The Letters of "Norah" on Her Tour Through IrelandNorah
History
The Letters of "Norah" on Her Tour Through Ireland
Norah
Ireland -- Description and travel
The owner of Rappa Castle, a landlord against whom nothing in the way of
blame is said, was assuredly of as much interest to us as the relics
which his house possessed. A tall, fine looking, kindly faced man, rosy
with health, courteous and pleasant, came into the room. We told our
errand and the Captain went for the Mias Tighernain and placed it in our
hands. It is evidently only part of the original dish, the socket where
the upper part rested being still there. It is very heavy, formed of
three layers of thin bronze bound at the edge with brass--evidently a
later thought, and done for preservation. There are three bands of
silver across it, which show the remains of rich figuring. There was
originally a setting of three stones, one of which still remains and
looks as if it might be amber. It is as large as a soup plate. Something
is among the layers of metal which rattles when shaken. It is one of the
oldest relics in the country. Whoever made it had no mean skill in the
art of working metals. According to a certain Father Walsh it was used
to wash the saint's hands in at mass. This dish, after lying at the
bottom of Lough Conn for a hundred years, came up to the surface and
revealed itself. It has been used as a revealer of secrets ever since it
came into the hands of the Knox family. We requested afterwards to see
the clock of Moyne Abbey, and were taken by the courteous captain across
other rooms to the flagged kitchen, where the clock ticked as it has
done for three hundred years--or since the Abbey was dismantled, how
long before history hath not recorded. The case is of some dark wood
beautifully carved. I thought it was bog oak; Captain Knox said
mahogany, which would make the case to be much younger than the clock.
The Captain assured us that it was the best time-keeper in the world. It
only requires winding once a month; used to show the day of the month,
but some meddler disarranged that part of the machinery. The dial plate
is of some white metal, brilliant and silvery. Captain Knox said it was
brass, but I have seen things look more brazen that were not so old.
Nothing could exceed the courtesy of Captain Knox. He made some
enquiries about Canada, and deplored the rush of cattle across, which
was injurious to the interests of graziers, of whom he was one. It would
have been discourteous to express the wish that lay in my mind, that
they might come in such numbers as to lower the price of cows and
grazing also till the poor man might be able to have a cow oftener and
milk to his "yellow male" stir-about till it might be not quite so
impossible to replace the cow seized for the rent and the County cess.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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