THE GIANT'S CAUSEWAY
"Stand still now, while I count you once more," directed Aunt Hannah,
as they stood at the street corner in Portrush waiting for the electric
tram-car to take them down to the Giant's Causeway.
"No matter how many times I count you, there's always one missing.
Deena, look out for Columba. Kathleen, stand there by your brother;"
and Mrs. Malone took Victoria firmly by the hand and gathered the
children closer together lest one should stray away before they could
all be safely settled in the car.
"Everyone looks at us as if they thought we were crazy," said Hannah.
"Do you remember the man in Dublin who said, 'There's a big man with a
big family'?"
"He was wishing himself in my place, I'm thinking," said her father
with fond pride, as he looked over his rollicking brood; "and it takes
a big family to see a big city, for everyone sees something different."
"We saw a good deal of Dublin for one day, even if Kathleen and Feena
did get lost," said Connie, taking Feena's hand to keep her from
getting lost again.
"It was easy to get lost in O'Connell Street," replied Feena. "There
were so many lovely things in the shop windows that I just thought I'd
go inside to see more."
"Here comes the car," shouted Columba, and in a moment all the younger
Malones were scrambling in, to get seats by the window, while the older
ones followed more slowly.
"I wonder where Father is," Kathleen said, as the car ran along through
the center of the little town. "I've looked for him everywhere this
morning."
"Perhaps he will meet us at the Giant's Causeway," suggested Danny.
"Uncle Tom wrote to him that we would be there to-day."
"Then we will be going over to see Mary Ellen to-morrow," said Kathleen
with a little sigh of happiness, and she folded her hands in her lap
and sat for a long time looking quietly out of the window.
"The sea! the sea!" cried Columba, as the car rounded a curve in the
road, and there lay before them the blue waters of the Atlantic.
Immediately there was the greatest excitement among the children.
"Think of our never having seen the ocean before!" exclaimed Feena,
"and our little green island is all surrounded by it."
"Don't be calling your own country little," Deena reproved her. "Faith,
we could whip the whole world before breakfast if we'd put our minds to
it."
"There's the sea again," called Columba. "See how white the chalk
cliffs look, where the sun is shining on them."
"There were chalk cliffs in Tonroe," Kathleen told him, "but they were
not so high as those, and they didn't have such wonderful shapes."
"Look, Kathleen, do you see those men down there among the rocks
gathering seaweed?" Danny asked. "That is the way I used to gather it
for Farmer Flynn. See the big pile of it they have; and there is one
man loading it into a cart."
"And look, Kathleen, there's a castle up there on the rocks," said
Feena, turning to point out to her cousin the gray towers of an ancient
castle perched high on a rugged cliff.
"That's Dunluce Castle," Uncle Tom told them. "It has stood there a
long time, and could tell many a tale of old Irish wars."
"I'll tell you a tale about it now; it's easy to make up stories about
castles like that," Feena whispered to Kathleen.
"There was once an Irish princess, as beautiful as the dawn," she began
in a low voice, "and her father, the king, locked her up in one of
those old towers and set a dragon to guard her. A prince came riding
by on a horse as black as night. He saw the princess standing at the
tower window, looking out over the sea, and he fell in love with her
sad, sweet face. So he rode down to the cave where the Witch of the Sea
lived all alone,—"
"Here we are, at the end of our car ride," her father interrupted. "Now
for a walk along the shore and a climb over the rocks of the Causeway."
The Giant's Causeway is a low rocky pier which stretches out into the
ocean about six hundred feet, gradually sinking below the waves. It is
composed of about forty thousand upright stone columns which are fitted
closely together, the cracks between them being very narrow but showing
plainly the sides of each column.
Most of the columns have five, six, or seven sides; some have four or
eight; a very few have nine; and there is one among the forty thousand
which has only three sides.
"It looks like the beginning of the world," said Mrs. Malone, looking
up at the enormous cliffs and out over the tremendous, swelling
sea,—the big waves roaring and crashing among the black rocks. "Those
tall crags stand there as if they had been guarding the ocean for
centuries."
"So they have," replied her husband, "and they guarded this part of
our island from the golden-haired tribes of the De Danaans, when they
came sailing across the sea from the north some four thousand years
ago. These great cliffs offered no shelter and they had to sail west or
south to find a landing-place."
"Four thousand years ago," repeated Kathleen. "Were there men living in
Ireland as long ago as that?"
"Yes," replied her uncle, "and Ireland was as pleasant a place to live
in then as it is now. It was a land of forests, echoing in spring and
summer to the songs of the birds. Wild cattle, deer and wolves roamed
through the dense woods. Everywhere in the deep forests were blue
lakes and silver rivers teeming with trout and salmon; and the seas
beat restlessly against the coast, while flocks of white gulls sailed
peacefully between the blue of the sky and the blue of the sea."
"It is easy to believe that this Causeway was built by a giant," said
Columba, who had been climbing over the rocks, and came back now to sit
down beside his father.
"Was it really?" asked Kathleen.
"Of course it was," replied her cousin. "Tell her about it, Father. She
likes stories of giants."
