Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions

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1 86 Old Irish Religions.
innnanis was a hundred feet long, with a femur two yards
in diameter.
The serpent was certainly the token or symbol of an
ancient race celebrated for wisdom, giving rise to the
naming of the learned after dragons or serpents. The
Druid of the Welsh Triads exclaims, " I am a serpent."
According to J.
H. Baecker— "The three, five, seven, or
nine-headed snake is the totem of a race of rulers, who
presided over the Aryan Hindus.—The Snake race was
that of the first primaeval seafarers.—The faring-wise
serpent race became at the earliest stage of tradition rulers
and civilizers." And Ovid sang
" As an old serpent casts his scaly vest,
Wreaths in the sun, in youthful glory dress'd,
So when Alcides' mortal mould resigned,
His better part enlarged, and grew refined."
It must be remembered that even traditions bear testimony
to a variety of races in the Island. The Celts were
among the later visitors, coming, certainly, after the
Iberian, whose type remains in south-west Ireland. One
of these early tribes brought the knowledge from afar ; or,
what may rather be conjectured, some shipmen from the
East found a temporary sojourn there.
Dr. Pbene justly remarks— " The absence of such reptiles
in Ireland is remarkable, but their absence could certainly
not have originated a serpent worship through terror
while everything artistic or religious in old Irish designs,
from the wonderful illuminations in the Book of Kells to
the old Celtic gold ornaments, represent the serpent, and
indicate, therefore, some very strong religious idea being
always uppermost in
connection with it."
A Cyprus amulet gives a goddess, nude and winged,
having serpents for legs. A Typhon has been seen, with
its extremities two twisted snakes. A Buddha has been