1832.] Scenes in the Irish Highlands Cunnemara. 619 



how greatly was that feeling 1 increased on reaching Ballanaliinch ! The mansion 

 of the Martins, an irregular unhandsome building, stands within fifty yards of as 

 noble a situation as a great proprietor could select or desire for his residence. The 

 vicinity of the houses of Irish gentlemen to enviable sites has frequently been re- 

 marked, but never was the blunder more conspicuous than in this instance. The 

 brow of an eminence, a little in front of Ballynahinch Castle, intercepts it from the 

 view of a spacious and splendid lake, over which one of the twelve peaks of the 

 Beanabola chain towers to the majestic altitude of 1900 feet. The base of this 

 mountain (which is called Lettery, and is one of the highest in Cunnemara) is 

 covered with a flourishing copse of oak, ash, and birch, which, being well preserved, 

 promises in due time to equal the forests of former days. The lake has several 

 islets, some wooded, and some bare. On one of the latter, the still upright walls of 

 an old castle (probably the abode in violent times of some martial proprietor of these 

 domains) have a remarkably fine effect. The scenery, on the whole, is admirably 

 calculated to furnish the localities of a romantic tale or poem ; but Irish lakes and 

 mountains have no Scott to celebrate them ; they remain neglected like the people 

 that grow up, pine, and perish on their shores and amongst their recesses. 



The Ballynahinch lake communicates by a deep and rapid stream with that 

 of Derryclare, and this in like manner with the magnificent Loch Inagh ; the three 

 together forming a grand chain, which extends on one side far into the bosom of 

 the mountains, and on the other, by means of a fine river, unites itself with the 

 Atlantic. Upon this river, about two miles below the castle, is a weir, and the best, 

 salmon fishery in Ireland. A good angler, in fine weather, may kill a dozen salmon 

 with ease in the course of a day. Mr. Thomas Martin, the present resident at the 

 Castle, gives permission in the most handsome manner to every fair sportsman who 

 asks it; nor does his liberality stop there ; his house is open in the most hospitable 

 manner to every gentleman who visits the country ; and it is impossible to be his 

 guest for a single day without admiring the noble spirit and amiable feeling with 

 which he discharges all the duties of a landlord, a magistrate, and a gentleman. 

 In the absence of his father, who has long been resident abroad, Thomas Martin is 

 virtual proprietor of this immense estate, and though not always politically sympa- 

 thising with them, his justice, moderation, and kindness, make him regarded more 

 as a father than as a feudal superior by the,men of Cunnemara. 



Cliefden, where we did not arrive until a very late hour, is a town of modern 

 origin, situated on the ridge of an eminence, at the head of a winding estuary, into 

 which a riotous mountain torrent rashes, after having a few moments before thrown 

 itself over a precipice in a broad and bold cascade. The feeling of the men of 

 Cunnemara towards the servers of latitats, or processes of the like nature, has been 

 alluded to already : at Cliefden this feeling is, according to established usage, dis- 

 played in the following lively manner. Across the torrent just mentioned, about 

 half a mile from the town, there is a narrow stone bridge, under which the stream 

 is particularly deep and rapid. To this bridge, which might properly enough upon 

 such occasions be called " the bridge of sighs," the process-server is quietly con- 

 ducted ; and being placed upon the parapet, he is offered the alternative of chewing 

 and swallowing the warrant, or being precipitated headlong into the abyss beneath. 

 This practice being invariably adhered to in cases of legal intrusion, it may readily 

 be supposed that they do not occur frequently. Cliefden is in fact as impregnable 

 a fortress as the Isle of Man. The individual who undertakes to serve a latitat on 

 the estate of Mr. D'Arcy should swim like a wild goose, or be endowed with more 

 than the " dura ilia messorum" He is sure either to find a watery grave, or to be 

 taught the meaning of a " digest" of the law. But to return to the scenery, the 

 shores of the bay of Cliefden are precipitous and barren. U^on the northern side, 

 a short way from the town, is the residence of the proprietor, built in a castellated 

 style, and though far from imposing at a near view, producing an agreeable and 

 picturesque effect from the bay or the opposite cliffs. The grounds are handsomely 

 planted, and there, for the first time in Cunnemara, we heard the notes of the robin 

 and blackbird. A rough and breezy walk of a few miles along the adjacent heights 

 afforded a vast and splendid prospect of the ocean, and the most complete view of 

 the Beanabola chain that is to be had from any part of the country. The twelve 

 peaks, or "pins," as they are usually called, are sometimes not easy to be distin- 



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