There is, however, a class of customs which have obtained the generic term of superstitions, which may not quite be omitted, and which are, for many reasons, difficult to estimate rightly.

In treating of this subject, we encounter, _prima facie_, the difficulty of giving a definition of superstition.

The Irish are supposed to be pre-eminently a superstitious people.

Those who make this an accusation, understand by superstition the belief in anything supernatural; and they consider as equally superstitious, veneration of a relic, belief in a miracle, a story of a banshee, or a legend of Finn Mac Cumhaill.

Probably, if the Celts did not venerate relics, and believe in the possibility of miracles, we should hear far less of their superstitions.