{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_55460/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_55460","id":"gutenberg_55460","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55460","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - European","Category: Journals","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Ireland -- Periodicals"],"text":"THE IRISH PENNY JOURNAL.\n\n         NUMBER 49.      SATURDAY, JUNE 5, 1841.      VOLUME I.\n\n[Illustration: VICTORIA CASTLE, KILLINEY, COUNTY OF DUBLIN.]\n\nOur metropolitan readers, at least, and many others besides, are aware\nof the magnificent but not easily to be realised project, recently\npropounded, of erecting a town on the east side of Malpas\u2019s or Killiney\nHill--a situation certainly of unrivalled beauty and grandeur. Plans,\nmost satisfactory, and views prospective as well as perspective of this\nas yet non-existent Brighton or Clifton, have been laid before the\npublic, with a view to obtain the necessary ways and means to give it a\nmore substantial reality; but alas! for the uncertainty of human wishes!\nQueenstown, despite the popularity of our sovereign, is not likely, for\nsome time at least, to present a rivalry, in any thing but its romantic\nand commanding site, to the busy, bustling, and not very symmetrically\nbuilt town which has been erected in honour of Her august eldest uncle.\nThe good people of Kingstown may therefore rejoice; their glory will not\nfor some time at least be eclipsed; and the lovers of natural romantic\nscenery who have not money--they seldom have--to employ in promising\nspeculations, may also rejoice, for the wild and precipitous cliffs of\nKilliney are likely to retain for some years longer a portion of their\nromantic beauty; the rocks will not be shaped into well-dressed forms\nof prim gentility; the purple heather and blossomy furze, \u201cunprofitable\ngay,\u201d may give nature\u2019s brilliant colouring to the scenery, and the wild\nsea-birds may sport around: the time has not arrived when they will be\ndestroyed or banished from their ancient haunt by the encroachment of man.\n\nBut however this may be, the first stone of the new town has been laid;\nnay, the first building--no less a building than \u201cVictoria Castle\u201d--has\nbeen actually erected; and, as a memorial of one of the gigantic\nprojects of this speculating nineteenth century of ours, we have felt it\nincumbent on us to give its fair proportions a place in our immortal and\nuniversally read miscellany, in order to hand down its pristine form to\nposterity in ages when it shall have been shaped by time into a genuine\nantique ruin.\n\nOf the architectural style and general appearance of Victoria Castle, our\nengraving gives a good idea. Like most modern would-be castles, it has\ntowers and crenellated battlements and _large_ windows in abundance, and\nis upon the whole as unlike a real old castle as such structures usually\nare. It is, however, a picturesque and imposing structure of its kind,\nand, what is of more consequence to its future occupants, a cheerful and\ncommodious habitation, which is more than can be said of most genuine\ncastles, or of many more classical imitations of them; and its situation,\non a terrace on the south side of Killiney Hill, is one as commanding and\nbeautiful as could possibly be imagined.\n\nNothing in nature can indeed surpass the beauty, variety, and extent\nof the prospects which may be enjoyed from this spot or its immediate\nvicinity, and we might fill a whole number of our Journal in describing\ntheir principal features. To most of our readers, however, they must\nbe already familiar, and to those who have not had the pleasure of\nenjoying a sight of them, it will convey a sufficient general idea of\nwhat they must be, to acquaint them that Killiney Hill from the same\npoint commands, towards the west, views of the far-famed Bay of Dublin,\nthe city, and the richly-cultivated and villa-studded plains by which\nit is surrounded, towards the north, the bold, rugged promontory of\nHowth, with the islands of Dalkey, Ireland\u2019s eye, Lambay, and the peaked\nmountain-ranges of Down and Lowth in the extreme distance; and lastly,\ntowards the east and south, the sea, and the lovely Bay of Killiney,\nwith its shining yellow strand, curved into the form of a spacious and\nmagnificent amphitheatre, from which, as in seats above each other,\nascend the richly-wooded hills, backed by the mountains of Dublin and\nWicklow, with all their exquisite variety of forms and fitful changes of\ncolour. In short, it may truly be said of this delightful situation, that\nthough other localities may possess some individual character of scenery\nof greater beauty or grandeur, there are few if any in the British\nempire that could fairly be compared with it for its variety and general\ninterest.\n\nOf the great interest of Killiney to the naturalist, and the geologist\nmore particularly, we have already endeavoured to give our readers\nsome notion in a paper, in a recent number, from the pen of our able\nand accomplished friend Dr Schouler; and Killiney is scarcely less\ninteresting to the antiquary than to the man of science. Though till a\nrecent period its now cultivated and thickly inhabited hills and shores\npresented the virgin appearance of a country nearly in the state which\nnature left it, the numerous monuments of antiquity scattered about them\nclearly evinced that man had been a wanderer if not an inhabitant here\nin the most remote times. Numerous kistvaens containing human skeletons\nhave been found between the road and the sea, undoubtedly of pagan times;\nand we have ourselves seen in our young days six very large urns of\nbaked clay, containing burned bones, which were discovered in sinking\nthe foundations for a cottage, near the road between the Killiney and\nRochestown hills. We have also seen several sepulchral stone circles,\nnow no longer remaining; and there is yet to be seen of the same period,\na fine cromleac, situated near Shanganagh, and that most remarkable and\ninteresting pagan temple, near the Martello tower, with its judgment\nchair, and the figures of the sun and moon sculptured on one of the\nstones within its enclosure. Nor is Killiney without its monument of\nChristian piety of as early date as any to be found in Ireland. In the\nbeautiful ivied ruin of its parish church, the antiquary may enjoy a\nsight of one of the most characteristic examples of the temples erected\nby the Irish immediately after their conversion to Christianity, and make\nhimself intimate with a style of architecture not now to be found in\nother portions of the British empire.\n\n                                                                       P.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CASTLE OF AUGHENTAIN, OR A LEGEND OF THE BROWN GOAT,\n\nA TALE OF TOM GRASSIEY, THE SHANAHUS.\n\nBY WILLIAM CARLETON.\n\n\nWhen Tom had expressed an intention of relating an old story, the hum\nof general conversation gradually subsided into silence, and every face\nassumed an expression of curiosity and interest, with the exception of\nJemsy Baccagh, who was rather deaf, and blind George M\u2019Givor, so called\nbecause he wanted an eye; both of whom, in high and piercing tones,\ncarried on an angry discussion touching a small law-suit that had gone\nagainst Jemsy in the Court Leet, of which George was a kind of rustic\nattorney. An outburst of impatient rebuke was immediately poured upon\nthem from fifty voices. \u201cWhisht with yez, ye pair of devils\u2019 limbs, an\u2019\nTom goin\u2019 to tell us a story. Jemsy, your sowl\u2019s as crooked as your lame\nleg, you sinner; an\u2019 as for blind George, if roguery would save a man,\nhe\u2019d escape the devil yet. Tarenation to yez, an\u2019 be quiet till we hear\nthe story!\u201d\n\n\u201cAy,\u201d said Tom, \u201cScripthur says that when the blind leads the blind, both\nwill fall into the ditch; but God help the lame that have blind George\nto lead them; we might aisily guess where he\u2019d guide them to, especially\nsuch a poor innocent as Jemsy there.\u201d This banter, as it was not intended\nto give offence, so was it received by the parties to whom it was\naddressed with laughter and good humour.\n\n\u201cSilence, boys,\u201d said Tom; \u201cI\u2019ll jist take a draw of the pipe till I\nput my mind in a proper state of transmigration for what I\u2019m goin\u2019 to\nnarrate.