CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME 
 OF THE SAGE ENDO\X^MENT 
 FUND GIVEN IN 1891 BY 
 
 HENRY WILLIAMS SAGE 
 
Cornell University Library 
 SK 191.M46 1892 
 
 Wild sports of the West of Ireland; also 
 
 3 1924 012 420 778 
 
The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924012420778 
 
Wild Spoets 
 
 OF THE 
 
 West of Ihelaj^d 
 
 LEaENDABY TALES, FOLK-LORE, LOCAL CUSTOMS, 
 AND NATURAL HISTORY 
 
 WILLIAM HAMILTON MAXWELL 
 
 Author of " Erin-go-Brah," "Hector Cf Hallormi," " lAft of 
 Wellington," tic., <tc. 
 
 NEW EDITION 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT, & CO. 
 
 GLASGOW: THOMAS D. MORISON 
 
 1892 
 
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 customary course of field adventure, few 
 besides the individual 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 in- 
 terest which in ordinary cases would be wanting. From local 
 connections, 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 advantages to profit from the accident, a 
 remote and semi-civilized region was offered to his observa- 
 tion ; and although within a limited distance of a mail-coach, 
 a country was thus disclosed as little known to the multitude 
 as the interior of Australia; 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 the waters, will best estimate 
 the fidelity of the descriptions ; 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 nights when he caroused in a mountain bivouac, and 
 rested in a moorland hut. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 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 substantially- 
 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. I have no further 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 said to me." 
 
 " The Legend of Knock-a-Thample " remains as the Otter- 
 killer related it ; but with " Eose 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 indis- 
 cretion. 
 
 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 hooks some half -score 
 salmon would reckon it but sorry amusement to dabble in a 
 pond. To a Galway rider the Epping hunt would he 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. 
 
COI^TENTS. 
 
 Page 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Introdtjotion, . . . . . . .13' 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 Letters— An Escape — Connaught — Topographical and Moral De- 
 scription — Ballinasloe — A Virtuous and Flourishing Towa — A 
 Bible Meeting and Radical Reform, . . . .21 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Journey Continued — Inn of Glantane — Tuam — A Bad Night — Out 
 
 of the Frying-pan into the Fire — ACountry Ball— and the Finish, 24 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Loss of a Waiter— Precocious Talent — The Mad Major and the 
 Mendicants of Mullingar — Cursing an Adjutant — Death of 
 Dennis O'Farrell, . . . . . .27 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 - Castlebar — Newport— Departure from Christendom — Progress into 
 Terra Incognita — Roads and Scenery — Mulranny — Passage down 
 the Inlet — Incidents — Lodge in the Wilds of Erris — Description 
 of the Establishment, . . ... 31 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Periodicals— Cockney Sports and Sportsmen — Mountain Angler and 
 his Attendant — Fishing-tackle — Antony the Otter-killer — Visit 
 the River— Flies — Hooking my first Salmon — Return to the 
 Lodge — Sporting Authors — Sir Humphrey Davy — Col. Hawker — 
 Salnionia — Criticisms, . . . . .35 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Symptoms of a coming Storm — A Sportsman's Dinner — Old John — 
 Pattigo — Gale comes on — Shawn a tra buoy — Seals — The Blind 
 Seal, .... ... 40 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 A Wet Day — ^-Fly-tying — Piscatory Disquisitions — The Tinker — 
 Lessons in the Gentle Art^An Unexpected Ally, . . 45 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Sporting Topography of Mayo— Hunting Country — Fox Covers — 
 Lakes, Rivers, and Fish — A Domiciliary Visit — Revenue 
 Foray — Capture of drunken Distillers — Alarm — Midnight 
 Meditations — Angling Excursion — Goolamore — Salmon Fishing 
 — English and Irish Hooks — Limerick preferable to all others, . 50 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Salmon-Fishing Described — Draughting — Fishing Precarious — 
 Change of Season and Condition — Poaching — Private Distilla- 
 tion — Size and Weight of Salmon — Sir H. Davy — Migration of 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 Salmon — Natural History — Anecdotes and Experiments — 
 Lernese Salmoueffi, . . . • • .54 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Mullet- Preparations for Mullet-fishing— Seals— Anecdotes— The 
 Red Dwarf— His mode of killing Seals— Catching a Tartar- 
 Pitching Mullet Nets— Excursion on the Island— A Wild 
 Guide— Coursing— Comparison between Englisli and Irish Grey- 
 hounds-Take of Mullet- Return— Anecdotes of Mullet- 
 fishing — The Homicide, . . . . • .58 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Angling— Fish found in Mayo — Peasantry — Their Mode of Fishing — 
 The Pooka — Description and Use— Pike and Trout — Their 
 Size^Perch — Their Fecundity —Trout Destroyed— Greater Lakes 
 Described — SubterraneousCommunication between them — Lesser 
 Lakes —Their Fish — Lake of Derreens — Its Trout Extiuct — Lake 
 of Castlebar, . . . . . . .65 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Nineteenth of August— Preparations for the Mountains — Order of 
 March — A Cook Broiled to Death — Interruption of a Funeral — ■ 
 Drowned Shepherd — ^Grouse Shooting — Evening Compotatiou — 
 Morning— Locale of a Shooter's Cabin — Life in the Mountains — 
 The Red Deer — Return to the Hut— Luxury of a Cold-bath, . 68 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Ball Opens— Moonlight — Mountain Scenery — Old Antony — Ad- 
 venture with the Fairies — Ball Continues — The Otter-hunter's 
 History — Ball Concludes — The Pater-o-pee, , . . .73 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Moon looks Suspicious — Heavy Fall of Rain — River Flooded — 
 Sporting Writers — Critii^ism on Hawker — Originality of the 
 Colonel — His Outfit of a Wild-fowl Shooter — Samuel Singer and 
 his Gun, . . . . , . . .79 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Flood Subsides— My Cousin's Henchmen — ^Their Description — Post- 
 bag Arrives — Messenger Belated in the Mountains — Tlie Fairy 
 Glen — Herd of Red Deer — Their Destruction by Poachers — 
 Gr.idualDecrease-Diffieul ties in Continuing them — Anecdotes — 
 Rearing the Fawns — Sterility when l')oraestioaled — Red Deer in 
 ' Parks — The Tame Hind — The Tyrawly Stag — Skill requisite in 
 Shooting Deer — Curious Anecdote, . . . .82 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 An Alarm ^Deceptive Appearance of the Weather — A Blank 
 Fishing-day — Recovery of the Setter— Hydrophobia — Melau- 
 olioly Anecdote — Loss of a Kennel — Strange Apathy of Irish 
 Servants— Extraordinary Preservation, . ' . . .88 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Preparations for Visiting Achil— Embarkation and Passage to 
 Dugurth — Fishing— Sea-fowl Shooting — Meeting the Lugger- 
 Picturesque Apiiearauce of the Vessel — Our Landing — Coast- 
 guard Watch-house — Slieve More — Grouse Scarce — Ribbit-shoot- 
 ing — InterLor of the Watch-house— Culinary Proceedings — The 
 Dutchman — Morning, and a Headache — A Sea-bath — The 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 .Eagles' Eyrie^Curious Anecdote of tKese Birds — Grouse- 
 ShootUig — Demolition of a Pack — Rock-Fishing — Dangerous 
 Employment — Fatal Accident — John Dory — A Temperate 
 Evening, ..... ... 93 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Prepare to leave Achil — Visit to the Eagles' ClifiF — Attempts to 
 Destroy these Birds — Their Depredations — Partiality for Black 
 Fowls— Destroy Fish — Anecdote of an Eagle and Salmon — 
 Exterminate Hares — Their Mode of Coursing Hares and Catch- 
 ing Salmon — Foxes, Numerous and Destructive — Smaller Birds 
 of Prey — Run to Inniskea— Devilawu — Tarmon — Difficult Coast 
 to Laud on — Woman and Gurragh — Rabbit-shooting — Local 
 Sketches — Twlight Scenery — Dangerous Idiot — Whisky — Its 
 Excellence — Copper Stills — Island Seldom Visited by the 
 Revenue— Character of the Islanders — Particular in Burying 
 their Dead — Prone to Litigation — The Law-suit, . . 100 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Signs of Fish — Mackerel— Spillet-fishing — Seal and Mermaids — 
 Anecdote — The Bull's Mouth — Preservation of a Ship — The Fox 
 and Cruiser — The Lodge in a Consternation — Arrival — The 
 Colonel's Portmanteau — Robbing and its Consequences, . 108 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 The Colonel's Story— The Night Attack, . . . .116 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Conversation — A Brave Resistance — The Contrast — The Burglary, . 125 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Midnight Reflection — A Good Story-teller — The Affair of Ninety- 
 eight, . . . . . . . .129 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Spring Tides — Hennessey and the Portmanteau — Spillet-fishing — 
 Coal-fishing — Mackerel — Sea-fowl — A Failure — fteserying Gun- 
 powder — An Explosion — Another Accident — A House Burned — 
 The Dinner Signal, . . . . . .133 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 A Calm Night — Sand-eel Fishing — Dangerous to the Fair Sex — 
 Cockles — Lobsters — Crabs — Scallops — Oysters — Punt Adrift — 
 My Brother's Shoes — Seal Surprised — Incident — Gun Burst — 
 Birmingham Guns — Percussion Looks — London Makers — Barrel- 
 making — Gun-making — Inferior Guns — Shooting Accident, . 139 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Bad Roads — Native Horses — ^Cairns — Bridge of Ballyveeney — Our 
 Beat — Midday on the Moors — Hints to Grouse-shooters^Find- 
 ing Game-^Wild Scenery — The Ruined Chapel — The Well — Act 
 of Penance — Storm in Mountains — The Deserted Burying-place 
 — Our Return — The Colonel's Method of Rabbit-shooting — A 
 Disappointment, ......: 146 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 The Legend of Knook-a-Thample, .... 151 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Visit to the Mountain Hut — The Colonel — An Argument and a 
 Wager — No Honesty among Anglers— State of the River — 
 
10 CONTENTS. 
 
 Mogh-a-dioul — Father Andrew's Flies — Splendid Scenery — Its 
 Effect npon me and my Companion — Beautiful Pool — The 
 Otter— A Curious Scene— The Colonel's Troubles— Wager De- 
 cided — A New' Bet — A Salmon Killed — Conversation — The 
 Colonel Out-manoeuvred, . . , . . 159 
 
 CHAPTEE XXIX. 
 
 The Gold Snuff-Box, . .... 166 
 
 CHAPTEE XXX. 
 
 The Otter-killer's Return — Craniology — Superstitions— Sea-horse — 
 Master Otter — Anecdotes of it — Ghosts and Fairies — Their 
 Infiuenoc upon Men and Animals — Cure of Witchcraft — Holy 
 Lakes — Loch Keirawn — Its Butter Fishery — The Faragurta^— 
 Its Causes, Imaginary and Real — Cures and Cases — Swearing — 
 Comparative Value upon the Book, the Vestment, and the 
 Skull — The Clearing of Miss Currigan — An Uncatholic Cook, . 173 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXI. 
 
 Fresh Arrivals — The Priest's Reception — The Lodge Alarmed — 
 Preparations for Deer Stalking— ^State of the Garrison — The 
 Mountain Lake — The Peasant's Adventure — Carrig-a-binniogh — 
 The Ascent — Prospect from the Summit — The Ravine and 
 Red-deer — A Highland Ambuscade — The Catastrophe, . . 17£ 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXII. 
 
 Deer Brought Home — Dinner — Gastronomic Reflections — Grouse 
 Soup — Roasted Salmon — Cooking, powr et conire — Carouse 
 Commences — Symptoms of Inebriety — Night in the Hills — 
 Coffee alfresco — Temperance Society — A Bacchanalian Group — 
 Auld Lang Syne — Borrowing a Congregation — The Company 
 Dispersed, ....... 18f 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXIII. 
 
 Dancing Kept Up — Effects of Poteen on the Company — Ball Ends — 
 Rainy Night — Morning — Pattigo — A Long Swim — Breakfast — 
 An Incident — Fox-catcher Bitten by a Wild Cat— Ferocity of 
 that Animal — Anecdotes of them — House Oats Frequently Run 
 Wild — Destructive to Rabbit-warrens — Cat-kUling Extra- 
 ordinary — The Deer-skin — Snow Fatal to the Red Deer — 
 Anecdote of a Hind and Fawn — Blistered Foot — Simple Remedy 
 — My Descent by " The Mother's Side," . . . 196 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXIV. 
 
 The Lbqind of Rose Roche, . . . ' . . 201 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXV. 
 
 Mountain Loughs — Trout — Their Varieties — Otter Haunt — The 
 Upper Lake— Goose Fishing — Weather Breaks — Prospect of 
 Leaving the Cabin — Traits of Character — Crimes — Abduction — 
 Ciluses — Murder — Why Prevalent — Distillation ; its Extent and 
 Cause — Anecdote of a Peasant's Ruin, .... 214 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXVI. 
 
 Day fixed for our Departure — Party Separate — Last Day's Shooting 
 — The Secret Valley — The Fishers — Curious Incident— Dinner — 
 An Alarm — Night Search for the Otter-killer — The Old Man 
 Found — His Recovery— Narrative of the Accident, . . 220 
 
CONTENTS. 11 
 
 Page 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXVII. 
 
 The Otter-killer Carried to the Lodge — Fishing Homewards — 
 Angling Closes for the Season — Remarks — Feelings on the 
 Ooeasion — Smuggler Appears — Landing a Cargo — Captain 
 Matthews — The Jane — Cutter stands out to sea — Hooker on a 
 Rook — Traveller Alarmed — Anecdote of an Englishman, . 225 
 
 Memoik of a Gentleman who wotjld not do foe Galwat, . 233 
 CHAPTEE XXXVIII. 
 
 Morning Alarm — Death of the Otter-killer — General Grief — Night 
 Excursion — Herring Fishery — Our Reception — Beal-Fires — The 
 Wake — The Funeral — Anecdote of a Dog — A Deserted House, . 251 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXIX. 
 
 Weather Changes — Symptoms of Winter —Animal Appearances — 
 Night Passage of Barnacles — Grey Plover — Hints for Shooting 
 Plover — Wild Geese — Swans — Ducks — Burke' Ti'ansported — 
 Evening at the Lodge — Feminine Employments, . . 258 
 
 CHAPTEE XL. 
 
 Colonel leaves us — Last Visit to Achil — Snipes and Woodcocks — ■ 
 Their Migration — Solitary Snipe — Cock-shooting in Achil — 
 Mountain Covers — Cock-shooting ; its Accidents — Anecdotes — 
 An Unlucky Companion, ...... 262 
 
 CHAPTEE XLI. 
 
 Dull Evening — Memoir of Hennessey, .... 267 
 
 CHAPTEE XLII. 
 
 My Departure Fixed — Coast Suited to an Ornithologist — Godsends — 
 An Ocean Waif — My Last Day — Coursing — Size of Hares — 
 Fen-shooting — Kill a Bittern — Castle of Doona — Fall of the 
 Tower — Netting Rabbits — Reflections — Morning — Passage 
 Through the Sound — Hennessey — Departure from the Kingdom 
 of Counaught, ....... 273 
 
 CHAPTEE XLIII. 
 
 Moral and Physical Condition of the West, Past and Present, . 278 
 
 CHAPTEE XLIV. 
 
 Hunting -Men — Horses and Hounds — Game — Conclusion, . . 287 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. I.— The Curlew Tribe, . . . . .293 
 
 „ II. — The Osprey, Bald Buzzard, Sea Eag'le, or Fishing- 
 Hawk, . ... 294 
 III. — Cornmon Sandpiper, . . . .295 
 IV.— Attracting Pish, . . . . .296 
 v.— The Banshee, . . ' . . .297 
 VI.— Salmon Elvers, . . . . .298 
 VII. — Angling Weather Indications, . . . 300 
 VIII.— Fly-making, . . . . .301 
 IX.— The Mullet and the Gillaroo Trout, . .301 
 X.— Greyhounds, . . . . .302 
 
12 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 No. XI. — A Grave Gentleman, 
 
 „ XII.— Pike 
 
 „ XIII.— The Stomach of the Trout, 
 
 „ XIV. — The Voraciousness of the Pike, 
 
 „ XV.— The Red Deer, . 
 
 „ XVI. — Fairies in Ballycroy, 
 
 „ XVII.— The Irish Greyhound, . 
 
 „ XVIII.— Fly-fishing-, . 
 
 „ XIX.— Bird Stuffing, . 
 
 „ XX.— Grouse Shooting, . 
 
 „ XXI.— The Whimbrel, . 
 
 „ XXII. — The Gunner or Sea-Bream, 
 
 „ XXIII.— Eagles and Pike, 
 
 „ XXIV.— Stories of Seals, 
 
 „ XXV. — An Irish Court of Justice Case, 
 
 „ XXVI. — Shootirig in a Quagmire, 
 
 „ XXVII.— The Middoge, 
 
 „ XXVIIi:— Boulies, 
 
 „ XXIX.— The Master-otter, 
 
 „ XXX.— The Cow Charmer, 
 
 „ XXXI. — Fire-arms in the West, 
 
 „ XXXII. — Coosherers, 
 
 „ XXXIII.— Cooking, 
 
 „ XXXIV.— Mullet, 
 
 „ XXXV.— Northmen, 
 
 „ XXXVI. — Bittern, Bog Bumper, Bitter Bum, 
 
 Drum, 
 
 „ XXXVil.— The Wild Cat, 
 
 „ XXXVIII.— The Pale, . 
 
 „ XXXIX. — Maxims on Pishing, . 
 
 „ XL. — The Good House Moneyglass, 
 
 „ XLI. — Clakis, or Tree Goose, . 
 
 „ XLIL— Wild Geese, . 
 
 „ XLIII.— The Wild Swan, 
 
 „ XLIV. — Pintail Duck. Sea-pheasant, Cracker, 
 
 Duck, 
 
 „ XLV.— The Golden-eye, 
 
 „ XLVI. — ^Wigeon. Whewer, Whim, or Pandled 
 
 „ XLVII.— Teal, . 
 
 „ XL VIII. — Common Snipe, 
 
 „ XLIX.— The Flesh of the Woodcock, 
 
 „ L. — Woodcock, . 
 
 „ LI.— The Flight of Birds, 
 
 „ LII. — Great Snipe, 
 
 „ LIII. — Snipe Shooting, . 
 
 „ LIV. — Large Hares, 
 
 or Mire 
 
 Winter 
 Whew, . 
 
WILD SPOETS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 West of Ireland. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Notwithstanding its dust and desertion I am still lurking 
 in the metropolis. The heat has become intolerable — 
 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 ennuy^ than I. Town has become a desert — the world 
 has abandoned it by general consent — 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. To remain longer here 
 would be suicidal ; but, where to go — whither to fly — alas I 
 I know not. 
 
 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. Bub 
 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 ex- 
 hibiting their ancestors, I shall take the liberty of introduc- 
 ing 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 
 
 2 
 
14 "WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 "The Dirty Half Hundred."* My father was a strapping 
 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 Hundred." 
 
 To account for the gentleman's antipathy to this cele- 
 brated 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 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 OTarrell 
 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 anticipated. Despising park 
 walls and surly keepers, Mr. O'Brien overcame every 
 difhculty, and with the assistance 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 
 Eoscommon — and there he hunted, shot, fished, and farmed, 
 and lived just as Irish gentlemen lived some thirty years 
 ago. 
 
 * From their black facings, the 50th received this soubriquet. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 15 
 
 I was the only issue of the marriage. All communication 
 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, and had nearly completed my college course, 
 when an unforeseen event changed my prospects and 
 j)rofession. It was the death of both my parents within the 
 brief space of a month. 
 
 My father's affairs were found 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 appear- 
 ance 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. 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 em- 
 barrassed, and in two years found it necessary to exchange 
 from the Blues to a Light Cavalry regiment, then stationed 
 
16 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 in the East Indies. My uncle made no objection ; he was 
 tired of what he termed supplying my boundless extra- 
 vagance, bade me a cold farewell, and his parting words, as 
 I stepped into the carriage, was 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 ; 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 of 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 ap- 
 proached, 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 suppres- , 
 sive exclamation of astonishment, removed the fastenings. 
 
INTEODUCTION. 17 
 
 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 invalid ; he 
 turned his dim eyes to the spot where I stood waiting for 
 permission to advance. " Axe you there, Frank ? " he said 
 in a feeble voice — " Ha, ha, ha ! it was ' touch and go' with 
 you!" and he uttered a weak but 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 ex- 
 pression of stern satisfaction visible on his countenance, as 
 his cold glance rested fixedly on me. Immediately the 
 doctor, solicitor, and witnesses entered the room. "Kaise 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 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 almshouses, 
 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 believe 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. 
 
 A scene, a disgusting scene, ensued; the attorney, when 
 certified of his client'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 
 
18 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 testament 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 and miserable dependent ; 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 additional 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 metropolis. 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 
 cho'sen 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 everything 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 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 
 
INTEODUCTION. 19 
 
 borough; I was persecuted by ancient gentlewomen who 
 wished to rid themselves of daughters that years ago were 
 pass/es; 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 f^te, 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 occur- 
 rence : 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 Eefugee concert, there I was waylaid by the 
 widow. Did I endeavour to steal a ride in Eottenrow, 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. Eventually, I was 
 driven from every place approachable by women, 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, 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 friend " came to my aid, and, with 
 
 his experience, why should I not get on cleverly ? A horse 
 
20 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 will 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 ham-strung. In three 
 hundred yards he was passed by the slowest of the bad 
 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 disap- 
 pointment, was the smart hedge that I had so prudently 
 effected before starting. 
 
 The settling-day came ; I was at Tattersal^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. 
 
 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 effected, for to retreat is the difi&culty, 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 protegh abide in the pleasant town 
 
 of Brighton ; and my Lord Leatherby has taken out a sort of 
 roving commission 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 
 jperceive I am as deliberately doomed to matrimony by this 
 
MY IRISH KINSMAN. 21 
 
 relentless nobleman as ever a country bonnet-maker was 
 I 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. 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 Letters — An Escape — Connaught — Topographical and Moral Description — 
 Ballinasloe— A Virtuous and Flourishing Town — A Bible Meeting and 
 Radical Reform. 
 
 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 
 Lalworth Park. To my invitation I received a decisive, and 
 I would almost say an 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 ' occupation'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 suffocation for an hour in Eotten-row, and 
 should you survive the dust, endure eternal dread of 
 impalement by a carriage-pole ; you shoot a score of rascally 
 pigeons within the enclosures of Battersea, or make a grand 
 excursion to slaughter pheasants in a preserve; last and 
 proudest feat comes the battu, when, with noble and honour- 
 able confederates, you exterminate a multitude of semir 
 civilised 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? You, the best of your day in Trinity; — you, 
 whose prowess is still recorded in the annals of the watch- 
 house, and whose hurling is yet chronicled in the Park ; — - 
 you, whom no six feet wall could turn, whom no mountain- 
 
22 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 
 Eegent 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 
 wUds of Connaught ; avoid an atmosphere surcharged with 
 villanous 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 without 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 ? I 
 embraced his offer, and here I am fairly over the border, 
 and safely deposited in the kingdom of Connaught 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 
 enquire after their wives, nor take the population of their 
 families ; I generally sleep from the start to the close of the 
 stage : 1 did observe that the colour of corn was nearly alike 
 in both countries, and remarked farther, that English drivers 
 seemed partial to ale and overalls, and Irish ones preferred 
 frieze coats and naked whisky. 
 
 And now you shall have the particulars of my escape, and 
 since the times of the Anabasis, or the more recent exploits 
 (k Lavalette and Ikey Solomons, never was retreat effected in 
 
ESCAPE— TOWN OF BALLINASLOE. 23 
 
 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 retire- 
 ment of a detected thief from a tabernacle, than a bold opera- 
 tion in noon-day 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 enquirers that I had departed for Constantinople, and 
 that any commands for me must be forwarded, under cover, 
 to the Sublime Porte. 
 
 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 grey cloud, which is 
 evermore discharging itself on the earth, but, like the widow's 
 cruse, is never exhausted. It is bounded on the south and 
 east by Christendom and part of Tipperary, on the north byj 
 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 intelligent backwoodsman from Louisiana was heard 
 to declare with rapture that it was the most perfectly 
 cultivated territory in Europe." 
 
 " Farther," 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 quarrel- 
 some disposition. The prevailing mode of belief among the 
 upper classes is ' Anythingarianism,' that of the people pure 
 Popery." 
 
 This premonitory sketch will save me an infinity of trouble. 
 You have here the country graphically placed before you, 
 as well as the distinguishing 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 narae of 
 which I neglected to enquire. 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, moreover, are whitewashed — 
 
24 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 pigs and popery are prohibited — and travellers wayfaring on 
 the seventh day denounced, and, under perilous amercements, 
 enjoiaed 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 Gdspel was 
 progressive in California ; and farther, that a second-cousin 
 of the King of Siam had been baptised by a Moravian 
 missionary. This latter annunciation elicited a thunder of 
 applause, and a young lady with a lisp pinched my elbow 
 playfully, 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 
 Eadical Eeformers, 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. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Journey continued — Inn of Glantane — Tnam — A bad night — Out of the 
 frying-pan into the fire — A Country Ball — and the Finish. 
 
 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 in- 
 surmountable obstacle; the landlady assured me that the 
 'materiel was in the house, there was bacon in the chimney 
 
MISERIES AT THE MITRE INN. 25 
 
 and chickeijis 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 proportions of 
 tillage-ground to turbary, bears an acreable 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 
 farther 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 a murmur, for the 
 waiter assured my servant that I had got the best bed-room 
 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 which they had been removed from their parent 
 moor ; but anxious to court the drowsy god, 1 extinguished 
 the candle, sprang into bed, and too late discovered that I 
 was over-loaded with a mass of ponderous 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 doze, 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 the 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 himself 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 occasionally by indulging in a mournful 
 and nerve-torturing howl. Human forbearance could not 
 support the martyrdom I sufiered. I was driven to despera- 
 tion, and collecting every missile article in the chamber, with 
 repeated discharges routed my persecutors, and once more 
 endeavoured to procure some rest. 
 
26 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 I sank into a delicious slumber; but suddenly the door 
 was flung open, and in rushed the waiter with portentous 
 speed : — " The house must be on fire ! " I ejaculated, as I 
 somerseted into the centre of the floor. My fears were 
 fortunately groundless — Dennis merely awoke me to enquire 
 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, 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 
 iDuried 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 elaret-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-officer in state- 
 uniform, with a pale beauty in cerulean blue ; and a person- 
 age of immense calf in black tights confronted a skeleton ia 
 nankeen unmentionables. The ladies were gloriously adorned 
 with silver riband, gilt wreaths, and every flower that blows, 
 frora a pink to a peony ; the lords of the creation sported 
 stiffened 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 quadrille, 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 
 
LOSS OF A "WAITEE^BEGGARS. 27 
 
 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 ? "— " Bos-d-dos, Miss Kourke ! " — " Up with the 
 Lancers ! " — " Aisy, Mr. Bodkin, remember there are ladies 
 here ! " — " Waiter, 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 delft and dancing. I suffered 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. 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 loss of a "Waiter — Precocious Talent — The Mad Major and the Mendicants 
 of MuUingar — Cursing an Adjutant — Death of Dennis O'Farrell. 
 
 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 apo- 
 logised 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 the 
 respective places, the lazzaroni of Naples are far outnumbered 
 by the mendicants of Tuam. A trace broke at starting, and 
 thus enabled me to form a pretty correct idea of this multi- 
 tude. 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 
 
28 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 originality of conception in his style of execration 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 department of national eloquence, be 
 without a parallel. I have erstwhile passed through 
 Billingsgate when 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 liocidus ordo, 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, onewas particularly characteristic. 
 
 When the gallant 50th were removed to Mullingar, 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 himself 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 enquired, in accents of the tenderest 
 compassion. " All, your honour — all, young and owld ! " 
 responded a big beggar 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 neigh- 
 • Bryan the Cripple. 
 
CURSING AN ADJUTANT. 29 
 
 bouring lane with Brieney on her shoulders. " Are you all 
 here now ? " enquired 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, sweet Jasus!" 
 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 beggar man. 
 " 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 Mullin- 
 gar ! " 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 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. Incompetent from professional inability, 
 he was farther 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 Scotsman 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 semicircle. 
 "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 
 
 3 
 
30 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 Adjutant." To so reasonable a request Sir Charles, who was 
 a most obliguig 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 
 satisfaction until he heard the Scotch doctor anathematized 
 in the Phoenix Park. 
 
 The death of poor Dennis was in such perfect keeping 
 with his life that I am tempted to give it to you. 
 
 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 intemperate 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 
 unsatisfactory, 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 thq person to resent the insult should 
 be indifferently selected (by lot) from the corps. " Gentle- 
 men, 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 concealed 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 substitute, but Dennis was immovable in his resolve. He 
 proceeded to the ground, supported by a crutch, and 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 body was carried to its last resting-place, accompanied 
 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." 
 
CASTLEBAK— NEWPORT. 31 
 
 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 
 ever find the equal of the Mad Major ? By Jasus, it was a 
 comfort to be cursed by him ! " 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Castlebar — Newport — Departure from Christendom — Progress into Terra 
 Incognita — Roads and Scenery — Mulranny — Passage down the Inlet — 
 Incidents — Lodge in the Wilds of Erris — Description of the Establish- 
 ment. 
 
 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 
 facade 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-whisky; 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 afterwards, the chamber-maid 
 roused me to enquire if I had any intention of proceeding to 
 Hollymount by a hackney car. To save these worthy people 
 farther 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 beheved 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 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 
 
32 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 cur 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 communi- 
 cates with the sea, and farther on passed the old tower of 
 Carrigahowla. Our route was contiguous 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 dilapidated, 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 improvable country, covering at least fifty square 
 miles, with numerous and profitable islands attached, and an 
 immense line of sea-coast 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 ex- 
 pended on many a useless undertaking elsewhere ? Yes : 
 large sums have 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 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 affidavits 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 t 
 
PASSAGE DOWN THE INLET. 33 
 
 these delinquencies have been often and notoriously perpe- 
 trated, 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 communica- 
 tion 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 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 head- 
 lands, through which this inlet irregularly winds, we often 
 started flocks of curlew [Appendix, No. I.] which, rising in 
 an alarm at our unexpected appearance, made the rocks ring 
 with their loud and piercing whistle. Skirting the shores 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 sufficiently close to the shore to observe the size and 
 colour of the bird, and concluded that a grouse had been the 
 eagle's [Appendix, No. II.] victim. 
 
 When we had cleared the highlands 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 
 
 * "Eagles are well knowne to breed here, but neither so bigge, nor so 
 many, as books tell. ■ Cambrensis reportetb. of his own knowledge, and I 
 heare it averred by credible persons, that barnacles, thousands at once, are 
 noted along the sboares to hang by the beakes, about the edges of putrified 
 timber, shippes, oares, anchor-holders, and such like, which in processe 
 taking lively heate of the sunne, become water-foules, and at their time of 
 ripenesse either fall into the sea, or fly abroad into the ayre." 
 
 Campion's Historie. 
 
34 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 domesticated 
 in the mansion as my cousin's Newfoundland dog. I know 
 the names and sobriquet of the establishment; can dis- 
 criminate between Hamish-an-eilan, (James of the island,) 
 and Andy-lawn, (Fair Andy) ; I hold converse with the cook, 
 and am hand-and-glove with the housemaid. Eeally I am 
 delighted with the place, for everything is wild, new, and 
 out-of-the-way; but I must describe the locale of my kins- 
 man's domicile. 
 
 At the bottom of a narrow creek, you must imagine a 
 low snug dwelling, and in good repair. Thfe 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 farm- 
 yard, rouses the refreshed sleeper in the morning. In the 
 calm of evening I hear the shrill cry of the sand-lark; 
 [Appendix, No. III.] 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 clairet 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 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 birding-piece — but the 
 remnant of that noble stock, which hunters of other days, 
 O'Connor the Cus Dhu,t and Cormac Bawn Mac lavish once 
 delighted in pursuing. 
 
 * The customary thatch in parts of Erris. t Blackfoot. 
 
THE MOUNTAIN ANGLER. 35 
 
 The offices of this wild dwelUng are well adapted to the 
 edifice. In winter the ponies have their stable ; and kine 
 and sheep a comfortable shed. ISTor are the dogs forgotten ; 
 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 use- 
 less appendages ; for the nearest road on which a wheel could 
 turn is ten miles distant from the lodge. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Periodicals— Cockney Sports and Sportsmen — Mountain Angler and his 
 Attendant — Fishing-tackle — Antony the Otter-killer — Visit the River — 
 Flies — Hooking my first Salmon — Return to the Lodge — Sporting 
 Authors — Sir Humphrey Davy — Col. Hawker — Salmonia — Criticisms. 
 
 The last post-bag brought a large supply of newspapers and 
 monthly literature. Gad-o'mercy ! what notions the fisher- 
 men of Cockaigne 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 pecuniary 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. [Appendix, No. IV.] 
 
 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 form, but sinewy limbs, are 
 untranmielled by shoe or stocking. Fond of the sport him- 
 self, 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 are the 
 
36 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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, ilies, 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 enquired if I "intended to annihilate the fishery?" Then 
 turning, leaf by leaf, three immense fly-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 weirs 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 piscation ; and besides, I had involved 
 myself in a most amufeing article in Blackwood, and felt an 
 unwillingness to lay aside the book. At this moment of 
 indecision, 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 inspection ! "What a 
 beautiful fish ! it barely measures thirty inches, and is fully 
 ten pounds weight ! That short and deep-shouldered hrid- 
 dawn* 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 Cheapside 
 fisherman — one who wears a modest-coloured jacket, lest a 
 * Hibernioe, a salmon. 
 
FISHING EXCURSION. 37 
 
 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 yourself 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 the leaves of a tattered 
 song-book : in the same depository 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 weir, 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 knave 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 ' prognosticate 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 ; when suddenly my nebulous 
 speculations were interrupted by a deep sluggish roll at the 
 dropper. " Monamondiaoul ! "* exclaimed Mortien Beg,+ as 
 he caught a momentary glance of the broad and fan-like tail. 
 * An Iriah imprecation. t Little Martin. 
 
38 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 " 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 excellent amusement ; and at six o'clock re- 
 turned 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 exceptions, all published 
 sporting productions in disrepute, one that I remarked on 
 your book-stand, Julius, strikes me as being at the same 
 time clever and useful ; I mean Sir Humphrey 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 
 
SIR HUMPHREY DAVY. 39 
 
 make fishermen, where Colonel Hawker's directions enable 
 a man to shoot who has never been five miles from 
 Holborn Bars. I doubt not but Sir Humphrey 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 nev«r in any seasons or weathers 
 be successful here. He fairly says, ' that different rivers 
 require different flies ; ' but nothing like those he recom- 
 mends would answer this one. And although many of the 
 theories and speculative opinions are very ingenious, I 
 question much their validity. 
 
 Admiring Sir Humphrey as I do, I would pardon his 
 philosophy and fine flies ; his ' golden pheasant, silken-bodied, 
 orange, red, and pale blue, silver-twisted, and kings-fisher 
 mixtures,' even to his 'small bright humming-bird' itself; 
 but with all my Christian charity and personal affection, 
 there is one fatal passage for which, like Lady Macbeth's 
 soiled hand, there is no remedy. Would that I could 'pluck 
 from the memory ' that luckless page ; but, alas ! whenever 
 I see Salmonia, it rushes to my recollection. Think, Frank, 
 of a man who limited a party of sporting tourists to half a 
 pint of claret ! and threatened an honest gentleman, who 
 called for another bottle, with an ' overflow of blood,' ' a 
 suffusion of the hemorrhoidal veins,' and, worse than all, ' a 
 determined palsy,' if he persevered. I could have forgiven 
 the philosopher anything — everything — even to the com- 
 parison of that rascally fish the perch with the rich and 
 luxurious mullet. But to ' fob off ' four stout gentlemen with 
 a solitary bottle of the vin ordinaire, ycleped claret, that one 
 meets with in a country inn ! For God's sake, ring the bell ! 
 Here, John, some wine ! — nothing but a fresh bottle can 
 allay my indignation, and restore my tranquillity." 
 
 " Well, we must admit that Sir Humphrey would not be 
 exactly the man to fill the chair at an Irish symposium; 
 but, his bacchanalian antipathies ' apart, he really is an 
 agreeable and instructive writer." 
 
 " Why, ye-es ; still there is a dash of milk-and-water 
 throughout Salmonia that nothing but its ingenious account of 
 the affinities and natural history of fishes could compensate. 
 Take for example the introduction of the Fishing-party, and 
 remark the colloquy between Halieus and Poietes : — 
 
 Sal. — ' I am delighted to see you, my worthy friends, on 
 
40 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 the banks of the Colne ; and am happy to be able to say, 
 that my excellent host has not only made you free of the 
 river for this day's angling, but insists upon your dining with 
 him, wishes you to try the evening fishing, and the fishing 
 to-morrow morning, and proposes to you, in short, to give up 
 twenty-four hours to the delights of an angler's May-day.' 
 
 Poiet. — 'We are deeply indebted to him; and I hardly 
 know how we can accept his oifer without laying ourselves 
 under too great an obligation.' 
 
 Sal. — ' Fear not ! he is as noble-minded a man as ever 
 delighted in good offices ; and so benevolent, that' I am sure 
 he will be almost as happy in knowing you are amused, as 
 you can be in your sport '; and hopes for an additional satis- 
 faction in the pleasure of your conversation.' 
 
 ■Poiet. — 'So let it be.' 
 
 Hal. — ' I will take you to the house, you shall make your 
 bow, and then you shall be all free to follow your own fancies. 
 Eemember the dinner-hour is five ; the dressing-bell rings at 
 half -past four ; be punctual to this engagement, from which 
 you will be free at seven.' 
 
 IsTow, because a country-gentleman takes heart and invites 
 four philosophers to dinner, Hal. can scarcely find words to 
 communicate the hospitable message, and Poietes opines that 
 the obligation shall be eternal. After the worthy host is 
 lauded for this generous act to the very skies, it appears that 
 he bundles off the company at seven o'clock, and before they 
 had time to look around the table, quoits them out, like a 
 shove-groat shilling ; but hark ! the piper is in the hall — 
 Shin suis, Cormac! * pass the wine — and a fig for philosophy!" 
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 Symptoms of a coming Storm — A Sportsman's Dinner — Old John — Pattigo — 
 Gale comes on — Shawn a tra buoy — Seals — The Blind Seal. 
 
 . The morning had a sullen look ; Slieve More retained his 
 
 night-cap ; 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 
 
 * Play up, Cormac ! 
 
A SPORTSMAN'S DINNER. 41 
 
 piercing whistle of the curlew was heard more frequently, 
 and the small hard-weather tern, which seldom leaves the 
 Black Eock but to harbinger a coming tempest, was omin- 
 ously 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 appear- 
 ance — 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 abatement 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 wholesome 
 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 excep- 
 tion to the cookery, and had these worthies still been in- 
 habitants 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 piquante. 
 
 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 privilege 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 huoy* is a wonderful beast ; I knew a , 
 change of weather was at hand when he rose beside the shore 
 last night, and showed his gray 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 I was a boy in 
 the old master's kitchen, — the Lord be merciful to his soul*! 
 Shawn a tra Imoy'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 
 * Jack of the yellow strand. 
 
42 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 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 'sldpper 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 Eevenue — 
 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 launched 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 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 pre- 
 parations to be comfortable for the night. 
 
 Were I required to name the most rechercM of my kins- 
 man's luxuries, I should specify his unrivalled canastre ; an 
 ample quantity of this precious tabac (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 addevdwm in the shape of a foreign-looking bottle, 
 
 * A by-name. 
 
THE BLIND SEAL. 43 
 
 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 ! while my achinsf head testifies a too devoted 
 attachment to that mis-shapen 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 huoy. Although in its wild 
 state the seal is always shy and sometimes dangerous, yet 
 when taken young it is easily domesticated, and susceptible 
 of strong attachment to its keepers.* 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 forty 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 flsh, 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 crip- 
 pawn' — 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 
 
 * In January, 1819, in the neighbourhood of Burntisland, 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 hiin, upon which occasion it afforded no 
 small entertainment. When thrown into the water, it would follow for 
 miles the track of the boat, and, although thrust back by the oars, it never 
 relinquished 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 predilection for its native element. 
 
44 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 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 superstitious 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 over night 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 off 'the seal, and not put him 
 overboard until he had gone leagues beyond Innisbofifin. 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 hellish 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 morn- 
 ing, 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 
 
A "WET DAY. 45 
 
 were useless, and that the destructive 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 [Appendix, No. V.] came to forewarn them of an 
 approaching death, and buried their heads in the bed-cover- 
 ings. 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 ijionient 
 misfortunes followed the abettors and perpetrators of this 
 inhuman deed. The detestable hag who had denounced the 
 inoffensive seal, was, within a twelvemonth, hanged for 
 murdering the illegitimate offspring of her own daughter. 
 Everything about this devoted house melted 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 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 affectionate seal. 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 A Wet Day— Fly-tying — Piscatory Disquisitions — The Tinker — Lessons in. 
 the Gentle Art — An Unexpected Ally. 
 
 The night throughout continued wild and blustrous; 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 
 
 4 
 
46 "WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 is unprovided 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 marvellous 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 interchanges I made when 
 vainly striving 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 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 
 a,ncient otter-killer. 
 
 " Frank," said my cousin, " you must 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 schoolmen's adage holds — Mega biblion, mega, 
 Icakon. 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 
 
FLY-TYING. 47 
 
 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. 
 Necessity 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 — 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 Walton ! 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 accomplish- 
 ment 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 
 overstocked fishing-book. 
 
