The Irish standard., 1900-03-17

ent OF the Normans, and IN his To
biography" and Conquest of IRELAND"
he has left great fund OF observa-
tons, many OF them very bitter and
partisan. He was, like Hadrian, "cu
riositatum omnium indagator,' de-
voured by restless curiosity. In his
Topography OF Ireland" O., 23) he
tells US that:
"Of all sorts of reptiles, Ireland pos
sesses those only which are harmless,
and does not produce any that are ven
omous. There are neither snakes nor
adders, nor dragons. 1t produces,
however, spiders, leeches, and lizards,
but they are quite harmless"
He quotes a common saying:
"In France and Italy the frogs fill
the air with their croakings; in Brit
ain they are mute; in Ireland there
are none"
The chapter i, long and curiou,
one. In it he says:
THAT he read in the ancient books
Of the saint Of that country that some
times, for the sake OF experiment,
serpents have been shipped over in
brazen vessels, but were found liielcss
and dead as soon as the middle OF the
Irish sea was crossed Poison also,
similarly conveyed, was found to lose
its venom when midway on the waters,
disinicctcd by a purcr air.
One might imagine that he was
quoting from the Venerable Bedc, in
whose Ecclesiastical History OF the
English a., y We have, carly in the
seventh century, at once the oldest and
the most authentic reference to the
absence OF snakes from Ireland:
"No reptile is found there: no ser
pcnt can live there; for though often
carried thther out of Britain, rs soon
as the ship draws near the land and
the scent OF the air from off the shore
reaches them they die On the CON
trary, almost all things produced in
the island have virtues against poi
sons. In short, we have known that
when some persons have been bitten
by serpents, the scrapings OF leaves
OF books that were brought out OF Ire
land, being put into water and given
them to drink, have Immediately cx-
PEELED the spreading poison and as
suagcd the swelling"
From all the above it is clear that
since the seventh century there has
existed literary tradition, domestic
and foreign, that ireland was no place
Tor snakes to thrive in. 1t is also
clear that the agency OF St Patrick
appears at a late date in the story, and
that he is passed over by quite a long
line OF writer's. enthusiastic and other
wise about the merits OF Ireland The
early mcdiacva world was certain that
snakes did not and could not exist in
ireland, bit it does not seem to have
credited St. Patrick with the respon-
sibility of a special blessing on the
soil. Bedc seems to lay great stress
on the peculiar whoesomcncss and
serenity OF the climate" Donatus OF
Ficsolc credits the want TO snakes 'tc
the same kind Providence that kept
lions and bears out of Ireland. The
ninth century abbot OF Ellwangcn, {
| Scotic enthusiast, uses the fact as al
act OF God or OF nature to illustrate
the purity and soundncss OF the Irish
faith, just as the countless birds, dcel
and goats remind lis ol her innumcr-
able saints, or as the instlar, rock
bound site oi ireland is "a true picture
OF the Catholic church. assaulted by tn,
attacking DEVILS exposed to the storm
OF godlcssncss and the prosecutions OF
the wicked, but being built upon til,
rock Jesus Christ she will endure Tor
ever The wicked Gerald Barry pos.
itively doubts any act OF St Patrick
ior he says in the chapter already
cited:
Some, indeed, conjecture, with
what scents a ila,tcrng fiction, that
St Patrick and the other saints OF that
country cleared the island OF all pes
tiierous animals; but history asserts
/ with 1H0Tl probability, that from tic
earliest ages, and long before it was
favored with the light of revealed
truth, this WAS one OF the things which
never existed here. from some natura
deficiency in the produce OF the isl
land
Ii Barry is partisan Cambro- Nor.
man, we mist remember that .Jocclyn
in spite OF the sixty lives OF St. Pat.
rick that he read. was a very crcdu
lous Gael. Barry says that only
some speak OF an act OF St. Patrick
and they only "conjccturc,' and they
attribute it to "other saints in con
junction with St Patrick. 1t is true
indeed, that in the "Lcabhar Brcac,
a very ancient miscellaneous Irisl
book St Columbia is said to have ban
ished toads and snakes from Iona
Moreover, Barry conlradicts Joceyl
with regard to the Isle OF Man. Tor h,
asserts what Jocciyn denies. the exist
cncc oi vcnomous reptiles in Man 10
Biography III. 75). DR.. kuno Meyer i
| 81, to II II, Al, .I,: