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+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75537 ***
+
+
+
+
+
+WURRA-WURRA
+
+[Illustration: GROTTO AND IMAGE OF WURRA-WURRA
+
+Drawn by John Innes, from his reconstruction of this very ancient Celtic
+Idol, as described in the Legend.]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration:
+
+                               WURRA-WURRA
+
+                            A LEGEND OF SAINT
+                             PATRICK AT TARA
+
+                   HERE FIRST TRANSCRIBED AND COMPARED
+                  WITH THE TESTIMONY OF ANCIENT RECORDS
+                      AND MODERN HISTORICAL RESEARCH
+
+                            _By_ CURTIS DUNHAM
+                   AUTHOR OF “THE GOLDEN GOBLIN,” ETC.
+
+              WITH ILLUSTRATIONS, INCLUDING A RECONSTRUCTION
+                           OF THE VERY ANCIENT
+                      CELTIC IDOL CALLED WURRA-WURRA
+
+                             _By_ JOHN INNES
+
+                                 NEW YORK
+                         DESMOND FITZGERALD, INC.
+                                PUBLISHERS]
+
+
+
+
+                             COPYRIGHT, 1911,
+                       BY DESMOND FITZGERALD, INC.
+
+
+
+
+                           TO THOSE DESCENDANTS
+                    OF THE O’SHAUGHNESSY WHO PRESERVED
+                   THIS LEGEND OF ST. PATRICK AT TARA;
+                  TO THE MEMORY OF FATHER O’SHAUGHNESSY,
+                  FROM WHOM IT WAS RECEIVED ORALLY; AND
+                      TO THE ANTI-WORRY SOCIETIES OF
+                       CHRISTENDOM, THIS TRANSCRIPT
+                        IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
+
+
+
+
+FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+  Grotto and Image of Wurra-Wurra                            _Frontispiece_
+
+                                                              _Facing page_
+
+  Patrick casting down Cromm Cruach and the twelve smaller idols        12
+
+  Keth, Patrick’s Strong Man, describing to Finola the virtues of
+    his handstone                                                       20
+
+  Keth Mac Maragh in the bog, beset by the wizard spells of Lochru      38
+
+  Keth recites the Brehon Law to Dubthach Mac na Lugair and his debtor  44
+
+  Dubthach, the Royal Shanachy, driving home the price of his poems     48
+
+  Far down Glanngalt Keth sees the torches flaming about the Grotto
+    of Wurra-Wurra                                                      52
+
+  With his mighty handstone, defying Lochru, Keth shatters the idol
+    Wurra-Wurra                                                         62
+
+  Finola runs to Keth and delivers an urgent message from Patrick       64
+
+  Keth, in the shattered idol’s place, hears Finola’s great worry       76
+
+  Patrick marries and blesses Keth and Finola of the White Shoulder     78
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+’Twas in the days whin the good Patrick of Armagh slept with wan eye
+open, owin’ to the murderous desire of a bunch of haythin magicians to
+hang onto their jobs at the court of King Laeghaire. There was the chief
+royal wizard, Lochru by name, an’ two other divil-sint Druid priests,
+namely Caplait an’ Lucat-Moel, who hild the graft of makin’ wise
+haythins of Ethne the Fair an’ Fedelm the Ruddy, the King’s two daughters
+an’ the twin apples of his eye; an’ between the three of thim, with the
+King lookin’ their way wan day an’ Patrick’s way the next, the spells of
+wind an’ water an’ black magic the good Patrick had to circumvint were
+sure a caution.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Now Patrick, bein’ a gintleman and the guest of King Laeghaire at Tara,
+could not turn himself loose on mimbers of the King’s own household. All
+the same, if he was to clane up Ireland, Druids, snakes an’ all, ’twas
+important to begin by convertin’ the King. So he was goin’ easy like, wan
+day miltin’ Laeghaire to tears with his iloquence, an’ alas! the nixt day
+findin’ the King bowin’ down to the great gold an’ silver idol, Cromm
+Cruach, which stood on the plain near Tara surrounded by twilve smaller
+idols of brass an’ tin. ’Twas a case of Cromm Cruach against Patrick an’
+the Four Gospils with the odds even.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Wan thing was plain, Cromm Cruach the big idol, an’ all the little idols
+must go. So wan day, in the prisence of King Laeghaire an’ all his
+household an’ a great multitude of the people, Patrick raised his staff
+before Cromm Cruach, an’ in the twinklin’ of an eye the big idol an’ all
+the little idols sank into the plain up to their necks. ’Twas a miracle
+the like of which had niver been seen in Ireland. An’ King Laeghaire,
+seein’ that all the spells of his Druid magicians could not raise up
+Cromm Cruach again, nor even the smallest of the little idols, became a
+Christian on the spot.
+
+Observin’ the same, old Lochru the wizard fell to ragin’ an’ tearin’ out
+his long whiskers by handfuls. Caplait an’ Lucat-Moel were frothin’ at
+the mouth because of their fat jobs gone a-glimmerin’. ’Twas a great day
+for the good Patrick, barrin’ the prisint failure of the multitude to
+follow the example of the King.
+
+[Illustration: _Patrick casting down Cromm Cruach and the twelve smaller
+idols_]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Instead of fallin’ on their knees to receive the blissin’ of Patrick as
+he stood there with Sechnall his bishop, Erc his judge, an’ Presbiter
+Bescna his chaplain, all in their church vestmints, the people turned
+their faces to the West as wan man, beat upon their brists an’ cried
+out: “O, Wurra-Wurra!” In their mixture of ancient Irish an’ Gaelic
+(which was the common speech in those days), three times they cried: “O,
+Wurra-Wurra!” before they would let Patrick bliss an’ disperse thim.
+
+Now there was in Patrick’s train Keth Mac Maragh, his strong man, the
+same that carried him on his back through the bogs an’ was his champion
+whin it came to fightin’ barbarians who would not accept the Gospil with
+whole heads. Keth was moreover a bit of a shanachy, or story-teller,
+in his way, with a head full of the old tales an’ histories set down
+in the Book of the Dun Cow, which made him the frind of ivery small
+boy wheriver Patrick carried on the good work. So whin he heard the
+multitude cry out: “O, Wurra-Wurra!” at the downfall of Cromm Cruach,
+Keth was disturbed in his mind. Niver before had he heard those words
+of lamentation uttered by a multitude all in spontaneous accord. Yet in
+the mouths of sorrowin’ girls forsaken by their lovers, an’ old women
+at a wake or grievin’ over sheep with the foot-rot, they were words as
+familiar in Patrick’s time as they are to this day.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+But the thing that most disturbed the mind of Keth Mac Maragh was
+the sight of Finola of the White Shoulder, wan of Patrick’s three
+embroideresses—which means a Christian mimber of Patrick’s own
+household—turnin’ her pretty face to the West with the multitude an’
+joinin’ in the cry of “Wurra-Wurra!” ’Twas sure a haythin act, an’ as
+Keth had been for a long time swate on this same Finola, findin’ her
+white shoulder a plisant place to rist his head on, he wint speedily an’
+taxed her with it.
