SNAKES IN IRELAND IN 1900. 39 



circumstance which it is hard to account for — if we 

 are not believers in the snake-destroying reputation 

 of Ireland's patron saint. That some nations have 

 an exalted opinion of Irish soil as a warner-ofT of 

 snakes is well known, and one Irishman in Australia 

 went so far as to import a cargo of earth, which he 

 had strewed over his garden to prevent reptiles 

 visiting it." 



Commenting on the above paragraph, the ' Out- 

 look ' on November 10, 1900, said : — 



" Until the last week or so we had always supposed 

 that Ireland was free from snakes. But according 

 to a paragraph in ' Country Life ' this week, two 

 specimens of the common British ring snake have 

 found their way there, and perished as the result of 

 their effort to upset St Patrick's decree of banish- 

 ment. One was killed on the estate of Sir Eobert 

 Hodson at Hollybrooke, Bray. The other had been 

 previously killed on the property of Dr Thompson, 

 near Delgany. The theory advanced to account for 

 their presence is that they crossed over from England 

 in a bundle of shrubs. This is possible enough, 

 though it is more usual for the eggs to be carried 

 about from place to place than the reptiles them- 

 selves." 



Curiously enough, I saw the quotation from 

 ' Country Life ' the day after I had written on my 

 solitary Monnow Valley ring snake for this work 

 (see p. 12). Naturally I was very anxious to get 



