Our
car driver, a not very old man at all, told us he was present himself
when a numerous household were brought together to be sworn on the Mias
Tighernain for the discovery of a large sum of money which had been
stolen. The thief was discovered but money was not.
It is very pleasant to drive along through the fair but tenantless lands
that surround Ballina. The county of Mayo is beautifully diversified by
mountain and valley, wood and water, glen and stream. The tall hedges of
white thorn in their bridal white perfume the air. Myriads of primroses
smile at the passer-by from sunny banks. Small golden blossoms, like
whin blossoms, cluster thickly here and there, and the starry-eyed
daisies, white and sweet with blushes edged, lift their modest faces to
the sky. Even the bog waste is nodding all over with a cotton flower,
white as a snowflake; they call it _ceanabhan_ in Irish, and the
peasantry use it as a comparison when praising the white arms and bosoms
of the Mayo maidens. Surely one might say this bright May morning with
Tim, "Glory be to God, but it is a purty world!"
When we crossed the boundaries, passed the lodge gates into the demesne
lying around Rappa Castle, the residence of Captain Knox, there was a
change to still greater beauty.
