer, and transformed basaltic rocks into comfortable dwelling-houses. The two beautiful paintings made by Mrs. Susanna Drury in 1740 are referred to in very different language, and anyone who has seen engravings of these will endorse his opinion, and feel that this lady has depicted, with almost photographic accuracy, the Causeway and the successive galleries of basaltic columns, which lend a weird and peculiar grandeur to the headlands of Bengore.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 11

31. Fairy warning over turf-stack at Maghera

    Maghera · parish · Down

    An old woman at Maghera related how her great-grandmother was warned by a small old woman not to build a certain turf-stack near a fairy dwelling; the warning was ignored, and four cows subsequently died.

    Read the passage

    To cut down a fairy thorn or to injure the house of a fairy is regarded as certain to bring misfortune. An old woman also living at Maghera, related how her great-grandmother had received a visit from a small old woman, who forbade the building of a certain turf-stack, saying that evil would befall anyone who injured the chimneys of her house. The warning was disregarded, the turf-stack built, and before long four cows died.

    I was told that when a certain fort in Co. Fermanagh was levelled to the ground misfortune overtook the men who did the work, although, apparently, they were only labourers, many of them dying suddenly. It was also said that where this fort had stood there were caves or hollows in the ground into which the oxen would fall when ploughing. An attempt to bring a fort near Newcastle under cultivation is believed to have caused the sudden death of the owner.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 2

32. Fort of Dunglady near Culnady

    Dunglady · townland · Derry · 1902

    The author visited the great Fort of Dunglady near the village of Culnady, described by Dr. O'Donovan as one of the most interesting forts, with a triple rampart 330 feet in diameter and once a burial ground for the Society of Friends.

    Read the passage

    This fort was visited in 1902 by the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, when a very interesting paper, written by Miss Jane Clark of Kilrea, was read. She mentions that Dr. O'Donovan considered this fort one of the most interesting he had met with; not so magnificent as the Dun of Keltar at Downpatrick, but much better fortified, and states that a map of the time of Charles I. represents Dunglady Fort as a prominent object, and shows three houses built upon it, one of considerable size. Quoting from an unpublished letter of Mr. J. Stokes, she refers to the triple rampart, which makes the diameter of the whole to be three hundred and thirty feet. There was formerly a draw well in the middle of the fort, and at one time it was used as a burial-ground by members of the Society of Friends. Miss Clark also referred to a smaller fort at Culnady, which had been demolished. The two mounds in the centre of this rath had been formed of earth on a stone foundation.

    A rapid drive brought me back to Maghera in time for a short visit to the ruins of the Church of St. Lurach, popularly known in the district as St. Lowry. There is a curious sculpture of the Crucifixion over the west doorway, which is shown in the sketch of this doorway by Petrie in Lord Dunraven's "Notes on Irish Architecture."[14]

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 3

33. Friendly fairy reveals a crock of gold near Dungiven

    near Dungiven · town · Derry

    Near Dungiven, a fairy disguised as an old woman visited a poor couple's cottage and told the wife to lift a stone at the foot of the table, where they found a crock of gold.

    Read the passage

    According to one legend, the fairies were angels who had remained neutral during the great war in heaven. They are sometimes represented as kindly, but often as mischievous. Near Dungiven, in Co. Derry, I was told of a friendly fairy who, dressed as an old woman, came one evening to a cottage where a poor man and his wife lived. She said to the wife that if the stone at the foot of the table were lifted she would find something that would last her all her days. As soon as the visitor was gone, the wife called to her husband to bring a crowbar; they raised the stone, and under it was a crock of gold.

    The old man who related this story to me had himself found in a bog a crock covered with a slate. He hoped it might be full of gold, but it only contained bog butter, which he used for greasing cart-wheels.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 7

34. Heather beer brewed by Danes at Navan Fort

    near Navan · monument · Armagh

    At Navan Fort (the ancient Emania) near Armagh, tradition held that the Danes made heather beer there, though no heather now grows in the vicinity.

    Read the passage

    In a paper read to this club Mr. McKean[38] mentioned that this story had been told to him in Kerry, where I, too, heard it. It appears to be almost universal in Ulster. When visiting Navan Fort, the ancient Emania, near Armagh, I was told that on this fort the Danes made heather beer. I asked if any heather grew in the neighbourhood, but the answer was, not now. There are variants of the tale. In some parts of Donegal it is wine, not beer, that the Danes are said to have made. As a rule the slaughter is taken for granted, and very little said about it; but a farmer in Co. Antrim gave me a full account of the massacre, how at a great feast a Roman Catholic sat beside each Dane, and at a given signal plunged his dirk into his neighbour's side, until only one man and his son remained alive; then followed the usual sequel.

    These short Danes are said to have had large feet, and one man described their arms as so long that they could pick anything off the ground without stooping. Long arms are also a characteristic of the traditional dwarf of Japan, probably an ancestor of the Aino.[39] As I mentioned in a previous paper,[40] large feet are also a traditional characteristic of the Pechts, who are generally said to have been clad in skins or in grey clothes. They have occasionally superhuman attributes ascribed to them. The same man who spoke of the long arms of the Danes said the Pechts could creep through keyholes--they were like "speerits"--and he evidently regarded both them and the fairies as evil spirits. At the same time he said they would thresh corn or work for a man, but if they were given food, they would be offended, and go away.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 5

35. Priest surrounded by fairies between Clonmany and Ballyliffan

    Clonmany · town · Donegal

    In Inishowen it was told that a priest walking between Clonmany and Ballyliffan was surrounded by fairies anxiously asking if they could be saved; he offered to answer if they caught his breviary, but they fled at the sight of it.

