Dr. Pococke, the celebrated bishop of Ossory, already more than once mentioned, said, that in no country he had visited, through the course of his various travels, had he found any thing so beautiful as the seat of Mr. McNamara at Cong, on Lough Corrib, in the county of Mayo. Sir Richard Colt Hoare's testimony to the scenery about the Lakes of Killarney being superior to any thing he had seen in his various travels, has been noticed. My travels have been far less extended than those of either of these gentlemen; yet I can truly say, that I think Ireland affords finer scenery than any I have seen in my own island or in France; not meaning by this preference to disparage either, both affording beauties of no ordinary description. It is an old and hackneyed saying of Ireland to repeat, yet I must repeat it — that never was a country for which nature had done more, and man less. Oh, if industry received only half the encouragement there that it receives in England, what a country might it be made!
For though the numberless beauties of scenery deserve every eulogium that can be bestowed upon them, yet do they form but a small part of the recommendations presented by this island. By many it is believed but a country of bogs and of rocks; of swamps in which all soil is drowned, or masses of stone that afford no soil. True, Ireland does abound with bogs and with rocks; but it is not therefore wholly barren and desolate; these very bogs offer but one
In a report made to the commissioners appointed to inquire into the Bogs of Ireland, it is stated, "That on examination three distinct growths of timber are discoverable, immersed below three distinct strata of bog." The commissioners, however, think it a question "Whether the morasses were at first formed by the destruction of whole forests, or merely by the stagnation of water in places where its current was choked by the fall of a few trees, and accumulations of branches and leaves were carried down from the surrounding hills." — It goes on to state Sir Humphry Davy's opinion, "That in many places where forests had been suffered to rest undisturbed, the trees on the outsides, from their exposure to the air and sun, had grown abundantly stronger than the rest; and when mankind attempted to establish themselves near these forests, cutting down the large trees on the borders, those in the interior, which, from the want of proper space for expanding themselves, had been drawn up
The bog of Monela, in the county of Tipperary, is described as exhibiting the three distinct strata of forest, arranged in a very palpable and rather remarkable manner. Stumps of trees rise in many places above the surface of the bog, forming the upper range; at the depth of ten or twelve feet below them is a range of large trunks, lying horizontally; then comes another stratum of turf as deep as the former, and below stumps of trees standing perpendicularly like those on the surface. There are traditions of a forest having flourished here as lately as the eleventh century. It is remarked that the bogs are never very low ground; that of Allen is the highest ground the great canal from Dublin to the Shannon passes through. This speaks strongly for their being formed from repeated accumulations of matter. I have mentioned large tracts of bog on the summits of the mountains in the county of Antrim, but I suspect these mountain bogs to be of a different nature from the others which occupy so much space in the centre of the island; not formed from forests, but from more humble vegetables, such as gorse, ferns, and different heath plants. There seems not depth of soil sufficient above the rock to admit the idea of a submerged forest; and, as far as I may pretend to judge, they had to me the appearance of being more spongy in their nature than those in the low parts. The bog on the top of the little rock called O'Donoghoe's Prison,
About thirty years ago was found in a bog, at the depth of seventeen feet below the surface, a garment of coarse woollen cloth exactly in the form of what has of late years been called a spencer: it was in perfect preservation. With it was a razor having a wooden handle, some iron heads of arrows, several large wooden bowls, some in an unfinished state, with various tools used in turnery. These were supposed to be the remains of a workshop which had stood on the borders of the forest. Now it is curious to observe that in the first plate to the interesting and entertaining work of the late Joseph Cooper Walker, Esq. On the Dress of the Ancient Irish, there is the figure of a man, taken from the stone cross among the ruins of Old Kilcullen, who wears exactly such a garment as that described, the perfect resemblance of the modern spencer. And since that cross is well known to be of very ancient date, and it is to be presumed that the figures carved upon it were in the dress of the times, we must presume this garment to have laid some centuries submerged in the bog: — what an extraordinary idea this gives of the power of their anti-destructive quality! I have seen the wood raised from the bogs represented as fossil-wood, but this is an extremely erroneous idea; it has not the smallest tendency to petrifaction, it is still perfect wood, retaining all the qualities of wood, only is harder than in its original state.
