As for me, the mere name was magical. 'Fontenoy' was like one of
those great words which light up a whole page of history; and it almost
seemed impossible that I should see before me a soldier of that glorious
battle.

'Ay, faith!' he added, ''tis more than fifty, 'tis nigh sixty years
now since that, and I remember it as if it was yesterday. I was in
the regiment "Tourville"; I was recruited for the "Dillon," but they
scattered us about among the other corps afterwards, because we used now
and then to be fighting and quarrellin' among one another. Well, it was
the Dillons that gained the battle; for after the English was in the
village of Fontenoy, and the French was falling back upon the heights
near the wood--arrah, what's the name of the wood? Sure, I'll forget
my own name next. Ay, to be sure, Verzon--the "Wood of Verzon." Major
Jodillon--that's what the French called him, but his name was Joe
Dillon--turned an eight-pounder short round into a little yard of a
farmhouse, and making a breach for the gun, he opened a dreadful fire on
the English column. It was loaded with grape, and at half-musket range,
so you may think what a peppering they got. At last the column halted
and lay down; and Joe seen an officer ride off to the rear, to bring up
artillery to silence our guns. A few minutes more and it would be all
over with us. So Joe shouts out as loud as he could, "Cavalry there!
tell off by threes, and prepare to charge." I needn't tell you that the
divil a horse nor a rider was within a mile of us at the time; but the
English didn't know that, and, hearin' the ordher, up they jumps, and we
heerd the word passin', "Prepare to receive cavalry." They formed square
at once, and the same minute we plumped into them with such a charge as
tore a lane right through the middle of them. Before they could recover,
we opened a platoon-fire on their flank; they staggered, broke, and at
last fell back in disorder upon Aeth, with the whole of the French army
after them. Such firin'--grape, round shot, and musketry--I never seed
afore, and we all shouting like divils, for it was more like a hunt nor
anything else; for ye see the Dutch never came up, but left the English
to do all the work themselves, and that's the reason they couldn't form,
for they had no supportin' column.

'It was then I got that stick of the bayonet, for there was such runnin'
that we only thought of pelting after them as hard as we could; but ye
see, there