Part 2

Behind the trees was a deep trench partly filled with water; a hawthorn hedge grew at the farther side, and threw its branches nearly across. As I approached the 'laght,' the rattling of the chains again rose, accompanied by a plashing, scrambling noise, as of something breaking through the hedge and trench. I sprang forward, striking with the heavy handle of my whip, having twisted the thong firmly round my hand and wrist, I had only beaten air, but the violence of the blow and weight of the whip carried me forward; and, missing my footing in the darkness, I fell against, or rather upon, the monster of the chains; and having made a furious grasp to save myself, judge what was my horror at catching a handful of hair, such as might be expected to be felt upon an arctic bear! The creature slipped from me, and with a tremendous plunge and frightful rattling of its chains, gained the road, overwhelming me completely in the muddy ditch.

Just at that instant the whole truth flashed across my mind; and with a vengeful rage that I am ashamed to confess, I sprang up, and pursuing my unfortunate victim, a jackass, who could make but little exertion to escape, being spancelled with a piece of an iron chain, I kept my oath, by belabouring poor Neddy until I could strike no more from exhaustion. I then turned to remount my horse; but he was gone, having left the principal portion of his bridle hanging on the bough for a keepsake. Nothing saved Neddy from a second edition, with considerable additions, but the recollection of the hour, the necessity of catching my horse, and the confounded distance I should have to travel afterwards, for he was, of course, gone the wrong way.

I ran as fast as I could, but was soon obliged to pull up. I found that I was carrying weight, and no light weight, for my clothes were saturated with water, and covered thickly with mud. Having scraped off as much as I could of the latter, I got along, and about two o'clock reached my friend's house again, entertaining a faint hope that Rainbow had returned to the last stall he had occupied; and so he had.

Not finding the gate open, he had jumped the road fence, and was quietly grazing with two or three other horses. There was now light enough to distinguish objects at a hundred yards; and I could see his saddle, but how to catch him was now the question, for he had at all times a propensity to keep his liberty when he had got it; and to think of catching him without help was idle. I approached the house, but just then recollected that my friend had a couple of dangerous mastiff dogs, of extraordinary size and ferocity; and as the entrance to the front of the house lay through the farm-yard, in which they were kept, it would be as much as my life was worth to approach it. My only chance was to get at the rere; and having made the circuit of a few fields, I reached it, and, selecting a window likely to belong to some sleeping apartment on the ground floor, I tapped at it with the butt of my whip. Receiving no answer, I repeated the knock, and placing my head close, heard a female voice exclaim, 'Marcy save us, it's the boys;' and the speaker hurried barefooted from the room. I knew that the only female inmate of the house was the daughter of an old follower of the family, now called '_the_ servant man;' for Pat or Paddy fulfilled the manifold duties of butler, footman, gardener, and valet, besides taking a hand at every thing about the farm in turn.

Whilst considering whether or not I should knock again, I had the satisfaction to see, by the still increasing light, that the shutter of an upper window was cautiously opened; then the window was gently raised; and I waited for the appearance of a head to announce myself, when a bright flash issued forth, accompanied by a tremendous report. Away went my hat; and at the same instant the dogs opened, not barking, but with yells upon yells, as if Pandemonium was let loose. 'Ahern! Ahern!' I roared out, 'what are you at? 'Tis I--don't you know me?--M---- My horse has run away; he's in your field, and I want help to catch him.' I bellowed this at the top of my voice, in the vain endeavour to drown the 'bow-wow-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo' of the dogs. The answer I received was, 'You to (hiccup) blazes (hiccup); here's at you again, you villains.' I threw myself down as my quondam kind host discharged a second blunderbuss at me; but was instantly on my legs again, as the roaring of the dogs announced their rapid approach. They had in some manner got out of the yard. I glanced hurriedly round for some place of shelter. A large arbutus tree was the nearest object, and into it I scrambled, just as the dogs appeared in full career upon the field.

