The Merry Past 



and lived like an ancient patriarch, dying full of 

 years and — in his own humble way — of honour. He 

 had eight children, forty-two grandchildren, one 

 hundred and twelve great-grandchildren, and eleven 

 great-great-grandchildren. 



The passionate love of fox-hunting which dis- 

 tinguished so many humble village characters in old 

 days was well exemplified in the case of old Daniel 

 Cross, a well-known character in the neighbourhood 

 of Thorndon and Ingrave, Essex, as an earth-stopper, 

 thatcher, and mole-catcher. He died aged eighty- 

 five, in 1827, surviving his wife (to whom he had been 

 married sixty-three years) about a twelvemonth. His 

 remains were followed to the grave by his relatives, 

 consisting of children, grandchildren, and great- 

 grandchildren. He had often latterly expressed 

 an anxious wish to see one more fox killed before he 

 died. Though he did not exactly attain -his desire, 

 the hounds crossed the field opposite his house a 

 day or two previous to his death ; and on seeing the 

 attention of his attendants drawn to the spot, and 

 learning the cause, he insisted on being taken to the 

 window, from which he was with difficulty removed 

 back to his bed. 



A remarkable instance of longevity was reported 

 from Ireland in 1797, when there died at Irreagh, in 

 the county of Kerry, Daniel Bull Macarthy, a gentle- 

 man who had reached the age of 112. He had been 

 married to five wives, and married the fifth, who 

 survived him, when he was eighty-four and she four- 

 teen ; by her he had twenty children, she bearing a 



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