RESEARCHES
IN THE
SOUTH OF IRELAND,
ILLUSTRATIVE OF
THE SCENERY, ARCHITECTURAL REMAINS, AND THE MANNERS AND SUPERSTITIONS OF THE PEASANTRY.
AN APPENDIX,
CONTAINING
A PRIVATE NARRATIVE OF THE REBELLION OF 1798.
BY T!CROFTON CROKER.
LONDON : JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET.
MDCCCXXIV.
IDA
LONDON:
PRINTED BY C. KOWORTB, BELL YARD, * TEMPLE BAH.
H
ADVERTISEMENT.
TH E pretensions of this Volume are very humble, as it consists of little more than an arrangement of notes made during several excur- sions in the South of Ireland between the years 1812 and 1822.— These I have endeavoured to condense into a popular shape rather than extend by minute detail.
Politics have been carefully avoided; whether this will be con- sidered a recommendation, or a defect, I have yet to learn ; but on a subject which has called forth so much angry discussion, I feel neither qualified nor inclined to offer an opinion.
In a Tour through part of the counties of Cork, Waterford, and Limerick, in 1821, Miss Nicholson and Mr. Alfred Nicholson were my companions : — to their pencils this Volume is chiefly indebted for its illustrations; and my best acknowledgments are likewise due to Mr. W. H. Brooke, for the careful manner in which he has pre- pared my sketches for the Wood Engravings printed with the text.
22d December, 1823.
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XXXII
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RESEARCHES
IN
THE SOUTH OF IRELAND.
CHAPTER I.
HISTORY AND NATIONAL CHARACTER.
" All only for to publish plaine,
Tyme past, tyme present both : That tyme to come, may well retaine, Of each good tyme, the troth."
Thomas Churchyard's Worthines of Wales.
INTIMATELY connected as are the Sister Islands of Great Britain and Ireland, it is an extraordinary fact that the latter country should be comparatively a terra incognita to the English in general, who, notwithstanding their love of travel and usual spirit of inquiry, are still contented to remain very imperfectly acquainted with the actual state of so near a portion of the British empire.
To the facility of its access may in some measure be ascribed the
B
4 HISTORY AND NATIONAL CHARACTER. CHAP. I.
regal splendour of Tara, the scholastic learning of Lismore, or the achievements of Brian and of Malachi, that unfairly usurp the sym- pathies awakened in our childhood for magic banquets, enchanted castles and the chivalry of the Seven Champions ; although the veracity of these marvellous stories, aided by a deceptive precision of date, has been maintained by many Irish historians with a sophistry at once ingenious and absurd. Whether the matter of such old chronicles be false or true, there is now little to be gleaned from those repositories of monkish labour, either of an amusing or an instructive nature.
I have made use of the Journal of a Tour through some of the Southern Counties, as the most convenient means of combining and conveying information derived from various sources, with topogra- phical remarks, and observations on the manners and superstitions of the peasantry. Taking the broad outline of rational and authentic history, since the connection of England with Ireland, my object has also been to illustrate the cause of existing distinctions between their respective children — a difference of so strong and peculiar a nature as decidedly to separate those wljo should feel united in one common interest, and which, under slight modifications, still threatens to render Ireland the scene of serious disaffection. My labours may be imperfect, and have unavoidably been limited to the districts treated on ; yet I can with confidence claim the merit of having been an impartial observer and a faithful narrator of such events as have occurred within my own knowledge.
A general review of the History of Ireland presents few features that will gratify the pride of a native or the feelings of an English- man. Conquered, without being subdued, a wild and unruly spirit of independence flickered amongst the chieftains from age to age, unextinguished by a deluge of blood : — the faith pledged to the victors was broken at every favourable opportunity; revolt succeeded revolt, and what was by one party considered as treason and rebel-
CHAP. I. HISTORY AND NATIONAL CHARACTER. 5
lion, was by the other regarded as just, or at least justifiable : this proceeded from an imperfect and individual, rather than an universal conquest.
The invasion of Ireland by Strongbow and Raymond le Gros originated more in private speculation than from public circum- stances ; and it was not until Henry II. had observed the progress made by these adventurers, that he afforded them assistance, which even then was granted with jealousy and suspicion.
A series of centuries present numberless struggles on the part of the Irish to throw off their subjugation to England, the results of which were partial and ineffectual, while the invaders maintained their newly acquired dominion with unyielding grasp, and, confined within a district termed " the Pale," were continually harassed by " the Irish enemy," whose internal feuds rendered them unable to follow up any advantage which they obtained.
When Elizabeth ascended the throne of England, foreign invasion and domestic security rendered it necessary to end this protracted system of temporizing, and to complete the conquest of Ireland ; and those empowered by the English government carried this intention into effect with unrelaxed severity : " These deputies, and the depu- ties of the deputies, were strangers and soldiers, needy and tyrannical — their duty, conquest, — their reward, plunder, — their residence, an encampment, — their administration, a campaign."
It would seem that the utter extirpation of the native population was the object proposed : — those entrusted with the prosecution of this desolating policy declare in the public despatches of their pro- ceedings addressed to the queen, that " they have endeavoured to make Ireland as a rased table whereon her Majesty might write her own laws ;" and again, " that nothing but the sword held over their heads could contain the remaining Irish in subjection ;" — but it is both needless and painful to multiply quotations, when a volume might be filled with similar effusions.
O HISTORY AND NATIONAL CHARACTER. CHAP. I.
Scenes of massacre and bloodshed, too horrible for relation — of treacherous and wanton murder, where every bond and tie of nature, of honour and humanity were violated, were circumstances of so common occurrence in Irish history at the close of the sixteenth century, as scarcely to excite attention, or awaken feeling, in those who have detailed the events of that era, and who by familiarity with horror seem to have become callous to it.
In the historians of these times, and whose language has been adopted by latter writers, the epithets " perfidious traitor" and " notorious rebel" are applied to every Irish chieftain — terms that almost silence further inquiry ; but if the Irish were rebels and traitors, the English were at the same time plunderers and tyrants ; their rapacity awakened by the hope of spoil, and their ferocity increased by the view of that property, which violence alone could wrest from its original possessors.
This stage of unprincipled warfare was dignified by a crowd of illustrious men, amongst whom Spencer and Raleigh are conspicuous; the latter commenced his extraordinary and ill-fated career in these scenes of butchery and carnage, and in almost the first action recorded of that young soldier his arms were sullied by the execution of a piece of deliberate cruelty, which called down the censure of his royal mistress on Lord Grey, and will ever remain a stain on the page of British history, notwithstanding Spencer's vindication or rather apology for such conduct.
\V ith the ground obtained from the native chieftains, who were literally hunted down for their possessions, the perpetrators of these atrocities were rewarded ; and on the accession of James I., Ireland laid " breathless, exhausted and peaceable, only because incapable any longer to raise the arm of war."
The English settlers now became of advantage to the country which had been so long the field of contest and devastation, and during the tranquillity produced by this exhaustion important and
CHAP. I. HISTORY AND NATIONAL CHARACTER. 7
beneficial changes were effected : agriculture received attention, manufactures were introduced, gloomy towers were replaced by com- fortable mansions, churches were built, and boundaries constructed.
A wish to conciliate seems also to have existed amongst the English ; and Lord Baltimore, on his return from Ireland to the court of James I., is said to have replied to his Majesty's inquiry respecting the state of that kingdom, " That the Irish Avere a wicked people, but they had been as wickedly dealt withal."
Still the ancient fire of hatred towards the conquering nation burned in secrecy and silence, nourished by opposing religions, and deriving fresh vigour from this new cause. The fatal dissensions between Charles I. and his people awoke the Irish from their trance of allegiance.
The history of this interesting period abounds with perplexity and misrepresentation : the most inhuman actions are charged by each party against the other, but a dispassionate review of these revolu- tionary events as they now appear mellowed by time into truth, will place some sanguinary points in at least a doubtful shape.
When the forgery of state commissions and other important docu- ments is acknowledged on all sides to be no unusual practice ; when the solemnity of an oath was regarded a mere matter of convenience, or a form to serve some particular purpose, which might be absolved or abjured if necessary, and when the actors in these matters are viewed as animated by the irritation of party feuds and feeling, excited by political intrigue, and inflamed by religious rancour and bigotry, should we not pause and investigate every statement with the most scrutinizing strictness ?
The conduct of the Irish generally has been severely stigmatized and condemned, too often by those unacquainted with the niceties of the case. A long catalogue of cold blooded murders naturally excites horror, but a series of provocations may rouse the tamest spirit to measures of revenge and desperation ; and it will be found
8 HISTORY AND NATIONAL CHARACTER. CHAP. I.
that there are various and contradictory evidences which require investigation before an impartial opinion can be formed.
" That Ireland was never conquered has been her pride, but it has also been her misfortune ;" and I believe it will be found that her children have been alternately treated as allies, as rebels, or as slaves ; perhaps it may be urged that they have conducted themselves as such ; but have the measures of those who formerly governed them been unexceptionable, and has that faith, that honour, and that humanity been inviolably observed, which would call forth reciprocal virtues in a people whose traducers even have not denied their warmth of heart, and capability of ardent and devoted attachment ?
The circumstances of Charles I.'s reign contain many features of historical importance. It will be recollected amongst the charges most loudly urged againstLorcl Strafford was his arbitrary and rigorous administration in Ireland, regarding that island as a conquered county ; a position received with acclaim by the English parliament, and tacitly acknowledged by Charles himself.
The Irish shortly after took up arms and declared their indepen- dence, and were proclaimed traitors and rebels by the very same assembly for presuming to maintain the doctrine they had themselves first asserted ; nor is this monstrous inconsistency less remarkable for being slurred over and unnoticed by almost every historian.
A few words on the number and character of the parties in Ireland during the insurrection of 1641, emphatically termed by the natives, " the troubles/' may not be misplaced, as it is necessary to consider them collectively to form an adequate idea of the confusion which must have prevailed, and as they are oftener found treated in detail with a tedious minuteness than brought under one general view.
Charles had a small band of attached followers, headed by the Duke of Ormond, struggling with difficulties, and suffering the severest checks and privations, yet still loyal and faithful in an almost
CHAP. I. HISTORY AND NATIONAL CHARACTER. 9
hopeless cause. Directly opposed to the Royalists were the Parlia- mentarians or Republicans, and midway between these were the Irish or Rebels, vindicating their independence and opposed to both, but more strongly to the latter : these were the three great parties. The subdivisions of the Irish are innumerable, and almost appear to be " tot homines, tot animi." The " mere Irish," or ancient Septs, had associated to throw off the dominion of England, and establish a monarch of their own nation and religion. " The Lords of the Pale," or the descendants of the English long settled in the country, who had intermarried with the Irish, less violent than " the old Rebels," having already too much, sought more power ; of these again some were more temperate than others, and, though siding with the Inde- pendents, would have readily maintained the cause of Charles on certain, and not unreasonable terms ; more were compelled to take up arms in their own defence; and others, chiefly Scots and Northerns, were soldiers of fortune, and adventured their life in the speculative expectation of booty. These various factions were wrought on by the influence and promises of foreign courts, by the agency of papal missionaries, by the claims of kindred and the bond of feudal clan- ship. Such were the materials out of which that heterogeneous mass called the Confederate Assembly was formed — each jealous and suspicious of the other — influenced by private dissensions and fearful of reposing confidence in their associates.
Some of those who composed the league anticipated the result of this disunion. It is related that early in their proceedings one of the members who had seldom spoken stood up, and, after a profound silence and much expectation, gravely advised the meeting by all means to join with Cromwell and espouse his interest heartily, as the only expedient to ruin him ; and closed his ironical address by the deduction of former instances where the Irish defeated every cause in which they had embarked, and destroyed those joined with them bv their internal contentions.
10 HISTORY AND NATIONAL CHARACTER. CHAP. I.
To perfect the knowledge of these discords and harmonies, the terms " claims of kindred and bond of feudal clanship" may require illustration. Amongst the ancient Irish there existed two laws, termed Tanistry and Gavelkind, well adapted to an uncivilized state of society, and therefore unfairly styled by Dr. Warner " absurd :" by the first of these laws, possessions descended not according to birth- right but to the strongest and most skilful ; and by the other, women were excluded from any participation in the property of a deceased relative. These laws, amongst a barbarous people governed by " the strong hand," proceeded from the necessity of possessing leaders with superior power and courage, and the clan or dependents of each chief were bound together by a double tie called Fosterage and Gossipred — customs that still prevail and affinities that are still ac- knowledged in Ireland.
The child of every chief was placed out as soon as born, to be nursed by some of his dependents, and the connection of fosterage was thus formed between that child and those of his nurse, who were termed foster-brothers and sisters to the young lord, and the nurse's husband became the foster-father. Sir John Davies mentions that " fosterage was considered a stronger alliance than blood, and that foster-children do love and are beloved of their foster-fathers and their septs more than of their natural parents and kindred." Campion also tells us, that " the Irish love and trust their foster- brethren more than their own," and examples Turlogh O'Neale.
The sponsors of the child became likewise united in the relation- ship of gossip or godsips — a spiritual affinity acknowledged by the canon law.
Such were the ties which cemented clans or factions into an almost indissoluble combination, it being the invariable custom for fosterers and gossips to support each other in all quarrels of what- ever nature.
With the Confederate assembly the Duke of Ormond temporized
CHAP. I. HISTORY AND NATIONAL CHARACTER. 11
until the circumstances of Charles became desperate, when the Irish, with an indifference to the real merits of the question .between the Sovereign and the subject, supported that unfortunate Monarch, because he was opposed by those whom they considered as their oppressors, and with a stipulating, yet careless, profligacy, ranged themselves under the royal banner, merging for a time their national views in a chaos of unaccountable contradictions. But the fierce and hasty strides of Cromwell awed the Irish spirit into submission;— his commands were decisive and effective, for his cannon were his arguments ; and the shattered castles to be seen in every direction are memorials of his astonishing progress, or, to use the canting language of the times, are " evidences of the divine vengeance against such perfidious traitors as the Irish — whose name and nation might, with a little more time and treasure, have been utterly extirpated."
At the present day the common malediction in the mouth of every Irish peasant is, " the curse of Cromwell," being their strongest expression for entire ruin and desolation ; and minute circumstances, that occurred nearly two centuries since, are as fresh in popular recollection as the events of the preceding year.
The contest between James and William is well known; — William was victorious because he imitated the rapidity of Cromwell ; his own declaration was, " that he did not come to Ireland to let the grass grow under his feet ;" — and by such cheering observations as " This is a country worth fighting for !" — as well as his personal exertions, William inspired his troops with confidence and energy, while James, encircled by bigots, loitered over trivial and cere- monious details, and was overtaken by the day of action. By his individual example William gave a superiority to his soldiers which his enemies felt and acknowledged. — " Change Monarchs with us and we would fight the battle over again," — were the emphatic words of one of James's most distinguished generals.
The attainder and ruin of some of the ancient nobility followed
c 2
12 .HISTORY AND NATIONAL CHARACTER. CHAP. I.
each commotion; — driven into exile, they became the miserable pensioners of foreign courts, and their confiscated estates were lavishly bestowed on English soldiers, from whom most of the present Irish families of distinction are descended. A nation, therefore, whose population is composed of two such distinct parts, requires ages and skilful treatment to become united and to feel a common interest : the one part drooping under the recollection of the loss of ancient wealth and honors, (for such was the feeling of clanship that the peasant identified with his own the fortunes of his lord,) — the other suspicious and unconciliating to those by whom they are sur- rounded, and fearing the reprisal of what their ancestors had vio- lently seized. It was an observation of the illustrious Bishop Berkeley, when speaking of the two nations, that " although evi- dently their mutual advantage to become one people, yet neither seemed apprized of this important truth."
The difference of relative situation which the English and the Irish have so long held towards each other, the former as conquerors, the latter as the conquered, mutually affected their national cha- racter, and both felt proud of marking their dislike to the other on every occasion.
" The one in fear to lose what they enjoy, The other to enjoy by rage and war."
When Castle More, the residence of Barrett, a chieftain of some consequence in the county Cork, was pointed out to O'Neil as that of a good Catholic whose ancestors had been settled in Ireland upwards of four hundred years, his reply was, " No matter, I hate the English churl as much as if he landed but yesterday !" * The present Irish character is a compound of strange and apparent inconsistencies, where vices and virtues are so unhappily blended that it is difficult to distinguish or separate them. Hasty in forming opinions and projects, tardy in carrying them into effect, they are
CHAP. L HISTORY AND NATIONAL CHARACTER. 13
often relinquished before they have arrived at maturity, and are abandoned for others as vague and indefinite. An Irishman is the sport of his feelings ; with passions the most violent and sensitive, he is alternately the child of despondency or of levity ; his joy or his grief has no medium ; he loves or he hates, and hurried away by the ardent stream of a heated fancy, naturally enthusiastic, he is guilty of a thousand absurdities. These extremes of temperament Giraldus Cambrensis has correctly depicted when he says, " When they (the Irish) be bad, you shall no where meet with worse ; if they be good, you can hardly find better." With a mind inexhaustible in expedient to defeat difficulties and act as a substitute for the con- veniencies of life which poverty denies, the peasant is lively in intel- lect, ardent in disposition, and robust in frame ; nor does he readily despond under disaster, or yield to obstruction ; but moves forward in his rugged course with elevated crest and a warm heart : with a
OO
love of combat and of inebriation, he is fond of excitement and amusement of any nature.
The virtues of patience, of prudence, and industry seldom are included in the composition of an Irishman : he projects gigantic schemes, but wants perseverance to realise any work of magnitude : his conceptions are grand and vivid, but his execution is feeble and indolent: he is witty and imprudent, and will dissipate the hard earnings of to-day regardless of to-morrow : an appeal made to his heart is seldom unsuccessful, and he is generous with an uninquiring and profuse liberality.
Such is an outline of the Irish character, in which there is more to call forth a momentary tribute of admiration, than to create a fixed and steady esteem. When excitement is withdrawn, a state of sullenness and apathy succeeds, and hence an Irishman surrounded by difficulties and dangers, associated with strangers in a foreign land, is full of energy and expedient; but herding with his own countrymen he no longer appears the same person, and were it not
14 HISTORY AND NATIONAL CHARACTER. CHAP. I.
for the occasional flash of wit or invention elicited by some unexpected occurrence the casual spectator would pronounce him to be an essence of stupidity and perverseness — yet the strength of attachment to their native land is wonderful, and in banishment or even emigra- tion there is an air of romance thrown around every recollection of the country where they have toiled for mere existence. *
In the secluded Irish mountaineer the nobleness of savage nature lias merged into the dawn of civilization, that without conferring one ray to cheer or ameliorate his condition, affords him imperfect glimpses of the superior happiness enjoyed by the inhabitants of other countries.
When turbulent and disaffected men agitate such a body, it becomes difficult to tranquillize those who have only life to lose, and every thing to gain. Continued and petty insurrections render this sufficiently obvious. It is not personal dislike to the British monarch, or political objections to the British constitution that have induced the Irish cottagers to appear in arms against both ; but the want of superiors to direct and encourage their labours, and to whom they might with confidence look up for support and protection.
A Narrative in which some of the transactions of 1798 are detailed occupies many pages of this volume ; written at the time, it contains a faithful picture of the excesses committed by an intoxicated multi- tude, and the individual privations related in it will not appear singular or peculiarly severe to those who retain the painful recollection of the sanguinary events of that period. The Rebellion of 1798, how- ever, was neither a momentary effort nor an unpremeditated proceeding of the Irish people; it was the result of an organization of considerable standing, and two generations of the peasantry had been trained up to become actors in this event.
As far back as the middle of the last century the peasantry entered into a secret association in the North of Ireland, under the name of " Heart of Oak Boys," at first professing to resist demands which
CHAP. I. HISTORY AND NATIONAL CHARACTER. 15
they considered oppressive and unjust ; and other associations soon sprung up in imitation of their example, as the " Steel Boys/' " Defenders," &c. In the South appeared the " White Boys," so called from their practice of parading the country at night in white frocks, committing acts of violence and destruction on the persons and property of the opulent and well affected. The formation of these lawless parties was followed by the Rebellion of 1798, which devastated large tracts and excited in all classes a temporary madness that rivals in detail of cruelty the horrors of the French Revolution, on which event the projectors seem to have modelled their plans, and founded their expectations of success on that of America.
The Political Creed of an " United Irishman" is exhibited in a curious form of examination which took place in the Gaol of Wexford and is preserved in Jackson's Narrative.
Question. Are you straight ?
Answer. I am.
Question. How straight ?
Answer. As straight as a rush.
Question. Go on then.
Answer. In truth, in trust, in unity, and in liberty.
Question. What have you in your hand ?
Answer. A green bough.
Question. Where did it first grow ?
Answer. In America.
Question. Where did it bud ?
Answer. In France.
Question. Where are you going to plant it ?
Answer. In the crown of Great Britain.
The associations of Caravat and Shanavest have since the Rebel- lion disturbed the Southern Counties. It would be difficult to discover the precise object which these wretched men had in view. The collection of arms appears to have been their principal aim ; and numerous instances might be mentioned of their refusal to possess themselves of other property when completely in their power. In
16 HISTORY AND NATIONAL CHARACTER. CHAP. I.
the Central Counties, the Carders, on the contrary, (a name derived from their inhuman practice of inflicting punishment on the naked back with a wool-card,) were in a great measure inflamed by a desire to punish informers and those who took or let land at a high rent. Harassed by the unavoidable distresses of the times, and inflamed by " spokesmen" who had travelled in England in search of harvest work, had seen, and invidiously compared the comforts of the English husbandman with their own privations, the Irish labourer, attributes his sufferings to a partial and oppressive government. " Worse nor I am I can't be" is the result of his reasoning on his present situation and future prospects. Various prophecies and mysterious bodings of the overthrow of the English dominion are also industriously circulated by secret agency throughout the country, that, with such causes, keep alive the embers of rebellion.
