Mooney.] -^"^ [April 15, 



sneef, which is probably a corruption of Maire 's naom't'a,* " Most Holy 

 Mary !" 



When the palate falls it is raised by lifting the skin at a certain point al 

 the back of the head. A similar method is used by the negroes. 



Hooping cough is called troc'\ by the Gaelic speakers, and cMn-cougJi 

 in the eastern districts, and there ai'e a number of charms for it. One used 

 in the south is to pass the sufferer three times over and under the body of 

 a donkey, in the name of the Trinity. The same thing is done in Scot- 

 land. Sometimes a piece of bread or something of that kind is given to 

 the donkey to eat, and the crumbs which he lets fall to the ground are put 

 into broth for the patient. The most remarkable method is adopted in 

 Gal way, where the mother of the child goes to the owner of a white horse 

 and asks : 



" O'iolV an eac g'eal, 



Ce rud a leig'eas air a troc ? % 



" Fellow of the white horse, 

 What thing is the cure for the whooping cough ? " 



He generally replies, " A. cup of tea and a piece of bread," or something 

 of the kind, and whatever he advises is given to the child in the confident 

 hope of relieving it. The words used in asking this question are impor- 

 tant, as showing the antiquity of the charm. The ordinary form for 

 " white horse " is capal bdn,% while eac is an obsolete word, and such an 

 expression as eac' geal is found only in the ancient manuscripts and in 

 poems and stories and similar compositions which have been handed down 

 from a remote period. 



The donkey is also in great repute for curing almost any contagious 

 fever, as typhoid fever, etc. If the patient be a child, the donkey— a 

 young one being preferred — is lifted three times over his head from front 

 to back, after which the sick person drinks some of the milk of the dam. 

 If the invalid be an adult, and sufficiently strong, he takes the animal by 

 the fore and hind feet and lifts it over himself in the same manner. The 

 donkey, or ass, is regarded as sabered, on account of being the animal upon 

 which the Saviour once rode. The black cross upon his back, formed by 

 the intersection of two lines of dark hair near the shoulders, is supposed 

 to commemorate this event, and a young animal is preferred in these 

 charms on account of the greater distinctness of the mark in the foal. It 

 is considered lucky to have a donkey about the house, and many farmers 

 who own horses, and have no need of donkeys, keep one in the field for 

 this reason. A similar belief in regard to the sacredness of the donkey, 



* Pronounced Morra 'sneeva; in the vocative the sound becomes Worra. 

 t Pronounced thritkh. 



renounced, YiV anydkhyal, 



Caer'dli a Vyice er a thrukh .' 



§ Pronounced cdpcil haimi; capal is the Latin cobaUiis, while eac' is equivalant to cquvs. 



