⸺ KATTY THE FLASH. (Gill). 1880.
Very low life in Dublin, with no attempt to idealise the rags and filth and squalor; but clever and realistic.—(I.M.).
⸺ THY NAME IS TRUTH. Three Vols. (Maxwell). 1884.
Incidentally describes the Hospice for the Dying, Harold’s Cross, and the inner working of a daily newspaper office. Cleverly written. The conversations are natural, and the human interest strong. The politics of the time (1881) are discussed, but they are not the main interest.
GAMBLE, Dr. John. I take the following account of this writer from a note on him contributed by Mr. A. A. Campbell, of Belfast, to the Irish Book Lover (September, 1909): Dr. Gamble was born in Strabane, Co. Tyrone, in the early ’seventies of the eighteenth century. He was educated in Edinburgh. He devoted most of his life to a study of the people and characteristics of Ulster. He used to make frequent journeys on foot, or by coach, through the country, chatting with everyone he met, picking up story and legend and jest, and noting incidents. All his writings were imbued with a deep sympathy for his fellow-countrymen. As a vivid picture of the Ulster of his day his books are invaluable. They did much to produce in England a kindly feeling for his countrymen. He died in 1831.
⸺ SARSFIELD. Three Vols. 12mo. (London). 1814.
The hero is a young Irishman who, under the name of Glisson, is a French prisoner of war at Strabane. Aided by the daughter of the postmaster he escapes, and wanders all over Ulster, where the wildest excitement about the threatened French invasion prevailed. Thence he goes to Scotland, England, and abroad. He fights with Thurot at the Siege of Carrickfergus, and eventually returns to Strabane, where he meets with a tragic ending. The Author embodies in the story many local traditions and much of his own observation and experience. Well worthy of republication.
⸺ HOWARD. Two Vols. 12mo. (London). 1815.
“The subject of the following tale was born in a remote part of Ireland ... my principal character is not altogether an imaginary one.” The hero of this autobiography is Irish. The scene is London. The central incident is his seduction of a young lady who after attempting suicide dies of remorse and chagrin.