glad tidings brought by the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary concerning the Saviour of the World. It was first instituted in the year 350. 25, 1738. TURLOGH O'CAROLAN DIED, ÆTAT. 67. Carolan, of whose biography little has been hitherto known, has lately had justice done to his memory in a work entitled Irish Minstrelsy; to which is attached an able memoir of the blind bard, from the pen of the editor, Mr. Hardiman. From this we learn that Carolan was born at Newtown, in the county of Meath, about the year 1670, of an old and respectable family, who, however, became reduced during the political troubles of that period. In his eighteenth year he was deprived of sight by an attack of the small pox; to assuage the anguish of which, he learned to play the harp; and from this circumstance his genius was, by degrees, brought forth, and he produced those songs and airs that will ever rank him foremost among the bards of his own poetic country. After tracing him through the various scenes of his chequered life, Mr. Hardiman says:-"The time was now drawing nigh when Carolan was himself to become a subject for the elegiac muse. In the year 1737, his health, which had been long declining, gave evident symptoms of approaching dissolution. At Tempo, finding himself growing weak, he resolved to proceed to Alderford, the house of his old and never-failing friend and patroness, Mrs. M'Dermott, who, though then nearly in her eightieth year, enjoyed excellent health and spirits. By her, in his youth, nearly fifty years before, he was supplied with his first harp and his first horse; and to her, in the decline of life and health, he turned for a sure asylum, and a kind and affectionate reception. Having composed his " Farewell" to Maguire, he proceeded on horseback to his friend Counsellor Brady's, near Balinamore, in Leitrim, where he rested for a few days. He then continued his journey, accompanied by several of the neighbouring gentry, and a concourse of the country people, among whom he was always held in the highest veneration, towards Lahire, the seat of Mr. Peyton. Here he stopped for a few moments, and, with tears, took leave of his friends. During the remainder of his journey, it is not improbable that his mind was occupied by thoughts somewhat similar to those afterwards expressed by his countryman, Goldsmith :- * In all my wand'rings round this world of care, "At Alderford he was received with the warmth and welcome which have ever characterised Irish friendship. After he had rested a little, he called for his harp. His relaxed fingers, for a while, wandered feebly over the strings, but soon acquiring a momentary impulse, he played his well-known "Farewell to Music," in a strain of tenderness and feeling which drew tears from the eyes of his auditory. This was his last effort. Nature was subdued; and the dying bard was carried, in a state of exhaustion, to his room. He lingered for some time. The woman who attended him, and who lived until about the year 1787, used to relate, that to revive or stimulate decaying nature, he was occasionally indulged with a taste of his favorite beverage, Usquebaugh. His natural vivacity and good humour never forsook him. A few hours before his death, while in the act of stretching forth his hand for the cup, as he humourously said, to give it his farewell kiss, he rolled out of bed on the floor. The female attendant alluded to, stated that after she had replaced him, he observed, with a smile, “Maudy, "* Oliver Goldsmith was born, and until his fifteenth year resided, not far from where Carolan spent the greatest part of his life. Although but ten years old at the death of the bard, it is evident that he was well acquainted with his genius and character. This may be deduced even from the trifling Essay on "Carolan the blind," which appears in his works; and which, if really written by Goldsmith, confers no great credit on his memory. This ingenious man was descended from one of our "Clerical families," who were generally a prejudiced class; and his historical works, at least, prove that he never entirely laid aside the prejudices of early education. I often heard of a person falling when going to the field, but never knew one to fall while lying but myself." His last moments were spent in prayer, until he calmly breathed his last*. When his death was known, it is related, that upwards of sixty clergymen, of different denominations, a number of gentlemen from the surrounding counties, and a vast concourse of country people, assembled to pay the last mark of respect to their favourite bard. All the houses in Ballyfarnon were occupied by the former, and the people erected tents in the fields round Alderford House. The harp was heard in every direction. The wake lasted four days. On each side of the hall was placed a keg of whiskey, which was replenished as often as emptied. Old Mrs. M'Dermott herself joined the female mourners who attended, to weep, as she expressed herself, "Over her poor gentleman, the head of all Irish music." On the fifth day his remains were brought forth, and the funeral was one of the greatest that for many years had taken place in Connaught. He was interred in the M'Dermott Roe's vault, in their chapel, at the east end of the old church of Kilronan. The "On opening the grave, in 1750, to receive the remains of a Catholic clergyman, whose dying request was to be interred with the bard, the scull of the latter was taken up. Hon. Thomas Dillon, brother to John, Earl of Roscommon, caused it to be perforated a little in the forehead, and a small piece of ribbon to be inserted, in order to distinguish it from similar disinterred remnants of mortality. It was placed in a "* Carolan's death was thus recorded by his devoted friend and admirer, the venerable Charles O'Conor.-" On Saturday, 25th March, 1738, TURLOGH O'CAROLAN, the talented and principal musician of Ireland, died, and was interred in Kilronan, the church of the Duignan family, in the 68th year of his age. May the Lord have mercy on his soul, for he was a moral and religious man."-See Cat. Stow. MSS. vol. i. p. 146, for the original Irish. Doctor O'Conor adds, "This memorandum is in the hand-writing of Carolan's friend, the late Charles O'Conor of Belanagare, who ever spoke of him in terms which reflected back upon his own character, the lustre which they shed on that of the last of the Irish bards." niche over the grave, where it long remained an object of veneration, several persons having visited the church for the sole purpose of seeing this relic of a man, so universally admired for his musical talents. At length, in the year 1796, it disappeared. A person on horseback, and in the garb of a gentleman, but supposed to have been a northern Orangeman, came to the church, and desired to see it. It was brought from the niche, and, watching his opportunity, he discharged a loaded pistol at it, by which it was shattered to pieces*. Then, damning all Irish papists, he rode away. Some neighbouring gentlemen pursued him as far as Cashcargin, in the county of Leitrim; and from their excited feelings at the moment, it was, perhaps, fortunate that he escaped. This brutal act could be perpetrated only through the demoniac spirit of party rage which then disgraced this unhappy country." These volumes contain a number of translations from Carolan, which, for the first time, enables the English reader to appreciate the deserved celebrity of the "Bard ;" and, for the preservation of which, the learned Editor deserves the thanks of his countrymen, as well as of every admirer of genuine and neglected genius. The following elegy concludes the portion of the work devoted to Carolan. "Notwithstanding this act, and although the people of Kilronan show some fragments which they assert to be those of the scull, yet it is confidently stated that it may be seen, perfect and entire, in the museum at Castlecaldwell, co. Fermanagh, having been presented to Sir John Caldwell, by the late George Nugent Reynolds, Esq., who took it privately from Kilronan for the purpose. This, however, may be doubted. Mrs. M'Namara, the sister of Mr. Reynolds, does not believe it, never having heard it mentioned in her family until lately; and thinks it must be some other pericranium which her brother, who was a facetious gentleman, imposed on the connoisseur, by way of joke, for that of Carolan. A cast of the Castlecaldwell relic is about being sent to the Phrenologists of Edinburgh; but, probably, the portrait prefixed to this volume, would prove more satisfactory to those gentlemen." MAC CABE'S ELEGY ON THE DEATH OF CAROLAN. TRANSLATED BY THOMAS FURLONG. Woe is my portion! unremitting woe! Thy song, my Turlogh, shall be sung no more- I start at dawn-I mark the country's gloom- At night sleep comes not to these wearied eyes, Oh! ye blest spirits, dwelling with your God, And bid him aid you in your sacred song. |