During my last visit to the South of Ireland (1821) it was not difficult to discover the lurking mischief which has since developed itself under the direction of the ideal Captain Rock — the modern representative of Captain Right, the Chief of the Whiteboys. Much distress is the natural consequence of such commotions, as those sources are neglected on which the population are dependent for subsistence ; and it is in vain to hope for produce where agriculture has not received attention, and where the labourer wields the sword instead of guiding the ploughshare.
In 1780, the Patriots of Ireland, at once numerous and endowed with superior talents, supported by a volunteer army fifty thousand strong, demanded a free trade and a free constitution. Lord North was then Prime Minister of England, humiliated by the success of the Americans, and feeling that it would be imprudent to resist claims so well founded, so well advocated in the senate, and so loudly called for by an armed people, acquiesced in the wishes of the Irish nation ; obnoxious statutes were repealed, and the independence of the country, as far as was consistent with the British connection, acknow- .
CHAP. I. HISTORY AND NATIONAL CHARACTER. 17
ledged. Ireland, after shaking off the chains that so long had fettered her, stood for a time upright, and wore a happy and rather a com- manding aspect. It was supposed that she would become rich by commerce and well governed by her laws, and that such a season of prosperity would bloom over the land as should blot out the recol- lection of past miseries, and cause flowers to spring up where weeds and thorns flourished. These predictions were soon blasted, and her horizon became again overcast ; popular discontent again reared its head. The French Revolution encouraged faction to grow daring, and patriotism degenerated into rebellion, and rebellion was followed by the Union, which annihilated the constitution of 1780, took from Ireland her parliament, her nobles and her nominal independence ; and although it has been questioned whether it has conferred counter- vailing benefits, none can doubt that since the Union, England looks towards her with a more gracious aspect; many abuses also in the mode of legislation have been removed ; and the measure having taken place it must be the wish of every honest mind that it will be made as beneficial to both as possible, and that the bonds of mutual interest and reciprocal justice, will cement the two countries.
CHAPTER II.
SCENERY AND TRAVELLING.
" These high wild hills, and rough uneven ways, Draw out our miles, and make them wearisome : And yet your fair discourse hath been as sugar, Making the hard way sweet and delectable."
King Richard II.
THE fashionable attractions of Paris, the beauty of the Swiss lakes, and the classic richness of Italy, are inducements of so strong a nature for an excursion of amusement, that patriotism alone can venture to recommend the Sister Isle to the tourist's notice.
It must be acknowledged, Avhen compared with other countries, that Ireland does not afford the same means of gratification ; yet the singular character of the people, the romantic tales of their former greatness, contrasted with their present abject state, and the spirit of chivalry, which still survives amongst them, seldom fail, when aided by novelty of situation and incident, to create enthusiasm in a stranger; but the known difficulties of travelling, and want of accommodation, are of themselves sufficient to prevent its selection for the perform- ance of a mere tour of pleasure.
The South of Ireland, to which the remarks in this volume are confined, contains many scenes that may with justice be termed
CHAP. II. SCENERY AND TRAVELLING. 1Q
picturesque and beautiful as well as stupendous and sublime. Al- though the immense tracts of barren or imperfectly cultivated coun- try, which spread in wearying extent and impress the mind with melan- choly ideas of neglect and dreary grandeur, are unfavourable to the pursuits of an artist, such tracts, by dividing the beauties, probably enhance the value of the scenery where it becomes closer and more rich.
The character of the coast is bold and steep, containing numerous bays and harbours formed by arms of land breasted by rocky cliffs, that proudly rebuff the angry waves which
" Boil and gnash their white teeth on the shore."
Dean Swift, in a Latin poem entitled Carberiae Rupes, has left us at once a correct and poetical picture of the south-west coast of Ireland. The neighbourhood of the rivers Lee and Blackwater are highly cultivated, and afford the most favourable combinations of objects and forms. Opposed to their delicious and woody banks, the wes- tern districts of the county Cork, and the entire of Kerry, are wild and mountainous; and the Galtees, an extensive range of many miles, stretch along the borders of the counties Limerick, Cork, Tipperary, and Waterford, conferring a dignity on the landscape, which level or unbroken ground cannot possess. The general out- line of these mountains is happily varied ; though heavy and inele- gant shapes are by no means uncommon, yet they are seldom found alone, and rather improve than injure the effect of the sharp and irregular forms with which they are combined.
" Dame Nature drew, these mountaynes in such sort, As though the one, should yeeld the other grace."
Many of their glens and passes possess a sublime sterility that inspires feelings of awe and reverence. Masses of rock are heaped together in unprofitable barrenness, clothed only with the humble
D 2
20 SCENERY AND TRAVELLING. CHAP. II.
lichen, and unyielding to vegetation, receive from year to year in vain the alternate changes of rain and sunshine. A stream, broken into several little falls, often foams along the centre of these rugged defiles, or tumbles precipitately over a steep crag with ceaseless plash. In some places, vast stones, rounded by the action of the atmosphere, hang in fantastic elevation as if ready to be rolled down with over- whelming crash upon the spectator beneath, and have been poeti- cally described in Irish song as the marbles that Time and Nature played with when they were young and the world in its infancy. Surrounded by some of the grandest of these mountains lies Kil- larney,
" Where woody glens in sweetness smile As Echo answers from their breast, And lakes with many a fairy isle, That on a mirror seem to rest."
The beauties of this celebrated spot have been so often and so fully described as to render any thing I could say on the subject super- fluous. Although the noble expanse of water and the vast hills that tower in giant strength and pride excite general admiration, to me the great magic of Killarney has ever been its seclusion and retirement. The quietude of sequestered dells — still, glassy lakes — and over- hanging woods dipping into the water, is unbroken; and the silent spirit of the place diffuses a profound tranquillity over the senses.
The shore of Mucruss Lake is perhaps the most romantic. Worn by the action of the water into numerous grotesque caves, that repose beneath the leafy gloom of luxuriant trees, every irregularity out of which fancy has imaged forth a form is referred with a mar- vellous tale to O'Donoghue, and each object receives a local im- portance from antiquated legend. Nor should the less trodden shore of Glengarriff, about ten miles from Bantry, and seated at the head of that bay, remain unexplored by admirers of the " magnificently
CHAP. II. SCENERY AND TRAVELLING. 21
rude" in nature, to whose attention it may be recommended without fear of disappointing their most sanguine expectation.
It has been remarked by more than one artist of eminence, as a comment on the Irish landscape, that the forms of the trees are more graceful and capricious than in England. " Your trees," said a gentleman to me, " partake of your national character, wild and irregular they both assume extraordinary ramifications, that treated with justice by a master hand appear noble features, but of which an unskilful delineator produces only clumsy caricature."
The oak of Ireland in particular has long been famous. — Popular tradition not only derives the cudgel of every Pat, or as it is figura- tively termed, his " sprig of Shillela," from woods of that name in the county Wicklow, but also the roof of Westminster Hall, and other buildings of the same age ; — the timbers which support the leads of the Chapel of King's College, Cambridge, built in 1444, as well as the roof of Henry the Vllth's Chapel, in Westminster Abbey, are said to be of Irish oak; and to these may be added the Wainscotted Chambers of the Royal Library at Paris, founded, in in 1365, by Charles V. An extensive purchase of the timber of Shillela was made in Charles the lid's time by the Dutch, to pile the ground on Avhich the stadt-house is built ; and pipe staves were largely exported about that period from Dublin to London.
So late as the close of the seventeenth century, Commissioners were sent over to Waterford and Wexford by the English govern- ment, " nigh which places, and in the county of Wickloe," Dean Story tells us, " there is good store of suitable timber and other advantages for building ships at easier rates than in England."
Mr. Hayes, of Avondale, who has written a delightful little volume on Planting, containing much information on the growth and value of Irish timber, observes, that the superior density and close- ness of grain, the character of the Irish oak, especially in high situations and a dry soil, (apparent from comparison of its specific
22 SCENERY AND TRAVELLING. CHAP. II.
gravity with that of other oak,) added to the inattention of the Irish respecting the article of bark, permitted the tree to be felled in winter when free from sap, which might have induced English architects to give it a preference in material works ; " and it must be allowed," adds Mr. Hayes, " that the present unimpaired state of these roofs, after so many centuries, seems very well to warrant the conjecture."
Notwithstanding this former abundance of timber in Ireland, trees are at present the grand desideratum of its scenery; and the shat- tered tower and riven arch of " works of old defence" are often seated in the midst of such unvaried bleakness, that they become worthless in the eye of a painter, as formal and unassociated objects —the general pictorial effect of the landscape is however much assisted by the numerous ruins of abbeys and castles with which it abounds.
To whom shall I dedicate my prints? once asked a publisher, about to produce some Irish views: — the reply was, If your dedica- tion is prompted by gratitude, I know of no one more deserving it than Oliver Cromwell, whose cannon has made so many dilapidated buildings for you.
Although without the limits of the present work, some notice of the county Wicklow may be expected, its scenery having been so much extolled. Glendalough, Luggielau, and the more southern and remote parts, equal or exceed the descriptions that have been given of their charms. — Aided by many tender associations which crowd
upon the memory, my friend C thus elegantly unfolds them,
whilst, with rapid but faithful outline, he delineates the prospect from the eminence of Broomfield overlooking Rossana, the seat of the Tighe family.
" In the extreme distance ocean and sky mingle together, the gloom of the far promontory that breaks upon the sea-horizon, con- trasted with the gay town that smiles upon its side, and the fleet of
CHAP. II. SCENERY AND TRAVELLING.
fishing smacks bent upon their evening cruize under its protection — then the line of hills rising beyond the wooded domain of Rossana, and the immense vale, thirty miles in length, terminating in the Croaghan, or Gold Mine Mountain, relieved at intervals by some glittering spire or ambitious mansion that breaks the sameness and vastness of the view. Towards the west rears the Carrig Morilliah, or the beautiful rock, deservedly so called ; its extended summit, which is a perfect sierra, and graceful descent to the vallies that separate it from the chain of mountains, in the midst of which it stands perfectly isolated, make one of the most singular objects of the picturesque. From its summit as well as from Cronroe, which is beneath and of easier access, may be descried the enchanting- Vale of Avoca, ' the Meeting of the Waters/ hallowed not only by having inspired the muse of Moore, but for having given to one of Ireland's noblest and most upright sons, the title he so proudly merited — the early friend of Curran — Lord Avonmore.
" Below the rock of Cronroe is the sweet cottage of Mont Alta, where the unfortunate Trotter composed the life of his friend and patron Charles James Fox.
" And then to conclude this panoramic enthusiasm, the sun sets behind the most beautiful and most terrific of ravines — the Devil's Glen — a torrent breaks into it in cataract from the further extremity, continues its furious course under the walls of Glenmore Castle, and recovers its tranquillity in the silent shades of Rossana, where the fair minstrel of Psyche sung."
Powerscourt and the Dargle have certainly been overpraised, and a stranger conjures up in his own imagination very superior features to those of which they are composed. An excursion into the county Wicklow is generally made from Bray, a village on the sea- coast, ten miles distant from Dublin, where there is an excellent hotel, much frequented by lovers of suburban rustication. The Dargle is to Dublin what Richmond is to London — the resort of
24 SCENERY AND TRAVELLING. CHAP. II.
holiday folk; but here the similitude ends. It is a little woody dell, and in summer has an inconsiderable stream gurgling amongst rocks of a good colour, but without size sufficient to render them effective or impressive. The trees on the banks are small and stunted, growing very close and straight; and there are shady walks pleasant enough to stroll through with the expected reward of a basket of good prog, to be discussed at the far-famed Waterfall of Powerscourt, where a verdant carpet, equal to that of fair Twicken- ham's meadows, is improved by the shade of high rocks, under which the numerous parties busily commence their eating opera- tions. After a hasty glance around them, and a quickly dismissed ejaculation of " How beautiful I" they prepare to enjoy the water when it shall mix with their wine, and certainly feign no devotion but to the main object of their excursion. Such are those
" Who on jaunting cars travel to visit the Dargle,
Oh! no — 'tis their throats with good liquor to gargle."
The Waterfall of Powerscourt has been enumerated amongst the wonders of Ireland, but the extravagant admiration lavished in Bushe's Hibernia Curiosa and other works, on " One of the most beautiful Waterfalls in Great Britain or Ireland, and, perhaps, the World," for so is Powerscourt styled, can only call forth a smile. On beholding it for the first time, I was forcibly reminded of some lines in which it is more correctly pourtrayed.
" Then thro' Powerscourt we went, to the high waterfall, And we saw it and thought — nothing of it at all, Down the black rock it tumbles like skeins of white thread, All fuzzy with spray from the foot to the head."
This cascade is situated in a fine park belonging to Lord Powers- court, and may be described rather as a steep water-slide than a fall. Miss Nicholson's drawing will convey the most favourable
CHAP. IT. SCENERY AND TRAVELLING. $5
idea of it, being sketched immediately under the fall, which thus be- comes foreshortened, and is more pleasing than the unbroken effect of its vast height in almost every other situation. It was with con- siderable difficulty this sketch was gained, as on attempting to reach the most picturesque point of view, we were prevented crossing the stream to the opposite bank, by a man stationed there to express the proprietor's orders, that no person should proceed farther. Having already passed about six gates, where we were detained until they were unlocked by the charm of a silver key, we thought the usual fee only was necessary, but this was refused ; by repeated entreaties and his native gallantry, the man at length allowed Miss Nicholson alone to proceed to the desired position. On our return we had again to pay at each gate before we were let out of the park ; and it would seem there must be a good sum of money distributed here during the summer, as we met more than twenty parties, all appa- rently receiving the same checks.* This locking of gates is however but little resorted to in Ireland, as, with the present exception and Lord Doneraile's Park at Doneraile, admission was everywhere cheerfully granted and a gratuity unlocked for ; but there is gene- rally an inquisitiveness to know who you are, and a stranger sketching is closely watched and followed, to ascertain the reason of his " taking off the place," as it is termed. Amongst the numerous ludicrous and amusing dialogues produced by this troublesome spirit, one which took place on crossing the River Blackwater in the public ferry-boat, may be cited as expressive of the shrewdness and pertinacity usually displayed in pursuit of this object. The boat was crowded with
* Feeling inclined to ascribe such restraints to a temporary cause — the expected visit of His Majesty to Powerscourt — it is not without regret that I remark a close resem- blance between those experienced by an anonymous tourist in 1809 and my own in 1821. " We were denied access to the spot which probably commands the best view of the fall, by an order forbidding any person to pass the small wooden bridge across the river." — " The delays and difficulties we were obliged to encounter before we arrived at the much talked of waterfall, and the orders given not to allow strangers to pass the little wooden bridge near it when we had arrived there, made us return much dissatisfied with our excursion."
E
26 SCENERY AND TRAVELLING. CHAP. II.
passengers, one of whom, an old woman, appeared inclined to enter into conversation with me, by offering several general remarks, to which I made no reply, when, turning round to her companion, she said in Irish that " in her opinion I was no stranger in the country, though I wore an English coat, for it was like one which young Mr. Odell had brought with him from London, and that she would soon find out if I had a drop of Irish blood in my veins." So far passed in Irish, of which the speaker supposed me ignorant. She then fixed her eyes on me, and with a penetrative look commenced a story in English of a young Irishman " who went to foreign parts — to Newfoundland every step of the way, where he wished to be thought a Londoner, and held himself so high that he never would throw a word to one of his own people ; and in his endeavours to disguise his native accent, cut up the king's English till there was no sub- stance at all left in it — to qualify it sure ;" and how " he was once met by one Mr. Jeremiah Coughlan, an undoubted gentleman ' of the real ould stock,' who gave him, with the advice of never being ashamed of his own country, a sound drubbing." Here pointed the moral of her tale, a contrivance to rouse my patriotic feelings, and induce me to speak. The attempt was rendered still more vigorous, and the scene more comic, by the silent assistance of the remaining passengers, who appeared, as if by some tacit agreement, to have deputed the old crone to put me to the question, while they remained mute spectators of the event, only betraying their interest by a fixed gaze, and occasionally a mysterious and approving nod, when the discourse appeared to bear home upon me.
Another subject of unceasing inquiry with the peasantry is the hour. It is generally allowed that those who make the least use of their time are most curious in time-keepers, and you never meet an idle peasant but his first question is — Would your honour be after telling me what's o'clock ? No reciprocal information can be gained until satisfaction on this point is given. — And one of my companions used frequently to amuse us by taking out his watch on
CHAP. II. SCENERY AND TRAVELLING. 37
the approach of any person, and as soon as they arrived within speaking distance, would proclaim— It is two o'clock — how far are
we from ? This was, however, a joke to be avoided in cases
of emergency, as we found it difficult, with our most engaging man- ners, sometimes to make our way.
"In the wild parts of Ireland the pictorial traveller will receive little assistance in his researches from the peasantry, and must rely on his own exertions and enterprize for the attainment of his object. Should he happen to have a slight knowledge of the Irish language, or can get the names of places translated to him, they will often convey a clearer and more correct idea of the spot than can be ex- torted by dint of cross-examination — " Conveniunt rebus Nomina saspe suis."
Sometimes our united efforts to extort information met with no better success than the following dialogue : —
" Pray is this the nearest road to ?"
".Is it to you are going? fait and that's not the nearest road
— being 'tis no road at all."
" Then had I better go yon way ?"
" Och ! indeed and I would'nt advise your going that way at all. 'Tis few people goes that way, for there's a big black dog there, and he'll ate you up entirely."
" Which way then can I go ?"
" Fait ! and the best way you'd go is just to be staying where you
are." -
v The lower classes are generally unwilling to serve as guides in the wild parts of the country, declining the offers made them for sucli service with all that indifference and quiet humour which Miss Edgeworth so admirably delineates ; and the difficulty of obtaining assistance appears to increase in proportion with the necessity of the demand.
" Och ! I'd have no objection in life to go wid your honour if
E 2
28 SCENERY AND TRAVELLING. CHAP. II.
supposing I could just lave my troat at home," is no uncommon reply to your request, and is intended to express a doubt as to the safety of the expedition; which, considering the period of this visit being that immediately preceding the late disturbances, may be rea- dily supposed to have some foundation ; but in vain you seek to learn the cause or extent of their fears, or, in short, to dive below the surface of their thoughts.
" Do you then fear any danger?"
" Och ! indeed, no particular danger, your honours — only 'tis an ugly way that way, any way I'm thinking — but your honours knows best to be sure if ye've bisness there — I'm just contint to stay in a whole skin — and there's ould Judy, your honours, and the childer all looking up to me, and small blame to them — sure its much pace I should get wid them in regard of risking their bread, not to men- tion my own, and maybe I'd be laving my bones to whiten out yonder. Och! its out of the way entirely." -
It is not easy to detect the real degree of fear here expressed from the evident exaggeration ; yet it would appear there must be some strong motive to deter these very poor people from earning a sum so easily, something more powerful than the want of taste for exploring —though it is certain they are, to use their own expression, " con- tint," without much exertion. Nothing can be more difficult than to obtain information in point of road, distance, or situation of any object. You seldom arrive within five miles of the truth. When crossing the mountains from Gougaun Lake to Inchegeela, I was told that village was " worse" (more) than three miles from me. After walking about an hour and a half I again inquired — " it was worse than four miles." The actual distance was about ten. The contradictory answers you get as you proceed are not a little an- noying, and at times made us almost hopeless. One of my party, more from curiosity than the prospect of gaining a satisfactory reply, accosted a man respecting the length of a glen from a road on which
CHAP. II. SCENERY AND TRAVELLING. gg
•we met him, and where we had reason to believe were some fine waterfalls.
"How far is it up yonder glen before you come to the waterfalls?"
" The waterfalls is it? indeed, and its a cross way, and your lady- ship would never be getting there."
" We heard they were within half-a-mile."
" Och ! they are not — and no road."
" Is there a great fall of water ?"
" I never was there myself, but I know 'tis a great way."
" Is it three miles?"
" Fait! and three miles would see you but a small part of the way."
" Is it six miles, do you think ?"
" Och ! 'tis up entirely !"
This up entirely, or out of the way entirely, is the conclusion at which you arrive; it seems to imply beyond reach or knowledge, and is frequently used instead of " I don't know" to which the Irish cot- tager has a peculiar aversion, perhaps from the phrase being applied as a term of reproach to any stupid or simple person, coupling it with the Christian name, as Shane Neather, literally John I don't know, implies John the Fool.
The higher classes in Ireland are ever willing to entertain the tra- veller and assist in the advancement of his journey, when he has clearly proved it absolutely necessary to proceed, for it is not a matter of question how to get admittance to the first houses in the country, the dilemma is, how to leave them. To a tourist, with sufficient time at his disposal, this may be agreeable enough ; if otherwise circum- stanced, he will find it requisite to avoid the delivery of letters of recommendation ; for however gratifying a warm and hospitable re- ception may be, the sacrifice of time to be made in return is beyond all calculation. The over-abundant kindness of the host (for an im- mediate invitation always follows an introduction) seldom permits his guest the free use of his own senses, and to expostulate is vain. If,
30 SCENERY AND TRAVELLING. CHAP. II.
Dr. Syntax like, he travels with a sketch-book, and states himself in search of the picturesque, he is hurried from one eminence to ano- ther, and assured it affords the best view in the country, as extent and beauty, when applied to the landscape, are generally con- founded. A party is arranged to meet him at dinner, each of whom requests a visit ; one assures him that a most celebrated castle is on his grounds, while another urges the charms of a glen near his resi- dence in a tone it is impossible to refuse. After a journey of some miles and the loss of an entire morning, this renowned castle may prove but the naked walls of an old tower, dismantled of even its ivy garb, and the " charming glen" perhaps turns out to be neither more nor less than the best fox earth in the country. Thus the circle of acquaintances caused by a single introduction, every one leading to others, goes on increasing like the circles produced by a stone when flung into the water.
