POLITICAL PROPHECY.
[To Tim EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]
Stn,—An old man came down from the side of the Echtge Hills the other day, and asked me what news there was of the war, and if the Boers were winning. "For," he said-
" There will he plague and famine soon ; it is to come in the next century, and it's likely this war with the Boers is the beginning of it. For it was prophesied that it would be when there is a Queen over England that her fall will come. And when the Queen is bet, the Orangemen will come from the bottom of the North and kill all before them, and then there will be long nights and bloody blankets, and where the fighting is, will be called Rinne Muice Duibhel—that is, the Valley of the Black Pig. But when the war comes as far as Kilchreest, a priest will put on his stole and lift up his hands three times and read from his book, and that will weaken them for a while. And from Kilchreest, where the blessed bush is, to Turloughmore, there won't be much fighting, for that in Gleanna Columbcil. the Valley of Columbkil. I know this will come true, for I heard many prophecies long ago, and they came true after. There was a prophecy that men w.aild come marching from the Mass as if they were going to battle, and I saw them do that myself, with their hurling-sticks to their shoulders, in the time of the Land League. And it was prophesied. there would be wooden carriages without horses running through Ireland, and that came true with the railways. And Pastorini prophesied that the four corners of the cornfield would catch fire first, and then in the middle. And about thirty years ago, but I'm not sure of the date, I noticed there were four small ware going on in different parts of the world,—that was the four corners. And I think now it's the middle of the field is going to catch fire. Some great thing happens every two thousand years, such as the deluge, or the birth of our Lord, so when I heard of tbis war with the Boers I thought it was likely the beginning of the big war, and that the Queen is likely to be bet by them, and that was what St. John the Apostle meant when he said that a star would fall from heaven."
The prophesy of the great final battle in the Talley of the Black Pig is found in all parts of Ireland. It is understood that this battle will be the final rout of the enemies of Ireland. The "Orangemen" may be taken to mean some unknown force coming from the mysterious North. The prophecy has often pointed to the end of this century, and is probably alluded to in an old Irish verse which has been translated :—
"When the Lion shall lose his strength,
And the bracket thistle begin to pine, The Harp shall sound sweet, sweet, at length Between the eight and the nine."
Cools Park, Co. Galway, November 7th.
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