A curious ceremony was current in the Island of Lismore. When several boys gathered together, two p. 211 boys seized a third by the head and heels, and swaying him from side to side sang an eerie chant over him.
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UILL! hill! uill! O!
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FIRST BOY |
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UILL! hill! uill! O!
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Cill-Moluag an Lios-mor, Uill! hill! uill! O! Cill-Moluag an Lios-mor, Uill! hill! uill! O! Cill-Moluag an Lios-mor, |
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SECOND BOY |
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In Killmoluag of Lismore, Uill! hill! uill! O! In Killmoluag of Lismore, Uill! hill! uill! O! In Killmoluag of Lismore, |
After more questions and more answers, the boy was carried round in procession sunwise to a wailing march, in which all the boys joined. The boy was then laid upon a rock or knoll for an altar. After more singing and more p. 211 ceremonial the victim was laid in some convenient hollow for a grave, to the music of another eerie lament and the laughter of the boys. The writer was an actor in this boyish drama, but what the drama represented he does not know.
