for
after he had caused the French champion to flee back into France he lost
the greater part of the reward which the King of England promised him,
solely by making too free with the strong drink. Does your honour
remember that part of the story?"

"I think I do," said I, "but I should be very glad to hear you relate
it."

"Then your honour shall. Right glad was the King of England when the
French champion fled back to France, for no sooner did the dirty spalpeen
hear that they were going to bring De Courcy against him, the fame of
whose strength and courage filled the whole world, than he betook himself
back to his own country, and was never heard of more. Right glad, I say,
was the King of England, and gave leave to De Courcy to return to
Ireland. 'And you shall have,' said he, 'of the barony which I took from
you all that you can ride round on the first day of your return.' So De
Courcy betook himself to Ireland and to his barony, but he was anything
but a lucky man, this De Courcy, for his friends and relations and
tenantry, hearing of his coming, prepared a grand festival for him, with
all kinds of illigant viands and powerful liquors, and when he arrived
there it was waiting for him, and down to it he sat, and ate, and drank,
and for joy of seeing himself once more amongst his friends and tenantry
in the hall of his forefathers, and for love of the drop, which he always
had, he drank of the powerful liquors more than he ought, and the upshot
was that he became drunk, agus do bhi an duine maith sin misgeadh do
ceather o glog; the good gentleman was drunk till four o'clock, and when
he awoke he found that he had but two hours of day remaining to win back
his brave barony. However, he did not lose heart, but mounted his horse
and set off riding as fast as a man just partly recovered from
intoxication could be expected to do, and he contrived to ride round four
parishes, and only four, and these four parishes were all that he
recovered of his brave barony, and all that he had to live upon till his
dying day, and all that he had to leave to his descendants, so that De
Courcy could scarcely be called a very lucky man, after all."

Shortly after my friend the sailor had concluded his account of De
Courcy, we arrived in the vicinity of a small town or rather considerable
village. It stood on the right-hand side of the road, fronting the east,
having a high romantic hill behind it on the sides of which were woods,