Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1897-10-24

y
from the COW, for st. Bridget's morn
ing, and all the good things that could
be procured, barring flesh meat, for
Christmas eve, with fish, flesh and plum
pudding for Christmas day 1t is also
worth noting that among the people
who have kept the genuine old Irish
Catholicity and customs, the fast Is
considered at an end at shutdown on the
eve of Christmas and on the other ewes.
At home the Christmas eve supper was
the culinary event Of the year; in the
college it was mug of milkless cocoa
without bread. Those, of the students
who stickled for cid Irish catholicity
supplemented the Barmacide's supper
with good substantial barnbrack,
when it could be procured.
Now to come to the great feast of
"Hollantide (Halloween), or, as they
call it in modern Gaelic, "oldhthe sham
hfulin," pronounced nearly "eehe
howng," in cd Irish "samfuin "-the
end of summer. The two great feasts
of the Aryan year were the end of sum-
mer and the end of winter, called
among the Irish "Samfuin" and "Beal-
trine'-the latter meaning the feast of
Baalifiae, and observed on the first day
of May. There were two other inter-
mediate feasts-" Nodiac," correspond
ing in the time with our Christmas,
when the days first began to get long;
and "Lugnasa," the modern Lammas,
when Corn rigs are bonnie o. on the
list of August. About the celebration
of Nodiac | know nothing. Bealtinne
was the great Druidic religious festival
when women and cattle and young
crops were blessed by the priests, with
variety of rites not to be described
at present. Lugnasa, or Lammas, was
famous for horse-racing and match
making, something like our own fair
week. To show how Samfuin, or Hol-
landtide, was celebrated, translate the
opening of the famous tale, 1.-THE Sick
bed Of Cuchullain and Only Jealousy
of Elmer" The story is found in the
"Leabhor ma Huidri.n or Book Of the
Brown Cow, which is 500 years old,
into which it was copied from the
yellow Book of Slane." now lost. but
which at least must have been written
from 1000 to 1900 years ago, as the
grammatical forms go to prove. /
know of no other place of old Gaelic
SO beautiful in style and 50 full of sug-
gestions of ancient Celtic life and Gus
toms. There is the famous descrip-
ton of election by "bull feast Cuchal-
lain's Instructions to the young king,
the Give wake of Cuchullain during
his year of love-sickness the svmpa-
thetic love blemishes of the women of
Ulster. the summer palace in fairyland,
Elmer's assertion of her rights as q
wife the farewell of Lady Fand, whose
L ~
dawn is in Irish 'Fainne geal an lac
the bright ring of the day-and Man
nanan's cloak of oblivion.
THE FAIR OF SAMFUIN
("Lebar ma Hudri," page 43, column
/. line u A fair used to be held by
the Ultoniana every year, to-wit. three
days before Samfuin, and the day Of
'Samfuilf itself This was the length of
time the Ultonians used to be in the
plain of Murthemni holding the fair of
Samfuin every year And there was
nothing in the world they did during
that period but perform games and
races. sports and diversions. drinking
and eating; hence ii is that the triads
of Samfuin are observed throughout
Ireland On one occasion there was a
| fair held by the Ultonians in the plain
of Murthehni and their e3lef reasons
| for holding this fair was that each
should exhibit his trophies and his
valor every Samfuin without intermis-
sion. It was custom with them for
| their champions to exhibit their tro-
! phies at the fair: to wit the tips OF
! the tongues of every man they had
killed. which they exposed in purses
| And they used to bring the tongues OF
| cattle to increase the number of These
| trophies. Everyone in his turn exhib-
| tied his trophies publicly. Thus it was
/ they used to do it-with their swords
| on their thighs while they were holding
the exhibition, fer their swords turn
against them whenever they exhibited
false trophies. Demons. indeed, spoke
from their arms to them, so that tbs
weapons were guard against deceit
| in their part. All the Ultonians came
| to the fair, two only accepted, to-wit.
| Conall Cearnach and Fergus MacRoy
Let the fair be held. said the Ulsterfolk
| 1t shall not be held, said Cuchullian
| until ConaH and Fergus are present
Fergus was the teacher and Conall his
| fellow pupil. Then, said Senecha, lei
chess boards be brought to use prf-
| yately. let poems be sung aud feats 81
| agility be performed. All this was af
| forwards done. MAC A.