They made repeated springs at me, for I was not above eight feet from the ground, but I contrived, by well-aimed kicks in the jaws, to keep them at bay for a while. I was thus pleasantly engaged for about five minutes, when Ahern and four or five men made their appearance. He carried a blunderbuss in his hand, another tucked under his arm, and a brace of holster pistols stuck in his waistband. His old servant had the master's fowling-piece, and the rest, who were farm servants, had pitchforks.

As soon as I espied them, I roared out, 'Call off the dogs, I'm M----, you stupid drunken rascal.' 'Ho! ho! he's--hic--up in the arbutus.' 'Blur-an-agers, tare-an-taffy, sir, you'll shoot the dogs!' said old Paddy, knocking up the levelled blunderbuss. 'It's Mr M----; don't ye know his voice? Down, Fin--down, Oscar--down with ye,' and with persuasive words, and still more persuasive blows of the fowling-piece, Pat drew off the dogs, and took them away. I came down in a state of indescribable rage. Nothing vexes a man so much as the consciousness of being an object of mirth or ridicule.

Having paused awhile for words, I poured forth a torrent of abuse on Ahern. He hiccupped once or twice, looked with the most stupid astonishment at me, and, when I paused for breath, 'damned me but it would have been due to me to be shot; firstly, for leaving a Christian habitation at the dead hour of the night; secondly, for going at that hour by a haunted road; and, thirdly, for attempting to get in at a back window of his house, when I well knew that I had only to raise the latch, and walk in at the front door.'

'How the d---- could I get past your infernal dogs?' said I.

'Good dogs always know friends from foes,' he replied; 'but--hic--it was just one of your tricks--you wanted to frighten me, and--ha! ha! ha!--you got frightened yourself, and the devil's cure to you!--hic.' I was beginning again, when he stopped me by saying, 'that if I thought he had taken any advantage of me, matters could be made even;' and he produced the holster pistols, saying 'that they were both double loaded; he had charged them himself, and I might have my choice.' In a minute the ground was measured; the men were ordered not to interfere, but stand aside; and Ahem himself asked me if I was ready, and immediately said 'fire!'

Well might he say 'the pistols were double charged;' they were trebly charged--loaded to the muzzles. In fact, it was safer to stand before than behind them. I was stunned by the report, and remained standing, until roused by one of the men asking me 'was I shot?' adding, that 'I had killed the masther.' In an instant the whole impropriety of my conduct flashed before me, and I ran to my poor unfortunate friend, who lay motionless. I knelt down by his side, and never shall I forget the piercing anguish that at that moment penetrated my soul. All his virtues--his amiable qualities--his kind-heartedness--every good action of his life with which I was acquainted, and they were numerous, appeared in order before my mental vision; and then conscience, shaking the ægis, on which appeared, not the Gorgon's, but my poor friend's blackened countenance, before me, and asking, 'Why did you do this?' froze up my faculties, and converted my outward seeming into stone; but within, there was a foretaste of the eternal torments.

Involuntarily I called upon his name; the sound of my own voice started me, arousing me to a sense of keener anguish; and I was about to break forth into some violent extravagance, when my unfortunate friend opened his eyes, and, looking at me with kindness, said, 'M----, you did not do it; my pistol burst and has hurt me--take me into the house--I'm sober enough now.'

Upon examination it was discovered that a piece of the pistol barrel had hit him above the forehead, cutting a path through his scalp; one of his fingers was broken, and his hand and arm were severely contused, but he seemed to think nothing of it, but desired one of the men to go for old Biddy Hoolaghan, a celebrated doctress, and the rest of them to catch Rainbow. I refused to leave him in his then present condition, of which I was the unlucky cause, but he would not hear of my stopping. 'No, no,' said he, 'your business cannot be neglected; and as to fault, we may divide the matter between us, and bear each his own share. If I did not make the ridiculous rule, that a bottle of whisky once opened should be finished at once, I would not have drunk after you left me, but have gone to bed at once; in which case I'd have known your voice, and all would have been right. And if you were not so lazy as to object to a morning ride (which you must take after all), you'd have staid where you were, and saved all the mischief. But, at all events, remember for the rest of your days that 'the longest way round is often the shortest way home.'

