ing away as usual. As for his honour, he stoutly maintained, in opposition to all, it was a face-swore they were all a pack of knaves, who had a design on him, and had bribed the cobler-declared he felt him inwardly, and would not credit the evidence of his other senses; for in order to convince him he was deceived, the cobler had been brought into his room. A fit of cholic aiding his delusion, he exclaimed on seeing him, "Oh, no! that is not the man, though very like him, he is not the fellow at all; here he is," and he laid his hand despondingly on his protuberance," and to my cost I know that 'seeing's believing, but feeling has no fellow.'

Medical practitioners were now called in, who also exerted all their eloquence to convince him of his error; in vain they contended that such a case was never known from the days of Hippocrates down; it was impossible, they affirmed (and offered to demonstrate), from the nature of solids, that a body the size of a cobler could at all enter the aperture of the mouth, or descend the passage of the gullet; and even supposing, for the sake of argument, that he had forced an entrance into the stomach, yet the active nature of the gastric juice was such as would effectually destroy the principle of vitality, and consequently deprive him of life. 66 Bah!" said the sufferer, "it is all fine talk; you want to persuade me I am a fool; you are a set of ignorant quacks, who do not understand the nature of my disorder, and know nothing of the pain and inconvenience a man must suffer who has a cobler in his belly."

In this state matters remained for some days, during which period indigestion performed its part, and the patient grew worse; his unusual distension of belly he attributed to the presence of his internal foe; the hollow rumbling of the wind through the caverns of his bowels he averred was the echo of songs and laughter; and the twinges and pangs of cholic, he was firmly persuaded, were caused by the awls and pincers of the cobler, who, he said, amused himself by tacking his liver and lights together. Eat or drink he would not, determined to starve the enemy from the citadel; and ever and anon he addressed his inward foe, and endeavoured to persuade him of the impropriety of his conduct thus: " My good fellow, what have I ever done to you, that you should treat me in this way? I never injured you, and why do you annoy me? Do now, like a good fellow, come up, and I give you my word and honour I will never say a word about it; I will be a friend to you as long as I live; I'll give you all my custom, and set you up in a grand shop of your own, and make you the prince of shoemakers. But you wont! -no; there you stick! Now, by George, I will make them take you, when I am dead, and hang you as high as Haman, as a warning to all ambitious coblers, to teach them to be content with their lot, and not attempt to force themselves into company so much above them."

All would not do; the cobler kept his ground, maugre threats and persuasions, and seemed determined to stick to the last, until both should go down to the grave together.

At length, a doctor, attached to a regiment then in garrison, heard of the untoward transaction, and having seen some foreign service, and attentively studied human nature, he at once perceived the only chance of recovery for the unfortunate Mr. B. was by humouring his whim. Being, moreover, in want of cash, and understanding the encumbered gentleman was rich, and would willingly pay well for a safe delivery, he determined to act the part of accoucheur, and ease both pocket and paunch together. For this purpose, he caused himself to be introduced; and, on his making the necessary inquiries as to the how, where, and when, had the circumstances minutely detailed by the invalid, who wound up his tale of woe by the anxious inquiry, 66 Do you think, sir, you can do any thing for me, or has a case of the same nature ever come under your observation."

The doctor, after a few wise nods, and expressive shakes, declared that certainly his case was a very peculiar one; "but, however," said he, "it is not entirely new to meseveral of the same class of disorders have occured to me on the continent, but few so severe; and I have myself assisted at the safe delivery of a German prince of a brood of young ducks. I have no doubt but I can be of service."

66

Well, sir, take courage," said the sage; "by this time to-morrow we will make the villain glad to shift his quarters."

It was finally arranged that at noon the ensuing day operations should commence, and the cobler be dispossessed" vi et armis."

Morning came, and his honour was all expectation and hope; he had the past night rested better than usual; for his mind was, in some degree, calmed by the assurances of the doctor; and he would occasionally slap his belly with exultation, and chuckle at the idea of the storm that was brewing over the head of the devoted cobler. In the mean time, his friend was not idle; he had, by the promise of a gratuity secured the assistance of the innocent cause of all the disturbance-engaged him to be ready at the appointed time, and to bring with him to the scene of action his ends, his awls, his lasts, his leather, and lapstone; and when every thing was prepared, he visited his patient. Well, sir," said he, "how have you passed the night?"

