No. (3) has the special peculiarity that all birds flying there lose their power of flight in such a manner that they fall from the air on to the ground; so that every year a large number of birds are taken thus on this island.

Here also is a spring from which it is quite impossible to draw, nor can its water be disturbed in the slightest degree: when that happens, there follows a tremendous rain, which floods the whole country.

III.-OF CONNAUGT.

CONNAUGT (Latin, Connacia) has, among all the provinces, the best land for crops and grazing in the whole kingdom. Here is a spring whose water turns hair grey; on the other hand, there is a well close by whose water turns grey hair brown and black.

Here, too, is a spring on the top of a high mountain, which daily fluctuates exactly with the ebb and flow of the sea.

1. LONDONDERRY (Latin, Londino-Deria), a handsome strong city on an island, where none but Protestants live.

In the year 1639, King James II., in his flight, made almost the whole of Ireland submissive to him; and in order to secure himself there and defend himself against William and his party, he proceeded with his army before Londonderry. Singlehanded it defended itself so desperately, that James was forced to retreat. For, in order that there should be no treachery among the officers, WALCKER, a preacher and schoolmaster, a man of learning, took the command.

2. ARMAH (Latin, Armacha), a fine town, has the chief Archbishop, who is Primate in Ireland: it has also a seat and vote in the Parliament of Ireland. Near this town is a lake, called NIACH, whose water and bottom has this unusual peculiarity, that if one sticks a pole into the bottom, through the water, that part of the pole which touches the ground after a few months is turned to iron; that part which is in the water turns to stone; and the rest, out of the water, remains wood.

3. In this province there is, in a lake, a little island called INSULA DAMNATORUM, on account of the large number of ghosts which there show themselves. There a hole is to be seen from which lamentations and sighs can always be heard; it is called Saint Patrick's Purgatory. The Irish make the following statement about it:-When Saint Patrick wished to convert the Irish, he prayed God that he might let them hear the lamentations of those who are in Purgatory, in order that they might thereby be induced to believe: from that hour onwards a perpetual lamentation and sighing has been heard out of this abyss. They believe that through this hole one can make one's way to Purgatory, and even to Hell.

Vol.

Jour. R.S.A.I.

XVI., Fifth Series.
Vol. XXXVI., Consec. Ser.

2 D

Of the Nature of the Land.

Ireland is a country without vermin, as it is untroubled by snakes, adders, toads, spiders, &c.—indeed, this island is free even from frogs, so that if such creatures be brought to it from other places, they die immediately. This some ascribe to Joseph of Arimathæa, others to Saint Patrick who, having with righteous zeal, by supernatural power, collected all the venomous creatures (which till then existed in Ireland in great numbers) into one place, chased them together to the mountain Algaum, near to the sea-which after that time was called the Mountain of Saint Patrick-and from there forced them into the sea.

Ireland has wood that does not rot, which makes it very useful for building. The Palace in London, and the Rathaus at the Hague, are made of Irish timber. It is never bored by worms, and abroad no

spider ever hangs on it.

The air in Ireland is very wholesome, for most of the people die only at an advanced age. They never make use of a doctor in sickness.

Foreigners in Ireland are generally attacked by dysentery.

Cattle in Ireland remain in the field the whole year. The pasture is so exuberant that two hours in the whole day are enough for the shepherds to satisfy their flocks on the fields and pastures. It is said that, on account of the unnatural richness of the pasture, the cattle will eat themselves to death unless they are restrained.

Cows in Ireland give no milk unless their calves, or a figure resembling them, stand near them. All animals in Ireland are smaller than elsewhere, except the dogs.

Along the sea-coast a species of goose is found called Macreuses. These grow out of wood rotted in the sea. They at first appear only as little worms in the wood, and as time goes on assume the shape of a bird; then feathers grow on them, and at last they become the size of a goose.

In Ireland is a lake called ERNUS, about eight miles long and four miles broad, which was at first only a well or cattle-spring; but it happened that on account of the scandalous life of the shepherds living around, it flooded the whole neighbourhood and became this lake. So much is this so, that in clear weather the tops of certain towers can be seen under the water. Moreover, it is surrounded with wood, and so full of fish that the fishermen often break their nets with the multitude of fishes.

Of the Inhabitants.

The old Irish ate their deceased parents after their death; in battle they sucked out the blood of their slaughtered enemies, and smeared their faces with it. When a son was born of one of their women, the mother gave her new-born child the first food on the point of her husband's sword, and wished for him that he should not die otherwise

than in battle. They made wolves, dogs, lions, etc., the godparents of their children.

It is generally considered that the modern Irish are neither thoroughly good nor quite absolutely bad: but that when they are bad, it is impossible to be worse; and when godly, it is impossible to be better.1

The Irish never marry outside of their cities. They become divorced, however, for quite trivial causes, whereupon the man seeks another wife, and the woman takes another husband.

