It was in the twelfth century that the Counts of the Tyrol first began to be noticed, and Meinhard, who ruled at the end of the thirteenth century, consolidated the country, and held all the land within the limits as at present known. He held at the same time Carinthia and Styria. His grand-daughter Margaret, known through the ages as “Pocket-mouth,” the equivalent of the “Muckle-moued” Meg of Scottish history, inherited the country on the death of her father, Henry of Carinthia, in 1335. But on the death of her only son, ten years later, she ceased to take any interest in public affairs, and made over all her possessions to the House of Hapsburg, and the land has been since held as the personal property of that house; and the people have displayed astonishing loyalty to their rulers, so much so, that, on account of this and its position and impregnable hills the Tyrol has been called “The Shield of Austria.” But there was an interregnum in the rule of the Hapsburgs in the time of Buonaparte. The name of Andreas Hofer stands out in the Tyrol as that of the supreme patriot which national history seldom lacks. He was one of the few men who dared to defy the Colossus who bestrode Europe and terrified men into submission by his invincibility even before they had met him. Andreas was the son of an innkeeper in the Passeir valley, and innkeepers in those days, especially in country places, played an important part. It was the innkeeper who collected and disseminated all the news from the surrounding district; his house was a focus for any common cause, and he himself, by reason of his position and authority, was looked up to and respected. In these circumstances an innkeeper must be a strong man, mentally and physically, to succeed, for if he cannot rule his own passions, and is too weak to enforce his authority, he will soon go under. The Passeir or Pusterthal valley, in which young Hofer was brought up, is one of the most important in the country, extending from Lienz to Mulbach, a distance of nearly ten miles. It is best known in these days under the name of Pusterthal. Margaret Maultasch, or Pocket-mouth, peculiarly favoured this valley, and only a very short time before the country became subject to Austria, gave to the inhabitants the privilege of pasture on both sides of the river Etsch as far as Eisach, and also the right to carry salt, venison, and wine over the Gaufen. A large trade in horses was the consequence, and Hofer senior took part in it, bringing up his son to it. Andreas was born in 1767, and thus was twenty-nine when the war broke out with the French in 1796, but it was many years later before he came prominently to the front. He is described as having been of Herculean make, with black eyes and brown hair; he stooped considerably from having been accustomed to carry heavy burdens over the hills before he had come to his full strength. His voice was soft and pleasing and his smile good-natured.