Read Ebook: Ireland in Fiction: A Guide to Irish Novels Tales Romances and Folk-lore by Brown Stephen J M Stephen James Meredith

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The story of the rising from an insurgent's point of view. The book is full of scenes of blood, and breathes a spirit of vengeance. The narrative is not remarkable. Some of the scenes border on indelicacy.

? ULICK O'DONNELL: an Irish Peasant's Progress. 1860.

A romantic and pleasant story. Adventures in Liverpool and elsewhere in England of a clever peasant lad from Newry. He wins his way by his sterling qualities, and returns prosperous to his native Co. Down. Author tries to bring out contrasting characteristics of English and Irish.

? THE NUGENTS OF CARRICONNA. Three Vols., afterwards one Vol. . 1890.

Main theme: an old impoverished family suddenly enriched by Australian legacy. Interwoven there is an interesting love-story. Anthony Nugent, eccentric, of astronomical tastes, has on his housetop a telescope which plays a prominent part in the story. Brogue well done. The dramatic interest centred in an Inspector of Police, a type probably very rare in Irish fiction.

Strange, wayward tales of far-off pagan days in which one moves as in a mist of dreams. Soaked with Gaelic fairy and legendary lore. The prose pieces, all very short, are interspersed with little poems, that are slight and frail as wreaths of vapour. Some of the stories are symbolical. They are told in simple and graceful prose.

? THE ORIGIN OF PLUM PUDDING, and other Irish Fairy Tales. Illustr. by Gordon Browne. 1888.

Only one of these five stories is genuinely Irish--"Shaun Murray's Challenge," the scene of which is Dalkey. The title-story tells how a drunken man one evening threw his sack of groceries into a pot on the fire, and in the morning found a plum-pudding.

? THE LAST HURDLE: a Story of Sporting and Courting. Pp. 304. . 1888.

Life in an Irish county family of the old stock, with sympathy for the poor around them. Good idea of refined Irish country life and its easy-going ways. A story full of sport, gaiety, and dramatic incidents, turning mainly on the winning of the heroine by the hero in spite of the plots of the rival. Good and bad landlords are contrasted. An eviction scene is described, with full sympathy for the victims. Shamus-the-Trout, a poacher, is a very picturesque figure.

? RUNNING DOUBLE: a Story of Stage and Stable. Two Vols. . 1890.

Scene: varies between England, Dublin, and "Ennisbeg." There are remarks on Irish life, scenery, and customs, but the chief interest is sporting--fishing, racing, betting. The stage part is in England. There is very little plot. All ends in a double wedding.

? THE FAIR MAID OF CONNAUGHT: and other Tales for Catholic Youth. Pp. 178. . 1.25, 0.60, 0.30. 1889.

? THE CUCHULLIN SAGA IN IRISH LITERATURE. Pp. lxxx. + 316. . 1898.

A collection of fourteen stories relating to Cuchulin, translated from the Irish by various scholars . A more valuable work, says Fiona MacLeod , for students of Gaelic legend and literature than the more recent works by Lady Gregory. The book is not cast in an artistic mould. It merely contains the rude materials from which epic and lyric inspiration may be drawn. Important and valuable Introduction deals with literary qualities of the Saga, its historical aspects and its mythology. Map of Ireland to illustrate Cuchulin Saga. Appendix contains chart of Cuchulin Saga. Notes pp. 289-297.

Ed. with introd. by R. B. Cunningham Grahame. Eight stories from History. i. "How Rizzio was Avenged;" ii. "A Rebellious Love-match;" iii. "Prince and Pastry Cook;" iv. "The Revenge of John Hawkins;" v. "The Scapegoat;" vi. "Sir Walter 's Homecoming;" vii. "Cloth of Gold and Frieze." Some of these treat of the amours of great personages. Their standpoint is, of course, English and Protestant. viii. "The Last Stand of the O'Sullivans" is told with much spirit, and with sympathy for the Irish cause. It does not include the famous retreat of the O'Sullivans.

"A love tale of a tender, but frivolous and petulant Irish girl, who flirts and arouses her lover's jealousy, and who offends against the conventions in all innocence. A gay and witty story spiced with slang, and touched with pathos."--.

? A LITTLE IRISH GIRL; and other Stories. . 1891.

A domestic story of love and marriage in the Author's lightest vein. The characters belong chiefly to the landlord class, a local carman being the only peasant introduced. There is no expression of political views. The scene is laid in Cork.

? NORA CREINA. Pp. 328. . 1903.

A love-story from start to finish, without pretence of the study of character. The story of how Norah is won from dislike to love is pleasantly told. No politics. Peasants hardly mentioned. Scene not specified.

Extremely interesting and valuable Preface by the Author, in which he reviews what had been hitherto done for Irish folk-lore, remarks on the genesis of the folk-tale, its affinities with the Scotch folk-tale, and tells us where and from whom and in what circumstances he got his stories, ending by some explanations of the style of his translations. The preface is followed by some critical remarks on it by Alfred Nutt. The English of the translations is that of the peasants. This is the first really scientific treatment of Irish folk-lore.

? THE ADVENTURES OF THE LAD OF THE FERULE.

? THE ADVENTURES OF THE CHILDREN OF THE KING OF NORWAY. . 1899.

Two Irish romantic tales of the 16th and 17th centuries, ed. and transl. for the first time with introd., notes, and glossary. The "Lad" is a mysterious being who appears to Murough, son of Brian Boru, and carrying home for him the spoils of a miraculous hunting, demands as reward a certain ferule that lies at the bottom of a lake. Murough slays a serpent, and delivers the land of the Ever Young, which lies at the bottom of the lake. The second is a long story of enchantment and marvellous adventures.--.