Letters, however, are needless in obtaining all the attention and assistance requisite ; a respectable appearance is a sufficient recom- mendation to the nobility and gentry, but towards the cottagers a certain courteousness of approach must be observed, ere you can win them to usefulness. If you seek information, the tone of inter- rogation must be conciliatory, not dictatorial ; if shelter or protec- tion, throw yourself at once on their hospitality and you secure a warm and welcome reception.
The most romantic parts of Ireland are little frequented and tra- vellers unlocked for, hence it becomes necessary to study the art of pleasing, which is in this case more valuable than " house and land." The poorest peasant will freely offer to share his cabin and divide his potatoes with you, though at the same time eying you very suspi- ciously, inasmuch as, being unable to account for your appearance, he usually supposes you belong either to the army or to the excise — two bodies equally disliked by them. Yet their greatest fears never destroy the national spirit of hospitality.
CHAP. II. SCENERY AND TRAVELLING. 31
Having hired a car at Lismore to take us to Fermoy, and wishing to walk part of the way along the banks of the Blackwater, we desired the driver to meet us at a given point. On arriving there, the man pretended not to have understood we were three in party, and de- manded, in consequence, an exorbitant addition to the sum agreed on. Although we were without any other means of conveyance for eight Irish miles, it was resolved not to submit to this imposition, and we accordingly withdrew our luggage and dismissed the car, intending to seek another amongst a few cabins that appeared at a little distance from the road side. A high dispute ensued with the driver, who, of course, was incensed at this proceeding, and endea- voured to enlist in his cause the few straggling peasants that had collected around us, but having taken refuge and placed our trunks in the nearest cabin, ourselves and property became sacred, and the disposition to hostility which had been at first partially expressed, gradually died away. — When we began to make inquiries for a horse and car of any kind to take us into Fermoy, our endeavours were for some time fruitless. One person had a car, but no horse. Ano- ther a car building, which, if Dermot Leary were as good as his word, would be finished next week some time, " God willing." At length we gained intelligence of a horse that was " only two miles off, drawing turf. Sure he could be fetched in less than no time." But then again, " that big car of Thady Connor's was too great a load for him entirely. Sure the baste would never draw the car into Fermoy, let alone their honours and the trunks." After some further consul- tation, a car was discovered more adapted to the capabilities of the miserable animal thus called upon to " leave work and carry wood," and though of the commonest kind we were glad to secure it. By means of our trunks and some straw we formed a kind of lodgment on the car, which being without springs and on the worst possible of roads, was not exactly a bed of down. The severe contusions we received on precipitating into the numerous cavities, though no joke,
SCENERY AND TRAVELLING.
CHAP. II.
caused some laughter, on which the driver turned round with a most facetious expression of countenance, suggesting that " May be the motion did not just agree with the lady, but never fear, she would soon get used to it, and be asleep before we were half-Avay to Fermoy." This prediction, it will readily be supposed, was not ful- filled, and I believe it was three days before we recovered from the bruises of that journey. It is difficult to say whether our situation will excite mirth or sympathy in the minds of our readers, but a sketch may do no injury to the description.
Many Irish villages boast a post-chaise, the horses for which are not unfrequently taken from the plough, and the chaise itself sub- mitted to a temporary repair before starting, to render it, if the parody of a nautical phrase may be allowed, road-worthy ; but the defects are never thought of one moment before the chaise is re-
CHAP. II. SCENERY AND TRAVELLING. 33
quired ; and the miseries of posting in Ireland have, with justice, afforded subject for the caricaturist. Tired horses or a break-down are treated by a driver, whose appearance is the very reverse of the smart jockey-like costume of an English postilion, with the utmost resignation, as matters of unavoidable necessity. With a slouched hat — slovenly shoes and stockings — and a long, loose great coat wrapped round him, he sits upon a bar in front of the carnage and urges on his horses by repeated applications of the whip, accompa- nied with the most singular speeches, and varied by an involuntary burst of his musical talent, whistling a tune adapted to the melan- choly pace of the fatigued animals, as he walks slowly beside them up the ascent of every hill.
" Did you give the horses a feed of oats at the village where we stopped to sketch ?" inquired one of my fellow-travellers of the driver, Avho for the last three or four miles had with much exertion urged on the jaded hacks.
" I did not, your honour," was his reply, " but sure and they know I promised them a good one at Limerick."
- Nor is this instance of pretended understanding between man and horse singular. Riding once in company with a poor fanner from Cork to Mallow, I advised him to quicken the pace of his steed as the evening was closing in, and the lurid appearance of the sky foreboded a storm.
" Sure then that I would with the greatest pleasure in life for the honour I have out of your company, sir; but I promised the baste to let him walk, and I never would belie myself to any one, much less to a poor creature that carries me — for, says the baste to me, I'm tired, as good right I have, and I'll not go a step faster — and you Avon't make me— —I scorn it, says I, so take 3-0111- own way."
A verbatim dialogue on an Irish break-down happily characterises that accident : the scene, a bleak mountain, and the time, the return
F
34 SCENERY AND TRAVELLING. CHAP. II.
of the driver with another chaise from the nearest station which afforded one — seven miles distant.
" Is the carriage you have brought us safe ?"
(One of the travellers attempts to get in.)
" Oh never fear, sir ; wait till I just bail out the water and put a little sop of hay in the bottom — and sure now and 'tis a queer thing that the ould black chaise should play such a trick, and it has gone this road eleven years and never broke down afore. But no wonder, poor cratur, the turnpike people get money enough for mending the roads, and bad luck to the bit of it they mend, but put it all in their pockets."
" What, the road ?"
" Noe, your honour, the money."
To such as can bear with composure and indifference lesser and temporary misfortunes, those attendant on an Irish tour become objects of merriment ; the very essence of the innate ingenuity and Avit of the people is called out by such evils; and the customary benediction muttered by the peasant on meeting a traveller, is changed into the whimsical remark or shrewd reply that mock anticipation.
Of late, jingles, as they are termed, have been established between the principal towns. These are carriages on easy springs, calculated to contain six or eight persons. The roof is supported by a slight iron frame capable of being unfixed in fine weather, and the curtains, which may be opened and closed at will, afford complete protection from sun and rain ; their rate of travelling is nearly the same as that of the stage-coach, and they are both a cheaper and more agreeable conveyance.
On our way from Cork to Youghall in one of these machines, we were followed by a poor wretch ejaculating the most dreadful oaths and imprecations in Irish. His head was of an uncommonly large and stupid shape, and his idiotic countenance was rendered fierce and wild
CHAP. II. SCENERY AND TRAVELLING. 35
by a long and bushy red beard. On our driver giving him a piece of bread, for which he had run beside the jingle at least half-a-mile, he uttered three or four terrific screams, accompanied by some antic and spiteful gestures. I should not remark this circumstance here were it one of less frequent occurrence ; but on most of the public roads in the South of Ireland, fools and idiots (melancholy spectacles of humanity !) are permitted to wander at large, and in consequence of this freedom have acquired vicious habits, to the annoyance of every passenger ; throwing stones, which they do with great dexterity, is amongst the most dangerous of their practices; and a case is known to me where the wife of a respectable farmer, having been struck on the temple by a stone thrown at her by an idiot, died a few days after. Within my recollection, Cove Lane, one of the most fre- quented parts of Cork, as leading to the Cove, Passage, Carrigaline and Monkstown roads, was the station of one of these idiots, who seldom allowed an unprotected woman to pass without following her and inflicting the most severe pinches on her back and arms ; yet this unfortunate and mischievous being for many years was suffered by the civil power to remain the terror of every female, and that too within view of a public asylum for the reception of such. But to return from this digression.
The charges at inferior towns and villages are extravagant in an inverse proportion to the indifference of their accommodation, and generally exceed those of the first hotels in the metropolis. Our bill at Kilmallock was any thing but moderate, and yet the house, though the best the town afforded, appeared to be one where carmen were oftener lodged than gentry. The landlady stood at the door, and with a low curtsey and a good-humoured smile welcomed us to " the ancient city of Kilmallock ;" in the same breath informed us that she was a gentlewoman born and bred, and that she had a son, " as fine an officer as ever you could set eyes on in a day's walk, who was a patriarch (a patriot) in South America ;" then leading us
F2
36' SCENERY AND TRAVELLING. CHAP. II.
up a dark and narrow staircase to the apartment we were to occupy, wished to know our names and business, whence we came and where we were going ; but left the room on our inquiring, in the first place, what we could have to eat. After waiting a reasonable time, our demands were attended to by a barefooted female, who to our anxiety respecting Avhat we could have for supper, replied with perfect confidence, " Just any thing you like, sure \"
" Have you any thing in the house ?"
" Indeed and we have not, but it's likely I might be able to get an egg for ye."
An examination of the bedrooms will not prove more satisfactory ; a glass or soap are luxuries seldom found. Sometimes one coarse and very small towel is provided ; at Kilmallock the measurement of mine was half-a-yard in length and a quarter in breadth; its com- plexion, too, evinced that it had assisted in the partial ablutions of many unfastidious persons. Mr. Arthur Young's constant ejacula- tion when lie lighted on such quarters in Ireland usually occurred to my mind, " Preserve me, Fate, from such another !" and I have no doubt he would agree with me that two very essential requisites in an Irish tour are, a stock of linen, and a tolerable partiality for bacon. But travellers, any more than beggars, cannot always be ch users, and those who will not submit with patience to the accidents and inconveniences of a journey must sit at home and read the road that others travel.
" Who alwaies walkes, on carpet soft and gay,
Knovves not hard hills, nor likes the mountaine way."
CHAPTER III.
LIMERICK.
" Then, tell us, shall your city call us Lord, In that behalf which we have challeng'd it ? Or shall we give the signal to our rage, And stalk in blood to our possession ?
Citizen. In brief, we are the King of England's subjects ; For him and in his right we hold this town.
K. John. Acknowledge then the king, and let me in.
Citizen. That can we not : but he that proves the king, To him will we prove loyal : till that time Have we ramui'cl up our gates against the world !"
Kins John.
IN the revolutions of five centuries, the hardy chivalry of Wales, the sternness of a republican army, and the troops of a victorious monarch, have successively appeared before the walls of Limerick. In that eity, Ireton and Tyrconnel, two distinguished characters, perhaps the most opposite in British history, both terminated their mortal career ; nor, added to these military and political events, will it be found altogether destitute of literary recollections, as, in the last siege it sustained, Story, the historian of that period, was actively engaged, and Rapin, the historian of England, was severely wounded.
38 LIMERICK. CHAP. III.
Situated on the noble River Shannon, thence enjoying maritime freedom and support, and with tracts of wild and rugged country on the North and West, that afforded a secure retreat to the conquered, Limerick was a position naturally wrested with difficulty from the Irish, and, when gained, was held by the captors with watchfulness and uncertainty. Like Cork, and the most noted sea-ports of Ireland, it was a Danish settlement in the ninth and tenth centuries, until recovered by Donald O'Brien, an active and powerful chieftain, who assumed the style and dignity of King of Lumneach, (as it is written) or North Munster — contrasted to Desmond, or South Munster, Mac Carthy the king of which was the first Irish prince that swore fealty to Henry II. Donald O'Brien followed his example, but only held his vow of allegiance sacred until the departure of the English Mo- narch ; when, availing himself of the unsettled state of the country and the private jealousies which existed between the original leaders of the invasion, he suddenly declared his independence, and having surprised, defeated a detachment of the English troops that had inarched against him. This defeat caused such a panic in the main body, commanded by Hervey de Montmorries, that they retreated precipitately to Waterford, and it seemed to be the signal for war- fare and revolt to the Irish. The Earl Strongbow, under whose direction the affairs of the recently obtained country had been placed, acted on the defensive only, and found it necessary to recall to his assistance Raymond le Gros, the former favourite and suc- cessful general of the English adventurers, by the promise of the hand of his sister in marriage, which had been before refused him, and was the cause of his retiring into Wales.
Raymond returned with a small reinforcement, but his personal appearance, rather than the number of his troops, restored confidence to the dispirited soldiers of Strongbow; and scarcely were his nuptials celebrated, when the bridegroom marched against the Irish enemy. Intimidated by his former success, present rapidity and self-con-
CHAP. III. LIMERICK. 39
fidence, little resistance was made by the Irish to the progress of Raymond, and he appeared before Limerick at the head of six hun- dred chosen men. The river by which the city was surrounded was broad and rapid in the point of attack selected. Two knights succeeded in fording it, but one of them, in his return to lead over his associates in this enterprize, was swept away by the force of the current and drowned : another made good his passage ; but the majority hesitated at the great danger, when Raymond, plunging into the water, was instantly followed to a man, and Limerick surrendered without resistance.
The death of Strongbow, however, of which Raymond was informed by an enigmatical letter from his wife, rendered it necessary for him to withdraw his forces from the post he had so lately gained, as their presence was required in other parts of the kingdom; and having no alternative, he formally committed the city to O'Brien to hold for the King of England ; informing him that, having by submission become a subject of England, the king fully confided in the fidelity and zeal with which he would perform the trust reposed in him. But no sooner had Raymond evacuated Limerick, than it was set on fire in four places by order of O'Brien, with the declaration that it should no longer be a nest to harbour strangers. Leland adds, when this transaction was reported to Henry II., as prejudicial to Raymond, that prince generously remarked — " the first gaining of Limerick was a noble exploit, the recovery of it still nobler, but the only act of wisdom was the abandoning this conquest."
Until the death of Donald O'Brien, in 1194, the English cannot be said to have regained Limerick, as the possession was obstinately disputed by the Irish, who again secured their triumph by reducing the city to ashes. With the faithless and untractable O'Brien this mode of ruinous warfare terminated; and Ferrar, in his Civic History, tells us, as a proof of the importance of Limerick, that King Richard,
40 LIMERICK. CHAP. III.
in the ninth year of his reign, granted it a charter to elect a mayor : an honour, which London did not obtain until ten years after, and Dublin not before the year 1318.
King John, who came to Ireland in 1210, is said to have visited Limerick; and, as memorials of his visit, caused the present Thomond Bridge, and a castle still distinguished by his name, to be erected; both of these buildings appear conspicuously in Mr. Nicholson's view of the place ; the former is perfectly level, and, although exceedingly narrow, an admirable piece of masonry, having withstood without much injury the rapid current of the Shannon above six hundred years.
— " an auncient bridge of stone, A goodly worke, when first it reared was, (And yet the Shicre can shewe no such a one) Makes men to know, old buildings were not base."
The confusion of parties and the distracted state of Ireland during the reign of Charles I. has been already noticed.
On the breaking out of these disturbances, Captain Courtney headed the adherents of Charles in Limerick, not amounting to more than two hundred, and though short of ammunition and provisions, maintained the castle for several days, trusting to supplies by water from Sir Henry Stradling, and that Sir William St. Leger, the Lord President of Munster, would be enabled to raise the siege. • But Sir William, depressed by the neglect which the emergencies of Charles rendered unavoidable, and exhausted by his ineffectual devotion and personal exertions in the cause of his monarch, became a victim to them, surviving only to hear that the gallant Captain Courtney had been compelled to surrender Limerick, after defending his post until it was no longer tenable. Lord Muskerry, Garret Barry, and other leaders of the Irish, immediately took possession of the town ; a capture of much benefit to their cause, as they obtained by it some
CHAP. III. LIMERICK. 41
cannon, one of which was a thirty-two pounder, that terrified all the castles of the county Limerick into immediate submission, with the exception of Askeaton, which was however soon reduced.
In August, 1646, the Irish having stipulated for a treaty with the Marquess Ormond, it was agreed that hostilities should be mutually suspended, and Dr. Roberts, the Ulster King of Arms, was sent to the principal towns to proclaim the peace ; he arrived at Limerick on the 20th of the same month, but his appearance tended only to excite opposition and outrage. When Dr. Roberts reached the market cross, attended by the mayor and aldermen of the city, for the purpose of reading the proclamation, a vast mob was assembled and a serious riot ensued. Burke the mayor was trodden under foot, and severely wounded; and Dr. Roberts, having received several dangerous cuts, narrowly escaped with his life. These dis- orderly proceedings, which are ascribed to the religious intrigues of Rinuncini, the papal nuncio, were followed by the deposition and imprisonment of the mayor, whose office was bestowed on Dominick Fanning, the leader of the rioters.
Lord Ormond, however, considering the possession of Limerick to be of the utmost consequence, endeavoured by various means to become master of it ; but although professing amity to Charles, the confederate Irish, over whom the nuncio and his party had now obtained complete influence, flushed by their momentary superiority, and regardless of future consequences, conducted themselves with insolence and intemperance towards Lord Ormond, meanly doubting and idly hesitating at all offers made by that nobleman, whom they insulted by mock conferences and vexatious quibbles, whilst they openly set his and all other authority at defiance. All endeavours made by Ormond, whether to command or to conciliate, were equally vain. The mandate of a single friar was sufficient with the soldiery to counteract the orders of their leader, and the most trivial
G
42 LIMERICK. CHAP. III.
•
occurrence became a pretext for popular tumult, which the magis- tracy rather encouraged than suppressed.
Wearied by such obstinate conduct, and unable longer even to temporize with the garrison of Limerick, Lord Ormond embarked at Gahvay for France, and the small body of Royalists which he had headed, merged into the Irish ranks and became sharers in the defence of Limerick, against the Parliamentary army.
Sir Hardress Waller had already threatened it, but early in 1651, Ireton appeared before the city, which he closely besieged for six months, and exerted all his energies to gain.
The victory obtained by Lord Broghill over the forces of Lord Muskerry, who had marched towards Limerick with a view of relieving it, (of which action a more particular notice will be found in a subsequent paper,) hastened its surrender, and added to this discouraging event, a contagious fever raged within the walls, to the violence of which many had fallen victims. Contrary to the calcula- tion and advice of O'Neil, the governor, who had before so bravely defended Clonmell against the troops of Cromwell, and the threat of excommunication uttered by the Bishops of Limerick and Emly, a treaty was determined on, but, says Leland, " in the hour of terror and danger, their spiritual authority was utterly disregarded."
Colonel Fennel, who early in these transactions was reputed to have betrayed the pass of Killaloe to Ireton, thus affording a safe and easy communication with the county Clare, and the western parts of Ireland, having obtained from the mayor the keys of the city, seized John's Tower, and refused to obey the directions of the governor. In this treacherous conduct he was supported by the mayor, who furnished him with powder, when, turning the cannon on the town, and having admitted two hundred of Ireton's soldiers, Colonel Fennel declared that he would not quit his post, until the garrison surrendered. An hopeless option only remaining, articles
CHAP. III. LIMERICK. 43
were signed on the 2?th October, 1651, granting to the inhabitants their lives and property, with the exception by name of twenty of the most prominent characters, most of whom had been the active opponents of Ormond.
Of these, O'Dwyer, Bishop of Limerick, who marched out in the disguise of a soldier amongst the troops, and O'Neil, the governor, escaped execution. The latter, who had exasperated the Republicans by the spirit he had formerly evinced, fearlessly met Ireton at the city gates, and pointed out to him sufficient ammunition and pro- visions to have lasted three months longer, at the same time adverting severely on the treacherous proceeding of Colonel Fennell. Ireton caused O'Neil to be tried by a court-martial, which sentenced him to death ; but, on a remonstrance founded on some informality, he was again tried, and his life saved by the majority of a single voice.
Of O'Brien, Bishop of Emly, Dr. Bourke gives the following account in the " Hibernia Dominicana/'
" He was so active in persuading the Irish to hold out against Cromwell's forces that Ireton, during the siege of Limerick, offered him forty thousand pounds to desist from his exhortations and quit the city, with a passport to any other kingdom. This offer he refused heroically; in consequence of which he was exempted from pardon, tried, and condemned to be hanged and beheaded ; he bore the sentence Avith resignation, and behaved to his last moments with manly fortitude. He addressed Ireton with a prophetic spirit, accusing him of the highest injustice, threatening him with life for life, and summoning him to the Tribunal of God in a few days. Ireton caught the plague in eight days, and died soon after, (26th November, 1651,) raging and raving of this unfortunate prelate, whose unjust condemnation he imagined hurried on his death."
In 1690 Limerick again received the Irish forces, as they may be more justly termed than those of James, who had abandoned them.
44 LIMERICK. CHAP. III.
After the defeat which that monarch experienced at the Boyne, the remains of his army, under the Duke of Berwick, Colonel Sars- field, and Boislieu, the French general, retreated to Limerick as their last resource, and its defence was entrusted to the latter officer. When King William (who in person appeared before the walls) summoned it to surrender, the governor made the following memo- rable reply in a letter to Sir Robert Southwell, Secretary of State ; " not sending directly to the king," says Story, " because he would avoid giving him the title of Majesty ;" that he was surprised at the demand, and thought the best way to gain the Prince of Orange's good opinion was by a vigorous defence of the town for his master King James.
