Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

are an active population, and have not time for sermons, and can employ our money more profitably than in paying for them. They generally say here, that whenever a man is too lazy to work he takes to preaching."

"You mistake me, sir," said Godfrey, smiling, and hastening to undeceive the voluble gentleman; "I never thought of such a profession." "What then did you study for?"

"I only attended the philosophical classes for some purpose which my father had in view," said Selborne.

"Have you ever written ?"

"I have attempted it once or twice," replied Godfrey, blushing slightly, "and I am told," said he, hesitatingly, "with some-"

"Worse and worse," said Mr. Forrest, hastily. "I think an author (and I mean no offence, sir) has not even the excuse of a clergyman for an idle life. The clergyman sometimes expects to do good, but the author cannot; he only pursues an idle and trifling occupation to gratify a congenial mind."

"I had some idea," said Godfrey, "that a demand existed in a new country for an improved literature."

"Not by any means," said Mr. Forrest. "No demand for the fine arts. The useful, and not the ornamental, goes down here. Besides, we import our literature.'

[ocr errors]

"Oh, that makes a difference," said Godfrey. "You have to get it somewhere. You perhaps know that in Europe authors are held in higher estimation than presidents."

"I know it,” replied Mr. Forrest. "It is not the case here. We are a different people. We look on life in a more useful light. We study men and newspapers, and they find us plenty to do. I always look on an author as an effeminate person, who has nursed his fancies till he is unfit for the world, and who follows an occupation in which not one man in a hundred attains eminence; and when, after a long trial, he is, as he is nearly sure to be, unsuccessful, he comes on a world which he cannot understand, and which it takes a lifetime to learn, and fretfully taunts it with a want of sympathy and appreciation."

Godfrey hastened to inform him that he had no intention of following authorship as a profession.

"Well, sir, I do not know at present any branch of business which is not overstocked. I shall, however, be happy to be of service to you. At present I am busy, but at any other time call on me. Good morning."

Godfrey left him, and walked leisurely down stairs, and out into the street; somewhat mortified at the abruptness of the great man, and much dispirited that his interview had terminated so unsatisfactorily.

"After all," thought he, "where is the superiority of his pursuit? It has the advantage only in being more usually successful. Well, I suppose, if his opinion is harsh, it is sagacious. I think, however, that my letter might have procured me more attention from its complimentary tone."

A surmise in which Godfrey displayed his ignorance of the world, for he should have known that great and public men are generally overwhelmed with such cards; and though they generally receive more attention from those who are less highly elevated, yet it is usually unaccompanied by the power to be of use. Consequently a letter of introduction is a draft on the person addressed, and considered duly honoured if it procure for the bearer a distant civility. This is safe as a general rule, which contains some bright and shining exceptions.

A TOUR IN ULSTER.

BY W. FRANCIS AINSWORTH.

Ulster History-Church of St. Sachelin-Hill of Tara - Banqueting Hall and Stone of Destiny-The Boyne and the Blackwater-Castle of Navan-An Irish Funeral-St. Columba's House at Kells-Oratories and Round TowersVirginia Cavan-A Bishop Militant-Imperfections of Irish History-Clones and its Antiquities-The MacMahons of Monaghan-Massacres of the Seventeenth Century-Scenery of Navan, Cavan, and Armagh-Political Fortunes of Armagh-Contrast of its Present with its Ancient Condition.

POPULATED, from the most ancient times, as its name-derived from the Scandinavian god Thor-would indicate, by men of the North, hardy, unconquered men of Gaelic and of Scottish origin, the Rev. Cæsar Otway, an accomplished tourist, designates Ulster as "an eternal defile." It is well known that its rocks and woods, and almost impenetrable fastnesses, enabled its chieftains to uphold a kind of savage independence long after the subjugation of other parts of Ireland. Armagh is also designated, in a fragment of Irish topography, translated by Mr. Hardiman from the "Book of Ballinote," as "the Head of Ireland.” Kimbaoth, thirty-fourth monarch after Ollamh Fodhla, according to the questionable genealogy of the bards, built for himself, at or near that city, the palace of Earnham, or Earnania, "the potent or noble city," and in its neighbourhood was the mansion of the famous Knights of the Red Branch. Pity that fragments of what we are willing to receive as creditable history, as the subjugation of the Milesian Tuatha de Danaans by the Kings of Tara, should be blemished by such absurd flatteries as attributing the descent of Heremon, first Milesian King of Ulster, from Scota, daughter of the Pharaoh (Amunothph II.) who reigned when the Israelites escaped from bondage!

The Curaidhe na Craoibhe Ruadh, or military order of the Red Knights, distinguished themselves in the earliest war on record that was carried on between the Kings of Ulster

When her kings, with standard of green unfurl'd,
Led the Red Branch knights to danger-

and Connaught, and which, originating in a theft committed by a lady and a queen, lasted for seven long years. It was in this war that Cuchillin, one of the well-known heroes in Macpherson's Poems of Ossian, earned poetic distinction.

