BEALOIDEAS Be 1991 An Cumann le Bel inca IS AN CHUM, ISSN 0332-270 EIREANN, AN CUMANN LE BEALOIDEAS EIREANNBEALOIDEAS FOLKLORE OF IRELAND SOCIETY166 DIARMUID 6: IFC 8 155:51-52, Roscommon: IFC $ 235°9-74. Wicklow: IFC S| 520171172 May: IFC § 89898:95. Kerry IPC 8 482410. Cavan: One THE KING OF THE CATS feonoe miki oan ‘The Revenge and the Non-Revenge Redactions in Ireland EOGHAN RUA O NEILL ratory legend The King of the Cats ~ of which the two redactions found in Ireland form the topic of this paper ~ is tusually classified as a subtype of the so-called Pan Legend, This has its name from a story told by the Greek writer Plutarch (c.50 - 120 AD.) in chapter 15 of his dialogue De defectu oraculorum.’ & sammary of Plutarch’s story goes as follows: Once when a ship was drifting near the island of Paxi a mysterious voice was heard calling out loudly from the islands for Thamus, an Egyptian pilot. He did not answer luntil the third time he was called. The caller then raised his voice and said: When you come opposite to Palodes, announce that Great Pan is dead.” Thamus conveyed the message when he came there, and before he had finished 1g mingled with eries of amazement wwas heard. ‘The contest of Platarch’s story is worthy of note. It was triggered by the topic of whether or not spirits are mort and it is presented as told by a certain writer named Philib, who apparently was a real person, an aquaintance of Plutarch's. Philib mentioned that he heard the story from a 1 The erginal Greek tort can be consulted 0. ia the Lach often of hs Morale Phatareh 1996, #00, 402) that eb ape a0 finds the dialogue fa English trznnation, entitled Obsotecen Srailable translation, eallea The Dee Photos Moral sane in Pegs Classis 167168 EOGHAN RUA O NI ‘man called Bpitherses, the father of the orator Aemilianus, a ‘man who was known to several athers among those taking part in the discussion. Since Philib refers to Epitherses, who erature, as intelligent and reliable, we may assume that he believed the story ta bo true, and we are also informed that this view was shared by others who had beard it, including Emperor Tiberius himself. The story thus cexhibits'a number of the characteristics usual ‘migratory legends about the supernatural everyday life, it is set in the recent past, i that could not in reality have happened — encounter with otherworld forces — but whi bbe true and is vouched for by someone who is considered y, known to and often in some other way connected The most characteristic ingredient of the story is a ‘message of a tragedy in the spirit world, communieated from one supernatural being to another (or others) throusth human intermediary. This description may also serve as a ‘minimal definition of other stories found in latter-day folk tradition, which scholars are wont to bring together under the umbrella title the Pan Legend, 0 ind early 20th centuries among lologsts and mythologists.? The first scholar to attempt a ‘more thorough folk ‘Taylor in a work entitled Northern Parallels to the Death of Pan (1922), Taylor noted that the variants of current in folk tradition fall into two main categories: th 2 Seo. Clemen 1922, Mannhard 1875, 90 and 2677. 192 ft, Gorharé 1et6e & b and Gerhard 118 Pranr 1911, 12044, Thee ond thereat wor Boberg 19348 ‘THEKING OF THE CATS 169 anthropomorphic group, in which dwarfs, elves or other supernatural beings in human shape are featured, and the zoomorphie group in which both the sender and the receiver lof the death message are cats. Taylor's study was followed, and to a great extent superseded, by Inger M. Boberg’s monograph Sagnet om de Pans Dad (1934), Inger Boberg retained Taylor's main Fo i oup as vaetegruppe ie group as hattegruppen (‘The Cat Group!) but ~ on the basis of the distribution and frequency of the respective groups, as she saw them = Boberg carried the analysis further, maintaining that goblin geoup is mainly Germanie, the eat group mainly Celtic. The goblin group, which dominates in Scandinavia ~ and which is frequently found in Germany and also occurs in Holland, Belgium and France is stated to be absent from the British Isles. The only exceptions to this are Shetland (where it is found in a number of variants containing phrases in Norn, the old Seandinavian language there, thus betraying their We hand tnd it is also the only group represented in le Furthermore itis attested in certain parts continental Europe: in France (where it is ‘As to Phutarch’s story, Boberg co importation from northern European Germanic tradit where the goblin group is postulated to have existed long before 100 AD. The eat group Boberg regards as a Celtic development, though she is undecided as to whether it took shape on the eontinent or developed on the British Isles, A redaction within the cat group containing the motif that the killed cat revenged {a redaction we will return to below is considered by Boberg to be a most definitely Celti form." 4 Taster 5 Baherg 1988.1EOGHAN RUA O NEILL ‘vdow, who inspired Inger Baberg’s work, ly accepted her division of the Pan Legend into 2 Celtic and a Germanic form and adapted the theory to fit in with his favourite notion of age-old regional variation, He termed the goblin group a Teutonic vivotype’ and the eat, group a Celtie cicotype’ Further contributions to the study of the legend were made by Johan Kahlén - who drew attention to neglected material from westarn Sweden:* Norwegian forms of the Pan Legend n now be found in Christiansen’s legend catalogue under 60704, Fairios send a message and MI. 6070B, The King. "Der Tod des is introduced." Haavio stressed that there are certain amalgamations of the goblin group and the eat group, e.g. in variants where the receiver of the death to be a troll who has taken the shape ofa cat wie the anthropomorphie shape is older than the cateshape, so that the development was Kobold > Wicher Kobold > Katze (goblin > eat like goblin > in which event the ‘Celtie’ group has to he regarded as iuting an innovation 69, 1V, 184.219) the same dist fact that they can form hybrids and influence each other in areas where they co-exist. Otherwise his opinions as to the distribution of the legend and its forms differ from Boberg’s. According to Liungman there is no ‘on Sydow 1948, 3604 on Ramen 1936, 002, yin won Sydow 1884.33 ‘tie KING OP THE CATS at need to suppose that either of the two groups go further back than the fifteenth century A.D. and the cat group, he thinks, might have reached Bngland and Ireland as late as the middle ofthe sixteenth century. Liungman also fi that the legends, as we nose have them, ultimat connection with oriental laments on'the death of gods or ‘spirits (such as those also reflected in Plutarch’s story’; these, however, he attributes to contacts between Europe and the Orient in southern Franee, which need not be older than the it centuries of the Middle Ages. This, if correct, would mean that “The Pan Legend’ is a misnomer, that the connect between Plutarch’s story and the legend as found in later fell {radition is only of an indiveet nature.” m ‘As a result of all the above-mentioned investigations a considerable body of variants of The Pan Leyend has heen amassed, Taylor investigated clase to 250 variants from England, Scotland, Canada, France, Germany, Denmark, Norway and Ieeland, Boberg added in excess of 100 variants, including some from countries not represented in Taylor’ study. Further additional material indieates that the cat soup is found somewhat more frequently and over a wider ‘area than Boberg thought. There are for instance a number of variants belonging to the eat group as far east a5 Finland and Estonia.” Approaching the Pan Legend from an Irish angle, however, ‘one cannot but be struck by the paucity and inferior quality of the material from Ireland upon which Boberg ~ and other hol is use the same variants ~ base their opinions of the age, origin and dissemination of the story. This is regrettable in view of the prominent role ong i 19 with referenes o 1G 128 Der Tod esue BOGHAN RUA O NEILL Celtic! form of the story under discuss fe corpus of Bobory’s Irish material amounts to some of which she has not had access to in guage er even in their full forms, but rather quoted from translations and summaries." There would have been some excuse for this at the time Baberg penned hi thosis, in the early 1930s, when very little Irish material was available; however, the situation has altered radical thanks to the intensive collecting carried out after the establishment of the Irish Folklore Commission in 1935, Whether or not one should attach any importance to Boberg’s theories of the origin and distribution of the Pan Legend is to the solution of other problems, su funetion of the narrative complex in que and elsewhere. This, of course least of the Scottish and En, aim to provide is merely a survey of the more sa ‘and traits of The Pan Legend as found in Ireland distribution within the country as well as putti forward some ideas as to how these facts might be interpreted in the wider context as we now know it. This survey is to some extent based on two previous investigations of mine, a short paper in the journal Sinsear " and and unprinted t Folklore ~ printed sources and rea {THE KING OF THE CATS 13 ‘The first important result that emerges from my mater that the goblin group is not represented in True enough, there are legends in Ireland in wi supernatural anthropomorphic beings receive a message to the effect that their abode is afire and one of their children bburnt or dead. This motif is met with in particular in a common story which has been entitled The Fairy Hill on Fire [MLSIT 6071)" and in some Irish versions of the legend, which Reidar Th. Christiansen terms The Changeling and lists as ML. 5085, However, these narratives do not conform to the definition of The Pan legend as given above: in them the piece of information is tendered by hhuman actor house (not orig isa false message, intended to lure the supern into leaving the house (not a true message the result of which comes as a surprise to the human who conveys it). Though this docs not preclude the possibility of some kind of connection between legends about the ‘real’ message and those about the false message, I consider it preferable not to classify these narratives as variants of Christiansen’s Fairies send 2 Message. Nor do they fall within the ambit of The Pan ‘as defined above. In any event The Fairy Hill on Fire this collection of folk legend studies” sand need not concern us further here ample, sce bela ose Mae sinthiew4 PocHaN RUA O NERLL 249 is ts of the Pan have managed to bring together belong to the cat group, It is also noteworthy that nowhere im this corres te wand any indication that we are dealing with faisien itches or other supematural beings who have taken sca sha cats in the Irish variants are supernatural but, apart fram As regards distribution, my material 1 Essentials to reflect the true state of affuirs. The "ge enough to be representat endeavoured to bring together vari different areas of the country as possible. This wae fa lush systematic use of the variants listed be fuilleabhain and Christiansen, under Type 113-4 in The fines of the Irish Folktae,* but. many other variante hone been taken into account. Some of these sources ey the printed ones bat information to hand shows that the loge ‘in most Trish counties, and that it was ~ one of the more common narrat documented from a few counties to some exten relheae even collecting ~ due e.g. tothe circumstance that dies from the six counties of Northern Ireland did not take scheme and that fu through whose effort the major jollection was brought together ~ were not evenly distabecd Ghinaghout the country. farther consideration is thas Got under way so late in certain parts of the iy of the old rural tra ‘The Tezend seems to have been disce lst entirely through oral channels, O variants collected in the field contain de render it lkely that they ult fF 45-6. A number af the items listed ‘hero have (ror Carreions ta TIF ane given in Append ta Oe sta dozen of the ls which prove or ely derive from prin ‘The great majority of are self fort Cat Asks for Boots. This combin: Boberg from Irel ly understood without a deta) 2412 C, a subject the sained. Most pro sa combination with a tale fon is nt reered toby i oelsuhere ner have mea eome amples sty or of FF a4n2 © mechanic of he cai sod -d investigation of Type csson af hh mat ned aa another occasion.” As cat group fa he refers to as Den bratshe hottegruppe 1 sip f Br fotteruppe endende trvting wth revenge Simply as the Nen-revenge Redact the yrints within the cated bov,Roerg ated ha the varias rn or red. Thes she sre ain ne Simple form) and Ben brivske ed hnedrah Une Bish et oup ing)" wl enetrth retro ose wand the Revenge sh cat gr tin ; re Ore example ofeach redaction fom Ireland even bl rier mors in the Sampler of migratory legen In state the sagt Teanos of th veapecve Tasos amp ofeach i be ard hr, lowing legend, which was taken down choses Hanks, from a Mrs Bri int hand at Lelling’, belongs to the Non-revenge Redaction. Mrs Behan, who was 69 years of age at the time stated that she had hea Tegend when she hs gg from an ald woman the name of Elen from mad a sg at vsne oF HE 2s Ghch bare oem ‘erorunder tia Bote ets 14200176 _ “OGHAN RUA 0 NEILL One day a farmer is dead’ he area. Ne to his wife about the id he say?" said his wite ne Anne is dead,” he ; & in the ashes, and when “Han Can’ he jumped up and shook w exclaimed, and leaped over answered. Their 0 he heard the words himself "Oh, dog and lowr.1958 hy the santa coletor Sean O Dashes ‘in translation fr rd, Co. Kerry. It is is give Brudaire 12 Luaithe This is a story I heard from a authair His name was Diarmuaid Ooh eo O Gruitin, The poor air an from somewh th }er® around there who and he often used to walle home late at night. for a butcher, an had a sm: 5 {THE KING OFTHE CATS 7 that you ki ‘Then he threw al ripped it apart, but he went on as fast as he could reached home. When he came home an old singed eat covered in ashes was lying beside the fire, The man came to think about what the eat he had hit with his stick on the road had told him, s0 he spoke to him and said: Brudaire inn na Luaithe, [killed Adam of the Cats. ‘Arah, before the man even knew it, the eat by the and they stood up and with one leap enmeshed itself in his throat, taking a grip that could not be loosened. The head was cut was already: fff the eat with a reaping:hook, But the m dead, the artery in his neck ripped ‘There were many who told that story, or 1g a man three vin [As the examples show, both the Non-revenge and Revenge: Redactions are divided into two episodes of about equal length. The first of these, which has an outdoor setting, I be termed the internal fhe main human actor — who is sometimes episode. In tach episade). The link between episodes is in both redactions « death: passed on from one eat to another ‘Many variants of both redactions share a number of further traits of @ more concrete nature, Thus in the extern ‘the man is normally depicted as travelling at night in a forest, across a field, or along a solitary road, and the first eat h fencounters is often said to come leaping out ly andRooHAN RUA 6 NEILL re ofa ieee rong aod vigprny a wid i s vou ten rar ment ha Somes ta hear af ee sido be the the domestic seers ‘opposition male ~ fer ames and sexe Sie by sie with thon aro ns contain their own which rende their own a The non and on average In none of the re we directly th-message is, but ‘identical with THE KING OP THE cars aggressiveness in the Revenge Redaction it is alse noteworthy that a high percentage af both the eats reported to be dead and the indoor cats receiving the message seems to be female. Inthe internal episode of the non-revenge varinnts there is more variation than in the exte ig nearly always lucks the violent any there is a fine halance, parallelism and contrast between the external internal episode: the outdoor cat enters the scene with imp, while the indoor eat leaves, ly sudden an unexpected way, The house cat is sometimes stated to have disappeared forever: this is the ease when it is implied that the dead cat was a royal one, the king or queen of the cats (a trait that is found in a fair number of both non-revenge and revenge variants); sometimes, however, the indoor eat is said to have returned after a period of time. In the latter case we often hear that it atvended the funeral of the dead cat, which some variants is suid to have heen an aunt (or some a relative) of the house cat's ‘The balance between the external and the internal episode is even more artistic in the majority of the revenge variants. In them, in the external episode ‘between the autdoor eat and the mar of the former, while : attacked and, as a rule killed, by the which the death-message emanates is also in the revenge ints invariably the eat which is killed in the external episode but manages to deliver the message about itself ‘attack scene ~ in which sometimes the man, ut more 1 cat is the aggressor ~ provides scope for elaborati Which inereases suspense and allows a faller depiction of the ferocity ofthe fight and the frightening, monstrous character of the wild eat. Some variants mention a whole aggressive cate, screaming out for dramatic and gory detai the revenge action in sede, such as the ‘monstrous growth of the house cat and the ruthless way which it goes for the man's windpipe. In a high percentage of180 BOGHAN RUA 0 NEILL ants itis stated or implied that both the outdoor and cats were male. The end of the story is, ariants that the house cat disappears after having killed the ‘man and it may in such instances either be directly stated or lassumed that it took up the kingship that had fallen vacant Uncommonly, however, it js said that it was killed by by: standers, who then have to cut off the eat's head or pars which are stuck in the man's windpipe with a knife, razor or som instrament. All in all, we may be entitled to say that in the Non. revenge Redaction elements of innocent fantasy and childich tomfootery are to the fore. It would not be far wrong to call it an entertainment legend. In its simplicity it also stands close to the humorous anecdote. That tellers of this form of the legend were amused by it themselves and that their audience did indeed respond with smiles and chuckles is