298 THE IRISH ELK. 



attained a eight of more than ten feet, with antlers measur- 

 ing eleven feet from tip to tip, may perhaps have lived to a 

 somewhat more recent period, but appears to have had a 

 much more restricted range. Its remains have been found in 

 Sweden, in Germany, in France as far as the Pyrenees, and 

 in Central Italy. It seems, however, to have been most 

 abundant in the British Isles, and especially in Ireland. It 

 is reported to have been frequently found in peat-bogs, but 

 Professor Owen believes that, in reality, the bones generally 

 occur in the lacustrine shell marl, which underlies the peat 

 or bog earth.* 



In the Niebelungen Lied of the twelfth century, a myste- 

 rious animal is mentioned under the name of schelch : 



"After this he straightway slew a bison and an elk, 

 Of the strong uri four, and one fierce schelch." 



It has been supposed by some writers that the schelch was, 

 in fact, the Megaceros hibernicus. There is, however, no 

 sufficient reason for this hypothesis, and we must remember 

 that the same poem, as Dr. Buckland has pointed out, con- 

 tains allusions to giants, dwarfs, pigmies, and fire-dragons. 

 Neither Caesar nor Tacitus mentions the Irish elk, and they 

 would surely not have omitted such a remarkable animal, if 

 it had been known to them. 



No remains of the Irish elk have yet been found in asso- 

 ciation with bronze, nor indeed am I aware of any which can 

 be referred to the later Stone or Neolithic Age. 



These twelve species, then, are especially characteristic of the 

 river-drift deposits. Most of them occur also in the loiJss of 

 the Pthine and its principal tributaries, but, except perhaps the 

 last, they have not yet been met with in the peat-bogs. They 

 never occur in the Kjokkenmoddings, the Lake-habitations, 

 or tumuli ; nor are there any traditions in Western Europe 



* Owen, 1. c. p. 465. 



