An Irish Battle
by Asa Leininger
Long ago in
Ireland there lived a man whose name was Daniel McHarris. He had red hair, a small nose, and was a big,
strong, tall fellow. He lived in a small
log cabin in a great forest in the southern part of Ireland which, was at that
time called Munster. Daniel’s cabin was
made from great big oak trees that he had felled with his shining double headed
ax. It was a magnificent tool and
weapon. The roof was also made of logs
that he had laid closely packed together slanting upward to a beam that he had
laid at the peak of the walls, going across the whole length of the house and
more. Then to make sure no water would
get in he placed clay in all the cracks of the roof and walls.
The interior of the
house was snug and warm and had a big main room with comfy furniture and a huge
fireplace which was built from bricks and mortar. The house had three more rooms: one; the
kitchen, two; the dining room, which was between the kitchen and the living
room, and three; the bedroom that was through a doorway in the main room. The bedroom was furnished nicely with a small
table that held a large candle that lit the whole room. The bed was firm, made of oak wood and inlaid
with sturdy oak beams, that of course, supported the feather filled mattress,
and the thick blankets on top of it. The
door to the house led into the main room and was guarded by a huge wolf- hound
who always went with his master to protect him from any possible danger. The wolfhound, big enough and strong enough
to defeat the largest wolf in Ireland, was trained to kill any unfriendly
strangers.
It was the year 1601
and a cool October evening and Daniel was sitting in the doorway to the house
stroking his wolfhound Samson’s soft fur when they both heard a startling
noise, they quickly looked to where the sound was coming from. It was only an owl. Daniel said in his deep burly accent to the
massive dog at his side, “I guess we're all a little jumpy these days, considerin’
we’re in a war and all.”
The wolfhound barked in reply.
The English, hungry
for power had been trying to take over Ireland for over 400 years now and had
control already of most of the eastern part of it. Ireland was now struggling to stay free from
the rule of England and it would be only a couple more years until the English
finally took over Ulster and had control over all Ireland. Nonetheless the Irish didn’t give up the
fight, they kept on hoping to stay free.
“Well,” said Daniel, “They say there’s gonna be a big fight
the day after t’morrow, and if there is, I want to be well rested and ready t’
fight.” He went inside without another
word and went to bed.
The next day Daniel
woke up and went to the doorway to smell the fresh air. It was warm and he was ready to start the
day. He looked to his side and expected
to see Samson, but instead saw nothing.
Samson was gone. “Samson?” he called, “Samson?” then out of some bushes jumped the giant
wolfhound carrying two of the biggest hares you ever saw. Daniel exclaimed in sheer relief, “You scared
me there boy!”
Samson just barked in reply.
Daniel asked, “You
brought breakfast?” then continued, “Good boy.”
Daniel went inside and cooked one rabbit while Samson hungrily devoured
the other outside the front door. After
breakfast, Daniel did the daily chores.
First he batted the rug which was made from a bearskin, then he dusted
the furniture, did the dishes, and took the ash from the fireplace and dumped
it out behind a tree. Daniel rolled the
now empty water-barrel to the creek for his daily supply of water, filled it to
the brim and took it back to the house.
Now it was hunting time.
Daniel went outside
carrying his massive bow with his quiver slung on his back and saxe knife at
his side. He was going to check his
traps for small animals so that he could trade their furs, and get some meat
with his bow.
When Daniel was in
the forest he and Samson saw a great big 11 prong buck nibbling at some leaves
and berries. Daniel pulled an arrow from
his quiver slowly and silently and drew the string back slowly and
steadily. He let the string go and there
was a great hissing noise as the arrow whipped across the forest. There was a loud thwack and the buck was
running away. But, before the buck could
get thirty yards Samson was on top of it.
Samson clung on to the leaping buck and clawed and bit ferociously. Then, all of a sudden it was over and the
buck lay dead on the forest floor.
Samson stood over top of the massive buck, his chest heaving. Daniel let out a sigh of relief and he
skinned the big buck with his saxe knife, cut off giant slabs of meat and
carried them home along with the skin across the green floor of the foggy wild
forest.
It was dinnertime
when they got back to the cabin. Daniel
prepared and salted some of the meat and then threw it into a pot full of
boiling water and sliced some potatoes and carrots and onions and threw them in
too. While it was cooking on top of the
wood burning stove, he cut a big slab of meat and threw it to the enormous wolfhound
that lay outside his door. “There ya r’
Samson.” he said, “T’morrow’s a big day y’know, big battle and all.” Daniel went inside and ate his meal heartily,
then came to the door for a breath of fresh air. “Ahh th’ smell a’ fresh air, i’nt it lovely.”
