Corresponde7icc. 259
On the Irish coasts the common Limpet or Patella is supposed to develop out of the Acornshell or Balanus which covers the rocks.
The Carrabuncle is supposed to be an aquatic animal found at the bottom of lakes. On Brandon Mountain it is said to be a kind of snake that lives in Lough Geal, makes the water shine, and throws off shells with precious stones in them. It is seen only once in seven years, " like a cashk rowlin' about in the wather." Mr. Colgan regards the animal as a highly developed form of the Piast, or great serpent or dragon, which gives its name to many Irish lakes.
The Water-Horse is rare in Ireland, though common in the western Highlands of Scotland. Mr. Colgan was shown a place on Loch Inagh in Connemara, where a man saw a water-horse emerge from the lake; after prancing about and shaking his mane, he returned to his watery element with a mighty splash.
The above selection from a number of facts in an interesting article shows what a wealth of folklore remains uncollected in Ireland.
W, Crooke.
warts); The Folk- Lore Journal, vol. iv., p. lo (a boat built of stolen wood sails faster by night than by day); Folk- Lore, vol. v., p. 82 (stolen idols more valuable than those bought or otherwise got); ibid., vol. vi., p. 121 (meat for cure of warts); ibid., vol. vi., p. 392 (stolen oil for love charms); ibid., vol. vii., p. 3<X) (stolen herring used in Hallow Eve charms); The Dettham Tracts^ vol. ii., p. 48 (stolen red garters a cure for rheumatism); E. S. Hartland, The Legend of Perseus, vol. ii., pp. 75, 15S, 161; Notes and Queries, ist S., vol. ii., pp. 68, 3S7, vol. vi., p. 50.
