Stories and Legends of Travel and History, for ChildrenGreenwood, Grace
General
Stories and Legends of Travel and History, for Children
Greenwood, Grace
Great Britain -- Juvenile literature; Ireland -- Juvenile literature
Sometimes they say,--"Listen to Fin, now!--he's at his avening
devotions--Heaven help us, an' him, poor cratur!" and then they cross
themselves, for Fin was but a miserable heathen, and can have no part
now, they think, in the true church.
By the way, I was told while here, a ludicrous little anecdote of the
great Fin, from which it seems that he was not, after all, quite as
brave as a giant should be. It is said that when he had finished the
Causeway, he went up on a high point and shouted across the channel to
the Scotch Giant, Benandonner, to come over and fight him, if he dared.
Bold Benandonner accepted the challenge, and began to wade
across--threatening and bullying his Irish enemy. As he drew near, he
seemed to grow so much bigger, that Fin got frightened, and turned and
ran into his house, which stood near the cliff.
"What's the matter, Fin?" said his wife, who saw what a tremble he was
in, and how pale he looked.
"Ah, my darling," said he, "there's big Benandonner coming over to have
a fight--and as I'm not very well to-day, I don't like to meet him."
Now, Mrs. Mac Cual was really very much ashamed of her husband for
being such a booby; but like the good wife she was, she kept her
contempt to herself, just then, and told him to lie down in the cradle,
and keep quiet, and she would attend to the Scotch Giant. Fin did as
he was bid--his wife covered him up in the cradle, and commenced
rocking and singing to him. Presently, Benandonner came stamping and
storming in, and asked for "that rascal, Fin Mac Cual."
"If you'll please sit down and rock my baby a minute--I'll go and look
for him," said Mrs. Mac Cual. Benandonner looked down into the cradle,
and seeing that enormous giant lying there, with his feet hanging over
the foot-board, thought to himself, "if Fin's baby is so big, what must
Fin himself be!"--and became so frightened that he turned and hurried
back home, much quicker than he came. It is a foolish little
tradition, but I have related it as a specimen of the stories which are
told to amuse the children of Irish peasants.
There are two caves near the Causeway, which are entered from the sea.
Our visits to these were the most interesting and exciting incidents of
the day. Though the waves ran high, our skilful boatmen rowed us
safely in--and though the roar of the sea and the reverberation of some
fire-arms discharged by the guides, were rather awful, we certainly
enjoyed the sight of those ocean temples, gloomy, rude, and jagged
though they were.
From the Causeway we went to Dunluce Castle--a grand old ruin, which
stands on an insulated rock, a hundred feet above the sea. It is
separated from the land by a chasm twenty feet wide, which is crossed
by an arch only about eighteen inches broad.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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