A VISIT--FIGURE OF A MAN--THE DOG OF PEACE--THE RAW WOUND--THE
GUARDROOM--BOY SOLDIER--PERSON IN AUTHORITY--NEVER SOLITARY--CLERGYMAN
AND FAMILY--STILL-HUNTING--FAIRY MAN--NEAR SUNSET--BAGG--LEFT-HANDED
HITTER--AT SWANTON MORLEY
One morning I set out, designing to pay a visit to my brother at the
place where he was detached; the distance was rather considerable, yet I
hoped to be back by evening fall, for I was now a shrewd walker, thanks
to constant practice. I set out early, and, directing my course towards
the north, I had in less than two hours accomplished considerably more
than half of the journey. The weather had at first been propitious: a
slight frost had rendered the ground firm to the tread, and the skies
were clear; but now a change came over the scene, the skies darkened, and
a heavy snowstorm came on; the road then lay straight through a bog, and
was bounded by a deep trench on both sides; I was making the best of my
way, keeping as nearly as I could in the middle of the road, lest,
blinded by the snow which was frequently borne into my eyes by the wind,
I might fall into the dyke, when all at once I heard a shout to windward,
and turning my eyes I saw the figure of a man, and what appeared to be an
animal of some kind, coming across the bog with great speed, in the
direction of myself; the nature of the ground seemed to offer but little
impediment to these beings, both clearing the holes and abysses which lay
in their way with surprising agility; the animal was, however, some
slight way in advance, and, bounding over the dyke, appeared on the road
just before me. It was a dog, of what species I cannot tell, never
having seen the like before or since; the head was large and round; the
ears so tiny as scarcely to be discernible; the eyes of a fiery red: in
size it was rather small than large; and the coat, which was remarkably
smooth, as white as the falling flakes. It placed itself directly in my
path, and showing its teeth, and bristling its coat, appeared determined
to prevent my progress. I had an ashen stick in my hand, with which I
threatened it; this, however, only served to increase its fury; it rushed
upon me, and I had the utmost difficulty to preserve myself from its
fangs.
'What are you doing with the dog, the fairy dog?' said a man, who at this
time likewise cleared the dyke at a bound.
He was a very tall man, rather well dressed as it should seem; his
garments, however, were, like my own, so covered with snow that I could
scarcely discern their quality.
'What are ye doing with the dog of peace?'
'I wish he would show himself one,' said I; 'I said nothing to him, but
he placed himself in my road, and would not let me pass.'
'Of course he would not be letting you till he knew where ye were going.'
'He's not much of a fairy,' said I, 'or he would know that without
asking; tell him that I am going to see my brother.'
'And who is your brother, little Sas?'
'What my father is, a royal soldier.'
'Oh, ye are going then to the detachment at ---; by my shoul, I have a
good mind to be spoiling your journey.'
'You are doing that already,' said I, 'keeping me here talking about dogs
and fairies; you had better go home and get some salve to cure that place
over your eye; it's catching cold you'll be, in so much snow.'
On one side of the man's forehead there was a raw and staring wound, as
if from a recent and terrible blow.
'Faith, then I'll be going, but it's taking you wid me I will be.'
'And where will you take me?'
'Why, then, to Ryan's Castle, little Sas.'
'You do not speak the language very correctly,' said I; 'it is not Sas
you should call me--'tis Sassannach,' and forthwith I accompanied the
word with a speech full of flowers of Irish rhetoric.
The man looked upon me for a moment, fixedly, then, bending his head
towards his breast, he appeared to be undergoing a kind of convulsion,
which was accompanied by a sound something resembling laughter; presently
he looked at me, and there was a broad grin on his features.
'By my shoul, it's a thing of peace I'm thinking ye.'
But now with a whisking sound came running down the road a hare; it was
nearly upon us before it perceived us; suddenly stopping short, however,
it sprang into the bog on the right-hand side; after it amain bounded the
dog of peace, followed by the man, but not until he had nodded to me a
farewell salutation. In a few moments I lost sight of him amidst the
snow-flakes.
The weather was again clear and fine before I reached the place of
detachment. It was a little wooden barrack, surrounded by a wall of the
same material; a sentinel stood at the gate, I passed by him, and,
entering the building, found myself in a rude kind of guardroom; several
soldiers were lying asleep on a wooden couch at one end, others lounged
on benches by the side of a turf fire. The tall sergeant stood before
the fire, holding a cooking utensil in his left hand; on seeing me, he
made the military salutation.
'Is my brother here?' said I, rather timidly, dreading to hear that he
was out, perhaps for the day.
'The ensign is in his room, sir,' said Bagg, 'I am now preparing his
meal, which will presently be ready; you will find the ensign above
stairs,' and he pointed to a broken ladder which led to some place above.
