spirit of george prince regent james, esq., forgive me this commencement! *
* i mean no offence whatsoever to this distinguished and
multitudinous writer; but the commencement of this novel really
resembled that of so many of his that i was anxious to avoid the
charge of imitating him.
it was one evening at the close of a september month and a september day that two equestrians might be observed passing along one of those old and lonely irish roads that seemed, from the nature of its construction, to have been paved by a society of antiquarians, if a person could judge from its obsolete character, and the difficulty, without risk of neck or limb, of riding a horse or driving a carriage along it. ireland, as our english readers ought to know, has always been a country teeming with abundance—a happy land, in which want, destitution, sickness, and famine have never been felt or known, except through the mendacious misrepresentations of her enemies. the road we speak of was a proof of this; for it was evident to every observer that, in some season of superabundant food, the people, not knowing exactly how to dispose of their shilling loaves, took to paving the common roads with them, rather than they should be utterly useless. these loaves, in the course of time, underwent the process of petrifaction, but could not, nevertheless, be looked upon as wholly lost to the country. a great number of the irish, within six of the last preceding years—that is, from '46 to '52—took a peculiar fancy for them as food, which, we presume, caused their enemies to say that we then had hard times in ireland. be this as it may, it enabled the sagacious epicures who lived upon them to retire, in due course, to the delightful retreats of skull and skibbereen,* and similar asylums, there to pass the very short remainder of their lives in health, ease, and luxury.
* two poor-houses in the most desolate parts of the county of
cork, where famine, fever, dysentery, and cholera, rendered more
destructive by the crowded state of the houses and the consequent
want of ventilation, swept away the wretched in-mates to the
amount, if we recollect rightly, of sometimes from fifty to
seventy per diem in the years '45 and '47.
the evening, as we have said, was about the close of september, when the two equestrians we speak of were proceeding at a pace necessarily slow. one of them was a bluff, fresh-complexioned man, of about sixty summers; but although of a healthy look, and a frame that had evidently once been vigorous, yet he was a good deal stooped, had about him all the impotence of plethora, and his hair, which fell down his shoulders, was white as snow. the other, who rode pretty close to him, was much about his own age, or perhaps a few years older, if one could judge by a face that gave more undeniable evidences of those furrows and wrinkles which time usually leaves behind him. this person did not ride exactly side by side with the first-mentioned, but a little aback, though not so far as to prevent the possibility of conversation. at this time it may be mentioned here that every man that could afford it wore a wig, with the exception of some of those eccentric individuals that are to be found in every state and period of society, and who are remarkable for that peculiar love of singularity which generally constitutes their character—a small and harmless ambition, easily gratified, and involving no injury to their fellow-creatures. the second horseman, therefore, wore a wig, but the other, although he eschewed that ornament, if it can be called so, was by no means a man of that mild and harmless character which we have attributed to the eccentric and unfashionable class of whom we have just spoken. so far from that, he was a man of an obstinate and violent temper, of strong and unreflecting prejudices both for good and evil, hot, persevering, and vindictive, though personally brave, intrepid, and often generous. like many of his class, he never troubled his head about religion as a matter that must, and ought to have been, personally, of the chiefest interest to himself, but, at the same time, he was looked upon as one of the best and staunchest protestants of the day. his loyalty and devotedness to the throne of england were not only unquestionable, but proverbial throughout the country; but, at the same time, he regarded no clergyman, either of his own or any other creed, as a man whose intimacy was worth preserving, unless he was able to take off his three or four bottles of claret after dinner. in fact, not to keep our readers longer in suspense, the relation which he and his companion bore to each other was that of master and servant.
