bosom; an' wan time they seen her wid a little
attomy av a man alang wid her, that was a Leprechawn, as they knewn be the
look av him, an' that makes me belave that the rale rayzon av her lavin'
her husband was to get back to the owld Leprechawn she was in love wid
afore she was marr'd to Darby O'Hoolighan."

THE BANSHEE.

[Illustration: Initial: "The Banshee"]

Although the Irish have the reputation of being grossly superstitious,
they are not a whit more so than the peasantry of England, France, or
Germany, nor scarcely as much addicted to superstitious beliefs and
fancies as the lower class of Scottish Highlanders. The Irish imagination
is, however, so lively as to endow the legends of the Emerald Isle with an
individuality not possessed by those of most other nations, while the
Irish command of language presents the creatures of Hibernian fancy in a
garb so vividly real and yet so fantastically original as to make an
impression sometimes exceedingly startling.

Of the creations of the Irish imagination, some are humorous, some
grotesque, and some awe-inspiring even to sublimity, and chief among the
last class is "the weird-wailing Banshee, that sings by night her mournful
cry," giving notice to the family she attends that one of its members is
soon to be called to the spirit-world. The name of this dreaded attendant
is variously pronounced, as Banshee, Banshi, and Benshee, being translated
by different scholars, the Female Fairy, the Woman of Peace, the Lady of
Death, the Angel of Death, the White Lady of Sorrow, the Nymph of the Air,
and the Spirit of the Air. The Banshee is quite distinct from the Fearshee
or Shifra, the Man of Peace, the latter bringing good tidings and singing
a joyful lay near the house when unexpected good fortune is to befall any
or all its inmates. The Banshee is really a disembodied soul, that of one
who, in life, was strongly attached to the family, or who had good reason
to hate all its members. Thus, in different instances, the Banshee's song
may be inspired by opposite motives. When the Banshee loves those whom she
calls, the song is a low, soft chant, giving notice, indeed, of the close
proximity of the angel of death, but with a tenderness of tone that
reassures the one destined to die and comforts the survivors; rather a
welcome than a warning, and having in its tones a thrill of exultation, as
though the messenger spirit were bringing glad tidings to him