The Sun.
London, England, 1834-10-11 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

THE ANGLER IN IRELAND. 2 Vas'
R. Bentley, London, 1834.
The author of these volumes is one of those stan"cibt.
indefatigable anglers whom old Isaac Walton would
have been proud to hail as a brother. In the Pursuot,
of his favourite sport nothing checks or daunts intia
He scales mountains ; wades though broad, raPst
streams ; crosses vast lakes in boats of the lighte`
and craziest construction ; rattles along
over cress;
roads in jaunting-cars, which seem as if they were .eth,
dowed with a genius for upsetting ; and pierces, 'cites;
out a guide, into the very heart of the bogs, was
..,0
and crags of Cunnemarra. If we may credit his rdo
account—and we see no reason why we should
otherwise—he must have surprizingly diminished the
hnea
piscatory population of Ireland—especially the s .as
portion of it, who can no longer say of thernse've;
„ are sere
what O'Connell says of the peasantry, the
millions 1" Indeed a more zealous angler tbariA
author of these volumes we never heard or read
When he does not capture some ten or twenty polo
weight of fish, he considers, with Titus, that he by
lost a day. His vanity is not a whit less rernarklain,
than his enthusiasm. Thus when he meets with ot
different sport on the lake of Roscroe, he win :I,v
allow that his own want of skill or patience has .;;;
thing to do with it; but accounts for it by übser'lake
" every one concurred in assuring me that this belt
has very much fallen off of late years." Again, sc jo
he toils all day, like Zebedee, and catches nothing,
the salmon pools of Galway, he has the same acc°bs re d
modating excuse,—,, Lawless accounted for nt) ter
sport by the fact of so many having fished the 0
of
before me." We do not mention these trait; er.
character with any view to condemn them ; far °llior
wise ; they constitute, from their extreme sirletfthe
and unconsciousness, the most amusing portions °a hi
work; and he must be a reader of a turn of wind e
no means to be envied, who can peruse them other; tie
than with a good-humoured smile. We have 1111,15
doubt that the book will be successful, for it ah°u. ten
in description, anecdote, and incident, and is writ ja
in that airy and cheerful style which is so attraetived
these days. One delightful trait of character vie
not omit to mention. The author, it seems'
caught a pike weighing upwards of thirteen pound-di,
Lough Derg ;it was not, he tells us, in good c°ll,e-
-tion —in other words it was not eatable—what !,:ow
fore does the reader suppose he did with it ? • .1".,"
it away ? No such thing. " I took the libertY'of
says he, " of sending it to the very amiable 8i514,,,
Killaloe I" Who would not be amiable, if thus belets
volence is to be rewarded ? We subjoin a few ex the
taken at random from .the work. On entering:,
county of Clare, the author at once finds that be 'et;
a disturbed district, by the quality of the al°
returned to his questions :
veers the
„ my companions were very kind in pointing out to
various objects of interest along our route • and the arhl.,,eoig•
received to • some of my questions reminded me veil Sys for
cantly that I was in the Fatherland of the Terry Alts.
instance—' Pray, whose house is that to our left ?' Aged,
" ' Oh, that is Mr. Synge's, whose servant was nun'
and himself so often shot at two or three years ago.'
" ' Oh ! and pray, whose is that a mile or two further ' mat'
" Why, that is Mr. Blood's, who was so dreadfully
dered about the same time.'

" Oh thank you.'"
At Galway the author has the rare luck, r t
see, at least to hear an Irish supper-party and "
mage of the good old school. To increase his fel'c 3,
he is thrust into a bed-chamber, which is onlY rse,Py
rated by a thin partition from the room where thej.:ol
ing and fighting are going forward ; and as be is f3ll°the
and drowsy, having been up since three o'clock Inver
morning, creating a world of tribulation 01 :ifle
plexity among the Galway salmon, we caogiu't3riovf
how enviable his situation must have been ! ,uckrial•
comes it he did not take an active part in the an
mage ?" We verily believe he is the first Iri
s

