61 



A LEGEND OE GALWAY. 



Erom tlie gorse of Ahascragli* the hounds broke away, 

 "With the " grey fox " on foot and a warm scenting day. 

 The cracks of Roscommon are here, and they swear. 

 Come life or come death, to beat Valentine Maher. f 



He's last thro' the clay and the deep of the vale, 

 Not seen at the gap in the third post and rail ; 

 And, still with the lead, the Boscommons ask, " where 

 Is the pride of your country, bold Valentine Maher 1 " 



Then, smiling aside, the old huntsman spoke low, 



'* With the grey fox on foot we've a day's work to do ; 



You'll have nerves of the strongest, nor steel must you 



spare 

 If you ride to the finish with Valentine Maher." 



All the while his hot chestnut was chafing in vain, 

 Till the foam from her nostrils speck'd breastplate and rein 

 But cool, as at first, " take your time, never care ; 

 We'll catch 'em yet, Kathleen," said Valentine Maher. 



* Ahascragh, Lord Clonbrock's place in Galway. 



" Many thanks for sending me the Legend of Galway. The lines read 

 very spirited, and make one fancy a bygone delusion, viz., chancing it at a 

 rasper. Valentme Maher carries me back to the days of my childhood. 

 I recollect so well when he came to stay with my father at Stapleford, and 

 after that he came to Glaston on his way to Newmarket, making his journey 

 to the turf metropolis on foot. 



" Sir Thomas Whichcote, Jan., 1884." 



+ Valentine Maher, of Turtulla, Co. Tipperary, and M.P. for that County. 

 Born 1780 ; died 1844, unmarried. 



"One of the leading men on these occasions (viz., "larking") is Mr. 

 Maher, a brilliant performer with hounds ; but without hounds, in Leicester- 

 shire, few men have a chance with him, from his perfect knowledge of the 

 country. On the Widmerpool day, of which I have been speaking, he led about 

 a dozen of them a dance ot upwards of nine miles, over a beautiful country, 

 in little more than half an hour."— Nimrod, in Sporting Magazine, 1825. 