A very mistaken idea is entertained by many people, that the bogs of Ireland are of the same nature as the vast fenny tracts in England which occupy so large a part of the counties of Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, and extend in a smaller degree into some of the neighbouring counties, and imagine that they might be rendered cultivable by a similar process of drainage. Nothing can, however, be more dissimilar. The fens of England appear evidently to be lands from which the sea has retreated, consequently are formed of an alluvious soil, and lie very low. The bogs of Ireland, I have observed, are never very low land, and are a pure vegetable soil. Whether the bogs of Ireland are capable of being rendered useful to the country for any other purpose than that to which they are at present subservient, the supplying by far the greatest part of the fuel used in Ireland, is a question on which opinions are divided. That small portions of land have been reclaimed and rendered fine meadow has
Much has been done of late years in the way of improvements in agriculture, and many country-gentlemen are now very laudably applying themselves to the promotion of plans for further improving the state of the country in various ways; but much yet remains to be done. The immediate vicinity of the capital struck me exceedingly, as the part where of all others this spirit seemed to be the least awakened. I could not but recur frequently to the very different appearance of the vicinity of London, and ask myself what should prevent the environs of Dublin from wearing an equally flourishing aspect? Not a foot of land is to be seen about London but in the highest state of cultivation; whereas in the neighbourhood of Dublin I was perpetually struck with large fields appearing totally neglected, overrun with nothing but that frightful plant, the eldest child of negligence, the Ragwort. Nor can the excuse be urged that it is a barren and ungrateful soil, for where due attention is bestowed on it the products richly repay the pains bestowed. While there are too many of the desolate looking inclosures I have mentioned, there are others yielding as fine and luxuriant pasture as can be seen. The ample returns too of the tracts cultivated as gardens, and the excellence of the vegetables, show plainly of what the soil is capable. Let the proper stimulus be applied to industry, and there would soon not be a plant of ragwort remaining.
A singular feature in the husbandry of Ireland is the process of making hay. After having been spread out in the field for some time, when in England it would be considered as dried sufficiently to be finally stacked, instead of that it is made up into a number of petty stacks, which are left standing out in the field untouched even for weeks before the hay is finally carried in. It is generally asserted that if it were not left thus in small masses for a great length of time it would never be sufficiently dried; but gentlemen acquainted with the
The richness of Ireland in mineral productions has been already frequently noticed; but her ores are suffered to slumber in her rocks, her marble in her quarries, for want of encouragement to bring them forth into day. As a proof how much of this is owing to the jealousy of rivalship in her elder sister, it need only be mentioned that the Hill of Drumdowny, in the county of Kilkenny, furnishes a kind of breccia which is found to make excellent mill-stones. Some years ago several pairs of these stones were exported to England, but immediately so heavy a duty was laid upon their importation into the latter country as to occasion an entire cessation of the trade. We have chosen even rather to procure this article from our rival, France, than our sister, Ireland. These stones are transported to various parts of Ireland. The vast slate mountains have hitherto been neglected; the slates used for roofing houses are principally imported from Wales; — this is indeed carrying coals to Newcastle. Mr. Barwis had a project in view for quarrying the slate upon Lord Ormond's estates, and showed me some small pieces prepared for roofing, of a very excellent quality. He will, in executing this project, open a great source of wealth to his employer, and furnish work to hundreds who stand greatly in need of it. Indeed the supineness of the great with regard to the sources of wealth they actually possess, and suffer to lie neglected, is not one of the least striking features among the calamities of Ireland. By more attention to these things they would enable their tenants to pay the high rents which under the present circumstances fall so heavy upon them.