\u201d\n\nHe then smoked on for a few minutes, his eyes complacently but\nmeditatively closed, and his whole face composed into the philosophic\nspirit of a man who knew and felt his own superiority, as well as what\nwas expected from him. When he had sufficiently arranged the materials in\nhis mind, he took the pipe out of his mouth, rubbed the shank-end of it\nagainst the cuff of his coat, then handed it to his next neighbour, and\nhaving given a short preparatory cough, thus commenced his legend:--\n\n\u201cYou must know that afther Charles the First happened to miss his head\none day, havin\u2019 lost it while playin\u2019 a game of \u2018Heads an\u2019 Points\u2019 with\nthe Scotch, that a man called Nolly Rednose, or Oliver Crummle, was\nsent over to Ireland with a parcel of breekless Highlanders an\u2019 English\nBodaghs to subduvate the Irish, an\u2019 as many of the Prodestans as had been\nfriends to the late king, who were called Royalists. Now, it appears by\nmany larned transfigurations that Nolly Rednose had in his army a man\nnamed Balgruntie, or the Hog of Cupar; a fellow who was as coorse as\nsackin\u2019, as cunnin\u2019 as a fox, an\u2019 as gross as the swine he was named\nafther. Rednose, there is no doubt of it, was as nate a hand at takin\u2019\na town or castle as ever went about it; but then, any town that didn\u2019t\nsurrendher at discretion was sure to experience little mitigation at\nhis hands; an\u2019 whenever he was bent on wickedness, he was sure to say\nhis prayers at the commencement of every siege or battle; that is, he\nintended to show no marcy in, for he\u2019d get a book, an\u2019 openin\u2019 it at\nthe head of his army, he\u2019d cry, \u2018Ahem, my brethren, let us praise God\nby endeavourin\u2019 till sing sich or sich a psalm;\u2019 an\u2019 God help the man,\nwoman, or child, that came before him after that. Well an\u2019 good: it so\nhappened that a squadron of his psalm-singers were dispatched by him from\nEnniskillen, where he stopped to rendher assistance to a part of his\narmy that O\u2019Neill was leatherin\u2019 down near Dungannon, an\u2019 on their way\nthey happened to take up their quarthers for the night at the Mill of\nAughentain. Now, above all men in the creation, who should be appointed\nto lead this same squadron but the Hog of Cupar. \u2018Balgruntie, go off wid\nyou,\u2019 said Crummle, when administering his instructions to him; \u2018but\nbe sure that wherever you meet a fat royalist on the way, to pay your\nrespects to him as a Christian ought,\u2019 says he; \u2018an\u2019, above all things,\nmy dear brother Balgruntie, _don\u2019t neglect your devotions_, otherwise our\narms can\u2019t prosper; and be sure,\u2019 says he, with a pious smile, \u2018that if\nthey promulgate opposition, you will make them bleed anyhow, either in\npurse or person; or if they provoke the grace o\u2019 God, take a little from\nthem in both; an\u2019 so the Lord\u2019s name be praised, yeamen!\u2019\n\nBalgruntie sang a psalm of thanksgivin\u2019 for bein\u2019 elected by his\ncommander to sich a holy office, set out on his march, an\u2019 the next\nnight he an\u2019 his choir slep in the mill of Aughentain, as I said. Now,\nBalgruntie had in this same congregation of his a long-legged Scotchman\nnamed Sandy Saveall, which name he got by way of etymology, for his\ncharity; for it appears by the historical elucidations that Sandy was\nperpetually rantinizin\u2019 about sistherly affection an\u2019 brotherly love: an\u2019\nwhat showed more taciturnity than any thing else was, that while this\nsame Sandy had the persuasion to make every one believe that he thought\nof nothing else, he shot more people than any ten men in the squadron. He\nwas indeed what they call a dead shot, for no one ever knew him to miss\nany thing he fired at. He had a musket that could throw point blank an\nEnglish mile, an\u2019 if he only saw a man\u2019s nose at that distance, he used\nto say that with aid from above he could blow it for him with a leaden\nhandkerchy, meaning that he could blow it off his face with a musket\nbullet; and so by all associations he could, for indeed the faits he\nperformed were very insinivating an\u2019 problematical.\n\nNow, it so happened that at this period there lived in the castle a\nfine wealthy ould royalist, named Graham or Grimes, as they are often\ndenominated, who had but one child, a daughter, whose beauty an\u2019\nperfections were mellifluous far an\u2019 near over the country, an\u2019 who had\nher health drunk, as the toast of Ireland, by the Lord Lieutenant in the\nCastle of Dublin, undher the sympathetic appellation of \u2018the Rose of\nAughentain.\u2019 It was her son that afterwards ran through the estate, and\nwas forced to part wid the castle; an\u2019 it\u2019s to him the proverb colludes,\nwhich mentions \u2018ould John Grame, that swallowed the castle of Aughentain.\u2019\n\nHowsomever, that bears no prodigality to the story I\u2019m narratin\u2019. So\nwhat would you have of it, but Balgruntie, who had heard of the father\u2019s\nwealth and the daughter\u2019s beauty, took a holy hankerin\u2019 afther both; an\u2019\nhavin\u2019 as usual said his prayers an\u2019 sung a psalm, he determined for\nto clap his thumb upon the father\u2019s money, thinkin\u2019 that the daughter\nwould be the more aisily superinduced to folly it. In other words, he\nmade up his mind to sack the castle, carry off the daughter and marry\nher righteously, rather, he said, through a sincere wish to bring her\ninto a state of grace, by a union with a God-fearin\u2019 man, whose walk he\ntrusted was Zionward, than from any cardinal detachment for her wealth\nor beauty. He accordingly sent up a file of the most pious men he had,\npicked fellows, with good psalm-singin\u2019 voices and strong noses, to\nrequest that John Graham would give them possession of the castle for\na time, an\u2019 afterwards join them at prayers, as a proof that he was no\nroyalist, but a friend to Crummle an\u2019 the Commonwealth. Now, you see, the\nbest of it was, that the very man they demanded this from was commonly\ndenominated by the people as \u2018Gunpowdher Jack,\u2019 in consequence of the\ngreat signification of his courage; an\u2019, besides, he was known to be\na member of the Hell-fire Club, that no person could join that hadn\u2019t\nfought three duels, and killed at least one man; and in ordher to show\nthat they regarded neither God nor hell, they were obligated to dip one\nhand in blood an\u2019 the other in fire, before they could be made members\nof the club. It\u2019s aisy to see, then, that Graham was not likely to quail\nbefore a handful of the very men he hated wid all the vociferation in his\npower, an\u2019 he accordingly put his head out of the windy, an\u2019 axed them\ntheir tergiversation for bein\u2019 there.\n\n\u2018Begone about your business,\u2019 he said; \u2018I owe you no regard. What\nbrings you before the castle of a man who despises you? Don\u2019t think to\ndeterminate me, you cauting rascals, for you can\u2019t. My castle\u2019s well\nprovided wid men, an\u2019 ammunition, an\u2019 food; an\u2019 if you don\u2019t be off, I\u2019ll\nmake you sing a different tune from a psalm one.\u2019 Begad he did, plump to\nthem, out of the windy.\n\nWhen Crummle\u2019s men returned to Balgruntie in the mill, they related\nwhat had tuck place, an\u2019 he said that afther prayers he\u2019d send a second\nmessage in writin\u2019, an\u2019 if it wasn\u2019t attended to, they\u2019d put their trust\nin God an\u2019 storm the castle. The squadron he commanded was not a numerous\none; an\u2019 as they had no artillery, an\u2019 were surrounded by enemies, the\ntakin\u2019 of the castle, which was a strong one, might cost them some\nsnufflication. At all events, Balgruntie was bent on makin\u2019 the attempt,\nespecially afther he heard that the castle was well vittled, an\u2019 indeed\nhe was meritoriously joined by his men, who piously licked their lips\non hearin\u2019 of such glad tidings. Graham was a hot-headed man, without\nmuch ambidexterity or deliberation, otherwise he might have known that\nthe bare mintion of the beef an\u2019 mutton in his castle was only fit to\nmake such a hungry pack desperate. But be that as it may, in a short\ntime Balgruntie wrote him a letter, demandin\u2019 of him, in the name of\nNolly Rednose an\u2019 the Commonwealth, to surrendher the castle, or if not,\nthat, ould as he was, he would make him as soople as a two-year-ould.\nGraham, afther readin\u2019 it, threw the letther back to the messengers wid\na certain recommendation to Balgruntie regardin\u2019 it; but whether the\nsame recommendation was followed up an\u2019 acted on so soon as he wished,\nhistorical retaliations do not inform.\n\nOn their return the military narrated to their commander the reception\nthey resaved a second time from Graham, an\u2019 he then resolved to lay\nregular siege to the castle; but as he knew he could not readily take it\nby violence, he determined, as they say, to starve the garrison leisurely\nan\u2019 by degrees. But, first an\u2019 foremost, a thought struck him, an\u2019 he\nimmediently called Sandy Saveall behind the mill-hopper, which he had now\nturned into a pulpit for the purpose of expoundin\u2019 the word, an\u2019 givin\u2019\nexhortations to his men.\n\n\u2018Sandy,\u2019 said he, \u2018are you in a state of justification to-day?