282 THE CURSE OF KISHOGUE. 



hogue; "you 're ped for hangin' people, and you must do some- 

 thing for your wages." "You 've too much prate, sir," says my 

 lord. " Faix then, I 'm thinkin* its yourself and your friend the 

 hangman will cure me o' that very soon," says Kishogue. And 

 thrue for him, faith, he was n't far out in sayin' that same, for 

 they murthered him intirely. They brought a terrible sight of 

 witnesses agin him, that swore away his life an the cross-exam- 

 ination ; and indeed, sure enough, it was the Grossest exam'ination 

 altogether I ever seen. Oh, they wor the bowld witnesses that 

 would sware a hole in an iron pot any day in the year. Not but 

 that Kishogue's friends done their duty by him. Oh, the stud to 

 him like men, and swore a power for him, and sthrove to make 

 out a lullaby for him ; maynin* by that same, that he was asleep 

 in another place at the time; but it would n't do, they could not 

 make it plazin' to the judge and the jury, and ray poor Kishogue 

 was condimned for to die; and the judge put an his black cap, 

 and indeed it is not becomin', and discoorsed the hoight of fine 

 language, and gev Kishogue a power o* good advice, that it was 

 a mortyal pity Kishogue did n't get sooner ; and the last words 

 the judge said was, "The Lord have marcy an your sowl ! " 

 " Thank 'ee, my lord," said Kishogue; " though indeed it is few 

 has luck or grace afther your prayers." And sure enough, faith ; 

 for the next Sathurday Kishogue was ordhered out to be hanged, 

 and the sthreets through which he was to pass was mighty throng ; 

 for in them days, you see, the people used to be hanged outside 

 o* the town, not all as one as now when we 're hanged genteely 

 out o* the front o' the jail : but ih them days they did not attind 

 to the comforts o* the people at all, but put them into a cart, all 

 as one a conthairy pig goin* to market, and stravaiged them 

 through the town to the gallows, that was full half a mile beyant 

 j^ . * * * * |3ut^ tQ ijg sure, when they kem to the comer of the 

 crass streets, where the VViddy Houlaghan*s public-house was 

 then, afore them dirty swaddlers knocked it down and built a 

 meetin'-house there — bad cess to them ! sure they 're spylin* 

 divarshin wherever they go, — when they kem there, as I was 

 tellin' you, the purcesshin was always stopped, %nd they had a 

 fiddler and mulled wine for the divarshin of the pres'ner, for to 

 raise his heart for what he was to go through ; for, by all accounts 

 it is not plazin' to be goin' to be hanged, supposin' you die in a 

 good cause itself, as my uncle Jim towld me when he suffer'd for 

 killen' the ganger. Well, you see, they always stopped ten min- 

 utes at the public-house, not to hurry a man with liis dhrink, 



