diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:56:08 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:56:08 -0700 |
| commit | a8c0819dff33d6be16bdb03affbb55189e4987cc (patch) | |
| tree | f24ce6c6bf67b99635b9f5376a45a226676bb978 /19486-tei | |
Diffstat (limited to '19486-tei')
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/19486-tei.tei | 7387 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image01.png | bin | 0 -> 157258 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image02.png | bin | 0 -> 81511 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image03.png | bin | 0 -> 88150 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image04.png | bin | 0 -> 61400 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image05.png | bin | 0 -> 76038 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image06.png | bin | 0 -> 50963 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image06a.png | bin | 0 -> 149733 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image07.png | bin | 0 -> 130689 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image08.png | bin | 0 -> 157907 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image09.png | bin | 0 -> 190143 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image10.png | bin | 0 -> 71261 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image11.png | bin | 0 -> 94916 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image12.png | bin | 0 -> 149992 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image13.png | bin | 0 -> 110824 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image14.png | bin | 0 -> 80824 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image15.png | bin | 0 -> 144611 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image16.png | bin | 0 -> 212325 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image17.png | bin | 0 -> 105126 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image18.png | bin | 0 -> 118129 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image19.png | bin | 0 -> 156767 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image20.png | bin | 0 -> 121544 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image21.png | bin | 0 -> 106366 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image22.png | bin | 0 -> 138806 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image23.png | bin | 0 -> 156842 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image24.png | bin | 0 -> 138839 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image25.png | bin | 0 -> 101887 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image26.png | bin | 0 -> 186136 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image27.png | bin | 0 -> 175315 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image28.png | bin | 0 -> 91778 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image29.png | bin | 0 -> 96294 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image30.png | bin | 0 -> 105277 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image31.png | bin | 0 -> 97331 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image32.png | bin | 0 -> 118552 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image33.png | bin | 0 -> 149094 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image34.png | bin | 0 -> 112522 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image35.png | bin | 0 -> 210537 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image36.png | bin | 0 -> 91333 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image37.png | bin | 0 -> 170874 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image38.png | bin | 0 -> 36918 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image39.png | bin | 0 -> 186233 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image40.png | bin | 0 -> 225662 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image41.png | bin | 0 -> 173563 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image42.png | bin | 0 -> 179235 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image43.png | bin | 0 -> 127656 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image44.png | bin | 0 -> 116996 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image45.png | bin | 0 -> 143510 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image46.png | bin | 0 -> 149285 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image47.png | bin | 0 -> 75824 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image48.png | bin | 0 -> 72132 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image49.png | bin | 0 -> 137699 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image50.png | bin | 0 -> 96875 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image51.png | bin | 0 -> 161524 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image52.png | bin | 0 -> 189780 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image53.png | bin | 0 -> 110019 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image54.png | bin | 0 -> 129390 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image55.png | bin | 0 -> 187390 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image56.png | bin | 0 -> 139771 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image57.png | bin | 0 -> 102154 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image58.png | bin | 0 -> 139309 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image59.png | bin | 0 -> 192666 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image60.png | bin | 0 -> 127263 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image61.png | bin | 0 -> 179724 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image62.png | bin | 0 -> 114540 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image63.png | bin | 0 -> 211314 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image64.png | bin | 0 -> 103244 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 19486-tei/images/image65.png | bin | 0 -> 79264 bytes |
67 files changed, 7387 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/19486-tei/19486-tei.tei b/19486-tei/19486-tei.tei new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b41fd63 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/19486-tei.tei @@ -0,0 +1,7387 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> + +<!-- +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Irish Wonders by D. R. McAnally, Jr. + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no +restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under +the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or +online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license + + +Title: Irish Wonders + +Author: D. R. McAnally, Jr. + +Release Date: October 7, 2006 [Ebook #19486] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 +--> + +<!DOCTYPE TEI.2 SYSTEM "http://www.gutenberg.org/tei/marcello/0.4/dtd/pgtei.dtd"> + +<TEI.2 lang="en"> +<teiHeader> + <fileDesc> + <titleStmt> + <title>Irish Wonders</title> + <author>D. R. McAnally, Jr.</author> + <editor role="illustrator">H. R. Heaton</editor> + </titleStmt> + <editionStmt> + <edition n="1">Edition 1</edition> + </editionStmt> + <publicationStmt> + <publisher>Project Gutenberg</publisher> + <date value="2006-10-07">October 7, 2006</date> + <idno type="etext-no">19486</idno> + <availability> + <p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and + with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it + away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg + License online at www.gutenberg.org/license</p> + </availability> + </publicationStmt> + <sourceDesc> + <bibl> + </bibl> + </sourceDesc> + </fileDesc> + <encodingDesc> + <classDecl> + <taxonomy id="lc"> + <bibl> + <title>Library of Congress Classification</title> + </bibl> + </taxonomy> + </classDecl> + </encodingDesc> + <profileDesc> + <langUsage> + <language id="en"></language> + </langUsage> + <textClass> + </textClass> + </profileDesc> + <revisionDesc> + <change> + <date value="2006-10-07">October 7, 2006</date> + <respStmt> + <name>Ted Garvin,<lb /></name> + <name>Joshua Hutchinson and<lb /></name> + <name>The Online Distributed Proofreading Team<lb /></name> + </respStmt> + <item>Posted to Project Gutenberg</item> + </change> + </revisionDesc> +</teiHeader> + +<pgExtensions> + <pgStyleSheet> + figure { text-align: center; page-float: 'htbp' } + .floatleft { float: left; margin-right: 2em } + .floatright { float: right; margin-left: 2em } + .w90 { } + .w50 { } + .w20 { } + .w05 { } + @media pdf { + .w90 { width: 90% } + .w50 { width: 50% } + .w20 { width: 20% } + .w05 { width: 5% } + } + </pgStyleSheet> +</pgExtensions> + +<text lang="en"> + <front> + <div> + <divGen type="pgheader" /> + </div> + + <div> + <divGen type="encodingDesc" /> + </div> + +<div rend="page-break-before: right"> +<figure url="images/image01.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" /> +<head>"GOD SAVE YER HOLINESS." Frontispiece.</head> +<figDesc>Illustration: "GOD SAVE YER HOLINESS." Frontispiece.</figDesc> +</figure> +<p></p> +</div> + + <div rend="page-break-before: right"> + <divGen type="titlepage" /> + </div> + +<div> +<p>THE GHOSTS, GIANTS, POOKAS, DEMONS, LEPRECHAWNS, +BANSHEES, FAIRIES, WITCHES, WIDOWS, +OLD MAIDS, AND OTHER MARVELS +OF THE EMERALD ISLE</p> + +<p>Popular Tales as told by the People</p> + +<p>WEATHERVANE BOOKS - NEW YORK</p> + +<figure url="images/image02.png" rend="w50"> +<index index="fig" level1="Vignette" /> +<figDesc>Illustration</figDesc> +</figure> +</div> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> + +<p>Copyright © MDCCCLXXXVIII</p> + +<p>Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 77-72113</p> + +<p>All rights reserved.</p> + +<p>This edition is published by Weathervane Books</p> + +<p>a division of Imprint Society, Inc., distributed by Crown Publishers, Inc.</p> + +<p>a b c d e f g h</p> +</div> + +<div rend="page-break-before: always"> + +<p rend="text-align: center">IN MEMORY OF YEARS OF FRIENDSHIP,</p> + +<p rend="text-align: center">This Volume</p> + +<p rend="text-align: center">IS INSCRIBED TO</p> + +<p rend="text-align: center"><hi rend="font-variant: small-caps">Mr.</hi> JOSEPH B. McCULLAGH,</p> + +<p rend="text-align: center">AS A MODEST TRIBUTE OF</p> + +<p rend="text-align: center">PERSONAL RESPECT.</p> +</div> + +<div rend="page-break-before: right"> +<index index="toc" /> +<index index="pdf" /> +<head>PREFACE.</head> + +<p>The wonderful imaginative power of the Celtic mind is +never more strikingly displayed than in the legends and fanciful +tales which people of the humbler walks of life seldom +tire of telling. Go where you will in Ireland, the story-teller +is there, and on slight provocation will repeat his narrative; +amplifying, explaining, embellishing, till from a single fact +a connected history is evolved, giving motives, particulars, +action, and result, the whole surrounded by a rosy wealth +of rustic imagery and told with dramatic force an actor +might envy. The following chapters comprise an effort to +present this phase of unwritten Celtic literature, the material +having been collected during a recent lengthy visit, in +the course of which every county in the island was traversed +from end to end, and constant association had with the peasant +tenantry. As, however, in perusing a drama each reader +for himself supplies stage-action, so, in the following pages, +he is requested to imagine the charms of gesticulation and +intonation, for no pen can do justice to a story told by Irish +lips amid Irish surroundings.</p> +</div> + + <div rend="page-break-before: right"> +<figure url="images/image03.png" rend="w50"> +<index index="fig" level1=""She 'll get all me Turf"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: "She 'll get all me Turf"</figDesc> +</figure> +<p></p> + </div> + + <div> + <head>Contents</head> + <divGen type="toc" /> + </div> + + <div> +<figure url="images/image04.png" rend="w50"> +<index index="fig" level1=""Divil roast ye wid it"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: "Divil roast ye wid it"</figDesc> +</figure> +<p></p> + </div> + + <div rend="page-break-before: right"> +<figure url="images/image05.png" rend="w50"> +<index index="fig" level1=""Is it spilin' me wall he is?"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: "Is it spilin' me wall he is?"</figDesc> +</figure> +<p></p> + </div> + + <div> + <head>Illustrations</head> + <divGen type="fig" /> + </div> + + <div> +<figure url="images/image06.png" rend="w50"> +<index index="fig" level1=""Howld on, we 'll argy the matther"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: "Howld on, we 'll argy the matther"</figDesc> +</figure> +<p></p> + </div> +</front> + +<body> +<div rend="page-break-before: right"> +<head>IRISH WONDERS</head> +<p></p> +</div> + +<div rend="page-break-before: right"> +<pb n="001" /><anchor id="Pg001" /> +<head>IRISH WONDERS.</head> +<p></p> +</div> + +<div> +<index index="toc" /> +<index index="pdf" /> +<head>THE SEVEN KINGS OF ATHENRY.</head> + + +<figure url="images/image06a.png" rend="floatleft; w50"> +<index index="fig" level1="Initial: "The Seven Kinds of Athenry"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: Initial: "The Seven Kinds of Athenry"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>It was a characteristic Irish ruin. +Standing on a slight elevation, +in the midst of a flat country, +the castle lifted its turreted +walls as proudly as when its +ramparts were fringed with +banners and glittered with helmets +and shields. In olden +times it was the citadel of the +town, and although Athenry was fortified by +a strong wall, protecting it alike from predatory assault +and organized attack, the citadel, occupying the highest +ground within the city, was itself surrounded by stronger +walls, a fort within a fort, making assurance of security +doubly sure. Only by treachery, surprise, or regular and +long-continued siege could the castle have been taken.</p> + +<p>The central portion was a large, square structure; except +in size, not differing greatly from the isolated castles found in +all parts of Ireland, and always in pairs, as if, when one Irish +chieftain built a castle, his rival at once erected another a mile +or so away, for the purpose of holding him in check. This +central fort was connected by double walls, the remains of<pb n="002" /><anchor id="Pg002" /> +covered passages, with smaller fortresses, little castles built +into the wall surrounding the citadel; and over these connecting +walls, over the little castles, and over the piles of loose +stones where once the strong outer walls had stood, the ivy +grew in luxuriant profusion, throwing its dark green curtain +on the unsightly masses, rounding the sharp edge of the masonry, +hiding the rough corners as though ashamed of their +roughness, and climbing the battlements of the central castle +to spread nature's mantle of charity over the remains of a +barbarous age, and forever conceal from human view the +stony reminders of battle and blood.</p> + +<p>The success of the ivy was not complete. Here and there +the corner of a battlement stood out in sharp relief, as though +it had pushed back the struggling plant, and, by main force, +had risen above the leaves, while on one side a round tower +lifted itself as if to show that a stone tower could stand for +six hundred years without permitting itself to become ivy-grown; +that there could be individuality in towers as among +men. The great arched gateway too was not entirely subjugated, +though the climbing tendrils and velvety leaves dressed +the pillars and encroached on the arch. The keystone bore +a rudely carved, crowned head, and ivy vines, coming up underneath +the arch, to take the old king by surprise, climbed +the bearded chin, crossed the lips, and were playing before the +nose as if to give it a sportive tweak, while the stern brow +frowned in anger at the plant's presumption.</p> + +<p>But only a few surly crags of the citadel refused to go +gracefully into the retirement furnished by the ivy, and the +loving plant softened every outline, filled up every crevice, +bridged the gaps in the walls, toned down the rudeness of +projecting stones, and did everything that an ivy-plant could +do to make the rugged old castle as presentable as were the<pb n="003" /><anchor id="Pg003" /> +high rounded mounds without the city, cast up by the besiegers +when the enemy last encamped against it.</p> + +<figure url="images/image07.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1="A Modern Irish Village" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: A Modern Irish Village</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>The old castle had fallen on evil days, for around the walls +of the citadel clustered the miserable huts of the modern Irish +village. The imposing castle gate faced a lane, muddy and +foul with the refuse thrown from the houses. The ivy-mantled +towers looked down upon earth and stone huts, with +thatched roofs, low chimneys, and doors seeming as if the +builder designed them for windows and changed his mind +without altering their size, but simply continued them to the +ground and made them answer the purpose. A population, +notable chiefly for its numerousness and lack of cleanliness,<pb n="004" /><anchor id="Pg004" /> +presented itself at every door, but little merriment was heard +in the alleys of Athenry.</p> + +<p>"Sure it's mighty little they have to laugh at," said the +car-man. "Indade, the times has changed fur the counthry, +Sorr. Wanst Ireland was as full o' payple as a Dublin +sthrate, an' they was all as happy as a grazin' colt, an' as +paceful as a basket av puppies, barrin' a bit o' fun at a marryin' +or a wake, but thim times is all gone. Wid the landlords, +an' the guver'mint, an' the sojers, an' the polis, lettin' +in the rich an' turnin' out the poor, Irishmin is shtarvin' to +death. See that bit av a cabin there, Sorr? Sure there's +foorteen o' thim in it, an' two pigs, an' tin fowls; they all +shlape togather on a pile av wet shtraw in the corner, an' +sorra a wan o' thim knows where the bit in the mornin' is to +come from. Phat do they ate? They're not in the laste purtickler. +Spakin' ginerally, whatever they can get. They've +pitaties an' milk, an' sometimes pitaties an' no milk, an' av a +Sunday a bit o' mate that's a herrin', an' not a boot to the +fut o' thim, an' they paddlin' in the wather on the flure. Sure +the town's full o' thim an' the likes av thim. Begorra, the +times has changed since the siven Kings held coort in the castle +beyant yon.