Celtic Mythology and Religion

204 CELTIC MYTHOLOGY AND RELIGION.
gantua," and " Gargantua's Quoit." The covered
alleys or continuous cromlechs of Drenthe,
in Holland,
are known as " Giants' Beds "—Hunebeds.
In Ireland, the cromlechs or dolmens are known as
the " Beds of Diarmat and Granua," or simple
" Granua's Beds " —the beds which this pair of lovers
made use of in their flight over Ireland when pursued
by Fionn. And it is here interesting to note, as so
far confirmatory of this worthy myth, that the
Arab shepherds of the present day recline on these
pre-historic dolmens and watch their sheep on the
plains. The tumuli are, of course, fairy mounds
the Gaelic name is sithean, a word derived from sith,
" fairy," allied to the Norse word seithr, " magic
charm." Single stones are variously accounted for ;
sometimes we meet with names indicative of worship,
" Clach aoraidh "—worship stone, and " Clach
sleuchda " — genuflection stone. But, as often as not,
the names have merely a reference to stones or stone
monuments ; as, for instance, already mentioned in
the case of Strathspey. The term clachan, as applied
to church in Scotch Gaelic, has been adduced as
proving that the churches are the descendants
of the stone circles where Druid worship was held
but it has first to be proved that the stone circles
are themselves known as the " clachans." The word
in Irish signifies hamlet, causeway, or grave-yard,
but it is also applied in an archaeological sense to the
stone-built cells ascribed to the old Christian anchorites,
and its Scotch Gaelic meaning of church is