MINOR CORRESPONDENCE.-The late Lieut.-Gen. Sir Joseph Thackwell, G.C.B.- Mr. Thorpe's Diplomatorium Æri Saxonici-The Hinckley Meeting The Library of the late Mr. George Daniel, of Canonbury-square Discovery of the Foundations of the Church of St. John Del Pyke, York ... Discoveries at St. Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny..... ANTIQUARIAN AND LITERARY INTELLIGENCE.-Archæological Institute, 459; British Archæological Association, 476; Bucks. Architectural and Archæological CORRESPONDENCE OF SYLVANUS URBAN.-A Medieval Bill in Chancery, 495; Visitation of St. Richard's Shrine, 498; Spots on the Sun of Shakespeare-Visita- tion of Churches in the Neighbourhood of Stamford, 499; A Flitwick Medal, 504; Library of John Newton, Treasurer of York Cathedral, 505; Robin Hood... HISTORICAL AND MISCELLANEOUS REVIEWS, AND LITERARY NOTICES.- Chambers's History of Peeblesshire-Bisset's Omitted Chapters of the History of England, 507; Burton's The Scot Abroad-Crawhall's Collection of Right Merrie Garlands for North Country Anglers-Espin's Critical Essays-Denton's Com- mentary, Practical and Exegetical, on the Lord's Prayer........ OBITUARY-The Duke of Cleveland, 516; Earl Cadogan-Sir John Ratcliff, 517; The Rev. Dr. Cureton, F.R.S., 520; Dr. Dundas Thomson, F.R.S., 523; Rev. Dr. MINOR CORRESPONDENCE. NOTICE. SYLVANUS URBAN requests his Friends to observe that Reports, Correspondence, Books for Review, announcements of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, &c., received after the 20th instant, cannot be attended to until the following Month. THE LATE LIEUT.-GEN. SIR alluded to in the notice headed "Lieut.Gen. Sir Joseph Thackwell, G.C.B. and K.H.," which appeared in the Minor Correspondence in the last Number of the GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE, I am anxious that you should insert this my explanation. It was erroneously stated by a quondam Surgeon of the 15th Hussars, at the public banquet given to Sir Joseph Thackwell at Gloucester in 1853, that Sir Joseph, when his left arm had been disabled by a shot at the battle of Waterloo, "instantly seized his bridle with his right hand, in which was his sword, and still dashed on to charge the enemy." I, together with others, believed this version of the affair, until I was informed upon better authority that this was not true, the fact being that Sir Joseph, when his left arm had been severely wounded by a shot at Waterloo, immediately seized his bridle with his mouth, and still dashed on at the head of his men to charge the enemy. Sir Joseph's left arm was amputated close to the shoulder-joint. It has also been erroneously stated that Sir Joseph, or the Sappers and Miners, "forced an opening into the Sikh intrenchments at the battle of Sobraon, in 1846, upon our left flank." The fact is, that Sir Joseph himself discovered an opening in the Sikh intrench THE HINCKLEY MEETING. THE Country newspapers are always anxious to publish the memoirs read at their provincial meetings, but in their haste they usually commit many errors. Some of those into which those at Leicester fell in printing the paper on Ancient Hosiery which I forwarded to the meeting of the county Society at Hinckley have been unfortunately followed in the GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE. In p. 339, line 27, for "one mediæval period" read "our;" and two lines further on, "the surname of Hoese or Hussey." In line 40, for "signature" read "singular." J. G. N. The Gentleman's Magazine AND HISTORICAL REVIEW. NOTES ON THE ARCHITECTURE OF IRELAND.-VIII. CASHEL. FROM the midst of a fertile plain in the southern part of the county of Tipperary, rises abruptly the immense mass of limestone known as the Rock of Cashel, and which, crowned as it is by lofty and venerable ruins, forms a conspicuous landmark to the surrounding country for many miles. On a nearer approach it increases in grandeur and interest. The town lies at its foot, and the small whitewashed hovels which are nestled under it serve to give interest and contrast to the scene. The rock is inaccessible on all sides except the south, where it is defended by a gateway. On entering within this gateway, and while standing on the greensward at the west end of the buildings, it is impossible to describe the feelings which crowd upon the imagination. The grey, hoary, solemn, and melancholy-looking ruins seem in their mute eloquence like spirits of the past standing in the present,-silent, and yet speaking. The ruined cathedral, the shattered castle, and the weather-beaten cross, all raise thoughts which it is not possible to express. And when all these