Drawn byl ICeo. Morroiv 
 
 "We pushed our hats as'de, peeped over and saw an old 
 stag, a younger one, and a doe " 
 
WILD SPORTS OF 
 THE WEST 
 
 BY Wr Hr MAXWELLVv/" 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION 
 BY THE RT. HON. THE EARL 
 OF DUNRAVEN K.P., P.C., C.M.G 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY 
 
 PUBI.ISHERS 
 
 iiOSTON COLLEGE UBRaHY 
 CBKsi'biirr HiTT „,.„„ 
 
# 
 
 Printed by The 
 
 Educationai, Company 
 
 OE Ireland I,imited 
 
 at The TAI.BOT Press 
 
 Dubinin 
 
 3 
 
 ¥^V 
 
3K \^1 
 
 PREFATORY NOTE. 
 
 William Hamilton Maxwell (1792- 1850) born at 
 Newry, County Down, was the son of James Maxwell, 
 of the Maxwells of Nithsdale. His mother was the 
 daughter of William Hamilton of good family. He 
 entered Trinity College, Dublin, at the age of 15, and 
 graduated there with distinction, and afterwards served 
 in the Peninsular Campaigns and at Waterloo, as a Captain 
 in the 88th Regiment. 
 
 On the disbanding of the forces, he returned to Newry 
 and spent some years desultorily, reading, hunting and 
 shooting, and got into money difficulties, but mended 
 his fortune by marriage and took holy orders, obtaining 
 the living of Ballagli, in Connemara, a place without a 
 congregation, but full of game. 
 
 Here he v/rote his first novel, " O'Hara " ; *" Wild 
 Sports of the West," praised by Professor Wilson in 
 
 Noctes Ambrosianae " as the work of a true sportsman ; 
 " Stories of Waterloo," his best known work ; a " Life 
 of the Duke of Wellington," repeatedly reprinted ; "A 
 History ot the Rebellion in 1798"; and was also the 
 author of a variety ot sketches and novels chiefly on 
 sporting and mihtary subjects, and many magazine 
 articles It may be said of him that if Maginn's 
 " O'Doherty " suggested the Irish military novel. 
 Maxwell anticipated his friend and admirer, Charles 
 Lever, in this literary direction. 
 
 In appearance Maxwell was tali and good-looking, 
 a brilliant conversationalist, and an agreeable host and 
 guest 
 
 But he made no provision for the future, and after 
 spending several years in ill-health and distress, retired 
 to Musselburgh, near Edinburgh, where he died on 
 29th December, 1 850. ^ 4 cJ 4 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Chapter I. — Autobiography j 
 
 Chapter II. — Connaught 
 
 Chapter III. — Journey Continued ^3 
 
 Chapter IV. — The Mad Major ,,, 22 
 
 Chapter V. — Progress into Terra Incognita 28 
 
 Chapter VI. — Hooking my first Salmon ^. 
 
 Chapter VII.— The Blind Seal ^o 
 
 Chapter VIII. — Piscatory Disquisitions .3 
 
 Chapter IX. — Sporting Topography of Mayo e. 
 
 Chapter X. — Salmon Fishing Described 5^ 
 
 Chapter XL — Preparations for Mullet Fishing 5« 
 
 Chapter XII. — ^Fish Found in Mayo -5 
 
 Chapter XIII. — Grouse Shooting g- 
 
 Chapter XIV. — The Otter-Hunter's History gj 
 
 Chapter XV. — Red Deer gq 
 
 Chapter XVI. — A Blank Fishing Day jo^ 
 
 Chapter XVII. — Visiting Achil jj^ 
 
 Chapter XVIII.— The E)agle's CUff 123 
 
 Chapter XIX. — Signs of Fish .,. j^S 
 
 Chapter XX.— The Colonel's Story i^g 
 
 Chapter XXI. — A Brave Resistance i52 
 
VI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 that but for this book the vivacious works of Miss 
 Somerville and " Martin Ross " — to say nothing of 
 Miss Jane Barlow and Cannon Hannay — might never 
 have been written. But he is to a certain extent, their 
 forerunner ; and, to a still greater degree, his book is 
 the forerunner of such stories as '* Handy Andy," 
 " Harry Lorrequer," and *' Castle Rackrent." And, 
 indeed, as pointed out in the preface. Lever drew from 
 personal intercourse with him, as well as from a full 
 acquaintance with his Irish writings, the desire to follow 
 him in the same field of fiction. 
 
 One great advantage of the book is that it is written 
 from the outside point of view — the standpoint of an 
 intelligent Anglo-Irishman educated at Trinity College, 
 Dublin, and that the author visited Connaught much 
 as an explorer might visit a newly- discovered savage 
 island. We hear too much, perhaps, of the value of 
 observations written from the inside. These are, 
 strictly speaking, not observations at all, but expo- 
 sitions ; and although they have their place in pro- 
 viding the material from which full knowledge of a 
 subject must be derived, it is the outsider who really 
 sees a thing as a whole, in its truest proportions and 
 in reasonable relationship to the rest of the world 
 
 It is obvious that our author has but a very external 
 knowledge of the Connemara people of his day. He 
 did not know their thoughts, and might, perhaps, have 
 been surprised if he could have learned their view of 
 him. To him they were just the natives of the place, 
 
INTRODUCTION, VU 
 
 and their ways and habits were of small importance 
 compared with those of salmon, grouse, snipe, and the 
 red deer. But he tells us what he saw, and a good deal 
 of what he heard ; his narrative, so far as is possible 
 for a writer of the period, is a straightforward one, and 
 has the intrinsic value of every document which sets 
 forth a piece of life that a man has actually experienced. 
 
 The author describes a community in course of trans- 
 ition. The days of the hard riding, hard drinking, 
 duelling, lavishly hospitable landed gentry, ruling over 
 contented tenants and a whole host of dependents 
 and hangers-on, in a country where the King's writ 
 did not run, had not passed away. The clan system 
 still existed, though in a degenerate form. The land- 
 lord, " the master," was chief, and held tenaciously 
 to illegal rights frankly recognised by the clan. When, 
 for instance, a portmanteau, the property of a visitor 
 to the Lodge, was abstracted en route, there was no 
 question of appealing to the law and of setting the 
 police in motion. An outrage to the authority of the 
 chief had been committed and the clan took it up. An 
 armed emissary was dispatched, and presently returned 
 with the portmanteau and an apology. 
 
 Fosterage was still deemed a tie as strong or stronger 
 than one of blood. Hennessey *' my foster brother," 
 was loved and protected. One abduction and three 
 homicides were chargeable against him, " He had been 
 unfortunate," poor man, In fact the law — the written 
 law and the legal executive were ignored or derided. 
 
Vlll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Custom, the unwritten law and the legal executive 
 were ignored or derided. Custom, the unwritten law 
 of the master sanctioned by illegal physical force, 
 prevailed. Private quarrels were speedily settled by 
 a duel. Family feuds and clan feuds were of frequent 
 occurrence resulting in faction fights, many broken heads 
 and some loss of life. As though such causes of quarrel 
 did not afford sufficient opportunities for a fight, mullet 
 fishing was, for some inscrutable reason, deemed a 
 fitting occasion for a small battle between the retainers 
 of neighbouring landlords. The people believed that 
 they had a prescriptive right to rob mullet nets, and, 
 in consequence, would never be at the trouble of setting 
 them unless they had a sufficiently strong party to 
 protect the fish when taken. Of course the dependents 
 of one landlord would not rob his nets, but they would 
 rob his neighbours ; the neighbouring tribe would 
 retaliate ; and on the occasion of a great catch there 
 were plenty of broken heads, and sometimes not a few 
 gunshot wounds. One of these adventures involved 
 the summonsing of our author's host, " and it cost me 
 a cool hundred before I got clear of the Honourablei 
 Justices." 
 
 What will at once strike the reader is the extraordinary 
 change that has taken place in Ireland. When these 
 letters were penned, the only social system in Connaught 
 worth the name was the clan system ; and in a day of 
 peasant proprietors, co-operative agriculture. Land 
 Commissions, Congested District Boards and all the 
 
INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 Other agencies by which the complicated social machinery 
 of Ireland is at present conducted, it is interesting 
 to look back to this time, such a little while ago, when the 
 only people of any importance were the landlord, the 
 priest, and (in a lesser degree) the excise officer. The 
 tribal picture presented in the book is definite and 
 complete. Within and around the residence of the 
 landlord was collected a host of dependents and hangers- 
 on, some with duties and some with none, but all 
 apparently with privileges ; all dependent directly 
 on the landlord for shelter, food and drink, game, the 
 produce of lakes, rivers and the sea, and illicitly dis- 
 tilled whiskey. 
 
 It must have been a happy life for them. They lived, 
 as their landlords lived, in a world of perpetual sport ; 
 when there had been a great kill there was a great feast, 
 and when there was a great feast there was a great 
 carouse. The successful running of a smuggled 
 cargo of French brandy was the occasion of jubilation 
 throughout the entire countryside, in which the magis- 
 trate landlord took part. And on the days when the 
 weather was too severe for outdoor sport the turf was 
 piled high on the hearth, fishing-rods and guns were 
 brought out and cleaned, and the whole energies of the 
 tribe given up to the overhaul of sporting apparatus 
 of every kind. 
 
 A social condition existed which certainly would not 
 appeal to the moralist or economist of the present day, 
 but on the whole the people were happy and contented 
 
X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 in it. The landed interest — owners and tenants — were 
 well-to-do, and there was rough plenty for the paid and 
 unpaid retinue of the landlord in those days before the 
 " piping times of peace " had brought down prices by 
 the run, and the great famine and its consequences 
 had ruined the gentry and broken the hearts of the 
 people. 
 
 For those who were not afraid of roughing it in a 
 comfortable way, it was a sportsman's paradise. It 
 is true that the actual appetite for killing seems to have 
 been indulged in, rather childishly. '* It was a bright 
 and cheerful day ; the sun sparkled on the blue water, 
 which, unruffled by the gentle breeze, rose and fell 
 in the long and gentle undulations which roll in from 
 the westward when the Atlantic is at rest. While puUing 
 to the cove, we amused ourselves by shooting puffins 
 as they passed us, or trying our rifles at a distant seal, 
 while my kinsman's anecdotes whiled away the tedium 
 of the voyage." Puffin shooting, and " trying rifles 
 at a distant seal " would not be regarded to-day as 
 very worthy occupations for a true sportsman, especially 
 in a country which abounded with such variety 
 of legitimate game. On the very day, for example, 
 on which this incident is described, a party enjoyed 
 the two very difterent sports of coursing and mullet 
 fishing, and, after a magnificent run with Irish and 
 English greyhounds, netted upwards of a hundred 
 mullet weighing from four to ten pounds each. 
 
 Abundance of interesting lore is to be found in these 
 
INTRODUCTION. XI 
 
 pages for the sportsman of any country ; particularly 
 for him who still frequents the mountains and streams of 
 Connemara. The wild red deer of Ireland are all gone 
 now ; they were scarce in those days, but afforded 
 splendid sport. The account of the pike on Lough 
 Corrib is extremely interesting, as also are the notes 
 on the trout found in the high mountain loughs. " Two 
 loughs, situated in the same valley, and divided only 
 by a strip of moorland not above two yards across, 
 united by the same rivulet, and in depth and soil on 
 bottom apparently similar, were found to produce 
 fish as utterly different from each other as it is possible 
 for fish of the same species to be ; in the centre lake the 
 trout were ill-shapen and dark-coloured, with large 
 heads, lean bodies, and little fight in them. In the 
 adjacent lough they were golden and pellucid in colour 
 with bright vermillion spots, compact in shape, and 
 vigorous fighters ; and as much superior at table as they 
 were in the water." Very interesting, too, is the account 
 of a lake a hundred feet higher in the mountains pro- 
 ducing trout remarkable both for their size and for 
 their pecuHarity in never rising at a fly or taking bait ; 
 and which were yet frequently observed by the herdsmen 
 rising over the water, or, as they said, " tumbling about 
 like dogs." The local assumption was that there was 
 a sea-horse or other devil in the lake which prevented 
 the fish from rising to the fly. 
 
 Charming, indeed, is the author's picture of the 
 sporting lodge in the wilds of Erris, the home of his 
 
Xll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Irish kinsman, which was the head-quarters whence the 
 sporting expeditions described in his narrative were 
 made ; and pleasant, indeed, to his city eyes, must 
 have been the sight of the narrow creek, with the snug 
 thatched dwelUng at the head of it where, although 
 the Atlantic spray sometimes drifted against the 
 windows, a great cliff broke the force of the sea winds, 
 and a high hill on the land side sheltered it from the 
 north. In the chilly evenings a turf fire burned in the 
 parlour hearth ; and there, by the light of dried bog- 
 deal added to the embers instead of candles, the sports- 
 man and his guests sat over excellent claret that had 
 never paid the revenue a farthing, or brewed toddy from 
 the more potent spirit which was at once the produce 
 and scourge of the district. The long roar of the 
 Atlantic breakers was their lullaby at night ; the cries 
 of wild birds and the cheerful hum of the farmyard 
 awoke them in the morning. From the windows they 
 could see the salmon flinging themselves over the 
 smooth tide as they hurried to the mouth of their native 
 river, or trace the outline of the Mayo hills where the 
 original red deer of Ireland were still existing. No 
 wonder the supposed stranger was delighted with the 
 place, and in the course of a day or two, had thoroughly 
 domesticated himself in it ; no wonder, after expedi- 
 tions to the mountain hut where they encamped for a 
 week or two, when in quest of the remoter game, or 
 after an expedition to Achil after grouse or sea-fowl 
 or rabbits, or snipe, or cock, he returned to it, as to a 
 
INTRODUCTION. XIU 
 
 home. It was a strenuous life, and a very delightful 
 one ; they were out all day on the mountains or along 
 the shore ; came back at nightfall with full bags with 
 which to replenish their wild larder ; and if they held 
 something like a carouse after dinner, the long day's 
 exercise in the wonderful air seems to have rendered 
 both mind and body immune from any ill-effects. Be 
 it noted in passing that there was no Eve in this paradise. 
 
 The human aspect of things is always interesting 
 when politics and economics leave us cold ; and it is 
 the scenery, the sport, the legendary lore, the lives and 
 habits of the people that chiefly engage our author. 
 Politics and economics he leaves on one side for the very 
 good reason that they were non-existent in the part 
 of Connaught which he visited ; and people who enjoy 
 playing the game of " Then and Now," of comparing 
 things as they were with things as they are, will find 
 this book a document of great value, enabHng them to 
 estimate to what extent a century's march of civiliza- 
 tion has affected the remoter west of Ireland. 
 
 The book teems with incidents of sport, shooting, 
 hunting, coursing, fishing on sea and river, and with 
 many pertinent remarks on the fauna and scenery of 
 the country. How far these descriptions are applic- 
 able to-day is for those who visit the wild west to say. 
 Socially and economically the Connemara of to-day 
 would be unrecognisable to one who visited it nearly 
 a century ago. Good roads now traverse the then 
 unmapped and trackless wilderness, and good hotels 
 
XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 minister to the wants of the modern traveller. The 
 ragged and somewhat irresponsible bands of personal 
 retainers have dwindled down to harmless necessary 
 giUies and guides. Produce, such as it is, can find a 
 market, and barley and oats not needed for home con- 
 sumption are no longer destined to the illicit still. The 
 wild red deer is long ago extinct, and the most industrious 
 trapper would fail to make a living now-a-days out 
 of killing otters ; but seals are numerous, salmon leap 
 their way upwards from the sea, and the eagle may 
 reward the vigilance of the tourist, The same great 
 Atlantic billows thunder against the same stupendous 
 cliffs. Mountain, lake and river are unchanged. 
 
 The author is fond of introducing legends and anec- 
 dotes. Among the latter, the story of '* The Man Who 
 Would Not Do For Galv/ay " is a fine example of the 
 kind of Irish anecdote which remained very popular 
 for many a year afterwards ; and the account of Mr. 
 Dawkins, of Toole Castle, and how he was eaten up 
 by the sporting friends of his wife, and finally ruined 
 in mind and estate, is a convincing instance of that 
 riotous extravagance both of narrative and of life in 
 which writers upon Ireland of the period delighted. 
 Much more real and quite beautiful in its way is the 
 account of the death of Antony, the otter-killer. In 
 fact, this old peasant, so full of unselfish afliection, so 
 wise in the lore of the mountains, the rivers and the 
 lakes, and so skilful in his craft, is the one real portrait 
 that stands out in the book. His simple devotion to 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 his master whose education in matters of sport had been 
 in his hands from childhood, who had served three 
 generations of the family and knew no world beyond it, 
 is well indicated ; and in this respect, at any rate, one 
 is happy to think that times have not altogether changed 
 in Ireland, and that faithful and affectionate servants 
 like Antony may still be found, honourably serving 
 a master who loves and honours them for their service. 
 His last words were beautifully characteristic of personal 
 devotion and reverence for the name, " Master Juhus, 
 will ye listen to a dying man, he that carried ye in his 
 arms, and loved ye better than all the world besides. 
 Marry, Julius avourneen — the ould name that since the 
 days of Shamus a Croaghagh held land and honour — 
 surely ye won't let it pass ! You will mind the dog 
 for my sake, Master Julius, and ye'U let trap and fishing- 
 rod hang up in the hall, to put ye in mind of old Antony," 
 No wonder his master was heavily afflicted at the loss 
 of his old friend and monitor ; no wonder he felt that, 
 although the old man had died surrounded by those 
 who loved him, full of years, and ripe for his rest, '* He 
 could have spared a better man." 
 
 DUNRAVEN. 
 
ORIGINAL PREFACE. 
 
 Some explanation may be necessary for obtruding 
 upon the public the private details of a sportsman's 
 life, and particularly when the scene of his exploits 
 is laid within " the four seas of Britain." In the custo- 
 mary course of field adventure, few besides the indi- 
 vidual concerned are much interested in the successes 
 and disappointments he experiences ; and rural sports 
 are, in all their general incidents, so essentially alike 
 as to render their minute description almost invariably 
 a dull and unprofitable record. 
 
 Circumstances, however, may occasionally create an 
 'interest which in ordinary cases would be wanting. 
 From local connexions, a field almost untrodden by any 
 but himself was opened to the writer of these sketches. 
 He was thrown into an unfrequented district, with a 
 primitive people to consort with. With some advan- 
 tages to profit from the accident, a remote and semi- 
 civilized region was offered to his observation ; and 
 although within a limited distance of his Majesty's 
 mail-coach, a country was thus disclosed, as little known 
 to the multitude as the interior of Australasia ; and 
 where, excepting some adventurous grouse-shooter, 
 none had viewed its highlands or mingled with its 
 inhabitants. 
 
 That the scenic and personal sketches are faithful, 
 the reader is assured ; some were written on the spot, 
 and others traced from vivid recollection. Those with 
 whom the author shot these wild moors, or fished these 
 waters, will best estimate the fidelity of the descriptions ; 
 
XVllll PREFACE. 
 
 and one valued friend, though now beneath another 
 sun, will probably recall the days he spent by " fell 
 and flood,'* and bring to memory those light and joyous 
 hours when he caroused in a mountain bivouac and 
 rested in a moorland hut. 
 
 With regard to the tales and legends narrated in the 
 succeeding pages, the former were told just as they are 
 introduced. " The Blind Seal '* is known to be sub- 
 stantially true — I have heard it from many, and never 
 knew its veracity impugned. My lamented friend 
 was himself the principal actor in *' the Night Attack " ; 
 and he, poor fellow, was exactly the man who, in an 
 affray or a carouse, might be depended on. 
 
 Respecting the legendary stories, T have no pledge 
 to offer for their authenticity — Old Antony believed 
 them to the letter — I have given them nearly in his 
 own words, and I may say, with Sir Walter Scott, 
 
 " I cannot tell how the truth may be, 
 I say the tale as 'twas told to me." 
 
 '* The Legend of Knock-a-thample " remains as the 
 Otter-killer related it ; but with '* Rose Roche " I 
 confess to have taken liberties, in suppressing a portion 
 of her flirtation with the " black-eyed page," which 
 although, upon the lady's part, I feel convinced, was 
 perfectly platonic, yet by uncharitable constructions 
 might be tortured into something like indiscretion. 
 
 If I have undervalued those rural recreations in which 
 many a worthy citizen sometimes dissipates, I hope my 
 contempt for his avocations will be ascribed to the true 
 cause, namely, that local advantages have spoiled my 
 taste and rendered me fastidious. He who can shoot 
 grouse upon the moor will spend little time in killing 
 pigeons from the trap ; the angler who in a morning 
 
PREFACE. XIX 
 
 hooks some half-score salmon would reckon it but 
 sorry amusement to dabble in a pond. To a Galway 
 rider, the Epping hunt would be a bore, and he would 
 probably treat it with the same contumely that one of 
 this redoubted body did hare-hunting, by riding to the 
 hounds in morocco slippers, and carrying an open 
 umbrella to protect him from the sun. 
 
 As I have casually named " an honoured name," I 
 lament that it was not his fortune to have visited those 
 interesting scenes, where I have been so long a useless 
 w^anderer. The wild features and wilder associations 
 of that romantic and untouched country would have 
 offered him a fresh field whereon to exercise his magic 
 pencil — and many a tale and legend still orally handed 
 down, but which, in a few years, must of necessity be 
 forgotten, would have gained immortality from the 
 touch of " the mighty master." But alas ! the creations 
 of his splendid imagination will no more delight an 
 enchanted world. The wand is broken, the spell is 
 over, the lamp of life is nearly exhausted — and even 
 now Scotland may be mourning for the mightiest of 
 her gifted sons. 
 
 As a votive offering, this Volume is inscribed to 
 that matchless genius, by an humble but enthusiastic 
 admirer of Sir Walter Scott. 
 
 Sydenham, 
 
 September 12, 1832. 
 
Wild Sports of the West 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 
 
 London^ July ist, 1829. 
 
 Notwithstanding its dust and desertion, I am still 
 lurking in the metropolis. The heat has become in- 
 tolerable — yesterday I imagined myself in Calcutta — 
 for never but in the land of curries and red pepper did 
 I experience anything so oppressive. 
 
 I breakfasted this morning at the Club-house. My 
 air and attitude, as I caught a glimpse of them in a 
 concave mirror, looked exquisitely disconsolate. Never 
 was mortal more ennuye than I. Town has become 
 a desert — the world has abandoned it by general con- 
 sent — the streets feel as if they had been recently fanned 
 by a sirocco ; and of divers unhappy beings whom I 
 encountered in my walk from Grafton Street to St. 
 James's, none seemed at ease but a bilious gentleman 
 from Bombay and the French fellow who exhibits in 
 the oven. The thermometer, in a shaded corner of 
 the room, is stationary at 82 deg. To remain longer 
 here would be suicidal ; but, where to go — whither to 
 fly — alas ! I know not. 
 
2 V/ILD SPORTS OF THE WEST; 
 
 Would that you were near me, then should I be 
 certain of sympathy and counsel — ^for at this moment 
 there is not a more persecuted gentleman in the King's 
 dominions. But I will make a clean breast — and to 
 render my confessions explanatory, I must favour you 
 with some particulars of my private history. 
 
 As autobiographers enjoy a prescriptive privilege of 
 exhibiting their ancestors, I shall take the liberty of 
 introducing my papa. In his twenty-second year, Mr. 
 Hector O'Brien was a bold Lieutenant of Grenadiers 
 in his Majesty's 50th Foot, then distinguished by the 
 flattering title of " The Dirty Half Hundred."* My 
 father was as strapping a fellow as ever wore a wing, 
 kept a showy horse, and was decidedly the best dancer 
 in the regiment. Being quartered in the vicinity of 
 Bath, he attended the assemblies, and " in double 
 quick " managed to effect a conquest. The lady had 
 a fortune, and my father required one. Unluckily, 
 she had a brother's consent to gain ; and, on being 
 consulted, he was unmoved by importunity, and deaf 
 to " every plea of love." The case was hopeless. Mr, 
 Wamsley disliked Ireland, detested military men, and 
 above all things abominated " The Dirty Half Hun- 
 dred." 
 
 To account for the gentleman's antipathy to this 
 celebrated corps, it will be necessary to remark that 
 the regiment was then afflicted with a mad Major. 
 His (the Major's) delight lay in drinking port wine 
 and slaying pheasants. Mr. Wamsley, on the contrary, 
 preferred water and preserved game. The Major 
 beat up preserves without remorse, and deforced keepers, 
 who, though good men and true, prudently declined 
 
 * Prom their black facings, the 50th received this sobriquet. 
 
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 3 
 
 joining issue with mad majors and double-barrelled 
 guns. Now, Mr. Wamsley, resisting an invasion of his 
 rights, applied to the Justice for redress, whereas Major 
 O'Farrell considered that a reference to the pistol would 
 be much more gentlemanly — a deadly feud was the 
 consequence, and Mr. Wamsley was closely blockaded 
 within his park walls by the military delinquent. 
 Fortunately for all concerned, the regiment got the 
 route ; Mr. Wamsley recovered his liberty, and his 
 detestation of the gallant 50th only ended with his 
 life. 
 
 But his sister held a very different opinion respecting 
 the merits of the brave *' Half Hundred." She was 
 devoted to the Lieutenant of Grenadiers, and the route 
 hurried matters to a crisis. The result may be antici- 
 pated. Despising park walls and surly keepers, Mr. 
 O'Brien overcame every difficulty, and with the assist- 
 ance of a garden, ladder, the mad Major and his double- 
 barrelled gun, he carried off the lady, and at Gretna 
 they became " one flesh." 
 
 Mr. Wamsley was irritated beyond the possibility 
 of being appeased. Ten thousand pounds, which his 
 wife possessed without the control of her brother, 
 enabled my father to leave the army, and settle on his 
 hereditary estate in Roscommon ; and there he hunted, 
 shot, fished, and farmed, and lived just as Irish gentlemen 
 lived some thirty years ago. 
 
 I was the only issue of the marriage. All commu- 
 nication had ceased between my parents and Mr. 
 Wamsley, and eighteen years passed away, and no 
 appearance of abated displeasure had ever been evinced 
 by this implacable relative. I left a public school for 
 the Dublin University, was destined for the Church, 
 
4 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 and had nearly completed my college course, when an 
 unforeseen event changed my prospects and profes- 
 sion. It was the death of both my parents within the 
 brief space of a month. 
 
 My father's affairs were in great disorder — his estate 
 was heavily embarrassed, and if his debts were paid it 
 was ascertained that I should be left nearly destitute. 
 The intelligence reached Mr. Wamsley, and, to the 
 astonishment of all acquainted with his unrelenting 
 animosity to my deceased parents, a letter was received 
 from him, inviting me to visit him at his magnificent 
 place, Lalworth Castle. 
 
 The invitation was of course accepted. I arrived, 
 and found him a stern, disagreeable old man. My 
 first appearance was against me — for the resemblance 
 I bore to my father was most striking, and it seemed 
 to recall my uncle's long-cherished prejudices. He 
 abruptly asked me on the succeeding morning, " What 
 course of life I had selected ? " I replied, " That the 
 army appeared best adapted to my taste and broken 
 fortunes." His only observation was, "Be it so " ; 
 and here this laconic conversation ended. 
 
 That evening, Mr. Wamsley wrote to his neighbour, 
 Lord Ulverston. The peer was his debtor to a large 
 amount, and generally trafficked with him for his borough 
 
 of bury. My uncle's request was promptly 
 
 attended to. Lord Ulverston stood well at the Horse 
 Guards, and in a few weeks, to my unfeigned 
 satisfaction and surprise, I was gazetted to a 
 Cornetcy in the Blues. 
 
 But my joy at this event was but of short duration. 
 The miserly disposition of my uncle took alarm at the 
 large outlay attendant on entering an expensive corps 
 
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 5 
 
 Each hundred was doled out with painful reluctance, 
 and the knowledge that a certain annual allowance would 
 be requisite for my support made him still more 
 wretched. I joined the regiment ; my subsidies — 
 generally drafts for a paltry fifty — were '' few and 
 far between." To hold a certain place in society, with 
 an income incompetent to its expenses, is a state of 
 inexpressible misery. Gradually I became embarrassed, 
 and in two years found it necessary to exchange from 
 the Blues to a Light Cavalry regiment, then stationed in 
 the East Indies. My uncle made no objection ; he was 
 tired of what he termed supplying my boundless 
 extravagance, bade me a cold farewell, and his parting 
 words, as I stepped into the carriage, were a request 
 that I would '' write but seldom, as postage from the 
 East, his lawyer told him, was enormous." 
 
 I obeyed him to the letter ; I only wrote once, and 
 that was conveying an entreaty that he would purchase a 
 majority likely to become vacant ; I got a coarse refusal, 
 and thus our correspondence terminated. For four 
 years I never heard from him, and had nearly forgotten 
 that I had left a relation behind me. 
 
 I was surprised, however, at this distant period with 
 a letter, worded in his stiff and peculiar style. It 
 briefly stated that his health was indifferent, and that 
 he would recommend me to return to Europe with as 
 little delay as possible. 
 
 This recommendation was anything but gratifying. 
 I liked India well enough — the climate agreed with 
 me — my health was unimpaired — the mess was good — 
 the regiment gentlemanly — and, better still, I could 
 live most comfortably upon my pay. I felt, however, 
 that my uncle's invitation should not be neglected ; 
 
6 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 applied for leave ; succeeded, and made immediate 
 preparations for a return to Europe. My brother 
 officers congratulated me on my good fortune in so 
 speedily revisiting my native country ; but to me it 
 was a subject of regret. I was leaving pleasant quarters, 
 cheerful society, and comparative independence, to 
 become a slave to the caprice and ill-humour of a morose 
 and splenetic invalid. 
 
 It was late in December when I landed at Portsmouth. 
 The voyage had been remarkably quick, and without 
 delay I started for my uncle's residence, and in the 
 gloom of a wet wintry evening re-entered the gates oi 
 Lalworth Park. I looked down the long vista of splendid 
 elms, but in the twilight the house was not visible ; not 
 a candle glanced from a window, and no indication of 
 its being inhabited appeared about this melancholy 
 mansion. The postboy stopped — I alighted, ran up 
 the steps and rang gently — no one answered — I rang 
 again — louder yet — and a step came hastily over the 
 oaken floor. The old porter at last approached, 
 cautiously affixed the chain, opened a few inches of the 
 door, and raised his candle suspiciously to examine the 
 late visitor. Instantly recollecting me, he uttered a 
 suppressive exclamation of astonishment, removed the 
 fastenings, and muttered, " Thank God, it is himself ! " 
 and, as he admitted me, whispered that my uncle was 
 not expected to survive till midnight. 
 
 In silence I was conducted to a back drawing-room, 
 where, on a large, old-fashioned sofa, the dying man was 
 laid. The porter advanced before, and in a low voice 
 notified my arrival. The news appeared to gratify 
 the mvalid ; he turned his dim eyes to the spot where 
 I stood waiting for permission to advance. " Are you 
 
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 7 
 
 there, Frank ! " he said in a feeble voice — " Ha, ha, 
 ha ! it was touch and go with you ! " and he uttered a 
 weak and sarcastic laugh. " Call Doctor Dodwell 
 and the lawyer — desire them to bring the other will — 
 and tell Moore and Hubert to attend to witness it.' 
 While he gave these orders I gazed on the wasted features 
 of the dying miser, and there was a strange expression of 
 stern satisfaction visible on his countenance, as his 
 cold glance rested fixedly on me. Immediately the 
 doctor, solicitor, and witnesses entered the room — 
 ** Raise me up," he said to the ancient domestic, his 
 personal attendant. It was done, and he motioned 
 to the solicitor to unfold the parchment. Carefully he 
 passed his eye over the surface to assure himself that the 
 document was the one he required, and having ascertained 
 the fact, he pointed to a pen. With difficulty he placed 
 it in his trembling fingers, and, with a painful exertion, 
 affixed his signature to the deed — then looking at the 
 witnesses as they annexed their names — " This is my 
 last will and testament," he said, with a feeble emphasis, 
 *' and thus do I revoke all others ! " — then turning to 
 me, while a ghastly smile overspread his face, " Half 
 an hour later would have served hospitals and alms- 
 houses, Francis " he leaned himself back and expired 
 without a struggle. 
 
 For a few moments we were not aware that he was 
 dead ; the strength with which his last remark was 
 uttered led us at first to beheve that he had reclined 
 in consequence of the exertion. In a few minutes the 
 physician took his hand and sought for a pulse, but in 
 vain ; he raised the eyelid and applied a candle to the 
 fixed and deadly stare, and then announced that the 
 patient had departed. 
 
8 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 A scene, a disgusting scene, ensued ; the attorney, 
 when certified of his cHent's death, seized my hand and 
 coarsely congratulated me on my good fortune. The 
 doctor abandoned the corpse to join the solicitor in his 
 compliments — and between them the truth transpired. 
 I had, indeed, been luckily expeditious in my journey, 
 and the old man's phrase of touch and go was fully 
 explained. The preceding day he had signed a testa- 
 ment conveying his entire property to a variety of 
 charitable institutions ; and the will which had been 
 originally made in my favour, and been kept over by 
 this singular relative, would have remained imperfect, 
 had I not so providentially arrived the evening of his 
 death. 
 
 We left the room while the body was being laid out 
 preparatory to interment. What a turn one hour had 
 given to my fortunes ! I entered Lalworth Park at four 
 o'clock, a poor, miserable dependant ; at five, I was 
 master of all around me, possessed of twelve thousand 
 pounds a year, owner of a borough, with fifty thousand 
 in the funds and twenty at my banker's. Such a mingled 
 yarn is the web of human life. 
 
 The obsequies of my uncle were duly performed, 
 and for many days I was engaged in examining papers, 
 and taking possession of the plate and valuables of 
 Lalworth Park. The house was sadly out of repair, 
 and the grounds and gardens utterly neglected. The 
 old man had limited the fuel for the mansion to such 
 fallen wood as could be collected throughout the domain ; 
 and the few domestics he employed were scarcely 
 sufficient to ventilate, without attempting to keep in 
 order, the numerous and once splendid apartments. 
 For some time I was busily occupied ; I hired addi- 
 
AUTOBIOGRAPHY 9 
 
 tional servants, engaged an architect, fiated my agent's 
 accounts, and started then for London so soon as a decent 
 respect towards the deceased would permit my appearing 
 in the metropoHs. Of the rest, my dear Baronet, you 
 know sufficient particulars ; a presentable man, olim 
 in the Blues, and recently succeeding to a large and 
 unencumbered property, would soon " find room in 
 any place." I was speedily admitted to those chosen 
 circles which are impassable to those who want birth, 
 
 impudence, or money. I ran the full round of dissi 
 
 but, on this head, you, my constant companion, require 
 but little information. 
 
 In human life, George, every thing has its limits. 
 I am probably too rich to be permanently happy. I 
 tired of Brookes 's and Willis's and Crockford's ; I had 
 little taste for the play, and betted moderately, and with 
 even success : if I lost I was not depressed ; if I won 
 I was not exhilarated. The season was drawing to its 
 close, and I began to discover that I was not fated to 
 escape from sublunary annoyances. I was bored by 
 the dull dinners of stupid placemen, who calculated 
 on my borough ; I was persecuted by ancient gentle- 
 women who wished to rid themselves of daughters that 
 years ago were passees ; a young and titled widow 
 almost wooed me to desperation ; and the Dowager of 
 
 shocked me by an assurance that Lord Leatherby 
 
 expected, from my marked attention at the Horticultural 
 fete, that I would forthwith propose for that sandy- 
 haired fright, his daughter. God help me ! little did 
 I suppose that an act of common humanity, in sheltering 
 her red ringlets with a broken umbrella, would have been 
 thus tortured by that leaden-headed Lord, her sire ! 
 
 I forgot in its proper place to notify an important 
 
10 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 occurrence ; it was the death of Mr. James Jones. 
 This personage was owner of a property in Surinam, 
 and one of the representatives for the borough of 
 
 bury. A year before his death my late uncle had 
 
 pocketed three thousand pounds, and returned as 
 inoffensive a gentleman as ever snored upon the benches 
 of St. Stephen's. I took his place, next the oaths, 
 and had sufficient grace to sit quiet and listen to other 
 declaimers, who possessed more talent or more impudence 
 than myself. For some time I was rather undecided in 
 my politics ; but the Ministerial were the quieter 
 benches — there I established myself, and for half a 
 session none slept through a debate with a quieter 
 conscience — but, curse upon blighted beauty, I was not 
 permitted to remain in happy and unambitious celibacy. 
 From my first appearance I had been exposed to 
 distant attacks, but as the weather warmed and the 
 town thinned, my persecutors became more daring 
 in their approaches. Did I venture to a Refugee 
 concert, there I was waylaid by the widow. Did I 
 endeavour to steal a ride in Rotten Row, I was directly 
 hunted off by the dame rouge and that infernal Peer, 
 her father ; and all that was penniless or passe marked 
 me as an object of unrelenting importunity. Eventu- 
 ally, I was driven from every place approachable by 
 woman, and, having no other refuge, turned to the turf, 
 and engaged myself deeply in the Derby. 
 
 That event is over, and I shall write the man " mine 
 enemy " who ever recalls it to my recollection — but 
 as this is a confession to thee, George, I must make a 
 clean breast. I was as well acquainted with the mysteries 
 of a betting-book as I was with the financial department 
 of Timbuctoo ; when luckily " a d d good-natured 
 
AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 1 1 
 
 friend " came to my aid, and, with his experience, why 
 should I not get on cleverly ? A horse was going for 
 nothing, my friend was on the alert, made the discovery, 
 and I bought him for five hundred. He was a dead 
 bargain, quite a dark one, and, in proof of the same, the 
 odds against him were thirty-five to one ; but, as I was 
 informed, there lay the beauty of the thing. 
 
 As the races drew near, I discovered that my book was 
 what the legs call a queer concern. I had picked up the 
 halt and blind as first favourites and betted accordingly. 
 My dark one proved a roarer^ and my faithful friend 
 recommended me to hedge immediately, and I did so, 
 as the result wdll tell. 
 
 Off went the horses ; Phenomenon, my courser, in 
 the chance medley got a splendid start, but from his 
 pace the spectators alleged that he was hamstrung. 
 In three hundred yards he was passed by the slowest 
 of the had ones, and before the leading horses reached 
 the distance, everything I was interested in was beaten 
 fairly off. All I had left for consolation under this 
 accumulation of disappointment was the smart hedge 
 that I had so prudently effected before starting. 
 
 The settling-day came ; I was at Tattersall's and so 
 were my winners to a man ; I disbursed five thousand 
 to divers legs with and without titles, and furthermore 
 disposed of the celebrated horse Phenomenon for fifty 
 pounds. But where was the worthy gentleman with 
 whom I had hedged half my losses ? Till four o'clock 
 I waited in painful expectation, and at that hour, he being 
 still invisible, I ventured to hazard an enquiry, and was 
 favoured with the comfortable tidings that my absent 
 friend was a broken wine merchant, and that he had 
 levanted the evening of the race. 
 
12 WILD SPORTS OP THE WEST 
 
 This wind-up of the season, united to sultry weather 
 and a tender persecution, determined me to fly '' east, 
 west, or north, I care not whither." This, however, 
 was more easily decided on than efltected, for to retreat 
 is the difficulty, as I find myself hemmed in by my 
 enemies on every side. The widow cuts me off from 
 Cheltenham ; the Honourable Juliana Thistleton would 
 
 haunt me in Hastings ; the Dowager of and her 
 
 protegee abide in the pleasant town of Brighton ; and my 
 Lord Leatherby has taken out a sort of roving commis- 
 sion, to infest every retirement of fashionable repute ; 
 and from his cunning enquiries as to the particular point, 
 seaside or suburban, to which I purpose to remove, 
 I perceive I am as deliberately doomed to matrimony 
 by this relentless nobleman as ever a country bonnet- 
 maker was devoted to destruction by an immoral captain 
 of horse. 
 
 And shall I fall without a struggle to avert my fate } 
 forbid it, honour ! Yes, my determination is fixed — 
 I will counteract this conspiracy against my freedom, 
 and call my Connaught cousin " to the rescue." He 
 is a determined duellist, and has been regularly jilted 
 — consequently he abominates the sex (I hope) and will 
 protect me from the widow ; while his truculent 
 propensities for the pistol will keep the Peer at a distance. 
 
CONN AUGHT, 1 3 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 I HAVE said that in this my hour of need I would seek 
 succour from my Irish kinsman. I wrote to him 
 accordingly, implored him to abandon his mountain 
 den, and join me at Lai worth Park. To my invitation 
 I received a decisive and, I would almost say, insulting 
 refusal. " He hated puppies, avoided flirts, was neither 
 a fool or a fortune, and therefore had no business with 
 such society as I should expose him to." The man 
 appears to be a misanthrope ; I gave him in return a 
 tart rejoinder, and he seems disinclined to remain my 
 debtor. Hear what he says : 
 
 " Francis, I pity thee ! Like the Moor, your * occupa- 
 tion's gone,' and your letter seals your condemnation. 
 
 " You talk of exercise : pshaw ! what is it ? You 
 knock some party-coloured balls over the smooth surface 
 of a green table ; you hazard suflFocation for an hour in 
 Rotten Row, and should you survive the dust, endure 
 eternal dread of empalement by a carriage-pole ; you 
 shoot a score of rascally pigeons within the enclosures 
 of Batters ea, or make a grand excursion to slaughter 
 pheasants in a preserve ; last and proudest feat comes 
 the hattu, when, with noble and honourable confederates, 
 you exterminate a multitude of semi-civilized fowls, 
 manfully overcoming the fatigue of traversing an 
 ornamented park, and crossing a few acres of turnips. 
 And is this ignoble course befitting one of ' lith and limb ' 
 like thine ? Fom, the best of your day in Trinity 
 
14 
 
 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 — you, whose prowess is still recorded in the annals 
 of the watchhouse, and whose hurling is yet chronicled 
 in the Park ; you, whom no six-feet wall could turn, 
 whom no mountain-herd could tire in the dog-days — 
 you, who could swim with Byron, and walk with Barclay 
 — what are you become ? an elegant and fashionable 
 idler — lolling life away, the morning in a club-house 
 window, the evening in the Park, and the night gallopading 
 some scion of nobility, who has discovered that you 
 possess twelve thousand pounds a year, and that her 
 own funds are insufficient to satisfy the corset-maker 
 in Regent Street. 
 
 " Would that I could reform your taste and habits ! 
 Could I but induce you to pass one autumn here, your 
 conversion would be a certainty. Come to me, Frank ; 
 ay, come to the wilds of Connaught ; avoid an atmos- 
 phere surcharged with villainous impurities, and brace 
 your relaxed nerves in the waves of the Atlantic ; seek 
 life and energy in the mountain-breeze ; abandon the 
 gymnasium to scriveners and shopmen, and leave 
 Crockford's to ruined dupes and titled swindlers. 
 
 " You have hitherto been a silent member of the 
 Honourable Commons, and St. Stephen's has never 
 heard from you ' the popular harangue, the tart reply.* 
 Hast thou any aspirations after fame ? any * longing 
 after immortality ? ' Listen ; the means are simple. 
 Indict the Red-house as a nuisance, and propose a bill, 
 making the being aiding or accessory to a battu, death 
 wilhout benefit of clergy. Thy name will live when 
 Joe Hume, that ready-reckoner, shall be forgotten ; 
 and Dick Martin's senatorial renown will fade before 
 the perennial glory of the present member for bury ! " 
 
 Need I say how opportunely came this invitation ? 
 
CONN AUGHT. 1 5 
 
 ** I embraced his offer " ; and here I am fairly over the 
 border, and safely deposited in the kingdom of Con- 
 naught, without injury or interruption worth recording. 
 
 On the subject of my travels I intend to be laconic, 
 inasmuch as, with a temporary intervention of steam, 
 I have resided in the royal mail since I left the lamps 
 of London. I believe I am not exactly cut out for a 
 traveller ; I am incurious as to names of guards and 
 coachmen — never inquire after their wives, or take the 
 population of their families ; I generally sleep from the 
 start to the close of the stage. I did observe that the 
 colour of corn was nearly alike in both countries ; and 
 remarked, further, that English drivers seemed partial 
 to ale and overalls, and Irish ones preferred frieze coats 
 and naked whiskey. 
 
 And now you shall have the particulars of my escape ; 
 and, since the times of the Anabasis, or the more recent 
 exploits of Lavalette and Ikey Solomons, never was 
 retreat effected in more masterly style. Candour 
 obliges me to admit that mine was unaccompanied by 
 sound of trumpet, or other " pomp and circumstance 
 of war " ; and rather resembled the hasty retirement 
 of a detected thief from a tabernacle than a bold opera- 
 tion in noonday, and in the face of the enemy. But 
 let that pass. I embarked a miscellaneous cargo of 
 guns, dogs, and fishing-tackle, under the surveillance 
 of a trusty servant, on board a Dublin steamer, and the 
 following evening started quietly for " the Head " ; 
 leaving directions with mine host in Grafton Street to 
 acquaint Lord Leatherby, and all suspicious -looking 
 inquirers, that I had departed for Constantinople, and 
 that any commands for me must be forwarded, under 
 cover, to the Sublime Porte. 
 
1 5 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 I have no talent for statistics, but if my memory 
 serve, the interesting portion of the British Empire 
 from which I write is thus laid down by a modern 
 tourist : — " It lieth," says this intelligent traveller, 
 " under a dark gray cloud, which is evermore discharging 
 itself on the earth, but, like the widow's curse, is never 
 exhausted. It is bounded on the south and east by 
 Christendom and part of Tipperary, on the north by 
 Donegal, and on the west by the salt say. It abounds 
 in bogs, lakes, and other natural curiosities ; its soil 
 consists of equal quantities of earth and stone ; and its 
 surface is so admirably disencumbered of trees, shrubs, 
 hedges, and ditches, that an inteUigent backwoodsman 
 from Louisiana was heard to declare with rapture that 
 it was the most perfectly-cultivated territory in Europe. 
 
 " Further," saith the tourist, " its gentry are a polished 
 and religious race, remarkable for their punctuality 
 in pecuniary transactions, and their freedom from a 
 litigious or quarrelsome disposition. The prevailing 
 mode of belief among the upper classes is anythingarianism 
 —that of the people, pure Popery." 
 
 This premonitory sketch will save you and me, George, 
 an infinity of trouble. You have here the country 
 graphically placed before you, as well as the distin- 
 guishing traits of character, for which the pleasant and 
 virtuous community who abide in this interesting 
 department of the Emerald Isle are so eminently dis- 
 tinguished. 
 
 The town of Ballinasloe is seated on a river, the name 
 of which I neglected to inquire. It is much frequented 
 by saints and cattle dealers, carries on a smart trade 
 in sheep and proselytes, and Bibles and bullocks are 
 " thick as leaves in Vallombrosa." The cabins, more- 
 
CONN AUGHT. 1 7 
 
 over, are whitewashed ; pigs and popery are prohibited ; 
 and travellers wayfaring on the seventh day denounced, 
 and, under perilous amercements, enjoined to take 
 their ease in their respective inns. 
 
 While the horses were being brought out, I strolled 
 into the street, and, in a show-room of the Farming 
 Society, discovered a collection of biblicals in full 
 activity. From a short gentleman with soiled linen 
 and an impeded delivery, I learned the gratifying fact 
 that the spread of the Gospel was progressive in Cali- 
 fornia ; and, further, that a second-cousin of the King 
 of Siam had been baptized by a Moravian missionary. 
 This latter annunciation elicited a thunder of applause ; 
 and a young lady with a lisp pinched my elbow play- 
 fully, and requested me to propose that a piece of plate 
 be transmitted to the convertee. Now, pinching one's 
 elbow on a five minutes' acquaintance is alarming ; 
 I accordingly levanted, leaving Lispy to propose the plate 
 in person. I observed, in my retreat, a mob assembled 
 round the chapel, and, pushing through a crowd of 
 ragged urchins, established myself in the doorway. 
 Within there was a meeting of Radical Reformers, and 
 a tall man was pouring forth a philippic from the altar, 
 in which he made an awful example of the king's 
 English, and, in his syllabic arrangements, differed 
 totally from modern orthoepists. The gist of his 
 oration went to prove that Catholic Emancipation was 
 a humbug — concession a farce — and luck or grace would 
 never visit this unhappy island until Mr. Cornelius 
 Cassidy, of Killcooney House, was sent to represent 
 us in the Imperial Parliament, 
 
1 8 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 As my journey hither has been singularly propitious, 
 I shall only trouble the reader with the leading incidents. 
 
 My carriage broke down close to the inn of Glantane, 
 a solitary house, as the song goes, '* delightfully placed 
 in a bog." As some delay must necessarily occur 
 before the repairs of the vehicle could be effected, after 
 the example of that accomplished cavalier, Major 
 Dalgetty, I determined to seize on this opportunity to 
 provision the garrison. To this prudent proceeding 
 on my part I found there was an insurmountable 
 obstacle ; the landlady assured me that the " materiel " 
 was in the house-^there was bacon in the chimney, 
 and chickens in the yard, but there was no turf within, 
 till the boys — the devil bother them for staying ! — came 
 home from the blacksmith's funeral. Now, that 
 the hotel of Glantane should be deficient in this point 
 was marvellous. The surface of the circumjacent country, 
 in its proportion of tillage ground to turbary, bears an 
 acr cable ratio of one to five hundred ; and yet, though 
 in the bosom of a bog, there could not be a sufficiency 
 of fire obtained to boil a potato-pot ! But human 
 ingenuity is surprising ; after a delay of three mortal 
 hours I re-ascended my chaise, and, without further 
 accident, was deposited in the town of Tuam. 
 
 On the merits of the Mitre Inn I shall be silent ; it 
 produced in good time a respectable quarter of cold 
 lamb, and a dish of exquisite potatoes. By the way, 
 we cannot cook this latter esculent in England. Had 
 my fare been worse, I would have submitted without 
 
JOURNEY CONTINUED. 1 9 
 
 a murmur ; for the waiter assured my servant that I 
 had got the best bedroom in the house. Now, in the 
 course of my narrative I omitted to mention that on the 
 preceding night I had scarcely closed an eye. On 
 retiring to my dormitory, I remarked that the grate 
 was heaped with black turfs, apparently in the same 
 state in w^hich they had been removed from their parent 
 moor ; but, anxious to court the drowsy god, I extin- 
 guished the candle, sprang into bed, and too late 
 discovered that I was overloaded with a mass of pon- 
 derous blanketing, while a faint spark twinkled in the 
 bottom of the grate, and, like the cry of wisdom in the 
 streets, was disregarded. I fell into a temporary dose, 
 and awoke an hour afterwards in a burning fever ; for 
 the grate, in place of cold turfs, exhibited a roaring fire. 
 In vain I opened door and window ; in vain I tumbled 
 blanket after blanket on the floor ; hours elapsed before 
 the fever- warmth of the apartment could be abated. 
 At last, exhausted by heat and exertion, I threw myself 
 upon the outside of the bed-coverings, and made myself 
 up for repose. Just then a brace of obstinate curs 
 determined to " bay the moon " : one established him- 
 self beneath my window, and the other took up a position 
 at the opposite side of the street, and for three long hours 
 they barked incessantly, relieving themselves occasion- 
 ally by indulging in a mournful and nerve-torturing howl. 
 Human forbearance could not support the martyrdom 
 I suffered : I was driven to desperation, and, collecting 
 every missile article in the chamber, with repeated 
 discharges, routed my persecutors, and once more 
 endeavoured to procure some rest. 
 
 I sank into a delicious slumber ; but suddenly the door 
 was flung open, and in rushed the waiter with porten- 
 
20 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 tous speed. " The house must be on fire ! " I ejacu- 
 lated, as I somerseted into the centre of the floor. My fears 
 were fortunately groundless : Denis merely awoke 
 me to inquire if I would drive three miles out of town 
 to see two scoundrels fight, who had quarrelled the 
 preceding night about a game of cribbage. Judge then, 
 dear George, after all these visitations, whether the 
 annunciation of a quiet bed at Tuam was not to me 
 " a sound ecstatic ! " 
 
 I swallowed a pint of rascally sherry without a murmur, 
 fortified it with a dose of diluted alcohol, yawned my way 
 to my room, found clean linen — no fire, and, in five 
 minutes, was buried in sleep " fast as a watchman." 
 
 Presently arose a hum of many voices ; dreams and 
 phantasies disturbed my uneasy slumbers ; a noise like 
 distant music at times was faintly audible ; — at last a 
 crash of instruments awoke me, and the first quadrille 
 was in full execution within four feet of my distracted 
 head ! 
 
 Heaven granted me patience, although I was on the 
 very brink of a country ball-room, and separated from 
 " the gay throng " only by the intervention of a slip 
 of deal board, while through the chinks you might have 
 passed the poker, or interchanged a parasol. 
 
 I raised myself up on my elbow, and what a group was 
 there ! A short man, in a claret-coloured coat, was paired^ 
 with a stout gentlewoman in bright scarlet : she must 
 have been descended from '' the giant " ; I would as 
 soon grapple with her in a waltz as commit myself 
 to the embraces of a boa-constrictor. Vis-d-vis was a 
 police-oflricer, in state uniform, with a pale beauty in 
 cerulean blue ; and a personage of immense calf, 
 in black tights^ confronted a skeleton in nankeen 
 
JOURNEY CONTINUED. 21 
 
 unmentionables. The ladies were gloriously adorned with 
 silver ribbon, gilt wreaths, and every flower that blows, 
 from a pink to a peony ; the lords of the creation sported 
 stiff"ened cravats and a plurality of waistcoats ; and the 
 ball-room emitted " an ancient and fish-like smell " 
 — a miasm of musk, assisted by every abomination in 
 perfumery. 
 
 I was in an intermediate state between frenzy and fever, 
 and turned over in my mind the expediency of setting 
 fire to the bed-curtains, and sending myself, the quad- 
 rille, and the whole company to the skies, by igniting 
 ten pounds of Harvey's treble strong, which was stowed 
 away somewhere in my luggage. Did tired nature 
 quiesce for a moment, I was fearfully roused with a 
 tornado of torturous sounds. " Places, gentlemen ! " 
 — " Ladies' chain ! " — ** Now, don't dance, Patsey ; 
 you know you're drunk ! " — *' Arrah ! Charley, are you 
 stupid ? "— " Dos'd-dos, Miss Rourke ! "— " Up with 
 the Lancers ! " — " Aisy, Mr. Bodkin ! remember there 
 are ladies here ! " — " Waiter 1 there's porter wanted 
 at the card-table ! " Somnus ! deity of my adoration ! 
 never expose me to such misery as I endured in the 
 archiepiscopal town of Tuam ! 
 
 Morning came, and the company retired to supper 
 below stairs. Anticipating the consequences, I fortified 
 my chamber-door with all the moveables I could collect. 
 It was a prudent precaution ; for, blessed be God ! 
 a row ensued, that finished both delph and dancing. 
 I suflFered nothing in person, but my less-fortunate valet 
 got a black eye from a Connemara gentleman, who, 
 unluckily for poor Travers, mistook him for the master 
 of the ceremonies, with whom he of Connemara was 
 at feud. 
 
22 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 It was noon when I arose, and the inmates of the Mitre 
 were still in exquisite confusion. Breakfast, after much 
 delay, was provided by the agency of the housemaid. 
 She apologised for the non-attendance of the waiter, 
 at present a patient in the Infirmary ; he having, in the 
 course of the entertainment, been ejected from the 
 window by a pleasant gentleman of Loughrea. 
 
 Anxious to be off as soon as possible, I ordered the 
 horses to ; but an unforeseen difficulty occurred in 
 removing my luggage to the carriage, as the door 
 was blocked up four deep by a gang of beggars. 
 With relation to the sizes of their respective places, 
 the lazaroni of Naples are far out-numbered by the 
 mendicants of Tuam. A trace broke at starting, and 
 thus enabled me to form a pretty correct idea of this 
 multitude. I reckoned to fifty-seven, and then became 
 confused. Although beset on every side, I was proof 
 against importunity, and refused parting with a sixpence. 
 Cursing was next tried ; and to the curious in that 
 accomplishment, I would suggest a week's residence 
 at the Mitre. One boy, a cripple in a dish, excelled 
 the united talent of the remainder. English and Irish 
 epithets were with him '' common as household words " '; 
 he used both languages with surpassing fluency, and there 
 was an originality of conception in his style of execra- 
 tion which was what the Cockneys call most refreshing. 
 This precocious prodigy could not be much above 
 fifteen ; and, if he lives, will, in this peculiar depart- 
 ment of national eloquence, be without a parallel. I 
 have '' erst while " passed through Billingsgate, when 
 
Th£ MAt) MAJOR. ^2 
 
 the fair inhabitants betrayed symptoms of irritation ; 
 I have heard hackney-coachmen cursing at a crowded 
 opera over a fractured panel or broken pole ; I have 
 listened to a score of watermen squabbling for a fare at 
 Westminster Bridge ; I have been on board a transport 
 in a gale of wind, with an irreligious commander ; but 
 Tuam for ever ! there, cursing is perfection. 
 
 Mine is but a rambling narrative, and my details, 
 however interesting, lay no claim to the lucidiis or do ; 
 therefore, I reserve full liberty, from the very start, to 
 bolt into digressions when and as I please. 
 
 Of the many anecdotes that I have heard my father 
 narrate of his friend, the Mad Major, one was particu- 
 larly characteristic. 
 
 When the gallant 50th were removed to MuUingar, 
 it was supposed that this town produced a greater number 
 of beggars than any in the king's dominions : a swarm 
 of paupers rendered the streets almost impassable, 
 and ingress or egress to or from a shop was occasionally 
 impracticable. Now, beggars were to the Mad Major 
 an abomination ; and for two days he ensconced him- 
 self in his lodgings, rather than encounter the mendicants 
 of Mullingar. Confinement will increase bile, and bile 
 may induce gout ; and at last, wearied of captivity, 
 he sallied forth, and to every application for relief, 
 he specified an early day, requesting the numerous 
 supplicants to be punctual to the appointed time. His 
 wish was faithfully attended to ; and on the expected 
 morning the street where he resided was literally blocked 
 up. The Major, under a volley of blessings, appeared 
 at the hall door. '* Are you all here ? " he inquired, 
 in accents of the tenderest compassion. "All, your 
 honour — all, young and owld ! " responded a big beggar- 
 
24 WILD SPORTS OF THE WESt. 
 
 man. *' We*re all here, colonel, avorneen ! " exclaimed 
 a red virago, '' but my own poor man, Brieney Bokkogh ;* 
 and he, the crater ! fell into the fire a Sunday night, 
 and him hearty, and sorrow stir he can make good nor 
 bad." " Ah, then," said the humane commander, 
 " why should poor Brien be left out ? Arrah ! run 
 yourself, and bring the cripple to us." In a twinkling 
 off went the red virago, and, after a short absence, issued 
 from a neighbouring lane with Brieney on her shoulders. 
 " Are you all here now ? " inquired the tender-hearted 
 chieftain. " Every single sowl of us," said an old woman 
 in reply. " Ogh ! that the light of heaven may shine 
 on his honour's dying hour ; but it's he that's tender 
 to the poor ! " "Amen, Amen ! " responded a 
 hundred voices. " Silence ! " said the Mad Major, 
 as he produced a small book neatly bound in red 
 morocco. '* Whisht, your sowls ! " cried the big 
 beggarman. " Are ye listening ? " " Sha, sha ! yes, 
 yes ! " was responded in English and Irish. " Then, 
 by the contents of this blessed book — and it's the Bible 
 — a rap I won't give one of ye, you infernal vagabonds, 
 if I remained a twelvemonth in MulHngar ! " A yell 
 of execrations followed ; but the Major bore the cursing 
 like a philosopher, and kept his promise like a monk. 
 To the surprise of all, the beggars left the way when he 
 walked out, and absconded from the shop he entered. 
 They crossed themselves devoutly if they encountered 
 him unexpectedly at a corner, adjuring the Lord to 
 " stand between them, the Mad Major, and the devil ! " 
 Apropos to cursing ; the late Sir Charles Asgill told 
 a story of this eccentric personage. During the time 
 the 50th remained in Ireland, the Colonel was mostly 
 
 ♦ Bryan the Cripple. 
 
THE MAD MAJOR. 2^ 
 
 absent from ill-health, and the command, of course, 
 devolved upon the Major. By one of the military 
 abuses at that time too common, a little Scotch doctor, 
 who had somehow been appointed Adjutant to a Fencible 
 regiment, was transferred from it to the 50th. Incom- 
 petent from professional inability, he was further afflicted 
 by a constitutional nervousness, that made him badly 
 calculated to come in contact with such a personage 
 as the Mad Major. 
 
 Shortly after the little Scotchman joined, the half- 
 yearly inspection took place. Major O'Farrell, in 
 the course of his evolutions, found it requisite to 
 deploy into line, and called to his field assistant " to 
 take an object." '' Have you got one ? " cried the 
 commander in a voice of thunder. " Yes, sir," replied 
 the alarmed Adjutant, in a feeble squeak. The word 
 was given, and the right wing kept moving, until the 
 face of the regiment assumed the form of a semi-circle. 
 " Hallo ! — where or what is your object ? " roared the 
 Major. '* A crow, sir," replied the unhappy Scotsman. 
 *' And where is the crow ? " roared the Commander. 
 *' Flown off," was the melancholy response. *' May the 
 devil fly away with you, body and bones ! Halt — dress ! 
 Stop, Sir Charles ; do stop. Just allow me two minutes 
 to curse that rascally Adjutant." To so reasonable a 
 request Sir Charles, who was a most obliging officer, 
 readily assented. The General mentioned often that 
 the damning of a stupid Adjutant was no novelty ; but 
 that he never saw a man cursed to his perfect satisfac- 
 tion until he heard the Scotch doctor anathematized 
 in the Phoenix Park. 
 
 The death of poor Denis was in such perfect keeping 
 with his life, that I am tempted to give it to you. 
 
26 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 The regiment was in garrison, and at a race-ball a 
 trifling misunderstanding occurred between a young 
 Ensign and a country gentleman. It was, however, 
 instantly adjusted. A few days afterwards, some intem- 
 perate expressions which had fallen from the gentleman 
 at the ball were reported to the Mad Major. These 
 he considered as reflecting upon the character of his 
 corps, and he despatched the senior Captain for an 
 explanation. The answer to this demand was unsatis- 
 factory, and the Captain was directed to deliver a hostile 
 message. The officers of the " Half Hundred " were 
 a brave body — they vainly endeavoured to make it a 
 regimental affair, and insisted that the person to resent 
 the insult should be indifferently selected (by lot) from 
 the corps. 
 
 '' Gentlemen, I thank you," said the Mad Major, 
 as he struck his broad hand upon the mess-table. 
 '' Your motives are personally kind — but as I am at the 
 head of this regiment, I hold myself to be the 
 conservator of its honour." 
 
 That evening the Major had a violent attack of gout, 
 to which for years he had been a martyr — but he con- 
 cealed it carefully, and when his friend called him on 
 the morning, he was found dressed and powdered, but 
 
 unable to move without assistance. Captain M 
 
 pressed upon him the necessity of postponing the 
 meeting, or permitting another officer to be his sub- 
 stitute ; but Denis was immovable in his resolve. He 
 proceeded to the ground, and, supported by a crutch, 
 after a discharge of pistols, received a satisfactory apology. 
 Poor fellow ! this was his last feat. Exposure to the 
 cold of a damp spring morning brought on a renewed 
 attack of gout — that night the disorder settled in his 
 stomach — and the morning after he was a corpse. 
 
THE MAD MAJOR. 27 
 
 The body was carried to its last resting-place, accom- 
 panied by all the pomp of a military funeral. His own 
 beloved company, the Grenadiers who had often followed 
 their lion-hearted leader into action, now formed his 
 guard of honour to the grave ; and when his remains 
 were committed to the earth there was not a dry eye 
 among the '* Dirty Half Hundred." 
 
 Two months afterwards, when an Irish soldier was 
 questioned on the merits of his successor — *' The man 
 is well enough," said Pat, with a heavy sigh, " but 
 where will we find the equal of the Mad Major ? It 
 was a comfort to be cursed by him ! " 
 
2S WILD SPORTS O^ THE WEST. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Without any adventure worthy of a place in this 
 itinerary, I reached in safety the capital of Mayo. From 
 other provincial cities, this town is distinguished in having 
 a new drop and an old gaol ; a swamp in the centre of 
 the town surrounded by an iron chain, judiciously 
 placed there, I imagine, to prevent cattle and children 
 being lost in the morass which it environs ; a court- 
 house, with a piazza and fa9ade, of an original order of 
 architecture, only known to Irish professors of the 
 art of building ; trade and manufactures are limited to 
 felt-hats and poteen whiskey ; and the only machinery 
 I could discover was the drop, aforesaid. I was informed 
 that the chapel and petty-sessions are generally crowded, 
 as is the market, upon a hanging-day. 
 
 I was called next morning at five o'clock by the 
 waiter to proceed by the Sligo mail, although on the 
 preceding night I had taken considerable pains to persuade 
 him that my course lay westward. One hour after- 
 wards the chamber maid roused me to inquire if I had 
 any intention of proceeding to Hollymount by a hackney 
 car. To save these worthy people further trouble, I 
 arose and dressed, and, wishing to avoid a vestry to be 
 that day holden in the town, and where, in the course 
 of argument, it was believed that divers lives would 
 be lost, I took an early breakfast, and departed. 
 
 I stopped at Newport ; it was the last cluster of 
 houses, arrogating to itself the title of a town, that I 
 should now meet with, for I had reached the ultima 
 Thule of civilised Europe — and when I had given 
 
PROGRESS INTO TERRA INCOGNITA. 29 
 
 directions to the postmaster touching the transmission 
 of my letters in my cousin's bag, I looked around me, 
 and took a silent but mournful farewell of Christendom. 
 
 I found at the public-house that my kinsman had 
 provided for my farther progress into terra incognita. 
 A couple of rudely-constructed vehicles were waiting 
 to receive myself and personal property, and a wild, 
 bare-legged mountaineer, with a leathern bag strapped 
 across his shoulders, announced himself as guide. 
 " Had he no horse ? " — " Devil a harse ! but he would 
 warrant he would keep up with me " — and away we 
 went under a salute of our dogs and the furtive glances 
 of sundry ladies with their hair in papers. 
 
 Some distance from the town we crossed an ancient 
 bridge of many arches, through which an extensive 
 lake communicates with the sea, and farther on passed 
 the old tower of Carrigahowla. Our route was con- 
 tiguous to the sea — on the left were the numerous islands 
 of Clew Bay ; on the right an extensive chain of savage 
 hills and barren moorland. The road now became 
 hardly passable ; constructed without the least regard 
 to levelness — here it dipped into a ravine, and there 
 breasted some sudden hill, inaccessible to any carriage 
 but the light machines we travelled with. Its surface 
 was rough, and interrupted by a multitude of loose 
 stones ; while some of the bridges were partially dilapi- 
 dated, and others had never been completed. In these 
 the ragged line of granite which formed the key-stones 
 of the arches stood nakedly up, and presented a barrier 
 that no common carriage could overtop without 
 endangering its springs and harness. Yet this forlorn 
 road is the only communication with a highly improv- 
 able country, covering at least fifty square miles, with 
 
30 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 numerous and profitable islands attached, and an 
 immense line of ^eacoast, possessing rich fisheries, 
 and abounding in kelp-weed and manure ! And why 
 was this neglect ? Were the proprietors of this deserted 
 district so cold to that true spring of human action, self- 
 aggrandizement, as to omit providing an outlet for the 
 sources of their opulence ? Were there no public monies 
 allocated to these abandoned corners of the earth, and 
 so much lavishly expended on many a useless under- 
 taking elsewhere ? Yes : large sums had been presented 
 and re- presented by the Grand Juries for the last twenty 
 years, but they have been regularly pocketed by those 
 to whose good faith they were entrusted. Would it 
 be believed in England, George, that this atrocious 
 system of peculation has been carried to such an extent 
 that roads have been passed as completed when their 
 lines have been but roughly marked out — and bridges 
 been actually paid for, the necessary accounting affi- 
 davits having been sworn to in open court, when not a 
 stone was ever laid, and to this day the stream runs 
 without a solitary arch to span its flood from the source 
 to the debouchement ? Ay — these delinquencies have 
 been often and notoriously perpetrated, and none have 
 had the courage to drag the criminals to justice. 
 
 At the clachan of Mulranny we struck into a pass 
 in the mountains, and turned our backs upon Clew Bay.. 
 A branch from the waters of Black Sod runs some ten 
 miles inland, and meets this opening in the hills, 
 affording a communication by boats with Erris. There 
 my kinsman's galley was waiting for me, and in it I 
 embarked my person and establishment. Taking 
 advantage of a south-westerly wind, the boatmen hoisted 
 their close-reefed lug, and away we shot rapidly towards 
 
PROGRESS INTO TERRA INCOGNITA. 3 1 
 
 the entrance of the inlet. From the high lands which 
 rose on every side, the squalls fell more heavily and 
 frequent than I found agreeable ; but in an hour we 
 cleared this confined and dangerous channel, and, 
 running between Currane Point and the island of Innis 
 Biggie, entered Black Sod Bay. 
 
 The passage down the inlet was marked with several 
 incidents which were in perfect keeping with the wild 
 and savage scenery around. A seal would suddenly 
 raise his round head above the surface, gaze for a moment 
 at the boat, and, when he had apparently satisfied his 
 curiosity, sink quietly from our view. In rounding 
 the numerous headlands through which this inlet irreg- 
 ularly winds, we often started flocks of curlews, which, 
 rising in an alarm at our unexpected appearance, made 
 the rocks ring with their loud and piercing whistle. 
 Skirting the shore of Innis Biggie, we disturbed an 
 osprey, or sea-eagle, in the act of feeding on a bird. 
 He rose leisurely, and, lighting on a rock, waited till we 
 passed, and then returned to his prey. We ran suffi- 
 ciently close to the shore to observe the size and colour 
 of the bird, and concluded that a grouse had been the 
 eagle's victim. 
 
 When we had cleared the islands, the breeze blew 
 fresh and steadily ; the boatmen shook out the reefs 
 which had hitherto confined their canvas ; the galley 
 with increased velocity rushed through the rippling 
 water, till, doubling a neck of land surmounted by a 
 ruined castle, and running up a sheltered creek, I found 
 myself at the termination of my voyage, and warmly 
 welcomed by my Irish kinsman, from whom for fifteen 
 years I had been separated. 
 
 I have been here three days, and am as much domes- 
 
32 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 ticated in the mansion as my cousin's Newfoundland 
 dog. I know the names and " sobriquet " of the estab- 
 Hshment ; can discriminate between " Hamish-a-neilan " 
 (James of the island) and Andy-hawn (Fair Andy) ; I 
 hold converse with the cook, and am hand-in-glove 
 with the housemaid. Really, I am delighted with the 
 place, for everything is wild, new, and out-of-the-way ; 
 but I must describe the locale of my kinsman's domicile. 
 At the bottom of a narrow creek you must imagine 
 " a low, snug dwelling, and in good repair." The foam 
 of the Atlantic breaks sometimes against the windows, 
 while a huge cliff, seaward, defends it from the storm, 
 and, on the land side, a sudden hill shelters it from the 
 north wind. Here, when the tempest roars abroad, 
 your friend Laura might venture forth and not endanger 
 a papillotte. The bent* roof is impervious to the rain ; 
 the rooms are neat, well arranged, and comfortable. 
 In the parlour, if the evening be chilly, a turf fire 
 sparkles on the hearth ; and when dried bog-deal is 
 added to the embers, it emits a fragrant and delightful 
 glow, superseding the necessity of candles. The long 
 and measured swell of the Atlantic would almost lull 
 a troubled conscience to repose ; and that rural hum, 
 which attends upon the farmyard, rouses the refreshed 
 sleeper in the morning. In the calm of evening I hear 
 the shrill cry of the sand-lark ; and in the early dawn, 
 the crowing of the cock grouse. I see the salmon 
 fling themselves over the smooth tide, as they hurry from 
 the sea to re-ascend their native river. And while I 
 drink claret that never paid the revenue a farthing, 
 or indulge over that proscribed beverage — the produce 
 and the scourge of this wild district — I trace from the 
 
 * The customary thatch in parts of Erria. 
 
PROGRESS INTO TFRRA INCOGNITA. 33 
 
 window the outline of a range of hills, where the original 
 red-deer of Ireland are still existing — none of your 
 park-fed venison, that tame, spiritless, diminutive, 
 which a boy may assassinate with his *' bir ding-piece," 
 but the remnant of that noble stock, which hunters of 
 other days, O^ Connor the Cus Dhu* and Cormac Bawn 
 Mac Tavishy once delighted in pursuing. 
 
 The offices of this wild dwelling are well adapted to the 
 edifice. In winter the ponies have their stable, and kine 
 and sheep a comfortable shed. Nor are the dogs for- 
 gotten ; for them a warm and sheltered kennel is fitted 
 up with benches, and well provided with straw. Many 
 a sporting-lodge in England, on which thousands have 
 been expended, lacks the comforts of my kinsman's 
 unpretending cottage. Where are the coach-houses ? 
 Those, indeed, would be useless appendages ; for the 
 nearest road on which a wheel could turn is ten miles 
 distant from the lodge. 
 
 * Blackfoot. 
 
34 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The last post-bag brought a large supply of news- 
 papers and monthly literature. " Gad-o '-mercy ! " 
 what notions the fishermen of Cockaign must have of 
 the " gentle art ! " It is amusing to read the piscatory 
 articles so seriously put forth in the sporting periodicals. 
 No persons on earth suffer more personal inconvenience 
 than the Cockney artist, or submit so patiently to pecu- 
 niary imposition — and, like virtue, their trouble is its 
 own reward. Punt-fishing and perch-fishing, baiting- 
 holes and baiting-hooks, appear to the mountain 
 fisherman so utterly worthless that I do not wonder at 
 the sovereign contempt with which he regards the 
 unprofitable pursuits of the city angler. 
 
 What a contrast to the Cockney bustle of a Londoner 
 does my cousin's simple preparation for a morning's 
 sport exhibit ! If the wind and clouds are favourable, 
 the rod, ready jointed and spliced, is lifted from beneath 
 the cottage eave, where it " lay like a warrior taking his 
 rest " on a continuation of level pegs. The gaff and 
 pannier are produced by a loose-looking mountaineer, 
 whose light-formed but sinewy limbs are untrammelled 
 by shoe or stocking. Fond of the sport himself, he 
 evinces an ardent interest in your success ; on the moor 
 and by the river he is a good-humoured and obliging ^ 
 assistant ; traverses the mountains for a day, and lies 
 out on the hill-side through the long autumnal night, 
 to watch the passage of the red deer as they steal down 
 from the mountain-top to browse on the lower grounds 
 by moonlight. 
 
 How different from this wild and cheerful follower 
 
HOOKING MY FIRST SALMON. 35 
 
 are the sporting attendants of the unhappy Cockney ! 
 He must consort with " bacon-fed knaves," be the 
 companion of your brawny, jolter-headed, porter- 
 swollen waterman, who in sulky silence paddles his 
 employer into some phlegmatic pool, where the disciple 
 of Walton is secure of the lumbago, but by no means 
 certain of a sprat. 
 
 In truth, I am half ashamed of myself : I came here 
 loaded with rods, flies and baskets, with the " thousand 
 and one " nameless et cetera furnished from a city 
 tackle-shop, in their uses and appearance various as the 
 cargo of the ark. When I displayed yesterday this 
 accumulation of " engines and cunning devices," my 
 cousin burst into a roar of laughter, and inquired if I 
 intended to annihilate the fishery ? Then, turning, 
 leaf by leaf, three immense fiy-books over, he praised 
 the pretty feathers, commended the brightness of the 
 tinsel, and good-naturedly assured me that this rich 
 assemblage did not possess a fly of the value of one 
 farthing. I fear his verdict was a true one ; I have 
 tried two days consecutively and never hooked a fish. 
 But no, the water was too low, the wind too high, or 
 something was amiss, for I have the best flies procurable 
 in the best shop in London. 
 
 The storm terminated, as summer gales do, in a heavy 
 fall of rain. Although the wears are raised to intercept 
 the passage of the fish from the sea, the late freshes, 
 joined to a spring tide, have enabled both trout and 
 salmon to overleap the barrier and fill the pools above 
 it. Want of success had damped my ardour for pisca- 
 tion ; and, besides, I had involved myself in a most 
 amusing article in Blackwood, and felt an unwillingness 
 to lay aside the book. At this moment of indecision 
 
36 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 old Antony, the otter-killer, one of that numerous and 
 nondescript personages who locate themselves in the 
 houses of the Irish gentry, passed the window with a 
 fine salmon and a brace of trout sixteen inches long. 
 How fresh and sparkling is the phosphoric shading of the 
 scales, as the old man turns them round for my inspec- 
 tion ! What a beautiful fish ! it barely measures 
 thirty inches, and is fully ten pounds weight ! That 
 short and deep-shouldered briddawn* is worth all the 
 lubberly roach, dace, perch, and gudgeons that the 
 Thames contains from its source to its debouchement. 
 I looked after the ancient otter-hunter with envy. 
 How lowly would he be estimated in the eyes of a Cheap- 
 side fisherman ; one who wears a modest-coloured 
 jacket,-)- lest a showy garment might annoy the plethoric 
 animals he is dabbling for — ^whose white basket is 
 constructed of the finest wicker-work — with rods and 
 reels, floats and flies, pastes and patties, lines and liqueurs 
 sufficient to load a donkey — how contemptuously would 
 he look down upon honest Antony ! Figure to your- 
 self a little feeble man, dressed in a jerkin of coarse 
 blue cloth, with an otter (a fancy of my cousin's) 
 blazoned on his arm : in one hand he holds a fish-spear, 
 which assists him when he meets with rugged ground, 
 in the other, a very unpretending angle, jointed rudely 
 with a pen-knife, and secured by waxen threads ; a- 
 cast of flies are wound about his hat, and his remaining 
 stock, not exceeding half-a-dozen, are contained between 
 
 * A salmon. 
 
 t " Our forefathers were wont to pursue even their amusements 
 with great formality : an angler, a century and a half back, must 
 have his fishing-coat, which, if not black, must at least be of a very 
 dark colour, a black velvet cap, like those which jockeys now wear, 
 and a rod with a stock like a halberd ; thus equipped, he stalked 
 forth, followed by the eyes of a whole neighbourhood." — -Daniel. 
 
HOOKING MY FIRST SALMON. 37 
 
 the leaves of a tattered song-book : in the same deposi- 
 tory he has some silk, dyed mohair, a hare's ear, and a 
 few feathers from the cock, brown turkey, and mallard ; 
 and these simple materials furnish him with most efficient 
 flies, but he requires a bright day to fabricate them, as 
 his sight is indifferent. 
 
 It required much persuasion and a positive assurance 
 of success, before I ventured with my kinsman to the river. 
 Ten minutes' easy walking brought us to a noble pool 
 above the wear, where my friend never fails to kill a 
 salmon, if the wind be westerly and the water not too 
 low. The water was in beautiful order, and my cousin 
 insisted that under his direction I should once more 
 try my fortune with the fishing-rod. Discarding my 
 gaudy flies with a malediction upon the knaves who 
 tied them, he affixed two of his upon the casting-line ; 
 and nothing could be of a simpler character than those 
 selected from his book. The tail-fly was a plain black 
 and orange mohair body, with a long and pointed turkey- 
 feather wing ; the dropper was formed of blue and 
 scarlet wool, ribbed with silver, a pheasant sprit for legs, 
 and mixed wings of the turkey and mallard. 
 
 I made several unsuccessful casts : '* A bad look-out, 
 friend Julius. Heaven forfend that the cook has placed 
 any dependence on the angle ! " Again I tried the pool, 
 and, like all disappointed fishermen, began to prog- 
 nosticate a change of weather. ** I had remarked 
 mares' tails in the sky yesterday evening, and there was 
 rain overhead, for a hundred ! " My cousin smiled ; 
 w^hen suddenly my nebulous speculations were inter- 
 rupted by a deep, sluggish roll at the dropper. '* Mona- 
 mondiaoul ! ''* exclaimed Mortien Beg,\ as he caught 
 * An Irish imprecation. f I^ittle Martin. 
 
38 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 a momentary glance of the broad and fan-like tail. 
 " He is fifteen pound weight ! " Obedient to the 
 directions of my mentor, I left the spot the salmon 
 leaped in, and commenced casting a dozen yards below 
 it. Gradually I came over him again. " A light cast, 
 Frank, and you have him ! " I tried, and succeeded 
 gallantly. I sent the fly across the water with the 
 lightness of the thistle's down as at the same moment 
 the breeze eddied up the stream, and curled the surface 
 deliciously. A long, dull ruffle succeeded — ^whish ! 
 span the wheel ; whish-h-h-h-h, whish-h-h, whish ! I 
 have him ! 
 