something 1 had opportunity to observe myself, during field work in the Midlands, 1 was privileged to share with James G. Delaney in 1983. In the Revenge Redaction the narrative has instead, through the lengthening and introduction of additional ‘motifs, moved in the direction of a folktale (and, as we have seen, t has indeed heen classified as such in Antti Aarne’s and Stith Thompson's catalogue, though wrongly s0 in my opinion). In its depiction of the supernatural, however, which is here more tangible and frightening than in the non revenge redaction, the story remains a narrative uf the type generally termed belief legend, In its preference {or ‘excitement and danger, the Revenge Redaction may perhaps be said to reflect a more rumbustious and robust taste then the Non-revenge Redaction, x ‘The existence in one and the same country of two redactions, Wwaich though similar in many ways are yet so diferent. gives vise to many knatty que: Jn view of the traits outlined above, one might for instance ask whether the Non-revenge Redaction was more female orientated im that it was more often told hy womea — and ‘THE KING OF THE CATS 181 ently to a female audi perhaps also told more frequent Se - than the Revenge Redaction which we might imasine to ha appealed more to masculine easte. There are, in fact, some indicat is might hava been the case, ‘Tra chains ing Lo the non-revenge variant quoted of folk legends. A similar patter : ftom Patricia Lyseghts analysis ofthe to rotations of the fo The hanshers Coben ou of he goes her chat factors auch as grown-ups deeming the non ‘evnge variate ob stale for shroud ores for she bige namber ef ng for thera ray a bi Soncrevenge vavante in the Sehools Manuscripts, What | {nde To she main ast fr hn however, emerge below. The concason, consequently, that cation must be Exerc th eatin of posi erratins between ge sry ad the two redgtans of the str Here, t,he erst should not be excluded that further field col182 OGHAN RUA Oi from the matters pertaining to the sex rs and their audience to those concer! geographical domicile, we find firmer ground under our feet. though the number of non-revenge and revenge variants collected in Ireland is almost equal ~ the former amounting to 46% and the latter to 54% of my material.” — they overlap only to a very limited extent. If we the variants we see that a fairly well-defined borderline between the two redactions can be drawn from Co, Donegal in the north to Co. Waterford in the south, East of this line we find the vast majority of the non-revenge variants, while west of it the Revenge Redaction {usually involving a violent attack seene ) episode) is equally predominant, On closer it also emerges that the eastern distribution area Shows a rather seattered and disjointed pattern, while the tern is heavily concentrated to a few counties: Donegal, Mayo, Galway, Kerry, Cork and Waterford, or ~ to be more specific ~ to parts of these counties where the Irish language is or, until recently, was spoken, From this — and the fact that the vast majority of the revenge variants are actually Id in the Irish language ~ it is quite evident that there is a efinite geographical and linguistic dichotomy wit relating to the Non-revenge and Revenge Redactions of King of Cats is Dead, the former being attached to the east lish language, the latter to the west and the Irish of the te x It is now possible for us to return to some of the views by previous scholars concerning the distribu Legend as a whole and investigate to what extent the, fi 1 refuted, strengthened or weakened by our \dings relating to the Irish material Boberg's statement that the Non-revenge Redaction in Ireland is essentially confined to the south-east ofthe country ‘As revenge variants Ihave here cogidored all van she “THE KING OP THE CATS 183 additional variants r number from the Midlands, which T have managed tunearth, The fact that the Trish non-revenge variants are tver 110 in number ~ as opposed to Boberg’s 8 (out of whi fare so fragmentary that it is even uncertain to which grou they belong) ~ also proves beyond doubt that non-revenge variants in Ireland are far more common than Bobers, thought. Nevertheless, Tam in agreement with Boberg’s statement that the real home of the Non-revenge Redaction ‘within these islands is England, Many reasons in addition to twseen this redaction and the Eng! in favour of such a theary and also argue for wn that the redaction was brought over to in relatively recent times. The dissemination can hardly have begun earlier than after the Norman invasion, and variants are likely to have