BOOK OF JHE DAMNED 153 



writer in Chamber's Journal, one of these seals was found in a cu- 

 riosity shop in London. When questioned, the shopkeeper said that 

 it had come from Ireland. 



In this instance, if you don't take instinctively to our expression, 

 there is no orthodox explanation for your preference. It is the 

 astonishing scattering of them, over field and forest, that has 

 hushed the explainers. In the Proceedings of the Royal Irish 

 Academy, 10-171, Dr. Frazer says that they "appear to have been 

 sown broadcast over the country in some strange way that I cannot 

 offer solution of." 



The struggle for expression of a notion that did not belong to Dr. 

 Frazer 's era: 



"The invariable story of their find is what we might expect if 

 they had been accidentally dropped. . . ." 



Three were found in Tipperary; six in Cork; three in Down; 

 four in Waterford; all the rest one or two to a county. 



But one of these Chinese seals was found in the bed of the River 

 Boyne, near Clonard, Meath, when workmen were raising gravel. 



That one, at least, had been dropped there. 