 Nothing can be more beautiful than the play of a 
 vigorous salmon. The lubberly struggles of a pond- 
 fish are execrable to him who has felt the exquisite 
 pleasure that attends the conquest of '* the monarch 
 of the stream." His bold rushes — his sudden and 
 rapid attempts to liberate himself from the fisher's 
 thrall — ^the energy with which he throws his silver body 
 three or four feet above the surface of the water — and 
 the unwearied and incessant opposition he makes, until 
 his strength is exhausted by the angler's science ; all 
 this must be experienced to be adequately conceived. 
 In ten minutes I mastered my beautiful victim ; and 
 Mortien Beg gaffed and landed a splendid summer 
 fish, which, if the cook's scales be correct, weighed 
 thirteen pounds and seven ounces. 
 
 Overjoyed with my success, I proceeded up the 
 river. My cousin brought me to several delightful 
 pools ; and, with his assistance, I raised and hooked 
 several capital fish, but only landed one of them, a nice 
 and active salmon of about eight pounds weight. From 
 half a dozen white trout fresh from the sea I received 
 
HOOKING MY FIRST SALMON 39 
 
 excellent amusement ; and at six o'clock returned to 
 dinner gratified with my sport, pleased with myself, 
 and at peace with all mankind, excepting that confounded 
 cozener, the tackle-merchant in Street. 
 
 Over our wine, the conversation naturally turned 
 upon the " gentle art." My kinsman is both a practical 
 and a scientific angler. " Holding, with few excep- 
 tions, all published sporting productions in disrepute, 
 one that I remarked on your bookstand, Julius, strikes 
 me as being at the same time clever and useful : I mean 
 Sir Humphry Davy's." 
 
 "It is both, Frank: his account of the habits and 
 natural history of the salmon species is just, ingenious, 
 and amusing ; and there is a calm and philosophic 
 spirit that pervades the whole, rendering it a work of 
 more than common interest. But, practically, it is 
 as useless as all Guides and Manuals, since the days of 
 Walton. Of the uninitiated it will make fishermen, 
 where Colonel Hawker's directions enables a man to 
 shoot, who has never been five miles from Holborn- 
 bars. I doubt not but Sir Humphry was an ardent and 
 scientific fisherman, but in many practical points I 
 differ with him. He angled well, but he fished like a 
 philosopher. If he haunted this river for a season, 
 unless he altered his system materially, he would not 
 kill a dozen salmon. Flies, such as he describes, would 
 never, in any seasons or weathers, be successful here. 
 He fairly says, that ' different rivers require different 
 flies ; ' but nothing like those he recommends would 
 answer this one ; — and, although many of the theories 
 and speculative opinions are very ingenious, I question 
 much their vaHdity." 
 
40 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The morning had a sullen look ; Slieve More retained 
 his nightcap ; the edge of the horizon where the ocean 
 met the sky was tinged with a threatening glare of lurid 
 sunshine ; the wind was capricious as a woman's love 
 — now swelling into gusts, now sinking to a calm, as 
 the unsteady breeze shifted round to every point " i' 
 the shipman's card." As evening approached, the 
 clouds collected in denser masses, and the giant outline 
 of Slieve More was lost in a sheet of vapour. The swell 
 from the Atlantic broke louder on the bar ; the piercing 
 whistle of the curlew was heard more frequently ; and 
 the small hard- weather tern, which seldom leaves the 
 Black Rock but to harbinger a coming tempest, was 
 ominously busy ; whirling aloft in rapid circles, or 
 plunging its long and pointed wing into the broken 
 surface of the billow. All portended a storm ; the wind 
 freshened momentarily, and at last blew steadily from 
 the south-east. 
 
 I was at the door, engaged in speculating upon the 
 signs of the approaching gale, when old John, my 
 kinsman's grey-headed butler, summoned me to dinner. 
 — Some say that a bachelor's repast has always a lonely 
 and comfortless appearance ; and it may be so. I 
 grant that a sprinkling of the sexes adds to the social 
 character of the table ; but this apart, with the abate- 
 ment of that best society — lovely woman, who shall 
 dine more luxuriously than I ? Two hours' rabbit- 
 shooting in the sand-hills has given me a keen and whole- 
 
THE BLIND SEAL. 4I 
 
 some appetite. That salmon at noon was disporting 
 in the sea, and this kid was fatted among the heath- 
 flowers of the mountain-glen. Kitchener and Kelly 
 could take no exception to the cookery ; and had these 
 worthies still been inhabitants of '' this fair round 
 globe," the Doctor would have found ample amusement 
 for " every man's master, the stomach," and honest 
 Myke might have safely ventured to dinner without 
 his " sauce piquantey 
 
 In due time the cloth disappeared ; a bundle of 
 split bog-deal was laid upon the hearth, and speedily 
 lighted into a cheerful blaze. Old John, with the privi- 
 lege of an ancient retainer, conversed with us as he 
 extracted a fresh cork for the evening's potation. "Awful 
 weather in July, sir. Well, that Shawn a tra buoy* is 
 a wonderful beast ; I knew a change of weather was at 
 hand when he rose beside the shore last night, and 
 showed his grey head and shoulders over the water." 
 
 " Is the seal, John, a sure foreteller of an approaching 
 storm ? " 
 
 " A certain one, sir : I remember him from 1 was a 
 boy in the old master's kitchen — the Lord be merciful 
 to his soul ! Shawn a tra buoy's features are as familiar 
 to me as my own ; I would swear to him among a 
 thousand." 
 
 *' You see him frequently ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, sir. When the salmon come in, he is every 
 day upon the yellow strand opposite the lodge ; there 
 you will see him chase the fish into the shoal-water, 
 catch them beside the boats, ay, or if that fails, take them 
 from the nets, and rob the fishermen. Year after year 
 he has returned with the salmon, spending his summer 
 
 * Jack of the 3'ellow strand. 
 
42 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 on the * tra-buoy,' and his winter near Carrig-a- 
 boddagh." 
 
 " How has he escaped so long, John ? Has he not 
 been often fired at? " 
 
 " A thousand times ; the best marksmen in the 
 country have tried him without success. People say 
 that, like the master otter ^ he has a charmed life ; and 
 latterly nobody meddles with him." 
 
 Old John's narrative was interrupted by the entrance 
 of another personage ; he was a stout, burly-looking 
 man, with indifferent good features, a figure of uncommon 
 strength, and a complexion of the deepest bronze. He 
 is the skipper of my cousin's hooker. After a career 
 of perilous adventure in piloting the Flushing smugglers 
 to the coast, he has abandoned his dangerous trade, to 
 pass an honester and safer life in future. 
 " Well, Pattigo,^ what news ? " 
 
 " The night looks dirty enough, sir ; shall we run 
 the hooker round to Tallaghon, and get the rowing- 
 boats drawn up ? " His master assented, and ordered 
 him the customary glass of poteen. Pattigo received 
 it graciously in the fingers of his right hand — for he has 
 lost his thumb by the bursting of a blunderbuss in one 
 of his skirmishes with the Revenue — made his ship-shape 
 bow, clapped his sou'-wester on, and vanished. 
 
 The storm came on apace ; large and heavy drops . 
 struck heavily against the windows ; the blast moaned 
 round the house ; I heard the boats' keels grate upon 
 the gravel as the fishermen hauled them up the beach ; 
 I saw Pattigo slip his moorings, and, under the skirt of 
 his main-sail, run for a safer anchorage. The rain now 
 fell in torrents ; the sea rose, and broke upon the rocks 
 * A by-name. 
 
THE BLIND SEAL. 43 
 
 in thunder ; mine host directed the storm-shutters 
 to be put up, ordered in candles, with a fresh supply 
 of billets for the fire, and we made final preparations 
 to be comfortable for the night. 
 
 Were I required to name the most recherche of my 
 kinsman's luxuries, I should specify his unrivalled 
 " canastre." An ample quantity of this precious tahac 
 (brought from Holland by a smuggler), with excellent 
 Dutch pipes, was produced by honest John, who rises 
 hourly in my estimation. There was also an addendum 
 in the shape of a foreign-looking bottle, which the 
 ancient servitor averred to have been deposited in the 
 cellar since the time of " the master's father." If it 
 were so, the thing is a marvel ; for such liquor is rarely 
 vouchsafed to mortals. Alas ! George, while my aching 
 head testifies a too devoted attachment to that misshapen 
 flask, the unequalled flavour of the exquisite schiedam 
 it contained will ever haunt my memory, 
 
 I remarked," said my kinsman, as he struck the 
 ashes from his meerschaum, " that you appeared amused 
 with old John's history of Shawn a tra buoy. Although 
 in its wild state, the seal is always shy, and sometimes 
 dangerous, yet, when taken young, it is easily domesti- 
 cated, and susceptible of strong attachment to its 
 keepers. In January, 1819, in the neighbourhood of 
 Burnt Island, a gentleman completely succeeded in 
 taming a seal ; its singularities attracted the curiosity 
 of strangers daily. It appeared to possess all the sagacity 
 of the dog, and lived in its master's house, and ate from 
 his hand. In his fishing excursions this gentleman 
 generally took it with him ; upon which occasion it 
 afforded no small entertainment. When thrown into 
 the water, it would follow for miles the track of the 
 
44 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 boat, and although thrust back by the oars, it never 
 rehnquished its purpose ; indeed, it struggled so hard 
 to regain its seat, that one would imagine its fondness 
 for its master had entirely overcome the natural predi- 
 lection for its native element. There is a curious story 
 told of one of these animals — I believe the leading 
 incidents of the narrative to be perfectly authentic, 
 and it is a memorable record of enduring attachment 
 in the animal, and exquisite barbarity in the man. The 
 tale runs thus : — 
 
 " About 40 years ago a young seal was taken in Clew 
 Bay, and domesticated in the kitchen of a gentleman, 
 whose house was situated on the sea-shore. It grew 
 apace, became familiar with the servants, and attached 
 to the house and family ; its habits were innocent and 
 gentle ; it played with the children, came at its master's 
 call, and, as the old man described him to me, was * fond 
 as a dog, and playful as a kitten.' 
 
 *' Daily the seal went out to fish, and, after providing 
 for his own wants, frequently brought in a salmon or 
 turbot to his master. His delight in summer was to 
 bask in the sun, and in winter to lie before the fire, 
 or, if permitted, creep into the large oven, which at that 
 time formed the regular appendage of an Irish kitchen. 
 " For four years the seal had been thus domesticated, 
 when, unfortunately, a disease, called in this country 
 the crippawn — a kind of paralytic affection of the limbs, 
 which generally ends fatally — attacked some black cattle 
 belonging to the master of the house ; some died, others 
 became infected, and the customary cure produced by 
 changing them to drier pasture failed. A wise woman 
 was consulted, and the hag assured the credulous owner 
 that the mortality among his cows was occasioned by 
 
THE BLIND SEAL. 45 
 
 his retaining an unclean beast about his habitation — 
 the harmless and amusing seal. It must be made away 
 with directly, or the crippawn would continue, and her 
 charms be unequal to avert the malady. The super- 
 stitious wretch consented to the hag's proposal ; and the 
 seal was put on board a boat, carried out beyond Clare 
 Island, and there committed to the deep, to manage 
 for himself as he best could. The boat returned, the 
 family retired to rest, and next morning a servant 
 awakened her master to tell him that the seal was quietly 
 sleeping in the oven. The poor animal overnight came 
 back to his beloved home, crept through an open window, 
 and took possession of his favourite resting-place. 
 
 " Next morning another cow was reported to be 
 unwell ; and the seal must now be finally removed. 
 A Galway fishing-boat was leaving Westport on her 
 return home, and the master undertook to carry oflF 
 the seal, and not put him overboard until he had gone 
 leagues beyond Innis Boffin. It was done ; a day and 
 night passed ; the second evening closed ; the servant 
 was raking the fire for the night ; something scratched 
 gently at the door — it was, of course, the house-dog — 
 she opened it, and in came the seal ! Wearied with 
 his long and unusual voyage, he testified, by a peculiar 
 cry expressive of pleasure, his delight to find himself 
 at home ; then stretching himself before the glowing 
 embers of the hearth, he fell into a deep sleep. 
 
 " The master of the house was immediately apprised 
 of this unexpected and unwelcome visit. In the 
 exigency, the beldame was awakened and consulted : 
 she averred that it was always unlucky to kill a seal, 
 but suggested that the animal should be deprived of 
 sight and a third time carried out to sea. To this 
 
46 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST 
 
 fiendish proposition the besotted wretch who owned the 
 house consented ; and the affectionate and confiding 
 creature was cruelly robbed of sight on that hearth, 
 for which he had resigned his native element ! Next 
 morning, writhing in agony, the mutilated seal was 
 embarked, taken outside Clare Island, and for the last 
 time committed to the waves. 
 
 " A week passed over, and things became worse 
 instead of better ; the cattle of the truculent wretch 
 died fast, and the infernal hag gave him the pleasurable 
 tidings that her arts were useless, and that the destruc- 
 tive visitation upon his cattle exceeded her skill and 
 cure. 
 
 " On the eighth night after the seal had been devoted 
 to the Atlantic, it blew tremendously. In the pauses 
 of the storm a wailing noise at times was faintly heard 
 at the door. The servants, who slept in the kitchen, 
 concluded that the Banshee came to forewarn them of 
 an approaching death, and buried their heads in the 
 bed-coverings. When morning broke, the door was 
 opened — and the seal was there lying dead upon the 
 threshold ! *' 
 
 " Stop, Julius ! " I exclaimed, " give me a moment's 
 time to curse all concerned in this barbarism." 
 
 " Be patient, Frank," said my cousin, *' the finale will 
 probably save you that trouble. The skeleton of the 
 once plump animal — for, poor beast, it perished from 
 hunger, being incapacitated from blindness to procure 
 its customary food — was buried in a sand-hill, and from 
 that moment misfortunes followed the abettors and per- 
 petrators of this inhuman deed. The detestable hag 
 who had denounced the inoffensive seal was, within 
 a twelvemonth, hanged for murdering the illegitimate 
 
THE BLIND SEAL. 47 
 
 offspring of her own daughter. Everything about this 
 devoted house meked away ; sheep rotted, cattle died, 
 *and blighted was the corn.' Of several children, 
 none reached maturity, and the savage proprietor 
 survived everything he loved or cared for. He died 
 blind and miserable. 
 
 " There is not a stone of that accursed building 
 standing upon another. The property has been passed 
 to a family of a different name, and the series of incessant 
 calamity which pursued all concerned in this cruel deed 
 is as romantic as true." 
 
 It was midnight ; I laid down my pipe, took a candle 
 from the sideboard, wished my cousin a " good night," 
 and went to bed, full of pity for the gentle and affec- 
 tionate seal. 
 
48 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The night throughout continued wild and blus- 
 trous ; the squalls which shook the casements became 
 less frequent and violent towards morning ; the wind 
 settled in the south, and dying gradually away, was 
 succeeded by a heavy and constant fall of rain. To 
 stir out of doors was impossible ; the Lodge is unpro- 
 vided with a billiard- table, and it requires ingenuity 
 to contrive some occupation for the long duration of a 
 summer's day. 
 
 The breakfast was prolonged as much as possible ; 
 it ended, however, and my kinsman left me to give 
 some necessary directions to his household. I seated 
 myself in the window ; the view seaward was interrupted 
 by the thickness of the weather, the rain dropped from 
 the thatch incessantly, the monotonous splash of the 
 falling water, with the sombre influence of a dull and 
 torpid atmosphere, gradually produced a drowsiness, 
 and I fell fast asleep over a dull collection of sporting 
 anecdotes. My cousin's return roused me ; he placed 
 a spider-table beside the window, and having unlocked 
 a box filled with angling materials, " in great and mar- 
 vellous disorder," proceeded to extract from a mass, 
 of unmentionable things the requisites for dressing 
 a cast or two of flies. As my own voluminous book 
 had been sadly discomposed in the numerous inter- 
 changes I made, when vainly trying to seduce a salmon 
 to try my '' tinsel and fine feathers," I proceeded to 
 arrange my splendid collection, while my kinsman was 
 busied with his own simple stock The disappointment 
 
PISCATORY DISQUISITIONS. 49 
 
 I had endured in finding my flies so unprofitable, had 
 made me hold the entire outfit of the London artist in 
 disrepute ; and I would have given my most elaborate 
 and expensive fishing-rod for the hazel angle of the ancient 
 otter-killer. 
 
 " Frank," said my cousin, " you m.ust not undervalue 
 what really is unexceptionable ; I mean the mechanical 
 part of your collection. Those rods are beautiful ; 
 and your reels, lines, gut, and hooks cannot be surpassed ; 
 your flies may be excellent in an English river, so put 
 them carefully aside, as I will supply you with some better 
 adapted to our mountain streams. But what a size 
 that book is ! In fishing, as in literature, the school- 
 men's adage holds, Mega biblion, mega kakon. Why, 
 nothing but a soldier's pack would carry it ! We will 
 soon, however, render you independent of this mighty 
 magazine, by teaching you to fabricate your own flies." 
 
 " I fear I am too old to learn ; the art of tying must, 
 I presume, be acquired early in life, and brought to 
 perfection by after experience." 
 
 " This does not always follow ; I did, when a boy, 
 tie flies passably ; but, having left off fishing when I 
 removed from my native river, I forgot the art, and 
 depended on others for my supply. The person who 
 furnished my casting-lines fell sick, and it unluckily 
 happened that his illness occurred in the best period 
 of the season ; and as the river was filled with fish, 
 constant service soon wore out my scanty store. Neces- 
 sity is the mother — you know the proverb — I was 
 sadly reduced ; ground blunted hooks and patched 
 ravelling bodies, till at last my stock was reduced to 
 half-a-dozen, and that half-dozen to perfect skeletons. 
 What was to be done ? Man is an imitative animal — 
 
50 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 I endeavoured to fabricate — produced something 
 between a bird and a bee — ^tried again, succeeded better ; 
 and before my artist had recovered, by the shade of 
 Wakon ! I could turn out a reputable fly." 
 
 " I believe I must make an attempt." 
 
 " You shall succeed, and, as a preliminary, I will put 
 you under the tutelage of my worthy neighbour, the priest. 
 Observe his style of casting, and mark the facility with 
 which he sends five-and-thirty feet of hair and gut 
 across the broadest pool. I fish tolerably, but have 
 repeatedly laid aside my rod to admire the beautiful 
 casting of this perfect master of the angle.'* 
 
 " He ties a very handsome fly, no doubt." 
 
 " I won't say that — ^he ties a very killing one. I 
 expect him presently ; and as the day is wet, I'll leave 
 the materials ready, and to-morrow, if the rain ceases 
 soon, we shall prove the value of his flies. 
 
 " As we are on the subject of tying, I must observe 
 that the advantage one derives from being able to 
 construct his own flies is wonderful ; in fact, without 
 attaining this accomplishment in the * gentle art ' no 
 one can fish comfortably or successfully. No stock, 
 however extensive, will afford a supply adapted for 
 every change of weather and water ; and a man may lose 
 a day overlooking an interminable variety of kinds and 
 colours in a vain search after one killing fly. Not 
 so the artist : the favourite insect being once 
 ascertained, he speedily produces an imitation, and 
 fills his basket ; while his less fortunate neighbour 
 is idly turning the pages of his over-stocked fishing-book. 
 " I had two sporting friends, who were excellent 
 
 instances of this. Colonel S was an ardent, and, 
 
 I may add, a very tolerable angler ; and no one went 
 
PISCATORY DISQUISITIONS. 5 1 
 
 to more trouble and expense in procuring the most 
 approved flies. He never tied, or attempted to tie one, 
 and he assured me he had many hundred dozens in his 
 possession. To find a new fly was with him sometimes 
 the labour of a day ; and when about to try another 
 water, he would spend hours toiling through his immense 
 collection before he could succeed in discovering the 
 necessary colour and description. I have seen him, 
 with Job-like patience, labouring through endless papers 
 and parcels in search of a paltry insect that I could 
 fabricate in five minutes. 
 
 " His companion, Captain B , ran into an opposite 
 
 extreme. He rarely had a second casting-line, and 
 seldom a second set of flies. Did the day change, 
 or the river fill or lower, he sat down on the bank, ripped 
 wings and dubbings from his hooks, and prepared a 
 new outfit in a twinkling. I never met an angler who 
 
 was so certain of filling a basket as my friend B . 
 
 His system, however, I would totally disapprove of. 
 Without burthening oneself with enough to furnish out 
 a tackle-shop, a small and effective collection is desirable ; 
 and it is absurd to lose a fortunate half-hour tying on 
 the river bank, what could be more conveniently fabri- 
 cated during the tedium of a wet day within doors. 
 An accident may rob the most discreet angler of his 
 flies, and surely it is necessary to have a fresh relay to 
 put up. But though I take a sufficiency along with me, 
 I never leave home without being provided with the 
 materials for constructing new ones. An hour may 
 bring ephemerae on the waters, which you must imitate, 
 or you will cast in vain ; before evening they have 
 vanished and given place to some new variety of the 
 insect world. Thus far, at least, the tier possesses an 
 
52 
 
 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 advantage over him who cannot produce a fly, that no 
 collection which human ingenuity can form will com- 
 pensate. 
 
 " The best practical lesson I ever got originated in 
 the following accidental occurrence. Some years ago 
 I received private information that a travelling tinker, 
 who occasionally visited these mountains to make and 
 repair the tin stills used by the peasantry in illicit dis- 
 tillation, was in the constant habit of destroying fish, 
 and he was represented as being a most successful 
 poacher. I was returning down the river after an 
 unfavourable day, a wearied and a disappointed fisher- 
 man, and observed, at a short distance, a man chased 
 across the bogs by several others, and eventually over- 
 taken and secured. It was the unfortunate tinker, 
 surprised by the keepers in the very act of landing a 
 splendid salmon ; two, recently killed, were discovered 
 in his wallet, and yet that blessed day I could not hook 
 a fish ! He was forthwith brought in durance before 
 my honour to undergo the pains and penalties of his 
 crime. He was a strange, raw-boned, wild-looking 
 animal, and I half suspect Sir Walter Scott had seen 
 him before he sketched Watt Tinlin in the ' Lay.' 
 He was a convicted felon — he had no plea to offer, for 
 he was taken in the very act. But he made two pro- 
 positions wherewithal to obtain his liberty — ' He 
 would never sin again — or he would fight any two of the 
 captors.* My heart yearned towards him — he was, 
 after all, a brother — and admitting that rod and coat 
 were not worth threepence, still he was an adept in the 
 ' gentle art, ' although the most ragged disciple that 
 ever Walton boasted. I forgave him, dismissed the 
 captors, and ordered him to the Lodge for refreshment. 
 
PISCATORY DISQUISITIONS. 53 
 
 * My honour had no sport,' and he looked carelessly 
 at my flies. * Would I condescend to try one of his ? ' 
 And he put a strange-looking combination of wool 
 and feathers on the casting-line. There was a fine 
 pool near us — I tried it, and at the second cast I was 
 fast in a twelve-pound salmon ! My ragged friend 
 remained with me some days ; and in his sober intervals, 
 ' few and far between,' gave me lessons in the art 
 that have been more serviceable than any I had hitherto 
 acquired. 
 
 " Two years after I was obliged to attend the winter 
 fair of Ball to purchase cattle. It was twilight when 
 I left it, and I had proceeded only a few miles towards 
 a gentleman's house, where I was to dine and sleep, 
 when my horse cast a shoe, and forced me to leave him 
 at a smith's shop, which was fortunately at hand. The 
 evening was chilly, and I determined to proceed on 
 foot, directing my servant to follow. I passed a lonely 
 poteen-house — several ruffian-looking fellows were on 
 the road beside it. They were half-drunk and insolent 
 — I was rash — ^words borrowed blows, and I soon 
 discovered that I should have the worst of the battle, 
 and was tolerably certain of a sound drubbing. Sud- 
 denly an unexpected ally came to my assistance ; he 
 dropped the most formidable of the assailants as if he had 
 been struck down by a sledge-hammer. A few blows 
 settled the contest ; and I turned round to recognise 
 and thank my deliverer. ' 'Pon my sowl, you're 
 mighty handy, Master Julius ; it's a murder that ye 
 don't practise oftener ! ' The speaker was my gifted 
 friend — the tinker." 
 
54 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST 
 
 CHAPTER IX, 
 
 To look at the map of Mayo, one would imagine 
 that Nature had designed that county for a sportsman. 
 The westerly part is wild and mountainous ; alpine 
 ridges of highlands interpose between the ocean and the 
 interior, and from the bases of these hills a boundless 
 tract of heath and moorland extends in every direction. 
 To the east, the face of the country undergoes a striking 
 change — large and extensive plains cover the surface, 
 and as the lands are generally occupied in pasturage, 
 and consequently not sub -divided into the numerous 
 enclosures which are requisite in tillage farming, this 
 part of Mayo is justly in high estimation as a hunting 
 country, and for centuries has been a favourite fixture 
 of the neighbouring fox-hunters. The Plains, as this 
 sporting district is usually denominated, afford constant 
 opportunities for the horse to show his powers and the 
 rider his nerve. The parks are of immense size ; the 
 fences stiff and safe ; the surface agreeably undulated, 
 and, from the firmness of the sward, affording superior 
 galloping ground. One may occasionally ride over 
 miles without being necessitated to take a leap ; but 
 when one does meet fences, they are generally raspers ; 
 and if the scent lies, and the dogs can go, nothing but 
 a tip -top horse, and a man " who takes everything as 
 God sends it," will hold a forward place upon the plains. 
 The covers in the vicinity of the plains are numerous 
 and well supplied with foxes. Of these animals there 
 is no scarcity anywhere in Mayo ; but in the mountain 
 districts there is, unfortunately, a superabundance. 
 
SPORTING TOPOGRAPHY OF MAYO. 55 
 
 The herdsman and grouse-shooter complain sadly of 
 their devastations ; and notwithstanding numbers are 
 annually dug out for hunting, or destroyed by the 
 peasantry, there seems to be an anti-Malthusian property 
 in the animal, which enables its mischievous stock, 
 maugre traps and persecution, to increase and multiply. 
 
 While the country is peculiarly adapted for field- 
 sports, the extensive lakes and numerous rivers offer 
 every inducement to the angler : the streams are plenti- 
 fully stocked with trout, and the rivers which commu- 
 nicate with the sea have a good supply of salmon. 
 Curious varieties* of the finny tribe are to be found 
 in the mountain loughs ; and in those noble and expan- 
 sive sheets of water, Lough Con, Lough Mask, and 
 Lough Corrib, the largest and finest specimens of fish 
 are easily obtained. 
 
 We have just had a domiciliary visit from the revenue 
 police. Under cover of the night they made a descent 
 upon our valleys from their station, some fifteen miles 
 off. Excepting causing dire alarm — a general abduc- 
 tion of stills, worms, and all the apparatus of the craft, 
 and the concealment of malt, and the burying of kegs — 
 the consequences of the foray have not been important. 
 One fatal casualty occurred : a distillery had finished 
 its brewing {i.e., distilled the quantity brewed), and 
 principals and accessories were indulging a little after 
 their exertions. Unluckily, the revenue stumbled upon 
 the convivial meeting ; and although the stiijj was gone, 
 the still, apparatus, and unextinguished fire were proofs 
 positive that the king — God bless him ! — had been woe- 
 fully defrauded. Such of the party as could strike a 
 walk escaped without difiiculty ; but two unhappy 
 * For example, the Gillaroo and Par. 
 
56 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 gentlemen who were blind drunk, and fast asleep in all 
 security before the smouldering embers of the still- 
 fire, were captured and conveyed to my loving cousin, 
 to undergo the pains and penalties of their crime. He, 
 as a matter of course, committed them to gaol ; and the 
 next going judge, as another matter of course, will 
 discharge them. Meanwhile they are taken from their 
 families, and supported at the expense of the county ; 
 their utility is lost when it is most requisite, and they are, 
 during the term of incarceration, a useless burden upon 
 the community. I cannot see the moral and legal 
 expediency of all this ; but the men who framed the 
 revenue laws were probably more clear-sighted than I 
 am. 
 
 When I first observed a score of banditti in blue 
 jackets and white cross-belts arranged before the Lodge, 
 I felt particularly nervous ; and old John, my refuge 
 in perplexity, was immediately consulted. " John," 
 said I, in a masonic whisper, " are we safe ? " — ** Safe : 
 from what, Sir ? "— " The ganger."— " Lord, Sir, 
 he dines with us." — " But — but is there any stuff about 
 the house ? " — " Any ! God alone can tell how much 
 there is above and under." " If any body told the 
 ganger, John — ! " '* They would only tell him what he 
 knows already. The ganger : — ^Lord bless you. Sir, 
 he never comes or goes without leaving a keg or two 
 behind him. If the master and he did not pull together 
 what the devil business would he have here } Don't 
 mind, Sir ; we know what we are about : Tiggum 
 Tigue Thigien .' "* 
 
 Midnight. I hope the weather has settled : the moon 
 looks well, and, as John avers, the sun set favourably 
 
 * An Irish proverb, literally meaning "Tim tmderstands Teady." 
 
SPORTING TOPOGRAPHY OF MAYO. 57 
 
 There is, however, one solitary scintillating star ;— one ! 
 there are two. Confound the poteen ! it is the queerest, 
 pleasantest, out-o*-the-way drink imaginable ! — and the 
 ganger told such odd stories, and sang such extraor- 
 dinary songs 1 the sooner I am in bed the better ! 
 What a field the Temperance Society would have here 
 for their exertions ! Well, if I rise without a headache, 
 I'll immortalise the man who first invented distillation. 
 
 We start under favourable auspices ; a sweet, steady 
 westerly wind is blowing, clouds and sunshine alternately 
 prevail, the river should be in good order, and we 
 anticipate that this will be a killing day. 
 
 We have determined to fish the sister stream ; the 
 waters of Goolamore unite in the same estuary with 
 those of our own river, and yet the fish vary with regard 
 to season as much as if they inhabited waters a thousand 
 miles apart. In Goolamore throughout the whole 
 year, white* salmon are found in high condition ; in 
 Aughniss, from October till April, the fish are red, 
 spent, and worthless. In size, in character, the streams 
 are much alike : they unite in their debouchement 
 in the sea, and flow, but a few miles asunder, through 
 a flat and moory country. That the fish of these sister 
 streams should differ so much is surprising, and can 
 only be attributed to one circumstance : Aughniss is 
 a union of mountain streams, Goolamore flows from an 
 extensive lake, and affords an outlet to the waters of 
 Carramore. Judging, therefore, from the constant 
 supply of white fish which Goolamore yields all through 
 
 * By the simple appellation of white and red fish, the peasantry- 
 distinguish Salmon when in and out of season. Indeed, the colour 
 is such a perfect indicative of health and disease, that any person 
 who has frequented a salmon river will, on seeing a fish rise, be enabled 
 to tell with accuracy the state of his condition. 
 
58 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 the year, one would conclude that the lake offers better 
 food and winterage to the salmon than the shallower 
 and colder waters of Aughniss. 
 
 Our expectations were fully realised, and we found 
 
 the pools in excellent order. Independently of a west 
 
 wind being a favourite point for the angler — ^in these 
 
 rivers it blows against the current of the stream, and 
 
 consequently increases the ruffle on the surface of the 
 
 water, which in salmon fishing is so favourable. My 
 
 cousin, who is perfectly acquainted with the local haunts 
 
 of the salmon, placed me where I seldom failed to rise 
 
 or hook a fish. What splendid angling this wild country 
 
 offers ! It spoils one in after Hfe, however. The man 
 
 who has held a salmon on his line disrelishes the inferior 
 
 amusements of the craft ; the fox-hunter will seldom 
 
 condescend to ride to beagles ; the deer-stalker will 
 
 not waste time and powder in a rabbit-warren ; and the 
 
 disciple of Izaac who has once indulged in the exquisite 
 
 delight of salmon fishing will feel little satisfaction 
 
 in the commoner pursuits and lesser pleasures of the 
 
 gentle art. 
 
 We landed five salmon, besides taking a pannier full 
 of sea-trout. Had I been an adept, or better appointed 
 than I was, we might have killed double the number 
 of salmon. My flies were unluckily tied on London 
 hooks, and from their defective quality and formation- 
 several fish escaped me. Repeated failures caused me 
 to examine the hooks, and I ascertained that they were 
 both ill-shapen and badly tempered. My cousin had 
 warned me against the consequences of using them, 
 but I believed that he was prejudiced, and concluded 
 that this department of my London outfit must be 
 unobjectionable. The event, however, proved that I 
 
SPORTING TOPOGRAPHY OF MAYO. 59 
 
 was deceived. My kinsman rarely lost a salmon, and 
 mine broke from me continually. I find by sad experi- 
 ence that in hook-making the Irish are far before us ; 
 our workmen either do not understand the method 
 of forming and tempering hooks, or they do not take 
 sufficient pains in their manufactory. It is strange 
 when so much of the angler's pleasure and success 
 depends upon the quality of his hooks, that more 
 attention is not bestowed upon their fabrication. The 
 art of forming and the process of tempering them 
 appears simple enough ; and that little difficulty is 
 required to attain it is evident from the fact, that many 
 fishermen make their own hooks. For my own part, 
 however, I consider hook-making to be an unnecessary 
 accomplishment for the angler, as the best hooks in the 
 world can be procured without trouble, and at a trifling 
 expense, from O'Shaughnessy of Limerick. 
 
60 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 To those unacquainted with the method of taking 
 salmon, a brief detail may not be uninteresting : pre- 
 mising that in other fisheries different means are 
 employed, yet the simplest and general method is that 
 used at Aughniss. 
 
 About March fly-fishing commences, and a strong 
 and active spring fish will then frequently be killed, 
 if the river is sufficiently supplied with water, and the 
 wind brisk and westerly. As the season advances the 
 fishing materially improves ; and from the month of 
 April, salmon, in the highest condition, with red and 
 white trout, will rise here freely at the fly. 
 
 In June, however, the regular fishing with nets 
 commences, and then the wear is raised to stop the 
 passage of the fish, and the river water vented through 
 a small aperture provided with a trap, or as it is techni- 
 cally called, a box. By these traps and artificial canals, 
 in other fisheries the salmon are principally taken ; but 
 here, except some straggling fish, the box produces 
 little. 
 
 The fishing is confined to the estuary, where the river- 
 meets the sea. Here, according to naturalists, the 
 salmon undergo a probationary course before they 
 exchange the salt for the fresh water, as a sudden change 
 from either would be fatal to the fish, and a temporary 
 sojourn in water of an intermediate quality (brackish) 
 is supposed to be requisite before they can leave either 
 the ocean or the river. 
 
SALMON FISHING DESCRIBED. 6 1 
 
 The draughting is carried on at the last quarter of 
 the ebb, and during the first of flood — five or six boats, 
 with as many men in each, are necessary. When the 
 salmon are seen, the nearest boat starts off, leaving a man 
 on shore, with a rope attached to one extremity of the 
 net, which is rapidly thrown over, as the boat makes an 
 extensive circle round the place where the fish is sup- 
 posed to lie. Returning to the shore, the curve of the 
 net is gradually decreased. Stones are flung in at each 
 extremity, to prevent the salmon from escaping ; the 
 net reaches the bank, the semi-circle is complete, and 
 all within effectually secured. The fish are then care- 
 fully landed, and at a single draught five hundred salmon 
 have been taken. This is, however, an event of rare 
 occurrence, and unless the net were powerfully strong, 
 and the fishers skilful, a fracture, and consequently 
 a general escape, would be inevitable. 
 
 The fishing here is exceedingly precarious. If the 
 season be favourable from the ist of July to the 12th 
 of August, the daily average would be probably five 
 hundred salmon, exclusive of an immense quantity of 
 white trout. But success depends entirely upon the 
 weather. Should the season prove rainy or tem- 
 pestuous, the salmon directly leave the estuary, and 
 remain at sea until the water clears and the storm abates ; 
 and the time allowed by law often expires before a 
 moiety of the fish can be secured. 
 
 It is extraordhiary how much the flavour and quality 
 of the salmon depend on circumstances apparently 
 of trifling moment. A single day in the river will 
 injure and a flood spoil their condition ; and the 
 difference between a fish taken in the nets and one 
 killed with the rod will be easily perceptible. 
 
62 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 Although in this water angling may be considered 
 as ending in September, yet, through the succeeding 
 months till spring, the fish rise freely at a fly. But the 
 sport is very indifferent compared with summer angling ; 
 the salmon now has lost his energy ; he struggles 
 laboriously to get away, but his play is different from 
 the gallant resistance he would have offered had you 
 hooked him in July. I have landed and turned out 
 again as many as nine salmon in one day, and their 
 united exertions did not afford me half the amusement 
 I have received from the conquest of one sprightly 
 summer fish. Salmon appear to lose beauty and energy 
 together. They are now reddish, dull, dark-spotted, 
 perch-coloured fish, and seem a different species from 
 the sparkling silvery creature we saw them when they 
 first left the sea. As an esculent, they are utterly 
 worthless — soft, flabby and flavourless, if brought to 
 table ; and, instead of the delicate pink hue they 
 exhibited when in condition, they present a sickly, 
 unhealthy, white appearance, that betrays how complete 
 the change is that they have recently undergone. 
 
 And yet at this period they suffer mostly from night- 
 fishers. This species of poaching* is as difficult to 
 detect as it is ruinous in its consequences. It is believed 
 that the destruction of a few breeding fish may cost the 
 proprietor one thousand ; such being the astonishing 
 fecundity of the pregnant salmon ! 
 
 Night fishing is carried on when the river is low, 
 and the night moonless. The poacher, with a gaff and 
 
 * " When I made the tour of that hospitable kingdom in 1754, it 
 (the Coleraine fishery) was rented by a neighbouring gentleman for 
 £620 a year, who assured me that the tenant, his predecessor, gave 
 for it £1,600 per annum — and that he was a greater gainer by the 
 bargain, on account of the number of poachers who destroy the fish 
 during the fence month." — Pennant. 
 
SALMON FISHING DESCRIBED. 63 
 
 torch, selects some gravelly ford — for there, by a law 
 of nature, the salmon resort to form beds in the stream, 
 wherein to deposit their ova ; and they continue working 
 on the sand, until they are discovered by the torch- 
 light, and gaffed by the plunderer. Hundreds of the 
 breeding fish are annually thus destroyed ; and although 
 the greater fisheries may be tolerably protected, it is 
 impossible to secure the mountain streams from depre- 
 dation. If detected, the legal penalty upon poaching 
 is trifling ; and, as appeals on very frivolous grounds 
 are allowed from the summary convictions of magis- 
 trates, it too frequently happens that delinquents evade 
 the punitory consequences attendant on discovery. 
 
 Here, too, the evils of private distillation may be 
 traced ; for most of the depredations committed upon 
 the salmon are effected by persons concerned in this 
 demoralising trade. They are up all night attending 
 to the still. The watch kept against the revenue police 
 enables them to ascertain when the bargers are away, 
 and the river consequently unguarded. A light is 
 snatched from the still-fire, the hidden fish-spear 
 speedily produced, and in a very short space of time 
 an infinite deal of mischief is perpetrated. 
 
 I should be inclined to question the accuracy of 
 weight which Sir Humphry gives his salmon. Fish 
 of the sizes he describes are rarely met with here, and 
 out of one thousand taken in the nets, there will not be 
 ten fish of twenty-five pounds weight. 
 
 The average size is from seven to fifteen pounds. 
 Within thirty years but one monster has been taken ; 
 he weighed fifty-six pounds. Four years ago one of 
 forty-eight pounds was caught : but of the thousands 
 which I have seen taken, I would say I never saw a 
 
64 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 fish weighing more than thirty-five pounds, and not 
 many reaching even to twenty-five pounds. 
 
 The Priest, my neighbour, who Uves on the banks 
 of Goolamore, told me he once killed a salmon of 
 twenty-seven pounds weight, and that the feat gave him 
 an infinity of trouble, and occupied three mortal hours. 
 The Priest fishes with tackle of amazing strength, and 
 is one of the best practical anglers I have ever met with. 
 Sir Humphry Davy mentions salmon of twenty-five 
 and thirty pounds as being commonly taken with a fly. 
 The largest I ever killed was eighteen pounds four ounces, 
 and it gave me abundant exercise for an hour. Either 
 Sir Humphry overrates the weight of Scottish salmon, 
 or in the rivers he frequented they must be immensely 
 superior to those found in the Irish waters. In the 
 Shannon, I believe, the largest fish are found, and I am 
 inclined to think that even there the capture of salmon 
 of this unusual magnitude is an event of very rare 
 occurrence. 
 
 Pennant states " that the largest salmon ever known 
 weighed seventy-four pounds. In September, 1795, 
 one measuring upwards of four feet from nose to tail, 
 and three in circumference, weighing within a few 
 ounces of seventy pounds, was sold at Billingsgate, and 
 was the largest ever brought there. The Severn salmon 
 are much inferior as to their bulk, for one taken near 
 Shrewsbury, in 1757, weighing only thirty-seven pounds, 
 is recorded in the British Chronologist as exceeding 
 in length any ever known to be taken in that river, and 
 being the heaviest except one ever remembered in that 
 town. They have, in many parts, been caught by 
 angling, with an artificial fly and other baits, upwards 
 of forty pounds in weight/' 
 
SALMON FISHING DESCRIBED. 65 
 
 Passing Grove's shop in Bond Street about a month 
 agol remarked an immense fish extended in the window ; 
 I stopped to inquire what its weight might be, and was 
 informed that it weighed forty-five pounds. It had 
 been a Uttle too long on its passage from Scotland, 
 and I should be inclined to say that at best, it was a 
 coarse-flavoured fish, but in its present state, a most 
 indifferent one. 
 
 The migratory habits of the salmon, and the instinct 
 with which it periodically revisits its native river, are 
 curious circumstances in the natural history of this fish. 
 As the swallow returns annually to its nest, as certainly 
 the salmon repairs to the same spot in which to deposit 
 its ova. Many interesting experiments have estab- 
 lished this fact. M. de Lalande fastened a copper ring 
 round a salmon's tail, and found that for three successive 
 seasons it returned to the same place. Dr. Bloch states, 
 that gold and silver rings have been attached, by Eastern 
 princes to salmon, to prove that a communication 
 existed between the Persian Gulf and the Caspian and 
 Northern seas, and that the experiment succeeded. 
 Shaw, in his Zoology, mentions that a salmon of seven 
 pounds and three-quarters was marked with scissors 
 on the back, fin, and tail, and turned out on the 7th of 
 February, and that it was retaken in March of the 
 succeeding year, and found to have increased to the 
 amazing size of seventeen pounds and a half. This 
 statement, by the by, is at variance with the theory 
 of Dr. Bloch, who estimates the weight of a five or six 
 year old salmon at but ten or twelve pounds. 
 
 That the salmon should lose condition rapidly on 
 quitting the sea for the fresh water, may be inferred 
 from a fact agreed upon by naturalists, that during the 
 
 F 
 
66 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 period of spawning, the fish neglects feeding. In this 
 peculiar habit the salmon, however, is not singular, 
 for animals of the Phocae tribe, in breeding- time exercise 
 a similar abstinence. On opening a salmon, at any 
 season, no food will be discovered, and the contents 
 of the stomach will be confined to a small quantity of 
 yellowish fluid and tape- worms, which are generated 
 there. Sir Humphry Davy believes that occasionally 
 food may be found. I have seen thousands opened 
 preparatory to being salted, and I never observed 
 anything but this fluid and tape-worms. Another 
 circumstance may be stated as a curious proof of health, 
 as well as of the period of time the salmon has been 
 resident in a river. When the fish leaves the sea, and 
 of course is in its best condition, insects (the Lernaeae 
 Salmoneae of Linnaeus) will be perceived firmly adhering 
 to the skin. Immediately on entering the fresh water, 
 these insects begin to detach themselves from the salmon, 
 and after a short time they gradually drop off and 
 disappear. 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR MULLET-FISHING. 67 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Early this morning we received intelligence that a 
 school of mullet had been seen on the preceding evening, 
 working in a sandy bay some six miles distant from the 
 Lodge — and as we determined to devote the day to 
 fishing, the household were soon up on the alert, and a 
 galley and row-boat were laden with nets, poles and 
 spars ; half-a-dozen rifles and muskets put on board, and 
 a stout and numerous crew, we started for the scene of 
 action. 
 
 It was a bright and cheerful day ; the sun sparkled 
 on the blue water, which, unruffled by a breeze, rose and 
 fell in the long and gentle undulations which roll in from 
 the westward when the Atlantic is at rest. While 
 pulling to the cove, we amused ourselves in shooting 
 puffins as they passed us, or trying our rifles at a distant 
 seal, while my kinsman's anecdotes whiled away the 
 tedium of the voyage. 
 
 *' Seals are very numerous on the coast, and at this 
 season a number may be seen any warm day you make lan 
 excursion up the Sound of Achil. We shoot them 
 occasionally — the skin makes a waterproof covering, 
 and the fat affords an excellent oil for many domestic 
 purposes. It is difficult, however, to secure the animal, 
 for numbers are shot and few gotten. The head is the 
 only place to strike them, for even when mortally 
 wounded in the body, they generally manage to escape. 
 This fact we have ascertained, from finding them dead 
 on shore many days after they were wounded, and at a 
 considerable distance from the place where they had 
 
68 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 received the bullet. I shot one last autumn at the 
 mouth of the river, and a fortnight afterwards he was 
 taken up in the neighbourhood of Dhuhill. There 
 could be no doubt as to the identity of the creature, 
 for on opening him to extract the oil, a rifle ball, such as 
 I use, of the unusually small size of fifty-four to the 
 pound, was found lodged in his lungs. Unless when 
 killed outright, they sink instantly ; and I have seen the 
 sea dyed with blood, to an extent that proved how 
 severely the seal had been wounded, but have never 
 been able to trace him further. 
 
 ** Formerly, when seal oil and skins were valuable, 
 some persons on the coast made the pursuit of the 
 animal a profession. There is one of these persons 
 living near the Sound, a miserable, dwarfish, red-bearded 
 wretch, whom you would consider hardly equal to 
 grapple with a salmon, and yet he secures more seals 
 than any hunter in the district. His method of effecting 
 it is singular : he uses neither gun nor spear, but kills 
 the animal with a short bludgeon loaded at the end 
 with lead. 
 
 ** Adjacent to the seal-killer's residence there is a 
 large rock uncovered at half -tide, and this appears the 
 most favourite haunt for the animal to bask upon. The 
 rock is easily approached from the main-land, and on a 
 sunny day, when the wind favours the attempt, the 
 hunter, undressed, and armed with his bludgeon, 
 silently winds among the stones, and steals upon his 
 sleeping prey. Wary as the creature is, the Red Dwarf 
 seldom fails in surprising him, and with astonishing 
 expertness, generally dispatches him with a single blow. 
 
 *' The number he kills annually proves his extra- 
 ordinary success. If the first blow fails, an event that 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR MULLET-FISHING. 69 
 
 seldom happens, the dwarf is in considerable danger. 
 When attacked, and especially at such a distance from the 
 water as renders his escape doubtful, the seal will turn 
 with amazing ferocity on the assailant. If it be an old 
 one, in case his first essay is unsuccessful, the dwarf 
 declines the combat and flies from his irritated enemy ; 
 but the cubs are taken without much difficulty. 
 
 " Last summer I was witness to a curious scene. 
 Running through the Sound of Achil in my hooker, 
 at a short distance to leeward I observed several men, 
 who appeared to be practising a quadrille over the 
 thafts and gunnels of a row-boat, as they never rested 
 for a moment, but continued jumping from stem to 
 stern, and springing from bench to bench. Struck 
 by the oddity of their proceedings, I eased away the 
 sheets and ran down upon them — and I was a welcome 
 ally, as the result proved. It turned out, that having 
 espied a seal and her cub sleeping on the sand, they had 
 procured an old musket and rowed over to attack them. 
 They were partially successful and seized the cub 
 before it could regain its native element, although the 
 dam rendered all assistance possible to relieve the young 
 one. Having placed their prize in the boat, they were 
 returning, followed by the old seal, who kept rising 
 beside them, attracted by the cries of the cub — ^till after 
 many bootless attempts, their gun at last exploded, the 
 ball entered the seal's head, and for a moment she 
 appeared dying. The captors, seizing her by the tail 
 and fins, with an united exertion, dragged her into the 
 boat — but this exploit had nearly ended in a tragedy. 
 Stunned only by the wound, the animal instantly 
 recovered, and, irritated by pain and maddened by the 
 cries of her cub, attacked her captors fiercely. Every 
 
70 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 exertion they could make was necessary to save them 
 from her tusks, and their oars were too long and clumsy 
 to enable them to strike her with effect. I came most 
 opportunely to the rescue, and by driving a carbine 
 bullet through the seal's brain brought the battle to a 
 close. Never was the old saw of ' catching a Tartar' 
 more thoroughly exemplified ; and though we laughed 
 at their terror-stricken countenances, the deep incisions 
 made in the oars and gunnels by the tusks of the enraged 
 animal, showed that gallopading with an angry seal is 
 anything but pleasure." 
 
 Although the mullet are generally first seen here, in 
 the month of June, from the wetness of this summer the 
 shoals are later in their appearance than usual. Mullet 
 are taken in draught-nets like salmon, but on this coast 
 a different mode of fishing is pursued. The shoals in 
 hot weather run in with the tide, and after remaining 
 on the shores and estuaries during flood, they return 
 with the ebbing water. The following method we 
 employed in our fishing to-day : — Being provided 
 with a sufficient quantity of herring-nets and a number 
 of spars and poles, we selected at low water a sandy 
 creek for our operations, and commenced erecting a 
 line of poles across the entrance of the cove. The 
 nets were then extended along these uprights, and also 
 secured firmly to the bottom of the spars ; the lower 
 part of the net is kept upon the bottom by a row of 
 stones, and the remainder laid flat upon the sands. 
 Wth the flowing tide the fish pass over the prostrate 
 net, and run along the estuary : at high water the buoy 
 ropes are raised and secured to the upright poles — and 
 with the assistance of a boat the whole is effected in 
 a few minutes, and a net- work barrier effectually cuts 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR MULLET-FISHING. 71 
 
 off the retreat of all within. When the ebb of tide 
 commences the mullet begin to retire, and when they 
 discover that their egress is obstructed, their attempts 
 to effect a passage are both constant and curious — now 
 running down the nets, trying for a broken mesh by which 
 to force an aperture — now with a bold spring endea- 
 vouring to clear the buoy-ropes, and even after repeated 
 failures, leaping at it again and again. The last effort 
 is directed to the bottom ; but there the heavy stones 
 resist every attempt to dislodge them, and, deserted by 
 the treacherous water, the mullet are left upon the 
 bare sands. 
 
 As hours must elapse from the time the nets are laid 
 down until the fish can be secured, I left my kinsman 
 who officiated as chief engineer. Having brought two 
 brace of greyhounds with us, I set out to course, under 
 the guidance of a man who joined my cousin on the 
 Island. 
 
 There was a striking air about the stranger, joined 
 to his wild and haggard look, that at once rivetted my 
 attention. His clothes were much better than those 
 of any of the peasantry I had yet seen, and in address 
 and manner he was far superior to the rest of my cousin's 
 retainers. He was not above five-and-twenty, his 
 figure tall, gaunt, sinewy, and almost fleshless — but 
 his square shoulders and well-knit joints proved him 
 to be a powerful and active man. I shall never forget 
 the singular expression of his countenance. It was 
 settled sorrow bordering on despair ; the hollow cheek, 
 the sunken, rayless eye, the wandering and suspicious 
 glance around him, all showed a mind fevered with 
 apprehension and harrowed by remorse. He shunned 
 observation, and if my eye met his by accident, he 
 
72 
 
 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 instantly looked another way. He was armed with a 
 new carbine ; and his whole bearing and appearance 
 were so singular and alarming, that more than once 
 I wished my kinsman had allotted me some other guide. 
 
 My companion was, however, shrewd and intelligent 
 — and he appeared fond of field sports, and perfectly 
 conversant with the arcana of shooting and coursing. 
 He enumerated with the science of a connoisseur the 
 points, and praised the beauty of a pair of English 
 dogs I had brought with me ; but told me " the master's 
 (my kinsman's usual title) would outrun them here.'* 
 I differed with him in opinion. Mine were of distin- 
 guished breeding, the produce of a S waff ham sire, 
 and compared with my cousin's, appeared descended 
 from a giant stock. His, certainly, were beautiful 
 diminutives ; but, as I conceived, very unequal to 
 compete with animals of such superior strength and size 
 as mine — yet the result proved how correctly my wild 
 companion judged. 
 
 Our first start was on hard, firm ground — and here 
 my dog's outstripped my kinsman's, although they 
 displayed uncommon fleetness. Being hard pressed, 
 puss crossed a morass and ran into an unsound bog. 
 Then were my guide's predictions verified. From their 
 own weight, my dogs sank and floundered in the swamp ; 
 while my cousin's, topping the surface with apparent 
 ease, turned and killed the hare, while their larger 
 companions were struggling through the mire. 
 
 On the second start puss left the moor, and took to the 
 seashore, always a favourite run of island hares. 
 Rushing headlong through rocks, and running over 
 pointed pebbles the English dogs were speedily disabled. 
 But my cousin's, accustomed to the beach, ran with 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR MULLET-FISHING. 73 
 
 caution till they cleared the rocks, then, taking advantage 
 of the open strand, killed without a scratch, while my 
 unpractised dogs were rendered unserviceable for a 
 fortnight. 
 
 Generally speaking, the large and high-bred English 
 greyhound is not adapted for Irish coursing. There 
 he will encounter a soft and difficult surface, instead of 
 the fine firm downs he has been accustomed to in his 
 native country. And any plains on which he could 
 exert his powers and prove his superiority, are, with 
 few exceptions, in the possession of some pack, and, of 
 course, preserved as hunting-grounds, and grey-hounds 
 are rigidly prohibited. 
 
 On returning to the estuary where I had left the 
 fishing-party, I found the tide had fallen, and in a little 
 time we were enabled to secure the spoil. We had 
 enclosed upwards of a hundred mullets, weighing from 
 four to ten pounds each. While embarking our nets 
 and poles I observed several boats filled with men row 
 towards us from a distance ; and, after a short recon- 
 naissance, return to the place from whence they came. 
 The evening breeze blew fresh, and in our favour ; 
 the boatmen hoisted a large, square sail ; my kinsman 
 took the tiller, and with wind and tide along with us, 
 in an hour we crossed the bay and reached our desti- 
 nation, accompanied by the tall, melancholy-looking 
 man, who had been my companion in the island. 
 
 We dined sumptuously. The flavour of a mullet, 
 fresh from the water, neither injured by land-carriage 
 nor spoiled by exposure to the sun, is exquisite. I 
 mentioned casually, the noble addition which this 
 delicious fish must give to my cousin's cuisine. ** And 
 they are so abundant, that I presume you seldom want 
 
74 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 them ? " " The contrary is the case," he replied ; 
 " a remnant of barbarous usage prevents this wild 
 population from benefitting by the ample supply which 
 Providence sends to the shores. Did you remark 
 several boats approach and reconnoitre us ? " 
 ** Yes, and what of it ? " 
 
 '' Nothing more than that they came with the laudable 
 design of relieving us of the produce of our fishery. 
 The natives believe that there is a prescriptive right 
 to rob mullet-nets ; and in consequence, none will be 
 at the trouble of laying them down, if they have not 
 a sufficient party to protect the fish when taken. You 
 remarked the formidable preparations made this 
 morning ; they were requisite, I assure you, or we 
 should have returned home as lightly laden as we left 
 it. Those people are not upon my territory, and I 
 am on bad terms with their landlord. They would 
 spoil me of fish without ceremony, and think them- 
 selves too indulgent in permitting me and my depen- 
 dents to return with undamaged heads. Last year 
 they robbed and beat my boatmen cruelly — and on the 
 next occasion of a mullet chasse, I went in person. They 
 soon discovered us, and with three boats full of men 
 came to despoil us. I warned them off — but they were 
 resolutely bent on mischief. Finding them determined, 
 I let the leading boat approach within forty yards, and 
 having them well under my fire, threw in two barrels 
 loaded with B . B . shot . The effect was decisive , for out of a 
 dozen marauders who formed the crew, not one escaped 
 without receiving a fair proportion of the charge. They 
 put about instantly, and for a fortnight afterwards, 
 a country quack had full employment in extracting my 
 double B. I sent a message to their master, for which 
 
PREPARATIONS FOR MULLET-FISHING. 75 
 
 he Benched me ; and it cost me a cool hundred before 
 I got clear of the Honourable Justices. ' A plague 
 upon all cowards ! ' as honest Jack says." 
 
 " But, Julius, who was that wild and melancholy 
 man to whose guidance you entrusted me in the island } '* 
 
 " Oh, Hennessey, my foster-brother ! Poor fellow, 
 he has been rather unlucky ! " 
 
 " Unlucky ? " 
 
 " Why, yes — ^he hit a fellow a little too hard, and 
 finished him. He is keeping close until the assizes are 
 over, and then he will have time to settle with the 
 friends. It would not signify a farthing, had he not 
 been in two or three scrapes before." 
 
 " Has he been always riotous ? " 
 
 "Oh, no, quite the contrary. When sober, he is . 
 the civilest creature on earth. No, poor fellow! they 
 were only two homicides, and an abduction." 
 
 " And do you countenance and shelter such a charac- 
 ter ? " 
 
 " What ! abandon my own foster-brother for an accident 
 or two } — Pshaw, Frank, you jest. I'll tell you the 
 particulars another time." 
 
 It was late, and we separated. 
 
^6 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 CHAPTER XIL 
 
 In a country whose surface is covered with numerous 
 and extensive sheets of water like Mayo, it may be 
 considered that the angler will find ample occupation. 
 Independently of salmon and trout fishing, to those 
 who will employ themselves in killing pike and perch, 
 the lakes and rivers here offer superior amusement. 
 In the greater waters, Lough Mask, Lough Carra, and 
 Lough Conn, the coarser species of fishes are taken in 
 immense numbers, and in the lesser lakes many interest- 
 ing varieties of the trout tribe will be found, from the 
 little speckled samlet to the large and curious gillaroo. 
 The natural history of the samlet, or par, is very doubtful. 
 Some assert it to be a mule produced by the salmon 
 and trout. Others conjecture it to be a hybrid of the 
 sea and river trout. 
 
 The par differs from the small mountain trout in 
 colour, and in having additional spines in the pectoral 
 fin. It has also certain olive bluish marks upon the side, 
 similar to the impressions made by the pressure of a 
 man's fingers. 
 
 Pennant says : — " In all these lakes the gillaroo is 
 found. It varies in weight from twelve to eighteen 
 pounds, but sometimes reaches thirty ; " and Daniel 
 states these fish to be *' esteemed for their fine flavour, 
 which is supposed to exceed that of any other trout. 
 Their make is similar to the common, except being 
 thicker in proportion to their length, and of a redder 
 hue, both before and after being dressed. The gillaroo 
 
FISH FOUND IN MAYO. 77 
 
 is remarkable for having a gizzard resembling that of 
 a large fowl or turkey." He also says : — *' It is usual 
 to dress the gizzards only, which are considered as very 
 favourite morsels." 
 
 It is true that the scientific angler generally confines 
 himself to the use of the fly, and for salmon and trout 
 he will forego the commoner department of bait and 
 float fishing. Hence, angling for pike and perch is 
 usually an amusement of the peasantry ; and to those 
 contiguous to the banks of the large lakes, it yields 
 occupation for idle hours, which might be less inno- 
 cently dissipated, and occasionally suppHes their 
 families with a welcome addition to their unvarying 
 food, the potato. 
 
 Besides the established system of bait-fishing, other 
 and more successful methods are resorted to by the 
 lake-fishers. By mesh-nets immense numbers of pike 
 are annually taken ; and with night-lines, and a very 
 simple contrivance called the pooka ^ these fish, with the 
 largest trout and perch, are constantly killed. 
 
 This latter implement is formed of a piece of flat 
 board, having a little mast and sail erected on it. Its 
 use is to carry out the extremity of a long line of con- 
 siderable stoutness, to which, at regulated distances, 
 an infinity of droppers or links are suspended, each 
 armed with a hook and bait. Corks are affixed to the 
 principal line or hack^ to keep it buoyant on the surface ; 
 and from a weather-shore, if there be a tolerable breeze, 
 any quantity of hooks and baits can be floated easily 
 across the water. The corks indicate to the fishermen 
 when a fish is on the dropper, and in a small punt or 
 curragh, he attends to remove the spoil and renew the 
 baits when necessary. Two hundred hooks may be 
 
78 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 used on the same line, and the pooka at times affords 
 much amusement, and often a well-filled pannier. 
 
 There are no waters in Great Britain, with the excep- 
 tion of the River Shannon, where larger pike are caught 
 than those taken in Loughs Mask and Corrib. It would 
 appear, that in these lakes the fish are commensurate 
 to the waters they inhabit. It is no unusual event 
 for pikes of thirty pounds weight to be sent to their 
 landlords by the tenants ; and fish of even fifty pounds 
 have not unfrequently been caught with nets and night- 
 lines. About seventeen years since, when visiting the late 
 Marquis of Clanricarde, at Portumna Castle, two gentle- 
 men brought to the Marquis an immense pike, which 
 they had just caught in the River Shannon, on the 
 banks of which they had been taking their evening 
 walk. Attracted by a noise and splashing of the water 
 they discovered in a little , creek a number of 
 perch driven on shore, and a fish, which in pursuit 
 of them, had so entangled himself with the ground as 
 to have a great part of his body exposed, and out of the 
 water. They attacked him with an oar, that by accident 
 lay on the bank, and killed him. Never having seen 
 any fish of this species so large, they judged it worth 
 the observation of the marquis, who, equally surprised 
 at its magnitude, had it weighed, and to our astonishment 
 it exceeded the balance at ninety -two pounds ; its length 
 was such that when carried across the oar by the two 
 gentlemen, who were neither of them short, the head and 
 tail touched the ground. The trout in those loughs 
 are also immensely large. From five to fifteen pounds 
 is no unusual size, and some have been found that have 
 reached the enormous weight of thirty. The perch 
 tribe appear the smallest in the scale of relative 
 
FISH FOUND IN MAYO. 79 
 
 proportion. These seldom exceed a herring size ; but they, 
 too, have exceptions, and perch of three or four pounds 
 weight have been sometimes seen. Within fifty years, 
 this latter fish has increased prodigiously, and, in the 
 lakes and rivers where they abound, trout have been 
 found to diminish in an equal ratio. If any doubt 
 remained touching the fecundity of the perch, some of 
 the Mayo waters would prove it satisfactorily. Half 
 a century since I have been assured that pike and perch 
 were almost unknown in the rivers of Belcarra and 
 Minola, and the chain of lakes with which they com- 
 municate, and that these waters were then second to 
 none for trout fishing. Within ten years, my cousin 
 tells me that he often angled in them, and that he 
 frequently killed from three to six dozen of beautiful 
 middle-sized red trout. Now, fly-fishing is seldom 
 practised there. The trout is nearly extinct, and 
 quantities of pike and perch infest every pool and 
 stream. The simplest methods of taking fish will be 
 here found successful, and the lakes of Westmeath will 
 soon be rivalled by the loughs of Mayo. Mr. Young 
 mentions that, at Packenham, Lord Longford informed 
 him, respecting the quantities of fish in the lakes in his 
 neighbourhood, that the perch were so numerous, that 
 a child with a pack-thread and a crooked pin would catch 
 enough in an hour for the daily use of a whole family, 
 and that his Lordship had seen five hundred children 
 fishing at the same time ; that, besides perch, the lake 
 produced pike five feet long, and trout of ten pounds 
 each. 
 
 Of the great Western lakes, Conn and Carra belong 
 to Mayo ; Corrib to Galway ; and Mask lies between 
 both counties. The most northerly, Lough Conn, 
 
8o WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 is about nine miles long, by two or three in breadth. 
 Part of its shores are beautifully wooded ; and where 
 the lower and upper lakes unite, the channel is crossed 
 by a bridge of one arch, called the Pontoon ; and there 
 the scenery is indeed magnificent. 
 
 Lough Carra is smaller than Conn ; but, as a sheet 
 of water, nothing can be more beautiful ; and every- 
 thing that the painter delights to fancy may here be 
 reaHsed. Islands and peninsulas, with rich, over- 
 hanging woods, a boundless range of mountain masses 
 in the distance, and ruins in excellent keeping — all these 
 form a splendid study for the artist's pencil. 
 
 Mask communicates with Carra, and their united 
 waters discharge themselves into Lough Corrib by a 
 very curious subterraneous channel at Cong.* Lough 
 Corrib is largest of all ; it stretches twenty miles to its 
 southern extremity at Galway, where, through a bold, 
 rocky river, it discharges its waters into the Atlantic. 
 Its breadth is very variable, ranging from two to twelve 
 miles. Besides its singular connection with the Mayo 
 lakes by the underground channel at Cong, Lough Corrib 
 produces a rare species of Muscle, in which pearls are 
 frequently discovered. Many of them are said to 
 afford beautiful specimens of this valuable gem. 
 
 The smaller lakes, which are so profusely scattered 
 over the surface of this country, vary in the species of 
 fish which they respectively produce, as much as they 
 do in their own natural size and character. Some of 
 them afford trout, others pike only, and many are stocked 
 
 * " At Cong, about five miles from Ballinrobe, is a subterranean 
 cave, to which there is a descent of sixty-three steps, called the 
 Pigeon Hole ; at the bottom runs a clear stream, in which the trout 
 are seen sporting in the water ; these fish are never known to take 
 a bait, but are caught with landing-nets." — Daniel. 
 
FISH FOUND IN MAYO. 8l 
 
 with both. That this union cannot long subsist, I 
 should be inclined to infer from one remarkable circum- 
 stance, and it is a convincing proof of the rapid destruc- 
 tion which the introduction of pike into a trout lake 
 will occasion. Within a short distance of Castlebar 
 there is a small bog-lake, called Derreens ; and ten 
 years ago it was celebrated for its numerous and well- 
 sized trout. Accidentally pike effected a passage into 
 the Lough from the Minola river, and now the trout 
 are extinct, or, at least, none of them are caught or 
 seen. Previous to the intrusion of the pike, half-a-dozen 
 trout would be killed in an evening in Derreens, 
 whose collective weight often amounted to twenty 
 pounds. 
 
 Indeed, few of the Mayo waters are secure from the 
 encroachments of the pike. The lakes of Castlebar, 
 I believe, still retain their ancient character ;* but 
 I understand that pike have been latterly taken in the 
 Turlough river, and of course they will soon appear in 
 a lake which directly communicates with this stream. 
 The voracity of the pike is strongly exemplified in the 
 following extract from a Provincial Newspaper. Of 
 the truth of the occurrence we presume there can be 
 no reasonable doubt, even in the minds of the most 
 sceptical ; but we believe there is no instance of animal 
 ferocity on record which could parallel it, except in 
 the celebrated case of the Kilkenny cats, whose respec- 
 tive demolition of each other is as wonderful as authentic. 
 
 " A party angling at Sunbury, one of them sat across 
 the head of the boat, as a punishment inflicted on him for 
 
 * " In the lake of Castlebar, near that town, is the charr and the 
 gillaroo trout, and it is remarked that there are no pike in this and 
 some of the adjacent lakes." — Paniel. 
 
 Q 
 
82 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 wearing his spurs. Another, having caught a gudgeon^ 
 stuck it on one of the spurs, which he (the delinquent 
 in the bow) not perceiving, in a few minutes a large 
 jack bit at the gudgeon, and the spur being crane-necked, 
 entangled in the gills of the jack, which, in attempting 
 to extricate himself, actually pulled the unfortunate 
 person out of the boat. He was with difficulty dragged 
 on shore, and the fish taken, which was of prodigious 
 size."" 
 
 Now, after this cautionary notice of ours, we do 
 assert that any gentleman who goes to fish in crane- 
 necks, and disposes of his legs overboard, with a gudgeon 
 on the rowel, is not exactly the person on whose life, 
 were we agent to a company, we should feel justified 
 in effecting a policy of insurance. 
 
GROUSE SHOOTING. 83 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The nineteenth of August, that busy day of preparation 
 with Irish sportsmen, came at last. An unusual com- 
 motion was evident among my kinsman's household, 
 and there was a wondrous packing-up of camp-beds, 
 culinary utensils, baskets and bottles, arms and ammuni- 
 tion — in short, of every necessary article for the support 
 and destruction of life. At dawn of day four horses 
 set off heavily laden ; shortly after, a second division of 
 dogs and guns moved under a careful escort ; the 
 " otter-hunter " hobbled off while I was dressing ; and 
 the piper, the lightest-laden of all concerned, closed the 
 rear. After breakfast, two ponies were brought to the 
 door, and, with a mounted attendant to carry our 
 cloaks, my cousin and I pursued the same route that the 
 baggage had already taken. 
 
 Talk not of India ! Its boasted gang of servants is 
 far surpassed by the eternal troop of followers apper- 
 taining to an Irish establishment. Old John tells me 
 that sixteen regulars sit down to dinner in the servants* 
 hall, and that, at least, an equal number of supernume- 
 raries are daily provided for besides. When I hinted 
 to my cousin the expense that must attend the sup- 
 porting of this idle and useless multitude, his reply was 
 so Irish. " Pshaw ! hang it ! — sure they have no wages, 
 and what the devil signifies all they eat? My father, 
 before the landing of the Paul Jones, fed two hundred 
 men for a fortnight, and used to declare that never 
 were there such plentiful times. It killed the cook, 
 however, poor woman ! she was literally broiled into 
 a pleurisy — but such a wake as she had ! I remember 
 
84 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 it as if it occurred but yesterday. She was carried 
 to the old grave- yard of Bunmore the very evening the 
 Paul Jones landed her cargo, and although five hundred 
 men left the house with the corpse, the cook remained 
 over-ground till the following morning, for want of 
 sufficient persons to fill the grave. The fact was, that 
 just as the funeral reached the church-yard, the lugger 
 was suddenly discovered rounding the Black Rock. 
 Instantly the mourners absconded, the bearers threw 
 down the body — the priest, who was deeply con- 
 cerned in the cargo, was the first to fly ; — and the 
 defunct cook was left accordingly in peaceable posses- 
 sion of Bunmore." 
 
 To arrive at our mountain-quarters we were obliged 
 to cross the river repeatedly. When swollen with rain 
 the stream is impassable, and the communication 
 between the hill country and the lowlands interrupted, 
 until the flood abates. At one of the fords, my kinsman 
 pointed out a little cairtiy or heap of stones, erected on 
 the summit of a hillock which overhung the passage 
 we were crossing. It is placed there to commemorate 
 the drowning of a shepherd, and, as an incident in humble 
 life, it struck me as being particularly affecting. 
 
 " In 1822, when the western part of Ireland was 
 afflicted with grievous famine, and when England 
 stepped forward nobly, and poured forth her thousands 
 to save those who were perishing for want, a depot 
 of provisions was established on the sea-coast for the 
 relief of the suffering inhabitants of this remote district. 
 
 '* A solitary family, who had been driven from their 
 lowland home by the severity of the relentless middle- 
 man, had settled themselves in this wild valley, and 
 erected the clay walls of that ruined hut before you, 
 
GROUSE SHOOTING. 85 
 
 The man was shepherd to a farmer who kept cattle on 
 these mountains. Here, in this savage retreat, he 
 lived removed from the world, for the nearest cabin 
 to this spot is more than four miles distant. 
 
 " It may be supposed that the general distress afflicted 
 this isolated family. The welcome news of the arrival 
 of succours at Ballycroy at length reached them, and the 
 herdsman set out to procure some of the committee-meal 
 to relieve the hunger of his half-starved family. 
 
 " On arriving at the depot, the stock of meal was 
 nearly expended : however, he obtained a temporary 
 supply, and was comforted with the assurance that a 
 large quantity was hourly expected. 
 
 " Anxious to bring the means of sustenance to his 
 suffering little ones, the herdsman crossed the mountain 
 with his precious burden, and reached that hillock 
 where the stones are loosely piled. 
 
 " But during his absence at Ballycroy the rain had 
 fallen heavily in the hills ; the river was no longer 
 fordable ; a furious torrent of discoloured water rushed 
 from the heights, and choked the narrow channel. There 
 stood the returning parent, within twenty paces of 
 his wretched but dearly loved hovel. The children, 
 with a cry of delight, rushed from the hut to the opposite 
 bank to welcome him ; but, terrified by the fearful 
 appearance of the flood, his wife entreated him not 
 to attempt its passage for the present. 
 
 " But would he, a powerful and experienced swimmer, 
 be deterred ? The eager and hungry looks of his 
 expecting family maddened the unhappy father. He 
 threw aside his clothes, bound them with the meal upon 
 his back, crossed himself devoutly, and, ' in the name of 
 God,' committed himself to the swollen river. 
 
86 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 " For a moment he breasted the torrent gallantly — 
 two strokes more would bring him to the bank — ^when 
 the treacherous load turned, caught him round the neck, 
 swept him down the stream, sank, and drowned him. 
 He struggled hard for life. His wife and children 
 followed the unhappy man as he was borne away — and 
 their agonising shrieks told him, poor wretch ! that 
 assistance from them was hopeless. At last the body 
 disappeared, and was taken up the following morning 
 four miles from this fatal place. One curious circum- 
 stance attended this calamity : to philosophers I leave 
 its elucidation, while I pledge myself for its accuracy 
 in point of fact. A herd of cattle galloped madly down 
 the river-side at the time their unfortunate keeper 
 was perishing ; their bello wings were heard for miles, 
 and they were discovered next morning, grouped 
 around the body of the dead shepherd, in the corner of 
 a sandy cove, where there the abated flood had left it." 
 
 Every one shoots grouse ; the operation is so common- 
 place that none but a cockney would find novelty 
 in its detail. Our morning's sport was excellent. The 
 dogs were in good working condition, and under perfect 
 command ; but at noon the breeze died away, the day 
 became oppressively hot, and the biting of gnats and 
 horse-flies intolerable. Not being exterminators, we 
 ceased shooting at three o'clock, and returned to our - 
 cabin with two-and-twenty brace of birds. 
 
 The particulars of the evening compotation I shall 
 be excused in passing over. I must allow that the 
 portion of wine allotted to sportsmen by the Author of 
 Salmonia was awfully exceeded. We anointed our 
 faces with cold cream, which speedily removed the pain 
 and inflammation consequent on the stinging we had 
 
GROUSE SHOOTING. 87 
 
 endured from the insects, and, after " blowing a com- 
 fortable cloud,'* went to bed and slept ; but a man 
 must exercise and carouse with a grouse-shooter, to 
 conceive the deep and delicious repose which attends the 
 sportsman's pillow. 
 
 This morning we were early astir. There was a 
 mutual admission of slight headache, but coffee and fresh 
 air will soon remove it. Having finished breakfast, and, 
 in spite of Sir Humphry's denunciations, fortified our- 
 selves against damp feet with a glass of Mareschino 
 we left the cabin for the moors. 
 
 Never was there a wilder spot than the dell in which 
 we have taken up our shooting quarters. It is a herds- 
 man's hovel, to which my kinsman has added an apart- 
 ment for his accommodation in the grouse season. 
 This is our banquet-room and dormitory ; a press in 
 the corner contains our various drinkables, and upon a 
 host of pegs, stuck into the interstices of the masonry, 
 hang guns and belts, and all the unmentionable appa- 
 ratus of a sportsman. The cabin itself is appropriated 
 to culinary purposes and to the accommodation of our 
 dogs and personal attendants. The quadrupeds are 
 quartered in the farther extremity of the house, and, 
 after their fatigue, luxuriate gloriously upon a fresh 
 bed of sun-dried fern. 
 
 In a calliogh^ beside the fire, the keeper and old 
 
 * " Callioghs " are recesses built in the side walls of an Irish cabin, 
 convenient to the hearth, and sufficiently large to contain a bed. 
 Some of them are quite open to the fire ; while others are partially- 
 screened from view by a rude matting of bent or straw. 
 
 If you enter a peasant's hovel on a wet day, and inquire for the 
 owner of the house, a strapping hoy will generally roll out of one of 
 these dark cribs, yawn, stretch his arms, scratch his head, and bid 
 " your honour " welcome, and then inform you that he " was just 
 strichin' on the bed." 
 
88 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 John, who officiates as cook, are deposited at night, 
 while the otter-hunter and piper canton themselves in 
 the opposite den. A detachment of boys, or irregulars, 
 who have followed the master to the mountains, bivouac 
 somewhere in the vicinity of the cabin. In a sod-walled 
 sheeling erected against a huge rock, the herdsman and 
 his family have taken up their temporary residence, 
 while we occupy the hut ; but its limited dimensions 
 would be quite unequal to shelter a moiety of our 
 extensive train. But while a mountain sheep hangs 
 from '* the couples "* of the cabin, and the whisky- 
 keg continues unexhausted, those worthies matter little 
 in what cranny they ensconce themselves at night. 
 To a late hour the piper is in requisition, and these 
 careless devils dance, and laugh, and sing, until my 
 cousin^s mandate scatters them like ghosts at cock- 
 crow ; off they scamper, and where they bestow them- 
 selves till morning, none but themselves can tell. 
 Although the quantity of whisky consumed here, in 
 the short space of three days, appears almost incredible ; 
 yet upon these seasoned vessels its effects are so very 
 transitory as almost to authenticate the boasted virtues 
 of the mountain-dew — " that there is not an aching 
 head in a hogshead full ! " 
 
 While traversing a low range of moors an incident 
 occurred which at this season was unaccountable. A 
 red and white setter pointed at the top of a little glen. 
 The heathy banks on both sides of a mountain rivulet 
 undulated gently from the stream, and caused a dipping 
 of the surface ; and the ground seemed a favourable 
 
 * The couples are the principal timbers that support the roof ; 
 they are placed at stated distances, and an Irishman describes the 
 size of a house by telling you that it has so many " couples." 
 
GROUSE SHOOTING. 89 
 
 haunt for grouse, and our dogs were beating it with 
 care. Observing the setter drop, his companions 
 backed and remained steady, when suddenly Hero 
 rose from his couchant attitude, and next moment a 
 wild deer, of enormous size and splendid beauty, crossed 
 before the dog and sprang the birds he had been pointing. 
 The apparition of the animal, so little expected, and so 
 singularly and closely introduced to our view, occasioned 
 a sensation I had never hitherto experienced. I rushed 
 up the bank, while, unembarrassed by our presence, 
 the noble deer swept past us in a light and graceful 
 canter, at the short distance of some seventy or eighty 
 yards. I might have fired at and annoyed him — but 
 on a creature so powerful small shot could have pro- 
 duced little effect, and none but a Cockney, under 
 similar circumstances, would waste a charge ; and to 
 tease, without a chance of bringing down the gallant 
 beast, would have been a species of useless mischief, 
 meriting a full month upon the tread-mill. I gazed 
 after him as he gradually increased his distance ; his 
 antlers were expanded as fully as my arms would extend ; 
 his height was magnificent ; and, compared with fallow- 
 deer, he seemed a giant to a dwarf. The sun beamed 
 upon his deep bay side, as he continued describing 
 a circular course over the flat surface of the moor, till 
 reaching a rocky opening leading to the upper hills, 
 he plunged into the ravine, and we lost sight of him. 
 
 What could have driven the red deer so low upon the 
 heath was marvellous. Excepting when disturbed by 
 a solitary hunter, or a herdsman in pursuit of errant 
 cattle, or driven from the summit of the hills by snow 
 and storm, those deer are rarely seen below the Alpine 
 heights they inhabit. But the leisure pace of the 
 
90 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 beautiful animal we saw to-day proved that he had not 
 been alarmed in his lair, and led one almost to fancy- 
 that in freakish mood he had abandoned his mountain 
 home to take a passing glance of the men and things 
 beneath him. 
 
 At five o'clock we left the moors, and returned to our 
 cabin. The day throughout had been propitious ; 
 the breeze tempered the heat which yesterday oppressed 
 us, and our walk this morning had been only pleasant 
 exercise. We were neither exhausted by an ardent 
 sky, nor annoyed by the dazzling glare of constant 
 sunshine. The gnats, which lately had been intoler- 
 able, had vanished, and we were thus enabled to perform 
 our ablutions in the clear and sparkling river ; a feat 
 last night impracticable, from the number and virulence 
 of the insects. He who has bathed his limbs in the cool 
 and crystal waters of a mountain stream after a busy day 
 upon the heath can only estimate its luxury. Twenty 
 brace of grouse, three hares, and a half-score of gray 
 plovers, was the produce of our chasse. 
 
THE OTTER- HUNTER S HISTORY. 9 1 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The moon rose in great splendour over the bold chain 
 of mountains which belts the valley where we are 
 cantoned. The piper is merrily at work, for some of 
 the peasant girls have come to visit us, attracted by the 
 joyful news that a pieberagh* was included in our suite. 
 The fondness of these mountain maidens for dancing 
 is incredible ; at times of festival, on the occasion of a 
 wedding, or dragging-home^'f or whenever a travelling 
 musician passes through these wilds, they assemble 
 from prodigious distances, and dance for days and 
 nights together. 
 
