Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1896-03-13

while the swineherd resumed his post
and the sun discreetly sank to abide the
orthodox time of rising.
On certain cold morning st. Patrick
and his followers were on the summit
of bleak mountain, with no apparent
means of making a fire. To add to their
discomfort snow was falling heavily,
and bowling wind had arisen. Now
was the opportunity for the saint. He
ordered all hands to collect snowballs
together in a great heap, then he quiet
ly breathed upon the frosty mound, and
10. flames burst forth Immediately.
The following touching poem allud-
ipC to the above is of comparatively
recent date:
"St. Patrick, as in legends told.
The morning being very cold,
In order to assuage the weather,
Collected bits of ice together;
Then gently breathed upon the pyre,
When every fragment blazed on fire.
All! If the saint had been so kind
AS to have left the gift behind
To such love-lorn wretch as me.
Who daily struggles to be free.
I'll be content-content with part,
Id only ask to thaw the heart,
The frozen heart of Polly Roe"
A peasant family living near Belfast
in the early part OF this century were
the much-envied possessors of st. Pat
rick's jawbone.
The relic was supposed to have a SUI
pernatural value in determining the
guilt or innocence Of suspected GRIM
ipal. The accused one had merely to
place his hand on the jawbone and
take solemn oath. In case he per-
jured himself the most frightful pun
ishment followed. 1t was also of great
assistance to women in child labor.
and was sovereign remedy for cpl
leptic fits and to ward off the evil eye.
witches, fairies, etc.
Everyone knows about the most stu
pendous miracle of all the miracles NJ
St. Patrick, the one which Of itself
was enought to make the saints name
immortal, but we don't all know how
the feat was accomplished. Colgan, the
antiquarian, says that the snakes were
banished from Ireland in the following
novel and ingenious manner: st. Pat
rick procured an immense drum and
then walked forth over hill, dale and
valley while beating most laundering
tattoo. Right in the midst of his ardu-
GUS labors hole was knocked in the
| top, whereupon the snakes all stopped
| short on their march to the sea.
In the nick Of time an angel appeared
and mended the drum. After this the
operation was continued to the end
without further accident. Every rep
tile was supposed to have left the is
land, but the saint himself knew bet
ter. There was one snake that behaved
so badly during the grand march that
st. Patrick concluded to punish him.
According to the legend the recalci-
trant serpent was confined in the
gloomy depth Of Tough Dilveen, in the
Galtee Mountains of Tipperary. 1t was
understood that the prisoner should be
released from durance vile on the fol-
lowing Monday, when he would be
driven out to join his fellow-crawlers
in the briny deep. Alas! st. Patrick
was so busy he forgot all about it, At
least they say in Tipperary that on
every Monday to this day the hapless
snake comes to the surface Of the lake
and utters this plant in Irish: cts a
long Monday, Patrick"
The shamrock in Ireland, as is well
known, is always associated with the
saint. The popular reason given for its
peculiar significance is undoubtedly the
true one. When st. Patrick commenced
to preach the gospel to the pagan Irish
he found it very difficult to make them
comprehend the doctrine of the Trim
ity. At last bright idea struck him.
He displayed to the throng sprig Of
the common trefoil (shamrock) and IN
a moment his auditors grasped the idea
how perfectly simple it was for three
to emanate from one.
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