+
+But Finola only hung her pretty head an’ was silent.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“Finola,” says Keth, “ye ought to be ashamed of yoursilf, you a mimber of
+the good Patrick’s household an’ a ’broiderer of the sacred vestmints.”
+
+Niver a word answered Finola, but only hung her head the lower.
+
+Then said Keth Mac Maragh with a keen look at the girl:
+
+“Finola, ’tis yoursilf has told the truth though not a word has passed
+your lips. Cromm Cruach, which our good Patrick has overthrown, was not
+the only great false god in Ireland.”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Now the girl appeared startled, but her head still drooped an’ she
+answered neither yes nor no. With a smile half hid by the hair on his
+lip, Keth spoke sternly to her:
+
+“Finola, I have it from your own lips that you came to Patrick at Tara
+from your people over in the West country. ’Tis over in the West stands
+another great idol, an’ the name of it is Wurra-Wurra.”
+
+At these words Finola began trimbling violently, though she spoke no
+word, an’ her head still drooped. Keth Mac Maragh showed the girl no
+mercy.
+
+“’Tis in my mind, Finola,” he said, “to make a journey over into the West
+country, an’ find this heathen god, Wurra-Wurra, an’ cast him down even
+as Patrick cast down Cromm Cruach.”
+
+Now the girl lifted her head and spoke up quickly: “But you are not in
+orders, Keth, an’ have no Bishop’s staff to raise against this idol—if
+so there be one.”
+
+“’Tis true I have no Bishop’s staff,” said he, “nor do I nade wan. I have
+me handstone. I have me handstone, the same that did for Macc Cairthinn,
+mind ye, Finola. An’ ’tis in me mind that the handstone that spilled the
+brains of the King’s strong man is enough to bash the countenance of a
+haythin idol.”
+
+And he took the stone out of his shield to gaze on its fine shape and
+feel the weight of it. “’Twas a smaller wan,” he said, “a mere stone from
+the brook with no virtue whativer, that David sunk into the forehead of
+Goliath.”
+
+“Is it the same,” whispered Finola with awe in her eyes, “that gave ye
+the triumph over Macc Cairthinn?”
+
+[Illustration: _Keth, Patrick’s Strong Man, describing to Finola the
+virtues of his handstone_]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“’Tis a better wan,” spoke up Keth Mac Maragh proudly. “’Tis of
+fresh-slaked lime mixed with those same brains of the King’s strong man
+that I spilled with the old wan—mixed with Macc Cairthinn’s own brains
+an’ dried in the sun till it has the hardness of flint an’ the toughness
+of oak. Besides—mark this, Finola—’tis a true handstone with all the
+virtues of me own Red Branch Knighthood. An’ who can throw it fairer or
+swifter than Keth Mac Maragh?”
+
+At these words Finola turned strangely pale. Prisently she threw her arms
+about the neck of Keth an’ besought him not to journey off into that wild
+West country.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“Keth, darlin’,” said she, “’tis the country of the Badb an’ all the
+Dedannan furies, where the terrible Banshees are only the least of
+the bad fairies. They will have your body an’ your soul.” An’ then she
+whispered:
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“Stay with Finola. She nades ye, an’—an’ soon she’ll nade ye sore!”
+
+Now Keth was touched with the tears of Finola, but he was an obstinate
+man an’ his mind was made up to have it for his own great triumph and
+credit with Patrick, the castin’ down of Wurra-Wurra. ’Twas true also
+that he had become a trifle weary of the white arms of Finola forever
+draggin’ about his neck. So he threw them off gintly, lavin’ her there
+on the ground half dead with grievin’, an’ wint straight to Patrick for
+lave to go on a journey on business of his own.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The good Patrick, bein’ easy in his mind an’ cheerful now that Cromm
+Cruach was done for, gave Keth his lave an’ a blissin’; an’ lest Finola’s
+arms should drag at his neck again, he did not delay, but took his shield
+an’ his handstone an’ was off on his long legs for the West country.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Indade, ’twas well he did not loiter, for the old wizard Lochru had
+already got wind of his interprise an’ was brewin’ his most divilish
+spells against him. Caplait was in the same business. ’Twas a close
+call for Keth Mac Maragh, for between thim these two howlin’ old wizards
+bossed all the bad fairies an’ demons an’ reptiles in Ireland.
+
+All this, mind ye, was before Patrick had got ready to attind to the
+snakes. The land was full of thim. As for fairies, good an’ bad, at the
+time whin the good Patrick landed at Wicklow they were thicker than the
+people—which is worth raymimberin’, for there were tin times as many
+Irishmin in Ireland then than iver has been since. In those days ’twas a
+case of Ireland for the Irish, with the rist of the world lookin’ on in
+envy an’ covetousness, but takin’ care to kape their hands off to save
+their heads.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+There was no nade for Keth to carry meat or drink—which was another
+fine thing about Ireland in those days. At ivery crossroads was an inn
+maintained at the public expinse, for the intertainmint of travellers
+without money an’ without price, an’ the pot always a-bilin’ day an’
+night. ’Twas the shanachies an’ poets who travelled about thicker than
+thieves, singin’ their songs an’ tellin’ their tales at the courts of
+the kings, that were the cause of all this hospitality, for these
+gentry put on even more airs in those days than they do now, havin’ free
+graft iverywhere, so eager were the people to hear all the news an’ the
+romances.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+’Tis already towld how Keth was a bit of a shanachy himsilf, an’ well
+versed in all the wizardry of Patrick’s Druid inemies. ’Twas a full grown
+man’s job, by this token, that old Lochru took on himsilf in layin’ his
+plans to save Wurra-Wurra from the vi’lint hands of Patrick’s strong man.
