The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-05-14

Il unity One OK tu6 Rf8Ht 00Ek O1AlJSoIAON4
fortified castles. The lower portion OF III
great quadranRular keep 10 in . good stat'
Of preservation for about thirty feet from
the ground; one OF ito side walls showing
noble window. risss solidly andsirmly fol
perhaps twenty-five feet abovs This; ami !
massive square fianking tower still lifts itl
rough old walls TO = probable height OF
seventy feet. II must have been q wsird
and dreary place for one of Spsnssr's fine
nature.
But three things of The xravest inpor-
tAnce to poet rincs or peasant. came tc
this man in his eleven ysaHs Of practical
b~anishmsnt here, between 1881 and 1889,
The irst Of these was the Christening aud
exRltinR influence of absolute self denial.
The second was in his wooing aad mary
ing q woman ''of mean BIRTH" whs was SO
loyal, sweet and good that Spsnser never
knew an unhappy hour o her account du--
ing his life, more power to women "of
visits TO and c%ommunions with his noble
friend. Raleigh. at messy old YouHhsl. q
few miles distant upon the seacoast. Raj
eiZh. genius and poet that he himself was,
generously recognized the greater poets
true greatness; warmed his heart with
sunny hospitAlities: sustained his doubtful
dreamings with n strong and heartsome
friendship; and in 1889 bodily look the tim-
orous Spsnser to London; personally intro
duced him to the queen; and that very year
saw the publication of the first three books
of Faerie Queen. AZ
These three good fortunes despite bitter
financial straits on the one hand, and. on
the other, Irish ''rebellions'' Of such start
ling frequency that every far line of trees.
like trembling silhouettes against the hori-
zon, undoubtedly took on the form of Dss-
mond and Tyrone ~avengets, made him sing
as no English poet before his time had
ever sung. And in these true things of his
life lnv Tho ~, ,v,Ay,cofnn For tina fAfAp
days of poverty In London. where. as the
sequel proved. English indifference was
more fatal than Irish savaRsry, brought him
nothing save the loyalty Of his companion
'of mean BIRTH" and he was allowed to die
in want in the land he had more infinitely
honored than any other who ever lived in
it, save Shakespeare. There is but little
here TO remind of S~penser now. So desc
late is old Kilcolmnn and devoid of
suggestive association the region round
about. that the pilgrim hithsr must
p~erforee bring. Spenssr along in his
heart and build almost the
haunts from his own loving fancy. Only
one raal n sweet shinR 10 here which will
always remain as II revealing the radiance
OF the poets gentle presence. That 10 the
near little river. Awbeg, the "Halla" Of his
joyous verse; more joyous and melodtous
ever, 40 it sings Of him who sung, on its
ouAoy O0nubCOu8 Wdy ~ b60 1CldCA At0I
and the sea. --s
There il nothing more beautiful in all
Ireland than Cork CITY, set in stone and
terrace against her leafy heights. and the
broadening river Lee. which. rising in the
mystic depths of weird, wild Gougane
Barra, at the edge of Kerry. wanders
through lovely elens and sunny v~aIessto
blending with the aalt water. sweep through
the most glorious and picturesque estuary
in the world, down past Queenstown to the
sea. But this has been rspe atedly told by
word PAINTERS galore. Ny own secret long
ing led me first and last to, v
The groves of Bla,ney,
look 40 charming
Down by the purlings
OF sweet silent brooks"
One hardly realizes that he il In ireland
while among these handsomely attired peo-
pie who. seeking their suburban homes,
throng the cars of the little railway leading
from Cork along the sweet shores Of a uur-
murinR stream; and for the short four
miles to Blarnsy, one almost feels he is
again within the atmosphere Of the clear
eyed, active. breezy and prosperous folk
one always fnds in American and London
suburban railway travel. At the end of
this little railway. and at the head of the
valley through which it aud tho stream
have run, in a tiny, pookety vale whose
surface is almost level on either side to the
edges of noble wooded bluffs, is the trif1ing
hamlet of Blarney; and. not a stones throw
from the station, the gray old walls of its
rich foliage of the sycamore groves, and
the musical Blarney rivulet below. Alto
Rether it is one of the sweetest and most
restful spots you ever beheld.
Blagney, is the original Irish form of
Blsrnn. means a little field" from Blar, a
field. this nnme having been given the
place from its location almost in the canter
of the tiny wakefield, which was no doubt
q source of rich harvests even under the
rude forms of cultivation ia vogue in most
ancient times. AS nearly as can be deter
mined, the later popular Specification of
the word-palavering rhodomontade, glib,
specious pleading. or wheedling eloquence
originated in Lord Clancarty's often
promising. when the prisoner of Sir George
Catew. to surrender his strong castle of
Blarney." this very lile, ito the soldiers of
the queen, and as often %inventing some
smooth and palatable excuse for e1onernt-
ing himself from his promise" But the
place no doubt became world famous
through the celebrity of the verses bepin-
ming with tho four ines above quoted. at
tributed by adopts in ballad literature both
to Father Prout and Richard Alfred Mill
ken. the latter a former Cork attorney.
The castle itself was built in the fifteenth
century. by Cormao MacCarty, "the
Strong" and the old ooigne-stone, the kiss
ing of which conveys the magic power of
'blsrney,' according to popular legend, at
least, is still intact. 1t is said shat at one
time it bore the inscription, "Cormao Mo-
earthly FORTS me ieri fecit, A. d. l446." 1t
Ia preserved and held in place by two iron
girders between huge msrlons of its north
err projecting parspet, nearly a hundred
feet from the ground. The anciont %castel-
lated pile now consists only of a lofty quad
rangular keep, witt q half ruined tower,
through which access is gained by winding
stone stairs to the battiemented parapet
above. Beneath the tower and keep arc a
number of wonderful dungeon cells, the
most truly Impressive of those | have found
in any Of the castle ruins of Ireland, while
a cave of remarkable formation but a few
rods from the castle permitted of subter-
ranean ingress and egress in ancient times.
Once having gained the lofty parapst.
you are among massive ivies, while many
shrubs Il young trees have shot out to-
wards the sky from this strange eerie.
Moses and grasses have almost completely
matched the old ruin. and if you Will wait
until the chatterinR toui lists have gone ard
the scolding DAVIS with tue gentle evening
have come, you can, as | did in tho grew
some and shadowy place, stealthily aud
uuobserved grasp the iron girdcrs, and. al
the risk of breaking our neck. crane your
head far out and downward, to give the
sturdy old killarney stone" a loud, re.
sounding smack; and then grops your way
through the echoing windings of the lonely
tower to the dewy, blossom strewn earth
below. EDGAR L. WAKEMAN.
copyright. 1893, By the author.
Electric Bitters.
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