Wilmot-Buxton, E. M.
— BRITAIN LONG AGO: Stories from Old English and Celtic Sources. (Harrap: Told through the Ages series).
— OLD CELTIC TALES. Pp. 128, large clear type. (Harrap). 6d. 1910.
One of Harrap’s “All-Time Tales,” a series of supplementary readers for young children. The first tale is “The Children of Lir,” told in three-and-a-half pages. The rest are from the Mabinogion and other Welsh sources. Six or seven moderately good full page ill. (one col.). Neat cover. Remarkably cheap.
WINGFIELD, Hon. Lewis Strange. B. 1842. Son of 6th Lord Powerscourt. Ed. Eton and Bonn. Lived a very strange life, trying as experiments various rôles—actor, nigger minstrel, attendant in a mad-house, traveller in Algeria and China, painter, &c., &c. Wrote many novels and books of travel. D. 1891.
— MY LORDS OF STROGUE. Three Vols. (Bentley). 1879.
“A Chronicle of Ireland from the Convention to the Union.” History and romance curiously intermingled, e.g., Robert Emmet’s Insurrection is purposely ante-dated by two years and a half. “The prominence given to such unpleasant personages as Mrs. Gillin makes the book unsuitable at least for the lending libraries of convents.”—(I.M.). The Author is fair-minded and not anti-national.
WOODS, Margaret L. B. Rugby, 1856. Dau. of late Dr. Bradley, Dean of Westminster. Ed. at home and at Leamington. Lives in London. Author of about a dozen volumes—novels, poems, and plays.
— ESTHER VANHOMRIGH. Pp. 347. (Murray). 1891.
A clever and interesting psychological study of the relations between Swift and the two Esthers, Johnson and Vanhomrigh, the latter being the chief centre of interest. The scene: partly in Ireland, partly in England. The political events and questions of the time are scarcely touched upon, but the atmosphere, language, and costume of the time have evidently been carefully studied, and are vividly reproduced. Swift’s relations to these two women are represented in a convincing and sympathetic manner. There is nothing objectionable in the tone of the book.
— THE KING’S REVOKE. Pp. 334. (Smith, Elder). 6s. (N.Y.: Dutton). 1.50. Second impression. 1905.
The strange adventures of Patrick Dillon, an officer in the Spanish army, in the course of his attempt to set free Ferdinand VII. of Spain, imprisoned in France by Napoleon I. Its pictures of Catholic life in Spain are not always flattering, though doubtless not intentionally offensive.
[WRIGHT, E. H.].
— ANDRÉ BESNARD. (Cork). 1889.
A tale of Old Cork, giving good descriptions of its people, buildings, &c. Period: that preceding the times of the Volunteers. A tale of courtship and adventure. One of the chief characters is Paul Jones, the celebrated American admiral. Published under pen-name “G. O’C.”
WRIGHT, John, A.M.
— THE LAST OF THE CORBES: or, The MacMahon’s Country. Pp. 342. (Macrone). 1835.
Described on title-p. as “a legend connected with Irish history in 1641.” A plain tale, devoid of description, excitement, and historical “atmosphere,” chiefly concerned with a family named Willoughby. The writer is anti-Puritan but not pro-Irish. He mentions the deed of the traitor O’Connolly with approval, and dwells much on the excesses of the insurgents. Heber Macmahon (afterwards Bishop of Clogher), Sir Phelim O’Neill, and Roger Moore are introduced into the story. The writer was rector of Killeevan, Co. Monaghan.
WRIGHT, R. H.
— A PLAIN MAN’S TALE. Pp. 192. (Belfast: McCaw, Stevenson & Orr). 1904.
Adventures of a young Yorkshireman who, about the ’98 period, sails for Ireland and lands at Island Magee, in Antrim. Exciting episodes—love-making, smuggling, &c. Not concerned with the rising. For boys.
— THE SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF MY FRIEND PATRICK DEMPSEY. (Sealy, Bryers). 6d. 1910.
WYNDHAM, Eleanor.
— THE WINE IN THE CUP. Pp. 380. (Werner Laurie). 6s. 1909.
Scene laid in Rathlin Island, but the book cannot be said to depict the life of the place with fidelity to real conditions. By same Author: The Lily and the Devil, 1908.
WYNNE, Florence.
— THE KING’S COMING. Pp. 489. (Skeffington). 6s. 1904.