+An’ ’twill iver be to the credit of Lochru’s divilish subtlety that he so
+near finished for poor Keth by transformin’ himsilf into a false shanachy
+an’ tacklin’ the lad on his soft side.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Through County Armagh an’ well into Fermanagh Keth Mac Maragh passed
+safely, livin’ free on the fat of the land an’ kapin’ an eye opin for
+signs of the old idol Wurra-Wurra. ’Tis true that wance Lochru tried to
+beguile him with a venomous banshee in the guise of a beautiful maiden
+all smiles an improper alluremints; but Finola’s white shoulder was still
+so fresh in his mind that he only laughed an’ bid her the time of day an’
+passed on his way.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Wance, too, Lochru sint a swarm of sheevras—which are the most impish of
+all the bad fairies—with orders to choke Keth to death on salmon bones
+as he ate his avenin’ meal; but ’twas all in vain, for Keth was wise an’
+kept his fingers crossed.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Havin’ seen the failure of these poor experimints, Lochru changed his
+face out of all raysimblance to himsilf, an’ took a small Irish harp an’
+wint an’ sat on a hillside among the shamrocks close beside the broad
+road along which he knew Keth was soon to pass. This was his preparation
+for the grand schame that was to hocus-pocus the idol-hunting strong man
+for good an’ all.
+
+Prisintly, as Keth Mac Maragh hove in sight, all tired and dusty from a
+hard day of travel, Lochru, in his guise of an old an’ decrepit shanachy,
+twanged the strings of his harp an’ began to sing of past glories whin
+he was royal shanachy at Tara with four an’ twinty pupils all sheddin’
+lustre on his performance. But whin Keth came abrist of him on the road
+he lifted his voice in a sort of refrain, the substince of which caused
+Patrick’s strong man to prick up his ears an’ pinch himsilf to be sure he
+was indade awake. For this was the unexpicted purport of Lochru’s refrain:
+
+    “Hail the dawn of Erin’s Golden Age,
+    Redeemed from Druids’ evil signs and spells.
+    Rejoice at ancient idols overthrown
+    And demons banished to their flames below.
+    Cromm Cruach’s head doth bow to Patrick’s power;
+    Great Laeghaire takes the Gospel to his heart;
+    No more shall idols lure the simple mind—
+    E’en Wurra-Wurra’s fatal hour has struck.
+        Hail Erin’s Golden Age,
+        Hail Patrick and the Blissed Word!”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+An’ no sooner had the schamin’ Lochru in his disguise exprissed these
+fine Christian sintimints than Keth fell for him. Yis, Keth Mac Maragh
+fell for him complately—swallowin’ bait, hook, line an’ all.
+
+Old Lochru, pretindin’ not to observe the prisince of the lad, was about
+to reel off a few more yards of his song, but Keth fell on his neck,
+sayin’:
+
+“Hiven’s blessin’s rist on ye, old man; for ’tis indade true, as ye’ve
+said, that Wurra-Wurra’s fatal hour has struck. Tell me where to look for
+the owld idol that I may bash his face with me handstone.”
+
+“Do me eyes desayve me?” said the false shanachy, returnin’ Keth’s
+embrace. “No; sure ’tis the good Patrick’s strong man that stands before
+me—Keth Mac Maragh, who, wan day, will be a bishop.”
+
+“’Tis the same,” said Keth, swellin’ with pride at the wizard’s
+prophecy—for that was Keth’s great saycrit ambition, to become a bishop.
+An’ now Lochru had him hard an’ fast. No suspicion of the false shanachy
+could have been beaten into his head with an axe.
+
+“But the time passes,” said Keth; “show me the road to Wurra-Wurra, that
+I may speedily earn me bishop’s staff.”
+
+Lochru was playin’ with the lad as a cat plays with a mouse. “Have ye no
+fear of the druid wizards?” he said. “Can ye circumvint the spells of
+Lochru? Are ye after thinkin’ that Lucat-Moel an’ Caplait will let ye
+come at Wurra-Wurra to do the idol harm?”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“Divil take the wizards an’ all their spells,” answered Keth. “Sure,
+’tis Keth Mac Maragh, champion strong man an’ as good a scholar as the
+bist of thim, that has all their spells at his finger-ends. So set me on
+the road to Wurra-Wurra.”
+
+“Be it so,” said Lochru. “I persayve that ye’re already a bishop, savin’
+the ordination. ’Tis well. Give heed to me words, for ’tis growin’ dark
+an’ ye must travil the night through to escape the sure destruction which
+Lochru has prepared for ye.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“Priss on your prisint way, lad, till ye’ve rached the top of the third
+wooded ridge. There ye’ll see below ye in the moonlight the glimmerin’
+surface of a great bog, an’ on the farther side of the same an owld round
+tower to the right, an’ Concobar Mac Nessa’s ruined castle to the lift.
+Go straight down to the edge of the bog an’ suddenly ye’ll see that a
+fine, hard road leads across it. Cross the bog without fear. ’Tis a short
+cut to Wurra-Wurra over beyond the round tower, an’ ’twill lave ye safe
+from Lochru an’ all his demon immissaries. Have ye me directions fixed
+clear in your mind, lad?”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“Yis,” said Keth. “An’ may the blissin’s of Patrick an’ all the saints
+rest on your white head, vinerable owld man, for, thanks to you,
+Wurra-Wurra is already as good as done for.”
+
+The nixt minute Keth’s legs were leadin’ him straight into the trap so
+cunningly set for him, an’ old Lochru, raysumin’ his own face an’ form,
+was chucklin’ into his long whiskers.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Now whin Keth came to the top of the third ridge an’ looked down upon the
+great bog, ’twas the darkest hour of the night, whin the bad fairies are
+up to their worst divilmint, an’ the dangerous elves an’ demons attind
+to the summons of their masters, the Druid wizards. From the top of the
+ridge there was no sign of any road across the bog; but Keth, full of
+foolish faith in the words of the false shanachy, stopped only to draw a
+full breath, an’ was off down the slope at his top speed.
+
+An’ sure enough, as he neared the bog’s edge, he saw before him a
+straight, hard road gleamin’ in the moonlight an’ stretchin’ clear an’
+fair to the hill-slope on the farther side. With a shout of triumph, Keth
+laped forward an’ ran swiftly out upon the road over the bog. An’ thin,
+all at wance, there was no more road, an’ he found himsilf flounderin’ up
+to his arm-pits in the quaking mud of the stickiest bog in Ireland.
+
+An’ while he floundered he heard a peal of faymiliar, divilish laughter
+from the bog’s edge. There stood old Lochru, holdin’ his sides an’
+waggin’ his head—an’ thin, in a flash, Keth saw it all, how he had been
+hocus-pocussed by a false shanachy who was none other than Lochru himsilf.
+
+’Twas useless to waste breath lamintin’, or hurlin’ hard names at Lochru;
+Keth saw that he had nade of it all to extricate himsilf from the
+bog—which he would have done right speedily but for the trump card the
+old wizard played thin an’ there.
