1887.] 



i-OtJ TMoonev. 



the sig'efreog, and while gatliering her medicinal herbs she is frequently 

 stricken with convulsions and falls to the ground, foaming at the mouth, 

 owing to the violence of her struggles with the invisible beings, who strive 

 to tear the plants from her grasp. In one instance, in the County Clare, 

 they seized a man at night in a lonely place, and beat him so terribly that 

 he was confined to his bed for a week afterward. 



In addition toher medical knowledge, the sig-efreog can read the thoughts 

 of others, and tell the whereabouts of missing articles, and her powers are 

 often inherited by any of her children who may be born after her return 

 from fairy land. She also warns the people occasionally against doing 

 anything which would incur the ill will of the fairies, such as throwing 

 out dirty water after nightfall, when the elves are engaged at their sports ; 

 forgetting to leave clean water on the dresser for them to drink ; or saying 

 grace over the potatoes without first setting aside a portion for the fairies, 

 who cannot touch consecrated food. Such is the dread of ofiending these 

 spirits that they are seldom mentioned under their true name of sig'e,* or 

 "fairy," but are generally called daoino mat'a,\ or "good people," fre- 

 quently accompanied by the invocation, Fogramuid deag'-c'om'arsanac't 

 oraib',X "we beg good neighborship of you." 



The supernatural power of the sig'efreog is sometimes due to some 

 remarkable cause other than a residence with the fairies. In the County 

 Clare is a wild mountain lake known as Lough Doon, where St. Patrick 

 confined the last of the serpents, which still at rare intervals comes out 

 upon the bank. On one of these occasions the serpent was seen by a man 

 who ever afterward "had a cure." There formerly lived near Tuam, in 

 the County Galway, a cripple known as Dom'nal Crom,% or "Crooked 

 Daniel," who, on account of his infirmity, was generally appointed to 

 watch his neighbors' cattle upon the mountain side. While thus engaged 

 one day he saw a bull descend from the heavens and associate with one 

 of the cows. By drinking the first milk drawn from the cow after the 

 birth of the calf he was endowed with a knowledge of fairy doings and 

 the gift of prophecy. 11 



A single instance, from east Galway, will serve to illustrate the man)ier 

 of fairy seizure and rescue. A woman was carried off while her husband 

 was out of the house for a short time, and on his return, instead of the 

 blooming young wife he had loved, he found a shriveled whimpering 

 creature, who would take no care of the child. He was in great trouble 

 over the matter for some time, until one night, as he was coming across 



* Pronounced she. 



t Pronounced dheence moha. 



t Pronounced FoegramHj jaw-khoersancikhth tiriv. 



§ Pronounced Dhonaid Cnim. 



11 This man is referred to on page 83 of Sir Wm. Wilde's valuable and interest- 

 ing work on Lough Corrib, published in 1867. The account here given was ob- 

 tained from a native of that vicinity. 



