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BANIM, Michael.

⸺ CROHOORE OF THE BILLHOOK. (Duffy). [1825].

Has been a very popular book. The action lies in one of the darkest periods of Irish history, when the peasantry, crushed under tithe-proctor, middleman, and Penal laws, retorted by the savage outrages of the secret societies. One of these latter was the “Whiteboys,” with the doings of which this book largely deals. The Author does not justify outrage, but explains it by a picture of the conditions of which it was an outcome. A dark and terrible story. The scene is Kilkenny and neighbourhood. It must be added that most of the characters savour strongly of what is now known as the “stage Irishman.”

⸺ THE CROPPY. Pp. 420. (Duffy). 2s. Still reprinted. [1828].

Opens with a long and serious historical introduction. There follow many pages of a love story of the better classes which is, perhaps, not very convincing. Samples of the outrages by which the people were driven to revolt are given. Then there are many scenes from the heart of the rebellion itself, some of them acquired from conversation with eye-witnesses. The attitude is that of a mild Nationalist, or rather Liberal, contemplating with sorrow not unmixed with contempt the savage excesses of his misguided countrymen. The rebellion is shown in its vulgarest and least romantic aspect, and there are harrowing descriptions of rebel outrages on Vinegar Hill and elsewhere. The one noble or even respectable character in the book, Sir Thomas Hartley, is represented as in sympathy with constitutional agitation, but utterly abhorring rebellion. The other chief actors in the story are unattractive. They have no sympathy with the insurgents, and the parts they play are connected merely accidentally with the rebellion. There is much movement and spirit in the descriptive portions.

⸺ THE MAYOR OF WINDGAP. Pp. 190. (Duffy). [1834].

Romantic and sensational—attempted murders, abductions, &c. Not suitable for the young. Interest and mystery well sustained. Scene: Kilkenny in 1779. There was a Paris edition, 1835.

⸺ THE BIT O’ WRITING.

This is the title-story of a volume of stories. First published in London, 1838. It may be taken as typical of Michael Banim’s humour at his best. It is a gem of story-telling, and, besides, a very close study of the ways and the talk of the peasantry. The “ould admiral,” with his sailor’s lingo, is most amusing. It was republished along with another story, The Ace of Clubs, by Gill, in a little volume of the O’Connell Press Series, pp. 144, cloth, 6d., 1886. The original volume, with twenty stories, is still published by Kenedy, New York.

⸺ FATHER CONNELL. Pp. 358. [1840].

The scene is Kilkenny. The hero is an Irish country priest. The character, modelled strictly (see Pref.) on that of a priest well known to the author, is one of the noblest in fiction. He is the ideal Irish priest, almost childlike in simplicity, pious, lavishly charitable, meek and long-suffering, but terrible when circumstances roused him to action. Interwoven with his life-story is that of Neddy Fennell, his orphan protégé, brave, honest, generous, loyal. Father Connell is his ministering angel, warding off suffering and disaster, saving him also from himself. The last scene, where, to save his protégé from an unjust judicial sentence, Father Connell goes before the Viceroy, and dies at his feet, is a piece of exquisite pathos. There is an element of the sombre and the terrible. But the greater part of the book sparkles with a humour at once so kindly, so homely, and so delicate, that the reader comes to love the Author so revealed. The episodes depict many aspects of Irish life. The character-drawing is masterly, as the best critics have acknowledged. There is Mrs. Molloy, Father Connell’s redoubtable housekeeper; Costigan, the murderer and robber; Mary Cooney, the poor outcast and her mother, the potato-beggar; and many more. The Author faithfully reproduces the talk of the peasants, and enters into their point of view. Acknowledged to be the most pleasing of the Banims’ novels.

⸺ THE GHOST HUNTER AND HIS FAMILY. (Simms & M’Intyre). [1833]. 1852.

Still published by P. J. Kenedy, New York: 75 cents. An intricate plot skilfully worked out, never flagging, and with a mystery admirably sustained to the end. Gives curious glimpses of the life of the times (early nineteenth century), as seen in a provincial town (Kilkenny). But the style often offends against modern taste. The book soon turns to rather crude, if exciting, melodrama. Moreover, though the Author is always on the side of morality, there is too much about abduction, &c., and too many references to the loose morals of the day to make it suitable reading for certain classes.

⸺ THE TOWN OF THE CASCADES. Two Vols. Pp. 283 + 283. (Chapman & Hall). 1864.

Scene: sea-board town in West. A powerful story in which the chief interest is a tragedy brought about by drink. The town seems to be Ennistymon, Co. Clare. The characters belong to the peasant class, and of course are drawn with thorough knowledge. The work could easily go in one not very large volume.

“BAPTIST, Father” see Mgr. R. B. O’BRIEN.

BARBOUR, M. F.

⸺ THE IRISH ORPHAN BOY IN A SCOTTISH HOME. Pp. 87. (London). [1866]. 1872.

“A sequel to ‘The Way Home,’ &c.” A little religious tract (Protestant) in story form.

BARDAN, Patrick.

⸺ THE DEAD-WATCHERS. Pp. 83. (Mullingar: Office of Westmeath Guardian). 1891.

“And other Folk-lore Tales of Westmeath.” The author is a member of the Royal Society of Antiquaries. Intended as a contribution to folk-lore. But the title-story (54 pp.) is a fantastic story told in melodramatic modern English, and has little or no connexion with folk-lore. The remainder consists of ghost stories, spirit-warnings, superstitions, chiefly of local interest. Appended are a few explanatory notes of some value.

BARLOW, Jane.

⸺ IRISH IDYLLS. Pp. 284. (Hodder & Stoughton). 6s. [1892]. Ninth ed. (N.Y.: Dodd & Mead). 2.00. 1908.

Doings at Lisconnell, a poverty-stricken little hamlet, lost amidst a waste of unlovely bogland. These sketches have been well described as “saturated with the pathos of elementary tragedy.” Yet there is humour, too, and even fun, as in the story of how the shebeeners tricked the police. The illustrated edition contains about thirty exceptionally good reproductions of photographs of Western life and scenery.

⸺ KERRIGAN’S QUALITY. Pp. 254. (Hodder & Stoughton). 6s. Eight Illustr. [1893]. (N.Y.: Pratt). 1.75. Second edition.

In this story the peasants only appear incidentally. The main characters are Martin Kerrigan, a returned Irish-Australian; the invalid Lady O’Connor; her son, Sir Ben; and her niece, Merle. The story is one of intense, almost hopeless, sadness, yet it is ennobling in a high degree. It is full of exquisite scraps of description.

⸺ STRANGERS AT LISCONNELL. Pp. 341. (Hodder & Stoughton). 6s. [1895]. (N.Y.: Pratt). 1.75.

A second series of Irish Idylls, showing the Author’s qualities in perhaps a higher degree even than the first. A more exquisite story than “A Good Turn” it would be hard to find. Throughout there is the most thorough sympathy with the poor folk. The peasant dialect is never rendered so as to appear vulgar or absurd. It is full of an endless variety of picturesqueness and quaint turns. No problems are discussed, yet the all but impossibility of life under landlordism is brought out (see p. 15). There are studies of many types familiar in Irish country life—the tinkers; Mr. Polymathers, the pedagogue (a most pathetic figure); Mad Bell, the crazy tramp; and Con the “Quare One.” It should be noted that, though there is in Miss Barlow’s stories much pathos, there is an entire absence of emotional gush.

⸺ MAUREEN’S FAIRING. Pp. 191. (Dent). Six Illustr., of no great value. [1895]. (N.Y.: Macmillan). 0.75.

Eight little stories reprinted from various magazines in a very dainty little volume. Like all of Jane Barlow’s stories, they tell of the “tear and the smile” in lowly peasant lives, with graceful humour or simple, tender pathos. The stories are very varied in kind.

