The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries Part 64

[447] Ib., p. 193.

[448] Ib., pp. 194-5; cf. _Bibliotheca_ of Diodorus Siculus, ii. c. 47.

[449] Edith F. Carey, _Channel Island Folklore_ (Guernsey, 1909).

[450] Mahe, _Essai_, p. 198.

[451] Mahe, _Essai_, pp. 287-9.

[452] The place for holding a _gorsedd_ for modern Welsh initiations, under the authority of which the Eisteddfod is conducted, must also be within a circle of stones, 'face to face with the sun and the eye of light, as there is no power to hold a _gorsedd_ under cover or at night, but only where and as long as the sun is visible in the heavens'

(Rhys, _Hib. Lect._, pp. 208-9; from _Iolo_ MSS., p. 50).

[453] Recently before the Oxford Anthropological Society, Dr. Murray argued that the satyrs of Greek drama may originally have been masked initiators in Greek initiations. (Cf. _The Oxford Magazine_, February 3, 1910, p. 173.)

[454] Edith F. Carey, op. cit.

[455] Mahe, _Essai_, pp. 126-9.

[456] Mahe, _Essai_, pp. 126-9.

[457] Rhys, _Arth. Leg._, p. 339.

[458] Edith F. Carey, op. cit.

[459] Montelius' _Les Temps prehistoriques en Suede_, par S. Reinach, p.

126. (Paris, 1895).

[460] H. Schliemann, _Mycenae_ (London, 1878), p. 213.

[461] Walhouse, in _Journ. Anthrop. Inst._, vii. 21. These Dravidians are slightly taller than the pure Negritos, their probable ancestors; and Indian tradition considers them to be the builders of the Indian dolmens, just as Celtic tradition considers fairies and _corrigans_ (often described as dark or even black-skinned dwarfs) to be the builders of dolmens and megaliths among the Celts. Apparently, in such folk-traditions, which correctly or incorrectly regard fairies, _corrigans_, or Dravidians as the builders of ancient stone monuments, there has been preserved a folk-memory of early races of men who may have been Negritos (pygmy blacks). These races, through a natural anthropomorphic process, came to be identified with the spirits of the dead and with other spiritual beings to whom the monuments were dedicated and at which they were wors.h.i.+pped. Here, again, the Pygmy Theory is seen at its true relative value: it is subordinate to the fundamental animism of the Fairy-Faith.

[462] J. Dechelette, _Manuel d'Archeologie prehistorique_ (Paris, 1908), i. 468, 302, 308, 311, 576, 610, &c.

[463] This famous chambered tumulus 'measures nearly 700 feet in circ.u.mference, or about 225 feet in diameter, and between 40 and 50 feet in height' (G. Coffey, in _Rl. Ir. Acad. Trans._ [Dublin, 1892], x.x.x.

68).

[464] G. Coffey, in _Rl. Ir. Acad. Trans._, x.x.x. 73-92.

[465] Fol. 190 b; trans. O'Curry, _Lectures_, p. 505.

[466] Mr. Coffey quotes from the _Senchus-na-Relec_, in _L. U._, this significant pa.s.sage:--'The n.o.bles of the Tuatha De Danann were used to bury at Brugh (i. e. the Dagda with his three sons; also Lugaidh, and Oe, and Ollam, and Ogma, and Etan the Poetess, and Corpre, the son of Etan)'

(G. Coffey, op. cit., x.x.x. 77). The ma.n.u.script, however, being late and directly under Christian influence, echoes but imperfectly very ancient Celtic tradition: the immortal G.o.d-race are therein rationalized by the transcribers, and made subject to death.

[467] W. C. Borlase, _Dolmens of Ireland_ (London, 1897), ii. 346 n.

[468] As translated in the _Silva Gadelica_, ii. 109-11.

[469] Borlase, op. cit., ii. 346-7 n.

[470] Borlase, op. cit., ii. 346-7 n.

[471] Ib., ii. 347 n.

[472] A good example of a saint's stone bed can be seen now at Glendalough, the stone bed of St. Kevin, high above a rocky sh.o.r.e of the lake.

[473] Coffey, op. cit., x.x.x. 73-4, from R. I. A. MS., by Michael O'Longan, dated 1810, p. 10, and translated by Douglas Hyde.

[474] Coffey, op. cit., xxv. 73-4, from R. I. A. MS. by Michael O'Longan, dated 1810, p. 10, and trans. by Douglas Hyde.

[475] Borlase, op. cit., ii. 347 n.

[476] O'Donovan, _Four Masters_, i. 22 n.

[477] Rhys, _Hib. Lect._, pp. 148-50.

[478] Cf. O'Curry, _Manners and Customs_, ii. 122; iii. 5, 74, 122; Rhys, _Hib. Lect._, pp. 150, 150 n.; Jubainville, _Essai d'un Catalogue_, p. 244.

[479] Rhys, _Hib. Lect._, p. 194.

[480] Math ab Mathonwy's Irish counterpart is Math mac Umoir, the magician (_Book of Leinster_, f. 9{b}; cf. Rhys, _Trans. Third Inter.

Cong. Hist. Religions_, Oxford, 1908, ii. 211).

[481] Rhys, ib., pp. 225-6; cf. R. B. _Mabinogion_, p. 60; _Triads_, i. 32, ii. 20, iii. 90. A fortified hill-top now known as Pen y Gaer, or 'Hill of the Fortress', on the western side of the Conway, on a mountain within sight of the railway station of Tal y Cafn, Carnarvons.h.i.+re, is regarded by Sir John Rhys as the site of a long-forgotten cult of Math the Ancient. (Rhys, ib., p. 225).

[482] This stone basin, now in the centre of the inner chamber, seems originally to have stood in the east recess, the largest and most richly inscribed. It is 4 feet long, 3 feet 6 inches across, and 1 foot thick.

(Coffey, op. cit., x.x.x. 14, 21).

[483] Cf. W. M. Flinders Petrie, _The Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh_ (London, 1883), p. 201.

[484] All of the chief megaliths of this type, together with the chief alignements, which I have personally inspected--with the aid of a compa.s.s--in Ireland, Scotland, Isle of Man, Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany, are definitely aligned east and west. It cannot be said, however, that _all_ megalithic monuments throughout Celtic countries show definite orientation (see Dechelette's _Manuel d'Archeologie_).

[485] L. P. McCarty, _The Great Pyramid Jeezeh_ (San Francisco, 1907), p. 402.

[486] Jubainville, _Le Cycle Myth. Irl._, p. 28.

[487] Maspero, _Les Contes populaires de l'egypte Ancienne_,{3} p. 74 n.

[488] Tylor, _Prim. Cult._,{4} ii. 426.

[489] W. H. Prescott, _Conquest of Peru_, i, c. 3.

[490] Rochefort, _Iles Antilles_, p. 365; cf. Tylor, _P. C._,{4} ii. 424.

[491] Colebrooke, _Essays_, vols. i, iv, v; cf. Tylor, _P. C._,{4} 425.

[492] _Illus. Hist. and Pract. of Thugs_ (London, 1837), p. 46; cf.

Tylor, _P. C._,{4} ii. 425.