19S THE IMPROVED ART OF FARRIERY. 



though the circumstance of the tete-a-tete shows that 

 on particular occasions something more must have heen 

 added to it. A faculty like this would in some hands 

 have made a fortune, and I understand that great offers 

 were made to him for the exercise of his art abroad. 

 But hunting was his passion. He lived at home in the 

 style most agreeable to his disposition, and nothing 

 could induce him to quit Duhallow and the fox- 

 hounds." 



The author of " Fairy Legends, and Traditions 

 of Ireland," thus describes his abilities and appear- 

 ance : — 



*' He was an awkward ignorant rustic of the lowest 

 class, of the name of Sullivan, but better known by the 

 appellation of the ' Whisperer.' His occupation was 

 horse-breaking. 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 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 con- 

 trol extended, the boast of vinij vidi, vici, was more 

 justly claimed by Sullivan than by Caesar himself. 



" How his art was acquired, and in what it consisted, 

 is likely to be for ever unknown, as he has lately left 

 the world (about 1810), without divulging it. His 

 son, who follows the same trade, possesses but a small 

 portion of the art, having either never learned the 

 true secret or being incapable of putting it into prac- 

 tice. The wonder of his skill consisted in the celerity 

 of the operation, which was performed in private with- 

 out any apparent means of coercion. Every descrip-- 

 tion of horse, or even mule, whether previously broken 



