ion. The house stands
rather high, on the extreme southern slope of the Mourne Mountains,
just within the border of the county of Louth and the province of
Leinster. Behind and above the house to the north, the 'mountains'
(moors varying in height from 1,000 to 2,700 feet) stretch for many
miles, enclosing the natural harbour known as Carlingford Lough.
Southwards there is a view across a comparatively level plain as
far as the Wicklow Mountains, just beyond Dublin, and about sixty
miles away. The sea is visible at no great distance on the east,
and on fine days we could always see the Isle of Man, about eighty
miles to the north-east, from any of several hill-tops within an
hour's walk of the house. My father was therefore able to take to
his heart's content the long walks that had always been his
favourite amusement. He also devoted himself with the greatest
enthusiasm to the improvement of the house and grounds. For many
years before the Stracheys' short tenancy it had been unoccupied,
and the grounds--of which there were about seventy acres--were at
first very much overgrown, especially with laurels, which, when
neglected, grow in that country in almost disgusting luxuriance. My
father therefore occupied himself a good deal with amateur
forestry, and became, considering that he first turned his
attention to the subject at the age of forty-six, a rather expert
woodsman. A good deal of tree-felling was necessary, both in the
interest of the trees and for the improvement of the views from the
house and its immediate neighbourhood. My father had a Canadian
axe, given to him by Frederick Gibbs, of which he was extremely
fond, and with which he did a great deal of work. He was never
reduced to cutting down a tree merely for exercise, but always
first satisfied himself with much care that its removal would be an
improvement. Another point in his wood-cutting that I always
admired was that, when the more amusing part of the
operation--which is cutting the tree down--was over, he invariably
took personally his full share of the comparatively uninteresting
work of sawing up the trunk, and disposing in an orderly manner of
the branches. He also took great pains to cut his trees as close to
the ground as possible, so as not to sacrifice the good timber at