Good God! What have I taken on me to do?The opening paragraphs of the original , taken from the transcript in the Bodleian Library, will give the reader a sufficient idea of Bodley's Latinity. It is printed in full, from Dr. Reeves's transcript in the library of Trinity College, Dublin, in the Ulster Archaeological Journal, ii. p. 73, et seq. Deus bone, quid ego in me suscepi? Sane ego sum asinus, aliter nunquam suscepissem tam grave onus; sed nihil refert; faciam quod potero, ut illa canis Coppingeri, quae semper fecit suam bonam voluntatem. Ego cepi in manu declarare quid accidit in Itinere quod fecimus ad Lecaliam, Capitanus Caulfeildus, Capitanus Jonsonus et ego, euntes ad visitandum Sirrum Richardum Morrisonum, amicum nostrum, et ad recreandum nos ibi. Et ego narrabo omnia ordine; quia ordo est pulchra res, et omnes amant illum, praeter milites Irlandicos, qui sunt pessimum genus hominum; [si saltem illos homines licet appellare, qui vescuntur gramine, et sunt animo vulpes et factis lupi.] Sed ad rem. Praedictus Dominus Morrisonus mittebat literas ad nos valde humanas, quibus invitabat nos ad custodiendum Natalitias (quas Angli Christmas vocant) apud se. Sed quia Sirrus Arthurus Chichesterus Sergeantus Major totius exercitus, convocarat nos cum nostris cohortibus in illo ipso instante, ad pugnandum cum Tyrone, qui fuit tunc in sylvis Glenconensibus cum multis vaccis at paucis militibus, nos non potuimus ire pro illo tempore in Lecaliam; sed ivimus ad dictum Dominum Arthurum, et cum illo mansimus per sedecim, vel septendecim dies in campis sine facere aliquid magnum malum ad Tyronum; quia ille Tyronus est pessimus nebulo, et valde cautus, et subtilis, et non vult esse verberatus, nisi super bonos terminos; tamen nos pugnavimus bis cum illo in ipsis sylvis, et fecimus illum currere ad fortitudines suas: sed postea linquentes circa illum locum unum garrisonum bene munitum discessimus singuli cum bona venia et bona voluntate. Jam venit nobis in mentem dicta invitatio Sirri Richardi et post deliberationem (quia rebus inchoantibus deliberatione, periclitantibus audacia, utendum est, ut ait Seneca) nos putavimus bonum ire illuc, quamvis Natalities jam essent octo dies praeteritae, quia non dubitavimus esse bene venti etiamsi fuit in Quadragesima. Fuit hoc determinatum in urbe Armachensi, ubi est gubernator unus valde honestus homo cum barba nigra, qui tractat omnes bene, secundum parvam habilitatem suam, et tractaret multo melius, si haberet plus illius rei quam Angli vocant meanes. Truly I am an ass, otherwise I would never have undertaken so heavy a burthen; but no matter, I shall do what I can, like Coppinger's dog, who always took her own way.

