A comely dame admits us through the abbot's portal, and for hours we wander as the fancy dictates, pausing now in the choir with its ancient tombs, climbing high on the great tower with its prospect of God's eternal resurrection all around, or resting where the high altar is draped in trailing ivy and splendid with golden lichen.
The mists have disappeared, the sunlight is warm and strong and one can almost see the fish in the river, while the air is laden with the fragrance of lilies, and there is a hush over all as though this ancient dame were sitting for her portrait.
How completely the rush and trouble of the world drops away in a spot like this! How the soul is lulled into slumber, and the "Peace, be still" of God comes down upon one!
FOOTNOTES:
[5] See Frontispiece.
[6] Another authority interprets the name (Cluain-maccu-Nois) "the meadow of the sons of Nos."
[CHAPTER VIII]
The Rock of Cashel—Its Cathedral, Palace, and Round Tower—Its History and Legends—Kilmalloch: its Ruins and History—The Desmonds—Horse Fair at Buttevant.