are seen by the light of a setting sun, shining from behind clouds over the distant Galtees, the effect is beyond anything that can be conceived, and must be seen in order to be felt. The view looking westward from this point is magnificent. In front is a long-extended plain, bounded on both sides by mountain chains, on which the clouds rest, and which stretch far into the distance, while in the meadows nearer at hand lies the ruined abbey of Hore, or as it is sometimes called, St. Mary's of the Rock of Cashel. The ruins on the rock consist of a cathedral, to the west end of which is attached the archiepiscopal palace or castle, a round tower now connected with its north transept, and a beautiful Norman building known as Cormac's Chapel, which now forms apparently part of the south transept. There are besides, on the south brow of the Rock, a hall for the Vicars Choral, with other domestic buildings, and a gateway. Before going into more details of the buildings, it will be convenient, first, to search out so much of the history as can be gleaned from the Annals or other original sources; and next, to see how the architectural characters agree with this history, and then endeavour to fix the dates of the various erections. In the early ages of Ireland's history, when the hand of every petty chieftain was against his neighbour, and when his sole occupation seems to have been little more than rapine and murder, such a natural fastness as this Rock could not remain unnoticed; and we accordingly find that it was selected as the stronghold of one of the more powerful leaders, who as King of Munster exercised jurisdiction over the surrounding country. At what period this took place is not easy to ascertain, but St. Patrick in the fifth century is said to have visited Cashel, and converted the King and his family, and to have destroyed a pagan temple there. It was therefore at that time the residence of the kings, and it continued to be so for several centuries. These kings seem to have enjoyed an ecclesiastical as well as a royal dignity, and were termed Kings and Bishops of Munster or of Cashel. From this time there seems to have been a regular line of kings, who resided at Cashel, but we find nothing recorded of them until the ninth century, after which we have various notices of Cashel in the Annals of the Four Masters, the Annals of Innisfallen, &c., which have been collected together, and are given in the Appendix to this paper. The architectural history of Cashel, therefore, seems to divide itself naturally into two periods. The first, from the first occupation of the Rock until the eleventh century. Of this period no buildings remain. It is most probable that they consisted only of a wall or cashel on the top of the Rock, and particularly on the south side, the only part where it is accessible. The houses for the king and the other inhabitants of the place would most probably be of wood, or of wattle-work, which we know was used in Ireland to a much later date, a palace having been constructed in this mode for Henry II. when in Dublin. These buildings were easily swept away and easily replaced, and of this kind were the miserable hovels of the inhabitants outside the Rock, always liable to be plundered and burnt by every marauding party, and their wretched inmates compelled to flee to the interior of the walls of the Rock for safety. These plundering parties were being continually sent forth, and no one knew how long he would be able to hold even the wretched tenement he had erected. In such a precarious state of society it would be impossible, or if possible it would have been folly, to erect any but the most temporary dwellings. Houses liable at any hour to destruction ought not to take long in rebuilding, and wattle-work, plastered with mud, was the easiest for this purpose. Every chieftain had his stronghold, but the poorer inhabitants were left to their mercy. A reference to the Irish annals year after year will shew this dreadful state of society much more vividly than any description can do. During this period, however, several of Ireland's most eminent princes flourished, and as the kings of Munster took upon themselves the title of Bishop, they must have had a church within the walls of Cashel; and as in 1100 King Murtough O'Brien dedicated his chief seat, court, and town to God and St. Patrick, in the presence of a great assembly of the clergy of Ireland at Cashel, it is fair to suppose that there was at that time a cathedral, and that the present round-tower was the belfry belonging to it. This church was no doubt, like all GENT, MAG, 1864, VOL. II. 3 C |