bolically as it were from the sun, the lofty heavenly God of Fire, and source of beams. If, on the other hand, the fire was placed at the bottom of the tower, it may have been built thus high in order at all times to obtain a continued current of air for the holy fire, and to avoid all danger of its being extinguished. It is also possible that these "Pyreas" may have served at once for various purposes: partly to preserve the fire; partly from their summits, as from a minaret, to summon believers to prayer; and partly to display, from the four loop-holes or windows, various fire-signals to the inhabitants of the neighbourhood. Astronomy having been intimately connected with the worship of the sun, the upper part may also have been used for making those celestial observations by which the periods of religious festivals were regulated.

Christian symbols have been found on some of these towers; for instance, on the summit of one at Swords, in the county of Dublin, is a small stone cross. Others bear the image of the Virgin; but these things are very rare, and have doubtless been added in modern times, as it is probable that many have been occasionally used for bell-towers, places of refuge, and various other purposes for which they were not originally designed. That ruined or even perfect churches and burial-places should be found adjoining these towers is not extraordinary; for it is an universal phenomenon that a place once held sacred by a people, remains so always, even though their religion may have been changed. The spots on which most of our old Christian churches now stand were previously occupied by heathen temples, and most of the old mosques in Turkey were once Christian churches.

Generally speaking, the churches found in the neighbourhood of a round tower are seven in number. This has been explained by the supposition that prior to the introduction of Roman Catholic Christianity from France into Ireland, by St. Patrick, an older Christianity had existed in the country. Some are of opinion that this ante-Patrician Christianity was likewise Roman Catholic ; but others deny it, and suppose that it was introduced neither from Italy nor France, but direct from Greece. The tradition goes so far as to assert that the Apostle James himself was the first to preach the gospel in Ireland.* This Christianity, it is said, had nothing to do with Rome, but was solely regulated according to the rites of the Eastern Ecumenic Synods; and on this supposition the numerous "Seven Churches" which stand together, are

said to allude to the seven famous oecumenic churches of the East. The supporters of this opinion, it may be remarked, are chiefly Protestants; and, as the matter is somewhat probable, here is

*He might then have come over from Spain, like the earlier colonists of Ireland. The Spaniards also consider St. James as their apostle.

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a second remarkable direct connexion of Ireland with the East. Is there one other Christian country in Europe, in which the ruins of old primæval churches are always found together seven at a time? I do not know of

any.

The Roman Catholics, on the other hand, maintain that Irish Christianity was Roman Catholic from the very first. Thus the differences in opinion of these two parties extend even to matters which lie deep-buried in the bosom of the past.

At length we landed from our little boat on Scattery Island, called, as I was told, Inniscattery. "It is a very old ancient place," said one of the boatmen, as he carried me on his back through the water, for we had chosen as a landing-place a long piece of strand, upon which the retreating tide had left about one foot of water. This pleonasm of "old ancient" might be said of many places in Ireland, where old and oldest ruins lie side by

side.

Some saint, or one of the first preachers or apostles of Irish Christianity, is generally said to have lived and died at each of the holy places in Ireland called "Seven Churches." Here it is St. Senanus, whose grave is shown in one of the ruined churches. I have already mentioned, in speaking of the Shannon, the legend of a Princess Seinin, but others allege that it is from this St. Senanus that the river derives its name. Thomas Moore has written a poem on this Senanus, in which the saint refuses to permit a beautiful maiden to land on this island. One only of these ruined churches is still used as a burying-place, and I could not ascertain why the other six are not devoted to the same purpose. The body is conveyed from the mainland in one small boat, while the mourners follow in others, and compose the most interesting and peculiar funerals I ever heard of. I saw many very fresh tombstones, new and polished, with inscriptions in gold, and they looked peculiar and poetical enough on the lonely island. Among them were the graves of some captains of ships, who could scarcely have found a more appropriate resting-place than an island at the mouth of a river, from whence there is a view at the same time of the ocean and the land. On the gravestone of one of them were chiselled the emblems of the passion-a sponge, a nail, a cross, a sword, a spear, &c. Will the time come when antiquaries will dispute about such stones, and the meaning of their hieroglyphics?

I am not aware of any other country in Europe which can boast of such interesting burial-grounds and such picturesque gravemonuments as those which are met with in Ireland. This arises partly from the abundance of ivy and other graceful evergreens with which they are generally fringed, and partly from the custom, which still prevails, of burying the dead amid ruins, which are

even preferred for that purpose; and wherever there is a fragment of an old church remaining, there also abundance of graves are to be found, both old and new. In some parts of Scotland only have I seen any thing similar.

Some of the seven churches on Scattery Island have almost entirely disappeared; but three of the number yet remain in tolerable preservation, and are covered with ivy. Over the middle window of the one nearest to the round tower is to be seen a strange face, sculptured in stone. Strangely enough, it has the stiff, mask-like features of the Egyptian statues, even their projecting ears, and has evidently been broken away from some other building, and built into this. In the opposite wall of the same church is a stone on which traces of an old inscription are yet distinctly visible.

The pillar tower stands a little to one side. Although no longer perfect, it is one of the most picturesque in Ireland; it has been struck by lightning, and split from top to bottom, so that a long and broad cleft runs down through the entire wall. On the south side it is covered with plants and mosses; on the northern and western sides, as my boatmen informed me, the growth of plants is prevented by the violent winds. Lightning and vegetation are the worst foes of the round towers; and when we consider how much lightning must have flashed around them during the space of 2000 years, it is astonishing that they have not all been long since overturned. I have already said that the round towers rise like columns, with an equal thickness from the base to the summit; but this must not be taken literally. Nearly all of them appear to diminish a very little as they ascend; and the walls, according to a very correct architectural principle, become somewhat thinner towards the top. This indicates any thing but a rude and inexperienced people.

