320 



WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST. 



the money, it would have been a different affair. And 

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

 Ah ! if my ' 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 immemorial 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 affair to their satisfaction. It is right, however, 

 to say that the magistracy seldom interfered ; and if 

 a functionary was forced out by some mean-spirited 

 relative, though the fears of the Lord Chancellor might 

 deter him from refusing his intervention, he still contrived 

 to miss the road, cast a shoe, be run away with, or meet 

 some unhappy casualty, that one of the parties might 

 be defunct, and the survivor in a place of safety, before 