\u2019\n\n\u2018Towards noon,\u2019 replied Sandy, \u2018I had some strong wristlings with the\nenemy; but I am able, undher praise, to say that I defated him in three\nattacks, and I consequently feel my righteousness much recruited. I had\nsome wholesome communings with the miller\u2019s daughter, a comely lass,\nwho may yet be recovered from the world, an\u2019 led out of the darkness of\nAigyp, by a word in saison.\u2019\n\n\u2018Well, Sandy,\u2019 replied the other, \u2018I lave her to your own instructions;\nthere is another poor benighted maiden, who is also comely, up in the\ncastle of that godless sinner, who belongeth to the Perdition Club; an\u2019,\nindeed, Sandy, until he is somehow removed, I think there is little hope\nof plucking her like a brand out of the burning.\u2019\n\nHe serenaded Sandy in the face as he spoke, an\u2019 then cast an extemporary\nglance at the musket, which was as much as to say \u2018can you translate an\ninsinivation?\u2019 Sandy concocted a smilin\u2019 reply; an\u2019 takin\u2019 up the gun,\nrubbed the barrel, an\u2019 pattin\u2019 it as a sportsman would pat the neck of\nhis horse or dog, wid reverence for comparin\u2019 the villain to either one\nor the other.\n\n\u2018If it was known, Sandy,\u2019 said Balgruntie, \u2018it would harden her heart\nagainst me; an\u2019 as he is hopeless at all events, bein\u2019 a member of that\nPerdition Club\u2019----\n\n\u2018True,\u2019 said Sandy, \u2018but you lave the miller\u2019s daughter to me?\u2019\n\n\u2018I said so.\u2019\n\n\u2018Well, if his removal will give you any consolidation in the matther, you\nmay say no more.\u2019\n\n\u2018I could not, Sandy, justify it to myself to take him away by open\nviolence, for you know that I bear a conscience if any thing too tendher\nand dissolute. Also I wish, Sandy, to presarve an ondeniable reputation\nfor humanity; an\u2019, besides, the daughter might become as reprobate as the\nfather if she suspected me to be personally concarned in it. I have heard\na good deal about him, an\u2019 am sensibly informed that he has been shot at\ntwice before, by the sons, it is thought, of an enemy that he himself\nkilled rather significantly in a duel.\u2019\n\n\u2018Very well,\u2019 replied Sandy; \u2018I would myself feel scruples; but as both\nour consciences is touched in the business, I think I am justified.\nIndeed, captain, it is very likely afther all that we are but the mere\ninstruments in it, an\u2019 that it is through us that this ould unrighteous\nsinner is to be removed by a more transplendant judgment.\u2019\n\nBegad, neighbours, when a rascal is bent on wickedness, it is aisy to\nfind cogitations enough to back him in his villany. And so was it with\nSandy Saveall and Balgruntie.\n\nThat evenin\u2019 ould Graham was shot through the head standin\u2019 in the windy\nof his own castle, an\u2019 to extenuate the suspicion of sich an act from\nCrummle\u2019s men, Balgruntie himself went up the next day, beggin\u2019 very\npolitely to have a friendly explanation with Squire Graham, sayin\u2019 that\nhe had harsh ordhers, but that if the castle was peaceably delivered to\nhim, he would, for the sake of the young lady, see that no injury should\nbe offered either to her or her father.\n\nThe young lady, however, had the high drop in her, and becoorse the only\nanswer he got was a flag of defiance. This nettled the villain, an\u2019 he\nfound there was nothin\u2019 else for it but to plant a strong guard about the\ncastle to keep all that was in, in--and all that was out, out.\n\nIn the mean time, the very appearance of the Crumwellians in the\nneighbourhood struck such terror into the people, that the country, which\nwas then only very thinly inhabited, became quite desarted, an\u2019 for\nmiles about the face of a human bein\u2019 could not be seen, barrin\u2019 their\nown, sich as they were. Crummle\u2019s track was always a bloody one, an\u2019 the\npeople knew that they were wise in puttin\u2019 the hills an\u2019 mountain passes\nbetween him an\u2019 them. The miller an\u2019 his daughter bein\u2019 encouraged by\nSandy, staid principally for the sake of Miss Graham; but except them,\nthere was not a man or woman in the barony to bid good-morrow to or\nsay Salvey Dominey. On the beginnin\u2019 of the third day, Balgruntie, who\nknew his officialities extremely well, an\u2019 had sent down a messenger\nto Dungannon to see whether matters were so bad as they had been\nreported, was delighted to hear that O\u2019Neill had disappeared from the\nneighbourhood. He immediately informed Crummle of this, and tould him\nthat he had laid siege to one of the leadin\u2019 passes of the north, an\u2019\nthat, by gettin\u2019 possession of the two castles of Aughentain and Augher,\nhe could keep O\u2019Neill in check, and command that part of the country.\nNolly approved of this, an\u2019 ordhered him to proceed, but was sorry that\nhe could send him no assistance at present; \u2018however,\u2019 said he, \u2018with a\ngood cause, sharp swords, an\u2019 aid from above, there is no fear of us.\u2019\n\nThey now set themselves to take the castle in airnest. Balgruntie an\u2019\nSandy undherstood one another, an\u2019 not a day passed that some one wasn\u2019t\ndropped in it. As soon as ever a face appeared, pop went the deadly\nmusket, an\u2019 down fell the corpse of whoever it was aimed at. Miss Graham\nherself was spared for good reasons, but in the coorse of ten or twelve\ndays she was nearly alone. Ould Graham, though a man that feared nothing,\nwas only guilty of a profound swagger when he reported the strength\nof the castle and the state of the provisions to Balgruntie an\u2019 his\ncrew. But above all things, that which eclipsed their distresses was\nthe want of wather. There was none in the castle, an\u2019 although there\nis a beautiful well beside it, yet, _farcer gair_, it was of small\nresponsibility to them. Here, then, was the poor young lady placed at\nthe marcy of her father\u2019s murdherer; for however she might have doubted\nin the beginnin\u2019 that he was shot by the Crumwellians, yet the death of\nnearly all the servants of the house in the same way was a sufficient\nproof that it was like masther like man in this case. What, however, was\nto be done? The whole garrison now consisted only of Miss Graham herself,\na fat man cook advanced in years, who danced in his distress in ordher\nthat he might suck his own perspiration, and a little orphan boy that she\ntuck undher her purtection. It was a hard case, an\u2019 yet, God bless her,\nshe held out like a man.\n\nIt\u2019s an ould sayin\u2019 that there\u2019s no tyin\u2019 up the tongue of Fame, an\u2019 it\u2019s\nalso a true one. The account of the siege had gone far an\u2019 near in the\ncounthry, an\u2019 none of the Irish, no matter what they were who ever heard\nit, but wor sorry. Sandy Saveall was now the devil an\u2019 all. As there was\nno more in the castle to shoot, he should find something to regenerate\nhis hand upon: for instance, he practised upon three or four of Graham\u2019s\nfriends, who undher one pretence or other were seen skulkin\u2019 about the\ncastle, an\u2019 none of their relations durst come to take away their bodies\nin ordher to bury them. At length things came to that pass, that poor\nMiss Graham was at the last gasp for something to drink; she had ferreted\nout as well as she could a drop of moisture here an\u2019 there in the damp\ncorners of the castle, but now all that was gone; the fat cook had sucked\nhimself to death, and the little orphan boy died calmly away a few hours\nafther him, lavin\u2019 the helpless lady with a tongue swelled an\u2019 furred,\nand a mouth parched and burned, for want of drink. Still the blood of\nthe Grahams was in her, and yield she would not to the villain that left\nher as she was. Sich then was the transparency of her situation, when\nhappening to be on the battlements to catch, if possible, a little of the\ndew of heaven, she was surprised to see something flung up, which rolled\ndown towards her feet; she lifted it, an\u2019 on examinin\u2019 the contents,\nfound it to be a stone covered with a piece of brown paper, inside which\nwas a slip of white, containing the words, \u2018Endure--relief is near you!\u2019\nBut, poor young lady, of what retrospection could these tidings be to one\nin her situation?--she could scarcely see to read them; her brain was\ndizzy, her mouth like a cindher, her tongue swelled an\u2019 black, an\u2019 her\nbreath felt as hot as a furnace. She could barely breathe, an\u2019 was in\nthe very act of lyin\u2019 down undher the triumphant air of heaven to die,\nwhen she heard the shrill voice of a young kid in the castle yard, and\nimmediently remembered that a brown goat which her lover, a gentleman\nnamed Simpson, had, when it was a kid, made her a present of, remained in\nthe castle about the stable during the whole siege. She instantly made\nher way slowly down stairs, got a bowl, and havin\u2019 milked the goat, she\ntook a little of the milk, which I need not asseverate at once relieved\nher. By this means she recovered, an\u2019 findin\u2019 no further anticipation\nfrom druth, she resolved like a hairo to keep the Crumwellians out, an\u2019\nto wait till either God or man might lend her a helpin\u2019 hand.