Such, and other means of recreation, as simple or as barbarous, were the resources of our ancestors; and fed and surfeited as the present generation has been by the ever-teeming harvests of exciting fiction and intellectual amusement-the lecture, the theatre, the opera, the concert with every taste gratified and every leisure moment filled up, it seems scarcely possible to conceive a state of existence when the same mental aliment was not forthcoming, and when what if written at all, they should be confided to the guardianship of a dead language. In this place I can but refer to their nature in the most general terms. These wake games were never performed in the houses of persons who felt really afflicted by the bereavement which they might be supposed to have endured in the demise of a member of their family. They were reserved for the deaths of old people who had survived the ordinary span of life, or young children who could not be looked upon as an irreparable loss. They were placed under the conduct of some peasant of the district who excelled in rustic wit and humour, and this person, under the title of " Borekeen," may be termed the hierophant of the observances, whose orders were carried into force by subordinate officers, all arrayed in fantastic habiliments. The "game" usually first performed was termed "Bout," and was joined in by men and women, who all acted a very obscene part which cannot be described. The next scene generally was termed "Making the Ship," with its several parts of "laying the keel," forming the "stem and stern," and erecting "the mast," the latter of which was done by a female using a gesture and expression, proving beyond doubt that it was a relic of Pagan rites. The "Bull and the Cow" was another game strongly indicative of a Pagan origin, from circumstances too indelicate to be particularised. The game called "Hold the Light," in which a man is blindfolded and flogged, has been looked upon as a profane travestie of the passion of our Lord; and religion might also be considered as brought into contempt by another of the series, in which a person caricaturing a priest, and wearing a rosary, composed of small potatoes strung together, enters into conflict with the "Borekeen," and is put down and expelled from the room by direction of the latter. If the former games be deemed remnants of Pagan rites and of ante-Christian origin, these latter may be looked upon as anti-Christian, and devised with a view of making religion ridiculous, at a time when the masses had a lingering predilection for Paganism. "Turning the Spit" and "Selling the Pig" are the names of two other of those games; in that called "Drawing the Ship out of the Mud" the men engaged actually presented themselves before the rest of the assembly, females as well as males, in a state of nudity, whilst in another game the female performers attired themselves in mens' clothes and conducted themselves in a very strange manner. Brief as are these particulars, they will give sufficient idea of the obscene and demoralising tendency of the wake orgies, and show the necessity which existed for their total suppression. It is, however, right to say that the peasantry who practised them had no idea of outraging propriety or religion in their performance, holding an unquestioning faith in the old traditions that such observances were right and proper at wakes, whilst under any other circumstances they would shrink with horror from such indelicate exhibitions. Amongst those obscene practices, some of the ordinary "small plays" in which young people in every class of society indulge, were engaged in at wakes; but it is probable they were of comparatively modern introduction; of the latter, those chiefly used were "Cutchacutchcoo" and "Hunt the Slipper," known amongst the peasantry by the name of "Brogue about." The "Drohedy Dance," supposed to be the ancient Morris dance, was also sometimes had recourse to at wakes. Mr. Hackett traces a similarity to our wake orgies, in the rites still used by many savage peoplesfor instance, the games of the Mandan Indians commemorative of the" Big Canoe," or Ark; and he has drawn my attention to a passage in the " Annals of the Propagation of the Faith," in which a missionary priest reported that he had experienced comparatively little difficulty in converting the Feejee islanders to an acknowledgment of Christianity but he found it utterly impossible to induce the natives to omit the obscenities enacted between death and interment. This may be merely a coincidence, but it is, at least, a remarkable one. has become for us a very necessity of our daily lives, was either utterly