 My kinsman and I having duly executed a jig with 
 a brace of Nora Crinas, left the hut and strolled a short 
 way up the river. The quiet of " lonely night " con- 
 trasted strikingly with the scene of turbulent and vivacious 
 mirth we had but just quitted. A jutting bank suddenly 
 shut the cabin from our view, and its lights and music 
 ceased to be seen or heard. A deep, unbroken silence 
 reigned around. The moon's disc appeared of unusual 
 size, as she rose in cloudless majesty over the mountain 
 masses which earlier in the evening had concealed her. 
 Not a cloud was in the sky, and the unequal outline of 
 the hills displayed a fine picture of light and shadow 
 — and the stream rippled at our feet, as, " tipped with 
 silver," we traced its wanderings for miles, while its 
 sparkling current was lost or seen among the moor-land. 
 
 * Anglice, piper. 
 
 t " Dragging home " is the bringing the bride for the first time to 
 her husband's house. An immense mob of relatives and clevines 
 of " both the houses," are collected on the occasion, and as an awful 
 quantity of whisky must of necessity be distributed to the company, 
 this " high solemnity " seldom concludes without subjecting the 
 host's person and property to demolition. 
 
92 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 Just then a human figure turned the rock abruptly, 
 and the old otter-killer stood beside us. The rushing 
 of the stream prevented us from noticing his approach. 
 He had been examining his traps, and as the way was 
 rugged, he was delayed till now. The old man's appear- 
 ance in this place, and at that hour, was picturesque. 
 His dark dress, his long, white hair, falling down his 
 shoulders, the seal-skin wallet, the fish-spear, and the 
 rough terrier, his companion, all were in perfect keeping. 
 
 " Well, Antony, what sport ? " 
 
 " Little to speak of. Master Julius. I suspect the 
 trap wants oiling, for there was an otter's spraints* 
 every place about it. I went to the lake yonder, and 
 while the breeze kept up the fish took well. I killed 
 a dozen red trout." 
 
 " Did you meet any of the * gentlefolk, ^'\ friend 
 Antony ? This is just the night that one would expect 
 to find them quadrilling upon some green and mossy 
 hillock." 
 
 The old man smiled and turned to me, — 
 
 " Well, well, the master won't beUeve in them ; but 
 if he had seen them as I did — " 
 
 " And did you really see them ? " 
 
 " God knows, I tell you truth. Sir." Then, resting 
 himself on a rock, he thus continued : — 
 
 *' It will be eleven years next month, when I was 
 hunting otters at Lough na Mucka ; — the master knows 
 the place, for many a good grouse he shot beside it. I 
 then had the two best tarriers beneath the canopy ; 
 this poor crater is their daughter," and he patted the 
 dog's head affectionately. — " Well, I had killed two 
 
 ♦ Marks or traces left by the animal. f Fairies. 
 
93 
 
 well-sized cubs, when Badger, who had been working 
 in the weeds, put out the largest bitch I ever saw ; I 
 fired at her, but she was too far from me, and away she 
 went across the Lough, and Badger and Venom after 
 her. She rose at last ; Badger gripped her, and down 
 went dog and otter. They remained so long under water 
 that I was greatly afraid the dog was drowned ; but, 
 after a while, up came Badger. Though I was right glad 
 to see my dog, I did not like to lose the beast ; and I 
 knew, from the way that Badger's jaws were torn, that 
 there had been a wicked struggle at the bottom. Well, I 
 encouraged the dog, and when he had got his breath 
 again, he dived down, nothing daunted, for he was the 
 best tarrier ever poor man was master of. Long as he 
 had been before at the bottom, he was twice longer now. 
 The surface bubbled, the mud rose, and the water 
 became black as ink : ' Ogh ! murder,' says I, ' Badger, 
 have I lost ye ? ' and I set-to clapping my hands for 
 trouble, and Venom set up the howl as if her heart was 
 broke. When, blessed be the Maker of all ! up comes 
 Badger with the otter gripped by the neck. The bitch 
 swam over to help him, and I waded to the middle, 
 and speared and landed the beast. Well, then I examined 
 her, she had her mouth full of ould roots and moss, 
 for she had fastened on a stump at the bottom, and the 
 poor dog was sorely put- to to make her break her hold. 
 I mind it well : I sold the skin in Galway, and got a 
 gold guinea for it." 
 
 " Was that the night you met the fairies ? " 
 ** Stay, Master Julius ; I'm coming to that. Well 
 three otters were a heavy load, and I had four miles 
 to travel before I could reach Morteein Crassagh's,^ 
 ♦ Martin with the rough face, 
 
94 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 The master knows the house well. The night was 
 getting dark, and it's the worst ground in Connaught. 
 Well, I was within a mile of Morteein's, when it became 
 as black as pitch ; and I had the shaking bog to cross, 
 that you can hardly pass in daytime, where, if a man 
 missed his way, he would be swallowed up in a moment. 
 The rain began, and the poor dogs were famished with 
 cold and hunger. God ! I was sure I must stay there, 
 starving till the morning ; when, on a sudden, little 
 lights danced before me, and showed me the hard 
 tammocks as plain as if the sun was up. I was in a 
 cruel fright, and the dogs whimpered, and would not 
 stir from my foot. I was afraid to stay where I was, 
 as I knew the gentle-people were about me ; and I was 
 unwilling to attempt the quagh,* for fear the light 
 would leave me, and then I would get neither back nor 
 forward. Well, the wind began to rise ; the rain grew 
 worse ; I got desperate, and resolved to speak to the 
 fairies civilly. * Gentlemen and ladies,' says I, making 
 a bow to the place where the lights were dancing, 
 * may be ye would be so obliging as to light me across 
 the bog.' In a minute there was a blaze from one end 
 of the quagh to the other, and a hundred lights were 
 flashing over the bogs. I took heart and ventured ; 
 and wherever I put my foot, the place was as bright as 
 day, and I crossed the swamp as safely as if I had been 
 walking on a gravelled road. Every inch the light came 
 with me, till I reached the horeein\ leading to Morteein 
 Crassagh's ; then, turning about, I made the fairies a 
 low bow : * Gentlemen and ladies,' says I, ' I'm humbly 
 thankful for your civility, and I wish ye now a merry 
 night of it.' God preserve us ! The words were hardly 
 
 * A morass. f A horsepath leading into bogs. 
 
THE OTTER- HUNTER S HISTORY. 95 
 
 out when there was a roar of laughter above, below and 
 around me. The lights vanished, and it became at once 
 so dark that I could scarcely make out my way. When 
 I got fairly inside Morteein's kitchen, I fainted dead ; 
 and when I came to, I told them what had happened. 
 Many a time fairy candles are seen at Lough na Mucka ; 
 but sorrow mortal was ever lighted across the quagh 
 by the gentle-people but myself, and that the country 
 knows. Well — ^the master is laughing at me ; but I'll 
 hobble to the cabin, or they'll think th2it tYiQ gentle people 
 have carried me off at last, as they did Shamus Bollogh,* 
 from Ballycroy." 
 
 This gentleman's temporary sojourn with the fairies 
 is generally credited in Ballycroy. Why the gentle- 
 folk, who are accounted scrupulous in selecting 
 youth and beauty when they abduct mortals, should 
 have pitched upon Shamus, is unaccountable. His 
 charms are of the plainest order, and he had long passed 
 his teens before the period of his being carried away. 
 His own account of the transaction is but a confused 
 one — and all I recollect of the particulars is, that he 
 crossed to Tallaghan, over an arm of the sea, on a grey 
 horse, behind a little man dressed in green. Neither 
 good nor evil resulted from this nocturnal gallop of 
 " the Stutterer," if we except a sound horse- whipping 
 which he received from the priest, for attempting to 
 abuse the credulity of the peasantry, by detailing the 
 fairy revels in which he alleged that he participated. 
 
 Presently we returned to the hut : the whisky had 
 
 began to operate on the corps de ballet in the kitchen, 
 
 for the pipes played louder, and the girls danced with 
 
 additional esprit. To think of bed, with such a company 
 
 * James the vStutterer. . 
 
96 
 
 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 beside us, would be idle : my cousin accordingly 
 recharged his meerschaum, and, between many a puff, 
 gave me the following memoir of the otter-hunter : — 
 
 " The old man is a character. In his early days he 
 was a travelling pedlar, a dealer in furs and Connemara 
 stockings. He had always an unconquerable fancy 
 for angling and otter-killing ; and, with a pack upon his 
 shoulders and a fishing-spear in his hand, he traversed 
 the kingdom in the double pursuit of pleasure and profit. 
 
 " When he disposed of his merchandise, he returned 
 home laden with the skins he had collected in his 
 wanderings. He has frequently brought thirty furs 
 together to Limerick for sale ; and as they were then 
 a valuable commodity, he acquired, in a few years, a 
 considerable property. 
 
 '* In one of his excursions, however, Antony managed 
 to pick up a wife. She was young and handsome ; 
 and, tiring of his unsettled life, persuaded the unhappy 
 otter-killer to forego his favourite calling, and turn his 
 fish-spear into a spigot. In short, he took a house in 
 town, became a publican, got extensive business, gave 
 credit, and soon was drunken and embarrassed ; his 
 wife flirted, his property melted away, and his frail 
 rib at last levanted with an English showman. Antony 
 was astounded, but he bore misfortune like a philo- 
 sopher. Renouncing whisky, except in limited quan- 
 tities, he resumed the otter-trap, which had been rusting 
 in a garret ; and, one fine moonlight night, turned the 
 key in the door, abandoned goods and chattels to the 
 landlord, and disappeared, ' leaving his curse with 
 Limerick.' 
 
 '' No Bedouin returned from captivity to his parent's 
 tent — no Swiss revisited his native valley with more 
 
THE OTTER-HUNTER S HISTORY. 97 
 
 delight than the cornuted otter-killer, when he hurried 
 back to his beloved mountains. From that moment he 
 forswore the town ; and excepting on his annual visit 
 to the furrier, Antony has avoided the busier haunts 
 of mankind. Having added bleeding to the number of 
 his acquirements, he practises pharmacy in this wilder- 
 ness, and for forty years has led a careless, migratory 
 life, tolerated in the hall, and welcomed in the cabin, 
 until increasing years and bodily infirmity confined 
 him to his wild birth-place, where the otter can be 
 trapped without fatigue, and the salmon will yet reward 
 the old man's skill. The Lodge is now Antony's 
 headquarters, and the remnant of his wandering life 
 will probably be spent with me. 
 
 '' But it is not as a hunter and leech that the ancient 
 otter-killer is alone valuable. In his wanderings he 
 picked up tales and traditions among the wild people 
 he consorted with ; his memory is most tenacious, 
 and he narrates strange legends which, in wildness and 
 imagination, rival the romances of the East. In winter, 
 when the snow falls and the fury of the storm is unloosed, 
 Antony is settled in his rude but comfortable chair, 
 formed of twisted bent. The women of my household 
 listen to his love-stories with affected indifference, but 
 there is always some apology for remaining near the 
 otter-killer. At times, when the old man is summoned after 
 dinner to receive his customary glass, I, if I be * i'the 
 humour ^^ listen to his wild legends ; and here, in this 
 mountain hut, seated in this room, * mine own great 
 chamber,' while I luxuriate over a bright bog-deal fire, 
 an exquisite cigar, and an admixture of pure Hollands 
 with the crystal water that falls from the rock behind 
 us, I listen in voluptuous tranquillity to Antony's 
 
 H 
 
98 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 romances, as he recites to his attentive auditory in the 
 kitchen his narratives of former times. 
 
 " If the otter-hunter's tales be true, the primitive 
 gentlewomen of the Emerald Isle were no vestals ; and 
 the judge of the Consistorial Court, had such then 
 existed, would have had scarcely time to bless himself." 
 
 It was twelve o'clock, and no abatement of revelry 
 was yet manifest among the dancers in the kitchen. 
 The piper's music appeared inexhaustible, and, maugre 
 fatigue and whisky, the company were as fresh and 
 effective as when the ball commenced. " I must rout 
 them," said my cousin ; " the devils would dance till 
 doomsday." He opened the door, but stopped and 
 beckoned me to approach. I looked out ; the boys 
 and girls had left the floor, the men settling themselves 
 on the colliaghSy empty casks, and turf cleaves ^^ while 
 the ladies were comfortably accommodated upon their 
 partners' knees. One gentleman alone was standing. 
 Presently two sticks were laid crosswise on the ground ; 
 the pipes struck up an unusual sort of jig, and the feat 
 commenced. " This," said my kinsman, '' is called 
 the ' pater-o-pee^' and none but an accomplished dancer 
 would attempt it." 
 
 To describe this dance would be impossible : it con- 
 sisted of an eternal hopping into the small compart- 
 ments formed by the crossing of the cudgels on the floor, 
 without touching the sticks. 
 
 Now, holding reasonable doubts whether, upon Mr. 
 Cooney presenting himself to Monsieur Laporte, this 
 gentleman would favour him with an engagement, I'll 
 bet the manager, notwithstanding, a cool hundred, that, 
 on the strength of the King's Theatre, he has no artiste 
 who will touch Tim Cooney at the pater-o-pee ! 
 ♦ A nglice, baskets. 
 
RED DEER. 99 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 How rapidly the waters of a mountain river swell 
 and subside ! Last night the steep bank before the 
 cabin door was scarcely visible above the swollen and 
 discoloured stream. The flood is gone ; the river 
 has recovered its silvery hue, and no traces of yesterday's 
 violence appear, save the huge masses of turf left by the 
 receding waters on the shore, which, from their size, 
 prove how fierce the torrent was when at its height. 
 
 We have been expecting anxiously a messenger with 
 the post-bag, for three days have elapsed since its last 
 arrival. There will be an accumulation of newspapers. 
 What a treasure they would have been yesterday ! Ha ! 
 there is a bustle in the outer cabin ; no doubt an arrival. 
 It is the messenger. 
 
 I never saw finer samples of the mountain peasantry 
 than this man and his brother exhibit. They are 
 scarcely to be known asunder ; young, particularly 
 handsome, five feet eleven inches, light, active, clean- 
 limbed, perfect specimens of strength and symmetry 
 combined ; good-humoured, indefatigable, and obliging, 
 submissive to the Master's nod, and yet the boldest and 
 handiest boys in Ballycroy. I sometimes look after 
 my kinsman as he strides over the moors with his hand- 
 some henchmen at his back. He walks as if the province 
 was his own ; bold, and careless, and confident — no 
 wonder — those wild fellows are his fosterers, and they 
 would shed the last drop of their blood for " the Master," 
 if he required it. 
 
100 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 This fidelity and devotion on the one side is requited 
 by kindness and protection on the other. These men 
 have lived about the Lodge from boyhood — and they 
 come and depart as they please. At spring and harvest- 
 times they repair to the village where their parents 
 reside, to assist the old couple and the girls in getting 
 the potatoes in and out of the ground ; they tend the 
 cattle in the mountains when requisite, and pass the 
 remainder of the year following the Master to the moors 
 or to the river, catching fish, netting rabbits, or killing 
 wild-fowl in the winter ; and dancing, drinking, and 
 fighting on holidays and festivals, as becomes good men 
 and loyal subjects. 
 
 When they marry — ^for Malthus and restrictions upon 
 population are no more recognised in Erris than the Pope 
 is by a modern Methodist — they will obtain a patch of 
 mountain from their patron, erect a cabin, construct 
 a still, and setting political dogmas at defiance, then and 
 there produce most excellent whisky, and add to the 
 " seven milHons " considerably. 
 
 The messenger presented himself with the post-bag, 
 being anxious to render a personal account of the causes 
 of his delay. His night's adventure is quite character- 
 istic of the wild life and bold and reckless spirit of these 
 mountain peasants. 
 
 The route to the next post-town lie« through the ridge 
 of hills which I have already described, as bounding the 
 valley where we are quartered. The usual way to reach 
 it is by an old and rugged horse-path, which, although 
 seldom frequented now, was fifty years since the only 
 means of communication which Erris had with the 
 southern baronies. This easier but more circuitous 
 route was abandoned by the young peasant, who hoped 
 
RED DEER. lOI 
 
 by directly crossing the heights, to arrive at the cabin 
 before the night shut in. He took this perilous direc- 
 tion accordingly ; but the rain was still falling fast, 
 and when he topped the ridge of the hills, the valley 
 beneath was covered by a dense mist. Presently the 
 mountain streams rose, the light failed — to advance or 
 retreat was impossible ; and the isolated peasant had no 
 choice left but to seek a shelter in the rocks, and remain 
 there until morning dawned. He easily discovered 
 a fissure in the steep bank above the river, crept in — 
 " blessed himselj " — and lay down to sleep upon his 
 cold and rugged bed. 
 
 What situation could be more desolate and heart- 
 sinking than this ? Imprisoned among savage moun- 
 tains, perched in a wild rock far above the rest of mankind, 
 separated from human help by an impassable torrent, 
 cold, hungry, and exhausted ; yet all these dejecting 
 circumstances were unheeded by the hardy mountaineer. 
 He had but one source of terror : the otter-hunter had 
 often described this glen as a favourite haunt of fairies ; 
 and ** what would become of him if the gentle- people 
 caught him there ? " 
 
 The midnight hour passed, however, without any 
 supernatural visitation. No fairy revelry disturbed the 
 peasant's slumbers ; the rain ceased ; the flood was 
 falling ; the chough and raven were preparing to take 
 wing ; and while the first faint light was breaking through 
 the mountain mists, Cormac, anxious to quit his cheerless 
 bivouac, crawled out from his cold retreat. 
 
 Suddenly, from above, an indistinct noise alarmed 
 him. Feet clattered down the rocky path ; a rush, 
 a snorting, announced their near approach, and a herd 
 of deer appeared within half a stone's cast. They 
 
102 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 traversed the narrow track in single files, and were moving 
 rapidly down the mountain side to browse in the glen 
 beneath. 
 
 When the leading stag discovered the startled peasant, 
 he halted, tossed his antlers wildly, and gave a loud 
 and peculiar neigh. The pause, though momentary, 
 permitted the rear to come up, and the herd were 
 clustered in a group. The panic lasted but an instant : 
 they turned round, and with amazing speed rushed 
 up the hill, regained the heights, and were lost in the 
 thick mist. Cormac could not reckon them accurately, 
 but imagined their number to be about sixteen. 
 
 It is seldom, now, that the red deer are seen in herds. 
 Within late years they have diminished sadly, and 
 unless vigorous means are promptly adopted to prevent 
 their destruction by poachers, like their ancient enemy, 
 the rough Irish greyhound, they, too, will become 
 extinct. My cousin, when a boy, has often met forty 
 deer herded together ; but, from their decreased 
 numbers, one rarely sees now more than a few brace. 
 Since the French descent upon this coast in Ninety- 
 eight, their destruction has been rapid. Unfortunately, 
 many of the fire-arms then distributed among the 
 peasantry remain in their possession still, and in the 
 winter months, when the severity of the season forces 
 the deer to leave the hills and seek food and shelter 
 in the valleys, idle ruffians, too well acquainted with the 
 passes of the mountains, take that opportunity to 
 surprise and slaughter them. 
 
 There are many circumstances connected with this 
 scarce and beautiful species that should render their 
 preservation a matter of national interest. They are the 
 last relic of other times ; and all besides of the once 
 
RED DEER. IO3 
 
 famed stock which tenanted the Irish forests have 
 disappeared. The wolf, the morse-deer, the Irish 
 greyhound, exist no longer ; and this noble creature is 
 the sole remnant of her aboriginal animals, when Ireland 
 was in her wild and independent condition. 
 
 Individual exertions to continue the red deer are found 
 to be of little use. They seldom breed when deprived 
 of liberty, and restricted to the enclosures of a park. 
 If they do, the offspring degenerates, and the produce 
 is very inferior in size to what it would have been, had 
 the animal remained in its state of natural freedom. 
 Even when taken young in the mountains, to rear the 
 fawns is a difficult and uncertain task. My cousin has, 
 for many seasons, made the attempt, and generally 
 failed three times for once that he succeeded. Last 
 year one young deer that he procured throve well and 
 grew apace until he was sufficiently stout to go out and 
 graze with thq cows. Unfortunately, a visitor brought 
 a savage-tempered greyhound to the Lodge, the dog 
 attacked the fawn, and it died of the worrying it received 
 before the greyhound could be taken off. 
 
 It is almost impossible to procure the fawns from the 
 mountains in an uninjured state. They generally 
 receive a blow of a stick or stone from the captor, or 
 undergo such rough usage in conveying them to the 
 low-lands that death commonly ensues. A fine, well- 
 grown male was brought to the Lodge last week. For 
 a day or two nothing could be more promising than its 
 appearance. It began, however, on the fourth morning 
 to pine away, and soon after died. We opened it to 
 ascertain, if possible, the cause of its death, and dis- 
 covered a gangrened wound in the side, evidently 
 produced by a blow. The peasant who brought him 
 
104 
 
 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 declared that he was sound and uninjured ; and to 
 account for his caption swore lustily that he caught the 
 fawn asleep^ but it appeared that the rogue had knocked 
 the poor animal over with a stone, and thus produced 
 the inward bruise which terminated fatally. 
 
 It is strange that a creature of such strength and 
 endurance when arrived at maturity should be so 
 very difficult to bring up. Means were resorted to by 
 my kinsman to have the cow's assimilated to the wild 
 deer's milk, by changing the fawn's nurse to a healthier 
 and poorer pasturage ; a lichen, indigenous to the moun- 
 tains on which the deer principally feeds, was also 
 procured, and intermixed with the cow's hay ; and yet 
 this attention and trouble were attended with but indif- 
 ferent success. 
 
 When once, however, the period of infancy is passed, 
 the wild deer is hardy, vigorous, and easily provided 
 for. At different times many have been located in 
 the neighbouring parks, and lived there to a great age. 
 In the domain of a nobleman in Roscommon there are 
 several brace — and in the park of Clogher a stag and 
 hind are confined at present ; they are all vigorous 
 and healthy, but have never continued their species. 
 
 Many curious anecdotes are recorded of the red deer. 
 Some years since a hind was domesticated by a neigh- 
 bouring baronet. It was a fine and playful animal, and 
 gave many proofs of extraordinary sagacity. Like many 
 fairer favourites, she was a very troublesome one, and, 
 from her cunning and activity, a sad torment to the 
 gardener. No fences would exclude her from the 
 shrubberies, and if the garden gates were for a moment 
 insecure, the hind was sure to discover the neglect, 
 and avail herself of the opportunity to taste the choicest 
 
RED DEER. I05 
 
 vegetables. This beautiful but mischievous pet met 
 with some accidental injury, and died, to the great 
 regret of her proprietor. 
 
 Many years ago, a stag was in the possession of a 
 gentleman of Tyrawley. He grew to be a powerful 
 and splendid beast, but his propensities and disposi- 
 tions were very different to those of the playful and 
 innocent hind. 
 
 The stag was bold and violent, detested strangers 
 and women, and from his enormous size and strength, 
 was frequently a very dangerous playfellow. He had 
 a particular fancy for horses, resided mostly in the 
 stable, and when the carriage was ordered to the door, 
 if permitted, he would accompany it. A curious anec- 
 dote is told of him. He had no objection whatever to 
 allow a gentleman to enter the coach ; but to the fair 
 sex he had an unconquerable aversion, and with his 
 consent no lady should be an inside passenger. The 
 servants were obliged to drive him away before their 
 mistress could venture to appear; and at last, he became so 
 troublesome and unsafe, as to render his banishment to 
 an adjoining deer-park the necessary punishment of his 
 indocility. He did not survive this disgrace long ; 
 he pined away rapidly, avoided the fallow deer, and 
 died, as my informant declared, of a broken heart. 
 
 In killing deer, it is necessary to select the head, or 
 aim directly behind the shoulder. A body wound 
 may eventually destroy the animal, but the chances are, 
 that he will carry off the ball. Many, when severely 
 struck, escape the shooter ; and there have been stags 
 killed in these mountains, who bore the marks of 
 severe wounds, from the effects of which they had 
 entirely recovered. The following singular and authentic 
 
I06 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 instance of a bullet lodging in what is usually con- 
 sidered a mortal place, and failing to occasion death, 
 is extracted from a scientific periodical.* 
 
 " A buck, that was remarkably fat and healthy in 
 condition, in August, 1816, was killed in Bradbury Park, 
 and on opening him, it was discovered, that at some 
 distant time he had been shot in the heart, a ball being 
 found in a cyst in the substance of that viscus, about 
 two inches from the apex. The surface of the cyst 
 had a whitish appearance ; the ball weighed two hundred 
 and ninety-two grains, and was quite flat. Mr. 
 Richardson, the park-keeper, who opened the animal, 
 is of opinion the ball had struck some hard substance 
 before entering the body of the deer. That the animal 
 should subsist long after receiving this ball, is endea- 
 voured to be accounted for from the instance of a soldier, 
 who survived forty-nine hours after receiving a bayonet 
 wound in the heart : however, the recovery from a 
 gun-shot wound in an animal inferior to man can, in 
 no respect, materially alter the importance of the fact, 
 and of the great extent to which this vital organ may 
 sustain injury from external violence." 
 * The Edinburgh Medical Journal, 
 
A BLANK FISHING DAY. I07 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 A CIRCUMSTANCE to-day has given us considerable 
 uneasiness ; one of our best setters, who had been 
 observed to look rather dull yesterday, has refused his 
 food, and continues listless of what is passing around 
 him. He was a sprightly, active-minded dog, and his 
 torpidness is alarming. We promptly separated him 
 from his companions, and have chained him in an 
 adjoining cabin, under the especial observation of 
 old Antony. The otter-killer is preparing to use his 
 leech-craft, and I trust with good effect. Canine 
 madness is a frightful visitation, and no caution can 
 be too strict to guard against its melancholy conse- 
 quences. 
 
 Who shall say that success in angling can be calcu- 
 lated upon with anything like certainty ? If a man 
 were gifted with the properties of a walking barometer, 
 the weather of this most capricious comer of the earth 
 would set his prognostics at defiance. Never did a 
 morning look more favourable ; it was just such a one 
 as an angler would swear by ; a grey, dark, sober, settled 
 sky, without any vexatious glare of threatening sun- 
 shine to interrupt his sport. The otter-killer was not 
 so sanguine of this happy promise of good weather as 
 we were. He observed certain little clouds, to which 
 he gave some Irish name. " The wind, too, had shifted 
 a point southerly since daybreak, and the pinkeens* 
 were jumping, as they always jump, when they expect 
 more water." We laughed at him ; but Antony was 
 right. 
 
 * The usual name among the peasantry for samlets and trout fry. 
 
Io8 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 We tried some beautiful pools ; the fish were rising 
 fast ; they sprang over the surface of the water frequently, 
 and no worse omen can threaten the fishermen with 
 disappointment. If they did condescend to notice our 
 flies, they rose as if they wished merely to reconnoitre 
 them, or struck at them scornfully with their tails. 
 
 Still hoping that a change in the temper of the fish 
 — ^for a lady is not more fanciful — might yet crown our 
 efforts with success, we proceeded down the river and 
 pushed on for Pullgarrow. To angle here with the water 
 clean and full, and the wind brisk from the westward, 
 would almost repay a pilgrimage. For its extent, there 
 is not a better salmon haunt in Christendom. The 
 fish were rising in dozens, and where the river rushes 
 into the neck of the pool, the constant breaking of the 
 surface by the rolling or springing of the salmon, was 
 incredible = The number of fish collected in this pool 
 must have been immense, for in every part of it they were 
 rising simultaneously But not one of them would touch 
 the fly I hooked a salmon accidentally in the side, 
 and after a short and violent struggle the hold broke 
 and I lost him. The mode of fishing attributed by 
 Sir Humphry Davy to the Galway fishermen must be 
 as unprofitable as unartistlike. If ever it could avail, 
 we should have succeeded to-day in Pullgarrow. 
 
 Meanwhile the breeze gradually died away, or came 
 in gusts from the south ; the sky in the same quarter 
 grew thick and misty ; large drops fell, and in a short 
 time the rain came down in torrents. The reason 
 why the salmon had declined our flies was now dis- 
 closed ; although we had not foreseen the coming change, 
 the fish had evidently expected it. Wearied and 
 drenched, we returned to our shooting quarters. But 
 
A BLANK FISHING DAY. IO9 
 
 we Speedily forgot our fatigue and disappointment. 
 Antony's report of the health of his canine patient was 
 satisfactory. The animal's stomach had been dis- 
 ordered, and the otter-hunter's remedies were promptly 
 administered, and successful. My cousin had a dread 
 of madness breaking out in his kennel ; and from his 
 melancholy experience of the fearful consequences of 
 neglect, I do not marvel that on the first symptom of 
 loss of appetite or abated spirits, he forthwith causes 
 the suspected dog to be removed, and places him under 
 a strict surveillance. 
 
 Our conversation after dinner naturally turned upon 
 the indisposition of the setter. — '* You may think, my 
 dear Frank," said my cousin, " that I carry my appre- 
 hensions of the slightest illness in my dogs to a ridiculous 
 and unnecessary length ; but when I tell you that I 
 have witnessed the fatal course of hydrophobia, in the 
 human as well as the brute victim, you may then con- 
 ceive the horror I feel when anything recalls to my 
 memory this hopeless malady. 
 
 " During my first season at the Dublin University, 
 I was invited to pass a short vacation with a relative of 
 my mother. He lived in the south of Ireland, in an 
 ancient family mansion-house, situated in the mountains, 
 and at a considerable distance from the mail-coach 
 road. 
 
 " This gentleman was many years older than I. He 
 had an only sister, a girl of sixteen, beautiful and accom- 
 plished ; at the period of my visit she was still at school , 
 but was to finally leave it, as my host informed me, 
 at Midsummer. 
 
 ** Never was there a more perfect specimen of primi- 
 tive Milesian life, than that which the domicile of my 
 
no WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 worthy relative exhibited. The house was enormously 
 large — half ruinous — and all, within and without, wild, 
 rackety, and irregular. There was a troop of idle and 
 slatternly servants of both sexes, distracting every part 
 of the establishment : and a pack of useless dogs 
 infesting the premises, and crossing you at every turn. 
 Between the biped and quadruped nuisances an eternal 
 war was carried on, and not an hour of the day elapsed, 
 but a canine outcry announced that some of those 
 unhappy curs were being ejected by the butler, or 
 pelted by the cook. 
 
 " So common-place was this everlasting uproar, 
 that after a few days I almost ceased to notice it. I 
 was dressing for dinner, when the noise of dogs quarrel- 
 ling in the yard, brought me to the window ; a terrier 
 was being worried by a rough, savage-looking fox- 
 hound, whom I had before this noticed and avoided. 
 At the moment my host was crossing from the stable ; 
 he struck the hound with his whip, but, regardless of 
 the blow, he continued his attack upon the smaller 
 dog. The old butler, in coming from the garden, 
 observed the dogs fighting, and stopped to assist in 
 separating them. Just then, the brute quitted the 
 terrier, seized the master by the leg, and cut the servant 
 in the hand. A groom rushed out on hearing the 
 uproar, struck the prongs of a pitchfork through the dog's 
 body, and killed him on the spot. This scene occurred 
 in less time than I have taken in relating it. 
 
 " I hastened from my dressing-room ; my host had 
 bared his leg, and was washing the wound, which was 
 a jagged tear from the hound's tooth. Part of the 
 skin was loose, and a sudden thought appeared to strike 
 him. He desired an iron to be heated ; took a sharp 
 
A BLANK FISHING DAY. Ill 
 
 penknife from his pocket, coolly and effectually removed 
 the ragged flesh, and, regardless of the agony it occa- 
 sioned, with amazing determination, cauterized the 
 wound severely. 
 
 " The old butler, however, contented himself with 
 binding up his bleeding hand. He endeavoured to 
 dissuade his master from undergoing what he considered 
 to be unnecessary pain. ' The dog was dead^ sure, and 
 that was quite sufficient to prevent any danger arising 
 from the bite ' ; and, satisfied with this precaution, 
 he remained indifferent to future consequences and in 
 perfect confidence that no ulterior injury could occur 
 from the wound. 
 
 " Three months passed away — my friend's sister was 
 returning from school — and, as the mountain road was 
 in bad repair, and a bridge had been swept away by the 
 floods, saddle-horses were sent to meet the carriage. 
 The old butler, who had some private affairs to transact 
 in the neighbouring town, volunteered to be the escort 
 of his young mistress, and obtained permission. 
 
 " That there was something unusual in the look and 
 manner of her attendant, was quickly remarked by the 
 lady. His address was wild and hurried, and some 
 extraordinary feelings appeared to agitate him. To 
 an inquiry if he was unwell, he returned a vague and 
 unmeaning answer ; he trembled violently when assist- 
 ing her on horseback, and it was evident that some 
 strange and fearful sensations disturbed him. 
 
 " They rode some miles rapidly, until they reached 
 the rivulet where the bridge had been carried off by the 
 flood. To cross the stream was no way difficult, as the 
 water barely covered the horse's fetlock. The lady 
 had ridden through the water, when a thrilling cry 
 
112 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 of indescribable agony from her attendant arrested her. 
 Her servant was on the opposite side, endeavouring to 
 rein in his unwilling horse, and in his face there was a 
 horrible and convulsed look that terrified his alarmed 
 mistress. To her anxious questions, he only replied 
 by groans, which too truly betrayed his sufferings ; 
 at last he pointed to the stream before him, and 
 exclaimed, */ cannot, dare not, cross it! Oh, God I 
 I am lost ! — the dog — the dog I * 
 
 " What situation could be more frightful than that 
 in which the lady found herself ? In the centre of a 
 desolate and unpeopled moor, far from assistance, and 
 left alone with a person afflicted with decided madness. 
 She might, it is true, have abandoned him ; for the 
 terrors of the poor wretch would have prevented him 
 from crossing the rivulet ; but, with extraordinary 
 courage, she returned, seized the bridle fearlessly, and, 
 notwithstanding the outcries of the unhappy man, 
 forced his horse through the water, and never left his 
 side, until she fortunately overtook some tenants of 
 her brother returning from a neighbouring fair. 
 
 " I arrived on a visit the third evening after this 
 occurrence, and the recollection of that poor old man's 
 sufferings has ever since haunted my memory. All that 
 medical skill and affectionate attention on his master's 
 part could do to assuage his pain, and mitigate the 
 agonies he occasionally underwent, was done. At 
 length, the moment that was devoutly prayed for came. 
 He died on the sixth morning. 
 
 " From this horrible fate nothing but his own deter- 
 mination preserved my relative : and, by the timely 
 use of a painful remedy, excision and cautery of the 
 wound, he escaped this dreadful disease. 
 
A BLANK FISHING DAY. II3 
 
 " I have related the calamity of another ; but I, 
 too, have been a sufferer, although, thank God ! not 
 in person. 
 
 ** A setter of uncommon beauty was presented to me 
 by a gentleman under peculiar circumstances. He 
 had been the favourite companion of his deceased wife ; 
 and, during her long and hopeless illness had seldom 
 left her chamber. He begged me to allow him a place 
 in the Lodge, and not subject him to the restraint of 
 the kennel. His wishes were obeyed, and Carlo was 
 duly installed into all the rights and privileges of a carpet- 
 dog. 
 
 " I left home on a shooting- visit, and, luckily, brought 
 a brace of my best setters with me. A week after my 
 departure, an express reached me to say that Carlo 
 ' was very odd, would not eat, and bit and worried 
 every dog he met with.' I took alarm instantly, and 
 returned home without delay. I found the household 
 in desperate alarm, and Carlo was confined in a separate 
 out-house, but not until he had worried and torn every 
 dog in my possession ! 
 
 " I went to reconnoitre him through an iron-stan- 
 chioned window : he was in the last and frightfullest 
 stage of confirmed hydrophobia. I sent for a rifle and 
 terminated the animal's life. 
 
 " I was at first afraid to inquire into the extent of my 
 calamity. I mustered courage to enter the kennel, and 
 personally investigated the state of my dogs. Every 
 one of them, ten in number, had been bitten, and several 
 of them were fearfully mutilated by the rabid animal 
 I had despatched. Even the terriers had not escaped ; 
 and they, poor animals ! were necessarily included 
 in the general order for execution that I issued to the 
 
 I 
 
114 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 keeper. That noble house-dog, who has been the 
 subject of your admiration, was, fortunately, preserved, 
 by having been sent for by a gentleman who resided 
 in the next county. 
 
 " A most extraordinary insensibility to danger was 
 evinced by the female members of my household. 
 Unluckily, Antony was absent in the mountains, setting 
 a broken bone ; the keeper had accompanied me ; every 
 one acquainted with the habits and management of dogs 
 was from home ; and the kennel was entrusted to the 
 kitchen-boy. On this occasion the disease appears to 
 have come on gradually, and for days the setter betrayed 
 the customary signs of incipient madness. Had he 
 been tied up even when the malady was fully established, 
 no mischief might have resulted. But until his violence 
 became frightful, he was actually permitted to run 
 about the house, and got access to the kennel, while 
 the boy was carrying food to his charge. 
 
 ** The escape of the servants was miraculous. The 
 day only before my arrival, the dog, in a paroxysm of 
 suffering, had thrown himself across the fireplace. 
 ' Come away from that, Biddy,' said the old cook, with 
 perfect nonchalance^ to her attendant : * DonH ye see 
 the dog is mad ? ' and continued some culinary operation, 
 in which, at a distant corner of the kitchen, she was 
 engaged. The boy's preservation was unaccountable. 
 The poor lad made many unavailing efforts to part the 
 dogs when fighting in the kennel, and prevent the setters 
 from being bitten. In this perilous attempt his clothes 
 were literally torn to ribbons ; but, fortunately for 
 himself, there was not a scratch visible on his skin." 
 
VISITING ACHIL. II5 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 For three days it has continued raining and blowing 
 violently. We fortunately abandoned the mountain 
 hut, on noticing the unpromising aspect of the vi^eather, 
 before the flood rose to a height that would have insu- 
 lated us in the hills. We have determined on an excur- 
 sion into Achil, and wait impatiently until the wind 
 and clouds give some indication of amendment. The 
 moon enters her second quarter to-night, and we trust 
 her ladyship's influence may mitigate the unusual 
 severity of the weather. 
 
 This morning my servant's report was favourable ; 
 the sky looked settled, the wind blew from the north- 
 west, and old Antony was satisfied with the prognostics. 
 My cousin was already a-foot, and his voice at my 
 window loudly summoned me to " turn-out." I opened 
 the curtains — the sun was shining as if he intended 
 to keep a fair face throughout the day, and there was a 
 cheerful bustle in front of the Lodge which gave " note 
 of preparation." The main-sail of the hooker was 
 already chalk up and shivering in the morning breeze ; 
 and the boat men, sitting on the grass before the window, 
 were preparing lines and baiting spillets. The piper 
 looked on, stretching one arm lazily out, while with the 
 other he hitched up the waistband of his unmentionables ; 
 and frequent visits of the dog-boy to the kennel showed 
 that both bipeds and quadrupeds would be shortly in 
 requisition. Hammocks, hampers, and gun-cases, were 
 subsequently embarked, and about eight o'clock we had 
 finished our dejeuner and committed our persons and 
 fortunes to the waves. 
 
Il6 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 Never was there a lovelier day or wilder scenery ; after 
 we had cleared the river and opened the bay, a view of 
 surpassing grandeur was presented. We were sur- 
 rounded on every side by an amphitheatre of bold and 
 endless hills, except where the opening to the Atlantic 
 showed us the dark waters of a boundless ocean — 
 the surface was clear and undisturbed — and the light 
 breeze rippled the long and measured undulations 
 from the sea, and bore us gently towards the island. 
 The bay was filled with mackerel, and consequently 
 it was crowded with sea-fowl. In clamorous groups 
 the gulls were darting on the fish below, and an endless 
 variety of puffins and cormorants were incessant in 
 pursuit of the smaller fry, which had attracted the 
 shoals of mackerel from the deep. But the wind was 
 too scanty, and the hooker's sailing not sufficiently fast, 
 to allow us to kill fish in any quantity. We occasionally, 
 however, caught a mackerel, and shot, among a number of 
 water-fowls, a beautiful specimen of the sea-hawk, 
 which I shall endeavour to preserve. 
 
 We had gradually neared Dugurth, which is the only 
 spot on which, for many miles a boat, even in moderate 
 weather, can safely effect a landing, when a galley stood 
 out of Elly bay and bore down upon us. Our courses 
 nearly crossed : they were running off the wind, we 
 close-hauled as possible. Nothing could be mor^ 
 picturesque than the light and elegant appearance of 
 this " fairy frigate." At a little distance she seemed 
 a cloud of canvas flitting across the sea, for the long, 
 low hull was not visible until her close approach revealed 
 it. Her large lugs and top-sails were of the whitest 
 duck, and as all her sails drew, light as the breeze was, 
 she passed us with the velocity of a race-horse. The 
 
VISITING ACHIL. II7 
 
 airy motion of this " light shalloop ** as she glided 
 through the water, might, to the fancy of a poet, present 
 a similitude of that imaginary bark in which the spirits 
 of departed mariners are seen flitting over the dark 
 billows beneath which their bodies rest. 
 
 Having weathered the Ridge Point, we made a signal 
 for a rowing-boat, and one immediately came off. Our 
 boatmen, having ascertained by their landmarks that 
 they were upon clean ground, prepared to shoot their 
 spillets. We left them, taking with us our dogs and 
 attendants, and landed on a small, sandy beach. 
 
 Having established our head- quarters in the watch- 
 house of the coast-guard, and procured an adjoining 
 cabin for the suite, we set out to look for grouse, taking 
 a westerly direction along the base of Slieve More. 
 Deceived by the false report of the villagers, we found 
 the beat we had chosen neither a pleasant nor produc- 
 tive one. The heath was short and withered, the side 
 of the mountain unsheltered, and exposed to the severe 
 and almost eternal west vdnd : and, with the exception 
 of a very few banks beside the water-courses, and one 
 or two natural ravines, there was not a spot in which a 
 grouse could shelter. In these hollows we generally 
 found a stager ^^ and in one rugged dell shot three old 
 cocks. Contrary to their general caution they stood 
 the dogs well, or, from the short cover and stunted 
 heath, had the weather been wet and the birds wary, 
 it would have been almost impossible to have approached 
 them. Against running after grouse I uplift my voice. 
 If they are wild, and will not stand or sit, a commonplace 
 occurrence in wet, cold weather, I would recommend 
 gentlemen to remain at home. If circumstances bring 
 
 * An old cock grouse which has not paired. 
 
Il8 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 them to the moors, or they are particularly solicited 
 (as I have often been) to procure birds let them depend 
 on close-markings tie up every dog but the steadiest 
 one, and quietly, patiently, and silently endeavour 
 to come within range of their object. If the bird moves, 
 then to out- flank him is the best chance. Take a con- 
 siderable circuit, and the more apparent carelessness 
 you show in striving to close with a wild grouse, the 
 more likely you will be to succeed. If the bird observes 
 any hurry in the approach of the shooter, he will take 
 alarm instantly, and an immediate flight will show 
 that he has been perfectly on the qui-vive. The peasants, 
 while looking after cattle and cutting peats upon the 
 hill, had frequently disturbed those solitary birds, 
 and concluded, from meeting them so often, that there 
 must be some packs convenient. 
 
 Too late we found out our error ; it was four o'clock, 
 and we determined to abandon the heath for the day ; 
 and, having from a high ground examined the interior 
 of the island, we arranged to-morrow's beat accordingly. 
 
 Quitting the hill, we walked for a mile along the beach 
 to some bent banks, where we were told that rabbits 
 were abundant. In an hour we shot eight pair, and two 
 couple of whimbrels ; and perceiving that the hooker 
 had anchored off the landing-place, we gave up shooting 
 and returned to the watch-house. 
 
 In our absence the servants had been active ; they 
 slung our hammocks, and made the necessary prepara- 
 tions for cooking dinner. The chief officer of the coast- 
 guard kindly gave us his own apartment. His little 
 cabin was crowded with every necessary requisite for 
 one so far removed from the civilized portion of man- 
 kind, and it was amusing to remark the ingenuity with 
 
VISITING ACHIL. II9 
 
 which the occupier had arranged his numerous goods 
 and chattels ; nothing could exceed the cleanliness 
 of his cottage, and it formed a striking contrast to the 
 filth and misery of the surrounding hovels. 
 
 The boatmen were just landing in their punt, and we 
 descended to the beach to ascertain what addition to 
 our cuisine the spillets had afforded. They produced 
 a pair of fine soles, and a score of large plaice. These, 
 with the mackerel taken in the morning, supplied the 
 fish department admirably. Our purveyor had pur- 
 chased a Keim sheep^ ; and at six o'clock we v/ent to 
 dinner. Nothing could be more delicious than our 
 fare ; — fish transferred from the sea to the kettle, and 
 diminutive mutton, whose only fault was excessive 
 fatness. We had a grouse, too, one of our stagers, 
 but it was coarse and flavourless ; and if toughness 
 be a test of years, I should set him down as coeval with 
 Saint Patrick. 
 
 The host joined us after dinner, and presented us 
 with a bottle of genuine Inniskea. If such be the 
 customary produce of their stills, those gifted islanders 
 are worthy of being canonized. Although our host's 
 flask was a true Hollander, having an amplitude of bottom 
 that would have put two degenerate wine-bottles to the 
 blush, I regret to say such unyielding thirst beset us, 
 that before any of the company sought a hammock, the 
 honest Dutchman was left without a drop ! 
 
 We were astir betimes next morning. It was an 
 excellent shooting-day ; a brisk breeze had sprung up 
 with the first of flood, and the fog, rising gradually up 
 the mountain-side, cleared the summit of Slieve More, 
 
 * Keim is a mountain district of Achil, celebrated for the flavour 
 and fatness of its sheep. 
 
120 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 leaving its rugged pinnacle — a disordered mass of 
 shivered granite— sparkling in the sunshine. Our dogs 
 were in beautiful condition ; and we were gratified to 
 hear from a water-guard patrol, that, but an hour before, 
 he had sprung a strong pack of birds on our purposed 
 beat. 
 
 But, alas ! the departed Dutchman had left us certain 
 twinges in the head to make us recollect him, and we 
 felt a nervous sensibility that was anything but favour- 
 able to good shooting. An immersion in the sea was 
 recommended as a certain remedy, and our host con- 
 ducted us to a rock, from which we could plunge into 
 water four fathoms deep, and yet clear enough to enable 
 us to observe the shells and pebbles at the bottom. 
 We enjoyed a delightful ablution, returned new men 
 to the watch-house, and, like giants refreshed, prepared 
 for a good day's fag. 
 
 So salutary proved our bath, that we breakfasted as 
 if we had never drained a Dutchman in our lives. The 
 dogs were duly coupled, and sundry disengaged gentle- 
 men of the village, whom we found lounging at the door, 
 were being invested with shot and game bags, when, 
 roused by an exclamation of the keeper, we witnessed 
 a curious scene. 
 
 In a huge and inaccessible crag, on the east side of 
 Slieve More, and immediately above the coast-guard 
 station, the eagles had formed an aerie ; — a fissure in 
 the cliffs beyond the possibility of being disturbed by 
 the approach of man, afforded these birds, for many 
 years, a secure retreat. Here, annually, they pro- 
 duced their offspring, to the sad annoyance of the 
 islanders, and more particularly the villagers of Dugurth. 
 This morning they had descended from their rocky 
 
VISITING ACHIL. 121 
 
 habitation, accompanied by two eaglets, evidently to 
 teach their young to stoop and lift their prey.* The 
 old birds tore up turfs from the mountain side, rose high 
 in the air and dropped them. The eaglets, in turn, 
 stooped, and took them up again. This was frequently 
 repeated, and the course of instruction having lasted 
 half-an-hour, the eagles mounted to their aerie, and, leav- 
 ing their progeny safely in the nest, sailed off upon the 
 rising breeze to provide for the evening meal. We viewed 
 the proceedings of this predatory family through the 
 telescope of the coast-guard, who gave us many curious 
 anecdotes of those daring and destructive birds. 
 
 We took an opposite course to the barren beat we had 
 yesterday pursued. The bogs were intersected by 
 several mountain-streams, whose dry and heathy banks 
 offered excellent feeding and shelter for grouse. Our 
 success, however, was very indifferent to what we had 
 anticipated, from the promising appearance of the ground, 
 and we had spent an hour, hunting with two brace of 
 prime dogs, before we saw a bird. We met numerous 
 indications of a strong pack having recently visited 
 the river, and left no place untried which birds might 
 be expected to frequent. At last, we began to imagine 
 that the eagles had been here before us, when at some 
 distance a young setter dropped on a heathy brow that 
 overhung the rivulet. We were advancing, but the pack, 
 alarmed by the sudden appearance of the dog above 
 them, took wing, and we had to content ourselves with 
 reckoning them, as they got up bird by bird. We 
 
 *" The story of the eagle brought to the ground, after a severe 
 conflict with a cat, which it had seized and taken up into the air 
 with its talons, is very remarkable. Mr. Barber, who was an eye- 
 witness of the fact, made a drawing of it, which he afterwards 
 engraved." — Bewick. 
 
122 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 counted nineteen, and concluded that two broods had 
 packed accidentally.* They all pitched in a scattered 
 manner on the side of a neighbouring eminence, and 
 having marked them carefully down, we took up one 
 brace of dogs, and with the other proceeded quietly to 
 work. I never, in my sporting experience, saw a pack 
 disposed of in better style. The dogs picked up the 
 broken birds immediately, and with one miss (mine was 
 the deed !) we brought nine brace to bag. The sole 
 survivor probably waded off during the slaughter, or 
 threw himself into a hole in the heath, for we could not 
 make him out. 
 
 From our opening essay, we reckoned that this would 
 prove an exterminating day ; but, with the des- 
 truction of this pack our sport might be said to cease. 
 For hours we traversed hills and crossed moors, meeting 
 but one weak brood and a few stagers. We did 
 find another brood, but the poults were scarcely able 
 to leave the ground, and, consequently, were too weak 
 for shooting. From their appearance, we concluded them 
 to be a second progeny of birds, who had lost their 
 first eggs by robbery or vermin. We met, however, 
 a number of hares, and shot seven. These, with thirteen 
 brace of grouse, filled the game bags. 
 
 Our course homewards lay along the base of Slieve 
 More. The evening was calm and sultry, and a number^ 
 of men and women of all ages were seated on the rocks 
 gaffing the horse-mackerel, or fishing for gunners, which 
 were seen in numbers on the surface of the water. 
 The gunner is the common name given to the sea-bream 
 
 * I have never known red grouse flock in Ireland. Excepting 
 an accidental junction of two broods, I have not met with grouse 
 in any considerable number. Broods will occasionally pack together, 
 but it is not a common occurrence. 
 
VISITING ACHIL 1 23 
 
 by the fishermen of the western coast. They are found 
 near the shore, in from five to fifteen fathom water, 
 where the bottom is foul and rocky. The gunners are 
 pretty but insipid fish, and in variety of colour differ 
 from each other more than any species of the finny tribe 
 I have met with. In size they seldom exceed three or 
 four pounds : but from the avidity with which they 
 bite, they afford excellent amusement when the breeze 
 is not sufficiently stiff to allow a take of mackerel and 
 coal-fish. The bait generally used for gunners, is a 
 small crab, broken and bound about the hook with a 
 thread, and two hooks affixed to a trap-stick, with a 
 light leaden plummet, comprise the simple apparatus 
 requisite for this kind of sea-fishing. 
 
 This rock-fishing is more dangerous than productive, 
 and many lives have been lost in pursuing it. Descend- 
 ing the precipices to reach the water's edge, is attended 
 with imminent risk : and as sudden and terrible swells 
 come in frequently and unexpectedly from the Atlantic, 
 many fishers have been swept off the rocks, and perished. 
 Another perilous occupation of the female peasants 
 is what they term " picking cranagh." This sea- weed, 
 which forms a favourite esculent of the islanders, grows 
 on the rocks that are but occasionally covered by the sea. 
 Exposure to sudden swells from the ocean attends 
 those who search for it, and loss of life has too often 
 occurred. 
 
 One accident, which happened not long since, was 
 truly melancholy. A woman, the mother of several 
 helpless children, and who, but a month before, had 
 given birth to twins, perished in the sight of her family. 
 No relief in such cases can be given : the reflux of these 
 mountainous waves bears the victims away, and, with 
 
124 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 rare exceptions, the bodies are never found, as they are 
 either borne out to sea, or entombed in one of the many 
 deep caverns with which the bases of these fearful 
 precipices are perforated. 
 
 We reached home at seven, made a hasty toilet, and 
 dined sumptuously from mountain mutton and a fine 
 John Dory, which the priest had sent us in our absence. 
 Determined to eschew temptation, we avoided engaging 
 a fresh Dutchman, which our host pressed upon us, 
 and put in a quiet evening. After smoking a cigar, 
 discussing its necessary association of schnaps and 
 water, we turned into our hammocks in such grave and 
 philosophic moderation, as might have claimed the 
 approbation of Sir Humphry, and entitled us to a place 
 of honour in any Temperance Society in Great Britain. 
 
THE EAGLE S CLIFF. ' 1 25 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 From the scarcity of grouse in Achil, we altered our 
 original plans, and decided upon sending our dogs back 
 to the Lodge by a rowing-boat, and going in the hooker 
 to visit the island of Inniskea. 
 
 After breakfast we proceeded to embark our personals ; 
 and having despatched our heavy luggage by the atten- 
 dants, whom we ordered home, we ascended the hill 
 (while the crew were clearing and baiting their spillets), 
 in the vague hope of getting a shot at those predatory 
 birds, of whose spoliations we had heard so much on the 
 preceding evening. 
 
 On reaching the bottom of the rock in whose face the 
 aerie stands, we discovered that the old birds were 
 absent ; and as the nest was formed in a deep fissure, 
 we could not ascertain its situation exactly. But that the 
 eagles' dwelling was above us was evident enough : 
 the base of the cliff was strewn with bones and feathers, 
 and the accumulation of both was extraordinary. The 
 bones of rabbits, hares, and domestic fowls, were most 
 numerous ; but those of smaller game, and various 
 sorts of fish, were visible among the heap. 
 
 Many attempts are annually made to destroy this 
 predatory family ; but it is impossible to rob the nest. 
 Situated two hundred feet above the base of the rock, 
 it is, of course, unapproachable from below ; and as the 
 cliffs beetle over it frightfully, to assail it from above 
 would be a hazardous essay. An enterprising peasant, 
 some years since, was let down by a rope and basket ; 
 but he was fiercely attacked by the old birds, and the 
 basket nearly overturned. Fortunately, the cord was 
 
126 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 Strong, and had sufficient length to allow his being lowered 
 rapidly, or he would have undoubtedly sustained some 
 bodily injury from the wings and talons of those enraged 
 and savage birds. The following interesting anecdote 
 is well authenticated : " Two eagles, in the wildest 
 part of a neighbouring county, had for some time depre- 
 dated on the neighbourhood, and bore away lambs, 
 kids, &c., for the sustenance of their young. Some 
 peasants determined, if possible, to obtain the young 
 birds ; and ascended the mountains, but found that the 
 nest was in a part of the perpendicular rock, near one 
 hundred feet below the summit, and about three hundred 
 above the sea, which, with terrific appearances, dashed 
 against its base. They had provided themselves with 
 ropes, and a lad, armed with a cimetar, was by this 
 means lowered by the rest. He arrived in safety at the 
 nest, where, as he expected, he was attacked with infinite 
 fury by one of the old eagles, at which he made a stroke 
 with his sword, that nearly cut asunder the rope by which 
 he was suspended. Fortunately, one strand of it 
 remained. He described his state to his comrades, 
 waiting in horrible expectation that the division of the 
 cord would precipitate him to the bottom ; but though 
 he might have been to die by a rope, it was not in this 
 manner. He was cautiously and safely hauled up ; 
 when it was found that his hair, which a quarter of an 
 hour before had been of a dark auburn, had in that short 
 period, become perfectly white." 
 
 The village of Dugurth suffers heavily from its unfor- 
 tunate proximity to the aerie. When the wind blows 
 from a favourable point, the eagle, in the grey of morning, 
 sweeps through the cabins, and never fails in carrying 
 off some prey. 
 
THE eagle's cliff. 1 27 
 
 To black fowls, eagles appear particularly attached ; 
 and the villagers avoid, as much as possible, rearing 
 birds of that colour. 
 
 A few days before our arrival, one of the coast-guards, 
 alarmed by the cries of a boy, rushed from the watch- 
 house ; the eagle had taken up a black hen, and as he 
 passed within a few yards, the man flung his cap at him. 
 The eagle dropped the bird ; it was quite dead, however, 
 the talons having shattered the back-bone. The 
 villagers say (with what truth I know not) that turkeys 
 are never taken. 
 
 That the eagle is extremely destructive to fish, and par- 
 ticularly so to salmon, many circumstances would prove. 
 They are constantly discovered watching the fords, 
 in the spawning season, and are seen to seize and carry 
 off the fish One curious anecdote I heard from my 
 friend the priest. Some years since, a herdsman, on 
 a very sultry day in July, while looking for a missing 
 sheep, observed an eagle posted on a bank that overhung 
 a pool. Presently the bird stooped and seized a salmon, 
 and a violent struggle ensued. When the herd reached 
 the spot, he found the eagle pulled under water by the 
 strength of the fish, and the calmness of the day joined 
 to drenched plumage, rendered him unable to extricate 
 himself. With a stone, the peasant broke the eagle's 
 pinion, and actually secured the spoiler and his victim, 
 for he found the salmon dying in his grasp. 
 
 When shooting on Lord Sligo's mountains, near the 
 Killeries, I heard many particulars of the eagle's habits 
 and history, from a grey-haired peasant, who had passed a 
 long life in these wilds. The scarcity of hares, which here 
 were once abundant, he attributed to the rapacity of 
 those birds ; and he affirmed that, when in pursuit of 
 
128 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 these animals, the eagle evinced a degree of intelligence 
 that appeared extraordinary. They coursed the hares, 
 he said, with great judgment and certain success ; one 
 bird was the active follower, while another remained in 
 reserve, at the distance of forty or fifty yards. If the 
 hare by a sudden turn, freed herself from her most 
 pressing enemy, the second bird instantly took up the 
 chase, and thus prevented the victim from having a 
 moment's respite. 
 
 He had remarked the eagles, also, while they were 
 engaged in fishing. They chose a small ford upon the 
 rivulet which connects Glencullen with GlanduUah, 
 and, posted on either side, waited patiently for the salmon 
 to pass over. Their watch was never fruitless ; and many 
 a salmon, in its transit from the sea to the lake, was 
 transferred from his native element to the wild aerie in 
 the Alpine cliff, that beetles over the romantic waters 
 of Glencullen. 
 
 Nor is it to birds of prey alone that the extreme scarcity 
 of game upon this island may be attributed. Foxes 
 are found here in numbers that appear incredible. The 
 sides of Slieve More, in places formed of masses of 
 disrupted rock, afford numerous and inaccessible burrows 
 to those mischievous animals ; and the sand-banks, 
 stocked with rabbits, offer them an easy and certain 
 means of subsistence. Hence, their annual increase 
 is wonderful ; and the numbers on the island may be 
 estimated from this simple fact, that one of the coast- 
 guards, who happened to have a couple of good terriers, 
 destroyed, in the space of a season, eighteen full-grown 
 foxes. The multitude of lambs lost by these depre- 
 dators, has nearly deterred the islanders from keeping 
 ewes ; and there is not a spot in Great Britain so 
 
THE EAGLE S CLIFF. 1 29 
 
 persecuted by winged and footed vermin as this wild 
 district. Of smaller birds of prey there is a plentiful 
 variety ; but the devastations of the greater tribe cause 
 their minor larcenies to be unnoticed. 
 
 With a light leading breeze, we stood across the bay, 
 passed the Island of Devilawn, and, running through 
 a sound, which separates Tarmon from Inniskea, came-to 
 at the distance of a quarter of a mile from the landing- 
 place. It was low water, and the boats were all hauled 
 up upon the beach. Even in the calmest weather 
 the greatest caution is requisite to protect them from 
 the heavy and sudden swells that eternally break on 
 this wild coast ; and, if left within the reach of the surf, 
 they are frequently stove before the careless crew are 
 aware of danger. Anxious to land, we fired a gun, 
 and, being upon an excellent bank for spillet-fishing, 
 the boatmen adjusted their buoys, and commenced 
 throwing their lines overboard. 
 
 I was watching the progress made by a dozen of the 
 islanders to launch a row-boat to the water, when 
 suddenly, from beneath the opposite cliff, a floating 
 substance appeared to issue from the side of the preci- 
 pice. We had neared the shore considerably, and the 
 object, of which I had previously but an indistinct 
 view, was now more clearly seen. It was a woman 
 sitting in a curragh, fishing for codling and gunners. 
 Startled by the discharge of the musket, she pulled a 
 short distance from the cliffs, and then lay-to upon her 
 paddles, watching the hooker as she shot the spillets. 
 
 " These lazy lubbers will be half-an-hour getting that 
 heavy row-boat across the sand-ridge," said my kins- 
 man. " Hail the curragh, Pattigo, and let us get ashore." 
 
 To the shout of the skipper, a '' cead fealtagh," was 
 
 K 
 
130 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 returned ; the paddles dipped in the water, the light 
 curragh skimmed over the surface like a sea-bird, and 
 in a few minutes the female and her frail bark were 
 rocking beneath the counter of the sailing-boat. 
 
 I shuddered as I looked over the hooker's side at this 
 crazy vehicle ; it was but a few slight hoops, secured 
 together by cords, and overlaid by a covering of canvas, 
 rendered waterproof by a coating of tar and tallow. 
 The machine was so unsubstantial that a schoolboy could 
 carry it easily upon his shoulders. Nor was its fragility 
 alone that which rendered this bark so perilous ; from 
 its peculiar construction, it scarcely rested on the surface 
 of the sea ; and, consequently, the least change of 
 position in the occupant would inevitably capsize it ; 
 and yet, in this frail vessel, the young islander sat in 
 perfect security, a couple of hand-lines coiled at her 
 feet, and the bottom of the curragh overspread with the 
 produce of her fishery. Without the romance of Scott's 
 beautiful boatwoman there was something more than 
 interesting in the air and look of this wild female. Free 
 from that timidity which might be expected in the 
 inhabitant of a remote coast, on her first introduction 
 to strangers of a different grade in society, she laughed 
 and jested with the boatmen ; and the play of her 
 merry hazel eye, and the smile which disclosed a row 
 of pure and even teeth, had really more in them to 
 captivate than the cold and regular charms of many a 
 high-born beauty. 
 
 ** We must land singly," said my cousin ; '* for your 
 curragh is but a crank concern. Mind how you step 
 in, Frank." But I had already determined against an 
 embarkation, and accordingly declined the honour 
 of being first adventurer. My timidity only excited the 
 
THE EAGLES CLIFF. I3I 
 
 mirth of the sea-nymph ; and, unwilHng to be laughed 
 at by a woman, I took courage, and cautiously committed 
 my person to the skiff ; a change of position was, of 
 course, necessary on the lady's part, and this she managed 
 with such adroitness that the equilibrium of the coracle 
 was undisturbed. In a moment her sculls were flashing 
 in the waters, and we speedily reached the strand. 
 
 The rowing-boat was now afloat, and pulling to the 
 hooker to bring off my kinsman. My sea-nymph tossed 
 her fish and paddles to a little boy, who was expecting 
 her, received with a low curtsey the silver I presented 
 as my passage-money, and, having returned her small 
 purse to her bosom, she threw the curragh across her 
 back, and left me, invoking " God to bless my honour." 
 
 The boat returned with my cousin and our guns ; and 
 while the dinner requisites were being brought ashore, we 
 strolled towards the side of a hill, where we observed a 
 number of rabbits at play. They were very numerous, 
 and exhibited a greater variety than those of the other 
 warrens that I had as yet visited. We selected some 
 of the gayest colour for our practice, and whiled an hour 
 away, until a summons from the cook recalled us to 
 the village. 
 
 The spillets had provided us sumptuously with flat- 
 fish, and a present of shrimps and lobsters completed 
 our cuisine. The best house in the island had offered 
 us its accommodation, and there was an appearance of 
 comfort and rustic opulence in the furniture, that we 
 had not anticipated when we landed. 
 
 There are numerous chances and god-sends incident 
 to these islands, which the other lines of sea-coast 
 seldom obtain. Frequent and valuable wrecks furnish 
 the inhabitants with many articles of domestic utility. 
 
132 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 The drift timber from the Atlantic gives them an abun- 
 dant supply for the building and repairs of boats and 
 houses ; and immense quantities of sea-fowl feathers 
 are annually collected upon the Black Rock, which is 
 contiguous to Inniskea. The island affords excellent 
 pasturage for sheep ; and thus timber, feathers, and 
 wool enable the inhabitants to have domestic comforts 
 in abundance. In winter, the take of cod, hake, and ling 
 is inexhaustible ; peats are excellent and plenty, and 
 food and fuel are consequently never scarce in Inniskea. 
 
 These are, doubtless, great advantages over the 
 interior districts, but they are barely necessary to com- 
 pensate the other local inconveniences. Throughout 
 the greater portion of the winter all communication 
 with the mainland is interrupted. The sick must die 
 without relief, and the sinner pass to his account without 
 the consolations of religion. Should anything beyond 
 the produce of the island be requisite in the stormy 
 months, it must be procured with imminent danger ; 
 and constant loss of life and property forms the unhappy 
 theme of the tales and traditions of this insulated people. 
 
 A calm and misty twilight had fallen on Slieve More, 
 and abridged the almost boundless range of ocean over 
 which the eye passed when we first landed. At a little dis- 
 tance the village girls were milking, carolling those melan- 
 choly ditties to which the Irish are so partial. I strolled^ 
 among the rocks, and chose the narrow path, which the 
 full tide left between its margin and the cliffs. The moon 
 was rising now in exquisite beauty — the water was 
 rippling to the rocks — one long and wavy line of molten 
 silver undulated across the surface of the sea — and there 
 were wild cliffs and bolder headlands in glorious relief. 
 No scene on earth could be more peaceful or romantic. 
 
THE EAGLETS CLIFF. 133 
 
 I was indulging in delicious reverie, when something 
 like a bird flitted hastily by — again, and there was a 
 heavy plump in the water. I looked up, — a wild, 
 unearthly-looking creature stood on the cliff above, in 
 the very act of launching a huge stone at me ! Just then 
 a female figure rose beside him, and with threats and 
 blows drove him from the rock. It was my fair friend 
 of the curragh, who, seeing me take the lonely path I did, 
 hastened after to warn me of the danger. She told me 
 that the assailant was a dangerous lunatic ; he was 
 treacherous beyond description, and his antipathy to 
 women and strangers was remarkable. Many accidents 
 had occurred from his savage disposition. He feared 
 men and rarely attacked them ; but if he saw a female 
 at a distance from the village, he would lurk with malig- 
 nant perseverance for hours behind a bank or cliff to 
 attack her unawares. Some of the island women had 
 narrowly escaped death from this truculent monster, 
 and few of the males but had, at some time or other, 
 suffered injury from his hands ; a stone was his favourite 
 missile, which he threw with wonderful force and 
 precision. To my inquiry " Why this dangerous being 
 was not removed to some asylum ? " my protectress 
 replied with a smile, " He was but a poor natural, after 
 all ; he was born in the island, and God forbid that they 
 should send him among strangers." On conversing with 
 my cousin afterwards, he told me that, in the west of 
 Ireland, the peasantry had a superstitious veneration 
 for idiots and madmen, and, like the Turks, believed that 
 insanity and inspiration were only synonymes. 
 
 The illicit whisky made in this island holds a first rank 
 in the estimation of the poteein fancier. The cause of 
 its superior excellency may arise from the insular 
 
134 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 situation of the place, enabling the distiller to carry on his 
 business leisurely, and thus avoid the bad consequences 
 attendant on hurrying the process, — for to rapid and 
 defective distillation may be ascribed the burnt flavour, 
 so common in whisky produced within the range of the 
 Revenue. The barley, also, grown in this and the 
 other adjacent islands is excellent — and as the spirit is 
 drawn from a copper still, it has many advantages to 
 recommend it. The illicit apparatus in common use 
 is, with few exceptions, made of tin — ^the capture of a 
 copper still, from the superior value of the metal, would 
 be a serious loss, and consequently a cheaper substitute 
 is resorted to. 
 
 Here^ the still is considered a valuable heirloom in a 
 family, and descends in due succession from father to 
 son. When not in use, it is lowered by a rope into 
 one of the deep caverns with which the western face of 
 the island abounds, and nothing but a treacherous 
 disclosure by some secret enemy could enable the 
 Revenue to discover the place where it is concealed, in 
 any of the unfrequent visits they make to this remote 
 spot. 
 
 That the attention of the Preventive officers is not 
 more particularly turned to a place notorious for its 
 inroads on the Revenue may appear strange. In fact this 
 island enjoys a sort of prescriptive privilege to sin against 
 the ordinances of the Excise. This indulgence arises, 
 however, not from the apathy of the Revenue, but from 
 natural causes, which are easily explained. A boat 
 may approach Inniskea in the full confidence of a settled 
 calm, and before an hour a gale may come on that will 
 render any chance of leaving it impracticable, and weeks 
 will elapse occasionally before an abatement of the storm 
 
THE eagle's cliff. 135 
 
 would allow the imprisoned stranger to quit those 
 dangerous shores. Hence, in his professional avocations, 
 the priest is obHged to watch the weather carefully 
 before he ventures to visit Inniskea — and it has not 
 unfrequently occurred that the rites of religion have 
 been interrupted, and the celebrant obliged to embark, 
 at a moment's notice, to avoid the consequences of being 
 caught by a coming gale. The islanders, from constant 
 observation of the phenomena of sea and sky, generally 
 foresee the storm before it blows ; but even the oldest 
 and most skilful inhabitant will frequently be sur- 
 prised by an unexpected tempest. 
 
 There are no people on earth more punctilious in the 
 interment of the dead than the peasantry of this remote 
 district. A strange and unaccountable custom exists 
 of burying different families, resident on the mainland, 
 in island cemeteries, and great difficulty, and oftentimes 
 imminent peril, attends the conveyance of a corpse to 
 its insulated resting-place. No inducement will make 
 those wild people inter a body apart from the tomb 
 of its fathers, and if a boat will live, the corpse will be 
 transported to the family tomb. At times the weather 
 renders this impracticable, but the deceased is kept for 
 many days unburied in the hope that the storm may 
 subside ; and only when frail mortality evinces unequi- 
 vocal tokens of decay will the relatives consent to unite 
 its dust with the ashes of a stranger. 
 
 It is asserted, but with what truth I cannot pretend 
 to state, that the inhabitants of Inniskea are prone to 
 litigation, and a curious legend of a lawsuit is told upon 
 the mainland, illustrative of this, their quarrelsome 
 disposition. A century ago, two persons were remark- 
 able here for superior opulence, and had become the envy 
 
136 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 and wonder of their poorer neighbours. Their wealth 
 consisted of a flock of sheep, when, unfortunately, 
 some trifling dispute occurring between them, a disso- 
 lution of partnership was resolved upon. To divide 
 the flock, one would suppose, would not be difficult, 
 and they proceeded to partition the property accord- 
 ingly. They possessed one hundred and one sheep ; 
 fifty fell to each proprietor, but the odd one — ^how was 
 it to be disposed of ? Neither would part with his 
 moiety to the other, and after a long and angry nego- 
 tiation, the animal was left in common property between 
 them. Although the season had not come round when 
 sheep are usually shorn, one of the proprietors, requiring 
 wool for a pair of stockings, proposed that the fleece 
 should be taken off. This was resisted by his co-partner, 
 and the point was finally settled by shearing one side 
 of the animal. Only a few days after the sheep was 
 found dead in a deep ditch ; one party ascribed the 
 accident to the cold feelings of the animal having urged 
 him to seek a shelter in the fatal trench ; while the 
 other contended that the wool remaining upon one side 
 had caused the wether to lose its equilibrium, and thus 
 the melancholy catastrophe was occasioned. The 
 parties went to law directly, and the expenses of the suit 
 actually devoured the produce of the entire flock, and 
 reduced both to a state of utter beggary. Their descen- 
 dants are pointed out to this day as being the poorest 
 of the community, and litigants are frequently warned 
 to avoid the fate of '' M alley and Malone.'* 
 
 Notwithstanding the uncertainty of weather in Inniskea 
 is proverbial, we had no reason to complain. The sun 
 rose gloriously from the ocean — every cloud vanished 
 from the rocky pinnacle of Slieve More — a stiff breeze 
 
THE eagle's cliff. 1 37 
 
 from the north-west blew steadily, and by nine o'clock 
 we had embarked our goods and persons ; and with as 
 much wind as the hooker could carry her three sails to 
 we ran through the Sound of Devilawn, and bade adieu 
 to this interesting and hospitable island. 
 
1-^8 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 It was evident that the bay was full of mackerel. 
 In every direction, and as far as the eye could range, 
 gulls and puffins were collected, and, to judge by their 
 activity and clamour, there appeared ample employment 
 for them among the fry beneath. We immediately 
 bore away for the place where these birds were most 
 numerously congregated, and the lines were scarcely 
 overboard when we found ourselves in the centre of 
 a shoal of mackerel. 
 
 The hooker, however, had too much way. We lowered 
 the foresail, double-reefed the mainsail, and then went 
 steadily to work. Directed by the movements of the 
 birds, we followed the mackerel, tacking or wearing the 
 boat occasionally, when we found that we had overrun 
 the shoal. For two hours we killed those beautiful 
 fish as fast as the baits could be renewed and the lines 
 hauled in ; and when we left off fishing, actually wearied 
 with sport, we found that we had taken above five 
 hundred, including a number of the coarser species, 
 known on this coast by the name of Horse Mackerel. 
 
 There is not, on sea or river, always excepting angling 
 for salmon, any sport comparable to this delightful 
 amusement. Spillet and long-line fishing are generally 
 tedious and uninteresting ; and, unless the fish take 
 freely, it is even with moderate success a tame and 
 spiritless employment. How different is mackerel 
 fishing ! — full of fife and bustle, everything about it 
 is animated and exhilarating ; a brisk breeze, a fair 
 sky, the boat in quick and constant motion, — all is 
 
SIGNS OF FISH. 1 39 
 
 calculated to interest and excite. But hanging for hours 
 above a spillet, or enduring the drudgery of lowering 
 and hauling in an almost interminable length of line 
 over the side of a motionless boat, is an abomination. 
 Like mud- shootings this is only work for a peasant, and 
 should accordingly be excluded from the list of gentle- 
 manly pursuits, and consigned entirely to those with 
 whom fishing is a trade ; and profit, not pleasure, the 
 object of their piscatory occupations. He who has 
 experienced the glorious sensations of sailing on the 
 western ocean, a bright autumnal sky above, a deep green 
 lucid swell around, a steady breeze, and as much of it 
 as the hooker can stand up to, will estimate the exquisite 
 enjoyment our morning's mackerel-fishing afforded. 
 
 In following the shoal we had crossed the bay, and 
 got under the Achil shore. Having made sail again, 
 we stretched over towards the Bull's Mouth, attracted 
 by an immense play of sea-fowl. It was nearly low 
 water, and Vvdiile running past Innisbiggle, we observed 
 several seals basking on the rocks. One was so curiously 
 couched among the sea-weed as to render its species 
 a subject of doubt and discussion, until the close approach 
 of the boat obliged it to quit the rock, and thus afl^ord 
 a distinct view while, to use the skipper's phrase, it 
 zoahhled to the water. From tne strange and undefined 
 ideas the seal's first appearance occasioned, accustomed 
 as we were to see the animal in its varied attitudes of 
 action or repose, it is not surprising that numerous and 
 ridiculous extravagances have had their origin in the 
 Phocae tribe being seen under accidental circumstances 
 by the wild and credulous peasantry of this remote 
 district. To these animals, the submarine beings, 
 who have for ages delighted the lovers of the marvellous, 
 
140 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 may, without much difficulty, be traced ; and many 
 a wonder-stricken fisherman imagined himself watching 
 the movements of a mermaid, while all the time he was 
 only staring at a sea-calf. 
 
 A whimsical instance of the credulity of the peasantry 
 was mentioned by my kinsman. Some years ago a 
 party engaged in a fishing excursion on the coast came-to 
 in Achil Sound, and, leaving the boat, took up their 
 quarters for the night in the priest's house, which was 
 situated in a neighbouring village. One of the company 
 was hunch-backed, with a face of singular and grotesque 
 expression. Having indulged gloriously over-night in 
 the native beverage, which the honest priest most 
 liberally supplied, the little gentleman found himself 
 rather amiss in the morning, and determined to try 
 what salutary effect the cool sea-breeze might have upon 
 the fever- warmth his nocturnal revelry had raised. 
 He left the cabin accordingly, — and the early hour, 
 with the islanders' celebrity for a simplicity of costume, 
 induced him to postpone the business of the toilet to a 
 more convenient season, and to sally forth in perfect 
 dishabille. For a time he straggled along the shore, 
 until reaching the point of land which forms the entrance 
 of Achil Sound, he selected a smooth stone, and deposited 
 his person among the rocks, to meditate the hour away, 
 before whose expiry he could not expect that breakfast 
 would be paraded in the cabin. 
 
 It was dead low- water. Half-a-dozen row-boats, 
 bound for the Fair of Newport, and filled with men and 
 women, were rowing merrily to the Bull's Mouth, 
 intending to enter it upon the first of flood. Having 
 approached close to the spot where the little gentleman 
 was ensconsed among the seaweed, up popped an 
 
SIGNS OF FISH. 141 
 
 outrd countenance, surmounted by a scarlet nightcap ! 
 The effect was sudden, for till now a rock had concealed 
 him from the boats. Instantly the women screamed, 
 and the men betrayed unequivocal symptoms of dismay. 
 But when the dwarf, remarking their alarm, skipped 
 upon the stone, and uttered a wild, unearthly yell, 
 which reverberated from rock to rock, the boats put 
 about directly, and abandoned the Fair of Newport ; 
 men and women, with one consent, made off for their 
 respective homes as fast as four oars could carry them. 
 The awful intelligence was promulgated with incredible 
 rapidity through Erris and Ballycroy. The same 
 Leprehawn who was seen the year before the French,^ 
 had reappeared, to harbinger, no doubt, some local or 
 national calamity. To this day the credulity of the 
 islanders has never been disabused, and Tom's uncouth 
 face and scarlet nightcap are often fearfully expected 
 to rise over the rocks by the belated fisherman, as he 
 runs through its dangerous opening to shelter for the 
 night in Achil Sound. 
 
 The Bull's Mouth is rarely entered but with flood- 
 water or a powerful leading wind ; and the southern 
 outlet of the Sound at Achil Beg is similarly circum- 
 stanced. These straits are deep and dangerous, for 
 through them the waters which flow from Blacksod 
 and Clew Bay, and fill this extensive channel and its 
 surrounding estuaries, rush with amazing violence ; 
 and the rapidity with which the tides enter and recede 
 is frightful. The opposing currents flow nearly north and 
 south, and meet and separate at the ruins of an ancient 
 salt-house. Here, the old mountain-road terminated, 
 
 * The landing of the French is a common epoch among the 
 inhabitants of Ballycroy. Ask a peasant his age and he wiU probably 
 tell you, " he was born two or three years before or after the French." 
 
142 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 and at the Farsett — as the ford across the estuary is 
 termed — ^the passenger can earliest cross to the island 
 from the mainland. Indeed, the intercourse with 
 Achil was in former days limited enough. Few persons, 
 except those engaged in smuggling, visited this insu- 
 lated district ; and many an islander lived and died 
 without having ever seen a town. 
 
 The fishing-boats and hookers, whose easy draught of 
 water will permit it, naturally prefer a passage through 
 the Sound, when voyaging from Erris to Clew Bay, 
 rather than the longer and more exposed course of 
 rounding Achil Head. To effect it, however, requires 
 some skill, and a strict attention to the tides. On the 
 Farsett, the depth at high-water seldom exceeds eight 
 or nine feet : and as the flow and recession of the oppos- 
 ing waters is astonishingly rapid, the boat must enter 
 upon one and retire upon the other. The passage, if 
 effected, is consequently but very short, and the Sound 
 may be cleared in an hour with the same wind that would 
 occupy an entire day, if Achil Head were doubled. 
 