I have taken in hand to recount what happened in a journey which Captain CaulfeildSir Toby Caulfeild, 1565–1627, first Baron, and ancestor of the Earls of Charlemont, came to Ireland in 1599 with the Earl of Essex. He was appointed by Mountjoy governor of the fort of Charlemont, and rewarded by James I. by the grant of extensive estates in Ulster., Captain JephsonSir John Jephson seems to have come to Ireland with Essex. He was at first attached to the army in Connaught under Sir Conyers Clifford, and was present at the battle of the Curlew Mountains, on the Sligo borders of Roscommon, at which that commander was defeated and slain. Jephson's valour on this occasion has been eulogised by Fynes Moryson, in his , Part II. p. 38. He was at this period quartered at Carrickfergus as second in command to Sir Arthur Chichester. In 1604 he was knighted. Jephson married the daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas Norris, and acquired large estates in co. Cork. In the Bodleian MS., and also in the British Museum transcript, the name is spelt Jonson throughout. Bishop Reeves in his notes observes that no officer of the name is mentioned by Fynes Moryson, whereas a Captain Jephson was certainly a brother officer of Bodley's. It may be added that the voluminous lists of the officers of the army in Ireland, printed in the , confirm Dr. Reeves's view., and I made to Lecale, to visit our friend Sir Richard MorrisonSir Richard Moryson, 1571–1628, a younger brother of Fynes Moryson, served in Flanders under Sir Roger Williams (see post, p. 336). In 1599 he accompanied Essex to Ireland, and was knighted by him at Dublin. Under Mountjoy he was governor successively of Dundalk, Lecale, Waterford and Wexford. In 1609 he became Vice-President of Munster, and represented Bandon in the Parliament of 1613. After several unsuccessful efforts to obtain the presidency of Munster, he secured in 1618 a grant of the office in reversion, but did not live to succeed to it. He had meantime left Ireland on being appointed Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance in England. Moryson's wife was a daughter of Sir Henry Harrington. His daughter Letitia married Lucius Gary, Lord Falkland. and divert ourselves there. And I shall narrate everything in due order; for order is a fair thing and all love it, except the Irish men-at-arms, who are a most vile race of men, if it be at all allowable to call them men who live upon grass, and are foxes in their disposition and wolves in their actions. But to our business.

The aforesaid Master Morrison sent very kind letters to us, inviting us to keep the Nativity (which the English call Christmas) with him, but, as Sir Arthur Chichester, the serjeant-major of the whole army, had convoked us with all our companies at that very moment to fight with Tyrone, who was then in the woods of GlenconkeinA forest of great extent on the borders of Derry and Tyrone. See Part I. p. 157 supra. with much cattle and few fighting men, we could not go at that time to Lecale, but joined the said Sir Arthur, and remained with him for sixteen or seventeen days in the field, without doing much harm to Tyrone; for that Tyrone is the worst rascal, and very wary and subtle, and won't be beaten except on good terms. However, we fought him twice in the very woods, and made him run to his strongholds. So after leaving about that place a well-provided garrison, we each departed, with full permission and goodwill.

We now remembered the said invitation of Sir Richard, and after deliberation (for in the commencement of affairs deliberation should be used by those adventuring bold attempts, as Seneca says), we thought it good to go thither, although it was now eight days after the Nativity, because we did not doubt our being welcome though it had been Lent. This was resolved on in the city of Armagh, where there is a Governor,Dr. Reeves in his notes suggests that Bodley here refers to himself. But the Governor of Armagh in 1603 was Sir Henry Danvers. a very honest fellow with a black beard, who uses every one well according to his poor ability, and would use them much better if he had more of the thing the English call means.

We set out from that city for the town commonly called Newry,Cf. the references to Newry in the accounts of Sir W. Brereton at p. 372 infra ^{(online at CELT)} and of M. Jorevin de Rocheford at p. 421 infra. which was one day's journey. There, to speak truth, we were not very well entertained, nor according to our qualities, for that town produces nothing but lean beef, and very rarely mutton, the very worst wine, nor was there any bread, except biscuits, even in the Governor's house. However, we did our best to be merry and jocund with the bad wine, putting sugar in it (as the senior lawyers are used to do with Canary wine), with toasted bread, which in English is called a lawyer's nightcap. There we found Captain Adderton,A Captain Henry Adderton, or Atherton, held a command at Mount Norris, co. Armagh, from 1603 to 1606.—Cal. S. P. (Ireland), 1603–6. Like his fellows he had come to Ireland with Essex, and was first employed under Sir Henry Harrington in the expedition against Phelim Mc Pheagh O'Byrne in co. Wicklow (Dymmok's , p. 42). an honest fellow and a friend of ours, who, having nothing to do, was easily persuaded to accompany us to Lecale.

