diff options
Diffstat (limited to '75537-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 75537-0.txt | 1201 |
1 files changed, 1201 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/75537-0.txt b/75537-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e3e52c6 --- /dev/null +++ b/75537-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1201 @@ + +*** 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 *** |