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of the place, infantry and not cavalry could be of use, even if the cavalry that had reached the town were of any considerable amount, which they were not; the large army of the enemy, unless retarded in its approaches, would consequently be able to make itself master of the place, before any accession of strength to the Irish garrison could arrive; and yet, while it was so absolutely necessary to delay the enemy's advance, the number of Irish troops in the English town was so very small, or not above three or four hundred altogether, that an attempt of such a mere handful of men to issue from their fortifications, for the purpose of arresting the progress to the walls of a veteran army, 25,000 strong, appeared to be a rash or hopeless enterprise. Nevertheless, as several bogs, woods, and other intricacies of the ground leading to the town, appeared to present some convenient opportunities for making an attempt to disturb the enemy's march, Colonel Fitzgerald sent out a party of Irish grenadiers to dispute the passes and defiles with the hostile forces. The grenadiers performed this delicate and important task with equal courage and prudencekeeping the masses of the enemy in check as long as possible, and, while retiring before his superior numbers, making him purchase his advance at the cost of a considerable number of men! The English camp was but five miles from Athlone, and the troops are mentioned by their own historians to have moved from their quarters very early" on the morning of the 19th of June, a time of the year when it is daylight at three o'clock-yet so ably was their progress disputed by the gallantry and skill of this little outpost of Irish grenadiers, that the garrison were not driven from their last position beyond the walls, and confined within the fortifications of the town on the Leinster side, till nine o'clock !

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of the breach they had to defend, were, as has been seen, but three or four hundred in number, and as no fresh troops had come up to their recontinual action! Nevertheless, they withstood lief, they were exhausted with forty-eight hours the enormous numerical superiority of the enemy with great spirit for some time, not giving party were killed and wounded; and when evenground till at least two hundred of their little tually forced by such a severe diminution of their small number to retire, they made their way to the bridge, which led over the Shannon, into the Irish half of the fortress. There, or in front of the bridge, they bravely kept the whole power enemy's access to the western or Connaught side of Ginckle's force at bay, till they cut off the bridge; and then, with some further loss in gainof the river, by breaking down two arches of the ing the draw-bridge, the remnant of this gallant little band succeeded in retiring from the English town, which they so obstinately defended, into the Irish town, which they THUS so nobly preserved! The only trophies of any consequence claimed from this unequal contest, were ONE prisoner, a French Lieutenant-Colonel, who was found disabled, amidst the slain, under the bridge, about two days subsequent to the attack, and ONE pair of colours, likewise found in the same place, under the dead, four days after. For this last acquisition, Ginckle is said to have presented the finder with five guineas. It appears, on this occasion, to have been easier to find a prisoner and a pair of colours, than to TAKE them!

English town was taken, St. Ruth appeared with On the evening of the 20th of June, just as the his forces on the Connaught side of the Shannon, and, encamping a little behind the Irish town, made arrangements to put a stop to the enemy's further progress. On the other hand, Ginckle, Ginckle, though nearly the whole of his im- his army after their late success, commenced his without allowing any intermission of exertion to mense battering train had yet to come up, re-operations the same evening, for attacking the solved to lose no time in attacking the English Irish town. town. He first planted three guns against a The three guns with which he had breast-work which the Irish had constructed on borough were brought into the English town, cannonaded the Irish breast-work towards Lanesthe western bank of the Shannon, to guard a along with the nine eighteen pounders, which had ford over the river, above the town, upon the battered down the bastion near the Dublin Gate. northern or Lanesborough side. These three The next day, June 21st, a detachment of cavalry guns fired upon the Irish breast-work the whole under Colonel Wolseley, was dispatched towards day. About six in the evening, a second battery Ballymore, to hasten up a number of pontoons for was raised between Isker and Athlone, and, by the passage of the river, and to guard eleven canhard working that night, at eight in the morning non and three mortars which were on the road; of the 20th of June, a third battery of nine and, against evening, a battery was completed eighteen pounders was ready. The heavy guns to the right or north-east of the bridge, for five being then ordered to play with vigour upon a twenty-four pounders, and a floor finished for six bastion by the river side, near the Dublin gate, a breach was made in the "slender wall" by twelve together with the twelve guns, just mentioned as mortars. These eleven guns and three mortars, o'clock; and the fire being so strong and inces- having been brought from beyond the walls into sant as to prevent the small garrison within from the English town, make a total of twenty-six raising any works to repair or counteract the pieces of battering artillery, all except three damage done by the English artillery without, an assault was ordered at five o'clock. The ene- probably mortars, and as such, large,) being of (whose sizes are not specified, but which were my's storming party consisted of a strong de- very great weight of metal. tachment of infantry, sustained by a considerable body of horse. It was formed of 4,000 Dutch, Danish, English, and other troops, all fresh and vigorous men, selected for the purpose-the operations of the siege from its commencement having been carried on by successive detachments from the enemy's main army, that relieved one another at proper intervals, so that, where there were so many troops, none were overworked. The Irish, on the contrary, besides the weakness