66

Indeed, rather better than usual; the lad within has, I suppose, overheard our conversation, and thinks he will get leave to remain, provided he keeps quiet; but out he must come, will he, nill he. Now, sir, I am ready; how and when will you begin, or what am I to do, for I am all impatience."

"Sir," said the doctor, " you have only to take this emetic -it is very powerful, and, I think, will be sufficient to dislodge him; if not, we will attack him from below; but first we will try the emetic. You must drink plentifully of warm water; and, as straining is very hurtful to the eyes, you will allow me to tie this napkin over yours."

66

Oh, my dear sir, I am entirely yours-do with me as you like; but dispossess the cobler."

So saying, he breathed a mental prayer for his safe delivery; and first requesting a bandage might be passed round his circumference, lest he should burst, he resigned himself to the doctor, and took the emetic. Being carefully lifted, he was placed in an easy chair, with a large tub of water at his feet; and, in due time, the medicine beginning to operate, the napkin was placed on his eyes, and he began to eject the contents of his stomach. After a few gulphs, the doctor flung some scraps of leather and a last into the tnb, and exclaiming, "Courage, sir! here are some of his matters," removed the napkin; and the delighted invalid perceiving them floating in the water, looked with contempt at the bystanders, and cried, "Now, ye unbelievers!-now will ye credit your eyes?-now will ye say the cobler is not in my belly?" a few more

"Keep a good heart, sir," said his friend; struggles, and we will have the ruffian himself in spite of his teeth."

The napkin was again replaced, and taking a hearty draught of tepid water, he valiantly prepared himself for another onslaught; gradually as the emetic performed its office, the several articles of the "kit" made their appearance; and finally, during a severe paroxysm, the doctor hailed him with the joyful tidings that he was sure that the cobler himself was coming. At length a heavy plunge, accompanied by a shout from the doctor, met his delighted ear; when, tearing the napkin from his eyes, he perceived the cobler darting quick as lightning from the tub, and flying out of the room. Instantly he pursued, but failing to catch him, he returned, light of heart and easy in mind, highly gratified with the result, and well-pleased at the drenching he conceived he had given the cobler.

It is needless to add, the doctor was liberally rewarded. Through the effects of medicine and exercise, Mr. B. re

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covered his health and spirits. In time, he would smile at his own conceits; and if any of his friends chanced to mention the cobler, he contented himself by remarking, R. A. "Nemo mortalium, omnibus horis sapit."

THE PLUNKET ARMS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE DUBLIN PENNY JOURNAL.

SIR-Every one who contributes to the stock of historic material, by copying inscriptions or making sketches of the remains of by-gone ages, is entitled to the gratitude of his fellow men; and it is the duty of every lover of his country, to rescue from destruction any remains which throw a light on the acts of the olden time. Your ingenious correspondent, R. Armstrong, by the interesting sketch given in your 37th number, page 293, has placed in safety the memorial of a nobleman's marriage, which might be valuable in a legal, as well as a literary point of view; and he will not be offended at my correcting the erroneous conjectures into which he has fallen respecting the import of the arms sculptured on the stone, which have nothing whatever to do with the city of Dublin.

The arms represented are those of Christopher, Lord of Howth, who died 24th October, 1589, and of Elizabeth Plunket, his first wife, who was the daughter of Sir John Plunket, of Bewley, in the County of Louth. The arms on the sinister, or wife's side, are those of Plunket -sable, a bend, and in sinister chief a tower, argent; the letter C is the initial of Christopher, and E, of Elizabeth. This lady died many years before her husband, but was the mother of his children. By his second wife he had no issue.

It may not be unacceptable to state a few facts respecting the singular and somewhat odd changes which, in the lapse of ages, take place even in family arms, from accidental circumstances, so as even to render them totally different from what they originally were.

I have in my possession a copy of a very old MS. of the arms of the ancient families of Ireland, in which the arms of the Plunkets of Beaulieu, the head branch of that noble family, are represented as sable, a bend of lozenges argent, which are the arms of the ancient Plonkenets of England and Normandy; and

Camden, who in his Britannia, mentions the Plunkets among the ancient families of Ireland, states that they bore the bend of lozenges for arms, as the old Plonkenets of England.

