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RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 ITS NATURE AS TRACEABLE IN 
 SCOTIC SAINTLY TRADITION 
 
 BY 
 
 ROBERT CRAIG MACLAGAN, M.D. 
 
 .Vv.-'atn.-- \4, 
 
 OTTO SCHULZE & COMPANY 
 
 20 SOUTH FREDERICK STREET 
 
 EDINBURGH 
 
 1909 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 St Jerome, speaking of the Scots and Attacots, sarcastically 
 suggested that Christian catechumens might have promiscuous 
 wives and common children after the Scottish and Attacottish 
 rite and after the republic of Plato. With this evidence before 
 them, among aU the suggestions as to the meaning of these 
 two names no one has proposed that they were so called on 
 account of their cultus. Christian is a word of Greek deriva- 
 tion and there is no inherent improbabUity in Scot defining a 
 religion also. If it is of Greek origin the Scots were so called 
 because their parents " had evidently not had connection 
 for the sake of procreating children, but secretly and in dark- 
 ness." The term Scotoi was in Crete at any rate appUed to 
 those boys who when at home Hved in the women's apartments 
 up to the age of manhood. 
 
 That such a condition of things can and did exist is certain, 
 and we have looked for evidences of the correctness of our 
 view in Scottish story and tradition and have found it ; and 
 though it must always be possible for students to believe that 
 what we have gleamed was but philological romance in its 
 origin, it certainly demonstrates that the earliest Gaehc writers 
 had the idea of connecting the Scot with " darkness." 
 
 The Gael are made to originate in Eg57pt, about the date 
 of the Exodus, the second last plague of the seven connected 
 therewith being a " darkness that could be felt," which lasted 
 three days for the Egyptians but did not affect the Hebrews. 
 The eponymous ancestress of the Gael was a daughter of 
 Pharaoh, ' Scota,' evidently related in name with Hesychius 
 Scotia, Venus, the Goddess of Night. Under the conduct of 
 Scota's husband Nel {a cloud, Gaelic) they sail to Scythia, a 
 name appUed by translation, by the Greeks, to a people properly 
 called Skolots, according to Heroditus, a name signifying those 
 
vi RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 in darkness, and closely resembling in significance Cimmerioi, 
 also Cimmeroi, with which we may compare the name used for 
 themselves by the Welsh Cymry. From Scythia these Egyp- 
 tians return to North Africa, the native country of the dark 
 races, a sojourn which permitted the transposition in the name 
 Celt of the letter d=t, as deriving from GaetuUa, and so they 
 become Gaedil, a spelling which has given rise to some fine 
 distinctions between Gaedils — (Gaetuls) and Brits, both of 
 course Celts. The Gael in North Africa acquire an ancestor 
 Goidel-glas, ' sky coloured Celt,' woad stained we may suppose, 
 who was the son of another Neul, eighth from Agmennon, note 
 his Greek parentage to accord with the Greek ' Skotios,' and 
 twenty-fourth from Adam. 
 
 Caesar connects aU Celts with the underworld when he 
 makes them descendants of Dis, Pluto, the name having 
 significance only from its connection with darkness, and wealth, 
 the result of reproduction. This statement takes us back to 
 the original Paganism of the Aedui and other Celtic people 
 of the West of Europe. 
 
 Very evident traces of this Paganism are to be found in the 
 stories of the Gael, as for example where ' Creative Energy ' 
 [bri creu, Welsh) appears in Gaelic story as Bricriu, a man with 
 a lying " tongue," a poisonous tongue, a toxic quality, also the 
 peculiarity of the single hair of a certain SiUan (siol, seed) ; 
 Bricriu's other notable feature being a wattle of erective tissue 
 on his forehead, such as a blackcock has over his eye, which 
 wattle swole up when Bricriu wished to tell a he. 
 
 Passing to the origins of Gaelic Christianity as recorded in 
 Ireland, we find that the first and earliest of their saints was 
 a certain Ciaran, described as of Saigher, but Ciaran is the 
 ' dark one ' and saidhbhir is rich, wealthy, bainne saidhbhir, 
 good cream producing mUk. Ciaran is in fact a second Dis. 
 The father of Brigit, the female potency personified in the 
 " Mary of the Gael," appears also as Dubthach, the Black, 
 Gloomy. When Palladius was sent to introduce Roman 
 Christianity to the " Scots beheving in Christ " the natural 
 deduction from such a statement is that a Christianity of 
 
INTRODUCTION vii 
 
 sorts, at any rate, was known among these dwellers in 
 darkness. 
 
 Bede's Ecclesiastical History introduces us to the difference 
 between Scotic and Romish Christianity, The Scots had a 
 different tonsure and a different Easter. Bede does not say 
 that the Scotic Easter was called Beltain, but we hope to 
 demonstrate that this was so to the satisfaction of our 
 readers. 
 
 We learn from Bede that the Scotic tonsure was that of 
 Simon Magus, the prophet of what in the beginning of our era 
 was considered as the strongest opponent of Christianity, a 
 cultus referred to as all know in the Acts of the Apostles. 
 
 Simon of Samaria taught a gnostic form of belief, and the 
 Hebrew gnosis is to be found in the Kabala. An endeavour 
 is now made to show the traces of Kabalistic leanings visible 
 in Gaelic history and tradition, and their association with John 
 Baptist the forerunner, rather than with his initiate. 
 
 In Kabahstic lore the demiurge has but a reflected light 
 derived from the greater Mght, and in accordance with this 
 theory the moon is used as the celestial symbol, of the means, 
 and of the junior members of the Tetragrammaton, the mani- 
 fested deity, and seems to have absorbed the direct worship 
 of the initiated, the sun as the S5mibol of the unrevealed deity 
 being more or less beyond the ken of man. Romish Christianity 
 admitted the mediation but allowed a more direct address to 
 the Supreme Deity. The result as we find it in the stories 
 of the Gaelic saints is that the female potency itself, regarded 
 as a pre-Christian object of reverence, appears with lunar 
 attributes, and bears the same name as the principal female 
 saint of Christian times, Brigit. That the worshippers of 
 Brigit were claimed by the Romish Church as well as by the 
 pre-Patrician is clear, and in the lives of the saints now in our 
 hands pre-Patricians appear to aU seeming as lepers, the moon 
 under the name of Macha being said to disguise herself as a 
 leper by smudging her face with rye dough. If there was a 
 Patrick, his change of name from PaUadius (Pallas, " the spear 
 shaker ") to Patricius (pater = the father) is in accord with the 
 
viii RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 change to a more direct address to the Unmanifested, and Male, 
 conception of the Deity, while the puzzling name ' Cothraige ' 
 ascribed to him, meaning " serving four," cannot have applied 
 primarily to the four provinces of Ireland, so much as to the 
 IHVH, the four KabaHstic letters explaining the attributes 
 of the Deity, and which appear as four precious possessions 
 carried to Ireland from Britain by the people of God, the 
 Tuatha De, specially connected with the moon goddess. 
 
 To put the reasons which have led to these conclusions 
 before the reader, is the cause of the writing of this book. The 
 writer is no professor of style, and regrets the crudity of his 
 form and admits his medical diagnostic inquisitiveness, but 
 claims the courage of his opinions, unorthodox and gross as 
 they may be considered. 
 
"RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 >> 
 
 COLUMBA 
 
 Commencing the consideration of what we are told of Scottish 
 saints, the name that first demands attention is that of Columba. 
 Let us at the commencement inform any readers we may 
 get that the treatment we propose for him has a different 
 object in view than what they will find in saintly legend or 
 modem ecclesiastical narrative. Those who like to see the 
 evidences quoted for the authenticity of Adamnan's " Life of 
 Columba," wUl find them very well exposed in Innes's " Civil 
 and Ecclesiastical History of Scotland." Most persons, from 
 Bede and Ceolfrid, Abbot of Weremouth, " who knew Adamnan 
 personally," down to our own day, are satisfied of the authen- 
 ticity of the Life. Such being the case, Innes says, " Without 
 any hesitation, we may surely depend upon the protestation 
 that he makes in the preface to his work, to wit, ' that in 
 writing his relation of St Columba, he had not only set down 
 nothing against truth, nor dubious or uncertain reports, but 
 that he had made use of such accounts only as he had assur- 
 ance of, either by the relations of his predecessors, or of other 
 ancient persons worthy of faith.' " ^ Innes goes on to say, " It 
 had been much to be wished that Adamnan and Cuminius, 
 both writers of St Columba's Life, had insisted more upon 
 historical facts, which might have given us great light into the 
 transactions of these ancient times, than upon the miracles 
 of the saint." ^ The custom of the times no doubt accounts 
 for the form, the times when saints' lives were manufactured. 
 Change the names, hand the narrative to any person well 
 experienced in hfe and educated in history both recorded and 
 in folk story, who has never seen it before, and ask him what 
 he finds in it of value from a historical point of view. There 
 are persons who go into raptures about an old white horse who 
 carried mUk pails from the cowshed to the monastery, which 
 
 ' " Civil and Ecclesiastical History of Scotland," T. Innes, p. 142. 
 2 Ibid., 145. 
 A 
 
2 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 came to Saint Columba, laid its head on his bosom, began to 
 utter plaintive cries, and like a human being, to shed copious 
 tears on the saint's bosom, foaming and greatly wailing.^ 
 Putting aside the fact recorded in book ii. chap, xv., of the 
 mUk being carried by a boy, even if there were the slightest 
 grounds on which to base the anecdote, we can see in it the 
 hand of the embroiderer. To speak quite candidly the story 
 is absurd, but what will people not believe when quite recently 
 a prominent and well-edited journal placed before its readers 
 the interesting information that the bones of this white horse 
 had been found in a stone constructed tomb. It is generally 
 accepted as a fact, that the Columban ecclesiastical edifices 
 were constructed of wood, but they had a stone grave for the 
 lamenting garran (gearan, Gael., act of bewailing, a sob). If 
 there was an Adamnan, after reading the Life of Columba 
 ascribed to him, we consider it likely that the appearance of 
 his and Columba's name in Bede gave the hint to the hagio- 
 logist to manufacture a life of Columba, and ascribe it to 
 Adamnan. 
 
 The question naturally arises after such an uncompromising 
 statement, what other grounds are there to support this argu- 
 ment. We propose to do our best to set them in order before 
 the reader. 
 
 Columba was born in Gartan. Gort is " a tilled field," says 
 Joyce; Zeuss glosses it hortus, "an enclosure for plants," 
 " a garden " ; Colgan translates it ■prcedium, " a manor," and 
 Joyce admits that it is obviously cognate with the word 
 " garden." It is therefore the same word as the late Latin 
 faradisus, our paradise, " the Garden of Eden ; any region or 
 state of supreme felicity ; Heaven." History tells us it is 
 a wild district in County Donegal. Columba was bom on 
 the very day that St Buite, the founder of Monasterboice, 
 departed this life.^ Buite, called Boethius, is evidently 
 Boetius the author of a well-known work " De Consolatione." 
 We maintain this unhesitatingly because Buite's father, in 
 his Irish genealogy, is called Bronach, sorrowful. Bronach's 
 father was Balar, a notorious thrower of the Evil Eye, which 
 of course produces sorrow, and Balar's father was Cas, which 
 forms part of the Gaelic huitseachas, " witchcraft," that is 
 
 1 " Life of Columba," book hi. chap, xxiv., Reeves ; chap, xxiii., Frowde ; 
 " Lives of Saints," Book of Lismore, i8o. 
 ^Reeves' " Adamnan," Introduction, 33, 
 
COLUMBA 3 
 
 buite-cas. Witchcraft and the Evil Eye are virtually the same. 
 Buite was a disciple of St Patrick ! ^ He had evidently sought 
 consolation from ancestral sorrow, according to the genealogist. 
 He ascended to Heaven on a ladder of glass, which, with the 
 fact that Boetius was put to death in Ticinum, Italy, made 
 his grave somewhat hard to find in Ireland. However, 
 Columba's crosier struck against the ladder making a sound 
 heard through the whole church, and so our saint was enabled 
 to show where he was buried in Ireland. Columba's crosier 
 struck the ladder of glass on which Buite gained Heaven. 
 Surely no one can doubt that there never was a ladder of glass. 
 Glas virtusdly means anything which is greenish. Compare 
 vitrum — " woad " — the litmus dye, also " glass." This de- 
 scribes very well the colour of ancient glass. The modem 
 Gaehc for glass is gloine, probably glan, clean, clear, pointing 
 to improvement in manufacture, but glass is also " milk " 
 under circumstances. The glas-ghaidhlinn was a mythical cow 
 which could never be fuUy milked. She seems to have been 
 the incarnation of a lush pasture always yielding sufficient and 
 rich feeding, thus the glas " green " character of it. Faradh 
 is used as the Gaelic for a ladder, but more exactly where a 
 ladder might end, forud, in early Irish, a " roost," " a shelf on 
 which a row of fowls sit." Compare Odin's residence from 
 which he looked out over aU the world, hlidtskjalf ; whatever 
 the first syllable properly means, the second describes Heaven 
 as " a shelf." The intrinsic significance of the story of the 
 ladder of glass would, we think, entitle us to translate it " milk- 
 ladder " ^ quite as reasonably as " ladder of glass." 
 
 Columba's father was Fedhlimidh. This name has had 
 for its translation, " he who can bear much mead," and as a 
 matter of bardic science it seems to have been used with that 
 significance. But there is another suggestion which we take 
 from the Greek " p/Xo/xafl^js," eager after knowledge. His 
 mother was called Eithne, speU it aithne, " knowledge." Is 
 it not, according to aU experience, that the father must have 
 been at some period eager for Aithne. Aithne's father was 
 " Filius Navis," son of the boat — " pudenda muliebria." * 
 Both father and mother were of a noble race, and the explana- 
 tion suggested quite corroborates this, the nobihty was of those 
 who desire to acquire knowledge. 
 
 1 " Lives of Saints," from the Book of Lismore, pp. 176, 28. 
 
 ' See milk, " Kryptadia," x. p. 345. ' " Lewis and Short's Dictionary." 
 
4 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 Now we come to his proper name. He was baptised 
 CoLUM, and the name of the presbyter who baptised him was 
 Cruithnechan. This latter is the same name as the eponymous 
 ancestor of the Picts of Scotland, his seven sons having names 
 the same as the seven provinces of what is now Scotland. They 
 are said to have got wives from Herimon, ruler of Ireland. 
 The author of the statement as to the baptiser of Colum made 
 him, for his own reasons, a Pict. 
 
 Columba's boyhood was passed at Doire-Eithne {etan, gen. 
 ethne, front ?), Eithne's Grove, a natural enough name with 
 the same reference as the name of his mother, but subsequently 
 it was called Cill-mac-Nenain, the " CeU of MacNenain," or 
 the " Cell of the Sons of the Enan." Eunan is a form of 
 Adamnan. En = one, 'n-Enan is " the One," the Little One, 
 so that the grove of knowledge and the cell of the One are 
 identical. Colum's preceptors were Finnian, Gemman, and 
 another Finnian. AU that is necessary to point out here in 
 connection with the Finnians is that their names have for a 
 root the same term as that we find in Find, Fionn, etc., known 
 to aU Celtists. Having left these, he entered the monastery 
 of Mobi Clarainech. Here is Mobi's description. He was 
 conceived of a dead woman, " fiat faced, now was he, for the 
 mould (earth) pressed down his face so that it was aU one flat." 
 " He had no nose at all." ^ Bi is a " threshold," biach, 
 " membrum virUe," clar, ' a board,' ' a level surface,' but 
 clar-fhiacail, is ' a front tooth,' a tooth on the threshold, as it 
 were. 2 Mobhi, ' my threshold fiat-faced,' ' my flat-faced 
 door.' Mobhi's monastery was Glas-Naoidhen. We have 
 pointed out that Columba's youth was principally spent in 
 Cill-mac-Nenain. En has another meaning. En-glass is 
 ' milk and water,' ^ so note that milk and water receive the 
 title of blue water, compare ' sky blue ' for the same thing. 
 There is a curious use of the word en. It is applied to the 
 liquor amni : — " d,al ena tar lua i uisque tar naeidin," the water 
 about an infant. Joyce tells us that glais, glas signifies a 
 rivulet and that glas-N aeidhen was the rivulet of a prehistoric 
 chief who resided on its banks long before Mobi founded his 
 monastery there.* No, the streamlet of the open door which 
 Colum visited was the uisque tar naeidin, at Glas-Naoidhen. 
 
 ' " Calendar of Oengus," Notes from the Lebar Brecc, p. 156. 
 
 2 Meyer, contrib. Irish Lexicog., s.v. 
 
 ' " O'Mulconry's Glossary." Stokes, " Archiv Celt. Lexic," i. 297. 
 
 * " Irish Place-Names," 477. 
 
COLUMBA 
 
 S 
 
 We have pointed out that Mobi was what might be ex- 
 plained as an entrance to something, and that entrance we 
 believe was the cille, cell, with which Colum's name is in- 
 dissolubly connected. Mobi had another possession which he 
 gave the use of to Colum, and with it liberty to possess land. 
 Colum had gone to Derry, to the king of Ireland, who offered 
 that fort to Colum. He refused it in accordance with Mobi's 
 injunctions, but coming out of the fort " he met with two of 
 Mobi's household having Mobi's girdle for him and permission 
 to take land after Mobi's death." Mobi is a male saint, mo, 
 ' my ' Uu, ' I am,' and there were two of Mobi's household. 
 Colum receives it with the curious remark : — 
 
 " Mobi's girdle 
 Rushes were not round hair, 
 It never was opened round a^ surfeit, 
 It never was closed round a falsehood." ^ 
 
 The verse takes the following form also : — 
 
 " Mobi's girdle 
 Never was closed round fulness (?) : 
 It was not opened before satiety 
 Nor was it shut round lies."^ 
 
 The word translated here ' fulness ' is lua, the same word 
 as is translated ' infant ' when speaking of the liquor amni. 
 The name of the Irish king, whose dun he took possession of, 
 was Aedh mac Ainmerech, or otherwise, Aedh Slaine. 
 
 Aedh, fire. 
 
 Ani luath, an that is ' swift.' 
 
 Mer, ' quick,' ' merry ' ; meracht, ' excitement,' ' irrita- 
 bility.' 
 
 Aedh mac Ainmerech, ' Fire son of rapid excitement.' 
 
 Slan, ' healthy,' ' complete,' sanus. 
 
 Aedh Slaine, ' Healthy Fire.' 
 
 Healthy implies long-hved, and Colum prophesied to this 
 king that he would be long-lived unless he were fmghalach, 
 translated ' paricidal,' but also ' incestuous.' Here we find 
 that King Fire was to avoid destruction of his own kindred 
 (finghalach), and, to assist him in this, Colum sained a cowl for 
 him, and said that he would not be slain so long as that cowl 
 should be on him. Aedh commits the fault, goes on a raid, 
 
 ' " Lives of Saints," Book of Lismore, 174. ' Ibid., 304. 
 
6 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 forgets his cowl, is killed on that day.^ The cowl may be either 
 the vagina or the foreskin. A version of this cowl story is to 
 the effect that he was in danger from the Leinster men. Then 
 said Aed mac Ainmire to his gillie : " Bring me Colum ciUe's 
 cowl, that it may be on me to-night and be my safeguard against 
 the Leinster men." Aedh used his cowl during the night and 
 it was a protection against spearmen ' Laigniu.' ^ Mobi's 
 girdle, Fire's fort, and the ecclesiastically sanctioned cowl are 
 evidently the same thing. Aedh's fort was Daire Calgaig, 
 the ' grove,' oak wood, ' of prickly.' Having got possession 
 Colum himself sets fire to it and burned it with everything that 
 was in it. The king said, " That is foolish, for if thou hadst 
 not burned it there would be no want of drink or food in it." 
 " No one shaU be a night fasting there against his will," said 
 Colum cOle. The fire was like to destroy the whole grove, but 
 Colum uttered a rann which stopped it, viz., dant in duile geir, 
 and this is sung against every fire and against every thtinder 
 from that time to this.* Henessy leaves this untranslated as 
 not being clear. It bears on the face of it, ' portion (tooth) of 
 the short sheath.' We conclude it was a catch word for the 
 phaUus. 
 
 There is rather a remarkable origin ascribed to Colum's 
 family. He is said to have been descended from NiaU Naoi- 
 ghiallach, son of Eochaidh Muighmheadhoin, who reigned in 
 Ireland, from a.d. 379 to 405. The accepted derivation of this 
 king's title is ' Nial of the nine hostages.' His reign of twenty- 
 seven years is a multiple of nine, whether that has any signific- 
 ance or not, anyhow, naoi is ' nine ' and gial, modem geall, 
 ' a pledge,' ' a promise,' but naoi is also translated ' a man,' 
 ' a person,' ' any human being,' naoighiall might therefore 
 mean ' pledged person,' ' hostage,' or it might mean ' nine 
 pledges,' but it does not mean nine hostages. A hostage is a 
 person bound and iall, gen. eill, is ' a thong,' the lace of a shoe 
 for example, 'n iall (NiaU) would therefore mean ' the thong.' 
 Niall naoighiallach, may mean the marriage tie. Referring to 
 iall, a shoe tie, Camden tells us speaking of the O'Cahans, that 
 their chief " performeth this honourable service forsooth, as 
 to fling a shoe over the head of the elected O'Neal " ; and also, 
 speaking of John O'Neale " being chosen, proclaimed, and in- 
 
 * " Lives of Saints," Boole of Lismore, 176. 
 ^ " Lives of Saints," Book of Lismore, 306. 
 
 * " Celtic Scotland," Skene, ii. 482, appendix. 
 
COLUMBA 7 
 
 augurated O'Neal, by an old shoe cast over his head, seized 
 tipon his father's inheritance." ^ Dinneen gives us druimiall, 
 ' a caul,' which shows its connection with a covering for the 
 other extremity of the body, the head. (?) Caliga, a military 
 boot ; ligo, I bind. IsSae, net, apparently cognate with Cormac's 
 noe, nae, ' a man," is given us by O'Davoran as meaning ' a 
 wife,' 2 while noi appears in O'Mulconry as ' a small boat,' 
 the boat of Charon,^ and Naoi is the Gaelic for Noah. lall 
 seems a curious but possible word to use as meaning ' a ship's 
 rope,' but compare ball, ' a rope,' and ball feardha, the 
 ' membrum virile.' In connection with the use of a shoe 
 cast over O'Neal's head, we must consider also what Giraldus 
 tells us in his " Topography of Ireland," where, at the same cere- 
 mony, a white mare was killed, cut up, boiled into broth, sitting 
 in which O'Neal and his people partake of the flesh and drink 
 of the broth.* This is not a performance which appeals to our 
 fancy in the present day except as a rehgious ceremony, no 
 doubt impressing upon the people a traditional connection with, 
 as we beheve, the moon, by descent through the Saxon White 
 Horse. 
 
 Ethelwerd's Chronicle teUs us that when Hengist and Horsa 
 came across to Britain, they were sent against the Scots, " and 
 without delay they sheathed their breasts in arms, and engaged 
 in a novel mode of battle. Man clashes with man, now falls 
 a German and now a Scot ; at length the Saxon remain masters 
 of the field." ^ What was the novel method of battle ? There 
 was a Norse method of duelling in which the combatants were 
 belted together, breast to breast, and fought their battle out. 
 Can this have been the novel mode of battle ? On the other hand 
 Hengist and Horsa were pledged to assist the Britons, but 
 turned against them. In 457 Hengist was in possession of 
 Kent. 
 
 NiaU's father was Eathach Moighmhaidhon. Hengist means 
 ' horse,' Eathach means ' horseman.' Now Hengist was 
 connected traditionally with a thong. BeUenden tells us that 
 the first settlement of the Saxons in England was " circuht " 
 by the " subtell quhaingis," Hengist cut out of a buU hide, 
 and that the place so surrounded was called Towquhan, ' rope 
 
 1 " Camden's Ireland," pp. 114, 120. 
 
 ' " Archiv. Celt. Lexik.," vol. ii. p. 425. 
 
 ^ Ibid., vol. i. p. 245. 
 
 * " Topography," Distinction iii. chap. xxv. 
 
 5 " Ethelwerd's Chronicle," Bohn, p. 4. 
 
8 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 whang.' 1 Hengist's date does not agree with Niall's by nearly 
 a century ; but we do consider that the information in Ethelwerd, 
 the Four Masters, and Bellenden point to a common tradition, 
 and the proof of it we consider is found in the information that 
 the place of Niall's death was Muir-n-Icht, the sea of the Portus 
 Iccius, that is the Roman station on the Straits of Dover, 
 opposite Kent. ladh, igh is the Gaelic for ' a ring,' and nasg 
 is ' a tie ' ; it is used for the collar which binds a cow in the 
 stall. Hengist's son was Aesc, N'Aesc, the bond, nasg. NiaU 
 Naoighiallach is Aesc, son of Hengist. 
 
 According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the year 449, 
 Vortigem called in Hengist and Horsa on condition that they 
 should fight against the Picts. " Then they fought against 
 the Picts, and had the victory wheresoever they came." Hengist, 
 and Aesc his son, then turned their arms against the Britons, 
 also called Welsh, who are said to have fled before them " like 
 fire." Aesc was king of the Kentish men for twenty-four years 
 from 488. Bede gives a somewhat milder version of their 
 prowess and speaks of the Picts as " the enemy, who were come 
 from the north to give battle." ^ In book ii. chap, v., however, 
 Hengist is spoken of as coming to Britain with his son Oisc, 
 that is the Aesc of the Saxon Chronicle, " from whom the kings 
 of Kent are wont to be called Oiscings." In paragraph 38 of 
 Nennius, we see Hengist propose to Vortigem to send to Loch- 
 land for " my son, and for the son of his mother's sister, and they 
 wUl fight against the enemy (Scottos !) who have reached as 
 far as the WaU " Gual," Guaul. Then there arrived Ochta, son 
 of Hengist and Ebisa. Stevenson's Nennius says that when 
 " they had sailed round the Picts they devastated the Orkneys, 
 and arrived and occupied many regions beyond the Frenessic 
 sea, even to the confines of the Picts." ^ In the Irish Nennius 
 this takes a somewhat different colour. They are there said 
 to have plundered the Orkneys " on coming from the north," 
 and instead of speaking of the Picts, they say that the Friseg 
 Sea is the sea to the north of the " Gael " " Scoti." Friseg 
 refers to Friesland, so that the geography is more than vague. 
 The name of Ochta, however, which is the version here of Aesc 
 and Oisg, undergoes further modification. Described as son 
 of Eigist (Hengist), in one MS., in another we find that there 
 
 * " Bellenden's Boece," book viii. chap. xii. 
 
 ' " Ecclesiastical History," book i. chap. xv. 
 
 ' " Nennius History of the Britons," paragraph 28. 
 
COLUMBA 9 
 
 arrived " ocht meic Eigist agus Ebisa," so that by a gradual 
 development we find that Aesc has become "eight sons of 
 Eigist." Adding to these eight the Ebisa we have nine persons 
 altogether, who, in the " Life of Columba," are madeNiail Naogh- 
 iallach, the nasg, nial, tie, thong of the nine pledges.^ 
 
 This supposititious ancestor of the O'Neills was a shipman 
 of course, and we must remember that another Nel appears on 
 the page of Irish tradition at a period much previous to him 
 of the Nine Hostages. He was the son of Faenius Farsaidh, 
 a name which if treated like the Welsh Price, Pugh, would 
 give us as the base of it (son of) Enius Arsaidh, the ancient 
 Enius. Nel was in Egypt and married Scota, the daughter of 
 Pharaoh. Nel, compare Gaelic neul, ' a cloud,' while the name 
 of his wife, the daughter of Pharaoh (Forann), is connected in 
 Greek with ' darkness.' Cloud and darkness produce Gaedhil 
 Glass, the ancestor of all the Gael. When the Hebrews left 
 Egypt, and Pharaoh was drowned following them, the sons of 
 Nel (cloud ?) (Claind Neoil), fearing the Egyptians, seized 
 Pharaoh's ships, and by way of the Red Sea sailed to Scythia. 
 They reached the Caspian Sea, and then apparently the Lybian 
 Sea, and here at a place called Coronis, Coronia, they left Glas. 
 Herodotus tells us that there were Greek Coronaeans who lived 
 near Thebes in Greece, but the place that figures in this story is 
 Cyrene, a city of Libya. Glas was a son of Agnoman, and is 
 therefore no longer considered as the same Gaedhil Glass, the 
 son of Nel. Cyrene was a Greek colony on an island off the coast 
 of Libya,^ and the Leabhar Gabhala calls this Coronis, an island. 
 Agnoman seems to be simply Agamemnon, compare the Irish 
 iEneid's form of the name " Aigmenon." Sru (srwthaire = 
 vagrant, unbidden guest, Dinneen,) a grandson of Gaedhal Glass 
 is said to have taken possession of Golgatha explained as Gaeth- 
 luighe, evidently Gaetulia in Lybia. Compare Gaedhl and 
 Gaetul-ia.. The story always works about the north coast of 
 Africa, using the names of those who had been subjected to 
 sea adventures, that region in which we have the first story of 
 the acquisition of territory by Dido's trick of cutting up the 
 hide into a long thong with which she surrounded the piece of 
 ground on which she founded the city of Carthage. Now Dido 
 was a PhoenidRn which may be compared with Fenius and it 
 was the loves of Dido and .^neas, Enius Arsaidh (?) of whom 
 Virgil writes in his .^neid, making him as he does the ancestor 
 1 " Irish Nennius," p. 88, note d. ' " Herodotus," iv. 156. 
 
lo RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 of the Romans. That ^olus who taught the use of sails in 
 navigation is a factor in the composition of the story of the 
 son of Fenius is not impossible. ' The ^olus,' take away 
 the Latin termination and add the Gaelic definite in, an, "Naeol" 
 the original navigator. All the story is to be found in what 
 Todd calls ' the Irish Duan ' in the Gaelic Nennius. * 
 
 Another coincidence. Fenius is said to have gone to 
 Nembroth in whose day there was but one language, whereas 
 Nel, Fenius' son, knew all the languages of the world which 
 were seventy-two in number, by the time Fenius had left 
 Nembroth, seventy-two being the number of the descendants of 
 Noah as given in Genesis. Recalling that the original of the 
 Gael are also said to have been sons of Nemed, the writer has 
 apparently placed the tower of Babel in Numidia, though he 
 brought Fenius from Scythia much nearer the usually accepted 
 site for the Biblical story of the division of languages. Use 
 also has evidently been made in these Irish stories of the 
 Scythian invasion which, as related by Herodotus seems to 
 have reached Philistia on the border of Egypt, and is noticed 
 by Jeremiah in several prophecies.^ It occurred, according 
 to the prophet, about the time of King Josiah. 
 
 We must consider the qualifying epithet applied to the 
 Irish Eathach, " moighmhaidoin." One authority translates 
 this " camporum cultor," another " with a middle {meadhon) 
 like that of a slave (mog)," and a third, jeering at those other 
 two, quotes the Annals of Clonmacnoise as settling the matter, 
 explaining it " moist middle," because he was habitually 
 troubled with diarrhoea. We suggest preferentially middle- 
 field which is supported by Bellenden's statement of the settle- 
 ment " circulit " by Hengist's " subteH quhaings." A whang 
 in Lowland Scottish has a special application. Discussing a 
 case with a father in the profession, the writer heard for the 
 first time " a fearful whang " used to describe the male member. 
 Eathach Moighmhaidoin, ' middle-field rider.' 
 
 Columba ; pigeon, dove, is a well-known and widely spread 
 term of endearment used from classical times to the present day. 
 Apuleius makes the matron of Corinth address the Golden Ass 
 as " My little ring-dove, my sparrow." James V., if the author 
 of the " Jolly Beggar," makes his temporary acquaintance 
 address him as " My hinny and my dow." We thus see there 
 is sufficient precedent for applying the term to a man, and that 
 1 See especially chap. v. verse 15. 
 
COLUMBA 1 1 
 
 under peculiar circumstances, in both cases quoted. How it 
 came to be applied to our saint, we give on the authority of 
 the Lebar Brecc, " Colum he was named for his simplicity, 
 cille because of his coming often from the church wherein he 
 read his psalms, into the company of the neighbouring children. 
 And this is what they used to say amongst them : ' Has our 
 little Colum come from the church ? ' i.e. from Telach Dub- 
 glaisse in Tir Lugdach in Cinel Conaill. Now Crimthan was 
 Colum cille's basic name." ^ The localities mentioned here 
 are the ' hearth (fireplace), of the dark stream,' according to 
 Joyce, in the country of Lugdach. Lug, ' small,' ludag, ' the 
 little finger,' but we know of a fort {lis, ' enclosure ') of which 
 it is said : — 
 
 " Were it not for the flags of Lugdach's fort, 
 Little Baile's chickens would be in existence." 
 
 Baile's birds are explained as " sin and shame, or, a kiss and 
 sorrow," and the explanation of the couplet is : — 
 
 " Were it not for blushes and disgrace, 
 Sin and shame would be in existence." ^ 
 
 Tir Lugdach then is clear enough, and is none the less so 
 when we are told it is in Cinel Conaill, that is in the ' Kindred 
 of the Con people.' The statement that Colum's original name 
 was Fox (Crimthan) has been fully discussed elsewhere.* But 
 it recalls to us that we have another saint said to be a descendant 
 of Niall in Scotland. Maolruadh, Malrubius, Malrube — Mulray 
 — Mourie — Maree. The first three spellings are Irish and show 
 that the writer had in his mind two words, maol, ' bald,' ruadh, 
 ' red.' The second three spellings were explained by an old 
 residenter near Loch Maree in Ross-shire, where the saint is at 
 home, so to say, as meaning, "my king" [mo righ), or " the 
 great king " {a mhor righ). Now the sanctuary of this saint is 
 a small island with a spring in it over which there is a sacred 
 tree, in a loch. A commentator describes it as a genuine case 
 of a " divine king connected with an oak-tree and a wonder 
 working well." * The remark is made by a disciple of the 
 Golden Bough, and corn spirit theories. The ' bald-red ' we 
 consider somewhat less ethereal, he is not merely a cousin of 
 Colum's, he is surely Colum himself as Crimthan, the red {one). 
 The saint represents the source of life, phallus, the well com- 
 
 ' " Felire of Oengus," Stokes, xcix. " " Perth Incident of 1396," p. 176. 
 
 » " Caledonian Medical Journal," vi. 173. * " Folk-lore," xvii. p. 332. 
 
12 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 pletes the androgynous object of worship, the island on which it 
 is situated, though of less size, is the exact counterpart of 
 ' I ' (lona), and is the " middle-field " mentioned above ; in 
 short, the mons veneris. The tree represents the saint, but it 
 might be a tree bearing nuts, apples, or a red berry, say, for 
 example, a hazel tree, an apple tree, a yew tree, as weU as an 
 acorn bearing oak. 
 
 " There are three places wherein is Colum cille's full habita- 
 tion," as Bercan said, " Hi 7 Dun 7 Doiri." According to this, 
 where there is an island, surrounded by a rampart, and a 
 grove, you have the fuU habitation of Colum. No place could 
 more satisfactorily meet these requirements than Eilean Maree. 
 Colum had " a hundred churches which a wave frequents." 
 The churchman says this means the " fulness of the wave of the 
 mass-chalice." Anyhow at lona it was the Atlantic, at Inch- 
 colm in the Firth of Forth, it is the North Sea, so far as terr- 
 estrial localities sacred to him are concerned, but every " cell " 
 which adds its quotum to humanity is inundated by the liquor 
 
 amni 
 
 1 
 
 Promiscuity was, according to St Jerome, the rule among the 
 Scots. We are prepared to accept this always with a reserva- 
 tion as to who the Scots were. It will be clear on considering 
 this position that a change of habit and rule in which one man 
 and one woman only were spouses, a strong bridle was laid on 
 lust, and would have to be regarded as a long step in the direc- 
 tion of continence. The Lebar Brecc gives us a parable to this 
 effect.^ Axal " quasi Auxil, i.e. auxilium," an angel, said to 
 Colum cille, " Take virginity around thee." " I will not take 
 it," said Colum cille, " till a reward therefore be given to me." 
 Colum at the request of the angel lays down his conditions ; 
 " A death in repentance, and death of hunger, and death in 
 youth." " And that was fulfilled, he went into pilgrimage ; 
 and he was young when he died, and of hunger he perished : 
 it was, however, wilful hunger." According to histories of 
 Columba, he lived to be an old man, so that we have here what 
 happened to Colum, but not to Columba. The scribe proceeds 
 to explain Colum's hunger as applicable to Columba. At the 
 graveyard in ' I ' he sees a woman cutting nettles. This was 
 to make pottage tiU her cow had a calf. Columba determines to 
 limit his diet to nettles. And he said to his servant, " Pottage 
 
 ' " Ena tar lua i uisque tar naeidia." " Archiv Celt. Lexikog.," i. 477. 
 * " Calendar of Oengus," xcix. 
 
COLUMBA 13 
 
 of nettles give thou to me every night, without butter, without a 
 sip therewith." " It shall be done," quoth the cook. And he 
 bores the mixing stick of the pottage so that it became a pipe, 
 and he used to pour the milk into that pipe and mix it all 
 through the pottage. Columba still retains his " goodly shape." 
 " Well," quoth he to the servant, " what do you put for me 
 into the pottage every day ? " " Thou thyself art witness," 
 quoth the gille ; " but unless it comes out of the stick with 
 which the pottage is mixed, I know of nothing else therein save 
 pottage only." The secret is revealed to the cleric, and he said, 
 " Prosperity and good deed forever to thy successor." We 
 notice that nettle seeds were used as an aphrodisiac on the 
 authority of Petronius and that flantaria, ' plants,' is by 
 transference the hair on the pubis, and that this gathering of 
 nettles was a preliminary to the coming of a calf. That the 
 pottage resulting was to be supplied nightly ; that so long as the 
 milk ran through the pipe, the " goodly shape " was retained, 
 and finally the holy man wished prosperity {sonas, ' happiness,' 
 and a good doing (deggnim, ' goodwork ') to future operators 
 of the perforated thevil, a Scottish word still used for a porridge 
 stirrer, and otherwise. 
 
 The angel who announced to Columba (see p. 12) the manner 
 of his death is called Axal, also Agsal, and in a Scottish Gaelic 
 Glossary ,1 his name is translated " generous, noble," which, 
 however takes no notice of axilla, ' the armpit.' The more 
 candid appellation should have dealt with inguen, ' the groin,' 
 ' the privy parts.' The arm itself, however, being used as a com- 
 parison' of course permits of the axilla taking the part of the 
 groin (see p. 29). The story is a transference from the original 
 Colum to the hagiological Columba. If reference is made to 
 the original narrative, it will be seen that we have omitted the 
 Christianising addenda to this heathenism. 
 
 This cutting of nettles is not, however, without further signi- 
 ficance. In a Hst of saintly virgins under the rule of Bridget ^ 
 mention is made of a Colum&, said to be a daughter of Beraig in 
 Emly Mor. Berraim, ' I shear,', ' shave,' Berag, ' shaven,' 
 her locaUty the ' great swamp ' (humidus lacus, the female 
 pudenda.)* There was a Bera daughter of Eber, whose father 
 gave her a wooUen covering, stripped from a salmon which she 
 made into a mantle for her husband Eoghan, which mantle 
 
 1 " Archiv Celt. Lexik.," iii. pp. 167, 171. ■ 
 2 " Lives of Saints," Book of Lismore, 336. ^ " Priapeia," 213. 
 
14 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 he wore when he came to Ireland, Eber being at that time king 
 of Spain.i Bera (shaven) suppHed her husband Eoghan (eo, 
 eog, a salmon), with a salmon's covering. There is a " kenning ' 
 for " fish " — fer tuinde foltcha, " a man reaping hair " ^ — which 
 confirms the allusions. They had three children, Ailill Olum, 
 Scothnaim, and Caimell. The name of the first of these can be 
 translated " Instruction Bare-Ear," ^ which clearly points to the 
 ear to ear tonsure practised by the early Scottish church, and in 
 use at the date ascribed to Columba. With the second name 
 Scothnaim compare Scothaim, ' I cut off,' following the same 
 line of allusion and strengthening our argument as to the 
 significance of the name Bera. The verb scothaim is used with 
 reference to Colum ciUe.* A certain Cormac (chariot son) 
 desired to have some of Colum cille's relics. Colum promised 
 him something. " Thy hand on it," said Cormac. " Colum 
 stretched forth his hand, scothais Cormac a ludain de (Cormac 
 lopped off his little finger "). Ludan, ludag, compare Lugdach's 
 fort above, p. ii). For a punishment Cormac was to be 
 devoured by dogs, coin, so presumably we must not take finger 
 literally. Colum is said to have remarked that he was 
 " bitterly visited," quite truly as a man, but as an anchorite, 
 he might be said to have cut himself off from its use. This 
 anecdote seems to explain the name of Bare-Ear's brother, 
 Scothnaim. The third of the trio, Caimell, is of equal signifi- 
 cance : caithim, ' I waste,' ' destroy ' ; mell, ' happiness,' 
 'honey' (mil), but Mag Mell is the Happy Land of the 
 Western Gael. Other authority, however, shows us that Coium 
 had not cut himself off from all pleasure. " Colum ciUe, more- 
 over, used to go to Heaven when he wished, every Thursday 
 while he was alive." ^ The writer uses the word diardain, 
 ' the day between the two fasts,' that is between a Wednesday 
 and Friday, a time when there was no obligation of absention, 
 Thursday, therefore, that is Thor's day, the day of the Hammerer. 
 The story is absolute nonsense, as a fact, but it cannot have been 
 without significance ; but we must leave the interpretation to 
 the perspicacity of the reader. 
 
 The Adamnan Life tells us that Domnall, son of Aid, was 
 brought to Columba at Dorsum Cete. This meeting is spoken 
 
 1 " Coir Anmann. Irisch. Texte," 301. 
 
 2 " O'Davoren," s.v. Mughna, p. 421. 
 ' " Perth Incident," Blackwood, 196. 
 
 * " Calendar of Oengus," Notes from Lebar Brecc, cvi. 
 
 * " Lives of Saints," Book of Lismore, 315. 
 
COLUMBA IS 
 
 of as the " Conventio Dromacheta." ^ Aid (Aedh) was then 
 king of Ireland, and was the son of Ainmirech ; he is the same 
 Aedh of whom we have spoken in connection with Mobi's 
 girdle (p. 5). The name of his son Domnall represents a 
 possible Dumnovallos and Dumnovellaunus, and in Welsh 
 appears as Dyfnwal. Rhys has suggested that valos, probably 
 stands for valpos = vulf-s, ' wolf.' ^ Dyfnwal Moelmud is the 
 great Welsh lawgiver. Moel is ' bald,' mud, possibly ' mute.' 
 The baldness may be compared with what has been said above 
 of Bare-Ear, and the muteness may be compared with Morann 
 mac Main {maen, mute), the great Irish judge,* and Foelan 
 " that splendid mute " * dumno (?) dumb, Dumnovellaunus, 
 dumb-FHlan. Domnall is certainly connected with domun, 
 the world, mundus. The word itself in the spelling, domnul, 
 may be seen on the Roumanian postage stamps as the Rouman 
 for a " prince." Joyce locates Droma Ceta as a long ridge near 
 Newtownlimavady, and says we are here in touch with another 
 of those " old chiefs who lived beyond the view of history." ^ 
 We have seen that the name of the lad who was brought to 
 Colum at this meeting has a name connected with domun, ' the 
 world,' Tn, the ' earth,' as opposed to the sea, and more 
 definitely ' tiUed land.' As the third letter of the Grdek 
 alphabet is really the equivalent of the Latin C, which indeed 
 was the form (c) taken by 7 in the Corinthian alphabet and 
 transferred by the Greek colonists to Italy ^ Ce, yn and domun 
 mean the same thing, and Ceth, the pre-historic chief, and 
 Domnal the pseudo-historic, are transposable designations, they 
 were ' world ' rulers. The inference is that in the meeting of 
 Cete we have a term invented for what otherwise would be 
 called an ecumenical council, that is, one pertaining to the 
 inhabitable earth, o/xou/isi/jj, ' the inhabited world.' Whether 
 such a meeting took place near Limavaddy, ' the bare place 
 of the dogs,' lorn, ' bare,' madadh, ' a dog,' in early times may, 
 or may not have been the case ; the exact locality was said to be 
 in Druim Cete, ' the ridge,' ' back ' of the ' cultivated earth.' 
 Islands, we remember, were Colum ciUe's " full habitation," 
 floating islands are well known in Irish as in other story. Cete, 
 xriTri, is a form of cetus, any large marine animal, the animal to 
 which Andromeda, avnp, ' a man,' iJ,iio>, ' I protect,' as pro- 
 
 1 " Reeves' Adamnan," pp. 13, 121, 254. * " Revue Celtique," vi. 368. 
 
 ' " Incident," 292. * " Calendar of Oengus," 95 . 
 
 ^ " Irish Place Names," 2nd series, 39. 
 ' " British Encyclopedia," s.v. alphabet. 
 
1 6 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 tector, ruler, was exposed, and Ceto was the mother of Medusa, 
 iLihw, also, and note that Medusa's head was on Minerva's 
 shield. Compare Aed's protecting cowl (p. 5). 
 
 Andromeda and Medusa were both female, and the latter 
 was beautiful in youth and hideous in age, and when men 
 looked on her they were turned into stone (!). The watery 
 monster, and the two females are aU united in one fable, and it 
 was a male, Perseus, who deprived the dangerous couple of 
 vitality and had a considerable issue by Andromeda. The 
 name irtpsiMc, is applied to a fish.i 
 
 Had Columba any dealings with a cetus'> In the first book 
 of Adamnan, shortly after the mention of Druim Cete, we find 
 him warning a certain Berach how to avoid an encounter with 
 one. Berach paying no attention to the warning, on the way 
 to " Ethica," Tiree, the ' land of corn,' had to retire hastUy 
 before a cetus which looked like a mountain in the sea (it formed 
 an island therefore), and opened its huge mouth to swallow him 
 and his companions. The same day that Berach had to fly, 
 another of Columba's companions, Baithene, was also warned 
 of the same danger, but pointing out to Columba that both 
 he and the monster were under the power of God, accepting this 
 disposition of mind, Columba permitted him to risk an encounter 
 and without any harm befalling ; for Baithene blessed " aequor 
 et cetum." Kjjtos in composition seems to have had the sense of 
 ' gulf,' ' depth,' ' abyss,' hence the huge mouth of Berach's 
 mountain in the sea. 
 
 Boeih is ' a fool,' Boethan ' the foolish one,' Boethine Mor 
 ' the great fool.' In the above story we see that the mere 
 monk Berach, ' the shaven one,' has to flee from danger, but 
 the ' fool for Christ's sake ' ^ can pass through any danger. 
 Columba and Boethine were fuU cousins, sons of brothers. 
 Boethine's father was Brenann, which seems to mean ' the 
 putrid, stinking one,' though in the Life of St Moling as he is 
 said to have found " Brenainn's hearth," ^ at the point of Ross 
 Bruicc, that is, ' Badger's Wood,' burning, as weU as foetidity, 
 are among its possible meanings. There are several Boethines.* 
 
 " Four names that were counted, 
 Stout, victorious Boethine, 
 Son of Brenann, son of Findach, 
 Son of Alia, son of Cuana." 
 
 ' Liddell & Scott, s.v. ^ I Corinthians iv. and x. 
 
 ^ " Revue Celtique," xxvii. p. 279. 
 
 ^ " Calendar of Oengus," Notes from the Lebar Brecc, liii. 
 
COLUMBA 17 
 
 The name of the first's father we have explained above. 
 Findach the father of the second was, Hke Barabbas, a robber, 
 and the story of the impregnation of Boethine's mother is that 
 it occurred by the mouth, she having swallowed the semen. 
 Her name is given as Cred (faith ?)but this is but a slight change 
 from Get the cetus which opened its mouth for Berach and 
 Boethine in the Ethican Sea. Of Boethine mac Alia the Lebar 
 Brecc says,i " sed nescio ubi est." He is however on the 6th 
 of October described also as " brigach," ' vigorous.' Im- 
 mediately following this information comes the statement 
 " fer da crich, i. o daire eidnech," that is, ' man of two dis- 
 tricts,' i.e. of Daire Eidnech, and it is explained that he was 
 Aed mac Carthaind and that in Clochar he was Bind, ' melodi- 
 ous.' He was then ' of the furzy grove,' aittin Manx, ' whin,' 
 ' furze,' and was ' Fire, son of Pillar Stone,' or ' Rowan.' 
 The term ' Fire ' is applied to the flowering whin in the Isle of 
 Man. But he became Bishop Carthainn, and appears as St 
 Patrick's strong man, while in Clochar a " place abounding in 
 stones," ' a stone church,' ^ he was tuneful. In the text of 
 the Calendar he is called " cli buadach," which the Editor 
 translates " a victorious prince," cli, however, is ' a stake,' 
 ' a piUar.' Now this is curious when we notice that twice in 
 the Calendar at six months' interval, June gth and December 
 13th, Colxmi and Boethine are coupled together, and if cli is 
 ' a pillar,' so of course is columna, Colum, and this brings us to 
 " pious Boethan of Cluain," Colum being described as " ab- 
 stinent Colum of Tir." Before considering the significance of 
 the localities mentioned, we would point out that the Boethine 
 mac Cuana, the last of the first four with which, we started, 
 must have been nearly related to the son of Findach, because 
 Cuan is ' the ocean.' But indeed they are aU four birds out 
 of one nest, for all (Mac AUa) is ' a rock,' ' a cliff ' projecting 
 out of the sea, compare Aiha. Craig, and all also appears as alt, 
 and alt is ' a razor.' Boethine is described as ' of two bound- 
 aries,' and as Boethine and Berach are connected in Adamnan's 
 Life, so, we also find a Berach described as " fer da lethi," ' man 
 of two parts.' The writer of the Notes in the Lebar Brecc had 
 difficulty in explaining this title and says, " half his life was 
 spent in pilgrimage and half in the world, or a half in Ireland 
 and a half in Scotland," but leth cinn is ' the side of the head,' 
 and so the man of two parts and the man of two boundaries 
 
 ' Ibid., p. civ. ' " Irish Place Names," ist series, p. 413. 
 
 B 
 
1 8 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 represents a man with the pre-Adamnan tonsure, one part bare, 
 the other part shaven. Depilation was practised by others 
 than the priests of Isis and the Church, and elsewhere than on 
 the head, and is so in India at the present day. 
 
 We will now consider Boethine of Cluan and Colum of 
 Tir. This Boethine has another name. He is Mo-bi, son of 
 Ua-Alta.i Mo-bi we have considered before, but here he is 
 described as ' a descendant of the razor,' alta, and the Cluain 
 is " Cluain Abannabair (read da-hanaber) ." This name seems 
 to mean ' the meadow of the harvest {bar) of two marshes, 
 annagh, eanach' ^ while his companion Colum is of Tir, that is, 
 tir da glas, Adamnan's " Ager duorum rivorum," ' the land of 
 two streams,' aquae at sanguinis. Colum's genealogy is given 
 as " son of Nindid," ' the only God ' (?), son of Nazar, the 
 Nazarite, perhaps Nazarean, a disciple of John Baptist, like the 
 sect so called now located in Persia,* son of Crimthann, the 
 crimson one, son of Eochaid, the rider, son of Oengus, ' unicus,* 
 son of little Crimthann, son of Cathair Mor, the Great Seat. 
 
 Whales bulked largely in the mind of the writer of Adamnan's 
 Columba. The second preface says, " There was a man of 
 venerable life and blessed memory, the father and founder of 
 monasteries, having the same name as Jonah the prophet ; for 
 though its sound is different in the three different languages, 
 yet its signification is the same in all ; what in Hebrew is lona, 
 in the Greek language is called •mpioripa, and in the Latin 
 Columba." Now we see from this that he was the father and 
 founder of monasteries, that is, a place where one may live in 
 solitude, and no greater solitude could well be imagined than 
 that of Jonah during his residence in the whale. Colum's 
 monastic proclivity is marked by his going by the name of 
 Colum of the Cell. How one might approach such a cell, we 
 see described in the Life of St Moling. Moling was an illegiti- 
 mate child and was saved from being killed by his mother by a 
 dove (colum), which encircled him with its wings and clawed 
 his mother's face. He started on his earthly pilgrimage 
 equipped with a double sack and a staff. In one of these sacks- 
 he had a special fancy for carrying maethla, biestings, the first 
 milk from a newly calved cow, and in the other corn, while his 
 stick " would not be left in a single combat," " an ashen staff, 
 heavy its crushing on the side of the cheek of the furious mad 
 
 ' " Calendar of Oengus," Notes clxxxii. ' " Irish Place Names," i. p. 461. 
 ^ " Isis Unveiled," i. 290. 
 
COLUMBA 19 
 
 champion ; thick its foot, strong its neck ; no grasp of a man's 
 hand surrounds it." He meets Fuath (frightful thing), a name 
 appearing with a female genitive (Fuatha), and Stokes trans- 
 lates it " a hag." From this hag then he demands the right of 
 three leaps, and these are leaps of folly and of pilgrimage. In 
 his first leap he was as small as a crow on the top of a hill, his 
 second leap he became invisible, the third leap he landed on the 
 " casiul na cille," that is, the surrounding wall of the cell, " then 
 he leapt from the stone wall and reached the church, and sat in 
 his place of prayer." From this adventure TaircheU was to be 
 " Moling of Luachair from the leaps that he had leapt." ^ 
 
 This account of him is varied as follows : " Mo-ling of 
 Luachar i.e. as he was leaping over a certain water in Luachar 
 Dedad in Munster, then said a certain woman, " Well has the 
 scholar leaped (mo-ling) the rushes ! " And hence is he called 
 Moling Luachair, and Dairchell was his name before that. 
 'The bush of gold over borders," etc., i.e. Moling from Luachair. 
 
 Moling sings a curious song — 
 
 " When I am among my seniors 
 I am a proof that sport is forbidden ; 
 When I am among the merry folk {inoes wear) 
 They think that I am the junior." 
 
 The woman who is said to have made the remark " was 
 along with him, and his going was fast for the caillech," so she 
 said to him, " well thou leapest the Luachair," . . . "Or may 
 be it was a puddle in the Luachair that he was leaping when 
 she reproved him." ^ The saint commemorated on the same 
 day as Moling was Colman {columan, ' a dove,' columba). 
 He was then " My-jump of the rushey place." Moling's cell 
 and that of Colum na cille were of the same description origin- 
 ally. Colum's presence at Druim Ceta and his residence in the 
 island of Jonah (lona) are equally comprehensible. Cormac 
 mentions a peculiarity of the ' Ridge,' " druchta dea Dromma 
 Ceta," translated by Stokes, " the goodly dews of Druim Ceta." 
 Dea is the plural of dia, ' god,' they were therefore the " divine 
 dews of the ridge of cet." These Cormac informs us were " com 
 and milk," the two things Moling carried in his double sack. 
 Ce, gen. ceithe, ' cream ' ; druim ceithe, ' the creamy ridge.* 
 Ce is also a ' spouse.' According to the Highland Society's 
 
 1 " Revue Celtique," v. xxvii. p. 260, et seq. For " leap " see " Krjrptadia," 
 
 X. p. 43- , . 
 
 ' " Calendar of Oengus, cm. 
 
20 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 Dictionary in the island of North Uist is ' Clach mhor a' che,' 
 supposed to be a monument dedicated to a heathen deity. It 
 is evidently the ' great cream stone ' and must have been a 
 notable example of the common ' Gruagach Stone ' on which 
 the milk-maid poured a small quantity of each milking. 
 Gruag is ' the hair of the head,' ' a wig,' ' anything resembling 
 hair,' ' a woman,' ' a wife ' ; gruagach, ' a young girl,' ' a 
 maiden.' 
 
 The universality of recognising a resemblance between milk 
 and cream and the fecundating secretion may be illustrated by 
 quoting a Buddhistic creation legend. It states that the 
 previous worlds were destroyed, including the Great Earth. 
 This chaotic condition was put an end to by an inundation and 
 a subsequent evaporation and the dried residue became the 
 Earth as we now know it. The meritorious of previous worlds 
 returned as its first inhabitants. These beings subsisted without 
 food, could soar through the air at will and the glory proceeding 
 from their persons was so great that there was no necessity 
 for a sun or moon. There was no change of seasons, no differ- 
 ence between night and day, no diversity of sex, the Brahmas 
 living in peace and happiness. " There was afterwards the 
 formation, upon the surface of the earth, of a peculiar substance 
 like the scum that arises upon the surface of boiled milk." This 
 attracted the attention of one of the Brahmas, who took up a 
 little of the substance with his finger and applied it to his mouth; 
 but as its taste was most delightful, it excited the wish for 
 more ; and a principle of evil was now first manifested among 
 the beings of the earth who had hitherto kept themselves pure. 
 Others followed the first's example, and the glory proceeding 
 from their persons was extinguished and lights became necessary. 
 By the united karma (" doing," the power of a man's deeds 
 working out their fuU effect for good or evil) of the assembled 
 Brahmas, the sun and moon were created and the week divided 
 into seven days, commencing Sunday and Monday. Compare 
 Genesis i. 4, " And the Elohim saw the substance of the light, 
 that it was good." After a long eating of this earthy scum, the 
 skins of the eaters became coarse, some being lighter or darker 
 than others. Pride in this matter being a further degenera- 
 tion from their original ethereal perfection, the substance lost 
 its delicious flavour and in time disappeared. In its stead there 
 arose a kind of fungus, in taste like cream mingled with butter, 
 by subsisting upon which the difference in their complexions 
 
COLUMBA 2 1 
 
 was increased. In process of time the fungus disappeared and 
 was followed by a climbing plant and then by rice of a superior 
 kind pure as pearl and without husk. Like the manna of the 
 wilderness only sufficient for one meal was formed at a time. 
 By subsisting upon this, apertures of the body were produced, 
 the generative powers were developed, and passion and sexual 
 intercourse were the results. 
 
 In this we see first of all that a mouth was necessary in the 
 highest condition of existence, and the distinction between 
 good and evil in the minds of the ' Brahmas ' came by putting 
 their finger in their mouth. Compare with this the Hcking of 
 his finger by Gwion Bach to remove a drop of the scum from 
 the cauldron of Ceridwen (the woman Ceres) ,^ and Beaton, i.e. 
 Macbeath's acquisition of knowledge by tasting a drop of the 
 broth in which he was cooking a white snake. In the Buddhist 
 legend we further see in the progress of degeneration the 
 necessity for the division of time into a period for work and one 
 for rest, and the differentiation between the whiter and darker 
 races, and the eating of the buttery cream helped to make this 
 difference more marked. The buttery cream and the pearly 
 rice said to have succeeded it, are merely different explanations 
 of the same material, the sperma.^ 
 
 The Colum genealogy (p. i8) started from a Cathair 
 Mor, and we saw that Moling "sat in his place of prayer." 
 ' Great Seat ' appears as a king of ' Munster,' a locality of 
 which the meaning really is apparently ' the greater part *■ 
 (of Ireland), but probably owes its modem form as connected 
 with monaster, monastery, compare Monaster-boice (Louth). 
 At June gth, one of the days in which Colum and Boethine are 
 coupled together (p. 17), occurs the perforated porridge 
 stick story. The name of the ingenious gille is not mentioned, 
 but immediately following the narrative the Lebar Brecc says, 
 " It is then that Boethine related to Colum the remarkable 
 vision, i.e. three chairs {cathair) seen by him in Heaven, to wit, 
 a chair of gold, and a chair of silver, and a chair of glass." * 
 We conclude that Boethine was the gille. Colum explains to 
 Boethine the vision. The chair of gold was for Ciaran the 
 Great, the son of the wright ; the chair of silver was for Boethine's 
 self, and the chair of glass Colum's, because, " though my devo- 
 tion be delightful I am fleshly, and I am often frail even as glass 
 
 1 " Mabinogion," Taliesen. ' " Manual of Buddhism," Hardy, p. 64. 
 
 > " Calendar of Oengus," ci. 
 
2 2 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 is frail." A verse follows this, describing Colum as with a red 
 face, a white body and curling hair, and another extols the great 
 sweetness of his voice. Beothine also we have seen was 
 melodious. The chair of gold for the son of the carpenter we 
 need not discuss, but Boethine's connection with the silver chair 
 discloses the fact that he had another name. In another 
 edition of the Lebar Brecc ^ he is called Molaisse, and his claim 
 to the seat is his wisdom and piety. He is described as of 
 Leighlin, his wisdom and piety is illustrated by his plucking 
 out the hair of ' Sillan.' " Every day whoever was the first 
 to see it was dead, statim, till Molaisse took out that hair, and 
 therefore Molaisse died silla (sil, ' seed,' ' sowing seed ' ?). 
 SiUan has been described elsewhere,^ but we may notice here 
 that Find, Fionn, the name of the well-known Gaelic hero, 
 means a ' single hair,' while Boethine himself was a son of 
 Findd^ch.. In a list of saints " qui erant bini unius moris " ^ 
 Molaisse (My-flame) who is also called Laisren, ' the flaming 
 one,' is coupled with Simon the Apostle, Peter, the stone on 
 which the church is built, and he is described as of Damhinis, 
 the island of the damium ? 
 
 There were, however, two Simons connected with the early 
 Church, the other being Simon of Samaria, the magus. We 
 are told of Simon of Samaria and of Helena the rescued pro- 
 stitute with whom he consorted, and who was said to be the 
 mother of all, that they were reverenced as " The Lord " and 
 " The Lady." Simon himself was said by the people of Samaria 
 to be the ' great power of God ' and was worshipped as " The 
 Standing," o eotws, eTUi. Tradition makes Simon the great 
 opponent of Christianity and the old tonsure of what we may 
 call the fer da crich sort, was known as the tonsure of Simon 
 magus. A magus in Gaelic is a drui and druidecht is ' magic,' 
 druth is translated by O'Davoren droch duine, ' mains homo.' * 
 Druth Cormac teUs us is oinmit, ' a fool.' Custom and pre- 
 judice will make it hard of acceptation, but we suggest that as 
 we find it in Gaelic literature, drui, draoi, ' a magus,' is more 
 like to be a modification of the classical druis, druides, than a 
 native Irish word. In Alba and Ireland, Adamnan, we are told, 
 was the first disciple of the circular tonsure. Thus there was 
 at any rate an opening for calling the old tonsure that of fools' 
 
 ' " Lives of Saints," Book of Lismore, p. 302. 
 ' " Caledonian Medical Journal," vol. vi. p. 276. 
 ' " Lives of Saints," Book of Lismore, p. 298. 
 • " Archiv. Celt. Lex*," vol. ii. p. 303. 
 
COLUMBA 23 
 
 druith, a word not greatly differing from druid, Gael. magi. A 
 curious reminiscence of this comes to us in J. F. Campbell's 
 " bearradh eoin 's amadan," the shaving of birds and fools or 
 ' of John,' for the old tonsure is said to have been that of John 
 (Eoin) Baptist. Campbell also gives us the Lay of the Great 
 Fool, an t-amadan mor.^ We think, however, the name of this 
 lay, itself, shows a play upon the word amadan, connecting it 
 with the Welsh amaeih, ' agricola,' ' operarius ' ; ^ maethu is 
 ' to foster,' ' nourish,' with which we may compare the 
 Gaelic maethla, ' biestings ' of Moling (p. 18). 
 
 As an explanation of the comparison of seats in Heaven 
 with glass, we must remember that the word vitrum, ' woad,' 
 used for glastum by Caesar and others, also means 'glass.' 
 The bluish woad and the greenish glass were both so-called 
 from their hke colouring, and it was just as natural that a like 
 comparison should be made with the blue sky. Heaven. 
 Artists of all sorts have generally represented the Deity as 
 sitting on a throne in a blue atmosphere. Fancy also made 
 the means of ingress to Heaven of like material, as we have seen 
 in the case of the ladder of glass broken by Columba, but there 
 seems to have been an esoteric allusion in the damage by Colum 
 of the means by which supreme felicity was reached. (See p. 
 3, " crosier "). The sea is also glas coloured, glas-mhuir, glas- 
 fhairge, and a green field is called glas-mhagh. Lucian says the 
 rich men in the Moon have garments of glass, iaXivri.^ With this 
 suggestion, we will consider Joyce's " old chief who lived beyond 
 the view of history," and from whom Druim Cet, as he believed, 
 got its name. 
 
 O'Curry gives us considerable information about him, taken 
 from one of the Irish " Tragedies." * He was Cet mac Magach, 
 Cet of the Plain. Magach, ' having many fields,' a poetic 
 allusion to the sea, but the Cet of the tragedy does not appear 
 as a sea monster but as that which was represented as gifted 
 with the same voracity. First we notice that he was a famous 
 CoMwacht champion. It happened that Conall Cearnach, an 
 Ulster man, a ' cowall champion,' slew a Leinster man in single 
 combat and extracted his brain. This brain was made into a 
 ball, a ball treated with great reverence, but two fools, baetha 
 (at baetha cialla ban, ' very foolish the understandings of 
 
 1 " Tales of the West Highlands," vol. iii. p. 155. 
 
 ' " Grammatica Celtica," p. 156. ' " True History," chap. xxv. 
 
 * " Materials," p. 275. 
 
24 RELIGIO SCOTTCA 
 
 women '), took it out to play with it. Cet seeing them " had 
 little difficulty in obtaining it from them," and took it with him 
 to Connacht. Now the dead ' lancer ' (Lagenian, Leinster 
 man) was to avenge himself, dead or alive, on some important 
 Ulster chieftain, and with a view to this, Cet carried the brain 
 matter about with him under his girdle. The chance came 
 when two parties, one of Connacht the other of Ulster, the 
 latter being under the leadership of king Conor MacNessa, con 
 man {or = fer, Lat. vir), son of the losa, met on two sides of a 
 stream. There were a large number of Connacht ladies present, 
 and on such occasions " it was the custom for the women of 
 either party, to caU upon any distinguished chief from the 
 opposite side, to approach them and exhibit himself to their view, 
 that they might see if his beauty, dignity and bearing were equal 
 to what fame had reported them to be." Cet gets the ladies to 
 ask the Ulster Con-or, the name is spelt in Gaelic Conchobhar, 
 to the front, and when he approached " Cet raised himself in 
 their midst " and fixed the lancer's medullary matter in his 
 sling. Conor, terrified, as Berach was, we may remember, tried 
 to withdraw, but " just as he was entering the little grove of 
 Doire da Bhaeth, ' the grove of the two fools,' it might be 
 ' animals,' Cet, following closely, lodged the ball in Conor's 
 head. The Ulster man had to content himself and to retain the 
 ball stuff, but his health was rapidly restored, though he was 
 ordered by his advisers to avoid violent exercise, riding and 
 excitement, and so he continued to the day of the Crucifixion. 
 Being informed by his druid of the meaning of the portents 
 then felt, he rushed out in intense excitement to the wood of 
 ' Lamhraidhe,' cutting down in imagination the enemies of the 
 innocent victim." " His rage continued to increase, until at 
 last the fatal ball, which was lodged in his skull, started from its 
 place, followed by the king's brain, and Conor MacNessa fell 
 dead on the spot." The wood of Lamhraidhe ! leamhan is 
 ' elm,' but lamh is ' the hand,' lamhraich, ' to handle awk- 
 wardly.' Leamhan, however, is applied also to the pith of wood 
 ligni medulla, and leamh is ' impudent,' ' shameless,' leam- 
 hadas, ' importunity,' leamhnacht, ' new mUk.' The lancer's 
 brain ball and Conor's head are the same ' Condail ' (xo'>SDX(i;) 
 who appears in the Calendar of Oengus on May 3rd. " The 
 first finding of the wood of Christ's Cross with many virtues. 
 Death of Condlad, a fair pUlar. Great feast of Virgin Mary." ^ 
 
 • See " Caledonian Medical Journal," vol. vi. p. 344. 
 
COLUMBA 25 
 
 A detailed exposition of this story is not possible, suffice it to 
 say that where natural action is imperatively suppressed un- 
 natural results follow. 
 
 The Ethican cetus showed its teeth, so it was not a whale 
 but something more approaching to a dolphin, though a strict 
 attention to the details of natural history is not to be looked for. 
 Every one knows the story of Arion the melodious, and his 
 dolphin, but whether this accounts for the calling the " man 
 of two districts " Bind, melodious, who shall say. It is a curious 
 coincidence anyhow, that Eudemus, a disciple of Aristotle, 
 
 who wrote the 'H6ixa (Ethica) Eide//.iia, speaks of " Mayo/ xai 
 
 vuv TO "Afiav y'evoi." ^ The Aryans have a great deal to answer 
 for besides being Magi. Inchkeith in the Firth of Forth 
 was, according to Fordun, presided over by Adamnan, of whom 
 the accounts we have will fall to be considered subsequently .2 
 Cormac has a curious entry sufficiently to the purpose. " Cete 
 a coitu, vel quia ibi equi cito currunt." Ceite is explained by 
 O'Davoren as meaning ' a fair,' that is aonach, ' a unification,' 
 and he also translates it as a ' green.' ' For the relationship 
 between fairs and marriage, at Tailltin, during the Lughnassa, 
 see Joyce's Place Names.* 
 
 1 Liddell & Scott, s.v., ' Apioi.' ^ Reeves, " Life of Columba," clxviii. 
 
 » " Archiv. Celt. Lexikographie," vol. ii. pp. 267, 280. * ist series, p. 202. 
 
PIGFEEDERS 
 
 " Magha. i. druidhecht, such as Simon Maghus," Magadh is 
 " mockery " in Gaelic pronounced ' mogadh ' in Louth 
 (Dinneen). How does the magus appear in Irish story ? 
 
 In the " Acts of the Apostles " we are told that Simon of 
 Samaria was there accepted as the great power of God. " Mog, 
 mogh, i. great," says O'Davoren, mocht. Scot. Gaelic,^ and the 
 explanation given is that it is in ablaut relation to ' magnus ' 
 and ' /isyae.' ^ Mo is the comparative of mor, ' great.' 
 
 Mog, mugh is a ' slave,' ' servant,' and seems connected 
 with iJ^oyog, ' toil,' ' Suffering,' ' travail of women.' Cormac 
 gives mugsaine, ' slavery.' Muc is a pig, mucc, moch, 
 ' swine,' mucc-mora, ' a sea pig,' ' dolphin,' cetus. Muccida 
 are swineherds. Mugraidhe, ' who is taken from the sea,' 
 ' a tribe of slaves.' * Slave folk in Gaelic were apparently 
 generally of foreign extraction. We see then that slaves and 
 the sea had some connection, there certainly were sea pigs, and 
 we need scarcely be astonished if we find even slaves and pig- 
 feeders appearing as sea animals. Let us notice that St 
 Patrick was a foreigner, a slave, and a pig feeder. The head of 
 the Roman Church, who claims to be the representative of God 
 on this earth, calls himself on occasion " servus servorum," 
 so priests are mugraidhe, if one desire to jeer at them (magadh), 
 they might be called muccida, swineherds. A part of the human 
 body is said to resemble a pig, " mucrecht, that which is in the 
 shape of the pig, the gut of the fundament." * Stokes in- 
 geniously suggests the caecum with its appendix vermiformis 
 as the anatomical equivalent, muc is accepted as fig, recht is 
 riochd, ' a likeness, condition, a ghost.' Cormac, however, teUs 
 us a story which may be considered here. It is the story of a 
 lap-dog. 
 
 Cairbre Muse, musgan is the hose-fish, mus ? bus, a snout, 
 an absurd name for a nose, had a friend in Britain who had a 
 lapdog. In order that he might claim it Cairbre greased the 
 
 ^ " Archiv. Celt. Lexik.," iii. p. 202. 
 
 ' Stokes, " O'Davoren's Glossary." " Archiv. Celt. Lexicog.," ii. p. 419. 
 
 " " O'Davoren's Glossary," p. 4:1. * " O'Davoren's Glossary, p. 410. 
 
PIGFEEDERS 27 
 
 handle of his knife, and got the dog to gnaw it so that it spoiled 
 its appearance. We are not told that it spoiled its usefulness. 
 Cairbre claimed the dog for the damage under the law of every 
 criminal for his crime, and got it. The dog was a female.^ It 
 was known, subsequently to the gnawing doubtless, as Mug- 
 eime, ' the slave of the haft,' that is of that part of an instru- 
 ment which is seized. Eim seems connected with greim, a 
 ' hold,' a ' bit,' ' piece bitten off,' greim bi, ' a bit of meat.' 
 The Gaelic for a lapdog is messan. Mes, meas, is fruit, mast, 
 acorns the desiderated diet for swine ; mes is a ' measure,' ' a 
 dish,' cuir am meis, ' dish up.' Meisi i. siabra, " meisi, that 
 is fairies." Some experience of the folk tale sort is of value in 
 appreciating how the various items can be strung together, but 
 we have a word distinctly connecting pigs and the learned : — 
 " mucairbe, a youth for repeating his poetry." ^ He was of an 
 inferior order of the bardic class, but he certainly seems to have 
 been muccar, a pig man. 
 
 One name, mucairbe, and that a subsidiary one, is not all we 
 have to pin our faith to. In the Chophur in da muccida Con- 
 ception (?) of the two swineherds,^ the pig-feeders are magicians 
 capable of transforming themselves into various animals. We 
 may examine the tale thoroughly. 
 
