Here the Irish experience is refracted through images drawn from different parts of the Northern European experience, and the idea of the north allows the poet to contemplate the violence on his home ground in relation to memories of the Scandinavian and English invasions which have marked Irish history so indelibly.

    Full of wry humour, Kavanagh's unsentimental and evocative account of his Irish rural upbringing describes a patriarchal society surviving on the edge of poverty, sustained by the land and an insatiable love of gossip. There are tales of schoolboy skirmishes, blackberrying and night-time salmon-poaching; of country-weddings and fairs, of political banditry and religious pilgrimages; and of farm-work in the fields and kicking mares.

    Ireland: a terrible beauty ; the story of Ireland today (1970's during the time of the Troubles) with 388 photographs, including 108 in full color, 213 pages.

    . . . This book is most impressive and can be recommended for any level of adult audience."--"Choice" "A beautifully written exploration of a vanishing holiday ritual that can be traced back to the dramas of the sixteenth century and beyond." --"Philadelphia Inquirer" "An excellent book recommended both to the student of literature and the general reader interested in folklore."--"Irish Echo" "A magnificently comprehensive book. . . . Whether you are a mumming or Wran Boy enthusiast or not, this beautifully produced book will take you into a world of suspended reality, gone, but not quite."--"Books Ireland" "Glassie has captured the authentic tang of the Ulster countryman's speech, laconic with surprising shots of hyperbole. . . . A beautifully produced book."--"Irish Independent" For the general reader as for the folklorist, this is a fascinating, vivid, and sensitive account that, through its portraits of individuals and of a community, offers a unique insight into a folk custom of the Christmas season. Henry Glassie is College Professor of Folklore at Indiana University. He is the author of "Art and Life in Bangladesh," "Irish Folktales," "The Spirit of Folk Art," and "Pattern in the Material Folk Culture of the Eastern United States," which is also available from the University of Pennsylvania Press. 1976 224 pages 6 x 9 1/4 27 illus. ISBN 978-0-8122-1139-9 Paper $24.95s 16.50 World Rights Anthropology, Cultural Studies