A Frenchman's Walk in Ireland by The Chevalier De Latocnaye

Notes

Some of these were footnotes in the original; those by the transcriber are indicated by [TN]
1. Mouchards: Informers or provocateurs.[TN]
2. Déroute: A total defeat.[TN]
3. Twiss's book is available on this web site at https://www.exclassics.com/twiss/twissintro.htm. The "very undignified position" was at the bottom of a chamber pot, with the inscription "Let everyone piss on lying Dick Twiss."[TN]
4. At this point are omitted several pages of imperfectly digested history dealing with the Tuatha de Danaan, the Milesians, the Danes, and Brian Boru's victory over the last-mentioned. Following this account are some pages devoted to the language theory of the author's friend, General Vallancey, who had satisfied himself that the language of ancient Carthage and Irish of its period were alike. The author finishes the tale of his reading with the story of St. Patrick and the venomous beasts. This second-hand matter is of no modern interest.—Translator's note.
5. I speak of Jacobite party spirit.—Note by Author.
6. Mon chou, ma poule or mon rat: "My cabbage, my chick or my rat."[TN]
7. A votre aise, &c.:
"When you are tranquil you can laugh
At the torment that love causes:
You will know in your turn
That to love is a cruel martyrdom
When it is not returned.
I seem to hear on this day
For your wicked satyr traits
The god of love, stings, you will say
When you are tranquil.
Fear to attract this lovely god's rage
Love what your heart sighs for
And let his fire inspire you
And I will talk to you in plain words.
When you are tranquil."[TN]
8. Caserne: A military barracks.[TN]
9. Count Rumford is an Englishman and has been employed by the Elector Palatine for the maintenance of good order and the suppression of begging in his territory. He has shown much talent in the execution of these interesting projects, and in the short space of five or six years it seems he has succeeded in making the poor disgusted with a life of mendicancy, and has accustomed them so to work that there is no longer any need for compulsion in bringing them to the industrial establishments he has founded, and where they are clothed and lodged in return for their labour.
The spirit of economy there exhibited had apparently attracted the attention of the Irish Government, who consulted Count Rumford. The advice he gave has already produced happy effects, but, as I believe that begging in Ireland is not so much the product of indolence as of other more serious causes, his efforts will perhaps not succeed so completely as might be desired until these serious causes have been removed. Count Rumford has also invented a method by which the cost of heating is much diminished, and which does away with smoky chimneys. It consists principally in the contraction of the chimney close to the hearth, thereby augmenting the current of air.—Note by Author.
10. At this point are omitted various notes connected with General Vallencey's speculations about the language of Carthage and its affinity to Irish.— Translator's note.
11. Pas de côté: Literally, a sidestep; here, a replacement building beside the original. [TN]
12. Manes: The soul of a dead person. [TN]
13. Gragun re: Probably Gráig an rí "The king's compound." [TN]
14. It is singular that nearly everywhere in Ireland stones on one side of a river are of a different nature from those on the other. Limestone, for example, is found on one side of the Suir and not on the other. The same thing is also to be noticed at Cork and in the case of the rivers Kenmare, Shannon, and Galway.—Note by Author.
15. The Cushin: Actually the Feale, of which the Cashen is a tributary. [TN]
16. Holy Island: Scattery Island, Co. Clare. [TN]
17. Twopence halfpenny or threepence: The author says 'cinq a six sous.' Possibly he meant 'five to six pence.'— Translator's note.
18. Un pot de vin: A sweetener or deontas. Literally, "a jug of wine." [TN]
19. I have been told that a witness in one of such actions, having sworn that he had seen so-and-so at mass, the judge asked him if he knew what mass was. Not being able to answer, the judge said, 'Wretch, how can you swear to what you do not know?' and acquitted the prisoner.—Note by Author.
20. Vraisemblance: "Likelihood."[TN]
21. Capavarna: Probably Kilcornan. [TN]
22. Porte-cochère: A gateway for carriages, leading into a court-yard. [TN]
23. I report this as it was stated to me. The period during which the Spaniards were masters of a part of Ireland is not well defined in history. All places on the western coast, however, from Galway to Bantry, have the tradition of their occupation, and some placenames are Spanish, such as Valentia, &c.—Note by Author.
24. Thirteen families: Sic, actually fourteen. [TN]
25. In the English of the author—Translator's note.
26. Leitrig mountain: Ben Lettery. [TN]
27. Les portes de l'abîme furent ouvertes et qu'elles se fermerent ensuite. "The doors of the abyss were opened and then closed afterwards."[TN]
28. Lough Clean: There is no lake of this size on the Shannon before Lough Allen. Possibly the author means Lough Mcnean, which is nearby but not on the river.[TN]
29. Tailor: In the original there is a play on the word tailleur, which the author prints in italics—Translator's note.
30. Here, in a lengthy note, the author quotes the theories of General Vallencey based on an assumed agreement in form and meaning of words belonging to the Irish and Arabic and Persian languages. The General's speculations are sometimes more curious than valuable, and some of the derivations he gives would not be accepted now as correct. The author's spelling of Irish words is retained. —Translator's note.