Some delay taking place in the arrival of the artillery to commence the siege, Colonel Sarsfield made a secret and rapid sally from Limerick with five hundred dragoons, crossing the Shannon at Kil- laloe ; and succeeded, by his knowledge of the country, in surprising and capturing the ammunition-waggons and cannon, which latter he filled with powder, and placing their mouths in the ground fired a train that burst them with a terrific explosion, and announced their destruction to a party under Sir John Lanier, who had been sent to protect them. Nor was the bravery displayed in the enterprize less conspicuous than the skill with which Sarsfield effected his retreat without coming to an action, notwithstanding the efforts made to intercept him.
This event threw a severe damp on the confidence of the besiegers, whom it compelled to suspend the vigour of their operations for a week, until the arrival of another supply of ordnance from Waterford, and had at the same time the effect of inspiring the besieged with fresh spirit.
During the siege, William persevered in his wonted activity and example of personal exposure, having several narrow escapes from the enemy's shot.
CHAP. III. LIMERICK. 45
A breach about twelve yards in length near John's Gate being effected on the 27th August, orders were issued for the assault. At a given signal five hundred grenadiers ran towards the counterscarp, " firing their pieces, throwing their grenades," and Avere fiercely opposed by the Irish ; " so that in less than two minutes the noise was so terrible that one would have thought the very skies ready to rent in sunder." " This was seconded Avith dust, smoke, and all the terrors that the art of man could invent to ruine and undo one another ; and to make it the more uneasie, the day itself was exces- sively hot to the bystanders, and much more sure in all respects to those in action."
The Irish retreating before the storming party, their ardour hur- ried them on into the town, whilst the regiments ordered to support them stopped short at the counterscarp, and they who led the attack were all either killed or wounded. The defenders, having rallied, returned with renewed and desperate valour to the breach, the women even mingling in their ranks, and sharing in the fight ; and, after three hours uninterrupted firing, " insomuch that the smoke that went from the town reached in one continued cloud to the top of a mountain at least six miles off," the besiegers were forced to retire to their trenches, having expended all their ammunition. Some powder taking fire in a small work called the Black Battery, that had been seized by the Brandenburgh Regiment, most of these soldiers were blown into the air. A truce demanded by King William the next morning, for burying the dead, was refused ; and, notwith- standing he offered the Irish favourable terms, to which Lord Tyr- connell was willing to accede, Boislieu, the governor, determined to hold out to the last, justly regarding, although the cause of James was desperate, the capitulation of Limerick to be fatal to it.
Dean Story has left us an animated account of the siege, and in some measure relieved its horrors by the occasional quaintness of his style. " I remember," writes he, " we were all as well
46 LIMERICK. CHAP. III.
pleased to see the town flaming as could be, which made me reflect upon our profession of soldiery not to be overcharged \vith good- nature."
The unsettled state of public affairs in England requiring William's personal attention, he embarked for that country immediately after this severe repulse at Limerick, and that garrison became the refuge of all the smaller ones which successively surrendered to his troops.
Early in the year 1691, St. Ruth, a meritorious but arrogant officer, arrived from France to replace Boislieu, with a small sum of money, and the promise of extensive succours ; and Tyrconnell, the former agent of despotism and bigotry, also returned from the same country, with inconsiderable supplies, accompanied by Sir Richard Nagle and Sir Stephen Rice. Dissension and intrigue arose between the French and Irish leaders (military as Avell as civil), and the contagion was communicated to those under their controul. The French reproached the Irish with their treachery, meanness and barbarous condition ; and the Irish retorted on the French foppish- ness, insincerity, and frivolity of disposition, terming the large boots in which they strutted, " leathern trunks ;" — the result was, the most violent disputes and factions, to which Tyrconnell became a victim, poison, as it is believed, having been administered to him in a cup of ratafia. According to Sir John Dalrymple, he died, " lamenting with his last breath the miseries he had brought on his country." Such was the end of him, whom Lord Bellasis describes as " fool and madman enough to ruin ten kingdoms." But of whatever unconstitutional and arbitrary measures Tyrconnell may formerly have been guilty, and he is no doubt with justice accused, his latter conduct appears that of a real patriot, alive to the ruinous effects of civil warfare, and willing to sacrifice his own feelings for the restora- tion of tranquillity and the general advantage of the nation.
On the retreat of William, and the successful defence of Limerick, the Irish, ever ardent and enthusiastic, anticipated confidently a
CHAP. III. LIMERICK. 47
favourable and victorious campaign, and the French officers were willing by every means in their power to protract the war. One more effort was therefore made in the field under the direction of St. Ruth, who fell in the battle of Aughrim on the 12th July, 1691, and whose fate decided that of the day. A misunderstanding which existed between that general and Sarsfield, (created by James, Lord Lucan,) on whom the command devolved, prevented the mutual understanding and co-operation so necessary to the success of an army ; and the Irish were completely routed by the troops of William, commanded by General Ginkell.
As a last resource Limerick became again the retreat of the adherents of James ; and its former defence encouraged the hope that it might a second time be maintained with equal success. Ginkell, warned by the defeat of William, made his approaches with caution, endeavouring by proclamations of pardon and protection to induce the Irish to lay down their arms. Of this second siege, which occupied about six weeks, the severest feature was an action that took place on Thomond Bridge, where many lives were lost, and in which the conduct of a French officer, Avho hastily ordered the drawbridge to be raised, thus sacrificing a considerable body of the Irish, confirmed the dislike that had existed on the popular side towards their allies.
As the winter was fast approaching, Ginkell determined if possible to secure the place, and on the 23d September, the garrison having beat a parley, a cessation of hostilities was agreed to. Terms were offered by him of so favourable a nature that they were gladly accepted by the besieged, and the articles of the capitulation bear date the 3d October, 1691. These conditions may be found at length in almost every work on Irish history, and their supposed violation has occasioned much political discussion of so severe and intemperate a character that it is difficult even to comment with impartiality on these transactions.
Colonel Luttrell, an officer in the Irish army, although completely
48 LIMERICK. CHAP. III.
vindicated in Lord Westmeath's letter to Mr. Harris of the charge, is still stigmatized as the betrayer of an important passage of the Shannon. On stormy nights, when gusts of wind agitate the river, while
" Foaming and fierce it rolls with fury on,"
the neighbouring fisherman or peasant usually execrates " that traitor Luttrell, whose spirit is abroad shrieking on the waters."
After the surrender of Limerick nineteen thousand men embarked for France, and were embodied into twelve regiments, which became distinguished in the history of Europe as the Irish Brigade. Amongst the charges strongly brought against the English is the breach of faith in preventing the women from emigrating with their husbands. There is a melody, as yet unpublished, which I have heard Mr. Bunting perform, said to have been sung on this occasion; it consists of a lamentation, and a chorus that interrupts, as it were, by a pas- sionate burst of grief, the mournful wildness of the air.
The gallant Sarstield was killed in the battle of Landen, and the following lines are to be found under an engraving of his " Portrai- ture."
" Oh ! Patrick Sarsfield, Ireland's wonder, Who fought in field like any thunder, One of King James's chief commanders, Now lies the food of crows in Flanders !"
On the 3d March, l6'92, the war was declared by proclamation to have terminated in Ireland, and Limerick slowly recovered from its violent effects. That city was long regarded by the English govern- ment with peculiar watchfulness and distrust, lest the exiled family of the Stuarts might still find adherents within its walls. Sixty years were allowed to elapse after the siege before this strictness was relaxed, its gates thrown open, and its bastions permitted to remain without sentinels. No less than seventeen gates were in existence
CHAP. III. LIMERICK. 49
about the middle of the last century, which were guarded and regularly locked every night.
A statement of the military arrangement of Ireland transmitted from Dublin to Mr. Edgar, Secretary to the Pretender, in 1726, contains the following paragraph : —
" In Limerick there are twenty-two, and in Cork eleven companies of soldiers stationed. The companies selected for these garrisons are all English Protestants and other foreigners."
Gloves are modern articles that have conferred celebrity on Limerick, and were not neglected in my inquiries ; but I found them dearer than in London, and the reason given was, " that they had to be brought from Cork, where they were principally made."
Limerick is divided, like almost every town in Ireland, into English Town and Irish Town ; the former, generally called New Town Perry, has some well-built and handsome streets ; the best houses are of red brick, much in the style of London, with areas and a flagged pavement, which makes the place more agreeable to the pedestrian than Cork. The old, or Irish Town, " which Shanon," saith Camden, " a most famous river, by parting his chanell, com- passeth round about," is picturesque, narrow and dirty, the houses high, with peculiar old-fashioned gable ends towards the street.
After the inns and uncertain accommodations we had met with in our circuitous journey, Swinburne's Hotel, which is excellent, appeared so to us in an eminent degree ; rooms furnished with car- pets and sofas having become quite a luxury.
The custom-house and barracks are respectable buildings, and these, with the cathedral, form the architectural boast of Limerick. The latter is dedicated to St. Mary, and was founded by the O'Brien family on the site of the palace of Donald O'Brien, King of Limerick. It is a large and heavy edifice, and has from without an appearance of clumsiness and neglect; nor will an examination of the interior dissipate this impression. The whole pavement of the church
H
50 LIMERICK. CHAP. III.
seemed composed of a jumble of inscribed flag stones, many of which had been cut to fit a required space, and on others such inscriptions and tracery as happened to have been in high relief were chiseled down in the most wanton manner ; two or three ornamented fleury crosses, which had escaped this general mutilation, were so placed that the step of every passenger along the nave assisted to obliterate them ; in the aisle leading to the vestry-room an ancient Gothic tomb, richly wrought, was rapidly falling to decay from the most unfeeling neglect. Whilst I was engaged in viewing it, the guide, with a large heavy key, stood idly chipping away some of the minutely carved ornaments ; — never did I feel more forcibly the nothingness of human vanity than in this cathedral. The defaced " Hie Jacet" and the worn " Obiit," the last effort at distinction, marking, even in death, the superiority of the feudal lord and the mitred abbot over their dependents, were daily trampled into oblivion Avithout a thought ! — Respect for the dead ought to be encouraged ; it is in harmony with all the gentler and social virtues of our nature ; and, although the effort to perpetuate our memory by means of stone or brass be idle, it is painful to see the silent movements of decay accelerated by the ignorant or the listless.
The great east window is large, but every way inelegant ; near the Communion Table is a monument of considerable size, to Donough, Lord Thomond, who was Lord President of Munster, and died in 1624, which, the inscription informs us, having been injured and defaced in the commotions of Charles I/s time, was restored in 1678.
Against pillars in the nave are two singular inscriptions :
DAN HAYES AN HONEST
MAN AND LOVER OF HIS COUNTRY.
This Mr. Hayes was a gentleman of some fortune and very eccentric habits, who died in London, in 1767, whence his remains were brought to be interred at Limerick, and the foregoing lines, by his
CHAP. III. LIMERICK. 51
own direction, were placed over them. He bequeathed his entire property to the support of the public hospital of the city ; but his heirs opposed the will by law, and obtained a verdict in their favour. Hayes's Poetical Works have been collected, and underwent two editions ; but, judging from the specimens which I have seen quoted, his verses were extremely pompous and insipid, and are now scarcely remembered.
The other inscription is—
MEMENTO MORY
HERE LIETH LITTLE SAMUELL BARINGTON THAT GREAT UNDER TAKER, OF FAMOUS ClTTIS CLOCK AND CHIME MAKER
HE MADE HIS ONE TIME GOE EARLY AND LATTER. BUT NOW HE IS RETURNED TO GoD HIS CflEA TOR.
THE 19 OF NOVEMBER THEN DE SCEST AND FOR HIS MEMORY THIS HERE IS PLEAST BY HIS SON BEN 16Q3.
During the several sieges, the cathedral was considered an impor- tant station, being, from the necessities of the times, converted to military purposes. In 1642, the Irish threw their shot from thence into John's Tower defended by Captain Courtney ; and the garrison of Limerick, consisting of 2500 men, laid down their arms to Ireton in the cathedral when he became master of the place. In the last resistance of the city, the troops of William were much annoyed by a skilful fire from the steeple, against which they directed their cannon, until checked by the orders of General Ginkell, who Avas anxious to preserve so venerable a structure. At Mungret, a short distance from Limerick, was a monastic foundation, of which the Psalter of Cashel gives an almost incredible account — that it had
H2
52 LIMERICK. CHAP. III.
" within its walls six churches, containing, exclusive of scholars, 1500 religious, 500 of whom were learned preachers, 500 psalmists, and the remaining 500 wholly applied themselves to spiritual exercises."
" As wise as the women of Mungret" is a common local proverb ; and Ferrar, in his History of Limerick, gives the subjoined explana- tion :—
" A deputation was sent from the college at Cashel to this famous seminary at Mungret, in order to try their skill in the dead languages. The heads of the house at Mungret were somewhat alarmed lest their scholars should receive a defeat, and their reputation be lessened ; they therefore thought of a most humorous expedient to prevent the contest, which succeeded to their wishes. They habited some of their young students like women, and some of the monks like pea- sants, in which dresses they walked a few miles to meet the strangers, at some distance from each other. When the Cashel professors approached and asked any question of the distance of Mungret, or the time of day, they were constantly answered in Greek or Latin, which occasioned them to hold a conference, and determine not to expose themselves at a place where even the women and peasants themselves could speak Greek and Latin."
The appellations of Tory and Rapparee frequently occur in the periods of Irish history connected with Limerick, and as the former is one by which a political party is at present distinguished, some account of these terms may not be unacceptable.
In the civil wars under Elizabeth the epithet Tory is supposed to have originated, and was applied only to the peasantry. Sir Henry Sydney, the Lord Deputy, according to Sir Richard Cox, " cursed, hated and detested Ireland above all other countries ; not that he had any dislike to the country, but that it was most difficult to do any service there, where a man must struggle with famine and fast- nesses, inaccessible bogs and light-footed Tories." During the rebellion of 1641, the name was bestowed on such individuals as at
CHAP. III. LIMERICK. 53
first professed to remain neutral in the contention, but who ulti- mately— perhaps urged by their loss of property and consequent distress — took up arms with a view of reprisal or revenge on those by whom they had been reduced to absolute ruin. English and Irish — Protestant and Catholic — Republican and Loyalist, were alike their common enemies ; and Tories, being joined by men of despe- rate fortunes, united themselves into bodies ; and, in fact, became formidable gangs of freebooters, who harassed the regular troops of all parties without distinction. The name, therefore, was one of reproach, and " Tory hunting" was almost viewed in the light of a pastime. An old rhyme in allusion to this sport is still orally current in the South of Ireland, and a decided favourite in the nursery collection.
" Ho ! Master Teague — what is your story ? I went to the wood and I killed a Tory. I went to the wood and I killed another. Was it the same, or was it his brother I
I hunted him in, and I hunted him out, Three times through the bog about and about ; When out of a bush I saw his head, So I fired my gun, and I shot him dead."
Defoe has accounted for the introduction of the name into England, by telling us that the famous Titus Gates may be considered as its real godfather, and relates the following anecdote respecting it.
" There was a meeting (at which I was present) in the City, upon the occasion of the discovery of some attempt to stifle the evidences of the witnesses (about the Popish plot), and tampering with Bedlow and Stephen Dugdale. Among the discourse, Mr. Bedlow said, he had letters from Ireland, that there were some Tories to be brought over hither, who were privately to murder Dr. Gates and the said Bedlow. The doctor, whose zeal was very hot, could never hear any man talk after this against the plot or against the witnesses, but
54 LIMERICK. CHAP. III.
he thought he was one of these Tories, and called almost every man who opposed him in discourse, a Tory — till at last the word Tory became popular."
Rapparee has much the same meaning as Tory, and is derived from an Irish word signifying a half-stick or broken beam resembling a half-pike, from whence the name was given to such as carried this weapon and did not belong to the regular troops of either army, but provided themselves, in the best way they could, with pikes, daggers or skeins, and such instruments of offence as could be readily manufactured.
The Tories in the time of Charles I., however, appear to have origi- nally received more provocation, and their conduct can be better vindicated than that of the Rapparees of William's. It is asserted, (and with strong claims to belief,) that the Irish commanders of James's army encouraged, by written protections, the Rapparees to surprise and plunder the straggling and detached parties of William's forces — particularly during the winter, when general hostilities were suspended, — by which means they not only harassed them extremely, but accumulated a supply of horses and muskets that enabled the Irish to bring an additional number of men into the field the ensuing season.
When a Rapparee became a prisoner, the gallows instantly termi- nated his fate, and it is stated by Mr. Lesley that many poor harm- less country people became victims to military legislation; but the necessity is obvious that no quarter should be given to men who lurked in ambush, ready to spring on their prey at every favourable opportunity, and whose acquaintance with the country enabled them to lie concealed in the most artful and treacherous manner.
" When the Rapparees have no mind to show themselves upon the bogs, they commonly sink down between two or three little hills grown over with long grass, so that you may as soon find a hare as
CHAP. III. LIMERICK. 55
one of them; they conceal their arms thus — they take off the lock and put it in their pocket, or hide it in some dry place; they stop the mussel close with a cork and the touchhole with a small quill, and then throw the piece itself into a running water or a pond ; you may see an hundred of them without arms, who look like the poorest, humblest slaves in the world, and you may search till you are weary before you find one gun; and yet when they have a mind to do mischief they can all be ready in an hour's warning, for every one knows where to go and fetch his own arms though you do not."
This account, although ridiculed by some writers, I see no reason to question, as, during the years 1793 and 1794, the disaffected in the north of Ireland concealed both themselves and their arms from the soldiery sent to disperse their meetings in a similar manner.
The White Serjeant, Galloping Hogan, Redmond O'Hanlon, Ned of the Hills, and Iron Mac Kabe are the names and titles by which some of the most noted Rapparee leaders were distinguished.
" A History of the Irish Rogues and Rapparees" is at present one of the most popular books amongst the peasantry, and has cir- culated to an extent that almost seems incredible; nor is it unusual to hear the adventures and escapes of highwaymen and outlaws recited by the lower orders with the greatest minuteness, and dwelt on with a surprising fondness.
Killaloe, a pass of the Shannon thirteen miles above Limerick, (the consequence of which has been mentioned more than once in the preceding Historical Sketch,) is a bishop's see of considerable anti- quity. The town is built upon the ascent of a hill, and surrounded by well shaped mountains; a long bridge of many arches extends across the river, which is here wide and shallow. Mr. Nicholson's drawing combines the most important features of the place, which wears a poor appearance and seems to be little frequented by strangers, as the inn, if it deserves the name, included the business
LIMERICK.
CHAP. III.
of publican, linendraper, hosier and chandler under the same roof. One room was appropriated for a table d'hote, where my companion and myself joined a noisy good-humoured clerical party, none of whom could be accused of fastidiousness. On my rising to ring the bell, a jolly looking parson, observing that I sought for one in vain, exclaimed, " May be 'tis a bell you're looking for ; and are you so unreasonable then as to expect to find one, sir?"
Killaloe, in former days, was the resort of many religious pilgrims attracted by its reputed sanctity ; and the walls of some old buildings ' are still to be seen in its vicinity. Little more is known of the cathedral than the name of the founder, St. Molua, (whom Dr. Led- wich declares an imaginary saint,) and his disciple and successor St. Flannan, who was consecrated bishop about the year 639. The building of the present cathedral is attributed to the O'Brien family, many of whom are buried here. A Saxon arch in the wall on the south side of the nave, although evidently a portal, is called the tomb of Brien Boru' ; it is enriched by some florid and beautiful carving, which affords a whimsical display of ornament. In the churchyard stands an oratory, or stone roofed chapel, supposed to be of remote construction, and certainly of a much earlier date than the cathedral. Both gable ends contain portals ; that on the west side is adorned with mould- ings, and the east side, here sketched, appears to have had a building with a lower roof attached to it.
An excursion which I made from Limerick to visit the Rev. R. Dickson of Vermont, enabled me to examine two of the most con-
CHAP. III. LIMERICK. 57
siderable architectural remains in the western part of the county : the castle of Carrigogunnel, and the ecclesiastical ruins at Adair. The former is five miles distant from Limerick, and is one of the largest castles I remember to have seen in Ireland. It stands on an abrupt limestone rock, and commands an extensive view, across the Shannon, of the County Clare and the low grounds termed " Corcass Land," which form the banks of that river. Its building is ascribed to the O'Brien family ;* and, according to Archdale, it belonged at one period to the Association of Knight Templars. From its situa- tion and extent, this pile must have been formerly a place of much importance,
" A fort of strength, a strong and stately hold It was at first, though now it is full old. On rock alone full farre from other mount It stands, which shews it was of great account."
About the year 1537, Cox informs us that, through stipulation and treachery, Carrigogunnel was lost and won more than once by the followers of the Earl of Desmond and those sent to reduce that turbulent chieftain and the country to tranquillity. At the siege of
* The vol. 1425 of the Harleian MSS. contains the following pedigree of " O'Brien of Carryconnell in the Couutie of Limericke."
MAHON O'BRIEN.
CONNOGHER. BRIAN O'BRIAN,
of whome the BRIAN DUFF. E. of Thomond
and others descended.
DoNNAGH.
MAHON.
I DONNAGH.
BRIAN DUFFE of Carigconnell in the Countie of Limerck, lived in anno 1615.
58 LIMERICK. CHAP. III.
Limerick, after the battle of Aughrim, it was garrisoned by 150 men, adherents of James II., but surrendered without resistance to Major General Scravenmore, " the leaving these detachments in such places," remarks Story, " being very unaccountable, since they had a mind to defend them no better. This seems," continues the same writer, " rather a want of instructions what to do than courage to perform it, for, to give the Irish their due, they can defend stone walls very handsomely." The castle was considered so tenable a position, that it was deemed expedient to destroy it, and it was accordingly blown up, together with Castle Connell ; Dean Story receiving no less a sum than 160/. for the purchase of gunpowder to ruin these fortresses.
