344 Proceedings of the Ro>/<rf Irish Academy. 



by Cu-Chulaind and by his foster Lugaid, and the stone remained obstinately 

 silent under both of them ; nor did it scream thenceforth till Conn stood upon 

 it. when its heart burst from it and flew to Tailltiu, where it still remained, 

 called by the name Oride Fail, " Fal's Heart/' 



Tailltiu was the special sanctuary of Lug, the sun-god, and the games 

 there held had been instituted by him. There must have been some stone 

 there called by the name " Fal's Heart," which was supposed to have come 

 from Temair in some such way. It is quite likely that the king who was 

 responsible for the growth and fruitfnlness of the crops might have to repair 

 t" the sanctuary of the sun-god periodically to renew his strength; and it 

 may be that the lite which was transacted at his inauguration at the " Stone 

 of Fal" was renewed from time to time for this purpose at the " Heart of 

 Fal." That is the l>est attempt at an explanation of these two extremely 

 difficult passages which occurs to me. The possibility, referred to on a 

 previous _ that the jueent of Temair were buried at Tailltiu may be 

 recalled in this connex 



Hut the new ki: a ting for the •.'<«! to accept him by means of a 



scream. This scream requires a section to itself. We may, however, note 



here the naive explanation of the scream given by Keating and other late 



writers, that the mtained a demon which lost its power at the birth 



Iditdonal testimony in support of the interpretation that 



deity. the older faith are the demons of the new. 1 



•v F.v i. 



II [hat it waf some trick on the part 



9, orwhal I at the inauguration 



if there be any truth at all in 

 I: there be no truth in it. we 

 may as well renounce all hope of separating truth from falsehood in the early 

 Irish 



le iiidin e m was a ventriloquial 



foresaid. But I have 



of making a noise which 



the world in inauguration 



cen- I now proceed to brii._ stimony t" Bhow that the 



.ir : that the " Y>.ice of Fal" was the sound 

 made with the instrument well known to anthi _ - as the Bull-roarer. 



1 So St. Mochutu of Raithin conjured Satan int-i a neighbouring pillar-stone 

 Iradahaw e<l., f. 