In the fifteenth century, Christopher Plunket, third son of Christopher, the first Lord Killeen, married the daughter and sole heir of Richard, third Earl of Kildare and Baron of Ophaley, by Anne, daughter and eventual sole heir of Sir Nicholas de Castlemartin Jere, of Dunsany, Croskyle, Dangen, &c. &c.; and having obtained the Castlemartin estate by this marriage, his son Richard Plunket, the second Lord Dunsany, quartered the arms of Castlemartin with his own, as in the margin. In process of time this marriage with the Castlemartins became forgotten, and although the arms,

as here depicted, are emblazoned in the oldest books of heraldry of Ireland, the family know not why they bear the tower in their arms.

Some ancient stone fixed on the front, probably, of the castle of Dunsany, became defaced, and the divisions of the shield and the lozenges obliterated, so as to represent the bend as between two castles, and the arms as one field only, as in the margin; and thus the arms of Plunket appear in another sketch in an old MS. in my possession.

THE ONE MYSTERY.

FOR THE DUBLIN PENNY JOURNAL.

'Tis idle :-we exhaust and squander

The glittering mine of thought in vain : All-baffled reason cannot wander

Beyond her chain.

The flood of life runs dark-dark clouds

Make lampless night around its shore:
The dead, where are they? In their shrouds-
Man knows no more!

Evoke the Ancient and the Past:
Will one illuming star arise?
Or must the film from first to last
O'erspread thine eyes?

When life, love, glory, beauty wither,

Will wisdom's page or science' chart
Map out for thee the region whither
Their shades depart?

Supposest thou the wondrous powers
To high imaginations given,
Pale types of what shall yet be ours
When earth is heaven?

When this decaying shell is cold,

O! sayest thou the soul shall climb
That magic mount she trod of old,
Ere childhood's time?

And shall the sacred pulse that thrilled,
Thrill once again to Glory's name?
And shall the conquering Love that filled
All earth with flame,

Reborn, revived, renewed, immortal,
Resume his reign in prouder might,
A sun beyond the ebon portal
Of death and night?

No more, no more ;-With aching brow,
And restless heart, and burning brain,
We ask the When, the Where, the How,
And ask in vain.

And all philosophy, all faith,

All earthly, all celestial lore,

Have but ONE voice, which only saith,
Endure, adore!

CLARENCE.

CARRICKFERGUS.

Having promised in our 15th number, to return at some future period to Carrickfergus, we now present the above representation of the North Gate, the only picturesque remnant of the external defences of this important borough town. The Roman style of its architecture indicates the period of its erection in the reign of James the First, when the gothic or pointed style was laid aside. It was originally entered by a draw-bridge. A tradition goes concerning the archway, that it will stand until a wise man become a member of the corporation. The satirical nature of the old saying, has perhaps caused it to be repeated and remembered, and either tends to prove, that the Carrickfergussians have very high ideas of the standard of wisdom, and that though certainly no fools, they have modesty enough to shrink from the assumption of positive wisdom-or that perhaps, like other Irishmen, they give appellations by con

Clayton

traries, as we have heard a man in another district notorious for his sagacity, universally called "Paddy the fool." Be this as it may, the old arch still stands; proving, no doubt, that none of the present corporation are in any danger of being submitted to the usual ordeal of those counted as dealing in witchcraft and the black art. This train of thought leads us, as we have formerly noticed the political history of this town, to give an account, as occurring here, of the last trial for witchcraft that took place in Ireland, which is reported as follows by Mr. M'Skimin, the excellent and accurate historian of his native town.

"1711. March 31st, Janet Mean, of Braid-island; Janet Latimer, Irish-quarter, Carrickfergus ; Janet Millar, Scotch-quarter, Carrickfergus; Margaret Mitchel, Kilroot; Catharine M'Calmond, Janet Liston, alias Seller, Elizabeth Seller, and Janet Carson, the four last from Island Magee, were tried here, in the County of Antrim court, for witchcraft. Their alleged crime was tormenting