The violent effect of the explosion is still evident in the dilapidated remains of Carrigogunnel. Massive fragments of the walls and towers lie scattered around in a confusion not unpicturesque, and it is a matter of some difficulty to trace the original plan. A drawing of its distant effect is annexed.
Near this castle Charles Johnson, the author of Chrysal, or the Adventures of a Guinea, and other works, was born in 1719, and received his education at the diocesan school of Limerick.
At Faha, the seat of Mr. Tuthill, between Carrigogunnel and Adair, a meteoric stone of considerable size, which fell there in 1815, was shown me by Mrs. Tuthill. It weighs, I imagine, nearly half a hundred Aveight, although there is an appearance of a piece having been struck off it.
Adair is a small and neat village, eight miles west of Limerick, and deserving the particular notice both of the antiquary and the artist from its assemblage of ancient monastic edifices. It is well situated on the River Maig, which passes through the richly wooded and extensive park of Mr. Quin, and is navigable for small vessels.
One of these abbeys is at present converted into a Roman Catholic chapel, and another, larger and more perfect, into a Protestant
CHAP. III.
LIMERICK.
S 22 era
ex.
church, the cloisters of which latter are in excellent preservation, but it contains little more that merits examination.
The third abbey stands within Mr. Quin's demesne, and, surrounded by venerable trees, becomes a most impressive and romantic object. The seclusion and beauty of its situation are calculated to excite poetic feelings in the mind, which are heightened by the gloom of ash and ancient yew trees, that almost darken the cloisters at noon-day.
Some years since, the ground within its walls was levelled, and most of the tombs and inscriptions destroyed by order of the pro- prietor, to prevent the abbey being used as a burial ground. A pious superstition deterred the peasantry from disturbing the ashes of the dead, and no one could be procured to perform so sacrilegious an act — as if they feared the fulfilment of Shakspeare's threatening epitaph would be the consequence of the violation :
" Blest be the man that spares these stones, And curst be he that moves my bones."
A party of soldiers were brought from Limerick for the purpose, who soon completed the work, and " the trim grassy aisle" replaced the legends commemorative of the old fathers and feudal chiefs. Some monumental and confessional niches have escaped, and may still be seen. In the cloisters I found two little carved fragments ; one of these was an escutcheon charged with a cross saltire; the other, a figure in rude bas-relief about eighteen inches high, representing a grey friar, as appears from the costume. These abbies were founded by the Earls of Kildare, and were granted, on the dissolution of monasteries, to Sir Henry Wallop. The ruins of an extensive castle also stand within Mr. Quin's demesne. In the wars of Elizabeth's time it was a post warmly contested by the Irish and Spanish fol- lowers of Desmond with the English, who were driven to extremes by a blockade, and out of necessity com-
i 2
60 LIMERICK. CHAP. III.
pelled to hazard a desperate excursion into the Knight of Glen's country, where a severe skirmish of eight hours took place, in which the English came off without much loss, having killed fifty of their opponents. Shortly after the death of Desmond it was seized by the Lord Kerry, and the garrison put to the sword, but Captain Zouch obliged him to abandon it.
CHAPTER IV.
KILMALLOCK.
" Castles high fall in decay,
And the Lords who once did hold them; Lords and castles pass away
As our beads when we have told them."
Translation from an Irish MS.
THE road leading from Limerick towards Cork is for some miles flat and uninteresting, though the horizon is bounded by mountains with an agreeable outline. The cabins of the peasantry are most deplorable ; and the state of filth in which the owners live, incon- ceivable to an Englishman who has not travelled in Ireland. Twenty of these hovels sometimes succeed each other without a chimney ; and invariably a stagnant black puddle is seen close to the door, appointed receiver-general of all kinds of filth, streams from which issue in every direction, one generally entering at the cabin door and trickling down over its mud floor : — " Such habitations," to use the words of Sir Richard Hoare, " teeming with a numerous popula- tion of children, pigs and poultry, present a truly deplorable and affecting sight to every man of feeling and humanity."
About nine miles distant from Limerick, not far from the road, lies Lough Gur, formerly a place of consideration ; its castle, which
62 KIIMALLOCK. CHAP. IV.
stood on an island, being out of the reach of musketry, and the ruggedness of the surrounding country rendering the approach of cannon a matter of difficulty. Sir George Carew, in the beginning of 1600, shortly after he assumed the government of Munster, re- connoitered Lough Gur Castle, and found it garrisoned by more than two hundred soldiers, commanded by James Fitz Thomas, a near relative of the Earl of Desmond, to the history of whose ruinous fate the present chapter is chiefly devoted. On observing the Pre- sident's approach, a few shots were fired from the castle, but without effect, and Sir George Carew returned to Limerick, where, after much parade in the preparation of ordnance to reduce Lough Gur, its surrender was purchased for sixty pounds from Owen Grome, who had been entrusted with its defence by James Fitz Thomas.
An Irish topographical manuscript without date, the writer of which I have reason to believe was John M'Donald, or Shane Clarah, mentioned hereafter, is at present in my possession, and lies before me with a translation. In it " Lough Guir" is described as more than eight miles distant from Limerick, and remarkable on account of a beautiful and verdant hill, almost in the centre of the lake. " On the foot of this hill," (I copy literally the translation r) " at the north side, is a stately castle in the Gothic fashion. The hill is about an English mile and a half in circumference, and on its south-west side is the largest part of the lough; there, at the distance of three or four hundred yards from the shore, formerly stood a square castle rising out of the water, on the vault of which was planted, as I was told by Mr. Baily the owner of the place, five or six apple trees which then bore fruit ; and on the edges of the vault he caused battlements to be raised to prevent their destruction by the undulation of the waters. I have been," continues the writer, " at this extraordinary orchard and vault, the owner of which partly supports himself by what money he receives from the curious who visit this place; there is but one causeway to the hill, no doubt
CHAP. IV. KILMALLOCK. 63
fortified by the ever-memorable Brien Boro'imhe in the Danish times, which has yet the remains of two out-works upon it."
Near Lough Gur, and close to the road-side, a large Druidical circle of stones is to be seen, of which some description may be found in Mr. Twiss's Tour and Trotter's Walks through Ireland, but a severe fall of rain prevented my examination of this rude monument.
Two miles farther brought us to Bruff, or Brough, a wretched village, with the ruins of an old castle, mentioned in the Pacata Hibernia. Continuing our route we arrived at Kilmallock, sixteen miles from Limerick, and entered the town, under a dark and massive gateway, late in the evening. The gloom which partially obscured every object, as we drove along a street composed of mean cabins, mingled with the ancient stateliness of towers and embattled Avails, produced rather a mournful impression on the mind not unfavourable to useful thought, but it was soon dispelled by the prospect of miserable accommodations and the consequential officiousness of our landlady.
From its present fallen condition and former greatness, Kilmallock has been called " the Irish Balbeck," by Dr. Campbell, whose description of the plate in his Philosophical Survey, (which, by the by, has very little if any likeness to Kilmallock,) proves him to be, though an agreeable and intelligent writer, no artist. — " There was something," says that author, " so picturesque in the perspective of this place that I could not help attempting to delineate it ; I send you my essay, done, as you see it, in less than an hour ; I must, however, remark to you, that I began upon a scale too large for my paper, and was not able to get in the whole town" !
Kilmallock seems to have been gradually sinking into decay since the time of Cromwell, when it was dismantled and received much injury from the parliamentary army. Two (of the four) gateways still exist, and have a solid heavy effect, with a strong resemblance to Spanish or Moorish architecture. But it is from the main street
64 KILMALLOCK. CHAP. IV.
that a just idea of its ancient consequence may be formed; on each side are the remains of houses built of hewn stone, which seem to have been constructed on an uniform plan ; and so excellent is the workmanship, the walls of many of them are now in perfect preserva- tion, only wanting roofs and floors to make them as complete as when inhabited. These houses are three stories high, ornamented with an embattlement and a tasteful stone moulding on the outside, of this pattern : -ft — ft — ft — ft- — fr. The square window frames and large fire-places are well carved, in a bold and massive style; and such is the durability of the limestone, though exposed to the weather and casual injuries, that it retains the sharpness of the chisel as if only yesterday from the hands of the sculptor.
A chimney-piece in the shell of one of these buildings bears the inscription —
SH 16IHS38 EH
These initials I was told were those of Simon and Edward (more probably Elizabeth or Elinor) Healy; and as these houses were evi- dently built about the same time, this date satisfactorily points out the period.
The annexed sketch of the ground-plan of Kilmallock I have made from recollection, to assist the reader in comprehending the description ; and have distinguished in it, by a deeper shade, such ancient edifices as still exist, from the cabins and mean houses of modern formation.
Little attention is paid by its present inhabitants to the preserva- tion of the remains of its former importance. On the contrary they are daily destroyed. Whenever a hovel is required to be built, the materials are procured by breaking down part of these once splendid mansions, some of which have been lowered and fitted up in ac- cordance with the neglect and desertion of the place, and the interior of others is occupied by sheds for cattle, or more loathsome pigsties.
CHAP. IV. KILMALLOCK. 65
The town walls, still retaining in some places their original height, may be traced uninterruptedly from the gate on the Charleville side to that on the Limerick, which I am inclined to consider a fourth part of their former extent.
A stream, named the Cummogue, runs close to the town, and falls into the river Maig; on its opposite banks are the ruins of two abbeys, which complete the vestiges of ancient Kilmallock. That on the same side with the town contains monuments to members of the Fitzgerald, Verdon, Blakeney, and Haly families, erected during the seventeenth century, and it is difficult to imagine more barbarous or grotesque pieces of sculpture than some of them exhibit; indeed it is surprising, after beholding the beautiful masonry of that time so conspicuous in the town, to find tombs of the same date, on which much labour has been bestowed — such unskilful productions. The bas reliefs copied from the Verdon tomb, bearing the years 16 14 and 1626, may serve as an illustration ; yet Ferrar, in his History of Limerick, says — " This monument was of excellent workmanship, and esteemed one of the best in Munster;" and speaking of the uncouth figures I have sketched, says, they are " done in a masterly style in alto relievo." Were it not for the coincidence of name and dates I should doubt the identity of the monument. The singularity of a Fitzgerald tomb (equally rude with the Verdon) perhaps requires mention. A figure of Death is conspicuously engraven on it, with the hexameter verse —
" Non fugiam! prius experiar — Non Mors mihi terror."
The chancel of this abbey has been fitted up and is used as a church. The ruined abbey on the other side of the water is of greater extent, but has too lonely and stern an appearance to be picturesque, circumstances which render it more sublime. The architecture, though solid, is graceful, and the great altar window, a
66 KILMALLOCK. CHAP. IV.
fine specimen of the chaste lightness of the pure Gothic style. In the centre of its chancel stands the family tomb of the White Knight, a title assumed by a branch of the Fitzgeralds, or, as they are frequently called, Geraldines, and, according to Camden, ori- ginating from the grey hairs of the founder of that line. In the pedigree of the Fitzgerald family, the titles of some of the branches settled in the south of Ireland are so romantic that they carry us completely back to the days of chivalry, as we find, beside the White Knight, the Knight of Glen, sometimes called the Knight of the Valley, the Black Knight, and the Knight of Kerry ; appellations that continue to be bestowed on the lineal representative at the pre- sent day.
The ponderous slab that covered the White Knight's tomb is broken in two parts, one of which lies overturned beside it, and bears the following inscription : —
I. H. S.
HIC TVMVLVS ERECTVS FV IT IN MEMORIAM ILLIVS STE MMATIS GERALDINORVM QVI VVLGO VOCANTVR EQV1TES ALBI.
IOHANNES CVM FILIO SVO EDMVNDO ET MAVRICIO FI LIO PREEFATI EDMVNDI ETMVLTI ALII EIVSDEM FAMIL IEE HIC TVMVLANTVR PREEF ATVS
A boy tending some cattle, that had sheltered from the noon-tide heat in the shade of the abbey walls, seeing me examining this mutilated tomb, introduced himself with the exclamation, " The curse of Cromwell be on the White Knight. — He was the cruel and
CHAP. IV. KILMALLOCK. 67
bad man, Sir !" and added, " They say 'twas the black bull that tattered it in this way, your honour ; but 'tis my belief it was none of his doing, but the work of some kind of evil spirit or other. It was just broken and left as it is now four nights ago, and in my opinion 'tis a judgment on the White Knight, for he was the cruel and bad man !"
My new bare-footed acquaintance showed me an inscribed stone lying in the dilapidated cloisters which, with the armorial fragment copied near the Ge- raldine tomb, are the only monumental re- mains to be discerned in this abbey. The inscription in the cloisters has already been printed in Ferrars' Limerick and Mr. Weld's Account of Killarney; but being in itself curious I will not omit it, particularly as there is some slight variation in my transcript from that of the latter gentleman.
1642.
'
TF.RTIA . LUX . O'JESOS . MEMORAT . SF.PTEMBRIS . IN . ANNO ,
QUEM . I.EGIS . HEU . NONDUM . TKES . TENET . URNA . SENES . MARTE.NEPOS . I RATRF.SQUE . RUUNT .TRIA . 1MGNORA . J ITS TO . JUS . PATRIJE . CAISAM . RF.XQUE . FIDESQUE . PROHANT. INTEGER . ATTRITIS . REPERITIR . CANDOR . IN . EXTIS .
V I R G I N I S
ET
VERI
P U R P U H A
M A R T Y R 1 1
L I L I A . P U R P U R E O S . INTER . S U I) A N T I A . F L U C T U S .
TRES
MERUERE . TRIUM
NOMINA . MARMOR . HADE ,
FHES : GEOR :
EDW : BURGATE. ALEX :
NEP.
M'Donald, (better known by the name of Ollistrum,) the leader of a party of Highlanders in the commotions of Charles the First's time, and who was treacherously murdered at Knocknisross, near
K 2
68 KILMALLOCK.
CHAP. IV.
Buttevant, according to tradition was buried in this abbey, but the spot is unknown.*
Kilmallock, as the scene of many historical events, has numerous interesting recollections connected with it. In particular, the fate of the Desmond family, a melancholy picture that assumes even a more mournful tinge since the irritation of party feeling has subsided. — With possessions of nearly four counties, extending above 100 miles, and containing more than 570,000 acres, the Earls of Desmond, when actuated by private motives, were enabled to take the field
* Two lamentable instances of the dread of the typhus fever which raged in the south of Ireland in 1817, are related as having occurred within these ruins; — instances of con- duct so inhuman that they are really a reflection on our nature. — The account is given in the words of the ill-fated Mr. Trotter, which, from inquiries made on the spot, I was sorry to find fully confirmed.
" In one part of the ruins, where a fine arched side-aisle was still very perfect, my guide showed some terror : I soon learned from him the cause. A person ill of fever had been left there the day before, lest he should communicate the infection to the family where he lodged. — He was left to expire ! His hollow voice plaintively implored some drink; I assured him he should have it, and be taken care of, and hope revived at the moment life was ebbing fast away. In another part of this monastery I saw a hat of a departed victim of fever exposed some time ago, and at our inn I heard the following story : — An American gentleman, totally a stranger, well clad and of pleasing appearance, came a few months ago to Kilmallock. He went to no inn, but wandered about the ruins, till at last entering them he was observed no more, and perhaps forgotten ! He was ill, and fever burned in his veins ; but where can a pennyless and forlorn wanderer turn in a country where he is without friends or money ? — It happened a gentleman was ill at the inn, and required the attendance of a person to sit up every night. The inn-keeper's son performed this humane office frequently ; and very early one morning, as the stars were fading at the approach of twilight, he walked out to the monastery to refresh himself with the morning air ; he heard a murmuring noise as of some human being. It was two or three days after the American gentleman's disappearance. He recollected this, and advanced — but can I go on ? — Extended on his back in a recess of a ruined aisle, the unfortunate stranger lay speechless and expiring ! one hand clenched the mouldering wall, the other his hat. The young man, terrified and shocked, ran for assistance. On his return this victim of misfortune was no more ! — Fever had arrested his steps."
CHAP. IV. KILMALLOCK. 69
with an armed force so considerable as to excite just apprehensions in those who had the government of an imperfectly subdued country. But the history of Gerald, the sixteenth earl, who has been called " Ingens rebellibus exemplar," is briefly given in Baker's Chronicle, and with so much affecting simplicity, that I am induced to transcribe the words.
" Desmond possessed whole countries, together with the County Palatine of Kerry, and had, of his own name and race, at least five hundred gentlemen at his command, all whom and his own life also he lost within the space of three years, very few of the house being left alive."
If, on the one side, it was necessary for the well-being of the country to suppress such desolating feuds in a question of individual property as that at Affane, (noticed in a subsequent paper,) and to prevent the oppressive and cruel extortion established by an Earl of Desmond, in the reign of Edward the Second, called coigne and livery, or the power of levying indiscriminately and at will whatever victuals, provender, and money, his necessities required ; so, on the other, the Earl of Desmond seems to have been driven into rebellion by the unrelenting policy of those who had the direction of public affairs. — And it is to be feared there is too much truth in Dr. Curry's opinion, that " his vast estate was a strong inducement to the chief governors of Ireland to make or to proclaim him a rebel, their prey being insured to them in either case by his forfeiture."
As securities for her husband's conduct and pledges of his inno- cence, their only son, an infant, together with O'Healy, Bishop of Mayo, and O'Rourke, a Franciscan friar of noble descent, were pre- sented to Sir William Drury by the Countess of Desmond ; but the Earl, though with expressions of loyalty, declining to comply with the summons of Sir William Pelham, (the successor to Drury as Lord Justice,) and hesitating in obeying the unnatural command to bear arms against his brother, who had been declared a traitor, was
70 KILMALLOCK. CHAP. IV.
also proclaimed one himself on the 2d of November, 1579> if he did not surrender within twenty days.
Desmond naturally doubted the faith of those who had already deceived him, by whom his property had been injured, his complaints neglected, and his grievances unredressed. When he complied with the summons of Drury to appear at Kihnallock, whither he came " with a well-appointed company of horse and foot, he was com- mitted to custody," says Leland, " on bare suspicion ; but upon making the most solemn promises of loyalty and fidelity, he obtained his liberty, retired from the camp, but refused to attend the deputy, and was therefore still considered as a favourer of foreign invaders and their cause. Upon this bare suspicion, (Sir Nicholas) Malby attacked his town of Rathkeal. — This the Earl considered as an unprovoked and unwarrantable attempt which he was justified in repelling."
Two members of the council, the Lords Gormanstown and Delvin, refused to sign the proclamation against Desmond, and one hour after it was published, his Countess, we are told, " came to the camp to intercede for her unhappy Lord ; but the forces had marched towards her husband's country, which they entered with fire and sword."
The fathers 0'IIealy and O'Rourke, who had become sureties for Desmond's loyalty, were executed, and his infant son was sent a state-prisoner to the Tower of London. Even as an additional goad to drive Desmond to desperate measures, the Earl of Ormond, his former rival, was named to take the field against him. So violent was the animosity existing between these two noblemen, that when, on a former occasion, they had agreed to a public reconciliation under the decision of a Special Commission, an aperture was cut in a door for them to shake hands through, " each fearing to be poignarded by the other."
To state Desmond's case with impartiality, it is necessary to point
CHAP. IV. KILMALLOCK. 71
out that his haughty and tyrannic disposition made him regard the acts of others with suspicion ; and though of English extraction, in common with most Irish chieftains, he knew not how to demean himself as a subject, and resisted every encroachment on his feudal dignity. A more dangerous man, therefore, to any peaceable go- vernment could not have existed — arrogant, oppressive, and fero- cious. Irritated at the severe conduct of the English governors towards him, whom an invasion compelled to adopt decisive mea- sures, the enraged Earl, collecting his followers on the Ballyhoura mountain, for the first time appeared as the avowed enemy of Queen Elizabeth, and proceeded to attack the town of Youghall, which he captured without much opposition, and deposited the plunder in his castles of Strancally and Lisfinneen, having garrisoned them with the invading Spanish troops. Elated by this success, the Earl, with a view to intimidate Sir William Pelham, wrote to him, stating that he had entered into a league for the defence of the catholic religion with the King of Spain, under the sanction of the Pope, and invited Sir William to co-operate with them. Imme- diately on such a declaration, Lord Ormond and Sir Warham St. Leger made a fierce attack on the estates of Desmond, destroying the tillage, burning and ruining his castles, and murdering, in cold blood, the foreigners by whom they were garrisoned.
A series of acts of devastation on the part of the English, that were vainly opposed by Desmond, ensued for six months, at the end of which time that nobleman, his Countess, and Saunders the Papal Legate, escaped with their lives only from the royal troops, and Lady Desmond once more appeared before the Lord Justice, beseeching him in tears and on her knees, forgiveness and pity for her consort. But Sir William Pelham remained inexorable ; and coldly speaking of the Queen's clemency, referred to her Majesty's mercy, at the moment when Lord Desmond's brother, Sir James, was con-
72 KILMALLOCK. CHAP. IV.
demned and executed by martial law, and his reeking limbs exposed to the public gaze on the gates of Cork.
A mutiny amongst the English army was suppressed by openly giving up Desmond's country to plunder instead of their pay ; and the greater part of the population, to escape the revolting cruelties attendant on military exaction, fled for protection and found it, from the bravest and most noble of enemies — a British seaman — Sir William Winter, the Vice-Admiral of England, who was stationed off the coast of Kerry to intercept reinforcements from Spain, re- ceiving many of the despairing fugitives on board his squadron.
