— DR. BELTON’S DAUGHTERS. Pp. 169. (Ward, Lock). 1890.
Alice the second marries a curate in the W. of Ireland and struggles to keep up on small means a good appearance. Her husband is an incurable optimist.
— THE LUCK OF THE KAVANAGHS. (Sealy, Bryers). 6d. 1910.
Strange adventures of an emigrant Irish boy.
— BALLYMUCKBEG. 1885.
Political satire.
— WAGGISH TALES. (Sealy, Bryers). 1897.
— THE THREE FENIAN BROTHERS. (Macmillan). 18mo. 1866. 1s.
Paul, Mark, and Ned Ryan, sons of a well-to-do farmer, were enticed into joining the Brotherhood, the two former by Patrick Mahoney, the village schoolmaster. Ned had served in the Federal Army (U.S.A.), and was sent back to Ireland as a captain. “The characters and careers of the brothers are vividly depicted in an interesting tale, the dialogue is pointed, often witty.... In the unfolding of the story much light is incidentally thrown on the state of feeling in Ireland in 1865-6.” The Author has told his life-story in Sixty Years’ Experience as an Irish Landlord, and given his views in Thoughts on Ireland by an Irish Landlord (1886).
— ON AN ULSTER FARM. Pp. 143. (Everett).
A realistic sketch of the life of a workhouse child sent out to service to a particularly unlovable set of hard Scotch Ulster folk. Interesting as a study of character and as an exposure of the misery attendant on the working of certain parts of the workhouse system. This subject is also treated in Rosa Mulholland’s Nanno, q.v.
— ACROSS AN IRISH BOG. (Heinemann). 1896.
An ugly, but very powerful, tale of seduction in Irish peasant life. The study of the ignominious aspirations of the seducer, a Protestant clergyman, after social elevation forms the pith of the book. The difficulty of his position, technically on a level with the gentry, though he is wholly unequal to them in breeding, is brought out.
— BEYOND THE BOUNDARY. Pp. 306. (Hurst & Blackett). 1902.
Scene: first in London, afterwards among Ulster peasantry (dialect cleverly reproduced). Theme: a curiously ill-assorted marriage. Brian Lindsay, son of Presbyterian Ulster peasants, had during a panic deserted his men in action. Afterwards he had been decorated mistakenly, instead of the man who had died to save him. In London he meets this man’s sister, a solitary working girl, but a lady. They are married, and he takes her home. Disillusionment on the wife’s part follows, and Brian is threatened with the discovery of his secret. What came of it all is told in a beautiful and convincing story. Not gloomy nor morbid. Running through the main plot is the story of poor little French Pipette, deserted by the foolish, selfish, mother, whom she adores. Old Lindsay, dour and godly, is very well done. An element of humour is found in the characters of Miss Arnold of the venomous tongue; fat little Mr. Leslie, who loves his dinners; and Maggie, the Lindsay’s maid-of-all-work.
— LUTTRELL’S DOOM. Pp. 76. (Aberdeen: Moran). 1s. 1896.
Purports to be extracts from an Irish gentlewoman’s diary kept between 1690 and 1726.
— THE KINGS AND THE CATS: Munster Fairy Tales. Pp. 78. Size 6¾ × 9¾ (Burns & Oates). 2s. 6d. Thirteen illustr. by Louis Wain. 1908.
Handsomely produced. Preface by Father M. Russell, S.J. Introductory verse by Katharine Tynan. Stories gleaned from old Irish peasants in England. Full of quaint, amusing turns of expression.
— EVA; or, the Buried City of Bannow.
Mentioned in the notice of this Author in O’Donoghue’s Poets of Ireland.
— MICHAEL CASSIDY; or, The Cottage Gardener: a tale for small beginners. (Seeley). [1840]. 1845.
By the Author of “The Confessor: a Jesuit tale of the times founded on fact” [viz., Miss Hardy]. Cushing. The 1845 ed. has a Pref. by C. B. Tayler. It is an attempt to urge people to small allotments, green crops, rotation, economy, and hard work.
— LEGENDS, TALES, AND STORIES OF IRELAND. Pp. 328. (Dublin: John Cumming). 1837.
Dedicated to Sir W. Betham. Hardy was the first editor of the Dublin Penny Journal. His tales of Irish life deal with fairies, faction-fights, smugglers, and burlesque or tragic adventures in a manner by no means without vivacity and cleverness, though the trail of the “stage-Irishman” is over most of his work. This edition was illustrated in a somewhat coarse and stage-Irish fashion. Other works of this Author were:—Essays and Sketches of Irish Life and Character; Ireland in 1846-7, considered in reference to the rapid growth of Popery, and several works on Irish topography.
— THE QUARTERCLIFT: or, the Adventures of Hudy McGuiggen. (Belfast), c. 1841. In shilling monthly parts. Illustrated.
An amusing story founded on the old Co. Derry folk tale of a “gommeral” named Hudy McGuiggin, who didn’t see why he couldn’t fly. So he made himself wings out of the feathers of a goose. Arrayed in these, he jumped off a high mountain (still shown by the peasantry), and of course came to grief. Strange to say, he recovered and lived to be an old man. This and other incidents are related with great verve and truth, and many well pourtrayed characters are introduced. See GREER, Tom.
— IN THE VALLEYS OF SOUTH DOWN. Pp. viii. + 155. (Belfast: M’Caw, Stevenson, & Orr). 1898.
Rupert Stanwell is kept apart from Mabel Mervyn, for his parents want him to marry a rich American heiress; but the two are joined in the end, and all is well. Conventional and unobjectionable, without any special local colour.
— GRACE WARDWOOD. Pp. 269. (Duffy). 2s. 6d. Tasteful binding. 1900.
A domestic tale of middle class folk in Co. Down. Several love stories intertwined. Gracefully written but “feminine,” and not very mature in style. Contains little that is characteristically Irish, except some legends introduced incidentally.
— DUST OF THE WORLD. Pp. vi. + 293. (Allen). 6s. 1913.
Sub-t.: “An historical romance of Belfast in the 17th century.” Introduces the Earl of Donegall, the lord of the soil; Lady Donegall who, to the annoyance of Bp. Jeremy Taylor, has hankerings after Presbyterianism; George Macartney, the Sovereign or Mayor; and other Belfast townsfolk of the day. Swift is an anachronism in this story, and there are no grounds in history for the portrait given of Patrick Adair, an early Presbyterian minister. Lord Donegall is made to talk with a brogue, while a butcher’s wife talks in the best of English.