</p> + +<p>"Niver heard o' the Siven Kings av Athenroy? Why ivery +babby knows the whole shtory be heart, an' all about thim. +Faith I'll tell it, fur it's not desayvin' ye I am, fur the ould +castle was wan o' the greatest places in the counthry.</p> + +<p>"Wanst upon a time, there was an ould King in Athenroy, +that, be all accounts, was the besht ould King that iver set +fut upon a throne. He was a tall ould King, an' the hairs av +him an' the beard av him was as white as a shnow-flake, an' he +had a long, grane dressin' gown, wid shamrocks av goold all +over it, an' a goold crown as high as a gintleman's hat, wid a<pb n="005" /><anchor id="Pg005" /> +dimund as big as yer fisht on the front av it, an' silver shlippers +on the feet av him. An' he had grane cârpets on the groun' +in the hall o' the ould castle, an' begob, they do say that +everything about the coort was goold, but av that I'm not +rightly sartain, barrin' the pipe. That was av goold, bekase +there's a picture av him hangin' in Michael Flaherty's shebeen, +an' the pipe is just the look av goold an' so it must have been.</p> + +<p>"An' he was the besht King in Ireland, an' sorra a beggar +'ud come an the dure, but the King 'ud come out in his +gown an' shlippers an' ax him how he come to be poor, an' +sind him 'round to the kitchen to be warrumed wid a dhrop +av whishkey an' fed wid all the cold pitaties that was in the +panthry. All the people riz up whin he was a-walkin' down +the shtrate wid a big goold-top shtick in his hand, an' the +crown a-shinin' on his head, an' they said, 'God save yer Holiness,' +an' he said, 'God save ye kindly,' mighty perlite, bekase +he was a dacent mannered ould King, an' 'ud shpake to +a poor divil that hadn't a coat on his back as quick as to wan +av his ginerals wid a goold watch an' a shiny hat. An' whin +he wint into a shop, sure they niver axed him to show the +color av his money at all, but the man 'ud say, 'God save ye! +Sure ye can pay whin ye plaze, an' I'll sind it be the postman +whin he goes by.' An' the ould King 'ud say, 'Oh, I wont +throuble ye. Bedad, I'll carry it,' an' aff the blessed ould +King 'ud go, wid his bundles undher his arm, an' the crown +on his head, as happy as a widdy wid a new husband.</p> + +<p>"An' there was six other ould Kings, that was frinds to +him, an' they was all as like him as six paze. Foor times a +year they'd all come to Athenroy fur a bit av a shpree like, +bekase the King av Athenroy was the ouldest av thim, an' they +thought the worruld an' all av him. Faix, it was mighty +improvin' to see thim all a-goin' to chapel in the mornin',<pb n="006" /><anchor id="Pg006" /> +an' singin' an' drinkin' an' playin' whisht in the avenin'. +Sure thim was the blessed days fur the counthry.</p> + +<p>"Well me dear, in coorse av time, the six ould Kings all +died, God rest their sowls, but as aitch wan had a son to come +afther him, the differ was mighty shmall, for the young Kings +was dacent shpoken lads an' kept on comin' to Athenroy just +like the ould Kings.</p> + +<p>"Oh, bedad, I forgot to tell yez that the ould King had a +dawther, that was the light av his eyes. She was as tall as +a sargent an' as shtrate as a gun, an' her eyes was as blue as +the shky an' shone like the shtars. An' her hairs was t'reads +av goold, an' she was the beautifulest woman iver seen in +Athenroy. An' shmall love there was for her, fur she was as +cowld as a wet Christmas. She didn't shpake often, bekase +she wasn't wan o' thim that 'ud deefen a smith, but whin she +did, the tongue that was in the head av her was like a sting-nettle, +an' 'ud lash around like a throut on land. An' ivery +woman in the shtrate watched her like kites whin she set fut +out o' the dure, bekase she dressed as fine as a fiddle, wid a +grane silk gown, an' a blue bonnet wid yellow ribbins, an' a +shtring av goold baids the size av plums 'round her neck.</p> + +<p>"Musha, thin, it's a quare thing entirely, that min like wan +woman betther than another. Begob, it's my belafe, savin' +yer prisence, that there's not the differ av a cowld pitaty +bechune thim all whin it's a queshtion av marryin' wan o' +thim, an' if the whole worruld knewn that same, its few +hurted heads there'd be along o' the wimmin. Well, it was +the divil's own job, axin' yer pardon, but ivery wan o' thim +young Kings tuk into his head to fall in love wid the Princess +Bridget, fur that was her name, an' a good name it is; an' +wan afther another, they'd shlip in whin they'd be passin', +to pay their respicts. Whin wan o' thim found out that<pb n="007" /><anchor id="Pg007" /> +another wan was comin', he'd come the aftener himself to +make up fur it, an' afther a while, they all found out aitch +other, an' thin, begob all o' thim come to be beforehand wid +the rest, an' from foor times in the year, it was foor times in +the week that the gang o' them 'ud be settin' in the kitchen +till the cock 'ud crow, all a-makin' love to the young Princess.</p> + +<figure url="images/image08.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1=""All a-makin' love to the Young Princess"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: "All a-makin' love to the Young Princess"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>"An' a fine sight it was to see thim, bekase they was all +shtrivin' to do somethin' for her. Whin she paled the pitaties +fur the ould King's brekquest, sure wan o' thim 'ud be +givin' her the pitaties, another wan 'ud catch the palin' an' +the rest lookin' on wid the invy shinin' out o' their faces.<pb n="008" /><anchor id="Pg008" /> +Whin she dropped the thimble, you'd think the last wan 'ud +jump out av his shkin to get it, an' whin she wint to milk +the cow, wan 'ud carry the pail, another wan 'ud fetch the +shtool, an' two 'ud feed the cow, an' two other wans 'ud hold +the calf, an' aitch wan 'ud bless God whin she gev him the +laste shmile, bekase she was so cowld, d' ye mind, that divil a +wan o' thim all cud say that he'd get her at all.</p> + +<p>"So at firsht, ould King Dennis, that bein' his name, was +mighty plazed to see the young chaps all afther his dawther, +an' whin he knewn they was in the kitchen, he'd shmoke his +pipe an' have his sup be himself in the other room so as to +lave thim; an' whin he saw thim hangin' over the wall o' the +gârden beyant, or peepin' through the hedge, he'd let on not +to parsave thim; an' whin they folly'd the Princess to church, +he was as proud as a paycock to see thim settin' behind her +wid their crowns in a row undher the sate. But whin they kept +an a-comin' ivery night in the week an' drinkin' his whishkey +an' shmokin' his besht terbakky,--more-betoken, whin they +begun' to be oncivil to aitch other, says he to himself, says +he, 'Bedad,' says he, 'there'll be throuble if it kapes on thish-a-way. +Sure I'll shpake to the gurrul.'</p> + +<p>"So he called to the Princess, 'Biddy,' says he.</p> + +<p>"'What, Father?' says she.</p> + +<p>"'Come here to me,' says he.</p> + +<p>"'Sure how can I? I'm busy,' says she.</p> + +<p>"'Phat's that you're at?' says he.</p> + +<p>"'I'm afther shwapin' the kitchen,' says she.</p> + +<p>"'Lave aff,' says he. 'Come to me at wanst,' says he.</p> + +<p>"The ould King was very starn, bekase he knewn it was +only an axcuse she was afther makin,' an' she was lookin' that +he'd be sayin' somethin' about the young Kings an' was +afther dodgin' as long as she cud. So whin he shpoke so<pb n="009" /><anchor id="Pg009" /> +crass, she riz up aff the sate, for it was a fib she was tellin', +an' she didn't shwape the kitchen at all, an' that was done +be wan av the maids, an' gev a sigh, an' wint in the ould +King's room.</p> + +<p>"An' there was the ould King on his throne, his crown +on his head, shmokin' his goolden dhudeen wid a glass o' +grog at his side, as detarmined as he cud be. 'I'm wantin' +to know,' says he, 'phat you're afther goin' to do,' says he, +'in regârds av the young Kings,' says he.</p> + +<p>"'Phat's that you're sayin', Father?' says she, mighty +shly, as lettin' on not to see phat he was drivin' at. The ould +King repated his statemint.</p> + +<p>"'Troth, then, I dunno, Father,' says she.</p> + +<p>"'Do you mane to marry thim, at all, at all?' says he.</p> + +<p>"'Not all o' thim,' says she, shmilin'.</p> + +<p>"'Well, which wan o' thim?' says he.</p> + +<p>"'How can I tell?' says she.</p> + +<p>"'Has any o' thim axed ye?' says he.</p> + +<p>"'Hasn't they all?' says she.</p> + +<p>"'An' which wan do ye love besht?' says he.</p> + +<p>"'Sure how do I know?' says she, an' sorra a word more +cud he get from her be all the queshtions he cud ax.</p> + +<p>"But he tuk a dale av bother an' thin gev it up an' says to +her, 'Go an' get the supper,' says he, 'come in the throne-room +afther brekquest wid yer mind made.' But he was +afeard she'd give him throuble fur it was the cool face she +had, an' afther she was gone he set his crown over wan ear +an' scrotched his head like a tinant on quarther day widout +a pinny in his pocket, bekase he knewn that whoever the +gurrul tuk, the other five Kings cud make throuble.</p> + +<p>"So the next mornin', the Princess towld him phat she'd +do, an' whin the Kings come that night, he walks into the<pb n="010" /><anchor id="Pg010" /> +kitchen where they were shmokin', an' makin' a low bow, he +says, 'God save ye,' an' they all riz an' says, 'God save yer +Holiness.' So he says, 'Bridget, go to bed immejitly, I'll +shpake to the jintlemin.' An' she wint away, lettin' an to +shmile an' consale her face, 't was the divil av a sharp gurrul +she was, an' the ould King set on the table an' towld thim +phat she'd do. He towld thim they must play fair, an' they +said they would, an' thin he towld thim the Princess wanted +to see which was the besht man, so they must have shports +in her prisence, an' the next day afther the shports they'd +find out who she was goin' to marry. So they all aggrade, +an' wint home at wanst to get ready fur the shports.</p> + +<p>"Faith, it 'ud 'uv done the sowl av ye good the next day +to see the whole av Ireland at the shports whin the contist +bechune the Kings kem.</p> + +<p>"'T was held in the field beyant, an' they made a ring an' +the six young Kings run races an' rassled an' played all the +axcitin' games that was iver knewn, aitch wid wan eye on the +shports an' the other on the Princess, that was shmilin' an +thim all an' lookin' as plazed as a new Mimber o' Parlaymint, +an' so did they all, bekase, d' ye see, before the shports begun, +they was brought, wan at a time, in the coort, an' the Princess +talked wid aitch be himself, wasn't it the shly purtinder +that she was, fur whin they kem out, every wan was shmilin' +to himself, as fur to say he had a very agrayble saycret.</p> + +<p>"So the shports was ended an' everybody wint home, +barrin' thim as shtopped at the shebeens. But sorra a wink +o' shlape crassed the eyes av wan o' the young Kings, fur +the joy that was in the heart o' thim, bekase aitch knewn +he'd get the Princess.</p> + +<p>"Whin the mornin' come, the like o' the flusthration that +was in Athenroy was niver seen afore, nor sense aither, fur<pb n="011" /><anchor id="Pg011" /> + +<figure url="images/image09.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" /> +<head>"DIVIL A WAN O' ME KNOWS," SAYS HE.</head> +<figDesc>Illustration: "DIVIL A WAN O' ME KNOWS," SAYS HE.</figDesc> +</figure> + +<pb n="013" /><anchor id="Pg013" />whin the maid wint to call the Princess, sure she wasn't there. +So they sarched the coort from the garret to the cellar an' +peeped in the well an' found she was nowhere entirely.</p> + +<p>"So they towld the ould King, an' says he, 'Baithershin, +where is she at all,' says he, 'an' phat'ull I be sayin' to the +young Kings whin they come.' An' there he was, a-tarin' +the long white hair av him, whin the young Kings all come.</p> + +<p>"'God save yer Holiness,' says they to him.</p> + +<p>"'God save ye kindly,' says he, fur wid all the sorra that +was in him, sure he didn't forgit to be perlite, bekase he was +as cunnin' as a fox, an' knewn he'd nade all his good manners +to make aminds fur his dawther's absince. So, says he, +'God save ye kindly,' says he, bowin'.</p> + +<p>"'An' where is the Princess?' says they.</p> + +<p>"'Divil a wan o' me knows,' says he.</p> + +<p>"'Sure it's jokin' wid us ye are,' says the Kings.</p> + +<p>"'Faix, I'm not,' says the ould King. 'Bad cess to the +thrace av her was seen sense she went to bed.'</p> + +<p>"'Sure she didn't go to bed entirely,' says the maid, 'the +bed wasn't touched, an' her besht gown's gone.'</p> + +<p>"'An' where has she gone?' says the Kings.</p> + +<p>"'Tare an' 'ounds,' says the ould King, 'am n't I ignerant +entirely? Och, Biddy, Biddy, how cud ye sarve me so?' +a-wringing his hands wid the graif.</p> + +<p>"Well, at firsht the Kings looked at aitch other as if the +eyes 'ud lave thim, bein' all dazed like an' sarcumvinted intirely. +An' thin they got their wits about thim, an' begun to +be angry.</p> + +<p>"'It's desayvin' us ye are, ye outprobious ould villin,' says +they to him. 'Musha, thin, bad cess to ye, bring out the +Princess an' let her make her chice bechune us, or it'll be +the worse fur ye, ye palaverin' ould daddy long-legs,' says +they.</p> + +<pb n="014" /><anchor id="Pg014" /> + +<p>"'God bechune us an' harm,' says the ould King, 'sure +d' ye think it's makin' fun av ye I am, an' me spindin' more +than tin pounds yestherday fur whishkey an the shports? +Faix, she's gone,' says he.</p> + +<p>"'Where to?' says they.</p> + +<p>"'Divil a know I know,' says he, wid the face av him gettin' +red, an' wid that word they all wint away in a tarin' rage +wid him, fur they consaved, an' shmall blame to thim, that he +had her consaled in the coort an' was shtrivin' to chate thim.</p> + +<p>"An' they wint home an' got their armies, an' come back +wid 'em that night, an' while the ould King an' his min were +all ashlape they made these piles av airth to take the city +whin the day 'ud break.</p> + +<p>"Whin the ould King riz an' tuk a walk an the roof wid +his shlippers, sure phat 'ud he see but banners a-wavin', +soords a-flashin', an' the ears av him was deefened wid the +thrumpets. 'Bad scran to the idjits,' says he; 'phat's that +they're afther?' says he. 'Isn't there more nor wan +woman in the worruld, that they're makin' a bother afther +Bridget?' So wid that he ordhered his min to get ready wid +their waypons, an' before the battle 'ud begin, he wint out +to thry an' make a thraty.</p> + +<p>"While they were a-talkin', up comes wan av the King's +tinants, wid a donkey an' a load av sayweed fur the King's +gârden, that he'd been to Galway afther. 'God save ye,' +says he, a-touchin' his cap; 'where is the six Kings?'</p> + +<p>"'An' phat d'ye want, ye blaggârd?' says they, lookin' +lofty.</p> + +<p>"'I've a message fur yez,' says he, 'from the young Princess,' +an' whin they heard him shpake, they all stopped to +listen.</p> + +<p>"'She sent her respicts,' says he, 'an' bid me tell yez that<pb n="015" /><anchor id="Pg015" /> +she was afther kapin' her word an' lettin' yer Honors know +who she was goin' to marry. It's the King av Galway that's +in it, if it's plazin' to ye, an' she says she'll sind yez a bit av +the cake. I met her lasht night in the road ridin' wid him +on a câr an' had a bundle undher her arrum. Divil a taste +av a lie's in it entirely.'</p> + +<p>"Bad cess to the gurrul, it was thrue fur him, fur she had +run away. But, my dear, it was as good as the theayter to +see the six young Kings an' the ould King, a-lookin' at aitch +other as stupid as a jackass, all as wan as the castle 'ad 'a' +fallen on thim. But they was sinsible young fellys, an' seen +the Princess had desaved thim all complately.</p> + +<figure url="images/image10.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1=""The Princess had disayved thim all complately"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: "The Princess had disayved thim all complately"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>"'Bad scran to the gurrul,' says they, 'an' it's the blessed +fools we was fur belavin' her.' Thin they come to talk to +aitch other, an' wan says, 'Sure she thought most av me, fur +she towld me she hoped I'd bate yez,' says he. 'Begob, she +said to me that same,' says the other wans, an' they stud, +scrotchin' the heads av thim an' disconsarted intirely.</p> + +<p>"'An' phat's the good av fightin,' says the ould King, +'bein' as we're all in the thrap at wanst?'</p> + +<p>"'Thrue fur ye,' says they. 'We'll dispinse widout her. +We'll have it out wid the King o' Galway,' says they.</p> + +<pb n="016" /><anchor id="Pg016" /> + +<p>"An' they all wint into the coort an' had the bit an' sup, +an' made a thraty forninst the King av Galway. It was the +great war that was in it, the Siven Kings wid the King av +Galway, an' bate him out o' the counthry intirely. But it's +my consate that they was all fools to be afther fightin' consarnin' +wan woman whin the worruld is full o' thim, an' any +wan competint to give a man plenty to think av, bekase whin +she gives her attinshun to it, any woman can be the divil complately."</p> + +<figure url="images/image11.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1=""All disconsarted entirely"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: "All disconsarted entirely"</figDesc> +</figure> +</div> + +<div rend="page-break-before: right"> +<index index="toc" /> +<index index="pdf" /> +<pb n="017" /><anchor id="Pg017" /> +<head>TAMING THE POOKA.</head> + +<figure url="images/image12.png" rend="floatleft; w50"> +<index index="fig" level1="Initial: "Taming the Pooka"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: Initial: "Taming the Pooka"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>The west and northwest +coast of Ireland shows +many remarkable geological +formations, but, excepting +the Giant's Causeway, +no more striking +spectacle is presented than +that to the south of Galway +Bay. From the sea, +the mountains rise in terraces +like gigantic stairs, +the layers of stone being +apparently harder and denser on the upper surfaces than +beneath, so the lower portion of each layer, disintegrating +first, is washed away by the rains and a clearly defined step is +formed. These terraces are generally about twenty feet high, +and of a breadth, varying with the situation and exposure, of +from ten to fifty feet.