AN EVENING AT BELLEEK. 43 



keeping holiday and being idle), while the 

 former, like the Mahometans, worship one 

 only. This saint is William, King and Con- 

 fessor. St. William was duly canonized by 

 Act of Parliament, and in England has had 

 half the fifth of November dedicated to him, 

 but in Ireland the whole of the twelfth of 

 July. On this latter day, his worshippers 

 walk in solemn procession to the church, 

 where the pulpit (which is the Anything- 

 arian High Altar) is profusely decorated 

 with lilies, the flower sacred to the saint 

 in question. This flower is not white, like 

 that dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, in- 

 dicating her purity, but of a strong brim- 

 stone colour : what that indicates I do not 

 know ; it is, however, always regarded with 

 high esteem and veneration. These lilies, 

 duly consecrated by the sermon, which gene- 

 rally is a pretty strong one, are distributed 

 to the worshippers, who immediately proceed 

 to drown them. This part of the ceremony 

 is, I believe, seldom or never performed in 

 church ; the bell of the flower is stripped 

 from its stem, and is placed, stalk upper- 

 most, in an empty tumbler, where it is im- 

 mediately surrounded with lumps of white 



