Part 2 (2/2)
In a communication subsequently made to the _Zoologist_ by Mr Richardson, he gives the following additional evidence:--”In the collection of the late Mr Johnston, of Down, which had been left by his uncle, an attorney, and in which everything was labelled with the accuracy and precision of that profession, is a small bra.s.s spear, with a piece of wood still in the socket, with a label, stating it to have been found in a marl-pit, among the bones of a deer. An excise-officer told me that he saw, found in a marl-pit, at Mentrim in Meath, the skeleton of a deer, and a man, and a long knife: the latter, I believe, is rather a short sword, now, I think, in the collection of Mr Petrie, of Dublin, who told me that some such tradition had accompanied it into his possession.... Dr Martin informs me that on the banks of the river Suir, near Portland, Waterford, and on nearly every farm, are found, near springs, s.p.a.ces of frequently seventy feet in diameter, consisting of stones, broken up as if for roads, and lying together in a ma.s.s.
These stones were evidently purposely broken, and all much of one size, and are charred. These s.p.a.ces are many feet in depth. The tradition respecting them is current among the peasantry, that here in olden time, a great deer was killed and baked in these stone-pits, the stones having been previously heated like a kiln, and they also distinguish the animal as the 'Irish Elk.' These places are called in Irish by a name signifying the 'Buck's Den.'”
[Ill.u.s.tration: SPEARING THE ANCIENT ELK.]
From all these testimonies combined, can we hesitate a moment in believing that the Giant Deer was an inhabitant of Ireland since its colonisation by man? It seems to me that its extinction cannot have taken place more than a thousand years ago. Perhaps at the very time that Caesar invaded Britain the Celts in the sister isle were milking and slaughtering their female elks, domesticated in their cattlepens of granite, and hunting the proud-antlered male with their flint arrows and lances. It would appear, that the mode of hunting him was to chase and terrify him into pools and swamps, such as the marl-pits then were; that, having thus disabled him in the yielding bogs, and slain him, the head was cut off, as of too little value to be worth the trouble of dragging home; that the under jaws and tongue were cut off; and that frequently the entire carcase was disjointed on the spot, the best parts only being removed. This would account for the so frequent occurrence of separate portions of the skeleton, and especially of skulls, in the bog-earth. No doubt so large an animal would not long survive in a state of freedom, after an island so limited in extent as Ireland became peopled throughout; and supposing the females to have been domesticated, it is quite conceivable that the difficulty or even danger of capturing or domesticating the males, may have caused the species soon to become extinct in captivity, when it no longer continued to exist in a wild state. Thus we may perhaps account for the certainly remarkable fact that no native Irish name has been recognised as belonging to it;--remarkable, because the Irish tongue is particularly rich in distinctive names for natural objects. There exists a very curious ancient poem in that language which professes to enumerate the whole fauna of the island. It is founded on the legend that Fian Macc.u.mhaill was made prisoner by Cormac MacArt, king of Erinn; that the victor promised to give him freedom on condition that, as a ransom, a pair of each wild animal found in Ireland were brought before him on the green of Tara. Cailte MacRonain, the foster-brother of the captive general undertook the task, and succeeded in bringing the collection before the king within a twelvemonth; and in the poem, he is supposed to narrate to St Patrick the detail and result of his enterprise. Of this poem, which is considered to be as early as the ninth century, the reader may like to see the following translation by Mr Eugene Curry, containing the zoological portion:--
”I then went forth to search the lands, To see if I could redeem my chief, And soon returned to n.o.ble Tara, With the ransom that Cormac required.
”I brought with me the fierce _Geilt_,[28]
And the tall _Grib_[29] with talons, And the two Ravens of Fid-da-Beann, And the two Ducks of Loch Saileann.
”Two Foxes from Sliabh Cuilinn, Two Wild Oxen[30] from Burren, Two Swans from the dark wood of Gabhran, And two Cuckoos from the wood of Fordrum.
