still remain in the curves and amongst the foliage." The Chapter-house[4] is little changed since Sir William Wilde penned the foregoing, and time seems to have dealt leniently with this magnificent ruin. One of the windows has had its mullions restored under the Board of Works; a number of curious objects--capitals, corbels, and portions of arches and cut stone, flooring tiles, etc., has been collected there, and a gate to guard them has been erected by Mr. Balfour, the owner of the ruins and surrounding property. It is very dubious that the upper story ever served as a part of the Abbot's lodgings, as these are generally found further east. This room may have been the muniment room. It has two port-holes remaining, relics of the days when Mellifont was turned into a fortified castle, and the cry of fierce, contending men was heard on this hallowed spot, over the graves of the sainted dead. In the first volume of _The Dublin Penny Journal_, there are very interesting articles from the pen of a Mr. Armstrong, a native of the locality. He tells us that this Chapter-house was converted into a banqueting-hall by the Moore family, and that in his time (1832), it was used as a pig-sty. [Illustration: NORTH WINDOW OF CHAPTER-HOUSE. See p. 17. _From Photo by W. Lawrence, Dublin._] Another account of the fate of the beautiful arched door-way of blue marble is, that it was lost at a game of piquet, and the lucky winner, whose name, unfortunately, has not been handed down to us, had it removed to his mansion, and set up as a chimney-piece. The floor of the Chapter-house is now laid with some of the tiles which were found in the church during the excavations, in order to preserve them from destruction or appropriation by "relic-hunters." Abbots, generally, chose the Chapter-house of their abbeys for their burial place; but, as no grave was found here, when the rubbish was removed, during the excavations, we may conclude that the Abbots of Mellifont were buried either in the church, or in the cemetery with their monks. The glazed tiles and their manufacture were a specialty with the old Cistercians, in these countries. Similar tiles are seldom met with amongst the ruins of other churches. Here at Mellifont, those found are red and blue, and the vast majority have the legend _Ave Maria_ inscribed on them; others are impressed with a Fleur de lis, a cock, or some typical device. It is well known, that specimens of tiles found at Fountains, in Yorkshire, bear a close resemblance to these. There, the motto of that monastery was impressed on the tiles discovered--"_Benedicite fontes Domino_,"--"Ye fountains bless the Lord." No doubt, here, too, some bore the motto of Mellifont, if only they could be found.