⸺ MRS. MARTIN’S COMPANY. (Dent). Uniform with Maureen’s Fairing. [1896]. (N.Y.: Macmillan). 0.75.

“Seven stories, chiefly of a light and humorous kind, very tender in their portrayal of the hearts of the poor. There is a touching sketch of child-life and a police-court comedy.”—(Baker).

⸺ FROM THE EAST UNTO THE WEST. Pp. 342. (Methuen). 1s. 8vo. Cloth. First ed., 1898; new ed., 1905.

The first six of this collection of fifteen stories are tales of foreign lands—Arabia, Greece, and others. The remainder deal with Irish peasant life. They tell of the romance and pathos that is hidden in lives that seem most commonplace. “The Field of the Frightful Beasts” is a pretty little story of childish fancies. “An Advance Sheet” is weird and has a tragic ending.

⸺ FROM THE LAND OF THE SHAMROCK. Pp. 318. (Methuen). 5s. (N.Y.: Pratt). 1.75. 1900. (N.Y.: Dodd & Mead). 1.50.

Fourteen stories, some humorous, some pathetic, including some of the author’s best work. There is the usual sympathetic insight into the eccentricities and queernesses of the minds of the peasant class, but little about the higher spiritual qualities of the people, for that is not the author’s province. Among the most amusing of the sketches is that which tells the doings of a young harum-scarum, the terror of his elders.

⸺ THE FOUNDING OF FORTUNES. Pp. 335. (Methuen). 1s. Cloth. 8vo. [1902]. New ed. 1906.

The tale of how Timothy Galvin, a ragged urchin living in a mud cabin and remarkable only for general dishonesty and shrewd selfishness, is given a start in life by an ill-gotten purse, and rises by his mother wit to wealth. The study of the despicable character of the parvenu is clever and unsparing. Other types are introduced, the landlord of the old type, and two reforming landlords, who appear also in Kerrigan’s Quality. The book displays Jane Barlow’s qualities to the full.

⸺ BY BEACH AND BOGLAND. Pp. 301. (Fisher Unwin). 6s. One Illustr. 1905.

Seventeen stories up to the level of the author’s best, the usual vein of quiet humour, the pathos that is never mawkish, the perfect accuracy of the conversations, and the faithful portrayal of characteristics. The study in “A Money-crop at Lisconnell,” of the struggle between the Widow M’Gurk’s deep-rooted Celtic pride and her kind heart, is most amusing. As usual, there are delightful portraits of children.

⸺ IRISH NEIGHBOURS. Pp. 342. (Hutchinson). 1907.

Seventeen stories of Irish life, chiefly among the peasantry. They have all Miss Barlow’s wonted sympathy and insight, her quiet humour and cheerful outlook.

⸺ IRISH WAYS. Pp. 262. (George Allen). 15s. Sq. demy 8vo. Sixteen Illustr. in colour. Headpieces to chapters. 1909.

Chapter I., “Ourselves and Our Island,” gives the author’s thoughts about Ireland, its outward aspect, the peculiarities of its social life, its soul. It includes an exquisite pen-picture of Irish landscape beauty. The remaining fourteen sketches are “chapters from the history of some Irish country folk,” whom she describes as “social, pleasure-loving, keen-witted,” but “prone to melancholy and mysticism.” The last sketch is a picture, almost photographic in its fidelity, of a little out-of-the-way country town and its neighbourhood. The illustrations are pretty, and the artist, who, unlike many illustrators of Irish books, has evidently been in Ireland, has made a great effort to include in his pictures as much local colour as possible. Yet it seems to us that un-Irish traits often intrude themselves despite him.

⸺ FLAWS. Pp. 344. (Hutchinson). 6s. 1911.

Embroidered upon an exceptionally involved plot—four times we are introduced to a wholly new set of characters—we have the author’s usual qualities, minute observation and depiction of curious aspects of character, snatches of clever picturesque conversation, an occasional vivid glimpse of nature. But in this case the caste is made up of spiteful, petty, small-minded and generally disagreeable personages. They are nearly all drawn from the middle and upper classes in the South of Ireland, Protestant and Anglicized. The snobbishness, petty jealousies, selfishness of some of these people is set forth in a vein of satire. The incidents include an unusually tragic suicide.

⸺ MAC’S ADVENTURES. (Hutchinson). 6s. 1911.

Eight stories in which Mac, or rather Macartney Valentine O’Neill Barry, who is four years old in the first and six in the last, plays a leading part. Indeed he is quite a little deus ex machina, or rather a good fairy in the affairs of his elders. Mac is neither a paragon nor a youthful prodigy. He is just a natural child, with a child’s love of mischief and “grubbiness,” and full of quaint sayings. Bright and genial in tone.—(Press Notices).

⸺ DOINGS AND DEALINGS. Pp. 314. (Hutchinson). 6s. 1913.

Thirteen stories, all but one (the longest) dealing with peasant life in the author’s wonted manner. Perhaps scarcely so good as some of her earlier collections.

⸺ A CREEL OF IRISH STORIES. (Methuen). 1s. Cloth. 8vo. (N.Y.: Dodd & Mead). 1.25.

The first of these, “The Keys of the Chest,” is a curious and original conception, showing with what strange notions a child grew up in a lonely mansion by the sea. The story of the suicide is a gem of story-telling. “Three Pint Measures” is a comic sketch of low Dublin life.

⸺ ANOTHER CREEL OF IRISH STORIES. Published, I believe, in U.S.A. (On sale by Pratt: N.Y.). 1.75.

[BARRETT, J. G.], “Erigena.”

⸺ EVELYN CLARE; or, The Wrecked Homesteads. Pp. viii. + 274. (Derby: Richardson). 1870.

“An Irish story of love and landlordism.” Crude melodrama with all the usual accessories—a landlord, “Lord Ironhoof,” and an agent, “Gore”—eviction, agrarian murders, a disguised priest, and secret Mass, a poteen still, an elopement, a changeling brought up in wealth, a lover supposed drowned, and an innocent man unjustly convicted. No sense of reality. Scene: West of Ireland, c. 1850. Several anachronisms.

BARRINGTON, F. Clinton.

⸺ FITZ-HERN; or, The Irish Patriot Chief. Pp. 122. (Glasgow: Cameron & Ferguson). n.d.

Scene: Galway Bay. Crude melodrama, without historical significance. Wicked married bishops, scheming foreign monks, and coarse fat friars are the villains of the piece. But the hero, a smuggler of noble birth, always escapes from their clutches, and finally marries the heroine. Specimen of dialect:—“Arrah, gorrah, avic, father John, it’s the Pope o’ Rome ye bate, out and out.” (p. 13).

BARRON, Percy.

⸺ THE HATE FLAME. Pp. 382. (Hodder & Stoughton). 6s. 1908.

The story of a noble life wrecked by racial hatred. The hero, a young Englishman, Jack Bullen, fights a duel, in Heidelberg, with an Irish student, and kills him. This deed comes in after years between him and the Irish girl (cousin of the slain student, and pledged against her will to vengeance by his father) whom he was to marry—and this through the plotting of her rejected lover and a priest. Bullen had, for the upraising of the Irish people, started a great peat factory in Ireland, and it had prospered. This work is wrecked by the same agency that ruins his private happiness. Throughout the book the Author attacks all the cherished ideas of Irish Nationalism and of the present Irish revival, and sets over against them the ideals of England and his personal views. Much bitterness is shown against the priests of Ireland. The scene-painting and the handling of situation and of narrative are very clever. There is nothing objectionable from a moral point of view.

BARRY, Canon William, D.D. Born in London, 1849. Educated at Oscott and Rome. He is a man of very wide learning, a theologian and a man-of-letters, known in literature both by his novels (The New Antigone, &c.) and by important historical and religious works. Is now Rector of St. Peter’s, Leamington.

