Chapter XIX: Part I: tells how a peasant girl is, after a week’s (8)

⸺ PEGGY, D.O.: the Story of the Seven O’Rourkes. Pp. 312. (_Cassell_). 3_s._ 6_d._ Four coloured plates from drawings by Gertrude Steele. 1910.

The story told by a little lame girl of fourteen of a proud
Irish family reduced to a cheap flat, and living in discomfort
and anxiety without losing their cheerfulness of heart. There
is both humour and pathos. We are introduced to some pleasant
and lovable children.

=WENTZ, Walter Yeeling Evans.=

⸺ THE FAIRY-FAITH IN CELTIC COUNTRIES: Its Psychica Origin and Nature. (RENNES: _Imprimerie Oberthur_). 1909.

The Author is Docteur ès Lettres, France; A.M., Stanford
College, California; Member of Jesus College, Oxford; an
American, and a pupil of Sir John Rhys, _q.v._ An investigation
and discussion of “that specialised form of belief in a
subjective realm inhabited by subjective beings which
has existed from prehistoric times until now in Ireland,
Scotland, Man, Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany.” The Author, a
believer in the existence of fairies, went himself through
many parts of the countries above mentioned and spoke with
and studied the peasantry. Divisions of work: I. The Living
Fairy Faith Psychically Considered. II. The Recorded Fairy
Faith Psychically Considered. III. The Cult of Gods, Spirits,
Fairies, and the Dead. IV. The Fairy Faith Reconstructed.

=[WEST, Jane].= 1758-1852. B. in London; the wife of a farmer in Northamptonshire. Author of _A Gossip’s Story_.

⸺ THE HISTORY OF NED EVANS: A Tale of the Times. Two Vols. (_Dublin_). [1796]. 1805.

Title-p.:—“Interspersed with moral and critical remarks;
anecdotes and characters of many persons well known in the
polite world; and incidental strictures on the present state of
Ireland.” The hero is supposed to be the son of a Welsh parson.
The story opens in 1779, and is the love story of the Lady
Cecilia, daughter of Lord Ravensdale, and the hero, who turns
out in the end to be the true Lord Ravensdale. The story is
full of incident. Ch. xxii. brings the hero to Ireland. He has
some adventures in Dublin, which is partly described; then goes
down to Ravensdale, which is seventy-six miles from Dublin. He
goes to the American war, and has many adventures with Indians,
narrow escapes, &c.; but finally returns to wed Cecilia. The
story is highly moral and sentimental, with a religious tone.
The characters are mainly of the Anglo-Irish gentry—Lord
Rivers, Lord Squanderfield, &c. The then state of Ireland is
but slightly dwelt on.

=[WESTRUP, Margaret]; Mrs. W. Sydney Stacey.= Author of _Elizabeth’s Children_.

⸺ THE YOUNG O’BRIENS. Pp. 347. (_Lane_). 6_s._ 1906.

Doings of a family of Irish children left with an aunt in
London during their father’s absence in India. With all their
fun and pranks the children pine in London and long for the
meadows and the woods of their home in Kilbrannan.

=WEYMAN, Stanley.=

⸺ THE WILD GEESE. (_Hodder & Stoughton_). 6_s._ 1908. (N.Y.: _Doubleday_). 1.50. New thin paper ed., pp. 384, 2_s._ 1911.

Story of an abortive rising in Kerry in reign of George I.,
with exciting situations and a love interest. Style clear and
vigorous. Irish characters nearly all vacillating, treacherous,
and fanatical. Generally considered as giving an unreal idea of
the times.

=WHISTLER, Rev. Charles Watts.= B. 1856. Author of a series of admirable stories for boys.

⸺ A SEA QUEEN’S SAILING. (_Nelson_). 3_s._ 6_d._ 1907.

The Vikings about A.D. 935, time of Hakon the Good. Adventures
of, among others, an Irish prince with the Vikings. Scene:
northern and Irish coasts. Juvenile.

⸺ A PRINCE ERRANT. (_Nelson_). 2_s._ 6_d._ 1908.