Rainbow was caught at length. Ahern lent me a bridle, and at four o'clock I faced the road again, and arrived at Cloyne, without further adventure, at five, thoroughly soaked with the rain, which commenced heavily soon after my second departure, and for which I was thankful, as it partially cleansed me from the ditch mud, and accounted for my dripping and soiled state when I made my appearance before the earl, which I was obliged to do, without changing my dress, at half past five."

NAISI.

CHARACTER OF O'DONNELL, PRINCE OF TYRCONNELL IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.

(From the MS. Annals of the Four Masters, translated by Mr O'DONOVAN.)

A.D. 1537. In this year died O'Donnell (Hugh, son of Hugh Roe, who was son of Niall Garve, who was son of Torlogh of the Wine), Lord of Tyrconnell, Inishowen, Kinel-Moen,[A] Fermanagh, and Lower Connaught; a man to whom rents and tributes had been paid by the people of other territories over which he had acquired dominion and jurisdiction, such as Moylorg, Machaire-Chonnacht, Clann-Conway, Costello, Gallen, Tirawly, and Conmaicne-Cuile, to the west, and Oireacht-ui-Chathain (the patrimony of O'Kane), the Route, and Clannaboy, to the east; for of all these there was not one territory that had not given him pledges for the payment of his tribute of protection. It was this man who had compelled the four lords who ruled Tyrone in his lifetime, to give him new charters of Inishowen, Kinel-Moen, and Fermanagh, by way of confirmations of the ancient charters which his ancestors had held in proof of their right to govern these countries; and this he had done, in order that he might peaceably enjoy jurisdiction over them, and have authority to summon their forces into the field when he wanted them. Neither in all this is there anything to be wondered at, for never had victory been seen with his enemies--never had he retreated one foot from any army, whether small or numerous; he had been distinguished as an abolisher of evil customs, and a restrainer of evil deeds, a destroyer and banisher of rebels and plunderers, and a rigid enforcer of the Irish laws and ordinances after the strictest and most upright manner; he was a man in whose reign the seasons had been favourable, so that both sea and land had been profusely productive while he continued on the throne;[B] a man who had established every person in his country in his rightful hereditary possessions, to the end that no one of them might bear enmity to another; a man who had not suffered the power of the English to come into his country, for he had formed a league of peace and amity with the King of England so soon as he saw that the Irish would not yield the superiority to any one chief or lord among themselves, but that friends and blood relations fiercely contended against one another; and a man who had carefully protected from harm or violation the Termon-lands (or sanctuaries) belonging to the friars, churchmen, poets, and ollaves.

This O'Donnell (Hugh, son of Hugh Roe) died on the 5th of July, in the year of salvation 1537, being Wednesday, in the monastery of Donegall, having first taken upon him the habit of St Francis, having bewailed his crimes and iniquities, and done penance for his sins and transgressions. He was buried in the same monastery, with all the honour and solemnity which were his due; and Magnus O'Donnell was nominated to succeed him in his place by the successors of St Columbkille [viz. the Abbots of Kilmacrenan, Raphoe, and Derry], with the permission and by the advice of the nobles of Tyrconnell, both lay and ecclesiastical.

[A] Now the barony of Raphoe.

[B] Cormac, in his instructions to his son Carbry, tells him that "when a worthy prince reigns, the great God sends favourable seasons." It is worthy of remark that, among the oriental nations, the same notion prevails to the present day; and the poets of the East frequently express their anticipations of favourable weather and abundant harvests upon the accession of a peaceable monarch to the throne.

THE HARP.

The harp was the favourite musical instrument, not only of the Irish, but of the Britons and other northern nations, during the middle ages, as is evident from their laws, and from every passage in their history in which there is the least allusion to music. By the laws of Wales, the possession of a harp was one of the three things that were necessary to constitute a gentleman, that is, a freeman; and no person could pretend to that title, unless he had one of those favourite instruments, and could play upon it.

