Part 2

Having a few months since succeeded in deciphering an ancient and somewhat difficult inscription on the seal of a distinguished Irish chief, which the Dean of St Patrick’s had but just previously added to his magnificent collection of our national antiquities, it occurred to me that a notice of this seal, and of a few others of the same class, preserved in that collection and in my own, might be somewhat interesting to the Academy, and at the same time prove useful in showing the importance of forming collections of this kind. In an assembly so enlightened as that which I have the honour to address, it would be impertinent to offer any remarks on the value of ancient seals, not only as evidences of the truth of history, both local and national, but also as illustrations of the state and progress of the arts in times past. As has been justly remarked, it is from the great seals of England that we have been supplied with the surest criteria for estimating the progressive advancements made in architectural taste, and the various successive phases which it has from time to time exhibited in the country; and if all other historical evidences were lost, this alone would perhaps be sufficient to compensate for the want. The importance of this branch of archæology has indeed been felt and acknowledged in every other country of Europe, in proportion to the progress which it has made in civilization and refinement; and we should perhaps feel some mortification at being necessitated to confess that in Ireland alone it has hitherto received scarcely any attention. I shall not say that this neglect on the part of our antiquaries has arisen from a distaste for investigations which, as they require merely a little learning and common sense, allow no indulgence for the mind to soar into the dim and distant upper regions of romance and fanciful conjecture, where such qualities would be found but weighty and earthly incumbrances. A sufficient reason may be found in the fact, that until very recently there were no collections of antiquities of this class in existence to which investigators could refer; and hence, if the Irish antiquary had been only a few years back asked the question whether the Irish ever had the use of signets commonly among them, he would have been constrained to confess his inability to give an answer. Such a question, however, can be replied to now in a more satisfactory manner. It is ascertained that not only the Irish kings and petty princes, from the period of the Anglo-Norman conquest, used signets, but also that they were common among persons of inferior rank. It can be also shown that such signets closely resembled in style and device those of the Anglo-Normans of similar ranks. Still, however, from the imperfection consequent on the recent formation of our collections of antiquities, the era at which seals began to be used in Ireland remains undecided; for although we have no seals of an earlier age than the thirteenth century, it would be as yet premature to conclude that none such ever existed. Till a recent period it was the opinion of the English antiquaries generally that the use of signets was unknown to the Saxons, and was introduced into England by the Normans; and this opinion was grounded on the fact that no Saxon seals had ever been discovered. But of late years there have been found seals, unquestionably of the Saxon times; and no doubt can now be reasonably entertained of their general use among that people; and hence, although no seals of cotemporaneous with the Saxon times have as yet been met with in Ireland, the similarity that prevailed between the two countries in customs, and in knowledge of the arts, would very strongly warrant the conclusion that the use of signets could not have been unknown or perhaps uncommon in Ireland.

To these prefatory remarks I have only to add, that though the use of signets was common not only among the Greeks and Romans, but also among the earlier civilized nations of the East, we have no evidence that such a use had ever been introduced into Ireland by its original colonists.

With these few general introductory observations I shall now proceed to exhibit to the Academy the seals which it appeared to me desirable to bring under their notice.

The first, unfortunately, I can only exhibit in a drawing, as the original is not now known to exist. It is the seal of Felim O’Conor, who was allowed by the English government to bear the hereditary title of king of Connaught in the thirteenth century, and the legend is _S. Fedlimid Regis Conactie_. The impression of this seal has been published in Ware’s Antiquities, where it is adduced as an evidence that some of the Irish chiefs retained the title of king subsequently to the Anglo-Norman conquest. The following is the passage in which the statement occurs:--

