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only the bones of the sacrifices, the remains of some great Pagan solemnities, for it is difficult to suppose that the bones of animals merely used for food would be thus carefully buried. That the sacrificers had few bronze implements appears clear; for from the large space excavated, and the number of cists explored, some traces of metal (besides the solitary spear-head already noticed) would have turned up, if implements, ornaments, or arms of bronze were in common use.

"16th January. Having been prevented yesterday from going to the hill, the men worked by themselves, and at night brought me down by far the most perfect and beautiful urn yet found. It is impossible to give an idea of the rich beauty of the patterns which adorn this splendid work of art. In shape it differs from all the others, resembling two urns, one placed on the top of the other.'_ The men, having been left to themselves, went back to the rath, and in a little strip between the trees they found a cist of an irregular form, four feet wide, and covered with large flags; in the west corner, filled in and embedded with sand, this urn was found reversed. Three small fragments of bone were found in the cist, none in the

urn.

17th January. Being encouraged by their find of yesterday, the men worked again in the rath, and soon discovered a very large urn filled with bones and charcoal. The condition of this vessel was so fragile that nothing remains but a trayful of fragments. From indications I have seen to-day I conceive that there may be another layer of urns in the rath, under a second or lower pavement."

Mr. Smith's notes end here; but I trust that he will at some future time continue his explorations, and test the validity of the conjecture above given. At all events, he has succeeded in obtaining a matchless assemblage of examples of the fictile art of the primitive inhabitants of Ireland. Of this collection thirteen have been drawn on stone from the originals, for the Society's "Transactions," by Mr. Henry O'Neill, and the beauty and faithfulness of their execution are worthy of the pencil of the author of that truly national work, the "Ancient Crosses of Ireland." Mr. O'Neill has grouped the urns3 into three plates, those numbered 1 to 11 being drawn to one-fourth the size of the originals, and the remaining two at full size. It will be sufficient to direct attention to the beauty of ornament and elegance of shape presented by those marked 1, 2, 5, 7, 9, 10, and 13. The plates render further description unnecessary; but I may be allowed to quote some observations contained in the notice contributed to the Institute

It is hoped at some future time to give illustrations of this and other fictile vessels not comprised in the accompanying plates.

2 "The Most Interesting of the Ancient Crosses of Ireland, carefully Measured, Drawn, and Lithographed, by H. O'Neill." Large folio: London.

3 It may be of interest to remark that twelve of the singularly beautiful fictile vessels, represented in the accompanying plates, were sent by Mr. Smith to the Great Industrial Exhibition of 1853, forming one of the most interesting groups of the many which adorned the Court of Irish Art.-See p. 283, ante.

by Mr. Turner, already alluded to:-"The workmanship of these examples of ancient pottery is far more elaborate than that of the Celtic urns with which we are most familiar in England. The ornaments are not simple scorings, zig-zag, or other patterns, but tooled or chiselled, so as to present portions in high relief; amongst the forms frequently occurring on Irish urns are lozenges and escalloped patterns, with strongly projecting ribs, much decorated; the inside of the mouth of these vessels is usually ornamented with much care. In these particulars some analogy may be noticed amongst the sepulchral vessels found in Northumberland, preserved in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle, and that formed at Alnwick Castle by the Duke of Northumberland. A certain resemblance may also be traced in the urns found in North Britain."1

In many cases the fictile vessels discovered on Ballon Hill were merely sun-dried, and mouldered away when exposed to the air. Most of the urns were but half baked, and to preserve them Mr. Smith found strong size to be very useful; he dipped the vessels into the size and then allowed them to dry. Many of them had neither top nor bottom, being merely hoops or circlets. It will be recollected that the remains of large fires were found all over the hill, the charcoal being of oak timber in general. In one place a well-like circular hole, faced with large stones, three feet in diameter and five feet deep, was found. This hole contained quantities of charcoal mixed with bones, and amongst them a fragment of a remarkably large human jaw bone. Amongst the calcined bones preserved by Mr. Smith are many of the species of deer, and others of the lower animals, mixed with human remains.

The invaluable collection formed by Mr. Smith, I made an effort to procure for the Society's Museum; however, naturally enough, the finder seemed very loath to part with the result of his "diggings." It is to be hoped that the collection, wherever deposited, will be preserved intact and unbroken; if separated and dispersed up and down amongst private persons it would lose half its value to the student of primæval antiquity; as seen together an inspection of the various remains lays bare a page in the history of the far past such as had never perhaps been before opened to the archeologist in Ireland. The imagination can picture to itself this sacred hill lighted up by vast sepulchral fires, conspicuous from afar; the assembled clan; the funeral feast on the sacrifices; the inurnment of the ashes of the dead-here, too, is seen the skill of the olden people of Ireland in fictile art, and as it is probable that these vessels were not manufactured especially for sepulchral uses, but formed the every day furniture of their dwellings, here we see also a glimpse of their domestic life. We learn that at the period when these urns were deposited they had a few bronze weapons, but that such expensive articles were scarce, and perhaps

1 Archæological Journal, vol. xi. p. 75.

only distinguished the chieftain. The three polished pebbles, as before observed, were probably amulets.

Nothing is known of the history or ancient name of Ballon Hill. I have applied to that generous assistant of every student of Ireland's history and antiquities-Dr. O'Donovan, but in vain. He has never met a notice of the spot, but is of opinion, that, from its proximity to Dunrigh, a royal residence of the kings of Leinster, it may have been the cemetery of the Pagan princes of that district of Ireland.

FOLK-LORE.-No. I.

PORCINE LEGENDS.

BY WILLIAM HACKETT, ESQ.

THE old Irish manuscripts which circulate amongst the better class of our peasantry are generally collected into books bound after a rustic fashion, each volume being supplied with a list of its contents. In examining these lists, the title of one particular composition will frequently meet the eye, and must, therefore, have been highly prized by the transcribers. This is one, which, as it embodies and localizes a section of oral legends which prevail throughout the south of Ireland, may form a suitable introduction to the subject of folk-lore. The tract to which I allude is divided into two parts, of which the first (though sufficiently voluminous) is only an introduction; it is called the "Adventures of Toraliv M'Stairn." The second contains the achievements of the three sons of that hero, and is technically called the "Triur Mac," or the Three Sons. The substance of the whole story is this:-Toraliv was a nephew of the king of Denmark, and having become enamoured of a lovely woman, of whom he caught a casual glance, goes in search of her to various countries, and at length finds her in Ireland, at Tara, in the reign of (our Haroun al Radschid) Cormac Mac Art. She is daughter of a Tuatha de Danann nobleman, and is married to Toraliv, by whom she becomes mother, at one birth, of three sons-Crohan, Sal, and Daltheen. The father and mother go from Ireland in the "good ship" called the Mermaid, formerly the property of Mananan Mac an Lir. Toraliv having conquered many kingdoms and empires, loses his wife, becomes tired of war, and ends his days as a hermit. His wife, Fionabhartagh, dies, having given birth to a daughter in the land of the Amazons. Meantime the three sons are sent to be reared in Kerry, under the charge of the Gruagach of Slieve Mis. When they have finished their elementary course,

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