first place, the monastery of Iona, the only other religious house to which it could be referred, is invariably called Insula Columbæ, or I-Columbkille, in all ancient documents, and it would be against all probability that it should bear a different appellation on its seal. In the second place, the name of the patron saint of Iona is never written COLMOC, which is an Irish diminutive form of the name COLUM, and which, as in the Latin, means a dove. But this name COLMOC was applied by the ancient Irish and Scotch indifferently to persons bearing the name of COLMAN, both being but synonymous and convertible diminutives of the name Colum-and hence it would follow that this seal must have belonged to some monastery which was dedicated not to St Columb, but to St Colman or Colmoc. It may however be objected that the island called Inch-Colm was dedicated to the celebrated apostle of Scotland, St Columbkille; and it is true that Colgan, on the authority of Fordun, does place it among the list of his foundations. But Fordun is a weak authority to rely on in such matters; and from the greater contiguity of this island to Lindesfarn, of which the Irish St Colman was the third bishop, it would seem more rational to attribute the origin of its name to him than to the saint of Iona. In either case, however, the seal is one of great interest to Scottish topography and Irish history. STREET CIGAR-SMOKERS. P. READER, are you given to cigar-smoking? The reason we put the question is, that we should not like to offend you by any thing you might find in our pages indicating a contempt on our part for this silly, and, as we think, vulgar practice. If you be, then, pass over this short article, or as our old Irish schoolmaster used to tell us when we came to a passage which we could not construe, nor he neither, "skip and go on." But we feel tolerably certain you are not a smoker, or at least a cigar-smoker or exhibiting-street-performer, for we are satisfied that among the lovers of this now fashionable amusement we can count but few as supporters of our little work, or of any other of a mental or literary character-that renowned periodical called Paddy Kelly's Budget, if it be still in existence, excepted. It is the practice of unidea'd men with unidea'd faces, who puff, not whistle-as the latter is no longer a fashionable amusement as they go, for want of thought, and as they think to make them look manly and genteel! Well, heaven help their little wit! You think, reader, perhaps, as we ourselves were till lately foolish enough to suppose, that there must be a pleasure in this practice on its own account, like that which madmen feel in being insane. But no such thing. We have discovered that it is anything but an agreeable pastime, and that it is indulged in solely from the love of distinction, which is one of the peculiar characteristics of the human race, and which is so strong in these cigar-smokers, that they actually, in the spirit of martyrs, surrender both their minds, such as they are, and their bodies also, to its influence. Such a desire is not only natural to us, but praiseworthy: it is only the choice of means of gratifying it that is unworthy and even contemptible. It will bear no comparison in point of intellectuality with that of the fashionable dandies of our youthful days, who used to promenade the streets and public places, playing quizzes, that is, flat circular pieces of boxwood suspended on a string by a kind of pulley, and which they kept in a sort of perpetual motion with one or both hands, and sometimes even (great performers) with their mouths; their arms see-sawing up and down, and their heads shaking like those of the Chinese mandarins in the tea shops. This, though perhaps a little grotesque, was a comical mode of attracting notice and obtaining distinction. It was a healthy folly too, and required some human intellect to practise it adroitly. A monkey or a dog, both of whom we have seen expert smokers, could not, we are persuaded, be taught this; it would be beyond their intelligence; and it had a touch of the odd, the gay, and the ridiculous about it, that seemed to harmonize naturally with our national character-and we are not ashamed to confess it, we were ourselves great quizzers in our youth. But the cigar-smoking folly—it is a dull, lifeless, stupid, silent, moping mania, wholly unbecoming an Irishman, and inconsistent with the spirit, life, and animation that should be characteristic of youth. Old as we are, we think of taking to quizzing again, but we shall never fall into such a solemn absurdity as smoking for applause. It would not suit our temperament. But we have said that we had made the discovery that the practice of