 1 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 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 
 
48 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 eifective collection is 
 desirable ; and it is absurd to lose a fortunate half -hour tying 
 on the river bank what could be more conveniently fabricated 
 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 will have vanished, and given place to some new 
 variety of the insect world. Thus far, at least, the tyer 
 possesses an advantage over him who cannot produce a 
 fly that no .collection that human ingenuity can form will 
 compensate. 
 
 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 distillation, 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 disappointed fisher- 
 man, and observed, at a short distance, a man chased across 
 the bogs by several others, and eventually overtaken 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 
 
AN UNEXPECTED ALLY. 49 
 
 brought iu 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 propositions where- 
 withal 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. ' My 
 honour had no sport,' and he looked carelessly at my flies. 
 ' Would 1 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 rufhan- 
 looking fellows were on the road beside it. They were half 
 drunk and insolent — I was rash — blows followed words, 
 and I soon discovered that I should have the worst of the 
 battle, and was tolerably certain of a sound drubbing. 
 Suddenly 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 wonder that ye don't practise oftener ! ' The 
 speaker was my gifted friend — the tinker." 
 
50 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 Sporting TopoOTaphy of Mayo— Hunting Country — Fox Covers — Lakes, 
 Rivers, and Fish — A Domiciliary Visit— Revenue Foray — Capture of 
 drunken Distillers— Alarm- — Midnight Meditations — Angling Excursion 
 — Goolamore — Salmon Fishing— English and Irish Hooks — Limerick 
 preferable to all others. 
 
 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 conseq^uently not subdivided into 
 the numerous enclosures which are requisite in tillage 
 farming, this part of Mayo is justly held 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 necessi- 
 tated 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 every 
 thing 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. 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 mis- 
 chievous stock, maugre traps and persecution, to increase 
 and multiply. 
 
 While the country is peculiarly adapted for field-sports, 
 the extensive lakes [Appendix, No. VI.] and numerous rivers 
 offer every inducement to the angler; the streams are 
 plentifully stocked with trout, and the rivers which com- 
 
EEVENUE'FOKAY. 51 
 
 municate 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 expansive 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 Eevenue 
 Police. Under cover of the night, they made a descent upon 
 our valleys from their station, some fifteen miles off. Except- 
 ing causing dire alarm, a general abduction 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 accessaries were indulging a little 
 after their exertions. Unluckily, the Eevenue stumbled 
 upon the convivial meeting, and although the stuff was gone, 
 the still, apparatus, and unextinguished fire were proofs 
 positive that the King — God bless him ! — had been wof ully 
 defrauded. Such of the party as could strike a walk, escaped 
 without difficulty; but two unhappy gentlemen who were 
 blind drunk, and fast asleep in all security before the 
 smouldering embers of the still-fire, were captured and con- 
 veyed 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 
 country ; 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 Eevenue 
 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."t "If anybody 
 
 * For example, the Gillaroo and Par. 
 
 t Poteen is commonly buried in the earth in small-sized vessels ; this is 
 done for the double purpose of improving the whisky and concealing it from 
 the Revenue. If detected in a dwelling-house, the owner incurs a penalty of 
 
52 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 told the gauger, John ? " " They would only tell him what 
 he knows already. The gauger — 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 -^ell, and, as John avers, the sun set favourably : 
 [Appendix, No. VII.] there is, however, one solitary scintil- 
 lating star,' — one ! there are two. Confound the poteen ! it 
 is the queerest, pleasantest, out-o'-the-way drink imagin- 
 able! — and the gauger told such odd stories and sang such 
 extraordinary songs — 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 head-ache I'll 
 immortalize 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 thoiitand miles apart. 
 In Goolamore, throughout the whole year, whitef 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 
 
 one hundred pounds ; notwithstanding which, there are few gentlemen in 
 this part of Connaught who are not plentifully supplied with this proscribed 
 spirit. 
 
 * An Irish proverb, literally meaning, " Tim understands Teady." 
 
 t 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 in- 
 dicative 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 Qondition. 
 
ENGLISH AND IRISH HOOKS. 53 
 
 which Goolamore yields all through 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-life, 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 
 Isaac who has once indulged in the exquisite delight of 
 salmon-fishing wiU 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-trouts. 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. 
 Eepeated 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 
 was deceived. My kinsman rarely lost a salmon, and mine 
 broke from me continually. I find, by sad experience, 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 manu- 
 facture. 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 [Appendix, No. VIII.], 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, how- 
 ever, I consider hook-making to be an unnecessary accom- 
 plishment for the angler, as the best hooks in the world can 
 
54 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 be procured without trouble, and at a trifling expense, from 
 O'Shaughnessy of Limerick. 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 Salmon-KsMng Described — Draughting — Fishing Precarious — Change hi 
 Season and Condition — Poaching — Private Distillation — Size and Weight 
 of Salmon — Sir H. Davy — Migration of Salmon — Natural History — 
 Anecdotes and Experiments — Lerneae Salmoneae. 
 
 To those unacquainted with the method of taking salmon a 
 brief detail may not be uninteresting; premising 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 Idlled, 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 weir 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 technically 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. 
 
 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 are supposed to lie. Eeturning 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 
 
FISHING PEECAKIOUS. 55 
 
 within effectually secured. The fish are then carefully 
 landed, and at a single draught five hundred salmon have 
 been taken. This is, however, an event of rare occurrence, 
 and unless the net was 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 1st of July to the 12th of August, the 
 daily average would be probably five hundred salmon, 
 exclusive of an immense quantity of white trouts. But 
 success depends entirely upon the weather. Should the 
 season prove rainy or tempestuous, 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 extraordinary how much the flavour and quality of 
 the salmon depend upon circumstances apparently of trifling 
 moment. A single day in the river will injure, and a flood 
 spoil their condition ; and a difference between a fish taken 
 in the nets, and one killed with a rod, will be easily per- 
 ceptible. 
 
 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 flavour- 
 less, 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 most from night-fishers. 
 This species of poaching is as difficult to detect as it is 
 ruinous in its consequences. It is believed that the destruc- 
 tion of a few breeding fish may cost the proprietor one 
 
56 WILD SPORTS OF THE "WEST. 
 
 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 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 torchlight,* and gaffed by the plunderer. 
 Hundreds of the breeding lish are annually thus destroyed ; 
 and although the greater fisheries may be tolerably protected, 
 it is impossible to secure the mountain-streams from depreda- 
 tion. If detected, the legal penalty upon poaching is trifling ; 
 and, as appeals on very frivolous grounds are allowed from 
 the summary convictions of magistrates, 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 demoralizing trade. 
 They are up all night attending to the still. The watch 
 kept against the Eevenue 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 Humphrey 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 
 ,J;hirty 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 that I never saw a fish weighing more than 
 thirty-five pounds, and not many reaching even to twenty- 
 five pounds. 
 
 The Priest, my neighbour, who lives on the banks of 
 
 * " There are a good many pike in the riyer near to Trolhattan. In the 
 course of two successive days, I once took with my rod sixty-three of those 
 fish ; they were, however, small, their aggregate weight being little more 
 than one hundred pounds. The largest fish weighed eight pounds. Great 
 quantities of pike and other fish, salmon among the rest, are speared in the 
 vicinity of Trolhattan by torch-light, many of the people thereabouts being 
 adepts at that amusement." — Lloyd's Meld Sports of the North of Mirope. 
 
SIZE AND WEIGHT OF SALMON. 57 
 
 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 Humphrey 
 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 Humphrey overrates the 
 weight of Scottish salmon, or in the river 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 Billinsgate, 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 Chrouo- 
 logist, 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." 
 
 Passing Grove's shop in Bond Street some time ago, I 
 remarked an immense fish extended in the window; I 
 stopped to inquire what its weight might be, and was in- 
 formed that it weighed forty-five pounds. It had been a 
 little 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 established this fact. M. de la 
 Lande 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 
 
58 WILD SPOKTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 suc- 
 ceeded.- 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 period of spawn- 
 ing the fish neglects feeding. In this peculiar habit the 
 salmon is not, however, singular, for animals of the Phocse 
 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 Humphrey Davy believes that occasion- 
 ally 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 Lernese 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 oif 
 and disappear. 
 
 CHAPTEK XL 
 
 Mullet — Preparations for MuUet-fisMng — Seals — ^Aneodotes — The Red Dwarf 
 — His mode of killing Seals — Catching a Tartar — Pitching Mullet Nets — 
 Excursion on the Island — A Wild Guide— Coursing — Comparison be- 
 tween English and Irish Greyhounds — Take of Mullet — Return — 
 Anecdotes of Mullet-fishing — The Homicide. 
 
 Eaely this morning we received intelligence that a school* 
 of mullet [Appendix, No. IX.] had been seen on the pre- 
 ceding evening, working in a sandy bay some six miles 
 distant from the Lodge — and as we determined to devote 
 
 * Shoal. 
 
SEAL SHOOTING. 59 
 
 the day to fishing, the household were soon upon 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 
 with 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, unrufHed 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 anec- 
 dotes 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 an excursion 
 up the Sound of AchU. 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 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 farther. 
 
 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 
 
60 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 haunt for the animal to bask upon. The rock is easily 
 approached from the mainland, 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 
 Eed Dwarf seldom fails in surprising him, and with astonish- 
 ing expertness generally despatches him with a single blow. 
 
 The number he kills annually proves his extraordinary 
 success. If the first blow fails, an event that 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. Eunning 
 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, tiU, 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 a 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 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 
 
PITCHING MULLE.T-NETS. 61 
 
 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. With 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 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 spring endeavouring 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 riveted my attention. 
 
 5 
 
62 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 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 brace 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 distinguished breeding, [Appendix, No. X.] the 
 produce of a Swaffham sire, and compared with my cousin's 
 appeared descended from a giant-stock. His certainly 
 were beautiful diminutives; but, as I conceived, very un- 
 equal 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 
 dogs 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 
 sea-shore, always a favourite run of island hares. Eushing 
 headlong through rocks, and running over pointed pebbles, 
 the English dogs were speedily disabled. But my cousin's, 
 accustomed to the beach, ran with caution till they cleared 
 the rocks, then taking advantage of the open strand, killed 
 
MULLET-FISHING. 63 
 
 without a scratch, while my unpractised dogs were rendered 
 unserviceable for a fortnight. 
 
 Generally -speaking, the large and high-bred English grey- 
 hound 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 greyhounds 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 an 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 reconnaissance, 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 destina- 
 tion, 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 them ? " " The contrary is the case," he 
 replied ; " a remnant of barbarous usage prevents this wild 
 population from benefiting by the ample supply which 
 Providence sends to these shores. Did you remark several 
 boats approach and reconnoitre us ? " 
 
 " Yes, and what of it ? " 
 
 "ISTothing 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 
 
 * The general length of the common mullet (mugil) is from twelve to 
 eighteen inches. When used immediately after heing taken, the fish is 
 excellent ; carriage, even for a short distance, injures it. Dr. Bloch recom- 
 mends oil and lemon-juice to be used with it at table. Vinegar, with parsley 
 and melted-butter, is better — "probatum est." 
 
 This fish is sometimes preserved by salting ; and from its spawn, an in- 
 ferior kind of caviare, called Botargo is prepared, by using the common process 
 of curing and drying. 
 
64 WILD SPOETS OF THE WE^T. 
 
 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 themselves too indulgent 
 in permitting me and my dependents to return with un- 
 damaged heads. Last year they robbed and beat my boat- 
 men 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 j 
 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 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, Hennessy, 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. N"o, poor fellow ! they were only 
 two homicides [Appendix, No. XL] and an abduction." 
 
 " And do you countenance and shelter such a character ? " 
 
 " What ! abandon my own foster-brother for an accident or 
 two ! Pshaw ! Prank, you jest. I'll tell you the particulars 
 another time." 
 
 It was late, and we separated. 
 
ANGLING. 65 
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 Angling — Fish found in Mayo — Peasantry — Their Mode of Fishing — The 
 Pooka — Description and Use — Pike and Trout — Their Size — Perch — 
 Their Fecundity — Trout Destroyed — Greater Lakes Described — Subter- 
 raneous Communication between them — Lesser Lakes — Their Fish — Lake 
 of Derreens — Its Trout Extinct — Lake of Castlebar. 
 
 In a country whose surface is covered with numerous and 
 extensive sheets of water, like Mayo, it may be concluded 
 that the angler will find ample occupation. Independently 
 of salmon and trout fishing, to those who will employ them- 
 selves 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 interesting varieties of the trout tribe will be found, 
 from the little speckled samlet to the large and curious 
 gillaroo. 
 
 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 innocently dissipated, and occasionally supplies 
 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 fooka* 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 considerable stout- 
 ness, 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 back, to keep it 
 
 * ' ' Among other methods for taking the finny tribe common in this part 
 of Scandinavia, the Ldngref was very generally adopted. This consisted of a 
 line, running occasionally several miles in length, to which, at certain 
 intervals, many hundreds of hooks were attached ; and this, as it extended 
 through such an immense expanse of water, was, as may readily be imagined, 
 very destructive. I have known instances when the Ldngref has been 
 provided with one thousand or twelve hundred hooks, and to have been eight 
 or ten miles in length." — Lloyd's Field Sports of the North of Ewrope. 
 
66 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 
 fisherman 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 used on 
 the same line, and the pooka at times affords much amuse- 
 ment, and often a well-filled pannier. 
 
 There are no waters in Great Britain, with the exception 
 of the river Shannon,* where larger pike [Appendix, No. XII.] 
 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 pike 
 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.f The trout iu those 
 loughs are also immensely large. From five to fifteen pounds 
 is no unusual size, and some have been found that reached 
 the enormous weight of thirty. The perch tribe appear the 
 smallest in the scale of relative 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 communicate, 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, fiy-fishing is seldom practised 
 there. The trout is nearly extinct, and quantities of pike 
 and perch infest every pool and stream. The simplest 
 
 * " I never remember hearing, in an authentic shape, of a pike exceeding 
 from thirty-five to forty pounds in weight. This a little surprised me, as I 
 should have thought, from the great extent of many of the waters, those fish 
 might have been much heavier. " — Lloyd's Meld Sports of the North of Europe. 
 
 t " Trimmers, or night-lines (sten-krok), were also iu very general use ; 
 these, however, were always stationary ; and the bait (a- natural one) was 
 affixed to the hook, by a rather curious contrivance, in such a manner that, 
 whether alive or dead, it always remained in a swimming position." — Lloyd's 
 Meld Sports of the North of Europe. 
 
GEEAT WESTEEN LAKES. 67 
 
 methods of taking fish will be here found successful, and the 
 lakes of Westmeath will soon be rivalled by the Loughs of 
 Mayo. 
 
 Of the greater western lakes, Conn and Carra belong to 
 Mayo; Corrib to Galway; and Mask lies between both 
 counties. The most northerly, Lough Conn, 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 everything that the 
 painter delights to fancy may here be realised. Islands and 
 peninsulas, with rich overhanging 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 mussel 
 [Appendix, No. XIII.], 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 with both. That this union 
 cannot long subsist, I should be inclined to infer from one 
 remarkable circumstance, and it is a convincing proof of thfe 
 rapid destruction 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 
 
68 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 Turlogh river, and of 
 course they will soon appear in a lake which directly 
 communicates with this stream. [Appendix, No. XIV.] 
 
 CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 Nineteenth of August — Preparations for the Mountains — Order of March — 
 A Cook Broiled to Death — Interruption of a Funeral — Drowned 
 Shepherd — Grouse Shooting — Evening Compotation —Morning — Locale 
 of a Shooter's Cabin — Life in the Mountains — The Red Deer — Return to 
 the Hut — Luxury of a Cold-bath. 
 
 The nineteenth of August, that busy day of preparation with 
 Irish sportsmen, came at last. An unusual commotion was 
 evident among my kinsman's household, and there was a 
 wondrous packing up of camp-beds, culinary utensils, baskets 
 and bottles, arms and ammunition — 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 appertaining 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 supernumeraries are daily 
 provided for besides. When I hinted to my cousin the 
 expense that must attend the supporting 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 
 it as if it occurred but yesterday. She was carried to the 
 
THE DROWNED SHEPHERD. 69 
 
 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 churchyard, the lugger was suddenly 
 discovered rounding the Black Eock. Instantly the mourners 
 absconded — the bearers threw down the body — the priest, 
 who was deeply concerned in the cargo, was the first to fly — 
 and the defunct cook was left accordingly in peaceable 
 possession 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 
 cairn 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 of 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 dep6t 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 low- 
 land home by the severity of a relentless middle-man, had 
 settled themselves in this wild valley, and erected the clay 
 walls of that ruined hut before you. 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 dep6t, 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 
 
70 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 little ones, the herdsman crossed the mountains 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 liis back — crossed 
 himself devoutly, and, in the name of God, committed him- 
 self to the swollen river. 
 
 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 agonizing 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 
 circumstance 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 
 bellowings 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 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. Ifot 
 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's compotation I shall be 
 
LOCALE OF A SHOOTEE'S CABIN. 71 
 
 excused in passing over. I must acknowledge 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 in- 
 flammation consequent on the stinging we had endured from 
 the insects, and after blowing a comfortable 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 Humphrey's denunciations, fortified ourselves 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 herdsman's 
 hovel, to which my kinsman has added an apartment 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 apparatus 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 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 
 
 * "Callioglis" are recesse,s built in the side walls of an Irish cabin, con- 
 venient 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 «. peasant's hovel on a wet day, and enquire for the owner of 
 the house, a strapping boy 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 stricMn' on the bed." 
 
72 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 themselves 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 unnaccountable. 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 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 [Appendix, No. XV.] 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 produced 
 little effect, and none but a Cockney, under similar circum- 
 stances, would waste a charge ; and to teaze, 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 
 
 * The couples are the principal timbers that support tlie roof ; they are 
 placed at stated distances, and an Irishman descriljcs the size of a house by 
 telling you it has so many "couples." 
 
BALL IN THE MOUNTAINS. 73 
 
 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 leisurely pace of the 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 at 
 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 intolerable, 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 grey 
 plovers, was the produce of our chasse. 
 
 CHAPTEE XIV. 
 
 Ball Opens — Moonlight — Mountain Scenery — Old Antony — Adventure with 
 the Fairies — Ball Continues — The Otter-hunter's History — Ball Con- 
 cludes — The Pater-o-pee. 
 
 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 suit. The fondness of these 
 mountain maidens for dancing is incredible; at times of 
 festival, on the occasion of a wedding, or dragging home,-|- or 
 
 * Hibernice — A piper. 
 
 + " Dragging home," is the bringing the bride for the first time to her 
 husband's house. An immense mob of relatives and clemnes, of both the 
 ■houses, are collected on the occasion, and, as an awful quantity of whisky 
 
74 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 contrasted 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. 
 
 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 appearance 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 believe 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 , — 
 
 must of necessity be distributed to the company, this high solemnity 
 seldom concludes without subjecting the host's person and property to 
 demolition. 
 
 * Marks or traces left by the animal. t Fairies. 
 
ADVENTURE WITH THE FAIRIES. 75 
 
 " It will be eleven years next month when I was hunting 
 otters at Lough na Mueka ; — 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 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, when I examined her, she had her 
 mouth full of oald 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.* 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 day- 
 time," 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, 
 * Martin with the rough face. 
 
76 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 fauies civilly. ' Gentlemen and ladies,' says 
 I, making a bow to the place where the lights were dancing, 
 'maybe 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 
 boreeinf 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 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 
 that the good-people have carried me off at lasb, as they did 
 Shamus Bollogh,J from Ballycroy. [Appendix, No. XVI.] 
 
 Presently we returned to the hut ; the whisky had begun 
 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 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 earlier days he was a 
 travelling pedlar, a dealer in furs and Connemara stockings. 
 He had always an unconquerable fancy for angling and otter- 
 kiUing ; and with a pack upon his shoulders, and a fish-spear 
 * A morass. t A horse-path leading into bogs. J James the Stutterer. 
 
THE OTTER-HUNTER'S HISTORY. 77 
 
 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 wauderings. 
 He had 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 
 philosopher ; 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 delight than 
 the cornuted otter-killer when he hurried back to his beloved 
 mountains. From that moment he foreswore the town ; and 
 excepting on his annual visit to the furrier, Antony has 
 avoided the busier haunts of mankind. Having added bleed- 
 ing to the number of his acquirements, he practises pharmacy 
 in this wilderness, 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 head-quarters, 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 comfort- 
 able chair, formed of twisted bent. The women of my 
 
 6 
 
78 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 hoUands with the crystal water that falls 
 from the rock behind us, I listen in voluptuous tranquillity 
 to Antony's monotonous 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 gentle- 
 women 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 colliaghs, 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 cross-wise on the ground — the 
 pipes struck up an unusual sort of jig — and the feat com- 
 menced. " 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 consisted 
 of an eternal hopping into the small compartments 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'U bet the manager, 
 notwithstanding, a cool hundred, that on the strength of the 
 King's Theatre he has no artiste who wUl touch Tim Cooney 
 at the pater-0-pee! 
 
 * Anglice — Baskets. 
 
HEAVY FALL OF EAIN. 79 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Moon looks Suspicious — Heavy Fall of Rain — River Flooded — Sporting 
 "Writers — Criticism on Hawker — Originality of the Colonel — His Outfit 
 of a Wild-fowl Shooter — Samuel Singer and his Giin. 
 
 When we took a last look from the window of our hut 
 before we retired to our respective mattresses, there was a 
 broad belt observable around the moon's disc, which is the 
 well-known token of an approaching change of weather ; and 
 early this morning the constant plashing from the roof told 
 us that the rain was falling heavily. The river rose apace, 
 and the flood thundered past the cabin, momentarily 
 increasing by the frequent torrents from the high grounds. 
 The gentle and sparkling stream, on whose moonlight banks 
 I had been musing at midnight, had disappeared, and a fierce 
 and turbulent body of discoloured water rushed through its 
 swollen channel, bearing along huge portions of the banks 
 which had yielded to its fury. 
 
 " "We are fairly caught, Frank," said my kinsman : — 
 "Hemmed in by the stream, if life depended on it we 
 could not now communicate with the Lodge. Fortunately, the 
 cabin roof is impervious to the water; and, thanks to the 
 foresight of old John, I see the backgammon box has not 
 been forgotten. Come, shall we have a hit ; tie a fly ; cut 
 card-waddings ; play ecart6 ; or listen to one of Antony's 
 amatory narratives, showing how a baron's lady left her 
 bege lord for a black-eyed page, and how a holy monk 
 proved in the end to be no better than he ought to be ? And 
 we have books too ; shall we speculate and star-gaze with • 
 Sir Humphrey ; or paddle in the punt with Hawker, after 
 ' blue-billed curres,' ' dun-birds and divers,' ' Tommy Loos 
 and Isle of Wight parsons ? ' " 
 
 " Anything for me but Colonel Thornton, for I am heart- 
 sick of ' Mrs. T ' and ' red legged-partridges.' " 
 
 "I confess I would rather wade through the mud with 
 honest Philip after all, than accompany the Colonel in his 
 researches for French estates, which he never had an 
 intention to purchase. I own that Hawker is in many 
 things exquisitely absurd, but he is amusing also, although 
 in his adaptation of matter his work does not precisely exhi- 
 bit the happiest specimen of good arrangement. See, for 
 example, he recommends you to ' dine at one o'clock,' ' not to 
 snore away the evening in concert with your dog,' and admits 
 that ' if a man likes grog he may finish the evening with a 
 bucket full;' assures you that soap and water is 'the 
 
80 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 sovereignest thing on earth ' for soiled hands ; and that kid 
 gloves are sold by Mr. Painter, No. 27 Fleet Street; 
 concluding with the following valuable recipe : — 
 
 ' If a pferson is extremely nervous from hearing the report 
 of his gun, or from the noise of the rising game, let him 
 prime his ears with cotton, and his inside with tincture of 
 bark and sal volatile.' 
 
 This fortification of the ears is, no doubt, an excellent pre- 
 caution for a Cockney, and certainly less hazardous than the 
 aerial mode propounded by the Colonel for killing rabbits.* 
 To perch in a tree, I think, would be a sufficient punish- 
 ment; and what assistance a dog would render in the 
 branches is inconceivable." 
 
 " What say you also to the association in one sentence, of 
 ' game, flies, rats, red-herrings, and corrosive sublimate ? ' 
 The information farther, that mercury will kill bugs — and a 
 nota bene, warning the King's men against poison ; conclud- 
 ing with a valuable recipe for a sauce piquante that would 
 ' tickle the gust&tory nerves where fifty failed.' 
 
 The Colonel indeed may fairly claim the palm for being 
 as diffusive as successful. He opens up the mysteries of 
 gun-making in one page, and in another, gives you instruc- 
 tions for correcting sour beer — proves that publicans dilute 
 spirits — damp sheets produce rheufaiatisms — and draughts of 
 air bring on the toothache. Gives you a recipe for making 
 cold punch, which was given him some years ago in Glasgow, 
 where the said cold punch was universally drunk; and 
 furnishes such information upon game laws, tartar emetic, 
 fleecy hosiery, and tincture of bark, as must astound the 
 reader, and cause him to marvel at the astonishing capacity 
 of the commander's cranium." 
 
 "All these are excellent in their way. The Colonel, however, 
 owns that he has borrowed much from others ; but for 
 originality, take him upon dress, and listen to his equipment 
 of a wild-fowl shooter. 
 
 Imprimis, the nether extremities are to be thus garnished — 
 ' one extra pair of coarse yarn stockings ; one ditto of the 
 thickest wads ; one ditto of under-stockings of the warmest 
 quality; a pair of waterproof boots, and a ditto Flushing 
 trousers.' — The worthy Colonel proceeds : — 
 
 * " To shoot rabbits in the evening sit iu a tree, and by your being above 
 them they are not likely to smell you, and -n-iU therefore ' play about close 
 under the tree. Let your dead ones lie till you have done shooting, instead of 
 spoiling your own sport by getting down for them. For this work you must 
 take no dog." — Eawker. 
 
OUTFIT OF A WIL,D-FOWL SHOOTEE. 81 
 
 ' It is needless to say that, (except the feet, which we have 
 already defended) every part of the body should be clothed 
 with flannel. 
 
 With regard to further covering for the body; could we 
 ensure not getting wet, leather would perhaps be warmest ; 
 but, at all events, the waistcoat, both before and behind, 
 should be made of shag, or Bath-coating, which certainly, 
 taking all weather, answers best, and is the most comfortable. 
 Under the waistcoat should be worn a Flushing frock, and 
 over it a sort of jacket, of either drab cloth or swan- 
 skin. The cap may be made of the same (or anything that 
 has the same appearance), and, if cold, worn over a 
 Welsh wig. Mr. Lloyd, 13 Old Bond Street, has invented 
 an excellent though simple defender for the chest (which 
 he calls an Anglesey), and a large shawl handkerchief 
 may be worn over the collar. A pair of worsted wristbands 
 (sold by the name of muffatees) should be worn with cloth 
 gloves, and over all, a large and long pair of double swan- 
 skin cuffs.' 
 
 But what signify all these flannels and flushings, shag and 
 swan-skin, wads, water-boots, and Welsh wigs, to that 
 immortal garment invented by one Larry Rogers, who calls 
 it his 'sou' wester,' 'and gets it all for nine shillings,' of 
 which loquitur the Colonel : — 
 
 ' Now to the point ! — Make, with an article called Eussia- 
 duck (which, as well as swan-skin, should be previously 
 wetted and dried, to prevent shrinking), a loose over-all frock 
 coat, and a hood, or cap, with a flap behind, similar to a 
 coal-heaver's hat, and dress them as follows : — ' 
 
 ' Take three quarts of linseed oil, and boil them till reduced 
 to two quarts and a half, the doing which will require about 
 three hours, and when the oil is suflaciently boiled it will 
 burn a feather. (The addition of some India-rubber was 
 suggested to me, but of this I did not make a trial.) When 
 the oil is quite cold, take a clean paint-brush, and work it 
 well into the outside of the whole apparel, and it will soon 
 find its way into the inside.' 
 
 There is here a judicious and cautionary nota bene, request- 
 ing the operator neither to burn himself nor the house, with 
 an admission that the savour of the garment is abominable. 
 The Colonel concludes, that with 'a very large old umbrella, 
 fitted up with brown hoUand ; a bagfuU of straw, or some- 
 thing of this kind ; a pair of goggles — and a sufficient supply 
 of Messrs. Fribourg's mixture, the sportsman has all the 
 
82 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 necessaxy covering that can be required for real wild-fowl 
 shooting ! ' 
 
 l^othing, indeed, can exceed the author's ingenuity, from 
 the construction of a hare-pocket, to making an old gun 
 shoot straight, and firing two pounds of shot to the best 
 advantage. Not that I am ambitious of being the operator in 
 the latter exploit, and would rather leave the affair to one 
 Samuel Singer, of Poole, who shoots with a gun, weight 141 
 lbs. ! Still, the Colonel is a merry soul ; and, provided with 
 his pocket-nightingale, I wish we had him here. He should 
 compound cold punch ad libitum, and receive the ceade' 
 fealteagh of our highland hut." 
 
 " Yes ; Frank, I'll bet my new Purday to a Queen Anne 
 that he would have never used his friends as Sir Humphrey 
 treated the unhappy philosophers whom he seduced into 
 Scotland, and shabbed off with half a pint ..of claret in a 
 rascally shebeen-house. No ! Hawker is a worthy fellow ; 
 
 one who, as our lamented countryman Lord L told 
 
 Abernethy, 'puts his trust in Providence, and takes a big 
 drink.' By the way, I have often wondered that any honfest 
 gentleman having a Christian propensity for the bottle 
 would venture within arm's-length • of that unjoyous and 
 dispiriting doctor And here comes dinner ! " 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Flood Subsides — My Cousin's Henchmen — Their Description — Post-bag 
 Arrives — Messenger Belated in the Mountains— The Fairy Glen — Herd of 
 Red Deer — Their Destruction by Poachers — Gradual Decrease — Difficulties 
 in Continuing them — Anecdotes — Rearing the Fawns — Sterility when 
 Domesticated — Red Deer in Parks — The Tame Hind — The Tyrawly Stag — 
 Skill requisite in Shooting Deer — Curious Anecdote. 
 
 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 
 
MY COUSIN'S HENCHMEN. 83 
 
 biistle in the outer cabin — no doubt an arrival. It is the 
 messenger. 
 
 I never saw finer examples 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, inde- 
 fatigable, and obliging, submissive to the Master's nod, and 
 yet the boldest and handiest boys iu Ballycroy. I sometimes 
 look after my kinsman as he strides over the moors with his 
 handsome 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. 
 
 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 millions 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 characteristic of the 
 wild life and bold and reckless spirit of these mountain 
 peasants. 
 
 The route to the next post-town lies 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 
 
84 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 more circuitous route was abandoned by the young peasant, 
 who hoped, by directly crossing the heights, to arrive at the 
 cabin before the night shut in. He took this perilous 
 d.rection 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 himself, 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 mountains, 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 un- 
 heeded 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 super- 
 natural visitation. No fairy revelry disturbed the peasant's 
 slumbers ; the rain ceased ; the flood was falling ; the chough* 
 and ra,ven were preparing to take wing ; and while the firs^ 
 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 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 
 
 * Cornish chough, or red-legged crow. (Conms Gracilis, Linn. ; Le 
 Coracias, Buff.) This bird is about the size of the jackdaw. The bill is long, 
 curved, sharp at the tip, and of a bright red colour ; the iris of the eye is 
 composed of two circles, the outer one red, the inner one blue ; the eyelids 
 are red ; the plumage is altogether of a purplish-violet black ; the legs are as 
 red as the bill ; the claws are large, hooked, and black. 
 
DECREASE OF THE RED DEER. 85 
 
 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. Unfortu- 
 nately, 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 famed stock which tenanted 
 the Irish forests have disappeared. The wolf, the morse- 
 deer, the greyhound, [Appendix, No. XVII.] 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 the 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 
 
86 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 
 discovered a gangrened wound in the side, evidently pro- 
 duced by a blow. The peasant who brought him 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 en- 
 durance, when arrived at maturity, should be so very difficult 
 I 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 heathier and poorer pasturage; a 
 lichen, indigenous to the mountains 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 indifferent success. 
 
 When once, however, the period of infancy is passed, the 
 wild deer is hardy, vigorous, and easily provided for. At 
 diiferent times, many have been located in the neighbouring 
 parks, and lived there to a great age. In the domain of a 
 nobleman in Eoscommon, 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 neighbouring 
 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 an opportunity to taste the 
 choicest 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 gentle- 
 
THE TYRAWLY STAG. 87 
 
 man of Tyrawly. He grew to be a powerful and splendid 
 beast, but his propensities and dispositions 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 anecdote 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 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 in- 
 docility. 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 th^ 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 effect of which 
 they had entirely recovered. The following singular and 
 authenticated instance of a bullet lodging in what is usually 
 considered a mortal place, and failing to occasion death, is 
 extracted from a scientific periodical. 
 
 "A buck, that was remarkably fat and healthy in con- 
 dition, 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. Eichardson, 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 endeavoured 
 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 
 
88 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 the importance of the fact, and of the great extent to which 
 this vital organ may sustain an injury from external 
 violence." 
 
 CHAPTEE XVII. 
 
 An Alarm — Deceptive Appearance of the Weatlier — A Blank Fishiug-day — 
 Recovery of tlie Setter — Hydrophobia — Melancholy Anecdote — Loss of a 
 Kennel — Strange Apathy of Irish Servants — Extraordinary Preservation. 
 
 A cmcxJMSTANCE 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 this 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 leechcraft, 
 and I trust with good effect. Canine madness is a frightful 
 visitation, and no caution can be too strict to guard against 
 its melancholy consequences. 
 
 Who shall say that success in angling can be calculated 
 upon with anything like certainty ? If a man were gifted 
 with the properties of a walking' barometer, the weather of 
 this most capricious corner 'of the earth would set his prog- 
 nostics at defiance. Never did a morning look more favour- 
 able; it was just such a one as an angler would swear by; a 
 grey, dark, sober, settled sky, without any vexatious glare of 
 threatening sunshine to interrupt the 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. 
 
 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 fisherman with disappointment. 
 If they did condescend to notice our flies, they rose as if they 
 wished merely to reconnoitre them, or struck at them scorn- 
 fully 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 
 
 * The usual name among the peasantry for samlets and trout fry. 
 
EECOVERY OF THE SETTER. 89 
 
 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 Humphrey 
 Davy to the Galway fishermen [Appendix, No. XVIII.] 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 disclosed ; although we had 
 not foreseen the coming change, the fish had evidently 
 expected it. Wearied and drenched, we returned to our 
 shooting-quarters. But 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 disordered, and the otter-hunter's remedies were 
 promptly administered, and successful My cousin has 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 
 Prank," said my cousin, " that I carry my apprehensions of 
 the slightest illness in my dogs to a ridiculous and un- 
 necessary 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 conceive 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 
 
90 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 mansion-house, situated in the mountains, and at a consider- 
 able 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 accomplished ; 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 primitive 
 Milesian life than that which the domicile of my 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 department of the establish- 
 ment.; and a pack of useless dogs infesting the premises, and 
 crossing you at every turn. Between the biped and quad- 
 ruped 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 commonplace 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 quarrelling 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 still continued his attack upon the 
 smaller dog. The old butler, in coming from the garden, 
 observed the dogs fighting and stopped to assist in separat- 
 ing 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 pitch-fork 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-rooni ; my host had bared his 
 leg, and was washing the wound, which was a jagged tear 
 from the hound's teeth. Part of the skin was loose, and a 
 sudden thought appeared to strike him — he desired an iron 
 to be heated, took a sharp penknife from his pocket, coolly 
 and effectually removed the ragged flesh, and, regardless of 
 the agony it occasioned, with amazing determination 
 cauterized the wound severely. 
 
 The old butler, however, contented himself with binding 
 up his bleeding hand. He endeavoured to dissuade his 
 
MELANCHOLY CASE OF HYDEOPHOBIA. 91 
 
 master from undergoing what he considered to be un- 
 necessary 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 fioods, 
 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 enquiry if he was unwell, 
 he returned a vague and unmeaning answer; he trembled 
 violently when assisting 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 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, 
 ' I cannot, dare not cross it ! Oh God ! I am lost ! the 
 dog — the dog ! ' 
 
 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. 
 
92 WILD SPOKTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 determination 
 preserved my relative ; and by the timely use of a painful 
 remedy — ^excision and cautery of the wound — he escaped this 
 dreadful disease. 
 
 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 hurried 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 ! 
 
 1 went to reconnoitre him through an iron-stanchioned 
 window ; he was in the last and frightfullest stage of con- 
 firmed hydrophobia. I sent for a rifle and terminated the 
 animal's life. 
 
 I was at first afraid to enquire 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 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. 
 
PEEPAKATIONS FOE VISITING ACHIL. 93 
 
 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 ; everyone 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 fire-place. ' Come away from that, 
 Biddy,' said the old cook, with perfect nonchalance, to her 
 attendant : ' Don't 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." 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Preparations for Visiting Achil— Embarkation and Passage to Dugnrth — 
 Fishing — Sea-fowl Shooting — Meeting the Lugger — Picturesque Appear- 
 ance of the Vessel — Our Landing — Coast-guard Watch-house — Slieve 
 More — Grouse Scarce — Rabbit-shooting — Interior of the Watch-house — 
 Culinary Proceedings — The Dutchman — Morning, and a Headache — A 
 Sea-bath — The Eagles' Eyrie — Curious Anecdote of these Birds — Grouse- 
 Shooting — Demolition of a Pack — Rock-Fishing — Dangerous Employ- 
 ment — Fatal Accident — John Dory — A Temperate Evening. 
 
 Foe three days it has continued raining and blowing violently. 
 We fortunately abandoned the mountain-hut on noticing the 
 unpromising aspect of the weather, before the flood rose to a 
 height that would have insulated us in the hills. We have 
 determined on an excursion into Achil, and wait impatiently 
 until the wind and clouds give some indications of amend- 
 ment. 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 
 
 7 
 
94 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 looked settled, the wind blew from the north-west, and old 
 Antony was satisfied with the prognostics. My cousin was 
 already afoot, and his voice at my window loudly summoned 
 me to "turn out." I opened the curtains: the sun was 
 shining as if he meant 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 boatmen, 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 em- 
 barked, and about eight o'clock we had finished our dejeun^, 
 and committed our persons and fortunes to the waves, 
 
 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 surrounded 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 puf&ns 
 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. [Appendix, N"o. XIX.] 
 
 We had gradually reached 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 EUy 
 bay and bore down upon us. Our courses nearly crossed : 
 they were running off the wind, we close-hauled as possible. 
 Nothing could be more 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. 
 
GROUSE, EABBITS, AND WHIMBRELS. 95 
 
 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 airy motion of this light' 
 shallop 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 Eidge 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 headquarters 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 productive one. The heath 
 was short and withered, the side of the mountain unsheltered, 
 and exposed to the severe and almost eternal west wind; 
 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. [Appendix, 
 No. XX.] The peasants, while looking after cattle and 
 cutting peats up on 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 ; t [Appendix, XXI.] and perceiving that the 
 hooker had anchored off the landing-place, we gave up shoot- 
 ing and returned to the watch-house. 
 * An old cook grouse who has not paired, t Soalopax Phseopus of Linnseus. 
 
96 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 In our absence the servants had been active ; they slung 
 our hammocks, and made the necessary preparations .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 mankind, and it was amusing to 
 remark the ingenuity with 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 ef large plaice. These, with the mackerel 
 taken in the morning, supplied the fish department admir- 
 ably. Our purveyor had purchased a Keim sheep ; * and at 
 six o'clock we went 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 exces- 
 sive 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, leaving its rugged pin- 
 nacle — 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 
 
 * Keim is a mountain district of Aohil, celebrated for the flavour and 
 fatness of its sheep. 
 
ANECDOTE OF THE SEA-EAGLE. 97 
 
 nervous sensibility that was anything but favourable to good 
 shooting. An immersion in the sea was recommended as a 
 certain remedy, and our host conducted 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 gentlemen 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 produced their offspring, to the sad annoyance 
 of the islanders, and more particularly the villagers of 
 Dugworth. This morning they descended from their rocky 
 habitation accompanied by two eaglets, evidently to teach 
 their young to stoop and lift their prey.t 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 
 
 * "The sea-eagle, {Falco Osslfrcbgus, Linn. — L'Orfraie, Buff.) This bird 
 is nearly as largS as the golden eagle, measuring in length three feet and 
 a-half, but its expanded wings do not reach above seven feet. Its bill is 
 large, much hooked, and of a bluish colour ; irides, in some light-hazel, in 
 others yellow ; a sort of strong bristly feathers hang down from its under bill, 
 next to its throat, whence it has been termed the bearded eagle ; the top of 
 the head and back part of the neck are dark brown, inclining to black ; the 
 feathers on the back are variegated, of a lighter brown, with dark edges ; the 
 scapulars are pale brown, the edges nearly white ; the breast and belly 
 whitish, with singular spots of brown ; the tail feathers are dark brown, the 
 outer edges of the exterior feathers whitish, the quill-feathers and thighs are 
 dusky ; the legs and feet yellow ; the claws, which are large, and form a 
 complete semi-circle, are of a shining black. It is found in various parts of 
 Europe and America ; it is said to lay only two eggs during the whole year, 
 and frequently produces only one young bird ; it is said to see so distinctly in 
 the dark as to be able to pursue and catch its prey during the night." — Bewick. 
 
 t "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. 
 