</p> + +<p>The highway from Ennis to Ballyvaughn, a fishing village +opposite Galway, winds, by a circuitous course, through these +freaks of nature, and, on the long descent from the high land +to the sea level, passes the most conspicuous of the neighboring +mountains, the Corkscrew Hill. The general shape of the +mountain is conical, the terraces composing it are of wonderful +regularity from the base to the peak, and the strata being<pb n="018" /><anchor id="Pg018" /> +sharply upturned from the horizontal, the impression given is +that of a broad road carved out of the sides of the mountain +and winding by an easy ascent to the summit.</p> + +<p>"'Tis the Pooka's Path they call it," said the car-man. +"Phat's the Pooka? Well, that's not aisy to say. It's an +avil sper't that does be always in mischief, but sure it niver +does sarious harrum axceptin' to thim that desarves it, or thim +that shpakes av it disrespictful. I never seen it, Glory be to +God, but there's thim that has, and be the same token, they +do say that it looks like the finest black horse that iver wore +shoes. But it isn't a horse at all at all, for no horse 'ud have +eyes av fire, or be breathin' flames av blue wid a shmell o' +sulfur, savin' yer presince, or a shnort like thunder, and no +mortial horse 'ud take the lapes it does, or go as fur widout +gettin' tired. Sure when it give Tim O'Bryan the ride it give +him, it wint from Gort to Athlone wid wan jump, an' the next +it tuk he was in Mullingyar, and the next was in Dublin, and +back agin be way av Kilkenny an' Limerick, an' niver turned +a hair. How far is that? Faith I dunno, but it's a power +av distance, an' clane acrost Ireland an' back. He knew it +was the Pooka bekase it shpake to him like a Christian mortial, +only it isn't agrayble in its language an' 'ull niver give ye a +dacint word afther ye're on its back, an' sometimes not before +aither.</p> + +<p>"Sure Dennis O'Rourke was afther comin' home wan night, +it was only a boy I was, but I mind him tellin' the shtory, an' +it was at a fair in Galway he'd been. He'd been havin' a +sup, some says more, but whin he come to the rath, and jist +beyant where the fairies dance and ferninst the wall where the +polisman was shot last winther, he fell in the ditch, quite spint +and tired complately. It wasn't the length as much as the +wideness av the road was in it, fur he was goin' from wan side<pb n="019" /><anchor id="Pg019" /> +to the other an' it was too much fur him entirely. So he laid +shtill fur a bit and thin thried fur to get up, but his legs wor +light and his head was heavy, an' whin he attimpted to get his +feet an the road 'twas his head that was an it, bekase his legs +cudn't balance it. Well, he laid there and was bet entirely, +an' while he was studyin' how he'd raise, he heard the throttin' +av a horse on the road. ''Tis meself 'ull get the lift +now,' says he, and laid waitin', and up comes the Pooka. Whin +Dennis seen him, begob, he kivered his face wid his hands +and turned on the breast av him, and roared wid fright like a +bull.</p> + +<figure url="images/image13.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1="Dennis and the Pooka" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: Dennis and the Pooka</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>"'Arrah thin, ye snakin' blaggârd,' says the Pooka, mighty +short, 'lave aff yer bawlin' or I'll kick ye to the ind av next +week,' says he to him.</p> + +<p>"But Dennis was scairt, an' bellered louder than afore, so +the Pooka, wid his hoof, give him a crack on the back that +knocked the wind out av him.</p> + +<pb n="020" /><anchor id="Pg020" /> + +<p>"'Will ye lave aff,' says the Pooka, 'or will I give ye +another, ye roarin' dough-face?'</p> + +<p>"Dennis left aff blubberin' so the Pooka got his timper +back.</p> + +<p>"'Shtand up, ye guzzlin' sarpint,' says the Pooka, 'I'll +give ye a ride.'</p> + +<p>"'Plaze yer Honor,' says Dennis, 'I can't. Sure I've not +been afther drinkin' at all, but shmokin' too much an' atin', +an' it's sick I am, and not ontoxicated.'</p> + +<p>"'Och, ye dhrunken buzzard,' says the Pooka, 'Don't offer +fur to desave me,' liftin' up his hoof agin, an' givin' his tail a +swish that sounded like the noise av a catheract, 'Didn't I +thrack ye for two miles be yer breath,' says he, 'An' you +shmellin' like a potheen fact'ry,' says he, 'An' the nose on +yer face as red as a turkey-cock's. Get up, or I'll lift ye,' +says he, jumpin' up an' cracking his hind fut like he was doin' +a jig.</p> + +<p>"Dennis did his best, an' the Pooka helped him wid a grip +o' the teeth on his collar.</p> + +<p>"'Pick up yer caubeen,' says the Pooka, 'an' climb up. +I'll give ye such a ride as ye niver dhramed av.'</p> + +<p>"'Ef it's plazin' to yer Honor,' says Dennis, 'I'd laver +walk. Ridin' makes me dizzy,' says he.</p> + +<p>"''Tis not plazin',' says the Pooka, 'will ye get up or will I +kick the shtuffin' out av yer cowardly carkidge,' says he, turnin' +round an' flourishin' his heels in Dennis' face.</p> + +<p>"Poor Dennis thried, but he cudn't, so the Pooka tuk him +to the wall an' give him a lift an it, an' whin Dennis was +mounted, an' had a tight howld on the mane, the first lep he +give was down the rock there, a thousand feet into the field +ye see, thin up agin, an' over the mountain, an' into the say, +an' out agin, from the top av the waves to the top av the<pb n="021" /><anchor id="Pg021" /> +mountain, an' afther the poor soggarth av a ditcher was nigh +onto dead, the Pooka come back here wid him an' dhropped +him in the ditch where he found him, an' blowed in his face +to put him to slape, so lavin' him. An' they found Dennis +in the mornin' an' carried him home, no more cud he walk for +a fortnight be razon av the wakeness av his bones fur the ride +he'd had.</p> + +<p>"But sure, the Pooka's a different baste entirely to phat he +was afore King Bryan-Boru tamed him. Niver heard av +him? Well, he was the king av Munster an' all Ireland an' +tamed the Pooka wanst fur all on the Corkschrew Hill ferninst +ye.</p> + +<p>"Ye see, in the owld days, the counthry was full av avil +sper'ts, an' fairies an' witches, an' divils entirely, and the +harrum they done was onsaycin', for they wor always comin' +an' goin', like Mulligan's blanket, an' widout so much as sayin', +by yer lave. The fairies 'ud be dancin' on the grass every +night be the light av the moon, an' stalin' away the childhre, +an' many's the wan they tuk that niver come back. The owld +rath on the hill beyant was full av the dead, an' afther nightfall +they'd come from their graves an' walk in a long line wan +afther another to the owld church in the valley where they'd +go in an' stay till cock-crow, thin they'd come out agin an' +back to the rath. Sorra a parish widout a witch, an' some +nights they'd have a great enthertainmint on the Corkschrew +Hill, an' you'd see thim, wid shnakes on their arrums an' +necks an' ears, be way av jewels, an' the eyes av dead men in +their hair, comin' for miles an' miles, some ridin' through the +air on shticks an' bats an' owls, an' some walkin', an' more on +Pookas an' horses wid wings that 'ud come up in line to the +top av the hill, like the cabs at the dure o' the theayter, an' +lave thim there an' hurry aff to bring more.</p> + +<pb n="022" /><anchor id="Pg022" /> + +<p>"Sometimes the Owld Inimy, Satan himself, 'ud be there at +the enthertainmint, comin' an a monsthrous draggin, wid grane +shcales an' eyes like the lightnin' in the heavens, an' a roarin' +fiery mouth like a lime-kiln. It was the great day thin, for +they do say all the witches brought their rayports at thim saysons +fur to show him phat they done.</p> + +<p>"Some 'ud tell how they shtopped the wather in a spring, +an' inconvanienced the nabers, more 'ud show how they +dhried the cow's milk, an' made her kick the pail, an' they'd +all laugh like to shplit. Some had blighted the corn, more +had brought the rains on the harvest. Some towld how their +enchantmints made the childhre fall ill, some said how they +set the thatch on fire, more towld how they shtole the eggs, +or spiled the crame in the churn, or bewitched the butther +so it 'udn't come, or led the shape into the bog. But that +wasn't all.</p> + +<p>"Wan 'ud have the head av a man murthered be her manes, +an' wid it the hand av him hung fur the murther; wan 'ud +bring the knife she'd scuttled a boat wid an' pint in the say +to where the corpses laid av the fishermen she'd dhrownded; +wan 'ud carry on her breast the child she'd shtolen an' meant +to bring up in avil, an' another wan 'ud show the little white +body av a babby she'd smothered in its slape. And the +corpse-candles 'ud tell how they desaved the thraveller, bringin' +him to the river, an' the avil sper'ts 'ud say how they dhrew +him in an' down to the bottom in his sins an' thin to the pit +wid him. An' owld Belzebub 'ud listen to all av thim, wid a +rayporther, like thim that's afther takin' down the spaches +at a Lague meetin', be his side, a-writing phat they said, so as +whin they come to be paid, it 'udn't be forgotten.</p> + +<p>"Thim wor the times fur the Pookas too, fur they had +power over thim that wint forth afther night, axceptin' it was<pb n="023" /><anchor id="Pg023" /> +on an arriant av marcy they were. But sorra a sinner that +hadn't been to his juty reglar 'ud iver see the light av day +agin afther meetin' a Pooka thin, for the baste 'ud aither kick +him to shmithereens where he stud, or lift him on his back +wid his teeth an' jump into the say wid him, thin dive, lavin' +him to dhrownd, or shpring over a clift wid him an' tumble +him to the bottom a bleedin' corpse. But wasn't there the +howls av joy whin a Pooka 'ud catch a sinner unbeknownst, +an' fetch him on the Corkschrew wan o' the nights Satan was +there. Och, God defind us, phat a sight it was. They made +a ring wid the corpse-candles, while the witches tore him limb +from limb, an' the fiends drunk his blood in red-hot iron noggins +wid shrieks o' laughter to smother his schreams, an' the +Pookas jumped on his body an' thrampled it into the ground, +an' the timpest 'ud whishle a chune, an' the mountains about +'ud kape time, an' the Pookas, an' witches, an' sper'ts av avil, +an' corpse-candles, an' bodies o' the dead, an' divils, 'ud all jig +together round the rock where owld Belzebub 'ud set shmilin', +as fur to say he'd ax no betther divarshun. God's presince +be wid us, it makes me crape to think av it.</p> + +<p>"Well, as I was afther sayin', in the time av King Bryan, +the Pookas done a dale o' harrum, but as thim that they murthered +wor dhrunken bastes that wor in the shebeens in the +day an' in the ditch be night, an' wasn't missed whin the +Pookas tuk them, the King paid no attintion, an' small blame +to him that 's.</p> + +<p>"But wan night, the queen's babby fell ill, an' the king +says to his man, says he, 'Here, Riley, get you up an' on the +white mare an' go fur the docther.'</p> + +<p>"'Musha thin,' says Riley, an' the king's counthry house +was in the break o' the hills, so Riley 'ud pass the rath an' the +Corkschrew on the way afther the docther; 'Musha thin,'<pb n="024" /><anchor id="Pg024" /> +says he, aisey and on the quiet, 'it's mesilf that doesn't want +that same job.'</p> + +<p>"So he says to the king, 'Won't it do in the mornin'?'</p> + +<p>"'It will not,' says the king to him. 'Up, ye lazy beggar, +atin' me bread, an' the life lavin' me child.'</p> + +<p>"So he wint, wid great shlowness, tuk the white mare, an' +aff, an' that was the last seen o' him or the mare aither, fur +the Pooka tuk 'em. Sorra a taste av a lie's in it, for thim +that said they seen him in Cork two days afther, thrading aff +the white mare, was desaved be the sper'ts, that made it seem +to be him whin it wasn't that they've a thrick o' doin'.</p> + +<p>"Well, the babby got well agin, bekase the docther didn't +get there, so the king left botherin' afther it and begun to +wondher about Riley an' the white mare, and sarched fur thim +but didn't find thim. An' thin he knewn that they was gone +entirely, bekase, ye see, the Pooka didn't lave as much as a +hair o' the mare's tail.</p> + +<p>"'Wurra thin,' says he, 'is it horses that the Pooka 'ull be +stalin'? Bad cess to its impidince! This 'ull niver do. Sure +we'll be ruinated entirely,' says he.</p> + +<p>"Mind ye now, it's my consate from phat he said, that the +king wasn't consarned much about Riley, fur he knewn that +he cud get more Irishmen whin he wanted thim, but phat he +meant to say was that if the Pooka tuk to horse-stalin', he'd +be ruinated entirely, so he would, for where 'ud he get another +white mare? So it was a mighty sarious question an' he retired +widin himself in the coort wid a big book that he had +that towld saycrets. He'd a sight av larnin', had the king, +aquel to a school-masther, an' a head that 'ud sarcumvint a +fox.</p> + +<p>"So he read an' read as fast as he cud, an' afther readin' +widout shtoppin', barrin' fur the bit an' sup, fur siven days<pb n="025" /><anchor id="Pg025" /> +an' nights, he come out, an' whin they axed him cud he bate +the Pooka now, he said niver a word, axceptin' a wink wid his +eye, as fur to say he had him.</p> + +<figure url="images/image14.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1=""He'd a sight of larnin', had the King"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: "He'd a sight of larnin', had the King"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>"So that day he was in the fields an' along be the hedges +an' ditches from sunrise to sunset, collectin' the matarials av a +dose fur the Pooka, but phat he got, faith, I dunno, no more +does any wan, fur he never said, but kep the saycret to himself +an' didn't say it aven to the quane, fur he knewn that saycrets +run through a woman like wather in a ditch. But there was +wan thing about it that he cudn't help tellin', fur he wanted<pb n="026" /><anchor id="Pg026" /> +it but cudn't get it widout help, an' that was three hairs from +the Pooka's tail, axceptin' which the charm 'udn't work. So +he towld a man he had, he'd give him no end av goold if he'd +get thim fur him, but the felly pulled aff his caubeen an' +scrotched his head an' says, 'Faix, yer Honor, I dunno phat'll +be the good to me av the goold if the Pooka gets a crack at +me carkidge wid his hind heels,' an' he wudn't undhertake +the job on no wages, so the king begun to be afeared that his +loaf was dough.</p> + +<p>"But it happen'd av the Friday, this bein' av a Chewsday, +that the Pooka caught a sailor that hadn't been on land only +long enough to get bilin' dhrunk, an' got him on his back, so +jumped over the clift wid him lavin' him dead enough, I go +bail. Whin they come to sarch the sailor to see phat he had +in his pockets, they found three long hairs round the third +button av his top-coat. So they tuk thim to the king tellin' +him where they got thim, an' he was greatly rejiced, bekase +now he belaved he had the Pooka sure enough, so he ended +his inchantmint.</p> + +<p>"But as the avenin' come, he riz a doubt in the mind av him +thish-a-way. Ev the three hairs wor out av the Pooka's tail, +the charm 'ud be good enough, but if they wasn't, an' was +from his mane inshtead, or from a horse inshtead av a Pooka, +the charm 'udn't work an' the Pooka 'ud get atop av him wid +all the feet he had at wanst an' be the death av him immejitly. +So this nate and outprobrious argymint shtruck the king wid +great force an' fur a bit, he was onaisey. But wid a little +sarcumvintion, he got round it, for he confist an' had absolution +so as he'd be ready, thin he towld wan av the sarvints to +come in an' tell him afther supper, that there was a poor widdy +in the boreen beyant the Corkschrew that wanted help that +night, that it 'ud be an arriant av marcy he'd be on, an' so +safe agin the Pooka if the charm didn't howld.</p> + +<pb n="027" /><anchor id="Pg027" /> + +<p>"'Sure, phat'll be the good o' that?' says the man, 'It +'ull be a lie, an' won't work.'</p> + +<p>"'Do you be aisey in yer mind,' says the king to him agin, +'do as yer towld an' don't argy, for that's a pint av mettyfisics,' +says he, faix it was a dale av deep larnin' he had, +'that's a pint av mettyfisics an' the more ye argy on thim +subjics, the less ye know,' says he, an' it's thrue fur him. +'Besides, aven if it's a lie, it'll desave the Pooka, that's no +mettyfishian, an' it's my belafe that the end is good enough +for the manes,' says he, a-thinking av the white mare.</p> + +<p>"So, afther supper, as the king was settin' afore the fire, +an' had the charm in his pocket, the sarvint come in and towld +him about the widdy.</p> + +<p>"'Begob,' says the king, like he was surprised, so as to +desave the Pooka complately, 'Ev that's thrue, I must go +relave her at wanst.' So he riz an' put on sojer boots, wid +shpurs on 'em a fut acrost, an' tuk a long whip in his hand, for +fear, he said, the widdy 'ud have dogs, thin wint to his chist +an' tuk his owld stockin' an' got a suv'rin out av it,--Och, +'twas the shly wan he was, to do everything so well,--an' +wint out wid his right fut first, an' the shpurs a-rattlin' as he +walked.</p> + +<p>"He come acrost the yard, an' up the hill beyant yon an' +round the corner, but seen nothin' at all. Thin up the fut +path round the Corkscrew an' met niver a sowl but a dog +that he cast a shtone at. But he didn't go out av the road +to the widdy's, for he was afeared that if he met the Pooka +an' he caught him in a lie, not bein' in the road to where he +said he was goin', it 'ud be all over wid him. So he walked +up an' down bechuxt the owld church below there an' the +rath on the hill, an' jist as the clock was shtrikin' fur twelve, +he heard a horse in front av him, as he was walkin' down, so<pb n="028" /><anchor id="Pg028" /> +he turned an' wint the other way, gettin' his charm ready, an' +the Pooka come up afther him.</p> + +<p>"'The top o' the mornin' to yer Honor,' says the Pooka, +as perlite as a Frinchman, for he seen be his close that the +king wasn't a common blaggârd like us, but was wan o' the +rale quolity.</p> + +<p>"'Me sarvice to ye,' says the king to him agin, as bowld as +a ram, an' whin the Pooka heard him shpake, he got perliter +than iver, an' made a low bow an' shcrape wid his fut, thin +they wint on together an' fell into discoorse.</p> + +<p>"''Tis a black night for thravelin',' says the Pooka.</p> + +<p>"'Indade it is,' says the king, 'it's not me that 'ud be out +in it, if it wasn't a case o' needcessity. I'm on an arriant av +charity,' says he.</p> + +<p>"'That's rale good o' ye,' says the Pooka to him, 'and if +I may make bowld to ax, phat's the needcessity?'