 In bad weather, both entrances, however, are 
 dangerous in the extreme, and care and seamanship 
 are necessary to pass either with safety. The peasantry 
 are habituated to this voyage, and comparatively little 
 risk ensues. Still, many accidents have occurred — 
 small boats have foundered in the attempt — and large 
 hookers, when deeply laden, have perished in the con- 
 flicting eddies which opposite winds and tides occasion. 
 The most cautious boatmen are sometimes overtaken 
 by squalls from the surrounding hills — and night and 
 drunkenness have, alas ! been more fatal than all besides. 
 
 Yet the Bull's Mouth, like the ordeal of mortal 
 inquietude, leads to its haven of rest. In a gale from the 
 
SIGNS OF FISH. 
 
 143 
 
 westward, when the Atlantic tumbles with mountainous 
 fury into Blacksod Bay, the fishing-boat, once within 
 the Sound, finds smooth and unbroken water. Hence, 
 when the weather breaks, the hookers seek its shelter, 
 there to wait until the storm moderates. 
 
 Nor is it to the fisherman alone that the Bull's Mouth 
 has afforded shelter and protection. Not many years 
 ago a large American vessel was driven upon the coast 
 by a continuance of westerly winds, and unable to work 
 off, was fairly embayed within Blacksod. Shipwreck 
 appeared inevitable — anchor after anchor was let go, 
 but the tremendous swell from the ocean parted the 
 cables, and the vessel drifted rapidly towards the shore. 
 The wild and rock-bound coast to leeward terrified 
 the crew, and, in despair, they committed themselves 
 to their boat, abandoning the ship to her fate. A hooker's 
 crew, which had been caught by the gale, witnessed 
 the desertion of the vessel, and, although boarding her 
 was a service of danger, they determined to attempt her 
 rescue. They succeeded, and the derelict bark was carried 
 safely within the Sound. 
 
 To the Bull's Mouth also, one of his Majesty's cruisers 
 was indebted for her deliverance. During the last 
 American War an enemy's schooner of formidable 
 force dragooned the coast from Arran to the Stags of 
 Broad Haven. She landed where she pleased, and 
 amused herself by burning every coaster that was silly 
 enough to leave her harbour. In Achil the Fox was 
 quite at home, — the crew trafficked, danced, and drank 
 among the islanders, with as much sang-jroid as if Paul 
 Jones had been commander. But this could not last 
 for ever. Some heavy sloops and brigs were ordered 
 from the southward, and the Fox was reluctantly obliged 
 
144 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 to disappear. A revenue cruiser, that had been long 
 blockaded in Westport Bay, took heart and ventured 
 out. The enemy was out of sight, and with a clear sea, 
 old Morris rounded Achil Head. When the scarecrow 
 vanishes, it is marvellous how rapidly one's courage is re- 
 kindled ; and, too late, the Nepean discovered that the 
 odds between herself and the privateer were not so des- 
 perate. In point of men and metal the Fox was indeed 
 overwhelming, but still, steady discipline and close 
 fighting might do wonders. Morning dawned — and its 
 first light showed the infernal Fox but two short miles to 
 windward! Away went the cutter, and away went the 
 privateer. With singular audacity the Fox followed 
 into the Bay, came up hand-over-hand, and gained 
 upon the cruiser until the long two-and-thirty^ which 
 the Yankee mounted amidships, began to throw its 
 shot to a most alarming proximity. The Bull's Mouth 
 was before, and a rakish schooner that, to use a fancy 
 phrase, " would not be denied," was astern ; — ^there was 
 no alternative, and for the first, and most probably the 
 last time, the King's hunting sought safety within the 
 Sound of Achil. Finding her water lessen — ^for she had 
 actually crossed the Ridge Point before she hauled her 
 wind — the Fox abandoned the pursuit, and left the Irish 
 coast for America, where she duly arrived, after a daring 
 and destructive, but a very unprofitable cruise. 
 
 Safely landed at the Lodge, — but all is in an uproar! 
 Colonel Dwyer, an honoured and expected visitor, has 
 arrived in safety, but he comes minus his portmanteau, 
 which some delinquent, neither having the fear of 
 hanging, or my kinsman's wrath before his eyes, 
 abstracted from Andy Bawn, to whom its safe delivery 
 was entrusted. Nothing can surpass the surprise and 
 
SIGNS OF FISH. I45 
 
 consternation this event occasions — ^the women are 
 clamorous — the men curse fluently in Irish — and, from 
 the vows of eternal vengeance which are uttered against 
 the spoliator of the Colonel's wardrobe, I should imagine, 
 in case of apprehension, that the ceremony of waiting 
 till the next assizes will be dispensed with. Antony 
 " remembers the country these seventy years : many 
 a robbery happened in his time, but — God stand between 
 him and evil 1 — to take a gentleman's property, and he 
 coming to the master ! — If it was a stranger, why, there 
 would be no great harm," &c., &c. 
 
 Fear and poteein disturb the concatenation of ideas, 
 and Andy Bawn's is anything but a lucid narrative. 
 There is a confused account of the Bridge of Bally- 
 veeney, and a dark man, and the clicking of a gun-cock. 
 Now it appears that Andy is at feud with a Mr. Burke, 
 who finished a relative of his with a turj-slane* and in 
 consequence has deemed it advisable to take to the 
 mountain until terms can be arranged with the widow. 
 Meantime, being a gentleman of active disposition, 
 he occupies his leisure hours upon the highway, and all 
 parties are unanimous in saddling him with the spolia- 
 tion of the portmanteau. I am inclined to suspect that 
 my kinsman hitherto sported deaf-adder to any rumour 
 of Burke being concealed within his territory — but I 
 think now the sooner Mr. Burke levants the better. 
 There is a settled gloom upon my cousin's brow, and 
 yonder consultation with his foster-brother, my island 
 friend, bodes the present proprietor of the portmanteau 
 little good. To intercept a visitor's effects was indeed to 
 
 " Beard the lion in his den, 
 The Douglas in his hall." — 
 
 But dinner is announced. 
 
 * An implement used for cutting turf, and heads occasionally. 
 
 L 
 
146 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 I wish the value of the Colonel's assets could be 
 ascertained, and that I dared Hquidate the amount. An 
 earthquake, I think, would not have created half the 
 sensation. My kinsman is dreadfully irate — his feudal 
 power is shaken to the centre, and either he or Mr. 
 Burke must leave Ballycroy It is quite evident that he 
 tacitly permitted the outlaw to conceal himself in this 
 neighbourhood, and considered that he existed but by 
 his sufferance. There is a strange dash of barbarism 
 among the old proprietors still. To hunt a felon down, 
 who acknowledges the supremacy of the master, would 
 be infra dignita tern. The good old system would then 
 be at an end — and, in time, even a bailiff might pass 
 what has been the Ultima Thule of the law, and live. 
 My cousin is aware of this. He feels that the rights 
 and immunities of his modern Alsatia must not be 
 lightly compromised. His rent-roll may be small, 
 but he can boast, as Dick Martin did of Connemara, 
 that " here, thank God ! the King's writ is not worth 
 a half-penny." Hence, the impudence of Mr. Burke 
 is intolerable. I remember hearing this word used 
 in a court of justice in a most curious sense. A man was 
 on trial, capitally indicted for murder. The chief 
 witness on his examination detailed the leading incidents 
 — his being awakened by cries of help, rising, striking a 
 light, opening his door, and finding a man dead upon 
 the threshold. " And what did you do next, my- 
 friend } " interrogated the Crown lawyer. " Why," 
 replied the witness, with amazing sang froid, " I called 
 out, * Are any of ye there that kilt the boy } I'll 
 give a thirteen to him who'll tell me who it was that 
 had the impudence to murder a man at my door ! ' " 
 An embassy will be despatched to Mr. Burke, and if the 
 
SIGNS OF FISH. I47 
 
 Colonel's wardrobe be not forthwith restored, with full 
 satisfaction for the insult, I hold the value of the out- 
 law's Hfe to be not worth a pin's fee. 
 
 Indeed, the whole esprit de corps is up — -the multi- 
 tudinous idlers of the Lodge are concocting schemes 
 of vengeance. The honour of the " ancient house " 
 is at stake ; and the very women are roused to action. 
 Old Antony himself is not supine — he does not, like 
 Diogenes at Sinope, contemplate the general activity 
 with indifference ; while all besides are turning the 
 secular arm against the delinquent, the Otter-killer will 
 call in the assistance of the Church, and, by the blessing 
 of God, he will have Mr. Burke cursed in two chapels 
 next Sunday, and in a style, too, that he expects shall 
 give universal satisfaction to all concerned. 
 
 Nor am I, though unassailed in dignity or effects, 
 upon a bed of roses. Who shall say where this business 
 will terminate ? We shall exchange deer-shooting for 
 robber-hunting ; and night and the mountains being 
 unfavourable to identity of the person, I may be shot 
 by mistake for an outlaw, or find myself in some ravine 
 tete-d-tete with Mr. Burke ! I plead guilty to consti- 
 tutional nervousness, and for the last hour my kinsman 
 and his visitor have been seeking a parallel case in a 
 number of outrages, that are quite sufficient to ruin a 
 man's rest for the winter. What memories they have ! 
 There has not been a house robbed for the last century 
 with whose localities they are not as well acquainted 
 as the builder ; and in murder-cases they display an 
 anatomical experience that is surprising ! Hennessey, 
 who seldom shows, has been eternally with us since the 
 cloth was lifted, and having received his final instruc- 
 tions (I hope), has disappeared. Lord ! the tall, gaunt, 
 care-worn, homicidal look of the man, as with a double- 
 
148 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 gun across his arm, and a case of pistols projecting from 
 his coat pockets, he took the wine his patron gave him ! 
 but, " chacun a son gout,'' — my kinsman would not 
 lose him for a thousand, while his very look gives me the 
 horrors ! Even the piper appears to have caught the 
 general infection : he has been lilting a full hour — not 
 a jig or strathspey, but love-lorn ditties, and the most 
 lamentable compositions that ever issued from the 
 bag or chanter. 
 
 Would I were in England again ! for what is matri- 
 mony to manslaughter ? I have been for a moment out 
 to breathe the cool sea-breeze, and passing the window 
 peeped into that refugium peccatorum, the kitchen. The 
 keeper is flinting a blunderbuss ! There is security in 
 Terracina contrasted with this cabin, and the Abruzzi 
 is a land of Goshen compared with the mountains of 
 Ballycroy ! I wish I were in bed ; and why there — 
 to dream of everything felonious ! I may as well submit 
 with Turkish endurance — it is the will of Allah. The 
 Colonel replenishes the fire, apportioning turf and bog 
 deal in such scientific proportion, that it is evident that 
 he is making himself up for a wet evening ; and the cork 
 our host is now extracting will be merely avant-courier 
 to three flasks which I see lurking in the cooper. Oh, 
 that a deputation from the Temperance Society would 
 drop in ! But why complain ? — *tis useless. The 
 Colonel has discharged a bumper to the speedy demo- 
 lition of Mr. Burke ! Nor has he forgotten to replenish 
 again. The man is honest — a person that one might 
 safely drink with in the dark. He clears his throat, 
 and that cough preliminary is the prologue of a story. 
 I must, in common courtesy, be attentive. This long 
 and steady pinch is alarming, and we are on the brink 
 pf some desperate detail ! 
 
THE colonel's STORY. J49 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 "It is thirty-five years this very month since I was 
 
 quartered with my regiment in ford ; I recollect 
 
 the time particularly, for I got my Company in the 
 thirty-seventh on the same day that I received an invi- 
 tation from a Mr. Morden, with whom I had formed 
 a mail-coach acquaintance, to spend a week with him, 
 and join his nephew in partridge-shooting. This gentle- 
 man's house was fourteen miles distant from the town, 
 and situated in a very retired part of the country. It 
 was a wild but beautiful residence, placed upon the 
 extremity of a peninsula, which jutted into an extensive 
 lake. To a sportsman it offered all the inducements 
 that shooting and fishing could afford. But it had 
 others besides these ; no man lived better than Mr. 
 Morden — and his daughter Emily, and an orphan 
 cousin, who resided with her, were decidedly the finest 
 women who had attended the last race-ball. No wonder 
 then that I accepted the old gentleman's invitation 
 willingly, and on the appointed day put myself into 
 a post-chaise, and reached the place in time for dinner. 
 " The house was one of those old-fashioned, com- 
 fortable, Irish lodges, which are now extinct, or only 
 to be seen in ruins. It was a long, low building, covered 
 with an infinity of thatch, which bade defiance to rain, 
 cold, and storm. The tall and narrow casements 
 reached the ground, a handsome flower-knot extended 
 in their front, bounded by a holly hedge, and woodbine 
 and other creepers festooned the windows with their leaves 
 and berries. At some distance a well-stocked haggard 
 peeped over a spacious range of offices ; the lawn was 
 
150 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 Studded with sheep, which appeared overburdened 
 with good condition ; and as I drove up the avenue, 
 I passed a well-featured, well-clad simpleton, urging 
 before him, from a neighbouring stubble-field, a flock 
 of turkeys as formidable for numbers as for size. In 
 short, everything about the place bespoke the opulence 
 and comfort of the proprietor. 
 
 " Mr. Morden was a clever and respectable man ; 
 he was land-agent to several large estates — noted for 
 plain and unpretending hospitality, punctuality in 
 business, and a character of unusual determination. 
 
 " The old gentleman 'received me with friendly 
 sincerity, and his handsome daughter added a warm 
 welcome. They apologised for not having company 
 to meet me, but ' two famiUes which they had expected 
 had been detained by some unforeseen occurrences at 
 home.' Dinner was shortly after served. Like the 
 host, it was excellent without display — the wines were 
 superior — and when the ladies left us, the claret went 
 round the table merrily. 
 
 " * We are in trouble here,' said Mr. Morden, addres- 
 sing me, ' and you have come to a house of mourning. 
 We have just suffered a serious, I may say irreparable, 
 loss, in the sudden death of two favourite dogs. They 
 were of the genuine breed of Newfoundland, and for 
 size, courage, and sagacity, unequalled. Poor Emily 
 has cried incessantly since the accident.' 
 " ' Were they stolen ? ' 
 
 " * Oh, no ! I wish they were, for that would afford 
 a hope that chance or money might recover them. No, 
 Sir, they would not follow a stranger ; alas ! they died 
 yesterday by poison. We, unfortunately, laid arsenic 
 in a meal-loft to destroy rats — and yet how the poor 
 
THE COLONEL S STORY. 151 
 
 animals could have got to it is a mystery ; the steward 
 declares the key never left his possession. I would 
 give a hundred guineas the meal had been in the bottom 
 of the lake. By Jove ! no loss, short of the death of 
 a friend, could have given us all so much uneasiness. 
 They were my daughter's companions by day and my 
 protectors at night. Heigh, ho ! — Come, Sir, pass the 
 wine.* Tears stood in the old gentleman's eyes as he 
 spoke of his unhappy favourites, and from the valuable 
 properties of the lost dogs, it was not surprising that their 
 death occasioned so much regret to the family. 
 
 " We joined the ladies in the drawing-room. After 
 tea Mr. Morden took a bedroom candle, and apologised 
 for retiring. * Old habits best suit old people, Captain ; 
 but I leave you with the ladies, who will sit up till cock- 
 crow, if you please : ' and bidding us a good-night, 
 he departed. 
 
 " * Emily,' said young Morden, * you are still thinking 
 of your favourites ; well, I will ride the country over 
 till I find you a handsome dog. Julia, hand me that 
 violin from the piano, and Captain Dwyer will dance 
 a reel with you and Emily.' 
 
 " * Heavens ! who is at the window ? ' exclaimed 
 Miss Morden, suddenly ; * it looked like that nasty 
 beggarman who has been haunting the house and grounds 
 these three days. Ah, Wolf and Sailor ! had you been 
 living, that vagabond would not have ventured here 
 at this late hour.' Henry Morden had left the room on 
 hearing his cousin's exclamation, but soon returned, 
 assuring the lady that the beggar was a creature of her 
 imagination ; he had searched the shrubbery and 
 flower-garden, and no mendicant was to be found in 
 either. 
 
152 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 " The alarm was speedily forgotten, and we danced 
 reels till supper was announced. The doors were 
 locked, the windows fastened, the ladies wished us 
 good-night, and retired to their respective chambers. 
 
 " Henry and I remained for some time in the eating- 
 room ; the clock struck twelve, and young Morden 
 conducted me to my apartment, and took his leave. 
 
 " I felt a strange disinclination to go to bed, and would 
 have given anything for a book. For temporary employ- 
 ment, I unlocked my gun-case, put my fowHng-piece 
 together, and examined whether my servant had sent 
 all necessary apparatus along with me. I opened the 
 window-curtains. The moon — a full, bright, harvest 
 moon — was shining gloriously on the lawn and lake : 
 I gazed on the sparkling surface of the waters till I felt 
 the chill of the night-breeze ; then, closing the shutters, 
 reluctantly prepared to undress. 
 
 '' I had thrown my coat and vest aside, when a distant 
 crash was heard, and a fearful noise, with oaths and 
 screams succeeded. I rushed into the corridor, and 
 encountered a terror-stricken maid-servant running 
 from the extremity of the passage. Miss Morden 
 next appeared ; she was in complete dishabille, and had 
 hastily thrown on a dressing-gown. ' Good God ! 
 Captain Dwyer, what has occurred ? ' A volley from 
 without prevented a reply, and the crashing of the 
 windows as the glass was splintered by the bullets 
 made it unnecessary. * The house is attacked,' she 
 said, and then, with amazing self-possession, added, 
 * There are always loaded guns above the kitchen 
 fireplace.' We both ran down the corridor, she to alarm 
 her father, and I to procure a weapon ; young Morden, 
 armed with a sword, met us. ' The attack is upon the 
 
THE COLONELS STORY. I53 
 
 kitchen/ he said, hastily ; * it is our weakest point ; 
 this way, Captain,' — and we both entered it together. 
 
 *' There was a bright fire burning on the hearth. 
 The large window was shattered to pieces, and the idiot 
 I had noticed on the lawn was standing beside the 
 ruined casement, armed with a spit, making momentary 
 passes at the breach, and swearing and bellowing fright- 
 fully. I leaped upon a table to seize two muskets 
 which were suspended in the place Miss Morden had 
 described. I handed one to Henry, when the fire 
 blazed out suddenly, and discovered me to the banditti 
 without. Instantly, three or four shots were discharged. 
 I heard a bullet whistle past my head, and felt something 
 strike my shoulder like a sharp cut from a whip, as a 
 slug grazed me slightly — but having secured the gun 
 I jumped from the table uninjured. We heard Mr. 
 Morden in the passage — his manner was calm and 
 collected, as he ordered the servant men to the front of 
 the house, and dispatched his daughter for ammunition. 
 
 '' Meanwhile, a dropping fire continued from with- 
 out — for from within no shot had been returned, as the 
 robbers sheltered themselves effectually behind the 
 angles of the offices and the piers of the gates. From 
 some hurried words we overheard they were arranging 
 a determined attack. 
 
 They will make a rush immediately,' said the 
 elder Morden, coolly, * and here comes Emily in good 
 time ; don't come in, love ! ' — and he took some forty 
 or fifty cartridges which she had brought in the skirt 
 of her dressing-gown. Notwithstanding the peril of 
 our situation I could but not gaze a moment on the white 
 and statue-looking limbs of this brave and beautiful 
 girl. * Go, love, tell John to bring the Captain's gun- 
 
154 
 
 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 case from his chamber ; and do you, Emily, watch from 
 the end window, and if you perceive any movement 
 that side, apprize us of it here. — Now, my boys, be cool 
 — I'll give my best horse to him who shoots the first 
 man. You have a good supply of ammunition, could 
 we but coax the scoundrels from their shelter — and I'll 
 try a ruse.' The old gentleman took the idiot's spit, 
 placed a coat upon it, while Henry and I chose a position 
 at either side of the broken window. Mr. Morden 
 raised the garment to the breach ; it was indistinctly 
 seen from without ; three bullets perforated it, and it 
 
 fell. ' He's down, by ! ' roared a robber, exult- 
 
 ingly. * Now, Murphy, now's your time ; smash in 
 the door with your sledge ! ' Instantly a huge ruffian 
 sprang from behind a gable, and his rush was so sudden 
 that he struck twice with shattering force. We heard 
 the hinges give — ^we saw the door yielding — and at that 
 critical moment young Morden's gun missed fire ! 
 ' Curses light upon the hand that loaded it 1 ' he cried, 
 as he caught up an axe and placed himself determinately 
 before the door, which we expected to be momentarily 
 driven in. Murphy, perceiving the tremendous effects 
 of his blows, called to his comrades to ' be ready.' He 
 stood about five yards from me — ^the sledge was raised 
 above his head — and that blow would have shivered 
 the door to atoms. I drew the trigger — ^the charge, a 
 heavy one of duck-shot, passed like a six-pound bullet 
 through the ruffian's body and he dropped, a dead 
 man upon the threshold. ' Captain Dwyer,' said Mr. 
 Morden, calmly, * the horse is yours ! ' 
 
 " I had now received my own double gun, and gave 
 the musket I had used so successfully to Henry Morden. 
 The death of the ruffian with the sledge brought on a 
 
THE COLONEL S STORY. * 1 55 
 
 heavy fire from his comrades. Between the volleys 
 they summoned us to surrender, with fearful denun- 
 ciations of vengeance if we resisted longer. We were 
 within a few yards of each other, and during the intervals 
 of the firing, they poured out threats, and we sent back 
 defiance. — ' Morden, you old scoundrel ! ' exclaimed the 
 captain of the gang, * in five minutes we'll have your 
 heart's blood.' ' No,' was the calm reply, * I'll live to 
 see you arrayed in cap and halter.' ' Surrender, or 
 we'll give no quarter.' — * Cowardly scoundrel ! come 
 and try your hand at the sledge ! ' said the old gentle- 
 man, with a cold and sarcastic smile, as he turned his 
 eye on me, where I was watching the door, with the 
 confidence a man feels who has his own trustworthy 
 weapon to depend upon. 
 
 " ' Morden, we'll burn the house about ye.' — * Will 
 you put the coal in the thatch, Bulger ? ' — ' Morden, 
 you have a daughter ! ' and the ruffian pronounced 
 a horrid threat. The old man shuddered, then in a 
 low voice, tremulous with rage, he muttered, — ' Bulger, 
 I'll spare five hundred pounds to hang you, and travel 
 five hundred miles to see the sight.' 
 
 The coal ! the coal 1 ' shouted several voices, and, 
 unfortunately, the scoundrels had procured one in the 
 laundry. ' By heavens ! they will burn us out,' said 
 Henry, in alarm. ' Never fear 1 ' replied his cooler 
 uncle ; * the firing must have been heard across the lake, 
 and we'll soon have aid sufficient.' But a circumstance 
 occurred, almost miraculously, that averted the 
 threatened danger. The moon became suddenly over- 
 cast — heavy rain- drops fell — and in an instant an over- 
 whelming torrent burst from the clouds, rendering 
 every attempt the robbers made to ignite the thatch 
 
156 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 abortive. ' Who dare doubt an over-ruling Providence ?' 
 said the old gentleman, with enthusiasm : surely God 
 is with us 1 ' 
 
 " The storm which came to our relief appeared to 
 dispirit our assailants, and their parley recommenced. 
 * Morden,' said the captain of the banditti, ' you have 
 
 Lord 's rent in the house ; give us a thousand 
 
 pounds, and we'll go off and leave you.' 
 
 '' ' All I promise I'll perform,' said the old gentleman, 
 coldly. * Bulger, for this night's work you have earned 
 a halter, and I'll attend and see you hanged.' — * Dash 
 in the door,' exclaimed the robber in a fury ; ' we'll have 
 the old rogue's heart out ! ' A volley of stones rattled 
 against the door, but produced no effect, and again the 
 robber parleyed. * Will you give us a hundred, 
 Morden ? ' * Not a sixpence,' was the laconic answer. 
 Once more stones were thrown, shots discharged, and 
 threats of vengeance fulminated by the exasperated 
 villains. At last, the demand was reduced to * Twelve 
 guineas — a guinea for each man.' ' They'll be off 
 immediately,' said the old gentleman ; * they know 
 assistance is at hand : would that we could amuse them 
 for a little longer ! ' But the ruffians were already 
 moving, and Miss Morden presently announced that 
 they were embarking, twelve in number, in a boat. 
 ' Now for a parting shot or two,' said Henry Morden. 
 We picked up a dozen cartridges, and sallied from the 
 house, as the banditti were pulling hard across the lake. 
 We opened a quick and well-directed fire, which they 
 feebly and without effect replied to. While a musket 
 ball would reach them, we plied them liberally with 
 shot ; and, as we learned afterwards, mortally wounded 
 one man, and slightly injured two others. As we 
 
THE COLONEL S STORY. 1 57 
 
 returned to the house, we met some fifty countrymen, 
 armed with all sorts of rustic weapons coming to our 
 relief. Without a moment's delay, we launched boats, 
 and set off to scour the country, and at noon, so prompt 
 and vigorous had been the pursuit, that six of the gang 
 including the wounded robbers, were secured. 
 
 ** We reached ' the Wilderness * completely exhausted 
 by the exertions of the morning and the fatigue of the 
 preceding night. We refreshed ourselves and went to 
 bed — but previous to returning to my room, I visited 
 the scene of action. Another blow, even a very slight one, 
 must have driven in the door ; and in the rush of twelve 
 desperate ruffians, the chances would have been fearfully 
 against us. Murphy lay upon his back — he was a 
 disgusting object. The ground was saturated with blood, 
 for the charge of heavy shot made as large a wound as 
 a cannon-bullet would occasion. He was the strongest 
 brute I ever saw ; not more than five feet eight inches 
 in height, but his limbs, body, and arms were a giant's ; 
 he was a blacksmith, — a man of infamous character, 
 and most sanguinary disposition. 
 
 " Our escape from robbery was fortunate indeed ; 
 Mr. Morden had seven thousand pounds that night in 
 the lodge, for he had just received the rents of two 
 estates. It was almost entirely paid in specie — and this 
 was, of course, known, and induced two desperate bands, 
 who had kept the adjoining counties in alarm since the 
 rebellion was suppressed, to unite for the purpose of 
 robbing * the Wilderness,' and securing this immense 
 booty. 
 
 '* The body of the smith was sent away, and buried 
 in the jail- yard of the neighbouring town ; and, having 
 brought the battle to a close, I shall explain some matters 
 ConncQted with this daring outrage. 
 
158 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 " A man named Mitchell originated the intended 
 robbery, and arranged the method of attack. He was 
 a slight, low-sized person, but his activity was amazing, 
 and no attempt was too hazardous for his desperate 
 courage to undertake. On the morning of his execu- 
 tion — (he, with the three others, was hanged at the 
 subsequent assizes) — ^he gave us a cool detail of his 
 plans. 
 
 " The dogs were to be destroyed, and the premises 
 reconnoitred. In the disguise of a beggar he effected 
 both ; laid meat prepared with arsenic for the poor 
 animals ; then made his way into the kitchen, and 
 ascertained that the fastenings of the back-door were 
 defective. He purposed surprising the family at supper, 
 or forcing an entrance when they were asleep. The 
 first attempt he made at the drawing-room, but quickly 
 perceiving that he had been observed by Miss Morden, 
 he retired hastily. A council was held by the robbers, 
 and it was fortunately determined to postpone the 
 attack until the family had gone to rest. 
 
 *' Nothing could be bolder, or more likely to succeed, 
 than Mitchell's desperate resolution. It was to leap 
 feet foremost through the window, and, armed with a 
 dagger, to fight his way, if opposed, and open the back 
 door for his associates. He made the attempt, and 
 providential circumstances alone prevented its being 
 successful. That very morning a small iron bar had 
 been placed across the window ; it caught the robber 
 in his leap, threw him back with violence, and the noise 
 united to the outcries of the idiot, alarmed the family 
 instantly. 
 
 " Circumstances, they say, will often make men coura- 
 geous. In this case it had the same effect on two beings 
 
THE COLONEL S STORY. 1 59 
 
 of a very different description — a lovely girl and an 
 idiot boy. Miss Morden, throughout the trying scene, 
 displayed the coolest courage ; and the poor simpleton, 
 who commonly would avoid the appearance of a gun, 
 armed with his spit, defended the breach Uke a hero. 
 
 " We met at dinner. Julia, Miss Morden 's cousin, 
 would hardly venture to join us, for her brother rated 
 her timidity severely. When the alarm was heard, 
 the fearful girl buried her face beneath the bed-coverings, 
 and remained in pitiable agitation until the contest 
 ended. Mr. Morden took her from his daughter's 
 arm, kissed her, and congratulated her on their 
 delivery from the last night's danger. 
 
 You little coward ! ' said the old man, jocularly ; 
 * you must give your deliverer one kiss at least for 
 your preservation.' The blushing girl received my 
 salute. Miss Morden took my hand. * You, too, 
 Emily, will you not reward your protector ? * Without 
 coquetry, she laid her lips to mine, and that kiss was a 
 sufficient recompense for twice the peril I had 
 encountered. 
 
 " But for me no praises seemed sufficient : the suc- 
 cessful defence was attributed to my exertions ; and the 
 fortunate shot that killed the villain smith was never 
 to be sufficiently commended. 
 
 ** My visit ended. / was in love with Emily ; but 
 then I had little chance of succeeding to the property 
 which afterwards, by a chapter of accidents, fell to me ; 
 and a company of foot was all my earthly riches. She 
 was an heiress ; and would it be generous to take advantage 
 of a casual service to press a suit that would be as painful 
 to refuse as unlikely to be granted ? I mean (so says 
 vanity) by Mr. Morden. No 1 I overcame the temp- 
 
l6o WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 tation of risking a trial, and returned to ford, posses- 
 sing the esteem and good wishes of every inhabitant 
 of ' the Wilderness.' 
 
 " I was on parade some mornings after I rejoined 
 the regiment, when a horse, splendidly accoutred with 
 a superb tiger-skin, holsters, saddle, and every housing 
 fit for a field officer, was led into the barrack- yard by 
 a groom. The animal was a perfect picture of symmetry 
 and strength ; a dark chestnut, sixteen hands high, and 
 worth, at least, two hundred guineas. The groom pre- 
 sented me a letter ; it was from Mr. Morden — the horse 
 was a present. 
 
 " Emily and her cousin married most happily, and we 
 have often met since. They treat me as sisters would 
 a brother ; and we frequently talk of the night attack 
 upon ' the Wilderness.' 
 
 " Three years passed away ; the gang had been 
 incessantly followed by Mr. Morden, and were extir- 
 pated with the soUtary exception of Captain Bulger. 
 Dreading the sleepless vengeance of that determined old 
 man, this ruffian fled the country, and established 
 himself in a disaffected district of the south. 
 
 " In the interim I got a majority in the Seventieth, 
 then quartered in Cork. Soon after I joined, I happened 
 to be field officer of the day on which a notorious 
 criminal was doomed to suffer. The regiment had given 
 a guard, and curiosity induced me to attend the execu- 
 tion. 
 
 " I entered the press-room. In a few minutes the 
 malefactor appeared in white grave-clothes, attended by 
 two priests. It was ' mine ancient enemy,' Bulger ! 
 Suddenly the Sheriff was called out, and after a short 
 absence returned, accompanied by a plain, vigorous 
 
THE COLONEL'S STORY. l6l 
 
 country gentleman, enveloped in a huge driving-coat, 
 and apparently like one who had travelled a consider- 
 able distance. 
 
 " I looked at the criminal ; he was the ruin of a power- 
 ful man, and the worst-visaged scoundrel imaginable. 
 He was perfectly unmoved, and preserved a callous sort 
 of hardiesse ; and as the priests hurried over their Latin 
 prayers, made a careless response whenever they 
 directed him. The door leading to the drop was open, 
 and the felon looked out upon the crowd most earnestly. 
 * He is not there ^^ he murmured : ' he caused my appre- 
 hension^ hut he will not see me die ' ; and added, with 
 a grim smile, * Morden, you neither kept your word, nor 
 proved your prophecy ! ' The muffled stranger stood 
 suddenly forward : ^ I am here, Bulger ! I paid jor 
 your apprehension, and have come some hundred miles 
 to witness your execution I ' 
 
 " ' Morden,' said the dying felon, solemnly, * if a 
 ghost can come back again, Vll visit you ! ' 
 
 " The person addressed smiled coldly : * I found 
 you unable to execute your threats while living, and, 
 believe me, I apprehend nothing from you when dead.' 
 
 *' The clock struck — the sheriff gave the signal — 
 Bulger advanced to the scaffold — the drop fell, and in 
 two minutes he was a corpse." 
 
 M 
 
1 62 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 " Well, I like a man to keep his word," said my 
 relative ; " and I admire your friend Morden pro- 
 digiously for his punctual attendance on Mr. Bulger, 
 when he made his parting bow to an admiring multi- 
 tude, and, as the song goes, ' died with his face to the 
 city/ " 
 
 " There is little danger, after all," said the Colonel, 
 "to be apprehended from ruffian force, if a man's 
 nerve and coolness desert him not at the pinch. In house 
 attacks, the odds are infinitely against the assailants. 
 The attempt is generally made in the dead of night ; 
 a robber-party are never sufficiently organised to combine 
 their efforts judiciously, and two men within, if properly 
 armed and plentifully supplied with ammunition, are, 
 in my opinion, an overmatch for a dozen outside the 
 doors." 
 
 " Calm and steady courage does wonders, certainly ; 
 and, even when surprised and unprepared, a cool man will 
 rarely be left without some means of defence. The 
 Scotch proverb is a true saw — * A gleg (ready) hand 
 never wanted weapon.' " 
 
 " There never was a better illustration of that truth 
 than the heroic resistance offered by an aged gentleman- 
 in the south to a band of ruffians, under most discouraging 
 circumstances. I knew him intimately," continued the 
 Colonel ; " and I'll briefly give you the story. 
 
 " Several years ago, when the south of Ireland was, 
 as it has ever been within my memory, in a disturbed 
 state, a gentleman, advanced in years, lived in a retired 
 
 I 
 
A BRAVE RESISTANCE. 163 
 
 country-house. He was a bachelor ; and whether 
 trusting to his supposed popularity, or imagining that 
 the general alarm among the gentry was groundless, 
 he continued in his lonely mansion long after his neigh- 
 bours had deserted theirs for a safer residence in town. 
 He had been indisposed for several days ; and on the 
 night he was attacked had taken supper in his bedroom, 
 which was on the ground-floor, and inside a parlour 
 with which it communicated. The servants went to 
 bed ; the house was shut up for the night ; and the 
 supper-tray, with its appurtenances, by a providential 
 oversight, forgotten in the old man's chamber. 
 
 '* Some hours after he had retired to bed, he was 
 alarmed at hearing a window lifted in the outer apart- 
 ment ; his chamber door was ajar, and the moon shone 
 brilliantly through the open casement, rendering objects 
 in the parlour distinct and perceptible to any person 
 in the inner room. Presently a man leaped through 
 the window, and three others followed him in quick 
 succession. The old gentleman sprang from his bed, 
 but unfortunately there were no arms in the apartment. 
 Recollecting, however, the forgotten supper-tray, he 
 provided himself with a case-knife, and resolutely took 
 his stand behind the open door. He had one advantage 
 over the murderers — they were in full moonlight, and 
 he shrouded in impenetrable darkness. 
 
 ** A momentary hesitation took place among the party, 
 who seemed undecided as to which of them should first 
 enter the dark room ; for, acquainted with the localities 
 of the house, they knew well that there the devoted 
 victim slept. At last one of the villains cautiously 
 approached, stood for a moment in the doorway, 
 hesitated, advanced a step — not a whisper was heard. 
 
164 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 a breathless silence reigned around, and the apartment 
 before him was dark as the grave itself. * Go on, blast 
 ye ! What the devil are ye afeerd of ! ' said the rough 
 voice of an associate behind. The robber took a second 
 step, and the old man's knife was buried in his heart ! 
 No second thrust was requisite, for, with a deep groan, 
 the villain sank upon the floor. 
 
 " The obscurity of the chamber, the sudden destruc- 
 tion caused by that deadly thrust, prevented the ruffians 
 in the outer room from knowing the fate of their com- 
 panion. A second presented himself, crossed the 
 threshold, stumbled against his dead associate, and 
 received the old man's knife in his bosom. The wound, 
 though mortal, was not so fatal as the other : and the 
 ruffian had strength to ejaculate that he was * a dead 
 
 man 
 
 " Instantly several shots were fired, but the old 
 gentleman's position sheltered him from the bullets. 
 A third assassin advanced, levelled a long fowling-piece 
 through the doorway, and actually rested the barrel 
 against the old man's body. The direction, however, 
 was a slanting one, and, with admirable self-possession, 
 he remained steady until the murderer drew the trigger, 
 and the ball passed him without injury. But the flash 
 from the gun unfortunately disclosed the place of his 
 ambush, and then commenced a desperate struggle. 
 The robber, a powerful and athletic ruffian, closed 
 and seized his victim round the body ; there was no 
 equality between the combatants with regard to strength ; 
 and although the old man struck often and furiously 
 with his knife, the blows were ineffectual, and he was 
 at last thrown heavily on the floor, with the murderer 
 above him. Even then, at that awful moment, his 
 
A BRAVE RESISTANCE. 1 65 
 
 presence of mind saved this heroic gentleman. He 
 found that the blade of the knife had turned, and he 
 contrived to straighten it upon the floor. The ruffian's 
 hands v^ere already on his throat — the pressure became 
 suffocating — a few moments more, and the contest 
 must have ended ; but an accidental movement of his 
 body exposed the murderer's side : the old man struck 
 with his remaining strength one desperate blow — the 
 robber's grasp relaxed — and, with a yell of mortal 
 agony, he fell dead across his exhausted opponent ! 
 
 " Horror-struck by the death-shriek of their comrade, 
 the banditti wanted courage to enter that gloomy chamber 
 which had been already fatal to so many. They poured 
 an irregular volley in, and leaping through the open 
 window, ran off, leaving their lifeless companions 
 behind. 
 
 ** Lights and assistance came presently — the chamber 
 was a pool of gore — and the old man, nearly in a state 
 of insensibility, was covered with the blood and encom- 
 passed by the breathless bodies of his intended mur- 
 derers. He recovered, however, to enjoy for years 
 his well-won reputation, and to receive from the Irish 
 Viceroy the honour of knighthood, which never was 
 conferred before upon a braver man." 
 
1 66 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII, 
 
 The springs have commenced, and the gray and lower- 
 ing atmosphere which the influence of these tides 
 occasion has set in. Ahhough the darkness would 
 intimate a change, the fresh breeze and sky appearances 
 portend, as they tell me, good weather. 
 
 We are bound for the bay to lay down spillets ; and 
 during the tedious interval which of necessity occurs 
 before they can be lifted, we shall kill coal-fish, shoot 
 sea-gulls, smoke cigars, and, no doubt, have a further 
 detail of atrocities from the Colonel, which would put 
 the Newgate Calendar to the blush. 
 
 The mainsail is chalk-up^ — the hooker has slipped 
 her cables, and hangs by a single end to the pier, — and 
 we are waiting for a row-boat, which four sturdy peasants 
 propel with might and main from the opposite shore. 
 There is a man in the stern sheets who engrosses the 
 undivided attention of my cousin and his followers. 
 The boat approaches, and '* Blessed Mary ! can it be .? " 
 there sit Hennessey and the Colonel's portmanteau ! 
 The embassy has succeeded, the bustle of the boatmen 
 is commensurate to the importance of the freight, and 
 they give way in the full consciousness that they carry 
 ** Csesar and his saddle-bags." 
 
 Mr. Burke has made the amende honorable ; my 
 cousin looks two inches taller, and hints slyly that feudal 
 power in Ballycroy is not yet extinct ; and well he may, 
 for the Colonel's chattels are uninjured — no rude hand 
 has undone a buckle — not a shirt is wanting, or even the 
 fold of a neck-cloth disarranged. There is a mysterious 
 
SPILLET-FISHING- 1 67 
 
 whispering between the ambassador and Pattigo ; the 
 commander rejoices over his wardrobe ; my kinsman 
 looks *' every inch a king " ; and I am probably the 
 happiest of all, for I trust that the pleasant narratives 
 which for two nights robbed me of my rest, like '' the 
 thousand and one " of Scheherazade, have at last drawn 
 to a close. 
 
 Did a man wish to moralise upon the unrealities of 
 human expectations, let him hang over a spillet, and be 
 interested in its success. Conceive an eternity of line 
 with a thousand hooks at given distances — as every 
 snoud is placed a fathom apart, a person less conversant 
 with figures than Joe Hume may guess the total. This 
 endless continuity of hemp must be carefully taken up. 
 Do it slowly, and the thing is worse than a penance to 
 Lough Dergh ; and if you attempt rapidity, the odds are 
 that the back-line breaks, and a full hour will scarcely 
 remedy the mischief. 
 
 It would puzzle a philosopher to determine the state 
 of affairs in ten-fathom water ; and if you shoot in foul 
 ground, you will probably lose the spillet, or with a 
 world of labour disentangle a moiety from rocks and 
 sea-weed. Should it, however, have escaped those 
 casualties, after a two hours' probation, while you listen 
 to a Drimindhu^ from the skipper, and the exact state of 
 the herring-market from the crew, you proceed to raise 
 it. Up it comes — that vibratory motion announces that 
 a fish is fast upon the snoud ; conjecture is busily at 
 work, and there is a difference of opinion, whether 
 *' the deceived one " be a codling or red-gurnet. It 
 appears — a worthless, rascally dog-fish ! A succession 
 of line comes in — starfish, and " few and far between/* 
 
 * A melancholy Irish ditty. 
 
1 68 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 some solitary plaices and flounders — at last a victim — 
 heavy and unresisting. An indistinct glance of a dark 
 object, broad as a tea-tray, brings the assistant spilleteer, 
 gaff in hand, to the quarter. Alas ! the turbot in expec- 
 tation turns out to be a ray ! Often have I shot a spillet 
 under favourable circumstances, and in approved ground, 
 and lost time, hooks, and snouds, and my whole reward 
 was a boat-load of skates and dog-fish 
 
 We ran quickly with a leading wind to the fishing- 
 bank, and having shot the spillets — a tedious thing 
 enough — stood for a rocky part of the coast, where the 
 coal-fish are always abundant. This water-sport (viz., 
 coal-fishing) is unknown " to the many," and yet to 
 him whose hands are not unacquainted with rope and 
 oar, it affords, at times, an admirable amusement. 
 
 The coal-fishing requires a stiff breeze, and if there be 
 a dark sky it is all the better. In its detail, it is perfectly 
 similar to mackerel-fishing, only that the superior size 
 of the coal-fish makes stronger tackle and a heavier lead 
 indispensable. 
 
 An eel of seven or eight inches long is the bait. The 
 head being removed, the hook is introduced as in a 
 minnow, and the skin brought three or four inches up 
 the snoud. This latter is a fine line of two or three 
 fathoms' length, affixed to the trap -stick and lead, 
 the weight of which latter is regulated by the rate of 
 sailing. 
 
 The coal-fish, in weight, varies from two to fourteen 
 pounds ; it is finely shaped, immensely rapid, uniting 
 the action of the salmon with the voracity of the pike. 
 If he miss his first dash, he will follow the bait to the 
 stern of the boat, and I have often hooked them within 
 a fathom of the rudder. 
 
SPILLET-FISHING. 1 69 
 
 Four or five knots an hour is the best rate of sailing 
 for killing coal-fish, and upon a coast where they are 
 abundant, the sport at times is excellent. 
 
 Like the pike, the coal-fish is very indiflFerent to the 
 tackle used, which is generally very coarse. Not so 
 the mackerel ; he requires much delicacy of line and 
 bait to induce him to take. 
 
 In light winds, or when the fish are out of humour, T 
 have killed mackerel by substituting a salmon casting- 
 line of single gut for the hempen snoud commonly 
 employed by fishermen, which, with a newly-cut bait of 
 phosphoric brilliancy commonly overcame his resolve 
 against temptation. But there are times when a change 
 of weather, or some inexplicable phenomena of sea or 
 sky, renders these fish dull and cautious ; for usually 
 it requires but trifling art to kill them. 
 
 A little experience is necessary. The bait must be 
 cut from the freshest mackerel, and assimilated in size 
 and shape to the herring-fry, which they generally 
 follow ; and the way of the boat must be so regulated 
 as to preserve the deception by a sufficient velocity, 
 without breaking, by its rapidity, the mackerel's hold. 
 The mouth of this fish is particularly tender ; and if 
 care be not taken, many will drop from the hook before 
 they can be secured on board. 
 
 Unaccustomed to the painful effects which friction 
 and salt water occasion hands unused to hemp, I trans- 
 ferred my line to an idle boy who proved a much more 
 fortunate coal-fisher than I, notwithstanding the 
 instructions of my friend Pattigo. 
 
 We were bearing down to a glorious play of sea- 
 birds, and I got a gun uncased to practise at the gulls. 
 It was a curious and bustUng scene. Above, thousands 
 
lyO WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 of these birds were congregated in a small circle, scream- 
 ing, and rising, and dipping over a dense mass of fry, 
 which appeared at times breaking the surface of the water, 
 while grebes and puffins of many varieties were perse- 
 cuting those unhappy sprats underneath. As we bore 
 down I fired at a few straggling puffins. Some were 
 missed, some disabled, but not a clean-killed bird 1 
 The great body of sea-fowl appeared so much engrossed 
 with their predatory pursuits, as to neither attend to the 
 reports of the gun, or notice the approach of the hooker, 
 until the boat's bolt-sprit seemed almost parting this 
 countless host of floating and flying plunderers. 
 
 Bent on destruction, I waited until we cleared the ball, 
 and reached that happy distance when the charge should 
 open properly. Pattigo estimated the shot would, 
 moderately y produce a stone of feathers. I fired ; a 
 soHtary gull dropped in the water, and half-a-dozen 
 wounded birds separated from the crowd, and went 
 screaming off to sea. The failure was a melancholy 
 one. I sank immeasurably in the estimation of the 
 crew as an artiste. Pattigo 's bag of feathers was but 
 an unrealised dream — while my kinsman muttered 
 something about the best single he ever possessed — and 
 I, to cover my disgrace, occupied myself with 
 reloading 
 
 ' I can't congratulate you on your gunnery," said 
 my cousin, " although I must admit that it required some 
 ingenuity to avoid accidents among the crowd. But 
 give me the gun, — and here comes a victim," he con- 
 tinued, as a huge, grey gull, reckless of danger, wheeled 
 as they will do, round and round a wounded companion. 
 *' I would not be in his coat for half the hooker," 
 said Pattigo, in a stage whisper. 
 
SPILLET-FISHING. 
 
 171 
 
 ** The Lord look to him ! " exclaimed another boat- 
 man, " if it be not a sin to pray for a bird." 
 
 " He shall not carry his life to the water," rejoined 
 the Master, as he laid the barrel to his eye. 
 
 But, notwithstanding prayer and prophecy, the gull 
 merely parted a few feathers, and flew off, to all appear- 
 ance, with little injury, 
 
 " By everything blind 1 " exclaimed my kinsman, 
 " the gun must have been charged with sawdust. Ha ! 
 let's see the flask I Frank, Frank, thou art a careless 
 gunner ; the powder is not worth one farthing." 
 
 It was true. I had forgotten my flask in the pocket 
 of a wet cota more* and consequently the powder was 
 spoiled. 
 
 Nothing puzzles me more, with the exception of 
 keeping the Sheriff at a distance, than preserving gun- 
 powder, and preventing my arms from rusting ; and it 
 is incredible how soon the humidity of this climate 
 spoils the one, and causes the other. 
 
 " My grand magazine is a sort of basket, secured 
 with a Ud and padlock, and covered with a sheep-skin, 
 which, like the coffin of Mahomet, hangs suspended 
 between sky and earth, from the couples of the kitchen. 
 This disposition secures it alike against damp and acci- 
 dent. My arms give me an infinity of trouble, but by 
 a weekly inspection I manage to keep all in order. 
 
 "It is marvellous how quickly, even with moderate 
 care, powder spoils. With my attention I experience 
 little inconvenience, as I always warm my flask by 
 plunging it in boiling water before 1 take the field. 
 This renders the powder sufficiently dry, without 
 
 *Anglice, great-coat. 
 
172 
 
 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 deteriorating from its strength, whicli exposure to a 
 stronger heat will inevitably occasion. 
 
 "By the way, I have had more actual experience in 
 this necessary article than was exactly agreeable. Come, 
 we will bear away for the Lodge, and as the Colonel 
 is immersed in * The Packet,' and deep in the debate, 
 I will give you the particulars. In powder I am not 
 ' ignarus mali' for I blew myself up, or made an excellent 
 attempt, — and burned a cabin to the very ground. 
 
 ** Both tales are briefly told. We were on a Christmas 
 visit, when, a slight fall of snow having taken place over- 
 night, the host proposed that 1, and Captain H 
 
 of the 7th Dragoons, should go out and shoot snipes 
 among the numerous drains by which his lawn was 
 irrigated. Guns were procured, but only one powder- 
 flask was attainable, and it was to be a partnership 
 concern. For this purpose it was large enough in all 
 conscience, being an old-fashioned horn, bound with 
 brass, and capable of holding a pound of powder. We 
 filled it to the top. At a short distance from the house, 
 a snipe sprang unexpectedly — I killed it — and in attempt- 
 ing to reload, the charge ignited in the barrel, and the 
 horn blew up in my hand. My clothes were reduced 
 to tinder, my hat scorched, my hair and eyebrows 
 burned oflF, but, excepting a slight cut in my hand, 
 otherwise I was perfectly uninjured. Not a fragment 
 of the flask y but one shattered piece of horn, could be found 
 
 upon the unbroken surface of the snow. H , who was 
 
 about one hundred yards distant from me, described the 
 explosion as louder than the report of a nine-pounder ; 
 yet, to me, the noise seem.ed trifling. Was not this 
 escape miraculous ? 
 
 " The second explosion, in which I perpetrated arson^ 
 
SPILLET-FISHING. 173 
 
 occurred some ten miles up the river. By some unhappy 
 mischance, I toqjc out a flask of condemned powder, and 
 the accident was not discovered until it was too late 
 to be remedied. To dry the powder was the alter- 
 native ; and we repaired for this purpose to the only 
 house within four miles of the place, a shieling occupied 
 by an old herdsman and his wife. 
 
 " The powder was spread upon a wooden platter, and 
 laid at a sufficient distance from the fire ; and while I 
 stirred it with a ramrod at a distance, one of my atten- 
 dants conceived it a fitting opportunity to roast a cast 
 of potatoes in the embers. Both operations went forward 
 successfully. The powder was almost dry — the potatoes 
 nearly roasted, when my follower ingeniously con- 
 trived to introduce a coal into the loose powder. This 
 incident, though trifling in itself, made an immediate 
 alteration in affairs. The roof of the cabin was dry 
 as tinder, while tow, flax, and other combustible matters, 
 were stored immediately above the hearth. In a moment 
 all was in flames — the potato-roaster blown into the 
 corner, and I, either by fear or gunpowder, capsized 
 in another direction. 
 
 " The agony of the poor old woman who, fortu- 
 nately, was outside the hovel when the explosion took 
 place, was pitiable. In five minutes her cabin was a 
 ruin—and to her that wretched shieling was worth a 
 marble palace. For a time she could not be pacified. 
 In vain she was assured ' that the master would build 
 her a new house, wider ^ and bigger, and warmer, ay, and 
 that should have a wooden door ! ' but, like another 
 Rachel, she mourned, and refused to be comforted. 
 
 " Two or three days removed her sorrow, I sent 
 assistance, and, progressing, like another Aladdin, the 
 
174 W^^'^ SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 cabin rose, Phoenix-like, from its ashes. It is now the 
 envy of the passing traveller ; and as the old couple close 
 their wooden door at night, they pray for the Master's 
 long life, and bless God that ' a pound of powder blew 
 up at their fire-side.' 
 
 ** But see ! old John's signal flies at the flag-staff. 
 In with that endless spillet, Pattigo ! Pshaw ! red 
 gurnets, codlings, flat-fish, with skates and rays eter- 
 nally. Now, out reefs — on with the big jib — nay, my 
 dear Colonel, I am commander. Ease away the sheets. 
 Ha ! she stoops to it ! Hish ! she travels. Carry on, 
 Pattigo — the Colonel is aboard, * Ccesarem vehis ! * 
 She does scrape the sand a little ; but we are fairly over 
 the bar — ^John's dinner signal would make any man 
 a hero." 
 
GUNS AND GUN -MAKING. 1 75 
 
 CHAPTER XXIIl 
 
 It was nearly dark, but the night was calm and warm. 
 I stole from the heated room to indulge in a luxurious 
 smoke al fresco ; and seated upon the wall of the little 
 pier puffed away in Turkish indolence. The swell 
 upon the bar was particularly distinct, as in successive 
 falls, the wave burst upon the sands, and ran hissing up 
 the beach, till its volume of water broke and subsided. 
 The tide was almost out, and the river which forms the 
 channel of the estuary would hardly reach beyond the 
 knee ; and I thought of the singular contrast that existed 
 between the quiet stream, now scarcely a stone's throw 
 over, and the fierce and lowering water which a westerly 
 gale forces in, rushing every moment with increased 
 violence from the ocean, and threatening to burst over 
 bank and rock that opposed a barrier to its rage. My 
 musings were, however, speedily interrupted ; voices 
 came towards me from opposite directions, and loud and 
 frequent laugh replied to rustic badinage and youthful 
 romping. My cousin joined me, and from him I ascer- 
 tained that the jolly parties who seemed everywhere 
 scattered over the sands beyond the river were the 
 village girls assembled to collect sand-eels, an employment 
 they would pursue till the returning tide filled the estuary 
 again. A little flat punt, which the servants use for 
 bringing spring water from the bent banks, was speedily 
 placed upon the river, and we pushed over to the opposite 
 strand, and found ourselves surrounded by several 
 hundreds of the young villagers of both sexes, who were 
 busily engaged in this curious species of night-fishing. 
 
176 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 The sand-eels are generally from four to nine inches 
 in length, and lie beneath the surface seldom deeper 
 than a foot. The method of taking them is very simple ; 
 it is effected by passing a case-knife or sickle with a 
 blunted edge quickly through the sands ; and by this 
 means the fish is brought to the surface, and its phos- 
 phoric brilHancy betrays it instantly. At the particular 
 times during the summer months when these eels run 
 in upon the estuary, quantities sufficient to fill several 
 barrels have been collected during a night. When 
 dressed the fish is reckoned by the peasantry a great 
 delicacy, but to my taste it is much too strong. But 
 they are sought after for other purposes ; from the 
 particular brilliancy of the skin they make an admirable 
 bait for flat-fish ; and hence a spillet-settee prefers 
 them to every other kind, as they are much more durable 
 than the lug,* and infinitely preferable to eels of a 
 coarser size. 
 
 A crowd of a more youthful description of the 
 peasantry are collected every spring-tide to gather 
 cockles on the same sands by dayUght when the tide 
 answers. The quantities of these shell-fish thus pro- 
 cured would almost exceed belief ; and I have frequently 
 seen more than would load a donkey collected during 
 one tide by the children of a single cabin. They form a 
 valuable and wholesome addition to the limited variety 
 that the Irish peasant boasts at his humble board ; and 
 aflFord children, too young for other tasks, a safe and useful 
 employment. 
 
 Indeed, its plentiful supply of shell-fish may be 
 enumerated among the principal advantages which 
 this wild coast offers to its inhabitants. Along the 
 * The sand -worm used by fishermen. 
 
GUNS AND GUN-MAKING. 177 
 
 cliffs, whether in the islands or on the main, lobsters 
 are found in abundance ; and if the peasantry possessed 
 the necessary means for prosecuting the fishery, it might 
 at times afford them a lucrative employment. But, 
 simple as the apparatus is, they do not possess it ; and 
 the lobsters obtained by sinking pots and baskets in the 
 deep sea are taken by strangers, who come for this 
 purpose from a considerable distance. Those killed 
 by the islanders are only procurable at low springs, 
 when the ebbing of the water beyond its customary 
 limits permits caves and crannies in the rocks being 
 investigated, which, in ordinary tides, could not be 
 entered. 
 
 Crabs are found on this coast of considerable size 
 and sufficiently numerous. Like the lobsters, they are 
 only accidentally procured ; but there is no doubt 
 but a large supply could be obtained if proper means 
 were employed to take them. 
 
 The most esteemed of all the shell-fish tribe by the 
 western fishermen is the scallop, which here is, indeed, 
 of very superior size and flavour. They are commonly 
 found by the oyster dredgers in deep water ; and are 
 estimated so highly as a luxury, as to cause their being 
 transferred to the next gentleman who may have been 
 serviceable to the peasant who finds them, or whose 
 future favour it may be advisable to propitiate. Indeed, 
 in former days, and those, too, not very distant from 
 our own times, to approach a justice of the peace without 
 " a trifle for his honour" would be an offence of passing 
 magnitude ; a basket of chickens, a cleave of scallops, 
 or an ass-load of oysters, harbingered the aggriever and 
 the aggrieved. If these formula were not duly attended 
 to, the fountain of law was hermetically sealed ; and a 
 
178 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 house functionary — for all the servants on the estab- 
 lishment were " four pound constables " — announced 
 that " his honour would do no justice," and bundled 
 off the applicant to someone more approachable of his 
 Majesty's numerous and poor esquires. 
 
 The oysters found in the bays and estuaries along 
 this coast are of a very superior quality ; and their 
 quantity may be inferred from the fact that on the shores 
 where they are bedded, a turf-basket large enough to 
 contain six or seven hundred can be filled for a six- 
 pence. A couple of men will easily, and in a few hours, 
 lift a horse-load ! — and, notwithstanding the numbers 
 carried off by sailing-boats from Clare and Munster, 
 the stock appears to be little reduced by the constant 
 dredging. There are besides these, other shell-fishes 
 greatly prized by the peasantry, but which I had never 
 had the curiosity to eat, such as razor-fish, clams, and 
 various kinds of mussels. These occasionally make 
 a welcome change in the otherwise unvarying 
 potato diet ; and, better still, employ the idler members 
 of the family, whose youth or age unfits them for more 
 laborious exertions. 
 
 We dallied so long among the fairer portion of the 
 sand-eel fishers, that the tide insensibly rose ; and when 
 we reached the place where our punt had been secured, 
 we discovered that the water had crept up the sands, 
 and floated the frail skiff away. To hail and get a boat - 
 from the Lodge, from the calmness of the night, was 
 readily effected ; and while it was being launched down 
 the beach, my kinsman told me that it was not the first 
 time that the treacherous punt had played truant to 
 its crew. 
 
 " On a stormy evening one of the boatmen was ordered 
 
GUNS AND GUN- MAKING. 1 79 
 
 to cross the estuary for spring-water, and set out 
 accordingly for a supply, accompanied by a wild-looking 
 and nondescript animal who infests the premises, 
 who is known to the establishment by the name 
 of ' Achil.' The river was flooded, the evening stormy, 
 and Peeterein, after leaving his coadjutor in strict charge 
 of the skiff, set off to fill his water vessels, and to return, 
 if possible, before the dusk had fallen into darkness. 
 Achil, as the evening was chilly, lay down in the bottom 
 of the skiff to shelter himself from the piercing east 
 wind ; and, in place of keeping watch and ward like 
 an able mariner, composed himself to sleep. Mean- 
 while the river rose fearfully ; the breeze freshened 
 into a gale ; and when Peeterein hurried back with his 
 water- vessels, he had the satisfaction of seeing the punt 
 half-a-mile down channel hurrying as fast as a flooded 
 river and a freshening storm could urge it to the bar, 
 which now broke in thunder. I had been shooting 
 on this side, and reached the strand while Peeterein 
 was hallooing for assistance. A boat was rapidly 
 despatched — the skiff, when its destruction appeared 
 inevitable, was overtaken, and Achil found as comfort- 
 ably asleep as if he were in his accustomed crib in the 
 barn. The ebullitions of Peeterein's sorrow, while the 
 fate of skiff and boy was still uncertain, astonished me ; 
 and when I saw the punt in tow, I observed that as the 
 boy was recovered, he might now cease his lamentations. 
 — * The Lord be blessed ! there she is : another minute 
 would have made noggin-staves of her ' Arrah ! and 
 did ye think it was Achil I was frettin' after — the devil 
 pursue him for an unlucky member ! No, faith — I 
 was in sore distress, for my brother's shoes were aboard / ' " 
 We were assembled round the breakfast-table this 
 
l8o WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 morning, and it was a questionable affair whether we 
 should pass the forenoon in the warren, or shoot a spillet 
 on the banks, when the conclave was dissolved by one 
 of those incidental alarms that diversify the rustic 
 monotony of our commonplace existence. The spring- 
 tide had left the channel nearly dry, and except in some 
 deep pools, the water was but ankle-deep. Into one 
 of these an unlucky seal had been seduced in pursuit 
 of a salmon, and his retreat was cut off before he was 
 aware that his ill-timed chasse would cause his ruin. 
 On his being discovered, a host of cockle-gatherers 
 formed across the neck of the hole, while a breathless 
 courier brought the tidings to the Lodge. Instantly 
 all was bustle ; a salmon-net was procured, and the whole 
 of the '* Dramatis Personse," even to the Colonel and the 
 Priest, were speedily armed with divers and deadly 
 implements. Old Antony had hobbled off at the first 
 alarm, and, by the prudent plan of taking time by the 
 forelock, managed to be the first man at the scene of 
 action. It was a deep and rather an extensive pool, 
 and the unfortunate seal absconded to the place most 
 likely to afford concealment till the flood-tide should 
 liberate him from the hand of his enemies. But, alas ! 
 they were many and malignant ; and, driven from his 
 deepest and last retreat, to avoid being meshed in the 
 net, he was forced upon the shoal, when an otter- 
 spear, struck to the socket of the grains by the vigorous 
 arm of Hennessey, killed him without a struggle. When 
 the net was brought ashore, the moiety of a large salmon 
 remained in the meshes, and told the errand which in- 
 duced the defunct seal to commit himself to the faithless 
 shoals which proved so fatal to him. 
 
 This is, indeed, a day of incidents. Dinner was just 
 
GUNS AND GUN-MAKING. l8l 
 
 removed, when, on the top of flood, a coast-guard galley 
 ran in with a leading breeze from the westward. The 
 very elegant proportions of the boat, the happy attitude, 
 the snowy whiteness of her large lugs, as, with the 
 favourable light which a sunless but clear blue sky 
 gave, she rounded the headland, and came up like a 
 race-horse to the pier, had called our undivided attention 
 to her arrival. While conjecture was busy as to what 
 her business might be, we observed a man with his arm 
 slung in a handkerchief, and apparently in considerable 
 pain, leave her. The cause was soon ascertained, for 
 a serious accident had occurred, and we all adjourned 
 to the kitchen, where Antony was already occupied 
 with the wound. 
 
 It appeared that a gun, with which the poor fellow 
 had been shooting rabbits, had burst and shattered his 
 hand ; and when I saw the whole of the palm sadly 
 lacerated, and the thumb attached by a small portion 
 of the muscles, I really feared to save it was a hopeless 
 task. But Antony and my kinsman thought differently. 
 The old man bound the wound up with a professional 
 neatness that I could not have expected from him ; 
 the patient was accommodated in the Lodge, and in a 
 fortnight the galley again returned, to bring him, 
 thoroughly convalescent, to his station. 
 
 1 had some curiosity to examine the unlucky gun 
 that caused the mischief. There was a longitudinal 
 rent along the barrel, of seven or eight inches, termi- 
 nating where the left hand usually grasps the stock. 
 There had, no doubt, been a deep flaw in the inside of 
 the metal ; for the wounded man declared that he had 
 not loaded the gun beyond the customary charge. 
 
 It proved to be one of those wretched affairs whicli 
 
1 82 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 are constantly smuggled into Ireland, and sold under 
 the denomination of London guns, but which, it is well 
 known, are fabricated in Birmingham ; and the extent 
 to which this dangerous imposition upon public safety 
 is carried would scarcely be credited. There is a 
 constant demand in this unhappy country for fire-arms ; 
 the well-affected and disaffected seek them for very 
 different purposes ; — one wants them for defence, the 
 other requires them for aggression ; and every steamer 
 that arrives from Liverpool has generally some stands 
 of contraband arms on board. 
 
 When a gun begins to exhibit symptoms of having 
 done its work, the sooner a man discards it the better. 
 An injured barrel, or enfeebled lock, may prove fatal 
 to the owner or his associates. Accidents every day 
 occur, and very lamentable consequences arise from a 
 culpable neglect in retaining arms that should be declared 
 unserviceable, and, of course, disused. 
 
 I had once a favourite gun, which, from constant wear 
 and tear, exhibited unequivocal weakness in the lock, 
 and which I had been earnestly recommended by a 
 veteran sportsman to discard. On a cold and rainy day 
 
 I was with my friend, O'M , shooting woodcocks 
 
 in the heath, and having sprung several, which, from 
 the severity of the weather, were as wild as hawks, we 
 marked them into a ravine, and determined to tie up the 
 dogs, and endeavour to steal upon them. To keep my 
 gun dry, I placed it under the skirt of my jacket, with the 
 muzzle pointing downwards. My companion and our 
 attendant were busy coupling the dogs, when the gun 
 
 exploded, and the charge passed between O'M 's 
 
 bosom and the back of a dog he was in the act of securing, 
 buried itself at the foot of the keeper, covering him with 
 
GUNS AND GUN-MAKING. 1 83 
 
 mud and graveL From the close manner in which we 
 were all grouped, how the shot could have entered the 
 ground, without killing men or dogs, or both, was 
 miraculous. I was desperately frightened, and from 
 that moment foreswore, for ever, the use of weakened 
 locks and attenuated barrels. 
 
84 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 I VERILY believe that no people upon earth are more 
 easily satisfied in roads than the natives in Ballyveeney. 
 A narrow strip of rough gravel along the sea-beach — a 
 mountain watercourse, tolerably disencumbered of its 
 rocks, or practicable passage across a bog, provided it 
 be but fetlock deep, are considered by the inhabitants 
 of this wild peninsula to be excellent horseways. 
 
 That accidents do not more frequently occur is mar- 
 vellous. But the horse is born in the wilderness, and 
 if there be a practicable path, he appears to know it 
 by intuition. Hence, the rider traverses with impunity 
 a morass in which Colonel Thornton would have been 
 ingulfed, and skirts a dizzy precipice with no more 
 apprehension that a cockney wayfaring upon a turnpike 
 trust. " Use lessens marvel," quoth Sir Walter Scott, — 
 and I, who formerly witnessed the accoutrement of 
 these Calmuck-looking coursers, with a lively anticipa- 
 tion of broken bones, now stumble through a defile, or 
 cross a bog, with all the indifference of a native. 
 
 Having despatched the dogs and keeper, we arranged 
 our beat, and started after breakfast. The road by 
 which we reached our shooting-ground is the sole means 
 by which this, our terra incognita^ is connected with the 
 rest of Christendom. It is rough and dangerous in the 
 extreme, and impracticable to every quadruped but 
 the ponies of the country. In place of mile-stones 
 which mark better frequented roads, heaps of irregularly- 
 sized pebbles meet the eye, and a stranger will be at a 
 loss to assign their uses. They are melancholy memorials 
 
ON THE MOORS. 1 85 
 
 of uncivilized society, and either mark the scene of 
 murder, or the place where a corpse has been rested in 
 the progress of a funeral. These tumuli are numerous 
 — and many a wild and fearful record of former violence 
 is associated with them. The greater portion of these 
 cairns record loss of life, consequent upon drunkenness ; 
 and the stone, at present, appears as fatal as the middoge 
 in former days. This weapon, I believe, was almost 
 confined to the west of Ireland, and at this time is rarely 
 met with. Yet, some centuries back it was as con- 
 stantly borne by the Milesians as the dirk in the High- 
 lands and the stiletto in Italy. All the legendary tales 
 of blood usually employ it as the means of violence ; 
 and old Antony says that in his youth the old people 
 shuddered when they named it. I never saw but one ; 
 it was a broad-bladed dagger, about fifteen inches long, 
 of clumsy workmanship, and hafted with a piece of deer's 
 horn. From the formidable figure the middoge cuts in 
 ancient chronicles, the temper of the blade was supposed 
 to be superior to any weapon forged in these degenerate 
 days ; and I heard an old man assert that he had seen 
 one, which, when held up and let fall perpendicularly, 
 but a few feet, would pierce through three half-crown 
 pieces — Credat Jiidceus I — This interesting and valuable 
 implem^ent, according to his account, was lost " during 
 the French," that is, at the period of the French invasion 
 in '98. 
 
 We left our horses at the old bridge of Ballyveeney, 
 and proceeded to make an extensive circle of the moors, 
 skirting, as we went along, the bases of the ridge of 
 hills which shuts out Erris from the interior. 
 
 It was eleven o'clock when the dogs were uncoupled. 
 The breeze was brisk and warm, and the ground was 
 
1 86 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 either undulated into hillocks, or intersected by rivulets, 
 whose broken banks were thickly covered with luxurious 
 heath. It was a beat on which a grouse-shooter would 
 risk a kingdom, — ^it realised our expectations, and we 
 found game abundantly. 
 
 Hunting for grouse during the basking hour of the day is 
 rigidly prohibited by all gentlemen who compile sporting 
 directories ; and yet every shooter knows that at these 
 proscribed hours himself is commonly on the moors. 
 Morning and evening, when the birds are on foot in 
 search of food, is undoubtedly preferable to the duller 
 portion of the day, when they are accustomed to indulge 
 in a siesta. But generally some considerable distance 
 must be travelled before the sportsman can reach his 
 beat from his quarters. The morning is consumed on 
 horseback or in the shooting-cart ; the same road must 
 be again accomplished before night ; and hence, the 
 middle of the day is, of necessity, the portion devoted 
 to the pursuit of game. 
 
 To find the birds, when, satisfied with food, they leave 
 the moor to bask in some favourite haunt, requires 
 both patience and experience ; and here the mountain- 
 bred sportsman proves his superiority over the less- 
 practised shooter. The packs then lie closely, and 
 occupy a small surface on some sunny brow or sheltered 
 hollow. The best-nosed dogs will pass within a few 
 yards, and not acknowledge them ; and patient hunting, 
 with every advantage of the wind, must be employed 
 to find grouse at this dull hour. 
 
 But if close and judicious hunting be necessary, the 
 places to be beaten are comparatively few, and the 
 sportsman's eye readily detects the spot where the pack 
 is sure to be discovered. He leaves the open feeding- 
 
ON THE MOORS. 1 87 
 
 grounds for heathery knowes and sheltered valleys 
 — and, while the uninitiated wearies his dogs in vain 
 over the hillside, where the birds, hours before, might 
 have been expected, the older sportsman profits by his 
 experience, and seldom fails in discovering the dell or 
 hillock where, in fancied security, the indolent pack 
 is reposing. 
 
 We had been upon the moors some hours — our walk 
 was enlivened by success, and the time had arrived when 
 the commissariat was required, and old John's supplies 
 were ordered from the rear. A rivulet was reported to 
 he just round the hilly and thither our course was directed. 
 We turned a rugged brow suddenly, and never did 
 a sweeter spot present itself to an exhausted sportsman ; 
 and resting on the bank of a ravine, where a small stream 
 trickled over a precipice, forming beneath its brow a 
 basin of crystal water, we selected this for our " bivouac.'' 
 Wild myrtle and shrub -like heather closed the opposite 
 sides, and one spot, where the rivulet elbowed back, was 
 covered with short green moss, that seemed rather an 
 effort of human art than a piece of natural arrangement. 
 Here we rested — and while baskets were unpacked, 
 and the cloth extended upon the velvet surface we 
 reposed upon, I looked with feelings which I cannot 
 describe upon the wild and melancholy scene below. 
 It was a ruined chapel and deserted burying-place — 
 one gable of the building alone was standing, and, from 
 beneath the ivied wall, a spring gushed out and united 
 itself with the rivulet I have described. A stone cross, 
 whose rude workmanship showed its antiquity, was 
 erected beside the fountain ; and although the cemetery 
 had long since been deserted, a circle round the well 
 was freshly worn in the turf, and a woman at the moment 
 
1 88 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 was performing an act of devotion, on her bare knees, 
 making an occasional pause, to offer up a prayer and drop 
 a bead from her rosary. 
 
 The valley had a solemn and imposing character ; 
 everything about it was lonely and desolate. No traces 
 of human visits were discernible ; no pathway led to 
 the ruin, — all was deep, unbroken solitude ; a hallowed 
 and melancholy spot, where the living seldom presumed 
 to approach the mansions of the dead. 
 
 The breeze fell, the air became unusually oppressive, 
 the hill behind robbed us of the little wind that still par- 
 tially cooled the sultry atmosphere ; a distant muttering 
 among the mountains was faintly heard, and a sound 
 like a rising stream was audible. Suddenly, a black 
 cloud rose like magic upon the summit of the mountain, 
 and a flash of light succeeded. " The storm is on," 
 said my kinsman, and leaving the attendants to discuss 
 the fragments of the feast, where they might best obtain 
 shelter, we hurried down the hill, and couched beneath 
 the ruins of the chapel. 
 
 There is more grandeur in an Alpine storm than can 
 be imagined by those who have not witnessed its effect. 
 As the thunder crashes over the hills, and miles away is 
 reverberated from the opposite mountains, the loneliness 
 of the wilderness is in fine keeping with the anger of 
 the elements. The rain-drops now fell faster — quick 
 and vivid flashes burst from the southern heavens, 
 and roll after roll succeeded, like sustained discharges 
 of artillery. The dogs, in evident alarm, cowered at our 
 feet, soliciting mortal protection from what, instinct 
 told them, were the visitations of an awful power. 
 Suddenly, one prolonged and terrific crash burst over- 
 head — a deluge of rain descended — and rapidly as it 
 
ON THE MOORS. 1 89 
 
 came on, the storm passed away — ^the peals became 
 fewer and more distant, and in five minutes died in 
 sullen murmurs among the distant hills. 
 
 " Is not this, indeed, sublimity ? " said my kinsman, 
 as he broke a silence of some minutes. '' To convey 
 ideas of the grand and terrible, give me a storm in the 
 mountains, and let it be viewed thus : sheltered by the 
 ivied walls of a ' toppling ' ruin, and surrounded by 
 the dwellings of the dead." 
 
 " How comes it," I inquired, " that, contrary to the 
 known attachment of the lower Irish for ancient places 
 of interment, this seems to be neglected and disused ? " 
 
 " You are right," he replied ; " although it was once 
 the only burying-ground to which the inhabitants of 
 this district conveyed the dead for interment, more than 
 two centuries have elapsed since it has been abandoned. 
 There is a curious tradition connected with its desecra- 
 tion which Antony will be too happy in narrating, and 
 as the clouds appear collecting on the hills, I propose 
 that we retreat in good time, for it is rare to find such 
 shelter on the moors as that afforded us by the ruins 
 of Knock-a-thample."* 
 
 Even the sublime and beautiful may be enjoyed to 
 satiety, and we agreed that one thunder-storm is suffi- 
 cient for the day. The game-bags, upon examination, 
 produced twenty brace of grouse and a leash of moun- 
 tain hares. For moderate men we had done enough, 
 and we could dispense with the evening shooting 
 Accordingly, we left our attendants to follow at their 
 leisure, and mounting our Cossack cavalry, set off at 
 a killing pace, " over bank, bush, and scaur," nor drew 
 
 * Anglice, The church of the hill. 
 
190 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 bridle until we reached the sand-banks, where the 
 boat, with Pattigo and his companions, was awaiting 
 our arrival. 
 
 Nor have we been the only denizens of the Lodge 
 whose exertions have this day been successful. The 
 Colonel has spent the forenoon in the sand-banks, much 
 to his own satisfaction, in slaying rabbits, and studying 
 the Morning Post. To unite the sportsman and politi- 
 cian may at first sight seem difficult — but, ensconcing 
 himself in a good position, the commander waits 
 patiently for a shot, and, confiding loading and look-out 
 to Andy Bawn^ whose attentions since the unfortunate 
 affair of the portmanteau have been redoubled, he 
 coolly proceeds with the debate^ until a rabbit is reported 
 within range of the favourite Spanish barrel, by his 
 assistant gunner. This mode of shooting the Colonel 
 recommends, provided the day and the debate be warm. 
 In winter, he may be induced occasionally to take the 
 side of a sunny cover, but gout and rheumatism are 
 ever present to his imagination, and he would not " wet 
 a foot for all the birds upon Brae Mar." 
 
 After dinner I reminded my kinsman of the promised 
 legend of Ejiock-a-thample, and the otter-killer was 
 ordered to the presence. But on inquiry, Antony had 
 been professionally called off to a distant village upon 
 the coast to minister to a broken head, and had taken 
 his departure in a four-oared boat, with as much cere- 
 mony as though he had been surgeon-general. I felt, 
 and expressed, my disappointment. " And are you 
 really curious about this wild tradition ? " asked our 
 host. " I beHeve this is one of many legends which, 
 during a terrible winter, I amused myself by taking 
 down from Antony's own lips.*' Opening a drawer 
 
ON THE MOORS. I91 
 
 he took out a common-place book, and marked the page. 
 Finding no inclination to sleep when I retired for the 
 night, I heaped more bog-wood on the fire, and, before 
 I slept, read the following specimen of the " wild and 
 wonderful." 
 
192 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 THE LEGEND OF KNOCK- A-TH AMPLE. 
 
 In the valley of Knock-a-thample, beside a ruined 
 church and holy well, the shattered walls of what had 
 been once a human habitation are still visible. They 
 stand at a bow-shot distance from the fountain, which, 
 instead of a place of penance for ancient crones and 
 solitary devotees, was visited two centuries since for a 
 very different purpose. 
 
 The well, although patronised by St. Catharine, a 
 lady of as determined celibacy as ever underwent 
 canonisation, had one peculiar virtue, which, under her 
 especial superintendence, it might not have been expected 
 to possess. Indeed, in every-day complaints, its waters 
 were tolerably efficacious ; but, in cases of connubial 
 disappointments, when the nuptial bed had been 
 unfruitful, they proved an absolute specific ; and in 
 providing an heir for an estate, when " hope deferred 
 had made the heart sick," there was not in the kingdom 
 of Connaught a blessed well that could hold a candle 
 to that of Knock-a-thample. 
 
 Numerous as the persons were whom the reputation 
 of the fountain collected from a distance, few returned 
 without experiencing relief. Occasionally, a patient 
 appeared, whose virgin career had been a little too 
 protracted, and to whom the rosary, rather than the 
 cradle, was adapted. — And so thought St. Catharine 
 — ^though her water was unequalled, yet she had neither 
 time nor inchnation to work miracles eternally ; con- 
 sequently, those ancient candidates for the honours 
 
THE LEGEND OF KNOCK- A-TH AMPLE. 193 
 
 of maternity returned precisely as they came : to expend 
 holy water on such antique customers was almost a 
 sinful waste — their presumption was unpardonable — 
 it was enough to vex a saint, and even put the blessed 
 Patroness of Knock-a-thample in a passion. 
 
 Holy water, like prophecy, appears to be of little 
 value at home, and hence the devotees usually came from 
 some distant province. The soil, indeed, might then 
 have possessed the same anti-Malthusian qualities for 
 which it is so remarkable at the present day. Certainly 
 the home consumption of Knock-a-thample was on a 
 limited scale — and the herdsman and his wife, who 
 then occupied the ruined cottage near the church, owed 
 their winter comforts to the munificence of the strange 
 pilgrims, who, during the summer season, resorted in 
 numbers to the well. 
 
 It was late in October, and the pilgrimages were over 
 for the year — ^winter was at hand — the heath was 
 withered, and the last flower had fallen from the bog- 
 myrtle — ^the boollies* were abandoned, and the cattle 
 driven from the hills. It was a dark evening, and the 
 rain which had been collecting on the mountains began 
 to fall heavily, when a loud knock disturbed the inhabi- 
 tants of the cabin. The door was promptly unbarred 
 and a young and well-dressed stranger entered, received 
 the customary welcome, with an invitation to join the 
 herdsman's family, who were then preparing their 
 evening meal. The extreme youth and beauty of the 
 traveller did not escape the peasants' observation, although 
 he kept his cap upon his head and declined to put aside 
 his mantle. 
 
 * Temporary huts for cowherds and milkmaids for use in the 
 summer and autumn on mountain pastures. 
 
194 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 An hour before the young stranger had arrived 
 another, and a very different visitor, had demanded 
 lodging for the night. He belonged also to another 
 country, and for some years had trafficked with the 
 mountain peasantry, and was known among them by 
 the appellation of the Red Pedler. He was a strong 
 under-sized, and ill-visaged man ; mean in his dress 
 and repulsive in his appearance. The Pedler directed 
 a keen and inquisitive look at the belated traveller, who 
 to escape the sinister scrutiny of his small but piercing 
 eyes, turned to where the herdsman's wife was occupied 
 in preparing the simple supper. The peasant gazed 
 with wonder at her guest ; for never had so fair a face 
 been seen within the herdsman's dwelling. While 
 her eyes were still bent upon the stranger, a fortuitous 
 opening of the mantle displayed a sparkHng cross of 
 exquisite beauty, which hung upon the youth's bosom • 
 and more than once, as it glittered in the uncertain 
 light of the wood fire, she remarked the rich and sparkling 
 gem. 
 
