Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-02-16
PRETTY IMAGININGS.
Fairies and Elfn HOrdes Still People
the Cairns Of Ireland.
CEREMONYOF HUNGER BLNISHIEG.
Bel-WOrship Each Year Tips the hftltOps
With TWinkling Fires.
CEREMONYOF HUNGER BLEISHING
MAIDEES Battle IN MAI-HORH DEW
WRITTEN FOE THE DrspArcH.i


the sober eynicism Of middle age. The
myriads Of quaint superstitions handed
down from sire to son; the fairies and elm
hordes with which mans Imagination
peopled every hillside and forest glade,
are all but vanished from the earth.
Driven from their ancient haunts by the
hideous screams Of the iron horse, it is only
in the secluded country districts Of the Old
World that they lingsr still They dance
in the moonlight around the eromleehs Of
Brittany, they sing their sad songs 10 the
groaning of Norwegian pines.
In Ireland both fairies and folklore seem
to have still long lease Of life. The poetic
nature Of the Gael loves to surround itself
with the creatures of fancy, and to invest
each day with some curious interest of its
own. On New Years morning, in cottage
and hall, the Irish watch eagerly for the
'tfrst footer"-that is to say, the first person
who crosses the threshold after midnight.
Friends wish each other a '1ueky first
footer;" enemies secretly trust that the first
footer will be an unlucky one. This bit Of
folklore, however, is by no means peculiar
to Ireland; it is found in the North OF En-
gland and also beyond the Cheviots.
But there is one Irish superstition con-
nected with New Years morning which
can be found IN no other nation. This is
the "hunger banishing," relic, no doubt,
of forgotten famine times. The writer re-
members 'hunger banishing" which he
witnessed some years ago in an Irish eoun-
try house. All the family, with some guests
who were staying in the house, descended
to the vast, old-fashioned Kitchen, where
the servants and innumerable "hangers-
on" were already assembled. On table,
still green with the emblems Of Christmas,
were placed about three score mighty loaYes
baked during New Years Eve. Every eye
was fixed on the clock as the hands drew
nearer and nearer TO the midnight hour.
Just as it was
UPON THE STROKE OF TWELVE,
There came forth from the warm, single
nook in the huge fireplace an old fellow,
with long white hair and deeply furroWed
brow. This was the "seanaehie, the oldest
of the family's many pensioners. He slowly
approached the pile of loaVes and selected
the largest. T an be placed himself some
ten feet from the massive iron-bound kitchen
door, and as the first stroke of IL resounded
through the room began to repeat inquaver-
ing voice a Gaelic verse, Of which the fol-
lowing is a translation:
'By this loaf, from this time till next new year,
Danish the hunger TO the TurksP'
At the last stroke of midnight he raised
the loaf in air and dashed it with all his
force against the door. The ceremony was
then completed, and the remainder Of the
loaves were distributed among the family
hangers-on, heretofore alluded to.
But the Two great feasts Of superstition in
Ireland are st. Johns Eve and Halloween.
St. Johns Eve, called in Gaelic "Beltiune"
or Bells fire, was in pagan times the day on
which the whole nation worshiped the sun,
under the name of ''Bel." Fires were
lighted in honor of this god on every hill
throughout the length and breadth Of green
Erin. LonR-robed priests moved solemnly
around the flames, singing monotonous
chants to the glory Of Bel And in these
later days when the old Bel-Worship has
been dead and buried for ages, the Bel-fres
still blaze on Irish hills. The old Christian
teachers permitted this custom to continue
after they had rooted out the religion which
gave it birth. Thus it is that the stranger
is still surprised, when, strolling out on
midsummer's eve along an Irish country
road, be sees all the surrounding hills tipped
with twinkling points Of fire. The noun
tain peasant kindles his Bel-fre with gorse
anu pine DkshOhSss "aSSAAnS ~ Carefully bAAA
midnight.
THE NIGHT OF THE FAIRIES.
On Halloween the fairies hold sway. It
is very dangerous to wander late on Hallow-
cen night, as some band of spirits may
whirl one away to their dwellings beneath
the raths and cairns. The PhOoca, too,
shaggy minataur of Gaelic legend, selects
this night fer his evil deeds. He roamS
through every glen and lanewsy, breathing
pestilently as he passes upon the red haws
that hang from the bushes. That is the
reason. say the country folk, why the haWs
are all Withered and dead after Halloween.
The Phooca has the head and neck of bull,
but from the shoulders down resembles man.
He is an extremely dangerous person to
meet with, as he has fondness for taking
unvarV folk in his arms, and Whirling them
over moor and dale to his mountain home,
where he erunehes their bones and drinks
their blood. Ifthe luckless individual thus
captured remembers to cross himself the
Pbooca at once releases him, but always
manages out of spite to plunge him in
mire or stream in doing so. The writer has
met with scores OF people who solemnly
averred that they had hidden on Phooca-
back. and were subsequently tumbled into
very uncomfortable and Watery couches.
Notwithstanding all these dangers, many
maidens are courageous enough to steal
forth on Halloween night, and bathe their
sleeves in running water. The superstition
is that, while engaged in this operation, the
forms of their future husbands shall appear
before them. In Scotland, also, this belief
is current; witness Robert Burns In that de.
lightful lyric, "Tsm Glen:
OfIast Halloween was saukin'
NV droukit sark-sleeve, as ye ken,
When his likeness came up the stream stalkin',
An the very gray breeks o. Tam GlenP
THE GRAY DAWN OF MAY-DAY.
On the morning of the 1st Of May the
girls bathe their faces and hands in grass
wet with dew, believing that this will give
them an irresistible attraetiveness, which
will last as long as the leaves last, and
wither with the whitening Of the leaves.
May-day morning is the chosen time for
witches and other uncanny mortals. Ifyou
wish to gain riches or to rob your neighbor
of his cows or sheep, you must go out in the
gray dawn Of Msy-day, and, with stick or
piece Of board, proceed to skim" the near
est we'll, saying as you do 30: Come
hither to me, the butter of the parish-eome
hither to me;" or, "Come hither to me, So
and-so's gold, come hither to me-"
Swimming" q we'll means removing the
coating Of green seed which usually covers
country springs. IT any person should dis
cover the skinner while performing these
mystic rites the spell is broken.
The millions Of raths, or earthen forts.
and the countless comleehs and cairns scat
tered throughout Ireland, are the principal
lurking places Of fairies. It is very hard
to find peasant courageous enough 70 dig
up one Of these raths. A friend OF the
writer some years ago induced hVe or six
laborers to excavate cairn or monumental
mound on his lands He hoped TO discover
-. nnI Al =