me, Reilly, as he did you, but I'd roast him in the flames of his own
house,' says he.
“'I'd have you to know,' says Slevin, 'that you have no command here,
Collier. I'm captain at the present time,' says he; 'and more nor what
I wish shall not be done. Go over,' says he to the blackfaces, 'and rap
him up.'
“Accordingly they began to knock at the door, commanding Vengeance to
get up and come out to them.
“'Come, Vengeance,' says Collier, 'put on you, my good fellow, and come
out till two or three of your neighbors, that wish you well, gets a
sight of your purty face, you babe of grace!'
“'Who are you that wants me at all?' says Vengeance from within.
“'Come out, first,' says Collier; 'a few friends that has a crow to
pluck with you; walk out, avourneen; or if you'd rather be roasted
alive, why you may stay where you are,' says he.
“'Gentlemen,' says Vengeance, 'I have never, to my knowledge, offended
any of you; and I hope you won't be so cruel as to take an industrious,
hard-working man from his family, in the clouds of the night, to do him
an injury. Go home, gentlemen, in the name of God, and let me and mine
alone. You're all mighty dacent gentlemen, you know, and I'm determined
never to make or meddle with any of you. Sure, I know right well it's
purtecting me you would be, dacent gentlemen. But I don't think
there's any of my neighbors there, or they wouldn't stand by and see me
injured.'
“'Thrue for you, avick,' says they giving, at the same time; a terrible
patterrara agin the door, with two or three big stones.
“'Stop, stop!' says Vengeance, 'don't break the door, and I'll open it.
I know you're merciful, dacent gentlemen--I know your merciful.'
“So the thief came and unbarred it quietly, and the next minute about
a dozen of them that war within the house let slap at us. As God would
have had it, the crowd didn't happen to be forenent the door, or numbers
of them would have been shot, and the night was dark, too, which was in
our favor. The first volley was scarcely over, when there was another
slap from the outhouse; and after that another from the gardens; and
after that, to be sure, we took to our scrapers. Several of them were
very badly wounded; but as for Collier, he was shot dead, and Grogan
was taken prisoner, with five more, on the spot. There never was such a
chase as we got; and only that they thought there was more of us in it,
they might have tuck most of us prisoners.
“'Fly, boys!' says Grogan as soon as they fired out of the house--'we've
been sould,' says he, 'but I'll die game, any how,'--and so he did, poor
fellow; for although he and the other four war transported, one of them
never sould the pass or stagged. Not but that they might have done it,
for all that, only that there was a whisper sent to them, that if they
did, a single soul belonging to one of them wouldn't be left living. The
Grogans were cousins of Denis Kelly's, that's now laid out there above.
“From the time this tuck place till after the 'sizes, there wasn't a
stir among them on any side; but when that war over, the boys began to
prepare. Denis, heavens be his bed, was there in his glory. This was
in the spring 'sizes, and the May fair soon followed. Ah! that was the
bloody sight, I'm tould--for I wasn't at it--atween the Orangemen and
them. The Ribbonmen war bate though, but not till after there was a
desperate fight on both sides. I was tould that Denis Kelly that day
knocked down five-and-twenty men in about three-quarters of an hour; and
only that long John Grimes hot him a _polthoge_ on the sconce with the
butt-end of the gun, it was thought the Orangemen would be beat. That
blow broke his skull, and was the manes of his death. He was carried
home senseless.”
“Well, Lachlin,” said my brother, “if you didn't see it, I did. I
happened to be looking out of John Carson's upper window--for it wasn't
altogether safe to contemplate it within reach of the missiles. It was
certainly a dreadful and barbarous sight. You have often observed the
calm, gloomy silence that precedes a thunder-storm; and had you been
there that day, you might have witnessed its illustration in a scene
much more awful. The thick living mass of people extended from the
corner-house, nearly a quarter of a mile, at this end of the town, up to
the parsonage on the other side. During the early part of the day, every
kind of business was carried on in a hurry and an impatience, which
denoted the little chance they knew there would be for transacting it in
the evening.