— HOGAN, M.P. Pp. 491. (Macmillan). 3s. 6d. [1876]. New ed. 1882.
Picture of Dublin society, showing how Catholics are handicapped by their want of education and good breeding, due, in the Author’s view, to wholly wrong system of Catholic education. Discursive and garrulous. Full of social manœuvres, petty intrigues, gossip, and scandal. Convent education from within.
— THE HON. MISS FERRARD. [1877]. (Macmillan). 1882. 3s. 6d.
The Hon. Miss F. is the only daughter of the ancient and broken-down house of the Darraghmores. The father squanders his income faster than he gets it, and has to keep moving from place to place, living chiefly on credit. Miss F. is brought up in this inconsequent, semi-gipsy family, with wild harum-scarum brothers. The Author does not blink the consequent shortcomings of the heroine. Amusing things happen when she goes to live with her maiden aunts at Bath—an unsuccessful experiment. Her choice between her Irish farmer lover and the admirable English Mr. Satterthwaite—we shall not reveal. Good minor characters—Cawth, the old servant of the family; Mr. Perry, the family lawyer. “The Author represents the interiors of all Irish households of the middle classes as repulsive in the extreme.... There is in them an innate vulgarity of thought, with an atmosphere of transparent pretension.”—(Saturday Rev., xliv., 403).
— FLITTERS, TATTERS, AND THE COUNSELLOR. (Macmillan). 3s. 6d. [1879]. New ed., 1883.
Four stories: (1) Three little Dublin street arabs, nicknamed as in title. Lively and realistic portraits. Poignant and sympathetic picture of slum misery and degradation. (2) Deals with the same subject. (3) Glasgow slum life. (4) Lurid and revolting story of conspiracy and murder in a country district. There are those who consider No. 1 quite the most perfect thing that has been written about Dublin life.
— THE GAME HEN. (Dublin). 1880.
— CHRISTY CAREW. Pp. 429. (Macmillan). 2s. [1880]. New ed., 1883; still in print.
Written in spirit of revolt against Catholic discouragement of mixed marriages, showing the social disabilities which it draws upon Catholics. Several portraits of priests, e.g., a collector of old books and a model priest. Studies of various aspects of Catholic life.
— ISMAY’S CHILDREN. (Macmillan). 2s. [1887].
Tale of Fenian times, little concerned with political aims, but rather with personal fortunes of the lads who are drawn into the midnight drillings. Little political bias, but sympathies with “the quality.” Close studies of Irish middle-class domestic life. Scene: Co. Cork. The Athenæum pronounced this novel to be “the most valuable and dispassionate contribution towards the solution of that problem [the Irish character] which has been put forth in this generation in the domain of fiction.”
— JOHN NEEDHAM’S DOUBLE. Pp. 208. 16mo. (Maxwell). 1s. Paper. n.d. (1885)
“A story founded on fact,” viz., John Sadleir’s career, his fraud on the Tipperary Bank, &c. An exciting and melodramatic story. Needham poisons his “double,” Joseph Norbury, and deposits his body on Hampstead Heath, then escapes to America, is tracked and arrested, but dramatically takes poison when under arrest. Told with considerable verve. Thirty of this Author’s books are enumerated by Allibone.
— IRISH LIFE AND HUMOUR. Pp. 221. (Stirling: Eneas Mackey). 2s. 6d. 1906.
A collection of short, witty anecdotes and jokes, four or five to a page. Source: not indicated, but they are obviously culled from periodicals, or from previous collections of the kind. A few seem to be taken from serious biographies. They are given without comment, exactly as he found them, says the Author (Pref.). They exhibit no religious nor racial bias (witness the last chapter on Priest and People), but throughout you have the “Paddy” of the comic paper, and in many places the traditional Stage-Irishman whirls his shillelagh and “hurroos for ould Oireland” in a wholly impossible brogue. The stories are classified under various heads, but for convenience only. They do not illustrate national traits nor phases of national life. The above is an abridgment of a larger work [1st ed., 1904, without illustr.] with the same title, of which a new edition, pp. 488, twelve illustrations in colour, 5s. net, has been issued (August, 1909) by Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. More recently a cheap ed. has been issued at 1s., pp. 206, paper covers, with some poor illustr.
— DESMOND ROURKE: Irishman. (Sampson, Low). 6s. 1911.
Scene: South America. The hero is intended to be typically Irish. The story is described as racy and dashing, and has received high praise from the Press. We understand that the Author’s real name is Vahey, and that he lives at the Knock, near Belfast (1911); see I. B. L., Vol. IV., p. 73. He had before this novel already published two others. He is of Huguenot descent, but was b. and ed. in Ireland.
— AN AMAZING CONSPIRACY. Pp. 247. (S.P.C.K.). 2s. 6d. Illustr. by Adolf Thiede. n.d. (1914).
An exciting boys’ adventure story, opening in an island of the W. coast of Ireland, where mysterious events take place, but passing chiefly in Guatemala, where the hero goes through thrilling adventures in various revolutions.
— A SOWER OF THE WIND. Pp. 168. (Sealy, Bryers). 6d. Paper. c. 1910.
Scene: the Donegal coast. A sensational and romantic story. Local Land League doings described. The author writes of the people with knowledge and sympathy.
— THE ESCAPADES OF CONDY CORRIGAN. (N.Y.: Benziger). 0.50 net.
— THE PRIEST’S NIECE. Three Vols. (Hurst & Blackett). 1855.
In the first two volumes there is nothing about Ireland. In the third the scene shifts to Cashel, and there are some attempts to picture Irish life. The Author is not anti-Catholic nor anti-Irish: she is amusingly ignorant of Catholic matters and is not interested in Ireland. P. 37—a scene of Irish lawlessness (capture of a private still). P. 40—unpleasant description of a wake. The plot hinges mainly on the strife in the hero’s mind between his love for Ellen, the penniless peasant girl, to whom he owes several rescues from the Shanavests, and the heiress to marry whom would be to save his father from ruin.
— THE FEAST OF BRICRIU: an Early Gaelic Saga. (Irish Texts Society). 6s. 1899.
Belongs to Cuchullin cycle. C. contends in a series of competitive feats with Conall and Loigare for the championship of Ulster ... the origin of the contest being the desire of B. to stir up strife among his guests. Introd. and notes.
— SURVIVALS IN BELIEF AMONG THE CELTS. Pp. 340. Demy 8vo. (Edinburgh: MacLehose). 10s. net. 1911.