 When morning came, the Pilgrim took leave of the 
 hospitable peasants, and as he inquired the road to the 
 holy well, slipped a rose-noble into the hand of the 
 herdsman's wife. This was not unnoticed by the Red 
 Pedler, who proffered his services as guide, which the 
 youth modestly, but firmly, declined. The Pilgrim 
 hastened to the fountain, performed the customary 
 ceremonies before noon, and then took the mountain 
 path, leading through an opening in the hills, to a station,* 
 which, though particularly lonely, was usually selected 
 by good Catholics for a last act of devotion, when return- 
 ing from visiting at the blessed well. The Pedler 
 
 * A place of penance frequented by Catholic devotees. 
 
THE LEGEND OF KNOCK- A-TH AMPLE. 1 95 
 
 who, on various pretences, had loitered near the place, 
 soon afterwards departed in the same direction. 
 
 That night the herdsman's family sought repose in 
 vain — wild, unearthly noises were heard around the 
 hovel ; and shriek and laughter, awfully mingled 
 together, were borne upon the breeze which came 
 moaning from the mountains. The peasant barred 
 his door, and grasped his wood-axe; his wife, with 
 trembling fingers, told her rosary over again and again. 
 Morning broke, and, harassed by alarms, they sunk 
 to sleep at last. But their slumbers were rudely 
 broken — a gray-haired monk roused them hastily — 
 horror was in his looks, and, with difficulty, he staggered 
 to a seat. Gradually he collected strength to tell his 
 fearful errand — the young and lovely devotee lay in 
 the mountain glen, before St. Catharine's cross, a 
 murdered corpse. 
 
 The tidings of this desperate deed flew through the 
 country rapidly. The body was carried to the herds- 
 man's cabin. For many hours life had been extinct, 
 and the distorted countenance of the hapless youth 
 bespoke the mortal agony which had accompanied 
 the spirit's flight. One deep wound was in his side, 
 inflicted, evidently, by a triangular weapon ; and the 
 brilliant cross and purse of gold were gone. 
 
 The women from the adjacent villages assembled to 
 pay the last rites to the remains of the murdered 
 Pilgrim. Preparatory to being laid out, the clothes 
 were gently removed from the body, when a cry of 
 horror burst from all — the Pilgrim was a woman I Bound 
 by a violet ribbon, a bridal ring rested beside her heart ; 
 and, from unequivocal appearances, it was too evident 
 that the fell assassin had committed a double murder. 
 
ig6 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 The obsequies of the unhappy lady were piously 
 performed ; the mountain girls decked her grave with 
 flowers ; and old and young, for many a mile around, 
 offered prayers for the soul of the departed. The 
 murder was involved in mystery — ^the peasants had their 
 own suspicions, but fear caused them to be silent. 
 
 A year passed — ^the garland upon the stranger's grave 
 was carefully renewed — ^the village maidens shed many 
 a tear as they told her melancholy story ; and none 
 passed the turf which covered the murdered beauty 
 without repeating a prayer for her soul's repose. 
 
 Another passed — and the third anniversary of the 
 Pilgrim's death arrived. Late on that eventful evening 
 a tall and noble-looking stranger entered the herdsman's 
 cottage. His air was lofty and commanding ; and 
 though he wore a palmer's cloak, the jewelled pommel 
 of his rapier glanced from beneath the garment, and 
 betrayed his knightly dignity. The beauty of his manly 
 countenance forcibly recalled to the peasants the memory 
 of the ill-starred stranger. But their admiration was 
 checked by the fierce, though melancholy expression 
 of the handsome features of the stranger ; and if they 
 would have been inclined to scrutinise him more, one 
 stern glance from his dark and flashing eye imperiously 
 forbade it. Supper was prepared in silence, until, at 
 the Knight's request, the herdsman detailed minutely 
 every circumstance connected with the lady's murder. 
 
 While the peasant's narrative proceeded, the stranger 
 underwent a terrible emotion, which his stern resolution 
 could not entirely conceal. His eyes flared, his brows 
 contracted till they united ; and before the tale was 
 ended he leaped from his seat, and left the cabin hastily. 
 
 He had been but a few minutes absent, when the door 
 
THE LEGEND OF KNOCK- A-TH AMPLE. 1 97 
 
 Opened, and another visitor entered with scanty cere- 
 mony, and, though unbidden, seated himself upon the 
 stool of honour. His dress was far better than his 
 mien, and he assumed an appearance of superiority 
 which, even to the peasants, appeared forced and 
 unnatural. He called authoritatively for supper, and 
 the tones of his voice were quite familiar to the herds- 
 man. With excited curiosity, the peasant flung some 
 dried flax upon the fire, and, by the blaze, recognised 
 at once the well-remembered features of the Red Pedler ! 
 
 Before the peasant could recover his surprise, the tall 
 stranger entered the cottage again, and approached the 
 hearth. With an air which could not be disputed, he 
 commanded the intruder to give place. The waving 
 of his hand was obeyed, and, with muttered threats, 
 the Pedler retired to the settle. The Knight leaned 
 against the rude walls of the chimney, and remained 
 absorbed in bitter thought, until the humble host told 
 him that the meal was ready. 
 
 If a contrast were necessary, it would have been found 
 in the conduct of the strangers at the board. The 
 Knight ate like an anchorite, while the Pedler indulged 
 his appetite largely. The tall stranger tempered the 
 aqua vitce presented by the host copiously with water, 
 while the short one drank fast and deep, and appeared 
 anxious to steep some pressing sorrow in the goblet. 
 Gradually, however, his brain felt the influence of the 
 liquor, and, unguarded from deep and repeated draughts, 
 he thus addressed the host : — 
 
 " Markest thou a change in me, fellow ? " 
 
 " Fellow ! " quoth the peasant, half affronted ; 
 *' three years ago we were indeed fellows ; for the Red 
 Pedler often sought shelter here, and never was refused." 
 
igS WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 '* The Red Pedler ! " exclaimed the tall stranger, 
 starting from his reverie, as if an adder had stung him ; 
 and fixing his fiery glance upon the late visitor, he 
 examined him from head to foot. 
 
 " You will know me again, I trow,*^ said the Pedler, 
 with extraordinary assurance. 
 
 " / shall,'' was the cold reply. 
 
 '' Well," said the new-comer, *' though three years 
 since I bore a pack, I'll wager a rose-noble that I have 
 more money in my pouch than half the beggarly knights 
 from Gal way to Athlone. There ! " he exclaimed, 
 as he flung his cloak open, " there is a weighty purse, and 
 here a trusty middoge, and a fig for knighthood and 
 nobility ! " 
 
 " Slave ! " said the stranger, in a voice that made the 
 peasants tremble, " breathe not another word until 
 thou hast satisfied my every question, or, by the Mother 
 of Heaven ! I'll cram my rapier down thy false throat ; " 
 and, starting on his feet, he flung his mantle on the floor. 
 
 Though surprised, the Pedler was not discomfited by 
 the dignity and determination of his antagonist. 
 
 " Yes ! " he sullenly replied, " I wear no rapier — 
 but this middoge has never failed me at my need," and 
 drawing from his bosom a long, triangular weapon, 
 he placed it on the table. — " Sir Knight," he continued 
 " the handle of my tool is simple deer-horn ; but, 
 by the mass ! I have a jewel in my breast that would buy 
 thy tinselled pommel ten times." 
 
 '' Thou liest, slave ! " exclaimed the Knight. 
 
 ** To the proof, then," said the Pedler ; and opening 
 a secret pocket, he produced a splendid cross. 
 
 *' Villain ! " said the tall stranger, under deep emotion, 
 " surely thou hast robbed some hapless traveller ! " 
 
THE LEGEND OF KNOCK- A-TH AMPLE. 1 99 
 
 " No ! " replied the Pedler, with a cool smile ; " I 
 was beside the owner of this cross when his last sigh 
 was breathed ! " 
 
 Like Hghtning the stranger's sword flashed from its 
 scabbard. 
 
 " Murderer ! " he shouted, in a voice of thunder, 
 " for three years have I wandered about the habitable 
 earth, and my sole object in living was to find thy caitiff 
 self ; a world would not purchase thee one moment's 
 respite 1 " and before the wretch could more than 
 clutch his weapon, the knight's sword passed through 
 his heart — the hilt struck upon the breast-bone, and 
 the Red Pedler did not carry his Hfe to the floor. 
 
 The stranger for a moment gazed upon the breathless 
 body, and having with the dead man's cloak removed 
 the blood from his blade, replaced it coolly in the sheath. 
 The Pedler's purse he flung scornfully to the peasant, 
 but the cross he took up, looked at it with fixed attention, 
 and the herdsman's wife remarked that more than one 
 tear fell upon the relic. 
 
 Just then the gray-haired Monk stood before him ; 
 he had left his convent to offer up the mass, which he 
 did on every anniversary of the pilgrim's murder. 
 He started back with horror as he viewed the bleeding 
 corpse ; while the knight, having secured the cross 
 within his bosom, resumed his former cold and haughty 
 bearing. 
 
 " Fellow ! " he cried to the trembling peasant, '' hence 
 with that carrion. Come hither. Monk — ^why gapest 
 thou thus ? hast thou never seen a corpse ere now ? 
 Approach, I would speak with thee apart " — and he 
 strode to the further end of the cottage, followed by the 
 churchman. — '' I am going to confide to thee what — " 
 
200 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 " The penitent should kneel," said the old man, 
 timidly. 
 
 " Kneel ! " exclaimed the Knight, " and to thee^ 
 my fellow mortal ! Monk, thou mistakest — / am not 
 of thy faith^ and I laugh thy priestcraft to derision. 
 Hearken, but interrupt me not. The beauteous being 
 whose blood was spilled in these accursed wilds was the 
 chosen lady of my love. I stole her from a convent, 
 and wedded her in secret ; for pride of birth induced 
 me to conceal from the world my marriage with a 
 fugitive nun. She became pregnant, and that circum- 
 stance endeared her to me doubly, and I swore a solemn 
 oath that, if she brought a boy, I would at once announce 
 him as my heir, and proclaim my marriage to the world. 
 The wars called me for a time away. Deluded by the 
 artifice of her confessor, my loved one was induced to 
 come hither on a pilgrimage, to intercede with thy 
 saint, that the burden she bore might prove a son. 
 Curses light upon the shaveling that counselled that fatal 
 journey ! Nay, cross not thyself, old man, for I would 
 execrate thy master of Rome, had he been the false 
 adviser. Thou knowest the rest, Monk. Take this 
 purse. She was of thy faith, and thou must say masses 
 for her soul's health. Yearly shall the same sum be 
 sent to thy convent ; see that all that prayers can do 
 be done, or by my hopes of grace, thy hive of drones 
 shall smoke for it. Doubt me not. — De Burgo will 
 keep his word to the very letter. And now, farewell ! 
 I hurry from this fatal spot for ever ; my train are not 
 distant, and have long since expected me." 
 
 As he spoke, he took his mantle from the floor, and 
 wrapped it round him carelessly ; then, as he passed the 
 spot where the body of the murderer lay, he spurned 
 
THE LEGEND OF KNOCK- A- TH AMPLE. 201 
 
 it with his foot, and, pausing for a moment, looked at 
 the Monk— 
 
 " Remember / " he said in a low voice, which made the 
 old man shudder, and, passing from the cabin, he 
 crossed the heath, and disappeared. 
 
 But the terror of the herdsman's family did not abate 
 with his departure ; a dead man lay before them, and 
 the floor was deluged with his blood. No human help 
 was nigh ; before daylight assistance could not be 
 expected ; and no alternative remained but to wait 
 patiently for the morrow. Candles were lighted up, 
 the hearth was heaped with fuel, and a cloth thrown 
 over the corpse, which they lacked the courage to remove. 
 To sleep was impossible, and in devotional acts they 
 endeavoured to while the night away. Midnight came, 
 the Monk was slumbering over his breviary, and the 
 matron occupied with her beads, when a violent tramp- 
 ling was heard outside, and the peasant, fearing the 
 cattle he had in charge were disturbed, rose to ascertain 
 the cause. In a moment he returned. A herd of wild 
 deer surrounded the cabin, and actually stood in 
 threatening attitude within a few paces of the door ! 
 While he told this strange occurrence to the Monk 
 a clap of thunder shook the hovel to its centre — yells, 
 and shrieks, and groans succeeded — noises so demoniac 
 as to almost drive the listeners to madness, hurtled 
 through the air — and infernal lights flashed through the 
 crevices of the door and window. Till morning broke, 
 these unearthly terrors continued, without a moment's 
 intermission. 
 
 Next day the villagers collected. They listened 
 to the fearful story v/ith dismay, while the melancholy 
 fate of the gentle pilgrim was bitterly lamented. To 
 
202 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 inter the Pedler's corpse was the first care ; for the 
 Monk swore by his patron saint that he would not 
 pass another night with it overground to be made a 
 '* mitred abbot." A coffin was forthwith prepared, and 
 with " maimed rites," the murderer was committed 
 to the earth. 
 
 That masses were requisite to purify the scene of 
 slaughter was indisputable — and with the peasants who 
 had flocked from the neighbouring villages, the Monk 
 determined to pass that night in prayer. The blood- 
 stains were removed from the floor — ^the corpse had been 
 laid in consecrated earth — and the office had commenced 
 at midnight, when, suddenly, a rushing noise was heard, 
 as if a mountain-torrent was swollen by the bursting of 
 a thunder-cloud. It passed the herdsman's cabin, 
 while blue lights gleamed through the casement, and 
 thunder pealed above. In a state of desperation, the 
 priest ordered the door to be unclosed, and by the 
 lightning's glare, a herd of red deer were seen tearing 
 up the Pedler's grave 1 To look longer in that blue 
 infernal glare was impossible — the door was shut, and 
 the remainder of the night passed in penitential prayer. 
 
 With the first light of morning, the Monk and 
 villagers repaired to the Pedler's grave, and the scene 
 it presented showed that the horrors of the preceding 
 night were no illusion. The earth around was blasted 
 with lightning, and the coffin torn from the tomb, and 
 shattered in a thousand splinters. — The corpse was 
 blackening on the heath, and the expression of the 
 distorted features was more like that of a demon than a 
 man. Not very distant was the grave of his beautiful 
 victim. The garland which the village girls had placed 
 there was fresh and unfaded ; and late as the season 
 
THE LEGEND OF KNOCK- A-THAMPLE. 203 
 
 was the blossom was still upon the bog-myrtle, and the 
 heath-flower was as bright and fragrant as though it 
 were the merry month of June. *' These are indeed 
 the works of hell and heaven," ejaculated the gray 
 friar. " Let no hand from this time forth pollute itself 
 by touching yon accursed corpse." 
 
 Nightly the same horrible noises continued. Shriek 
 and groan came from the spot where the unburied 
 murderer was rotting, while by day the hill-fox and the 
 eagle contended who should possess the body. Ere 
 a week passed the villain's bones were blanching in the 
 winds of heaven, for no human hand attempted to 
 cover them again. 
 
 From that time the place was deserted. The desperate 
 noises, and the frequent appearance of the Pedler's 
 tortured spirit, obliged the herdsman to abandon his 
 dwelling, and reside in an adjacent village. The night 
 of the day upon which he had removed his family and 
 effects, a flash of lightning fell upon the cabin, and 
 consumed the roof ; and next morning nothing remained 
 but black and rifted walls. Since that time the well 
 is only used for penance. The peasant approaches 
 not the desecrated burying-place if he can avoid it. 
 The cattle are never known to shelter underneath the 
 ruined walls — and the curse of God and man have fallen 
 on Knock' a-thample. 
 
204 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI, 
 
 The Colonel has girded up his loins for the mountains, 
 and, with the assistance of Mogh-a-dioul, a pony of 
 unhappy name, but good and enduring qualities, he 
 purposes to favour us with his company during our 
 sojourn at the cabin in the hills. While we traverse 
 the moors, the commander will infest the river ; or, 
 if the day be questionable, like honest Sancho, he will 
 patiently remain beside the flesh-pots. To him the 
 " meminisse juvabit " will apply. Thirty years ago, 
 with his lamented contemporary, our host's father, 
 the soldier, who was then a keen and accomplished 
 sportsman, spent many a happy hour upon the heath. 
 To his memory every dell and hillock is still green ; 
 and hence our evening details will recall to him those 
 happier recollections of youthful pastime, which, when 
 " life was new," he had once delighted to indulge in. 
 
 The Colonel fishes well I and I, at least my vanity 
 believes it, have improved marvellously — I really can 
 throw a line, and this the priest avers upon the word 
 of a churchman. I begin also to have what the Scotch 
 call a gloamin' of what forms the composition of a killing 
 fly. But my pride has sadly abated. Last night, during 
 a stormy controversy, touching the comparative merits 
 of Pull-garrow and Pull-buoy, upon which the host 
 and commander held opinions opposite as the antipodes, 
 to prove that I belonged to a " thinking people," I 
 raised my voice in favour of the yellow pool. Our host, 
 in dudgeon, having premised that one of us was blind, 
 and the other a botch, declared by the shade of Walton, 
 
THE COLONEL S WAGER. 305 
 
 that on any given day he would kill more than we both 
 could produce together. This, as every Irish argument 
 ends in a duel or bet, has terminated, fortunately ^ in the 
 latter : and though the wager be not so deep as Hamlet's 
 " Barbary horses " to " French rapiers, poniards, and 
 their assigns," yet the respective parties appear deeply 
 interested in the result. To-morrow will decide the 
 question, and settle the doubtful point of scientific 
 superiority between the rival artists. 
 
 It strikes me forcibly, that among Irish anglers the 
 doctrine of meum et tuum is but indifferently understood. 
 My kinsman and the commander are constantly lamenting 
 a loss of property, and certainly they do not indulge in 
 these jeremiads without good reason. I never observe 
 the Colonel's huge book forgotten for a few minutes, 
 but it is unmercifully plundered by the host — and if 
 the key of the latter 's fly-drawer can be procured, the 
 commander unlocks it without ceremony, and having 
 explored its arcana, adopts liberally such articles as find 
 favour in his sight. The housemaid has been suborned 
 to abstract the Colonel's casting-lines from his dor- 
 mitory ; and, as the host generally hides a favourite 
 fly or two in the lining of his hat, I never pass the hall 
 without finding the commander fumbling about the hat- 
 stand. It was clearly stipulated and understood that 
 the flies with which to-morrow's match should be 
 decided were to be bona fide the handy-work of the 
 respective parties ; yet the Colonel privately informs 
 me that he has despatched a trusty envoy to the priest, 
 to implore that gifted churchman to furnish him, sub 
 sigillo, with a cast or two for the occasion ; and the said 
 envoy has covenanted to be at the commander's window 
 with an answer, '* before a mother's soul is stirring." 
 
206 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 The thunder-storm produced a considerable fresh 
 in the river, as the rain fell abundantly in the hills. The 
 stream, however, had sufficient time to clear after the 
 flood, and we found it in beautiful order. The wind 
 is steady at north-west ; and as the drafting has long 
 since been discontinued, and the wears lowered to permit 
 the fish to enter from the sea without obstruction, 
 old Antony declares that, as a fishing- day, nothing could 
 be more favourable. We tossed for choice, and lost 
 it. My kinsman commences his work three miles 
 up, at his favourite Pull-garrow, while we fish from the 
 mouth of the river. At five we meet at the cabin, and 
 the party then producing the greater weight of fish 
 is conqueror. These preliminaries being adjusted, our 
 opponent went off like an arab, to join his aide-de-camp, 
 Mr. Hennessey, who has all in readiness for his com- 
 mencement, and, I suspect, a salmon or two already 
 in the pannier. 
 
 The opening of our campaign is everything but satis- 
 factory — Mogh-a-dioul seems possessed with the 
 demon of obstinacy ; any advance towards the river 
 is his aversion, and, as Pattigo expresses it, '' the beast 
 will neither wear or stay'' The commander's seat 
 has been more than once perilled by his gambadoes ; 
 and, as we are informed that he is caparisoned with a 
 bit, which is his abomination, there is but little chance 
 of amendment in Mogh-a-dioul. This appears very 
 like a plot against the Colonel's person ; and I fear that 
 the midnight embassy to the priest will be more than 
 countervailed by the manoeuvres of our abler antagonist. 
 
 Both adepts made excellent professions of good 
 faith at starting ; but, as my kinsman left us, there was a 
 " lurking devil in his eye," that augurs us no good 
 
THE COLONEL'S WAGER. 207 
 
 fortune. The commander, too, talked in good, set terms 
 of *' honourable conduct " ; but precept and practice, 
 I lament to say, are somewhat irreconcilable. 
 
 " Andy,^' he said, in his most insinuating manner, to 
 our attendant ; '* Andy Bawn^ you were always an 
 obliging boy, and very handy with the gaff. Just keep 
 your eye about the banks as we go along ; and if you can 
 snaffle a salmon or two, why, the pannier will tell no 
 tales, and weigh all the better." 
 
 To me there never was a more delightful expedition ; 
 but my companion was cold to all the romance of 
 nature, and engrossed with one consideration — to win 
 his wager. While I was enraptured with the splendid 
 scenery that each new point presented, the Colonel was 
 cursing his flies, and pouring anathemas on the priest. 
 " How beautiful !" I exclaimed, as the sunshine fell 
 upon a mountain valley, through which a little rivulet 
 was winding, and whose waters, in the glare of light, 
 danced downwards like a streak of molten silver. 
 
 '' How d provoking," responded my brother 
 
 fisherman, " that the only decent fly in that accursed 
 priest's collection should be tied upon a hook with no 
 more point upon it than a hobnail ! Ah, Father Andrew ! 
 was this treatment for an old acquaintance — a man who 
 would have trusted his life to you, and drink with you 
 in the dark ? Here, Andy Bawn^ give me my book, 
 and fling this most villainous assemblage of faded wool 
 and ragged feathers into the next bog-hole. And now, 
 my friend and fellow-labourer, leave the mountains 
 alone, and think more of filling the fishing-baskets, 
 or we are beaten men ! " 
 
 We followed the course of the river for a distance of 
 ten miles, stopping at the pools as we went along, but 
 
208 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 leaving the streams and shallows without a trial. As 
 we proceeded up the hills the scenery became wilder 
 and more interesting ; here and there the moors were 
 sprinkled with green hillocks, and the range of moun- 
 tains behind was splendidly picturesque. The pools 
 alone had beauty in my companion's eyes, and some of 
 them were indeed magnificent. One was particularly 
 romantic — ^it was a deep natural basin, formed by a 
 sudden turning of the river, where the banks on either 
 side were nearly perpendicular, and rose to a con- 
 siderable height, and, to the water's edge, were thickly 
 covered with hollies and hardy shrubs. At the upper 
 end of the pool, a rock of immense magnitude reared 
 its naked front, and shut out every other object. Round 
 its base, the river forced its waters through a narrow 
 channel, and at the other extremity, falling over a ledge 
 of rocks, turned sharply round a hillock, and was lost 
 sight of. There were but two points from which the 
 angler could command the pool, for elsewhere the 
 banks and underwood prevented his approach : one was 
 a sandbank about the centre, to which, by a narrow 
 goat-path, the fisher could descend ; the other, a small 
 space immediately beneath the rock of green and velvet- 
 looking herbage. At this point the shepherds had 
 erected a hut for occasional shelter, and never was a 
 sweeter spot selected wherein to dream away a summer 
 night. No human dwelling was in sight — deep and 
 undisturbed solitude breathed around — ^the blue and 
 lucid pool before the cabin danced in the moonlight, 
 or glittered in the first rays of morning — while the 
 rushing waters of the river produced such melancholy 
 and tranquillizing sounds, as would lull to rest any 
 bosom untortured by mortal passions. 
 
THE COLONEL S WAGER. 209 
 
 " Julius has been here before us, and has left some 
 mementoes of his visit," said the Colonel, pointing to 
 foot-marks in the sand, and blood and fish-scales upon the 
 pebbles ; '' I fear our bet is in jeopardy ; verily, our 
 worthy relative will never shame the proverb, that 
 * De'il's bairns have de'il's luck ! ' But what can the 
 matter be among the salmon ? In faith, the pool appears 
 bewitched." 
 
 As he spoke I remarked the occurrence which the 
 commander noticed. The fish, which upon our first 
 arrival had risen merrily at the natural flies, ceased on 
 a sudden altogether — ^now they rushed confusedly 
 through the water or threw themselves for yards 
 along the surface. It was not the sullen plunge 
 at an insect, or the vertical spring, when sport, 
 not food, brings the salmon over water ; but it 
 was evident there was some hidden cause of alarm, and 
 we were not long left in doubt. Near the neck of the 
 pool an otter pf the largest size showed himself for a 
 moment, then darting under water, the same commotion 
 ensued again. Before a minute elapsed, Andy Bawn 
 pointed silently to a shoal beneath an overhanging bush, 
 and there was the spoiler, apparently resting himself 
 after his successful exertions, and holding a four-pound 
 white trout in his mouth. Either he noticed us, or had 
 some more favourite haunt to feed in, for he glided 
 into the deep water, and we saw no more of him. 
 
 Although we found out that the otter and ourselves 
 could not manage to fish in company, we ascertained 
 that the pool was abundantly stocked with salmon ; 
 during the period of the greatest alarm, at least a dozen 
 fish were breaking the surface at the same time. 
 
 We reached the cabin after a day of excellent sport ; 
 
 f 
 
210 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 but everything on earth has its alloy, and two circum- 
 stances appear to cloud the sunshine of the commander's 
 bosom. One is the inexplicable conduct of the priest ; 
 the other, the repeated misconduct of Mogh-a-dioul. 
 We have, to be sure, four fine salmon, and a score of good- 
 sized sea-trout ; but the Colonel swears that he lost 
 his best fishing until he discarded the priest's flies ; 
 and it is probable, if their defects had been apparent 
 at an earlier period, our baskets would have been con- 
 siderably benefited by the discovery. 
 
 As we ascended the bank before the cabin door, our 
 
 rival met us. He had left ofl[ fishing for some time, 
 
 and had changed his dress entirely — " Come, brush 
 
 up, or dinner will be spoiled. Colonel, I trust that 
 
 you and Mogh-a-dioul are on pleasing terms with each 
 
 other. You stole my bridle, but, no apologies — I can 
 
 ride Crughadore with a hay band. Come, — ^to scale 
 
 at once, or dinner is not worth a gray groat. Hennessey, 
 
 the steel-yard — produce — despatch — one^ two, three, 
 
 four. You killed one apiece, I presume, and Andy gaifed 
 
 the other two ; nay, commander of the faithful, look 
 
 not so ferocious. What, no more ! and is this paltry 
 
 creel of fish the produce of the day ? Colonel, I blush 
 
 for you. Barely forty pounds. Turn that clave* over, 
 
 and put these gentlemen of the angle out of pain." 
 
 As he spoke, the attendant emptied the contents of the 
 
 pannier, and nine well-sized salmon, with a multitude - 
 
 of sea-trout, rolled out upon the sward. 
 
 " By my faith ! " exclaimed the commander, " these 
 fish were never fairly killed ; you drafted a hole or two, 
 as surely as I am a sinner." 
 
 '' The latter part of your remark I admit," said my 
 
 * A horsebasket. 
 
THE colonel's WAGER. 211 
 
 kinsman, ** the former I deny. By this virgin hand ! 
 every fish before you was killed by hook and line. 
 Come, are you for another bet ? For five pounds, and 
 within five minutes^ I'll kill another salmon, and make 
 the number ten ! " 
 
 " Done ! " we exclaimed together. 
 
 " Hennessey, the rod ; wet the flies below the pool, 
 and in twenty seconds, yon cloud will be over the sun." 
 
 Before the cabin there was a tolerable hole, deep, 
 but narrow. Where the stream runs in, the ripple is 
 considerable, and between it and the bank the deepest 
 water lies. If there be a salmon in the pool, there is the 
 spot to find him. My cousin sent the casting-line in 
 such masterly style into the opposite eddy as pro- 
 claimed him at once an adept, and the second cast a 
 salmon rose and took him. 
 
 He was but a light fish, and in less than three minutes 
 was bounding upon the grass beside his dead com- 
 panions. My kinsman handed the rod to the attendant. 
 — " Gentlemen," he said in mock heroics, " in your 
 memories be all my bets remembered ! And now to 
 dinner, with what appetite you may." 
 
 " Well," said the commander, " this heats Bannagher.^ 
 I would have given my corporal oath the knave had 
 swept the river. His flies are absolute perfection ! 
 There's villainy somewhere ; but come along. The 
 dinner must not cool, and the wine shall pay for it ! " 
 
 " Julius," said the commander, as he extracted the 
 third cork, " thy star predominated ; a villainous 
 combination of circumstances, with infernal flies, and 
 an intractable pony, destroyed me. Andy Bawn (we 
 are beaten, and the truth may be told) for the first time 
 
 * An Irish phrase synonymous with" this exceeds everything." 
 
212 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 in his life was taken with a fit of conscience, and actually 
 refused to gaff a salmon. The very otters were com- 
 bined against us, and disturbed the best pool upon the 
 river but Pull-buoy. I had no time to tie fresh flies." 
 
 " Or even send to Goolamere to borrow,'' said my 
 kinsman, drily. 
 
 "Ah, hem," and the Colonel appeared a little bothered 
 — " I want no man's flies ; my own, I find, will generally 
 answer." 
 
 " And yet," said the host, " the priest, when he 
 pleases, can tie a killing one.'' 
 
 " Why — ye — es, he does — a leetle coarse — but let me 
 see your casting-lines ; I fear, my friend, that we had 
 not the right colours up." 
 
 " I fear so, too," said our host, with much expression. 
 
 "By my conscience ! " exclaimed the Colonel, as he 
 scrutinised the casting-lines that were wound about my 
 kinsman's hat, " I would have taken my oath on a 
 bag-full of books that this mallard's wing was tied by 
 Father Andrew." 
 
 " And by my conscience," returned the host, " you 
 would not have been very far astray." 
 
 " And was this fair, Julius — ^to fish with any but 
 your own ? " 
 
 " Why, really, they looked so beautiful, that for the 
 life of me I could not but put them up. But, my friend, 
 the next time you despatch a midnight messenger, 
 select a trustier one than Currakeen* — and take a better 
 opportunity to praise young Alice's * black eyes ' than 
 when issuing your secret instructions. Nay, I will 
 respect those blushes. The fact is, Currakeen was at 
 your window before * a mother's soul was stirring '—^ 
 * A bye-name given to one of tUe endless tribe of Malley, 
 
THE colonel's WAGEft. 21 3 
 
 but, my dear Colonel, he did me the favour to first call 
 at mine. I merely took the liberty of exchanging a 
 few flies — you fished with some old acquaintances, 
 while I tried experiments with Father Andrew's. Come, 
 the bets are off — we both violated treaties, and thus 
 I renounce my victory, though my opinion of Pull- 
 garrow is unalterable." 
 
 " Julius," said the commander, solemnly, " you'll 
 be on the highway next. Breaking a letter open, I think, 
 is an excellent preparative for stopping his Majesty's 
 mail." 
 
 " And in that case, I trust that you will be an accom- 
 plice. If one must swing, good society is everything. 
 Your demeanour at ' the fatal tree,' I am persuaded, 
 would be exemplary." 
 
214 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 The otter-killer arrived here last evening, after having, 
 according to his own account, worked wonders upon a 
 damaged head. From the specimens I have seen 
 during my short sojourn at Ballycroy, I have come to a 
 conclusion that the skulls of the natives are fabricated 
 of different materials to those of all the world besides. 
 Their endurance is miraculous — a fellow who was 
 reported as *' beaten to a jelly, and anointed by the priest," 
 last week, actually cleared a fair with an unpronounceable 
 name yesterday, after qualifying for admission to the 
 next infirmary some half-score of his Majesty's liege 
 subjects. This is an every-day exploit ; and of all the 
 corners of the earth that I have visited, I would name 
 this as the place wherein to establish a resident cranio- 
 logist. 
 
 Like all wild people, these aborigines are absurdly 
 credulous, and open to the grossest superstitions. 
 Charms, as they believe, are employed with decided 
 success, in every disease you name. The existence of 
 ghosts and fairies is universally acknowledged ; and 
 animals of extraordinary formation, and strange virtues, 
 are supposed to inhabit lakes and rivers. Among these, 
 the sea-horse and master-otter^ are pre-eminent. By 
 a singular anomaly, the first is said to be found in certain 
 inland loughs, and his appearance is imagined to be 
 fatal to the unfortunate person who encounters him. 
 The latter, however, should be an object of anxious 
 
 * There is a strange coincidence between the master -otter of 
 the Irish and the Jungunus crocodile of the Japanese. 
 
GHOSTS AND FAIRIES. 21 5 
 
 research, for he is endued with amazing virtues. Where 
 a portion of his skin is, the house cannot be burned, 
 or the ship cast away, and steel or bullet will not harm 
 the man who possesses an inch of this precious material. 
 Antony, indeed, confesses that, in the course of his 
 otter-hunting, he has never been fortunate enough to 
 meet this invaluable brute ; but he tells a confused 
 story of one having been killed " far down in the 
 north " by three brothers called Montgomery, who, 
 from poverty, became immensely rich, and whose 
 descendants are opulent to this very day. He says, 
 the master-otter was seen twice in this neighbourhood. 
 At Dhu-hill, he appeared about sixty years ago, attended 
 by about one hundred common-sized animals, who 
 waited upon " the master " like loyal and dutiful beasts. 
 He was also observed by one of the O'Donnel family, 
 whilst passing through Clew Bay in a sailing-boat. 
 Requiring a supply of fresh water, O'Donnel landed 
 on an island for the purpose of filling his keg, but found 
 the spring already occupied by a strange and nondescript 
 animal. After his first surprise had subsided, he 
 returned to the boat, and procured a gun. This he loaded 
 carefully with five fingers and a half* — ^for Antony is 
 minute in all his narratives — ^and then, and within a 
 dozen yards, levelled at the master. Thrice he drew 
 the trigger, and thrice the gun missed fire. The otter 
 wisely determined not to give him a fourth chance, 
 and left the well for the ocean. Mortified at his failure, 
 O'Donnel tried his gun at a passing gull ; it exploded 
 without trouble, and finished the unfortunate bird — 
 thus proving, beyond a doubt, that the gun was faultless, 
 
 * The lower class of Irish describe the charge of a gun not by- 
 quantity of powder and shot, but by long measure. 
 
21 6 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 and the preservative qualities of the animal were alone to 
 blame — " And, indeed," quoth Antony, " he might 
 have snapped at the master to eternity ; for, if an inch 
 of skin can save house, ship, and man, what a deal of 
 virtue there must be in a whole hide ! " 
 
 The legendary tales touching the appearance of 
 ghosts, and the exploits of fairies, are endless. The 
 agency of the former appears directed principally to 
 men, while the latter exercise their powers upon children 
 and cattle. Indeed, the sinister influence of the '' faery 
 race " appears to fall almost exclusively upon the brute 
 creation in Ballycroy ; and through it many an unhappy 
 cow comes to an untimely end, and if she escape loss 
 of life, she suffers what is nearly as bad, loss of butter. 
 For the first calamity, Antony acknowledges there is 
 no cure ; but for the second^ there is " balm in Gilead," 
 and certain holy loughs afford an antidote to this elfin 
 visitation. 
 
 The cow, I believe, should be present at the operation, 
 which is performed by committing her tether and some 
 butter to the waves, with (of course) a due proportion 
 of prayers for her recovery. Whether the animal be 
 benefited or not, there be others who reap sure and solid 
 advantages. At the proper period, some saint's day, 
 no doubt, when Lough Keirawn is frequented by the 
 proprietors of bewitched cattle, many of the poor of the 
 neighbourhood congregate on the lee side of the lake, 
 and a lively and profitable fishing of fresh butter 
 continues, until the oblations to the saint or saintess 
 of the lake, on the part of the afflicted cows, have 
 ended. 
 
 While staying at a gentleman's house I heard, when 
 passing the porter's lodge, that the gate-keeper's cow 
 
GHOSTS AND FAIRIES. 21 7 
 
 was ill. As she was a fine animal, the loss would have 
 been a serious one to the family, and hence I became 
 interested in her recovery. For several days, however, 
 the report to my inquiry was most unfavourable, and 
 at last the case was considered hopeless. 
 
 The following morning, as I rode past, I found the 
 family in deep distress. The cow, they said, could 
 not live many hours ; and the gate-keeper had gone 
 off to fetch " the charmer," who lived some ten miles 
 distant. I really sympathised with the good woman. 
 The loss of eight or nine guineas to one in humble life 
 is a serious calamity ; and from the appearance of the 
 cow I concluded, though not particularly skilful, that 
 the animal would not survive. 
 
 That evening I strolled out after dinner. It was sweet 
 moonlight, and I bent my steps to the gate-house to 
 inquire if the cow still lived. 
 
 The family was in great tribulation. " The charmer 
 had arrived— had seen the cow — ^had prepared herbs 
 and nostrums, and was performing some solitary cere- 
 mony at an adjacent spring- well, from which he had 
 excluded every member of the family in assisting." 
 I was most curious to observe the incantation, but was 
 dissuaded by the gate-keeper, who implored me "to 
 give the conjuror fair play." 
 
 In five minutes the charmer joined us — he said the 
 case was a bad one, but that he thought he could 
 bring round the cow. He then administered the 
 " unhallowed potion," and I left the lodge, expecting 
 to hear next morning that the animal was defunct. 
 
 Next day " the bulletin was favourable " ; and " the 
 charmer " was in the act of receiving his reward — I 
 looked at him ; he was as squalid and heart-broken a 
 
21 8 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 wretch in appearance as ever trod the earth. The cow 
 still seemed weak, but " the charmer " spoke confi- 
 dently of her recovery. When he left the lodge and 
 turned his steps homewards, I pulled up my horse and 
 waited for him. He would rather have avoided an 
 interview, but could not. '' Well, fellow, you have 
 humbugged that poor family, and persuaded them that 
 the cow will recover ? " — " I have told them truth," 
 said the charmer, coldly. — " And will your prophecy 
 prove true ? " I asked, in a tone of scornful incredulity. 
 " It will," said he ; " but, God help me I this night I'll 
 pay dearly for it ! " I looked at him — his face was 
 agonised and terror-stricken ; he crossed the fence and 
 disappeared. 
 
 When I passed the gate-house on my return, the cow 
 was evidently convalescent ; and in a few days she was 
 perfectly well. 
 
 I leave the solution of the mystery to the learned ; 
 for in such matters, as they say in Connaught — Neil an 
 skeil a gau maun. 
 
 Among the human diseases ascribed to supernatural 
 causes, the faragurta is the principal. Conjectures 
 touching its origin are numerous and contradictory, 
 and it is attributed to everything but the true cause. 
 The faragurta comes on suddenly — ^a general weakness 
 precedes the attack — ^the sufferer's strength is pros- 
 trated in an instant — ^he sinks down, and, if assistance 
 be not at hand, perishes. Many persons are lost through 
 this disease while crossing the extensive wilds around 
 us, where human relief is generally unattainable. 
 
 The causes, to which, in popular belief, it is ascribed 
 are many. Some assert that it is brought on by treading 
 upon a poisonous plant ; others, that it is occasioned by 
 
GHOSTS AND FAIRIES. 219 
 
 fairy influence ; while more affirm that it is produced 
 by passing over the place where a corpse has been laid 
 down. But this mystified disorder is, after all, nothing 
 but exhaustion consequent upon hunger and fatigue. 
 The lower classes are particularly obnoxious to its 
 attack. They eat but seldom, and at irregular seasons ; 
 and commonly labour for many hours before they 
 break their fast. Want of food produces faintness and 
 exhaustion ; and a supernatural cause is sought for a 
 simple malady, which is only the natural consequence 
 of dyspepsia and an empty stomach. 
 
 One would imagine that the specific for faragurta 
 would at once point out its origin. Bread, or even a 
 few grains of corn, are beheved to cure it instantly ; 
 but any kind of food is equally efficacious. '' I have 
 seen," said my kinsman, " many persons attacked with 
 faragurta, and have myself been patient and physician. 
 Some years ago, a finCj active boy, called Emineein* 
 commonly attended me to the moors, and one day he 
 was suddenly taken ill, in the very wildest part of the 
 hills. He lost all power of Hmb, and lay down upon the 
 heath unable to proceed a step. We had no grain of 
 any kind to administer, and in this emergency tried 
 that universal panacea — a glass of whisky. After he had 
 swallowed the cordial, the boy rather got worse than 
 better, and we were obUged to carry him to a still-house, 
 at nearly two miles distance. On our arrival, fortunately 
 for Emineein, we found the operators collected round 
 a skibbf of potatoes. After eating one or two, the 
 patient was able to join the party, and next morning 
 proceeded stoutly home. 
 
 '' In my own case, the predisposing cause was no 
 
 * Synonymous to Neddy. t ^ basket. 
 
220 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 enigma. I had been one of a knot of fox-hunters who, 
 on the preceding night, had indulged in a desperate 
 jollification. Finding a disinclination for breakfast, 
 I repaired, contrary to my general habit, without it to 
 the mountains. I had exercised severely for several 
 hours, when at once I became helpless as an infant, 
 and sank upon a bank incapable of motion. My pony 
 and some food were speedily obtained, and the faragurta 
 banished. But, assuredly, if unassisted, I must have 
 lain upon the heath, for I could not make the slightest 
 exertion to get forward." 
 
 It is a lamentable fact that the obligation of legal 
 oath is here of trifling importance. Cases of determined 
 perjury occur every day ; and an adjuration upon the 
 evangelists is considered as being far inferior in solemnity 
 to one upon the priest's vestment. Whether there 
 be any regular formula to be observed in this compara- 
 tive swearing, I know not ; I say comparative y for in 
 Ballycroy, oaths, like adjectives, have three degrees of 
 value. First, that upon the evangelists ; the second, 
 upon the vestment ; and the last upon the skull. 
 Nothing is more common than to hear a fellow, who had 
 just laid down the book, offer to fortify his doubtful 
 evidence, by taking number two. But even the vestment 
 is not always conclusive ; and the following anecdote 
 will best describe the value of comparative swearing : — 
 
 Andy Bawn has felt the arrow of " the villain," and 
 believed, " fond wretch ! " that he was beloved again. 
 The night of the portmanteau affair will ever be 
 chronicled upon his memory ; for while he was under 
 fear and terror at the bridge of Bally veeney, she, the lady 
 of his love, was at a prinkum* at Latrah, performing 
 
 * A Ballycroy ball, on the " free and easy " plan, where rouch 
 whisky and no ceremony is used. 
 
GHOSTS AND FAIRIES. 221 
 
 * apples for gentlemen,"* with another suitor. Nay, 
 more, the quondam lover, as was reported, had actually 
 cecisheo^d Miss Biddy Currigan across the bogs ; and dark 
 and dangerous innuendoes arose from this imprudent 
 escort. Andy Bawn was unhappily a man " who 
 doubts, but dotes ; suspects, yet fondly loves." Alas ! 
 what was to be done ? Could Miss Currigan become 
 Mrs. Donahoo, after suffering a regular blast ^ as they 
 call it in the kingdom of Connaught ? Impossible ! 
 her character must be cleared, and Andy satisfied. 
 
 The magistrate was proposed — well, that was good 
 enough, if it were the identity of a strayed sheep, or 
 the murder of a man ; but in a nice case, like Miss 
 Currigan's, it was totally inefficient. " The vestment 
 would be taken," — still better ; but the world was 
 censorious : and, after all, Biddy Currigan was a giddy 
 girl to cross a couple of miles of moorland, after midnight, 
 with a declared lover, and him hearty ;f — and so thought 
 Andy Bawn. At last the suspected virgin volunteered 
 to " take the skull," dispel the fears of her Hege lord, 
 and put calumny to the blush for ever. Andy Bawn 
 " breathed again ; " and the otter-killer was directed 
 to provide the necessary articles for the ceremony. 
 
 A skull was accordingly procured from a neighbouring 
 burying-ground ; and Andy's mother, anxious for the 
 honour of the family, threw into the relic a bunch of 
 keys — for iron, they say, adds desperately to the solemnity 
 of the obligation. The apparatus being paraded, 
 Antony explained in the mother tongue that the sins 
 of the lady or gentleman to whom the skull had once 
 
 * A favourite contre danse at the above assemblies, 
 ■\ Anglice, half drunk, 
 
222 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 appertained would be added to Miss Currigan's, if 
 she, Biddy, swore falsely ; and Mrs. Donahoo jingled 
 the old iron, and showed that she was '* awake to time," 
 and had left nothing on her part undone that could 
 give effect to the ceremonial. Miss Currigan, with 
 a step and bearing that might silence slander, advanced 
 under the direction of the otter-killer : — ^like a maid " in 
 the pride of her purity," she devoutly placed her hand 
 upon the skull — and Andy Bawn was made a happy man 
 for ever ! 
 
 That the saints are often and scandalously overreached 
 by sinners, is a fact which must be admitted, and 
 lamented. One case of base dishonesty has but recently 
 occurred in the establishment of my cousin. A cook, 
 whom he had procured through the agency of a friend, 
 has proved a heavy defaulter, and, as Antony says, 
 " scandalized the family." For a considerable time 
 her conduct was unquestionable : she went regularly 
 to Mass, gave half-a-crown at Easter, never missed Con- 
 fessions, and, better still, conducted the culinary 
 department with excellent propriety, — so much so, that 
 Father Andrew declared from the altar that she was 
 an exemplary artiste and a capital Christian. " Frailty, 
 thy name is woman ! " This paragon of cooks levanted 
 one frosty night with a travelling pedler. Then, and 
 not till then, was the dark side of her character exhibited. 
 *' She did not value Lent a traneein — had shared a rasher 
 with Sir Charles's man upon a blessed Friday — and, 
 if a skillet went astray, she would promise a pilgrimage 
 to the Reek for its recovery, without the least intention 
 of ever laying a leg upon that blessed hill." 
 
 The morning after her disappearance, her sins were 
 freely canvassed in the kitchen. " The Lord forgive 
 
GHOSTS AND FAIRIES. 223 
 
 her ! " said the keeper, "for I can't ; she treated the 
 young dogs abominably. Spot will lose a claw ; and I 
 am sure it was Sibby, the devil speed her I that scalded 
 him." 
 
 " She could hide a quart of spirits, and it would never 
 show upon her," cried Pattigo. 
 
 " She was mighty dangerous in a house," exclaimed 
 the black-eyed chamber-maid ; "I never settled the 
 master's room, but she was sure to pass the window." 
 
 " She's gone," said the otter-killer ; *' there's worse 
 in the north than Sibby. Many a good bowl of broth 
 she gave me. Tho she mur tho she ; agus neil she gun 
 lought* She was no great Catholic, it is true I for she 
 owned to me last St. John's — and she hearty at the time 
 — that she was in debt four stations at Ball, and three 
 and twenty at Croagh Patrick I She was, the crature, 
 a fine warrant for a promise, but the worst performer 
 under the canopy of heaven — she'll never," said the old 
 man, with his own peculiar chuckle, " clear scores with 
 the Reek and Father Nolan. In troth, I think it would 
 almost puzzle Bobby I " This extraordinary being, 
 it should be explained, lived at the foot of Croagh Patrick, 
 and was the first performer (religious) of his day in 
 Connaught. He generally resided at the house of a 
 neighbouring gentleman ; and when a pilgrim visitor 
 was discouraged by the acclivity of the hill, or the 
 quantity of prayers to be got over, Bobby, for a con- 
 sideration, undertook and executed the task. He was 
 not only a harmless, but, as may be well imagined, a 
 very useful personage ; and his death has left a blank 
 which has never yet been filled. 
 
 * Anglice, " She is as she is ; but she's not without her fault." 
 
224 
 
 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 The remains of poor Bobby, at his own request, were 
 transported to the summit of the mountain, and deposited 
 on the apex of Croagh Patrick, where he had so often 
 and so usefully performed. As he was laid where no 
 other body rested, the line intended for Sir John Moore, 
 would be probably more applicable to the hermit : 
 
 '* They left him alone with his glory 1 " 
 
DEER STALKING. 225 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 If a man were obliged to chronicle with brevity the 
 leading events of our terra incognita^ I would advise him 
 to reduce them to " arrivals and departures." As the 
 door is never locked, the stream of visitors is incessant. 
 Every man coming from " the corners of the earth " 
 drops in with a '* God save all here ! " This is the 
 Shibboleth of Ballycroy ; the accredited letter of intro- 
 duction, and, better for the traveller still, a full acquit- 
 tance for meat, drink, and lodging. 
 
 This morning we have had an illiterative arrival — 
 a piper, a pedler, and a priest. Although I place them 
 according to their order of approach, I need scarcely 
 say that the last, our respected friend, has given unex- 
 pected pleasure. For me, the visit is delightful, for I 
 hope to obtain another lesson in the " gentle art." The 
 Colonel has embraced this " Walton of the wilderness ; " 
 a man on whom four bottles would not show, and to 
 whom, in woodcraft and theology, in the commander's 
 opinion, the clerk of Copmanhurst himself was little 
 better than a bungler ; and, notwithstanding my 
 kinsman's delinquency in intercepting the despatches, 
 and abstracting the enclosure, he has escaped with a 
 tap or two upon the cheek ; for, as Antony declares, 
 *' Father Andrew dotes upon the Master.'' 
 
 But a shepherd in breathless haste has rushed into the 
 cabin. By expressive signs, and a few words, he has 
 conveyed the intelligence to Mr. Hennessey that three 
 outlying deer are at this minute in a neighbouring glen. 
 He saw them in a valley, as he crossed the brow above. 
 
 Q 
 
226 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 Nothing short of the landing of a French army or a 
 smuggler could occasion such confusion. The chamber 
 of state is invaded, rifles are uncased, shot exchanged 
 for bullets, a basket with refreshments packed : all is 
 hurry and preparation, and in an incalculably short 
 time we are ready for the fray, and in full march for the 
 mountains. Shakespeare, or he is belied, was in his 
 youth a deer fancier, and he would probably describe 
 this busy scene by " loud alarum, exeunt omnes.''' 
 
 The day is particularly favourable, the sun shines 
 brilHantly, the sky is without a cloud, and if we even 
 miss the deer, I trust that the prospect from the mountain- 
 top will more than repay our labour in ascending it. The 
 party comprises three guns and some ten or twelve 
 drivers, with our guide. My kinsman and Hennessey 
 have rifles ; I am no marksman with a bullet, and I 
 declined to take one, and therefore must put my trust 
 in honest John Manton. We bend our course directly 
 to the mountain cleugh, where the deer were seen by 
 the peasant ; but when we reach the base of the hills, 
 we must diverge to the left, and make a considerable 
 detour^ and, judging from the appearance of the heights 
 to be surmounted, we have work cut out, which, before 
 our return to the hut, will tell what metal we are made 
 of. 
 
 Nor is the garrison during our absence left without 
 protectors. The colonel, the priest, the otter-killer,- 
 and old John, there keep watch and ward. The former 
 twain appear to have sworn eternal friendship over a 
 three-legged table, and are settled tete-d-tete at either 
 side of the cabin window, with all the requisites for 
 fabricating flies displayed before them. Antony is 
 greasing his otter-trap beside the fire. He still indulges 
 
DEER STALKING. 227 
 
 the vain hope that his rheumatism may be cured, and 
 that he will once more revisit the remoter loughs, where 
 otters are abundant, and where many of his happier 
 days were '' lang syne " spent. Poor fellow ! his 
 hunting is ended, and his trap, like a warrior's sword, 
 must be laid aside, for age has come heavily upon its 
 master. Old John, '' the last and trustiest of the four," 
 has assumed his culinary apron, and from the strength 
 and array of his " materiel " it is clear that he calculates 
 little upon the red deer venison we shall bring home. 
 A smart walk of some three miles over an undulating 
 surface, of gentle but regular ascent, brought us to the 
 deep and circular lake which lies at the base of Carrig-a- 
 binniogh ; it seems the boundary between the hill- 
 country and the moorlands. Here we halted, and held 
 with the peasants a council of war on the course of 
 operations to be pursued. 
 
 The situation of this mountain lough is extremely 
 picturesque ; on three sides it is embosomed in the 
 hills, which rise boldly from the water's edge, and for 
 many hundred feet appear to be almost perpendicular. 
 Its depth is considerable, and hence bright as the day is, 
 the waters have a dark and sombre look. It abounds with 
 trout of moderate size and excellent flavour. They 
 were rising fast at the natural fly, and appeared generally 
 to be herring-sized. 
 
 While resting here, preparatory to attempting to ascend 
 the heights, Cooney, the guide, related a very apposite 
 adventure. 
 
 Late in the autumn of the preceding year the peasant 
 had visited the lake with his fishing-rod. The trout 
 took well, and Cooney had nearly filled his basket, 
 when he was startled by the report of a gun at no great 
 
228 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 distance up the hill. While he looked in the direction 
 from whence the shot appeared to have been discharged, 
 a fine, full-grown stag crossed the brow above him, 
 tottered downwards for some twenty steps, and then, 
 falling into a steep and stony ravine, rolled lifelessly 
 over, until he reached the very spot where the astonished 
 fisherman was standing. Before his surprise had time 
 to abate, a man, armed with a French gun, leaped upon 
 the bank over which the deer had fallen, and was joined 
 immediately by a companion, armed also with a fowling- 
 piece. Then, for the first time, they observed the 
 startled angler. The discovery was anything but 
 agreeable ; for, after a momentary pause, they rushed 
 down the hill together, and presenting their long guns 
 at Cooney's breast, ordered him to decamp, in terms 
 that admitted of no demur. The angler absconded 
 forthwith ; for, as he reasoned fairly enough, " a man 
 who could drive an ounce of lead through a stag's skull, 
 would find little trouble in drilling a Christian." 
 On looking round, he saw the deer-stealers place the 
 carcass on their shoulders and ascend the heights, over 
 which they quickly disappeared. The feat is almost 
 incredible, and it required an amazing effort of strength 
 and determination to transport a full-grown red-deer 
 over a precipitous mountain, which we, in light marching 
 order, and with no burden but our guns, found a 
 difficult task enough to climb. 
 
 How did the poacher happen to be armed with a 
 French gun ? Well, when the French, under Humbert, 
 landed at Killala in the autumn of 1798, they brought 
 with them a large quantity of arms and military clothing, 
 to equip the numerous partisans they expected to have 
 found in the country. After the French general was 
 
DEER STALKING. 229 
 
 defeated, and the insurrection had been put down, 
 many of the guns which had been distributed among the 
 peasantry, were buried, or effectually concealed ; and 
 they have been used in poaching and wild-fowl shooting 
 to the present time. The French barrels are said to 
 throw shot much better than those of English muskets. 
 I have never seen their relative merits proven, but 
 imagine that the superiority of the former is owing to 
 their greater length. 
 
 From its very base, Carrig-a-binniogh presents a 
 different surface to the moorlands which environ it ; 
 heath is no more seen, and in its place the mountain's 
 rugged sides are clothed with lichen and wild grasses. 
 The face of the hill is broken and irregular, and the 
 ascent rendered extremely disagreeable by multitudes 
 of loose stones which, being lightly bedded in the soil, 
 yield to the pressure of the traveller's foot, and, of 
 course, increase his difficulties. 
 
 After the first hundred yards had been gallantly 
 surmounted, we halted by general consent to recover 
 breath. Again, we resumed our labour, and, with 
 occasional pauses, plodded on " our weary way." As 
 we ascended, the hill became more precipitous, the grass 
 shorter, and the hands were as much employed as the 
 feet. The halts were now more frequent ; and each 
 progression towards the summit shorter after every 
 pause. '' To climb the trackless mountain all unseen" 
 is very poetical, no doubt, but it is also, I regret to add, 
 amazingly fatiguing, and a task for men of thews and 
 sinews of no ordinary strength. But we were determined 
 and persevered — '' en avant,'' was the order of the day ; 
 on we progressed, slowly but continuously ; the steepest 
 face of the hill was gradually overcome, and a wide 
 
230 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 waste of moss and shingle lay before us, rising towards 
 a cairn of stones which marks the apex of the mountain. 
 We pressed on with additional energy ; the termination 
 of our toil was in view ; in a few minutes we gained the 
 top, and a scene, glorious beyond imagination, burst 
 upon us at once, and repaid tenfold the labour we had 
 encountered to obtain it. 
 
 We stood upon the very pinnacle of the ridge, two 
 thousand feet above the level of the sea ; Clew Bay, 
 that magnificent sheet of water, was extended at our 
 feet, studded with its countless islands : inland, the eye 
 ranged over a space of fifty miles ; and towns and 
 villages, beyond number, were sprinkled over a surface 
 covered with grass, and corn, and heath, in beautiful 
 alternation. The sun was shining gloriously, and the 
 variety of colouring presented by this expansive land- 
 scape was splendidly tinted by the vertical rays of light. 
 The yellow corn, the green pasturage, the russet heaths, 
 were traceable to an infinite distance, while smaller 
 objects were marked upon this natural panorama, and 
 churches, towns, and mansions occasionally relieved 
 the prospect. We turned from the interior to the west ; 
 there the dark waters of the Atlantic extended, till the 
 eye lost them in the horizon. Northward, lay the 
 Sligo islands ; and southward, the Connemara moun- 
 tains, with the noble islands of Turk and Boffin — ^nearer 
 objects seemed almost beneath us ; Achil was below — 
 Clare Island stretched at our feet — while our own 
 cabin looked like a speck upon the canvas, distinguished 
 only by its spiral wreath of smoke from the hillocks 
 that encircled it. There was an indescribable loneliness 
 around, that gave powerful effect to all we saw. The 
 dreariness of the waste we occupied was grand and 
 
DEER STALKING. 23 1 
 
 imposing : we were far removed from everything 
 human ; we stood above the world, and could exclaim 
 with Byron, *' this, this is solitude ! " 
 
 How long we might have gazed on this brilliant 
 spectacle is questionable. Hennessey, less romantic 
 than we, reminded us that it was time to occupy the 
 defile, by which the deer, if found, and driven from the 
 lowlands, would pass within our range. Thus recalled, 
 we looked at the inmiediate vicinage of the cairn. It 
 was a wilderness of moss and bog, and granite, barren 
 beyond description, and connected with the upper 
 levels of the Alpine ridge, which extended for miles at 
 either side, by a narrow chain of rock, which seemed 
 more like the topping of a parapet than the apex of a 
 line of hills. Indeed, a more desolate region could not 
 be well imagined ; — no sign of vegetation appeared, 
 if scathed lichens and parched and withered flag-grass 
 be excepted. The mountain cattle were rarely seen 
 upon these heights, and the footmarks upon the softer 
 surface were those of the deer and goats. Hennessey 
 discovered the tracks of a herd of the larger species, 
 which, from his acute observations, had evidently 
 crossed the ridge since sunrise, and must, from their 
 numerous traces, have amounted to at least a dozen. 
 
 While we still cast a '' longing, lingering look " at 
 a scene which, I lament to say, I shall most probably 
 never be permitted to view again — a boy rose from the 
 valley towards the south, and hastened at full speed 
 to join us. His communication was soon made, and, 
 like the shepherd's at the cabin, pantomime rather than 
 speech conveyed its import. His tidings were momen- 
 tous ; the deer had moved from the place in which they 
 had been first discovered, and were now within one 
 
232 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 thousand yards of the place where we were resting. 
 Hennessey and the gossooti^ advanced in double quick, 
 and where the ridge is steepest between the highlands 
 and the valley, we observed them make a sudden halt 
 and creep gingerly forward to what seemed the brow 
 of a precipice. We followed more leisurely, and 
 adopting a similar method of approach, stole silently 
 on, and looked over the chasm. 
 
 The precipice we were on forms the extremity of a 
 long but narrow ravine, which, gradually rising from 
 the lowlands, divides the basis of Carrig-a-binniogh 
 and Meelroe. It was a perpendicular rock of fearful 
 height. At either side the valley was flanked by the 
 sides of the opposite hills ; and they sprung up so rugged 
 and precipitous as to be quite impracticable to all but 
 *' the wild flock which never needs a fold " ; and yet the 
 cleugh below was like a green spot upon a wilderness. 
 To the very bases of the ridges it was covered with 
 verdant grass and blooming heather, while, at the upper 
 end, streams from several well-heads united together 
 and formed a sparkling rivulet, which wandered between 
 banks so green and shrubby, as formed a striking con- 
 trast to the barren heaths below and the blasted wilder- 
 ness above. 
 
 We put our hats aside, and peeped over. The wave 
 of Hennessey's hand proved the boy's report to be 
 correct, and we were gratified with a sight of those rare 
 and beautiful animals which formed the objects of our 
 expedition. They were the same leash which the peasant 
 had noticed in the lower valley — an old stag, a younger 
 one, and a doe. 
 
 The great elevation of the precipice, and the caution 
 
 * Anglice, boy. 
 
DEER STALKING. 233 
 
 with which we approached the verge, permitted us, 
 without alarming them, to view the red deer leisurely. 
 They appeared to have been, as yet, undisturbed, for 
 after cropping the herbage for a little, the younger stag 
 and the hind lay down, while the old hart remained 
 erect, as if he intended to be their sentinel. 
 
 The distance of the deer from the ridge was too 
 great to allow the rifle to be used with anything Uke 
 certainty ; and from the exposed nature of the hills 
 at either side, it was impossible to get within point- 
 blank range undiscovered. Hennessey had already formed 
 his plans, and drawing cautiously back from the ridge 
 he pulled us by the skirts, and beckoned us to retire. 
 
 We fell back about a pistol shot from the cliff, and under 
 a rock, which bore the portentous name of Craignamoina,* 
 held our council of war. 
 
 There were two passes, through one of which the deer, 
 when roused and driven from the glen, would most 
 likely retreat. The better of these, as post of honour, 
 was, more politely than prudently, entrusted to me — 
 my kinsman occupied the other ; and Hennessey, having 
 ensconced us behind rocks, which prevented our ambush 
 from being discovered, crossed to the other side of the 
 ridge, and I lost sight of him. Meanwhile, the boy had 
 been despatched to apprize the drivers that the deer 
 were in the ravine, and to notify the spot where we were 
 posted, to enable them to arrange their movements 
 according to our plans. 
 
 I will not pretend to describe the anxious, nay, 
 agonizing hour that I passed in this highland ambuscade. 
 The deep stillness of the waste was not broken by even 
 the twittering of a bird. From the place where I lay 
 
 * Anglice, the rock of slaughter. 
 
234 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 concealed, I commanded a view of the defile for the dis- 
 tance of some eighty yards, and my eye turned to the path 
 by which I expected the deer to approach, until to gaze 
 longer pained me. My ear was equally engaged ; the 
 smallest noise was instantly detected, and the ticking of 
 my watch appeared sharper and louder than usual. 
 As time wore on, my nervousness increased. Suddenly 
 a few pebbles fell — my heart beat faster — but it was a 
 false alarm. Again, I heard a faint sound, as if a light 
 foot pressed upon loose shingle — it was repeated. By 
 Saint Hubert, it is the deer ! They have entered the 
 gorge of the pass, and approach the rock that covers me, 
 in a gentle canter 1 
 
 To sink upon one knee and cock both barrels was a 
 moment's work. Reckless of danger the noble animals, 
 in single file, galloped down the narrow pathway. The 
 hart led the way, followed by the doe, and the old stag 
 brought up the rear. As they passed me at the short 
 distance of twenty paces, I fired at the leader, and, as 
 I thought, with deadly aim ; but the ball passed over 
 his back, and splintered the rock beyond him. The 
 report rang over the waste, and the deer's surprise was 
 evinced by the tremendous rush they made to clear the 
 defile before them. I selected the stag for my second 
 essay ; eye and finger kept excellent time, as I imagined 
 — I drew the trigger — a miss, by everything unfortunate ! 
 The bullet merely struck a tyne from his antler, and, 
 excepting this trifling graze, he went off at a thundering 
 pace, uninjured. 
 
 Cursing myself, John Manton, and all the world, 
 I threw my luckless gun upon the ground, and rushed 
 to the summit of a neighbouring rock, from which the 
 heights and valleys beyond the gorge of the pass were 
 
DEER STALKING. ^35 
 
 seen distinctly. The deer had separated — ^the hart and 
 doe turned suddenly to the right, and were fired at by 
 my cousin, without effect. The stag went right ahead ; 
 and while I still gazed after him, a flash issued from a 
 hollow in the hill, the sharp report of Hennessey's 
 piece succeeded, and the stag sprang full six feet from 
 the ground, and tumbling over and over repeatedly, 
 dropped upon the bent grass with a rifle bullet in his 
 heart. 
 
 I rushed at headlong speed to the spot where the noble 
 animal lay. The eye was open — ^the nostril expanded, 
 just as life had left him. Throwing his rifle down, 
 Hennessey pulled out a clasp-knife, passed the blade 
 across the deer's throat, and, requesting my assistance 
 raised the carcass by the haunches, in order to assist its 
 bleeding freely. 
 
 Having performed this necessary operation, and 
 obtained the assistance of two of our companions from 
 the valley, whence they had been driving the deer, we 
 proceeded to transport the dead stag to the lowlands. 
 It was no easy task, but we accomplished it quickly; 
 and perceiving some horses grazing at no great distance 
 we determined to press one for the occasion. A stout 
 pony was most unceremoniously put in requisition, 
 the deer laid across his back, and after emptying flask 
 and basket joyously beside a stream of rock-water, 
 we turned our faces to the cabin, where the news of our 
 success had already arrived. 
 
236 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Wonderful are the inventions of man ! The slaughter 
 of an unhappy stag has been made good and sufficient 
 cause for all the idlers of the community assembling at 
 our cabin. They are squatted round the fire like 
 Indians in a wigwam — and old John, no bad authority 
 in such matters, declares in a stage whisper to his master, 
 " that a four-gallon cag will scarcely last the night, 
 there is such a clanjamfry of coosherers in the kitchen 
 — ^the devil speed them, one and all ! " Let me explain 
 this phrase. It is used in Ireland to designate that useless 
 and eternal tribe, who are there the regular attaches of 
 families of ancient lineage. Nurses, fosterers, discharged 
 servants, decayed sportsmen, and idlers of every sex, 
 age, and calling, come under this description. 
 
 There was a higher class of nuisance under the title 
 of poor relations who formerly wandered over Connaught, 
 and from the interminable ramifications of the old 
 families, there were few houses into which these worthies 
 had not a right of entree. The last one I recollect when 
 a boy, traversed the country upon a white pony, 
 dressed in dingy black, and arrayed in a cocked hat ; 
 a certain number of houses were under annual requi- 
 sition, and such was the influence of annual custom, 
 that none would venture to refuse this forced hospitality, 
 although the man was latterly a sad bore. Some gentle- 
 men, when their " loving cousin " was expected, had his 
 approach observed, and stopped him in the avenue with 
 an excuse that the house was full, and a subsidy of a 
 few guineas. The money was always acceptable — 
 
A SPORTSMAN S DINNER. 237 
 
 and whoever unluckily happened to be next number on 
 the visiting list was favoured with one week additional 
 from my " Cousin Mac." 
 
 " Mac," with his Brigadier wig and white pony, 
 has gone the way of all flesh, and by travestying a line 
 of Sir Walter Scott, one could add : — 
 
 " The last of all the bores was he." 
 
 It was twilight when we got home. The deer had 
 arrived before us and was already hanging up, suspended 
 from the couples. A cheerful fire blazed in the room of 
 state, while exhilarating effluvia from the outer chamber 
 told that John's preparations were far advanced. We 
 had-scarcely time to make our hurried toilet before 
 the table was covered, and Father Andrew, at the Colonel's 
 especial solicitation, favoured us with a Latin grace. 
 
 No one merits and relishes a good dinner better than 
 a grouse-shooter. It delights me to see my companion 
 eat like a traveller ; and to please me, he should possess 
 sufficient acumen to enable him to appreciate the fare. 
 I despise the man who is cursed with a Spartan palate, 
 and who hardly knows the difference between beef and 
 mutton ; and yet, in equal ratio, the gourmand is my 
 abomination. There is a limit in culinary lore beyond 
 which, as I opine, the sportsman should never travel. 
 Like a soldier, he will sometimes find it serviceable 
 to be able to direct the broiling of a steak and the com- 
 bination of a stew. To fabricate a curry, or even regu- 
 late a hash, may be tolerated ; and in a wild country like 
 Ballycroy, or the Scottish highlands, this knowledge will 
 frequently be " worth a Jew's eye ; " but everything 
 beyond this in kitchen accomplishments is detestable. 
 With one who composed omelets, and talked 
 
238 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 scholarly of the materiel of a plum-pudding — and I 
 once had the misfortune to fall into a shooting party 
 afflicted with such a personage — I would consort no more 
 upon the heath than I would shoot with a cook or draw 
 a cover with a confectioner. And yet, with these 
 antipathies, I recommend the neophyte to make himself 
 in everything as independent as he can. A few practical 
 lessons are worth a world of precept : one week's 
 cooking on the moors will render him for life an adept ; 
 and if gun and angle fail him not, he will be able to 
 command a dinner, without owing to the devil the 
 compliment of a bad cook. 
 
 Did I wish to elucidate my opinions, I would stake 
 them upon two items in our bills of fare. The soldier 
 compounded the soup — and such soup ! — and yet it 
 was the simple extract of a mountain hare, and five 
 broken birds, which had been too much injured to 
 permit their being sent away. Shade of Kitchener 1 
 one spoonful of that exquisite potage would have made 
 thee abandon half thy theories, and throw thy 
 *' cunningest devices " to the winds ! 
 
 The Priest superintended the fish — ^an eight-pound 
 salmon, crimped, split, sub-divided, and roasted upon 
 bog-deal skewers before a clear turf-fire. All the 
 sauces that Lazenby ever fabricated could not produce 
 that soup or emulate this broil. Let him, whose jaded 
 palate a club-house cook cannot accommodate, try 
 the cuisinerie of our cabin. He shall walk to the mountain 
 lake, and on his return, the Colonel will compose a soup, 
 and the Priest supply a salmon : if eating like a plough- 
 man be to him a pleasure — 
 
 " If these won't make him. 
 The devil take himl" 
 
A sportsman's dinner. 239 
 
 But, lest my theories be mistaken, I must say that I 
 hold cooking and '' creature comforts " as very secondary 
 indeed to sport. If all can be had, so much the better ; 
 and when I recommend the tyro to learn the art and 
 mysteries of the broiling iron, it is precisely on the 
 principle that the knowledge how to cook a dinner may, 
 at times, be as necessary for him as to know how to wash 
 a gun. No man, I presume, will do either, who can 
 manage to have them done by a deputy. But a sports- 
 man, a keen, straightforward sportsman, will, of necessity, 
 be often left dependent upon his own resources, and hence 
 he should be prepared for the contingency. It is the 
 abuse I cry out against. A man who on the mountains 
 counts the minutes until dinner-hour shall come, who 
 is seeking an appetite rather than amusement, and 
 instead of game is dreaming of gourmanderie — him I 
 totally reject, and implore to lay aside his gun for ever, 
 and exchange the powder-flask for the pepper-box. The 
 latter he will find more useful, and not half so dangerous. 
 It was clear from the very start that this was to be 
 among the wettest nights of the season. The Colonel 
 settled himself for a comfortable carouse ; the Priest 
 was not the man to desert his huon camarado ; and 
 Antony declared that there was good cause for a general 
 jollification, as he properly observed that " it was not 
 every day that Manus kills a bullock," by which old 
 saw, I presume, the defunct deer and ourselves are 
 typified. No wonder, then, that the revel commenced 
 with all the members of the body politic ; and whilst 
 the contents of the " four-gallon keg " were invaded 
 in the kitchen, the wine circulated rapidly in the chamber 
 of state. In truth, during my short but chequered 
 life, civil and military, I never saw a party evince an 
 
240 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 honester disposition to drink fair. No coquetry about 
 filling ; no remonstrances touching " heeltaps and 
 skylights ; " — round went the bottle, until the juice 
 of the grape appeared too cold a fluid for such mercurial 
 souls, and a general call for a more potent liquid was 
 given and obeyed. 
 
 Now came '' the sweet hour i' the night," and old 
 Care might, if he pleased, have *' hanged himself in 
 his own garters." The Priest, whose voice must once 
 have been remarkably fine, and who certainly never 
 impaired it much by " hallooing psalms," sang national 
 melodies, or joined the Colonel and my cousin in glees 
 and catches, which, as Wamba says, were not '' ill-sung." 
 " Fast and furious " the mirth proceeded, while, " every 
 pause between," clouds of tobacco rose like a mist- 
 wreath, and overspread the company with a canopy of 
 vapour. 
 
 For my own part, every prudential resolution 
 vanished with the first catch ; and it was not till a certain 
 unsteadiness of vision discovered that I had reached that 
 felicitous state when no twelve honest men, upon oath, 
 would certify my sobriety, that I mustered courage to 
 retreat. I felt that, had I remained much longer, I 
 was likely to become hors de combat; and, lighting 
 a cigar, left the cabin to breathe the fresh air, which long 
 since had been superseded in the banqueting-room by 
 an atmosphere of genuine cannastre. 
 
 It was a mild, calm, dark night, and such a one feels 
 delicious in the hills. Two or three solitary stars were 
 feebly twinkling in the sky, though, were the truth told, 
 probably there was but one. I took the pathway leading 
 to the river, and sat down upon the banks, to '' blow 
 my cloud " in solitude. I was not, however, permitted 
 
A sportsman's dinner. 241 
 
 to muse alone ; my kinsman immediately joined me, 
 and settling himself upon one of the masses of turf, 
 which the floods tear from the banks of the stream, and 
 leave, when their violence subsides, upon the verge of 
 the river, replenished his meerschaum. 
 
 '' How refreshing," he said, " to exchange that 
 mephitic air within for this mild but bracing night- 
 breeze ! I saw you pass the glass, and I desired John 
 to bring us out some coffee. It is a queer place, too, 
 for a Mocha fancier to indulge in ; but this is the charm 
 that binds me to the mountains. In life, locality is 
 everything ; it is not the what one does, it is the where. 
 Venison at a city feast is an every-day concern ; and the 
 best haunch in England would not have the gusto of the 
 red deer's that hangs from the roof within. Common 
 comfort in a wilderness like this, from the barrenness 
 of all around, receives a zest, which nothing in civilized 
 society can realize, and ' voild Vexemple.' " 
 
 Lighted by a peasant with a bog-deal torch, that 
 emitted more light than forty candles together, the old 
 man approached us with his tray. Coffee taken in the 
 open air, " in darkness palpable," into which the 
 powerful blaze of the torch which our bare-legged 
 attendant held could but feebly penetrate, asso- 
 ciated with the place and company, made an impression 
 on my fancy that will not be readily obliterated. 
 
 But hark ! the Priest pitches that manly and melodious 
 voice — he strikes up poor Burns's inimitable lyric, *' Then 
 are we met.'^ That matchless song was surely written 
 for such a voice and such a company ! 
 
 Under cover of the Priest's melody we approached the 
 window. There sat a party, who might well put the 
 Temperance Society to the blush. For their years, 
 
242 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 I suspect there was not a healthier, and I will swear not a 
 happier, trio in the King's dominion. It was just the 
 scene a Flemish artist would select to employ his pencil 
 on. For effect, the light was excellent : the candles 
 having been removed to the extremity of the apartment, 
 the bacchanalian group were revealed by the red and 
 mellow blaze of a brilliant wood-fire. Separated by 
 a table, provided with every requisite for a deep carouse, 
 sat the soldier and the churchman. The back of the 
 latter was turned to the window, but his amplitude of 
 shoulder and bull-neck at once bespoke the strength 
 for which he was remarkable, while the partial baldness 
 of his head told that he had passed life's meridian. The 
 tall and martial figure opposite contrasted well with the 
 churchman's. Older by some half-score years, he 
 might, like Jack Falstaff, be " some fifty, ay, or, by the 
 mass, threescore ! " but his age was green ; and not- 
 withstanding the wear and tear that a military life and 
 its occasional excesses had caused, his cheerful coun- 
 tenance and merry eye showed that he loved yet to hear 
 *' the chimes at midnight." The otter-killer com- 
 pleted the group : sitting on a low stool, from time to 
 time he regulated and supplied the wood-fire ; his 
 silver hair collected in a long cue, seal-skin pouch, 
 singular dress, and venerable air, made him the most 
 striking figure of the party. A little terrier bitch, who 
 never left her master, lay at the old man's feet, while 
 an indulged black setter luxuriated before the blaze, with 
 his intelligent head and pendulous silky ears rested 
 on the Colonel's knee. 
 
 "Is not that indeed a picture ? " whispered my 
 cousin. *' What heads they have ? John placed 
 yonder bottle before them as I went out, and two parts 
 
A sportsman's dinner. 
 
 243 
 
 of it are gone already. But, hush ! let us hear the 
 conversation. I think if there be strength in poteen 
 the Colonel has reached the moralising point." 
 
 " Andrew," said the commander. (" The Colonel," 
 said my kinsman, aside, " is generally hard screwed when 
 he calls the Priest Andrew.") 
 
 *' Andrew, fill the glass : the boys are ruminating 
 beside the river ; their young blood is hotter than ours, 
 so we'll stick to the ingle- side and the tumbler. There 
 was a day when we could bring a stag to the ground, 
 and scramble up Carrig-a-binniogh as stoutly as the 
 best of them, — but that day s gone : we have changed 
 for the worse, and so has everything. Andrew, in our 
 youth it was a merry world. But who succeeded old 
 Markham ? He was as honest a divine as ever finished 
 a magnum. They talked — ^for virtue has always its 
 enemies — of his smuggling a little, and having a private 
 still in the stable ; but it was all hospitality. Andrew, 
 the poteen is sweet, but weak — ^help it, man, for these 
 glasses scarcely hold a thimbleful ! — at our age water- 
 drinking won't do. — Not a drop of brandy, you say 
 inside the Mullet ? "* 
 
 " Not an anker in the barony ! " returned his com- 
 panion, with a heavy sigh. " There was a time when my 
 poor cabin could not be taken short for Nantz and 
 Hollands ; but if I can keep a bottle of the native now, 
 it is the most. Would you believe it, Colonel ? the 
 revenue people searched my house a month ago." 
 
 The Colonel looked indignant. " Search your house ? 
 profane a Priest's own dwelling ? Why, after a while 
 
 * The grand boundary of the wild peninsula of Erris, separating 
 it from the interior counties. It is used in a general sense to describe 
 the district — as " within or without the Mullet." 
 
244 ^^^° SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 they'll look into the Lodge. Did you curse the scoun- 
 drels from the altar ? " 
 
 " Not I," said the churchman. " They are all north- 
 men* and foreigners, who would not care a brass button 
 whether I banned or blessed them for a twelvemonth. 
 There is a ruffian of the flockf that acts as a spy and 
 guide, and I suspect he sent them." 
 
 " Excommunicate him ! " exclaimed the commander, 
 with drunken solemnity. 
 
 " I did that last Candlemas. He brought a girl out 
 of Achil, on hook oath, and he with his three decent 
 wives in the parish already. I quenched the candles 
 on him, and then he took to the revenue — Nemo repente 
 juit turpissimusy 
 
 " And how do you and the new minister get on ? " 
 
 " Poorly enough," answered the Priest. " This 
 reformation work has put the country clean asunder." 
 
 *' No good will come of it," said the Colonel. " I 
 mind the time in Connaught when no man clearly knew 
 to what religion he belonged ; and in one family the 
 boys would go to church and the girls to mass, or may be, 
 both would join and go to whichever happened to be 
 nearest. When I entered the militia, I recollect, the 
 first time I was ever detached from head-quarters, I 
 went with the company to Portumna. Old Sir Mark 
 Blake, who commanded the regiment, happened to be 
 passing through, and the night before he had had a 
 desperate drink with General Loftus at the Castle. 
 When I left Loughrea, I forgot to ascertain where I 
 
 * Northmen is a phrase not only applied to recent settlers from 
 the North of Ireland, but even to families who have been located 
 here tor centuries. 
 
 t The flock — a Roman Catholic congregation is so termed ip 
 Connaught, 
 
A sportsman's dinner. 245 
 
 should bring the men on Sunday, and I thought this 
 a good opportunity to ask the question. I opened his 
 bedroom-door softly. * Sir Mark/ says I, ' where 
 shall I march the men ? ' * What kind of a day is it ? ' 
 says he. * Rather wet/ was my answer. ' It's like 
 the night that preceded it/ says he. ' Upon my con- 
 cience, my lad/ he continued, * my head's not clear 
 enough at present to recollect the exact position of 
 church and chapel ; but take them to the nearest.'' That 
 is what I call," and the Colonel shook his head gravely, 
 " real Christian feeling." 
 
