ON THE MOORS. 1 89 



came on, the storm passed away — ^the peals became 

 fewer and more distant, and in five minutes died in 

 sullen murmurs among the distant hills. 



'' Is not this, indeed, sublimity ? " said my kinsman, 

 as he broke a silence of some minutes. " To convey 

 ideas of the grand and terrible, give me a storm in the 

 mountains, and let it be viewed thus : sheltered by the 

 ivied walls of a ' toppling * ruin, and surrounded by 

 the dwellings of the dead." 



** How comes it," I inquired, " that, contrary to the 

 known attachment of the lower Irish for ancient places 

 of interment, this seems to be neglected and disused ? " 



" You are right," he replied ; " although it was once 

 the only burying-ground to which the inhabitants of 

 this district conveyed the dead for interment, more than 

 two centuries have elapsed since it has been abandoned. 

 There is a curious tradition connected with its desecra- 

 tion which Antony will be too happy in narrating, and 

 as the clouds appear collecting on the hills, I propose 

 that we retreat in good time, for it is rare to find such 

 shelter on the moors as that afforded us by the ruins 

 of Knock-a-thample."* 



Even the sublime and beautiful may be enjoyed to 

 satiety, and we agreed that one thunder-storm is suffi- 

 cient for the day. The game-bags, upon examination, 

 produced twenty brace of grouse and a leash of moun- 

 tain hares. For moderate men we had done enough, 

 and we could dispense with the evening shooting 

 Accordingly, we left our attendants to follow at their 

 leisure, and mounting our Cossack cavalry, set off at 

 a killing pace, " over bank, bush, and scaur," nor drew 



* Anglice, The church of the hill. 



