37 



The axe or adze was, of course, an instrument held in high esteem 

 among all primitive people. Herodotus, Book iv., has a curious account 

 of an axe preserved with great veneration by the ancient Scythians, 

 in whose territory it fell from heaven in a glowing state, together with a 

 plough, yoke, and cup. I believe that the peasantry of the south and 

 west of Ireland still consider that the possibility of rubbing the tongue 

 over a red-hot iron is not to be doubted. 



The next is the 



Gpepin TTIopaint), i.e. the triple Collar of Moran. 



This Moran was the son of Cairbre Cinn-Cait (Carbreus Peliceps, or 

 Carbry the Cat-headed), who is stated to have usurped the throne of 

 Ireland in the first century of the Christian era, on the success of the 

 rebellion of the Aithech-Tuatha, or plebeians, otherwise incorrectly 

 called the Attocotti. 



O'Flaherty, in his corrected Chronology, refers the usurpation of 

 Carbry to the year A. D. 90. The legend regarding the origin of the 

 first and most celebrated collar of Moran is rather wild. It represents 

 that Carbry was severely punished, in his offspring, for the excesses 

 committed under his leadership by the plebeians, who nearly extirpated 

 the governing classes. Every child born to him, the legend relates, 

 was so deformed, that it had to be destroyed. At the suggestion of his 

 wife, Carbry convened the Feis, or Assembly, of Tara, and requested all 

 present to prefer a supplication to their gods, to the end that he might be 

 favoured with a happy offspring. Subsequently, on the birth of Moran, 

 it was manifest, the legend proceeds, that supplications preferred in 

 favour of an iniquitous man like Carbry amounted to an insult to the 

 gods ; for the child was a hateful object, his features being enveloped in 

 a thick hairy circle. The king ordered him to be taken to a pond, and 

 drowned ; but a fear sidhe (fairy man) appeared to the queen, and com- 

 manded that the child should be taken to the sea, and that his head 

 should be held until nine waves passed over it. This command was 

 observed ; and after the ninth wave had passed, the hairy circlet became 

 loosened, and formed a collar round his neck. The story goes on : — 



"Do pigneO cumt>ach oip -j aip^iO lepin imon ppeabann pin, 

 copob 6 pin pfn TTlicTndin iapum. In cmcac ma cabapca bpa^aiO 

 no caccao. "No piab, imoppo, mine co lap OiambaO eannoc. 



" A covering of gold and silver was made by him round this collar, 

 which was afterwards the Collar of Mac Main (another name for Moran) . 

 The guilty person round whose neck it was put it would choke ; it 

 would fall down to a man's waist if he was innocent." 



The traditions respecting the efficacy of this Moran' s Collar are still 

 fresh in the memory of the Irish- speaking population, and enter largely 

 into Irish romance. 



With reference to the nine waves mentioned in the foregoing legend, 

 it is worthy of remark here (though I may again have occasion to ad- 



