DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.70303#0364
334 PATRICK o’bRIEN, THE IRISH GIANT.
Among those with whom Mr. O’Brien is most familiar,
he sometimes relates the following anecdote: travelling
in a carriage, peculiarly adapted to his use, by sinking
the foundation some feet, so as to hold his legs con-
veniently, he was stopped by a highwayman; putting his
head forward to observe the cause that impeded his pro-
gress, the highwayman was struck with such a panic
that he dapped spurs to his horse and made a precipitate
retreat.
It has been asserted, with what degree of truth I can-
not say, that Mr. O’Brien is passionately fond of cards,
and that he eagerly embraces every opportunity that
offers of engaging in that amusement, but that he can-
not bear to lose with patience; not from a principle of
parsimony, but from the disgrace las he conceives it) of
being beat.
The bill which announced his return to London this
year (1804) runs thus ; Just arrived in Town, and to be.
seen in a commodious room, at No. 11, Haymarket,
nearly opposite the Opera House, the celebrated IrishGiant,
Mr. O'Brien, of the Kingdom of Ireland, indisputably
the tallest man ever shown; is a lineal descendant of the
old and puissant King Brien Boreau, and has, in person
and appearance, all the similitudes of that great and
grand potentate. It is remarkable of this family, that
however various the revolutions in point of fortune or
alliance, the lineal descendants thereof, have been favoured,
by Providence zefth the original size and stature zohichhave
been so peculiar to their family.—The gentleman alluded
to measures near Nine Feet High. Admittance One
Shilling-
o .
Mr. O’Brien, when not in London, resides at a house
in Essex, formerly the mansion of a noble family,
but now converted into an inn. This place he ha$
very properly pitched upon for his residence; being
built
Among those with whom Mr. O’Brien is most familiar,
he sometimes relates the following anecdote: travelling
in a carriage, peculiarly adapted to his use, by sinking
the foundation some feet, so as to hold his legs con-
veniently, he was stopped by a highwayman; putting his
head forward to observe the cause that impeded his pro-
gress, the highwayman was struck with such a panic
that he dapped spurs to his horse and made a precipitate
retreat.
It has been asserted, with what degree of truth I can-
not say, that Mr. O’Brien is passionately fond of cards,
and that he eagerly embraces every opportunity that
offers of engaging in that amusement, but that he can-
not bear to lose with patience; not from a principle of
parsimony, but from the disgrace las he conceives it) of
being beat.
The bill which announced his return to London this
year (1804) runs thus ; Just arrived in Town, and to be.
seen in a commodious room, at No. 11, Haymarket,
nearly opposite the Opera House, the celebrated IrishGiant,
Mr. O'Brien, of the Kingdom of Ireland, indisputably
the tallest man ever shown; is a lineal descendant of the
old and puissant King Brien Boreau, and has, in person
and appearance, all the similitudes of that great and
grand potentate. It is remarkable of this family, that
however various the revolutions in point of fortune or
alliance, the lineal descendants thereof, have been favoured,
by Providence zefth the original size and stature zohichhave
been so peculiar to their family.—The gentleman alluded
to measures near Nine Feet High. Admittance One
Shilling-
o .
Mr. O’Brien, when not in London, resides at a house
in Essex, formerly the mansion of a noble family,
but now converted into an inn. This place he ha$
very properly pitched upon for his residence; being
built