the hour was now a little past twilight, and the western sky presented an unusual, if not an ominous, appearance. a sharp and melancholy breeze was abroad, and the sun, which had set among a mass of red clouds, half placid, and half angry in appearance, had for some brief space gone down. over from the north, however, glided by imperceptible degrees a long black bar, right across the place of his disappearance, and nothing could be more striking than the wild and unnatural contrast between the dying crimson of the west and this fearful mass of impenetrable darkness that came over it. as yet there was no moon, and the portion of light or rather “darkness visible” that feebly appeared on the sky and the landscape, was singularly sombre and impressive, if not actually appalling. the scene about them was wild and desolate in the extreme; and as the faint outlines of the bleak and barren moors appeared in the dim and melancholy distance, the feelings they inspired were those of discomfort and depression. on each side of them were a variety of lonely lakes, abrupt precipices, and extensive marshes; and as our travellers went along, the hum of the snipe, the feeble but mournful cry of the plover, and the wilder and more piercing whistle of the curlew, still deepened the melancholy dreariness of their situation, and added to their anxiety to press on towards the place of their destination.
“this is a very lonely spot, your honor,” said his servant, whose name was andrew, or, as he was more familiarly called, andy cummiskey.
“yes, but it's the safer, andy,” replied his master. “there is not a human habitation within miles of us.”
“it doesn't follow, sir, that this place, above all others in the neighborhood, is not, especially at this hour, without some persons about it. you know i'm no coward, sir.”
“what, you scoundrel! and do you mean to hint that i'm one?”
“not at all, sir; but you see the truth is, that, this being the very hour for duck and wild-fowl shootin', it's hard to say where or when a fellow might start up, and mistake me for a wild duck, and your honor for a curlew or a bittern.”
he had no sooner spoken than the breeze started, as it were, into more vigorous life, and ere the space of many minutes a dark impenetrable mist or fog was borne over from the solitary hills across the dreary level of country through which they passed, and they felt themselves suddenly chilled, whilst a darkness, almost palpable, nearly concealed them from each other. now the roads which we have described, being almost without exception in remote and unfrequented parts of the country, are for the most part covered over with a thick sole of close grass, unless where a narrow strip in the centre shows that a pathway is kept worn, and distinctly marked by the tread of foot-passengers. under all these circumstances, then, our readers need not feel surprised that, owing at once to the impenetrable obscurity around them, and the noiseless nature of the antique and grass-covered pavement over which they went, scarcely a distance of two hundred yards had been gained when they found, to their dismay,' that they had lost their path, and were in one of the wild and heathy stretches of unbounded moor by which they were surrounded.
“we have lost our way, andy,” observed his master. “we've got off that damned old path; what's to be done? where are you?”
“i'm here, sir,” replied his man; “but as for what's to be done, it would take mayo mullen, that sees the fairies and tells fortunes, to tell us that. for heaven's sake, stay where you are, sir, till i get up to you, for if we part from one another, we're both lost. where are you, sir?”
“curse you, sirra,” replied his master angrily, “is this either a time or place to jest in? a man that would make a jest in such a situation as this would dance on his father's tombstone.”
“by my soul, sir, and i'd give a five-pound note, if i had it, that you and i were dancing 'jig polthogue' on it this minute. but, in the mane time, the devil a one o' me sees the joke your honor speaks of.”
“why, then, do you ask me where i am, when you know i'm astray, that we're both astray, you snivelling old whelp? by the great and good king william, i'll be lost, andy!”
“well, and even if you are, sir,” replied andy, who, guided by his voice, had now approached and joined him; “even if you are, sir, i trust you'll bear it like a christian and a trojan.”
“get out, you old sniveller—what do you mean by a trojan?”
“a trojan, sir, i was tould, is a man that lives by sellin' wild-fowl. they take an oath, sir, before they begin the trade, never to die until they can't help it.”
“you mean to say, or to hint at least, that in addition to our other dangers we run the risk of coming in contact with poachers?”
“well, then, sir, if i don't mistake they're out to-night. however, don't let us alarm one another. god forbid that i'd say a single word to frighten you; but still, you know yourself that there's many a man not a hundred miles from us that 'ud be glad to mistake you for a target, a mallard, or any other wild-fowl or that description.”
“in the meantime we are both well armed,” replied his master; “but what i fear most is the risk we run of falling down precipices, or walking into lakes or quagmires. what's to be done? this fog is so cursedly cold that it has chilled my very blood into ice.”
