Ruined abbeys and castles of Great Britain and Ireland . , or child, faving in towns or cities ; nor yetfee any beafl, but the very wolves, the foxes, and other likeravenous beafts. Such were the fcenes which, in Oueen Elizabeths days, andthrough thofe of the Stuarts, furrounded thefe old monaftichalls, which we are accuftomed to regard as the haunts ofpeace and pious contemplation. The only wonder is that theyefcaped the general ravage, and were fuff^ered to ftand at only thing which prote6led even a fragment of thefe finearchitectural walls, was the fadl that they were become theprop
Ruined abbeys and castles of Great Britain and Ireland . , or child, faving in towns or cities ; nor yetfee any beafl, but the very wolves, the foxes, and other likeravenous beafts. Such were the fcenes which, in Oueen Elizabeths days, andthrough thofe of the Stuarts, furrounded thefe old monaftichalls, which we are accuftomed to regard as the haunts ofpeace and pious contemplation. The only wonder is that theyefcaped the general ravage, and were fuff^ered to ftand at only thing which prote6led even a fragment of thefe finearchitectural walls, was the fadl that they were become theproperty of the Earl of Ormond, granted by Elizabeth in thefifth year of her reign, with i6o acres of arable land, fixtyof pafture and two of wood, in the town of Holy Crofs. The great ONeill, who made a pilgrimage to the fragmentof the Holy Crofs, would no longer find it depofited in theAbbey of Holy-Crofs, but in fome Catholic church or chapelof the place. It was this ONeill, or ONeale, to whom SirWalter Scott alludes in Rokeby:— HOLY-CROSS ABBEY. 21 1. HCLY-CROSS ABBEY. Who has not heard while Erin yetStrove gainft the Saxons iron bit—Who has not heard how brave ONealeIn Englifli blood imbrued his fteel,Againft St. Georges crofs blazed highThe banners of his Taniftry,To fiery EfTex gave the foil,And reigned a prince in Ulfters foil ? 212 HOLY-CROSS ABBEY, Spenfer, the poet, defcribes the rude mode in which evenchiefs like ONeill occafionally lived :— The wood is hishoufe againft all weathers, and his mantle is his couch to fleepin. Therein he wrappeth himfelf round, and covereth him-felf ftrongly againft the gnats, which in that country doe moreannoy the naked rebels while they keep the woods, and doemore fharply wound them, than all their enemies fwords orfpears, which can feldom come nigh them. But Sir JohnHarrington tells us how this ONeill lived at his camp, for hepaid him a vifit at the time of his truce with ElTex ; and afternoticing his fern tables, and fern forms,
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1864