Samson barked.
“You get a good nights sleep now, I’ll be dependn’ on you if
I get into trouble.”
Samson barked in reply.
“Thanks boy, I knew I could count on you old lad.” said
Daniel. Then he went inside to get his
much needed sleep. He would need as much
sleep as he could get, for the Battle of Kinsale was going to be one of the
fiercest battles in Ireland.
Daniel woke up the
next morning and had breakfast, Samson did too.
“I hate this war!” exclaimed
Daniel, “All this fight, I wish we could just settle this peacefully, but those
awful Brits just run round like mad men all day. I won’t be ruled by some half-brained English
King either. Ireland must stay free!”
Samson howled in agreement.
They were walking
down the path to a clearing where they would meet up with some old friends. They came to it and there stood two men. The men had brought an extra horse with them
for Daniel. Daniel walked up to a
brawny, muscular one and said “Good t’ see you again Fergus.” He then turned to the shorter, scrawny man
named John and greeted him too. Then
they mounted their horses and rode off at a steady trot so Samson didn’t get
too worn out.
Awhile later they
came around a bend in the road, and saw two giant forces; one made up of 1200
English, and the other, of 6000 Irish and 3500 Spaniards who were allied with
the Irish to defend their Catholic beliefs against the Protestant Brits. Both forces were tense, ready for battle,
staring at the other with contempt. Daniel,
Fergus, and John rode over to a little clearing, dismounted their horses, and
let them graze. “This is it.” said
Fergus.
“Indeed,” replied
John.
“Well, whatever happens today I want to say, that you two are
some of the best friends I’ve got, and I just want t’ thank you for that.” Daniel said somberly.
They walked over to a
group of footmen and readied themselves for battle. Their teeth were clenched tight. their swords and axes and spears were
gleaming in the sunlight. The horns
blasted in their ears and the next thing they knew they were charging at the
enemy, running at full speed, yelling as loudly as they could. The weapons clashed. All of a sudden they were in combat; raging
through the battlefield, striking down English soldiers left and right like all
the other Irishmen and Spaniards. Daniel
soon lost sight of Fergus and John in the heat of the battle. Daniel kept on, slashing and cutting with his
giant ax; then all of a sudden he fell to the ground. An English soldier had hit him in the back of
the head with the pommel of his sword and was now approaching him sword held
high. Daniel could barely see him but he
knew what was about to happen. But
before the soldier could bring the sword down, Samson leaped on him knocking
the man down on his side. It was a
ferocious fight. Samson was circling the
soldier who dropped his sword and was
now ready for hand-to-hand combat.
Samson leaped again knocking the man over, but in doing so, he had let
the soldier get a blow in on his head.
The blow stunned the great wolfhound, but didn’t do any real
damage. Samson recovered, leaped again
and sent the soldier sprawling five feet back and jumped on the wounded man,
slashed with his claws, and bit. It was
over. The soldier lay lifeless on the
ground.
The great dog walked
over to his master and licked him, reviving him from his unconsciousness. “Uhhh.” Daniel groaned, then continued
“Samson? You saved me? Good boy!”
Samson whined in reply.
“I think you’re right
boy.” Daniel said, “We’d best be
getting out a’ here”. He got up and they
fought their way through the battlefield and back to the horses. Daniel mounted the horse John had brought for
him and he rode away, the giant wolfhound following close behind.
A while after they
had arrived at the cabin John and Fergus reigned their horses in outside the
front door and dismounted. “I’m glad to
see you’re alive.” said Daniel. The two men were sorely worn out and had a
look of utter disgust on their face. “I
take it the battle didn’t go too well.”
stated Daniel.
“That’s an understatement.”
replied Fergus
“The English scored a
decisive victory.” said John
“Well,” Daniel decided, “The least I could do for you two is
get you some coffee and potato soup”.
Both of the other men
replied at the same time, “Oh, Yes
Please”
So they all went
inside and had some potato soup and coffee and tried to keep their mind off the
battle. The rest of the day was lovely,
considering there had been a terrible battle earlier. The emerald isle was truly beautiful that
day, with a slight mist covering the green trees whose roots went deep down
into the mossy, fertile earth. All of
this was surrounded by a pure azure sky that was lit by the sunset of red,
pink, purple, and orange.
THE END