“our best plan, sir, is to dismount, and keep ourselves warm by taking a pleasant stroll across the country. the horses will take care of themselves. in the meantime keep up your spirits—we'll both want something to console us; but this i can tell you, that devil a bit of tombstone ever will go over either of us, barrin' the sky in heaven; and for our coffins, let us pray to the coffin-maker, bekaise, you see, it's the maddhu ruah * (the foxes), and ravens, and other civilized animals that will coffin us both by instalments in their hungry guts, until our bones will be beautiful to look at—afther about six months' bleaching—and a sharp eye 'twould be that 'ud know the difference between masther and man then, i think.”
we omitted to say that a piercing and most severe hoar frost had set in with the fog, and that cummiskey's master felt the immediate necessity of dismounting, and walking about, in order to preserve some degree of animal heat in his body.
“i cannot bear this, andy,” said he, “and these two gallant animals will never recover it after the severe day's hunting they've had. poor fiddler and piper,” he exclaimed, “this has proved a melancholy day to you both. what is to be done, andy? i am scarcely able to stand, and feel as if my strength had utterly left me.”
“what, sir,” replied his servant, who was certainly deeply attached to his master, “is it so bad with you as all that comes to? sure i only thought to amuse you, sir. come, take courage; i'll whistle, and maybe somebody will come to our relief.”
he accordingly put his two fingers into his mouth, and uttered a loud and piercing whistle, after which both stood still for a time, but no reply was given.
“stop, sir,” proceeded andrew; “i'll give them another touch that'll make them spake, if there's any one near enough to hear us.”
he once more repeated the whistle, but with two or three peculiar shakes or variations, when almost instantly one of a similar character was given in reply.
“thank god,” he exclaimed, “be they friends or foes, we have human creatures not far from us. take courage, sir. how do you feel?”
“frozen and chilled almost to death,” replied his master; “i'll give fifty pounds to any man or party of men that will conduct us safely home.”
“i hope in the almighty,” said andrew to himself in an anxious and apprehensive tone of voice, “that it's not parrah ruah (red patrick), the red rapparee, that's in it, and i'm afeered it is, for i think i know his whistle. there's not a man in the three baronies could give such a whistle as that, barring himself. if it is, the masther's a gone man, and i'll not be left behind to tell the story, god protect us!
“what are you saying, andy?” asked his master: “what were you muttering just now?”
“nothing, sir, nothing; but there can be no harm, at all events, to look to our pistols. if there should be danger, let us sell our lives like men.”
“and so we will, andy. the country i know is in a disturbed and lawless state, and ever since that unfortunate affair of the priest, i know i am not popular with a great many. i hope we won't come across his rapparee nephew.”
“whether we do or not, sir, let us look to our firearms. show me yours till i settle the powdher in them. why, god bless me, how you are tremblin'.”
“it is not from fear, sir,” replied the intrepid old man, “but from cold. if any thing should happen me, andy, let my daughter know that my will is in the oaken cabinet; that is to say, the last i made. she is my heiress—but that she is by the laws of the land. however, as i had disposed of some personal property to other persons, which disposition i have revoked in the will i speak of—my last, as i said—i wish you to let her know where she may find it. her mother's jewels are also in the same place—but they, too, are hers by right of law—her mother bequeathed them to her.”
“all! sir, you are right to remember and think well of that daughter. she has been a guardian angel to you these five years. but why, sir, do you give me this message? do you think i won't sell my life in defence of yours? if you do you're mistaken.”
“i believe it, andrew; i believe it, andy,” said he again, familiarizing the word; “but if this red rapparee should murder me, i don't, wish you to sacrifice your life on my account. make your escape if he should be the person who is approaching us, and convey to my daughter the message i have given you.”
at this moment another whistle proceeded from a quarter of the moor much nearer them, and andy, having handed back the pistols to his master, asked him should he return it.