So the next morning we four take horse and set out. We had no guide except Captain Caulfeild, who promised he would lead us very well. But before we had ridden three miles we had lost our way and were compelled to go on foot, leading our horses through bogs and marshes, which was very troublesome, and some of us were not wanting who swore silently between our teeth, and wished our guide at a thousand devils. At length we came to some village of obscure name where, for two brass shillings, we brought with us a countryman who might lead us to the island of Magennis,At Castlewellan, co. Down. ten miles distant from the town of Newry, for Master Morrison had promised he would meet us there.

The weather was very cold, and it began to roar dreadfully with a strong wind in our faces when we were on the mountains, where there was neither tree nor house; but there was no remedy save patience. Captain Bodley alone had a long cloak with a hood, into which he prudently thrust his head, and laughed somewhat into himself to see the others so badly armed against the storm.

We now came to the island of Magennis, where, alighting from our horses, we met Master Morrison and Captain Constable,Sir Ralph Constable was at this time stationed at Carrickfergus. He too was present at the battle of the Curlew Mountains, and took part also in the fight on the Blackwater, July 16, 1601. In a letter from Chichester to the Earl of Salisbury, dated July 17, 1606, Constable is commended as having in the busiest times of the rebellion proved himself a very worthy and valiant gentleman, qualities which in 1604 procured him the distinction of a knighthood at the hands of the Deputy, Sir George Carew.—Cal. S. P. (Ireland), 1603—6, p. 519. with many others, whom, for the sake of brevity, I pass by. They had tarried there at least three hours expecting our arrival, and in the meantime drank ale and usquebaugh with the Lady Sara,Sarah, daughter of Hugh O'Neill, died 1638. the daughter of Tyrone, and wife of the aforesaid Magennis; a truly beautiful woman; so that I can well believe these three hours did not appear to them more than a minute, especially to Master Constable, who is by his nature very fond not of women only, but likewise of dogs and horses. We also drank twice or thrice, and after we had duly kissed her we each prepared for our journey.See as to the custom of taking drink at the hands of the lady of the house, Gernon's , p. 360 infra.

It was ten or twelve miles from that island to Downpatrick, where Master Morrison dwelt, and the way seemed much longer on account of our wish to be there. At length, as all things have an end, and a black pudding two (as the proverb hath it), we came by little and little to the said house. And now began that more than Lucullan entertainment, which neither Cicero, whose style in composition I chiefly imitate (although Horace says, O imitatores, servum pecus! Horace, Epistulae I 19.19.) nor any other of the Latin or Greek authors, could express in suitable terms.

When we had approached within a stone's-throw of the house, or rather palace, of the said Master Morrison, behold! forthwith innumerable servants! Some light us with pinewood lights and torches because it is dark; others, as soon as we alight, take our horses and lead them into a handsome and spacious stable, where neither hay nor oats are wanting. Master Morrison himself leads us by wide stairs into a large hall, where a fire is burning the height of our chins, as the saying is, and afterwards into a bed-chamber prepared in the Irish fashion.

Here, having taken off our boots, we all sit down and converse on various matters: Captain Caulfeild about supper and food, for he was very hungry; Captain Constable about hounds, of which he had there some excellent ones, as he himself asserted; and the rest about other things. Master Morrison ordered a cup of Spanish wine to be brought, with burnt sugar, nutmeg, and ginger, and made us all drink a good draught of it, which was very grateful to the palate, and also good for procuring an appetite for supper if anyone needed such.

In an hour we heard some one down in the kitchen calling with a loud voice, To the dresser. Forthwith we see a long row of servants decently dressed, each with dishes of the most select meats, which they place on the table in the very best style. One presents to us a silver basin with the most limpid water, another hands us a very white towel; others arrange chairs and seats in their proper places. Denique quid verbis opus est? spectemur agendo Ovid, , Liber 13. (as Ajax says in Ovid). Grace having been said, we begin to fix our eyes intently on the dishes whilst handling our knives; and here you might have plainly seen those Belgian feasts, where In principio erat silentium, in medio stridor dentium, et in fine rumor gentium.