\n\nNow, you must know that the miller\u2019s purty daughter had also a sweetheart\ncalled _Suil Gair_ Maguire, or sharp-eye\u2019d Maguire, an humble branch of\nthe great Maguires of Enniskillen; an\u2019 this same Suil Gair was servant\nan\u2019 foster-brother to Simpson, who was the intended husband of Miss\nGraham. Simpson, who lived some miles off, on hearin\u2019 the condition of\nthe castle, gathered together all the royalists far an\u2019 near; an\u2019 as\nCrummle was honestly hated by both Romans an\u2019 Prodestans, faith, you see,\nMaguire himself promised to send a few of his followers to the rescue.\nIn the mean time, Suil Gair dressed himself up like a fool or idiot, an\u2019\nundher the protection of the miller\u2019s daughter, who blarnied Saveall\nin great style, was allowed to wandher about an\u2019 joke wid the sogers;\nbut especially he took a fancy to Sandy, and challenged him to put one\nstone out of five in one of the port-holes of the castle, at a match of\nfinger-stone. Sandy, who was nearly as famous at that as the musket, was\nrather relaxed when he saw that Suil Gair could at least put in every\nsecond stone, an\u2019 that he himself could hardly put one in out of twenty.\nWell, at all events it was durin\u2019 their sport that fool Paddy, as they\ncalled him, contrived to fling the scrap of writin\u2019 I spoke of across the\nbattlements at all chances; for when he undhertook to go to the castle,\nhe gave up his life as lost; but he didn\u2019t care about that, set in case\nhe was able to save either his foster-brother or Miss Graham. But this is\nnot at all indispensable, for it is well known that many a foster-brother\nsacrificed his life the same way, and in cases of great danger, when the\nreal brother would beg to decline the compliment.\n\nThings were now in a very connubial state entirely. Balgruntie heard\nthat relief was comin\u2019 to the castle, an\u2019 what to do he did not know;\nthere was little time to be lost, however, an\u2019 something must be done. He\npraiched flowery discourses twice a-day from the mill-hopper, an\u2019 sang\npsalms for grace to be directed in his righteous intentions; but as yet\nhe derived no particular predilection from either. Sandy appeared to have\ngot a more bountiful modelum of grace than his captain, for he succeeded\nat last in bringin\u2019 the miller\u2019s daughter to sit undher the word at her\nfather\u2019s hopper. Fool Paddy, as they called Maguire, had now become a\ngreat favourite wid the sogers, an\u2019 as he proved to be quite harmless\nand inoffensive, they let him run about the place widout opposition. The\ncastle, to be sure, was still guarded, but Miss Graham kept her heart\nup in consequence of the note, for she hoped every day to get relief\nfrom her friends. Balgruntie, now seein\u2019 that the miller\u2019s daughter was\nbecomin\u2019 more serious undher the taichin\u2019 of Saveall, formed a plan that\nhe thought might enable him to penethrate the castle, an\u2019 bear off the\nlady an\u2019 the money. This was to strive wid very delicate meditation to\nprevail on the miller\u2019s daughter, through the renown that he thought\nSandy had over her, to open a correspondency wid Miss Graham; for he\nknew that if one of the gates was unlocked, and the unsuspectin\u2019 girl\nlet in, the whole squadron would soon be in afther her. Now, this plan\nwas the more dangerous to Miss Graham, because the miller\u2019s daughter\nhad intended to bring about the very same denouncement for a different\npurpose. Between her friend an\u2019 her enemies it was clear the poor lady\nhad little chance; an\u2019 it was Balgruntie\u2019s intention, the moment he had\nsequestrated her and the money, to make his escape, an\u2019 lave the castle\nto whosomever might choose to take it. Things, however, were ordhered to\ntake a different bereavement: the Hog of Cupar was to be trapped in the\nhydrostatics of his own hypocrisy, an\u2019 Saveall to be overmatched in his\nown premises. Well, the plot was mentioned to Sandy, who was promised\na good sketch of the prog; an\u2019 as it was jist the very thing he dreamt\nabout night an\u2019 day, he snapped at it as a hungry dog would at a sheep\u2019s\ntrotter. That night the miller\u2019s daughter--whose name I may as well say\nwas Nannie Duffy, the purtiest girl an\u2019 the sweetest singer that ever was\nin the counthry--was to go to the castle an\u2019 tell Miss Graham that the\nsogers wor all gone, Crummle killed, an\u2019 his whole army massacrayed to\natoms. This was a different plan from poor Nannie\u2019s, who now saw clearly\nwhat they were at. But never heed a woman for bein\u2019 witty when hard\npushed.\n\n\u2018I don\u2019t like to do it,\u2019 said she, \u2018for it looks like thrachery,\nespishilly as my father has left the neighbourhood, and I don\u2019t know\nwhere he is gone to; an\u2019 you know thrachery\u2019s ondacent in either man or\nwoman. Still, Sandy, it goes hard for me to refuse one that I--I----well,\nI wish I knew where my father is--I would like to know what he\u2019d think of\nit.\u2019\n\n\u2018Hut,\u2019 said Sandy, \u2018where\u2019s the use of such scruples in a good\ncause?--when we get the money, we\u2019ll fly. It is principally for the sake\nof waining you an\u2019 her from the darkness of idolatry that we do it.\nIndeed, my conscience would not rest well if I let a soul an\u2019 body like\nyours remain a prey to Sathan, my darlin\u2019.\u2019\n\n\u2018Well,\u2019 said she, \u2018doesn\u2019t the captain exhort this evenin\u2019?\u2019\n\n\u2018He does, my beloved, an\u2019 with a blessin\u2019 will expound a few verses from\nthe Song of Solomon.\u2019\n\n\u2018It\u2019s betther then,\u2019 said she, \u2018to sit under the word, an\u2019 perhaps some\nlight may be given to us.\u2019\n\nThis delighted Saveall\u2019s heart, who now looked upon pretty Nannie as\nhis own; indeed, he was obliged to go gradually and cautiously to work,\nfor cruel though Nolly Rednose was, Sandy knew that if any violent act\nof that kind should raich him, the guilty party would sup sorrow. Well,\naccordin\u2019 to this pious arrangement, Balgruntie assembled all his men\nwho were not on duty about the hopper, in which he stood as usual,\nan\u2019 had commenced a powerful exhortation, the substratum of which was\ndevoted to Nannie; he dwelt upon the happiness of religious love; said\nthat scruples were often suggested by Satan, an\u2019 that a heavenly duty\nwas but terrestrial when put in comparishment wid an earthly one. He\nalso made collusion to the old Squire that was popped by Sandy; said\nit was often a judgment for the wicked man to die in his sins; an\u2019 was\ngettin\u2019 on wid great eloquence an\u2019 emulation, when a low rumblin\u2019 noise\nwas heard, an\u2019 Balgruntie, throwin\u2019 up his clenched hands an\u2019 grindin\u2019\nhis teeth, shouted out, \u2018Hell and d----n, I\u2019ll be ground to death!\nThe mill\u2019s goin\u2019 on! Murdher! murdher! I\u2019m gone!\u2019 Faith, it was true\nenough--she had been wickedly set a-goin\u2019 by some one; an\u2019 before they\nhad time to stop her, the Hog of Cupar had the feet and legs twisted off\nhim before their eyes--a fair illustration of his own doctrine, that\nit is often a judgment for the wicked man to die in his sins. When the\nmill was stopped, he was pulled out, but didn\u2019t live twenty minutes, in\nconsequence of the loss of blood. Time was pressin\u2019, so they ran up a\nshell of a coffin, and tumbled it into a pit that was hastily dug for it\non the mill-common.\n\nThis, however, by no manner of manes relieved poor Nannie from her\ndifficulty, for Saveall, finding himself now first in command, determined\nnot to lose a moment in tolerating his plan upon the castle.\n\n\u2018You see,\u2019 said he, \u2018that a way is opened for us that we didn\u2019t expect;\nan\u2019 let us not close our eyes to the light that has been given, lest it\nmight be suddenly taken from us again. In this instance I suspect that\nfool Paddy has been made the chosen instrument; for it appears upon\ninquiry that he too has disappeared. However, heaven\u2019s will be done! we\nwill have the more to ourselves, my beloved--ehem! It is now dark,\u2019 he\nproceeded, \u2018so I shall go an\u2019 take my usual smoke at the mill window, an\u2019\nin about a quarther of an hour I\u2019ll be ready.\u2019\n\n\u2018But I\u2019m all in a tremor after sich a frightful accident,\u2019 replied\nNannie: \u2018an\u2019 I want to get a few minutes\u2019 quiet before we engage upon our\nundhertakin.