“Up to the hour of four o'clock the fair was unusually quiet, and, on
the whole, presented nothing in any way remarkable; but after that hour
you might observe the busy stir and hum of the mass settling down into
a deep, brooding, portentous silence, that was absolutely fearful. The
females, with dismay and terror pictured in their faces, hurried home;
and in various instances you might see mothers, and wives, and sisters,
clinging about the sons, husbands, and brothers, attempting to drag them
by main force from the danger which they knew impended over them.
In this they seldom succeeded: for the person so urged was usually
compelled to tear himself from them by superior strength.
“The pedlars and basket-women, and such as had tables and standings
erected in the streets, commenced removing them with all possible
haste. The shopkeepers, and other inhabitants of the town, put up
their shutters, in order to secure their windows from being shattered.
Strangers, who were compelled to stop in town that night, took shelter
in the inns and other houses of entertainment where they lodged: so that
about five o'clock the street was completely clear, and free for action.
“Hitherto there was not a stroke--the scene became even more silent and
gloomy, although the moral darkness of their ill-suppressed passions
was strongly contrasted with the splendor of the sun, that poured down
a tide of golden light upon the multitude. This contrast between the
natural brightness of the evening, and the internal gloom of their
hearts, as the beams of the sun rested upon the ever-moving crowd,
would, to any man who knew the impetus with which the spirit of
religious hatred was soon to rage among them, produce novel and
singular sensations. For, after all Toby, there is a mysterious
connection between natural and moral things, which often invest both
nature and sentiment with a feeling that certainly would not come home
to our hearts if such a connection did not exist. A rose-tree beside
a grave will lead us from sentiment to reflection; and any other
association, where a painful or melancholy thought is clothed with a
garb of joy or pleasure, will strike us more deeply in proportion as
the contrast is strong. On seeing the sun or moon struggling through the
darkness of surrounding clouds, I confess, although you may smile, that
I feel for the moment a diminution of enjoyment--something taken, as it
were, from the sum of my happiness.
“Ere the quarrel commenced, you might see a dark and hateful glare
scowling from the countenances of the two parties, as they viewed
and approached each other in the street--the eye was set in deadly
animosity, and the face marked with an ireful paleness, occasioned at
once by revenge and apprehension. Groups were silently hurrying with an
eager and energetic step to their places of rendezvous, grasping their
weapons more closely, or grinding their teeth in the impatience of their
fury. The veterans on each side were surrounded by their respective
followers, anxious to act under their direction; and the very boys
seemed to be animated with a martial spirit, much more eager than that
of those who had greater experience in party quarrels.
“Jem Finigan's public-house was the head-quarters and rallying-point
of the Ribbonmen; the Orangemen assembled in that of Joe Sherlock, the
master of an Orange lodge. About six o'clock the crowd in the street
began gradually to fall off to the opposite ends of the town--the Roman
Catholics towards the north, and the Protestants towards the south.
Carson's window, from which I was observing their motions, was exactly
half way between them, so that I had a distinct view of both. At this
moment I noticed Denis Kelly coming forward from the closely condensed
mass formed by the Ribbonmen: he advanced with his cravat off, to the
middle of the vacant space between the parties, holding a fine oak
cudgel in his hand. He then stopped, and addressing the Orangemen, said,
“'Where's Vengeance and his crew now? Is there any single Orange villain
among you that dare come down and meet me here like a man? Is John
Grimes there? for if he is, before we begin to take you out of a face,
to hunt you altogether out of the town, ye Orange villains I would be
glad that he'd step down to Denis Kelly here for two or three minutes;
I'll not keep him longer.'
“There was now a stir and a murmur among the Orangemen, as if a rush was
about to take place towards Denis; but Grimes, whom I saw endeavoring to
curb them in, left the crowd, and advanced toward him.