cigar-smoking is any thing but a pleasant one in itself, and that it is indulged in solely from ambitious motives, and an amiable love of applause. Yes, reader, and we shall induct you into our knowledge of the matter, by a true and faithful narrative of the incident which enabled us to ascertain the fact. We were lately coming along that favourite lounge of the cigar-smokers, Sackville Street, when, arriving near Mitchell's, two young well-dressed, moustached, and imperialled dandies, stept out from that intellectual emporium, each with a Havannah in his mouth, his hands in his "Dorsay" pockets, and looking as grave as possible, evidently impressed with the pleasing idea that they were the admiration and envy of all passers. They proceeded before us in solemn slinge in the direction of the Rotunda, we following in their wake, observant yet not observed; and before they reached Earl Street, they were met by a mutual friend, with whom they linked, putting him between them, to allow them the greater facility to spit out, when the following colloquy ensued:Friend. Well, Tom, how goes the world with you? and, Dick, my boy, how is every bit of you? Tom and Dick. PuffPuffFriend. Are you long in town-eh? Tom and Dick. PuffPuff Well. No. Puff Friend. And you too, Dick? Dick. Puff Ees. (The imperfect vocable being squeezed out through his teeth at the left corner of his mouth.) Friend. And do you find it agree with you, Tom—is it pleasant? Tom here, after a few puffs, slowly draws one hand out of his pocket, and taking the cigar out of his mouth, spits out, draws his breath, and after a minute replies: "No, blast it; it always makes me sick." He then restores the cigar to his mouth and his hand to his pocket, while his friend puts a similar interrogatory to Dick. "And does it always make you sick too?" Here Dick, having in like manner indulged in a few puffs, takes the cigar out of his mouth, spits out at the other side, and drawing breath and looking very pale, answers : "Infernally!" Friend. In the name of heaven, then, what do you both smoke for? This, as one would have supposed, not an unnatural query, produced a simultaneous stare of astonishment, mingled with contempt, from both the smokers, as much as to say, "What an ass you must be!" and Dick, slowly removing his cigar once more, and spitting out, answers, 66 Why, how the devil can you ask such a stupid question— what do you suppose?" Friend. Suppose! why hang me if I can guess. Here Tom took hold of his Havannah, and after spitting out on a lady who was passing-but this was only an accidentreplied for himself and fellow puffer-But let us pause a moment. Guess, reader, what it was. Do you give it up? Well, then, here it is, NOT A FABLE.-A boy three years of age was asked who made him? artlessly replied “ God made me a little baby, so high, and I With his little hand and foot upon the floor, he grew the rest."—Mirror. PUBLIC. We have a reading, a talking, and a writing public. When shall we have a thinking public? The mind is a field, in which, so sure as man sows not wheat, so sure will the devil be to sow tares.-Bentham. THE HERRING. CLUPEA HARENGUS. Of all the branches of study into which natural history has been divided, the most interesting, from its extensiveness, its variety, and the almost insurmountable difficulties which it presents to the student, is Ichthyology. To acquire a thorough knowledge of zoology requires much labour, study, travel, and considerable risk; in like manner with ornithology, in the prosecution of which the difficulties are greater, from the mixture of elements; but still the inhabitants of the air have thus much in common with us, that they live in the same atmospheric medium, derive their sustenance from the same earth, and although the difficulties of following their motions, and observing (unseen by them) their habits and natures, are considerable, yet still, thanks to the extension of science, they have not proved unconquerable, and the telescope, in that form called the ornithoscope, has enabled man to acquire a large store of information on this interesting subject. But with ichthyology how widely different! Here the preliminary obstacle which presents itself is an element fatal to the existence of man within it, and out of which the creatures with whose nature he would fain be acquainted cannot exist. His very powers of observation are thus rendered useless, except in a very limited degree. They are bounded by a glass vase, or a small clear pond at the utmost, and confined to a few specimens of the smaller fishes, and even then it is doubtful whether circumstances may not have altered their really natural habits. Yet above these obstacles the mind of man