The Author is Lecturer in Celtic language and literature in the University of Glasgow. The book consists of the substance of a series of lectures on Folk Psychology. It is a study in Celtic “psychical anthropology”—practically a study of magic, superstitions, and other survivals of primitive paganism. Deals chiefly with the Scottish Highlands, but there are frequent allusions to Irish folklore and legend. Highly technical in conception and language.
— THE TRUE HEIR OF BALLYMORE. Pp. 80. Demy 8vo. (Belfast). 1s. Wrappers. 1859.
Sub-t.:—“Passages from the history of a Belfast Ribbon Lodge.” Frontisp.—the insignia of Ribbonism. An anti-Ribbon pamphlet in the form of a story. Relates the machinations of a certain Ribbon lodge for the destruction of Protestantism, and, in particular, the scheme whereby a Catholic widow is made to inveigle Col. Obrey into marriage. The latter drives out his sister and nephew, and Ballymore is invaded by a low-class drinking set of Catholics, who finally bring the poor Colonel to his grave. Subsequently it transpires that Mrs. Connor’s husband was alive all the time, and the Colonel’s nephew comes into his own. The book is full of the awful crimes of Ribbonism, and closes thus:—“No statesmanship, no good government will ever deliver our land from Ribbon disloyalty, outrages, and savage assassinations until Romanism is extirpated from the country. Ribbonism is the offspring of Romanism.”
— THE DARK MONK OF FEOLA: Adventures of a Ribbon Pedlar. (Office of Belfast News Letter). c. 1859.
“The first part contains a very affecting episode illustrative of the evils which are certain to follow the union of Protestant women with men who belong to the Roman Catholic faith. To all Protestants the story cannot fail to be interesting; and Orangemen, especially, will peruse it with peculiar pleasure.”—(Downshire Protestant).
— THE SANDY ROW CONVERT.
— THE NORTH STAR. Pp. 356. (Boston: Little, Brown). $1.50 net. Six good Ill. by Wilbur D. Hamilton. [1904]. 1908.
Scene: Norway and Ireland. The story of how Olaf Trygvesson, the exiled king of Norway, returned as a Christian champion, and overthrew his pagan rival. The wild brutal paganism of the time is depicted with realism. There is an interesting account of a great gathering in Dublin, and a sketch of Olaf’s life in exile amid his Irish hosts. There is also a love interest. Mrs. Henry-Ruffin is the only daughter of the late Thomas Henry, of Mobile, Alabama.
— FRIENDS THOUGH DIVIDED. (Frowde and Hodder & Stoughton). 3s. 6d. Excellent coloured Illustr. Attractive binding and general get-up. (N.Y.: Burt). 1.00. [1883]. New eds.
A fine boys’ adventure-story of the Civil War. Scene: mainly Great Britain, but at end shifts to Ireland for the Siege of Drogheda, which is well described. Good account of Cromwell, the two Charles, Argyll. Sympathies of writer clearly royalist. Ireland represented to be in state of semi-barbarism. Juvenile.
— ORANGE AND GREEN. (Blackie). 5s. Handsome binding; eight Illustr. by Gordon Browne. (N.Y.: Burt). 1.00. [1887]. 1907.
Adventures of two boys (one a Protestant, the other a Catholic) in the Williamite Wars. Battles of Boyne, Aughrim, sieges of Athlone, Cork, and Limerick, described. Impartial. Williamite excesses condemned. Sarsfield’s action after Limerick severely dealt with.
— IN THE IRISH BRIGADE. Pp. 384. (Blackie). 6s. Twelve excellent illustr. by Chas. M. Sheldon. (N.Y.: Scribner). 1.50. 1901.
Adventures of Desmond Kennedy, officer of the Irish Brigade, in the service of France, during the War of the Spanish Succession—chiefly in Flanders and Spain. The facts are based on O’Callaghan’s History of the Irish Brigade and Boyer’s Annals of the Reign of Queen Anne. No Irish Nationalist could quarrel with the views expressed in the Author’s Preface.
— WILD SCENES AMONG THE CELTS. Pp. 114. (Parker). 6d. 1859.
One of a series “Tales for Young Men and Women” (Church of England). This volume contains the two following tales:—
The Penitent.—How Shossag, a prince of S. Leinster, was accessory to his brother’s murder. How punishment overtook him, and how he ended his life as a penitent at the feet of St. Piran of Cornwall. Period c. 410 A.D.
The Fugitive.—A story of crime, and its punishment in the person of a Pictish chief. St. Columba has a prominent place in the story. Of him a sympathetic and appreciative picture is drawn. Scene: Scottish mainland, Iona, and N. Connaught, c. 590-597. This Author has written a dozen other historical stories. See NIELD. The two above noted are quite suitable for Catholic children.
— INNISFAIL. Pp. 284. (Gill). 3s. 6d. [1906]. (N.Y.: Pratt). 1.75. Third ed. 1907.
Life-story of a young priest from early youth to departure for Australia, largely told in letters from college, with verse interspersed. Sketches of life in Tipperary (fox-hunt, school scenes, &c.).
— GOLDEN LADS AND GIRLS. Pp. 312. (Downey). 1895.
A love story of the upper middle classes. Pictures of western (Galway) county family life, and of student life in Trinity, both strongly reminiscent of Lever. Good portraits of Irish types, the country doctor, the unpopular agent, the reforming landlord (English and a convert to Catholicism); the Protestant country clergyman, &c. This latter portrait is rather satirical. The tone on the whole is nationalist and Catholic.
— FATHER ALPHONSUS. Pp. 282. (Unwin). 1898.
The life-story of two young seminarians. One of these, finding he has no vocation, leaves before ordination, and has no reason to repent the step. The other, ignoring uneasy feelings that trouble may come of it later, becomes a priest. Afterwards he meets with a certain lady, a recent convert from Protestantism. A mutual attachment springs up, and eventually they are married. The circumstances, as arranged by the novelist, are so strange as almost to seem to palliate this sin, were it not for his omission of one factor, viz., that particular form of divine help towards the doing of duty which Catholics call the gratia status. The erring priest ends his life in a Carthusian monastery. The tone throughout is almost faultless from a Catholic standpoint. Indeed, though there are several passionate scenes, rendering the book unfitted for certain readers, the moral tone is high. Some of the characteristics of Irish social life are admirably portrayed.
— UP FOR THE GREEN. Pp. 327. (Lawrence & Bullen). 6s. 1898.
