* The Caoine, or funeral song was, composed by the Filea of the departed, set to music by one of his oirfidegh, and sung over the grave by the racasaide, or rhapsodist, who accompanied his “song of the tomb” with the mourning murmur of his harp, while the inferior order of minstrels mingled their deep-toned chorus with the strain of grief, and the sighs of lamenting relatives breathed in unison to the tuneful sorrow. Thus was “the stones of his fame,” raised over the remains of the Irish chief with a ceremony resembling that with which the death of the Trojan hero was lamented, “A melancholy choir attend around, With plaintive sighs and music’s solemn sound.” But the singular ceremonies of the Irish funeral, which are even still in a certain degree extant, may be traced to a remoter antiquity than Grecian o right, for the pathetic lamentations of David for the friend of his soul, and the conclamatio breathed over the Phoenician Dido, has no faint coincidence to the Caoine or funeral song of the Irish. ** Thus over the tomb of Cucullin vibrated the song of the bard, “Blessed be thy soul, son of Semo! thou wert mighty in battle; thy strength was like the strength of the stream, thy speed like the speed of the eagle’s wing, thy path in battle was terrible, the steps of death were behind thy sword; blessed be thy soul son of Semo! Carborne ohicf of Dunscaith. The mighty were dispersed at Timo-ra--there is none in Cormac’s hall. The king mourns in his youth, for he does not behold thy coming; the sound of thy shield is ceased, his foes are gathering around, Soft be thy rest in thy cave, chief of Erin’s wars.” “And have you also,” said I, “the funeral feast, which among the Greeks composed so material a part of the funeral ceremonies?” “A _wake_, as it is called among us,” he replied, “is at once the season of lamentation and sorrow, and of feasting and amusement. The immediate relatives of the deceased sit near the body, devoted to all the luxury of woe, which revives into the most piercing lamentations at the entrance of every stranger, while the friends, acquaintances, and guests give themselves up to a variety of amusements; feats of dexterity and even some exquisite pantomimes are performed; though in the midst of all their games should any one pronounce an _Ave Maria_, the merry group are in a moment on their knees; and the devotional impulse being gratified, they recommence their sports with new vigour. The _wake_, however, is of short duration; for here, as in Greece, it is thought an injustice to the dead to keep them long above ground; so that interment follows death with all possible expedition.”