Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
Diary of a Tour in 1732 through parts of England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland (Author: John Loveday)
Entry 24
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, & Saturday, 28, 29, 30, July 1. — I call'd upon Mr Rowlands of ye Auditor's Office, to know of Him where I might procure his father's Book concerning Anglesey.38 Willing to pick-up Sir James Ware's Pieces, I waited upon his Grandson, Henry Ware, to be inform'd where I might apply for 'em. This Gentleman lives in Stephen's-Green; He may be about 50 Years of age, & is somewhat deaf. He was very obliging to Me, & told me that his Grandfather's Books were very rare to be met-with in Dublin, except upon ye Sale of any particular Study. He has His Book de Scriptoribus with some Additions, which (said He) would be proper to publish in a second Edition. He once had thoughts of publishing all Sir James's Works in one Volume. Dr Merrick gave Me a letter to Dean Percival, his old Acquaintance in ye University; known to ye Dr also, as ye Dean's Mother marry'd for her Second Husband old Mr Aldworth of Stanlake near Buscomb. Dean Percival is a perfectly well-bred Gentleman, very gay & sprightly, ye best of Company, and of a most obliging Temper; We din'd with Him on ye Friday. He said that Mr Ware is a very curious Man, has collected several rare books, medals &c. His Study worth 3000 £. tho' None of it any part of Sir James's — that Harris, who marry'd this Ware's Daughter, was a Counsellor at Law, but has left his business, & is now digesting Ware's Books into English, & proposes (by way of addition) to bring down ye History of Ireland to these Times. Dr Worth (said Percival) is a Physician of great generosity & desert, has carry'd ye Dublin Practise before him these 20 Years; He was of Merton College, his Father Provost of Dublin College. Dublin,
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Eblana, is built of Brick; 'tis situate about ye middle of ye length of Ireland. St Patrick's Cathedral (out of ye City) Ware prefers for it's largeness, beauty, & magnificence to all ye Cathedrals in Ireland. 'Tis built in form of a Cross, a lofty Structure, it's Tower at ye West end, plain, & very high for Ireland,39 so in ye Prospect of Dublin. It makes a good figure, tho' St Werburgh's new and new-fashioned Tower seems to overtop It, That Church standing upon high Ground, whereas This is seated just by ye Butchery, in a low part of Dublin. 'Tis kept in excellent Order. Within, on ye North side of ye West Door is this Inscription (made by Dean Swift) in golden letters, over ye figure of a Bishop (inserted in ye Wall) vested and mitred: —
Verba ad marginem lapidis in-sculpta sic se habent.
Jesus40 est Salvator meus.
"Praesul Metropolis Michael hic Dubliniensis
"Marmore tumbatus. Pro me Christum flagitetis.41
Vetus hoc monimentum e ruderibus capellae
Divi Stephani nuper instauratae, erutum; Decanus
et Capitulum huc transferri curaverunt. A:D: 1730.
Michael Tregury, Cornubia natus,
Archiepiscopus Dublin. A.D. 1449; Obiit 12[ordm ]
die Decembris. A:D. 1471.
Plura vide-sis apud Jacob. Ware de
Praesulibus Hyberniae.
In Ware's time this Monument was to be seen near St Stephen's Altar.
In a South Arch of ye Nave is a large & very handsome Marble
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Monument for Primate Narcissus Marsh — who dy'd November 2. 1713, Aged 75; these three Lines are part of his Epitaph: —
Pontanae42 Domicilia duodecim aedificavit,
Clericorum Viduis, sua imprimis Diaeceseos recipiendis,
Commodam unicuique Pensionem annuam constituens.
