Lady Jane Wilde, born Jane Francesca Elgee in 1821 in Wexford, was an Irish poet who enthusiastically embraced nationalism and wrote under the pen name 'Sperenza'. She wrote not only rousing, patriotic verse but revolutionary prose during the 1840s and was quoted as saying, For my family was Protestant and Conservative, and there was no social intercourse between them and the Catholics and Nationalists. But once I had caught the national spirit the literature of Irish songs and sufferings had an enthralling interest for me. Then it was that I discovered that I could write poetry. In sending my verses to the editor of 'The Nation' I dared not have my name published so I signed then 'Sperenza'... After her marriage in 1851 to William Wilde (later knighted as "Sir William"), she became a socialite, leader of fashion -- and the mother of three children including playwright Oscar Wilde! Lady Jane had a special interest in Irish Fairy Tales and helped to gather and publish them into a collection entitled Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland in about 1888. She thought it important to conserve this important cultural resource. Transcribers and translators went out into the countryside to hear and record the stories of Irish peasantry; these "sketches of the Irish past" were the result. Lady Jane's charming collection can be read online at: http://www.libraryireland.com/AncientLegendsSuperstitions/Contents.php Blog-reader Fern finds such fun spots on the Internet, and we appreciate her sharing them with us.