Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 6.djvu/36

 26 NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. vi. JULY M, iwa and be of considerable interest, and more particularly as he appears therefrom to have been the first to provide — notwithstand- ing his extreme poverty—what he terms a "Cottage" (but rather, I should think, a wooden _ shed) on the summit of that mountain in which visitors might dine or take rest and shelter, and also greatly improved the road to the summit so as to enable persons to ascend thereto on horse- back. This handbill was, as we find at the foot, from the local press of " Richard Jones, Printer, Dolgelley," and possibly he assisted in drafting it. " Romantic Scenerie* [tie] of Dolgelley, Merioneth- shire, North Wale*. "Richard Pugh, (Successor to the late Robert Kdwards,) Guide General to the tremendious [*»<•] Mountain of Cader Idris; the astonishing Water- falls of Dol-melyn-llyn, Cain, and Mawddach ; and the wonderful Oak Tree at Llety-Rhys, the boughs of which measures [xtV] one hundred yards in cir- cumference, Ac. &c. begs leave to return his most sincere thanks for the liberal encouragement he has received from a generous Public, since his com- mencement as a (iuide. He is happy to inform those Families who wish to visit Cader Idris for the future, that (although in indigent Circum- stances) he has been able to furnish a small Cottage (4 yards long, 3 yards wide, a [*ic=and] 2 yards 6 inches high,) on the summit of Cader Idris! which will enable a large partv to dine comfortably in [it], without being exposed to the inclemency of the weather. It has been in contemplation for years back to have something of the kind done, as several Families after travelling hundreds of miles to see this Mountain, and having gained, through great fatigue, the summit thereof, yet no sooner were they on the top, than they were overtaken in a cloud, a shower, or a thunder storm ; which would of course compel them to quicken their pace down again, without been [«ie=being] able to see a yard about them ; and after, by the time they reach the valley, the cloud or storm would be blown off, and the horizon become quite clear ; consequently another day must be sacrificed (perhaps to no better purpose) or leave the finest scenery in all Britain unseen. To avoid all these inconveniences, this Cottage has been built, and it will enable the curious to remain there safe, secure, and dry, for any length of time, either to see the Sun rise or set, without the fatiguing task of ascending in the night time, which was always the case before. •' Richard Pugh begs leave to add that he has much improved the road up the Mountain, so as to enable Ladies and Gentlemen [to] ride up to the very top. " The summit of Cader Idris is 950 yards higher than the Green, near Dolgelley. Rhaiadr Dol- mrhii ilvn is about 60 feet high, and the water foams with a thundering noise among the black rocks down which it falls. Rhaiadr Mawddach falls down a rock between 50 and 60 feet in height. Pistyll y Cain rushes down a vast rock, at least 150 feet high. "Two Graves where Human Bodies were de- posited have been lately discovered under the foot of Coder Idris, under two immense Carnedds. " Admission, or the Key of the Cottage will be dad only of the said Richard Pugh, or of Mrs. Walker, the Golden Lion Inn, Dolgelley." W. I. R. V. THE IRISH SOLDIERS AT THE BATTLE OF THE BOYNE.—Referring to the statement of Field-Marshal Viscount Wolseley, K.P., <fec.. in his life of the great Duke of Marlborough (a compilation full of quotations from Epic- tetus, the Stoic philosopher and esteemed friend of Marcus Aurelius, down to Col. Saunderson's expression of his willingness " to die in the last ditch "), anent the officers of King James's Irish army having been "butchers and tailors," I beg that I may be permitted to say that I regret that no evidence has appeared in ' N. ifc Q.' in support of Viscount Wolseley's assertion, because I have no alternative now but to assume that the statement is only a repetition of the opinion expressed on the same subject by Lora Macaulay in his ' History of Eng- land,' a work characterized by Viscount Wolseley as " fiction" when requested to name the "hundred best books." With regard to Lord Macaulay's denounce- ment of " some of" King James's Irish officers for having been "cobblers, tailors, and butchers," John D'Alton, barrister, com- piler of ' King James's Irish Array List, 1689,' wrote in the preface to the second volume of the second edition, London, 1861, that " he felt called upon to vindicate the army list. Had his lordship lived he would doubtless have admitted that his conclusion was induced by mis- apprehension—on some authorities (if any) only known to himself." In conclusion, and in reference to the composition of the famous "Irish Brigade," I, as a kinsman of Peter Taafe, of Smarmore, Major Dillon's regiment, and of Col. Drom- goole (at one time spelt Drumgoulle), who exposed Voltaire's gross injustice to the " Irish Brigade " at the battle of Fontenoy, beg to direct attention to the following quotation from 'The Kingdom of Ireland," by Charles George Wai pole, M.A., London, 1882 :— " After the signing of the Treaty of Limerick, 1691, De Ginkel was anxious to enlist the Irish troops in the service of William, but they preferred voluntary exile; and about twenty thousand men and officers were shipped to France. On their arrival in that country they were formed into ' The Irish Brigade.' The first body under General Justin McCarthy consisted of three regiments: Lord Mountcashcl's, commanded by McCarthy; Lord Clare's, commanded by Hon. Daniel O'Brien ; and Viscount Dillon's, commanded by Hon. Arthur Dillon. To these were added ten infantry and two regiments of horse. These regiments, recruited