The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1897-10-13
HERMIT OF ANTRIM.
AN EDUCATED MANS SOLITARY Ex-
iSTENCE IN IRISH CAVES.

There Is n Mystery About Him, and No
One Can Tell Whence lie camo-His
Food Consists Of Potatoes Only, but lie
Cooks Them Before Eating.
There are portions of the north Of Ire
land where nature assumes grand and
wild aspect. On the coast of Antrim
there il no armistiee in the furious bat
tie that, since the first ages of the ter
restrial globe, was engaged between the
waves and the rocks Columns of basalt,
like gigantic scntinels, stand on guard
to resist the invasion of the ocean, and
tho profound excavations made under
the granite rocks that protect this por
tiOn of the soil of La Ncrte Erin prove
TINT the waves must have frequently
made most vigorous onslaughts and only
retired after they had mined land
which they could not conquer.
1t is not difficult TO imagine that this
majestic and desolate site should have
seducod one of the vanquished ones in
life. one who had absolutely decided to
separate himself from the society Of
man. The real hermits are becoming
more aud more rarc-indccd. it was be
lieved that they had completely disap
peared-but if vocation for that singu-
larly abandoned profession could still
be felt by any ono ii might be i'll the
presence of the marvellous spectacle of
that sea whose waves never suhsidc, of
those grottos whose pillars and vaults
possess II power which tho art of tho
architect can never equal. Nature her
self seems to have created i'll those rocks
refuge for the shipwreclted, for the
prescribed and perhaps also for those
who dcspiSo the vanities of life.
About ten years ago mysterious in
dividual made his homo in the grottoes
Of the coast Of Antrim. The approach
of any human being seemed To inspire
him with an iuviucihle repugnance AS
soon ms the cavern which he had select
ed for his refuge was discovered by the
fishermen of the neighborhood he imme-
diatcly disappeared and took up his
quarters 20 On 30 kilometcrs farther ON
inaccessible For few months his
dumicilo WAS in an old abandoned mine.
the principal gallery of which advanced
under the ground To the distance of
about five kilometers, but ms the inhab-
itants of the nearest village had long
before carried away the beams that sus-
tanned the vault To convert them into
firewood the hermit was obliged to quit
that dangerous refuge. where he was
constantly exposed to the danger Of be
ing buried alive So he installed himself
i'll II grotto, the access to which was
more easily discovered, but it was less
obscure, less humid and less liable to
cave i'll. There he flattered himself that
he would find at least some of tho con
ditions of existence that belonged To the
men of the eayerns But il was i'll vain
that he hoped to return To the life of
the first ages of prehistoric humanity
lie Mas obliged to pay tribute to the
exigencies of civilization and to mani
fest less rcpugnancc for all contact with
his fellow beings,
One day he found an empty barrel
that the tempest had tossed upon the
shore, and he could not resist the temp.
tation of bringing it home to serve us II
bed Some indiSCroot persons, taking
advantage of his absence to visit his
apartments. discovered that he had
pot for cooking his food Where did
that cooking uttnSil come from? Was it
also piece of wreckago rolled up upon
the sand by the furious waves, or was
it the last souvenir of civilized life car
ried away by the mchorite who, while
endeavoring TO return 10 the conditions
of existence that belonged To prehistoric
times, could not abandon the habit of
cooking his food?
That is n question which has never
been answered, and it is also impossi
BILE to find ont where he gets the pota
toes upon which he lives Did they come
from the discreet charity of the poor
fishermen of the neighborhood, who Mt
the proper time renewed his provisions,
or III separating himself from the world
did he make arranger hts for the trans
portation of his mod, DIVISIONS? That
is also mystery which has never been
fathomed One point, however, is GER
tain, and that is that the hermit deter
mined To live upon potatoes alone. One
day sailor offered him half of his din
her, Tho hermit pretended to be glad to
accept the gift. but he never touched
the food, In the absence of the kind
hearted sailor he tossed it into the sea.
Apparently he also vowed that he would
never enter house and never touch a
piece of money. He kept his resolutions
Nothing could ever induce him to cross
the threshold of any one of the little
houses of the fishermen. who began to
have sort of affection for him, and
never once was he known TO beg. The