liarly adapted to be her symbol; Drumlane, Dublin, Dysart, two at Ferbane, Kells, Kilcullen, Kildare, Kilkenny, Kilree, so called from Rhe the aquatic deity above mentioned; Mahera, Monasterboice, Newcastle, Oughterard, Ram-isle, Rattoo, Roscrea, Scattery, two at Sligo, Swords, Timahoe, Tulloherin,, and West Carbury.

These towers, after the dissemination of Christianity, were used as belfries, and this will account for the modern names they frequently bear, of Clog-had, or Cloig-theac, bell-house. It is evident, however, that all the Cloghads have not been belfries. In many there are no marks of the wall having been broken, to admit of hanging a bell, nor are they always annexed to churches. There are many in fields, where no traces of the foundations of any other buildings can be discovered round them. Had the primitive Christians of Ireland possessed the art of building these towers with lime and mortar, it is reasonable to think they would have preferred building the churches of some durable materials; but we are positively told that Duleek, or Dam-liag church, was the first that was built with such materials, and that was so called from leac, a stone. There is some reason, however, to conjecture that it may have received its name from a large druidical monument, or leac, of an enormous size near it.*

Before the introduction of these round towers, it has been observed, the fires were kindled on the tops of the mountains. One of these, called Cal-ain, the altar of the sun, is in the county of Clare, and an altar is still to be seen on it, as is also an Ogham inscription. This mountain is likewise known by the name of Altoir na greine, the altar of the sun. A large cromlech yet remains in the townland of Ballylasson, in the county of Down, one mile north of Drombo, temple of the cow, and four from Belfast.+ It is in the most perfect state, except that the altar has been thrown down. Its ancient name was Bealagh, the fire or altar of Beal, but it is now known by the name of the Giant's ring, the moderns mistaking Bealagh for Balac, which signifies a giant. It stands on a raised mound, about forty feet in perpendicular height, gradually sloping towards an intrenchment which surrounds it. The diameter, including the bank, is 579 feet. The bank rises forty-five feet, and is twelve broad at top. This appears to have been originally a simple arkite place of worship, and would contain 5000 people, allowing a square fathom to each person. There is a hill in the

• Collect. de Reb. Hib. vol. iii. p. 492.

+ Properly Beul na fearsde, the mouth of the lakes, being pools of water in the sand at low ebb. See Shaw's Gaelic Dictionary.

Vallancey's Essay on the Primitive Inhabitants of Britain and Ireland,

county of Cork, named Affadown, or Afaide dun, the hill of Afaide, the traveller's god, on which probably once was an altar, as it has now a round tower on it. There are also ruins of a round tower on Drum Iskin, in the county of Louth.

On the summit of Tory hill, called in Irish, Sleigh Grian, or the place of adoration of the sun, is a circular space covered with stones, the larger ones having been taken out and rolled down the hill, for the use of the country people. There is still one large one near the centre, and there is the appearance of smaller ones having stood in a circle at a little distance from the heap, which is above sixty-five yards in circumference; within which, on the eastern side, is a stone raised on two or three unequal ones, with an inscription facing the west, and being in the centre of the heap. The letters are deeply and well cut on a hard block of siliceous brescia; they are two inches high, there being between each a space of about one inch, and a distance of three inches between the words. In Roman letters, which they much resemble, they would be BELI DIUOSE, which signifies Beli di Uose, or Aose, to Beli god of fire.*

The sanctuary at New Grange having been already described, may receive further illustration by some account of the Mithratic cave, in the county of Armagh. On the glebe of Armagh-cloghmullen, in the parish of Killeary, stands a very large cairn of stones, about sixty feet in length, and above twelve in height. About twenty feet from one end, two stones appear considerably higher than the rest. This cairn was opened about twenty-three feet from where the two stones rose above the rest, and the labourers soon came to what afterwards proved to be the third chamber of a cave: there appearing evidently to be small low doors from this into other apartments, it was conjectured that the two tall stones might possibly indicate the entrance into the building. All the stones being cleared away that were in front of these pyramidal stones down to the base, to the surprise of all present, the building exhibited a regular front, with a low door of entrance. The whole was then found to consist of four apartments; the first, eight feet wide, and nine feet six inches long; the second, six feet six inches wide, and six feet long; the third, six feet two inches wide, and six feet eight inches long; the fourth, two feet wide, and six feet long. In the front is a loggia, or semicircular porch of rude stones, thirty-three feet in diameter; and at eight feet from the door of entrance are two pillars, or phalli, nine feet high, one on each side. The chambers are

p. 41. The area of Stonehenge is sufficient to contain 6,000, allowing a square yard to each.

