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hour's uneasiness, wi'out thinking for a minute that he was doing onything beyond his bounden duty. And the O'Hara on his part regarded MacEagan wi' a devotion very different but maybe as strong in its kind, as I think you'll agree by-and-by.

Eagan MacEagan married a lass o' the Laverys o' MacUillan. The Laverys are a family wi' a thraw in them. Sometimes it comes out in them in the body and sometimes in the mind. If it comes out in the body, they are aye misshapen crowles, but usually they are quick in the uptak'; and if it comes out in the mind, they are mere haverals, but usually they are very bonny. Eagan's wife hersel' was a sonsy, redcheeked lass, but wi' no more sense than a hen. She bore Eagan only ane laddie, and he took the thraw in the body. From his birth he was a wee, weakly, wizened-up thing like a last year's apple. The O'Hara, as the laddie grew up, saw he wad never be fit for ony honest work, so he decided to give him a good education, and make him an attorney or something o' that kind. So when young Michael MacEagan was auld enough he sent him to Mr. M'Neil's Academy at Ballymena, and gied him a pony to carry him to and fro.

Now a' the scholars-and, for that matter, a' the teachers at the Academy were Presbyterians,-the Presbyterians were aye keen on education; and just when young Michael was sent there, the Presbyterians a' ower Ulster were agog ower the French Revolution. Ye ken, ever since the great evictions thirty years afore, when some forty thousand Presbyterian farmers were driven frae Ulster to America, the Presbyterians, both them that went awa' and them that stayed at hame, had borne a bitter hatred o' English rule; and when the American war broke out not lang after, England had bitter reason to know it. Now the LIVING AGE. VOL. XXXV.

1859

example o' the French had fired them a' wi' a burning hope o' owerthrowing the government they loathed. Everywhere they were blethering about the principles o' the revolution and the rights o' man, and the chance o' setting up an Irish republic, and laying in stocks o' treasonable literature and auld guns and pikes.

Weel, young Michael, in his shairp way, listened to the talk o' his fellowscholars, and he soon picked up some knowledge o', and became a raging convert to, democratic views. He had good sense enough, though, to say naething aboot these at Duncairn, for he kenned that the O'Hara hated them, and he felt sure that if he, a mere kern o' the O'Hara's, preached to his father such a monstrous doctrine as that the O'Hara was nae better than himsel', though he was his ain son Eagan wad wring his neck wi' as little pity as he wad a chicken's.

It was just when the Presbyterian discontent was at its height, and a' parties saw that the outbreak o' rebellion was a matter o' days, that the O'Hara directed Eagan to hae some two score head o' kine canted the next fair day at Ballymena. So when the fair day came, twa herds took ower the kine, and Eagan and young Michael drove ower after them to the market. The kine sold weel, and Eagan gieing the herds a couple or three glasses o' ale-Eagan and young Michael taking whusky-sent them hame again, while he and Michael went about the toon seeing some auld friends.

They were at this till the fair was ower. By that time the farmers that had been at the fairand the MacEagans themsel's, I fear -had had a good mony whuskies, and were in no way to think o' what was prudent. So they made what is now caa'd a demonstration against the Government. They were nearly a'

Presbyterians, dour and fierce bodies they aye were, and they wanted to show their hatred o' their enemies. They gathered in groups about the fair hill, and talked fiercely o' what they wad soon do, and the mair excitable o' them wad frae time to time shout out. "Remember Orr!" "Liberty for Ireland!" and such-like cries.

Weel, Nabob Starkie wi' his corps o' yeomen-my father's corps-lay stationed in the toon, and he wasna the sort o' man to stand this lang. Before the demonstration had weel begun he was seen coming riding at the head o' his corps, and ance the farmers saw him they gey soon quieted doon and began to separate, and not a few o' them hurried aff to their carts and started hame.

