“I do. Never in the wide an’ subterraneous earth was sich a name known till afther the prognostication I tould you; an’ it never would either, only for the goat, sure. I can prove it by the pathepathetics. Denny Mullin, will you give us another draw o’ the pipe?”
Tom’s authority in these matters was unquestionable, and, besides, there was no one present learned enough to contradict him, with any chance of success, before such an audience. The argument was consequently, without further discussion, decided in his favour, and Gordon was silenced touching the origin and etymology of his own name.
This legend we have related as nearly as we can remember in Tom’s words. We may as well, however, state at once that many of his legends were wofully deficient in authenticity, as indeed those of most countries are. Nearly half the Irish legends are ex post facto or postliminious. There is no record, for instance, that Oliver Cromwell ever saw the castle of Aughentain, or that any such event as that narrated by Tom ever happened in or about it. It is much more likely that the story, if ever there was any truth in it, is of Scotch origin, as indeed the names would seem to import. There is no doubt, however, that the castle of Aughentain, which is now in the possession of a gentleman named Browne we think, was once the property of a family called Graham. In our boyhood there was a respectable family of that name living in its immediate vicinity, but we know not whether they are the descendants of those who owned the castle or not.
[1] The celebrated Brian Maguire, the first shot of his day, was at this time living in Dublin.
THE HERRING.—Second Article.
THE FISHERY.
Having given in a former number some account of the natural history of this valuable little creature, we now proceed, in accordance with our promise, to give a description of the various modes of taking and curing it; and as the Dutch were the first to see the importance, and devote themselves to the improvement, of the herring fishery, we shall commence with them.
So early as the year 1307, the Dutch had turned their attention to this subject; and lest any of our more thoughtless or less informed readers should deem the matter one of secondary consideration, or probably of even less, we shall lay before them some statistical accounts of the Dutch fisheries, extracted from returns of the census of the States-General, taken in the year 1669. In that year the total amount of population was 2,400,000.
| Of whom were employed as fishermen, and in equipping fishermen with their boats, tackle, conveying of salt, &c. | 450,000 |
| Employed in the navigation of ships in foreign trade, | 250,000 |
| Shipwrights, handicraftsmen, and manufacturers, | 650,000 |
| Inland fishermen, agriculturists, and labourers, | 200,000 |
| Gentry, statesmen, soldiers, and inhabitants in general, | 850,000 |
| Total, | 2,400,000 |
Thus nearly a fifth of the population of Holland was entirely engaged in and supported by the herring and deep-sea fishery, and thus arose the saying that “the foundations of Amsterdam were laid on herring bones;” and hence did De Witt assert that “Holland derived her main support from the herring fishery, and that it ought to be considered as the right arm of the republic.”