old woman, clad in a dark cloak, was running to and fro, chanting and wailing, and throwing up her arms.  The girls were very frightened, but the young men ran forward and surrounded the ruin, and two of them went into the church, the apparition vanishing from the wall as they did so.  They searched every nook, and found no one, nor did any one pass out.  All were now well scared, and got home as fast as possible.  On reaching their home their mother opened the door, and at once told them that she was in terror about their father, for, as she sat looking out the window in the moonlight, a huge raven with fiery eyes lit on the sill, and tapped three times on the glass.  They told her their story, which only added to their anxiety, and as they stood talking, taps came to the nearest window, and they saw the bird again.  A few days later news reached them that Mr. Ross-Lewin had died suddenly in Dublin.  This occurred about 1776.”

Mr. Westropp also writes that the sister of a former Roman Catholic Bishop told his sisters that when she was a little girl she went out one evening with some other children for a walk.  Going down the road, they passed the gate of the principal demesne near the town.  There was a rock, or large stone, beside the road, on which they saw something.  Going nearer, they perceived it to be a little dark, old woman, who began crying and clapping her hands.  Some of them attempted to speak to her, but got frightened, and all finally ran home as quickly as they could.  Next day the news came that the gentleman near whose gate the Banshee had cried, was dead, and it was found on inquiry that he had died at the very hour at which the children had seen the specter.

A lady who is a relation of one of the compilers, and a member of a Co.  Cork family of English descent, sends the two following experiences of a Banshee in her family.  “My mother, when a young girl, was standing looking out of the window in their house at Blackrock, near Cork.  She suddenly saw a white figure standing on a bridge which was easily visible from the house.  The figure waved her arms towards the house, and my mother heard the bitter wailing of the Banshee.  It lasted some seconds, and then the figure disappeared.  Next morning my grandfather was walking as usual into the city of Cork.  He accidentally fell, hit his head against the curbstone, and never recovered consciousness.

“In March, 1900, my mother was very ill, and one evening the nurse and I were with her arranging her bed.  We suddenly heard the most extraordinary wailing, which seemed to come in waves round and under her bed.  We naturally looked everywhere to try and find the cause, but in vain.  The nurse and I looked at one another, but made no remark, as my mother did not seem to hear it.  My sister was downstairs sitting with my father.  She heard it, and thought some terrible thing had happened to her little boy, who was in bed upstairs.  She rushed up, and found him sleeping quietly.  My father did not hear it.  In the house next door they heard it, and ran downstairs, thinking something had happened to the servant; but the latter at once said to them, ’Did you hear the Banshee?  Mrs. P——­ must be dying.’”