⸺ THE WIZARD’S KNOT. Pp. 376. (Unwin). 6s. Second ed. (N.Y.: Pratt). 3.00. 1900.

Dedicated to Douglas Hyde and Standish Hayes O’Grady. Scene: coast of South-west Cork during famine times, of which some glimpses are shown. There is a slight embroidery of Irish legend and a good deal about superstition, but the incidents, characters, and conversations have little, if any, relation to real life in Ireland. It is mainly a study of primitive passions. It might be described as a dream of a peculiarly “creepy” and morbid kind. It is wholly unlike the Author’s New Antigone.

BAYNE, Marie.

⸺ FAIRY STORIES FROM ERIN’S ISLE. Pp. 131. (Sands). 2s. 6d. net. Illustr. by Mabel Dawson and John Petts. 1908.

Pretty and attractive picture-cover. Six little stories told in pretty, poetic style, one about a fairy changeling, another about the mermaids. The “Luck of the Griddle Darner” is in pleasant swinging verse. So is the “Sleep of Earl Garrett.” Though intended for small children, none of the stories are silly.

BENNETT, Louie. Born in Dublin, educated there by private tuition and in London. Has done some journalistic work, but is chiefly interested in social questions, in particular the woman’s movement and pacifism. Resides near Bray, Co. Wicklow.

⸺ THE PROVING OF PRISCILLA. Pp. 303. (Harper). 1902.

Scene: varies between Mayo and Dublin. Story of an ill-assorted marriage. The wife, daughter of a Protestant rector, is a Puritan of the best type, simple, religious, and sincere. The husband is a fast man of fashion, who cannot understand her “prejudices.” After much bickering they part. Troubles fall on both. In the end his illness brings them together again—each grown more tolerant. Quiet and simply but well written, with nothing objectionable in the treatment.

⸺ PRISONER OF HIS WORD, A. Pp. 240. (Maunsel). 6s. Handsome cover. 1908. New edition. 1s. 1914.

“A tale of real happenings” (sub-title). Opens at Ballynahinch, Co. Down, in June, 1797. A pleasant, exciting romance, written in vigorous and nervous style. A young Englishman joins the Northern rebellion. He pledges himself to avenge his friend taken after the fight at Ballynahinch, and hanged as a rebel. The story tells how he carries out the pledge. The only historical character introduced is Thomas Russell. His pitiful failure in 1803 to raise another rebellion in Ulster is related. The little heroine, Kate Maxwell, is finely drawn.

BERENS, Mrs. E. M.

⸺ STEADFAST UNTO DEATH. Pp. 275. (Remington). Frontisp. by Fairfield. 1880.

“A tale of the Irish famine of to-day.” Period: 1879-80. Place: Ballinaveen, not far from Cork. Black Hugh, a kind of outlaw of the mountains is the hero. He had loved Mrs. Sullivan before she married the drunken, worthless Pat. He promises her when she is on her deathbed to care for the children she is leaving, and the worthless husband. Hugh takes the blame of the latter’s crime, and is hanged in Dublin. The family is rescued by benevolent English people. A well-told, but very sad story. The people’s miseries are feelingly depicted. Standpoint of a kind-hearted Englishwoman who pities, but does not in the least understand Ireland.

BERTHET, Elie.

⸺ DERNIER IRLANDAIS, LE. Three Vols. 16mo. (Bruxelles: Meline). 1851.

Ireland in the eighteen forties. Abortive rising under one of the O’Byrnes of Wicklow (Le dernier Irlandais). O’Connell looms in the background as the opponent of all this. The rebellion, which at once fizzles out, is the result of an insult to O’Byrne’s sister by a roué named Clinton. O’B. flies to Cunnemara (sic) with Nelly Avondale, daughter of the landlord of Glendalough, is besieged there in a fortress. Nelly returns to marry the above-mentioned roué and O’B. flies. The Author is evidently not consciously hostile to Ireland, but he is totally ignorant of it. The peasants are travestied. They are all drunkards, slovenly, sly, mean, lawless. Some descriptions of scenery in Wicklow and Connemara.

BERTHOLDS, Mrs. W. M.

⸺ CONNOR D’ARCY’S STRUGGLES. (N.Y.: Benziger). 2s. 1914.

BESTE, Henry Digby, 1768-1836. Son of the prebendary of Lincoln. Became a Catholic 1798. An interesting biographical sketch of him (largely autobiographical) is prefixed to the novel here noticed. It includes a full account of his conversion.

⸺ POVERTY AND THE BARONET’S FAMILY: An Irish Catholic Novel. Pp. xxxii. + 415. (London: Jones). 1845.

Bryan O’Meara, son of a poor Irish migratory labourer, is educated as a gentleman by Sir Cecil Foxglove, of Denham, near Grantham, in gratitude for the rescue of his child by Bryan’s father. Coming to man’s estate, and being refused by the Baronet’s daughter he returns to his father’s people at Athlone, where for some time he plays at being a farmer’s lad—and at rebellion. But a fortunate chance puts great wealth into his hands, and he returns to marry the Baronet’s daughter. Interesting glimpses of Catholic life in penal days (the story opens in 1805) when Catholicism was at the lowest ebb in England. The Dublin Review says (1848, Vol. xxiv., p. 239): “The hero is a pious pedant, a truculent fellow, and a self-conceited proser. The story itself is purposeless; bitter in sentiment, and swamped in never-ending small-talk.” The “small-talk,” however is, if anything, over-serious and moral.

“BIRMINGHAM, George A.” Rev. James Owen Hannay, M.A., Canon of St. Patrick’s Cathedral (1912). Born 1865, son of Rev. Robert Hannay, vicar of Belfast. Educated at Temple Grove, East Sheen; Haileybury; T.C.D. Curate of Delgany, Co. Wicklow. Rector of Westport, 1892-1913. Has resigned this cure in order to devote himself to literature. Is a member of the General Synod of the Church of Ireland. He has shown himself equally at home in political satire, humorous fiction and historical fiction. He is in sympathy with the ideals of the Gaelic League, and has actively shown this sympathy. He seems on the whole Nationalist in his views, but has nothing in common with the Parliamentary Party. His earlier books showed strong aversion for the Catholic Church, but, except perhaps in Hyacinth, he has never striven to represent it in an odious light, and he is an enemy of all intolerance.

⸺ THE SEETHING POT. Pp. 299. (Arnold). 6s. 1904.

Main theme: the apparently hopeless embroilment of politics and ideas in Ireland. Many aspects of Irish questions and conditions of life are dealt with. Many of the characters are types of contemporary Irish life, some are thinly disguised portraits of contemporary Irishmen, e.g., Dennis Browne, poet, æsthete, egoist; Desmond O’Hara, journalistic freelance (said to be modelled on Standish O’Grady); Sir Gerald Geoghegan, nationalist landlord; John O’Neill, the Irish leader, who is deserted by his party and ruined by clerical influence; and many others. All this is woven into a romance with a love interest and a good deal of incident.

⸺ HYACINTH. (Arnold). 6s. 1906.

An account, conveyed by means of a slight plot, of contemporary movements and personages in Ireland. Most of these are satirized and even caricatured, especially “Robeen” Convent, by which seemed to be meant Foxford Mills, directed by the Sisters of Charity (see New Ireland Review, March, 1906). A grasping, unscrupulous selfishness is represented to be one of the chief characteristics of the Catholic Church in Ireland.

⸺ THE BAD TIMES. Pp. 312. (Methuen). 6s. [1907]. New edition, 1s. 1914.

