The Irish standard., 1915-02-13
naught, be crumbled before our

naught, be crumbled before our
eyes? {
Shall we fly, like flock of wild geese,
from all that we love and prize?
No! by those who were here before
us, no churl shall our tyrant be;
Our land is theirs by plumber, but, by
Brigid, ourselves are free.
No! we do not forget the greatness
did once to sweet Fire belong;
No treason or craven spirit was ever
our race among;
And no frown or word of hatred we
give-but to pay them back;
In evil we only follow our enemy's
darksome track.
Oh! come for a while among us, and
give us friendly hand,
And you'll see that old Tipperary is a
loving and gladstone land;
From Upper to Lower Ormond, bright
=. welcome and smiles will spring
On the plains of sweet Tipperary the
stranger is like king"
Thus did noble EVA" write of Tip
perary at a time when the dark
clouds hung heavy over its head; at a
time when scenes were heart-rending;
when landlords were evicting whole.
sale; at time when gentle Hickman
wrote from the fullness of his heart
his "Knocknagow or the Homes of
Tirperary," for, alas, the homes Of
Tipperary had almost vanished from
the face of the earth because of the
activities of the "crowbar brigade"
Then, as now, thoughtless Tipperary
youths were joining the English army
and fighting England's unjust battles.
Hickman wrote his Patrick Sheehan'
also, to try and show these thought.
less youths the reward England gave
her poor, broken-down Irish soldiers.
Thomas Davis wrote the "Vow of
Tipperary," but "cui bono' (where is
the use)?
Speranza, or Jane Francesca Elgee
was the daughter of Wexford clergy
man and was born in 1926. She came
of an Italian family long settled in
Ireland. Mcclure, the discoverer, was
her uncle and she was related to Ma
turin, the author of "Bertram." She
was brought up amid surroundings OF
such intense conservatism that when
the immense funeral procession that
marked the esteem in which the poet
Davis was held, passed her window
she did not know who the great poet
was. Shortly after this she became
possessed of copy of the Spirit Of
the Nation" containing poems by
Dalton Williams. Her imagination
was fired and her patriotic feelings
were aroused. In the year 1874
Charles Gavan Duffy, editor of 1.-THE
Nation" came into possession of some
verses which were signed "Speranza,'
with no indication of the real name OF
sex of the author. From time to tim,
other verses came from the same
hand. They attracted much attention
even in the pages which we're the1
made bright by SO many brillian
poets, and the verses of "Speranza'
became more welcome in the Nation
Office than any other writer of tn,
time. "Speranza," moreover, was no
only a maker of poems, for some o
the most daring, effective, and vehe
ment prose articles of THE Nation
came also from her hand. One of tn,
articles attributed to "Speranza's" pei
was the well-known one headed "Jact,
alea est" (the die is cast, which Great
ed more sensation than anything pre-
viously appearing in THE Nation,
and was one of those produced at tn,
trial Of Duffy. After some months o
mystification, Mr.. Duffy was invited t,
a house In Lisson street, and there h,
was brought face to face with "Srer
anza," and found to his surprise tina
instead Of being man she was 1
lovely lady In her early youth.
In 1851, Miss Elgee became tn,
wife Of DR.. Wilde, afterward Sir VIII
liam Wilde, who died in Dublin il
1869, where he held for years al
eminent position in his profession
Lady Wilde survived her husband fol
over a quarter Of a century, and con
tinued to write till within a short tim,
of her death, which occurred In 1896
She published among her prose vol
umes, "Driftwood from Scandinavia
Legends and Charms of ireland,
Social studies," and a pamphlet or
the Irish in America" She also pub
lished several translations of French
and German works but some of hel
most interesting work, it is said, wat
the gathering up Of the Ancient LIE
gends of Ireland" In some of hel
poetical works may be noticed q Ger
tain strain of the mysticism that wat