The king is “Edward VII. of England and I. of Ireland” (sic). Nearly half the book is composed of minute descriptions of his reception in various parts of Ireland. The rest is chiefly made up of long discussions (mostly by the hero and heroine) on religion, divorce, loyalty, Irish history, the position of the Church of Ireland, and landlords. The Author seems to be strongly “loyal,” a High-Church member of the C. of I., an ardent Home-Ruler, and a Gaelic enthusiast. But no bias is displayed against any class or creed, though the Author does not seem partial to the landlord class, unpleasant specimens of whom are introduced. Written with obvious sincerity and earnestness.
“WYNNE, May”; Miss N. W. Knowles. Writes much for magazines, and has published some twenty books. Has much sympathy with Ireland and the Irish. Resides in Kent.
— LET ERIN REMEMBER. Pp. 312. (Greening). 6s. 1908.
A sensational romance of the Norman invasion of Ireland, very similar in kind to the Author’s For Church and Chieftain, q.v. The Irish are depicted as a wild, passionate people, torn by murderous feuds, led by selfish, unscrupulous chieftains. The Normans, who appear in the story, Strongbow in particular, are represented as gentle and courteous knights.
— FOR CHURCH AND CHIEFTAIN. Pp. 314. (Mills & Boon). 6s. 1909.
A romance of the thrilling and popular type. Full of wonderful coincidences and the still more wonderful escapes of the heroes from the clutches of their enemies. The story is little concerned with historical events and persons. The Earl of Desmond, Archbishop O’Hurley, Dowdall, and Zouch are introduced occasionally. The tone is healthy, the standpoint Irish and Catholic.
— FOR CHARLES THE ROVER. Pp. 324. (Greening). 6s. (N.Y.: Fenno). 1.50. Third ed., 1909.
Scene: Cork city, and the neighbourhood of Kenmare. Adventures of Hugh Graham, a Scotchman, in recruiting for the Irish Brigade in company with Morty Oge O’Sullivan, a gay, reckless, debonnair type of Irish chieftain. On the other side are the brainless Whig fop, Sir Henry Morton, and O’Callaghan, a spy in King George’s pay. The unfortunate love-story of O’Callaghan’s beautiful sister and the happier love of the sister of Morty are interwoven with the narrative. The Author’s sympathies are Irish and Jacobite.
WYNNE, George Robert, D.D. Archdeacon of Aghadoe, Rector of St. Michael’s, Limerick, and Canon of St. Patrick’s, Dublin. Author of a number of religious works: The Light of the City, Spiritual Life in its Advancing Stages, &c.
— NOT PEACE BUT A SWORD. Pp. 190. (R.T.S.). n.d. (1897).
Relates how Miss Sybil Marchant, a young English lady, succeeded in converting to Protestantism some members of a poor family of Joyces in Connemara. Is concerned chiefly with the trials of the new converts at the hands of friends and the clergy. Tone not bitter towards Catholicism, which however, is regarded from the Low Church, strongly Protestant, standpoint. The story is pleasantly told.
— BALLINVALLEY; or, A Hundred Years Ago. Pp. 244. (S.P.C.K.). 2s. 6d. Two illustr. by J. Nash. 1898.
Scene: Wicklow, whose scenery is well described. Rebellion seen from Protestant and loyalist standpoint. Rebels appear as recklessly brave savages. Battles of New Ross and Hacketstown described. Characters well brought out. Some aspects of the life of the times described, notably stage-coach travelling and illicit distilling. Brogue not well reproduced. Based, says the Pref., chiefly on Lecky, but also on Maxwell, Musgrave, and Hay. There is a good deal about gold-mining in Co. Wicklow.
YEATS, William Butler. B. 1865, at Sandymount, Co. Dublin. Son of J. B. Yeats, R.H.A., a distinguished Irish artist. Ed. Godolphin School, Hammersmith, and Erasmus Smith School, Dublin. Went to London in 1888, and there, in 1889, publ. his first volume of verse. Since then many others have appeared, and he is now known as one of the foremost poets of the day, perhaps the only Irish poet whose name is familiar to students of European literature outside of Ireland, and it is true to say with Mrs. Hinkson in her Reminiscences, “All the world that cares about literature knows of his work to-day.” He was for a number of years actively interested in spiritism and magic, and there is more of this than of genuine folk-lore in his writings. What there is of folklore in them seems to have been gleaned during visits to his mother’s people in Sligo. His prose is that of a poet full of changing colour and strange rhythm and vague suggestion.
— FAIRY AND FOLK-TALES OF THE IRISH PEASANTRY. Pp. 326. (W. Scott). 3s. 6d. and 1s. [1888]; often republ.
