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Miscellanea.

The Cow Legend of Corofin, Co. Clare.-Corofin and its neighbourhood is a happy hunting-ground for folk-lore even in these degenerate days. Much more so in 1840, when Eugene O'Curry took some pains to gather a few sheaves of that abundant harvest, much of which may still be saved, though till lately left untended. We still hear among the peasantry legends of Claraghmoor (Richard de Clare, 1318), Tige Ahood (Teige Acomhad, 1460), and Maureen Rhue (Mary O'Brien, 1641); with recollections of Ossian, and of the wonderful leap of the hound, Bran, and the deer, from the top of Inchiquin hill; of the discovery of turfcutting by the warriors cleaning their blood-stained swords in the peat, and throwing the clods on the fire; with wild and sometimes beautiful beliefs in the swan maidens of Inchiquin, the banshees of Rath, and the "cursing-stone of Kilmoon," the turning of which "maledictive stone" twisted the mouths of the victims awry. But a still more famous story was told by the older generation, and this I adapt from the invaluable pages of the Ordnance Survey Letters. It was told, in 1839, by Shane Reagh O'Cahane, an old tailor and shanachee of Corofin, and it coincides with the shorter form of the legend still told at Tullycomane :

On the ridge of Glasgeivnagh, in Teeskagh townland, in Kilnaboy parish, the high land adjoining the edge of Burren, ages ago, lived Lon mac Leefa (Liomhtha), a Tuatha De Danaan, and the first smith who made edged weapons in Erin. He was strange to behold, for he had only one leg and three arms, the third of which grew out of the middle of his chest, and enabled him to turn the iron on the anvil, while he wielded the heavy sledge with the others. When he walked he would bound over valleys and hills, his one leg acting as a powerful spring. He had gone to Spain, and stolen a famous cow called Glasgeivnagh, on whose milk he lived. His race having been defeated by the Milesians, he long sought a 'desert' place sufficiently fertile to support his cow, and at last found it at Teeskagh. There the Seact spota na Tearcaige (Seven Streams of Teeskagh') still attest the legend how a lady made a bet that she would find a vessel which the cow could not fill, and milked her into a sieve; the milk ran down the hillside, forming the pretty waterfall and streams, which run across a deep gorge to sink into clefts of the rock. Beside the water were shown the 'Leabas,' or beds, of the cow and her calf; no grass could grow on them. Many sought to steal the cow, but her hoofs grew backward, so JOUR. R.S.A.I., VOL. V., PT. III., 5TH SER.

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they could never track her (though her footprints remain all over the rocks of the district), for one of Lon's seven sons, holding her tail, would follow her each day of the week to the top of the hill, and then pull her round and let her graze home again.

Unlike others of his

Lon's life of obscurity was, however, to end. race, who sulked in the 'sidhs,' or fairy hills, he longed to astonish the Milesians, by making a famous sword for the most illustrious of their warriors. The fame of Fin mac Cumhal reached him, and he set out in his usual expeditious method, and reached the fort of Ben Edar, or Howth. Springing into the presence of Fin and his astonished court, "I am Lon," he cried, "skilled in smiths' art, and a servant of the King of Lochlin; I lay on thee a 'geasa' to overtake me ere I reach home." Off he bounded, and the Fenians were soon hopelessly distanced, except Caoilte, "of the slender, hard legs," who kept the smith in sight, and coming up with him just as he entered his cave in Garraidh-na-Ceartan, where the ashes of his forge remain, to refute all sceptics, he slapped him on the shoulder. "Stay, smith," said Caoilte, "enter not thy cave alone." "Success and welcome, true soldier of the Fionna," said Lon, in delight, "not for witchcraft did I visit thee, but to lead thee to my forge, and give thee a weapon to make thee famous "; and they worked at the forge for three days. At last Fin and seven of his men arrived, and Lon sold them eight swords. There the work ended, for the anvil was broken under the strokes of Goll and Conan, the sons of Morné.

Meanwhile a party of the Tuatha De Danaan mustered on Ceann Sleibhte (now Keentlae), or Inchiquin Hill, and posted troops on the causeways round Glasgeivnagh, namely, Corad mac Burin,' opposite Ballyportry, Corad mhic Eoghain, one mile west of Corofin, and at the Corad Finn itself. Their precautions were of no avail, for the strangers routed the outposts, and exterminated the main army in a pitched battle near Suidhe Finn, where bones are still found.