In the same laws, to prevent slaves from pretending to be gentlemen, it was expressly forbidden to teach or to permit them to play upon the harp; and none but the king, the king's musicians, and gentlemen, were allowed to have harps in their possession. A gentleman's harp was not liable to be seized for debt, because the want of it would have degraded him from his rank, and reduced him to a slave.

The harp was in no less estimation and universal use among the Saxons and Danes; those who played upon this instrument were declared gentlemen by law; their persons were esteemed inviolable, and secured from injuries by very severe penalties; they were readily admitted into the highest company, and treated with distinguished marks of respect wherever they appeared.

* * * * *

ANECDOTE OF JEROME DUIGENAN, A HARPER.--Some curious tales are told of Jerome Duigenan, a Leitrim harper, born in the year 1710. One is of so extraordinary a character, that, were it not for the particularity of the details, which savour strongly of an origin in fact, the editor would hesitate to give it publicity. He is, however, persuaded that he has it as it was communicated to O'Neill, between whose time and that of Duigenan there was scarcely room for the invention of a story not substantially true. It is as follows:--"There was a harper," says O'Neill, "before my time, named Jerome Duigenan, not blind, an excellent Greek and Latin scholar, and a charming performer. I have heard numerous anecdotes of him. The one that pleased me most was this. He lived with a Colonel Jones, of Drumshambo, who was one of the representatives in parliament for the county of Leitrim. The colonel, being in Dublin, at the meeting of parliament, met with an English nobleman who had brought over a Welsh harper. When the Welshman had played some tunes before the colonel, which he did very well, the nobleman asked him, had he ever heard so sweet a finger? 'Yes,' replied Jones, 'and that by a man who never wears either linen or woollen.' 'I bet you a hundred guineas,' says the nobleman, 'you can't produce any one to excel my Welshman.' The bet was accordingly made, and Duigenan was written to, to come immediately to Dublin, and bring his harp and dress of _Cauthack_ with him; that is, a dress made of beaten rushes, with something like a caddy or plaid of the same stuff. On Duigenan's arrival in Dublin, the colonel acquainted the members with the nature of his bet, and they requested that it might be decided in the House of Commons, before business commenced. The two harpers performed before all the members accordingly, and it was unanimously decided in favour of Duigenan, who wore his full _Cauthack_ dress, and a cap of the same stuff, shaped like a sugar loaf, with many tassels; he was a tall, handsome man, and looked very well in it."--_Bunting's Ancient Music of Ireland._

THE MOUNTAIN WALK.

BY J. U. U.

From the haunts of busy life, Homes of care, and paths of strife, Up the breezy mountain way, 'Mid the upper fields of day, Let me wander, far and lonely, Without guide, save nature only; And still ever as I go, Lose all thought of things below, Cast all sorrow to the wind, While the low vales sink behind: Fetterless and spirit free As the merry mountain bee. Like a spirit, thought and eye Buoyant between earth and sky, There to bask in free pure light On the joyous mountain height; Dallying with the breeze and shower, Claiming kin with every flower, Catching iris dreams that glance On the breath of circumstance. Changing with the changeful scene-- Solemn, sombre, gay, serene: As each change fresh wonders bring, Weaving thought from every thing.

Oft let shadowy hollows fall, And grey cliffs' embattled wall Crown the gloom with hoary height, Where the raven wheels his flight. Or green vale unfolding soft, In the lonesome crags aloft Shut the far down world from view. There, long up ether's darkening blue, The eye may gaze for worlds unseen, In the skyey void serene, And weave visions strange and fair, Of the starry empires there-- Spirits changeless, pure, and bright, In their glorious vales of light; Till some wild note break the spell From sequester'd rural dell Where the mountain goatherds dwell: So to break the wild fond dream, And to man bring down the theme; For all earthly things impart Thoughts of Man to human heart.

