THE CITY IN THE SEA.

THE sun, on a lovely summer's evening, had scarcely hidden his serene face behind the sombre mountains of Leinster, when the peasantry of Lacken and its neighbourhood began to flock to the wake of Peter Revel, whose corpse was now laid out in his own spacious barn. The 'house of mourning,' though always gloomy, was on this occasion associated with fearful and melancholy ideas; for superstition, ever active, had imparted its terrors to the presence of death. The deceased was the last of his family; for the table on which his body lay had, within the last twelve months, waked his wife and six children.

Lacken, as the name imports, is a piece of ground that gradually descends to the water, formed by the bar of Lough, and lies in that part of the county of Wexford called Bargie, between the little villages of Duncormick and Bannow. Immediately before it stretches out the burrow of Ballyteige, protecting it, as it were, from the waves of St. George's Channel, while the angry waters, as they rush through the bar, keep up a deafening noise, the modulations of which serve as a barometer to the countrypeople for ascertaining the changes in the weather. The scenery here is not unpleasing. The waters within the burrow-or, as they are called, the little sea-have all the appearance of an expanded lake, covering several thousand acres, and abounding with fish and wild fowl. To the south is seen, through the hazy exhalations of the sea, the conspicuous town of Feathard, the tower of Hook, and the Mouth of the Suir; while on the other hand rise up the Saltees, fronting the highly-cultivated lands of Kilmore, on which is reflected the shadow of many a sail, as the vessels, on passing here, are obliged to keep near the shore. The inhabitants are decidedly the happiest in Ireland, and consequently the most moral and independent. Their

language is a mixture of Irish, English, and the dialect spoken in the barony of Forth; and which Valency and others suppose is the ancient British. They have, of course, their superstitions; and that of The City in the Sea' is not the least remarkable.

The wake on this night was well attended. Pipes and tobacco lay in abundance on the table; and bread, cheese, and whisky, were distributed with an unsparing hand. The practise of keening was then unknown in these parts; and the absence of mercenary mourners left the attendants to a more natural expression of their feelings.

The Lard be gud an' marciful to your poor ould sowl, Peter astore,' says an old woman, who sat, with a short black pipe in the side of her mouth, near the head of the corpse, ' for 'twas yourself was the gud warrent to go to wake or birnt when any o' the neighbours went to their long home.'

'Poor man,' said another, 'he's had a sorrowful handful of it this long twelmonth, Katty, hunny'

Faith, Molly, agra, replied Katty, you may say that; for, though the poor and the stranger were ever and always welcome to his corneal, ‡ some evil eye fell upon the Revels, and a cromsmaul in particular on poor Peter.'

,,,

That comes,' said another old woman, of building his house in the path of the " gud people." Fade§ is that you say?' asked an old man.

same purpose.

§ What. tt Woman,

|| I.

¶ Fairies.

'How is that?' enquired Katty.

Why, because,' replied the old woman, it stands where it ought'nt to stand, in the way the gud people travel from the wrath to the " City in the Sea"-that is, Bannow that was.' Hah! hah! hah!' roared out a thoughtless young fellow, named Luke Sparrow, alias the Buck of Duncormick, who sat, with Peggy Roach, on his knee, in the far corner of the barn. Och! musha,' he continued, how ould women's goster sickens me out and out! " City in the Sea!" psha! who knows that?'

Ich knows it, garsoon,' replied an old fisherman, and is'nt it a shame and scandal for a pustughawn like you to be maken a gawky o' himself, and bringing other innocent people into danger with your hah! hah! hah! just as if those oulder and wiser than yourself did'nt know, ay, and were in the "City in the Sea," too? Many and many and many is the time Ich have seen the chimneys, and the tops of the castle buried in the water, as Ich sailed over it; and, troth! there's not a man from Ballyhack to Raslare, would throw out his nets over Bannow.'

