Another magnificent caher is Dun-Aengus in Aran, which will be found represented at page 51.

There are now no traces left of the wooden houses erected in any of these old forts; but the raths, lisses, duns, cahers, cashels, and mounds are still to be seen in every part of Ireland, and are called by these names. Circular houses within circular forts gradually gave place to the four-cornered houses that we have at present but they continued in use till the thirteenth or fourteenth century.

The ancient Irish buried their dead in three different ways, of which the most usual was depositing the body in the grave as at present. Sometimes the body of a king, or great warrior, or other notable person, was placed standing up in the grave, fully dressed in battle array, with sword in hand, and with his face turned towards the territory of his enemies: King Laegaire [Leary] was buried in this manner in one of the ramparts of Tara. The pagan Irish believed that while the body of their king remained in this position it exercised a malign influence on their enemies, who were thereby always defeated in battle. Owen Bel, king of Connaught, when dying of a wound received in a battle fought near Sligo against the Ulstermen in A.d. 537, said to his people:-"Bury me with my red javelin in my hand on the side of the hill by which the Northerns pass when fleeing before the army of Connaught, and place me with my face turned towards them in my grave." And this was done, and the Ulstermen were always routed after that; till at last they came and removed the body to another grave, placing it head downwards which broke the baleful spell.

Very often the body was burned and the ashes placed in an ornamental urn of baked clay, which was

deposited in the ground in a sort of chest formed of flags. Our histories do not tell us about this, for the custom had ceased before his

tory began: but we know it was very general in Ireland, because urns containing ashes and half-burned human bones are very often found in old graves. Sometimes the body or urn was placed in what we now call a cromlech, formed of several large upright stones supporting on top one immense flat stone, so as to

enclose a rude chamber. A cromlech was much the same

as the flat tombs in

Cromlech at Tawnatruffaun, Sligo: 7 feet high. From Wood-Martin's "Pagan
Ireland." N. B.-Cromlechs are now sometimes called Dolmens.

churchyards of the present day, except that the stones were much larger, and were in their rough state, with

out being hammered or chiselled into shape. Many of these cromlechs still remain, and are often called by the people "Giants' Graves."

Often a great mound of stones called a cairn was heaped over the grave. In old times people had a fancy for burying on the tops of hills, so that cairns are still to be seen on many hill-tops, under every one of which sleeps some person of consequence in the days of old. On the level lowlands, the mound was sometimes of stones, or of stones and clay; and many of these also remain. In every mound, whether on hill or plain, there was a chamber formed of flags deep down in the centre, in which the body or urn was placed. A burial mound has no ramparts round it; and by this it may generally be distinguished from the mound of a dun or fortress.

T the regular meals the whole household sat in one large room, the chief and his family and distinguished guests at the head, and the rest of the company ranged downwards in order of rank.

For food, the higher classes used the flesh of wild and domestic animals, boiled or roast, much as at the present day, with wheaten bread. The main food of the general body of the people consisted of various kinds of bread baked on a griddle; milk, curds, cheese, butter; fish and fruit; and, for those who could afford it, pork and bacon. Pork was a favourite food among all classes. Oatmeal porridge, or stirabout, as it is called in Ireland, was in very general use, especially for children, and was eaten with milk, butter, or honey. The Irish rivers abounded then as now in salmon, a food which was in great request.

:

There was then no sugar, and honey was greatly valued beehives were kept everywhere; and the management of bees was considered such an important industry that a special section of the Brehon Laws is devoted to it. The people used honey in a great many different ways: they basted roasting meat with it; it was used on salmon while cooking, and as a seasoning with all sorts of dishes. Often at meals each person

had a little dish, sometimes of silver, filled with honey, beside his plate, and each morsel, whether meat, fish, or bread, was dipped into it before being conveyed to the mouth. For drink, they had-besides plain water and milk-ale, mead, and frequently wine brought from the Continent: for in those early days there was frequent communication, as well as considerable trade, with France and other continental countries. The people often mixed honey with milk, either sweet or sour, for drinking. From honey also was made a kind of liquor called mead, very sweet and slightly intoxicating. This was considered a delicacy; and a visitor was often treated to a drink of mead immediately on arrival.

People of the higher classes often drank from a beautiful horn of elaborate and costly workmanship. A much more common drinking vessel was what was called a mether (from mead), made of wood, with one,

1. The "Kavanagh Horn," in Museum of Trinity College, Dublin: of ivory, ornamented with gilt metal plates and bands: 16 inches high, 2.-Mether in National Museum: 81⁄2 inches high. Both from Wilde's Catalogue.

two, or four handles, which circulated from hand to hand, each passing it to his neighbour after taking a drink.