“Thus far the kings of Ireland, who lived before the arrival of the English under King Henry II, but even after that period, some, though subjects, enjoyed the regal title, and were styled kings even by the kings of England. For Hoveden cites the following passage under the year 1175. _Hic est Finis et Concordia_, &c. ‘This is the final end and concord, which was made at Windsor on the octaves of St Michael in the year of grace 1175, between our Lord Henry king of England, son of the Empress Maude, and Roderick king of Connaught, by Catholicus, Archbishop of Tuam, and Cantord, Abbot of St Brendan, and Master Laurence, chancellor of the king of Conaught, viz., that the king of England grants to the said Roderick, his liege man, king of Conaught, that as long as he shall faithfully serve him, he shall be king under him, ready to do him service as liege man, &c.’ The letters patent of king Henry II, by which he committed the management of his Irish affairs to William Fitz-Adelm, his sewer, shew us the rank in which these nominal kings were at that time placed. They begin thus: ‘_Henricus_, &c. Henry by the grace of God, king of England, lord of Ireland, duke of Normandy and Aquitain, and earl of Anjou, to the archbishops, bishops, KINGS, earls, barons, and to all his faithful subjects of Ireland, greeting.’ It appears also out of the close roll An. 6th of king John in the Tower of London, that the successor of Roderick was in like manner called king of Conaught. So in the close roll of the 5th of Henry III, some of the king’s letters patent were directed, among others to K. king of Conaught, and to O. king of Kinel-ean; and in the following year the same king granted to the king of Tosmond the land of Tosmond. For thus it is in the charter roll of the 6th of Henry III, Membr. 2, ‘_Rex_, &c. The king to the king of Tosmond, greeting. We grant unto you the land of Tosmond, (_i. e._ Thumond) which you formerly held at the farm of 130 marks, to be held of us until we come of age.’ Concerning the suit exhibited at London by Fedlimid O’Conor before K. Henry III. and his court, see Matthew Paris under the year 1140, where that writer calls him ‘_Petty King of that part of_ Ireland, _which is called_ Cunnoch, _i. e._ Conaught;’ and that Fedlimid himself took upon him the name of king of Connaught, appears from his seal, the impression of which is exhibited to the reader, plate 1, No. 3.--[It appears by the Lord Stafford’s letters (_c._) that the seal here mentioned was presented to King Charles I. in the year 1636.]”

From the letter here alluded to, which was addressed to Lord Stafford by Secretary Cooke in 1636, it appears that this seal was presented by Sir Beverley Newcomen to the king in person, by whom, as the letter states, the seal was much esteemed, and well accepted. As this seal is not known to exist at present, it may be supposed that it was lost in the civil wars which followed so soon afterwards.

As the life of Felim O’Conor constitutes a portion of the general history of Ireland, it is unnecessary for me to advert more in detail to it, than to mention that he was elected to the throne of Connaught, by the English of that province in 1230, was deposed by them in 1232, was restored again soon afterwards, died in 1265, and was interred in the abbey of Roscommon, where a magnificent tomb was raised over his remains, which is still to be seen. His death is thus recorded in the Annals of the Four Masters:--“1265. Felim, the son of Charles the red-handed O’Conor, defender and supporter of his own province and of his friends on every side; expeller and plunderer of his enemies; a man full of hospitality, valour, and renown; patron of the orders of the clergy and of men of science; worthy heir to the throne of Ireland for his nobility, justice and valour, wisdom, personal shape, and love of truth; died after extreme unction and penance, in the monastery of the Dominican Friars at Roscommon, which he himself had granted to God and that order.”

It will be observed that the style and device of this seal are very similar to those of the Norman and Anglo-Norman seals of the same age; and it can scarcely admit of doubt that its type was derived from that source. As to its general form, we have no description left; but a nearly cotemporary seal of a king of Desmond, which I have now the honour to exhibit will probably enable the Academy to form an accurate idea of it.

This seal, which is from my own cabinet, is, as the inscription shows, the seal of Donald Og, the son of Donald Roe Mac Carthy, who, as appears from the notices in the Irish and English authorities, became king or lord of Desmond by the murder of his father, Donald Roe, in 1306, or, as some accounts state, in 1302, and was himself killed in 1309. The legend runs thus:--_S. Dovenaldi: Og: Fili: D: Roth MaCarthy_. The name of this prince appears in the pedigree of the Mac Carthy family as fifteenth in ascent from the last Earl of Clancarty and the thirtieth in descent from their great ancestor Oilioll Olum. It will be seen that its device is very similar to that of the king of Connaught, but the form of the letters in the inscription indicates a somewhat later age. This seal was found about twenty years ago in the county of Cork, and was purchased originally by a watch-maker in that city.

The next seal that I have the honour to exhibit is from the collection of the Dean of St Patrick’s, and is that to which I made allusion at the commencement of this paper. It was discovered by that zealous collector among some old silver in a jeweller’s shop. In its general features it is similar to the seals already noticed, but the character of the letters in the legend indicate a still later age; and this circumstance, unimportant as it may appear, is of consequence, as it enables us with certainty to determine its owner, which would otherwise have been with difficulty ascertained, as there were two chiefs of the name in the legend in the family to which it belongs. The inscription on this seal reads thus:--_Si. Mac Con, ducis de Ui Cassin_. The territory called Hy-Caissin comprehended a considerable tract of the ancient Thomond in the county of Clare, of which the Macnamaras were hereditary lords; and the Mac Con whose name appears on this seal is found in all the pedigrees of that illustrious family, as the 28th in descent from Oilioll Olum, the common ancestor of the Mac Carthys, O’Briens, and other princely families of Munster. According to the Annals of Innisfallen, which are the best authority for the history of Munster, the first Mac Con Mara was elected to be chief head of the tribe of O’Coilean in 1313: and again, at the year 1315, it is stated that Macnamara, and Mahon the son of Cumea, went to the tower of De Clare to compel him to enter into an agreement, which De Clare acceded to, to give Mac Con and his heirs the canthred of Ua Caissin, the charters whereof had been given to De Clare. The second Mac Con, to whom as I conceive this seal should be assigned, and who was grandson to the former, became chief of Hy-Caissin about the year 1340, and died about ten years afterwards.