For at first we sat as if rapt and astounded by the variety of meats and dainties—like a German I once saw depicted standing between two jars, the one of white wine, the other of claret, with this motto: I know not which way to turn. But after a short time we fall to roundly on every dish, calling now and then for wine, now and then for attendance, everyone according to his whim. In the midst of supper Master Morrison ordered to be given to him a glass goblet full of claret, which measured (as I conjecture) ten or eleven inches roundabout, and drank to the health of all and to our happy arrival. We freely received it from him, thanking him, and drinking, one after the other, as much as he drank before us. He then gave four or five healths of the chief men and of our absent friends, just as the most illustrious lord, now Treasurer of Ireland,Sir George Carew, the well-known statesman of Elizabeth, and collector of the invaluable manuscript materials for Irish history known as the Carew Papers. is used to do at his dinners. And it is a very praiseworthy thing, and has perhaps more in it than anyone would believe; and there was not one among us but did pledge him and each other without any scruple or gainsay, which I was very glad to see, for it was a proof of unanimity and assured friendship.

For there are many (a thing I can't mention without great and extreme sorrow) who won't drink healths with others, sitting, nevertheless, in the company of those who do drink, and not doing as they do, which is of all things the most shameful. And since I have now happened upon this discourse on drinking I will say something, by way of digression, on the subject. Not long ago I was in company with some boon companions who were drinking healths in usquebaugh, when one was present who wished to appear more abstemious than the rest, and would not drink with them, to whom one of them, who could not speak Latin as well as I do, said these words: Si tu es plus sapientis [sic] quam nos sumus, tu es plus beholden to God Almighty quam nos sumus, which was most nobly said and very apposite. And I saw with my own eyes, when I was in Poland, a certain person sitting at table with many others, and refusing to drink as they drank, thrust out of doors by the head and shoulders with great disgrace, and made almost unfit for all civilised society. For at table he who does not receive whatsoever healths may be proposed by another does so, either because he likes not the proposer, or him to whom they drink, or the wine itself. Truly I would not willingly have any dealings with him who undervalues either me or my friend, or, lastly, wine, the most precious of all things under heaven.

But if any such person thinks he should go excused because he cannot bear wine, owing to the weakness of his brain, he may depend on it that it happens through his own fault; to wit, because he does not sufficiently accustom himself to wine; for by a daily and frequent use of wine he will so easily familiarise himself to it (for custom, according to Galen, is second nature) that he may quaff as many cups as he pleases, not only without injury, but even with the greatest pleasure and delight. But if he abstains from potations because he thinks that from them arises the cause, sometimes of quarrels, sometimes of mischief, let him understand that such things happen not from wine but from the vicious natures of men, from which it is rather to be deduced that, by a continual habit of drinking, we may avoid, when drunk, those vices we endeavour to avoid when sober. And for my part I have ever thought the abstemious are self-conscious of some great crime, which they fear they would betray if drunk. For wine is the father of Ebriety, but Ebriety is the mother of Truth, although some say that Truth is the daughter of Time; but they think so because wine is always drunk in good time, and it requires time to make a man drunk.

But I think I hear some severe Cato—such as they are who place their greatest happiness in long and well got-upComptis or completis in the original. beards—I say I think I hear him saying, Dost thou to us praise drunkenness, which enervates not only the powers of the body, but enfeebles the spirit and dulls the sharpness of the intellect? Silence, I prithee, my good Cato, unless you first of all explain to US what drunkenness is; for he who well explaineth teacheth well. There are certain gradations of drunkenness; there are certain limits; nor can he be in reality styled a drunkard who is occasionally conquered by wine; but he who so indulges that, neglecting all other business, he hath always his nose in the cup, without regard to the place where, the persons with whom, or the time when, he drinketh.