Tighe's Statistical Report of the County of Kilkenny. A print of it may be seen in the sixth vol. of the Collect. de Reb. Hib, and also in the Archæologia.

arched with dry corbelling stones, as at New Grange, covered at top with a flag-stone about three feet broad, the arch springing about three feet from the ground. The roof and door-cases in some places are destroyed. The cave does not extend to the centre of the cairn, and on the opposite side are two other phalli rising above the surrounding stones, so that if explored, these might lead to the entrance of another cave, which might meet the extremity of the first in the centre of the cairn, as some people imagine, or they might merely indicate the termination, as their fellows do the entrance, thus resembling the obelisks at the temples in Egypt. In the neighbourhood of this cairn stands an altar named Leac-barkut, the sacred stone, and not far distant another named Cailec, said to be the altar of a giantess that devoured all the children in the neighbourhood, so denominated undoubtedly from the lunar-arkite goddess being said to swallow up the aspirants to her mysteries.* General Vallancey makes the following remarks on the probable use of this cave: "It is probable the votary was first placed in the furthermost cave, where he had just room to lie down, and was removed by degrees to the outward cave. Here, I suppose, like the Persians, he was obliged to undergo a fiery trial, by passing seven times through the sacred fire, and each time to plunge himself into cold water. Having undergone all these torturing trials with becoming patience and fortitude, he was declared a proper subject for initiation. He then went through two baptisms, which washed from his soul the stains he had contracted during the course of his life, prior to initiation, and having offered bread and water, with a certain form of prayer, a crown was presented to him on the point of a sword, on which he was taught to answer, Mithra, it is my crown.' He was then obliged to bind himself, by the most solemn oath, with horrible imprecations, never to divulge one single article of all that had been communicated to him in the course of his initiation. He was then brought out of the cave into the semicircular porch, and the pyrrhic dance, the deasol, i. e. ' dance in the shade of the grove,' began, so called by the Irish, the chorus of Neamhasabasa, i. e. the phallic 365 echoed through the skies; and the Tailtean ended in proclaiming the candidate a lion of the sun."+

The following beautiful Irish poem is in the Leabhar breac, sacred book, and said to be the composition of Dubhthacus O Lugair, in honour of the sun, termed Nion Crios.

Compare Davies's Mythology with this. See views and plans of this cave in the fifteenth vol. of the Archæologia.

+ Collect. de Reb. Hib. vol. vi. p. 465. The derivation of pyrrhic, from the Greek word for fire, does not seem to have suggested itself to the General.

O'Flaherty's Ogygia.

Sen a Creas mo labhra! a Coide sencht nimhe!
Romberth buaidh leri, a ri Greine gile!
A gel Grian formosna! riched cumeit noemi,
A ri conic angliu, a Codui nan doine
A Coidui nan doine a ri firian firmaih
Con Amraib cach solad, ar molad dot rigraid,
Do rigrad mo molar, ol is tu mo ruidhre
Do ralus ar maire, geaschi oc do guide,
Guidiu itge doib, romain arat ro-gbus.
Cain popul culigdath, in rigrad imrordus,
Im rordus imrigraid, imun rig uas nelaib
Aill uas laithib ligoaib, aill nas dianaib deraib
Domroibai domteti olam triam Aintrogda
Jar timnaib inrigri ritroich inslogsa.