being completed early on the morning of the 22nd,
These dispositions for attacking the Irish town
at six o'clock the English batteries opened upon
the citadel or Castle of Athlone, which, as it was
manded the passage of the bridge over the Shan-
so situated in the Irish town that its fire com-
attempt could be made to enter the Irish town by
non, it was first necessary to destroy, before any
the bridge. The Castle was a fortress of con-
siderable strength, the walls of which Colonel

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on Lanesborough, and drive the English into the river. Colonel O'Reilly accordingly threw up strong works upon the only accessible part of the bank on the Connaught side, and Ginckle's idea of passing over there had, in consequence, to be abandoned!

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Grace had last year lined with "eighteen feet thick of earth," so that Douglas's artillery made little or no impression upon the place. But it had now to withstand the incessant and ponderous discharges of Ginckle's far more numerous and efficient train, directed by the veteran skill and experience of foreign officers, who had ac- The dangerous attempt to cross by force at quired the knowledge of their profession at the the bridge had therefore to be resumed, though great sieges of the Continent, in an age when the the Irish, after this success in baffling the enescience of military engineering was carried to my, displayed as much activity in resisting the 1 such a brilliant height by the rival abilities of a English at Athlone, as they had shown vigilance Vauban and a Cochorn. The fire of the besieg-in foiling them at Lanesborough. That night, ers was directed against the north-eastern or weakest part of the Castle; by seven in the evening a large breach was made in the wall, and the English great guns and mortars continuing to blaze away without any interruption, even during the night, by five in the morning of the 23d of June an entire side of the Castle gave way before the hostile cannon-balls and bombshells. A fortified mill upon the bridge, in which sixty-four Irish soldiers were stationed, was also wrapped in flames by the enemy's grenades, and the garrison, with the exception of two men who saved their lives by leaping into the river, being neither able to get out of the building nor to quench the conflagration, were unhappily involved in the destruction of the place. Next day, or on the 24th, more heavy ordnance continuing to arrive, three additional batteries were constructed against the Irish town; "one below the bridge, another above it, and a third without the town walls by the river side," over against a bastion erected by the Irish on the Connaught bank of the river. Meanwhile, notwithstanding the immense superiority and powerful effects of the English artillery in demolishing the fortifications of the Irish town, Ginckle, finding from the spirit and resolution of the Irish defence, and from the nature of the place, that it would be more prudent to endeavour to pass the river by some sort of a division or flanking movement, than by merely limiting himself to a direct attempt to cross the bridge by force, had formed a plan to gain the opposite bank by means of pontoons, below the ford, or towards the side of Athlone in the direction of Banagher, and had likewise resolved upon making another attempt, in the opposite direction of Lanesborough. New "tin boats, floats, and other materials" for the former of those enterprises, had arrived in the camp from England on the 23d, escorted by a reinforcement of Lord Oxford's and Colonel Byerley's regiments of horse; but as less of those articles than were expected were sent, other boats that were in Ireland had to be put in order, to complete the requisite number. During these repairs, Ginckle proceeded with his design of crossing towards Lanesborough, where he was informed, that "there might be an easy and undiscovered passage for most of his army, whilst his cannon amused the Irish at the town!" For this purSCARCE APPEAR pose, the day he ordered the three additional batWITHOUT BEING KNOCKED IN THE HEAD BY teries already mentioned to be mounted, he sent out a lieutenant with a party of horse to examine GREAT OR SMALL SHOT.........the French Generals SAW MORE RESOLUthe ford, which was found to be practicable. acknowledged they NEVER TION AND FIRMNESS IN ANY MEN OF ANY NABut Brigadier Wauchop, Governor of the Castle of Athlone, having gained early intelligence of TION; nay, BLAMED THE MEN FOR THEIR FORthis design, gave immediate warning of it to WARDNESS, and cried them up for BRAVE FELColonel Edmund Bui O'Reilly, Governor of Low, as INTREPID AS LIONS!" The great viLanesborough, directing him, in case of any dan-gour with which Ginckle pushed on his approaches ger, to send for the Earl of Antrim's regiment, hich was ready to advance at the first signal

