1889.] ^'^* IMooncy. 



person who knows how to invoke the aid of the spirit of darkness ,c;oes 

 secretly early in the season to his neighbor's field and sows a handful of 

 grain in some out-of-the-way spot where it is not likely to attract atten- 

 tion. Then by going before sunrise on May morning and reaping it, he 

 is able to take to himself the greater part of that year's crop. A Clare 

 man told how, when a boy, he was once walking with his father through 

 their field of oats just before May-day, when they came upon the witch's 

 tuft in a corner. His father got a spade and, taking up the bunch of oats 

 by the roots, threw it over the ditch, and thus saved his crop. In con- 

 nection with the crops. Sir Henry Piers, writing in 1683, says that in Ire- 

 land May-day was considerd the first day of summer, and on this day, what- 

 ever else they might hav, all, even the rich, prepared a dish of stirabout. 

 This was regarded as an evidence of the wife's good management in 

 making the grain last until the beginning of summer, as it was thought 

 that if they could do so wel, they could then very easily get along with 

 the new provisions until harvest.* 



The fairies ar very activ at this season, especially on May eve, when 

 they change their quarters from one district to another, and the sound of 

 their music and dancing may then be heard in every green fort by any 

 mortal who has the courage to venture near. Some of the sweetest of the 

 Irish tunes hav been learnd in this way from the fairy pipes, but of the 

 many who hav stopt to listen to the spirit music, few hav ever returnd to 

 their friends. On May morning, also enchanted cities, long sunk below 

 the sea, ar seen to rise once more above the waters in all their old-time 

 splendor, and O'Donoghue, of Killarney, emerges from his subaqueous 

 palace and rides across the surface of the lake on a snow-white horse, 

 attended by all his retinue of knights and maidens. 



While every one else is on the alert, it may wel be supposed that the 

 girls ar not idle, and, in truth, most of them ar anxiously consulting the 

 oracles in regard to their marriage prospects. Before going out tlie door 

 in the morning, the maiden recites a charm, and the first man or hoy met 

 on the road after this wil bear the Christian name of her future husband. 

 The first snail found before sunrise wil be of the color of his hair, while 

 its track upon the ground wil mark out the initial of his name, but if the 

 snail hav a " box " or shel, the predestind partner wil be a widower. The 

 snail is taken home and put upon a plate in the sun, where it crawls about 

 for a while and finally stops facing the direction whence the lover is to 

 come. According to Lady Wilde, a black snail met first in the morning 

 is unlucky and an omen of death, while a white one brings good for- 

 tune. f 



The young women do not trust entirely to the oracle, however, but take 

 some precautions of their own, chief of which is to bathe the face in May 

 dew before the sun rises and to dry it with the hair. This renders the 



* Pier.=, Westmeath, 121. 

 t Lady Wilde, i, 198. 



