Romantic Ireland; volume 1/2

rs, the publicists, the poets, and, last but not least, the fictionists-from the days of Samuel Lover

historical, architectural, and ecclesiological remains; the beauty of the literature of its native legends; its poetry and music; and erstwhile its n

ine Iris

o make a speech therein in t

f the accessible material which should contribute to the making of an exhaustive work on the subje

s to limn the outline of an Irish landscape, is that which unmis

f their lot; but, if so, it is in the pages of the novelist. Those who have in them anything of the real native spirit of youth and courage emigrate, a procedure which, however, deprives the country of much of its sound

the time, and there is a realization of certain well-recognized local sentiment and colour in "Kathleen Mavourneen." In the main, however, the joyous Irish peasant, as full of wit as of knavery; the poetic Irish peasant, living in an atmosphere of quaint legend and of charming superstition; the political Irish peasant, membe

AND,

the pages of the humourous

under the spell of the environment which he has pictured to himself as being the one universal accessory of every patch of the "ould sod," or of every gathering of its inhabitants, he will, if he goes to the right places to look for them, discover the whereabouts of most things of this world's civilization, of all eras, from the stone h

something very akin to what he has always believed to be mere fodder for beasts; and again, in the aforesaid luxurious caravansaries, to be the same

s, far away from the centres of population, he is dirty, but not offensively so,

the south, or Moville, Londonderry, or the Bloody Foreland in the north; and, to specialize for a moment, who among students of history does

ression as far above that of the pagan Britons i

of Christian missionary work, and of Christian art in the islands. So strong an influence was thi

of the outlying parts of the mainland, and the expression of the customs and arts of the inhabitants of the two at that time did not then differ greatly one from

towns sprang up which had no counterparts in Ireland, and

expression which early evinced itself in its C

nd that even in his days of slavery he formed an affection for the country and its population. The date of St. Patrick's coming to Ireland, as a bearer of the gospel, is said to have been in the year 430-432, when he returned fr

tend for the honour. Much wordy warfare has left the question still undecided, but it is of little moment,

gns that the night of hatred and the twilight of suspicion are brightening into a new dawn in partnership

es. To do this, without too great an expenditure of time, one could hardly do better than to digest Justin McCarthy's recently published book (1903) entitled "Ireland and Her Sto

s how widely dissimilar are the majority of the representatives of the two races, and should do much to throw additional light on the subject of the alliance of the two nations. When all is said and done, one comes naturally to the opinion that it was the Irish race, of tradition, at least, that gave the m

r number, spares us the false, perverted language which some are wont to admire, fondly believing it to be of t

riters of Irish fiction or narrative is sure (usually spelt "shure"). Thackeray is supposed to have understood its use better than any other, and as an example one may cite Miss Fotheringay, when she said

te has recently gone the rounds that in literary Dublin, which has for its gods Yeats and George Moore, some one has recently made a print

t he did not speak French, though from his appearance, his age, particularly, he was nat

of an enigmatic sign-board, spent much time in roundly cursing the la

a likely Irishman something written in Erse characters and d

ion, but few know what it means save the perpetrator, who probably copied it from so

r what is known elsewhere as the middle class-care and know very little of the motive whic

t to make any serious inroads in the national life, or, indeed, in the lives of the "transplanted Irish" of America and elsewhere, is sheer foll

," the demand for Irish products and the interest in Irish art and history are undoubtedly increasing. So, too,

h, with but a very few who know Gaelic alone. In the south and west the latter is much more spoken than in the north and east, where it is fast disappea

, f

emi

, f

, r

y, t

ne, white

lit

mou

ase or

Cahir

arrig, Car

orcagh,

, pl

Crogha

Clough,

agh,

, me

Cul,

gh,

, oak

Dua,

fastness. Do

hill

Inis,

, h

h or buryi

, hil

flat

h, l

, pl

lection o

, g

k,

mound

dland, al

n,

ange of m

h, h

e, ch

oom, t

str

ber, well

, Tully

where the blue cloaks gather

RISH

my to "go to the devil," the Celt fiercely breathes the wish, "May the devil sit upon your breast-bone, barking for your soul!" and the "Go and hang yourself!" of the Englishman becomes "The cry of the morning be upon you!"-embodying in this brief sentence a detailed wish that the enemy may die

tradition in which legend and superstitious belief play an important part. They may not actua

sic; the French and Italians have painting and sculpture; the English have, or had, poe

eferring to St. Patrick's having driven the snakes from the country. According to the report of tradition, noth

that the freedom of Ireland from venom was d

should inhabit, the country would not be infested with poisonous creatures. The superstition is already ho

they are too voluminous to record here, even though the geniuses of Swift, of Lover, of Goldsmith, and of Moore stand out as if to compel attention, as they certainly do, in the

by various ladies of early Ireland, generally daughters of kings. Another Meave, called the Half-red, has some of the characteristics of Queen Meave herself: "The strength and power of Meave was great over the

g, he spoke n

as certain in

a raven wa

s his spear

s his skin

used to go o

his shield a

his arm

nst the kings of Er

his shield i

ves fed he wi

of our man in

and one does not need to go back to Moore for endorsement, though he contrasts with marke

ears a ro

ose the nymph

rm of bea

tay where nat

ora's go

s wild as mou

every be

swell as He

Nora Cre

graceful

re's

ovel

u wear, my N

in spite of the fact that they no longer stand picturesquely aroun

hat of Ireland's recognized "national poet." Irish sentiment has never allowed recognition to Spenser's accomplishments, however. The Irish themselves, who are always ready to turn the dull side

imple, and eloquent. His politics were brutal, venal, and cowardly. He wooed the muses very blandly, living in a stolen home, and ph

ral aspect of Spenser's right to his livelihood in Ireland is left out of the question here, one can but

rom the Hi