ken into the text. The "Alexander" is presumably one of the
popes of that name, and if so, must be Alexander II (1061-1073), as
the first Pope Alexander is too early, and the remaining six are too
late. I have, however, searched all the writings bearing his name
without discovering anything like this saying, nor can I trace it with
the aid of the numerous indexes in Migne's _Patrologia_.

XXIII. THE BLESSING OF CIARAN'S FOOD (LA, LC)

I cannot find any authority for the ritual indicated by this curious
story, in which the blessing of a second person is necessary before
food can be consumed. There is a Jewish formula described by
Lightfoot,[17] in which, when several take their meals together, one
says _Let us bless_, and the rest answer _Amen_. But it is not clear
why a response should have been required by a person eating alone.

XXIV. THE STORY OF THE MILL AND THE BAILIFF'S DAUGHTER (LB, VG)

The full details of this narrative have evidently been offensive to
the author of LB, who has heroically bowdlerised it. It is obviously
an independent _Maerchen_, which has become incorporated in the
traditions of Ciaran.

_The Famine._--Famines are frequently recorded in the Irish Annals:
and it is noteworthy that they were usually accompanied by an epidemic
of raids on monasteries. The wealth of the country was largely
concentrated in these establishments, so that they presented a strong
temptation to a starving community. The beginning of the story is thus
quite true to nature and to history, though I have found no record
of a famine at the time when we may suppose Ciaran to have been at
Clonard.

_Transformation of Oats to Wheat, and of other Food to Flour._--Such
transformations are common in the saints' Lives. We read of swine
turned to sheep (CS, 879), snow to curds (LL, 127), sweat to gold
(TT, 398) flesh to bread (CS, 368). The later peculiarities of the
food--bread or some other commonplace material having the taste of
more recondite dainties, and possessing curative properties--are not
infrequently met with in folk-lore. Saint Illtyd placed fish and water
before a king, who found therein the taste of bread and salt, wine and
mead, in addition to their proper savours (_Cambro-British Saints_,
pp. 165, 474).

_The Resistance of the Saint to amorous Advances._--The reader may be
referred to Whitley Stokes's note _ad loc._, in LL. We may recall the
well-known story of Coemgen (Kevin) at Glendaloch: though it m