 " Real Christian feeling," said the Priest, with a groan 
 " is nearly banished from the world. When I went 
 first to Castlebar, to learn Latin from Dan Donovan, 
 my uncle Martin, God be merciful to him ! was parish 
 priest, and Jack Benton was the minister. They agreed 
 like sworn brothers, and no one dared say a word against 
 either in the presence of his friend. Where the priest 
 dined, the curate was sure to be also. They lived in 
 true brotherhood ; and when one happened to be the 
 worse of liquor, why the other would not leave him for 
 a bishopric. The town was the most peaceable place 
 in Connaught ; and how could it be otherwise with such 
 an example ? Many a night I went before them with 
 a lantern, when they carried Carney, the lame fiddler, 
 round the streets, to serenade the ladies. There they 
 would walk like humble Christians, with the cripple 
 in the middle, and neither caring a traneein whether 
 popery or protestantism was at the head of the barrow. 
 Those were blessed days, Colonel. — I'll thank you 
 for the canister, — ^that tobacco is excellent, and I'll try 
 another pipeful." 
 
 " Och hone ! " exclaimed the otter-killer, " isn't it 
 
246 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 a murder to see the clargy making such fools of them- 
 selves now ! When I was young, priest and minister 
 were hand-and-glove. It seems to me but yesterday, 
 when Father Patt Joyce, the Lord be good to him ! lent 
 Mr. Carson a congregation." 
 
 " Eh ! what, Antony ? " said the Colonel. " A 
 congregation appears rather an extraordinary article to 
 borrow." 
 
 " Faith," said the otter-killer, *' it's true. I was there 
 myself, and I'll tell you the story. It was in the time 
 of Bishop Beresford, that beautiful old man, — many a 
 half-crown he gave me, for I used often to bring game 
 and fish to the palace from the master's father. He was 
 the handsomest gentleman I ever laid my eyes on ; and, 
 och hone ! it was he that knew how to live like a bishop. 
 He never went a step without four long-tailed black horses 
 to his carriage, and two mounted grooms behind him. 
 His own body-man told me, one time I went with a 
 haunch of red-deer and a bittern to the palace, that never 
 less than twenty sat down in the parlour, and, in troth, 
 there was double that number in the hall, for nobody 
 came or went without being well taken care of. 
 
 " Well, it came into old Lord Peter's head that he 
 would build a church, and settle a colony of northmen 
 away in the West. Faith, he managed the one easy 
 enough ; but it failed him to do the other, for devil 
 an inch the northmen would come ; for, says they, 
 * Hell and Connaught's bad enough, but what is either 
 to Connemara ? ' 
 
 '* Well, the minister came down, and a nice little 
 man he was, one Mr. Carson. Father Patt Flyn had the 
 parish then, and faith, in course of time they two became 
 as thick as inkle- weavers. 
 
A sportsman's dinner. 247 
 
 " Everything went on beautiful, for the two clargy 
 lived together. Father Patt Flyn minded his chapel 
 and the flock, and Mr. Carson said prayers on a Sunday, 
 too, though sorrow a soul he had to listen to him but 
 the clerk — but sure that was no fault of his. 
 
 " Well, I mind it as well as yesterday, for I killed 
 that very morning two otters at Loughnamucky, and the 
 smallest of them was better to me than a pound note. 
 It was late when I got down from the hills, and I went to 
 Father Patt's as usual, and who should I meet at the 
 door but the priest himself. ' Antony,' says he, ' ceade 
 fealteaghy have you anything with you, for the wallets 
 seem full ? ' * I have,' says I, your * reverence ' ; and 
 I pulls out two pairs of graziers,* and a brace of three- 
 pound trouts, fresh from the sea, that I caught that 
 morning in Dhulough. In these days I carried a 
 ferret, besides the trap and fishing-rod, and it went 
 hard if I missed the otters but I would net rabbits, 
 or kill a dish of trout. ' Upon my conscience,' says the 
 priest, * ye never were more welcome, Antony. The 
 minister and myself will dine off the trouts and rabbits 
 for they forgot to kill a sheep for us till an hour ago ; 
 and you know, Antony, except the shoulder, there's 
 no part of the mutton could be touched, so I was rather 
 bothered about the dinner.' 
 
 " Well, in the evening, I was brought into the parlour, 
 and there were their reverences as cur coddiogh\ as you 
 please. Father Patt gave me a tumbler of rael stiff 
 punch, and the divil a better warrant to make the same 
 was within the province of Connaught. We were just 
 as comfortable as we could be, when a currierX stops at 
 
 * Young rabbits. -f Anglice, comfortable. 
 
 J A has, courier. 
 
248 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 the door with a letter which he said was for Mr. Carson. 
 Well, when the minister opens it, he got as pale as a 
 sheet, and I thought he would have fainted. Father 
 Patt crossed himself. ' Arrah, Dick,' says he, ' the 
 Lord stand between you and evil I is there anything 
 wrong ? ' 'I'm ruined,' says he ; * for some had 
 member has wrote to the bishop, and told him that 
 I have no congregation, because you and I are so intimate, 
 and he's coming down to-morrow, with the dane^ to see 
 the state of things. Och, hone ! ' says he, ' I'm fairly 
 ruined.' * And is that all that's frettin' ye ? ' says the 
 priest, ' Arrah, dear Dick ' — for they called each other 
 be their cristen names, — ' is this all ? If it's a congrega- 
 tion ye want, ye shall have a decent one to-morrow, 
 and lave that to me ; — and now we'll take our drink, 
 and not matter the bishop a fig.' 
 
 " Well, next day, sure enough, down comes the bishop, 
 and a great retinue along with him ; and there was Mr. 
 Carson ready to receive him. * I hear,' says the bishop, 
 mighty stately, * that you have no congregation.' ' In 
 faith, your holiness,' says he, ' you'll be soon able to 
 tell that,' — and in he walks him to the church, and there 
 were sitting threescore well-dressed men and women, 
 and all of them as devout as if they were going to be 
 anointed ; for that blessed morning. Father Fa t whipped 
 mass over before ye had time to bless /cjurself, and the 
 clanest of the flock was before the bisiiop in the church, 
 and ready for his holiness. To see that all behaved 
 properly. Father Patt had hardly put off the vestment, 
 till he slipped on a cota more^* and there he sat in a 
 back sate like any other of the congregation. I was 
 near the bishop's reverence ; he was seated in an arm- 
 
 * Anglice, a great-coat. 
 
A SPORTSMAN S DINNER. 249 
 
 chair belonging to the priest. — ' Come here, Mr. Carson/ 
 says he ; ' some enemy of yours,' said the sweet, old 
 gentleman, * wanted to injure you with me. But I 
 am now fully satisfied.' And turning to the dane, 
 * by this book ! ' says he, ' I didn't see a claner congre- 
 gation this month of Sundays ! ' " 
 
 " He said no such thing'' exclaimed my kinsman, who, 
 tired with the prolixity of the otter-killer, had inter- 
 rupted the finale of the tale. *' How dare you Antony, 
 put such uncanonical and ungentlemanly language in 
 the mouth of the sweet old man ? Here, John, clear 
 the kitchen. Out with the piper, and chuck the keg 
 after him. We'll disperse this congregation ; and they may 
 dance outside if they please, while pipes and poteen 
 stand them. And now, ventilate the cabin, open door 
 and window, and sling our hammocks as soon as 
 possible." 
 
 Agreeably to this mandate, the kitchen company 
 were ejected with scanty ceremony ; the Colonel and 
 the Priest retired to their respective beds with wonderful 
 steadiness : while we took possession of our marquee, 
 which, under existing circumstances, was Paradise itself 
 compared with the cabin, whilch smoking, drinking, 
 and cooking had rendered everything but agreeable. 
 
250 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST, 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 For a considerable time after we had retired to our 
 cots, the ball was kept up with unabated spirit upon 
 a piece of level sward beside the river. The whisky 
 appeared to affect the company differently, and indi- 
 vidual propensities were strikingly developed. Some 
 of the boys were particularly amative, and the rude 
 love-making we overheard at times amused us much ; 
 others betrayed a pugnacity of spirit which nothing 
 but the master's propinquity repressed. By degrees 
 the company began to separate : the piper, whose notes 
 for the last half-hour had been exceedingly irregular, 
 now evinced unquestionable symptoms of his being 
 " done up.'' Instead of the lightsome and well-sustained 
 jig, strange and dolorous noises issued from the chanter,* 
 and, as one of the fair sex observed, who, by the way, 
 in passing, tumbled over the tent cords, — " Martin 
 was totally smothered with spirits, and a body could no 
 more dance to his music than do the Patre 0' pee to 
 acoronach at a wake." 
 
 It was well that this failure in the orchestral depart- 
 ment brought the ball to a close, for at midnight the 
 rain began to fall, and towards morning it came down 
 in torrents. We were obliged to rise and slack the 
 tent-cords ; but the marquee was a double one, and 
 perfectly water-tight, and, as the cots were slung from 
 upright posts at least a foot from the ground, we suffered 
 no inconvenience from the rain, except the noise it made 
 in rattling on the tense canvas. This, however, we 
 
 * The principal or finger-pipe of the set. 
 
WILD CATS. 251 
 
 soon became accustomed to, and slept till eight o'clock, 
 as sound as watchmen. 
 
 Long before we turned out, the Colonel and Priest 
 were afoot, and we heard a prayer and supplication from 
 the commander to old John for a cup of strong coffee, 
 while an idler was despatched to the next well by the 
 churchman for a jug of cold spring water. Pattigo, 
 who had rambled up the hills with a basket of fish and 
 scallops, remarked, " that the gentleman's coppers, he 
 guessed, were rather hot this morning, and," as he eyed 
 the empty bottles which were being removed, " to judge 
 from the number of the marines, it was little wonder." 
 
 From Pattigo 's parlance, I suspected that he had seen 
 more of the world than usually falls to the lot of an 
 ordinary skipper of a fishing-boat — nor was I wrong. 
 I learned from his master that for some good conduct, 
 no doubt, he had been accommodated with board and 
 lodging in a king's ship for upwards of two years, and 
 that his sojourn there would have been much longer, 
 had he not managed to abridge the visit, by slipping 
 one dark night over the vessel's side, and swimming 
 to the shore, a distance of two miles. On this Byronian 
 feat, however, the honest navigator seldom plumes 
 himself, and it is only when he is " a bit by the head," 
 that this exploit is mentioned. 
 
 We found the household fully occupied in the cabin ; 
 John in regulating the chamber of state, which, not- 
 withstanding open doors and windows, still retained 
 the miasma of tobacco-smoke, and Hennessey in skinning 
 and breaking up the deer. If I had been yesterday 
 delighted with his superior execution with the rifle, 
 I was now surprised at the masterly manner in which 
 he dressed and dismembered the venison. He is 
 
252 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 certainly a clever fellow, and could I but forget that he 
 has finished a few of " the finest peasantry upon earth," 
 the man would stand as high in my estimation as he 
 does in his foster brother's, " our loving cousin." 
 
 When breakfast was ended, at which, to do them 
 justice, the Colonel and the Priest did their devoir most 
 gallantly, and were occupied in debating what should 
 be the order of the morning's amusement, and to fish, 
 or not to fish, appeared the question, an incident such as 
 in this wild and sylvan state of things every day produces, 
 occurred. It was the arrival of a young lad, who brought 
 an otter-skin of unusual size as a present to '* the master," 
 and a wounded hand, whereon Antony was required to 
 exercise his leechcraft. He had been bitten by a wild- 
 cat, and I had the curiosity to examine the wound. 
 The hand was already in a state of high inflammation ; 
 and the ferocity of the creature must indeed have been 
 extraordinary, to judge from the extent of the injuries 
 it had inflicted. The flesh was sadly lacerated, and in 
 two places the bone was completely exposed. 
 
 The sufferer, it appeared, was not unknown to Antony, 
 and, from the free-masonry which passed between them, 
 I discovered that he is of the same craft, and the person 
 upon whom the otter-killer's mantle is likely to descend, 
 when he, Antony, shall have gone the way of all flesh. 
 The chief occupation of the wounded man is digging 
 out foxes in the mountains, which he brings afterwards 
 for sale to the interior, and disposes of at a good price 
 to the masters of hounds. This morning he had gone 
 to a cover in the hills, in his usual avocation, when, 
 from some traces he observed beneath a rock, he con- 
 cluded that an animal was earthed there. Having put 
 a terrier in, his suspicions were confirmed, as the dog 
 
WILD CATS. 253 
 
 came out severely torn, and, assisted by a shepherd- 
 boy, he laid rabbit-nets round the den, commenced 
 digging, and, before he had proceeded far, a cat of 
 immense size bolted. She was breaking through the 
 rabbit-net, when the chasseur^ with more gallantry than 
 prudence, seized her by the neck. The fierce animal 
 instantly attacked him in turn, and, fastening upon 
 his hands with teeth and talons, held her desperate 
 grasp until the boy, with the edge of the spade, broke 
 her back. They brought the dead beast along with them ; 
 it was of a dirty gray colour, double the size of the 
 common house-cat, and its teeth and claws more than 
 proportionately larger. 
 
 These animals, fortunately, are scarce, and generally 
 frequent the neighbourhood of rabbit-warrens, where 
 they prove amazingly destructive. Hennessey, two 
 winters since, discovered a den in a cleft of a rock upon 
 the shore, and adjoining the sand-banks, which are 
 numerously stocked with rabbits. It cost him immense 
 trouble to penetrate to the form, where he killed a male 
 and female wild-cat, the latter being large with young. 
 Hennessey's patience and ingenuity were sorely taxed 
 to effect their destruction, having been obliged to resort 
 to gunpowder, and blow up a large portion of the rock, 
 before he could dislodge his dangerous game. In 
 size and colour they were precisely similar to the animal 
 killed in the mountain by the fox-catcher ; and had they 
 been permitted to continue their species, in a very short 
 time the adjacent burrow would have been devastated. 
 
 Besides this large and ferocious species, the warrens 
 upon the coast suffer much from the common cat becom- 
 ing wild, and burrowing in the rabbit-holes. They are 
 sometimes surprised and shot in the sand-banks, or taken 
 
254 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 in traps ; but they are generally too wary to be 
 approached — and hunting only by night, during the 
 day they sleep in their dens, and are rarely met abroad. 
 
 Some estimate of their numbers may be formed 
 from the circumstance of five males having been killed 
 in a herdsman's out-house which joined the warren. 
 They had been attracted there by one of their own 
 species, and the noise having alarmed the peasant, he 
 guessed the cause, and cautiously managed to stop the 
 hole, by which they gained entrance, with a turf-cleave. 
 Knowing the value of the capture, he kept guard upon 
 the prisoners till morning, and then despatched infor- 
 mation to the Lodge. My cousin, with his followers, 
 promptly repaired to the place, and, surrounding the 
 barn with guns and greyhounds, bolted the wild cats 
 successively, until the whole number were despatched. 
 This chasse was not only novel, but profitable. After 
 the death of their persecutors, the rabbits increased 
 prodigiously, but fears are entertained that these 
 destructive animals are become once more abundant in 
 the sand-banks. 
 
 When the dressings were removed, we found that the 
 poor lad had been so much injured, that apprehension of 
 lock-jaw induced us to send him directly to the infirmary. 
 There is a belief, and one more reasonable than many 
 popular opinions in Ballycroy, that a wild-cat's bite is 
 particularly venomous. My cousin remembers a case 
 which terminated fatally with a servant of his father's ; 
 and the Priest mentioned another of a country girl, who, 
 finding one of these animals in a barn, rashly attempted 
 to secure it : the cat wounded her slightly in the leg, 
 and for six months she was unable to use the limb. 
 When the unfortunate fox-catcher was leaving us, in 
 
WILD CATS. 255 
 
 return for a trifling donation, he pressed upon me the 
 acceptance of a fine deer-skin which he produced from 
 his wallet. *' He had another for the master," he said. 
 " and he would bring it to him, when he returned from 
 the hospital." 
 
 " And pray, my friend, how did you get these skins ?" 
 The question puzzled the wounded man. " I found 
 them dead after the great snow last year." 
 
 " After a lump of lead," quoth the otter-killer, " had 
 made a fracture in the hide ; " and he pointed to the 
 orifice in the skin, where, evidently, a ball had per- 
 forated. 
 
 '' Alas ! " said the Priest, " the snow is always fatal 
 to the red deer. They are obHged to leave the upper 
 range, and come down the villages :* and there are, 
 unluckily, too many of the old French guns in the country 
 still, and then they are unfortunately busy." 
 
 By the by, speaking of the snow, a very curious 
 circumstance occurred, during its long continuance in 
 1822. 
 
 A fine hind, accompanied by a stout fawn, travelled 
 across the lowlands in search of pasturage, which the 
 deep snow had rendered unattainable in the mountains. 
 Pressed by the severity of the weather, she at last 
 established herself in a green field which was within 
 sight of the windows of the Lodge. For four wxeks, 
 during which the storm continued, she remained there 
 in safety ; for the wild visitors were protected by the 
 commands of " the Master " : and from being undis- 
 turbed, continued in the place they had first selected. 
 
 * By a village a very few houses are denomiuated, and a stranger 
 would be sadly disappointed if he formed his ideas of their extent 
 on the English scale. 
 
256 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 Thinking that they would be a valuable addition to 
 Lord Sligo's park, my kinsman determined to have them 
 captured, and the following Sunday was appointed for 
 the attempt. This day was selected, because the 
 number of persons collected at the chapel would materially 
 assist the execution of the plan. 
 
 The day came, and the whole population of the parish 
 was employed. The place was surrounded by a mul- 
 titude of people, who gradually reduced their circle 
 until the deer and fawn were completely enclosed, 
 and a cordon of living beings was formed, two deep, 
 around them. The hind had remarked the preparations, 
 and more than once attempted an escape ; but, embar- 
 rassed by the fawn, her efforts were abortive. She 
 appeared determined to share its fate, and affection was 
 paramount to timidity. At last, when totally surrounded, 
 her courage and address were almost incredible. She 
 eyed the circle attentively, made a sharp, peculiar noise, 
 as if to warn her offspring of its danger, then, charging 
 the ranks where they appeared weakest, bounded over 
 the heads of her opposers and escaped. The confusion 
 occasioned by this extraordinary proceeding favoured 
 the deliverance of the fawn, who, profiting by the 
 accident, galloped off unhurt, and, with the dam, suc- 
 ceeded in regaining their native wilds. 
 
 The whole of the dramatis personce, with the exception 
 of the otter-killer and myself, have gone off to fish some 
 three or four lakes, situate in a hollow in the mountains, 
 and which are said to be remarkable for the number 
 and flavour of their trout. I have been prevented by 
 an accident from accompanying the party ; and though 
 my wound be " not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a 
 church-door," it still renders me hors-de-combat. I 
 
WILD CATS. 
 
 257 
 
 blistered, or rather neglected, a blistered heel : and the 
 fag of yesterday has so excoriated the surface, as to 
 make it imperative upon me to lie by for a little. Antony 
 engages to effect a perfect cure by to-morrow ; and here 
 I remain tete-d-tete with the otter-killer. 
 
 The old man proceeded skilfully enough ; he lanced 
 the blisters, and then applied the cuticle which covers 
 a sheep's kidney, and which is very similar in appear- 
 ance and effect to what we call " gold-beaters' leaf." 
 This application prevented the heel from being frayed 
 by the stocking. To the remainder of the foot he 
 rubbed a hot mixture of tallow and whisky ; and his 
 remedy was " the sovereignest thing on earth," for in 
 twelve hours the cure was effected. 
 
 While he operated on my infirm foot, he amused me 
 with one of his interminable stories. He says, by the 
 " mother's side," that I and my cousin are descended 
 from a lady called Rose Roche. When his leech-craft 
 was ended he retired ** to stretch upon the bed." — ^John 
 was too deeply engaged in culinary affairs to favour me 
 with his company, and having no resource besides, 
 I have been obliged to amuse myself by transcribing 
 the legend of Rose Roche, and become thus a chronicler 
 of the otter-killer. 
 
2c8 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 THE LEGEND OF ROSE ROCHE. 
 
 At sixteen Rose Roche was the loveUest maid in Ulster. 
 In infancy she was found exposed at the gate of the 
 Ursulines, and her beauty and destitution recommended 
 her to the charity of the sisterhood. Educated, accord- 
 ingly, for a conventual life, she had never passed the 
 boundary of the garden-walls, and accident discovered 
 the existence of beauty, which else had faded unseen 
 and unadmired within those cloisters, to which from 
 childhood it had been devoted. 
 
 Cormac More, Lord of Iveagh, was the patron and 
 protector of the community at Balleek. At primes 
 and vespers a mass was celebrated for his soul's weal. 
 His Easter-offering was ten beeves and five casks of 
 Bordeaux wine ; and on the last Christmas vigil he 
 presented six silver candlesticks to the altar of Our Lady. 
 No wonder that this powerful chief was held in high 
 honour by the sisterhood of Saint Ursula. 
 
 One tempestuous night in October, wearied with 
 hunting, and separated from his followers by darkness 
 and the storm, Cormac More found himself beneath the 
 walls of the convent of Balleek. Approaching the 
 gate, he wound his horn loudly, and begged for shelter 
 and refreshment. Proud of this opportunity of affording 
 hospitality to so noble and munificent a protector, the 
 wicket was unbarred, the Lord of Iveagh admitted, and 
 received in honourable state by the Lady Superior, 
 and inducted with due form into the parlour of the 
 
 Ursulines. 
 
 There a plentiful repast was speedily prepared, and 
 
THE LEGEND OF ROSE ROCHE. 259 
 
 the tired hunter was ceremoniously seated at the table. 
 His morning's meal had been despatched before the 
 sun had topped Slieve Galliotiy and a long day's exercise 
 had given him a keen relish for the evening banquet. 
 The lady Abbess feasted the patron of her house right 
 nobly — he was attended on assiduously by the novices — 
 dish after dish succeeded in luxurious variety, until the 
 chief requested the tables to be drawn, and with knightly 
 courtesy entreated permission to pledge the holy 
 mother of the Ursulines in a deep draught of Rhenish 
 wine. 
 
 Then, for the first time, the novice who presented the 
 cup attracted the good knight's attention. The folds 
 of her thick veil could not conceal the matchless 
 symmetry of her form ; and, as she filled the chalice 
 from the flagon, the exquisite proportions of her hand 
 and arm struck Cormac More with wonder. At this 
 moment her drapery became entangled with the jewelled 
 pommel of the Knight's rapier ; a hasty attempt to 
 disengage it was unsuccessful — the veil fell and disclosed 
 to the enraptured view of the Lord of Iveagh the loveliest 
 features he had ever seen. Covered with blushes, 
 which heightened her surpassing beauty, the novice 
 caught her veil hastily up and retired from the parlour, 
 while the Knight, despite the evident displeasure that 
 the accident had caused the Lady Abbess, gazed after 
 the retiring girl until she disappeared among the cloisters. 
 In vain the proud Superior introduced costlier wines 
 of rare and ancient vintages : in vain she enlarged 
 upon the piety of her order, and enumerated the number 
 of the Ursulines who had been canonized * — ^the Knight's 
 whole thoughts were engrossed with one lovely object 
 — ^his courtesy and converse were feeble and constrained, 
 
26o WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 until, piqued by his neglect, the Abbess wished him a 
 fair repose, and retired in full state from the apartment, 
 preceded by a crucifix and taper, and followed by her 
 attendant, nuns. 
 
 Although the Knight lay upon the Bishop's bed, 
 and occupied that honoured chamber where none of a 
 less degree than a mitred abbot had hitherto been per- 
 mitted to repose, no slumber sealed his Uds, nor was the 
 beautiful novice for a moment absent from his thoughts. 
 Cormac More had declined many a splendid alliance ; 
 the Lord of Offaly proffered him an only sister, with 
 a princely dower ; and O'Nial himself courted him for 
 a son-in-law, and promised him the barony of Orier, 
 and Blanche, his fairest daughter. But, till now, 
 Cormac had never loved : the beauteous cup-bearer 
 seemed to him a being of another world ; the more he 
 dwelt upon her image, the more his passion was excited, 
 alliances with lords and princes were overlooked, 
 disparity of rank and fortune was forgotten, and, ere the 
 morning sun had lighted the storied window of the 
 Bishop's chamber, the Knight's determination was 
 formed, and matins were scarcely over when he demanded 
 an audience of the Lady Abbess. 
 
 Never was there greater surprise than that with which 
 the holy mother heard Cormac More express his passion 
 for the novice of the Ursulines. Joy sparkled in her 
 eyes as the noble Lord of Iveagh confided the secret 
 of his love, entreated her powerful intercession, and 
 begged for her sanction to his nuptials. As Rose was 
 still unprofessed, there existed no spiritual barrier to 
 her marriage. Flattered by the high honour conferred 
 upon her house by the proudest baron of the Pale 
 selecting a bride from the holy sisterhood, the Superior 
 
THE LEGEND OF ROSE ROCHE. 26 1 
 
 willingly acceded to his request ; his offers were accepted, 
 and, ere the vesper-bell had tolled, the preliminaries 
 were completed, and the fair novice had consented to 
 become the bride of Cormac More. 
 
 But, alas ! the wild ardour of the good Knight, and 
 the carnal motives of the Abbess, caused both to neglect 
 consulting another personage, namely, the blessed 
 Ursula herself, in thus disposing of one devoted to her 
 service from the cradle ; and the Saint felt the over- 
 sight. That night the Abbess was tormented with 
 fearful and portentous dreams ; the Lord of Iveagh 
 tossed restlessly upon the Bishop's bed ; and, if the novice 
 closed an eye, her slumbers were broken with strange 
 and incoherent visions. In vain, next day, the Knight 
 hunted from sunrise to curfew — his hounds were eternally 
 at fault, and his followers appeared besotted or bewitched ; 
 the deer, when pressed to the utmost, vanished on the 
 bare moor ; and knight, squire, and yeoman unani- 
 mously agreed that the several parties interested in the 
 chase were under the immediate influence of the Prince 
 of Darkness. 
 
 Nor did the holy Superior of the Ursulines fare better 
 than the persecuted Knight and his afflicted com- 
 panions. Everything about the convent went astray, and 
 the culinary preparations for entertaining the Lord of 
 Iveagh were awfully interrupted by accident and for- 
 getfulness. The sister who presided over the pastry, 
 and whose conserves, throughout a long and blameless 
 life, had been pronounced unique and irreproachable, 
 now actually omitted the necessary ingredients ; the 
 soup, when uncovered for a second, was invaded with 
 such a discharge of soot, as reduced it, in colour, at least 
 to an equality with the broth of Sparta The nun at 
 
262 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST 
 
 the organ, instead of a " jubilate,'' struck up a ** nunc 
 dimittis ; " the very bells were " jangled out of tune ; '* 
 and the Lady Abbess was horrified by a succession of 
 prodigies that, from her novitiate to her promotion, 
 had never before visited the quiet residence of the 
 sisterhood of Saint Ursula. 
 
 What were the nocturnal visitations inflicted upon 
 the lovely novice have not been exactly handed down. 
 One thing alone is certain, — she visited the Lady Abbess 
 with the first dawn, and in her maternal bosom the bride 
 elect deposited the causes of her sorrow. 
 
 In this perplexity, the Knight and the Superior held 
 secret counsel in the parlour of the convent, and long 
 and difficult was the conference. The result was, 
 that Cormac More vowed a golden chalice to the offended 
 virgin ; and the Abbess, not to be outdone in Uberality, 
 agreed to double aves and credos for a fortnight. But 
 with Rose Roche herself the chief difficulty was found 
 to lie. All measures proposed by the holy mother 
 were inefficacious ; and, in this desperate dilemma, 
 it was deemed advisable to add to the number of coun- 
 sellors, and the Prior of the Dominicans was summoned 
 to the assistance of the conclave. 
 
 To that holy man the exigencies of the respective 
 parties were intrusted. The Prior was sorely disturbed 
 with doubts, but after a night's deliberation, during 
 which he discussed a capon single-handed, and fortified 
 his stomach with a second scoup of Rhenish wine, he 
 decided that the Lord of Iveagh should add a flagon to 
 the chalice ; the Abbess should double her peniten- 
 tiaries for a month ; and Rose Roche undergo a private 
 penance, which he, the Prior, should communicate to 
 the lady alone. 
 
THE LEGEND OF ROSE ROCHE, 263 
 
 Never had such an alarming predicament a happier 
 termination ! The Knight had scarcely laid himself 
 upon the Bishop's bed, until 3 sweet and refreshing 
 slumber, blessed with the happiest visions, sealed his 
 eyes ; the Lady Abbess slept like a watchman ; and, 
 since she had first gathered wild-flowers in the convent 
 garden, never did the fair novice enjoy more delightful 
 dreams ! 
 
 At last the bridal day arrived. The Lord of Iveagh 
 was attended by a splendid following. The bells rang 
 out a joyous peal, and the eleve of the UrsuHnes left the 
 home of her youth, escorted by three hundred horse- 
 men, the consort of the proudest baron of the Pale. 
 No lover could be more gallant than the noble husband 
 of Rose Roche. Fete succeeded fete, and feasting 
 continued in the castle of Cormac More from Michael- 
 mas to Advent. 
 
 Months passed away, and honeymoons cannot be 
 expected to last for ever. Cormac More by degrees 
 resumed his hunting, and again involved himself in the 
 endless feuds and warfare of these restless times ; 
 and Rose Roche was often deserted for the chase or the 
 field. She still was passionately loved ; but in the 
 bosom of a martial baron, other and sterner feelings 
 held a predominance. It is true that the young bride 
 bore these frequent absences with wonderful resigna- 
 tion ; and page and tirewoman confessed in secret that 
 Dhu Castle was gayer and merrier when Cormac and his 
 stern companions were away. 
 
 A year wore on. The Lord of Iveagh was pensive 
 and thoughtful ; a cloud would often gather on his brow, 
 and his bearing to his beautiful wife became chilling 
 and repulsive. It transpired that two circumstances 
 
264 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 occasioned his anxiety. His lady wore a curious- 
 fashioned coif, which concealed her tresses as effectually 
 as if she never laid aside her night-cap ; and the cherished 
 hope of an heir to his ancient line now faded in the 
 heart of Cormac More. Dhu Castle became duller 
 and more gloomy — ^the fair Baroness was more and more 
 deserted — ^the chase and banquet were preferred by the 
 moody Knight to soft dalliance in his " lady's bower," — 
 and any pretext was gladly resorted to which offered 
 an excuse for being absent from his joyless home. 
 
 Gentlewomen, in these perilous days, acquired and 
 possessed an astonishing portion of philosophy. No 
 baron's lady " in the Pale"* submitted to a frequent 
 separation from her lord with more laudable submission 
 than Rose Roche. The customary resource of " wives 
 bereaved " appeared anything but consolatory to the 
 dame. She determined to avoid crying, as being an 
 un- Christian waste of beauty — and, instead of useless 
 lamentations, she wisely substituted mirth and 
 minstrelsy. 
 
 There was not a more accomplished bard in Ulster 
 than Connor O'Cahan, and for seventy years he had 
 resided with the Lords of Iveagh. No tale or tradition 
 connected with this puissant race was unknown to 
 this gifted minstrel : yet, by some strange infirmity of 
 taste, young Rose preferred the light romances of her 
 lord's English page to all the legendary lore of the 
 grey-haired harper ; and listened with more delight 
 
 * The Pale was the line of demarcation drawn by the English 
 settlers between their acquired possessions and the remoter districts, 
 which were still permitted to remain with the ancient proprietors. 
 As this boundary was the " debatable land " of Ireland, it was the 
 scene of constant raid and skirmish ; and the locale of many a wild 
 tradition is placed beside this dangerous border. 
 
THE LEGEND OF ROSE ROCHE. 265 
 
 to a merry roundelay from Edwin's lute than to the deeds 
 of Cormac's grandfather, as set out in song by Connor 
 O'Cahan. The bard, it is true, was blind, and the page 
 had the blackest eyes imaginable. 
 
 This unhappy predilection was not concealed from her 
 lord. His jealousy instantly took fire, and the handsome 
 page was suddenly removed, and none knew whither. 
 The absence of an heir had now become matter for 
 serious complaint : it was whispered among the Baron's 
 followers that there was no cause for hope, and malici- 
 ously insinuated, moreover, that the close coif adopted 
 by the dame was worn to conceal some natural deformity, 
 Cormac, a slave to suspicion, and instigated by his rude 
 companions, insisted that the hood should be discarded, 
 or that Rose Roche should retire in disgrace to the 
 convent from whence she came. 
 
 On the alternative being proposed, the lady proved 
 positive, and the coif was peremptorily retained. 
 Cormac, irritated by opposition to his commands, 
 was obstinate in his determination, and Rose Roche 
 left the Castle of her lord a repudiated wife, and once 
 more returned to the convent of the Ursulines. 
 
 From the hour of their separation, the Baron seldom 
 smiled. To part from his wife was a trifle ; but, 
 unluckily, he had embroiled himself with the church. 
 The Abbess espoused the lady's quarrel fiercely, and 
 ave and credo were no longer offered up for Cormac 
 More ! Notwithstanding past largess, beeves and wine- 
 butts were forgotten ; the candlesticks upon the altar 
 no longer elicited a prayer ; and his soul's health was 
 no more attended to by the community than the lowest 
 horse-boys of his train. 
 
 Thus matters stood, when one dark evening, returning 
 
266 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 from the chase, Cormac and his followers were surprised 
 by a band of Catterans, and a fierce and desperate 
 skirmish ensued. The outlaws were defeated, but the 
 Lord of Iveagh was shot clean through the body with 
 a three-foot arrow : and how could he have better 
 luck? 
 
 Then it was that the sinful Knight was tortured with 
 remorse and unavailing sorrow. He cursed the evil 
 counsellors who tempted him to insult Saint Ursula 
 and her adopted daughter, and, determining to be 
 reconciled to his wife and the church together, directed 
 his followers to carry him to the Abbey of Balleek. His 
 orders were obeyed, and the Lady Abbess consented 
 to admit the dying noble. He was laid before the 
 altar, and his injured wife, forgetting past resentment, 
 was the first to rush from her cell, and minister to his 
 relief. In the fatal emergency, coif and veil were left 
 behind ; her raven tresses fell below her shoulders, 
 and reached to her very waist, and Cormac was con- 
 vinced too late that his ill-used consort had the finest 
 hair in Christendom. Alas ! those ebon locks had been 
 the admiration of the whole sisterhood ; and, for pene- 
 tential purposes, the Dominican had enjoined their con- 
 cealment for three years, when he gave spiritual counsel, 
 in their hour of tribulation, to the Abbess, the Baron, 
 and Rose Roche. 
 
 To make atonement for his former unkindness, he " 
 willed his rich domains to his beautiful widow. The 
 Prior of the Dominicans indicted the deed, which dis- 
 posed of his possessions ; and the church, of course, 
 was not forgotten. Surrounded by all the emblems of 
 religion, and with a splinter of the true cross in his 
 right hand, the penitent Baron breathed his last. He 
 
THE LEGEND OF ROSE ROCHE. 267 
 
 lay for three days and nights in the chancel, in great 
 state ; and was interred on the fourth morning, with all 
 the ceremonies that both Ursulines and Dominicans 
 could bestow. 
 
 The days of mourning passed over : Rose Roche 
 exercised her resignation ; and Dhu Castle became a 
 different place to what it had been during the latter days 
 of the defunct Baron, and mirth and music were ex- 
 changed for the rude revelry of Cormac More. Her 
 hall was filled with guests ; at the board she did the 
 honours nobly ; and when she visited the green wood, 
 with her gold-belled hawks and gallant retinue, she 
 looked as if she had been ennobled from the Conquest, 
 and in bearing and attire seemed " every inch a queen." 
 But amid all this splendour and magnificence, poor 
 Rose had her own secret causes of inquietude. Beauty, 
 accompanied by broad lands, could not but induce 
 suitors without number to come forward, and never 
 was woman, not excepting Penelope herself, more 
 vigorously besieged. From past experience. Rose was 
 not ambitious to exchange wealth and liberty for becoming 
 the wife of some doughty baron, who would probably 
 undervalue her charms, just as much as he would over- 
 estimate his own great condescension in giving her 
 his name. A tender recollection of one, long since 
 lost, would cross her mind occasionally ; and in her 
 solitary hours the black-eyed page haunted her imagina- 
 tion. Accordingly, she eschewed all offers for her hand, 
 with excellent discretion. Few were offended, she 
 managed her rejections so prudently : and through the 
 first year of widowhood neither lands nor liberty were 
 lost. 
 The consort of the wise Ulysses herself could not 
 
268 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 have held out forever. Rose was severely pressed ; 
 for, finding themselves foiled by her ready wit and good 
 discretion, when they attacked her singly, her lovers, 
 from necessity, agreed to coalesce, and determined that 
 one should be accepted, and the remainder be pledged 
 to support the acquired rights of the fortunate candi- 
 date, as report said King Henry had resolved to gift 
 a favourite noble with the person and estates of the 
 beautiful widow. 
 
 This agreement of her suitors was politely but decisively 
 intimated to Rose Roche, and the Prior declared, " by 
 the vestment," that to evade matrimony longer was 
 impossible. " She had," the holy man said, " an ample 
 list to choose from ; there were eleven suitors in the 
 neighbourhood, besides the Big Man of the Westy" 
 for so the Thane of Connaught was entitled. 
 
 In this extremity, the lady resolved to exercise, at 
 least, the privilege of free choice. The Prior was 
 directed to engross a bond, by which the respective 
 candidates for her hand bound themselves to grant 
 an uncontrolled right of selection to the widow, and 
 covenanted, moreover, neither to molest, nor permit 
 her to be molested, when her choice was made. The 
 deed was duly executed — ^the day for her decision was 
 named — and a reasonable time allowed for " the Big 
 Man of the West " to attend and try his fortune. 
 
 O'Connor was surprised when the determination of 
 the fair widow was communicated. He had only time 
 for a hurried preparation, as his rivals, from their vicinity 
 to the lady, had never taken the remoter situation of 
 " the Big Man " into their consideration, when they 
 named the day. O'Connor, however, was no sluggard ; 
 he collected his *' following " with all haste, and every 
 
THE LEGEND OF ROSE ROCHE. 269 
 
 department was complete, when, alas ! the chief harper 
 fell sick without a cause, and no other was procurable 
 for a distance of sixty miles. In this dilemma a Saxon 
 youth, who two years since had been shipwrecked 
 beneath the castle walls, was recollected. He could not, 
 it is true, " strike the bold harp," but he had a sweet and 
 mellow voice, and his skill upon the lute was admirable. 
 In wordcraft he was a thorough proficient, and with 
 lance and brand had more than once proved himself 
 a man. O^Connor had no alternative, and the stranger 
 was selected to fill a place that '* Cathwold O'Connor 
 of the harp " should have more worthily occupied. 
 
 Although the Thane of Connaught and his gallant 
 company pushed forward with all the speed that man and 
 horse could make, from bad roads and flooded rivers, 
 they were unable to reach the heights above Dhu 
 Castle until the sun of the eventful day had set. In 
 vain knight and squire pressed on their jaded steeds — 
 evening fell ; all the candidates besides had been in 
 the hall for hours, and, as " the Big Man " had not 
 appeared, according to modern parlance he was voted 
 present by the company, and the banquet was served. 
 
 Never vdth such heavy heart did Rose Roche assume 
 the place of honour. Though her hall was lighted 
 splendidly, and her table crowded with the proudest 
 nobles within *' the Pale " — though rich wine flowed, 
 and the most skilful harpers in the province poured 
 forth their lays of love and war — yet one heart was 
 heedless of gaiety and grandeur ; and that one was hers 
 on whom every eye was bent, in deep expectancy, 
 awaiting her decision. 
 
 The curfew rang — and in another hour the happy 
 Lord of Dhu Castle would be proclaimed. As the 
 
270 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 moments flew, the beautiful widow became paler and 
 more dejected ; and breasts which had never quailed 
 amid the roar of battle, now throbbed as nervously as 
 a maiden's, when she listens to the first tale of love. 
 The harps were mute, the revel became less loud, for 
 all were deeply interested in that event which a brief 
 space must determine. At this embarrassing moment, 
 a loud blast was heard at the grand gate, and the seneschal 
 rushed in, to announce the arrival of the Thane of 
 Connaught, attended by a noble following of, at least, 
 one hundred horse. 
 
 The sudden and opportune appearance of him of the 
 West seemed to affect the company variously. His 
 rivals heard the news with mingled feelings of jealousy 
 and alarm, which was in no way abated when the 
 number of his attendants was announced, which exceeded 
 that of their united folio wings. Rose Roche felt a 
 secret pleasure at his coming ; not that her sentiments 
 towards O'Connor were more favourable than to her 
 suitors generally, but his late arrival must necessarily 
 occasion some delay, and postpone, though but for brief 
 space, that dreaded moment when she should surrender a 
 hand, without a heart, to her future lord. 
 
 While O'Connor, as the greatest stranger, was placed 
 beside the lady of Dhu Castle, his bard stood behind 
 his master, and his train bestowed themselves where 
 they could best find room. As Rose Roche looked 
 carelessly around to see that the band were fitly accom- 
 modated, her eyes met those of the young minstrel : — 
 the blood rushed to her brow ; for, excepting those of 
 her own loved page, she never looked upon a pair so 
 black and sparkling as the stranger's. 
 
 When the Thane of Connaught had feasted to his 
 
THE LEGEND OF ROSE ROCHE. ZJl 
 
 heart*s content, the Prior of the Dominicans produced 
 the parchment, to which his rivals had affixed their 
 signatures already. The ** Big Man " listened atten- 
 tively as the Monk read it. '' 'Tis all fair," he said, 
 as he placed his sign manual to the deed, ** that lady 
 should choose her lord ; and thus I bind myself, faith- 
 fully to abide the intents of this parchment." Then 
 turning to Rose Roche, he thus proceeded ; ''It grieves 
 me that through accident I have unwittingly occa- 
 sioned some delay ; therefore, in pity to my gallant 
 competitors, 1 beg you, lady, to terminate this suspense, 
 and declare to this noble company the happy object 
 of your choice. — Nay, blanch not so, fair dame," for 
 the lady became pallid as the white marble of a warrior's 
 tomb : *' exercise your own pleasure leisurely ; and 
 while I pledge thy matchless beauty in a cup of musca- 
 dine, Aylmer, my bard, shall sing a Saxon roundelay." 
 As he spoke, O'Connor signed to the minstrel, who, 
 rising at his lord's bidding, struck with a rapid hand 
 the prelude of a light romance, which, with a tremulous 
 but powerful voice, he thus gave words to : — 
 
 " Lady, farewell ! — the fatal hour 
 Has sped, for thus thy tyrant wills, 
 When he, who loves thee, leaves this tower, 
 Deserts gay hall and wood and bower 
 Of her, for whom his heart's pulse thrills ; 
 And thou art she — Ladye — sweet Ladye." 
 
 When the minstrel touched the prelude. Rose Roche 
 became visibly affected ; but when the words fell from 
 his Ups, a burning blush dyed her cheeks and brow, 
 and her heart throbbed almost to bursting. Alas, it 
 was the very roundelay the poor page had sung beneath 
 her casement on that melancholy night w^hen her 
 defunct lord had expelled him from the Castle ! She 
 
272 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 turned hastily round to se who the stran e youth 
 might be who thus recalled her absent love in look and 
 voice so forcibly. Blessed Ursula ! it was he, the long- 
 lost page ! The minstrel, as he caught her eyes, 
 suddenly ceased his melody — ^the lute fell from his 
 nerveless grasp, and, overcome by feelings that could 
 not be controlled, he sank upon the bench behind him. 
 It was, indeed, young Aylmer. The well-remembered 
 features could never be forgotten, although the boy 
 had ripened into manhood — ^the thick down upon the 
 lip had changed to a dark moustache — and the belt 
 which once held a hunting blade supported now a 
 goodly brand. 
 
 The strange effect of the melody upon the lady, and 
 the minstrel's sudden indisposition, could not escape 
 remark ; a startling suspicion flashed across the minds 
 of the company, and, after a painful silence of some 
 minutes, Hubert de Moore rose from his seat, and bowing 
 to the very table, thus addressed the lady of the 
 castle : 
 
 " Wilt thou forgive the humblest but most devoted 
 of thy suitors, if he presume to remind you that the hour 
 has long since passed when your election should have 
 been made ? Far be it from me, noble dame, to seem 
 importunate ; but suspense is irksome to those that love, 
 and I and my brother nobles pray to you to signify your 
 pleasure, and end uncertainty at once." 
 
 While De Moore was speaking. Rose Roche appeared 
 to recover her self-possession wonderfully ; her eye 
 brightened, her colour came again, and the compression 
 of her Hps proved that she was nerving herself for some 
 determined effort. She rose slowly and gracefully, while 
 a dead silence pervaded the hall ; faint and tremulous 
 
THE LEGEND OF ROSE ROCHE. 273 
 
 as the first words were, they were distinctly heard by 
 those remotest from the dais.* 
 
 " Noble lords," she said, " I own and thank your 
 courtesy : I ask this holy churchman if I am to exercise 
 free choice in this affair, unshackled with bar, or con- 
 dition, save my own leisure : and if he whom I shall 
 place here," and she pointed to the vacant seat beside 
 her own, which had been reserved for the successful 
 wooer, " shall be supported in all the rights and 
 properties which he shall obtain through me ? " 
 
 " All this," said the Prior, " is fairly stipulated in the 
 intents of this scroll." 
 
 " Then will I not trespass on your patience, noble 
 lords — there stands the object of my choice ; and thus 
 do I install him in this seat, as lord and master of Dhu 
 Castle ! " 
 
 She turned to the astonished minstrel as she spoke, 
 and ere her words were ended, the youth was seated at 
 her side. 
 
 A scene of wonder and wild confusion followed — most 
 of the Barons protested loudly against her choice ; angry 
 looks and threatening gestures were directed at the 
 minstrel, and more than one sword was half unsheathed. 
 O'Connor seemed thunderstruck — and the lady herself 
 was the most collected of the company. 
 
 " How is this. Sir Knights ! " she cried. " Is lordly 
 word and written pledge so lightly held among you, 
 that thus ye violate their sanctity ? Thane of Con- 
 naught," she continued, as she addressed herself to the 
 *' Big Man," — " thy faith was never questioned, and thy 
 word is held to be sacred as a martyr's vow. When the 
 English King, under pain of confiscation, ordered thee 
 
 ♦ \riie place of honour in a Baronial Hall. 
 
 T 
 
274 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 to deliver the stranger up, whom thou hadst resetted — 
 ahhough five hundred marks were upon his head, what 
 was thy answer ? * The lands may go, but plighted 
 faith must stand ! * The ink with which you bound 
 yourself to the conditions of yonder bond is not yet 
 dry upon the parchment, and wilt thou break thy word ? " 
 " It is a trick," cried De Moore. 
 " The selection rests with ourselves alone," exclaimed 
 Mandeville. 
 
 *' We will never brook that page or minstrel should 
 hold the lands and castles of Cormac More," said both 
 together : and they laid their hands upon their swords ; 
 the attendants followed the example of their lords, and 
 a scene of violence and discord was about immediately 
 to ensue. 
 
 O'Connor slowly rose — he waved his hand to command 
 silence, and his wishes were promptly obeyed. 
 
 " This is, indeed, an unexpected choice," he said : 
 " Sir Prior, read thy parchment aloud, that all may 
 hear, and read it carefully, line after line, and 
 syllable by syllable : see that a letter be not omitted." 
 The Monk obeyed. " The document is a plain one," 
 said '* The Big Man," *' and by it the lady has good 
 right to choose whom she listeth for her consort. — 
 Lady of Iveagh," he continued, as he turned to the 
 blushing widow, " is this youth the husband of thy 
 choice .'* " — *' He, and none besides, so help me saints 
 and angels ! " was the solemn answer. ** Then, by 
 my father's ashes, and a knight's word that never yet was 
 questioned, thou, Aylmer Mowbray, shalt this night 
 possess thy bride ! And why, my lords, chafe you so 
 at this ? " for the storm was again about to burst forth : 
 " Is it because the monk was but a sorry lawyer, and 
 
THE LEGEND OF ROSE ROCHE. 275 
 
 the lady took advantage of a loose parchment, which 
 should have bound her better ? Is it that the lord of 
 Dhu Castle was once a page ? What was thy ancestor, 
 De Moore (I mean not to offend thee), but usher to the 
 Lord Justice ? And thine, Mandeville, but chamber- 
 groom to Strongbow ? Aylmer, I love thee too well 
 to envy thee thy good fortune : — thy lute has won the 
 lady — thy lance must keep her lands. Kneel down, 
 minstrel no longer — rise up, my own knight banneret ! 
 And now. Lords of the Pale, Henry himself could not 
 confer a nobler dignity ; for O'Connor's knight is 
 standard-bearer to the King of Connaught ! Does 
 any here gainsay his rank and dignity ? The sword 
 that conferred the honour is ready and able to maintain 
 it ! " And O'Connor, as he ended, flung belt and rapier 
 on the table. 
 
 But none seemed disposed to quarrel with him : and 
 gradually they followed his example, and admitted the 
 lady's right of choice. The mirth and feasting were 
 resumed ; and each, after reasoning with himself, finding 
 that the chances of individual , success were greatly 
 against him, became reconciled to lose the lady and her 
 lands. Before midnight struck, the Prior performed 
 the marriage ceremony ; and while O'Connor bestowed 
 the beauteous bride, De Moore himself attended upon 
 the fortunate minstrel. 
 
 Nor did Sir Aylmer Mowbray disappoint his patron's 
 expectation. As his lute was sweetest in the bower, his 
 plume was foremost in the field. He held the posses- 
 sions he gained by his lady against every claimant ; 
 sons and daughters blessed his bed, and transmitted 
 his titles and estates to posterity : and thus, more than 
 one powerful house traces its lineage back to an " eleve " 
 of the Ursulines and the black-eyed Page, 
 
276 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIL 
 
 The fishing party had been successful, and returned 
 late in the evening with two baskets of trout, which, 
 although of small size, were remarkable for beautiful 
 shape and excellent flavour. 
 
 It is a curious fact that the loughs where the party 
 angled, though situate in the same valley, and divided 
 only by a strip of moorland not above fifty yards across, 
 united by the same rivulet, and in depth and soil at 
 bottom, to all appearance, precisely similar, should 
 produce fish as different from each other as it is possible 
 for those of the same species to be. In the centre lake 
 the trout are dull, ill-shapen, and dark-coloured ; the 
 head large, the body lank, and, though of double size, 
 compared to their neighbours, are killed with much 
 less opposition. In the adjacent loughs, their hue is 
 golden and pellucid, tinted with spots of a brilliant 
 vermilion. The scales are bright, the head small, 
 the shoulder thick, and from their compact shape, they 
 prove themselves, when hooked, both active and vigorous. 
 At table they are red and firm, and their flavour is 
 particularly fine — while the dark trout are white and 
 flaccid, and have the same insipidity of flavour which 
 distinguishes a spent from a healthy salmon. The 
 red trout seldom exceed a herring-size, and in looking 
 through the contents of the baskets, which amounted 
 to at least twelve dozen, I could only find two fish which 
 weighed above a pound. 
 
 The dark trout, however, from their superior size, 
 are more sought after by the mountain fishermen. 
 
DISTILLATION. 277 
 
 They rarely are taken of a smaller weight than a pound, 
 and sometimes have been killed, and particularly with 
 a worm, or on a night-line, of a size little inferior to that 
 of a moderate salmon. 
 
 The fishing party determined that Antony's account 
 of the otters being very numerous about those lakes 
 was perfectly correct. Their paths between the waters 
 were much beaten, and the spraints of the animal 
 fresh and frequent. 
 
 There is a lake still farther up the mountains, and some 
 hundred feet above the level of these loughs, which 
 produces trout not more remarkable for size than for 
 their peculiarity in never rising at a fly, or taking a bait ; 
 and yet they are frequently observed by the herdsmen 
 who frequent the valley where the lake is situated, 
 rising over the water, or, to use their own phrase, 
 ** tumbling about like dogs." From the known attach- 
 ment of the lower classes of this country to indulge 
 in " the wild and wonderful," their size or existence 
 might be doubtful, were it not that they run like eels 
 in the latter part of a harvest, and at that season are 
 taken, after a flood, in the pools of the little river, 
 which communicates directly with the lake. These 
 trout have been found to weigh upwards of twelve 
 pounds, and are said to be in shape and colour like large 
 gillaroos, and of superior flavour when brought to table. 
 
 The otter-killer declares that he fished this lake 
 repeatedly, and while he exhausted all his piscatory 
 skill, he never could induce a trout to rise. He recol- 
 lects, however, hearing " when a boy," that there was 
 formerly an old man who resided contiguous to the lake, 
 who caught trout most plentifully near the centre of the 
 water, by floating lines across it, their ends being attached 
 
278 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 to the legs of geese ; but he admits his belief that this 
 was but a popular conceit, and wisely comes to a con- 
 clusion, *' that there is a sea-horse, or some such devil 
 in the lough, which prevents the fish from taking 
 fly or worm." In the neighbourhood of Minola there 
 is a lake called Carramore, where the trout are said to 
 be equally large, and in refusing baits and flies equally 
 refractory. I have never fished the water, or seen the 
 trout ; but they are taken during harvest floods, in 
 a mill-race, which runs directly from the lough ; their 
 size is from four to ten pounds. 
 
 Three days have passed, and the weather has been wet 
 and boisterous. The moors have become soft, and are 
 now very distressing to traverse. The grouse have 
 deserted their customary haunts, are found with 
 difficulty, and from their wildness, will hardly stand 
 the dogs. Winter is fast approaching, and the time is 
 close at hand when the cabin must be abandoned for 
 the more substantial comforts of the Lodge. 
 
 And I shall leave this hut and these hills with sincere 
 regret. Palled with the pleasures of the world, I found 
 here that rude, but real happiness, which for years 
 before I had sought in vain. Here I associated with 
 a new order of beings. I compared them with the 
 artificial society I had consorted with, and found among 
 them some traces of natural virtues, which ultra civili- 
 zation has banished from the rest of mankind. There' 
 may be here, no doubt, much ignorance and super- 
 stition to be regretted, and false opinions and falser 
 modes of action to be corrected — but even for their 
 vices I can find an apology, and their worst crimes will 
 appear, upon examination, to be either consequent 
 upon moral neglect, or arising from rude and barbarous 
 
DISTILLATION. 279 
 
 notions of what appears to them nothing but retributive 
 justice. 
 
 The grave offences with which these wild people are 
 principally charged appear to be abduction and murder ; 
 and both are of frequent recurrence. The first, indeed, 
 is so prevalent, that any lady bent upon celibacy had better 
 avoid Ballycroy, and particularly so if she has obtained 
 the reputation of being opulent. This crime, however, 
 is seldom of a dark character, and is generally traceable 
 to local causes, and the very unceremonious mode 
 in which parents conclude matches between their chil- 
 dren without consulting the inclinations of the parties 
 most concerned in the affair. Probably the whole 
 matter is arranged between the fathers during an acci- 
 dental meeting at a fair, or likelier yet, over an egg-shell^ 
 drinking-bout in a poteen-house. The due propor- 
 tions of cattle and dry-money'\ which are to be given and 
 received are regularly specified ; and the youthful 
 couple who are to be united by the silken bond of 
 Hymen are first acquainted with their purposed happi- 
 ness after the priest has been sent for to solemnise the 
 nuptials. No wonder, therefore, if the lady have 
 another liaison, that she intimates her feelings to the 
 fortunate man. He finds no difficulty in enlisting a 
 sufficient number of his faction to *' hoist away " the 
 intended bride, and carry her to some distant hill or 
 island. Then a wonderful series of bargain-making 
 commences : upon the lady's side it being insisted that 
 the abductor shall forthwith make her '' an honest 
 
 * It may be easily imagined that glass is a scarce article in Bally- 
 croy. Accordingly, in the still and drinking houses, an egg-shell 
 is used as a substitute. 
 
 t " Dry money " is synonymous with " hard cash." 
 
28o WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 woman : " while the gallant usually demurs to the 
 " amende honorable,'^ until the " consideration " for 
 doing the same is propounded and guaranteed. Now 
 it is that the priest engages deeply in the negotiation. 
 He assumes the first place in the corps diplomatique^ 
 and becomes prime minister. In the conduct of the 
 affair, no doubt, himself is interested ; he is anxious 
 to effect hymeneals, for hence arises his principal revenue, 
 and matrimony is the best feather in his wing — and, 
 independent of the nuptial fee, contingent christenings 
 and increased house-money^ are in prospective. But 
 the lover has it all his own way. A week's residence 
 in the mountains has perilled the lady's reputation 
 beyond recovery ; as she has gotten a blast, her matri- 
 monial market is spoiled, and nothing remains but an 
 amicable arrangement. Terms are accordingly made — 
 the parties become one flesh — the priest is considered 
 for his great and valuable services by " both the houses," 
 and " one raal rookawn of a runaway match " is better 
 to his reverence than thrice the number of weddings 
 perpetrated by general consent. 
 
 This milder class of abduction is, unfortunately, not 
 the only one ; girls having property, or who are likely 
 to possess it, are oftentimes forcibly carried off. 
 Secreted in the mountains, they are not easily recover- 
 able by their friends, and left at the mercy of the ruffian 
 and his confederates, they are at last obliged to become' 
 the legal property of the despoiler. As the abductor 
 is generally some idle, dissipated blackguard, the fate 
 
 * The revenues of the Roman Catholic clergy are derived from 
 certain fees payable for marriages and christenings, with an annual 
 tax of two shillings upon every house in the parish. These, with 
 Christmas and Easter offerings, presents, and legacies, amount, in 
 populous parishes, to a very considerable sum. 
 
DISTILLATION. 28 1 
 
 of the ill-starred being who is united to him under such 
 circumstances for life is truly lamentable. 
 
 The second and worst description of crime, of which 
 this remote district unhappily affords too many instances, 
 is murder. Many circumstances tend to encourage it. 
 The system of clanship, and the imperfect administra- 
 tion of the laws, are chief causes. A strange infatua- 
 tion prevents these people from surrendering a culprit ; 
 and to conceal or abet the escape of a criminal from 
 punishment is felt to be a sort of moral obligat'on 
 not to be got over. Hence, the feudal system prevails 
 in Ballycroy of repaying injury by injury ! rather 
 than submit the offender to the ordinary course of 
 justice ; violences committed by one faction are fear- 
 fully returned by the other ; and in a country where 
 a dent spirits are easily procured, and where ancient 
 customs and the endless number of holy days enjoined 
 by the Church of Rome bring the parties into frequent 
 collision, it is not wonderful that disastrous consequences 
 ensue. Maddened by whisky, the nationa- pugnacity 
 bursts forth, old injuries are remembered, the worst 
 passions are called into action, and loss of life is too 
 commonly he result. 
 
 That any conipetent moral remedy can be employed 
 to check these barbarisms is hopeless, while the present 
 destructive system of private distillation is encouraged 
 by the landlord and abetted by the revenue. The 
 landlord is the chief delinquent — ^for, owing to abomin- 
 able jobbing, the monies taken from the pubHc purse, 
 and intended to open a communication between this 
 wild country and the more inhabited districts, have been 
 scandalously malversated, and lavished upon useless 
 works, merely to reward favouritism, or benefit agents 
 
282 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 and dependents. No serviceable attempts have been made 
 to facilitate the transport of grain from the mountains 
 to those towns from whence it could be sent abroad ; 
 and hence, the only markets which could be legitimately 
 and beneficially resorted to by the peasantry are, from 
 want of means of egress from the highlands, embargoed 
 to these hapless people. Left to their own resources, 
 what can this wretched population do .? At the mercy 
 of hireling drivers and cold-hearted agents, they are 
 required on a given day to produce the rent — ^honestly 
 if they can — but to produce it. To convey their miser- 
 able grain crop to a distant market would greatly abate 
 the amount of the sale, by the expense and difficulty 
 attendant upon the carriage. An easier mode of dis- 
 posing of it is presented. The still is substituted for 
 the market ; and hence, three parts of the corn grown 
 in these bogs and hills are converted into whisky. 
 
 At first sight, the advantages of private distillation 
 appear immense. The grain will realise nearly three 
 times the price that it would have produced if sold for 
 exportation ; but when the demoralisation, and waste, 
 and ulterior risk are considered, the imaginary profits 
 are far overbalanced by the certain or contingent losses 
 which attend it. 
 
 From the moment that the grain is first wetted to the 
 time the spirit has been doubled^ the ordinary habits of 
 the peasant are interrupted. Night and day he must 
 be on the alert — and if there were no greater penalty 
 beyond the unbidden visits of every idle blackguard 
 who drops in to taste the *' barley bree," it would be 
 a sufficient punishment for the offence. But this is the 
 smallest tax upon the produce of the still ; when the 
 process is complete, much of the produce is expended 
 
DISTILLATION. 283 
 
 in drunken hospitality. If, after all these drawbacks, 
 the residue be disposed of in the town, or sold to some 
 itinerant whisky-dealer, the adventure is prosperous ; 
 but the chances of detection, seizure, fine and imprison- 
 ment are so multitudinous as to render the vending 
 of this pernicious article a ruinous trade. To succeed 
 encourages him to continue in this hazardous manu- 
 facture ; and then upon him who night and day parches 
 in a still-house, certain drunkenness is entailed, with 
 sooner or later a loss of property, from the casualties 
 incident to the adventure ; and hence, more people 
 have been beggared by this demoralising traffic than all 
 the misfortunes which bad seasons, bad crops, and worse 
 still, bad landlords could accomplish. 
 
 Difficult as the task is found of conveying grain 
 from the highlands, the denizens of the coast possess 
 little advantage from their own locality. Want of 
 harbours renders the voyage hazardous, and the arrival 
 of the grain at market an uncertainty ; and many a 
 peasant, from rough seas and contrary winds, has been 
 ruined. One instance of this was mentioned, and 
 it so forcibly exemplifies the misfortune, that I shall 
 transcribe it. 
 
 A person of comfortable means, having suffered 
 severe loss from private distillation, determined that he 
 would never '* wet a grain during his natural life." He 
 shipped his corn accordingly in a hooker for Westport, 
 it being the nearest place where a purchaser could be 
 found. Bad weather and contrary winds came on, and 
 during eight days, for so much time was occupied in the 
 passage, the grain was exposed to rain and spray eter- 
 nally, and when it reached its destination, was found 
 to be so much damaged as to be rendered unfit for sale. 
 
284 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 The unlucky owner was eventually obliged to bring it 
 back, and in self-defence to malt and distil it. The 
 process was completed, and the spirits safely brought 
 to the town of Castlebar. There it was seized by the 
 revenue, the proprietor imprisoned for four months, 
 and his cattle and furniture at home canted to pay that 
 rent, which the corn, had it been marketable, would 
 have more than realized. By this accumulation of 
 misfortune, the unhappy man was reduced to the greatest 
 misery, and from having been once an opulent land- 
 holder, he is at this moment a cottier upon what was 
 formerly his farm, with nothing to support a wife and 
 seven children but a limited potato-garden, and occa- 
 sionally sixpence a day, when he is lucky enough to obtain 
 employment at that price. 
 
LAST day's shooting. 285 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 The day for our departure is fixed, and the order 
 for breaking up our bivouac has issued ; we leave the 
 cabin to-morrow, and some of us, in course of mortal 
 changes and chances are never fated to visit it again, 
 and, " breast the keen air " of these extensive moun- 
 tains. We have all devoted this, our last day, to 
 separate pursuits. I, with my kinsman, take to the 
 hills, while the Colonel and the Priest descend the river, 
 thus embracing sports by " fell and flood." Old 
 Antony, encouraged by the report of the fishing party 
 has hobbled off at day-break with his trap and 
 terrier, determined, as he expressed it, " to try his 
 fortune once more before he died." A shepherd- 
 boy accompanied him, and when the distance and diffi- 
 culty of the ground is considered, the old man*s courage 
 is surprising, and nothing but that master-passion 
 which through a long life has been remarkable could 
 nerve the otter-killer to the enterprise. 
 
 Our last day's sport, during its forenoon, was most 
 unpromising. The birds were scarce, unsettled, and 
 " wild as hawks." From the extreme steadiness of the 
 dogs, we sometimes succeeded in surprising them ; 
 but generally, the cock took alarm, and gave the signal 
 for escapCj and the brood got off with a random shot 
 or two. At last, when almost weary of following birds 
 who appeared determined not to stand a point, accident 
 did for us what neither art nor local experience could 
 achieve. 
 
 On a narrow strip of heather, which fringed the banks 
 pf a little rivulet, one of our youngest and wildest setters 
 
286 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 Stopped in his career as if he had been shot. The 
 suddenness of his check, and the steady point he stood 
 at, intimated that the birds were immediately beside 
 him ; and while my cousin, who happened to be at a 
 little distance, hurried up, Hennessey observed a splendid 
 pack of fifteen birds steaUng off across the bare bog. It 
 was a brood of very unusual number to meet with at this 
 advanced season, when the strongest packs have generally 
 been reduced by gun or vermin. The moor that 
 adjoined the banks on which the grouse were found 
 was a barren, soft surface, without either heath or broken 
 ground to cover our approach ; and when we attempted 
 to close up, the cock took wing, and the pack rose 
 instantly and crossed the flats, continuing their flight 
 over a small hill, until we lost them altogether. 
 
 We were very doubtful whether we should follow 
 them, as the hill was particularly steep and barren, 
 and the ground beyond it, to judge from appearances, 
 as bare as the exposed moorlands the birds had quitted. 
 At this moment of indecision, Hennessey recollected 
 that there was a little valley beneath the brow where 
 the grouse had left our view ; but my kinsman, often 
 as he had been on these hills, had never before been 
 aware of its situation. Hennessey's information 
 determined us to proceed ; we accordingly clambered 
 up the ascent, and when we reached the brow of the 
 height, discovered immediately below one of the 
 sweetest glens I ever looked at, stretching between the 
 basis of the hill we occupied and the higher ridge beyond 
 it. It was an admirable retreat for grouse — several 
 rivulets trickled through the hollow, and everywhere 
 it was covered with thick, tall heath, in rich blossom, 
 and the cranberries, of which these birds are particu- 
 
287 
 
 larly fond, were growing all around in great abundance. 
 Delighted with our new discovery, we determined to 
 investigate this land of promise closely, and our expec- 
 tations, though excited by the appearance of this 
 beautiful glen, were amply realised. We found the pack 
 that escaped us in the low grounds, and they paid dearly 
 for the long walk they had given us in the pursuit. The 
 valley produced two other broods ; and soon, after some 
 hours of capital shooting, we found our game bags, 
 when we left the glen, increased by twenty-three of the 
 finest birds I ever saw. We might have thinned the 
 packs still more, but my kinsman was anxious to leave 
 this secret valley with a sufficient stock, to render it 
 a sure resource when grouse could not be otherwise 
 obtained. This was indeed a good wind-up to our 
 highland-shooting : and as we sprang several scattered 
 birds during our return, we decided that this was our 
 best day throughout the season, and worthy of the 
 brightest page of the game-book, in which all our failures 
 and successes were duly and faithfully chronicled 
 since we took to the hills. 
 
 A curious incident supplied us with an excellent 
 white fish. The servant who brought the post-bag, 
 when in the act of crossing the river, which, in his 
 route from the Lodge, he was obliged to do repeatedly, 
 most unexpectedly encountered a large otter carrying 
 off a salmon he had just seized. The postman attacked 
 the poacher vigorously, who, dropping his prey, glided 
 off into the deep water at the tail of the ford. The 
 spoil proved to be a fresh salmon not twenty hours from 
 the sea, and consequently in prime condition. The 
 otter showed himself the best artist of the day ; for while 
 the Colonel and his companion returned with empty 
 
288 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 baskets, the little animal managed to secure the finest 
 and freshest salmon in the river. 
 
 To give eclat to our parting feast, a red-deer haunch 
 had been reserved, and in its roasting, John, as poor 
 Napoleon would say, " covered himself with glory." 
 Dinner passed as such a dinner should pass. The Colonel 
 and the Priest appeared bent upon conviviality. We 
 too prepared for a jovial carouse ; and it was generally 
 determined that our parting banquet should be the 
 '* merriest, as the last." 
 
 Evening passed quickly — ^there was no moon visible 
 till after midnight, and the wind, which had hitherto 
 been unheard, began to make that mournful noise 
 around the cabin, which generally indicates an approach- 
 ing change of weather. The otter-killer *s absence 
 was now, for the first time, remarked, and I observed 
 that my kinsman rose frequently from the table, to look 
 long and anxiously from the window. Another hour 
 passed, and our alarm was fearfully increased, for, 
 aware of the feebleness of the old man, we apprehended 
 that he would be unable to make good his journey ; 
 and, if benighted in the moors, the probability was 
 great that he would perish of cold before the morning. 
 
 While we remained in painful suspense, each feeling 
 an unwillingness to interrupt the comfort of the evening 
 by expressing fears that haply might only be imaginary, 
 a squall rushed up the river, and showed us that the 
 wind had chopped round to the westward several points 
 since twilight. At that moment a commotion was heard 
 outside — the pipes ceased — loud and earnest whisper- 
 ings succeeded — the door opened, and John, with a pale 
 face and hurried voice, told us that the otter-killer 
 was missing, and the boy who had accompanied him in 
 
LAST day's shooting. 289 
 
 the morning to the lakes, had now returned without 
 being able to give any tidings of old Antony, from whom 
 it appeared that he had separated several hours before. 
 " Get Hghts instantly," exclaimed my cousin. 
 " Away, all of you ! disperse right and left across the 
 bogs. Come Frank, on with the brogues. I fear our 
 poor otter-killer is but ' a lost priest.' No, Colonel, 
 your services would be useless — " for the commander, 
 forgetting gout and rheumatism, and alive only to the 
 danger of his ancient associate, had prepared to accom- 
 pany the party. 
 
 In a few minutes every effective member of our 
 body-politic was in motion. The scene was uncommon 
 and picturesque. It being pitch dark as the respective 
 parties dispersed across the moor upon their different 
 routes to the mountain lakes, the stream of torch-light 
 falling upon the figures, as they were revealed and hidden 
 by the inequalities of the ground they traversed, was 
 really imposing. Their wild shouts died gradually 
 as the distance increased ; and presently nothing was 
 heard by our party but the rushing of the stream and the 
 moaning of the blast. 
 
 Obedient to Hennessey's advice, we followed the river 
 path, as the likeliest one which the otter-killer would 
 select in his unfortunate attempt to return to the cabin. 
 On either side of the moorland the peasants were 
 extended, and occasionally we caught a glimpse of their 
 fading lights, as they glanced and disappeared among 
 the hillocks. Our own path was so rough and difficult 
 that the torch could not secure us from many and severe 
 falls ; and from the extreme darkness of the night, it 
 was too evident that Antony could never make good 
 his way. We almost despaired of being enabled to 
 
290 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 render assistance to the unfortunate object of our 
 search. 
 
 Suddenly, Hennessey, who led the party, halted. 
 "By heaven ! " he exclaimed, " I heard either a fox's 
 whimper^ or the cry of a dog." 
 
 He put his finger to his lips and whistled shrilly, 
 and instantly a long-sustained howl answered to the 
 signal. 
 
 " It is Venney's cry," said our leader. *' God grant 
 that her master be still alive ! " 
 
 We pushed forward rapidly for several hundred yards 
 in the direction the noise was heard from ; and the 
 whining of a dog, broken now and then by a long and 
 piercing howl, continued to guide us. We reached the 
 place, and on turning a rock which elbowed into the 
 river abruptly, found the old man extended on the 
 ground, cold and motionless. The trap was bound 
 across his back, and a large otter lay at some yards 
 distance from the place where he had fallen. 
 
 We raised him up, while the faithful terrier frisked 
 about us, and testified sincere delight at the promised 
 recovery of her master. The old man's eyes feebly 
 opened when the torch-light flashed upon his face. 
 This symptom of existing fife encouraged us, and, as 
 his extremities were cold and powerless, his master and 
 I rubbed them briskly between our hands, while 
 Hennessey poured some brandy down his throat. 
 
 " We want instant help," said my cousin ; *' jump 
 upon the bank, and see if anybody is near us." 
 
 His foster brother rushed up the brow, and whistled 
 loudly, but the signal was unheard or unheeded. Again 
 he exerted himself, but ineff'ectually, to make the flanking 
 parties hear him : there was no reply. 
 
LAST DAY S SHOOTING. 29I 
 
 " This may be heard," he muttered, and, drawing 
 a pistol from his breast, the loud report was answered 
 by a distant halloo. Next moment lights appeared, 
 and our shouts and whistles directed the torch-bearers 
 to the place. 
 
 We disencumbered the dying man of his iron trap, 
 and our attempts to restore suspended animation appeared 
 to be partially successful. But the Priest, who led the 
 party coming to our relief, gave us still better hopes, 
 by ascertaining that the old man's pulse was beating. 
 
 From the assistance we received, the unfortunate 
 otter-killer was transported quickly to the cabin. A 
 bed was already heated, and John had abundance of 
 warm water to bathe his chilled Umbs. Our unabated 
 efforts were crowned with ultimate success ; for before 
 midnight, he had recovered his speech, and was enabled, 
 though with some difficulty, to give us the particulars 
 of his unlucky excursion. 
 
 He reached, it appeared, the loughs soon after day- 
 light, and discovered the numerous footmarks which 
 the fishing-party had already observed. One trace he 
 particularly followed, and, from the spraint, concluded 
 the animal would cross the path again before evening ; 
 and, after setting his trap, Antony retired to a distance, 
 whence, himself unseen, he could watch the event. 
 
 At twilight, as the old man had conjectured, the 
 otter, on his return, crossed the path, and was secured, 
 and the hunter, and his terrier made good the capture. 
 Proud of his success, which, to the old man seemed 
 a proof that his energies were not yet gone, he foolishly 
 endeavoured to carry this trophy of his skill along with 
 him, instead of leaving it with his trap, for some gossoon 
 to bring in the morning to the cabin. He turned his 
 
292 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 steps homeward ; but the trap and the otter, with the 
 soft and harassing ground he had to traverse, speedily 
 exhausted his feeble strength ; the light faded away, 
 the wind rose, and before he crossed the swamp, and 
 gained the firm but rugged path beside the river, the 
 darkness rendered it almost impossible for even a young 
 person to have proceeded safely. After feeble and 
 slow efforts to get forward, he stumbled over a stone, 
 his energies were totally exhausted by fatigue, and he 
 was unable to rise again. 
 
 His faithful dog couched herself beside her fallen 
 master, and the last sounds that the despairing otter- 
 killer heard were the long and mournful howls with 
 which Venom mourned over his calamity. 
 
HE '' JANE ' RUNS A CARGO. 293 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 The illness of the old otter-killer has clouded our 
 moorland excursions at their close, and we leave with 
 melancholy forebodings our mountain bivouac. Antony, 
 at his own request, was carried to the Lodge to-day ; 
 and when the difficulty of the ground and the frequent 
 crossing of the river is considered, it was an arduous 
 undertaking. The camp-followers arranged a rude 
 litter ; and as works of mercy are highly estimated by 
 pious Catholics, there were more volunteers to assist in 
 transporting the dying man than could well find employ- 
 ment. 
 
 During our progress down, we had some hours' 
 superior sport with the eagle. Pullgarrow, that inimit- 
 able hole, has more than realised what the Colonel and 
 our kinsman have said and sung in its commendation. 
 In Christendom it could not be surpassed, and of this 
 best of pools may be said that " none but itself can be 
 its parallel." 
 
 In the minor streams we killed more red trout this 
 morning than we do generally. Indeed, from the 
 character of this river, I have been puzzled to account 
 for the evident scarcity of this species in a water that 
 appears so especially adapted for them. The clearness 
 of the stream, the gravelly soil it flows over, its pools 
 and rapids, all seem calculated to produce red trout 
 plentifully. But they are not numerous ; and as the 
 flies we invariably use are formed for the other species, 
 it is not surprising that we find but few red trout in the 
 baskets. 
 
 With this day's fishing our river sports terminate. 
 
294 W^^^ SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 Rods and lines, and all the maUriel of the craft, will now 
 be laid in ordinary, and till spring comes round again, 
 other sports must occupy the idle hours. I have learned 
 more — although I acknowledge, with all humility, my 
 un worthiness as an angler — by a few day's practical 
 experience, than I could have almost considered possible ; 
 and I have ascertained how inadequate theory is to 
 instruct a neophyte in the art. In angling, however, 
 like other manly exercises, men are constituted by 
 nature to succeed or fail. We know that there are per- 
 sons who, though born in a preserve^ could never shoot 
 even tolerably, while others, with less advantages, 
 speedily become adepts. One man can never learn to 
 ride ; and another, in a short time, can cross the country 
 Hke " a winged Mercury.'* The same rule holds good 
 in angUng ; — A. in a short period becomes perfect 
 master of the arcana of the gentle science ; while B. will 
 thresh a river to eternity, dismissing flies, breaking 
 tops, losing foot-links, and perpetrating every enormity 
 with which a tyro is chargeable. 
 
 Yet to a man naturally handy, and observant, little 
 is required to acquire the art, but a good stream and 
 tolerable attention. He will soon gain more practical 
 information and mechanical science than any book can 
 inculcate. And it will be only when, by practice, he 
 has acquired a knowledge of the science, that he will 
 be able to comprehend what written theories profess 
 to teach. 
 
 We had scarcely left the river, when a man, who stood 
 upon an eminence that commanded an extensive view 
 seaward, gesticulated with great energy, and made, 
 what appeared to me, some momentous communication 
 in the mother tongue. 
 
THE JANE RUNS A CARGO. 295 
 
 "It is the Jane ! " exclaimed my kinsman, as he 
 bounded up the bank to gain the summit of the hillock. 
 I did not comprehend exactly what the affair was which 
 created such powerful emotions among my companions ; 
 but when I reached the height, a scene of extreme 
 interest was presented. 
 
 Between the Black Rock and the island of Devilawn, 
 a cutter was opening the bay, and standing from the 
 westward under a press of canvas. She carried a spank- 
 ing breeze in, and, as her course was two points off the 
 wind, her sails drew, and she came up " hand over hand." 
 The approach was evidently expected, for from every 
 nook and inlet rowboats were being launched — the whole 
 population poured forth from the mountain villages — 
 and the coast, as far as the eye could reach, was 
 in marvellous commotion. Nothing could be more 
 beautiful and picturesque than the appearance of the 
 smuggler. The sunshine fell upon her snowy canvas, 
 a private signal fluttered from the mast-head, and a 
 union-jack was flying at the peak, while, occasionally, 
 a sheet of broken foam sparkled round her bows, as she 
 held her onward course gallantly, 
 
 "And walked the water like a thing of life." 
 
 In a few minutes after her having been first discovered, 
 boats were pulling from the shore in all directions, while 
 the cutter closed the land fast. When abreast the 
 Ridge Point, she suddenly rounded-to, handed her 
 gaff top-sail, hauled up the main-tack, and waited for 
 the boats. 
 
 "I cannot go on board," said my kinsman, with a 
 heavy sigh, '* being, alas ! like Master Robert Shallow, 
 ' a poor esquire of this county, and one of the King's 
 
296 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 Justices of the Peace ; ' but though I shall not pay my 
 personal respects, yet will not my old friend Jack 
 Matthews forget me ; but you shall board the Jane, 
 and witness a bustling business. I'll promise you a 
 hearty welcome from the skipper — and see, you are just 
 in time, for the gig is on the water." 
 
 As he spoke, he hailed the boat, which, returning 
 to the beach, took me on board, and then pulled off for 
 the vessel, which, in a quarter of an hour, we reached. 
 
 It was, indeed, a bustling scene ; a hundred boats 
 were collected round the smuggler, who, to use nautical 
 parlance, had already " broken bulk," and was dis- 
 charging the cargo with a rapidity, and yet orderly and 
 business-like system, that was surprising. 
 
 I was immediately recognised by Captain Matthews, 
 and politely invited to his cabin. Aware of the hurry 
 consequent upon this dangerous traffic, on the plea of 
 his presence being requisite upon deck, I would have 
 declined the honour ; but the gallant Captain remarked, 
 with great indifference, " that he left the delivery of 
 his cargo to the agents and purchasers, and could not 
 spend an hour or two more to his satisfaction, than 
 in entertaining, in his own way, the kinsman of his 
 respected friend." And, calling for the steward, he 
 stepped forward to order some refreshments. 
 
 While he was thus engaged, I had ample time to 
 satisfy my curiosity, and observe the conduct of this 
 ilHcit traffic. There appeared no confusion attendant 
 on the delivery of the tobacco to its respective pro- 
 prietors, who had already engaged certain proportions 
 of the cargo, which they received upon the production of 
 small tickets, specifying the quantity and description of 
 the goods ; the business having been previously arranged 
 
THE JANE RUNS A CARGO. 297 
 
 on shore, before the arrival of the smuggler, facilitated 
 the dangerous trade. 
 
