Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 29, 1918.djvu/313

 Folklore and History in Ireland. 303

was not one borough but two, Droghcda in Louth, and Drogheda in Meath, each with its charters and gilds, till Henry IV. united them and made Drogheda" a 'corporate' county." The story goes that one Father Phihp Bennett in order to stop the dissensions between north and south which led to frequent fighting and often to bloodshed, " invited both sides to hear a sermon on Ps. cxxxiii." During the course of it he " thrice asked the congregation with energy ' will ye be united in the body of Christ ? ' Alderman William Symcock answered in the name of all, ' We will ' — they then feasted at the convent of St. Mary Magdalene and by the advice of Father Bennett sent a petition to the King, who granted a charter on December 15th, following, 'uniting the two sides into one Town of Drogheda, and under one mayor, and forming it into a special county.' "

Here then is History explaining Folklore. Reciprocally may we not find Folklore illuminating some dark passages in Irish history } At least Folklore may have a message and a lesson as well for the English, who appear incapable of remembering the past, as for the Irish, who refuse to look anywhere else. These matters of local officials decked out in brief authority may seem trivial and without im- portance, yet they are links in the chain of national life, links at present rather loose and dislocated I fear me. But they bear witness to the introduction of a measure of organisation and consolidation for which scant credit is given to England. The fact that so many of the customs hinged upon, or resulted in fightings, is no surprising feature in the municipal history of a land where dissensions have been rife from time immemorial. In common with the folk who introduced them many of the transplanted customs have been submerged — some, as I may show at another time, survive, attached to quite other observances than were theirs originally. But for the most part the engrafted customs have proved ephemeral. They are the fashions