During this time, the garrison of Kilmallock kept the adherents and forces of Desmond in check, so as to prevent their forming an union with the disaffected of the northern provinces, particularly with Lord Baltinglass, notwithstanding an effort made by Sir John of Desmond and Dr. Saundcrs. in which their attendants were made prisoners ; and shortly after, Captain Zouch, the companion in arms of Raleigh, surprised, near Castle Lyons, Sir John, with his relative James Fitz John, of Strancally, both of whom were executed, and their mangled remains displayed in barbarous triumph.
Pursued from one retreat to another, the Earl of Desmond, after many ineffectual efforts at reprisal, and several narrow escapes, was forced " to keep his Christmas (1582) in Kilquegg wood, near Kilmallock," where being attacked, his followers were all put to the sword, and he and his Countess escaped by remaining concealed under a bank of the river, up to their chins in water. About the middle of the following year, Desmond's chief force, consisting only of sixty gallowglasses, was surprised in the act of boiling horse-flesh, and half of them slain by a party from Kilmallock, in Harlow or Agherlow wood. On the death of Dr. Saunders, who perished miserably, having fallen a victim to famine and the effects of exposure to the weather, and whose body was discovered partially
CHAP. IV. KILMALLOCK. 73
devoured by wolves, an intimation was made to Desmond that, on submission, his individual pardon would be granted ; but the same unyielding spirit that animated this Earl at Affane inspired his reply — " Tell the Lords Justices," said Desmond, " that I would rather forsake my God than forsake my men !"
In September following, the Earl, accompanied by three horsemen and a priest, encountered a party of Lord Roche's followers, from whom, being well mounted, they escaped, except the priest, who gave a lamentable account of the extremes to which Desmond was reduced.
The last scene of the Earl's life is, however, the most tragical. His necessities having compelled him to take some cattle belonging to a poor woman, he was pursued by a few musketeers and kerns in the English pay, who on entering a little grove, in a lonely and moun- tainous glen, four miles east of Tralee, about midnight, discovered, seated round the fire of a ruinous hovel, four or five of Desmond's known adherents, all of whom immediately fled on their entrance, leaving one venerable and powerless old man : a soldier, named Daniel Kelly, made a blow at him with his sword, and wounded him so severely as almost to dissever his arm; repeating the blow, the old man ejaculated, " Spare me, spare me, I am the Earl of Desmond." But the appeal was made in vain; for Kelly struck off his head and conveyed it to the Earl of Ormond, by whom it was sent over, " pickled in a pipkin," to England, where it was spiked on London Bridge ; and his body, after eight weeks concealment, obscurely in- terred in the little chapel of Killanamana in Kerry. For this service Elizabeth's " well-beloved subject and soldier, Daniel Kelly," was rewarded with a pension of twenty pounds yearly, which he enjoyed lor many years, but was ultimately hanged at Tyburn.
The account given by Spencer of the state of Desmond's country, who was a spectator of it, exhibits a dreadful and impressive picture of the calamitous effects of civil warfare. He tells us, that " any
L
74 KILMALLOCK. CHAP. IV.
stony heart would rue the same. Out of every corner of the woods and glynns they" (the people of Munster) " came creeping forth upon their hands, for their legs could not bear them — they looked like anatomies of death. They spake like ghosts crying out of their graves ; they did eat the dead carrions, happy where they could find them, yea, and one another soon after, insomuch, as the very car- cases they spared not to scrape out of their graves; and if they found a plot of water-cresses or shamrocks, there they flocked as to a feast for the time, yet not able to continue there withal ; — that in short space there was none almost left, and a most populous and plentiful country suddenly became void of man and beast."
In the Earl of Ormond's services against Desmond, the destruction of 46 captains, 800 notorious traitors, and 4000 common soldiers is enumerated ; yet a letter that has been preserved in the Scrina Sacra, from Desmond to Lord Ormond, is written in that tone of submis- sion which renders it but too probable that vindictive motives alone urged the latter to refuse every overture of Desmond's to obtain mercy.
Neither the death of Desmond nor the depopulation of the country restored tranquillity to the south of Ireland ; and Elizabeth, by the advice of Sir Robert Cecil, sent over James, the only son of the late Earl, who had been educated in the Tower, under the eye of the English government, in expectation that the adherents of his father would rally around their young Lord and become peaceable subjects. This was the more desirable, as a remaining member of the family, termed in history the Sugan Earl, had assumed the title of Desmond, and appeared in arms against the Queen.
Reared in confinement, inexperienced in popular tumult, and ignorant of political intrigue, the young Earl James arrived at Youghall. on the 14th of October, 1600, under the guardianship of Captain Price, and submissively waited on the Lord President of Munster, to whom he delivered dispatches explanatory of the purpose
CHAP. IV. KILMALLOCK. 175
of his journey into Ireland, and his patent of creation as Earl of Desmond, copies of which may be found in the Pacata Hibernia. The President sent the young Earl to Kilmallock, whither the news of his coming had preceded him, and the followers of the Desmond family crowded to welcome their chief, " insomuch as all the streets, doores, and windowes, yea the very gutters and tops of the houses were filled/' — " That night the Earle was invited to supper to Sir George Thornton's, who then kept his house in the town of Kil- mallock ; and although the Earle had a guard of soldiers which made a lane from his lodgings to Sir G. Thornton's house, yet the con- fluence of the people that flockt thither to see him was so great, as in half an hour he could not make his passage through the crowd, and after supper he had the like encounters at his returne to his lodging." Old and young hurried into Kilmallock from the sur- rounding districts, the former showered their blessings on the Earl, the latter offered their vow of allegiance; and, according to an ancient custom, every one flung upon him handfuls of wheat and salt, as a prediction of future peace and plenty, so powerful was the bond of feudal clanship.
James, the young Earl, had been brought up a protestant in England, and the day following his arrival at Kilmallock, being Sunday, he attended service in the parish church. On his return his followers collected around him, and with tears and groans re- proached him with his apostasy. They implored him on their knees not to forsake the religion of his fathers. James meekly urged, in reply to their vehement entreaties, the plea of religious toleration to be the true spirit of the Gospel ; but this reasoning did not satisfy his adherents ; they looked on him as an agent of the English go- vernment, sent amongst them to sap the foundation of their faith ; and the very voices that yesterday were loudest in acclamations of joy, swelled the uproar of imprecations poured upon James Fitz- gerald, for they denied his right to the title of his ancestors, whose
L2
76 KILMALLOCK. CHAP. IV.
religion he had renounced. Every mark of ignominy and insult was heaped upon him by the infuriated crowd — they cursed him, they spit upon him ; and abandoning Kilmallock, left the Earl of Desmond to return to England, where he died in obscurity a few months after. His dissolution is announced in the Pacata Hibernia, with an air of the greatest sang-froid. — " The eleventh (January, 1601) the Lord President had intelligence from England that James (the late restored Earle of Desmond) was dead, and that eighteen hundred quarters of oates were sent into Munster for the reliefe of our horses."
The fate of the Sugan Earl, as he is styled, was little more fortunate than that of his predecessor. After one or two defeats he was hunted from place to place, and so closely followed that it was often known to his pursuers where he had been concealed the preceding night.* The Galtee mountains were the chief retreat of the Sugan Earl ; and his kinsman, the White Knight, being induced by money or fear, perhaps both, betrayed and seized him as he lurked in the cave of Skeenarinky, not far distant from Mitchelstown. Being forcibly carried to Kilmallock, he was thence conveyed to Cork, where he was tried and found guilty of being a traitor, on the 14th of August, 1601. But his life was spared by a piece of state policy ; and the Earl, transmitted to the Tower of London, died there a prisoner, after seven years confinement, and was buried in its chapel. His brother John emigrated to Spain, and was distinguished as Earl or Count of Desmond, which title was also given to his son, Gerald,
* Sir Richard Cox, in the narration of one of his escapes, strongly depicts the wretched state of the country. " The President, having notice that the Sugan Earl and Dermod Magragh, titular Bishop of Cork, were at Lisbarry, in Drumfinin Woods, sent a party thither, who were so near surprizing them that the Sugan Earl was fain to run away bare- foot ; and the Bishop got some old rags about him, and so well personated an old im- potent beggar, that the English who met him did not thunk him worth a hanging, and therefore suffered him to pass."
CHAP. IV. KILMALLOCK. 77
who died in the service of a foreign court, without issue, about the year 1632.
The inhabitants of Kilmallock received a charter from Elizabeth, dated the 15th of April, 1584, granting them some valuable privileges on account of their good services against that " arch-traitor" Des- mond, during whose rebellion the place had been more than once plundered and set on fire. In the subsequent contests which have distracted Ireland, the town was used as a garrison, but there is nothing memorable recorded of it.
The title of Viscount Kilmallock was bestowed on Sir Dominick Sarsfield ; and the circumstances attendant on that creation are somewhat remarkable from the title of Viscount Kinsale having been first conferred on him, notwithstanding its existence in the De Courcy family, who immediately petitioned the King on this usur- pation of their right ; and the Privy Council having confirmed it, Sir Dominick was forbidden to use the name of Kinsale and styled Viscount Sarsfield, with permission to make choice of any other, and he accordingly took that of Kilmallock, which was confirmed by letters patent, dated the 17th of September, 1627-
CHAPTER V.
FAIRIES AND SUPERNATURAL AGENCY.
" Such airy beings awe th' untutored swain,
Nor thou, tho' learn' d, his homelier thoughts neglect."
Collins.
IN common with other countries, particularly the Highlands of Scotland, a traditional belief exists amongst the Irish peasantry in those romantic little sprites denominated Fairies ; and it is wonderful, considering their being creatures of imagination, that the superstitions respecting them should have remained so much confined, and so very similar. Whether the fairy mythology of Ireland has been de- rived from the East, and transmitted thence through the medium of Spain, or has, as some believe, a northern origin, it is of little import to inquire, particularly as nothing more than conjecture can now be advanced on the subject. It is, however, evident, that the present fairies of Ireland, if not Gothic creations, were at least modelled in the same school and age with the elves of northern Europe.
There is an odd mixture of the ridiculous and the sublime in the prevalent notions respecting such beings. Nor could there have been invented a more extraordinary medium between Man and his Maker.
CHAP. V. FAIRIES AND SUPERNATURAL AGENCY. 79
The most esteemed novelist of the present day has happily described these curious creations of the mind, as
" That, which is neither ill nor well ;
That, which belongs not to Heaven or Hell ; A wreath of the mist, a bubble of the stream, 'Twixt a waking thought, and a sleeping dream, A form that men spy With the half-shut eye, In the beams of the setting sun am I !"
Partaking both of the human and spiritual nature, having imma- terial bodies, with the feelings and passions of mortality, fairies are supposed to possess both the power and the inclination to revenge an affront; and the motive of fear, which induces some savage nations to worship the Devil, prompts the vulgar in Ireland to term fairies " good people," and in Scotland " guid folk ;" nor is it uncommon to see a rustic, before drinking, spill a small part of his draught upon the ground, as a complimentary libation to the fairies. Such as use the word fairy, are often corrected in a whisper, which caution arises from conceiving that these beings are invisibly present, and the appellation is considered offensive, as denoting an insignificant object. Thus, hoping to deceive by flattery, the maxim most attended to in the intercourse with these " little great ones," is, that " civility begets civility." Doubtless, on the same principle, the Greeks, as observed by Augustus Schlegel, called their fairies Eumenides^ or the benevolent, and assigned for their habitation a beautiful grove. " I cannot think of this policy," said my friend
C > " without fancying a grin on Medusa, and those little urchins
the northern fairies, holding their sides with laughter." The same system of fear and flattery seems to have existed amongst the Irish, even towards animals, in the time of Elizabeth; for Camden tells us, " they take unto them wolves,, ta be their gpdsibs (gossips), whom
80 FAIRIES AND SUPERNATURAL AGENCY. CHAP. V.
they tearme Chari Christ, praying for them, and wishing them well, and so they are not afraid to be hurt by them."
The circular intrenchments and barrows, known by the name of Danish forts,* in Ireland, are pointed out as the abode of fairy com- munities, and to disturb their habitation, in other words to dig, or plough up a rath or fort, whose construction the superstitious natives ascribe to the labour and ingenuity of the " good people," is con- sidered as unlucky and entailing some severe disaster on the violator and his kindred. An industrious peasant, who purchased a farm in the neighbourhood of Mallow, from a near relative of mine, com- menced his improvements by building upon it a good stone house, together with a lime kiln. Soon after, he waited on the proprietor, to state " the trouble he was come to by reason of the old fort, the fairies not approving of his having placed the lime-kiln so near their dwelling; — he had lost his sow with nine bontiiveens (sucking pigs), his horse fell into a quarry and was killed, and three of his sheep died, ' all through the means of the fairies/ ' Though the lime-kiln had cost him five guineas, he declared he would never burn another stone in it, but take it down, without delay, and build one away from the fort, saying, he was wrong in putting that kiln in the way of the " good people," who were thus obliged to go out of their usual track. The back door of his house unfortunately also faced the same fort, but this offence was obviated by almost closing it up, leaving only a small hole at the top, to allow the good people free passage, should they require it. In these raths, fairies are represented as holding their festive meetings, and entering into all the fantastic and wanton mirth that music and glittering banquets are capable of inspiring. A fairy chieftain, of much local celebrity, named Knop, is supposed to hold his court in a rath, on the road side between Cork and Youghall,
* In Wright's Louthiana, Plate XII. of Part I. is a representation of " the Fairy Mount at Louth."
CHAP. V. FAIRIES AND SUPERNATURAL AGENCY. 81
where often travellers, unacquainted with the country, have been led astray by the appearance of lights, and by alluring sounds pro- ceeding from within ; but when
'' The village cock gave note of day,
Up sprang in haste the airy throng ; The word went round, ' away! away!' The night is short, the way is long" —
and the delicious viands change into carrion. The crystal goblets become rugged pebbles, and the whole furniture of the feast under- goes a similar metamorphosis.*
An eddy of dust, raised by the wind, is attributed to the fairies journeying from one of their haunts to another ; on perceiving which, the peasant will obsequiously doff his hat, muttering, " God speed ye, God speed ye, Gentlemen ;" and returns it to his head, with the remark, " good manners are no burthen," as an apology for the mo- tive, which he is ashamed to acknowledge. Should he, however, instead of such friendly greeting, repeat any short prayer, or de- voutly cross himself, using a religious response, the fairy journey is interrupted, and if any mortals are in their train, the charm by which they were detained is broken, and they are restored to human so- ciety. On these occasions, the production of a black-hafted knife is considered as extremely potent in dissolving the spell. This weapon is believed to be effective not only against fairy incantation, but also against any supernatural being; and accounts of many twi-
* In the Transactions of the Iberno-Celtic Society, a curious poem, attributed to Andrew M'Curtin, a wandering Bard who lived about the year 1740, is mentioned as still extant, in the Irish language. Conceiving that his talents were not sufficiently ap- preciated, he composed an Address to Doun of Duagh, or Donn of the Sand Pits, an imaginary being, supposed to preside over the fairies of a district in the county Clare, supplicating Donn to take him into his service, as he is neglected by mortals; and in praising the hospitality of the chief of the fairies, he obliquely censures the parsimony of the gentlemen of the country. It begins, — " Profound salutations to thee, oh Donn of the Sand Pits" (literally of the Kieves or Vatts).
M
82 FAIRIES AND SUPERNATURAL AGENCY. CHAP. V.
light rencontres between shadowy forms and mortals are related, to establish its power, gouts of blood or jelly being found in the morn- ing on the spot where the vision had appeared. A respectable farmer has been pointed out to me, whose familiar appellation in Irish was " Kill the Devil," from the report of his having quelled, by means of a black-hafted knife, a phantom that long had haunted him.
A stanza, containing the truck of a fairy procession, is preserved by Dr. Neilson in his Irish Grammar; and, as a curiosity, the trans- lation may be worth copying:—
Paying a fleeting visit to many an " airy castle, rath, and mount," Finvar and his troop hold their course, from dawn of morn till fall of night, on beautiful winged coursers—
" Around Knock Grein and Nock iia Rae, Bin Builvin and Kcis Corain To Bin Ivachlan and Loch Da can, From tliencc north-east to Sleivc Gnilin — They traversed the lofty hills of Mourne, Round high Sleive Denard, and Balachancry, Down to Dundrin, Dundrum and Dunardalay, Right forward to Knock na Feadalea" —
the latter name signifying in English, the Musical Hill, so called from the supernatural strains supposed occasionally to proceed from it.
The most romantic dells are also pointed out as scenes of fairy resort, and distinguished by the term, " gentle places ;" beetling linen by the side of a rocky stream that murmurs through an unfrequented glen, is represented as a favourite, or rather common female fairy occupation, where they chaunt wild and pathetic melodies, beating time with their beetles. The herbs and plants, with which such glens abound, are considered as under fairy influence, and are collected, with many ceremonies, for charms, by cunning old women, termed " Fairy Doctors," or, sometimes, from their professed know- ledge of surgery, " Bone Setters" A confidence in superstitious
CHAP. V. FAIRIES AND SUPERNATURAL AGENCY. 83
quackery exists so strongly amongst the lower orders in Ireland, that many instances are known to me where patients have been carried a distance of several miles to a " Bone Setter," to whom a fee was given ; when they might have received, without removal, and free of expense, every attendance from the most skilful surgeons. " I would not, if all the doctors in Ireland told me so, treat the poor sufferer thus," is the prefatory sentence used by these " wise women." " What do doctors know about sick people ? — but take the herbs which I shall give you, bury them at sun-set in the north-east corner of the fort-field, and when you return, tie a thread three times round the left-hand upper post of the sick person's bed, and let it
remain there for nine nights," &c. Camden, it would seem, had
some faith in the efficacy of these " skilful women," who, " by means of charms," to use his own words, " gave more certain judg- ment of the disease than many of our physicians can."
Fairies are represented as exceedingly diminutive in their stature, having an arch and malicious expression of countenance, and gene- rally habited in green, with large scarlet caps; hence the beautiful plant Digitalis Purpurea is named " Fairy Cap" by the vulgar, from the supposed resemblance of its bells to this part of fairy dress. To the same plant, many rustic superstitions are attached, particu- larly its salutation of supernatural beings, by bending its long stalks in token of recognition.
Old and solitary thorns, in common with the digitalis, are re- garded with reverence by the peasantry, and considered as sacred to the revels of these eccentric little sprites, whose vengeance follows their removal. Any antique implement casually discovered by the labourer is referred to the fairies, and supposed to have been dropped or forgotten by them; small and oddly-shaped tobacco pipes, frequently turned up by the spade or the plough, the finder instantly destroys, to avert the evil agency of their former spiritual owners. Amongst those remains may be noticed the flint arrow-
M 2
84 FAIRIES AND SUPERNATURAL AGENCY. CHAP. V.
heads, said to be sportively shot at cattle, by the fairies; and in com- pliance with the popular superstition termed, even by antiquarians, " elf arrows."
The fairies are believed to visit the farm-houses in their district on particular nights, and the embers are collected, the hearth swept, and a vessel of water placed for their use before the family retire to rest. But these dubious divinities seem to preside more especially over cattle, corn, fruits, and agricultural objects. Milking the cows, upsetting the dairy pans, and disarranging whatever may have been carefully placed in order, are amongst their mischievous proceed- ings. Cluricaune or Leprehaune is the name given to the Irish Puck. The character of this goblin is a compound of that of the Scotch Brownie and the English Robin Good fellow. He is de- picted (for engraved portraits of the Irish Leprehaune are in exist- ence) as a small and withered old man, completely equipped in the costume of a cobler, and employed in repairing a shoe. A para- graph recently appeared in a Kilkenny paper stating, that a labourer, returning home in the dusk of the evening, discovered a Lepre- haune at work, from whom he bore away the shoe which he was mending; as a proof of the veracity of his story it was further stated, that the shoe lay for the inspection of the curious at the newspaper office. The most prominent feature in the vulgar creed respecting the Leprehaune is, his being the possessor of a purse, supposed to be, like that of Fortunatus, inexhaustible ; and many persons, who have surprized one of these fairies occupied in shoe-making, have endeavoured to compel him to deliver it ; this he has ingeniously avoided, averting the eye of his antagonist by some stratagem, when he disappears, which it seems he has not the power of doing as long as any person's gaze is fixed upon him.
Fairy children, I have been assured, are frequently seen in lonely glens, engaged in mimic fights and juvenile gambols. A story, re- lated by Gervase of Tilbury, in the Otia Imperialia, and mentioned
CHAP. V. FAIRIES AND SUPERNATURAL AGENCY. 85
in the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border as current, with only slight variations, both in the highlands and lowlands of Scotland, is equally so in the south of Ireland, and is perhaps the most common of fairy fictions. A woman, who had been abstracted to nurse a young fairy, during her residence amongst the supernatural community, acci- dentally anointed one of her eyes with a substance entrusted to her for the use of her infant charge. On being emancipated from cap- tivity, the "good people" still remained visible to the eye which had been touched by the magic ointment, and hence she daily beheld them engaged (like the sylphs in Pope's Rape of the Lock) in their various fairy avocations. The woman, however, remained a silent spectator, until, happening to recognise, sporting amongst others, the fairy child whom she had nursed, in all the delicate bloom and beauty of unearthly youth, her prudence forsook her, and, at the sight, she was betrayed by her feelings into an exclamation of delight; on hearing which, the young fairy approached his nurse, and inquired by what means she was conscious of his presence.— She pointed to the anointed eye, into which he instantly darted a spear that he held in his hand, and thus, by destroying the organ, shut out for ever the secrets of the invisible world from the mortal eye to which they had been revealed. When a child appears deli- cate, or a young woman consumptive, the conclusion is, that they are carried off to be made a playmate or nurse to the young fairies, and that a substitute, resembling the person taken away, is deposited in their place, which gradually declines, and ultimately dies. The inhuman means used by ignorant parents to discover if an unhealthy child be their offspring or a changeling,* (the name given to the
* " From thence a fairy tliee unweeting reft,
There as thou slepst in tender swadling band, And her base elfin brood there, for thee left : Such, men do changelings call, so chang'd by fairies theft."