“For several of the incidents related in this story, the Author is indebted to the narrative of Samuel Riley, a yeoman [Quaker] of Cork, who was captured by the rebels, while on his way to Dublin, in September, 1798.” This worthy man discovers the rebels to be very different from what he had taken them to be. A healthy, breezy tale with more adventure than history. Standpoint: thoroughly national. There is quiet humour in the quaintly told narrative of the Quaker. Castlereagh, Major Sirr, Grattan, Lord Enniskillen figure in the story.
— WHEN LOVE IS KIND. Pp. 320. (Long). 1898.
A wholesome Irish love-story of the present day. The hero, Rupert Standish, is a soldier and a soldier’s son. The story brings out the comradeship which may exist between father and son. The page-boy, Peter, with his gruesome tales, is a curious study. There are many passages descriptive of scenes and incidents in Ireland.
— THE KING’S DEPUTY. Pp. 236. (Lawrence & Bullen). 6s. (Chicago: M’Clurg). 1.25. 1899.
Period: the days of Grattan’s Parliament, of which a vivid picture is drawn, and of the viceroyalty of the Duke of Rutland. The interest is divided between a love story and the story of a plot of the Protestant aristocracy to establish an independent Irish Republic on the Venetian model. Grattan, Curran, Napper Tandy, Sir John Parnell, Sir Boyle Roche, Father Arthur O’Leary, &c., are introduced. Descriptions (historically accurate) of the Hell-Fire Club and the Funny Club.
— SIR PHELIM’S TREASURE. Pp. 255. (S.P.C.K.) 1s. 6d. Illustr. W. S. Stacey. n.d. (1901).
A boy’s adventure-story of search for treasure. No “moral” or lesson. Good description of Crusoe-life on a little island off the Irish coast. Pleasant style; no tediousness nor dullness.
— THE POINT OF HONOUR. (Lawrence & Bullen). 6s. (Chicago: M’Clurg). 1.50. 1901.
“Stories about the quarrelsome, bottle-loving, duelling gentry of the eighteenth century.”—(Baker).
— SILK AND STEEL. Pp. 336. (Chatto & Windus). 6s. Picture cover. 1902.
Adventures of an Irish soldier of fortune at the Court of Charles I., in the Netherlands, and in Ireland. Brisk and picturesque in style. Sketch of Owen Roe and description of Benburb. The hero is Daniel O’Neill, a nephew of Owen Roe. Full of historical incidents and personages, e.g., the Earl of Essex, Father Boethius Egan, Lord Antrim. Point of view: national.
— FAN FITZGERALD. Pp. 340. (Chatto & Windus). 6s. 1902.
Young Dick Burke, brought up in England, feels the call of the Celt, and returns to his inherited estates with intent to be a model landlord. We are told in a lively and amusing style how he succeeds or fails. The Author is nationalist, but by no means a bitter partisan.
— THE WINE OF LOVE. 1904.
Deals mainly with the upper classes in the West of Ireland. Abuses of landlordism not spared. Picture of horse-dealing, fox-hunting, and card-playing lives. Also picture of typically good landlords. Standpoint on the whole national and even Catholic. Style: breezy and vigorous. Good knowledge shown of inner lives and feelings of all classes.
— THE SPLENDID KNIGHT. Pp. 262. (Sealy, Bryers). Illustr. by Lawson Wood. 1905.
Adventures of an Irish boy in Sir Walter Raleigh’s expedition up the Orinoco. A brisk and entertaining narrative.
— GOLDEN MORN. Pp. 303. (Cassell). Frontisp. 1907.
Tells the strange adventures in Ireland, London, and France of Captain O’Grady. At Leopardstown Races his mare breaks her neck, just at the finish; the Captain loses a fortune, and is fain to depart on his travels—but “all is well that ends well,” and it is so with Captain O’Grady.
— O’GRADY OF TRINITY. (Lawrence & Bullen). 6s. Re-issued by C. H. White at 6d. 1909.
Fun, frolic, and love in a student’s career. A gay and wholesome novel. Sympathetic picture of Trinity College life. Highly praised by Lionel Johnston.
— THE CONSIDINE LUCK. Pp. 300. (Swift). 6s. 1912.
It was popularly believed that the estate could not pass from Considine hands. Sir Hugh C. dies, and lo! the estate is found to be mortgaged to Mr. Smith, of London. Mr. Smith arrives, and brings with him his English notions which he proceeds to carry out to the disgust of the locality. He refuses all attempts to buy him out, but the Considine luck comes to the rescue, and the estate falls once more into the hands of a Considine. Pleasant, light style.
— SHAMROCK LEAVES; or, Tales and Sketches of Ireland. Pp. 237. (M’Glashan). 1851.
If one could abstract from the bits of gossipy anecdote intended as links to the principal stories, this book consists of several studies, touching and true to the reality, of the lives of the poor, and in particular of their sufferings during and after the Famine years. Written with much sympathy for the lowly, and a vivid sense of actuality. Most of the tales have a moral, but it does not spoil the story.
— AN UNKNOWN QUANTITY. Pp. 382. (Downey). 6s. 1898.
— WARP AND WEFT. (Skeffington). 3s. 6d. 1899.
“A conscientious rendering of homely aspects of life in Co. Antrim.”—(Baker).
— ROSALEEN O’HARA. Pp. 352. (Hodder & Stoughton). 3s. 6d. and 1s. Two illustr. 1913.
A product of the Home Rule controversy. The Author is a noted anti-Catholic writer, but he is also a Liberal, and desirous of defending Liberalism from the charge of seeking to establish Rome Rule in Ireland. Home Rule, so reads the story, would mean Rome Rule for some years, but would ultimately lead to the emancipation of the Irish from the thralldom of priestcraft and dogma. The story tells of Denis who unexpectedly discovers that he is heir to an Irish estate, and neighbour of Elenore Tyrone, whom he had seen and loved. A quarrel and the attractions of the beautiful “Fenian,” Rosaleen, separate the two for a time. The Author clearly knows little or nothing of Ireland, but he would like to be benevolent in tone to “dear old beautiful Erin.” By the same Author: Follow the Gleam, The Wilderness, The Jesuit, The Scarlet Woman, and some thirty other novels.
— DONAL DUN O’BYRNE: A Tale of the Rising in Wexford in 1798. Pp. 224. (Gill). 1s. n.d.
