Ball — On the Discovery of a Diamond in Ireland. 333 



resident there by a little girl who said she had picked it up in the 

 bed of the brook. The bearer was rewarded with sixpence by the 

 lady, who had been in the habit of collecting pebbles, &c, from 

 the rivulet. This rough diamond was afterwards submitted by 

 the lady to Mr. Mackay, an eminent jeweller of Dublin, who 

 pronounced it to be a diamond ; and not long after the opinion 

 of the late Mr. Rundell of Ludgate Hill was obtained, who valued 

 it as a diamond worth twenty guineas in its then rough attire. 

 On ascertaining this the lady issued a notice desiring to see the 

 girl again, but she never afterwards made her appearance, perhaps 

 fearful to lose the sixpence, for it appears that even this remunera- 

 tion was only granted conditionally. We received our information 

 in person from the Rev. Dr. Robinson, of the Royal Observatory 

 at Armagh, a gentleman of high scientific attainments, who had 

 the gem in his possession, and was well qualified to judge." 



Before meeting with this passage I was told by Lord James 

 Butler that the diamond was still in the family of Sir Victor 

 Brooke, to whom I accordingly wrote, and he kindly favoured me 

 with the following reply, which differs from Murray's account 

 only in so far as regards immaterial points, such as the names of 

 the jewellers who handled the stone. But in order that the 

 evidence should carry conviction as to the original matrix of the 

 diamond having been in the rocks of the neighbourhood, further 

 proof as to the actual position and circumstances with which it was 

 found seems desirable. I am led to make this remark since I have 

 twice seen specimens of fossil bones obtained from fishermen's 

 houses in Ireland, which were said to have been dragged up in the 

 nets, but which, if they had not first been dropped from vessels 

 into the sea, were, probably, brought from far distant localities by 

 some travelled friends of the fishermen. 



Sir Victor Brooke's letter is as follows : — " The diamond was 

 found in the year 1816 in the Colebrooke river (which takes its 

 rise in the mountains between Monaghan and Fermanagh,- and 

 flows into upper Lough Erne). It was brought to my, grand- 

 mother, Lady Brooke, by a little girl w 7 ho had been searching for 

 pearls. Lady Brooke placed it in her inkstand, where my father 

 who had just returned from Brazil, observed it by chance. He 

 was struck with it, and said he suspected it to be a diamond, and 

 took it up to West, the jeweller, in Dublin. West pronounced it 



