304 NETTING KABBITS. 



A rich and hospitable farmer,* whose name will be long 

 remembered in this remote spot, had erected a comfortable 

 dwelling immediately adjoining the courtyard wall of the 

 ancient fortress ; and against the tower itself was piled in 

 wealthy profusion a huge supply of winter fuel. It was a 

 night of high solemnity, for his first-born son was christened. 

 No wonder then that all within the house were drunk as lords. 

 Turf was wanted, and one of the boys was despatched for a 

 cleaveful but though Patt could clear a fair, and " bear as 

 much beating as a bull," he was no man to venture into the 

 old tower in the dark, " and it haunted." Accordingly to 

 have fair play " if the ghost gripped him/' he provided him- 

 self with a brand of burning bog-deal. No goblin assailed 

 him, and he filled his basket and returned unharmed to the 

 company, but unfortunately forgot the light behind him. 

 The result may be anticipated. The turf caught fire, and 

 from the intense heat of such a mass of fuel, the castle-walls 

 were rent from top to bottom, and one side fell before morn- 

 ing with a crash like thunder. Nor was the calamity confined 

 to fallen tower and lost fuel. Alas ! several kegs and ankers 

 of contraband spirits were buried beneath the walls, and the 

 huge masses of masonry that came down, burst the concealed 

 casks of Cognac and Schiedam. 



We found the warrener netting rabbits in the sand-banks. 

 They were intended for sale in the interior, and many dozens 

 were already taken. Formerly the skins were valuable, and 

 a well-stocked burrow was a valuable appendage to a country 

 gentleman ; but of late these furs have fallen so considerably 

 in value, that the warren does not produce a tithe of what it 

 did t( when Boney, the Lord speed him! was uppermost." 

 Indeed, many a hearty lament is made in Ballycroy for poor 

 Napoleon, and his name is ever associated with times of past 

 prosperity. 



I cannot describe the melancholy reflections which crowded 

 over my mind, as I squibbed off my barrels on the beach, 

 while the boat was crossing the channel to carry us over the 

 estuary. It was for the last time, and with that thought, all 

 the happy events I spent by " flood and fell" passed over my 



* John Conway. 