98 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 to their eyries, and, leaving 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 telescopes 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 aud 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 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 roaded 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 destruction 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, how- 
 ever, a number of hares, and shot seven. Those, with 
 thirteen brace of grouse, filled the game-bags. 
 
 Our course homewards lay along the base of Slieve More. 
 
EOCK-FISHINtt. 99 
 
 The evening was calm and sultry, and a number of men and 
 women of all ages were seated on the rocks fishing for 
 gunners, [Appendix, No. XXII.] or gaffing the horse-maTjkerel, 
 which were seen in numbers on the surface of the water. 
 
 This rock-fishing is more dangerous than productive, and 
 many lives have been lost in pursuing it. Descending 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 peril- 
 ous occupation of the female peasants is what they term 
 " picking cranagh." This seaweed, 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 victim away ; and, with 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, and 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 Humphrey, and entitled us to a place of 
 honour in any Temperance Society in Great Britain. 
 
100 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Prepare to leave Aehil — Visit to the Eagles' Cliff — Attempts to Destroy these 
 Birds — Their Depredations — Partiality for Black Fowls— Destroy Fish — 
 Anecdote of an Eagle and Salmon — Exterminate Hares — Their Mode of 
 Coursing and Catching Salmon — Foxes, Numerous and Destructive — 
 Smaller Birds of Prey — Run to Inniskea— Devilawn — Tarmon — Difficult 
 Coast to Land on — Woman and Curragh — Eabhit-shooting — Local 
 Sketches — Twlight Scenery — Dangerous Idiot — Whisky — Its Excellence 
 — Copper Stills — Island Seldom Visited by the Revenue — Character of 
 the Islanders — Particular in Burying their Dead — Prone to Litigation — 
 The Law-suit. 
 
 ITeom 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 attendants 
 whom we ordered home, we ascended the hill (while the crew 
 were clearing and baiting their spillets) in the vagiie hope of 
 getting a shot at these 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 
 eyrie 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 pre- 
 datory 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 strong and had sufficient length to allow his 
 being lowered rapidly, or he would have undoubtedly sus- 
 tained 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 depredated on the neighbourhood, and 
 
DEPEEDATIONS OF THE EAGLE. 101 
 
 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 feet above 
 the sea, which, with terrific appearances, dashed against its 
 base. They had provided themselves with ropes, and a lad, 
 armed with a cimeter, 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 unfortunate 
 proximity to the eyrie. When the wind blows from a 
 favourable point, the eagle, in the grey of the morning, 
 sweeps through the cabins, and never fails in carrying off 
 some prey. 
 
 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-guard, 
 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 
 particularly 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 
 
102 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 the herd reached the spot, he found the eagle pulled under 
 water hy 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." [Appendix, 
 No. XXIII.] 
 
 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 these animals, the 
 eagle evinced a degree of intelligence that appeared extra- 
 ordinary. 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 G-lencuUen with GlanduUagh, 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 eyrie 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-guard, 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 
 
 * Doctor Johnson, in his Tour to the Hebrides, remarks, " To check the 
 ravages of the foxes in the Isle of Skye, the inhabitants set a price upon their 
 heads, which, as the number diminished, has been gradually raised, from 
 
DIFFICULT COAST TO LAND ON. 103 
 
 depredators has nearly deterred the islanders from keeping 
 ewes ; and there is not a spot in Great Britain so 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 
 reach of the surf, they are frequently stove before the care- 
 less 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 precipice. 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 kinsinan. 
 " Hail the curragh, Pattigo, and let us get ashore." 
 
 To the shout of the skipper a ceade fealteagh was 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 
 
 three shillings and sixpence to a guinea ; a sum so great in this part of the 
 world," adds the Doctor, "that in a short time Skye may be as free from foxes 
 as England from wolves." The fund for these rewards is a tax of sixpence 
 in the pound, imposed by the farmers on themselves, and said to be paid 
 with great willingness. 
 
104 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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! IJfor 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-Hnes 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 diiferent 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, hg-d 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 mirth of the sea-nymph, and, 
 unwilling 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 
 whUe 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 
 than I had as yet visited. We selected some of the gayest 
 
LOCAL SKETCHES. 105 
 
 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. The drift timber 
 from the Atlantic gives them an abundant 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 compensate 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 any- 
 thing 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 distance the 
 village girls were milking, carolling those melancholy 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. 
 
 I was indulging in delicious reverie, when something like 
 a bird flitted hastily by — again, and there was a heavy plump 
 
106 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 me 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 malignant 
 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 wonder- 
 ful force and precision. To my incLuiry, why this dangerous 
 being was not removed to some asylum ? my protectress 
 replied, with a smUe, " He was but a poor natural, after aU ; 
 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, Kke the Turks, believed that insanity and 
 inspiration were only synonyms. 
 
 The illicit whisky made in this island holds a first rank in 
 the estimation of the poteen fancier. The cause of its 
 superior excellency may arise from the insular 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 Eevenue. 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 sulDstitute is 
 resorted to. 
 
 Here, th6 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 
 
ISLAND SELDOM VISITED BY THE EEVENUE. 107 
 
 caverns with which the western face of the island abounds, and 
 nothing butatreacherous disclosure bysome 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 
 Eevenue, 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 impractic- 
 able, and weeks will elapse occasionally before an abatement 
 of the storm would allow the imprisoned stranger to quit 
 those dangerous shores. Hence, in his professional avocations 
 the priest is obliged 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 surprised 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 of burying 
 different families, resident on the main, in island cemeteries 
 exists, and great difficulty, and oftentimes imminent peril, 
 attends the conveyance of a corpse to its insulated resting- 
 place. N"o inducement will make those wild people inter a 
 body apart from the tomb of his 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 main, 
 illustrative of this their quarrelsome disposition. A century 
 ago, two persons were remarkable here for superior opulence, 
 
108 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 and had become the envy and wonder of their poorer neigh- 
 bours. Their wealth consisted of a flock of sheep, when, 
 unfortunately, some trifling dispute occurring between them, 
 a dissolution of partnership was resolved upon. To divide 
 the flock, one would suppose, would not be difficult, and they 
 proceeded to partition the property accordingly. 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 negotiation, 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 
 flefece 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 that 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 descendants are pointed out to this day as being the 
 poorest of the community, and litigants are frequently 
 warned to avoid the fate of Malley 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 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. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Signs of Fish — Mackerel — Spillet-fishing — Seal and Mermaids — Anecdote — 
 The Bull's Mouth — Preservation of a Ship — The Fox and Cruiser — The 
 Lodge in a Consternation — Arrival — The Colonel's Portmanteau — Bob- 
 bing and its Consequences. 
 
 It was evident that the bay was full of mackerel In every 
 direction, and as far as the eye could range, gulls and puffins 
 
SIGNS OF FISH. 109 
 
 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 un- 
 interesting ; and unless the fish take freely, it is even with 
 moderate success a tame and spiritless employment. How 
 different is mackerel fishing ! full of life and bustle, every- 
 thing about it is animated and exhilarating ; a brisk breeze, 
 a fair sky, the boat in quick and constant motion — all is 
 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- 
 shooting, this is only work for a peasant, and should accord- 
 ingly be excluded from the list of gentlemanly 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-fowls. It was ' nearly low water, and while 
 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 
 
 8 
 
110 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 discussion, until the close approach of the hoat obliged itf^ to 
 quit the rock, and thus afford a more distinct view, while, to 
 use the Skipper's phrase, it waddled to the water. From 
 the 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 extravagancies have had their origin 
 in the Phocaj 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, may without much 
 difficulty be traced, and many a wonder-stricken fisherman 
 imagined himself watching the movements of a mermaid, 
 [Appendix, ISTo. XXIV.] 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 neighbour- 
 ing village. One of the company was hunchbacked, 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 httle 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 in costume, induced him to post- ' 
 pone the business of the toilet to a more convenient season, 
 and 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 rowboats, 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 the flood. Having approached close to the 
 spot where the little gentleman was ensconced among the 
 sea- weed, up popped an outre countenance surmounted by a 
 scarlet nightcap ! The effect was sudden, for till now a rock 
 had concealed him from the boats. Instantly the women 
 
THE BULL'S MOUTH. Ill 
 
 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 abandoning the fair of ISTewport, 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 re-appeared 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 is 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 circumstanced. 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, 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 insulated 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 -opposing 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. 
 
112 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 conflicting eddies which opposite winds and tides 
 occasion. The most cautious boatmen are sometimes over- 
 taken 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 westward, 
 when the Atlantic tumbles with mountainous fury into 
 Elacksod 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. Kot 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-froid 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 to 
 disappear. A revenue cruiser that had been long blockaded 
 
THE COLONEL'S PORTMANTEAU. 113 
 
 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 rekindled; and too late the 
 Nepean discovered that the odds between herself and the 
 privateer were not so desperate. 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 shewed 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 bunting sought safety 
 within the Sound of Achil. Finding her water lessen — for 
 she had actually crossed the Eidge 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 kins- 
 man's wrath before his eyes, abstracted from Andy Bawn, to 
 whom its safe delivery was entrusted. Nothing can surpass 
 the surprise and 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 wiH be dispensed with. Antony 
 "remembers the country these seventy years: many a 
 robbery happened in his time, but — God stand between him 
 and evil ! — 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 poteen disturb the concatenation of ideas, and 
 Andy Bawn's is anything but a lucid narrative. There is a 
 confused account of the bridge of Ballyveeney, and a dark 
 man, and the clicking of a gun-cock. Now it appears that 
 
114 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 Andy is at feud with a Mr. Burke, who finished a relative of 
 his with a turf-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 spoliation 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 interrupt a 
 visitor's effects was indeed to 
 
 " Beard the lion in his den, 
 The Douglas in his hall. " 
 
 But dinner is announced- . 
 
 I wish the value of the Colonel's assets could be ascertained, 
 and that I dared liquidate the amount. An earthquake, I 
 think, would not have created half the sensation. My 
 kinsman is desperately 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 dignitatem. 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 halfpenny." Hence the impudence [Appendix, No. 
 XXV.] of Mr. Burke is intolerable. An embassy will be 
 despatched, and if the Colonel's wardrobe be not forthwith 
 restored, with full satisfaction for the insult, I hold the value 
 of the outlaw's life to be not worth a pin's fee. 
 
 Indeed, the whole esprit de corps is up — the multitudinous 
 idlers of the Lodge are concocting schemes of vengeance. 
 The honour of the ancient house is at stake ; and the very 
 
 * An implement used for cutting turf, and heads oooasionally. 
 
CONSEQUENCES OF THE EOBBEEY. 115 
 
 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 un assailed in dignity and 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 constitutional 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 instructions (I hope), 
 has disappeared. Lord ! the tall, gaunt, careworn, homicidal 
 look of the man, as with a double-barrelled 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 
 inost lamentable compositions that ever issued from bag and 
 chanter. 
 
 Would I were in England again ; for what is matrimony 
 to manslaughter ? I have been . for a moment out to breathe 
 the cool sea-breeze, and passing the window peeped into that 
 refiyium peccatonim, 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 
 
116 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 and bog-deal in such scientific proportion that it is evident 
 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 dis- 
 charged a bumper to the speedy demolition 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 
 of some desperate detail ! 
 
 CHAPTEE XXI. 
 
 The Colonel's Story— The Night Attack. 
 
 " It is thirty-five years this very month since I was quartered 
 with my regiment in ford ; I recollect the time particu- 
 larly, for I got my Company in the 37th on the same day 
 that I received an invitation 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 
 gentleman'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 sports- 
 man 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, comfortable, 
 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-plot 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 NIGHT ATTACK. 117 
 
 the lawn was studded with sheep, which appeared over- 
 hurdened 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 
 families 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, addressing 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 aiford 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 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 
 
118 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 l)wyer 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 ^ creature of 
 her imagination ; he had searched the shrubbery and flower- 
 garden, and no mendicant was to be found in either. ■ 
 
 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 some time in the dining-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 employment I 
 unlocked my gun-case, put my fowling-piece together, and 
 examined whether my servant had sent all necessary ap- 
 paratus 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 dishahille, and had hastily thrown on a dressing- 
 gown. ' Good God ! Captain Dwyer, what has occurred ? ' 
 A volley from without prevented my 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 fire-place.' We both ran 
 
THE NIGHT ATTACK. 119 
 
 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 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 frightfully. 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 shoulders 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 
 despatched his daughter for ammunition. 
 
 Meanwhile, a dropping fire continued from without — 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 not but 
 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-case from his chamber; and do you, Emily, 
 watch from the end window, and, if you perceive any 
 movement on that side, apprise 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 
 
120 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 robber, exultingly. ' Now, Murphy, now's your time ; smash 
 in the door with the 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 ! ' he cried, as he caught up an axe and 
 placed himself determinedly 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 heavy fire 
 from his comrades. Between the volleys they summoned us 
 to surrender, with fearful denunciations 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 ! ' shouted several voices, and un- 
 fortunately the scoundrels had procured one in the laundry. 
 ' By heaven ! they will burn us out,' said Henry in alarm. 
 ' Never fear ! ' replied his cooler uncle ; ' the firing must have 
 
THE NIGHT ATTACK. 121 
 
 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 
 overcast — heavy rain-drops fell — and in an instant au over- 
 whelming torrent burst from the clouds, rendering every 
 attempt the robbers made to ignite the thatch abortive. 
 ' Who dare doubt an overruling Providence ? ' said the old 
 gentleman with enthusiasm : ' Surely God is with us ! ' 
 
 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,' ex- 
 claimed 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 an 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 cartiidges 
 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 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 th& 
 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 
 
122 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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. Mor- 
 den 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 connected with 
 this daring outrage. 
 
 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 execution — (he, with the three others, 
 was hanged the subsequent assizes) — he gave us a cool detail 
 of his plans. 
 
 The dogs were to be destroyed and the premises recon- 
 noitred. 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 forcihg 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 
 
THE NIGHT ATTACK. 123 
 
 through the window, and, armed with a dagger, 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 courageous. 
 In this case it had the same effect on two beings 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 like 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 en- 
 countered. 
 
 But for me no praises seemed sufficient; the successful 
 defence was attributed to my exertions ; and the fortunate 
 shot that killed the villain smith, was never to be sufficiently 
 commended. 
 
 My visit ended — I was in love with Emily ; but then I 
 had little chance of succeeding to the property which after- 
 wards, 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 ; I overcame the temptation of risking a trial, and re- 
 turned to ford, possessing the esteem and good wishes of 
 
 every inhabitant of ' the Wilderness.' 
 
 1 was on parade, some mornings after I rejoined the 
 
124 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 presented 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 'Wilder- 
 ness.' 
 
 Three years passed away ; the gang had been incessantly 
 followed by Mr. Morden, and were extirpated with the 
 solitary 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 70th, 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 execution. 
 
 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 country gentleman, enveloped in a huge 
 driving-coat, and apparently like one who had travelled a 
 considerable distance. 
 
 I looked at the criminal ; he was the ruin of a powerful 
 man, and the worst-visaged scoundrel imaginable. He was 
 perfectly unnioved, and preserved a callous sort of Jiardiesse, 
 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 apprehension, but 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 for 
 your apprehension, and have come some hundred miles to 
 witness your execution.' 
 
 ' Morden ! ' said the dying felon solemnly, ' if a ghost can 
 come back again, I'll visit you ! ' 
 
CONVERSATION ABOUT BURGLAES. 125 
 
 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." 
 
 CHAPTEK XXII. 
 
 Conversation — A Brave Resistance — The Contrast — The Burglary. 
 
 " "Well, I like a man to keep his word," said my relative, 
 "and I admire your friend Morden prodigiously for his 
 punctual attendance on Mr. Bulger when he made his 
 parting bow to an admiring multitude, and, as the song goes, 
 ' died wiih 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 organized to combine their efforts judiciously, and 
 two men within, if properly armed and plentifully supplied 
 with ammunition, are in my opinion an over-match 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 a 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 yeats lived in a retired country- 
 house. He was a bachelor, and whether trusting to his 
 supposed popularity, or imdl^ining that the general alarm 
 among the gentry was groundless, he continued in his lonely 
 mansion long after his neighbours 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 
 
 9 
 
126 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 bed ; the house was shut up for the night ; and the supper- 
 tray and 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 apartment; his chamber- 
 door was ajar, 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, 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 destruction 
 caused by that deadly thrust, prevented the ruffians in the 
 outer room from knowing the fate of their companion. 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 thii'd 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 ad- 
 mirable self-possession he remained steady until the murderer 
 drew the trigger, and the ball passed him without injury. 
 
A BEAVE EESISTANCE. 127 
 
 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 presence of mind saved this heroic gentle- 
 man. He found that the blade of the knife had turned, and 
 he contrived to straighten it upon the floor. The ruffian's 
 hands were 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 gi'asp relaxed, and 
 with a yell of mortal agony, he fell across his exhausted 
 opponent ! 
 
 Horror-struck by the death-shriek of their comrade, the 
 banditti wanted courage to enter that gloomy chamber which 
 had already been 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 encompassed by the breath- 
 less bodies of his intended murderers. 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." 
 
 " I know a melancholy contrast to this gallant story," said 
 my cousin ; it occurred not many years ago in an adjoining 
 county. I heard it detailed in a court of justice, as well as 
 privately from the lips of the unfortunate gentleman, and I 
 never shall forget his nervous agony as he gave me a partial 
 narrative of the outrage." 
 
 " Oh ! let us have the particulars, Julius ; next to a good 
 ghost-story a cruel burglary is delightful." 
 
 " In 18 — ," said my kinsman, "a gentleman with his family 
 left Dublin, and removed to an extensive farm he had taken 
 
 in the wild and troublesome barony of . There was 
 
 no dwelling-house procurable for some time, and the strangers 
 took up their residence in a large cabin upon the roadside, 
 about a mile distant from the little town of ford. 
 
128 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 It was naturally supposed that, coming to settle in a 
 strange country, this gentleman had brought money and 
 valuables along with him; and a gang of robbers who infested 
 thab lawless neighbourhood, under the command of the 
 notorious Captain Gallagher, marked the stranger for a prey. 
 This new settler had been married but a few months, and 
 his wife was a young and very lovely woman. On the third 
 night after their arrival, they retired at their customary 
 hour to rest ; he slept upon the ground-floor, and the lady 
 and her female attendants occupied some upper chambers. 
 
 It was past midnight; the unsuspecting family were buried 
 
 in deep repose, when Mr. was fearfully awakened by 
 
 a stone shattering the window and breaking the looking- 
 glass upon the table. He was, unhappily, a nervous timid 
 man ; he was aware the house was being attacked ; a loaded 
 carbine lay within his reach, but he appears to have aban- 
 doned all hope or thought of defending himself ; he heard 
 the crashing of the windows ; he heard the appalling sound 
 of women's shrieks ; but, trembling and agitated, he had not 
 power to leave his bed. 
 
 Jfever did a, more dastardly gang attack a house than 
 Gallagher's. After every window was driven in, more than 
 half-an-hour elapsed before one of them would attempt to 
 enter, although no Show of resistance had been offered by the 
 inmates of the house. The cowardly villains would occasion- 
 ally • peep through a shattered casement, and instantly 
 withdraw. 
 
 A single blow struck with good effect, one shot from the 
 loaded carbine would have scattered the scoundrels, and 
 saved the family from plunder and a dreadful insult. But 
 the unhappy man, paralysed with terror, lay in helpless 
 imbecility upon his bed, and the banditti, satisfied that no 
 resistance would be offered, at last made good an entrance. 
 
 They lighted candles, bound the unfortunate gentleman, 
 left him half dead with terror, and proceeded to ransack the 
 premises. Soon after, shrieks from the lady's chamber 
 announced their being there. They drank wine, and broke 
 every place and thing in the expectation of plunder. 
 
 But unfortunately they were disappointed; I say un- 
 fortunately, for had they found money, it is possible the lady 
 would have been preserved from ■ insult. Maddened by 
 liquor, and disappointed in their expected booty, the helpless 
 women were subjected to savage insult. 
 
 What must have been that wretched man's sufferings as he 
 
MIDNIGHT REFLECTIONS. 129 
 
 listened to the supplications of his beautiful wife for pity ? 
 Some of the villains were of milder mood than their fellows, 
 and a partial protection was afforded to the miserable lady. 
 
 After a dreadful visit of three hours, the ruffians left the 
 house. Their apprehension was almost immediate. I was 
 present at the trial, and the testimony of that beautiful 
 woman, who sat on the bench beside the Judge, with the 
 evidence of the wretched husband, was melancholy. 
 
 Conviction followed, and 1 attended at the place of execu- 
 tion. Gallagher, the most horrible-looking scoundrel imagin- 
 able, came out. The buzz among the crowd subsided into 
 muttered prayers and compassionate ejaculations. He, 
 the felon, was unmoved; his deportment was desperately 
 hardened ; he looked without emotion on the multitude, and 
 from amid the mass recognised some acquaintances, and 
 acknowledged them with a demoniac grin. He was turned 
 off in savage callousness — but his life was miserably pro- 
 longed. 
 
 From his immense weight — for the ruffian was of 
 Herculean proportions — the rope gave way and he fell with 
 violence to the ground. His thighs were badly fractured, 
 and he was carried to the scaffold again, a maimed and 
 trembling wretch. All his hardihood had forsaken him, and 
 if it were possible for a man to undergo the agonies of death 
 a second time, assuredly they were twice endured by that 
 loathsome criminal — Captain Gallagher." 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Midnight Reflection — A Good Story-teller — The Atfair of Ninety-eight. 
 
 We separated for the night, and I retired to my well- 
 appointed dormitory; everything bespoke cleanliness and 
 comfort, from the snowy coverlet to the sparkling fire of 
 brilliant bog-deal. The room was papered with caricatures, 
 and crowded with prints on sporting subjects. This was 
 cheerful and bachelor-like. I looked at the mantelpiece ; a 
 brass blunderbuss and a case of pistols were there suspended 
 in most effective order. This brought on a train of thought, 
 and all the pleasant narratives of my kinsman and his visitor 
 rushed back to my recollection. 
 
 I have, God help me ! no fancy for what the Irish call 
 active amusements. I would have no ambition to hold a 
 nocturnal colloquy with Mr. Bulger — nor would it afford me 
 satisfaction to listen to solemn assurances of his determination 
 
130 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 to cut my throat. I would not give one farthing to spend 
 half-an-hour in a dark closet with three robbers and a case- 
 knife. I love uninterrupted repose, and it would annoy me 
 to have my window dismantled at midnight, and my entire 
 toilet annihilated by a well-directed volley of paving-stones. 
 On earth there is not a more enchanting object than the 
 exquisite symmetry of a woman's well-formed leg ; but Miss 
 Morden's would have no charms for me, if preluded by a 
 discharge of musketry. There is moreover a murderer 
 quietly cantoned within a room or two of mine'; and though 
 the man may be "honest," as my loving cousin believes and 
 verifies, yet' one feels nervous in being within a dozen yards 
 of a man who has thinned the population for the third time. 
 
 Your stupid Englishman retires to bed after his daily 
 labour is ended — your livelier Milesian then only lays him- 
 self out for pleasure, and betakes himself to shoot at a 
 Justice of the Peace, or still better, amuse himself with a 
 too-roo among the Peelers. Do you go out to dinner ? — 
 Calculate on being fired at when returning. Do you require 
 a physician ? — The odds are, that the honest doctor is 
 qualified for a patient himself before he leaves your lawn. 
 Do you delight in hunting ? — You will find the monotonous 
 period of waiting at the cover-side agreeably diversified by 
 the occasional whistle of a musket-bullet from some ambushed 
 Bockite; and if you venture to send a horse out to exercise, 
 your groom returns solus to acquaint you that the quadruped 
 is no more, and that the gentleman who despatched him 
 sent you his regrets that he was so unlucky as to miss your- 
 self, but, by the assistance of the Blessed Lady — for they are 
 a pious and religious race — he hoped to be more successful 
 on a future opportunity. Are you fond of a quadrille ? — 
 Ascertain, before you attempt your first chassez, that the 
 ball-room windows are bricked-up, and a guard of honour 
 stationed at the door. Are you, unfortunately, a parson ? — 
 Insure your life to the uttermost farthing you can raise — 
 arrange your affairs — perfect your will — and, if you be 
 curious in posthumous renown, prepare your epitaph ; then 
 demand one thirtieth of your tithes — you are a dead man to 
 a moral— and your heirs, executors, and assigns, secure of 
 opulence within a fortnight. 
 
 All this is pleasant and exciting ; but I, as I premised, 
 have no ambition. In spite of female persecution I will 
 return to England (if my life be spared) before the " morrow 
 of All Souls," a day for ever engrafted on my memory, it 
 
A GOOD STORY-TELLER. 131 
 
 being the appointed period that a rascally tailor (when I was 
 in the Blues) allotted for producing my body before his 
 Majesty's Barons of the Exchequer. 
 
 Thus resolved I went to sleep. Next morning my cousin 
 rallied me at breakfast. " I think, Colonel Dwyer, we gave 
 my friend Prank enough of robber narratives last night. 
 Confess, was your couch visited by any of the departed 
 heroes, whom illiberal enactments consign to the gallows, 
 while lesser men are sent in state to Westminster ? Dreamed 
 you 
 
 " Of cutting foreign throats ; 
 
 Of breaches, ambuscadoes, Spanish blades ? " 
 
 " Ah no," said the Colonel, " our dull tales require the 
 seasoning of good story-telling to render them impressive. I 
 
 wish my quondam acquaintance, Mr. , had been here, 
 
 and, by the shade of Munchausen, he would have embellished 
 a simple burglary to such superlative perfection, that I am 
 persuaded your kinsman could not have counted on a second 
 night's sleep for a fortnight." 
 
 " Is the gentleman happy in description ? " I inquired. 
 
 " Inimitable. ' He lies like truth.' I shall never forget 
 the first evening I met him." The Colonel took a preparatory 
 pinch of brown mixture, and thus proceeded : — 
 
 " Before I retired from the army, I was ordered to Castle; 
 bar to attend a court-martial. It was then a most hospitable 
 town, and, during our stay, I and the other members of the 
 Court had more invitations than we could possibly accept of. 
 
 At a large dinner-party, the conversation turned on 
 circumstances connected with the disgraceful defeat of the 
 King's troops here, in Ninety-eight, by Humbert. An elderly 
 gentleman, opposite to me at table, favoured us with a 
 striking and spirited account of the affair, and none could 
 give it with more effect, for he had been a prominent actor 
 in the scene. 
 
 It was really the most soul-stirring narrative I had ever 
 listened to — and when, in course of the detail, the fortune of 
 the day threatened to become disastrous, the individual 
 exertions of this gallant gentleman appear to have been 
 incredible. He flew through every arm of the Koyal forces — 
 objurgated the militia, lauded the artillery, encouraged the 
 irregulars, and d^ — d the carbineers ; held momentary con- 
 sultation with three field-officers, and the Lord only knows 
 how many subordinates besides — and traversed the line, from 
 one extremity to the other, with such rapidity, as proved 
 
132 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 that he must have been mounted on a race-horse, or possessed 
 of the gift of ubiquity itself. 
 
 When the panic became general, and a rout inevitable, it 
 was melancholy to hear this veteran mourn over blighted 
 glory and blasted renown. He was forced away at last, it 
 appeared, by the remnant of the combatants ; but still, ' in 
 the ranks of death you'd find him,' retiring reluctantly 
 through the town, a sort of intermediate speck between his 
 own rear-guard and the French advance. How the deuce he 
 escaped the cross-fire of both I never could comprehend. 
 
 I looked at him with wonder and respect — no truculent 
 traces of war lined a harsh and merciless countenance^no 
 'token true of foughten field' disfigured him with scar or 
 blemish — but there was a quiet tradesman-sort of simper 
 eternally mantling over his features, which would have been 
 worth a hundred a-year to any city dealer in ladies' mercery. 
 Surely, thought I, he has at all events the true military 
 enlargement on the occiput, and I'll warrant it a splendid 
 development. In short I was astonished, and marvelled 
 how well such apparent benignity concealed a heart that 
 only throbbed with rapture amid the roar and blaze of battle. 
 
 How long this train of thought might have continued is 
 uncertain ; it was broken by a twitch upon the elbow from 
 my neighbour. 'Curse him,' he said in a whisper that 
 paralysed me, ' his story is nothing to-night, he forgot to kick 
 down Humbert's aide-de-camp.' 
 
 ' Kick down an aide-de-camp ! that would indeed be an 
 unusual feat.' 
 
 ' Well, Sir, that very feat is worth the remainder of the 
 battle. It happeiied that our fat friend opposite had a horse 
 that never could endure a crupper ; the rider was disabled in 
 a charge, broke his sabre, and was, or rather any other man 
 would be, completely hors de combat. What did he do in this 
 dUemma ? ' 
 
 ' Call out lustily for quarter, I presume.' 
 
 'The farthest thing from his intentions. No, he slipped 
 his hand slily over the croup, and with the first fling knocked 
 out the brains of Humbert's principal aide-de-camp. There 
 was a simple and ingenious method of making a vacancy in 
 an enemy's staff ! Oh, the story is nothing wanting it ! Had 
 I not better make him tell it over anew ? ' 
 
 Just then we were summoned to the drawing-room, and 
 whether the narrative was again given to the company, with the 
 interesting addendum of the kick, I cannot take on me to say. 
 
HENNESSEY AND THE POETMANTEAU. 133 
 
 ' Was the man ever present at the battle ? ' I inquired. 
 
 ' As much, my friend, as you were at Camperdown ; and I 
 have reason to believe that that affair was transacted before 
 you were born. He absconded the moment, it was known the 
 Prench had landed at Killala, and never appeared in the 
 county afterwards until the rebellion was suppressed, and the 
 country as quiet as it is at present.' 
 
 ' Heaven protect us ! ' I exclaimed. ' It is a lying world 
 that we live in.' " 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Spring Tides — Hennessey and tlie Portmanteau — Spillet-fishing — Coal-fishing 
 — Mackerel — Sea-fowl — A Failure — Preserving Gunpowder — An Ex- 
 plosion — Another Accident — A House Burned — The Dinner Signal. 
 
 The springs have commenced, and the grey and lowering 
 atmosphere which the influence of these tides occasions has 
 set in. Although the darkness would intimate a change, the 
 fresh breeze and skyey 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 main-sail 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 atten- 
 tion 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 " Caesar 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 whispering between 
 the ambassador and Pattigo; the commander rejoices over 
 
134 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 moralize 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 wUl 
 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 BriTwindhu* 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 a red gurnet. It appears 
 — a worthless, rascally, dog-fish ! A succession of line comes 
 in — star-fish, and, few and far between, 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 expectation, 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 un- 
 acquainted with rope and oar, it affords at times an admirable 
 amusement. 
 
 The coal-fishing requires a stiff breeze, and if there be a 
 * A melanolioly Irish ditty. 
 
COAL-FISHING — MACKEREL. 135 
 
 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 indispens- 
 able. 
 
 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. 
 
 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 indifferent 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, I 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 tempta- 
 tion. But there are times when a change of weather, or 
 some inexplicable phenomena of sea or sky, render these fish 
 duU 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 transferred my 
 line to an idle boy, who proved a much more fortunate coal- 
 fisher than I, notwithstanding the instructions of my friend 
 Pattigo. 
 
136 WILD' SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 "We were bearing down on a glorious play of sea-birds, and 
 I got a gun uncased to practise at the gulls. It was a curious 
 and bustling scene. Above, thousands of these birds were 
 congregrated in a small circle, screaming, 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 persecuting those unhappy sprats under- 
 neath. As we bore down, I fired at a few straggling puffins. 
 Some were missed, some disabled, but not a clean-killed bird ! 
 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 bowsprit 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, 
 produce a stone of feathers. I fired ; a solitary 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 
 unrealized 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 continued, 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. 
 
 " The Lord look to him ! " exclaimed another boatman, " 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 with a few feathers, and flew off to all appearance 
 with little injury. 
 
 " By everything blind ! " exclaimed my kinsman, " the gun 
 must have been charged with sawdust. Ha ! let's see the 
 flask ! Frank, Frank, thou art a careless gunner ; the 
 powder is not worth one farthing." 
 
PRESERVING GUNPOWDER. 137 
 
 It was true. I had forgotten my flask in the pocket of a 
 wet cota more* and consequently the powder was spoiled. • -'I 
 
 " Nothing puzzles me more, with the exception of keeping 
 the Sheriff at a distance, than preserving gunpowder, 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 lid 
 and padlock, and covered with a sheepskin, 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 accident. 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 I take the field. This renders the 
 powder sufficiently dry without deteriorating from its 
 strength, which 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 overnight, the 
 
 host proposed that I 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 attempting 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 off, but, excepting a 
 slight cut in my hand, otherwise I was perfectly uninjured. 
 * Mibernice, Great coat. 
 
138 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 Not a fragment of the flask, 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 seemed trifling. Was not 
 this escape miraculous ? 
 
 The second explosion, in which I perpetrated arson, 
 occurred some ten miles up the river. By some unhappy 
 mischance I took 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 alternative, 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 attendants 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 contrived 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 a 
 corner, and I, either by fear or gunpowder, capsized in 
 another direction. 
 
 The agony of the poor old woman, who fortunately 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 it should have a wooden door ; ' but, 
 like another Eachel, she mourned and refused to be com- 
 forted. 
 
 Two or three days removed her sorrow. I sent assistance, 
 and, progressing like another Alladin, the cabin rose Phcenix- 
 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 
 
A CALM NIGHT. 139 
 
 that endless spillet, Pattigo. Pshaw ! red gurnets, codlings, 
 flat fish, with skates and rays eternally. 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, Ccesarerru 
 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." 
 
 OHAPTEE XXV. 
 
 A Calm Night — Sand-eel KsMng — Dangerous to the Fair Sex — Cockles — 
 Lobsters — Crabs — Scallops — Oysters — Punt Adrift — My Brother's Shoes — 
 Seal Surprised — Incident — Gun Burst — Bii-mingham Guns — Percussion 
 Locks — London Makers — Barrel-making — Gun-making — Inferior Guns — 
 Shooting Accident. 
 
 It was nearly dark, but the night was calm and warm. I 
 stole from the heated room to indulge in a luxurious smoke 
 alfresco ; 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 ascertained 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 return- 
 ing 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. 
 
 The sand-eels are generally from four to nine inches in 
 length, and lie beneath the surface seldom deeper than a foot. 
 
140 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 phosphoric brilliancy 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-setter prefers them to every other kind, as 
 they are much more durable than the lug,* and infinitely 
 preferable to eels of coarser size. 
 
 In speaking of this nocturnal fishery, if a search in the 
 sands may so be termed, my cousin said that it was a source 
 of considerable trouble to himself and the priest in their 
 respective vocations ; for accidents of a delicate description 
 were occasionally to be lamented, and many an unhappy 
 calamity was traced to the returning from the sand-eels. 
 Whether the danger of this curious pursuit enhanced its 
 enjoyment is questionable ; but, regardless of the frequent 
 mishaps, which prudent mothers would of course duly 
 enumerate, the fair portion of the peasantry waited anxiously 
 for twilight, and then, fortified by maternal advice and 
 female resolution, set off in troops to the strand, to share the 
 pleasures and the perils of this interesting but dangerous 
 amusement. 
 
 A crowd of a more youthful description of the peasantry 
 are collected every spring-tide to gather cockles on the same 
 sands by daylight when the tide answers. The quantities of 
 these shell-fish thus procured 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 afford 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 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 
 * The sand-worm used by fishermen. 
 
CRABS— SCALLOPS— OYSTERS. 141 
 
 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 
 fisherman 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 gentle- 
 man 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 formulae were not duly attended to,, the fountain of law 
 was hermetically sealed; and a house functionary — for all 
 the servants on the establishment were four pound constables — 
 announced that "his honour would do no justice," and 
 bundled off the applicant to some one more approachable of 
 her 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 sixpence. A couple of men will 
 easily, and in a few hours, lift a horse-load ; and, notwith- 
 standing 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-tishes 
 greatly prized by the peasantry, but which I never had the 
 curiosity to eat, such as razor-fish, clams, and various kinds 
 of mussels. These occasionally make a welcome change in 
 
 10 
 
U2 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 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 and 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. Meanwhile 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 inevit- 
 able, was overtaken, and Achil found as comfortably 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 divil 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 morning, 
 and it was a questionable aff'air whether we should pass 
 
A SEAL SURPRISED. 143 
 
 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 common- 
 place 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 chasstf 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 
 personce, 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 hands 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 induced 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 
 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 con- 
 jecture was busy as to what her business might be, we 
 observed a man with his arm slung in a handkerchief, and 
 appareritly 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 
 
144 WILD SPOKTS OF THE "WEST. 
 
 when I saw the whole of the palm sadly lacerated, and the 
 thumb attached by a small portion of the muscles, I really 
 feared that 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. 
 
 I 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 length, terminating 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 which 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 dis- 
 affected 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. 
 
 That our times should be as far distinguished for increased 
 effect and superior elegance in the formation of fire-arms, as 
 for any other mechanical improvement, will be admitted by 
 all but the most prejudiced of the old school. Antique 
 gunners may still be found, who are obstinate in preferring 
 the flint to the percussion plan. But any person who has 
 suffered the disappointments that the best guns on the 
 former principle will entail upon those that carry them, and 
 particularly in wet and stormy weather, will freely admit 
 the wonderful advantages that simple and effective invention, 
 the copper cap, confers upon the modern sportsman. The 
 misery entailed upon the man who in rain and storm 
 attempts to load and discharge a flint gun, may be reckoned 
 among the worst upon the human catalogue ; and if he who 
 has suffered repeated disappointments of eternal misses and 
 dilatory explosions from a thick flint and a damp pan, tried 
 the simple and elegant improvement, now in general use, he 
 would abandon the stone gun for ever. 
 
LONDON GUN-MAKEES. 145 
 
 It has been said that gun-making is only brought to per- 
 fection in London, and that the Irish are not able to compete 
 with their English rivals. I am of this opinion, I confess, 
 and decidedly partial to a London gun ; and while I admit 
 that I have occasionally met with excellent fire-arms pro- 
 duced by Dublin makers, yet they are, in finish and elegance, 
 far behind those which one gets from any of the leading 
 artists in the great metropolis. To point to any particular 
 name, among the host of London makers, would be absurd. 
 From any of a dozen a person will be certain of obtaining a 
 first-rate implement; and from the Mantons, Purday, Egg, 
 and many others, guns of the most efficient qualities and 
 beautiful finish will be procured. 
 
 Some sportsmen are partial to such makers as forge their 
 own barrels, and who thus afford them an opportunity of 
 seeing their gun in progress from its commencement to its 
 finish; and I acknowledge that I like to see my barrels 
 fabricated; not but that I believe the greatest pains are 
 bestowed upon proving his barrels by every gun-maker of 
 character, and that none will be permitted to leave the shop 
 of any reputable artist that have not been faithfully tested 
 as to strength and safety. 
 
 So much depends on individual fancy, as well as the 
 personal formation of the shooter, that no two persons will 
 exactly select the same gun. He who has long or short arms, 
 or any peculiarity in the formation of neck or shoulders, 
 will require, according to circumstances, a differently-shapen 
 stock. Every man knows the gun best suited to his taste 
 and figure, and few can shoot with one that differs materially 
 from that which he has been accustomed to. To tell an 
 experienced sportsman the qualities a finished gun should 
 possess, would be giving him unnecessary information ; and 
 should the neophyte on this h^ad wish for ample instructions, 
 let him consult Colonel Hawker, and he, honest man, will 
 open up all the arcana of the craft — and though he may not 
 teach him "the cunning trick of shooting," he will, if his 
 advice be attended to, enable him to thoroughly comprehend 
 the requisite qualities of an efticient and well-finished 
 fowling-piece. 
 
 Indeed it is a miserable species of economy for a sports- 
 man to purchase an inferior gun. To expect that the low- 
 priced ones, which are manufactured in country towns, will 
 be either safe or durable, is an absurdity. No doubt the 
 charges of some fashionable makers are exorbitant, and from 
 
146 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 more moderate tradesmen of excellent repute, an equally 
 good gun may be procured at a considerably less price. But 
 if a London maker be expensive, he certainly gives you the 
 best article that improved machinery and the first workmen 
 in the world can produce. With common care it will nearly 
 last a life-time; and the small consideration between a 
 warranted and a flimsy and hastily-formed fowling-piece will 
 be too contemptible for a person to place in competition with 
 personal security and sporting comfort. 
 
 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 
 which 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 
 wild as hawks, we marked them into a ravine, and de- 
 termined 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 com- 
 panion and our attendant were busy coupling the dogs, when 
 
 the gun exploded, and the charge passing 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 
 mud and gravel. From the close manner in which we were 
 all grouped, how the shot could have entered the ground 
 without killing man or dog, or both, was miraculous. I was 
 desperately frightened, and from that moment forswore for 
 ever the use of weakened locks and attenuated barrels. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXVI. 
 
 Bad Eoads — Native Horses — Cairns — Bridge of Ballyveeuey — Our Beat — 
 Midday on the Moors — Hints to Grouse-shooters — Finding Game — Wild 
 Scenery — The Ruined Chapel — The Well — Act of Penance — Storm in 
 Mountains — The Deserted Burying-plaoe — Our Return — The Colonel's 
 Method of Rabbit-shooting — A Disappointment. 
 
 I VERILY believe that no people upon earth are more easily 
 satisfied in roads than the natives of Ballyveeney. A narrow 
 
BAD EO ADS. 147 
 
 strip of rough gravel along the sea-beach, a mountain water- 
 course, 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 horse-ways. 
 