</p> + +<p>"''Tis to relave a widdy-woman,' says the king.</p> + +<p>"'Oho,' says the Pooka, a-throwin' back his head laughin' +wid great plazin'ness an' nudgin' the king wid his leg on the +arrum, beways that it was a joke it was bekase the king said +it was to relave a widdy he was goin'. 'Oho,' says the Pooka, +''tis mesilf that's glad to be in the comp'ny av an iligint jintleman +that's on so plazin' an arriant av marcy,' says he. +'An' how owld is the widdy-woman?' says he, bustin' wid the +horrid laugh he had.</p> + +<figure url="images/image15.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1=""The Quane a-gosterin'"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: "The Quane a-gosterin'"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>"'Musha thin,' says the king, gettin' red in the face an' not +likin' the joke the laste bit, for jist betune us, they do say +that afore he married the quane, he was the laddy-buck wid +the wimmin, an' the quane's maid towld the cook, that towld +the footman, that said to the gârdener, that towld the nabers +that many's the night the poor king was as wide awake as a +hare from sun to sun wid the quane a-gostherin' at him about<pb n="029" /><anchor id="Pg029" /> +that same. More betoken, there was a widdy in it, that was +as sharp as a rat-thrap an' surrounded him whin he was young +an' hadn't as much sinse as a goose, an' was like to marry +him at wanst in shpite av all his relations, as widdys undhershtand +how to do. So it's my consate that it wasn't dacint +for the Pooka to be afther laughin' that-a-way, an' shows that +avil sper'ts is dirthy blaggârds that can't talk wid jintlemin. +'Musha,' thin, says the king, bekase the Pooka's laughin' wasn't +agrayble to listen to, 'I don't know that same, fur I niver +seen her, but, be jagers, I belave she's a hundherd, an' as ugly +as Belzebub, an' whin her owld man was alive, they tell me +she had a timper like a gandher, an' was as aisey to manage as<pb n="030" /><anchor id="Pg030" /> +an armful o' cats,' says he. 'But she's in want, an' I'm afther +bringin' her a suv'rin,' says he.</p> + +<p>"Well, the Pooka sayced his laughin', fur he seen the king +was very vexed, an' says to him, 'And if it's plazin', where +does she live?'</p> + +<p>"'At the ind o' the boreen beyant the Corkschrew,' says the +king, very short.</p> + +<p>"'Begob, that's a good bit,' says the Pooka.</p> + +<p>"'Faix, it's thrue for ye,' says the king, 'more betoken, +it's up hill ivery fut o' the way, an' me back is bruk entirely +wid the stapeness,' says he, be way av a hint he'd like a ride.</p> + +<p>"'Will yer Honor get upon me back,' says the Pooka. +'Sure I'm afther goin' that-a-way, an' you don't mind gettin' +a lift?' says he, a-fallin' like the stupid baste he was, into the +thrap the king had made fur him.</p> + +<p>"'Thanks,' says the king, 'I b'lave not. I've no bridle +nor saddle,' says he, 'besides, it's the shpring o' the year, an' +I'm afeared ye're sheddin', an' yer hair 'ull come aff an' spile +me new britches,' says he, lettin' on to make axcuse.</p> + +<p>"'Have no fear,' says the Pooka. 'Sure I niver drop me +hair. It's no ordhinary garron av a horse I am, but a most +oncommon baste that's used to the quolity,' says he.</p> + +<p>"'Yer spache shows that,' says the king, the clever man +that he was, to be perlite that-a-way to a Pooka, that's known +to be a divil out-en-out, 'but ye must exqueeze me this avenin', +bekase, d'ye mind, the road's full o' shtones an' monsthrous +stape, an' ye look so young, I'm afeared ye'll shtumble an' +give me a fall,' says he.</p> + +<p>"'Arrah thin,' says the Pooka, 'it's thrue fur yer Honor, +I do look young,' an' he begun to prance on the road givin' +himself airs like an owld widdy man afther wantin' a young +woman, 'but me age is owlder than ye'd suppoge. How owld +'ud ye say I was,' says he, shmilin'.</p> + +<pb n="031" /><anchor id="Pg031" /> + +<figure url="images/image16.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" /> +<head>"IF IT'S AGGRAYBLE TO YE, I'LL LOOK IN YER MOUTH."</head> +<figDesc>Illustration: "IF IT'S AGGRAYBLE TO YE, I'LL LOOK IN YER MOUTH."</figDesc> +</figure> + +<pb n="033" /><anchor id="Pg033" /> + +<p>"'Begorra, divil a bit know I,' says the king, 'but if it's +agrayble to ye, I'll look in yer mouth an' give ye an answer,' +says he.</p> + +<p>"So the Pooka come up to him fair an' soft an' stratched +his mouth like as he thought the king was wantin' fur to climb +in, an' the king put his hand on his jaw like as he was goin' +to see the teeth he had: and thin, that minnit he shlipped the +three hairs round the Pooka's jaw, an' whin he done that, he +dhrew thim tight, an' said the charm crossin' himself the while, +an' immejitly the hairs wor cords av stale, an' held the Pooka +tight, be way av a bridle.</p> + +<p>"'Arra-a-a-h, now, ye bloody baste av a murtherin' divil +ye,' says the king, pullin' out his big whip that he had consaled +in his top-coat, an' giving the Pooka a crack wid it undher +his stummick, 'I'll give ye a ride ye won't forgit in a +hurry,' says he, 'ye black Turk av a four-legged nagur an' +you shtaling me white mare,' says he, hittin' him agin.</p> + +<p>"'Oh my,' says the Pooka, as he felt the grip av the iron +on his jaw an' knewn he was undher an inchantmint, 'Oh +my, phat's this at all,' rubbin' his breast wid his hind heel, +where the whip had hit him, an' thin jumpin' wid his fore feet +out to cotch the air an' thryin' fur to break away. 'Sure I'm +ruined, I am, so I am,' says he.</p> + +<p>"'It's thrue fur ye,' says the king, 'begob it's the wan +thrue thing ye iver said,' says he, a-jumpin' on his back, an' +givin' him the whip an' the two shpurs wid all his might.</p> + +<p>"Now I forgot to tell ye that whin the king made his inchantmint, +it was good fur siven miles round, and the Pooka +knewn that same as well as the king an' so he shtarted like a +cunshtable was afther him, but the king was afeared to let him +go far, thinkin' he'd do the siven miles in a jiffy, an' the inchantmint +'ud be broken like a rotten shtring, so he turned +him up the Corkschrew.</p> + +<pb n="034" /><anchor id="Pg034" /> + +<p>"'I'll give ye all the axercise ye want,' says he, 'in +thravellin' round this hill,' an' round an' round they wint, +the king shtickin' the big shpurs in him every jump an' +crackin' him wid the whip till his sides run blood in shtrames +like a mill race, an' his schreams av pain wor heard all over +the worruld so that the king av France opened his windy and +axed the polisman why he didn't shtop the fightin' in the +shtrate. Round an' round an' about the Corkschrew wint +the king, a-lashin' the Pooka, till his feet made the path ye +see on the hill bekase he wint so often.</p> + +<figure url="images/image17.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1="The Pooka Spirits" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: "The Pooka Spirits"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>"And whin mornin' come, the Pooka axed the king phat +he'd let him go fur, an' the king was gettin' tired an' towld +him that he must niver shtale another horse, an' never kill +another man, barrin' furrin blaggârds that wasn't Irish, an' +whin he give a man a ride, he must bring him back to the<pb n="035" /><anchor id="Pg035" /> +shpot where he got him an' lave him there. So the Pooka +consinted, Glory be to God, an' got aff, an' that's the way +he was tamed, an' axplains how it was that Dennis O'Rourke +was left be the Pooka in the ditch jist where he found him."</p> + +<p>"More betoken, the Pooka's an althered baste every way, +fur now he dhrops his hair like a common horse, and it's +often found shtickin' to the hedges where he jumped over, an' +they do say he doesn't shmell half as shtrong o' sulfur as he +used, nor the fire out o' his nose isn't so bright. But all the +king did fur him 'ud n't taiche him to be civil in his spache, +an' whin he meets ye in the way, he spakes just as much like +a blaggârd as ever. An' it's out av divilmint entirely he does +it, bekase he can be perlite as ye know be phat I towld ye av +him sayin' to the king, an' that proves phat I said to ye that +avil sper'ts can't larn rale good manners, no matther how hard +they thry.</p> + +<p>"But the fright he got never left him, an' so he kapes out +av the highways an' thravels be the futpaths, an' so isn't +often seen. An' it's my belafe that he can do no harrum at +all to thim that fears God, an' there's thim that says he niver +shows himself nor meddles wid man nor mortial barrin' +they're in dhrink, an' mebbe there's something in that too, +fur it doesn't take much dhrink to make a man see a good +dale."</p> +</div> + +<div rend="page-break-before: right"> +<pb n="036" /><anchor id="Pg036" /> +<index index="toc" /> +<index index="pdf" /> +<head>THE SEXTON OF CASHEL.</head> + +<figure url="images/image18.png" rend="floatleft; w50"> +<index index="fig" level1="Initial: "The Sexton of Casbel"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: Initial: "The Sexton of Casbel"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>All over Ireland, from Cork to Belfast, +from Dublin to Galway, are +scattered the ruins of churches, abbeys, +and ecclesiastical buildings, +the relics of a country once rich, +prosperous and populous. These +ruins raise their castellated walls and +towers, noble even in decay, sometimes +in the midst of a village, +crowded with the miserably poor, +sometimes on a mountain, in every +direction commanding magnificent prospects; sometimes on +an island in one of the lakes, which, like emeralds in a setting +of deeper green, gem the surface of the rural landscape and +contribute to increase the beauty of scenery not surpassed in +the world.</p> + +<p>Ages ago the voice of prayer and the song of praise ceased +to ascend from these sacred edifices, and they are now visited +only by strangers, guides, and parties of humble peasants, +the foremost bearing on their shoulders the remains of a companion +to be laid within the hallowed enclosure, for although +the church is in ruins, the ground in and about it is still holy +and in service when pious hands lay away in the bosom of +earth the bodies of those who have borne the last burden, +shed the last tear, and succumbed to the last enemy. But +among all the pitiable spectacles presented in this unhappy<pb n="037" /><anchor id="Pg037" /> + +<figure url="images/image19.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" /> +<head>THE ROCK OF CASHEL.</head> +<figDesc>Illustration: THE ROCK OF CASHEL.</figDesc> +</figure> + +<pb n="039" /><anchor id="Pg039" />country, none is better calculated to inspire sad reflections +than a rural graveyard. The walls of the ruined +church tower on high, with massive cornice and pointed window; +within stand monuments and tombs of the Irish great; +kings, princes, and archbishops lie together, while about the +hallowed edifice are huddled the graves of the poor; here, +sinking so as to be indistinguishable from the sod; there, +rising in new-made proportions; yonder, marked with a +wooden cross, or a round stick, the branch of a tree rudely +trimmed, but significant as the only token bitter poverty +could furnish of undying love; while over all the graves, +alike of the high born and of the lowly, the weeds and nettles +grow.</p> + +<p>"Sure there's no saxton, Sorr," said car-man Jerry Magwire, +in answer to a question, "We dig the graves ourselves +whin we put them away, an' sometimes there's a fight in the +place whin two berryin's meet. Why is that? Faith, it's not +for us to be talkin' o' them deep subjects widout respict, but +it's the belafe that the last wan berrid must be carryin' +wather all the time to the sowls in Purgathory till the next +wan comes to take the place av him. So, ye mind, when two +berryin's happen to meet, aitch party is shtrivin' to be done +foorst, an' wan thries to make the other lave aff, an' thin +they have it. Troth, Irishmen are too handy wid their fishts +entirely, it's a weak pint wid 'em. But it's a sad sight, so +it is, to see the graves wid the nettles on thim an' the walls +all tumblin'. It isn't every owld church that has a caretaker +like him of Cashel. Bedad, he was betther nor a flock +av goats to banish the weeds.</p> + +<p>"Who was he? Faith, I niver saw him but the wan time, +an' thin I had only a shot at him as he was turnin' a corner, +for it was as I was lavin' Cormac's chapel the time I wint to<pb n="040" /><anchor id="Pg040" /> +Cashel on a pinance, bekase av a little throuble on me +mind along av a pig that wasn't mine, but got mixed wid +mine whin I was afther killin' it. But, as I obsarved, it was +only a shot at him I had, for it wasn't aften that he was seen +in the daytime, but done all his work in the night, an' it +isn't me that 'ud be climbin' the Rock av Cashel afther the +sun 'ud go to slape. Not that there's avil sper'ts there, for +none that's bad can set fut on that holy ground day or night, +but I'm not afther wantin' to meet a sper't av any kind, even +if it's good, for how can ye tell about thim. Sure aven the +blessed saints have been desaved, an' it's not for a sinner like +me to be settin' up for to know more than thimselves. But +it was the long, bent body that he had, like he'd a burdhen +on his back, as they say, God be good to him, he had on his +sowl, an' a thin, white face wid the hair an' beard hangin' +about it, an' the great, blue eyes lookin' out as if he was gazin' +on the other worruld. No, I didn't run down the rock, +but I didn't walk aither, but jist bechuxt the two, wid a +sharp eye round the corners that I passed. No more do I +belave there was harrum in him, but, God's prisence be about +us, ye can't tell.</p> + +<p>"He was a man o' Clare be the name av Paddy O'Sullivan, +an' lived on the highway betune Crusheen an' Ennis, an' they +do say that whin he was a lad, there wasn't a finer to be +seen in the County; a tall, shtrappin' young felly wid an eye +like a bay'net, an' a fisht like a shmith, an' the fut an' leg av +him 'ud turn the hearts o' half the wimmin in the parish. +An' they was all afther him, like they always do be whin a +man is good lookin', sure I've had a little o' that same exparience +mesilf. Ye needn't shmile. I know me head has +no more hair on it than an egg, an' I think me last tooth 'ull +come out tomorrer, bad cess to the day, but they do say that<pb n="041" /><anchor id="Pg041" /> +forty years ago, I cud have me pick av the gurruls, an' mebbe +they're mishtaken an' mebbe not. But I was sayin', the +gurruls were afther Paddy like rats afther chaze, an' sorra a +wan o' thim but whin she spied him on the road, 'ud shlip behind +the hedge to shmooth her locks a bit an' set the shawl +shtraight on her head. An' whin there was a bit av a dance, +niver a boy 'ud get a chance till Paddy made his chice to +dance wid, an' sorra a good word the rest o' the gurruls 'ud +give that same. Och, the tongues that wimmin have! Sure +they're sharper nor a draggin's tooth. Faith, I know that +well too, for I married two o' them an' larned a deal too +afther doin' it, an' axin' yer pardon, it's my belafe that if +min knewn as much before marryin' as afther, bedad, the +owld maid population 'ud be greatly incrased.</p> + +<p>"Howandiver, afther a bit, Paddy left carin' for thim all, +that, in my consate, is a moighty safe way, and begun to look +afther wan. Her name was Nora O'Moore, an' she was as +clever a gurrul as 'ud be found bechuxt Limerick an' Galway. +She was kind o' resarved like, wid a face as pale as a shroud, +an' hair as black as a crow, an' eyes that looked at ye an' +never seen ye. No more did she talk much, an' whin Paddy +'ud be sayin' his fine spaches, she'd listen wid her eyes cast +down, an' whin she'd had enough av his palaver, she'd jist +look at him, an' somehow Paddy felt that his p'liteness wasn't +the thing to work wid. He cudn't undhershtand her, +an' bedad, many's the man that's caught be not undhershtandin' +thim. There's rivers that's quiet on top bekase +they're deep, an' more that's quiet bekase they're not deep +enough to make a ripple, but phat's the differ if ye can't +sound thim, an' whin a woman's quiet, begorra, it's not aisy +to say if she's deep or shallow. But Nora was a deep wan, +an' as good as iver drew a breath. She thought a dale av<pb n="042" /><anchor id="Pg042" /> +Paddy, only she'd be torn limb from limb afore she'd let +him know it till he confist first. Well, my dear, Paddy wint +on, at firsht it was only purtindin' he was, an' whin he found +she cudn't be tuk wid his chaff, he got in airnest, an' afore +he knewn it, he was dead in love wid Nora, an' had as much +show for gettin' out agin as a shape in a bog, an' sorra a bit +did he know at all at all, whether she cared a traneen for +him. It's funny entirely that whin a man thinks a woman +is afther him, he's aff like a hare, but if she doesn't care a +rap, begob, he'll give the nose aff his face to get her. So it +was wid Paddy an' Nora, axceptin' that Paddy didn't know +that Nora wanted him as much as he wanted her.</p> + +<p>"So, wan night, whin he was bringin' her from a dance +that they'd been at, he said to her that he loved her betther +than life an' towld her would she marry him, an' she axed +was it jokin' or in airnest he was, an' he said cud she doubt +it whin he loved her wid all the veins av his heart, an' she +trimbled, turnin' paler than iver, an' thin blushin' rosy red +for joy an' towld him yes, an' he kissed her, an' they both +thought the throuble was all over foriver. It's a way thim +lovers has, an' they must be axcused, bekase it's the same +wid thim all.</p> + +<p>"But it wasn't at all, fur Nora had an owld squireen av a +father, that was as full av maneness as eggs is av mate. Sure +he was the divil entirely at home, an' niver left off wid the +crassness that was in him. The timper av him was spiled be +rason o' losing his bit o' money wid cârds an' racin', an' like +some min, he tuk it out wid his wife an' dawther. There was +only the three o' thim in it, an' they do say that whin he was +crazy wid dhrink, he'd bate thim right an' lift, an' turn thim +out o' the cabin into the night, niver heeding, the baste, phat +'ud come to thim. But they niver said a word thimselves, an' +the nabers only larned av it be seein' thim.</p> + +<pb n="043" /><anchor id="Pg043" /> + +<p>"Well. Whin O'Moore was towld that Paddy was kapin' +comp'ny wid Nora, an' the latther an' her mother towld him +she wanted fur to marry Paddy, the owld felly got tarin' mad, +fur he was as proud as a paycock, an' though he'd nothin' +himself, he riz agin the match, an' all the poor mother an' +Nora cud say 'udn't sthir him.