Period: chiefly Isaac Butt’s Home Rule movement. Stephen Butler, representative of a landlord family of strong Nationalist sympathies, determines to work for Ireland. He joins the Home Rule Party, but he hates agrarian outrage, and so, through the Land League, becomes unpopular in his district in spite of all he has done. The author introduces types of nearly every class of men then influential in Ireland: a priest who favours and a priest who opposes the new agrarian movement, an incurably narrow-minded English R.M., an old Fenian, and so on. The impression one draws from the whole is much the same as that of the Seething Pot. The Author’s views are strongly National, and there is no bitter word against any class of Irishmen, except the present Parliamentary Party.

⸺ BENEDICT KAVANAGH. Pp. 324. (Arnold). 6s. 1907.

Dedication in Irish. Foreword in which the Author states that by “Robeen” Convent he did not intend Foxford (cf. Hyacinth). A criticism of Irish political life, free from rancour, and from injustice to any particular class of Irishmen, showing strong sympathy for the Gaelic League, and all it stands for. The hero is left at the parting of the ways, with the choice before him of “respectability” and ease, or work for Ireland. The book should set people asking why is it that Irishmen—no matter what their creed or politics—cannot work together for their common country?

⸺ THE NORTHERN IRON. Pp. 320. (Maunsel). Bound in Irish linen. 1907. New ed. at 1s., 1909. Cheap ed. (Everett), 7d., 1912.

Scene: Antrim; a few incidents of the rising woven into a thrilling and powerful romance. Splendid portraits—the United Irishmen James Hope, Felix Matier, and Micah Ward, the loyal Lord Dunseverick, chivalrous and fearless, Finlay the Informer, and others. Vivid presentment of the feelings and ideas of the time, without undue bias, yet enlisting all the reader’s sympathies on the side of Ireland.

⸺ SPANISH GOLD. (Methuen). 6s. 1908. Cheap ed., 1s. (N.Y.: Doran). 1.20.

A comedy of Irish life, full of the most amusing situations. Scene: a lonely island off the coast of Connaught, in which treasure is hidden. The action consists of the adventures of various people who come to the island—an Irish chief secretary, a retired colonel, a baronet, a librarian, a Catholic priest, and a Protestant curate. This last, the Rev. J. J. Meldon, is a most original creation. There are touches of social satire throughout, but without bitterness or offensiveness.

⸺ THE SEARCH PARTY. Pp. 316. (Methuen). 6s. 1909. (N.Y.: Doran). 1.20.

“How a mad Anarchist made bombs in a lonely house on the west coast of Ireland, and imprisoned the local doctor for fear lest he should reveal the secret. Mr. Birmingham’s irresponsible gaiety and the knowledge of Irish character revealed in his more serious fiction carry the farce along at a fine pace.”—(Times Lit. Suppl.).

⸺ LALAGE’S LOVERS. Pp. 312. (Methuen). 6s. (N.Y.: Doran). 1.20. 1911.

The main idea—in so far as the book is serious—may be stated thus:—How much can one young person (aetat 14 sqq.) of perfect candour and fearlessness do to upset the peace of comfortable people, who are jogging along in the ruts of convention and compromise. Lalage begins with her governess, then tries the bench of bishops, but causes most consternation by disturbing an election with her Association for the Suppression of Public Lying. The whole is full of fun and laughter. L. has been well described as “an especially enterprising and slangy schoolboy in skirts.”

⸺ THE MAJOR’S NIECE. Pp. 302. (Smith, Elder). 6s. 1911.

Rev. J. J. Meldon in new situations. Major Kent expects from Australia a grown-up niece, who turns out to be a naughty little girl of ten. Mr. Meldon had made innumerable plans for the reception and treatment of the young lady. How does he face the new situation? There are capital minor characters—Doyle the hotel keeper, and Father MacCormack, and the housekeeper, Mrs. O’Halloran.

⸺ THE SIMPKINS PLOT. Pp. 384. (Nelson). 2s. net. (N.Y.: Doran). 1.20. 1911.

Scene: “Ballymoy.” Problem: how to get rid of Simpkins, a meddlesome busybody. The interest of the plot mainly turns on the amusing manœuvres of Rev. J. J. Meldon (the hero of Spanish Gold) to marry Simpkins to a mysterious “Miss King,” a lady supposed to be identical with a Mrs. Lorimer, recently acquitted, against the opinion of the Judge, of the murder of her husband. Full throughout of fun, clever talk, and deftly sketched character study. Sabina Gallagher, Sir Gilbert Hawksby, and Major Kent are all well done, and there is no mistaking the nationalities.

⸺ THE INVIOLABLE SANCTUARY. Pp. 370. (Nelson). 2s. 1912.

How Frank Mannix comes for vacation to Rosnacree (in the wildest west of Ireland) in all the glory and dignity of a Haileybury prefect. How, owing to a sprained ankle, he is obliged to spend the time sailing in the bay with Priscilla, his fifteen-year-old madcap cousin. How various exciting adventures follow, including the finding, in most unexpected and comical circumstances, by a Cabinet Minister of his daughter, who had eloped with a clergyman, and how Frank and Priscilla were responsible for the reconciliation. Told with all the Author’s sense of fun and flair for comic situations. But why must all Irish peasants appear as liars?

⸺ THE RED HAND OF ULSTER. Pp. 318. (Smith, Elder). 6s. Cheap ed., 6d. 1912.

How an Irish-American millionaire runs a revolution in Ireland, sweeping into his plans the rabid Orangemen, who are in deadly earnest, the Tory M.P. who only meant to bluff, and members of the Irish Tory aristocracy who meant nothing in particular. Of this class is poor Lord Kilmore, who tells the story, and was an unwilling actor in the whole business. The book is a mixture of shrewd satire (e.g., Babberley, M.P., the Dean, and McConkey) in which all parties receive their share, and of Gilbertian extravaganza. The dénouement is both amusing and unexpected.

⸺ DOCTOR WHITTY. Pp. 320. (Methuen). 6s. 1913.

Types and humours of a west Connaught village—the P.P., the Protestant Rector, Colonel Beresford, Thady Glynn, proprietor of “The Imperial Hotel,” chairman of the League, and popular demagogue, J.P., general philosopher, and “ipse dixit” of the village, and then the Doctor himself, genial, sociable, “all things to all men” to an extent that gets him into fixes, and that is not easily reconcilable with the moral order. There are broadly comical situations from which the Doctor extricates himself, and emerges radiant as ever. The seamy side of Irish life is depicted in the Author’s usual vein of satire.

⸺ GENERAL JOHN REGAN. Pp. 324. (Hodder & Stoughton) 6s. Second ed., 1913.

A very slight plot, centering in the erection of a statue to an imaginary native of Ballymoy. The real interest lies in the Author’s satirical pictures of Irish life, and in his humorous delineations of such types as Dr. O’Grady, Doyle the dishonest hotel-keeper, Major Kent, whom we have met in Spanish Gold, Thady Gallagher, the editor of the local paper, and a rather undignified and not wholly honest P.P. The thesis, if there be any, would seem to be that the Irishman is so clever and humorous that he will allow himself to be gulled, and will even gull himself for the pleasure of gulling others.

⸺ MINNIE’S BISHOP, and Other Stories of Ireland. Pp. 320. (Hodder & Stoughton). 6s. 1915.

Not all of these stories deal with Ireland, and those that do are very varied in character. Some are in the Author’s most humorous vein, others are more serious in tone. In several he pokes fun at Government methods in the West, and some show the comic side of gun-running, despatch-riding, and other Volunteer activities. In the background, at times, is a vision of the hopeless poverty of the Western peasant’s lot.

BLACK, William. Born in Glasgow, 1841. One of the foremost of English nineteenth century novelists. Published his first novel 1864; thirty-three others appeared before his death in 1898, at Brighton, where he had long resided.

⸺ SHANDON BELLS. Pp. 428. (Sampson, Low). 2s. 6d. [1883]. (N.Y.: Harper). 0.80. New and revised ed. 1893.

