English under Henry II., when the once highly cultivated soil, and no less cultivated mind, had been converted apparently into physical and mental deserts. But the bright era of Irish history, which commenced at a period of which there are few authentic records, appears to have virtually terminated in the year 815, when the country was subdued by the Danish leader Turgesius; the gleam of national prosperity during the reign of Brien, was as transient as the ray of sunshine, which sometimes bursts momently from the dark horizon, though the day is fast setting in undistinguishable gloom: a succession of such monarchs as Brien, could alone, perhaps, have restored the country to the early illumination reflected on it by the united splendour of its arts and arms. With the recollections, however, of such a reign as was that of this monarch, and of the sanguinary field which, at the age of eighty-eight, closed his glorious career, who can pass through the little village of Clontarf without feelings of interest and respect?

"Long his loss shall Erin weep,
"Ne'er again his likeness see,
"Long her strains in sorrow steep,
"Strains of immortality!"*

The views, both coastwise and inland, as we sweep round the north side of the bay to Howth, are singularly beautiful.

On arriving near Kilbarrack Church, indeed, which stands on the left side of the road, the appearance of the country, constrasted with its richly cultivated surface nearer Dublin, is bare and desolate. We now traverse

* Gray. It is asserted in Bunting's first collection of the Irish Melodies, that it was this battle of Clontarf, and the death of Brien, which gave the sbuject to our elegant poet of the 'Fatal Sisters.' This ode is given in the original Norse, with a literal Latin translation, in Bam, Hist. Orkney Islands, 1808.

the low sandy isthmus by which the Hill of Howth is connected with the main land; but which, from its flat ness, and not having been hitherto discoverable, the promontory has appeared an island of imposing form. Formed entirely of the sands which the tides of successive ages have here collected, the isthmus is sterile to that degree, that no trees of any kind will grow on the original soil; a few patches of potatoes, forced by manuring with sea-weed, are nearly the only signs of cultivation visible upon it. Kilbarrack Church is a not uninteresting ruin; and the adjoining church-yard being still used as a cemetery, one of the graves was prettily decorated, when we visited it, with an ornament of fantastically wreathed osiers, about a yard in height, with numerous shreds of white paper attached: such decorations, we were informed, commonly denote that a young unmarried woman is interred on the spot thus marked for the eye of the passenger.

Southwards, across the bay, independent of the beauty of a vast surface of water constantly enlivened by the appearance of ships under sail, Dublin, and in the distance the Wicklow mountains, are seen from a particular point to great advantage, skirting the horizon with the most picturesque outline imaginable, while villas, interspersed through a rich and wooded country, descend from them to the remote edge of the bay. The northward prospect now begins to embrace a wider range, bounded by the mountains of Mourne, distant 40 Irish miles, and including, near at hand, the rugged rock called Ireland's Eye, and, at a short distance farther, the island of Lambay. Fronting us is the little fishing-town of Howth, consisting of a single street running along the edge of the cliff, and a congregation of huts at its base; and on the right, the white battlements of the venerable mansion of Lord Howth, called Howth Castle, emerge from the dark wood in which it is embosomed: the

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estate over which it appears constructed to reign, includes the whole peninsula of Howth, containing 1500 square acres (Irish,) and, without increase or diminution, has continued for more than six centuries in his lordship's family, having been their residence since the arrival of the first adventurers from England. The name of the earliest of these, of this family, was Sir Armory Tristram," and the adventures recorded of his life, and received as authentic, are more extraordinary than those of any hero in romance. Happening to meet with Sir John de Courcy, who was married to his sister, in the church of St. Mary, at Rouen, he there made a compact with him, that whatever they should win in any realm, either by conquest or otherwise, should be divided between them. On the faith of this agreement, they sought adventures together through Normandy, France, and England, and finally proceeded to Ireland, where the first land they made was Howth. De Courcy was confined by illness to his ship, and the command devolved on Sir Armoricus, who having pushed to shore, was opposed by the Irish at the bridge of Evora, and a fierce encounter ensued, in which seven sons, nephews, and uncles of Sir Armoricus were slain. The Irish were finally defeated, and the land and title of Howth were allotted to him as his share of the conquest. The bridge of Evora, where this battle is said to have been fought, crosses a mountain stream, which falls into the sea on the north side of Howth, nearly opposite the west end of Ireland's Eye. In clearing out the foundation for the new parish church, erected a few years ago near this spot, a quantity of bones were discovered scattered over an extensive space: and, in the neighbourhood, an antique anvil, with bridle bits and other parts of horse harness. It is conjectured, with some probability, that the armourers' forge was erected on this spot, where the knights were accoutred preparatory to the battle. Sir Armoricus,