has risen, and by the union of analogy with laborious and constant observation, he has succeeded in classing a large amount of the tenants of the mighty deep. But before he can ascertain what proportion, or write the history of any one of them fully, he must discover some substitute for gills which will enable him to extract the necessary air for his existence from the water, and thus enable him to search the depths of ocean, and seek its inhabitants in their haunts. That such may yet be discovered by the ingenuity of man, let no one deem impossible. Amongst the fishes hitherto discovered and classed, the herring (Clupea harengus) is one of the most universally known, most generally useful, and one of the greatest boons of an all-bounteous Providence to the inhabitants of these countries. Abundance, the universal producer of contempt, has caused this beautiful creature to be despised; but to the naturalist's eye few creatures are possessed of greater charms. When first taken out of the water, it is of a dark-bluish and green colour on the back, lightening down the sides to a silvery blue, which shades to white on the belly. The scales have a clear lustrous golden colour, which changes in various shades of light after the manner of mother-of-pearl; they lie over one another in regular lines, with the convex edges pointing towards the tail. The termination of the body is remarkable for the beautiful dark-green colour which it exhibits when held before the light. The fins are seven in number-one dorsal, of eighteen or nineteen rays; two ventral, of nine rays each; one anal, of seventeen rays; two pectoral, of eighteen or nineteen rays each; and the caudal, or tail fin, of eighteen or nineteen rays. The eyes are placed in the middle of the sides of the head; the iris is of a silvery white colour, and the pupil black. The spine consists of fifty-six vertebræ. The ribs are thirty-five or six in number on each side, and there are several minute bones below the ribs, which terminate in soft elastic muscles at the anal fin, and serve to give it strength and elasticity. Fiftytwo bones compose the head. The bronchiæ or gills are four on each side, each gill being supported by an arched cartilage; and there are two imperfect gills without the arch, which join the gill lid, and appear to regulate its motions. The convex side of the gills is furnished with fringed fleshy fibres, of a strong red colour when the fish is healthy; the concave side, which is next the mouth, is furnished with long serrated spines. The heart is placed in a cavity near the gills, above the stomach; it is three sided, and consists of a single auricle and ventricle. The œsophagus, or gullet, is remarkably short in proportion to the size of the fish; the stomach is thin, membranous, and capable of great distension. The gut is of uniform size throughout. The gall bladder is small, and of a dark-green colour; the liquid is of a light claret hue, having a sweetish pungent taste. The air bag, or vesica natatoria, is of a silvery white colour, round, of nearly the length of the stomach, and pointed and narrow at both ends; it is connected with the funnel-shaped posterior part of the stomach by a duct. The use of the vesica natatoria, or, as it is commonly called, the swim, is to enable the fish, by inflating or expelling the air from it, to rise or sink, for if the air-bag of a living fish be pierced, the creature sinks at once to the bottom. The under jaw of the herring projects beyond the upper. The form and consistency of its nose proves its use for the purpose of feeling, in the absence of the cirri or feelers possessed by other fishes. The skin not being provided with the corpns papilla, and being besides covered with scales, it is supposed that the sensation of touch is either very limited or wholly wanting. The herring is provided with two nostrils; and from the perfection of the olfactory organ, it is presumed that its sense of smell is very acute. It has no external organs of hearing but a fringed orifice below the eye on the inner side of that part of the head which covers the gills. Fishermen affirm that their sense of hearing is very acute, and state instances of their immediately ceasing the peculiar pattering noise which they are accustomed to make on calm evenings, if a loud sound is made on any part of the interior of the boat. The Swedes attribute the departure of the herrings from the neighbourhood of Gothenburg to the frequent firing of the British ships of war which were stationed there for convoys; and so great is the influence which fishermen have been accustomed to attribute to sound, that we are told in Chambers's Picture of Scotland that the bell of St Monance in