She is represented in a dignified manner, and shows the artistic embellishment brought by artists who represented Ireland. The aesthetic norms of the nineteenth century are visible in the illustrations and the text, because the Halls extensively used the genre of the picturesque to characterise the country. These glasses were named after the famous painter Claude Lorrain whose canvasses were cited as examples of the picturesque. One may even wonder if Anna Maria herself was not this kind of traveller, for a few references show that she brought pencils, sketch books and paper knives during her tours, and that some of her own sketches were improved by professional artists before being published in the volumes under the name of the artist vol.
Beyond middle-class tourists, the Halls addressed artists and picturesque lovers, as is showed by several apostrophes. Balmire, From the outset, Gilpin asserts the main characteristic of the genre: ruins. Tipperary, depicted in the second volume [Figure 10]. So one may wonder to what extent the Halls drew their illustrations from other works, though the picturesque representation of the Abbey of Holy Cross seems to be original. According to Jackson, such picturesque descriptions are necessary to make a travel narrative lively, and he defines a typical picturesque view in these words:.
The traveller, seated on some lofty eminence, discovers a vast horizon. Here the sea—a port—a city rising in form of an amphitheatre, and crowned with a citadel; there a range of hills, rising in succession, displaying at intervals its loftiest peaks; at his feet, a river winding through the valley, fertilizing its meadows, and impelling its mills; on his right a ruined castle; on his left an awful precipice and a roaring torrent, and behind, another valley spreading in faint perspective Jackson The genre is visible in the illustrations, as well as in the text, as a great number of descriptions use the notion.
All these techniques emphasise the beauty of the Irish scenery: for the Halls, it is unsurpassable. This is made conspicuous when the authors fail to render the attraction of the scene, and hand it over to a poet. A poem of , written by J. Callanan who was born in Cork, is then reproduced entirely. Many other poets are also quoted in the volumes: the lines of Spenser, for instance, are often resorted to vol.
This aspect is somehow missing in the engravings in black and white, and many illustrations tend to be rather dark. As a consequence, the superimposition of darkness and ruins verge on the gothic, a style which is closely linked to the picturesque. Fred Botting defined shadows as a typical feature of the genre:. Shadows […] were among the foremost characteristics of Gothic works. They marked the limits necessary to the constitution of an enlightened world and delineated the limitations of neoclassical perceptions.
Darkness, metaphorically, threatened the light of reason with what it did not know.
Gloom cast perceptions of formal order and unified design into obscurity; its uncertainty generated both a sense of mystery, and passions and emotions alien to reason. A play of light reveals and hides the outline of the mansion in the background, and a sense of mystery is derived from the pale moonlight figure With this word of caution, the reader is introduced to the strange character of the supernatural creature, from page to Figure 13b: The music score of the Banshee's lament, Hall , vol.
Whenever the death of a member of her family is imminent, she manifests herself with a loud and beautiful lament. The textual definition is emphasised by an illustration on page , and by a music score figure The etching is the work of the English artist John Bell who was specialised in outline designs Bynion, vol.
Three different stories about this unnatural phenomenon are related in a footnote, and the second is typical of the gothic genre, so that it may be quoted extensively:. A short time before the arrival of the first Newfoundland trader [her husband] the anxious wife was disturbed several successive nights by strange noises in her bedroom; and once or twice she was crossed in the passage to her room by a light shadowy figure of indistinct perceptibility, and many of the neighbours said they had heard dismal wailings round the house, though they were never heard by any of the inmates […]. One night while in that state when the heaviness of sleep is creeping over the senses […], she was startled by the figure of a man leaning over her in the bed.
She started up; the figure receded and passed out at the door which she had locked previously to her going to rest. She started out of bed, and, with a courage she could no way account for, followed the intruder to the door, which she found locked as she had left it. Her father and mother slept in the adjoining room, and she resolved to arouse them; but on opening the door she saw a female figure with long dishevelled hair, and wrapped in a shroud or winding-sheet, sitting at the back window, who uttered three long and dismal cries of lamentation, and disappeared.
Her horror was indescribable; she had power sufficient to enter the room of her parents and fainted away. Being far advanced in pregnancy, she was taken in premature labour, and herself and infant fell victims to her fright. She survived long enough to be sensible of the loss of her husband, the Betsey having foundered off the coast of Dungarvan, where he, with two more of the crew, perished vol. The story is likely to thrill the reader, as all the features of the gothic are there.
The introduction adds drama to the scene: the young husband is the last heir of the family. In addition, the vocabulary creates an atmosphere of danger. Furthermore, the passage is touched with doubt and uncertainty. The senses are deceived by darkness. Obviously, the gloomy apparition is of ill omen. As the Halls associated Ireland with gothic legends, they confirmed the myth according to which the country was marked by supernatural phenomena. Stereotypes are used to confirm what the readers already know, and therefore to conform to their expectations Mitchell.
As noted by Williams:. The tourist-native relationship is built on the perception of types […]. Strangers to each other, hosts and guests both resort to the shorthand of stereotyping. Stereotypes are always more likely to be confirmed than contradicted, since tourists know what to look for. Williams On the contrary, finding a confirmation of their pre-conceived ideas could flatter Victorian readers and reinforce their sense of intellectual superiority, just like the various anecdotes related by the volumes. The depiction of the coast near Ross-Carbery is a chance to show the bold attitudes of the authors as they visit the house of a smuggler and accompany him on one of his perilous trips to unload a merchant ship.