been introduced or re: stances peeurred ts are most variants so often occur puggins also in rhymed pairs, such as Poll-Nol indicates their English origin.” in the Irish-language tradition ~ not surprisingly since full rhymes of this type are foreign to Trish poetic tradition as a ole, fe may alsa be mentioned that some of the specific eat names used in the non-revenge variants ~ eg. Peg and Mol! — fre common to some variants on both sides of the Irish sea. ‘The situation pertaining to such names in England, namely that they ~ to use Inger Boberg’s well-chosen simile ~ are Hike cog-wheels gripping each other, seems to apply also t Ireland, A more detailed invest starting points in England and some ofthe specific name pairs and names, ‘Concerning the Revenge Redaction, Boberg maintains that itis the most typically ‘Celtic’ of the legends within the Pan os al th varias nin eid ame, 71.7 a ale tease {The King184 4 that it was firmly reoted in Ireland and Scotland nly places apart from Iceland where she knew of its existence). might, perhaps, be wiser in view of the fact that 10 Welsh or Breton revenge variants have been brought to Tight to avoid such a wide term as ‘Celtic’, but it must certainly be agreed that the existence of over 130 additional Irish variants, the great majority ish language, which T have brought together, gives mass statement that the Revenge Redaction is fin Gaelic Ireland." I have also information to the effect that there are more Scottish variants than the two Boberg. Jb unity is in itself an indication that the Revenge Redaction is fairly. Scotland, and the distribution pattern i ly that the Reven than the ion-revenge Redaction, The occurrence of a umber of sub: redactions within the Revenge Redaction, basically corresponding to three major Irish dialect areas: Donegal and Mayo, Galway, and Kerry and Cork ~ distinguis! particular on the basis of the eat names in them” offers Another indication of some antiquity, though we have means of determining with certainty how many centuries it ‘would take for such variation to develop. A definite terminus ante quem for the revenge redaction i Ireland is, as Bobeng as well as Liungman have noted, offered by a variant included in a curious tract, entitled Beware the Cat, published in London in 1584." The story ~ which is iggered by a controversy as to whether birds and bea: ~is told asa true experience, sta himself ‘and divers other eredible men’ to, “about xaxif winters past’. The Trish prove [THE RING OF THE CATS 185 variant is notin doubt, both since itis set in since it contains a phrase in Tish — shane fel.” threat spoken by a monstrous wildeat with an unsatiable appetite which is finally 1 by launching, ing him. That this is far from rish variant of the Revenge Redaction is not on an bo alan indented by the ft thatthe story fn ely Question is somewhat corrupt in that Tacks a al ‘What we have adduced so far may not be slficient to refute Liungmat’s opinion that there i no need to suppose ‘The King ofthe Cat is Dead in any oft forme or any frm af The Pan Legend on the whole ~ to be older than the Fiftenth century. However 1 would at least consider our evidence to indica greater antiquity OF special importance in connection with the age ofthe Revenge Redaction ts the manner in which ne assesses the tray im which this redaction was eared Keandy where = f= no her form af the Pan Legend is found, but where there are mn fact a number of revenge tariante in addition to the only one known to Boberg and Lungman.” In the event that we subserbe to Bobeny’s view that we are to consider the Iceland tradition to be féshoot of the Irish or Scottish one, that would in al ikelthood also imply thatthe boro time Bobeng suggests, around 900 A.D settled, partly by people who had connection with Sctland. A cinsagaenee of ach an assumption would be that 610) enn tht fe fete preins ited186 BOGHAN RUA 6 NEILL the Revenge Redaction is likely to go back to at Yeast the nningh century in Ireland or Scotland. One may suspect that it was in order to avoid such a possibility that Liungman, maintained that the Icelandic tradition emanated from id being most v after the Reformation. There seems to be nothi substantiate Liungman’s supposition, however, since ne he himself or, to my knowledge, anybody else has been able to poi ish ~ revenge variants. On the other wr since Boberg’s study that shu is wrong in her assumption that the revenge redaction ide Ireland and Scotland is found nowhere except Iceland.” A few variants have now turned up in western ‘Sweden and Norway. In view of this it is diffieult to say whether