Fife, which was suspended from a tree in the churchyard, was removed every year during the herring season, lest the noise should scare the fish from the coast. The mouth of the herring is furnished with a few teeth in the upper and lower jaws, and four rows in the tongue. These pointing inwards, enable it the more readily to secure and swallow its slippery prey, which chiefly consists of extremely minute animals, such as small medusa, the Oniscus marinus, and small cancri and animalcula. The herrings on the coast of Norway sometimes feed upon a small red worm called the Roé-aal, which renders them unfit for curing; but there is probably no fish so indiscriminate in its food. The herring is often caught with flies, at which it leaps readily, and frequently with naked unbaited hooks. Mr Mitchell, in his article on the herring in the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, mentions that in the stomachs of several herrings which he examined, he found numbers of young sand-eels, and he adds a very curious observation, namely, that in the stomachs of such herrings as had the milt or roe small and immature, the sand-eels were numerous; whereas in those which had the milt or roe full grown, there were none whatsoever; but he offers no suggestion to account for this remarkable circumstance. They also frequently feed on their own ova and young, The herring propels itself through the water by rapidly moving the tail from side to side, the other fins being employed in steadying and probably aiding its movement, and it is this rapid waving of the tail which causes the rippling or pattering sound which announces the presence of a shoal when swimming near the surface. On a calm night their course may be traced by a brilliant phosphorescent light, which illuminates the surface of the water, and is emitted partly from the fish themselves, and partly from the minute marine animals with which the ocean swarms. Sometimes herrings do not approach the surface, and fine healthy shoals are often apt to swim deep; hence fishermen, through their ignorance in trusting too much to appearances, are frequently misled, they being apt to suppose that when they see no gulls or large fishes of prey exhibiting their gluttonous gambols, there are no herrings present, whilst the finest and choicest may be at the moment in millions beneath them; in fact, those which swim near the surface are usually the young, the gorged, and the sickly. Mr Mitchell informs us that several experienced masters of Dutch herring busses assured him that the only appearances they ever sought for were the colour of the sea, which should be a dark green, and its consistence apparently muddy. There is an additional fact worthy of observation, which is, that in clear dry weather the fish keep down at the bottom, and do not ascend until the moon rises. The migration of the herring has been long a disputed point, and from the difficulties to which we have alluded in the commencement of this article, of observing minutely or accurately the movements or nature of fishes, it is likely to remain unsettled much longer. The old and long received opinion has been, that the winter habitation of the herring is under the vast fields of ice which surround the North Pole a weak assertion, founded upon the observation that fishes do not proceed far from their haunts, whilst the fact is, that they merely move about in search of food; but who that has seen the rapid movement of a trout, or of the very fish we are treats ing of, could for a moment entertain the idea of their progresbeing confined to a rate that the crawling snail might equal? Mr Mitchell himself mentions a fact that alone is sufficient to rebut such an assertion, namely, that shortly after the union between England and Scotland, an immense shoal of herrings ran ashore near Cromarty, and covered the beach to the depth of several feet; and he adds, "Strange to say, however, the shoal left the Frith in a single night, and no shoals made their appearance again for more than half a century." Now, if they could make but half a mile a-day, how could they have returned several miles in a single night? But this argument was unnecessary, and it would be well for many persons to know that an ill-sustained argument is not merely a bad prop to a cause, but a wedge inserted for the advantage of an adversary, placed ready for his use in overturning it. But the most powerful argument against the theory of migration seems to have escaped Mr Mitchell's observation; it is that the herrings do not retire to spawn, as was asserted, but actually spawn near the fishing stations, and retire after it. Their spawn is taken up in abundance, and the nets are always found to