Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 7.djvu/286

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. VIL MARCH 23, 1907.

regarding the Irish Rebellion of 1798, in consequence of baseless or grossly exag- gerated charges brought against "officials who lived in those very difficult times, and because (quoting a letter from Mr. Lecky in my possession) " a thick cloud of mis- representation or positive mendacity hangs over most of those who played a leading part in them."

The book illustrated by Cruikshank referred to by O. is one of the misleading works, for I presume that Maxwell's ' History of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 ' is pointed to. Not less misleading is ' The Lives of the United Irishmen.' Mr. Lecky refers to Madden, the author, as a " furious partisan." Fitzpatrick, author of ' The Sham Squire,' ' Secret Service under Pitt,' &c., is also misleading, and we certainly ought to be reassured as to the accuracy of excerpts in his books : his reputation for contributions to serious history depends much upon this.

I think your correspondent would accept the authority of Mr. Lecky, whose honesty in dealing with the subject of the rebellion must be manifest, and I briefly quote from his ' History of the Eighteenth Century ' to elucidate the statement which has been -questioned.

After recording in vol. viii. the arrest in Dublin of the General Committee of the United Irishmen, Mr. Lecky reviews the state of affairs elsewhere in Ireland, and proceeds :

I* Some soldiers of the North Cork Militia are said to have invented the pitched cap of linen or thick brown paper, which was fastened with burn- ing pitch to the victim's head, and could not be torn off without tearing out the hair or lacerating the skin. One soldier obtained a special reputation by varying this torture. He was accustomed to cut the hair of the victims still shorter, to rub into it moistened gunpowder, and then to set it on fire."- P. 18.

''Young subalterns, sergeants of militia, common soldiers, ordered and perpetrated these things, and it is but too probable that they often acted on the whispered suggestion of a private enemy." P. 19.

The torture of the pitched cap, which never betore appears to have been known in Ireland, was now introduced by the North Cork Militia, and

excited fierce terror and resentment It was in

the week previous to the rebellion that these excesses reached their height." P. 77.

Concerning Joseph Holt, the capable rebel leader, who lurked in the Wicklow Hills, Mr. Lecky states: "The picture he gives of the barbarities on both sides is probably drawn with no unfaithful touch." He then quotes from the memoirs of Holt, e.g. :

"Many of the cruelties of the rebels were in retaliation of the previous enormities committed upon them by the yeomanry, who in their turn

revenged themselves with increased acrimony, and thus all the kindlier and best feelings of humanity

were eradicated The rebels were not less

atrocious or refined in their cruelties, but they were

excited by the heads and hands over them and

considered their acts meritorious Each party

accused the other of cruelty and barbarous in- humanity, and the accusation on both sides was just." Pp. 237-8.

Mr. Lecky mentions that working farmers and uneducated middlemen, in counties where there were few resident gentry, were often made justices of peace and also yeo- manry and militia officers ; that during the rebellion they rendered real service, but their worst qualities appeared in the hideous military licence which followed (pp. 243-4).

H. SIRR.

GREAT HOLLOW ELM AT HAMPSTEAD (10 S. iii. 187, 257). Graves's collection of prints was sold by Thos. Dodd at 101, St. Martin's Lane, on Tuesday, 6 Feb., 1810, and seventeen following days, at half past 5. The catalogue, now very rare, is of exceptional merit and interest. Unfor- tunately, my copy is not priced.

Lot 546 was a copy of the print by Wenceslaus Hollar, then evidently scarce, as over a page is devoted to its description. This concludes :

" The print being thus distributed was usually folded up by the persons frequenting the spot, and being afterwards worn in the pocket, usually got destroyed, which accounts for the extreme scarcity of the print. An impression in this state is con- sidered as unique ; which has induced me to be thus particular in its description." There follows :

"Lot 547. The same print, an unique proof, previous to the account being engraved beneath the print. The flock of birds about the tree are not introduced, and. there are only four persons in the turret at top instead of five, as in the finished impressions.'

ALECK ABRAHAMS.

SIR H. CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN ON BRI- TAIN'S SUPREMACY OF THE SEA (10 S. vii. 169). The following is an extract taken from Hansard's ' Parliamentary Debates,' Third Series, vol. 334, p. 1272 from a speech made by Mr. (now Sir) H. Campbell- Bannerman (Stirling, &c.) in the House of Commons, 1 April, 1889, on naval defence :

" I accept in the fullest and most complete form the doctrine that it is necessary for this country to hold the supremacy of the seas, and that, further, I accept the doctrine that the test and standard of this supremacy is that our fleet should be as strong as the combined strength of any other two fleets in the world. That supremacy I believe to be the traditional possession of this country. I believe it is necessary, on account of our insular position, and the extent of our colonial empire, and I further