Among primitive nations, the tool and the weapon differed but little. The hatchet which served to fell the tree, was as readily used to cleave open the head of an enemy. The knife, whether of stone or hard wood, carved the hunter's prey, or gave a deathstroke to his enemy. Such weapons or implements have, however, frequently been found with metal articles, under circumstances which leave little doubt that the use of the former was continued long after the discovery of the superior value of the latter. Probably, even while the Tuatha De Danann artificers were framing their more refined weapons for the use of nobles and knights, the rude fashioner of flint-arrows and spear-heads still continued to exercise the craft he had learned from his forefathers, for the benefit of poorer or less fastidious warriors. [Illustration: CROMLECH IN THE PHOENIX PARK. The urn and necklace, figured at page 154, were found in this tomb.] [Illustration: CLONDALKIN ROUND TOWER.] FOOTNOTES: [144] _Authors_.--Strabo, l. iv. p. 197; Suetonius, _V. Cla._; Pliny, _Hist. Nat._ l. xxv. c. 9. Pliny mentions having seen the serpent's egg, and describes it. [145] _Virgil_.--_Ec._. 6, v. 73. [146] _Year_.--Dio. Sic. tom. i. p. 158. [147] _Magi_.--Magi is always used in Latin as the equivalent for the Irish word which signifies druid. See the _Vitæ S. Columbæ_, p. 73; see also Reeves' note to this word. [148] _Worship_.--In the Chronicle of Richard of Cirencester, ch. 4, certain Roman deities are mentioned as worshipped by the British druids; but it is probable the account is merely borrowed from Cæsar's description of the Gauls. [149] _Ceremonies_.--Bohn's edition, p. 431. [150] _Wren_.--In Scotland the wren is an object of reverence: hence the rhyme-- "Malisons, malisons, more than ten, That harry the Ladye of Heaven's hen." But it is probable the idea and the verse were originally imported from France, where the bird is treated with special respect. There is a very interesting paper in the _Ulster Archæological Journal_, vol. vii. p. 334, on the remarkable correspondence of Irish, Greek, and Oriental legends, where the tale of Labhradh Loinseach is compared with that of Midas. Both had asses' ears, and both were victims to the loquacious propensities of their barbers. [151] _Etruscans_.--See _Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria_, vol i p. 295, where the bas-reliefs are described which represent the _præficæ_, or hired mourners, wailing over the corpse. [152] _Laid down_.--Law, Saxon, _lagu, lah_; from _lecgan_==Goth. _lagjan_, to lay, to place; Gael. _lagh_, a law; _leag_, to lie down; Latin, _lex_, from Gr. _lego_, to lay. [153] _It_.--Four Masters, vol. i p. 133. The Seanchus Mor was sometimes called _Cain Phadruig_, or Patrick's Law.