CHAPTER XXXI. A TRIP TO THE NORTH—METRICAL ATTEMPTS—CONTRASTS—PARIS: A FAIR—A REVIEW—NADAR'S BALLOON—SPORT, TURF, BOXING—LIQUOR VEHICLES—NO HODS—A HORSE, A DOG, RATS.
I took a run to Belfast in 1862, and from thence through Carrickfergus, and along the coast-road to the Giant's Causeway, where I spent two days most agreeably. At the Causeway hotel I met several gentlemen, to one of whom I was known, and by him was introduced to the others. Their society was extremely pleasant; for although they differed in their views and opinions on certain subjects, their conversation was completely free from acerbity. In referring to the preference of certain colors by the inhabitants of northern or southern districts, an anecdote was related of a wrangle between two young fellows who had come from very distant parts of Ireland, to be employed in one of the great monetary establishments of Dublin, and who resided at Sandymount. I have not introduced into my preceding pages any expressions indicative of political or religious preferences, and I think that the "wrangle" may be submitted to the perusal of all parties or sects without offending their feelings or exciting their prejudices. I thought it curious and amusing, and it induced me to attempt to narrate, in a versified form, the antagonistic tendencies of—
GREEN AND ORANGE—ORANGE AND GREEN.
"There is a flow'r I dearly love, and which with pride I bear
Upon my head, or next my heart, none with it can compare;
It is the Orange Lily, to which glorious memories cling,
Of Derry, Boyne, or Aughrim, 'twill the recollection bring.
Some roots I have procured to plant, and when their flow'rs appear,
I'll hail them as the emblems of the cause I hold most dear."