Then from towery crag on high, If far city win the eye, Glittering through the misty air, 'Twere a prospect meet and fair For the lone sequestered gaze O'er its wide uncertain maze, Then to muse on wealth and fame, And on every specious name That gilds the dross of earth below, Till, from reflection, wisdom grow. Wisdom:--not that sense which cleaveth To the world where all deceiveth; Not grave prudence, hard, yet hollow-- In the beaten round to follow Lengthened aims, in life's short day, While the ages glide away:-- But that moral, old and sage, Said and sung in every age; Old as man--yet ever new, Heard by all, and known to few; Murmur of Being's wave, that still, Unheeded as the babbling rill, In the world's noise, makes music only 'Midst the hush of deserts lonely.

Last, from o'er the seaward steep, Let me view the spacious deep, While the billows break and flow In the caverned gloom below. There let cloud and sunbeam flee O'er the sunned and shadowy sea-- Light and dark in fleeting strife, Like the vanities of life; So to dream of joy and woe, Imaged in the gliding show, As they come, and as they fly, To the verge of sea and sky; So our joys and sorrows flee, Onward to eternity. Then away in spirit wrought By the voluntary thought, Where the heath is freshly springing, Where the sky-borne lark is clinging On mid air with lively song, Which the echoing cliffs prolong; O'er wild steep and dreamy hollow, On, still onward let me follow. While the airy morn is bright, While rich noon is at its height, Till eve falls with sober grey, Freely let me roam away.

APOLOGUES AND FABLES,

IN PROSE AND VERSE, FROM THE GERMAN AND OTHER LANGUAGES.

(_Translated for the Irish Penny Journal._)

No. 1.--THE DISCONTENTED STONES.

A mason was one day at work, building a stout wall to protect a garden; nigh him lay a piled-up heap of stones, which he took into his hands in succession, one by one, according as he wanted them. The stones on their part submitted with exemplary quietness to be handled and introduced into their appropriate places; for they were fully aware that the mason's object was to erect a wall, and they knew equally well that that object could not be attained, if they took it into their thick heads to rebel against the principle upon which he was proceeding. At last, however, somewhat to the mason's amusement, it did so happen, after he had accomplished a considerable portion of his task, that one contumacious fellow, upon being laid hold of, began to talk very big upon the rights of stones, and the tyranny of coercing stonekind in general, declaring, that for himself, whether in a wall or out of a wall, he was determined to enjoy that liberty which was the birthright of every stone upon the earth, and that he would sooner be trodden into powder than surrender it.

"I tell you plumply and plainly, Master Mason," said he, "that I will not be subjected to restraint. I must have scope for my energies. I must have room to look about me, and be able to roll to the left side or to the right, as I think proper, like a free agent!"

The mason, on hearing this, could not refrain from laughing. "Truly," said he, "I have lighted here on an eccentric specimen of the stony tribe. So, my good friend, you wish to have room to roll about in--eh?"

"Precisely," returned the other.

"Did you ever hear of the adage, 'a rolling stone gathers no moss?'"

"Yes, and despise it," answered the Stone; "a moss is a token of antiquity; and antiquity and absurdity are synonymous terms in my vocabulary. May heaven defend me from ever gathering moss!"

"Whew!" whistled the mason, in a manner to indicate mingled surprise and contempt. "Pray, what do you take yourself to be?"

"What do I take myself to be! Just a stone--a wall stone--neither more nor less."

"And are you content that I should allot you a position in the wall?"

"Certainly I am."

"And yet," said the mason, "you declare you will not be satisfied to remain under constraint? You must have room forsooth for your energies! Really your inconsistency is most ridiculous. Come; I have no time to lose; tell me at once what you would be at. Will you go into the wall, or shall I deposit you again on the ground?"

"I have made up my mind to oblige you by going into the wall," replied the Stone, with a patronizing air; "but I will not be swindled out of my natural rights! Liberty is the first of these--and I must have liberty, even in a wall."

"So you shall," said the man; "your liberty will be that of obtaining your just position in the wall, and of maintaining it undisturbedly."

"Bah! what stupid, sneaking notions you have of liberty, surely! I tell you again that I must have space to expand and expatiate in. Do you think that I can stoop to fill the office of a mere wedge?"

"You tire out my patience, friend," said the mason: "there is no use in arguing the matter further. I see I cannot get you to take up your lodging in the wall: I see I must throw you on the earth again."