The legend ends tamely and abruptly, by stating that "an Ulsterman stole the cow."

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This legend is widely spread, and of ancient descent; it occurs at Ballynascreen, in Derry, and in Donegal, opposite Tory Island. Professor Rhys gives fully the legend (singularly like the myth of Danaë), of Balor's daughter, and Kineely, "the wolf head," the owner of the stolen cow, Glasgaivlen. Similar legends are found in Glengaulen, Cavan, on

1 The Coradh mac am burion of the "Wars of Torlough" in 1317, lay where "Kells Bridge "' is marked on the maps, as established, from the recollection of the older peasantry, by our Local Secretary for North Clare, Dr. Mac Namara.

2 Ordnance Survey Letters, Co. Clare.-R.I.A., p. 66; also those of Cavan and Donegal. "Hero Tales of Ireland" (J. Curtin) - Introduction, pp. xliv. and 1. Rev. J. Campbell's Waifs and Strays of Celtic Tradition." "Hibbert Lectures, 1886" (Professor Rhys), p. 315. "Annals of the Four Masters," vol. i., p. 18, Our Journal, 1852-1853, p. 315. "Journal," Cork Historical and Archæological Society, May, 1895, p. 210.

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the Hill of Tara, and in Kerry. Nor are they confined to Ireland. The Rev. James Campbell tells an identical smith story of Tiree and Argyll: "Lon mac Liven, son of Una, daughter of Vulcan," with "one leg, and one eye on the top of his forehead," comes to Fin, stating that he worked for the Norse King of "Givlen," and flies, "taking a desert and a glen at each step," to "a grey, sickly glen," being overtaken by Caoilte Daorglas, who finds "seven ugly smiths" in the cave, and the tale ends in the splitting of the anvil, and a fierce combat. In Skye a Glasghoilean cow, the property of Fin, had "a bed," which is still shown. The Scotch stories have more classic affinities (to Vulcan and the Cyclops) than our Clare myth, while the Glas Gavlen cow descends from the sky at Dun Kinealy, and is unmistakably a relative of the rain cows of the Vedas.-T. J. W.

"Archæologia Cambrensis."-The latest number of the "Journal of the Cambrian Archæological Association" (July, 1895) contains a careful architectural study of the church of Conway, visited by our Society last year. It also contains the concluding notices of the Excursion then joined in. We are glad to notice that steps are about being taken for the survey and preservation of the extremely interesting prehistoric fort of Treceiri, in Carnarvonshire. The committee in whose hands this work has been placed is, we are sure, a sufficient guarantee that the task of preservation will not become an excuse for restoration, which, as some of the finest of our own stone forts testify, is one of the greatest evils from which they need to be preserved.

Fethard and Baginbun Inscriptions.-The same number of Archaologia Cambrensis contains a Paper by Professor Rhys, dealing with various inscriptions in Wales. Among others he studies afresh the inscription on the cross at Carew, in Pembrokeshire, which has attracted new interest from the discussion in the pages of the Academy, of the similar inscriptions at Fethard and Baginbun, county Wexford. Mr. Romilly Allen, in another part of the same number, has brought together facsimiles of the three inscriptions, made from rubbings-those of the two Irish stones supplied by Colonel Vigors.

Whatever may be the meaning of the inscriptions, and however great the improbability of an inscription in Ireland being a copy of a stone at the other side of the Channel, or the reverse, Mr. Romilly Allen shows that the similarity, not only in form, but in arrangement of the characters, is such as scarcely to admit of any other reasonable explanation than the hypothesis, which he supports, of successive copies debased by unintelligent transcription.

Antiquarian Handbook Series.-Under this title it has been arranged to re-issue the most important of the Guide-books prepared from time to time for the use of the Members taking part in the Society's Excursions. The first number of the series has recently been issued, containing the descriptions of Tara, the Church of Dunsany, and the Churches of Glendalough. The next number will contain the accounts of Aran and Galway, visited in July. It is gratifying to find that the Antiquary, in its September issue, expresses much appreciation of the scheme, and in particular of our Galway Excursion Programme. We hope that these reprints will succeed in stimulating and educating a still more general and more intelligent interest in our National Antiquities.