\u2019\n\nThis was very natural, and Saveall accordingly took his usual seat at a\nlittle windy in the gable of the mill, that faced the miller\u2019s house; an\u2019\nfrom the way the bench was fixed, he was obliged to sit with his face\nexactly towards the same direction. There we leave him meditatin\u2019 upon\nhis own righteous approximations, till we folly _Suil Gair_ Maguire, or\nfool Paddy, as they called him, who practicated all that was done.\n\nMaguire and Nannie, findin\u2019 that no time was to be lost, gave all over\nas ruined, unless somethin\u2019 could be acted on quickly. Suil Gair at\nonce thought of settin\u2019 the mill a-goin\u2019, but kept the plan to himself,\nany further than tellin\u2019 her not to be surprised at any thing she might\nsee. He then told her to steal him a gun, but if possible to let it be\nSaveall\u2019s, as he knew it could be depended on. \u2018But I hope you won\u2019t shed\nany blood if you can avoid it,\u2019 said she; \u2018_that_ I don\u2019t like.\u2019 \u2018Tut,\u2019\nreplied Suil Gair, makin\u2019 evasion to the question, \u2018it\u2019s good to have it\nabout me for my own defence.\u2019\n\nHe could often have shot either Balgruntie or Saveall in daylight,\nbut not without certain death to himself, as he knew that escape was\nimpossible. Besides, time was not before so pressin\u2019 upon them, an\u2019 every\nday relief was expected. Now, however, that relief was so near--for\nSimpson with a party of royalists an\u2019 Maguire\u2019s men must be within a\ncouple of hours\u2019 journey--it would be too intrinsic entirely to see the\ncastle plundhered, and the lady carried off by such a long-legged skyhill\nas Saveall. Nannie consequentially, at great risk, took an opportunity of\nslipping his gun to Suil Gair, who was the best shot of the day in that\nor any other part of the country; and it was in consequence of this that\nhe was called Suil Gair, or Sharp Eye. But, indeed, all the Maguires were\nfamous shots; an\u2019 I\u2019m tould there\u2019s one of them now in Dublin that could\nhit a pigeon\u2019s egg or a silver sixpence at the distance of a hundred\nyards.[1] Suil Gair did not merely raise the sluice when he set the mill\na-goin\u2019, but he whipped it out altogether an\u2019 threw it into the dam, so\nthat the possibility of saving the Hog of Cupar was irretrievable. He\nmade off, however, an\u2019 threw himself among the tall ragweeds that grew\nupon the common, till it got dark, when Saveall, as was his custom,\nshould take his evenin\u2019 smoke at the windy. Here he sat for some period,\nthinkin\u2019 over many ruminations, before he lit his cutty pipe, as he\ncalled it.\n\n\u2018Now,\u2019 said he to himself, \u2018what is there to hindher me from takin\u2019 away,\nor rather from makin\u2019 sure of the grand lassie, instead of the miller\u2019s\ndaughter? If I get intil the castle, it can be soon effected; for if she\nhas any regard for her reputation, she will be quiet. I\u2019m a braw handsome\nlad enough, a wee thought high in the cheek bones, scaly in the skin, an\u2019\nknock-knee\u2019d a trifle, but stout an\u2019 lathy, an\u2019 tough as a withy. But,\nagain, what is to be done wi Nannie? Hut, she\u2019s but a miller\u2019s daughter,\nan\u2019 may be disposed of if she gets troublesome. I know she\u2019s fond of\nme, but I dinna blame her for that. However, it wadna become me now to\nentertain scruples, seein\u2019 that the way is made so plain for me. But,\nsave us! eh, sirs, that was an awful death, an\u2019 very like a judgment on\nthe Hog of Cupar! It is often a judgment for the wicked to die in their\nsins! Balgruntie wasna that\u2019---- Whatever he intended to say further,\ncannot be analogized by man, for, just as he had uttered the last word,\nwhich he did while holding the candle to his pipe, the bullet of his own\ngun entered between his eyes, and the next moment he was a corpse.\n\nSuil Gair desarved the name he got, for truer did never bullet go to the\nmark from Saveall\u2019s own aim than it did from his. There is now little\nmore to be superadded to my story. Before daybreak the next mornin\u2019,\nSimpson came to the relief of his intended wife; Crummle\u2019s party war\nsurprised, taken, an\u2019 cut to pieces; an\u2019 it so happened that from that\nday to this the face of a soger belongin\u2019 to him was never seen near\nthe mill or castle of Aughentain, with one exception only, and that was\nthis:--You all know that the mill is often heard to go at night when\nnobody sets her a-goin\u2019, an\u2019 that the most sevendable scrames of torture\ncome out of the hopper, an\u2019 that when any one has the courage to look in,\nthey\u2019re sure to see a man dressed like a soger, with a white mealy face,\nin the act, so to say, of havin\u2019 his legs ground off him. Many a guess\nwas made about who the spirit could be, but all to no purpose. There,\nhowever, is the truth for yez; the spirit that shrieks in the hopper\nis Balgruntie\u2019s ghost, an\u2019 he\u2019s to be ground that way till the day of\njudgment.\n\nBe coorse, Simpson and Miss Graham were married, as war Nannie Duffy an\u2019\nSuil Gair; an\u2019 if they all lived long an\u2019 happy, I wish we may all live\nten times longer an\u2019 happier; an\u2019 so we will, but in a betther world than\nthis, plaise God.\u201d\n\n\u201cWell, but, Tom,\u201d said Gordon, \u201chow does that account for my name, which\nyou said you\u2019d tell me?\u201d\n\n\u201cRight,\u201d said Tom; \u201cbegad I was near forgettin\u2019 it. Why, you see, sich\nwas their veneration for the goat that was the manes, undher God, of\nsavin\u2019 Miss Graham\u2019s life, that they changed the name of Simpson to\nGordon, which signifies in Irish _gor dhun_, or a brown goat, that all\ntheir posterity might know the great obligations they lay undher to that\nreverend animal.\u201d\n\n\u201cAn\u2019 do you mane to tell me,\u201d said Gordon, \u201cthat my name was never heard\nof until Oliver Crummle\u2019s time?\u201d\n\n\u201cI do. Never in the wide an\u2019 subterraneous earth was sich a name known\ntill afther the prognostication I tould you; an\u2019 it never would either,\nonly for the goat, sure. I can prove it by the pathepathetics. Denny\nMullin, will you give us another draw o\u2019 the pipe?\u201d\n\nTom\u2019s authority in these matters was unquestionable, and, besides, there\nwas no one present learned enough to contradict him, with any chance of\nsuccess, before such an audience. The argument was consequently, without\nfurther discussion, decided in his favour, and Gordon was silenced\ntouching the origin and etymology of his own name.\n\nThis legend we have related as nearly as we can remember in Tom\u2019s words.\nWe may as well, however, state at once that many of his legends were\nwofully deficient in authenticity, as indeed those of most countries are.\nNearly half the Irish legends are _ex post facto_ or _postliminious_.\nThere is no record, for instance, that Oliver Cromwell ever saw the\ncastle of Aughentain, or that any such event as that narrated by Tom\never happened in or about it. It is much more likely that the story, if\never there was any truth in it, is of Scotch origin, as indeed the names\nwould seem to import. There is no doubt, however, that the castle of\nAughentain, which is now in the possession of a gentleman named Browne we\nthink, was once the property of a family called Graham. In our boyhood\nthere was a respectable family of that name living in its immediate\nvicinity, but we know not whether they are the descendants of those who\nowned the castle or not.\n\n[1] The celebrated Brian Maguire, the first shot of his day, was at this\ntime living in Dublin.\n\n\n\n\nTHE HERRING.--SECOND ARTICLE.\n\nTHE FISHERY.\n\n\nHaving given in a former number some account of the natural history of\nthis valuable little creature, we now proceed, in accordance with our\npromise, to give a description of the various modes of taking and curing\nit; and as the Dutch were the first to see the importance, and devote\nthemselves to the improvement, of the herring fishery, we shall commence\nwith them.\n\nSo early as the year 1307, the Dutch had turned their attention to this\nsubject; and lest any of our more thoughtless or less informed readers\nshould deem the matter one of secondary consideration, or probably\nof even less, we shall lay before them some statistical accounts of\nthe Dutch fisheries, extracted from returns of the census of the\nStates-General, taken in the year 1669. In that year the total amount of\npopulation was 2,400,000.\n\n    Of whom were employed as fishermen, and in\n      equipping fishermen with their boats, tackle,\n      conveying of salt, &c.                                    450,000\n    Employed in the navigation of ships in foreign trade,       250,000\n    Shipwrights, handicraftsmen, and manufacturers,             650,000\n    Inland fishermen, agriculturists, and labourers,            200,000\n    Gentry, statesmen, soldiers, and inhabitants in\n      general,                                                  850,000\n                                                             ----------\n                                                       Total, 2,400,000\n\nThus nearly a fifth of the population of Holland was entirely engaged in\nand supported by the herring and deep-sea fishery, and thus arose the\nsaying that \u201cthe foundations of Amsterdam were laid on herring bones;\u201d\nand hence did De Witt assert that \u201cHolland derived her main support from\nthe herring fishery, and that it ought to be considered as the right arm\nof the republic.