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they raised two batteries of six guns above the
Castle-one of three six-pounders, close by the
river, and another of the same number farther off
upon an eminence. Next day, or on the 25th,
these two Irish batteries played upon the enemy's
quarters; the latter upon a portion of the walls
of the English town, by which part of Ginckle's
force was sheltered, and the former upon some
English regiments posted near the river. The
first three guns had not much effect upon the
walls; but the other three, pouring their shot
into the midst of the English regiments, obliged
them to shift their quarters to a less dangerous
position. Ginckle, on the other hand, from a bat-
tery of six twenty-pounders planted below the
bridge, did great injury to a breast-work of the
Irish, destroyed the greater part of the houses
yet standing in the Irish town, and so exposed
the rest of the hostile works to view, as to force
the Irish to quit most of their trenches, except
such as were behind the Castle. On the 26th,
thirty waggon-loads of powder arrived in the
English camp; no less than seven batteries now
continued to fire the whole day upon the Irish
works, and "all night," says the English anna-
list and eye-witness, our guns and mortars
play most furiously!" On the 27th, a new or
eighth battery of five pieces was planted in a
meadow below the English town, to rake the
passage, and thus to interrupt the communication
between the Irish camp and the Irish town; one
hundred cart-loads of cannon-balls also came from
Dublin; and, on that day as well as the former,
the English "guns and mortars fired without in-
termission!" Amidst the incessant blaze and roar
and destruction from so many pieces of heavy
artillery, whose vivid light, in the fine, short, and
warm nights of June, rendered every discharge
of ball from the cannon, and of bombs and stones
from the mortars, as precise and as fatal as by
day, the spirit and gallantry of the Irish defence
could not be surpassed. A correspondent from
Ginckle's army, describing the formidable state
of the English works, says, "we can now stand
almost at the water's edge and look over," yet, he
adds, "the enemy work like horses in carrying
And, to cite the
fascines to fill the trenches!
more expressive account of another spectator,
Colonel Felix O'Neill, writing from the Irish
camp-though the enemy "raised their batteries
so high that A CAT

COULD

since the 26th, and the fury with which he thundered from his artillery by night as well as by