“certainly,” replied the other, who during all this time was pacing to and fro, in order to keep himself from sinking; “certainly, let us see whether these persons are friends or enemies.”
his servant then replied to the whistle, and in a few minutes it was answered again, whilst at the same time a strong but bitter wind arose which cleared away the mist, and showed them with considerable distinctness the position which they occupied.
within about ten yards of them, to the left, the very direction in which they had been proceeding, was a small deep lake' or tarn, utterly shoreless, and into which they unquestionably would have walked and perished, as neither of them knew how to swim. the clearing away of the mist, and the light of the stars (for the moon had not yet risen), enabled the parties to see each other, and in a few minutes andrew and his master were joined by four men, the principal person among them being the identical individual whom they both had dreaded—the red rapparee.
“master,” said cummiskey, in a whisper, on seeing them approach, “we must fight for it, i'm afeered, but let us not be rash; there may be a friend or two among them, and it is better to come off peaceably if we can.”
“i agree with you,” replied his master. “there is no use in shedding unnecessary blood; but, in any event, let us not permit them to disarm us, should they insist on doing so. they know i never go three yards from my hall-door without arms, and it is not improbable they may make a point of taking them from us. i, however, for one, will not trust to their promises, for i know their treachery, as i do their cowardice, when their numbers are but few, and an armed opponent or two before them, determined to give battle. stand, therefore, by me, andy, and, by king william, should they have re-course to violence, we shall let them see, and feel too, that we are not unprepared.”
“i have but one life, sir,” replied his faithful follower; “it was spent—at least its best days were—in your service, and sooner than any danger should come to you, it will be lost in your defence. if it was only for the sake of her, that is not here, the cooleen bawn, i would do it.”
“who goes there?” asked a deep and powerful voice when the parties had come within about twenty yards of each other.
“by the powers!” exclaimed andrew in a whisper, “it's himself the red rapparee!”
“we are friends,” he replied, “and have lost our way.”
the other party approached, and, on joining our travellers, the rapparee started, exclaiming, “what, noble squire, is it possible that this is you? hut! it can't be—let me look at you closer, till i make sure of you.”
“keep your distance, sir,” replied the old man with courage and dignity; “keep your distance; you see that i and my servant are both well armed, and determined to defend ourselves against violence.”
an ominous and ferocious glance passed from the rapparee to his comrades, who, however, said nothing, but seemed to be resolved to guide themselves altogether by his conduct. the red rapparee was a huge man of about forty, and the epithet of “red” had been given to him in consequence of the color of his hair. in expression his countenance was by no means unhandsome, being florid and symmetrical, but hard, and with scarcely any trace of feeling. his brows were far asunder, arguing ingenuity and invention, but his eyes, which were small and treacherous, glared—whenever he became excited—with the ferocity of an enraged tiger. his shoulders were broad, his chest deep and square, his arms long and powerful, but his lower limbs were somewhat light in proportion to the great size of his upper figure. this, however, is generally the case when a man combines in his own person the united qualities of activity and strength. even at the period we are describing, when this once celebrated character was forty years of age, it was well known that in fleetness of foot there was no man in the province able to compete with him. in athletic exercises that required strength and skill he never had a rival, but one—with whom the reader will soon be made acquainted. he was wrapped loosely in a gray frieze big-coat, or cothamore, as it is called in irish—wore a hat of two colors, and so pliant in texture that he could at any time turn it inside out. his coat was—as indeed were all his clothes—made upon the time principle, so that when hard pressed by the authorities he could in a minute or two transmute himself into the appearance of a nun very different from the individual described to them. indeed he was such a perfect proteus that no vigilance of the executive was ever a match for his versatility of appearance, swiftness of foot, and caution. these frequent defeats of the authorities of that day made him extremely popular with the people, who were always ready to afford him shelter and means of concealment, in return for which he assisted them with food, money, and the spoils of his predatory life. this, indeed, was the sagacious principle of the irish robbers and rapparees from the beginning to rob from the rich and give to the poor being their motto.