The doctors follow one another by succession (father to son): in Ireland they find but little profit, because most of the Irish become very old and know but few diseases, generally dying of old age. Doctors, moreover, are but rarely called in by the sick.

When an Irishman is mortally wounded, even then he will run about, so dear is his life to him. They do not consider anyone as altogether dead unless his head be cut clean off.

When anyone is dead, mourning women are hired, who announce the death with howls and shrieks in the neighbouring villages; accompany the corpse, filling the air with great cries of sorrow: finally, they kiss and embrace the dead, and do not allow him to be buried except with a good deal of difficulty.

The Patron of Ireland is Saint Patrick,

The Patroness of Ireland is Saint Brigitta.

1 A remark which irresistibly recalls the familiar couplet:—

"When she was good, she was very, very good;
And when she was bad, she was horrid !"

A CONTRIBUTION TOWARDS A CATALOGUE OF NINETEENTH-CENTURY ENGRAVINGS OF DUBLIN.

BY E. MAC DOWEL COSGRAVE, M.D., F.R.C.P.

[Read NOVEMBER 27, 1906.]

PART I.

ON former occasions1 I had the privilege of laying before the Society

"Contribution towards a Catalogue of Engravings of Dublin up to the end of the Eighteenth Century." To that period there was a gradual upward progression, culminating, in the last decade, in the appearance of Malton's twenty-five plates-by far the finest series of Dublin engravings that has appeared.

In carrying on the Catalogue through the nineteenth century, my task is neither as easy nor as straightforward; there is a smaller proportion of published plates, the increased output of printed matter led to an increase of book illustrations, and no longer were engraved and etched metal plates the only medium; but the century saw the rise and perfection of wood-engraving, of lithography, and of the still more mechanical half-tone photo blocks.

In dealing with the Engravings of Dublin which appeared in the nineteenth century, it is necessary to consider briefly the causes which led up to the very limited output of the first few years, and then why and how this lethargy passed away.

One cause of the small attention devoted to art was undoubtedly the disturbed condition of political affairs; but a more important cause was that the era of extravagance in Dublin had come to its inevitable close; private patrons had no cash and little credit, and the erection of public buildings had stopped, so that even the incentive of new subjects was absent.

There were, however, two forces at work-one centripetal, the other centrifugal-which led to the reappearance of large engravings. The first of these forces was that tourists were becoming more numerous, and the inevitable "book" recording their experiences and reflections often contained some views, and so called the attention of local writers to the possibilities of local illustration. The second force followed as a consequence; to meet the wants of the tourists illustrated guide-books came into being; at first their illustrations were few and poor, but they improved in number and quality, until in 1821 they reach a height never

1 Journal, vol. xxxv., 1905, pp. 95, 363.

since surpassed. All this stimulated artists to execute larger and more important works.

The publication of Warburton, Whitelaw, and Walsh's History of Dublin (1818)-a ponderous work, mentally and physically, and one handicapped, when half in print and half unwritten, by the death of its two original authors-shows to what a low level art had fallen. Its illustrations are nearly all unacknowledged copies of Malton's views of twenty years before, no attempt being made to bring them up to date; the only new views being of such buildings as the General Post Office and St. George's Church, which had not been built in Malton's day. Either the plates were ignorantly printed, or a great many copies were taken from them; for whilst the impressions are strong and bright in a series of proofs in my possession, in many copies they are flat and dull.

The unwieldy form and badly digested contents of Warburton, Whitelaw, and Walsh, led to the appearance of smaller and more accurate books which combined the double function of "guides" and "histories," and these fortunately found illustrators as well as authors qualified and anxious to do justice to their subject.

The best of these smaller works is Wright's Historical Guide to Ancient and Modern Dublin, and it is illustrated by those charming copper etchings after drawings by George Petrie, which represent the high-watermark of guide-book illustrations. The early proofs, printed on Japanese paper, of which I possess a set, are exquisite, the detail is so fine, and yet the balance of the subject is never lost. The same plates were used well into the "thirties," when they were so worn that only the heavier lines would print. Petrie's original drawings for these plates are in the Royal Irish Academy.

Petrie was a prolific worker, and also illustrated Cromwell's Tour (1821) and Dublin Delineated (1831).

Some of the large coloured views are cut down so that their date is lost; others are undated; but the largest number belong to the wave of increased interest in the city, of which 1820 was about the crest. This revived interest led also to the publication of copies of older works, generally without any acknowledgment of date or source, a slight shifting of the figures being the only attempt to hide the plagiarism. The invention of lithography, and the consequent cheapness of copying existing views, led to an immediate increase of this practice.

Later on wood-cuts took the place of etchings, their advantage being that they could be printed with the text, and not necessarily as separate plates. The coarse, badly executed and badly printed wood-cuts that took the place of beautiful etchings, show a terrible retrogression ; but the advantage of ease of printing was too great to be abandoned, and wood-cuts rapidly improved. A change took place later in the century, when the superior cheapness and accuracy of photo-blocks led