For I maintain that being drunk is nothing else than being sometimes rationally mad, just as if one should take any medicine that intoxicates the brain, or produces perhaps nausea, vomiting, or sleep; of which there are many, as antimony, nux vomica, opium, mandrake, and such like, and yet which may subsequently expel some disease, and conduce to health. Even Hippocrates himself, the prince of physicians, recommends amongst other things that contribute to health, an immoderate potation of wine at least once a month. And I remember having heard that a certain most learned physician, when he was asked by a friend why he drank so much wine himself, and was almost daily drunk, although to others he preached abstinence from wine, whereby they might prolong their life, replied that he lived more in one day by living his own way and according to his own will, than if he had lived a whole year according to the laws of physic. And certainly there are more old drunkards than old physicians, as Rabelais says.

I could, indeed, adduce in corroboration of my opinion, almost innumerable instances of illustrious and learned men who were wont to get drunk after the manner I have mentioned. But what need is there for particular examples when so many countries on the globe are so addicted to potations that you would suppose they did scarcely anything else than drink—to wit, Flanders, Germany, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, with many others, now too tedious to particularise. Much more could be said on this point, but I wish not to amplify farther, for the thing is as clear in itself as the day. I will therefore conclude with these lines of Horace, which are worthy of being inscribed in letters of gold on every table: Quid non ebrietas designat? Aperta recondit; Spes jubet esse ratas: in prelia trudit inermem, Sollicitis animis onus eximit; addocet artes; Foecundi calices quem non fecere disertum? Contracta quem non in paupertate solutum? Horace, Epistles, Book I. 5th Ep. Aperta recondit is a misquotation for Horace's Operta recludit.

Let us now return to Lecale, where the supper (which, as I have said, was most elegant) being ended, we again enter our bedroom, in which was a large fire (for at the time it was exceedingly cold out of doors) and benches for sitting on, and plenty of tobacco, with nice pipes, was set before us. The wine also had begun to operate a little on us, and every one's wits had become somewhat sharper; all were gabbling at once, and all sought a hearing at once, like what Sir Roger Williams,Sir Roger Williams was a distinguished Elizabethan soldier. He fought under Sir Thomas Norris in the Low Countries in 1577 and was present at Zutphen in 1586. Camden in his Annals has several references to Williams, who was the author of , 1590, which he dedicated to Essex. Miss Strickland records a good story of Williams' bluntness: Elizabeth was very delicate in her olfactory nerves, and affected to be still more sensitive on that point than she really was. One day that valiant Welsh commander, Sir Roger Williams, knelt to prefer a petition which her Majesty was determined not to grant, and did not like to be compelled to refuse. Observing that his boots were made of rough, untanned leather, instead of answering him she turned away with a gesture of disgust, exclaiming, Pho, Williams! how your boots stink! Tut, madam, replied the sturdy Williams, who understood her meaning, it is my suit that stinks, not my boots.—Strickland's , edition of 1851, iv. p. 709. of worthy memory, used to call his academy, to wit, where all were speakers and no listeners. And it is not true what some say, When wine is in wit is out, unless they mean thereby, that when anyone is full of wine, then his wit, which was previously hidden and unknown, exhibits itself openly and plainly. For if any sober person had been present at that time in any corner of the room, I doubt not that he would have heard very remarkable and witty things, which I cannot now recollect.

I remember, however, that we conversed profoundly about things political, economical, philosophical, and much else; and amongst other things we said that the time was now happily different from when we were before Kinsale at Christmas of last year,Bodley, with most of his comrades in the visit to Lecale, was present under Mountjoy at the siege of Kinsale, September to December 1601. when we suffered intolerable cold, dreadful labour, and a want of almost everything, drinking the very worst whiskey.Dr. Reeves here notes that this sentence is obscure in the original, and conjectures that some words may have been omitted from the British Museum transcript from which he copied. A comparison with the version in the Bodleian and that recently acquired by the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, shows that two or three sentences have been omitted. They are, however, of no importance to the narrative. We compared events, till lately unhoped for, with the past, and with those now hoped for. Lastly, reasoning on everything, we conclude that the verse of Horace squares exceedingly well with the present time namely, Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero pulsanda tellus.