S.W. Wales, Cornwall, and Ireland about A.D. 792. Saxon,
Briton, Norseman, and Dane. Juvenile.

=WHITE, Captain L. Esmonde.=

⸺ IRISH COAST TALES OF LOVE AND ADVENTURE. Pp. 307. (_Smith, Elder_). 1865.

Contains two tales—(1) “The Black Channel of Cloughnagawn;” (2)
“The Lovers of Ballyvookan.” Dr. Small goes to the west as a
dispensary doctor, and meets the various types of character.
The pursuit of a slave ship is well described, as are the
men who man the western hookers, and know every turn of the
dangerous Black Channel. The second deals with the wreck
of H.M.S. Wasp and the love story of Norah Flynn. Both are
exciting stories. The brogue is fairly good.

=[WHITTY, Michael James].= (1795-1873).

⸺ TALES OF IRISH LIFE. Two Vols. 12mo. (LONDON: _Robins_). Six illustr. by Cruikshank. 1824.

“Illustrative of the manners, customs, and condition of
the people.” Contents:—“Limping Mogue,” “The Rebel,” “The
Absentee,” “The Robber,” “The Witch of Scollough’s Gap,” “The
Informer,” “The Poor Man’s Daughter,” “Poor Mary,” “North and
South, or Prejudice Removed” (showing, see especially pp.
29 _sq._, V. II., the Author’s freedom from bigotry), “The
Priest’s Niece,” “The Last Chieftain of Erin,” “Turn-coat
Watt” (Proselytism), “Protestant Bill,” &c. Intended “to
disabuse the public mind and communicate information on a
subject confessedly of importance.” Excellent stories by a
journalist very well known in his day. B. Wexford, 1795, he
came to London in 1821. In 1823 he was appointed editor of the
LONDON AND DUBLIN MAGAZINE, in which he published his work on
Robert Emmet. From 1829 till his death he lived and worked in
Liverpool. His LIVERPOOL DAILY POST, 1855, was the first penny
daily paper.—(D.N.B.). His son, E. M. Whitty (1827-1860), was a
brilliant journalist, and wrote a novel: _Friends in Bohemia_,
and _Parliamentary Portraits_.

=WHYTE-MELVILLE, Major G. J.= (1821-1878). Had Irish connections and wrote many novels. Killed in hunting field—a death he had often described.

⸺ SATANELLA: A story of Punchestown. Pp. 307. (_Chapman and Hall_). 1873. 2_s._ other eds.

A racy story of sportsmen and soldiers. Opens in Ireland and
scene shifts to London. The talk of grooms and trainers fairly
well done. The fate of the heroine and the famous black mare,
both called “Satanella,” is tragic.

=WILDE, Lady; “Speranza.”= Well known as a poet of the NATION, one of the most passionately patriotic of them all. B. in Wexford, 1826. D. in London, 1896.

⸺ ANCIENT LEGENDS OF IRELAND. Pp. 350. (_Ward & Downey_). 6_s._ 1888.

A collection of fairy stories, legends, descriptions of
superstitious practices, medicals cures and charms, robber
stories, notes on holy wells, &c., taken down from the
peasantry, some in Gaelic, some in English. The legends, &c.,
are preceded by a learned essay on the origin and history of
legend, and the book concludes with chapters on Irish art and
ethnology and a lecture by Sir W. Wilde on the ancient races
of Ireland. Contains a vast amount of matter useful to the
folk-lorist, to the general reader, and even to the historian.
The stories are rather pathetic and tender than humorous. Wrote
also _Ancient Cures, Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland_,
_Driftwood from Scandinavia_, _The American Irish_, &c.

=WILLIAMS, Charles.= B. Coleraine, 1838. D. London, 1904. The celebrated war correspondent of the DAILY CHRONICLE and STANDARD; first editor of EVENING NEWS, and founder of the Press Club. Wrote a _Life of Sir Evelyn Wood_.