contain large quantities of it, whilst the assertion that no young herrings are found near our shores, is altogether absurd, the contrary being the fact. The fecundated roe has the power, after having been deposited, of attaching itself firmly to the stones, rocks, or sea-weed, and in about three weeks after deposition, the young fry come forth from the eggs, and are seen in millions near the shore; in six or seven weeks they are about three inches in length, and arrive at maturity in about eighteen months. within the Arctic Circle; that they there deposit their spawn and advance southwards with the opening year, making their appearance off the Zetland islands about the month of April, and coming upon the coasts of Ireland and Scotland in June. Off Thurso they are sometimes taken as early as May, but June, July, and August, are the months in which the fishing is most actively commenced off the west Highlands of Scotland. Off the east coast of Ireland, near Arklow, the fishery used to commence in June, but latterly it has been postponed till October. The fluctuations in the time of commencing the herring fishery at various places, and the fact of a winter fishery being successfully carried on in some parts as for instance at Killybegs, where they are taken from December till March, and along the whole coast of Ireland south of Galway Bay, where there are sufficient indications that the fishery might be successfully carried on the whole year have at length caused the hitherto received opinion of their migration from the Arctic Circle to be questioned, and Mr Mitchell has given many sound arguments in refutation of it. He divides the theories upon the subject into three :-first, that the herrings come from the North Pole in great shoals of many leagues in extent, dividing into lesser shoals on coming towards the north point of Scotland; second, that they do not come from the Arctic regions, but from a less northerly direction, still, however, very far north of Shetland; and, third, that they are spawned on the coasts near which they are caught, and are consequently natives; that after spawning, they retire out to sea, and continue so until their spawning season comes round again, when they return to their accustomed shore. The latter he considers to be the most reasonable theory, and adduces in support of it the well-known fact that the herrings at every fishing station are of a peculiar quality uniformly the same, and always different from those at other even very nearly adjoining stations; and so well has this fact been established, that practieal men can at once pronounce from the size, appearance, and quality of the fish, where it was taken. For example, the herrings taken off the coast of Stadtland in Norway are almost twice the size of those taken near Shetland, and these are twice the size of those caught near Thurse, whilst the Dublin Bay herrings have long been famous for their superior flavour, which is unmatched by those of any other bay or harbour. Again, a size of herrings similar to those of Yarmouth visited till lately the coast of Lumfiord in Denmark, whilst on the Mecklenburg coast higher up the Baltic, the herrings are one-third larger than those of Lumfiord; and proceeding up the Baltic above Mecklenburg to the Pomeranian and part of the Prussian coasts, they are fully one-third smaller; and again still farther up they are larger. In quality and condition they differ as much as in size, those off the coast of Holland being so inferior as not to be worth pickling, and the Dutch fisher-ball-room, who would turn away with a look of loathing from men consequently seek the coasts of Scotland and England. As to the time of appearance at the several fishing stations, their irregularity goes far to prove their constant propinquity, the take commencing at some of the more southern stations before the northern ones; whereas, if they migrated regularly from the north, it is evident that the fishing should commence at the various stations in regular order, from the most northern where the shoals would first make their appearance, to the next, and so on to the most southward, which should be deserted by them at some certain season, in order that they might return. But there is no well-authenticated instance of those prodigious shoals of herrings having been met with approaching the south in any high northern latitude; and so far from their abounding in the Arctic regions, none have been found in the Greenland seas, nor have any been discovered in the stomachs of the whales killed there. Egede, who resided in Greenland for fifteen years, and compiled the natural history of it, after enumerating the fishes, adds, "No herrings are to be