142
NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. 11. AUG. 19,
Saints and Ancient Sanctuaries of Meath. By
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Dublin, 1915.
MELLIFOXT.
Mellifont Abbey in the County of Louth : its Rise and Downfall. Dublin, 1890.
THE IRISH MIDLANDS. The Beauties of Ireland. (Deals largely with
history of the Midlands.) By J. N. Brewer.
London, 1826. An Account of the O'Dempseys, Chiefs of Clan
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Thomas Mathews. Dublin, 1903. Early Haunts of Oliver Goldsmith. (Deals with
the connexion of the poet with the Midlands.)
By Rev. Dean Kelly. Dublin, 1905. The Midland Septs and the Pale. By Rev. P. R.
Montgomery Hitchcock, M.A. Dublin, 1908. The Plantations of Offaly and Leix. Chap. VII.
in ' The Beginning of Modern Ireland.' by
Philip Wilson. Dublin, 1914.
MOIRA.
The Battle of Magh Rath (Moira) and the Banquet of Dun-na-X-Gedh. Irish Text, with Transla- tion and Notes by John O'Donovan. Irish Archaeological and Celtic Society Publications, Dublin, 1842.
MOXAGHAX.
History of the County of Monaghan. By Philip
Evelyn Shirley. London, 1879-80. List of Books, Pamphlets, and Newspapers
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By E. R. McDix, M.R.I.A. Dundalk, 1906. Of Glaslough in the Kingdom of Oriel, and of the
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MOXASTERBOICE.
Muiredach, Abbot of Monasterboice, 890-923 A.D. : his Life and Surroundings. By R. A. S. Macalister. Dublin, 1914.
MOXKSTOWX (co. Dublin).
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MOOXE.
Notes on the High Crosses of Moone, &c. Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. Dublin, 1901.
MOUXT ST. BRANDON*.
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MUCKROSS.
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MUXGRET.
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WILLIAM MACARTHUB. 79 Talbot Street, Dublin.
(To be continued.)
THE THREE WITCHES IX ' MACBETH/
THE " weird sisters " of ' Macbeth ' present to me three stages or steps of witchcraft the novice, the graduate, and the mistress of high degree and, in keeping with their principle of contrariness,
Fair is foul, and foul is fair, the third witch is the chief and most knowing of the trio. In the brief opening scene the first witch only asks questions); the others answer her, the third with fuller and more far-seeing knowledge than the second. When shall we three meet again In thunder, lightning, or in rain ? asks the first witch.
When the hurly-burly 's done, When the battle's lost and won,
replies the second ; but the third knows
That will be ere the set of sun. " Where the place ? " is the next query of the eager novice. The graduate can reply " Upon the heath," but it is the mistress of high degree that gives the more promising and prophetic information : " There to mee f with Macbeth." The dialogue now appears to take an abrupt turn, for the first witch rejoins : " I come, Graymalkin." Who is Graymalkin ? The glossarists say " a familiar spirit in the shape of a grey cat," yet they give no reasons, or rather no authority that I have read states the why and the wherefore for such a definition^ There is no stage direction to say any spirit or body calls. Graymalkin certainly may mean an old, grey cat, and in the song ' Come Away ' sung in Act III. scene v., of which only the first line is given, but which can be found entire in Middle ton's ' The Witch,' Hecate speaks of what in Act III.. scene v. she terms " my little spirit " as " Malkin my sweet spirit."
Hark ! I am call'd ; my little spirit, see, Sits in a foggy cloud, and stays for me.
The song in ' The Witch ' runs :
Come away, come away ; ) m th .
Hecate, Hecate, come away. J ~H.ec. I come, I come, I come, With all the speed I may. Now I go, now I fly, Malkin my sweet spirit and I, &c.
Is Hecate or her spirit Graymalkin ? Or is it to the third witch that the name is applied ? If to the third witch, then the dialogue loses its abrupt turn, and the mistress of high degree gets an appropriate witch-name ; but,, before the line would fit in this sense, it would have to be slightly amended from the present to the future, and read : " I'll come,. Gravmalkin."