This annual Pension to each Widow is Twenty Pounds. There are 4 high Arches, which seem design'd for a Tower, just within ye Choir, which is very uncommon.43 There are Titles over ye Stalls, — Decanus, on his right hand — Archidiaconus Dublin, then some Prebendaries, ye junior Stall for Cancellarius. The first Stall on ye left hand of ye Choir-Entrance is the Praecentor's, next Archidiaconus Glandelogh, then some Prebendaries, ye junior Stall for Thesaurarius. There are Galleries in ye Choir. Against ye North wall of it, is ye Effigies of Archbishop Thomas Jones kneeling, who dy'd in 1619. Under it, ye recumbent Effigies of Roger Jones, Lord Viscount Ranelagh. See Borlase's Reduction of Ireland, p. 197. This Monument was ‘Impensis haeredum restauratum. A.D. 1731.’ v. Swift, xviii. 260, 372. Just South of ye Altar is a most grand Monument for ye family of ye Earls of Cork; It reaches almost to ye roof of ye Choir, consists of 4 Stories, in Each of which are ye Effigies of One or More, a great number in all; It wants to be new furbish'd up. See p. 268, 269 of Cyprianus Anglicus; & Borlase, p. 128, 129, 210; & Swift, xvi. 121. The Presbytery is call'd St Stephen's Chappel, and is made use-of by an Episcopal Congregation of French Protestants. The Deanery worth about 600 £ per Annum.44 Dr Swift is also Vicar of Laracor in Meath, worth about 200 £ per Annum (v. Deane Swift's essay on Dr S. p. 115. Approximately p. 52), which He had before He was Dean. He was made Dean in 1713. Swift was born in Bride-Street, Dublin; his father was an Attorney, v. Deane Swift's essay on Dr S. p. 15. He was
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6445 Years old last St Andrew's day. The Deanery-house is a late good Building of Brick. The Archbishop's Palace, just by, is a large Stone house built at different times, known by ye name of St Sepulcher's. In Ware I find that Henry de Loundres, who dy'd Archbishop in 1228, erected ye Collegiate-Church of St Patrick (so It was created from a Parish Church by his immediate Predecessor John Comin) into a Cathedral united with ye Cathedral of Christ Church under one Spouse, saving to ye other Church ye preeminence in dignity; in consequence of which, Luke ye immediate Successor of Henry de Loundres ordain'd, that ye Election of Archbishop should be made in Christ-Church, where as well ye Prior & Convent of that Church as ye Dean & Chapter of St Patrick's by their joint Suffrages should choose ye Bishop. Archbishop Richard de Ferings took a great deal of Pains to reconcile ye differences which arose between ye 2 Churches, Ordaining that ye Archbishops should be consecrated & inthroned in Christ-Church; that Each Church should be call'd Cathedral & Metropolitan, that Christ-Church, as being ye Greater, ye Mother, & Elder Church, should take place in all Church Rights [rites?] & Concerns; that ye Cross, Mitre, & Ring of ye Archbishop where-ever he should die, be deposited in Christ-Church; & that ye Body of every Archbishop that dy'd for ye future, be bury'd in either Church by turns, unless He disposed of it otherwise by his Will. This Composition was made in 1300. Was It not that St Patrick's is by This stil'd Metropolitan too, Dr Percival's Conjecture would appear most plausible, that properly It is ye Cathedral to ye See of Glandilaugh,46 annex'd to ye Archbishoprick of Dublin. That See was so annex'd in ye time of Henry de Loundres, who made St Patrick's a Cathedral. And farther, a contemporary Archbishop says that ye old Church of Glandilaugh which stood in ye Mountains, was then, & had been for almost 40 Years past, in desolation, and of a Church become a Den of Thieves
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& Robbers; Murders being frequently committed — nay more than in any other place of Ireland — in ye vast Solitude in which It is situate. Now, ye dismal Condition of this Church, & ye dangerous State of ye Country about It, might give occasion to Henry de Loundres to make a Cathedral of St Patrick's, constituting It ye See of this newly annex'd Bishoprick. Narcissus Marshes public Library, call'd St Sepulchre's, South East of St Patrick's Church is a large brick Building; ye Library kept in admirable Order, The Reverend Mr King, ye Under-Librarian having compos'd a most exact & useful Catalogue; here is ye Picture of ye Founder, Sitting with a book before him, several books on Shelves by him. Mr King was very civil & obliging to Us. Dean Percival tells