”Two _Toghmalls_[31] from Fidh-Gaibhle, Which is by the side of the two roads, And two Otters after them, From the brown-white rock of Dobhar.
”Two Gulls from Tralee hither, Two _Ruilechs_[32] from Port Lairge (Waterford), Four _Snags_[33] from the River Brosna, Two Plovers from the rock of Dunan.
”Two _Echtachs_[34] from the lofty Echtghe, Two Thrushes from Letter Longarie, Two _Drenns_[35] from Dun Aife, The two _Cainches_[36] of Corraivte.
”Two Herons from the hilly Corann, The two _Errfiachs_[37] of Magh Fobhair, The two Eagles of Carrick-na-Cloch, Two Hawks from the wood of Caenach.
”Two Pheasants from Loch Meilge, Two Water-hens from Loch Eirne, Two Heath-hens from the Bog of Mafa, Two Swift Divers from Dubh Loch.
”Two _Cricharans_[38] from Cualann, Two t.i.tmice from Magh Tualang, Two Choughs from Gleann Gaibhle, Two Sparrows from the Shannon.
”Two Cormorants from Ath Cliath, Two _Onchus_[39] from Crotta Cliach, Two Jackdaws from Druim Damh, Two _Riabhogs_[40] from Leathan Mhaigh.
”Two Rabbits from Dumho Duinn, Two wild Hogs from circular Cnoghbha, Two _Peatans_[41] from Creat Roe, Two wild Boars[42] from green-sided Tara.
”Two Pigeons out of Ceis Corann, Two Blackbirds out of Leitir Finnchoill, Two black Birds (?) from the strand of Dabhan, Two Roebucks from Luachair Deaghaidh.
”Two _Fereidhins_[43] from Ath Loich, Two Fawns from Moin mor, Two Bats out of the Cave of Cnoghbha, Two Pigs[44] from the lands of Ollarbha.
”Two Swallows out of Sidh Buidhe, Two _Iaronns_[45] from the wood of Luadraidh, Two _Geisechtachs_[46] from Magh Mall, Two charming Robins from Cnamh Choill.
”Two Woodc.o.c.ks from Coillruadh, Two Crows from Lenn Uar, Two _Bruacharans_[47] from Sliabh-da-Ean, Two Barnacle-Geese from Turloch Bruigheoil.
”Two _Naescans_[48] from Dun Daighre, Two Yellow-ammers from the brink of Bairne, Two _Spireogs_[49] from Sliabh Cleath, Two Grey Mice from Limerick.
”Two Corncrakes from the Banks of Shannon, Two Wagtails from the brinks of Birra, Two Curlews from the Harbour of Galway, Two _Sgreachogs_[50] from Muirtheimhne.
”Two _Geilt Glinnes_[51] from Glenn-a-Smoil, Two Jackdaws from great Ath Mogha, Two fleet _Onchus_[52] from Loch Con, Two Cats out of the Cave of Cruachain.
”Two Goats from Sith Gabhran, Two Pigs[53] of the Pigs of Mac Lir, A Ram and Ewe both round and red, I brought with me from Aengus.
”I brought with me a Stallion and a Mare, From the beautiful stud of Manannan, A Bull and a white Cow from Druim Cain, Which were given me by Muirn Munchain.”
No _known_ allusion occurs in this poem to the Giant Deer.[54] First, however, we must remember that no small number of the animals mentioned are quite unrecognisable; and that of those names to which an explanation is given, many are probably incorrectly rendered. Secondly, if it could be absolutely shewn that no allusion exists to that fine beast, it would not at all disprove its existence a thousand years before. Supposing that the _Megaceros_ became extinct soon after the colonisation of Ireland, and that this was several centuries before the Christian era, the distinctive name by which it had been known might well have died out and become extinct also, among a people unacquainted with letters. Or if a dim tradition of the animal and of its name still lingered here and there, it might well be omitted from a catalogue which professed to give the creatures actually collected in a living state at a given period. It would have been interesting to have been able to identify the Great Elk, but its introduction would have been a glaring anachronism.
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