</p> + +<figure url="images/image20.png" rend="floatleft; w50"> +<index index="fig" level1=""Be aff wid yer nonsinse"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: "Be aff wid yer nonsinse"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>"'Sure I've nothin' agin him,' he'd say, 'barrin' he's as +poor as a fiddler, an' I want Nora to make a good match.'</p> + +<p>"Now the owld felly had a match in his mind fur Nora, +a lad from Tipperary, whose father was a farmer there, an' +had a shmart bit av land wid no end av shape grazin' on +it, an' the Tipperary boy wasn't bad at all, only as shtupid as +a donkey, an' whin he'd come to see Nora, bad cess to the<pb n="044" /><anchor id="Pg044" /> +word he'd to say, only look at her a bit an' thin fall aslape +an' knock his head agin the wall. But he wanted her, an' his +father an' O'Moore put their heads together over a glass an' +aggrade that the young wans 'ud be married.</p> + +<p>"'Sure I don't love him a bit, father,' Nora 'ud say.</p> + +<p>"'Be aff wid yer nonsinse,' he'd say to her. 'Phat does it +matther about love, whin he's got more nor a hunderd shape. +Sure I wudn't give the wool av thim fur all the love in Clare,' +says he, an' wid that the argymint 'ud end.</p> + +<p>"So Nora towld Paddy an' Paddy said he'd not give her +up for all the men in Tipperary or all the shape in Ireland, +an' it was aggrade that in wan way or another, they'd be +married in spite av owld O'Moore, though Nora hated to do it, +bekase, as I was afther tellin' ye, she was a good gurrul, an' +wint to mass an' to her duty reg'lar. But like the angel that +she was, she towld her mother an' the owld lady was agrayble, +an' so Nora consinted.</p> + +<p>"But O'Moore was shrewder than a fox whin he was sober, +an' that was whin he'd no money to shpend in dhrink, an' +this bein' wan o' thim times, he watched Nora an' begun to +suspicion somethin'. So he made belave that everything was +right an' the next time that Murphy, that bein' the name o' +the Tipperary farmer, came, the two owld fellys settled it +that O'Moore an' Nora 'ud come to Tipperary av the Winsday +afther, that bein' the day o' the fair in Ennis that they knew +Paddy 'ud be at, an' whin they got to Tipperary, they'd +marry Nora an' young Murphy at wanst. So owld Murphy +was to sind the câr afther thim an' everything was made sure. +So, av the Winsday, towards noon, says owld O'Moore to +Nora,--</p> + +<p>"'Be in a hurry now, me child, an' make yersel' as fine +as ye can, an' Murphy's câr 'ull be here to take us to the +fair.'</p> + +<pb n="045" /><anchor id="Pg045" /> + +<p>"Nora didn't want to go, for Paddy was comin' out in the +afthernoon, misthrustin' that owld O'Moore 'ud be at the fair. +But O'Moore only towld her to make haste wid hersilf or +they'd be late, an' she did. So the câr came, wid a boy +dhriving, an' owld O'Moore axed the boy if he wanted to go to +the fair, so that Nora cudn't hear him, an' the boy said yes, +an' O'Moore towld him to go an' he'd dhrive an' bring him +back tomorrer. So the boy wint away, an' O'Moore an' Nora +got up an' shtarted. Whin they came to the crass-road, +O'Moore tuk the road to Tipperary.</p> + +<p>"'Sure father, ye're wrong,' says Nora, 'that's not the +way.'</p> + +<p>"'No more is it,' said the owld desayver, 'but I'm afther +wantin' to see a frind o' mine over here a bit an' we'll come +round to the Ennis road on the other side,' says he.</p> + +<p>"So Nora thought no more av it, but whin they wint on +an' on, widout shtoppin' at all, she begun to be disquisitive +agin.</p> + +<p>"'Father, is it to Ennis or not ye're takin' me,' says she.</p> + +<p>"Now, be this time, they'd got on a good bit, an' the +owld villin seen it was no use thryin' to desave her any +longer.</p> + +<p>"'I'm not,' says he, 'but it's to Tipperary ye're goin', +where ye're to be married to Misther Murphy this blessed +day, so ye are, an' make no throuble about it aither, or it'll +be the worse for ye,' says he, lookin' moighty black.</p> + +<p>"Well, at first Nora thought her heart 'ud shtand still. +'Sure, Father dear, ye don't mane it, ye cudn't be so cruel. +It's like a blighted tree I'd be, wid that man,' an' she +thried to jump aff the câr, but her father held her wid a grip +av stale.</p> + +<p>"'Kape still,' says he wid his teeth closed like a vise. 'If<pb n="046" /><anchor id="Pg046" /> +ye crass me, I'm like to murdher ye. It's me only escape +from prison, for I'm in debt an' Murphy 'ull help me,' says +he. 'Sure,' says he, saftenin' a bit as he seen the white face +an' great pleadin' eyes, 'Sure ye'll be happy enough wid +Murphy. He loves ye, an' ye can love him, an' besides, think +o' the shape.'</p> + +<p>"But Nora sat there, a poor dumb thing, wid her eyes +lookin' deeper than iver wid the misery that was in thim. +An' from that minit, she didn't spake a word, but all her +sowl was detarmined that she'd die afore she'd marry Murphy, +but how she'd get out av it she didn't know at all, but +watched her chance to run.</p> + +<p>"Now it happened that owld O'Moore, bein' disturbed in +his mind, mistuk the way, an' whin he come to the crass-roads, +wan to Tipperary an' wan to Cashel, he tuk the wan for the +other, an' whin the horse thried to go home to Tipperary, he +wudn't let him, but pulled him into the Cashel road. Faix, he +might have knewn that if he'd let the baste alone, he'd take +him right, fur horses knows a dale more than ye'd think. +That horse o' mine is only a common garron av a baste, but +he tuk me from Ballyvaughn to Lisdoon Varna wan night +whin it was so dark that ye cudn't find yer nose, an' wint be +the rath in a gallop, like he'd seen the good people. But +niver mind, I'll tell ye the shtory some time, only I was +thinkin' O'Moore might have knewn betther.</p> + +<p>"But they tuk the Cashel road an' wint on as fast as they +cud, for it was afthernoon an' gettin' late. An' O'Moore kept +lookin' about an' wonderin' that he didn't know the counthry, +though he'd niver been to Tipperary but wanst, an' +afther a while, he gev up that he was lost entirely. No more +wud he ax the people on the road, but gev thim 'God save +ye' very short, for he was afeared Nora might make throuble.<pb n="047" /><anchor id="Pg047" /> +An' by an' by, it come on to rain, an' whin they turned the +corner av a hill, he seen the Rock o' Cashel wid the churches +on it, an' thin he stopped.</p> + +<p>"'Phat's this at all,' says he. 'Faix, if that isn't Cashel +I'll ate it, an' we've come out o' the way altogether.'</p> + +<p>"Nora answered him niver a word, an' he shtarted to turn +round, but whin he looked at the horse, the poor baste was +knocked up entirely.</p> + +<p>"'We'll go on to Cashel,' says he, 'an' find a shebeen, +an' go back in the mornin'. It's hard luck we're afther +havin',' says he.</p> + +<figure url="images/image21.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1=""Where is me dawther?"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: "Where is me dawther?"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>"So they wint on, an' jist afore they got to the Rock, they +seen a nate lodgin' house +be the road an' wint in. He +left Nora to sit be the fire, +while he wint to feed the +horse, an' whin he come +back in a minit, he looked +for her, but faith, she'd +given him the shlip an' was +gone complately.</p> + +<p>"'Where is me dawther?' +says he.</p> + +<p>"'Faith, I dunno,' says +the maid. 'She walked out +av the dure on the minit,' +says she.</p> + +<p>"Owld O'Moore run, an' +Satan an' none but himself +turned him in the way she +was afther takin.' God be good to thim, no wan iver knewn +phat tuk place, but whin they wint wid a lanthern to sarch<pb n="048" /><anchor id="Pg048" /> +fur thim whin they didn't raturn, they found the marks o' +their feet on the road to the strame. Half way down the +path they picked up Nora's shawl that was torn an' flung +on the ground an' fut marks in plenty they found, as if he +had caught her an' thried to howld her an' cudn't, an' on +the marks wint to the high bank av the strame, that was a +torrent be razon av the rain. An' there they ended wid a big +slice o' the bank fallen in, an' the sarchers crassed thimselves +wid fright an' wint back an' prayed for the repose av their +sowls.</p> + +<p>"The next day they found thim, a good Irish mile down +the strame, owld O'Moore wid wan hand howlding her gown +an' the other wan grippin' her collar an' the clothes half torn +aff her poor cowld corpse, her hands stratched out afore her, +wid the desperation in her heart to get away, an' her white +face wid the great eyes an' the light gone out av thim, the +poor craythur, God give her rest, an' so to us all.</p> + +<p>"They laid thim dacintly, wid candles an' all, an' the wake +that they had was shuparb, fur the shtory was towld in all +the counthry, wid the vartues av Nora; an' the O'Brian's +come from Ennis, an' the O'Moore's from Crusheen, an' the +Murphy's an' their frinds from Tipperary, an' more from +Clonmel. There was a power av atin' an' slathers av dhrink +fur thim that wanted it, fur, d'ye mind, thim of Cashel +thried fur to show the rale Irish hoshpitality, bekase O'Moore +an' Nora were sint there to die an' they thought it was their +juty to thrate thim well. An' all the County Clare an' Tipperary +was at the berryin', an' they had three keeners, the +best that iver was, wan from Ennis, wan from Tipperary, an' +wan from Limerick, so that the praises av Nora wint on day +an' night till the berryin' was done. An' they made Nora's +grave in Cormac's Chapel just in front o' the Archbishop's<pb n="049" /><anchor id="Pg049" /> +tomb in the wall an' berried her first, an' tuk O'Moore as far +from her as they cud get him, an' put his grave as clost be +the wall as they cud go fur the shtones an' jist ferninst the +big gate on the left hand side, an' berried him last, an' sorra +the good word they had fur him aither.</p> + +<p>"Poor Paddy wint nayther to the wake nor to the berryin', +fur afther they towld him the news, he sat as wan in a +dhrame, no more cud they rouse him. He'd go to his work +very quite, an' niver shpake a word. An' so it was, about a +fortnight afther, he says to his mother, says he, 'Mother I +seen Nora last night an' she stood be me side an' laid her +hand on me brow, an' says "Come to Cashel, Paddy dear, an' +be wid me."' An' his mother was frighted entirely, for she +parsaved he was wrong in his head. She thried to aise his +mind, but the next night he disappared. They folly'd him +to Cashel, but he dodged an' kept from thim complately whin +they come an' so they left him. In the day he'd hide an' +slape, an' afther night, Nora's sper't 'ud mate him an' walk +wid him up an' down the shtones av the Chapel an' undher +the arches av the Cathaydral, an' he cared fur her grave, an' +bekase she was berried there, fur the graves av all thim that +shlept on the Rock. No more had he any frinds, but thim o' +Cashel 'ud lave pitaties an' bread where he'd see it an' so he +lived. Fur sixty wan years was he on the Rock an' never left +it, but he'd sometimes show himself in the day whin there was +a berryin', an' say, 'Ye've brought me another frind,' an' +help in the work, an' never was there a graveyard kept like +that o' Cashel.</p> + +<p>"When he got owld, an' where he cud look into the other +worruld, Nora came ivery night an' brought more wid her, +sper'ts av kings an' bishops that rest on Cashel, an' there's +thim that's seen the owld man walkin' in Cormac's Chapel,<pb n="050" /><anchor id="Pg050" /> +Nora holdin' him up an' him discoorsin' wid the mighty dead. +They found him wan day, cowld an' shtill, on Nora's grave, +an' laid him be her side, God rest his sowl, an' there he slapes +to-day, God be good to him.</p> + +<figure url="images/image22.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1=""The Owld Man walkin' in Cormae's Chapel"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: "The Owld Man walkin' in Cormae's Chapel"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>"They said he was only a poor owld innocent, but all is +aqualized, an' thim that's despised sometimes have betther +comp'ny among the angels than that of mortials."</p> +</div> + +<div rend="page-break-before: right"> +<pb n="051" /><anchor id="Pg051" /> +<index index="toc" /> +<index index="pdf" /> +<head>SATAN'S CLOVEN HOOF.</head> + +<figure url="images/image23.png" rend="floatleft; w50"> +<index index="fig" level1="Initial: "Satan's Cloven Hoof"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: Initial: "Satan's Cloven Hoof"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>Among the beautiful traits of the +Irish character, none is +more prominent than the +religious element. Philosophers +declare that the worshipping +principle is strong +in proportion to the lack of +happiness in the circumstances +of life, and at first +glance there seems a degree +of truth in the statement; +for the rich, enjoying their +riches, are likely to be contented and to look no further than +this world; while the poor, oppressed and ground to the earth +by those whom they feel to be no better than themselves, having +that innate sense of justice common to all men, and discerning +the inequality of worldly lots, are not slow to place +implicit belief in the doctrine of a final judgment, at which all +inequalities will be righted, and both rich and poor will stand +side by side; the former gaining no advantage from his riches, +the latter being at no disadvantage from his poverty.</p> + +<p>There is, however, good reason to believe that in the days +of Ireland's greatness there was the same strength of devotion +as at present. Ireland is so full of ruined churches and ecclesiastical +buildings as to give color of truth to the statement +of a recent traveller, "it is a country of ruins." Rarely is the +traveller out of sight of the still standing walls of a long deserted +church, and not infrequently the churches are found<pb n="052" /><anchor id="Pg052" /> +in groups. The barony of Forth, in Wexford, though comprising +a territory of only 40,000 acres, contains the ruins of +eighteen churches, thirty-three chapels, two convents, and a +hospital of vast proportions. Nor is this district exceptional, +for at Glendalough, Clon-mac-nois, Inniscathy, Inch Derrin, +and Innis Kealtra, there are groups of churches, each group +having seven churches, the edifices of goodly size, and at Clonferth +and Holy Cross, there are seven chapels in each town, +so close together as to cause wonder whether all were called +into use.</p> + +<p>One manifestation of the religious element of the Irish nature +is seen in the profound reverence for the memory of the +saints. Of these, Ireland claims, according to one authority, +no less than seventy-five thousand, and it is safe to say that +the curious inquirer might find one or more legends of each, +treasured up in the unwritten folk-lore of the country districts. +To the disadvantage of the minor saints, however, most of the +stories cluster round a few well-known names, and nothing delights +the Irish story-teller more than to relate legends of the +saints, which he does with a particularity as minute in all its +details as though he had stood by the side of the saint, had +seen everything that was done, and heard every word that was +spoken; supplying missing links in the chain of the story +from a ready imagination, and throwing over the whole the +glamour of poetic fancy inseparable from the Irish nature.</p> + +<p>The neighborhood of Glendalough, County Wicklow, is sacred +to the memory of Saint Kevin, and abounds with legends +of his life and works. The seven churches which, according +to tradition, were built there under his direction, are now +mostly in ruins; his bed, a hollow in a precipice, is still shown, +together with his kitchen and the altar at which he once ministered. +In the graveyard of one of the churches is a curious<pb n="053" /><anchor id="Pg053" /> +stone cross, of considerable size, evidently monumental, +though the inscription has been so defaced as to be illegible. +On the front of the cross there is a deep indentation much resembling +that made by the hoof of a cow in soft earth, the +bottom of the indentation being deepest at the sides and somewhat +ridged in the middle. Concerning this cross and the depression +in its face, the following legend was related by an old +peasant of the neighborhood.</p> + +<figure url="images/image24.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1="Glendalough" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: Glendalough</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>"Ye must know, that among all the saints that went to +heaven from Ireland's sod, there isn't wan, barrin' Saint Patrick, +that stands in a betther place than the blessed Saint +Kevin av Glendalough, fur the wondherful things that he done +is past all tellin'. 'Twas he that built all the churches ye see<pb n="054" /><anchor id="Pg054" /> +in the vale here, an' when he lived, he owned all the land +round about, fur he restored King O'Toole's goose, that the +king had such divarshun in, when it was too ould to fly, so +the king gev him all that the goose 'ud fly over, an' when the +goose got her wings agin, she was so merry that she flew over +mighty near all the land that King O'Toole had before she +come back at all, so he got it.</p> + +<p>"'Twas he too that put out o' the counthry the very last +sarpint that was left in it, afther Saint Patrick had druv the +rest into the say, fur he met the baste wan day as he was walkin' +in the hills and tuk him home wid him to give him the bit +an' sup, an' the sarpint got as dhrunk as a piper, so Saint +Kevin put him in a box an' nailed it up an' flung it into the +say, where it is to this blessed day.</p> + +<p>"But 'tis my belafe that the besht job o' work he ever +done was markin' the divil so if you'd meet him an the road, +you'd know in a minnit that it was himself an' no other that +was in it, an' so make ready, aither fur to run away from him, +or to fight him wid prayin' as fast as ye cud, bekase, ye see, +it's no use fur to shtrive wid him any other way, seein' that +no waypon can make the laste dint on his carkidge.