 That accidents do not more frequently occur is marvellous. 
 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 [Appendix, Ko. XXVL] would have been ingulfed, 
 and skirts a dizzy precipice, with no more apprehension than 
 a Cockney wayfaring upon a turnpike-trust. " Use lessens 
 marvel," quoth Sir Walter Scott, and I, who formerly 
 witnessed the accoutrement of these Calmuc-looking coursers 
 with a lively anticipation 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 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, judging from these stone, drunkenness at present, appears 
 as fatal as the middoge [Appendix, No. XXVII.] in former days. 
 
 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 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. 
 
148 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 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 dis- 
 covered. He leaves the open feeding-grounds for heathery 
 knowes and sheltered valleys ; and, while the uninitiated 
 wearies his dogs in vain over the hill-side, where the birds, 
 hours before, might have been expected, the older sportsman 
 profits by his experience, and seldom fails in discoveHng the 
 dell or hillock where, in fancied security, the indolent pack 
 is reposing. 
 
 We had been upon the moor 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 be just 
 round the hill, 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 clothed the opposite sides, and one 
 spot, where the rivulet elbowed back, was covered with short 
 
THE RUINED CHAPEL. 149 
 
 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 work- 
 manship shewed 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 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 ; every- 
 thing 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 partially 
 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 
 crouched 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 
 overhead, a deluge of rain descended, and, rapidly as it came 
 
150 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 on, the storm passed away, the peals hecame 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 desecration, 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 sufficient for the 
 day. The game-bags, upon examination, produced twenty 
 brace of grouse, and a leash of mountain 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 
 bridle until we reached the sand-banks, where the boat, with 
 Pattigo and his companions, was awaiting our arrival. 
 
 N'or 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 politician may at first 
 sight seem difficult, but, ensconsing 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 
 * Anglice — the church of the hill. 
 
LEGEND OF KNOCK-A-TH AMPLE. 151 
 
 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 Braemar." 
 
 After dinner I reminded my kinsman of the promised 
 legend of Knock-a-Thample, and the otter-killer was ordered 
 to the presence. But, on inquiry, Antony had been profes- 
 sionally 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 ceremony as though he had 
 been Surgeon-General. I felt, and expressed my disappoint- 
 ment. "And are you really curious about this wild 
 tradition ? " asked our host. " I believe this is one of many 
 legends which, during a terrible winter, I amused myself by 
 transcribing." Opening a drawer, 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. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXVII. 
 
 THE LEGEND OF KNOCK-A-THAMPLE. 
 
 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 canonization, 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,]Jand! to whom 
 
152 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 the rosary, rather than the cradle, was adapted. And so 
 thought St. Catharine— though her water was unequalled, 
 yet she had neither time nor inclination to work miracles 
 eternally; consequently, those ancient candidates for the 
 honours 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 
 t^he year — winter was at hand^ — the heath was withered, and 
 the last flower had fallen from the bog-myrtle — the boulies 
 [Appendix, No. XXVIII.] 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 inhabitants 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 peasant's observa- 
 tion, although he kept his cap upon his head and declined to 
 put aside his mantle. 
 
 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 Eed Pedlar. 
 He was a strong, under-sized, and ill-visaged man ; mean in 
 his dress, and repulsive in his appearance. The Pedlar 
 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 
 
LEGEND OF KNOCK-A-THAMPLE. 153 
 
 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 sparkling 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 Eed Pedlar, who 
 proffered his services as a 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 returning from visiting at the blessed well. The 
 Pedlar, 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 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 grey-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. Catherine's cross, a murdered 
 corpse ! 
 
 The tidings of this desperate deed flew through the country 
 rapidly. The body was carried to the herdsman's cabin. Por 
 many hours life had been extinct, and the distorted counten- 
 ance 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 
 * A place of penance frequented by Catholic devotees. 
 
154 "WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 removed from the body, when a cry of horror burst from all — 
 the Pilgrim was a woman ! Bound by a violet ribbon, a 
 bridal ring rested beside her heart; and, from unequivocal 
 appearances, it was too apparent that the fell assassin had 
 committed a double murder. 
 
 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 the 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. 
 
 When the peasant's narrativei 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 
 opened, and another visitor entered with scant ceremony, 
 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 authori- 
 tatively for supper, and the tones of his voice were quite 
 familiar to the herdsman. With excited curiosity, the 
 
LEGEND OF KNOCK-A-TH AMPLE. 155 
 
 peasant flung some dried flax on the fire, and by the blaze 
 recognised at once the well-remembered features of the Eed 
 Pedlar ! 
 
 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 Pedlar 
 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 Pedlar 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 Eed Pedlar often sought 
 shelter here, and never was refused." 
 
 " The Eed Pedlar ! " 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 Pedlar, with 
 extraordinary assurance. 
 
 " I shall," was the cold reply, 
 
 " Well," said the newcomer, " 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 Galway 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 Pedlar was not discomfited by the 
 dignity and determination of his antagonist. 
 
156 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 " 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 Pedlar, 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 ? " 
 
 " No ! " replied the Pedlar with a cool smile ; " I was 
 beside the owner of this cross when his last sigh was 
 breathed ! " 
 
 Like lightning 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." 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 Eed Pedlar did not carry his life 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 
 Pedlar'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 grey-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 " 
 
 " The penitent should kneel," said the old man timidly. 
 
LEGEND OF KNOCK-A-TH AMPLE. 157 
 
 " Kneel ! " exclaimed the Knight, " and to thee, my fellow 
 mortal ! Monk, thou mistakest — T 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 circumstance 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 
 Eome, 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, ffie Burgo will keep his 
 word to the very letter. And now, rarewell ! 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 it with his foot, 
 and pausing for a moment, looked at the Monk — 
 
 " Eemember ! " 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 devo- 
 tional acts they endeavoured to while the night away. Mid- 
 night came; the Monk was slumbering over his breviary, 
 and the matron occupied with her beads, when a violent 
 
 11 
 
158 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 trampling 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 a 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 mad- 
 ness, hurtled through the air, and infernal lights flashed 
 through the crevices of 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 with dismay, while the melancholy fate of the 
 gentle Pilgrim was bitterly lamented. To inter the Pedlar's 
 corpse was the first care ; for the Monk swore by his patron 
 saint that he would not pass another night with it over- 
 ground to be made a " mitred abbot." A eof&n was forthwith 
 prepared, and, with " maimed rites," the murderer was com- 
 mitted 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 Pedlar's grave ! 
 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 Pedlar'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 
 
VISIT TO THE MOUNTAIN HUT. 159 
 
 placed there was fresh and unfaded ; and late as the season 
 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 grey 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 Pedlar'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 under- 
 neath the ruined walls — and the curse of God and man have 
 fallen on Knock-a-Thample. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Tisit to the Mountain Hut — The Colonel — An Argument and a "Wager — No 
 Honesty among Anglers — State of the River — Mogh-a-dioul — Father 
 Andrew's FUes — Splendid Scenery — Its Effect upon me and my com- 
 panion — Beautiful Pool — The Otter — A Curious Scene — The Colonel's 
 Troubles — "Wager Decided — A New Bet — A Salmon Killed — Conversa- 
 tion — The Colonel Out-manoeuvred. 
 
 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 
 hUls. While we traverse the moors, the Commander will 
 infest the river ; or, if the day be questionable, like honest 
 Sanoho, 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 
 sfldier, who was^then a keen and accomplished sportsman, 
 spent many a happy hour upon the heaths. To his memory 
 
160 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 every dell and hillock is sbill green ; and hence our evening 
 details vyill 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 ; 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 glimmerin' 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, that on any given day he would kill more than we 
 both could produce together. This, as every Irish argument 
 ends in s^ 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 
 dormitory ; 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 handiwork 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 
 
STATE OF THE RIVEK. 161 
 
 ivi dgillo, 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." 
 
 The thunderstorm produced a considerable fresh in the 
 river, as the rain fell abundantly in the hills. The stream, 
 however, had suflScient time to clear after the flood, and we 
 found it in beautiful order. The wind was steady at north- 
 west ; and as the drafting has long since been discontinued, 
 and the weirs 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 commencement, and, I 
 suspect, a salmon or two already in the pannier. 
 
 The opening of our campaign is everything but satisfactory : 
 Mogh-a-dioul seems possessed with the demon of obstinacy ; 
 any advance toward the river is his aversion, and, as Pattigo 
 expresses it, "the beast will neither wear nor stay." The 
 Commander's seat has been more than once imperilled 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 vrill be more than counter- 
 vailed 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 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 
 
162 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 damned provoking!" responded 
 my brother fisherman, "that the only decent fly in that 
 cursed Priest's collection should be tied upon a hook with no 
 more point upon it than a hob-nail. 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 Pawn, 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 I " 
 
 We followed the course of the river for a distance of ten 
 miles, stopping at the pools as we went along, but 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 mountains 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 considerable 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 
 sand-band 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 
 
SALMON POOL— THE OTTER. 163 
 
 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 the morning — while the 
 rushing waters of the river produced such melancholy and 
 tranquillising sounds as would lull to rest any bosom 
 untortured by mortal passions. 
 
 "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 'Deil'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 Com- 
 mander noticed. The fish, which upon our first arrival had 
 risen merrily at the natural flies, now 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 that there was some hidden cause of alarm, and we 
 were not long left in doubt. IsTear the neck of the pool an 
 otter of the largest size showed - himself for a moment, t'aen 
 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 tlie same time. 
 
 We reached the cabin after a day of excellent sport ; but 
 everything on earth has its alloy, and two circumstances 
 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, 
 our fine salmon, and a score of good-sized sea-trouts ; but 
 he Colonel swears that he lost his best fishing until he 
 discarded the Priest's flies ; and it is probable, if their defects 
 
164 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 had been apparent at an earlier period, our baskets would 
 have been considerably benefited by the discovery. 
 
 As we ascended the bank before the cabin door, our rival 
 met us. He had left off 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 ^ch 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 grey groat. 
 Hennessey, the steel-yard — produce — despatch — one, two, 
 three, four. You killed one apiece, I presume, and Andy 
 gaffed 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. 
 Earely 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, and a multitude of sea-trouts, 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 kins- 
 man, " 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 proclaimed him. at once an adept, and at 
 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 companions. 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." 
 
 * A horse basket. 
 
THE COLONEL OUT-M AN(EU VRED. 165 
 
 " Well," said the Commander, " this beats Bannagher* I 
 would have given my corporal oath the knave had swept the 
 river. His flies are absolutely 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 in his life was taken with a 
 fit of conscience, and actually refused to gaff a salmon. The 
 very otters were combined 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 Goolamore 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 concience!" 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 Currakeent — 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 ' — 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 
 
 * An Irish phrase synonymous with " this exceeds everything.'' 
 t A by-name given to one of the endless tribe of MalUy. 
 
166 WILD SPOKTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 experiments with Father Andrew's. Come, the bets are off, 
 we both violated treaties, and thus, I renounce my victory, 
 though my opinion of PuU-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 her Majesty's mail." 
 
 " And in that case, I trust that you will be an accomplice. 
 If one must swing, good society is everything. Your 
 demeanour at the fatal tree, I am persuaded, would be 
 exemplary. And yet, my dear Frank, although I treated 
 Father Andrew's despatch with scant ceremony, I never 
 came within the clutches of the law but once, and that was, 
 as old Jack says, through villainous company." 
 
 " Was that the time you stole the snuff-box ? " asked the 
 Commander. 
 
 " I steal a snuff-box ? No — I deny the theft — -I was only 
 an accessory after all. But, to clear my character, I must 
 tell the story to my cousin." 
 
 CHAPTEE XXIX. 
 
 THE GOLD SNUFF-BOX. 
 
 It was the spring before my father's death. A vacation was 
 ac hand, and for some college irregularities I had been de- 
 prived of my chambers as a punishment, and turned upon 
 the town to shift as I best could. I fixed myself at the 
 Wexford Hotel for the short time I intended remaining in the 
 capital, and there formed my first acquaintance with Colonel 
 B and Lieutenant K , both of the Militia. 
 
 They arrived at "The Wexford" late one evening, from 
 Naas, where the regiment was then quartered, and were on 
 their route to visit, on private business, the realms beyond 
 the Shannon. 
 
 I was alone, in the parlour when the strangers arrived. 
 They cast a wistful eye at a choice haddock, then in the very 
 act of being served up as exordium to the dinner. The 
 waiter in a whisper assured the belated travellers that he 
 was convinced the young gentleman, meaning me, would 
 share his fish and table-cloth. The request was very politely 
 made, very politely granted, and down we sat as if we had 
 been bosom friends for a twelvemonth. 
 
 The Colonel was an overgrown bombard — a vessel full- 
 charged with good-humour and old port. He said odd 
 
THE GOLD SNUFF-BOX. 167 
 
 things, and did them too. The subaltern was a squab-built, 
 snub-nosed, strange sort of merry fellow, having a rich brogue 
 and racy wit ; and while the corpulent commander believed 
 that he was humbugging the short lieutenant, the short 
 lieutenant, all the while, was playing the devil with the 
 corpulent commander. No two persons were ever better 
 constructed to elicit reciprocal amusement; and they were, 
 though opposites in everything, as necessary to each other as 
 " sheath to sword." 
 
 But there was a circumstance that united the strangers 
 
 and myself directly. My friend, Lord L , had just got 
 
 a majority in the Colonel's regiment ; and the said Colonel 
 and his companion were going that very night to a ball at 
 the Dowager's, who then lived in Rutland Square. 
 
 We finished a formidable portion of Page's* best — retired 
 to dress, and afterwards set off in a hackney-coach to the 
 scene of our evening's amusement. I was three-deep in 
 dancing engagements, and my first partner was already in 
 the room ; of course I separated from my companions 
 directly, of whom, however, I caught a distant glance as 
 they were formally presented to his aunt by Lord L . 
 
 It was a crowded ball. I was dancing busily, and how my 
 companions employed themselves never occasioned me a 
 thought. At last supper was whispered to be on the tapis. 
 Miss Garden and I — she was then a very pretty girl — had 
 quietly slipped away from the set to be in readiness for the 
 crush, when we stumbled upon a snug whist-table in an 
 unfrequented corner, and there I discovered my gallant 
 friends actively engaged. 
 
 The unhappy men were partners. They had, moreover, 
 been delivered into the hands of the Dowager and Mrs. 
 
 P , an antiquated commoner. Both ladies were 
 
 notorious for extraordinary luck, and a fortunate arrange- 
 ment of always cutting together. It was further believed 
 that both were given to the good old rule of winning, honestly 
 if they could — but winning. 
 
 It was evident at first sight that the soldiers were no 
 matches for the gentlewomen. The rubber game was on 
 the point of being decided just as we reached the table ; the 
 soldiers had it by honours, but, by a barefaced revoke, that 
 would have been detected by any but the buzzards they 
 were playing with, the ladies gained the point required, and 
 had their claim allowed. "Supper is served," said Mrs. 
 
 * A celebrated wine-merchant. 
 
168 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 with a satisfactory grin ; " had we not better stop, 
 
 Lady L ? " The gentlemen simultaneously popped 
 
 their hands into the pockets of their nether garments. " In 
 how much have I the honour to be your Ladyship's debtor ?" 
 
 inquired the Colonel, with a gracious smile. Mrs. P 
 
 instantly mumbled, with the rapidity of a bar-maid, "Ten 
 points — three rubbers — only nine guineas." The Colonel 
 started and stared. " Nine devils ! — I mean guineas ! " ex- 
 claimed the Sub, in awful consternation. But the decree 
 had gone forth. " They never played higher — deep play was 
 detestable." The money was accordingly doled out, and I 
 observed that the contents of the lieutenant's purse, after 
 rendering this sweeping subsidy, were reduced to a solitary 
 guinea. 
 
 At this moment the supper-rooms were thrown open, and 
 away went the crowd. The Dowagers were left to scramble 
 up their winnings, and the soldiers, I presume, to execrate 
 their own bad luck. Miss Carden and I, who witnessed the 
 
 impudent revoke perpetrated by Mrs. P , and passed 
 
 over by my Lady L , mutually decided, that, in common 
 
 justice, both ladies should have been consigned for a month 
 to the house of correction. 
 
 Supper, as all suppers have done, ended. I placed my 
 handsome partner in her mother's carriage, and was then 
 depositing myself in a hackney-coach when I espied my 
 military friends upon the steps, hailed them immediately, 
 aiffl embarking in the same vehicle, we were duly landed at 
 " The Wexford." 
 
 " Waiter ! " cried the Colonel in a voice of thunder, " some 
 brandy and red-hot water. I wore my thin tights, for the 
 first time these six months," addressing me, "and, by St. 
 Patrick! my limbs are icicles. I drank two glasses of 
 execrable Teneriffe ! and, God knows, one would be a 
 sufficient dose of poison for a gouty man like me. Arrah ! 
 waiter ! have you it in the house ? If you have not, say so, 
 and I'll run out and save my life at the next tavern." But 
 the waiter was prompt, and the house honest. Up came the 
 brandy and materials; and the Colonel, relieved from the 
 anticipated attack in the stomach, " breathed again." 
 
 I looked at my unfortunate friends, and never did men 
 bear their misfortunes so differently. While the Subaltern 
 was in a phrensy, the Commander was calm as a philosopher. 
 
 " Well, if the devil had his own," exclaimed the irritated 
 Lieutenant, " my Lady L would fry." 
 
THE GOLD SNUFF-BOX. 169 
 
 " Eowland," said the Colonel, solemnly, " what the deuce 
 tempted you to play ? You don't understand the game, and 
 I often told you so." 
 
 " But," said I,- interrupting him, " the rubber was yours. 
 
 Mrs. P made a scandalous revoke. How could it 
 
 escape your observation ? The young lady who was leaning 
 on my arm was horrified at such barefaced cheating." 
 
 " I remarked it," said the Lieutenant, " but I was ashamed 
 to speak. I thought we were playing half-crown points ! " 
 
 " I wish I had seen it," said the Colonel. " Ah, Eowly, 
 you're no wizard." 
 
 "Well, no matter; I have suffered enough," said the 
 subaltern, testily. " If I have a rap left, after these swindling 
 jades, but one solitary guinea to carry me to Connemara ! " 
 
 " Pshaw ! beg, man, beg ! You have a face for anything. 
 I wonder how I stand upon the night's play. 
 
 "Nine guineas minus," said the subaltern, "unless you 
 managed to fob off a light piece, or pass a counterfeit." 
 
 " That would be impossible," remarked the Colonel, " for, 
 though the crush was desperate, and I thought, and wished, 
 that the table would be overturned, the Dowager thumbed 
 every guinea over as if she had played with a pickpocket. It 
 was just then that I managed to secure a keepsake," and he 
 produced a huge snuff-box of fine gold and antique work- 
 manship from his side-pocket. I stared with wonder, while 
 the subaltern ejaculated, "What a chance! Ah, Colonel, 
 you are the jewel ! The box will pay our losses beauti- 
 fully." ' 
 
 "I beg to be excused from a co-partnership," said the 
 Colonel, drily. " Kowly, you might have stolen for yourself. 
 I saw a pair of gold-mounted spectacles upon the table, and 
 a vinaigrette of excellent device lay beside you. No, no, 
 Eowly, rob for yourself." 
 
 " And," said I, " my dear Colonel, might I ask what may 
 be the ultimate design which you harbour against the 
 Dowager's snuff-box ? " 
 
 " Why, faith, my young friend, my plans are simple 
 enough. I'll give you and that ommadawn,"* pointing to his 
 lieutenant, "an early dinner, and bring you to the play 
 afterwards. Well, it will be tolerably dark by that time. 
 We'll pass St. Andrew's church, call next door, and get a 
 worthy man who lives convenient, and who is very liberal in 
 lending money to anybody who leaves sufBcient security 
 * Anglice, an idiot. 
 
170 WILD SPOKTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 behind him — well, we'll get him, in short, to take the box at 
 his own valuation." 
 
 " And if it should be discovered ? " 
 
 " Oh, little fear of that. No, my friend, before you and I 
 are in the boxes, this box will be in the melting-pot. The 
 man is a considerate and conscientious dealer. No, no, all's 
 safe with him." 
 
 We parted for the night. At noon, next day, we met at 
 breakfast. I, although pretty conversant in odd adventures 
 and mad freaks, was dying to see the conclusion of the snuff- 
 box affair. We, of Trinity, often touched upon street-robbery 
 in poles and rattles; and, as far as public property went, 
 were nowise scrupulous. I had once achieved a petty larceny 
 by running off with a pine-apple from a fruiterer's, for which, 
 however, I had the grace to send payment in the morning. 
 Still, the Colonel's coup was so superior to all this that I was 
 as much interested in the denouement as if I had been a 
 principal concerned. At the appointed hour we regularly 
 met in Dawson Street. Our host gave us the best dinner in 
 Morrison's carte, and we had champagne, liqueurs, and a 
 superabundant supply of the primest claret in the cellar. 
 
 Pending dinner, the parties made an amicable arrangement 
 touching the disposition of the booty. 
 
 The field officer was to share the surplus produce over the 
 payment of the tavern bill ; and the subaltern was to be the 
 vendor of the spoil. 
 
 It was nearly eight o'clock when we left Morrison's, and 
 directed our course to the civil gentleman who lent money 
 on good security. We entered an outer hall, and thence 
 advanced into one encompassed by a tier of compartments 
 like confession-boxes. Eowly stepped into a vacant stall, 
 and we stood close behind, to aid, comfort, and counsel. 
 
 The money-dealer left an unfinished bargain with a trades- 
 man's wife, to attend upon his better-dressed customer. 
 "Ah! hem — hem!" said the subaltern, rather bothered to 
 open the negotiation — but the Lombard gave an encouraging 
 
 simper, " A small advance wanted, I presumed " Why, no 
 
 ah, hem I — wish to dispose of a trifle — a present — no use for 
 it — but would not for the world it was known." The pawn- 
 broker instantly presented his finger and thumb, to receive 
 watch, ring, or jewel, according as the case might be. 
 
 The snuff-box was promptly displayed, and the harpy eye 
 of the money-dealer turned rapidly from the box to the 
 presenter — " Well, sir, pray what may be the value ? " 
 
THE GOLD SNUFF-BOX. 171 
 
 " Eeally, can't say — a present — and — ". 
 
 " Oh ! ye-e-e-s — old gold — mere drug now-a-days — about 
 three pound ten an ounce — once valuable — bullion then 
 scarce — a year ago it would have been a very pretty swag." 
 
 " Swag ! "What do you mean ? " cried the alarmed seller ; 
 " Zounds ! do you think I stole it ? " 
 
 " Oh, dear, no-o ! — beg pardon — meant present. Here, the 
 scales, John. Ah ! ah ! let me see — ay — standing beam — 
 ah! — say fifteen pounds — full value, I assure you — the price 
 to a pennyweight." 
 
 " Very well ; I'm content : but if my friend discovered 
 that I would part with his present " 
 
 The broker raised his forefinger to his nose, and dropped 
 his left eyelid with a striking expression — the look would 
 have done honour to an Old Bailey practitioner. The money 
 was told down upon the counter. " The hammer, J6hn ! " 
 A lean, ill-grown, ill-visaged dwarf produced a weighty one. 
 There was a small anvil affixed to the bench; my Lady 
 
 L 's box received one mortal blow, and the attending 
 
 imp swept the shattered fragments into a crucible. 
 
 What was the exact disposition of the assets I cannot 
 pretend to say ; but I believe they were fairly partitioned 
 ioetween the parties concerned. 
 
 About six months afterwards, when passing through the 
 
 city, after my father's death, I met Lord L , and he 
 
 received me with his customary kindness. " You must dine 
 with me to-day," he said. I pointed to my mourning coat. 
 " Oh, you must come — the very place for one wishing to 
 avoid the world. Since you left Dublin, my poor aunt has 
 undergone such a change ! — an infernal gang have got round 
 her entirely ; and she, who once only lived for whist, cannot 
 be persuaded to touch a card. By Jove ! the good lady is 
 bewitched ! But I have arranged with her that the first 
 crop-eared scoundrel or female ranter I meet in Rutland 
 Square shall be the signal for my final abdication to Kildare 
 Street — and she knows that I am positive. Do come : not a 
 soul dines with me but that good, fat fellow, my Colonel." I 
 smiled, as I recollected our last visit to the Square, and 
 promised to be punctual. 
 
 I arrived some time before Lord L , and found the 
 
 Dowager, and my fat friend, the Colonel, tite-d-tite. Beyond 
 the customary interchange of civilities, I did not interrupt 
 them, receiving, however, • from the Commander a warm 
 squeeze and an inexpressibly comic look, that recalled a 
 
172 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 volume of adventure. The old lady resumed the conversation 
 which my entree had suspended : — 
 
 " And you are six months absent, Colonel ! — Protect me ! 
 how time passes ! — it should be a lesson — a tacit monitor, as 
 Mr. Hitchcock happily expresses it. "Well, there was a carnal- 
 minded noisy crowd here ; and I remember you lost three 
 rubbers. How such vain imaginations will push aside the 
 better seeds ! Your partner was a well-meaning gentleman, 
 but never returned a lead. Oh me ! that these vanities 
 should be remembered ! That very night. Colonel, I met 
 with a serious, I may say distressing loss. My cousin 
 General Pillau's Indian snuff-box was stolen. I suspected — 
 But judge not, as Mr. Heavyside said at the chapel yesterday. 
 It was in my partner's hand the last time I ever saw it : the 
 
 rusli to supper came; she But we must be charitable. 
 
 But here's my nephew — Oh that he was awake to Gospel 
 truth ! Well, my dear George, what news since ? " 
 
 " None, Madam ; only that your old friend's over — dead as 
 
 Julius Caesar. Mother P will never cut another 
 
 honour ! " 
 
 " Oh ! George, do stop — for once be serious. Mrs. P 
 
 dead! and, I fear, not prepared. Ah me! poor Mrs. P ! 
 
 Many a rubber she and I have played — she knew my system 
 so well — finessed a leetle too much — But where am I 
 running ? Well, I hope she was prepared — but she stole the 
 General's box ! " 
 
 " Phew ! if she stole snuff-boxes, she'll fry for it now," said 
 the Colonel, taking share in th^ lament : " I hope, madam, it 
 was merely a pretty toy, something not valuable." 
 
 " A toy ! my dear sir ; fine pale gold, invaluable for weight, 
 age, and workmanship. Had you ever held it in your hand, 
 you would never have forgotten it." 
 
 " Faith ! and likely enough, my Lady." 
 
 " George, love, if you would just speak to the executor. 
 Put it on the score of a mistake." 
 
 " I speak 1 Madam, do you want to have me shot." 
 
 " No, no, it's useless. Her nephew is an attorney. ' Do 
 men gather grapes ? ' as Mr. Heavyside says." 
 
 " Damn Heavyside 1 " exclaimed the Peer. " I must go and 
 see about some wine ; " and he left the room. 
 
 The old lady recommenced with a groan — " What a memory 
 
 Mrs. P ^ had! she would remember cards through a 
 
 rubber, and never omitted marking in her life. She took the 
 General's box ; she had always a fancy for knick-knackeries. 
 
CEANIOLOGY. 173 
 
 and wore ornaments very unsuitable to her years- — forgetting^ 
 the lilies of the valley. I wish Miss Clarke was here — 
 a worthy, comely, young woman, Colonel, recommended to 
 me as a spiritual assistant by Mr. Wagstaff of the Bethesda. 
 My nephew can't bear her, because she was bred a dress- 
 maker, and a vile dragoon officer told him some nasty story 
 to her disadvantage. Oh, Colonel, I wish George was 
 awakened — -You go to church regularly ? " 
 
 " I cannot assert that I do regularly ; not that I see any 
 harm in it." 
 
 "Very prettily remarked. Colonel; and you often, no 
 doubt, reflect upon the place you're going to ? " 
 
 " Yes, indeed, madam ; one must join one's regiment sooner 
 or later." 
 
 " Ah, Colonel, I wish George had your serious turn ; and, 
 between ourselves, he is by no means a safe whist-player. 
 His game is very dangerous. Ah, if I could have had 
 Mr. Wagstaff to meet you ! but my nephew's prejudice is so 
 violent. He is a sweet, spiritual-minded young man — comes 
 often to sit an evening with me ; aud he is so obliging ! takes 
 Miss Clarke home at midnight to save me the expense of 
 coach-hire, although she lives beyond the lamps. Poor 
 
 Mrs. P ! I wonder who will get her card counters. 
 
 They were superb. Well, she stole the box, however ; but as 
 the inspired psalmist — I mean penman — says — Ah, me ! 1 
 have no memory; I wish Miss Clarke was here. Well, 
 George, any appearance of dinner ? " 
 
 " So says the butler, madam ; and here he comes.'' 
 
 "Colonel, take down my aunt;" and thus ended Lady 
 L 's lamentations over sin, snuff-boxes, and Mrs. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXX. 
 
 The Otter-killer's Return — Craniology — Superstitions — Sea-horse — Master 
 Otter — Anecdotes of it — Ghosts and Fairies — Their Influence upon Men 
 and Animals — Cure of Witchcraft — Holy Lakes — Looh Keirawn — Its 
 Butter Fishery — The Faragurta — Its Causes, Imaginary and Real — Cm-es 
 and Cases — Swearing — Comparative Value upon the Book, the Vestment, 
 and the Skull — The Clearing of Miss Currigan — -An Uncatholio Cook. 
 
 The otter-killer arrived here late 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 in Ballycroy, I have come to a conclusion, that 
 the skulls of the natives are fabricated of different materials 
 
 12 
 
174 "WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 to those of vail the rest of the world. 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 her 
 Majesty's liege subjects. This is an every-day exploit ; and 
 of all the corners of the earth I have visited, I would name 
 this as the place wherein to establish a resident craniologist. 
 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 
 [Appendix, No. XXIX.] 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 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, while passing 
 through Clew Bay in a sailing-boat. Eequiring 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, 
 
 * The lower class of Irish describe the charge of a gun, not by quantity of 
 powder and shot, but by long measure. 
 
GHOSTS AND FAIRIES. 175 
 
 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, 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 the 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 man, while the latter exercise 
 their powers upon children and cattle. Indeed, the sinister 
 influence of the fairy 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, 
 [Appendix, No. XXX.] 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. 
 
 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 prostrated 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 wUds around us, where human relief is generally 
 unattainable. 
 
176 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 fairy 
 influence ; while more affirm that it is produced by passing 
 over the place where a coi'pse has been laid down. But this- 
 mystified disorder is, after all, nothing but exhaustion, 
 consequent upon hunger and fatigue. The lower classes are 
 particularly liable 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 believed 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 fine active 
 boy, called Emineem* 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 limb, 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 obliged 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 shi'bh\ 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 enigma. 
 I had been one of a knot of foxhunters 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 a legal oath 
 * Synonymous to Neddy. + A basket. 
 
COMPARATIVE VALUE OF SWEARING. 177 
 
 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 coriiparative swearing, I know not — I say 
 comparative, 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 has 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 archer," and 
 believed, " fond wretch ! " that he was beloved again. The 
 night of the portmanteau affair will be ever chronicled upon 
 his memory ; for while he was under fear and terror at the 
 bridge of Ballyveeney, she, the lady of his love, was at a 
 prinkMin* at Latrah, performing "apples for gentlemen,"! with 
 another suitor. Nay, more, the quondam lover, as was 
 reported, had actually cecisbeo'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 doats ; 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 ; J — and so 
 thought Andy Bawn. At last the suspected virgin volun- 
 teered to " take the skuU," and dispel the fears of her liege 
 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 Ballycroy ball, on the "free and easy plan,'' wliere much whisky and 
 no ceremony is used. 
 
 t A favourite centre danse at the above assemblies. 
 J Anglice — Half-drunk. 
 
178 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 A skull was accordingly procured from a neighbouring 
 burj'ing-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 prepared, Antony explained, in the 
 mother tongue, that the sins of the lady or gentleman' to 
 whom the skull had once appertained, would be added to 
 Miss Currigan's if she, Biddy, swore falsely; and Mrs. 
 Donahoo jingled the old iron, and sliowed 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 which might silence slander, advanced 
 under the directions 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 con- 
 siderable time her conduct was unquestionable ; she went 
 regularly to mass, gave half-a-crown at Easter, never missed 
 confessions, and, better still, conducted the culinary depart- 
 ment 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 pedlar ! 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 Eeek 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 her ! " said the 
 keeper, "for 1 can't ; she treated the young dogs abominably — 
 Spot will lose a claw ; and I am sure it was Sibby, the devil 
 speed her ! 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 chambermaid; "I never settled the master's 
 room but she was sure to pass the window." 
 
FRESH AERIVALS. 179 
 
 " She's gone," said the otter-killer ; " there's worse in the 
 ISTorth than Sibby. Many a good bowl of broth she gave me. 
 Tho she ynwr tho she ; agus neil she gun lought* She was no 
 great Catholic, it is true ! for she owned to me last Saint 
 John's — and she was hearty at the time — that she 'Was in 
 debt four stations at Ball, and three-and-twenty at Croagh 
 Patrick ! She was, the crature, a fine warrant for a promise, 
 but the worst performer under the canopy 6f heaven — She'll 
 never," said the old man, with his own peculiar chuckle, 
 " clear scores with the Eeek and Father Nolan. In troth, 1 
 think it would almost puzzle Bobby ! "t 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 Fresh Arrivals — The Priest's Reception — The Lodge Alarmed — Preparations 
 for Deer Stalking — State of the Gamson — The Mountain Lake — The 
 Peasant's Adventure — Camg-a-binniogh — The Ascent — Prospect from 
 the Summit — The Ravine and Red-deer — A Highland Ambuscade — 
 The Catastrophe. 
 
 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 introduction, and, better for the 
 traveller still, a full acquittance for meat, drink, and lodging. 
 ' This morning we have had an alliterative arrival — a piper, a 
 pedlar, 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 unexpected pleasure. Eor me 
 the visit is delightful, for I hope to obtain another lesson in 
 the " gentle art." The Colonel has embraced this " Walton 
 
 * Anglice, " She is as she is ; but she's not without her fault." 
 
 + This extraordinaiy being 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 consideration, 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. 
 
 The remains of poor Bobby, at his own request, were transported to the 
 summit of ihe mountain, and deposited on the apex of Croagh Patrick, where 
 he had so often and so usefully performed. As his 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 " 
 
l&O WILD SPOKTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 of the wilderness ; " a man on whom four bottles would not 
 show, and to whom, in woodcraft and theology, in the Com- 
 mander's opinion, the Clerk of Copmanhurst himself was 
 little better than a bungler ; and, notwithstanding my kins- 
 man'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 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 
 the valley as he crossed the brow above. 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 refresh- 
 ments 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. Shakspeare, 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 bril- 
 liantly, 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 wiih 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 was seen by the peasant ; but when we reach the base 
 of the hills, we must diverge to the left, and make a con- 
 siderable 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 tite-d-tite 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 the vain hope that his rheumatism may be 
 
THE MOUNTAIN LOUGH. 181 
 
 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 hUl 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 pic- 
 turesque ; 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 trouts took well, 
 and Cooney had nearly filled his basket, when he was startled 
 by the report of a gun at no great 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 [Appendix, No. 
 XXXL] 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 
 
182 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 carcase 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. 
 
 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 sur- 
 mounted, 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 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 had gained the top, and a scene, glorious 
 beyond imagination, burst upon us at once, and repaid ten- 
 fold 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 magniticent 
 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 
 
PROSPECT FROM CARRIG-A-BINNIOGH. 183 
 
 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 landscape 
 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 highlands; and southward, the 
 Connemara mountains, 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 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 immediate 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 
 Mke the topping of a parapet than the apex of a line of hills. 
 Indeed, a more desolate region could not be well imagined ; 
 no trace 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 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 com- 
 
184 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 munication was soon made, and, like the shepherd's at the 
 cabin, pantomime rather than speech conveyed its import. 
 His tidings were momentous — the deer had moved from the 
 place in which they had been first discovered, and were now 
 within one thousand yards of the place where we were 
 resting. Hennessey and the gossoon* 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 bases 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 sprang 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 contrast to 
 the barren heaths below and the blasted wilderness 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 gratifled 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 with 
 which we approached the verge, permitted us, without alarm- 
 ing 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 like 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 
 * Angliae — a boy. 
 
A HIGHLAND AMBUSCADE. 185 
 
 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 
 apprise 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 concealed I com- 
 manded a view of the defile for the distance 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 in- 
 creased. 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. 
 
 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 
 * Anglice — The rook of slaughter. 
 
186 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 imagined — I drew the trigger — a miss by everything un- 
 fortunate ! 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 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 a-head ; and while I gazed after him, a flash 
 issued from a hollow in the hill, the sharp report of Hennes- 
 sey'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 carcase 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 unceremoni- 
 ously put in requisition, the deer laid across his back, and 
 after emptying the 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. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 Deer Brought Home — Dinner — Gastronomic Refleotiona — Grouse Soup — 
 Roasted Salmon — Cooking, pour et contre — Carouse Commences — 
 Symptoms of Inebriety — Night in the Hills — Coffee al fresco — ^Temper- 
 ance Society^— A Bacchanalian Group — Auld Lang Syne — Borrowing a 
 Congregation — The Company Dispersed. 
 
 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 
 
GASTEONOMIC REFLECTIONS. 187 
 
 stage whisper to his master, "that a four-gallon keg will 
 scarcely last the night, there is such a clanjamfry of coosherers 
 [Appendix, No. XXXII.] in the kitchen — the Devil speed 
 them, one and all ! " 
 
 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 sports- 
 man should never travel. Like a soldier, he will sometimes 
 find it serviceable to be able to direct the broiling of a steak 
 and the combination of a stew. To fabricate a curry, or even 
 regulate 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 scholarly of the material 
 of a plum-pudding-^and 1 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 in 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 bill 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 
 
188 WILD SPOKTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 Kitchener ! one spoonful of that exquisite ipotage 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, subdivided, and roasted upon bog-deal skewers 
 before a clear turf-fire [Appendix, No. XXXIIL] 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 ploughman be to him a 
 pleasure — 
 
 " If these won't make him, 
 The Devil take him ! " 
 
 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. ISTo man, 
 I presume, will do either who can manage to have them 
 done by deputy. But a sportsman, 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 caviarado, 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 
 
SYMPTOMS OF INEBRIETY. 189 
 
 state. In truth, during my short but chequered life, civil 
 and military, I never saw a party evince an honester 
 disposition to drink fair. No coquetry about filling; no 
 remonstrances touching heel-taps and sky-lights ; 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 smoke 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 unsteadi- 
 ness of visioi^ 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 canaster. 
 
 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 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 
 passed 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 au 
 every-day concern ; and the best haunch in England would 
 
 13 
 
190 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 I'exemple." 
 
 Lighted by a peasant with a bog-deal torch, that emitted 
 more light than forty candles together, the old man ap- 
 proached 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, associated with the place and company, made an 
 impression on my fancy that will not be readily obliterated. 
 
 "Next to modern fanaticism, nothing stirs my choler 
 more," said my kinsman, " than that silly bubble yclept the 
 Temperance Society. To prevent men from occasionally 
 indulging, no matter what their grade in life may be, is 
 perfectly Utopian. The more you inhibit what the world 
 calls pleasure, the more you urge mankind to the pursuit. 
 Hence, in water-drinking, as in religion, there is the grossest 
 hypocrisy practised ; and I would as soon trust a denouncer 
 of wine with the key of my cellar, as allow my cat to have 
 the entree of the dairy. Then, upon the score that health 
 and longevity are interrupted by even a moderate attachment 
 to the bottle, I deny the position altogether, and for my 
 proof I would point out the group within. The otter-killer 
 says that he is eighty — we at the Lodge, from certain data, 
 know him to be at least five years more — his life has been 
 one of much severity, with constant exposure to heat and 
 cold, and he has, as he admits, been always a free drinker. 
 The Colonel for thirty years has been attached to the most 
 dissipated regiments in the service, and excepting that he 
 suffers from gout, which is hereditary in his family, and 
 rheumatism occasioned by a neglected wound, where is there 
 a more vigorous sexagenarian ? But the Priest is probably 
 the best example of them all. Exposed to all the annoyances 
 of his profession, brought constantly within the sphere of 
 contagion, called out of bed at midnight, and obliged to 
 brave weather when, as it has been happily expressed, a man 
 would not reject an enemy's dog, he exercises hospitality 
 freely, and is there a panado-maker among the whole water- 
 drinking gang who could rough it with him for a fortnight ? 
 But, hark ! he pitches that manly and melodious voice — he 
 strikes up poor Burns' inimitable lyric, ' Then are we met.' 
 That matchless song was surely written for such a voice and 
 such a company ! " 
 
BACCHANALIAN GROUP. 191 
 
 Under cover of the Priest's melody we approached the 
 window. There sat a party who might well put the Temper- 
 ance Society to the blush. For their years, I suspect there 
 was not a healthier, and I will swear not a happier trio in the 
 Queen's dominions. 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 
 levealed by the red and mellow light 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, notwithstanding the wear and tear that a 
 military life and its occasional excesses had caused, his 
 cheerful countenance 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, sealskin 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 ■ of it are gone already. 
 But hush ! let us hear the conversation. I think, if there be 
 strength in poteein, the Colonel has reached the moralizing 
 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 
 
192 WILD SPOKTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 magnuvi. 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 poteein is sweet, but weak — help it, man, for 
 these glasses scarcely hold a thimbleful ! — at our age water- 
 drinking won't do. ISTot a drop of brandy, you say, inside the 
 Mullet ? " [Appendix, No. XXXIV.] 
 
 " Not an anker in the barony ! " returned his companion, 
 with a heavy sigh. " There was a time when my poor cabin 
 could not be taken short for Nautz and Hollands ; but if I 
 can keep a bottle of ' the native ' now, it is the most. Would 
 you believe it. Colonel ? the Eevenue people searched my 
 house a month ago." 
 