\u201d\n\nBefore Holland was humbled upon the seas, and whilst she was at the\npinnacle of her prosperity, she had ten thousand sail of shipping, with\n168,000 mariners, afloat. Of these no less than 6400 vessels, with\n112,000 mariners, were employed in and connected with the herring fishery\nalone, \u201calthough the country itself affords them neither materials, nor\nvictual, nor merchandise, to be accounted of, towards their setting\nforth.\u201d When we come to the subject of curing, we shall take occasion to\npoint out the modes by which the Dutch attained their excellence, and\nestablished this surprising trade; but at present we have but to describe\ntheir manner of fishing.\n\nThe GREAT FISHERY commences on the 24th of June, and terminates on the\n31st of December, and is carried on in the latitudes of Shetland and\nEdinburgh, and on the coast of Great Britain, with strong-decked vessels\ncalled busses, manned by fourteen or fifteen men, and well supplied with\ncasks, salt, nets, and every material requisite for catching and curing\nat sea. Each buss has generally fifty, and must not have less than forty\nnets of 32 fathoms in length each, 8 fathoms in depth, and a buoy-rope\nof 8 fathoms; an empty barrel less than a herring barrel is attached to\neach buoy-rope. This fleet of nets, as it is called, is divided by buoys\ninto four parts, by which their position is marked and their taking in\nfacilitated; the buoys at the extreme ends are painted white, with the\nowners\u2019 and vessels\u2019 names upon them. By the Dutch fishery laws it is\nprovided that the yarn of the nets must be of good unmixed Dutch or\nBaltic hemp, which must be inspected before use by sworn surveyors; the\nyarn must be well spun; and each full net, or fourth part of a fleet,\nmust be 740 meshes in length and 68 in depth, and the nets must be\ninspected and marked before they can be used.\n\nThe Dutch always shoot their nets, that is, cast them into the sea, at\nsunset, and take them in before sunrise. In shooting them they cast them\nto windward, so that the wind may prevent the vessel from coming upon\nthem. The whole of the nets are attached to four strong ropes joined to\neach other, and are taken in by means of the capstan, to which four or\nfive men attend, whilst four more shake out the fish.\n\nThe SMALL FISHERY, or fresh-herring fishery, is carried on to the east\nof Yarmouth in deep water, with flat-bottomed vessels without keels, so\nformed for the purpose of being run ashore in any convenient place.\n\nIt is forbidden by the 15th and 16th articles of the Dutch fishery laws\nto gut the herrings taken by the small fishery either at sea or ashore,\nunder pain of one month\u2019s imprisonment, and a fine of five guilders for\nevery hundred herrings, as well as the confiscation of the herrings,\nunless special permission has been obtained from the king, at the request\nof the States.\n\nThe PAN FISHERY is carried on in the rivers, inland seas, and on the\ncoast of Holland, within three miles of the shore.\n\nThe same prohibition, under similar penalties, that exists against curing\nfish taken in the small fishery, extends to this.\n\nWe have given the first place to the Dutch in this account, in\nconsequence of their having been the first to see the importance of\nthe fishery, but they take the lead no longer; the English and Scotch\nhave successfully rivalled them in curing, and for the quantity taken\nduring the season the Norwegians surpass all others. The Norwegian is a\nwholesale fishery, every description of ship and boat being in demand.\nThey have curing stations on shore, to which the boats bring the fish\nas fast as they are caught; and there are large vessels with barrels and\nsalt lying out amongst the fishers, buying from those who do not wish to\nlose time by going ashore. Every description of net, as well as every\nsort of vessel, is in requisition; some fishing at anchor, some sailing,\nand others hauling their seines on shore, but the grand method is as\nfollows:--\n\nAn immense range of nets with very small meshes so small as to prevent\nthe herrings from fastening in them, is extended round a shoal of fish,\nand gradually moved towards some creek or narrow inlet of the sea. The\nnets are drawn close and made fast across the entrance, and the enormous\nbody of herrings thus crowded up into a narrow space is taken out and\ncured at leisure. This mode of fishing is called a \u201clock.\u201d\n\nThe following passage from a letter written by a gentleman who witnessed\nthe fishery near Hitteroe, to Mr Mitchell of Leith, will give our readers\nsome idea of its extent:--\n\n\u201cOn the other side of the Sound we saw what is termed a _lock_, that\nis, several nets joined together, forming a bar before a small bay,\ninto which the herrings were crowded. In this place there were several\nthousand barrels of herrings, so compactly confined together that an oar\ncould stand up in the mass. There were in the neighbourhood of Hitteroe\naltogether about four or five thousand nets, and about two thousand boats\nand vessels; and there were caught, according to the opinion of several\nintelligent persons, this day (24th January 1833), not less than ten\nthousand barrels.\u201d\n\nThe entire quantity taken on the coast of Norway during the fall of\n1832 and the spring of 1833 was estimated at 680,000 barrels, which was\nconsidered to be a fair average take.\n\nWe come now to the home fishery, in which Yarmouth takes the lead in\nthe size of vessels and magnitude of tackle employed. The fishing is\ncarried on by the Yarmouth men in decked vessels called \u201cluggers,\u201d\nfrom 20 to 50 tons burthen, having three masts, and rigged with three\nlugsails, topsails, mizou, foresail, and jib: the crew of the largest\nconsisting of twelve men and a boy, who are paid according to the\nquantity of fish caught. Each ordinary vessel carries two hundred nets\nof 48 feet in length and 30 in depth, each having meshes of 1 inch or\n1\u215b inch, as usual in herring nets. Of these nets they shoot one hundred\nat a time, reserving the other hundred for cases of accident or mishap.\nWhen launched, each net is attached by two seizings of 1\u00bd inch rope,\nhaving a depth of 18 feet, to a four-stranded (generally 4 inch) warp of\n3600 feet in length; this warp is made fast to a rope from the bow of\nthe vessel, which in stormy weather can be let out to ease the strain,\nto the extent of 100 fathoms, or 600 feet. For each net there are two\nbuoys (4-gallon barrels) made fast to the warp, and there are four buoys\nbesides, to mark the distances, two for the quarter and three-quarter\nstations, painted red and white quarterly, one for the half distance or\nmiddle of the fleet, painted half red and half white, and one for the\nextremity, painted all white; each of them has painted on it the names of\nthe ship, master, owner, and port, in order that they may be restored in\ncase of breaking away during bad weather; and so good an understanding\nexists upon this subject amongst the fishermen, that the nets are always\nrestored by the finder to the owner upon payment of only 1s. for each\nnet; and no one must suffer a stray net to drift away; if seen, it must\nbe taken in. This fishery commences in the beginning of October, and\nlasts little more than two months. The nets are shot after the Dutch\nfashion, at sunset; but if the appearances are favourable, they are taken\nin once or twice during the night, and again at sunrise. 100 barrels of\nherrings are frequently taken by these nets at a single haul, and 600\nbarrels may be considered as a fair average fishing for one vessel during\nthe season. The number of decked vessels employed at Yarmouth alone in\nthe fishery is about 500.\n\nNext, and likely from its steady increase soon to become the first, is\nthe Scotch fishery.\n\nLike the Norwegian, every description of boat and net is to be found\nemployed amongst the Scottish islands, but the most regularly employed\nvessels are open undecked boats, of 28 to 32 feet in length, or\nthereabouts, and 9 to 11 feet in breadth, usually rigged with two masts\nand two sails. They have on board from twelve to thirty nets of from 150\nto 186 feet in length each, and from 20 to 31 feet in depth.\n\nFrom the Report by the Commissioners of the British Herring Fishery, of\nthe fishery of 1838, year ending 5th April 1839, it appears that there\nwere then engaged in the fishery 11,357 boats, decked and undecked,\nthroughout England and Scotland, manned by 50,238 men and boys, and\nemploying 85,573 persons in all, including coopers, packers, curers, and\nlabourers.