seen;" whilst on the contrary, the whales which feed principally on herrings, frequent our own coasts. These arguments appear to be fatal to the theory of the Arctic migration, and to support most powerfully that of the mere retirement of the herring to the deep. But Mr Mitchell goes farther, and asserts, upon the evidence of the celebrated naturalists Bloch and Lacepede, that "fishes of a similar size even in fresh water cannot go above half a mile a-day, and that therefore herrings could not make, even from spring to autumn, the long voyage attributed to them." Now, this appears to be going too far, and we would prefer that the argument should rest on the former grounds, excluding this, which seems to be Lacepede tells that in North America the inhabitants carry the herring-spawn from the spawning ground to the mouths of rivers and other places not before frequented by the fish, and those places become forthwith regular resorts for them; and the same authority mentions the fact of a similar custom in Sweden. Thus the theory of the herring being a native of the place which it is accustomed to frequent annually, seems to be satisfactorily established; and having thus presented our readers with such information upon the subject of the natural history of the herring as our space permits, we shall close this article, reserving some account of the various modes of fishing and methods of curing, for another paper. N. SENTIMENT. How much fine sentiment there is wasted in admiration over a flower which was to deck her hair in the our strange world! I have seen a young lady in raptures of lovely lips, all wreathed in smiles, and breathing tones of joy the proffered kiss of her baby brother; and I have heard cold and cruel words to the best friend, ay, the mother, who over a pretty shell, a shining insect, or even a gay ribbon, say was wearing her life out to promote the happiness of her ungrateful daughter. MARRIAGE. When a man of sense comes to marry, it is a companion whom he wants, and not an artist. It is not merely who can comfort and console him. a creature who can paint, play, dress, and dance—it is a being BLUSHING.--Blushing in the male sex is too frequently and constantly regarded as a proof of guiltiness: it is a proof of sensibility and fear of disrepute, by whatever incident called forth; but except in so far as fear of being thought guilty is proof, it affords no proof of the existence of the object by the idea of which the apprehension is excited.-Bentham. Pride destroys all symmetry and grace, and affectation is a more terrible enemy to fine faces than the small pox.-Hughes. At twenty years of age the will reigns, at thirty the wit, at forty the judgment.- Grattan. they have a personal pique. Authors in France seldom speak ill of each other, unless Authors in England seldom speak well of each other, unless they have a personal friendship.-Pope. Printed and published every Saturday by GUNN and CAMERON, at the Office IN that fertile district of the county Wexford, the barony of Forth, distinguished for its comfortable cottages and general good husbandry, lived Dennis Costigan, a rich farmer. His farm was large, well stocked, and in high condition; his dwelling-house was furnished as a farmer's house should be, and it was as cleanly and neat as it was commodious. His wife was tidy, notable, and good-tempered, and his three children were such as would please a father-well-formed in person and virtuous in mind. Then, should not our friend Dennis Costigan have been a happy man? He would have been so perhaps for there is ever to be a stumbling block in our road to happiness but that the first object that glared upon his eyes in each morning's sun was the white low cottage of his next neighbour Miles Kavanagh. Yet that cottage was not an ugly feature in the landscape. It was small and low, but as white as the whitest lime could make it; it was neatly thatched too, and its small casements were never broken or patched. A few honeysuckles and roses crept up its walls, and it was surrounded by a hedge of hazels and sallows; that lent it an air of comfort and seclusion. Its owner, at least, thought it a pretty spot, and that he was a happy man indeed to possess it and its two or three adjoining acres; and as he trimmed his hedges, and looked pleasantly on all around-the fruits of his industry and labour-he little thought that any one could look upon his cot and farm with other eyes than those of admiration; and least of all that he, or aught of his, was the source of care or annoyance to his wealthier neighbour. And why did wealthy Dennis Costigan glance lowringly on this humble tenement? Was it that, like his betters, he thought a poor man's dwelling