Me, that Bishop Stillingfleet's Books cost ye archbishop 3000 £.47 here are then all Stillingfleet's printed Books, [his MSS. were purchased by ye Earl of Oxford; v. MSS. Harl. 1974, 13.] Tanaquil Faber's Books with some Manuscript Notes of That Critic in 'em, among these, ye Classics by ye most eminent Printers; Distinct from these 2 Studies, as They are from one another, is Marshes own private Collection. None of ye Books chain'd. There is a beautiful MS. here of Caesar's Commentaries. The Dean also tells Me that Marsh left his Oriental MSS. to ye Bodleian-Library, because That kind of Learning is less cultivated in Ireland, than in any other part almost of Europe. The Cathedral dedicated to ye Holy-Trinity, commonly call'd Christ-Church (says ye same Gentleman, who is one of ye Canons) is a very rich Society. It was originally built by Sitricus Son of Amlave, King of ye Danes, & Donatus, who was (say Some) ye first Bishop of Dublin, in ye Year 1038.48 It was not 'till 1152, that ye Irish had Archbishops. Christ-Church is within ye City, has a Tower, is a lofty Structure.49 South in ye Nave is ye recumbent Effigies of Richard Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, the first & prime Invader of Ireland 1169, & who
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dy'd in 1177, having been a great Benefactor to this Fabrick. It was an Abbey of Regular Canons of St Augustine, till by Henry 8. turn'd into a Society of Dean & Prebendaries, ‘ye Charter They now act-upon is of ye 2d Year of James I.’ He is in Armour, has a Shield, lies cross-legg'd; by Him his Son cut off by ye middle, (See Borlase, p. 2) [1733. July.] and holding up his Bowels in his hands. The Choir is long, has Galleries & Pews,50 where is ye Lord Lieutenant's Seat, on his Right hand ye Lord Primate's, on his left ye Lord Chancellor's; for since ye new Settlement of this Church by Henry 8. It has been in ye nature of a Royal Chappel, and the Cathedral of St Patrick's is now only look'd upon as Such, says Stephens in his Monasticon Hibernicum, p. 5. There are no Titles over ye Stalls. The Bishoprick of Kildare not exceeding 300 £ per Annum, This good Deanery is anex'd to it; vide Primate Boulter's Letters i. 139, 141, 143. On ye floor in ye North of ye Choir are ye brass Effigies of a Primate, They say, ye Inscription gone; Q.? whether It be not rather John de St Paul, Archbishop of Dublin, who dy'd in 1362? No Presbytery here. That part of ye North Isle towards ye East is call'd ye Parish-Chappel, dedicated to St Michael or St Mary, (q? Which) & every morning there is Service in it; here is a Monument with a long Latin Inscription for a Loyalist of ye Cadogan family. Trinity-College out of ye City Gates, stands on ye same Spot where All-Saint's Priory of Regular Canons of St Augustine heretofore stood. It consists of 4 Courts with a Yard before 'em. The Front is an extended Brick building, partly sash'd. The 2d & 3d Courts lying in a Line are smaller. The 4th Court has two handsome large sides of Brick, Sash'd; on ye Right hand, a most noble & elegant stone-building of great length, support'd on rustick Arches. The beauty of ye Wings destroy'd by 2 parallel Sides of ye Quadrangle butting against 'em. It is to be a Library, for as yet ye Inside is unfinish'd, the Cases of Shelves very high, above Them a Gallery runs all round.
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At ye farther end above, is a room design'd for their Museum of Curiosities, under it below a Repository for MSS. The Hall & Chappel, Both of Stone (as is ye Kitchen) have nothing extraordinary; in ye Ante-Chappel, on a rais'd Tomb ye recumbent Effigies of [one of] ye first Provost[s]; on ye other side ye Door, to ye left hand, is a Monument for Provost Dr George Browne, who dy'd in 1699. The Chymical Laboratory has a very good Apparatus; ye little Room next to it is full of Curiosities, Such as rare herbs pasted on Paper in glass picture-Cases; but These are to be remov'd to ye Museum. Above Stairs, ye Anatomy-School, from ye Cieling hangs ye Sceleton51 of a Man astride ye Sceleton of an horse. Pleasant Outlets behind ye College. The Provost's name is Baldwin. Most of ye Scholars wear Hats, Many their Gowns thrown-over ye Shoulders, ye Batchelor's Gowns are slit-up in ye Sleeve like Those at Cambridge; in farther conformity to which place, their independent Members are stil'd Fellow-Commoners, Pensioners, & Sizers. In ye wide Area before You come to ye