some eatables and very weak small beer, he left behind on the table at his departure, a slip of paper, with

Your ale to make small beer next akin,

Is like yourself, sour, spiritless and thin.

The apprehension of his satirical pen was so great, that tradition says a propitiatory fat sheep was sent to him the following day. The Battle of Chaunters loses something of its point at this distance of time, from the characters being almost unknown to the present generation; but sufficient I imagine remains to place his talent for genuine humour on such high ground, as none since his day could reach. The petition of Cornelius O'Clammughan is founded on a humorous fact of the day, and also loses something by time; but enough remains to shew the rich mine from which it was attracted. There are many other things of the same author floating about the country, that escaped my research, particularly another battle of the chaunters between two other pipers at a much later period, of which I have not been able to procure a copy.

It would be unpardonable to omit mentioning Cormac Common, celebrated by the elegant pen of Mr. Walker in his Irish Bards, as probably the last of the order of minstrels called Tale-tellers.

He died at Sorreltown near Dunmore, in the county of Galway, where he lived with one of his daughters. "It was in singing some of our native airs that he displayed the powers of his voice; on these occasions. his auditors were always enraptured. I have been assured that no singer ever did Carolan's airs or Ossian's celebrated hunting song more justice than Cormac. His musical powers were not confined to his voice; he composed a few airs, one of which Mr. Ousley thinks

extremely sweet. It is to be feared those musical effusions will die with their author." "But it was in poetry that Cormac delighted to exercise his genius. He has composed several songs and elegies, which have met with applause. As his muse was generally awakened by the call of gratitude, his poetical productions are mostly panegyrical or elegiac; they extol the living or lament the dead. Sometime he indulged in satire, but not often, though indued with a rich vein of that dangerous gift." His moral character was unstained; his person was large and muscular.

MR. KNIGHT'S DIRECTIONS FOR MAKING CIDER.

"THE merit of cider will always depend on the proper separation of the fruits: those only whose fruit is yellow or yellow mixed with red, are proper to make the fine cider; those whose flesh and rind are green are very inferior. The fruit should remain on the tree until a slight shake will disengage them from the tree. Each kind should be kept separate in layers eight or ten inches thick, exposed to the sun and air, and not pressed until they are perfectly mellow without being decayed. Except the fruit can be exposed to a free current of air, they had better not be put under cover; but where this can be effected it is an improvement. Fruit improves as long as it continues to increase in colour without decaying, and before grind ing they should be carefully examined, and any green or decayed fruit carefully separated from them; this will not only greatly improve the flavour of the cider, but prevent too great a degree of fermentation. Each

kind of fruit should be ground separately, or mixed only with such as become ripe at the same time. By a judicious mixture of fruits, the requisite qualities of richness, astringency, and flavour are obtained; which seldom can be had from one kind. In grinding, the fruit should be so reduced that the rind and kernels should be scarcely discernable. In such a complete mixture, it seems probable that new elective attractions will be exerted, and compounds formed, which did not exist previously to the fruit being placed under the roller. The process of slow grinding, with free access of air, giving the cider good qualities it did not possess before, probably by the absorption of oxygen. To procure very fine cider, the fruit should be ground and pressed imperfectly, and the pulp spread as thin as possible, exposed to the air, and frequently turned during twenty-four hours, to obtain as large an absorption of air as possible. The pulp should be ground again, and the liquor formerly expressed added to it, by which the liquor will require an increase of strength and richness. Whilst fermentation is proceeding the casks should be kept in the open air, or in airy sheds, and racked when it becomes clear; before this it is useless to rack, as the fermentation begins again. The The instant fermentation stops, which may be known by the clearness of the liquor, it should be drawn off into a clear cask, and the lees put into flannel bags, the clear liquor from those should be returned to the cask; but it must have great attention paid to it that it has not the least tendency to become acetous, which it will frequently do in forty-eight hours; if so it must on no account be added to the cider in the cask. If the cider after being racked remains bright and quiet, nothing more is to be done until spring; but if a scum collects on the surface, it must immediately be racked

In

off into another cask; as this would produce bad effects if suffered to sink. If a disposition to ferment with violence again appears, it will be necessary to rack off from one cask to another as often as a hissing noise is heard. When cider is not disposed to ferment, it is probable that a small quantity of yeast or the lees of good cider will produce that effect, which is desireable before the commencement of cold weather. April the cider should be racked into the casks in which it is to remain. They should be previously well scalded and dried, and filled nearly to the bung, and stopped closely if all danger of fermentation is over, but not so tightly as to endanger the casks in case of a renewed fermentation. Cider, which has been made from good fruits and properly manufactured, will retain a considerable portion of sweetness in the cask for three or four years. It is usually in the best state to be bottled at two years old, when it will become brisk and sparkling, and if it possesses much richness will remain with scarcely any change for twenty or thirty years if well corked. The specific gravity of the juice of any apple recently expressed, indicates with very considerable accuracy the strength of the future cider."

Every person knows that few if any of those directions are observed in the county of Galway, therefore the cider is very inferior,

FINIS.