25 JANUARY 1902, Page 38

A Corner in Ballybeg. By Nicholas P. Murphy. (John Long.

6s.)—We have here some very pleasantly written stories, full of Irish humour and pathos. There is a wonderful person called Hogan, who appears in several of them. He is a poacher, and has dealings with an illicit still, and is a regular ragamuffin; but he is such a delightful rogue, and has such a pretty gift for humorous repartee, that when he is "had up" before the Bench the Magistrates pay his fines out of their own pockets. One of the funniest stories tells of how he talks to the audience at the door of the public hall when a concert was held in Ballybeg: "` Arrah, John Hegarty, is it only a shillin' ticket ye tuk, an' this concert for the glory an' honour o' God, an' the orgin that's to be put up in the chapel? Och, come now, out wid another shillin'. I won't allow ye to be puttin' a mane look on yerself be welkin' into shillin' sates. It's not what the old stock ye belong to is used to,' " and so on to all his friends.