 The Colonel looked indignant. " Search your house ?' 
 profane a priest's own dwelling ? why, after a while, they'll 
 look into the Lodge. Did you curse the scoundrels from the 
 altar ? " 
 
 " Not I," said the churchman. " They are all northmen 
 [Appendix, No. XXXV.] and foreigners, who do not care a 
 brass button whether I banned or blessed them for a twelve- 
 month. There is a ruffian of the flock* 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 
 Achill, on book oath, and he with his three decent wives in 
 the parish already. I quenched the candles oil him, and then 
 he took to the Eevenue — Nemo repentefwit turpissimus." 
 
 " 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 whatever 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 
 * The ftooki — a Roman Catholic oongregation is so termed in Connaught. 
 
BORROWING A CONGREGATION. 193 
 
 desperate drink with General Loftus at the Castle. When I 
 left Loughrea I forgot to ascertain where I should bring the 
 men on Sunday, and I thought this a good opportunity to 
 ask the question. I opened his bed-room door softly. ' Sir 
 Mark,' says I, ' where shall I march the men ? ' ' What kind 
 of a day is it ? ' says he. ' Eather wet,' was my answer. 
 ' It's nker the night that preceded it,' said he. ' Upon my 
 conscience, 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." 
 
 " Eeal 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 bishoprick. The town was the 
 most peaceful place in Connaught; and how could it he 
 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 head of the barrow. These 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 a murder 
 to see the clargy making such fools of themselves 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 
 
194 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 [Appendix, No. XXXVI.] 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 north-men away in the 
 west. Faith, he managed the one easy enough ; but it failed 
 him to do the other, for devil an inch the north-men would 
 come ; for, says they, ' Hell and Connaught's bad enough, but 
 what is either to Conneniara ? ' 
 
 "Well, the Minister came down, and a nice little man he 
 was, cue Mr. Carson. Father Patt Flyn had the parish then, 
 and faith, in course of time they two became as thick as 
 inkle-weavers. 
 
 Everything went on beautiful, for the two clargy lived 
 together. Father Patt Flyn minded his chapel and the flock, 
 and Mr. Carson said prayers of 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 Lough-namucky, 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 fealteagJi, have ye any- 
 thing with you, for the wallets seem full ? ' 'I have,' says I, 
 ' your reverence ; ' and I pulls out two pair 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 
 diue 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 cuddiogh^ as you please. 
 * Young rabbits. t Anglice, comfortable 
 
BORROWING A CONGREGATION. 195 
 
 Father Patt gave me a tumbler of rael stiff punch, and the 
 devil a better warrant to make the same was within the 
 province of Connaught. We were just as comfortable as we 
 could be when a currier* stops at 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 ! is there any- 
 thing wrong ? ' ' I'm ruined,' says he ; ' for some bad member 
 has wrote to the Bishop and told him that I have no congre- 
 gation, 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 by their Cristen nanies, ' is this all ? 
 If it's a congregation ye want, ye shall have a dacent 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 three- 
 score, well-dressed men and women, and all of them as devout 
 as if they were going to be anointed ; for that blessed 
 morning Father Patt whipped mass over before ye had time 
 to bless yourself, and the clanest of the flock was before the 
 Bishop in the church, and ready for his Holiness. To see 
 that all behaved properly. Father Patt had hardly put off his 
 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-chair 
 belonging to the Priest. ' Come here, Mr. Carson,' says he ; 
 'some enemy of your's,' says 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 congregation this month of 
 Sundays!'" 
 
 "He said no such thing," exclaimed my kinsman, who, 
 tired with the prolixity of the otter-killer, had interrupted 
 the finale of the tale. " How dare you, Antony, put such 
 uncanonical and ungentlemanly language in the mouth of 
 
 * AUq,s, courier. f Aiiglico, a great-coat. 
 
196 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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, which smoking, drinking, and cooking, had 
 rendered everything but agreeable. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXIII. 
 
 Dancing Kept Up — Effects of Poteen on tlie Company — Ball Ends — Rainy 
 Night — Morning — Pattigo — A Long Swim — Breakfast— An Incident — 
 Fox-oatolier Bitten by a Wild Cat — Ferocity of that Animal — Anecdotes 
 of them^House Cats Frequently Run Wild — Destructive to Rabbit- 
 warrens — Cat-killing Extraordinary — The Deer-skin — Snow Fatal to the 
 Red Deer— Anecdote of a Hind and Fawn — Blistered Foot — Simple 
 Remedy — My Descent by "The Mother's Side." 
 
 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 individual propensities were strik- 
 ingly 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 chaunter,^* 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 pater-o-pee to a coronach at a wake." 
 
 It was well that this failure in the orchestral department 
 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 
 
 • The principal, or finger-pipe of the set. 
 
PATTIGO. 197 
 
 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 soon became accustomed to, and slept till 
 eight o'clock, as sound as watchmen. 
 
 Long before we turned out, the Colonel and the 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 
 gentlemen's coppers, he guessed, were rather hot this morning, 
 and," as he eyed tlae empty bottles which were being re- 
 moved, " to judge from the number of 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, notwith- 
 standing 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 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 we were occupied in debating what should be the order 
 of the morning's amusement, and to fish, or not to fish, 
 appeared the qusetion, an incident such as in this wild and 
 
198 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 leechcraf t. 
 He had been bitten by a wild cat, [Appendix, 'No. XXXVII.] 
 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 com- 
 pletely 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 concluded that an animal was earthed 
 there. Having put a terrier in, his suspicions were con- 
 firmed, as the dog 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 gi'asp 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 giey 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. 
 
WILD CATS; THEIE BITE VENOMOUS. 199 
 
 having been obliged to resort to gunpowder, and blow up a 
 large portion of the«rock, before he could dislodge his danger- 
 ous 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 devas- 
 tated. 
 
 Besides this large and ferocious species, the warrens upon 
 the coast suffer much injury from the common cat becoming 
 wild and burrowing in the rabbit-holes. They are sometimes 
 surprised and shot in the sand-banks, or taken 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 
 outhouse 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 des- 
 patched information 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 chass? 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 abiindant 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 Bally croy, 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 
 return for a trifling donation, he pressed upon me the accept- 
 ance of a fine deer-skin which he produced from his wallet. 
 
200 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 " 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." 
 
 " And after a lump of lead," quoth the otter-killer, " had 
 made this fracture in the hide;" and he pointed to the 
 orifice in the skin, where evidently a ball had perforated. 
 
 " Alas ! " said the Priest, " the snow is always fatal to the 
 red deer. They are obliged to leave the upper range and 
 come down among 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 circum- 
 stance occurred, during its long continuance some years ago. 
 
 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 weeks, 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 undisturbed, continued in the place they had first 
 selected. 
 
 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 multitude 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, embarrassed 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 
 
 * By a village, a very few houses are denominated ; and a stranger would 
 be sadly disappointed if he formed his ideas of their extent on the EngUsh. 
 scale. 
 
THE LEGEND OF ROSE ROCHE. 201 
 
 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, succeeded in regaining their native wilds. 
 
 The whole of the dramatis persoTue, 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 trouts. 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 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 tHe-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 appearance 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 
 Eose Eoche. 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 Eose Eoche, and become thus 
 a chronicler of the otter-killer. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXIV. 
 
 THE LEGEND OF EOSE EOCHE. 
 
 At sixteen Eose Eoche was the loveliest maid in Ulster. In 
 infancy she was found exposed at the gate of the Ursulines, 
 and her beauty and destitution recommended her to the 
 
202 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 charity of the sisterhood. Educated, accordingly, for a 
 conventual Ufe, 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. E"o wonder that this powerful chief was 
 held in high honour by the sisterhood of Saint Ursula. 
 
 One tempestuous night in October, wearied with hunting, 
 aud 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 
 tired hunter was ceremoniously seated at the table. His 
 morning's meal had been despatched before the sun had 
 topped Slieve Gallion, 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 
 Ehenish 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 
 
THE LEGEND OF EOSE EOCHE. 203 
 
 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, until, piqued by his neglect, 
 the Abbess wished him a fair repose, and retired in full 
 state from the apartment, preceded by 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 permitted to 
 repose, no slumber sealed his eyelids, 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; 
 alUances 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 Eose 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 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, 
 
204 WILD SPOKTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 carnal motives of the Abbess, caused both to neglect con- 
 sulting another personage, namely, the blessed Ursula herself, 
 in thus disposing of one devoted to her service from the 
 cradle; and the Saint felt the oversight. 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 yoeman unani- 
 mously agreed that the several parties interested in the 
 chase were under the immediate influence of the Prince of 
 Darkness. 
 
 N'or did the holy Superior of the Ursulines fare better 
 than the persecuted Knight and his aSiicted companions. 
 Everything about the convent went astray, and the culinary 
 preparations for entertaining the Lord of Iveagh were 
 awfully interrupted by accident and forgetfulness. 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 the organ, instead of a jubilate, struck up a nuTic dimittis-; 
 the very bells were jangled out of tune — and the Lady 
 Abbess was horrified by a succession of prodigies that, from 
 her noviciate 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 liberality, agreed to double aves 
 and credos for a fortnight. But with Eose Eoche herself the 
 chief difficulty Was found to lie. All measures proposed by 
 the holy Mother were inefficacious ; and, in this desperate 
 
THE LEGEND OF ROSE ROCHE. 205 
 
 dilemma, it was deemed advisable to add to the number of 
 counsellors, 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 entrusted. 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 
 stoop of Ehenish wine, he decided, that the Lord of Iveagh 
 should add a flagon to the chalice, the Abbess double her 
 penitentiaries for a month, and Eose Eoche undergo a private 
 penance, which he, the Prior, should communicate to the 
 lady alone. 
 
 Never had such an alarming predicament a happier 
 termination ! The Knight had scarcely laid himself upon 
 the Bishop's bed, until a 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 /leve of the Ursulines left the home of 
 her youth, escorted by three hundred horsemen, the consort 
 of the proudest Baron of the Pale. N^o lover could be more 
 gallant than the noble husband of Eose Eoche. Pete 
 succeeded fete, and feasting continued in the castle of 
 Cormac More, from Michaelmas till 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 Eose Eoche 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 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 ; 
 
 14 
 
206 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 and the cherished hope of an heir to his ancient line now 
 faded in the heart of Cormac More. Dhu Castle hecame 
 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 required and possessed 
 an astonishing portion of philosophy. N"o baron's lady in the 
 Pale [Appendix, No. XXXVIII.] submitted to a frequent 
 separation from her lord with more laudable submission than 
 Eose Eoche. The customary resource of wives bereaved 
 appeared anything but consolatory to the dame. She- 
 determined to avoid crying, as being an unchristian 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 Eose 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 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 maliciously 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 Eose Eoche 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 Eose Eoche left the castle of her lord a 
 repudiated wife, and once more returned to the convent of 
 the Ursulines. 
 
THE LEGEND OP EOSE ROCHE. 207 
 
 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 ! Nothwithstanding 
 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-boy's of his train. 
 
 Thus matters stood when, one dark evening, returning 
 from the chase, Cormac and his followers were surprised 
 by a band of Caterans, 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 coun- 
 sellors 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 convinced, 
 too late, that his ill-used consort had the finest hair in 
 Christendom. Alas ! those ebon locks had been the admira- 
 tion of the whole sisterhood — and for penitential purposeSj 
 the Dominican had enjoined their concealment for three 
 . years, when he gave spiritual counsel, in their hour of 
 tribulation, to the Abbess, the Baron, and Kose Eoche. 
 
 To make atonement for his former unkindness, he willed 
 his rich domains to his beautiful widow. The Prior of the 
 Dominicans indited the deed which disposed of his pos- 
 sessions; 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 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 : Eose Eoche exercised 
 
208 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 exchanged 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 
 greenwood, 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 Eose 
 had her own secret causes of inquietude. Beauty, accom- 
 panied 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, Eose 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 imagination. 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 have 
 held out for ever. Eose 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 candidate, 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 Eose Eoche, 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 West," 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' 
 ingross a bond, by which the respective candidates for her 
 hand bound themselves to grant an uncontrolled right of 
 
THE LEGEND OF EOSE EOCHE. 209 
 
 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 department was complete, when, alas ! 
 the chief harper fell sick without a cause, and no other was 
 procurable for a distance of sixty mUes. 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 candi- 
 dates 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 with 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 her's 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 moments flew, the 
 beautiful widow became paler and more dejected ; and breasts 
 
210 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 amnounce 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 foUow- 
 ings. Eose Eoche 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 Eose Eoche looked carelessly around to 
 see that the band were fitly accommodated, 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 heart's 
 content, the Prior of the Dominicans produced the parch- 
 ment, to which his rivals had affixed their signatures already. 
 The "Big Man" listened attentively 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 faithfully to abide the intents of this parchment." 
 Then turning to Eose Eoche, he thus proceeded : " It grieves 
 me that through accident I have unwittingly occasioned 
 some delay ; therefore, in pity to my gallant competitors^ I 
 beg you, lady, to terminate their 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 muscadine, Aylmer, my bard, shall sing a Saxon rounde- 
 
THE LEGEND OF EOSE ROCHE. 211 
 
 lay." 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 — 
 
 " Ladye, farewell I — tlie fatal hour 
 Has sped, for thus thy tyrant wills. 
 When he, who loves thee, leaves this tower, 
 Deserts gay hall and woodland bower 
 Of her, for whom his heart's pulse thrills ; 
 And thou art she — Ladye — sweet Ladye." 
 
 When the minstrel touched the prelude, Kose Eoche 
 became visibly affected; but when the words fell from his 
 lips, 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 when her defunct lord had expelled 
 him from the castle ! She turned hastily round to see who 
 the strange youth might be who thus recalled her absent 
 love in look Bnd 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 ouce 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 fiashed 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 you to signify your pleasure and end uncertainty 
 at once." 
 
 While de Moore was speaking, Eose Koche appeared to 
 recover her self-possession wonderfully ; her eye brightened, 
 her colour came again, and the compression of her lips proved 
 that she was nerving herself for some determined effort. 
 
212 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 She rose slowly and gracefully, while a dead silence pervaded 
 the hall ; faint and tremulous as her 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 condition, save my own 
 pleasure ; 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 asionished 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 Connaught," 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 con- 
 fiscation, ordered thee to deliver the stranger up whom thou 
 hadst resetted — although five hundred marks were put 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. 
 
 * The place of honom- in a Baronial Hall. 
 
THE LEGEND OF EOSE EOCHE. 213 
 
 O'Conner 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 docu- 
 ment 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 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 ofiend 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, mine 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 individu'el 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 possessions he 
 gained by his lady against every claimant ; sons and daughters 
 blessed his bed, and transmitted his titles and estates to 
 
214 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 posterity : and thus, more than one powerful house traces its 
 lineage hack to an " dleve," of the Ursulines and the black- 
 eyed page. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXV. 
 
 Mountain Loughs — ^Trout — Their Varieties— Otter Haunt — The Upper Lake — 
 Goose Fishing — Weather Breaks — Prospect of Leaving the Cabin — Traits 
 of Character — Crimes — Abduction — Causes — -Murder — Why Prevalent — 
 Distillation ; its Extent and Cause — Anecdote of a Peasant's Ruin. 
 
 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 appear- 
 ance, 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. They rarely 
 
 * I never observed the effect of bottom soil upon the quality of fish so 
 strongly niarked, as in the trout taken in a small lake in the county of 
 Monaghan. The water is a long inegular sheet of no great depth — one shore 
 bounded by a bog, the other by a dry and gravelly surface. On the bog side 
 the trout are of the dark and shapeless species peculiar to moory loughs — 
 while the other affords the beautiful and sprightly variety, generally inhabit- 
 ing rapid and. sandy streams. Narrow as the lake is, the fish appear to con- 
 fine themselves to their respective limits ; the red trout being never found, 
 upon the bog moiety of the lake, nor the black where the under surface is 
 hard gravel. 
 
THE UPPER LAKE. 215 
 
 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, 
 aud 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 attachment 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 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 recollects, however, hearing, when 
 a boy, that there was formerly an old man, who resided con- 
 tiguous to the lake, who caught trout most plentifully near 
 the centre of the water, by floating lines across it, their ends 
 being attached to the legs of geese ; but he admits his belief 
 that this was but a popular conceit, and wisely comes to a 
 conclusion, " that there is a sea-horse, or some such devil, in 
 the lough which prevents the fish from taking fly or worm."* 
 
 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 approch- 
 ing, and the time is close at hand when the cabin must be 
 abandoned for the more substantial comforts of the lodge. 
 
 * 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 hai-vest floods, in a mill-race, which runs directly from the 
 lough. Their size is from four to ten pounds. 
 
216 "WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 1 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 civilization has banished from 
 the rest of mankind. There may be here, no doubt, much 
 ignorance and superstition 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 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 children without consulting the 
 inclinations of the parties most concerned in the affair. 
 Probably the whole matter is arranged between the fathers 
 during an accidental meeting at a fair, or, likelier yet, over 
 an egg-shell* drinking bout in a poteen-house. The due 
 proportions of cattle and dry money t 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 happiness after the priest 
 has been sent for to solemnize 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 woman ; " while the gallant 
 usually demurs to the amende honourable, until the considera- 
 
 * It may be easily imagined that glass was a scarce article in Ballycroy. 
 Accordingly, -in J^he still and drinking houses, an egg-shell was used as a 
 substitute. "^ 
 
 t " Dry money" is syiiuSjcmous with " hard cash.'' 
 
ABDUCTION — MUEDER. 217 
 
 tion 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 
 matrimonial market is spoiled, and nothing remains but an 
 amicable arrangement. Terms are accordingly made — the 
 parties become one fiesh — the Priest is considered for his 
 great and valuable services by both the houses, and " one 
 real 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 recoverable 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 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 administration of the 
 laws, are chief causes. A strange infatuation 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 obligation 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 fearfully 
 returned by the other ; and in a country where ardent spirits 
 are easily procured, and where ancient customs, and the 
 endless number of holy days enjoined by the Church of Eome 
 bring the parties into frequent collision, it is not wonderful 
 that disastrous consequences ensue. Maddened by whisky, 
 the national pugnacity bursts forth, old injuries are re- 
 
218 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 membered, the worst passions are called into action, and loss 
 of life is too commonly the result. 
 
 That any competent moral remedy can be employed to 
 cheek these barbarisms is hopeless, while the present de- 
 structive system of private distillation is encouraged by the 
 landlord and abetted by the revenue. The landlord is the 
 chief delinquent — -for, owing to abominable jobbing, the 
 moneys taken from the public 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 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 miserable 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 disposing 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 realize nearly three times the price 
 that it would have produced if sold for exportation; but 
 when the demoralization, 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 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 
 
ANECDOTE OF A PEASANT'S RUIN. 219 
 
 prosperous ; but the chances of detection, seizure, fine, and 
 imprisonment, are so multitudinous as to render the vending 
 of this pernicious article a ruinous trade. To succeed, 
 encourages him to continue in this hazardous manufacture ; 
 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 casualities incident to the ad- 
 venture ; and hence, more people have been beggared by this 
 demoralizing 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 eternally, and when it reached its destination, 
 was found to be so much damaged as to be rendered unfit for 
 sale. 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 pro- 
 prietor imprisoned for four months, and his cattle and 
 furniture at 'home canted to pay that rent which the corn, 
 liad it been marketable, would have more than realised. By 
 ■this accumulation of misfortune, the unhappy man was 
 reduced to the greatest misery, and from having been once 
 an opulent landholder, he is at this moment a cottar upon 
 what was formerly his farm, with nothing to support a wife 
 and seven children but a limited potato-garden, and occasion- 
 ally sixpence a day, when he is lucky enough to obtain 
 employment at that price ! 
 
220 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 Day fixed for our Departure — Party Separate — Last Day's Shooting — The 
 Secret Valley — The Fishers — Curious Incident — Dinner — An Alarm — 
 Night Search for the Otter-killer — The Old Man Found — His Recovery — 
 Narrative of the Accident. 
 
 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 mountains. 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 daybreak 
 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 difficulty 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 un- 
 promising. The birds were scarce, imsettled, and wild as 
 hawks. Prom the extreme steadiness of the dogs, we 
 sometimes succeeded in surprising them ; but generally the 
 cock took alarm, and gave the signal for escape, 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 that fringed the banks of a 
 little rivulet, one of our youngest and wildest setters stopped 
 in his career as if he had been shot. The suddeimess 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 stealing 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 J and when we attempted to close up. 
 
THE SECEET VALLEY. 221 
 
 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 
 moorland the birds had quitted. At this moment of in- 
 decision, 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, dis- 
 covered immediately below one of the sweetest glens I ever 
 looked at, stretching between the base of the hill we occupied 
 and the higher ridge beyond it. It was an admirable retreat 
 for grouse — several rivulets trinkled through the hoUow, and 
 everywhere it was covered with thick, tall heath in rich 
 blossom, and the cranberries, of which these birds are particu- 
 larly fond, were growing all around in great abundance. 
 Delighted with our new discovery, we determined to investi- 
 gate this land of promise closely, and our expectations, 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 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 considered 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. 
 
 The fishing-party had come back before we arrived at the 
 cabin. They, too, had been tolerably well amused, though 
 their angling was profitless. They hooked and landed several 
 salmon, but the fish were too red to be producible at table, 
 and were, of course, when brought to shore, liberated from 
 the fly, and returned to the river. 
 
 15 
 
222 WILD SPOKTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 A curious incident, however, 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 baskets, the little animal managed to secure the finest 
 and freshest salmon in the river. 
 
 But it was unnecessary to despoil the honest otter of his 
 booty to furnish out our table. Pattigo had gone to the 
 bank over night, and sent us early in the forenoon a basket 
 of excellent flat fish. John had already a fine dory and a 
 pair of soles in preparation before the postman came, and the 
 salmon, being deemed superfluous, was consigned to some of 
 the hangers on, who, having subdivided it without delay, 
 proceeded to broil their respective portions at one of the 
 fires out of doors, where, by the way, most of our own 
 cookery was carried on. 
 
 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 approaching 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 
 
SEARCH FOR THE OTTER-KILLEH. 223 
 
 ■expressing fears that happily 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 whisperings 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 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 lights 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 rheu- 
 matism, and alive only to the danger of his ancient associate, 
 had prepared to accompany 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 
 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 fingers to his lips and whistled shrilly, and 
 instantly a long-sustained howl answered to the signal. 
 
224 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 " 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 deliverance 
 of her master. The old man's eyes feebly opened when the 
 torch-light flashed upon his face. This symptom of existing 
 life encouraged us, and as his extremities were cold and 
 powerless, his master and I rubbed them briskly between our 
 hands, while Heimessey 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 ineffectually, to make the flanking 
 parties hear him ; there was no reply. 
 
 " 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 the 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 ta 
 bathe his chilled limbs. 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 appered, the loughs soon after daylight, and. 
 discovered the numerous footmarks which the fishing-party 
 had already observed. One trace he particularly followed,, 
 and, from the spraints, concluded that the animal would. 
 
REMOVAL OF THE OTTEE-KILLER. 225 
 
 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 gassoon to bring in the morning to the cabin. 
 He turned his steps homeward ; but the trap and 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 pro- 
 ceeded 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 the despairing otter -killer heard were the 
 long and mournful howls with which Venom mourned over 
 his calamity. 
 
 Guided by the torch-lights, we carried the rescued sufferer 
 to a place of refuge. Everything that kindness could suggest 
 was done to effect his restoration ; and the old man owned it 
 as a consolation, that he was saved from perishing in the 
 desert ; and that, in death, he should have those around his 
 bed, who, in life, had possessed his love, fidelity, and venera- 
 tion. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXVII. 
 
 The Otter-killer Carried to the Lodge — Fishing Homewards — Angling Closes 
 for the Season — Remarks — Feelings on the Occasion — Smuggler Appears 
 — Landing a Cargo — Captain Matthews — The Jane — Cutter stands out 
 to sea — Hooker on a Rock — Traveller Alarmed — Anecdote of an English- 
 man. 
 
 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 
 
226 "WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 mercy are highly estimated by pious Catholics, there were 
 more volunteers to assist in transporting the dying man than 
 could well find employment. 
 
 During our progress down we have had some hours' 
 superior sport with the angle. PuUgarrow, that inimitable 
 hole, has more than realized 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 morn- 
 ing 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. Eods 
 and lines, and all the material 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 unworthiness as an 
 angler — by a few days' 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 persons who, though born in a preserve, could 
 never shoot even tolerably, while others, with less ad- 
 vantages, speedily became adepts. One man can never learn 
 to ride ; and another, in a short time, can cross the country 
 like " a winged Mercury." The same rule holds good in 
 angling : — 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 charge- 
 able. 
 
 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 SMUGGLER APPEARS. 227 
 
 the science that he will be able to comprehend what written 
 theories profess to teach. [Appendix, No. XXXIX.] 
 
 "We had fished the deep hole above the river, and our rods 
 are for the last time handed to the attendants. And shall I 
 never while my idle hours away beside that beautiful stream 
 in the intervals of unfriendly sunshine, stretched beneath a 
 bank, turning the light pages of a book, or watching in 
 dreamy indolence the rushing of the river ? Shall I no more 
 watch the eddying of the pool, with its sparkling surface 
 broken by the bold and glorious spring which marks the 
 salmon rejoicing, like a returned prodigal, in his native river ? 
 No, my foot will never press that bank again ; nor shall I, 
 beside that glassy water, enjoy those tranquillizing feelings 
 which the slave of fashion, the creature of society, can 
 neither know nor estimate. 
 
 We had scarcely left the river, when a man, who stood 
 upon an eminence that commanded an extensive view sea- 
 ward, gesticulated with great energy, and made, what 
 appeared to me, some momentous communication in the 
 mother tongue. 
 
 " 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 Eock and the island of Devilawn a 
 cutter was opening the bay, and standing from the westward 
 under a press of canvas. She carried a spanking 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 row- 
 boats 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 walk'd the waters 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 Eidge Point 
 
228 WILD SPOKTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 she suddenly rounded-to, handed her gaff-top-sail, took in jib 
 and fore-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 Kobert Shallow, ' a poor 
 esquire of this county, and one of the King's 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 the nautical par- 
 lance, had already " broken bulk," and was discharging 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 traf&c, 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 poor 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 illicit trafBc. 
 There appeared no confusion attendant on the delivery of the 
 tobacco to its respective proprietors, who had already en- 
 gaged 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 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 Eevenue — I could not but ad- 
 mire 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 
 
THE JANE. 229 
 
 that they had been apprised he had sailed from Flushing, 
 and that this coast was the spot selected by the owners to 
 effect the landing — 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 suspended from the bulk-heads. 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 sailing 
 superior to any of a similar class, and her voyages had been 
 numerous and successful. Her armament was formidable; 
 sixteen heavy carronades were extended along the deck, with 
 two long brass guns of a smaller calibre, and every other 
 appurtenance of war was in perfect efficiency. But the 
 most striking object was her ferocious-looking, but magnifi- 
 cent crew ; they seemed only formed for " the battle and the 
 breeze," and well justified their wild commander's boast, 
 " that he could thresh 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 forgotten 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 falling 
 over. Every exertion of the crew to get her off was in- 
 
230 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 effectual ; 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. 
 
 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 statue, delicate in form, with a timid and sus- 
 picious 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 bo 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 drunlc, 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 astray 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 himself with a 
 servant who professed an acquaintance with the language of 
 the country, he made his will, and took a place in the West- 
 port 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 
 
ANECDOTE OF AN ENGLISHMAN. 231 
 
 benighted some miles' distant from the house that he had 
 calculated upon reaching. Unable to proceed farther, he 
 reluctantly took up his quarters at a sheebiene-house. It 
 was but a sorry caravansara— 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 accom- 
 modated with a pallet. 
 
 Yet, notwithstanding the marked civility of the family, 
 the stranger could not overcome a secret apprehension of 
 impending danger. It was a wild place — a wilder family; 
 he feared that treachery lurked underneath 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 conversation. 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. 
 
 ' What's that they say ? ' quoth the traveller. 
 
 ' They want another pint, for they had not 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 difficulty.' 
 
 '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 
 
232 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 frequently inter- 
 rupted by a laugh, which polifesse 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. 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 inter- 
 rupted our supply of sea-fish, the peasants who alarmed you 
 had been setting night-lines for your especial benefit. The 
 jpeika more* which you heard devoted to your services in the 
 sheebiene-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, where 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 undergone 
 sufficient trials to unnerve a stouter frame than this feeble 
 one of mine.' " 
 
 After some time, the stranger felt the cheering effects of 
 my kinsman's claret, and, in a strain which might be termed 
 serio-comic, he thus narrated his story : — 
 
 * The large pike. 
 
ONE WHO WOULD NOT DO FOE GALWAY. 233 
 
 MEMOIR OF A GENTLEMAN WHO WOULD NOT 
 DO FOE GALWAY. 
 
 "1 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 drysalter in Tooley Street. He was third of the same 
 name that there had dwelt and prospered. They were a 
 thrifty and punctilious 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 their's was current for 
 ten thousand. 
 
 I was an only child, and from the cradle evinced an 
 indolent and dreamy temperature, 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 compre- 
 hend tare-and-trett, and had, moreover, literary 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, ' foredoomed 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 unpro- 
 nounceable 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 consideration of ten pounds' 
 annual fee, to be paid quarterly, and in advance, devoted to 
 my accomplishments. Never had man a more profound 
 contempt for trade and traders than he at whose feet I was 
 indoctrinated. He turned his nose up at the wealthiest 
 grocer in the ward, and was barely civil to a tabacconist who 
 had a villa at Pentonville, and was, moreover, first favourite 
 for an aldernianic gown. Such delinquency could not be 
 overlooked, 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 
 afterg^xperience proved, none of it had fallen upon the 
 way-side. 
 
 ' In brevity I shall emulate the noble Eoman,' quoth Jack 
 Palstaff; and so shall I, so far as the autobiography of my 
 
234 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 youth is concerned. I abominated business — was an admirer 
 of the Corsair and Lalla Eookh — 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 drysalters ? 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 — the lethalis arundo, as my Scotch tutor would 
 term it, was deep within my bosom — I swore I would never 
 lucubrate again ; never again perpetrate 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 transitory. 
 Mine, sir, is a tragic tale. I date the origin of my misfortunes 
 on board a Margate steamer, and this melancholy 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 ; and, as the 
 papers stated, ' left the Tower-stairs with a select party and 
 a band of music,' on Friday, the — of June, 18 — . 
 
 I must here ojsserve that my blue-stocking aunt, who had 
 actually come out in Leadeuhall Street with one small and 
 admired volume, called ' Pedrilla, a Tale of Passion,' had been 
 latterly urgent with me to enter into matrimony. 'Some- 
 thing 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, G-od knows 
 what the result would prove ! — a gifted progeny might 
 honour me with their paternity ; little Popes and diminutive 
 Landojis would thus be given to the world, fated to be 
 glorious in their maturity, and lisping in numbers from their 
 very cots.' 
 
ONE WHO WOULD NOT DO FOR GALWAY. 235 
 
 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 old women admitted that, 
 though a good catch, I had no spirit : the young ones admired 
 the money, but disliked the man ; and, as I did not form one 
 of the Cori-phhs who were quadrilling upon the quarter-deck, 
 I was likely 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 du 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 unexceptionable. 
 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 civilities 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 
 evidenced by any of her own sex to make approaches to 
 familiarity. The Cockney beaus looked upon her as a fine 
 but formidable 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 assurance was undeniable, 
 pressed ' the Hirish lady to teest 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 sat 
 beside her on the deck, and I ministered to her cofFee-cup ; 
 and when the Nereid disembarked her crowd, and a stout, 
 red-whiskered, do-no-good-looking gentleman presented him- 
 self 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 booked. 
 
236 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 ' What is in a Dame ? ' observed somebody. I assert, 
 everything. Will anybody deny that 'Drusilla O'Shaugh- 
 nessey ' 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, Bally- 
 broney House.' 
 
 On minor matters I will not dilate. It appeared that 
 Miss Drusilla O'Shaughnessey had come to London in hope- 
 less 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 expect- 
 ancy, 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 coippany. 
 
 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 cceur ; 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 
 
 * 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 Connaught, 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 honourably classed. 
 
ONE WHO WOULD NOT DO FOR GALWAY. 237 
 
 knee-deep with roses of perennial blossom. I heard voices 
 in the summer-house — these were my loved one's and her 
 relative's. 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 reached 
 me, it is too faithfully chronicled on my memory to be for- 
 gotten — ' The devil is an ommadawn, 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 I the devil ? and what was an 
 ommadawn ? Dark doubts crossed my mind ; .but they 
 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 /clat of the thing, 
 the ceremony might have been as safely solemnised 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 Haymarkeb, 
 and thence to Astley's and Vauxhall, with frequent excur- 
 sions to those suburban hotels infested by high-spirited 
 apprentices and maids who love the moon; — if this be 
 pleasure I had no reason to repine. In these affairs our 
 loving cousin was an absolute dictator, and against his 
 decrees there was no appeal. To me, a quiet and nervous 
 
 16 
 
238 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 thunderstorm from the Star and Garter 
 to the Greyhound, I received a cross-fire that silenced me 
 effectually. From that period I submitted 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 Saiat 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. Phoenix-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, 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. Bally broney 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 shpped from the fingers of the Bodkins ; 
 therefore, to establish himself at Castle Toole would suit my 
 kiusman to a hair. In short, the battery was unmasked ; 
 and whether overpersuaded by the eloquence of my wife, the 
 arguments of her cousin, or driven to desperation by a life 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 gentle- 
 man of estate, and that, too, in Connemara. 
 
 In my eyes the value of the purchase was not enhanced by 
 
ONE WHO WOULD NOT DO FOR GALWAY. 239 
 
 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 fortalice and a dwelling- 
 house, 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 wild highlands, a fine river, and an extensive lake, 
 is certain ; but to me the scenery and the place was 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 j?he Blazers were only a 
 few miles distant, and their favourite fixture was on the 
 estate. Eeally the proximity of that redoubted body pro- 
 duced 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 Kubicon 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 the apartments reported habitable, than the country for 
 
240 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 fifty mjles round complotted, as I verily believe, to inundate us 
 with their company. A sort of saturnalia, 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, untn the good house Moneyglass [Appendix, No. XL.] 
 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 comers of the earth to spqUate 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 fealteagh. 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. I lived and submitted, and yet had 
 the consolation to know that I was the most unpopular beiug^ 
 in the province. I was usually described as a ' dry devil,' or 
 a ' dark,* dirty little man ; ' while upon Drusilla blessings 
 raiaed, 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 locality of Castle Toole, my locusts 
 would vanish with the butterflies ; but the only difference a 
 rainy day made was, that the visitor who arrived never 
 dreamed of departing till the mortow, 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 wis breaking, my fortune unequal to my expenses ; 
 that common prudence required a certain limitation to our 
 
 * " Dark," in the kingdom of Connaught, is frequently used synonymously 
 
 with "unsocial." 
 
ONE WHO WOULD NOT DO FOR GALWAY. 241 
 
 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 con- 
 tinued, but my lady had listened, 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 Clanri- 
 carde, 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 
 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 Macintosh. 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 un- 
 restricted 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 law-suits. I must have sank 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 impossibility. 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. Kelatives 
 trooped down in scores, and Marc Antony was doubly 
 cherished. Notwithstanding, my nerves thrilled at their 
 arrival, the Blazers were honourably feasted; and, at the 
 
242 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 especial request of Mrs. Dawkins, on that occasion I de- 
 termined 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 comhat 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 ! ' 
 replied 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 ovei* my body as I was being taken up by the 
 servants, ' I'll give you that top-sawyer, his wife, and long 
 may she wear the breeches ! ' 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 leaven 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 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, 
 
 "Without dark brows and long proboscis;' 
 
 Poor woman ! no wonder she thus considered : a Serjeant 
 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 irreconcileable to his 
 ideas of what female delicacy demands — and such was my 
 
ONE WHO WOULD NOT DO FOR GALWAY. 243 
 
 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.' I occasionally was 
 permitted to attend as a sort of travelling conveniency to 
 hang her cloak upon ; and I never returned without suffering 
 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 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 ! ' I could 
 have knocked the ruffian dowa 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 Gal way ! 
 
 Shy from my cradle, and accustomed to City formality, I 
 was not likely to become at once habituated 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.' Intro- 
 ductions 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 
 
244 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 tender alarm and connubial sympathy, her countenance 
 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 inhospitality, 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, I 
 found that nothing but the lamp of Aladdin would meet 
 their multifarious demands. Castle Toole, like the cave of 
 AduUam, was the certain refuge of all gentlemen who 
 happened to be in debt and difficulty. AU 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 
 than their overtures — ' They would make my acceptance 
 answer; they would wish it at sixty-one days; but if 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 this, I hesitated, I did on personal responsibility ; 
 and, sooner than be perforated upon my own lawn, I 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 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 he would 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 month's 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 
 
ONE WHO WOULD NOT DO FOR GALWAY. 245 
 
 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 ungentlemanly as to interrupt the com- 
 batants, 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 if 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 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 man would be stritched?' 
 It was, moreover, a desperate tax upon my finances ; vaga- 
 bonds, 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. 
 
 E"or 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 re- 
 doubted community who hazard 
 
 Neck and spine, 
 
 "Which rural gentlemen call sport divine. ' 
 
 * In Connaught this useful officer is paid by the job, and the number with 
 which he occasionally debits the county is surprising. 
 
246 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 made a 'morgue,' and the 
 of&ces 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 wake-house 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 Bally- 
 hownis 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 Toole until 
 it is removed to^ its last resting-place, the family burying- 
 ground at Carrick Nab.' — Gonmaught 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 iu 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 
 
ONE WHO WOULD NOT DO FOE GALWAY. 247 
 
 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 eminently combine the charms and amiabilities 
 of the beautiful Mrs. Dawkins.' — Ihid. 
 
 Well, sir, I submitted to my fate with more than mortal 
 fortitude. I saw that, in 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 would 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 pos- 
 session of my banker's book — yet did I 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 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 multi- 
 tude. I am a poor helpless wretch, unfitted to withstand 
 the villainy of mankind, and struggle through a world where 
 the boldest will often blanch, 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 tortured 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 ! 
 
248 WILD SPOKTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 I considered that between the parties there existed a near 
 relationship, and national 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. 
 
 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 sufi'erer. But I was speqially 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 contempt 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, Holy Mary ! its hair is as red as Lanty 
 Driscoll's jacket ! ' God of Heaven ! red hair ! It was 
 killing, murderous. Then was I the wretch my worst fears 
 had whispered ? and a child was born — but not to me." 
 
 He paused, completely overcome. I felt my eyes 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. 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 liker a monk at a 
 death-wake than a happy parent ? Lord ! Mr. Dawkins, this 
 
ONE WHO WOULD NOT DO FOR GALWAY. 249 
 
 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 a 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 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 disgust. I was the master of the feast, but the 
 savages barely recognised me. Generally they spoke in their 
 native language ; and though I did not exactly comprehend 
 all 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 astore — did ye see the child? They say it's the 
 picture of Marc Bodkin.' 
 
 ' Whisht, ye divil ! ' was the rejoinder, as the crone pro- 
 ceeded with a chuckle ; ' it has red hair, anyhow ; 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. Mechani- 
 cally 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, I examined its contents in private. My kind 
 * Anglice — ' I have no skill in it. ' 
 
250 WILD SPOKTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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. I actually hesitated, when curiosity prompted 
 me to peruse a 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. I 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 don't hunt, will be quite 
 immaterial. I received the bullocks, but, as cattle are down, 
 there is a balance still due. 
 
 A Dublin wine-merchant has just handed me an Ex. for 
 £613, and insists upon accompanying me to Castle Toole. I 
 have therefore named Wednesday, on which day you will 
 please have the doors closed. As the plaintiff may again be 
 officious, I would recommend his being ducked when return- 
 ing ; 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 boys do not go 
 too far, as manslaughter, under the late act, is now a trans- 
 portable 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 hoTia 
 on Wednesday, I will come out and arrange matters generally. 
 Believe me. Dear Madam, truly yours, 
 
 Mrs. Dawkins, John Geady, 
 
 Castle Toole. Sub-sheriff, Galway. 
 
 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 1 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 in- 
 carcerate my person. In spite of remonstrances upon its 
 apparent inhospitality, I abandoned the ' impious feast,' and 
 
MOENING ALARM. 251 
 
 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 eifect 
 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 some- 
 times 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 ! ' " 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXVIII. 
 
 Morning Alarm — Death of the Otter-killer — General Grief — Night Ex- 
 cursion — Herring Fishery — Our Reception — Beal-Fires — The Wake — 
 The Funeral — Anecdote of a Dog — A Deserted House. 
 
 I SLEPT soundly ; 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 Curraheen, whose 
 celerity as a courier is truly remarkable, passed the window 
 at a "killing pace." I found upon inquiry that the otter- 
 kUler was dying, and that " the runner " I had just observed, 
 had been despatched for Father Andrew. 
 
 The ancient retainer of an Irish family generally establishes 
 a bond upon the affections of the wild household, that causes 
 his loss to make a greater sensation than so humble an event 
 might be supposed to occasion. Antony, for half-a-eentury 
 had been attached to this family. Three generations have 
 passed since he first settled beneath the roof-tree; and he 
 has been associated with every earlier recollection of the 
 present master. No wonder I found my kinsman in consider- 
 able 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 
 
252 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 Eoman Catholic church had been duly cele- 
 brated, my cousin and myself were summoned to his bed- 
 side. 
 