    Read the passage

    The Irish fairy never appears as a Christian.[56] He is regarded by the peasant as a fallen angel, and no Church holds out to him the hope of salvation. I was told in Inishowen that a priest walking between Clonmany and Ballyliffan was surrounded by the "wee folk," who asked anxiously if they could be saved. He threw his book towards them, bade them catch it, and he would give them an answer; but at the sight of the breviary they scattered and fled.[57]

    The Protestant Bible and hymn-book are equally dreaded by them, and are used as a spell against their influence. I was told in the North of Antrim of a woman who was nearly carried off by the fairies because her friends had omitted to leave these books beside her. Luckily her husband, who was sleeping by the fire, awoke in time to save her. A pair of scissors, a darning-needle, or any piece of iron, would have been efficacious as a charm, so would the husband's trousers, if thrown across the bed.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 6

    As the companion tells it

    Up ahead is Clonmany, a town in Inishowen in Donegal. In this part of Ireland, the fairy was never seen as Christian. The people regarded him as a fallen angel, and no Church held out to him the hope of salvation. The story goes that a priest was walking between Clonmany and Ballyliffan when he was surrounded by the wee folk. They asked him anxiously whether they could be saved. He threw his book towards them and bade them catch it, and he would give them an answer. But at the sight of the breviary they scattered and fled. The Protestant Bible and hymn-book were equally dreaded by them, and used as a spell against their influence. In the north of Antrim it was told that a woman was nearly carried off by the fairies because her friends had omitted to leave these books beside her. Her husband, sleeping by the fire, awoke in time to save her. A pair of scissors, a darning-needle, or any piece of iron would have served as a charm. So would the husband's trousers, thrown across the bed.

36. The Giant's Causeway as the Work of a Giant Artificer

    near Giant's Causeway · population centre · Antrim

    The compact basalt columns of the Giant's Causeway were seen by primitive people as the work of a giant artificer, with Finn McCoul credited with building a stupendous mole joining Scotland and Ireland.

    Read the passage

    In the stories of giants we no doubt often have traditions of a tall race, who are sometimes represented as of inferior mental capacity. At other times we appear to be listening to an early interpretation of the works of Nature. The Donegal peasant at the present day believes that the perched block on the side of the hill has been thrown by the arm of a giant. In the compact columns of the Giant's Causeway and of Fingal's Cave at Staffa primitive man saw a work of great skill and ingenuity, which he attributed to a giant artificer; and Finn McCoul is credited with having made a stupendous mole, uniting Scotland and Ireland. This Finn McCoul has many aspects. He does not show to much advantage in the following legend, which I heard on the banks of Lough Salt in Donegal: Finn was a giant but there was a bigger giant named Goll, who came to fight Finn, and Finn was afraid. His wife bade him creep into the cradle, and she would give an answer to Goll. When the latter appeared, he asked where was Finn. The wife replied he was out, and she was alone with the baby in the cradle. Goll looked at the child, and thought, if that is the size of Finn's infant, what must Finn himself be? and without more ado he turned and took his departure.[91] This Finn had an eye at the back of his head, and was so tall his feet came out at the door of his house. We are not told, however, what was the size of the house.

    [Illustration: PLATE XI. [_R. Welch, Photo._

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 8

37. The Grogach of Glenariff

    near Glenariff · village · Antrim

    A story told in Glenariff described a naked, child-sized Grogach who herded a farmer's cattle each day; when the farmer's daughter made him a shirt, he mistook it for a dismissal and left crying, abandoning the shirt.

    Read the passage

    A Grogach herded the cattle of a farmer, and drove them home in the evening. He was about the size of a child, and was naked. A fire was left burning at night so that he might warm himself, and after a time the daughter of the house made him a shirt. When the Grogach saw this he thought it was a "billet" for him to go, and, crying bitterly, he took his departure, and left the shirt behind him. As I pointed out on a former occasion,[87] in many respects the Grogach resembles the Swiss dwarf. The likeness to the Brownie is also very marked. At Ballycastle I was told the Grogach was a hairy man about four feet in height, who could bear heat or cold without clothing.

    Patrick Kennedy has described a Gruagach as a giant, and states that the word "Gruagach" has for root _gruach_--"hair," giants and magicians being "furnished with a large provision of that appendage."[88] This Gruagach was closely related to the fairies, and, indeed, we shall find later in a Donegal story a giant ogress spoken of as a fairy woman. In Scotland, as well as in the South of Ireland, the name is Gruagach, but in Antrim I heard it pronounced "Grogach." I was also told near Cushendall that the Danes were hairy people.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 8

38. Danes encamped and disturbed on a farm

    Ulster · province

    An elderly man recounted that Danes had once encamped on his grandmother's farm in small doorless huts; when his uncle investigated smoke rising from the site and stirred a boiling pot, a red-haired man and woman rushed in angrily and threw a plate after him as he left.

    Read the passage

    The building of the forts and souterrains is ascribed by the country people to the Danes, a race of whom various traditions exist. They are said to have had red hair; sometimes they are spoken of as large men, sometimes as short men. One old woman, who had little belief in fairies, told me that in the old troubled times in Ireland people lived inside the forts; these people were the Danes, and they used to light fires on the top as a signal from one fort to another. I heard from an elderly man of Danes having encamped on his grandmother's farm. Smoke was seen rising from an unfrequented spot, and when an uncle went to investigate the matter he found small huts with no doors, only a bundle of sticks laid across the entrance. In one of the huts he saw a pot boiling on the fire, and going forward he began to stir the contents. Immediately a red-haired man and woman rushed in; they appeared angry at the intrusion, and when he went out threw a plate after him.