Scene: partly in London, partly in city and county of Cork. A young Irishman goes to London to make his fortune. Disappointed in his first love, he turns to love of nature. The book has all the fine qualities of W. Black’s work. Sympathetic references to Irish life and beautiful descriptions of Irish scenery in Cork. Willy Fitzgerald, the hero, had for prototype William Barry, a brilliant young Corkman and a London journalist.

“BLACKBURNE, E. Owens.” Elizabeth O. B. Casey, 1848-1894. Born at Slane, near the Boyne. Lived the first twenty-five years of her life in Ireland; then went to London to take up journalistic work. In 1869 her first story was accepted, and in the early seventies her In at the Death (afterwards published as A Woman Scorned) appeared in The Nation. To the end she used the pen-name “E. Owens Blackburne.” Other works of hers were A Modern Parrhasius, The Quest of the Heir, Philosopher Push, Dean Swift’s Chest, The Love that Loves alway. “Her stories are mostly occupied with descriptions of Irish peasant life, in which she was so thoroughly at home that she has been compared to Carleton. They are for the most part dramatic and picturesque; and she understood well the art of weaving a plot which should hold the reader’s interest.”—(Irish Lit.).

⸺ A WOMAN SCORNED. Three Vols. (Tinsley). [1876]. Also one Vol. (Moxon). 1878.

Out-at-elbows Irish household—upper class—brother, sister, and young step-sister (the heroine) Katherine. Captain Fitzgerald falls in love with Katherine. The elder sister (the woman scorned) filled with jealousy plots to marry K. to a rich elderly suitor. The plot miscarries, and she dies a miserable death. Scene: near the Boyne. Some good descriptions of river scenery.

⸺ THE WAY WOMEN LOVE. Three Vols. (Tinsley). 1877.

Hugh O’Neill, a Donegal man, after an unsuccessful career as an artist in London, settles near Weirford (Waterford). He has two daughters—Moira, handsome, proud of her ancient lineage and a poet, and Honor, plain and domestic. The story is concerned with the loves of these two. Local society cleverly hit off. Local newspapers and their editors come in for a good deal of banter; several real characters, thinly disguised, being introduced. Brogue very well done.

⸺ A BUNCH OF SHAMROCKS. Pp. 306. (N.Y.: Munro: “Seaside Library”). [1879]. 1883.

A collection of tales and sketches, illustrating for the most part the gloomier side of the national character, viewed, apparently, from a Protestant standpoint. In one, “The Priest’s Boy,” there is much pathos.

⸺ MOLLY CAREW. Three Vols. (Tinsley). n.d. (1879).

A tale of the unrequited love of an Irish girl of talent, but of humble origin, for a selfish and ruffianly English author named Eugene Wolfe. She falls in love with him as a child and then, in young womanhood, falls still more deeply in love with the ideal of him which she forms from his books. Nothing can kill or even daunt this love, and for its sake she undergoes the supremest sacrifices, but all in vain. The two chief characters are carefully and consistently drawn, and there are some dramatic scenes. The action passes chiefly in London, whither Molly Carew had followed her ideal.

⸺ THE GLEN OF SILVER BIRCHES. Two Vols. (Remington). 1880. (N.Y.: Harper). 1881.

Nuala O’Donnell’s extravagant father has mortgaged his estate in the Donegal Highlands, near Glenvich (The Glen of Silver Birches). A scheming attorney tries to get the family into his toils, and to marry N. The scheme is defeated, and N. marries Thorburn, an English landlord, who has bought the neighbouring estate. Some good characters, e.g., kindly old Aunt Nancy and N.’s nationalist poet cousin.

⸺ THE HEART OF ERIN: An Irish story of To-day. Three Vols. (N.Y.: Munro: “Seaside Library”). [1882]. 1883.

Standish Clinton, a clever speechmaker, raises himself to a foremost position in Parliament. Getting into higher social circles he breaks with his faithful Mary Shields. The mystery of his birth is cleared up in the end, and he succeeds as lawful heir to the family mansion of the Hardinges. The campaign of the Land League, with which the Author is in sympathy, forms the background. The famous letter of Dr. Nulty, of Meath, is cited as an argument for land reform. Interesting picture of the peasantry.

BLAKE-FORSTER, Charles Ffrench.

⸺ A COLLECTION OF THE OLDEST AND MOST POPULAR LEGENDS OF THE PEASANTRY OF CLARE AND GALWAY.

⸺ THE IRISH CHIEFTAINS; or, A Struggle for the Crown. Pp. 728, demy 8vo. (M’Glashan & Gill). 1872.

An account, in the form of a tale, of the Williamite Wars, from the landing of James II. at Kinsale to the surrender of Galway, with all the battles and sieges (except Derry). Into this is woven large sections of the family history of the O’Shaughnessy and Blake-Forster clans of Co. Galway. This latter story is carried past the Treaty of Limerick down to the final dispossession of the O’Shaughnessys in 1770. It includes many episodes in the history of the Irish Brigade in France and of the history of the period at home (including the Penal Laws and the doings of the Rapparees). A surprising amount of erudition drawn from public and private documents is included in the volume. The notes occupy from p. 429 to 573. An Appendix, pp. 574 to end, contains many valuable documents, relating largely to family history, but also to political history. The standpoint is Jacobite and national.

“BLAYNEY, Owen,” Robert White.

⸺ THE MACMAHON; or, The Story of the Seven Johns. Pp. x + 351. (Constable). 6s. 1898.

Founded on a County Monaghan tradition. Colonel MacMahon escaping from the defeat at the Boyne entrusts his infant son to John M’Kinley, a settler. The boy grows up, falls in love with M’Kinley’s daughter, and after unsuccessfully pleading his cause with the father, abducts her. M’Kinley calls to his aid six other settlers of the name of John, pursues the fugitives, seizes them, and hangs MacMahon on the windmill at Carrickmacross. A powerful story giving a faithful picture of the times. Ulster dialect good.

[BLENKINSOP, A.]

⸺ PADDIANA; or, Scraps and Sketches of Irish Life, Past and Present. Two Vols. (Bentley). [1847]. Second ed. 1848.

By the Author (an Englishman, see p. 2) of A Hot Water Cure. Contents:—1. “Mr. Smith’s Irish Love.” 2. “Mick Doolan’s Head.” 3. “Still-Hunting.” 4. “A Mystery among the Mountains.” 5. “The Adventure of Tim Daley.” 6. “Mrs. Fogarty’s Tea Party.” 7. “A Quiet Day at Farrellstown.” 8. “A Duel.” 9. “Mr. H⸺.” 10. “The Old Head of Kinsale.” 11. “Barney O’Hay.” 12. “Headbreaking.” 13. “Cads, Fools, and Beggars.” 14. “The Mendicity Association.” 15. “The Dog-Fancier.” 16. “Dublin Carmen.” 17. “Horses.” 18. “Priests: Catholic and Others.” 19. “An Irish Stew.” Vol. II.—1. “Executions.” 2. “Ronayne’s Ghost.” 3. “The Last Pigtail.” 4. “The Green Traveller.” 5. “Larry Lynch.” 6. “Potatoes.” Then (pp. 142-275) follows “Irish History”—scraps from various Irish annals and histories, told in a facetious and anti-Irish spirit. All the old calumnies are raked up and set down here. The Author concludes that the Irish are an uncivilized people, and that their national character is “a jumble of contradictions.” The stories are told with considerable verve.

BLESSINGTON, Countess of. Marguerite Power, born near Clonmel, 1789, daughter of Edmund Power and Ellen Sheehy. In 1818 she married the Earl of Blessington, and became a leader of society in London, afterwards in Paris, and then again in London. Wrote upwards of thirty books—novels, travel, reminiscences, &c. Died 1849.