⸺ JOHN THADDEUS MACKAY. Pp. 327. (_Burleigh_). (1889). 6_s._

In this clever novel the Author draws upon his recollections
of early days in Ulster. The hero, “a stickit minister,” goes
out to India in company with a “Howley” father, so named after
a famous Archbishop of Canterbury, and both learn charity
and brotherly love and see the narrowness of their own views
through mixing with the natives. Many real personages are
introduced under thinly disguised cognomens, thus “Rev. Thomas
Trifle” is the late Rev. Thomas Toye, of Belfast.

=WILLS, William Gorman.= B. Kilkenny, 1828. D. London, 1891. Poet, Painter, Dramatist, and Novelist. Ed. T.C.D. Son of Rev. James Wills, also a prolific writer. Wills is better known as a dramatist, having written no fewer than thirty-three plays, amongst the finest of them being _Charles I._, _Olivia_, and _Faust_. Amongst his other novels are _Life’s Foreshadowings_, which first appeared as a serial in IRISH METROPOLITAN MAGAZINE, 1857-8; _The Wife’s Evidence_, founded on an Irish tragedy, where a man named McLaughlin was hanged for a murder committed by his mother; _Old Times_, _Notice to Quit_, _David Chantry_, besides a long poem, _Melchior_.

⸺ THE LOVE THAT KILLS. Three Vols. (_Tinsley_). 1867.

“It [the above novel] drew striking pictures of the relations
between landlord and tenant in Ireland, the Irish Famine, and
the Rebellion of 1848: and it showed a warm glow of sympathy
with the Irish peasantry, which no one would have suspected in
a man apparently so wholly out of touch with politics.” [From
“Life of W. G. Wills” by Freeman Wills. LONDON. 1898].

=WILMOT-BUXTON, E. M.=

⸺ BRITAIN LONG AGO: Stories from Old English and Celtic Sources. (_Harrap_: _Told through the Ages_ series).

⸺ OLD CELTIC TALES. Pp. 128, large clear type. (_Harrap_). 6_d._ 1910.

One of Harrap’s “All-Time Tales,” a series of supplementary
readers for young children. The first tale is “The Children of
Lir,” told in three-and-a-half pages. The rest are from the
Mabinogion and other Welsh sources. Six or seven moderately
good full page ill. (one col.). Neat cover. Remarkably cheap.

=WINGFIELD, Hon. Lewis Strange.= B. 1842. Son of 6th Lord Powerscourt. Ed. Eton and Bonn. Lived a very strange life, trying as experiments various rôles—actor, nigger minstrel, attendant in a mad-house, traveller in Algeria and China, painter, &c., &c. Wrote many novels and books of travel. D. 1891.

⸺ MY LORDS OF STROGUE. Three Vols. (_Bentley_). 1879.

“A Chronicle of Ireland from the Convention to the Union.”
History and romance curiously intermingled, _e.g._, Robert
Emmet’s Insurrection is purposely ante-dated by two years and
a half. “The prominence given to such unpleasant personages as
Mrs. Gillin makes the book unsuitable at least for the lending
libraries of convents.”—(I.M.). The Author is fair-minded and
not anti-national.

=WOODS, Margaret L.= B. Rugby, 1856. Dau. of late Dr. Bradley, Dean of Westminster. Ed. at home and at Leamington. Lives in London. Author of about a dozen volumes—novels, poems, and plays.

⸺ ESTHER VANHOMRIGH. Pp. 347. (_Murray_). 1891.

A clever and interesting psychological study of the relations
between Swift and the two Esthers, Johnson and Vanhomrigh, the
latter being the chief centre of interest. The scene: partly in
Ireland, partly in England. The political events and questions
of the time are scarcely touched upon, but the atmosphere,
language, and costume of the time have evidently been carefully
studied, and are vividly reproduced. Swift’s relations to these
two women are represented in a convincing and sympathetic
manner. There is nothing objectionable in the tone of the book.

⸺ THE KING’S REVOKE. Pp. 334. (_Smith, Elder_). 6_s._ (N.Y.: _Dutton_). 1.50. Second impression. 1905.

The strange adventures of Patrick Dillon, an officer in
the Spanish army, in the course of his attempt to set free
Ferdinand VII. of Spain, imprisoned in France by Napoleon
I. Its pictures of Catholic life in Spain are not always
flattering, though doubtless not intentionally offensive.

