Page 250 - Demo

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Stephen Dunford: The Journey of The IrIsh Six warriors forth from their comrades broke,
And flung them upon that bridge once more.
Again at the rocking planks they dashed;
And four dropped dead, and two remained;
The huge beams groaned, and the arch down-crashed - Two stalwart swimmers the margin gained.
St. Ruth in his stirrups stood up, and cried,
“I have seen no deed like that in France!”
With a toss of his head, Sarsfield replied,
“They had luck, the dogs!”Twas a merry chance!
O many a year, upon Shannon’s side,
They sang upon moor and they sang upon heath, Of the twain that breasted that raging tide,
And the ten that shook bloody hands with Death!
After the capture of Athlone, the Jacobites fell back westwards, to Aughrim, near Bal- linasloe, in county Galway, where the decisive battle ‘the death struggle’ of the war was now to be fought. As one participant said, ‘against the wishes of his Irish commanders St. Ruth
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