 Bodh (bobba = poppa = Lat. papa (?) bod., phallus) was 
 head of the sidhe of Munster, Ochall ('c OchaU = Son of OchaU 
 = cochall, 'hood'?), head of the sidhe of Connacht, were 
 friends, and their respective swineherds were so also. " Truly 
 were both the two swineherds possessed of heathen wisdom, 
 and they changed themselves into every shape, as was the case 
 with Mongan, son of Fiachna." Mongan, hairy, coarse hair as 
 a horse mane ; he is also described as a son of Mananann mac 
 Lir, ' Moon personified, son of the Sea,' and no doubt the mon 
 of Mongan played its part as suggestive of the transformations 
 ascribed to the owner of the name who was also a rebirth of 
 Find, ' a single hair.' The names of the swineherd of Bodb 
 of Munster was Friuch, friodh, a bristle, and their sidh in 
 Munster was at Femen, meaning ' a plain.' Femnach is sea- 
 weed, therefore ' Femen ' is ' the sea,' the ever variable. 
 Cormac says it got its name from Fe and Men, " two king oxen 
 of Ireland " : according to Keating, Fe and Meann were two 
 royal institutes (?) connected with Dana, (Diana, though her 
 
 1 Cormac, Translation, p. 112. » Cormac, Translation, p. 107. 
 
 » " Irische Texte Ser.," iii. p. 235. 
 
28 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 attributes are more those of Minerva) Beuchuill and Brighid, 
 the three female personages of the Tuatha de Danann.^ The 
 ' ox ' and the ' institute ' were probably the fe which was 
 according to Cormac,^ a stick for measuring bodies and was a 
 horror for Christians to handle. The name of the swineherd of 
 Ochall of Connacht was Rucht, mchd, a grunt, a pig, rue, the 
 maiden ray, skate, according to Dinneen. The skate with 
 Scottish fishermen represents the ■/■nn : to offer a skate's tail 
 to a bridegroom is looked on as a good joke. 
 
 The swineherds had a friendly arrangement that, when 
 mess, meas, mast, acorns, were plentiful in either territory, the 
 outsider was permitted to bring his pigs there to be fattened. 
 In " Lucian's True History " we see what acorns are good for. 
 " There are a kind of men among them (the inhabitants of the 
 Moon), called Dendritans {^ivbfrai) which are begotten in 
 this manner ; they cut out the right stone out of a man's cod, 
 and set it in their ground, from which springeth up a great tree 
 of flesh, with branches and leaves (compare the tree Mugna), 
 bearing a kind of fruit much like to an acorn, but of a cubit in 
 length, which they gather when they are ripe, and cut men out 
 of them." ' Other peculiarities are not necessary to be men- 
 tioned here. Lucian, we perhaps should mention, is the 
 original Munchausen. Because the Munster people magnified 
 the science of their own swineherd and the Connacht people the 
 science of theirs, ill feeling arose between the muccida, who 
 proceeded to use their powers over each other's swine, with the 
 disastrous result that even when acorns (glandes) were plentiful, 
 they became so weakened that they were hardly alive. 
 
 Looking at the general trend of the story, the witchcraft 
 here alluded to is of that sort to counteract which on the nuptial 
 night the bridegroom's left shoe especially, but generally aU 
 knots and buckles were carefully unloosed (pp. 155, 156). The 
 neglect of this precaution, though there was no want of glans, 
 would have so weakened the interested parties that they might 
 be described as " hardly alive." 
 
 Bodb and Ochall deprived the swineherds of their charges, 
 and they then took the form of ravens, /eich, and both pass a 
 year first in Connacht and then in Munster. The noise they 
 made quarrelling, caused complaint to be carried to the steward 
 
 1 " Perth Incident of 1396," p. 194. 
 ' " Cormac's Glossary," Translation, p. 75. 
 
 ' " Lucian's True History," Translated by Francis Hicks, London, 1894, 
 p. 63. 
 
PIGFEEDERS 29 
 
 pf the king, and the birds resume their human form. When 
 welcomed by the bystanders they made objection, evidently 
 because such welcome was ill-timed, for they were now going 
 to pass two years as water animals (mil n-uiscci, cetae) . One 
 of them then went into the Shannon and the other into the Suir, 
 and passed the time fighting each other, first in one river then 
 in the other. As complaint had been made in the south of the 
 annoyance caused by the ravens, so now complaint was made 
 in Connacht about the water beasts. They have a final 
 combat in the Shannon, each of them being as big as a hill 
 (telach), or the top of a mountain. The island as whale or 
 the whale as island is minutely described in " Lucian's True 
 History." 1 
 
 They then came to land and resumed human form as 
 feinnid (warriors, Fenians), attached to the households of the 
 sidh of Munster and Connacht. Bodb invades Connacht and 
 meets its fairy ruler at a sidh called Nento fo huisce (an aonta, 
 (?) the undivided, ' untouched,' under water.) Bodb 
 challenges Connacht to find a ^an to fight his one now called 
 Rinn, ' point.' This was not possible at first, but when 
 another large party joined them who looked as if they had come 
 out of the sea, from among them a champion was got of the 
 name of Faebar (edge, representing iaobh apparently, ' side.') 
 It should be noticed that a sea connection is usually ascribed 
 preferentially to the Connacht sithe, thus connecting the name 
 with cuan, a ' haven,' ' harbour,' generally used in the plural 
 for the ocean. Point and Edge fight for three days till their very 
 lungs were visible, after which they became siabur, ' fairies,' 
 but hideous to behold. The Munster men were now joined by 
 a party from Meath and the Connacht men by a party from 
 Leinster. The swineherds then fought another duel as /einnid, 
 and thereafter there was a general engagement of the combined 
 parties. In this the four kings were slain, and special mention 
 is made of the king of Dalriada as in the sidh Nento-fo-huiscib, 
 evidently the same personage as Fergna, who was at Nento 
 when the south and north parties first met there. He is now 
 called Cairpre Crom. He was Fergna Direch, the ' straight,* 
 but, as he was told by a British druid, thereafter he would be 
 called Crom, the ' bent.' ^ Fergna and Cairpre were names 
 applicable to the same individual. Dalriada of which he was 
 king is the ' Plain of the long arm,' righe, the arm from the 
 1 Page 83, chap. xxx. ' " Irische Texte," 2nd series, p. 254. 
 
30 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 wrist to the elbow, and is evidently another name for Ulster, 
 of which it is said to have been a part, {uillne S.G., uille Ir. G., 
 ulna Lat., the ' elbow,' ' arm,' an ' ell,' the ' arm bone ' from 
 elbow to wrist, Uladh, Ulster). This also explains Cormac's. 
 fe, the measuring sticks for " bodies and graves." It was a 
 " rod of aspen," as Stokes translates ^daite, {fldh, fiodh, a 
 ' rod,' ^odan, ' marrow,' ' pith,' aethnen, Welsh, the aspen, 
 the tree of which the cross was made traditionally, ' the tree 
 that shakes.' Fergna-Cairpre was straight when he was first 
 at Nento, and it was a " British " druid, " Mainchenn," 
 manachan, ' little monk,' who told him that after the meeting 
 he would be ' bent,' cromm. Bodb takes both champions 
 home to Munster with him. Their transformations, however, 
 are not ended. They again become water animals, worms, but 
 worms of the sort that Conchobhar's mother swallowed when 
 she became pregnant with him, duirb, doirbh, darb}- One of 
 them went into the well, Uaran n-Garuid, the ' Well of the 
 Garden,' this ' weU ' being a foundation of Patricius, in 
 Connacht. The other went into Glaiss Cruinn, the ' round 
 stream ' in Cualnge. These water worms, dur, dwr, ' water,' 
 were swallowed, the first by a cow belonging to Ailill and Medb, 
 the other by one belonging to Dare, and so were generated the 
 White ' homed (?) ' of Ai, and the Black, generally Brown, of 
 Cualnge. While the worms were stiU in their springs Medb, 
 dipping a vessel she had in her hand into the Uaran, picked up 
 a beautifully coloured worm with which she entered into con- 
 versation. She explained to him, that, as queen of Connacht, 
 she desired a spouse of a different kindred (kind) from her own, 
 and she is told that the husband for her, AiliU, is a Leinster 
 man. Thus Mo-Eve got her ' instruction,' ail, oil, from 
 Leinster. He tells her his name is Crunniuc, ' roundy,' and 
 that she must feed him every day. The other worm has now 
 changed his habitat, he no longer hails from Munster, but from 
 Cuailnge, Ulster, and while Medb is interviewing his opponent, 
 Fi'achna mac Dare, ' Raven of the Grove,' goes to the ' Round 
 Stream ' to wash his hands, and is addressed by the other, 
 also described as parti-coloured, who tells him his name is 
 Tummuc, ' dipper.' The duirb foretells the advent of a ship 
 with treasures (barcc gu muinib,this is the face value translation, 
 to Fiachna's land, and we notice that while Medb is provided 
 with a ' vessel ' Fiachna is not. Tummuc also demands 
 ^ " Irische Texte," 3rd series, p. 271. 
 
PIGFEEDERS 
 
 31 
 
 aliment and is personally supplied by the king for a year as 
 the other was by the queen. 
 
 The termination of the names Crunniuc and Tummuc being 
 identical, it might be concluded that they were both of the same 
 gender, but another form of Crunniuc, Crunn-chu, ' round 
 dog,' is a sufficient explanation.^ 
 
 Let us tabulate the names used for the combatants, during 
 their transformations. 
 
 Form. 
 
 Male 
 
 name. 
 
 Female name. 
 
 Swineherds 
 
 Bristle 
 
 
 Grunt, Pig. 
 
 Ravens 
 
 Claw 
 
 
 Wiag 
 
 Sea-monsters 
 
 Blod 
 
 
 Bled 
 
 Fenians 
 
 Point 
 
 
 Edge 
 
 Worms 
 
 Round 
 
 (dog) 
 
 Dipper 
 
 Oxen 
 
 Brown of Cualnge 
 
 Rising pelt of the Plain 
 
 
 
 
 of Knowledge. 
 
 There are some things in the above which require 
 elucidation. 
 
 Of the names applied to the sea-monsters hied is merely a 
 translation, " bled, sea-monster, whale," Blod is not so simple. 
 We find the expression, " blod bemnech na sciath," and " blod 
 heim " is a ' blod blow,' ^ Welsh blodio is ' to make meal,' ^ 
 Ir. Gael, bladh, Scot, bloigh, a ' fragment.' We conclude 
 that a blod beim is a ' grinding blow.' We further find another 
 instance of it as the name of a person, ' hill of Blod maic Con, i.e. 
 Bladma.' 
 
 In Welsh blawd is ' meal dust,' but also ' bloom,' blodau, 
 flowers. In Gaelic blath is ' flour,' ^ according to Cormac, 
 commonly a ' flower ' and also ' offspring ' " 's maith am 
 blath a dh'fhag e 'na dheigh," ' good is the offspring he hath 
 left.' * It is also a ' green field,' and the ' sea ' the ' white- 
 crested sea,' according to Dinneen. Bladma is the plain of 
 flowers, but also of ' offspring,' and it is the ' hill of Blod 
 (grind) son of Con.' We thus see how lusan, a ' herb,' 
 ' flower,' has a phallic significance. 
 
 A wing is a female symbol, because it is that portion of 
 feathered creation which expands and also enfolds its possessor. 
 
 ^ " Irische Texte," 3rd series, p. 273. 
 
 " Meyer, " Contributions." Arch. Celt. Lexic, v. ii. p. 229. 
 
 ^ Translation, p. 107, s.v. mas. * " Highland Soc. Diet.," s.v. blath. 
 
32 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 A shield has somewhat the same characteristics, and the aegis 
 was the shield of Minerva with the hideous long locked face of 
 the Medusa on it. The compliment of the shield is the arm, 
 and the relic of our local patron in Edinburgh St Aegidius, St 
 GUes, kept and reverenced in this city was his arm. The male 
 term coupled with ' wing ' in this parable under consideration 
 is ingen, inga, iongna, Lat. unguis, the part taken for the whole, 
 the naU for the arm, compare what has been said of 
 ulna. 
 
 Tummuc, we explain as ' dipper ' in the sense of a cup used 
 to lift water from a larger vessel, as Medb did use the bronze 
 cup in which she found the animal. Its compUment is ' round 
 dog.' Mesan is given by Cormac as " one of the worst of 
 dogs," and is a lap-dog as ordinarily used, but m&s .i. faebur, says 
 Cormac, under " demess," and faebur, ' edge,' is one of the 
 female symbols. Mess is also a ' measure,' mias a ' dish,' 
 so the coupling .the ' little dish ' or the ' lap-dog ' with 
 another dog, ' round dog ' is natural. 
 
 We have now to consider the final transformation into what 
 we are told were two bulls. If this were so it would be in 
 direct contradiction to the rest of the story, though it is also 
 true, that the swineherds started as male, and they are always 
 spoken of exotericaUy as such. The Donn Cuahige is male 
 certainly, he was Donno-taurus in Gaul probably before he was 
 heard of in Ireland, but the other " Finnbennach " was a cow. 
 In the first place the animal represented Connacht, but the name 
 itself is quite explicable in accordance with our hypothesis. 
 In Welsh story we hear of two oxen, the " ychen banawg." 
 They were a pair which always worked together, however, and 
 their pecuUarity was that they were banawg, ' elevating.' ^ 
 Finn, Gaelic, is ' white,' but Cormac teUs us it is ' skin,' and 
 fionn is an animal skin, a pelt ; flnna, finda, hairs. Finn-ben- 
 nach elevating hairy skin. The locaUty of this thing, or things, 
 for in Welsh it constituted a yoke of oxen, is Mag Ai, the 
 ' plain of knowledge,' Finnbennach Mag Ai.^ We have 
 therefore translated it the ' Rising pelt of the plain of Know- 
 ledge.' 
 
 That the ' Swineherd ' represents a non-Christian instructor 
 there can be no doubt, a magus, and we venture the suggestion 
 that the most reliable historic notices we have of them are in the 
 
 ' " Celtic Research," Davies, v. ii. p. 129 ; " Perth Incident," p. 116. 
 ' " Irische Texte," 3rd series, p. 273. 
 
PIGFEEDING 33 
 
 Corkaguiney Oghams " mucoi Dovvinia," ' the pig-feeders of 
 Diana (?) ' ^ " Bendach A. gobhal," says Cormac, O'Clery spells 
 it beannach, that is, ' the fork, the junction of the legs.' O'Clery 
 also says, ' bannach ' is a fox, the Crimthan of Colum cille. 
 Donno-taurus locaUty must receive some attention. 
 
 "■ " Irish Epigraphy," Macalister, part i. p. lo. 
 
"PALE." "CUALNGE" 
 
 CuALNGB, pronounced, according to Joyce's spelling, Quelna, 
 Englished according to O' Curry Cooky, was the special patri- 
 mony of Cuchulainn. According to all authorities it was the 
 Carlingford peninsula, and was united with Murthemne which 
 we may speU phonetically Murreiv-ne, which as Joyce says was 
 in Cuchulainn's time the north of Louth. According to Irish 
 romances, it was transferred from Ulster to Leinster, by 
 Tuathal, at the separation of Meath from the other four pro- 
 vinces of Ireland. It seems, however, to have been con- 
 sidered part of Ulster till Elizabeth's time.^ It was part of 
 Oirgial and known also as the territory of ' Hy-Conal ' and 
 the ' Plain of Conal.' Mureiv corresponds exactly to the 
 Scottish district name, Moray, and both equally rejoice in the 
 reputation for being exceedingly fertile. Skene tells us that 
 where Ochta settled (p. ), there was a district " termed in 
 the Bruts, Mureif, from ' mur ' signifying a wall, and is 
 identified with Reged, the kingdom of Urien the old form of 
 which name was Urbgen — urbi-gena, ' city born,' alluding 
 probably to Dumbarton."'' Urien is Orion, Reged the northern 
 hemisphere, and we suggest that the form Urbgen is a name 
 apart, and its bearers claimed like Paul to be free-born citizens 
 of Rome. From the earliest notices we find evidence of the con- 
 fusion between mur, mare and mur, murus. Boece gives us a 
 distinct sample when he says that the Murrays settled in the 
 lands between Spey and Inverness given to them after driving 
 out the " Vararis." In the Latin Ptolemy map, the Moray 
 Firth is called the Estus Vararis, and Glen Stxa.th.farrar continues 
 to this day. We hesitate about drawing a historical inference 
 as to the connections of the inhabitants of Strathfarrar and 
 those from whom the men of Moray derived their name. 
 
 ' The Irish district was the special locality for the observ- 
 ance of Samain, the end of the Summer half of the year, that 
 is the season of fruits.* Taking it for granted that Cuchulainn 
 
 ' " Encyclopaedia Brit.," s.v. Louth. 
 
 ' " Celtic Scotland," vol. i. p. 153, note. 
 
 • " Social History of Ancient Ireland," vol. ii. p. 438. 
 
PALE. CUALNGE 35 
 
 is an entirely mythical personage, when we look for a reason for 
 connecting him locally with this portion of Ireland, we find it 
 in the fact that in Ptolemy's time it was the site of the Voluntii. 
 We have suggested that Cuchulainn's name may be explained 
 as Cu-'c'aoUain, that is Cu mhic FhaoUain, and here Volun 
 stands for Faolan. His special connection with chariots, he 
 owes probably to the derivation of the second part of his name 
 from culan. Cul, Cormac explains as a ' chariot,' Culan is 
 the mythical name of the smith for whom Cuchulainn acted as 
 dog (cu). 
 
 OirghiaU was in 1183, occupied by De Courcy and was 
 therefore one of the earliest Norman possessions in Ireland. 
 De Courcy was joined in commission with Fitz-Aldekn sent as 
 governor of Ireland, landing apparently at Wexford. De 
 Courcy selected a small band of courageous men and " boldly 
 ventured on an expedition into Ulster, a part of the island 
 where the English had not yet appeared in Ireland." After a 
 three days' march through Orgial he occupied Down.^ De 
 Courcy was left as governor of Ireland by John on his return 
 to England. The English possessions in Ireland were called 
 the Pale, a term which at first embraced most of the south 
 and south-east coast of Ireland, and also of course the Ulster 
 conquest of De Courcy. As a fact the Pale varied greatly in 
 extent, being by the time of Richard II. restricted to a small 
 district round Dublin and Drogheda. According to the Four 
 Masters the portion of Ireland that De Courcy invaded was 
 Dalaradia (see p. ), and as he started from Dublin and reached 
 Down, the peninsula Cualnge represents the centre of the country 
 traversed. In 1178, they say he was in the Machaire Conaille 
 itself, and this is what Geraldus calls his fifth battle of Newry, 
 It is not necessary to foUow the history of De Courcy, but if 
 any part of Ulster was to be included in the Pale, Cualnge must 
 be so reckoned. 
 
 There can be little doubt that this expression ' Pale ' is 
 Norman-French, used as it is now in the sense of a paling, the 
 portion of ground cut off in possession of the Anglo-Normans, 
 whether really fenced in or not. Pal, in French is a ' stake.' 
 We have another French word for a stake fieu, in Breton feul, 
 but also spoken paol and pal, and peulvan is a menhir, a rough 
 stone column representing the phallus. Lhuyd spells the word 
 for ' stake,' paul, modem pawl in Welsh. The Latin palus is 
 * Geraldus' " Conquest of Ireland," book ii. chap. xvi. 
 
36 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 by transference applied to the phallus. We have aU heard of 
 P Celts, and Q Celts, so that a word commencing with p in 
 Welsh might naturally appear with c = q in Gaelic, paol = caol, 
 ' narrow,' ' elongated,' compare the name of the Fian 
 Caolte, and possibly Cu-chaolain, Cormac's caolan, ' a small 
 gut,' 1 ' Dog of the smaU gut,' compare his combats at 
 ' fords,' caol, ' a narrow rapid,' ' a strait.' Cormac also is 
 our authority for the following, " cuaille ' a stake,' i. de an 
 cual, no caoile quam alia." The first three words of the Gaelic 
 [de an cual are uncertain, O'Davoren did not translate them, 
 but the rest is " or slenderer than others." Cormac also gives 
 us " cual ' a bier,' i. ona cuaillib bis inte asberur (' from the 
 poles that are therein it is called ') vel quasi gual i. on gualaind 
 ar is fuirre bis a tromma (' from the shoulder (guala), for it is 
 thereon its weight lies '), vel quasi caol a calon Latine." ^ 
 Stokes adds cuall ' pole ' = Lat. caulis, xavXos Seeing that in 
 the second article Cormac explains his word by the Gaelic 
 for a shoulder, gual, and in both cases compares it with caol, 
 ' slender,' we suggest that de an cual should read de an gual, 
 the expression used latterly for the Roman wall, the murus 
 with which probably we have to connect Mureive — Moray — 
 Murthemne. Looking at the Gaelic words here given, ' Cualnge ' 
 is a Gaelic ' Pale.' 
 
 Let us now consider the Greek and Latin, " xauXog ' the 
 stalk of a plant,* = ToeSrj, ' the male member.' " This is our 
 word ' kale,' ' cole,' ' cauliflower.' Maidens who want to 
 be well married go on Hallowe'en after dark to the cabbage 
 garden, kailyard of a bachelor, and steal therefrom a kail- 
 custock, or custock, which latter word signifies the soft interior 
 of the cabbage stock. Caulis, also coUs, is the Latin form with 
 exactly the same meanings. Lucian speaking of the reversed 
 race in the Moon, who tied on their phaUi, and were impreg- 
 nated in the upper part of their leg, says, " every one of them 
 at the point of his rump hath a long colewort growing out 
 instead of a tail, always green and flourishing, which though 
 a man fall upon his back cannot be broken." ^ 
 
 We do not here prove too much, the more changes that 
 could be rung on any vocable, the greater the science of the 
 reciter. Let us remember that Cuchulainn died affixed to 
 
 1 " Perth Incident, 1369," pp. 57, 116. 
 ' Cormac's " Translation," pp. 43, 44. 
 ' Lucian's " True History," book i. chap, xxiii. 
 
PALE. CUALNGE 37 
 
 a pillar stone, peulvan, peul-maen (?) caol-main, ' slender 
 treasure/ Welsh and Breton maen, a ' stone,' Gaelic main, 
 a ' treasure,' Norse men, ornaments, so it is clear that they 
 are related, and mean, ' a precious stone.' St " Colman " 
 was " Colman Cuile in Conailli Muirthemni," that is ' Colman 
 of the nook, couch, of whom the locality is Murreiv, Cuchu- 
 lainn's patrimony.^ 
 
 1 " Calendar of Oengus," i8th November, p. clxix. 
 
ST KILDA 
 
 " St Kilda lies about fifty miles west of North Uist, and as 
 seen thence on a clear summer day, it appears on the horizon 
 as a tall dark pillar." ^ Recalling Colum's connection with 
 islands, and preferring the idea of Colum meaning Columna, 
 we would naturally expect that this island would have him as 
 its patron. We find this then to be the case ; Martin tells us 
 that the islanders observe Christmas, Easter, Good Friday, AU 
 Saints' and St Columba's Day. The rest of the festivals here, 
 are general to the church except the one to St Colum.^ 
 
 In Martin's day the maor was Donald Mack-Gj7 Colum. 
 He spells the title Meijre. Macaulay informs us, however, that 
 the people of the island have a tradition, " that one Macquin 
 an Irish rover, was the first person who settled himself and a 
 colony of his countrymen in their land." ^ Conn, gen. Cuinn ; 
 ' the Hundred Fighter,' compare the Co«maicne, the de- 
 scendants of Medb, queen of Cowwacht who lived on the seaside 
 in CoM«emara.* Joyce gives no root word in his Gaelic list 
 corresponding with this. Conray he compares with cunnradh, 
 ' a treaty,' ' an agreement,' literally a ' speaking together,' 
 which may be quite true in this individual instance. Martin 
 tells us there is a well in St Kilda, " Conirdan," ^ and Macaulay 
 tells us that of the highest part of the island which may be 
 styled, " the Tenereiffe of Britain, the name is Co««gra." He 
 says further that the posterity of the true natives of St Kilda 
 are distinguished by the surnames Mac Ille Mhoirre and Mac 
 Die Rhiabhich, son of the servant of Mary, doubtless improved 
 Msicquins, Conmaicne ; the others the descendants of Colum 
 here called ' the brindled,' or it might be ' the devil ' {riab- 
 hach). Another saint, however, has a chapel dedicated to him 
 in the island, Brianan, Brenann, Brendan. " Now on the 
 night of Brenainn's birth, bishop Eire (area ?) of AUtraige, 
 (cliff of the shore ?) beheld a wood under one vast flame, the 
 like whereof had never before been seen by him, and the 
 
 *" Caledonian Medical Journal," vol. vii. p. 18. 
 
 « Martin's " St Kilda," p. 44. ' Macaulay's " St Kilda," p. 47. 
 
 * " Joyce," 1st series, p. 126. • Martin's " St Kilda," p. 16. 
 
 38 
 
ST KILDA 39 
 
 manifold service of the angels in bright-white garments all 
 round the land." Brenann's father was Finnlug, find, ' white,' 
 lug = lux, ' light.' The bishop knelt before him, baptised him, 
 and Mobhi (see pp. 4, 18), was given him for a name by his 
 parents.! ■\^e may conclude then without further difficulty 
 that he was as Colman Mac Lenin said, " Brenainn, flame of a 
 victorious world." Brenann goes to Co««acht where a great 
 marvellous vessel was built for him, and he spent his life, in 
 seeking " a land secret, hidden, secure, delightful, separated 
 from men." ^ This ' fiery ' saint therefore, might very natur- 
 ally find a dedication in this lone western isle. His day in Kilda 
 is the 27th of May, says Macaulay, though the i6th is set apart 
 for it in the Calendar, under which date a long genealogy of him 
 wiU be found in the Calendar of Oengus. 
 
 Macaulay gives a story of him in the island of Barra. A 
 man, " employed his spade " on a little spot of ground near 
 the saint's temple on his own holiday. The place where he 
 was emplo5dng his spade was a hollow whence he could neither 
 see the chapel nor could he be seen from it, so when reproved 
 he answered, Brianin could not possibly see him. The infidel 
 was struck blind.* Brenann and Colum are as we may say 
 avatars of the same idea, and so we find " on the days devoted 
 to the memory of Columba and Brendan at St Kilda, aU the milk 
 of the Commonwealth is, with a most scnipulous exactness 
 deMvered up into the hands of the steward or his deputy, who 
 distributes the whole without any partiality, every man, 
 woman, and child, receiving indiscriminately an equal portion."* 
 The significance of mUk has been considered elsewhere.^ 
 
 Like aU other writers on St Kilda we must deal with its 
 name; Hirta (Buchanan), Hyrtha (Camden), Hyrt (Charter, 
 Robert II). We have found Colum Cille naturally, its principal 
 patron, and Colum CiUe is notoriously of Hy, Hi, so it does not 
 seem an unsupported suggestion to find this same word for an 
 island in the first part of ' Hiorta,' as the Rev. Hugh Mac- 
 Callum spells it, though he states ex cathedra that it means lar- 
 Tir, west land. We accept his spelling but not his translation, 
 preferring Hi lartach, the ' western Hi,' or ' the western 
 island ' if you like. 
 
 It is generally known however, as St Kilda, who seems to us 
 
 1 " Lives of Saints from the Book of Lismore," p. 248. 
 ' Ibid., pp. 252, 257. 
 
 » Macaulay's " St Kilda," p. 68. * Ibid., p. 71. 
 
 » " Kryptadia," vol. x. p. 51. 
 
40 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 to be a female saint with a name connected with that Cille 
 which characterises Colum. She gives her name to a large 
 well near the town described by Macaulay, p. 89, as, " gushing 
 out like a torrent from the face of a rock," and it is also called 
 " the well of the clerk," that is of Colum clench. We have had 
 something to say about the significance of the cubit measure 
 p. 202), and we note that Martin says, " the Cubit, or in their 
 language {Lave Keile, i.e. an Hand of Wood, is the distance from 
 the elbow to the fingers' ends (compare ' claw ' in the two 
 Pigfeeder tales), this they only use in measuring their boats " ;^ 
 St Kilda had an altar in St Brenann's chapel. Compare what 
 is said of measuring rods (pp. 28, 30) . 
 
 According to our understanding of Macaulay's tradition of 
 the origin of St Kildans from M.a.cquin, their descent was in the 
 female line. Among all the plots of excellent grass in the 
 island, both Martin and Macaulay make special mention of one 
 which the latter calls a " delightful vaUey." Martin says of it, 
 it has " a declination towards the sea with a rivulet running 
 through the middle of it on each side of which is an ascent of 
 half a mile." It is called " the female warrior's glen." " They 
 tell you she was much addicted to hunting, and that in her 
 days all the space betwixt this isle and that of Harries was one 
 continued tract of dry land." ..." 'Tis said of this warrior 
 that she let loose her greyhounds {cu, gen. con), after the deer 
 in St Kilda, making their course towards the opposite isles." 
 It is likely if more of these stories had been preserved for us of 
 this lady, " famous in their traditions," we might have got 
 more information. One further interesting fact however re- 
 mains, the existence in Martin's day of her " dairy." This is 
 described as a dry stone circular house with a central opening 
 for the smoke, capable of containing nine persons sitting. 
 Extending from this central portion were three " low vaults," 
 " which contains five men each." These were separated by 
 piUars. At the entry to one of these chapels (?) on one side 
 was a single stone, " standing upon one end," there are two 
 stones on the other side. On the one she put her helmet, on 
 the other she put her sword.^ Whether the conjecture is right 
 or not, the single upright stone might have been a lingum, the 
 other pair the yoni, the yoked oxen of p. 32. Martin says of 
 this house that it was still inhabited in summer, " though it be 
 
 ' Martin's " St Kilda," p. 49. 
 
 ' Martin's " St Kilda," p. 15. Macaulay's " St Kilda," p. 26. 
 
ST KILDA 41 
 
 some hundred years old." The phrase does not mean a 
 century old, it would be clearer had he said some hundreds 
 of years old. 
 
 There is another house of the same description in another 
 of the group of islands. Two and a half leagues north of St 
 KUda is Stack-Ly, half a league north of it Borera. We give 
 Martin's distances and spelling. The latter, he says, " is very 
 high, all rock inaccessible except in a cahn." ..." In the west 
 end is Stallir-House which is much larger than that of the Female 
 Warrior in St Kilda, but of the same model in all respects ; 
 it is all green without like a little hill." It was apparently a 
 sidh, a brugh?- Macaulay describes it to the same purpose as 
 Martin, as an earth house in fact, but speaks as if there were 
 two buUdings, a temple, and a Staller's house. He translates 
 the name StaUer as ' the man of the rocks,' and makes him an 
 insurgent against supreme authority in St Kilda ; Martin says 
 he was a hermit.^ Neither story considered apart from the 
 buildings themselves appears of the least value. One thing is 
 certain, we are face to face with a Norse, not a Gaelic word. 
 Stallr also stalli, ' a block used as a pedestal,' ' a shelf on 
 which things are placed,' ' a crib,' ' the step of a mast,' 
 stalli being " an (heathen) altar." Stelling, ' a mast step.' 
 These Icelandic words prove that the Norsemen who used 
 them were talking of one of whom they wished to record his 
 dealings with something equivalent to the hoUow into which a 
 mast was intended to be placed, a pediment partaking of the 
 nature of a heathen altar. The stallir we conclude was one of 
 those who reverenced what we now know of as " the female 
 warrior." In Gaelic steallair is ' a spout,' ' squirt,' ' water- 
 cock,' while stiall is a ' streak,' a ' stripe ' ; stiallach, 
 ' brindled,' (Dinneen), so we see that a portion of the in- 
 habitants of St Kilda, the Mic Ille Rhiabhich mentioned above, 
 are the descendants of the Stallir. We may conclude that 
 the other family, the Mic lUe Mhoirre, are the descendants of 
 the female warrior, otherwise St Kilda. She however, was not 
 known to the islanders at all in Macaulay 's day ; they were, 
 as he says, " absolute strangers to this their imaginary patron 
 or hero."^ Martin makes a male of this personage, Kilder. 
 Macaulay on the other hand says that there was a Saxon Kilda 
 
 1 Martin's " St Kilda," p. 24. 
 
 » Macaulay's " St Kilda," p. 49. Martin's " St Kilda," p. 24. 
 
 » Macaulay's " St Kilda," p. 91. 
 
42 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 who founded Whitley (Whitby), but " that either the name of 
 this holy woman, or the fame of her miracles had travelled to 
 St Kilda, is absolutely improbable, especially as we find no 
 vestiges of the first, nor any notion of the last in any other part 
 of this kingdom." i The saint at Whitby is called Hilda, but 
 we are by no means as certain as Macaulay of the " absolute 
 improbability " of a connection between the two. Bede is our 
 authority for the story that Hilda, the abbess at a place called 
 Heruteu (there is a decided flavour here of Hyrt), said to be 
 Hartlepool, founded a monastery at Streaneshalch (Whitby), 
 over which the first and second bishops called respectively 
 Diuma and Ceollach were Scots. That was in the year 655. 
 In 652, Finan, a Scot, became bishop of Lindisfarne. Finan 
 was an observer of the wrong Easter and the wrong tonsure, 
 and was assailed for this by another Scot called Ronan. Finan 
 (?) ' furry,' Ronan (?) ' seal's head.' Finan died and was 
 succeeded by Colman (p. 37), also a Scot. To settle the Easter 
 question, a Synod under King Oswy, the conqueror of the Picts, 
 king of Mercia, was convened at Streaneshalch, said to mean 
 the ' Bay of the lighthouse or watchtower,' Hilda " the abbess 
 and her followers were for the Scots." This was in 664. Colman 
 stood valorously to his guns, he had the date of Easter as an 
 inheritance of the elders of his church, as being the Jewish 
 Passover observed by John the Evangelist (?) ; his tonsure had 
 equally respectable authority. His statements were contro- 
 verted, and Oswy gave his decision against the Scots. It is in 
 this dispute, according to Bede, that the Romish party dis- 
 claim all knowledge of Columba, and Abbot Wilfrid goes so far 
 as to compare him, if he existed, to those working wonders in 
 the name of the Lord, of whom He shall say He never knew 
 them. We thus see a strong magian church, if we may style it 
 after its form of tonsure, settled in a place with a Norse name 
 Streaneshalch, and an abbess at its head whose name is Hilda, 
 Icelandic holdr, ' a yeoman,' 'the owner of allodial land,' 
 German held, ' a hero ' ; make a female of it and you have the 
 lady of St Kilda, the ' Female Warrior.' Streaneshalch 
 itself, and the description is correct for Whitby, seems to mean 
 the ' stream points of the warriors,' hjalta, Swed. a ' hero,' a 
 convenient vicking landing-place, the town being nearly equally 
 divided by the river Esk. If the k of the name Kilda was to be 
 considered as the c of the word mac which is q in Oghmic, and 
 
 • Macaulay's " St Kilda," pp. 91, 92. 
 
ST KILDA 43 
 
 the initial q in Manx names at the present day, then Kilda 
 would be ' son of Hilda,' just as Quayle represents the Scottish 
 MdiCphail, Paulson. We are dealing with these stories as folk- 
 lore and nothing occurs to us which would render it impossible, 
 that the Saxon name Hilda was not applied as a suitable Saxon 
 modification of a name derived from a Gaelic word, say cille for 
 example. If Heruteu has anything to do with Hyrt, we must 
 remember that the venerable Bede, our authority, was not born 
 at the date of Colman and Wilfrid's dispute, though probably 
 within ten years thereafter ; treating the dispute as a historical 
 fact, and Bede as the same. 
 
 We must follow Bede's account of Colman a little further, 
 " Perceiving that his doctrine was rejected, and his sect de- 
 spised, (Colman) took with him such as would not comply with 
 the Catholic Easter and the tonsure, and went back to Scotland 
 to consult with his people what was to be done in this case." 
 ..." Colman carried home with him part of the bones of the 
 most reverend Father Aidan, and left part of them in the church 
 where he had presided, ordering them to be interred in the 
 sacristy." ^ Aidan was bishop for seventeen years, had been 
 succeeded by Finan for ten, and then Colman himself was three 
 years in the incumbency. He was immediately succeeded as 
 Bishop of Northumbria by a circular tonsured Scot, ordained 
 among the southern Scots, and the next abbot of Lindisfame 
 was a Saxon who had been Abbot of Melrose but was one of 
 twelve boys, of the English nation who had been instructed by 
 Aidan. If this is aU reliable, then it is clear that within the 
 bounds of modem Scotland there was a church at this date, 
 664, agreeing with the Romish Catholic, and another church, 
 let us say, disagreeing with it. The heterodox church was 
 Pictish and northern Pictish at that. Oswy's Northumbria 
 apparently extended to the Forth, but he seems to have carried 
 war into the dominion of the Picts stiU further. He died in 671, 
 and was succeeded by Egfrid.^ Bede tells us that Egfrid sent an 
 expedition into Ireland, and in the following year, as Chalmers 
 says, " plunged into the defiles of Pictavia," and according 
 to the Annals of Ulster, burned Tula-Aman and Dun-Olaig. 
 Tula-Aman can hardly be anything else than Inchtuthill, Delvin 
 on the Tay, the Stormont. It was so identified by Boece.* 
 
 1 Bede's " Ecclesiastical History," book iii. chap. ixvi. 
 " " Ecclesiastical History," book iv. chap. xxvi. 
 • " Perth Incident of 1396," p. 69. 
 
44 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 The other Dunollaig, is in meaning clearly the same as the 
 modern Dunolly, and was known to the Annals of Ulster 
 as in the west of Lorn.i It was natural to suppose that the 
 locality was represented by the modem DunoUy near Oban. 
 If Egfrid could make a successful incursion on Ireland, he could 
 perfectly easily make a flank attack on those he was harrying 
 north of Tay, and if this properly explains his tactical action, 
 the Argyleshire men at that date were Picts also. So far as we 
 know there are no evidences of important ancient fortification 
 at DunoUy ; but we have already on several occasions pointed 
 out the connection between Perthshire and Argyleshire, which 
 is as it were embodied in the name Crinan, the father of Mac- 
 beth's Duncan, said to have been Abbot of Dull, and of whom 
 we find the name localised in the Moss of ' Crinan.' We now 
 unhesitatingly suggest that the Dnn-OUaig destroyed by 
 Egfrid's flank movement was what is now called Dunad, the 
 lately explored fortification on the ailech (Meyer), the fortified 
 rock in the centre of the Moss of Crinan. This translation 
 describes equally well the Dunolly of the Macdougalls, and 
 though we presume there can be no reliable evidence of when or 
 how the modem DunoUy got its name, believing as we do that 
 Macdougall means ' son of the wall ' (gual, the Roman waU), 
 we suggest that it has been carried over from the more ancient 
 fortification of Dunad. 
 
 We have carried out this line of argumentative deduction in 
 order to show that in 685, according to what is accepted as 
 history, the church favoured by the nominal abbess of Whitby 
 was being scurvUy used as far north as Lorn, and to within 
 fifty mUes as the crow flies of the more convenient of the His, 
 that is lona. 
 
 It is very difficult to bring oneself to believe that men should 
 banish themselves to so solitary and ungetatable a place as 
 Hiorta, but if such there were, Bede's account of Colman and 
 his foUowers goes far to prove that they were to be found within 
 his church. The place, says Bede, " which he governed shows 
 how frugal he and his predecessors were, for there were very 
 few houses besides the church found at their departure ; indeed, 
 no more than were barely sufficient for their daUy residence ; 
 they had also no money, but cattle ; for if they received any 
 money from rich persons, they immediately gave it to the poor ; 
 there being no need to gather money, or provide for the enter- 
 
 ' Chalmers' " Caledonia," i. p. 255, note. 
 
ST KILDA 45 
 
 tainment of the great men of the world ; for such never re- 
 sorted to the church, except to pray and hear the Word of God. 
 The king himself, when opportunity offered, came only with 
 five or six servants, and having performed his devotions in the 
 church, departed. But if they happened to take a repast 
 there, they were satisfied with only the plain and daily food of 
 the brethren, and required no more ; for the whole care of those 
 teachers was to serve God, not the world — to feed the soul, and 
 not the belly." We must remember that these north,ern 
 religionists were living in what seems properly to be called Holy 
 ' Island,' and the site was therefore, there can surely be no 
 doubt, deliberately selected as such. Lindisfame, lona, Inch- 
 cokn, St Kilda, were aU doubtless in their own districts, if we 
 can speak of a district in connection with St Kilda, the newer 
 names for what was ' the Holy Island,' and if separation from 
 the rest of humanity, danger, difficulty and privation, were to 
 make one island of greater sanctity than any other, none of 
 them could equal the lone column, the Hi-iartach (?) of the 
 Deucaledonian Sea. 
 
 Let us return to Whitby. Camden tells us, " here are found 
 certain stones fashioned like serpents folded and wrapped 
 round as in a wreath "... "A man would think verily they 
 had been sometime serpents which a coat or crust of stone had 
 now covered all over. But people too credulous ascribe this to 
 the prayers of St Hilda, as if she had thus transformed and 
 changed them ; who in our primitive church withstood to her 
 power the shoring and shaving of priests, and the celebrating of 
 Easter according to the order of Rome." ^ The presence of 
 these ammonites was probably known in the neighbourhood of 
 Whitby before the origin of the Hilda myth. To apply the 
 epithet ' myth ' to the information given us by Bede is no 
 doubt to strike at the father of British history. Camden is not 
 the only one who likened the ammonite to a serpent, the 
 similarity is a matter of common notoriety. Given this 
 similarity you have in them representatives of the tempter 
 of Eve and the prayers of the virgin Hilda which rendered them 
 innocuous would necessarily redound to her honour, and her 
 conquest of the principle of evil, claim commemoration for her 
 as a female warrior. Hilda's origin from the unidentifiable 
 Heruteu, the " Island of the Hart," and her nominal pre- 
 sidency in Streaneshalch, while Elfleda, a daughter of king 
 
 • Camden's " Britannia," p. 718. 
 
46 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 Oswy's was with her all the time, makes it at any rate possible 
 that Elfleda was the real abbess and Hilda the traditional saint, 
 just as we beheve Columba to be a traditional saint, and we call 
 attention to the fact that Hilda's earliest connection was with 
 an island, wherever that island might be. 
 
 J Bede no doubt gives us a long account of the genealogy and 
 adventures of Hilda, giving the day of her death, 17th November 
 680, having lived half her life, thirty-three years, in the secular 
 habit, and thirty-three as a religious. He says she was at a 
 monastery near Paris, then near Wearmouth, then at Heruteu, 
 and then at Streaneshalch. Heruteu, he says, was founded 
 shortly before, by a female of the name of Heiu, the first nun 
 in Northumbria, and seeing the Northumbrians owed their 
 Christianity to the Scots, Heiu is probably Gaelic and suggests 
 a near relationship with what was loua, that is Hi, latterly 
 lona, which there can be little doubt is " Jonah " and not an 
 accidental variation of I, Hi. Bede teUs us that aU that knew 
 Hilda called her Mether, an appellation one would suppose 
 unnecessary to mention as common to any one in her position, 
 but it is mentioned to introduce a story about her own mother 
 Bregusuit, the wife of Hereric who had been banished under a 
 Cerdic, king of the Britons. She dreamt " she was seeking for 
 Hereric most carefully, and could find no sign of him anywhere ; 
 but, after having used all her industry, to seek him, she found a 
 most precious jewel under her garment, which, whilst she was 
 looking on it very attentively, cast such a light as spread itself 
 throughout all Britain ; which dream was brought to pass in her 
 daughter that we speak of, whose life was a bright example, 
 not only to herself, but to all who desired to live well." Minute 
 elucidation of this folk tale may be dispensed with. Brec, ' a 
 lie,' ' deceit ' ; suide, sude, ' a seat ' ; Bregusuit, ' the seat 
 of deceit.' The traditional Hilda then seems to be also Heiu 
 on the one part, and Elfleda on the other.^ 
 
 We have called Heruteu ' unidentifiable.' It is said to be 
 Hartlepool which is a peninsula. Heorot in Anglo-Saxon is 
 ' a stag,' ' a deer ' ; heore, ' delightful,' ' chaste ' ; and 
 teoh ' convictus,' ' a living together,' ' social intercourse,' 
 ' a banquet.' Passing over ' Hyrt ' for the present, if we 
 carry our inquiries across to Ireland we will find there at least 
 four islands called Daimh-inis. Damh, though in Irish ' an 
 ox,' is according to Dinneen very much the equivalent of the 
 
 ' " Ecclesiastical History," book iv. chap, xxiii. 
 
ST KILDA 47 
 
 Latin dama, as with the qualification allaid, ' wild,' it means 
 ' ox, elk, roebuck.' One of these Devenishs is near Ennis- 
 killen, a name in Irish always translated as Inis-Cethlenn, 
 Cethlenn's island. She is said to have been the wife of Baior 
 of the Evil Eye, the leader of the Fomorians, and herself to have 
 fought at the second battle of Magh Tuireadh, and to have there 
 slain the king of the Tuatha De Danann, the Dagda, the ' good 
 god.' She was thus a ' female warrior ' and connected with 
 deer.^ This Devenish is described as ' multitudinous ' and 
 was therefore the site of social gathering, the damium.heoroteoh. 
 Damhs is quite a common pronunciation and spelling for dance 
 in Scottish Gaelic. The traditional patron of Devenish was 
 Molaise, ' flame,' who died suddenly by plucking out the 
 poisonous hair of SiUan. As the hair was in his eyebrow we 
 may conclude that SiUan was the Christian successor of the 
 heathen Balor of the Evil Eye.^ 
 
 What seems to our purpose here, is the account of the 
 priestesses of Bacchus in the island in the Loire. " No man 
 dared enter the island ; when they would visit their husbands 
 they took boat to the mainland and returned immediately 
 back again after the visit." * History tell us of these priest- 
 esses of the West, that they were redoubtable magicians who 
 loved to live on savage islands exposed to a stormy sea. One 
 peculiarity of the female colony at the mouth of the Loire was 
 that they had a temple which it was the custom to unroof once 
 a year but replace the roof before sunset. Each brought her 
 share of materials for the work, but if in any case one allowed her 
 burden to faU to the ground, she was instantly torn to pieces 
 by her companions who carried her mangled remains round the 
 temple with jubilant exultation, until the flame of their fury 
 burned itself out.* This island in the Loire and the other female 
 colony at Sena off the coast of Brittany were not the same, but 
 the account of an Irish saint called Senan whose life is given in 
 the Book of Lismore confuses them. The Corco-Baiscinn came 
 with a great sea fleet from the north unto Patrick, and after 
 being baptised themselves desired him to go and baptise their 
 women. Patrick objected, though they told him they had a 
 great fleet to carry him over the sea. Patrick was obdurate 
 however, " but left upon them excellence of shipping." He 
 
 ' Joyce's " Irish Place Names," ist series, pp. 472, 162. 
 ' See " Caledonian Medical Journal," vol. vi. p. 279. 
 ' " Kultur der Alten Kelten," Grupp, p. 143. 
 * " Hibbert Lectures," 1886, p. 196. 
 
48 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 then explained that they did not require him because a child 
 would be born to them and to him their country had been given 
 by God. " The island there in the west, in front of the sea, 
 that is Inis Cathaigh, is there any dwelling in it ?" saith Patrick. 
 "There is none,"say they,"for there is a terrible monster therein 
 named Cathag, who doth not allow it to be inhabited." Patrick 
 explained that it was for the sake of Senan that " the soil of 
 yon island is preserved in virginity." A site for a Church was 
 subsequently selected " in the graveyard of the angel," in Inis- 
 Cathaig. Senan's first miracle was to provide his parents with 
 a habitation, his custom being when they moved from one place 
 to another " to go a day or two days before them, in which time 
 he made a house, sheds, farmyard and every needment besides, 
 which they required to be ready for them " ; thus Senan in his 
 own person was a more rapid builder than the priestesses who 
 took their house to pieces and rebuilt it in a day. When he 
 came to settle in Inis-Cathaig he was told that his resurrection 
 and that of a great host of others should be there, that in the 
 west of the world there was no more sacred island, and that the 
 monster had been sent to keep it so that neither sinners nor 
 sons of cursing should dwell therein, but that the monster 
 should be put forth before him, so that it would not annoy his 
 community by dwelling along with them. There is a complete 
 description of the monster and we are told that its body was 
 longer than the " Isle of the Great Trench," it carried a mane, 
 had a whale's tail, and was so hot that the sea boiled when the 
 beast entered it, and when it drew nigh the cleric, it opened its 
 mouth so that its entrails were visible. With the sign of the 
 Cross Senan rendered it innocuous thereafter. We have in this 
 hideous animal Colum's cetus, and the female warrior of Kilda ; 
 cath, ' battle,' cathag, ' a female warrior.' When the time 
 of Senan's death came, he prepared for it by visiting his father's 
 sister, and Ner's (Nereus son of Pontus and Gaea who became 
 by Doris the father of the fifty Nereides) daughters, pious 
 virgins who were under his spiritual direction. Having bid 
 them farewell, at a thorn tree to the west of these virgins' 
 settlement, he was called to Heaven, St Martin being brought 
 from Tours on a cloud to administer to him the last sacraments, 
 and being carried back in the like manner, provided him with 
 a confessor from the near neighbourhood of Sena.^ 
 
 ' " Lives of Saints from the Book of Lismore," p. 201 et seq. 
 
DIANA 
 
 There can be little doubt that the supporters of the Romish 
 Easter were canying on a crusade against a heresy, and we 
 believe it to have partaken of the nature of a gnostic one. 
 Gnosis was an esoteric science explaining matters in a manner 
 unknown to the vulgar.^ According to the gnostics the 8v6og, 
 Bythos, was the invisible incomprehensible being from whom 
 emanate all things. The Greek word means ' the water deeps ' 
 specially, ' the depth of the sea,' the ' Binah ' sea, under- 
 standing ' the supernal mother ' of the Kabalah.^ In Welsh 
 we find the word byd, ' the universe,' ' hfe ' ; in Gaelic bud, 
 budh, bidh, ' the world,' (Llhuyd) who also gives us beith as 
 ar'mbeith, ' being,' ' essence ' ; bithbeo, ' ever living, 'biach, 
 ' the penis.' We have also in Irish Gaelic domun, ' the 
 world,' ' the universe,' and among the earliest invaders of 
 Ireland were the Fir Domain, the inherent quality of which 
 word denotes depth. We thus see very clearly the allegorical 
 adequacy of making their holy places islands in the sea. The 
 supreme source of all power used an inferior power for creative 
 purposes. A»i/iioupy6g is in Greek ' a skilled workman,' ' a 
 handicraftsman,' and the term was applied to soothsayers, 
 surgeons, heralds, carpenters, etc. In Irish history we find that 
 the men of the Tuatha De Danann were creators of this sort, 
 smith, tinker, potter, physician, wright, poet, etc., and in the 
 battle of the Magh Tuireadh of the Fomorians, these from 
 " under the sea," the one who is given us as extracting informa- 
 tion on these sciences is called Lug, son of Cian, son of Diancecht, 
 their principal physician, his name itself meaning ' light,' 
 and his grandfather was the ' god of the ploughshare ? ' 
 {cechf, ' a ploughshare,' Meyer) ; Cormac translates it " god 
 of the powers." 
 
 The Demiurge was the agent employed by the Bythos for 
 the purpose of creation. He was the representative of the 
 Supreme God, in this lower stage of existence. He was not 
 
 1 " Faiths of the World," vol. i. p. 978. 
 ' " Kabalah Unveiled," pp. 24, 147. 
 
50 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 required to understand the ideas which inspired him, he was 
 merely their unconscious organ. The Gnostics undoubtedly 
 made use of symbols which, as such, received worship, and 
 therefore the " sacred parts," the organ of creation, which to 
 present ideas is almost unmentionable was the representative 
 of a high plain of philosophic thought, and it was merely a step 
 from this position to consider the act of creation a sacred matter 
 common to humanity which perhaps ought to be avoided 
 because of its inherent carnality, but if used being common 
 to all, was not to be considered an individual gratification. 
 
 We have spoken of the goddess Dana who from her con- 
 nection with the word dan in Gaelic meaning, ' a poem ' 
 becomes the goddess of science ; as it were Minerva. She 
 seems to owe her name to Diana, the moon goddess. " Ana, 
 the mother of the Irish gods, it was well she nursed them." 
 She is mentioned as having da chich, ' two paps,' and ana are 
 also small vessels which were at the wells under strict laws.^ 
 The first word is apparently got by dividing Diana into dia, 
 ' god,' and Ana a goddess, with the characteristics of the 
 moon. Geoffrey in his " British History " makes Brutus, son 
 of Sylvius, son of Ascanius, his eponymus ancestor ; he settled 
 in Britain in accordance with a prophecy of Diana.^ Boece 
 also mentions Diana. He has a king, Fynnane, the first to in- 
 stitute prelates and clerks among the Scots. These were the 
 Druids, and he gave them a place of meeting where they as- 
 sembled annually in the Isle (!) of Man. Fynnane, ' the white 
 one,' was succeeded by his son Durstus (druis, ' lust '), who 
 was as disreputable as F5mnane was respectable. His vicious 
 courses raised against him the captains of the Isles, Lome, and 
 other Scottish, as distinguished from Pictish, provinces. In 
 fear of his life he determined to destroy them, so he sent 
 messengers to them, promising that " he would bind him, in the 
 tempill of Diane, under what astrictionis thay plesit." Doron, 
 dorn, ' a fist.' Nuada airgid-lamh ? Nuada silver-hand (?) 
 captain of Lome, was deputed to take his oath, " thus was 
 Durstus brocht in the tempill of Diane and sworne before the 
 preist thairof with all aithis that couth be devisit, to ressave 
 thir capitanis to maist tender freindschip." He takes his 
 oath, invites them to a banquet, and slaughters them. Their 
 murder however was avenged, Durstus being besieged in his 
 
 ' Cormac's " Glossary." Translation, pp. 4 and 7. 
 • Geoffrey's " British History," book i. chap. ii. 
 
DIANA 51 
 
 capital, Berigone, and slain in the ninth year of his reign.^ 
 Boece's traditions led him to connect the pre-Christian worship 
 of the Scots with the goddess Diana, locating the headquarters 
 in the Isle of Man, the ' moon ' island, his history showing 
 us quite certainly that the coUege of clerks, originated by the 
 ' white one,' were Druids, Durstus having taken his oath by the 
 moon (Diana) before a magus. We merely quote this to show 
 that for one reason or another Diana was made the patroness 
 of the first settlers of Britain, and that she had her temple 
 in a desert island in which it was said Brutus got his instructions. 
 The moon plays a very important part when we come to the 
 history of the Scotic religion as shown in the Easter difficulty. 
 It was the relationship of the sun and the moon which fixed this 
 festived. We owe our name for it, according to Bede, to Eostra, 
 a Germanic spring goddess. Legonidec gives us eok, eog as 
 Breton words for a salmon also meaning ' ripe,' and easier 
 is a ' reaper,' a ' mower.' ^ Ceolfrid in his letter to Naitan 
 makes this connection very clear. " We are commanded to 
 observe the full moon of the Paschal month after the vernal 
 equinox, to the end, that the sun may first make the day longer 
 than the night, and then the moon may afford the world her 
 fuU orb of light." And he immediately after adds the Christian 
 explanation of their method of computing, because " he, there- 
 fore, who shaU contend that the full Paschal moon can happen 
 before the equinox, deviates from the doctrine of the holy 
 scriptures in the celebration of the greatest mysteries, and 
 agrees with those who confide that they may be saved without 
 the grace of Christ forerunning them." Further, the Church's 
 fixing of the date was " to show that we do not, with the 
 ancients, honour the shaking off of the Egyptian yoke ; but 
 that, with devout faith and affection, we worship the redemp- 
 tion of the whole world." This he says was to show that our 
 Lord by the triumph of His resurrection, " fiUed His Church, 
 which is often signified by the name of the moon, with the light 
 of inward grace, by sending down upon her His spirit." ^ We 
 see then, that the sun to carry out the Romish simile, must by 
 no means take a secondary place in this festival, a thing which 
 occurred according to the Pictish and Scottish and Jewish date 
 of the observance. The sun never appears as anything but a 
 
 1 Bellenden's " Boece," bk. ii. chap. xiv. 
 
 * For the significance of mowing we refer to the " Caledonian Medical 
 Journal," vi. p. 176. 
 
 ' Bede's " Ecclesiastical History," bk. v. chap. xxi. p. 284. 
 
52 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 circular object, the tonsure affected by the exalters of the sun's 
 importance was circular. The moon is characterised by a 
 crescented form and this seems the interpretation we must put 
 upon the Celtic tonsure. " But as for the tonsure which Simon 
 Magus is said to have used, what Christian will not immediately 
 detest and cast it off together with his magic ? Upon the top 
 of the forehead, it does seem indeed to resemble a crown ; 
 but when you come to the neck, you will find the crown you 
 thought you had seen so perfect cut short ; so that you may 
 be satisfied such a distinction properly belongs not to Christians 
 but to Simoniacs." ^ 
 
 Humfrey Lloyd tells expressly that the pre-Adamnan ton- 
 sure was " taught in this Island of Brytane by loseph of 
 Arimathea, who first preached the Gospell in the same." ^ The 
 writer of " Bede " says that wearers of it were condemned to 
 eternal punishment, but he thinks better of that and explains 
 that " Adamnan the abbot and renowned priest of Columba " 
 was holy and worthy of God. Before discussing Adamnan, it 
 is noteworthy that the expression here used, " priest of Columba 
 is just what might be said in reference to a god or goddess, priest 
 of Diana, or priest of Priapus. It must be pretty clear to Einy 
 one that, starting from the jaw and drawing a line above the 
 eyebrows to the other jaw and from the top of the ear across the 
 vertex to the other ear, within those lines you have, especially 
 if the hair is left in a straight line above the upper one, a 
 crescented tonsure, as it will appear looking full-face on a 
 bearded man. 
 
 Bede is telling us in aU this of the first developments of 
 Christianity among the English of Northumbria. The story 
 suggests that the Northumbrians were not satisfied with their 
 older faith, and king Oswald, on ascending the throne, asked 
 instructions from the elders of the Scots, and to him was sent 
 bishop Aidan.^ This reads as if Aidan was the first to be sent, 
 but in chapter v. of " Bede " there is a detailed account 
 of a nameless presbyter havingpreceded him, who had not been 
 able to do any good to the nation, " because they were un- 
 civilised men, and of a stubborn and barbarous disposition." 
 This shows that these Picts and Scots were not a wild Irishry, 
 and that they, as the saying goes, fancied themselves as a 
 
 1 Bede's " Ecclesiastical History," bk. v. chap. xxi. p. 287. 
 
 ' " Historie of Cambria," p. 16. 
 
 • Bede's " Ecclesia^tcial History," bk. iii. chap. iii. 
 
DIANA S3 
 
 civilised people. Aidan told the rejected that he had pro- 
 bably been too severe for his unlearned hearers, and that he 
 should have given them the milk of more easy doctrine. Aidan 
 was forthwith chosen, apparently by the family of lona, 
 to show his faith by his works and go and serve out the 
 milk himself. We have the authority of Sophocles for " "xiSris 
 dfi/iiovpyoi aypioi ) ' Pluto demiurge of the uncivilized.' That 
 this first apostle of the uncivilized English should have a name 
 " Aidan " causes one to think how he came by it, nor does the 
 historical accuracy of the various narratives appear more trust- 
 worthy when we are told that because of the orders read to him 
 by an angel out of a book of glass, Columba had selected an 
 " Aidan " to be king of Dalriada,^ though he had been pre- 
 possessed in favour of his elder brother logenan, " John-one " (?) 
 Remember that the wrong Easter and the lunar tonsure were 
 those of John (p. 42), and were the older in the Scotic church 
 and prevailed in it tiU Adamnan, the putative authority for 
 this story, and, who is said to have tried to alter the latter 
 to the circular after accepting the Romish Easter. Aidan, 
 " Fire-one," contains the suggestion of " Aides " the Greek 
 Pluto. The saint of this name was, not only fireproof himself, 
 but dying leaning against a wooden post, as Cuchulairin did 
 against a pillar-stone, he left such virtue in the post that it was 
 not burned in the three separate destructions by fire of the 
 church of which it formed a support. The church being 
 rebuilt, the post was put inside and became an object of wor- 
 ship.^ This story can only mean that it was a symbol of the 
 demiurge. Aidan's successor was Finan, ' the Furry-one,' 
 also of Hi, and his successor Cohnan, ' the Column-one,' who 
 had to retire to Hi on the adoption by the Northumbrians of the 
 Romish Easter. These names may have been the designa:- 
 tions of individuals, the baptismal names assumed in their 
 characters as religious, but they also may be the creations of 
 what we may call Gregorian history, history written with the 
 purpose of carrying out Gregory's instruction that the " temples 
 be converted from the worship of devils to the worship of the 
 true God." In the case of Aidan's post, it would appear that 
 the image not being destroyed had been Christened, as we may 
 say. Gregory said, " it is impossible to efface everything at 
 once from their obdurate minds, because he who endeavours 
 
 » " Vita Columbae," iii. 6. 
 
 ' Bede's " Ecclesiastical History," bk. iii. chap. xvii. 
 
54 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 to ascend to the highest place, rises by degrees or steps, and not 
 by leaps." 1 The retention of the symbol was doubtless a 
 cautious step in advance calculated to retain the worshippers 
 while capable of a somewhat different explanation, and the 
 opportunity was a remarkably good one, as these Englishmen 
 were becoming heirs to a religion of an older civilisation, one 
 in which Gaelic was the language used, a language entirely 
 foreign to the converts. 
 
 We suggest that the Romish missionaries preached some- 
 thing like the following doctrine to the Gaelic Church. 
 " Neither abstinence from fish or flesh, nor going naked, nor 
 shaving the head, nor matted hair, nor dirt, nor a rough gar- 
 ment, nor sacrifices to Agni (fire) wiU clease a man not free from 
 delusions." ^ This is a Buddhistic precept from the Amagandha 
 Sutta aimed at the more ancient unreformed Hinduism. There 
 are nine separate customs mentioned, eight of which represent 
 bodily privations, the ninth only, not being clearly so. The 
 doubt however, arises from the periphrastic form of the phrase. 
 It was, we believe, not a question of the burning of a handful of 
 grain or a small quantity of melted butter, but the ' pollution ' 
 the inevitable consequence of persistent abstention. Notice 
 that the first thing mentioned was the avoidance of fish. To 
 explain this we may quote R. L. Stevenson in his Tahitian 
 story, " The Venging of Tamatea." At a feast given there, 
 there were 
 
 " bananas roasted and raw 
 Piled with a bountiful hand, as for horses, hay and straw 
 Are stacked in a stable ; and fish, the food of desire." 
 
 The description of this feast was so different from 
 universal Tahitian custom that Stevenson says, " How 
 did king, commons, women and all come to eat together 
 at this feast ? But it troubled none of my numerous authori- 
 ties ; so there must certainly be some natural explanation. 
 There is a special word in the Tahitian language to signify 
 hungering after fish." We have slightly changed the pro- 
 gression of the sentences in Stevenson's note. The one we 
 have put last suggests the explanation of males and females, 
 being said to have been both parties to the feast. 
 
 From what we see in Bede, it would appear that it was in 
 Aidan's Church, that the GaeUc names for Wednesday and 
 
 * " Ecclesiastical History," bk. i. chap. xxx. 
 
 • " Buddhism," Rhys Davids, p. 131. 
 
DIANA 5 5 
 
 Friday arose, meaning respectively as they do, " day of the first 
 fast " {diciadaoin) and the " fast-day " (dihaoine). " At that 
 time, many religious men and women stirred up by his (Aidan's) 
 example, adopted the custom of fasting on Wednesday and 
 Friday till the ninth hour, throughout the year, except during 
 the fifty days after Easter." ^ Wednesday = Mercury's = 
 Hermes = Priapus' day ; Friday (Friga, compare ppi^, ruffling 
 of a smooth surface, bristling like hair, (pfixri, shuddering), = 
 Venus' day, clearly demonstrating the original significance of 
 the fast. The fifty days after Easter was doubtless the period 
 of the festivities commencing with what we have compared to 
 the Damium. In heathen Rome, this festival in which the 
 sacrifices were especially made in the open air was in honour of 
 the Bona Dea. She seems to have passed into Gaelic story as 
 the Dagda, the ' Good God ' to all appearance. He was the 
 possessor of the ' never dry cauldron,' he was the brother of 
 Dana, the Moon goddess, as we think, the father of Bridget, 
 the so-called Irish Mary, and was distinguished in Irish story, 
 as having as many cloaks, coverings, as there are heavens 
 according to the Kabala, and fiourishing a life-giving staff ; 
 he was not himself the staff. For the reason that his character- 
 istic connections are female and not male, we consider him in 
 his inception, as the Bona Dea treated according to Gregory. 
 The ceremonies attending the worship of the Bona Dea were 
 exclusively restricted to women. They took place on the ist 
 May, and preparation for them especially demanded avoidance 
 of intercourse with men. Selah-na-jig seems the very candid 
 survival of her worship within the Celtic bounds. Other things 
 being equal, among the Romans, with men, Faunus (Fionn ?), 
 took the place of the Bona Dea among women. In her origin 
 further removed from the British Isles, was a goddess of the same 
 sort, MyUita, a moon goddess, represented by the usual two- 
 sided emblem, and whatever may have been the manner and 
 method of the transmission of the name, we cannot separate 
 from this worship of the female sakti, the Gaelic Beltain, May 
 Eve. Belit-uine (?), the end of the half yearly period ruled 
 by the moon, the sun at that time being least in evidence. We 
 have no doubt that the Celtic Beltain was represented by the 
 vernal equinox and heis come down to us as that day on which 
 gowks (cuckoo seekers) go on their special errand, and we would 
 therefore relegate the Samh-uine, the end of the summer time 
 
 * " Ecclesiastical History," bk. iii. chap. v. 
 
S6 KELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 to the first of October as nearer the autumnal equinox. Con- 
 necting May ist with the Scriptural Baal, e.g., Manx ' Baal- 
 tinn/ may possibly have been either a deliberate attempt to 
 put a male in the place of a female object of reverence, or the 
 unconscious adoption of a name which had become familiar, 
 in the place of one of which the significance had become obscure. 
 Maia, who, by the way was daughter of Faunus, was female 
 herself, and the two fires between which on May day the herds 
 drove their cattle with a view to their satisfactory growth, 
 doubtless represented the aschera, the double pillars on which 
 the female warrior of St Kilda laid her sword, the cauldron of 
 the Dagda, the vessel of Isis, the cornucopia, the mouth of 
 Columba's cetus. 
 
 This recalls the fact that in Gaelic bel, beat, beul, is 
 the ' mouth.' The name of the Gaulish war-god is Belatu 
 (Belatu-cadros). On the line of the English Roman waU there 
 are at least thirteen dedications to him. Connecting his name 
 with the Gaelic at-bail, also epil, meaning ' perit,' ' passed 
 away,' ' destroyed,' the destruction caused by war is suggested 
 as an instance of voracity. If Beltane then is from the same 
 root, its connection withgrowth is a secondary one only. "Thou 
 fool that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die." 
 " Except a com of wheat faU into the ground and die, it 
 abideth alone : but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." ^ 
 
 The cast of thought here expressed is from the mouth of one 
 not geographically distant from where the Syria Dea was 
 reverenced. We have however in Gaelic a name nowadays 
 applied to the end of winter and commencement of spring, 
 which seems to correspond sufficiently closely with a descrip- 
 tion of winter as the time of destruction as opposed to that of 
 growth ; " Faoilteach " " Faoillidh." « 
 
 It was the stormy month, the depth of winter, the "dregs" 
 of the year, just as the Latins called winter " snow time," 
 hiems, and we ' wind time,' winter. These take account of 
 causes of scarcity and discomfort, others of the discomfort 
 itself. The Bawenda, a Bantu tribe, to give an example of 
 the universal similarity of human nature, call winter by the 
 word equivalent to " hunger." ' Beltane is now May-day, 
 but that is a coincidence of time and no proof in itself of 
 connection between the one term and the other. 
 
 • I Cor. XV. 36 ; St John xii. 24. 
 
 • " Caledonian Medical Journal," April 1908. 
 
 • " Journal Anthropological Institute," vol. xxxv. p. 383. 
 
DIANA 57 
 
 Colman after retiring from Northumbria with a part of the 
 rehcs of Aidan, appears to have gone from Hi in 668, to what is 
 called " the Island of the White Cow " {vaccae albae, inis-&o- 
 find), and in 676 we are told " Colman bishop of the Island of the 
 White Cow died." ^ Inis-bo-find is identified as that in Lough 
 Ree, ' moon Lough,' on the Shannon, and in this island there 
 is a loch of the White Cow. The cow itself may still upon 
 occasion be seen emerging from its waters ; ^ one should 
 certainly look for it on a still moonlight night. The island 
 dedicated to the White Cow, the crescent moon, Columba's 
 milk-bearing white horse, the goddess Ana, Anu, who nursed 
 the Irish divinities, was quite a suitable place for so consistent 
 a defender of the lunar tonsure. 
 
 * " Chronicon Hyense " ; Adamnan's " Columba," Reeves, p. 335. 
 ' " Annals Four Masters," a.d. 667, note. 
 
ADAMNAN 
 
 We may pass now to the consideration of Adamnan.the person- 
 age spoken of in the Ecclesiastical History as having been 
 influenced to abandon the Simonian Easter and tonsure. 
 Reeves finds four of the name in history.^ " The Annals of 
 Ulster " mention two, in 835 Adamnan mac Alddailedh, and a 
 century earlier, in 730, Adamnan of Rath-maige-aenaigh. The 
 connection of Dailedh with dail is clear ; dailedh, ' a meeting.' 
 Making a guess at the aid of the patronymic, we suggest it as — 
 il, i.e. gille, ' servant,' ' attendant ' ; ' Adamnan son of the 
 meetiag's attendant.' The younger man's name is plain 
 enough, ' Adamnan of the enclosure of the plain of the unifica- 
 cation,' ' fair.' The other two Adamnans both senior in date 
 to the above, are mentioned by Bede. The elder is Adamnan 
 of Coludi. Coludi was a monastery of virgins Bede expressly 
 tells us, and he says it was burned down through carelessness. 
 One is a little astonished to find, if this were all we were told 
 about it, that there were monks there also. Adamnan's business 
 however was to prophesy its destruction. When a young man 
 Adamnan had committed a wicked action of which he had 
 conceived an extraordinary horror. He went to a priest for 
 instruction how to escape the wrath of God. Seeing that the 
 penance would be heavy, he said, being young and strong he 
 was able, if ordered, to stand the whole night and to pass the 
 whole week in abstinence. His soul-friend apparently accepted 
 the offer of the nightly penance, but modified the other. " It is 
 sufficient to fast two or three days," and this he made him 
 promise to do till his return. He went to Ireland but never 
 returned. Adamnan, holding to his promise, addicted himself 
 to watching and continence, taking food on Thursdays and 
 Sundays only. He fed (?) on the two days following Aidan's 
 fast days, and the first was the day on which Colum CiUe went 
 to heaven when he wished. One night he had a vision of one 
 he did not know ; the visitant commended him for his whole- 
 some watching, a thing he said done by few, because, he " had 
 looked into every one's chambers and beds and found none 
 
 * Adamnan's " Columba," p. 244. 
 53 
 
ADAMNAN 59 
 
 except yourself busy about the care of his soul." Those awake 
 were so " in order to commit sin, the very virgins dedicated to 
 God weaving garments to adorn themselves, to the danger of 
 their condition or to gain the friendship of strange men." The 
 report of this vision and of the imminence of punishment caused 
 the inhabitants of Coludi to be for a few days in some little 
 fear, and leaving off their sins begin to punish themselves, but 
 after the death of Ebba, the abbess, to whom Adamnan had 
 foretold the destruction,they became even more wicked, and 
 when they thought themselves in peace and security, soon felt 
 the effects of the aforesaid judgment, the destruction of the place 
 by fire.^ This appears in Bede as an oral communication by 
 Edgils, " a reverend fellow priest," who had been at Coludi 
 till its destruction. We need hardly say that we are convinced 
 this story is not history. We here see an Adamnan in the 
 character of a prophet, and we find in later Irish literature 
 that there was a " Fis Adhamhnain," ' the vision of Adamnan.' 
 Its subject is however what the other Adamnan saw of Heaven 
 and Hell m a temporary absence from the body, fathered upon 
 its reputed author, just as we believe is the case with the life of 
 St Columba. Adamnan of Coludi had his day on the 31st of 
 January, according to Colgan. This is also the festival of Brig, 
 a daughter of Cairpre ua-Ciardai. Cir, dor, ' a comb,' a 
 euphemism for the xrs/s, Cairpre ua-Ciardai, ' charioteer 
 descendant of the combers.' Coludi : colis, caulis, ' a cole- 
 wort,' ' membrum virile : ludi, ' games instituted in honour 
 of a divinity,' the divinity apparently the kail-custock still in 
 request at Hallowe'en. Cabbage occurs in the name of another 
 rehgious body. At the end of the twelfth century an order 
 of Carthusian parentage, an erimitical confraternity, each 
 member of it living in a separate cell, was instituted in Burgundy 
 wthin twenty mUes of ChatiUon sur Seine in the present Cote 
 D'Or, and in 1230, Alexander II. planted in Moray, a house of 
 this order of Vallis Caulium, Val-de-Choux, Kail- Valley. This 
 was in what seems to have been known as the vale of St Andrew 
 and also Pluscardin. Plwyf, pluyv, (Llhuyd) ' a community,' 
 ' a parish ' ; cerdin, cerddin, ' the rowan tree,' in Gaelic 
 caorthain, where it also means ' a pillar-stone.' The tree seems 
 to be so-called from caor, ' a berry,' the strikingly red berry of 
 the quicken tree. The custock, the rowan, and the peulvan, 
 are all of a like significance. Pluscardin then seems to mean 
 
 * " Ecclesiastical History," bk. iv. chap. xxv. 
 
6o RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 ' the community ' perhaps ' the parish,' of the rowan tree, 
 and to have been considered an eligible locality for the institu- 
 tion of a house of the order of Vallis Caulium. 
 