College is an Equestrian Statue of King William, erected by ye Citizens; v. Swift, xx. 138, note. Nigh ye College ye Houses of Parliament with ye Court of Requests, Comittee-Rooms &c. begun about 3 Years since, nor yet finish'd; it is a Stone-Building, ye House of Commons under a large Cupola, the Room is a beautiful easy Octogon, of very obtuse Angles; Galleries all round at top. The House of Lords is a Length, & not large.52 The King's Castle on a Rise, consists of two Courts, is chiefly of Brick, & not old; one brick Row of building in ye 2d Court contains ye Auditor's Office, ye Offices of Ordnance, &c. Over ye Liffy are several bridges with Stone Arches; on Essex-Bridge, ye Chief, is an Equestrian Statue of George 1; v. Swift, xxiv. 419. The Linnen-Hall is a brick building. The Custom-house is a very lofty, & in other respects a large, building of Brick. The Royal Hospital of
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King Charles II. or (as 'tis commonly call'd) ye Old Man's House, is of ye same nature as Chelsea-College: 'tis a Quadrangle of Stone, cloister'd, ye Windows faced with Brick. Situate high; from ye Tower You have a good view of ye City & Countrey. 400 Men always resident, with 600 Out-Pensioners, make ye Complement of disabled Soldiers, provided-for by this foundation, to be 1000. Each room has 3 beds; 2 Men to a Bed. The Hall or Refectory is as lofty, & every way as well proportion'd a room as can be, adorn'd with 20 Length-Paintings of Benefactors, One of 'em is Narcissus Marsh, Standing, Others are Primate Boyle, the Earl Coningsby, Sir Cyril Wich, General Earle, &c. Arms of different sorts orderly dispos'd along ye Wall. Over ye Door on ye inside is a well-carv'd Trophy of Musical Instruments. The Chappel in ye same line as ye Hall has a fretwork Cieling admirably perform'd, seldom to be seen more work in so small a Compass; 'tis much ye richest fret-work Roof that I ever saw; ye Altar-piece is good Wood-work. The Poor-house not only sets ye Poor at work, but is also a Receptacle for ye Foundlings of ye City; v. Harris's History of Dublin, p. 439. From ye Road You see ye Barracks, very large Stone buildings of late date, Part cloister'd; They seem to be no small ornament to Dublin. Some of ye City Churches are Sash'd; here is one round Church. Great Ships cannot come up to Dublin, except at high water, because of ye heaps of Sand that at ebb & flow are wash'd into Liffy's Mouth. Piles are continu'd from ye land a great distance into ye Sea, as a direction to Mariners to avoid ye Beds of Sand.
The White-Hart Inn in Dublin, like ye Hotels in France, dresses no Meat for ye Guests; We had our Dinners brought Us from a Cook's Shop. At Cork, Limerick, &c. French Claret stood Us but in 1 s. 6d. a bottle; whereas it is 2 S. at Dublin but not dearer than That anywhere. As for Port Wine, They have none in ye Kingdom. In Ireland, a Shilling-piece goes for 13 pence, a Guinea goes for 23 Shillings English Value, or 23 Twelve-Pences, so that there is but 3 D gain, if You carry ye Irish Change of a Guinea into England, for 21
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Shilling-pieces want but 3 pence of 23 Irish Shillings. A Moidore also goes for 30 S. English Value, or 30 Twelve-Pences. A four-Portugal-Guinea Piece (current in England at £3, 12s. 0d.) goes here for four Pounds. There is a great Scarcity of Coin in Ireland,53 nay even in Dublin 'tis very difficult to get a Guinea changed; And This, tho' all kinds of Foreign Coin be current here, both in Gold & Silver, as Silver Ducats, &c. No great quantity of English Half-pence come over ye Channel; of their own Half pence, ye Raps, [see concerning Rappers in Ray's Observations, p. 100.] of a bad Metal & Sandy, will not go, except at Coffee-houses, where They who give 'em, take 'em again; but They were very commonly offer'd to Us in change. As they have no Poors-Tax, Collections are made every Sunday from Pew to Pew thro' all ye Churches in ye Kingdom; at Athy It was after ye Sermon, for then ye Minister went to ye Altar, & ye Collections were made, whilst He was reading ye Sentences in ye Offertory54; after which He proceeded with That Service; at St Patrick's in Waterford, ye Collections were made in ye second Psalm in ye Morning, as at ye Cathedral in ye last Psalm in ye Evening; at Limerick Cathedral, ye Collections were made in ye Psalm before Sermon in ye Morning, & in ye Psalm in ye Evening. See Swift, xv. 402. vi. 75.
