Evening star., 1936-03-14


bright -jeweled crystal temple, prob
ably an iceberg. They land on shores
of smoke, flame and evil stencil. A
demon flies ahead Of them and plunges
into the sea. Thy find an island of
flame and smoke, q mountain covered
with clouds, and the ent 'ance to he'll.
Next they find an island with white
haired hermit, who directs them to the
promised land.
Then they came to a barren coast
where, on a rock, sat shaggy mis-
shapen man-the wretched ghost of
Judas who, on Sundays and other holy
days, was allowed a short vacation
from hell because of one good act
which he had done in his life. As
the narrative says:
THE stone whereon he sat he once
had placed in a muddy path for the
ease of them who went that way;
wherefore it easeth him now. The
cloth before his face, which dulled the
cut of the waves, he once had given
to leper, but it was bought with the
money he stole from our Lords purse. 3"
Brenainn and Judas have an affect
ing meeting on the stern and rock"
bound coast" and, through the inter-
cession of the saint, he is allowed to
spend the night out of hell. Was he
an American Indian?
IT NOW is generally admitted by
geographers that there was nu-
cleus of truth in the narrative of the
second voyage Of St. Brendan.
Some Irishman If the fourth or fifth
century-and very likely sailor-monk
of the western isles-had been on a
remarkable voyage in the North At
lantic and returned to Erin to tell
about it. The story long had passed
from mouth to mouth. with growing
exaggerations and distortions, until
finally it was incorporated in the writ
ten history Of the saint.
In the first place, the narrative itself
bears certain earmarkS Of truth. The
floating palaces of crystal hardly could
have referred to anything but icebergs,
such as would be encountered of the
Grand Banks. In the second place
there has been. through the centuries,
an accumulation Of sustaining evi-
dence.
The most notable evidence is that
of Icelandic histories. In the Land
namabok of Ari Thorgilsson, one of
the first and generally most reliable
hi - Nf iS
story of a group Of Iceland adven-
turers who were blown westward by a
storm upon Hvitrammannland, of
white mans land" by some called
Irland 1t mikla, or Great Ireland.
That country was, he continued. near
the sea and near Vineland the Good.
Ari continues to relate how the ad-
venturers were Hospitality received by
the Christian settlers in Great Ire
land, and converted by them to Chris
tianity.
The next Icelandic text which sup
posedy refers to the pre-Columbian
Irish in America, is the Erybyggia
Saga, which was composed about the
year l14S. It tells of the adven-
lures of a certain Icelander. Gudhleif
Gudhlaugsson, who was sailing home
from Ireland. whittier he had gone on
business, when his ship was caught
in a storm and driven westward until
it reached a great land, where the
people seemed to be speaking Irish.
He passed the Winter among them,
and in the Spring sailed home to Ice
land.
Another strong bit Of evidence is
the existence throughout the Middle
Ages of old Irish maps in which, at
varying distances west Of Ireland, is
pictured an Island of Brazil" On
at least one of these maps the sur
roundings of the mythical island con-
stitute a fairly good map Of the Gulf
of st. Lawrence, almost too good to
have been drawn by pure accident.
EvEN stronger supporting evidence
~ of Irish discovery and settlement
of North America is its high probable
ity. The Irish. westernmost people
Of Europe, were ancient seafarers.
They appear to have taken to the
ocean almost as readily as the Morse
men. Their boats, in Roman times,
were far better known in Southern
Europe than those from Britain.
Caesar copied the Irish design IN
building his own feet.
These Irish continually were put
ting out into the Atlantic. True
enough. their open boats, which were
very similar in design to the ships
of the Norsemen, hardly were fitted
for a long voyage across the stormy
ocean. Nevertheless, it might have
been done. 1t has been done, In
recent times, by more fragile craft.
It is fairly certain that the Morse
men did it In much the same kind
of ships few centuries later.
Many of these seafarers must have
been caught by storms and carried
westward. Dozens doubtless perished
A few, it is reasonable to suppose, sue
ceeded in reaching the shores OF
America. The prevailing winds would
have carried them to Newfoundland
or Labrador.
Still further evidence is found In
the religious history of Ireland. II
was, from the beginning of Christian
ity in Erin, the practice Of Irish monks
to seek solitary places Of meditation
penance and prayer in the deserts
of the ocean. During the sixth CEN
tury there arose, among the seacoas'
dwellers of ireland, the same desire to
20 forth and become hernlits and
missionaries, which in the preceding
century, had won for their country
men the reputation for wandering
which they enjoyed during the Middle
Ages. Another reason why the Irish
sought retirement on distant Islands
was because Roman ecclesiastical Gus
toms were beginning to spread over
Ireland. Some monks refused to &C
cept them and retired in silent dis
content to the western shore. Later,
with the spread Of the new regulations,
the stubborn monks were forced to
retreat into the very ocean. Says DR..
Dunn:
The yearning for place OF utter
retirement from the world became