inland, crossing the Ray river near the old Myrath churchyard, where there is a gigantic cross made of one block of stone by St Collum Cille. It is now lying on the ground, and is broken in two places. It is told that the saint hewed the stone out of the side of Muckish mountain, at a place called Bally-nacross, and that, owing to his prayer, angels carried it from that place to old Myrath. Four miles further on the road cuts off the peninsula of Horn Head, and enters Dunfanaghy, "a neat little town. with a very fair hotel, whence the traveller can comfortably make his excursions to the scenery of Horn Head."*

EXCURSION TO HORN HEAD.

"The view from Horn Head is one per se, and should not be omitted by the northern traveller in Ireland."+ Shortly after leaving Dunfanaghy the road crosses a narrow channel, through which the tide rushes, thus insulating Horn Head. A little beyond is Horn Head House, the residence of the Rev. C. Stewart, the Protestant rector of this parish, but the guide will turn to the left and lead you over the sandhills to M'Swine's Gun, which is a marine cave, in whose roof there is an orifice open to the surface above. In times of storm, the sea dashing into the cave rushes upwards with great force, ac* Murray. † Ibid.

companied by a loud explosion resembling the boom. of a discharged piece of ordnance. The report, it is said, has been heard so far away as Derry. The M'Swines were the former lords of this district, and hence the name of this striking natural phenomenon. The visitor should keep close to the precipices towards the north-east, where there is a circular castle, near which is Horn Head proper, viz., a cliff projecting somewhat in the shape of a Here the cliffs rise 800 feet sheer from the

horn. water.

The Rev. C. Otway has left a lively sketch of these cliffs. "Did Shakespeare see these enormous battlements of Ireland? Dover Cliff, of which he gives such a sublime description, is perhaps magnified in the imagery of the poet; but certainly, I conceive Horn Head comes up to his representation. One would think the Muse had caught up from Stratford-upon-Avon the poet of nature, and dropt him on this mighty promontory, until he had made up in his mind's eye the whole magnificent scene.

'How fearful

And dizzy 'tis to cast one's eyes so low!

The crows and choughs that wing the midway air,
Show scarce so gross as beetles: half way down
Hangs one that gathers samphire; dreadful trade!
Methinks he seems no bigger than his head;
The fishermen that walk upon the beach
Appear like mice; and yon tall anchoring bark
Diminished to her cock; her cock a buoy

Almost too small for sight. The murmuring surge

That on unnumbered idle pebbles chafes,

Cannot be heard so high-I'll look no more.'

Nothing, indeed, could be more astonishing than the whole scene; there was a mist hanging over the Atlantic, that gave a mysteriousness to its magnificence, like the way into the eternal world-shadows, clouds, and darkness rested upon it; there was no wind, it was a perfect calm, and yet the roll of the waves, and the roar of the tides, as they rushed and rolled amidst the caverned cliffs, communicated an awful grandeur to the whole scene. It was the moan of suffering endurance under the ceaseless exertion of the Atlantic. . . . Now, in the midst of July, if it was a scene pregnant with grandeur, it was also one teeming with life." "The student of natural history will fine plenty of ornithological interest amongst the various sea-birds that frequent these cliffs, amongst which are the shelldrake, (Tudorna vulpauser,) the guillamot, (Uria troide,) the sea parrot, the cormorant, the shag, (Phalacrocorox,) the gannot, the stormy petrel, the speckled diver (Colymbus glacialis,) and many others."† The view northward is one of boundless ocean; to the north-west lies Torry, to the south-west the group Inishbeg, Inishdooey, and Inishboffin, and on the north-east the headlands of Northern Donegal, * Sketches in Donegal. + Murray.

viz., Melmore, Rinmore, Fanad, Dunaff, and Malin Heads, retiring in rugged perspective, while away in the distance is seen the little island of Inishtrahull. In fine weather it is an interesting excursion in a boat round the Head. The geologist will find much to interest him in the structure of the cliffs, and the sportsman will find shooting to his heart's content. The tourist needs not to be reminded of the influence of weather upon scenery of every kind. Horn Head, under every condition of atmosphere, offers effects of the most striking character. looks most glorious, indeed, when lit up by the beams of the early sun; but no matter at what hour of the day it is seen, no matter at what season, whether in sunshine or in cloud, in calm weather or in rough, the visitor will come away from the Horn -that beetling cliff, hanging some 800 feet above the sea-deeply impressed by the scene.

DUNFANAGHY TO LETTERKENNY.

It

The route now takes a south-easterly direction. On the right is the dark mass of Muckish, on the left, Sheephaven, of which charming views are obtained from different points of the road. At first, skirting the shore, the road passes the Seissagh Lough, a mile from Dunfanaghy, and, traversing hilly ground, touches at the Catholic Chapel of

Clondahorky two miles further on, where a road is given off to the left, leading to Ards House, (A. Stewart, Esq.,) situated on one of the inlets of Sheephaven," which, with its extensive, beautiful woods and adjacent farm, is one of the most desirable places in the north of Ireland. The views, however, from this side of the haven are not so diversified or pleasant as they are from Rosapenna."* A mile and a quarter further on is Creeslough, a small village, situated on an upland between Muckish and the sea, in the neighbourhood of which is Doe Castle, a stronghold of the M'Swines, guarding the most southern inlet of Sheephaven. The fortress of former days is in our own a pleasant mansion, belonging to A. Maddison, Esq. The circular architecture of the keep or prison has preserved its external identity; but, within, the grim visage of the gaoler has given place to the radiant face of the dairy-maid. Instead of a fosse guarded by frowning bastions, the visitor will find a few small pieces of ordnance reposing peacefully on a smiling lawn. It was in this neighbourhood that the famous Owen Roe O'Neil landed from Belgium in 1641. From this point there is a good view over the Sands of Rosapenna, where "a line of coast and country extends from the sea deep into the land. . . . exhi

* Murray.