“At this moment an instinctive movement among both masses took place; so
that when Grimes had come within a few yards of Kelly, both parties were
within two or three perches of them. Kelly was standing, apparently off
his guard, with one hand thrust carelessly into the breast pocket of
his waistcoat, and the cudgel in the other; but his eye was fixed calmly
upon Grimes as he approached. They were both powerful, fine men--brawny,
vigorous, and active; Grimes had somewhat the advantage of the other in
height; he also fought with his left hand, from which circumstance
he was nicknamed Kitlhouge. He was a man of a dark, stern-looking
countenance; and the tones of his voice were deep, sullen, and of
appalling strength.
“As they approached each other, the windows on each side of the street
were crowded; but there was not a breath to be heard in any direction,
nor from either party. As for myself, my heart palpitated with anxiety.
What they might have felt I do not know: but they must have experienced
considerable apprehension; for as they were both the champions of their
respective parties, and had never before met in single encounter, their
characters depended on the issue of the contest.
“'Well, Grimes,' said Denis, 'sure I've often wished for this same
meetin,' man, betune myself and you; I have what you're goin' to get,
_in_ for you this long time; but you'll get it now, avick, plase God--'
“'It was not to scould I came, you Popish, ribly rascal,' replied
Grimes, 'but to give you what you're long--'
“Ere the word had been out of his mouth, however, Kelly sprung over to
him; and making a feint, as if he intended to lay the stick on his ribs,
he swung it past without touching him and, bringing it round his own
head like lightning, made it tell with a powerful back-stroke, right on
Grimes's temple, and in an instant his own face was sprinkled with the
blood which sprung from the wound. Grimes staggered forwards towards his
antagonist, seeing which, Kelly sprung back, and was again meeting him
with full force, when Grimes, turning a little, clutched Kelly's stick
in his right hand, and being left-handed himself, ere the other could
wrench the cudgel from him, he gave him a terrible blow upon the back
part of the head, which laid Kelly in the dust.
“There was then a deafening shout from the Orange party; and Grimes
stood until Kelly should be in the act of rising, ready then to give him
another blow. The coolness and generalship of Kelly, however, were here
very remarkable; for, when he was just getting to his feet, 'Look at
your party coming down upon me!' he exclaimed to Grimes, who turned
round to order them back, and, in the interim, Kelly was upon his legs.
“I was surprised at the coolness of both men; for Grimes was by no means
inflated with the boisterous triumph of his party--nor did Denis get
into a blind rage on being knocked down. They approached again,
their eyes kindled into savage fury, tamed down into the wariness of
experienced combatants; for a short time they stood eyeing each other,
as if calculating upon the contingent advantages of attack or defence.
This was a moment of great interest; for, as their huge and powerful
frames stood out in opposition, strung and dilated by the impulse of
passion and the energy of contest, no judgment, however experienced,
could venture to anticipate the result of the battle, or name the
person likely to be victorious. Indeed it was surprising how the
natural sagacity of these men threw their attitudes and movements into
scientific form and symmetry. Kelly raised his cudgel, and placed
it transversely in the air, between himself and his opponent; Grimes
instantly placed his against it--both weapons thus forming a St.
Andrew's cross--whilst the men themselves stood foot to foot, calm and
collected. Nothing could be finer than their proportions, nor superior
to their respective attitudes; their broad chests were in a line; their
thick, well-set necks laid a little back, as were their bodies, without,
however, losing their balance; and their fierce but calm features,
grimly but placidly scowling at each other, like men who were prepared
for the onset.
“At length Kelly made an attempt to repeat his former feint, with
variations; for whereas he had sent the first blow to Grimes's right
temple, he took measures now to reach the left; his action was rapid,
but equally quick was the eye of his antagonist, whose cudgel was up in
ready guard to meet the blow. It met it; and with such surprising power
was it sent and opposed, that both cudgels, on meeting, bent across
each other into curves. An involuntary huzza followed this from their
respective parties--not so much on account of the skill displayed by the
combatants as in admiration of their cudgels, and of the judgment with
which they must have been selected. In fact, it was the staves, rather
than the men, that were praised; and certainly the former did their
duty. In a moment their shillelaghs were across each other once more,
and the men resumed their former attitudes; their savage determination,
their kindled eyes, the blood which disfigured the face of Grimes, and
begrimed also the countenance of his antagonist into a deeper expression
of ferocity, occasioned many a cowardly heart to shrink from the sight.
