third fair was held triennially at Carman, now called Wexford; and its time was likewise the first day of August. The stories about its institution vary considerably, and offer some difficulty of interpretation in as far as regards their mythological meaning;[1] but, like the Tailltin fair, it is represented as commemorative of a deceased person, and as having been established after the demons of blight and blast had been overcome. It was considered an institution of great importance, and among the blessings promised to the men of Leinster from holding it and duly celebrating the established games, were plenty of corn, fruit and milk, abundance of fish in their lakes and rivers, domestic prosperity, and immunity from the yoke of any other province. On the other hand, the evils to follow from the neglect of this institution were to be failure and early greyness on them and their kings.
It is not very evident why the stories about the institution of these fairs should give them a funereal interpretation; but it is worth while mentioning that both Tailltin and Cruachan are mentioned as among the chief burial-places in pagan Erinn;[2] and Carman is also alluded to as a cemetery.[3] Moreover, Lug, as we have already seen (p. 397), was, when he came, supposed to arrive from the other world, and to be followed by a fairy train consisting of the sons of Manannán mac Lir. We come next to the association of Lug's name with the fair; for this there was a special reason: it has already been stated that the Lugnassad corresponded in the calendar to the English Lammas—a word which was in A.-Saxon hláfmæsse, that is, loaf-mass or bread-mass, so
