“Was it really?” asked Kathleen.
“Of course it was,” replied her cousin. “Tell her about it, Father. She likes stories of giants.”
“I’ll tell her the truth first,” said his father, “and that is that the Causeway and all these black cliffs were made by a volcano which poured out hot lava over this part of the coast thousands of years ago. The lava cooled and cracked into these wonderful shapes,—the Giant’s Causeway, the Giant’s Spectacles, the Giant’s Organ—and now it is one of the great sights of Ireland, which hundreds of tourists come every year to see.
“But the people of old Ireland liked to tell strange tales of the rocks and mountains and so they made up the story of Finn MacCool.
“Finn MacCool was a giant who lived up here in the north of Ireland, and as strong and powerful a giant as you’d wish to see. He’d take a thunder-bolt and flatten it out like a pancake, or pull up a pine tree and lop off the roots and branches to make himself a walking-stick; and he was so strong that he had whipped every other giant in the country who was willing to fight with him.
“Over there where you see the blue hills of Scotland lived a Scotch giant, and one day he shouted out to Finn that he’d come over and whip him with one hand if he could only cross the ocean without wetting his feet.
“That very night Finn MacCool set to work to build this causeway of rock straight across the sea to the coast of Scotland; and when it was finished the Scotch giant came over the sea dry-shod, while Finn played a tune on his organ for him to cross to the sound of music.
“Then there was the greatest wrestling match the world ever saw: but Finn had the best of it from the start, and sent the Scotchman home to a different tune.
“Some say that Finn pushed part of the Causeway under the waves so that the giant had to swim home; and you can see for yourself that it seems to sink under the water out there.
“There is a bit of it left on the coast of Scotland, too,” he added with a laugh.