vengeance kept those of a higher rank in complete subjection to his authority.
Like Rob Roy, he levied an annual tax on the farmers, which they cheerfully paid, as it secured them from the nocturnal visits of his followers; and the Captain was so rigid a disciplinarian, that any dereliction of duty in this respect was punished with a heavy hand. His exploits soon became too notorious, however, to pass unnoticed by the authorities, and large rewards were offered for his apprehension; but, although he was as well known as the “Hill of Howth,” he was to be seen at every fair and pattern in the country, and had a more numerous acquaintance than the village doctor. At every farmer’s table he was welcome, and the cottages that gave him shelter were sure of reward; for he freely shared the contributions he obtained with danger.
With the ladies he was a second Macheath, and more wives than one claimed him for their husband; and it is reported that he was frequently complimented on his person and manner, by the mistresses of those houses which he visited without the formality of an invitation. But it must be observed that he never forgot his accustomed humanity and politeness; and, unless when attacked by the police, he never did an individual a personal injury. His behaviour always evinced a degree of refinement above his education and birth; and even those who suffered from his depredations never spoke of him but as an “accomplished villain.”
His character at length grew so notorious in the Queen’s County, that a consultation of magistrates was held for the purpose of devising means for his apprehension, and in consequence of the measures they adopted several of Grant’s followers were brought to justice, and died, as their Captain expressed it, of the “gallows fever.” For some time his knowledge of the country, and the partiality of the peasantry towards him, aided him in evading the pursuit which was made after him; but a traitor was found, and Grant was delivered into the hands of the Philistines.
The gentry of the country, and ladies of the first rank, crowded to the jail of Maryborough to see the “bold outlaw;” and it was supposed that their impertinent curiosity so much affected his sensibility, that he took his departure one night from prison, through a window, having first contrived to cut the bars that guarded it.
Dreading another specimen of the rudeness of the Irish aristocracy, he prudently resolved to leave the Slieve-bloom mountains, and with the remnant of his banditti, he removed to the wood of Killoughram, in the county of Wexford, within four miles of the town of Enniscorthy. Here he continued for some time, and made frequent visits to the neighbouring towns, where he was known by the name of Cooney.
In the March of 1816 he made a journey to his native county, where he robbed the house of Thomas Cambie, Esq., of money and plate to a large amount. Mrs. Cambie was at home, and he behaved with so much politeness, that she ordered him supper and wine. The captain being impatient of delay, applied his teeth to extract a cork from a bottle; upon which the mistress observed “it was a pity to spoil his fine white teeth,” and immediately stood up and procured him a corkscrew. Grant, on his departure, took the liberty of borrowing Mr. Cambie’s horse and gig, in which he rode to his retreat in the wood of Killoughram.