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The life of Oliver Goldsmith, M. B. (1837)
The life of Oliver Goldsmith M B - 1837 Author:James Prior Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II. Adventure at Ardagh.—Rev. Mr. Contarine.—Entry into Trinity College, Dublin. —Letter of the Rev. Dr. Wilson, his tutor.—Ballad writing. His sch... more »ool vacations were frequently spent in the town of Bally- mahon, where, many years afterwards, a few of his boyish tricks were remembered. " It is now about forty years," says the Rev. John Graham in a communication to the present writer, " since one of the directors of the sports of Ballymanon, Jack Fitzsimmons, an old man, who had experienced many vicissitudes and then kept the ball court, frequently amused us with stories of, as he termed him and as he was usually called when a boy, Noll Goldsmith. One of them, I remember, related to a depredation on the orchard of Tirlicken, adjoining the old mansion of that name now in ruins, then the property and residence of part of Lord Annaly's family. In this adventure, which he detailed minutely, both were engaged: detection, however, either at the moment or soon afterwards, ensued; and, had it not been for the respectability of Goldsmith's connexions, which secured immunity also to his companions, the consequences might have been unpleasant. This story, although it may seem likeia different version of the deer-stealing of Shakspeare, I had no reason to disbelieve; the matter is common enough to most school-boys in the country ; and poor Jack knew no more of the history of Shakspeare than of Homer. Several other notices of the poet from the same source have now escaped my recollection; the impression, however, remains, that he was as thoughtless as other boys of the same age, and as easily led into scrapes by his companions." An amusing adventure, which occurred in the last journey from home to Edgeworthstown school, is believed to have given birth to the chief incident in...« less