\n\nOf the entire number of vessels, about 9000 belonged to Scottish ports.\n\nThe entire quantity of herrings exported amounted to 239,730\u00bd barrels, of\nwhich 195,301 barrels were Scotch; and of those exported, 149,926 barrels\nwere sent to and disposed of in Ireland.\n\nThe entire quantity of herrings taken by Scottish boats, and cured both\nfor home use and exportation, was 495,589 barrels; the total by English\nand Scotch 555,559\u00be barrels; but this return does not include the\nYarmouth fishery, the herrings there being always smoked, or made into\nwhat are called _red herrings_.\n\nWe need not describe the Prussian and other methods, as they resemble\nsome one or other of those already mentioned. Come we now to our own,\nwhich we have purposely reserved to the last.\n\nAmongst the fishermen of Ireland, the men of Kinsale have long been the\nadmitted leaders; and the Kinsale hookers are celebrated throughout the\nnautical world as among the best sea-boats that ever weathered a gale.\nThey are half-decked vessels, with one mast, carrying a fore and aft\nmainsail, foresail, and jib, and are usually manned by four men and a\nboy. They are seldom used in the herring fishery, being for the most part\nconfined to the deep-sea line fishery upon the Nymph bank, where cod,\nling, hake, haddock, turbot, plaice, &c., abound in such quantity that\nmany persons affirm it to be second only to the banks of Newfoundland.\nBut the usual mode of fishing for herrings, and which is adopted all\nalong the south, south-west, and west coast of Ireland, especially\nat Valencia and Kenmare, is with the deep-sea seine. This is formed\nsometimes for the express purpose, but frequently by a subscription of\nnets. Fifteen men bring a drift-net each, 20 fathoms or 120 feet in\nlength, and 5 fathoms or 30 feet in depth; these are all joined together,\nfive nets in length, and three in depth, so that the whole seine is 600\nfeet in length and 90 feet in depth, with a cork-rope (that is, a rope\nhaving large pieces of cork attached to it at intervals) at the top, and\nleaden sinkers attached to the foot-rope, which unites all the nets at\nthe bottom. Two warps of 60 fathoms each are requisite, and there are\nbrails (small half-inch ropes) attached to the foot-rope, which are of\nuse to haul upon, in order to purse up the net and prevent the fish from\nescaping.\n\nThe seine is shot from a boat whilst it is being pulled round the shoal\nof fish. All having been thrown over, the warp is hauled upon until the\nnet is brought into ten fathoms\u2019 depth of water, when the brails and\nfoot-rope are hauled in, and the fish is tucked into the largest boat.\nIn this manner 80,000 to 100,000 herrings (about 100 barrels) may be\ntaken at a haul. But where the people are too poor to supply themselves\nwith nets or boats, many contrivances are made use of. For boats, the\n_curragh_, made of wicker and covered with a horse\u2019s skin, or canvass\npitched, is used, and often even this cannot be had; sometimes the people\nload a horse with the nets, mount him and swim him out, shooting the nets\nfrom his back; and for nets, in many places, the people use their sheets,\nblankets, and quilts, which they subscribe and sew together, often to the\nnumber of sixty, and the fish thus taken are divided in due proportion\namongst the subscribers.\n\nAfter the foreign statistics which we have laid before our readers,\nthey will doubtless expect us to inform them how many vessels and what\nnumber of hands are _now_ employed in the Irish fishery. This, however,\nwe are unable to do. The Commissioners of the Herring Fishery have\ntheir jurisdiction confined to Scotland and England, almost exclusively\nto Scotland, the fishery of which is thriving under their fostering\ncare in a most surprising manner. By their judicious attention to the\nencouragement of careful curing, and the distribution of small aids in\nmoney to poor fishermen, the number of boats employed in 1839 exceeded\nthat of the former year by 78; and the progressive increase in the\nfishery is fully exemplified by the following table, showing the quantity\nof herrings cured during the five years preceding the return now before\nus:--\n\n    Year 1835  277,317   barrels.\n     \u201d   1836  497,614\u00be     \u201d\n     \u201d   1837  397,829\u00bc     \u201d\n     \u201d   1838  507,774\u00be     \u201d\n     \u201d   1839  555,559\u00be     \u201d\n\nBy this table it appears that the Scotch fishery has doubled its amount\nin five years, without any description of bounty being given. It may,\nhowever, be as well to state, before concluding this paper, that it\nappears, by the Reports of the Irish Commissioners, whose sittings\nterminated in the year 1830, that during the time that Ireland possessed\na Fishery Board, the number of persons employed in the fishery had more\nthan doubled. At the time of the first appointment of Commissioners\nof Irish Fisheries in 1819, the number of men employed was estimated\nat 30,000. By the first return which they could venture to pronounce\naccurate, being for the year ending 5th April 1822, the number was\n36,192 men; 5th April 1823, the number was 44,892 men, being an increase\nof 8700; at 5th April 1824, the number was 49,448, being an increase\non the preceding year of 4556; 5th April 1825, the number was 52,482,\nbeing an increase on the preceding year of 3034; and the numbers went\non regularly progressing every year during the existence of the Board,\nuntil its termination, as the following extract from the last Report will\nbest exhibit. It is for the year 1830, at which time the bounty had been\nreduced to one shilling per barrel:--\n\n\u201cThe Commissioners have still the gratification to find, from the\nreturns made by the local inspectors, that the number of fishermen still\ncontinues to experience a yearly increase. The gross amount, as taken\nfrom the returns of the preceding year, was 63,421 men. The gross amount,\nas taken from the returns of the present year, is 64,771 men, being an\nincrease on the past year of 1350 men.\u201d\n\nBy the same report it appeared that the number of decked vessels was\n345; tonnage 9810; men 2147--half-decked vessels 769; tonnage 9457; men\n3852--row-boats 9522; men 46,212.\n\nThe quantity of herrings cured for bounty in the year ending 5th April\n1830, was 16,855 barrels, the bounty on which was \u00a3842 15s.\n\nThe tonnage bounty paid to vessels engaged in the cod and ling fishery\nwas \u00a3829 10s; and the bounty on cured cod, &c. was \u00a3960.\n\nThere is not in the reports that we have seen any attempt at estimating\nthe quantity of herrings caught, which is somewhat extraordinary,\nconsidering the accuracy with which the number of fishermen, curers,\ncoopers, &c., was ascertained; but the quantity cured is given above.\n\nWhilst, however, the number of fishermen employed in the fisheries\ngenerally, increased so very considerably during the period that the\nIrish Fishery Board was in operation, it is an extraordinary, and to us\ninexplicable fact, that the quantity of herrings cured for bounty in any\none season never exceeded 16,855 barrels, so that even the high bounty\nof 4s per barrel was not sufficient to induce the Irish fishermen to\ncure their herrings in a proper manner. In short, the fishery board, in\nso far as the primary object of its formation was concerned, was totally\ninoperative, and the people of this country were as dependent then as now\nupon the Scotch curers for the requisite supply of the staple luxury of\nthe poorer classes.\n\nIt is impossible to say to what extent the fisheries may have fallen off,\nif at all, in Ireland, since the abolition of the fishery board; but as\nthe quantity of salted herrings imported into Ireland from Scotland has\nnot materially increased since, it may be presumed that as many herrings\nare caught and cured now as at any former period.\n\nThe alleged decline of the Irish fisheries has by many been attributed\nentirely to the withdrawal of the bounties and the fishery board. But\nwhen we consider the exceedingly trifling amount of bounty paid on\nherrings in any one year, the discontinuance of so small a sum as \u00a3842\n15s 7d (the amount in 1829-30) could not possibly have any perceptible\ninfluence upon a branch of industry which gave employment to 75,366\npersons.\n\nNor could the discontinuance of the grants made for harbours and small\nloans to poor fishermen have produced any material influence upon the\nfisheries, as the total amount advanced in ten years for these two\nobjects was only \u00a339,508 18s 2d, or less than \u00a34000 a-year.\n\nThere is then but one other point of view in which the withdrawal of\nthe fishery board could have operated injuriously, namely, the absence\nof that supervision and authority in regulating the fisheries which the\nofficers of the board exercised to a certain extent, and which in our\nopinion ought to have been continued.