day, proceeded from a final determination to force his way over the bridge at any cost, since he had now nothing to hope for in the direction of Lanesborough, and, even if his pontoons for passing at the southern or Banagher side of the town were ready, the Connaught bank was fortified there also! The Irish, on their part, opposed this determination of Ginckle with undiminished and desperate obstinacy. "We labour hard," says Ginckle's historian, "to gain the bridge; but what we got here was INCH by INCH as it were, the ENEMY STICKING VERY CLOSE TO IT, though GREAT NUMBERS of them were SLAIN by our GUNS; and THIS service," he adds, "cost us GREAT STORE OF AMMUNITION!" The attack on that point was commenced by the English on the 26th, the day on which they had completed their seven batteries; and the struggle was gallantly maintained by the Irish till the evening of the 27th. By that time, Ginckle at length, contrived to gain possession of and to cover the two broken arches demolished by the brave little garrison of Colonel Fitzgerald; and, the same night, the English were enabled to work hard at the last arch of the bridge which the Irish had broken, and had continued to contest from the opposite side of the river, till they were obliged to retire, by a circumstance which rendered a longer attempt at resistance impossible. Their breast-works, from which an opposition was made to the further advance of the English, were mostly formed of fascines, the wood of which, from the great warmth of the weather, being soon dried and easily inflammable, was set on fire by some of the enemy's grenades; and, the flames spreading, the troops that guarded those entrenchments were consequently obliged to retire, to avoid being enveloped in the conflagration!

It was now Sunday morning, the 28th of June. From the 19th, or during nine successive days and nights, the English had been engaged in getting thus far towards the accomplishment of their attempt, to force the passage of the Shannon, and become the masters of this stubbornly-defended town. But that undertaking seemed Now on the verge of success; the invaders appeared to be upon the point of obtaining in a few hours the end of their long labours; they enjoyed the prospect of spending that Sunday evening in the Irish town. The beams were laid over the last broken arch, the only material obstacle presenting itself to the eyes of the English between a rapid advance to the triumphant attainment of their wishes. Those beams were even partly planked; and, a few more boards once placed over the small space yet uncovered, and the path to the long inaccessible bank and town would be open! But the enemy were destined to go "no farther." A brave dragoon, serjeant of Brigadier Maxwell's regiment, named Custume, proposed, with a party of his countrymen, to put a stop to the enemy's design of passing the river. The offer of the intrepid Serjeant was agreed to, and he dashed forward in the face of all the English works, at the head of ten daring companions in armour, and "with courage and strength," says King James, "even beyond what men were thought capable of," began to pull away the English beams and planks, and fling them into the water! A tremendous fire of great and small arms from the English line was directed upon these gallant fel

lows, who were all slain before they could complete their desperate task. Undeterred by their fate, eleven more then sprang forth to continue what remained to be done. Another general discharge of cannon and musketry flashed along the English bank of the river! The smoke cleared away; nine of the bold assailants had fallen; only two were seen to survive; but the bridge was impassible; they HAD finished their heroic enterprise!

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Ginckle, thus a second time defeated in striving to cross the Shannon, resolved to renew his approaches over the bridge by the more cautious method of a covered walk or close gallery, and to support this new mode of attack by several others, in different directions. The whole of that day he cannonaded the Irish town with great violence," as I believe never town was," writes a spectator. "THIRTEEN SQUADRON OF WAGGONHORSES," continues the same authority, "are set out for Dublin for MORE AMMUNITION," and "you may imagine," he adds, "how fast we ply them with our artillery, when our WHOLE ARTILLERY is employed!" This terrific fire demolished a great part of the walls that had hitherto stood erect on the western bank of the river, opposite to the English town, but was principally pointed against the northern and strongest part of the citadel, called Connaught Tower, which, after taking much trouble to destroy, was finally overthrown. All the remaining thatched houses in the Irish quarters were likewise burned by the enemy's shells; and even the whole of the very inferior batteries possessed by the besieged, were now dismounted. Yet the Irish, amidst so many great disadvantages, continued to repair their old trenches, and even to form some new ones in a meadow opposite the last English battery of five guns, erected to rake the passage between St. Ruth's camp and the town. In this dangerous employment they strove to skreen themselves in some degree from the English artillery, by a stratagem which they had also practised elsewhere,-particularly at the siege of Carrickfergus, in this war. They got," says Story, whose account of the matter there, will convey a sufficient notion of its exercise here,-"they got a great number of cattel, and drove them all as near to the top of the breach as they could force them to go, keeping themselves close behind them; and this served in some measure to secure the breach, for several of the cattle were killed by our shot, and, as they fell, the Irish threw earth, stones, and wood upon them!" Meantime, it having been resolved by a Council of War, that on the very next morning, the 29th, the passage of the river should be a third time attempted, and in greater force than ever, the English pioneers, under the protection of their formidable artillery, were levelling the way from their camp to the water-side, for the launching of their large bridge of boats. These were to be thrown across the stream at a place 1050 feet below, or to the south of the town-bridge; and an endeavour was also made to ascertain if a ford, about a hundred and fifty feet to the south of the same bridge, and between it and the bridge of boats, would be practicable for the passage of a detachment. "Three Danish soldiers, under sentence of death," says Harris, "were offered their pardon, if they would undertake to try the river. The men readily consented, and, putting on armour, entered at

