Page:Irish minstrelsy, vol 2 - Hardiman.djvu/134

122 at a time, when all hopes of the royal restoration were at an end; and may, therefore, be taken as a proof of the unfeigned sympathy and sorrow of the Irish nation, for the exiled family of England.

Mary D'Este, who survived her royal consort many years, appears to have been every way worthy, as a wife, a mother, and a queen, of the praises so lavishly bestowed on her by the Irish poet. Though a long time in England, even before her accession to the throne, she was never popular, in consequence of her being a catholic, and warmly attached to her religion; but, for the same reasons, she was an especial favorite with the Irish. She died at St. Germaine, April 26th, 1718. Her son, James Francis Edward, called by his followers James the Third, and, by others, the Chevalier de St. George, is frequently alluded to in these Jacobite Relics.

$2$ John O'Neachtan, the author of this poem, (and of Maggy Laider, printed in the first volume,) lived in the early part of the last century, in the county of Meath. He was a learned man, and an ingenious poet, and enriched his native language with many original compositions and translations. Several of these are in the possession of the writer; and among others, a copious Treatise, in Irish, on General Geography, extending to nearly five hundred closely written pages, and containing many interesting particulars concerning this country; also, curious annals of Ireland, from A. D. 1167, to the beginning of the last century. These works, if they belonged to any other nation of Europe, even to the island of Iceland, would long since have been deemed worthy of publication; but alas ! the literature, language, and native genius of unhappy Ireland, have hitherto experienced unmeritted neglect. As a poet and miscellaneous writer, O'Neachtan holds the same rank in Irish literature, that Doctor Young, the author of the Night Thoughts, occupies in English. With equal genius and learning, the Irish bard's compositions are more equal and