Fairy Queen, Book I.
86 FAIRIES AND SUPERNATURAL AGENCY. CHAP. V.
illusitory image,) is, placing the child, undressed, on the road side, where it is suffered to lie a considerable time exposed to cold. After such ceremony, they conclude a natural disorder has caused the symptoms of decay; and the child is then treated with more tender- ness, from an idea, that had it been possessed by a fairy, that spirit would not have brooked such indignity, but made its escape. Paralytic affections are attributed to the same agency, whence the term " fairy struck;" and the same cruel treatment is observed towards aged persons thus afflicted.
A pleasing ballad, by my friend Mr. Anster, has been founded on this superstition ; the mother is supposed to speak.
" The summer sun was sinking
With a mild light calm and mellow, It shone on my little boy's bonny cheeks, And his loose locks of yellow.
The robin was singing sweetly,
And his song was- sad and tender; And my little boy's eyes, as he heard the song,
Smiled with a sweet soft splendour.
My little boy lay on my bosom,
A\ Inle his soul the song was quaffing; The joy of his soul had ting'd his cheek,
And his heart and his eye were laughing.
I sat alone in my cottage,
The midnight needle plying; I feared for my child, for the rush's light
In the socket now was dying.
There came a hand to my lonely latch,
Like the wind at midnight moaning, I knelt to pray — but rose again —
For I heard my little boy groaning !
I crossed my brow, and I crossed my breast,
But that night my child departed ! They left a weakling in his stead,
And I am broken-hearted!
CHAP. V. FAIRIES AND SUPERNATURAL AGENCY. 8?
Oh ! it cannot be my own sweet boy,
For his eyes are dim and hollow, My little boy is gone to God,
And his mother soon will follow.
The dirge for the dead will be sung for me,
And the mass be chaunted meetly ; And I will sleep with my little boy
In the moon-light churchyard sweetly."
Sometimes an intricate legal question arises in the case of a young woman being carried off by the fairies, and returning after an absence of several years, which is by no means uncommon, when she finds her husband married to a second wife. More than one instance of this unexpected re-appearance has come within my own knowledge, and I select the relation contained in a letter which I received durino- the
O
present year, from its being the most recent case. — •" The day before I left Island Bawn," says the writer, " I heard of an Irish Kilmeny, in the person of the wife of a labouring cottager, who, having died about twenty years since, and been buried with the usual ceremonies, the poor man allowed a reasonable period to elapse, and subse- quently took unto himself another helpmate, with whom he had since continued to live ; when one night last winter (1820), they were disturbed by a woman vociferously claiming admission into their cabin, and asserting her right to the full and undisturbed sovereignty of the same, inasmuch as she was the owner's true and lawful wife, whom he supposed deceased and interred, whereas she had only been with the fairies, from whose power she had now emancipated herself. So minute and clear (if not satisfactory) did she make out her title, that both the husband and his second spouse quailed before this unwelcomed visitant from the ' good people/ The first wife allowed her ' locum tenens' to remain in the house while she behaved herself respectfully, and all went on smoothly for some time, the stranger supporting the truth of her story by mysteriously telling the
88 FAIRIES AND SUPERNATURAL AGENCY. CHAP. V
fortunes of those who flocked to see so wonderful a woman. Being/' continues the writer, " unable to pay her a visit myself, I requested a young lady who was staying at my sister's to do so, and who was much more qualified than I should have been to elicit, if possible, the truth. With her usual kindness, she undertook the task ; and I cannot do better than copy her letter to my sister : —
' Ballyhogan, Cth January, 1821.
' My dear Mrs. L.
* In compliance with your brother's request, I have sat down to give you an account of my visit to the fairy woman. On Thurs- day morning last, having procured a guide to show me the way to her house, I departed on my mission, and, after a walk of about four miles, arrived at the little village of Castle Town, on the Shannon. " That white house younder, Miss, is the one the fortune-teller lives in," said my guide. I was readily admitted, and found the inside thronged with visitors, to whom the diviner talked in the common gipsy strain. Being more anxious to hear her own story than any thing she could tell me of myself, I asked her if the report respecting her having recently returned from the fairies was correct. Her reply was, that she had been with the " good people" many years, and, as a reward for her conduct while amongst them, they had bestowed the gift of fortune-telling. I then begged her to inform me of some further particulars ; and, after considerable hesitation on her part, and persuasion on mine, she gave me the following history, which I will recount verbatim, as highly illustrative of fairy superstition and Irish manners : —
' My Father, whose name was Thady Donohoe, lived in a little place they call Mount Shannon, near Slain ; he was a shoemaker, and supported his family by his work until he lost his health through grief at my folly in not being led by his advice; and I'm sartin shure (certain sure, confident) I suffered all I did for going against my father ! He loved me Utter (better) than any of his childer (children),
CHAP. V. FAIRIES AND SUPERNATURAL AGENCY. 89
because he had no deaghter (daughter) but myself; and at eighteen he thought to get me married to a neighbour's son, who was a neat boy (a handsome fellow) ; and, indeed, not that I say it, I was a neat, clean skinned girl at that time, though I may deny it to-day ; but I was fond of a young man who was working as a labouring boy at a farmer's house handy by (adjacent). Well, when I tould (told) Paddy Doody, for that was my lover's name, what my father wished me to do, he said, if I did not run away with him, my father and my brothers would make me marry the other boy, and he should kill himself or go distracted : so I went off with him share enough (without hesitation), and we were married by his parish priest as soon as we came to Castle Town- I never saw my father till he was dying, which Avas about six months after: he gave me his blessing and a cow before he died. After the funeral I came back to rny husband, and we lived very happily for four years. My eldest little boy died, and I was nursing my second, when one night, about Midsummer, as we were sitting at our supper, I was fairy struck, and fell off my chair. So with that (instantly), poor Paddy ran out for one of the neighbours, who desired him send for the priest, which he did to be shitre (as a matter of course). But when he came, he did not know what to do, but said prayers over me, and anointed me for death ; and when the holy oil was put on me I was better, and continued to mend for several days, but I was still very weak and low ; I had an impression about (oppression on) the heart, and a dimness in my eyes, and a ringing in my ears, and my face was greatly altered. Well, one night after we all lay down to sleep, it was about twelve o'clock, I heard a great noise, and saw a light in the room. I called Paddy, but he could not hear me. My little child was about three months old, and lay asleep by my side. In one minute the house was full of people, men and women, but no one saw them but myself; and one of the women came to the side of the bed, and said, " Judy, get up, you are to come with us, and I will put one in your place to nurse your child. So with
N
90 FAIRIES AND SUPERNATURAL AGENCY. CHAP. V.
that they dragged me out of bed, and put an old woman in my place, who took my cratur of a child (creature, a term of endear- ment) in her arms ! I thought I should die, but I could not speak a word. They took me oft' with them, and there were several horse- men with red caps outside the door, and the women who sat behind them on the horses had blue cloaks. There was a piper on a grey pony that led the way ; and when I got to their dwelling I was given a child to nurse. I ain not allowed to tell any thing that hap- pened while I was there, all I can say is that I never ate one mouth- ful of their food : if I did I never could have left them. I came every night to my own house for cold potatoes, and I lived on them. Paddy buried, as he thought, the old woman that was put in my place, but she came away to us. I am twenty years from home, and my husband is married again. This is my son's house. When I came home Paddy would not own me, but I soon made him sinsible (convinced him) I was his wife. I have suffered more than I can tell any one while I was with the " good people ;" and I promised the Blessed Virgin, if she would release me, to do six months' pin- nance (penance) at a holy well in the King's County, where I am going next week ; if I live to return, my sou will let me pass the rest of my days with him should my husband not allow me.' '
Dr. Neilson gives us, with every appearance of authenticity, a more intricate matrimonial case than the foregoing, where the woman, on her return from Fairyland, finding her first husband married, marries again herself. The second wife of the first husband dies, and he, having discovered his former spouse, claims her; but her second husband being unwilling to part with her, denies the claim. The question is referred to an ecclesiastical tribunal, where fairy agency will not be acknowledged, and which, under conflicting testimony, is unable to determine the matter. It, however, ultimately terminates in the friendly arrangement, " That both doors of the woman's second husband's house should be set open ; that Joyce (her
CHAP. V. FAIRIES AND SUPERNATURAL AGENCY; 91
former husband) should stand seven steps from the street-door, and Thady, in the garden, seven steps from the back-door; that she should take her choice, and abide by it thenceforward." — " The child was sleeping in the cradle, and as Mary was about to depart she went to the child to take leave of it and shed a tear. She went then towards the street-door, when she heard the child cry after her; presently she returned, and remained without murmuring or uneasi- ness with Thady Hughes till her death."
A curious spirit, and one I believe peculiar to Ireland, is the Banshee, or White Fairy, sometimes called She Frogh, or the House Fairy. The derivation of both these names appears to me obvious from the credulous personification, that of a small and shrivelled old woman with long white hair, supposed to be peculiarly attached to ancient houses or families, and to announce the approaching disso- lution of any of the members by mournful lamentations. This fairy attendant is considered as highly honourable, and in part of an elegy on one of the knights of Kerry, still extant, the family Banshee is introduced as deploring, with wailing accents, the knight's impending fate; when every trader at Dingle who hears the strain becomes alarmed lest it should forebode his own death ; but the bard assures them, with an air of humorous sarcasm, they have no cause for uneasiness, such warning being given only to those of illustrious descent.
Another species of Irish fairy is the Phooka, the descriptions given of which are so visionary and undefined it is impossible to reduce them to detail. The name of many lonely rocks and glens in Ire- land declares them sacred to this spirit. In the county Cork there are two castles called Carrig Phooka, or the Phooka's Rock, one near Doneraile, the other not far from Macroom ; and in the county Wicklow, the celebrated waterfall of Poula Phooka, or the Phooka's Cavern, is well known.
Notwithstanding the universal belief in fairy influence, the credence
92 FAIRIES AND SUPERNATURAL AGENCY. CHAP. V.
given to witchcraft amongst the vulgar Irish is by no means propor- tionate. Some few instances are historically preserved, but, consi- dering the extent and reputation which witchcraft obtained during the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. in England, these may be viewed as imported rather than primitive superstitions. The admirable account of Moll White given in the Spectator presents a collection of the popular notions respecting the sorcery of old women ; and those who are inclined to investigate the subject further may find some hundred volumes written upon it.
The most remarkable Irish witch on record is Dame Alice Ketyll (whose history is to be found at length in Camden). Amongst the charges made against her, when examined in 1325, was the sacri- ficing nine red cocks to her familiar spirit or imp, named Robyn Artysson, " at a stone bridge in a certaine foure crosse high-way." " Item, that she swept the streets of Kilkenny with beesomes between Complin and Courefew, and in sweeping the filth towards the house of William Utlaw her sonne, by way of conjuring uttered these words :
Unto the house of William, my sonne, Hie all the wealth of Kilkenny town."
And, amongst " the goods and implements of the said Alice, there was a certain holy wafer cake found, having the name of the divell imprinted upon it ; there was found also a boxe, and within it an ointment, wherewith she used to besmear or grease a certain piece of wood called coultree, which, being thus anointed, the said Alice, with her complices, could ride and gallop upon the said coultree whithersoever they would, all the world over, through thick and thin, without either hurt or hindrance." These things, we are told, were notorious, and dame Ketyll, to avoid punishment, escaped to England; but one of her accomplices, Pernill or Parnell, was burned at Kilkenny, who avouched that Alice's son William " deserved
8 CHAP. V. FAIRIES AND SUPERNATURAL AGENCY. 93
death as well as herself, affirming that he, for a year and a day, wore the divell's girdle upon his bare bodie." Kilkenny seems to have been peculiarly fatal to witches. In October, 1578, Cox relates that Sir William Drury, the Lord Deputy, caused thirty-six criminals to be executed there, " one of which was a blackamoor, and two others were witches, and were condemned by the law of nature, for there was no positive law against witchcraft in those days."
Some more recent account of witches is traditionally preserved in Ireland, particularly of Nanny Steer, whose malign glance pro- duced madness, and the malady of many a wretched lunatic, who wandered about the country, was attributed to her baneful influence.
In the Queen's county a young man, named Rutlidge, on the day of his marriage, is said to have become a victim to one of these dreadful looks, from his having neglected to invite Nanny Steer to the wedding — who appeared an unbidden guest, and casting an evil eye on the bridegroom, he immediately became a maniac.
" In no case," says Camden, speaking of Irish superstitions, " must you praise an horse or any other beast, until you say, ' God save him,' or unless you spit upon him. If any harm befall the horse within three dayes after, they seeke him that praised him, that he may mumble the Lord's Prayer in his right eare. They think that there bee some that bewitch their horses with looking upon them, and then they use the help of some old hagges, who, saying a few prayers with a loud voice, make them well again." This belief in the fatal effects of an evil eye is as prevalent at the present day as when Camden wrote ; and few, if any, of the lower orders will speak to or of a child without spitting out, and excusing himself, should a superior be present, with — " It's for good luck sure." — " And God bless the boy, and make a fine man of him." So powerful is this superstition that even people of education and above the ordinary rank, are obliged, from policy, to accommodate themselves to it in
94 FAIRIES AND SUPERNATURAL AGENCY. CHAP. V.
their intercourse with the peasantry, as few things are considered more dangerous and unfriendly, or are longer remembered, than the omission of such ceremony.
Another vulgar superstition regarding witches, is, their power of assuming the shape of some insect or animal — the most favourite forms are those of a fly or a hare ; under the latter disguise they are supposed to suck the teats of cows, and thus either deprive them of their milk or communicate an injurious effect to it.
Of the following story numberless variations are in circulation amongst the Irish peasantry. A herdsman having wounded a hare Avhich he discovered sucking one of the cows under his care, tracked it to a solitary cabin, when he found an old woman smeared with blood and gasping for breath, extended almost lifeless on the floor, having, it is presumed, recovered her natural shape.
In churning, should not the milk readily become butter, the ma- chinations of some witch are suspected. As a test, the iron coulter of the plough is heated in the fire, and the witches name solemnly pronounced, with the following charm, on whom this spell is sup- posed to inflict the most excruciating tortures, —
Come butter, come, Come butter, come, Peter stands at the gate Waiting for a buttered cake, Come butter, come.
And if the milk has lost its good qualities by means of incantations, it immediately turns to excellent butter.
In the sixteenth century the same opinion existed in Ireland, somewhat tinged with a relic of Pagan or Druidical rites, fire being considered, before the introduction of Christianity, the immediate representative of the Deity, and the first of May as peculiarly sacred to these rites, many relics of which may still be discovered.
CHAP. V. FAIRIES AND SUPERNATURAL AGENCY. 95
" They take her for a wicked woman and a witch, whatever she be, that commeth to fetch fire from them on May-day, (neither will they give any fire then, but unto a sicke body, and that with a curse,) for because they thinke the same woman will, the next summer, steale away all their butter. If they finde an hare amongst their heards of cattell on the said May-day, they kill her, for they suppose shee is some old trot, that would filch away their butter. They are of opinion that their butter, if it be stollen, will soone after bee restored againe, in case they take away some of the thatch that hangeth over the doore of the house, and cast it into the fire."
Amongst some Irish manuscripts in my possession, the composi- tion, I apprehend, of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, there is a long description, possessing considerable poetic merit, of a con- test between Eogan and " Conn of the Hundred Battles," part of which presents a picture of the appearance of some supernatural hags to the contending chieftains the night previous to the engage- ment ; the translation is extremely literal.
" When Eogan came back from the council, three witches stood before him ; frightful beyond description, with red and fiery -looking eyes, and long, lank, grizzly hair hanging down dishevelled over cadaverous countenances. The eye-brows of these fiends were large, rough, and grim, growing into each other and forming two curva- tures of matted bristles. Their cheeks were hollow, shrivelled, and meagre ; and their beaked noses, covered with parched skin, issued forth prominently from the deeply-wrinkled and knobby foreheads of these monstrous and filthy she-devils! — Their blasting tongues with flippant volubility held ceaseless gabble, and their crooked yellow hair}' hands and hooked fingers resembled more the talons of an eagle or foul-feeding harpy, than the fingers of a human creature. Thus, supported by small inbent and bony legs, they stood before Eogan.
" Whence come ye, furies ? asked the chief.
" We come from afar by our powers, replied they.
96 FAIRIES AND SUPERNATURAL AGENCY. CHAP. V.
" I demand to know your powers? said Eogan, leader of the mighty bands.
" We cause the sea to run higher than the mountain tops by our breath ; we bring snow on the earth by the nodding of our white heads ; we spread flames in dwellings by our words ; we alter and change the shape of every person, nay of those in our own occupa- tion, by the rolling of our eyes ; we
" Enough! cried the mighty Eogan. I now demand your names?
" Our names, returned the hags, are Ah, Lann and Leana; we are daughters of Trod an the magician, and we have come from remote countries to warn you of your approaching death. — For Eogan shall fall by the keen-edged and bone-cleaving sword of the ever-victorious ' Conn of the Hundred Battles/
" On your own heads may this prophetic warning light, ye hags of hell, returned Eogan ; may your forebodings of Conn sink into nothing on the air, and be unanswered by the voices of the moun- tains. May the trees bear the brunt of your evil words, the venom of your lips fall harmless on the rocks of the valley, and your malice be given to the waves of the ocean.
" It is inevitable destiny we speak, said they. — We have spoken without precipitation or without reward; and muttering of their horrid spells they vanished from Eogan.
" That night came the same three hags to the tent of the King of Spain's son, and they boded ill to him; and thence they came where the hostes of Conn of the Hundred Battles lay incamped, and they roused that hero with these words : —
" In thy arm be thy strength; in thy sword be thy safety; in thy face be thy foes; in thy strides thy prosperity. — The pride of Ireland is against thee, in life and in motion. Be thou restless as the treacherous light that gleams to benighted travellers."*
* This sentence, perhaps, may be more spiritedly translated in familiar language — " Be thou here, there, and every where, like the Will o' the Wisp."
CHAP. V. FAIRIES AND SUPERNATURAL AGENCY. 97
In the preceding part of the same poem the support and assistance received by Eogan and his tribe from a sorceress named Eadoin, is mentioned ; who, in a former engagement, so fascinated the eyes of Eogan's adversaries by her enchantments, that some rocks on the field of battle assumed the appearance of formidable bodies of armed men ; and while Goll and the sons Moirne, with their valiant asso- ciates, attacked these flinty phantoms, and were occupied in contest with invulnerable and senseless stones, the sorceress conveyed the unwilling Eogan and his followers from the scene of warfare, and embarked them for Spain. " The rock," adds an English note on this passage of the manuscript, " which was converted into the re- semblance of Eogan and his troops, is, at this day, called the Scalped Rock — in Irish, ' Cloch Bhearrha,' — in Glean Rogh, near Kin-mare, from the indenture made in it by the arms of Goll, which were shivered and broken into pieces thereon."
As in England, a worn horseshoe nailed on the threshold, or near the entrance of a house, is considered as a security against witchcraft, but this remedy is used only in the better description of cabins.
Many of the ancient Irish chieftains have received deification, and the credulous believe in their frequent re-appearance on earth as the messengers of good tidings, such as a fine season or an abundant harvest. Other shades arc compelled to perform certain penitential ceremonies in expiation of crimes committed during life; of the latter may be mentioned an Earl of Kildare, doomed to ride septennially round the Curragh (an extensive common) until the silver shoes of his supernatural steed are worn out. To the former class belongs O'Donoghue, a chief of much celebrity, whose May-day visit on a milk white horse, gliding over the lake of Killarney, to the sound of unearthly music, and attended by troops of spirits scattering deli- cious spring flowers, has been lyrically preserved by Mr. Moore, and is accurately recorded in a poem by Mr. Leslie on Killarney, and in Mr. Weld's account of that Lake, as also in Derrick's Letters,
o
98 FAIRIES AND SUPERNATURAL AGENCY. CHAP. V.
where some additional particulars may be found from the pen of Mr. Ockenden.* — " There is a farmer now alive," says that gentle- man, " who declares, as I am told, that riding one evening near the lower end of the Lake he was overtaken by a gentleman, who seemed under thirty years of age, very handsome in his person, very sumptuous in his apparel, and very affable in conversation. After having tra- velled for some time together, the nobleman (for such he judged him, by his appearance, to be) observed, that as night was approaching, the town far off, and lodging not easy to be found, he should be welcome to take a bed that night at his house, which he said was not very distant. The invitation was readily accepted, they approached the Lake together, and both their horses moved upon the surface without sinking, to the infinite amazement of the farmer, Avho thence per- ceived the stranger to be no less a person than the great O'Donoghue. They rode a considerable distance from shore, and then descended to n delightful country under water, and lay that night in a house much larger in size and much more richly furnished than even Lord Kenmare's at Killarney."
