WEST OF IRELAND SUPERSTITIONS.
lTo THE EDITOR 01, THE "SPECTATOR."] Sra,—I was very much interested in your article in the Spectator of August 10th on the above subject. I was staying in Belmullet, Co. Mayo, Ireland, a couple of years ago, and in the neighbourhood there are some ruins of an old abbey surrounded by a graveyard. This grave- yard has been used for centuries, and extends right down to the sea, which has washed a large number of the graves away. On many of these graves clay pipes are strewn, many being filled with cheap tobacco. I found out on inquiry that this fact is the result of a superstition the natives hold,—that when the ghosts leave their graves to roam at night they see the pipes and sit down to have a quiet smoke, so forgetting their intentions of haunting the houses of their friends. The pipes are renewed and refilled from time to time by the superstitious natives.—I am, Sir, &c.,
Higheliffe House, Bradford. LEO. W. PRATT.
Previous page