In the fifth century St. Patrick fixed his see at Earnania, the cathedral, built of willows or wattles, being called Drumsailech, or Ardsailech, the church of willows, or the high place of willows; but the saint changed the name to Ardmagh, or the high place. The see of Armagh had been founded, and the Dalriads of Ulster had given kings to Scotland, before the death of Olill, son of Dathy, made way for the Hy Nialls, or Nialls of Iona, the name which sheds more lustre than any other on the annals of Ulster. The incursions and ravages of the Danes, who carried their arms even as far as Armagh city on three different occasions, first exercised the prowess of the new dynasty. In the eighth century the Nialls warred with Feidlim, King of Munster, and Kenneth, Prince of Meath. In the ninth, the Nialls themselves were already

divided into four branches-Hy Nial, who reigned at Tara, and the heads of the Tyrone, the Tyrconnel, and the Clan Connell tribes. Brian Boru subjected the whole of the Nialls, but after the death of Turlough, in 1086, they were recognised as Kings of the North, while the Kings of Cashell were acknowledged rulers of the South.

On the arrival of the English in 1171, the men of Ulster withheld their aid from their countrymen invaded in the south; but a synod, assembled at Armagh, traced, with all the prescience of an Exeter Hall meeting, the intrusion of the stranger to an impious traffic in slaves. Ulster, however, did not escape entirely, even at the onset. The renowned De Courcy undertook a conquest which he never accomplished; but he established English rule in frontier strongholds, from whence it was never afterwards, only temporarily, displaced. In the reign of Henry III. we find all the chieftains of Ulster summoned as vassals to join with their forces in an expedition against Scotland. The episode of the Bruces in Ulster was as transient as it was brilliant. But even then

a handful of English held Carrickfergus for a year, and the battle of Athenry was, perhaps, one of the best-contested engagements ever fought in Ireland.

The first created Irish lord was an Earl of Tyrone; but even at that time (the fourteenth century) the whole extent of British territory was comprised within the four shires of the Pale. The marriage of Con O'Neill with a sister of the lord-deputy, Gerald Earl of Kildare, did more towards bringing Ulster within the Pale than all the warlike energy of the De Courcys or the De Burghs. The Ulster chiefs still leagued occasionally-sided with pretenders, such as Perkin Warbeckbut they were uniformly brought after a time to terms; and in 1543 O'Neill appeared before Henry, at Greenwich, and surrendered his territory and his national title.

The redoubtable Shane O'Neill, however, once more lighted up the glory and the renown of the family name. In vain were Earls of Tyrconnel created and put forward to rival the men of the red shields; in vain was Shane pressed on one side by the English, on the other by the Scots, he defeated the one at Armagh, and drove the other into the sea. But Shane had a weakness not uncommon to his countrymen; he trifled his time, and weakened his political position, by temporising with Queen Elizabeth for an English wife. He was once more attacked, driven into his fastnesses, and there hunted down by Oge MacConnell, and treacherously slain by his own countryman and former friend and ally.

Another episode in Ulster history, scarcely less remarkable, is attached to the same country, in the noble struggles of Hugh O'Donnell, surnamed Hugh the Red, and the last of "the O'Neills;" against whom Sir John Norris and the favourite Essex were alternately sent to combat. The battle of Blackwater was one of the most signal disasters ever incurred by the English in Ireland. But although "The O'Neill" was supported by the Spaniards under the renowned Don Juan d'Aguila, the great battle of Kinsale revenged the disgrace of the Blackwater, and the last of "the O'Neills" died in foreign lands.

Almost the whole of Ulster was forfeited to the crown by the outlawry of Tyrone and O'Donnell, and the minor revolts of O'Doherty. The colonisation of Ulster, which had been attempted in the time of Elizabeth, Nov.-VOL. LXXXVII. NO. CCCXLVII.

Y

was effectually carried into operation, and Londonderry and Coleraine rose up as bulwarks of English power in the north.

In the Great Rebellion in Charles I.'s time, the Ulster chieftains once more made themselves masters of the country-its cities, towns, forts, and fields; nor were the massacres and horrors which accompanied the fierce civil war that ensued put an end to till the irresistible energies of Cromwell were thrown into the balance. The Irish loyalists of Ulster made a faint attempt at a rise against the Parliamentarians, and the Protestants of Londonderry immortalised themselves by a successful opposition to James II.; but the Battle of the Boyne for ever settled the question of supremacy in Ulster; and the skirmishes of "Peep-of-day boys" and "Defenders," in their comparative insignificance, form an apt and proper conclusion to ages of disastrous wars and family feuds, and, like the last forty-police-power" insurrection, constitute a termination to such sad and barbarous scenes which is most fitting to the times we live in.