And there I found him--the boy soldier--in a kind of upper loft, so low
that I could touch with my hands the sooty rafters; the door was of rough
boards, through the joints of which you could see the gleam of the
soldiers' fire, and occasionally discern their figures as they moved
about; in one corner was a camp bedstead, by the side of which hung the
child's sword, gorget, and sash; a deal table stood in the proximity of
the rusty grate, where smoked and smouldered a pile of black turf from
the bog,--a deal table without a piece of baize to cover it, yet fraught
with things not devoid of interest: a Bible, given by a mother; the
_Odyssey_, the Greek _Odyssey_; a flute, with broad silver keys; crayons,
moreover, and water-colours; and a sketch of a wild prospect near, which,
though but half finished, afforded ample proof of the excellence and
skill of the boyish hand now occupied upon it.
Ah! he was a sweet being, that boy soldier, a plant of early promise,
bidding fair to become in after time all that is great, good, and
admirable. I have read of a remarkable Welshman, of whom it was said,
when the grave closed over him, that he could frame a harp, and play it;
build a ship, and sail it; compose an ode, and set it to music. A brave
fellow that son of Wales--but I had once a brother who could do more and
better than this, but the grave has closed over him, as over the gallant
Welshman of yore; there are now but two that remember him--the one who
bore him, and the being who was nurtured at the same breast. He was
taken, and I was left!--Truly, the ways of Providence are inscrutable.
'You seem to be very comfortable, John,' said I, looking around the room
and at the various objects which I have described above: 'you have a good
roof over your head, and have all your things about you.'
'Yes, I am very comfortable, George, in many respects; I am, moreover,
independent, and feel myself a man for the first time in my
life--independent, did I say?--that's not the word, I am something much
higher than that; here am I, not sixteen yet, a person in authority, like
the centurion in the book there, with twenty Englishmen under me, worth a
whole legion of his men, and that fine fellow Bagg to wait upon me, and
take my orders. Oh! these last six weeks have passed like hours of
heaven.'
'But your time must frequently hang heavy on your hands; this is a
strange wild place, and you must be very solitary?'
'I am never solitary; I have, as you see, all my things about me, and
there is plenty of company below stairs. Not that I mix with the
soldiers; if I did, good-bye to my authority; but when I am alone I can
hear all their discourse through the planks, and I often laugh to myself
at the funny things they say.'
'And have you any acquaintance here?'
'The very best; much better than the Colonel and the rest, at their grand
Templemore; I had never so many in my whole life before. One has just
left me, a gentleman who lives at a distance across the bog; he comes to
talk with me about Greek, and the _Odyssey_, for he is a very learned
man, and understands the old Irish, and various other strange languages.
He has had a dispute with Bagg. On hearing his name, he called him to
him, and, after looking at him for some time with great curiosity, said
that he was sure he was a Dane. Bagg, however, took the compliment in
dudgeon, and said that he was no more a Dane than himself, but a
true-born Englishman, and a sergeant of six years' standing.'
'And what other acquaintance have you?'
'All kinds; the whole neighbourhood can't make enough of me. Amongst
others there's the clergyman of the parish and his family; such a
venerable old man, such fine sons and daughters! I am treated by them
like a son and a brother--I might be always with them if I pleased;
there's one drawback, however, in going to see them; there's a horrible
creature in the house, a kind of tutor, whom they keep more from charity
than anything else; he is a Papist and, they say, a priest; you should
see him scowl sometimes at my red coat, for he hates the king, and not
unfrequently, when the king's health is drunk, curses him between his
teeth. I once got up to strike him; but the youngest of the sisters, who
is the handsomest, caught my arm and pointed to her forehead.'
'And what does your duty consist of? Have you nothing else to do than
pay visits and receive them?'
'We do what is required of us, we guard this edifice, perform our
evolutions, and help the excise; I am frequently called up in the dead of
night to go to some wild place or other in quest of an illicit still;
this last part of our duty is poor mean work, I don't like it, nor more
does Bagg; though without it we should not see much active service, for
the neighbourhood is quiet; save the poor creatures with their stills,
not a soul is stirring. 'Tis true there's Jerry Grant.'
'And who is Jerry Grant?'
'Did you never hear of him? that's strange, the whole country is talking
about him; he is a kind of outlaw, rebel, or robber, all three I daresay;
there's a hundred pounds offered for his head.'
'And where does he live?'
'His proper home, they say, is in the Queen's County, where he has a
band, but he is a strange fellow, fond of wandering about by himself
amidst the bogs and mountains, and living in the old castles;
occasionally he quarters himself in the peasants' houses, who let him do
just what he pleases; he is free of his money, and often does them good
turns, and can be good-humoured enough, so they don't dislike him. Then
he is what they call a fairy man, a person in league with fairies and
spirits, and able to work much harm by supernatural means, on which
account they hold him in great awe; he is, moreover, a mighty strong and
tall fellow. Bagg has seen him.'
