Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1901-07-31
MADE BoNlFACE A KNIGHT,
singular Freak of 4 Bibulous Lord
Lieutenant Of Ireland in; the
Last Century.

During the last century one Of the
dukes of Richmond was lord ieuten-
ant of Ireland. He was a conyivial
spirit and during his term in Office
was wont to hold some notable orgies.
With his boon companions it was his
daily habit to go to certain fashion
able inn at Bray kept by one Michael
Connolly. There much wine was con-
sumed during his incumbency of the
lord ieuteuancy, and many and wild
were the nights that the little inn at
Bray Witnessed, says London pa
per. Connolly had reputation as be.
ing the best cook in Ireland, and it was
said his wine was the best to he found
within the confines of the emerald
isle. The duke of Richmond said SO,
and he ought to have known, as he
had eaten tons of the one and i'm
bibed tuns of the other. Connolly's
cooking and Conuolly's wine were pop
ular themes of converse ton with his
lordshiP, and he was not niggardly in
his praise, either. Wine is great lev.
eler of ranks, and SO it fell out one
night that the duke, carried away by
his admiration for Connolly's talents
in kitchen and taproon, committed
an egregious, amusing mistake. The
night in question had been an even
more than usually wet one at the inn
at Bray, and the duke, the inkeeper
himself, and all of the dukes compan-
ions, were lost to all sense of either
proportion or the eternal fitness of
things.
Therefore no one thought it
strange when the duke sent for mine
host, and, after a short speech of
praise of his viands, the way in which
they were prepared, and especially of
his wine cellar, babe him kneel. Then
strilking him across the shoulders,
said: "Rise, Sir Michael Connolly!"
and Sir Michael rose midst the rap
turous applause of those present. 1t
seemed quite the proper caper then,
but the next morning, as it came back
to still further jar the aching head
of the duke, it bore somewhat diff
ferent aspect, and the principal ques-
ton that agitated the ducal mind was
how. to get out of the scrape. Con-
molly was summoned, and, in the faint
hope that the ceremony had made no
impression, asked if he remembered
aught that happened the night pre-
vious. Sir Michael did, and manifest
ed a disquieting determination to
hang on to his newly acquired title.
But, as have lesser and greater before
and since, he fell willing victim to
bribery, and finally agreed not to press
his claim to knighthood. The price
was heavy, but not too high to pay
for the suppression of a tale that
would make his grace of Richmond the
laughing stock of London, and so the
duke was turning satisfied with his
mornings work when the late Sir
Michael dashed his self-congratula.
tons to the four winds.
"Yis, your grace, I'll keep quiet"
he said, as he jingled the price of his
title in his pocket, "but," thought
fully, "but it will take more than the
likes of me to keep my wife, Lady
Michel Connolly, quiet about the mat
ter" And it did. Michael was right.
She was Lady Michael to her friends
from that day on, and always laid
claim to the title. The duke was the
laughing stock of London, as he had
feared, but reformed man, for he
dared no further risks.