'Lost' collection of Ledwidge writings in print

A 'lost' collection of Francis Ledwidge's writings has been published to mark the centenary of his death in World War I.

The collection of his writings for the Drogheda Independent were compiled with the intention of them being completed on his return from war, which was never to happen. In 1979, while working in the Drogheda Independent, printer Eamonn Matthews rescued the 'staves', the columns in unfinished printed book form, from a skip which was about to go out the gate, and put them in safekeeping – for a while!

He explains: “When the newspaper was finished printing, the columns were then 'chased' and printed in book format each week with the intention of issuing a volume of stories when the series was completed.  'Chasing' is a term used to describe the locking up of moveable type in a metal frame so it can be placed on a printing press and prevented from moving in any direction so the ink and paper can make contact.'

Eamonn continues: “It would appear, with no more instalments being filed to the newspaper, the existing volumes were wrapped in brown paper packages and stored awaiting his return and further contributions to complete the series and so complete the book.â€

Never to happen, the book was shelved as unfinished and for the next 60 odd years rested, undisturbed, on the top floor of the Drogheda Independent offices, covered in pigeon droppings, broken slates, dust and old newspapers, before waiting to be dumped by skip in the municipal dump.

Eamonn, who runs Excel Print on the Fair Green, says: “When I came to Navan in 1981 I brought it with me with the intention of re-printing it in book form.â€

However, in a move of premises in 1990, the manuscript disappeared and wasn't seen again until in late May 1993, a brown envelope was found inside the door of his offices with the rest of the post. 'Legends' had resurfaced and was still in good condition. 

“Over the past 27 years we have tried many times to print this book but events always overtook us. Each time during our growth as a company when we took out the book to work on it we became extremely busy and never got any further than opening and closing the file. 'Legends' seemed to be acting as a charm.â€

'Legends and Stories of the Boyne Side' by Francis E Ledwidge is akin to a tour guide along the Boyne, with the writer's own impressions of the towns and landmarks along the way, combined with a history of the area.

“I take the Boyne as my ribbon, and travel by it from Roch Ramor to the sea, and at the most interesting places I shall tell their stories in chronological order, from legend down to authentic history,†Ledwidge writes.

In the Drogheda Independent of 22nd November 1913, announcing the series, the newspaper says: “We commence publication today of a series of papers  ... from the pen of Mr Francis E Ledwidge, a young writer who gives promise of eminence in the career of literature.â€

The book is almost part memoir, as at the beginning of each chapter, Ledwidge delves into his own experience of an area, before going into the ancient legends and tales associated with Clonard, Trim, Bective, Tara, Kilmessan,  Dunsany, Navan, Donaghmore, the home of his old friend, Mattie McGoona, and onto his home village, Slane.

He's not always complimentary to the towns he passes through, describing Trim as barren and woe begone, and Navan as “the ugliest and the best provincial town I have ever stood in.â€Â 

Poignantly, his journey ended in Slane, on 21st February 1914, with 'to be continued' at the end. 

Only three volumes of Ledwidge's poetry were ever published, two of those posthumously after collection by Lord Dunsany. The Legends and Stories of the Boyne Side is the only known collected prose written by Ledwidge, and the reproduction is available from Eamonn Matthews at Excel Print in Navan, supported by Meath County Council's Heritage Grant Scheme.