The Irish standard., 1886-11-27
THE LAKES OF KILLARNEY.
A Description of the Beauties Of the
Country Surrounding the Far
Famed Waters.
EARLY LIFE OF EDMUND BURKE,
The Orator and Statesman, Who, in After
Years, Reflected so Much
Credit Oh His Country.

Ihe orator ana Statesman, " no, IN Alter
Years. Reflected so Much
Credit Oh His Country.
When Lord Pallnerston spent a hrlef
holiday in Ireland his host apologlZed
for the rain (which rsined every day
as a shower: and twenty years after, i'll
writing to Lord Carlisle: Lord Palmer
ston added: "p. Sis that shower
over yet?' The shower continues still,
with twenty years added to the original
score, and to see fair Erin Alright it
must be visited in macintosh. Thus
equipped, the gentle dews Of Heaven
may be deded, as they fall from mild
gray sky: laced here and there with Il
sunbeam. Immediately on reaching
Killarney the traveller becomes ab--
sorbed in the great hotel system, which
is the same in Paris, Geneva, Munich,
au<' probably in every corner Of the
ilablt5h]e globe. 4 nan is shot dead
ten miles otl i'll Ii;slee. but the table
d'hote is conducted ON the same safe
principles as ii il were in London. The
shaggy cornes-boys lounge in the
streets of Killarney as in Dublin; but
the spruce walters OF the great hotels
do their work in the last fashion Of
Italy or Hamburg; and the hotel. situ-
ated in the fairest position to catch the
first morning rays upon the unrufiied
),lster Of the lake, is as vast a pile OF
dollars as energy and capital can make
it, The lake itself differs from the
great continental waters in many quail
ties. Tones of pure cobalt take the
place Of the striking yellow and strong
nigh lights Of foreign lands. There is
10 sparkle in the sunshine: the slow,
calm movement of the light travels over
the vast and plumy mountains as it
the side Of lantern were opened and
shut, now disclosing 81 gentle slope Of
fervid green or purple heather, now the
the thick rounded growth Of trees, Of a
brilliant emerald; or as the light falls
On the hill tops, discovering the
heights Of purple slate aud gray stone,
which wall in foreground Of ex-
quisitely humid myrtle-green, every
changing hue softly given back i'll the
waters of Killarney. The tint Of gray,
dear to Sir Edwin Landseer. spreads
over the sky. opening on pale transpar-
ent azure; indicative of serene heights
above. The hilly distances retreat
coy1y into the background, unlike for
eign mountains, which are cut out in
bright lines ON the eyelight. Fantastic
shapes traced in purple on the horizon
mark Magillicuddy's (the second it is
SILENT Reeks, and beyond them the
imagination passes over seven miles
easily and quickly to the Atlantic,
which Joins the Killarney waters.
Itis said that, once in seven years, in
the dew Of May morning. the great
O'Donoghue rises from his lair under
the depths, and, drawn by milk white
coursers, drives over these shining
CUFFS to cave, where old men become
young again if they duly light upon the
spot. Once upon a time, too, all the
lake was a green valley watered by
fairy we'll. The we'll was closed by a
large gray stone, and the condition by
which it was held decreed that no one
maid, wife or widoW-should leave
the spring unseaied at sunset. A girl,
due at the trysting- place, forgot to close
the well: and as the sun set the water
rose. and wel]ed forth. so abundantly
that not only the maiden and her lover,
but all the township were destroyed
and melted away under the fairy tenn
pest. But, at evening, once. every
seven years or so. pinnacle and battle
ment rise from the waves; for one
brief minute the lover clasps his sweet
heart to his breast, the hum Of the
spinning wheel and the lowing of cattle
rise from the drowned settlement, till
in another instant all is swept away
and the radiant waters close again over
their secret. These and scores OF other
legends people the lakes and their sur
rounding hills, side by side with tour
lists in checked suits and waterproofs,
and with the herd Of touts on horse
back OF on foot, selling potheen. morn
ing dew, goats milk, coarse knitted
socks. inlaid gewgaws. or trafficklng IN
conabustions of cannon and the racket
of penny whistles, in order to rouse an
echo. There is a moral in the fact that
coarse instrument struck within the
embrasure of the hills repeats itself in
a dozen sweet echoes of fairy music,
such is the powerof the lake and noun
tain. It is to such music that the fair
outlines of Howth and Of Dublin bay
fade upon the sky. and the traveller ad-
dresses himself to his berth and his re-
aection.-LondonN News.
EDMUND BURKE.
A late Issue of the COntempOrarY Re-