the persons who accompanied him on this occasion were three of his own gang, who usually constituted his body-guard, and acted as videttes, either for his protection or for the purpose of bringing him information of such travellers as from their known wealth or external appearance might be supposed worth attacking. they were well-made, active, and athletic men, in whom it would not be easy to recognise any particular character at variance with that of the peasantry around them. it is unnecessary to say that they were all armed. having satisfied himself as to the identity of master and man, with a glance at his companions, the rapparee said,
“what on earth brought you and andy cummiskey here, noble squire? oh! you lost your way andy says. well now,” he proceeded, “you know i have been many a day and night on the lookout for you; aye, could have put daylight through you many and many a time; and what do you think prevented me?”
“fear of god, or of the gallows, i hope,” replied the intrepid old man.
“well,” returned the rapparee, with a smile of scorn, “i'm not a man—as i suppose you may know—that ever feared either of them much—god forgive me for the one, i don't ask his forgiveness for the other. no, squire folliard, it was the goodness, the kindness, the generosity, and the charity of the cooleen bawn, your lovely daughter, that held my hand. you persecuted my old uncle, the priest, and you would a' hanged him too, for merely marryin' a protestant and a catholic together. well, sir, your fair daughter, and her good mother—that's now in heaven, i hope—went up to dublin to the lord lieutenant, and before him the cooleen bawn, went on her two knees and begged my uncle's life, and got it; for the lord lieutenant said that no one could deny her any thing. now, sir, for her sake, go home in peace. boys, get their horses.”
andy cummiskey would have looked upon all this as manly and generous, but he could not help observing a particular and rather sinister meaning in the look which the rapparee turned on his companions as he spoke. he had often heard, too, of his treacherous disposition and his unrelenting cruelty whenever he entertained a feeling of vengeance. in his present position, however, all he could do was to stand on his guard; and with this impression strong upon him he resolved to put no confidence in the words of the rapparee. in a few minutes the horses were brought up, and randy (randall) ruah having wiped mr. folliard's saddle—for such was his name—with the skirt of his cothamore, and removed the hoar frost or rime which had gathered on it, he brought the animal over to him, and said, with a kind of rude courtesy,
“come, sir, trust me; i will help you to your saddle.”
“you have not the reputation of being trustworthy,” replied mr. folliard; “keep back, sir, at your peril; i will not trust you. my own servant will assist me.”
this seemed precisely the arrangement which the rapparee and his men had contemplated. the squire, in mounting, was obliged, as every man is, to use both his hands, as was his servant also, while assisting him. they consequently put up their pistols until they should get into the saddles, and, almost in an instant, found themselves disarmed, and prisoners in the hands of these lawless and unscrupulous men.
“now, squire folliard,” exclaimed the rapparee, “see what it is not to trust an honest man; had you done so, not a hair of your head would be injured. as it is, i'll give you five minutes to do three things; remember my uncle, the priest, that you transported.”
“he acted most illegally, sir,” replied the old man indignantly; “and, in my opinion, i say that, in consequence of his conduct, the country had a good riddance of him. i only wish i could send you after him; perhaps i shall do so yet. i believe in providence, sirra, and that god can protect me from your violence even here.”
“in the next place,” proceeded the rapparee, “think of your daughter, that you will never see again, either in this world or the next.”
“i know i am unworthy of having such an angel,” replied the old man, “but unless you were a cruel and a heartless ruffian, you would not at this moment mention her, or bring the thoughts of her to my recollection.”
“in the last place,” continued the other, “if you have any thing to say in the shape of a prayer, say it, for in five minutes' time there will be a bullet through your heart, and in five more you will be snug and warm at the bottom of the loch there below—that's your doom.”
“o'donnel,” said andy, “think that there's a god above you. surely you wouldn't murdher this ould man and make the sowl within your body redder—if the thing's possible—than the head that's on the top of it, though in throth i don't think it's by way of ornament it's there either. come, come, randal, my man, this is all feastalagh (nonsense). you only want to frighten the gentleman. as for your uncle, man alive, all i can say is that he was a friend to your family, and to religion too, that sent him on his travels.”