 The other Adamnan of Bede was the notorious abbot of 
 lona said to have been born in 623 and died in 704, on the 
 feast of John Baptist. " Adomnan (Adamnan) i.e. homun- 
 culus. Adam i.e. homo vel terrigena that is from the earthi- 
 ness, vel truncus i. tamhan." ^ For some reason or other then 
 Cormac, whatever ' Cormac ' may mean, makes Adam ' a 
 trunk of a tree,' ' a stump,' ' the shaft of a column.' This 
 seems to explain the legend in which his birth is made the sub- 
 ject of one of St Colum's prophecies. " Columcille foretelling 
 of Adamnan. He shall receive his name from my name," ^ 
 the name being ' columna ' not ' columba.' Adamnan's 
 father was Ronaxi, the ' seal-one,' the round headed sea- 
 animal, and he is described as " ua-Tinne," ' the descendant 
 of fire.' 
 
 When Colum is made to say Adamnan was to be called after 
 him, he adds, " he shall make a law for women from the Ictian 
 Sea hither." This includes the whole British Isles and shows 
 that in the mind of the writer it was not directed against a local 
 Irish custom, as the fable in the Lebar Breac makes it. This 
 tells how Adamnan was travelling through the Plain of Bregia 
 with his mother on his back, when they saw two armies engaged 
 in conflict. His mother, Ronsli, observed a woman with an 
 iron reaping hook in her hand dragging another woman out 
 of the opposite battalion with the hook fixed in one of her 
 breasts, " for men and women went equally to combat at that 
 time." Ronait sat down and said, " thou shalt not take me 
 from this spot until thou exemptest women for ever from being 
 in this condition and from excursions and hostings." Adamnan 
 gave his promise. There happened afterwards a mordail, 
 " convention " of Adamnan {compare A. mac Alddailedh. p. 
 58), and the principal clergy, " and he exempted the women 
 at it." 3 
 
 The ' Plain of Bregia ' is said geographically of East Meath. 
 Breec ' speckled,' ' spotted,' ' the spotted field,' ' the sky ? ' 
 Adamnan with his mother on his back suggests the young moon 
 with the old moon in its arms, as is said of the crescent moon 
 with the earth light reflected from the part unilluminated by 
 
 * Cormac's " Glossary," s.v. ' Adamnan's " Columba," Reeves, p. 244. 
 
 » Ibid., p. 245. 
 
ADAMNAN 6i 
 
 the sun, and there is a Gaelic word " brecht ' .i. mind," ' a dia- 
 dem,' ' holy relic,' " which suggests a relationship between the 
 Magh ' Breghoibh ' of the Four Masters A.M. 4606, and the 
 night sky through which the crescent moon travels. 2?o«ait his 
 mother seems to represent the darker portion of the moon con- 
 sidered as resembling the dark head of a seal, ron. The reaping 
 hook (crescent moon) fixed in the woman's breast is an amplifica- 
 tion of the simile, and the religious who wore the lunar tonsure 
 must also be taken as influencing the story. The combat into 
 which men and women went equally must therefore not be taken 
 literally as one of sword and spear. Reeves says that the 
 enactment is mentioned with " enigmatical brevity," ^ " dedit 
 legem innocentium populis." Taken by itself and as an 
 arrangement extending over the country from the south-east 
 of England, we seem to be face to face with the jus frimce 
 noctis, Boece's ' Mercheta.' In support of this we learn that 
 it was called the Cain Adhamhnain, Adamnan's tribute. The 
 date fixed for the imposition is 697, the year immediately 
 following that in which Bede tells us a certain inhabitant of the 
 district of Cuningham, having died, came to life again, and 
 related his experience of the abodes of the damned and the 
 blessed, the subjects dealt with in the Fis Adhamhnain. His 
 name we learn was Drithelm, dry, magus, ' a magician ' ; 
 helm, ' a helmet,' ' coronna,' why not the lunar tonsure.^ 
 Drithelm shows another point of resemblance with Adamnan. 
 He had a private cell constructed for himself on the bank of the 
 river, into which river he was accustomed to go to do penance, 
 and summer or winter, when he came out, he never changed his 
 clothes, but allowed them to dry upon him. He not only 
 accustomed himself to endure this immersion, but he combined 
 with it extreme austerity, and when onlookers remarked upon 
 either of these with wonder, he being a simple man, would 
 answer, " I have seen greater cold," " I have seen more aus- 
 terity." A like story appears in the Irish Life of Adamnan 
 where he is said to have fasted against Irgalach immersed in the 
 river Boyne. lorghalach, ' quarrelsome,' Drithelm's critics 
 personified.* 
 
 Under date 929 mention is made of " Caencombrac mac 
 Maeluidhir," abbot and bishop of Daire-Calgaigh (Derry), 
 
 ' " Adamnan's Columba," Reeves, p. civ. 
 • " Ecclesiastical History," bk. v. chap. xii. 
 ' " Adamnan's Columba," Reeves, p. 246. 
 
62 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 " procurator of the tribute of Adamnan, died," " maor cana 
 adhamhnain/'i "Cen comrac, n-oenfir do fuacra," also "comhrac 
 aoin-fhir," ' single combat.' This leads us to the conclusion 
 that the name of this abbot and bishop means the ' individual 
 without intercourse,' which exactly would describe he to whom 
 by the law of Malcolm Canmore, a name itself meaning ' servant 
 of Colum big head,' would be entitled to lift the piece of money 
 payable in redemption from the outrage. Maeluidhir, Caen- 
 comhrac's father, was evidently a follower of Odhran planted 
 by Columba in Hi, in order that the roots of himself and his 
 family should go under the ground there. 
 
 The Ecclesiastical History tells us that in 684 Beort " miser- 
 ably wasted" Ireland as Egfrid of Northumbria's representative. 
 In the Life of Columba ' Adamnan ' tells us that he visited 
 Aldfrid during a plague "immediately after the war of Ecfrid." ^ 
 We fail to find mention of plague in Britain at that date, but 
 we do find it in 664 and 665.^ In the Irish Life of Adamnan 
 Beort's raid seems to be made the basis of a story in which 
 Adamnan becomes the ambassador of the Irish to Saxon land 
 to demand the prisoners carried off. He is described as landing 
 on Tracht Romra, the ' Roman shore ' against the wishes of 
 the Saxons, telling his clerics, nevertheless, to push their curachs 
 on shore. They do so, Adamnan draws a circle round fhem 
 with his crozier and the place was transformed into an island 
 with " a high wall of the sea about them (the boats), so that 
 the place where they were was an island, and the sea went to 
 her limits past it, and did them no injury." * If this is not a 
 fanciful description of Holy Island, Lindisfarne, what is it ? 
 The rapid run of the tide described in the ' Life ' has suggested 
 the Solway Firth. Lindisfarne is described in the Lebar 
 Brecc as " Inis Medcoit i.e. Inis Cathaig."^ The Gaelic transla- 
 tion gives it the same name as the island on which Senan 
 settled (p. 48). 
 
 When Adamnan made his visit to the after world described 
 in the ' Fis ' (p. 59) his soul passed from his body on the 
 feast of St John the Baptist.® St John the Baptist in the list 
 of saints who were doubles one of the other has as his proto- 
 
 ^ " Adamnan's Columba," Reeves, pp. clvi. and 338. 
 
 * Ibid., bk. ii. chap, xlvii. 
 
 ' " Ecclesiastical History," bk.;iii. chap, xxvii. 
 
 * " Adamnan's Columba," Reeves' Intro, p. cli. 
 
 ' " Calendar of Oengus," 31st August, notes from the L. B. cxxxv. 
 ' " Adamnan's Columba," clvii. Intro. 
 
ADAMNAN 63 
 
 type bishop Ibar.^ Colinan had his Easter as an inheritance 
 from John the Evangehst (p. 42), but this statement can only 
 be exact with the proviso that both he and the Baptist ob- 
 served the same date for the Passover. The whole tendency of 
 these legends suggests the " Forerunner " as the John of the 
 older Easter and tonsure. John the Baptist's day is the 29th 
 August, and we learn from the Leabar Brecc that Colum CiUe 
 and Aireran (airer, ' feasting,' ' delight,' his name is also 
 given Aileran) inecnai, ' of the wisdom,' prophesy that at the 
 end of the world at terce (nine a.m.) a plague which shall last 
 for a year and three days and three nights called the " Besom 
 of Fanait " shall come to cleanse Ireland on a Tuesday of spring 
 after Easter.^ Other dates are given for this plague, but we 
 need not follow them, for as O'Curry says an origin is ascribed 
 to this fiery visitation " as will, I am satisfied, take it forever 
 out of the catalogue of inspired predictions."* It is a 
 cuckoo story, the " scuap a fanait " the idle, strolling (fdnach) 
 besom, becoming the calamitous {fdnaid) besom. Fanoid is 
 mockery in Scottish Gaelic. Adamnan himself is credited 
 with the prophecy of this cleansing visitation, and while he 
 left the body for his visit to Heaven on the festival of John 
 Baptist's beheading, he died on the 23rd of September, the 
 day before the festival of John's " conception." * 
 
 Grammarians give us other spellings for Adamnan's name, 
 accounting for them by aspiration, and as Reeves tells us Aunan, 
 Eunan, Onan, Ounan are the forms of pronunciation which the 
 name Adamnan has assumed in Ireland. Which came first 
 need not occupy us here. Eunan is we beheve sufficiently 
 near to Eoghanan, logenan to connect it with the name of 
 John, Eoin ' of John.' Another of the spellings is noteworthy, 
 Onan. Finachta, called Fledach, ' festive ' was going to visit 
 his sister (!), and on the road he met Adamnan carrying a 
 quantity of milk. Hurrying out of the way of the " old grey 
 king without teeth," he tripped, fell, and spilt his milk on the 
 road.5 The Bibhcal student wiU easily understand the source 
 of origin. The name is so pronounced Onan in Coleraine, 
 Meath, Limerick. 
 
 In dealing with Adamnan's name, a diminutive of that of the 
 Biblical forefather, either ' little Adam,' or the ' Adam-one,' 
 
 ^ See " Caledonian Medical Journal," vol. vii. p. 36. 
 
 * " Calendar of Oengus," notes cxxxiv. O'Curry's "Materials," pp. 423, seq. 
 ' " Materials," p. 426. • Ibid., p. 424. " Calendar of Oengus," cxxxix. 
 
 ' " Adamnan's Columba," Reeves civ. 
 
64 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 looking back to what has been said of Coludi, his traditional 
 interest centred apparently in the habits of women, and con- 
 nected with a special reference to islands, it is well to recall what 
 has been put on record of the church of the Adamites, Adamians, 
 by Epiphanius (315-403) and Augustine (354-430)- These 
 heretics are said to have existed in Africa in the second century, 
 but as there is no mention of them till Epiphanius, doubt has 
 been cast upon their very existence. If they did not exist at 
 that early date, the practices ascribed to them found accepta- 
 tion after Epiphanius, and in fact, we think that the story of 
 Adamnan is evidence of this. There was a Gnostic sect in 
 North Africa, the Carpocratians, called after their founder, an 
 Alexandrian, in the second century. With them ' faith ' and 
 ' love ' constituted the essentials, externals being of no 
 importance. To Jesus they ascribed great strength and purity 
 of soul, and by virtue of his union with the Monad, he was armed 
 with a divine power which enabled him to overcome the spirits 
 of this world and the laws by which they govern the operations 
 of nature.^ The Adamites about the same date and locality, 
 so far as faith was concerned, held that since the death of Christ, 
 his followers were as innocent as Adam before the fall. They 
 called their church ' Paradise.' It was in ' Gartan ' that 
 Columba was born (p. 2). Marriage they said was unlawful 
 among Christians because if Adam had not sinned there would 
 have been no marriages, and clothes being badges of sin, they 
 worshipped naked in their assemblies.^ Undoubtedly a sect of 
 this sort existed in the twelfth century, a certain ' Taudamus ' 
 preaching its doctrines at Antwerp. The Beghards (Picards) 
 held like views in the fifteenth century and their principal seat 
 in Bohemia was a small island in the river Luschnitz, where they 
 lived in a state of nature having wives in common.^ Some such 
 practice as this seems to have originated Selah na Jig, and the 
 meetings in localities such as Damhinis, damsa, Gael. ' a dance,' * 
 if applied to the Beghard island shows the sort of locality to 
 which such a sect naturally gravitated. 
 
 It may well be a question what the observances common 
 at Easter were, where we can rely somewhat upon direct 
 evidence and not merely on the deductions made from Folk 
 tales passed on as history and their connection with names of 
 
 1 " Faiths of the World," v. i. p. 456. » Ibid., vol. i. p. 28. 
 
 = " Encyclopaedia Britannica," s.v. Adamites. 
 * " Vision of Tondale," Paris, p. 122. 
 
ADAMNAN 65 
 
 persons and localities. The designation Scot has from the first 
 been spoken of in connection with practices unsanctified by 
 the marriage obligation. Giraldus Cambrensis tells us that, 
 at the date of the Norman invasion, the Irish were sunk in vice, 
 a race more ignorant than all other nations of the first principles 
 of the faith. "Hitherto they neither paid tithes nor first fruits ; 
 they do not contract marriages, nor shun incestuous con- 
 nections ; they frequent not the church of God with proper 
 reverence. ... In many parts of Ireland brothers seduce and 
 debauch the wives of their brothers deceased." ^ It is no use 
 ignoring Giraldus' testimony, no doubt strongly put from a 
 churchman's point of view. In his Itinerary through Wales, 
 his account of Owen son of Gruffyth does not spare at least one 
 of his own countrymen,^ and to be as impartial as we can, more 
 especially as it connects us directly with Easter celebration, 
 we quote the Chronicle of Lanercost ^ for what happened 
 in Scotland so lately as 1282. In that year and during the 
 Easter week (March 29th to April 5th) John, a parish priest of 
 Inverkeithing, performed the rites of Priapus, by collecting the 
 young girls of the town and making them dance round the figure 
 of the god,without any regard for the sex of these worshippers 
 he carried a wooden image of the male member of generation 
 before them in the dance, and himself dancing with them, he 
 accompanied their songs with movements in accordance. He 
 was cited before his bishop, defended himself upon the common 
 usage of the country and was allowed to retain his benefice.* 
 Grimm tells us that in Germany they still call April " Oster- 
 monat." His earliest example of this name " Ostarmanoth " 
 is taken from Eginhart (770-840), and he says that in the most 
 ancient German linguistic monuments the Christian festival 
 bears the name Ostara. He mentions the fact however that all 
 the peoples neighbouring to the German nation, used the word 
 Paskir, Pask, etc., and expresses the opinion that the name 
 Ostara has reference to the geographical south, ausier Lat. 
 ' the south wind,' and therefore that the goddess may have 
 been a deity of the radiant morning.^ We submit that Grimm 
 is wrong in this. However it is to be accounted for, the 
 evidence points to Easter being equal to Ishtar, the Babylonian 
 Astarfe, of whom another name was Beltis ; Belteshazzar ? 
 
 '■ " Topography of Ireland," Distinction iii. chap. xix. 
 ' Bk. ii. chap. viii. ' Ed. Stevenson, p. 109. 
 
 *" Essays on the Worship of Priapus," Payne Knight, p. 131. 
 * " Deutsche Mythologie," v. i. p. 241. 
 E 
 
66 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 ' Beltis preserve the king ' ; and it is between those two 
 names Ishtar-Astarie and Beltis that we have Easter and 
 Beltane. The male divinity corresponding to the female 
 Beltis was Shamas, surviving apparently in the Gaelic for 
 Hallowe'en " Samhum," the autumnal equinox corresponding 
 to the spring equinox of Beltane originally about the ist of 
 April, becoming All Fools' Day. When Easter became a 
 Christian festival it was associated nominally with the Hebrew 
 Passover commemorating thereby however the death and 
 resurrection of Christ. In the days of Tertullian, at the end 
 of the second century, Christ's Crucifixion was supposed to take 
 place on the 23rd of March.i This date recalls the fact that the 
 legal year commenced on the 25th of March tUl 1752 in England, 
 though Scotland adopted January as the first month in 1599, 
 following the example of France set in 1564. The observances 
 of the early Church among the Picts and Scots, as we learn them 
 from Bede, seem to accord with these suggestions. The 
 Northumbrians likely had an Ostar before their conversion 
 by the Scots with whom the heathen Beltane became the 
 Church Easter. We see this in the story of Patrick. He 
 commenced his conversion of Ireland by lighting sacred fire to 
 celebrate Easter at the graves of the sons of " Feic." This 
 " Fe" we have already seen in the story of the swineherds 
 
 (PP- 51, 53)- 
 
 " Fe " Cormac says means something ' woeful.' Zeuss 
 connects it with fetch, fiach, ' raven,' ' bird of woe,' our Bran 
 and Bodb. In Gaelic story we find a man Fi (Fer-fi) playing 
 music in a yew tree. He was son of Eo-gabhal, ' pin-fork,' 
 the commissure of the legs. For a present day example of the 
 significance of this " fork " or its metaphorical equivalent, 
 the ' tongs,' we learn from Barvas, Lewis, that when two 
 unmarried persons at the fireside simultaneously desire to make 
 up the fire, the one that first gets the tongs will secure the luck 
 and be married before the other.^ The pre-Christian Fer-fi 
 played on the sistrum,^ and his tree was the Eo-Mugna. Fid 
 is the root of the Latin fides, ' faith,' "If ye had faith as a 
 grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, 
 be thou plucked up by the root and be thou planted in the sea, 
 (femert, see p. 28) and it should obey you." * Fid becomes 
 
 1 " The Two Babylons," Hislop, 1862, p. 149. 
 
 ' Notes unpublished, E. M. K., 8840. 
 
 • " Perth Incident," p. 216, etc. * Luke xvii. 6. 
 
ADAMNAN 67 
 
 Fidb, as bod becomes Bodb, a grammatial connection which 
 would make the Bodb, Bran, raven, crow, not so much the 
 goddess of " war " as of " collision " let us say. This sugges- 
 tion is not without parallel. A member of the Challenger 
 Expedition stated that the crow was the bird of love in Japan, 
 and that an imitation of its cry was common at certain moments. 
 When Patrick lighted his fire at Slane on the banks of the 
 Bojme, Laoghaire, ladhair, ' a cloven hoof,' ' a pair of tongs,' 
 sometimes written laghar, was at the same time celebrating his 
 feast of Beltane.^ Here then we have a positive statement of 
 the connection between Easter and Beltane. Patrick has 
 been taken up as the apostle of Ireland by the Romish Church, 
 if indeed he is not an invention of it, and of course it was the 
 Roman Easter he is made to celebrate. The connection 
 however of the older faith with Simon Magus is clear enough. 
 Lochru {lochran, ' a torch,' ' a lamp ' ; loche, ' lightning ') 
 the king's most prominent Druid was abusing the Catholic faith 
 when " the saint sternly beholding him, as formerly St Peter 
 beheld Simon Magus," prayed that the wretch should be raised 
 aloft and speedily perish.^ The unfortunate magician was 
 caught up into the air and dashed head foremost to the earth. 
 Jocelin says the same thing occurred in the Isle of Man to a 
 certain Melinus. " This Melinus, in his magical arts, emulated 
 Simon Magus and aspired to the reputation of a god, and did 
 fly in the air ; but he came down fluttering at the prayers of 
 St Patrick." ^ Here the method of flight shows a connection 
 between the name Melin and Filan. In Manx felan is ' a butter- 
 fly,' also felican, Scottish feileagan, Irish feiliocan, ' a May 
 bug,' according to Armstrong, a ' butterfly,' according to 
 Dinneen. 
 
 Authorities differ as to whether the Isle of Man is called 
 from Manannan or Manannan from the island, for our purpose 
 it is enough to admit the connection of the names. There can 
 be no doubt of the connection of this personal name with the 
 moon, and as little that it is not Celtic. Manannan was a 
 merchant trading between Britain and Ireland, a pUot, a weather 
 prophet, given to riding over the sea in a chariot at the head of 
 his followers.* In the Voyage of Bran Manannan's de- 
 scription of the sea as a flowery plain is given in considerable 
 
 1 " Ireland and Celtic Church," Stokes, p. 74, et seq. 
 
 » Ihid., p. 76. ,. _ . 
 
 » " Ecclesiastical History of the Isle of Man, Tram, p. 321. 
 
 * " Social Ireland," Joyce, vol. i. p. 358. 
 
68 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 detail in an' address to Bran by Manannan.^ Of course the 
 flowers are the stars, the plain, the sky, the boat and the 
 boatman the man in the moon, of our childish days. When 
 this latter is euhemerised into a trader between Britain and 
 Ireland, the ocean takes the place of the sky and the " white 
 horses " become the flowers otherwise represented by the stars. 
 Bran becomes a saint, a Christianised Bodb, the ex-king of the 
 fairies of Munster and master of ' Bristle,' one of the pig- 
 feeders (p. ). The Book of Fermoy joins Manannan and 
 Bodb in a different relationship.^ The Tuatha De Danann were 
 to be finally dispersed, becoming underground dweUers, so 
 they held a meeting under the presidency of Manannan, Diana 
 as a male, and at this meeting Bodb Derg, son of the Dagda, 
 was chosen king. As we read this, the worship of the female 
 power gave place to that of the male. Manannan's death is 
 thus described. " Loch Orbsen whence was it named ? 'Tis 
 there the battle of Cuilliu was delivered. The bed of the lake 
 was then a great red bog and a bushy oakwood, and it was the 
 hunting ground of Rinnail the Red." Rinnail is another name 
 for Bodb Derg. Compare Rinn, Bodb's swineherd (p. 29). 
 UiUenn Red-edge, son of Cacher, (" edge " was Rinn's opponent) 
 " 'tis he that delivered the battle of CuiUiu to Manannan who 
 there was killed, and who bore four names, to wit Gaer and 
 Gaeal and Oirbsen and Manannan, a Druid was he too, and a 
 Wright and chapman. And he was killed in that battle and 
 buried upstanding in that place ; but the lake burst up under 
 him and overwhelmed the site of the tomb. Uillen was after- 
 wards slain after three days in the battle of CuiUiu by Mac 
 Grene in revenge for Manannan." * Here we see that Uillenn 
 was slain in the same battle that he had fought three days 
 before and in which Manannan was slain. If reference is made 
 to Uillne (p. 30) of which Uillenn is a nominative imitation, we 
 suggest that it was of him that the remark is made of the peculiar 
 burial position. His slaughterer in turn was " son of the sun," 
 Mac Grene. 
 
 The four names of the shipmaster whose death was avenged 
 upon Uillenn thoroughly support our contention that we are 
 dealing with a moon legend. 
 
 I. " Gaer," caer, ' a walled enclosure ' in Welsh, in Gaelic 
 
 > " Voyage of Bran. Nutt." vol. i. p. i6. 
 ' " Social Ireland," Joyce, vol. i. p. 252. 
 ' Dindsenchas, " Revue Celtique," vol. xvi. p. 276. 
 
ADAMNAN 69 
 
 ' a berry,' caertharm, ' rowan tree,' ' menhir ' ; we must 
 remember now that the moon has become male. 
 
 II. " Gaeal," geal. ' white,' ' bright,' gealach, ' the white 
 one,' ' the moon.' 
 
 III. " Oirbsen," orbis, ' a round surface,' ' a disc' 
 
 IV. " Manannan," mani, Icel. mona, Ang.-Sax. maane, 
 Dan. ' the moon,' mythologically the brother to the sun in 
 Germanic tradition, hence we beUeve the sex of our Manannan 
 and the propriety of his avenging being done by his nephew. 
 
 " Quater junctis implevit cornibus orbem Luna." ^ 
 
 Further confirmation that the Bodb was the moon is not 
 wanting. " The effects of fear inspired by her (?) was geltacht, 
 ' lunacy,' which, according to the popular notion affected the 
 body no less than the mind, and, in fact, made its victims so 
 light that they flew through the air like birds." ^ This explains 
 the flying in the air of the Magi and Druids we have mentioned, 
 other examples of it are given by Lottner in the paper we have 
 quoted. In CuchuUain's fight with Ferdia observers were 
 frightened to madness. CuchuUain might be " dog son of 
 Uillenn," and we must not forget that our UUlenn was the 
 grandson of Nuad of the Silver Hand, the silver hand being the 
 moon (?). The connection of point, edge or wing, and ravens 
 appears in the Danish tradition of the night-raven. " If a 
 ghost appeared the priest condemned it to enter the earth ; 
 when this was done, a stake was driven into the spot to which it 
 had been sent. At midnight a cry was heard, " let me out ! " 
 the stake was then pulled out, and the spirit flew away, in the 
 form of a raven, with a hole in its left wing." ^ 
 
 We have called attention to the connection between the 
 fluttering Melin and FUan (p. 67). Melin was an island Druid 
 and we hope that we have been able to prove that islands were 
 as representing the moon of special significance in a religious 
 system in which that orb was reverenced. Originally a worship 
 of the female powers the instructors of this cultus compared 
 their islands to sea monsters with widely opening jaws. The 
 simile was carried out so as to include whatever was voracious. 
 We see this clearly enough in the Greek (paXkaiva, the Latin 
 halcena, ' a whale.' The secondary meaning of the Greek 
 word ' a moth ' unites the largest and almost the smallest 
 
 ' Ovid's " Metamorphoses," vii. p. 530. 
 
 ' " Revue Celtique, vol. i. p. 43. 
 
 ' " Fairy Tales," Hans Andersen. Warne & Co., p. 310, note. 
 
70 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 of things that have life and between these extremes of voracity 
 we may place the wolf under its Gaelic name of faol-chu. The 
 term phalane is used for a ' night-moth,' ' a hawk butterfly,' 
 in Germany. Grimm informs us that the diabolical lover of 
 witches not unfrequently appears in the form of an elf (albs) or 
 butterfly,^ and we may remember that the Tuatha de Danann 
 are now supposed to be represented by the Irish elves, fairies. 
 
 1 " Deutsche Mythologie," Grimm, vol. ii. p. 898. 
 
COLUMBA 
 
 FIERY COLUMN 
 
 What is told us of Colum's cell will require separate considera- 
 tion. So far as we have gone, we believe we have made clear 
 that the stories told of this personage, Colum, Columba, reaUy 
 take no notice of anything of the dove which is recognisable, 
 except in the introduction to Adamnan's ' Life,' where the 
 Latin columba is equated with the Hebrew ionah, Jonah. 
 Readers wUl have seen that the king nominated over the Scots 
 in modem Scotland by Columba was " Aidan," the founder of 
 Columba's church in Northumbria was also an " Aidan." 
 This name we incline to consider as best translated by the 
 ' fire-one.' This seems more likely than ' little-fire.' Now, 
 of course, there is not necessarily a connection between what is 
 said of a man's appearance and his name, but all must confess 
 that a ' fiery column ' was a more likely subject for treatment 
 in such stories than a ' fiery dove.' This is made sufficiently- 
 clear in the latter part of Adamnan's Life. He tells us that 
 Berchan was warned not to come near Colum's ' little dwelling.' 
 He designedly neglects this warning and is frightened by the 
 " celestial light " there seen. Colum interviews him next 
 day, tells him that had it not been for his prayers, the inquisitive 
 one as a result would have fallen dead, or his eyes been plucked 
 from their sockets. The Lord had spared him that time, but, 
 while living in luxury thereafter in Scotia (among the Scoti(?)), 
 as a punishment " his face would bum with shame all the days 
 of his life." Berchan thus might have been appropriately 
 called by such a name as Maolrubius (p. ii). Beran, ' a pin,* 
 ' peg,' ' bodkin ' ; bir, ' a spit ' ; herr, ' short ' ; berride, 
 ' a snaU,' the peculiarity of which is the projecting horns. 
 This " foster son in pursuit of learning " of Colum's was, so to 
 say, a small edition of himself. The only punishment the pupil 
 was to undergo was to " do a tearful penance before death, and 
 obtain mercy from God." Somewhat the same incident is told 
 us of Colga (prickle), son of Thorny [droigheanach, ' thorns/ 
 specially the blackthorn), of the race of Fechureg. He was one 
 
72 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 night at the door of Colum's oratory praying, and saw it filled 
 with celestial light which vanished like lightning. This light 
 emanated from Colum, who was then in the church. Next day 
 the saint tells him that he must not search after heavenly 
 light, a knowledge of which was not granted him, and specially, 
 that during Colum's life, he must say nothing of what he had 
 learned. 
 
 The name Fechureg applied to his race, seems connected 
 with fech, -fiach, ' a raven ' ; and the termination is a female 
 one, gwraig, Welsh, a woman. This suggestion is supported 
 by what we learn in the first book of Adamnan, where Colga 
 is deputed to ' Scotia (!) ' to make his mother confess a certain 
 great secret sin she would not willingly confess to any man. 
 The race of Fechureg then was one dominated by the female 
 element. Fechureg suggests itself as another name for the 
 Bodb, Badb, the Mor-righna, ' the great queen,' the raven as 
 battle goddess. 
 
 Another of the same incidents is told of Virgno. He also 
 at night was praying in a side-house of the oratory, when Colum 
 entered, accompanied by a golden light filling all the church. 
 Virgno is much terrified, but Colum, after a short prayer, left 
 the church. Next day Virg(M)o is called before his master and 
 ordered never during Colum's life to disclose to any one such a 
 rare manifestation of the light.^ 
 
 If there is any practical sense in all this, Berchan, Colga, 
 and Virgno were names for candidates for initiation, or in the 
 last case, a young initiate, into the mysteries connected with 
 the worship of which Colum represented the disclosed secrets. 
 This is not Christianity of modern Scotland, but that the story 
 owes some of its colour to Christian legend is clear. During 
 three days and three nights, the same length of time that our 
 Lord was in the tomb, Colum remained in a closed house, from 
 which " rays of intense brightness were seen at night breaking 
 out through the chinks of the doors and the key holes." It was 
 a " celestial light," but no man was allowed to come near him, 
 and the mysteries revealed to him were not written down, and 
 so were lost.^ There was therefore a secret doctrine which had 
 left its colour on the stories on which the writer of Adamnan 
 founded his life. Compare the information above with the 
 charm directed against fairies well known in the Isle of Man. 
 
 ' " Adamnan's Columba," bk. iii. chaps, xix., xx., xxi. ; and bk. i. chap. xvii. 
 •* Ibid., bk. iii. chap, xviii. 
 
COLUMBA 73 
 
 " Peace of God and peace of man, 
 Peace of God on Columb-Killey, 
 On each window and each door, 
 On every hole admitting moonlight, 
 On the four corners of the house, 
 On the place of my rest. 
 And peace of God on myself." ^ 
 
 The allusion to the moon carries the origin of some of this 
 to the ancient Scotic church. The golden age of the kingdom 
 of Man was during the Norse supremacy, and Rudolph Fuldensis 
 says of these North men " truncum quoque ligni non parvae 
 magnitudinis in sdtum erectum sub divo celebrant, patria 
 sum (sic) lingua Irminsul appellantes, quod latine dicitur 
 imiversalis columna, quasi sustinens omnia." ^ Our Colum 
 in Christian legend is no longer " sub divo," but is specially 
 " of the cell," of the " little dwelling," a little dwelling which 
 as Adamnan informs us " in eminentiore loco erat fabricatum," 
 ' was constructed on a higher spot ! ' The Mons Veneris (?) . 
 
 We get a hint of the impression made on the Norse mind of 
 what they had heard of Colum of the Cell. According to their 
 tradition, when Alexander of Scotland before the battle of 
 Largs, and shortly before his own death lay near Kerrara, he 
 had a dream of being visited by St Olaf, St Magnus and Colum 
 CiUe, to persuade him from attacking the Western Islands then 
 under the Norse. Colum CiUe, according to this story, appeared 
 to Alexander as of exceeding height with a distorted counte- 
 nance and the least agreeable to look at of the three, evidently 
 a description based on the idea that he had a squint eye, like 
 the original of the Irminsul.^ 
 
 ^ " Scottish Historical Review," vol. iii. p. 395. Moore. 
 
 ' " Kultur der Alten Kelten und Germanen," Grupp, p. 257, Note. 
 
 " " Newspaper Extracts," vol. iii. p. 154. 
 
THE CELL 
 
 Our contention is that all handed down to us of the cultus of 
 the Scots points to its having been associated with certain 
 mysteries which, as Christianity developed under Roman 
 guidance, were not unjustly considered as lascivious. The 
 glorification of a perfect virginity in both sexes came to be 
 looked on as the highest form of godliness. In heathen times 
 fecundity in the female was regarded as her most admirable 
 capacity. Acting a comparatively passive part, with her, 
 venereal excess is much more possible than with the male. Her 
 action being receptive, excess laid her opentoacharge of voracity 
 in figurative language, and as examples of voracity whales, 
 dolphins, wolves, dogs, moths were made similitudes of the 
 female. Llhuyd tells that blaidh is ' a wolf,' or ' a pike,' 
 the fish so-caUed another striking example of voraciousness, 
 that bleidhiast is ' a she-wolf,' also called kydymmes, and that 
 it means both a ' she-wolf ' and a ' common harlot.' In 
 modem Welsh cidwn is a ' voracious beast,' ' a wolf ' ; 
 cidymes, ' a she-wolf.' Ci-dwm, ci, ' a dog,' twmp, ' a 
 mound ' ; Gaelic tern, ' a round hillock,' ' a tuft of anything.' 
 The identification for example of the Venusberg of Tannhauser 
 with the Horselberg, a hiU near Eisenach, is a sample of the mak- 
 ing history out of a myth and it is well to remember that this 
 Horselberg was connected with Hulda, Hilda, the name of the 
 abbess of Whitby, but the German goddess of the underworld. 
 In Irish story all students know of the hrugh on the Boyne 
 where under the presidency of Manannan the Dedannans finally 
 became the fairies of Ireland.^. Bru is ' belly,' and the Irish 
 Gaelic for a hotel keeper, a ' hosteller ' as they like to write 
 it, is brugaid. The accepted connection of this word makes 
 him a brewer. At p. 40 we have pointed out that at the island 
 of St Kilda in Martin's day was the ' dairy ' divided into three 
 low vaults. Let us look at a Norse tradition about Loki the 
 fire god. He awaits the end of the unregenerate world, 
 Ragnarok, in a cave, one of three, of which he is tenant of the 
 innermost, and to get to the one next it, you have to wade a 
 * " Social History of Ireland," Joyce, vol. i. p. 351. 
 
THE CELL 75 
 
 brook formed from the froth of the mouth of Fenrer (the wolf) 
 there chained. The caves are in an island called Lyngvi 
 ' heather island,' in a sea called Amsvartnir, a sea over which 
 broods eternal darkness. This heather island has in Voluspa 
 become a grove of which the trees consist of jets of water spring- 
 ing from hot fountains. ^ It seems sheer blindness not to notice 
 that this heathery spot, kept continually in darkness, with its 
 frothy mouth, its jets of water, its internal fire waiting for 
 regeneration, can be nothing else than the external meatus, the 
 vagina, and the uterus. With regard to the froth, note that 
 the king of Ireland, first conscious of the death of Christ (p. 24), 
 has his name spelt Cowchobhar, cobhar, ' froth ' ; the first 
 syllable we leave to the reader to be connected with cu a dog 
 if he think fit. The Norse story shows us united the full habita- 
 tion of Colum, the island, the fort, represented by the Fenrer 
 protected caves, and the grove of water jets, or heathery, as 
 one may regard it. 
 
 In the Forest of Dean, in Lydney Park close to the Severn 
 was discovered in 1805 a sanctuary, also divided into three 
 smaller cells, like the St Kilda " dairy " and the Lyngvi caves. 
 This was dedicated to Nodons, Nudens, Nodens. Dottin gives 
 this as a name of Mars.* As it is used both singly and as an 
 epithet, he suggests that in some cases at least it was the name 
 used for a local divinity.^ The central point of this sanctuary 
 was a mosaic pavement, round a nine-inch broad, funnel-shaped 
 opening. On the pavement sea-monsters and fish (salmon) 
 were represented, while in the immediate neighbourhood were 
 picked up at least thirteen figures, part bronze, part freestone, 
 of dogs (wolves), one of the bronzes being in the funnel-shaped 
 opening.* There was also found what appears to have been a 
 head ornament, presumably for the officiant, on which was 
 engraven what appeared to be a beardless boy driving a four- 
 horsed chariot. In his right hand was a club or a conch-sheU, 
 and he was attended by two fish-tailed tritons. The salmon 
 and the wolf will be considered in detail, but there can be no 
 doubt that the divinity to whom this sanctuary was dedicated 
 had some connection with the sea. St Augustine (354-430) 
 in his City of God says : " they placed over the knees and 
 junctions of corn-stalks the god Nodotus (Nodutus) " (prae- 
 
 1 " Teutonic Mythology," Rydberg, p. 384. 
 ' " Manuel Antiquite Celtique," p. 227. 
 ' Ibid., p. 230. 
 * " Folk-Lore," xvii. p. 39. 
 
76 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 fecerunt ergo . . . geniculis nodisque culmorum deum 
 Nodutum).^ Another Numidian, an older man byhalf acentury, 
 Arnobius, also mentions this divinity. Nodus (gnodus) Latin 
 ' a knot,' ' a bond or obligation.' In astronomy the nodes, 
 nodi are the four points in the heavens where the seasSiis begin. 
 The crown on the head of the charioteer is represented with 
 four spikes,^ but the head ornament itself on which is the chariot 
 has five spikes, conjecturally one being added for the god him- 
 self. Nadog is ' toothless ' v'jihoyiptav ' a toothless old man,' 
 ipxdi hU\iTm is used for ' the mouth,' the place enclosing 
 the teeth. If we suppose that the old Latin negative ne 
 forms a part of iVodons, Nudens, we have a suggestion of an 
 enclosure without teeth, an anatomical simile common through- 
 out Europe, probably throughout the world, as it certainly was 
 used in Arabic. Compare 
 
 " Pour recompenser mon merite 
 Arrachant les dents bien a point, 
 Permettez que je vous visite 
 Votre bouche, qui n'en a point." ^ 
 
 Nodus was used for the equator, a girdle poetically, and we 
 refer back to Mobi's girdle. The number five, that of the spikes 
 on the head-dress, had among the Romans an intimate con- 
 nection with the marriage ceremony. At the ' confarreatio ' 
 when the farreum, the sacred cake, was offered to the betrothed 
 pair, compare the cake-breaking ceremony now in use in some 
 cases in Scotland, five torches were lighted in their presence, 
 and the betrothed woman touched fire and water, and on the 
 first night of marriage five torches were also burned.* 
 
 In suggesting the significance of what has been discovered 
 with regard to Nodons, we would explain his cell as connected 
 with that of Colum CiUe. In an inscription found near Yarrow, 
 Selkirkshire, placed by Rhys in the sixth century, mention is 
 made of individuals described as " Nudi Dumnogeni." There 
 were two of them and they seem to have claimed descent from 
 Nud, who appears in the ' Pleasant Things of Taliessin ' as 
 ' Nud the superior wolf lord,' * and their further descent 
 Dumnogeni may mean of the Dumnonii, whose territory in 
 Britain was to the south of the Severn on the north coast of 
 
 ' Lewis and Short, s.v. Nodotus. ' " Folk-Lore," xvii. 41. 
 
 • "Glossaire Erotique," s.v. ' bouche.' 
 
 * " The Royal Museum at Naples," Fanin, p. 76. " Genital Laws," Jacobus 
 X. p. 57. 
 
 ' " Folk-Lore," xvii. 37. 
 
THE CELL 77 
 
 which was the sanctuary of Nodons. Dumnu, from whom they 
 received their patronymic, is connected by name with duma, 
 ' a hill,' modem Welsh twmf, ' a mound,' Gaelic torn (p. 74), 
 ci-dwm. They are also said to have been sons of Liberalis 
 (fiUi Liberali)> Authorities agree in identifying Nodons with 
 the Welsh bardic Nudd Hael, that is ' Nud the Liberal,' and 
 also with the Irish Nuada Airgid-lamh, the silver-handed, put- 
 ting aside stories of a mechanical hand, meaning ' handy with 
 his money,' airgid, ' silver,' but the ordinary word for money. 
 The Irish Nuada has a good deal said about him. As king 
 of the Dedannans, he came to Ireland at Beltane and was killed 
 at Hallowe'en. He was the husband of Boan, the name of 
 the river Boyne, bothan} 'the httle house.' When killed 
 by Balor of the Evil Eye, he was buried in the Grianan Ailea.ch., 
 in the " fenced bower," aile, ' a fence.' He was Finnfail of 
 the ' White Enclosure,' he was ' Fullon ' like Mehnus who 
 fluttered to the ground in the presence of Patrick ; he was 
 the Druid of Cathair Mor, ' the Great Seat,' and he has descen- 
 dants in Ireland at this present moment, MacNowd.* The 
 beardless youth represented on the diadem of Nodons seems 
 to have been ipaspopog the ' light-bearer,' ' the morning star,' 
 Lucifer, representing the nodus between night and day ; his 
 other name iuff(p6f>oi ' Dawn bringer ' specially connected 
 him with the fish — eo, eog, translated ' salmon.' 
 
 In England to sit is used in contradistinction with to stand, 
 therefore sitting implies generally sitting down. In Gaelic 
 to sit is used in contradistinction to lying, therefore it suggests 
 generally sitting up. " Ta se 'n-a shuidhe," he is on his seat, 
 he is out of bed ; " ta an re 'n-a suidhe," the moon is up, that 
 is the moon is in her seat. " Dul chum suidhte lets," is in fact 
 the Gaelic for the slang expression making another ' sit up,' 
 wrangling with him. The seat of the moon, therefore, is in 
 Gaehc in the visible heavens, while in English, when it is set, 
 it is invisible. We have seen already that the seats of certain 
 of the saints were of glass and " in Heaven " (p. 21). If then 
 we were to individualise the heavens as the seat of the solar 
 system, it might well be called Cathair Mor, the Great Seat. 
 Now this is the name of the traditional ancestor from whom, 
 as O'Curry teUs us, all the later Leinster famihes trace descent.* 
 Of course the heavens are the seat, according to Christian 
 
 1 " Folk-Lore," xvii. p. 36. Holder, s.v. ' Nudus,' 
 
 » " Folk-Ix)re," xvu. pp. 30, 34. * " Materials," p. 208. 
 
78 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 doctrine, of the Christian deity, and we have reason to believe 
 that Leinster was the first Christian district in Ireland. The 
 Four Masters inform us Cathair Mor, as man, was son of Feidh- 
 limidh Firurglais. The name of this personage considered 
 apart from the descriptive title, suggests by its form that it 
 has been subject to analytical spelling. Its usual Irish form 
 is Phelim. As Fedilmith, it has been supposed to mean ' who 
 can consume much mead. ' Phelim has been translated ' helmet. ' 
 Supposing this to be the Teutonic hilms, helm, in Icelandic 
 Odin, the supreme god, is called Hjalm-heri, the helm bearer, 
 and a helmet, is therefore ' Odin's hood,' and the vault of the 
 heavens is poetically styled ' the helmet of the sun,' wind, 
 etc. We therefore look upon helmet, cowl, as an admissible 
 origin of the name. The letter P ox F commencing it however 
 connects it with Cymric, not Gaelic Celtic, ap son. The descrip- 
 tive firurglais entirely supports this, fior, ' truly ' ; ' ur' very, 
 originally ; glas, ' blue ' ; ' truly blue.' Glas in fact as a colour 
 describes the heavens in all their shades from deep blue to 
 misty grey. The Apocryphal Irish king was slain in a.d. 122. 
 One authority says, by Conn and the Luaighne of Temhair in 
 the battle of Magh-hagha, agh, gen. agha, ' success,' ' luck,' 
 ' good-luck ' (Dinneen), but agh is a ' notch ' and an animal 
 of the ox kind, a deer, which brings us again to the ' damium.' 
 Looking at this we need say nothing respecting the significance 
 of Conn, but we would connect the Luaighne of Temhair with 
 the Gaelic for Mo«day, Di-luain, Temhair, ' of the meeting.' 
 Another authority describes them as the Fian of Tailtinn, 
 fionnadh " de capillis hominum, loquitur hoc, tantum sensu 
 obscaeno," ^ of Tailtinn, i.e. of ' fire-dale.' 
 
 When the Dedannans finally retired underground under the 
 presidency of Manannan, they then commenced existence as 
 fairies. Underground is the dwelling-place of the dead, and 
 the abode of the dead or of the soul for the matter of that 
 may be described in Latin by the word sedes, ' a seat.' The 
 Gaelic for a fairy dwelling is sid, and if we drop the Latin 
 termination sed is not very different from sid. The moon and 
 her attendants having lost their exalted position in the star- 
 spangled heaven, were henceforth relegated to the seats of the 
 dead. The pronunciation of the name for a fairy dwelling is 
 ' shee,' and in reference to the Irish fairies who are called sid, 
 but also sithaige and aes side, which means ' people of the sid ' 
 
 ' " High. Soc. Diet." 
 
THE CELL 79 
 
 as we consider ' of the seat,' ' of the dwelling,' originally of 
 the heaven as cathair mor. That their seats should be described 
 as ' hills ' is quite in accord with this suggestion. The English 
 speaking people generally think of fairies as clad in green, 
 but this is not apparently the early Gaelic idea. O'Flaherty, 
 in his Ogygia tells us differently. He says that the daughters 
 of Laogar {ladhar, ' a cloven foot ') were staying not far from 
 Cruachan, ' the little mons,' which was the palace of CoM«acht 
 and they were favourites of the magi. They were going to 
 wash at a foimtain called Clabach {clabach, ' thick-lipped,' 
 ' wide mouthed ') when they saw St Patrick with three of his 
 bishops and a number of clergy chanting their matins. " When 
 the princesses saw these venerable gentlemen clothed in white 
 surplices, and holding books in their hands, astonished at their 
 unusual dress and attitudes, they looked upon them to be the 
 people sidhe." ^ We thus see then, that O'Flaherty at any 
 rate believed that white garments were consistent with the 
 usual appearance of fairies. He gives a long list of questions 
 addressed by the girls to Patrick, who had commenced con- 
 versation with them " concerning the existence of one god only." 
 As these questions contained " not a word of resemblance, 
 or comparison between the Pagan gods, Saturn, Jupiter, Diana, 
 etc., and the Unknown Divinity, O'Flaherty infers that the 
 divinities of the Irish were local ones. We differ with O'Flaherty 
 and quote his story for the very purpose of pointing out that 
 the moon and stars, Diana and her nymphs in Roman mythology, 
 had nothing in the hue of their garments not in accord with 
 the appearance presented by these supposed aes side. 
 
 Being estabHshed as a race somewhat on the level of ordinary 
 humanity, the fairies are said to inhabit Mag Mell, ' the plain 
 of pleasure.' 'the honey plain' (mil, 'honey'), mi na meala, 
 ' the honeymoon.' Now we must not forget that the heavens 
 of course represent also the seat of continuous happiness, 
 but the fairy Mag Mell has its own peculiarities. It is virtually 
 a land of women and maids, but can be reached by a vessel 
 of glass, as heaven was by a ladder of glass, or by a vessel of 
 bronze. There must be some explanation for picking out 
 bronze as the material of the boat that takes passengers to 
 the abode of delight. As the Irish sennachies say " not diffi- 
 cult," TJam, ' a cave,' ' a crypt ' ; uim, ' bronze.' In Dinneen 
 uamh, Gen. uamha, ' a cave,' ' den,' ' grave,' ' oven ' ; umha, 
 * O'Flaherty's " Ogygia," Part iii. chap. xxii. p. 55. 
 
80 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 ' brass,' ' bronze,' the genitive the same. The pun is not 
 difficult to see here. The pleasant hiUs in the country of (milk 
 and) honey, or honeymoons perhaps, were reached by a vessel, 
 an oven, a cave or by bronze. We are also able to explain why 
 these inhabitants should take on the colour of their pleasant 
 hills. Dinneen again is our authority. Uaine, indeclinable, 
 ' green,' ' verdant ' ; uain, uanach, ' a cave,' fern. Finally 
 we have uaine, gen. the same, ' union,' joining together ' (from 
 Latin ?), thus the word for ' greenness ' and ' union ' are the 
 same. The aes side were those who were in possession of the 
 caves, grottoes, ovens, cells as original owners. There might 
 be males in them also, because we are informed that fairies 
 prefer mortal lovers. Cormac gives us sethor as a name for 
 God, which Stokes says " reminds one of Cicero's caelestum 
 sator, i.e. Jupiter." Sator is a ' sower,' poetically applied to 
 a begetter, father. 
 
 In the story of the fairy pigfeeders, it will be remembered 
 that the first name given to the pigfeeder of Munster was 
 " Bristle." Seta, saeta, ' a bristle,' ' a stiff hair ' with the secon- 
 dary meaning of a brush, compare with that Latin word, the 
 Gaehc seche, ' a skin,' ' pelt,' and sigach, ' a wolf.' Sith is 
 also ' a thrust,' and the following verse from Cormac is interest- 
 ing in this connection. 
 
 "Is dana drech doimine 
 iter ocu erigthi 
 is asithbrug suidigthi 
 leigthi duillen deiligthe." 
 
 (" Bold is Doimin's face 
 amongst warriors rising 
 seated in a fairy court, 
 he casts a cleaving javelin.") 
 
 Here we see a certain Doimin making use of his javelin 
 in a sith-brug, where the word for a " thrust " is used for what 
 is translated ' fairy.' The word " seated " would be accurately 
 translated by ' placed,' and so the ' Man of Munster ' quoted as 
 the poet by Cormac, has not left us a verse quite so simple as 
 it looks in the first translation. 
 
 There are two common-places of tradition to be considered 
 here. Talking as a collector of any folk-stories that have 
 " come the way," whether they seemed important and ancient, 
 or of comparatively little value and suggestive of modem 
 times, we could give dozens of stories of men, never women. 
 
THE CELL 8 1 
 
 being enticed into a fairy hill in which they spend their time 
 with extreme pleasure to themselves, dancing all the while. 
 Decidedly the greater number of these stories provide the dancer 
 with a cask of whisky on his back. He goes for his supply for 
 the New Year, -for a marriage, any ceremony where the " water 
 of life " was expected to play a part, and coming home with 
 the supply, he sees the open sid, enters it, forthwith com- 
 mences dancing and continues the exercise till he gets out. 
 The keg on his back may be empty, but it is stUl there, even at 
 the end of a year and a day, according to the time-table of his 
 friends, but what to himself has seemed but a very short time. 
 In the many editions of that story is embodied the Scottish 
 Highland idea of what happens most commonly when the male 
 human has to do with fairies. 
 
 Reciters of interesting facts which they believe to be 
 history are specially fond where two castles are within easy 
 distance of each other, or where a deep cave suggests the 
 possibility of its penetrating the ground further than the 
 ordinary man would be bold enough to penetrate, to tell any 
 inquirer something to the following effect. In the case of 
 two castles, they start by saying that there is a secret passage 
 from the one to the other, in the case of caves they simply 
 add on imaginary miles to their depth. No one, they say, 
 has ever been able to penetrate from the one castle to the 
 other, or reach the other end of the cave. At last a bold 
 piper undertakes the task. He starts off with his pipes in 
 fun blast and is very frequently accompanied by his dog, 
 in fact the dog is really an essential part of the story. The 
 hale and hearty piper never appears again. His timid backers 
 above grotmd gauge the distance he reaches underground, by 
 noting that his pipes are still going. At last all is still, but 
 after an interval an emaciated animal, scarcely able to crawl, 
 and without a hair on it, emerges. We doubt if there is any 
 cave of any depth a little difficult of exploration about which 
 this story is not told, and we verily believe in all good faith 
 by the majority of the reciters. We remember being thrilled 
 with it as a small boy crossing the High Street of Edinburgh 
 from Bank Street, a piper having reached that distance, 
 going from the Castle by its secret passage to Holyrood. Alas ! 
 the dog, the piper, are only to be explained as the same sort of 
 pipe which retained for Columba his "goodly shape" (p. 13). 
 The secret passage, the long cave, represent under another 
 
82 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 similitude the fairy side and the cell of Cdhim-cille. In the 
 New Testament the prince of demons seems to be called " Bel 
 of the house," Beelzebub. " If they have called the master 
 of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them 
 of his household." ^ To appreciate the mythic significance of a 
 cell ; it must be borne in mind that its primary meaning is a 
 store room for grain, or for the abode of animals and only by 
 transference applied to a human habitation. It was therefore 
 a columbarium, a dove cot, as well as a place in which seed 
 was put. The secondary meaning was the niche in a temple 
 in which was placed the representation of the god, and is used 
 to designate an apartment in a bathing-house and in a brothel. 
 It is thus clear that even if used for the " cot of Columba " 
 it conveyed to the mind quite as clearly to say the least of it, 
 the " niche of the Columna," the Cenn Cruaich worshipped 
 by Laeghaire and the people of Ireland and bent and upset by 
 the staff of Patrick.^ Hermes was called (CyUene) from a 
 mountain in Arcadia where he was bom. xuXXoj is appHed 
 to one crippled by the legs being bent outwards. Hermes 
 was father of Pan, the hairy, goat-footed god, who " deUghted 
 all" as his name implies. 
 
 * Matt. X. 25. * O'Curry's " Materials," p. 539. 
 
SALMON 
 
 We have seen above that the sahnon and the wolf (dog), were 
 in some way connected with the worship paid to Nodons. 
 
 Cormac has the following. " Caill Crinmon ' hazels of 
 scientific composition,' i.e. creth-mon, creth i.e. ' science,' 
 and mon i.e. ' a trick,' ' feat,' caill crinmon i.e. hazels from 
 which come, or from which is broken, a new composition." 
 Stokes gives his suggestions as to the meaning of this, one of 
 which is that caill is ' a wood,' not the plural for ' hazel,' 
 we believe it, in origin, xauXof, caulis, kail-stock of Lucian. 
 If we accept this, crinmon has evidently something to do with 
 crinda, ' prudent,' ' wise.' Meyer leaves crinmond untrans- 
 lated. Why we come to this conclusion we think will be evident 
 when we quote Stokes' note to the entry in Cormac. ' The 
 ancient Irish poets believed that there were fountains at the 
 heads of the chief rivers of Ireland, over each of which grew 
 nine hazels, that those hazels produced at certain times beautiful 
 red nuts which fell on the surface of the water, that the salmon 
 of the rivers came up and ate them, that the eating of them 
 was the cause of the red spots on the salmon's belly, that 
 whoever could catch and eat one of the salmon would be 
 endued with the sublimest poetic intellect. Hence we often 
 meet such phrases as these in ancient poems : — " Had I the 
 nut of science," " Had I eaten of the salmon of knowledge." 
 In Latin, crinis is ' a hair,' the first i being long, and the i of 
 crinmond is accented, mons, ' a mount,' describing Eve's 
 apple, the apple of knowledge. Hazels, of course, bear nuts 
 and glans is the Latin for ' a nut.' Without further particulars 
 the initiated will understand, we think, what the beautful 
 red nut was which fell upon the surface of the fountain. Now 
 these nuts were swallowed by the salmon, and looking to the 
 companion animal at the shrine of Nodons, notoriously vor- 
 acious, we conclude that the fish depicted was like the whale 
 and the pike a representative of voracity. Compare with this 
 information the Gaehc ore, ' a small hound,' ' a pig,' ' a whale,' 
 ' a torpedo fish ' (Dinneen). O'Reilly translates it ' salmon,' 
 but it is enough for our argument that it is a fish of some sort ; 
 
 «3 
 
84 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 we should prefer to translate it ' pike,' Orcun, is ' slaughter,' 
 ' destruction,' there is no fouler feeder than the pig. In Sweden 
 the pike is the fish of luck. A loafer who had at last gained 
 a pound of meal in wages took it to his mother, who proceeded 
 to make porridge of it. Her son went to the stream to draw 
 the needful water and fished out a pike in the bucket. The 
 pike sought hard to be let off again, promising as the reward 
 for his escape that the lad should firstly have so much money 
 that he would find at home pockets of bank-notes, secondly, that 
 he might sleep with the three daughters of his employer, and 
 thirdly, that the maus of each of them should have the gift of 
 speech.^ We here see clearly that the pike could give good 
 fortune and endow with speech what we have suggested as one 
 of the esoteric meanings of Nodons. The pike certainly deserved 
 the epithet " liberalis." 
 
 The objects of worship which we are considering were 
 complicated creations. If it had not been so there would have 
 been no mystery about them. The most mysterious thing 
 in the animal creation being reproduction, to the completion 
 of which two elements were necessary, the active and the passive, 
 the male and the female, both had to be acknowledged, and 
 consequently an androgynous character has generally to be 
 looked for. In the Nodotus of Arnobius and Augustine we 
 seem to find an equivalent to the nut bearing hazels of the 
 Irish poets, and granting that Nuada and Nudd are Nodons, 
 Nuadat, another form of the first of these names, approaches 
 more nearly Nodotus. 
 
 To judge from what we find in Dinneen eo, which has a 
 number of translations in O'Reilly, was a general name for a 
 fish, eochair, ' the spawn of a fish,' ' a sprout ' ; eochrach also ; 
 ^ochrais, ' the milt,' or ' spawn ' of a fish ; eocrasach, ' a female 
 fish.' Eog is given in SpurreU as ' a salmon,' but O'Clery says 
 ^' leitheach i. leiteog i. iasg leathan," ' a broad fish,' making 
 eog and iasg equivalents. Under lethech Cormac teUs us that 
 it is a name for a fish called from its breadth and thinness, 
 for its kind in the sea is very broad ; and also that lethech 
 means ' a kneading trough.' Compare this with the phallic 
 skate in fisher folk-lore (p. 28). The fish has been connected 
 with rings from time immemorial, and in every country ap- 
 parently. Polycrates, tyrant of Samos, threw his most cherished 
 possession, his signet ring, into the sea, and it was returned 
 
 • " Krjrptadia," ii. p. 171. 
 
SALMON 85 
 
 to him in a fish presented to him.^ Solomon having given his 
 ring to Amina, a concubine, a Devil in the form of Solomon 
 got it from her, and was enabled to assume Solomon's place 
 on the throne. Having fulfilled his time, he flew and dropped 
 the ring into the sea where a fish swallowed it, which was caught, 
 given to Solomon, who recovered his ring and his kingdom.^ 
 The story of Riderech's ring given to his wife, who had given 
 it to a soldier, being recovered by the intercession of St Kenti- 
 gem, who fished the salmon which had swallowed it out of the 
 Clyde, and gave the ring back to the queen that she might 
 appear innocent to her husband, is to be read in the " Life 
 of St Kentigem." ^ The special interest in this tale, however, 
 is to be found in the adaptation of the parable of the fish 
 and ring to the glorification of the church, whose representative 
 Kentigem can return the ring after it had been improperly 
 employed, fit to be in possession of the righ-dearg, the ' red king ' 
 {Riderech) . The churchman's importance is shown in his name, 
 ' ruler's head,' ceann-tighern. In our own marriage ceremony, 
 the woman receives from the man a quid pro quo in the form 
 of a plain ring. Maltese custom connects this with a fish. 
 There, when a marriage has been arranged, the young man 
 " sends his intended bride a present containing a certain fish, 
 ornamented with garlands of ribbon, with a ring or some 
 costly jewel in its mouth." * 
 
 The general mechanism of reproduction may be conceived 
 as resembHng what we are told of the creation of Vishnu, that 
 it was from a fish which Manu kept in a jar. According to the 
 Mahabharata, Manu having picked a fish out of a river, put 
 it in a vessel, but the fish grew so large that it had to be thrown 
 into the sea. It predicted to Manu the approach of the flood, 
 and it advised him to build a ship and so preserve the seed of 
 everything. When in the ship, the fish appeared and allowed 
 him to attach himself to its horn tiU he was stranded. The 
 fish then informed him that he was Brahma, the Highest, Lord 
 of Creation.^ The various vessels represent Colum's cetus, 
 or let us say the pike, a sort of boa among fish. The fish put 
 into them is the pike's breakfast, and the possibility of con- 
 fusing the swaUower and the swallowed must be kept in mind. 
 
 We have pointed out that eo as apphed to a fish has a 
 
 > Herodotus, " Thalia," iii. par. 43. 
 
 ' Koran, chap, xxxviii., quoted Fishes, Flowers and Fire. London, 1890, 
 p. 7. ' " Historians of Scotland's Series," vol. v. p. 99. 
 
 * " Folk-Lore," vol. xiv. p. 80. ' Grimm, " Mythology," vol. i. p. 479. 
 
86 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 wider significance than the strict application to the salmon. 
 Eo is also applied to a tree with apparently the same compara- 
 tive vagueness, /wbhar is ' a yew tree,' and doubtless there 
 is some connection between its first syllable and eo [barr ? = 
 branch, crop (?)], which accounts for eo-bhar being generally 
 considered to apply to the yew. In the Dindsenchas, we hear 
 of five trees great in Irish story, where eo seems the equivalent 
 of bill, ' a tree trunk.' ^ The first of these the Eo Rossa, the 
 ' tree of the wooded promontory ' is expressly said to be ibar, 
 ' a yew,' and there is a long list of what it is, aU of which 
 peculiarities could be found ascribed to the phallus. The second 
 one interests us however more. " Mugna, then, greatest of 
 noteworthy things was it, i.e. the greatest of sacred trees," 
 so Stokes translates " bAiscnib." Dinneen tells us that bdisin 
 is a ' languid person.' ^ The Corca Baiscne, a Clare tribe, 
 the name now obsolete. Finn's grandfather was Baiscin. On 
 the authority of the Book of Leinster eo mugna was an oak, 
 but the Dindsenchas distinctly teUs us " three fruits upon it, 
 namely, acorn, apple and nut, and when the first fruit fell 
 another fruit used to grow. This, of course, shows us that 
 it is no use identifying it as an oak, or an apple tree, or a hazel, 
 or yew. It was a tree shaft bile of which the fruit was com- 
 parable with the three things mentioned, or for the matter 
 of that the red berry of the yew. We also learn that it was 
 cast down by Ninine, said to be a poet, but Ninian was also 
 the first converter of the Picts in Scotland to Christianity. 
 This tree grew in a plain to which it gave its name. " Mag 
 Mugna, how is it so named ? Not difficult to answer, and 
 Brechmag ? " The Plain of Mugna then was also called ' the 
 Spotted Plain.' In saying this, we are going dead against the 
 canon which confines historical inquirers to the words of their 
 material, for the answer of the author of the Dindsenchas is, 
 that it means ' wolf field,' and that on it a wolf {brech) killed 
 a brachem, a bru and a baigliu, translated ' a stag,' ' a doe,' 
 and ' a fawn.' Brae is ' an arm,' brachium ; bru, is ' the womb'; 
 baic, ' something with an angle in it ' ; baic a mhuineil, ' the 
 hollow of his neck.' The brachem is the same arm, if we are 
 right, as appears in Uladh, Nuada of the Silver Hand, and 
 Uillenn Red Edge, who killed Manannan on the hunting ground 
 of Rinnail the Red (p. 68). The presence of Ninine, of the 
 
 ' " Revue Celtique," vol. xvi. p. 277. 
 
 * Dindsenchas, Revue Celtique," vol. xv. p. 419. 
 
SALMON 87 
 
 wolf, and of the Spotted Plain are all connected with Irec, 
 ' a spot,' ' spotted,' picti. The Spotted Plain, and the Plain 
 of Mugna is the night sky, called the first from the stars sprinkled 
 over it, and the second from the moon. The Irish chronicler of 
 the ' History of the Fortifications ' tells us that the top of the 
 tree and the plain in which it stood were equally broad. 
 
 We must return to the fish. " Maighre a salmon i. bradan 
 O'Cl." " Moghra salmon, leg. moghna i. bradan O'Cl. mughna 
 O'Dav." '^ The words explained here are Scottish Gaelic. 
 O'Davoren's entry referred to by the editor of the Scottish 
 Gaelic Glossary (Stokes) is " Mughna i. bradan, ut est ni blaisi 
 mughna mana fir foltaig f. i. ni tuga bias mogha in ena in 
 uisci do in bratan." 2 Stokes gives us the information that 
 " Fer tuinde foltcha " is a kenning for fish ; and mugh in ena 
 seems meant as an etymology of mughna, but says that the 
 quotation and the gloss are obscure and leaves them untrans- 
 lated. We have already noticed the kenning spoken of (p. 14), 
 and there found that the woolly salmon became a covering 
 to Eber's daughter's husband, ihar, ' yew,' Eburones from 
 Aduatuca, which may account for the statement given in the 
 notes to the Felire of Oengus ^ that the eo mughna was on the 
 mag atuaid, that is the ' north plain.' O'Davoren's quotation 
 suggests to us " the taste of the mughna wiU be on the hairy 
 man," the long back hair of the wearers of what we have 
 called the lunar tonsure, and the gloss suggests " will not put 
 the taste of the slave of the One of the water, to the salmon," 
 ? moon. Maighre and moghra the Scottish Gaelic words for 
 a ' bradan ' above given, seem to refer to the sea as a plain, 
 Latin mare, Gaelic muir, Welsh mor, and so far as we can see 
 are not misspellings for moghna, mughna, the silvery fish that 
 swims in the sea, a sea which has got the name Mag Mughna, 
 ' the plain of the moon.' With Mughna we may compare 
 Hindu Manu, Ger. Manus, Gael. Manannan. Anyone who has 
 seen a salmon leap will, we think, readily understand how 
 the crescent moon might be compared to a salmon jumping, 
 and accordingly, we find " salmon jump " is one of the tricks 
 ascribed to Cuchulainn.* 
 
 Mugna is connected with the Gaelic mun ^ in some instances, 
 and we may call attention to the name of the central spot of 
 
 * " Archiv. Celt. Lexik.," vol. iii. pp. 201, 203. 
 
 ' Ibid., vol. ii. p. 421. ' " Felire," Stokes, clxxxi. 
 
 * " Irische Texte." Windisch, ist series, p. 523. " Eo, lacks." 
 ' " Perth Incident," p. 82. 
 
88 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 Ireland till the time of Tuathal ; — now identified with Ailena 
 Mirenn the Stone of the Divisions, a natural boulder on a hill 
 in West Meath ; — Uisneach, Usnagh.^ Tuathal is fabulous, as 
 we have already pointed out, and the name of the central object 
 of Irish tradition before his time makes it pretty certain that 
 " Uisneach " is fabulous too, and accordingly we look for its 
 significance in the word uisge, water. Uisegenach is a name 
 formed like that of " Featherstonehaugh," really meaning, 
 ' connected with Featherstone ' (the ' haugh ' is not pro- 
 nounced by some at least of its bearers). Uisgen.ea.ch the 
 central thing connected with water, situated on a hill — ' mons.' 
 
 Bradan, salmon, is not itself free from dubiety in meaning. 
 Of all strange creatures at first sight to have such said of it, 
 we have seen it mentioned as a source of a wooUen garment 
 (p. 13), but the name of the fish easily explains the gram- 
 matical quirk. Brat is a ' cloth,' ' a covering,' bradan, bratan, 
 is ' a salmon,' brata.g, with a feminine termination is the ' furry 
 caterpillar.' Bradan is ' mist,' and the comparing of mist with 
 wool is the evident source of the mysterious sac-ban, ' white- 
 sack,' a wooUy package of varying dimensions seen running 
 along roads and hill faces to the terror of the Gael who meet it. 
 Its characteristic is being " white." The salmon is not the only 
 biadan. The sturgeon is bradan-fearna (Dinneen), the ' alder 
 salmon,' which suggests that the salmon proper was bradan- 
 iubhair, ' the yew salmon.' The alder is one of the best woods 
 to be used for purposes where it is exposed to the action of 
 water and is therefore the favourite wood with which to make 
 the step of a mast. Eo, iubhair as crann, ' a mast,' gives 
 exactly the distinction we should expect, as we have said before, 
 between the swaUower and the swallowed (p. 85). There is 
 also a bradan beathadh, the salmon which keeps others alive. 
 Eo as Mughna has thus an androgynous character. 
 
 Of the tenth of March we are told, " to the angels was called 
 Constantine, fair, luminous, by whom was found an angelic 
 shaft (eo) the tree (crand) of the Lord's Cross." ^ O'Davoren 
 quoting this explains eo as " lighnum i. crann." The signi- 
 ficance of the fish as an emblem of Christ is well known ; almost 
 every one has heard of the acrostic in which the Greek Ichthus 
 ' fish ' forms lesous Christos, Theou Uios, Soter. A knowledge 
 of this at once explains how on the introduction of Chris- 
 
 ^ " Social History," Joyce, p. 37. 
 ^ Felire of Oengus. 
 
SALMON 89 
 
 tianity any female traditions which seemed to require Gregorian 
 treatment would become male. 
 
 There is another Gaelic word for a fish which is not without 
 significance. " lach, a salmon, i. bradan, O'Cl."^ lach is used 
 as the genitive of eo, but it has a genitive iaich formed from 
 itself. Stokes calls eo and iach " sister forms." Inman has 
 already pointed out a connection between John and Jack, in 
 GaeHc it might appear as Eo(ghanis) and lach(us). Inman 
 relates loannes with loni female, and Jack ynih. lacchus male,^ 
 which, granting that Jack represents /azw/3, merely recalls the 
 fact that Jacob, lacchus and Jack have a common origin. 
 Jacob was the twin brother of Esau of whom the characteristics 
 are hairiness, redness, roughness, thoughtlessness, and being 
 easily beguiled. Jacob was smooth, adept in cookery, com-? 
 pare the bradan beathadh, guileful, and the favourite of his 
 mother. At his birth Jacob is represented as grasping his 
 brother's heel, compare this with the statement that the " heel 
 of the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent's head." 
 The grasping of the heel shows the same nature, as shown in 
 the grasping of the inheritance, and of the blessing, which 
 should have been Esau's. Jacob was the forefather of the 
 Israelites, and from such information as we can gather, putting 
 aside any question of the story originating with the twin 
 brothers, we hold them to have been in inception male and 
 female. How the story of lacchus appears in Gaelic saint lore 
 as ' Each ' has been pointed out elsewhere.* A present day 
 account of Columba's connection with salmon and weUs will 
 be seen in the following from Arran, recited by an old native 
 in 1905. " Colum Chille was with us in Arran. We have a 
 well at the Pimmill named upon him. The water never dries 
 up and there is healing in it, and whatever trouble anyone has, 
 fever or measles, he may drink as much as he likes and it will 
 do him no harm. One time a trout was put into this weU, and 
 it ate up flies and any dust that happened to be in it. No 
 person would touch it, and it grew up to be a salmon, and it 
 was in the well twenty-seven years (thrice nine years. — Ed.), 
 and were it not for what happened to it, it would have been 
 there still. The way it left the well was this. Some person 
 went at night to the well for water with a lantern, and when 
 
 1 " Axchiv. Celt. Lex.," vol. iii. p. 198. 
 
 ' " Ancient Faiths," Inman, vol. ii. p. 927. 
 
 " " Caledonian Medical Journal," vol. vi. p. 283. 
 
go RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 the pitcher was put down, it brought up the salmon unknown 
 to the person, and the salmon went out of sight, and from that 
 time it was never seen." ^ 
 
 In Neot's well, Devonshire, were three fish and, though 
 it was permitted only to take out one a day, when Neot was 
 ill his servant took out two to tempt his appetite with boiled 
 or broiled. The saint stuck to the letter of his contract, 
 ordered them both back into the well, when they were im- 
 mediately restored to life. His servant was then permitted 
 to take out the regular supply, which was no sooner tasted than 
 Neot was restored to complete health.^ Neot as a personage 
 is equated with Naud, Nud. The form of his name seemingly 
 is connected with a Germanic root signifying ' enjoyment,' 
 ' benefit,' ' profit.' ^ Neat, nowt, are British words for cattle 
 in the present day. The healing powers of Neot's well restored 
 both himself and his fish ; the Arran well, our reciter informed 
 us, was of value to another Englishman. As he put it : — 
 " There was a man in London very ill and he saw in a dream 
 an island in which there was a well, in which there was water 
 which he thought would heal him, but he had no knowledge 
 either where the well or the island was, but he went from place 
 to place trying if he could find it. At last he reached Arran, 
 there he found the well, and when he drank the water, he got 
 healing." Colum of the Arran well appears in the Devonshire 
 tradition as Barius the servant of Neot. Dottin in his list of 
 common words given expressly as Celtic in the writers of anti- 
 quity, says, " Pdppuv ( = Varro)," " courageous " in Celtic." * 
 Barrus is, according to Isidor, ' an elephant,' " unde et vox 
 ejus barriius dicitur." Baritum also barditum is the " harsh 
 piercing note and broken roar " made by the Germans when 
 attacking, according to Tacitus. In Bede's account of St 
 Germanus we learn that in his first visit to Britain, a fire break- 
 ing out in the town in which he was laid aside with a broken leg, 
 aU the huts were destroyed but the one in which he lay. The 
 limb was ultimately cured by an angel. This is a phaUic 
 parable, and we say so because on his second visit to Britain 
 a certain Elafius ( = elephant, unicorn ?) whom all the people 
 followed, had a son in the flower of his youth with a leg so 
 contracted that it was useless. By passing his hand over the 
 
 > Collected by Miss E. M. Kerr. R.C.M.'s Unpublished Papers, 8681. 
 ' " Folk-Lore," vol. xvii. p. 44. ' Ibid., p. 47. 
 
 * " Manuel pour Servir a I'Etude de I'Antiquite Celtique," p. 68. 
 
