ting them, for his brother Joseph kept no
copy of the ballad, and he had himself to write it out from memory ten
years after, when the poem appeared in the 'University Magazine.'

Few will deny that this poem contains passages most faithfully, if
fearfully, picturesque, and that it is characterised throughout by
a profound pathos, and an abundant though at times a too grotesquely
incongruous humour. Can we wonder, then, at the immense popularity
with which Samuel Lover recited it in the United States? For to Lover's
admiration of the poem, and his addition of it to his entertainment,
'Shamus O'Brien' owes its introduction into America, where it is now
so popular. Lover added some lines of his own to the poem, made Shamus
emigrate to the States, and set up a public-house. These added lines
appeared in most of the published versions of the poem. But they are
indifferent as verse, and certainly injure the dramatic effect of the
poem.

'Shamus O'Brien' is so generally attributed to Lover (indeed we remember
seeing it advertised for recitation on the occasion of a benefit at a
leading London theatre as 'by Samuel Lover') that it is a satisfaction
to be able to reproduce the following letter upon the subject from Lover
to William le Fanu:

'Astor House,
'New York, U.S. America.
'Sept. 30, 1846.

'My dear Le Fanu,

'In reading over your brother's poem while I crossed the Atlantic,
I became more and more impressed with its great beauty and dramatic
effect--so much so that I determined to test its effect in public, and
have done so here, on my first appearance, with the greatest success.
Now I have no doubt there will be great praises of the poem, and people
will suppose, most likely, that the composition is mine, and as you know
(I take for granted) that I would not wish to wear a borrowed feather, I
should be glad to give your brother's name as the author, should he not
object to have it known; but as his writings are often of so different a
tone, I would not speak without permission to do so. It is true that in
my programme my name is attached to other pieces, and no name appended
to the recitation; so far, you will see, I have done all I could to
avoid "appropriating," the spirit of which I might have caught here,
with Irish aptitude; but I would like to have the means of telling all
whom it may concern the name of the author, to whose head and heart it
does so m