HOME.

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three several places. The English in the trenches overwhelm the English with his entire strength, were ordered to fire, seemingly at them, but to in case any assistance should be required by the aim over their heads, whence," he observes, "the garrison! While the French General made these Irish concluded them to be deserters, and did not excellent dispositions for meeting the enemy, fire till they saw them returning; when the Eng- Ginckle, as the best method of exciting the lish by their great and small shot obliging the courage of his English and mercenary troops, distriIrish to lie covered, the men were preserved, two buted "handfuls of money" to the men, who were to attack by the bridge and ford. The contest of the men only being slightly wounded; and it was to commence at the bridge, near the broken was discovered, that the deepest part of the river did not reach their breasts, the water never having arch on their own side of which the English had It raised a breast-work. To this they had almost been known so shallow in the memory of man! was accordingly determined that the Irish town advanced their gallery; and upon the attack upon "One party," this point, the other operations were to depend. should be assailed in three places. in the words of Ginckle's historian, was "to go The grenadiers of each party commenced by over the bridge; a second to pass upon the floats throwing their grenades at each other, from their and pontoons; and a third detachment were to go respective breast-works on the opposite sides of over the ford below the bridge; where our horse," the broken arch; but with very different results. he adds, "were also to pass and second the foot; The English did no damage to the Irish works, a large breach being made on the other side for when a grenade flung across the river by one of their entrance! A choice body of grenadiers, and the Irish grenades set fire to the English breastother picked men from every regiment in the work! The whole was immediately involved in English army, were to head the attack, under torrents of flame and clouds of smoke, which, the veteran Major General Mackay, the whole of from the dryness of the fascines or wood-work, whom, supplied with fifteen shots a man, were to and a westerly breeze then blowing and spreading be prepared by six in the morning, behind the the blaze on every side, it was impossible to exwalls of the English town; "but," says the ac- tinguish; so that the English were compelled to count, "with the greatest silence and secresie im- fall back, and form another breast-work behind their close gallery which was on fire, in order to aginable!" Intelligence of the entire plan was, however, conveyed to St. Ruth by some deserters; preserve the remaining part of the bridge! It was now past twelve o'clock; and the assailants and he determined to act accordingly. being equally disheartened by this repulse at the very outset, and intimidated by the vigorous I reparations which St. Ruth had made to receive "Ginckle's officers," observes an them, the entire attack was ordered to be discontinued! eye-witness, "knew not well what to think, seeing themselves defeated in so great a project ;"-while "the troops," says Major General Mackay, turned to their quarters, discovering by the sullenness and dejection of their looks, the passions in And thus all the waggon-trains of their minds." powder, and cart-loads of cannon-balls, and "handfuls of money," were equally successful against this one broken portion of the bridge, which, after all the labour, and anxiety, and expense of a third attempt to cross the river, was still as impassible as ever!

