The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1886-10-16
LAKES OF KILLARNEY.
Beauties of the Country Surrounding tn
Far-Famed Waters.


Beauties of tho Country Surrounding the
Far-Famcd Waters.
When Lord Palmerston spent brief
holiday in Ireland his host apologized
for the rain (Which rained every day)
as shower; and twenty years after, In
writing to Lord Carlisle, Lord Palmer
ston added: up. s. Is that shower over
yetp" The shower continues still, with
twenty years added to the original
score, and to sec fair Erin Alright it
must be visited in macintosh. Thus
equipped, the gentle dcws of Heaven
may be dciicd, rs they fall from u mild
gray sky, laced here and there with
sunbeam. Immed, ately on reaching
Killarney the traveller becomes absorbed
in the great hotel system. which Is the
same in Paris, Geneva, Munich, and
probably in every corner of the habit
able globe. A man is shot dead ten
miles of in Tralcc, but the table d'hote
is conducted on the same safe principles
ns IL it werein London. The shaggy cor
ner-boys lounge in the streets OF killar-
ncy rs in Dublin; but the spruce walters
of the great hotels do their work in the
last fashion of Italy or Hamburg; and
the hotel, situated in the fairest position
to catch the first morning rays upon the
unrui1icd luster Of the lake, is rs vast
pile of dollars as energy and capital can
make it. The lake itself differs from
the great continental waters in many
qualities Tones of pure cobalt take
the place of the striking yellow and
strong high lights OF foreign lands.
There is no sparkle in the sunshine;
the slow, calm movement of the light
travels over the vast and plumy noun
tains as IL the side OF u lantern were
opened and shut, now disclosing n gen.
tie slope of fervid green or purple
heather, now the thick rounded growth
| of trees, of n brilliant emerald; or as the
| light falls on the hill tops, discovering
the heights of purple slate and gray
stone, which wall in Il foreground OF cX-
| quisitely humid myrtlc-green. every
changing hue softly given back in the
waters OF Killarney. The tint of gray,
dear to Sir Edwin Landsecr, spreads
over the sky, opening on pale transpar-
ent azure; indicative of serene heights
above. The h;lly distances retreat
coyly into the background, unlike for
eign mountains, which are cut out in
bright lines on the eycsight. Fantastic
shapes traced in purple on the horizon
mark Magillicuddy's (the second i is
silcnt) Reeks, and beyond them the
imagination passes over seven miles
easily and quickly to the Atlantic, which
joins the Killarney waters
1t is 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-whitc
coursers, drives over these shining gulfs
to a cave, where old men become young
again if they duly light upon the spot.
Once upon a time, too, all the lake wa.
green valley watered by fairy well.
The we'll was closed by large gray
stone, and the condition by
which it was held decreed tina,
no one-maid, wife or widow
should leave the spring unsealed at sun.
set A girl, due at the trysting-place
forgot to close the we'll; and as the sur
set the water rose, and welled forth sc
abundantly that not only the maider
and her lover, but all the township
were destroyed and melted away under
the fairy tempest. But, ut evening
| once. every seven years OF So, piunacl'
and battement rise from the waves; fo
one brief minute the lover clasps hi
sweetheart to his breast, the hum of th'
spinning wheel and the lowing of cattl,
rise from the drowned settlement, till il
another instant all is swept away ant
the rad ant waters close again over thei
secret. These and scores of othe
legends people the lakes and their sur
rounding hills, side by side with tourist
in checked suits and waterproofs, ant
with the herd of touts on horseback o
on foot, selling pothcen, morning dew
goats milk, coarse knitted socks, inlai,
gewgaws, or traflickiag in combustion
OF cannon and the racket of penn
whistles, in order to rouse an echo
There is moral in the fact that Il coars
instrument struck within the embrasur
, of tho hills repeats itself in n do1el
sweet echoes OF fairy music; such is tn
power of the lake and mountain. 1t i
to such music that the fair outlines O
Howth AMI of Dublin bay fade upon tn
sky, and the traveller addresses himsel
to his berth and his reflection. -Lontto
| Mems.