[The remainder of this article shall be given in an early number.]

THE GIRLS OF THE WEST.

AIR--“Teddy ye gander.”

You may talk, if you please, Of the brown Portuguese, But, wherever you roam, wherever you roam, You nothing will meet, Half so lovely or sweet, As the girls at home, the girls at home.

Their eyes are not sloes, Nor so long is their nose, But, between me and you, between me and you, They are just as alarming, And ten times more charming, With hazel and blue, with hazel and blue.

They don’t ogle a man, O’er the top of their fan, Till his heart’s in a flame, his heart’s in a flame, But though bashful and shy, They’ve a look in their eye, That just comes to the same, just comes to the same.

No mantillas they sport, But a petticoat short, Shows an ancle the best, an ancle the best, And a leg, but, O murther! I dare not go further, So here’s to the West, so here’s to the West.

--_From “Charles O’Malley.”_

SOME ACCOUNT OF AN IRISH DARE-DEVIL.

People may talk about the idleness and indolence of Irishmen, but in my mind they merely betray their ignorance in so doing. Positively there is no other country on the face of the earth, the inhabitants of which have wrought out for themselves so many different professions, occupations, and ingenious expedients, to make the time pass agreeably: let any change in the constitution of society require the exercise of any particular faculty for good or for evil, and straightway the vacancy is filled up with an expedition and efficiency truly wonderful. Astounding as the proposition may sound to the wise men and women of the empire, the fact is, that Irishmen hate idleness; it is an intolerable load to them; they are ever on the look-out for something to do; and as all parties concede to them the possession of almost infallible ingenuity, it would be strange indeed, if, in a spot of land so fertile in adventure, any one of them should be long at fault in such a pursuit.

That the occupations upon which they occasionally fix, in their amiable detestation of idleness, are not always the best calculated to promote the well-being or comforts of the rest of the community, I am quite free to confess; but this is all matter of taste, and does not at all interfere with the validity of my argument, which merely seeks to assert that an Irishman will do anything sooner than be doing nothing. To be sure they have their propensities, among the most favourite of which are fighting, farming, and love-making; but should any untoward obstacle prevent their indulgence in any of these tastes, they by no means sink into an apathetic despondency like many of their neighbours: they have too many resources for that, upon some one of which they immediately fall back with as much zeal and energy as if it had been the original occupation of their choice. Nor are they fastidious: in the generality of cases it is quite immaterial to them whether they are practising gunnery upon a denounced landlord, or figuring in a procession: they are ready for anything, good, bad, or indifferent--anything but idleness. It was said of old that were you to put an Irishman on the spit, you would not long be at a loss for another to turn it. Whoever he was that first propounded that maxim, certes he knew our nation well; nay, I would venture to say that in ninety-nine cases an Irishman would roast his mother, if driven to that melancholy alternative, sooner than remain either idle or inactive. Joking apart, I wish those who grumble most about Ireland would give us something to do, and find for us some rational occupation which might obviate the daily occurrence of those little extravagances of conduct which render our people a puzzle and a wonder to better regulated communities.

Such a state of society as this, and such restless activity alone, could give birth to the extraordinary character whose turbulent career I am about inditing; but ere I proceed, it would perhaps be well to allude to the circumstances and emergencies which, on the principles I have laid down, threw such an individual to the surface. Little more than allusion will be necessary; for in these days, when so much has been said and sung about Ireland--while Carleton in his soul-searching tales anatomises the very inmost heart of our countrymen, and Mrs Hall skims the surface of all that is good and beautiful amongst us--while attorneys make fortunes, and lawyers found families, who can be ignorant of the lamentable mismanagement of property which has beggared so many of our oldest families? The history of one will almost tell the fate of them all. Incumbrances accumulating for perhaps half-a-dozen generations, some probably long before discharged, but still allowed to remain on record as if unpaid, through mere neglect and carelessness, until the fact of their ever having been paid falls into oblivion, or becomes incapable of proof; others permitted to continue, in the hope that some lucky accident would some time or other, and somehow or other, transfer them by inheritance to the heir, or else enable him to liquidate them more conveniently than at the present. At last, in the changes of mortal affairs, they fall into the hands of strangers or persons who must have their own. A settlement is demanded--the inheritor finds himself fifty per cent worse than nothing--redemption is out of the question--he plunges into tenfold dissipation and extravagance, knowing that he wastes nothing which it is in his power to retain or retrieve. A short life and a merry one, is his maxim; to protract it, he litigates every claim right and left--seeks to baffle every process of the law--calls his tenantry to his assistance--while they, taking advantage of his distresses, and the confusion of all rights, assume an independent position, playing off the landlord and his adversaries against one another--now rebelling against his weak claims--now affording him protection against the advances of the law, throwing their weight into whatever scale promises the most fun and the most advantage--half-a-dozen bailiffs are maimed or murdered--half-a-dozen examples are made to the offended dignity of justice. Affairs come to their crisis at last in spite of all opposition. The attorneys get their costs--the creditors get the surplus--the unfortunate debtor gets the turn-out--and so ends an old song and an old family.