=[WRIGHT, E. H.].=

⸺ ANDRÉ BESNARD. (CORK). 1889.

A tale of Old Cork, giving good descriptions of its people,
buildings, &c. Period: that preceding the times of the
Volunteers. A tale of courtship and adventure. One of the chief
characters is Paul Jones, the celebrated American admiral.
Published under pen-name “G. O’C.”

=WRIGHT, John, A.M.=

⸺ THE LAST OF THE CORBES: or, The MacMahon’s Country. Pp. 342. (_Macrone_). 1835.

Described on title-p. as “a legend connected with Irish history
in 1641.” A plain tale, devoid of description, excitement, and
historical “atmosphere,” chiefly concerned with a family named
Willoughby. The writer is anti-Puritan but not pro-Irish. He
mentions the deed of the traitor O’Connolly with approval, and
dwells much on the excesses of the insurgents. Heber Macmahon
(afterwards Bishop of Clogher), Sir Phelim O’Neill, and Roger
Moore are introduced into the story. The writer was rector of
Killeevan, Co. Monaghan.

=WRIGHT, R. H.=

⸺ A PLAIN MAN’S TALE. Pp. 192. (BELFAST: _McCaw, Stevenson & Orr_). 1904.

Adventures of a young Yorkshireman who, about the ’98 period,
sails for Ireland and lands at Island Magee, in Antrim.
Exciting episodes—love-making, smuggling, &c. Not concerned
with the rising. For boys.

⸺ THE SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF MY FRIEND PATRICK DEMPSEY. (_Sealy, Bryers_). 6_d._ 1910.

=WYNDHAM, Eleanor.=

⸺ THE WINE IN THE CUP. Pp. 380. (_Werner Laurie_). 6_s._ 1909.

Scene laid in Rathlin Island, but the book cannot be said to
depict the life of the place with fidelity to real conditions.
By same Author: _The Lily and the Devil_, 1908.

=WYNNE, Florence.=

⸺ THE KING’S COMING. Pp. 489. (_Skeffington_). 6_s._ 1904.

The king is “Edward VII. of England and I. of Ireland” (_sic_).
Nearly half the book is composed of minute descriptions of his
reception in various parts of Ireland. The rest is chiefly
made up of long discussions (mostly by the hero and heroine)
on religion, divorce, loyalty, Irish history, the position of
the Church of Ireland, and landlords. The Author seems to be
strongly “loyal,” a High-Church member of the C. of I., an
ardent Home-Ruler, and a Gaelic enthusiast. But no bias is
displayed _against_ any class or creed, though the Author does
not seem partial to the landlord class, unpleasant specimens
of whom are introduced. Written with obvious sincerity and
earnestness.

=“WYNNE, May”; Miss N. W. Knowles.= Writes much for magazines, and has published some twenty books. Has much sympathy with Ireland and the Irish. Resides in Kent.

⸺ LET ERIN REMEMBER. Pp. 312. (_Greening_). 6_s._ 1908.

A sensational romance of the Norman invasion of Ireland, very
similar in kind to the Author’s _For Church and Chieftain_,
_q.v._ The Irish are depicted as a wild, passionate people,
torn by murderous feuds, led by selfish, unscrupulous
chieftains. The Normans, who appear in the story, Strongbow in
particular, are represented as gentle and courteous knights.

⸺ FOR CHURCH AND CHIEFTAIN. Pp. 314. (_Mills & Boon_). 6_s._ 1909.

A romance of the thrilling and popular type. Full of wonderful
coincidences and the still more wonderful escapes of the
heroes from the clutches of their enemies. The story is little
concerned with historical events and persons. The Earl of
Desmond, Archbishop O’Hurley, Dowdall, and Zouch are introduced
occasionally. The tone is healthy, the standpoint Irish and
Catholic.

⸺ FOR CHARLES THE ROVER. Pp. 324. (_Greening_). 6_s._ (N.Y.: _Fenno_). 1.50. Third ed., 1909.

