124 



the Crom-leac is connected with sepulchral remains, it is considered 

 to have been erected in commemoration of, and at the obsequies of 

 distinguished chieftains, and to have been used as an altar of obla- 

 tion,* where perhaps sacrifice was afterwards offered to the manes 

 of the deceased. 



The same mysterious double character extended also to the Cairn, 

 which is so frequently connected with the Crom-leac, and which 

 has been found in the greater number of instances, among those 

 that have been opened, to contain relics of the dead. Of the Cairn 

 there were two descriptions, the Taimh-leacht, or burying cairn, 

 and the simple cairn, or high place made of stones piled into the 

 shape of a lofty cone, flatted on the top. 



The Taimh-leacht are usually raised over a Kisde, or Kist-van — 

 more properly Cisde-Bhana,-f that is literally the cofl^er of death : 

 this is commonly formed of six stones exactly fitted to each other, 

 but not fastened together, being a sort of rude sarcophagus ; — within 

 this stood the urn, in some instances highly ornamented, and of a 

 graceful shape,J which contained the ashes of the departed chief, . 

 and sometimes also his charred bones,§ there is one instance of the 



* King's Munimenta Antiqua — Rowland's Mona Antiqua. 



f Cisde — chest or treasure — Bhana, death — O'Reilly's Diet.— Stewart's Hist, of Armagh, 

 p. 610. 



X A large Cairn near Mr. Stewart's in the county, of Down was some years ago levelled ; in it 

 was found a small cave in the centre, in which were a great number of urns, of a deep red, like 

 the Etruscan vases, and adorned by well executed a-la-Grec borders : round the cave was a circle 

 of stone coffins, all placed with the head towards the cave ;— only six urns were saved, and the 

 coffins were used by the proprietor in making drains. 



A Cairn opened in the same county contained two urns, a small and a large one, well made and 

 nicely ornamented, Survey of Down, p. 305 — See also Hist, of Armagh, where an engraving of 

 one is given 



§ See a curious account of an ancient cemetery in the county of Armagh, discovered in 

 the year 1713, which was chiefly filled with earthen urns of ashes and bones. Very near it 



