ROUND   TOWERS.  1 63

and  everything  were  swallowed  up  in  this,  as  it  were,
partial  or  local  deluge.  And  when  the  wealth  of
waters  had  fully  hidden  the  whole  face  of  that  region,
they  ceased  to  pour  forth  and  the  flood  remained
there  as  a  mighty  lake  \  as  if  the  Author  of  Nature
judged  the  district  which  had  seen  such  wickedness
to  be  unfit  for  the  habitation  not  only  of  its  original
owners,  but  for  mankind  in  general  for  all  time.*

That  the  tradition  of  this  occurrence  is  true  seems
to  be  fairly  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  in  calm  weather
the  fishermen  see  plainly  standing  in  the  depths  of
the  lake  round  ecclesiastical  towers,  tall  and  slender,
like  those  they  have  in  Ireland  :  t  and  oftentimes  will
they  point  these  out  to  the  wondering  stranger  as  they
ferry  him  across  the  lough.
*  The  date  assigned  to  this  in  the  Irish  Annals  is  A.D.  62  ;
the  year  after  the  death  of  Boadicea  in  Britain.  A  similar
account  is  given  of  the  origin  of  lough  Foyle  and  of  lough
Erne.  These  traditions  probably  point  to  some  volcanic
phenomena.  As  late,  indeed,  as  A.D.  1490  we  find  in  the  Four
Masters  an  entry  to  the  effect  that  lough  Easkey,  in  Sligo,  was
suddenly  formed  in  like  manner  by  an  "eruption  of  the  earth."

t  These  are  the  famous  round  towers  of  Ireland  concerning
the  origin  and  purpose  of  which  there  has  been  so  much  con-
troversy.    The  reader  will  call  to  mind  Moore's  song  : —

"  On  Lough  Neagh's  banks  as  the  fisherman  strays,

"When  the  clear,  cold  eve's  declining,

*'  He  sees  the  Round  Towers  of  other  days,

"  In  the  wave  beneath  him  shining."

Irish  Melodies.
1 64  THE    GIANTS'   DANCE.
