is wetter, lower, lonelier, and more dismal than another. And thou shalt be a disgust to thyself and a horror to every living creature that sees thee."
The character of the smith in its trickiness, a trickiness with which the devil himself accused him, is the key to the name. Sionnach[1] is a fox, and the meaning is evidently "Foxy's Fire." No doubt the red hide of the fox has made him godfather to the story.
In the Second Book of Kings, chapter ii. verse 11, it is said: "And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold (there appeared), a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw (it)," &c. This, which has been known to the teachers of the Gael from a period long antecedent to any records by themselves of their beliefs, seems the best introduction to this portion of our subject: the Dreag, Dreug, Drook, Driug. Mr. MacBain, in his lately published Etymological Dictionary, describes it as "a meteor or portent; from the Anglo-Saxon dreag, apparition; Norse, draugr, ghost." From a folklore point of view, Armstrong's definition tells a great deal more:
"Dreag, dreig, s.f., a meteor. See Dreug."
"Dreug, dreige, s. (druidh-eug), a meteor, a falling star, a fireball. Among the Ancient Britons, a meteor was supposed to be a vehicle for carrying to paradise the soul of some departed Druid. This superstition, like many others, had its origin in Druidical artifice. The priests of that order, to strengthen their influence, took occasion from every aerial phenomenon to blind and overawe the ignorant; and as they laid claim to extraordinary sanctity, they naturally went to the broad fields of the sky for strengtheners to their illusions. So well did they engraft their absurd opinions, that, even at this distant day, the appearance of a ball of fire creates, among the more ignorant Gael, a belief that some illustrious spirit has taken its flight to eternity. From this circumstance we may infer, with Dr. Smith, that Dreug is a contraction of Druidh-eug, a Druid's death. This ingenious antiquarian thinks that the Druidical fantasy just mentioned must have had its origin in a tradition of Enoch's fiery chariot."
- ↑ Seannachan, a wily person in Irish; see O'Reilly's Dictionary.
