Another County Down reference

Following on from my recent "Changing Times" post, I found another County Down reference last night, this time in Bernard Cornwell's Peninsula War novel "Sharpe's Honour" (yes, I probably do have unusual tastes in books for a female!).

Anyway, to set the scene, Richard Sharpe is flat broke and discussing with Patrick Harper the possibility of selling the battalion tents and mule to the storekeeper:

Sharpe swore again. He could doubtless get five pounds out of the battalion accounts to bribe the storekeeper, but the job would be a nuisance. 'He's no friend of your's this storekeeper?'
'He's from County Down.' Harper said it meaningfully. 'Sell his own bloody mother for a shilling.'
'You've got nothing on the bastard?'
'No.' Harper shook his head. 'He's tighter than an orangeman's drum.'

As an aside, I was wandering through the streets of Queenstown New Zealand in 1999 when my (now) husband shouted, "there's that wee man you like". I had no idea who he was talking about and scanned the area for the nearest person of small stature, to no avail. Turned out it was Sharpe himself, actor Sean Bean, bearded and looking distinctly scruffy, on a break from filming his role as Boramir in Lord Of The Rings. Now, I wouldn't call Sean Bean small, but it seems my other half thinks anyone under six foot is a midget. Anyway I caught sight of him as he went into a pizza restaurant and, somewhat sheepishly, followed him in and asked for his autograph. I'm sure actors get totally fed up with this, but he very kindly fulfilled the request on the back of the restaurant's business card and I exited stage left, totally embarassed as I hadn't had a clue what to say to him.