Chapter I: Preface

I have many people to thank, for many things, and I have an explanation to make, but the thanks must come first.

I offer my most sincere gratitude to Mrs. Butler and to Professor Edgeworth, for their kindness in permitting me to print Miss Edgeworth’s letters to Mrs. Bushe; to Lord Dunsany, for the extract from “Plays of Gods and Men,” which has said for me what I could not say for myself; to the Editors of the _Spectator_ and of _Punch_, for their permission to use Martin Ross’s letter and the quatrain to her memory; to the Hon. Mrs. Campbell, the Right Hon. Sir Horace Plunkett, P.C., Captain Stephen Gwynn, M.P., Lady Coghill, Colonel Dawson, and other of Martin Ross’s friends, for lending me the letters that she wrote to them; even when these are not quoted verbatim, they have been of great service to me, and I am very grateful for having been allowed to see them.

I have to explain what may strike some as singular, viz., the omission, as far as was practicable, from the letters of Martin Ross, and from this book in general, of the names of her and my friends and relatives who are still living. I have been guided by a consensus of the opinion of those whom I have consulted, and also by my remembrance of Martin Ross’s views on the subject, which she often expressed to me in connection with sundry and various volumes of Recollections, that have dealt with living contemporaries with a frankness that would have seemed excessive in the case of a memoir of the life of Queen Anne. If I have gone to the opposite extreme, I hope it may be found a fault on the right side.

E. Œ. SOMERVILLE.

_September 20th, 1917._

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

INTRODUCTORY 1

I.--THE MARTINS OF ROSS 3

II.--THE CHIEF 41

III.--MAINLY MARIA EDGEWORTH 51

IV.--OLD FORGOTTEN THINGS 61

V.--EARLY WEST CARBERY 71

VI.--HER MOTHER 78

VII.--MY MOTHER 87

VIII.--HERSELF 97

IX.--MYSELF WHEN YOUNG 106

X.--WHEN FIRST SHE CAME 119

XI.--“AN IRISH COUSIN” 128

XII.--THE YEARS OF THE LOCUST 140

XIII.--THE RESTORATION 153

XIV.--RICKEEN 169

XV.--FAITHS AND FAIRIES 181

XVI.--BELIEFS AND BELIEVERS 188

XVII.--LETTERS FROM ROSS 197

XVIII.--“TOURS, IDLE TOURS” 207

XIX.--OF DOGS 217

XX.--“THE REAL CHARLOTTE” 229

XXI.--SAINT ANDREWS 241

XXII.--AT ÉTAPLES 252

XXIII.--PARIS AGAIN 260

XXIV.--HORSES AND HOUNDS 272

XXV.--“THE IRISH R.M.” 286

XXVI.--OF GOOD TIMES 294

XXVII.--VARIOUS OPINIONS 309

XXVIII.--THE LAST 324

APPENDICES

I.--LETTERS FROM CHIEF JUSTICE CHARLES KENDAL BUSHE TO MRS. BUSHE 329

II.--A NOTE BY CAPTAIN STEPHEN GWYNN, M.P. 335

III.--HER FRIENDS 337

IV.--BIBLIOGRAPHY 340

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Violet Florence Martin (_Photograph_) _Frontispiece_

Ross House, Co. Galway (_inset_) The Martin Coat of Arms (_Photograph_) _Facing page_ 8

Castle Haven Harbour (_Photo. by Martin Ross_) “ 64

Carberiae Rupes (_Photo. by Sir E. B. Coghill, Bart._) “ 64

From the Garden, Drishane (_Photo. by Martin Ross_) “ 90

Drishane House (_Photo. by Martin Ross_) “ 90

Hydrangeas, Drishane Avenue (_Photo. by Martin Ross_) “ 90

Dans la Rive Gauche (_Drawing by E. Œ. Somerville_) “ 118

Martin Ross on Confidence (_Photograph_) “ 122

Edith Œnone Somerville (_Photograph_) “ 138

A Castle Haven Woman (_Drawing by E. Œ. Somerville_) “ 150

Martin Ross (_Photo. by Lady Coghill_) “ 158

Ross Lake (_Photograph_) “ 158

E. Œ. Somerville on Tarbrush (_Photograph_) “ 184

E. Œ. S.--Candy--Sheila--V. F. M. (_Photo. by Sir E. B. Coghill, Bart._) “ 210

Candy (_Photo. by Martin Ross_) “ 226

E. Œ. S. and a Dilettante (_Photo. by Martin Ross_) “ 226

“Chez Cuneo” (_Drawing by E. Œ. Somerville_) “ 264

The West Carbery Hounds (_Photo. by Miss M. J. Robertson_) “ 275

At Bunalun. “Gone to Ground” (_Photo. by Mr. Ambrose Cramer_) “ 288

Waiting for the Terriers (_Photo. by Mr. Ambrose Cramer_) “ 288

West Carbery Hounds at Liss Ard (_Photograph_) “ 308

Portofino (_Photo. by Martin Ross_) “ 308

THE TENTS OF THE ARABS.