Scene: Cork city, and the neighbourhood of Kenmare. Adventures
of Hugh Graham, a Scotchman, in recruiting for the Irish
Brigade in company with Morty Oge O’Sullivan, a gay, reckless,
debonnair type of Irish chieftain. On the other side are the
brainless Whig fop, Sir Henry Morton, and O’Callaghan, a spy in
King George’s pay. The unfortunate love-story of O’Callaghan’s
beautiful sister and the happier love of the sister of Morty
are interwoven with the narrative. The Author’s sympathies are
Irish and Jacobite.

=WYNNE, George Robert, D.D.= Archdeacon of Aghadoe, Rector of St. Michael’s, Limerick, and Canon of St. Patrick’s, Dublin. Author of a number of religious works: _The Light of the City_, _Spiritual Life in its Advancing Stages_, &c.

⸺ NOT PEACE BUT A SWORD. Pp. 190. (_R.T.S._). _n.d._ (1897).

Relates how Miss Sybil Marchant, a young English lady,
succeeded in converting to Protestantism some members of a
poor family of Joyces in Connemara. Is concerned chiefly with
the trials of the new converts at the hands of friends and the
clergy. Tone not bitter towards Catholicism, which however, is
regarded from the Low Church, strongly Protestant, standpoint.
The story is pleasantly told.

⸺ BALLINVALLEY; or, A Hundred Years Ago. Pp. 244. (_S.P.C.K._). 2_s._ 6_d._ Two illustr. by J. Nash. 1898.

Scene: Wicklow, whose scenery is well described. Rebellion
seen from Protestant and loyalist standpoint. Rebels appear as
recklessly brave savages. Battles of New Ross and Hacketstown
described. Characters well brought out. Some aspects of the
life of the times described, notably stage-coach travelling and
illicit distilling. Brogue not well reproduced. Based, says the
Pref., chiefly on Lecky, but also on Maxwell, Musgrave, and
Hay. There is a good deal about gold-mining in Co. Wicklow.

=YEATS, William Butler.= B. 1865, at Sandymount, Co. Dublin. Son of J. B. Yeats, R.H.A., a distinguished Irish artist. Ed. Godolphin School, Hammersmith, and Erasmus Smith School, Dublin. Went to London in 1888, and there, in 1889, publ. his first volume of verse. Since then many others have appeared, and he is now known as one of the foremost poets of the day, perhaps the only Irish poet whose name is familiar to students of European literature outside of Ireland, and it is true to say with Mrs. Hinkson in her _Reminiscences_, “All the world that cares about literature knows of his work to-day.” He was for a number of years actively interested in spiritism and magic, and there is more of this than of genuine folk-lore in his writings. What there is of folklore in them seems to have been gleaned during visits to his mother’s people in Sligo. His prose is that of a poet full of changing colour and strange rhythm and vague suggestion.

⸺ FAIRY AND FOLK-TALES OF THE IRISH PEASANTRY. Pp. 326. (_W. Scott_). 3_s._ 6_d._ and 1_s._ [1888]; often republ.

Introd. and notes by Ed. The Tales, sixty-four in number, are
selected from previously published collections (Croker, Lover,
Kennedy, Wilde, &c.), including several examples of poetry
about the fairies. They are classed under these heads:—The
Trooping Fairies, The Solitary Fairies, Ghosts, Witches, Tir
na-n-óg, Saints and Priests, The Devil, Giants, &c. Each
class is introduced by some general remarks. There is nothing
objectionable but it is hardly a book for children. The weird
and grotesque element largely predominates.

⸺ IRISH FAIRY AND FOLK-TALES. Twelve full page illustr. by James Torrance. (_W. Scott_). 3_s._ 6_d._

⸺ JOHN SHERMAN, and DHOYA. Pp. 195. (_Fisher Unwin_). 1891.

_John Sherman_ is not wild and fantastic like _The Secret
Rose_, &c., but a pleasant narrative dealing with life in
Ballah (Sligo), the scene at times shifting to London. The
descriptions both of scenery and character are full of quaint
little touches of very subtle observation. The style is
remarkable for a dainty simplicity, lit up now and then by a
striking thought or a brilliant aphorism. _Dhoya_ (last 25 pp.)
is a wild Celtic phantasy.—(I.M.). Published under the pen-name
of “Ganconagh.”