Second sight, so common in the Highlands, I believe is unknown in the South of Ireland. Story relates a mysterious appearance of stars, accompanied by heavy groans, that preceded the landing of the rival monarchs William and James, seen by " one Mr. Hamble- ton, of Tollymoore, a justice of the peace in his county, and a sober, rational man;" in company with others who were journeying towards Dundalk; adding, " They have a great many tales of this kind in Ireland, and the Inniskilling men tell you of several such things before their battles." I should, however, consider these visions, on account of their northern limits, as derived from Scot- land, and not genuine Irish superstitions.
I fear it may be considered that I have dwelt too long upon, and
* Member for Great Marlow, 1 760.
CHAP. V. FAIRIES AND SUPERNATURAL AGENCY. 99
entered too minutely into the notions of the ignorant ; but early asso- ciations have tempted me to linger over these marvellous relations, and have, perhaps, misled my maturer judgment.
" Such fancies are the coinage of the brain, Which oft rebellious to more sober thought Will these strange phantoms shape ; the idle prate Of fools and nurses, who in infant minds Plant such mishapen stuff, the scorn and scoff Of settled reason and of common sense !"
On the whole, from what may be collected, the present state of Irish superstition closely resembles that of England during the age of Elizabeth; a strong proof of the correct measurement of those who have stated a space of two centuries to exist between the relative degree of popular knowledge and civilization attained by the sister kingdom.
o 2
CHAPTER VI.
CHARLEVILLE, DONERAILE, AND BUTTEVANT.
" Old father Mole, (Mole hight that mountain gray That walls the north side of Armulla dale,) He had a daughter fresh as flower of May Which gave that name unto that pleasant vale ; Mulla, the daughter of old Mole so hight, The nymph which of that water-course has charge, That, springing out of Mole, doth run downright To Buttevant, where spreading forth at large, It giveth name unto that ancient city Which Kilnemullah cleeped is of old, Whose cragged mines breed greath ruth and pity To travellers, which it from far hehold !"
Spencer.
CHARLEVILLE is a poor town on the borders of the county Limerick, and contains many wretched cabins. It was incorporated, through the interest of the first Earl of Orrery, Lord President of Munster, in the reign of Charles II., who gave it, in compliment to that mo- narch, the name of Charleville, being called before, to use his lord- ship's own expression, " by the heathenish one of Rathgogan."
Lord Orrery held his presidential court here ; and possibly in imi- tation of the example of his predecessor Sir William St. Leger, at
CHAP. VI. CHARLEVILLE, DONERAILE, AND BUTTEVANT. 101
Doneraile, built the parish church, enclosed an extensive park, and erected a noble mansion, described by Story as " one of the second rate houses of these kingdoms," which suffered a fate similar to that built by Sir William, being burned in 1690 by a party of James II/s troops, under the command of the Duke of Berwick, who, having dined there, ordered it, in the most wanton manner, to be set on fire, and remained to see it reduced to ashes. John Exham, the pro- phetic quaker, hereafter mentioned as the religious associate of William Penn, is reported to have predicted this destruction. A large company, on some particular occasion, was assembled at Lord Orrery's, when Exham, with a great crowd of his enthusiastic followers, stood before the door of that nobleman's house, and ex- horted the guests to repentance, denouncing the judgment of the Lord upon them, should they not comply, and predicting ruin on the scene of their festivity, which should become an habitation for the fowls of the air.
The Earl's servants, supposing Exham mad, attempted to drive him from the place, but Lord Orrery interfered, commanding them to let the honest man speak. Exham, having concluded his harangue, went away, but in a short time returned, and calling the Earl aside, said to him, " Because thou hast been kind and loving to the servant of the Lord, the evil shall not be in thy days ;" the event verified his words, and not a little contributed to raise the cha- racter of Exham as a prophet.
A resident of Charleville, who appeared well versed in local history, related, with exceeding minuteness, an account of the conflagration as traditionally preserved; and respecting the education of the poor, gave us the gratifying information, that notwithstanding the neglected and inconsiderable appearance of the town, no less than 300 boys and 400 girls were at present pupils in the poor school.
Within a short distance of Charleville are the ruins of an old church, called Ballyslough, which we visited ; and having loitered
102 CHARLEVILLE, DONERAILE, CHAP. VI.
about the cemetery, we were departing, when a decently dressed man came up, and seeing our sketch books, observed, there was little worth our notice in the churchyard, except that " one M'Donald the poet was interred there;" after some search we found his grave, cleared away the concealing nettles, and I transcribed the almost defaced inscription on a small stone that marked the narrow bed of this unknown bard.
i. 5. s.
Johanes M'Donald cogno minatus Cl^&^ vir vere Catholicus et quibus linguis ornatus nempe Graeca Latino, et Hybernica non Vulgaris Ingenii poeta tumulatur ad hunc Cippum obiit JElatis Anno 63 Salutis 1754 Requiescat in pace.
In addition to the particulars mentioned in his epitaph, all I could learn respecting M'Donald was, that he made a translation of Homer into Irish; and probably, from the appellative Clarah, or Minstrel, being in the Irish character, his poetical compositions were in that language.
When at Mallow, I obtained an Irish MS. written by " Shane Clarah," or " John the minstrel." It is a small thick quarto of about 400 pages, and the contents are chiefly topographical ; from this MS. I have made some quotations in the present work.
Crossing the Ballyhoura mountains towards Doneraile, the huts of the peasantry had so cheerless and deplorable an aspect as to awaken a thousand painful ideas. In the smoke and dirt of an Irish cabin, there is a great and positive want of comfort ; yet, on observing the neglected means by which the labouring classes might improve their condition, it would almost lead to the belief that they
CHAP. VI. AND BUTTEVANT. 103
are happier in their own way than they could be made by any innovation. Much censure has been thrown upon absentee land- holders, whom I will not vindicate; but there seems to be an inherent spirit of indolence and obstinacy in the lower order of Irish, which even the presence of their lord would with difficulty overcome, that thus enables them to live without any apparent notion of comfort or even common decency. They seem indeed to feel some degree of pride in being destitute of wants, and evidently prefer the exclusion of light from their dwellings. When a window of a foot square has been made by their landlord, they usually close it up with turf, boards, or rags, leaving perhaps a strip of an inch broad ; in many instances it is closed entirely, and the only light admitted is by the door, to which the women bring their needle work or spinning, on rare occasions of industry when they can forsake the fascinating smoke of their turf fires. They are consequently exposed to the weather, and have to rise whenever any inmate requires to pass, or when the pig (who considers himself lord of the mansion) chooses to alter his position; but " it just does well enough sure — it answered our fathers before us why" They will even defend the filthy practice of having these animals constantly in their dwellings. I recollect once trying to convince a man that he might with very little trouble improve the state of his cabin, by building a shed for his pig and banishing him the chimney corner ; but he coolly answered, " Sure then and Avho has a better right to be in it ? Isn't he the man of the house ? and isn't it he that will pay the rent ?"
Most cabins have a small patch of ground attached, where potatoes and winter cabbages are the only vegetables cultivated. An Irish labourer has no idea of planting a bush, or fruit tree, or of raising a flower ; and his ignorance renders him too stubborn to make trial of improved agricultural implements. The beneficial effects of Baronial Farming Societies, formed under the Cork Institution, are, however, obvious in many districts of the southern counties.
104 CHARLEVILLE, DONEItAILE, CHAP. VI.
Doneraile is twelve miles distant from Charleville, and was described as a neat village; the residence of Viscount Doneraile, whose mansion, surrounded by a park of considerable extent, is close to the village, and said to be worth seeing ; we were unable to judge of this fact, the porter at the park gate pleading his lordship's positive orders to admit no strangers. This was the only occasion on which we met with difficulty in seeing any gentleman's grounds, though not personally acquainted with the owner. After exploring the unpic- turesque and miserable town we returned to our dirty inn. It being the 19th of July, his Majesty's coronation was celebrated by illumi- nations, Avliich, considering the poverty of the place, were very respec- table. Every window, even those of the meanest cabins, added their mite towards the general display of rush lights; but a smart shower of rain about ten o'clock dispersed the crowd of admiring peasantry, some of whom had walked many miles to witness this little jubilee. This display of lo}ralty accorded well with the history of the St. Legers, maternal ancestors to the present noble proprietor of Doneraile, a family distinguished in Irish history for their active and persevering support of the English interest, and faithful discharge of the trust reposed in them by that government, which was justly rewarded by titles and considerable estates. Sir Anthony St. Leger, one of the commissioners sent over for arranging the affairs of Ireland by Henry VIII. in 1537, was the founder of the family in Ireland ; and so satisfied was Henry with his conduct as commissioner, that three years after he was appointed to the important office of Lord Deputy. Under his administration, and chiefly through his exertions, an act was passed that may be said to have laid the foundation of the Union between the Sister Islands.
Since the conquest of Ireland by Henry II., the English monarchs had been only styled Lords of Ireland, but in 1541, a statute was enacted declaring Henry VIII. and his successors Kings of that country.
CHAP. VI. AND BUTTEVANT. 105
The change of title immediately appeared on Henry's Irish coinage, remarkable from being impressed with the earliest known represen- tation of the harp, as symbolic of Ireland; since which time that instrument has been preserved as the national arms, an emblem at once complimentary and judiciously selected, that, to use the words of a celebrated antiquary, " neither reminds us of our present depen- dence, nor upbraids us with our former rebellions."
Amongst the important services rendered by Sir Anthony St. Leger to the English cause, ma}r be enumerated the inducing Con O'Neil (who still retained the dignity of a prince) to repair to England, and formally receive his possessions from the King at Greenwich, who conferred on him the title of Earl of Tyrone : his example was soon followed by other Irish chieftains. Through the exertions of Sir Anthony, the lords of most of the Irish clang, and such of the English settlers as had become naturalized, made a formal submission to the English government; and kneeling at the Lord Deputy's feet without their girdles, skeins, and caps, acknowledged Henry as their " only true and liege lord," being the fourth general declaration of the Irish to the same effect.
At the instance of Sir Anthony, many statutes were likewise enacted, and officers appointed to carry them into effect, a measure intended to subvert the Brehon, or Druidical laws, and compel the Irish to relinquish their primitive customs, and assimilate to English manners. The attachment, however, of all nations to usages sanc- tioned by antiquity, and laws that have descended from their fore- fathers, is too deeply rooted to be destroyed at pleasure ; and, when a stigma is thrown upon peculiarities, they are often preserved with an inflexible obstinacy, proportioned to the rigor of the measures used for their suppression. Lenient and conciliating proceedings alone are capable of overcoming national prejudices, that resist any sudden, or apparent innovation, with a proud and sullen perversity.
In 1544, Sir Anthony St. Leger raised a troop of 700 Irish, by
106 CHARLEVILLE, DONERAILE, CHAP. VI.
order of Henry VIII., to assist at the siege of Boulogne ; these men, we are told, mustered under the command of Lord Poer in St. James's Park, from whence they proceeded to Boulogne, where, according to Hollinshed, they performed good service.
A political dispute having arisen between Lord Ormond and Sir Anthony St. Leger, they, according to the practice of the times, mutually accused each other of high treason, and were consequently both summoned to England, where, on an investigation before the council, their charges proved to be of so trivial a nature, that a recon- ciliation followed, and Sir Anthony returned to Dublin as Lord Deputy. Soon after, he was again impeached by the Archbishop of Dublin, but being acquitted once more arrived in Ireland on the llth November, 1553, as Lord Deputy to Queen Mary, having held that office under two preceding reigns; but, to use Campion's phraseology, " sundry noblemen pelted and lifted at Sir Anthony, till they shouldered him out of all credit ;" and being recalled from Ireland he closed his days in domestic retirement. His son, SirWarham St. Leger, who served as sheriff of the county of Kent, and had been knighted for his conduct in that office, ten years after the recal of his father, received the appointment of Chief Governor of Munster, under the Lord Deputy Sidney, who strongly commended the zeal and watch- fulness displayed by Sir Warham, in the suppression of a con- tinental intrigue that stimulated the Irish chieftains to rebellion.
In 1580, Sir Warham was invested by commission with the power of executing martial law, which, jointly with Sir Walter Raleigh, he first carried into effect at Cork, on Sir James of Desmond, whom they condemned to be hanged and quartered as a rebel. After many services against the disaffected Irish, Sir Warham, in February, 1599> riding with a few attendants about a mile out of Cork, was attacked by Hugh Mac Guire, the leader of a small body of rebels, whom he shot, but Mac Guire wounded Sir Warham so severely in the head, that he died soon after ; and his son, Sir William, as a return for the services both of his father and grandfather, was created Lord
CHAP. VI. AND BUTTEVANT. JO?
President of Munster by Charles I. in 1627, who at the same time bestowed on him considerable possessions, in addition to the six thou- sand acres of the Earl of Desmond's forfeited lands granted to his father.
During the contentions of 1641, Sir William sustained the double character of statesman and soldier with considerable credit to himself, and his personal actions afforded fine examples to the men under his command. One anecdote related of him deserves mention : when his little army was lying at Kildorary, in expectation of an attack from the Irish forces under Lord Montgarret, having suffered much fatigue and privation, and being without tents or shelter of any kind to protect them from the inclemency of the weather, a young officer, observing Sir William stretched on the bare ground under a heavy fall of snow, presented his cloak to him, and requested that he would use it. The Lord President thanked him, but nobly declined his offer, adding that he stood more in need of it himself, being less accus- tomed to the hardships of a soldier's life.
Devoted to the unfortunate Charles, in whose cause his eldest son fell at the battle of Newbury, Sir William thus expresses himself in a letter to Lord Ormond, a short time before his death. " It grieves me beyond any earthly sorrow for the great distance and difference betwixt his majesty and the parliament ; and if all the measures of the times, joined with my long and violent sickness, were not of force to subject me to the grave, yet the sorrow for these unhappy variances would crack a much stronger heart than your servant hath now left in him."
There is much to admire in the character of Sir William St. Leger : surrounded by contentions and temptations, his principles remained unshaken ; and his bravery in the field was only surpassed by his pacific disposition and impartial administration of justice. Ambition by him was sacrificed to gratitude, and incapable of supporting the royal cause by his unaided efforts, he became a martyr to it.
108 CHARLEVILLE, DONERAILE, CHAP. VI.
Doneraile was the principal residence of this illustrious man, who held his presidential court here, and built the parish church, together with a mansion which was burned by the Irish in 1645. As the town possessed little to detain us, we set out from thence, immediately after breakfast, on an excursion to Kilcolman, the residence of the poet Spencer. We were told it was the first ruined castle to be seen from the mail coach road to Charleville, and following this direction, bent our steps towards an old tower called Carrig Phooky (or the Spirit's Rock), which appeared in view immediately after leaving Doneraile; but, discovering our mistake, regained the Charleville road, and, after about an hour's walk, arrived at the object of our search.
Kilcolman Castle is distant three English miles from Doneraile, and is seated in as unpicturesque a spot as at present could have been selected. Many of the delightful and visionary anticipations I had indulged, from the pleasure of visiting the place where the Fairy Queen had been composed, were at an end on beholding the monotonous reality of the country. Corn fields, divided from pasturage by numerous intersecting hedges, constituted almost the only variety of feature for a considerable extent around ; and the mountains bounding the prospect, partook even in a greater degree of the same want of variety in their forms. The ruin itself stands on a little rocky eminence. Spreading before it lies a tract of flat and swampy ground, through which, we were informed, the " River Bregog hight" had its course, and though in winter, when swoln by mountain torrents, a deep and rapid stream, its channel at present was completely dried up.
" Sometimes, misguided by the tuneful throng, I look for streams immortalized in song, That lost in silence and oblivion lie ; Dumb are their fountains and their channels dry."
Judging from what remains, the original form of Kilcolman was
CHAP. VI. AND BUTTEVANT. 109
an oblong square, flanked by a tower at the south-east corner. The apartment in the basement story has still its stone arched roof entire, and is used as a shelter for cattle ; the narrow screw-like stairs of the tower are nearly perfect, and lead to an extremely small chamber, which we found in a state of complete desolation. On ascending the highest point, I observed the word MULLA deeply scratched over an arched recess by some sentimental visitor who has thus partially realised the concluding wish of that topographer to whom so many writers are indebted for their account of Kilcolman : " Pity it is," says Smith, " that some friendly stone, which might be placed at a small expense in the ruin of the castle, does not point out its (once) immortal inhabitant." The correct Dr. Smith seems to have been inspired with a poetic spirit, and deviated from his usual antiquarian accuracy in describing the abode of Spencer, so far as to tell us that Kilcolman Castle " is now almost level with the ground, and was situated on the north side of a fine lake in the midst of a large plain, commanding a view of above half the breadth of Ireland."
Since the foregoing account was written, this ruin has braved the storm of more than seventy winters ; and that its walls have still some stateliness, the annexed drawing will prove. The " fine lake" men- tioned, I presume must have been an inundation of the River Bre- gogue ; and the " view of above half the breadth of Ireland," a prospect certainly not exceeding fifteen miles !
I consider Dr. Smith's County Histories as the best authorities, and yet in this instance it is difficult to reconcile what I saw with his account of Kilcolman, particularly as that author Avrites as if he had carefully examined its lake ; he tells us, that " the country peo- ple use the water to cure warts," in common with " another lake in the neighbourhood, called Lough Au Ulla, which, they say, has better success ; but there seems to be a good deal of superstition in those sort of cures, as I could discover nothing in the water whereby they might be effected."
110 CHARLEVILLE, DONERAILE, CHAP. VI.
Kilcolman was granted by Queen Elizabeth, on the 2?th June, 1586, to Spencer (who went into Ireland as secretary to Lord Grey), with 3,028 acres of land, at the rent of \ll. 3s. Qd. ; on the same conditions with the other undertakers (as they were termed) between whom the forfeited Desmond estate was divided. These conditions implied a residence on the ground, and their chief object seems to have been the peopling Munster with English families; a favourite project of Elizabeth's, for strengthening the English influence in Ireland, by creating the tie of consanguinity between the two countries.
It is supposed that this castle was the principal residence of Spencer for about ten years, during which time he composed the works that have chiefly contributed to his fame. But the turbulent and indignant spirit of the Irish regarded not the haunts of the muse as sacred, and wrapped the poet's dwelling in flames. An infant child of Spencer's, together with his most valuable property, were consumed, and he returned into England ; where, dejected and broken-hearted, he died soon after, at an inn in King Street, West- minster.
The visits of Sir Walter Raleigh to Spencer at Kilcolman increase the interest attached to the place, and are not in the slightest degree questionable. To the advice of Raleigh the publication of the first books of the Eairy Queen has been ascribed ; and the existence of a poetical intercourse between such minds, and in such distracting scenes, is a delightful recollection that almost warms the heart into romance.
Amongst the literary pilgrims whose veneration for Spencer has prompted them to examine Kilcolman was the celebrated Edmund Burke ; nor should the imprudent and enthusiastic Trotter be for- gotten; the account given by him of his visits, in 1817j are very pleasing, though highly tinged with that fanaticism to which he ultimately became a victim.
CHAP. VI. AND BUTTEVANT. HI
Dr. Smith informs us, (1750) that there was " an original painting, well -executed, of the poet Spencer" at Castle Saffron, one mile east of Doneraile, where Mr. Trotter, in 1817, commenced his inquiries respecting this interesting relic, and received the same answer as was given me two years before — that it had been removed. Soon after, Mrs. Stawell of Kilbrack hinted to Mr. Trotter the possibility of the picture having been carried to Limerick ; and immediately on his arrival there, he continued the search after it amongst a collec- tion of paintings belonging to Alderman Vincent, " but we sought," says that gentleman, " the bard of Kilcolman in vain."
In the Anthologia Hibernia, (Vol. I. for 1793,) a correspondent (whom, from the signature, I take to have been one of the Ouseley family of Limerick,) writes thus : " I have heard that, within a few years, a lineal descendant and namesake of the poet Spencer* was
* I have been favoured by a gentleman with the following fragment of the Spencer genealogy, extracted from the Herald's College, in Dublin: —
EDMUND SPENCER, "~~ DAVID NAGLE, of r^ELLEN, d. of William
eir'l 1 t~*~ /"",,-lr 1 T\* -. /~*_ ' TJ !.„ „£ D..I1..1,
Moueanimney, Co. Cork;ob.Nov.l637.
Roche, of Ballyhow- ley, Co. Cork.
EiDMUNl) orKHI'BMj —r—
of Kilcolman, Co.Cork, the Poet; ob. 1598.
SILVANUS SpEN-=pELLEN NAGLE, GRACE, son of=IsABEL NAGLE,=JOJIN BARRY, of RICHARD CONDON, =CATIIARINE NAGLE,
CER, son and heir. I eldestdaughter. Robert Grace, of 2d daughter. Leambary, Co. of Flemingstown, 3d daughter.
Courtstown and Ele- Cork. Co. Cork,
anor Condon.
KDMUND SPENCER, WILLIAM SPENCER, cldt.son,livingl637. 2d son, living 1637.
RICHARD NAGLE,=ELLEN, d. of Rich. JAMES NAGLE, = ELLEN, d. of John GARRET NAGLE, of Moneanimney, Barry, of Raha- 2d son. Lacy, of Atlycagh, 3d son, a capt. of
son and heir. nyskie, Co. Cork. Co. Limerick. horse in the Emp.
Ferdinand's service, 1634.
" It does not appear what became of Spencer's wife and children. Two sons are said to have survived him, Sylvanus and Peregrine ; Sylvanus married Ellen Nangle or Nagle, eldest daughter of David Nangle, of Moueanymy, in the county of Cork, by whom he had two sons, Edmund and William Spencer. His other son, Peregrine, also married, and