the superior bust as on my coin No. 7, Plate xxviii. Of James the First there were sixpences to 1608, and shillings to the bell mint-mark, 1610; and as these and others of the king's had all the gloss of the die remaining, we may presume that the hoard was buried about 1610.

The immense quantity of the silver coins of Ferdinand and Isabella met with in Ireland has been a wonder to me from my first boy-collecting days, more especially as there is then a gap down to Philip the Fourth, and his are usually the Low Country dollars, about 1654. I never but once stumbled on a lot in which were the half and quarter pieces of eight of Ferdinand and Isabella, the same of "Carolus et Johanna Reges" (Charles the Fifth and his mother); and the piece of eight, its half, quarter, and eight of Philip the Second. Now if these coins had come in the way, either of trade, or assistance to the Irish Rebels, why should they not have rather been the currency of the subsequent sovereigns, who endeavoured to wound England through Ireland? My idea has been, that these coins of Ferdinand and Isabella may have been part of the dowry of Katharine of Arragon, paid to our Henry the Seventh on her marriage with his son Arthur, and put into circulation in Ireland. The weight of the English groat and half being 48 and 24 grains, they would, profitably enough for the king, represent those coins; and were a better circulation for the people than that issued by Henry the Seventh from the mint of Dublin. I may remark, that Isabella's name on coins which I have before me present these varieties of spelling: Helisab. Helisabet. Elisab. Elisabt. Elisabet, Elisabede.

With the coins was also found a silver religious locket, of an oval form, about two and a half inches high, with a ring for suspending; the edges ornamented with five projections, possibly referring to the five wounds of the Crucifixion. On one side, I. H. S.; on the other, the Cross. The form of the letters, and its worn state, indicate a more remote era than any of the coins.

R. S.

According to the above the sovereigns should not be at a heavier circulating weight than 5 dwt. 2 grs.

Cork, 10 April, 1821.

JOHN LECKY.

"Good wine makes good blood; good blood causeth good humours; good humours causeth good thoughts; good thoughts bring forth good works; good works carry a man to Heaven. Ergo, good wine carrieth a man to Heaven."-Henderson's History of Wines, A.D. 1824, p. 309.

FAIRIES AND SPIRITS.

LETTER FROM T. CROFTON CROKER, ESQ. M.R.I.A., F.S.A.

3, Gloucester Road, Old Brompton.

27th January, 1853.

MY DEAR RICHARD,-Your letters of the 10th and 20th should not have remained so long unanswered had I been in a condition to reply to them. The first found me in bed, and until I could get down stairs it was impossible that I could set about complying with your request, as no one knew how or where I had arranged, or rather made progress in arranging, my papers.

It is even at present an impossibility that I can send you all the mass of your letters and papers which you saw collected together, as some have been destroyed, but they were of no consequence, and the remainder have been sorted for noting from, and cutting from, and pasting in about twenty different lots, and put away accordingly in different places.

One reason why I preserved your letters so carefully is, that you chronicled therein almost every antiquarian discovery that came within your knowledge, and many of which I have already noted in a volume devoted to that purpose, and the arrangement of specimens which I possess. In this I have made considerable progress. But if you will tell me the papers (you particularly refer to three) which you recollect having sent me, I shall probably be able, at once, to put my hand on them, and send them to you by return of post.

Upon the chance I send you a batch, as yet unappropriated, which should you not require I shall be glad to have returned; as they have recently turned up in sorting, and I have not looked through them carefully.

Some of your topographical notes I have put by to be bound with a copy of my researches interleaved with notes. Your fairy

histories with a collection of superstitious papers (original documents). Your notes about Cork, with a MS. on its history. Your notes about coins, with a collection of numismatic papers. Your account of antiquarian discoveries, with the large volume in my Index Cabinet. Your skelling lists and street ballads, with my ballad collections, and so on. Therefore, I think I can easily recover any particular paper or papers you may name to me. But as for bundling off the whole, it would be indeed a job, to which I am not at present equal.

Mrs. Croker joins me in best regards to Mrs. Sainthill from, my dear Richard,

Yours most faithfully,

T. CROFTON CROKER.

THE FAIRIES OF KNOCKSHEEGOWNA

(THE HILL OF THE FAIRY YEARLING COW, SITUATED ON THE BORDERS OF THE KING'S COUNTY AND TIPPERARY, IN ORMOND, NEAR BALLINGARRY).

There was two soldiers, an Englishman and an Irishman, going from Limerick to Birr, and says one to the other, "Is that Knocksheegowna Hill?" "It is," said the other. "I hear," says the Englishman, "that there is a queen and fairies in that hill; and," says he, "I will go and see the queen to-night: I have had a longing desire to see her ladyship ever since I heard of her, and I'll go and see her court to-night." Then the two went up and took a view of the hill, and when they went up they saw a young lady that came out. of the hill and said her mistress asked for the pleasure of their company for the night; and so a fine door opened in the side of the hill, and they all went in. They come into the hall, and the queen came to them and invited them into the parlour, and there they saw the finest beef and mutton, roasting and boiling, and no hands employed in the cooking, nor did they see any body about the place, but the queen and her two waiting-maids. Then a fine table was laid and every thing fitting a fine gentleman, and no one was seen doing it. Then when it was time to go to bed, the two maids went

and made two beds for the soldiers. Then said the Englishman, “If I was to die for it, I should like to sleep with one of you fair maids; " and one said, "With all pleasure, sir." "How," said he, "shall I know how to go to you?" "I'll tie," said she, "a piece of twine from the foot of your bed to my door." Then by the time the soldier thought all was ready and the maid in bed, he got up and followed the twine, and when he came to the door, he stepped in, and where should he be, but on the top of a big tree, in the middle of a forest, and the wind blowing so that it bent down to the ground; and he did not know, for the world, what to do, and so he begun to bawl and roar. The queen overheard him, and she said to the maids, "Get up and let the soldier go to rest, and play no tricks with him ;" and then the maid got up, and lit a candle, and went into the room, and then when he saw himself where should he be, but standing on the edge of a candlestick, which was bending from side to side, and a cat standing by and licking off the grease. Then said she, "You foolish man, what brought you here?" "Sure," said he, "here's where I got the twine." "Oh," says she, "sure it was into that room I bad you come," pointing to a room opposite that he was in. "Well," said she, "I hope it will not be so the next bout." "Oh no, my dear," says he, "I hope it will not." Then she tied a string from his door to hers, as he thought, and they went to bed again; and when he thought it was time, he got up. "Oh," says his comrade, "stay here, you foolish man, and don't have any call to the women; you know that they are not right, and while you are at rest stay so, or it "Oh no," be worse for you." may said he, "I'd go for my neck to the gallows, to meet that fair lady.” "You are going now," said the comrade, "and if you'd take my advice, you'd stay." "Oh no, I wont," says he. Then he went and got hold of the twine, and went along by it till he come to the door, and opened it and stept in, and where should he find himself but into the middle of a great sea: then he began to puff and blow, and thought he should be drowned, every wave going into his mouth, and then he begin to bawl. Then said the queen to the maid, "Get up, and let the poor soldier out of what ever punishment ye have put him, and let him sleep, and let me find ye'll not play him any more tricks till morning." The maid got up, and lit the candle, and when she came into the room, "Oh," said she,