THE
EVE OF ALL-HALLOWS;
OR,
ADELAIDE OF TYRCONNEL;
A ROMANCE.

IN THREE VOLUMES.

By MATTHEW WELD HARTSTONGE, Esq. M. R. I. A.

VOL. II.

LONDON:

FOR G. B. WHITTAKER, AVE MARIA LANE.

1825.

CONTENTS

THE EVE OF ALL-HALLOWS.

CHAPTER I.

Many a trumpet sounded forth the bold advance, and many a drum beat to arms, and full many a heart throbbed high, upon the morning of the ever memorable first of July, 1690. Then burst forth the signal-gun that loudly pealed forth the approach of day, re-echoed by the woods and waters of the Boyne. This signal was to announce to the troops of the Prince of Orange instantly to commence their march as soon as summoned by the cannon's roar. Their march was about three miles distant from the margin of that stream which on this day was destined to become the rubicon of empire!

The plan of attack, upon the part of the Prince of Orange, consisted of three parts. We shall now begin with the first:—Count Menard Schomberg (the son of Field Marshal Duke of Schomberg, and Commander-in-Chief under the Prince of Orange) was to lead on the right wing towards the westward of some fords which adjoined the bridge of Slane; the force consisted chiefly of cavalry, and amounted to ten thousand men; Count Schomberg commanded the cavalry, and Lieutenant General Douglas the infantry. Their route to the ford, which it had been determined they were to pass, lay through an unenclosed country, the grounds of which were partly covered with low brush-wood, over which the horses sprung with delight; and had the soldiers been clad in green a spectator might have imagined he looked down on a hunting party, instead of beholding an army upon the burst of battle; for, startled and roused from their peaceful lair, numerous rabbits and hares were seen to jump forth from beneath underwood, furze, fern, and heath; which soon set the soldiery at fault, and who for the moment gave up (tumultuously dashing into the merry greenwood) the hunting of men for chase of the leporine tribe; and they were not brought back to a sense of duty until thrice the bugle of recall had sounded; when having knocked on the head some hundreds of these peaceful, harmless animals, the troops gave up the chase, which is the symbol, for the dire reality of war.

They had now arrived on the margin of the Boyne, and upon the opposite banks were entrenched King James and his army, consisting of English, Scotch, Irish, and French troops. The latter were the experienced veterans of Louis the Fourteenth, who had toiled and conquered in many a desperate conflict.

The camp of King James was stationed thus:—On its right was the city of Drogheda, filled with Irish soldiers: upon the further banks of the Boyne, and to the eastward, their tents were extended in two parallel lines, and protected by a deep morass, and on the left it was difficult to be passed. In front of the camp were the fords of the Boyne deep and dangerous, protected by rugged banks, and defended by some breast-works; while the huts and hedges were lined with infantry on the rere; and at some distance