All the island, except the burial-ground, is pasturage. On the highest part of it is a battery, which commands the mouth of the Shannon. There are no less than six similar batteries and forts on various points of the coast, about the entrance of this river, whilst at the mouth of the Thames there is not one. The English are compelled to erect strong defences on the Irish coasts, because they are England's weakest side.

On leaving Scattery Island, which afforded me so much antiquarian pleasure, the tide and the stream were both against us, so that we had enough to do to manage our boat. Steering is a lordly and kingly employment, even in so tiny a bark. Although, as in my case, you may have advisers whispering into your ear how you are to steer, it is still a noble business to hold the helm in your grasp, and to feel that you possess the power of directing the boat now

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this way and now that, as may best suit your purpose. In this way we proceeded along the northern shore of the Shannon till we arrived opposite Kilkerin battery, which stands on the steep and lofty edge of a little peninsula; here, where the river is narrowest, we crossed obliquely over, so that the current and the tide almost of themselves took us to Tarbert, a little haven of the county of Kerry.

The Shannon here presents a grand spectacle, its mouth being about forty miles long and varying from three to eight miles in breadth. As the ocean now contributes more to its waters than the river itself, it ought, properly speaking, to be called an arm of the sea; but this would be contrary to Irish geography, which assumes that the river still exists here. The fog had entirely cleared off, and the brightest sunshine illuminated the whole broad expanse of water. Except our little fragile bark, we saw nothing in motion. No ship passed in or out; and, without having received a good wish from any one on our voyage, we arrived towards mid-.. day at the opposite shore. As it was ebb tide, and there was not enough of water in the harbour, the meu ran their boat on the mud, and we took our luggage on our shoulders. When it was too late, I discovered that, with as little trouble and time as it cost me to reach Tarbert, (which is only an insignificant seaport,) I might have visited one of the wonders of the world, the caverns of Ballybunion, which are situated on the southern shore of the mouth of the Shannon, and are said to extend from the surface of the sea, for more than a mile into the land. Ireland is rich in remarkable caverns, with the knowledge of which the scientific world is by no means surfeited.

CHAPTER XI.

FROM TARBERT TO TRALEE.

PUBLIC CARS THE PIT-PERSEVERANCE OF A BEGGAR- ERINNACHS, ALBINNACHS, AND SASSONACHS-" IT IS A DISTURBED COUNTRY, AND SUCH AN OUT-OF-THE-WAY FLACE"-IRISH DIVISION OF LABOUR-FEMALE SMOKERS-ENGLISH IN KERRY-KERRY-LATIN-AN IRISH HEDGESCHOOL-MORE ABOUT FATHER MATHEW-A MISHAP-DESOLATE DISTRICT-BOg stuff.

From Tarbert I continued my journey on one of those strange cars which, in Ireland, run from town to town, and are the usual means of public conveyance. They are built on the same principle as the "jaunting-cars" already mentioned, and the two-wheeled mail-cars, except that they have four wheels, and are often drawn by four horses. The seats at the sides are long, and hold eight

persons, and between them is the "pit," or recess for luggage. When the boxes and trunks are numerous, they are piled up so as to form a partition between the passengers, who can, therefore, only see what passes on their own side of the road. The other half of the country is thus invisible, and it is usual for travellers on Irish cars to relate to each other, at the different stages, any thing remarkable that may have passed on their respective sides, and what interesting sights they may have seen. These cars can carry an undefined number of passengers, for if the side seats are full they sit in each other's laps; or if one or two are in haste, they may either stretch themselves lengthways among the luggage, between the backs of the two rows of passengers, or hang on to the car in some other way. In this manner were we packed. When the vehicle started, the crowd of beggars by which it was surrounded gave way, and such as could run, and were not satisfied with the alms they had received, ran alongside, and after us. One fellow outstripped our horses, and went before us like an outrider. He kept in advance of us for nearly two miles, and did not slacken his pace till he perceived that he was the only one remaining, when he trotted alongside, and received several pence as a reward for his perseverance. In Ireland and Scotland, where there are abundance of good pedestrians, such foolish runners after carriages are not rare.

On our car were Erinnachs, Albinnachs, and Sassonachsnatives of Ireland, Scotland, and England. The English are seldom met in Ireland, at least much less frequently than the Irish in England. Those who wish to earn money say, "Ireland is a poor place." No reapers, no helpers, no porters, can make any thing there, for Ireland has too many unemployed poor of its own. The rich have Ireland still more en dépit, for they say, "It is a disturbed country, and such an out-of-the-way place." They are not sure of their lives there, and even were personal safety less in jeopardy, it must be extremely unpleasant to be every where surrounded by such a cloud of beggars. In other respects abundant sources of enjoyment might be found; but as it is, the Englishmen most frequently met with in Ireland are the travellers for commercial and manufacturing houses.

Although, as I have said, we could see but one side of the country, there was every where ample materials for observation. In one village through which we passed, part of the somewhat long house of one of the inhabitants had fallen down, most probably from its original instability. The owner was busily employed in repairing it; but being either too lazy or too poor to restore the whole, he had cut away that portion which had fallen, and was now, building up a new wall in the middle of it; thus