    The traditions in regard both to Danes and fairies are very similar in different parts of Ireland. In Co. Cavan the country people spoke of the beautiful music of the fairies, and told me of their living in a fort near Lough Oughter. One woman said they were sometimes called Ganelochs, and were about the size of children, and an old man described them as little people about one or two feet high, riding on small horses.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 2

39. Ancient coal-mine galleries at Ballycastle attributed to Danes

    near Ballycastle · town · Antrim

    Rev. William Hamilton described very ancient mining galleries with supporting pillars at Ballycastle, discovered some twelve years before he wrote; locals attributed them to the Danes, though he argued they predated the medieval Viking era.

    Read the passage

    This double use of the name Dane seems at times to have perplexed the older writers. The Rev. William Hamilton, in his "Letters on the North-East Coast of Antrim," published towards the end of the eighteenth century, gives a description of the coal-mines of Ballycastle[33] and of the very ancient galleries, with the pillars, left by the prehistoric miners, supporting the roof, which had been discovered some twelve years before he wrote. He tells us that the people of the place ascribed them to the Danes, but argues that these were never peaceable possessors of Ireland, and that it is not "to the tumultuary and barbarous armies of the ninth and tenth centuries ... we are to attribute the slow and toilsome operations of peace." He mentions how the stalactite pillars found in these galleries marked their antiquity, and ascribes them to some period prior to the eighth century, "when Ireland enjoyed a considerable share of civilization."

    In the same way John Windele, writing in the _Ulster Journal of Archæology_ for 1862, speaks of the mines in Waterford having been worked by the ancient inhabitants, and adds: "One almost insulated promontory is perforated like a rabbit-burrow, and is known as the 'Danes' Island,' the peasantry attributing these ancient mines, like all other relics of remote civilisation, to the Danes."[34]

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 5

40. Deaths of labourers who levelled a fairy fort in Fermanagh

    near Fermanagh · county · Fermanagh

    In County Fermanagh, levelling a fort was believed to have brought misfortune, with many of the labourers involved dying suddenly; hollows where the fort stood reportedly caused oxen to fall while ploughing.

    Read the passage

    I was told that when a certain fort in Co. Fermanagh was levelled to the ground misfortune overtook the men who did the work, although, apparently, they were only labourers, many of them dying suddenly. It was also said that where this fort had stood there were caves or hollows in the ground into which the oxen would fall when ploughing. An attempt to bring a fort near Newcastle under cultivation is believed to have caused the sudden death of the owner.

    The fairies are celebrated as fine musicians; they ride on small horses; the women grind meal, and the sound of their spinning is often heard at night in the peasants' cottages. The following story is related as having occurred at Camlough, near Newry.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 2

41. Fairy-boat protects an old friend near Culdaff

    Culdaff · townland · Donegal

    An old man at Culdaff told of a fishing-boat nearly overwhelmed at sea when a fairy-boat appeared and a voice, belonging to a man believed dead but carried off by fairies, protected his old friend's boat from harm.

    Read the passage

    An old man at Culdaff told me another tale of the sea. A fishing-boat was nearly overwhelmed, when a fairy-boat was seen riding on the top of a great wave, and a voice from it cried: "Do not harm that boat; an old friend of mine is in it." The voice belonged to a man who was supposed to be dead; but he had been carried off by the fairies, and would not allow them to injure his old friend.

    If the Irish fairy has power over the waves, the Swiss dwarf can divert the course of the devastating landslip. I was told by an elderly man in the Bernese Oberland of the destruction of Burglauenen, a village near Grindelwald. All the cottages were overwhelmed by a landslip except one poor hut, which had given shelter to a dwarf, who was seen, seated on a stone, directing the moving mass away from the abode of his friends. A similar story is told of the destruction of Niederdorf, in the Simmenthal.[53] One Sunday evening a feeble little man clad in rags came to the village; he knocked at several houses, praying the inmates to give him, for the love of God, a night's shelter. Everywhere he was refused--one hard-hearted woman telling him to go and break stones--until he came to a poor basket-maker and his wife, who gave him the best they had, and when he left he promised that God would reward them. A week later the village was destroyed by a terrible landslip, but here also the dwarf saved the dwelling of those who had befriended him.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 6

    As the companion tells it

    Somewhere close to Culdaff, an old man once told a tale of the sea. A fishing-boat was nearly overwhelmed out there, when a fairy-boat was seen riding on the top of a great wave. A voice from it cried out: "Do not harm that boat; an old friend of mine is in it." The voice belonged to a man who was supposed to be dead. But he had been carried off by the fairies, and he would not allow them to injure his old friend. The old man's story echoes others from far beyond Ireland. If the Irish fairy has power over the waves, the Swiss dwarf can divert the course of a devastating landslip. An elderly man in the Bernese Oberland told of the destruction of Burglauenen, a village near Grindelwald, where all the cottages were overwhelmed by a landslip except one poor hut. That hut had given shelter to a dwarf, who was seen seated on a stone, directing the moving mass away from the abode of his friends. A similar story is told of the destruction of Niederdorf in the Simmenthal. One Sunday evening a feeble little man clad in rags came to the village and knocked at several houses, praying the inmates to give him, for the love of God, a night's shelter. Everywhere he was refused. One hard-hearted woman told him to go and break stones. At last he came to a poor basket-maker and his wife, who gave him the best they had. When he left, he promised that God would reward them. A week later the village was destroyed by a terrible landslip, but the dwarf saved the dwelling of those who had befriended him.