"I'll tell her the truth first," said his father, "and that is that the
Causeway and all these black cliffs were made by a volcano which poured
out hot lava over this part of the coast thousands of years ago. The
lava cooled and cracked into these wonderful shapes,—the Giant's
Causeway, the Giant's Spectacles, the Giant's Organ—and now it is one
of the great sights of Ireland, which hundreds of tourists come every
year to see.
"But the people of old Ireland liked to tell strange tales of the rocks
and mountains and so they made up the story of Finn MacCool.
"Finn MacCool was a giant who lived up here in the north of Ireland,
and as strong and powerful a giant as you'd wish to see. He'd take a
thunder-bolt and flatten it out like a pancake, or pull up a pine tree
and lop off the roots and branches to make himself a walking-stick; and
he was so strong that he had whipped every other giant in the country
who was willing to fight with him.
"Over there where you see the blue hills of Scotland lived a Scotch
giant, and one day he shouted out to Finn that he'd come over and whip
him with one hand if he could only cross the ocean without wetting his
feet.
"That very night Finn MacCool set to work to build this causeway of
rock straight across the sea to the coast of Scotland; and when it was
finished the Scotch giant came over the sea dry-shod, while Finn played
a tune on his organ for him to cross to the sound of music.
"Then there was the greatest wrestling match the world ever saw: but
Finn had the best of it from the start, and sent the Scotchman home to
a different tune.
"Some say that Finn pushed part of the Causeway under the waves so that
the giant had to swim home; and you can see for yourself that it seems
to sink under the water out there.
"There is a bit of it left on the coast of Scotland, too," he added
with a laugh.
"It is a good story, even if it isn't true," said Columba.
"It sounds true," said Kathleen. "Do you know any more stories about
Finn MacCool, Uncle Tom?"
"One or two," replied her uncle, "but I can't tell them to you now. Run
and find your Aunt Hannah and the children, and we'll all go and take a
look at the Giant's Organ."
Kathleen started off at once to find her Aunt Hannah, and as she
climbed over the rocks she saw so many bright-eyed pinks that she
stopped to gather a handful.
"What's that you are doing, Kathleen?" asked a familiar voice, and she
looked up quickly to find her father standing beside her.
"Oh, Father!" she cried, throwing her arms around him, "I was hoping
that I would find you down here. I have such good news to tell you!"
[Illustration:
Copyright by Underwood & Underwood, New York
THE GIANT'S CAUSEWAY
"See that little girl out there on the rocks with the big dog beside
her."
_Page 111_]
"It's good news that you're here, Kathleen mavourneen," replied her
father, giving her a hearty kiss.
"But it is much better than that," said Kathleen. "Mary Ellen can see.
Cousin Bee wrote to me about it."
"So she can," said her father, "and a great blessing it is to the dear
child."
"You knew it all the time!" exclaimed Kathleen, "and I thought it was a
secret. Who told you? Did Cousin Bee write to you, too?"
"Perhaps she did," her father answered; and then, looking out across
the Causeway, he added, "See that little girl out there on the rocks
with the big dog beside her. Do you think it is safe for her to be
there all alone? Go and tell her that she'd better come up here with
you."
"Uncle Tom sent me to find Aunt Hannah and the children," said
Kathleen. "I think they are over there on the sand looking for
sea-shells."
"I'll go down and speak to them," her father said, "and we will all
come back and meet you."
So Kathleen clambered out over the rocky pier, stopping every few
minutes to see if the little girl were still safe.
"She looks like Mary Ellen, only bigger," she said to herself, as she
came nearer and saw the child's yellow curls.
Just then the little girl began singing in a sweet soft voice, "How
many miles to Dublin Town?" and Kathleen knew at once that it was Mary
Ellen herself, singing for happiness the little song they used to sing
together in Donegal.
"Mary Ellen!" she called; "Mary Ellen!"
And the little sister turned and held out her arms, crying, "I hear
you, Kathleen; I'd know your voice anywhere. But, best of all, I can
see you now."
Such a hugging and laughing and chattering as there was then. Kathleen
had to tell Mary Ellen all about Kilkenny and the Malones, and Mary
Ellen had to tell Kathleen about the doctor and the hospital and Cousin
Bee.
"And she brought me up here to meet you and Father," she said.
"Who did?" asked Kathleen.
"Cousin Bee, of course," replied her sister; "and she and Father are
planning that we will all live in Tonroe next year, and you and I are
both going to school there. Father is to have the little farm next to
Cousin Patrick's, and we are going to have two little donkeys for our
very own."
"Kathleen," shouted Columba, "we are going over to the wishing chair.
Father says he wants to wish that we'll all get home without getting
lost again."
"Yes," answered Kathleen, and she took her sister's hand to lead her
back over the rocks.
"You won't have to lead me any more," said Mary Ellen.
"That's so, darling; but I'll be forgetting it all the time at first,"
replied Kathleen.
"Tallyho-o-o for the wishing chair!" called Columba again.
"Yes," answered Kathleen, "we're coming." Then she looked lovingly at
her little sister and added, "But I've nothing to wish for now that
Mary Ellen can see."