+
+All at wance Keth found himsilf surrounded by a swarm of meisi—which are
+the most dreadful phantoms that inhabit the World of Darkness—summoned by
+the incantations of Lochru. The sight of thim froze Keth’s blood in his
+veins. For a time, so full of terror they filled him, he could nayther
+speak nor move. Manewhile, ivery minute the bog sucked him down deeper.
+
+[Illustration: _Keth Mac Maragh in the bog, beset by the wizard spells of
+Lochru_]
+
+Sure it would have been all over with Keth Mac Maragh if, suddenly, there
+had not appeared before him a vision of Patrick, fearless in his great
+faith, casting down Cromm Cruach in the very prisince of King Laeghaire
+an’ the most powerful of the Druid wizards. The vision gave him strength
+to raise his voice to the glory of God an’ defiance of the divil, so that
+he no longer quaked with paralizin’ fear of the phantoms, an’ was near
+strugglin’ out of the bog.
+
+Thin it was that Lochru summoned Banba, queen of the Dedannan furies,
+an’ with her diabolical aid caused Keth to be set upon by sheevras,
+leprechauns an’ all manner of demoniac reptiles. All the bog about him
+was covered with thim, an’ all the air murmured and shrieked with the
+flapping of demon wings. Pookas came and sat upon his shoulders to priss
+him down into the mire, while the dread Badb, in the guise of a loathsome
+hag with the wings of a great bat, shut the air from his nostrils and
+clawed at his throat.
+
+Yet always, at what seemed the fatal momint, the voice of Keth, raised in
+praise of God an’ bowld defiance of the divil, so weakened the demoniac
+powers that old Lochru, raging in vain, saw the dawn approaching an’ his
+triumph unaccomplished.
+
+Indade, the triumph was Keth’s, for, by the blissin’ of heaven, he hild
+out. In fear of the blastin’ rays of the sun, all at wance his demon
+inemies disappeared with shrieks of baffled vengeance, an’ old Lochru
+with thim. An’ soon Keth, still praisin’ God an’ defyin’ the divil, was
+out of the bog an’ dryin’ himsilf in the sun.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Whin he was dry an’ somewhat risted an’ raycuperated after the long
+agonies of that night, he retraced his steps to the road where Lochru had
+beguiled him. Wan day an’ a night he spint at an inn for food an’ slape,
+while the maids claned the bog slime from his raimint, an’ thin proceeded
+on his way into the West.
+
+Not until he was out of Fermanagh an’ well into Roscommon did he come
+upon any clue to the whereabouts of Wurra-Wurra. ’Twas truly strange
+that the right direction should come from another shanachy—but a rale wan
+this time, none other than the great Dubthach Mac na Lugair, royal poet
+at the court of the King of Connaught.
+
+Keth came upon Dubthach as the renowned shanachy was fastin’ on a false
+poet who owed him a debt for makin’ up some rhymes which the false poet
+recited about the country as his own divine afflatus. This fakir was a
+failure at bog-drainin’ named Fergus, an’ havin’ neglected to pay for the
+rhymes he couldn’t make up for himself he was shut up in his house while
+Dubthach sat before his door, neither of thim eatin’ nor drinkin’, as the
+custom was, till the matter was settled. Dubthach was so pale an’ lean
+from four days an’ nights of fastin’ that his tunic was all in wrinkles
+about his shoulders. Fergus’ plight was worse yet, for as he sat by his
+open window with his head in his hand he seemed only half alive. Still
+ivery time Dubthach braced up an’ called on him to pay the debt he came
+back with a sharp answer.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“’Tis four geese an’ a sheep ye owe me,” said Dubthach, as Keth came up.
+
+“Ye’re a liar. ’Tis three geese an’ a pig,” said Fergus.
+
+“The law is with me, I’ll starve the heart out of ye,” said Dubthach.
+
+“Yer rhymes were no good, they stuck in me throat,” said Fergus. “But
+I’ll pay ye the three geese an’ the pig—or see yer bones litterin’ me
+doorstep.”
+
+Right here Keth stepped in, havin’ great wisdom in such matters. After
+hearin’ both sides he recited to ’em the Brehon law, an’ then he said:
+
+“The both of ye are in the wrong. Fergus, what ye owe to Dubthach is not
+four geese an’ a sheep, but four geese an’ a pig.”
+
+Hearin’ this wise judgmint, Dubthach an’ Fergus scowled fiercely at each
+other; but ’twas plain their jaws were achin’ to come together on a
+flitch o’ bacon, an’ so Dubthach spoke up:
+
+“Niver shall it be told of me,” he said, “that I refused to mate an inemy
+half way. Fergus, ye omadhune, open the door of your hovel an’ let out
+the four geese an’ the pig.”
+
+[Illustration: _Keth recites the Brehon Law to Dubthach Mac na Lugair and
+his debtor_]
+
+Which the same Fergus did, with a string tied to the leg of each of ’em
+for Dubthach to drive ’em home with. An’ Dubthach, with the pig an’ the
+four geese safe in hand, turned an’ howled back at Fergus:
+
+“As I’m lavin’ your dirty doorstep, ye double-faced falsifier, wan
+word of advice: Lave off graftin’ on your betters an’ get back to your
+bog-drainin’.” To Keth Mac Maragh who walked beside him he said:
+
+“Niver mintion it to Fergus, but ye’ve done me a service this day. Faith,
+I was that far gone with the fast I could feel me backbone through me
+stomach! An’ now me good frind tell me how I can square the account
+between the two of us. Will ye take two geese, or the pig?”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Now, bein’ well on into the West country, with maybe the great god
+Wurra-Wurra just around the turn of the nixt peat bog, Keth felt it was
+a time to exercise discretion, for the lad was as wise an’ cunning as he
+was strong an’ mighty at heavin’ the handstone. So he reflected and made
+this answer to Dubthach:
+
+“Dubthach Mac na Lugair,” he said, “the service ye say I’ve the honor of
+renderin’ ye was no more than would be the duty of any man who knew the
+law. Ye owe me nothin’. But ’tis in me mind that ye could give me a bit
+of advice on a private matter, an’ let it go no further?”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“On me honor as a royal shanachy,” said Dubthach. “Good frind, name your
+trouble.”
+
+“Dubthach,” said Keth, with his hand beside his mouth an’ his mouth
+to the poet’s ear, “Dubthach, I’ve a great weight on me mind an’ me
+heart. The heft of it is draggin’ me down in the dirt. Night an’ day I’m
+sorrowin’ an’ grievin’ the heart out of me. ’Tis turnin’ me hair an’
+loosenin’ me teeth. It turns me food bitter in me mouth an’ the best
+metheglin sour in me throat. I can nayther slape nor stay awake. Unless I
+find relafe, in another day the wits will be clane gone out of me.
