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Show THE FENIANS. (Written for The Intermountain Catholic.) Cath-olic.) In an article in the New York Tribune, Trib-une, giving an account of the Fenian invasion of Canada, and published in The Intermountain Catholic of Jan. 27, it ia asserted that the "name. Fenian wae taken from one of the legendary heroes of the primitive Irish races." That is not correct, and howe the , writer's lack of knowledge of ancient I irii-in msiorv. The Fiann of Erin were no myth. In calling themselves Fenians, John Ma-hony Ma-hony and his associates assumed the name and title of one of the oldest military mil-itary organizations in the world. The Fenian Brotherhood was founded by Fionn McCumhal (Fin McCool) long before the dawn of Christianity. For a long period they were the hereditary militia of Ireland, or, what would be termed at the present day Ireland's standing army, though standing armies are of modern origin. The tests to which applicants for membership were subjected to were severe ones. At the present time all that is required of the young man who wanta to be a eoldier is that he be physically phy-sically sound and perfect. He is drilled and taught the rest; but, in addition to those qualifications, the applicant for membership in the Fiann of Erin was required to be already proficient in the art of war. Every Fenian was supposed and expected ex-pected to be a match for nine men of any other nation. This test was applied ap-plied to the recruit in this way: He was given a sword and shield and conducted con-ducted to a clump of green sedge, in which he stood in an attitude of defense; de-fense; then, at a certain distance, nine Fenians stood facing him in a row, and at the word, of command simultaneously simultane-ously fired their arrows at him. If he could defend himself against those deadly darts he would pass muster, but if he got wounded he would be rejected. It i also said that they w ere required to perform wonderful athletic feats. For instance, they should attain a certain cer-tain speeed in running, jump their own height and stoop under a hurdle as low as the knee without materially lessen-in- that ppeed. Their onslaughts were irresistible. Coming like a "spring" tide in solid column, they bore down upon the enemy with the fury of a hurricane; their ranks succeeding each other like the waves of the sea, as the foremost fell. Of course many legends are told about Fionn and the Fenians, nevertheless neverthe-less they are historical characters. Kindred Irish organizations to the Fenian Brotherhood in this country have also adopted ancient Irish names, as, for instance, the Knights of the Red Branch, whose ancient appellation was Clan na Craibhruadh (pronounced Clan-na-crave-rov-a), Brotherhood of the Red Branch. But aside from Fenian raids, political organizations and parties, there is -another revolution taking place in Ireland, one that embraces all sects. A movement move-ment that is fostered and patronized by many English, as well as Irish; men of learning and wealth, rich and poor alike; a movement that is bound to be the mos-t potent factor in reconciling and uniting all sections of our race, and the most important step towards Ireland's independence; and that is the revival of the Gaelic tongue, the language lan-guage of the Irissh and the Highland Scotch. JOHN HOARE, Morrison, Colo. |