266 MEMOIR OF A GENTLEMAN. 



be in debt and difficulty. All that came here were, what is 

 called in Connemara, ( upon the borrowing hand ;' and when 

 the sum appeared to be too large to be forthcoming in cash, 

 nothing could be more accommodating in their overtures, 

 They would make my acceptance answer ; they would wish it 

 at sixty-one days ; but if it obliged me particularly, they could 

 contrive to extend it to three months. It was, of course, a 

 matter of mere form ; it would be regularly provided for ; it 

 would, f upon honour !' If, after all this, I hesitated, I did it 

 on personal responsibility ; and sooner than be perforated 

 upon my own lawn, actually suffered myself to be made liable 

 for some hundreds. When I complained bitterly of these 

 spoliations to my wife, I received the usual comfort, ' Dear 

 me, how narrow your ideas are ! If my uncle Ulic had asked 

 you for the money, it would have been a different affair. 

 And so, all he wants is the accommodation of your name ! 

 Ah ! if my c lamented father' was alive, how would he be 

 astonished ! Many a time he and poor Ulic assisted each 

 other. Indeed, the dear old man used to mention an amusing 

 anecdote. They once purchased a pipe of port, paid for it 

 with a two months' bill, and when the time expired, the wine 

 was drunk, and the note protested. They had consumed so 

 much from the wood, that it was not worth while to bottle the 

 remainder. Do, Mr. Dawkins, at once oblige my uncle Ulic. 

 Get rid of these narrow ideas. Believe me, they will never do 

 for Galway/ 



" There was another thing that added to my miseries, and 

 yet to my honoured helpmate it was a subject of unmeasured 

 pride. It so happened, that the geographical position of my 

 ill-omened estate was nearly on the boundaries of Galway and 

 Mayo counties no less remarkable for their extent than the 

 truculent disposition of the inhabitants. From time imme- 

 morial, my lawn was the chosen fixture for determining affairs : 

 of honour ; and hence, more blood had been shed there than 

 on any similar spot in Christendom. If the civil authorities ! 

 were so ungentlemanly as to interrupt the combatants, the 

 latter merely crossed the adjacent bridge, and finished the r 

 affair to their satisfaction. It is right, however, to say, that j 

 the magistracy seldom interfered ; and if a functionary was jj 

 forced out by some mean-spirited relative, though the fears of 

 the Lord Chancellor might deter him from refusing his inter- tj 

 vention, he still contrived to miss the road, cast a shoe, be| 