Nabob Starkie rode slowly through the wheen folks that still remained, glaring fiercely from side to side wi his big yellow-black eyes, as if dauring ane o' them to whisper. He had got right out o' the sma' crowd, and was passing where Eagan MacEagan was standing watching the scene wi' his cripple o' a son hanging on to his arm, when suddenly Michael-I speer it was the whusky working on him-squeeled out in his wee thin voice, "Liberty! Equality! Fraternity!"

"Seize that cursed whelp!" shouted out the Nabob. "Who's that with him? His father? Seize the old dog too. Off with them to the bridewell this minute!"

Before Eagan MacEagan kent weel what had happened, he and his son had been seized by half a dozen yeomen, and were being driven like wild beasts along the streets to the jail.

They were brought before a courtmartial the next morn, and each was sentenced to receive twenty-five lashes on the fair hill that day at twelve o'clock.

The court-martial hadna risen long, and my father was wi' the Nabob re

ceiving some orders frae him in his private room in the hotel, when the door opened and who should walk in but the O'Hara. How he had got news o' what had happened to the MacEagans my father never learnt.

He saluted the Nabob very politely, apologized for intruding on him, told him who he was, and stated finally that he had come to ask for a delay in the execution o' the sentences on his servants until he could appeal to the General Commanding in Belfast.

A' the time he was speaking Nabob Starkie kept glowering at him in a venomous way: he hated the O'Hara wi' a renegade's hate. When he ceased, the Nabob said very slowly: "O'Hara, you're not so well reported yourself that I am likely to grant you a favor for your traitors of servants. sentence was lawful and given by a lawful court, and if you are at the fair hill to-day at twelve o'clock you'll see it carried out. Now, get out of the room. I have no time to waste on yoɑ or the other two papists."

The

The O'Hara's red-brown eyes bleezed out like furnaces, and for a minute my father thought he was going to strike Nabob Starkie. But he recovered himsel', and turning quickly left the room wi'out saying a word.

At twelve o'clock Nabob Starkie wi' his corps marched up to the fair hill wi' Eagan and his son. My father wad gladly hae escaped going, but the Nabob had found out that he kenned the MacEagans, and sae wadna excuse

him.

Eagan a' the way to the fair hill wore a firm and calm face; but Michael, though he was now about eighteen, greeted like a wean. When they reached the ground there was a good crowd there, and in the front o' it was the O'Hara. The moment Eagan noticed him he staggered and nearly fell, and from then till he was tied to the triangle he seemed in a daze.

He never uttered a word or a groan while the cruel thongs cut his naked flesh. When he received his portion he caa'd out.

"What does the hound want?" asked the Nabob.

"Your honor," said poor Eagan, "my laddie there is but a poor wee bit o' a crippled wean, and no fit to thole this. If your honor pleases, I'll tak' his strokes as weel as my ain."

The Nabob laughed.

"If the cur wants mair strokes," he said to the provost-marshal, “gi'e him ten mair."

Wi' that the O'Hara broke through the circle o' yeomen. His eyes were flaming, and his whole frame in a tremble.

"Before one more stroke is given him," he cried wildly, "I demand if they are to be taken off the laddie's punishment?"

Nabob Starkie glowered at him wi' a poisoned look.

"O'Hara," he said slowly, "I have warned you once to-day; I'll not warn you again, Turn that man off the ground."

The O'Hara was bundled back behint the yeomen again, and ten mair strokes were gien poor Eagan. Then he was untied, and young Michael put in his place.

When the first lash fell on his wee withered-up back he screamed wi' agony, and he continued screaming till the tenth fell. Then he fainted. The provost-marshal went on lashing his poor senseless body.

Ance mair the O'Hara broke through the yeomen. He now looked to my father clean daft.

"This is hell's wark!" he shouted. "Here," and he tore off his ain coat, "I'll take the rest!"

"Arrest that d-d papist!" yelled the Nabob. "We'll see if we cannot stop his obstruction of the King's officers in doing their duty!"