a young woman called Mary Dunbar, about eighteen years of age, at the house of James Hattridge, Island Magee, and at other places to which she was removed. The circumstances sworn on the trial were as follow :"The afflicted person being, in the month of February, 1711, in the house of James Hattridge, Island Magee, (which had been for some time believed to be haunted by evil spirits) found an apron on the parlour floor, that had been missing some time, tied with five strange knots, which she loosened. On the following day she was suddenly seized with a violent pain in her thigh, and afterwards fell into fits and ravings; and on recovering, said she was tormented by several women, whose dress and personal appearance she minutely described. Shortly after, she was again seized with the like fits; and on recovering, she accused five other women of tormenting her, describing them also. The accused persons being brought from different parts of the country, she appeared to suffer extreme fear and additional torture, as they approached the house. It was also deposed, that strange noises, as of whistling, scratching, &c. were heard in the house, and that a sulphurous smell was observed in the rooms; that stones, turf, and the like, were thrown about the house, and the coverlets, &c. frequently taken off the beds, and made up in the shape of a corpse; and that a bolster once walked out of a room into the kitchen, with a night gown about it! It likewise appeared in evidence, that in some of her fits, three strong men were scarcely able to hold her in the bed; that at times she vomited feathers, cotton yarn, pins, and buttons; and that on one occasion she slid off the bed, and was laid on the floor, as if supported and drawn by an invisible power. The afflicted person was unable to give any evidence on the trial, being during that time dumb; but had no violent fit during its continuance.

"The evidence sworn upon this trial were, Rev. Skevington, Rev. William Ogilvie, William Fenton, John Smith, John Blair, James Blythe, William Hartley, Charles Lennon, John Wilson, Hugh Wilson, Hugh Donaldson, James Hill, James Hattridge, Mrs. Hattridge, Rev. Patrick Adair, Rev. James Cobham, Patrick Ferguson, James Edmonston, and Jamison.

"In defence of the accused, it appeared that they were mostly sober, industrious people, who attended public worship, could repeat the Lord's prayer, and had been known to pray both in public and private; and that some of them had lately received the communion.

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"Judge Upton charged the jury, and observed on the regular attendance of the accused on public worship; remarking, that he thought it improbable that real witches could so far retain the form of religion, as to frequent the religious worship of God, both publicly and privately, which had been proved in favour of the accused. He concluded by giving his opinion, that the jury could not bring them in guilty, upon the sole testimony of the afflicted person's visionary images.' He was followed by Justice Macartney, who differed from him in opinion, and thought the jury might, from the evidence, bring them in guilty which they accordingly did.

"This trial lasted from six o'clock in the morning till two in the afternoon; and the prisoners were sentenced to be imprisoned twelve months, and to stand four times in the pillory in Carrickfergus.

"Tradition says, that the people were much exasperated against these unfortunate persons, who were severely pelted in the pillory, with boiled cabbage stalks, and the like, by which one of them had an eye beaten

out."

The above curious recital proves to our satisfaction two points first, that the above-mentioned Judge Macartney might, on the strength of the tradition, have walked with perfect safety, at all times of his leisure, under the north gate, and secondly, that the Carrickfergussians hereby exhibit their Caledonian origin—witchcraft and sorcery being much practised on the opposite coast, and both king and kirk having there exhibited "full clearness" in spacing the interference of evil spirits on the affairs of this world. In Ireland, as far as we know, there has not been, since the days of Alice Kettle, much ado about witches, though much concerned, it is true, in the matter

of ghosts, banshees, and good people. But in Scotland, even at the period of this curious trial in Carrickfergus, witch-finding was still a propensity, and the lawyers, ministers, and magistrates, conld not refrain from dealing out their deserts on those suspected of the black art, as is shown as follows, in that interesting work of the late Sir Walter Scott, "Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft."

"Sir John Clerk, a scholar and an antiquary, the grandfather of the late celebrated John Clerk, of Eldin, had the honour to be amongst the first to decline acting as a commissioner on the trial of a witch, to which he was appointed so early as 1678, alleging dryly, that he did not feel himself warlock (that is, conjurer) sufficient to be a judge upon such an inquisition. Allan Ramsay, his friend, and who must be supposed to speak the sense of his many respectable patrons, had delivered his opinion on the subject in the "Gentle Shepherd," where Mause's imaginary witchcraft constitutes the machinery of the poem.

"Yet these dawnings of sense and humanity were obscured by the clouds of the ancient superstition on more than one distinguished occasion. In 1676, Sir George Maxwell, of Pollock, apparently a man of melancholic and valetudinary habits, believed himself bewitched to death by six witches, one man and five women, who were leagued for the purpose of tormenting a clay image made in his likeness. The chief evidence on the subject was a vagabond girl, pretending to be deaf and dumb. But as her imposture was afterwards discovered, and herself punished, it is reasonably to be concluded that she had herself formed the picture or image of Sir George, and had hid it, where it was afterwards found, in consequence of her own information. In the meantime five of the accused were executed, and the sixth only escaped on account of extreme youth.

