Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-11-17
AFOOT IN IRELAND.
A Pen Picture Of Charming Glen veagh.
MISTY WALES AND STATELY. PEAKs-oLKNDowAN
vALLEr-AN EVENING IN A HosPrrABLE PARK
HOUSE, TYPICAL HALLOWEEN crIrBaAr1oN-
An IMPRoMPTu DANCE.
Copyrighted, 1881
ENNIsKfILEN. IREIAyp- Nov A 1896

AN MfRoNPTU DANCE
copyrighted. 1881
ENNIsKrLLEN, IRELAND, Nov, 6, 1883.
There is a sovereignty Of elation and exalta-
ton in wandering alone among the scenic glo-
ries of any land. A good staff or stick, stout
pair Of legs, a receptive mind, and, above all, q
CHEEKY heart, whatever ones luck, are the regal
companions for such loiterings. Thus one is in
true habilament and spirit for natures OPEN
handed companionship. She appears at her
myriad doors and windows, which are shut to
noisy crowds, with radiant weIcomings. You
may be satyr and even god with her for the
day; and poets can never sing as she will sing
to you, and you will sing in and from your soul
to her, to the marvel Of yourself, where before
You knew no harmonious chord. It was with
some such reflections as these that on the last
morning of October had left the little hamlet
OF kilmacrenan before daybreak and come with
and without the sun over the Glendowan mount
aims to see
THE RISING OF THE MIsrs
from the great valley of Glen veagh, and feast
upon the wondrous charms of burn and noun
tain, Tough and glen, cascade and cliff, if good
fortune should bring with advancing day a
clear sky above. And what a witching morn
ing IL was! Scarcely could your hand be seen
centuries old, and as hard as Irish landlordism,
beneath your feet You could not mistake
that But what was to the right or the left, or
before, only fancy. quickened by the mornings
awakening life, intensified by near and far
mysterious sounds, could locate and divine.
Tramp, tramp, tramp, brave as you
might, these grew into the consciousness
as SO imperative of recognition, that de-
spite yourself ever and again you would
stop to listen. listen. Drip, drip, drip from
fha pfk Ia 1nI- 10 haa,, Of
rock. the great drops striking the water like
silver pellets upon glass, until the very chimes
OF the fairies were rung in your ears beside
the road. Not rod away, but invisible, rivu-
lets OF the nights making wimpled from rocks
to pool. from the staccato of tenor trills to the
low baritone minors of stately psalms. Just
at my side, as il swapping with its long
neck from behind the curtaining mist, q
goose would hiss. or a duck quack, at door
OF unseen cabin. Beyond or behind
kennel-door and chain, leaped out and in,
baying to his peasant-master of untimely foot
steps. Over my head the restless abrasion of
boughs whispered that the leaves, from their
very weight of fog-cups. sighed and moaned as
if impatient of their sunless prisoning Hedge
branches cracked from water-weight as in the
frost-battles OF approaching winter. Here and
there as the heavy breezes moved trii1e would
come the hesitant pipe of stirring bird, the
patter of wild hares' feet upon the slippery
lcdNes, tuc HdlI-cauSnt, nOdfSc resonance OF
hidden waterfalls; while faint and far and dis
tractingly muf1ed, the notes of distant early
chapel-bell pushed in through the ieecy folds
OF the fog. Learning these and countless more
by heart, then it was tramp, tramp, tramp,
again, as IL pushing every step through impal-
pabie banks of snow! And then-Ah. yes;
here were the brave old Donegal questioners
again. as | came between two towering bare
headed. bare-footed figures standing across
the way in front of their own invisible road
side farmhouse. gaping and stretching. and
getting taste o the morn" But no inquisi-
ton this time.
JUST TWO PLEAsANT-FACED FRESHMEN,
father and son; ready for a friendly argu-
ment upon anything; wondering at the
stranger and his brave speed through the fog,
and whom no diplomacy could escape until
breakfast OF their simple fare was had with
them. Then. as the harvests we're we'll in. the
son must be my guide through Glen Veagh.
whether or no; and. by this and by that. a
pledge must pc given that. when the day was
done. would become one of those who, from
the country roundabout were to make the
matches OF that very farm house SILVER and
ring with the innocent hilarities of an Irish All
Hallow Eve. II your fancy be a glowing one
put it to its most fervent test in picturing the
widest, sweetest. weirdest and most gloriously
beautiful spot within its powers of creation,
and you have not then got even a glimpse
OF the magical destinations of Glen Veagh.
From where we stood until the mists had
vanished. at the mouth of the pass through
Glendowan mountains, half way between noun
tain top and valley level the whole mighty
series of respondent panoramas stretched
away to the north, blending into SURPRISING
puppies above the stately blue of Veagh Iough
To the east and our right rose the long and
gracefully outlined heights of Glendowan
Behind and to the south uplands dipped and
rolled into matchless valley descents, shaping
the approach to
GLENDOwAN VALLEY,
which merged below us into the nobler depths
of Glen Veagh. To the far west from south to
north, and forming the remoter valley rim,
swept the Derryveagh ranges; while through
their highest opening were discerned the gilt
tering grays of lone Errisal, OF all Donegal the
monarch height. GendOwan scared above the
mists; Muckish lifted its huge, long back, mon
ster-like even in the sunshine; and the lofty
Dooish set ainty wall to the west. straight up
from the edge of the glen, for 200 Of its 22OO
feet in height. Through all the valley be-
tween island. erags and copse, poured burns
with endless melodies. From the Dooish side
the Calabber river bounded over its rocky bed
into scores Of cascades, separated, form
ing dreamful island, and, its BRAN
ches, reunited, stole into the peace
full bosom Of the Owencarrow. Reaching
Tough Veagh itself. you find it penned between
walls nearly thousand feet high on either
side, their escarpments hidden by masses of
cOpses in which mingle the ash, beach and
alder, forming velvety sward over which one
could seemingly safely tread. The burn of
G!enlack tumbles 600 feet within mile from
the Tough; and opposite, the torrent Of Derry
beg Is hurled over precipice Of a thousand
feet to reach the still waters in this mystic
Valley of the Deer. Beyond this, the Tough
winds as but a thread Of silver between the
denser shadows of Mullangore, and, through
gorge and glen between cliff and mountain.
then creeps silently upon its later river way to
the mighty northern sea.
AN ENCHANTED SPOT.
If the mere outlining of this enchanted spot
SO inadequately fails all power of description,
what inspired pen could fifty linn its ever
changing formings, seemings and hues? A
myriad Of tiny verdure-clad islands repose along
the valley. Glittering peak, blanched cliff,
and threatening precipice burst through the
heather and sea-green sod. Away among the
heights the golden eagle wheels above the
gorges, or calls to the echoing peaks for com
partnership in its solitudes Tumbiing burns
culver and flash, or show cascades like far
fiecks Of lace from within the shadows And
over all the song OF rivuiet, burn and river
over covert and copse and glen, over islet bog
and tarn, floods the October sunshine painting
IN unbound dyes; where the siiences are as nm
broken by human voice as in the vaulted skies
above. Grand Glen Veagh! Noblest of all
Erin's wontlrous valleys, because grandest one
fashioned by hand of the infinite Artifcer, and
as yet unsmirched by the defiling hand of gain.
HosPITABLE FARM HOUSE.
The entire day passed as an hour in Glen
Veagh, and IL wns ui0hffoIl ara ,va .a.oho.1