MEMOIR OF HENNESSEY. 359 



He abjured the use of spirits, avoided late hours, and 

 such meetings as might expose him to any colUsion 

 with that clan who had been so unfortunate, and reli- 

 giously determined to avoid every cause of quarrelling ; 

 but fate determined that it should be otherwise. 



** Having been invited to a dragging home, as the 

 bridegroom was his near relative, Hennessey could not, 

 without giving offence, decline attending on the happy 

 occasion. He was then a remarkably handsome fellow 

 — and you would vainly now seek in those gaunt and 

 careworn features the manly beauty which then caused 

 many a rustic heart to beat. The bride's cousin accom- 

 panied her ; she was remarkably pretty, and was, 

 besides, reported to be the largest heiress in the barony. 

 With such advantages, no wonder * of lovers she'd 

 plenty,' as the ballad says : — my foster-brother met her, 

 danced with her, drank with her — loved her, and was 

 beloved in turn. Every rival was double-distanced ; 

 but she was, unfortunately, betrothed by her father 

 to a wealthy Kearne ;* and although I, in person, 

 interposed, and used my powerful influence, the old 

 fellow, her father, was obstinate in refusing to break off 

 the match. 



" Hennessey was no man to see his handsome mistress 

 consigned without her own consent to the arms of a 

 rival. He made the usual arrangements, and I 

 encouraged him to carry her off. The evening came — he 

 left the Lodge in a boat, with six fine young peasants ; 

 and crossing the bay, landed by moonlight at a little 

 distance from the village where his inamorata dwelt. 



'* That very night a multitude of the Malleys had 

 accompanied the accepted suitor to conclude all 



♦ A nglice, a rich, vulgar clown. 



