1887. J i-'iJ [Mooney. 



mine the matter, and to point out the author of the trouble, but her office 

 seems to go no further, as the mode of cure is generally understood. 



Anything which renders an individual conspicuous is liable to attract 

 the attention of the evil pye — a belief also held by the Turks — and this 

 explains some Irish blessings which are intended and regarded as curses. 

 A common one of this kind is, Go mheid' ha b'dna do c'uid ha, go mheid' 

 teac air an nirde do t'eac, agvs go mheid' bean h'reag' do b'ean.* "May 

 your portion of cows be white cows, may your house be a house upon the 

 height, and may your wife be a fine woman." Here the real wish of the 

 speaker is that the conspicuous color of the cattle, the prominent position 

 of the house upon a hill, and the pleasing qualities of the wife, may attract 

 the attention of the evil eye to the possessor. 



A few of the stories related of the Mearnans will illustrate the various 

 phases of this belief. They are given substantially as told by the narra- 

 tors. Two parties of men were one day at work in the field putting up 

 the hay into reeks, and one party was getting ahead of the other. A man 

 of the slower party called the attention of a comrade named Mearnan to 

 this fact. " Never mind," said Mearnan, "just wait." The others had 

 their reek finished first and were just putting the top on it, when the 

 whole pile fell over, burying the men under it, and Mearnan's party came 

 out ahead. 



Another one of the same family stopped one day to admire a fine mare. 

 As he started to go, a neighbor suggested to the owner that Mearnan 

 ought to bless the mare. Much against his will he was compelled to come 

 back, bless the animal and spit upon it. Soon after the mare had two 

 foals, which were both dead, and if he had not blessed the mother she 

 would have died likewise. The same man was one day passing along the 

 road when he stopped to admire a horse in an adjoining field. The next 

 day the animal, in attempting to jump across a ditch, fell into it and could 

 not rise again. The owner and several of the neighbors tried for some 

 time to get the animal upon its feet, without success, until at last one of 

 the men remarked to the owner, " Micky, didn't Mearnan say yesterday 

 that was a fine horse ?" " He did," says Micky. " Well, then, you send 

 for him and make him spit on it." So Mearnan was sent for, and whether 

 he liked it or not he had to come. As soon as he laid his hand upon the 

 horse the animal neighed. He said, " God bless you," and spit upon it, 

 and the horse at once climbed up out of the ditch. The owner's wife, 

 who was looking on, said to her husband, " Faith, Micky, if spitting ever 

 got a horse out of the ditch, and it did yours today." 



A woman of this name caused an accident to her little boy, just learn- 

 ing to walk, on three several occasions, by calling attention to his agility 

 in climbing up on the table or the dresser. Each time he fell down from 

 his elevated position and broke his leg. When this happened the third 



* Pronounced, Qu m6 bawh waivna dh6 khuj baivh, gU in6 chdkh er an aivija dh6 hOkh, 

 dgxis gH mO ban vraw dho van. 