The story of the rising (including Oulart, Tubberneering, Gorey, and Ross, and the guerilla warfare after Vinegar Hill) from an insurgent’s point of view. The book is full of scenes of blood, and breathes a spirit of vengeance. The narrative is not remarkable. Some of the scenes border on indelicacy.
— ULICK O’DONNELL: an Irish Peasant’s Progress. 1860.
A romantic and pleasant story. Adventures in Liverpool and elsewhere in England of a clever peasant lad from Newry. He wins his way by his sterling qualities, and returns prosperous to his native Co. Down. Author tries to bring out contrasting characteristics of English and Irish.
— UNDER ONE SCEPTRE; or, Mortimer’s Mission. (Shaw). 3s. 6d. 1884.
Career of Roger Mortimer, Earl of March and Ulster (1374-98) in Monmouthshire, Ireland, and London. He was lieutenant of Ulster, Connaught, and Meath. Richard II. declared him heir to the throne, but later grew jealous of his popularity. He was slain at Kells in battle with Art McMurrough Kavanagh. Juvenile.
— THE NUGENTS OF CARRICONNA. Three Vols., afterwards one Vol. (Ward & Downey). 1890.
Main theme: an old impoverished family suddenly enriched by Australian legacy. Interwoven there is an interesting love-story. Anthony Nugent, eccentric, of astronomical tastes, has on his housetop a telescope which plays a prominent part in the story. Brogue well done. The dramatic interest centred in an Inspector of Police, a type probably very rare in Irish fiction.
— BALLADS IN PROSE. Pp. 186. (Lane). 5s. Beautifully bound and printed. 1894.
Strange, wayward tales of far-off pagan days in which one moves as in a mist of dreams. Soaked with Gaelic fairy and legendary lore. The prose pieces, all very short, are interspersed with little poems, that are slight and frail as wreaths of vapour. Some of the stories are symbolical. They are told in simple and graceful prose.
— THE ORIGIN OF PLUM PUDDING, and other Irish Fairy Tales. Illustr. by Gordon Browne. 1888.
Only one of these five stories is genuinely Irish—“Shaun Murray’s Challenge,” the scene of which is Dalkey. The title-story tells how a drunken man one evening threw his sack of groceries into a pot on the fire, and in the morning found a plum-pudding.
— THE LAST HURDLE: a Story of Sporting and Courting. Pp. 304. (Ward & Downey). 1888.
Life in an Irish county family of the old stock, with sympathy for the poor around them. Good idea of refined Irish country life and its easy-going ways. A story full of sport, gaiety, and dramatic incidents, turning mainly on the winning of the heroine by the hero in spite of the plots of the rival. Good and bad landlords are contrasted. An eviction scene is described, with full sympathy for the victims. Shamus-the-Trout, a poacher, is a very picturesque figure.
— RUNNING DOUBLE: a Story of Stage and Stable. Two Vols. (Ward & Downey). 1890.
Scene: varies between England, Dublin, and “Ennisbeg.” There are remarks on Irish life, scenery, and customs, but the chief interest is sporting—fishing, racing, betting. The stage part is in England. There is very little plot. All ends in a double wedding.
— THE FAIR MAID OF CONNAUGHT: and other Tales for Catholic Youth. Pp. 178. (N.Y.: Kenedy and Benziger). 1.25, 0.60, 0.30. 1889.
— THE CUCHULLIN SAGA IN IRISH LITERATURE. Pp. lxxx. + 316. (Nutt). 1898.
A collection of fourteen stories relating to Cuchulin, translated from the Irish by various scholars (Meyer, O’Curry, Stokes, Windisch, O’Grady, Duvan, &c.). A more valuable work, says Fiona MacLeod (in substance), for students of Gaelic legend and literature than the more recent works by Lady Gregory. The book is not cast in an artistic mould. It merely contains the rude materials from which epic and lyric inspiration may be drawn. Important and valuable Introduction deals with literary qualities of the Saga, its historical aspects and its mythology. Map of Ireland to illustrate Cuchulin Saga. Appendix contains chart of Cuchulin Saga. Notes pp. 289-297.
— CUCHULAIN, THE HOUND OF ULSTER. Pp. 279. (Harrap). 5s. net. Illustr. in colour by Stephen Reid. [1909].
Intended for young, but not very young readers. Told in modern language, free from Gaelicisms, archaisms, and difficult names. The story is continuous, not told in detached episodes. The style, though without the strange wild grandeur of Standish O’Grady, is on the whole beautiful. The story itself is full of the spirit of heroism and chivalry. It is selected and adapted from many sources (indicated in Appendix), and the epic narrative is not mixed with puerile or absurd episodes. Some of the illustrations are excellent, others tend, perhaps, too much to quaintness.
— TRUE STORIES OF THE PAST. Pp. xi. + 226. (Eveleigh Nash). 5s. net. 1911.
Ed. with introd. by R. B. Cunningham Grahame. Eight stories from History. i. “How Rizzio was Avenged;” ii. “A Rebellious Love-match;” iii. “Prince and Pastry Cook;” iv. “The Revenge of John Hawkins;” v. “The Scapegoat;” vi. “Sir Walter [Raleigh]’s Homecoming;” vii. “Cloth of Gold and Frieze.” Some of these treat of the amours of great personages. Their standpoint is, of course, English and Protestant. viii. “The Last Stand of the O’Sullivans” is told with much spirit, and with sympathy for the Irish cause. It does not include the famous retreat of the O’Sullivans.
— MOLLY BAWN. (Smith, Elder). 6s. and 2s. (Boston: Caldwell). 0.75. [1878].
“A love tale of a tender, but frivolous and petulant Irish girl, who flirts and arouses her lover’s jealousy, and who offends against the conventions in all innocence. A gay and witty story spiced with slang, and touched with pathos.”—(Baker).
— A LITTLE IRISH GIRL; and other Stories. (London: Whitefriars Libr.). 1891.
— THE O’CONNORS OF BALLYNAHINCH. Pp. 261. (Heinemann). 1s. 6d. 1896.
A domestic story of love and marriage in the Author’s lightest vein. The characters belong chiefly to the landlord class, a local carman being the only peasant introduced. There is no expression of political views. The scene is laid in Cork.
— NORA CREINA. Pp. 328. (Chatto & Windus). 1903.
A love-story from start to finish, without pretence of the study of character. The story of how Norah is won from dislike to love is pleasantly told. No politics. Peasants hardly mentioned. Scene not specified.
— FOLK TALES OF BREFFNY. Pp. viii. + 197. (Macmillan). 3s. 6d. 1913.
