not
above one shell in a hundred may have a Pearl, and of those Pearls not
above one in a hundred be tolerably clean, yet a vast number of fair
merchantable Pearls, and too good for the apothecary, are offered to
sale by these people every summer assize. Some gentlemen of the country
make good advantage thereof, and myself whilst there, saw one Pearl
bought for £2 10s. that weighed 36 carats, and was valued at £40,
and had it been as clear as some others produced therewith, would
certainly have been very valuable. Everybody abounds with stories of
the good Pennyworths of the country, but I will add but one more : A
miller took out a Pearl which he sold for £4 10s. to a man that sold it for £10, who sold it to the late Lady Glenanly for £30, with whom I saw it in a necklace ; she refused £8o for it from the late Duchess of Ormond."
Thomas
Pennant in his " British Zoology " refers to the Pearls found in the
rivers of Tyrone and Donegal, but he evidently derived most of his
information from Sir R. Redding's paper, to which he adds nothing of
importance.
In
the river Slaney, Co. Wexford, during the summer months when the water
is low, some ten or fifteen men are (or were) in the habit of fishing
for Pearls. They take the mussels from the bed