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A still more remarkable case occurred at Paisley, in 1697, where a young girl, about eleven years of age, daughter of John Shaw, of Bargarran, was the principal evidence. This unlucky damsel, beginning her practices out of a quarrel with a maid-servant, continued to imitate a case of possession so accurately, that no less than twenty persons were condemned upon her evidence, of whom five were executed, besides one John Reed, who hanged himself in prison, or, as was charitably said, was strangled by the devil in person, lest he should make disclosures to the detriment of the service. But even those who believed in witchcraft were now beginning to open their eyes to the dangers in the present mode of prosecution. "lown" says the Rev. Mr. Bell, in his MS. Treatise on Witchcraft, "there has been much harm done to worthy and innocent persons in the common way of finding out witches, and in the means made use of for promoting the discovery of such wretches, and bringing them to justice; so that oftentimes old age, poverty, features, and ill fame, with such like grounds not worthy to be represented to a magistrate, have yet moved many to suspect and defame their neighbours, to the unspeakable prejudice of Christian charity; a late instance whereof we had in the west, in the business of the sorceries exercised upon the Laird of Bargarran's daughter, anno 1697, a time when persons of more goodness and esteem than most of their calumniators were defamed for witches, and which was occasioned mostly by the forwardness and absurd credulity of divers otherwise worthy ministers of the gospel, and some topping professors in and about the city of Glasgow."

"Those who doubted of the sense of the law, or reasonableness of the practice, in such cases, began to take courage, and state their objections boldly. In the year 1704, a frightful instance of popular bigotry occurred at Pittenweem. A strolling vagabond, who affected fits, laid an accusation of witchcraft against two women, who were accordingly seized on, and imprisoned with the usual se verities. One of the unhappy creatures, Janet Cornfoot by name, escaped from prison, but was unhappily caught and brought back to Pittenweem, where she fell into the hands of a ferocious mob, consisting of rude seamen and fishers. The magistrates made no attempts for her rescue, and the crowd exercised their brutal pleasure on the poor old woman, pelted her with stones, swung her suspended on a rope betwixt a ship and the shore, and finally ended her miserable existence by throwing a door over

her as she lay exhausted on the beach; and heaping stones upon it till she was pressed to death. As even the existing laws against witchcraft were transgressed by this brutal riot, a warm attack was made upon the magistrates and ministers of the town, by those who were shocked at a tragedy of such a horrible cast. There were answers published, in which the parties assailed were zealously defended. The superior authorities were expected to take up the affair, but it so happened, during the general distraction of the country concerning the Union, that the murder went without the investigation which a crime so horrid demanded. Still, however, it was something gained that the cruelty was exposed to the public. The voice of general opinion was now appealed to, and, in the long run, the sentiments which it advocates are commonly those of good sense and humanity.

"The officers in the higher branches of the law dared now assert their official authority, and reserve for their own decision cases of supposed witchcraft which the fear of public clamour had induced them formerly to leave in the hands of the inferior judges, operated upon by all the prejudices of the country and the populace.

"In 1718, the celebrated lawyer, Robert Dundas, of Arniston, then King's advocate, wrote a severe letter of censure to the Sheriff-depute of Caithness, in the first place, as having neglected to communicate officially certain precognitions which he had led respecting some recent practises of witchcraft in his county. The advocate reminded this local judge, that the duty of inferior magistrates, in such cases, was to advise with the King's Counsel, first, whether they should be made subject of a trial or not; and, if so, before what court, and in what manner, it should take place. He also called the magistrates' attention to a report, that he, the Sheriff-depute, intended to judge in the case himself; "a thing of too great difficulty to be tried without very deliberate advice, and beyond the jurisdiction of an inferior court." The Sheriff-depute sends, with his apology, the precognition of the affair, which is one of the most nonsensical in this nonsensical department of the law. A certain carpenter, named William Montgomery, was so infested with cats, which, as his servant-maid reported, "spoke among themselves," that he fell in rage upon a party of these animals which had asembled in his house at irregular hours, and betwixt his Highland arms of knife, dirk, and broadsword, and his professional weapon of an axe, he made such a dispersion that they were quiet for the night. In consequence of his blows, two witches were said to have died. The case of a third, named Nin-Gilbert, was still more remarkable. Her leg being broken, the injured limb withered, pined, and finally fell off; on which the hag was inclosed in prison, where she also died and the question which remained was, whether any process should be directed against persons whom, in her compelled confession, she had, as usual, informed against. The Lord Advocate, as may be supposed, quashed all further procedure.

