⸺ STORIES OF THE IRISH PEASANTRY. Pp. 302, (close print). (Chambers). [1840]. 1851, &c.
Aims to reconcile landlords and peasantry. To this end tries to show each to what their enmity is due and how they may remedy the evil. The stories are to show the peasantry that their present condition is due to defects in the national character and in the prevailing national habits—chiefly drink, early marriages, laziness, conservatism, superstition. The Authoress has a good grasp of the ways of the people, but her reasoning is peculiar. When a peasant, driven to desperation by a cruel eviction, swears vengeance, this is put down to innate lawlessness, sinfulness, and a murderous disposition. Twenty stories in all, some melodramatic, some pastoral.
⸺ THE WHITEBOY. (Ward, Lock, Routledge). 2s., and 6d. [1845]. Several eds. since. (N.Y.: Pratt). 0.50.
In the height of the Whiteboy disturbances, which are luridly described, a young Englishman comes to Ireland with the intention of uplifting the peasantry and bettering their lot. After some terrible experiences he at length succeeds to a wonderful extent in his benevolent purposes. The book is of a didactic type.—(Krans).
⸺ THE FIGHT OF FAITH: a Story of Ireland. Two Vols. (Chapman & Hall). [1862]. 1869.
Opens at Havre in 1680 with a Huguenot family about to fly from persecution. Their ship is wrecked off the Isle of Wight, where the little girl Pauline is rescued and adopted by an old sea-captain. The scene then changes to Carrickfergus, then held by Schomberg. Geo. Walker is introduced, and the story ends with the battle of the Boyne (the fight of faith). View-point strongly Protestant.
⸺ NELLY NOWLAN, and Other Stories. Popular Tales of Irish Life and Character. Seventh edition, with numerous Illustr. Demy 8vo. (London). 1865.
Contains twenty-five delightful tales of Irish life, with numerous illustrations by Maclise, Franklin, Brooke, Herbert, Harvey, Nichol, and Weigall; “Sweet Lilly O’Brian,” “Mary Ryan’s Daughter,” “The Bannow Postman,” “Father Mike,” and twenty-one other tales. As a graphic delineator of Irish life and character, no other writer has dealt with the subject so delightfully and truly as Mrs. Hall. She wrote many volumes on the subject, of which this is the best.
⸺ TALES OF IRISH LIFE AND CHARACTER. (T. N. Foulis). 5s. With Sixteen Illustr. in colour from the famous Irish paintings of Erskine Nichol, R.S.A. 1909.