Luke, at this, gave another irreverend laugh; and, in the course of argument, denied, in toto, the existence of Sheeoges, or fairies. The old women appeared shocked at his scepticism, and in the hope of reclaiming him from what they apprehended a dangerous error, related many surprising instances of fairy revenge upon those who dared to question their existence or deny their authority. Still the Buck appeared incredulous; and, though numerous persons were mentioned who had been in the City of the Sea,' yet he persisted in saying, to the horror of all the old people present, that there was no such place. The Lard enlighten him,' said Katty, as the Buck and Peggy withdrew from the wake! But

where's the wonder in his not believ ing in Sheeoges, since the brute ate meat of a Friday-on that blessed and holy day, that a dog would hardly touch it?'

This observation was well timed. The people were shocked at Luke's irreverence, but being now reminded that he was a Protestant, they soon comforted themselves by reflecting that his opinions respecting another world were entitled to no respect. The good humour, so lately interrupted, was now restored; hurry-thebrogue commenced; God speed the Plough' was played; and the boys and girls were certainly as happy as the spectators of an Italian Opera at the King's Theatre.

Luke Sparrow was one of the few Protestants in this neighbourhood, and though he occasionally boasted of his loyalty, he took special care that it should not prove offensive, lest his residence might turn out, as he said himself, to be a hornet's nest. He went, therefore, to every place the other boys went, except to chapel; and as he had a good person, and was fond of dressing it out to the best advantage, he acquired the name of the Buck of Duncormick. Luke's education or fortune did not exalt him above the condition of his neighbours; and, though he affected to despise the popular belief in Sheeoges, there was not a man in existence more in dread of their power. Passing a cross-road, at night, he always whistled; and if riding or walking by a wrath or mote, he made the sign of the cross; because if it did no good (said Luke), it did no harm; and, since the Papists believed in it, perhaps it might be serviceable to a Protestant.

The Buck being one of the volunteers of this period, set off, in his regimentals, the morning after the wake, to attend parade at Taghmon; and, as he was one of the cleanest and best-mounted of the troop, the commander chose him to carry a dispatch to Duncannon. Luke was vain of the appointment; and, as he cantered on his way over Goff's

Bridge, the discordant gratings of his saddle, boots, sword, &c. was the most delicious music to his ears. As he thought of his own importance, he stood more erect in his stirrups; and though the idle villagers laughed at him as he passed, he did not allow himself to suffer any diminution of dignity, but attributed their conduct to the envy little minds always feel for those above them.

At rather an early hour in the evening he arrived at Duncannon; and, having delivered his dispatch to the proper authority, he called on a cousin who belonged to the garrison, and proceeded with him to view the fort. Luke, however, loved whisky better than forty-pounders; and knew more of jugs, quarts, and glasses, than of bastions and parapets; and accordingly took an early opportunity of inviting his guide to Jaek Rea's alehouse.. The punch was excellent; and naggin followed naggin, until the roll of the drum warned the Buck's cousin that it was time to return to the garrison. Luke, who wished him to wait for another jug, hade him farewell with some reluctance; and then, mounting his horse, he quitted the town.. There were two roads by which he might return home, but that over the Scar of Barristown was by many miles the shorter. Luke cast his eye up to the moon, which flung his shadow before him, not with the poetical intention of returning thanks for its silvery light,' but for the more useful purpose of ascertaining its position. He was not entirely ignorant of nautical affairs; and when he saw in what part of the heavens the luminary of night was situated, he said to himself, It is now over the gable-end of my father's barn, and of course the tide is out I'll therefore cross the Scar, and call to see Peggy Roach before I go home."

With this resolution he turned his horse to the right, and held his course through Tintern, which village he passed just as Mr. Colclough's abbey clock struck eleven. Apprized of the lateness of the hour, the Buck stuck the spurs into the sides of his horse, and proceeded at nearly a full gallop. In a short time the screech of the