In ye Irish Liturgy, after ye Prayer for ye Royal family, or in ye Litany after ‘We humbly beseech thee’, follows a Prayer for ye Government in Ireland, whether It be by a Lord-Lieutenant, or Lords Justices. There is also a Form of Prayer to be us'd on ye day of ye Irish Massacre. There are a good many ruinated Churches in ye Countrey, but few standing & fit for Service: Most have Steeples, Some for one, Some for two Bells. We saw no elegant Steeple, either Tower or Spire thro' all this Route, nor indeed any Spire at all, that could properly be call'd so. The Barracks are often ye finest
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Buildings in ye Towns, they find Lodging both for ye Officer & common-Soldier, so that ye Army (far from being thought a Nuisance) is ador'd by ye Tradesmen, as their chief support in many places. The Officers dine at Ordinaries in ye Towns, ye common-Soldiers dress their own Meat in their Lodgings. Even thatch'd Houses are Sash'd in Ireland. You can enter no Town, but thro' a long Street of low mud Cabbins, (and very often not contiguous), most of 'em with Wicker-Doors, see p. 28. Every morning & evening You'll see a troop of women ride into ye Towns upon their little horses with Milk to sell. The men in some places affect—Spaniard like—to walk ye Streets with their great-Coats thrown-over their Shoulders, by way of Cloak. The ordinary Women wear long Nightrails of one kind or other about their Shoulders, Some are of White-Linnen, Some Stained, All Irish Manufacture. Most of the ordinary Men wear a dark frieze, Irish Manufacture also. When we had pass'd Kilkenny, ye common people were as observant of Us, as in Wales. The Irish Gentry are an expensive People, they live in ye most open hospitable manner, continually feasting with one another; They are well-bred, obliging, but proud enough; They always praise ye Dishes at their own Tables, & expect that ye Company should spare no words in their commendation. The common-people are notoriously idle; but few of ye meaner Sort (& among these, most Gentlemen's Servants) which are not Romans, most implicitly obedient to their Priests. A poor Girl, whilst We were at Brea, went on foot to Kilkenny, that She might be at an holy Well there on Midsummer morning, to pray her Sister out of Purgatory, who dy'd about 3 years since.55 Irish Ground is not improv'd as It might be, yet much better than a few Years since. The South runs all upon Sheep-walks; sometimes You see a patch of excellent Corn, but ride many miles on farther, & You may meet-with no more.56 Flax is ye support of Ireland; for
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ye Linnen-Manufacture (as I'm told) is vigorously carry'd-on in ye North where They have Flax in abundance. Bare, a grain like Barley, (and indeed ye Anglo-Saxon bepe is render'd hordeum) is common in this Countrey;57 Good farm-houses are not known in ye South for ye Shepherd-Tenants take up with Cabbins. Instead of Quicksets We often saw Furze-Hedges. Improvements is ye fashionable word for Plantations of Trees, even in Hedge-Rows. (See p. 43. T. 20. line 2.58) In some parts They plow with Oxen. There are no Carts or Waggons here, they have Carrs, which are a kind of Sledges, set on two solid wooden Wheels straked with Iron, & drawn by a single horse; they carry great Burthens, some 600 Weight. They differ from ye Welsh Carriages only in This, as They have no Wheels. These carriages are undoubtedly ye Best for preserving ye Road. Kid is as common a Dish here, as in Wales. The Irish & Welsh Harp is alike in shape, but ye former is strung with one row of Wire, ye latter with 3 rows of Cat-gut. The Irish Miles are much longer than ye Welsh; see Primate Boulter's Letters i. 211, 219. In ye Countrey-places You'll meet with Persons, who can talk Old Irish; with Them Sha is Yes — Ne-a is No. Even ye Gentry, when they are speaking to You, will call You Honey. They All give ye ea the full sound in pronunciation, so Ear they call Air. al They pronounce as au, so caum for calm; ol as oul, so tould for told; e also, very commonly like a, sevare, for severe.59 Even ye Ladies make use of Expressions, bordering too near upon Swearing. The Devil of
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any is a common Phrase with ye Vulgar, as — the devil of any Entertainment is there. So great is ye Pride60 of these common People, that if a woman be of ye same name as some noble Family, She'll retain it in marriage, unless her Husband has as distinguish'd a name; ye Children however go by ye father's name. The great Vermin which at Reading they call Hanover Rats, go here by ye name of Norway Rats. There are now great numbers of Frogs about Athy; it is but of late years that Ireland has had any; in ye last edition of Gibson's Camden, p. 1312. 'twas said they had none; they were introduced ('tis said) by Spawn; see ye history of this matter in a note upon Swift, xv. 309: Tatler. No. 236.