The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1859-07-07

principal beat was in the counties of London
derry and Donegal Among the precipitou,
mountains of Donegal, he was in his glory. NJ
| wild goat could leap the rocks with surer foo
and lighter bound. His limbs where whale
bone, and his muscles wire. Like the old fox
in the song, ne seemed to take pleasure in pro
| voking the officers to chase him.
| There a huntsman on eve Y hull
| Ihey blew their horns both loud and sh,in
| Merry, said the fox this is the music have sti /
When am at the t,wn's end o."
| One time the soldiers were after him. wher
he made for the falls of Burn Tolat. The,
| were glad OF 1t, for they were sure they would
nab him there. Although they were on horse
back, and he on foot, yet he kept ahead of them
| three miles, but now he was cornered. On the
| right was the preeipice. Before him. and bendine
round to the left, was the deep rayine of The
burn, with high hedge of rock on the other
side. You're my prisoner, Shan,D said the
commanding officer, as he rode up. With one
leap, Shan cleared the chasm, and turning
round with polite bow, rejoined, 4" You're a
| lar, SIR, and in moment was out of pistol
| shot.
| Other men wanted their retaners round them
when they undertook any great enterprise, bu,
it was Shan's delight to perform exploits sin.
| glehanded. An officer, with a party of sol
| diers, went once to apprehend him. When
| they got near his haunts, they stopped at a
| tavern to recruit their courage. AS the com
manding officer felt the better of his liquor he
began to boast how he would handle Shan
He had the terriers that would grab the old rat
They would shake him till his joints would
crack, DC. There was beggar man in the
| tavern at the time, whose name was Shan
Crossit de hobbled off pretty soon; and when
the party were ready, they pursued their way
AS thav yoipo bilI Nh IL
a sharp turn in the road, Shan came down the
HILL with roar like the voice of hundred men
As he turned the rock at the bend of the road
Shan motioned to his imaginary men to keep
back. Then Selling the officers bride, he told
him that his men had sworn vengeance against
him. but if he would give him his sword and
purse, he would try and keep them back till the
officer and his party would escape. The LIQUOR,
which had so lately raised the soldiers courage,
seemed now to have the opposite effect He
gave Shan his sword and purse, and, taking the
cane from the latter, galloped off. He was af
forwards tried by court martial, and con-
demned to carry begging cane all his days.
major general, colonel, and a guard of
about thirty men, were going once from Done
gal to Londonderry. They had considerable
money along, for the pay of the army and the
colonel advised the general to go round by
as far as the direct road across the mountains,
and the general ridiculed the colonel so much
for cowardce, that the latter sent word to eros.
sit to rob him. The highwayman thought this
fine chance to train his young men. So he
set his son In one station in the mountains, and
directed him to make sure of the prize. He
placed his son-inlaw in a second position, TO
nab him, if the other would fail and took the
third station himself. When they came along,
his son backed ont the son-in-law cowed too,
and lay still so they came unmolested to Shan
himself. He jumped up, and before the gen
eral knew, clapped a blunderbuss loaded with
fourteen to his breast, ordering a halt. "Now,"
said Shan, coolly, If you move muscle,
pull away; if a soldier fire gun, or step out
of the ranks, pull away; or if you give any
orders, except as direct, pull away" When
the contents of the gun would pass through the
the gen ra, they would in all probability kill half
dozen of his men, as they followed him in sin
gle file along the bride path So it may be
supposed that fear as we'll as strict discipline
Kept them still. Shan watched the generals
countenance till it was the right color, and then
made him give orders to his men to face about
and tie one another. The second tied the
farthest, the third the second, and so on, till it
came to the colonel, who was bound by the
general, and Shan did the general the honor
to lay down his gun, and bind him himself
He then took their money and arms and let
them ride on.
Shan at last was pardoned, and led quiet
life for three years; but he had put too many
affronts Oh some high officials, to be readily for
given. As he was in company with number
untrymen, a peddler said he wished to treat
the company, but could not get at his money
for the pack on his back, which confined his
Sha,, ,-p1,. 20
his pocket, and take out thirteen pence The
peddler went the next day, and swore against
him. A packed jury brought him in guilty.
The amount being above shilling, his life was
at the mercy of the court. He was sentenced
to death, and hanged.
In my fathers time, the tories were about
extinct. There was one robber, however, who
possessed some of their high spirit. l never
heard him called anything but I" Big Ned"
He was so confident of his strength, that he
seldom carried any weapon but his stick. He
was seen once lurking about some nobleman' s
house, and they prepared for him. AS soon
as he entered the house, it was surrounded by
armed men. The guard was strongest where
he entered, but he tried to escape by back
window, where there was none but big stout
fellow, named Mcconnell, who jumped on him.
They had hard struggle, but Mcconnell got
him down, and held his advantage till the rest
came. There was guard of six men appoint
ed to take hin, to Downpatrick, and they were
afraid Ito undertake it. "Why," said McCon-
nell, ~ could take him there myself" Ned
looked at him, half in Indignation, and half in
scorn, saying, We're stout, hearty fellow,
Mcconnell but We cudn't ha' held me if We
hadn't got help" When condemned to die, he
was offered pardon if he would inform on his
comrades. He studied a moment, and then
replied, with an oath, an not tell on the
boys" His companions made a desperate eff
fort to rescue him. They battered the door of
the jail with beam, while the bullets were
flying among them thick as hail. They fought
like yop ing lions; but the jail was well guarded
outside and in, and Big Ned, with all his
crimes, and all his high sense Of honor, died on
a tree.
The aohite boys were so named ironically
They blackened their faces when they prepared
for night ramble. There was man in the
county of Londonderry, named John Osborn
He got into so many fights, he was called Mad
Johnny. He once got into a difficulty, and
had to keep out of the way for while AS he
travelled through county Antrim, he stopped
at nightfall at a respectable farm house, to ask
for lodging. They told him the men were all
away, and they would rather not have any
stranger in the house; but as it was late, and
there was nc. public house near. he might stay.
The lady OF the house was a widow. She lived
on rented property, worth a hundred guineas
year. Her sons were then gone to Belfast
with linen webs. Before they went away, they
had gone to pay their rent; but their gold
being weighed, and found below the standard
weight, the agent had refused it, and they had
left it all in the house. In the night, the white
boys came to search for the money. There
were none but females in the house, except the
stranger, as the servant boys all slept in the
barn. They very naturally concluded that the
stranger was an accomplice come to let them