curlew, and the cry of the plover, assured him that he was near the Scar; and in a few minutes after the broad expanse of strand and water shone as white as silver beneath the beams of a declining moon. This sight relieved Luke from the few apprehensions of Sheeoges which now and again crossed his mind as he passed by lonesome places; and as he descended the steep hill which leads immediately to the Scar, he commenced whistling God speed the Plough.' Whistle and be sure of the Fairies,' was an observation he had often heard; and, thinking that he had done wrong, he looked about him to see if his imprudence had subjected him to any ill consequence. On the left side he saw nothing but the furze ditch; but, when he turned to the right, he was not a little startled by the presence of a horseman alongside of him. He thought he knew the rider; but no, it could not be him. No later than last night he saw the corpse of Peter Revel laid out in his own barn; and yet the person beside him wore the clothes and rode the same horse as his deceased neighbour! His fetch,' thought Luke. No, he is dead, and there could be no 'fetch;' it therefore must be his ghost. Horrible apprehension! He would have crossed himself, were he not prevented by the dread of ridicule; for, if the stranger turned out after all to be a mere man, the laugh of the parish would be heard at the Buck's expense. After snatching a few hasty glances at his strange companion, Luke ventured to break silence; but he had not uttered the first word of the usual salutation, God save you,' when a flash of lightning prevented his finishing it; and, ere he could proceed, the apparition asked, 'Fadie* art thou goin?'

the Buck, to his great terror and amazement, found himself sinking into the earth, and thought he heard a noise over his head, as if the waves were closing above. But there was no time for reflection, one wonder was so quickly succeeded by another; and at the moment when Luke thought he was lost for ever, he found himself agreeably riding along a delightful road, apparently on a fine summer's day, though he could nowhere see the sun. In about half an hour, himself and companion entered an antiquated town, such as Luke never saw before; nor could he suppress a smile at the singular dresses of the people, as they passed in pursuit of either business or pleasure. A moment after, they alighted before a spacious mansion; and the Buck was welcomed by troops of ladies and gentlemen-all very strangely dressed, to be sure, but extremely polite. Their attentions were so flattering, and their manners so pleasing, that Luke forgot his situation, and entered without reluctance into the gaieties of the place. The viands that were set before him had a most delicious taste, and the fruits and flowers a bewildering perfume; but, above all, the whisky exceeded any thing that ever entered the Buck's lips before or since. It was so rich and mellow that it tasted like honey; and so strong, that it warmed like love. The very remembrance of it, ever afterwards, was sufficient to throw Luke into ecstacies; and he would drink it in imagination by smacking his lips, 'and showing by other indications the pleasure it gave him.

The tippler dreads nothing so much as old whisky, because it imperceptibly incapacitates him for protracted enjoyment; and the Buck was, in the bacchanalian phrase, soon 'done up' by the good spirits. He began to talk thick and loud, laughed immoderately, and at length tumbled under the table; from which position he was carried to a bed-chamber, all the time singing out in a most discordant key, The day we crossed the Water,' &c. &c.

When he awoke, he found himself lying on a bare rock, close to the tower of Hook, the spray dashing over him; and, without waiting to

recall the past, he made all possible haste from his disagreeable situation. When fairly on the dry strand, his tenacious memory began to embody the events of his late adventure; and, though his senses were a little bewildered, he did not forget his horse; which not finding, as usual, between his legs, he proceeded to walk, in his heavy cavalry boots, for his father's house at Duncormick. As he proceeded along the road, he was surprised to see no sign of any men stirring; while such women and children as he saw precipitately fled from his sight in terror and amazement: and, what was still more wonderful, he knew none of the females he met, though now within two miles of his native village. His surprise was soon increased when he heard the shout of war; and almost the next instant beheld the confused approach of a retreating army. They wore red coats, however; and this was a most cheering circumstance, as the Buck recollected with satisfaction that he had the honour to be a loyalist. With a bold front, therefore, he walked forward; and was not a little chagrined to find his fellow-soldiers staring at him, and laughing at each other. Who is he?" asked one.

'Cut him down!' cried another. Let the old rascal live!' exclaimed a third.

Old!' said Luke, instinctively putting his hand up to his chin, which he intended to stroke with complacency, when a wild cry of horror proclaimed his anguish at finding twelve inches of beard hanging down upon his breast. The laugh of the soldiers at Luke's strange conduct was here interrupted by news from the rear; and they proceeded in great haste, making a cut of their swords at the poor Buck as they passed. These, however, he avoided; and, when the road was cleared, he proceeded towards Duncormick; but had not gone far, when a score pikes were presented at him. 'An Orangeman!' they exclaimed; 'pike him! run him through, the Protestant rascal! don't you see his regimentals?' and they were about putting their threat into execution, when Luke espied a school-fellow anong his assailants, notwithstanding that he looked nearly twenty years older than when he last