42. Killelagh Church and Cromlech near Maghera

    near Killelagh · parish · Derry · 1912

    The author visited the Cromlech and the old Church of Killelagh outside Maghera, guided by Daniel McKenna. The worn doorstep and strong walls of the church were noted, with a tradition that the mortar had been cemented with the blood of bullocks.

    Read the passage

    My guide pointed out that the doorstep was much worn, doubtless by the feet of those who during many centuries had passed over it; he showed me, too, the strong walls, and said the mortar had been cemented with the blood of bullocks. This probably recalls an ancient custom, when an animal--in still earlier times it might be a human being[8]--was slain to propitiate or drive away the evil spirits and secure the stability of the building. A similar tradition exists in regard to Roughan Castle, the stronghold of Phelim O'Neill, in Co. Tyrone.

    Leaving Killelagh Church, we continued our walk, and I asked my guide about the customs and traditions of the country. He told me that on Hallow Eve Night salt is put on the heads of children to protect them from the fairies. These fairies, or wee folk, are about three feet in height, some not so tall; they are of different races or tribes, and have pitched battles at the Pecht's graveyard. This is a place covered with rough mounds and very rough stones, and is looked on as a great playground of the fairies; people passing through it are often led astray by them. The Pechts, or Picts, were described to me as having long black hair, which grew in tufts; they were small people, about four feet six inches in height, thick set, nearly as broad as they were long, strong in arms and shoulders, and with very large feet. When a shower of rain came on, they would stand on their heads and shelter themselves under their feet. Some years ago I was told a similar story in Co. Antrim of the Pechts lying down and using their feet as umbrellas.[9]

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 3

43. Man punished for taking stones from a fort cave

    near Antrim · town · Antrim

    A farmer in Co. Antrim told of a man taking stones from a souterrain in a fort who was warned by a stranger who then vanished, revealing him as no ordinary mortal; the man believed he was cursed to remain poor for disturbing the ancient building.

    Read the passage

    A farmer in Co. Antrim told me that once when a man was taking stones from a cave in a fort, an old man came and asked him would it not be better to get his stones elsewhere than from those ancient buildings. The other, however, continued his work; but when the stranger suddenly disappeared, he became convinced that his questioner was no ordinary mortal. In after-life he often said sadly: "He was a poor man, and would always remain a poor man, because he had taken stones from that cave." The cave was no doubt a souterrain.

    An elderly woman in Co. Antrim told me that when a child she one evening saw "a little old woman with a green cloak coming over the burn." She helped her to cross, and afterwards took her to the cottage, where her mother received the stranger kindly, told her she was sorry she could not give her a bed in the house, but that she might sleep in one of the outhouses. The children made Grannie as comfortable as they could, and in the morning went out early to see how she was. They found her up and ready to leave. The child who had first met her said she would again help her across the burn--"But wait," she added, "until I get my bonnet." She ran into the house, but before she came out the old woman had disappeared.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 4

44. Burial of Dr Hamilton in Londonderry Cathedral

    Derry · townland · Derry · 1797–1890

    Dr Hamilton's body was taken to Londonderry and interred in the Cathedral graveyard, his name recorded on the family tombstone, with descendants erecting a memorial tablet in the chancel in 1890.

    Read the passage

    From a letter written by Dr. Hall to the _Gentleman's Magazine_ (March, 1797), we learn that the assassins retired unmolested and undiscovered. Nor were any of them ever brought to justice, although popular tradition, among both Catholics and Protestants, says that misfortune dogged their footsteps, and each one of them came to an untimely end. Dr. Hamilton's body remained exposed during the night, and was only removed the following morning, when it was taken to Londonderry and interred in the Cathedral graveyard. Here his name is recorded on the family tombstone; and in 1890 his descendants erected a tablet to his memory in the chancel of the Cathedral.

    Hamilton obtained the degree of Doctor of Divinity in 1794, and shortly before his death he was elected a Corresponding Member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. We have seen how he was cut off in the full vigour of mind and body--his last memoir unprinted--and surely we may echo the lament of his contemporaries, and feel that he was one who had conferred honour on his native land. Yet, while they mourned his loss as a public calamity, his friends would recall his words, and remember that to him death was but the entrance to a new life--the casting away of a covering which formed no part of his true self.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 11

45. Grey Man's Path at Fair Head

    near Benmore or Fair Head · promontory · Antrim

    The Grey Man of the Path is associated with Fair Head, interpreted as a mythical personification of the mists gathering round Benmore.

    Read the passage

    In the Grey Man of the Path we have, doubtless, a purely mythical character, an impersonation of the mists which gather round Benmore,[49] while Finn McCoul, or MacCumaill, is one of Ireland's greatest traditional heroes. According to a well-known legend, he was a giant, and united Scotland and Ireland by a stupendous mole, of which the cave at Staffa and the Giant's Causeway are the two remaining fragments. In Glenshesk he is only a tall man, between seven and eight feet in height. Sometimes he is said to have been chief of the Pechts; sometimes he is spoken of as their master, and it is said they worked as slaves to him and the Fians.