 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 " sterne 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 
 lightened 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 here I die with yourself, 
 and the clargy to comfort my last hour, praises be to Mary ! 
 Master Julius, will ye listen to a dying man ; he that carried 
 ye in his arms, and loved ye better than all the world 
 besides ? — ye'U take my advice. 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 ? 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, re- 
 quested us to retire. We were obeying, when Antony rallied 
 
DEATH OF THE OTTER-KILLER. 253 
 
 suddenly and unexpectedly : — " You will mind the dog, for 
 my sake, Master Julius — and ye'll 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 companion, 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 it is ! I saw a rich man die ; I saw the 
 hollow mockery of hireling attendants and interested friends; 
 but here, that simple unsophisticated being had a sincerity of 
 grief bestowed upon his death-bed that to wealth and 
 grandeur would be unattainable ! 
 
 There was a loud and agonising 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 demonstration 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; and, 
 with one exception, a quiet and respectful silence supervened. 
 A stout though aged crone occasionally burst into a 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 au- 
 thority effectually. " Badahust, hanaTnondioul, hadahust, I 
 say ! ye may keinagJi at the funeral, but ye mustn't disturb 
 the master and the company." This jobation restored tran- 
 quillity, 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 of years and ripe for the tomb, his master felt 
 that " he could have better spared a better man." There was 
 a heart-sinking about our party which I had never marked 
 before. The wine had lost its charm ; and, while the Colonel 
 and the Priest commenced a game of picquet, 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, 
 
 17 
 
254 "WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 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 frequent 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 relieve 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 indolent fisher- 
 man had to occupy himself with a sorrowful ditty, or in 
 moody silence watched the dark sea, " like some dull ghost 
 waiting on Styx for waftage." 
 
 Our visit appeared highly satisfactory, for the ceade feal- 
 teagh, with a lament for " ould Antony," was universal, while 
 every boat tossed herrings on board, until we were obliged to 
 refuse further largess, and these many trifles of fish accumu- 
 lated so rapidly, that we eventually declined receiving 
 further compliments, or we might have loaded the gig 
 gunwale-deep. 
 
 The darkness of the night increased the scaly brilliancy 
 which the phosphoric properties of these beautiful 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 BEAL-FIEE. 255 
 
 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 beea 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 religiously to such 
 observances, had any of my family preceded him to the 
 grave. He lighted my father's beal-fire, and possibly kindled 
 that of my grandsire ; old John has. probably performed the 
 ceremony for him : thus the kindlier ofiices are continued, 
 and thus runs the world away. Who" — and he stopped, 
 evidently embarrassed at some passing thought — " Who shall 
 say that the ceremonial 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 forebodings, 
 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 reddening to the sight; and two 
 fires in Achil, in a time of incredible briefness, flung their 
 deep gloV 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; aad, with 
 * Anglice—'B.eYnngs. 
 
256 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 higher spirits, we watched the lights tremble in the windows 
 of the Lodge, until these stelloe minores 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 
 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 Mat 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 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 snuif upon the bosom of the 
 corpse was heaped with a munificence that would stamp the 
 obsequies as splendid. 
 
 Everybody has heard an Irish wake described, and there 
 is no dissimilarity among an hundred, only that, according 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 retainer 
 should be nobly waked was fully expected by the country, 
 and certainly they were not disappointed. Whisky, in 
 quantities passing all understanding, tobacco in all its 
 preparations, were fearfully 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 wa§ to be 
 
ANECDOTE OF A DOG. 257 
 
 carried to its resting-place, a scene of great novelty and great 
 interest ensued. Prom the insulated situation 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 deposited. 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, as 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 
 affection. 
 
 One circumstance was remarked, which was powerfully 
 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 with difficulty carried home by an 
 attendant, but escaping during the night, crossed the estuary 
 by swimming, and again lay down upon the turf, beneath 
 which her beloved master was sleeping. Every care and 
 kiudness was bestowed upon her in the Lodge. No one 
 addressed her but as " poor Venney." Notwithstanding, she 
 drooped visibly, and in three weeks after his interment, in 
 death the otter-kUler's favourite " bore him company." 
 
 When we reached the Lodge, we made a discovery which, 
 possibly with some people, might lead to an opposite con- 
 clusion, and either prove the security or insecurity of the 
 country. 
 
 Not a living 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. 
 
258 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 Weather Changes — Symptoms of Wmter— Animal Appearances — Night 
 Passage of Barnacles — Grey Plover — Hints for Shooting Plover — Wild 
 Geese — Swans — Ducks — Burke Transported — Evening at the Lodge — 
 Feminine Employments. 
 
 A MONTH has passed : winter comes on with giant strides, 
 and the last lingering recollections of autumn are over. The 
 weather becomes more rainy and tempestuous ; and the bogs, 
 which we once crossed easily, owing to the continued wet 
 are now quite impassable. 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 unusually 
 high ; and two nights since, the Lodge and paddocks were 
 completely insulated, and our communications with the 
 mainland carried on by ferryage. The river rises fearfully, 
 and the huge 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. " 
 
 But other, and no less certain tokens harbinger the wild 
 season that has arrived. Yesterday a six-month's 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 [Appendix, No. 
 XLL] ; and the herdsman on the sand-banks apprizes us of 
 * Wisp, in sporting parlance, means a flock of snipes. 
 
NIGHT PASSAGE OF BARNACLES. 259 
 
 the first appearace of a Crowour Keough* This is the 
 earliest woodcock announced, but my kinsman has no doubt 
 but the flightt has fallen in Achil ; and we shall cross in a 
 few days, if the weather answers, and try Slieve 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 un- 
 usual 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 unaccountable noise roused me. It 
 seemed to be at first faint and distant, but momently in- 
 creasing, grew louder and more distinct, until it passed, to 
 all appearance, directly above my head. The sounds were 
 wild and musical — varied in tone beyond anything I could 
 describe, and continuing until they gradually became remote 
 and indistinct, and at length totally died away. I was 
 amazingly 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 sufiiciently 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. 
 
 Grey 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 
 
 * Why this title, literally meaning "the blind cook," 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. 
 
 t 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 Europe. 
 
260 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 number ; but I am certain I have seen three 
 hundred of these birds thus congregated. 
 
 There is, in shooting plover, a common remark made by 
 sportsmen, that the second is always the more productive 
 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 [Appendix, 
 No. XLII.] 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 last and greatest of the wild visitors are the swan 
 tribe. [Appendix, No. XLIII.] Their being scarce or plenti- 
 ful 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 fancy, my kinsman says, the 
 ear will trace modulations almost extending to infinity. 
 These birds, during severe frosts and snowstorms, 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 dif&cult. I 
 have already noticed the Pintail [Appendix, No. XLIV.] and 
 
BURKE TRANSPORTED. 261 
 
 the Golden-eye [Appendix, 'No. XLV.] upon the estuary. 
 Widgeons [Appendix, No. XLVI.] come here in immense 
 flocks; and that beautiful bird the Teal [Appendix, No. 
 XL VII.], 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 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 
 Commander'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 ! consigned 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 en- 
 deavoured 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 jailor — but 
 fortune frowned upon the attempt ; the half -throttled janitor 
 was saved- — and the hero of the bridge of Ballyveeney will 
 cross the equator at the public expense. 
 
 To-morrow, wind and weather permitting, the Commander 
 takes his departure, and to-night will consequently be a high 
 and solemn festival. "Would it were over ! I 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," and the merciless badinage of that black- 
 eyed coquette who embodies all that Moore idealised in 
 sketching his Nora Crina. 
 
 * 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. 
 
262 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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. Occa- 
 sionally 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 moment- 
 ary expectation of being swept from my precarious footing 
 by the first mountainous surge. 
 
 CHAPTEE XL. 
 
 Colonel leaves us— Last Visit to Achil — .Snipes and "Woodcocks — Their 
 Migration — Solitary Snipe — Cock-shooting in Achil — Mountain Covers^ 
 Cock-shooting : its Accidents — Anecdotes — An Unlucky Companion. 
 
 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 indiiferent 
 to worldly annoyances, years have only mellowed his com- 
 panionable qualities, while they added deeply to his anecdote 
 and information. Few men of a certain age succeed in 
 retaining their place 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 entertainers, the Water Guards, to beg a shelter 
 for the night ; for the days have so sensibly shortened that 
 we shall have enough to do to reach Dugurth at night-fall. 
 
SNIPES AND WOODCOCKS. 263 
 
 " Merrily, merrily bounds the bark," and an hour landed 
 us at the Eidge Point. Our establishment is on 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 [Appendix,]Sro. XL VIII.] 
 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-banks produced. Independently of a quantity of 
 detached birds, several wisps sprang wildly, as they always 
 do; and I have no doubt but 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 I can well believe the account 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 wood- 
 cocks 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. [Appendix, Nos. XLIX. and L.] 
 
 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 
 [Appendix, No. LI.] — 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 contrary winds and stormy weather. 
 
 We crossed the bent-banks, occasionally knocking a rabbit 
 over as we went along, and wheeled to the westward 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 keogh leg* in the next ravine. We accordingly put 
 * A little woodcock. 
 
264 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 wood- 
 cock proved to be a double snipe [Appendix, No. LIL] 
 These birds are extremely scarce here, and a few couple only 
 are seen during a whole season by persons most constant 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 approach, and removing some 
 hundred yards from the gun. Some favourable inequality 
 of surface has at last enabled me to close with my wild 
 quarry, and, notwithstanding the keenness of his eye, get 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 brush- 
 wood. 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. Consequently, when the snow falls, every wood- 
 
COCK-SHOOTING AND ITS ACCIDENTS. 265 
 
 cock for miles around deserts the heath and seeks the nearest 
 shelter. 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 
 7wn sine pulvere palma, will apply to both. To reach a 
 mountain-cover, the sportsman must be on the alert two or 
 three hours before daylight, 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 snow-drifts. 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 un- 
 distinguishable from the surrounding 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. 
 
 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 
 
266 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 like 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 de- 
 linquent, 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 particularize 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 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 corre- 
 sponding 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 belonged to the Marquis of 
 Sligo. There was an immense number of cocks in the cover, 
 and we had been partibularly 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 
 
MEMOIE OF HENNESSEY. 267 
 
 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 in the lip and cut me deeply. 
 1 was more than a hundred yards from him, yet from the 
 hard frost, the 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. 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 Dull Evening — Memoir of Hennessey. 
 
 We sat down to dinner tete-d-tite, 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 merry 
 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 par- 
 ticulars of this singular personage. 
 
 "If ever man came into the world with the organ of 
 destructiveness 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 life, and rambled 
 over the country, breaking dogs, or amusing himself with the 
 gun and fishing-rod. 
 
 I was at college when the first of his misfortunes occurred. 
 He had imprudently ventured into 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 
 
268 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 pur- 
 sued. From his uncommon activity, he far outstripped 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. He abjured the 
 use of spirits, avoided late hours, and such meetings as njight 
 expose him to any collision with that clan who had been so 
 unfortunate to him, and to whom he had been so unfortunate, 
 and religiously 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 care-worn features the manly 
 beauty which then caused many a rustic heart to beat. The 
 bride's cousin accompanied 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 be- 
 loved in turn. Every rival was double-distanced; but she 
 was, unfortunately, betrothed by her father to a wealthy 
 
MEMOIR OF HENNESSEY. 269 
 
 Kmme ; * 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 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 famili- 
 arity 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 clansmen, 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 moonlight 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 quantities of cattle and plenishingf that 
 
 * Hibemice — a rich vulgar clown. 
 
 t Plenishing means household furniture, bed, blankets, &c., &c. 
 
 18 
 
270 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 were to dower the 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 was 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 ! Great 
 God ! I cannot tell you what I suffered next morning, when 
 the tragical result 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 Innisbof&n. 
 ' 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 
 
MEMOIK OF HENNESSEY. 271 
 
 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 
 in 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, for a raging sea was roaring round the island, and all 
 communication with the main 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. God of 
 Mercy ! 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 headlong to 
 the beach, and, though the retiring tide rushed between the 
 island and the main 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 
 was 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 
 * The strand communieating at low water between an island and the main. 
 
272 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 face, and was a corpse within the arms of the ill-starred 
 homicide ! 
 
 When the tidings of the melancholy fate of poor Kathleein 
 were carried to the Lodge, I got the hooker tinder weigh and 
 stood' over to the island. My unhappy foster-hrother 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 idiotcy ; 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 
 prevent 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 certainly was unpremeditated and 
 accidental, accommodated. Some intelligence has" made it 
 advisable for Hennessey to leave the Lodge, although I 
 haidly 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 foemen 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 re- 
 quired it, he would rather risk a trial than leave the 
 
MY DEPARTUKE FIXED. 273 
 
 country, which I have often and earnestly entreated him 
 to do." 
 
 I oifered 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. 
 
 CHAPTEE XLII. 
 
 My Departure Fixed — Coast Suited to an Ornithologist — Godsends — An 
 Ocean Waif — My Last Day — Coursing — Size of Hares — Fen-shooting — 
 Kill a Bittern — Castle of Doona — Fall of the Tower — Netting Rabbits — 
 Reflections — Morning — Passage Through the Sound — Hennessey — De- 
 parture from the Kingdom of Gonnaught. 
 
 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, Hen- 
 nessey, 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 prevailing 
 westerly winds drive many a serviceable waif to the shore ; 
 and seldom a winter passes but some valuable wreck or 
 
274: "WILD SPOETS OF THE "WEST. 
 
 derelict property adds to my kinsman's limited resources. 
 True, these " angel visits " are irregular, and come in ques- 
 tionable shape ; but still, be they in the 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 top-mast, 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, like true vassals, claimed on behalf of 
 their respective masters ; and it being impossible, on what an 
 Irishman would very naturally term "debatable 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 " overboard, 
 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 more 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 chassd — 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, 
 [Appendix, No. LIIL] 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 unprofitable 
 beat. Por 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 them- 
 selves 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 disappointed. The hill afforded a sound and level 
 surface ; from its contiguity to the corn-fields, the hares were 
 
FEN SHOOTING. 275 
 
 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, [Appendix, 
 No. LIV.] would have done honour to any hare-pack 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. This morass was interspersed with shrubs 
 and underwood, and alders of inconsiderable size were occa- 
 sionally clumped along the borders. Part of the surface was 
 too unsound to admit its being traversed by the lightest foot, 
 but generally it was broken into tammocks, which a bold and 
 practised shooter might pass with little difficulty. We took 
 opposite sides, and consequently few birds sprang without 
 affording one or other of the guns a fair shot. The number 
 of snipes that flushed in this fen went far beyond my expecta- 
 tions, 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. lu the most impassable section 
 of the morass, old York pointed with more than customary 
 steadiness ; and, " it might be fancy," actually looked round 
 with a 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 rose. I knocked him over, but though 
 
276 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 Bally- 
 croy they are seldom heard or found. 
 
 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 are handed down of her ex- 
 ploits ; and her celebrated visit to that English vixen Eliza- 
 beth, is fairly on record. The castle of Doona was, till a few 
 years since, in excellent 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, John Conway, whose name 
 will be long remembered in this remote spot, had erected a 
 comfortable dwelling imihediately adjoining the courtyard 
 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. N"o wonder, then, that all within the house were 
 drunk as lords. Turf was wanted, and one of the boys was 
 despatched for a cleave-full — but, though Patt could clear a 
 fair, and bear as much beating as a buU, 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 with a crash like thunder. Nor was the 
 calamity confined 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 
 
THE LAST MORNING. 277 
 
 in value that the warrea 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 jis over the 
 estuary. It was for the last time, and, with that thought, all 
 the happy days 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, 
 
 Like crested leader proud and high, 
 Toss'd his beam'd frontlet to the sky ; 
 A moment gazed 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 pier, 
 and with a deep sigh I 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 compliment, the wind blew from the north-west, 
 atod 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, 
 a!nd brought plenty of water over the sands, and in an hour 
 
278 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 seaweed. The deep water passed within 
 an oar's length of the spot, and, as 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, notwithstanding the risk was considerable, from coming 
 on board to give me a parting escort. 
 
 Early next morning I found myself in her Majesty's mail, 
 and with many a sincere adieu, bade farewell to my kind 
 cousin and his wild but warm-hearted followers. 
 
 CHAPTEE XLIII. 
 
 Moral aud Physical Condition of the West, Past and Present. 
 
 Dublin, Bilton's. 
 Here I am safely over the Shannon : a laudable improve- 
 ment in the mode and rate of travelling of the Westport 
 mail facilitates one's intercourse with the kingdom of Con- 
 naught ; 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 improvement 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 yerily believe, 
 wiser in their generation, and better fitted for their own 
 times, than we. True, these days were little better than 
 
MOEAL CONDITION OF THE WEST. 279 
 
 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 
 representative were determined by wager of battle, and a 
 rival for senatorial fame was probably requested by the old 
 member to provide his coffin before he addressed the county. 
 Doctors rode on horseback over the county in cauliflower- 
 wigs and cocked hats ; and if they differed about a dose or a 
 decoction, referred the dispute to mortal 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 libitum ; 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 liberty 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 protected ; 
 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 fodeeins, 
 who continued the names 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 fodeeins passed into 
 other hands, and the name and place ceased to be remembered. 
 The ivied walls, and numerous and slender chimneys one 
 
280 WILD SPOKTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 sees in passing through this country wUl, 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 consider- 
 able danger is incurred; and lastly, through fighting with 
 whom no Mat or credit could redound to the antagonist." 
 Hence, generally, the large proprietors saw this class sink 
 by degrees without an attempt to uphold them, and the 
 fodeein, 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 very devil. If a man aspired to become a duellist, 
 or even joined the hounds without being of the proper caste, 
 George Eobert would flog him from the field without 
 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 Mussulman 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 any one whom he disliked. Yet both 
 these men were favourites with their tenantry, and under 
 them their dependents prospered 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 pourtrayed. 
 
 No persons were more dissimilar — none were bitterer 
 enemies — none in every point,' personal and physical, were 
 
MORAL CONDITION OF THE WEST. 281 
 
 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 Eobert 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 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 Caesar 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 act which clouded his memory, and his unhappy 
 fate, are generally known ; and considering the other traits 
 of his strange and mingled character, the apology offered by 
 his friends on the score of occasional insanity, is not im- 
 probable. One circumstance would strengthen this con- 
 clusion. He was interred by night, and with so much 
 privacy, in the 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 attending 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 danger- 
 
282 WILD SPOKTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 ously 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, gradually 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 out- 
 set 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 power- 
 ful, 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 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 move- 
 ment of his full-bottomed wig, ' the thing adndts 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 whisht, Denis ! — maybe ye think I have 
 nothing but law in my head : you must knock down Bing- 
 ham!' 
 
 ' Knock down a man who never ofiended me — with whom 
 I 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." 
 
MORAL CONDITION OF THE WEST. 283 
 
 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. 
 
 E"o one was warmer in his friendships or more virulent in 
 his antipathies. These feelings blinded his better judgment, 
 and many of his greatest mistakes arose from an anxiety to 
 aggrandize a favourite or annoy an enemy. He unfortun- 
 ately outlived his power, and that circumstance embittered 
 his latter years. He had not resolution to quit public life 
 while he might have retired from it with Mat ; 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 storyteller, 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 corpu- 
 lency, and all the " ills that flesh is heir to," life was latterly 
 a burthen, 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 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. 
 
 Is there for this any remedy ? Cannot modern landlords, 
 acting on what they would 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 in- 
 
284 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 solvency of their tejiants to these and such-Kke causes ; this 
 is vox et prceferea 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 nomfnal income overboard ? They cannot. The majority 
 of the owners of Western estates, from family burdens and 
 national unthriftiness, are heavily and hopelessly en- 
 cumbered; and a reduction on such scale as would be 
 necessary to ensure their tenants' comforts, would completely 
 pauperize themselves. Hence, to keep off the evil day, every 
 pretext but the true one will be assigned for local wretched- 
 ness — and every reason but the right one offered to the 
 starving tenant, to persuade him that ruinous rents wiU 
 never occasion want and poverty. 
 
 In personal appearance thg^Vestern peasantry are very 
 inferior to those of the other divisions of the kingdom. 
 Generally, they are under-sized, and by no means so good- 
 looking as their Southern neighbours — and I would say in 
 other points they are equally deficient. 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-serjeant, 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 
 calculated 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 
 
MOKAL CONDITION OF THE WEST. 285 
 
 will be as easily distinguished from the borderer, whether he 
 be on the Galway or Eoscommon 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 boasts 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 produced by its agencies, and the lowest occupa- 
 tions 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 distillation 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 quern, is still general throughout Ballycroy and the 
 islands on the coast. 
 
 The inhabitants of these districts are extremely hospitable 
 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 intelligence. 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 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. 
 
 19 
 
286 WILD SPOKTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 
 Castle bar 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 infallibly 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 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 invariably confined to the lords of the 
 creation. That the appearance of the fair inhabitants of the 
 Western highlands should harmonize with their rude avoca- 
 tions 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 Coriph/es who frequented our 
 mountain balls, there was but one girl who might be termed 
 decidedly handsome. Her face was uncommonly intelligent — ^ 
 
 * A sacred well in the West tenanted by a trout of surpassing sanctity. 
 
HUNTING. 287 
 
 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 arrangement beyond the simple 
 cincture of a ribbon — 
 
 But seldom was a snood amid 
 Such wild luxuriant ringlets hid, 
 Whose glossy black to shame might bring 
 The plumage of the raven's wiug. 
 
 And yet I have seen that young beauty bending beneath a 
 basket of potatoes which would havCi 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 peasanty 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 festivity which wakes and dances present, would 
 naturally lead to mi^ch immorality. 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 deceived females and deserted children are seldom seen 
 in Erris. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 Hunting — Men — Horses and Hounds — Game — Conclusion. 
 
 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 sports- 
 man ; and few species of game indigenous to Britain, in their 
 peculiar seasons, will here be sought in vain. 
 . ■ As a hunting country the plains have been justly chronicled 
 ■^and the adjacent counties of Galway and Eoscommon yield 
 to none in the empire. The extensive sheep-farms afford 
 
288 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 
 estimation; 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 solid masonry was no extraordinary event ; seven feet 
 has been achieved repeatedly — and there are still, I have nO' 
 doubt, many horses in the province capable of performing the 
 latter feat. But, alas ! this noted class of hunters are 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 Eoscommon 
 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 introduced a slight and 
 iinserviceable hybrid — and, too late, gentlemen discovered the 
 error of endeavouring to procure a cross which should com- 
 bine 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 Connaught 
 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 six-feet walls especially 
 built for the nonce, under the inspection of conscientious- 
 stewards, who would give nothing but honest measure, taken 
 at racing speed, and that, too, in the middle of a bunch of 
 gentlemen who would ride over an adopted child ; or let hiuL 
 
HORSES— HOUNDS— GAME. 289 
 
 join a drag after a champagne lunch at'Lord C.'s — let him do 
 this, and then form his estimate of Connaught horsemanship. 
 
 A mistake prevails in England as to 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 
 a-piece. 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 noted 
 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 turn- 
 out, 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 horsmanship 
 of the Western gentlemen, it may appear 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 prevailing 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 a gap 
 within thirty yards. 
 
 Game in Mayo should 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 
 
290 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 that every winter brings to the Western shores, a number of 
 guerilla sportsmen are employed or countenanced by the 
 resident gentry ; to whom it is too strong a temptation, when 
 lying fot ducks, or stealing upon plovers, to discover a pack 
 or covey grouped upon the snow, and yet have suffipient 
 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 abomi- 
 nate, infests the Western counties. 
 
 Of fallow deer, there is a large stock in the parks through- 
 out the province — and buck-hunting has of late seasons been 
 getting into fashion on the plains. I have already, in speak- 
 ing of the red deer, lamented the prospect of their extinction. 
 That event I look 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 limited 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. Fropi the 
 latter any quantity could be procured, and there is no plac'e 
 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 shillings. I once 
 bought a fine dog-fox for half-a-crown, and, had I not become 
 his owner, I verily believe the captor must have turned him 
 out upon the street. 
 
 Hares are in most places tolerably plenty; 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. 
 
 Eabbits abound in the West of Ireland. On the coast, 
 the immense sand-banks are for miles perforated with their 
 biirrows — 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 wood- 
 
CONCLUSION. 291 
 
 cocks, 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, martens and 
 weasels, will be found in their customary haunts ; while on 
 the coasts' 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 ; fbr 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 Bally- 
 croy almost unknown. In the wheat counties, and especially 
 in certain parts of Galway, I believe they are tolerably 
 abundant — but by comparison with the quantity a sports- 
 man 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, 
 unhappUy for themselves, are little known and less regarded. 
 I found my estimate of their character false, for kindnesses 
 were returned ten-fold, 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 he ran miles to 
 put me in the right path. If it rained and I sheltered in a 
 cabin, the hearth was swept, and 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 
 
 dog-days, and we had toiled over a barren moor, and missed 
 
 some packs that we were aware were in that neighbourhood. 
 
 * Loy, a narrow spade. 
 
292 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 tnalgre 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 to be 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 I enjoy the 
 unalloyed excitement, the calm luxurious solitude, which I 
 found among their wastes. What has refinement 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 the^e — 
 or give me an equivalent for the joyous intercourse with 
 kindred spirits which I realised and left in the wilds of 
 BaUycroy. 
 
APPEJSTDIX. 
 
 Fo. I. 
 
 THE CURLEW TEIBK 
 
 The bill is long, equally incurvated, and terminated in a 
 blunt point ; nostrils linear, and longitudinal near the base ; 
 tongue short and sharp-pointed ; and the toes are connected 
 as far as the first joint of the membrane. 
 
 With the curlew, Linnaeus begins a numerous tribe of birds 
 under the genine name of Scalopax, which, in his arrangement, 
 includes all the snipes and godwits, amounting, according to 
 Latham, to forty-two species and eight varieties, spread over 
 various parts of the world, but nowhere very numerous. 
 
 Buffon describes fifteen species and varieties of the curlew, 
 and Latham ten, only two or three of which are British birds. 
 They feed upon worms, which they pick up on the surface, 
 or with their bills dig from the soft earth : on these they 
 depend for their principal support ; but they also devour the 
 various kinds of insects which swarm in the mud, and in the 
 wet boggy grounds, where these birds chiefly take up their 
 abode. 
 
 CUELEW. 
 
 (Scalopax arquata — LiN. Le Courlis — BuFF.) 
 
 " The curlew generally measures about two feet in length, 
 and from tip to tip above three feet. The bill is about seven 
 inches long, of a regular curve, and tender substance at the 
 point, which is blunt. The upper mandible is black, gradu- 
 ally softening into brown towards the base ; the under one 
 flesh-coloured. The head, neck, upper part of the back, and 
 wing coverts, are of a pale brown, the middle of each feather 
 black, edged and deeply indented with pale rust-colour, or 
 light grey. The breast, belly, and lower part of the back are 
 dull white, the latter thinly spotted with black, and the two 
 former with oblong strokes, more thickly set, of the same 
 colour. The quill feathers are black, the inner webs crossed 
 or spotted with white : the tail is barred with black, on a 
 
294 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 white ground tinged with red : the legs are bard a little 
 above the knees, of a blueish colour, and the toes are thick 
 and flat on the under side. 
 
 These birds differ much in size, as well as in the different 
 shades of their plumage ; some of them weighing not more 
 than twenty-two ounces, and others as much as thirty-seven. 
 In the plumage of some, the white parts are much more 
 distinct and clear than in others, which are more uniformly 
 grey, and tinged with pale brown. 
 
 The female is so nearly like the male, that any particular 
 description of her is unnecessary. She makes her nest upon 
 the ground, in a dry tuft of rushes or grass, of such withered 
 materials as are found near, and lays four eggs of a greenish 
 cast, spotted with brown. 
 
 The curlew is met with by travellers in most parts of 
 Europe, from Iceland to the ' Mediterranean Islands. In 
 Britain, their summer residence is upon the large, heathy, 
 boggy moors, where they breed. Their food consists of 
 worms, flies, and insects, which they pick out of the soft 
 mossy ground by the marshy pools which are common in 
 such places. In winter they depart to the sea-side, where 
 they are seen in great numbers, and there live upon worins, 
 marine insects, and other fishy substances which they pick 
 up on the beach, and among the loose rocks and pools, left by 
 the retiring tide. The flesh of the curlew has been charac- 
 terised by some as very good, and of a fine flavour; by 
 others, as directly the reverse : the truth is, that while they 
 are in season, and live on the moors, scarcely any bird can, 
 excel them in goodness; but when they have lived some 
 time on the sea-shore, they acquire a rank and fishy taste." — 
 Seivick. 
 
 No. II. • 
 
 THE OSPEEY, BALD BUZZAED, SEA EAGLE, OR FISHING HAWK. 
 
 (Falco HalicBtus — Lin. Le Bal Buzzard — Buff.) 
 " The length of this bird is two feet ; its breadth from tip 
 to tip above five ; its bill is black, with a blue cere, and its 
 eye yellow: the crown of its head is white, marked with 
 oblong dusky spots ; its cheeks, and all the under parts of its 
 body, are white, slightly spotted with brown on its breast ; 
 from the corner of each eye a streak of brown extends down 
 the sides of the neck towards the wing : the upper part of 
 the body is brown ; the two' middle feathers of the tail are 
 the same; the others are marked on the inner ribs with 
 
APPENDIX. 295 
 
 alternate bars of brown and white : the legs are very short 
 and thick, being only two inches and a quarter long, and two 
 inches in circumference ; they are of a pale blue colour ; the 
 claws black ; the outer toe is larger than the inner one, and 
 turns easily backward, by which means this bird can more 
 readily secure its slippery prey. 
 
 Buffon observes that the osprey is the most handsome of 
 the large birds of prey, and is scattered over the extent of 
 Europe, from Sweden to Greece, and that it is found even in 
 Egypt and Nigritia. Its haunts are on the sea-shore, and on 
 the borders of rivers and lakes : its principal food is fish ; it 
 darts upon its prey with great rapidity, and with undeviating 
 aim." — Bewick. 
 
 No. III. 
 
 COMMON SANDPIPER. 
 
 (Tringa hypoleucos — LiN. La Gruignette — Buff.) 
 " This bird weighs about two ounces, and measures seven 
 inches and a half in length. The bill is about an inch long, 
 black at the tip, fading into pale brown towards the base. 
 The head and hinder part of the neck are brownish ash, 
 Streaked downwards with dark narrow lines : the throat is 
 white, and a streak of the same colour surrounds and is 
 extended over each eye : the cheeks and auriculars are 
 streaked with brown : the fore part of the neck to the breast 
 is white, mottled and streaked with spots and lines of a 
 brown colour, pointing downwards : in some the breast is 
 plain white : belly and vent white. The ground colour of all 
 the upper parts of the plumage is ash, blended with glossy 
 olive bronze brown : the coverts, scapulars, lower part of the 
 back and tail coverts, are edged with dull white, and most 
 elegantly marked with transverse, dark-coloured, narrow 
 barred lines : the first two quilb are plain brown ; the next 
 nine are marked on the middle of their inner webs with 
 white spots; the secondaries are also marked in the same 
 manner on both webs, and tipped with white. The tail 
 consists of twelve feathers ; the four middle ones are of an 
 oHve brown, dark at the tips ; those next to them, on each 
 side, are much lighter-coloured, mottled with dark brown, 
 and tipped with white ; the two outside ones are edged and 
 tipped in the same manner, but are barred on their webs 
 with dark brown : legs pale dull green, faintly blushed with 
 red. 
 
 This elegant little bird breeds in this country, but the 
 
296 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 species is not numerous, yet they are frequently seen in pairs 
 during the summer months ; and are well known by their 
 clear piping note, by their flight, by jerking up their ^tails, 
 and by their manner of running after their insect prey on 
 the pebbly margins of the brooks and rivers. The female 
 makes her nest in a hole on the ground near their haunts ; 
 her eggs, commonly five in number, are much mottled and 
 marked with dark spots on a yellowish ground. They leave 
 England in the autumn, but whither they go is not particu- 
 larly noticed by ornithologists. Buffon says they retire far 
 north ; and Pennant and Latham that they are met with in 
 Siberia and Kamschatka, and are also not uncommon in 
 North America." — Bewick. 
 
 No. IV. 
 
 ATTRACTING FISH. 
 
 " Fish may be collected into any part of a river, or piece 
 of water, by throwing in goats', sheep, and bullocks' blood, 
 which is found curdled among the entrails of the fresh-killed 
 animals, pounded well together with thyme, marjoram, or- 
 ganum, flour, garlic, wine lees, and suet, and the whole made 
 into pills." 
 
 " For a standing water, heartwort and slack lime, made into 
 paste, will fix the fish so as to be taken at pleasure." 
 
 "Fresh horse-dung put into a net and thrown into the 
 river will entice the fish about it." 
 
 "Quicksilver, let down to the bottom of the water in a 
 thick glass phial, on a moonlight night, will evince its power 
 to a quick-sighted observer of drawing the fish together. 
 
 " Barley boiled until it bursts, then reboUed with liquorice, 
 a little flour and honey, beat in a mortar until stiff as a 
 paste, and thrown into the water, will induce fish to come 
 where it is cast." 
 
 "Goats' blood, barley meal, and the lungs of a goat boiled 
 and pounded fine, and mixed with lees of sweet wine, the 
 whole made into pills, and thrown into ponds or pits, will 
 soon render the fish intoxicated : " which the person probably 
 was, who bestowed his labour to form the composition. 
 
 "Extract the juice of dragonwort, rub the hands with it, 
 and hold them within- the water about five or six in the 
 morning, and it is the performer's own fault if he has not 
 fish for dinner." 
 
 "Houseleek juice, with nettles and cinquef oil . chopped 
 
APPENDIX. 297 
 
 small, distributed in quantities in the water, and the hands 
 previously rubbed with it, induce the fish to come to the 
 person, that he may take his choice." 
 
 " Heron's flesh, with some musk, amber, and civet, put into 
 a bottle close covered with wax, the bottle to be placed in a 
 kettle full of water, and boil it until the said flesh is con- 
 verted into oil, and this rubbed on the line, insures the 
 coming of fish to be taken." 
 
 " Heron's bowels cut in pieces, and put into a phial and 
 buried in horse-dung, will turn to oil in fifteen days; an 
 ounce of asafcetida is then to be mixed, when it will be the 
 consistence of honey ; anoint line, rod, or bait, it does not 
 much signify which, and it will do wonders." 
 
 The following poetical nostrum will be found in a black- 
 letter Treatise in the Bodleian Library, dated 1613 : — 
 
 " Wouldst thou catch flsh? 
 I Then have thy wish; 
 
 Take this receipt 
 To anoint thy bait— 
 ' ' Thou that desirest to fish with line and hook. 
 Be it in poole, ia river, or in brooke, 
 To bless thy baite, and make the fish to bite, 
 Loe ! here's a means, if thou canst hit it right : — 
 Take Gum of Life, fine beat, and laid to soak. 
 In oyle well drawn from that which kiUs the oake, 
 Fish where thou wilt, thou shalt have sport thy fill — 
 When twenty fail, thou shalt be sure to kill. 
 
 ProbaiM/m. 
 "It's perfect and good. 
 
 If well understood ; 
 , Else not to he told 
 For silver or gold. — B — B." 
 
 No. V. 
 
 THE BANSHEE. 
 
 The Banshee is a nondescript being, supposed to be attached 
 to particular families, and to take a lively interest in their 
 weal or misfortunes ; and there are few ancient houses in 
 Ireland unprovided with this domestic spirit. It gives notice 
 of impending calamity — and a death in the family is always 
 harbingered by the lamentations of this ill-omened attacM. 
 The sex of the banshee is usually feminine ; but I knew one 
 instance where a male familiar attended on an old house, and 
 was known by the title of the " Far-a-crick." The banshee 
 was contented with frightening the family she patronised 
 with her laments ; but the Far-a-crick was a more trouble- 
 some neighbour. On one occasion he beat severely a drunken 
 
298 WILD SPOKTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 servant who was belated returning from a fair — and a quarter 
 of mutton, which the unhappy man was bringing home, con- 
 firmed the story, for after the " Hill man's " assault, it was 
 foimd to be as black as the ribs of the unfortunate sufferer. 
 
 The appearance of the banshee is variously described — as 
 she • sometimes assumes the form of "a little wizened old 
 woman," and at others takes the semblance of " a black bitch." 
 
 No. VI. 
 
 SALMON EIVBRS. 
 
 " In Ireland there are some excellent rivers, and, what you 
 will hardly believe possible, comparing the characters of the 
 two nations, some of them are taken better care of than the 
 Scotch rivers, which arises a good deal from the influence of 
 the Catholic priests, when they are concerned in the interest 
 of the proprietors, on the Catholic peasantry. I should place 
 the Erne, at Ballyshannon, as now the first river for salmon- 
 fishing from the banks with a rod in the British dominions ; 
 and the excellent proprietor of it is liberal and courteous to 
 all gentlemen fly-fishers. The Moy, at Ballina, is likewise 
 an admirable salmon river, and sport, I believe, may almost 
 always be secured there in every state of the waters ; but the 
 best fishing can only be commanded bj the use of a boat. I 
 have .taken in the Erne two or three large salmon in the 
 morning, and in the Moy three or four grilses, or, as they are 
 called in Ireland, grauls, and tjiis was in a very -bad season 
 for salmon-fishing. The Bann, near Coleraine, abounds in 
 salmon ; but in this river, except in close time, when it is 
 unlawful to fish there, there are few good casts. In the 
 Bush, a small river about seven miles to the east of the Bann, 
 there is admirable salmon-fishing always after great fioods, 
 but in fine and dry weather it is of little use to try. I have 
 hooked twenty fish in a day, after the first August floods, in 
 this river ; and, should sport fail, the Giant's Causeway is 
 within a mile of its mouth, and furnishes to the lovers of 
 natural beauty or of geological research, almost inexhaustible 
 sources of interest. The Blackwater, or Lismore, is a very 
 good salmon river, and the Shannon, above Limerick and 
 Castle Connel, whenever the water is tolerably high, offers 
 many good casts to the fly-fisher, but they can only be com- 
 manded by boats. But there is no considerable river along 
 the northern or western coasts — with the exception of the 
 Avoca, which has been spoiled by the copper-mines — that 
 
APPENDIX. 299 
 
 does not afford salmon, and, if taken at the proper time, offer 
 some sport to the salmon fisher. 
 
 Poiet. — I have heard various accounts of the excellent fish- 
 ing in some of the greater lakes in Ireland. , Can you tell us 
 anything on the subject, and if the same flies may be used in 
 that island ? 
 
 Hal. — I have been several times in Ireland, but never at 
 this season, which is considered as best for lake fishing. I 
 have heard that in some of the lakes in Westmeath, very 
 large trout, and great quantities, may be taken in the beginn- 
 ing of June, with the very flies we have been using this day. 
 Wind is necessary, and a good angler sometimes takes in a 
 day, or rather formerly took, from ten to twelve fish, which 
 weighed from three to ten pounds, and which occasionally 
 were even larger. In the summer, after June, and in the 
 autumn, the only seasons when I have fished in Ireland, I 
 have seldom taken any large trout : but in the river Boyle, 
 late in October, after a flood, I once had some sport with these 
 fish, that were running up the river, from Loch Key, to spawn. 
 I caught one day two above three pounds, that took a large 
 reddish fly of the same kind as a salmon fly, and I saw some 
 taken that weighed five pounds, and I heard of one that 
 equalled nine pounds. These fish were in good season, even 
 at this late period, and had no spots, but were coloured red 
 and brown, mottled like tortoise-shell, only with smaller bars. 
 I have in July, likewise, fished in Loch Con, near Ballina, 
 and in Loch Melvin, near Ballyshannon. In Loch Con the 
 party caught many small good trout, that cut red; and in the 
 other I caught a very few trout only, but as many of them 
 were gillaroo or gizzard trout as common trout. 
 
 Poiet. — This must have been an interesting kind of fishing. 
 In what does the gillaroo differ from /the trout ? 
 
 Hal. — In appearance very little, except that they have 
 more red spots, and a yellow or golden-coloured belly and 
 fins, and are generally' a broader and thicker fish; but inter- 
 nally they have a different organization, possessing a large 
 thick muscular stomach, which has been improperly compared 
 to a fowl's, and which generally contains a quantity of small 
 shell fish, of three or four kinds, and though in those I 
 caught, the stomachs were full of these shell-fish, yet they 
 rose greedily at the fly. 
 
 Poiet— Are. they not common trout which have gained the 
 habit of feeding on shell-fish ? 
 
 Hal. — If so, they have been altered in a succession of gene- 
 
300 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 rations. The common trouts of bhis lake have stomachs like 
 other trouts, which never, as far as ihy experience has gone, 
 contain shell-fish; but of the gillaroo trout, I have caught with 
 a fly some not longer than my finger, which have had as 
 perfect a hard stomach as the larger ones, with the coats as 
 thick in proportion, and the same shells within, so that this 
 animal is at least now a distinct species, and is a sort of link 
 between the trout and char, which has a stomach of the same 
 kind with the gUlatoo, but not quite so thick, and which feeds 
 at the bottom in the same way. I have often looked in the 
 lakes abroad for gillaroo-trout, and never found one. In a 
 small lake at the foot of the crest of the Bremner, above four 
 thousand feet above the level of the sea, I once caught some 
 trout, which from their thickness and red spots I suspected 
 were gillaroo, but on opening the stomach I found I was mis- 
 taken, it had no particular thickness, and was filled with 
 grasshoppers ; but there were char, which fed on the shell- 
 fish, in the same lake." — Sir Sumphrey Davy. 
 
 No. VII. 
 
 ANGLING WEATHER INDICATIONS. 
 
 " Hal. — I hope we shall have another good day to-morrow, 
 for the clouds are red in the west. 
 