\n\nThe various modes of curing herrings will form the subject of a future\narticle.\n\n\n\n\nCASTLECOR, A REVERIE,\n\nBY J. U. U.\n\n\n    Ancient oaks of Castlecor,\n    Which the wreck of weathery war,\n    Summer\u2019s sun or winter blast,\n    Chance and change still sweeping past,\n    Still have left thus hoar and high\n    While the world hath fleeted by.\n\n    Many a race of pride hath run,\n    Many a field been lost and won;\n    Many a day of shame and glory\n    Past into the dream of story,\n    Since the spring time of your birth\n    Revelled on this ancient earth.\n\n    Well your crown of age ye wear--\n    High upon this noon-day air,\n    Broadly waving in the light,\n    Thickset tufts of verdure bright;\n    While, beneath, your massive shade\n    Sleeps upon the ferny glade.\n\n    Where the summer sunbeam plays\n    O\u2019er the long-drawn leafy ways,\n    Down through tremulous gleams of green,\n    On some spot at distance seen;\n    Where the foliage opens brightly,\n    If the fallow-deer bound lightly;\n    Well the swiftly passing gleam\n    Mingles into fancy\u2019s dream,\n    See in shadowy light appear\n    Some old hunter of the deer,\n    Through the stillness of the wood,\n    Bent in listening attitude;\n    Then amid the haunted glade\n    Melt away in distant shade.\n\n    Were not life as brief and frail\n    As a gossip\u2019s idle tale,\n    What eventful hours might be\n    Here recalled to memory!\n\n    Straight upon the visioned sight,\n    Through the rifts of leafy light,\n    Where yon verdurous dusk disparts,\n    What strange cloud of blackness starts\n    \u2019Tis the grim and gloomy hold;\n    Which ruled here in days of old,\n    Leaving a name where once it stood;\n    \u2019Tis the \u201ccastle in the wood.\u201d\n\n    Lo! from parapet and tower\n    Frowns the pride of ancient power--\n    Lo! from out the cullised port\n    Pours the storm of raid or sport;\n    Haughty eye and ruthless hand\n    Iron chief and ruthless band;\n    Well the robber chief I know,\n    Tracked by many a home of woe.\n    Onward bound; nor far behind\n    Swells a murmur on the wind--\n    From his kerne and lowring prey,\n    Pride of pastures far away,\n    Hither bound from foray rude,\n    To his \u201ccastle in the wood.\u201d\n    Still the pageant nears--but lo;\n    Fancy shifts the gliding show,\n    To a sight of gayer mood.\n\n    On free air in sunshine glancing,\n    See a jovial train advancing,\n    Bright housed steed and palfrey prancing,\n    Horn and hound and hawk are there,\n    Spear and scarf, and mantle fair,\n    Sport and jest, and laughter gay,\n    Shout and jolly hark away!\n    On the glittering pageant streams,\n    Vanishing in golden gleams.\n\n    Next across the shadowy lawn,\n    Cowled and cinctured form glides on\n    With ruddy cheek though solemn gear,\n    Full glad it seems of journey done,\n    That started with the rising sun,\n    And confident of jovial cheer;\n    Such never yet was wanting here.\n\n    Who follows fast, with footstep light,\n    And eye of fire, and garment white?\n    O, now the child of song I know,\n    For the sun on his tuneful harp is bright!\n    And free on the wind his long locks flow--\n    O! glad will they be in yon halls below.\n\n    But all is gone--one sober glance\n    Hath whirled in air the fitful trance,\n    The visioned wood that fancy ranged,\n    Is still a wood, but O, how changed!\n\n    Ancient Power\u2019s, barbaric sway,\n    Iron deeds have passed away--\n    Superstition\u2019s gloomy hour,\n    With the tyrant\u2019s feudal power--\n    All have passed!--and in their stead,\n    Piety with reverent head,\n    Sense, and mild humanity,\n    Polished hospitality,\n    Taste that spreads improvement round,\n    On the old paternal ground;\n    And without its blood and crime,\n    Keeps the grace of elder time.\n\n\n\n\nSCRAPS FROM THE NORTHERN SCRIP.\n\n[The following specimens of the Icelandic Sagas have been closely\ntranslated for the Irish Penny Journal, from the publications of the\nRoyal Society of Northern Antiquaries, Copenhagen.]\n\n\nNO. I.--KING OLAVE AND THE DEVIL.\n\nAnd now the enemy of the whole human race, the devil himself, saw how\nhis kingdom began to be laid waste, he who always persecutes human\nnature, and he saw how much on the other hand God\u2019s kingdom prospered and\nincreased; thereat he now felt great envy, and he puts on the human form,\nbecause he could so much the more easily deceive men, if he looked like\na man himself. It so happened that King Olave was on a visit at \u0152gvald\u2019s\nNess,[2] about the anniversary of our Lord Jesus Christ\u2019s nativity; and\nas all were regularly seated in the evening, and preparations were making\nfor the drinking bout, and they were waiting until the royal table should\nbe covered, there came an old one-eyed man into the hall with a silk hat\non his head; he was very talkative, and could relate divers kinds of\nthings; he was led forward before the king, who asked him the news, to\nwhich he replied, that he could relate various matters about the ancient\nkings and their battles. The king asked whether he knew who \u0152gvald was,\nhe whom the Ness was called after. He answered, \u201cHe dwelt here on the\nNess, and dearly loved a cow, so that she would follow him wherever he\nled her, and he would drink her milk; and therefore people that love\ncattle say that man and cow shall go together. This king fought many a\nbattle, and once he strove with the king of Skorestrand; in that battle\nfell many a man, and there fell also King \u0152gvald, and he was afterwards\nburied aloft here on the Ness, and his barrow will be found here a little\nway from the house; in the other barrow lies the cow.\u201d The drinking bout\nwas now held according to usage, and all the diversions that had been\nappointed. Afterwards many went away to sleep. Then the king had that\nold man called to him, and he sat on the footstool by the king\u2019s bed,\nand the king asked him about many matters, which he explained well, and\nlike an experienced man. And when he had related much and explained many\nthings well, the king became constantly the more desirous to hear him;\nhe therefore staid awake a great part of the night, and continued to ask\nhim about many things. At last the bishop reminded him in a few words\nthat the king should stop speaking with the man; but the king thought\nhe had related a part, but that another was still wanting. Far in the\nnight, however, the king at last fell asleep, but awoke soon after, and\nasked whether the stranger was awake; he did not answer. The king said\nto the watchers that they should lead him up, but he was not found. The\nking then stood up, had his cupbearer and cook called to him, and asked\nwhether any unknown man had gone to them when they were preparing the\nguest-chamber. The head cook said, \u201cThere came a little while ago, sire,\na man to us, and said to me, as I was preparing the meat for a savoury\ndish for you, \u2018Why do you prepare such meat for the king\u2019s table as\nchoice food for him, which is so lean?\u2019 I told him then to get me some\nfatter and better meat, if he had any such. He said, \u2018Come with me, and I\nwill show you some fat and good meat, which is fit for a king\u2019s table.\u2019\nAnd he led me to a house, and showed me two sides of very fat flesh; and\nthis have I prepared for you, sire!\u201d The king now saw it was a wile of\nthe devil, and said to the cook, \u201cTake that meat now, and cast it into\nthe sea, that none may eat thereof; and if any one tastes of it, he\nwill quickly die. But whom do you suppose that devil to have been, the\nstranger guest?\u201d \u201cWe know not,\u201d said they, \u201cwho it is.\u201d The king said,\n\u201cI believe that devil took upon himself Odin\u2019s form.\u201d According to the\nking\u2019s command the meat was carried out, and cast into the sea; but the\nstranger was nowhere found, and search was made for him round about the\nNess, according to the king\u2019s commandment.--_From Olave Tryggvason\u2019s\nSaga._\n\n[2] The Norse word which becomes _ness_ as the termination of several\nBritish localities and _The Noze_ in our maps of Norway, means\n\u201cpromontory\u201d (literally \u201cnose\u201d) and must not be confounded with _The\nNess_ in the county of Londonderry, which is in Irish \u201cthe waterfall.\u201d\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n    Printed and published every Saturday by GUNN and CAMERON, at\n    the Office of the General Advertiser, No. 6, Church Lane,\n    College Green, Dublin.--Agents:--R. GROOMBRIDGE, Panyer Alley,\n    Paternoster Row, London; SIMMS and DINHAM, Exchange Street,\n    Manchester; C. DAVIES, North John Street, Liverpool; JOHN\n    MENZIES, Prince\u2019s Street, Edinburgh; and DAVID ROBERTSON,\n    Trongate, Glasgow.","title":"The Irish Penny Journal, Vol. 1 No. 49, June 5, 1841","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":12012}