+
+“Iverything I’ve tried, an’ no use at all at all. Sure I’ve been atin’
+the cresses an’ drinkin’ the crazy people’s water of Tobernagalt an’
+Stroove Bran, but divil the bit of forgetfulness of me trouble did it
+bring me. Wan more day, good Dubthach, an’ I’ll be a foolish, ravin’ loon
+with all this sore grafe an’ worry”—
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“Hold, me frind, ’tis enough,” broke in Dubthach. “An’ ye’ve struck
+the right road at last. By nightfall ye’ll rache the nixt valley. ’Tis
+called Glanngalt, mind ye (manin’ in the Gaelic the glen of the galts,
+or loonatics), an’ at the bottom of the same ye’ll come to the grotto of
+Wurra-Wurra, our blissed God of Peaceful Souls. Ye’ve only to make the
+three prostrations an’ whisper your troubles into the blissed ear of
+Wurra-Wurra an’ they’ll all fall from ye, lavin’ ye clane an’ paceful an’
+in your right mind.”
+
+At these words Keth fell on his knees an’ kissed the hand of Dubthach
+that was not busy with the geese an’ the pig, showin’ the joy an’
+gratitude he sacretly felt for bein’ put on the right track to come up
+with an’ bash the face of this haythin idol Wurra-Wurra. Then he rose an’
+said:
+
+“Wan thing more, good Dubthach. Will ye find me a guide down Glanngalt to
+the grotto of Wurra-Wurra?”
+
+“Ye’ll find a hundred of your own choice,” said Dubthach. “Ye’ve only
+to enter the valley an’ goin’ down on wan side ye’ll see a string of
+wild-eyed, sorrowin’ loonatics like yersilf—which ye’ve but to join—an’
+comin’ up on the other side ye’ll see another string dancin’ an’ singin’
+with joy because of the worries they lift in the grotto behind thim.
+Stick to the loonatics goin’ down, an’ on the word of Dubthach ye’ll come
+back dancin’ an’ singin’ with the happy wans.”
+
+[Illustration: _Dubthach, the Royal Shanachy, driving home the price of
+his poems_]
+
+So now Keth Mac Maragh fell on the neck of Dubthach Mac na Lugair an’
+embraced him, an’ thin wint on his way at so swift a gait that the early
+avenin’ brought him safe into Glanngalt. ’Twas as Dubthach had said:
+there was the string of sorrowin’ min and women goin’ down on the wan
+side an’ the happy dancin’ people comin’ up on the other. An’ Keth wint
+with the loonatics, an’ by dark they came to the grotto of Wurra-Wurra
+that was to be seen from afar by the light of torches that flamed all
+about it.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Sure it was a grand sight—barrin’ the haythin purpose of it all. The poor
+loonatics stopped their screechin’ from the moment the torches revealed
+to thim the smilin’ face of the idol, which shone from out the arch of
+the grotto entrance like the moon whin ’tis full at harvest time. An’
+prisintly the first of the loonatics to prostrate thimsilves at the feet
+of Wurra-Wurra were passin’ over to the other side, singin’ an’ dancin’,
+with niver a fear nor a care to worry thim.
+
+Before dawn ’twas the same with the whole bunch. With the cobwebs brushed
+clane out of the brains of thim, they were on their way rejoicin’, lavin’
+Keth Mac Maragh alone before the idol, fingerin’ his handstone an’
+wonderin’ what manner of spell was on him.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration: _Far down Glanngalt Keth sees the torches flaming about
+the Grotto of Wurra-Wurra_]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+For three times Keth had raised his hand to hurl the stone, and could
+not. The spirit was with him, but the flesh was not. The strength had
+gone out of his arm intirely, an’ the fingers that held the handstone had
+no more grip in thim than the little white wans of Finola.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“’Tis Lucat-Moel, or old Lochru, divil take him!” said Keth to himself.
+
+He gazed about in ivery direction, but niver a wizard nor any of their
+bad fairy hilpers was about the premises. Yet the arm that hild the
+handstone still hung limp at his side, an’ his trimblin’ fingers could
+scarce bear the weight of it.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Now it began to pinetrate the mind of Keth Mac Maragh that while his
+arm was as heavy as lead, the soul within him was lighter than for many
+a day. A horrible fear rose within him that the Four Gospils had lost
+their grip on him, an’ it was the same with him as with the rist of the
+loonatics! With the sweat standin’ on his brow, he said a Latin prayer,
+an’ thin muttered to himsilf:
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“I will put a curse on the haythin idol. I will curse this Wurra-Wurra as
+niver haythin idol was cursed before, so that his face will grow dull
+with fear an’ the strength return to me arm.”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+An’ he turned to curse Wurra-Wurra. ’Twas now, for the first time, he saw
+the opin ears of the idol that listened day an’ night for the gintlist
+whisper of troubles of man or woman, to take the same on himsilf—an’ thin
+Keth filt the full power of him. The curse died on his lips, all desire
+of curses wint out of his heart. Keth Mac Maragh, Strong Man to the good
+Patrick that was to become a blissed saint, leaned upon his shield an’
+gazed long on the image that filled the grotto. An’ while he gazed the
+soul of him drank its fill of peace and forgetfulness of care.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+For it was true of the ancient Irish God of Peaceful Souls, named
+Wurra-Wurra, that no creature of woman born could stand before him an’
+know more of trouble in this world. From ivery shoulder he took off the
+trouble to place it upon its own, and bear it thinceforth in token of
+his great love and compassion for all with minds distrissed. There was
+no nade for Keth to read the inscription on the stone which was the
+idol’s seat—which, indade, he could not, for it was in the most ancient
+Irish characters. ’Twas Bishop Erc, the same who was Judge in Patrick’s
+household and a very learned man, who afterward put it into Gaelic,
+which, being translated into English, is the best of all mottoes in the
+category, namely:
+
+                             LET WURRA WORRY
+
+There was no nade for Keth Mac Maragh to read this inscription, for the
+face and figure of the idol, an’ his wide opin ears foriver listenin’,
+thimselves told the whole story—not only that it was his business to bear
+all the worries and troubles of the world, but that he liked the job!