There they stood, gory and stern, ready for the next onset; it was first
made by Grimes, who tried to practise on Kelly the feint which Kelly had
before practised on him. Denis, after his usual manner, caught the blow
in his open hand, and clutched the staff, with an intention of holding
it until he might visit Grimes, now apparently unguarded, with a
levelling blow; but Grimes's effort to wrest the cudgel from his grasp,
drew all Kelly's strength to that quarter, and prevented him from
availing himself of the other's defenceless attitude. A trial of
muscular power ensued, and their enormous bodily strength was exhibited
in the stiff tug for victory. Kelly's address prevailed; for while
Grimes pulled against him with all his collected vigor, the former
suddenly let go his hold, and the latter, having lost his balance,
staggered back; lightning could not be more quick than the action of
Kelly, as, with tremendous force, his cudgel rung on the unprotected
head of Grimes, who fell, or rather was shot to the ground, as if some
superior power had clashed him against it; and there he lay for a short
time, quivering under the blow he had received.
“A peal of triumph now arose from Kelly's party; but Kelly himself,
placing his arms a-kimbo, stood calmly over his enemy, awaiting
his return to the conflict. For nearly five minutes he stood in this
attitude, during which time Grimes did not stir; at length Kelly stooped
a little, and peering closely into his face, exclaimed--
“'Why, then, is it acting you are?--any how, I wouldn't put it past you,
you cunning vagabone; 'tis lying to take breath he is--get up, man, I'd
scorn to touch you till you're on your legs; not all as one, for sure
it's yourself would show me no such forbearance. Up with you, man alive,
I've none of your thrachery in me. I'll not rise my cudgel till you're
on your guard.'
“There was an expression of disdain, mingled with a glow of honest, manly
generosity on his countenance, as he spoke, which made him at once the
favorite with such spectators as were not connected with either of
the parties. Grimes arose, and it was evident that Kelly's generosity
deepened his resentment more than the blow which had sent him so rapidly
to the ground; however, he was still cool, but his brows knit, his eye
flashed with double fierceness, and his complexion settled into a dark
blue shade, which gave to his whole visage an expression fearfully
ferocious. Kelly hailed this as the first appearance of passion; his
brow expanded as the other approached, and a dash of confidence, if not
of triumph, softened in some degree the sternness of his features.
“With caution they encountered again each collected for a spring, their
eyes gleaming at each other like those of tigers. Grimes made a motion
as if he would have struck Kelly with his fist; and, as the latter threw
up his guard against the blow, he received a stroke from Grimes's cudgel
in the under part of the right arm. This had been directed at his
elbow, with an intention of rendering the arm powerless: it fell short,
however, yet was sufficient to relax the grasp which Kelly had of his
weapon. Had Kelly been a novice, this stratagem alone would have soon
vanquished him; his address, however, was fully equal to that of his
antagonist. The staff dropped instantly from his grasp, but a stout
thong of black polished leather, with a shining tassel at the end of it,
had bound it securely to his massive wrist; the cudgel, therefore, only
dangled from his arm, and did not, as the other expected, fall to the
ground, or put Denis to the necessity of stooping for it--Grimes's
object being to have struck him in that attitude.