⸺ THE REPEALERS; or, Grace Cassidy. (London). [1833].

“Contains scarcely any plot and few delineations of character, the greater part being filled with dialogues, criticisms, and reflections. Her ladyship is sometimes sarcastic, sometimes moral, and more frequently personal. One female sketch, that of Grace Cassidy, a young Irish wife, shows that the Author was most at home among the scenes of her early days.”—(Chambers’ Cyclopædia of English Literature).

⸺ COUNTRY QUARTERS. Three Vols. (London: Shoberl). [1850]. Port. Second ed. 1852.

In Vol. I., pp. iii.-xxiii., memoir of Author by M. A. P. Scene: South of Ireland (descriptions of Glanmire and references to Waterford and to the Blackwater), among county and garrison people. There is a great deal about their courtships and marriages, much small talk and pages of reflections. Grace, the heroine, is loved by two officers, friendly rivals. Mordaunt makes Vernon propose. V. is refused, but M. is too poor to marry. However, after many vicissitudes, Grace is united to M. Full of sentimentality.

BLOOD SMITH, Miss, see “DOROTHEA CONYERS.”

BODKIN, M. M’Donnell, K.C.; County Court Judge of Clare since 1907. Born 1850. Son of Dr. Bodkin, of Tuam, Co. Galway. Educated at Tullabeg Jesuit College; Catholic University. Was for some years Nationalist M.P. for North Roscommon. Besides works of fiction, has published an historical work on Grattan’s Parliament. Resides in Dublin.—(Who’s Who).

⸺ POTEEN PUNCH. (Gill). 1s. 1890.

“After-dinner stories of love-making, fun, and fighting,” supposed to be told in presence of Lord Carlisle, one of the Viceroys, in a house at Cong, whither he had been obliged to go, having been refused a lodging at Maam by order of Lord Leitrim. The stories are of a very strong nationalist flavour, some humorous, some pathetic.

⸺ PAT O’ NINE TALES. (Gill). 1894. (N.Y.: Benziger). 0.90.

Stories of various kinds, all pleasantly told. The first and longest is a pathetic tale, introducing an eviction scene vividly described. Among other stories there is “The Leprachaun,” humorous, and told in dialect; a “ghost” story; a story of unlooked for evidence at a trial; a tale of Fontenoy, &c. The last, “The Prodigal Daughter,” is, from its subject, hardly suitable for certain classes of readers.

⸺ LORD EDWARD FITZGERALD. Pp. 415. (Chapman & Hall). 1896.

The story of the earlier years of Lord Edward is woven into the love-story of one Maurice Blake. Pictures Irish social life at the time in a lively, vivid way. Hepenstal, the “walking gallows,” Beresford and his riding school, the infamous yeomanry and their doings, these are prominent in the book. The standpoint is strongly national. “History supplies the most romantic part of this historical romance. The main incidents of Lord Edward’s marvellous career, even his adoption into the Indian tribe of the Great Bear, are absolutely true. Some liberties have, however, been taken with dates.”—(Pref.).

⸺ THE REBELS. Pp. 358. (Duffy). 2s. [1899]. (N.Y.: Benziger). 0.60. 1908.

Sequel to Lord Edward. Later years of Lord Edward’s life. Shows Castlereagh and Clare planning the rebellion. Shows us Government bribery and dealings with informers. Some glimpses of the fighting under Father John Murphy, also of Humbert’s invasion and the Races of Castlebar. A stirring and vigorous tale, strongly nationalist.

⸺ SHILLELAGH AND SHAMROCK. (Chatto). 3s. 6d. 1902.

Short stories dealing mainly with the wild scenes of old election days. Pictures of evictions and the old-time fox-hunting, whiskey-drinking landlord. Always on the peasants’ side. Tales full of voluble humour and “go.” The peasants’ talk is faithfully and vividly reproduced.

⸺ IN THE DAYS OF GOLDSMITH. Pp. 309. (Long). 6s. 1903.

A panegyric of Goldsmith, dealing with the part of his life spent in England. Conversations introducing Reynolds, Beauclerk, Johnson, etc., the latter’s talk recorded with Boswellian fidelity. A picture, too, of the life and manners of the day drawn with such frankness as to render the book unfit for the perusal of certain classes of readers.

⸺ PATSY THE OMADHAUN. Pp. 260. (Chatto). 3s. 6d. (N.Y.: Benziger). 0.60. 1904.

A dozen short stories, in which the village tailor recounts the exploits of Patsy, who proves to be by no means the fool he seems, and extricates himself and his friends from all kinds of comical situations. All told in broadest brogue. Somewhat farcical comicality.

⸺ TRUE MAN AND TRAITOR. (Duffy). 1910.

The career of Robert Emmet from his Trinity days to his tragic end, told in the Author’s usual spirited fashion. Emmet is represented as an able and practical organizer, but the story of his love for Sarah Curran is not neglected. The historical facts are thoroughly leavened with romance—Emmet’s perilous voyage to France in a fishing-hooker, the detailed accounts of his interviews with Napoleon, the character of Malachi Neelin, the traitor: these and many other things are blended with the narrative of real events.

[BOLES, Agnes], “J. A. P.”

⸺ THE BELFAST BOY. Pp. 464. (Nutt). 5s. 1912.

Opens in Belfast during the great riots of twenty-five years ago. The hero, falsely accused of murder, flees to South Africa, where he becomes a millionaire, and is known as “The Belfast Boy.” The heroine, when she is going out to marry him, omits to mention that she is leaving a son and his father (the villain) in Belfast. These are conveniently got rid of, one by lightning, the other by lightning-like small-pox. Several real persons are introduced as personages in the story. Many of the incidents are sensational, there is much dialect, and the style in places is far from refined. An intense love for Belfast and its surroundings pervades the book.—(Press Notices).

BOVET, Madame.

⸺ TERRE D’EMERAUDE.

BOWLES, Emily.

⸺ IRISH DIAMONDS: A Chronicle of Peterstown. Pp. 219. (Richardson). 1864.

A story of landlord and tenant, of illicit distilling, and of proselytising. A Bible reader, an agent, and the sister of a landlord are the villains of the piece. Tone strongly Catholic and anti-Protestant. There is a love interest and a certain amount of adventure, which are not made subordinate to the pictures of Souperism. In 1878 a writer in the Dublin Review said of it: “It has not been surpassed since it was written.... The characters are so well drawn that even those in barest outline are interesting and individual.... Told in the brightest, most natural, and most quietly humorous way.” Miss B. published more than a dozen other books, largely translations.

BOYCE, Rev. John, D.D. [From Inishowen and Tirconnell, by W. J. Doherty]. Born in Donegal, 1810. Ordained, Maynooth, 1837. Emigrated to U.S.A., 1845. Died 1864. Besides the three novels mentioned in the body of this work, he published lectures on the Influence of Catholicity on the Arts and Sciences, Mary Queen of Scots, Queen Elizabeth, Charles Dickens, Henry Grattan, &c.

⸺ SHANDY MAGUIRE; or, Tricks upon Travellers. (N.Y.: Pratt). 1.75. [1848]. Also (Richardson) 1855, and Warren, Kilmainham, n.d.

“First appeared in a Boston periodical, with the pen-name of Paul Peppergrass. It attracted at once the attention of Bishop Fenwick of Boston. Dr. Brownson, in his Quarterly Review, pronounced upon the book the highest eulogium, and assigned to the writer a place equal if not superior to any writers of Irish romance. Shandy Maguire was recognised by the London Press and the Dublin Review as a work of great merit. It has been successfully dramatized and translated into German” (from Inishowen and Tirconnell, by W. J. Doherty).

⸺ THE SPAEWIFE: or, The Queen’s Secret. [1853]. Still in print. (Boston: Marlier). 1.50.