    According to tradition, the Pechts were very numerous, and must have carried the heavy slabs for the roof of Finn McCoul's cave a distance of several miles. Although usually looked on as strictly human, supernatural characteristics are sometimes attributed to them. Like the Swiss "Servan," both they and the Grogachs have been known to thresh corn or do other work for the farmers.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 6

46. Pecht cave entrance in Drumcrow townland

    Drumcrow · townland · Antrim

    An old man living in the townland of Drumcrow, Co. Antrim, showed the author the entrance to an artificial cave (souterrain) and described the Pechts as low-set, heavy-made people broad in the feet who could shelter under their own feet from rain.

    Read the passage

    The Pechts are spoken of as low, stout people, who built some of the "coves" in the forts. An old man, living in the townland of Drumcrow, Co. Antrim, showed me the entrance to one of these artificial caves, and gave me a vivid description of its builders. "The Pechts," he said, "were low-set, heavy-made people, broad in the feet--so broad," he added, with an expressive gesture, "that in rain they could lie down and shelter themselves under their feet." He spoke of them as clad in skins, while an old woman at Armoy said they were dressed in grey. I have seldom heard of the Pechts beyond the confines of Antrim, although an old man in Donegal spoke of them as short people with large, unwieldy feet.

    The traditions regarding the Danes vary; sometimes they are spoken of as a tall race, sometimes as a short race. There is little doubt that the tall race were the medieval Danes, while in the short men we have probably a reminiscence of an earlier race.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 4

47. Rush crosses of St. Bridget's Eve at Maghera

    near Maghera · town · Derry

    At Maghera, children pull rushes on St. Bridget's Eve to make crosses which are sprinkled with holy water and hung over doors and beds for good luck, following a supper of pancakes or sowans.

    Read the passage

    While we were resting I asked about rush crosses, which are put up in many cottages at Maghera, and, gathering some rushes, Daniel McKenna showed me how they were made. He told me that on St. Bridget's Eve, January 31, children are sent out to pull rushes, which must not be cut with a knife. When these rushes are brought in, the family gather round the fire and make the crosses, which are sprinkled with holy water. The wife or eldest daughter prepares tea and pancakes, and the plate of pancakes is laid on the top of the rush cross. Prayers are said, and the family partake of St. Bridget's supper. The crosses are hung up over doors and beds to bring good luck. In former times sowans or flummery was eaten instead of pancakes. I have heard of similar customs in other places. At Tobermore those who bring in the rushes ask at the door, "May St. Bridget come in?" "Yes, she may," is the answer. The rushes are put on a rail under the table while the family partake of tea. Afterwards the crosses are made, and, as at Maghera, hung up over doors and beds.[10]

    This custom probably comes to us from pre-Christian times. The cross in its varied forms is a very ancient symbol, sometimes representing the sun, sometimes the four winds of heaven. Schlieman discovered it on the pottery of the Troad; it is found in Egypt, India, China, and Japan, and among the people of the Bronze Period it appears frequently on pottery, jewellery, and coins.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 3

48. The harvest 'luchter' and churn custom at Maghera

    near Maghera · town · Derry

    At Maghera, the last handful of oats, called the 'luchter,' was plaited and reapers threw sickles at it; whoever cut it was exempt from paying his share of the harvest feast, followed by dancing and the wearing of harvest knots.

    Read the passage

    The harvest knots or bows are connected with another old custom which was, until recently, observed at Maghera. When the harvest was gathered in, the last handful of oats, the corn of this country, was left standing. It was plaited in three parts and tied at the top, and was called by the Irish name "luchter." The reapers stood at some distance, and threw their sickles at the luchter, and the man who cut it was exempt from paying his share of the feast. Daniel McKenna told me he had seen some fine sickles broken in trying to hit the luchter. It was afterwards carried home; the young girls plaited harvest knots and put them in their hair, while the lads wore them in their caps and buttonholes. A dance followed the feast. The knots, with the ears of corn attached, are, I am told, the true old Irish type, while it is thought that the smaller ones were made after a pattern brought from England by the harvest reapers on their return home. I heard of the same custom at Portstewart and also in the Valley of the Roe, where the last sheaf of oats was called the "hare," and the throwing of the sickles was termed the "churn." In some places the last sheaf itself was called the "churn," but by whatever name it was known the man who hit it was regarded as the victor, and was given the best seat at the feast, or a reward of some kind. An old woman above ninety years of age repeated to me a song about the churn, or kirn, and she and many others remember well the custom and the feast which followed, when both whisky and tea were served.

    In some districts the last sheaf is termed the "Cailleagh,"[11] or old wife.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 3

49. Underground dwelling near Portstewart with limpet shells

    near Port Stewart · town · Derry

    An old farmer near Portstewart described an underground dwelling he had once entered, hollowed by man with several rooms connected by narrow holes, in one of which limpet-shells were found; some said Danes built it, others said clans made it as refuge.

    Read the passage

    One was on the land of an old farmer eighty-four years of age. He told me he had been in this cave, but no one could get in now. It had been hollowed out by man, but the walls were not built of stones. There were several rooms; you dropped from one to another through a narrow hole. The rooms were large, but low in the roof; in one of them a quantity of limpet-shells were found. He added that some said that the Danes had built these caves, others that the clans made them as places of refuge. He added that the Danes of those days had sandy hair and were short people; not like the sturdy Danes of the present day. These are well known to the seafaring population of Ulster, and we sometimes find the old Danes spoken of as a tall, fair race; probably this is a true description of the medieval sea-rovers. The short Danes I should be inclined to identify with the Tuatha de Danann, and I believe that, notwithstanding the magical portents which abound in the tales that have come down to us, we have here a very early people who had made some progress in the arts.