VOCABULARY
=ȧ lȧn′n[a+]=, my dear.
=Ăn′trĭm=, a county in northeastern Ireland.
=ȧ vĭc′=, my son.
=Bĕl fȧst′=, a city in northeastern Ireland.
=bē līke′=, probably; perhaps.
=bīde=, dwell; stay.
=blăck′thôrn=, a kind of hawthorn, bearing little black plums called
sloes. Strong sticks are made from the branches.
=blär′neў=, flattery; smooth, wheedling talk.
=bō re͞en′=, a little lane.
=Brī′[a+]n B[o+] ru′= (ro͞o), king of Ireland, 1002-1014.
=chĭl′dēr=, children.
=cŏl le͞en′=, lass; girl.
=C[o+] lŭm′bȧ=, a saint's name.
=Cŏn n[e+] mä′rȧ=, a name.
=cre͞el=, a wicker basket.
=Croagh= (crōg), a hill.
=Crŏm′wĕll, Oliver.= Lord Protector of the English Commonwealth,
1653-1658.
=Dȧg′dȧ=, an Irish god.
=Di cho= (dē′ kō), an Irish chief.
=Dŏn [e+] ga̤l′=, a county in northwestern Ireland.
=Dŭb′lĭn=, the capital of Ireland.
=dŭn=, a king's dwelling in ancient Ireland.
=E′rĭn=, Ireland.
=fēar′sȯme=, causing fear; timid; easily frightened.
=Fĭ′ō nȧ=, an Irish princess.
=fôr nĭnst′=, opposite.
=frieze= (frēz), coarse woolen cloth.
=Gāel′ĭc=, the language of the Gael, used in Scotland and Ireland.
=Ga̤l′wāy=, a county in west Ireland.
=Glĕn dȧ′lough= (lŏch), a group of famous ruins of churches and
monasteries.
=gŏs so͞on′=, boy; lad.
=hā'′ pĕn nў=, a half-penny.
=hāy-hăg′gard= (gērd), a stackyard for hay.
=hĭl le͞en′=, little hill.
=hĭg′gle=, to bargain; to haggle.
=Hôrn Hĕad=, a rocky promontory on the northwestern coast of Ireland.
=jäunt′īng-cär=, a two-wheeled vehicle used in Ireland.
=Jẽr′po͜int Ăb′beў=, a ruined church and monastery in County
Kilkenny.
=Kĭl kĕn′nў=, the name of a city and county in the south of
Ireland.
=Kĭl lȧ′raght= (r[a+]t), a village near Boyle.
=Lein′stẽr= (lĕn), the southeastern province of Ireland.
=lĕp′r[e+] caun= (ka̤n), a fairy shoemaker.
=Lĕt′tẽr kĕn′nў=, a town in County Donegal.
=Lĩf′feў=, the river on which Dublin is situated.
=Lough Gä′ rä= (lŏch), a lake in County Sligo.
=Măc Co͞ol′, Fĭnn=, an Irish giant.
=Māive=, queen of West Ireland about 2000 years ago.
=mȧ vo̤ur′ne͞en=, darling.
=Nĕl′sȯn, Horatio=, an English admiral, 1758-1805.
=Ō Cŏn′nĕll, Daniel=, Ireland's silver-tongued orator and "liberator."
=Og′ham= (ŏg′ [a+]m), a kind of writing used in ancient Ireland.
=pēat=, a vegetable substance of roots, fibres, moss, etc., dried and
used for fuel.
=Pōrt rŭsh′=, a town in County Antrim.
=po͜und=, British money equal in value to about $4.86.
=Que͞ens′to͜wn=, a seaport in southern Ireland.
=răth=, a mound or hill.
=rĕd=, make tidy; put in order.
=Rŏs cŏm′m[o+]n=, a county in west Ireland.
=St. Brid'get= (brĭj'ĕt), a patron saint of Ireland, died 523.
=St. Căn′ice= (ĭs), a saint for whom an ancient church in Kilkenny is
named.
=St. C[o+]lŭm′bȧ=, an Irish saint, died 597.
=St. Cŏl′ŭmb kĭlle=, same as St. Columba.
=St. Kĭ′ẽr[a+]n=, a saint for whom the college in Kilkenny is named.
=St. Păt′rĭck=, the patron saint of Ireland, died March 17, about 465
A.D.
=shăm′rŏck=, a three-leaved plant; the national emblem of Ireland.
=shĭl lā′l[a+]h=, a cudgel.
=shĭl′lĭng=, a silver coin equal to about 24 cents.
=Slī′gō=, a county in northwestern Ireland.
=spăl′pe͞en=, good-for-nothing fellow.
=stîr′[a+]; bo͜ut=, oatmeal boiled in water.
=Tä′rȧ=, a hill near Dublin, where the high-kings of ancient Ireland
lived.
=thătch=, straw, rushes or the like, used for a roof.
=Tō′b[a+]r N'a̤lt′=, a holy well in County Sligo.
=Tŏn rōe′=, a village near Boyle in County Sligo.
=whist= (hwĭst), hush; be still.