always an unsightly object? and that, like many a grasping spirit, all land convenient to his own was misappropriated if not in his possession? It was not so. Dennis Costigan envied no man his possessions. He was a right specimen of a farmer, independent, upright, honest, and industrious, contented with what providence had given him, and willing to help a neighbour with purse and hand if required. And if he did grumble a little, and turn away his eyes quickly as if in pain, from the cottage we have mentioned, many another father with hopeful sons would do the same, for it contained a gem that would grace the proudest castle in Ireland beautiful, charming, innocent Kate Kavanagh, but who had no fortune. One fine morning in August, farmer Costigan sallied forth at the head of a regiment of reapers armed for the destruction of a large field of wheat, but scarcely had he got outside his yard when he missed two of his most efficient men-his two sons. "Where can those gorsoons ov mine be, boys ?" inquired he of the reapers. "In the arms ov Murphy, to be sure,' answered a little shrill-piped fellow, the crack orator of the country, which, and the circumstance of his name being alike, procured him the cognomen of Counsellor Shiel." "In the arms ov Murphy, to be sure, afther thrippin' it all night on the light funtastic toe with that flower ov Forth an' belle ov the barony, Kate Kavanagh." "Arrah, can't ye speak in plain English, man?"thundered the farmer with kindling eyes-the name just mentioned always putting him in a passion. "What the dickens does I know 66 ov funtastic toes or heels ?" "Very little indeed, litherally,” quoth the counsellor, laughing, and glancing sarcastically at the farmer's large feet, cased in tremendous brogues shod with hob-nails; very little litherally, but you might metaphorically, for all that. But you have no more poethry or bells letthers in ye than a bag ov beans !" "Nor you more common sense than a goose." "Stop!" cried the orator suddenly, in a tone of command enough to arrest a retreating army, and motioning to the body of reapers. "Stop, one an' all ov ye, an' listen! It would be a sin to let this profane ignirince continue longer." Then addressing our barony Forth farmer with a countenance in which pity and ineffable contempt were blended, "Is it in the nointeenth centhery that you call me a goose, by way ov contimpt? Oh, ignorant of nathral histhry, jography, bells letthers, pelite litherature altogether! For, know, onforthenate man, that it was the cackle ov that same illustrious baist, a goose, that saved what?-where do you think?" Yer mother's hen-roost from the fox, is it?" "No, haithen, but imparial Rome!!!" The might, the majesty of the "counsellor's" tones and gestures as he uttered the words, struck amazement into the hearts of his hearers! They had considered him a clever fellow, but by no means the great man he then appeared! Enchanted with his eloquence, not a few of his auditors were certain that if he were in Parliament, he would do more for Ireland than Mr O'Connell and all his friends; while the remainder, as much delighted with his energy, lamented that "the craithur wasn't two fut higher, for he had a great spirit intirely!" The happy "counsellor" perceived the impression he had produced, and in his altitude was proceeding to tell them when and how "imparial Rome" was saved, when his attention was arrested by an approaching object, and with an instantaneous change of attitude and tone he exclaimed, "But, soft! what light from yonder meadow breaks? as a tall and very handsome girl, with the finest eyes and brightest smile imaginable, met them at the entrance of the wheat field. "Oh! a good morra," returned Mister Costigan very coldly and with looks still colder, "an' I wondher above all things what is it that takes Miss Kavanagh out of her bed so early?" | "Just what ought to rouse many more ov us, Misther Čostigan," replied Kate spiritedly" to help a naibur, an' I am come to offer ye all the 'sistance in my power to-day, aither as binder or raiper, whichever ye may want worst.' "I want neither," returned the farmer gruffly, and turning on his heel; "an', besides, I could not possibly think of puttin' sitch delicate white hands to sitch coorse work!" "The belle o' the barony" coloured high at the affront couched in this speech, and she hastily answered that "her hands, sitch as they war, could earn her bread for her when she required it; an' if she did'nt find them too tendher for work, Misther Costigan need'nt find fault with them. But,' added she more kindly, "you have a rough manner but a kind heart, Dennis Costigan, an' I won't mind what you say to me. Moreover, I'll stay with ye to-day, whether