Breffny, i.e., Cavan and Leitrim. Many of these stories—there are twenty-six of them, all very short—“were told by an old man, who said he had more and better learning nor the scholars,” and are a curious mixture of literary language, and a very peculiar and picturesque peasant dialect. They are somewhat off the ordinary lines of folk-lore stories, and are told in a quaint drily-humorous vein.
— BESIDE THE FIRE. Gaelic Folk-stories. Collected, ed. (Irish text facing English), and trans. by D. H. With Introd., Notes on Irish text, and Notes on tales, by Ed. and Alfred Nutt. Pp. lviii. + 204. (Nutt). 7s. 6d. 1891.
Extremely interesting and valuable Preface (50 pages) by the Author, in which he reviews what had been hitherto done for Irish folk-lore, remarks on the genesis of the folk-tale, its affinities with the Scotch folk-tale, and tells us where and from whom and in what circumstances he got his stories, ending by some explanations of the style of his translations. The preface is followed by some critical remarks on it by Alfred Nutt. The English of the translations is that of the peasants. This is the first really scientific treatment of Irish folk-lore.
— THE ADVENTURES OF THE LAD OF THE FERULE.
— THE ADVENTURES OF THE CHILDREN OF THE KING OF NORWAY. (Irish Texts Society). 1899.
Two Irish romantic tales of the 16th and 17th centuries, ed. and transl. for the first time with introd., notes, and glossary. The “Lad” is a mysterious being who appears to Murough, son of Brian Boru, and carrying home for him the spoils of a miraculous hunting, demands as reward a certain ferule that lies at the bottom of a lake. Murough slays a serpent, and delivers the land of the Ever Young, which lies at the bottom of the lake. The second is a long story of enchantment and marvellous adventures.—(Baker, 2).
— An Sgéalaidhe Gaedhealach: Connaught Folk Tales. Three Parts. With French Trans. by Georges Dottin. (Rennes). Parts 1 and 2, 10s.; Part 3, 2s. 1901.
— LEGENDS OF SAINTS AND SINNERS. Pp. xiv. + 295. (Talbot Press: Every Irishman’s Library). 2s. 6d. 1915.
Forty-six stories described by the Author as Christian folk-lore, all translated for the first time from the Irish, and for the most part gathered from the lips of the people by the Author himself, who has been gathering folklore for twenty-five years. Each tale is preceded by a preface giving all the details of its collection, origin, character, &c., that are of interest to the folk-lorist as well as to the general reader. The tales are compared with similar tales occurring in foreign countries.
— OFF THE SKELLIGS. Three Vols. (Keegan Paul. Boston: Roberts). [1872]. Second ed., c. 1881.
Has no other connection with Ireland than the episode of the picking up near the Skellig Island, off Waterville, Co. Kerry, of a boat’s crew that had escaped from a burning ship.
— MY LADY OF THE CHIMNEY CORNER. Pp. 224. (Nash). 3s. 6d. net. Eight eds. in three or four months. 1914.
Sub-t.:—“A story of love and poverty in Irish peasant life.” The central figure—almost the only figure in the book—is Anna Gilmore, a poor woman living in Pogue’s Entry, in the town of Antrim. Brought up as a pious Catholic by Catholic parents, she marries a Protestant against their wish. Henceforth she has renounced Catholicism, having chosen, as she says, love instead of religion. To show that her choice was of the better part seems to be the purpose of the Author. The book is a lovingly-drawn portrait, with slight incidents, and the many wise sayings of Anna as traits. There is a strong evangelical religious atmosphere throughout. The story is largely in dialect. It is laid in Famine times; yet there are several mention of Fenians, which seems to spell Catholic. The book would be better understood by a reading of the Author’s autobiography, From the Bottom Up.
— THE LION’S WHELP. Pp. 406. (Simpkin). 6s. 1910.
Introd. (by J. Campbell, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.S., LL.D. (Hon. Causa)) says, “In writing The Lion’s Whelp Dr. Irvine has set before himself two main objects. He desires to inculcate on the medical profession the necessity which exists for the education of the public in all that pertains to the maintenance of health ... and he wishes to impress upon the public all that is summed up in the time-worn adage—‘Prevention is better than cure.’” Incidentally, the book is also a satire against professional make-believe. Scene varies between Belfast, the North of England, and Denver City, U.S.A. The hero, Dan Nevin, starts his career as a doctor, with high ideals—too high, as he discovers, for real life. The story is concerned with his love-affair and various other adventures. A fine plot, well worked out, with several striking characters. Moral tone high. Religion scarcely touched upon. There are interesting descriptions of Co. Down scenery and of life in Queen’s College, Belfast. The Author is a doctor, practising in Co. Armagh.
— THE DIAMOND MOUNTAIN; or, Flowers of Fairyland. (Dundalk: The Dundalgan Press). 1s. Illustr. by A. Donnelly. 1908. Cover in white and gold.
— WINTER AND SUMMER STORIES AND SLIDES OF FANCY’S LANTERN. Pp. 252. Close print. (Gill). 1879.
Contents: 1. “Old Christmas Hall;” 2. “The First Ring”; 3. “An Irish Fairy Sketch”; 4. “The Miser’s Cottage”; 5. “By Moonlight”; 6. “By Gaslight”; 7. “A Visit to a Great Artist”; 8. “Falstaff’s Wake”; 9. “A Scene in Macbeth’s Castle”; 10. “Julio”; 11. “A Death”; 12. “Visions of an Old Voyage from Rome to Asia”; 13. “The Shores of Greece”; 14. “Theocritus”; 15. “A Glimpse of Arcadia”; 16. “A Ballad of Old Dublin” (verse); 17. “Corney McClusky” (verse); 18. “Ethel Maccara”; 19. “Pausias and Glycera”; 20. “Manon and her Spirit Lover”; 21. “An Ancient Aryan Legend”; 22. “A Florentine Fortune”; 23. “Insielle’s Dimple and Fan.”
Miscellaneous sketches and stories. Several are literary jeux-desprit (e.g., 8, 9, 10). Others slight studies of curious little aspects of life, rather imaginary than real. For the most part, however, they are peculiar, weird tales, several touching the preternatural, but not morbid. The prose is poetic, imaginative, and of high literary qualities—at times comparable with those of de Quincey, e.g., in No. 4, p. 72, sq. Here and there are exquisite pen-pictures. Several of the tales have Irish settings. No. 4 has curious pictures of old Dublin, c. 1770.
