, but clapped
his thumb upon the blister in order to smooth it down. Now the salmon,
Shorsha, was nearly done, and the flesh thoroughly hot, so Finn's thumb
was scalt, and he, clapping it to his mouth, sucked it, in order to draw
out the pain, and in a moment--hubbuboo!--became imbued with all the
wisdom of the world.'

* * * * *

Here I interrupted the jockey.

'How singular,' said I, 'is the fall and debasement of words; you talk of
a gang, or set, of shorters; you are, perhaps, not aware that gang and
set were, a thousand years ago, only connected with the great and Divine;
they are ancient Norse words, which may be found in the heroic poems of
the north, and in the Edda, a collection of mythologic and heroic songs.
In these poems we read that such and such a king invaded Norway with a
gang of heroes; or so and so, for example, Erik Bloodaxe, was admitted to
the set of gods; but at present gang and set are merely applied to the
vilest of the vile, and the lowest of the low,--we say a gang of thieves
and shorters, or a set of authors. How touching is this debasement of
words in the course of time; it puts me in mind of the decay of old
houses and names. I have known a Mortimer who was a hedger and ditcher,
a Berners who was born in a workhouse, and a descendant of the De Burghs,
who bore the falcon, mending old kettles, and making horse and pony shoes
in a dingle.'

* * * * *

'And who is Jerry Grant?'

Did you never hear of him? that's strange; the whole country is talking
about him; he is a kind of outlaw, rebel, or robber, all three, I dare
say; there's a hundred pounds offered for his head.'

'And where does he live?'

'His proper home, they say, is in the Queen's County, where he has a
band; but he is a strange fellow, fond of wandering about by himself
amidst the bogs and mountains, and living in the old castles;
occasionally he quarters himself in the peasants' houses, who let him do
just as he pleases; he is free of his money, and often does them good
turns, and can be good-humoured enough, so they don't dislike him. Then
he is what they call a fairy man, a person in league with fairies and
spirits, and able to work much harm by supernatural means, on which
account they hold him in great awe; he is, moreover, a mighty strong and
tall fellow. Bagg has seen him.'

'Has he?'

'Yes! and felt him; he too is a strange one. A few days ago he was told
that Grant had been seen hovering about an old