490 



THE MODERN SYSTEM 



the shoulders or chest, and says Mr. Watts, 

 (Mr. Castley's informant), ' I know of nothing 

 I can compare it to, so much as a dog sliaking 

 a rat.' Fortunately for the poor fellow, his 

 body was very thickly covered with clothes, 

 for on such occasions an Irishman of this 

 class is fond of displaying his wardrobe, and 

 if he has three coats at all in the world, he is 

 sure to put them all on. 



" This circumstance in all probability saved 

 the individual who had so gallantly volunteered 

 the forlorn hope. His person was so deeply 

 enveloped in extra-teguments, that the Horse 

 never got fairly hold of his skin, and I under- 

 stand that he escaped with but little injury, 

 beside the sadly rent and totally ruined state 

 of his toggery. 



" The Whisperer was sent for, who having 

 arrived, was shut up with the Horse all night, 

 and in the morning he exhibited this hitherto 

 ferocious animal, following him about the 

 course like a dog, lying down at his command ; 

 suffering his mouth to be opened, and any 

 person's hand to be introduced into it ; in 

 short, as quiet as a sheep. 



" He came out the same meeting, and won a 

 race, and his docility continued satisfactory for 

 a long time ; but at the end of about three 

 years his vice returned, and then he is said 

 to have killed a man, for which he was des- 

 troyed." 



It may be interesting to give some ac- 

 count of this extraordinary tamer of quadruped 

 vice. The Rev. Mr. Townsend, in his " Sta- 

 tistical Survey of Cork," first introduced him 

 to the notice of the public generally, although 

 his fame had long spread over that part of 

 Ireland. He is mentioned also in " Croker's 

 Fairy Legends and Traditions of Ireland," 

 The following is an extract from that work : 



" He was an awkward, ignorant rustic of 

 the low^est class, of the name of Sullivan, but 

 better known by the appellation of the Whis- 

 perer ; his occupation was Horse-breakino-. 

 The nickname he acquired from the vulgar 

 notion of his being able to communicate to the 

 animal what he wished by means of a whisper, 

 and the singularity of his method seemed in 

 some degree to justify the attribute. In his 

 own neighbourhood, the notoriety of the fact 

 made it seem less remarkable, but I doubt if 

 any instance of similar subjugating talent is to 

 be found on record. As far as the sphere of 

 his control extended, the boast of vcni, vidi, 

 vici, was more justly claimed by Sullivan than 

 by Csesar himself 



" How his art was acquired, and in what it 

 consisted, is likely to be for ever unknown, as 

 be has lately (about 1810) left the world 

 without divulging it. His son, who follows 

 the same trade, possesses but a small portion 

 of the art, having either never leained the 

 true secret, or being incapable of putting it 

 into practice. The wonder of his skill con- 

 sisted in the celerity of the operation, which 

 was performed in privacy without any appa- 

 rent means of coercion. Every description of 

 Horse, or even mule, whether previously 

 broken or unhandled, whatever their peculiar 

 habits or vices might have been, submitted 

 without show of resistance to the magical in- 

 fluence of his art, and in the short space of 

 half an hour became gentle and tractable. 

 This eff*ect, though instantaneously produced, 

 was generally durable. Though more sub- 

 missive to him than others, they seemed to 

 have acquired a docility unknown before. 



" When sent for to tame a vicious beast, for 

 which he was either paid according to the 

 distance, or generally two or three guineas, ne 



