NOTES

      The main point of distinction between the Cluricaune and the
Shefro, arises from the sottish and solitary habits of the former
who are rarely found in troops or communities.

     The Cluricaune of the county of Cork, the Luricaune of Kerry
the Lurigadaune of Tipperary, appear to be the same as the Lepre-
chan or Leprochaune of Leinster, and the Loghery-man of Ulster ;
and these words are probably all provincialisms of  luacha'rman the
Irish for a pigmy.

     It is possible, and is in some measure borne out by the text of one
of the preceding stories [IX.], that the word luacharman is merly an
Anglo-Irish induction, compounded of  luachair (a rush), and the
English word, man. - A rushy man, - that may be, a man of the
height of a rush, or a being who dwelt among rushes, i. e. unfrequented
or boggy places.

     The following dialogue is said to have taken place in an Irish court of
justice, upon the witness having used the word Leprochaune : -
   Court. - Pray what is a leprochaune ? the law knows no such cha-
racter or designation.
    Witness. - My Lord, it is a little counsellor man in the fairies, or
an attorney that robs them all, and he always carries a purse that is full
of money, and if you see him and keep your eyes on him, and that you
never turn them aside, he cannot get away, and if you catch him he
gives you the purse to let him go, and then you 're as rich as a Jew.
   Court. - Did you ever know of any one that caught a Lepro-
chaune? I wish I could catch one.
   Witness. - Yes, my Lord, there was one --
   Court. - That will do.

     With respect to "money matters," there appears to be a strong re-
semblance between the ancient Roman Incubus and the Irish Cluri-
caune.-" Sed quomodo dicunt, ego nihil scio, sed audivi, quomodo
incuboni pileum rapuisset et thesaurum invenit," are the words Pe-
tronius. -- See, for further arguments in support of the identity of the
two spirits, the Brothers Grimm's Essay on the Nature of the Elves,
prefixed to their translation of this work, under the head of " Ancient
Testimonies."

     "Old German and Northern poems contain numerous accounts of
the skill of the dwarfs, in curious smith's work." -- " The Irish Clur-
caune is heard hammering; he is particularly fond of making shoes,
but these were in ancient times made of metal (in the old northern
language a shoe-maker is called a shoe-smith); and, singularly enough
the wights in a German tradition manifest the same propensity ; for
whatever work the shoe-maker has been able to cut out in the day
they finish with incredible quickness during the night."

                                                         The Brothers Grimm.