[Printed pamphlet poem with note by ‘A. H. M.’, i.e. Alfred H. Mayhew, bookseller at 56 Charing Cross Road, London.] St. Patrick’s Breastplate [Adapted by Katherine M. Buck]. ['Made for the Wayland-Dietrich Saga'.]

Five copies listed on JISC. Now scarce. 8pp, 16mo. Stitched pamphlet, on good wove paper. In fair condition, lightly aged, with small closed tear at head of first leaf. First two leaves with light crease. Enfolded in ‘wallet’ of the same paper, repeating the title on the front (differently positioned), and also giving the price as sixpence. The poem, covering pp.2-7, is in small print, and the first stanza reads: ‘I bind upon myself to-day / The Strength of the Holy Trinity: / That mighty Breastplate be my Stay! / I here invoke . . . I here confess . . . / The Three in One, the One in Three! / Creator! Judge! Wilt Thou not bless?’ On the final page, above Mayhew’s device and the slug, is a fifteen-line note by ‘A. H. M.’, including the following: ‘The foregoing adaptation is based upon prose translations by Dr. Todd and Dr. Whitley Stokes, and a comparison with the Ancient Irish Text. Though made for the “Wayland-Dietrich Saga” it is felt that a separate impression may not be unacceptable.’ Nearly a century later, there is still a bookshop on the same site, one of the few to survive the decline of the Charing Cross Road.