31. Champs Elyseés: Heaven, not the Parisian street. [TN]
32. Ce monde, hélas, est bien un autre enfer: "This world, alas, is just another hell." [TN]
33. River Derg: sic, actually the Foyle; the Derg is a small tributary of it. [TN]
34. See the Journals of the Chamber of Commerce on Importation and Exportation, the Reports from the Customs, and the calculations of Arthur Young at the end of his book on Ireland.—Translator's Note.
35. Jozef Boruwlaski's memoirs are available on this site at https://www.exclassics.com/dwarf/dwarfint.htm. [TN]
36. Philibeg: The Anglican bishops wear, as mark of their dignity, a small petticoat which descends only to the knees, and which is like what is worn by the Highlanders of Scotland, but with this exception, that in the case of the bishops, breeches are worn below.—Note by Author.
37. The doctor to whom I spoke about the possibilities of draining the lake, after making many objections, all of which I met, said: 'To tell the truth, it is not in my own interest that I am speaking, for the draining would produce a delightful fever, which would make my fortune.'—Note by Author.
38. On the day I crossed there were four hundred horned cattle taken over to Scotland, and in the six weeks previous there had been transported nearly thirty thousand.—Note by Author.
39. Ye're a canty callant, will ye pree mee mou: "You're a lively lad, will you take my mouth [i.e kiss me.]" [TN]
40. A corporal who wore himself out without success in endeavouring to teach manoeuvres to a professor, became very angry, and, swearing at him, said, 'I would rather teach fifty ragamuffins than one philosopher.'—Note by Author.
41. Mention may be made of the works of several of the professors: Ferguson's Discourse on Roman History; Stuart's Moral Philosophy; Munro's work on Medicine; Black's Chemistry; Blair's Sermons, &c., &c.—Note by Author.
42. My First Volume: Referring to his book entitled Promenade d'un Français dans la Grande Bretagne.—Translator's note.
43. Jock: The hangman.—Translator's Note.
44. The Manchester people make a great many faces if they are asked to show their mills, some of them absolutely refuse. But what are their mills in comparison with those of Lanark!!—Note by Author.
45. Penates: Household gods. [TN]
46. In the month of June 1795 the Court of Session at Edinburgh decided a case of this kind in favour of the plaintiff. A young man, falling in with the wishes of his family, was accustomed to write to a young girl living more than two hundred miles away, and in his letters commonly called her 'my little wife.' She in return called him in her letters 'my little husband.' Correspondence went on for two years, at the end of which time the young man tired of the distant intended whom he had never seen, and fell in love with a girl he saw very frequently at home. The distant young lady soon heard of this and in the end a lawsuit was entered. The Court of Session decided in favour of the young woman, who was then duly recognised as married although by letter only.
Will it be believed that with all the facilities for marrying, Scotland is the country of the world which has the greatest number of old maids? The number of them is truly frightful.—Note by Author.
47. The green ribbon was the distinction adopted by the United Irishmen.—Note by Author.
48. The year before the troubles, in 1794, a Newry merchant sold, to my knowledge, to the value of £80,000 sterling in linen, and made on it a profit of £30,000.—Note by Author.
49. The story, which is given in the original at a length of three pages, is not worth the space occupied.—Translator's Note.
50. Quand je veux rimer à Guillaume, &c.: "When I rhyme about William, I find that he conquered a kingdom which he made obey his laws: but when I rhyme about James, I must dream and twist my fingers, I find he performed his penance." [TN]
51. At this point are omitted several pages of the original, descriptive of Newgrange, with further speculations of the author's friend, General Vallencey, based on the similarity of Irish and Sanskrit.—Translator's Note.
52. Rathlema: Probably Danestown Ringfort.[TN]
53. The Parliament House, Dublin, is a magnificent building, but through a strange remissness in its design a Doric entablature is set on columns and capitals of Corinthian order.—Note by Author.
54. I have been assured that there were five hundred persons in the Foot Company of Solicitors, and there were many who did not enrol themselves. The Horse Company of Barristers or Pleaders and Solicitors appeared much in exercises, and a current pleasantry explained the excellence of their horsemanship by asserting that before their enrolment they knew pretty well how to charge.—Note by Author.
55. The joker also said that it was wise to form a corps of Custom-House Officers as they were adepts in hindering or preventing a landing. Joking aside, the Companies were really very fine, and would have done credit to any army.—Note by Author.
56. The room in which Count Rumford placed his furnace did not allow, perhaps, for a large size. The installation is only a model one.—Note by Author.