 When I found myself in the cabin with the bold outlaw 
 — for Matthews had been legally denounced for many 
 daring and successful contests with the Revenue — 
 I could not but admire the thorough indifference to 
 possible consequences which this singular personage 
 exhibited. He knew that several men-of-war were at 
 that moment cruising on the station, and that they had 
 been apprised he had sailed from Flushing, and that 
 this coast was the spot selected by the owners to effect 
 the anding — yet he laughed and drank as gaily as I 
 should in a club-house, and despatched the messages 
 which were occasionally brought down with perfect 
 nonchalance. He spoke principally of his own exploits ; 
 and the scene was admirably in keeping. Around the 
 cabin, muskets, pistols, and blunderbusses were secured 
 in arm-racks, and cutlasses and tomahawks were sus- 
 pended from the bulkheads. His had been a wild career ; 
 and though not past the middle-age, his life teemed 
 with " perilous adventure." I was so much amused 
 with his varied narratives of brave attempts and desperate 
 successes, that the second hour slipped away before I 
 rose and took my departure. On regaining the deck, 
 the hurry of the business was over. The contraband 
 cargo had been replaced by stone ballast ; for, by previous 
 arrangement, each boat brought a quantity of shingle 
 from the beach, and hence the smuggler was already in 
 trim, and ready to stand out to sea. 
 
 This notorious vessel was considered in size and 
 saiUng superior to any of a similar class, and her voyages 
 had been numerous and successful. Her armament 
 was formidable ; sixteen heavy carronades were extended 
 
298 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 along the deck, with two long, brass guns of smaller 
 calibre and every other appurtenance of war was in 
 perfect efficiency. But the most striking object was her 
 ferocious-looking, but magnificent crew ; they seemed 
 only formed for " the battle and the breeze ; " and well 
 justified their commander's boast, " that he could 
 thrash any cruiser of his own size, and land his cargo 
 in six hours afterwards." 
 
 We left the vessel — and, to judge by the kegs and cases 
 stowed away in the gig, my cousin had not been for- 
 gotten in the general distribution. The outlaw stood 
 upon a carronade, and waved his hand as we pulled from 
 the ship's side ; and in a short time set his head-sails, 
 and stood off to sea with the ebb-tide and a spanking 
 breeze, which carried him out of sight directly. 
 
 This was fated to be the last landing of the Jane, and 
 the last exploit of her commander ; she foundered on 
 her next voyage, and every person on board perished 
 with the vessel.* 
 
 We had nearly reached the bar, when we observed a 
 large sailing-boat strike on the tail of Carrig-a-boddagh, 
 and as the tide was falling fast, she was in momentary 
 danger of falHng over. Every exertion of the crew to get 
 her off was ineffectual ; and on our nearer approach 
 they evinced such unequivocal symptoms of inebriety 
 as accounted for the disaster. A solitary passenger was 
 on board, who appeared in desperate alarm ; and, at 
 his own earnest solicitation, we received him and his 
 personal effects, which were extremely limited, into 
 our boat. The crew remained with the hooker, which 
 they calculated upon floating off the following tide. 
 
 *The Jane went down in a tremendous gale off the north-west 
 coast of Ireland. Her consort, The Blue-eyed Maid, witnessed the 
 melancholy event, without being able to render any assistance. 
 
THE ** JANE " RUNS A CARGO. 299 
 
 I was much struck with the appearance of the stranger. 
 His voice and bearing told that he was not indigenous 
 to the soil : low in stature, delicate in form, with a timid 
 and suspicious bearing, I was greatly puzzled to account 
 for his being a passenger in a Connemara fishing-boat. 
 Although nervous as a woman before we reached the pier, 
 I had tranquillized him so far as to find out generally that 
 he had left the Galway coast, in the expectation of being 
 landed on the shores of Sligo ; but that the crew, having 
 boarded the smuggler, managed to get gloriously drunk, 
 and, diverging totally from their course, ran the hooker 
 on a reef, from which they should have been several 
 leagues distant. 
 
 The stranger was an Englishman. He met from my 
 kinsman a hospitable reception — and the Colonel and 
 I united our attentions, and in a great degree restored 
 his confidence. Nothing, however, could persuade him 
 that the hooker had not been run designedly upon the 
 rock, and that he and his travelling-bag would have been 
 victimized by what he termed " desperate pirates," 
 but for our seasonable rescue. My cousin smiled. 
 " The conduct of the drunken scoundrels," he said, 
 " was unpardonable ; but he doubted whether they 
 harboured those nefarious designs. Strangers were 
 frequently led away by appearances, and it was no 
 uncommon thing for travellers to suffer unnecessary 
 alarm from groundless causes." And he related an 
 anecdote of a gentleman being put in fear and terror, in 
 a neighbouring county, by mistaking a fish for a 
 weapon. 
 
 " Soon after the rebellion of Ninety-eight, an English 
 merchant was necessitated, by urgent business, to 
 visit the kingdom of Connaught. Having provided 
 
300 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST 
 
 himself with a servant, who professed an acquaintance 
 with the language of the country, he made his will, and 
 took a place in the Westport Mail. He reached the 
 
 post-town of in safety, and from it proceeded to 
 
 cross that wild and picturesque mountain-chain which 
 bounds the beautiful shores of Lough Corrib. 
 
 " It was late in autumn : the weather had been wet, 
 and, owing to the difficulty of the bridle-roads, the 
 traveller was benighted some miles' distance from the 
 house that he had calculated upon reaching. Unable 
 to proceed farther, he reluctantly took up his quarters 
 at a shebeine-house. It was but a sorry caravansera — 
 but nothing could surpass the apparent kindness of the 
 family. Supper was prepared ; the best bed was sheeted, 
 and when the belated stranger had sufficiently refreshed 
 himself, he was conducted to an inner room, where, 
 at his own request, the servant was also accommodated 
 with a pallet. 
 
 " Yet, notwithstanding the marked civility of the 
 family, the stranger could not overcome a secret appre- 
 hension of impending danger. It was a wild place — 
 a wilder family ; he feared that treachery lurked under- 
 neath this studied kindness ; and, as he tossed upon 
 his restless bed, he listened with painful anxiety to every 
 sound. Midnight came ; the outer door was opened 
 cautiously — several men entered the kitchen with 
 stealthy pace — they conversed in their native language,^ 
 his name was mentioned, and himself was, beyond doubt, 
 the subject of this nocturnal conversazione. Crawling 
 in an agony of apprehension to the pallet where his 
 attendant lay, he awoke the sleeper, intimated his 
 suspicions in a whisper, and desired him to report 
 faithfully the midnight colloquy in the outer chamber. 
 
THE JANE RUNS A CARGO. 3OT 
 
 ** * What's that they say ? ' quoth the traveller. 
 
 " * They want another pint, for they have not had 
 such a prize for the last twelvemonth/ 
 
 " ' That's me ! ' groaned the querist. 
 
 " * They have five pikes already, and expect more 
 before morning,' continued the valet. 
 
 ** ' Truculent scoundrels ! ' 
 
 " ' The largest is intended for yourself ! ' 
 
 " * Lord defend me ! ' ejaculated the stranger. 
 
 " ' They wonder if you are sleeping.' 
 
 " * Cold-blooded monsters ; they want to despatch 
 us quietly.' 
 
 " ' The owner swears that nobody shall enter this 
 room till morning.' 
 
 " * Ay, then they will have daylight, and no diffi- 
 culty.' 
 
 ** ' And now, he urges them to go to bed.' 
 
 " * Heaven grant they may ! for then, escape from 
 this den of murder might be possible.' 
 
 " Listening with a beating heart until unequivocal 
 symptoms of deep sleep were heard from the kitchen, 
 the unhappy Englishman, leaving his effects to fortune, 
 crawled through the window half-dressed, and, with a 
 world of trouble and perilous adventure, managed early 
 next morning to reach his original place of destination. 
 
 " Never, however, was man more mortified than he, 
 when he related his fearful story. His tale was fre- 
 quently interrupted by a laugh, which politesse vainly 
 endeavoured to control. 
 
 " ' Zounds ! ' cried the irritated Englishman, no 
 longer able to conceal his rage, ' is my throat so valueless 
 that its cutting should merely raise a horse-laugh ? ' 
 
 ** * My dear friend,' replied the host, * you must excuse 
 me — it is so funny, I cannot, for the life of me, be serious. 
 
302 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 The cause of all your fears lies quietly in the outer hall. 
 Come, you shall judge upon what good grounds you 
 absconded through a window, and skirmished half the 
 night over hill and dale, with but the nether portion of 
 your habiliments.' 
 
 ** As he spoke he uncovered a large basket, and pointed 
 to a huge pike of some thirty pounds weight, which was 
 coiled around the bottom. 
 
 " * The stormy weather,' continued the host, ' having 
 interrupted our supply of sea-fish, the peasants who 
 alarmed you had been setting night lines for your 
 especial benefit. The petka more^^ which you heard 
 devoted to your services in the shebeine-house, was not 
 an instrument of destruction, but, as you shall admit at 
 six o'clock, as good a white fish as ever true Catholics, 
 like you and I, were doomed wherewithal to mortify the 
 flesh upon a blessed Friday.' " 
 
 The stranger smiled. 
 
 *' I may have wronged my late companions," he said, 
 " but I have of late been under such constant and 
 painful excitement, that I often wonder that reason held 
 her seat. I have this evening not only been delivered 
 from considerable danger, but I have fallen most 
 unexpectedly upon persons and a place which, on this 
 remote coast, and among these wild hills, appear 
 miraculous. Your accents are different from those 
 I have lately listened to : and could I but find courage 
 to tell my story, you would own that I have lately under- 
 gone sufficient trials to unnerve a stouter frame than this 
 feeble one of mine." 
 
 After some time, the stranger felt the cheering effect 
 of my kinsman's claret, and in a strain which might be 
 termed serio-comic, he thus narrated his story. 
 ♦ The large pike. 
 
NOT THE MAN FuR GALWAY. 303 
 
 MEMOIR OF A GENTLEMAN WHO WOULD NOT DO FOR 
 GALWAY 
 
 " I am descended from a line of traders, and by birth 
 as genuine a cockney as ever listened to Bow-bells. 
 My mother's nonage was passed in St. Mary Axe, 
 and my father was a dry-salter in Tooley Street. He was 
 third of the same name that there had dwelt and prospered. 
 They were a thrifty and punctihous race ; and it was a 
 family boast that, for seventy years, a bill bearing the 
 acceptance of Daniel Dawkins had never been in the 
 hands of the notary. There is virtue in a good name, 
 'tis said, and theirs was current for ten thousand. 
 
 " I was an only child, and from the cradle evinced an 
 indolent and dreamy temperament, which was ill adapted 
 to withstand the worry of trade, and all the annoyances 
 entailed on traffic. I hated trouble ; hardly knew the 
 difference between pearl-ashes and pearl-barley ; could 
 never comprehend tare-and-trett, and had, moreover, 
 Hterary propensities. How one in whose veins the blood 
 of the Dawkinses circulated could be so deplorably 
 uncommercial, is a puzzle ; but I was, I suppose, ' fore- 
 doomed my father's soul to cross,' and an unhappy 
 tutor ruined me beyond recovery. 
 
 " My Gamaliel was a Scotch gentleman of unblemished 
 lineage, remarkable for soiled linen and classical research, 
 who had emigrated from a highland valley with an 
 unpronounceable name, to hold a secondary situation 
 in a city academy, where the progeny of Love Lane 
 and Little Britain received the rudiments of polite letters 
 The extra hours of the gifted Celt were, for the considera- 
 tion of ten pounds annual fee, * to be paid quarterly. 
 
304 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 and in advance/ devoted to my accomplishments. 
 Never had man more profound contempt for trade and 
 traders than he at whose feet I was indoctrinated. He 
 turned his nose up at the weahhiest grocer in the ward ; 
 and was barely civil to a tobacconist who had a villa at 
 Pentonville, and was, moreover, first favourite for an 
 aldermanic gown. Such delinquency could not be over- 
 looked, and for his heretical opinions touching commerce 
 he was eventually ejected from Tooley Street. But, 
 alas ! the mischief was done — ^the seed was already 
 sown — and, as after-experience proved, none of it had 
 fallen upon the way-side. 
 
 " * In brevity I shall emulate the noble Roman,' quoth 
 Jack Falstaff ; and so shall I, so far as the autobiography 
 of my youth is concerned. I abominated business — ^was an 
 admirer of the Corsair and Lallah Rookh — ^was generally 
 given to inflammatory poetry — ^wrote fugitive pieces, 
 and vainly endeavoured to get them a corner in the 
 periodicals — quarrelled with my parents — ^was supported 
 in my rebellion by a romantic aunt — and when my 
 disinheritance was actually in legal train, was saved 
 by my parents quitting this world of care, which they 
 did within one short month, by the agency of a typhus 
 fever and two physicians. 
 
 " Thus was I thrown upon the world at two-and- 
 twenty, with thirty thousand pounds. Need I say 
 that I abjured business instanter, and that the honoured 
 name of Dawkins disappeared from the list of dry- 
 salters ? For some years, none led a more peaceful 
 and literary life ; and though this may appear a solecism, 
 nevertheless it is positively true. The rejection of 
 my early fugitives had chilled the metrical outbreakings 
 of my imagination. I had almost Cowper's sensibility 
 
NOT THE MAN FOR GALWAY. 305 
 
 — the lethalis arundo, as my Scotch tutor would term 
 it, was deep within my bosom — I swore I would never 
 lucubrate again ; never again perpetuate a stanza ; 
 and, like Mr. Daniel O'Connell's, I presume, that my 
 vow was duly registered in heaven. 
 
 " This sunny portion of my life was, alas ! but tran- 
 sitory. Mine, sir, is a tragic tale. I date the origin of my 
 misfortunes on board a Margate steamer, and this melan- 
 choly epoch I shudder to recall. Was there no tutelary 
 sprite, no suspicious spinster, to whisper a cautionary 
 advice } No ; without a single fear I embarked in the 
 Nereid steamer ; afid, as the papers stated, * left the 
 Tower stairs with a select party, and a band of music, 
 
 on Friday, the of June, 182 — .' 
 
 " I must here observe, that my blue-stocking aunt, 
 who had actually come out in Leadenhall Street with 
 one small and admired volume, called * Pedrilla, a Tale 
 of Passion,' had been latterly urgent with me to enter 
 into matrimony. * Something told her,' she would 
 say, ' that the name of Dawkins was not doomed to be 
 forgotten, like that of Wood, and Birch, and Bagster. 
 Men of tarts and turpentine might perish, while — 
 could I but procure a talented companion ; could I 
 but unite myself to a congenial soul, God knows what the 
 result would prove ! — a gifted progeny might honour 
 me with their paternity ; little Popes and diminutive 
 Landons would thus be given to the world, fated to be 
 glorious in their maturity, and lisping in numbers from 
 their very cots.' 
 
 " The company on board the Nereid were generally 
 known to me. They were exclusively Eastern ; and there 
 were beauties from the Minories, and nice men from 
 Bishopsgate Within and Without. I was no swain, 
 and as Anti-gallican in my dancing as Bob Acres. The 
 
 X 
 
306 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 old women admitted that, though a good catch, 1 had 
 no spirit ; the young ones ' admired the money, but 
 disliked the man ; ' and, as 1 did not form one of the 
 coryphees, who were quadrilling upon the quarter-deck, 
 I was Hkely enough to be left to meditative solitude. 
 '* But there was another person who appeared to hold 
 no communion with the company One lady seemed 
 a stranger to the rest. Accident placed me beside her, and 
 thus she became more intimately my compagnon de voyage. 
 " She was certainly a fine-looking woman ; her face 
 was comely, but somewhat coarse ; her hair and brows 
 black as the raven's plumage, her nose rather too marked 
 for a woman's — ^but then her waist and legs were unex- 
 ceptionable. She evidently possessed a sufficiency of 
 self-command ; no mauvaise honte, no feminine timidity 
 oppressed her. She looked bravely around, as if she 
 would assert a superiority ; and accepted my civiHties 
 graciously, it is true, but with the air and dignity of 
 a duchess. She was, from the start, no favourite with 
 the company, and there was no inclination evinced by 
 any of her own sex to make approaches to familiarity. 
 The cockney beaus looked upon her as a fine but formid- 
 able animal ; and to me, unworthy as I was, the honour 
 of being cavalier serviente, was conceded without a 
 contest. Indeed, at dinner, my fair friend proved 
 herself too edged a tool for civic wit to touch upon. 
 When, with ultra-elegance, an auctioneer, whose assur- 
 ance was undeniable, pressed ' the Hirish lady to teeste 
 a roast fole' she obliterated the accomplished appraiser, 
 by brusquely replying, ' that no earthly consideration 
 could induce her to eat horse-flesh ! ' 
 
 " And yet to this woman I was irresistibly attracted. 
 I sate beside her on the deck, and I ministered to her 
 coffee-cup ; and when the Nereid disembarked her 
 
NOT THE MAN FOR GALWAY, 307 
 
 crowd, and a stout, red -whiskered, do-no-good looking 
 
 gentleman presented himself upon the chain-pier, and 
 
 claimed his ' gentle cousin,' a pang of agony shot across 
 
 my breast, and for the first time I felt the curse of 
 
 jealousy. And yet, God knows, she was not the person 
 
 from whom ' little Popes ' might be expected ; her 
 
 tender pledges would be better qualified for rangers 
 
 and riflemen than denizens of the world of letters. 
 
 But marriage is decreed elsewhere, and mine had been 
 
 already beoked. 
 
 What's in a name ? ' observed somebody. I 
 
 assert — everything. Will anybody deny that * Drusilla 
 
 O'Shaughncssey ' was not sufficient to alarm any but 
 
 a Shannonite ? Such was the appellative of the lady, 
 
 while her honoured kinsman favoured me with an 
 
 embossed card, on which was fairly engraven, ' Mr. 
 
 Marc Antony Burke Bodkin, Ballybroney House.' 
 
 " On minor matters I will not dilate. It appeared 
 
 that Miss Drusilla O'Shaughnessey had come to London 
 
 in hopeless search after a legacy she expected in right 
 
 of her great-uncle, Field-Marshal O'Toole ; that the 
 
 Field- Marshal's effects were undiscoverable ; and no 
 
 available assets could be traced beyond certain old 
 
 swords and battered snuff-boxes ; and consequently, 
 
 Drusilla, who had been an heiress in expectancy, was 
 
 sadly chagrined. Furthermore, it appeared that Mr. 
 
 Marc Antony Bodkin formed her escort from Connemara, 
 
 and, being a * loose gentleman,'* and a loving cousin, 
 
 he bore her company.' 
 
 * No attempt is made here to insinuate aught against the morality 
 of Miss O'Shaughnessey's protector. " A loose gentleman," in the 
 common parlance of the kingdom of Conn aught, meaneth simply a 
 gentleman who has nothing to do, and nineteen out of twenty of the 
 aristocracy of that truly independent country may be thus honour- 
 ably classed. — Ed. 
 
308 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST 
 
 " If ever the course of love ran smooth, which I 
 sincerely disbelieve, mine was not the one. I shall not 
 attempt a description of the progress of my affaire du 
 coeur ; for I suspect that I was the wooed one, and that 
 Drusilla had marked me for her own, and Marc Antony 
 aided and abetted. He, good, easy gentleman, was 
 formed for Cupid's embassies. He ' could interpret 
 between you and your love,* as Hamlet says ; and to 
 one with my sensibilities, his services were worth a 
 Jew's eye. If woman ever possessed the cardinal 
 virtues united, that person was Drusilla. She was what 
 Marc called ' the soul of honour ; ' yet she had her 
 weak points, and he hinted darkly that myself had found 
 favour in her sight. As a thing of course, I muttered 
 a handsome acknowledgment ; a rejoinder was promptly 
 returned, per same conveyance, as my father would 
 have said — ^and before six days I was made the happiest 
 of men, and levanted to Gretna with the lady of my 
 love, and formally attended by that fidus Achates, 
 Marc Antony Bodkin. 
 
 " What a whirligig world this is ! I recollect well 
 the evening before the indissoluble knot was tied, when 
 I strolled into the little garden at Newark. My thoughts 
 were ' big with future bliss,' and my path of life, as I 
 opined, strewed knee-deep with roses of perennial 
 blossom. I heard voices in the summer-house, — these 
 were my loved one's and her relatives. To use his 
 own parlance^ the latter, in the joy of his heart, had taken 
 a sufficiency of wine ' to smother a priest ; ' and as the 
 conversation was interesting to the parties, and mine 
 was not the stride of a warrior, my approach was not 
 discovered by either. The conclave, however, had 
 terminated, and though but the parting observation 
 
NOT THE MAN FOR GALWAY. 309 
 
 reached me, it is too faithfully chronicled on my memory 
 to be forgotten — ' The devil is an onimadawn^ no doubt ; 
 but he has money galore, and we'll make him do in 
 Galway ! ' As he spoke they rose, and passed into the 
 house without observing me. 
 
 ** What the observation of Marc Antony meant 
 I could not for the life of me comprehend. Part of it 
 was spoken, too, in an unknown tongue. Was / the 
 devil } and what was an ommadawn ? Dark doubts 
 crossed my mind ; but vanished, for Drusilla was more 
 gracious than ever, and Marc Antony squeezed my 
 hand at parting, and assured me, as well as he could 
 articulate after six tumblers of hot Farintosh, ' that I 
 was a lucky man, and Drusilla a woman in ten thousand. 
 ** Well, the knot was tied, and but for the dclat of the 
 thing, the ceremony might have been as safely solem- 
 nised at Margate. On the lady's side, the property was 
 strictly personal. Her claim upon the estates of the 
 defunct Field- Marshal was never since established, for 
 the properties of that distinguished commander could 
 never be localised. Marc Antony had been a borrower 
 from the first hour of our intimacy ; and on the morning 
 of her marriage, Drusilla, I have reason to believe, 
 was not mistress of ten pounds — but then, she was a 
 treasure in herself, and so swore Marc Antony. 
 
 " The private history of a honeymoon I leave to be 
 narrated by those who have found that haven of bliss 
 which I had pictured but never realised. If racketing 
 night and day over every quarter of the metropolis, 
 with the thermometer steady at 90 ; if skirmishing from 
 Kensington to the Haymarket, and thence to Astley's 
 and Vauxhall,with frequent excursions to those suburban 
 hotels infested by high-spirited apprentices, ' and maids 
 
310 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 who love the moon : ' — if this be pleasure, 1 had no 
 reason to repine. In these ajffairs ' our loving cousin ' 
 was an absolute dictator, and against his decrees there was 
 no appeal. To me, a quiet and nervous gentleman, 
 Marc's arrangements were detestable. What he called 
 life, was death to me — his ideas of pleasure were formed 
 on the keep-moving plan — and to sleep a second night 
 in the same place, would be, according to his theories, 
 an atrocity. I found myself sinking under this excessive 
 happiness ; and when I ventured a gentle protest against 
 being whirled off in a thunder-storm from the ' Star and 
 Garter ' to the * Greyhound,' I received a cross-fire 
 that silenced me effectually. From that period I sub- 
 mitted without a murmur ; my days were numbered ; 
 another month like that entitled the honey-one, would 
 consign me to my fathers ; the last of the Dawkinses 
 would vanish from among men, and a mural monument 
 in St. Saviour's record my years and virtues. But 
 accident saved my life, though it annihilated my property 
 " Years before I led Drusilla to the altar, a Connemara 
 estate, which had belonged to her progenitors, and had 
 been ruined in succession by the respective lords, was 
 utterly demolished by a gentleman whom she termed 
 her ' lamented father.' The property had been in 
 chancery for half a century, and advertised for sale 
 beyond the memory of man ; but as it was overloaded 
 with every species of encumbrance, no one in his senses 
 would have accepted the fee simple as a gift. But my 
 wife had determined that Castle Toole should be 
 redeemed, and rise once more, Phcenix-like, from its 
 embarrassments. It owed, she admitted, more than it 
 was worth, twice told — but then, sure, it was the family 
 property. There, for four centuries, O'Tooles had died, 
 
NOT THE MAN FOR GALWAY. 3II 
 
 and O'Shaughnesseys been born ; and if she could 
 only persuade me to repurchase it with my wealth, 
 she would be the first lady in the barony. To Marc 
 Antony this project was enchanting. Ballybroney had 
 been roofless for the last twenty years, that being about 
 the period when the last of the * dirty acres,' which had 
 once appertained to the mansion, had slipped from the 
 fingers of the Bodkins ; therefore, to establish himself 
 at Castle Toole, would suit my kinsman to a hair. In 
 short, the battery was unmasked ; and whether over- 
 persuaded by the eloquence of my wife, the arguments 
 of her cousin, or driven to desperation by a Ufe of 
 pleasure, I consented in due time ; and having 
 accompanied my honoured counsellors to Dublin, 
 found no competitor for Castle Toole — proposed for 
 the same — paid a large sum of money, and was declared, 
 by the legal functionaries, a gentleman of estate, and that, 
 too, in Connemara. 
 
 *' In my eyes, the value of the purchase was not 
 enhanced by a personal investigation. It had its 
 capabilities, it is true ; the house being a ruin, might be 
 repaired ; and as the lands were in their primeval state, 
 it was possible to reclaim them. Still, when one looked 
 at a huge, dismantled building of that mixed class in 
 architecture between a fortahce and a dwellinghouse, 
 with grey-flagged roof, lofty chimneys, embattled 
 parapets, and glassless windows, it was ill-calculated 
 to encourage an English speculator in Irish estates. 
 On every side a boundless expanse of barren moorland 
 was visible, with an insulated portion of green surface 
 on which the castle stood, and a few straggling trees 
 remained from what had once been a noble oak wood. 
 That some savage beauty did exist in the wild highlands, 
 
312 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 a fine river, and an extensive lake, is certain ; but to me, 
 the scenery and the place were dreary and disheartening. 
 In vain, therefore, did my friend Marc Antony dilate 
 upon its advantages. The river boasted the best 
 salmon fishing in the country. What was it to me 
 who had never angled for a gudgeon ? The mountains 
 abounded with grouse — who but a native could escalade 
 them ? The bogs were celebrated for game— and 
 would I devote myself, like another Decius, to be 
 engulfed, for all the wild ducks that ever wore a wing ? 
 But then, The Blazers were only a few miles distant, 
 and their favourite fixture was on the estate. Really, 
 the proximity of that redoubted body produced a cold 
 perspiration when I heard it. The Blazers ! the most 
 sanguinary fox-club in Connaught — a gang who would 
 literally devastate the country, if it did not please 
 Heaven to thin their numbers annually by broken necks 
 and accidents from pistol bullets. Yet, with me, the 
 Rubicon was crossed — Castle Toole was mine with all 
 its imperfections, and I determined to exert my 
 philosophy to endure what it was impossible to undo. 
 
 ** To restore the decayed glories of the mansion, you 
 may well imagine was a work of trouble and expense. 
 It was done, and Drusilla slept again under the roof- tree 
 of her progenitors. Hitherto I had indulged her fancies 
 without murmuring, and some of them were superlatively 
 absurd. I hoped and believed that when the hurry of 
 re-establishing the ruin I had been fool enough to 
 purchase was over, the worry and confusion of my 
 unhappy life would terminate. While the repairs 
 proceeded, we resided in a small house in a neighbouring 
 village, and were not much annoyed by unwelcome 
 visitors. But no sooner was the castle completed, and 
 
NOT THE MAN FOR GALWAY. 313 
 
 the apartments reported habitable, than the country for 
 fifty miles round complotted, as I verily beUeve, to 
 inundate us with their company. A sort of saturnalia y 
 called the house-warming, I thought destined to continue 
 for ever ; and after having endured a purgatorial state 
 for several weeks, and the tumult and vulgar dissipation 
 had abated, swarms of relations to the third and fourth 
 generation of those that loved us, kept dropping in, 
 in what they termed the quiet, friendly way, until ' the 
 good house Money-glass '* was outstripped in hospitality 
 by my devoted mansion. Although ten long miles 
 from a post-town, we were never secure from an inroad. 
 Men who bore the most remote affinity to the families 
 of O'Shaughnessey or O'Toole, deserted the corners 
 of the earth to spoliate the larder ; and persons who, 
 during the course of their natural lives, had never before 
 touched fishing-rod or fowling piece, now borrowed 
 them * for the nonce,' and deemed it a good and sufficient 
 apology for living on me for a fortnight Pedlars 
 abandoned their accustomed routes ; friars diverged 
 a score of miles to take us on * the mission ; ' pipers 
 infested the premises ; and even deserters honoured 
 me with a passing call, * for the house had such a name.' 
 All and every calculated on that cursed ceade jealteagh. 
 An eternal stream of the idle and dissipated filled the 
 house — ^the kitchen fire, like the flame of Vesta, was 
 never permitted to subside — and a host of locusts 
 devoured my property. 1 lived and submitted, and 
 
 * This once celebrated mansion is immortalized in the old ballad 
 called " Bumper Squire Jones," which chronicles the princely- 
 hospitalities of that puissant and hard-headed family. lyike " the 
 Kilruddery Foxchase," it was a mighty favourite with the stout old 
 sportsmen in those merry days. More popular airs have caused these 
 popular and soul-stirring lyrics to be disused, and, Uke those whose 
 feats they recounted, they are now almost forgotten. 
 
314 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 yet had the consolation to know that I was the most 
 unpopular being in the province. I was usually 
 described as a ' dry devil,' or a * dark* dirty, Httle man; ' 
 while upon Drusilla blessings rained, and she was admitted 
 to be ' the best sowl that ever laid leg below mahogany ! ' 
 " I was weary of this state. Marc Antony was in 
 regular possession of an apartment, which was duly 
 termed by the servants ' Mr. Bodkin's room.' Summer 
 passed, and so did autumn and its host of grouse shooters. 
 I foolishly hoped that, considering the locaHty of Castle 
 Toole, my locusts would banish with the butterflies ; 
 but the only difference a rainy day made was, that the 
 visitor who arrived never dreamed of departing till the 
 morrow, and the numbers by no means abated. Some 
 heavy bills came in, and I seized that opportunity of 
 remonstrating with Drusilla. I told her my health was 
 breaking, my fortune unequal to my expenses ; that 
 common prudence required a certain limitation to our 
 irregular hospitality ; hinted that, though an occasional 
 visit from Mr. Marc Antony Bodkin would be agreeable, 
 yet that an everlasting abode would rather be a bore. 
 I would have continued, but my lady had Ustened, she 
 thought, too long already. She fired at the very idea 
 of retrenchment ; and as to Mr. Marc Antony Bodkin, 
 we were, it appeared, too much honoured by his society. 
 He, a third cousin of Clanricarde, condescended to 
 take my place, and entertain my company. He rode my 
 horses and drank my wine, neither of which feats, as 
 she opined, nature had designed me for doing in proper 
 person ; in short, by Herculean efforts on his part, he 
 enabled me to hold my place among gentlemen. As 
 
 * " Dark," in the kingdom of Connaught, is frequently used 
 synonymously with " unsocial." 
 
NOT THE MAN FOR GALWAY. 315 
 
 to the paltry consideration of his residence, what was 
 it ? * God be with the time, when,' as her ' lamented 
 father * said, * a stranger remained for eighteen months 
 in Castle Toole, and would probably have lived and died 
 there, but that his wife discovered him, and forced the 
 truant to abdicate ; and yet,' she added, proudly, ' none 
 could tell whether he was from Wales or Enniskillen ; 
 and some believed his name was Hamerton, while others 
 asserted it was Mackintosh. But,' as she concluded, 
 ' when her kinsman, Mr, Bodkin, was turned out, it 
 was time for her to provide a residence,' and she flung 
 from the room like a Bacchante, making door and window 
 shiver. 
 
 '* Well, Sir, you may pity or despise me as you will ; 
 from that day my wife assumed the absolute mastery 
 and I calmly submitted. The house was now a scene 
 of wild and unrestricted extravagance. Tenants ran 
 away, cattle were depreciated, and worse still, claims 
 made upon the property that had never been foreseen, 
 and in nine months I was engaged in as many lawsuits. 
 I must have sunk beneath these calamities, but a domestic 
 event gave a new turn to my hopes. No heir had yet 
 been promised, when happily, it was whispered that 
 this blessing was not an impossibihty. Day after day 
 confirmed the happy news, till at last it was regularly 
 announced in the * Connaught Journal that Mrs. 
 Dawkins, of Castle Toole, was * as ladies wish to be who 
 love their lords.' 
 
 " Of course, from that moment any contradiction 
 would have been death to my dear Drusilla. She never 
 reigned lady-paramount till now, and her will was 
 absolute. Relatives trooped down in scores, and Marc 
 Antony was doubly cherished. Notwithstanding my 
 
3l6 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 nerves thrilled at their arrival, the Blazers were honourably 
 feasted ; and, at the especial request of Mrs. Dawkins, 
 on that occasion I determined to make a character. 
 I really was half a hero ; presided at the head of my 
 own table like its master, gave divers bumper toasts, 
 and sat out the evening, until I was fairly hors de combat, 
 and tumbled from the chair. Drunk as I was, I 
 recollected clearly all that passed. As but a couple 
 of bottles a man had been then discussed, my early 
 fall appeared to create a sensation. ' Is it a fit he has ? * 
 inquired an under-sized gentleman with an efflorescent 
 nose, who had been pointed out to me as a six-bottle 
 customer. * Phoo ! ' repUed my loving cousin, * the 
 man has no more bottom than a chicken. Lift him ; 
 he has a good heart, but a weak head. He'll never do for 
 Galway ! But come, lads,' and Marc hopped over my 
 body, as I was being taken up by the servants, * I'll 
 give you that top-sawyer y his wife, and long may she 
 .wear the breeches 1 ' It was gratifying to find that the 
 toast was generally admired, for the very attendants 
 that ' bore the corpse along,' stopped at the door, and 
 shouted * hip, hip, hurra ! ' from the staircase. 
 
 " Every day from this period I became more unhappy 
 and contemptible. My blue-stocking aunt, who, for 
 reasons unnecessary to explain, had been, since my 
 marriage totally estranged, was now officially informed, 
 that the name of Dawkins would be continued. She had 
 the true leven of family affection in her, and my past 
 neglect was pardoned, and the kindest letter returned 
 to my communication. One passage of her epistle 
 ran thus — ' Though I felt acutely at your selecting a 
 wife without even consulting one of whose attachment 
 you must be well convinced, I forgive all, from the 
 
NOT THE MAN FOR GALWAY. 317 
 
 personal description you give of your consort. May 
 the heir of our line be like his mother, is my prayer ! 
 For, oh, Daniel, my predilection for dark beauty is the 
 same, and my conviction unalterable, that even 
 
 " Genius a dead loss is, 
 
 With dark brows and long proboscis." 
 
 '* Poor woman ! no wonder she thus considered : 
 a sergeant in the Guards, with a countenance of the true 
 Kemble character, had, in early life, almost turned her 
 brain ; and Tooley Street was kept in an uproar, until 
 he was fortunately drafted off to join the Duke of York 
 upon the Continent, and there, in due time, rested in 
 the bed of glory. 
 
 "It is a lamentable thing for a man of sensibility 
 to wed a woman whose conduct he considers irreconcilable 
 to his ideas of what female delicacy demands — and 
 such was my case. Drusilla not only assumed the 
 mastery within doors, but she extended her sway to the 
 farm and the horses. One day, at the head of a hundred 
 paupers, she was planting trees ; the next, with Marc 
 Antony Bodkin, making a radical reform in the stables. 
 On these occasions, arrayed in a man's hat, with her 
 limbs cased in Hessian boots, she looked, as Tom the 
 Devil said, ' blasted knowing.' 1 occasionally was 
 permitted to attend, as a sort of travelling conveniency 
 to hang her cloak upon ; and 1 never returned without 
 some indignity from strangers, or personal disrespect 
 from herself. It was death to me to hear her addressed 
 in the coarse language of the stable, and allusions made 
 to her altered figure, which appeared too vulgar even for 
 the servants* hall ; and when a fellow of forbidding 
 countenance, with a scarlet coat and white unmentionables 
 whom the rest of the gang distinguished as ' Long 
 
3l8 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST 
 
 Lanty,' crooked up the bottom of her dress with his 
 hunting whip, exclaiming, ' Bone and sinew, by the holy ! 
 what a leg for a boot ! * 1 could have knocked the 
 ruffian down, had I been able, although for the exploit 
 I should be taxed with my false delicacy, and the usual 
 wind-up, ' It will never do for Galway ! ' 
 
 '* Shy from my cradle, and accustomed to city 
 formality, I was not likely to become at once inhabited 
 to Irish manners. But in Connaught there was a laxity 
 of form — a free-and-easy system of society, that exceeded 
 all belief, and to a distant person like me, was intolerable. 
 People on a half -hour's acquaintance called you by 
 your Christian name ; and men, whom you had never 
 even heard of, rode to your door, and told you coolly 
 they * would stay a fortnight.' Introductions in 
 Connemara, I believe are reckoned among the works 
 of supererogation. If I took a quiet ride, expecting 
 upon my return to meet none at dinner but my wife 
 and the eternal Marc Antony, I probably found half 
 a score already seated at the table, and might learn the 
 appellatives of perhaps a couple of the gang, by the 
 announcement of * Mr. Dawkins, Tom the Devil/ 
 * Mr. Dawkins, Smashall Sweeney.' 
 
 " I remember upon the day on which I was so fortunate 
 as to make the acquaintance of the above gentlemen, 
 in the course of the evening they differed about the 
 colour of a race-horse, and, after bandying mutual 
 civilities, concluded by interchanging the lie direct and 
 a full decanter. The latter having grazed my head, 
 induced me to abscond immediately ; and when I 
 recorded to my loving helpmate the narrow escape 
 from demolition I had just experienced, instead of 
 tender alarm and connubial sympathy, her countenance 
 
NOT THE MAN FOR GALWAY. 319 
 
 betrayed irrepressible disappointment and surprise. 
 * And have you, Mr. Dawkins, really deserted your 
 company, and that, too, at a period when two gentlemen 
 had disagreed ? Do return immediately. Such in- 
 hospitality, I assure you, will never do for Galway! 
 I did return ; but I had my revenge, and dearly it 
 cost me, though neither of the rascals were shot upon 
 my lawn. Smashall rode off my lady's favourite mare 
 in mistake, and sent her back next morning with a pair 
 of broken knees — and Tom the Devil set fire to his bed- 
 curtains the same night, and nothing but a miracle saved 
 the house. Everything in the apartment, however, 
 was consumed or rendered unserviceable. 
 
 ** As I became more intimate with my wife's relatives, 
 1 found that nothing but the lamp of Aladdin would 
 meet their multifarious demands. Castle Toole, like 
 the cave of Adulam, was the certain refuge of all gentlemen 
 who happened to be in debt and difficulty. All that came 
 here were, what is called in Connemara, ' upon the 
 borrowing hand ; ' and when the sum appeared to be 
 too large to be forthcoming in cash, nothing could be 
 more accommodating in their overtures, — They would 
 make my acceptance answer ; they would wish it at 
 sixty-one days ; but // it obliged me particularly, they 
 could contrive to extend it to three months. It was, 
 of course, a matter of mere form ; it would be regularly 
 provided for ; it would, * upon honour ! ' If, after 
 all this, 1 hesitated, I did it on personal responsibility ; 
 and sooner than be perforated upon my own lawn, actually 
 suffered myself to be made liable for some hundreds. 
 When I complained bitterly of these spoliations to my 
 wife, I received the usual comfort, ' Dear me, how narrow 
 your ideas are ! If my uncle Ulic had asked you for 
 
320 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 the money, it would have been a different affair. And 
 so, all he wants is the accommodation of your name ! 
 Ah ! if my * lamented father ' was alive, how would he 
 be astonished ! Many a time he and poor Ulic assisted 
 each other. Indeed, the dear old man used to mention 
 an amusing anecdote. They once purchased a pipe 
 of port, paid for it with a two months' bill, and when the 
 time expired, the wine was drunk, and the note protested. 
 They had consumed so much from the wood, that it 
 was not worth while to bottle the remainder. Do, 
 Mr. Dawkins, at once oblige my uncle Ulic. Get rid 
 of these narrow ideas. Believe me, they will never do 
 for Galway! 
 
 " There was another thing that added to my miseries, 
 and yet to my honoured helpmate it was a subject of 
 unmeasured pride. It so happened that the geographical 
 position of my ill-omened estate was nearly on the 
 boundaries of Galway and Mayo — counties no less 
 remarkable for their extent than the truculent disposition 
 of the inhabitants. From time immemorial my lawn 
 was the chosen fixture for determining affairs of honour ; 
 and hence, more blood had been shed there than on any 
 similar spot in Christendom. If the civil authorities 
 were so vmgentlemanly as to interrupt the combatants, 
 the latter merely crossed the adjacent bridge, and finished 
 the affair to their satisfaction. It is right, however, 
 to say that the magistracy seldom interfered ; and tf 
 a functionary was forced out by some mean-spirited 
 relative, though the fears of the Lord Chancellor might 
 deter him from refusing his intervention, he still contrived 
 to miss the road, cast a shoe, be run away with, or meet 
 some unhappy casualty, that one of the parties might 
 be defunct, and the survivor in a place of safety, before 
 
NOT THE MAN FOR GALWAY. 32 1 
 
 he, the justice, appeared upon the battle-ground. 
 Hence, not a week elapsed but my nerves were tortured 
 by the arrival of a shooting- party ^ and probably further 
 agonised by hearing Mr. Bodkin hallooing to the butler, 
 
 * Michael {sotto voce,) devil speed ye, Michael \ the 
 mistress desires ye to keep back dinner till the gentlemen 
 have done, and to present her compliments, and say, 
 that she expects the company of the survivor.* 
 
 " All this was horrible to me ; in the evening to be 
 suddenly disturbed with pop ! pop ! and an outcry ; 
 or awakened before daylight by my lady's maid opening 
 the curtains with a curtsey, to know ' where the dead men 
 would be stritched.' It was, moreover, a desperate 
 tax upon my finances ; vagabonds, known and unknown, 
 lay for weeks together in my house, while their broken 
 bones were being re-united — not a month passed but 
 there was some dying man in the state-room — doctors 
 came and went as regularly as the post-boy — ^and once 
 in each quarter the coroner,* if he had any luck, 
 empanelled a jury in our hall. 
 
 " Nor were we less tormented with the Blazers. We 
 always had a lame horse or two in the stables ; and from 
 the time cub-hunting commenced, till the season ended, 
 of that redoubted community who hazard 
 
 * Neck and spine, 
 
 Which rural gentlemen call sport divine,* 
 
 we never boasted fewer than a couple on the sick-list. 
 Once, when an inquest was holding in the house, a Blazer 
 in the best bed-room, a dying earth-stopper in the gate- 
 house, and four disabled horses, ' at rack and manger,' 
 I insinuated what a nuisance it was to have one's house 
 
 * In Conn aught this useful officer is paid by the job, and the 
 number with which he occasionally debits the county is surprising. 
 
 Y 
 
322 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 made a ' morgue,' and the offices an hospital. — * Do 
 Mr. Dawkins, have done,' exclaimed my lady — ' If, 
 you have no humanity, pray conceal it. Believe me, 
 your feelings will never do for Galway.' 
 
 '' But Drusilla had her reward. What though we 
 kept a lazaretto for lame horses, and a general wakehouse 
 for gentlemen of honour who left the world without 
 sufficient assets to procure a grave ; our lights were not 
 hidden, nor our charities unrecorded. There was not 
 a man shot, or an arm broken, but my lady wife was 
 dragged neck and crop into the columns of the Connaught 
 Journal — as, for example : — 
 
 " ' The late Captain Macnab. — Further particulars. 
 
 — When the lamented gentleman fell, his second, Mr. 
 
 Peter Brannick, raised the body in his arms. Life, 
 
 however, was totally extinct, as the ball had fractured 
 
 the fifth rib, and passed directly through the pericardium. 
 
 In its transit, the fatal bullet shattered a portable 
 
 tobacco-pipe, which the deceased invariably carried 
 
 in his right waistcoat pocket. The body was 
 
 immediately removed upon a door to Castle Toole, 
 
 where every attention to the remains of a gallant soldier 
 
 was given by the accomplished mistress. Indeed, 
 
 it is but right to say, that this estimable lady superintended 
 
 in person the laying out of the corpse. At midnight 
 
 three friars from Ballyhownis, and a number of the 
 
 resident clergy attended, and a solemn high Mass 
 
 was celebrated in the great hall. The reverend gentlemen 
 
 employed upon this melancholy occasion, have expressed 
 
 their deep sense of the urbanity of the lady of the 
 
 mansion. 
 
 " ' We understand that, at the especial request of 
 Mrs. Dawkins, the body will remain in state at Castle 
 
NOT THE MAN FOR GALWAY. 323 
 
 Toole, until it is removed to its last resting-place, the 
 family burying-ground at Carrick Nab.' — Connaught 
 Journal. 
 
 *' * The friends and relatives of Mr. Cornelius 
 Coolaghan will be delighted to hear that he has been 
 pronounced convalescent by Dr. M'Greal. A mistake 
 has crept into the papers, stating that the accident 
 was occasioned by his grey mare, Miss Magaraghan, 
 falling at a six feet wall. The fact was that the injury 
 occurred in attempting to ride in and out of the pound 
 of Ballymacraken, for a bet of ten pounds. As the 
 village inn was not deemed sufficiently quiet, Mr. C. C. 
 was carried to the hospitable mansion of Castle Toole. 
 It is needless to add, that every care was bestowed upon 
 the sufferer by the elegant proprietress. Indeed, few 
 of the gentler sex so elegantly combine the charms and 
 amiabilities of the beautiful Mrs. Dawkins.' — Ibid. 
 
 '* Well, sir, I submitted to my fate with more than 
 mortal fortitude. I saw that in rashly marrying one 
 in taste, feeling and sentiment so totally my opposite, 
 I had wrecked my happiness for ever, and that I must 
 submit. My pride w^ould sometimes fire at the slights 
 I suffered from my very underlings, and the cool contempt 
 of those locusts who lived only upon my bounty. I 
 was reduced to utter dependency, and yet I never 
 murmured a remonstrance. Presently, my wife took 
 possession of my banker's book — yet I did not rebel — 
 for my nerves were weak, my spirit humble ; — fate made 
 my own conduct punish me, and I had philosophy to 
 bear it patiently. But one thing reconciled me to much 
 misery — it was a darling hope — a cherished fancy — 
 this was left when all besides had fled, and I clung to it 
 with the tenacity of a wretch who seizes the reed to 
 
324 
 
 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 support him while he drowns. That hope, that sole 
 dependence, was in my unborn child ; on that being, 
 haply, I might lavish my love ; — and when nothing 
 else remained on earth whereon to rest my affections, 
 I turned to a visionary thing, a creature not in existence, 
 as an object on which to fix my heart. You smile ; 
 but ah, sirs, remember I had not nerves and feelings 
 like the multitude. I am a poor helpless wretch, unfitted 
 to withstand the villainy of mankind, and struggle through 
 a world where the boldest will often blench, and the 
 wisest hold their course with difficulty." 
 
 He became deeply agitated, and though, poor fellow, 
 I had laughed heartily at the faithful picture he gave, 
 in the course of his narrative, of all concerned, I could 
 not but respect his griefs. He soon continued — 
 
 *• At times I felt a misgiving in my bosom, and pangs 
 of jealousy tormented me. I saw much culpable 
 familiarity between my wife and her relative : and for 
 some trifling cause, she and I, for some time past, had 
 not occupied the same apartment. Could she forget 
 herself and me so far ? Oh, no, no, she could not ! 
 She would not do a being like me, who submitted to 
 her command, and sacrificed everything to her fancy, 
 so base, so cruel an injury ! I never harmed a worm 
 willingly ; and surely she would not wrong one so 
 totally her thrall — her worshipper, as I } 
 
 '* I considered that between the parties there existed 
 a near relationship, and natural habits and early intimacy 
 might warrant what was certainly indelicate, but still 
 might not be criminal. God help me ! At times my 
 brain burned — my senses were almost wandering, 
 and had this state of torture long continued, I must, 
 ere now, have been the inmate of a madhouse. 
 
NOT THE MAN FOR GALVVAY. 325 
 
 ** The time of her trial came, and at that awful hour, 
 I am told, women like to have their husbands near 
 them, for those they love can sometimes whisper hope, 
 and rouse the drooping courage of the sufferer. But 
 I was specially excluded from the chamber of the 
 patient, although constant messages passed between 
 the lady and her kinsman. The trial ended happily — 
 a boy was born — the servants flocked round me, to 
 offer their rude congratulations ; but the nurse cast on 
 me such a look of mingled pity and comtempt as almost 
 struck me lifeless. I asked affectionately for my wife 
 — I inquired tenderly for my child. ' It is a fine boy,* 
 said a young, wild, light-hearted creature, the housemaid ; 
 * it has the longest legs I ever saw ; and, its hair is as 
 red sis Lanty Driscoll's jacket.' It was killing — murderous. 
 Then I was the wretch my worst fears had whispered, 
 and a child was born — but not to me.*' 
 
 He paused, completely overcome. I felt my eye 
 moisten at the deep, though simple, pathos of the story- 
 teller. There was a sorrow, an agony, in his melancholy 
 detail, that touched the heart more sensibly than calamities 
 of deeper character and greater men. 
 
 After a short pause, he thus continued : 
 ** The day, the most eventful of my life, if my 
 wedding one be excepted, at last arrived, and had it 
 been nominated for my undergoing the extreme penalty 
 of the law, it could not have brought more horror with 
 it. I felt the fulness of my degradation. I was a 
 miserable puppet, obliged to pretend a blindness to 
 disgrace, of which my conviction was entire ; and, 
 automaton as I was considered, and little as my looks 
 or feelings were consulted, the deep melancholy of 
 my face did not escape my conscience-stricken partner. 
 
326 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST 
 
 She became pale and agitated, while with affected 
 indifference of manner, she taxed me with rudeness 
 to my company, and more especially to herself. What 
 would the world say, if on this high festival, when the 
 heir of Castle Toole was to be presented to his relatives, 
 I should appear more like a monk at a death-wake than a 
 happy parent ? * Lord ! Mr. Dawkins, this moping is so 
 unmanly. Here will be the O'Tooles and the 
 O'Shaughnesseys, Blakes and Burkes, Bellews and 
 Bodkins : they will feel it a personal insult. If you 
 encourage these humours, I assure you, Mr. Dawkins, 
 you will never do for Galway.' Before this jobation 
 ended, carriage- wheels grated on the gravel, and men, 
 women, and children commenced and continued pouring 
 in, as if another deluge had begun, and Castle Toole 
 was an ark of safety. 
 
 " While the house was crowded within, the space 
 before it appeared to be in the possession of numerous 
 banditti. The tenants, of course, had flocked hither to 
 do honour to the christening. For their refreshment 
 a beeve was roasted whole, and beer and whisky 
 lavishly distributed. I never saw such a scene of waste 
 and drunkenness before, although I had hitherto believed 
 that my residence was the veriest rack-rent in the world. 
 In every corner pipers played, women danced, men 
 drank, and swearing and love-making was awful. There, 
 while dinner was being served, I had stolen forth to vent 
 my agony unnoticed. I am not, sirs, gifted with that 
 command of nerve which can exhibit hollow smiles 
 while the bosom is inly bleeding. To affect gaiety 
 so foreign to my heart, I felt would break it ; but the 
 desperate misery that I endured would spur the dullest 
 soul to madness. I viewed the rude revelry with 
 
NOT THE MAN FOR GALWAY. 327 
 
 disgust. 1 was the master of the feast, but the savages 
 barely recognised me. Generally they spoke in their 
 native language ; and though 1 did not exactly 
 comprehend all that they said, I heard enough to assure 
 me of my utter insignificance in their rude estimate of 
 character. Under a gate-pier two old women were 
 sitting ; they did not notice me, and continued their 
 discourse. 
 
 ** ' Ally, asthore, did ye see the child ? They say it's 
 the picture of Marc Bodkin.' 
 
 *' ' Whisht, ye divil ! ' was the rejoinder, as the crone 
 proceeded, with a chuckle ; ' it has red hair, any 
 how : but Neil an skil a gau maun,* and ye know 
 best.' 
 
 ** But the further humiliation of assisting at the 
 ceremony was saved me. In the hurry consequent 
 upon the general confusion, the post-bag was handed 
 to me instead of my lady-wife, who lately had managed 
 all correspondence. Mechanically I opened the bag, 
 and a letter, bearing the well-known direction of my 
 aunt, met my eye. That, under circumstances, it 
 should have reached me, appeared miraculous, and, 
 seizing an opportunity, J examined its contents in 
 private. My kind relation had received my detail of misery, 
 and, in reply, she implored me to abandon the scene of 
 my degradation, and share her fortune, which was more, 
 she said, than sufficient for us both. My heart beat with 
 conflicting emotions — all unworthy as she was, I could 
 not bring myself to abandon Drusilla thus. 1 actually 
 hesitated, when curiosity prompted me to peruse a 
 
 * Anglice, " 1 have no skill m it." 
 
328 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST 
 
 letter which was addressed to her, and marked immediate. 
 Its contents were these : — 
 
 " * Dear Madam, 
 
 '* * I have by this post received the two writs, as 
 expected. 1 settled the Ex. against Mr. M. A. B., and 
 he may come to town any time till further notice. With 
 respect to those against Mr. Dawkins, it is as well to 
 let things take their course. He is a gentleman of 
 retired habits, and a little confinement, particularly as 
 he dont hunt, will be quite immaterial. I received the 
 bullocks, but, as cattle are down, there is still a balance 
 due. 
 
 ** ' A Dublin wine-merchant has just handed me an 
 Ex. lor j£6i3,and insists upon accompanying me to Castle 
 Toole I have therefore named Wednesday, on which 
 day you will please to have the doors closed. As the 
 plaintiff may again be officious, I would recommend 
 his being ducked, when returning, and a city bailiff, 
 whom you will know by his having a scorbutic face 
 and yellow waistcoat, should, for many reasons, be 
 corrected. Pray, however, take care the hoys do not 
 go too far, as manslaughter, under the late act, is now 
 a transportable felony. 
 
 " * The sooner Mr. D. renders to prison the better. 
 Tell your Uncle Ulic I have returned non est to his 
 three last; but he must not show. You can drop me 
 a line by bearer when you wish Mr. D. to be arrested ; 
 and after we return nulla bona on Wednesday, I will 
 come out and arrange matters generally. 
 
 ** * Believe me, dear Madam, truly yours, 
 
 " * John Grady, Sub-sheriff, Galway. 
 
 " ' Mrs. Dawkins, Castle Toole.' 
 
NOT THE MAN FOR GALWAY. 329 
 
 it t 
 
 P.S. What a blessing it is for poor Mr. Dawkins 
 that he has such a woman of business to manage his 
 affairs! He is a well-meaning man, but he'll never do 
 for Galway, 
 
 " ' J. G.' 
 
 " Had I been ten times over the tame wretch I was, 
 I could not be insensible to the deep treachery of this 
 worthless woman, who had ruined my property, and 
 would now incarcerate my person. In spite of 
 remonstrances upon its apparent inhospitality, I 
 abandoned the * impious feast,' and while my absence 
 was neither missed nor regarded, I stole from the 
 accursed spot, and by bribing a wandering stocking-man, 
 was enabled to make my way to the coast, and procure 
 a fishing-boat to place myself beyond the power of 
 arrest. The same bad luck appeared to follow me : 
 The drunkenness of the scoundrels threatened to 
 interrupt my escape, and even place my life in peril. 
 From these mishaps you have delivered me, and by your 
 prompt assistance I shall affect my retreat from a 
 country I must ever recollect with horror. When I 
 reach England, I will seek reparation for my injuries ; 
 and though all besides is gone, I shall at least endeavour 
 to liberate myself from the worthless woman who 
 abused a weak and too confiding husband. 
 
 " Alas ! gentlemen, what a stream of misfortunes 
 will sometimes originate in a trifle. A Margate steamer 
 entailed a life of suffering upon me. My fortune 
 vanished, my wife deceived me — laughed at by my 
 friends, and ridiculed by my enemies — ^from all these 
 complicated misfortunes, I have learned but one simple 
 fact — Alas ! ' That I should never do for Galway I ' " 
 
330 WILD &PORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 I SLEPT Roundly : my servant found me still a-bed 
 when he came at his customary hour ; as he unclosed 
 the curtains I heard a hum of voices, and appearances 
 of domestic hurry were visible ; next moment the well- 
 known Currakeen, whose celebrity as a courier is truly 
 remarkable, passed the window at a ** killing-pace." 
 I found, upon inquiry, that the otter-killer was dying, 
 and that " the runner " I had just observed, had been 
 dispatched for Father Andrew. 
 
 The ancient retainer of an Irish family generally 
 establishes a bond upon the affections of the wild house- 
 hold, that causes his loss to make a greater sensation 
 than so humble an event might be supposed to occasion. 
 Antony, for half a century had been attached to this 
 family. Three generations have passed since he first 
 settled beneath the roof-tree ; and he has been asso- 
 ciated with every earlier recollection of the present 
 master. No wonder I found my kinsman in con- 
 siderable distress. The old man was dying — and 
 youthful scenes, and youthful days, when the stormier 
 passions had not broken " the sunshine of the breast," 
 were now vividly recalled by the approaching dissolution 
 of his ancient and devoted follower. 
 
 The summons to the Priest was instantly attended, — 
 Father Andrew returned with the messenger, and was 
 immediately closeted with the penitent. Poor Antony's 
 simple life had few dark recollections to harrow his 
 parting hour. His shrift was short and satisfactory ; 
 and at his own request, when the rites of the Roman 
 
DEATH OF THE OTTER-KILLER. 33 1 
 
 Catholic Church had been duly celebrated, my cousin 
 and myself were summoned to his bedside. 
 
 The old man was supported by Hennessey, as a 
 difficulty in breathing obliged him to be raised up ; 
 and the scene was at once simple and imposing. The 
 early monitor of his youthful fishing-days — the being 
 who had in mountain pastimes been so frequently his 
 companion, possibly recalled softer recollections, and 
 a deep shade of sorrow overspread the countenance of 
 the " stern homicide." The black-eyed girl, who held 
 a teaspoon to his lips, vainly endeavouring to introduce 
 some nourishment, wept over him like a lamenting 
 child. His faithful terrier sat at the bed-foot, and the 
 fixed and melancholy look that the poor animal turned 
 on her dying master, would have half persuaded me 
 that Venom knew she was about to lose him. Dim as 
 his eye was, it lighted as my kinsman's tall figure 
 darkened the entrance of the chamber ; and feebly 
 putting forth his hand, he clasped that of his beloved 
 master with affection, and while weakness and imperfect 
 breathing sadly interrupted his *' last farewell," we 
 could with some difficulty thus collect his words. 
 
 ** I'm going. Master Julius, and may the blessing of 
 the Almighty attend ye ! Sure, I should be thankful, 
 with all about me to make me easy to the last. I saw 
 your grandfather stretched — I sat beside your father 
 when he departed, may the Lord be merciful to both ! 
 and I die with yourself and the clargy to comfort my last 
 hour, praises be to Mary, Master Julius, will you listen 
 to a dying man ; he that carried ye in his arms, and 
 loved ye better than all the world besides ? — ye '11 take 
 my advice. Marry, Julius avourneen — ^the ould name 
 that since the days of Shamul a Croaghah held land and 
 
332 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 honour — surely you won't let it pass ? Mind the old 
 man's last words — and now Heaven bless ye ! " And 
 in feeble tones he continued muttering benedictions 
 upon all around him. My cousin was really affected, 
 and the Priest, perceiving the increasing feebleness 
 of the otter-killer, requested us to retire. We were 
 obeying, when Antony rallied suddenly and unex- 
 pectedly : — " You will mind the dog, for my sake, 
 Master Julius — and ye '11 let trap and fishing-rod hang 
 up in the hall, to put ye in mind of old Antony ? " 
 These were his last connected words — his strength 
 failed fast ; his memory wandered to other times ; 
 " he babbled of green fields," he murmured the names 
 of lakes and rivers — and while the affectionate Priest 
 prayed fervently beside his old and innocent com- 
 panion, the otter-killer rendered his last sigh in the arms 
 of Hennessey and the weeping Alice ! 
 
 Talk of parade around the couch of fortune, and 
 what a heartless display is it ! / saw a rich man die ; 
 1 saw the hollow mockery of hireling attendants and 
 interested friends ; but here, that simple, unsophisti- 
 cated being had a sincerity of grief bestowed upon his 
 death- bed, that to wealth and grandeur would be un- 
 attainable ! 
 
 There was a loud and agonizing burst of sorrow 
 when the otter-killer's death was communicated to 
 those in the hall and kitchen, who, during the closing 
 scene, had been with difficulty prevented from crowding 
 the apartment of the sufferer. But this noisy demon- 
 stration of regard was speedily checked by old John, 
 who knew that his master would be doubly displeased 
 should any tumultuary wailings render me uncomfortable. 
 
 In a short time, order was tolerably established ; 
 
DEATH OF THE OTTER-KILLER. 333 
 
 and with one exception, a quiet and respectful silence 
 supervened. A stout, though aged crone, occasionally 
 burst into wild lament, accompanied by a beating on 
 her breast, which, like the signal to a chorus, elicited a 
 fresh ebullition from the subordinate mourners. John, 
 however, interposed his authority effectually. — " Bada- 
 husty hanamondioul, badahust^ I say ! ye may keinagh 
 at the funeral, but ye mustn't disturb the master and 
 the company." This jobation restored tranquillity, and 
 in " decent grief *' the otter-killer's corpse was duly 
 laid out in its funeral habiliments. 
 
 The evening wore on heavily — my kinsman was 
 sensibly affected ; his old monitor in the gentle art was 
 gone ; and though full in years, and ripe for the tomb, 
 his master felt that ** he could have better spared a 
 better man." There was heart-sinking about our party 
 which I had never marked before. The wine had lost 
 its charm ; and while the Colonel and the Priest com- 
 menced a game of piquet, my cousin ordered the gig, 
 and proposed that we should pull over to the herring- 
 boats, which, in the next estuary, and on the preceding 
 night, had been unusually successful. Accordingly, 
 having lighted our pipes and procured our boat-cloaks, 
 we left the pier-head in the four-oared galley. 
 
 The night was unusually dark and warm ; not a 
 breath of wind was on the water ; the noise of the oars, 
 springing in the coppered rowlocks, was heard for a 
 mile off, and the whistle of sand-pipers and jack curlews, 
 as they took wing from the beach we skirted, appeared 
 unusually shrill. Other noises gradually broke the 
 stillness of the night — the varied hum of numerous 
 voices chanting the melancholy songs which are the 
 especial favourites of the Irish, began to be heard 
 
334 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 distinctly — and we soon bore down upon the midnight 
 fishers directed by sound, not sight. 
 
 To approach the fleet was a task of some difficulty. 
 The nets, extended in interminable lines, were so fre- 
 quent, that much skill was necessary to penetrate this 
 hempen labyrinth without fouling the back ropes. 
 Warning cries directed our course, and with some delay 
 we threaded the crowded surface, and, guided by buoys 
 and puckawns, found ourselves in the very centre of 
 the flotilla. 
 
 It was an interesting scene. Momently the boats 
 glided along the back ropes, which were supported at 
 short intervals by corks, and at a greater, by inflated 
 dog-skins, and, raising the curtain of network which 
 these suspended, the herrings were removed from the 
 meshes, and deposited in the boats. Some of the nets 
 were particularly fortunate, obliging their proprietors 
 to frequently reHeve them of the fish ; while others, 
 though apparently stretched within a few yards, and 
 consequently in the immediate run of the herrings, 
 were favoured but with a few stragglers ; and the indo- 
 lent fisherman had to occupy himself with a sorrowful 
 ditty, or in moody silence watch the dark sea " like 
 some dull ghost waiting on Styx for waftage." 
 
 Our visit appeared highly satisfactory, for the ceade 
 fealteagh, with a lament for " ould Antony," was univer- 
 sal, while every boat tossed herrings on board, until 
 we were obliged to refuse further largess, and these 
 many *' trifles of fish " accumulated so rapidly, that we 
 eventually declined receiving further compliments, or 
 we might have loaded the gig gunnel deep. 
 
 The darkness of the night increased the scaly bril- 
 liancy which the phosphoric properties of these beautiful 
 
DEATH OF THE OTTER- KILLER. 335 
 
 fish produce. The bottom of the boat, now covered with 
 some thousand herrings, glowed with a living light, 
 which the imagination could not create, and the pencil 
 never imitate. The shades of gold and silvery gems 
 were rich beyond description ; and much as I had heard of 
 phosphoric splendour before, every idea I had formed 
 fell infinitely short of its reality. 
 
 The same care with which we entered disembarrassed 
 us of the midnight fishing ; every boat we passed pressed 
 hard to throw in a " cast of skuddawns* for the strange 
 gentleman," meaning me ; and such was the kindness 
 of these hospitable creatures, that had I been a very 
 Behemoth I should have this night feasted to satiety 
 on their bounty. 
 
 The wind, which had been asleep, began now to sigh 
 over the surface, and before we had cleared the outer 
 back-ropes, the sea-breeze came curling " the midnight 
 wave." The tide was flowing fast, and having stepped 
 the mast, we spread our large lug, and the light galley 
 slipped speedily ashore. A fire which I had noticed 
 above the Lodge kindling gradually, fanned by the rising 
 night-breeze, sprang at once into a glorious flame ; and 
 through the darkness its intense light must have been for 
 many leagues discernible. I broke my cousin's musing, 
 to ask what it was. 
 
 ** That, my friend, is one of our ancient customs ; 
 that is our beal-fire. It is lighted to notify that a death 
 has occurred, and ere long you will see it answered 
 by some of our friends and kindred. Poor old man ! 
 none deserved it better, for he would have attended religi- 
 ously to such observances, had any of my family preceded 
 him to the grave. He lighted my father's beal-fire, and 
 * Anglice, Herrings. 
 
336 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 possibly kindled that of my grandsire ; old John has 
 probably performed the ceremony for him : thus the 
 kindlier offices are continued, and ' thus runs the word 
 away.' — Who," — and he stopped, evidently embarrassed 
 at some passing thought — " Who shall say that the cere- 
 monial bestowed upon the wandering otter-killer may not 
 be refused to the last descendant of a line of centuries ! " 
 
 I would have interrupted these melancholy fore- 
 bodings, but just then, from the lofty brow of an inland 
 hill, which I had frequently observed before, a light 
 appeared, first faintly struggling, but presently redden- 
 ing to the sight ; and two fires in Achil, in a time of 
 incredible briefness, flung their deep glow across the 
 waters, and, as I afterwards remarked, were repeated 
 for miles along the coast and high grounds. 
 
 The rapidity with which the beal-fire was replied 
 to, evidently pleased my kinsman's family vanity ; and 
 with higher spirits, we watched the lights tremble in 
 the windows of the Lodge, until these Stella minor es 
 directed our voyage to its termination. 
 
 The Colonel and his companion were waiting for us 
 on the pier ; they insisted on adding to our supper 
 some of the fish which we had brought home — and 
 while this was being done, my cousin and myself entered 
 the wake, to pay our last duties to the departed otter- 
 killer. 
 
 To give additional iclat to his funeral rites, the corpse 
 had been removed to the barn, which, from its unusual 
 size, was well-fitted to admit the numerous mourners 
 who would attend the ceremony. Upon a rude bier 
 the old man rested, and the trap and fishing-rod were, 
 by a fancy of Hennessey, placed above his head. The 
 barn was filled, but immediate room was made for 
 
DEATH OF THE OTTER-KILLER. 337 
 
 the master and his company. I have seen the corpse 
 when carefully arranged ; when the collapsing features 
 were artificially moulded, to imitate a tranquillity that 
 had been foreign to the last event. But here was a 
 study for a painter. The old man's face was puckered 
 into the same conscious smile with which I have heard 
 him terminate his happiest otter-hunt, or some mountain 
 exploit of my kinsman, which appeared to him equally 
 dear ; his long hair, released from the band with which 
 he usually confined it, wantoned in silvery ringlets across 
 his neck and shoulders : all else was in wonted form ; 
 only that the number of candles round the bier might 
 have been called extravagant, and the plate of snuff 
 upon the bosom of the corpse was heaped with a munifi- 
 cence that would stamp the obsequies as splendid. 
 
 Everybody has heard an Irish wake described, and there 
 is no dissimilarity among a hundred, only that, accord- 
 ing to the opulence of the family, and the quantity of 
 funeral refreshments, the mirth and jollity of the 
 mourners is invariably proportionate. That the master's 
 ancient retainers should be nobly waked was fully 
 expected by the country, and certainly they were not 
 disappointed. Whisky in quantities passing all under- 
 standing, tobacco in all its preparations, were fear- 
 fully consumed on this important ceremony ; and during 
 the two days and nights which the otter-killer was above 
 ground, the barn, spacious as it was, proved unequal 
 to accommodate the hundreds who flocked from a 
 distance of even twenty miles to have *' a last look at 
 ould Antony." 
 
 When the evening fell on which the corpse was to be 
 carried to its resting-place, a scene of great novelty and 
 great interest ensued. From the insulated situation 
 
 z 
 
338 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 of the Lodge, in connection with the burying-ground, 
 it was necessary that the body should be carried across 
 the estuary by water. At the appointed hour, from 
 every creek and harbour, the peasantry were seen afloat, 
 and when the funeral left the house, more than a hundred 
 boats accompanied that in which the corpse was depo- 
 sited. My kinsman followed next to the body with all 
 his visitors and servants ; and when the opposite strand 
 was reached, he and his foster-brother placed their 
 shoulders under the coffin, and supported it for a short 
 distance along the beach. 
 
 This was, I was afterwards informed, the highest 
 honour that could be conferred upon the departed by 
 his master ; and even the magnificence of the otter- 
 killer's wake was held inferior to this proud and public 
 testimony of his patron's affections. 
 
 One circumstance was remarked which was power- 
 fully indicative of animal affection. The dead man's 
 terrier had remained night and day beside his bier, 
 since the morning of his death. Unnoticed, she crept 
 on board the boat that conveyed the coffin to the 
 churchyard ; and when the grave was filled, she was 
 wdth difficulty carried home by an attendant, but, 
 escaping during the night, crossed the estuary by swim- 
 ming, and again lay down upon the turf, beneath which 
 her beloved master was sleeping. Every care and 
 kindness was bestowed upon her in the Lodge. No 
 one addressed her but as '' poor Venney.'' Notwith- 
 standing she drooped visibly, and in three weeks after 
 his interment, in death the otter-killer's favourite 
 " bore him company." 
 
 When we reached the Lodge, we made a discovery 
 which, possibly with some people, might lead to an 
 
DEATH OF THE OTTER-KILLER. 339 
 
 Opposite conclusion, and either prove the security or 
 insecurity of the country. 
 
 Not a Hving being had remained within the walls, 
 and, consequently, for several hours, the house and 
 household goods were abandoned to the mercy of 
 chance and chance travellers. The guardian saint, 
 however, acquitted herself like a gentlewoman. We 
 found everything in pious order ; and had the Lodge 
 been under the especial care of the glorious Santa 
 Barbara herself, watch and ward could not have been 
 more faithfully maintained. 
 
340 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST, 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI 
 
 A MONTH had passed : winter comes on with giant 
 strides, and the last lingering recollections of autumn 
 are over The weather becomes more rainy and tem- 
 pestuous ; and bogs, which we once crossed easily, 
 owing to the continued wet, are now quite impass- 
 able. The swell, which during the summer months, 
 came in in long and measured undulations, breaks in 
 masses across the bar, and sends a broken and tumbling 
 sea inside the estuary, so as to render it unsafe to expose 
 any boat of heavy tonnage to its influence. Pattigo 
 seldom ventures from his anchorage, and when last he 
 ventured to pass a night at the pier, he ground away 
 a hawser against the stones, notwithstanding every pains 
 were bestowed in renewing its service. The springs 
 are usually high ; and two nights since, the Lodge and 
 paddocks were completely insulated and our commu- 
 nications with the mainland carried on by ferriage. 
 The river rises fearfully, and the hugh masses of turf 
 left along the strand, prove how violent the mountain 
 torrents must be at this advanced season. The sweet 
 and crystal stream is nowhere seen ; and Scott*s 
 beautiful lines happily describe the turbid river that has 
 replaced it : — 
 
 •' Late, gazing down the steepy linn 
 That hems our little garden in, 
 Low in its dark and narrow glen, 
 You scarce the rivulet might ken, 
 So thick the tangled greenwood grew, 
 So feebly trill'd the streamlet through; 
 Now, murmuring hoarse, and frequent seen ; 
 Through bush and briar no longer green, 
 An angry brook it sweeps the glade, 
 brawls over rock and wild cascade." 
 
WmtER SHOOTING. 341 
 
 But other, and no less certain, tokens harbinger the 
 wild season that has arrived. Yesterday a six-months' 
 puppy, who crept after me across the adjoining paddocks, 
 stopped in a rushy field. Suspecting that he had a 
 hare before him, I passed on to push her from the form : 
 I was mistaken — a wisp^ of snipes, possibly thirty in 
 number, sprang, and scattering in all directions, pitched 
 loosely over the adjoining bogs. To-day I saw a flock 
 of barnacles ;f and the herdsman on the sand-banks 
 apprises us of the first appearance of a Crowour Keough.X 
 This is the earliest wood-cock announced, but my kins- 
 man has no doubt but the flight^ has fallen in Achil : 
 and we shall cross in a few days, if the weather answers, 
 and try SUeve More, he says, with excellent success. 
 
 I had been some hours in bed, when I was awakened 
 by a quarrelling among the dogs, which I overheard 
 the keeper settling with the whip. I remained, and it 
 is rather an unusual thing with me, a long time awake. 
 An hour passed, all was again in deep repose, and I, too, 
 was sinking into sleep, when a strange and unaccount- 
 able noise roused me. It seemed to be at first faint and 
 distant, but momently increasing, grew louder and more 
 distinct, until it passed, to all appearance, directly above 
 my head. The sounds were wild and musical — ^varied 
 
 * Wisp, in sporting parlance, means a flock of snipes. 
 
 t The barnacle is a waterfowl weighing about five pounds, and 
 measuring more than two feet in length. 
 
 % Why this title, literally meaning " the blind cock," should be 
 conferred by the peasantry of Ballycroy on a bird so remarkable for 
 the extraordinary quickness of his vision, is a paradox. Such is the 
 known acuteness of the woodcock's vision, that the cover -shooter 
 chooses a masked position, or the Crowour Keough would seldom 
 come within range of the gun. 
 
 § Flight is the term used to describe a flock of woodcocks, as they 
 arrive in this country, in their annual migration from the north of 
 Kurope. 
 
342 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 in tone beyond anything 1 could describe, and con- 
 tinuing, until they gradually became remote and in- 
 distinct, and at length totally died away. I was amaz- 
 ingly puzzled, but was obliged to reserve my curiosity 
 to be satisfied in the morning. 
 
 My cousin smiled at my inquiry : — " And you heard 
 these strange noises as well as I ? This, if you remained 
 here, would be little marvel, as nightly the Barnacle 
 cross the Lodge in passing from one estuary to the other. 
 There they sit on yonder point ; *' — and, taking me to the 
 window, I saw a considerable extent of sand literally 
 black with this migratory tribe : " they come here in 
 immense multitudes, but from their coarse and fishy 
 flavour, afford little occupation to the water-shooter." 
 
 The land barnacles are less numerous, although 
 they are found in tolerable abundance. During the 
 day I saw two flocks of one or two-hundred pairs, upon 
 the bogs. They are, when sufficiently rested from 
 their journey, sought for with great avidity by the few 
 gunners in this district, and are very delicious when 
 kept a sufficient time after being shot, before the cook 
 transfers them to the spit. 
 
 Gray plover must also migrate in thousands hither. 
 Nothing else could account for the immense flocks 
 that have been seen, and will continue, as I am informed, 
 to arrive. The shores and moors are everywhere 
 crowded with them ; and within a hundred yards of the 
 lodge, Hennessey, with two barrels, killed seven couple 
 and a half last evening. The bent-banks are their 
 favourite fixture ; and I have never crossed them of 
 late without finding at least one stand. These vary 
 in numbers ; but I am certain I have seen three hundred 
 of these birds thus congregated. 
 
WINTER SHOOTING. 343 
 
 There is, in shooting plover, a common remark made 
 by sportsmen, that the second is always the more pro- 
 ductive barrel. The rapidity with which they vary 
 their position when on the ground, seldom admits of a 
 grand combination for a sitting, or rather a running, 
 shot. But when on the wing, their mode of flight is 
 most favourable for permitting the shot to tell ; and it 
 is by no means unusual to bring down a number. When 
 disturbed, they frequently wheel back directly above 
 the fowler, and offer a tempting mark if he should have 
 a barrel in reserve ; and even when too high for the shot 
 to take effect, I have often thrown away a random fire ; 
 for the plover, on hearing the report, directly make a 
 sweep downwards on the wing, and I have by this means 
 brought them within range of the second barrel. 
 
 When the season advances, the number of geese that 
 visit this wild peninsula is astonishing. For miles I 
 have traced their night feedings along a river bank, 
 where the marshy surface afforded them their favourite 
 sustenance. They are far more wary than the barnacle, 
 and are extremely difficult of access in moderate weather ; 
 but chance and storm occasionally favour the sportsman, 
 and in spite of the caution of these birds, the flock will 
 be surprised, and the patient gunner, reap, in a lucky 
 moment, the reward of many a weary vigil and bootless 
 attempt. 
 
 The time that wild geese feed in this country is by 
 night, and particularly during moonlight. I have 
 never known them either netted or decoyed ; and all 
 the shooter has to rely upon is patience and a long barrel. 
 Of all the prizes that a wild-fowl shooter could wish to 
 meet with, a flock of teal is the very first. Indepen- 
 dently of their being by far the best birds of the whole 
 
344 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 Anas tribe, they are so much easier of access, and require 
 such a slight blow that no matter whether you are 
 prepared for wildfowl, partridges, or snipes, you may, 
 at most times, with very little trouble, contrive to get 
 near them ; and this being once done, you have only 
 to shoot straight to be pretty sure of killing. 
 
 I have seen teal " duck the flash," though never but 
 once, and then I had rather a slow-shooting gun. 
 
 The last and greatest of the wild visitors, are the 
 swan tribe. Their being scarce or plentiful depends 
 much upon the season — and in winters of extreme 
 severity thousands of these birds will be found upon the 
 estuaries and inland lakes. The noise they make is 
 wild and musical, and with a little jancy, my kinsman 
 says, the ear will trace modulations almost extending to 
 infinity. These birds, during severe frosts and snow- 
 storms, are easily surprised and shot ; and the skins, 
 when carefully stripped off, will well repay the shooter 
 for his trouble. 
 
 To enumerate the varieties of the duck tribe that an 
 inclement winter brings to these shores, would be 
 difl^icult. I have already noticed the Pintail, and the 
 Golden-eye upon the estuary. Widgeons come here in 
 immense flocks ; and that beautiful bird, the teal, the 
 smallest and most delicate of the whole species, is 
 found for the remainder of the season on loughs and 
 rivers in abundance. The Grebe and Tringa tribes 
 furnish numerous and interesting varieties ; and an 
 ornithologist, as well as a sportsman, would have here 
 an ample field, could he but set the season at defiance, 
 and pass his winter on this exposed and stormy coast. 
 
 But the note of dissolution of our happy party has 
 sounded. The Colonel, having divers premonitory 
 
WINTER SHOOTING. 345 
 
 twinges, has named an early day for his departure. 
 To be caught by the gout here would be a hazardous 
 experiment ; and the portmanteau, whose captivity 
 was likely to occasion such desperate results, is again 
 packed and confided to Andy Bawn. But the com- 
 mander's baggage is not to be exposed to a second 
 interruption. The attempt was fatal to Mr. Burke ; 
 for, emboldened by the feud, which his unadvised 
 aggression created between my kinsman and this modern 
 Cacus, the Sweenies* seized the opportunity, and the 
 outlaw was arrested in a whisky-house, tried, and escaped 
 by a miracle from being hanged, — but was, alas ! con- 
 signed to Australasia for the course of his natural life. 
 To do Mr. Burke justice, he left his native soil with 
 regret. Finding all chance of commuted punishment 
 over, he endeavoured to obtain his liberty by an ingenious 
 plan to strangle the turnkeys, and emancipate all and 
 every victim of judicial tyranny who pleased to accept 
 his freedom. He did, poor man, make an excellent 
 offer to choke a jailer — but fortune frowned upon the 
 attempt ; the half-throttled janitor was saved — and the 
 hero of the bridge of Bally veeney will cross the equator 
 at the the public expense. 
 