    This double use of the name Dane seems at times to have perplexed the older writers. The Rev. William Hamilton, in his "Letters on the North-East Coast of Antrim," published towards the end of the eighteenth century, gives a description of the coal-mines of Ballycastle[33] and of the very ancient galleries, with the pillars, left by the prehistoric miners, supporting the roof, which had been discovered some twelve years before he wrote. He tells us that the people of the place ascribed them to the Danes, but argues that these were never peaceable possessors of Ireland, and that it is not "to the tumultuary and barbarous armies of the ninth and tenth centuries ... we are to attribute the slow and toilsome operations of peace." He mentions how the stalactite pillars found in these galleries marked their antiquity, and ascribes them to some period prior to the eighth century, "when Ireland enjoyed a considerable share of civilization."

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 5

50. Ballycairn Fort built by short, stout Danes

    Ballycairn · townland · Derry

    Ballycairn Fort overlooking the Bann near Coleraine is said to have been built by short, stout Danes with sandy or red hair who carried earth in leathern aprons for lack of wheelbarrows.

    Read the passage

    Fairies are not the only race connected with raths and souterrains. We have two others, Danes and Pechts. It is generally believed that the Danes built the forts; hence we find many of them called "Danes' forts." I will describe one named from the townland in which it is situated, Ballycairn Fort. It stands on a high bank overlooking the Bann, about a mile north of Coleraine. The entire height is about twenty-six feet; at perhaps twelve feet from the ground a flat platform is reached, and at one end of this the upper part of the fort rises in a circular form for about fourteen or fifteen feet. I was told the Danes who built it were short, stout people, and as they had no wheelbarrows they carried the earth in their leathern aprons. Here we seem to come in contact with a very primitive people, probably wearing the skins of wild animals, and who are said, like the fairies, to have sandy or red hair.

    As far as is known no souterrain exists in Ballycairn Fort, although I was shown a stone at the side which my guide said might be the entrance to a "cove"; it appeared to me to be simply a piece of rock appearing above the sod, or possibly a boulder. There is a tradition of fairies living in this fort, as it is said that in "long ago" times the farmers used to threaten their boys if they were not doing right, that the fairies would come out of the fort and carry them away.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 5

51. Fairy battles at the Pecht's graveyard

    near Maghera · town · Derry

    Near Maghera, the Pecht's graveyard, a place covered with rough mounds and stones, was described as a playground of the fairies where different fairy tribes had pitched battles, and travelers were often led astray there.

    Read the passage

    Leaving Killelagh Church, we continued our walk, and I asked my guide about the customs and traditions of the country. He told me that on Hallow Eve Night salt is put on the heads of children to protect them from the fairies. These fairies, or wee folk, are about three feet in height, some not so tall; they are of different races or tribes, and have pitched battles at the Pecht's graveyard. This is a place covered with rough mounds and very rough stones, and is looked on as a great playground of the fairies; people passing through it are often led astray by them. The Pechts, or Picts, were described to me as having long black hair, which grew in tufts; they were small people, about four feet six inches in height, thick set, nearly as broad as they were long, strong in arms and shoulders, and with very large feet. When a shower of rain came on, they would stand on their heads and shelter themselves under their feet. Some years ago I was told a similar story in Co. Antrim of the Pechts lying down and using their feet as umbrellas.[9]

    I regretted we had not time to visit a large fort we passed on the way to Ballyknock Farmhouse. Here we left the road, and, passing through some fields, came to the old Sweat-house. As you will see from the photograph kindly given to me by Mr. Lytle of Maghera, the entrance is on the side of a bank. It is a much more primitive structure than those at the Struel Wells, near Downpatrick. No mortar has been used in its construction, and I should say it is an old souterrain, or part of a souterrain. The following are rough measurements:

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 3

52. Fire at Dunree blamed on angry fairies

    Dunree · townland · Donegal

    A fire at Dunree on Lough Swilly was attributed by locals to fairies angered because military construction of a modern fort encroached too near the fairy rock.

    Read the passage

    The fairies are quick to revenge an injury or an encroachment on their territory. A fire which occurred at Dunree on Lough Swilly was attributed to the fairies, who were supposed to be angry because the military had carried the works of their modern fort too near the fairy rock. In some places the raths have been cultivated, but, as a rule, this is looked upon as very unlucky, and sure to bring dire misfortune on the man who attempts it. On the other hand, there appears to be no objection to growing crops on the top of a souterrain. Many are, it is true, afraid to enter these dark abodes, and others consider it unwise to carry anything out of them. I have never heard them spoken of as tombs, and the fairies are regarded, not as ghosts, but as fallen angels, to whom no Church holds out a hope of salvation. Only in one instance did a woman tell me that as fairies were good to the poor, she thought there would be hope for them hereafter. The Irish fairy remains a pagan; the ancient well of pre-Christian days may be consecrated to the Christian saint, and patterns held beside it, but no pious pilgrim prays on the rath or below the fairy rock.

    We may now ask ourselves the meaning of these legends. The rath and souterrain are undoubtedly the work of primitive man, yet here we have the Sidh, inhabited by the fairy and the Tuatha de Danann. In the "Colloquy of the Ancients"[42] we are told it was out of a Sidh, Finn's chief musician, the dwarf Cnu deiriol came, and from another Sidh came Blathnait, whom the small man espoused. It was fairy music which Cnu taught to the musicians of the Fianna. It was out of a Sidh in the south that Cas corach, son of the Olave of the Tuatha de Danann, came to the King of Ulidia.[43]

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 5

53. Ointment story variant at Portstewart

    near Port Stewart · town · Derry

    An old woman at Portstewart told a variant of the fairy midwife tale in which the woman gains fairy-sight by accidentally rubbing ointment across her eye while tending a fairy infant.

