nine
o'clock
` Give ` ee leave to try , ' says she . `` An ' that 's how th ' Earl o ' Bellarmine courted his wife . He took her into the bar an ' treated her to a bottle o ' gin on the spot . At nine o'clock that evenin ' she tuk hold of his stirrup-leather an ' walked beside ` en , afoot , up to Castle Cannick . Next day , their banns were axed in church , an ' in dree weeks she was My Ladyship . '' 'T was a battle-royal that began then . Ould Wounds dressed the woman up to the nines , an ' forced all the bettermost folk i ' the county to pay their calls an ' treat her like one o ' the blood ; and then , when the proud guests stepped into their chariots an ' druv away , he 'd fall to , an ' lick her across the shoulders wi ' his ridin ' - whip , to break her sperrit .