To John Tyndall, Snr   Wednesday night, Nov. 1841.

Kinsale, Wednesday night. | Nov. 1841.¹

My dear Father

I now sit down to acknowledge the receipt of yours of I dont know what date.² Your last letter surprised me not a little. I thought W.S.³ was likely to remain in obscurity but I find he has been dragged from his lurking place, a connexion having been traced between him and a denizen of the World’s End.⁴

A very trifling circumstance first induced me to trust any of my productions to the mercy of the press Mr Conwill sent me in a letter a couple of extracts from O’Neill’s letter.⁵ With amazement I scanned the bombastic stuff over and over. I then thought of composing a bit of a rhyme to stick at the commencement of my next letter to Mr Conwill. Well I set about it, and when finished the thought struck me that it would have a much better effect in the columns of the Sentinel. I hardly dared to think however that they would consider it worthy of insertion. I packed it off, and was agreeably surprised to see in the Sentinel⁶ for the following week my little satire. The success of this experiment induced me to try my hand again, and the success of my second attempt far exceeded my most sanguine expectations. I received the paper which contained the poetry fresh from the Sentinel office, and the communication you made respecting what Mr Malcomson⁷ said will I think induce me to make a third attempt.

I wonder do the young patriots know the person⁸ they may thank for the whipping they got. I hope not, I would not like the thing to become too public.

I suppose Mr Conwill has told you the reason of my using the letters W.S. Myself and Roberts were coming from Bagnalstown one evening and this side of the old elder bush which stands half way between Bagnalstown and Leighlin we christened ourselves – I was named Walter Snooks and he Sam Weller.⁹ We never called one another by any other name, and the morning Roberts and I parted¹⁰ – and we parted on bad terms – the last words were ‘good bye Walter’ and ‘good bye Sam’. This is the cause of my using the initials W.S. I may here remark that Roberts has got married,¹¹ and in the list of marriages in the Cork and Dublin papers the name of John George Roberts Esq stood prominent. Send me word how everything stands in Leighlin at present. Did my satire cause any sensation among the repealers! I suppose they cursed the author of it. However they are a parcel of gentlemen I care very little about and, as far their abilities, tho’ some of them may have taken out their degrees for aught I know, I’m not at all disposed to quail before them. A poor fellow like me has no reputation to lose, and if by any means the beam of talent should lean on my side, why the literary fame of my opponents is damned for ever. So that I may gain something in the conflict but can lose nothing. This is a drowsy epistle It’s very late and I am half asleep writing it

Your affectionate son | Jack | alias | Snookes

RI MS JT/1/10/3252

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