from the beginning, by able and useful men. It is of these Irish settlers in America, this book is written; and, while looking over its brief chapters, I cannot suppress a sigh, that much greater books have been written of men who did not deserve the honor one half so well.

The following pages, dear reader, were filled up after many interruptions and under many distractions; therefore, have mercy in your judgment of the work. I venture it into print with the hope that the whole subject may come, ere long, under the hands of a master, who can make of it a story both Europe and America would love to listen to.

Boston, Saint Patrick's Day, 1851.

A HISTORY

OF THE

IRISH SETTLERS IN NORTH AMERICA.

CHAPTER I.

THE LEGEND OF GREAT IRELAND" AND OF SAINT BRANDAN

NORWEGIAN

ACCOUNT-IRISH ACCOUNT — ITALIAN AND SPANISH ACCOUNTS.

It is uncertain whether Christopher Columbus was the first European who saw America. A general tradition of its existence was widely received before his birth, and we cannot reject, as entirely incredible, the repeated allusions to this tradition, contained in the early chronicles of the northern nations of the old world. To the Genoese belongs the glory of disenchanting the Ocean, — of bringing two hemispheres into contact separated from the beginning, of leaving a land of refuge accessible to humanity, and of opening the history of its population, by one of the most glorious examples of patience, fortitude, and courage, ever exhibited by man. Who could wish his glory greater or less?

The Scandinavians count three several precursors of Columbus-Ari Marson, whose voyage took place in 983; Biorn, a later adventurer, and Gudlief, son of Gudlang, who, towards the middle of the 11th century, followed the track of, and conversed with, Biorn, in Huitramannaland, or Irland it Mikla, beyond the Atlantic. The account of Ari in the Landnamabock is short, but perfectly intelligible. It says:

Ulf the Squinter, son of Hogni the White, occupied the whole of Reykiqness, (south-west promontory of Ice

land,) between Thorskafiord and Hafrafell. He had a wife named Biorg, the daughter of Eyvind the Eastcountryman. They had a son named Atili the Red, who married Thorkotu, daughter of Hergil. They had a son named Ari, who was driven by a tempest to Huitramannaland, (white man's land,) which some call Irland it Mikla, (Great Ireland,) which lies in the western ocean, near to Vinland the Good, west from Ireland," — by a number of days' sail, which is uncertain, some error having crept into the original in these figures. "Ari was

not permitted to depart, but was baptized there."

Of the second and third voyages, the same Landnamabock (compiled in the 13th century) relates:

"So Rafn, the Limerick merchant, first stated, who lived for a long time in Limerick, in Ireland." Rafn was kinsman to Ari Marson, and lived at the beginning or middle of the eleventh century. "So also Thorkel, the son of Geller, (grandson of Ari Marson,) says that certain Icelanders stated, who heard Thorfinn, Jarl of the Orkneys,' - also kinsman to Ari Marson, and born 1008, died 1064,"relate that Ari had been seen and known in Huitramannaland, and that, although not suffered to depart thence, he was there held in great honor.

"Ari had a wife named Thorgerd, daughter of Alf of Dolum. Their sons were Thorgils, Gudlief, and Illugi; which is the family of Reykianess." Then follows a passage which shows that Eirck the Red was connected with the family of this Ari Marson, and which it may not be amiss to repeat, as all these historical allusions afford corroboration of the authenticity of different narratives. "Jorund was the son of Ulf the Squinter. He married Thobíorg Knarrarbring. They had a daughter, Thjodhild, whom Eirck the Red married. They had a son, Leif the Lucky, of Greenland." It is worthy of remark, that the writer of this account was Ari the Learned, born 1067, who flourished at the end of the eleventh century, and who therefore lived within a century after Ari Marson's departure from Ireland. He was immediately descended from Ari Marson,

and would, of course, be anxious and careful to obtain the most accurate accounts of his ancestors. It is to be observed the situation of Huitramannaland is here stated, "In the western ocean near Vinland, and west of Ireland." It points, of necessity, to that portion of the country now known as the midland or southern States of the Union.*

The Irland it Mikla, or Great Ireland, is frequently alluded to in the Northern Sagas. They describe the route towards it, from the North of Europe, thus:

"To the South of habitable Greenland there are uninhabited and wild tracts, and enormous icebergs. The country of the Skrælings lies beyond these; Markland beyond this, and Vinland the Good beyond the last. Next to this, and something beyond it, lies Albania, that is, Huitramannaland, whither, formerly, vessels came from Ireland. There, several Irishmen and Icelanders saw and recognized Ari, the son of Mar and Kotlu, of Reykianess, concerning whom nothing had been heard for a long time, and who had been made their chief by the inhabitants of the land."

In this vague sketch, modern antiquarians have labored hard, and not unsuccessfully, to identify the country of the Skrælings as the Esquimaux coast, Markland as Labrador, Vinland as New England, and Huitramannaland as the country "further southward, beyond the Chesapeake Bay."+

"The Skrælinger," says Humboldt, "related to the Northmen settled in Vinland, that further southward, beyond the Chesapeake Bay, there dwelt white men, who clothed themselves in long, white garments, carried before them poles to which clothes were attached, and called with a loud voice.' This account was interpreted, by the Christian Northmen, to indicate processions in which banners were borne accompanied by singing. In the oldest Sagas, the historical narrations of Thorfinn

* Smith's "Northmen in New England." Boston: Hilliard & Grey, 1839. Humboldt's "Cosmos."

Karlsefne, and the Icelandic Landnammabock, these southern coasts, lying between Virginia and Florida, are designated under the name of the Land of the White Men. They are expressly called Great Ireland, (Irland it Mikla,) and it is maintained that they were peopled by the Irish. According to testimonies which extend to 1064, before Lief discovered Vinland, and probably about the year 982, Ari Marson, of the powerful Icelandic race of Ulf the Squint-eyed, was driven in a voyage from Iceland to the South, by storms, on the coast of the Land of the White Men, and there baptized in the Christian faith; and, not being allowed to depart, was recognized by men from the Orkney Islands and Iceland." *

The volumes in which these corroborative accounts are recorded were compiled in the North, three centuries before the birth of Columbus, and, evidently, represent the then prevailing belief in a "Great Ireland" beyond the western sea.

The Irish Annals themselves make special mention of the same fact. They credit the first voyage westward to Saint Brandan, patron of Clonfert and Ardfert on the south-west coast. It is recorded that he flourished from the year A. D. 550 till the beginning of the following century, and that his voyages in search of the promised land, were two; after which he returned no more. The precise point of departure, -"the foot of Brandon Mountain," now Tralee Bay, -is stated; his sea store consisted of live swine, his companions of monks, and his first voyage, of course, abounded in adventures. The dates in these legends are well fixed, whatever else may be dubious; and we do not feel at liberty to reject facts which an Usher and a Humboldt long pondered over, and, at last, set down with reverence.†

The voyages of Saint Brandan were received traditions in France, the Netherlands, Spain, and Italy, soon after the Northern Chroniclers had written their memoranda

*Humboldt's "Cosmos," vol. i.

tUsher's Antiq. of British Churches; Usher's Epistles of the Irish Saints.