"In 1720, an unlucky boy, the third son of James, Lord Torphichen, took it into his head, under instructions, it is said, from a knavish governor, to play the possessed and bewitched person, laying the cause of his distress on certain old witches in Calder, near to which village his father had his mansion. The women were imprisoned, and one or two of them died; but the crown counsel would not proceed to trial. The noble family also began to see through the cheat. The boy was sent to sea, and though he is said at one time to have been disposed to try his fits while on board, when the discipline of the navy proved too severe for his cunning, in process of time he became a good sailor, assisted gallantly in defence of the vessel against the pirates of Angria, and finally was drowned in

a storm.

In the year 1722, a Sheriff-depute of Sutherland, Captain David Ross, of Littledean, took it upon him in flagrant violation of the then established rules of jurisdiction, to pronounce the last sentence of death for witchcraft which was ever passed in Scotland. The victim was an insane old woman belonging to the parish of Loth, who had so little idea of her situation as to rejoice at the sight of the fire which was destined to consume her. She had a daughter lame both of hands and feet, a circum

It

stance attributed to the witch's having been used to transform her into a pony, and get her shod by the devil. does not appear that any punishment was inflicted for this cruel abuse of the law on the person of a creature so helpless; but the son of the lame daughter, he himself distinguished by the same misfortune, was living so lately as to receive the charity of the present Marchioness of Stafford, Countess of Sutherland in her own right, to whom the poor of her extensive country are as well known as those of the higher order.

"Since this deplorable action, there has been no judicial interference in Scotland on account of witchcraft."

There is another proof, if any were required, that the inhabitants of Carrickfergus had a community of manners and customs with their neighbours across the channel, in their deeming it necessary to restrain the too common and noisy nuisance of woman-scolding, as the following extract from the town records, shows:

October, 1574, ordered and agreede by the hole Court, that all manner of Skolds which shal be openly detected of Skolding or evill wordes in manner of Skolding, and for the same shal' be condemned before Mr. Maior and his brethren, shal be drawne at the sterne of a boate in the water from the ende of the Peare rounde abought the Queenes majesties Castell in manner of ducking, and after when a cage shal be made the Party so condemned for a Skold shal be therein punished at the discretion of the Maior.' It appears that a cage was got soon after, and delinquents punished in the manner noticed; and that regular lists were kept of all scolds, and their names laid before the grand juries. The cage, or ducking stool, stood on the quay; in a deed granted to John Davy's, July 6th, 1671, is the following notice of it. 'One small plot of land or house stead, situated upon the Key, on the north-east, adjoining to the Duckingstool, on said Key, now standing.""

THE NIGHT SINGER.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE DUBLIN PENNY JOURNAL,

R. Y.

SIR-The complaint has now become so trite, that the natural history of Ireland has been carefully neglected both by English and Irishmen,-by the former, from ignorance of our productions, and by the latter, from having, hitherto, unfortunately wasted their minds in baneful disputes on politics and religion, instead of refreshing them in the pursuit of knowledge-that I shall advert to that topic no further than to express a hope that we have now better days at hand. Societies are springing up in our metropolis for the diffusion of various branches of natural science. Knowledge has at length taken its stand amongst us, and although at present apparently dwarfed in dimensions, I trust the mighty Power will soon, like the Indian deity, rear its form to gigantic magnitude, and asserting its empire, crush the demons of discord that have so long made us their prey.

My object, however, in writing this letter is not to indite fine similes, but-if you can spare me a corner for the purpose-to put a question, through the medium of your Journal, which I have often asked before, but to which I have never yet got a satisfactory answer:-Has the nightingale ever visited Ireland? Goldsmith, to be sure, replies in the negative; but then we know that Goldsmith's book, although we have all read it with unmixed pleasure in our younger days, is not, in every case, to be relied with upon perfect confidence; and I have not happened to meet with any other naturalist that touches on the question.

I am, at the same time, desirous to communicate a fact which I have no doubt will be interesting to many of your readers, and which, I apprehend, is not generally known: namely, that we have in this country a Night Singer, which, as far as I am conversant in the music of birds, can be equalled by the nightingale only, if it be not itself the nightingale.

I was informed, last summer, by some friends residing at RATHGAR, a well-known and beautiful out-let on the south side of this city, that they had, for many nights, heard the song of a bird, which they naturally enough concluded to be a nightingale. To this I did not, at the time, attach much weight; being rather inclined to the