Legendary fictions of the Irish Celts

i8o Fictions of the Irish Celts.
Of those we are about to relate, we are as sure of the
good faith of the tellers as of any ordinary truth or fact
that has occurred to us, but are yet of opinion that,
could all circumstances connected with the occurrences
be ascertained, everything related might probably be
referred to natural causes. The narratives are not
classified : we give them as they occur to memory,
vouching for the thorough sincerity of the original
reciters,
THE AYO:*IAN IN WHITE.
Pat Gill, of the county of Kildare, was driving
towards Dublin, with a load of country produce. He
had made a comfortable seat for himself on the car, and
had plenty of hay about him and under him. He was
pleasantly employed thinking of nothing in particular,
dozing and giving an eye to the proceedings of his beast.
He was between the mill of Baltracy and the cross roads
of Borraheen, when he was startled by the appearance of a
woman, dressed in long white clothes, crossing the fence,
and advancing into the road. She came up to the horse,
and walked on with him, close by his neck. The driver
chucked the beast's head to the opposite side, for fear
he should tread on her feet or long robes, but she still
kept as close to him as before, and sometimes he thought
he could see the lower part of the horse's fore leg through
her dress. The matter had now become very serious.
He could not keep his eyes off the apparition ; and he
felt his whole frame covered with a cold perspiration.
He became bewildered, and could not determine either
on going on or stopping. So, the horse, finding matters
left to- himself, jogged on apparently unconscious of his
fellow-wayfarer. The centre of the cross-roads of Bor-