    Read the passage

    Variants of this story were told to me by an old woman at Portstewart, and by a man whom I met near Lough Salt during the Rosapenna Conference of Field Clubs. In these versions there is no mention of the red-haired boy, nor of the old woman being the mother of the fairy man's wife; she is simply called in to attend to her. When rubbing ointment on the infant, she accidentally draws her hand across one of her eyes and acquires the power of seeing the fairies. Shortly afterwards she meets the fairy man at a market or fair, and inquires for his wife. He is annoyed at being recognized, asks with which eye she sees him, blows upon it, and puts it out.[73]

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 7

54. Owner's sudden death after cultivating fort near Newcastle

    near Newcastle · town · Down

    An attempt to bring a fairy fort near Newcastle under cultivation was believed to have caused the sudden death of its owner.

    Read the passage

    I was told that when a certain fort in Co. Fermanagh was levelled to the ground misfortune overtook the men who did the work, although, apparently, they were only labourers, many of them dying suddenly. It was also said that where this fort had stood there were caves or hollows in the ground into which the oxen would fall when ploughing. An attempt to bring a fort near Newcastle under cultivation is believed to have caused the sudden death of the owner.

    The fairies are celebrated as fine musicians; they ride on small horses; the women grind meal, and the sound of their spinning is often heard at night in the peasants' cottages. The following story is related as having occurred at Camlough, near Newry.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 2

55. Red-haired fairy sighting in the Mourne Mountains

    near Mourne Mountains · mountain or mountain range · Down

    A farmer in the Mourne Mountains reported seeing little creatures with red hair, about the size of children, on a stormy night, insisting they could not have been ordinary children out in such weather.

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    A farmer living in one of the valleys of the Mourne Mountains said he had seen one stormy night little creatures with red hair, about the size of children. I asked him if they might not have been really children from some of the cottages, but his reply was that no child could have been out in such weather.

    An old woman living near Tullamore Park, Co. Down, described vividly how, going out to look after her goat and its young kid, she had heard loud screams and seen wild-looking figures with scanty clothing whose hair stood up like the mane of a horse. She spoke with much respect of the fairies as the gentry, said they formerly inhabited hills in Tullamore Park, and that care was taken not to destroy their thorn-bushes. She related the following story: As a friend of hers was sitting alone one night, a small old woman, dressed in a white cap and apron, came in and borrowed a bowl of meal. The debt was repaid, and the meal brought by the fairy put in the barrel. The woman kept the matter secret, and was surprised to find her barrel did not need replenishing. At last her husband asked if her store of meal was not coming to an end; she replied that she would show him she had sufficient, and lifted the cover of the barrel. To her astonishment it was almost empty; no doubt, had she kept her secret, she would have had an unlimited supply of meal.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 2

56. The Danish cashel with souterrain above Dungiven

    near Dungiven · town · Derry

    The author visited a cashel above Dungiven attributed to the Danes, beneath which there is a souterrain, and identified these short, red-haired Danes with the Tuatha de Danann.

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    To the Danes are ascribed the kitchen-middens on Rosguill, and the lad I met above Gortnalughoge Bay, told me they lived and had their houses on the water, I should infer after the fashion of the lake-dwellers. He could not tell me the height of these Danes, but those who built the forts and cashels have often been described to me as short and red-haired. As I have stated on former occasions, I should be inclined to identify these short Danes with the Tuatha de Danann. I visited one of their cashels above Dungiven, under which there is a souterrain, and I also went to one on a hill above Downey's pier at Rosapenna. I believe it is the Downey's Fort marked on the Ordnance Survey map. It appeared to be regarded as an uncanny spot; treasure is said to be hidden under it, and I had a difficulty in getting anyone to take me to it. A little girl, however, acted as guide, and a young farmer, who had at first refused, joined me on the top. I took some very rough measurements of this cashel. From the outer circumference it was about 60 by 60 feet; the walls had fallen inwards, so it was impossible to say how thick they had been originally, but the space free from stones in the centre measured about 25 by 25 feet.

    The young farmer told me of some rocks at a place he called Dooey, on which crosses were inscribed. I believe that near Mevagh, in addition to the spiral markings, which were visited by many members of the Conference, there is another rock on which crosses are also inscribed.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 7

57. The Hairy Grogach of Ballycastle

    near Ballycastle · town · Antrim

    At Ballycastle, the Grogach was described as a hairy man about four feet tall who could endure heat or cold without wearing clothing.

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    A Grogach herded the cattle of a farmer, and drove them home in the evening. He was about the size of a child, and was naked. A fire was left burning at night so that he might warm himself, and after a time the daughter of the house made him a shirt. When the Grogach saw this he thought it was a "billet" for him to go, and, crying bitterly, he took his departure, and left the shirt behind him. As I pointed out on a former occasion,[87] in many respects the Grogach resembles the Swiss dwarf. The likeness to the Brownie is also very marked. At Ballycastle I was told the Grogach was a hairy man about four feet in height, who could bear heat or cold without clothing.