you be willin' or not, aither as binder or raiper." Dennis Costigan, "kind as his heart" was, would have given a sovereign of "bright goold" that Kate Kavanagh and her bright eyes were a few miles off at the moment; but as he saw that she carried all before her, he thought it better not to give her any further offence, and accordingly, but with a very bad grace, he accepted her services. Where be's Jem and Ned Costigan this mornin'?" whispered Kate to the counsellor, who was flourishing away gallantly at her side. The man of eloquence flung himself into an attitude, laid his hand upon his heart, and looked languishingly, as he "assured her that her charms were railly too potently enfluential over the hearts ov her admirers, as she not only deprived thim ov the needful refreshment of nathur, oblivious slumber, but she also hendhered them from doin' their daily manual imploymints. For instance," said he, “ 'you see Saul, the orb ov day, is high up in his meraydian hemisphare, an' those inamoured swains are still pressin' their beds, or rather cooches, in the arms ov Murphy, mainin' sleep or Somnus "An' what have I to do with that?" said Kate, laughing heartily. "Do ye think I gave thim a sleepy potion?" "Ah! my beautiful flower ov Forth!" sighed out the sentimental counsellor, "any thing but a sleepy potion do you give yer lovers! if 'tis anything, sure I am 'tis a draught to banish sleep for ever! But consarnin' those vagrant truints ye spaik ov, I ondherstand that you kep thim up beyant their ushial hours ov repose last night, admirin' yer graceful movemints in yer Turpfiscorian revels, mainin' the dance at Judy Colfer's; an' that man, their father, who is not to be moved with concord of sweet sounds,' or any sounds at all but the chink ov money, almost snapt my head off a while ago bekase I tould him so. Ah! my Catherine dear, I fear you'll incounther opposition in that quarther. But nel desperantum,' say I, which mains in plain English, never dispair. 6 Catherine said nothing, but instantly began to sing, at the top of her fine rich voice, a song the counsellor had composed in praise of her, and shortly afterwards she had the pleasure to see the two sleepy truants bounding across the yard towards the wheat-field, as if her well-known notes had awaked them. While this magical song was thrilling on all hearts, Kate Kavanagh, the witching Kate! stood apart from the others, singing and laughing alternately, her reaping-hook resting on one arm, and dressed in the every-day fashion of the placethe striped linsey short petticoat, and loose bedgown or wrapper, a dress that would make an ordinary woman frightful, and straw hat, the leaf of which, turned up before and pinned to the crown, displayed her sable locks and fair high forehead to perfection. And many a side-glance the anxious father, Dennis Costigan, cast at this arrangement of Kate's headgear, as he broadly hinted that "for sartin Miss Kavanagh's complexion would be intirely spiled if she showed it too much to the sun. " "Tut!" was Kate's good-humoured reply, "the life ov an ould hat is to cock it,' as we say in the counthry. The leaf ov it was flappin' in my eyes; the lads could'nt see me, nor I them, so a pin settled the bisness;" and nothing could become her fine Spanish face better, though her toilet was made in perfect carelessness, for dashing Kate had other charms to depend on besides beauty. Imprimus, she was the first dancer in the country, outdoing her dancing-master himself at "jigs, reels, thribbles, doubles, hornpipes, and petti. coatees.' She was a killing dancer in both senses of the word, for no boy or girl could keep it up with the spirit of Kate Kavanagh, and she generally disabled six or eight prime beaus at every "hop" she appeared at, which was nearly every night. The worst of it was (as the sorely annoyed fathers and mothers of the neighbourhood said), "though she fairly kilt all the boys that danced with her, yet sorra one but herself would sarve them for a partner after all!" Then she was, as Orator Shiel said, 66 Apollyo in petticoats for singin'!” and songs of love, murder, hunting, war, and sea, would charm with double effect, borne on the musical notes of Kate Kavan. agh. In short, she was "metal most," but also too "attractive;" and loud complaints and grievances at last came thundering on her devoted head. Boys growin' lazy and crazywork undone or done badly-time spent an' mis-spentmessages forgotten and mistaken-girls neglected-matches broken-eternal dancin', fightin', black eyes an' bloody noses" all, all was laid in a bundle at the door of handsome, animated, dashing, yet very innocent Kate Kavanagh. "What will be done with her at all at all?" iterated the |