Mohave County miner., 1888-05-05
IRELAND'S FOLK LORE.
REVERENCE FOR ANIMALS MENTION.
ED IN THE Sculptures.

Popular Expectations Connected With
Christmzs-wicked work Of the "Days
Daei"--LIciing Lixsrd--Corieas Gus
TOMBSTONE signs Of M Fortsne.
In ireland, as In every country OF Eu~
rope, many curious ideas about almost
everything that is seen or heard In ordi-
nary life have been handed down from
parent to child. Beasts, birds and in
sects are regarded with superstitioas fear
or favor, and when any object has fts
mention I'm Scripture the popular belief In
its good or evil influence IL materially
strengthened
The OK and the ass, as appearing fre-
quently In the Bible, are always highly
regarded, and, as II is the general belisf
that our Saviour selected the ass to ride
upon On account Of the cross on his back,
that animal Is looked tIoon with signal es-
TEEN. IL Is considered lucky 10 have one
Of his species In a field with cattle, as the
mark Of the cross is certain safeguard
against malicious witch wancon fairy.
But this fortunate animal can do more
than ward off evil spirits. He can tell
Christmas as unerringlyAs schoolboy,
and every Christmas eve he falls down at
midnight and brays three times in honor
OF the approaching dawn. IL this fact b
doubted there are always plenty OF Wit
nesses who have kept awake 70 see the oc.
currence and who have seen it frequently.
The cock Is regarded win similar rev.
erence ON account OF the scene between
Christ and st. Peter, and Is believed to b
as well aware Of the Joy OF Christmas
as the ass, and in consequence crows dur
ing good part Of the nine nights proceed
ing the Christian festival The Growing
OF hen, that ut any other time would bo
most unlucky omen, Is then all right, a.
II is then supposed 20 share In the Joy oe
the cock at the coming of Christmas.
AFRAID or A pARA DAgI
The dubh dael, or dara dael is black
insect Of the earwIg class; the meaning OF
the name In English Is tho black or other
devil. I'm creeping along, whenever it
hears any noise, IL always halts, cocks up
Its tail and protrudes It's sting, which Is
similar 10 that OF the bee No reptile has
been SO much abhorrcd or dreaded by the
peasantry Of Ireland AZ the dara dael, and
legends of its evil doings abound. Its
wicked work began ut very early day.
IL is said TO have eaten the core OF the
apple thrown away by Eve, and TO thia
day strong smell Of apples is perceived
when IL is crushed, for il Is always to be
crushed by stone or lump OF iron, which
must be hurled at the yermin, as other
wise the devils essence would be con.
yeyed through any medium of wood or
leather held In the dcstroyer's hand. Iron
and stones are deemed non-conductors.
The Irish boys and women, when they
throw the stones, generally excisim; MA
shocht paca agus ma paca morrio urth'--
l. o., my seyeii sins aud my deadly sin
upon you" The allusion I'm the exclama-
ton is to another legend, which claims
that the dara dael acted as a spy upon
Christ and told his enemies where he
went. Judas, on his way to betray
Christ, is said to have met y number Of
dara daels, who turned up their tails to
indicate the way the saviour had gone.
The lizard--in Irish, aire luchair.
which literally translated means s'the pig
OF the rushes''--is held In esteem for its
curative powers. When caught, the per-
son who 10 anxious to receive the curative
power takes the aire luichair In his hand,
licks the creature all overhead, feet,
belly, legs, sides and tail; aud the tongue
OF the person who thus licks the aire iuA
chair " said ever afterward to possess the
power OF taking the sting and pain out Of
burn There is also en- idea that the
aire luichair, or newt, Is always on tho
watch to. crawl down the throat Of any
person who happens to fall asleep out Of
doors.
CURIOUS CUSTOMS.
When passing over bridge OF any size
In Ireland the wayfarer invariably raises
HIS hat or uttcrs some word Of blessing or
prayer for the builder OF the bridge. IL
Is considered unfortunate on a May morn
ing for farmer or his wife to meet
hare, MS under such circumstances ''pussp
is said TO take the milk from the cows.
just at present, when evictions are I'm
full swing, Il May help TO illustrate the
popular sentiment by recalling the custom
OF cursing known as "The Fire Of Stones.n
The aggrieved person collects as many
small powders as will oil the principal
hearth Of the holding he Is compelled to
surrender. These he piles In the manner
OF turf sods arranged for firing and then,
kneeliDg down, praysthat until that heap
burns may every kind OF sweat, bad luck
and misfortune attend the landlord and
his family to untold generations. Rising,
he takes the stones In arInfuls and hurls
them here and there, in loch, pool, bog
hole or stream, so that by no possibility
COuiu tne SollectloI De FecOVefeu.
Certain trades and ayocations are held
In disrepute, but tinkers come In for more
than ordinary dislike. The reason al
legged Is that when the blacksmith was
ordered 10 make nails for the cross he re-
fused, but the tinker made them, and
therefore Christ condemned him and all
his race TO be wanderers and never TO have
a roof OF their own to cover them to tho
wcrfl's end.
II Is unlucky TO take n cat with you
when removing. In consequence Of this
belief cats often suffer terribly. II Is uu-
lucky TO meet barking dog or bare
footed woman early In the morning. II,
In addition, the woman should be red
headed, you must turn back in haste, lest
some evil thing come upon you. It is
lucky for dog TO come into the house the
first thing In the morning.
4 girl chasing butterfly was scoided
by her companions saying: That may
be the soul Of your grandfather. Upon
inquiry 1t was found that butterfly how
ering near corpse was sign Of It's ever
lasting happiness. Chicago News.
SraI. To- S.l.