Day appeared, and Mackay's grenadiers were at their post in due time. It was, however, near ten o'clock before the long bridge of boats could be got ready for launching; and the English had the double mortification of not only being obliged to defer their attack, but of perceiving that the Irish were fully apprized of the attempt, and were taking every precaution against it! From an early hour, in spite of the continued and annoying fire of the English batteries, detachments of St. Ruth's best troops were seen pouring into the St. Ruth himself, Irish town to man the works. with the rest of his army as a reserve, likewise took post immediately behind the walls of the town that lay towards his camp; and was thus both guarded by those walls from the hostile artillery, and on the watch to pounce upon and

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The traveller, wandering up and down,
Exploring scenes of old renown,
Roaming through dim and pathless woods,
Ascending mountains, crossing floods,
In lands of ice-berg and glacier,
Or of bright beams and balmy air,—
Still to one thought delights to turn,
One thought which makes his bosom burn,
The thought of Home.

Yes, Home is dear. Why should it not?
It is that loved and magic spot
Where meet our present joys and cares
With fondest hopes for future years,
And many a treasure of the past,
Which long on memory's page shall last;
Where those we love dwell by our side,
Heighten our joys, our griefs divide,
Bear with each weak and wayward hour,
And strew our path with many a flower.

HOME.

We who have homes of peace and love,
Oh! may we not ungrateful prove,
But humbly seek to do our parts
In our own homes, and our own hearts.

And we have still another home,
Within ourselves wheree'er we roam,
A place of thought, a place of prayer,
To flee from sin, and doubt, and care,
There may we seek from day to day,
For strength to take our onward way.

But oh! a holier thought is bound
With that word Home, that simple sound;
For even to us the hope is given,
Of an eternal Home in Heaven,
The home of endless bliss and love,
"The high and holy place" above.

H. W.

THE NATIVE MUSIC OF IRELAND.

No. XIV.

Ere the commencement of our "labours of love," in the introduction of our National Music to the readers of the Citizen, we were aware that, besides the beautiful Air (No. 2) published in our January Number, there was another native Melody to which the title of "the wearing of the Green" had belonged; and verses written for the latter air by a favourite Poetical contributor to our Magazine, were handed to us at the time. We did not, however, consider the Metre of these words to be so well suited to our No. 2, as that which we adopted, or we should assuredly have given them on that occasion in preference to any thing of our own; but having recently had the good fortune to obtain the Air to which we have alluded above, we are delighted to be enabled to give these beautiful lines on "the wearing of the Green" in conjunction with the Melody for which they were originally written. It is perhaps, scarcely necessary to add, if any resemblance be found between the words of No. 2 and No. 14, beyond what the nature of the subject would naturally account for, that the claim of originality belongs to the Author of the lines which we have now the pleasure to submit to our readers.

The air has come to us by pure oral tradition, for we never saw it noted down until we ourselves had attempted to reduce it to writing. It appears in that antique shape, in which the second phrase is imitated in the third, and the first in the fourth. The close of the first part on the seventh of the dominant is a peculiar feature in Irish Music, and strongly indicates the genuineness and antiquity of the composition. The slight variation in the 6th and 10th bars, possibly crept in, in the course of the tradition; but we thought it our duty to give the air exactly as it was delivered unto us. In accompanying the varied notes in the third phrase with a varied harmony, we have, perhaps, departed from the rigid simplicity which ought to be exacted; but we hope, that, by a little use, the change may be admitted and not condemned as either impertinent or disagreeable.

THE WEARING OF THE GREEN.

Farewell, my native Land, for I
Must leave your lovely shore;
Because I cursed the tyranny
That wrings your heart so sore;
But never shall my cheek be wet,
Or grief on me be seen;
For, spite of all, I dont regret
The wearing of the green.

My father loved you tenderly,

He sleeps within your breast;
For that same love I cannot be
Laid with him in his rest;

And lonely my sweet love must stray,
That was our village queen;

For her lover's banished far away

For wearing of the Green.

They told me if I'd turn from

The green, and wear the blue,
That I might still remain at home
And-Mary-be with you;

But twice as sorrowful you'd be
If I had traitor been;

You said you'd love me-'cross the sea

"But never sell the Green!"

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