unknown, or was enjoyed as a luxury, rarely and with extreme difficulty to be obtained. INAUGURATION OF CATHAL CROBHDHEARG O'CONOR, KING OF CONNAUGHT. TRANSLATED BY MR. JOHN O'DALY, WITH NOTES BY JOHN O'DONOVAN, ESQ., LL.D., M.R.I.A. THE following tract, on the inauguration of Cathal Crobhdhearg (the red-handed) Ŏ'Conor, last king of Connaught, was written by Donogh Bacach (the lame), son of Tanaidhe O'Maelconaire, who was present at the ceremony, and whose privilege it was to place the royal rod in the hands of the king, when he assumed the sovereignty of Connaught. I made the copy from a manuscript written by Eoghan O'Keeffe,1 a celebrated Munster poet and scribe in the year 1684, which is the only_copy I ever met with. Eoghan O'Keeffe, the transcriber, was born at Glenville, in the county of Cork, in the year 1656, and died, parish priest of Doneraile, in 1720. He wrote several excellent poems, on national events, in his native tongue-one of which, on the defeat of the Irish at the battle of Aughrim, where St. Ruth's jealousy of the Irish officers caused the destruction of James' last army, is in my collection, and begins thus: “Ar d-treasgar-ne an Eaċdruim, do fíol Eibir, "The slaughter of Heber's race on Aughrim's plain, I have made copies of almost all his compositions from the originals, some of which are in the Hudson collection, in the Royal Irish Academy, while others have been carried to a foreign land. To Dr. O'Donovan's kindness the reader is indebted for the valuable notes which accompany the text. 1 For a further account of Eoghan O'Keeffe and his brother bards, see my Poets and Poetry of Munster, second edition, p. 38. Anno Domini, 1224. Cażal Crobdearg mac Torrdealbajż móir h-Í Choncúbair d'faġail báis, eadon, rsÿ Connaċt; an duine ba ṁó gráin agus ear-fuajċ ar gaċ leaċ a n-Eirinn. Dujne as mó do rri do creaċajb agus do loisgċjb ar Ghalla agus ar Ghaosdeala do bjos ina azard. Duine as cróda agus as aridreanda re h-eascarrdrb tarnead rjaṁ. Duine as mó do ró-dall, ró-ṁarb, agus ró-smaċtaid do ṁéirleaċajb agus d'eascairdib. Duine b'fearr sít agus sajṁe ¿ajnig do ríożajb Eireann riaṁ. Dujne as mó do tógarb do teampallaqq agus do mainisdreaċaib agus do cójmċionóblaj cinnte an aimsir a beaċa é. Duine as mó do ró-sásajd do boċtajb agus do díi-leanajb Dé é, ujm bjad, uim éadaċ, agus uim gaċ easbajd saożalta do bj orra, ina ¿iż féin. Dujne as mó riar ojbrid Dja gaċ majċ ina aimsir féin a n-Eirinn é. Dujne umorra dá d-tug Dia meas, tlas, agus jomad gaċa torad re a linn. Duine as geanamiarde agus as geanaṁla re gaċ aon ró bí re a linn féin é. Dujne umorro ro congarb é féin ar aon mnaoj pósda agus do congasb conntionons mast agus feabdaċt tar éis a ṁná pósda d'imċeaċt agus d'fáġajl bajs uard gur ba marb e féin. Dujne déarcaċ, desscrésdeać, a d-tuaż agus a 1-Eaglais é. Duine cjuin, ceannais, ailġean re mnajb; fjall, fairseang, forb-fájlteaċ re fileadajb agus re h-aois gaċa céirde, ar ceanna, ró bị aṁuil, ró tinżeallad a best do réir leabar a m-béalajb naoṁ agus fjoraon. Dujne as mó da d-tug Dja jomad tajdbsj agus uaċbáis a g-cażajb agus a g-cruad-ċojnnsgleódaib, agus ró saor Dja é; agus ní minje do saoilead sin, gideað ró ċotajż agus rõ ¿ógarb Dja as gaċ dogrunge. Duine tréan ó lact a bujme é. Dujne do cast a ċart flasteaṁnas go for-¿réan fearaṁajl e. Dujne do berread a dlíže féin d'eaglais Dé é. Dujne fíoraonda, foirglide, conail, crárbżeaċ, ceart-breaċac é. Duine na ró smuainead feall ná fjongaill for neac is an doṁan re h-uabar easaonta nó feirge riaṁ é; 50 b-fuair bás jon-ṁolta jar m-buad ongċa agus arċríze. Tuig a léatoir gur ab é Caċal Carraċ O'Conċúbajr do bí ag gleic fa ceannas na cóige sin Chonnaċt re Catal Crobdearg, agus go rabadar Gaill ina da rainn ag cújdjużad leo for gaċ leaï, éadon, Seaan de Cursa le Catal Crobdearg; agus Uilliam mac Alderl meil le Catal Carraċ. é. Aod mac Cażajl Crosbdeirg do żabail rjożaċt Connaċt jar m-bás a ażar. Mejc Hugo de Lacÿ do teaċt a n-Eirinn do mjtoil rig Sacsan an bljadain sin; forbarsi cogard agus forrajn d'fás a n-Eirinn re linn na mejc rin Hugo de Lacÿ, ar Ghalla THE LIFE AND TIMES OF CATHAL, THE RED-HANDED O'CONOR, KING OF CONNAUGHT. Anno Domini, 1224. Cathal Crobhdhearg, son of Turlogh Mor O'Conor, king of Connaught, died. He was a man calculated to strike fear and dread more than any other Irishman of his day; he was a man who burned the greatest number of homesteads, and took the greatest number of preys from both the English and Irish who opposed him; he was the most valorous and undaunted man in opposing his enemies that ever lived. It was he who blinded, killed, and subdued the greatest number of rebels and enemies. He was