IV.—IRELAND
[CLXI]
Lines 83–97 of The Deserted Village (1769).
[CLXII]
This, the best and most widely known of the Irish street ballads, dates from the year 1798. Caubeen (l. 15)=hat.
[CLXIII]–[CLXIX]
All from the famous series of Irish Melodies, the publication of which began in 1807, and continued at irregular intervals till 1834.
As to the second,—
l. 3. Mononia. Munster.
4. Kincora. Brien’s Palace.
22. Ossory’s plain. The ancient kingdom of Ossory comprised parts of Queen’s County and Kilkenny.
As to the third,—
l. 1. Tara’s halls. The hill of Tara, in Meath, was the meeting-place for the election of the kings of Ireland; but most writers on Irish antiquities are of opinion that there was no royal dwelling there. It would seem, therefore, that ‘Tara’s halls’ never existed but in the imagination of poets.
As to the fifth, Robert Emmet (1778–1803), United Irishman, the leader of ‘Emmet’s Rising’ (1803), was arrested by Major Sirr (the capturer of Lord Edward Fitzgerald), tried September 19, and hanged next day (1803). He was engaged to be married to Sarah Curran, daughter of the great lawyer, and it was to this lady Moore addressed his famous poem. The lady subsequently (November 24, 1805) married Major Sturgeon of the Royal Staff Corps.
[CLXX]
Minor Poems of Charlotte Elizabeth (1848). Published in the author’s lifetime over the signature ‘Charlotte Elizabeth.’
[CLXXI]–[CLXXII]
Mangan’s poems appeared in Dublin magazines and journals—The Dublin University Magazine, The Nation, and The Dublin Penny Journal. There is no complete edition of his works.
As to the second, ‘Dark Rosaleen,’ is, of course, a mystical name for Ireland.
[CLXXIII]–[CLXXIV]
Songs, Poems, and Verses (John Murray, 1884). By permission of the Marquess of Dufferin and Ava. The second is dated 1845.
[CLXXV]–[CLXXVI]
Dublin University Magazine (1834). As to the first, Fiagh MacHugh O’Byrne, one of the most powerful Irish chieftains in the sixteenth century, was killed in a skirmish with the forces of the Lord Deputy (1597). Gall (l. 17)=‘foreigners.’
The second is the first two stanzas of a very close translation, in the original metre, of an Irish song of unknown authorship, dating from the seventeenth century. The refrain has never been satisfactorily translated.
[CLXXVII]–[CLXXVIII]
The Poems of Thomas Davis, now first collected (Dublin: James Duffy, 1846). These poems made their first appearance in The Nation.
The second is a ‘Lament for the Death of Eoghan Ruadh O’Neill,’ commonly called Owen Roe O’Neill (1590?-1649), patriot and general, who led the Irish against the Scotch and Parliamentary forces in Ireland (1642–1649).
The Author’s Note is as follows:—‘Time.—November 10, 1649. Scene.—Ormond’s camp, county Waterford. Speakers.—A veteran of Eoghan O’Neill’s clan, and one of the horsemen, just arrived with an account of his death.’
l. 2. Poison. There is no truth in the assertion that O’Neill was poisoned. He died a natural death.
7. Sacsanach. Saxon, English.
8. Cloc Uachtar. Clough Oughter, in county Cavan, where the O’Reillys had a stronghold.
19. Beinn Burb. Benburb, on the Blackwater, where O’Neill defeated the Scotch army under Monro (June 5, 1646).
[CLXXIX]
Innisfail and Other Poems (Macmillan & Co., 1877), and Poetical Works, six vols. (Macmillan & Co., 1884). By permission of author and publishers.
‘The Little Black Rose’ (l. 1) and ‘The Silk of the Kine’ (l. 5) were mystical names applied to Ireland by the bards. Athenry (l. 12), in county Galway, was the scene of a battle in which the Irish under Felim O’Conor were defeated by the English forces under Sir William de Burgh (1316).
[CLXXX]–[CLXXXI]
The first appeared in The Nation, 1st April 1843, and both are included in Sonnets and Other Poems (A. & C. Black, 1900). By permission of author and publishers.
[CLXXXII]–[CLXXXIII]
Bards of the Gael and Gall (T. Fisher Unwin, 1897). By permission of author and publisher. Both are translations from Irish poems of the seventeenth century.
As to the first,—O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone, and O’Donnell, Earl of Tyrconnell, hearing that the Government had determined to seize them on a charge of conspiracy, apparently groundless, suddenly left Ireland, sailing from Rathmullan, on Lough Foyle, to France (1607). Their estates were confiscated, and ‘The Plantation of Ulster’ began.
[CLXXXIV]
From Dublin Verses (Elkin Mathews, 1895)—a collection of poems by members of Trinity College, Dublin. By permission of author and publisher.
[CLXXXV]
Macmillan’s Magazine (September, 1900). By permission of the author and the editor of Macmillan’s Magazine.
[CLXXXVI]
The Rising of the Moon and Other Poems (1869). By permission of Messrs. Cameron & Ferguson, the present publishers.
l. 2. ma bouchal. My boy.
11. banshee. The fairy spirit of doom (Irish, ban-sidhe).
[CLXXXVII]
Poems and Ballads of Young Ireland (Dublin: Gill & Son, 1888). By permission of the author. Clonmacnois, founded by St. Kieran in the sixth century, was for many generations one of the greatest ecclesiastical establishments and centres of learning in Ireland. It was the chosen burial-place of many royal and noble families.
[CLXXXVIII]
The Wind in the Trees (Grant Richards, 1898). By permission of the author.
[CLXXXIX]
Poems (Elkin Mathews, 1895). By permission of author and publisher.
l. 2. Inisfail (i.e. ‘The Isle of Destiny’), an ancient name of Ireland.