Another HV Morton arrived in the mail today, from the UK. This one is entitled In Search of Ireland, and it was published in 1930. Eagerly inspecting the photos, I came across one depicting the town (village?) of Glendalough, a place associated with St. Kevin, one of the patron saints of Ireland. How the world has changed since 1930. I wish I could return to that time, if only to see the places Morton saw before they were ruined by cars, roads, wars, developers and overgrowth. What would this view show us today?
I’ve never had the pleasure of visiting the Emerald Isle, so for now I will content myself with the book. Morton brings to life the places he visits, which explains the fact that this volume is from the 16th printing in 1943. It is not an autograph edition, at least not by the author, but autographed nevertheless, by Lt. L.W.H. Pollard, R.N.R. He must have been proud of his rank, that chap.
In keeping with the design themes that Morton’s books followed, this book is bound in green cloth and has a shamrock cluster embossed on the front cover. How Irish!
I wonder what the girls of Connemara look like today? Ripped jeans, leaning on a Tesla?
Last Christmas I bought my wife a bottle of Glendalough Irish Whiskey, and that is how I learned about St Kevin. History from whiskey bottles. I used to read cereal boxes, but they didn’t have much to teach, and never anything about saints.
Every Morton book of travel includes maps showing where he went. In this case he went all around Ireland, hitting most of the well known spots. Ireland isn’t that large, so I suppose Morton could scarcely have done less travelling and gotten enough material for a book.
Now to finish up reading Morton’s “In The Steps of St Paul”, so I can delve into Ireland of 1930!
nathanguitars 