449 



In the second branch of his essay, Mr. Halpin treats of 

 the name and family of 



Spenser's wife, 



or the Irish lady to whom, as appears from the most beautiful 

 and spirited of all hymeneal songs, the Epithalamion, he was 

 ultimately married. Further than that her Christian name (as 

 revealed by the poet) was Elizabeth, the biographers are at a 

 stand still. Without an exception, they all coincide in the 

 obvious error that she was " a person of inferior rank, — a 

 country lass;" but, in Mr. Halpin's opinion, she was no more 

 " a country lass," in the ordinary sense of the terms, than Spen- 

 ser himself, — late Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant, and even 

 then, Clerk of the Council of Munster, — was " a shepherd's 

 boy." Had the biographers even slightly consulted that por- 

 tion of the poet's works expressly written to record his pas- 

 sion, the Amoretti, they would have found she was " a lady" 

 whose rank was rather " disparaged" than exalted by her 

 " sorting" with him ; that she was a person of good birth and 

 station, well educated, accomplished in the arts of design and 

 embroidery (accomplishments not usually found in an Irish 

 peasant's daughter), enjoying the respect, the elegancies, if 

 not the luxuries, of her condition, and resident in the poet's 

 own neighbourhood ; in whose house (or her father's) the poet 

 himself was no unfrequent visitor. (See Sonnets, passim). 

 In fact, her family mansion must evidently have lain on the 

 banks of the Mulla Water, Spenser's favourite stream, a tribu- 

 tary of the Black Water, somewhere between Kilcolman Castle 

 and the prosperous sea-port of Youghal, but considerably 

 nearer to the former. This brings our inquiries within narrow 

 limits, namely, the range bordering on the Mulla. But Spen- 

 ser had expressly promised the lady, in three several sonnets 

 (see Son. 73, 75, and 82) to eternize her name, and we have 

 no right to doubt but that he fulfilled his engagement. If, 

 then, we assume him to have proceeded, as in the case of his 



