FOLK LORE.
Legends of the County Clare.—On the west coast of Ireland, near the Cliffs of Moher, at some distance out in the bay, the waves appear continually breaking in white foam even on the calmest day. The tradition among the country people is, that a great city was swallowed up there for some great crime, and that it becomes visible once every seven years. And if the person who sees it could keep his eyes fixed on it till he reached it, it would then be restored, and he would obtain great wealth. The man who related the legend stated farther, that some years ago some labourers were at work in a field on the hill side in view of the bay; and one of them, happening to cast his eyes seaward, saw the city in all its splendour emerge from the deep. He called to his companions to look at it; but though they were close to him, he could not attract their attention: at last, he turned round to see why they would not come; but on looking back, when he had succeeded in attracting their attention, the city had disappeared.
The Welsh legend of the Islands of the Blessed, which can only be seen by a person who stands on a turf from St. David's churchyard, bears a curious coincidence to the above. It is not impossible that there may have been some foundation for the vision of the enchanted city at Moher in the Fata Morgana, very beautiful spectacles of which have been seen on other parts of the coast of Ireland.
Francis Robert Davies.
Moon Superstitions (Vol. viii., p. 79.).—In this age of fact and science, it is remarkable that even with the well-informed the old faith in the "change of the moon" as a prognostic of fair and foul weather still keeps its hold. W. W. asks "have we any proof of" the "correctness" of this faith? To suppose that the weather varies with the amount of illuminated surface on the moon would make the change in the weather vary with the amount of moonshine, which of course is absurd, as in that case the clouds would have much more to do with the question than the moon's shadow. But still it may be said the moon may influence the weather as it is supposed to cause the tides. In answer to this I beg to state the opinion of Dr. Ick, who was for upwards of ten years the curator of the Birmingham Philosophical Institute, an excellent meteorologist, geologist, and botanist. He assured me that after the closest and most accurate observation of the moon and the weather, he had arrived at the conclusion that there is not the slightest observable dependence between them.
C. Mansfield Ingleby.
Birmingham.
Warwickshire Folk Lore.—The only certain remedy for the bite of an adder is to kill the offending reptile, and apply some of its fat to the wound. Whether the fat should be raw or melted down, my informant did not say, but doubtless the same effect would be produced in either case.
If a pig is killed in the wane of the moon, the bacon is sure to shrink in the boiling; if, on the other hand, the pig is killed when the moon is at the full, the bacon will swell.
Erica.