the most gentle and peaceable of all the kings that ever reigned in Ireland. It was he who founded and endowed the largest number of churches and monasteries, and established permanent congregations, of any of his contemporaries. He was a supporter of the poor and humble people of God with food, raiment, and all other necessaries of life, in his own palace. He was the man above all men whom God endowed with the greatest benignity, and on whom He bestowed prosperity, plenty, and abundant crops during his reign. He was, without exception, of all his contemporaries, the man who won for himself the character of purity of mind and amiability towards all persons. He was, indeed, a man who remained contented with his lawful wife, and who, after her demise, observed the strictest continence until the day of his own death. He was a charitable discreet man towards laymen as well as ecclesiastics; he was mild, respectful, and tender towards females; liberal, open-hearted, and friendly to poets, and all professors of science without distinction; he was the same person whose existence had been predicted by saints and holy seers; a man who witnessed the most strange scenes and valour in course of his battles and conflicts, but God preserved him, yet it was often feared he would not escape; God, however, supported him and delivered him from all his difficulties. He was endowed with courage since he left the milk of his nurse. He was a man who sustained his dignity with a rare degree of bravery and manliness; a man who never refused to concede her own proper laws to the Church; he was a just, upright, friendly, pious, justice-loving man; a man who never meditated treachery or injustice against any man, even when provoked or angry, up to the moment of his universally-lamented death, on which occasion he received the sacrament of Extreme Unction, after having done penance for his sins. It is necessary to remark, for the reader's information, that Cathal Carrach O'Conor disputed the sovereignty of Connaught with Cathal Crobhdhearg; and that the English took part in the contention in support of both claimants, viz., John De Courcy supported Cathal Crobhdhearg, and William Fitzadelm, Cathal Carrach. 43 agus ar Ghaordealasb Eireann, nó gur éirgeadar Gaill Eireann Ina n-ażajd, agus go ró jonarbsat jad go h-Ulltasb go h-Aod O'Neill riz Oflich; agus gur ro ¿ionóilset Gaill agus Gaorderl Eireann da n-ionnsaigid, eadon, Aod mac Caċail Chrobdeirg, riż Connaċt; Donnċad Carrbreaċ O'Briain, ríż Tuad-A)húṁan; Djarmaid Cluasaċ Mac Carrċajż, ríż Deas-Mhúṁan; agus maite Eireann, ar ċeana, les¿ amujć do ċineal Eóżain agus Chonaill; gur ruajgead jad tar maiz Muirċermie zo Dun-Dealgan, gur ab ann sin d'iarrad geill agus brajżde ar O’Néill agus ar macajb Hugo de Lacÿ, jonus go n-dearnad sst eatorra an tan srn. Anno Domini, 1224. Cúirt mór le Gallarb Eireann a 1-Aċ-Cljaż. Aod mac Chażajl Chrojbdejrg do dul d'ionnsaiġid na cúirte sin; agus feallad air ann, nó go d-tájnje Uilliam Marasgal, mac Jarla Marasgal, éadon, a ċarard jonṁuin féin go n-a foċrarde ar lár na cúirte ċujge; gur rug leis ar éigean a lár na cúirte amaċ é, jonnus gur ¿jodlajc jomslán uaċa é. Anno Domini, 1228. Dala Aod mac Caċarl Chroibdeirg, do rin coinne re Gallarb, éadon, re h-Uilliam Moiréis mac Shéatfra Moiréis, ag Lażajch Chajċ-Tuajċbil, go d-tjánic Ujlljam Moiréis ann sin; agus ní deaċajd tar Lażajch anunn aċt uażad do deaż-daoinib, éadon, Cormac Mac Toṁaltajż, agus Diarmaid mac Magnusa, agus Maċżaṁujn Mac Murrċeartaiġ h-Ui Chonċúbair, agus Tadg Mac Mażżaṁna h-Us-Cheirin, agus Ruaidrí O'Maorlbreanujin. Tajnje umorro Uilliam Morréis agus oċtar marcaċ is an g-coinne. Is ann sin umorro do čujṁng Aod an feall agus an ṁeabail do rrhead air a 1-A¿-Cljaż ; agus do éirgid Aod an tan ró túirlingset na Gaill, agus do cuir a deaÿ-láṁa an-Urlliam Morréis agus do rin braża do lażajr de féin agus do Mhaiġistir Sleiṁne, agus do Hugo Gáirdin; agus ró ṁarbað Constabla Ata Luaji do láċajr ann sin; agus do cuir William Moiréis agus an ċuid eile do na Gallajb tar Lażajċ suas. Ró ba Gníoṁ socair do Chonnaċtajb an gnjom sin, éadon, mac Shéatfra do żabail, oir fuairrrom a mac agus a jiġjon, agus braiġde Con naċt uile asda, agus sjć do Chonnaċtajb. Do by Aod, mac Chatail Chrobdeirg, ċerċre bljadna a ríojaċt Chonnaċt, aṁuil a deir Donnċad Bacaċ Mac Tânajde J Mhaoil-conaire: Do bi Rai Chruaċan na g-cat, Chejċre bljadna, beart gan ċerlg, Aod, mac Chatarl Chroibdeirg, do marbad d'aon-buille do tuajż Paojr a g-Cúirt Shéa¿fra Moiréis, agus é agá folcad ag mnaoj an t-saorr. An fear lais rõ ṁarbad é, éadon, Seon Dundúnać, do ċroċad ar na ṁárać le Seaċfra Moiréis. Is tré furájljoṁ ṁesc |