Author: Short, Bernard
Biography:
SHORT, Bernard (1800?-1842: ancestry.co.uk)
He was from County Armagh, Ireland. Although his birth year is usually given as 1803, it is possible he was born in 1800. A Bernard Short, the son of Patrick Short and his wife Alice (or Alicia) Teran, was baptised on 9 Jan. 1800 in Armagh. A sister, Alice, was born in 1803. He was probably a weaver. The subscription list for Rural and Juvenile Rhymes is extensive but he outdid himself with Rude Rhymes which has over a thousand names listed. One section of Rude Rhymes is dedicated to Preston Fitzgerald (q.v.). A fourth book, The Cottage Harmonist (1840), is listed by O’Donoghue but has not been traced. A death notice described him as “the star of the Armagh peasant’s fire-side.” He died in June 1842 when he attempted to swim while intoxicated. (O’Donoghue; Goodridge; ancestry.co.uk 16 Oct. 2021; Vindicator 15 June 1842)