SOME BOOKS FOR HOLIDAY-MAKERS. 127 
to the fore this summer. We have hardly yet ceased laughing at the school-boy's 
delightful description of “that beautiful country, which is chiefly noted for three 
principal classes of things, which is, namely, its great greenness, its big bogness, 
and its little shamrocks,” and we feel that we should like a little more definite 
information about the inhabitants of that island than the statement that “ The 
hearts of the Irish are all very warm. If you was walking out in the country 
and you met a poor man, you could easy tell whether he was an Irishman, for if 
he was an Irishman he would perhaps be in a pashion and have a pig with him.” 
Holiday Ireland, too, has wrought up one of the morning papers into a state 
of ecstasy, which finds vent rather in glowing prose-poetry than in details likely 
to be of use to the average tourist. Our old friend, “ Adolescens Leo,” Esq., of 
the D. 71, is left many Irish miles behind in passages like this : — “ It is no ex- 
aggeration to say that Cork county and her neighbour Kerry are a microcosm of 
all that is beautiful and grand in natural scenery river scenery, mountain 
scenery, sea scenery. Has not Cork her ‘ Irish Rhine,’ a storied stream ; its 
ruined castles, telling of ‘ unhappy far-off things and battles long ago ? ’ The 
‘ Irish' Rhine ’ land is a slowly-changing kaleidoscopic vision of emerald-green 
retreating meadows, wooded cliffs, and mountain masses.” What a come-down 
from this picturesque word-painting to the humiliating confession couched in 
ordinary language, that “ Not one English tourist in a hundred thousand has ever 
seen or heard of the Irish Rhine ! ” Reviving from his depressing bit of actual 
fact, the prose poet soars upward again and inlorms us that “ The balmy summer 
air of these Irish regions is life itself ; the skies are, in dry weather, like the pearly- 
blue, dreamy sky of Italy.” One can imagine a cynical anti-irishman asserting 
that the whole force of this passage lay in the three words, “in dry weather,” 
and gravely inquiring how many instances of this peculiar meteorological com- 
bination have been known in historical times. But the cynical objector would be 
quite wrong, and the gushing describer, despite his gush, is very nearly right. It is 
a fact acknowledged by all those yvho have been able to compare Irish scenery 
with the very best that the Continent can show, that we far too often hurry 
abroad at great expense in search of beauties inferior to those which may be seen 
in the Sister Island, within a small compass and at a small cost. This is now 
recognised and acted on by a gradually-increasing stream of tourists, who on 
their return fill the papers with praises of the beauty of the country and the 
invariable courtesy of the people. It is quite impossible for those who intend to 
“ try Ireland ” to have a better guide book, as far as practical advice for travel- 
ling goes, than that of Messrs. Ward and Baddeley, although it certainly cannot 
pretend to vie in style with the beautiful passages we have given above. The 
writer of this notice knows Ireland well. He has special acquaintance with two 
large Irish districts, one in the North and another in the South, which he has 
travelled over on foot, on horseback, and by carriage ; and he has been astonished 
by the accuracy, even in the minutest particulars, of the accounts given in the 
present guide-book. He cannot say, however, of this, as has been said by a high 
authority about some of the other books in the “ Thorough Guide ” Series, that 
“ it is not possible to suggest an improvement.” The historical and archxolo- 
gical portion of the book is not on a level with the topographical. There 
are omissions, misprints, and sometimes distinct errors in the historical state- 
ments. The writers, too, have been too prone to give gratuitous hints on 
matters political, a very great mistake in a subject which divides men’s minds so 
sharply as Irish politics. It is clearly not an advantage in a guide-book that it 
should offend either section of those who use it. On the whole the “ Thorough 
Guide ” to Ireland is a work which reflects very great credit on the industry and 
accuracy of its authors ; it is very much the best practical guide for the Irish 
tourist in existence ; and if it were submitted to the revision of some one with 
a competent knowledge oflrish history, and had all allusions showing political bias 
expunged, it would be very difficult to find in it any fault whatever. 
We cannot afford so much space to the other books on our list. The Thorough 
Guiae to Scotland, by the same authors, reaches us in its sixth edition, and is in 
some respects a better book than the companion “ Ireland.” The coloured con- 
tour maps, especially, are not excelled by anything in British cartography and 
give an idea of the relative altitudes of the various localities which it is im- 
possible to obtain in any other way. 
