The Washington herald., 1912-08-11
CURIOUS STORY
OF BLARNEY STONE
It Is Said that Whoever Kisses the
Sacred Rock Will Acquire
Eloquence of Speech.

Inc story OF tne blarney stone Is sur
rounded with a careless vagueness Of
historical detail characteristic Of its COM
ity of origin and quite appropriate to the
nature of the yarn itself.
Blarney is a village four miles north
west of Cork, with 500 Inhabitants. It is
situated on the Blarney River and has
some celebrity for its tweeds. but the
castle and its stone are, of course. the
main glory OF the place.
The castle is little more than a square
tower 80 feet high. with machicoiated
battiements. and II was the stronghold
of the McCarthys.
The famous stone is of triangular shape
and Is lowered from the north angle Of
the castle about twenty feet from the
top. It bears the following inscription:
Cornac Mccarthy Fortb Ne
Fien Fedt. A D. l+a
How the stone acquired its reputation
Is disputed, but the version given by
wheeler's Familiar AIlusions'' holds the
field. probably because II Is the only
connected story offering anything like
an explanation.
When or how II first got its singular
reputation is not known. but the super
stition concerning it is firmly fixed in
the minds of the Irish peasantry. hun
dreds of whom resort to the castle every
year for the purpose of kissing a stone
endowed with a property so marvellous.
II Becomes Byword.
The story runs that in 1902 Cormac Nc
Carthy. the lord OF Castle Blarney. con-
cluded an armistice with Carew, the
lord resident. on condition of surrend-
ering. the fortress to the English garri-
son. but when ever the fullment of his
pledges was demanded he invented Soma
smooth and plausible excuse for delay.
till Carew became the laughing stock of
Elizabeth's ministers
Thus" says Wheeler. ''the term 'blar-
ney became a byword and was used to de-
note a soft. insinuating and deceitful
manner OF speech
II is said that Queen Elizabeth her
self was the first to use the phrase TT
is all blarney."
The reference authorities thus describe
the virtue that follows the kissing Of the
stone:
DIR. Brewers Dictionary of Phrase and
Fable: Whoever does this shall be
able to persuade to anything"
Wheeler's Familiar Allusions': Tho
power of imparting to any one who kisses
it fluent. persuasive and not over-hon-
est tongue"
Farmer and Henley's Slang Diction-
ary:" Establishment, soft speech or saw
der gross fattery. CANNON"
Dixon's Dictionary of Idiomatic
Phrases: ITO be full of fiattery and
persuasive language"
Trench H. Johnson's Phrases and
Names: 'Suave speeches intended only
to gain time
Lloyd's Encyclopedia Dictionary:
Smooth. meaningless. hattering Irish
speech. designed to put the person or
audience addressed in good humor and
thus further any Interior object which
the orator may have in view
Virtues Are Immortal.
The virtues of the stone are immortal
ized in Milliken's Groves of BIarney.''
which contains this verse added by Fa-
ther Prout, Of Relics" fame
There Is a stone there
That whoever kisses,
o he never misses
To gruw eloquent.
Don't hope TO hinder him
Or to bevilder him.
Sure he's q pilgrim
Samuel Lover has also written about
the Blarney stone. The best known verse
is:
o. say. would you find this sane Blsrneyf
There's a castle not far from Killarney.
On the top Of its wall
but take you don't falD
There's a stone that contains all this Blsrney.
Like magnet its influence such is.
That attraction il gives all il touches:
II you kiss it, they say.
From that blessed day.
You may hs when you please with your Blsrney.
The exact position of the stone is an
other matter of considerable dispute, and
the doubt is much too remunerative to
be disposed of.
The general supposition is that the
stone is the one fixed by irons to the
parapet of the large square tower (which
used to be the donjon or keep Of the
castle) some feet from the top.
This, no doubt, is the stone that Mr..
Churchill kissed. and in order to do SO
1t is necessary to lie on your back over
the machicolation."
Others maintain that this Is not the
stone at all, but that the right stone lies
loose in the ground. So far there is no
record of the Lancet having drawn at
tention to the danger Of promiscuous os-
sulation such as Blarney invites. a curl
Gus omission.