Rocking-stones.​—​In a field situated not far from the ‘Eglone’ (see page 12) occurs a huge mass of the same lithic character. It is known as the Rocking-stone, and, although some tons in weight, may be swayed some eighteen inches on either side by very slight exertion of the hand. These so-called ‘Rocking-stones’ are to be met with in various parts of Ireland and Great Britain. Up to a comparatively recent period they had been supposed to have been associated in some way with the celebration of druidical rites or mysteries. That idea is no longer held, except, indeed, by some old-fashioned or superstitious people. Upon the borders of Fermanagh and Cavan, about three miles along the mountain road from the village of Black Lion, in the direction of the Shannon Pot, may be seen a very characteristic example of the kind of remains under notice. It consists of an immense block of stone, six feet high, somewhat globular in shape, and weighing several tons. The stone rests upon a rock, and is so poised that a moderate pressure of the fingers will suffice to move it. From the position of the mass it would seem to be artificial. It may be that the stone was originally placed where it at present stands in memory of some now long forgotten hero or event, and, owing to an accidental peculiarity, existing either in its own configuration or in that of the supporting rock, was so imposed that it may be thus shaken a few inches backwards and forwards. On the slope of a hill, on the old battle-field of Northern Moytura, is a fine boulder, which we failed to stir, and we were informed by our guide that sometimes the stone rocked, and sometimes it was immovable. The cause of the latter state may probably be due to the clay which is washed down the slope, and rests in the socket on which the rock is balanced. Not far from this, and near the village of Highwood, is another rocking-stone which can easily be moved. On the shore of Brown’s Bay, north of Island Magee, is a larger rocking-stone, weighing about 10 tons, which was once believed to tremble at the approach of a criminal.

Rocking-stones are simply erratic blocks dropped into their present positions in the decline of the Ice Age. A similar phenomenon may be witnessed in the ‘tables’ of a glacier, where the pedestal of ice under the shadow of the rock perched upon it, melts less rapidly than the surrounding surface. Rocking-stones were no doubt looked upon with superstitious awe by the worshippers of stocks and stones, during the dark ages preceding the introduction of Christianity in these islands.

Druid’s Chairs, or Seats: Inauguration Stones, &c.​—​Other rude stone monuments which we thus classify occur in Ireland. In an article on this subject in the Gentleman’s Magazine,19 Richard Rolt Brash says: ‘The class of monument now under consideration has been found in countries widely apart. Examples of the stone chair in its most ancient types have been met with in Ireland, Wales, Greece, and South America.’ The examples found in Ireland have been generally speaking of two classes​—​those associated with the Druids or Brehons exercising their respective priestly or judicial functions, and those used in the inauguration of a chief of a great sept. The so-called ‘Coronation Chair’ of the O’Neills of Clandeboye, after various vicissitudes and wanderings, is now once again in Belfast. It consists of a rude quadrangular block of common whinstone, from one side of which, slightly sloping backwards, rises a somewhat thin back, in form and size very similar to that of a plain oak chair of the seventeenth century. The Chair is entirely of natural formation, and has evidently never been touched by a tool. In ancient times the chiefs on the occasion of their inauguration were not seated. On the contrary they, as Spenser describes, stood ‘uppon a stone allwayes reserved for that purpose, and placed commonly uppon a hill.’ Their feet rested within certain sculptured hollows the shape of a man’s foot, and which were supposed to indicate the shape and size of the sole of the foot of the first great captain of the reigning race. The great Chair of the Tyrone O’Neills stood on the Rath of Tullahogue when the chiefs were inaugurated, the last occasion on which it was used being that of the inauguration of Hugh O’Neill in 1595. The chair, as Fynes Moryson tells us, Mountjoy ‘brake down’ in 1602.

A great boulder on Slieve-na-Calliaghe, one of the Loughcrew hills, near Oldcastle, Co. Meath, is called the ‘Hag’s Chair.’ It stands a few feet within the line of great stones which formed a circle enclosing the principal cairn of that locality. The late Eugene Conwell conceived the visionary idea that he had discovered in it the judicial seat of no less a person than Ollamh Fodhla, whom he describes as ‘Ireland’s famous monarch and law-maker, upwards of three thousand years ago’! The stone weighs about 10 tons, and measures 10 feet by 6, and 2 feet 6 inches thick; the ends are raised about 9 inches above the level, forming a rude seat. It has rude markings similar to those already described, but the crosses on the seat and elevated ends were made during the trigonometrical survey. The hag is traditionally said to have broken her neck in attempting a flying leap from one hilltop to another, when depositing cairns upon their summits.