Ancient Smelting Works.-Rev. E. F. Hewson, Hon. Local Secretary Kilkenny East, forwards the following communication from a lady Member living in county Waterford, near the foot of the Comeragh mountains:— "We opened lately a curious mound (hollowed in the centre) in one of our fields here. We cut a deep trench right across it, and found it to be nothing but broken sandstone (all burnt stone) and charcoal! No one seems to know what it was. The stone is broken about as small as road metalling. There are several small heaps of the same all over the field. My mother thinks they smelted here for iron! Lord Cork certainly did all round Youghal in Queen Elizabeth's reign. The field would appear to have been the shore of a bog lake. We cut right down into the marl and yellow clay, and found absolutely nothing but these burnt broken stones and charcoal and burnt earth."-C. G. FAIRHOLME.

Recent Find of Silver Coins of Elizabeth.-Some well-preserved coins of Queen Elizabeth were found a few months since (date uncertain) 8 or 10 feet beneath the surface of Cloncanny Bog, near Creggs, county Roscommon, wrapped in coarse woollen fabric, and concealed within the hollow of a cow's horn, pierced at its top (such as was used for containing gunpowder). They are a series remarkable for belonging to different dates, from the year 1561 to 1584, with few exceptions. Thus there are 2 sixpences of the year 1565; 3 of the year 1568; 2 of the year 1569; 2 of the year 1581; the rest being solitary specimens for each year of the following dates:-1561, 1562, 1565, 1567, 1568, 1569, 1573, 1574, 1575, 1578, 1580, 1581, 1582, 1583, 1584-in all 20 sixpences. There were in addition two shillings, one with Lis mintmark, the date of which is not fully known, and another with Hand mint-mark, usually referred to the year 1590.-W. F.

Ennis Friary in 1306.-By the kindness of Mr. Standish Hayes O'Grady, I am able to give a full translation of the two passages in John Macgrath's "Wars of Torlough," quoted from an old English version in the Royal Irish Academy, on page 135, supra :—

"On the north (recte south) bank of the Fergus, abreast of Inishalee (at this day called Clonroad), in the very heart of his own near dependants, and of his domain, he built a circular hold and residence."

"The monastery of Ennis, diversely beautiful, delectable; washed by a fish-giving stream; having lofty arches, walls lime-white; with its order of chastity, its sweet, religious bells; its well-kept graves, homes of the noble dead; with furniture, both crucifixes and illuminated tomes, both friar's cowl and embroidered vestment; with windows glazed; with chalice of rare workmanship-a blessed and enduring monument which, for all time, shall stand a legacy and memory of the Prince (Torlough O'Brien) that raised it."-T. J. W.

Photographs of the Excursions.-Mr. R. Welch, 49, Lonsdalestreet, Belfast, has completed a nice series of views of the principal objects of Antiquarian interest visited. He has succeeded in getting some very clear negatives, which he has printed off in his permanent platino process, and he writes to say he will be very pleased to send copies to any Members of the Society who may wish to see them. His views of Tory Island and Inismurray are excellent, and the pictures taken on the Aran Islands are very interesting. His series include, in addition to the foregoing, Clare Galway, Galway Town, Corcomroe, Mac Dara's Island, and Clonmacnois.

Mr. A. M. Geddis, 6, Crofton-terrace, Kingstown, was fortunate in getting some fine views to add to his extensive collection. Some of his groups are very good.

Mrs. Shackleton, Anna Liffey House, Lucan, secured many very good negatives, and her group at Ballintubber Castle is excellent.

Mr. Goddard H. Orpen, Erpingham, Bedford Park, Chiswick, London, took a very extensive series of views during the whole of the Excursion (about 50 negatives, 5 inches x 4 inches), and he writes to say he will have copies printed for Members at 6d. each.

Dr. Norman, 12, Brock-street, Bath, has, as usual, been successful in adding largely to his stock; he took a great number of negatives in the Aran Islands, and he, too, has arranged to supply Members with copies at 6d. each.

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