The O'Hara was seized by the yeomen and carried off to the bridewell. The provost-marshal went on lashing the senseless laddie. When the twentyfive were gien they loosed him frae the triangles and threw him on the ground, and then the yeomen marched off. Eagan lifted his bairn gently in his arms and carried him to the inn, where he had left his horse and car when they drove in frae Duncairn the morn afore sae blithe and canty. That e'en it was a sairly different journey back.

Next morn the O'Hara was charged before a court-martial wi' high treason. There was much difference amang the officers that sat on it, and they debated in secret long before they came to a decision. But at last the Nabob, who presided, had his way, and announced that the court found the prisoner guilty, and sentenced him to be hanged before his ain house, which was to be burnt before he suffered. The Nabob and his corps were to carry out the sentence on their march the next day to Glenarm, where they had post-haste been ordered. Colonel Adair, who was bitterly against the sentence, rode off to Belfast to see the General Commanding, but he refused to interfere. He said that the O'Hara's death wad cow the papists and prevent them joining the Presbyterians.

My father was at the trial, in attendance upon the Nabob, and he saw there amang the audience Eagan MacEagan. The man was sae changed that my father hardly kenned him. His big saft face had hardened into a rock, and his blue laughing eyes glittered like sword-steel. He heard the sentence on his chief without showing ony feeling, and then walked frae the court, looking like a man in a dream.

My father thanked God the next morn when Nabob Starkie gied him so mony wee commissions to carry out in Ballymena that he couldna be through them till long after the time

when the corps wi' its prisoner was to start its march. It was arranged that my father, when he had finished his work, should ride alone after them and report himsel' at Glenarm.

Weel, the commissions took mair time even than was speered-maybe my father was no minded to be too quick wi' them-and it was near nightfaa' when he started to ride to Glenarm. He thought he wad gang by the auld Duncairn Road, just to see the ruins o' the house whar he ance had spent mony pleasant evenings.

As he came near the O'Hara country night had faa'en, and he noticed a red light in the dark sky.

"They maun hae been slow wi' their wark," he said to himsel'. "The hoose is bleezing still."

As he drew nearer he noticed twa or three mair red lights, and then three or four mair, and sae on, till the whole sky was as red as if it was a' on fire itsel'.

He didna ken what to mak' o' this till he met a party o' Captain Blair's troop. They were a' half-mad wi' drink and rage and excitement. They told him that Eagan MacEagan wi' a party o' pikemen had surprised the corps where the road rins through Duncairn Wood, and had rescued the O'Hara, besides killing twelve or mair yeomen; that the yeomen had searched the woods and rough ground for miles round, and had found no trace o' the O'Hara or the rescuers. So Colonel Starkie, for punishment, had detached Captain Blair's troop, wi' orders to burn every house, great or sma', on the O'Hara's land. As my father rode past the wee clachan near Duncairn Castle, and heard the roar o' the flames through the roofs o' the poor bits o' houses, the curses o' the yeomen and the screams o' the women and the groans o' the redshanks that were dying in the effort to defend them, his very heart sickened wi'in

him, and he wad hae asked leave to retire frae the corps that night but that he kenned weel if he did the Nabob wad hae had him shot for a traitor. My father was new to the wark then, and he learnt afterwards to thole it better; but, as I told you before, till his dying day he couldna talk o' those awfu' times wi'out greeting.

Well, three days or so later the "turnout," as the rising was caa'd, took place. I needna dwell on it. The O'Hara appeared at the head o' twa or three hundred redshanks, and the maist o' them were slaughtered by the Nabob as they were trying to mak' their way hame after the Battle o' Antrim.

Now, though the O'Hara and Eagan MacEagan were aye amang the hottest fechting they werena found amang the slain. So a price was put on their heads and a' the country round was owerrun wi' soldiers and yeomen and spies searching for them. But deil a trace o' ither could onybody find, until ane night the O'Hara and Eagan broke into the house o' Captain Blair-that ravaged the O'Hara's lands, you mind and took him fraem his bed and hanged him on a tree in his ain lawn in front o' his ain hall-door.