Soon, the writers reach the boat and meet her captain when an unexpected incident disrupts their observations:. The crew had been resting for a few minutes, and singing with a careless air; but their voices lowered and their words half smothered. The reason was soon ascertained. Rounding the point, still at a distance, and dimly seen by the uncertain light, a sail was discerned approaching the lugger. We can remember, even now, our awkward sensations on the occasion; apprehensive that we might have to pay a frightful penalty for our curiosity […]; we had no means of returning to land, and were compelled to share the destiny of our comrades of the moment, whatever that destiny might be; the easiest, perhaps, a trip to Holland vol.
The text undeniably displays literary qualities; the voice of the guides becomes that of a narrator and gives the impression that we are reading a novel, rather than a guidebook. The acute description of the adventure makes the reader hold his breath, and the rhythm of the passage helps to arouse suspense.
These literary techniques accentuate the pleasure of reading, and the reader becomes more and more affected by the scenes represented. Many moving tales are mentioned as soon as the authors meet the locals, who apparently have many sad stories to tell. Amongst others, the life of Catherine Gallagher is an interesting account of the situation of Irish servants reported by the Halls.
When the family loses their wealth, the young nurse offers to stay with them unpaid, and to delay the date of her marriage, for the love of the children. The Halls draw a conclusion from this happy ending: the mother is rewarded for her sensible choice. The anecdote is used to make a point about the relationships between masters and servants.
The story works as a medieval exemplum , because the tale is given to illustrate a moral issue:. We write of the middle class, and a step below them; and we say, that until they treat their servants better, and pay them better, they cannot have decent servants. Our domestic comfort, here and everywhere, depends on our servants; and surely it is worth while to consider how we can best obtain that comfort vol.
It is made all the more poignant as the illustration of this rule is imbued with pathos. A detailed relation, including the words of the main characters, plunges the reader into this domestic scene:. Mrs L. We quote Mrs L.
Richard Alfred Davenport
The moving example of this faithful servant serves to restore the dignity of the Irish population. At the same time, it debunks English prejudices, since at that time, many English households systematically rejected the applications of Irish servants whenever they wanted to hire a new domestic. Several other passages, like a worried account of a tragic eviction witnessed by the authors in volume 2 , are explicitly made to move the reader, in order to improve the predicament of the Irish poor that the authors perceive with sympathy, even if it is often condescending. Pathos is often linked to moral indignation in the volumes.
The land and its people are gradually associated through this theme. The authors want to reassure future tourists: if they come to the Sister-Isle, they will not meet a crowd of barbarous characters, as was the common stereotype of these days. To contradict this anti-Irish prejudice, the Halls insist on the splendid landscape, and on the benevolent character of Irish women insofar as, at the time, women were supposed to be the keepers of morality. In fact, the passage should be attributed to Anna Maria rather than to Samuel Carter Hall, given that it possesses common features with other female writers of travel narratives.
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The relation of everyday scenes is often located in the private sphere, as is the case in the tale of the Banshee. A sense of intimacy pervades the text, and defines the relationship which, over the pages, is gradually built between the reader and the narrator.
Philippe Lejeune defined autobiography according to the peculiar relationship which is created between an autobiographer and his reader. Contrary to any author of fiction, an autobiographer requires his reader to believe him, to accept the narrated events as pieces of truth, and to be lenient Lejeune. In this perspective, Anna Maria adopts an autobiographical stance.
A sense of love and loss pervades the text as she describes the place and the people who used to live there. As was often the case, the personal was related by the female author, while the man was given the authoritative voice. But this seems to have been an illusion of power or intellectual superiority willingly cultivated by Anna Maria.
Glances Back trough Seventy Years. The Independent Review September , quoted by Morris, Whereas Samuel Carter must be the author of the topographical parts of the volumes, it is to Anna Maria that we owe the detailed anecdotes which thrill, frighten, or move the reader.
The three volumes indicate to travellers the attractions that they should not miss, the best places to stay and the most interesting routes to follow. They even tell where to buy the best souvenirs. Like many other travel writers visiting Ireland, the Halls had an ideological purpose: to justify the Union between Ireland and Great Britain. As Protestants and Unionists, the authors frequently adopt a patronizing stance 24 which leads them to compare the country and its inhabitants to Great Britain. However, as they were both born in Ireland, their perception of the Irish land is paradoxically torn between their love for this island, and their desire to make it more British.
This is why they insist on the potential wealth of the country, as well as its progress, especially as far as roads and means of transport are concerned. The originality of their work is to adorn their personal point of view with a scientific varnish, including the extensive use of footnotes or official documents.
Their rich bibliography is presented as evidence of their scientific methods and intellectual neutrality, just as their synthesis of historical debates. This scientific perspective is further enriched by the use of well-known references, which allowed their British readers to feel familiar with this foreign country. For example, the Halls resorted to a habit which was well-established among the British writers who published an account of their journeys from the end of the eighteenth century to the s: the use of the picturesque. This aesthetic category allowed them to enhance the beauty of the Irish scenery.
Besides, the numerous anecdotes which take place in such landscapes give a literary quality to the book.