who ever yet resisted such a temptation. NO'
" Having been up very early, I retired in goad time LOOP'
OOP;
with the vain idea of enjoying a long and deligh,t`e, gs',
Unfortunately, however, just as I was dropping asleer'oalld
party rushed into a public room, which was divided by
co
thin partition from my bed-chamber, and vociferousirobstaeol
for supper. They had scarcely begun to attack the see
and champaign, when into the same room was ushered 30)
party (I believe, of officers marching through the tl,O cor!:,
demanded similar fare. A vigorous firing of chealsrie'
ensued from both tables, with most emulative and n:o
°i tastes'
tastes'hilarity. At length observing their mutual sit:6lo'resl'4t, st
be
they very naturally combined parties, elected a pis
began the evening in real earnest, at about one o'clockj
morning. a full, le
" And now the artillery of corks, and toasts, and obe
wit, pealed louder and louder. I question not that thlvie to
process of a drunken supper-party may be very Oil Pt;
those concerned therein ; but, somehow or other, to
ferent observer, who is perfectly sober, it does not aPP r.'"bc altogether the noblest employment of rational beings;octi !el;
ther does the wit elicited on these occasions seem te,oiratie,r
voluntary listener entirely to deserve the excessive a“e 501Y.0
with which it is received. Moreover, when this sail' d bee,
listener has been up at three o'clock that morning, Vils Ore'
kept feverishly awake for several successive hours 11 tßes obe;
his imagination may very possibly suggest many Pae„ortere of
he could wish his entertainers more comfortably erthe
and none of those places within a hundred miles 0' I,
they have chosen for their carousals. .
" The harmony of the evening did not, however, laspsy,„,,
the night. It seemed as if Mars had dropped in,t as t'l,7.
friend Bacchus a visit; for, after drinking as laue7o-,,j1,
could, some of the party began to amuse themselves
'—ge tit
at
ing. To settle this properly, they adjourned to a
,tarroom, where a scene ensued so utterly disgraceful, ta to b
even the landlord and landlady, although not unusea, oree,,
exhibitions, interfered to put an end to it without roue so grie.o
One of the revellers, however, felt his honour S 00t
t2t,
ously wounded, that nothing would heal it but to ge to fiig`li,
the field. Accordingly it was agreed that they were'" f a
as soon as ever there should be light enough to seed, reoo
Christian at the distance of ten paces. The seeollootivbl
close to my room door, to make the requisite arranger' thrl..e r
I necessarily overheard ; and it seemed to be totally big ,fait
the instrumentality of one, who had alone preser' e the B'o
briety and gentlemanly demeanour throughout, thater, it be
was finally made up without any fighting. HOwelald lietry
made up : and of conrse the conclusion of peace eoost esl.ch
ratified without further libations, mixed with the htl/pg, 04:110
vagant expressions of good-will and good wis 5,e1
sounded strangely at variance with what those sale ais 01w- ere
lately vented 1 This brought the evening on to near arty wad
in the moi ning ; when fortunately some of the ate l;
tbe
obliged to start by coach. They accordingly sePar witb.ato
I soon after, for the first time, sank into a quiet do!,e' got
conviction, Well, now I see I have at last reanY
Ireland.' " Ti e
er-
ri
In the second volume we have a sketch of tri
Abbey, which must be a most attractive spot/ °ridge
has a boggy meadow in front, and beyond that Abbey
a
of sand." The description of this far-fama 46 1
n
applies with wonderful felicity to its prol3r;do most
is an extensive pile.,, So is Daniel I Do
It is a .c 1!
extraordinary jumble of incongruities?' Ditt° self
nt tire
In fact, one would seem to have been buil r
lift
on the model of the other.
much less 30Y
" But I am not writing a political treatise, the Into
of Daniel O'Connell ; and therefore will not deter
that
any
other reasons which must for ever sink him in at anJ tete
of all impartial persons. Circumstances hdave,
and 1 the
made him one of the most noted men of his day
'•
ground.' I accordingly sent my gg
saing dered
bb:ervelie Tl'w dit C
fore
n e couldr not
w pass
f w near
at
mhaiys residence
so me 711:11;iratew;hi
to Sneem, and rode up to the house.
Derrinane
hisA b
residencebey '
art
r
is an ex Eit
Derrinane simply, or Derrinane House. I
le s
le
t part o{
it
a most singular jumble of incongruous additions,
though, that its accommodation within
;buts thekraeaavil
aabibaeityh°i;
naeti
gahbhoonat
rah erflo:di
attempt at gardelttern
belie
appearance without. There is some
ther-slated, part of it aping the castellaistemduscthylsetiparior tossil
dge of sand, Wool
is a boggy meadow ; and beyond that
The situation 19 bid
grounds immediately around it, but neither nature nor In
breezes have favoured the Liberator's IT
contrast with rue
prirovementS; biell
aenxdtensedeslutodetdhteasnhdorVetee strikingly
in
edw to sec:, the gre, tlos
while thus engaged was much surprised rsoceunnedstihne whichhouse Masr.
nOear' Coasnnelll
justice to say
to meet me. I must do him ,eap
coming out
if the kiades. oft-
hospitality of an Irishman; me,
house. 1." pert
cnisni.udsuailtl?irnonetcuinptrieuddi.
s to decline, 11 to
tier,
eer cacsosatesdtrmanegewrittho
dinethe p7o.nlditeslneeess r:te. a.
the t
tation, however, I was reluctantly compelledut
c„etly frorgv:soe,
from feeling my time to be very limited ; b bag
lie car an' ‘
eated t
rep
lavrhraienhgewmereentws.afitihnagd
for
ramdea
artesspeneeteirang.