LOUGH DERG. 231 



when he saw his island sunk, took it as a 

 sign of Heaven's displeasure ; and giving up 

 all thoughts of resistance, dispersed his clan, 

 and retired with a few faithful followers to 

 Lough Derg. His intention was to pass the 

 remainder of his life in the religious seclusion 

 of the Purgatory ; but whether he had been 

 rejected by the church, or whether he had 

 committed any particular crime, or whether 

 a peculiar mode of purgation had been pre- 

 scribed to him, I do not know, but, as he 

 crossed the lake, a furious tempest arose, 

 and he and his people were overwhelmed in 

 the dark waters. And it is said that, from 

 that time to this, whenever any misfortune 

 threatens Ireland, the dead Maguire winds 

 his ghostly bugle, and summons to his train 

 not only those of his own clan who fell in the 

 wars or perished afterwards in the horrible 

 massacres of Cromwell, but also all those 

 of his name who have died in arms against 

 the Sassenagh from time immemorial ; and 

 the whole train of spirits, thousands upon 

 thousands, each in the dress and arms of its 

 own centurv, march round and round the 

 lake under its waters, heaping up the waves 

 before them, and leaving traces of their pass- 



