Kerryman is it now- and would that have been a relative of the infamous Limey Lord Boycott??
Nope, it's John Carden
from
http://www.tntcarden.com/tree/ensor/CardenOrigins.htmlThe life of John Rutter Carden of Barmane Castle, Tipperary, Ireland is an interesting one. Born in 1811, Carden gained the castle when he came of age. The estate had been neglected and the Irish tenants had long paid no rent and were not about to pay now. Landlord killing was then common, and his tenants tried repeatedly to kill him, without success. Carden's nickname became, "Woodcock," because, like that bird, he was hard to hit. He even overpowered two would-be assassins, marched them to jail, and had them hanged. The castle was remade to withstand assaults, which followed, with the castle successfully defended in even floor-by-floor combat. The tenants admitted that "Woodcock" Carden was a reasonable landlord; they simply wanted to pay no rent. Carden had a swivel-mounted cannon among his attack-resisting weapons. Then, in his forties, "Woodcock" Carden became an Irish hero, to his tenants and others. He fell in love. The girl, Eleanor Arbuthnot, was only 18, and an heiress. "Woodcock" fell totally and hopelessly in love. He was also under the delusion that she loved him, and only the family, supposedly holding her prisoner, kept her from declaring her love. He pursued her in Ireland, England, and abroad; he tried to "rescue" her and was tried and convicted of kidnapping. Meanwhile, he impoverished himself; Ireland sang songs about him, and his tenants were proud of him! For many years one song, "Carden's Wild Domain," was very popular in Ireland. Carden died in 1866. As for Eleanor, she never married.