 To-morrow, wind and weather permitting, the com- 
 mander takes his departure, and to-night will conse- 
 quently be a high and solemn festival. Would it were 
 over • f cannot, dare not, offer an excuse for cavilling 
 at bumpers, even were they " fathoms deep ; " and all 
 the consolation that an aching head will claim to-morrow, 
 will be a saw from old John about " the dog that bit me," 
 
 * This numerous clan derive their origin from a Northman, 
 They are, I know not with what justice, reckoned a treacherous 
 and vindictive tribe, and a feud with them is consequently held to 
 be a dangerous affair. 
 
346 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. , 
 
 and the merciless badinage of that black-eyed coquette 
 who embodies all that Moore idealized in sketching 
 his Nora Crina. 
 
 How soft the evening twilight falls on the waters of 
 the estuary ! the tide kisses the very verge of the 
 greensward, and looks so treacherously calm, as if its 
 storms were for ever ended. Boat after boat hurries 
 down the inlet to shoot their herring-nets for the night ; 
 and many an ancient ditty, or ruder tale, will while 
 away the time till morning. Occasionally a struggle 
 between two rival barks ensues — and I remark, the 
 contest invariably takes place before the windows of 
 the Lodge. One very singular one amused me much, 
 A boat rowed by four women challenged, and actually 
 out-pulled another, though propelled by a similar number 
 of the coarser sex. 
 
 Indeed, the occupations of the ladies of Ballycroy 
 are not essentially feminine : the roughest and most 
 dangerous employments they share in common with the 
 men. A Mahratta woman, they told me in India, 
 regularly shampoos her husband's horse. Were I of the 
 fair sex, I would rather operate on a quadruped than row 
 a fishing-boat by the day, and cut sea-weed up to the 
 waist in water, with the expectation of being swept from 
 my precarious footing by the first mountainous surge. 
 
COCK-SHOOTING IN ACHIL. 347 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIl. 
 
 The Colonel has left us, and we lose in him the best 
 and safest of friends — a true buon camarado. With 
 spirits of youthful buoyancy, a temper unsoured by time, 
 and indifferent to worldly annoyances, years have only 
 mellowed his companionable qualities, while they added 
 deeply to his anecdote and information. Few men of 
 a certain age succeed in retaining their places as first 
 favourites with others some quarter of a century their 
 juniors : but the Colonel is an exception • we shall feel a 
 blank in our society ; and in this gay and careless spirit 
 lose a dear companion, who seemed to put time at 
 defiance, and forbade gout itself to interrupt his comfort, 
 or " mar his tranquillity " 
 
 The last two days have been dry, the wind is favourable, 
 a white frost has been visible this morning, and we are 
 about to pay our parting visit to Achil. We have again 
 sent to our ancient entertamers. the Water Guards, to 
 beg a shelter tor the night , for the days have so sensibly 
 shortened, that we shall have enough to do to reach 
 Dugurth at nightfall. 
 
 " Merrily, merrily bounds the bark," and an hour 
 landed us at the Ridge Point. Our establishment is 
 • n a minor scale to what we sported on our first descent ; 
 we have only some two or three hangers-on, and have 
 brought but two brace of orderly and antiquated setters. 
 
 I have seen much of snipe-shooting in many parts of 
 Ireland, but I could not have imagined that the number 
 of these exquisite birds could be found within the same 
 space, that one particular marsh which bounds the rabbit- 
 
348 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 banks produced Independently of a quantity of 
 detached birds, several wisps sprang wildly, as they 
 always do ; and I have no doubt that this fen had been 
 their temporary resting-place after their autumnal 
 migration from the north. We were the more inclined 
 to this opinion from finding many of the birds we killed 
 extremely lean ; while others, that sprang singly, were 
 in admirable condition. Achil is a natural resting- 
 place for migratory birds ; and hence 1 can well believe 
 the accounts given by the islanders, of the immense 
 numbers of woodcocks and snipes which are here found, 
 in their transit from a high latitude to our more genial 
 climate- The same remark is made touching the vernal 
 visit of these strangers to this island. After woodcocks 
 have for days vanished from the inland covers, they have 
 been found in flocks on the Achil and Erris highlands, 
 evidently congregating for their passage, and preparing 
 for the attempt. 
 
 It may be easily conceived, that whether the winter 
 stock of snipes and woodcocks be limited or abundant, 
 will mainly depend upon the state of the winds and 
 weather at the period of migration. Hence, when the 
 latter end of October and the succeeding month have 
 continued stormy, with south, or south-easterly gales, 
 a lamentable deficiency of game has been invariably 
 observed. That multitudes perish on their passage, 
 or are obliged to change their course, is certain — and 
 the exhausted state in which the small portion of the 
 survivors reach these shores, attests how difficult the 
 task must be to effect a landing, when opposed by con- 
 trary winds and stormy weather. 
 
 The common residence of the snipe is in small bogs, 
 or wet grounds, where it is almost constantly digging 
 
COCK-SHOOTING IN ACHIL. 349 
 
 and nibbling in the soft mud, in search of his food, 
 which consists chiefly of a very small kind of red trans- 
 parent worm, about an-half inch long ; it is said also 
 to eat slugs, and the insects and grubs of various kinds, 
 which breed in great abundance in those slimy stagnant 
 places. In these retreats, when undisturbed, the snipe 
 walks leisurely with its head erect, and at short intervals 
 keeps moving the tail. But in this state of tranquillity 
 it is very rarely to be seen, as it is extremely watchful, 
 and perceives the sportsman or his dog at a great distance, 
 and instantly conceals itself among the variegated 
 withered herbage so similar in appearance to its own 
 plumage, that it is almost impossible to discover it while 
 squatted motionless in its seat : it seldom, however, 
 waits the near approach of any person, particularly in 
 open weather, but commonly springs and takes flight 
 at a distance beyond the reach of the gun. When first 
 disturbed, it utters a kind of feeble whistle, and gently 
 flies against the wind, turning nimbly in a zigzag direction 
 for two or three hundred paces, and sometimes soaring 
 almost out of sight , its note is then something like the 
 bleating of a goat, but is changed to a singular humming 
 or drumming noise, uttered in its descent. 
 
 From its vigilance and manner of flying, it is one ot 
 the most difficult birds to shoot. Some sportsmen can 
 imitate their cries, and by that means draw them within 
 reach of their shot ; others, of a less honourable descrip- 
 tion, prefer the more certain and less laborious method 
 of catching them in the night by a springe, like that which 
 is used for the wood cock. 
 
 The snipe is migratory, and is met vdth in all countries ; 
 like the woodcock, it shuns the extremes of heat and cold 
 by keeping upon the bleak moors in summer, and seeking 
 
350 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 the shelter of the valleys in winter. In severe frosts 
 and storms of snow, driven by extremity of the weather, 
 snipes seek the unfrozen boggy places, runners from 
 springs, or any open streamlet of water, and they are sure 
 to be found, often in considerable numbers in these 
 places, where they sometimes sit till nearly trodden 
 upon before they will take their flight. 
 
 Although it is well-known that numbers of snipes 
 leave Great Britain in the spring, and return in the 
 autumn, yet it is equally well ascertained that many 
 constantly remain, and breeds in various parts of the 
 country, for their nests and young ones have been so 
 often found as to leave no doubt of this fact. The female 
 makes her nest in the most retired and inaccessible 
 parts of the morass, generally upon the stump of an 
 alder or willow ; it is composed of withered grass and 
 a few feathers ; her eggs, four or five in number, are of 
 an oblong shape, and of a greenish colour, with rusty 
 spots ; the young ones run off soon after they are freed 
 from the shell, but they are attended by the parent birds 
 until their bills have acquired a sufficient firmness to 
 enable them to provide for themselves. 
 
 The snipe is a very fat bird, but its fat does not cloy, 
 and very rarely disagrees even with the weakest stomach. 
 It is much esteemed as a delicious and well-flavoured 
 dish, and is cooked in the same manner as the woodcock. 
 
 Snipes, when plenty, afford very excellent sport, it 
 being allowed to be the pleasantest, on account of the 
 quick succession of shots ; this is also the best shooting 
 for practice, seldom failing to make indifferent shots 
 most excellent ones. There is no shooting that presents 
 such a variety of shots, scarcely any two being alike. 
 These birds usually fly against the wind, therefore 
 
COCK-SHOOTING IN ACHIL. 35 1 
 
 every snipe-shooter should walk down it, as by that 
 means the bird, it he rises before him, will fly back, 
 and coming round him, describe a kind of circle, or at 
 least his flight, for a certain distance, will not lengthen 
 the shot, allowing him a certain time to cover the bird, 
 and take good aim ; for if he gets up before him, and 
 should by chance go down the wind or from him, it is 
 then the most difficult shot. It will be proper, in this 
 case to let the bird get a little distance from him, as then 
 he will fly steadier, and the slightest grain will fetch him 
 to the ground. 
 
 We crossed the bent- banks, occasionally knocking a 
 rabbit over as we went along, and wheeled to the west- 
 ward to skirt the base of Slieve More. We had not 
 proceeded far, before an islander, who was herding 
 cows, told us that there was a crowour keough beg* in the 
 next ravine. We accordingly put a setter in, and were 
 gratified with a steady point in the place the herdsman 
 had intimated. The bird sprang, and was knocked 
 over by my companion, when the little woodcock proved 
 to be a double snipe. These birds are extremely scarce 
 here, and a few couple only are seen during a whole 
 season by persons most conversant in traversing the 
 bogs. There cannot be a doubt but this bird is a distinct 
 species ; but for its extreme rarity and solitary habits, 
 naturalists are puzzled to account. 
 
 We shot, before we began to ascend the hill, a couple 
 of woodcocks lying out upon the moors. They were 
 very shy, never allowing the dogs to come to a set. 
 This is usually the case when these birds are outlying ; 
 and I have followed a cock for miles before I got him 
 within fire, teased by his getting up before I could 
 
 * A little woodcock. 
 
352 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 approach, and removing some hundred yards from the 
 gun. Some favourable inequaUty of surface has at last 
 enabled me to close with my wild quarry, and, not- 
 withstanding the keenness of his eye, got the wary 
 stranger eventually within range of shot. 
 
 There grows in the valleys and water-courses which 
 are so frequent in the Achil and Ballycroy hills, that 
 large and shrub-like heather that reaches nearly to the 
 height of brushwood. Here, in the earlier season, 
 the woodcocks repose after their passage, and at times 
 the numbers found in these ravines are stated to be 
 extraordinary. With the first frost or snow they move 
 off to the interior, dropping as they go along in the 
 different covers, until a part of the flight reaches the very 
 centre of the kingdom. We met, during our day's fag, 
 about fifteen couple, out of which eight and a half were 
 brought to bag. To these we added three brace and a 
 half of grouse, and a brace of hares. When with these 
 were united snipes, plovers and rabbits, it is not too much 
 to say that our bags were most imposing, and produced 
 above fifty head of game. From our kind friends, 
 the Water Guards, we received a hospitable reception ; 
 and next morning were run across the bay in their galley, 
 and landed safely upon our own shores. 
 
 The cock-shooting, to use my cousin's words, in the 
 west of Ireland is acknowledged to be very superior ; 
 and when the flight has been large, and the season is 
 sufficiently severe to drive the birds well to cover, there 
 is not, to a quick eye, more beautiful shooting in the 
 world. Some of the covers are copses of natural wood, 
 situated in the very centre of the mountains. Conse- 
 quently, when the snow falls, every woodcock for miles 
 around deserts the heath and seeks the nearest shelter. 
 
COCK-SHOOTING IN ACHIL. 353 
 
 Then will the sportsman be amply repaid for all his 
 labour. From a copse of not more than thirty acres 
 extent, I have seen fifty couple of woodcocks flushed ; 
 and, as several excellent covers lay in the immediate 
 vicinity, it was no unusual thing for two or three guns 
 to bring home twenty, nay, thirty, couple. I have known 
 a party fire a number of shots that appeared incredible ; 
 and I have more than once expended my last charge of 
 powder, and left, for want of ammunition, one or more 
 copses untried. 
 
 The best cock-shooting cannot be had without a good 
 deal of fag. Like fox-hunting, it is work for hardy 
 spirits ; and non sine pulvere palma will apply to both. 
 To reach a mountain cover, the sportsman must be on 
 the alert two or three hours before dayhght, for he has 
 likely some ten Irish miles to ride or drive over, by a 
 rough and dangerous road, now rendered scarcely 
 discernible from the adjacent bogs, and hardly passable 
 from the snowdrifts. The short day is hardly sufficient 
 for shooting the different woods ; and then the same 
 distance must be again traversed, for which the shooter 
 will be a borrower from the night. Then he must 
 reckon on divers delays and sundry accidents ; horses 
 will come down, dog-carts capsize, a trace break, or a 
 spring fail ; and what has annoyed me more than all 
 together, probably a fog rise so suddenly and densely, 
 as to render the road undistinguishable from the sur- 
 rounding heaths. But when all this is achieved, — when 
 a cover-party have fairly encircled the table, after the 
 luxury of a complete toilet, — when the fire sparkles, 
 the curtains are drawn, and the wine circulates, — why 
 then, without let the storm blow till it bursts its cheeks — 
 and within, Father Care may hang himself in his own 
 garters. 
 
 I A 
 
354 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 There are other perils, also, to which the cover- 
 shooter is obnoxious. The eye is sometimes endangered 
 by pressing unguardedly through the copse wood ; 
 and I knew one case where the sight was totally lost from a 
 twig springing from a person who was struggling through 
 the underwood and striking the next who followed. 
 The legs also are frequently and severely wounded 
 by the sharp stumps which remain after a thicket has 
 been thinned. But from random shots the chief danger 
 arises ; and to prevent accidents occurring, a party, and 
 particularly if it be numerous, should be guarded in 
 selecting their stands and altering their positions. I 
 have been struck a dozen times, but never with any 
 worse effect than receiving a shot or two in my cheek 
 and ear ; but many a time I have felt a shower rattle 
 against my fustian jacket, which, however, endured it 
 bravely, as a garment of proof should do. 
 
 Some men, from carelessness or stupidity, are really a 
 nuisance to a cover-party ; and to others, one would almost 
 ascribe a fatality, and avoid them Hke an evil genius. 
 In the former case, I have found, after remonstrance 
 failed, and they continued throwing their shot liberally 
 around, without apparently caring one farthing upon 
 whose person it alighted, the best cure was instantly to 
 turn a barrel as nearly in the direction of the report 
 as possible. A well-distributed charge rattling through 
 the brush wood, and falling upon the delinquent, gave^ 
 practically, a hint that made him more cautious for 
 the future, and proved more effective than the most 
 powerful jobation. Of the latter class — I mean unlucky 
 
 companions, I shall particularise one. Captain M 
 
 shot with me an entire season. He was a pretty shot, 
 and an excellent fellow ; but I never entered a cover with 
 
COCK-SHOOTING IN ACHIL. 355 
 
 him that I was not certain to be struck before we returned 
 home. Every precaution to evade his shot was useless. 
 If in a copse of a mile long there was a solitary opening 
 to admit its passage, he was opposite it to a certainty ; 
 and my first intimation that such an alley did exist, 
 would be a fall of withered leaves from the bushes 
 above, and most likely a few grains lodging in my hat 
 or jacket. If I moved to avoid a chance of accident, 
 something induced him to make a corresponding change ; 
 and at last I became so nervous that I obliged him 
 momently to call out, that I might ascertain our relative 
 positions, and guard, if possible, against injury. 
 
 We once, during a severe frost, shot the beautiful 
 islands in the lake of Castlebar, which belong to the 
 Marquis of Sligo. There were an immense number of 
 cocks in cover, and we had been particularly successful ; 
 but the wonder was, I had that day escaped unwounded, 
 and my prayer to " keep lead out of me " had been 
 heard. On our return, my friend was pluming himself 
 on this result. *' It was foolish," he said, ** to reckon 
 him unlucky. To be sure, some shots of his had been 
 unfortunate, but such would ever be the case." We had 
 now left off shooting, and were within a few fields of the 
 barracks, when a jack snipe sprang from a drain on the 
 road side, and flying to the top of the field, pitched in 
 the upper ditch. I followed it merely to discharge my 
 barrels — it sprang, and the report of my gun disturbed 
 a hare in the bottom of the field ; she moved, and my 
 companion instantly discharged both barrels. From 
 the hardness of the surface, the shot rose ; a shower fell 
 upon the protected parts of my person, while two struck 
 me on the lip, and cut me deeply. I was more than 
 one hundred yards from him, yet from the hard frost, the 
 
356 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 ricochet of the shot came as sharply upon me as if I had 
 been within point-blank distance. After that incident, 
 need I add ? much as I loved him, I never pulled a 
 trigger in his company again. 
 
MEMOIR OF HENNESSEY. 357 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIIL 
 
 We sat down to dinner tite-d-tete, and although 
 both myself and my kinsman made an exertion to banish 
 unpleasant reminiscences, the evening was the most 
 sombre that I had yet passed. The happy party who 
 once tenanted our " merrie home " are never to meet 
 again. The otter-killer ** sleeps the sleep that knows 
 no breaking " — the Colonel has retired to his winter 
 quarters — the Priest's confessions call him from us 
 for a season — and some secret intelligence which reached 
 the Lodge over night has caused Hennessey to disappear. 
 
 To gratify a strong expression of curiosity on my 
 part respecting the latter, my cousin told me the following 
 particulars of this singular personage : — 
 
 " If ever man came into the world with the organ of 
 destnictiveness surcharged, it was my unhappy foster- 
 brother. He was a lively and daring boy, and being 
 a favourite with my late father, had opportunities of 
 improvement afforded to him, which persons in his 
 sphere seldom can obtain. But Hennessey showed 
 little inclination for literary pursuits, the gun was more 
 adapted to him than the pen — ^and at fifteen, when but 
 a very indifferent scribe, he was admitted by the whole 
 population to be the best shot of his years that * ever 
 laid stock to shoulder.' Encouraged by my father's 
 partiality, from this period he led an idle, careless Ufe, 
 and rambled over the country, breaking dogs, or amusing 
 himself with the gun and fishing-rod. 
 
 ** I was at the college when the first of his misfor- 
 tunes occurred. He had imprudently ventured into 
 
358 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 a dancing-house, where a number of the Sweenies were 
 assembled, with whom he had previously been at feud, 
 and, as might have been anticipated, a quarrel quickly 
 arose. Hennessey, too late, perceived his danger ; 
 but, with that daring determination for which he has ever 
 been remarkable, when the assault began, he made a 
 sudden dash for the door, and overturning all that opposed 
 him, succeeded in escaping. He was, however, closely 
 pursued. From his uncommon activity, he far out- 
 stripped all but one of his enemies. He had nearly 
 reached the river — but his enemy was close behind. 
 Intending to disable his pursuer, Hennessey picked up 
 a stone, and, unfortunately, threw it with such fatal 
 precision, that the skull of his opponent was beaten in, 
 and he expired on the spot. 
 
 " Well, this was an unfortunate affair, but it was 
 homicide in self-defence. My father accommodated 
 matters with the Sweenies, and my foster-brother was 
 discharged without a prosecution. 
 
 " A year passed, but the Sweenies had not forgotten 
 or forgiven the death of their kinsman. Hennessey's 
 rambling habits exposed him to frequent encounters 
 with this clan : and one night, when returning late 
 from the fair of Newport, with two or three companions, 
 he came into unexpected collision with a party of his 
 ancient enemies, A scuffle ensued — in the struggle 
 he wrested a loaded whip from his antagonist, and 
 struck the unhappy wretch so heavily with his own 
 weapon, that after lingering nearly a month, he died 
 from the contusion. 
 
 " This second mishap occasioned us a deal of trouble ; 
 but Hennessey surrendered, was tried, and acquitted, 
 and we all trusted that his misfortunes were at an end. 
 
MEMOIR OF HENNESSEY. 359 
 
 He abjured the use of spirits, avoided late hours, and 
 such meetings as might expose him to any colHsion 
 with that clan who had been so unfortunate, and reli- 
 giously determined to avoid every cause of quarrelling ; 
 but fate determined that it should be otherwise. 
 
 " Having been invited to a dragging home, as the 
 bridegroom was his near relative, Hennessey could not, 
 without giving offence, decline attending on the happy 
 occasion. He was then a remarkably handsome fellow 
 — and you would vainly now seek in those gaunt and 
 careworn features the manly beauty which then caused 
 many a rustic heart to beat. The bride's cousin accom- 
 panied her ; she was remarkably pretty, and was, 
 besides, reported to be the largest heiress in the barony. 
 With such advantages, no wonder ' of lovers she'd 
 plenty,' as the ballad says : — my foster-brother met her, 
 danced with her, drank with her — loved her, and was 
 beloved in turn. Every rival was double-distanced ; 
 but she was, unfortunately, betrothed by her father 
 to a wealthy Kearne ;* and although I, in person, 
 interposed, and used my powerful influence, the old 
 fellow, her father, was obstinate in refusing to break off 
 the match. 
 
 " Hennessey was no man to see his handsome mistress 
 consigned without her own consent to the arms of a 
 rival. He made the usual arrangements, and I 
 encouraged him to carry her off. The evening came — he 
 left the Lodge in a boat, with six fine young peasants ; 
 and crossing the bay, landed by moonlight at a little 
 distance from the village where his inamorata dwelt. 
 
 " That very night a multitude of the Malleys had 
 accompanied the accepted suitor to conclude all 
 * Anglic e^ a rich, vulgar clown. 
 
360 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 necessary preliminaries. The cabin of the heiress was 
 crowded, and all within was noisy revelry, Hennessey, 
 with one companion, stole to the back of the house. 
 
 " He knew the chamber of the bride elect, for he had 
 more than once ' when all the world were dreaming,' 
 visited his pretty mistress. He looked through the 
 little casement, and, sight of horror ! there she was, 
 seated on the side of the bed, and the Kearne's arm 
 around her waist, with all the familiarity of a privileged 
 lover ! There, too, was the priest of Inniskea, and 
 divers elders of * both the houses ' — ^while the remainder 
 of the company, for whose accommodation this grand 
 chamber was insufficient, were indulging in the kitchen 
 or dancing in the barn. 
 
 " Since the days of Lochinvar, there never was a 
 more daring suitor than my foster-brother ; yet he did 
 not consider it a prudent measure to enter the state 
 apartment * 'mong bridesmen, and kinsmen, and clans- 
 men, and all,' — but waited patiently at the window 
 to see what some lucky chance might do. Nor did he 
 wait in vain. Kathleein turned her pretty eyes on 
 the moonlit casement, and thought, poor girl ! how 
 often her young lover had stolen there in secret, and told 
 his tale of passion. A tap, too light for any but the ear 
 of love to detect, arrested her attention, and she saw the 
 indistinct form of a human face outside ; and whose 
 could it be but her favoured youth ? Seizing an early 
 opportunity, she stole from the apartment ; she soon 
 was in her lover's arms ; a few words, and a few kisses, 
 — and all was settled : — and while the Kearne, the 
 Priest, and the father were regulating the exact quan- 
 tities of cattle and plenishing* that were to dower the 
 
 * Plenishing means household furniture, beds, blankets, etc. 
 
MEMOIR OF HENNESSEY. 36 1 
 
 handsome bride, Kathleein was hurrying to the shore 
 with her young and daring suitor. 
 
 *' An attempt so boldly and so fortunately begun, was, 
 however, doomed to end unhappily. One of the 
 Malleys had discovered the interview, and witnessed the 
 elopement. Having silently observed the route of the 
 fugitives, he apprised the parties within, that their 
 negotiations were likely to become nugatory, and a 
 fierce and vindictive pursuit was instantly commenced. 
 The distance, however, to the beach was short : the 
 companion of the bold abductor had run forward ; the 
 bride was won — the boat was launched — the oars were 
 dipping in the water — when, alas ! the rush of rapid 
 footsteps were heard, and oaths and threats announced 
 that the fugitives were closely followed. Two or three 
 of the Malleys had far outstripped the rest ; but a 
 minute more, and pursuit would have been hopeless. 
 One man had passed the others far, and on the brink 
 of the tide he caught the fair runaway in his arms, 
 while the companions of the gallant were actually 
 pulling her on board. The chase was hard at hand — 
 twenty feet were heard rushing over the loose shingle 
 — not a moment was to be lost, or the bride was gone for 
 ever. Like lightning Hennessey caught up a stretcher 
 from the bottom of the boat, discharged one murderous 
 blow^ upon the man who held back his beloved mistress, 
 a deep-drawn moan was heard, and the unhappy Kearne, 
 for it was himself, sank upon the beach without life or 
 motion ! Off went the boat — off went the lady — and 
 the athletic crew pulled through the sparkling water, 
 little dreaming that their exulting leader was for 
 the third time a homicide ! I cannot tell you what 
 I suffered next morning, when the tragical result 
 
362 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 of an attempt I had myself encouraged was told me. 
 My first care was to look to the safety of my foster- 
 brother and his bride ; and until pursuit was over, 
 I had them conveyed by Pattigo in the hooker to Innis- 
 boffin. There they remained in safe concealment, and for 
 six months it was not deemed prudent to permit them 
 to return, as the clan of the deceased were numerous 
 and vindictive. 
 
 " Time flew. They came back, and for some time 
 remained here unmolested. Kathleein was near her 
 confinement, when one day we received information 
 that the Malleys had procured a warrant with a civil 
 force to execute it, and were determined at every hazard 
 to arrest my foster-brother. I, a magistrate myself, 
 could not openly protect him ; and that evening he 
 left the Lodge at night-fall, to shelter himself in the 
 island of Innisbiggle until the threatened danger passed. 
 Kathleein, unfortunately, accompanied him ; although 
 we told her that there was but one poor family on the 
 place, and its difficulty of approach, while favourable 
 to the concealment of her husband, was unsuited to any 
 female situated like her. 
 
 " On landing on the island, the solitary family, who 
 generally resided in the single cabin it contained, were 
 absent at the fair of Westport. Hennessey and his wife 
 took possession of the hut, lighted a fire, and made 
 themselves as comfortable as the wretched hovel would 
 admit. Even then he urged her to return to the Lodge, 
 but to leave him in perfect solitude on this desolate place 
 was more than she could determine. Night came, and 
 the weather, which had been squally all day, became worse 
 momently, and at midnight blew a gale. The outlaw 
 and his wife were now shut out from all the world, 
 
MEMOIR OF HENNESSEY. 363 
 
 for a raging sea was roaring round the island, and all 
 communication with the mainland was interrupted. 
 Whether fear precipitated the dreaded event I know not ; 
 but in the middle of the night, while the elemental war 
 was in its fury, symptoms of approaching travail were 
 perceived by poor Kathleein, and the unhappy girl 
 became more and more sensible of the terrible danger 
 that was coming on. What was to be done ? It 
 wanted some hours of morning, and even were it light, 
 until the tide fell, no mortal could cross that stormy 
 water. 
 
 *' Poor wretch ! with a withered heart, all that he 
 could do to cheer his sinking companion was done ; 
 but every hour she became worse, and every moment her 
 pain and danger were increasing. Driven to madness, 
 at the first dawn of morning he rushed madly to the 
 beach, and though the retiring tide rushed between the 
 island and the mainland with furious violence, he 
 plunged into the boiling eddies, and with great strength 
 and desperate courage made good his passage to the 
 opposite shore. 
 
 " To obtain help was, of course, attended with delay ; 
 at last, however, it was accomplished, and the tide fell 
 sufficiently to permit some females to cross the farset* 
 He, the unhappy husband, far outstripped them : like 
 a deer he bounded over the beach that interposed between 
 the cabin and the sands — he reached it — a groan of 
 exquisite agony w^as heard from within — next moment he 
 was stooping over his exhausted wife, a dead infant was 
 pressed wildly to her bosom : she turned a dying look 
 of love upon his face, and was a corpse within the arms 
 of the ill-starred homicide ! 
 
 * The stand communicating at low water between an island and 
 the main. 
 
364 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 " When the tidings of the melancholy fate of poor 
 Kathleein were carried to the Lodge, I got the hooker 
 under weigh and stood over to the island. My unhappy 
 foster-brother appeared paralysed with sorrow, and 
 incapable of any exertion. We brought him, with the 
 bodies of the young mother and the dead babe, to the 
 house ; and the latter were, in due season, interred 
 with every mark of sympathy and respect. 
 
 " For a time I dreaded that the unfortunate homicide 
 would have sunk into hopeless idiocy ; but he suddenly 
 appeared to rouse his torpid faculties ; he became 
 gloomy and morose — and, deaf to all my remonstrances, 
 to the least of which formerly he would have paid the 
 most marked regard, he wandered over the country 
 and seemed to court an arrest, or rather an attempt 
 at it ; for, from his desperation, I am inclined to think 
 he would have done some new deed of blood had his 
 enemies ventured to assail him. All I could do to pre- 
 vent mischief I did. I had the bullets drawn from his 
 fire-arms when he slept ; I kept him under constant 
 espionage, and retained him as much about my person 
 as I could possibly contrive. Whether none would 
 grapple with a desperate and well-armed man, or that 
 some feeling for his sufferings softened the rancour 
 of his enemies for a time, I know not, but he passed 
 unmolested through the country ; and the most daring 
 of the Sweenies and Malleys left the road when they 
 accidentally met my unhappy foster-brother. Time 
 has gradually softened his distress, and the asperity 
 of his temper has subsided ; he has lost the fierce and 
 savage look that lately no stranger could meet without 
 being terror-stricken ; and I shall endeavour to get the 
 death of his miserable rival, which decidedly was un- 
 
MEMOIR OF HENNESSEY. 365 
 
 premeditated and accidental, accommodated. Some intel- 
 ligence has made it advisable for Hennessey to leave the 
 Lodge, although I hardly think any of his enemies 
 would dare to seek him here ; but still, we cannot be too 
 cautious, and to be placed in the power of his former 
 foeman at this moment, would be to involve his life 
 in imminent peril. 
 
 ** His misfortunes have given me more distress than 
 anything that has ever befallen myself personally. 
 His attachment to me is so devoted, that I cannot but 
 have brotherly feelings for this ill-starred fosterer. 
 Although he would follow me to the corners of the earth, 
 if I required, he would rather risk a trial than leave the 
 country, which I have often and earnestly entreated him 
 to do." 
 
 I offered here to take Hennessey under my protection 
 to England, but my kinsman shook his head. 
 
 "It is a kind intention, Frank, but he would not 
 leave me. I am the last link that binds him to the world, 
 and while life lasts, we must run our wild career in the 
 same couples. Poor Hennessey ! there are worse men 
 than he, although misfortune has made him thrice a 
 homicide." 
 
 It was late : John brought oysters at the customary 
 hour, and soon after we separated for the night. 
 
366 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 The day of my departure from this wild retreat, 
 where so many months have happily passed over, is 
 determined : indeed, the season hardly admits a longer 
 sojourn, and circumstances beyond my control require 
 an immediate return to England. My kinsman has 
 made arrangements for passing the genial season of 
 Christmas, and the remainder of the winter, with his 
 relations in the interior ; and in the morning fox-hunt 
 and evening dance, the dullest months of gloomy winter 
 will merrily disappear. 
 
 For me, were I not encumbered with a fortune, and 
 " all the ills that flesh is heir to " when one is afflicted 
 with independence, this place would suit me admirably. 
 Though these shores be wild, and weather savage, yet 
 every day brings its novelty along with it. The winter 
 fisheries on the coast are magnificent ; and birds, known 
 only to a naturalist elsewhere, are daily presented during 
 the stormy season to the active and intelligent shooter. 
 That wild being, Hennessey, has preserved an infinity of 
 curious specimens ; and many a rare production that the 
 ornithologist would prize, is here shot, and disregarded 
 by the peasant who is so fortunate as to possess a gun. 
 
 Among the natural advantages which this remote 
 coast possesses, the ocean contributes largely to the 
 stock, and even the tempest does not rage in vain. The 
 prevaihng westerly winds drive many a serviceable 
 waif to the shore ; and seldom a winter passes, but some 
 valuable wreck or dereUct property adds to my kinsman's 
 limited resources. True, these " angel visits " are 
 
DEPARTURE FROM CONNAUGHT. 367 
 
 irregular, and come in questionable shape ; but still, 
 be they in form of butter or rum, train-oil or mahogany, 
 they answer ** for the nonce," and even a dead body 
 has not been profitless to the finder. 
 
 I possibly have thus digressed from having witnessed 
 the triumphant arrival of a huge beam of Dantzic oak 
 and a ship's topmast, which certain retainers of my 
 gentle cousin have towed in. It appears that these 
 " spolia opima " were discovered early in the morning 
 about the centre of the bay, and a boat from both shores 
 approached them nearly at the same time. Both, Uke 
 true vassals, claimed on behalf of the respective master ; 
 and it being impossible, on what an Irishman would 
 very naturally term " debateable land," to settle the 
 question of property, the respective crews fought the 
 thing fairly out, and my kinsman's representatives, 
 being men of thews and sinews, after breaking two heads, 
 and chucking one gentleman of " the Capulets " over- 
 board, brought the godsends safely hither. Law there 
 will be, of course. The rival claimant was formerly an 
 attorney, who managed to spoliate an unhappy fool 
 who was litigiously inclined, and, of course, became 
 owner of the property. He who thus gets them will be 
 most tenacious of ill-acquired rights ; and this log and 
 spar will most likely terminate in being made a droit 
 of the Admiralty. 
 
 We started on our last chasse — and the ultima dies of our 
 sporting wanderings has come. The shortened days 
 and wet moors have made us desert grouse-shooting, 
 and we crossed the estuary to shoot a fen some three 
 miles off, which at this season is thickly tenanted with 
 snipes and waterfowl. 
 
 The day was particularly favourable ; dark and quiet, 
 
368 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 with a gentle breeze. As we had to traverse a hill 
 which bounds the tillage-grounds of several of the 
 opposite villages, we brought the greyhounds with us, 
 to get a run or two while passing this otherwise unpro- 
 fitable beat. For my own part I had early given up 
 coursing in disgust. The hares were not plenty — 
 difficult to find — and when we did get them a-foot, they 
 either made for the sea-shore, or ran into some morass, 
 where dogs had no chance whatever, and one became 
 weary of seeing them cut themselves on rocks, or flounder 
 in a bog ; and latterly I gave up the business as a bad 
 concern. But on this occasion I was agreeably disap- 
 pointed. The hill afforded a sound and level surface ; 
 from its contiguity to the cornfields, the hares were 
 tolerably numerous, and before we reached the shooting- 
 ground, we had had six excellent courses, and killed 
 four hares. 
 
 I never observed a more striking contrast in point 
 of size than these hares exhibited. Two of them were 
 of the smallest mountain class ; dark-coloured, meagre 
 animals, who certainly made matchless running while 
 they lasted. The others were of the fullest size, and 
 in point of good condition, though neither so large nor 
 so white as Byron's, would have done honour to any 
 hare-park in Great Britain. 
 
 The fen we sought was situate in a valley between 
 two gentle slopes, and formed by a deep and sluggish 
 stream which passed through its centre, extended for 
 about four miles, varying its breadth from a few yards 
 to more than a quarter of a mile. The morass was 
 interspersed with shrubs and underwood, and alders of 
 inconsiderable size were occasionally clumped along 
 the borders. Part of the surface was too unsound to 
 
DEPARTURE FROM CONN AUGHT. 369 
 
 admit its being traversed by the lightest foot, but generally 
 it was broken into tammocks, which a bold and prac- 
 tised shooter might pass with little difficulty. We 
 took opposite sides, and consequently few birds sprang 
 without affording one or the other of the guns a fair 
 shot. The number of snipes that flushed in this fen 
 went far beyond my expectation, though considerably 
 excited ; and, besides, we met at least fifteen couple 
 of that sweet little duck, the Teal. We followed the 
 morass to its extremity, and then returned — and our 
 beat homewards was pleasanter, and, so far as the game- 
 bags went, more profitable than the first range. 
 
 Out of seventy head, we reckoned one woodcock and 
 a brace of old stagers that we found among the heathy 
 banks bordering the fen. We shot six couple of teal ; 
 and, with one exception, the remainder of the count 
 were snipes, of which at least a fourth were jacks. In 
 the most impassable section of the morass, old York 
 pointed with more than customary steadiness ; and, 
 " it might be fancy," actually looked round with peculiar 
 expression, as if he would intimate that no common 
 customer was before him ! I got within twenty yards 
 and encouraged the old setter to go in ; but he turned 
 his grizzled and intelligent eyes to mine, and wagged 
 his tail as if he would have said, " Lord ! you don't 
 know what I have here." A tuft of earth flung by 
 one of the aides-de-camp, obliged the skulker to get up, 
 and to our general surprise a fine bittern arose. I 
 knocked him over, but though he came down with a 
 broken wing and wounded leg, he kept the old dog at 
 bay until my companion floundered through the swamp 
 and secured him. On this exploit I plumed myself, 
 for bitterns are here extremely scarce, and in Ballycroy 
 they are seldom heard or found. 
 
 I R 
 
370 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 On our return home we passed the old castle of Doona, 
 once supposed to have been honoured by the residence of 
 Mrs. Grace O'Malley, who, if fame tells truth, was 
 neither a rigid moralist nor over-particular in her ideas 
 of *' meum and tuum." Some wild traditions ?re 
 handed down of her exploits ; and her celebrated 
 visit to that English vixen, Elizabeth, is fairly on record. 
 The castle of Doona was, till a few years since, in excel- 
 lent preservation, and its masonry was likely to have 
 puzzled Father Time himself ; but Irish ingenuity 
 achieved in a few hours what as many centuries had 
 hitherto failed in effecting. 
 
 A rich and hospitable farmer,* whose name will be 
 long remembered in this remote spot, had erected a 
 comfortable dwelling immediately adjoining the court- 
 yard wall of the ancient fortress ; and against the tower 
 itself was piled in wealthy profusion a huge supply of 
 winter fuel. It was a night of high solemnity, for his 
 first-born son was christened. No wonder then that 
 all within the house were drunk as lords. Turf was 
 wanted, and one of the boys was despatched for a cleave- 
 ful — but though Patt could clear a fair, and " bear as 
 much beating as a bull," he was no man to venture 
 into the old tower in the dark, *' and it haunted." 
 Accordingly, to have fair play, " if the ghost gripped 
 him," he provided himself with a brand of burning 
 bog-deal. No goblin assailed him, and he filled his 
 basket and returned unharmed to the company, but, 
 unfortunately forgot the light behind him. The result 
 may be anticipated. The turf caught fire, and from the 
 intense heat of such a mass of fuel, the castle walls were 
 rent from top to bottom, and one side fell before morning 
 
 * John Conway. 
 
DEPARTURE FROM CONN AUGHT. 37 1 
 
 with a crash like thunder. Nor was the calamity con- 
 fined to fallen tower and lost fuel. Alas ! several kegs 
 and ankers of contraband spirits were buried beneath 
 the walls, and the huge masses of masonry that came 
 down burst the concealed casks of Cognac and Schiedam. 
 
 We found the warrener netting rabbits in the sand 
 banks. They were intended for sale in the interior, 
 and many dozens were already taken. Formerly the 
 skins were valuable, and a well-stocked burrow was a 
 valuable appendage to a country gentleman ; but of late 
 these furs have fallen so considerably in value, that the 
 warren does not produce a tithe of what it did ** when 
 Boney, the Lord speed him ! was uppermost." Indeed, 
 many a hearty lament is made in Ballycroy for poor 
 Napoleon, and his name is ever associated with times 
 of past prosperity. 
 
 I cannot describe the melancholy reflections which 
 crowded over my mind, as I squibbed off my barrels on 
 the beach, while the boat was crossing the channel to 
 carry us over the estuary. It was for the last time, and 
 with that thought, all the happy events I spent by 
 '' flood and fell " passed over my memory in '* shadowy 
 review." The jovial commander, the burly priest, my 
 merry cousin, the stern homicide, the ancient butler, 
 and the defunct otter-killer, all were before me. I 
 trod in fancy the banks of Pullgarrow, or couched among 
 the rocks of our highland ambuscade ; I saw the startled 
 pack spring from the purple heather, while the red deer, 
 
 I^ike crested leader proud and high, 
 Toss'd his beam'd frontlet to the sky ; 
 A moment gaz'd adown the dale, 
 A moment snuff'd the tainted gale — 
 
 and vanished in the rocky pass of Meeltramoe. My 
 imaginary wanderings continued till we landed at the 
 
372 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 pier, and with a deep sigh, 1 hastened to my chamber, 
 to make, for the last time, my toilet after a day of sylvan 
 exercise. 
 
 Morning — the last morning has arrived, and all 
 is bustle and packing up. Travers, though a cold- 
 blooded Englishman who scarcely can tell a grouse from 
 a game-cock, seems to feel regret at leaving this hospitable 
 cabin — old John is sensibly affected — and Alice's black 
 eyes are dim with weeping. For once she kissed me 
 without coquetry, and as she received my farewell 
 present, invoked the Lord to bless me with such 
 unaffected ardour as proved that her fervent benison 
 came warmly from the heart. 
 
 Over the parting with this rude but affectionate 
 family I shall hurry. My cousin accompanied me to 
 Westport, and we left the Lodge after an early dinner, 
 in full expectation of reaching that town for supper 
 though the distance is some ten or twelve leagues, and 
 by an intricate passage with very difficult and perplexing 
 tides. As if fortune wished to offer me a parting com- 
 pliment, the wind blew from the north-west, and there 
 was as much of it as we could well carry our full sails to. 
 We entered the Bull's Mouth at three-quarter tide, 
 and brought plenty of water over the sands, and in an 
 hour cleared the Sound, and rushing through the boiling 
 currents of Bearnaglee, found ourselves in Clew Bay. 
 The wind blew fresh and steadily, and at nine o'clock 
 we were moored along the quay of Westport. 
 
 One incident occurred : at a rocky point which ran 
 from the Achil side into the Sound, and there narrowed 
 the channel considerably, we observed a human being 
 couched on a stone among the sea- weed. The deep 
 water passed within an oar's length of the spot, and as 
 
DEPARTURE FROM CONNAUGHT. 373 
 
 the boat flew like a falcon past the point, the man rose 
 and hailed us. We hove the hooker to. It was 
 Hennessey — and nothing could dissuade him, not- 
 withstanding the risk was considerable, from coming 
 on board to give me a parting escort. 
 
 Early next morning I found myself in his majesty's 
 mail, and with many a sincere adieu, bade farewell to 
 my kind cousin and his wild but warm-hearted followers. 
 
374 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 Here I am, safely over the Shannon : a laudable 
 improvement in the mode and rate of travelling of the 
 Westport mail facilitates one's intercourse with the 
 kingdom of Connaught ; and in course of time I have 
 little doubt but Erris will be as approachable as Upper 
 Canada, or any of the remoter provinces 
 
 After my rambling observations upon men and 
 manners, you must permit me, like the last lawyer in 
 a cause, to condense the evidence, and make a general 
 wind-up. 
 
 With regard to the moral condition of the West, I 
 cannot conscientiously assert that any great improve- 
 ment will be traced for the last half-century. The 
 two great classes, the gentry and peasantry, have 
 undergone a mighty revolution in conduct, manners, 
 and modes of thinking ; and yet one will look in vain 
 for commensurate advantages. It is admitted that the 
 former body have changed their generic character 
 altogether. We have the old school stigmatized now 
 for its aristocratic tyranny and petty assumption ; and 
 many a modern squire blesses God that he is not as 
 others were who preceded him. And yet our fathers 
 were, I verily believe, wiser in their generation, and 
 better fitted for their own times, than we. True, these 
 days were little better than barbarous. Denis Browne, 
 and Dick Martin, and Bowes Daly, and many a far- 
 famed name of minor note, were then in all their glory, 
 and they lived, it must be acknowledged, in very curious 
 times. In those days the qualifications of a repre- 
 sentative were determined by wager of battle, and a 
 
THE WEST, PAST AND PRESENT. 375 
 
 rival tor senatorial fame was probably requested by the 
 old member to provide his coffin before he addressed 
 the county. Doctors rode on horseback over the 
 country in cauliflower wigs and cocked hats ; and if 
 they differed about a dose or decoction, referred the 
 dispute to moral arbitrament. In these happy times, 
 a client would shoot his counsellor if he lost a cause — 
 the suitor sought his mistress at pistol-point — and 
 there was but one universal panacea for every known 
 evil, one grand remedy for all injuries and insults. 
 
 It was then, indeed, a bustling world. Men fought 
 often, drank deep, and played high ; ran in debt, as a 
 matter of course ; scattered fairs and markets at their 
 good pleasure ; put tenants in the stocks ad lihitutn ; 
 and cared no more for the liberty of the subject than they 
 did for the king's writ. Yet were they merry times. 
 Under all these desperate oppressions, the tenants 
 throve and the peasantry were comfortable. Every 
 village could point out its rich man — every cabin had 
 food sufficient for its occupants. When the rent was 
 required it was ready ; and though a man was sometimes 
 in the guard -house, his cow was rarely in the pound. 
 Tempora mutantur ! Who dare now infringe upon 
 the Uberty of the subject } " Who put my man i' the 
 stocks ? " would be hallooed from Dingle to Cape Clear. 
 Doubtless, civil rights are now most scrupulously pro- 
 tected ; but I suspect that food is abridged in about 
 the same proportion that freedom is extended. 
 
 There was one class of persons who, in these old- 
 world times, were conspicuously troublesome, who have 
 since then fortunately disappeared. These were a 
 nominal description of gentry, the proprietors of little 
 properties called fodeeinSy who continued the names 
 
376 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 and barbarisms of their progenitors. Without industry, 
 without education, they arrogated a certain place in 
 society, and idly imitated the wealthier in their vices. 
 Poverty and distress were natural results, and desperate 
 means were used to keep up appearances. The wretched 
 serfs, whom they called their tenants, were ground 
 to powder, till, happily for society, the jodeeins passed 
 into other hands, and the name and place ceased to be 
 remembered. The ivied walls, and numerous and 
 slender chimneys one sees in passing through this 
 country, will, in nine out of ten cases, point a moral 
 of this sort. 
 
 In times like those of forty years ago, this extinct 
 tribe were, from the peculiar temper and formation of 
 society, occasionally a sad nuisance. The lord of a 
 fodeein, like Captain Mac Turk, was " precisely that 
 sort of person who is ready to fight with anyone ; whom 
 no one can find an apology for declining to fight with ; 
 in fighting with whom considerable danger is incurred ; 
 and, lastly, through fighting with whom no iclat or 
 credit could redound to the antagonist." Hence, 
 generally, the larger proprietors saw this class sink by 
 degrees, without an attempt to uphold them, and the 
 jodeein, to the great joy of the unhappy devils who farmed 
 it, was appended by general consent to the next estate. 
 
 Many examples of dangerous and illegal authority, 
 as usurped and exercised by the aristocracy within the 
 last half-century, are on record, that would appear 
 mere romance to a stranger. One of the Fitzgerald 
 family was probably more remarkable than any person 
 of his times. He was the terror of the upper classes — 
 and to such as arrogated the privileges of the aristocracy, 
 without, as he opined, a prescriptive right, he was 
 
THE WEST, PAST AND PRESENT. 377 
 
 the very devil. If a man aspired to become a duellist, 
 or even joined the hounds without being the proper 
 caste, George Robert would flog him from the field with- 
 out ceremony. He actually for years maintained an 
 armed banditti, imprisoned his own father, took off 
 persons who were obnoxious — and when he was hanged 
 — and fortunately for society this eventually occurred 
 — it required a grand cavalry and artillery movement 
 from Athlone to effect it. 
 
 Denis Browne was an autocrat of another description ; 
 a useful blundering bear, who did all as religiously in 
 the king's name as ever Musselman in that of the prophet. 
 He did much good and some mischief — imprisoned 
 and transported as he pleased ; and the peasantry to 
 this day will tell you that he could hang anyone whom 
 he disliked. Yet both these men were favourites with 
 their tenantry, and under them their dependents pros- 
 pered and waxed wealthy. 
 
 Sometimes the memoir of an individual will give a 
 more graphic picture of the age wherein he flourished 
 than a more elaborate detail ; and in the strange eventful 
 histories of these two singular men, the leading 
 characters of their times will be best portrayed. 
 
 No persons were more dissimilar — none were bitterer 
 enemies — none in every point, personal and physical, 
 were more essentially opposite. In one point alone 
 there was a parallel — both were tyrants in disposition, 
 and both would possess power, and no matter at what 
 price. 
 
 George Robert Fitzgerald was middle-sized, and 
 slightly but actively formed ; his features were regular, 
 his address elegant, and his manners formed in the 
 best style of the French school. In vain the 
 
378 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 physiognomist would seek in his handsome countenance 
 for some trace of that fierce and turbulent disposition 
 which marked his short and miserable career. No one, 
 when he pleased it, could delight society more ; and 
 with the fair sex he was proverbially successful. It 
 is said that gallantry, however, was not his forte, and 
 that he seldom used his persuasive powers with women, 
 but for objects ultimately pecuniary or ambitious. 
 
 Added to his external advantages, he was an educated 
 man ; and that he possessed no mean literary talent 
 may be inferred from his celebrated '' Apology," which 
 is neatly and spiritedly written. 
 
 His courage was undoubted. In Paris and London 
 he was noted as a duellist ; and in Mayo, his personal 
 encounters are still remembered. His duel with Doctor 
 Martin, his encounter with Csesar French, the most 
 notorious fire-eaters of the day, placed him foremost 
 in that class. He was, moreover, a dead shot, and 
 reported to be one of the ablest swordsmen in the 
 kingdom. As a sportsman he was justly celebrated. 
 He was an elegant horseman, and his desperate riding 
 was the theme of fox-hunters for many a year. No 
 park-wall or flooded river stopped him — and to this 
 day, leaps that he surmounted, and points where he 
 crossed the Turlough river, are pointed out by the 
 peasantry. 
 
 The dark acts which clouded his memory, and his 
 unhappy fate, are generally known ; and considering 
 the other traits of his strange and mingling character 
 the apology offered by his friends on the score of 
 occasional insanity, is not improbable. One circum- 
 stance would strengthen this conclusion. He was 
 interred by night, and with so much privacy, in the 
 
THE WEST, PAST AND PRESENT. 379 
 
 old churchyard of Turlough, that the place where his 
 remains lay was for a time uncertain. Accident in some 
 degree revealed it. In the confusion attendant upon 
 his hurried sepulture, it is said that a ring was forgotten 
 and left upon the finger. Afterwards, in opening 
 the ground, this relic was discovered ; and what more 
 satisfactorily proved it was that the skull was distinctly 
 fractured ; and it was a matter well known, that 
 Fitzgerald had been dangerously wounded by a pistol- 
 bullet in the head, in one of his numerous and sanguinary 
 duels on the continent. 
 
 Denis Browne, when a young man, is said to have 
 been extremely handsome : but early in life he became 
 corpulent and engrossed in other pursuits, generally 
 careless and slovenly in his person, and neglected any 
 means to restrain his constitutional obesity. To strong, 
 natural abilities he united decision of character and 
 mental energy. He started in dangerous times ; several 
 influential families disputed political power with him — 
 he had a fierce and dangerous aristocracy to overcome 
 — men cold to every argument " but the last and worst 
 one," the pistol. Hence in the very outset of his voyage, 
 his vessel all but foundered. It was his first contest 
 for the county, and he was opposed by the late Lord 
 Clanmorris. The Bingham party was bold and powerful, 
 and after a protracted contest, matters looked gloomily 
 enough, and the Brownes were likely to be defeated. 
 
 " In this dilemma,'* to use his own words, ** I have 
 
 applied to Counsellor , my legal adviser. 1 told 
 
 him how badly things were, and inquired what was to 
 be done ? 
 
 ** ' My dear Denis,' said he, with a grave and serious 
 movement of his full-bottomed wig, * the thing admits 
 
380 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 but one remedy, and that lies in a nut-shell. You 
 are one-and-twenty years old, and you have never yet 
 been on the sod — why that one fact would lose you 
 your election — you must fight — my dear boy.' 
 
 " ' Fight ! to be sure I will, when I'm insulted.' 
 
 ** * Of course you would, and so would anybody ; 
 but you must fight, and that, too, this very evening.' 
 
 " ' Impossible ! how could it be managed ? ' 
 
 " ' How ! arrah whihst, Denis ! — maybe ye think 
 1 have nothing but law in my head ; you must knock 
 down Bingham ! ' 
 
 " * Knock down a man who never offended me — with 
 whom 1 have no dispute ? ' 
 
 " * And what does this matter ? The blow will 
 settle that difficulty. But as you are particular, can't 
 ye say some friend of his affronted one of yours — some 
 devil you never heard of will answer — and as John 
 Bingham is a reasonable man, he'd not lose time in 
 asking idle questions.' 
 
 " Accordingly, I followed this excellent advice, struck 
 Bingham on the steps of the court-house, was called 
 out in half an hour, fought in the barrack yard, was 
 there wounded, and won my election." 
 
 From that period Denis Browne rose rapidly into 
 power. His able brother, the late Marquis of Sligo, 
 supported him with all his influence and talent. Denis 
 overcame every obstacle, distanced every competitor, 
 and at last was absolute in authority, dictator for twenty 
 years, and ruled the county during that period with a 
 rod of iron. 
 
 No one was warmer in his friendship or more virulent 
 in his antipathies. These feelings blinded his better 
 judgment, and many of his greatest mistakes arose 
 
THE WEST, PAST AND PRESENT. 381 
 
 from an anxiety to aggrandize a favourite or annoy an 
 enemy. He unfortunately outlived his power, and that 
 circumstance embittered his latter years. He had not 
 resolution to quit public life while he might have retired 
 with eclat ; he saw his influence expire, and his power 
 partitioned insensibly among men with whom, but a 
 few years before, his will was law. 
 
 In private life Denis Browne was cheerful and 
 hospitable. Full of anecdote, an excellent story-teller, 
 one who had mixed largely with the world and knew 
 mankind intimately, he was an amusing and instructive 
 companion. Young and lively society he delighted in ; 
 and though, from increased corpulency, and all ** the 
 ills that flesh is heir to," Ufe was latterly a burden, the 
 mind was vigorous to the last — and the death-bed 
 of Denis Browne was marked with a firmness and 
 philosophy that was in perfect keeping with the energy 
 and determination of his life. 
 
 Another order of things has succeeded. Men talk 
 now with horror of acts of oppression and arbitrary 
 power, which then every country justice committed ; 
 but after all, the times have changed for the worse — 
 and the outcry about invaded rights and an enslaved 
 population, was, after all, mere verbiage, " signifying 
 nothing." 
 
 The last fading gleam of western prosperity was 
 during the power of Napoleon, and with his dynasty 
 it vanished. The terrible change from war to peace ; 
 the bursting of the banking bubbles, which supplied 
 for that time an imaginary capital ; over-population 
 and high rents, have ruined this wild district, and 
 reduced its peasantry, with few exceptions, to abject 
 wretchedness and want. 
 
382 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 Is there for this any remedy ? Cannot modern 
 landlords, acting on what they call enlightened principles, 
 remove the causes of distress, and restore the peasantry 
 to that scale of comfort they enjoyed under the rude 
 and tyrannical regime of their fathers ? They cannot. 
 They will talk " scholarly " of tithes and local 
 taxation, and vainly attribute the insolvency of their 
 tenants to these and such like causes ; this is 'vox et 
 prater ea nihil — an unreal and fanciful conceit. The 
 true cause of the misery of the western population is 
 over-population and excessive rents ; and before the 
 peasantry could be tolerably comfortable, the lands 
 must, on the average, be lowered at least one-third 
 Even then, at present prices, the occupant will be hardly 
 able to manage to pay the rent and live. 
 
 But can the landlords do this } Can they afford to 
 equalize their rental to the times, and throw a third 
 portion from their nominal income overboard ? They 
 cannot. The majority of the owners of western estates, 
 from family burdens and national unthriftiness, are 
 heavily and hopelessly encumbered ; and a reduction 
 on such scale as would be necessary to ensure the^r 
 tenants' comforts, would completely pauperize 
 themselves. Hence, to keep off the evil day, every 
 pretext but the true one will be assigned for local 
 wretchedness — and every reason but the right one 
 offered to the starving tenant, to persuade him that 
 ruinous rents will never occasion want and poverty. 
 
 In personal appearance, the western peasantry are 
 very inferior to those of the other divisions of the 
 kingdom. Generally, they are undersized and by no 
 means so good-looking as their southern neighbours — 
 and I would say, in other points they are equally deficient. 
 
THE WEST, PAST AND PRESENT. 383 
 
 To overcome their early lounging gait and slovenly 
 habits, is found by military men a troublesome task ; 
 and while the Tipperary man speedily passes through 
 the hands of the drill-sergeant, the Mayo peasant requires 
 a long and patient ordeal, before a martial carriage 
 can be acquired, and he be perfectly set-up as a soldier. 
 These defects once conquered, none are better cal- 
 culated for the profession. Hardy, active, patient 
 in wet and cold, and accustomed to indifferent and 
 irregular food, he is admirably adapted to endure the 
 privations and fatigue incident to a soldier's life on 
 active service — and in dash and daring, no regiments 
 in the service hold a prouder place than those which 
 appertain to the kingdom of Connaught. 
 
 It is said that the physical appearance of the Irish 
 peasantry deteriorates as the northern and western 
 sea-coasts are approached ; and, certainly, on the 
 latter the population are very inferior to that of the 
 adjacent counties. Even the inhabitants of different 
 baronies in the same county, as their locality advances 
 inland, will be found to differ materially ; and in an 
 extensive cattle-fair, the islander will be as easily dis- 
 tinguished from the borderer, whether he be on the 
 Galway or Roscommon frontier, as from the stock- 
 master of Leinster, or the jobber from the North. 
 
 Indeed, fifty years back, the communication between 
 the islands and the interior was so difficult and 
 unfrequent, that the respective occupants looked on 
 each other as very strangers. Naturally, slowly as 
 civilization crept westward, the islands and remoter 
 coasts, from local causes, were last visited, and many 
 curious circumstances to this day would prove it. In 
 this age of machinery, when the minutest matters are 
 
384 WILD SPORTS OF THE WESlT. 
 
 produced by its agencies, and the lowest occupations 
 of human labour are transacted by powers unknown 
 to our fathers, there are extensive tracts upon the western 
 portions of the island, where even a mill has never 
 been erected, and where the corn is prepared for distil- 
 lation or food by the same rude methods used by 
 barbarous nations one thousand years ago. Trituration 
 between two stones, by the hand labour of an individual, 
 is the means employed to reduce the corn into meal ; 
 and the use of that ancient hand-mill the querne, is still 
 general throughout Ballycroy and the islands on the 
 coast. 
 
 The inhabitants of this district are extremely hos- 
 pitable to passing travellers, but by no means fond of 
 encouraging strangers to sojourn permanently among 
 them. This latter inherent prejudice may arise from 
 clannish feelings, or ancient recollections of how much 
 their ancestors were spoliated by former settlers, who 
 by artifice and the strong hand managed to possess the 
 better portions of the country. They are also absurdly 
 curious and will press their questions with American 
 pertinacity, until, if possible, the name, rank, and 
 occasion of his visit, is fully and faithfully detailed 
 by the persecuted traveller. 
 
 The credulity of these wild people is amazing, and 
 their avidity for news, if possible, exceeded by the 
 profound reliance they place in the truth of the intel- 
 ligence. Hence, the most absurd versions of passing 
 events circulate over the district — and reports prevail, 
 by turns, of a ridiculous or mischievous tendency, 
 generally according to the mental temperament of the 
 story-teller. 
 
 It formerly was not uncommon for people in the 
 
THE WEST, PAST AND PRESENT. 385 
 
 islands to live and die without ever having seen a town. 
 Of course, they were a simple and unsophisticated 
 race — and their natural mistakes, if they did by accident 
 come in collision with other beings, were the source 
 of many an inland jest. One very old story is told, 
 in which an Achil man is the hero ; and as to its truth, 
 old Antony would as soon have doubted the existence 
 of the holy trout in Kilgeever,* as have questioned its 
 authenticity. 
 
 An islander was once obliged to go into the town of 
 Castlebar upon business ; and among other marvellous 
 things which there met his sight, he was particularly 
 struck with the appearance of an earthen jar in a shop- 
 window. He inquired what this unknown article might 
 be, and was informed that it was a mare's egg, which 
 if placed beside the fire during the winter, would infal- 
 libly produce a foal the ensuing spring. The price 
 was moderate, and the Achil man determined to possess 
 the treasure, and thus become master of a horse. Having 
 effected the purchase, he set out on his way rejoicing 
 — and before evening fell, came within view of his own 
 home, and sat down upon a heathy bank to rest himself. 
 He placed his recent acquisition beside him — but alas ! 
 from its spherical form, it rolled down the hill, and, 
 striking against a rock at the bottom, was shivered by 
 the blow. A hare which had couched beneath the stone, 
 startled at the crash, sprang from her form, and went 
 off at speed. The unhappy Achil man gazed in an 
 agony of despair, after what he believed the emancipated 
 quadruped — and then exclaimed with a bitter groan, 
 ** Mona mon diaoul ! What a horse he would have 
 
 * A sacred well in the west, tenanted by a trout of surpassing 
 sanctity. 
 
386 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 been ! — ^Lord ! if he was but two years old ! the Devil 
 himself would not catch him.'' 
 
 Now, the most curious part of this story is, that 
 although a standing joke upon Achil simplicity for a 
 century, it is to be found verbatim in a German jest- 
 book, with this only difference, that a gourd is there 
 substituted for a jar. 
 
 In alluding to the strange employments of the female 
 peasantry, I noticed those coarse and laborious exercises 
 which elsewhere are confined to the lords of the creation. 
 That the appearance of the fair inhabitants of the western 
 highlands should harmonize with their rude avocations 
 might be expected ; and hence the female peasantry, 
 in personal advantages, are very inferior indeed to those 
 of the interior. The constant exposure to sun and 
 storm injures the complexion, and gives them an old 
 and faded look ; and the habit of dispensing with shoes 
 renders the feet large and misshapen. Among the 
 Coryphees who frequented our mountain balls, there 
 was but one girl who might be termed decidedly hand- 
 some. Her face was uncommonly intelligent — I never 
 saw so dark an eye, and her teeth were white as ivory. 
 But there was a natural ease in all she did — whether she 
 brought a pitcher from the spring, or danced a merry 
 strathspey, every movement was graceful. Even her 
 simple toilet evinced instinctive taste, though no corset 
 was required to regulate a form moulded by the hand 
 of Nature, and her magnificent hair boasted no arrange- 
 ment beyond the simple cincture of a ribbon — 
 
 But seldom was a suood amid 
 Such wild luxuriant ringlets hid, 
 Whose glossy black to shame might bring 
 The plumage of a raven's wing. 
 
THE WEST, PAST AND PRESENT. 387 
 
 And yet I have seen that young beauty bending beneath 
 a basket of potatoes which would have overloaded me — 
 and, on one occasion, carry a strapping fellow across 
 the river, who was coming on some state affair to the 
 cabin, which, as he conceived, required him to appear 
 in the presence with dry legs. 
 
 On the score of propriety of conduct, I would assign 
 the female peasantry of this district a high place. 
 When the habits of the country are considered, one 
 would be inclined to suspect that excessive drinking, 
 and the frequent scenes of nocturnal festivities which 
 wakes and dances present, would naturally lead to 
 much immorahty. This, however, is not the case : — 
 broken vows will no doubt occasionally require the 
 interference of the magistrate or the priest ; but 
 generally the lover makes the only reparation in his 
 power, and the deceived females and deserted children 
 are seldom seen in Erris. 
 
388 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 If ever a district were designed by Nature for field 
 sports, a person, from even a cursory glance upon the 
 map, would point to Mayo. Its great extent of 
 mountain surface, interspersed with bogs and morasses 
 — its numerous and expansive waters — and its large 
 tracts of downs and feeding-grounds, render it available 
 for every purpose of the sportsman ; and few species 
 of game indigenous to Britain, in their peculiar 
 seasons, will here be sought in vain. 
 
 As a hunting county, the plains have been justly 
 chronicled — and the adjacent counties of Galway and 
 Roscommon yield to none in the empire. The extensive 
 sheep-farms afford superior galloping-ground — and the 
 fences, though few and far between, from their size 
 and character, require a powerful horse and dashing 
 rider. Hence, in the annals of fox-hunting, the bipeds 
 and quadrupeds of Connaught are held in due estima- 
 tion ; and it has been stated, without contradiction, 
 that in their own country no men or horses can compete 
 with them. 
 
 During the last century, the West of Ireland was 
 celebrated for its breed of horses. They were of that 
 class denominated " the old Irish hunter," — a strong, 
 well-boned, and enduring animal, that without any 
 pretension to extraordinary speed, was sufficiently fast 
 for fox-hounds, an excellent weight-carrier, and, better 
 still, able to live with any dogs and in any country. 
 As fencers^ this breed was unequalled ; and for a crack 
 hunter to carry ten or eleven stone over six feet six of 
 
HORSES AND HOUNDS. 389 
 
 solid masonry, was no extraordinary event ; — se'ven 
 feet has been achieved repeatedly — and there are still, 
 1 have no doubt, many horses in the province capable 
 of performing the latter feat. But, alas ! this noted 
 class of hunters is now comparatively rare — a higher- 
 blooded, and, as all admit, an inferior caste, has been 
 substituted — the racing hunter fills the stables that 
 formerly were occupied by the old Roscommon weight- 
 carrier — and in a few years this celebrated and valuable 
 animal will be seldom seen. The number of English 
 thorough-bred horses introduced within the last thirty 
 years into the Connaught racing studs, gradually in- 
 troduced a sHght and unserviceable hybrid — and, too 
 late, gentlemen discovered the error of endeavouring 
 to procure a cross, which should combine increased 
 speed with those durable qualities that alone can enable 
 a horse, under reasonable weight, to live with fast hounds 
 in a country where they can go for miles without a 
 check, and where the leaps are always severe, and 
 occasionally tremendous. 
 
 Of the riders, it may be observed that, much as Con- 
 naught has been celebrated for desperate horsemanship, 
 no charge of degeneracy will lie against the present 
 race. To the curious in break-neck fencing, I would 
 recommend a sojourn with a Connaught club — or if 
 that should be inconvenient, a visit to the steeple-chases 
 on the plains or at Knockcroghery would be sufficient — 
 he will there see six feet walls especially built *' for the 
 nonce," under the inspection ot conscious stewards, 
 who would give nothing but honest measure, taken 
 at racing speed, and that too in the middle of a bunch 
 o^ gentlemen, who would ride over an adopted child ; — 
 or let him join a drag after a champagne lunch at Lord 
 
3go WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 C.'s ; — let him do this, and then form his estimate 
 of Connaught horsemanship. 
 
 A mistake prevails in England, as to the supposed 
 inferiority in value of the horses commonly employed 
 by the Western sportsmen. I have seen a field out, 
 when, of twelve horses, ten would probably average 
 at one hundred guineas each ; and the remaining two 
 (brothers, Jerry and Lancet) were reported to have 
 cost the noble owner five hundred guineas apiece. 
 When the dangers of a stone-wall country and the 
 desperate riding of the men are considered, these are 
 indeed sporting prices. And yet accidents of a serious 
 character are not frequent; every horse that has been ridden 
 to hounds is generally blemished more or less ; but it 
 is astonishing in such a country and with such riders, 
 how long some noble hunters have lasted. 
 
 The hounds, with few exceptions, are inferior. They 
 are seldom properly kennelled, or regularly hunted. 
 Masters of hounds in the West seem careless to all 
 considerations beyond having a pack that can go high 
 and keep tolerably well together. In sizing and 
 draughting dogs they are by no means particular, 
 and hence the ensemble of many a kennel is materially 
 injured. In home management and field turnout, 
 they are infinitely behind their English brethren — ^the 
 packs are carelessly hunted — ^the kennel servants badly 
 appointed — and I have met men upon the plains able 
 to take a horse over anything that hand and heart could 
 carry him, who to a stranger would appear, from '' the 
 wildness of their attire," to be desperate apprentices 
 levanting with their master's property. 
 
 And yet, after this eulogy upon the splendid horse- 
 manship of the Western gentlemen, it may appear 
 
HORSES AND HOUNDS. 39I 
 
 singular that I add, few of them ride well to hounds. 
 An impatience in the field, and the anxiety to be foremost 
 where all are forward, interferes constantly with 
 the dogs, and causes a pressure upon the pack, very 
 unfavourable to good hunting. Riding rather at the 
 field than to the hounds, is the prevaiHng error. Fences 
 are crossed which would be better evaded — horses 
 unnecessarily distressed ; and I have seen a man 
 actually go out of his way to take a regular rasper when 
 he had 2igap within thirty yards. 
 
 Game in Mayo would be much more abundant than 
 it is were it not sadly thinned by irregular shooters, 
 and an infinity of vermin. To prevent the spoliations 
 of the former would be a difficult task — as, from the 
 quantity of wild fowl that every winter brings to the 
 Western shores, a number of guerilla sportsmen are 
 em.ployed or countenanced by the resident gentry ; 
 to whom it is too strong a temptation, when lying for 
 ducks, or stealing upon plovers, to discover a pack or 
 covey grouped upon the snow, and yet have sufficient 
 philosophy to keep the finger from the trigger. The 
 vermin, however, are the main cause of the scarcity 
 of game, and no means are taken to destroy these 
 marauders. From the eagle to the sparrow-hawk, 
 every variety abounds in the woods and mountains, 
 and every species of kite and crow that an ornithologist 
 would admire, and a sportsman abominate, infests the 
 Western counties. 
 
 Of fallow deer, there is a large stock in the parks 
 throughout the province — and buck-hunting has of 
 late seasons been getting into fashion on the plains. 
 I have already, in speaking of the red-deer, lamented 
 the prospect of their extinction. That event I look 
 
392 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 Upon as fast approaching — and I am convinced that 
 nothing can avert this national calamity but a vigorous 
 determination of the mountain proprietors to extend 
 protection to those Hmited herds which are still found, 
 though in lessened numbers, upon the Alpine heights 
 bordering on Burrishoole and Tyrawley. 
 
 Foxes are tolerably abundant in the hunting districts, 
 and mischievously so in the mountains and islands. 
 From the latter any quantity could be procured, and 
 there is no place in Britain where covers could be so 
 easily formed, and stocked with less trouble and expense. 
 I have seen healthy foxes for days hawked over the 
 country before a purchaser could be found, and at last 
 disposed of for a few shiUings. I once bought a fine 
 dog-fox for half-a-crown, and, had I not become his 
 owner, 1 verily believe the captor must have turned him 
 out upon the street. 
 
 Hares are in most places tolerably plentiful ; in point 
 of numbers differing according to local situation and 
 the relative protection afforded to them. In the moors, 
 the mountain hares are scarce ; but, from the quantity 
 of winged and four-footed vermin, it is surprising that 
 so many are occasionally seen. 
 
 Rabbits abound in the West of Ireland. On the 
 coast, the immense sand-banks are for miles perforated 
 with their burrows — and, notwithstanding that they 
 are unmercifully abandoned to cur-dogs, cats, and 
 vermin, their numbers continue unabated. In the 
 woods and coppices bush rabbits are numerous, and 
 cover-shooters, when beating for woodcocks, will have 
 their amusement diversified by many a running shot. 
 
 Other wild animals, in every variety, may be met 
 with in parts of Connaught. Badgers and wild cats, 
 
HORSES AND HOUNDS. 393 
 
 martins and weasels will be found in their customary 
 haunts ; while on the coast and estuaries, the lakes 
 and inland waters, seals and otters are plentiful in the 
 extreme. 
 
 Of winged game, pheasants and partridges excepted, 
 I have already spoken. With regard to the first, they 
 are scarce, and, it would appear, difficult to rear in this 
 moist and stormy climate. I speak only of the places 
 contiguous to the coast, where the experiment has been 
 tried ; for inland, where they have been duly attended 
 to, and the English system adopted, they have thriven 
 amazingly. As to partridges, they are generally scarce, 
 and in Erris and Ballycroy almost unknown. In the 
 wheat counties, and especially in certain parts of Galway, 
 I believe they are tolerably abundant — but by com- 
 parison with the quantity a sportsman meets in an 
 English beat, the best partridge-shooting procurable 
 in Connaught will be very indifferent indeed. 
 
 My task is ended — I have chronicled '* the short 
 but simple annals " of a sporting summer, passed in 
 a remote and unfrequented corner of the earth, and 
 protracted until " winter and rough weather " forbade 
 a longer stay. Into these solitudes I carried prejudices 
 as unfair as they were unfavourable — I came prepared 
 to dislike a people who, unhappily for themselves, 
 are little known and less regarded. I found my 
 estimate of their character false, for kindnesses were 
 returned tenfold, and the native outbreakings of Milesian 
 hospitality met me at every step. What though the 
 mountaineer had nothing but his potato-basket to 
 offer — it was freely open to my hand. Did I wander 
 from the road } his loy* was left in the furrow, and 
 * Loy, a narrow spade. 
 
394 
 
 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 he ran miles to put me in the right path. If it rained 
 and I sheltered in a cabin, the hearth was swept, the 
 driest log placed upon the fire, and the bed-covering 
 taken off to keep my saddle from the shower. If possible, 
 my wishes were anticipated — and labour was unheeded 
 when my pleasure or comfort could be attained. 
 
 One incident I must mention, for it marks the 
 character of this simple and devoted peasantry. It 
 was the hottest of the dog-days, and we had toiled 
 over a barren moor, and missed some packs that we 
 were aware were in that neighbourhood. A hill of 
 most discouraging altitude was before us — and as its 
 face was difficult beyond description, I hesitated to 
 attempt it. But beyond it was a land of promise — 
 a valley where wonders might be expected — and malgre 
 fatigue, I did muster courage for the ascent. I gave 
 my gun to a young peasant who acted as my henchman, 
 and, as he was already loaded heavily, I observed him 
 stagger more than once before we gained the summit. 
 Throughout the day he never left my side — when the 
 river was forded, he led the way — and yet I observed 
 that he was unusually flushed, and at times sighed heavily. 
 When we reached the cabin, he tottered to a seat, and 
 the next moment became insensible. Then, and not 
 till then, the truth was disclosed : he had been attacked 
 with measles on the preceding night ; but rather than 
 surrender his post to another, he actually, and under 
 the fever of the disease, worked for twelve hours 
 beneath a burning sun. Old Antony, by some simple 
 means, brought the eruption plentifully to the skin, 
 and in another week my gallant henchman was at my 
 side, without any apparent trace of lassitude. 
 
 I have left these mountains, and never shall 1 enjoy 
 
HORSES AND HOUNDS. 395 
 
 the unalloyed excitement — the calm, luxurious solitude, 
 which I found among their wastes. What has re- 
 finement to offer me in exchange ? Will the over- 
 stocked preserve replace the moorland chase^ with its 
 glorious ridge of purple highlands — its silver lake, 
 and sparkling river — my wild followers — my tried 
 friends — and the dear cabin and its snowy tent, peeping 
 from the dark expanse of heather, like a white sea-bird 
 from the lap of ocean ? Alas ! nothing will compensate 
 for these — or give me an equivalent for the joyous inter- 
 course with kindred spirits, which I realized and left 
 in the wilds of Bally croy. 
 
 THE END, 
 
NOTES ON SOME IRISH WORDS 
 
 USED IN WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 Maxwell, though he must have been listening to Irish 
 spoken round him every day of his life, does not appear 
 to have really understood it, though he picked up a 
 number of words, the correct spelling of most of which 
 is given here : — 
 
 " Sha sha " = Y &^'o, 'f gat), i.e.^ '' it is, it is." This 
 sometimes answers to the English '' yes," but only when 
 the verb "is " is employed. 
 
 Avorneen — A niui|\nTn, i.e., " darling." 
 
 Page 23, Hamish is the vocative case of Shamus 
 i.e., " James." Maxwell confounded the nominative and 
 vocative. Hamish-a-neilan = Sex^tnAf aw Oiie^in. 
 
 Bawn = b^n, white. 
 Page 24, bokkogh = hACAt ; *' lame." 
 Page 30, clachan = " a village," from clach or cloch 
 " a stone," is more common in Scotland than Ireland. 
 I*age 33, cus dhu = cof -out!), i.e., black foot. 
 
 Page 36, briddawn = b|\A*oxxn, a salmon, as if written 
 blAioD^n with a broad b. 
 
 Page 37, mona mon diaoul =-. xn^AWAm 6'n 'oix^b^t, ie., 
 " my soul from the devil," a curse turned adroitly into a 
 blessing. 
 
 Mortien Beg = m^it\cin X)eA^ = Little Martin. 
 
 Page 41, Shawn a tra buoy .— SeAn nA cf^g' bui-de. 
 
 Page 56, Tiggim Tigue Thigien = Utii5;eAnn Zax)^ 
 UAi-Osin. The m in the first word ought to be n. 
 Maxwell's ear played him false. 
 
 396 
 
NOTES ON SOME IRISH WORDS USED 397 
 
 Page ^y, calliogh = CAittex.\6, often translated in 
 Connacht as " presty." 
 
 Page 91, pieberagh = piob^ijAe. The gh ought to be 
 omitted, there is no guttural sound. 
 
 Page 95, boUogh = x^aXXac^ " speckled spotted/' 
 Maxwell means bollav = b^tb, dumb or stuttering. 
 
 Page 129, Cead Fealtagh, a dreadful spelling for the 
 sound of '' Caed Faultia " = Cqa-o police, '* a hundred 
 welcomes.'' 
 
 Page 141, leprehawn = teitpt\io6^n, probably derived 
 from Ui5-co]\p^n "small bodied one," a little fairy. 
 
 Page 142, farsett = pex\ffxM*o " a tide way." Belfast 
 is a corruption of Bel-farsett. In Irish, t)eAt-^eitifce, 
 or the " mouth of the farsett." 
 
 Page 146, for dignita tern read dignitatem ; Page 153, 
 for " but not" read "not but." 
 
 Page 167 drimindhu is a poem and air, in Irish 
 •ot^tiitnfionn "oub, i.e., '' the black white- backed," a name 
 for a pet cow, but allegorical of Ireland. 
 
 Page 171, cota more = cou^ mop, " great coat." 
 
 Page 185, middoge, in Irish tni 0-005, ^^^^ apparently a 
 formidable dagger, Scotch Gaelic " biodag," which is the 
 same word, but now fallen from its high estate, and 
 often used of any old knife. 
 
 Page 193, boollie, Irish bUAite, " a milking or herding 
 place for cows." 
 
 Page 210, crughadore = cjAoCA-ooifi, *' a hangman," ; 
 mogh-a-droul, perhaps for triAc An *oiAbxMl, "son of the 
 devil." 
 
 Page 218, neil an skeil a gau maun = ni't Aon fcit 
 x^5x^m x^nn, " I have no skill in it." Maxwell has joined 
 the m to the wrong word. He does this twice, which 
 shows he had little knowledge of Irish. 
 
 Page 218, far a gurta = peiifi a softcxx, '' the famine 
 grass ;" some people say pe<\|\ a' %oyx:a, " the famine 
 man." 
 
398 NOTES ON SOME IRISH WORDS USED. 
 
 Page 219, Eimineein = ^x^moinnin, "Little Edmund." 
 
 Page 223, tho she mur tho she, agus neil she gun 
 lought = x:a f 1 m^jA zA fi, -A^iif ni'l fi g^n locc, '' she is 
 as she is, and she's not without fault." 
 
 Page 233, craig na moina does not seem to mean rock 
 of slaughter. 
 
 Page 247, ceade fealteagh (See page 129) 
 
 Page 247, cur coddiogh ? 
 
 Page 250, patre o' pee, probably from the French 
 " battre de pieds. For acoronach read '' a coronach/' the 
 last being more Scotch than Irish. 
 
 Page 280, Rookaun = \\ucAn, " a row." 
 
 Page 302, petka more = ? pice is a pike, to stab with, 
 but the fish is " liiif " or '' giof 05," so it is only in a 
 translation there would be any cross-purposes. 
 
 Page 327, neil an skil a gau maun, (See page 218.) 
 
 Page 333, badahust, hanam on dioul = bi -oo tofc, 
 ti'^n^m o'n -oiAbAl, i.e., " be silent, your soul from the 
 devil. (See page 37). 
 
 Page 335, skuddawn, the Western pronunciation of 
 fCAX)AW, a " herring." 
 
 Page 336, line 3, for " word " read " world." 
 
 Page 341, crowour keough = c|\ex)i5AitA cAot, i.e., blind 
 woodcock. 
 
 Page 346, Nora crina, a well-known song and air. Hoiaa 
 cfiotixi, pronounced Nora creeona, " wise Nora." 
 
 Page 351, crowour keough beg ~ c|\Ae<vti)An c^oc t)e<\5. 
 
 Page 359, kearne, perhaps ceite^lwAcli, which 
 originally meant a foot-soldier. 
 
 Page 375, fodeeins — Irish, pOi-oini, i.e., ''little sods." 
 i.e., small estates or farms. 
 
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