It is a singular circumstance, that the great article of food in Ireland at the present day, the potatoe, should be one which, comparatively speaking, is but recently known in the country. The first introduction of this root is ascribed
Among the hardships endured by the poorer classes in Ireland, some persons consider their mode of living with respect to food one of the most grievous. I am not disposed to assent to this opinion. That potatoes are a most wholesome and nutritive food will not in these days be disputed; and that they are a pleasant food will as little admit of dispute, since the great, amid all their luxuries for the palate, think their dinner incomplete without them. The second great article of food, known by the appellation of Stir-about, is no less nutritious, though I should think far less pleasant. This is oatmeal boiled with water very thick, not like water-gruel, but of the thickness of the barley-meal food used for fatting poultry. This is often eaten without any thing to season it; but if buttermilk is to be procured, it is mixed up with that, and then esteemed a great treat. Of this food the young driver of my car over the north of Ireland was so fond, that at the inns he would decline meat or other things offered him, and only desired to have his mess of Stir-about. It is plain, therefore, that he did not find the living upon it a great hardship. This kind of food is, I believe, much more prevalent in the north than in the south.
The rivers, the lakes, and above all the immense extent of sea-coast round Ireland35, furnish an inexhaustible store of food, which might well share with potatoes in the sustenance of the Irish: but it is a singular thing, that fish seems a species of food never much relished among the lower classes in any country. In parts of England, where it is to be had remarkably cheap, I never saw the common people disposed to avail themselves of it: in fishing-towns I have seen the fish which were thrown aside by the fishermen as unfit for sale, suffered to lie and corrupt upon the beach; the poor did not think of gathering them up, though one might have supposed they would be an important object to them. I am told, however, that in the river Suir in Ireland there is a species of fish, (if fish they may be called, for, according to the description I have heard of them, they seem to belong rather to the class of reptiles,) of which the common people are particularly fond, and collect them in great quantities. They appear only about the months of June and July, and are to be caught in swarms on the banks of the river when the tide is down. They are described as in colour like shrimps, and not much larger, but not having any shell, and are taken in the sands with shrimp nets. In the season the banks of the river are crowded with women and children catching them; they are boiled, and mixed with butter, pepper, and salt. Many of the gentry also are fond of them. They are called universally by some Irish name, but the person from whom I heard this could not tell me what it was.
The instances in Ireland of different towns bearing the same name are very numerous. We have some of the kind in England, as Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Newcastle-under-Lyne; but they occur much less frequently, and are always distinguished by some addition, defining at once which is to be understood.
I have several times mentioned, in speaking of the remains of ancient architecture, arches of that round kind which are usually called Saxon; and I have mentioned them in this way, because it appears to me that to ascribe this species of architecture in Ireland to the Saxons must be a mistake, since they never at
But of all the architectural remains in Ireland, the Round-towers have been for centuries past, and will continue to be perhaps for centuries to come, the subject of the greatest curiosity. I have studied them, I have read the opinions of different writers upon the subject; and the conclusion in my mind is, that they ought to be considered as living witnesses (let me be allowed that expression) to the great antiquity of the Irish nation. One author, however, I have not studied, I have carefully avoided it, General Vallancey; he is a writer to whose theories such strong objections are made, who is treated as so wild and enthusiastic, that having formed my own ideas I was determined not to be influenced by his. At the same time I must observe, that it appears somewhat extraordinary his opinions should have been met by many persons with such sovereign contempt. He was not an Irishman, therefore could not be accused of national partiality; he had travelled much, he had seen much; above all he had studied the Eastern languages, manners, and customs; — was he not therefore a better judge, whether in the Irish language, manners, and customs, a resemblance was to be found to the Eastern, than those who have never studied either? and such is probably the case with three-fourths, nay most likely with nine-tenths of those by whom he is condemned. Many things when wholly new to us strike as absurdities, which better known appear in a very opposite light. It is very common to suspect travellers who relate things of other countries wholly different from any thing hitherto known, of being addicted to the marvellous, and of having a propensity to deviate from absolute fact with a view to embellishing their narratives. Such was strikingly the case with Bruce and with Le Vaillant. But at the time when their Travels were published the countries they visited were little known; many things therefore related by them appearing wholly strange were rejected as impossible to be true; yet every subsequent traveller in the same regions has confirmed their relations and the reputation of one at least,