Forty-six stories described by the Author as Christian folk-lore, all translated for the first time from the Irish, and for the most part gathered from the lips of the people by the Author himself, who has been gathering folklore for twenty-five years. Each tale is preceded by a preface giving all the details of its collection, origin, character, &c., that are of interest to the folk-lorist as well as to the general reader. The tales are compared with similar tales occurring in foreign countries.

Has no other connection with Ireland than the episode of the picking up near the Skellig Island, off Waterville, Co. Kerry, of a boat's crew that had escaped from a burning ship.

? WINTER AND SUMMER STORIES AND SLIDES OF FANCY'S LANTERN. Pp. 252. Close print. . 1879.

All that has been said of the first series can be applied to the second, which is in every way worthy of its predecessor. Twenty stories. The two volumes may fairly be said to constitute the most representative and attractive collection of Celtic tales ever issued.

? MICKEY FINN IDYLLS. Pp. 281. . 1899. Introd. by Charles A. Dana .

Reprinted from the SUNDAY SUN, LESLIE'S WEEKLY, &c. Micky is a youngster of 9 or 10, born of Irish parents, settled at Coney Island, where the scene of the idylls is laid. A good deal of humour and some pathos. A goat figures largely in the sketches.

? MICKY FINN'S NEW IRISH YARNS. N.Y. 1902.

How an Englishman, John Bermingham, fell in love with and married the descendant of an old western family. How he tried, but failed, to reform with English ideas the Connaught peasantry. Told with considerable power and insight. Note especially the description of a police hunt over the mountains in the snow. Has been dramatised.

? THE DARK COLLEEN. Three Vols. . 1876.

Scene: an island off the W. coast. Morna Dunroon finds a French sailor, survivor of a shipwreck. She afterwards marries him, but he abandons her and goes back to France. She follows him, and passes through strange adventures, but he is still false to her. Nemesis follows in the end. Father Moy is a fine portrait of a priest. The dialect and the scenery are both true to the reality, the description of the storm at the close is particularly well done.

? THE PRIEST'S BLESSING; or, Poor Patrick's progress from this world to a better. Pp. 308. . Two eds. 1881.

? MY CONNAUGHT COUSINS. Three Vols. . 1883.

Jack Kenmare goes to his uncle's place in Connaught, and has a pleasant time in company with his cousins. He becomes engaged to one of them, who writes stories. Several of these are given. An excellent moral tale, and a glimpse of happy Irish life in a country house. The political point of view is not Nationalist: neither is it hostile to Ireland.

Farcical Irish stories by a Londoner who occasionally shoots and fishes in Ireland. Peasants made grotesque, but Author has no hostile intentions. Nondescript dialect. "A Home in Calery" is quite different, and makes very pleasant reading. "Sister Eugenia" is an agreeable, melodramatic story.

? GERALD FRENCH'S FRIENDS. Pp. 240. . Well illustr. 1889.

Six stories reprinted from the CENTURY MAGAZINE, 1888. Gerald, a spendthrift son of good family, takes to journalism, and goes to San Francisco. There he meets various types of his fellow-countrymen, and the stories are about these. "All the incidents related in this book are based on fact, and several of them are mere transcripts from actual life.... The purpose is to depict a few of the most characteristic types of the native Celt of the original stock, as yet unmixed in blood, but modified by new surroundings and a different civilization." An excellent work, and perhaps the Author's best.

A rather commonplace story. The characters are mostly of the squireen class, notably the drunken Mat O'Hara. There are two love stories, both having happy conclusions, to which the racehorse Liscarrick largely contributes. "The paper is poor and the binding tawdry."-- "The writer has only put on record that part of his experience which can be reconciled with conceptions derived from Lever."--.

? ELLEN: A Tale of Ireland. Pp. 139. 16mo. . 1843.

A curious and rather meaningless little story. Ellen O'Rorick, daughter of a drunken tavern keeper, of Leixlip, goes to England, and mixes in high society. Forgotten and looked down upon by her childhood's friend, whom she loves, she marries in succession two elderly, rich men, and then settles in Ireland to a life of philanthropy, having meanwhile become a Protestant. A good deal of moralising.

? MAVOURNEEN; or, The Children of the Storm. Pp. 233. . 1904.

Kitty O'Neill on her way to her aunt at Lostwin, in England, is saved from a wreck by Ralph Whitteridge, of that place. Kitty grows up, and has several suitors, but meets Ralph again, and marries him in spite of the aunt who wishes her to marry Edward, the Squire. Some of the action takes place at Malhay, in the S. of Ireland, Kitty's native place. Kitty dies, and Ralph takes to drink, but is rescued by a former rival, and on the voyage out to S. Africa proves his sterling worth, but is drowned in a storm along with his little boy, Curly. Author's knowledge of Ireland very slight. Brogue poor. No anti-Catholic bias.

The hero, Charles Annandale, a young Ulster landlord and an Oxfordman, returns to Ireland in the thick of the agrarian agitation. His agent is shot by Ribbonmen, who had been previously absolved by the priest. He is an unsuccessful candidate for Parliament. The election is well described, the Author probably drawing on his experiences at Downpatrick in 1857. Among the characters is Rev. Mr. Werd . The sister of Charles's betrothed is entrapped by a Jesuit, who poses as her guardian, and immured in a Paris convent, but is released after a lawsuit. There is much denunciation of "prowling Jesuits," "Liberal Protestants," and "Puseyite Traitors."

? UNDER WHICH KING. Pp. 308. . 1873.

A plain historical narrative, with little plot, and no character drawing of the various events of 1688-91--Derry, the Boyne, &c. Very strong Williamite bias.

? OLD TRINITY: a Tale of real life. Three Vols. 1867.

? OLD CELTIC ROMANCES. Pp. xx. + 474. . . Third ed., revised and enlarged. 1907.

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