Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Letter I.
How oft , wlien peaceful whiskey clos'd thine eyes , Thy baiket had become the rabble's prize , Had not thy careful , thy mach-injur'd maid , ^ "Watch'd o ' er thy slumbers , and thy stock in trade . I was so . impatient-to visit the country , that I think I staid but two days in the city—two or three , it makes no great difference . You have heard of the county of Meath ; if you have notI shall tell you
, more of it hereafter : it is called the granaiy of Ireland , and with great propriety too . Carolan , the Irish Orpheus , as Handel called him , was born in it . His countrymen say , that he evinced the same genius in music that our immortal Willy did in poetry . As you are fond of Heraldry , I shall just wait to tell 30 U , that the arms of the see of Meath are , Vert three mitres , with labels argent . This see
also boasts some remarkable privileges , as , that the bishop thereof is always a member of the privy council , and takes place of all other suffragan bishops of Ireland . It is filled at present by Dr . Maxwell , whose excellent qualities-recall to mind the primitive days of Christianity . Now I must put on my seven-league bootsfor I long to listen to
, the songs of Cucullon , and the love-sick strains of Jeremy Dignum , a celebrated Irish bard ; and I am told that the nymphs of Rosclogber , in the county of Leitrim , never fail to chaunt them , and that their voices would charm the dull adder , if there was one in the country . Well , I have gained one of the highest mountains in the kingdom let me draw my breath a little ; the prospect is delicious ; the lowing
of kine in tlie vallies , the humming of bees , and tne melodious lapse of limpid rills , invite to sleep—but I must resist the . soft influencetil ) I finish my letter at least . So , you call these wild Irish ! I never met . with such civil inoffensive creatures in my life ; and as for Hospitality j . sli . e ( willyou permit rne to personify it ) stands , at every door : Dr . Johnson saysif I mistake notthat the luxury of a Hihland
, , g cottage is a pinch of snuff . I can say , for I know it to be true , that the luxury of an Irish cottage is a pipe of tobacco—men , women , and children smoke , and if you give them a piece 6 f tobacco , there ' s a petition in an instant sent up to all the saints for your safety . St . Patrick , above all , is requested to take you under his holy tutelage , for he ' s the favourite on the list .
You have read the description of an Icelandic cottage . Well , if you have not , I cannot help it ; but 1 was just going to tell you that an Irish one is built on the same model;—a few sticks or trees , or whatever you please to call them , inserted in the ground , at the distance of ten or twelve feet from each other , in two rows , and fastened at the top ; the interstices are filled with sodsto the height of about
, six feet , and the top or roof is covered with thin parings of the grassy suiface of the earth , which they call scraws , quasi scrolls , because they are rolled up in that form as they are cut : some are covered with straw and reeds , but very few . Though the fire is in one end of the house , the chimney is-commonly in the middle ; and this said YOI .vm . x
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Letter I.
How oft , wlien peaceful whiskey clos'd thine eyes , Thy baiket had become the rabble's prize , Had not thy careful , thy mach-injur'd maid , ^ "Watch'd o ' er thy slumbers , and thy stock in trade . I was so . impatient-to visit the country , that I think I staid but two days in the city—two or three , it makes no great difference . You have heard of the county of Meath ; if you have notI shall tell you
, more of it hereafter : it is called the granaiy of Ireland , and with great propriety too . Carolan , the Irish Orpheus , as Handel called him , was born in it . His countrymen say , that he evinced the same genius in music that our immortal Willy did in poetry . As you are fond of Heraldry , I shall just wait to tell 30 U , that the arms of the see of Meath are , Vert three mitres , with labels argent . This see
also boasts some remarkable privileges , as , that the bishop thereof is always a member of the privy council , and takes place of all other suffragan bishops of Ireland . It is filled at present by Dr . Maxwell , whose excellent qualities-recall to mind the primitive days of Christianity . Now I must put on my seven-league bootsfor I long to listen to
, the songs of Cucullon , and the love-sick strains of Jeremy Dignum , a celebrated Irish bard ; and I am told that the nymphs of Rosclogber , in the county of Leitrim , never fail to chaunt them , and that their voices would charm the dull adder , if there was one in the country . Well , I have gained one of the highest mountains in the kingdom let me draw my breath a little ; the prospect is delicious ; the lowing
of kine in tlie vallies , the humming of bees , and tne melodious lapse of limpid rills , invite to sleep—but I must resist the . soft influencetil ) I finish my letter at least . So , you call these wild Irish ! I never met . with such civil inoffensive creatures in my life ; and as for Hospitality j . sli . e ( willyou permit rne to personify it ) stands , at every door : Dr . Johnson saysif I mistake notthat the luxury of a Hihland
, , g cottage is a pinch of snuff . I can say , for I know it to be true , that the luxury of an Irish cottage is a pipe of tobacco—men , women , and children smoke , and if you give them a piece 6 f tobacco , there ' s a petition in an instant sent up to all the saints for your safety . St . Patrick , above all , is requested to take you under his holy tutelage , for he ' s the favourite on the list .
You have read the description of an Icelandic cottage . Well , if you have not , I cannot help it ; but 1 was just going to tell you that an Irish one is built on the same model;—a few sticks or trees , or whatever you please to call them , inserted in the ground , at the distance of ten or twelve feet from each other , in two rows , and fastened at the top ; the interstices are filled with sodsto the height of about
, six feet , and the top or roof is covered with thin parings of the grassy suiface of the earth , which they call scraws , quasi scrolls , because they are rolled up in that form as they are cut : some are covered with straw and reeds , but very few . Though the fire is in one end of the house , the chimney is-commonly in the middle ; and this said YOI .vm . x