— CELTIC FAIRY TALES. Pp. xvi. + 274. (Nutt). 6s. Complete edition. [1891]. Third, 1902.
Eight full-page plates and numerous illustrations in the text by J. D. Batten. The pictures are exquisite, and could scarcely be more appropriate. Interesting and valuable Notes and References at end, about 30 pages, giving the source of each tale and parallels. The tales are drawn mainly from previous printed collections. The twenty-six tales include some Scotch and Welsh. Some are hero-tales, as “Deirdre,” and “The Children of Lir”; some folk-tales; some drolls, i.e., comic anecdotes of feats of stupidity or cunning. There are practically no fairy-tales properly so called. The tales are admirably selected, and are told in simple, straightforward language.
— MORE CELTIC FAIRY TALES. Pp. xvi. + 234. (Nutt). 6s. Complete edition.
All that has been said of the first series can be applied to the second, which is in every way worthy of its predecessor. Twenty stories. The two volumes may fairly be said to constitute the most representative and attractive collection of Celtic tales ever issued.
— CELTIC FAIRY TALES. By Joseph Jacobs and J. D. Batten. (Nutt). 3s. 6d.
— MORE CELTIC FAIRY TALES. By the same Authors. (Nutt). 3s. 6d.
The above are children’s editions of these well-known books. The text is practically the same as in the complete edition, but there are two or three illustrations omitted, as well as the Introduction and Notes. The tales are well known to be admirably suited to children.
N.B.—The same writers have edited English Fairy Tales, More English Fairy Tales, Indian Fairy Tales, and The Book of Wonder Voyages, which includes the voyage of Maelduin.
— NINETY-EIGHT AND SIXTY YEARS AFTER. (Blackwood). 3s. 6d. 1911.
In two parts. Part I. (four short stories) is told in dialect (correctly rendered) by an old schoolmaster, and relates incidents of the rebellion in Presbyterian Ulster, in which the narrator’s father had played a part on the loyalist side. Shows thorough understanding of the political and social conditions of the time, and is written in evident sympathy with the rebels, though with no blind partisanship. Part II. (four chapters of a longer story) introduces the supernatural, ghosts of ’98 returning to influence events sixty years after. A book of much power and truth.
— MICKEY FINN IDYLLS. Pp. 281. (N.Y.: Harper). 1899. Introd. by Charles A. Dana (N.Y. Sun).
Reprinted from the Sunday Sun, Leslie’s Weekly, &c. Micky is a youngster of 9 or 10, born of Irish parents, settled at Coney Island, where the scene of the idylls is laid. A good deal of humour and some pathos. A goat figures largely in the sketches.
— MICKY FINN’S NEW IRISH YARNS. N.Y. 1902.
— THE QUEEN OF CONNAUGHT. (Chatto & Windus). Picture boards. 2s. n.d. (1875).
How an Englishman, John Bermingham, fell in love with and married the descendant of an old western family. How he tried, but failed, to reform with English ideas the Connaught peasantry. Told with considerable power and insight. Note especially the description of a police hunt over the mountains in the snow. Has been dramatised.
— THE DARK COLLEEN. Three Vols. (Bentley). 1876.
Scene: an island off the W. coast. Morna Dunroon finds a French sailor, survivor of a shipwreck. She afterwards marries him, but he abandons her and goes back to France. She follows him, and passes through strange adventures, but he is still false to her. Nemesis follows in the end. Father Moy is a fine portrait of a priest. The dialect and the scenery are both true to the reality, the description of the storm at the close is particularly well done.
— THE PRIEST’S BLESSING; or, Poor Patrick’s progress from this world to a better. Pp. 308. (F. V. White). Two eds. 1881.
A most objectionable book from a Catholic point of view. Very hostile picture of priesthood of Ireland who keep the people in “bovine ignorance.” The two specimens that appear in the story are villains of the worst type. One is 25, and has been seven years a priest! He drinks heavily, and works miracles. By another a respectable peasant is incited to murder. The views of politics can only be described as “Orange.”
— MY CONNAUGHT COUSINS. Three Vols. (F. V. White). 1883.
Jack Kenmare goes to his uncle’s place in Connaught, and has a pleasant time in company with his cousins. He becomes engaged to one of them, who writes stories. Several of these are given. An excellent moral tale, and a glimpse of happy Irish life in a country house. The political point of view is not Nationalist: neither is it hostile to Ireland.
— SPORT ON IRISH BOGS. Pp. 192. (Everett). 1s. Paper. 1910.
Farcical Irish stories by a Londoner who occasionally shoots and fishes in Ireland. Peasants made grotesque, but Author has no hostile intentions. Nondescript dialect. “A Home in Calery” is quite different, and makes very pleasant reading. “Sister Eugenia” is an agreeable, melodramatic story.
— GERALD FRENCH’S FRIENDS. Pp. 240. (Longmans). Well illustr. 1889.
Six stories reprinted from the Century Magazine, 1888. Gerald, a spendthrift son of good family, takes to journalism, and goes to San Francisco. There he meets various types of his fellow-countrymen, and the stories are about these. “All the incidents related in this book are based on fact, and several of them are mere transcripts from actual life.... The purpose is to depict a few of the most characteristic types of the native Celt of the original stock, as yet unmixed in blood, but modified by new surroundings and a different civilization.” An excellent work, and perhaps the Author’s best.
— WHERE THE SHAMROCK GROWS. (Murray & Evenden). 3s. 6d. 1911.
A rather commonplace story. The characters are mostly of the squireen class, notably the drunken Mat O’Hara. There are two love stories, both having happy conclusions, to which the racehorse Liscarrick largely contributes. “The paper is poor and the binding tawdry.”—(I.B.L.) “The writer has only put on record that part of his experience which can be reconciled with conceptions derived from Lever.”—(Irish Times).
— DESMOND O’CONNOR. Pp. 320. (Long). 6s. 1914.
The “Wild Geese” in Flanders. Desmond is the “Lion of the Irish Brigade.” A love story that moves through camps and courts, siege, battle, adventure, misunderstanding, to a happy ending, under the aegis of the Grand Monarque. Told with spirit and verve.
— ELLEN: A Tale of Ireland. Pp. 139. 16mo. (London). 1843.
A curious and rather meaningless little story. Ellen O’Rorick, daughter of a drunken tavern keeper, of Leixlip, goes to England, and mixes in high society. Forgotten and looked down upon by her childhood’s friend, whom she loves, she marries in succession two elderly, rich men, and then settles in Ireland to a life of philanthropy, having meanwhile become a Protestant. A good deal of moralising.
