the doomed member of which the
Banshee always appears in the shape of an exceedingly beautiful woman, who
sings a song so sweetly solemn as to reconcile him to his approaching
fate.

The prophetic spirit does not follow members of a family who go to a
foreign land, but should death overtake them abroad, she gives notice of
the misfortune to those at home. When the Duke of Wellington died, the
Banshee was heard wailing round the house of his ancestors, and during the
Napoleonic campaigns, she frequently notified Irish families of the death
in battle of Irish officers and soldiers. The night before the battle of
the Boyne several Banshees were heard singing in the air over the Irish
camp, the truth of their prophecy being verified by the death-roll of the
next day.

How the Banshee is able to obtain early and accurate information from
foreign parts of the death in battle of Irish soldiers is yet undecided in
Hibernian mystical circles. Some believe that there are, in addition to
the two kinds already mentioned, "silent Banshees," who act as attendants
to the members of old families, one to each member; that these silent
spirits follow and observe, bringing back intelligence to the family
Banshee at home, who then, at the proper seasons, sings her dolorous
strain. A partial confirmation of this theory is seen in the fact that the
Banshee has given notice at the family seat in Ireland of deaths in
battles fought in every part of the world. From North America, the West
Indies, Africa, Australia, India, China; from every point to which Irish
regiments have followed the roll of the British drums, news of the
prospective shedding of Irish blood has been brought home, and the
slaughter preceded by a Banshee wail outside the ancestral windows. But it
is due to the reader to state, that this silent Banshee theory is by no
means well or generally received, the burden of evidence going to show
that there are only two kinds of Banshees, and that, in a supernatural
way, they know the immediate future of those in whom they are interested,
not being obliged to leave Ireland for the purpose of obtaining their
information.

Such is the wild Banshee, once to be heard in every part of Ireland, and
formerly believed in so devoutly that to express a doubt of her existence
was little less than blasphemy. Now, however, as she attends only the old
families and does not change to the new, with the disappearance of many
noble Irish names durin