Mconey.] ^^^ [Maj'3, 



mentiond, but these by no means exhaust the list. This is the day above 

 ail others when witches and fairies work their spels, and, if the propt-r 

 precautions ar not taken before sunrise to defeat their evil designs, there 

 wil be no luck in the family and no butter in the churn for the rest of Uie 

 3'ear. Wo to the hare that is found in the pasture on Mayday, for it is 

 wel known to be a witch who has assumed this form in order the more 

 easily to accomplish her v,'icked purposes. One of the best safeguards is 

 to get the clay which collects in the split of the cow's hoofs when she is 

 driven out on this morning, put it under the churn with a coal of Are and 

 some salt, and then proceed with the churning. After this the butter is 

 safe for the year, provided the churning be done before sunrise. If a 

 twig of rowan or whitehorn, gatherd on the preceding eve, be twisted 

 about the churn, so much the better, and, to make doubly sure, it is just 

 as wel to hav the churn-dash also made of rowan. A piece of iron is 

 someliines kept red hot in the fire while the churning is going on — an- 

 other instance of the use of the combined forces of fire and iron against 

 evil influences. Should the witch get the first clay from under the hoof 

 and moisten it with three drops of the same cow's milk, secretly obtaind, 

 and place it under her own churn while churning, she can draw all the 

 butler of that cow to herself. According to Lady Wilde, primroses 

 gatherd before sunrise ar also strewn about the house and lied in bunches 

 to the cow's tail on May-day to ward off the fairy influence.* The same 

 author also mentions a traditional snow-while heifer which sometimes ap- 

 pears amongst the cattle on May-day, and alw^ays brings the best of good 

 luck to the farmer. f 



In Donegal, and probably in some other parts of the country, no house- 

 keeper wishes to be first to light a fire on May-day. This seems to be ex- 

 plaind by a story told as a fact by a Limerick woman. According to her 

 account, a woman who was suspected of being a witch was observd going 

 out to the spring wel early one May morning. The priest followd her 

 and conceald himself near the wel. He saw her perform some spel with 

 the water, after which she waited until she saw the first smoke rise from 

 a neighboring chimney, when she said : Im an deatac sin agamsa {Im an 

 dhbthakh shin o'gamsa), "Butter of that smoke to myself." Soon tho 

 smoke rose from another chimney, and he heard the witch mutter : Im an 

 deatac' sin cuma leis {Im an dhbthakh shin cuvima lesh), " Butter of that 

 smoke with it likewise." By this time the priest's housekeeper was stirring 

 at home, and soon a third column ascended from his own chimney. "/?« 

 a t-sagairt cuma leis [Im a thbgarch cumma leslt), "The priest's butter with 

 it, too," said the witch ; but this was too much for the good man, who 

 sprang from his concealment and laid his riding-whip across her astonisht 

 shoulders. This broke the spel so far as his own butter was concernd, 

 but she got that of the others. 



The crops ar sometimes stolen as wel as the butter. The evil-minded 



* Lady Wilde, i, 197. 

 t Ih.dem, i, 195. 