A singular pile of stones, usually called the ‘Druid’s Judgment Seat,’ furnishes a good instance of a popular error. This structure stands near the village of Killiney, not far from the Martello Tower, upon the opposite side of the road. It was formerly enclosed within a circle of great stones and a ditch. The circle has been destroyed, and the ditch so altered that little of its original character remains. ‘The Seat’ is composed of large, rough granite blocks, and if really of the period to which tradition refers it, an unusual degree of care must have been exercised for its preservation. The stones bear many indications of their having been at least re-arranged at no very distant time. Small wedges have been introduced as props between the greater stones. The right arm is detached from the other part, to which it fits but clumsily. The whole, indeed, bears the appearance of a modern antique, composed of stones which once formed a portion of some ancient monument. One great evidence of its being a forgery consists in the position which it occupies near the eastern side of the enclosure, while the back of the seat is turned towards the west and towards the centre of the space originally enclosed by the stone circle. The following are its dimensions: breadth at the base, 11½ feet; depth of the seat, 1 foot 9 inches; extreme height, 7 feet. Of several detached stones remaining in the enclosure one is remarkable, as the engraving on this page shows, for the form into which it has been cut. It is a work probably coeval with the original stone circle, and it has been suggested to be symbolical of the sun and moon.

A ‘Brehon’s Chair,’ so called by Beranger, an artist and archæologist who during the latter half of the eighteenth century paid much attention to the subject of Irish antiquities, may be seen on the lands of Glensouthwell, near Hollypark, about three miles and a half from Rathfarnham, Co. Dublin. This monument has been most absurdly misnamed. It is in fact a very remarkable example of the cromlech, or dolmen, and bears no resemblance to a chair of any description. The table, or covering, which had fallen, until a few years ago lay on the ground beside it. This, unfortunately, no longer exists, the stone having been wantonly broken to pieces and used for building purposes.

Legend and tradition associate many such objects with the saints and mythical heroes of the past, and it is only necessary to indicate one or two examples. On the shore of the pilgrim-visited Lough Derg, Co. Donegal, may be seen a large block of stone, which has always been known as ‘St. Brigid’s Chair.’ It is simply a boulder, fashioned by nature into what is at present a very chair-looking object. In the neighbourhood of Letterkenny, in the townland of Lacknacor, is a flagstone upon which St. Columba is said to have been born: the peasantry believe that whoever sleeps upon it for a night will not suffer from home sickness, and it has consequently been frequented by emigrants on the eve of their departure from their native land. Elevated on a circular piece of masonry, in the grounds of Ballyconnell, Falcarragh, Co. Donegal, is a mass of quartz rock, associated with Balor of the ‘mighty blows,’ chief of the Fomorians, one of whose strongholds was Tory Island. Balor stole Glasgavlen, a celebrated cow, from a chief on the mainland named MacKineeley; the latter planned revenge, but before he could execute it Balor landed on the mainland with his followers, seized MacKineeley and cut off his head on the stone, hence called Cloch-i-neely, ‘Kineely’s Stone.’ In local tradition to this day the natural red veins in the stone point to the sanguinary nature of the deed.

Bulláns or Rock Basins.​—​Throughout Ireland, and particularly in districts of the north-west, basin-like hollows may be found sunk in boulders or cut into the undisturbed rocks, or in the sides or shelving portions of natural caves: these are called ‘Bulláns’, or ‘Bullauns.’ In size and section they vary considerably; some examples, in extreme diameter, measuring four feet or so, while others are scarcely bigger than a small breakfast saucer. The average diameter might be taken as fourteen inches. In section they present three distinct varieties: the most usual is that of an inverse cone; many are bowl-shaped; and not a few simply shallow depressions with vertical sides. Many theories have been advanced as to their origin and uses, but as their purpose was doubtless varied, no definite rule can be laid down upon the subject. It has been urged that some of these bulláns may have been associated with pagan sepulchral rites; while evidence seems to warrant a conclusion that, occasionally at least, some were utilized as baptismal fonts, or at any rate, as receptacles for holy water. They have been considered ‘mortars’ by some archæologists, and that they were used for pounding grain by the priests living in, or in the cells adjoining, ancient churches. This may apply to some, but not to all, for the hollow is frequently in section an equilateral triangle, with a very acute lower point. It is evident that a bullán thus shaped could never have been intended for pounding purposes. Other examples, which are found on the vertical sides of boulders, or on the almost perpendicular face of the natural rock, could not possibly have been designed for a moment to hold anything like grain. Mr. G. H. Kinahan, however, found bulláns used in Co. Donegal for pounding corn for illicit distilling.20 Primitive man no doubt used, as occasion required, such natural rock-hollows as he could find for the purpose of pounding corn or roots for food. A more accessible article, however, was the Grain-rubber; this was generally a flat stone, the upper surface of which was hollowed out for holding the material to be prepared for food. A large stone with rounded surface was used for pounding or crushing. A more advanced step in milling was the Quern; this has been found in most countries and stages of civilization; and has been used in Ireland down to our own day. Fine examples of it and the grain-rubber may be seen in the Royal Irish Academy collection, National Museum, Dublin.