SALMON 91 
 
 member, giving it the saintly blessing (?), he was enabled to 
 deliver the youth whole to his father. Elafius must have had 
 Germanic blood in him, Germanus' methods, naturally, were 
 Germanic. His way of defeating the Saxons and Picts was 
 by shouting at them. All his followers shouted " Hallelujah " 
 till the hills resounded and the enemy was struck with dread, 
 and such was their terror that their feet were not swift enough 
 to deliver them.^ Of course Germanus' shout was one taken 
 from Christian literature, but shouting was a religious observ- 
 ance. In the Dionysia the god was loudly invoked as an 
 important part of the ceremony, " lo Bacche ! " " O lacche ! " 
 and the name Priapus was connected with the Greek ' loud 
 shouting,' from ^plwmg ' to call.' Suetonius gives us the key 
 to this phallic Britisher's name. He says of Tiberius " he had 
 several chambers set round with pictures and statues in the 
 most lascivious attitudes, and furnished with the books of 
 Elephantis, that none might want a pattern for the execution 
 of any lewd project that was prescribed him." ^ Horace speaks 
 of " muher dignissima barris," and Rabelais speaks of " couille 
 barrine des preux " the ' elephantine testicle of the courageous.' 
 (See Dottin's " ^appm " above.) In Icelandic olifant is used for 
 the ' Mmcorn,' and is also ' a trumpet.' ISdpaSpov, Latin 
 barathrum is ' a cleft,' ' a pit,' especially one at Athens into 
 which criminals were thrown, and so came to mean meta' 
 phoricaUy, ' ruin,' ' perdition ' ; the word was applied to an 
 ornament worn by women, and was the name of a courtesan. 
 That the worship of Baal was accompanied with loud outcry 
 we know, " and they cried aloud, and cut themselves after 
 their manner, with knives and lancets, tiU the blood gushed 
 out upon them " ^ — this is virtually the same practice criti- 
 cised in Matthew, " use not vain repetitions, as the heathen 
 do : for they think that they shall be heard for their much 
 speaking." * 
 
 From what has gone before it may probably have struck 
 the reader that the shouts of " 'lo /Sax^os " and " O lacche ! " 
 and the eo and iach of which we have spoken at length might 
 have some connection. As Priapus was in his worship con- 
 nected with loud shouting so also is laxy^og, 'layj-^ is ' to shout.' 
 ^nyai is admittedly the same name as laK-x^i, Bacchus as 
 
 1 Bede's " Ecclesiastical History," bk. I. chaps, xix-xxi. 
 
 » Tiberius, " Lives of the Caesars," chap, xliii ; quoted Priapeia, p. 181. 
 
 3 I Kings xviii. 28. * Matthew vi. 7. 
 
92 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 lacchus. Looked at merely from a historical point of view we 
 incline to the beUef that shouting was so essential a part of the 
 Dionysic worship that the Greek verb to shout, was equivalent 
 to ' to iach,' and is a derivative from the name of the deity, 
 and lacchus is the older form of the name of the god of Nysa. 
 This suggests a more near connection between Germanus's 
 " Hallelujah," and lo laxxoj as we may write the shout, which 
 seems but an introductory consonant with the name of the god 
 to foUow, corresponding somewhat to ' hip, hip, hurrah ! ' and 
 the io was repeated once or twice, seldom thrice also. " Halle- 
 lujah ! " is derived from a Hebrew word halal translated ' to 
 praise,' but it was a shout, and if there is not a connection 
 between the ;a of ia,x!» and Jah, circumstantial evidence fails 
 us. The two expressions seem to be in fact " shout lah," and 
 " shout Iach." 
 
 'loi, Io, is not only an exclamation, it may be of joy, fear, or 
 sorrow, but is also the name of a daughter of Inachus (o/kj) the 
 ace of a die), and a name for the moon at Argos. She was loved 
 by Zeus, and to avoid Hera's jealousy was turned into a white 
 cow (p. 57) . Hera got possession of the cow, placed her under 
 the care of Argus, but Hermes slew Argus, i.e. darkness in 
 Sanskrit, with a stone, the sunlight apparently, which quenches 
 the thousand stars. Persecuted by a gadfly sent by Hera, Io 
 wandered over the earth till she found rest on the banks of the 
 Nile. The Bosphorus got its name from her swimming across 
 it, and ' Euboea ' probably derived its name from her, and is 
 therefore an exact parallel with the island to which Colman 
 retreated after leaving Northumbria. 
 
 lacchus was a son of Semele, also a rival of Hera's in the 
 affections of Zeus, and as Io was a wanderer through the 
 earth, so also was Bacchus. There is a name for the moon, 
 Selene. Hera the great nature mother has also been equated 
 with the moon, and Semele by metathesis seems to be Selene. 
 
 Let us go back to the youth driving the chariot, on the head 
 ornament found in the sanctuary of Nodons. lacchus of course 
 is represented as a youth, and we suggested that he of Nodons 
 represented the nodus between night and day as Lucifer. 
 Lucifer is the name given to a star which appears in the morning 
 in close connection with the sun. There is a star also Hesperus, 
 •which has the same relations in the evening sky as Lucifer has 
 in the dawn. But when Lucifer is present in the morning, 
 Hesperus is absent in the evening, and vice versa ; they are in 
 
SALMON gj, 
 
 fact the same star. This star's near connection with the sun 
 allows her to reflect a brilliant light, and for this last reason, it 
 is also called Venus. It does not remain always at the same 
 distance from the sun, but day by day is seen somewhat further 
 from it, till having reached its furthest point, it commences to 
 approach the sun again and is lost in its rays. It has received 
 a fourth name, the Shepherd's Star. If an object of reverence 
 to shepherds, the worship must have been connected with a 
 belief in his power to increase their herds, and the epithet of 
 Liberalis would probably be bestowed on him, and the bright- 
 ness of his light might account for his being called Nuad of 
 the Silver Hand, an epithet also applied to Llud in Wales. 
 Now our Nud was the superior wolf lord, and dogs or wolves 
 were plentifully represented in Nodons' sanctuary. In Norse 
 mythology we have Loki (fire) as a rebirth in Fenrir, who 
 follows the moon in the form of a wolf threatening to devour 
 him, at the end of the world. This Fenrir, in Gothic ' Fanareis ' 
 is Fanareis ulfr.^ As the sun is female in Teutonic story, and 
 as Venus is swallowed by her rays, it is surely not going very 
 far from probabUity to suggest that the sun there plays the 
 role of the ' Venus wolf,' Fanareis = Veneris. 
 
 The suggestion of a connection between lah (J ah. Each (?), 
 remember this is an ineffable name) and lacchus is not new. 
 Diodorus says that " among the Jews they relate that Moses 
 called the god lao." ^ The natural tendency of Christians 
 is to look at all references by other writers as prejudiced, and 
 unworthy attention, but Tacitus teUs us further that Bacchus 
 (lacchus) had by some been supposed to be the god of the Jews. 
 He goes on to argue that this statement is wrong because the 
 Jewish institutions had no conformity with the rites of Bacchus." 
 It were probably as pertinent to say that the god worshipped 
 on a great occasion by the Pope of Rome and that of the 
 Salvation Army were not the same because there was no con- 
 formity in the rites of the one with those of the other. The 
 real position seems to us explicable in this manner. Omnipot- 
 ence and wisdom, kindliness and festivity, compare the worship 
 of the golden calf, were ascribed to a deity ; the wisdom and 
 power appeal to one set of worshippers, and the kindliness and 
 festivity to another portion, and the original single god becomes 
 two. The worshippers of the first ascribe to him authority for 
 
 1 Grimm, vol. i. p. 202. ' " Isis Unveiled," Blavatsky, vol. ii. p. 301. 
 
 » " The History," book v. chap. v. 
 
94 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 the complete destruction of an opposing tribe, while the others 
 show forth the joy of life by festivity which becomes licence. 
 
 A name which has nothing but a suggestion of divinity to 
 one set of people may in the language of another seem 
 quite different, Eo is said to be the Egyptian for an ass and 
 phonetically equivalent to lao.^ If this is so, it probably 
 accounts for the statement of Epiphanius as to the cause of 
 the death of Zacharias, father of John Baptist. While offering 
 incense in the temple, he saw the form of a man with the head 
 of an ass. Under the influence of his astonishment, he was 
 going to address the assembled people, " Woe unto you, who 
 do you worship ? " when the use of speech was taken from him. 
 On speech returning, he declared what he had seen and the 
 Jews slew him. It is further explained that the reason for 
 Moses' instruction that the dress of the High Priest should 
 have bells attached to it was, that he whom he worshipped 
 hearing the noise might avoid being caught in that ugly 
 shape.2 
 
 A reason for reverencing the ass by the Jews is found in 
 Tacitus. During their flight from Egypt, they were sadly 
 distressed for want of water. Seeing a herd of wUd asses 
 ascend a rock in a grove, Moses followed them and there opened 
 springs which were the salvation of his people. " The figure 
 of the animal through whose guidance they slaked their thirst 
 and were enabled to terminate their wanderings, is con- 
 secrated in the sanctuary of their temple." ^ In Exodus the 
 water difficulty is impressed on the reader ; but there it 
 is Moses' rod that causes it to flow, probably the equivalent 
 of the 'E^/iou ^a^dicv, Hermes wand, Hermes to whom was 
 dedicated the parting cup at a feast. Tacitus well knew that 
 the Jews had progressed beyond a material deity. " The 
 Jews acknowledge one god only, and conceive of him by the 
 mind alone, condemning as impious all who with perishable 
 materials wrought into human shape form representations 
 of the deity. ... In consequence they aUow no resemblance 
 of him in their cities, much less in their temples. They do 
 not in this way flatter their kings, or show their respect for 
 the Caesars." * TertuUian said " like many others, you have 
 dreamt that an ass's head is our god. But a new version of 
 our god has lately been made public at Rome, ever since a 
 
 1 " Isis Unveiled," vol. ii. p. 523. ' King's " Gnostices," p. 231. 
 
 ' Tacitus' " History," book v. chaps, iii. and iv. * Ibid., bk. v. chap. v. 
 
SALMON 95 
 
 certain hireling convict of a bull-fighter put forth a picture 
 with some such inscription as this, ' The god of the Christians, 
 Onokoihthe.' He was depicted thus — with the ears of an ass, 
 and with one of his feet hoofed, holding in his hand a book, 
 and clothed in the toga." The fact of the regal entrance of 
 Christ into Jerusalem on an ass recorded on the authority of 
 aU the Gospels is sufficiently remarkable in this connection. 
 The Greek epithet mentioned by TertuUian varies in form and 
 may mean " lying in the ass' stall," or " ass worshipper." ^ 
 The upstanding ears of the wolfish jackal, Anubis, the still 
 more prominent ones of the ass, those of the cow Hathor and 
 the white cow lo, are all connected we have no doubt, and 
 another animal is added to the list by Epiphanius. " The 
 Gnostic Sabaoth has, according to some, the face of an ass, 
 according to others that of a Hog ; on which latter account 
 He hath forbidden the Jews to eat swine's flesh." ^ There 
 is a totemic suggestion in this. Among the ' Sephiroth,' the 
 " numerical emanations," according to the Kabbalah, the 
 seventh and eighth correspond respectively to Jehovah 
 Tzabaoth and Elohim Tzabaoth, the Lord of Armies and the 
 Gods of Armies, the latter, the feminine passive potency 
 having emanated from the former.^ We thus see that there 
 was a female element connected with the title Sabaoth, 
 the word Elohim being a plural feminine.* Eloh, ALH, being 
 a feminine singular, and, IM a male plural form, and thus 
 when Elohim said " let us make man," ^ the title given him 
 being an androgynous one, explains the writer's idea of whence 
 came the power. In the Sepher Yetzirah, ' Book of Forma- 
 tion,' ascribed to Abraham, there is a passage by which it 
 appears that the Holy Spirit, generally spoken of as male, is 
 feminine. " One is She the Spirit of the Elohim of hfe," ® 
 which reminds us that brig, the root of the name Brigit, the 
 Irish Mary, means ' exceeding power,' compare the statement 
 in the Acts in which the disciples are informed that they should 
 be baptised with the Holy Ghost, adding " but ye shall receive 
 power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you," or other- 
 wise " the power of the Holy Ghost coming upon you." ' 
 The Protestant Church rejects the worship of the female 
 
 1 Liddell and Scott, s.v. ovokoIti]!. 
 
 ' " The Gnostics and their Remains," King, p. 230. 
 
 ' " The Kabbalah Unveiled," Mathers, p. 26. ♦ Ibid., p. 21. 
 
 * Genesis, i. 26. ' " Kabbalah Unveiled," pp. 14, 22. 
 
 ' Acts of the Apostles," chap. i. verse 8. 
 
96 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 element, except unconsciously in the Trinity. However 
 correct this elimination of the female, it is not in accordance 
 with the Kabbalah. As a recent Kabbalist said " what God is 
 in Himself it is not given to man to know." " The human form 
 is ascribed to God, but it is a purely hieroglyphical figure." ^ 
 The relationship between the image of God and man is ex- 
 plained in this way, referring to the statement that man was 
 created in the image of God. " The head is I, the arms 
 and shoulders are like H, the body is V, and the legs are repre- 
 sented by the H final corresponding as will be seen with the 
 Tetragrammaton IHVH, as it appears in Hebrew letters " 
 The letter at the top I, yod, which signifies ' hand,' and !? 
 is the equivalent of the numeral lo, the duration in months n 
 of human pregnancy counting by moons, establishing a decimal 
 basis for calculation, while in Greek though I is the ninth 
 letter, it also represents the decimal. Compare lo, the white 
 cow, and eo the Gaelic fish of knowledge. O in Hebrew called 
 ayin, the ' eye ' is shown as 5?, our Y, the Greek r, m. In 
 the latter alphabet it is the twentieth letter and is called 
 upsilon, ' o without the aspirate,' omicron being the aspirated 
 0, there having been originally but one sign for both letters 
 u and 0. Omega u introduced in the time of Hadrian for 00 
 is perhaps adopted from the Hebrew ayin y and appears 
 in the Welsh w. It is a guttural letter in Hebrew and for 
 purposes of the Kabbalah is connected with Q 2 as it is said 
 " in the circuit of his mouth is it condensed into the palatal 
 quop P. The same is said also of yod >, Hee n. Ayin, 
 ' eye,' 0, is described as the " medium or splendour of media- 
 tion " (connection !) and denotes " the seven inferiors which 
 were, destroyed," ^ meaning, the primal worlds before the 
 deity conformed himself as " male and female." * Quop, 
 Hebrew q, is the " bride " as is the last H of JHVH (p. 102) 
 aid is " the mountain of myrrh, the hill of frankincense." ^ 
 A study of the Evil Eye traditions current in the West 
 Highlands of Scotland led to the conclusion that " eye " was 
 only a figure of speech in its origin applied to the female puden- 
 dum, and that the proper cure for it was only to be had from a 
 male. There are various observances which protect, but the 
 real cure is ' silver water.' This is to be had from a stream 
 
 • " The Kabbalah Unveiled," MacGregor Mathers, p. 17. 
 
 " " Kabbalah Unveiled," p. 331. 
 
 = Ibid., pp. 331, 332. « Ibid ., p. 43. 5 7ijy^ p ^^2. 
 
SALMON 97 
 
 " over which the living and the dead pass," popularly supposed 
 to be a ford or bridge leading to a churchyard. It should also 
 be where two properties march, but it is a somewhat different 
 conjunction than the estates of two neighbouring lairds, and 
 no sixpenny bit or any piece of metallic silver will give the 
 glistening property desiderated, to any potable water. The 
 thing to be cured, made perfect, was the " unbalanced force !' 
 of the " mountain of myrrh," the conjunction of lo as we write 
 it, the column and the island, the VH 1 , the material mani- 
 festation and the bride. 
 
 We are not here discussing what one must beUeve in order 
 that he may be in the way of salvation. We are endeavouring 
 by comparison of our Gaelic legends with other sources of in- 
 formation, to form an opinion of the religious ideas of our 
 Gaehc speaking forefathers, and, though the Kabbalah handles, 
 in a manner which must appear blasphemous to many, much 
 that is regarded from an entirely different point of view by 
 the teachers of religion among us, while that religion is based 
 on Jewish tradition, that we may understand it, we must not 
 close our eyes to the exposition given of Judaism by the learned 
 among the Jews themselves. 
 
 JHVH, in the Hebrew signs ■• is said to represent the 
 father, the incomprehensible, the '? son, the material reflec- 
 tion of the father, and their two n female comphmentary 
 powers. The explanation is as follows. The letters read from 
 above downwards are Yod, He, Vau, He, the meanings of these 
 Hebrew names being ' hand, " window, "peg, ' ' window. ' The sign 
 Yod is composed of two parts, the upper portion is the ' crown ' 
 and the appendix represents ' wisdom,' ^ and this figurative 
 explanation appears in Gaelic tradition as already mentioned 
 as ' the nut,' which supphes ' wisdom ' to the Irish fish. These 
 are the two first of the primordial Emanations, of which there 
 are ten. The third Emanation which united with the two first 
 makes the Triad is the feminine passive potency called ' under- 
 standing,' co-equal with ' wisdom ' the great feminine form of 
 God, the whole representing the Father. In the passage in 
 Daniel's dream, in the description of the fourth beast with the 
 ten homs,2 we are told it had ' a mouth speaking great things ' ; 
 thus explained, the tongue is the Yoi joined with He the supernal 
 mother, " the speech is the marital influx flowing forth from 
 the bride ; for the queen is called the word ; but the great things, 
 
 » " Kabbalah Unveiled," pp. 23, 24. * Daniel vii. 8. 
 
 G 
 
98 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 are the inferiors of all grades produced." ^ Yod is " the symbol 
 of the member of the treaty," the treaty of the circumcision, 
 and denoteth the actual combination with the female ; like as 
 it is written " and the just man is the foundation of the world," ^ 
 because by the letter I, J, yoi, is understood the fundamental 
 member by which the world is preserved in existence.^ This 
 primary trinity is composed then of a duad of opposite sexes and 
 a uniting intelligence ' wisdom.' The other Emanations are the 
 same, the connecting link being the ' Spirit ' {^uacK) in all cases. 
 
 We have here then a reasoned phallic foundation for a 
 monotheistic religion. 
 
 The Kabbalah is the Jewish gnosis. It explains the objects 
 to be reverenced and their attributes, and if correct, is a history 
 of the development of Jewish reUgious thought. The early 
 Jewish Christian church must have been the earUest of all 
 Christian churches and must have been influenced by the 
 Kabbalah. 
 
 The pure side of phallic worship seems to have attracted 
 very little attention in later times. The individual plant or 
 animal has a limited existence only, but the number of both, 
 in favourable conditions, does not diminish but tends to in- 
 crease, and for the purpose of this increase special organs are 
 provided. The seed having been sown and the new individual 
 created, life and growth depend on nourishment and necessary 
 warmth. Heat and light are both derived principally from the 
 sun. We hear often of phaUic worship and of solar worship, 
 but it appears to us that there was no such individualism ia 
 religious systems, inspiration was got from the forces of nature 
 at large. Such certainly seems to be the case in the Kabbalah. 
 The so-called worshipper of the phallus worshipped not the 
 instrument but the power inherent to it. Another did not 
 worship the sun but the heat and light he owed to its existence. 
 The idea of the Jewish deity was neither phallic nor solar in 
 its origin, but a combination of both. We shall try to prove 
 the accuracy of this statement, but before going further we 
 would point out that in warm climates, the sun has a destructive 
 as well as a constructive power. The burning heat of the orb 
 is quite as appreciable as its kindly warmth, and thus the as- 
 cription of " vengeance," as one of its ' emanations ' is easily 
 comprehensible. 
 
 • Kabbalah Unveiled," p. 58. » Proverbs, x. 25. 
 
 ' " Kabbalah Unveiled," p. 62. 
 
SALMON 99 
 
 We have alluded to the androgjnious character of the beings 
 spoken of in Genesis. These beings were apparently immortal, 
 Adam himself was created immortal. They were perfect beings, 
 complete in themselves, but the theorists in religion found none 
 such inhabiting the earth. Adam originally then an andro- 
 gynous being had two sides, the one male, the other female, 
 but his immortality being taken from him, his female side was 
 made one individual, but an ' unbalanced force ' ; as the Bible 
 narrative makes it, a rib was taken from Adam's left side to 
 make Eve, and then Adam and Eve were a perfect unit. Of 
 course the narrative as given makes the loss of immortality 
 subsequent to the separation. The phallus is merely the symbol 
 of the male side of the divided Adam, the female side, that is 
 Eve, has its own symbol. 
 
 The sun, as we all know, rules the day, its companion the 
 moon rules the night. In the Jewish cosmogony the sun and 
 the moon combined were the perfect source of light. In Genesis 
 there is no mention further than that we have already quoted 
 of the separation of the sun and moon, but it is sufficient. 
 The perfect human and the perfect luminary were in origin 
 individuals, not pairs as we see them now. 
 
 It is curious to find how this appears in Gaehc. The breast, 
 as an entity, has two teats, so the Gael speaks of " leith chioch," 
 ' half teat,' a single breast : " leith cheathramha," half a quarter, 
 a single thigh : " ta se ar leith-laimh," he is half handed, he 
 has but one hand.^ A twin child is " leth aon," half one : 
 a pregnant woman is " leth-tromach," half heavy, an idea 
 evidently specially connected with Ulster, for the men there 
 were subject to what has been called the " couvade," doing 
 their full half of the act of reproduction. The expression 
 " leth-amadan " is the English " half a fool," as applied to a 
 ninny, two fools do not make a perfect individual, though a 
 male and a female fool may make a perfect idiot. 
 
 Let us now try to demonstrate the Kabbalistic deity as ex- 
 cogitated from the sun, the moon, the phallus, and the yoni. 
 The Hebrew yod i is the first letter of the ineffable name of 
 the Supreme Being, and is the number ten, and is so because 
 it is , the monad containing other nine within itself. By re- 
 flection it causes an image of itself, as a face in a mirror, and so 
 we have a duad and so by continued reflection numbers are 
 increased. Yod is then the father of aU things, it is the first 
 
 1 Dinneen. 
 
loo RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 " emanation," it is called kether, ' the crown.' ^ So far the idea 
 is phaUic. It has many names " I am," " the Concealed of the 
 Concealed," " the Ancient of Days," " the Smooth Point " 
 (p. 29), but it is also called " the White Head," and the " Vast 
 Countenance." ^ To look at the sun is impossible, but we know 
 it is there. The sun is both manifest and concealed. It is 
 symbolically a profile, i.e., " it is all right (side)." The next 
 two emanations are ' Wisdom,' a masculine active power re- 
 flected from the first potency, the Crown, the third is a 
 feminine passive potency, the ' Understanding.' If we re- 
 present each of these emanations by a stroke, the first and second 
 cannot complete a figure till the third is added to them, forming 
 a triangle which completes and makes evident the Supernal 
 Trinity used as a symbol for fire, called Mother,^ a. We 
 have pointed out that the highest Trinity is only known by its 
 influences, as the sun by its rays,* and these influences are 
 compared to the hair of the head and the beard. " From the 
 skuU of his head hang down a thousand thousand myriads, 
 seven thousand and five hundred curling hairs, white and pure, 
 like as wool when it is pure." ^ These hairs are symbolical, 
 they are fountains radiating into a large number of worlds 
 which are " hidden and concealed," and no man knoweth them 
 save himself." The imagery here is evidently derived from 
 the sun. The idea then is that the unmanifested Trinity was 
 completely shrouded from sight by his locks, his " influences," 
 just as the sun evades observation by his rays. It is, we think, 
 fairly evident that the priestly tonsure is connected with this 
 description of the head of the Supreme Deity with which we 
 have already dealt. " The forehead of his skull is the accepta- 
 tion of acceptations, and that forehead is called Will-power 
 . . . and when it is uncovered the prayers of the Israelites 
 ascend." ^ That this might account for the enlarged forehead 
 of the Magian tonsure seems possible, and as the first emanation, 
 the invisible male potency, is called ' the Crown,' it is inter- 
 esting to note that Ceolfrid speaking of the old Scottish tonsure 
 said " when you come to the neck you will find the crown you 
 thought you had seen so perfect cut short " (p. 52). Evidently 
 the style of hair arrangement did not reach the shoulders. 
 We are told the curUng hairs of the supreme trinity fell down 
 
 ' " Kabbalah Unveiled," MacGregor Mathers, p. 23. ' Ibid., p. 24. 
 
 3 Ibid., p. 25. 4 Ibid., p. 137. 
 
 6 Ibid., p. 119. « Ibid., p. 122. 
 
SALMON loi 
 
 completely to the rise of the shoulders " so that his neck may 
 not be seen because of that which is written,^ " because they 
 have turned away from Me the neck and not the face." The 
 hair is also said to have lain less close to the ears, from which 
 the Magian tonsure' started, lest it should cover them, because 
 it is written " as thine ears are open." ^ The priest of course 
 represents God on earth and the open ears and the extended 
 " will-power " symboUsed the ascent of the prayers of the 
 worshippers. " If," says the Kabbalah, " any man wisheth the 
 King to incline his ear unto him, let him raise the head of the 
 King and remove the hair from above the ears ; then shall the 
 King hear him in all things whatsoever he desireth." ^ This is 
 explained as a request directed towards the ' Crown ' through 
 ' Aima ' the Great Mother, the first H of the ' Four Letters,' 
 to incline the manifested portion of the deity to be favourable. 
 Aima represents ' Understanding,' also called ' the Great Sea,' 
 the Gnostic ' Bythos ' (p. 49). This is a parallel to the supplica- 
 tion of the Virgin Mary = Mare, ' the sea,' in Gaelic Moires- 
 Mary, Mor used hke Dia, God, in salutation, mor dhuit, ' hail,' 
 mor, ' the sun ' as in. ia mor 'na suidhe, ' the sun is up,' literally 
 ' the sun is in her seat ' ; * Muir, ' the sea.' 
 
 " When the prayers of the Israelites ascend then is un- 
 covered the forehead of the benevolence, and it shineth down 
 on the forehead of the Lesser Countenance and judgment is 
 quieted." ^ The forehead of the Lesser Countenance we are 
 told is " the inspector of the sinners of the world," and is not 
 uncovered " except in that time when it is necessary to visit 
 sinners for the purpose of examining their deeds." " Then the 
 whole Universe is brought imder judgment." ^ Here we see 
 again the intercession of the manifested deity between man 
 and the unmanifested, because " there is no light in the inferior 
 eye so that it can be bathed in redness and blackness except 
 when it is beheld by that white brilliance of the superior eye 
 which is called the bountiful eye." ' The simile is drawn from 
 the inflammation and blindness caused by looking at the sun, 
 and we must remember that long before Christ the brilliance 
 of the moon was known to be the reflected sunMght. 
 
 The idea of the supreme deity as an impersonation of 
 wisdom recognisable by his white locks, finds reflection in the 
 
 1 Jer. ii. 27. ^ Ps. cxxx. 2. 
 
 ^ " Kabbalah Unveiled," p. 307. * Dinneen. 
 
 5 " Kabbalah Unveiled," p. 183. ' Ibid., p. 183. 
 ' Ibid., p. 127. 
 
I02 RELIGTO SCOTICA 
 
 Gaelic Find, Fionn, words signifying 'white' and 'hair.' 
 Find's habit of getting his wisdom by putting his finger in his 
 mouth will be clearer as we proceed. 
 
 The supreme deity represented by ■' {yo^ = lo, the ten 
 " emanations " ; the first three of these the Vast Countenance, 
 were as we have pointed out, the invisible vmmanifested deity, 
 the other seven are the manifested deity, the Christian son. 
 These seven manifestatiorls are composed of two trinities and 
 a unit. In the symbolical name (JHVH) the unit is repre- 
 sented by the same symbol as in the first half of it H = window ; 
 as the first is the supreme unmanifested mother, so the latter 
 is the " Holy City," the " Bride " of the Apocalypse, the 
 " mountain of myrrh, the hill of frankincense " of the Song of 
 Solomon iv. 6. The third letter of JHVH i V is as a numeral 
 6, which represents the two junior trinities of the supreme deity 
 and with the letter H completes the whole number lo. VH, V 
 in conjunction with the Bride are the two junior trinities and 
 the Bride completing a perfect (androgynous) junior deity and 
 are the " Lesser Countenance " spoken of above which receives 
 its light by reflection from the Greater Countenance. The 
 locks of its hair are less numerous (nine to thirteen) than those 
 of the Greater Countenance, but instead of being pure white 
 they are jet black. This hair (beard) began to appear " from 
 the top of the ears (the crescent moon ?), and it ascendeth and 
 descendeth in the place of fragrance " (the cheeks, the apples) .^ 
 " it commenceth before the ears," ^ and " short hairs descend 
 through the place of the throat and cover the position of the 
 neck." * The Lesser Countenance then with its black hair is 
 the moon, the Greater Countenance with its pure white brilliant 
 locks the sun, the former capable of examination by the eye, 
 manifest therefore, the other incapable of being so regarded, 
 unmanifest. 
 
 We must now consider the phallic symbolism and to be 
 candid we fail to see anything less respectable in doing so than 
 in considering the other. This part of our subject is connected 
 altogether with the Hebrew form of the ' Four Letters ' and 
 stirs the question whether these forms were invented for their 
 special use in the construction of a symbolic name, or already 
 existing were joined together as a symbol of the supreme deity, 
 somewhat regardless of the sound conveyed by their connection 
 and so becoming ineffable. If the latter was the intention, it 
 ^ " Kabbalah Unveiled," pp. 134, 135, 324. > Ibid., p. 327. » Ibid., p. 81. 
 
SALMON 103 
 
 has been fairly successful. If the Hebrew letters on pp. 96, 
 97, are looked at the following statement will be compre- 
 hensible, " assuredly yod impregnateth he and produceth a son, 
 and she herself bringeth him forth." " For in their conforma- 
 tions are they found to be the perfection of all things, father, 
 mother, son and daughter." ^ " Yod is the beginning and the 
 end of all things." 2 In the ' Four Letters ' the two hes n 
 S3anbolise severity, the mother and the bride, while the fourth 
 emanation, the forehead of the Lesser Countenance represents 
 mercy. These of course are opposing forces, if either is in 
 excess, the balance of force is disturbed, and, whether there is 
 an excess of mercy — weakness, or an excess of severity, an 
 origin of evil will exist. In accordance with the androgynous 
 theory, severity and mercy combined in. exact balance are 
 styled judgment. Judgments are the flowing hair of the Lesser 
 Countenance, and when on these judgments shines the pure 
 light of the superior trinity, all things are in perfect peace and 
 so descend into the world and " the Male and the Female are 
 united and the worlds all and several exist in love and in joy." * 
 Mercy and love proceed then, from the head of the junior deity, 
 the VH of the ' Four Letters,' and mercy is said to enter the 
 Holy of Holies as it is written " for these JHVH commanded 
 the blessing, even life for evermore." Blessing then we see is 
 continued existence, of course translated as the eternal life 
 promised in the hereafter, but the Kabbalah puts a different 
 light upon this. The " Holy of Holies receiveth blessing, in 
 the place which is called Tzion." * 
 
 " This place is called Holy, and all the holinesses of the 
 male enter therein, through that path (of judgment) of which 
 we have spoken. But they all come from the supernal head of 
 the male skull. . . . And this blessing floweth down through 
 all the members of the body even unto those which are called 
 Tzabaoth, the Armies." ..." And all that which floweth 
 down throughout the whole body is congregated therein and 
 therefore are they called Tzabaoth, the Armies." ..." And 
 that which floweth down into that place where it is congregated, 
 and which is emitted through that most holy Yesod, ' Founda- 
 tion,' is entirely white, and therefore is it called Chesed (mercy).'* 
 The " Foundation " is the ninth emanation, the last of those 
 
 1 " Kabbalah Unveiled," p. 282. ' Ibid., p. 284. ' Ibid., p. 295. 
 
 * Ibid., 338. " Ibid., p. 339. 
 
104 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 of the supreme deity (father and son) which contain a male 
 element, the tenth emanation being purely female. 
 
 It is clear enough from the above what " the Armies " are, 
 the germs of aU humanity, but the Kabbalah explains this in 
 so many words. It teUs us that between the thighs are con- 
 tained " duo renes, duo testicuh masculini. Omne enim oleum, 
 et dignitas, et vis mascuH e toto corpore in istis congregatur, 
 nam omnes exercitus, qui prodeunt ab iis, omnes prodeunt et 
 morantur in orificio genitahs." ..." Per hoc fundamentum 
 ille ingreditur in feminam ; in locum qui vocatur Zion et 
 Jerusalem. Nam hie est locus tegendus feminae, et in uxore 
 vocatur uterus." ^ " We have learned that the male is ex- 
 tended and conformed with his parts, and there is formed in 
 Him " forma partis tegendae purae, et illud est membrum 
 purum." " Longitudo autem membri hujus est 248 mundorum, 
 et omnes illi pendent in orificio membri hujus, quod dicitur 
 yod." " Et qum detegitur yod, orificium membri ; detegitur 
 Benignitas superna." ^ We have said that mercy was a male 
 emanation and it is here explained that the ' Benignity ' is not 
 the whole member but " orificium membri." In studying the 
 Evil Eye in the West Highlands it was clear that there was, 
 as it might be, a confusion between the two genital orifices. 
 This is explained by the above ; to receive ' the blessing ' 
 that is, continued life, " the Armies " must pass from the male 
 to the female and remain there in what by itself is the evil eye, 
 yet they also pass through the little " orificium membri," 
 which by itself is thus also likened to an eye. This uncovering 
 is of course the retraction of the prepuce, the treaty of circum- 
 cision. The 248 worlds is one of those pieces of ' gematria ' 
 by which words are explained by the totals of the numbers of 
 their component letters, the number 248 = rechem = mercy. 
 To shortly sum up we have seen that the first trinity by its 
 brilliant white locks passes on its powers to the two junior 
 trinities, and flowing down through all the members, is con- 
 gregated and passes " entirely white " through the foundation, 
 when by the conjunction of the two inferior trinities with the 
 bride, the manifested portion of the deity becomes complete, 
 i.e., androg5Tious. This then demonstrates the origin of the 
 superstition of how to " mitigate " the evil eye by " silver 
 water." (p. 96). " When the Male is joined with the Female 
 they both constitute one complete body and all the Universe 
 
 1 " Kabbalah Unveiled," p. 337. 2 Ibid., p. 231 
 
SALMON 105 
 
 is in a state of happiness because all things receive blessing 
 from their perfect body. And this is an Arcanum." ^ " And 
 that which is not Male and Female together is called half a 
 body." ^ Compare the Gaehc idiom, p. 99. 
 
 Before leaving the Kabalah, referring to the mysticEo Mugna 
 of the Gael and Yggdrasil of the Norse, the Kabalah explains, 
 and this is quite in accord with what we are told in Genesis, that 
 the tree of hfe is the united body, male female, the tree of know- 
 ledge of good and evil, the separated body, male, and female.^ 
 
 In this connection the text " I will be upright before him, 
 and keep myself from the sinner," * is treated as pertinent, 
 and as a matter of purely phaUic symbolism ; keeping oneself 
 from the sinner being explained by the text " and hath married 
 the daughter of a strange god." ^ The ' mitigations ' of the 
 ' rigidity,' 'uprightness,' of the male by the ' severity ' of 
 the female, takes place " in nuditate, seu parte maxime con- 
 tegenda in toto corpore faeminino." ® The Lesser Countenance 
 has naturally a nose but it is short.' It however emits smoke, 
 a product of fire, and when the smoke issueth from the nose 
 (not " nostrils " as in our versions, the word used is singular) ^ 
 " the nose is lengthened." * The Hebrew idiom for having 
 mercy always refers to the nose, to " lengthen the nose " is 
 equal to "to defer anger." i" The nose then of the Lesser 
 Countenance is a symbohc expression for the phaUus, the 
 colunma, the sword of Lugaidh, the white snake of Dr Beaton, 
 etc. 
 
 We have seen that Columba's first ancestor was Cathair 
 Mor, ' the Great Seat,' and how there were prepared for Ciaran, 
 Boethine and Colum chairs of gold, silver and glass (p. 21). 
 Columba there being described as red-faced, of a white body 
 and curling hair. Also how ' My Jump ' Moling, reached " the 
 church and sat in his place of prayer " (p. 19). Compare these 
 with the following " when the mother is separated and con- 
 joined with the king face to face in the excellence of the Sabbath 
 all things become one body. And then the Holy One . . . 
 blessed be He ! . . . sitteth on his throne, and all things are 
 called the Complete Name." ^^ 
 
 The most elementary student of Gaelic tradition will re- 
 
 * " Kabbalah Unveiled," p. 334. ' Ibid., p. 335. ' Ibid., p. 336. 
 
 * Psalms xviii. 24. ^ Malachi ii. 11. 
 
 ' " Kabalah Unveiled," pp. 232, 233. ' Ibid., p. 196. 
 
 8 Psalms xviii. 8. '" Kabalah Unveiled," p. 193. •" Ibid., p. 317. 
 
 *' Ibid., p. 337. 
 
io6 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 member that the Tuatha De brought from Dobhar and lardo- 
 bhar four precious things ; Lughaidh's spear, the cauldron 
 of the Dagda, Lughaidh's sword and the Lia Fail. The Kabal- 
 istic signs attached to the ' Four Letters ' are the wand, yod ; 
 the cup of libation, hee ; the sword vau ; and the shekel of 
 gold, the laier hee. Lughaidh means ' light ' ^ so his spear 
 corresponds to the ' wand,' yod C") the supreme light, and the 
 sword to vau (1), the two inferior trinities in combination, the 
 son. The cauldron of the Good God, corresponds to the cup 
 of libation of the supreme hee (n), the Mother, and the shekel of 
 gold must correspond to the Lia Fail. The Lia Fail was the 
 supreme seat of the Scotic kings. Fal is a ' ring,' ' an enclosure,' 
 and the enclosure from which the red sandstone seat in West- 
 minster came is clear enough, but in connection with the 
 KabaUstic shekel of gold, let us recall, that the golden chair 
 was retained for Ciaran, son of Beoan, the wright. Beoan is 
 ' the living one ' and we know who was son of the carpenter. 
 Ciaran means ' the dark coloured one,' even ' black ' says 
 Dinneen, ciar-dhubh, ' coal black,' compare the colour of the 
 hair of the ' Lesser Countenance ' of whom the female comple- 
 ment was the shekel of gold, and Dinneen also teUs us that 
 fail means ' in company with,' hhfail ban, ' in the society of 
 women.' Faw Jamieson gives us as ' pale red.' It may 
 signify dun and described the complexion of a gipsy " Johnnie 
 Faa " ; Jamieson quotes " ferly fayr wes the field, flekerit and 
 faw with gold, and goulis in gre5nie." Strangely fair was the 
 field, flecked and faw with gold, and gules (red) in green. Faw 
 is evidently yellow, golden yellow, a favourite comparison for 
 a ripe com field. Again " of collour fauch, schape hke an 
 hempyn sail." The history (!) of the Lia Fail is romance 
 excogitated from stories founded on those mysteries of which 
 the esoteric meaning, if not forgotten, was not put on record 
 by the reciters. 
 
 Of the Kabalisitc ten emanations of the divinity, the 
 ' Foundation,' Yesod, is the ninth emanation, the last male 
 one, spoken of also as the " path of the Foundation," ^ the way 
 of descent of the ' Mercy,' after junction of the male and 
 female, gth and loth emanations, these become a perfect body 
 (the Christian Trinity) shedding blessing on the universe (p. 103). 
 In the Four Letters, the ' Bride ' of the Apocalypse, the fourth 
 
 ' Moonlight, see " Perth Incident," 226. 
 • " Kabalah Unveiled," pp. 26 and 56. 
 
SALMON 107 
 
 letter, has for its sign ' a shekel of gold.' This we say must 
 be the Lia Fail, the fourth precious thing of the Tuatha De, 
 which has materialised as the ' foundation ' of the Scotic throne 
 the seat of Judgment and Mercy, with a competitor in the 
 white stone which cured King Bride, Brude, at " Inverness," 
 ' the opening,' mundung of the nose (p. 105), and may (?) be 
 the rock crystal baU that was in the possession of the Robert- 
 sons of Strowan.^ Let a comparison be drawn between the 
 above facts and the incident so often quoted as evidence of 
 human sacrifice when founding a house, that of the burying 
 of Odhran, Oran. Said Columb-cille then to his family " it 
 is good for us that our roots should go under earth here." 
 And he said to them " it is permitted to you that some one of 
 you should go under the clay of this island to consecrate it." 
 Odran arose readily and spake this : " if thou shouldst take 
 me," quoth he, " I am ready for that." " O Odran," quoth 
 Columb-cille, " thereof shalt thou have the reward, namely, 
 the prayer of no one shall be granted at my tomb unless he 
 shall first ask of thee." " Then Odran went to heaven (and) 
 then he, Column-ciUe, founded the church of Hi." ^ " Or = 
 Lat. aurum." The d, dh, are a ' heraldic ' difference and virtu- 
 ally do not count. Apparently the Lia Fail was in its origin 
 the Pale Stone, " palleo, ' to be or look sallow,' or yellow ; 
 saxum quoque palluit auro, Ov. M. 11. no." ^ We do not 
 propose here to enter into the question of the burying of live 
 persons at the foundation of houses, a custom said to be trace- 
 able all over the world. The custom, if it really existed, was 
 symboHcal and phallic. That people could be got to sacrifice 
 themselves like the mythical Oran, students of folk-lore can 
 easily understand. Take an example from the island of Fiji 
 closely approaching what is told us of Oran himself, where they 
 buried alive any old person or sick man not expected to recover. 
 " A missionary relates that a young man, afflicted with a 
 wasting disease asked to have his sufferings ended in this way, 
 but, repenting when half way through the operation, began 
 to call out for release. His relations thereupon told him not 
 to give so much trouble. " Come, now," they said, " be buried 
 decently, according to custom." * Stories of this sort have an 
 attraction and a persistence in popular belief such as makes 
 
 * " Caledonian Medical Journal," vol. vii. p. 34. 
 
 * " Revue Celtique," vol. ii. p. 201. ' Lewis & Short s.v. palleo. 
 
 * " Journal of the Royal United Service Institution," vol. xlvii. p. 8. 
 
io8 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 it almost impossible to come to a conclusion whether individual 
 cases are facts or fancies. The story of the pascal sacrifice 
 of children by the Jews is a case in point. 
 
 For a sample of the phallic significance of the colour" tawny" 
 as we may say, does not Panurge call Friar John " a tawny little 
 couillon " as well as " swarthy." ^ 
 
 There is an absurd story in the life of Ciaran from the 
 Book of Lismore which tells how when his mother was prepar- 
 ing blue dye, that, because she asked him to go from the house 
 when she was going to dye the cloth, he took offence and 
 said "sriabh odhur annsumh on," let there be an odhar stripe 
 in it, said Ciaran. Ciaran also had a special cow called the 
 ' odar Ciarain.' ^ We thus see a connection between Ciaran 
 and Odhran. The question of burying is reaUy the important 
 thing in the history of'Odhran. Reeves in his " Columba " 
 says, " it is a remarkable fact that the principal, and now 
 only, cemetery in Hy is called the Reilig Orain, after him 
 instead of the patron saint, and has been so for many centuries ; 
 for in the Gloss to the FeiUre of Oengus, at St Odhran's com- 
 memoration, October 27th, it is observed, ' of Hy Colaim-cille 
 .i. of Relic Odhrain.' Probably Odhran was the first of St 
 Columba's fraternity who was interred in the island, and the 
 whole island being called after the patron, the cemetery took its 
 name from the first kinsman of his community who was buried 
 in it ." ' Odhran and Colum are the same thing, Oran is ' tawny 
 Colum.' Odhran was not the first man buried in lona, unless 
 they deported the first to die, for book iii. chap, vii., of Adam- 
 nan's Life tells that one called Brito, said Columba, " is the 
 first person that hath died among us in this island." Brito, 
 we need not doubt, means Briton. Odhran's special con- 
 nection with burial grounds and the procreation of children, 
 say, ' the founding of a house ' is shown quite clearly in his 
 connection with the Isle of May on the opposite side of Scotland. 
 " In that Isle of May there was anciently erected a monastery 
 of fair coursed masonry, which was destroyed by the Angles, 
 but the church remains to this day much visited for its miracles 
 by the people, and thither women come in hopes of offspring. 
 There is also a celebrated cemetery, where the bodies of the 
 niartyrs repose." * 
 
 • " Rabelais," bk. iii. c. 28. 
 
 ' " Saints from the Book of Lismore," pp. 121, 266, 267. 
 ' Notes to book iii. p. 289. 
 
 * " Kalendar of Scottish Saints," Forbes, p. 267. 
 
SALMON 109 
 
 The original saint of the Isle of May appears as Adrian. 
 " His true name of a Scot was probably Odran, as the name 
 of the patron saint enters largely into those of the clergy of 
 the place with the usual prefix of Gilla or Maol ; and we find 
 a subsequent Bishop of St Andrews called Macgilla Odran, 
 son of the servant of Odran." ^ We have no doubt of this 
 guess being correct. He is said to have come from " Hungary," 
 from the " province of Pannonia in Hungary." ^ There must 
 have been some reason for this. " Their red or yellow hair, 
 prominent cheek bones and sallow complexion," * describing 
 the Huns, seems to indicate a recollection of the name Odran, 
 ' the sallow one,' at the concoction of this more modern 
 version of the settlement of the Isle of May, and the district 
 of Pannonia refers us to the Latin pannosus, ' flabby,' ' shriv- 
 elled,' ' wrinkled,' the result of his ' burial ' ! Bede tells us 
 of a Hadrian who died in 709, the year before Ceolfrid's letter 
 to Naitan about the Easter Celebration and the proper tonsure. 
 That the Isle of May had some previous religious importance 
 is clear from the statement that Adrian before settling there 
 " expelled the demons and wild beasts from the Island of May 
 and there made a place of prayer." * As the island of May 
 is about a mile long and half a mile broad there can have been 
 few wild beasts in it. Our deduction from this is that the Isle 
 of May was a sacred island of the old Scotic church, a damhinis, 
 an island of the ' damium,' which accounts for the wild beasts, 
 damh, a stag, and Odran being transmogrified into Adrian, 
 represents the demons. Hadrian was an ' African ' and skilled 
 in Greek and Latin. His location was, after his day, called 
 St Augustine's, Canterbury. For what the remark is worth, 
 the Comedovae (p. 113) Matres, were styled Augustae, " Come- 
 dovis Augustis." ^ We have our doubts of the Canterbury 
 Hadrian though he is in Bede. All these islands owe their 
 sanctity as symboUc of the locus mentioned. 
 
 On p. 107 we have pointed out that the crystal ball of the 
 modem heads of Clan Donnachie has some claim to be considered 
 in coimection with the Lia Fail. This has been considered 
 at length elsewhere.* The point we would make here is 
 
 • W. F. Skene quoted " Records of Priory of May," Stuart, p. i. 
 ' " Kalendar of Scottish Saints," p. 266. 
 
 ' " Malte-Brun Geography," vol. vi. p. 418. 
 
 • " Calendar of Scottish Saints," p. 267. 
 ' " Hibbert Lectures," 1866, p. 103. 
 
 • " Caledonian Medical Journal," vol. vii. p. 29. 
 
no RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 that some such pebble as it, is referred to in the story 
 of the curing of Broichan, the king's druid. " The pebble 
 was immersed in water and in a wonderful manner, contrary 
 to the laws of nature, the stone floated on the water like a 
 nut or an apple, nor, as it had been blessed by the holy man, 
 could it be submerged. Broichan drank from the stone as it 
 floated on the water, and instantly returning from the verge 
 of death, recovered his perfect health and soundness of body." ^ 
 What nuts and apples are has been already alluded to (p. 86). 
 Broichan, compare bro, a quern, ferochan, porridge. The 
 buoyancy of Colum's stone is thus well authenticated, and we 
 wish to point out that this power of floating was a special char- 
 acteristic of Odran. In the Calender of Oengus at October 
 27th, the entry concerning him appears " Odran abb saer 
 snamach," that is, ' noble abbot Odran, swimmer,' and curious 
 to say it was into an island in Corcoduibne, a settlement of 
 Aitheach Tuatha, the servile tribes,^ that he swam, and the 
 name of that island is given as ' Gair mic Moga,' the ' cry of 
 the son of the slave.' ' lo Bacche. (?) Who was the slave ? 
 If we look to the Annals of the Four Masters, we find stated 
 that in A.D. 10 was the first year of the reign of the cat-headed 
 or slave-headed Cairbre who had kiUed the nobility in the 
 massacre by the Aitheach Tuatha. These are said to have 
 been servile tribes, but who they were is explained in the follow- 
 ing verse quoted to show that they were " strangers," not 
 slaves, " mogha." 
 
 " The herdsmen are not slaves {mogha) 
 The clan Aedh are not slaves ; 
 No great free race is subject to bondage, 
 The children of Milesius are not under slavery." 
 
 These were the children of Aedh (fire) and also of Milesius and 
 are said to have been buicneda, translated ' herdsmen,' but 
 really signifying the ' cup ' or ' chalice folk,' and this cup was 
 the cup of libation of the Supreme Mother (p. 106) of the 
 Kabalah, the cauldron of the Dagda explained by the entry 
 in Cormac, " Cera .i. in dagdae," which Stokes says was possibly 
 connected " with the Latin cerus ' creator,' Ceres.* Ceres, 
 Demeter, Mother Earth. The story in fact is told of the 
 
 ' " Life of Columba," bk. ii. chap. 34. 
 
 ' " Manners and Customs," O'Curry, vol. i. p. 28. 
 
 ^ " Calendar of Oengus," Stokes, clx. 
 
 * Cormac's " Glossary Translation," p. 47. 
 
SALMON 1 1 1 
 
 Roman invaders of Britain.^ The critic may here step in 
 and say that the Kabalists did not worship Ceres ; true, under 
 the name, but a common idea was there and we do not pretend 
 to be able to disentangle all the threads of the web of early 
 Gaelic story. 
 
 * See "Perth Incident, 1396," p. 149. " Manners and Customs," O'Curry, 
 vol. i. p. xxvii. 
 
MOTHER DEITY 
 
 As already stated, so far as we can see, the production of re- 
 ligious systems from single objects of origin, e.g. a solar worship, 
 lunar, phaUic, is a mistake. Each may have its share and one 
 may be most prominent, but not one of them itself, the sun, 
 the moon, the phallus, supplied all the ideas in the mind of 
 the originator of the system. 
 
 With those who came in contact with the Latin race, the 
 sun is male, the moon female, and this influence we think is 
 recognisable in Cymric and Breton. Where or when the idea 
 started, the opposite of the Latin view was the case in Northern 
 Europe in early times, say before the commencement of litera- 
 ture. Among the Gael all heavenly bodies are female, in Dutch 
 the sun and moon are common gender, but in the Teutonic 
 languages generally the moon is male, the sun female. When 
 we compare the words man, mann with mdni, the moon, this 
 coincidence appeals to us as strong evidence for a connection 
 in meaning between them. The comparison of the eye to the 
 moon is marked in Icelandic, the words bra-mani, enni-mani, 
 both meaning the ' brow-moon,' are the eye. 
 
 There is an old custom in Iceland, recently, and presumably 
 stiU, in use. " Children immediately after getting up are made 
 to run out of doors bare-headed, there to say a short prayer 
 or verse, and when they return ' bid good-day ' — a ' good-day ' 
 not being allowable till this is done ; this is called " fetching 
 the good morning." ^ This custom seems to put the female 
 sun into the place of the highest object of worship, and in a 
 latitude where the sun is entirely beneficent, and where the terra, 
 for a lady of distinction was that of ' bread-maker,' we draw 
 the conclusion that the femininity was the cause of the superi- 
 ority. Curious to say we find among the Jews, according to 
 the Kabalah, traces of this female supremacy, though we have 
 tried to demonstrate the androgynous basis of its reasoning. 
 We have pointed out that the " Influence of the Most Holy 
 Ancient One " flows down into creation by means of the very 
 brilliant whiteness which conceals him. " And the Elohim 
 
 ' Cleasby's " Icelandic Dictionary," s.v. ' Sol.' 
 
MOTHER DEITY 113 
 
 said, let there be light and there was light." " Therefore is 
 commemorated the Path Hoa (Hua), that is, the mother of 
 understanding, who is called Elohim. She also is called Hoa 
 on account of her truly secret nature." ^ Hoa and Elohim, 
 the latter the creator of light, are interchangeable and " both 
 are feminine." They are Aima the Supernal Mother ; and now 
 we come to the " Three Mothers," the " Great Supernal Feminine 
 Triad, which is even BEFORE THE TRIUNE FATHER. 
 I may say no more here ; in fact I have almost revealed too 
 much." " When Aima the Mother ariseth, and is included 
 in that subtle ether (the Influence), then She, Aima, assumeth 
 that white briUiance." Here we see then, even in the case of 
 a deity reasoned out on an androgjnious basis, there is ad- 
 mittedly a supreme female element. 
 
 There were a series of divinities, common to the continental 
 and insular Celts and Germans, known to us only by inscriptions 
 and sculptures of the Roman epoch. On the bas-reliefs they 
 always appear as three young women with a grave and bene- 
 volent air, clothed in robes to their feet, generally in a sitting 
 position, and bearing fruit and sometimes an infant on their 
 knees. In one instance the centre one of the three is seated 
 with a basket of fruit on her knee, the two others stand erect, 
 raising with one hand the folds of their drapery, and with the 
 other putting aside the upper part of the same garment with 
 which their heads are covered. They were called Matres, 
 Matrae, Mairae, Matronae. The beliefs connected with ' The 
 Mothers ' have been carried over into Christianity in the 
 reverence for the Virgin. We find other names for hke deities, 
 Dominae, Virgines, Comedovae.^ All these names, Mothers, 
 Ladies, Virgins, are clear enough, though it is worth while 
 noticing the virginal character of " The Mothers," but Come- 
 dovae is not clear. Rhys connects it with the Gaehc comdiu, 
 coimmdiu? Christ is called the coimmdiu, but it is generally 
 considered as the equivalent of ' lord,' and is certainly used 
 as applying to a nobleman, with no claim to divinity.* Coimm 
 is a ' cloak,' ' shelter,' ' protection ' ^ compare Aed's cowl 
 sained by Colum (p. 5). In a Glossary written at Cork after 
 1766, nominally of Scottish Gaehc, we find the following : — 
 " coimdhe, ye trinity." * The question arises whether Christ 
 
 ' " Kabalah Unveiled," p. 54. ^ " Revue Celtique," vol. iv. pp. 27 to 35. 
 ' " Hibbert Lectures," p. 103. * " Calendar of Oengus," ccxxxvi. 
 ^ Meyer, "Contributions." " Archiv Celt. Lexik.," vol. ii. p. 417; vol. 
 iii. p. 183. • " Archiv Celt. Lexik.," vol. iii. p. 152. 
 
 H 
 
114 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 was so-called because He was a member of the Trinity, or be- 
 cause He was a 'protector.' It certainly seems a strong 
 step to take, to apply a title descriptive of the deity to an 
 earthly ruler, though of course, examples of it are to be found. 
 We suppose that our modern authorities found their interpreta- 
 tion ' lord ' and reject the idea of ' equal deity,' not merely 
 from the old spellings before them. Humbly we admit a liking 
 for the Trinity conception, and think it is supported by the 
 records of the ' Comedovae,' themselves a Trinity. We would 
 sum the question up with the opinion that the Kabalists 
 had no patent in their " Feminine Triad." In the description 
 of the monument above mentioned, the shrouding disposition 
 of the garments, suggests the concealed, mystical character 
 noticeable in the ' Mothers ' of the Kabalah. 
 
 We saw on p. iii that the children of Milesius {miles, 
 ' a soldier ') were the Roman invaders of these islands, and 
 that they have been specifically identified as the clan Aedh. 
 The spellings of this word as they appear in tradition are many. 
 In Irish of the Four Masters, Aodh, modem Aedh, the latter 
 being the spelhng in Caesar's Commentaries applied to the 
 Gaulish nation Aedui. In modem Irish we have Mac-Ghee, 
 probably ' Son of Fireson,' a spelling also found in Galloway, 
 M'Ghie and MacKie, in northern Scottish Gaelic, MacAoidh, 
 Mackay. In the ' History of the Mackays ' the earliest form 
 of the name is written lye, whose mother was said to be the 
 doughter of lye of Gigha, a tradition which shows that there 
 was a connection understood between the name of the island 
 and the name of its proprietor lye ; Gigha then was supposed 
 to be one of those islands set apart as connected with the sons 
 of fire, lye of Gigha being the equivalent of ' Fire (of the island) 
 of the Sons of Fire.' lye appears in some charters stiU extant 
 as Odo, and is also spelt " Y," as is lona. Boece makes it 
 Ethus and Wyntoun Hede, Keith is really another form of 
 Mackay.^ In Adamnan the form is Aldus. In Wales we find 
 a king Aedan ap Blegored,^ of whom little is said, but the same 
 name seems to appear in Ithel, and Howel (heol, in Vannes 
 hiaol, Breton, the sun), the modern form of which is seen in 
 Hughes. The first Howel in the year 8io was a brother of 
 Conan and quarrelled with Conan for the possession of M6n, 
 Anglesey, an island. The most important of the name is 
 
 ' " History of Clan Mackay, "pp. 44 to 47. 
 ' " Historie of Cambria," H. Lhoyd," p. 58. 
 
MOTHER DEITY 115 
 
 Howel the Good, the legislator of Wales, who, about the year 
 940, " about the end of Lent," chose out twelve men of the 
 greatest experience to whom he added a Doctor of Laws named 
 Blegored, a singularly learned and perfectly wise man. They 
 examined the old laws and retained those that were wholesome 
 and profitable, and abrogated the superfluous and hurtful. 
 Thus we see a connection between Welsh legislation and the 
 time of the observance of Easter. Howel's doctor ' Blegored ' 
 is evidently the father of the subsequent Aedan, and his name 
 at any rate reappears in Gerald's description of Wales as " that 
 famous dealer in fables, Bledhercus, who hved a little before 
 our time." ^ We have a much more fabulous Welsh Aed in 
 the Hu Gadarn, who first brought the C5nnry into Britain from 
 the land of Hav (summer), and passing over the Mor Tawch, 
 ' the hazy sea,' settled at Llydaw, ' the waterside.' The name 
 Gadarn is the equivalent of catervanus, cateran, as applied to 
 the border tribes of Highlanders. What Davies tells us of 
 this Hu, identifies him with the phallus which is further ex- 
 plained by his name as signifjdng Fire.^ Hu with his two oxen, 
 and the beaver, avanc, which he drew from the lake, the " uisque 
 tar naeidin " (p. 4) is, in the view of the writer, certainly the 
 same personage celebrated in Scottish story as Hay, the hero 
 of Luncarty, who with his two sons and their plough yoke 
 defeated the Danes. 
 
 Bums describes the three oxen of his " plough team " 
 in a manner leaving no dubiety as to the significance of what 
 he described. Oxen were the animals specially used for plough- 
 ing, and bearing this in mind, we find the explanation of the 
 function of the much debated Gauhsh ' Three Crane Ox ' 
 the Tarvos Trigaranus. " The shrill crying crane, even her 
 who to mortals comes as the harbinger of the season of plough- 
 ing," * Tepang, garanus, the crane, a name formed on the root 
 gar ' to cry,' * Gaelic gair ' a shout,' gear an ' to complain ' : 
 krdhen ' to cry,' Ger. hence kranich ' a crane.' The three cranes 
 perching on the ox, buU, represent a triple cry, a three ox 
 plough team, the male trinity. The stork is the present child 
 provider in Central Europe, bringing them from wells (!) and 
 marshes (p. 13), and is in form very hke the crane. It seems 
 to have had the duties of the crane given it as remaining and 
 breeding in Germany and Holland, but it is voiceless. The 
 
 1 Book i. chap. xvii. * " Perth Incident of 1396," p. 115. 
 
 ' " Maxims of Theognis," Bohn'^s Trans., p. 281. 
 * " Alt-Celtisher Sprachschatz," s.v. " garanus." 
 
ii6 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 prominence given to shouting in all Bacchic worship has been 
 already considered, and for this purpose the crane not the stork 
 was qualified. Taurophagus ' the bull eater ' is a title of Bacchus. 
 We must mention that in neighbouring locaHties the insect, the 
 little red, black spotted, ' lady-bird ' divides the child bringing 
 honours. It represents the yew berry, the glans. 
 
 We also find a fabulous forefather of the name in Ireland. 
 There was a clan of C7mor, the chief of which was Aengus, 
 and the clan of Umor, Aedh The Great, were Fir-Bolg, ' bag- 
 men.' Aengus means the ' single one,' who was doubtless 
 the same as the Welsh Hu Gadarn, and whatever other reason 
 there might be for calling his followers " bagmen," allusion 
 is clearly made here to the scrotum, alhed by metathesis to 
 scortum, 'a skin,' ' a hide,' applied by transference to a harlot. 
 These Firbolg were defeated by the Tuatha De Dannan in the 
 battle of the southern Magh Tuireadh, ' the southern plain of 
 towers.' There is no Plain of Towers, Field of Towers, in 
 Ireland, but there is undoubtedly a southern one in Britain, 
 the towers of which extended from Tynemouth to the Solway. 
 These Firbolg had a special fancy for islands and appear in 
 tradition as " Fei-ninais," the men of the islands, also Eoghan- 
 acht Indassa, the ' island Eoganacht.' ^ There are five fortresses 
 in the largest of the Arann islands in Galway Bay, the prin- 
 cipal of which is called the Dun of Aengus son of U-mor, and 
 three of the others are ascribed to other Firbolg chiefs.^ There 
 is also in the island of Arann a church dedicated to " The 
 Four Beautiful Persons," Tempall an Cheathrair Aluinn, which 
 suggests the four precious things of the Tuatha De, and the 
 " Four Letters." One further fact we may notice of the few 
 recorded of Aengus mac Umor. He had a daughter Maistiu 
 [maisighim, ' I adorn,' ' ornament ' ; maistrim, ' I churn '), who 
 was embroideress to another Aengus, the Macan Og,~ that is, 
 the ' single one the young son,' ' little lad.' The piece of work 
 recorded of her was the forming of a figure of the Cross on the 
 fringe {corrthair) of the breast {brollach) of the Macan's tunic* 
 Notice it was not on the breast of his tunic but on the fringe 
 {con), ' end,' ' termination ' of the breast of his tunic. Bruinne 
 is another Gaelic word for the breast connected with bru, ' the 
 belly.' Aengus, father of the Macan Og, is expressly called 
 Aengus of the Bru of the Boyne, B(e)oan, The Living One, 
 Boand the Boyne river and the female impersonation thereof. 
 
 1 O'Curry's " Manners and Customs," vol. i. p. xxv. iii. 
 
 ' Ibid., vol. iii. p. 5. 3 Ibid., vol. iii. p. 122. 
 
FIRE. LIGHT 
 
 As a basis of tradition we have seen then that a word for ' fire ' 
 is universal among the Celtic inhabitants of these islands, and 
 surely we are entitled to conclude that aU these heroes, demi- 
 gods, call them what you will, connected by name with it, 
 are euhemerisations of some universal object of reverence. 
 This object was fire, represented by, on the one hand, the source 
 of light and heat, on the other hand the aidom, those parts 
 regarded with awe or reverence, august, venerable, of which the 
 root is connected with a/Sos Hades, the nether world, the god 
 of the nether world sumamed nxourav, the giver of wealth, 
 wealth of course being a matter of increase, Pluto being the 
 forefather of all the Gauls, according to Csesar, under his name 
 of Dis, Dives.i His Greek name of "a/5»)s means ' the unseen,' 
 and if reference is made to p. 104, it will be understood what 
 the underworld, the concealed, therefore the " unseen " was, 
 and as this deity called Dis ' riches,' dives, was the god of it, 
 he is the same from whom comes the " Benignitas " of the 
 Kabalists. The iBenignity as we have shown above, was especi- 
 ally the " orificium membri," which is hkened to a single eye. 
 Now we know in Greek tradition of the round-eyed persons, 
 the Cyclops, the assistants of Hephaestus, of whom the work- 
 shops were volcanos, and here the connection between fire is 
 acknowledged in story at any rate, and the one-eyed source 
 of riches. As Sicily was the locality of the largest volcano, so 
 was it the residence of these Cyclops, and it was also the locality 
 from which Pluto got his wife. Pluto was the god of increase, 
 the hammer god, the fire god, in his origin the phallus, which, 
 however, provides for increase by water not fire. Hephaistos 
 the son of Zeus and Hera, Vulcan, shows in his name the simil- 
 arity of his origin with the Kabahstic interpretation of the 
 " Four Letters." Hee (n) the fifth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, 
 the ' rough breathing ' meaning the ' window,' the two female 
 potencies in the " Four Letters " placed inferiorly to the 
 supreme male portion of the highest trinity, and also inferiorly 
 to the two junior trinities, and •raTg ' a child,' "u/painrog, the 
 
 ' " Commentaries," bk. vi. chap, xviii. 
 
 117 
 
ii8 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 child of hee, and in Greek Vulcan is the child of Hexa.. Heph- 
 aestus is the exact counterpart of the vau-hee (in) of the " Four 
 Letters," the medium of the mercies, the 248 worlds dependent 
 from yod (p. 104). 
 
 The comparison of the Creator with a smith appears in 
 the Kabalah. In the ancient order of things, whilejthe 
 present world was in the state called chaos in Greece^ and 
 Rome, according to the Kabalah before the separation of 
 the female from the male, that is, before Eve was separated 
 from Adam and beings with hfe were androgynous, when in 
 fact there was but one " Countenance " to a complete being, 
 then, " were the prior worlds destroyed for they were not in 
 equihbrium." " Not being in equilibrium, properly conformed, 
 they are called vibrating flames and sparks, like as when 
 the worker in stone striketh sparks from the flint with his 
 hammer, or as when the smith smiteth the iron and dasheth 
 forth sparks on every side." " These sparks which fly forth, 
 flame and scintillate, but shortly they are extinguished. And 
 these are called the Prior Worlds." Chaos is compared to 
 the shapeless hot iron from which the smith, constructing things 
 of equal weight and value, say, a male and female, sent pieces 
 flying about of the original stuff ; these pieces, sparks of the 
 same material as the mass, became worlds .of themselves, and 
 as the sparks of a piece of smith work exist before the objects 
 designed, so the chaotic sparks became worlds of themselves. 
 Prior Worlds to the one we know. The smith, the Creator, 
 dividing his piece of unshaped iron into two images of equal 
 value, put into the iron the fire, heat, which enabled him to 
 do so. If the one image was male and the other image female, 
 the fire was the wisdom, the spirit, which added to the original 
 piece of iron permitted it to be divided into a state of equilibrium. 
 The yod represents the male, the hee represents the female, 
 and from the Creator came the fire ; IH (''n) plus fire, is the 
 original from which all things come, as we know them. With 
 chaos compared to a piece of hot iron, the Kabalah describes 
 creation in this way. " Then proceeded the workman unto his 
 work and was conformed, as Male and Female." ^ " From 
 a Light Bearer of insupportable brightness proceeded a Radiat- 
 ing Flame, dashing off hke a vast and mighty hammer those 
 sparks which were the Prior Worlds. And with most subtle 
 ether were these intermingled and bound mutually together, 
 
 ' " Kabalah Unveiled," p. 301. 
 
FIRE. LIGHT 119 
 
 but only when they were conjoined together, even the Great 
 Father and Great Mother" (IH). From Hoa = Himself, 
 is the father, and from Hoa = Himself, is the Spirit hidden in 
 the Ancient of Days, and therein is the ether, elemental fire, 
 concealed. And it was connected with a light-bearer of in- 
 supportable brightness, which is hidden in the bosom (Gael. 
 ' brollach ') of Aima, the Great Mother." We have to suppose 
 here the Creator making himself out of chaos, he was therefore 
 Unity as chaos, as the Great Father, the Great Mother joined 
 by the Spirit, He is the Trinity but only perfect in Unity ; 
 male, female, and generative power. The sun is evidently 
 the object mainly held in view with its beams of light and heat 
 which it sheds on the Lesser Countenance the moon, so making 
 it manifest, but the instrument used in creation, the hammer, 
 the Scandinavian ' miolner ' is distinctly phallic. 
 
 We must try to make clear what is " Hoa." The inter- 
 preter of the Kabalah says in a note that we can only symbohse 
 (that is, use as a translation for) Hoa the pronoun ' Himself ' ; 
 " he, who is the Absolute ; he, who is beyond us ; in whom 
 is neither past nor future, who is the Eternal Present, therefore 
 is Hoa known of none save the son, and him to whom the son 
 wiU reveal him. For none can see Hoa and live, for they would 
 be absorbed in him." ^ This is the idea at the base of the 
 Buddhist " Nirvana." Isaiah says, " Who hath wrought and 
 done it, calling the generations from the beginning ? / the 
 Lord, the first, and with the last ; I am He." ^ The answer 
 stands literally : " 1,1 HVH, first and with the last. I am Hoa." 
 The Kabalist proceeds to say, " aU things are Hoa (he himself), 
 and he himself is hidden on every side. So also is his nose." ' 
 (p. 105). 
 
 " Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, 
 that IHVH, Hoa, is Elohim in the heavens above, and upon 
 the earth beneath : there is none other." * But we also learn 
 " first is commemorated the path Hoa (that is, the mother of 
 understanding who is called Elohim." . . . She also is called 
 Hoa, in the words of Psalm xxxiii. 9, on account of her truly 
 secret nature). Compare with these two statements the one 
 " and the Elohim said, let there be hght, and there was light." 
 The Elohim is considered as androgynous, and both parts of 
 
 ^ " Kabalah Unveiled," p. 156. ' Isaiah xli. 4. 
 
 ^ Ibid., p. 130. 
 
 * Deuteronomy iv. 29 ; " Kabalah Unveiled," p. 242. 
 
120 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 the first half of the Four Letters are called Hoa. This is to be 
 accounted for, first of course, because IH is a trinity in unity, 
 but also because the letter H (hee) which represents the Supernal 
 Mother is also the initial of Hoa. 
 
 Hoa as the mother of understanding, is excogitated in 
 this way. The yod is represented as a head, skull, a head 
 however, which we have already explained, is not seen itself, 
 on account of the brilliance of the rays descending from it. 
 The KabaUst describes this. " This skull of the White Head 
 hath not beginning, but its end is the convexity of its joining 
 together" the frontal suture. "And from this convexity 
 daily distiUeth a dew into the Lesser Countenance into that 
 place which is called heaven ; ^ and in that very place shall 
 the dead be raised to life in the time to come. Like as it is 
 written " Elohim shall give thee from the dew of heaven." ^ 
 The Elohim, the androgynous deity, gives the dew, which is 
 phalHc. " For assuredly in him, the Ancient One, nothing is 
 revealed save the head alone." " Three heads have been formed 
 forth, one within the other, and the other above the other." 
 The upper head is the concealed wisdom, the head of the re- 
 maining wisdoms, the Most Holy Ancient One, the Concealed 
 of all Concealments." * From this hidden brain depend those 
 hairs in which shineth the path " by whose light the just are 
 led into the world to come " ; " and from that path are all the 
 other paths illuminated which depend from the Lesser Counten- 
 ance," " and from him the skull (the upper skuU of the three) 
 are all dehghts illuminated, and they flash forth flames, and 
 shine." ..." And all other lights are kindled by him, and 
 derive splendour." * " And thus all the other Ughts are 
 sanctified, are restricted, and are bound together in the unity, 
 and are one; and all things are Hoa." * Here we see knowledge, 
 enlightenment, explained by solar analogy. But neither is 
 this passing on of the spirit purely solar. The subtle material 
 is spoken of as dew, as oleum, the Gael would call it ' milk.' ^ 
 " And from that skull distilleth a dew upon him which is ex- 
 ternal, and fiUeth his head daily. And from that dew which 
 floweth down from his head, that which is external, the dead 
 are raised up in the world to come." . . . " And the appearance 
 of this dew is white, like unto the colour of the crystal stone, 
 
 ' " Kabalah Unveiled," 264. * Genesis xxvii. 27. 
 
 ° " Kabalah Unveiled," 265. * IhioL., pp. 265 to 267. 
 
 ' Ihid., p. 268. ' " Kryptadia," vol. x. p. 345. 
 
FIRE. LIGHT 121 
 
 whose appearance hath all colours in itself." ^ Compare the 
 silver-water cure. Isaiah says " for the dew of the lights " (also 
 " herbs ") is thy dew.^ Compare Psalm cxxxiii. 
 
 An exact parallel with this Kabalistic comparison of the 
 head and its secretion has been found in a birth legend of the 
 natives of Vancouver, North America. A widowed mother 
 having lost her eleven children " took a bunch of moss (c6in- 
 neach, connlach, Gaelic), in the centre of which she placed 
 some mucus from her nose. She watched this day by day ; 
 soon the mucus began to show movement, a little later a hand 
 appeared, then another, and also feet. Next she perceives 
 the face and eyes. Then it becomes alive and grows into a 
 stout boy baby." This product of frontal nasal secretion 
 restores the eleven missing children to life and to their mother, 
 but claiming the eldest of them as his elder brother is told 
 " Don't ' elder brother ' me — you are not my brother ; you 
 are only a snot-man." Deeply wounded in his feelings he 
 retires to the house of his mother " and lies on his bed, covering 
 himself entirely with his blanket. Presently his mother comes 
 to him and bids him uncover himself and sit up, but she gets 
 no response from him. Then she pulls back the blanket 
 and behold he had changed back into nose mucus and was 
 no more a man." ^ 
 
 That rehgion is progressive is proved in history, and is 
 doubted by none but those who have pinned their faith to 
 some formula previously thought out. The greatest rehgious 
 teachers themselves claimed to be progressive. The Christian 
 morality superseded the Mosaic, and the Mohammedan claimed 
 to superesde the Christian, Mohammed recognising the claim 
 of Jesus to be a prophet like himself, just as Moses was accepted 
 by the Christ. The dogma of inspiration which excludes inquiry 
 and the prevalence of higher ideals than comport with a rever- 
 ence for the human body as a kihla, an object to fix thought, are 
 the principal hindrance to, and the cause of, this progression. 
 The ' Find ' fable among the Scots suggests an acquaintance 
 with the Kabalist's idea of the supreme divinity and the chief 
 of the Fian as he has come down to us with his name connected 
 grammatically with whiteness and fleeciness and with 
 wisdom, wisdom made available by the introduction of his 
 
 > " Kabalah Unveiled," pp. 1 16-7. 
 