Auspiciate my lays, oh Sun! thou mighty lord of the seven heavens !
Who swayest the universe through the immensity of space and matter.
Oh resplendent Sun! Oh universal shining Sun! thou mighty governor of
the heavens,

Thou sovereign regulator of the connected whole, and only god of man, Oh thou universal god of mankind! thou gracious, just, and supreme king,

My noblest and most happy inspiration is the praise of thy power!
Thy power I will praise, for thou art my sovereign lord,
Whose bright image continually forces itself

On my attentive eager thoughts;

To whom heroes pray in the perils of war,

Nor are their supplications vain; whether it be when thou brightenest The eastern region with thy orient light when in thy meridian splendor, Or when thou majestically descendest in the west. All the world praise and adore thee,

For thou art the only glorious and sovereign object of the universe.

The Irish worshipped the sun under forty different names. La Nollad Aois, the birth of the sun, was celebrated with festivity and rejoicing, and they then sacrificed Nargal, the cock of Aurora. For the sun was said to have begotten Arune, the citron coloured morn, called also the youth of the east, the golden coloured morning. Thus, Agus as geinithir Aruthne riason n'Greine ioin maiddin, and he begat Arune, the forerunner of the sun. On the eve of La Nollad Aois, or Mathair Oidche, the mother night, the ancient Irish began the new year, and then commenced January, or as it is still called Ceud mios Bliaghan, the first month of the cycle of Beli, or the sun's course; each month beginning six days earlier than in the Julian reckoning. The 1st, 8th, 15th, and 23d days were the Saboide, or festival of Sab, the sun. On the contrary, La Taim Aois, the sun's death, which took place at the winter solstice, on the 22d of December, was a day of lamentation, the celebration of which, in the northern parts of Britain, is probably alluded to in the following lines:

Ni guorcosam nemheunawr henoid

Mi telu nit gurmaur

Mi amfranc dam an calaur

Ni can ili ni guardam ni cusam henoid

Cet iben med nouel

Mi amfranc dam an patel

Na mereit un nep leguenid henoid
Is discinn mi coneidid

Dou nam riceur imguetid.*

Spiritless (as I am) I will not study profit this night,

My household are not valiant,

I will put away the cauldron+

The bard shall not sing, I will not laugh nor feast this night,
Let men of renown drink mead together,

I will put away the pan.

Let no one meddle with mirth this night

Till my supporter comes down,

(When) my Lord comes we shall feast to the full."||

Wednesday in old Irish is called Dia Tait, or Thoth's day, and Cad Aoine, the sacred fast, on account of its having been instituted in honor of Budh, or Thoth. Friday, a fast introduced by the Christians, is named Dia-aoine and La-aoine, the fastday, while Thursday is called La-eidir-dha-aoine, the day between the two fasts, a curious circumstance, as it tends to show that Budh's day was observed after the introduction of Christianity. The Irish still keep the pagan festival of All-hallow eve, by the title of Oidche Aoni, the night of affliction, calling the month of November Mi du,** or dubh, the month of mourning, being the season appointed by the druids for the solemn inter

*This is taken from Edward Llwyd's Archæologia, p. 221. He says, "it is the ancient language of the Britons in the north of the island. I found it in the first leaf of an old Latin book, on decayed vellum, written in a Gwyddelian hand, about one thousand years ago. By the writing, and by a few more words of the same language, I am certain that the book has come originally from Scotland, and I can also compute the age of the manuscript. I know not whether it be the language of the Strath Clyde Britons, or of the Picts, or old Caledonians. It is the oldest and strangest British I have seen." The Rev. E. Davies, from a knowledge of the Irish and Welsh languages, has been able to give the above translation.

+ Used in preparing the mystic feast.

Ibid.

Alluding to the return of the Sun and La Nollad Aois.

Friday was also called Dia Nain, Dies Veneris, Nain being the universal mother in Irish mythology. So in Maccabees, b. 11. c. i. v. 13. "For when the leader was come into Persia, and the army with him, that seemed invincible, they were slain in the temple of Nania, by the deceit of Nania's priests."

Shrove Tuesday was called Oin-id, the anniversary of affliction, being the day of confession and affliction, as the Saxon word also imports. ** Mis du (Welsh), the black or dark month.

NO. XV.

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