NEW WOMEN'S CLUB.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 128, 1 June 1936, Page 11

NEW WOMEN'S CLUB.

Mrs. Ida Rolleston, of London, addressed members on Friday afternoon, taking as her subject "Irish Folk Lore." The first people to colonise Ireland, she said, were the Egyptians, and the first queen was the daughter of a Pharaoh. This Egyptian origin accounted for many of the ancient customs and superstitions, the sanctity of fire and water, the sacred trees (elm, ash and alder), and the holy wells. A section of the peasantry, in ancient tinges,- erected a huge serpent (an idea borrowed from India), which was worshipped by the people until St. Patrick persuaded them to take it down and cast it into the sea, thus earning the reputation of casting the snakes" out of Ireland. An understanding of herbalism, the speaker continued, prevailed amongst the people, who were noted for their skill with herbs, and rarely went to doctors. The healing powers "found often among the poorer classes were believed to be obtained from the fairies," the "little people" whom the Irish claimed to be able to see clairvovantly. Hostesses for the afternoon were Mesdames Newcombe, A. E, Cashmore, 11. A, Wild and R. W. Archer.