 ^ Isaiah xxvi. 19 ; " Kabalah Unveiled," p. 116. 
 
 ' " Journal of Anthropological Institute," xxxvii. pp. 335-6. 
 
122 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 thumb into his mouth, the touching his tooth being exphcable 
 by Colum Cilie's mnn against fire (p. 6). The tooth was 
 the same thing as the thumb, and as the " nose " of the Kaba- 
 list. We find the same root ' Find ' a hair ; white ; in the name 
 of Finnian, the most active increaser of religious establishments 
 in Ireland before the coming of Augustine to Britain, and the 
 same name appears as already mentioned among the Scotic 
 clergy who started Christianity in Northumbria. If we are 
 right there were in the story of the early Scotic Church residua 
 of a heathenism older, more local perhaps, than the Simonianism, 
 but we have apparently to thank Romish Christianity for hand- 
 ing down to us the semi-heathen theology which it had super- 
 seded in the endeavour to connect its own beliefs with the 
 religion of the Scots, speaking of them not as a church but as 
 a nation. 
 
 We are all accustomed to hear the subjects of the Cahph 
 spoken of as " The Faithful." In old Gaelic eriss = faith. 
 If we take this as the root of the word ' Irish ' used by EngUsh 
 speakers, say in Gaelic, Erissach, does this not suggest that there 
 was a ' faithful ' remnant when the word Irish was introduced 
 into Britain. If Scot at first meant a professor and practiser 
 of a particular rite, as Rome gained a superiority, is it not 
 probable that ' Irishman ' was used by the Simonian residue, 
 or by the adherents of Rome, subsequently becoming a common 
 name for all ? 
 
AED. HU 
 
 We have translated, following others, aedh, ' fire,' but if the 
 analogy which we have drawn is correct between Hoa, the path 
 of wisdom, the brilUant emanation from the Supreme Head, 
 it is a fire spoken of from its power of penetrating, enlightening, 
 as the sun's rays pervade the atmosphere, the fire of the coals 
 of the smith pervade the iron. There is no Gaelic word known 
 to us in which fire aedh appears as a description of the sun, 
 but its equivalent does in Welsh. Huan is Phoebus and Huon 
 is an epithet for the Deity ; the same root appears in heol, 
 Bret, for the sun. Hu, n, ' what is apt to pervade ; hu, a, 
 ' apt to pervade ' ; ' bold.' The same word is spelt also hy, 
 ' audacious ' ; and is used as a prefix impl5dng ' intensive 
 influence,' ' enhancement.' Spurrell also gives us nwyf, 
 ' pervading element,' and joining this to the hy we have hynwyf ; 
 and as in a sense the two syllables mean the same thing, they 
 may be translated ' pervading penetration,' but hynwyf is 
 'amorous,' 'wanton,' and the \exb nwyfuso is 'to become 
 wanton.' The most wanton of animals may be said to be the 
 ram and the stag. Hydd, ' the stag,' evidently has this word 
 for a ' pervading influence ' as its root, and hyddfref is the 
 ' rutting season.' Hwrdd is ' a ram ' (the animal), and hwrdd is 
 ' a push,' ' shove,' and hyrddu is ' to ram,' ' push,' ' butt.' All 
 these words are naturally connected with a nature to be de- 
 scribed as ' fiery,' and so ' manliness,' that is a superior manli- 
 ness, is described by hy-wrred, ' pervaded with manhness.' 
 The connection of hu with amativeness is quite plain in hudur, 
 Breton ' obscene.' The Welsh hwrdd, ' a push,' is clearly 
 allied with the German hurten, equivalent to stossen ; hurtig 
 is ' mxnble.,' hu-artig (?). Is teVe from the same root ? There 
 is a Breton and French word which seems to support this 
 suggestion houMeiez, houlyeres, a ' procuress.' 
 
 In Kryptadia two words are discussed where this root 
 appears : — 
 
 " Hifyr di hafar 
 Nid bwch nid gafar." 
 
124 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 The idea is that hifyr, hafar, make an androgynous whole. 
 The lines signify " hifyr (to or for), hafar, neither buck nor 
 goat." ^ Another version of it reads : — 
 
 And again 
 
 " Mihyfir mihafar 
 Nid bwch nid gavar." ^ 
 
 " Hifyn di hafan 
 Un g — t ag un aran." ^ 
 
 ' Hifyn (' to ' or ' for ') hafan, one cunnus and one testicle.' * 
 Hyfri afren is said of a girl supposed to be a boy.^ So much 
 for the double word. A romping girl, one " hugged and 
 tumbled," is called hefr and hyfr, a masculine noun, and for 
 the same sort of individual cat-ffolog is also used, meaning 
 ' a little battle fool,' the combat being an amorous one, and, 
 as we have seen hy to mean ' audacious,' ' bold,' if hy represents 
 the female and fr stands for vir ' a man,' we have an equivalent 
 for the English hoyden, whatever the etymology of that word 
 be. Spurrell gives us hoeden, for ' a flirt.' AU the evidence 
 seems to us to point to the first word as containing the proper 
 root hu, hy, he, but the ha of the second word has to be accounted 
 for if possible. It is suggested that it has to do with hafn, 
 ' a rift between two rocks,' whether with or without a stream 
 running through it,® a port, partus, ' a gate,' compare the " Iron 
 Gate " of the Danube. We incline to the beUef that this 
 has relevance, but that the popularity of the expression also 
 owes something to the alliteration in hifyn di hafan. 
 
 What we have tried to make clear is that in this Anglesea 
 expression hifyn hafog, a ' hermaphrodite,' we have the same 
 root hee (n) that plays a part in the Hoa of the Kabalist, 
 describing an androgynous first cause. The writer further 
 quotes a Welsh triad in which heirin occurs as applied to a stag. 
 " The three hardest things in the world, a flint stone, the horn 
 of a gelt stag (Corn hydd hefrin) and the heart of the miser." 
 Where was it customary to geld stags so as to study the hardness 
 of their horns ? The meaning of the word hefrin had become 
 doubtful and translators seem to have transposed it and made 
 it deprived of amative power instead of pervaded with it. By 
 aU analogy corn is used here figuratively as in the cornucopia, 
 the horn of Amaltheia of whom the name has been derived from 
 
 ' " Kiyptadia," ii. p. 330. ^ Ibid., p. 337. a jjj^^^ p_ jjs 
 
 * Ibid., ii. p. 338. « Ibid., p. 334. « Ibid., p. 339. 
 
AED. HU 125 
 
 the Greek ' to nourish ' or alternatively from a word signifying 
 ' unsoftened,' ' unmitigated,' ' hard.' Diodorus' story of 
 Amaltheia receiving from King Ammon as a marriage gift a 
 fertile tract of land, in form Uke a bull's horn, gives an exact 
 parallel to the corn hydd hefrin. In speaking of Hephaestus 
 we suggested (p. 117) that it meant the ' child of He,' while 
 in fact in Greek he was the child of Hera. There is a Greek 
 male divinity 'Ef/i£/aj, a name connected philologically with the 
 Sanskrit Sarameyas, the dog messengers of Yama who carried 
 away the souls of the dead. He was a night god, he had a rod 
 which lulled men to sleep and sent dreams. He is the Hermes 
 of the Romans and was a god of boundaries erected between 
 two contiguous individual properties, or persons. He is un- 
 doubtedly male, his name appearing as the male half of the word 
 denoting an androgene, hermaphrodite. There can be no sort 
 of doubt that if a source of Ught was personified as a divider 
 of time, and secondarily a divider of space, territory, it was the 
 moon. We have seen that the moon is not universally feminine 
 and the Accadian Ea was himself male. If then, as everything 
 leads us to suppose, the protomythic divinities were andro- 
 gjmous, theorists, judging from what they saw around them, 
 would lay greater or less stress on the male or female character 
 of the original. 'RpiJ^rig has no father ascribed to him by Homer, 
 and his mother is Maia, daughter of Atlas, so that it would 
 appear that his name in the form Hermeias is built up with 
 his mother's name, and she, like Parvati, was ' mountain born.' 
 It is an interesting fact that a temple of Hercules was called 
 a Hermaeum, a name also applied to a summer house, which 
 shows that Hermes and Hercules were connected and the 
 bond appears in the first syllable of their names. The mentula 
 of the one, the club of the other, are expressions of one idea. 
 Hermes is generally represented as a slightly made youth, 
 as was the GauUsh Mercury, but an older Pelasgic figure of him 
 was bearded, without hands or feet, membro erecto.^ His 
 tendency to an androgjmous character appears in such words 
 as, Hermathena, Hermanoubis, Hermerakles, Hermopan, Hermeros, 
 that is Hermes-Minerva, Hermes-Anubis Hermes-Hercules, 
 Hermes-Pan, Hermes-Cupid. If those five words represent 
 a combined male and female, in only one of the five is the 
 Hermes male. There is a Greek word 'ipiia. evidently connected 
 with the idea of Hermes applied to any foundation, a ship's 
 ^ Liddell and Scott, s.v. 'Ep/i^t. 
 
126 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 ballast, and said of a pregnant woman, as if ballasted, specially 
 applied to the props which support a ship when dragged up 
 on shore and thus more nearly representing the characteristic 
 appendage of Hermes, but suggesting that it was something 
 used to prop up a hollow vessel, of which vessel probably we 
 see a counterpart in the shirt of Deianeira which proved fatal 
 to Hercules. The seventh, eighth and ninth ' material emana- 
 tions,' according to the Kabalah, are in the order mentioned, 
 ' Firmness ' ; ' Splendour,' otherwise the Elohim Sabaoth ; 
 Gods of Armies ; which produced the Foundation or Basis, 
 represented by El Chai, meaning the Mighty Living One.^ 
 Each individual of that Trinity is more or less androgynous, 
 because receptive (feminine), as regards the one superior to it, 
 but also transmissive with regard to the one inferior to it. 
 In its entirety it must be considered male because the loth 
 Sephira ' emanation ' is female, so Hermes and Herakles may 
 fairly well be considered Greek impersonations of the same 
 qualities as those attributed to the Mighty Living One, the 
 junior of the Kabalistic inferior Trinities, 
 
 The sun as a divinity in Greek is "HXiog, also spelt aiXiog, the 
 ALH, Eloh the female singular of the word Elohim, which 
 we have already pointed out becomes a masculine plural. We 
 suggest that the Greeks have done at some time exactly 
 what has been done in our translation of Genesis and by the 
 later Jews. The female in Hermes-Hercules was ignored 
 and all the divinity ascribed to the male, showing that their 
 religious system as it has come down to us was less primitive 
 perhaps than the systems excogitated from an androgjTious 
 point of view. In this connection let us consider the statement 
 " Ehas must first come." ^ The teacher there stated " EUas is 
 come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him 
 whatsoever they hsted." " Then the disciples understood that 
 hespake untothem of John the Baptist," onewho was connected 
 with the use of water. Elias the name here used is a variant 
 of the ordinary Greek for the sun, but aUudes to the individual 
 known as Elijah. Now the lettering of the name Ehjah is 
 the same as above translated Eloh but with different pointing, 
 and it has been interpreted as meaning ' El is Jah,' but read 
 KabalisticaUy it would seem to be Al (El) is hee (n), which wotdd 
 point to the name signifying that El (female) is Hee (female). 
 In connection with Enoch, who was " translated," we will show 
 
 1 " Kabalah Unveiled," p. 26. 2 Matthew xvii. 10. 
 
AED. HU 127 
 
 what we consider the importance to be attached to the hee 
 with which his name commenced and his evident connection 
 with the sun. The ALH of Ehjah seems equivalent to the 
 statement El is Henoch.. Now the resemblance in Ehjah's 
 history with Enoch is very evident when we notice that he 
 also was translated, without ceasing to live appeared in Heaven, 
 Enoch and Ehjah being the only persons of whom this is said. 
 In the actions ascribed to Ehjah on earth the principal one is 
 the procuring of rain in a remarkable drought. Historically 
 the narrative scarcely stands examination, but when we con- 
 sider that hee ip) means ' window,' and we are told in the story 
 of Noah, the Accadian Ea, that in his six hundredth year in the 
 second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the foimtains 
 of the great deep were broken up and the windows of heaven 
 were opened and the rain was upon the earth forty days and 
 forty nights.^ It is a certainty that the connection with Ehjah, 
 ' El the window,' proves him either to have been called from 
 his miraculous water supply, or what came from the window 
 of heaven was ascribed to him on account of the name he bore. 
 If the first part of the name Hehos, the sun, is supposed to be 
 what appears in British Celtic myth as Hu, U, Aedh, the second 
 part of his name makes a word common to all the Celtic dialects. 
 In Irish Gaehc we have lios described as ' a place with a cir- 
 cular rampart ' ; lisin, ' a httle fort ' ; Llhuyd spells it leas ; 
 Windisch gives it in Old GaeHc less, lis. A seat of justice, the 
 place occupied by a sovereign and his suite, a court, is in modem 
 Breton lez ; Llhuyd les, Spurrell in Welsh, Uys, all law courts are 
 Uys. He also gives lestr, ' a vessel,' ' matrix.' Primitive 
 enclosures were principally round, and we confess to a feeling 
 that there is some connection between the circular form of 
 the sun and this Celtic lios, as if they had considered He-Uos 
 the ' court of Aedh,' Hu, U, the heavens at large possibly, 
 the ' Cathair Mor ' of Ciaran. 
 
 ' Genesis vii. 11 and 12. 
 
WATER 
 
 We have called attention to the fact that the name of Columba's 
 island I, Y, Hy, expresses in the same letters, some forms of the 
 word aedh which we continue to translate ' fire,' that there is at 
 least one other island Hixt, St Kilda formed from an equivalent 
 root, and that HilAa., the abbess of Whitby is said to have come 
 from a place called Hexuteu.. This we maintain is evidence 
 that we must not consider Zona as an exceptional dedication 
 of an island, and, that islands as holy places are to be looked 
 upon generally as in some way representing the object of the 
 adoration of the worshippers who used them. Further, we 
 believe, the worship was luni-solar and phallic. If Christian 
 it was a gnostic Christianity, and the gnosis connected it with 
 ancient Eastern mysteries in which whiteness, brilliance, light, 
 aU results of fire, played a prominent part, the source of the 
 analogy being found in the sun and moon. The phallic analogy 
 was to give a mechanism, for the process which led to life 
 and increase, the knowledge of which was acquired, according 
 to Genesis, by the eating the forbidden fruit by Adam and Eve, 
 thus uniting fire and fluid, water (?), as complementary one 
 of the other. We conclude from what is supposed to be Celtic 
 history, that these holy islands were localities of the celebration 
 of mysteries partaking of and probably being called by the 
 Latin word datnium. 
 
 The important part which water played in creation myths is 
 known to the most superficial rummager in mythical literature. 
 The first step in creation as we now see it, according to Genesis, 
 while " the earth was without form, and darkness was on the 
 face of the deep," was, that " the Spirit of God moved upon the 
 face of the waters." ^ This spirit " Ruach," is one of the names 
 of the wisdom descending from the Crown of the White Head 
 by which aU things were made Hoa. This " deep," bythos, 
 ' the abyss,' was the primal source of wisdom, being the some- 
 thing reaching back behind the junction of the skuU of Kether 
 (p. 113), the Crown, which suggests, and has suggested, a female 
 potency pre-existing the present world. 
 
 ^ Genesis i. 2. 
 
WATER 129 
 
 Let us consider more at length the connection between 
 the letter hee and the history of Enoch the father of Methuselah. 
 " And aU the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty 
 and five years : and Enoch walked with God : and he was not, 
 for God took him." ^ " And he was not " is explained in 
 Hebrews, where we are told that he " was not found, because 
 God had translated him : for before his translation he had this 
 testimony, that he pleased God." ^ The years of Enoch's 
 life are the number of days of the solar year. The first letter 
 of his name is hee, the female potency in the Four Letters, 
 the first letter of Hoa. Enoch is apparently the light created 
 by the Elohim, and as Genesis tells us " God saw the light that 
 it was good." The explanation in Hebrews shows that " and 
 he was not " does not mean that he had ceased to exist, but 
 merely that he was translated and his locality was the heavens. 
 The writer in Hebrews was speaking of a euhemerised Enoch. 
 His (?) son's name is translated " man of the dart," " sent forth." 
 
 Let us go further back and examine " Ea " the Accadian 
 god of the ocean. The name Ea itself is translated ' house,' 
 the house representing the habitable part of the world.* The 
 Hebrew for a house is spelt with the two letters, heth hee, used 
 as signifying ' hoUow,' but be is a preposition ' with,' ' in,' 
 Be-aima ' with the mother,' ' in the mother,' and Aima is hee 
 (n) * so that the Hebrew for ' hoUow ' would seem to be " with 
 hee " (n), ' with Hea.' Ea is the lord of the terrestrial surface 
 and also lord of the atmosphere, what penetrates, pervades 
 ever5Avhere, the animating soul causing life and movement. 
 He is fatherless, but as he produces himself eternally in the 
 bosom of the watery element, he is sometimes said to be the 
 descendant of a goddess, whose name translates " Fluid," that 
 which " runs like a stream." His habitual residence is in the 
 great reservoir of water which environs the earth. It was thus 
 a simple step to make him a fish god, and one of his habitual 
 titles is " the great fish of the ocean," " the sublime fish." ^ 
 Water was the source of all generation among the Accadians. 
 His name was translated into Assyrio-Semitic " Nouah," 
 meaning ' to reside,' and Noah's most notorious residence was 
 a hollow vessel which came to ground on a hill,* and at first when 
 so placed must have been an island, and from it proceeded all 
 
 1 Genesis v. 23 and 24. " Hebrews xi. 5. 
 
 ' " La Magie Chez les Chaldeans," Lenormant, p. 145. 
 « " Kabalah Unveiled," p. 285. 
 ., « " La Magie Chez les Chaldeens," pp. 145, 146. ' Ibid., 148. 
 
 I 
 
I30 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 the inhabitants of the world. " The cavity, cavern or hollow 
 of the ocean is caUed the sea by Hindu sacred writers inde- 
 pendently of its waters, such deep concavity is of course re- 
 ceived by Hindu mystics as a nnighty argha or lOni typical of 
 Parvati (i.e. ' mountain born '), referring to that known among 
 anatomists as the mons veneris : in her virgin character she 
 corresponds with Diana and Minerva." ^ Ea was the protector 
 against all infernal powers, powers of darkness, and Ea and 
 the sun are the gods invoked against sorcerers and sorcery, 
 as in darkness all evil deeds are prepared.^ The sun is their 
 special enemy, therefore the sun and Ea as a pair seem to 
 represent the sun and moon, and the IH of the Four Letters. 
 That this is so we have the further evidence that Ea alone knows 
 the Supreme Name before which everything bows, and as in 
 the Jewish theology it is supposed that this information was 
 passed on to the Lesser Countenance, so it is said that Ea 
 taught it to his son.^ Ea seems to have been the female 
 potency especially, and the equivalent of the Kabalistic Hoa, 
 and as what is told of him has a remarkable correspondence 
 with the Wainamoinen of the Finns, we have the less hesitation 
 in carr5dng his worship further west and in identif57ing him with 
 the Hu of the British Celts, and Manannan, who sails the sea, 
 and has the power of changing his form. 
 
 • There is a curious coincidence, the exact value of which is 
 open to question. In Welsh dwfr, dwr is the word for ' water.' 
 The Welsh w is the Greek w. We have pointed out how a 
 certain Welsh phallic Hu drew an avanc from the waters, a 
 living being of some sort and a small one, a beaver, a terrier 
 (Zodiac is derived from ^ubiov, a little animal). Now if we join 
 Hu and dwr together, we have the Greek word Uup, ' water.* 
 This means water of any kind, but is rarely used in Homer for 
 sea water, and is generally running water, and especially rain 
 water, the characteristic of the mother of the Accadian Ea, 
 ' Ria,' translated ' Fluid.' Ud, udakam, udan (Lat. undo) 
 stands for water in Sanskrit,* and in Greek hipia, is ' a water 
 pot,' 'jbpa'im, ' to water,' ' to sprinkle with water,' and D (Hu) 
 seems the real root of the Greek Ump. The suggestion here made 
 exactly corresponds with the parallel suggestion already given 
 of Helios (p. 127) = the court (enclosure) of Hu. Man is in fact, 
 as the Koran informs us, an " extract of despicable water." * 
 
 1 Inman's " Ancient Faiths," ii. p. 925. 
 
 " " La Magie Chez les Chaldeens, p. 54. ^ Ibid., p. 41. 
 
 * Liddell and Scott, s.v. Sdap. 
 
WATER 
 
 131 
 
 We have identified, or at least shown, a correspondence 
 between Hu and Manannan, that is the moon personified as a 
 male (p. 130). Among the Gael aU heavenly bodies are female, 
 and in the Teutonic languages generally the moon is male. 
 From this it would appear that naturally the Gaehc moon 
 should be female, and when we find it personified as a male 
 we conclude that tradition was influenced by something ex- 
 ternal to the Gaehc language. A week is called in Gaelic 
 seachduin, more anciently sechtman, the Latin septimanus, 
 late Latin for a ' week,' masculine. The Latin termination 
 of this word has no connection with the word for the moon, 
 but manus has in Gaelic been used as a name for seven individ- 
 uals, so that the word sechtman forms the ground work for a 
 story concerning these " Maini." There are eight of them 
 which is to be accounted as a corresponding term to the Welsh 
 ' week ' wyihnos, ' eight nights.' Now it is a common expres- 
 sion for a completed period of a year, " a year and a day," 
 which day may be said to contain the year within it. That 
 is exactly what we find in the history of the eight Maini. They 
 are the seven moons of the ordinary week and a moon, but there 
 is in some of their names matter for consideration which we 
 think proves this. In the Tain they are called, we give Rhys' 
 translation : 
 
 Sunday 
 
 Maine Mathremail M. 
 
 like his mother 
 
 The Lord's Day 
 
 Monday 
 
 „ Athremail 
 
 like his father 
 
 Moon Day 
 
 Tuesday 
 
 „ Morgor ,, 
 
 very dutiful 
 
 Mars' Day 
 
 Wednesday 
 
 „ Mingor ,, 
 
 little dutiful 
 
 The Day of the First 
 Fast 
 
 Thursday 
 
 „ mo Epert 
 
 greater than 
 
 The Day between 
 
 
 
 said 
 
 the Fasts 
 
 Friday 
 
 „ MUscothach 
 
 of the honey 
 bloom 
 
 The Day of the Fast. 
 
 Saturday 
 
 „ Endoe 
 
 [an-doigh, not to 
 be made free 
 with?R.C.M.) 
 The Jewish 
 Sabbath. 
 
 Saturn's Day 
 
 
 „ cotageib Ule „ 
 
 that contains 
 them all. 
 
 
 The last column gives the accepted translations of the name 
 of the days of the week now in use and is clearly monkish 
 Christian. Friday, called ' the Day of the Fast,' was in Latin 
 ' the Day of Venus,' in Norse it is ' the Day of Frig,' and 
 
 1 Koran xxxii. 7. See Burton's " Thousand Nights and a Night," iii. 
 16, 31, 26. 
 
132 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 Mohammed assigns it its special duty. In the Ust of Maines, 
 it is the Moon of the honey flower, the honeymoon, while 
 Thursday " mo Epert " translated ' greater than said,' may 
 be iobairt, old GaeUc edhpurt, ' a sacrifice,' being, as we call 
 it, Thor's Day, the Day of the Hammer God. The sacrifice 
 here alluded to seems the same as alluded to in the Buddhist 
 Suttras, " neither abstinence from fish or flesh, nor a rough 
 garment, nor going naked, nor shaving the head nor matted 
 hair, nor dirt, nor sacrifices to Fire (Agni), wiU cleanse a man 
 not free from delusions." ^ The sacrifice alluded to is one of 
 abstinence. Mars' Day was a day doubtless dedicated to 
 combat. Between these two days is the Day of Odin (Woden), 
 of Mercury, the god of gain, both hooded deities. Mercury's 
 statue in Rome was in the ' vicus sobrius,' ' the sober street,' 
 in which no shops were allowed to be kept and milk was offered 
 to him instead of wine, which seems to account for the first 
 fast being fixed on his day. In the present Hst and seeing 
 it succeeded the " very dutiful " day in the list of Maines, 
 that it should be " little dutiful " is a natural physiological 
 result.^ What we would call special attention to, however, 
 in the hst of Maines is that Sunday is said to be " Mke his 
 mother " and the Moon Day is said to be " hke his father," 
 which opens the question should the first Maine be otherwise 
 called Moon Day by pre-eminence and the second Sunday 
 because they were connected with these orbs, or, was the sun 
 female and the moon male to those who made the list ? 
 
 There is a well-known Gaehc myth in which Grainne elopes 
 with Diarmaid. Grainne is wife of Find (white, bright), 
 and her own name, which is differently spelt, seems to be 
 the same word as the genitive of grian, ' the sun,' greine. 
 Toland tells us that the vulgar Irish call cist-vaens, that is 
 three stones supporting a fourth flat one, ' Beds of Dermot 
 and Graina.' * The sun itself grammatically feminine, as 
 we have said, we here find apphed to a woman. Grania was 
 daughter of Cormac Ulfhada. Ule, ' arm,' ' measure of length,' 
 ' eU,' see Uladh, so the name may mean ' long arm ' ; or, 
 ulcha, ' a beard,' ' long beard,' compare the descriptions of the 
 beards in the Kabalah^ Cormac, whatever its exact meaning, 
 refers to a vessel of some sort, corh, ' chariot,' coire, ' kettle.' 
 
 ' " Buddhism," Rhys Davids, 1903, p. 131. 
 ' Hibbert. " Lectures," Rhys, p. 367. 
 
 ' " Critical History of the Celtic Religion and Learning," John Toland, 
 p. 128. 
 
WATER 133 
 
 A living room, the speciality of women, appears in the Gaehc 
 romances under the title grianan, ' a sun room,' the translator 
 of the Irish Aeneid translates it ' an upper room,' but in the 
 same romance the Eylsian Fields, the under world, appears 
 as Grianbrug, the sun country, showing how pleasure if to be 
 found in the lower regions may cause them to be considered 
 as sunny. 
 
 The moon is our lucky constellation, that one which, taken 
 in a propitious hour, tends to increase (the new moon), the male 
 defaulter Dermod, to use Toland's spelling, it is clear could 
 not be the sun under the circumstances given above. In the 
 Breton eur, ' hour,' means ' luck,' generally used compounded 
 with mad, ' good ' and drouk, ' bad,' eur mad, therefore ' good 
 fortune,' and Toland himself gives us eurmat, ' auspicium,' 
 in a hst of Armoric words.^ 
 
 If we compare this with French bonheur we might suppose 
 it was an importation into Breton from French, uair is the 
 Gaehc for Latin hora, Diarmad, Dermot, is surely connected 
 with the expression ' a good hour,' and the D commencing his 
 name which we have suggested was the preposition ' to ' or 
 ' with ' is just as hkely to be De the genitive of dia, god, which 
 would make it agree with the name Grainne in the expression 
 " Beds of Dermot and Grania." Shortly we here suggest that 
 we have a sim and moon myth in Gaelic-speaking Ireland, in 
 which the moon is male and the sun female. In Welsh we 
 have a word for fortimate, hylwydd, a compound of the prefix 
 hy, ' pervading,' ' impregnating ' (?), already considered (p. 123). 
 
 In the early ages of Greece the year was regulated entirely 
 by the moon. ' Solon divided the year into twelve months, 
 the lunar year therefore contained 354 days, and the first ex- 
 pedient adopted to reconcile the lunar and solar years seems 
 to have been the addition of a month of thirty days to every 
 second year. Is there a recollection of this intercalary month ? 
 in the period known in Greece as i'^ra/L-iirnog, and in Latin 
 seftem-mestris, as it were a full half year of seven months, 
 ' six months and a month,' as we suggest for the eight Maines, 
 the wythnos, ' seven nights and a night.' ^ The same arrange- 
 ment exactly as the Greek was the case with the Hebrew 
 Calendar, the ordinary year consisting of 354 days and the 
 embolismic consisting of 384. Solon probably took the prin- 
 ciple of his calendar from a more eastern one. 
 
 1 Toland, p. 239. ' " Encyclop. Brit.," vol. iv. p. 668. 
 
134 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 The origin of our Christianity, so far as the West of Europe 
 is concerned, is IsraeUtish, passed on through the Greek. If 
 this is correct we cannot believe that Christianity was brought 
 to Britain by Joseph of Arimathea, but as there is no mjlh 
 which has not a parent myth, we may reasonably expect to 
 find a cause of the choice of his name. Arimathea, an unde- 
 fined locality, seems to be a compound of Hebrew and Greek, 
 and whatever the Hebrew may mean, — ' a high place,' ' the 
 mother of Ra,' — the latter part of the name is the Greek for 
 ' goddess,' and if Joseph was connected with the ' goddess of 
 the high place,' or the ' goddess mother of Ra,' (re, Gaelic, the 
 moon), mythically it is just what one should expect to find 
 that he brought with him to Britain the Holy Graal, a never 
 to be exhausted food vessel, like the never dry cauldron of the 
 Dagda, described also as a stone, and its accompanying lance, 
 all of which are, to use a police phrase, productions in the account 
 we have of the Kabalistic interpretation of the Four Letters 
 (p. lo6), and the precious things of the Tuatha De. The 
 Romish Church has never claimed the Christianising of Britain 
 previous to Palladius, who sent Germanus to reclaim erring 
 British Christians in 429, and was himself appointed first bishop 
 to the Scots (Scotic Church ?) in 431. Joseph came to Britain 
 they say about five and forty years after the death of Christ 
 and founded Glastonbury. He is supposed to have been an 
 elder and member of the Synedrium, a Greek word for ' assembly ' 
 (compare ' damium '), used in Hebrew as Sanhedrim, presided 
 over by the High Priest probably, and he was the possessor 
 of an uamh, Gaelic for ' a weem,' ' cave,' ' furnace,' ' grave,' 
 from which issued the Christ. Our suggestion is that what 
 was known of Joseph of Arimathea could be worked in to 
 accord with the practices of the early Scotic Church, a church 
 which may really represent original Christianity as it first 
 found a place in Western Europe. 
 
 RecaUing the differences, already considered at some 
 length, of the Paschal observance recorded by " Bede " ; does 
 Easter seem to have been of Christian origin or more truly 
 Paschal, that is Jewish, than we are accustomed to believe ? The 
 Gaelic year is distinctly divided into two equal portions by 
 the festivals of Samhain and Bealtaine, the first being the festival 
 of All Hallows, the other that of May Day. In Welsh these 
 are respectively called the Kalends of Winter and the Kalends 
 of May. In Breton the former is the Feast of All Saints, 
 
WATER 135 
 
 the second the same name as in Wales, Kalends of May. There 
 is nothing distinctively Celtic in these names, they are evidently 
 connected with the Romish Calendar. The Gaelic names, 
 however, have a much greater individuahty and have given rise 
 to much discussion as to their exact meaning. Both end 
 somewhat similarly, Saxnhain and Bealtaine, which has a very 
 distinct resemblance to uin, uain, ' time.' If we accept uain 
 as the equivalent of ain, aine, it leaves the two roots samk 
 and bealt to be accounted for. Samk is ' summer ' in Gaelic, 
 and means ' pleasant,' ' tranquil,' and samhac is libidinous, 
 which reminds one of the inscribed column " Hie habitat 
 felicitas." Shama in Hebrew is ' to shine,' ^ and shamah ' to 
 be high,' ' to project.' To go right back to Accadian times 
 Lenormant informs us that Samas, the sun, was the son of 
 Nouah and Nouah we have already identified with Ea. What- 
 ever may be the exact genealogy of the name for HaUowtide 
 in GaeUc there can be hardly any doubt that we have to do 
 with the sunny time of the year, while the date of the festival 
 shows that it is at the end of that period. Its church title 
 is said to arise from the Pantheon at Rome, being in the seventh 
 century dedicated as a Christian place of worship to the Virgin, 
 and aU Martyrs. At first celebrated on the ist of May, it was 
 subsequently altered to the ist of November.^ It thus com- 
 memorates a period of death, the death of the Martyrs ; also 
 the Virgin Mother. The first date of the feast had more to da 
 with the Virgin, its subsequent date is more appropriate as 
 referring to the entrance into the dark period of the year. At 
 present the most accepted derivation of Samhain samuin is, 
 ' summer end,' the termination being considered as equal 
 fuin = finis = ' end,' but nobody can doubt that the first syllable, 
 "with its allusion to the period of peace and brightness, carries 
 us, etymologicaUy, very far back. 
 
 The change of the festival of the Virgin and Martyrs from 
 the 1st of May to ist November meant apparently the dropping 
 of its connection with the Virgin and May Day. In 
 classical times Maia was the eldest of the Pleiades and by 
 Zeus mother of Hermes. She was worshipped in Rome, and it 
 has been suggested that the name was an ancient one for 
 the Bona Dea. Budha, ' Gautama,' was the son of Maha 
 Maya? The Virgin is called Mary, and those who desire to 
 
 1 Inman's " Ancient Faiths," ii. p. 690. ' Chambers' " Book of Days." 
 » " Manual of Buddhism," p. 137. 
 
136 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 understand the significance of the name in Hebrew will find the 
 various Hebrew etymons in Inman's " Ancient Faiths." Re- 
 calling the Gaelic name for the ist of May, Bealtaine, Beltene 
 old spelling, Lenormant informs us that in Accadian " BeUt is 
 the feminine principle of nature, the humid material, passive and 
 fecund, in whose bosom are engendered gods and beings. An 
 inscription of Sargon II., the Assyrian, says " she grinds up 
 like a cosmetic the elements of the world." Her principal 
 qualifications were those of " sovereign goddess, lady of the 
 abyss, mother of the gods, queen of the earth, queen of fecun- 
 dity." He further informs us that she is manifested as a 
 personality under the form of Istar.^ Here again we do not 
 pretend to give our readers a historical genealogy of the Irish 
 Beltene from the Accadian Belit, but we have a suggestion. 
 The present spelling begins with beal, the older spelling hel, 
 and these are very like modern ieul and older hel, ' the mouth.' 
 Now bealach is ' a pass,' connected with this word for the mouth, 
 and to show a connection with this we recall the fact that at 
 the Beltane festival two fires were lighted between which for 
 luck, that is for increase, their cattle were made to pass by 
 the Gael. After the institution of the Passover we learn " I wiU 
 pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite 
 all the first-born in the land of Eg57pt, both man and beast ; 
 and against aU the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment : 
 I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you as a token 
 upon the houses where ye are : and when I see the blood, I will 
 pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy 
 you, when I smite the land of Egypt." ^ This was the " Lord's 
 Passover." Of course the ist of May, the modern Beltain, is 
 not the date of the Passover, Easter, but the Church Easter 
 may fall on any day from the 22nd of March to the 25th of 
 April. We must remember, however, that this is by an ordinance 
 of only A.D. 325. We do not consider the story of the whole- 
 sale killing of the first-born of the Egyptains, and the miraculous 
 preservation of the first-bom of the Israelites depending only 
 on their marking their door-posts with the blood of a lamb, as 
 the record of a fact to be taken hterally. It bears all the appear- 
 ance of an existing ceremony explained by an Israelitish com- 
 mentator in a manner to reflect, possibly in accordance with 
 tradition, honour on his own people. The ceremony, judging 
 from the period of the season, was that of the passing from the 
 ^ " Chaldean Magic," Lenormant, p. 106. ' Exodus xii, 12. 
 
WATER 137 
 
 time of sterility and want, to that of fertility and abundance. 
 The imagery always recalls a period analogous to that of gesta- 
 lion, and naturally to the sex to which gestation is entrusted. 
 Primitive man took the seasons pretty much as they came to 
 him. At the present time and for a long period civilised man- 
 kind has been working with more or less artificial divisions of 
 lime, artificial in this respect that they attempt to fit in the 
 lunar year to the solar year. We still have new moons and 
 full moons visible to everybody ; also shortest day, longest day, 
 and night and day of the same length, and were it not for 
 water clocks, sand glasses, and more modem clocks and watches, 
 "we would still be dividing our time by referring to the periods 
 marked by the sun and moon. Primitive man, so far as this 
 is concerned, has not to be sought for far afield now. Take 
 the English quarter days. Lady Day, 25th of March, the vernal 
 equinox about the 21st, and the 22nd, the first possible day 
 ■on which Easter can fall. Midsummer Day, 24th of June, 
 speaks for itself without further explanation. Michaelmas, 
 September 29th, with the autumnal equinox about the 23rd, 
 an Ember day of which no doubt the hght was dying out, 
 and, according to the Calendar of Oengus, the day when Jesus 
 granted to Adamnan the lasting hberation of the women of 
 the Gael. A day on which Adamnan's mother saw a woman 
 with an iron sickle in her hand dragging another woman with 
 the sickle fastened in her breast. She was at the time riding 
 on Adamnan's back. The sickle is the form of the new moon 
 (of Tisri), the carrying was of the same sort as might be said 
 of the foetus in utero. This law of the liberation of women is 
 mentioned in connection with the law of Sunday, " not to 
 transgress thereon." ^ Christmas Day, December 25th, the 
 winter solstice, the day before that on which the sun begins 
 to increase, about the 22nd. Our Scottish quarter days differ 
 from those by about a month and a half and have all church 
 names but one, Lammas, which seems to mean ' half mass,' 
 the mass celebrated in the middle of a period, but its Gaelic 
 name, Lughwasadh, means ' the junction of Lug,' lux, light,' 
 celebrated on the ist of August exactly nine months before 
 the 1st of May, the birthday of Spring by certain games, 
 so it may be the ' ludi ' sacred games, of con«eA;ion. The 
 1st of May is connected by name with the Accadian Virgin 
 goddess Belit. The Gaelic church name Lammas seems to 
 
 I " Calendar of Oengus," Stokes, pp. 139 and 147. 
 
138 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 allude to its position half-way between Midsummer and 
 Michaelmas. 
 
 Lenormant has informed us that BeUt is Istar. Easter 
 governs aU the movable feasts of the Christian Church. The 
 Jews celebrated their Passover on the fourteenth day of the 
 first month, that is to say, the lunar month of which the four- 
 teenth day either falls on, or next follows, the day of the 
 vernal equinox. It is curious to notice, however, that the begin- 
 ning of the Jewish Calendar agrees with the autumnal equinox, 
 the first of Tisri, that is the first of the year, meaning " the first 
 of the beginning," only the first of Tisri is a new moon, the 
 Paschal, Easter moon being a full moon. We here then find 
 the same division of the year virtually as among the Gael, 
 two periods of about six months, each with its own character- 
 istics, and the beginning of each period might well be considered 
 the beginning (Tisri) of a year. In early times Christians 
 generally and naturally agreed that Easter should be cele- 
 brated on a Sunday, and in a.d. 325 the Council of Nice ordained 
 that it should be on the Sunday following the full moon that 
 happened on, or next after, the day of the vernal equinox. 
 Their not fixing simply upon a Sunday in April shows conclu- 
 sively that the moon, a full moon, was so connected with the 
 festival that it could not be neglected.^ The Gospel narrative 
 indeed clearly proves that Christ and his disciples observed 
 the purely Hebrew festival. The early Jewish Church then 
 would naturally continue this " Paschal " observance, but the 
 desire to make a " Christian " Church different from the Jewish 
 Church, made clear in Bede, seems to have been the only reason 
 for a change of name or date. The Jews made their full moon 
 fall on the fourteenth day of the lunation. It was on the four- 
 teenth the Paschal lamb was eaten. It was " a male without 
 blemish," it was killed at evening, had to be cooked with 
 fire only, and its blood was struck on the two side-posts and 
 upper door-post, timbers which very accurately represent 
 the Hebrew hee (n) 2 Xhe vernal equinox happened immediately 
 after the sun's entry into the sign of Aries in the Zodiac ; thus 
 we see the reason for the sacrifice of a young ram. This also 
 makes it clear that the moon was not simply a timekeeper, 
 but that the festival represented the vernal equinox. The sign 
 preceding Aries is Pisces = fishes, creatures which were associated 
 with the old Accadian water god Ea. Ea's name, the " house," 
 
 ' " British Encyclo.," vol. iv. pp. 668, 669. ' Exodus chap. xii. 
 
WATER 139 
 
 demonstrates why the sacrifice was marked upon the essential 
 timbers of a doorway, and the sacrifice of the young male 
 marked with blood on the doorway, the passage into the 
 house, is of itself suggestive. We may say that the Jews, 
 to the best of our belief, were only celebrating a festival common 
 to many peoples, of which All Fools' Day, the ist of April, 
 the Hull festival of Southern India, is as much a survival as 
 Easter Day. The door of the house (Ea), the ark of Noah, 
 and Bethel the house of El, must be identical originally. An 
 ark was the sacred object of the Jews and cannot have been a 
 mere box to hold manna (?), an omer full of which was ordered 
 to be laid up before the Lord,^ before the directions for the 
 manufacture of the Ark were given. ^ In the Book of 'The Lesser 
 Holy Assembly ' we learn that from the dew of the White Head, 
 the Great Countenance, the Superior Trinity, " is the manna 
 prepared for the just in the world to come. And by it shall 
 the dead be raised to hfe." ^ The Ark of the Tabernacle seems 
 a version of the Ark of Noah, the Ark of the Bythos the great 
 deep, and the Argha, the mother of aU created beings. As 
 Pisces precedes Aries and these signs are connected with the 
 vernal equinox and are of Assyrian origin, in Accadian they were 
 called the months of " sowing " and the " altar." * The manna, 
 like seed and sweet as honey, was preserved in the " Ark " of 
 the Tabernacle, and was the most sacred object in it, which ark 
 must have been considered as equal to an Altar. 
 
 It wiU be remembered that in considering what the Kabal- 
 ists teU us of the two " Countenances," the hair of the Greater 
 Countenance (IH) was called " the truth of all truths," 
 '-' thirteen fountains, scattering the most precious balm of 
 splendour," ^ and that this hair was brilliantly white. We are 
 further told those thirteen parts are called, Qadam, ' Ancient 
 Days,' ' Days First of the First.' Those which are found 
 in the Lesser Countenance are called Olahm, ' Everlasting Days,' 
 or ' Days of the Ages ' ? ollamh, Gaelic, a professor — highest 
 order of instructors, passers on of knowledge. 
 
 The thirteen "paths," locks of hair, from the first three 
 of these emanations (IH), were brilliantly white rays, but in 
 passing through the other seven emanations of the Lesser 
 Countenance (VH) they were no longer brilliantly white but 
 had become the nine dark locks of the Lesser Countenance, 
 
 1 Exodus xvi. 33. ' Ibid., xxv. 10. ' " Kabalah Unveiled," p. 303. 
 
 * " Bible Folk-Lore," p. 10. ' " Kabalah Unveiled," pp. 134, 135. 
 
I40 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 and so were passed on to creation at large. These brilliant 
 locks then were the ' Ancient Days,' while the dark locks became 
 ' Everlasting Day,' ' Days of the Ages.' We have here the 
 union of day and night reaching humanity as Everlasting 
 Days. By gematria Qadam, ancient days = 144, while Olahm, 
 everlasting days = 146. The number of ' brilliant days,' periods 
 of sunshine, are nearly identical with the ' everlasting days,' 
 the dark days. Humanity in fact sees the periods of sunshine 
 and darkness, day and night as one period, what was called 
 in Greece a MMy^hi^ifw, ' a night and day,' and Caesar's informa- 
 tion as to how the Gauls keep dates, " in such an order that the 
 day foUows the night " may only be a result of intercourse 
 with Greece.^ 
 
 The Jews divided the solar year into two periods, and as 
 these were fixed by the equinoxes and not by the solstices, 
 they gave the fullest value possible in sunshine to one portion, 
 and the greatest amount of darkness to the other portion, thus 
 treating the whole solar year as a period divided between 
 night and day. By their Samhain and Beltaine festivals, 
 the Gael did the same. The Paschal observance was the 
 intercalation of 14 days, that is the period from a new to a 
 full moon, between these two parts of the year. From the 
 autumnal to the vernal equinox 185 days, the longest time 
 thereafter for the Paschal full moon 14 days = 199 days, till 
 next autumnal equinox 166 days, total 365 days. The 14 days, 
 therefore, were the days in which they passed over from the 
 dark portion of the year to the light portion. The abstracting 
 14 days from the light portion of the year shows a predis- 
 position in favour of a computation by moons, lunar months. 
 The Jewish day begins at sundown. We are deaUngwith the 
 23rd September as the autumnal equinox, and the 21st of March 
 as the vernal equinox, and our calculation brings the Passover 
 much nearer the ist of April, than Beltaine, but that was, 
 according to Bede, the custom of the early Scotic Church. 
 
 Let us mention a curious coincidence. The term " epact " 
 is applied to the days by which the solar year exceeds the 
 lunar one. It comes from the Greek sVaxros, ' a something 
 brought in from abroad,' epaktai being ' the intercalary days.' 
 The use of this word undoubtedly points to the lunar year 
 as the primary basis of calculation. Things brought in from 
 abroad are of course things abnormal, deleterious. There is 
 
 » " Gallic War," p. 6, c. 18. 
 
WATER 141 
 
 a Gaelic word given by Armstrong and M' Alpine ubag, as they 
 explain it, ' an enchantment/ ' charm,' ' superstitious cere- 
 mony.' It is a word seemingly avoided by the scientific 
 dictionary maker. It is a well-known word among the folk, 
 and is applied to a little bag full of what we may call rubbish, 
 which, prepared against some one, acts upon him injuriously. 
 Considering then the folk-lore apphcation of the word, it seems 
 reasonable to compare it with indepaidse old Gaelic, translated 
 " hoc veneficium," ^ and this again, with the Greek epaktos. 
 If this is a correct guess, its modifications in words signifying 
 destruction, etc., in middle Gaelic are manifold, and show the 
 modifications to which words of Greek origin can go through, 
 to appear as original Gaelic. 
 
 * " Grammatica Celtica," p. 60. 
 
UBAG 
 
 Consider a little more closely what an ubag is. Ubh is an 
 ' egg ' in Gaelic. Dinneen tells us that ubh is applied to the 
 ' point of a sword ' and gives us ubhach, as a word for ' pointed,' 
 ' relating to eggs.' Another spelling is ugh used in Tyrone, 
 Monaghan. To compare the point of a sword to an egg is 
 certainly not what one would expect. We think it hkely 
 that the cause of this is its being considered equivalent to the 
 point of another weapon of which the extremity is likened 
 to a nut, an apple, a cherry, etc. It would be more appro- 
 priate for the knob, cnop, on the proximal end of the handgrasp. 
 Ubhag, taken as a purely Gaehc word, means ' a little egg,' 
 the ubh being the equivalent of the gv of the Latin ovum. 
 Bag of course is English for a receptacle of cloth or leather, 
 and has been compared with the Gaelic balg, bolg, a word used 
 to describe certain early inhabitants of Ireland (?), the Firbolg, 
 the men of the bags, whatever these bags were. In German the 
 same word is appUed to skin of fruit and to the skin of an animal 
 drawn off without being split, a natural bag, compare the 
 prepuce. If the word ubag means anything like a pocket or 
 covering, it would certainly appear to have been influenced 
 by the English " bag." If it meant an " egg bag," it should 
 be the ovarium not the egg itself. Now we are treating of 
 Easter time especially, and everyone knows the important 
 connection supposed to exist between eggs and Easter, and the 
 widely extended practice of colouring those eggs, in various 
 colours it is true, but especially red. Two reciters from the 
 Island of Lewis tell us that a poc-buidsich, ' witch-bag,' a 
 be-witched bag (?), is made of any available cloth, old or new, 
 stuffed with old nails, pins, bits of thread, the mouth tied 
 firmly round with a string. If it is intended to injure people, 
 it is put under the thatch of the house, the doorstep, or in a 
 hole in the wall. If it is to injure cattle, it is placed in the same 
 way in the byre or stable.^ Another reciter from Lewis called 
 it cnoc a bhuidseachd, ' a hillock ' of witchcraft {cno is ' a nut '), 
 
 1 Unpublished Papers, EMK, 5943. 
 
UBAG 143 
 
 a small ball made of hair and one thing and another, with pins 
 stuck in it, hidden under the thatch or a hole in the wall 
 (bruchag), beheved to do people harm ; in some places called 
 ubag.^ In Islay an ubag was described as made of red yam 
 roUed up in a ball, inside of which was "one thing and another." ^ 
 And from the same island it was said to be hoof pairings of 
 cattle or sheep in a bag or cloth, rolled up hke a ball.^ From 
 Bemera, Lewis, the information comes that the ubag is well 
 known in the Outer Hebrides. It is usually made of three 
 different colours of yam, yeUow, grey and red. An incanta- 
 tion was always repeated while it was made or placed. It 
 was efficacious in taking away the torradh (profit, milk) from 
 cows, lactation ceases on impregnation. This reciter mentioned 
 that an ubag might be worn as a protection.* The use of ubags 
 probably survives at this moment, one reciter recently saying, 
 that a little bag full of a great variety of things, old nails, 
 pieces of string, rags, was found in a hole in a dyke opposite 
 the door by which his father's cattle went out and in. The 
 bag being burned, no evil effect was experienced.^ The terms 
 giseagan, gisreagan, orchain are used in the same sense as 
 ubagan (5936). The first of these is evidently connected with 
 geas, geis, ' a taboo ' ; orchain is the older orgain, arcain, 
 ' slaughtering,' ' destroying,' and (?) the modem Irish orcan, 
 ' a glutton,' ' a little pig ' (5936). Ubag is used for any " vene- 
 ficium" (p. 141). 
 
 Epact, which we hold to be the same as Gaelic ubag, as 
 we have already mentioned, represents the eleven days to be 
 added to the lunar, to make the year a solar one. The infer- 
 ence is fairly simple, seeing that the term means ' something 
 added,' that the lunar year was the original one, and that the 
 eleven days required to be added were an afterthought. The 
 description of the ubag is exactly that of the ' addition ' of 
 something, and it was with a view to injuring, it came to mean 
 a deleterious addition. Salt left on the middle of the floor 
 of a dwelUng by an out-going tenant who knows about ubags 
 " is as bad an ubag as can be left by any one," to harm an in- 
 coming tenant.* A saline solution probably the same as solid 
 salt, compare Burt's mun-loch.'' It is quite a common under- 
 
 1 Unpublished Papers, EMK, 5440. ^ Ibid., 'EM.K, 2621. '2167. 
 
 * Ibid., 3872. ^ Ibid., 8532. « Ibid., 5936. 
 
 ' " I unluckily set my Foot in the Chamber-Pot, a Hole in the Ground by 
 the Bed-side, which was made to serve for that Use in case of Occasion." 
 Burt's Letters, No. xvii. vol. ii. p. 65. 
 
144 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 standing that the addition of salt, or salt and fire to excrement, 
 causes diarrhoea of the excreter. We can quote several in- 
 stances related as to the truth of this statement. An old 
 woman threatened to put salt and a live peat upon some 
 faeces close to her cottage. Her daughters who heard the 
 menace cleaned up before she could fulfil her threat.^ A woman 
 was seen to bury something in her neighbour's garden. Re- 
 turning to her own house, she brought a hve peat and put it 
 in the hole made, sprinkled salt on it, and covered it up. On 
 examination it was found that the original matter was excre- 
 ment. The maker of this ubag was a remarkably cleanly person, 
 and the idea apparently was to pimish her neighbours for 
 uncleanliness. They believed the intention was to give the 
 guilty one diarrhoea.^ Traditional methods of injuring your 
 neighbour are liable to modification in transmission from one 
 to another, and so the Highland equivalent of a love philtre 
 was called an ubag. The philtre in this case was a ceapaire- 
 ordaig? a piece of bread and butter spread by the thumb of 
 the giver. In another instance, a woman having quarrelled 
 with those in a house where she had been visiting, on leaving 
 proceeded to make marks on the ground apparently intended 
 for circles. The householder with whom she had quarrelled, 
 told her to stop as they wanted none of her ubagan.* 
 
 The object before us has been to demonstrate how important 
 in regulating the seasons was the part played by the moon in 
 the world at large, and not as a Celtic peculiarity. Nowa- 
 days in Britain, at any rate, the moon hardly receives any 
 attention, the solar year having an undisputed supremacy 
 in our civil calendar. It is not so in the Church, the dates of 
 aU her festivals being dependent from the date of Easter, a 
 moon fixed festival. But Easter is really the middle of the 
 year, not the beginning, dividing the year into halves, the one 
 of which precedes Easter, the other foUows it. The effect of 
 this in early times must have been that half of the year would 
 be lived through before it was known when it commenced. 
 The popular mind would calculate from Easter to Easter, 
 the instructed mind from the beginning of the year to the end 
 of it with Easter as a centre. The night of the full moon after 
 the vernal equinox would be recognisable with comparatively 
 little difficulty, whereas the day of the ' beginning ' (Tisri, 
 
 ' Unpublished Papers, 2942. » Ibid., 3255. 
 
 ' Ibid., 6491. ■• Ibid., 6491. 
 
UBAG 145 
 
 the first month of the Jewish year), was a question of calculation, 
 and the reason for this seems to have been, that the lunar year, 
 the original year, was marked off in periods of 29 or 30 days 
 to the view of all, while the twelve month interval of the 
 solar year was too long a period for common use, and required 
 for its determination magical additions beyond the knowledge 
 of the folk . This calculating from a central period is remarkably 
 illustrated in the Roman calendar, which did not begin from 
 the first of the month and go on in a natural progression till 
 the next new moon, but reckoned forwards and backwards 
 from the 13th or 15th day of the moon, full moon, the Ides. 
 We thus see how continually the moon must have been referred 
 to, the increase of its light noted from the date of its kindling 
 to that of its full power, a sufficient reason surely for seeing 
 an Eillusion to the same object in the Sanskrit idh, ' kindle,' 
 Roman Ides, Ea, the Accadian moon god, /shtar ' his' Assyrian 
 equivalent, Bede's Easter, and our Gaelic Aedh, ' fire,' as we 
 have agreed to call it. The Accadian Ea and the Bible Noah 
 being the same, the latter's connection with the moon is proved 
 by Noah having survived the deluge by 350 years, the number 
 of days in a lunar year.^ In Genesis vii. we have, as it were, the 
 time-table of the flood. On the seventeenth day of the second 
 month, the fountains of the deep were broken up, and on the 
 seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark landed on Ararat. 
 The first thing we notice here is that from the commencement 
 of the flood till the landing on Ararat was exactly six months, 
 commencing the 2nd month from the autumnal equinox, the 
 dark half of the year, the moon's half in fact. 
 
 From the breaking up of the waters on the seventeenth day 
 of the second month of the 6ooth year, to the twenty-seventh 
 day of the second month of the 6oist year, when the earth was 
 dry, the flood period is altogether comprehended within the 
 time of one year and ten days. The lunar year is eleven days 
 shorter than the solar year. If it had been from the seventeenth 
 to the seventeenth it would have been exactly one year of 
 twelve months. We suppose these to have been lunar months, 
 but the whole year is solar, and so ten days were added to make 
 the flood last one solar year. 
 
 The Hebrew calendar is divided into cycles of nineteen 
 years, seven of these have an intercalary month of twenty-nine 
 days. From the breaking up of the fountains to the return 
 
 ^ Genesis ix. 28,, 
 
146 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 of the dove with the ohve branch, if we base our calculations 
 on one of those intercalary years, it gives us an interval of 
 294 days. If we calculate to the day when the raven was sent 
 out, with the first dove, we have a period of 287 days. Now 
 the length of an ordinary human gestation is 290 days, as near 
 as need be the mean between these two periods. Why the 
 embolismic year, a year into which an extra month is inserted, 
 and not an ordinary year was taken, we suppose is its connection 
 with E>.SoXoc, ' a wedge,' ' peg,' ' stopper,' ' something easily 
 thrust in,' 6>/3o>.<^o;, ' inserted.' The reader says this is too 
 far fetched. But is it ? Does not every one know that on the 
 intercalary day of leap year women are supposed to have the 
 privilege of asking men to marry them, showing how the popular 
 fancy reads a meaning into this l/j-^oXri, which word specially 
 -describes in naval fighting the ramming, as we say, of one 
 ship by another. Josephus places Ararat in the Kurdish 
 Highlands, and Gesenius, Orientalist and Biblical critic, con- 
 nected the name with the Sanskrit arjawartah, signifying ' holy 
 ground,' ^ which would suggest its comparison with the Greek 
 aiooTa, the things reverenced, mons veneris, etc. 
 
 We have said on the authority of verse 14 of viiith Genesis, 
 that the flood lasted a solar year, because the earth was dry 
 on the twenty-seventh day of the second month, but the 
 verse immediately preceding it says, that on the first day of the 
 first month " Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, 
 and behold, the face of the ground was dry." The dove having 
 returned to him no more, before this, shows that it was not 
 a mere projection of Ararat round the ark in the one case 
 and the world at large in the other. Whatever the explanation 
 may be, Noah's looking out on the first day of the new year 
 makes it at any rate clear that the precedence of the seasons 
 regulates the narrative. 
 
 The plain inference seems to be that Beltaine was the 
 high festival of the Pre-PaUadian Scotic Church, that it was 
 the centre of their calculations. Consequently, that their 
 year ended at Samhain, now the festival of AU Souls, and that 
 Beltaine represented Mylitta, the Virgin Mother. Mylitta 
 is mentioned by Herodotus, who tells us that the Persians 
 sacrificed from the earliest times to the sun and moon, to the 
 earth, fire, water and the winds, adding "they have since 
 learnt from the Arabians and Assyrians to sacrifice to Venus 
 
 > " Bible Folk-Lore," p. 21. 
 
UBAG 147 
 
 Urania, whom the Assyrians call Venus Mylitta, the Arabians, 
 Alitta, and the Persians Mitra." ^ That " Mitra " was wor- 
 shipped in Roman Britain we know as a certainty. There is an 
 Irish monarch said to have been killed in the year a.d. 106 
 after reigning thirty years. His name is Tuathal the Legiti- 
 mate, and he formed the central province of Meath from the 
 four older divisions, and at the annual feast of Tara, the princes 
 and chieftains of Ireland sworfe to him by the sun, moon, and 
 aU the elements, that is to say, the objects of reverence of the 
 ancient Persians who had learned to worship MyUtta, that they 
 would never contest the sovereignty of Ireland with him or 
 his race. This feast of Tara was held on Beltaine, at the 
 locality said to have been the raUjnng place of the Firbolg, 
 to which they gave the name Druim Cain, translated ' the 
 beautiful eminence,' but possibly more correctly the Ridge 
 of the Tribute.^ The makers of this history drew their form 
 of oath of the native leaders to this conquering invader Tuathal, 
 of whom the name may mean " lord," * from the early objects 
 of worship of the Persians who had come to serve Mylitta, 
 getting the inspiration from Herodotus, we have no manner 
 of doubt. 
 
 Believing as we do that the Passover and Easter are exist- 
 ing ceremonies of more ancient celebrations, but quite un- 
 connected with any slaughtering of the first-bom of Egypt, 
 we might expect similar ceremonies in other reUgious systems. 
 That Mohammed was acquainted with Jewish observances 
 is certain. That he knew anything of a Teutonic Easter, or 
 a Germanic Spring festival so-caUed, we may be certain he did 
 not, but the end of Mohammed's Ramadan shows that it cor- 
 responds with the Christian Lent, as Ramadan in its first year, 
 finished at Easter. The first year of the Mohammedan cycle 
 commenced with the flight from Mecca to Medina on the night 
 of the 15th of July in the year 622. The year is purely limar. 
 Ramadan is the ninth month, and must have finished on that 
 year about the 28th of March. Easter, Pasch, may occur 
 as early as the 22nd of March, and as the Jews always reckon 
 the fourteenth day of the moon as fuU moon, the 28th of March 
 was as near as need be an average for the period between 
 new and fuU moon, during which a Paschal full moon might 
 occur. Mohammed apparently chose for his flight the night 
 
 ^ Clio, i. 131. ' O'Currys " Materials," p. 244. 
 
 3 " Revue Celtique," vol. xxvii. p. 92. 
 
148 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 of rejoicing after a prolonged fast, an event probably fixed 
 by the moon by the Sabians with whom Islam is connected 
 (in Mecca its adherents were known as Sabians),^ and we know 
 there was such a festival and great fair before the fuU moon 
 of the Dhu'l-Hijja.2 The Buddhists also regulate their religious 
 ceremonies by the moon. The fourteenth day from the new 
 moon, the fifteenth day from the full moon, and the eighth 
 day from each of these are the days upon which they kept 
 the fast day by special observance of the moral precepts, but 
 they have a prolonged observance, the F&tiha.ra.]a-pakkha, 
 ' extra fortnights,' of which there are three, but the special 
 one to which this term most particularly applies ^ is the first half 
 of the month succeeding the rains. Buddha seems to have 
 carried forward after his own ideas the same period of abne- 
 gation which we find in Mohammedan Ramadan and Christian 
 Lent, using a Brahminical ' soma ' festival as his starting 
 period, and as it commenced after rains, the observance points 
 back to a connection between it and the flood legend. 
 
 1 " Encyclo. Brit.," vol. xvi. p. 547. « " Encyclo. Brit.," vol. xvi. p. 545. 
 ' " Buddhism," Rhys Davids, p. 141. 
 
BRIGIT 
 
 In the Irish romance of the second battle of Moytura, fought 
 between the Fomorians and the Tuatha De, mention is made 
 of Ruadan, son of Bres, and of Brigh, daughter of the Dagda. 
 Ruadan though a Fomorian was connected with the Tuatha 
 De by his mother Brigh, otherwise Danu or Diana. The 
 Tuatha De as artists were specijilly qualified in the manufacture 
 of weapons, spears, and the curing of the hurt. The healing 
 was done in this way. Dian-cecht and his two sons, and his 
 daughter, sang spells over a well into which the dead were cast, 
 and when taken out they came aUve again. Ruadan was 
 told off to find out how this was done, and having given his 
 report was sent to beg a De Danann spear, and with it to slay 
 the smith. He got this spear from a chief ; for that reason 
 " the name a chief's spear is still given to weavers' beams in 
 Erin." We have all heard of a weaver's beam being applied 
 to a spear elsewhere, and weaving we will allude to afterwards. 
 Ruadan according to instructions tried to kill Goibniu the smith 
 and wounded him, but Goibniu plucked the spear out and drove 
 it through Ruadan so that he died in the presence of his father 
 in the assembly of the Fomorians. Then Brigh came and 
 wailed for her son. " She shrieked at first, she cried at last. 
 So that then for the first time crjTuig and shrieking were heard 
 in Erin. Now it is that Brigh who invented a whistle for 
 signalling at night." ^ In this story once more the science of 
 the story-teller is shown by the things his personages do in 
 accordance with possible translations of their names. Rhys 
 in his Hibbert Lectures compares Ruadan to the Welsh Dylan, 
 " the darkness that dies away to lurk in the sea, so that his 
 name of Dylan has become a s5^onym for that of the ocean." * 
 Rhys further remarks that it might be supposed Ruadan's 
 name was derived from the word ruad, ' red,' but because 
 his mother keened for his death, he makes it a direct descendant 
 of the Sanskrit rud, ' to howl,' or ' weep,' and speaks of the 
 Latin rudo, ' to roar,' ' bray,' as cognate. We beheve the name 
 
 » " Revue Celtique," vol. xii. p. 97. ' " Hibbert Lectures," p. 387 et seq. 
 
 M9 
 
ISO RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 was manufactured with express reference to the term ' red,' 
 as applying to his weaver's beam of a spear, and the story- 
 teller's knowledge of Latin was sufficient to permit him to 
 draw on rudo for the incident of his mother keening and 
 inventing whistles for signalling at night. Ruadan being a 
 male moon, the noise of the waves of ocean in his character 
 of Dylan represent the Irish ' keening ' as Rhys says. That 
 a red moon is not an idea of the writer may be illustrated 
 in the words of the song " Rothesay Bay " by Mrs Craik. It 
 was : — 
 
 " Bonniest when the sun draps 
 And red comes up the moon." 
 
 Loth gives us in the " Revue Celtique " an interesting side Hght 
 on Mrs Craik's lines. In speaking of a well on the coast 
 of an island in the Morbihan called " Brig-eygen," the peculi- 
 arity of which spring is that it comes out close to the sea, he 
 teUs us that brig is the ' extreme point ' of all sorts of things, 
 and says brig yr hwyr is ' the evening twilight.' Brig ywawr 
 is the first whitening of the horizon at daybreak. The meaning 
 of the name of the fountain, according to our authority, is 
 " the extremity of the spring," ^ He makes the final g of 
 brig a local modification of what is really a Hebrew yod, 
 pointing to the more general sound of the word as bree. The 
 moon rules the night, and all know that she is represented 
 generally as a crescent with two points, and it would appear 
 that this is taken into account in the Breton phrases. Spurrell 
 gives us an exact parallel for the same use of brig in the phrase 
 ym mbrig y nos, ' in the dusk.' The worship of Brigit is widely 
 spread in Brittany. She gives the name to a commune of the 
 canton of Cleguerec in Morbihan, " Birhiett," and also to 
 " Loperhet " in Comouailles.^ Among men's names her attri- 
 bute appears as Catwofin, HaelwoJn.* 
 
 Finding reasons for this suggestion in the likeness of the 
 traditions, the same word (bri) occurs in the name of the Hindoo 
 deity Bhrigu, to whom Brahma committed the power of creation. 
 Wilson tells us that Bhrigu was the name of Siva, that it was 
 a title of the regent of the planet Venus (Sukra), also said to be 
 a son of Bhrigu, that it is applied to fire, to the month Jyesntha 
 (April May) and that it is ' semen virile,' and a glance into the 
 Manx Dictionary will show us breh, 'a birth,' 'progeny,' 
 
 • " Revue Celtique," vol. xix. p. 212. ' Ibid. xi. p. 139. 
 
 ' " Grammatica Celtica," p. 21. 
 
BRIGIT IS I 
 
 bree, ' essence,' ' heat.' The Sanskrit Bhrigu and Manu are 
 intimately connected and are sometimes placed among the 
 Rishis through whom the inspired Veda was revealed to men, 
 and are said to have been in the Ark with Manu (the moon) 
 the Hindu Noah.^ 
 
 Brig, ' a top,' ' summit,' according to Spurrell, applied 
 to the tops of trees and to hair, is accepted as having this 
 meaning in the name Brigantes, ' Highlanders,' as it were. 
 It seems also in the names of men to have implied authority, 
 elevated position,^ and appears in the Wiirzburg codex as im- 
 plying value. That meaning of it takes practical shape in 
 the female Brig of Irish tradition, Brig Brethach, the daughter 
 of Sencha, a poet and chief judge of Ulster, her duty to her 
 father being to correct his errors.^ She appears also as his wife 
 and strange to say as the daughter of Onithceme, a name 
 suggestive to us of TertuUian's Onokoihthe (p. 95). She uttered 
 a ' loud moan ' to call attention to her wish for, among other 
 things, her fill of a red-eared purely white cow without a Hver, 
 and this cow was with the nuns of Tuaim-daghualan, that is 
 the 'hill with two shoulders,' doubtless the crescent moon.* 
 The tale in which this appears is unquestionably a modem 
 edition of the traditions it deals with. Sencha, Seanchan, 
 means ' old head,' and may be connected with the goddess 
 Duben, the Mimster Dovinia. Seanchan is caUed expressly 
 " seinfhile," the old poet. 
 
 This Indo-European root appears in Icelandic as bra- 
 Bragr, ' best,' foremost ' ; braga, ' the flicker of the northern 
 hghts ' ; braga-alr, the brad-awl used in Iceland for producing 
 fire by friction ' ; bragr, ' poetry ' : Bragi, ' the god of poetry.' 
 Poetry and drink are naturally connected. The Skaldic song 
 is compared with a fountain which does not issue freely from 
 a sorrowful heart. Chambers spells the Norse Brigit's name 
 " Birgir " (p. 177). In Norse poetry Byrgir is a fountain to 
 which a girl named Bil is represented as going and to whom 
 the poets pray, " if the noble Bil will favour the skald," showing 
 that this fountain contained the Skaldic mead. It is in the 
 night that she and her brother fill their pail, made evident 
 by the fact that Mani sees them. While they carry the pail 
 with a pole on their shoulders, Mani takes them unto himself 
 
 • " Mythology of the Aryan Nations," Cox, vol. i. p. 414. 
 
 » " Grammatica Celtica," p. 21. ' " Hibbert Lectures," Rhys, p. 76. 
 
 * " Ossianic Society," vol. v. p. 57. 
 
1 52 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 and they remain with him, together with their precious burden. 
 The moon god accepts them as his children and Bil and her 
 brother become the dark spots we see in the moon. The moon 
 is also called ' Nokve's ship ' and in that ship Brage, the god 
 of poetry, refreshed himself, with the fluid from Byrgir. In 
 the story of Mel's drunkenness, during the consecration of 
 Brigit, we have to do with the same imagery of Bil and the 
 source of inspiration contained in the ship of Nokve, that is if 
 we are right, Diana, the moon goddess, otherwise Brighid, 
 the Irish goddess of Poetry of the Tuatha De Danann.^ 
 
 We propose to deal here with Brigit as a Gaelic saint. 
 Many writers have recognised that her life history connects 
 her with the heathen Brigit of pre-Christian times, retaining 
 saint and goddess as a combined local Irish personaUty. Re- 
 ferences to her in Scotland, England, Brittany are all supposed 
 to come from Ireland. Solinus of the third century, called 
 Polyhistor in the sixth, points out her existence in England 
 previous to any claim made for her as Irish. Solinus tells 
 us that there are many and great rivers in Britain as well 
 as hot springs artificially made available for the use of men. 
 That they are under the patronage of Minerva in whose temple 
 a continual fire burned which never whitened to ashes but 
 hardened into a strong mass.* Minerva Medica was the 
 special patroness of hot springs according to the Romans, 
 and as Krause points out, they, by their dedications at 
 Bath, " Deae Suli Minervae," had recognised some connection 
 between the divinity called Sulivia and Suhna (Gaelic suil, 
 ' eye,' ' Eye of life (?), there worshipped and the Roman 
 Minerva. Krause further points out that on the South Wall 
 there is a dedication by the Tribune of the first cohort of the 
 VarduU, a Biscayan tribe. " Deo invicto Soli socio " which 
 appears to be Mithra, probably the same as the Bath Sulivia.* 
 The Varduli may have brought a goddess with them, they 
 certainly did not bring the hot springs at Bath. Brigit may 
 be Biscayan as Minerva was Roman, and Brigit, Minerva, 
 Diana, Sulivia, may have been companions of the sun, but 
 they are all female and not the sun god. Surmises such as these 
 have already been made. A. B. Cooke says, " I submit that 
 
 • " Teutonic Mythology," Rydberg, pp. 458, 459, 460. 
 
 « " Origins English History," Elton, p. 279 ; " Topography of Ireland," 
 Giraldus Cambrensis, ch. xxxiv. 
 
 ' " Tuisko-Land," Dr Ernst Krause, p. 411. "Vallum Romanum," 
 Warburton, p. 146 ; Geoffrey Monmouth's "Hist. Britonum," II. ch. x. 
 
BRIGIT I S3 
 
 the Pagan deity, whose name and fame St Brigit has usurped 
 was a great sun goddess," and in a few lines lower on the same 
 page he says, " if I am right in my surmise, the Irish Brigit 
 was strictly comparable to the Italian Diana, and her oak 
 to the famous tree at Nemi." He then goes on to speak of 
 Cormac's Brigit with her two sisters, and her three sons, and 
 says she was triformis} The writer of the above appears so 
 imbued with the ' corn spirit ' theory that he has just failed 
 to recognise that she was a moon goddess. Minerva was the 
 goddess of wisdom, of the arts, and of poetry. Cormac's three 
 Brigits were the patrons of smiths representing arts, bards 
 representing poetry, and Minerva Medica represented the physi- 
 cians. As mother, Brigit had one son called after herself, 
 Brian. ; the two others luchar and luchair seem to owe their 
 name to a coimection with iuchair, spawn. The son of these 
 three last was Ecne, ' wisdom,' ' science,' the impersonation 
 of Brigit as Minerva. This Brigit seems exactly comparable 
 to Keating's Eire, daughter of Dealbhaoth, ' the representation 
 of frivoUty,' wife of Mac Greine, ' Sun's son ' otherwise Ceathur 
 one of three synchronous kings of Ireland, of the Tuatha De, 
 the others being Mac Cecht and Mac Cuil. Mac Cecht had a 
 second name Teathur and seems to be the same as Tethra 
 suggested as connected with the grey crow, babh, -rerpa^, a 
 spotted bird, a partridge (?) and with the sea by O'Clery. He 
 was a god of the other world.* The Moon is spotted. Cecht 
 is according to Dinneen, [ceacht) ' science,' ' eminence,' hence 
 Dian-cecht the Tuatha De physician, " God of the science " (?) 
 In Ultan's h5ann in praise of Brigit from the Liber 
 Hymnorum, her name is glossed " brig aitt," which if we may 
 compare it with ait, ' joyful,' ' glad,' seanches ait, ' a diverting 
 story,' might mean ' joyful energy.' Another gloss is breo 
 saigit, ' fiery arrow.' ^ These are but guesses no doubt, but 
 guesses made in accordance with the ideas of the glossographer 
 of what accorded with his subject, Brigit. In the text she is 
 addressed as breo orda, ' a flame golden,' and apparently she 
 is compared with " ingrian tind toidlech," ' the blazing dehght- 
 ful sun.' " May she overthrow before us battles of every 
 disease " refers us directly back to her heathen predecessor. 
 In Broccan's hymn* we have a curious incident introducing 
 
 * " Folk-Lore." vol. xvii. p. 326. 
 
 " Stokes' Translation, " Cormac's Glossary," p. 157. 
 