Begins at Hampton Court. The facility with which Father Boyce makes Nell Gower, the Scotch Spaewife (a woman gifted with second sight), discourse in broad Scotch dialect, in contrast with the stately and imperious language of Elizabeth, displays an unusual power of transition. No finer character could be depicted than Alice Wentworth, daughter of Sir Geoffrey Wentworth, the representative of an old English Catholic baronetage, who suffered persecution under Elizabeth; whilst Roger O’Brien, attached to the Court of Mary Queen of Scots, affords an opportunity of presenting the high-spirited and brave qualities that ought to belong to an Irish gentleman. Elizabeth appears in anything but a favourable light.

⸺ MARY LEE; or, The Yankee in Ireland. (U.S.A.). (N.Y.: Pratt). 1.75. (Baltimore: Kelly & Piet). 1864. Pp. 391. Frontisp. by J. Harley.

The last story written by this Author, for whom see General Note. It is considered to display an intimate knowledge of Irish character and to contain an excellent description of the typical Yankee. The scene is Donegal. Time 185-.

BOYLE, William. Born in Dromiskin, Co. Louth, 1853; educated St. Mary’s College, Dundalk. Has written many poems, songs, and plays, including some of the best of modern Irish comedies. The atmosphere of his stories is thoroughly Irish and their humour and pathos are genuine.

⸺ A KISH OF BROGUES. (O’Donoghue). Pp. 252. 2s. 6d. 1899.

The humour and pathos of country life, Co. Louth. The Author knows the people thoroughly, and understands them. There is much very faithful character-drawing of many Irish peasant types and a few good poems.

BOYSE, E. C.

⸺ THAT MOST DISTRESSFUL COUNTRY. Three Vols. (F. V. White). 1886.

A tale of love and marriage. Scene: first in Wexford, opening with pleasant pictures of country-house life and merry-making. Then there is an account of some minor incidents of the rebellion, viewed from loyalist standpoint, with insistence on savage cruelty of rebels. Then the scene shifts to London, and thence to Dublin, where we have pictures of life in military society. Finally, the scene is transferred to Tuam, where word is brought of Humbert’s campaign in the West. Pleasant style, but the conversations, full of chaff and nonsense, are long drawn out. Author says in preface that the incidents are taken from private letters or accounts of eye-witnesses.

BRAY, Lady.

⸺ EVE’S PARADISE. (Wells, Gardner). 6s. Etched frontispiece and title-page.

“Lady B.’s descriptions of child life are admirable, well-observed, and cleverly done.”—(Pall Mall Gazette).

⸺ A TROUBLESOME TRIO; or, Grandfather’s Wife. (Wells, Gardner). 2s. 6d. Second ed.

BRERETON, F. S.

⸺ IN THE KING’S SERVICE. Pp. 352. (Blackie). Attractive cover. Eight Illustr. by Stanley L. Wood. (N.Y.: Scribner). 1.50. n.d. (1901).

Exciting adventures, abounding in dramatic climaxes, of an English cavalier during Cromwell’s Irish campaign. Chief scenes of latter described from English cavalier standpoint. Burlesque brogue. Juvenile.

BREW, Margaret W. Wrote much for the Irish Monthly and other Irish periodicals.

⸺ THE BURTONS OF DUNROE. Three Vols. Pp. 934. (Tinsley). 1880.

Scene: Munster c. 1810, also Dublin and (in third vol.) Spain, when the hero, William Burton, takes part in the Peninsular War. Robert marries beneath him, and is disinherited by disappointed father, who had meant him for his cousin Isabella. Rose, Robert’s wife dies. Robert goes to the wars, and returns covered with glory to marry Isabel and settle down in respectable prosperity. Conventional and a little dull. Much brogue as comic relief to the prevailing appeal to the tender feelings.

⸺ CHRONICLES OF CASTLE CLOYNE. Three Vols. (Chapman & Hall). 1886.

Highly praised by the Times, the Standard, the Morning Post, the Scotsman, &c., &c. The Irish Monthly says: “It is an excellent Irish tale, full of truth and sympathy, without any harsh caricaturing on the one hand, or any patronizing sentimentality on the other. The heroine, Oonagh M’Dermott, the Dillons, Pat Flanagan, and Father Rafferty are the principal personages, all excellent portraits in their way; and some of the minor characters are very happily drawn. The conversation of the humbler people is full of wit and common sense; and the changes of the story give room for pathos sometimes as a contrast to the humour which predominates. Miss Brew understands well the Irish heart and language; and altogether her “Pictures of Munster Life” (for this is the second title of the tale) is one of the most satisfactory additions to the store of Irish fiction from Castle Rackrent to Marcella Grace.”

[BRITTAINE, Rev. George]. Was Rector of Kilcormack, Diocese of Ardagh. Died in Dublin, 1847. The Athenæum of December 14, 1839, said of the first three works mentioned below: “The sad trash which is here put forward as a portraiture of the social condition of the Irish peasantry needs no refutation; in his ardour to calumniate, the Author has forgotten that there are limits to possibility, and that when they are overstepped the intended effect of the libel is lost in its absurdity.” All this writer’s books seem to have appeared anonymously.

⸺ CONFESSIONS OF HONOR DELANY. Pp. 86. (Dublin: Tims). 1s. 6d. [1830]. Third ed., 1839.

She admits getting a pension as a reward for “turning.”

⸺ IRISH PRIESTS AND ENGLISH LANDLORDS. Pp. 249. (Dublin: Tims). [1830]. Second ed., 1839; others 1871, 1879.

“By the author of Hyacinth O’Gara.” A priest has authority from a bishop to marry a girl to a man against her will. She refuses, and subsequently dies—a martyr for the Protestant faith.

⸺ RECOLLECTIONS OF HYACINTH O’GARA. Pp. 64. (Dublin: Tims). 6d. Fifth ed., 1839.

The above three books were originally written by Rev. Geo. Brittaine, Rector of Kilcormack, Co. Limerick. They were “re-written and completely revised” by Rev. H. Seddall, Vicar of Dunany, Co. Louth, and published by Hunt, London, 1871. They are frankly proselytising tales designed “to give a true picture of the Irish peasantry, and how priestcraft has wound itself into all their concerns.” (Pref.) The peasantry are represented as exceedingly debased, the priesthood as conscienceless and selfish tyrants. Religion is practically the sole theme throughout. There is practically no reference to contemporary questions. One reviewer says: “There is nothing more graphic in all the pages of The Absentee, or Castle Rackrent than the account of Kit M’Royster’s disclosures to his brother, the Popish Bishop, about the heretical purity of their niece; or the description of Priest Moloney’s oratory about the offerings at the funeral of old Mrs. O’Brien.”—Christian Examiner.

⸺ IRISHMEN AND IRISHWOMEN. Pp. 219. (Dublin: Tims). 1831.

⸺ JOHNNY DERRIVAN’S TRAVELS. Pp. 36. (Dublin: Tims). 6d. [1833]. Second ed., 1839.

Not religious in subject. Deals with Irish amusements, drinking, &c.

⸺ MOTHERS AND SONS. Pp. 297. (Dublin: Tims). 1833.

A lady turns Methodist at the age of 44. The Author thereby takes occasion to condemn dyed hair and wigs, and many other things. The story includes a murder of which a Curate is the victim. The murderer dies howling for the priest.

⸺ NURSE M’VOURNEEN. Pp. 33. (Dublin: Tims). Second ed., c. 1839.

⸺ THE ELECTION. Pp. 331. (Dublin: Tims). 1840.

Election manœuvres described. There is a murder in the story. Tone very anti-Catholic.

[BRONTE, Rev. Patrick, B.A.]. 1777-1861. A county Down man, father of the famous novelists.

⸺ THE MAID OF KILLARNEY; or, Albion and Flora. Pp. 166. (Baldwin). [1818]. 1898.

