The Shasta courier., 1866-08-11
SHASTA COURIER.
The +" Whisperer.o

There formerly was a man named Sullivan
who resided in the south of Ireland, (actual
ly on the boundary line of Cork and LINER
ick J, who had the art of subduing the widest
horse bv a simple process which gained him
the name of " Sullivan, the Whisperer.' p
He would get close to the horses head,
whisper something in his ear, and at once
the animal would sand before him utterly
subdued, but trembling all over. Unman.
ageable horses were brought to him from all
parts Of the country, and it was said that he
never failed. He ought to have made for.
tune, but was lazy, reckless and fond OF
drink. His original calling was that OF
blacksmith. lie was reported to have inner
tied his power, and, little before he died,
early in the present century, communicated
the secret to his only son. When l was
boy, living in Ireland, my uncle had splen-
did bay hunter whose temper was so bad
that no groom liked to saddle and ride him.
OF course this rendered the animal useless
and valueless. My uncle was advised to
send for the Whisperer," who lived only
a few miles distant, and thus / saw the third
Sullivan who had borne the name. He was
a small, wiry figured man, so unusually ST.
lent that he appeared sulky. That day the
horse was in very bad humor and it was
a task of great difficulty to get him out of
the stable. This done, Sullivan, who had
stood little apart from the other persons in
the stable yard, with his hands in his pock-
cts, gradually crept up to the horses head,
quickly covered his eyes with silk hand
kerchief, seized the halter, put his mouth to
the horse's ear, and appeared to whisper or
blow into it for about minute.
Then the animal trembled or shivered all
over, stood still while Sullivan uncovered its
eyes, and almost Immediately was as much
wet by profuse perspiration as if he had
been ridden through river. He was at
once covered from head to foot with his stall
clothing, and walked about by the groom for
half an hour. Sullivan then took the horse
into the stable, rubbed him well down with
fresh straw until he was quite dry, after
which he currycombed him very adroltly.-
All this time the horse remained very quiet,
except that it whinneyed now and then
while Sullivan was performing the rubbing
down process, and constantly turning his
head to look at him. The 'Whisperer"
had evidently charmed the animal. When
Sullivan had quilted the stable, the horse
followed him all round the yard, and evi-
IDENTIFY felt great pleasure in rubbing his
head against him. After a time he was
saddled, mounted by small groom, mere
lad, indeed, and ridden with the utmost ease,
From that day he was as easy to ride as any
other horse, and indeed, became quite cele-
brated, not only with the hounds, but in
steeple chases across the country, and finally
on the turf After winning kings plate
at the races on the Curragh of Kildare,
Faugh Ballagh, this is an Irish word, the
motto of the 18th infantry, commonly called
the Connaught Rangers" and signifies
'clear the way" caught the fancy of some
French nobleman, who happened to be pres
ent, and was sold to him ior 81 900. His
descendants in Gascony, are distinguished to
this day for their strength and speed Cor
respondence Round Table,