The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-02-12
a Sentimental Pilgrimage
to the Hamlet.
(Harper's Bazaar.)

tHarper's BaZaar)
The real spot of earth with which
Goldsmith is closely identified by ira
dition, education. and his writings is
the town of Lissoy, seven Irish miles
south Of Athlane Here he spent many
years of his boyhood in the Rectory Of
Kilkenny West, where his father was
rector, and passing rich on forty
J pounds YEAR Here, un1sr The tute-
isge of Thomas Byrne, afterwards por-
traved as the famous school teacher.
q develcTeG a taste for the restless.
dreaming, vaga3ond life which he was
never able to throw off completely. He
showed the love he held for Lissoy
when he came in later years to write
his most famous poem
The poem of the Deserted Village"
was published May 26 1770, in the poet
forty-third year. It came just at tine
TO establish firmly the reputation which
The Traveller and THE Good Natured
Man" had brought. OF it's publication
there is related an anecdote. which. al
though liz truth is often doubted, is
characteristic of the man. Il is related
mat on his return home from the pub
fishers he told a friend of his good for
tune Of receiving a hundred guineas
Tor the poem. This friend ldgfng bv
quantity only, made the aAa1ce re-
mark that il was a goodly 7um FOR so
short poem This set Gdl 1smitl TO
tnlnklng with the result that he re-
turned the money, and drew or the
publisher n instalments from time to
time. as he deemed the popula~t.y cf
he piece permitted The poem speed
lily ran through five editions, rd by
August in this year he was fully rec
ognized as one of England'a foremost
poets, whose future was nev 'r % be
disturbed
left Athlone in a jaual;ns car. in
the care Of mild Irish bov, who was
warranted to know the dst 3ils OF the
village and The sites of - various
buildings. My experience with the
IRISH driver has always been most I'M
foIInate. as an authority, or even as
guido. J rave found him. as Il rule.
wholly untfu5twOrthy. / soon diseov-
cred that this boy was no axnertion TO
the rule for after a long ride we drove
into the graJ"ds of denlesn1 wtic1
ne assured ne was "Aaburu." Frorp
the name, | surmised it was probab-
~ some estate close enough 10 the VIII
lsge TO have borrowed its name. for in
ened. and has nearly lost its former
tide Of Liss y. So ! said: Nov drive
70 the village of Auburn" There is
no village in these parts II all" he re-
pied Why, you said there was be-
fore We left Athone!" / exclaimed
Indignantly. Il mint this pace sor. !"
he said, sulIenly. Determining to trv
rim on another tack. ! ordered him to
AXE me to Lissoy. There is no SIGH
village in all Oirland as that" he an
svered. In despair, l exclaimed: The
owner Of the car told me that you knew
this place like book Didn't y1u ever
near of Goldsmith's deserted vilsge?"
ON, it's Goldsmith's place ye're af-
Their" he cried why didn't We tell me
so? That's the name it goes under
here; it's not Auburn or that other
place We named at all. at all. It's down
the road about half a moile" Down
the road we drove. until We reached a
narrow country lane: at the end of this
narrow little stretch stood four ruined
walls Of small nlastered house.
THERE" said my guide; that's Cold
smiths deserted village"
| mad not expected much; an Irish
village deserted hundred years ago
could not be very extensive; but to
come hundreds of miles simply to have
most unromanic factorylike hut
pointed out rs the deserted village was
cruel shock.
Determined TO view il at leas: from
All Sides walked down the lane, where
i found to my qualification. that the
house stood a the end of a row Of
houses which were hidden from the
road, making a very respectable show
ing. The ruined house which faced
the lane was by far the largest and
most important j was the reetory.
the home Of Goldsmith as boy This
house was completely Quilted, only its
TOUR walls standing. Turning around
] could see from the doorstep the de
cent church of Kilkenny West which
topped the neighborng hill" The
description in the poem Of the view
from the rectory paints the scene as
II exists today. Beyond the rectory
runs ragged street; this grass grown
lane filled with refuse. began indefn-
iteiy at the rectory, and ended few,
hundred feet away in struggling
fence Grouped on either side We're half
dozen cottages, small, dirty, and un-
attractive, such an one sees in Ireland
by the thousand In the middle Of the
picture stood three prosperous south
Of Ireland hogs and solitary sheen.
busiiy turning over the various dain-
ties In the dirt.
Only one cottage showed any sign OF
life; but in it lived the family Of the
farmer who rents the place He was
r. sturdy peasant, but knew the poem
by heart, and he was only too glad to
stop his peat-diggng and show off the
points Of the village He WIS proud or
Goldsmith, proud Of the poem, and
proud of himself for living amidst the
scenes which 1t described. He took the
greatest interest in my visit, and sug-
gested several views for my camera.
which were prefer than those | had
found unaided. ] learned from him
that not many visitors see the place.
and photographs Of It. as ] had already
learned, ii was impossible to find
This section of the village which con-
tanned the rectory is quite far from the
site of The Three Jolly Pigeons, the
school-house, and the busy mill" Lis
Soy II IT were ever built up between the
various places which have been identi-
fed, must have been q good sized town.
A careful examination of the land
around this small remnant Of Iissov
failed to show any trace OF the rest of
the village. There was nothing more in
the neighborhood which showed any
sign Of former village life. The fields
We're as level and free from debris as
ever virgin land could be, and even the
relation Of this street 70 the present
road was unusual, for there was no
connection between the two roads a
all, except by short grassy lane.
Which suggested the idea that the high
road had been built long after the VII
lage had been destroyed and forgotten.
This street was as unconnected with
the neighboring country as though
placed'in the center OF large farm.
Why this portion Of the village was
spared It is impossible at this day to
say 1t could not have been done for
sentimental reasons, fer the poem was
written after the destruction, and yet
II is strange coincidence that the
principal object in the deserted town is