'Has he?'
'Yes! and felt him; he too is a strange one. A few days ago he was told
that Grant had been seen hovering about an old castle some two miles off
in the bog; so one afternoon what does he do but, without saying a word
to me--for which, by the bye, I ought to put him under arrest, though
what I should do without Bagg I have no idea whatever--what does he do
but walk off to the castle, intending, as I suppose, to pay a visit to
Jerry. He had some difficulty in getting there on account of the
turf-holes in the bog, which he was not accustomed to; however, thither
at last he got and went in. It was a strange lonesome place, he says,
and he did not much like the look of it; however, in he went, and
searched about from the bottom to the top and down again, but could find
no one; he shouted and hallooed, but nobody answered, save the rooks and
choughs, which started up in great numbers. "I have lost my trouble,"
said Bagg, and left the castle. It was now late in the afternoon, near
sunset, when about half-way over the bog he met a man--'
'And that man was--'
'Jerry Grant! there's no doubt of it. Bagg says it was the most sudden
thing in the world. He was moving along, making the best of his way,
thinking of nothing at all save a public-house at Swanton Morley, which
he intends to take when he gets home, and the regiment is
disbanded--though I hope that will not be for some time yet: he had just
leaped a turf-hole, and was moving on, when, at the distance of about six
yards before him, he saw a fellow coming straight towards him. Bagg says
that he stopped short, as suddenly as if he had heard the word halt, when
marching at double quick time. It was quite a surprise, he says, and he
can't imagine how the fellow was so close upon him before he was aware.
He was an immense tall fellow--Bagg thinks at least two inches taller
than himself--very well dressed in a blue coat and buff breeches, for all
the world like a squire when going out hunting. Bagg, however, saw at
once that he had a roguish air, and he was on his guard in a moment.
"Good-evening to ye, sodger," says the fellow, stepping close up to Bagg,
and staring him in the face. "Good-evening to you, sir! I hope you are
well," says Bagg. "You are looking after some one?" says the fellow.
"Just so, sir," says Bagg, and forthwith seized him by the collar; the
man laughed, Bagg says it was such a strange awkward laugh. "Do you know
whom you have got hold of, sodger?" said he. "I believe I do, sir," said
Bagg, "and in that belief will hold you fast in the name of King George
and the quarter sessions"; the next moment he was sprawling with his
heels in the air. Bagg says there was nothing remarkable in that; he was
only flung by a kind of wrestling trick, which he could easily have
baffled had he been aware of it. "You will not do that again, sir," said
he, as he got up and put himself on his guard. The fellow laughed again
more strangely and awkwardly than before; then, bending his body and
moving his head from one side to the other as a cat does before she
springs, and crying out, "Here's for ye, sodger!" he made a dart at Bagg,
rushing in with his head foremost. "That will do, sir," says Bagg, and,
drawing himself back, he put in a left-handed blow with all the force of
his body and arm, just over the fellow's right eye--Bagg is a left-handed
hitter, you must know--and it was a blow of that kind which won him his
famous battle at Edinburgh with the big Highland sergeant. Bagg says
that he was quite satisfied with the blow, more especially when he saw
the fellow reel, fling out his arms, and fall to the ground. "And now,
sir," said he, "I'll make bold to hand you over to the quarter sessions,
and, if there is a hundred pounds for taking you, who has more right to
it than myself?" So he went forward, but ere he could lay hold of his
man the other was again on his legs, and was prepared to renew the
combat. They grappled each other--Bagg says he had not much fear of the
result, as he now felt himself the best man, the other seeming
half-stunned with the blow--but just then there came on a blast, a
horrible roaring wind bearing night upon its wings, snow, and sleet, and
hail. Bagg says he had the fellow by the throat quite fast, as he
thought, but suddenly he became bewildered, and knew not where he was;
and the man seemed to melt away from his grasp, and the wind howled more
and more, and the night poured down darker and darker; the snow and the
sleet thicker and more blinding. "Lord have mercy upon us!" said Bagg.'
_Myself_. A strange adventure that; it is well that Bagg got home alive.
_John_. He says that the fight was a fair fight, and that the fling he
got was a fair fling, the result of a common enough wrestling trick. But
with respect to the storm, which rose up just in time to save the fellow,
he is of opinion that it was not fair, but something Irish and
supernatural.
_Myself_. I daresay he's right. I have read of witchcraft in the Bible.
_John_. He wishes much to have one more encounter with the fellow; he
says that on fair ground, and in fine weather, he has no doubt that he
could master him, and hand him over to the quarter sessions. He says
that a hundred pounds would be no bad thing to be disbanded upon; for he
wishes to take an inn at Swanton Morley, keep a cock-pit, and live
respectably.
_Myself_. He is quite right; and now kiss me, my darling brother, for I
must go back through the bog to Templemore.