264 JValks in Ireland : (^Sept. 



place in a hurry.' — ' An' who the divil is your masther ?' says I ; 'an' 

 didn't think ye had one, only yourself, an' you so fine.' — ■' Oh,' says he, 

 'my masther is the Prence Ragin.' — ' Blur an' ouns,' says I; 'tell his 

 honour I'll be wid him in the twinklin' of a bedpost, the minit I take 

 my face from behind my beard, an' get on my clane flax ; but stop a bit,' 

 says I ; ' where does the masther live ?' — ' Down at Carltown Palace,* 

 says he ; 'so make yourself dacent, an' be off wid yourself aftlier me.' 

 Wid that away he wint. 



" Up I gets, an' away I goes, the instant minit I put on my duds, 

 down to Carltown Palace. An' it's it that's the place ; twicet as big as 

 the castle, or Kilmainham gaol, an' groves ov threes round about it, like 

 the Phaynix Park. Up I goes to the gate, an' I gives a little asy rap 

 to show I wasn't proud ; who should let me in but the 'dentical chap 

 that come to ax me up. ' Well Dan,' says he, ' you didn't let the grass 

 grow undher your feet ; the masther's waitin', so away in wid ye as fast 

 as ye can.' — ' An' which way will I go ?' says I. — ' Crass the yard,' says 

 he, ' an' folley your nose up through the house, ever 'till you come to 

 the dhrawin'-room door, an' tlien jist rap wid your knuckle, an' ye'll get 

 lave to come in.' So away I wint acrass the yard, an' it's there the fun 

 was goin' on, soldiers marchin', an' fiddlers playin', and monkeys dancin', 

 an' every kind ov diversion, the same as ourselves here at Donnybrook 

 Fair, only it lasts all the year round, from mornin' tiU night, I'm toidd. 



" Whin I come to the house, in I wint, bowin' an' doin' my manners 

 in the most genteelest way to aU the grand lords an' ladies that was 

 there, foUeyin' their own divarsion, the same as thim that was in the 

 yard, every way they liked — dhrinkin', and singin', an' playin' ov music, 

 and dancin' like mad ! I wint on, on, on, out ov one room an' into 

 another, tiU my head was fairly addled, an' I thought I'd never come to 

 the ind. And sich grandeur ! — why, the play-house was nothin' to id. 

 At last I come to a beautiful big stairs, an' up I wint ; an' sure enough 

 there was the dhrawin'-room door, reachin' up to the ceilin' almost, an' 

 as big as the gate ov a coach-house, an' wrote on a board over tlie door, 

 ' No admittance for strangers, only on business.' — ' Sure,' says I, ' I'm 

 come on the best ov business, whin the Prence is afther sendin' his man 

 to tell me to come on a visit.' — An' wid that I gave a knock wid my 

 knuckle the way I was bid. ' Come in,' says a voice ; and so I opened 

 the door. 



" Oh ! then, ov all the sights ever I see, an' it's that was the finest ! 

 There was the Prence Ragin' himself, mounted up i pon his elegant 

 throne, an' his crown, that was half a hundhred weight ov goold, I suppose, 

 on his head, an' his scepture in his hand, an' his lion sittin' on one side 

 ov him, an' his unicorn on the other.' — ']VIon-ow, Dan,' says he ; ' you're 

 welcome here.' — ' Gooc . morning, my Lord,' says I, ' plase your Rever- 

 ence.'—' An' what do you think ov my place,' says he, ' Dan, now you're 

 in it ?' — ' By Dad ! your worship,' says I, ' it bates all the places ever I 

 see, an' there's not the like of id for fun in the wide world, barrin' Don- 

 nybrook Fair.' — ' I never was at the fair,' says he, ' bud I'm tould 

 there's plenty of sport there for thim that has money, an' is able to take 

 their own part in a row.' — ' Throth, Majesty,' says I, ' your honour may 

 say that ; an' iv your holiness '11 come an' see us there, it's myself that 

 'ill give you a dhrop ov what's good, an' shew ye all the diversion ov the 

 place — ay, an' leather the best man in the fair, that dare say. Black is the 

 white ov your eye V—-' More ix)wer to ye, Dan !' says he, laughin' ; ' an 