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Indade, yis. Though the weight of the world’s worries through a hundred
+cinturies had glued the stomach of him to his thighs, an’ his broad
+chist risted on his stomach so that the massy shoulders were prissed
+nearly down to the region of his navel, while the heft of the troubles
+showered on his head had crunched it down into his bristbone—in spite of
+all the crushing weight of worries upon him the smile he wore was like
+the noon sun bursting through after a tin days’ rain in April. ’Twas that
+same smile of Wurra-Wurra that chased away all the curses out of the
+heart of Keth Mac Maragh an’ brought the great peace to his soul.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Alas! as Keth looked upon the idol, Patrick an’ all his glorious works
+became no more than a faded memory. He filt himself ready to prostrate
+himsilf before Wurra-Wurra an’ whisper into the ear of him his last
+small worry about Finola of the White Shoulder—upon which he had risted
+his head more ardently than was good for his ease of mind—whin a
+well-raymimbered an’ hated voice brought him suddenly to himsilf.
+
+“Back, thou sacriligious monster!” said the voice, an’ Keth knew it for
+the voice of Lochru, the wizard.
+
+Indade, the wizard, prancin’ down the hillside into the valley, frothin’
+at the mouth an’ all his whiskers flyin’ in the mornin’ breeze, was only
+a lape or two from the mouth of the grotto.
+
+“Back!” he shrieked. “Back! or I’ll blast ye with the spell of Banba!”
+
+’Twas nothing against Keth Mac Maragh that in his surprise he should
+stand back a few paces and raise his shield, for old Lochru in a rage
+was a sight to sind children into spasms. ’Twas a good thing, too, for
+the hated sight of Lochru brought back the grateful mimory of Patrick,
+an’ the strength to his arm, so that he faced the wizard boldly, saying:
+
+“Get thee gone thou Geis of demon’s spawn, ere I spill thy rotten brains
+to gain a new handstone wherewith to destroy thy demon masters! Irk me
+not, as I have better work at hand than to bandy words with such as
+thou!”
+
+[Illustration: _With his mighty handstone, defying Lochru, Keth shatters
+the idol Wurra-Wurra_]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+An’ raisin’ his handstone while the strength was fresh again in his
+arm, Keth Mac Maragh hurled it so swift and so straight that the idol’s
+face—barrin’ only wan fine ear—was shattered into a thousand pieces.
+An’ Lochru, seeing that Wurra-Wurra was no more—a headless god havin’
+no further virtue in the Druid philosophy—Lochru ran shriekin’ up the
+valley, to remain until his death the craziest loonatic in Ireland.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+“’Tis a fine job well done,” raymarked Keth to himsilf as he wint and
+raycovered his handstone in the grotto from among the fragmints that were
+wance the head of Wurra-Wurra. “An’ now for a bit of sup an’ drink, an’ a
+fine long slape.”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+But ’twas nayther food nor drink nor slape Keth Mac Maragh was to get
+that day. For he had returned on his way up Glanngalt no more than the
+distance of nine ridges whin he was stopped by a runner comin’ down the
+valley with the speed of the wind. The boy bein’ breathless, Keth was the
+first to spake:
+
+“If ’tis to the King of Connaught ye bear your message,” he said, “sure
+ye’re off your road.”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration: _Finola runs to Keth and delivers an urgent message from
+Patrick_]
+
+“Keth Mac Maragh,” panted the runner—who was lithe an’ slender, with
+round cheeks an’ a white chin—“has the day come so soon whin ye forgit
+the face of your own Finola?”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“What!” said Keth in astonishment, “will ye tell me that your haythin
+heresies have so strong a howld on ye that ye’ve lift the household an’
+spiritual guidance of the good Patrick of Armagh?”
+
+“Nay,” said Finola. “’Tis for Patrick sure I’m runnin’, an’ the message
+is to yoursilf.”
+
+“So! ’Twas the likes of Finola that gave me away!” And Keth glowered
+darkly at the maid.
+
+“Tell me, Keth,” she said in anxious tones, “ye’ve not done it? Ye’ve
+not bashed the great idol, Wurra-Wurra?”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Somethin’ towld Keth that ’twould be as well for him to dissimble. So he
+answered cunningly:
+
+“Sure the pot-bellied stone haythin sits as firm on his sate as iver he
+did.”
+
+“O Wurra-Wurra!” said Finola, with hands clasped in gratitude.
+
+“Lave off your heretical supplications,” said Keth harshly, “an’ hand
+over me missage from Patrick.”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“’Tis this,” said Finola, givin’ him a tinder look from her eyes.
+“Another bunch of poor loonatics have started down Glanngalt to lave
+their troubles with Wurra-Wurra. Patrick follows with his household,
+but too late to heal thim with the spirit of the Four Gospils before
+they feel the spell of the sacred grotto. So ye’re to let thim, for this
+wance, resayve their easemint from Wurra-Wurra, as of old—for sure,
+Patrick says, the great idol is an instrumint of God, not yet to be
+destroyed.”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“So be it,” said Keth, dissimbling again. “Go you back to Patrick an’ I
+will wait for ye beside the grotto.”
+
+Finola flung hersilf upon his neck. “’Tis like the owld swate Keth,”
+she said. “Ah, Keth, why are ye not always true to the gintleness an’
+hilpfulness that shines in your face so like Wurra-Wurra’s own?”
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Thin she kissed him and lift him, an’ Keth wint slowly back to the
+grotto, with his chin on his brist, wonderin’ how he was to restore the
+idol’s broken head on his shoulders. He gathered up the pieces an’ mixed
+some clay an’ tried to patch thim together, but ’twas no use—too well had
+the handstone done its work!
+
+An’ now Keth could hear the fresh bunch of loonatics comin’ shriekin’ an’
+moanin’ down the valley. ’Twas even a worse predicamint he was in, for,
+crowdin’ the loonatics on all sides were scores an’ hundreds of maids
+weepin’ for their gallivantin’ swatehearts, an’ old dames lamintin’ sheep
+with the foot rot, cows with calves miscast an’ such like troubles which
+’twas in the minds of thim to shoulder off on Wurra-Wurra.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+“Sure, ’tis a tight place I’m in,” thought Keth Mac Maragh. “The
+loonatics, an’ the maids, an’ the old women will be after bashin’ the
+head of me as I bashed their haythin idol. True, I have me handstone, but
+what is wan handstone for all that crazy bunch?”
