4 The Irish Naturalist. 



has very kindly drawn my attention to the historical works of 

 Giraldus Cambrensis, a whole chapter in which is devoted to 

 the story of a Frog, which had then been found in Ireland. 

 Giraldus acted as secretary to Prince John, who was sent on 

 a visit to Ireland by his father, King Henry II. The portion 

 of these works on the "Topography of Ireland" was written 

 in 1 187. As this seems to be the first record of an Irish Frog, 

 I hope I may be excused for quoting some of his statements 

 in full from a faithful translation.^ 



"There are neither snakes nor adders, toads nor frogs, tortoises nor 

 scorpions nor dragons in Ireland. It produces however, spiders, leeches 

 and lizards, but they are quite harmless. It does appear very wonderful that, 

 where anything venomous is brought there from other lands, it never 

 could exist in Ireland. I have also heard it said by merchants, that on some 

 occasions, having unloaded their ships in an Irish port, they found toads 

 in the bottom of the hold; having thrown them on shore in a living state, 

 they immediately turned on their backs and bursting their bellies died, 

 to the astonishment of many who witnessed it. Nevertheless, a frog was 

 found, within my time, in the grassy meadows near Waterford and brought 

 to Court alive before Robert Poer, who was at the time Warden there, 

 and many others, both English and Irish. And when numbers of both 

 nations, and particularly the Irish, had beheld it with great astonishment, 

 at last Duvenold, King of Ossory, a man of sense among his people and 

 faithful, who happened to be present, beating his head, and having deep 

 grief at heart, spoke thus: — 'That reptile is the bearer of doleful news to 

 Ireland.' 



" No man, however, will venture to suppose that this reptile was ever 

 born in Ireland, for the mud there does not, as in other countries, con- 

 tain the germs from which green Frogs are bred. If that had been the 

 case, they would have been found more frequently, and in greater num- 

 bers, both before and after the time mentioned. It may have happened 

 that some particle of the germ, hid in the moist soil, had been exhaled 

 into the clouds by the heat of the atmosphere, and wafted hither by the 

 force of the winds, or perhaps, that the embryo reptile had been swept 

 into the hollow of a descending cloud, and being by chance deposited 

 here, was lodged in an unhospitable and ungenial soil. But the better 

 opinion is that the Frog was brought from some neighbouring port, and 

 being cast on shore, succeeded in subsisting and maintaining life for a 

 time, as it is not a venomous animal." 



There seems therefore to be no doubt that a Frog was actually 

 found near Waterford, about the year 1187 ; and that, in those 

 earlier times, no one thought of introducing frogs into Ireland, 

 may be assumed, as he would have fared very badly on account 



" Giraldus Cambrensis, "The Topography of Ireland; its Miracles and 

 Wonders."— Bohn's Antiquarian lyibrary, iSSi. 



