Published for the first, and (until now) only, time in 1693, this novel is set in Ireland immediately after the Battle of the Boyne, and describes the courtship of a young lady of Clonmel by a prince, who is on his way to take up a post in Limerick. The story is humorous and engaging. As the editor points out, its interest lies not only in it calling itself `A Novel', but that it may well have been known to Samuel Richardson, and influenced his Pamela (itself subtitled Virtue Rewarded), published fifty years later. This work can lay claim to being the first Irish novel ever published - certainly the earliest that is extant, and as such will be of interest to all students of literature in the English language.
