32 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 



ticated in the mansion as my cousin's Newfoundland 

 dog. I know the names and " sobriquet " of the estab- 

 lishment ; can discriminate between " Hamish-a-neilan " 

 (James of the island) and Andy-bawn (Fair Andy) ; I 

 hold converse with the cook, and am hand-in-glove 

 with the housemaid. Really, I am delighted with the 

 place, for everything is wild, new, and out-of-the-way ; 

 but I must describe the locale of my kinsman's domicile. 

 At the bottom of a narrow creek you must imagine 

 " a low, snug dwelling, and in good repair." The foam 

 of the Atlantic breaks sometimes against the windows, 

 while a huge cliff, seaward, defends it from the storm, 

 and, on the land side, a sudden hill shelters it from the 

 north wind. Here, when the tempest roars abroad, 

 your friend Laura might venture forth and not endanger 

 a papillotte. The bent* roof is impervious to the rain ; 

 the rooms are neat, well arranged, and comfortable. 

 In the parlour, if the evening be chilly, a turf fire 

 sparkles on the hearth ; and when dried bog-deal is 

 added to the embers, it emits a fragrant and delightful 

 glow, superseding the necessity of candles. The long 

 and measured swell of the Atlantic would almost lull 

 a troubled conscience to repose ; and that rural hum, 

 which attends upon the farmyard, rouses the refreshed 

 sleeper in the morning. In the calm of evening I hear 

 the shrill cry of the sand-lark ; and in the early dawn, 

 the crowing of the cock grouse. I see the salmon 

 fling themselves over the smooth tide, as they hurry from 

 the sea to re-ascend their native river. And while I 

 drink claret that never paid the revenue a farthing, 

 or indulge over that proscribed beverage the produce 

 and the scourge of this wild district I trace from the 

 * The customary thatch in parts of Erris. 