 ' " Goidelica," Stokes, p. 135. • Ibid., p. 145. 
 
1 54 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 the salmon. A certain Nia, said to be the proper name of a 
 poet (Cormac translates it both ' sister's son ' and 'champion ')> 
 " lusting for a certain woman, deposited with her sentem 
 argenteum, quam dolose retraxit ilia ignorante et jecit in mari. 
 Brigit saves the girl from slavery and outrage by finding the 
 pin in a salmon." This is a parallel story with that in the Ufe 
 of Kentigem, but the Queen Langueth gives away her ring, 
 while in Brigit's case it is the man's silver pin which is found 
 in the salmon. In the name of the author of the later hymn, 
 Broccan, we see a possible coincidence with one of the titles 
 addressed to Brigit in Ultan's hymn. He styles her " intlacht 
 uasligaib," meaning, " the vesture over " what is glossed 
 " ocraidib," which looks like the Latin name applied to a leg 
 protection ocrea, ocar, Dinneen. Is ligaib not Norse leggir, 
 English leg. Brigit = breeks. Cleasby translates the Norse, 
 as applicable to any hollow long bone. 
 
 " Broccan " calls for some explanation. Broc, Brocann, 
 is a name which appears on Oghmic inscriptions, so there 
 can be no doubt that it was applied to living individuals. 
 It evidently means, in some cases at any rate, whether 
 simply broc or in a compound broc-a.gn, ' badger.' The 
 way such names are still used is explained by O'Kearney in 
 the Ossianic Society's publications. Putting one hand across 
 the eyebrows, the other hand under the chin of an individual, 
 the suggestion to the onlooker of the likeness of the portion 
 of the face so defined to some animal was supposed to give an 
 indication of the character of the person examined. Individuals 
 werecalled, e.g., Broc O'Coilgin, ' Badger Cocks,' ' Cox ' and other 
 like names ^ from this fanciful resemblance. Brocc is a ' shoe ' 
 (O'Curry), commonly spelt brog : breo is ' flame,' but also the 
 phosphorescence visible on putrid fish : bra is a ' hand-mill,' 
 ' quern,' ' a great wave ' : Breogan stands for ' Bragantia,' 
 the mythic Spanish starting-place of the sons of Miledh. In the 
 list of St Patrick's household given in the Four Masters we find 
 " Brogan, the scribe of his school " : and in a note we are 
 informed that he was Brocanus, nephew of St Patrick.^ 
 Having no faith in these lists of names as that of historical 
 personages, the scribe of the school was one who ' scraped,' 
 we still speak of getting a scrape of the pen, and Brocanus 
 was doubtless Badger the Scraper. When Ciaran (dark-one) 
 the so named saint first settled at Saigher, he lived under a 
 1 " Ossianic Soc.," vol. ii. p. 44. " " Annals, Four Masters," a.d. 448. 
 
BRIGIT 1 55 
 
 tree (? the tree Mugna = moon) and his first disciple was a 
 furious boar (an animal with two white pointed tusks) which 
 helped him to build his cells. A fox, a badger, a wolf, and a 
 fawn, also attended his instruction as monks. Fox stole 
 Ciaran's brogues {cuaran, untanned sandals), and had already 
 eaten the laces when Badger, sent to bring him back, per- 
 suaded him to do so and bring the brogues with him. " Criom- 
 than, a fox, the proper name of a man " was the original name 
 of St Colum.i The fox is also in Gaelic Gille-Mhartain, ' St 
 Martin's servant,' he who gave away his cloak. Criomthan 
 stole brogues which were brought back at * the instance of 
 hroc. We have quoted this to point the moral that these 
 saintly adventures are etymological inventions. What in- 
 terests us now is the significance of brogues. " It was the custom 
 at one time in the Island of Colonsay to put an old shoe to bum 
 at the fireside when a woman was in travail, in order to keep 
 away the fairies that were always ready ' to lift ' an infant." ^ 
 " When a Chinese woman is barren a shoe is borrowed from the 
 temple of Kam Ha, the Lucina of the Chinese in some parts, 
 and takenhome to have incense burned before it on her shrine." * 
 Should an affianced bride die, the intended bridegroom worships 
 and bums incense before a pair of the shoes last worn by her 
 to induce her spirit to be present. Among a bride's presents 
 are a male and female shoe, of course easily distinguishable 
 in China. A pair of shoes belonging to the bride are sent to 
 her husband to denote that he will have authority over her. 
 " With this may be compared the act of Ruth's kinsman in 
 plucking off his shoe as a sign of his renunciation of any claim 
 to marry her, and the expression in the Ix. psalm, ' over 
 Edom will I cast out my shoe,' means ' I will renounce Edom ' "^ 
 " In Peru they had many wives before they were Roman 
 Catholics, yet only one was reckoned lawful. When they would 
 marry any one they went to her house, and with the father's 
 consent put on her an ottoya, which is a shoe they use, and so 
 lead her home. If a virgin the ottoya was made of wool ; 
 if she had been taken by others before it was of rushes." * 
 The Arab says, " the shpper recalls the woman." Qui se sera 
 
 ^ " Caledonian Medical Journal," vol. vi. p. 177. 
 
 • " Ossianic Soc," vol. ii. p. 43. 
 
 ' " Gaelic Incantations," Mackenzie, p. 33, note. 
 
 • " Folk-Lore Journal," vol. v. p. 223. 
 
 5 " Folk-Lore Journal," vol. v. pp. 229, 231, 232. 
 
 • " Matrimonial Ceremonies Displayed," p. 84. 
 
156 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 vu en songe chaussant un Soulier, pourra avoir la certitude 
 qu'il possedera une femme jeune ou une vierge si le Soulier 
 est neuf et en bon etat, mais ancienne si le Soulier est vieux 
 et us6." 1 In the Talmud there are phallic stories of shoes 
 and the worship of footprints has the same origin. The sacred 
 foot of Vishnu stands for the phallus adored by his consort, 
 and Ruth when she held (not lay at) the foot of Boaz 
 like Lakhsmi holding Vishnu's foot indicated a desire for 
 marriage." ^ 
 
 Compare this with the story of Brigit's getting Episcopal 
 orders. She desired to have the order of repentance and 
 went to Cruachan Bri-Ele to get it from a bishop called Mel. 
 He had gone north, but Brigit followed him with Mac CaOe 
 as her guide over the Bog of Faichnech (meadow-Mke), " and 
 God so wrought that the Bog became a meadow covered with 
 flowerets." In Broccan's hymn we are told " in a good hour 
 MacCaille set the veil [caille) on St Brigit's head." * On this 
 occasion on drawing nigh to where Mel was, when she entered 
 the house " a fiery column (colum tentide) flamed out of her 
 head." Having explained what she wanted, " thereafter 
 the orders were read out over her, and it came to pass that 
 bishop Mel conferred on Brigit the episcopal orders." " And 
 it is then that Mac Caille lifted up a veil over Brigit's head, 
 ut ferunt periti." " While the order was being read over her, 
 thus she was, with the foot ' cas ' of the altar in her hand. 
 And seven churches were burned over that foot, and it was 
 not burnt there. Others say that the church in which Brigit 
 was ordained was in Fir Telech (men of fireplace)."* Brigit 
 was seeking Mel (honey, honeymoon) and she sought for him 
 first at Cruachan Bri-Ele, ' httle heap of other-force,' what- 
 ever the proper meaning of it may be. When she approaches 
 him she gets a veil put upon her. Compare this with what 
 we learn in Pretronius. Immediately previous to the consum- 
 mation of a marriage ceremony, " Psyche had already dressed 
 the girl in a nuptial veil." The veil was called Flammeolum 
 or Flammeum either because it was of a flame colour and there- 
 fore denoted the violence put upon the modesty of the bride ; 
 or because it was worn by the wife of the Flamen or high 
 priest of Jupiter who was forbid divorce. The torch was always 
 
 1 " Le Jardin Parfume," p. i66. " " Bible Folk-Lore," p. 348. 
 
 ' " Goidelica," Stokes, p. 142. 
 
 • " Saints from Book of Lismore," pp. 322, 323. 
 
BRIGIT 1 57 
 
 used in nuptial ceremonies. Petronius tells us himself, how- 
 ever, " we met two well-shaped women in veils whom we 
 followed softly at a distance till we saw them enter a little 
 temple." " Curiosity engaged us to go in after them where 
 we saw a number of women as mad as so many Bacchanals 
 with each an image of Priapus in her right hand." ^ Compare 
 the burning of churches over the foot of the altar which Brigit 
 held, and the burning of the churches over the post against 
 which Aidan was leaning when he died (p. 53). Caille is 
 doubtless ' a veil,' but caillteanach is a ' eunuch ' ; Mac Caille 
 the ' son of loss ? ' who prepared her for the male orders con- 
 ferred on her. 
 
 Cas in Gaelic is ' a foot,' ' a leg,' and it wiU be noticed that 
 while Ruth and Brigit, to say nothing of Petronius' Bacchanals 
 had in their hands so-called feet, so the foot-covering, the 
 brogue, is characteristic of the female. The Spaniards are said 
 to have found St Thomas' foot-print in both worlds, and to 
 localise this in Britain, according to Erasmus, a foot-print of 
 St Thomas was shown to a pilgrim returning from Canterbury, 
 a short distance from that town.^ On the top of Dunad, 
 suggested above as the original DunoUaig is the well cut im- 
 print of a human foot. It is perfectly clear then that Boaz' 
 foot, the foot of Mel's altar, and the foot of St Thomas, are 
 aU of the same nature, and we may include what St Ciaran 
 covered with his brogues, stolen by brother Fox. For further 
 illumination on this subject we will quote Pennant : " during 
 the marriage ceremony (Caithness) particular attention is 
 paid to the 'leaving of the bridegroom's shoe without buckle 
 or latchet, to prevent witches from depriving him on the 
 nuptial night of the power of loosening the virgin zone." 
 " After marriage the bride immediately walks round the church 
 unattended by the bridegroom, the precaution of loosening 
 every knot about the new joined pair is strictly observed for 
 fear of the penalty denounced in the former volmne." * A 
 Breton superstition is " le jour ou une jeune fiUe se mariait, 
 on mettait dans son souher une piece d'argent pour empecher 
 qu'on ne met du mal entre son epoux et elle." * To return to 
 Pennant's experiences, in Islay this time. " An unsuccess- 
 ful lover revenges himself on his unhappy rival by charms 
 
 * " Petronius Arbiter," Addison's translation, pp. 39, 42, 53. 
 
 * " Revue Celtique," vol. vi. p. 246. 
 
 ' Pennant's " Tour," vol. i. p. 187 ; vol. ii. p. 44. 
 
 * " Revue Celtique," vol. viii. p. 395. 
 
158 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 potent as those of the shepherd Alphesiboeus, and exactly 
 similar." 
 
 "Necte tribus nodis ternos AmarylU colores : 
 Necte, AmarylU, modo." 
 
 Donald takes three threads of different hues and ties three 
 knots on each, three times imprecating the most cruel dis- 
 appointments on the nuptial bed. But the bridegroom to 
 avert the harm stands at the altar with an untied shoe, and 
 puts a sixpence beneath his foot." ^ The loosening of ties 
 and the removal of pins from the dress of the bride are cere- 
 monies in use at the present day. 
 
 Recalling the fact that when the Badger rescued Ciaran's 
 brogues from the Fox he had only been able to destroy the 
 laces, and having as we believe fairly demonstrated the signi- 
 ficance of feet, slippers, and laces what is their connection with 
 this Irish female goddess and saint ? Why in fact should we 
 find a Broccan hymning St Brigit. If, as we belifve, the moon 
 is the celestial representative in the Brigit myth, and we look 
 at the moon, the fact is at once evident that there are darker 
 and lighter parts marked in it. The peculiarity of badgers 
 also is that they are dark and light striped. Comparing the 
 moon in this way to a badger one sees at once why those who 
 have a special reverence for the moon might be called broccan, 
 virtually ' the moon one.' We find an interesting support 
 to this theory among the Oghmic inscriptions. Among those 
 of Corkaguiney, apparently the district of the worshippers of 
 Dovinia, whom we have proposed to identify with Diana, in 
 Kerry, is a holed stone which shows evidence of having had 
 previous inscriptions on it deleted and the following one 
 incised. " ANM MAILEINBUR I MAC I BROCANUNI." 
 MacAlister says, " the only attempt to explain Mail-Inbiri 
 as yet has been that of Professor Rhys, who connects Inbir 
 with infhir, a virgin — the name being thus a kind of paraphrase 
 for Maol-Muire. The expression seems, perhaps a little un- 
 natural, but no other suggestion has been made." ^ We give 
 our vote for the correctness of Rhys' suggestion, and to make 
 a suggestion of our own, the inscription reads (?) ' noble (soul ? 
 = pray for ?) Servant-of-the- Virgin, a son of the Brocanuni ? 
 the virginal power being represented by the moon in its char- 
 acter as ' badger faced.' 
 
 • Pennant's " Voyage to the Hebrides," p. 232. 
 
 * " Studies in Irish Epigraphy," Macalister, vol. i. p. 63. 
 
BRIGIT 159 
 
 We have seen that the imposer of episcopal orders and the 
 particular friend, according to the Book of Lismore, of Brigit 
 was " Mel." The Latin for a badger is meles, maeles, melis, 
 maelis. There is a form of shoe called in Irish maelan (maelassa) 
 and we find in the voyage of Maelduin, a woman described as 
 having " da maelan airgit imma cossa gelchorcrai," ' two silver 
 maelan about her pink feet.' She was beautiful, wore a white 
 mantle with a circlet of gold round her head ; she had golden 
 hair, a silver brooch, the studs of gold in her mantle, and a 
 caul-like silky smock. She had a great house near the sea, 
 she provided Mael Duin and his companions with a food like 
 cheese curd, also drink, all from one vessel, till they had had 
 enough. It was suggested to her that she should sleep with 
 Mael Duin and her answer was that she knew not and had never 
 known sin. When the proposition was repeated, all being 
 drunken and sated, she put them off with an answer to be given 
 next day, but they then wakened up to find their boat on a 
 crag and no island nor lady to be found.^ The gold speckled 
 mantle corresponds to the star-spangled night sky. The 
 Gaehc word suggests the Latin tnuUeus. This has been derived 
 from the Greek ' to sew,' and from the ' red mullet,' because 
 that was the colour of the shoe. The criticism that any shoe 
 might be called mulleus because they are all sewn takes no 
 consideration of the unsewn sandal so common among the Gael, 
 and still made within the British Isles. That they were always 
 red is possible enough. In Mael Duin's woman's case the 
 redness was in her feet, but it is not so long since that the 
 favourite foot gear of aU Hungarian women was red. MuXXos 
 the pudenda muliebria, and /tuXXato have sexual intercourse 
 with a woman (compare — ^muilichean, muilichinn, Gael. ' a 
 sleeve ') . The Gaelic name has been supposed to show that 
 the shoes were pointless (maol, ' blunt ') and also that they 
 were hairless, bald, maol. Shoes are also said for women and 
 bishops to be made of metal, findruine, which we believe does 
 not point to any special aUoy, but means ' poUshed,' ' made 
 white,' ' bright.' O'Curry tells us of the shoes called assai, 
 made of copper, and there are in the Museum of the Royal 
 Irish Academy shoes of sheet bronze. In a note O'Curry 
 informs us " the Beirn Brocc, or boat shaped shoes worn by 
 the herald Mac Roth (wheel-son) in the Tain Bo Chuailgne 
 did not differ apparently from the ass in shape ; and were the 
 
 1 " Revue Celtique," Stokes, vol. ix. pp. 492, 493. 
 
i6o RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 prototype of the modem brog." ^ A copper shoe must have 
 been about as comfortable wear as a wooden clog or even less 
 so, as it would be much colder. Doubtless they were symbolic, 
 like the Popes mule with the embroidered cross on it. 
 
 The foHowing we think supports this conclusion. " Upon 
 the keel of every Foula boat (Shetland Isles) a copper coin is 
 nailed to guard her from the attacks of a huge monster called 
 the Brigdy, which from the description must belong to the 
 Discoboli of the third order of fishes. It sticks by its sucker 
 fins to the side of a boat, and tries to capsize her, and nothing 
 but copper wiU detach it. Where the precaution of nailing 
 a penny (Latin as}) on the keel has been neglected, a clog 
 with copper tacks in it has been dragged in the wake of the 
 boat, and found to be effective." ^ The copper seems to re- 
 present the bronze and the clog the shoe of O'Curry's Beim 
 Brocc. The name of the disc bearing sea monster Brigdy 
 seems the genitive of Gaelic Brigit, hrigte. We are told, how- 
 ever, " in Ireland, upon St Bridget's eve, every farmer's wife 
 makes a ' cake ' called Bairin Braec (compare Broccan and 
 Breaccan) ; the neighbours are invited, the madder of ale, 
 and the pipe go round, and the evening concludes with mirth 
 and festivity.^ This sea monster appears in a twelfth century 
 poem of the expedition of Orendel to rescue Frau Breide from 
 her wooers in Jerusalem, in which expedition he acquired 
 the holy coat of Treves — that is the coat without seam of the 
 Christ — from the beUy of a whale.* Orendel marries Breide 
 but lays a naked sword between them. As Orendel is the 
 sun, Breide is the moon doubtless, here as elsewhere. The 
 Brigdy appears in Campbell's " Tales of the West Highlands " 
 as the ' Yellow MuUearteach,' but Gillies writes it ' Mhuirear- 
 teach.' The poem makes the subject female. Her face was 
 dark blue, she had but one gloomy eye in her head on which 
 was " gnarled brushwood " according to Campbell's transla- 
 tion. She goes to fight the Fian and curious to say they are 
 said to have been on Tulach OirHl, which is suspiciously like 
 the Teutonic Orendel. They meet and her description is 
 simple*enough when it says " Chaidh a chomhrag ris a'bheist," 
 
 ' " Manners and Customs," vol. i. p. 398. 
 
 " " Folk-Lore Journal," vol. ii. p. 351. 
 
 'Train's " I.O.M.," vol. ii. p. 113, quoting Vallancey's "Essay on the 
 Antiquities of the Irish Language," vol. viii. p. 21. Ellis' " Brand's Antiquit- 
 ties," 1841, vol. i. p. 190 (1849, vol. i. p. 345). 
 
 * " Tuisko-Land," Krause, p. 537. 
 
BRIGIT i6i 
 
 which Campbell translates " Went to do battle with the beast," 
 but it seems to mean ' The beast was succeeding in the combat,' 
 till she met Fionn himself (Colum ?) and " Mharbhadh a' 
 Mhuileartach leis an righ." " The Muilearteach was slain by 
 the king." Immediately thereafter we are informed, 
 
 " Thug an gobha leis an brigh 
 Gu tur Leoin, an t-ard righ." 
 
 " The smith took with him the bree 
 To the tower of Leo the high king." 
 
 The smith is supposed to be her husband, Campbell says 
 Balcan, Vulcan, but anyhow we notice that bree ' potency,' 
 ' essence,' was her peculiarity. The name Muileartach connects 
 the name with mills, grinding ; Muirearteach connects her 
 with the sea.^ 
 
 The Brigdy is Colum's cetus and its voracity is identical 
 with that of Solomon's second item in Proverbs xxx. i6, which 
 with the grave, the thirsty earth and fire says it is not enough. 
 What we know then of maelan, slippers, points to the name 
 being an importation, convenient in the art of the sennachie. 
 
 Referring to the food supplied to Maelduin and his com- 
 panions, Lucian's description of the nourishment to be had in 
 the moon seems a sufficient explanation, and we must remember 
 that according to our authority there were no women in the 
 moon, the moon herself being the sole representative of the 
 feminine element, just as was the soMtary woman in Maelduin's 
 island, of whom the chastity is in complete accord with what 
 is attributed to Diana. Lucian teUs us that the moon paid 
 tribute to the sun of immense quantities of dew.^ This was 
 prepared by beating air in a mortar.* We are further informed 
 that the droppings of the noses of the moon's inhabitants, 
 all males remember, were more sweet than honey. When 
 they laboured or exerted themselves, they anointed their body 
 with milk, whereunto if a little of that honey chanced to drop, 
 it would be turned into cheese.* Maelduin and his men re- 
 ceived from the island proprietress a substance like curd and 
 drink from the same vessel. If we were to give her a name, 
 it would be that of the famous French fairy Melusine who 
 became a serpent every Saturday, a " spotted snake " that 
 changes its skin and renews itself. She, Melusina, was the 
 
 > " Popular Tales of the West Highlands," vol. iii. p. 123. 
 
 2 " True History" Translation, p. 57. ' Ibid., p. 265. 
 
 * Ibid., p. 57. 
 
1 62 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 badger-faced slipper-wearing moon, an equivalent of the female 
 breast. 
 
 In further elucidation of the name Mel, recall what has 
 been already said of Melinus who fluttered over the head of 
 St Patrick (p. 67). 
 
 Giraldus shows that the idea of comparing a badger to a 
 hollow vessel, existed in Ireland in his day, " Some of them 
 (badgers), whose natural instinct it is to serve the rest, have 
 been seen, to the great admiration of the observers, lying on 
 their backs with the earth dug and heaped on their bellies, 
 and held together by their four claws, while others dragged 
 them backwards by a stick held in their mouth, fastening their 
 teeth in which, they drew them out of the hole with their 
 burdens." ^ No person ever saw any such performance, and 
 the object in nature which gave the hint to Gerald's informant 
 was probably the crescent moon with the earth light reflection 
 on the rest of its sphere. Compare Ronait (p. 60). 
 
 It seems appropriate to point out that the glass slipper of 
 CiiidereUa is the same brog as that of Ciaran. 
 
 ' " Topography of Ireland," Distinction i. chap. xx. 
 
ST BRIGIT 
 
 We must face the history of how, justly enough as we believe, 
 an Irish female saint was served heir to a heathen female 
 divinity. The orthodox answer to such a question might be 
 that the name was a common female Irish one, and there was 
 no more connection between the Christian Brigit and the 
 heathen one, than there is between a modem David and the 
 warrior king of Judea, or of a John with the beloved Apostle. 
 Such a position as that exists in the case of the Brigits 
 called after the apocrj^phal saintess, and why might not the 
 saintess have been called after an apocryphal heathen divinity. 
 Our hope is to show that the stories of the saint are improbable 
 to say the least of it, as improbable as those of the goddess, 
 while they have as striking a resemblance in what seems to 
 have influenced their origin as the resemblance evident in the 
 name itself. We all know that there is an interchange of witty 
 sayings between Joe Miller and his successors, and the same 
 interchange may have occurred with Brigit, wife of Elathan 
 (elatha, ' art,' ' knowledge ') and Brigit daughter of Dubthach 
 (dubh, ' black,' ' gloomy ' ; dubhach, ' ink,' ^ dubhadh an 
 dorchades, ' darkness,' literally ' the blackness of darkness.' 
 
 Meyer translates brig, fern. " power, force, strength, vigour." 
 In Mark, ch. v. dealing with the case of a female complaint 
 miraculously cured by the inherent power of Christ, when the 
 sufferer " felt in her body that she was healed of that plague," 
 " Jesus immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone 
 out of him, turned him about." " The orginal Greek is duva/ai? 
 ' power,' the verb being, huva/j^ai ' to be capable.' In Scottish 
 Gaelic these passages are translated by the word cumhach, 
 while the Manx translator uses the word bree, brig, the root of 
 our name Brigit. In Welsh in the passage in Mark, the word 
 used is rhinnwedd, from a feminine noun meaning ' what per- 
 vades,' ' a virtue.' The Welsh has bri, ' dignity,' ' rank,' but 
 rhi is what is specific ; rhianaidd what is specifically feminine ; 
 rhianon is ' a nymph,' ' goddess ' ; and in the Welsh Mabinogi, 
 the virtuous wife of PwyU is called " Rhiannon." Pwyll 
 
 ^ Dinneen. ' Also Luke vi. 19. 
 
 163 
 
1 64 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 means ' impulse,' ' sanity.' Rhiannon we consider the exact 
 equivalent of Brigit in Gaelic. There is in fact a Greek iSpi 
 meaning ' strength,' appearing in the well known ^pia.pso>s the 
 hundred handed, and that there is a probable connection be- 
 tween Rhiannon and Briareus is certain. In the story of 
 Pwyll prince of Dyved, Rhiannon's son has as a second self 
 a colt which was seized by a mysterious claw [crafanc) through 
 a window, which claw was cut off byTeirnyon, who was watching 
 the mare who had previously lost her colts. As nothing more 
 is said of the claw, whose it was, or the damage done to its 
 owner who could not be found when immediately sought for, 
 we may conclude that he had enough of them and to spare. 
 Bri, ' strength,' seems the co-efficient of aedh what we 
 have translated ' fire,' representing the male and the female 
 potencies in reproduction. May not the English ' aid,' the 
 French aider, the Mid. Latin aidare, ' to help,' ' assist,' be 
 a cognate form of the Celtic aed which appears in the name 
 of the GauUsh Aedui ? 
 
 The Latin virtus from vir, ' a man,' meaning the sum of 
 aU excellence in man, manliness, seems to correspond exactly 
 with the Gaelic fearchas used as a man's name, Feargus. As 
 there is no word in English hke vir, there was no special diffi- 
 culty in using virtue to designate the summit of female excel- 
 lence, chastity, a womanly more than a manly grace, though 
 of course estimable in both. There seems then a certain 
 grammatical consistency in the Gaelic hagiologists whether 
 heathen or Christian, choosing Brigit as the appellation of 
 their pattern virginal female, expressing though it does power 
 more than merit. Considering without prejudice the whole 
 subject, the weight of evidence seems to be in favour of the 
 name Brigit being chosen as fitted to express virtues to be 
 inculcated in a religious system rather than that of a historical 
 personage. The same may be said of the name Mary. 
 
 Brigit is not represented as inculcating abstention from 
 sexual intercourse when in accordance with the regulations 
 of the Church. " On the morrow she remained at Cell Laisre 
 {lassair, ' a flame ') A certain man of Kells (! cells) by race, 
 whom his wife abhorred, came to Bridget to help him. " At 
 Brigita benedixit aquam. lUe secum portauit et, uxore 
 aspersa, amauit eum protinus impatienter." ^ The man of 
 KeUs went to Bridget just as a modem Gael would go to a 
 '■ " Lives of Saints" from Book of Lismore, p. 329. 
 
ST BRIGIT 1 6s 
 
 wise woman in the West Highlands at this moment for a cure 
 for the Evil Eye and used the water given him exactly in the 
 same way. Has Brigit any connection with eye stories ? 
 " A brother of her brethren said to her, " idle is the fair eye 
 that is in thy head not to be on a bolster near a husband." 
 " The Son of the Virgin knoweth," said Brigit, " it is not lively 
 for us if it brings harm upon us." Brigit then put out her eyes, 
 saying to Beccan, " lo here for thee is thy delightful eye," 
 then his eye burst forthwith. Dubthach and her brethren 
 promise her that she shall never be told to go to a husband. 
 Bridget makes her own eye all right, but Beccan's, poor fellow, 
 remained till his death.i Stokes adds to this a Mke story from 
 the Katha-sarit-sagara, in which a man offers his eye to the 
 young wife of another. Granted that the eye is an attractive 
 feature, it really has nothing to do with marriage, and we hold 
 these two stories as supporting our contention that the evil 
 ' eye ' is not the eye and is equally apphcable as a figure of 
 speech, applicable to a portion of the human body of both 
 sexes. Lucie is {lux, light) the name of the continental female 
 saint of whom this story is told also.^ Four inscriptions in 
 Great Britain mention a Dea Briga.ntia., and a Brigindoni^ 
 divinity in an inscription of Volnay in Burgundy is probably 
 the same dea. They are no doubt the same as Brigit. Surely 
 any one capable of laying aside race prejudice, must see in this 
 name an impersonation of an object of reverence in no way 
 pecuhar to the inhabitants of Ireland, and it need not astonish 
 us to find a Brigit reverenced on the Continent, nor need we 
 conclude that she was of Ireland. During the annual fair at 
 Fosse in Namur the women come from all parts carrying osier 
 wands, with which they touch the image of St Brigit and then 
 stroke their cattle with the same wand for curative purposes. 
 Curative purposes ! compctre the osier wands used by Jacob 
 which he placed " in the gutters in the watering troughs when 
 the flocks came to drink that they should conceive when they 
 came to drink." * Fosse, as its name implies, is situated in a 
 ravine, and the Brigit of Fosse is evidently the virginal power 
 represented by a comparison of the locality with the female 
 " evil eye." Fullan, Foelan, Foilan, to whom Fursa left the 
 care of his church in East Angha, according to Bede, is said to 
 
 * " Revue Celtique," vol. iii. p. 443. 
 
 ^ Ibid., vol. V. p. 130; also "Folk-Lore," vol. i. p. 515. " Exempla 
 of Jacques de Vitry," Fl. Soc. 1890. p. 158. 
 
 ' Ibid., vol. vii. p. 398. * Genesis xxx. 38. 
 
i66 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 have founded a monastery at Fosse in a.d. 648.^ If we com- 
 pare this Brigit ceremony with the Februatus, the Roman 
 festival of purification on the last month of the early Roman 
 year (februo, ' to purify,' ' expiate '), recall the fact that 
 Brigit's day corresponds with Candlemas, the first of February, 
 the Purification, that in that month was celebrated the 
 Lupercalia, a festival of Pan, Lupercus, during which the 
 Luperci his priests, naked but for a girdle and their painted 
 faces, ran about the city striking the women whom they met, 
 to make them fruitful, we see in the festival custom at Fosse 
 a Christianised Lupercalia. Lupercus' name is derived from 
 lupus, ' a wolf,' so Fullan, Faolan, the founder of the monastery 
 there is from faol, Gael. ' a wolf.' The inference is unmistak- 
 ably that Bede's Fullan was the equivalent of Lupercus, 
 Lycia in Asia Minor being connected grammatically with 
 lycaon, an animal of the wolf kind, hence the Lycian Pan. 
 
 It is perhaps sufficiently plain to most people that mis- 
 takes can easily occur in attempts to identify the remains of 
 saints as well as those of less notorious persons. We must 
 not, however, forget that on the historical authority of Gerald 
 of Wales, the body of St Brigit, as well as those of Columba 
 and Patrick, were recognised when he was in Ireland. In the 
 accounts we have of St Brigit, Gerald is generally stated to 
 have superintended their translation from some place else to 
 Down. This is by no means clear from his statements on the 
 subject.2 It seems to us, however, a very small matter ; any- 
 how, he says her body was discovered when John de Courcy 
 first went to Ireland, lying in the same tomb with the male 
 saints. St Brigit, as we have mentioned, was primarily con- 
 nected with Kildare, the ' cell of the oak.' There he mentions 
 was St Brigit's fire, the account of which as given by him 
 corresponds very accurately to that of Solinus speaking of 
 Minerva.^ There were nineteen nuns in Kildare who each 
 took charge of the fire for one night, but on the twentieth 
 handed it over for that night to Bridget herself to take charge 
 of. " In the morning it is found that the fire has not gone out, 
 and that the usual quantity of fuel has been used." The nuns 
 were forbidden to use their breath to increase the flame when 
 it burned low, fanning it or using bellows being permitted, 
 
 1 " Revue Celtique," vol. xxv. p. 399. Bede's " Ecclesiastical History," 
 bk. iii. chap. xix. 
 
 " " Topography of Ireland," Distinction iii. chap xviii. 
 ' Ibid., Distinction ii. chap xxxiv. 
 
ST BRIGIT 167 
 
 and this could only be done by women.'^ Gerald gives us an 
 example ^ of an irreligious archer who subsequently to blowing 
 the fire with his mouth, blew into every one's mouth he met, 
 exclaiming, " see how I blew St Brigit's fire ! " and running 
 from house to house where there was a fire, he blew it also 
 making the same remark. He was seized ultimately by his 
 companions, bound and carried to the nearest water at his 
 own request, where he " took such deep draughts that he 
 burst in the midst of them and died in their hands." Cupid 
 is an archer. This archer blew into the mouths of those he 
 met, in such houses as had a fire in them. Gerald does not, 
 we admit, restrict him in this way, and the final consummation 
 was his bursting in the midst of his companions, no doubt 
 discharging the water he had drunk. 
 
 Our archer had as a preliminary leapt over the protection 
 within which the fire was. " This fire is surrounded by a 
 hedge made of stakes and brushwood, and forming a circle, 
 within which no male can enter ; and if any one should presume 
 to enter, which has been sometimes attempted by rash men, 
 he will not escape the divine vengeance." We must remember 
 that St Brigit's household consisted of virgins, and that pro- 
 creation was the specially interdicted sin, and so much was 
 this the case that even goats there never had any young. With 
 the view of preventing this same also in " the beautiful meadows 
 called St Brigit's pastures," ..." no plough is ever suffered 
 to turn a furrow." At the same place it is made a subject 
 of remark that " although all the cattle in the province should 
 graze the herbage from morning till night, the next day the 
 grass would be as luxuriant as ever." 
 
 Let us return to the fence said to be round Brigit's fire- 
 place. Immediately after the story of the archer given above 
 we are told " another (archer ?) who attempted to enter the 
 circle round the fire, and with that intention had already planted 
 one of his legs across the hedge, though he was dragged back 
 and held by his companions, had his leg and foot immediately 
 withered " ; and Gerald adds, or his informant, speaking as if 
 the story was to be taken literally, " whence afterwards, as 
 long as he lived, he was lame and an idiot." Notice that this 
 second individual had not penetrated to the fireplace, he had 
 only put one leg over the hedge and was prevented going 
 further. Compare this with the story in Bede of the second 
 
 • " Topography of Ireland," chap, xxxvi. ' Ibid., chap, xlviii. 
 
1 68 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 visit of Germanus to Britain, where he was met by Elafius, 
 a chief whom all the people followed, who presented to him 
 his son of whom one leg was so contracted that the limb was 
 useless. The saint passed his healing hand over the contracted 
 leg so that the limb recovered its strength and the youth was 
 delivered whole to his father. " By this miracle the Catholic 
 faith was firmly planted in the minds of all." ^ The name 
 Elafius we connect with elephas, ' an elephant.' " Elephantis, 
 jeune fille grecque auteur d'ouvrages galants dans le genre 
 de ceux de I'Aretin des Elegances Latines de faux Meursius, 
 du Portier des Charfreux, et de tous les livres lubriques a I'usage 
 des modernes." ^ 
 
 On the principle that none of these stories, evident non- 
 sense if to be taken literally, are without a foundation, we 
 conclude that the idea formed of Christianity was that it advo- 
 cated celibacy, and that the restoration to use of the youth's 
 limb by Germanus' hand, meant the saintly sanction of mono- 
 gamy, a restricted use according to the views entertained before 
 the time when the saint is supposed to have functionated. 
 
 To put the matter plainly we by no means consider that 
 the name Brigit is of Gaelic origin. It may be good enough 
 Gaelic, but the root from which it is formed is as much part 
 of other languages as it is of Gaelic. We consider the trans- 
 lation of its Sanscrit form contains the kejmote to all its various 
 meanings, and even that of a ' summit ' is but secondary. 
 A parallel case will be found in the Gaelic terms for cream, 
 viz., bar, uachdar, both of which mean ' top,' ' surface.' Cream 
 is the superior part of milk. In lowland Scotch as in Gaelic 
 bree is the term applied to the fluid in which meat has been 
 boiled. It is supposed to contain the virtue, essential quahty 
 of the meat. The same root appears in the Gaelic for cooking 
 bruich, and every one knows the Irish-English for a particularly 
 fine young man " the broth of a boy," that is containing all 
 the essential qualities of a boy that is a young man, a fleasgach, 
 a bachelor, a wand bearer. 
 
 Shortly after the foundation of Marseilles the locality was 
 taken in possession by the Segobrigii, also found in Celti- 
 beria as Segobrigenses. There were Cantabri and Artabri 
 in Spain, Velabri in Ireland, Calabri in Italy ; as samples 
 of individual names compounded with the same root we have 
 
 ' Bede's " Ecclesiastical History," bk. i. chap. xxi. 
 ' " Priapeia," p. 182. 
 
ST BRIGIT 169 
 
 in Breton Catwobri, Haelwobri.^ To return to the Cantabri. 
 " Cantbries. Cantabriem Graeci pityriasin vocant." Canta- 
 brum bran. In the acta S. Eutychetis " lussit eos terram 
 fodere per totam diem, ad vesperam vero cantabrum man- 
 ducare." ^ Cantabrum in this latter extract can scarcely 
 mean " bran," to chew bran after a day's digging would not 
 do much to restore the exhausted digger. 
 
 We are here brought face to face with the preparation known 
 as " flummery," in Scotland sowens, in Gaelic sughan, lAgan. 
 People are fond of believing that this is a peculiarly Scottish 
 dish and there is a Joe Miller story of a full-fed Englishman 
 suffering from a shortening of supplies asking for something 
 to eat and being refreshed by his hostess with what he de- 
 scribed as some dirty water, which by the grace of God she made 
 into a pudding. That pudding was the " pityriasin " of the 
 Greeks, the cantabrum, cantabries of S. Eutychetis and of 
 Cassius Felix. Its preparation in the isle of Skye in the latter 
 part of the last century was thus described by a native. Miss 
 J. A. Macleod. " Before the oatmeal was sifted from the husks 
 the name it received was min-le-ca (meal with bran). A 
 quantity of this was put into a tub and rather more than 
 covered with cold water and allowed to stand for ten days. 
 Take a large handful of good thick straws, lay them over the 
 mouth of a large pot and pour by bowlsful the rich creamy 
 liquid from the tub through the straw, thus retaining the husks 
 and meal. Filter again either through straws or preferably 
 through a milk sieve. The fluid obtained was called sooan." 
 When boiled, so being made iato the Englishman's pudding, 
 it was called cath-hhruich, cahhraich, described by Logan as 
 acidulated gruel and recommended as one of the most healthy 
 preparations. 
 
 Miss Macleod spelt the word phonetically. Sughan is the 
 Gaelic for juice, the English word used for it by Mrs Mary 
 M'Kellar, who told us " when milk was scarce, the drink of 
 the poorer people was sughan, which is the juice of oatmeal or 
 bran steeped so long as to become sour and in very hard times 
 they took it to their porridge. Sughan was spoken of in song 
 and story as a sign of poverty." * 
 
 Curious to say, in the register of the Privy Council of Scot- 
 land under date 24th February 1620, we find the name sowins 
 
 ' " Grammatica Celtica," p. 21, note. * Holder, s.v. Cantabri. 
 
 ' Transactions Gael. Soc. Inv., xiv. p. 147. 
 
I70 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 apparently applied to a sort of beer ; " The Lords of the 
 Council returned to the subject of beer in connection with a 
 kind of foreign drink used in Scotland in competition with native 
 beer and ale and English beer." It came apparently from the 
 Baltic countries, and was called " Sowins and Easterlynne 
 beir." ^ The word ' sowins ' was applied to it probably as a 
 term of contempt. That the Cantabri got their name from 
 their culinary speciality we have no doubt, but other names 
 with the bri termination we . assume are equivalent to such 
 expression as " of the seed of Abram." The early age of the 
 discovery of the preparation of sowens, and its wide distribu- 
 tion is clear by what Burton tells us in his description of it in 
 his " Mission to Dahome." 
 
 " Akansan is maize finely levigated by means of cankey 
 stones which resemble the " rubstones " of Ireland. Here, as 
 in Europe, the instrument precedes the quern ; it is the rudest 
 and most laborious way of grinding, but the best. The nether 
 stone is a smooth granite slab, convex behind, and above, 
 hollowed into a cavity by use : it is disposed at an angle sloping 
 from the grinder so as to allow the ground material to fall off. 
 Some thirty or forty grains of well soaked maize are placed 
 upon it, to be bruised and pounded with a circular stone rubber 
 or pestle, tapered for a handle, to both ends. The housewives 
 work like painters grinding colour, often stopping to wet the 
 corn with water. The material is then placed in wallets like 
 cowrie-bags, and during one day is allowed to ferment in the 
 sun. It is afterwards mixed with water boiled in country pots, 
 and laboured till the sediment, which is good for fattening 
 sheep, goats and pigs, subsides. The clear portion is again 
 strained and boiled to the consistency of gruel. It hardens 
 like blanc-mange when it cools ; and lastly it is packed in 
 leaves. This African succedaneum for bread is wholesome, 
 nutritious, cooling and slightly acidulated. It is almost al- 
 ways procurable in Yoruba ; a few cowries per diem support 
 a man, and if well made, as by the women of Hausa and the 
 parts adjoining, it will be relished by the traveller after a 
 week's practice. Mixed with water and drunk, it forms a 
 cool subacid drink, suitable for hot weather." ^ 
 
 The Skye preparation and that described by Burton are 
 
 ^ " Register of the Privy Council," vol. xii. pp. 32, 210. 
 
 ^ " A Mission to Gelele, king of Dahome," v. i. p. 89. This we suggest 
 was the posca of the Roman soldiers, the ' vinegar and water ' administered 
 to quench thirst on a well-known occasion. 
 
ST BRIGIT 171 
 
 made, not with husks alone, but with the whole seed including 
 the husk, and this was probably the case in North Wales when 
 the crusher described by the Rev. Wynn Williams in 1862 
 was in use in Anglesea. It was a concave stone, one foot seven 
 inches long, one foot one inch broad, in which a convex upper 
 stone one foot four inches and a half long, seven and a half 
 inches broad in its widest part and three and a half thick, 
 was worked. " This latter, which may properly be called 
 a muller, is carefully tapered, and both ends are exactly alike." 
 This is the only perfect specimen of these old grain-crushers 
 that I have ever met with." ^ The exact resemblance of this 
 Anglesea specimen with the Yoruba mechanism is sufficiently 
 striking. Note the African name " A^awsan," the cankey 
 stones used in its preparation, cantahns the Latin, and cath- 
 bhraich Gaelic, all for the same preparation. It is hard to 
 believe that this resemblance of name is a pure coincidence, 
 and comparing it with the Greek pityriasin we incline to the 
 belief that this word can cathan (?) designated the faex, faecula, 
 the dregs of the wheat so to say, that is the bran : compare 
 cac Gaelic, etc., excrement. The Gaelic cath for bran seems 
 connected with Welsh cwd, husk, pouch, and the GaeMc for 
 drifting, ' cathad,' e.g. ' drifting snow,' is very suggestive of 
 the winnowing of grain with its drifting cloud of bran. English 
 chaff, German kaff, seems nearly connected, and the expression 
 " bid c. each i. bid ettarbach," food with chaff, i.e. sterile 
 food, shows the connection.^ 
 
 Cadhag, a jackdaw, called a cay in East Lothian, may owe 
 its name to its gray head compared in appearance to bran. 
 
 The French bran also bren, pronounced brin in the dialect 
 of Berry, is the same word as English and Gaelic bran, brenno 
 of some Italian dialects, but the same word in French also means 
 excrement with which we may compare the Gaelic breun, foetid. 
 
 All this leads us to suppose that the preparation of flummery 
 from the refuse part of wheat by some had attracted the atten- 
 tion of others who applied a fitting name as they thought to 
 its consumers, just as in Argyllshire recently the special use of 
 lagan in one parish was a fit subject of jeers by others in the 
 neighbourhood. Bran separated from the meal was used in 
 the first half of last century for the preparation of sowens 
 in Forfarshire, a fact communicated to the writer by connec- 
 tions of his own long associated with agriculture in that district. 
 
 1 " Archseologia Cambrensis," 1862, quoted, " Antiquary," vol. xliv. (iv.) 
 p. 9. * " Archiv Celt. Lexic," 2, 308. 
 
BRIGIT. BRUDE 
 
 We have noticed the close resemblance between the grinding 
 stones mentioned by Wynn WiUiams and those used in Yuroba, 
 West Africa. The Welsh ones were native to Anglesea. Now 
 opposite Anglesea is the place called Caer Seon, also spelt 
 Seint and Sein from the Latin name of the Roman station, 
 Segontium. This Segontium was in Carnarvon, and in the 
 Mabinogi of Branwen we are told about Kaer Seint in Arvon, 
 that is doubtless, Segontium, or, the Castle of Carnarvon. 
 Segontium reminds us of the Segobrigii mentioned in con- 
 junction with the Cantabri (p. i68), and also several other 
 national names, as for instance Segontiaci of Hampshire. If 
 we look to the Latin we find seges is ' standing corn,' and there 
 was a goddess Segeta the protectrice of standing crops, a name 
 uniform with ' Brigita ' our Scotic saint. Rhys mentions a 
 dedication found in Silchester " Deo Her . . . Saegon," 
 which, if the incomplete Her stands for Hercules, of which 
 there can be almost no doubt, saegon was evidently an attribute 
 of the incarnation of force. In French the word son is virtually 
 another name for cantabrum, bran, son being the residue from 
 the grinding of corn, and Littre ^ mentions the low Latin 
 word seonnum, occurring in a manuscript of the thirteenth 
 century, which shows that the old form of what is now written 
 son was seon. Caer Seon looks as if there was a connection, 
 or a fancied connection, between its name and the produce of 
 agriculture, and this guess is strengthened when we consider 
 the name ' Carnarvon ' now appUed to the locality. Arvus, 
 Latin, is ploughed land, land prepared for crop. Arva is a 
 cornfield, and we draw the conclusion that Caer-Seion and Caer- 
 yn-Arfon are virtually synonymous. Arbhar is Gaelic for corn, 
 " na harbhanna," crops.^ 
 
 Philology explains sego as strength.^ May it not, however, 
 more exactly represent the source of strength, nourishment, 
 and Segobri be the same as Cantabri, Segobrigii and Cantabri 
 dialectical sister forms. That the " g " between vowels may 
 be silent in Celtic is abundantly proved. So far as the tradi- 
 
 ' Dictionary, s.v. son. » " Erin," v. iii. p. 150. » Holder, s.v. 
 
 17a 
 
BRIGIT. BRUDE 173 
 
 tions are concerned that fact sufficiently explains the Irish 
 and Welsh tales, whether the " y " or the " g " in Greek and 
 Latin was silent or pronounced. 
 
 Quite recently in Scotland in the Moray district it was a 
 common threat with young men of the hind class " I'll be at 
 you with my sowens " when bantering young women. The 
 threat took practical form on New Year's Eve by the lad 
 providing himself with a bowl of thin sowens and a sprinkler 
 of heather or other convenient material, and bespattering the 
 windows and doors of the object it might really be of his affec- 
 tionate regard. This proves that the old Sanscrit meaning 
 attached to brigh stiU appealed to the fancy of the Scottish 
 farm-worker as having a fitting representative in sowens. 
 
 If we consider the tub fuU of min-le-cath as described by 
 Miss Macleod, and remember that as the corn became ex- 
 hausted it was replaced without a complete emptying of the 
 vessel and was of course always kept more than moist, we 
 suggest that a fairly practical representation in a food pre- 
 paration common in daily Ufe of the never dry cauldron of the 
 Daghda, that is the Bona-Dea, was to be seen in the sowens 
 tub. 
 
 That Brigit was interested in drink is shown in Gaelic 
 proverbs : " Brigit put her hand into the bowl," explained 
 as referring to a miraculous power possessed by the saint of 
 turning water into ale. This is mentioned in the " Lives of 
 the Saints " from the Book of Lismore. " When the high tide 
 of Easter was fulfilled, Bridget asked of her maidens whether 
 they still had the leavings of the Easter ale. Quoth the 
 maidens ' God will give,' say they. Then came in two maidens 
 having a pail full of water. ' The Virgin's Son knoweth,' 
 saith Brigit, ' that there is good ale there.' It seemed to her 
 that it was ale. As she said that (the water) was straightway 
 changed into choice ale. It was afterwards given to Bishop 
 Mel, and also to the virgins." ^ Mel is credited with a fancy 
 for strong drink, his conferring episcopal orders on Bridget 
 being the result of inebriation. " Ibi episcopus Dei gratia 
 inebreatus non cognouit quid in libro suo cantauit, in gradum 
 enim episcopi ordinauit Brigitam. ' Hec sola ' inquit Mel, 
 ' ordinationem episcopalem in Hibemia tenebit uirgo.' 
 Quandiu igitur consecraretur columna ignea de u(e)rtice ejus 
 ascendebat." ^ Compare with this the following curious 
 
 1 " Lives of Saints," Book of Lismore, p. 189. » Ibid., p. 323. 
 
174 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 old rhyme from the GaeHc MSS. of the Advocate's Library, 
 quoted by Nicolson. 
 
 " Tuireadh Brighid. 
 Gairm is guidhim tu chlachj 
 Na leig Brighid a mach. 
 O's i geurachadh an deoch, 
 Is ioma saoidh gun lochd 
 Dh' an d' thug i bas. 
 Do thart a nis o chaidh to thart, 
 Tart siorruidh ort, a Bhrighid." ^ 
 
 Nicolson does not translate this. It reads : 
 
 " Call and pray thou (for) a stone, 
 Let not Brigit out. 
 It is she (makes) subtle the drink, 
 Many is the hero without fault 
 To whom she gave death. 
 Thy thirst now, thy thirst has gone. 
 Continual thirst on thee, O Brigit." 
 
 In this elegy (Tuireadh) the writer laments the cessation 
 of Brigit's thirst. If it had been Mel's thirst it might have 
 applied to the literal " barley bree," but the last sentence of 
 what we have quoted as to Mel's drunkenness gives away the 
 churchy side of the story. " During therefore (the time she) 
 might be consecrated a column of fire ascended from his (Mel's) 
 forehead." It does not say ' Columba,' but ' Columna.' 
 Brigit was a bishop, but the Church makes her a virgin, Brigit 
 and Mel together form the androgynous divinity, so to say. 
 Maughold (Mel) is the Manx consecrator of Brigit. 
 
 St Brigit's Day is the ist of February, the 2nd of February 
 is the purification of the Virgin after childbirth, on which day 
 the Church blessed candles which were distributed among the 
 people and carried in procession. These were doubtless sym- 
 bolical lights to Ughten the Gentiles. St Brigit's Day is the 
 day previous to the Purification, it might be considered there- 
 fore the day of the event which called for the ceremony of the 
 day following.2 The Gaelic proverb tells us, " La Fheill-Brighde 
 thig an ribhinn as an toll ; cha bhean mise dha'n ribhinn, 's 
 cha bhean an ribhinn rium." Nicolson translates this — 
 
 " On St Bride's day the nymph will come out of the hole ; 
 I won't touch the nymph and she won't touch me." 
 
 1 " Gaelic Proverbs," Nicolson, p. 144. 
 
 2 After car. cop. the Moslem has to bathe the whole body to be ceremonially 
 clean. 
 
BRIGIT. BRUDE 175 
 
 There is another version of this : — 
 
 " Seachdain roimh Fheill Brighde 
 Thig nighinn lomhair as an tom, 
 Cha bhi mise ri nighi'n lomhair 
 'S cha mho 'bhios nigh'n lomhair rium." 
 
 " A week before Bridget's festival 
 The daughter of Ivar will come out of the hillock, 
 I shall have nothing to do with Ivar's daughter 
 And no more shall Ivar's daughter have to do with me." 
 
 Here we find the interval of a week between the event and the 
 purification. One quotation to show the figurative use of the 
 word ' candle.' " Voici maitre cure qui vient pour allumer sa 
 chandelle, ou pour mieux dire I'eteindre." ^ With reference 
 to his Gaelic proverbs, Nicolson teUs us, " The ' ribhinn ' 
 and ' nigh'n lomhair ' are both euphemistic or deprecatory 
 names for the adder, the one known to Skye, the other in Ran- 
 noch," and to account for this use of the expression " daughter 
 of Ivar " Nicolson suggests its derivation from a Miss Maclvar, 
 wife of the constable of the Castle of Eilean Donnain, who 
 poisoned a claimant to the Kintail estates. We incline to the 
 opinion that iU-repute of the serpent was carried over to 
 the constable's wife, rather than her ill-repute having been 
 carried over to the serpent. We have in history, for what it 
 is worth, a much older connection between Ivar and Colum 
 under his designation of Columba, if not with Brigit. Accord- 
 ing to the Pictish Chronicle the men of Fortrenn about 904 
 vanquished the Norse and slew Ivar, son of Ivar, with the staff 
 of Columba as their standard. Unfortunately the Danes 
 turned the tables on the Angus men twelve years later in spite 
 of the so-caUed Cathbuaidh. Again we find that the Living- 
 stones, the custodians of St Moloc's (lux meus ?) great staff, 
 held their land as the standard bearers of the earls of Argyle, 
 the first of the family mentioned being John, son of Molmore, 
 son of Ivar.2 We suspect that St Moloc's bachull and Columba's 
 crozier are identical. 
 
 To go back to Nicolson's adder which we consider represents 
 any serpent. We need not here enlarge on the sacred signi- 
 ficance of the animal. We have a Gaelic name Mac-Niven, 
 naomh, diminutive naomhan, ' a saint,' ' what is sanctified.' 
 If we go looking up saintly story, the name may take the form 
 of ' the saintly servant,' etc. As it is in common use among 
 
 1 " Glossaire Erotique," p. 65. 
 
 2 " Caledonian Medical Journal," vol. vii. p. 35. 
 
176 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 us, it may mean simply enough ' the son of the Holy one,' 
 who, or what, is to be reverenced. This name Mac-Niven, in 
 some parts of Argyleshire certainly, is spoken of as Mac-Riven. 
 Is not this the probable origin of the ribhinn, Nicolson's 
 ' nymph ' ? Ibhar is the ' yew tree ' (Windisch), if this is the 
 first progenitor of the standard bearer of Argyle, its signifi- 
 cance would be clear enough to many without comment. 
 
 " It was manifested to Bishop Ibhair, who was in the 
 assembly, that Mary the Virgin was coming into the assembly. 
 The woman goes on the morrow, Brigit being alone with her, 
 unto the assembly. Then said Bishop Ibhair : ' this is the 
 Mary whom I behold ' ; and the whole host blessed St Brigit. 
 Wherefore Brigit is henceforth (called) ' the Mary of the Gael.' " ^ 
 The occasion was a convention of twenty-seven bishops and 
 Bishop Brigit, the total being the number of days of the lunar 
 month. This Ibhair is the analogue of John the Baptist, 
 according to the Book of Leinster. Iban, Ibor, was the first 
 charioteer of Cuchulainn, also of King Conchobar." ^ 
 
 It will be remembered that in St Brigit's sanctuary, accord- 
 ing to Gerald of Wales, the protecting fence of her fire was made 
 of brushwood. We find an echo of this in the GaeUc Proverbs. 
 " La Fheill Brighde baine, bheir na cait an connadh dhachaidh." 
 ' On fair St Bride's Day the cats will bring home the brush- 
 wood.' If Nicolson had known the particulars of the arrange- 
 ment of the Kildare sanctuary, he would probably not have 
 suggested that St Patrick's Day, to which the same saying is 
 attached (17th March), was the better founded saying, because 
 the weather then was more likely to be dry. Either might 
 be right enough, Patricius from pater. " Cats " is an un- 
 complimentary way of alluding to Brigit's nuns, who we are 
 told, were called till the time of the Reformation, " Ingheaw 
 Andagha," ' daughters of the Daghda,' as Cormac teUs us 
 was also the case with the heathen goddess of poetry.' " She 
 (Diana) was compared, as the goddess of the moon, to a cat 
 which chases the star-mice. Herein she was hke Bast of 
 Bubastis, the cat-goddess of Egypt ; and Freya, of the North, 
 whose car is drawn by cats, is clearly aNorseDiana." * " Bride's 
 day " must be understood as the marriage day of the " cats." 
 
 When mentioning the sea monster, Brigdy, reference was 
 
 ' " Lives " from the Book of Lismore, p. 184. 
 
 2 " Cuchulinn Saga," E. Hull, 251. Tain, W. Farady, 27. 
 
 ^ " Fishes, Flowers, and Fire as Elements and Deities," Reader. 55. 
 
 *" Etruscan Roman Remains," Leyland, 1892, p. 151. 
 
BRIGIT. BRUDE 17; 
 
 made to Frau Breide, the " possessor " of the Holy Sepulchre 
 (!), the most beautiful of all women, brought home to Germany 
 by Orendel because annoyed by suitors. 
 
 Brand tells us " July 23rd. The departure out of this life 
 of St Bridget, widow, who, after many peregrinations made 
 to holy places, full of the Holy Ghost finally reposed at Rome : 
 whose body was after translated into Suevia. Her principal 
 festivity is celebrated upon the seaventh of October." He 
 also gives an authority for her day being the 23rd of July.^ 
 Now we find this Swedish Brigit commemorated on the last 
 Sunday in July in Ireland, in the parish of Kilmanaheen.* 
 It is called Garlic Sunday (GarHc is the most popular protec- 
 tion against the Evil Eye in Greece, and both Pliny and 
 Juvenal mention the reverence paid it in Eg57pt), and the point 
 of assembly is St Bridget's weU, which being resorted to also 
 on the 1st of February, demonstrates at any rate that no 
 distinction was made between the Suevic and the Scotic 
 Brigit. A somewhat similar identification of Brigit and Mary 
 occurs at BaUjonascanlon, the first being honoured on the ist 
 February, the other on the 15th of August, each however 
 having a well of her own.^ 
 
 In the National Museum at Stockholm in a silver gilt 
 reliquary is the Swedish Bridget's arm and likewise the tomb- 
 stone of her husband Ulf Gudhmarsson, judge in Nerike, who 
 died in the year 1344 on the 12th of February. Chambers 
 in his " Book of Days " gives her name as Birgir and that she 
 died in 1372. We can scarcely doubt then that this historical 
 character appears among the saints on the strength of her own 
 good works, but she is not the personage from whom the 
 stories of Frau Breyde take their origin. Frau Breyde is 
 Freyja, the goddess of love to whom Friday is dedicated. 
 Rydberg proves this up to the hilt.* " We know that Freyja 
 and her brother Frey were delivered as " brides " to naughty 
 giants, for which "brides" the peace-makers who tried to 
 recover them, received arrows and blows as compensation." ^ 
 These giants of course were the inhabitants of Jotunheim, the 
 under-world, and Orendel's fleet when made free from the 
 dense water which kept it back for three years on its way to 
 the rescue of Frau Breyde in Jerusalem, encountered the 
 
 1 " Popular Antiquities," Bohn, 1849, vol. i. p. 345. 
 ' " Folk-Lore Journal," vol. ii. p. 211, quoting Statistical Account, 1814. 
 ' Ibid., 213. * " Teutonic Mythology," p. 566. ' Ibid., p. 603. 
 
 M 
 
178 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 fleet, and conquered it, of a certain Belian, a name formed by 
 the recollection of one of the giants to whom Frey and Freyja 
 were given as " brides," Bele, a name meaning " howler," 
 one of those who " produced horrible sounds like those of 
 howling animals," according to Saxo.^ Compare the howl- 
 ing of Dylan, p. 149. Brigit was " the woman of the mighty 
 roarings." She was also called " the greatest of eaters." 
 Compare her genealogy in the Hebrides — daughter of Dughall 
 Donn, son of Aed (fire), son of Art (plough), son of Conn.^ 
 Belian was a shipmaster and tree trunks (Gaelic bile), especi- 
 ally if they be " heart of oak," the sort of tree which gave its 
 name to Bridget's cell, Kildare, are important in ship-building. 
 Are these " howlers " the cats which draw Freyja's chariot ? 
 If Freyja becomes Breyde, why not Felis, Belis ? Cleasby 
 translates belja, ' to bellow. ' Saxo's word for the ' howling 
 animals ' is ' ululantium.' Frey and Freyja were as " brides " 
 to giants in the under-world. A " bride " of course is a woman 
 about to be married, or newly married, and Brigit is the 
 potential mother. Brigit's name in English accords with this, 
 she is St Bride. The derivation of this word is by no means 
 clear, the Dictionaries giving synon}mious terms, but not 
 dealing with the root which seems to be the same in ' breed,' 
 ' bride,' and ' bridle,' which of course is a thing put into the 
 mouth of a horse. The Welsh has brwydr, said to come from a 
 root hri, ' to pierce,' Anglo-Saxon brig. In Welsh ysgwyd brwyd, 
 is ' a pierced shield ' and brwyd, Breton broued, are the ' healds,' 
 ' the harness of a loom.' Braid is itself used for the heaJd and 
 braid is ' to vomit,' ' to jerk oneself about,' ' to fall backwards 
 for want of support,' and heald is ' to tilt,' ' to throw up ' or 
 ' to one side.' Now the question is what is a heald in weaving ? 
 It is a string upon which a loop is made, the loop being the 
 essential part of the heald or heddle, every thread of a warp 
 being passed through one such loop, and these loops elevate 
 and depress the alternate threads of the warp to. permit the 
 shuttle to carry the weft thread between them. In fact the 
 brwyd is in weaving that part of the operation arrived at by 
 passing a thread through a loop which had to be alternately 
 raised and depressed. It is easy therefore to see the con- 
 nection between breeding and weaving. Eumenius speaking 
 of the defeat of AUectus and the slaughter of his followers, 
 
 ' "Teutonic Mythology," pp. 567, 542. 
 
 ' " Gaelic Incantations," Mackenzie, p. 25. 
 
BRIGIT. BRUDE 179 
 
 says that they " blazed with gay garments and length of hair." 
 This was in a.d. 295, and as a matter of fact to the present 
 day a variegated blanket is called breacan, meaning ' something 
 spotted.' It is also not difficult to see a connection between 
 Picts and weavers, and one may ask, is it a sheer coincidence 
 that "Kia, \aia, the Greek for a stone used to keep the warp 
 threads straight, is the same as Ha the word for stone in Lia 
 Fail? 
 
 In the Msts of Pictish monarchs as given in the Irish 
 Nennius, there is a whole string of Bruides. Their number 
 varies from twenty-eight to thirty-one, which, it will be seen 
 at once, corresponds with the number of days in a month, but 
 there is another interesting coincidence which the editor of 
 the Irish Nennius (Dr Todd) calls attention to. " It will be 
 observed that in many places the Irish transcriber has written 
 this word Bruige with g instead of d (Bruide), a circumstance 
 of no importance further than that it proves the d to have 
 been aspirated in the pronunciation. Uniformity has been 
 preserved in the translation." ^ Well, we agree with Dr Todd 
 in this, but one would scarcely expect to find as one does that 
 there are twenty-six instances of the " Bruige " and only five 
 of " Bruide " among the thirty-one in the original list. We 
 venture to suggest if the (uniform) fist had been that of thirty- 
 one St Bruiges, uniformity would have been best maintained 
 by retaining the g. We pass on to the incidents according 
 to Adamnan at the meeting of Colum and (King) Bruige. 
 Colum is represented as making his first visit to Bruge.^ The 
 royal fortress was kept closed and admittance refused. The 
 man of God approached the folding doors with his companions, 
 and having formed upon the doors the sign of the Cross, he 
 knocked at and laid his hand upon the gate which then opened 
 of its own accord. Compare this with the following Turkish 
 guess, " Der nachtwolf kam, klopft' an die Thur, her Herr 
 trat ein, der Knecht blieb vor der Thur ? Ant. Vulva." * 
 The names mentioned in Adamnan are Colum himself, Bruge, 
 also Brige, the royal personage of the Picts, and finally his 
 Druid, Broichan, which may be compared with Broccan the 
 squinting, one of the supposed authors of the hymn in praise 
 of Brigit. One other name occuring in the same district. An 
 aquatic monster, doubtless the Brigdy, having kiUed a man 
 
 ' " The Irish Nennius," p. 157, note. 
 
 ' Adamnan's " Columba," bk. ii. chap, xxxvi. 
 
 ^ " Am Ur-Quell," vol. iv. p. 22. 
 
i8o RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 in the Ness, who was hooked out and buried however, Colum 
 wanting a boat on the further shore, ordered Lugneus 
 Mocumin to swim over it. The insatiable beast proceeded to 
 attack Lugneus, but was stopped by the sign of the Cross and 
 the command of Colum. Lugne is the Latin lux, ' light,' 
 with the g aspirated = Luna. Mocumin is mo, ' my,' cuman, 
 ' a vessel,' cuman bainne, ' milk pail.' The crescent moon as 
 a cup, representing the ' womb ' (p. i6i). Lugneus is men- 
 tioned once again as being liable to a bleeding which poured 
 profusely during many (why not every) months from his 
 nostrils. Colum by pinching his nose cured him of this and 
 thereafter he became prior of the " Elena island." ^ There 
 is no history in this story. Compare Mocumin's " Elena " 
 island with the following story from Knapdale. " There is 
 a cave on ' Eilean ' Mor regarding which local tradition 
 ■existed to the effect that neither beast nor body going into 
 it would have any offspring. For long the cave was carefully 
 avoided until a couple who had not been married went in, and 
 a child was subsequently bom. After that the cave was not 
 avoided as it had been before." ^ 
 
 The bridal aspect of St Bridget's story is strongly marked 
 in what Martin tells us. " Another ancient custom observ'd 
 •on the 2nd of February which the Papists yet retain, is this : 
 the mistress and servants of each family take a sheaf of oats 
 and dress it up in women's apparel, put it in a large basket 
 and lay a wooden club by it, and this they caU Briids-bed ; 
 and then the mistress and servants cry three times, ' Briid 
 is come, Briid is welcome.' This they do just before going to 
 "bed, and when they rise in the morning they look among the 
 ashes expecting to see the impression of Briid's club there ; 
 which if they do, they reckon it a true presage of a good crop, 
 and prosperous year, and the contrary they take as an ill- 
 omen." ^ This was in the island of Colonsay at the end of the 
 ■eighteenth century. The club is Colum's representative, 
 the sheaf of oats is the ' Maiden,' the ' Kim,' and the Cailleach, 
 who with her slachdan, ' beetle,' appears in the so-called Latha- 
 na-CaiUich,* 26th of March. The Maiden is commonly called 
 in Gaelic Maighdean-bhuana, and Cormac gives Buanann as 
 * nurse of the heroes,' saying that as Anu was mother of the 
 
 ' Adamnan's " Columba," bk. ii. chaps, xvii. and xxviii. 
 
 ' Unpublished Papers, 7667. 
 
 ^ Martin's " Western Islands," p. 1 19. 
 
 * " Caledonian Medical Journal," April 1908. 
 
BRIGIT. BRUDE 
 
 i8r 
 
 gods, Buanann was mother of the heroes. Stokes in a note 
 says, " Buanann, I would connect with the Skr. bhavana, 
 ' auctor,' ' creator.' " ^ If men fight best with a full stomach, 
 then truly the Com Maiden may be said to be 'mother of heroes." 
 In his Golden Bough, Fraser quotes another authority who says 
 that it is on the night before Candlemas that a bed is made up 
 with corn, hay, and blankets, and candles kept burning beside 
 it during the night. There is no evidence of the corn being 
 regarded otherwise than as a filling for the bed.^ Fraser spells 
 Briid " Brud." Train mentions Briid's bed in the Isle of Man. 
 also on the eve of the ist of February, where he says that 
 Bree-shey (Brigit) received the veil from Maughold (Mel). 
 Bridget was invited to come and lodge with the observer of the 
 custom, who stood on the threshold of the door with a bundle 
 of green rushes in her hand, saying, " Bridget, Bridget, come 
 to my house, come to my house to-night. Open the door for 
 Bridget, and let Bridget come in." Thereafter the rushes 
 were strewn on the floor to form a ' carpet or bed ' for Bridget.* 
 Briid's connection with the Picts was a well established 
 tradition. Keith tells us " Abemethie was the metropolis 
 both of the kingdom and church of the Picts. It was situated 
 near the influx of the Water of Earn into the River Tay, and 
 the collegiate church there was dedicated to St Brigida or 
 Bryde, who died at Abemethie about the year 518." * Ac- 
 cording to Boece, Abemethy continued a bishopric till Kenneth 
 the Second in 855 translated the metropolitan see to St Andrews.* 
 Brigit's name is apparently as old in Scotland as in Ireland. 
 In the Book of Deir of the ninth century, GgiUebrite and 
 Maelbrigte appear as names of donors of land, but the claim 
 made by Ireland as well as Scotland as the locality of the death 
 of Brigit so far as the evidence goes, supports the theory that 
 there was no individual Brigit to die in either place. The 
 locating her at Abemethy suggests some correspondence be- 
 tween the saint and the place name. Aber is a confluence of 
 one stream with another or with the sea ; nethy, according 
 to the Pictish Chronicle nethige, is the part of the name in which 
 we must look for the connection. Ith is ' com,' of which the 
 genitive is etho, also written etha.^ The n we conclude is the 
 definite article and that the word means really ' com land.* 
 
 1 Comae's " Glossary," Translation, p. 17 ; " Folk-Lore," vol. vii. p. 78 ; 
 
 " Folk-Lore," vol. vi. p. 148. " " Golden Bough," vol. i. p. 97, ist ed. 
 
 ' Tram's " Isle of Man," vol. ii. p. 116. * Keith's " Bishops," Intro., p. 2. 
 
 ' " Chronicles," bk. x. chap. xii. • Cormac's " Glossary," Trans., p. 95. 
 
182 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 A Pict is called in Gaelic by a name which means ' wheat eater,' 
 cruithneach, and the locality of Abernethy faces the well- 
 known Carse of Gowrie, notorious for its fertility. " Buanann," 
 as we have shown, is the Com Maiden, otherwise connected 
 with Brigit, and we therefore arrive at the conclusion that 
 the ' confluence of the com land ' was naturally dedicated to 
 St Brigit. Abemethy is within a mile of the Earn shortly 
 before it joins the Tay, and its old bounds, according to the 
 Pictish Chronicle, were from Aberargie to Carpow, " et inde 
 in altum usque ad Athan," Ethan} Athan should mean ' the 
 small ford,' and for what it is worth, there is a Ferryfield of 
 Carpow on the Earn on a road leading straight north from 
 Abemethy. Camethy in Lothian is possibly the " mound 
 of com " from its shape, being the name of one of the Pent- 
 land (Pictland) HiUs. This has been translated " Nectan's 
 Cairn," and we may notice that it was a Nectan, said 
 to have reigned for twenty-four years (457-481), who de- 
 dicated Abemethy to God and St Brigit in perpetuity. The 
 Earn seems to have been called the Ethy as well as Earn, 
 the latter name connecting it with fearna, ' the alder.' There 
 is an Ethie on the Moray Frith in the Black Isle close to the 
 sea, and another on the south side of Lunan Bay, apparently 
 connected with a stream of the same name, all in Pictish 
 territory. Cormac derives the word ethar, ' a ferry boat,' 
 from ethaid, ' it goes.' Ethar itself is glossed stlata, ' wands.' * 
 In the mind of the glossographer an ethar was a vessel 
 made of wicker-work. Dublin (dubh-linn) = Blackpool, is 
 called Ath-cliath, ' ford of hurdles,' but as cliath is the human 
 chest, as if of basket work, it was probably the passage of the 
 curach, the boat made of woven wands. 
 
 That the termination of the name Ahernethie, ethie, has some 
 grammatical connection with the bri of Brigit, we hold to be 
 proved. In a charter by Ethelred, Abbot of Dunkeld, and 
 Earl of Fife, son of Malcolm Canmore, granting the estate of 
 A(r)dmore to St Servan and the Culdees of Loch Leven,^ two 
 of the witnesses mentioned are " Malnethte, son of Beollan, 
 priest of Abyrnethyn, and Mallebride another priest " (of 
 Abemethy). Mai in the first name stands for ' servant,' 
 being apparently the first part of the Latin miles, a soldier. 
 
 ^ " Chronicle Picts and Scots," p. 6. 
 
 " Cormac's " Glossary," Trans., p. 66. 
 
 ° " Registrum Prioratus Sancti Andree," Bannatyne Club, p. 115. 
 
BRIGIT. BRUDE 183 
 
 " I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me ; and 
 I say to this man, Go, and he goeth ; and to another, Come, 
 and he cometh ; and to my servant. Do this, and he doeth it." 
 Mahiethte cannot surely have used as a Christian priest a 
 name implying that he was the ' servant of the Ethy river ' ! 
 The other name, MaUebride, we compare with it. It has the 
 same first syllable and means clearly enough, since we have a 
 Saint Bride, the ' servant of Bride.' If we had a Saint Ethy 
 both names would have been clear, the first being ' servant 
 of Ethy.' In the notes from the Lebar Brecc in the Calendar 
 of Oengus, we have Eithne, daughter of Dima (? dia math = 
 the ' good god '), son of Noe, given as Colum-cUle's mother.^ 
 
 Our impression is that the ' eth ' and the ' bri,' from which 
 the two names are formed, have in them the suggestion of a 
 common meaning ; ith, gen. etho,' com,' 'seed'; 'in,' 'strength,' 
 ' essence,' ' semen,' the latter being applied poetically to the 
 elements of other bodies, even of fire, " ignis semina convolvunt 
 e nubibus," and Brigit's connection with fire we have thor- 
 oughly considered. Water is supposed to be the elemental 
 substance and this may account for the appUcation of ith, eth 
 to the river names in the cruithnean territory : we recall what 
 has been SEiid of Mobi starting life with his staff and two bags 
 containing biestings {maethla) and com. In short, Malnethte 
 and MaUebride we consider to be names of exactly the same 
 purport, representing their bearers as servants, soldiers, 
 of a creative force ideaUsed Brigit or Ethne. The latter it will 
 be noted was a descendent in the second generation of Noah 
 (Noe). 
 
 But we are not done with the suggestions made in this 
 charter. It conveyed property to St Servanus and the Culdees 
 of the island of St Serf in Loch Leven. Serf ! compare cerva 
 a ' hind,' add to cerva a male termination nus arid j70u have 
 Cervanus. Recall what has been said of the damium, the 
 festival of the Bona Dea, ' Dima,' and the islands of the damium, 
 Damhinis, Devenish, and we draw the conclusion that the origin 
 of the rehgious institute on St Serf's Isle in Loch Leven was 
 the use of the locality for the damium, Bona Dea, festival. 
 
 We should mention that Brigit is said to have been re- 
 presented at the dedication of Abernethy by Dairlugdach, 
 dair, ' an oak ' ; lugdach should mean ' diminishing,' ludag, 
 ' the little finger,' but Lug-nasad, Lammas Day, said by Cormac 
 
 • p. xcix. 
 
1 84 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 to be the festival of games of Lugh, really reads ' the games 
 {ludi) of the nasad, of the tying, nascim, ' bind ' ; lugdach 
 then ' sportive ' ? Dair is ' the pairing of cattle,' verb, con- 
 gredere cum vacca vel cerva : dicitur de tauris et damis " ; com- 
 pare games of Tailtian, celebrated at Lammas. 
 
 Aed Mac Ainmerech, the king of Ireland, at the time of 
 the convention of Drum-Cete, at which Colum presided, ap- 
 pears as getting from a relative, St Moedoc of Cluain Mor, 
 several presents, virtually the same things as the precious 
 articles brought to Ireland by the Tuatha De. Moedoc's 
 gifts were a sword, shield, and cauldron, made by Gressach, 
 and a flesh fork made by Condlaedh, the artificer to St Brigit. 
 With the artificer's name compare coinnle, the genitive of 
 coinneal, 'a candle.' Moedoc who presented it is mo, 'my,' 
 aed, ' fire,' with a female termination, while Aed mac Ainmire 
 may mean ' fire son of he who protects,' angim, ' I protect,' 
 mire, ' madness,' ' frivolity,' ' play,' ' diverson.' What the 
 flesh fork was we leave to the readers' perspicacity. The 
 story comes from the Book of Leinster.^ 
 
 We have already spoken of the connection between 
 Bridget's eye and her suggested marriage (p. 165), and drawn 
 attention to the continental parallel case of St Lucie, who 
 carried her eyes on a plate. That St Bridget suffered from 
 disease of the eye we learn from the Life in the Book of Lismore. 
 She had this disease " at the same time " that she had provided 
 Mel and her attendant virgins with miraculous ale. She owed 
 this disease to Bishop Mel's disobedience, and the story goes 
 that they were going for a physician, when Brigit fell out of 
 her chariot, struck her head against a stone and the blood 
 gushed out, which blood healed two dumb women lying on the 
 road. Then the physician they were in search of met them 
 and on seeing what was wrong, he told her that the physician 
 who had healed her this time was the only physician she should 
 ever seek. Notice that this was in connection with an accident 
 from her chariot. Brig has been translated in Irish Gaelic 
 as meaning a ' chariot.' ^ Though Bridget was made a bishop, 
 she could not herself baptise people. We learn this from the 
 Life in the Book of Lismore. A man was desirous of enter- 
 taining her, but would not dine tiU he was baptised. Having 
 no man to do it, Bridget sent to Patrick for one. Bron (con- 
 
 ' "Catalogue of Museum of Royal Irish Academy," 529. 
 ' " Archiv Celt. Lexik.," vol. ii. p. 261, Meyer. 
 
BRIGIT. BRUDE 185 
 
 solation) came, baptised the man and his household in the 
 morning and they fed at midday. We have no distinct in- 
 dication of how long the fast lasted, but the result ultimately 
 was that Patrick instructed her that she must not move about 
 without a priest and that her charioteer should always be a 
 presbyter. Chariots were of different sorts. Plutarch says : 
 " It is thus known that the Delphians are not mistaken in that 
 they call Venus, Harma, that is to say, the horsed chariot, 
 nor Homer, when he calls such a conjunction ?i/Xor»)s, which is 
 to say, friendship." ^ We refrain from further particulars con- 
 tenting ourselves with pointing out that %afi/ia is ' a source of 
 delight,' a^^a, ' union,' ' love,' ' intercourse,' dpfia, ' a chariot.' 
 We know that according to the regulations of the Church, 
 communion is only legitimate when taken fasting. Baptism 
 of course is a sacrament, hence doubtless the objection to the 
 feeding before baptism mentioned above, and feeding cannot 
 be done without the use of dishes. Mess, ' fruit,' particularly 
 acorns ; mess, ' a measure ' (Windisch) ; mes, ' a meal ' ; mias, 
 ' a plate,' ' a dish ' ; meas-chu, ' a lap-dog.' Now we can 
 point out what sometimes occupied Brigit's dish {meis) ?• Brig 
 (! chariot), a devout virgin, was visited by Brigit. The virgin 
 and the saint were going to eat, Brigit was looking at her dish, 
 " declare (?) to us," saith Brig, " thou holy virgin, what is 
 perceived on thy dish ? " "I see," saith Brigit, " the satan 
 sitting on the dish before me." " If it be possible," said Brig, 
 " I should like to see him." " Truly it is possible," saith 
 Brigit, " provided the sign of the Cross go over thine eye ; for, 
 whoever sees Diabolos and does not sain would go mad." 
 Brigit sains Brig, and Brig sees that monk there. His form 
 seemed hideous to her. " Inquire, O Brigit," saith Brig, 
 " why he has come." The Devil explains that he had spent his 
 time with a certain virgin, who being called and her eyes having 
 been sained that she might perceive who she had nourished 
 in her bosom, regarded the monster with fear and trembling. 
 At the request of Brig, Brigit ordains that the Devil shall 
 never enter the house again. We must remember that Brigit's 
 followers were sworn celibates. Notice that as Brigit's 
 charioteer was a presbyter, the Devil here is described as " that 
 monk." The word mes, mias, is also applied to a basket, and 
 we give now an evidence of the fruitfulness of the banks of 
 
 > " Genital Laws," Jacobus X. p. 225. 
 
 * " Lives of Saints," Book of Lismore, Notes, p. 325. 
 
1 86 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 " na Ethni," the Inny, as Stokes transUterates it, but we refer 
 our readers to what has been already said regarding Aber- 
 nethy. Eithne, daughter of Dima, son of Noe, was Columba's 
 mother. Eithne seems a genitive of a genitive, ith (corn), 
 g. etha. Etha, g. eithne. Thus Columba was fostered by 
 Cruithnechan, — the wheat eater. Brigit was once on the banks 
 of the Ethne. " Abundant apples and sweet (cumrae, ' fra- 
 grant ') sloes were in the church there. There was a certain 
 nun who gave her a little present in a basket. When she 
 brought it into the house, lepers came straightway to her on 
 the floor of the house to beg of her. " Take," saith she, " yon 
 apples."! Her friend objected to this use of her present, 
 and on the ground that the gifts refused to the servants of God 
 were evil, Brigit condemned the orchard thenceforth to 
 sterility. The significance of apples in connection with the 
 story of the acquiring of knowledge by Adam and Eve all 
 know. In this instance the fruit mentioned along with apples 
 is ami, ' sloes.' All the various fruits of the plum sort are 
 supposed to be by origin sloes. Granting this, however, a 
 ' fragrant sloe ' as such, is not a thing with which we have 
 come in contact, but ami are ' kidneys ' and " ami of valour " 
 equal the testes. The lucky nut of the Hebrides called 
 " Molluka Beans " by Martin are ami Muire, ' Mary's . . . ' ? 
 and Brigit is the Irish Mary. 
 
 Brigit's oak reminds us forcibly of the oak described by 
 Virgil " quae quantum vertice ad auras aetherias, tantum 
 radice in tartara tendit " ; ^ and of that which was so beloved 
 of the saint that it has been said : — 
 
 " That oak of St Bride which nor devil nor Dane 
 Nor Saxon, nor Dutchman could rend from her fane." 
 
 Doubtless it is the world tree, the tree Mugna. 
 
 Brigit's connection with fire and St Andrew is shown in 
 Ireland by the fact that on the eve of Candlemas, and on Candle- 
 mas, crosses resembling the Maltese, are made of straw as a 
 protection against fire.' The Maltese cross is essentially the 
 same as the St Andrew's cross. Andrew the Apostle was 
 identical in attributes with Colum Cille,* and St Andrew has, 
 we believe, acquired his position in Scotland on this thoery. 
 
 ' " Lives of Saints," Book of Lismore, Notes, p. 326. 
 I ',', Georgics," ii. 1. 291. a " Folk-Lore," vol. xvii. p. 325. 
 
 Lives of Saints," Book of Lismore, Notes, p. 298. 
 
BRIGIT. BRUDE 187 
 
 Here we may sum up in few words our conclusions as to 
 the three who, according to Giraldus, were buried at Down, 
 and their bodies there discovered by John de Courcy. 
 
 " In burgo Duno, tumulo tumulantur in uno, 
 Brigida, Patritius, atque Columba plus." * 
 
 Patricius, the Paternal, Creator, Father : Columba, 
 the Demiurge, the means, the Son : Brigit, female Force, 
 the Hebrew Ruach, the Spirit, nourisher, developer, producer : 
 united : The Scotic Trinity. 
 
 ^ " Topography of Ireland," chap, xviii. Distinction iii. 
 
ST ANDREW 
 
 The list from the Book of Leinster of Irish saints compared 
 with apostles, hermits, etc., is introduced by the following 
 heading : — 
 
 " Hie incipiunt sancti qui erant bini unius moris." ^ There 
 are thirty-five comparisons given, including those already 
 alluded to, John Baptist and Bishop Ibar, Maria and Brigita, 
 and Andrew the Apostle with Colum Cille. That the list is 
 manufactured from the point of view of getting an Irishman 
 or woman to maintain as it were the national credit in com- 
 parison with the Biblical characters is sufficiently clear, and 
 so we find Job the Patient yoked with a certain Munnu, son 
 of TUcain, and the Wise Bede coupled with Bute mac Bronaig 
 (pp. 2, 184-5), and Peter the Apostle with Patrick, the one the 
 founder of the Romish Church, so to say, the other the founder of 
 the Irish Church. It must have occurred to many that Colum 
 Cille, regarding the weight of tradition at his back, granting 
 of course that he was a historical individual and the converter 
 of Scotland from a druidical rehgion, has a very much superior 
 claim to any other as patron saint of Scotland (Alba). And 
 indeed, for the matter of that, Ninian and St FUlan with the 
 same provisos, come very closely on the heels of Colum. It 
 wiU be clear, however, from what has gone before that, in fact 
 or fancy, Colum represents the male portion of humanity, a 
 statement we could hardly make after some study of the 
 authorities which deal with Fillan, though as Scottish saint, 
 FiUan appears in the oldest notices as male. Let us suppose 
 for a moment that some of the religious in Scotland were not 
 altogether satisfied with the character of Colum as it had 
 reached them, and wished to put Scotland under the pro- 
 tection of a more Biblical saint of whom the name and the 
 traditions would be consonant with the earlier church tradi- 
 tions current, or which they themselves wished to inculcate, 
 this apostle might naturally appeal to them. His name in 
 Greek, 'Avdpiag, meaning literally ' manly,' from avtip, ' a man,' 
 would be quite satisfactory in its accordance with a predis- 
 
 * " Lives of Saints," Book of Lismore, Notes, p. 298. 
 
ST ANDREW 189 
 
 position to invest superior sanctity with the attributes of the 
 male. To those who derived the name Scot from some con- 
 nection with Scythia, Andrew, Apostle of the Scythians, was 
 equally appropriate, and if our suggestion already made in 
 connection with the traditional introduction of Christianity 
 into Britain by Joseph of Arimathea, and the founding of 
 Glastonbury has to do with the beUef in a church of Jewish 
 origin, which gave special prominence to John Baptist, Andrew 
 was a disciple of the latter, whUe his seniority was marked 
 by his being " the first called," ^ and as we have seen that 
 Patrick was one with Peter, so Andrew was Peter's brother 
 and his introducer to the Christ. Andrew is therefore the senior 
 apostle and connected with the Church of St John the Baptist, 
 drawing a distinction between it and the Christian Church. 
 
 When we consider the story of the " Invention of the Cross," 
 it is evident that the crosses said to have been discovered by 
 the Empress Helena were Latin crosses. In the Crucifixion 
 as portrayed on such a cross, generally speaking but three nails 
 are represented, one being driven through both feet. Helena, 
 however, is said to have found four nails, one of which she threw 
 into the Adriatic.^ Now St Andrew is specially connected 
 with the four-armed Greek cross, the decussate cross on which 
 four nails would be necessary, the feet being separated, the 
 position of the person attached to it being a straddling one. 
 Compare this with the statement made in Ezekiel in which 
 Jerusalem, being instructed in her abominations, is said to have 
 made thy " beauty to be abhorred, and hast opened thy feet to 
 every one that passed by." * " Mala crux, a ' tormentor,' 
 said of a prostitute." The Decussate Cross is also called the 
 Fork {gabel) Cross; compare the gift of Brigit's artificer to 
 Aed mac Ainmerech. Scissors are the recognised symbol of 
 the female, and at this moment in Jamaica as a protection 
 for an unchristened child against ' Duppy,' a pair of scissors 
 are laid on the child's pillow, owing to their cross-like form 
 when open. Duppy is apt also to attack older persons, whose 
 safety then consists in running away and " cutting ten," that 
 is to say, making the sign of the Greek Cross.* We have said 
 that Helena found four nails when she discovered the true 
 Cross, but tradition teUs us that Andrew was tied to his cross, 
 having been first scourged (!) CuchuUin, who gamed his name 
 
 1 Johni. 35. ' " Caledonian Medical Journal," vol. vi. p. 345. 
 
 3 Ezekiel xvi. 25. * " Jamaican Song and Story," Jekyell, p. 176. 
 
I90 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 at the age of seven, the number of days in a week, by slaying 
 Culann's dog, at seventeen did a " great deed " by cutting a 
 four pronged pole, ' fork,' and with it slaughtering four men. 
 St Andrew's cross then was also an attribute of " the dog of 
 the son of FuUan " (?), and mentioned in connection with him 
 at what may be considered the age of puberty, at the " ford 
 of the fork." i 
 
 Referring once more to Simon Magus, we must remember 
 that story connects him intimately with another Helena, hi& 
 " first idea " vpuirn moia. According to Simon's followers, 
 he was worshipped as ' The Lord ' and she as ' The Lady,' 
 comparable with Zeus and Athene. As the writer on the 
 article on Simon in the Encyclopaedia Brittanica says " we 
 have in Simonianism a rival system to Christianity, in which 
 the same advantages are offered, and in which accordingly 
 Christian elements are embodied even, Christ himself being 
 identified with the Supreme God," that is, Simon.^ Helena 
 was said to be the " Mother of All," by whom Simon had called 
 the angels and archangels into being, and had voluntarily 
 come down from heaven and become the mother of the powers 
 who created this world, but when her work was done, she had 
 been imprisoned in human form and subjected to every affront, 
 and finally found herself in a brothel, out of which Simon 
 rescued her, fulfilling the parable of the lost sheep. Then it 
 was that Simon brought salvation to all men, through the 
 knowledge of himself. If we compare what has been said of 
 mes and mias (p. 185) and the basket with fruit resting on the 
 laps of the Deae Matres, and finally note that sXevn was the 
 wickfer basket to carry the sacred utensils at the feast of the 
 Brauronian Artemis, we form at once an opinion as to how 
 the Mother of All was represented in the mysteries. ' 'EXivti ' 
 is also ' a torch,' and thus Brigit with her perpetual fire sur- 
 rounded by its hedge of stakes and brushwood, very accurately 
 represented the Helena of the Simonian Church, who represented 
 the more ancient Artemis, the Roman Diana, and as we beheve 
 the " mother of the Irish gods." 
 
 Andrew and his cross are more intimately connected than 
 the cross and personage of any other but one. In the Calendar 
 of Oengus on the 30th of November this is made evident. 
 " Andrew, name that is boldest, against a cross — step that is 
 
 ^ " Cattle Raid," Faraday, p. 25. " CuchuUin Saga," Hull, p. 142. " Revue 
 Celtique," xxviii. p. 170. * Vol. xxii. p. 80. 
 
ST ANDREW 191 
 
 most perfect — puts a top, I engage, on November's hosts." 
 Notice here that Andrew is mentioned as putting " a top," 
 says Stokes, " harr," ' fruit,' ' the cream that rises on new milk,' 
 on the hosts of the ninth month. The Lebar Brecc says 
 Andrew was buried in lachia Ipartimus. Naturally, Stokes 
 transposes Achaia for lachia, Andrew being said to have been 
 active in Achaia, but lacchus was the mystic Bacchus described 
 by Ovid in the Metamorphoses as " seeking a lurking place, 
 and has a name suited to his colour, having his body speckled 
 with various spots," therefore, if lachia describes any place, 
 it was Pict-hiTiA?- What St Andrew's cross can represent 
 is shown in the following : " I have seen in a Chinese brothel 
 at Cho-Lon, a picture representing a man stretched on his back 
 with his arms and legs extended in the shape of an X, a prey 
 to the lustful caresses of six women." " The matron assured 
 me that she had clients for this kind of exercise, which is called 
 the Wheel of Love." 2 
 
 At May the 3rd Oengus gives us the followiag already quoted : 
 " The first finding of the wood of Christ's Cross with many 
 virtues. Death of Condlad, a fair piUar. Mary Virgin's 
 great feast." The marriage day is the great feast for all 
 virgins, and the name of the piUar here mentioned is that of 
 Bridget's artificer, who provided the flesh fork. The month 
 of May is called from Maia the mother of Hermes. Hermes' 
 special emblem was the phallus. 
 
 St Andrew was the apostle of Scythia, so we may look 
 east for information about him. In the Tyrol they say " who 
 dies on St Andrew's Day comes directly {vom Mund auf) into 
 Heaven." * And the same authority informs us that on St 
 Andrew's night the Bavarians knock with a hammer on the 
 doors of their sweethearts.* Bishop Mel of the Lebar Brecc 
 appears in the Island of Man as Maughold (p. 174), and we 
 suggest that an intermediate form appears in the Forfarshire 
 name of Maule, a ' maul,' Latin malleus, ' a wooden hammer,' 
 among masons at this moment called ' a meU,' and ' a mauling ' 
 is ' a beating.' The same root apparently is in Icelandic mjol, 
 ' meal,' ' flour,' probably prepared originally with a pestal 
 and mortar ; mjolnir, ' Thor's hammer.' In German lands St 
 Andrew is specially recognised as a promoter of marriage, 
 
 1 " Caledonian Medical Journal," vol. vi. p. 284. 
 
 2 " Genital Laws," Jacobus X. p. 341. See " CuchuUin's Cross," p. 190. 
 s " Der Urquell," vol. i. p. 77. * Ibid., p. 71. 
 
192 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 and is appealed to in matters of love. He is the protecting 
 patron of married people, and on St Andrew's Eve German 
 girls go through various ceremonies with a view to seeing their 
 future husband. One of these ceremonies consists in shaking 
 a fence which has come by inheritance to the shaker, compare 
 Brigit's fence, between eleven and twelve on the night of St 
 Andrew's Day, which is supposed to caU his attention by some- 
 thing moving beside him and presumably bringing him to the 
 girl, but the formula concludes with the request that if he 
 cannot come himself, " so lass nur ein hiindchen bellen " (so 
 let a doggie bark — a meas-chu ?), supposed to be from the 
 direction from which the lover will come.^ As in Germany 
 " the apple was the representative of love and the nourishing 
 mother breast," so in Alsace young women desirous of marriage 
 get from a widow, but without thanking her, an apple of 
 which they eat one half before, and the other half after mid- 
 night on St Andrew's Day, hoping to see their future in a dream 
 thereafter.^ The Order of the Golden Fleece, founded in 
 1430 by Phihp the Good of Burgundy on the occasion of his 
 marriage, of which the motto is " Pretium Laborum Non 
 Vile," has a St Andrew on the knight's coUar.* 
 
 The barking of the dog desired by the girl shaking the 
 hereditary fence shows a connection between dogs and St 
 Andrew, which brings us once more back to the characteristic 
 of voracity. If dogs, then also wolves, and accordingly in 
 Polish dialect the garden lupin is called " pyzny Andrzej," 
 ' proud Andrew.' The name lupin is derived from lupus, 
 ' a wolf,' because lupins when cultivated for food, as they 
 have been in Rome from the earliest times, require an ex- 
 ceedingly rich soil, devouring hke a wolf all the nourishment 
 they can get, and though this explanation seems recondite, 
 the hop, humulus Zm^mIus, also demands a very rich soil. There 
 seems in this a suggestion between the Scottish Fillan and the 
 Scottish St Andrew. That Andrew was taken as the repre- 
 sentative of a good husband comes out clearly enough in the 
 following lines : — 
 
 " Heil'ger Andreas, ich bet' dich an, 
 Du brauchst eine Frau und ich einen Mann ; 
 Lass' du mir im Schlaf erschein'n, 
 Wer mein Geliebter soil sein." 
 
 * " Der Urquell," vol. i. p. 71. " Ihid., p. 72. ' Ihii., 169. 
 
ST ANDREW 193 
 
 Andrew apparently was here spoken of as without his cross, 
 we say so because it is said "thou requirest a wife." Another 
 quaUfication of St Andrew appears in the two following : — 
 
 " Martin lieber durr als nass ; 
 Ebenso sieht man gem den Andreas." 
 
 Martin's Day, the horse-riding soldier, the special saint of 
 Tours, who divided his cloak with the beggar. His day is the 
 nth November. Another version of the same is : — 
 
 " Viel lieber ist ihm durr und nass, 
 Und so denkt auch St Andreas." i 
 
 These lines represent the quahfications of a suitable mate to 
 the female mind, the first apparently as preferably " dry (like 
 seasoned wood) than wet " — the second " hard — stiff — durus 
 and wet." There is among the apocr3^hal Acts of the Apostles 
 one called " The voyage of Andrew and Matthew to the city 
 of the Anthropophagi." Andrew was ferried across to the 
 land of these voracious creatures by God himself and two angels 
 as a crew to the boat.^ 
 
 The rehcs of St Andrew said to have been brought to 
 Scotland, were, in addition to his arm bone and three fingers, 
 a tooth and a kneecap. If for the arm bone we use the Latin 
 name ulna, we see that it was the main bone of the forearm 
 on which the point of the elbow is formed. From the elbow 
 to the point of the forefinger was used as a measure of length, 
 the ell, a term applied as is the ' yard ' in modem English. In 
 explanatibn of the symbolism of the finger : — 
 
 " II cherche le temps et le lieu 
 Pour mettre le doigt de milieu, 
 Dans le bague de ta nature." ' 
 
 Three fingers constitute a trinity, one being the ' doigt de 
 milieu.' The tooth and the kneecap are similarly explicable. 
 On page 6 we called attention to a charm against fire 
 said to have originated with Colum Cille. The Gaehc was 
 left untranslated, and we proposed to explain the " dant," by 
 tooth, and we will now see that teeth and fire are connected 
 in other Irish saintly stories.* Findian of Clonard received 
 a promise from the ruler of Leinster of any place he should 
 choose to build his church.^ During the night he was carried 
 
 * " Der Urquell," vol. i. p. 72. 
 
 * " Scottish Historical Review," January 1906, p. 251. 
 
 3 " Glossaire Erotique," p. 115. * See also pp.122-194. 
 
 ^ " Lives of Saints," Book of Lismore, p. 224. 
 
 N 
 
194 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 from the top of a mountain into the glen that was nearest 
 him, where he chose a place where was an apple tree of which 
 a branch had been brought him with its fruit on it. Strange 
 to say, the King of Leinster's pig-sty was in the same place. 
 Though opposed by the king's two sons, Findian was granted 
 this so-called " Field of Apple Trees," which, for a reason con- 
 nected with Findian's resurrection, was then called Sliab Com- 
 dala, The Mountain of Meeting, comdal, meeting. Findian 
 subsequently had another settlement called Mugna Sulcain : 
 mugna, urinator (?), sulcus, a furrow made by the plough ; 
 pudenda muliebria : and finally, he goes to Achad Fiacla. 
 " There a tooth fell out of his head, and he hid the tooth in a 
 brake of brambles.^ When he was leaving this latter, the 
 brethren asked him to leave a sign with them, so he said, " Go," 
 saith he, " to yon bush of brambles which ye see, and bring 
 thereout the tooth which I left there." Then they go and they 
 found the brake flaming, and they brought away the tooth, 
 and from it the place hath been named Achad Fiacla, tooth 
 field. Findian's tooth is a relic of the same significance as 
 the prop left by Aidan at Lindisfame, and which still survived 
 though in the church when it was on fire. 
 
 Another fiery-toothed saint is Findchua of Brigobann. 
 While Findian means White deity [an is a feminine termination) 
 of the High Meadow, Findchua means White cup, cuach, f. a 
 bowl, cup, of the Potency of the Smith. The date of the 
 origin of this name must correspond with that of such names 
 as the ' Donn Chuailnge ' and ' Find Bennach.' The gram- 
 marian will object that the translation here proposed is against 
 rule, but we hold that is natural when a church saint was being 
 manufactured from a heathen object of reverence. Findchua 
 nourished an infant from his (!) own breast, and is principally 
 notorious for spending seven years (days) suspended on " iron " 
 hooks. Seven is of course the number of days in the first 
 quarter of the moon, appearing then as a crescent.^ Findchua 
 and Ronan, ron, a seal, the Seal (headed) one, went to assist 
 the Hui Neill, those to whom Nial-naoighiaUach (p. 6) is said 
 to have been ancestor, against certain marauders, who arrived 
 on the same night as the saint at Tara, the place of ' meeting,' 
 appointed for all Ireland. " Then the cleric's nature arises 
 against them, so that sparks of blazing fire burst forth out of 
 
 1 " Incident of 1396," p. 185. Compare Brigit's fence round her fire. 
 =■ Lives of Saints," Book of Lismore, pp. 236, 237. 
 
ST ANDREW 195 
 
 his teeth, and that fire burnt up the shafts of the spears, and 
 the wyists and forearms of the marauders, so that they were 
 toi tuathgerrtha?- Toi, (?) = ' cut off ' ; used with the 
 negative neph, ' not-cut,' for the prepuce ; tuae, crooked, 
 gerrtha shortened, cut off ; the marauders were as if circum- 
 scised (?).^ 
 
 Nuada the Sage was at that time ruler of Leinster. The 
 name has already been discussed, here suffice it to say the 
 Nuada imder consideration was an old man and a druid. He 
 sent to Findchua to assist him against Cennselach ope of 
 Nuada's fathers-in-law. Findchua defeats aU the enemies 
 of Leinster but spares " Dirty Head," and subsequently pre- 
 sents Nuada and Cennselach with the following gifts : — 
 " Chastity to their queens and wives, modesty in their maidens, 
 and righteousness in their men." The gifts, of course, are 
 Christianising ones. 
 
 Findchua is represented as walking in the van of the host, 
 on one occasion with his crozier in his hand, of which the name 
 is given Cenncathach (fighting head). It is fair to say that 
 fieriness was connected with all his doings not merely issuing 
 from his teeth. On one of his expeditions " A terrible heat 
 seizes the foreigners there, in the midst of their camp, from 
 the iron posts (compare Findchua's hooks) that stood all round 
 the camp, so that on the morrow there was found nought of 
 them save their bones and their remains amidst the camp." 
 In another instance on the shore in Kerry his wroth " Arose 
 like flakes of red fire." On this occasion he seems to have 
 transcended himself. " So the howhng and rending of a hound 
 possessed him in his valour, on that day, although no one save 
 himself alone were fighting the battle, the foes would have 
 been routed before him, for he cut off the foreigners equally 
 with his weapons and with his teeth. Wherefore the name 
 Find-chu clave to him, that is, like a cu (hound) on that day 
 was he." ^ 
 
 St Patrick had a tooth which fell into a ford and there 
 " shone like a sun.^' * The slumping of the brilliancy of relics 
 generally is hardly to the purpose. We know it is fictitious, 
 and to get at the cause of the fiction, consideration must be 
 given to the context in each separate story. 
 
 1 " Lives of Saints," Book of Lismore, p. 236. 
 
 * Ibid., pp. 236, 246. Teeth mentioned, pp. 63, 76. 
 
 ' Ibid., p. 343, quoting Tripartite Life : Rolls ed., p. 196. 
 
196 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 Findchua like other saints had a special fancy for being 
 found taking cold baths ; occasionally necessary, no doubt, 
 as he destroyed Comgall's cowl by burning when he put his 
 head under it, but when he wanted fire and sent for it to the 
 house of the King of Munster's steward, the servant brought 
 the firebrand back in the saint's own cowl, which the servant 
 happened to be wearing, without doing it any damage. 
 
 We have translated the name " White-Cup " while his 
 biographers make it " White-Dog." One of them says that 
 Ailbe conferred the name on him when a mere infant,^ and, 
 as already quoted above, we saw that it was given him 
 late in life as a result of his warlike action in Kerry. We 
 quote this merely to show that we are not dealing with those 
 authorities who consult parish registers, and we further wish 
 to point out that the name ' Findchua ' has generally the 
 female termination a which occurs in the usual Gaelic for a 
 bitch, galla, the same grammatical termination as the name 
 of the goddess Dana and of Diana also. 
 
 Findchua is mentioned as turning deisuil, deisil, more than 
 once.2 This of course as a practice still existing means moving 
 to the right, but the word admits of the explanation right 
 hand wise, as if, a turn made with the right hand, and that of 
 course would commence by moving to the left. If we are right 
 in the suggestion of a moon connection, the heathen deiseal 
 was what in Scotland we call widdershins {? against the sun- 
 shine), a motion opposite to the sun's course, as the moon does, 
 and specially affected by witches. 
 
 There are other teeth than those of saints evidently, how- 
 ever, of a like significance. Fionn, ' white,' whose tooth of 
 knowledge functionated when he put his finger in his mouth. 
 
 CaUlich, generally translated hags, an unnecessarily de- 
 famatory use of one of its applications, meaning as it does 
 merely an old woman, and also a nun, have in general in 
 popular Gaelic story one prominent tooth. The word ' cail- 
 leach ' seems in all cases connected in meaning with a covering 
 of the head of some sort, caille is a ' husk,' ' veil.' The re- 
 vivifying the dead is also generally ascribed to a cailleach with 
 what by F. W. Campbell is called " ballan iochslaint." ^ Ball 
 is a limb, ball fearda, the male limb, ballan, a little limb, a teat, 
 ic, ioc, a remedy, balsam ; slainte of health, the teat of the heal- 
 
 1 " Lives of Saints," Book of Lismore, p. 232. ^ /jj(^,_ pp_ gg^ g^_ 
 
 ' " West Highland Tales," i. p. 217. 
 
ST ANDREW 197 
 
 ing balsam : milk baths revived the dead in the case of the 
 Tuatha De Danarni. 
 
 Bran the Blessed, who according to Welsh tradition intro- 
 duced Christianity into Britain, takes the form of a boar's 
 head in the Welsh story of the Twrch Trwyth, and the boar's 
 head has for its most prominent feature two upstanding tusks. 
 The boar's head in this way is evidently a simile for the crescent 
 moon with the dark surface illuminated by the reflected 
 earth light. We beheve that the oath on the boar's head was 
 equivalent to an oath by the moon.^ 
 
 Let us now consider the kneecap among Saint Andrew's 
 reHcs. The 3rd of May was the great feast of the Virgin Mary 
 and the anniversary of the death of Condlad, " a fair pillar " 
 (p. 191). This name Condlad seems to have appealed to the 
 Irish hagiologist as connected with candles and Candlemas, 
 which again is connected with the Virgin Mary. The original 
 basis of the story connects him, however, with the Greek x6v8uXos, 
 the knob of a joint, a knuckle, any bony knob. If the reader 
 win refer back to the Welsh semi-deity Nud, Nuada, Nodons, 
 it wiU be seen that we have connected his name with the Latin 
 nodos, a joint. In British tradition the on of Nodo«s dis- 
 appears entirely and Nodotus, becoming Nodot, seems to have 
 been the basis of the philological characteristics discovered 
 in the name. We would not like to say that Condlad is a 
 deUberate Christianisation of Nodons, but we have no hesita- 
 tion in expressing the beUef that the Greek and Latin for what 
 we may express shortly as ' a knob ' are the grammatical 
 terms from which the names are derived. We are the more 
 convinced of this as, according to Hesychius the root word 
 in Greek is xot^os, ' a head,' ' knob ' = xif>a<oc, ' a horn,' anything 
 projecting like a horn, a branching stake of wood, a yard-arm. 
 The wood of Helena's true cross had the power of renewing 
 itself without permanent diminution of the original rehc after 
 loss of substance, and in connection with this we point out that 
 the special attribute of the Welsh Nud is his "liberality." 
 Condlad is therefore something comparable to a cross distin- 
 guished by a knob, head, and that is the glans, and as we 
 believe accounts for the ascription of a knob, kneecap, to the 
 hst of Andrew's relics. Lucian tells of the inhabitants of the 
 moon that such beards as they have are growing a little above 
 their ' knees.' ^ It is as well to take notice of the Gaelic de- 
 
 1 " Perth Incident," p. 240. " " True History," pp. 66, 67. 
 
198 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 scription of Condlad, " cain age." Age is the word translated 
 pillar, and according to Stokes it has been glossed calma, brave, 
 tuir, pillar, tower, and colma, a column, which shows that it 
 was a word which appeared to require explanation. Now 
 Agai ummaidi is undoubtedly used to mean " brass pillars," 
 but in the case of Condlad it is applied to a saint, and we can- 
 not doubt that a knowledge of the Greek ciy/os, meaning, de- 
 voted to the gods, holy, was in the mind of some of the origina- 
 tors of this tradition. We suggest in fact that the words 
 conlaid cain age in the Calendar contain the esoteric suggestion 
 ' gentle holy (knob-carrier) .' In Latin we find the term sanctus, 
 ' holy,' used in this connection. 
 
 Telethusa, a damsel of the Subura, is addressed : — 
 
 " Cingit inaurata penem tibi sancte corona : 
 Hunc pathicae summi Numinis instar habent." ' 
 
 (Encircles thine, O venerable one, with a golden crown, for these pathic 
 women consider it equal in eminence to a god.) 
 
 Again : — 
 
 " Pro quibus officiis si fas est sancte paciscor, 
 Assiduus custos ruris ut esse velis." 
 
 (For which kind oiBces I stipulate (if it be not unrighteous, O holy one) 
 that thou mayest be the assiduous protector of the farm.")^ 
 
 " Vicini, moneo, sanctum celebrate Priapum." 
 (Neighbours, I warn you, worship holy Priapus.)' 
 
 In this last we find Telethusa's crowned object of adoration 
 graduated with saintly honours, and the early writers of church 
 stories had at least classical authority for speaking of these 
 objects of adoration as holy, and even of making ' sancti ' of 
 them. 
 
 We have no difficulty in pointing out the connection of 
 knobs with the first of May at least, if not the third. Pennant * 
 describes the ceremony for the preservation of their flocks by 
 the Perthshire herdsmen. In 1769 the herdsmen of a village 
 cut a square trench, leaving a knob of turf in the middle, on 
 which a fire was made and a caudle of eggs, oatmeal, butter 
 and milk was cooked. Having spilt some of this as a libation, 
 each one took a cake of oatmeal upon which nine square knobs 
 were raised, each knob dedicated to some particular being, the 
 supposed preserver of their flocks and herds or some particular 
 
 » " Priapeia," Carmen xl. s Ibid., Ixxx. iii. 
 
 ' Carmen, xciii. « Tour, v. i. p. 97. 
 
ST ANDREW 199 
 
 animal the destroyer of them. Each person turned to the fire, 
 broke off a knob, flung it over his shoulder, saying, " This I 
 give to thee, preserve thou my horses " (oxen, sheep, etc.), and 
 after that, with the same sacrifice of a knob, " This I give to 
 thee, oh fox (hoody-crow, eagle, etc.), spare thou my lambs." 
 Thereafter they dined on their caudle.^ 
 
 Now for an Irish saintly tradition showing the significance 
 of the knee. In the Boroma ^ Moiling goes to the house of 
 Finnachta, King of Ireland, and when he arrived, " he found 
 no uprising there. He looked at the-host and he was ashamed 
 at not getting uprising, and he beheld Colgu = (? prickle-dog), 
 son of Meanach (? middling), son of Dubanach (? darkness), 
 son of the King of Hui Colgan (descendants of Colg), and he rose 
 up before him. And Diarmait, son of Colman (Good-luck, 
 son of Pillar), raised his knee before him. And where they were 
 was on the corner pillar of the bed-rail, colba. In the above 
 Stokes inserts " in his honour," as an explanation of the ab- 
 sence of ' uprising,' the suggested translations are by the writer. 
 In a note Stokes informs us that this raising of the knee was a 
 sign of reverence, if so, it was the supplicatory clasping of the 
 knee of the Greeks, which had nothing to do with uprising. 
 According to Meyer colba is a pillar, bedpost, sceptre, wand, 
 club, so we may fairly enough connect the name Colman as 
 Stokes spells it, with the colba. 
 
 In the Gaelic it is colcon which agrees with the name Colgu 
 (colg-cu). It is surely unnecessary to explain more explicitly 
 the uprising that was in the mind of the original narrator. 
 It was some such story that gave rise to the statement that a 
 kneecap, bony-knob, was among the relics of the " manly " 
 St Andrew. 'Ep/ta, a prop, support, ip/^i, also a prop, especially 
 a bed-post ; compare the name of the god Hermes. Compare 
 also Findian of Clonard's experience, where during the night 
 he was carried from the top of a mountain into the glen that was 
 nearest him, which he chose for a settlement because it held 
 an apple tree of which he possessed a branch with its fruit on 
 it (p. 194). 
 
 1 For further information on Condyle see " Caledonian Medical Journal," 
 July 1906, vol. vi. p. 344. 
 
 * " Revue Celtique," xiii. 105, Stokes. 
 
SAINT DAVID 
 
 We have pointed out that the esoteric exposition of the ancient 
 Judaism, supported as it is by the earher portions of the book 
 of Genesis, founds on the assumption that the beings existing 
 before Adam were androgynous. The only rational explanation 
 of the story of the creation of Eve from Adam's side is to be 
 found in the idea that Adam and Eve were the male and female 
 sides of an androgynous being. The perfect individual was 
 androgjmous according to the belief of the Simonian Church, 
 a behef also expounded in detail in the Kabala. That the 
 original British Church was believed to be, or in fact was, 
 Simonian is made clear by the information we get in Bede 
 about the Easter celebration and the use of the Simonian 
 tonsure, and it was the probable British connection with that 
 church, we conclude, which makes Joseph of Arimathea the 
 introducer of Christianity into Britain, and is the ground of all 
 the other indications which point to a connection of the pre- 
 Augustine British Church with John the Baptist and the more 
 orthodox Judaism. To make the position here taken up com- 
 prehensible we must eliminate entirely the idea that the Scotic 
 Church originated in Ireland, or that it was in its early days 
 especially Irish. The Scot, as we have tried to point out 
 elsewhere, was not an Irishman, nor an Albanach, nor a Briton 
 exclusively. He may have been any of these, he may also 
 have been a Gaul, a German, or a Moor, one of the Roman 
 soldiery. It was his religious observances which made him a 
 Scot, and these observances had for one of their characteristics, 
 meetings comparable with the Roman damium, and we must 
 remember that damh is Gaelic for a tribe, kindred, relationship, 
 and damhas, wild leaping. Whether these assemblies were 
 purely pagan in their inception we are scarcely prepared to 
 express an opinion. If they were, they were adopted by the 
 church which had the Jewish Easter and the ear to ear tonsure. 
 As Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury, the intro- 
 ducer of Christianity to the pagan Saxon, and of Romanism 
 to the Scot, was a monk in the Benedictine convent of St 
 Andrew at Rome, it is a fair enough supposition that it was 
 
SAINT DAVID 201 
 
 subsequent to his day that Andrew succeeded Colum, and that 
 Andrew's name was used to give a Romish colour to the tradi- 
 tions unavoidably surviving, and surviving to this day in what 
 we may speak of as the Columban Church, that form of behef 
 which Adamnan, whether a real personage or the personifica- 
 tion of an idea, tried to Romanise. 
 
 We now propose to point out how the androgynous idea 
 has given the Welsh their patron saint, St David. On the 
 banks of the Severn was the sanctuary of Nodons, and at the 
 mouth of the Bristol Channel, the expansion of that river was 
 the monastery of St David. St David's Monastery was 
 founded " in honour of the Apostle St Andrew." We consider 
 this a Romanising statement, made with the view of putting 
 into the minds of those whom it was intended to influence that 
 the supreme deity was not androgynous but male solely, the 
 behef of Christian and Mohammedan at the present day. The 
 same purpose was intended to be served by ascribing the 
 foundation of St Andrews to one Hungus, Oengus, a Pict, a 
 name equivalent in meaning to, and probably derived from 
 the Latin unicus, one and no more, the only one. 
 
 The wish for a nexus between the old and the new is made 
 clear by the story of Liban. Eochaid and Ribh {re, ' moon ' ?), 
 sons of a king of Munster, started to find new settlements. 
 Eochaidh's horse stood at Liathmuine (grey bramble bush ?), 
 and a weU sprang up there. Like almost all other traditional 
 wells it required to be looked after, and its keeper was, of course, 
 a woman. Linn-muine (urine-pool) overflowed, covering the 
 country, destroying Eochaidh and his descendants, aU but one 
 called Liban {Hath bean, grey woman, Melusine?). She 
 ranged the sea, accompanied by her lapdog, for three hundred 
 years : cu, a dog, cunn = corp, O'Clery, cunnus. Thereafter 
 she was converted to Christianity and baptised ' Muirghein,' 
 that is ' sea-birth,' or ' Mary-birth.' We thiak it probable 
 that the period of three himdred years represents the period 
 during which those by whom she was held in reverence led a 
 piratical life. They may well have been those pirates with 
 whom Patrick is said to have served for some years. As 
 Liban all this while was in the form of a salmon, she and her 
 lapdog constituted a pair of animals. Her converter was 
 Comgall, a name with much the same sound as ' comdal,' ' meet- 
 ing,' ' act of accompanying,' though it also can express hostile 
 opposition. Comgall's monastery was called Tech Dabheoc, 
 
202 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 the House of the Two Animals, naturally explained by the 
 statement that there the salmon and the lapdog were buried. 
 Dabheathach Dinneen translates ' amphibious,' but as the salmon 
 and the dog represent the animals connected with the sanctuary 
 of Nodons, we draw the conclusion that their place of worship 
 was Christianised as the Tech Daibhidh-ach the House of the 
 followers of David. 
 
 A geographical locality has been found for the well. Liath- 
 muine, the ' bramble bush ' was in Ulster, Linnmhuine, the 
 ' pool ' was in Munster,^ and notice that the fish in it were 
 "rapid salmon." Liamain is spoken of in the Lebar Brecc 
 as in Mag Laigen, Leinster. The homely translation we favour 
 for Linnmhuine as a real geographical locality we think by no 
 means impossible, Kilmun, Munlochy, in Scotland, we place 
 in the same category. So long as the stories with which we 
 are concerned are accepted as historical, it is natural to try 
 and locate them ; it will be some satisfaction if we save future 
 commentators that trouble. The story of Liban is in origin 
 British, preservedf or us in an Irish dress. Liban, 'grey woman,' 
 may be, we believe she was, Andraste, she cannot be Andrew, 
 but is she not his cross ? the greyness of the rough tree trunks 
 by which it is usually represented giving a colourable help to 
 the fable writer. 
 
 Finally, let us call attention to Rabelais' comparison of the 
 " two-backed beast " as a candid expression for the androgyne 
 in nature. The infallible critic inquires what connection can 
 there possibly be between the French humorist and Nodons ? 
 The answer must be, human nature, human fancy. 
 
 We must note that the introducer of St Andrew to Scotland 
 was Regulus, later St Rule. We have pointed out that the 
 ulna, arm-bone, was a measure of length, the measure of 
 length, cubit, always referred to in the Old Testament. If 
 his name had been Regula it would have meant quite literally, 
 a straight piece of wood, a rule, ruler, and the Gaelic name for 
 St Andrews was Kilreule,^ which is translated of course " Cella 
 Reguli." We would prefer Reguli^ as being more consistent 
 with Gaelic tradition and the story of the ' liath bean.' ■ 
 
 The well-known custom on St Stephen's day of ' hunting 
 the wren,' the ceremony being in origin the same as the stoning 
 of Satan by the Mohammedan Hadji, naja hadji, the cobra of 
 
 ' " Silva Gadelica," Translation, pp. 119, 484. 
 
 ' Keith's " Catalogue of Scottish Bishops," pp. 1-2. 
 
SAINT DAVID 303 
 
 the hood, entpavoc, a crown, is a frequent subject of specula- 
 tion. Regulus in Latin is " a small bird " (possibly the origin 
 of the " birdie " of nursery language), and also " a kind of 
 serpent." The Latin name for the golden-crested wren is 
 Regulus aurocapillus, the golden-haired Regulus. What a 
 hair may represent wiU be seen by a reference to the Calendar of 
 Oengus, nth of September, and the notes thereon in the Lebar 
 Brecc.^ 
 
 As Andras (Andraste ?) is Welsh for " the devil," it is easy 
 to see why a less suggestive name should have been found for 
 their patron saint than Sanctus Andreas. As Sebillot remarks, 
 " according to the ideas of dualistic creation still applying in 
 Brittany to so many beings and things, the sun is the work of 
 God, the moon that of the devil." ^ Liath-bean = the grey 
 lady, the moon ? 
 
 There is a tradition of female superiority in the earliest 
 origin of the kingdom of Ulster and the founding of its ancient 
 capital Emania. There were three kings who reigned alter- 
 nately over Ulster for periods of seven years, the number seven 
 applying to everything mentioned in the tale, the number of 
 the days of the week. The first who died was " Red fire," 
 who was buried under the " fairy knoll of fire," being drowned 
 in the " red cataract." His daughter claimed her seven years 
 of sovereignty, fought the two remaining males and beat them, 
 killing one Dithorba. His sons, five in number, claimed their 
 turns, but " Macha " conquered them, banished them to 
 Connacht, and married the remaining original king, Cimbaeth. 
 So long as the original contract was fulfilled there was to be 
 " abundance of fruit every year ; and no failure of the dye 
 stuffs of every colour ; and women not to die in childbirth." 
 The banishing of the five sons of Dithorba broke up the talis- 
 manic number of seven, and presumably a failure in the blessings 
 promised during its continuance. Macha starts off to bring 
 back these sons of " scarcity," tarbha, tairbhe, ' profit,' ' fruit ' ; 
 di, a negative prefix. The king's name then was " want of 
 fruit," which we shortly translate ' scarcity.' Macha made 
 herself to appear leprous by rubbing herself with rye dough, 
 and discovers them cooking a pig at a place called Bairinn, 
 the name applied to St Brigit's cake (p. 160). In spite of her 
 
 • See " Making of a Scotic Saint," " Caledonian Medical Journal," vol. 
 vi. p. 280. 
 
 ' Le Paganisme Contemporain, p. 257. 
 
204 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 grey colour they admire her eye {lux, light, but expressly ap- 
 plied to the eye) , and each in turn tried to force her. She binds 
 them, however, and carries them back captive to Ulster, thus 
 restoring the number seven, i.e. Macha herself, her husband 
 Cimbaoth, and the five sons of scarcity. She condemns them 
 to slavery and orders them to build a rath, ' circular fort,' for 
 her, and this she proceeds to mark out with her neck pin, eo, 
 a ' pin,' here, and muin, the ' neck,' and so founds ' Emania." 
 
 It wni be seen that this is another version of the grey 
 woman and her lap-dog. The name of the king she married 
 is evidence of a lunar connection. Cimbaoth is surely the Greek 
 x.-j/j,l3r], a skiff, a boat ; the boat of Isis for example. Emania is 
 identified with Navan Fort, navis, a ship. Joyce teUs us that 
 its Irish pronunciation is shown by the spelling ' Eamhuin ' 
 (as it were aven), to which we may add her own name Macha. 
 The Bacchic shout was " Evoe," " Euhan " : ' Euhan Macha,' 
 the ' plain of shouting.' This sounds we admit far fetched, 
 but, it was, and now is, called Bangor : — ban-chorea, the 
 ' circular dance of women.' ^ 
 
 We have suggested the boat of Isis, and as supporting this 
 we recall what we have already mentioned that Connor, King 
 of Ulster, at the date of the Crucifixion is called the " son of 
 Nessa," a female. Grammatically this looks like ' an losa,' 
 the Jesus, but it was a female name say the grammarians, 
 which gives the suggestion of Isis. 
 
 ' "Materials of Irish History," O'Curry, pp. 71, 527. 
 
LUG 
 
 Every one has heard of the four precious things introduced 
 into Ireland by what we would call the followers of Diana, in 
 Irish, the Tuatha De Danann. These ' Four ' were, the Lia 
 Fail, the cauldron of the Dagda, the sword of Lughaid Long- 
 hand, and his spear. If we compare these with the names of 
 the four great divisions of Ireland, we notice that to swear 
 by ' Patrick's Flagstone," referring to the rock of Cashel, was 
 a common oath, and Cashel is the centre of Munster. As the 
 name of Mtmster is accepted as representing the ' greater ' 
 part of Ireland (mo motha, greater) , this division has in appear- 
 ance a connection with the Lia Fail, the "stone of the enclosure." 
 FaU is used as a name for Ireland. 
 
 Pass next to the name Leinster, and we are told that 
 ' Laigen ' is derived from a word laighne, meaning a ' lance,' 
 in fact, that Leinster, Laighin men, were by their name lancers. 
 Was this not the lance of Lughaidh ? Connaught, the only 
 province of Ireland that could be ruled by a woman, has all 
 its early traditions circling round Medh, ' Meave ' (my Eve ?), 
 so we connect it with the cauldron of the Dagda, the Bona- 
 Dea ; Diana ? 
 
 This leaves us with Ulster to connect with the sword of 
 Lughaidh (Lug = lux = hght), supposing as we hold probable, 
 the story of the four precious things, and the names of the four 
 provinces to be intimately connected. Some time between 
 A.D. 8i and g6 Domitian caused kill SaUustius Lucullus, prefect 
 of Britain, because he had allowed certain lances of a new form 
 to be called Lucullian. Is it not probable that the ' laighne ' 
 from which were named the Leinstermen was this LuculUan 
 lance. Granting this, is the first part of LmcuUus not the ' Lug,' 
 ' Lughaidh,' so called " of the Long Hand," and the latter 
 part ullus the material for the name " Ulster," ' hand,' being 
 the equivalent of the Gaelic uillean, elbow, the Latin ulna, 
 arm, the ell measure, the euphemistic " yard," which accounts 
 for its being characterised as ' long ' (it will be remembered 
 that the St Kildans measured their boats by the " lamh " = 
 hand, p. 40) . Lug's ' sword ' and Lug's ' long hand ' being 
 
2o6 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 identical, they are also probably the original of the ' sword 
 of light ' of the West Highland tales and of more modem 
 writers. It is the ingenuity shown in providing suggestive 
 but not too simply explained names we have to thank for the 
 connection between Lug Lam-fada, Nuada airgid-lamh, and 
 Nodons the corn-stalk deity of joints, knots and nobs. When 
 we come to Christian times we find the mythical arm materia- 
 lised. It was St Andrew's arm which was his principal relic 
 in Scotland. It was St Fillan's arm which assisted the Bruce 
 at Bannockburn. It was his arm which represented St Giles 
 the patron of Edinburgh there. In Brittany, St Giles was of 
 use to his female devotees in that they scraped away portions 
 from his ' long hand.' ^ In a female convent in the Depart- 
 ment of Ille-et-Vilaine his figure was put to preside over the 
 latrines,^ a fact which identifies Giles with the " Jules " of the 
 French Army fatigue of the present day. The Suevic Brigit 
 was also represented by her arm. It was Lug lamh-fhada 
 from whom are derived stories which went to form fables 
 tacked to the name of Colum. 
 
 It has long been a puzzle to the writer to find anything like 
 a satisfactory reason why a number of men should with a view 
 to the propagation of Christianity, dehberately invent what 
 seems to be neither more nor less than a concatenation of 
 falsehoods. If we recall the Gregorian injunction to use pre- 
 christian objects of reverence and the festivals connected with 
 them when possible, a reason more or less satisfactory comes 
 to light ; the method of procedure seems to have been of this 
 sort. Suppose the piUar in Solomon's temple called ' Jachin ' 
 to be an object of reverence and connected with a festival so 
 much a part of the national hfe that its adoption into the new 
 religious system was found advantageous, commence by saying 
 Jachin was a missionary to the king of the district, himself a 
 heathen. Redneck (compare Pope's poems), or other combina- 
 tion which may describe the thing reverenced, and as such 
 might be said to rule the land. Go on with your story repre- 
 senting Jachin as converting Redneck, and erecting a menhir 
 in commemoration of the event, and describe this elevating of 
 pillar stones as use and wont with Jachin wherever he taught. 
 He would naturally be St Jachin thereafter, and wherever a 
 menhir was, evidence would appear of his presence and tend to 
 establish his name as the apostle of a wide region. Supposing 
 1 " Phallicism," Jennings, p. 257. 2 " Kruptadia," iii. p. 364. 
 
LUG 207 
 
 the story of Jachin to have been successfully introduced in 
 Ireland, and a want felt for another such to convert Scotland 
 where like people and Uke ideas existed, one has but to utilise 
 Boaz, making him a pupU of Jachin, and inventing another 
 kingly name, to fit Scotland with a history of its conversion, 
 and Ireland and Scotland with patron saints, St Jachin and St 
 Boaz, or you may give them baptismal names, St Patricius the 
 ' Paternal,' St Colum the ' PiUar.' The transposing Columba 
 for Columna is after all but taking a hint from Apuleius, and 
 using one classical piece of slang instead of another. 
 
 If the historians of the Christian Church were allowed or 
 took this licence, it is surely little wonder if the lay storyteller 
 and reciter followed the same path. 
 
 When you compare the aidoia with a lance or sword, the 
 weapon must have been that of a warrior of eminence, and such 
 invented combatant we find in the King of Ulster, Conn 
 Himdred Fighter, but as he was the opponent of Mebh of 
 Connacht the three vocables should be somewhat differently 
 arranged. With the lapse of time, and it would not require 
 a long time, the parable would be beHeved to be history by the 
 ignorant, the personages becoming historical, and so fixed for 
 aU time for the interested and uncritical. If the soldiery who 
 used the Lucullian lances found their way into Ireland, they 
 would take the name with them and there it would become 
 an Irish word. As a dominant race they would be Gailian 
 [gai, Gael, ' a spear '), Laighnighe, and the Four Masters supply 
 us with a Laighne, son of Eremon, a joint monarch of Ireland 
 in A.M. 3517. The name Leinster may then be a genuine 
 historical record of an invasion of Ireland from Britain, but in 
 the north we seem to come upon history based purely and 
 simply on philologising. " Lucullian " there seems to have 
 been explained as meaning those who reverenced M.aMholwch, 
 otherwise Lug Lamh-fhada the Uliaigh the ?7/tonians, all 
 based on the second portion of his name, and their rehgious 
 beliefs may be accurately enough described and have given 
 grounds for the philological speculation. Uladh, Ulster, looks 
 like a genitive become a nominative. Adh is pronounced 
 approximately as 00, and as a in " negative," if we look at the 
 genitive of Lucullus, ' Luc-ulli,' we see how nearly the portion 
 remaining after the elimination of the Luc, Lug, corresponds 
 Avith the Irish name of the province. O'Reilly gives us ulaidh 
 the leg, uladh a pack-saddle, a straddle, spelt by Dinneen 
 
208 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 ulaidh, and in this we probably have the suggestion which 
 made it Lug's weapon that hung along his leg which gave Ulster 
 the sword of Lugaidh, and it is not necessary to particularise 
 as to what the terms gladius, machaera, have been applied,^ 
 and as the Laoich-Ulaidh, the ' laici of Ulster,' were knights 
 of the " Red Branch," ramus, Lat., being used with the same 
 meaning as gladius, we have in the early history of Ulster 
 incontrovertible evidence of the euhemerisation of a priapic 
 story for historical purposes. That in combat with Connacht 
 Ulster should bear its part in child bearing, satisfactorily 
 accounts for the special " Debility " of its male population 
 when invaded by its neighbour, and thus regarded the Noinden 
 Ulad is proof in support of the above theory. With these 
 facts before us where preferably to Ulster would one look for 
 a place of origin for St Colum of the Cell ? 
 
 Having mentioned the Welsh Matholwch, we may try, 
 before concluding, to satisfactorily demonstrate the near 
 connection between a Welsh ' child's story ' [mabinogi, a tale 
 for the instruction of youth) and our Irish Ulster romance. 
 The story we allude to is Math vab Mathonwy, which is found 
 at length in the sorcalled " Mabinogion." It is in brief to this 
 effect. 
 
 Gwydion, a magician, a pupil of Math, has a son by Arianrod. 
 He brings up the boy, not however without the mother having 
 certain rights with regard to him. She has to confer a name 
 on him, to give him arms, and can severely limit his choice of 
 a wife. The boy, in the presence of his mother, he being dis- 
 guised as a shoemaker (p. 155), strikes a wren on the leg (p. 202), 
 a feat which causes her to say he is " Light Long-hand " (Llew 
 Llawgyffes), by which name he was subsequently known. 
 Father and son, again disguised, are in the mother's castle. 
 Gwydion by his magical arts raises a phantom force apparently 
 coming to attack the castle, so the mother gives the weaponless 
 boy arms to assist in the defence. Arianrod says Llew is never 
 to have a wife of the race then inhabiting the earth, but Math 
 and Gwydion, both male, make him a wife of flowers called 
 Blodeuwedd, we presume the star-spangled heavens, the flowery 
 plain over which Brigit travelled to have orders conferred on 
 her by Mel.^ Blodeuwedd deceives Llew with a certain Gronw 
 Pebyr, who at the instigation of Flower Face injures Llew 
 
 ^ " Priapeia," pp. 215-216. 
 
 2 " Lives of Saints," Book of Lismore, p. 322. 
 
LUG 209 
 
 badly, when attempting to kill him, with a spear made during 
 the saying of mass on all the Sundays of a year, a periphrasis 
 for the use of the weapon having the sanction of religion. 
 The only moment at which Llew was vulnerable was with one 
 foot on the edge of a bath and the other on a buck's back, a 
 position he obHgingly assumed while Pebyr lay in wait for him. 
 Llew disappears and Gwydion starts to find him, conducted 
 by a sow (!), which " fed " on the putrid flesh and vermin which 
 feu from him while in the form of an eagle perched on an oak. 
 It took a year to restore Llew to health. In revenge Gwydion 
 seizes Flower Face who, while fleeing from him narrowly 
 escapes being drowned in a lake, and changes her into an owl 
 (y flodeuwedd, Welsh). Llew then slays Pebyr, who places 
 himself in the same position as Llew was in when hurt, being 
 however granted the additional protection of a ' slab ' which 
 Llew pierces. This ' slab ' appears in the Tain Bo Chuailgne 
 as worn by Fer Dia, and we can come to no other conclusion 
 in regard to it than that it represents an altar stone, and that of 
 a religion inculcating monogamy or even celibacy. Its position 
 in Ferdia's case is a sufficient indication of what it protected, 
 to say nothing of the name of the weapon used against it, the 
 gath holga. 
 
 An examination of the names in the Mabinogi confirms our 
 opinion of the intimate connection of our GaeHc saintly stories 
 and the Welsh tales for the instruction of youth. 
 
 Math is translated by LUiuyd, genus, a kindred, family, 
 race ; also, a sort, kind, or fashion. We thus see that Math 
 as the name of an individual has to do with lineage and birth. 
 Math was son of Mathonwy. The termination wy indicates 
 the possession of the quahty to which it is appended, safad-wy 
 is ' stabihty,' Mathon-teiy ' generative capacity.' Math, son of 
 Mathonwy is a Welshman, but in the same stories we find a 
 Matholwch, who is an Irishman. His name divides itself 
 between Math, ' sort,' ' kind,' and olwch, surely the equivalent 
 of the Irish Uladh. He was according to Welsh story a regulus 
 of Ulster, and the composition of his name corresponds alto- 
 gether to our suggestion of the arm ulna and seems to mean 
 ' a kind of arm.' The name might be translated the " good 
 (man) of Ulster," math, in Gaelic ' good.' Maithean na Feinne, 
 the nobles of the Fein. Modh is the Gaelic equivalent of the 
 Welsh math, a sort, kind. 
 
 Math is the patron of Gwydion, whose name has been ex- 
 
 o 
 
2IO RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 plained by Rhys as the ' speaker,' ' instructor,' connecting 
 it with gwydd, knowledge. But gwyddan is ' sylvan,' and 
 gwyddelig is 'savage,' ' Irish,' which to our idea would naturally 
 suggest connecting the character drawn with those words 
 both of which could be supposed to interpret " Gwydion." 
 " Gwydion " has its equivalent in Irish, in OUiol, AUiU. Oil 
 is to ' rear,' ' educate,' oil-thigh, a school or seminary, Oiholl 
 therefore is the ' educator.' As a King of Munster he is called 
 Olum, apparently meaning ' bare ear,' eo [o, au(ris)] meaning 
 an ' ear ' as weU as other things, lom, ' bare.' As a King of 
 Connaught and husband of Medb, Mebh, AiUll was the opponent 
 of the Ulster men, time of CuchuUin. The Welsh Gwydion 
 was the son of ' Don ' equated by Rhys with Dan, Danu, our 
 Diana. That Gwydion's mistress Arianrod, which means 
 ' SUver Wheel ' was Diana also in another form, in no way 
 invalidates Danu being Diana, and when we see that the 
 name of their son was Llew Llawgyffes, " Light of the 
 long hand," it will be clear that he is not only the Irish 
 Lug lamh-fhada, but also the equivalent, if we are right, of 
 Matholwch. Llew's wife becoming an owl suggests at once 
 a connection with Minerva. Danu's connection with the arts 
 gives her characteristics more nearly approaching those of 
 Minerva than of Diana, and Minerva's connection with Bath 
 as a goddess of healing goes to prove her importance in Roman 
 Britain. When the time came for writing up a history of these 
 Islands with an origin of their own separate from, even if allied 
 with, that of Rome, we may take Geoffrey of Monmouth as a 
 British example, Diana seems to have been chosen in prefer- 
 ence to the more distinctly Roman Minerva. Whether Ireland 
 followed a British lead or not is of little consequence. The 
 resemblance of Danu and Minerva has already been pointed out 
 elsewhere. 1 
 
 Arianod's lover Gronw is the Roman Chronos without 
 doubt. Every student of classical mythology knows for what 
 he was notorious, and we would explain his appearance here as 
 another suggestion of the objection to monogamy and celibacy, 
 and also, why he, like Fer-dia was said to have availed himself 
 of the protection of a " slab." The epithet " Pebyr " applied 
 to Gronw we consider equivalent to the Welsh pobwr, in Latin 
 pistor, for which another expression is tylinwr, with which 
 compare tyllu, to bore, pierce. The wife of Chronos was Rhea, 
 
 * " Perth Incident," pp. i68, 205. 
 
LUG 211 
 
 and Rhea was ' the mother of the gods.' Rhea Silvia was the 
 mother of Romulus and Remus, and this Silvia connects itself 
 with gwyddan, sylvan, already mentioned. In the matter of 
 Gronw's slab we may remember that Rhea gave Chronos a 
 stone to swaUow when Zeus was bom to save him from the fate 
 of their other children. Re is Gaelic for the moon. 
 
 We have in Scotland Ma.c-Rae also pronounced Ms.c-Rath. 
 The connection of the moon and fort buUding has been shown 
 in the stor>' of Macha and the five sons of scarcity, at the 
 founding of Emania. There are Macraes in Galloway and 
 Macraes in KintaU, the latter are connected with the clan 
 Mackenzie the ' sons of Coinneach ' in old Gaelic ' Cainnech.' 
 This name is in aU probability Lat. canus ' white,' cani ' grey 
 hairs ' ; and to show its occurrence in Gaelic with this meaning 
 we have canach, the mountain cotton. Cann Shaw gives us 
 as the fun moon. Coinneach, also coineach, is ' moss,' grey 
 coloured when withered, and a comparison is admissible 
 between coinneach and the fence round Brigit's fire of 
 brushwood, connadh, 'withered wood' therefore grey, and 
 this latter with what Campbell tells us of the Muileaxtach 
 or as Gillies called her the Muirea.Ttea.ch. 
 
 " In her head was one deep pool-like eye, 
 Swifter than a star in a winter sky ; 
 Upon her head gnarled brushwood, 
 Like the clawed old wood of the aspen root." 
 
 Craobh mhineach is his Gaehc for brushwood, and notice the 
 aspen and the fence shaken by the German girl on St Andrew's 
 night. 
 
 Remembering the Breton saying that the moon is the work 
 of the devil, have we not riabhach Gael., ' grey,' ' brindled,' 
 and a Scottish Gaelic appelation of the devil, an gille riabhach, 
 ' the grey lad,' ' the mottled lad.' Riabh is translated a streak, 
 and there was an early Irish Lughaidh Riabh-n-Dearg, ' light 
 of the red stripes.' Thus we may compare with MacRae the 
 family name Riack. 
 
 Riabhach, we believe in origin means marked like the moon, 
 and in like manner, showing how irregular marks may be com- 
 pared to stripes, we have the results of a beating described as 
 a welting, receiving 'stripes,' while the eruptive patches in 
 nettlerash are likened to wheals, wales, rod marks. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Aberargie, 182 
 
 Abernethie, 181, 182 
 
 Abram, seed of, 170 
 
 abstinence, 58 
 
 abyss, 128 
 
 Achad Fiacla, 194 
 
 Achaia, 191 
 
 acorn, 12, 28 
 
 Adam, 64, 99, 128 
 
 Adamites, Adamians, 64 
 
 Adamnan, i, 22, 24, 25, 52, 58, 60, 137, 
 
 201 
 
 Mac Alddailedh, 58 
 
 of Coludi, 58 
 
 of Rath-Maige-Aenaigh, 58 
 
 adder, 175 
 
 Adrian, 109 
 
 Adriatic, 189 
 
 Aduatica, 87 
 
 Aedh, Aid, Aed, 5, 15, no, 114, 123, 
 
 14s, 164 
 
 Ainmerech, 5, i;, 184, 189 
 
 Slaine, 5 
 
 Aedui, 114, 164 
 
 Aegidius, 32 
 
 Aegis, 32 
 
 ieKios, 126 
 
 i^neas, 9 
 
 Aengus, Oengus, Angus, 201 
 
 Mac Umor, 1 16 
 
 ^olus, 10 
 
 Aesc, Oisc, Ochta, Eigist, 8 
 
 aes side, 78, 80 
 
 aethnen, 30 
 
 Africa, 64, 109 
 
 Agamemnon, 9 
 
 age, 198 
 
 Eytos, 198 
 
 Agnoman, 9 
 
 Ai, 30 
 
 Aidan, Aedan, 43, 52, 55, 71, 115, 157, 
 
 194 
 AiStjs, S3, 117 
 aiSota, 50, 117, 146, 207 
 ail, oil, 30 
 Ailbe, 196 
 aile, 77 
 ailecb, 44, 77 
 Aile na mirenn, 88 
 Ailill, Oiliir, 14, 30 
 
 Aima, loi, 113, 119 
 
 Ainmerech, see Aed 
 
 Aireran, Aileran, 63 
 
 airgid, 77 
 
 Aitheach Tuatha, no 
 
 Aithne, 3 
 
 aittin, 17 
 
 akansan, 170, 171 
 
 altar, 41, 139, 209 
 
 albs = elf, 70 
 
 alder, 88, 182 
 
 ale, 170, 173 
 
 Alexander, King, 73 
 
 AUectus, 178 
 
 AUita, 147 
 
 A. L. H., 126, 127 
 
 All, Alia, 16, 17 
 
 Alphesiboeus, 158 
 
 All Fool's Day, 66, 139, 140 
 
 All Saints' Day, 38 
 
 AH Souls' Day, 146 
 
 AUtraige, 38 
 
 alt, 17 
 
 amaeth, 23 
 
 Amagandha Sutta, 54 
 
 Amaltheia, 125 
 
 Amaryllis, 158 
 
 Amina, 85 
 
 Ammon, King, 125 
 
 ammonites, 45 
 
 Amsvartnir, 75 
 
 Ana, Anu, 50, 57 ; ana = water cups, 50 
 
 Ancient of Days, 100 
 
 One, 112, 120 
 
 Andras, 203 
 
 Andraste, 202 
 
 'AvSpeas, 188 
 
 Andrew, St, S9, 186, 188, 189, 190, 193, 
 
 199, 201, 203 
 Andrew's Day, St, 191 
 
 arm, 206 
 
 Andrews, St, city of, 181, 201, 202 
 androgynous, 12, 84, 95, 99, 123, 201 
 Andromeda, 15 
 "'W. i5> 188 
 Angels, 193 
 anger, 105 
 Anglia, East, 165 
 Angus, see Aengus 
 Anthropophagi, City of, 193 
 
 213 
 
214 
 
 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 Anu, 180 
 
 Anubis, 95 
 
 aonach, 25 
 
 ap, 78 
 
 apple, 12, 83, 102, no, 186, 192 
 
 apple tree, 194, 199 
 
 Apuleius, 10, 207 
 
 Arabians, 146 
 
 Arann Islands, 116 
 
 Ararat, 145 
 
 arbhar, 172 
 
 area, 38 
 
 arcain, orchain, 143 
 
 archer, 167 
 
 Aretin, 168 
 
 argha, 130, 139 
 
 Argus, 92 
 
 Arianrod, 208, 210 
 
 Arimathea, 134 
 
 "Apioy, 25 
 
 Arjawartah, 146 
 
 ark, 85, 139, 146 
 
 arm, 13, 30> 32) 206, 209 
 
 &pna, 185 
 
 dp/ia, 185 
 
 arm-bone, 206 
 
 St Andrew's, 193 
 
 armies, 95, 103, 104, 126 
 
 ami, 186 
 
 Arnobius, 76 
 
 Arran, Island of, 89 
 
 Artemis, Brauronian, 190 
 
 arvus, 172 
 
 Ascanius, 50 
 
 aschera, 56 
 
 ashes, 152, 180 
 
 aspen, 30, 211 
 
 ass, 94 
 
 "Ass, Golden," 10 
 
 assai, 159 
 
 Assyrian, 146 
 
 Astarte, 65 
 
 Athan, 182 
 
 Atlantic, 12 
 
 Atlas, 125 
 
 Augustae, 109 
 
 Augustine, St, 64, 75, 109, 122, 200 
 
 Aunan = Adamnan, 63 
 
 Auster, 65 
 
 avanc, 115 
 
 avatar, 39 
 
 Axal, 12, 13 
 
 axilla, 13 
 
 ayin='0' (jj), 96 
 
 Baal, 56, 91 
 Babel, 10 
 babh, 153 
 Bacchanals, 157 
 
 Bacchus, 47, 92, 191 
 bachelor, 168 
 bachuU, 175 
 badger, as vessel, 162 
 
 iSS. 158. IS9 
 
 Badger Cox, 154 
 
 Badger's Wood, 16 
 
 bag, 142 
 
 baic, 86 
 
 baiglieu, 86 
 
 Baile, 11 
 
 bairin breac, 160, 203 
 
 Baiscinn, Corco, 47 
 
 baiscnnib, 86 
 
 Baithene, 16 
 
 ^aKXOS, 91, 191 
 
 balaena, 69 
 
 Balar, Balor, 2, 47, 77 
 
 Balcan, 161 
 
 bald, 15 
 
 Bald-red, li 
 
 ball, 7, 24, 109, 196 
 
 ballan iochslaint, 196 
 
 Bangor, 204 
 
 bannach, 33 
 
 bannawg, 32 
 
 Bantu, 56 
 
 baptism, 184 
 
 bar, 168 
 
 ^apadpovj gt 
 
 Baritum, 90 
 
 Barius, 90 
 
 Barra, 39 
 
 ^appwv, 90, 91 
 
 Barvas, 66 
 
 basket, 180, 182, 185, 186, 190 
 
 Bast, 176 
 
 bath, 196, 209 
 
 Bath, 152 
 
 Be-Aima, 129 
 
 bealach, 136 
 
 beard, 197 
 
 bearraidh, 23 
 
 beasts, wild, 109 
 
 Beaton, 21 
 
 beaver, 115 
 
 Beccan, 165 
 
 Bede, i, 2, 134, 165 
 
 bedrail, 199 
 
 beds of Dermot and Grania, 132 
 
 Beelzebub, 82 
 
 beer, 170 
 
 Beghards, 64 
 
 beirn brocc, 159, 160 
 
 Belatu-cadros, 56 
 
 Bele, 178 
 
 Behan, 178 
 
 Belit, 136, 138 
 
 Belit-uine, 55 
 
INDEX 
 
 215 
 
 belja, 178 
 
 Bellenden, 7 
 
 bellows, 166 
 
 bells, 94 
 
 Bel of the House, 82, 135 
 
 Beltain, 55, 56, 66, 67, 77, 134, 135, 
 
 136, 140, 146, ig8, 200 
 Belteshazzar, 65 
 Beltis, 65 
 bendach, 33 
 Benignity, 104, 117 
 bent, 29 
 Beoan, 106, 116 
 Beort, 62 
 Bera, 13 
 Berach, 16, 24 
 Beraig, 13 
 Beran, 71 
 Berchan, 12, 71 
 Berigone, 51 
 berride, 71 
 besom of Fanait, 63 
 Bethel, 139 
 Beuchuill, 28 
 beu^ beal, bel, 56, 136 
 Bhrigu, 150 
 bi, 4 
 
 biach, 4, 49 
 biestings, 18, 23, 183 
 bil, 151 
 bill, 86 
 Binah, 49 
 Birgir, 151, 177 
 bin, S 
 
 blackthorn, 71 
 Bladma, 31 
 bled, 31 
 Bledgored, 115 
 Bledhercus, 115 
 bleidhiast, 74 
 blindness, 39 
 blod, 31 
 
 Blodieuwed, 208 
 blow, 31 
 
 blowing fire, 166, 167 
 boa, 85 
 Boan, 77, 116 
 boar, 155 
 boar's head, 197 
 boat, 7 
 
 Boaz, 156, 207 
 bod, 27, 66 
 Bodb, Badb, 27, 66, 68, 72 ; B. derg, 
 
 68 
 Boece, 43 
 boeth, 16, 24 
 Boethan, 16 
 Boethine, St, 16, 17, 21 
 Boethius, 2 * 
 
 bog, 68 
 
 Bohemia, 64 
 
 Bona Dea, 55, 135, 173, 183, 205 
 
 Borera, 41 
 
 Bosphoros, 92 
 
 Boyne, ^^, 116 
 
 brae, 86 
 
 brachem, 86 
 
 bradan, 87 
 
 beathadh, 89 
 
 fearna, 88 
 
 iubhair, 88 
 
 Bragantia, 154 
 
 Bragi, 151 
 
 bragr, 151 
 
 Brahma, 20, 85, 150 
 
 braid = to vomit, 178 
 
 brain, 24 
 
 brambles, 194 
 
 Bran, 66, 67, 68, 169, 171 
 
 Bran the Blest, 197 
 
 Bran, Voyage of, 67 
 
 brat, 88 
 
 bread, 112 
 
 breakfast, 85, 88 
 
 breast, 60, 162, 194 
 
 brec, breig, 46, 179 
 
 brecht, 61 
 
 Brechmag, 86 
 
 bree, 151, i6i, 168 
 
 Bregia, 60 
 
 Bregusuit, 46 
 
 breh = progeny, 150 
 
 Breide, Frau, 160, 177 
 
 Brenann, 16 
 
 breo, 154 
 
 Breogan, 154 
 
 breo orda, 153 
 
 saigit= fiery arrow, 153 
 
 brewer, 74 
 
 bri = rhi, 163 
 
 bri, 170 
 
 Bp<, 164 
 
 Brian, 153 
 
 Brianan, Brennan, Brendan, 38 
 
 Bpta/>6(i)s, 164 
 
 Bride, St, 178, 183 
 
 bride, 96, 102, 106, 177 
 
 BpHjiruos, 91 
 
 brig = twilight, 150 
 
 = summit, 150, 151 
 
 = value, 151 
 
 =force, 17, 95, IS3, 173, 187 
 
 Brig, 59, i8s ; B, Brethach, 151 
 Brigantia, 151, 165 
 
 brigdy, 160, 176, 179 
 Brigh, 149 
 
 Brighid, poetess, 28, 152 
 Brigindoni, 165 
 
2l6 
 
 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 Brigit, 13, 55, 95, 149, 152, 153, 154, 
 156, 163, 164, 165, 168, 173, 176, 
 178, 181, 187 
 
 Brigit's arm, 177, 206 
 
 cake, 160, 203 
 
 chariot, 184, 185 
 
 day, 174, 176 
 
 dish, 185 
 
 eye, 165, 184 
 
 fire, 166, 190 
 
 Brigobann, 194 
 
 Briid's bed, 180 
 
 club, 180 
 
 brindled, 38, 41 
 
 bristle, 27, 68, 80 
 
 British Church, Original, 200 
 
 Brito, 108 
 
 Brittany, 150 
 
 bro, 154 
 
 Brocanuni, 158 
 
 brocc=brog, 154 
 
 Broccan, 153, 158 
 
 brog, 154 
 
 Brogan : scribe, 1 54 
 
 Broichan, no, 179 
 
 broUach, 116, 119 
 
 Bron, 184 
 
 Bronach, 2 
 
 bronze, 79 
 
 broth, 7, 168 
 
 broued = healds of a loom, 178 
 
 brow moon, 112 
 
 Brown of Cualnge, 30, 31 
 
 bru, 41, 74, 86, 116 
 
 bmchag, 143 
 
 Brude, Bruide, 107, 172, 179 
 
 Brugaid, 74 
 
 Bruge, 179, see Brude 
 
 brugh, 41, 74 
 
 bruich, 168 
 
 Bruige, 179, see Brude 
 
 brushwood, 160, 167, 176, 211 
 
 Brutus, 50 
 
 brwydr=to pierce, 178 
 
 brwyd, 178 
 
 Buanann, 180, 181 
 
 Bubastis, 176 
 
 buckle, 28 
 
 Buddha, 135, 148 
 
 Buddhist, 54, 132 
 
 buicnecta, 1 10 
 
 Buite, 2, 188 
 
 buitseachas, 2 
 
 bull, 32, 125 
 
 bull fighter, 95 
 
 burned church, 156, 157 
 
 burying alive, 107 
 
 butter, 54 
 
 butterfly, 67, 70 
 
 Byd, 49 
 Byrgyr, 151 
 Bythos, 49, loi, 128 
 
 CAC, 171 
 
 Cacher, 68 
 
 caen combrac, 61 
 
 caill crinmon, 83 
 
 Caille, 156, 196 
 
 cailleach, 180, 196 
 
 Caille, Mac, 156 
 
 caillteanach, 157 
 
 Caimell, 14 
 
 cain Adhamhnain, 61 
 
 Cairbre, Cairpre, 29; C, cat-head, 
 
 no 
 
 Muse, 26 
 
 Ua-Ciardai, 59 
 
 Calf, Golden, 93 
 
 calgaig, 6 
 
 caliga, 7 
 
 Caliph, 122 
 
 Candlemas, 166, 174, 186, 197 
 
 candle, 175, 181 
 
 cankey stones, 170 
 
 Cann = moon, 211 
 
 Cantabri, 168, 170 
 
 Cantabrum, 169, 172 
 
 Canterbury, 157 
 
 canus, 211 
 
 caolan, 36 
 
 Caolte, 36 
 
 Carlingford, 34 
 
 carnality, 50 
 
 Carnarvon, 172 
 
 Carnethy, 182 
 
 carpenter, son of, 22 
 
 Carpocratians, 64 
 
 Carthainn, Caorthain, 17, 59 
 
 Carthusian, 59 
 
 cas, 2, 156 
 
 Cashell, 205 
 
 cat, 176, 178 
 
 caterpillar, 88 
 
 catervanus, 115 
 
 cat-ffolog, 124 
 
 cat-headed, no 
 
 cath = bran, 171 
 
 Cathag, 47 
 
 Cathair Mor, 18, 77, 78, 79, 127 
 
 cath-bhruich, cabhraich, 169 
 
 Cathbuaidh, 175 
 
 Catholic Faith, 168 
 
 cauldron, never dry, 55, 56, 106, 134, 
 
 173, 20s 
 caudle, 198 
 caul, 7 
 
 caulis, colis, 36, 59, 83 
 caves, 80 
 
INDEX 
 
 217 
 
 Ce, 19 
 
 Ceapaire ordaig, 144 
 
 Cecht, 49, 153 
 
 cell, 5, 12, 18, 19, 59, 61, 73, 76, 82, 
 
 208 
 cemetery, 108 
 Cenncathach, 195 
 Cenncruaich, 82 
 Cennselach, 195 
 Ceolach, 42 
 
 Ceolfrid, i, 51, 100, 109 
 Ceres, 21, no 
 Ceridwen, 21 
 cerrdin, 59 
 cerva, 183 
 
 Cet, Mac-magach, 23 
 Cete, Dorsum, 14 
 Ceth, IS 
 Cethlenn, 47 
 cetus, 16, 25, 26, 29, 56 
 chaff, 171 
 Chai, El, 126 
 chair, 21, 106 
 chalice, no 
 chaos, 118 
 chapel, 40 
 
 chariot, 14, 35, 67, 76, 185 
 chastity, 164 
 Chatillon sur Seine, 59 
 cheeks, 102 
 cheese, 161 
 Chesed= Mercy, 103 
 chickens, 11 
 
 chiefs, pre-historic, 15, 23 
 Cho-Lon, 191 
 chopur in da muccida, 27 
 Christ, 51, loi, 163 
 christened, 53 
 Christian, 53 
 
 Church, 98, 134 
 
 Christmas, 38, 137 
 
 Chronos, 210 
 
 church, place of prayer, 19 
 
 chum, 116 
 
 Cian, 49 
 
 Ciaran, 21, 106, 154, 157, 162 
 
 ciar-dhubh, 106 
 
 cich, 50 
 
 cidymes, 74, ^^ 
 
 cille, 11,40, 43 
 
 Cill-Mac-Nenain, 4 
 
 Cimbaeth, 203 
 
 Cinderella, 162 
 
 cir, 59 
 
 circle (=ubag), 144 
 
 circumcision, 98, 195 
 
 cist-vaen, 132 
 
 clabach, 79 
 
 clar, 4 
 
 claw, 164 
 
 cleft, 91 
 
 clerk, 40, 48 
 
 cli, 17 
 
 cloak, 55 
 
 clog, 160 
 
 Clochar, 17 
 
 Clonard, 199, 193 
 
 Clonmacnoise, 10 
 
 cloud, 9 
 
 cluan Abannabair, 18 
 
 club, 125, 199 
 
 cnap, cnop, 142 
 
 cno, 142 
 
 cnoc a bhuidseachd, 142 
 
 Coat, Holy of Treves, 160 
 
 cobra, 202 
 
 coin, copper, 160 
 
 — —silver, 157, 158 
 
 Coinneach, Cainnech, 211 
 
 colba, 199 
 
 colewort, 59 
 
 Colga, 71 
 
 Colgu, 199 
 
 colma, 198 
 
 Colman, 19, 37, 42, 43, 53, 57, 92, 199 
 
 Coludi, 58, 64 
 
 Colum, 4, II, 12, 38, 60, 63, 73, 76, 89, 
 
 179, 186, 201, 207, 208 
 
 tentide, 72, 1 56 
 
 Colum's little finger, 14 
 
 Columb, female saint, 13 
 
 Columba, i, 2, 38, 42, 52, 71, 73, 105, 
 
 166, 186, 187, 188, 193, 207 
 Columba's staff, 175 
 columna, 17, 38, 53, 105, 173 
 Comdiu, Coimdiu, 113 
 Comedovae, 109, 113 
 Comgall, 201 
 Complete Name, 105 
 Con, II 
 Conagra, 38 
 
 Conaille, Machaire, 35, 37 
 Conall, II 
 Conan, 114 
 
 Concealed of Concealments, 100, 120 
 Conchobhar, 24, 30, 75 
 Condal, Condlad, 24 
 Condlaedh, 184, 191, 197 ; Conlad, 
 
 198 
 confarreatio, 76 
 Conirdan, 38 
 Conmaicne, 38 
 Conn, 78, 178 
 
 Hundred Fighter, 38, 207 
 
 Connacht, 23, 39, 205 
 connadh, 176 
 Connemara, 38 
 Connor Mac Nessa, 24, 204 
 
2l8 
 
 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 Conray, 38 
 
 Constantine, 88 
 
 convention, 60 
 
 Cooley, 34 
 
 corb, 132 
 
 Corca Baiscne, 86 
 
 Corcaguine, Corcoduibhne, 33, 1 10 
 
 Corinth, 10 
 
 Cormac, 14 
 
 Ulfhada, 132 
 
 corn, 16, 124, 181, 186 
 
 Maiden, 181, 182 
 
 cornstalks, 75 
 
 Cornouailles, 1 50 
 
 cornucopia, 56, 124 
 
 Coronis, Cyrene, 9 
 
 Cote d'Or, 59 
 
 cot of Columba, 82 
 
 Countenance, Vast, 100, 102 
 
 Lesser, loi, 102, 105, 120 
 
 Courcy, De, 35 
 court of law, 127 
 couvade, 99 
 cow, 92, 108 
 
 white, 57 
 
 red-eared, no liver, 151 
 
 cowl, 5, 16, 113, 196 
 
 crafanc, 164 
 
 crane, 115 
 
 cream, ig 
 
 Creation, Buddhist, 20 
 
 Cred, 17 
 
 crescent, 52, iji, 162, 194, 197 
 
 Crimthann, li, 18 
 
 Crinan, 44 
 
 Crinda, 83 
 
 crinmon, 83 
 
 crom, 29 
 
 Crosier, 3, 23, 195 
 
 Cross, 24, 88 
 
 fork, 189 
 
 Greek, 189 
 
 Maltese, 186 
 
 Sign of, 48 
 
 St Andrew's, 189, 190, 202 
 
 True, 197 
 
 crown, 52, 61, 100, 128, 198 
 Cruachan, 79 
 
 Bri-Ele, 156 
 
 Crucifixion, 24 
 Crunniuc, 30 
 Cruthnechan, 4 
 cry, ii, see 'howler' 
 
 first in Erin, 149 
 
 crystal, 120 
 
 ball, 107 
 
 cu, 201 
 
 cuach, 194 
 
 cual, 36 ; cuaille, 36 
 
 Cualnge, 30, 34 
 
 cuan, 16, 29 
 
 cuaran, 155 
 
 cubit, 40, 202 
 
 CuchuUin, 34, 53, 69, 87, 189; 
 Cuchullin's cross, 190 ; Cu-c- 
 aoUain, 35 ; C. chaolain, 36 
 
 cuckoo, 63 
 
 Cuil, Mac, 153 
 
 Cuile, 37 
 
 Cuilliu, 68 
 
 Culan, Culann, 35, igo 
 
 Culdees, 183 
 
 cumhach, 163 
 
 Cuminius, I 
 
 Cuningham, 61 
 
 cunn, 201 
 
 cunnus, 124 
 
 cup, 94, 106, ig4, ig6 
 
 Cupid, 167 
 
 curach, 62, 182 
 
 custock, 36 
 
 cwd, 171 
 
 Cyclops, 117 
 
 Cyllene, 82 
 
 Cyrene, g 
 
 'D,'i33 
 'A,' 100 
 Dabheoch, Tech, 201 ; Doire Da- 
 
 bheoch, 24 
 Dagda,47, 55, 68,106,110,134,173,176 
 dail, 58, 60 
 Daire, 6, 12 
 
 Eidnech, 17 
 
 Dairlugdach, 182, 184 
 
 dairy, 40 
 
 Dalriada, Dalaradia, 29, 35, 53 
 
 dama, 47 
 
 damh = kindred, 200 ; =ox, 46 
 
 Damhinis, 22, 46, 64, 109 
 
 damium, 22, 47, 55, 78, 128, 134, 183, 
 
 184, 200 
 Dana, Danu, 27, 50, 55,149, 210 
 dance, 47, 64, 204 
 dant, 6, 193 
 
 darb, dorb= black beetle, worm, 30 
 dart, Man of, 129 
 David, King, 163 
 
 St, 200, 202 
 
 Dawn Bringer, 77 
 
 day, Jewish, 140 
 
 Days, Ancient of, 139, 140 
 
 Everlasting, 139, 140 
 
 Dealbhaoth, 153 
 Dean, Forest of, 75 
 deasail, deisuil, 157, ig6 
 Debility of Ultonians, 208 
 De Consolatione, 2 
 
INDEX 
 
 219 
 
 deer, 146 
 
 Deianeira, 126 
 
 Deir, Book of, 181 
 
 Deity, Manifest and Unmanifest, 100, 
 
 102 
 Delvin, 43 
 Demeter, no 
 Sti/uovpyoSj 49 
 demiurge, 23, 53, 187 
 Dendritans, 28 
 depilation, 18 
 Derry, 5 
 
 Devenish, see Damhinis 
 devil, 38, i8s, 203, 211 
 dew, 19, 120, 161 
 Dhu'l-Hijja, 148 
 diabolos, 185 
 Diana, 28, 33, 49, 50, 52, 68, 79, 130, 
 
 149. 152, 153. 158, i6i, 176, 190, 
 
 205, 210 
 Diancecht, 49, 149) 153 
 Diarmaid, Diarmai, 132, 199 
 Diciadaoin, 55 
 Dido, 9 
 Dihaoine, 55 
 
 Dima, Diuma (?), 183, 186 
 Dindshenchas, 86, 87 
 Dionysia, 91 
 dipper, see Tummuc 
 Dirty-Head, 195 
 Dis, 117 
 dish, 32 
 Dithorba, 203 
 Diuma, 42 
 dives, 117 
 Dobhar, 106 
 
 dog, 14, IS, 32. 74, 7S, 192, 19s, 196 
 
 dolphin, 26 
 
 Dominae, 113 
 
 Domnall mac Aed, 14, 15 
 
 domun, 15 
 
 Don, 210 
 
 Donnachie, Clan, 109 
 
 Donn Cualnge, 30, 32, 194 
 
 Donno (Dono) Taurus, 32, 33 
 
 doorpost, 136, 138 
 
 Doron, 50 
 
 Dottin, 75 
 
 dove, 10, 18, 19, 146 
 
 Dowinia, 33, 158 
 
 Down, 35, 166, 187 
 
 dregs, 56 
 
 Drithelm, 61 
 
 Drogheda, 35 
 
 droigheannacb, 71 
 
 Dromacheta, 15, 19 
 
 drui, 22 
 
 druid, 22, 50 
 
 Druim Cain, 147 
 
 Druim Cete, 16 
 
 Druimiall, 7 
 
 druis, JO 
 
 druth, 22 
 
 Duan, the Irish, 10 
 
 Dubanacb, 199 
 
 Dubglaisse, 11 
 
 Dublin, 182 
 
 Dubthach, 163 
 
 duelling, 7 
 
 Dull, 44 
 
 duma, 77 
 
 dumb, 15, 184 
 
 Dumbarton, 34 
 
 Dumnonii, 76 \ 
 
 Dumnovallos, Dumnovellaunus, 15 
 
 Dumnu, 77 
 
 Dun, 12 ; Dun Aengus, 116 
 
 Dunad, 44, 157 
 
 Svvafus, 163 
 
 Duncan, 44 
 
 Dun-OUaig, DunoUy, 43, 157 
 
 duppy, 189 
 
 Durstus, 50 
 
 dwr, dur, dwfr, 30, 130 
 
 dye, blue, 108 
 
 Dylan, 149 
 
 Dyved, 164 
 
 Ea, 125, 127, 129, 130, 138, 145 
 Each, 89 
 eagle, 209 
 Earn, 181, 182 
 ears, 95, loi 
 
 Easter, 38, 42, 51, 53, S5, 63, 65, 115, 
 134, 138, 144, 147, 200 
 
 ale, 173 
 
 Easterlynne Beir, 170 
 
 Eatach, 7 
 
 Ebba, 59 
 
 Eber, 13 
 
 Ebisa, 8, 9 
 
 Eburones, 87 
 
 Ecfrid, Egfrid, 43, 62 
 
 Ecne, 153 
 
 Ecumenical Council, 15 
 
 Eden, see Garden of 
 
 edge, 29 
 
 Edgils, 59 
 
 edifices, ecclesiastical, 2 
 
 Edom, 155 
 
 eggs, Easter, 142 
 
 Egyptians, 9 
 
 Eight Nights = ' Wythnos^ 131 
 
 Eigist, 8 
 
 Eilean Donnain, 175 
 
 Eire, 38 
 
 Eire, 153 
 
 Eithne, 3, 183, 186 ; Doire-E., 4 
 
2 20 
 
 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 Elafius, 90, 168 
 
 Elathan, 163 
 
 Elena (basket) Island, 180 
 
 Elephant, 90 
 
 Elephantis, 91, 168 
 
 elephas, 168 
 
 Elfleda, 45, 56 
 
 Elias, 126 
 
 Elijah, 126 
 
 Elohim, 20, 95, 112, 119, 126 
 
 Elysian Fields, 133 
 
 "HXios, 126 
 
 eXevij, 190 
 
 Emanations, 95 
 
 Emania, 203, 211 
 
 Ember Day, 137 
 
 Embolismic Year, 146 
 
 ^/[i|3o\os, 146 
 
 Emly Mor, 13 
 
 en, 4 
 
 Enan, 4 
 
 en-glas, 4 
 
 Englishman, 90 
 
 Enniskillen, 47 
 
 Enoch, 126 
 
 eo, eog, eok, 14, 51, 77, 84, 86, 94, 210 
 
 Eochaidh, Eachach, 6, 18, 201 
 
 Muighmheadhoin, 6 
 
 eochair, 84 
 
 Eo-gabhal, 66 
 
 Eoganacht, 116 
 
 Eoghan, 89 
 
 Eo-Mugna, 66, 105 
 
 Eo-Rossa, 86 
 
 Eostra, Ostara, 51 
 
 io)(r<popos, 77 
 
 epact, 140, 143 
 
 epil, 56 
 
 Epiphanius, 64, 94 
 
 episcopal orders, 156, 173 
 
 eTTTa/i-firivo!, 1 33 
 
 riTrvoi, 91 
 
 equator, 76 
 
 equinox, autumnal, 56, 66, 138, 140 
 
 vernal, 51, 66, 138, 140, 144 
 
 eriss, 122 
 (pKOS oSbvTuv, 76 
 ipiw., 125, 199 
 
 "SipiMMi, 125 
 
 'Ep/i57S, 125 
 
 'epius, 199 
 
 "Epiiov papSiov, 94 
 
 Esau, 89 
 
 effTOis, 22 
 
 eth = bri, 183 
 
 ethar (ferry boat), 182 
 
 Ethelred, 182 
 
 Ethelwerd, 8 
 
 ether, 113, 118 
 
 Ethica, 16, 25 
 Ethie, river, 182 
 Euboea, 92 
 Eudemus, 25 
 Eumenius, 178 
 
 Eunan, 4, 63 
 
 eurmad, 132 
 
 Eve, 83,99, 118, 128 
 
 Evoe, 204 
 
 eye, 73. 96, loi, 152, 185, 211 
 
 evil, 2, 47, 96, 104, 165, 177 
 
 Brigit's, 165 
 
 bountiful, loi 
 
 Face, burning, 71 
 
 flat, 4 
 
 of the deep, 128 
 
 faebar (edge), 29, 32 
 
 Faenius Farsaidh, Fenius, 9, 10 
 
 faex, 171 
 
 Faichnech, bog of, 156 
 
 fair, 25 
 
 fairies, 29, 79 
 
 fairy hill, 81 
 
 Faithful, the, 122 
 
 Fal, 106 
 
 Fanareis, 93 
 
 fanning fire, 166 
 
 Faolan, 35 
 
 Faol-chu, 70 
 
 Faolteach, Faoillidh, 56 
 
 farreum, 76 
 
 fast day, 55, 58, 131 
 
 Father, 97 
 
 Faunus, 55 
 
 faw, 106 
 
 fawn, 155 
 
 Fe, 27, 66 ; a measuring stick, 28, 30 
 
 Fearchas=Feargus, 164 
 
 feama, 182 
 
 februatus, 166 
 
 Fechureg, 71 
 
 Fedhlimidh, FeidhUmidh, Fedilmidh, 
 
 3,78 
 Feic, 28, 66 
 Feinnid, 29 
 felis, 178 
 female element in worship, 126, 128, 
 
 161 
 female warrior's glen, 40, 47 
 Femen, 27 
 feminine form of God, 97 
 
 triad, 114 
 
 fence, hereditary, 192, 211 
 
 Fenrir, 75, 93 
 
 Fer da crich, 17, 22 
 
 da lethi, 17 
 
 Fer-dia, 69, 209 
 Fer-fi, Ferfidh, 66 
 
INDEX 
 
 221 
 
 Fergna, 29 
 Fermoy, book of, 68 
 Fer-ninais, 116 
 fiach, pi. feich, 66 
 Fiachna, 27, 30 
 Fian, pi. feinnid, 78 
 fides, 66 
 
 Fidh, 66 ; a rod, 30 
 Field of apple trees, 194 
 Fighting head, 195 
 Fillan, FaoUan, Foelan, Foilan, 
 FuUan, FuUon, 15, 35, 67, 77, 165, 
 166, 188, 190, 206 
 Finachta fledach, 63 
 Finan, 42, 43, 53 
 Find, 22, 27, 57, 102, 121, 122 
 Findach, 16 
 Findchua, 194, 195, 196 
 Findian, 193 
 findruine, 159 
 
 finger, 21 ; of St Andrew, 193 
 Finghalach, 5 
 finis, 13s 
 finn, 32 
 Finnbennach, Find Bennach, 30, 32, 
 
 194 
 Finnfail, 77 
 FinniaB, 4, 122 
 Finnlug, 39 
 Finns, 130 
 Fionn, 4, 32, 55, 196 
 fior, 78 
 Fir Domain, 49 
 
 Bolg, 116, 142 
 
 fire, 6, 8, 17, 66, 74, 100, 117, 118, 132, 
 138, 167, 173. 183, 186, 193, 194, 
 196 
 Fire-one, 71 
 fires, two, 56 
 firmness, 126 
 First and Last, 119 
 Fir Telech, 156 
 firurglais, 78 
 Fis Adhamhnain, 59, 61 
 fish, 14, 54, 75, 85, 88, 90, 138 
 
 Great, of the ocean, 129 
 
 Fitz-Aldelm, 35 
 
 five, 76 
 
 flagstone, Patrick's, 205 
 
 flame, 22 
 
 Flamen, 156 
 
 flammeolum, flammeum, 156 
 
 Fleece, Order of Golden, 192 
 
 flesh fork, 184, 191 
 
 floating, no 
 
 flodeuwedd, Y., 209 
 
 Flood, The, 85 
 
 Flower Face, 208, 209 
 
 flowers, 68 
 
 Fluid, 129 
 
 flummery, 169, 171 
 
 flying, 67, 69 
 
 folk stories, 80 
 
 Fomorian, 47, 49 
 
 food of desire, 54 
 
 fool, 16, 22, 23, 56 
 
 Fool, The Great, 23 
 
 foot, 156 ; withered, 167 
 
 footprint, 1 56 
 
 force, unbalanced, 97, 103 
 
 ford, 36 
 
 fore-arm, 195 
 
 forehead, loo, 10 1 
 
 Forerunner, 63 
 
 foreskin, 6 
 
 fork, 33, 66, 184, 190 
 
 fork cross, 189 
 
 fort, 5, 6, II 
 
 Forth, Firth of, 43 
 
 Fortrenn, 175 
 fortress of Bruige, 179 
 
 Fosse, 165 
 
 Foula, 160 
 
 Four Beautiful Persons, 1 16 
 
 Letters, The (IHVH), loi, 134 
 
 Masters, 8, 78 
 
 Precious Things, 106, 184, 205 
 
 Foundation, 98, 103, 104, 106, 107 
 
 fountain, 79, 83 
 
 fox, II, 155 
 
 fragrance, place of, 102 
 
 Frankincense, hill of, 102 
 
 Frenessic Sea, Friseg, 8 
 
 Freya, 176, 177 
 
 Friar John, 108 
 
 Friday, 38, 54 
 
 Friesland, 8 
 
 Frig, 131 , 
 
 Friga, 55 
 
 fringe, 116 
 
 Friuch, 27 
 
 froth, 75 
 
 fruit, 86, 128 
 
 Fuath, 19 
 
 fuin (=finis), 135 
 
 fiirrow, 194 
 
 Fursa, 165 
 
 furze, 17 
 
 Fynnane, 50 
 
 GAD-FLY, 92 
 Gaea, 48 
 Gaeal, 68, 69 
 Gaedhl, Gael, 9 
 Gaedhil Glas 9 
 Gaer, 68 
 gai, 207 
 Gailian, 207 
 
222 
 
 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 galla, 196 
 
 garanus (crane), 1 1 5 
 garden, 30 
 Garden of Eden, 2 
 Garlic Sunday, 177 
 garran, 2 
 Gartan, 2 
 gath bolga, 209 
 Gautama, 135 
 
 T';, IS 
 
 geas, geis (taboo), 143 
 
 geltacht, 69 
 
 Gematria, 104 
 
 Gemman, 4 
 
 Genesis, 99 
 
 generative power, 21 
 
 Geoffrey of Monmouth, 50, 210 
 
 German, 7 
 
 Germanus, go, 134 
 
 gestation, human, 146 
 
 Getulia, GaetuUa, 9 
 
 Ggillebrite, 181 
 
 gial, 6 
 
 giants, 177 
 
 Gigha, 114 
 
 Giles, St, 32, 206 
 
 Gille-Mhartain, 155 
 
 Giraldus Cambrensis, 65, 166 
 
 girdle, 5, 6, 15 
 
 giseagan, gisreagan, 143 
 
 Glaiss Cruinn, 30 
 
 glans, 28, 116, 197 
 
 glas, 3, 78 
 
 glass, 3, 21, 77 
 
 chair of, 21 
 
 ladder of, 3 
 
 glass slipper, 162 
 
 Glas-Ghaidhlinn [stream of little 
 
 fork (?)], 3 
 Glas-naoidhen, 4 
 Glastonbury, 134 
 glen, 194 
 gnosis, 49, 98, 128 
 Gnostics, 49, 50, 64 
 goat-footed, 82 
 gobhal, 33 
 Goibniu, 149 
 golden, 198, 202 
 "goodly shape," 23, 146 
 good morning, fetching the, 1 12 
 gowk, 55 
 
 Gowrie, Carse of, 182 
 Grail, Holy, 134 
 Grainne, 132, 133 
 Great Seat, 77, 105 
 green, 79 
 
 Gregory, 53, 55, 88, 206 
 Greine, Mac, 68, 153 
 Gressach, 184 
 
 grianan, 77, 133 
 Grianbrug, 133 
 grinding, i6i 
 groin, 13 
 
 Gronw Pebyr, 208, 210 
 grottoes, 80 
 grove, 12, 24, 30 
 Gruagach, 20 
 gual, guaul, 8, 44 
 gual ( = shoulder), 36 
 Gwion bach, 21 
 gwraig, 71 
 gwydd, 210 
 gwyddan, 211 
 Gwydion, 208 
 
 HABITATION, Colum Cille's, 12, 15, 
 
 75 
 
 hafar, 123 
 
 hafn, 124 
 
 hag, 19, 196 
 
 hair, 14, 20, 83, 87, 100, 102, I03, 139 
 
 dog without, 81 
 
 poisonous, 47 
 
 half a teat, hand, etc., 99 ; half a body, 
 105 
 
 Hallelujah, 91, 92 
 
 Hallow E'en, 77 
 
 hammerer, 14, 118, 191 
 
 hand, 96, 97, 205, see Nuada silver- 
 hand 
 
 Hartlepool, 42 
 
 Hathor, 95 
 
 Hav, land of, 115 
 
 Hay, 115 
 
 hazel, 12, 83 
 
 heads, three, 120 
 
 healds, 178 
 
 healing, 196 
 
 hearth, 11, 16 
 
 heather, 75 
 
 heavenly bodies, gender of, 112 
 
 Heber, Eber, 13 
 
 hee ( = H, n), 102, 103, 106, 117, 118, 
 124, 126, 129, 138 
 
 heel, 89 
 
 Heiu, 46 
 
 held ( = hero), 42 
 
 Helena, Empress, 22, 189, 197 
 
 of Simon Magus, 1 89 
 
 Helios, 127, 130 
 
 helmet, 40, 78 
 
 Hengist, 7, 8 
 
 heol ( = sun), 114, 123 
 
 heoroteoh, 46, 47 
 
 Hephaistos, 117, 118, 125 
 
 Hera, 92, 117, 125 
 
 herbage, 167 
 
 Hercules, 125, 126, 172 
 
INDEX 
 
 223 
 
 Hereric, 46 
 
 Herimon, 4 
 
 hermaeum, 125 
 
 hermaphrodite, 124, 125 
 
 Hermes, 55, 82, 92, 94, 125, 126, 191, 
 
 199 
 Heroditus, 10, 147 
 Heruteu, 42, 46, 128 
 Hesperus, 92 
 hie habitat feUcitas, 135 
 hiems, 56 
 hifyr, 123 
 
 High Street, of Edinburgh, 81 
 Hilda, 42, 45, 74, 128 
 hills, 79, 80, 129 
 Hirta, Hyrtha, Hyrt, Hiorta, Hi- 
 
 iartach (?), 39, 42, 44, 45, 128 
 Hjalm-beri, 78 
 hlidtskjalf, 3 
 
 Hoa, 112, 119, 120, 123, 124, 130 
 hog, 95 
 
 holdr ( = yeoman), 42 
 Holy City, 102 
 Holy Ghost, 95 
 Holy Island, 45, 62 
 Holy of Hohes, 103 
 honey, 79, 156, 161 
 honeymoon, 79, 132 
 hood (cowl), 5 
 hoof, 67 ; h. parings, 143 
 hook, reaping, 60 
 hooks, iron, 194 
 hop (=humulus), 192 
 Horace, 91 
 horn, 85, 125, 197 
 Horsa, 7 
 
 horse, white, I, 7, 57, 68 
 Horselberg, 74 
 hostage, 6 
 hour, good, 156 
 house, 77, 129 
 Howel, the Good, 114, 115 
 howler, 178, see 'cry' 
 Huan, Huon, 123 
 Hudur, 123 
 
 Hu Gadarn, 115, 116, 123, 130, 131 
 Hulda, 74 
 
 human sacrifice, 107 
 hiindchen, 192 
 Hungary, 109 
 
 hunger, 12 ; hunger after fish, 54 
 Hungus, 201 
 Huns, 109 
 hiire, 123 
 hurrah ! 92 
 hiirten, 123 
 hwrdd, 123 
 hy ( = pervading), 133 
 Hy Conal, 34 
 
 hydd, 123, 124 
 Hyrt, see Hirta 
 
 ' I ' (the letter), 96 
 
 'I,' Hi, Hy, lona, 12, 18, 44, 45, 46, 
 
 71, 128 
 lacchus, 89, 91, 92, 93 
 iach, 89 ; to iach, 92 
 lachia Ipartimus, 191 
 loKxos, 89, 91, 191 
 IaKii/3, 89 
 iall, 6, 7 
 lao, 93, 94 
 lar-Dobhar, 106 
 Ibar, Ibhair, (bishop), 63, 176 
 ibar (yew), 86, 87, 176 
 Ibor Iban (charioteer), 176 
 Iccius, Portus, 8 
 Ictian sea, 60 
 Ides, 14s 
 lesous Christos Theou Uios Soter, 
 
 88 
 IHVH, 96, 97, loi, 102, 119, 139 
 Image of God, 96 
 images not permitted to Jews, 94 
 Inachus, 92 
 incantation, 143 
 incestuous, 5 
 Inchcolm, 12, 45 
 Inchkeith, 25 
 Inchtuthill, 43 
 inecnai, 63 
 ineffable name, 102 
 infhir ( = virgin), 158 
 influence, 100, 113 
 Inis-bo-find, 57 
 
 Cathaig, 47, 62 
 
 Cethlenn, 47 
 
 Medcoit, 62 
 
 initiate, 72 
 ink, 163 
 Inman, 89 
 Innes, i 
 
 institutes, royal, 27 
 instruction, 210 
 intercalation, 140 
 Inverkeithing, 65 
 Inverness, 107 
 invention of the cross, i8g 
 lo Bacche ! 91, no 
 logenan, 53 
 lomhair, nighinn, 175 
 lona, see^l' 
 ioni, yoni, 89, 130 
 losa, 24, 204 
 
 lo, 92, 95 
 
 irgalach, iorgalach, 61 
 Irish, 65, 122 
 Irishry, 52 
 
224 
 
 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 Irminsul, 73 
 Iron Gate, 195 
 
 Ishtar, Istar, 65, 145, 136, 138 
 I sis, 18, 56, 204 
 Islam, 148 
 
 island, 12, 62, 64, 69, 114, 116, 128, 
 129 
 
 desert, 51 
 
 islanders, 116 
 
 Isle of Man, 50, 51, 67, 181 
 
 Isle of May, 108 
 
 Isle of the Great Trench, 48 
 
 Isle of the Hart, 45 
 
 Israelites, 89 
 
 ith=corn, 181, 186 
 
 Ithel, 114 
 
 iubhar, see ibar 
 
 luchar, luchair, 153 
 
 Ivar, 17s 
 
 Jachin, 206 
 
 Jack, 89 
 
 jackdaw, 171 
 
 Jacob, 89, 165 
 
 Jah, 92 
 
 James V., 10 
 
 javelin, 80 
 
 Jehovah, 95 
 
 Jeremiah, 10 
 
 Jerome, St, 12 
 
 Jerusalem, 104, 177 
 
 Jesus, 64, 204 
 
 jewel, 46 
 
 Jews, 93, 108, 112 
 
 JHVH, see IHVH 
 
 Joe Miller, 169 
 
 John, a parish priest, 65 
 
 John Baptist, 18, 53, 60, 62, 63, 94, 
 
 126, 188, 189, 200 
 John the Evangelist, 42, 63 
 Jolly Beggar, 10 
 Jonah, 18, 46, 71 
 Joseph of Arimathea, 52, 134, 189, 
 
 200 
 Josiah, 10 
 judgment, loi, 107 
 juice, 169 
 Jules, 206 
 
 jump, my, see Moling 
 jus primae noctis, 61 
 Just, the, 120 
 Jyesntha, 150 
 
 Kabalah, 98 
 kail, 36, 59 
 kalends, 134 
 Kam Ha, 155 
 karma, 20 
 Katha-sarit-sagara, 165 
 
 KauXos, 36, 59, 83 
 
 Kells, 164 
 
 kenning, 14, 87 
 
 Kent, 7 
 
 Kentigern, 85 
 
 Kepaia, 1 97 
 
 KijTj), 15 
 
 Kether, 100, 128 
 
 K7JT0S, 16 
 
 kettle, 132 
 
 kibla, 121 
 
 kidney, 186 
 
 Kilda, St, 38, 45, 56, 74, 128 
 
 Kildare, 166, 178 
 
 Kilder, 41 
 
 Kilmun, 202 
 
 Kilreule, 202 
 
 kindling, 145 
 
 kirn, 180 
 
 knee, 197, 199 
 
 knee-caps, St Andrew's, 193, 197 
 
 knife, 27 
 
 knot, loosened, 28, 157 
 
 knob, 197, 198 
 
 knowledge, 3, 186 
 
 knuckle, 197 
 
 Koi'Sos, 197 
 
 Koi'SOXos, 24, 197 
 
 Koran, 130 
 
 »cr«s, 28, 59 
 
 KuXXos, 82 
 
 Ki5/*/377, 204 
 
 LACE, 6, 155 
 
 lacus humidus, 13 
 
 ladder, 3, 23, 79 , 
 
 ladhair, laghar, 67, 79 
 
 lady-bird, 116 
 
 Lady, The, 22 
 
 lagan, 169, 171 
 
 laicus, 208 
 
 Laigen, 205 
 
 Laighnigh, 207 
 
 laigniu, 6 
 
 Laisre, Kill, 164 
 
 Laisren, 22 
 
 Lakhsmi, 156 
 
 lamh (=hand), a measure of length, 
 
 40 
 Lamhraidhe, 24 
 Lammas, 137, 182, 184 
 lance, 205 
 
 Lanercost, Chronicle of, 65 
 Langueth, 154 
 
 Laoghaire, Laeghaire, Laogr, 67, 79 
 Laoich Ulaidh, 208 
 lapdog, 26 
 Largs, 73 
 
INDEX 
 
 225 
 
 lassair, 164 
 
 latchet, 157 
 
 Latha-na-Caillich, 180 
 
 lave keile, 40, 205, see cubit 
 
 law of liberation of women, 60, 137 
 
 Xea, Xaia, 1 79 
 
 leamhan, 24 
 
 leap, 19 
 
 leap year, 146 
 
 Lebar Brec, 1 1 
 
 leg, 36, 82, 90, 154, 168 
 
 legem inoccentium, 6i 
 
 Leinster, 6, 29, 30, 205, 207 
 
 leitheach, lethech, 84 
 
 Lent, 148 
 
 Leoin, 161 
 
 leper, 186, 203 
 
 lester, 127 
 
 Lewis, 66 
 
 Lia Fail, 106, 107, 109, 179, 205 
 
 Liathmuine, 201, 202 
 
 Liban, liath-bean, 201, 202, 203 
 
 liberalis, 84, 93 
 
 liberality, 197 
 
 Life for evermore, 103 
 
 light, 72, 117 
 
 Light-Bearer, 77, 118 
 
 lightning, 72 
 
 Lindisfame, 42, 43, 45, 62 
 
 lingam, 40 
 
 Linn-muine, 201, 202 
 
 lios, leas, O.G. less, lis, 11, 127 
 
 liquor amni, 4, 5, 12 
 
 Lir, 27 
 
 Lismore, Book of, 47 
 
 List of comparable Saints, i88 
 
 Livingstones, 175 
 
 Llew, 210 
 
 Llew Llawgyffes, 208, 209 
 
 Llud, 93 
 
 Llydaw, 115 
 
 Lochlan, 8 
 
 lochran, 67 
 
 Lochru, 67 
 
 Loire, river, 47 
 
 Loki, 74, 93 
 
 Long Hand, 205, 206, 207, 208, 210 
 
 Lord, The, 22 
 
 Lorn, 44, 50 
 
 Loughree, 57 
 
 love, 103, 144 
 
 Lua, 4, 5, 12 
 
 Luachair, 19 
 
 Luaighne, 78 
 
 Lucian, 28, 161, 197 
 
 Lucie, St, 165 
 
 Lucifer, 92 
 
 Lucina, 155 
 
 LucuUus, 205, 207 
 
 ludan, ludag 14, 182 
 
 ludi, 59, 137, 184 
 
 Lug, Lugh, II, 39, 49, 184, 205, 206, 
 
 207, 210 
 Lugdach, 11, 182, 184 
 Lughaidh, 106, 205, 208 
 Lughnassa, 25, 137, 182 
 Lugneus Mocumin, 180 
 Luna, 69, I So 
 lunacy, 69 
 Lupercaha, 166 
 Lupercus, 166 
 lupin, 192 
 lusan, 31 
 Luschnitz, 64 
 lux, 165 
 Lybia, 9 
 lycaon, i66 
 Lycia, 166 
 Lydney, 75 
 Lyngvi, 75 
 
 Mabinogi, 208 
 
 Macha, 203, 2ii 
 
 maelan, 159, 161 
 
 Maelbrigte, 181 
 
 Mael Dum, 159 
 
 Maeluidhir, 61 
 
 maen, 37 
 
 Mag-Ai, 32 
 
 magha, 26 
 
 Magh Tuireadh, 47, 49, 1 16 
 
 Mag Mell, 14 
 
 Mag Mugna, 86 
 
 Magnus, St, 73 
 
 tmyoi, 25 
 
 magus, 22, 26, 61 
 
 Mahabarata, 85 
 
 Maia, Maya, 56, 125, 135, 191 
 
 maiden, 180 
 
 maighre, moghra, 87 
 
 Maighdean-bhuana, 180 
 
 Maileinbur, Mail-lnbiri, 158 
 
 Main, Morann Mac, 15, 37 
 
 Maini, 131 
 
 Maistiu, 116 
 
 Maithean na Feinne, 209 
 
 maize, 170 
 
 Mala crux, 189 
 
 Malcolm Canmore, 62 
 
 male without blemish, 138 
 
 Mallebride, 182, 183 
 
 Malnethte, 182, 183 
 
 Maltese Cross, 186 
 
 Mananann, 27, 67, 69, 78, 87, 131 
 
 Man of Munster, 80 
 
 Man, Isle of, 67 
 
 Mani, 112, 151 
 
 manifest, 100 
 
226 
 
 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 manna, 21, 139 
 Manu, 85 
 Manus, 87 
 maol, 159 
 Maol-Muire, 158 
 Maolruadh, II, 71 
 maor, 38, 62 
 mare, 34 
 
 white, 7 
 
 Maree, Loch, 1 1 
 
 marriage, 6, 64, 76 
 
 marrow, 30 
 
 Mars, 75 
 
 marsh, 18, 115 
 
 Martin, St, 48, 193 
 
 Martyrs, All, 135 
 
 Mary, Virgin, 24, loi, 135, 164, 186, 
 
 197 
 Mary of the Gael, 176, 177 
 mast, 88 
 
 Masters, the Four, 35 
 Math, 208, 209 
 Matholwch, 207, 208, 209 
 Mathonwy, 208, 209 
 matins, 79 
 Matres, Matrae, Matronae, Moirae, 
 
 109, 113, 190 
 Matthew, 193 
 Maughold, 174, 191 
 maul, 191 
 Maule, 191 
 maus, 84 
 Maya, 135 
 May-Day, 55 
 May-Eve, 55 
 May, Isle of, 109 
 mead, 3, 151 
 meadow, 156 
 meal, 31 
 meanach, 199 
 
 meas, mes, mess, 28, 185, 192 
 Meath, 29 
 Mecca, 147 
 
 mechanism, phallic, 128 
 wextts, 26 
 Medb, Mebh, Meave, 30, 38, 205, 207, 
 
 210 
 Medcoit, Innes, 62 
 /uSw, 15 
 medulla, 24 
 Medusa, 16 
 meijre, 38 
 
 Mel, 152, 156, 158, 162, 173, 191, 208 
 meles, 159 
 Melinus, 67, 69, l6l 
 mell, 14 
 
 mell, a hammer, 191 
 melodious, 17 
 Melusina, 161, 201 
 
 membrum virile, 7 
 
 men, 27, 37 
 
 menhir, 35 
 
 mentula, 125 
 
 mercheta, 61 
 
 Mercia, 42 
 
 Mercury, 55, 125, 132 
 
 Mercy, 103, 104, 105, 107, 118 
 
 messan, 32 
 
 Methuselah, 129 
 
 Mhuirearteach, 160, 161, 211 
 
 mias, 32 
 
 mice, star, 176 
 
 Michaelmas, 137 
 
 middle-field, 10, 12 
 
 Midsummer Day, 137 
 
 Mighty Living One, 126 
 
 mil, 182 
 
 miles, 182 
 
 Milesius, no, 114 
 
 milk, I, 2, 20, 24, 39, 63, 120, 161, 
 191 
 
 boy, 2 
 
 Miller, Joe, 169 
 
 mills, 161 
 
 mind (a diadem), 61 
 
 Minerva, 28, 130, 152, 153, 166, 210 
 
 Medica, 152 
 
 min-le-ca, 169, 173 
 
 miolnir mjolnir, 119, 191 
 
 mirror, effect of, 99 
 
 missionaries, 53 
 
 mitigate, 104, 105" 
 
 Mitra, Mithra, 147, 152 
 
 mixing stick, 13 
 
 moan (a complaint), iji 
 
 Mobhi, Mobi, 4, J, 18, 39, 76, 183 
 
 modh = math, Welsh, 209 
 
 Moedoc, St, 184 
 
 Moelmud, 15 
 
 mog, 10, 26 
 
 Moga, Gair mic, 1 10 
 
 moghra, 87 
 
 /loyos, 26 
 
 Mohammed, 121, 132, 147 
 
 Moighmhaidoin, 7, 10 
 
 Moire, loi 
 
 Molaisse, 22, 47 
 
 Moling, St, 18, 105, 199 
 
 MoUuka beans, 186 
 
 Moloc, 175 
 
 Mon, Anglesey, 1 14 
 
 monad, 64, 99 
 
 Monasterboice, 2, 21 
 
 Monday, 131 
 
 Mongan, 27 
 
 monk, 185 
 
 Mons, Veneris, 12, 88, 130, 146 
 
 monster, a female, 47 
 
INDEX 
 
 227 
 
 Moon, 20, 28, 51, 60, 68, 69, 72, 78, 
 87, 99, loi. 112, "9. 130, 131, 132, 
 133, 138, 144, 158, 196, 197, 203, 
 211 
 
 full, 138, 147, 148 
 
 male, 69, 132, 150 
 
 new, 138, 148 
 
 red, I JO 
 
 Mor=God, loi 
 
 Moray, 34, 173 
 
 Morning star, 77 
 
 Mor-righna, 72 
 
 mortar, 161 
 
 Mor Tawch, 115 
 
 mosaic, 75 
 
 Moses, 94 
 
 moss, 121, 211 
 
 moth, 69 
 
 mother, 46, 100, io6, 112, 113 
 
 Mother of all, 139 
 
 of the gods, 136 
 
 "mountain bom," 125 
 
 mouth, 16, 17, 21, 56, 76, 85, 97, 102, 
 122, 136, 196 
 
 conception by, 30 
 
 mow, 51, 167 
 
 Moytura, 149 
 
 muc, 26, 203 
 
 mucairbe, a young poet, 27 
 
 muccida, 26, 28 
 
 mucoi, 33 
 
 mucrecht, 26 
 
 mug, 26 ; mug eime, 27 
 
 Mugna, 28, 86, 87, 155, 186 
 
 Sulcain, 194 
 
 mugraidhe, 26 
 
 Muileartach, 160, 161, 211 
 
 muilichean, 159 
 
 Muirearteach, 211, see Mhuirear- 
 teach 
 
 Muirghein, 201 
 
 Muir-n-icht, 8 
 
 mullet, 159 
 
 muUeus, 159 
 
 MuXXos, 159 
 
 multitudinous, 47 
 
 mun, 30, 87 
 
 Munchausen, 28 
 
 mun-loch, 143 
 
 Munlochy, 202 
 
 Munster, 21, 205 ^ 
 
 mur, 34 
 
 Mureif, Murreiv, 34 
 
 Murray, 34 
 
 Murthemne, 34 
 
 murus, 34, 36 
 
 mus, 26 
 
 musgan, 26 
 
 music, 66 
 
 mute, 15 
 Mylitta, S5, 146 
 
 myrrh, mountain of, 96, 97, 102 
 mysteries not revealed, 72 
 Macbeth, Macbeath, 21, 44 
 Macdougal, 44 
 Macillemhoire, 38 
 Macillerhiabhich, 38, 41, 211 
 Mac Ivar, Miss, 175 
 Mackellar, Mrs Mary, 169 
 Mackenzie, 211 
 Macleod, Miss J. A., 169 
 Mac Nessa, 204 
 Macniven, 175 
 Macnowd, 77 
 Macquin, 38, 40 
 Macrae, Macrath, 211 
 Macroth, 159 
 
 NACHTWOLF, 1 79 
 
 nae, 7 
 
 nail, 32 
 
 nails of cross, 189 
 
 Naitan, 5 1 
 
 Namur, 165 
 
 naoi, 6 
 
 naoidhen, 4 
 
 naomhan, 175 
 
 nasg, 8, 184 
 
 Navis, Filius, 3 
 
 Nazar, 18 
 
 ne (negative particle), 76 
 
 neat, nowt, 90 
 
 neck, loi 
 
 Nectan's cairn, 182 
 
 Neill, Hui, 194 
 
 Nel, 9 
 
 Nembroth, 10 
 
 Nemed, 10 
 
 Nemi, 153 
 
 Nennius, 8, 10 
 
 Nento-fo-huisce, 29 
 
 Neot, St, 90 
 
 Ner, 48 
 
 Nereus, 48 
 
 Nerike, 177 
 
 nettles, 12 
 
 Newry, 35 
 
 Newtownlimavady, 15 
 
 New Year, 146 
 
 Nia, nia, 154 
 
 Niall Naoighiallach, 6, 9, 194 
 
 Nice, Council of, 138 
 
 niche, 82 
 
 night signalling, 149 
 
 sky, 87, 159 
 
 Nile, 92 
 Nindid, 18 
 nine, 137 
 
228 
 
 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 Ninine, Ninian, 86 
 
 Nirvana, 119 
 
 Noah, 7, 10, 127, 129, 145, 146 
 
 nodes, 76 
 
 Nodons, Nudens, Nodens, 75, it, 83, 
 
 92, 197, 201, 206 
 vuSopipuVj 76 
 NuSos, 76 
 
 Nodotus, Nodutus, 75, 84 
 nodus, gnodus, 76 
 Noe, 183, 186 
 Noinden Ulad, 208 
 noise, 149 
 Nokve, 152 
 Norman, 65 
 Norse, 175 
 Northumbria, 52 
 nose, 105, 119, 121, 122, 161 
 nostril, 105 
 Nouah, 129 
 Nuada, 77, 84, 195 
 
 silver hand, 50, 69, 92, 206 
 
 vvxBrHiepov, 140 
 Nud, 90, 93 
 Nudd Hael, 76, 77 
 Nudi Dumnogeni, 76 
 Numidia, 10, 76 
 nut, 12, 83,97, no 
 nwyf, 123 
 
 nymph, 163, 174, 176 
 Nysa, 92 
 
 O (Heb. a)'z«=eye) 
 
 oak, 12, 68, 86, 178, 186, 2og 
 
 O'Cahan, 6 
 
 Ochall, 28 
 
 Ochta, 8, 34 
 
 ocrea, 154 
 
 odhar {tawny), 61, 108 
 
 Odin, 78 
 
 Odo=Aed, 114 
 
 Oengus, 18 
 
 offspring, 31 
 
 O'Flaherty, 79 
 
 Oghams, 33 
 
 Ogygia, 79 
 
 Oilill Olum, 2IO 
 
 60111, 92 
 
 Oirbsen, Orbsen, 68, 69 
 
 Oirgial, Oirghaill, 34, 35 
 
 Oirill, tulach, 160 
 
 Oisc, 8 
 
 Olaf, St, 73 
 
 Olahm, 139, 140 
 
 oleum, 104, 120 
 
 Olum, Aulum, 14 
 
 omega (u), 96 
 
 Onan, 63 
 
 one, 4 
 
 one god only, 79 
 
 Onithcerne, 151 
 
 Onokoihthe, 95, 151 
 
 ovokoIttjs, 95, note 
 
 Oran, Odhran, 107, lo8, no 
 
 ore, 83 
 
 orchain, orgain, 143 
 
 orcun, 84 
 
 Orendel, 160 
 
 orificium membri, 104 
 
 Orion, 34 
 
 Orkneys, 8 
 
 Ostara, Eostra, 65, 66 
 
 Ostermonat, Ostannanoth= April, 65 
 
 Oswald, 52 
 
 Oswy, 42 
 
 ottoya, 155 
 
 oven, 80 
 
 ovum, 142 
 
 Owen, son of Gruffjrth, 65 
 
 owl, 209 
 
 ox, 46 
 
 oxen, king, 27, I15 
 
 Pagan Gods, 79 
 
 pail, 151 
 
 irSis, 117 
 
 Pale, 35 
 
 Palladius, 134 
 
 Pan, 82 
 
 Pannonia, 109 
 
 P and Q Celts, 36 
 
 Panurge, 108 
 
 Paradise, 2, 64 
 
 Paris, 46 
 
 paricidal, 5 
 
 Parvati, 125, 130 
 
 Pascal sacrifice of Jews, 108 
 
 Pasch, SI, 65, 138, 140 
 
 Pass = mouth, 136 
 
 Passover, 63, 66, 136, 138, 140, 147 
 
 Path, 120, 123, 139 
 
 Path of the Foundation, 106 (com- 
 pare Odhran) 
 
 Patiharaja-pakkha, 148 
 
 Patrick, St, 3, 17, 30, 47, 66, 67, 79, 
 82, 154, 162, 166, 176, 187, 188, 19s, 
 201, 207 
 
 peat, live, 144 
 
 Pebyr, 210 
 
 peg, 97 
 
 Pennant, 198 
 
 Pentland, 182 
 
 Tcpurrepi,, 18 
 
 Perseus, 16 
 
 Peru, 15s 
 
 pervading, 129, 133 
 
 Peter, Apostle, 22, 67 
 
 Petronius, 156 
 
INDEX 
 
 229 
 
 peulvan, 59 
 phalane, 70 
 
 phallus, 5, 1 1, 36, S9 ; worship of, 
 
 Pharaoh, 9 
 
 Phelim, 78 
 
 Philip of Burgundy, 192 
 
 Philistia, 10 
 
 4>iXoiia8ris, 3 
 
 <6iXoTi7s, 185 
 
 ipptKTi, 55 
 
 0K 55 
 
 ^tatT^opoSy 77 
 
 physician, 49 
 
 Picards, 64 
 
 Picts, 4, 8, 43, 91, 179, 181, 190 
 
 pig, 28, 203 
 
 pig-feeder, 26, 32, 80 
 
 stye, 194 
 
 pigeon, 10 
 
 pike, 83, 84 
 
 pillar, 17, 197, 198, 199 
 
 pillar stone, 17, 37, 59 
 
 pin, 66 
 
 piper, 81 
 
 piper's dog, 81 
 
 pistor, 210 
 
 pith, 30 
 
 pityriasin, 169 
 
 plague, 62 
 
 Plain of Honey, 79 
 
 of Knowledge, 31 
 
 of Pleasure, 79 
 
 plantaria, 13 
 Pleiades, 135 
 plough, 167 
 plough team, 115 
 plough yoke, 115 
 Pluscardin, 59 
 Pluto, S3, 117 
 plwyf, 59 
 pobwr, 210 
 poc-buidsich, 142 
 Point, 29 
 
 point, smooth, 100 
 pollution, 54 
 Polycrates, 84 
 Polyhistor, 152 
 Pontus, 48 
 Pope, 160 
 portus, 124 
 post, 53 
 posts, iron, 195 
 iroffdrij 36 
 poscajlja^ yie 
 ppr^'^S^iio 
 
 -x.ilge stick, 21 
 pottage, 12 
 prayer, loi 
 
 prepuce, 195 
 presbyter, nameless, 52 
 Priapus, 52, 55, 65, 91, 157, 198 
 98 priestess, 47 
 
 primae noctis, see "jus" 
 
 princess, 79 
 
 Prior Worlds, 118 
 
 Privy Council of Scotland, Register 
 
 of, 169 
 profile, 100 
 profit, 90 
 irpoTTj &Kota, 190 
 Psyche, 156 
 
 pudenda, 3, 13, 159, 194 
 Purification, 166, 174 
 Pwyll, 163 
 
 QUADAM, 139, 140 
 Quarter Days, 137 
 Quayle, 43 
 quern, 170 
 quhaings, 7, 10 
 quicken tree, 59 
 quop (letter p), 96 
 
 Ra, 134 
 
 Rabelais, 91, 202 
 
 Ragnarok, 74 
 
 ram, 123 
 
 Ramadan, 147 
 
 rann, 6, 122, 138 
 
 rath, 204 
 
 raven, 28, 30, 69 
 
 re, 211 
 
 reaping, 51, 60 
 
 Rechem ( = Mercy), 104 
 
 red, 149 ; red yam, 143 ; red eggs, 
 
 142, see ruadh 
 Red Branch, 208 
 Reged, 34 
 Redneck, 206 
 
 "redness and blackness," loi 
 regula, 202 
 Regulus, 202, 203 
 regulus aurocapillus, 203 
 renes, 104 
 renovation, 197, 206 
 resurrection, 66 
 Rhea, 211 
 rhi=bri, 163 
 J„;&l«"annon, Rhianon, 163 
 rninnwedd, 163 
 Ria, 130 
 riabhach, 211 
 rib, 99 
 Ribh, 201 
 ribhinn, 174, 176 
 rice, 21 
 Riderech, 85 
 
230 
 
 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 Ridge of the tribute, 147 
 
 ring, 8, 84 
 
 Rinn, 29 
 
 Rinnail, 68, 86 
 
 Rishis, 151 
 
 Robertsons of Struan, 107 
 
 rod, 30, 40 
 
 Romans, 10, iii 
 
 Roman Shore, 62 
 
 ron, 61 
 
 Ronait, 60, 162 
 
 Ronan, 42, 60, 194 
 
 roof, 47 
 
 rope, 7 
 
 round stream, 30 
 
 rowan, 17, 69 
 
 Ruach, 98, 128 
 
 Ruadan, 149 
 
 ruadh, 11 
 
 rubstones, 170 
 
 Rucht, 28 
 
 Rudolph Fuldensis, 73 
 
 Rule, St, 202 
 
 rump, 36 
 
 rushes, S, 19, IS5, 181 
 
 Ruth, 156 
 
 rye, 203 
 
 Sabaoth, 95, 126 
 
 Sabbath, 105 
 
 Sabians, 148 
 
 sac-ban, 88 
 
 sack, double, 18, 19 
 
 Saigher, 154 
 
 Saints, All, 38 
 
 Saints, comparative list of, 22 
 
 sakti, 55 
 
 salmon, 14, 75, 83, 87, 88, 89, 154, 201, 
 
 202 
 salmon leap, 87 
 salt, 143, 144 
 Salvation Army, 93 
 salvation, way of, 97, 190 
 Samaria, 22 
 Samhain, Samain, 34, 66, 134, 140, 
 
 146 
 samh-uine, 55, 135 
 Sanctus, 198 
 
 Sanhedrim, Synedrium, 134 
 Sarameyas, 125 
 Sargon II., 136 
 
 Satan, 185 ; stoning of Satan, 202 
 Sator, 80 
 
 Saxon, 7, 43, 62, 91 
 science, 36, 83 
 scissors, 189 
 Scot, 7, 8, 12, 65, 71, 74, 200 ; secret 
 
 sin of, 72 
 Scota, 9 
 
 scothnaim, 14 
 
 Scotic Church, 134, 140, 146 
 
 scrotum, 116 
 
 Scythia, 9, lo, 189 
 
 Sea, the Great, 23, 67, 75, 87, loi, 153 
 
 Caspian, 9 
 
 Lybian, 9 
 
 Red, 9 
 
 seachduin, 131 
 Seat, 46, 77, 78, 79 
 Sebillot, 203 
 seche, 80 
 secret passage, 81 
 
 land, 39 
 
 seed, 170 
 
 seges, 172 
 
 Segeta, 172 
 
 Segobrigii, 168, 172 
 
 Segontiaci, 172 
 
 Segontium, 172 
 
 Selah na Jig, 55, 64 
 
 Selene, 92 
 
 Semele, 92 
 
 semen, 183 
 
 semen virile, 17, 150, 173 
 
 Sena, 47 
 
 Senan, St, 48, 62 
 
 Sencha, 151 
 
 sentem argenteum, 154 
 
 Seon, Seint, Sein, Caer, 172 
 
 seonnum, 172 
 
 septem-mestris, 133 
 
 septimanus, 131 
 
 Sephiroth, 94 
 
 Sepulchre, Holy, 134, 177 
 
 serpent, 45, 89, 161, 175 
 
 Seta, saeta, 80 
 
 sethor, 80 
 
 severity, 105 
 
 Servanus, 183 
 
 seven, 203 
 
 Severn, 75, 76 
 
 Shamas, 66, 135 
 
 shave, 13, 23 
 
 shekel of gold, 106, 107 
 
 shelf, 3, 41 
 
 Shepherd's star, 93 
 
 shield, 32 
 
 ship, 204 : treasure ship, 30 
 
 shoe, 6, 28, 155, 159 
 
 shoemaker, 208 
 
 shoulder, 36 
 
 shout, 92 
 
 Sicily, 117 
 
 sickle, 137 
 
 sid, sidh, sith, 27, 29, 41, 78, 81 
 
 sided, two, 55 
 
 sides, 99 
 
 sigach, 80 
 
INDEX 
 
 231 
 
 Sillan, 32, 47 
 
 silverhand, 77, 86, see Nuada 
 
 water, 96, 104, 121 
 
 Wheel, 210 
 
 Silvia, 211 
 
 Simoniacs, 52, 122 
 
 Simon Magus, 22, 52, 67, 190 
 
 single combat, 62 
 
 sinners, inspection of, loi 
 
 Sion, Tzion, 103, 104 
 
 sistrum, 66 
 
 sith (a thrust), 80 
 
 sithaige, 78 
 
 sithbrug, 80 
 
 sitting, 77 
 
 'sit up,' 77 
 
 Siva, 150 
 
 skald, 151 
 
 skate, 28, 84 
 
 skull, 119 
 
 sky, 60, 68 
 
 slab, 209, 211 
 
 slave, 26 
 
 slave-headed, no 
 
 Sliab Condala, 194 
 
 slipper, 155 
 
 sloes, 186 
 
 smith, 118, 161 
 
 smoke, 105 
 
 snake, spotted, 161 
 
 white, 21 
 
 snamach, no 
 
 snot, 121 
 
 solar, 112, 140 
 
 Solinus, 152 
 
 Solomon, 85, 161 
 
 Solon, 133 
 
 solstice, 137 
 
 soma, 148 
 
 son, 172 
 
 Soter, 88 
 
 soul-friend, 58 
 
 sow, 209 
 
 sowens, 170, 171, 173 
 
 sower, 80 
 
 sowing, 139 
 
 Spain, 14 
 
 spawn, 84 
 
 spear, 6, 24, 149, 209 
 
 sperma, 21 
 
 Spirit, Holy, 95 
 
 Spirit, Ruach, 98, 128 
 
 Splendour, 126 
 
 spout, 41 
 
 springs, hot, 152 
 
 sru, 9 
 
 Stock-Ly, 41 
 
 staff, 18 
 
 life giving, S5 
 
 Staff, Moloc's, 175 
 
 Patrick's, 82 
 
 stag, 123, 124 
 stag's horn, 124 
 stake, 35 
 Stallir House, 41 
 star mice, 176 
 (TTas, 22 
 
 step of a mast, 41 
 Stephen, St, 202 
 
 ffTetpavos, 203 
 Stevenson, R. L., 54 
 stone, 134 
 
 storeroom for grain, 82 
 Stormont, 43 
 straight, 29 
 Strathfarrar, 34 
 streams, two, 18, 29 
 Streaneschalch, 42 
 stripes, 211 
 Subura, 198 
 Suetonius, 91 
 Suevia, 177 
 sughan, 169 
 suide, 46, 77 
 Suir, 29 
 
 Sulivia, Sulina, 152 
 summer end, 135 
 
 sun, 20, 152, 99, 100, loi, 112, 119, 130, 
 132, 152, 153 
 
 destructive, 98 
 
 Sunday, 58, 131, 138, 209 
 Supernal Mother, 49, no, 120 
 Supreme Name, 130 
 surplices, 79 
 swimming, 92, no 
 swine-herds, 27, see pig-feeders 
 sword, 105, 106, 205, 208 
 Sylvia, 211 
 Sylvius, 50 
 Synedrium, 134 
 Syria Dea, 56 
 
 Tacitus, 93, 94 
 Tahiti, 54 
 Tailltin, 25, 78 
 Tain, 131, 209 
 Tairchell, Dairchell, 19 
 Taliessin, 76 
 Tamatea, 54 
 tamhan, 60 
 Tannhauser, 74 
 Tara, 147, 194 
 Tarvos, Trigaranus, 1 1 5 
 Taudamus, 64 
 Taurophagus, 116 
 tawny, 108 
 Tay, River, 181, 182 
 teat, 196 
 
232 
 
 RELIGIO SCOTICA 
 
 Teathur, 153 
 
 Tech Dabheoc, 201 
 
 teeth, 63, 76 
 
 Teimyon, 164 
 
 telach, II, 29 
 
 Telech, Fir, 156 
 
 Telethusa, 198 
 
 ten, 96, 97, 102 ; cutting ten, 189 
 
 TertuUian, 94 
 
 testicle, 124, 186 
 
 Tethra, 153 
 
 rh-pa^, 153 
 
 Tetragrammaton, see IHVH 
 
 thevil, 13 
 
 thirst, 174 
 
 Thomas, St, 157 
 
 thong, 9 
 
 Thor, 14, 191 
 
 thorn tree, 48 
 
 thread, 158 
 
 Three Cranes, 115 
 
 Three Mothers, 113 
 
 thumb, 122 
 
 Thursday, 14 
 
 Tiberius, 91 
 
 tie, 6, 8, 9 
 
 Tir da Glas, 18 
 
 Tiree, 16 
 
 Tisri, 138, 144 
 
 toi tuathgerrtha, 195 
 
 torn, 74 
 
 tongs, 66, 67 
 
 tongue, 97 
 
 tonsure, 14, 22, 52, 53, 57, 61, 87, 100, 
 
 loi, 200 
 tooth, 4, 6, 76, 122, 194 
 
 St Andrew's, 193 
 
 Toothfield, 194 
 torch, 156, 190 
 torradh, 143 
 Tours, 48 
 Towquhan, 7 
 Tracht Romra, 62 
 tradition, Jewish, 97 
 Tree of Knowledge, 105 
 
 Life, 105 
 
 Treves, Holy Coat of, 160 
 Triad, 97, 100 
 
 Feminine, 113 
 
 tribute of Adamnan, see Cain 
 
 Adhamnain 
 triformis, 153 
 Trinities, Two Junior, 106 
 Trinity, 102, 106, 113, 114, 126 
 Tritons, 75 
 trout, 89 
 
 ' True History,' Lucian's, 28 
 truncus, 60, 73 
 Tuaim-da-ghualan, 151 
 
 Tuatha De Danann, 47, 49, 68, 70, 74, 
 
 77, 78, 106, 134 
 Tuathal, 34, 88, 147 
 Tuireadh Brighid, 174 
 tuir, 198 
 
 Tuireadh, Magh, see Magh Tuireadh 
 Tula-Aman, 43 
 Tummuc, 30, 32 
 twelve boys, 43 
 twin, 99 
 twmp, 74, 77 
 two animals, 202 
 two backed beast, 202 
 two streams, land of, 18 
 Twrch Trwyth, 197 
 Tzabaoth, Sabaoth, 103 
 Tzion, Zion, 103, 104 
 
 i, 130 
 
 Ua-Alta, 18 
 Ua-Tinne, 60 
 uain (green), 80 
 
 (time), 135 
 
 (a cave), 80 
 
 {laKiVTi, 23 
 
 uam, uamh, 79, 134 
 
 Uaran n-Garuid, 30 
 
 uasligaib, 154 
 
 ubag, 141, 142, 144 
 
 ubh, ugh, 142 
 
 vdpalvdi, 130 
 
 vSpia, 130 
 
 iiSap, 130 
 
 Uillenn Red-edge, 68, 86 
 
 Uillne, 55 
 
 uim (bronze), 79 
 
 Uisneach, Usnagh, 88 
 
 uisque tar naeidin, 115 
 
 Uladh, 207, 209 
 
 ulcha, 132 
 
 ule (arm), 132 
 
 Ulf (Brigit's husband), 177 
 
 Ulfhada, Cormac, 132 
 
 ulna, 30, 193, 202, 209 
 
 Ultaigh, 207 
 
 Ultan, 153 
 
 Ulster, 30, 35, 203, 207 
 
 ululantium, 178 
 
 umha (bronze), 79 
 
 Umor, 116 
 
 Understanding, 97, 100 
 
 underworld, 117, 177 
 
 unicorn, 90, 91 
 
 unicus, 201, see iivrj 
 
 unguis, 32 
 
 Unknown Deity, 79 
 
 uprising, 199 
 
 upstanding, 68 
 
 ur, 78 
 
INDEX 
 
 233 
 
 Urbgen, 34 
 uterus, 104 
 
 VAGINA, 6 
 
 vain repetitions, 91 
 
 Vallis Caulium, 59 
 
 Vancouver, 121 
 
 Vararis, 34 
 
 Varduli, 152 
 
 vau=w (Hebrew letter )), 102 
 
 Veda, 151 
 
 veil, 156, 157 
 
 veneficium, 141, 143 
 
 Venus, SS. 92. 131. U6 
 
 Venusberg, 74 
 
 vessel, 39, 127 
 
 vessel of bronze, 30, 79 
 
 of glass, 79 
 
 VH,97 
 
 Vicus Sobrius, 132 
 
 vir, 24, 164 
 
 Virgin, 158 
 
 virgin, 113, 167 
 
 Virgin and all Martyrs, 135 
 
 virginity, 12 
 
 Virgno, 72 
 
 virtue, 163 
 
 virtus, 164 
 
 Vishnu, 85, 156 
 
 vitrum, 23 
 
 Volnay, 165 
 
 Voluntii, 34 
 
 voracity, 23, 56, 74, 178 
 
 Vortigem, 8 
 
 Vulcan, 117, 161 
 
 Wainamoinen, 130 
 wall, Roman, 8, 56 
 wands, 165 
 water, 126, 128, 130, 183 
 
 animals, 29, 30 
 
 water, "an extract of despicable," 
 
 130 
 wave, 12 
 
 weaver's beam, 149 
 weaving, 178 
 Wednesday, 54, 132 
 week, 131 
 
 well, II, 30, 90, 115, 201 
 Welsh, 8 
 
 Weremouth, i, 46 
 whale, 18, 47, 83, 160 
 whang, 8, 10 
 wheat-eater, 1B2 
 
 wheel of love, 191 
 
 whisky, 81 
 
 whistle, 149 
 
 Whitby, 42, 45 
 
 white, 104, 112, 120, 211 
 
 cow, 30, 92 
 
 deity, 194 
 
 enclosure, 211 
 
 snake, 105 
 
 widdershins, 196 
 
 widow, 192 
 
 Wilfrid, 42 
 
 Williams, Rev. Wynn, 171 
 
 will-power, 100 
 
 window, 97, 102, 117, 127 
 
 wing, 31, 69 
 
 winter, 56 
 
 Wisdom, 97, 100 
 
 woad, 3, 23 
 
 wolf, 15, 70, 74, 7S, 76, 86, 93, 15 s, 
 
 166, 179, see Ulf 
 women freed, 60 
 wool, salmon's, 13, 100 
 world, 49 ; primal worlds, 96, 118 
 worms, 30 
 wren, 202, 203, 208 
 Wright, 68 
 wrist, 195 
 wythnos, 131, 133 
 
 'Y' of Colum Cille, 114, 108 ; called 
 
 Oran's burial place, 108 
 Yama, 125 
 yard arm, 197 
 Yarrow, 76 
 Ychen Banawg, 32 
 year, 66, 133 
 
 and a day, 131 
 
 lunar, 145, 147 
 
 old Greek, 138 
 
 solar, 14s, 146 
 
 yellow, 106 
 
 Yesod, 103, 106 
 
 yew, 12, 86, 176 
 
 Yggdrasil, 105 
 
 yod=z (Hebrew letter 1), 96, 97, 98, 99, 
 
 102, 103, 104, 106, 118, 150 
 yoni, 40, 99 
 Yoruba, 170 
 
 Zacharias, 94 
 Zeus, 92 
 Zodiac, 138 
 {uSioc, 130 
 
PKINT&D BY 
 
 TURNBtJLL AND SPEARS, 
 
 EDINBURGH