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+An’ then suddenly it flashed across his mind about what Finola had
+said of his face raysimblin’ that of Wurra-Wurra. “Sure, ’tis only the
+fondness of her foolish little haythin heart,” thought Keth. But as ’twas
+the only chance, an’ the first of the loonatics bein’ now close to the
+grotto, Keth Mac Maragh wint behind the headless idol an’ leaned over
+with his neck in the hollow between the shoulders which the handstone had
+cut as though through a bog-cured cheese. He brought his chin down near
+to the idol’s navel, prissed the cheek of him against the opin ear that
+remained so providentially, hid his arms an’ body behind the great bulk
+of the image—an’ thin upon the face of him he spread the gintlest and
+tinderest smile that was in him.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Sure it was all the same to the loonatics. Indade, it seemed an
+improvement. For, no sooner did a daft wan catch the twinkle in Keth’s
+eye than the twisted brains of him were all straightened out an’ he
+passed on rejoicin’. As the last of the crazy wans were droppin’ their
+troubles on Wurra-Wurra, Keth saw that Patrick an’ his followers had
+rached the bottom of the valley, where the blissed saint that was to be,
+surrounded by his bishops and his priests and his psalmists, all in their
+vestmints, was prachin’ the Gospil an’ making converts of iverybody.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+All the while Keth grew bolder with his smile an’ the twinkle in his eye.
+Whin it came to the turn of the old dames with their cow-yard troubles,
+siveral times he forgot himsilf so far as to smile aloud. Indade, more
+than wan full-stomached guffaw did he give in the face of thim, an’ got
+away with it, so rayjoiced they were with the lightness of heart that
+Wurra-Wurra gave thim.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Whin it came to the sorrowin’ maids with their sad tales on their
+swatehearts, beyond a wink or two at the prettiest Keth was moved to
+restrain himsilf. For sure, many were the pitiful tales of loving maids’
+troubles they poured in his ear! Tales they were that made his heart
+sore, an’ disturbed his mind with recollictions of strange words lately
+dropped by Finola of the White Shoulder. ’Twas this new light on those
+same words that now caused Keth Mac Maragh to forget for a momint the
+smile of Wurra-Wurra, an’ to close his eyes with the pain of the thought
+that came to him.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration: _Keth, in the shattered idol’s place, hears Finola’s great
+worry_]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+An’ whin Keth opened his eyes the last of the maids was prostrated before
+him—an’ she was Finola! Quickly—though his soul quaked—he raycalled the
+smile of Wurra-Wurra to his face. ’Twas none too soon, for Finola, risen
+to her feet an’ leanin’ over, was pourin’ into the idol’s ear all the
+grafe an’ dread that clutched her heart. From Finola’s lips the tale was
+like a white-hot iron in Keth’s vitals. Yet it made his heart swell an’
+rache out to her so that he could not restrain himsilf, but turned his
+head an’ put his lips to hers in a kiss that dropped her like wan dead at
+the idol’s feet.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Now Keth Mac Maragh knew what it was for him to do, an’ he rayjoiced to
+do it quickly. He came out from behind the shattered idol, an’ lifted the
+limp form of Finola in his arms, an’ bore her swiftly through the press
+of people up to Patrick himsilf, an’ said:
+
+“Good Patrick of Armagh, this maid gave her swate silf to me more suns
+gone by than it pleases me to raymimber. As thy faithful follower, an’
+for the honor of thy household, I pray you now give her to me in the name
+of our Holy Church an’ in the sight of all min.”
+
+[Illustration: _Patrick marries and blesses Keth and Finola of the White
+Shoulder_]
+
+An’ Patrick, seein’ how the matter lay—Finola bein’ raycovered from her
+swoon an’ clingin’ tight to Keth—thin an’ there married an’ blissed thim.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+’Tis towld in the books how Keth became a bishop, though niver would he
+altogether lay aside the handstone which had lain low the last idol in
+Ireland, an’ how all the four fine sons that Finola bore him were sure
+death to snakes an’ Druid wizards till not wan of ayther was lift in the
+land.
+
+Concernin’ the grotto, an’ the headless idol in it, all there prisint
+bein’ now convertid Christians, by their own free will they prisintly
+destroyed ivery vistige of both. Yet to this day there remains on the
+lips of all the Irish race in time of trouble or worry that same ancient
+invocation: “O Wurra-Wurra!”
+
+An’ the ixplanation is Patrick’s own desire that it should be so. For, as
+he raymarked upon that occasion, Wurra-Wurra, as spoken in the Gaelic, is
+the same as wan calling upon the blissid Virgin, “O Mary!” in that tongue.
+
+
+FINIS.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: WURRA-WURRA
+
+From a Photograph of the original wax model of the reconstructed Idol.
+
+“Ye’ve only to whisper your worries into the blissed ear of Wurra-Wurra
+an’ they’ll all fall from ye, lavin’ ye clane an’ paceful an’ in your
+right mind.”—_Legend of Wurra-Wurra._]
+
+
+
+
+HISTORICAL NOTES
+
+
+
+
+HISTORICAL NOTES ON THE LEGEND
+
+
+  BANBA (p. 39): “Banba, the queen of one of the three Dedannan
+    princes, who ruled the land, sent a swarm of meisa, or phantoms,
+    which froze the blood of the invaders (the Milesians) with
+    terror.”—_Joyce’s Social History of Ancient Ireland._
+
+  BOG-CURED CHEESE (p. 72): “Masses of cheese have been found in bogs,
+    of which some specimens may be seen in the National Museum.”—_Joyce’s
+    Social History._
+
+  BOOK OF THE DUN COW (p. 14): “One of the most ancient collections
+    of Irish historical and legendary material, curiously named for the
+    color of the cow in whose tanned skin it was bound.”—_Joyce._
+
+  BREHON LAW (p. 44): “A judge was called a Brehon.... The Brehons had
+    absolutely in their hands the interpretation of the laws and the
+    application of them to individual cases.”—_Joyce._
+
+  CROMM CRUACH (p. 11): “Cromm Cruach, covered with gold and silver,
+    and twelve other idols covered with brass about him.”—_Tripartite
+    Life of St. Patrick._
+
+    “And the earth swallowed up the twelve other images as far as their
+    heads, and they stand thus in token of the miracle.”—_Book of Armagh._
+
+  DEDANNAN FURIES (p. 22): “A mythical race of powerful, demoniac and
+    dangerous elves.”—_Joyce._
+
+  DEMONS, WIZARDS, DRUIDS (p. 24): All the ancient accounts agree that
+    while the Druids were the only educators in the Ireland of their
+    time, they were also magicians and wizards, and could command the
+    services of demons and fairies, good and bad.—_Tr._
+
+    “The demons used to show themselves unto their worshippers in visible
+    forms: they often attacked the people, and they were seen flying
+    in the air and walking on the earth, loathsome and horrible to
+    behold.”—_Joyce._
+
+    “God protect me from the spells of women (Druidesses) and Smiths, and
+    Druids.”—_St. Patrick’s Hymn._
+
+  DUBTHACH MAC NA LUGAIR (p. 42): Here the Legend does not quite agree
+    with the authorities. Instead of being attached to the court of the
+    King of Connaught, he was royal poet and shanachy at Tara during the
+    greater part of Laeghaire’s reign as Over-King of Ireland.—_Tr._
+
+  ETHNE THE FAIR, AND FEDELM THE RUDDY (p. 9): In the “Tripartite Life
+    of St. Patrick” and in the “Book of Armagh,” these two daughters
+    of King Laeghaire are mentioned as being under the instruction
+    of the Druid priests, Caplait and Lucat-Moel, at the time when
+    Patrick overthrew Cromm Cruach and the twelve smaller idols and made
+    Christian converts of the entire royal family.—_Tr._
+
+  FINOLA OF THE WHITE SHOULDER (p. 16): A heroine of the “Book of Armagh.”
