238 LIFE IN IRELAND 



play.' — In the closet scene he reached the acme of his 

 fame. — ' My father,' said he, ' my father ; by Jasus^ no 

 more like my father than I am like Harcourt Lees.' 

 This substitution of poor Lees, the King's friend, for 

 Hercules, set all the audience in a roar. Sir Shawn 

 rapped encore, and amidst laughter, hissing, and 

 uproar, the curtain fell, and the orchestra struck up 

 one of Cooke's overtures, which always commence 

 with a solo on the French horn, carry on with a 

 flourish of trumpets, and end with an Irish jig. 



Tom is now a London performer, and has been 

 much admired as the best representative of a Robber 

 and a Ruffian that ever appeared on or off the English 

 stage. In truth, Tom has not the most mild appear- 

 ance in his face ; he savours much of the robber in the 

 cavern of Gil Bias de Santillane : to him may be applied 

 an epigram — 



Old Orpheus played so well, 



He mov'd Old Nick •, 

 But thou moves by a cursed spell, 



Only thy cursed fiddlestick. 



The entertainment was. The Devil to Pay ; and 

 Miss Foote played Nell in an admirable manner. 

 Of the performers, as Brian says, hy Jasus they are no 

 better than a bundle of sticks in my hedge at Boru 

 Park. A little before the performance. Sir Shawn 

 took his party behind the scenes, where they were 

 received by the stage manager, Cobham, in a most 

 polite manner, and they were all initiated in the cere- 

 monies of the Green Room. 



Brian Boru found in one of the performers a 



