Ballads of Irish chivalry :: :: University of Virginia Library

With him and his following we clattered adown by the hoarse-sounding rill,
Till we came to the strong House of Sloragh and blew up our bugle full shrill;
Then Diarmid the Master of Sloragh rode gallantly out with his men,
And we shouted “Hurrah for the battle!” as onward we thundered again.

III

We swept like the wind through the valley—deep quagmire and trench we defied,
And we knocked at the strong gate of Dangan where Will of the Wood kept his bride;—
How he pressed her sweet lips at the parting and kissed off her tears o'er and o'er:
But alas, they flowed faster at even, for her bridegroom came back nevermore!

IV

Through the bog of Glendoran we waded and on through the green forest crashed,
Then along o'er the broad-spreading highland, a torrent of bright steel, we dashed;
And there how we shouted for gladness as the glitter of spears we descried
From the army of bold Castlehaven far off on the green mountain side.

V

I rode up to Lord Castlehaven and asked for a place in his rank;
And he said, “Keep ye shoulder to shoulder, and charge ye to-day from our flank.”

168

And we marched 'neath his banner that noontide till fast by Lis-Funshion we lay,
Where we drank a good sláinte to Ireland and looked to our arms for the fray.

VI

Next morn, as we gazed down the moorland, a horseman we saw spurring in,
And he stinted his course not for thicket, for deep bog or crag-strewn ravine,
Till his charger fell dead by our standard, that waved in the bright morning glow;
Then up to our chieftain he tottered and told him his dark tale of woe.

VII

“Brave Baron of broad Castlehaven, last eve in the Tower of Cloghleagh
The foe battered down our defences: save me, every man did they slay;
They brought forth their prisoners this morning, with maiden and matron and child,
And the bloodthirsty miscreants led them away through the brown forest wild.

VIII

“And there, in the dell of Glenullin they murdered those poor prisoners all,
And the demons they laughed as they slew them—ah! quickly they freed them from thrall:
And now look ye sharp to the southward; see Vavasour there with his horde;
Then give him the murderer's guerdon and pay him with bullet and sword!”

169

IX

We looked to the southward and saw them with many a creacht moving on,
With the spoil of two counties behind them, by murder and cruelty won;
With a waving and flaunting of banners, and bright-flashing arms did they go,
With the clear shrilly clamour of trumpets and the loud rolling drum of our foe.

X

Then out spurred our brave Castlehaven, his sword flashing bright in his hand,
And he cried, “Now my children we've caught them, the foes of your dear native land.
Brave horsemen bear down on the rearguard—brave footmen strike hard on their flanks,
And we'll give them a bed near the Funshion—a grave cold and red by its banks!”

XI

Then came the loud clangour of horse and the rattling of lances and swords,
And the gloom and the glitter of battle as we eagerly rushed towards their hordes:
We dashed through the ford, horse and foot—on their rear like a whirlwind we tore,
Till their horse galloped down on their footmen, and we at their backs striking sore.

XII

Yet Vavasour kept by his standard, for a space he stood up 'gainst our charge,
But we took him and all his bold leaders, on the slope of that clear river's marge;

170

One flag-bearer fled to Kilmallock with banner all shattered and torn—
Sad news to Black Murrogh the Burner, the sight of that horseman forlorn!

XIII

And over the broad Ford of Manning we kindled our camp-fires so bright,
And fast by the shore of the Funshion how wildly we revelled that night!
And we drank a good bumper to Ireland, and one to our general brave,
Who led us to triumph and glory that day by the bright Funshion's wave.