344 CProc. B.N.F.C. 



gradually wear it away. Once a cavity was formed, even 

 should the moss die, rain water would enlarge and deepen it 

 considerably in the course of time. Since his return a mem- 

 ber of the Club had drawn his attention to various references 

 on this subject in the first volume of the Irish Naturalist. 

 Three explanations were given there, viz. : — ^The action of 

 water, boring by the Pholas shell when the land was sub- 

 merged, and excavations by our common land shell, Helix 

 aspersa. Whatever might have been the origin of the per- 

 forations mentioned in the Irish Naturalist, he thought those 

 seen at Lough Sessiagh, in Donegal, were undoubtedly pro- 

 duced in the manner he had described. Mr. Wright handed 

 round specimens of this limestone, showing the perforations, 

 and a discussion ensued, in which Messrs. William Gray, 

 M.R.I.A., and R. Welch, M.R.I.A., took part. 



" FOLK-LORE." 



Mr. E. J. M'Kean, B.A., B.L., then read a paper on ''Folk- 

 lore." He began by showing the meaning and interest of the 

 study, concerning which little enough had been collected in 

 Ireland, and very little had been done in Ulster. Thus one 

 of the widest spread of Ulster customs was practically un- 

 known. He referred to the peculiar custom of cutting the 

 churn or last handful of corn at harvest. This custom pre- 

 vailed extensively over the five North-Eastern counties, and 

 perhaps in some other Ulster counties. He co.uld get no 

 information of it in the South. Another curious harvest cus- 

 tom was the practice of wearing the cornbow at harvest-time. 

 This prevailed widely through Antrim, and he had heard of 

 it in Derry. He showed specimens both of a " churn " and 

 of two " cornbows." Mr. M'Kean then went on to speak of 

 Cranfield Well, near Randalstown. He showed a " Cran- 

 field stone," given him as a charm, and mentioned the an- 

 tiquity of the practice, referring to O'Laverty's '' Diocese of 

 Down and Connor." He then gave an account of a visit to 

 the well last June, when he found some of the ancient prac- 

 tices still in use. He concluded by hoping that Ulster folk- 



