B IE L IF -A» S T 



NATURAL HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, 

 SESSION, 1885-86. 



3 rd November, 1885. 



The President, Mr. W. H. Patterson, M.R.I. A., read a 

 Paper on 



THE HISTORY AND LEGENDS OF SOME IRISH 

 LAKES. 



The leading idea in olden times about a lake was that it came as 

 an intruder to the place in which it rested, and that up to a certain 

 period in the history of the country no lake was there. Regard- 

 ing the origin of Lough Owel, in Westmeath. there is a legend 

 which tells how a certain fairy or witch who presided over the 

 fertile valley where Lough Owel now rests went on a visit to 

 another witch, who lived in the County of Roscommon, near 

 Athlone, and a very agreeable visit she had till near the end, 

 when her heart became stirred up with envy of a fine lake that the 

 Connaught witch had in her territory, for not only did the lake 

 supply the owner with fish and wild fowl, but by means of it 

 she was enabled to curse her enemies, a practice that witches 

 have been fond of in all times. The cursing was managed by 

 turning certain flat stones at the edge of the water, and ever as 

 the ninth wave lapped over them she pronounced her maledic- 

 tions. The Westmeath witch determined upon a bold step. 

 She asked for the loan of the lake, saying she wished to see how 

 well it would look in her own valley, and she promised that she 



