Part 4 of Voyages en anglois et en françois d'A. de la Motraye en diverses provinces

Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition

Voyages en anglois et en françois d'A. de la Motraye en diverses provinces (Author: Aubry de la Mottraye)

Entry 4

I enquir'd after Mr. Jeffreys on my Arrival at this City,

and hear'd he constantly liv'd at Blarney 2 good Irish Miles from it⁴ Westward where to that rich prospect does extend and further; Capt. Taylor his Brother in Law who lives in Cork procur'd me very oblidingly a Guid with Horses to carry me thither, I went out by North Gate and left Dublin-Road over against the Portico of the said Chapel of Ease, I cross'd in my Way to Blarney the worse built part of all the Suburbs and inhabited by the poorest Peoples whose Houses are no better than Hutes, but then I got on a Chain of Hills and Dales with Villages, Fields, Pastures, &c.; (The Hills shew'd me now the River Lea with some of the Objects I have nam'd, then the Vallies hiding from me, these Objects shew'd me those that they do enclose; however desirous I was to see Mr. Jeffreys, I found the Road too short; I could not expect a more Kind Wellcome than that which he gave me, he wouldn't have me lodge at any other House but his, during my whole Stay in these parts, he offerr'd me his Horses to go about and satisfy my curiousity, he is one of the best Nature Gentlemen I have seen, generally esteem'd and beloved & has rendred great many considerable services to the Swedes both in Bender and Demotica; Blarnay is a Castle built after the ancient Manner & consists of a high & strong Tower, of a good House the Apartments whereof are neat, the Lodgings for Servants, stables for Horses and Cattle well disposed and commodious, it is situated on a raising Ground, at the West thereof runs in a small Valley a River of the same Name,⁵ a

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spacious green Yard, a park with a good Quantity of Timber and a Garden with Fruit-Trees, Pulses, &c.; do surround and adorne it, some arable Fields, Pastures with Villages or Hamlets belonging thereto inrich it, Among other Priviledges annex'd to this Castle or Rights belonging to the Lord of the Mannour is that of an Yearly Fair which is kept in the Valley just now mention'd where is a good Stone Bridge with a pav'd Way leading to some few good Houses; this Fair is held (I think) in the beginning of October, I was still there & saw it, there is a Cudgeling of Country-men (the Prize whereof is a Hat for the Conquerour) and besides a Footrunning of Country-girls; that who runs the best from the Castle or from a certain Distance mark'd and arrived the first of all by 2 or 3 Times to the Scope gets the prize which is a fine new smoak, the Scope is a Kind of May-pole, planted beyond that Bridge, these Prizes are tied up to the Pole with Ribbons and are Gifts of the Lord of the Mannour. That Castle belong'd heterofore to the Lord Clancarty whom I have mention'd in the Beginning of the 2d. Chapter and was a part of his Estate confiscated and devolv'd to the Crown for his taking part with King James II. against King William III. The deceased Sir James Jeffreys purchas'd it; Mylord's Brother defended it very obstinately whilst his Lordship

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was fighting at Limerick for King James; it could not be carry'd off but by the Help of some Field-Pieces, there remaine still some Marks of the Bullets on the Tower.