Bulláns are found far apart from churches, on mountains, in valleys, by the banks of rivers and shores of lakes, and in the chambers of sepulchral mounds. Bulláns placed in the face of the rock occur at Garranbane, near Tempo, Co. Fermanagh; and on a great erratic boulder lying by the side of the road leading from that townlet to Enniskillen, at a distance of about one mile from the former place, two well-defined specimens appear. In the townland of Standingstone, within the demesne of Castlecool, close to Enniskillen, a fine pillar-stone, bearing at least two bulláns, may be seen. The stone is at present prostrate; but that it was not always so, is indicated by the name of the surrounding land. Within the great sepulchral chambers of Newgrange, Dowth, and Slieve-na-Calliaghe, Co. Meath, are large examples; and when exploring the pagan cemetery at Drumnakilly, near Omagh, Co. Tyrone, Mr. Wakeman unearthed two bullán stones which had sustained cinerary urns, placed mouth downward upon them. These stones were deposited in the Archæological Museum of Kilkenny, together with the fictilia referred to.21

As in the case of other rocks, traditions of heroes and saints are sometimes attached to these stones. The late Rev. F. Sherman gives the following instance: Mesgegra, king of Leinster in the first century of the Christian era, was slain and decapitated by Conal Cearnach, the champion of Ulster. The head was laid upon a stone, and the tale records ‘that the blood flowed through it to the ground.’ The stone is said still to remain in the stream opposite the ruins of the Franciscan church of Clane. ‘It is a bullán stone, and has an inverse conical cavity eighteen inches deep, and as many wide, on its upper surface.’22 An interesting legend is attached to the ‘Deer-stone’ in Glendalough, Co. Wicklow. It is said that St. Kevin once found an infant abandoned by its mother; his anxiety to procure it food was relieved by the appearance of a beautiful white doe, that was then, and afterwards daily, milked into the ‘Deer-stone.’ The antiquity of the stone is doubted.

Bulláns are found in pairs, as at Kill o’ the Grange, near Blackrock, Co. Dublin; in threes, as close to the ancient church of Templenaffrin, adjoining Belcoo, Co. Fermanagh; and in numbers up to nine. Of the large number that are to be found scattered throughout the country, two very striking examples of the class deserve special notice. In the townland of Meelehans, about three miles from Tullamore, is a nine-holed bullán. This is a fossiliferous limestone boulder, differing from the limestone of the surrounding district. On the face of the rock from which the earth had been removed, in a radius of three feet, circular hollows were found. Four of these measured one foot in diameter; two were smaller, and the depth was about half the diameter; a seventh was but partially cut: the dressing of these being smooth. The remaining two were natural depressions.23 Another nine-holed bullán lies upon the shore of Upper Lough Macnean, near the ancient church of Killinagh, and in the immediate vicinity of a well called ‘Tober Brigid,’ formerly, and we believe still, held very sacred by many of the neighbouring peasantry.24 The bullán is a round boulder of red sandstone, measuring 5 feet 9 inches by 5 feet 2 inches. On its somewhat table-like surface are nine hollows placed somewhat irregularly, one being nearly in the centre of the group. Each of the depressions contained a stone, generally of an oval form, and nearly filling the hollow. Superstitious beliefs and practices still linger round many of these stones; and many bulláns are found associated with certain springs or wells usually esteemed holy, but the special significance of these associations it is now difficult, if not impossible, to determine.