Betsy Gray or Hearts of Down: A Tale of Ninety-Eight

More than two centuries after the 1798 rebellion in Ireland the legend of Betsy Gray still refuses to die. The story remains as compelling as ever. In the company of her brother George, and her lover, Willy Boal, she is reputed to have ridden into the Battle of Ballynahinch wearing a green silk dress and brandishing a brightly burnished sword; but who she really was, where she came from, or even if she ever existed at all, are questions of contention yet. Whereas W. G. Lyttle’s novel Betsy Gray, first published in 1888, is not entirely historical, the author was evidently convinced of her identity and that she came from Gransha, near Bangor, County Down. Whatever the truth, his account of events in the area before, during and after the rising, based largely on interviews he conducted with locals whose relatives had suffered in it, continues to grip the imagination today. This new edition includes an introduction to the author and his work, an essay on the legend of Betsy Gray, additional footnotes and a glossary of words used in the dialogue.