“take off your gallowses” (braces)! said the rapparee; “take them off, a couple of you—for, by all the powers of darkness, they'll both go to the bottom of the loch together, back to back. down you'll go, andy.”
“by my soul, then,” replied the unflinching servant, “if we go down you'll go up; and we have those belongin' to us that will see you kiss the hangman yet. yerra, now, above all words in the alphabet what could put a gallows into your mouth? faith, randal, it's about your neck it'll go, and you'll put out your tongue at the daicent people that will attend your own funeral yet—that is, if you don't let us off.”
“put them both to their knees,” said the rapparee in a voice of thunder, “to their knees with them. i'll take the masther, and, kineely, do you take the man.”
the companions of the rapparee could not avoid laughing at the comic courage displayed by cummiskey, and were about to intercede for him, when o'donnel, which was his name, stamped with fury on the ground and asked them if they dared to disobey him. this sobered them at once, and in less than a minute mr. folliard and andy were placed upon their knees, to await the terrific sentence which was about to be executed on them, in that wild and lonely moor, and under such appalling circumstances. when placed in the desired posture, to ask that mercy from god which they were not about to experience at the hands of man, squire folliard spoke:
“red rapparee,” said he, “it is not that i am afraid of death as such, but i feel that i am not prepared to die. suffer my servant and myself to go home without harm, and i shall engage not only to get you a pardon from the government of the country, but i shall furnish you with money either to take you to some useful calling, or to emigrate to some foreign country, where nobody will know of your misdeeds, or the life you have led here.”
“randal, my man,” added andy, “listen to what the gentleman says, and you may escape what you know yet. as for my master, randal, let him pass, and take me in his place. i may as well die now, maybe, as another time. i was an honest, faithful servant, at all times. i have neither chick nor child to cry for me. no wife, thank god, to break my heart afther. my conscience is light and airy, like a beggarmans blanket, as they say; and, barrin' that i once got drunk wid your uncle in moll flanagan's sheebeen house, i don't know that i have much to trouble me. spare him, then, and take me, if it must come to that. he has the cooleen bawn to think for. do you think of her, too; and remember that it was she who saved your uncle from the gallows.”
this unlucky allusion only deepened the vengeance of the red rapparee, who looked to the priming of his gun, and was in the act of preparing to perpetrate this most in-human and awful murder, when all interruption took place for which neither party was prepared.
now, it so happened that within about eight or ten yards of where they stood there existed the walls and a portion of the arched roof of one of those old ecclesiastical ruins, which our antiquarians denominate cyclopean, like lucus a non lucendo, because scarcely a dozen men could kneel in them. over this sad ruin was what sportsmen term “a pass” for duck and widgeon, and, aided by the shelter of the building, any persons who stationed themselves there could certainly commit great havoc among the wild-fowl in question. the red rapparee then had his gun in his hand, and was in the very act of adjusting it to his shoulder, when a powerful young man sprung forward, and dashing it aside, exclaimed:
“what is this, randal? is it a double murder you are about to execute, you inhuman ruffian?”
page 11-- is it a double murder you are about to execute?
the rapparee glared at him, but with a quailing and subdued, yet sullen and vindictive, expression.
“stand up, sir,” proceeded this daring and animated young man, addressing mr. folliard; “and you, cummiskey, get to your legs. no person shall dare to injure either of you while i am here. o'donnel—stain and disgrace to a noble name—begone, you and your ruffians. i know the cause of your enmity against this gentleman; and i tell you now, that if you were as ready to sustain your religion as you are to disgrace it by your conduct, you would not become a curse to it and the country, nor give promise of feeding a hungry gallows some day, as you and your accomplices will do.”
whilst the young stranger addressed these miscreants with such energy and determination, mr. folliard, who, as well as his servant, had now got to his legs, asked the latter in a whisper who he was.
“by all that's happy, sir,” he replied, “it's himself, the only man living that the red rapparee is afraid of; it's 'willy reilly.'”
