IMPROVERS AND IMPROVEMENT. 23 



Throughout Ireland the peasantry make their turf fires upon the 

 hearth, and are wholly unacquainted with the use of grates. Their 

 great wide chimnies ' pay a double debt;" the ostensible purpose is 

 to serve as an egress for the smoke, but they also admit as much 

 light into the house as is usually obtained by means of a window ; 

 and for working or reading in an Irish cabin, a seat under the chim- 

 ney is preferable to one in the middle of the room, being much 

 lighter. Every good has its attendant evil so has a wide chimney ! 

 for it admits rain just as readily as it does light ; and to escape a 

 wetting in a stormy night, the inmates of such abodes generally 

 bring the fire almost to the centre of the room, and sit round it ; 

 but I recollect an ingenious man, called Mick Doolan, who, one 

 rainy night, to keep out the " fast falling torrents," mounted up 

 with the help of a ladder, and put a large bee-hive on the top of his 

 chimney. This proved an effectual remedy, and more than one of 

 his neighbours considered it an example worthy of imitation. 



But to return to our subject one cottage was better built than 



the others; this was partly owing to its nearer vicinity to B 



Park than the others, and partly to the extensive and agreeable 

 prospects its situation commanded. 



Fronting the cottage was a small but picturesque glen, at the 

 bottom of which rolled a mountain rivulet : on the right, its shelving 

 bank was adorned by orchards, which, when I saw them, were 

 richly laden with the fruits of Autumn ; and on the left were corn- 

 fields and pasture-lands. Beyond the glen, and at about five miles 

 distance, was seen the tapering spire, and the barracks of the neigh- 

 bouring town, with the richly wooded and extensive demesnes of 

 Moore Park and Castle Hyde, through which the Black Water 

 (the most beautiful of all the Irish rivers) winds its romantic 

 course. 



At least a dozen grey ruins of castles, churches, and " ivy-mantled 

 towers," were spread over the extent of country visible from the 

 cottage ; the whole was bounded by the Kilworth Mountains, the 

 Balhyhooley Hills, and Cairn Thierna. 



It was not an easy matter to obtain a suitable tenant for this 

 deservedly favourite spot. Many applicants were rejected, as it was 

 not desirable that a large family of children should be brought to 

 it; for they are all alike famous for their destructive powers. At 

 length, an elderly woman was fixed upon, who, from her decent 

 appearance, seemed calculated to become an example of neatness and 

 comfort to her neighbours. 



She gave a ready assent to all that was required from her as a 

 tenant, and seemed to think that her part would be by no means 

 difficult to perform. The prospect of being constantly employed in 



spinning for Lady A , and having the charge of all the poultry 



belonging to the " big house," as they were both light and pleasant 

 employments, no doubt blinded her to a multitude of troubles, which 

 otherwise she would have perceived awaited her in her new home. 



We must not forget to state, that Biddy Magragh (such was the 

 old woman's name) had been a widow for several years ; her chil- 

 dren were all grown up; and, according to the ideas entertained on 