</p> + +<p>"In thim days, an' before phat tuk place I'm tellin' ye av, +the divil was all as wan as a man, a tall felly like a soger, wid +a high hat comin' to a pint an' feathers on it, an' fine boots +an' shpurs an' a short red jacket wid a cloak over his shoulder +an' a soord be his side, as fine as any gintleman av' the good +ould times. So he used to go about the counthry, desavin' +men an' wimmin, the latther bein' his chice as bein' aisier fur +to desave, an' takin' thim down wid him to his own place, an' +it was a fine time he was havin' entirely, an' everything his +own way. Well, as he was thravellin' about, he heard wan +day av Saint Kevin an' the church he was afther buildin' an'<pb n="055" /><anchor id="Pg055" /> +the haythens he was convartin' an' he says to himself, 'Sure +this won't do. I must give up thriflin' an' look afther me +bizness, or me affairs 'ull go to the dogs, so they will.'</p> + +<p>"It was in Kerry he was when he heard the news, an' was +havin' a fine time there, fur when Saint Patrick convarted Ireland, +he didn't go to Kerry, but only looked into it an' blessed +it an' hurried on, but though he didn't forget it, intindin', I +belave, to go back, the divil tuk up his quarthers there, to +make it as sure as he cud. But when he heard av Saint Kevin's +doin's, it was too much fur him, so he shtarted an' come +from Kerry to Glendalough wid wan jump, an' there sure +enough, the walls o' the church were risin' afore his eyes, an' as +he stud on that hill he heard the avenin' song o' the monks +that were helpin' Saint Kevin in the work. So the divil was +tarin' mad, an' stud on the brow o' the hill, cursin' to himself +an' thinkin' that if any more churches got into Ireland, his job +o' work 'ud be gone, an' he'd betther go back to England +where he come from. He made up his mind though, that +he'd do fur Saint Kevin if he cud, but mind ye, the blessed +saint was so well beknownst to all the counthry, that the divil +was afeared to tackle him. So he laid about in the grass, on +his breast like a sarpint fur three or four days till they were +beginnin' to put the roof on, and then he thought he'd thry.</p> + +<p>"Now I must tell ye wan thing. The blessed saint was at +that time only a young felly, though they don't make 'em +any betther than he was. When he left home, he'd a shweetheart +be the name o' Kathleen, an' she loved him betther than +her life, an' so did he her in that degray that he'd lay down +an' die on the shpot fur the love av her, but his juty called +him fur to be God's priest, an' he turned his back on father +an' mother an' saddest av all on Kathleen, though it was like +tarin' out his heart it was, an' came to Glendalough. Kathleen<pb n="056" /><anchor id="Pg056" /> +was like to die, but afther a bit, she got over it a little +an' went into a convent, for, says she, 'I'll marry no wan, +an' 'ull meet him in heaven.' But Saint Kevin didn't know +phat had become av her, an' thried hard not to think av her, +but wanst in a while the vision av her 'ud come back to him +like the mem'ry av a beautiful dhrame.</p> + +<p>"Now about this time, while the divil was layin' about in +the bushes a-watchin' the work, an' the tower of the big +church was liftin' itself above the trees, the blessed saint begun +to be onaisy in his mind, fur, says he to himself, 'Things +is too aisy entirely. It's just thim times when all is goin' on +as smooth as a duck on a pond that the divil comes down like a +fox on a goslin' an' takes every wan unbeknownst, so wins the +vict'ry. I'll have a care, fur afther the sunshine comes the +shtorm,' says he. So that avenin' he ordhered his monks to +say a thousand craydos, an' two thousand paters an' aves, an' +afther that was done, he got in his boat an' crassed the lake. +He climbed up to his bed above ye there, an' said his baids +agin an' went to slape, but the divil was watchin' him like a +hawk, for he'd laid a thrap fur the blessed saint to catch him +wid, that was thish-a-way.</p> + +<p>"Every body knows how that Satan is shlicker than a +weasel, an' has a mem'ry like a miser's box that takes in +everything an' lets nothin' go out. When ye do anything, +sorra a bit av it 'scapes the divil, an' he hugs it clost till a +time comes when he can make a club av it to bate ye wid, +an' so he does. The owld felly remimbered all that passed +betune Kathleen an' the blessed saint, an' he knewn how +hard it was fur Saint Kevin to forgit her, so he thought +he'd put him in a fix. Afther the saint had cuddled up in +his shtraw wid his cloak over him an' was shnoring away as +snug as a flea in a blanket, comes the divil, a-climbin' up the<pb n="057" /><anchor id="Pg057" /> +rock, in the exact image o' the young Kathleen. Ye may +think it quare, but it's no wondher to thim that undherstands +it, fur the divil can take any shape he plazes an' look like any +wan he wants to, an' so he does for the purpose av temptin' +us poor sinners to disthruction, but there's wan thing be +which he's always known; when ye've given up to him or when +ye've baten him out o' the face, no matther which, he's got +to throw aff the disguise that's on him an' show you who he +is, an' when he does it, it isn't the iligant, dressed-up divil that +ye see an' that I was just tellin' ye av, but the rale, owld, black +nagur av a rannychorus, widout a haporth o' rags to the back +av him, an' his horns an' tail a-shtickin' out, an' his eyes as +big as an oxen's an' shinin' like fire, an' great bat's wings on +him, an', savin' yer prisince, the most nefairius shmell o' sulfur +ye ever shmelt. But before, he looks all right, no matther +phat face he has, an' it's only be the goodness o' God that +the divil is bound fur to show himself to ye, bekase, Glory be +to God, it's his will that men shall know who they're dalin' +wid, an' if they give up to the divil, an' afther findin' out +who's in it, go on wid the bargain they've made, sure the +fault is their own, an' they go to hell wid their eyes open, an' +if they bate him, he's got to show himself fur to let thim see +phat they've escaped.</p> + +<p>"Well, I was afther sayin', the divil was climbin' up the +rock in the form o' Kathleen, an' come to the saint's bed an' +teched him an the shouldher. The blessed saint was layin' +there belike dhraming o' Kathleen, fur sure, there was no +harm in that, an' when he woke up an' seen her settin' be his +side, he thought the eyes 'ud lave him.</p> + +<p>"'Kathleen,' says he, 'is it yoursilf that's in it, an' me +thinkin' I'd parted from you forever?'</p> + +<p>"'It is,' says the ould desaver, 'an' no other, Kevin darlint, +an' I've come to shtay wid ye.'</p> + +<pb n="058" /><anchor id="Pg058" /> + +<p>"'Sure darlint,' says the saint, 'ye know how it bruk me +heart entirely to lave ye, no more wud I have done it, but be +the will o' God. Ye know I loved ye, an' God forgive me, +I'm afeared I love ye still, but it isn't right, Kathleen. Go +in pace, in the name o' God, an' lave me,' says he.</p> + +<p>"'No Kevin,' says Satan, a-throwin' himself on Kevin's +breast, wid both arrums round his neck, 'I'll never lave ye,' +lettin' an to cry an' dhrop tears an the face o' the blessed +saint.</p> + +<p>"It's no aisy matther to say no to a woman anyhow, aven +to an ugly woman, but when it's a good-lookin' wan that's +in it, an' she axin' ye wid her arrums round ye an' the crystal +dhrops like that many dimunds fallin' from her eyes that look +at ye like shtars through a shower av rain, begob it's meself +that doesn't undhershtand why Saint Kevin didn't give up +at wanst, an' so he wud if he hadn't been the blessed saint +that he was. But he was mightily flusthered, an' no wondher, +an' stud there wid his breast hayvin', a-shtrivin' to resist the +timptation to thrade a crown in heaven fur a love on airth.</p> + +<p>"'Lave this place, Kevin,' says the tempther, 'an' come +wid me, we'll go away an' be happy together forever,' an' +wid that word, an' as the fate av the saint was trimblin' in +the balances, the holy angels o' God stud beside him, an' wan +whishpered in his ear that the Kathleen he loved before was +a pure, good woman, an' that she'd 'a' died afore she'd come +to him that-a-way.</p> + +<p>"'No,' says he, wid sudden shtrength. 'It's not Kathleen +that's in it, but an avil sper't. God's prisence be about us! +Get you gone Satan an' sayce to throuble me,' an' that minnit +the blessed saint jumped up aff the ground an' wid his two +feet gev the owld rayprobate a thunderin' kick in the stummick, +an' when he doubled up wid the pain an' fell back an'<pb n="059" /><anchor id="Pg059" /> +clapped his hands together on the front av him, Saint Kevin +gev him another in his rare, axin' yer pardon, that sent him +clane over the clift, wid Saint Kevin gatherin' shtones an' +flingin' thim afther him wid all the might that was in him. +So the minnit the saint kicked him the very foorst kick, +Kathleen disappeared, an' there was the owld black Belzebub +a-tumblin' over, an' fallin' down to the lake, holdin' his stummick +an' thryin' hard to catch himself wid his wings afore +he'd hit the wather. But he did by the time he got to the +bottom an' flew away, bellerin' worse nor a bull with a dog +hangin' to his nose, so that all the monks woke wid fright, +an' cudn't go to shlape agin till they'd said a craydo an' +five aves apiece, but the blessed saint set be his bed a-sayin' +his baids the rest o' the night wid a pile o' shtones convaynient +to his hand fur fear the divil 'ud come back. But +Satan flew over an that hill an' rubbed himself before an' behind +too, where the saint had kicked him, an' didn't go back, +for he'd enough o' the saint fur that time. But he was +mightily vexed, an' not to lose the chance fur to do some mischief +before he'd go away, he pulled down all the walls that +the poor monks had built that day.</p> + +<p>"Now there's thim that says that it was the rale Kathleen +that Saint Kevin kicked over the clift, but sure that's not +thrue, fur it's not in an Irishman to thrate a woman that-a-way, +that makes me belave that the shtory I'm tellin' ye +was the thrue shtory an' that it wasn't Kathleen at all, +but Satan, that Saint Kevin thrated wid such onpoliteness, +an my blessin' an him fur that same, fur he come out very +well axceptin' five or six blisthers on his face, where the divil's +tears touched him, that's well known to make blisthers on +phatever they touch.</p> + +<p>"Well, as I was sayin', he pulled down the church walls,<pb n="060" /><anchor id="Pg060" /> +an' the monks put thim up agin, an' the next mornin' they +were down, an' so fur a good bit the contist went an betune +the divil an' the monks, a-shtrivin' if they cud build up +fashter than he cud pull down, fur he says to himself, Satan +did, 'Jagers, I can't be losin' me time here widout doin' +something, nor, bedad, no more can I tell how to rache the +saint widout sarcumspectin' him.'</p> + +<figure url="images/image25.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1="Saint Kevin and the Devil" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: Saint Kevin and the Devil</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>"But the saint bate him at that game, for wan night, +afther the work was done, he put half the monks on the wall +to watch there the night, an' when Satan come flyin' along +like the dirthy bat that he was, there was the monks all along +be the day's job, aitch wan a-sayin' his baids as fast as he cud +an' a bottle o' holy wather be his side to throw at the divil +when he'd come. So he went from thim an' be takin' turns +at watchin' an' workin', they finished the church.</p> + +<p>"In coorse o' time, Saint Kevin wanted another church an'<pb n="061" /><anchor id="Pg061" /> +begun to build it too, for he said, 'Begob, I'll have that +church done be fall if every grain o' sand in Glendalough +becomes a divil an' rises up fur to purvint it,' an' so he did, +Glory be to God, but at first was bothered to git the money +fur to raise the walls. Well, wan day as he was in the bother, +he was walkin' an the hills, an' he heard the clattherin' av a +horse's feet behind him an the road, an' afore he cud turn +round, up comes the most illigant black horse ye ever seen, +an' a tall gintleman a ridin' av him, wid all the look av a +soger, a broad hat on the head av him, an' a silk jacket wid +goold trimmin's, an' shtripes on his britches, an' gloves to his +elbows, an' soord an' shpurs a-jinglin', the same as he was a +rich lord.</p> + +<p>"'God save ye,' says the saint.</p> + +<p>"'God save ye kindly,' says the gintleman, an' they +walked an together an' fell into convarsin'.</p> + +<p>"'I'm towld ye're afther buildin' another church,' says +the gintleman.</p> + +<p>"'It's thrue for ye,' says the saint, 'but it's meself that's +bothered about that same, for I've no money,' says he.</p> + +<p>"'That's too bad,' says the gintleman; 'have ye axed for +help?' says he.</p> + +<p>"'Faix, indade I have,' says the saint, 'but the times is +hard, an' the money goin' out o' the counthry to thim blaggârd +landlords in England,' says he.</p> + +<p>"'It's right ye are,' says the gintleman, 'but I've hopes +o' betther times when the tinants get the land in their own +hands,' says he. 'I'm goin' to right thim avils. I'm the +new Lord Liftinant,' says he, 'an' able to help ye an the job, +undher a proper undhershtandin',' says he.</p> + +<p>"At foorst Saint Kevin was that surprised that he'd like +to dhrop an the road, fur he hadn't heard av the 'pintmint av<pb n="062" /><anchor id="Pg062" /> +a new Lord Liftinant, but he raizoned wid himself that it cud +aisily be done widout his knowin' av it, an' so he thought +he'd a shtrake av luck in seein' av him.</p> + +<p>"'God be good to yer Lordship,' says he, 'an' make yer +bed in the heavens, an' it's thankful I'd be fur any shmall +favors ye plaze to give, fur it's very poor we are.'</p> + +<p>"'An' phat 'ud ye say to a prisint av tin thousand pound,' +says the gintleman, 'purvided ye spind it an the church ye +have an' not in buildin' a new wan,' says the gintleman, an' +wid that word, Saint Kevin knew the ould inimy, an' shtarted +at him.</p> + +<p>"But the divil had enough o' Saint Kevin's heels, for he'd +felt the kick he cud give wid 'em, an' faix, the blessed saint +was as well sarcumstanced in that quarther as a donkey, an' +Belzebub knew that same, so he niver stayed, but when he +saw Saint Kevin comin', immejitly the black horse changed +into a big dhraggin, an' the illigant close dhrapped aff the +divil an' in his own image he went aff shpurrin' the dhraggin, +he an' the baste flappin' their wings as fast as they cud to get +out of the saint's way an' lavin' afther thim the shmell av sulfur +that shtrong that the blessed saint did nothin' for an +hour but hould his nose an' cough.</p> + +<p>"Afther thim two axpayriences, the divil seen it was no use +o' him offerin' fur to conthraven Saint Kevin, so he rayjuiced +his efforts to botherin' the monks at the work. He'd hang +about day an' night, doin' all the mischief that he cud, bekase, +says he, 'If I can't shtop thim, by Jayminy, I'll delay thim to +that degray that they'll find it the shlowest job they ever undhertuk,' +says he, an' so it was. When they'd finish a bit o' +the wall an' lave it to dhry, up 'ud come the divil an' kick it +over; when two o' them 'ud be carrying a heavy shtone, the +divil, unbeknownst to thim, 'ud knock it out o' their hands so<pb n="063" /><anchor id="Pg063" /> +as to make it dhrop on their toes, a-thinkin' belike, that they'd +shwear on the quiet to thimselves: that they never did; when +a holy father 'ud lay down his hammer an' turn his back, the +divil 'ud snatch it up an' fling it aff the wall; till wid his +knockin' over the wather-bucket, an' shcrapin' aff the morthar, +an' upsettin' the hod o' bricks, an' makin' the monks +forgit where they'd put things, it got so that they were in a +muck o' shweat every hour o' the day; an' from that time it +got to be said, when anything wint wrong widout a raizon, +that the divil's in it.</p> + +<p>"Now whin Saint Kevin conshecrated the church, they +tuk wid it the ground round about as far as ye see that shtone +wall, for, says he, 'Sure it'll always be handy.' So in coorse +o' time, as the second church was gettin' done, wan avenin' +Saint Kevin went out wid a bucket fur to milk his cow, that +had just come down from the mountain where she'd been +grazin'. Well, he let the calf to her, an' the poor little baste +bein' hungry, fur I belave the cow hadn't come up the night +afore, it begun on wan side an' the saint an the other, an' the +calf was suckin' away wid all the jaws it had, an' kep' up a +haythenish punchin' wid its nose beways av a hint to the cow +fur to give up more milk. The calf punched an' the cow +kicked, fur, mind ye, the divil was in thim both, the poor +bastes, no more was it their fault at all, an' betune howldin' +the bucket in wan hand an' milking wid the other wan, an' +kapin' his eye shkinned for the cow's heels, an' shovin' the +calf from his side, the saint was like to lose all the milk.</p> + +<p>"'Tatther an' agers,' says he, 'shtand shtill, ye onnattheral +crayther, or I'll bate the life out o' ye, so I will,' says he, +tarin' mad, fur the calf was gettin' all, an' the bottom o' the +bucket not covered. But the cow wudn't do it, so the blessed +saint tuk the calf be the years fur to drag him away, an' then<pb n="064" /><anchor id="Pg064" /> +the cow run at him wid her horns so that he had to let go the +calf's years an' dodge an' was in a bother entirely. But he +got him a club in case the cow 'ud offer fur to hook him agin, +an' opened the gate into the field behind the church, an' afther +a good dale o' jumpin' about he sucsayded in dhrivin' in the +cow an' kapin' out the calf. Then he shut the gate an' wipin' +the shweat aff his blessed face, he got the bucket an' shtool +an' set down to milk in pace. But be this time the cow was +tarin' mad at bein' shut from the calf, an' at the first shquaze +he gev her, she jumped like she'd heard a banshee, an' then +phat 'ud she do but lift up her heel an' give him a kick an +the skull fit to crack it fur him an' laid him on the grass, an' +turnin' round, she put her fut in the bucket an' stud lookin' +at him, as fur to ax if he'd enough.</p> + +<p>"'The divil brile the cow,' says the saint, God forgive him +fur cursin' her, but ye see he'd lost all consate av her be the +throuble he'd had wid her afore, besides the crack on his +head, that was well nigh aiquel to the kick he cud give himself, +so that he was axcusable fur phat he was sayin', fur it's +no joke I'm tellin' ye to be made a showbogher av, be a baste +av a cow.