or not we should regard all revenge variants as borrowings from Irish or Scottish tradition, The somewhat incoherent and confused nature of the Swedish and Norwogian revenge variants,” as well as their general shoriness and their paucity ~ traits one is often strusk by in the periphery of the distribution area of a legend ~ might nevertheless take one inclined to subseribe to such a view A variety of further ~ though net very firm ~ clues to the ‘age of the different redactions in Ireland is offered by other circumstances. Some of the deseriptions of the outdoor eat and of the changes in shape and character which the indoor cat ~ ‘enraged by the death- message ~ undergoes, are stamped with such realism that one Is tempted to suppose their ultimate background to be factual observation of the real wild cat (Felix ssloestris grampia), which is so much bigger and more robust than its domestic relative and wher threatened and in a fighting mood arches its back and raises its far, so that it seems to grow to twiee its normal size, at the same time as it bares its sharp teeth, gives out a most frightfal snarl and stares ferociously with its glaring eyes, Such sate ~ which 85 Sco Kahlen 1996, #1, 1 Lindow 1925 variant aly conanins the atack mot fa the Tot the vevenge matin th interns soe THE RING OF THE CATS: 187 even today are found in the Scotish Highiands ~ were perhape common in Ireland atthe time when the revenge Fedacton first append here On dhe other han nether the rections at The King of Cats in Dead could have oriented ~ or had chance to become popula ~ blore domesticated cats were Introduced. Unfortunately there Seems to be uncertainty ae to the chronology oF the Somesticaion fcte, Logan, agai io suppor of is for aa late date for The King of Cats es reference to tame cats In the British Isles which ts from Wales) dates from the tenth tenturybut hf courco, does nox peda their existence many centres en "The wie spectra of cats In early Teh erature, as wel in Stouts 0k tration, may seb taken as an the idea that eas posers sopernataral ual Simultaneously dangerous and murderous is inigenous wea among the Gaels” it may perhaps nt be over ancl ithe, wo rlae the 1 and beliefs stiached to monster er Trish and auch ot reser Cath 082, Shove same fine examples of The Ring of te Cat we als quoted ad cst, $0 ChoBeherg 4, 149.50,188 FOGHAN RUA ON! xt Some of the points I have touched upon above are in the nature of topies for further researeh that. mi prove something, rather than constituting hard core facts or supplying definite indications of age or origin of the le its different redactions. 1 however, that Gemonstrated that the Irish is s0 rich, vari ‘important, that full account must be taken of treatments of The Pan Legend. Finally, by way of summary sve may also say’ that a number of circumstances indicate that the revenge redaction is the older of the two redactions in Ireland and that it is the one that is most firmiy rooted in, native seil. Waldemar Liungman's contention that the eat of the Pan Legend need be no older than the 15th sry is in my epinion hardly tenable in view of many’ ieations to the contrary. The Revenge Redaction is in ikelihood pre-Norman and probably pre-Viking, Nothing Amounts to firm proof of an even earlier date for the Tegend hhas come to light, but neither has anything been ed that makes impossible the assumption that the was told in Ireland just as early as Plutarch first reported it in another form, oF even long before that “THE FAIRY HILL IS ON FIRE!’ IMESIT 6072) ipl functi A panorama of mi AINE O'NEILL ‘The following is @ version of the story which 1 wi here. Ft was communicated in @ leer to J, G. A. Prim, editor of the Kidhenny Moderator (¢, 1850) by John Dunne of Garyricken, Co, Kilkenny 1 send you at length the Legend of the spinners exactly a5 1 hhave heard it from the lips of the narrator who told it in Irish, There is a rock in a wild, ferny and unirequ spot among the Sliabinamban hills called Carraig a Tarn (pronounced Corrg [g hard] a Thoor-ne) i. The rock of the 18 state that they often wheel proce 3 rack with 3 Some connection with the foregoing, story ‘The unsatisfactory version of the in my first paper concludes thus: “The whizzing afa red sod in a pot of hot water is musie to the ears of every old woman in company, fom the consciousness which she derives trom it that the house 1s thus protected from jon of the evil one.’ This according to every version of the story, should be, that the house is thus protected from the visitation oF the we same pape ‘ing Bord suighe 1 Snthe Pim Papers in he DIP ah 189