— MAVOURNEEN; or, The Children of the Storm. Pp. 233. (Walter Scott). 1904.
Kitty O’Neill on her way to her aunt at Lostwin, in England, is saved from a wreck by Ralph Whitteridge, of that place. Kitty grows up, and has several suitors, but meets Ralph again, and marries him in spite of the aunt who wishes her to marry Edward, the Squire. Some of the action takes place at Malhay, in the S. of Ireland, Kitty’s native place. Kitty dies, and Ralph takes to drink, but is rescued by a former rival, and on the voyage out to S. Africa proves his sterling worth, but is drowned in a storm along with his little boy, Curly. Author’s knowledge of Ireland very slight. Brogue poor. No anti-Catholic bias.
— NIGHTSHADE. (Belfast: Aicken). 2s. Portrait. [c. 1870]. Many editions; the last c. 1902.
The hero, Charles Annandale, a young Ulster landlord and an Oxfordman, returns to Ireland in the thick of the agrarian agitation. His agent is shot by Ribbonmen, who had been previously absolved by the priest. He is an unsuccessful candidate for Parliament. The election is well described, the Author probably drawing on his experiences at Downpatrick in 1857. Among the characters is Rev. Mr. Werd (Dr. Drew, of Belfast). The sister of Charles’s betrothed is entrapped by a Jesuit, who poses as her guardian, and immured in a Paris convent, but is released after a lawsuit. There is much denunciation of “prowling Jesuits,” “Liberal Protestants,” and “Puseyite Traitors.”
— UNDER WHICH KING. Pp. 308. (Tinsley). 1873.
A plain historical narrative, with little plot, and no character drawing of the various events of 1688-91—Derry, the Boyne, &c. Very strong Williamite bias.
— OLD TRINITY: a Tale of real life. Three Vols. 1867.
Period, c. 1850. Scene: T.C.D., Ossory, and Co. Limerick. Career, told by himself of a brilliant young Trinity man, including a love story. A fine piece of narrative. But the chief source of interest, perhaps, is the account of the land troubles of the day, as the very sympathetic picture of the sufferings of the peasantry during and after the Famine years. It includes portraits, drawn with feeling and admiration, of an Ossory P.P., and of a dissenting minister. There are pointed criticisms of educational methods and a study, none too favourable, of life in T.C.D. The Author ran The Tribune in Dublin in the fifties, and was afterwards well-known in England as a lecturer of the Reform League.
— DUBLINERS. Pp. 278. (Grant, Richards). 3s. 6d. 1914.
Seventeen genre studies in the form of stories picturing life among the Dublin lower-middle and lower classes, but from one aspect only, viz., the dark and squalid aspect. This is depicted with almost brutal realism, and though there is an occasional gleam of humour, on the whole we move, as we read, in the midst of painful scenes of vice and poverty. His characters seem to interest the author in so far as they are wrecks or failures in one way or another. He writes as one who knows his subject well.
— OLD CELTIC ROMANCES. Pp. xx. + 474. (Longmans). [1879]. Third ed., revised and enlarged. 1907.
Thirteen tales, selected and translated from the manuscripts of Trinity College and of the Royal Irish Academy. Some had been already published, but in a form inaccessible to the public, and in literal translations made chiefly for linguistic purposes. The author justly claims that this is “the first collection of the old Gaelic prose romances that has ever been published in fair English translation.”—(Pref.). The translations are, as the Author says, in “simple, plain, homely English.” He has made little or no attempt to invest them with the glamour of poetry. The text is preceded by some particulars concerning these tales and their origin, and followed by notes and a list of proper names. The tales are: “The Fates of the Children of Lir, Tuireann and Usnach”; “The Voyages of Mailduin and of the Sons of O’Corra”; “The Pursuit of the Gilla Dacker and of Dermat and Grania”; “Connla of the Golden Hair”; “Oisin in Tir-na-nOge,” &c. “I would bring out,” said Dr. Richard Garnett, Librarian of the British Museum “Joyce’s Irish Romances in the cheapest possible form and place them in the hands of every boy and girl in the country.”
— LEGENDS OF THE WARS IN IRELAND. Pp. 352. (Boston: Campbell). 1868.
Thirteen historical and semi-historical legends, told by a thoroughly good story-teller, with plenty of colour and exciting incident and without clogging erudition. “A Batch of Legends” includes the story of the monks of Kilmacluth and the wonderful bird, a story of love in the ’45 (Culloden, &c.), a legend about Murrough of the Burnings, c. 1663, how Patrick saved the life of his servant Duan, Black Hugh Condon’s vengeance on the English, c. 1601; and another, “The Master of Lisfinry,” the takings and retakings of Youghal during the Desmond rebellion, story of a lost child found. “The Fair Maid of Killarney”—the taking of Ross Castle by Ludlow during Cromwellian wars. “An Eye for an Eye”—knightly combats during the Bruce invasion, 1315. “The Rose of Drimnagh”—abduction of Eleanora de Barneval of Drimnagh (near Inchicore) by the O’Byrnes. “The House of Lisbloom,” a legend of Sarsfield and the Rapparees, an exciting story. “The Whitethorn Tree,” a strange tale of Rapparees and Puritans, abductions and rescues and fights. “The First and Last Lords of Fermoy,” 1216 and 1660 (the faithless Charles II.) “The Little Battle of Bottle Hill” is another Rapparee story. “The Bridal Ring,” a story of Cahir Castle. “Rosaleen; or, the White Lady of Barna”—end of 18th century.
P.S.—Some of these Legends were publ. without the name of the Author in cheap paper ed. by Cameron & Ferguson, of Glasgow, under title, Galloping O’Hogan, and other tales, n.d.
— IRISH FIRESIDE TALES. Pp. 376. (Boston). 1871.
Sixteen stories, some historical (or pseudo-historical), some legendary, some serious, some comic. The scenes are laid in various parts of Ireland, and at various periods. Told in very pleasant if somewhat old-fashioned style. Contents—“The Geraldine and his Bride Fair Ellen”; “The Pearl Necklace” (a love story of Kilmallock); “The Building of Mourne” (Cork—Legend); “A Little Bit of Sport” (four comic stories); “Madeline’s Vow” (modern); “The Golden Butterfly” (Co. Clare); “Creevan, the Brown Haired”; “Mun Carberry and the Phooka”; “a story of Dublin life in the days of Queen Ann,” &c. Very little dialect.