Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1885-02-12

name by which he is known, he received IN
the following way: AS mark OF respect,
and for the purpose of giving dignity to him
as a missionary to the Irish, Pope Celestine
conferred upon him the order of PatrCii.
This order was instituted by Constantine
the Great, the first Christian emperor.
Among the Romans there was an order
called the Patricii, but the order which was
instituted by Constantine in the Church
was more honorable than that which exist
ed in the civil government of Rome. The
Christian order of Patricii was next in rank
to the emperOr's. From Patrici is derived,
not regularly, but in fact, Patrick, and from
Patrick we get Paddy, or, for short, Pat, the
common sObriquet of the male inhabitants
of the Emerald Isle.
In 1872, when sixty years old, he landed
in Ireland at what was then called Crioch
Cuallan, now Wickloro. Laorgre, the grand
son of Mall or O'Niall, by whom he had
been made prisoner and sold to Milcho, was,
at that time, the king. After preaching
for some time in the vicinity of Wicklon,
St. Patrick pushed his way northward and
made port in Dundrum Bay, County Down:
When he and his party. which consisted
Of twelve assistants, landed, the Inhabitants
of the adjacent country mistaking them
for pirates, collected and rushed to the
beach to drive them away. On approach
ing near they were awe-struck by the grave
and venerable appearance of st. Patrick,
who Immediately began to preach the .gos-
pei to them in their own language, which he
had learned when a slave. Among those
who had gone out to drive away the sup
posed pirates were son and two daughters
of Milcho, the former master of St. Patrick.
These embraced the gospel. St. Patrick
went to the residence of his former master
for the purpose of converting him from
paganism. Milcho refused to hear the in
struction of him who had once been his
slave and being enraged that his children
had become followers of St. Patrick, set his
own house, which, like all the houses in
Ireland at that time were made of Wattles,
or withs, on fire and threw himself into the
flames and perished.
Perhaps three miles from Slemish and
directly north of it on the opposite side of
the Braidwater, is small but craggy noun
tain called Skerry. On this it is said ST..
land It was built of stone, of which there
isl superabundance on the mountain. This
house was afterward torn down and another
erected, not on the old foundation but just
by the side of it. hefoundation of the first
house is still plainly to be seen. The new
house, which is thought to be more than a
thousand years old, is in dilapidated state.
Whether St. Patrick was a Catholic or not
this old church on the top-absolutely on
the top-of Skerry fell into their hands.
When the effort was made by the English
under Henry the Eighth and his immediate
successors to convert the Catholics to Prot
estantsm one way that was resorted to, was
to tear down all the Catholic churches. This
same mode of converting Catholics was prac-
tced in Scotland. The only ecclesiastical
edifce which escaped these fanatics in the
CITY of Glasgow was the Cathedral. The
church on the top of Skerry was torn down,
rather it was rendered unfit for purposes OF
worship. The ruins consist Of the wall OF
one side about ten feet high, portion OF the
wall of the other side, and portion OF the
wall of one end. The other end wall is very
little damaged. The masonry, of this old
ruin is such as we never see in America
The cement which holds the stones togeth'
err is as hard and as strong as the stones
themselves.
Attached to his old church on the top ol
Skerry is a grave yard and vault. The
vault is built above ground. 1t is perhaps
ten feet long and eight wide. 1t is covered
over with large flat stones. The door is at
the end and is secured against entrance by
strong iron bars. These are of modern date.
Recently the Catholics have constructed
a strong stone wall around the grave
yard, which also encloses the old church and
vault BY the Catholics in the surround
ing country who appeared to me to be ab.
iectly poor and degradedly ignorant, Skerry
is regarded with superstitious veneration.
From Slemsh to Skerry is perhaps three
miles. The two mountains are in full view
of each other. My guide to Skerry rath-
er theindividual who unlocked the gate that
l might enter the old aveyard-was a girl
| l,,f rbo nc ton pr twal vporS Of She
had sweet face and a sparkling eye, but
as broad Il brOgue as | ever heard. Her
clothing declared that she was the child OF
poverty and her actions betrayed that tim
idity which pinching poverty always begets
and cherishes. After she discovered that
she would be treated with respect she be-
came very communicative, and among
other things gave me the following infor-
nation. l shall repeat her words, not in
her Irish brogue but translated into English :
"When st. Patrick determined to build
this church the devil undertook to prevent
him. They Quarreled on the top of Slem-
ish. The devil and ST. Patrick ran race
to see which would get to Skerry first.
Both flew from the top Of Slemish and st.
Patrick beat him. The devil lit down yon-
der in the hollow and st. Patrick lit just
outside Of the walls of this house on a stone
and the print of his foot, knee and face are
still on the stone." This tradition, learn
ed, is universally believed by the humble
class of Catholics and many Protestants
all over Ireland. The girl took me to the
place where it is believed St. Patrick lit
when he flew from Slemish. There is in the
face Of the large flat rock a depression which
strikingly resembles the track OF human
being, but if it was made by st. Pat
rick's foot it was much less than mine, or he
had on at the time sharp toed shoes. l
could not get my foot into the track. Near
by it is print in the rock which resembles
the depression a mans knee would make in
soft ground. In front of these is a small,
nose-shaped hole in the rock. This is said
to have been made by the nose of st. Pat
rick. In other words, the tradition is that
when he lit he fell on one knee and his face.
1t is firmly believed by some of the Catho-
lics-I hope not by all-that if an individu-
al will place himself in the predicament
in which st. Patrick is said to have been
when he lit on that spot-his left foot in the
track, his right knee in the depression just
beside the track, and lean forward and put
his nose in the hole of the rock and make a
wish, it will certainly be granted. went
through the whole service except making
the wish. \ few feet from the place where
st. Patrick lit is small puddle Of water.
This is st. Patrick's well.
This suggests that there is something very
strange to me that on the tops Of the noun
tains in Ireland water is found. On the
top or very near the top Of Slemish there is
water all seasons Of the year, and in winter
| was told, great deal of Water-so much
that person cannot go over it with safety
st. Patrick, according to the Irish, especi-
ally the Catholic Irish, did many most
wonderful things After, however, deduct
| inr all the Incredible things that he is said