Albion, an Englishman, visits Killarney, and falls in love with Flora Loughlean. The tale exhibits the anti-Catholic bias of the time.

BROOKE, Richard Sinclair, D.D. (1802-1882). Incumbent of Mariners’ Church, Kingstown, afterwards Rector of Eyton. Published several volumes of verse and prose. Father of Stopford Brooke.

⸺ THE STORY OF PARSON ANNALY. Pp. 429. (Drought). 1870.

A long, rather involved story, in part reprinted from Dublin University Magazine. It contains some excellent descriptions of Donegal scenery—Glenveagh and Barnesmore.

BROPHY, Michael, ex-Sergeant, R.I.C.

⸺ TALES OF THE ROYAL IRISH CONSTABULARY. Pp. xx. + 192. (Dublin: Bernard Doyle). 2s. [1888]. 1896.

Intended as the first volume of a series. Introduction gives a condensed history of the Force. This is followed by a long story founded on facts—“The Lord of Kilrush, Fate of Marion, and Last Vicissitudes of Lord Edward Fitzgerald’s Estate.” This tells how Sub-Constable Butler, a real “character,” bought in the Encumbered Estates Court the property of Lord Edward near the Curragh of Kildare, but was subsequently dispossessed—a curious tale, containing much out-of-the-way information, including an enquiry into the parentage of Pamela. Then follow “Episodes of ’48” (Ballingarry, &c.), and “The Story of a Sword,” (8 pp.) Sub-Constable Butler and Sub-Inspector Tom Trant are amusing personages.

BROWN, Rev. J. Irwin. Minister of the Scottish Church in Rotterdam, and son of Rev. Dr. Brown, of Drumachose, Derry, in his time a well-known public speaker, and a defender of the Irish tenant farmers.

⸺ IRELAND: Its Humour and Pathos. (Rotterdam: J. M. Bredee). 1910.

The book contains some racy stories, and is bright and readable throughout.—I.B.L.

BRUEYRE, Loys. Born in Paris, 1835. A French folk-lorist, Vice-President of the Société des Traditions Populaires. A frequent contributor to French folk-lore periodicals.

⸺ CONTES POPULAIRES DE LA GRANDE BRETAGNE. Pp. 382. (Paris: Hachette).

Contains 100 tales. A very few are English (chiefly Cornish), none are Welsh. The majority are Scotch (largely from Campbell’s collection) but there are a good many Irish, taken from Croker and Kennedy. The book is entirely in French.

BUCHANAN, Robert, 1841-1901. Born in Staffordshire, son of Robert B., “Socialist, Missionary, and Journalist.” Educated at Glasgow. Published many volumes of poetry and several plays, among others a dramatised version of Harriett Jay’s Queen of Connaught (q.v.). In 1876 published his first novel—The Shadow of the Sword. Many others followed. In 1874 he settled at Rosspoint, Co. Mayo, but left Ireland in 1877. Father Anthony was written during this period, but not published till later. See the notice in D.N.B., and the Life, published in 1903, by Harriet Jay, his adopted daughter.

⸺ FATHER ANTHONY. (Long). 6s. Sixteen illustr. Many editions. 1903. New edition, 6d. 1911.

Scene: a country village in the West of Ireland. Father Anthony is a young priest, who for his brother’s sake has sacrificed a career in the world to devote himself to God’s poor. He finds himself called upon in virtue of his sacred office to keep the secret of the confessional when by a word he could save his brother from the hangman’s hands. The pathos of the young priest’s agony of mind is depicted with great power and sympathy. The other priest, Father John, is drawn as the true parish priest of the old type, blood and bone of the people, jovial, homely, lovable and beloved. The Author, though alien in faith and race, tells us that he knew intimately and loved both priests and people during his stay in Ireland.

⸺ THE PEEP-O’-DAY BOY: A Romance of ’98. (Dicks). 6d. n.d.

A conventional sensational tale, little above the “shilling shocker,” with oath-bound societies meeting in under-ground caverns, abductions, informers, an absentee landlord, the Earl of Dromore, whose daughter loves the expatriated owner, The O’Connormore, and soforth. The three chapters on the insurrection are from Cassell’s History of Ireland. The story is scarcely worthy of this Author.

BUCKLEY, William. Born in Cork, and educated there at St. Vincent’s Seminary and the Queen’s College. His first literary work appeared in MacMillan’s Magazine. Resides in Dublin.

⸺ CROPPIES LIE DOWN. Pp. 511. (Duckworth). 6s. 1903.

Scene: Wexford, the year of the rising. The Author banishes all romance and artistic glamour, and deals with the horrors of the time in a spirit of relentless realism. Quite apart from historical interest, the book is thrilling as a story of adventure. The tone is impartial, but the writer clearly means the events and scenes described to tell for the Irish side. The New Ireland Review says that “it sketches the origin and course of the Wexford insurrection with a conscientious accuracy which would do credit to a professed historian”; and it praises the Author’s “exceptional literary ability” and the “intense reality of his characters.” “Rather more than justice is done to the English authorities (e.g., Castlereagh), to the Irish Protestants, and even to the government spies.”—(Baker, 2).

⸺ CAMBIA CARTY AND OTHER STORIES. Pp. 230. (Maunsel). 1s. 1907.

Close descriptions of lower and middle classes in modern Youghal. In places will be unpleasant reading for the people of Youghal. Picture of Cork snobbery decidedly unfavourable to Cork people, and on the whole disagreeable and sordid.

BUGGE, Alexander, Professor in University of Christiania, ed.

⸺ CATHREIM CELLACHAIN CAISIL: The Victorious Career of Cellachain of Cashel. Pp. xix. + 171. (Christiania). 1905.

The original Irish text, from the Book of Lismore, is edited in a scholarly way and accompanied with an English translation, notes, and index. There is an interesting introduction. It is a story of the struggles of Cellachan and the Danes in the tenth century.

BULLOCK, Shan F. Born Co. Fermanagh, 1865. Son of a Protestant landowner on Lough Erne. Depicts with vigour and truth the country where the Protestant North meets the Catholic and almost Irish-speaking West. There is at times a curious dreariness in his outlook which mars his popularity. But his work is “extraordinarily sincere, and at times touched with a singular pathos and beauty.... He writes always with evident passion for the beauty of his country, and an almost pathetic desire to assimilate, as it were, national ideals, of which one yet perceives him a little incredulous.”—(Stephen Gwynn).

⸺ THE AWKWARD SQUADS. (Cassell). 5s. 1893.

The Author’s first book. Has all the qualities for which his subsequent books are remarkable. It is a study of the people of his native country—the borders of Cavan and Fermanagh—their political ideas, general outlook, humours and failings, their peculiar dialect and turns of thought. Four stories in all:—“The title story,” “The White Terror,” “A State Official,” “One of the Unfortunates.”

⸺ BY THRASNA RIVER. Pp. 403. (Ward, Lock). 6s. Illustr. 1895.

The experiences of two lads on an Ulster farm in the district where the Author lays nearly all his scenes. There are many clever studies of peasant types. The hero is an Englishman, an amusing character. The story of his unsuccessful love-affair with the “Poppy Charmer” is told by one of the lads familiar to us as Jan Farmer. There is no approach to anything objectionable in the book. Chapter XXI., “Our Distressful Country,” is good reading.

⸺ RING O’ RUSHES. Pp. 195. (Ward, Lock). 1s. 6d. (Chicago: Stone). 1.00. 1896.

A cycle of eleven stories dealing with various aspects of Ulster life in the neighbourhood of Lough Erne. In “His Magnificence” an enriched peasant returns to his native village and tries to show off his grandeur. “Her Soger Boy” recounts a mother’s innocent fraud and her soldier lad’s savage retaliation.—(Baker, 2).