Introd. and notes by Ed. The Tales, sixty-four in number, are selected from previously published collections (Croker, Lover, Kennedy, Wilde, &c.), including several examples of poetry about the fairies. They are classed under these heads:—The Trooping Fairies, The Solitary Fairies, Ghosts, Witches, Tir na-n-óg, Saints and Priests, The Devil, Giants, &c. Each class is introduced by some general remarks. There is nothing objectionable but it is hardly a book for children. The weird and grotesque element largely predominates.
— IRISH FAIRY AND FOLK-TALES. Twelve full page illustr. by James Torrance. (W. Scott). 3s. 6d.
— JOHN SHERMAN, and DHOYA. Pp. 195. (Fisher Unwin). 1891.
John Sherman is not wild and fantastic like The Secret Rose, &c., but a pleasant narrative dealing with life in Ballah (Sligo), the scene at times shifting to London. The descriptions both of scenery and character are full of quaint little touches of very subtle observation. The style is remarkable for a dainty simplicity, lit up now and then by a striking thought or a brilliant aphorism. Dhoya (last 25 pp.) is a wild Celtic phantasy.—(I.M.). Published under the pen-name of “Ganconagh.”
A dainty little volume, very popular with children. None of the stories included in it are to be found in the same Author’s Irish Fairy and Folk-tales.—(W. Scott).
— THE SECRET ROSE: Irish Folk-lore. Illustr. by J. B. Yeats. Pp. 265. (Maunsel). 3s. 1898. (N.Y.: Dodd & Mead). 2.00.
Wild, formless tales, altogether from the land of dreams, told with the Author’s accustomed magic of word and expression, but to the ordinary reader well-nigh meaningless. In one of these tales some monks solemnly crucify a wandering gleeman because he had dared complain of the filthy food and lodging which they had given him. This tale may fairly be taken as typical of much that is in the book.
— THE CELTIC TWILIGHT. Pp. 235. (A. H. Bullen). 3s. [1893]. New ed., enlarged, 1902. (N.Y.: Macmillan). 1.50.
Disconnected fragments of dim beliefs in a supernatural world of fairies, ghosts, and devils, still surviving among the peasantry. Told in a style often beautiful, but vague and elusive, by a latter-day “pagan,” who would fain share these beliefs himself. The talk of half-crazy peasants, the Author tells us, is set down as he heard it. To the ordinary reader the book cannot but seem full of puerilities. The peasants of whom the Author speaks are chiefly those of North-Eastern Sligo.
The first ed., 1897, had the general title The Secret Rose, q.v. In the present volume the revised ed., which appeared in Mr. Yeats’s collected works, 1908, has been followed.
YOUNG, Ella. B. 1867, at Fenagh, Co. Antrim. Is a graduate of the Royal, now the National, University. Is chiefly interested in the old tales of the Irish MS. collections and in folk-lore gathered directly from the people. Has published a volume of poems and many articles and tales in the Manchester Guardian, The Irish Review, Irish Year Book, &c., and in American and New Zealand periodicals. Her writings are full of the influence of the Celtic Revival, in which movement she numbers many friends.
— THE COMING OF LUGH. (Maunsel). 6d. net. 1909.
“A Celtic Wonder-tale Retold” for the young. A dainty little volume in which is prettily told the story of Lugh Lamh Fada’s sojourn in Tir-na-nOg and his return to Erin with the Sword of Light to drive out the Fomorians. The illustrations by Madame Gonne-MacBride are very well done.—(Press Notice).
— CELTIC WONDER TALES. Pp. 202. (Maunsel). 3s. 6d. Illustr. by Maud Gonne. 1910.
Tales of the ancient days of De Danaan gods and heroes—of Angus and Midyir and Lugh and the Gobhaun Saor. Told in rhythmic and musical language and with much beauty of expression, but most of the tales are altered quite out of their antique and primitive form by a strong flavour of modern mysticism and symbolism of the school of Yeats and A. E. “Conary Mor,” the finest (we think) of the tales, is perhaps freest from this. The first two or three are most influenced by it. Tales like “A Good Action,” “The Sheepskin,” strike a different and, as it seems to us, a discordant note, viz., broadly comical episodes, in which the actors are gods. Includes The Children of Lir and the Children of Turann (under title “The Eric Fine of Lugh”), and the Coming of Lugh. Original and artistic Celtic cover design, head-pieces, and tail-pieces. Four coloured illustr. The first two are mystic and symbolic. Most Catholics would consider them very much out of place here. The book is beautifully produced.