“A flash of indignation now shot from Kelly's eye, and with the speed of
lightning he sprung within Grimes's weapon,--determined to wrest it from
him. The grapple that ensued was gigantic. In a moment Grimes's staff
was parallel with the horizon between them, clutched in the powerful
grasp of both. They stood exactly opposite, and rather close to each
other; their arms sometimes stretched out stiff and at full length,
again contracted, until their faces, glowing and distorted by the energy
of the contest, were drawn almost together. Sometimes the prevailing
strength of one would raise the staff slowly, and with gradually
developed power, up in a perpendicular position: again the reaction of
opposing strength would strain it back, and sway the weighty frame of
the antagonist, crouched and set into desperate resistance, along with
it; whilst the hard pebbles under their feet were crumbled into powder,
and the very street itself furrowed into gravel by the shock of their
opposing strength. Indeed, so well matched a pair never met in contest:
their strength, their wind, their activity, and their! natural science
appeared to be perfectly equal.
“At length, by a tremendous effort, Kelly got the staff twisted
nearly out of Grimes's hand, and a short shout, half encouraging, half
indignant, came from Grimes's party. This added shame to his other
passions, and threw an impulse of almost superhuman strength into him:
he recovered his advantage, but nothing more; they twisted--they heaved
their great frames against each other--they struggled--their action
became rapid--they swayed each other this way and that--their eyes like
fire--their teeth locked, and their nostrils dilated. Sometimes they
twined about each other like serpents, and twirled round with such
rapidity, that it was impossible to distinguish them--sometimes, when
a pull of more than ordinary power took place, they seemed to cling
together almost without motion, bending down until their heads nearly
touched the ground, their cracking joints seeming to stretch by the
effort, and the muscles of their limbs standing out from the flesh,
strung into amazing tension.
“In this attitude were they, when Denis, with the eye of a hawk, spied
a disadvantage in Grimes's position; he wheeled round, placed his broad
shoulder against the shaggy breast of the other, and giving him what is
called an 'inside crook,' strained him, despite of every effort, until
he got him off his shoulder, and off the point of resistance. There
was a cry of alarm from the windows, particularly from the females, as
Grimes's huge body was swung over Kelly's shoulder, until it came down
in a crash upon the hard gravel of the street, while Denis stood in
triumph, with his enemy's staff in his hand. A loud huzzah followed this
from all present except the Orangemen, who stood bristling with fury and
shame for the temporary defeat of their champion.
“Denis again had his enemy at his mercy; but he scorned to use his
advantage ungenerously; he went over, and placing the staff in his
hands--for the other had got to his legs--retrograded to his place, and
desired Grimes to defend himself.
“After considerable manoeuvring on both sides, Denis, who appeared to
be the more active of the two, got an open on his antagonist, and by
a powerful blow upon Grimes's ear, sent him to the ground with amazing
force. I never saw such a blow given by mortal; the end of the cudgel
came exactly upon the ear, and as Grimes went down, the blood spurted
out of his mouth and nostrils; he then kicked convulsively several times
as he lay upon the ground, and that moment I really thought he would
never have breathed more.
“The shout was again raised by the Ribbonmen, who threw up their hats,
and bounded from the ground with the most vehement exultation. Both
parties then waited to give Grimes time to rise and renew the battle;
but he appeared perfectly contented to remain where he was: for there
appeared no signs of life or motion in him.
“'Have you got your gruel, boy?' said Kelly, going over to where he
lay;--'Well, you met Denis Kelly, at last, didn't you? and there you
lie; but plase God, the most of your sort will soon lie in the same
state. Come, boys,' said Kelly, addressing his own party, 'now for
bloody Vengeance and his crew, that thransported the Grogans and the
Caffries, and murdered Collier. Now, boys, have at the murderers, and
let us have satisfaction for all!'
“A mutual rush instantly took place; but, ere the Orangemen came down to
where Grimes lay, Kelly had taken his staff, and handed it to one of his
own party. It is impossible to describe the scene that ensued. The noise
of the blows, the shouting, the yelling, the groans, the scalped heads,
and gory visages, gave both to the ear and eye an impression that could
not easily be forgotten. The battle was obstinately maintained on both
sides for nearly an hour, and with a skill of manoeuvring, attack, and
retreat, that was astonishing.