150
AN GAOḊAL.
tlemen would come to them into the ship, they
should get all the wine and ale that was in their
possession. When Mac Sweeney received this
message, he felt ashamed at the circumstances
and accordingly he decided upon inviting Hugh
to the ship. They were welcomed, and conduct-
ed without delay or loitering into an apartment
in the lower centre of the ship; and they were
waited on and attentively served, until they were
jolly and cheerful. When they were here making
merry, the door of the hatch was closed after them
and their arms were stolen from them ; and thus
was the young son, Red Hugh, taken. The rumor
of the capture spread throughout the country in
general ; and the inhabitants flocked from all
quarters to the harbor, to see if they could bring
any danger upon the machinators of the treachery.
This was of no avail, for they were in the depth of
the harbor, after, having hauled in their anchor,
and the natives had no ships or boats to
pursue or take revenge of them. Mac Sweeney of
the Battle-axes, who was the foster-father of that
Hugh, came, among the rest, to the harbor, and
offered hostages and other pledges for him ; but
this was of no avail to him, because there was not
in the province of Ulster a hostage that they would
accept in his stead. As for the ship, and the crew
which were in it, having secured the most desire¬
able of the hostages of the territory, they sailed
with the current of the tide until they reached the
sea, and retraced their former course back again,
until they landed in the harbor of Dublin. It was
soon heard all over the city that he had thus ar¬
rived ; and the Lord Justice and the Council were
rejoiced at the arrival of Hugh, though indeed for
not for love of him ; and they ordered him to be
brought before them, and he was brought, accod¬
ingly; and they continued for a long time to con-
verse with him, and to ask questions of him, to ex¬
amine and criticise him, that they might explore
his natural endowments. At last, however, the
ordered him to be put into a strong stone castle
which was in the city, where a great number of
Milesian nobles were in chains and captivity, and
also some of the old English. The only amuse-
ment and conversation by which these beguiled
the time by day and night was, lamenting to each
other their sufferings and troubles, and listening
to the cruel sentences passed on the high-born
nobles of Erin in general.”
Red Hugh O'Donnell had now (1590) been in
captivity in Dublin for the space of three years
and three months. It was a cause of great distress
of mind to him to be thus imprisoned ; yet it was
not for his own sake that he grieved, but for the
sake of his country, his land, his friends, his kins-
men, who were in bondage throughout Erin. He
was constantly revolving in his mind the manner
in which he might make his escape. This was not
an easy matter for him, for he was confined in a
closely-secured apartment every night in the castle
until sunrise the next day. The castle was sur-
rounded by a wide and very deep ditch, full of
water, across which was a wooden bridge, directly
opposite the door of the fortress ; and within and
without the door were stationed a stern party of
Englishmen, closely guarding it, so that none
might pass in or out without examination. There
is, however, no guard whose vigilance may not
some time or other be baffled. At the very end
of winter, as Hugh and a party of his companions
were together, in the beginning of the night, be-
fore they were put in the close cells in which they
used to be every night, they took with them a
very long rope, to a window which was near them
and by means of the rope they let themselves
down, and alighted upon the bridge that was out-
side the door of the fortress. There was a third
iron chain fastned to this door, by which to close
it when required: through this chain thy drove
a strong handful of a piece of timber, and thus
fastened the door on the outside, so that they
could not be immediately pursued from the
fortress. There was a youth of Hugh’s faithful
people outside awaiting their escape, and he met
them on coming out, with two well tempered
swords concealed under his garments ; these he
gave into the hands of Hugh, who presented one
of them to a certain renowned warrior of Leinster,
Art Cavanagh by name, who was a champion in
battle, and a commander in conflict. As for the
guards, they did not perceive the escape for some
time; but when they took notice of it they ad¬
vanced immediately to the door of the castle, for
they thought that: they should instantly catch
them. Upon coming to the gate, they could not
open it ; whereupon they called over to them those
who happened to be in houses on the other side
of the street, opposite the door of the castle, When
these came at the call, and took the piece of tim-
ber out of the chain, and threw open the door for
the people in the castle, who then set out, with a
great number of the citizens, in pursuit of the
youths who had escaped from them; but this was
fruitless, for they (the fugitives) had passed beyond
the walls of the city before they were missed,
for the gates of the regal city had been wide open
at the time ; and they pursued their way across
the face of the mountain which lay before them,
namely, the Red Mountain, being afraid to ven-
ture at all upon the public road, and never halted
in their course until, after a fatiguing journey and
travelling until they had crossed the Red Moun-
tain aforesaid, when weary and fatigued; they en-
tered a thick wood which lay in their way, where
they remained until morning. They then attempt-
ed to depart, for they did not deem it safe to re-
main in the wood, from fear of being pursued ;
but Hugh was not able to keep pace with his com-
panions, for his white-skinned (and) thin feet had
been pierced by the furze of the monntain, for his
shoes had fallen off, their seams having been