    Patrick Kennedy has described a Gruagach as a giant, and states that the word "Gruagach" has for root _gruach_--"hair," giants and magicians being "furnished with a large provision of that appendage."[88] This Gruagach was closely related to the fairies, and, indeed, we shall find later in a Donegal story a giant ogress spoken of as a fairy woman. In Scotland, as well as in the South of Ireland, the name is Gruagach, but in Antrim I heard it pronounced "Grogach." I was also told near Cushendall that the Danes were hairy people.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 8

58. Danish kitchen-middens on Rosguill

    Rosguill · electoral division · Donegal

    The kitchen-middens found on Rosguill are ascribed to the Danes, who were said to have lived and had their houses on the water in the manner of lake-dwellers.

    Read the passage

    To the Danes are ascribed the kitchen-middens on Rosguill, and the lad I met above Gortnalughoge Bay, told me they lived and had their houses on the water, I should infer after the fashion of the lake-dwellers. He could not tell me the height of these Danes, but those who built the forts and cashels have often been described to me as short and red-haired. As I have stated on former occasions, I should be inclined to identify these short Danes with the Tuatha de Danann. I visited one of their cashels above Dungiven, under which there is a souterrain, and I also went to one on a hill above Downey's pier at Rosapenna. I believe it is the Downey's Fort marked on the Ordnance Survey map. It appeared to be regarded as an uncanny spot; treasure is said to be hidden under it, and I had a difficulty in getting anyone to take me to it. A little girl, however, acted as guide, and a young farmer, who had at first refused, joined me on the top. I took some very rough measurements of this cashel. From the outer circumference it was about 60 by 60 feet; the walls had fallen inwards, so it was impossible to say how thick they had been originally, but the space free from stones in the centre measured about 25 by 25 feet.

    The young farmer told me of some rocks at a place he called Dooey, on which crosses were inscribed. I believe that near Mevagh, in addition to the spiral markings, which were visited by many members of the Conference, there is another rock on which crosses are also inscribed.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 7

59. Exploration of Ballymagreehan souterrain near Castlewellan

    Ballymagreehan · townland · Down

    The author explored the souterrain at Ballymagreehan Fort near Castlewellan on the Newry Road, describing a narrow entrance leading to passages about forty feet long, three feet wide, built of round stones with a flat-slab roof.

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    Ballymagreehan Fort is a short distance from Castlewellan, near the Newry Road. It is a small fort, and on the top we saw the narrow entrance to the souterrain. Passing down through this, we found ourselves in a short passage, or chamber, which led us to another passage at right angles to the first. It is about forty feet in length and three feet in width; the height varies from four to five feet. The roof is formed of flat slabs, and the walls are carefully built of round stones, but without mortar. At one end this passage appeared to terminate in a wall, but at the other it was only choked with fallen stones and débris, and I should think had formerly extended farther.

    Herman's Fort is another small fort on the opposite side of Castlewellan, in the townland of Clarkill. Climbing to the top of it, we came to an enclosure where several thorn-bushes were growing. The farmer who kindly acted as our guide showed us two openings. One of these led to a narrow chamber fully six feet high, the other to a passage more than thirty feet in length and about three feet wide, while the height varied from three and a half feet in one part to more than five feet in another. I was told that water is always to be found near these forts, and was shown a well which had existed from time immemorial; the sides were built of round stones without mortar, in the same way as the walls of the passage.

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 2

60. Skiough bush resists cutting in Glenshesk

    Glenshesk · valley · Antrim

    In Glenshesk some men attempted to cut down a Skiough (fairy) bush but their hatchet broke repeatedly and they gave up; another transplanted bush was said to return of its own accord during the night.

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    To leave these weird apparitions, it will be seen that the ordinary fairy, the Grogach, the Pecht, and the Dane, all inhabit underground dwellings, although the fairy and Grogach are regarded more in the light of supernatural beings. To cut down a fairy or a "Skiough" bush is to court misfortune, sometimes to attempt an impossible task. In Glenshesk some men tried to cut down a Skiough bush, but the hatchet broke; after several failures they gave up, and the bush still flourishes. Another bush was transplanted, but returned during the night.

    To the Danes and Pechts the building of all the raths and souterrains is ascribed, and in North-East Antrim the Pechts are said to have been so numerous that, when making a fort, they could stand in a long line, and hand the earth from one to another, no one moving a step. A similar story is told of the Scotch Pechts by the Rev. Andrew Small in his "Antiquities of Fife" (1823).[59] Speaking of the Round Tower of Abernethy, "The story goes," he says, "that it was built by the Pechts ... and that while the work was going on they stood in a row all the way from the Lomond Hill to the building, handing the stones from one to another.... That it has been built of freestone from the Lomond Hill is clear to a demonstration, as the grist or nature of the stone points out the very spot where it has been taken from--namely, a little west, and up from the ancient wood of Drumdriell, about a mile straight south from Meralsford." According to popular tradition in Scotland, these Pechts or Picts were great builders, and many of the edifices ascribed to them belong to a comparatively late period. Mr. MacRitchie suggests that in the erection of some of these the Picts may have been employed as serfs or slaves.[60] He believes the Pechts to be the Picts of history. Mr. W. C. Mackenzie, on the other hand, has suggested that they are an earlier dwarf race, the Pets or Peti, who have been confused by the peasantry with the Picts.[61] This is a matter I must leave to others to decide; but I may remark in passing that in an ancient poem on the Cruithnians, preserved in the book of Lecan, we have a suggestion that these Cruithnians or Picts were a smaller race than their enemies, the Tuath Fidga. We are told how

    Project Gutenberg #37187, Chapter 6