 Phys. — I have no doubt of it, for the red has a tint of 
 purple. 
 
 Hal. — Do you know why this tint portends fine weather ? 
 
 Phys. — The air when dry, I believe, refracts more red or 
 heat-making rays; and as dry air is not perfectly transparent, 
 they are again reflected in the horizon. I have generally 
 observed a coppery or yellow sunset to foretell rain ; but, as 
 indication of wet weather approaching, nothing is more 
 certain than a halo round the moon, which is produced by 
 the precipitated water, and the larger the circle, the nearer 
 the clouds, and consequently the more ready to fall. 
 
 Hal. — I have often observed that the old proverb is 
 correct : — 
 
 ' A rainbow in tlie morning is the shepherd's warning ; 
 A rainbow at night is the shepherd's delight.' 
 
 Can you explain this omen ? 
 
 Phys. — A rainbow can only occur when the clouds con- 
 taining or depositing the rain are opposite the sun, and in 
 the evening the rainbow is in the east and in the morning in 
 the west ; and as our heavy rains in this climate are usually 
 
APPENDIX. 301 
 
 brought by the westerly wind, a rainbow in the west indicates 
 that the bad weather is on the road, by the wind, to us; 
 whereas the rainbow in the east proves that the rain in these 
 clouds is passing from us." — Salmonia. 
 
 No. VIII. 
 
 FLY-MAKING. 
 
 " The first requisite in hook-making is to find good mal- 
 leable iron of the softest and purest kind, such as is procured 
 from the nails of old horse-shoes. This must be converted, 
 by cementation with charcoal, into good soft steel, and that 
 into bars of wires of different thickness for different-sized 
 hooks, and then annealed. For the large hooks the bars 
 must be made in such a form as to admit of cutting the barbs, 
 and each piece, which serves for two hooks, is larger at the 
 ends, so that the bar appears in the form of a double-pointed 
 spear, three, or four, or five inches long ; the bars for the , 
 finer hooks are somewhat flattened. The artist works with 
 two files, one finer than the other, for giving the point and 
 polishing the hook, and he begins by making the barb, taking 
 care not to cut too deep, and filing on a piece of hard wood, 
 such as boxwood, with a dent to receive the bar made by the 
 edge of the file. The barb being made, the shank is thinned 
 and flattened, and the polishing tile applied to it, and by a 
 turn of the wrist round a circular pincers, the necessary 
 degree of curvature is then given to it. The hook is then 
 cut from the bar, heated red hot by being kept for a moment 
 in a charcoal fire, then plunged while hot into cold water ; 
 then tempered, by being put on iron that has been heated in 
 the same fire, till it becomes a bright blue, and, whilst still 
 hot, it is immersed in candle-grease, where it gains a black 
 colour ; it is then finished." — Sir Humphrey Davy. 
 
 No. IX. 
 
 THE MULLET AND THE GILLAROO TROUT. 
 
 " Of all the fish I have seen, the mullet is the clearest 
 instance of the structure of its stomach approaching that of 
 birds ; its strong muscular stomach being evidently adapted, 
 like the gizzard of birds, to the two offices of mastication and 
 digestion. The stomach of the gillaroo trout holds the second 
 place, but still neither of these stomachs can be justly ranked 
 as gizzards, since they want some of the most essential 
 
 20 
 
302 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 characters, viz., a power and motion fitted for grinding, and 
 the horny cuticle. The stomach of the gillaroo trout is, 
 however, more circumscribed than that of 'most fish, and 
 endued with sufficient strength to break the covering of the 
 small shell-fish, which will most probably be best done by 
 having more than one in the stomach at a time, and also by 
 taking large and smooth stones into it, which will answer the 
 purpose of breaking, but not so well that of grinding, nor can 
 this fish's stomach possess scarcely any power of grinding, as 
 the whole cavity is lined with a fine villous coat, and whose 
 external surface everywhere appears to be digestive, and by 
 no means fitted for mastication."— JbAw Hunter. 
 
 Although the grey mullet is common in the Mediterranean, 
 it is in such indifferent repute that none but the lower classes 
 use it. The red mullet is, however, held in the highest 
 estimation, and from its scarcity and peculiar flavour is much 
 sought after as a delicacy. It seldom exceeds a pound or 
 two in weight, and it is dressed with the inside entire, as the 
 woodcock is sent to table with his trail. 
 
 On our coasts it is rarely seen. At particular seasons the 
 grey mullet visits us abundantly, and nothing can be more 
 delicate, when uninjured by keeping or carriage. 
 
 No. X. 
 
 GEEYHOUNDS. 
 
 " On the superior breed of greyhounds there has been a 
 variety of opinions ; the blood of the late Lord Orford's was 
 allowed to stand very high, if not the first, in public estima- 
 tion. Perhaps there has not been any person who took more 
 pains to arrive at the utmost state of perfection in his object; 
 and it is a circumstance generally believed that he even had 
 recourse to a cross with the Enghsh bull-dog, in order to 
 acquire a courage and resolution until then unknown. After 
 seven descents, it is said, he obtained the object for which he 
 had been so solicitous, without any diminution of speed or 
 the beauties of shape and symmetry. Lord Eivers's stock is 
 now allowed to be one of the first in England, and its 
 superiority may be owing to a judicious cross of the Dorset- 
 shire and Newmarket blood. Mr. Gurney, of Norwich, has 
 likewise for some years been in possession of a breed in 
 considerable repute. It has the three great requisites — blood, 
 bone, and shape. Snowdrop, a son of Snowball, won the 
 Malton Cup for successive years ; and Fly, a grand-daughter 
 
APPENDIX. 303 
 
 of Snowball, a yellow and white bitch, the property of Major 
 Topham, carried it away also in the Malton Spring Meeting 
 of 1810, though she had suffered previously by very severe 
 exercise. Scarcely a greyhound, indeed, of any other blood 
 now appears at the Malton Meeting, and it has been so 
 celebrated as to be introduced in almost every county in the 
 kingdom. 
 
 There was a circumstance respecting Snowball peculiar to 
 him in the history of coursing. He served greyhounds for 
 years before his death at three guineas each. The first year 
 he had ten, the second fourteen, the third eleven, and the 
 fourth seven ; and amongst them, two out of Wales, two out 
 of Scotland, one from the Marquis of Townshend, out of 
 Norfolk, and the rest out of counties at some distance. 
 Fifty guineas were given for young Snowball, who was 
 sold afterwards for one hundred. And Mr. Mellish beat 
 all Newmarket with another son of Snowball." — Sporting 
 Anecdotes. 
 
 No. XL 
 
 A GRAVE GENTLEMAN. 
 
 " A vertuous monke declareth, that to him (travailing in 
 Vlster) came a grave gentleman about Easter, desirous to be 
 confessed and howselled, who in all his lifetime had never 
 yet received the Blessed Sacrament. When he had said his 
 mind, the priest demaunded him whether he was faultlesse 
 in the sinne of homicide ? Hee answered, that he . never 
 wist the matter to be haynous before, but being instructed 
 thereof, hee confessed the murther of five, the rest hee left 
 wounded, so that hee knew not whether they lived or no. 
 Then was he taught that both the one and the other were 
 execrable, and verie meekelie humbled himself to repentance." 
 — Campion's Historie. 
 
 No. XII. 
 
 PIKE. 
 
 "About seventeen years since, when visiting the late 
 Marquis of Clanricarde, at Portumna Castle, two gentlemen 
 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 
 
304 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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." 
 
 No. XIII. 
 
 THE STOMACH OF THE TEOTJT. 
 
 "The stomachs of the common trouts are uncommonly 
 thick and muscular ; they feed on the shell-fish of lakes and 
 rivers, as well as on small fish ; they likewise take into their 
 stomachs gravel or small stones, to assist in comminuting the 
 testaceous parts of their food. The trouts of certain lakes in 
 Ireland, as those of the county of Galway, and some others, 
 are remarkable for the great thickness of their stomachs, 
 which, from some resemblance to the organs of digestion in 
 birds, have been called gizzards. The Irish name of the 
 species that has them is gillaroo trouts, and their stomachs 
 are sometimes served up to table under the former appellation. 
 It does not appear to me that the extraordinary strength of 
 stomach in the Irish fish should give any suspicion that it is 
 a distinct species. The nature of the waters might increase 
 the thickness, or the superior quantity of shell-fish, which 
 may more frequently call for' the use of its comminuting 
 powers than those of our trouts, and might occasion this 
 difference. I had the opportunity of comparing the stomach 
 of a great gillaroo trout with a large one from the Uxbridge 
 river ; the last, if I recollect, was smaller and out of season, 
 and its stomach, notwithstanding it was very thick, was 
 much inferior in strength to that of the former, but on the 
 whole there was not the least specific difference between the 
 two subjects." — Pennant. 
 
 No. XIV. 
 
 THE VORACIOUSNESS OF THE PIKE. 
 
 " The pike's voraciousness is well known ; what is here 
 mentioned of it is singular. In 1810, a hook baited with a 
 
APPENDIX. 305 
 
 roach was set in the Manor pond at Teddington, Bedfordshire ; 
 the next morning a large pike was caught, which with 
 difiBculty was got out. It appeared that a pike of three and 
 a half pounds weight was first caught, which was afterwards 
 swallowed by another weighing thirteen pounds and a half, 
 and both were taken. It has been before remarked that pike 
 are frequently shot when floating near the surface of the 
 water — other sorts of fish are often so destroyed. In June, 
 1808, Mr. Burn, the Earl of Lonsdale's gamekeeper, shot in 
 the river Eden at Beaumont, near Carlisle, the extraordinary 
 number of eighty-six fish at two shots ; the smallest fish was 
 seven inches in length." — Daniel. 
 
 This voracity of the pike is more strongly exemplified in 
 the following extract from a Provincial Newspaper. Of the 
 truth of the occurrence we presume there can be no reason- 
 able 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, excepting the celebrated case of the 
 Kilkenny cats, whose respective 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 wear- 
 ing 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 dis- 
 poses 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 in- 
 surance. 
 
 No. XV. 
 
 THE EED DEEK. 
 
 " The red deer, or stag, may be said to inhabit some of the 
 forests of this county (Perthshire) in the most perfect state 
 of nature and wildness ; cautious in the extreme, singularly 
 jealous of the human form, and eluding with wonderful 
 sagacity the wiles of the sportsman." — Daniel. 
 
306 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 " Things gradually continued thus to improve, in proportion 
 as the face of the country became more cultivated, till animals 
 of the chase were greatly reduced in number, so much so, that 
 even the stag is but seldom seen in a state of nature in this 
 country, decreasing as the sequestered places of its abode 
 become fewer. They are now only to be met with in a state 
 of unrestrained freedom in those extensive moors upon the 
 borders of Cornwall and Devonshire, and in some places of 
 the Highlands of Scotland, and the mountain of Kerry, in 
 Ireland, in which last place they add greatly to the beauty 
 and magniiicence of the justly celebrated Lake of Killarney, 
 where they are pursued by hound and horn." — Brown. 
 
 No. XVI. 
 
 FAIRIES IN BALLTCEOY. 
 
 This gentleman's temporary sojourn with the fairies is 
 generally credited in Ballycroy. Why the gentlefolk, who are 
 accounted scrupulous in selecting youth and beauty when they 
 abduct mortals, should have pitched upon Shamus, is un- 
 accountable. 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 horsewhipping which he received from the priest for 
 attempting to abuse the credulity of the peasantry, by detail- 
 ing the fairy revels in which he alleged that he participated. 
 
 No. XVII. 
 
 THE IRISH GREYHOUND. 
 
 Captain Brown places this animal in the class of " domesti- 
 cated dogs which hunt in packs or singly, principally by the 
 eye, although sometimes by the scent." 
 
 " The Irish Greyhound. Canis Grains Siherniaus." — Ray. 
 
 " This is one of the largest of the canine race, with an air at 
 once beautiful, striking and majestic. He has been known to 
 grow to the extraordinary height of four feet, although the 
 general standard is about three feet. 
 
 In shape the Irish greyhound somewhat resembles the 
 common greyhound, only that he is much larger, and mor e 
 muscular in formation, clumsy in all his different parts, and 
 
APPENDIX. 307 
 
 is quite unserviceable in hunting either the stag, fox, or hare. 
 His chief use in former times was in clearing the country of 
 wolves and wild boars, for which his great size and strength 
 peculiarly adapted him. 
 
 The colour of the Irish greyhound is a pale cinnamon or 
 fawn. His aspect is mild, and his disposition gentle and 
 peaceable. It is said he is greatly an overmatch for either 
 the mastiff or bull-dog ; and when he fights he generally seizes 
 his antagonist by the back, and shakes him to death, which 
 his great strength enables him to do with ease. 
 
 M. Buffon supposes the great Danish dog to be only a 
 variety of the Irish greyhound; and Mr. Pennant was of 
 opinion that the French mitin and the Albanian dog were 
 also varieties of the same. 
 
 The Irish greyhound is now rarely to be met with, even in 
 his native country. 
 
 The Marquis of Sligo is among the few individuals who 
 possess that fine animal in a state of tolerable purity ; he 
 keeps a number at Westport, in the county of Mayo, Ireland, 
 where there is a person employed to look after them. It is 
 said that great care is necessary to preserve the breed, and 
 keep them in good health. 
 
 Aylmer Bourke Lambert, Esq., one of the vice-presidents of 
 the Linnsean Society, took the measure of one of the Marquis 
 of Sligo's dogs, which was as follows : — " From the point of 
 the nose to the tip of the tail, sixty-one inches ; tail seventeen 
 and a-half inches long ; from the tip of the nose to the back 
 part of the skull, ten inches ; from the back part of the skull 
 to the beginning of the tail, thirty-three inches ; from the toe 
 to the top of the fore shoulder, twenty-eight inches and a- 
 half ; the length of leg, sixteen inches ; from the point of the 
 hind toes to the top of the hind shoulders, thirteen inches ; 
 from the point of the nose to the eye, four inches and a-half ; 
 the ears, six inches long ; round the widest part of the belly 
 (about three inches from the fore legs), thirty-five inches ; 
 twenty-six inches round the hind part, close to the hind legs ; 
 the hair short and smooth ; the colour of some brown and 
 white, of others black and white." 
 
 They seemed good-tempered animals, but from the accounts 
 Mr. Lambert received, it is obvious that they must have de- 
 generated, particularly in point of size. 
 
 Dr. Goldsmith says he has seen a dozen of these dogs, and 
 assures us the largest was about four feet high, and as tall as 
 a calf of a year old." 
 
308 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 We are sorry to remark, that Captain Brown's statement 
 " that the Irish greyhound is still preserved by the Marquis 
 of Sligo," &c., is totally unfounded. No dog of this descrip- 
 tion has for many years been in the possession of the noble 
 lord. In his father's time there were, I believe, some de- 
 scendants of this splendid stock at Westport House — but for 
 years they have been extinct. The present Marquis intro- 
 duced some double-nosed boar-hounds into the country, which 
 possibly were mistaken for the Irish greyhound, although no 
 animals could be more dissimilar in shape, courage, and 
 docility. 
 
 No. XVIII. 
 
 FLY-FISHING. 
 
 " There is a certain limit to the sport of the angler, if con- 
 tinuous fishing be adopted in the same pool. Every fish is in 
 its turn made acquainted by diurnal habit with the artificial 
 fly, and either taken or rendered cautious ; so that, in a river 
 fished much by one or two good anglers, many fish cannot be 
 caught, except under peculiar circumstances of very windy, 
 rainy, or cloudy weather, when many flies come on, or at 
 night, or at the time the water is slightly coloured by a flood, 
 or when fish change their haunts in consequence of a great 
 inundation. In the Usk, in Monmouthshire, when it was very 
 full of fish in the best fishing-time, when the spring brown and 
 dun flies were on the water, it was not usual for some excellent 
 anglers, who composed a party of nine, and who fished in this 
 river for ten continuous days, to catch more than two or three 
 fish each person. But one day, when the water was coloured 
 by a flood, in which case the artificial fly could not be dis- 
 tinguished by the fish from the natural fly, I caught twelve or 
 fourteen of the same fish that had been in the habit of refusing 
 my flies for many days successively. This was in the end of 
 March, 1809, when the flies always come on the water with 
 great regularity, the blues in dark days, the browns in bright 
 days, between twelve and two o'clock in the middle of the day. 
 In rivers where the artificial fly has never been used, I believe 
 all the fish will mistake good imitations for natural flies, and 
 in their turn, to use an anglers' phrase, ' taste the steel ; ' but 
 even very imperfect imitations and coarse tackle, which are 
 only successful at night or in turbid water, are sufficient to 
 render fish cautious." — Sir Humphrey Davy. 
 
APPENDIX. 309 
 
 No. XIX. 
 
 BIRD STUFFING. 
 
 Large birds should be carefully skinned, the head, tail, and 
 feet left entire ; the skin may then be either put into a vessel 
 of spirits, or rubbed well on the inside with the following 
 mixture : — One pound of salt, four ounces of alum, and two 
 ounces of pepper, pounded together. Small birds may be 
 thus treated. Take out the entrails, open a passage to the 
 brain, which should be scooped out through the mouth, 
 introduce into the cavities of the skull and the whole body 
 some of the above mixture, putting it also through the gullet 
 and entire length of the neck. Hang the bird in a cool airy 
 place, first by the feet, that the body may be impregnated by 
 the salt, and afterwards by a thread through the upper 
 mandible of the bill till it appears to be sweet, then expose 
 it in the sun or near a fire ; after it is well dried, clean out 
 what remains loose of the mixture, and fill the cavity of the 
 body with wool, oakum, or any soft substance. 
 
 No. XX. 
 
 GEOUSE SHOOTING. 
 
 " If the night should be wet previous to the day of shooting, 
 you had better not attempt the hills, for in this case the 
 grouse will not lie. If you should be out, and find the 
 birds erect their heads and run, you may be certain that they 
 will not lay well during that day ; the only chance you have 
 here is to pursue them, running as fast as you can, which has 
 been found by experience to be the only possible means of 
 getting within shot. But observe, there are two evils that 
 attend this mode of grousing : if you run, your dogs will do 
 the same ; and to get within shot you must keep your eye on 
 the birds while they are running — take care you do not then 
 get a fall, which you most likely will on uneven ground, and 
 probably not only hurt yourself, and bend the gun, but, as 
 has been formerly observed, spoil your dogs." — Thornhill. 
 
 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 them to the moors, 
 or they are particularly solicited (as I have often been) to 
 procure birds, let them depend on close marking, tie up every 
 dog but the steadiest one, and quietly, patiently, and silently 
 
310 WILD SPOKTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 endeavour to come withia range of their object. If the bird 
 moves, then to out-flank him is the best chance. Take a 
 considerable 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. 
 
 No. XXI. 
 
 THE WHIMBEEL. 
 
 ( Whimbrel^BwmcK. Ze Petite Gourlis — BuFFON.) 
 
 " The whimbrel is only about half ^the size of the curlew, 
 which it very nearly resembles in shape, the colour of its 
 plumage, and manner of living. It is about seventeen inches 
 in length, and twenty-nine in breadth, and weighs about 
 fourteen ounces. The bill is about three inches long, the 
 upper mandible black, the under one pale red. The upper 
 part of the head is black, divided in the middle of the crown 
 by a white Kne from the brow to the hinder part : between 
 the bill and eyes there is a darkish oblong spot : the sides of 
 the head, neck, and breast are of a pale brown, marked with 
 narrow dark streaks passing downwards : the belly is of the 
 same colour, but the dark streaks upon it are larger ; about 
 the vent it is quite white. The lower part of the back is 
 white also, the rump and tail feathers are barred with black 
 and white ; the shafts of the quills are white, the outer webs 
 totally black, but the inner ones marked with large white 
 spots : the secondary quills are spotted in the same manner 
 on both the inner and outer webs. The legs and feet are of 
 the same shape and colour as those of the curlew." 
 
 " The whimbrel is not so commonly seen on the sea-shores 
 of this country as the curlew ; it is also more retired and 
 wild, ascending to the highest mountain heaths in spring and 
 summer, to feed and rear its young." 
 
 No. XXII. 
 
 THE GUNNER OE SEA-BEEAM. 
 
 The gunner is the common name given to th^ ^ea-bream 
 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 
 
APPENDIX. 311 
 
 more than any species of the finny tribe that 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 stiif 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. 
 
 No. XXIII. 
 
 EAGLES AND PIKE. 
 
 "Now that I am speaking of pike, I may observe that 
 eagles, which were rather numerous hereabout, were not 
 unfrequently seen to pounce on these fish whilst basking 
 near the surface. It was said, however, that, when the pike 
 was very large, he had been known to carry the eagle under 
 water ; when, from the latter being unable to disengage his 
 talons, he was of course drowned. Indeed, Dr. Mellerborg, a 
 medical gentleman attached to the Uddeholm establishment 
 when I first visited Wermeland, vouched for this being the 
 fact, he himself having once seen an enormous pike, with an 
 eagle fastened to his back, lying dead on a piece of ground 
 which had been overflown, but from which the water had 
 then retreated. 
 
 Captain Eurenius also informed me that he himself was 
 once an eye-witness to a similar occurrence. This was on 
 the Gotha river, and at no great distance from Wenersborg. 
 In this instance, when the eagle first seized the pike, he was 
 enabled to lift him a short distance into the air; but the 
 weight of the fish, together with its struggles, soon carried 
 them back again to the water, under which for a while they 
 both disappeared : presently, however, the eagle again came 
 to the surface, uttering at the same time the most piercing 
 cries, and making apparently every endeavour to extricate 
 his talons, but all was in vain, and, after a deal of struggling, 
 he was finally carried under the water. 
 
 Captain Eurenius said, moreover, that pike were occasion- 
 ally taken alive with only the legs and talons of the eagle 
 attached J,(i their backs, the bodies of the birds having 
 previously rotted off. This, if true, is a curious circumstance ; 
 for one would naturally have supposed that, with such a 
 knapsack, the fish would have been unable to procure his 
 food, and that he consequently must soon have perished. 
 
312 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 In corroboration of these stories, I may mention that, when 
 I was in the Orkney Islands a few years ago, I was told of 
 the eagle striking turbot and other fish at sea, when similar 
 results to what I have just stated occasionally took place. At 
 that time, however, I confess I was a little incredulous on the 
 subject." — Lloyd. 
 
 No. XXIV. 
 
 STOEIES OF SEALS. 
 
 " Many of these stories have been founded upon the long- 
 haired seal seen at a distance, others on the appearance of 
 the common seal under particular circumstances of light and 
 shade, and some on still more singular circumstances. A 
 worthy baronet, remarkable for his benevolent views and 
 active spirit, has propagated a story of this kind, and he 
 seems to claim for his native country the honour of possessing 
 this extraordinary animal. But the mermaid of Caithness 
 was certainly a gentleman, who happened to be travelling on 
 that wild shore, and who was seen bathing by some young 
 ladies at so great a distance that not only genus but gender 
 was mistaken. I am acquainted with him, and have had the 
 story from his own mouth. He is a young man fond of 
 geological pursuits, and one day in the middle of August, 
 having fatigued and heated himself by climbing a rock to 
 examine a particular appearance of granite, he gave his 
 clothes to his highland attendant, who was taking care of his 
 pony, and descended to the sea. The sun was just setting, 
 and he amused himself for some time by swimming from 
 rock to rock, and, having long undipped hair and no cap, he 
 sometimes threw aside his locks, and wrung the water from 
 them on the rocks. He happened the year after to be at 
 Harrogate, and was sitting at table with two young ladies 
 from Caithness, who were relating to a wondering audience 
 the story of the mermaid they had seen which had already 
 been published in the newspapers. They described her as 
 she usually is described by poets, as a beautiful animal, with 
 remarkably fair skin and long green hair. The young 
 gentleman took the liberty, as most of the rest of the 
 company did, to put a few questions to the elder of the two 
 ladies, such as, on what day, and precisely where this singular 
 phenomenon had appeared. She had noted down, not merely 
 the day, but the hour and the minute, and produced a map 
 of the place. Our bather referred to his journal, and showed 
 that a human animal was swimming in the very spot at that 
 
APPENDIX. 313 
 
 very time, who had some of the characters ascribed to the 
 mermaid, but who laid no claim to others, particularly the 
 green hair and fish's tail; but, being rather saUow in the 
 face, was glad to have such testimony to the colour of his 
 body beneath his garments." — &ir Humphrey Davy. 
 
 No. XXV. 
 
 AN IRISH COURT OF JUSTICE CASE. 
 
 I remember hearing this word used in a court of justice in 
 a 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 for help, his 
 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 ? By J s, 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 ! ' " 
 
 No. XXVI. 
 
 SHOOTING IN A QUAGMIRE. 
 
 " In this pursuit, (snipe-shooting,) I sank more than once 
 in a quagmire, where the Prince's whipper-in some years 
 since was hesitating whether he should go to the assistance of 
 some hounds, which had got an old stag at bay ; but on his 
 master's asking him if he were afraid, he immediately dashed 
 in, and sunk to rise no more ! It is indeed reported that 
 neither himself nor his horse were ever found : but the English 
 groom told me they were got out, with much difficulty, some 
 days after the accident had happened." — Thornton, vol. 2. 
 p. 113. 
 
 No. XXVII. 
 
 THE MIDDOGE. 
 
 This weapon, I believe, was almost confined to the West of 
 Ireland, and at this time is rarely met with. Yet some cen- 
 turies back, it was as constantly borne by the Milesians as 
 the dirk in the Highlands, 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 ; 
 
314 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 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 chro- 
 nicles, 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, wo aid pierce through 
 three half-crown pieces — Credat Judceus ! — This interesting 
 and valuable implement, according to his account, was lost 
 " during the French," that is, at the period of the French in- 
 vasion in '98. 
 
 No. XXVIII. 
 
 BOULIES. 
 
 The boulies, in the mountain districts, are an interesting 
 remnant of antiquity ; and refer evidently to that period when 
 Ireland was in its wild and unsettled state. They are simply 
 one or more temporary shielings, or huts, constructed with 
 rude materials, in spots the most convenient for attending to 
 the cattle in the summer and autumn, when they are allowed 
 to depasture on the mountains. 
 
 According to the usual leases granted by the landlord to the 
 tenant in this wild country, villages in the lowlands, or on the 
 coast, have a reserved right of pasturage on particular portions 
 of the adjacent hills : and in some cases the distance from the 
 tenant's habitation to this mountain pasturage will exceed a 
 dozen miles. Hence, it is impossible to pay the requisite at- 
 tention to the cattle, without residing on the spot ; and a part 
 of the family, generally the young girls, are detached to bivouac 
 in the hUls, and attend to the herding and milking of the 
 cows. 
 
 These huts are always erected in lone and beautiful valleys, 
 generally on the bank of a rivulet, and placed beneath the 
 shelter of a cliff. When the season closes, they are deserted 
 until the following year ; and a few hours' work suffices to 
 render them habitable when' the returning summer obliges 
 the fair villagers to resume their wild and pastoral employ- 
 ment. 
 
 " IrencBiis. — I will begin, then, to count their customes in 
 the same order that I counted their nations ; and first with 
 the Scythian, or Scottish manners. Of the which there is one 
 use among them to keep their cattle, and to live themselves 
 the most part of the year in bodies, pasturing upon the moun- 
 taines and waste wild places ; and removing still to waste 
 
APPENDIX. 315 
 
 landes, as they have depastured the former. The which apper- 
 taineth plain to be the manner of the Scythians, as you may 
 read in Olaus Magnus and John Bohemas, and yet is used 
 amongst all the Tartarians and the people about the Caspian 
 Sea, which are naturally Scythians, to live in heards, as they 
 call them, being the very same that the Irish boolies are, 
 driving their cattle continually with them, and feeding on 
 their milke and white meates. 
 
 Eudoxius. — What fault can you find with this custome ? 
 for though it may be an old Scythian use, yet it is very be- 
 hoofeful in this country of Ireland, where there are great 
 mountaines and waste deserts full of grasse, that the same 
 should be eaten downe and nourish many thousandes of cattle 
 for the good of the whole realme, which cannot (methinks) 
 well be any other way than by keeping these boolies there as 
 you have shewed. 
 
 Iren. — But by this custom of loolying there grows in the 
 mean time many great enormities unto that commonwealth. 
 For first, if there be any outlawes, or loose people, (as there 
 are never without some,) which live upon stealthe and spoyle, 
 they are evermore succoured and finde reliefe only in these 
 boolies being upon the waste places, whereas else they should 
 be driven shortly to starve, or to come downe to the townes 
 to seek reliefe, where, by one mean or other, they would soone 
 be caught. Besides, such stealthe of cattle as they make, they 
 bring commonly to those boulies, being upon the waste places, 
 where they are readily received, and the thief harboured from 
 danger of law or such officers as might light on him. More- 
 over, the people that thus live in those boulies grow thereby 
 the more barbarous, and live more licentiously than they could 
 in townes, using what means they list, and practising what 
 mischiefes and villainy they will, either against the Govern- 
 ment there by their combynations, or against private men, 
 whom they maligne by stealing their goods, or murdering 
 themselves ; for there they thinke themselves halfe exempted 
 from law and obedience, and after once tasted freedom, doe, 
 like a steere that hath beene long out of his yoke, grudge and 
 repine ever after to come under rule againe. 
 
 Uudoxius. — By your speech, Irenaeus, I perceive more evil 
 come by this use of boulies, than good by their grazing, and 
 therefore it may well be reformed." 
 
 " For this keeping of cowes is of itself a very idle life, and 
 a fit nurserie for a thiefe. For which cause (you remember) 
 I disliked the Irish manner of keeping boolies in summer upon 
 
316 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 the mountaines, and living after that savage sort." — Spenser's 
 View, 1596, p. 110. 
 
 No. XXIX. 
 
 THE MASTEE-OTTER. 
 
 There is a strange coincidence between the master-otter of 
 the Irish, and the Jungunus crocodile of the Javanese. 
 
 "When she" (the female slave) "was desired to describe 
 this paternal uncle, who, in so strange a shape, had taken up 
 his dwelling in the water, she said he was not like other 
 crocodiles, but much handsomer ; that his body was spotted, 
 and his nose red ; that he had bracelets of gold upon his feet, 
 and ear-rings of the same metal in his ears. Mr. Banks heard 
 this tale of ridiculous falsehood patiently to the end, and then 
 dismissed the girl, without reminding her that a crocodile 
 with ears was as strange a monster as a dog with cloven feet. 
 Some time after this, a servant whom Mr.. Banks had hired 
 at Batavia, and who was the son of a Dutchman by a Javanese 
 woman, thought fit to acquaint his master that he had seen a 
 crocodile of the same kind, which had also been seen by many 
 others, both Dutchmen and Malays ; that being very young, 
 it was but two feet long, and had bracelets of gold, upon its 
 feet. ' There is no giving credit to these stories,' said Mr. 
 Banks ; 'for I was told the other day that a crocodile had 
 ear-rings ; and you know that could not be true, as crocodiles 
 have no ears.' — ' Ah ! Sir,' said the man, ' these sudara oran 
 are not like other crocodiles ; they have five toes upon each 
 foot, a large tongue that fills their mouth, and ears also ; 
 although, indeed, they are very small.' " — Cook's Voyage. 
 
 No. XXX. 
 
 THE COW CHAEMER. 
 
 "While staying at a gentleman's house, I heard, when 
 passing the porter's lodge, that the gate-keeper's cow was iU. 
 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 more 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 
 
APPENDIX. 317 
 
 sympathised with the goodwoman. 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 particu- 
 larly 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 enquire 
 if the cow still lived. 
 
 The family were in great tribulation. " The charmer had 
 arrived — had seen the cow — had prepared herbs and nostrums, 
 and was performing some solitary ceremony 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 conjurer 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 moi'ning 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 wretch in appearance as 
 ever trod the earth. The cow still seemed weak, but the 
 charmer spoke confidently 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 ! 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 — JVeil an sJceil a gau 
 
 mawn, 
 
 No. XXXI. 
 
 FIRE-AEMS IN THE WEST. 
 
 When the French, under Humbert, landed at Killala in the 
 autumn of 1798, they brought with them a large quantity of 
 
 21 
 
318 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 arms and military clothing, to equip the numerous partizans 
 they expected to have found in the country. After the 
 French general was 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. 
 
 No. XXXII. 
 
 COOSHEEEKS. 
 
 This phrase is used in Ireland to designate that useless and 
 eternal tribe who are there the regular attacMs 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 entrde. 
 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 
 requisition, and such was the influence of ancient custom, 
 that none would venture to refuse this forced hospitality, 
 although the man was latterly a sad bore. Some gentlemen, 
 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 — and whoever unluckily hap- 
 pened 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 lores was he.'' 
 
 No. XXXIII. 
 
 COOKING. 
 
 "As we approached the river, the dog started a large 
 kangaroo, and hunted it down upon the plain. This was a 
 seasonable supply. We immediately commenced cooking; 
 cutting off some steaks, we strung them on a stick, and set 
 them before the fire ; when one side was done, we turned the 
 
APPENDIX. 319 
 
 other : this is what they call a ' sticker-up,' and our manner 
 of cooking them is called ' bush- fashion.' " — Struggles of an 
 Emigrant, 
 
 ISTo. XXXIV. 
 
 THE MULLET. 
 
 The Mullet is the grand boundary of the wild peninsula of 
 Erris, and separates it from the interior counties. It is used 
 in a general sense to describe the district — "as within or 
 without the Mullet." 
 
 No. XXXV. 
 
 NORTHMEN. 
 
 Northmen is a phrase not only applied to recent settlers 
 from the North of Ireland, but even to families who have 
 been located here for centuries. In point of fact, few of the 
 tribes here are purely aboriginal ; for Erris and Connemara 
 being the Ultima Thule of the land, every wanderer for 
 private and political offences fied to these havens of refuge, 
 and in course of time amalgamated with the native proprietors 
 of the soil. Hence, to this day, their descendants are not 
 unfrequently taunted with being novi homines ; and, when a 
 delinquency is committed by one of these unhappy hybrids, 
 an aboriginal will probably observe, "Sure, after all, what 
 could be expected from him, considering that his great great 
 grandfather was from the North ! " 
 
 No. XXXVI. 
 
 BITTERN, BOG BUMPER, BITTER BUM, OR MIEE DRUM. 
 
 (Ardea Stellaris — LiN. Le Butor — Buff.) 
 
 " The bittern is nearly as large as the common heron ; its 
 legs are stronger, body more plump and fleshy, and its neck 
 is more thickly clothed with feathers. The beak is strong at 
 the base ; straight, sharp on the edges, and gradually tapers 
 to an acute point : the upper mandible is brown, the under 
 inclining to green ; the mouth is wide, the gape extending 
 beyond the eyes, with a dusky patch at each angle — the 
 irides are yellow. The crown of the head is somewhat 
 depressed, and covered with long black feathers ; the throat 
 is yellowish white, the sides of the neck pale rust-colour, 
 variegated with black, in spotted, waved, and narrow 
 transverse lines ; and on the fore-part the ground colour is 
 
320 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 whitish, and the feathers fall down in less broken and darker 
 lengthened stripes. These neck-feathers, which it can raise 
 and depress at pleasure, are long and loose, and, inclining 
 backward, cover the neck behind ; those below Tihem, on the 
 breast to the thighs^ are streaked lengthwise with black, 
 edged with yellowish white : the thighs, belly, and vent, are 
 of a dull, pale yellow, clouded with dingy brown. The 
 plumage on the back and wings is marked with black zig-zag 
 lines, bars, and streaks, upon a ground shaded with rust- 
 colour and yellow. The bastard wings, greater coverts, and 
 quills, are brown, barred with black. The tail, which consists 
 only of ten feathers, is very short ; the legs, are of a pale 
 green, bare a little above the knees ; the claws, particularly 
 those on the hind toes, are long and sharp, the middle one 
 serrated. 
 
 The female is less than the male ; her plumage is darker, 
 ■ and the feathers on her head, breast, and neck, are shorter, 
 and the colours not so distinctly marked. She makes an 
 artless nest, composed chiefly of the withered stalks and 
 leaves of the high coarse herbage in the midst of which it is 
 placed, and lays from four to six eggs of a greenish- white 
 colour. ' 
 
 The bittern is a shy solitary bird ; it is never seen on the 
 wing in the day-time, but sits commonly with the head erect, 
 hid among the reeds and rushes in the marshes, where it 
 always takes up its abode, and from whence it will not stir, 
 unless it is disturbed by the sportsman. When it changes 
 its haunts, it removes in the dusk of the evening, and then, 
 rising in a spiral direction, soars to a vast height. It flies in 
 the same heavy manner as the heron, and might be mistaken 
 for that bird, were it not for the singularly resounding cry 
 which it utters from time to time while on the wing ; but 
 this cry is feeble when compared to the hollow booming 
 noise which it makes during the night time, in the breeding 
 season, from its swampy retreats. 
 
 The bittern, when attacked by the buzzard, or other birds 
 of prey, defends itself with great courage, and generally beats 
 off such assailants ; neither does it betray any symptoms of 
 fear when wounded by the sportsman, but eyes him with a 
 keen undaunted look, and, when driven to' extremity, will 
 attack him with the utmost vigour, wounding his legs, or 
 aiming at his eyes, with its sharp and piercing bill. It wa& 
 formerly held in much estimation at the tables of the great,, 
 and is again recovering its credit as a fashionable dish. 
 
APPENDIX. 321 
 
 This bird lives uppn the same water- animals as the heron, 
 for which it patiently watches, unmoved, for hours together." 
 — Latham,. 
 
 No. XXXVII. 
 
 THE WILD CAT. 
 
 " The ferus, or wild cat, is three or four times as large as 
 the house cat; the head larger and the face flatter. The 
 teeth and claws are tremendous ; its muscles very strong, as 
 being formed by rapine; the tail is of a moderate length, 
 but very thick, marked with alternate bars of black and 
 white, the end always black : the hips and hind parts of the 
 lower joints of the leg are always black : the fur is very soft 
 and fine. The general colour of these animals is of a yellow- 
 ish white, mixed with a deep grey. These colours, though 
 they appear at first sight confusedly blended together, yet on 
 a close inspection will be found to be disposed like the streaks 
 on the skin of a tiger, pointing from the back downwards, 
 rising from a black list that runs from the head along the 
 middle of the back to the tail. 
 
 This animal with us may be called the British Tiger. It 
 is the fiercest and most destructive beast we have ; making 
 dreadful havoc among our poultry, lambs, and kids. It 
 inhabits the most mountainous and woody parts of these 
 islands, living mostly in trees, and feeding only by nights. 
 It multiplies as fast as our common cats ; and often the 
 females of the latter will quit their domestic mates, and 
 return home pregnant by the former. 
 
 They are taken either in traps or by shooting them; in 
 the latter case it is very dangerous only to wound them, for 
 they will attack the person who injured them, and have 
 strength enough to be no despicable enemy. Wild cats were 
 formerly reckoned among the beasts of chase ; as appears by 
 the charter of Eichard II. to the Abbot of Peterborough, 
 giving him leave to hunt the hare, fox, and wild cat. The 
 use of the fur was in lining of robes ; but it was esteemed 
 not of the most luxurious kind; for it was ordained, ' that 
 no abbess or nun should use more costly apparel than such 
 as is made of lambs or cats-skins.' In much earlier times, it 
 was also the object of the sportsman's diversion." — Encydo- 
 pcedia Britannica. 
 
322 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 No. XXXVIII. 
 
 THE PALE. 
 
 The Pale was the line of demarkation 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. 
 
 No. XXXIX. 
 
 MAXIMS ON FISHING. 
 
 The following hints are really quaint and useful. 
 
 "Do not imagine that, because a fish does not instantly 
 dart off on Jirst seeing you, he is the less aware of your 
 presence; he almost always on such occasions ceases to feed, 
 and pays you' the compliment of devoting his whole attention 
 to you, whilst he is preparing for a start whenever the 
 apprehended danger becomes sufficiently imminent. 
 
 If you pass your fly neatly and well three times over a 
 trout, and he refuses it, do not wait any longer for him ; you 
 may be sure he has seen the line of invitation which you 
 have sent over the water to him, and does not intend to 
 come. 
 
 Eemember that, in whipping with the artificial fly, it must 
 have time when you have drawn it out of the water to make 
 the whole circuit, and to be at one time straight behind you, 
 before it can be driven out straight before you. If you give 
 it the forward impulse i too soon, you will hear a crack : take 
 this as a hint that your fly is gone to grass. 
 
 It appears to me that, in whipping with an artificial fly, 
 there are only two cases in which a fish taking the fly will 
 infallibly hook himself without your assistance, viz. : — 1st, 
 when your fly first touches the water at the end of a straight 
 line. 2nd, when you are drawing out your fly for a new 
 throw. In aU other cases it* is necessary that, in order to 
 hook him when he has taken the fly, you should do something 
 with your wrist which is not easy to describe. 
 
 If your line should fall loose and wavy into the water, it 
 will either frighten away the fish, or he will take the fly into 
 his mouth, without fastening himself; and when he finds 
 that it does not answer his purpose, he will spit it out again 
 before it has answered yours. 
 
APPENDIX. 323 
 
 Never mind what they of the old school say about, 
 'playing him till he is tired.' Much valuable time, and 
 many a good fish may be lost by this antiquated proceeding. 
 Put him into your basket as soon as you can. Everything 
 depends on the manner in which you commence your 
 acquaintance with him. If you can at first prevail upon him 
 to walk a little way down the stream with you, you will have 
 no difficulty afterwards in persuading him to let you have 
 the pleasure of seeing him at dinner. 
 