</p> + +<p>"'Sure I will, yer Riverince,' says a deep voice behind him, +'an' thank ye fur that same favor, fur it's a fat bit she is.'</p> + +<p>"Saint Kevin riz up a-rubbin' his head as fast as he cud +an' looked round an' there sure enough was owld Satan himself +standin' there grinnin' away wid the horrid mouth av him +stratched from year to year, a-laughin' at the fix the saint was +in. Well, the minnit Saint Kevin set his two eyes an him, +he knewn he had him, fur ye see, the ground was conshecrated, +but the divil didn't know it fur it was done wan time +when he'd gone to Cork to attind a landlord's convintion to +raise the rints on a lot o' shtarving tinants, that bein' a favorite<pb n="065" /><anchor id="Pg065" /> +job wid him. If he'd knewn the ground was holy, he'd +never dared to set fut an it, fur ye see, if ye can ketch the +divil an holy ground where he's no bizness, ye've got him +fast an' tight an' can pull him in when ye plaze. But the +saint wasn't goin' to give the owld desaver any show so he +run at him an' gripped him be the horns, the same as he was +a goat, an' threw him an the ground an' tied his hands wid a +pace av his own gown that he tore aff, an' the divil, do phat he +cud, wasn't able to break loose.</p> + +<p>"'Now,' says he, 'ye slatherin', blood-suckin', blaggârdin' +nagur, I'll fix ye, ye owld hippypotaymus, so as ivery sowl in +Ireland 'ull know ye where ever ye're met.'</p> + +<p>"So he rowled up his shlaves an' shpit an his hands an' +fell to work. He onschrewed the divil's left leg at the jint +av the knee, an' laid it an the grass. Then he tuk aff the +cow's right hind leg at the knee an' laid that an the grass. +Then he schrewed the owld cow's leg an the divil's knee, an' +the divil's fut an the owld cow's leg, an' untied Satan an' bid +him git up.</p> + +<p>"'Now,' says he to him, 'do you go at wanst, an' I bid ye +that when ye meet man or mortial, the foorst thing ye do is +to show that fut that they know from the shtart who ye are. +Now shtart, ye vagabone blaggârd av a shpalpeen, or I'll +kick the backbone shtrait up into the shkull o' ye. Out!' +he says, flourishin' his fut at him.</p> + +<p>"Well, the divil made a break fur to run, bekase he wanted +no more benedictions from the toes o' Saint Kevin, but not +bein' used to his new leg, the very foorst shtep he made wid +it, it kicked out behind agin this shtone, that wasn't a crass +at all then, an' made this hole that ye see, an' Saint Kevin +tuk the shtone an' made a crass av it aftherwards. But the +divil didn't shtop at all when the leg wudn't go fur him, fur<pb n="066" /><anchor id="Pg066" /> +he seen the blessed saint comin', a-wavin' his fut about, so +he rowled over an' over till he got to the wall, then made +a shpring an it an' out av sight like a ghost.</p> + +<figure url="images/image26.png" rend="floatleft; w50"> +<index index="fig" level1=""An' so he's lame, an' must show his cloven fut"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: "An' so he's lame, an' must show his cloven fut"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>"That's the way Satan got his lame leg, bekase, ye see +he's niver larned fur to manage it, an' goes limpity-lop, an' +though he wears a cloak, is obligated fur to show the cow's +fut whenever he talks wid any wan, fur if he doesn't, begorra, +the leg does fur itself, fur it's niver forgot the thrick av kicking +the owld cow larned it, an' if Satan +waits a minnit, up goes the cow's fut, +as hard an' high as the last time she +kicked the saint. No more did the +divil ever dare to come there agin, so +the blessed Saint Kevin was left in +pace to build the siven churches, an +the divil wasn't ever seen in Glendalough, +till the day the saint was berrid, +an' then he peeped over the hill +to look at the berryin', but he wudn't +come down, thinkin', belike, it was +a lie they were tellin' him when they +said the saint was dead, fur to injuice +him to come into the glen an' give +Saint Kevin wan more whack at him +wid his fut. An' they do say, that +he's been to the besht docthers in the +univaarse fur to get him another leg, +but they cudn't do it, Glory be to God; an' so he is lame an' +must show his cloven fut, so as ivery wan knows at wanst that +it's the divil himself that's in it, an' can run away from him +before he's time to do thim harm.</p> +</div> + +<div rend="page-break-before: right"> +<pb n="067" /><anchor id="Pg067" /> +<index index="toc" /> +<index index="pdf" /> +<head>THE ENCHANTED ISLAND.</head> + +<figure url="images/image27.png" rend="floatleft; w50"> +<index index="fig" level1="Initial: "The Enchanted Island"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: Initial: "The Enchanted Island"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>On the afternoon of Sunday, +July 7, 1878, the inhabitants +of Ballycotton, County Cork, +were greatly excited by the +sudden appearance, far out +at sea, of an island where +none was known to exist. +The men of the town and +island of Ballycotton were +fishermen and knew the sea +as well as they knew the land. The +day before, they had been out in their +boats and sailed over the spot where the strange island now +appeared, and were certain that the locality was the best fishing-ground +they had.</p> + +<p>"And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew," for the +day was clear and the island could be seen as plainly as they +saw the hills to the north. It was rugged, in some parts rocky, +in others densely wooded; here and there were deep shadows +in its sides indicating glens heavily covered with undergrowth +and grasses. At one end it rose almost precipitously from the +sea; at the other, the declivity was gradual; the thick forest +of the mountainous portion gave way to smaller trees, these to +shrubs; these to green meadows that finally melted into the +sea and became indistinguishable from the waves.</p> + +<pb n="068" /><anchor id="Pg068" /> + +<p>Under sail and oar, a hundred boats put off from the shore +to investigate; when, as they neared the spot, the strange +island became dim in outline, less vivid in color, and at last +vanished entirely, leaving the wonder-stricken villagers to return, +fully convinced that for the first time in their lives they +had really seen the Enchanted Island. For once there was a +topic of conversation that would outlast the day, and as the +story of the Enchanted Island passed from lip to lip, both story +and island grew in size till the latter was little less than a continent, +containing cities and castles, palaces and cathedrals, +towers and steeples, stupendous mountain ranges, fertile valleys, +and wide spreading plains; while the former was limited +only by the patience of the listener, and embraced the personal +experience, conclusions, reflections, and observations of every +man, woman, and child in the parish who had been fortunate +enough to see the island, hear of it, or tell where it had been +seen elsewhere.</p> + +<p>For the Enchanted Island of the west coast is not one of +those ordinary, humdrum islands that rise out of the sea in a +night, and then, having come, settle down to business on scientific +principles, and devote their attention to the collection +of soil for the use of plants and animals. It disdains any +such commonplace course as other islands are content to follow, +but is peripatetic, or, more properly, seafaring, in its +habits, and as fond of travelling as a sailor. At its own sweet +will it comes, and, having shown itself long enough to convince +everybody who is not an "innocent entirely" of its +reality, it goes without leave-taking or ceremony, and always +before boats can approach near enough to make a careful inspection. +This is the invariable history of its appearance. +No one has ever been able to come close to its shores, much +less land upon them, but it has been so often seen on the west<pb n="069" /><anchor id="Pg069" /> +coast, that a doubt of its existence, if expressed in the company +of coast fishermen, will at once establish for the sceptic +a reputation for ignorance of the common affairs of every-day +life.</p> + +<p>In Cork, for instance, it has been seen by hundreds of people +off Ballydonegan Bay, while many more can testify to its +appearance off the Bay of Courtmacsherry. In Kerry, all the +population of Ballyheige saw it a few years ago, lying in Tralee +Bay, between Kerry Head and Brandon's Head, and +shortly before, the villagers of Lisneakeabree, just across the +bay from Ballyheige, saw it between their shore and Kerry +Head, while the fishermen in Saint Finan's Bay and in Ballinskelligs +are confident it has been seen, if not by themselves, +at least by some of their friends. It has appeared at the +mouth of the Shannon, and off Carrigaholt in Clare, where +the people saw a city on it. This is not so remarkable as it +seems, for, in justice to the Enchanted Island, it should be +stated that its resemblance to portions of the neighboring land +is sometimes very close, and shows that the "enchanter" who +has it under a spell knows his business, and being determined +to keep his island for himself changes its appearance as well +as its location in order that his property may not be recognized +nor appropriated.</p> + +<p>In Galway, the Enchanted Island has appeared in the mouth +of Ballinaleame Bay, a local landlord at the time making a devout +wish that it would stay there. The fishermen of Ballynaskill, +in the Joyce Country, saw it about fifteen years ago, +since when it appeared to the Innisshark islanders. The +County Mayo has seen it, not only from the Achille Island +cliffs, but also from Downpatrick Head; and in Sligo, the +fishermen of Ballysadare Bay know all about it, while half the +population of Inishcrone still remember its appearance about<pb n="070" /><anchor id="Pg070" /> +twenty years ago. The Inishboffin islanders in Donegal say +it looked like their own island, "sure two twins couldn't be +liker," and the people on Gweebarra Bay, when it appeared +there, observed along the shore of the island a village like +Maas, the one in which they lived. It has also appeared off +Rathlin's Island, on the Antrim coast, but, so far as could be +learned, it went no further to the east, confining its migrations +to the west coast, between Cork on the south and Antrim +on the north.</p> + +<p>Concerning the island itself, legendary authorities differ on +many material points. Some hold it to be "a rale island sure +enough," and that its exploits are due to "jommethry or some +other inchantmint," while opponents of this materialistic view +are inclined to the opinion that the island is not what it seems +to be, that is to say, not "airth an' shtones, like as thim we +see, but only a deludherin' show that avil sper'ts, or the divil +belike, makes fur to desave us poor dishsolute craythers." +Public opinion on the west coast is therefore strongly divided +on the subject, unity of sentiment existing on two points +only; that the island has been seen, and that there is something +quite out of the ordinary in its appearance. "For ye +see, yer Anner," observed a Kerry fisherman, "it's agin +nacher fur a rale island to be comin' and goin' like a light in +a bog, an' whin ye do see it, ye can see through it, an' by +jagers, if it's a thrue island, a mighty quare wan it is an' no +mishtake."</p> + +<p>On so deep and difficult a subject, an ounce of knowledge +is worth a pound of speculation, and the knowledge desired +was finally furnished by an old fisherman of Ballyconealy Bay, +on the Connemara coast, west of Galway. This individual, +Dennis Moriarty by name, knew all about the Enchanted Island, +having not only seen it himself, but, when a boy, learned<pb n="071" /><anchor id="Pg071" /> +its history from a "fairy man," who obtained his information +from "the good people" themselves, the facts stated being +therefore, of course, of indisputable authority, what the fairies +did not know concerning the doings of supernatural and enchanted +circles, being not worth knowing. Mr. Moriarty was +stricken in years, having long given up active service in the +boats and relegated himself to lighter duties on shore. He +had much confidence in the accuracy of his information on the +subject of the island, and a glass of grog, and "dhraw ov the +pipe," brought out the story in a rich, mellow brogue.</p> + +<p>"Faith, I'm not rightly sure how long ago it was, but it +was a good while an' before the blessed Saint Pathrick come +to the counthry an' made Crissans av the haythens in it. +Howandiver, it was in thim times that betune this an' Inishmore, +there was an island. Some calls it the Island av Shades, +an' more says its name was the Sowls Raypose, but it doesn't +matther, fur no wan knows. It was as full av payple as it +could howld, an' cities wor on it wid palaces an' coorts an' +haythen timples an' round towers all covered wid goold an' +silver till they shone so ye cudn't see for the brightness.</p> + +<p>"And they wor all haythens there, an' the king av the +island was the biggest av thim, sure he was Satan's own, +an' tuk delight in doin' all the bloody things that come into +his head. If the waither that minded the table did annything +to displaze him, he'd out wid a soord the length av me +arrum an' cut aff his head. If they caught a man shtaling, +the king 'ud have him hung at wanst widout the taste av a +thrial, 'Bekase,' says the king, says he, 'maybe he didn't do +it at all, an' so he'd get aff, so up wid him,' an' so they'd do. +He had more than a hunderd wives, ginerally spakin', but he +wasn't throubled in the laste be their clack, for whin wan had +too much blasthogue in her jaw, or begun gostherin' at him,<pb n="072" /><anchor id="Pg072" /> +he cut aff her head an' said, beways av a joke, that 'that's +the only cure fur a woman's tongue.' An' all the time, from +sun to sun, he was cursin' an' howlin' wid rage, so as I'm sure +yer Anner wouldn't want fur to hear me say thim blastpheemies +that he said. To spake the truth av him, he was wicked +in that degray that, axin' yer pardon, the owld divil himself +wouldn't own him.</p> + +<p>"So wan time, there was a thunderin' phillaloo in the +king's family, fur mind ye, he had thin just a hunderd wives. +Now it's my consate that it's aisier fur a hunderd cats to +spind the night in pace an the wan thatch than for two wimmin +to dhraw wather out av the same well widout aitch wan +callin' the other wan all the names she can get out av her head. +But whin ye've a hunderd av 'em, an' more than a towsand +young wans, big an' little, its aisey to see that the king av the +island had plinty av use fur the big soord that he always kept +handy to settle family dishputes wid. So, be the time the +row I'm tellin' ye av was over an' the wimmin shtopped +talkin', the king was a widdy-man just ten times, an' had only +ninety wives lift.</p> + +<p>"So he says to himself, 'Bedad, I must raycrout the force +agin, or thim that's left 'ull think I cant do widout 'em an' +thin there'll be no ind to their impidince. Begorra, this marryin' +is a sayrious business,' says he, sighin', fur he'd got +about all the wimmin that wanted to be quanes an' didn't +just know where to find anny more. But, be pickin' up wan +here an' there, afther a bit he got ninety-nine, an' then cud +get no more, an' in spite av sendin' men to ivery quarther av +Ireland an' tellin' the kings' dawthers iverywhere how lonesome +he was, an' how the coort was goin' to rack an' ruin entirely +fur the want av another quane to mind the panthry, +sorra a woman cud be had in all Ireland to come, fur they'd<pb n="073" /><anchor id="Pg073" /> +all heard av the nate manes he tuk to kape pace in his +family.</p> + +<p>"But afther thryin' iverywhere else, he sent a man into the +Joyce Counthry, to a mighty fine princess av the Joyces. She +didn't want to go at first, but the injuicemints war so shtrong +that she couldn't howld out, for the king sint her presints widout +end an' said, if she'd marry him, he'd give her all the +dimunds they cud get on a donkey's back.</p> + +<p>"Now over beyant the Twelve Pins, in the Joyce Counthry, +there was a great inchanter, that had all kinds av saycrets, an' +knew where ye'd dig for a pot av goold, an' all about doctherin', +and cud turn ye into a pig in a minnit, an' build a cassel in +wan night, an' make himself disappare when ye wanted him, +an' take anny shape he plazed, so as to look to be a baste +whin he wasn't, an' was a mighty dape man entirely. Now to +him wint the princess an' axed him phat to do, for she didn't +care a traneen for the king, but 'ud give the two eyes out av +her head to get the dimunds. The inchanter heard phat she +had to say an' then towld her, 'Now, my dear, you marry the +owld felly, an' have no fear, fur av he daars to touch a hair +av yer goolden locks, I'll take care av you an' av him too.'</p> + +<p>"So he gev her a charm that she was to say whin she +wanted him to come an' another wan to repate whin she was +in mortial danger an' towld her fur to go an' get marr'ed an' +get the dimunds as quick as she cud. An' that she did, an' +at foorst the king was mightily plazed at gettin' her, bekase +she was hard to get, an' give her the dimunds an' all she +wanted, so she got on very well an' tuk care av the panthry +an' helped the other wives about the coort.</p> + +<p>"Wan day the king got up out av the goolden bed he +shlept an, wid a terrible sulk an him, an' in a state av mind +entirely, for the wind was in the aiste an' he had the roomytisms<pb n="074" /><anchor id="Pg074" /> +in his back. So he cursed an' shwore like a Turk an' +whin the waither axed him to come to his brekquest, he kicked +him into the yard av the coort, an' wint in widout him an' set +down be the table. So wan av the quanes brought him his +bowl av stirabout an' thin he found fault wid it. 'It's +burned,' say he, an' threw it at her. Then Quane Peggy +Joyce, that hadn't seen the timper that was an him, come in +from the panthry wid a shmile an her face an' a big noggin o' +milk in her hand. 'Good morrow to ye,' she says to him, +but the owld vagabone didn't spake a word. 'Good morrow,' +she says to him agin, an' thin he broke out wid a fury.</p> + +<figure url="images/image28.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1=""Howld yer pace, ye palaverin' shtrap"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: "Howld yer pace, ye palaverin' shtrap"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>"'Howld yer pace, ye palaverin' shtrap. D' ye think I'm +to be deefened wid yer tongue? Set the noggin an the table<pb n="075" /><anchor id="Pg075" /> +an' be walkin' aff wid yerself or I'll make ye sorry ye come,' +says he.