+    Evidently the Legend mistakes her for Cruimthiris, mentioned
+    in the “Tripartite Life” as one of the three embroideresses in
+    Patrick’s household.
+
+    (P. 79): The reference to the four sons of Finola of the White
+    Shoulder is clearly legendary.—_Tr._
+
+  FASTING TO COLLECT A DEBT (p. 42): “The plaintiff, having served due
+    notice, went to the house of the defendant, and, sitting before the
+    door, remained there without food; and as long as he remained, the
+    defendant was also obliged to fast.”—_Joyce._
+
+  GEIS (p. 62): “A geis was something forbidden. It was believed to be
+    very dangerous to disregard these prohibitions.”—_Joyce._
+
+  GLANNGALT (p. 48): “There is a valley in Kerry called Glanngalt, the
+    glen of the galts, or lunatics.”—_Joyce._
+
+    Here the Legend, by locating Glanngalt in Roscommon, is
+    palpably in error.—_Tr._
+
+  HANDSTONE (p. 20): “It was the custom at that time, every champion
+    they killed in single combat, to take the brains out of their heads
+    and mix lime with them till they were formed into hard balls.”—_Book
+    of Leinster._
+
+  INNS (p. 26): The hospitable custom of maintaining inns for the free
+    entertainment of travellers is mentioned by nearly all authorities
+    regarding the social life of the ancient Irish. A most interesting
+    account is contained in “Joyce’s Social History.”—_Tr._
+
+  LAEGHAIRE (p. 9): Modern form, Leary; he was the Irish Over-King when
+    Patrick landed at Wicklow and began his missionary labors in Ireland,
+    A.D. 432. All the characters in the Legend are historic, and the
+    names are spelled as originally derived from the Gaelic.—_Tr._
+
+  MAC MARAGH, KETH (p. 14): Evidently confused with Keth Magach, a
+    famous warrior and champion of that time, whose exploits are narrated
+    in the “Book of Armagh.”—_Tr._
+
+  MACC CAIRTHINN (p. 20): In the “Tripartite Life” Macc Cairthinn is
+    named as Patrick’s Strong Man. Evidently the Legend confuses him with
+    Keth Magach.
+
+    (P. 21): According to the “Tripartite Life,” it was Patrick’s
+    Strong Man, Macc Cairthinn, who became a bishop, not Keth
+    Magach.—_Tr._
+
+  METHEGLIN (p. 47): Also called mead, “was made chiefly from honey: it
+    was a drink in much request, and was considered a delicacy.... It was
+    slightly intoxicating.”—_Joyce._
+
+  POPULATION (p. 25): “For the people were very numerous in Ireland at
+    that time, and so great were their numbers that the land could afford
+    but thrice nine ridges to each man in Erin: viz., nine of bog, nine
+    of field and nine of wood.”—_Book of Hymns (Todd)._
+
+  PRESBITER BESCNA (p. 13): Named, with all the members of Patrick’s
+    household, in the “Tripartite Life.”—_Tr._
+
+  RED BRANCH KNIGHTS (p. 20): According to Joyce and other authorities,
+    this was an order created by Concobar Mac Nessa, a very ancient king
+    of Ulster, and whose greatest commander was Cuculainn, the mightiest
+    hero of Irish romance.—_Tr._
+
+  SHANACHY (p. 26): “The people ... took delight in listening to
+    poetry, history and romantic stories, recited by professional poets
+    and shanachies.”—_Joyce._
+
+  STANDARDS OF VALUE (p. 44): As in many other countries in ancient
+    times, a cow, or an ox, was the standard of value. It seems probable,
+    therefore, that the Legend is correct in using sheep, pigs and geese
+    for the “fractional currency” of the period.—_Tr._
+
+  STRONG MAN (p. 14): These Strong Men, or champions, like the smiths
+    and other metal-workers, appear frequently in the old annals as
+    distinguished also for their knowledge of law and history, and for
+    their story-telling ability.—_Tr._
+
+  TARA (p. 10): Seat of the Irish Over-Kings. Old Erin’s centre of
+    government, of learning and of chivalry. Then, as now, the most
+    eloquent of all words descriptive of Ireland’s ancient glory. In
+    poetry, imperishable in the line: “The harp that once thro’ Tara’s
+    halls.” The scene of St. Patrick’s first efforts to redeem Ireland
+    from paganism.—_Tr._
+
+  TOBERNAGALT (p. 48): “Drinking of the water of Tobernagalt (the
+    lunatics’ well), and eating of the cresses that grew along the little
+    stream, the poor wanderers get restored to sanity.... There is a well
+    called Stroove Bran, which was thought to possess the same virtue as
+    Tobernagalt.”—_Joyce._
+
+  WURRA-WURRA (p. 18): The authorities do not specifically mention the
+    existence of an idol having that name; but they agree that idols were
+    worshipped in all parts of ancient Ireland.—_Tr._
+
+    The Irish up to that time (St. Patrick’s) “had worshipped only idols
+    and abominations.”—_St. Patrick’s Confession._
+
+    “The destruction of idols in various parts of the country was an
+    important part of St. Patrick’s lifework.”—_Joyce._
+
+    (P. 80): Some Gaelic scholars hold that the familiar exclamation,
+    “Wurra-wurra!” is the nearest approach in that tongue to the
+    conventional invocation of the Blessed Virgin. The Legend, however,
+    makes it, in that sense, an adaptation—evidently intending a tribute
+    to St. Patrick’s well-known policy of harmonizing his teachings, as
+    far as possible at the start, with ancient customs and beliefs.—_Tr._
+
+
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75537 ***