⸺ IRISH FAIRY TALES. Ed. with Introd. by. Pp. 236. 16mo. (_Fisher Unwin_). 2_s._ 6_d._ Illustr. by J. B. Yeats. Third impress. 1892.

A dainty little volume, very popular with children. None of the
stories included in it are to be found in the same Author’s
_Irish Fairy and Folk-tales_.—(_W. Scott_).

⸺ THE SECRET ROSE: Irish Folk-lore. Illustr. by J. B. Yeats. Pp. 265. (_Maunsel_). 3_s._ 1898. (N.Y.: _Dodd & Mead_). 2.00.

Wild, formless tales, altogether from the land of dreams, told
with the Author’s accustomed magic of word and expression, but
to the ordinary reader well-nigh meaningless. In one of these
tales some monks solemnly crucify a wandering gleeman because
he had dared complain of the filthy food and lodging which they
had given him. This tale may fairly be taken as typical of much
that is in the book.

⸺ THE CELTIC TWILIGHT. Pp. 235. (_A. H. Bullen_). 3_s._ [1893]. New ed., enlarged, 1902. (N.Y.: _Macmillan_). 1.50.

Disconnected fragments of dim beliefs in a supernatural world
of fairies, ghosts, and devils, still surviving among the
peasantry. Told in a style often beautiful, but vague and
elusive, by a latter-day “pagan,” who would fain share these
beliefs himself. The talk of half-crazy peasants, the Author
tells us, is set down as he heard it. To the ordinary reader
the book cannot but seem full of puerilities. The peasants of
whom the Author speaks are chiefly those of North-Eastern Sligo.

⸺ STORIES OF RED HANRAHAN: The Secret Rose: Rosa Alchemica. Pp. 228. (_Bullen_). 6_s._ net. 1913.

The first ed., 1897, had the general title _The Secret Rose_,
_q.v._ In the present volume the revised ed., which appeared in
Mr. Yeats’s collected works, 1908, has been followed.

=YOUNG, Ella.= B. 1867, at Fenagh, Co. Antrim. Is a graduate of the Royal, now the National, University. Is chiefly interested in the old tales of the Irish MS. collections and in folk-lore gathered directly from the people. Has published a volume of poems and many articles and tales in the MANCHESTER GUARDIAN, THE IRISH REVIEW, IRISH YEAR BOOK, &c., and in American and New Zealand periodicals. Her writings are full of the influence of the Celtic Revival, in which movement she numbers many friends.

⸺ THE COMING OF LUGH. (_Maunsel_). 6_d._ net. 1909.

“A Celtic Wonder-tale Retold” for the young. A dainty little
volume in which is prettily told the story of Lugh Lamh Fada’s
sojourn in Tir-na-nOg and his return to Erin with the Sword of
Light to drive out the Fomorians. The illustrations by Madame
Gonne-MacBride are very well done.—(_Press Notice_).

⸺ CELTIC WONDER TALES. Pp. 202. (_Maunsel_). 3_s._ 6_d._ Illustr. by Maud Gonne. 1910.

Tales of the ancient days of De Danaan gods and heroes—of Angus
and Midyir and Lugh and the Gobhaun Saor. Told in rhythmic
and musical language and with much beauty of expression, but
most of the tales are altered quite out of their antique and
primitive form by a strong flavour of modern mysticism and
symbolism of the school of Yeats and A. E. “Conary Mor,” the
finest (we think) of the tales, is perhaps freest from this.
The first two or three are most influenced by it. Tales like
“A Good Action,” “The Sheepskin,” strike a different and,
as it seems to us, a discordant note, viz., broadly comical
episodes, in which the actors are gods. Includes The Children
of Lir and the Children of Turann (under title “The Eric Fine
of Lugh”), and the Coming of Lugh. Original and artistic Celtic
cover design, head-pieces, and tail-pieces. Four coloured
illustr. The first two are mystic and symbolic. Most Catholics
would consider them very much out of place here. The book is
beautifully produced.