 Do not leave off fishing early in the evening, because your 
 friends are lired. After a bright day, the largest fish are to 
 be caught by whipping between sunset and dark. Even, 
 however, in these precious moments, you will not have good 
 sport, if you continue throwing after you have whipped your 
 fly oif. Pay attention to this ; and, if you have any doubt 
 after dusk, you may easily ascertain the point, by drawing 
 the end of the line quickly through your hand, particularly 
 if you do not wear gloves. 
 
 When you have got hold of a good fish which is not very 
 tractable, if you are married, gentle reader, think of your 
 wife, who, like the fish, is united to you by very tender ties, 
 which, can only end with her death, or her going into weeds. 
 If you are single, the loss of the fish, when you thought the 
 prize your own, may remind you of some more serious 
 disappointment." — Jesse's Gleanings in Natural History. 
 
 N"o. XL. 
 
 THE GOOD HOUSE MONEYGLASS. 
 
 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. 
 Like " The Kilruddery Foxchase," it was a mighty favourite 
 with the stout, old sportsmen of those mei-ry days. More 
 popular airs have caused these ancient and soul-stirring 
 lyrics to be disused, and, like those whose feats they 
 recounted, they are now almost forgotten. 
 
 No. XLI. 
 
 GLAKIS, OR TEEE GOOSE. 
 
 (Anas Erythrojms — Buff. La Bernache — Lin.) 
 
 "The barnacle weighs about five pounds, and measures 
 more than two feet in length, and nearly four and a half in 
 
324 WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 breadth. The bill, from the tip to the corners of the mouth, 
 is scarcely sin inch and a half long, black, and crossed with a 
 pale reddish streak on each side : a narrow black line passes 
 from the bill to the eyes, the irides of which are brown : the 
 head is small, and, as far as the crown, together with the 
 cheeks and throat, white ; the rest of the head and rieck, to 
 the breast and shoulders, is black. The upper part of the 
 plumage is prettily marbled or barred with blue, grey, black, 
 and white : the feathers of the back are black, edged with 
 white, and those of the wing coverts and scapulars blue grey, 
 bordered with black near the margins, and edged with white ; 
 the quills black, edged a little way from the tips with blue 
 grey : the under parts and tail coverts, white ; the thighs are 
 marked with dusky lines or spots, and are black near the 
 knees : the tail is black, and five inches and a half long : the 
 legs and feet dusky, very thick and short, and have a stumpy 
 appearance. 
 
 In severe winters, these birds are not uncommon in this 
 kingdom, particularly on the northern and western parts, 
 where, however, they remain only a short time, but depart 
 early in the spring to their northern wilds, to breed, and 
 spend the summer." — Bewick. 
 
 No. XLII. 
 
 WILD GEESE. 
 
 " Wild geese are very destructive to the growing corn in 
 the fields where they happen to halt in their migratory 
 excursion. In some countries they are caught at those 
 seasons in long nets, resembling those used for catching 
 larks. To these nets the wild geese are decoyed by tame 
 ones placed there for that purpose. Many other schemes are 
 contrived to take these wary birds ; but, as they feed only in 
 the day-time, and betake themselves to the water-at night, 
 the fowler must exert his utmost care and ingenuity in order 
 to accomplish his ends : all must be planned in the dark, and 
 every trace of suspicion removed, for nothing can exceed the 
 vigilant circumspection and acute ear of the sentinel, who, 
 placed on some eminence, with outstretched neck surveys 
 everything that moves within the circle of the centre on 
 which he takes his stand; and the instant he sounds the 
 alarm, the whole flock betake themselves to flight." — Anon. 
 
 The time that wild geese feed in this country is by night, 
 and particularly during moonlight. I have never known 
 
APPENDIX. 325 
 
 them either netted or decoyed : and all the shooter has to 
 rely upon is patience and a long barrel. 
 
 No. XLIII. 
 
 THE WILD SWAN. 
 
 (Anas Cygnusferus — LiN. Le Gygne sauvage — Buff.) 
 " The wild swan measures five feet in length, and above 
 seven in breadth, and weighs from thirteen to sixteen pounds. 
 The bill is three inches long, of a yellowish white from the 
 case to the middle, and thence to the tip black; the bare 
 space from the bill over the eye and eye-lids is yellow ; the 
 whole plumage in adult birds is of a pure white, and, next to 
 the skin, they are clothed with a thick fine down ; the legs 
 are black. 
 
 This species generally keeps together in small flocks or 
 families, except in the pairing season, and at the setting in of 
 winter. At the latter period they assemble in immense 
 multitudes, particularly on the large rivers and lakes of the 
 thinly inhabited northern parts of Europe, Asia, and America ; 
 hut when the extremity of the weather threatens to become 
 insupportable, in order to shun the gathering storm, they 
 .shape their course high in air, in divided and diminished 
 numbers, in search of milder climates. In such seasons, they 
 are most commonly seen in various parts of the British Isles, 
 and in other more southern countries of Europe. The same 
 is observed of them in the North American States. They do 
 not, however, remain longer than till the approach of the 
 spring, when they again retire northward to the Arctic regions 
 to breed. A few, indeed, drop short, and perform that office 
 by the way, for they are known to breed in some of the 
 Hebrides, the Orkney, Shetland, and other solitary isles ; but 
 these are hardly worth notice : the great bodies of them are 
 met with in the large rivers and lakes near Hudson's Bay, and 
 those of Kamschatka, Lapland, and Iceland. They are said 
 to return to the latter place in flocks of about a hundred at a 
 time in the spring, and also to pour in upon that island from 
 the north, in nearly the same manner, on their way south- 
 ward in the autumn." — Bewick. 
 
 No. XLIV. 
 
 PINTAIL DUCK. SEA-PHEASANT, CKACKEE, WINTER DUCK. 
 
 (Anas acuta — Lin. Le Canard, d longue queue — Buff.) 
 "This handsome-looking bird is twenty-eight inches in 
 length, and thirty-eight in breadth, and weighs about twenty- 
 
326 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 four ounces. The bill is rather long, black in the middle, and 
 blue on the edges ; the irides reddish ; the head and throat 
 are of a rusty brown, mottled with small dark spots, and 
 tinged behind the ears with purple ; the nape and upper part 
 of the neck are dusky, margined with a narrow white line, 
 which runs down on each side, and ' falling into a broader 
 stripe of the same colour, extends itself on the forepart as far 
 as the breast : the rest of the neck, the breast, and the upper 
 part of the back, are elegantly pencilled with black and white 
 waved lines ; the lower back and sides of the body are un- 
 dulated in the same manner, but with lines more freckled, 
 less distinct, and paler ; the scapulars are long and pointed, 
 each feather black down the middle, with white edges ; . the 
 coverts of the wings are ash-brown, tipped with dull orange ; 
 below these the wing is obliquely crossed by the beauty-spot 
 of glossy brown purple green, with a lower border of black 
 and white : this spangle is formed by the outer webs and tips 
 of the middle quills ; the rest of the quills are dusky. All 
 the tail feathers are of a brown ash-colour, with pale edges, 
 except the two middle ones, which are black, slightly glossed 
 with green, considerably longer than the others, and end in a 
 , point ; the belly and sides of the vent are white ; under tail 
 coverts black ; legs and feet sniall, and of a lead colour." — 
 Latham. 
 
 Ko. XLV. 
 
 THE GOLDEN-EYE. 
 
 (Anas Clangula — Lin. Le Garrot — Buff.) 
 The weight of this species varies from twenty-six ounces to 
 two pounds. The length is nineteen inches, and the breadth 
 thirty-one. The bill is blueish black, short, thick, and ele- 
 vated at the base ; the head large, slightly crested, and black, 
 or rather of a glossy bottle-green, with violet reflections ; a 
 • large white spot is placed on the space on each side between 
 the corners of the mouth and the eyes, the irides of which are 
 of a golden yellow ; the throat, and a small portion of the 
 Tipper part of the neck, are of a sooty or velvet black ; the 
 lower, to the shoulders, the breast, belly, and vent, white ; 
 but some of the side feathers, and those which cover the 
 thighs, are tipped with black ; the scapulars white and deep 
 black ; of the latter colour are also the adjoining long tertial 
 feathers, and those on the greater part of the back ; the first 
 fourteen primary quills, with all the outside edge of the wing, 
 including the ridge and a portion of the coverts, are brownish 
 
APPENDIX. 327 
 
 black ; the middle part of the wing is white, crossed by a 
 narrow black stripe, which is formed by the tips of the lesser 
 coverts : tail dark hoary brown ; legs short, of a reddish yellow 
 colour, with the webs dusky ; the iimer and hinder toes are 
 furnished with lateral webs ; on the latter, these webs are 
 large and flapped. Willoughby says " the windpipe hath a 
 labyrinth at the divarication, and besides, above swells out 
 into a belly, or puff-like cavity." 
 
 "These birds do not congregate in large flocks, nor are 
 they numerous on the British shores, or on the lakes in the 
 interior. They are late in taking their departure northward 
 in the spring, the specimens before mentioned being shot in 
 April. In their flight they make the air whistle with the 
 vigorous quick strokes of their wings ; they are excellent 
 divers, and seldom set foot on the shore, upon which, it is 
 said, they walk with great apparent difficulty, and, except in 
 the breeding season, only repair to it for the purpose of taking 
 their repose. 
 
 The attempts which were made by M. Baillon to domesti- 
 cate these birds, he informs the Count de Buffon, quite failed 
 of success." — Bewick. 
 
 No. XLVI. 
 
 VflGEON. WHEWER, WHIM, OE PANDLED WHEW. 
 
 (Anas Pendope — LiN. Le Canard dffleUr — BuFF.) 
 " This is nearly of the same size as the gadwall, weighing 
 generally about twenty-three ounces, and measuring nearly 
 twenty inches in length, and two feet three in breadth. The 
 bill is an inch and a half long, narrow, and serrated on the 
 inner edges ; the upper mandible is of a dark lead-colour 
 tipped with black. The crown of the head, which is very 
 high and narrow, is of a cream-colour, with a small spot of 
 the same under each eye : the rest of the head, the neck, and 
 the breast, are bright rufous chestnut, obscurely freckled on 
 the head with black spots, and darkest on the chin and throat, 
 which are tinged with a vinous colour ; a band, composed of 
 beautifully waved, or indented narrow ash-brown and white 
 lines, separates the breast and neck : the back and scapulars 
 are marked with similar feathers, as are also the sides of the 
 body under the wings, even as low as the thighs ; but there 
 they are paler : the belly to the vent is white ; the ridge of 
 the wing, and adjoining coverts, are dusky ask-brown ; the 
 greater coverts brown, edged with white, (in some specimens 
 wholly white,) and tipped with black, which forms an upper 
 
328 WILD SPOKTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 border to the changeable green beauty-spots of the wings, 
 which is also bordered on the under side by another stripe, 
 formed by the deep velvet black tips of the secondary quills : 
 the exterior web of the adjoining quills are white : and those 
 next the back, which are very long, are of a deep brown, (in 
 some specimens a deep black,) edged with yellowish white : 
 the greater quills are brown ; the vent and upper tail coverts 
 black. 
 
 Wigeons commonly fly in small flocks during the night, 
 and may be known from others by their whistling note while 
 they are on the wing. They are easily domesticated in places 
 where there is plenty of water ; and are much admired for 
 their beauty, sprightly look, and busy frolicksome manners." 
 — Bewick. 
 
 No. XLVII. 
 
 TEAL. 
 
 (Anas Orecca — Lin. La petite Sarcelle — -Buff.^ 
 This beautiful little duck seldom exceeds eleven ounces in 
 weight, or measures more, stretched out, than fourteen inches 
 and a-half in length, and twenty-three and a-half in breadth. 
 The bill is of a dark lead-colour tipped with black ; irides 
 pale hazel ; a glossy bottle-green patch, edged on the upper 
 side with pale brown, and beneath with cream-coloured white, 
 covers each eye, and extends to the nape of the neck ; the 
 rest of the head, and the upper part of the neck, are of a deep 
 reddish chestnut, darkest on the forehead, and freckled on 
 the chin and about tbe eyes with cream-coloured spots ; the 
 hinder part of the neck, the shoulders, part of the scapulars, 
 sides under the wings, and lower belly, towards the vent, are 
 elegantly pencilled with black, ash-brown, and white trans- 
 verse waved lines ; the breast, greatly resembling the beauti- 
 fully spotted appearance of an India-shell, is of a pale brown, 
 or reddish yellow, and each feather is tipped with a roundish 
 heart-shaped black spot ; the belly is a cream-coloured white : 
 back and rump brown, each feather edged with a paler colour; 
 vent black; the primary quills, lesser and greater coverts are 
 brown ; the last deeply tipped with white, which forms a bar 
 across the wings ; the. first six of the secondary quills are of 
 a fine velvet black : those next to them, towards the scapulars, 
 are of a most resplendent glossy green, and both are tipped 
 with white, forming the divided black and green bar, or 
 beauty spot of the wings. 
 
 The tail consists of fourteen feathers, of a hoary-brown 
 
APPENDIX. 329 
 
 colour, with pale edges ; the legs and feet are of a dirty lead 
 colour. The female, which is less than the male, is prettily 
 freckled about the head and neck with brown and white. She 
 has not the green patch behind the eyes, but a brown streak 
 there, which extends itself to the nape of the neck ; the crown 
 of the head is dark brown ; the upper mandible yellow on the 
 edges, olive green on the sides, and olive brown on the ridge ; 
 nail black, and the under bill yellow ; breast, belly, and vent 
 glossy yellowish- white, spotted on the latter parts with brown; 
 the upper plumage is dark brown, each feather bordered with 
 rusty brown, and edged with grey ; the wings and legs nearly 
 the same as those of the male. 
 
 The teal is common in England in the winter months, but 
 it is uncertain whether or not they remain throughout the 
 year to breed, as is the case in France. The female makes a 
 large nest, composed of soft dried grasses, (and it is said the 
 pith of rushes,) lined with feathers, cunningly concealed in a 
 hole among the roots of reeds and bulrushes near the edge of 
 the water ; and some assert that it rests on the surface of the 
 water, so as to rise and fall with it. The eggs are of the size 
 of those of a pigeon, six or seven in number, and of a duU 
 white colour, marked with small brownish spots; but it 
 appears that they sometimes lay ten or twelve eggs, for 
 Buffon remarks that that number of young, are seen in clusters 
 on the pools, feeding on cresses, wild chervil, &c., and no 
 doubt as they grow up they feed, like other ducks, on the 
 various seeds, grasses, and water-plants, as well as upon the 
 smaller animated beings with which all stagnant waters are 
 so abundantly stored. The teal is highly esteemed for the 
 excellent flavour of its flesh ; it, is known to breed, and re- 
 main throughout the year, in various temperate climates of 
 the world, and is met with as far northward as Iceland in the 
 summer." — Bewick. 
 
 Of all the prizes that a wildfowl-shooter could wish to meet 
 with, a flock of teal is the very first. Independently of their 
 being by far the best birds of the whole Anas tribe, they are 
 so much easier of access, and require such a slight blow, that 
 no matter whether you ai:e 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. 
 
 "If you spring a teal, he will not soar up, and leave the 
 
330 WILD SPOETS OF THE WEST. 
 
 •country, like a wild diick, but most probably keep along the 
 brook, like a sharp flying woodcock, and then drop suddenly 
 down ; but you must keep your eye on the place, as he is 
 very apt to get up again, and fly to another before he will 
 quietly settle. He will frequently, too, swim down stream 
 the moment after he drop's, so that if you do not cast your 
 eye quickly that way, instead of continuing to look for him 
 in one spot, he will probably catch sight of you, and fly up 
 while your attention is directed to the wrong place. If the 
 Tjrook in which you find him is obscured by many trees, you 
 had better direct your follower to make a large circle, and 
 get a-head of i and watch him, in case he should slily skim 
 away down the brook, and by this means escape from you 
 altogether. You should avoid firing at random, as this may 
 -drive him quite away from your beat." — Hawker. 
 
 No. XLVIII. 
 
 COMMON SNIPE. 
 
 (Snipe or Heaiher-hleater, Soalopax Ballinago — Lin. Za 
 Becassine- — Buff.) 
 
 The Common Snipe is generally about four ounces in 
 weight, and measures twelve inches in length, and fourteen 
 in breadth. The bill is nearly three inches "long; in some 
 pale brown, in others greenish-yellow, rather flat and dark at 
 the tip, and v&ry smooth in the living bird ; but it soon 
 becomes dimpled, like the end of a thimble, after the bird is 
 dead : the head is divided lengthwise by three reddish or rusty 
 white lines, and two of black ; one of the former passes along 
 the middle of the crown, and one above each eye ; a darkish 
 mark is extended from the corners of the mouth nearly to 
 each eye and the auriculars from spots of the same colour ; 
 the chin and fore-part of the neck are yellowish-white, the 
 former plain, the latter spotted with brown. The scapulars 
 are elegantly striped lengthwise on one web, and barred on 
 the other with black and yellow ; the quills are dusky, the 
 •edge of the primaries, and tips of the secondaries, white ; 
 those next to the back barred with black, and pale rufous : 
 the breast and belly are white; the tail coverts are of a 
 reddish-brown, and so long as to cover the greater part of it ; 
 the tail consists of fourteen feathers, the webs of which, as 
 far as they are concealed by the coverts, are dusky, thence 
 downward tawny or rusty orange, and irregularly marked or 
 crossed with black. The tip is commonly of a pale reddish- 
 
APPENDIX. 331 
 
 yellow, but in some specimens nearly white ; the legs are 
 pale green. 
 
 The common residence of the snipe is in small bogs, or wet 
 grounds, where it is almost constantly digging and nibbling in 
 the soft mud in search of its food, which consists chiefly of a 
 very small kind of red transparent worm, about half-an-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 tran- 
 quillity it is very rarely to been seen, as it is extremely watch- 
 ful, 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 
 generally flies against the wind, turning nimbly in a zig-zag 
 direction for two or three hundred paces, and sometimes soar- 
 ing 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 m&nner of flying, it is one of 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 description, 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 with in all countries ; 
 like the woodcock it shuns the extremes of heat and cold by 
 keeping upon the bleak moors in summer, and seeking 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 
 
332 WILD SPOKTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 breed 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 part of the morass, generally under 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. 
 
 No. XLIX. 
 
 THE FLESH OF THE WOODCOCK. 
 
 " Upon the Sussex coast, woodcocks have been seen at their 
 first dropping in considerable numbers in the churchyard, and 
 even in the streets of Eye, but during the night, the usual 
 time of their flying, they removed farther inland, and dis- 
 persed. At their first coming on that coast, they are com- 
 mor^y poor, as if wasted by their long journey, and are some- 
 times scurfy, though not so much as before their return in the 
 spring ; and it is remarkable, that when the woodcock first 
 arrives, the taste of its flesh is quite different from what it is 
 afterwards : it is very white, short, and tender, and seems to 
 have little or no blood in it ; but after it has been in this 
 country a considerable time, the flesh becomes more tough, 
 stringy, and fibrous, like that of domestic fowls. If a wood- 
 cock is shot just before his departure, it bleeds plentifully ; 
 whereas, at the beginning of winter, scarce any blood flows 
 from the wounds ; by this it seems, that in those countries 
 where they have their summer residence, they have a different 
 nourishment to that they here find. Probably the luxuriant 
 and succulent food which they meet with among us, prepares 
 them for breeding in those countries where they retire with 
 the companions of their choice." — Daniel. 
 
 " The woodcock feeds indiscriminately upon earth- worms> 
 small beetles, and various kinds of larvag, and its stomach 
 sometimes contains seeds, which I suspect have been taken 
 up in boring amongst the excrements of cattle ; yet the 
 
APPENDIX. 333 
 
 stomach of this bird has something of the gizzard character, 
 though not so much as that of the landrail, which I have 
 found half filled with the seeds of grasses, and even contain- 
 ing corn mixed with May-bugs, earth-worms, grasshoppers, 
 and caterpillars." — Sir Hum^phrey Davy. 
 
 No. L. 
 
 WOODCOCK. 
 
 {Scalopax Biisticola — LiN. La Becasse — Botf.) 
 
 The woodcock measures fourteen inches in length, and 
 twenty-six in breadth, and generally weighs about twelve 
 ounces. The shape of the head' is remarkable, being rather 
 triangular than round, with the eyes placed near the top, and 
 the ears very forward, nearly on a line with the corners of 
 the mouth. The upper mandible, which measures about 
 three inches, is furrowed nearly its whole length, and at the 
 tip it projects beyond and hangs over the under one, ending 
 in a kind of knob, which, like those of others of the same 
 genus, is susceptible of the finest feeling, and calculated by 
 that means, aided perhaps by an acute smell, to find the 
 small worms in the. soft moist ground, from whence it 
 extracts them with its sharp-pointed tongue. With the bill 
 it also turns over and tosses the fallen leaves, in search of 
 the insects which shelter underneath. The crown of the 
 head is of an ash colour, the nape and back part of its neck 
 black, marked with three bars of rusty red; a black line 
 extends from the corners of the mouth to the eyes, the orbits 
 of which are pale buff; the whole under parts are yellowish 
 white, numerously barred with dark waved lines. The tail 
 consists of twelve feathers, which, like the quills, are black, 
 and indented across with reddish spots on the edges ; the tip 
 is ash-coloured above, and of a glossy white below. The legs 
 are short, feathered to the knees, and, in some, are of a 
 blueish cast, in others, of a sallow flesh-colour. The upper 
 parts of the plumage are so marbled, spotted, barred, streaked, 
 and variegated, that to describe them with accuracy would 
 be difficult and tedious. The colours, consisting of black, 
 white, grey, ash, red, brown, rufous, and yellow, are so disposed 
 in rows, crossed and broken at intervals by lines and marks 
 of different shapes, that the whole seems to the eye, at a 
 little distance, blended together and confused, which makes 
 the bird appear exactly like the withered stalks and leaves 
 of ferns, sticks, moss, and grasses, which form the background 
 
 22 
 
334 WILD SPOKTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 of the scenery by which it is sheltered in its moist and 
 solitary retreats. The sportsman only being accustomed to 
 it, is enabled to discover it, and his leading marks are his 
 full dark eye, and glossy silver white-tipped tail. In 
 plumage the female differs very little from the male, and, 
 like most other female birds, only by being less brilliant in 
 her colours. 
 
 " The flesh of the woodcock is held in very high estimation, 
 and hence it is eagerly sought after by the sportsman." — 
 Bewick. 
 
 " "Woodcocks have been known to settle upon a vessel at 
 sea. Mr. Travers, of Cornwall, records one instance, when at 
 a distance from land unusual for birds to be seen, a bird was 
 discovered hovering over the ship ; when first discerned, it 
 was high in the air, but gradually descended, and, after taking 
 several circuits round, at length alighted on the deck ; it was 
 so wearied as to be taken up by the hand — probably this 
 bird had lost its companions, or, by the force of winds, was 
 driven from the true aerial track. In 1799, a couple of 
 woodcocks, seeking shelter from a gale of wind, alighted 
 upon the Glory man-of-war, at that time cruising in the 
 Channel. 
 
 In its flight, the woodcock, like other birds, is attracted by 
 a glare of light, and many instances have occurred, at the 
 Cromer and Eddystone lighthouses, of their falling victims 
 to it; but in 1796, at the lighthouse upon the Hill of 
 Hoath, the man who attends,, whilst trimming his lamps, 
 was surprised by a violent stroke against the windows, 
 which broke a pane of plate glass, cast for the place, and 
 more than three-eighths of an inch thick. On examining the 
 balcony that surrounds the light, he found a woodcock, 
 which had flown with such violence as to break his bill, 
 head, breast-bone, and both wings ; the man had often found 
 birds which had killed themselves by flying against the 
 windows, but never before knew the glass to be injured." — 
 Daniel. 
 
 No. LI. 
 
 THE FLIGHT OF BIRDS. 
 
 In speaking of the flight of birds, Mr. Eennie says: — 
 "Their capability of performing flights much longer than 
 there is any necessity for supposing, may be proved by 
 numerous facts. Even a sparrow has been calculated to fly 
 at the rate of not less than thirty miles per hour, and many 
 
APPENDIX. 335 
 
 experiments prove that the . eider-duck can fly ninety miles 
 in the same time. The common kite (Malco Filvus) has 
 been observed to pass, without great exertion, over a space 
 of a quarter of a league in a minute, and it could fly with 
 ease from Cape Wrath to the Land's End in a single day. 
 M. Audubon, the distinguished ornithologist, has shot the 
 passenger pigeon of America, and, on dissection, found its 
 stomach full of fresh rice, which, to have resisted the 
 digestive process, must have been swallowed not many hours 
 preceding its death, but could not have been obtained within 
 eight hundred miles of the place where it was killed. Though 
 the nightingale, the willow wren, and other birds of passage, 
 fly with only half the swiftness, they may easily arrive in 
 most parts of the south of Europe, or the north of Africa, in 
 a few days." 
 
 No. LII. 
 
 GREAT SNIPE. 
 
 (Scalopax Media.) 
 
 "Size, between the woodcock and snipe; weight, eight 
 ounces; length, sixteen inches; bill four inches long, and 
 like that of the woodcock ; crown of the head black, divided 
 down the middle by a pale stripe ; over and beneath each 
 eye another of the same ; the upper parts of the body very 
 like the common snipe ; beneath white ; the feathers edged 
 with dusky black on the neck, breast, and sides ; and those 
 of the belly spotted with the same, but the middle of it is 
 plain white ; quills dusky, tail reddish. The two middle 
 feathers plain, the others barred with black ; legs black." — 
 Latham. He adds, " This is a rare species. A fine^specimen 
 of it was shot in Lancashire, now in the Leverian^Museum, 
 said also to have been met with in Kent." 
 
 " There are a good many snipes in the vicinity "of Gothen- 
 burg ; the marshes, however, frequented by those birds are 
 not very extensive, and may easily be hunted in much less 
 than a day; but if a person be well acquainted with the 
 ground, better snipe-shooting is hardly to be met jwith in'^any 
 country. As a proof of this, I have bagged upwards of 
 thirty brace of those birds in seven or eight hours. These 
 were either the common or the double snipe, as I was careless 
 of wasting my powder and shot about the jack or half snipe. 
 The double, or solitary snipe, I usually found singly, or at 
 most in pairs. They were generally so fat as hardly to be 
 
336 WILD SPOKTS OF THE WEST. 
 
 able to fly. Indeed, if flushed, their flight was usually very 
 short, and they presently settled again. They were nearly 
 twice as large as the common snipe, and, from their heavy 
 and steady flight, they presented the easiest mark possible. 
 They are considered to be most delicious eating ; four couple 
 was the greatest number of those birds that I ever killed in 
 Sweden in any one day. They were by no means plentiful 
 in the vicinity of Gothenburg."— rXfoycZ. 
 
 " The double snipe is a bird of passage, and among those 
 which arrive the latest : in colour, speckled grey, with a long 
 bill. At the end of the month of July, when the meadows 
 are mowed, the shooting of these birds with the pointer 
 commences, and continues till towards the end of September. 
 They may also be shot during the spring; but I have 
 observed this has diminished the autumn shooting. In the 
 whole round of sporting, this aff'ords one of the greatest 
 pleasures. These bir.ds are easy to shoot ; and in some places 
 fifty or sixty, ay, considerably more, may be shot in a day, 
 particularly in autumn, when they are so fat that they 
 almost burst their skins. They are most delicious eating." — 
 Grieff. 
 
 No. LIII. 
 
 SNIPE SHOOTING. 
 
 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, every snipe-shooter' should walk down it, 
 as by that means the bird, if 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. 
 
 " When shooting snipes in the vicinity of Gothenburg, one's 
 sport mainly depends on the weather. If it blows hard from 
 the westward, a strong current sets into the river from the 
 
APPENDIX. • 337 
 
 North Sea ; this impedes its course, and causes it to overflow 
 its bounds, in which case many of the marshes become 
 partially overflown, when the snipes, from finding little 
 shelter, usually lie light, and are difiicult of approach. If, 
 on the contrary, the wind should be moderate, or from the 
 eastward, and the water consequently low, those birds have 
 abundance of cover, and it is easy, therefore, to get within 
 range of them." — Lloyd. 
 
 No. LIV. 
 LARGE HARES. 
 
 " I saw several hares as large as a fawn, and shot one of 
 them, which weighed more than six-and-twenty pounds ; and 
 if I had had a good greyhound, I dare say the ship's company 
 might have lived on hare two days in the week." — Byron's 
 Voyoige. 
 
 " WhUe we were on shore -Wq shot some wild ducks and a 
 hare ; the hare ran two miles after he was wounded, though 
 it appeared, when he was taken up, that a ball had passed 
 quite through the body." — Ihid. 
 
 " We shot a hare, however, and a little ugly animal, which 
 stunk so abominably that none of us could go near him." — 
 Ibid. 
 
 "The flesh of the hares here is as white as snow, and 
 nothing can be better tasted." — Ibid. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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 " The chase seems for years to have been his ruling passion, 
 
 and to have made him a perfect modd of perpetual motion. We 
 
 admire Mr. Lloyd. He is a sportsman far above the common 
 
 run." — Blackwood's Magazine. 
 
 " This is a very entertaining work and written, moreover, in 
 an agreeable and modest spirit. We strongly recommend it as 
 containing much instruction and more amusement. — ATHENynuM. 
 
AND NEW EDITIONS. a 
 
 PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIBRARIES OF OLAS- 
 GO W. A Bibliographical Study. By Thomas Mason. 
 Demy 8to. Price 12s. 6d. net. 
 
 A strictZy Bibliographical work dealing with the subject of rare 
 and interesting works, and in thai respect describing three of the 
 jrublic and thirteen of the private libraries of Glasgow. All of 
 especial interest. 
 
 THE LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. Br 
 John D. Carrick. Fourth and cheaper edition. 
 Eoyal 8vo. Price 2s. 6d. 
 
 The best life of the great Scottish hero. Contains much valu- 
 able and interesting matter regarding the history of that histori- 
 cally important period. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE PROVINCE OF MORAY. 
 By Lachlan Shaw. New and Enlarged Edition, 
 3 Vols., Demy 8vo. Price 30s. Net. 
 
 The Standard History of the old geograp' Xai division termed 
 the Province of Moray, comprising the Counties of Elgin and 
 Nairn, the greater part of the County of Inverness, and a por- 
 tion of the County of Banff. Cosmo Innes pronounced this to 
 be the best local history of any part qf Scotland. 
 
 HIGHLAND LEGENDS. By Sir Thomas Diok 
 Lauder. Crown 8vo. Price 6s. 
 
 Historical Lepends descriptive of Clan and Highland Lift 
 and Incident inj^rmer times. 
 
 TALES OF THE HIGHLANDS. By Sir Thomas 
 Dick Laitdbr. Crown 8vo. Price 6s. 
 
 Uniform toith and similar in character to the preceding, 
 though entirely different tales. The tW are companion volumes. 
 
 AN ACCOUNT OF THE GREAT MORAY FLOODS 
 
 IN 1829. By Sir Thomas Dick Lauder. Demy 
 
 8vo., with 64 Plates and Portrait. Fourth Edition. 
 
 Price 88. 6d. 
 
 A most interesting work, containing numerous etchings by the 
 
 Author. In addition to the mainfeature of the book, it contains 
 
 much historical and legendary matter relating to the district' 
 
 through which the River Spey runs. 
 
12 NEW BOOKS 
 
 OLD SCOTTISH CUSTOMS: Local and General. By K. 
 J. Guthrie. Crown 8vo. Price 3s. 6d. 
 OivRS an interesting account of old local and general Scottish 
 customs, now rapidly being lost sight of. 
 
 A HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE BELIEF IN 
 WITCHCRAFT IN SCOTLAND. By Charles 
 KiRKPATRiCK Sharpe. Crown 8vo. Price 4s. 6d. 
 
 Oives a chronological account of Witchcraft incidents in Scot- 
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 likewise contains an interesting Bibliography of Scottish boohs on 
 Witchcraft. 
 
 "Sharpe was weU qualified to gossip about these topics." — 
 Saturday Review. 
 
 "Mr. Sharpe has arranged aU tlie striking and important 
 phenomena associated with the belief in Apparitions and Witch- 
 craft. An extensive appendix, with a list of books on Witchcraft 
 in Scotland, and a useful index, render this edition of Mr. 
 Sharpe's work all the more valuable." — Glasgow Herald. 
 
 TALES OF THE SCOTTISH PEASANTRY. By 
 
 Alexajtder and John Bethune. With Biography 
 
 of the Authors by John Ingram, r.S.A.Scot. Post 
 
 8vo. Price 3s. 6d. 
 
 " It is the perfect propriety of taste, no less than the thorough 
 
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 booh a great charm in our eyes." — AthenjEUM. 
 
 " The pictures of rural life and character appear to us re- 
 markably true, as well as pleasing." — Chambers's Journal. 
 
 The Tales are quite out of the ordinary routine of such litera- 
 ture, amd are universally held in peculiarly high esteem. The 
 following may be given as a specimen of the Contents: — " The 
 Deformed," "The Fate of the Fairest," "The Stranger," "The 
 Dnmkard," "The Illegitimate," "The Cousins," <tc., <fcc. 
 
 A JOURNEY TO THE WESTERN ISLANDS OF 
 
 SCO TLA ND IN 1773. By Samuel Johnson, LL. D. 
 
 Crown 8vo. Price 3s. 
 
 Written by Johnson himself, and not to be confounded with 
 
 BosweU's account of the sarm tour. Johnson said that some of 
 
 /lis best wriiing is in this work. 
 
AND NEW EDITIONS. 13 
 
 THE HISTORY OF BURKE AND HARE AND OF 
 THE RESURRECTIONIST TIMES. A Tragment 
 from the Criminal Aimals of Scotland. By Gboegb 
 Mac Greqor, F-S-A-Scot. With Seven Illustrations, 
 Demy 8vo. Price Vs. 6d. 
 "Mr. MacGregcrr has produced a booh which is eminentljf 
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 " The hook contains a great deal of curious information," — 
 Scotsman. 
 
 ' He who takes up this book of an evening must be prepared 
 to sup full of horrors, yet the banquet is served with much oj 
 literary grace, and garnished with a deftness and taste which 
 render it palatable to a degree," — Glasgow Herald. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF GLASGOW: Prom the Earliest 
 Period to the Present Time. By Georoe Mac Grb- 
 GOR, P.S. A.Scot. Containing 36 Illustrations. Demy 
 8vo. Price 12s. 6d. 
 An entirely new as well as the fullest and most complete his- 
 tory of this prosperous city. In addition it is the first written 
 in chronological order. Comprising a large handsome volume 
 in Sixty C/uipters, and extensive Appendix and Index, and 
 illustrated throughout with many interesting engravings and 
 drawings. 
 
 THE COLLECTED WRITINGS OF DOUGAL 
 GRAHAM, "SkeUat," BeUman of Glasgow. Edited 
 with Notes, together with a Biographical and Biblio- 
 graphical Introduction, and a Sketch of the Chap 
 Literature of Scotland, by Gborob Mac Greqob, 
 F.S.A.Scot. Impression limited to 250 copies. 
 2 Vols., Demy 8vo. Price 21s. net. 
 With very trifling exceptions Graham was the only writer of 
 purely Scottish chap-books of a secular description, almost all 
 the others circulated being reprints of English productions. His 
 writings are exceedingly facetious and highly illustrative of the 
 social life of the period. 
 
 SCOTTISH PROVERBS. By Andrew Henderson. 
 Crown 8vo. Cheaper edition. Price 2a. 6d. 
 A cheap edition of a book that has long held a high place in 
 Scottish Literature. 
 
14 JSSW BOOKS 
 
 THE BOOK OF SCOTTISH ANECDOTE: Humor- 
 ous, Social, Legendary, and Historical. Edited by 
 Alexander Hislof. Crown 8vo., pp. 768. Cheaper 
 edition. Price 5s. 
 The, most comprenensive collection of Scottish Anecdotes, con- 
 taining about 3,000 in mimber. 
 
 THE BOOK OF SCOTTISH STORY: Historical, 
 Traditional, Legendary, Imaginative, and Humorous. 
 Crown 8vo., pp. 768. Cheaper edition. Price 5s. 
 A most interesting and varied colkcaon by Leading Scottish 
 
 Authors. 
 
 THE BOOK OF SCOTTISH POEMS: Ancient and 
 
 Modem. Edited by J. Eoss. Crown 8vo., pp. 768. 
 
 Cheaper edition. Price 5b. 
 
 Comprising a History of Scottish Poetry and Poets from the 
 
 earliest times. With lives of the Poets and Selections from their 
 
 Writings. 
 
 * * These three works are uniform. 
 
 A DESCRIPTION OF THE WESTERN ISLES OF 
 SCOTLAND, CALLED HTBRIDES. With the 
 Genealogies of the Chief Clans of the Isles. By Sir 
 Donald Monro, High Dean of the Isles, who 
 travelled through most of them in the year 1549. 
 Impression Jmited to 250 copies. Demy 8vo. Price 5s. 
 This is the earliest written description of the Western Islands, 
 
 and is exceedingly quaint and interesting. In this edition all the 
 
 old carious spellings are strictly retained. 
 
 A DESCRIPTION OF THE WESTERN ISLANDS 
 
 OF SCOTLAND CIRCA 1695. By Martin Martin. 
 
 Impression limited to 250 copies. Demy 8vo. Price 
 
 12s. 6d. 
 
 With the exception of Dean Monro's smaller work 150 years 
 
 previous, it is tlie earliest description of tlie Western Islands we 
 
 have, and is tlie only lengthy work on the subject before the era 
 
 of modem innovations. Martin very interestingly describes tht 
 
 people and their ways as he found them about 200 years ago. 
 
AND NEW EDITIONS. J6 
 
 THE SCOTTISH POSTS, RECENT AND LIVING. 
 
 By Alexander G. Murdoch. With Portraits, Post 
 
 8vo. Price 6s. 
 A most interesting resume of Scottish Poetry in recent times. 
 Contains a biographical sketch, choice pieces, and portraits of 
 the recent and living Scottish Poets. 
 
 THE HUMOROVS CHAP-BOOKS OF SCOTLAND. 
 
 By John FrasisR. 2 Vols., Thin Crown 8vo (all 
 published). Price 58. net. 
 An interesting and racy description of the chap-booh literature 
 of Scotland, and biographical sketches of the writers. 
 
 THE HISTOR 7 OF STIRLINGSHIRE. By William 
 NiMMO. 2 Vols., Demy 8vo. 3rd Edition. Price 25s. 
 
 A new edition of (his 'tandard county history, ■ handsomely 
 printed, and with di„^ihd map giving the parish boundaries 
 and other matterf of interest. 
 
 This cov/nty has been termed the battlefield of Scotland, and 
 in addition to the many and important military engagements 
 thai have ialeenplfice in this district, of all which afuU account 
 is given, — this part nf Scotland is of especial moment in many 
 other notable respe^^, — among which particular reference may 
 be made to the Soman Wall, the greater part of this most 
 interesting object ben.^, situaied within the boundaries of the 
 county. 
 
 A POPULAR SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF 
 
 QLASGO W: Prom the Earliest Period to the Present 
 
 Time. By Andrew Wallace. Crown 8vo. Price 3s. 6d. 
 
 The only attempt to write a History of Glasgow suitable for 
 
 popular use. 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE WESTERN HIGHLANDS 
 AND ISLES OF SCOTLAND, from a.d. 1493 to 
 A.D. 1625. With a brief introductory sketch from 
 A.D. 80 to A.D. 14E3. By Donald Gregort. Demy 
 8vo. Price 12s. 6d. 
 Incomparably the best history of the Scottish Highlands, and 
 written pwrely from original investigation. Also contains parti- 
 cularly full and lengthened Contents and Index, respectively ai 
 beginning and end of the volume. 
 
16 NMW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. 
 
 THE EISTOR T OF A TRSEIRE. By Jambs Patersom. 
 5 Vols., Crown 8vo. Price 28s. net. 
 The most recent and the fullest history of this exceedingly 
 interesting county. The work is partiailaarly rich in the de- 
 partment of Family History. 
 
 MARTTRLAND : a Historical Tale of the Covenanters. 
 
 By the Eev. Bobbrt Simpson, D.D. Crown Svo. 
 
 Cheaper Edition. Price 2s. 6d. 
 A tale illustrative of the history of the Covenanters in the 
 South of Scotland. 
 
 TALES OF THE COVENANTERS. By E. J. 
 
 Guthrie. Crown Svo. Cheaper Edition. Price 28. 
 
 6d. 
 A rmrnber of tales illustrative of leading incidents and char- 
 acters connected with the Covenanters. 
 
 PERSONAL AND FAMILY NAMES. A Popular 
 Monograph on the Origin and History of the Nomen- 
 clature of the Present and Former Times. By Harry 
 AiFRED Long. Demy Svo. Price 5s. 
 Interesting investigations as to the origin, history, and meaning 
 
 ofabovi 9,000 personal and family names. 
 
 TEE SCOTTISH OALLOVIDIAN ENCYGL0P2EDIA 
 oi the Original, Antiquated, and Natural Curiosities 
 of the South of Scotland. Bv John Mactaggart. 
 Demy Svo. Price raised to ii5s. net. Impression 
 limited to 250 copies. , 
 
 Contains a large amount of extremely interesting and curious 
 
 matter relating to the South of Scotland. 
 
 THE COMPLETE TALES OF THE ETTRICK 
 SHEPHERD (Jambs Hogg). 2 vols.. Demy Svo. 
 An entirely new and complete edition of the tales of this 
 popular Scottish writer. 
 
 GLASGOW : THOMAS D. MORISON. 
 
 LONDON : SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, 
 
 KENT & CO.