As you may speer, this made the authorities hotter for their capture than ever. They suspected that his ain folk were hiding the OHara, and they tried a' sorts o' devilish devices to mak' them disclose his wharabouts. Cornet Strong and his party o' horse were the maist brutal in this wark. Ane night when they were camping out up in the hills near Duncairn, the O'Hara suddenly appeared among them like a ghost, shot the Cornet deid, and before ony ane could recover frae his surprise disappeared again like a ghost.

Twa days later Major MacMunn, that the day afore had lashed an auld Glens woman to death for refusing to tell where her man was hiding, was

seized by the O'Hara and Eagan on the Broughshane Road in broad daylight and carried off. It was a day or twa before the troops sent in pursuit found him, and when they did find him he was tied to a tree in Duncairn Wood, and had been lashed to death just as he had lashed the auld woman.

Day after day and night after night the twa men turned up whar they were least expected and revenged wi'out pity some outrage on the Glens folk. It was noticed soon that they bothered themselves in no way about outrages on Presbyterians; but a yeoman or trooper wha had lashed a Glens man or ravished a Glens woman wasna safe in the middle o' a regiment. And soon it grew that if a redshank was interfered wi', he wad threaten them wi' the vengeance o' the O'Hara, and it was a threat naebody a'thegither liked. Times and times the soldiers thought they had got him. Cordons o' horse wad be thrown round districts whar he or Eagan had been seen and drawn closer and closer, every bush and hole and house being searched on the way. Usually no trace o 'them was found. Sometimes, on the other hand, they were there, but they aye in the end broke through the cordon, sometimes killing a trooper or twa, but ever escaping unhurt themsel's.

After a wee the queerest stories began to get round among the troops, and, indeed, ower a' the countryside. Folks got to recaa'ing that lang syne mony had doubted if the O'Hara hadna sauld himsel' to the deevil. And now his daring deeds and his constant escapes from what should wi' ony ane else hae been certain death made maist folks sure that he had. And when this belief got about folks told the most uncanny things about him. Ane was that he could see just as weel in the dark as in broad daylight, and maybe that was true, for wi' such flaming eyes as he had naebody could speer

An

what he mightn't be able to do. ither was that bullets didna hurt him. Man after man told how he had fired straight on him as he passed, and he had run on as unwounded and unconcerned as if a pea had been blawed at him. And Tam Phipps o' Montgomery's Horse told the strangest tale o' a'. He said he struck him ance a fair stroke wi' his sabre ower the shoulder, strang enough to lop his arm aff, but the sword wadna cut him. The edge o' it just turned ower, whilst a stoon ran up Tam's ain arm as if the sword had caught lightning. Every ane kent that Tam was a lying, boasting body, aye fu' o' wonderfu' experiences and adventures, but still, when he told the story and showed his blunted sword, folks couldna but feel a wee uneasy.

1

Well, what wi' a' these bogle stories about him, and what wi' his wonderfu' daring and more wonderfu' escapes, and what wi' the number o' them he had killed frae time to time, and what wi' his fearsome appearance wi' his flaming eyes and red-brown beard, the maist o' the troops sent after him got as feared o' him as feared could be. Mony o' them doubted if the O'Hara wasna the very deevil himsel' come to earth to help the papists, and mony mair were convinced that at ony rate he was under the deevil's care and protection. At last it grew to this, that when they thought he was near them they turned pale wi' fear, and when they saw him they were so fu' o' terror that they had hardly strength enough to pu' a trigger, let alone steadiness enough to tak' an aim. And a' this warked out to the safety o' the O'Hara.

Well, the Government got fairly mad wi' everybody connected wi' the business. They blamed Nabob Starkie for driving the O'Hara into rebellion, and that was ane o' the reasons they retired him and gave his corps to Colonel Adair, but only ane o' them. A mair

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