Mooney.] ■'■'*4 [April 15, 



there is a general reluctance to lending anything whatever out of the 

 house at such times. The ancient religion of Ireland was Are worship, 

 and numerous vestiges of the old belief still exist among the popular cus- 

 toms. 



Scraps of iron are frequently carried as a protection against the fairies, 

 and in Connamara it is still a common practice to wear about the person 

 what is exactly equivalent to the medicine-bag of the Indian. The con- 

 tents of this bag, which is about the size of a liiclvory nut, are known only 

 to the owner, who conceals also the fact of its possession even from his 

 most intimate friend, but among them are usually found tobacco, garlic, 

 salt, chicken dung, lus-crea, and some dust from the roadside. This is 

 worn also as a protection against the evil eye, and something of the same 

 nature is sewed into the clothing of the bride when her friends are pre- 

 paring her for the marriage ceremony. 



Convulsions in a child are sometimes due to the influence of the fairies, 

 being probably the result of its struggles to escape from their grasp. The 

 theory and practice are best illustrated by relating an instance, which is 

 given just as it was told by the narrator, who knew the mother and 

 believed the story. A woman had a child which was subject to danger- 

 ous convulsions, and after one unusually violent attack she consulted a 

 fairy woman, who told her what she must do. On her way home the 

 mother picked up from the roadside ten small white pebbles known as 

 fairy stones. On reaching home she put nine of these into a vessel of 

 urine and threw the tenth into the fire. She also put into the vessel some 

 chicken dung and three sprigs of a plant (probably garlic or ivy) which 

 grew on the roof above the door. She then stripped the child and threw 

 into the fire its shirt and the other garments which were worn next the 

 skin. The child was then washed from head to foot in the liquid, wrapped 

 in a blanket and put to bed. There were nine hens and a rooster on the 

 rafters over the door. In a short time the child had a violent fit and the 

 nine hens dropped dead upon the floor. The rooster jumped down from 

 his perch, crew three times, and then flew up again to the rafters. If the 

 woman had put the tenth stone with the others, he would have dropped 

 dead with the hens. The child was cured. 



Vicarious Cures. 



This single instance combines in itself a numberof important features in 

 connection with the popular mythology— the dung, the urine, the plant 

 over the door, the chicken, the fire and the garment worn next the skin — 

 and introduces also a new element in the popular theory of disease, viz. : 

 the idea of vicarious cure, or rather, of vicarious sacrifice. This belief, 

 which is general, is that no one can be cured of a dangerous illness unless, 

 as the people express it, "something is left in his place," to suffer the 

 sickness and death. A few illustrations from the County Clare will exem- 

 plify this belief. 



