Excerpt from Early English Poetry, Ballads, Vol. 13: And Popular Literature of the Middle Ages; Edited From Original Manuscripts and Scarce Publication Mr. Beauford, in a communication to the Royal Irish Academy, published in the 4th volume of the Transactions of that Society, justly observes, that the modes of lamentation, and the expres sions of grief by sounds, gestures, and ceremonies, admit of an almost infinite variety; so far as these are common to most people, they have Very little to attract attention; but where they consti tute a part of national character, they then be come objects of no incurious speculation. The Irish, continues that gentleman, have been always remarkable for their funeral lamentations, and this peculiarity has been noticed by almost every traveller who visited them and he adds that it has been affirmed of the Irish that to cry was more natural to them than to any other nation, and at length the Irish cry became pro' About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.