_F.R._ of Lavenham, to whom we are indebted for the drawing of
Lavenham Church, informs us that this fine building will shortly undergo a
thorough repair.
* * * * *
FIRE TOWERS AND BELFRIES.
(_To the Editor of the Mirror._)
In No. 333 of the MIRROR, there is an article on the ancient _round
towers_ in Scotland and Ireland, in which it is stated that the said
towers "have puzzled all antiquarians," that they are now generally called
_fire towers_ and that "_they certainly were not belfries_."
I have often thought that antiquarians, and particularly our modern Irish
antiquarians, have affected to be puzzled about what, to the rest of
mankind, must appear to be evident enough; and this for the purpose of
making a parade of their learning, and of astonishing the common reader by
the ingenuity of their speculations.
I think I shall be able to show, that a motive of this kind must have
operated in the case of these _round towers_, otherwise "all the
antiquarians" could not have been so sadly puzzled about what to the rest
of the world appears a very plain matter.
The fact is, that when St. Patrick planted the Christian faith in Ireland,
in the middle of the fifth century, (he died A.
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