Notwithstanding that moral and political discontent still exists among a portion of the Irish population,-that agrarian outrages and acts of criminal violence still stain the reputation of some districts,-notwithstanding that national prejudices are still zealously fomented by many,there is at the present moment a more hopeful future open to Ireland than perhaps ever presented itself. The resolute perseverance of an united legislation in the path of amelioration, more liberal feelings in regard to education, the relief of encumbered estates, the introduction of new and the awakening of old branches of industry, the greater interest taken by all classes in the welfare of a sister island, the intermarriage of races, and the transfer of property-the very progress of general civilisation are daily tending towards that state of things which the preponderance of an industrious, sober, and loyal population ensures for the future. The new interest taken by majesty itself the incorporation of an English prince into the Irish peerage, and the anticipated erection of a regal residence on the island-are not among the less notable signs of the times.

Greater intercourse with, and more numerous and frequent tours and visits throughout the length and breath of the island, are not among the least interesting results that may be expected to flow from this new state of things. Few countries hold out greater temptations to the lover of the picturesque, to the artist, to the archæologist, to the man of letters, or to the naturalist and the sportsman, than Ireland. Its inland waters, its mountains and rocks, and its coast scenery, are unrivalled in this country, and in many points eclipse anything of the kind in North Britain. As these resources become more known, they will also become better appreciated. The pen of the tourist, or the pencil of the artist, can do a good deal, but it is the common voice of fame which has made the repute of Windermere, of Loch Lomond, and of the Trosachs. Yet England and Scotland have nought to compare in their particular line with Killarney, the Killerries, Ballybunion, Kilkee, or the Sands of Donegal.

Some years back I was induced, after a short sojourn in Connaught, to visit some of the less frequented and more picturesque scenes in Ulster; and, for this purpose, I purchased from a late much-respected magistrate in Dublin a very serviceable little pony, upon which I performed nearly the whole of my peregrinations; my sturdy four-footed

companion returning in as good condition as when it set out. It has struck me that at the present moment some little account of such a trip may be of service, first of all, as helping to make nooks and corners of much interest in themselves better known,-and still more so, as showing what is to be met with, and what is to be expected, on such a trip.

It is not unworthy of remark, considering the fine weather I subsequently enjoyed, that it was as late as the 26th of September when I left Dublin on my proposed excursion. My road lay by Castle Knock, a ruin of olden time, beyond which verdant ravines, amid hills of limestone pebbles, separated me from tall plantations and a modern house, connected with which I observed still more ruins of olden time. About a mile from Clonee I passed another mansion, with a very rack-rentlooking aspect. Black Bull Inn bore the aspect of a thriving farm and tolerably busy hostelry, and led the way to where a ruined arch by the side of a modern church announced all that remained of Douen ach Sachelin-"the Church of St. Sachelin"-a nephew of St. Patrick's, ecclesiastical preferments and holiness being hereditary even in those ancient times. Dunshanglin, as it is now called, has a general appearance of antiquity; part of its old walls still remain, and close by were the remains of a Danish fort, with a fosse of unusual breadth. Leaving single-treed Rath Oath to the right, the road winded hence between two hills, ornamented, the one with the ruins of the Castle of Skyrnes or Screen-in the chapel of which Divine service is still performedand the other with the new church of Tara; both companion landmarks on the great levels of Meath, and both commanding extensive prospects.

It was not without some misgivings, suggested by the memory of the curse laid upon the place by Saint Ruan or Ruadan, that I turned aside to ascend the renowned hill of Tara; but the simple, the natural, and the beautiful language of Ireland's greatest bard, so in harmony with the scene, came to my relief. It certainly was in no small degree impressive, to be riding thus alone amid the ruins of a city where so many monarchs now murdered or slain in battle had been crowned. Irish antiquaries know no beginning to the genealogy of the dwellers in Tara. According to one, the palace of Ollamh Fodhla, a prince of the time of the Roman Republic, stood on the one hand; according to another, three raths or mounds to the left commemorated the greatness of the mythic princess Graine, wife of no less a personage than Fingal of the Mist-the Finn MacCumhaill of antiquarians. After thirteen centuries of ruin, with the exception of the pillar-stone on the mound of Forradh, nothing remains of the principal habitations of this ancient city but circular or oval enclosures and mounds, called in Irish raths and duns, within or upon which the said habitations undoubtedly stood. As the position and extent of these have been laid down by Dr. Petrie and Mr. J. O'Donovan on the Ordnance Survey Map, it is unnecessary to give details here. The ruins of the Teach Midhchuarta, or the renowed banqueting-hall of Tara, consist of two parallel lines of earth, running in a direction nearly north and south, and divided at intervals by openings, which indicate the position of the ancient doorways, supposed to have been twelve, or, with the terminal ones, fourteen in number. These numerous doors, and the interior dimensions (360 feet), indicate an Oriental or public life led by the early kings of Ireland.

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »