This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
240
Folk-lore Notes from Tipperary.

A Lake Serpent.

There is a lake in the Galtee mountains, called Lough Muskerry, the waters of which are said to be agitated when there is no wind by a "worm" which lives in the bottom of it. He has been condemned to abide there till the Day of Judgment, and every hundred years he puts his head out of the water, and asks, "Is it the Day of Judgment yet?"

Ancient Forts.

Few will dare to dig or cultivate one of the many ancient forts in this district. I have heard of a man who tried to plough such a fort, and sickened and died within a year.

The Hole of the Pig.

There is a swallow-hole in a fissure of the limestone known as Poulmucka, "the Hole of the Pig." A man had a pig of the ordinary white colour, and one day he told someone that he intended to kill it. The pig disappeared down the hole, and afterwards a black pig with a litter of black "boniffs," used sometimes to be seen there.

Boulaun Stones.

Two examples of the well-known Boulaun Stones exist near Cahir. One is called "Patrick's Knees," because it bears two hollows said to be worn by the knees of St. Patrick. No one ever meddles with it, and the water which collects in the hollows is used as a cure for warts.

The Cave of St. Becàn or Pekaun.

At the entrance of the Glen of Aherlow is the place where St. Becàn practised austerities twelve hundred years ago. Here is his cave in which he used to lie extended while he recited the whole Psalter daily. There used to be also his Cross, which was broken some years ago by a mason "with a clout of a hammer. He died of an inward pain in one day," said my informant. Near by his chapel, now in ruins, is the "Butter