I must cite a note to Dr. Smith's History of the County of Cork. "Diodorus Siculus," he says, "in his third book has preserved an account from Hecateus, a very ancient author, of a Northern island little less than 'Sicily, situated over-against the Celtae, and inhabited by those whom the Greeks called Hyperboreans. It is, says he, fruitful, pleasant, and dedicated to Apollo; that God used for the space of nineteen years to come and converse with them; and, which is more remarkable, they could show the moon very near them, and discover therein mountains, &c. They had a large grove, and temple of a round form, to which the priests frequently resorted with their harps, to chant the praises of Apollo, their great deity. He says they had a language of their own, and that some Greeks had been in the country and presented valuable gifts to the temple with Greek inscriptions on them; and that one Abaris, who became afterwards a disciple of Pythagoras, went hence into Greece, and contracted an intimacy with the Delians.' The situation of this island opposite to the Celtae, who were the inhabitants of Britain or Gallia, its being compared with Sicily in size, its being dedicated to Apollo, that is the Sun, which planet was certainly worshipped by the Irish, as I have elsewhere shown, the description of their temples, which were round, and the mention of their harps, are all so many concurring circumstances which render it probable that no other place than Ireland could here be meant."
So far says Dr. Smith. Now it can scarcely be doubted but that Ireland is the place here designated: and since it is said that Apollo was worshipped there, that the temples were round, that their God used for nineteen years to come and converse with them; — and since in no Christian country any thing bearing the remotest resemblance to these towers has ever been found, is it not a much
Let me close the remarks I have been induced to offer upon ancient and modern Ireland — in which I hope my opinions will not appear to be given arrogantly and dictatorially, or with too much prolixity — by a quotation from Dr. Smith's Introduction to his History of Cork, and the Lamentation of a Bard over the fallen State of his Country after the English Conquest. Dr. Smith says: "When we shall mind our true interest, in employing and encouraging every where all our own idle hands, and afterwards those of other nations who may be induced to settle among us; when our nobility and gentry become examples in these particulars; when we shall thus be induced to inclose and improve every foot of our land, to make the utmost use of our home-growth, above and under ground, and of all our sea-ports, it is very easy to see what an additional lustre this island will be to the diadem of the British empire, both abroad and at home, in beauty, strength, and glory."
This is the reflection of the philosopher. — Thus does the bard pour out the sad emotions of his soul: — "O the condition of our dear countrymen! how feeble are their joys! how pressing are their sorrows! the wrecks of a party ruined! their wounds still rankling! the wretched crew of a vessel, tossed long about, and finally cast away! — Are we not the prisoners of the Saxon nation? the captives of remorseless tyranny? Is not our sentence pronounced, and our destruction inevitable? — Frightful, soul-rending thought! — Power exchanged for servitude, beauty for deformity, the exultations of liberty for the pangs of slavery, a great and brave people for a servile and desponding race. — How came this transformation? — Shrowded in a mist, which bursts upon you like a deluge, which covers you with successive inundations of evil, ye are not the same people! — Need I appeal to your senses? — But what sensations have you left? — In most parts of the island how hath every illicit practice, every unwarranted stretch of the strong arm of power, taken place of law and equity! — and what must that situation be, wherein our only security depends upon an intolerable subservience to lawless law? — In truth, our miseries were long ago predicted in the changes these strangers wrought in our country. — They have hemmed in our sporting lawns, the former theatres of glory and virtue, — they have wounded the earth, and disfigured with towers and ramparts those fair fields which Nature