The silk worms (brittle beings!) prone to fate, ON GAULSTOWN HOUSE.* BY DR. DELANY. 'TIS so old, and so ugly, and yet so convenient, You're sometimes in pleasure, though often in pain in't, 'Tis so large you may lodge a few friends with ease in't. You may turn and stretch at your length if you please in't; 'Tis so little, the family live in a press in't, And poor lady Betty † has scarce room to dress in't; 'Tis so cold in the winter, you can't bear to lie in't, And so hot in the summer, you're ready to fry in't; In 1721, Dr. Swift, Dr. Delany, Dr. Sheridan, Dr. Stopford, the reverend Dan Jackson, and some other company, spent a great part of the summer at Gaulstown, in the county of Westmeath, the seat of George Rochfort, esq. father to the present earl of Belvidere. Many of the gentlemen assembled in this groupe had a genius for poetry, and a taste for the polite arts. In this retirement they passed their hours very agreeably, and frequently amused themselves with poetical jest and whimsies of the brain, of which some slight specimens are here preserved. N. + Daughter of the earl of Drogheda, and married to George Rochfort, esq. F. "Tis so brittle 'twould scarce bear the weight of a tun, Yet so staunch, that it keeps out a great deal of sun; 'Tis so crazy, the weather with ease beats quite through it, And you're forced every year in some part to renew it; 'Tis so ugly, so useful, so big, and so little, 'Tis so staunch, and so crazy, so strong and so brittle, 'Tis at one time so hot, and another so cold, It is part of the new, and part of the old; It is just half a blessing, and just half a curse- THE COUNTRY LIFE. PART OF A SUMMER SPENT AT GAULSTOWN HOUSE. THE SEAT OF GEORGE ROCHFORT, ESQ. THALIA, tell in sober lays, How George,* Nim,† Dan,‡ Dean, § pass their days; And, should our Gaulstown's art grow fallow, Here (by the way) by Gallus mean I Not Sheridan, but friend Delany. * Mr. Rochfort. F. + His brother, Mr. John Rochfort; who was called Nimrod, from his great attachment to the chase. F. Rev. Daniel Jackson. F. § Dr. Swift. F. Begin, my Muse. First from our bowers At seven the Dean, in night-gown drest, Warn'd by the bell, all folks come trembling t Some from the lake's remotest end; My lord and dean the fire forsake, * A small boat so called. F. †The Dean has been censured, on an idle supposition of this passage being an allusion to the day of judgment. F. Mr. Rochfort's father was lord chief baron of the exchequer in Ireland. F. Now Now water's brought, and dinner's done! And this must pass for reading Hamond- * The weary Dean goes to his chamber; I might have mention'd several facts, For brevity I have retrench'd How in the lake the Dean was drench'd: How valiant George rode o'er the Dragon; And sav'd his oar, but lost his hat: How Nim (no hunter e'er could match him) How fortune fails him when he sets; * See the Dean's letter to Mr. Cope, Oct. 9, 1722. N. And |