Termon-Dabheoc. But that it is much smaller, it exactly resembles in form the termon crosses of Tullagh, near Loughlinstown, Co. Dublin. This cross measures in shaft I foot 4 inches in length of pedestal sunk in the ground; from pedestal to top of shaft, 2 feet; width of the arms, II inches. A portion of the circlet has been broken off the left side; and the head of the cross itself, including the arms, has been also broken, but remains in its place so so long as the cross is kept in an upright stationary position.

At the western corner of this churchyard may be seen (as shown on the illustration of Templecarn already inserted) the finest specimen I have witnessed of a bohogue, in a good state of preservation, and having an altar-table of stone. These bohogues, or huts, which afforded shelter and accommodation merely for the altar and the priest, were commonly availed of throughout the north of Ireland, even within the memory of those living, for the celebration of the Sacred Mysteries. This bohogue is sheltered by an arched or hood-like covering of stone. Its measurements are:-Height from ground to centre of arch, 71⁄2 feet; width at entrance, about 6 feet; depth, 72 feet; depth of altar-table, 21⁄2 feet.

On some of the monuments within this graveyard may be seen a remnant, or imitation, of that curious interlacing, known as opus Hibernicum, for which the ancient Irish monuments are so remarkable.

From Templecarn may be had an extensive view of Lough Erne and its islands, with the Fermanagh and Leitrim mountains in the background. There is neither tree nor shrub within or around this churchyard. Past

this churchyard led the ancient roadway to Saints' Island; so that we may safely conjecture that before the altar of Templecarn many a weary and footsore pilgrim to Lough Derg had offered a prayer in passing. In the neighbourhood of Templecarn the only objects of antiquarian interest I know of are strange megalithic remains in the townland of Tamlaght; also a holy well at a place named Cullion.

It is generally supposed that Lough Derg was known in ancient Erin under the name of Fionloch, or the fair lake. That there was another lake of the same name, where lower Lough Erne unfolds its spreading waters, would appear from the following extract taken from O'Flaherty.

"Fordremanus, Finloch, Lochlorgan, Stagna vetusta, Quos, quam culta prius, fudit Ierna lacus."

The supposition that Lough Derg was anciently called Fionloch appears to rest on the authority of the legend regarding St. Patrick and the serpent ; setting that legend aside, I see no reason for denying that it was always called Lough Derg.

There are two different opinions to account for the meaning of the denomination, Lough Derg. The first is founded on a legend, which goes on to say that a frightful serpent inhabited this locality, and spread terror and destruction far and wide; that St. Patrick, being come into the district, put the serpent to death; that the waters of the lake were dyed of a reddish colour by its blood; and thus the name of the lake, which was hitherto called Fionn, fair or clear, came to be called dearg, which

signifies red. This legend, though in substance the same, is differently told by O'Donnellan, in the notes to his edition of the Four Masters; by Dr. O'Donovan, in his Donegal Letters, preserved in the Royal Irish Academy; and by Mr. Wakeman, in a short notice and sketch of Lough Derg, published in the Pictorial World, August 28th, 1875.

This derivation of the name is not admitted by O'Donovan, who pronounces himself quite incredulous as to these legends and local traditions. He says: "I am quite satisfied the name of the lake is not Loch-Dearg, i.e. Red Lough, but Loch-Deirc, which means the Lough of the Cave." This opinion is greatly sustained from the way in which it is found written in early notices of it. It is called Loch Gerc and Logh Gerg, and the district in which it lay was called Glinn Deirg. This construction, also, is that adopted by the Rev. John Francis Shearman of Howth, in his Loca Patriciana.

That the waters of Lough Derg bear a reddish tinge to this very day is beyond all doubt, which, if it be not attributable to the legend aforesaid, is easily accounted for by reason of its waters flowing over a boggy or heathy surface. When agitated by a storm the water of the lake becomes very muddy; but when the lake becomes calm again, the water is clear, and very palatable. The colour of the water, as also its agreeable taste when taken in a warm state, gave rise to its receiving, by a very appropriate fiction, the name of "wine.' Formerly this "wine" was the only beverage taken by the pilgrims while they remained "on station." Till

recently the large copper, in which this "wine" was boiled, lay rusting in a corner of the island, the modern innovation of boarding-houses and tea-kettles having discarded its occupation. Being such a useful relic of the past, it has been dignified with being marked on the Ordnance Survey Map of the place; and hence, though there is now no trace of it to be seen, its memory is not destined soon to perish.

Reserving for another place a description of the road leading from Pettigoe to Lough Derg, as well as of the other routes from Castlederg and Donegal, I shall now briefly describe the lake, its islands, its situation and surroundings.

Lough Derg is a lonely sheet of water, extending from north to south, about six miles in length. Its greatest width from Portcreevy to the River Derg is fully four miles. It is thirteen miles in circuit, and covers an area of 2,140 statute acres. It is surrounded by a chain of mountains, some of which rise to a considerable elevation above the level of the lake. The Rev. Caèsar Otway, in his Sketches in Donegal, and other writers after him, from whom we should expect a more impartial description, if not so graphic, say that there is no grandeur in the scenery of Lough Derg, no variety in the outline, the mountains without elevation, neither tree nor green spot to relieve this sombre scenery. A more unfair or distorted picture the greatest enemy of the place could hardly give. Here, indeed, you have all the charms of Highland scenery, and much in addition. The extensive sheet of water, with rocky shores and numerous islands,

is all that can be admired. In the background the mountains are of considerable and varying elevation. And though heath is here the prevailing robe of nature, yet occasional patches of trees and bushes, with many a sunny slope and green sward and wooded island, relieve the scenery of its stern and wild aspect. But above and beyond all, the traditions and associations of the place impart to it an attraction and charm which no beauty of scenery could supply.

The lake is about 450 feet above the level of the sea; while the highest surrounding mountains are Crockinnagoe, to the south-east of the lake, 1,194 feet; Ardmore and Ougtadreen towards the north, 1,086 and 1,071 feet high respectively; the mountains to the south and west not reaching an elevation of 1,000 feet.

The chain of hills towards the south of the lake forms the watershed between northern and southern Ulster. The streams flowing south of this chain of hills meet the Termon river at Pettigoe, thence flowing into Lough Erne; while the streams flowing northward empty into Lough Derg, and thence into the sea at Lough Foyle.

"The basin of the lake is a huge quarry of the metamorphic rock, known as mike slate, or schist, upheaved in ages azoic by some fiery agent, so that the stratifaction is now almost perpendicular to the surface. It crops up all round the shore, and through the lake into numerous rocky islets and hidden reefs, whose projecting points are sharp as iron spikes, and render the navigation of the lake a matter of great caution."*

* From an article in the Irish Monthly, January Number, 1878.