The National Register.
London, England, 1814-09-11 00:00:00

ASSIZES, AUG. 1814.

Timm ‘s nußnowvs, ESQ. PLAINTIFF —THE INIIABITANT4 OF
'IIIE ntittokiv OF LOWER 410TFENRAG1I, IN TILE COUNTY OF
MEATH, F(NI)ANTS.

Air. Grattan stated the declaration : it was brought upon an ori-
ginal writ of the Court of Kini:'• hunch. It stated, that Thomas
Burrow-es, nho sued as will for the King as for hinvelf, com-
plained, that certain malefactors to him, and also to Humphrey
Doyle, the servant of the said Burrow es, unknown, on the yr,ti.
day of October, 11313, at Daugan, in the parish of Laracer, within
the liaiony of Moyfenragli, in the County of Meath, did assault and
rob the said Doyle to the vinount of 7491 Lis. 7tl. the property of
•
the said Boum% es ; that said Doyle, immediately after hiLt. 111,1
bevy, did make hue and cry, as directed by statute, hut neverthe-•
)e.s the said defendants have not )et masle any amends to the said
Nolo.. es, for the -aid robbery ; our have apvrehended the bodies
of ale aim esaid felons, nor the body 4 any of them; nor have they
answered tor the b die• of any of them, or the body of either of
them ; but have permitted the said offenders and felons to escape
iiaa contempt of the King, to the crest damage of said Butrowes,
and the damages were laid at 10001.

Mr. Jcbb stated, that the question to I,e tried wag of the highest
importance to the public. The lands of Danynn were situate' within
Ilarooy et Moyteuraeh, and had been demised uy col. llnrrowes
to HoLtcr O'Connor, Esq. lie now proprietor, whose rent wag
payab'e half yi ally, and was nsuall, received by Mr. gregory,
amigo, y, the Colonel's al:eta—hut owing to tardy payments,
31r. G. was under the necessity •of resorting to legal process In
Oemibcr, 13.13, the last May rent being in smear, 7111.. G. received
a note from Mr. O'Connor, lamming him that if he went to Dangan
the rent won!d lie paid; hot it not be,ng convenient for Mr.
'crave Dublin he wrote to Mr. Humphrey Doyle, of Trim, to whom
Ise sent a receipt, requestior him to receive the rent from Mr.
O'Connor, ammiting to 7501.
Mr. 1)(i le applied to —Mr. O'Connor, who appointed a particular
day for payno nr. Mr. Doyle, -on the day appointed, accordingly
went to Daugan.

Humphrey Doyle was examined. On the day appointed flsr pav-
ing the rent he went to Dation, between eleven aunt twelve o'clock,
'where Mr. O'Connor resided. A mats' met him at the gate, who
informed him he was waiting, by Mr. O'Connor's orders, to take
Lis hor.e. and directed him to the place where he
.world meet hi%
nne.ier. He iteeordingly went to a house at a distance from the
road—it was the garden house—here he met Mr. O'Connor.
They sat down, and Mr. O'Connor desired his son Roderick to go
for the stocking. Roderick went, and soon returned with a stock-
ing. in which were hank notes. Roderick delivered the stock inc
to his rather, who then desired him to go about his business; and
the witness only remained with the elder O'Connor. After some
conversationO'Connor paid him the rent, amounting to 7501 and
he gave him Greeory's receipt. He asked for pen and ink to mark
the notes ; Mr. O'Connor said lie had no such thine. He then mile

a metnotandum of the amount with a pencil, and put it, with the
notes rolled up, in a handkerchief, owl put the Imilkerehiel into
liig coat pocket. lie had not gone more tlnni a few perches from
the house where be received the rent, le:ofing to the avenue %vilely

lie had left his horse. when a person he did not know ran ft ma be-
hind a bush; his face was masked with a piece of cloth He threw
hint &wit by a violent posh, which made him trip. A second
prison NMI(' erp. They tied him with cords by the wrists and the
fret, and lett in a faint. When he recovered, he found he
si as tied to a tree; by tench labour lie contrived to get one hand
into hiv waistcoat pocket, where he found a pen knife, with which
lie cut the cord that tied Isis hands and less, and a 1,49 extricated
limn the tree to whirl' lie had been tied—his wrists were
b:ackened with the cord. 'the whole of the mimev and the hand.
lk,ocitier %%ere taken from him, lint lic knew not either of the per-
Fens who robbed bins. On reroverite! he seturned to the uarden-
n-c., where lie met Mts. Smith, who gave him a drink of water,
and its a short time Mr. O'Connor name up. to whom he told his
a‘ he bail now related it. Mr. O'Connor seemed nmeh
licap.i3L‘i di ti,e reltatiue4 dud said lie believed time were robbers

SEPT. 11.

on the Oen e-ne ; two straoge ,d 'teen seed barking since
Monday ;he Interco to him.: l wortmee Iron, the farm, and search
neighhourhood; the witiless ...aid it via- w etess • Mr. O'Connor
aid, that on ast arch, the money- might be found' bid, perhaps in
the thatch of some cabin ; h• trl iieet, th, y merlin t. tie timnd now ;
witness got his le r-e, and, bei!..g vet y weals, rode home to Trim:
in the course of the dos', he made ao affidavit tit the robb.-rs before
the Rev. William Elliott, a justice of the peace for the County of
Mead!.
Dj3le, on his (TOSS examio:Aion, stated that he wag not servant
w
to any person—that he as k col otter ie Meath and Posinia.ter of
; that the robbers tied him to a him el tree ; that he was l)
gailL.Vd, and did not cry on' : that he tainted for fifteen mi-
nutes ; he extiicated himself ny contriving to get his hand toto-his
pocket, flow which he took a koife. at it toe rope
s.
Mr. M'NALIA, tins the dekndautt, said, he had seen bur one re-
cord of a similar nature, tr hich 11A la en ivied iu t:,e mom; of
Waterford ; but. in England ttich actions were freve..tly brought.
He entered hit° the histoty of the statute of %Vinton. The great
Alfred divided 11w country into counties and those counties into
lomoreds. Iu his reign), peace and qui,tude pervaded the people ;
as an aerielit author has oleeryed, a mini might tiltvel all over Eng-
land with his purse hanging to his saddle bow ; but in the reign of
Edward t. banditti inhabited the fores:s, and pestered the traveller
on the roads. Who has not heard of Robin Flood the ltlth
year of Henry Vll. the Irish Pao !lament adopted the statute of
%Vinton, and, in the 11th year of Charles IL another statute
wind' he had cited, was enacted. But the institution of Hue and
Cry was of much greater antiquity than Edward I. It is men-
tioned by Bracion, as existing as common law ; atld the statute of
Winton, ao.d those which follow, merely COUtalli provisions tOr en-
forcing the old police anti obtaieining stew regulations. He made
several OSerVatiollS on the improbability of the transactioo, and
the interest. which Doyle, the witness, had, as to the character
aoti to pecuniary objects, in obtaining a vet diet for plaintiff.
Roger O'Connor being sworn, stated, that Doyle look down the
:lumina of the notes with a pencil. folded them in a handkerchief,
with the penciled memoraodum, ard put them into his pocket, said
he was in a hurry, having to settle the account of a 31 r. Bathurst':
auction ; after paying the rent. he walked with him some length,
then went a co:army way, and in Bitola ten tounit-s heiril Doyle
say lie was robbed. Doyle said it was no Affair of his ;he would
not be at the loss, for he would go to Trim, serve notice on the
church sea Ilk us, and recover the motley of the county. 'I wit-
ness ear. city rt•quested of him to spew time.pot the rot).
!wry was committed, and raise an alarm—this he declined doing,
Witness also told him, be would collect his men, meet Into at night,
advised a party of dragoons to be got, ;sod said, he woolil assist-
with his men, in searching for the felons.—The, le, at this time,
alleged there was hut one robber—then said, he illtagihrti there wit;
but one, but their might he two : he examined arms—Utile
were no marks of a rope, nor did he see that the cords where rut—
. nor did he hear any outcry—nor did any other penult, though mdny
were on the demesne and near him, ilea,. hint cry out—lie xt last
spewed a spot, where he said he was robbed ; but the grass shewed
, no marks of pressure. Doyle begged patdon and said that was not
the place, and led the witness to another place, and said. " this is the
Plitee where I was rubbed," which is on the opposite side from the
I first place pointed out by him. The witness said, there was ou
marks of any person having been laid on the ground, nor wilere
there any marks of the fir deal seed on his great coat. The with( 55
I then proceJded with his workmen, to se.ireli the demesne for the
robbers : he soon returned, and saw Doyle, who was complaining to
the men who were thrashing, in the barn, that he had hien robbed.
This barn was convenient to the spot where Doyle said he had been
robbed.
Lord Norhery, in his charge, brought forward all, the leading
ie.:tarts of the case, and said, the Jory should find tot' the plartiti
it ti.cy gave' audit to the testimony of Doyle, and it appeared that
he had been released from ati interest anti future liability for the
plaintiff. As the defendant's counsel had sigh mitted several poiA4
ef law to the Court, a verdict for the plant;if efaild work no ;
tar, if these legal points wt,re well grounded Quid he would give
11110 opinion tot tilt m, but leave them to the court above), the de-
j fentiants would set the verdict aide.