This terrible ultimatum of the law did not, however, in all cases put an end to the hopes and energies of the discomfited litigant. Another card still remained to be played, by any one reckless and desperate enough to avail himself of it: this was no less than to rise in open opposition to all law, set the sheriff and his subalterns at defiance, and hold possession with a strong hand after the manner of the ancients. Before matters came to this, the tenantry were usually, from the causes I have mentioned, sufficiently demoralized for any purpose; and whatever might have been their previous conduct, those sympathies which seldom fail a ruined master, were of course roused to their highest pitch; in addition to which stimulant, it was manifestly their advantage that the reign of misrule should continue, so that, when a man was thus turned at bay, there was no saying how the matter might end. I believe it very often happened, during the weak and uncertain administration of justice in the past century, that a pertinacious adherence to this desperate line of policy has tired out the persecution of all adversaries, and been crowned with final success. Any money, therefore, for a partizan able and willing to undertake the support of such a desperate cause; one who, while his principal kept in the background, had no fear or shame to prevent him from putting himself forward--drilling the tenants--collecting adherents and information--concentrating all the lawlessness of the district against the operations of the law--holding his own life at nought, and the lives of all others at a lower standard, if possible.

In those days society required Dare-devils, and if old stories be true, Dare-devils galore arose to supply the want. But what were they all to Mick Connell of Thurles? The desperado whose name is still remembered with terror and admiration through the district which was the scene of his turbulent career fifty years ago, was, as my informant described him to me, a man of the most indomitable resolution, endowed with a strength of body truly formidable, though of small stature and mean appearance, and withal one of the most mortal opponents of the king’s writ that ever figured, even in Tipperary. This fellow was not slow to perceive that a more pleasing and profitable occupation could be found for the exercise of the daring qualities which he possessed, than was afforded in the occasional outbreak at fair or pattern, to which he had hitherto in his simplicity restricted himself. A gentleman in the neighbourhood got into difficulties, and, poor man, had not a soul belonging to him who could direct the laudable exertions his tenants and followers were willing to make in his behalf, or show them how even to dispose of a bailiff. Common humanity induced Mick to come forward, and never was an act of humanity more richly rewarded. The most brilliant and unexpected success crowned his labours. Under his guidance the tenants became a phalanx, able to bother the twelve judges themselves, or tire the patience even of a Chancery suit. Writs were sent out, but had no return, and now and then the same might be said of the bailiffs who ventured to bear them. Everything was reduced to the most perfect system; and the attorneys, dismayed and discomfited, declared themselves conquered by a line of tactics hitherto unknown, the discoverer of which deserved to be immortalized. The result was, that the party who had been so fortunate as to awaken for his service the slumbering energies of this determined partizan, was allowed an honourable capitulation, while the discovery of these happy improvements in the noble art of self-defence gained for Connell himself the character of public benefactor of all distressed country gentlemen.

His fame increased, and business came thick upon him. Many a man who was half inclined to die soft before, without one effort to save himself, took courage now, and hastened to avail himself of the prowess and protection of this new and unhoped-for auxiliary; until, at length, in all desperate cases the first step taken was to secure his services. In process of time his sons grew to manhood, fitted in every respect to co-operate with such a father; and of course the extent and boldness of his operations increased along with his family. The local authorities connived at him; many of them probably having received the benefit of his assistance already, while the rest of them knew not what day would fling them upon his protection. Touch Connell!--they would as soon touch the apples of their own eyes; they might as well yield themselves at once to the hated touch of the bailiffs. Gratitude for past services, and a prudent view to those which he might ere long be called to render, procured him an immunity from the harassing regulations which were made for the control of gentlemen of his kidney; and, accordingly, under this reciprocal patronage he grew and flourished, and waxed famous. Gradually he became enabled to form a gang, and, that point gained, he became irresistible. The beauty and simplicity of his system caused it to triumph every where. Debts were at a discount--judgments were condemned--incumbrances ceased to be a burden--and, alas for the mutability of mortal greatness, the sheriff, the very sheriff, was so lightly regarded that not a soul in the place would be bothered bribing him!