1889.] ^•^y [Mooney. 



custom to go early in the morning to Sunday's wel, a noted wel near that 

 city, to observ it. A girl born upon this day wil prove to be of a bad dis- 

 position, while a cow born at the same time wil be vicious and inclined to 

 gore. Omens ar also drawn from the way in which the wind blows. 

 According to Lady Wilde, ashes ar sprinkled on the threshold on May 

 eve, and if in the morning there be found the print of a foot turnd inward 

 it betokens a wedding, but if turnd outward, a death.* 



Grimm, in his interesting subchapter on flre.f notes the fact that in the 

 Germanic countries the Easter or May-fires ar almost entirely confined to 

 the northern provinces, while the midsummer or Saint John's fires belong 

 to the south. Almost every detail mentiond in this paper in connection 

 with the May-fires in Ireland is described by him as a part of the modern 

 Eiister celebration in Germany, Denmark or Sweden, while precisely 

 similar ceremonies wer enacted at the ancient Roman festival of the Palilia, 

 which occurd about the same time of the year, viz., April 21. In the 

 festival of Easter, as celebrated in Germany, with its bonfires and dances 

 upon every hil and its lighted tapers in the churches, he sees only a Chris- 

 tian adaptation of the old pagan Bealtuine, or, possibly, of the midsum- 

 mer feast, which the missionaries wer obliged to incorporate into the 

 service of the new religion, while the very name is derived from that of 

 the heathen goddess Ostara, whose festival w; s, probably, celebrated about 

 the first of May. In regard to this connection, Grimm says: "Wurden 

 seit der Bekehrung die Deutschen Maifeuer auf Ostern und Johanuis 

 verlegt, um sie chrisllichem Cultus naeher zu bringen ? Oder ist, da audi 

 Sonnenwende tief im Heidenthum wurzelte, bloss Osternzeit Stellvertre- 

 terin fuer das alte Maifeuer?" and again: "Ihren Namen (Ostara) und 

 Hire Feuer, die vielleicht in Maianfang fielen, verlegte man, nach Bekeh- 

 rung der Sachsen, auf das christliche Fest." ^ 



Whitsuntide. 



Whitsunday, in Gaelic calld Cingcis (CingceesJi), is a movable festival 

 occurring generally about the end of May or the beginning of June, and 

 deservs notice on account of the mysterious fatality connected with it, as 

 wel as with the following Monday and Tuesday. It is an unlucky season, 

 and should a man born on any one of these three days ever throw a stone 

 it wil inevitably kil or cripple some one. No water must be soild during 

 the same period, and for this reason no clothes ar washt from Saturday 

 until Thursday, nor ar any sheep washt for shearing. Neither must one 

 start on a journey or begin any important work, but, above all, no one 

 must go near the water, either for bathing or boating, or even to cross a 

 stream, for at this season one may be drownd in a cup of water. There 

 ar ancient legends to prove the truth of this belief, and every old womaa 

 can tel of instances within her own knowledge where a neglect of these 



* Lady Wilde, i, 199. 



t Grimm, >Iythologie, i, 567-597. 



I Ibid., 581 and 583. 



