Mind Your Drinking, Gentlemen

Many of us have hit the gin bottle for one reason or another and, as a consequence, have had a night they can't remember or don't want to remember.  Just ask Lord Santry who could tell you first-hand about the evils of drinking.

Harry Barry, Lord Santry was no stranger to drink and debauchery but it nearly cost him his head one fateful night in 1739.  Santry was boozing with his friends in Palmerstown to the point where he probably wouldn't be able to recognize his mother.  In the midst of this drinking a poor sap by the name of Loughlin Murphy dared to offend our most drunken of Lords.  One can only imagine what Murphy's offense was (my guess is Murphy was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time) but it offended Santry so much that he drew his sword...or at least attempted to draw his sword.  Since some form of sobriety is needed in order to utilize basic motor skills Santry failed in unsheathing his weapon.  He let Murphy off with a warning that he would run him through if he were to utter another word.  Murphy replied that he had no intention of offending his lordship to which Santry finally managed to free his sword and fatally stabbed Murphy. 

Despite Barry's efforts to cover up his crime he was sentenced by his peers and found guilty.  Luckily for him though, his buddy, the Duke of Devonshire, stepped in and secured a pardon from King George II who gave him a get-out-of-beheading pass.  But rest assured, the murderer spent the rest of his unhappy life riddled by debts which eventually lost him his home.