</p> + +<p>"It was the first time he iver spake like that to her, an' the +Irish blood ov her riz, an' in a minnit she was as mad as a gandher +and as bowld as a lion.</p> + +<p>"'Don't you daar to spake that-a-way to me, Sorr,' she says +to him. 'I'll have ye know I won't take a word av yer impidince. +Me fathers wore crowns ages afore yer bogthrottin' +grandfather come to this island, an' ivery wan knows he was +the first av his dirthy thribe that had shoes an his feet.' An' +she walked strait up to him an' folded her arrums an' looked +into his face as impidint as a magpie. 'Don't think fur to +bully me,' she says. 'I come av a race that niver owned a +coward, and I wouldn't give that fur you an' all the big soords +ye cud carry,' says she, givin' her fingers a snap right at the +end av his nose.</p> + +<p>"Now the owld haythen niver had anny wan to spake like +that to him, an' at first was that surprised like as a horse had +begun fur to convarse at him, no more cud he say a word, he +was that full o' rage, and sat there, openin' and shuttin' his +mouth an' swellin' up like he'd burst, an' his face as red as a +turkey-cock's. Thin he remimbered his soord ah' pulled it +out an' stratched out his hand fur to ketch the quane an' cut +aff her head. But she was too quick for him entirely, an' +whin he had the soord raised, she said the charm that was to +purtect her, an' afore ye cud wink, there stood the blood-suckin' +owld villin, mortified to shtone wid his arrum raised an' +his hand reached out, an' as stiff as a mast.</p> + +<p>"Thin she said the other charm that called the inchanter +an' he come at wanst. She towld him phat she done an' he +said it was right av her, an' as she was a purty smart woman +he said he'd marry her himself. So he did, an' bein' that the<pb n="076" /><anchor id="Pg076" /> +island was cursed be rayzon av the king's crimes, they come to +Ireland wid all the payple. So they come to Connemara, an' +the inchanter got husbands fur all the king's wives an' homes +fur all the men av the island. But he inchanted the island +an' made it so that the bad king must live in it alone as long +as the sun rises an' sits. No more does the island stand still, +but must go thravellin' up an' down the coast, an' wan siven +years they see it in Kerry an' the next siven years in Donegal, +an' so it goes, an' always will, beways av a caution to kings +not to cut aff the heads av their wives."</p> + +<figure url="images/image29.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1=""Howlin' wid rage"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: "Howlin' wid rage"</figDesc> +</figure> +</div> + +<div rend="page-break-before: right"> +<pb n="077" /><anchor id="Pg077" /> +<index index="toc" /> +<index index="pdf" /> +<head>HOW THE LAKES WERE MADE.</head> + +<figure url="images/image30.png" rend="floatleft; w50"> +<index index="fig" level1="Initial: "How the Lakes were made"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: Initial: "How the Lakes were made"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>Among the weird legends +of the Irish peasantry is +found a class of stories +peculiar both in the nature +of the subject and +in the character of the +tradition. From the dawn +of history, and even before, +the island has been +crowded with inhabitants, +and as the centres of population +changed, towns +and cities were deserted and fell into ruins. Although no +longer inhabited, their sites are by no means unknown or forgotten, +but in many localities where now appear only irregular +heaps of earth and stones to which the archæologist sometimes +finds difficulty in attributing an artificial origin there +linger among the common people tales of the city that once +stood on the spot; of its walls, its castles, its palaces, its temples, +and the pompous worship of the deities there adored. +Just as, in Palestine, the identification of Bible localities has, +m many instances, been made complete by the preservation +among the Bedouins of the Scriptural names, so, in Ireland, +the cities of pagan times are now being located through the +traditions of the humble tillers of the soil, who transmit from +father to son the place-names handed down for untold generations.</p> + +<pb n="078" /><anchor id="Pg078" /> + +<p>Instances are so abundant as to defy enumeration, but a +most notable one is Tara, the greatest as it was the holiest +city of pagan Ireland. Now it is a group of irregular mounds +that the casual observer would readily mistake for natural +hills, but for ages the name clung to the place until at last the +attention of antiquaries was attracted, interest was roused, investigation +made, excavation begun, and the site of Tara made +a certainty.</p> + +<p>Not all ancient Irish cities, however, escaped the hand of +time as well as Tara, for there are geological indications of +great natural convulsions in the island at a date comparatively +recent, and not a few of the Irish lakes, whose name is legion, +were formed by depression or upheaval, almost within +the period of written history. A fertile valley traversed by a +stream, a populous city by the little river, an earthquake-upheaval +lower down the watercourse, closing the exit from the +valley, a rising and spreading of the water, an exodus of the +inhabitants, such has undoubtedly been the history of Lough +Derg and Lough Ree, which are but reservoirs in the course +of the River Shannon, while the upper and lower Erne lakes +are likewise simply expansions of the river Erne. Lough Neag +had a similar origin, the same being also true of Loughs Allen +and Key. The Killarney Lakes give indisputable evidence +of the manner in which they were formed, being enlargements +of the Laune, and Loughs Carra and Mask, in Mayo, are believed +to have a subterranean outlet to Lough Carrib, the +neighborhood of all three testifying in the strongest possible +manner to the sudden closing of the natural outlet for the +contributing streams.</p> + +<p>The towns which at one time stood on ground now covered +by the waters of these lakes were not forgotten. The story +of their fate was told by one generation to another, but in<pb n="079" /><anchor id="Pg079" /> +course of ages the natural cause, well known to the unfortunates +at the time of the calamity, was lost to view, and the +story of the disaster began to assume supernatural features. +The destruction of the city became sudden; the inhabitants +perished in their dwellings; and, as a motive for so signal an +event was necessary, it was found in the punishment of duty +neglected or crime committed.</p> + +<p>Lough Allen is a small body of water in the County Leitrim, +and on its shores, partly covered by the waves, are several +evidences of human habitation, indications that the waters +at present are much higher than formerly. Among the peasants +in the neighborhood there is a legend that the little valley +once contained a village. In the public square there was +a fountain guarded by spirits, fairies, elves, and leprechawns, +who objected to the building of the town in that locality, but +upon an agreement between themselves and the first settlers +permitted the erection of the houses on condition that the +fountain be covered with an elegant stone structure, the basin +into which the water flowed from the spring to be protected +by a cover never to be left open, under pain of the town's destruction, +the good people being that nate an' clane that +they didn't want the laste speck av dust in the wather they +drunk. So a decree was issued, by the head man of the town, +that the cover be always closed by those resorting to the +fountain for water, and that due heed might be taken, children, +boys under age, and unmarried women, were forbidden +under any circumstances to raise the lid of the basin.</p> + +<p>For many years things went on well, the fairies and the +townspeople sharing alike the benefits of the fountain, till, on +one unlucky day, preparations for a wedding were going on +in a house close by, and the mother of the bride stood in urgent +need of a bucket of water. Not being able to bring it<pb n="080" /><anchor id="Pg080" /> +herself, the alleged reason being "she was scholdin' the house +in ordher," she commanded her daughter, the bride expectant, +to go in her stead.</p> + +<p>The latter objected, urging the edict of the head man already +mentioned, but was overcome, partly by her mother's +argument, that "the good people know ye're the same as +married now that the banns are cried," but principally by the +more potent consideration, "Av ye havn't that wather here in +a wink, I'll not lave a whole bone in yer body, ye lazy young +shtrap, an' me breaking me back wid the work," she took +the bucket and proceeded to the fountain with the determination +to get the water and "shlip out agin afore the good people +'ud find her out." Had she adhered to this resolution, +all would have been well, as the fairies would have doubtless +overlooked this infraction of the city ordinance. But as she +was filling the pail, her lover came in. Of course the two at +once began to talk of the all-important subject, and having +never before taken water from the fountain, she turned away, +forgetting to close the cover of the well. In an instant, a +stream, resistless in force, burst forth, and though all the married +women of the town ran to put down the cover, their efforts +were in vain, the flood grew mightier, the village was +submerged, and, with two exceptions, all the inhabitants were +drowned. The girl and her lover violated poetic justice by +escaping; for, seeing the mischief they had done, they were +the first to run away, witnessed the destruction of the town +from a neighboring hill, and were afterwards married, the +narrator of this incident coming to the sensible conclusion +that "it was too bad entirely that the wans that got away +were the wans that, be rights, ought to be droonded first."</p> + +<p>Upper Lough Erne has a legend, in all important particulars +identical with that of Lough Allen, the catastrophe being,<pb n="081" /><anchor id="Pg081" /> +however, in the former case brought about by the carelessness +of a woman who left her baby at home when she went after +water and hearing it scream, "as aven the best babies do be +doin', God bless 'em, for no betther rayson than to lishen at +thimselves," she hurried back, forgetting to cover the well, +with a consequent calamity like that which followed similar +forgetfulness at Lough Allen.</p> + +<p>In the County Mayo is found Lough Conn, once, according +to local story-tellers, the site of a village built within and +around the enclosure of a castle. The lord of the castle, +being fond of fish, determined to make a fish-pond, and as +the spot selected for the excavation was covered by the cabins +of his poorest tenants, he ordered all the occupants to be +turned out forthwith, an order at once carried out "wid process-sarvers, +an' bailiffs, an' consthables, an' sogers, an' polis, +an' the people all shtandin' 'round." One of the evicted +knelt on the ground and cursed the chief with "all the seed, +breed and gineration av 'im," and prayed "that the throut-pond +'ud be the death av 'im." The prayer was speedily answered, +for no sooner was the water turned into the newly-made +pond, than an overflow resulted; the valley was filled; +the waves climbed the walls of the castle, nor ceased to rise till +they had swept the chief from the highest tower, where "he +was down an his hard-hearted knees, sayin' his baids as fast +as he cud, an' bawlin' at all the saints aither to bring him a +boat or taiche him how to swim quick." Regard for the unfortunate +tenants, however, prevented any interference by the +saints thus vigorously and practically supplicated, so the chief +was drowned and went, as the story-teller concluded, to a locality +where he "naded more wather than he'd left behind +him, an' had the comp'ny av a shwarm av other landlords +that turned out the poor to shtarve."</p> + +<pb n="082" /><anchor id="Pg082" /> + +<p>Lough Gara, in Sligo, flows over a once thriving little town, +the City of Peace, destroyed by an overflow on account of the +lack of charity for strangers. A poor widow entered it one +night leading a child on each side and carrying a baby at her +breast. She asked alms and shelter, but in vain; from door +to door she went, but the customary Irish hospitality, so abundant +alike to the deserving and to the unworthy, was lacking. +At the end of the village "she begun to scraich, yer Anner, +wid that shtrength you'd think she'd shplit her troat." At +this provocation, all the inhabitants at once ran to ascertain +the reason of so unusual a noise, upon which, when they were +gathered 'round her, the woman pronounced the curse of the +widow and orphan on the people and their town. They laughed +at her and returned home, but that night, the brook running +through the village became a torrent, the outlet was closed, +the waters rose, and "ivery wan o' them oncharitable blaggârds<pb n="083" /><anchor id="Pg083" /> +wor drownded, while they wor aslape. Bad cess to +the lie that's in it, for, sure, there's the lake to this blessed +day."</p> + +<figure url="images/image31.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1="Lough Conn" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: Lough Conn</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>In County Antrim there lies Lough Neag, one of the largest +and most beautiful bodies of water on the island. The waters +of the lake are transparently blue, and even small pebbles on +the bottom can be seen at a considerable depth. Near the +southern end, a survey of the bottom discloses hewn stones +laid in order, and careful observations have traced the regular +walls of a structure of considerable dimensions. Tradition +says it was a castle, surrounded by the usual village, and accounts +for its destruction by the lake on this wise. In ancient +times, the castle was owned by an Irish chief named Shane +O'Donovan, noted for his bad traits of character, being merciless +in war, tyrannical in peace, feared by his neighbors, hated +by his dependents, and detested by everybody for his inhospitality +and want of charity. His castle then stood by the bank +of the lake, on an elevated promontory, almost an island, +being joined to the mainland by a narrow isthmus, very little +above the water level.</p> + +<p>By chance there came into that part of Ireland an angel +who had been sent from heaven to observe the people and +note their piety. In the garb and likeness of a man, weary +and footsore with travel, the angel spied the castle from the +hills above the lake, came down, and boldly applied for a +night's lodging. Not only was his request refused, "but the +oncivil Shane O'Donovan set an his dogs fur to bite him." +The angel turned away, but no sooner had he left the castle +gate than the villagers ran 'round him and a contest ensued +as to which of them should entertain the traveller. He made +his choice, going to the house of a cobbler who was "that +poor that he'd but the wan pitatee, and when he wanted<pb n="084" /><anchor id="Pg084" /> +another he broke wan in two." The heavenly visitor shared +the cobbler's potato and slept on the cobbler's floor, "puttin' +his feet into the fire to kape thim warrum," but at daylight +he rose, and calling the inhabitants of the village, led them +out, across the isthmus to a hill near by, and bid them look +back. They did so, beholding the castle and promontory +separated from the mainland and beginning to subside into +the lake. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, the castle sank, while +the waters rose around, but stood like a wall on every side of +the castle, not wetting a stone from turret to foundation. At +length the wall of water was higher than the battlements, the +angel waved his hand, the waves rushed over the castle and +its sleeping inmates, and the O'Donovan inhospitality was +punished. The angel pointed to a spot near by, told the villagers +to build and prosper there; then, as the awe-stricken +peasants kneeled before him, his clothing became white and +shining, wings appeared on his shoulders, he rose into the +air and vanished from their sight.</p> + +<p>Of somewhat different origin is the pretty Lough Derryclare, +in Connemara, south of the Joyce Country. The ferocious +O'Flahertys frequented this region in past ages, and, with +the exception of Oliver Cromwell, no historical name is better +known in the west of Ireland than O'Flaherty. One of this +doughty race was, it seems, a model of wickedness. "He was +as proud as a horse wid a wooden leg, an' so bad, that, savin' +yer presince, the divil himself was ashamed av him." This +O'Flaherty had sent a party to devastate a neighboring village, +but as the men did not return promptly, he started with a +troop of horse in the direction they had taken. On the way +he was passing through a deep ravine at the bottom of which +flowed a tiny brook, when he met his returning troops, and +questioning them as to the thoroughness with which their<pb n="085" /><anchor id="Pg085" /> +bloody work had been done, found, to his great wrath, that +they had spared the church and those who took refuge in its +sacred precincts.</p> + +<p>"May God drownd me where I shtand," said he, "if I +don't shlay thim all an the althar," and no doubt he would +have done so, but the moment the words passed his lips, the +rivulet became a seething torrent, drowned him and his men, +and the lake was formed over the spot where they stood when +the curse was pronounced. "An' sometimes, they say, that +when the lake is quite shtill, ye may hear the groans av the +lost sowls chained at the bottom."</p> + +<p>The fairies are responsible for at least two of the Irish +lakes, Lough Key and the Upper Lough Killarney. The former +is an enlargement of the River Boyle, a tributary of the +Shannon, and is situated in Roscommon. At a low stage of +water, ruins can be discerned at the bottom of the river, and +are reported to be those of a city whose inhabitants injudiciously +attempted to swindle the "good people" in a land bargain. +The city was built, it seems, by permission of the fairies, +the understanding being that all raths were to be left undisturbed. +For a long time the agreement was respected, +fairies and mortals living side by side, and neither class interfering +with the other. But, as the necessity for more arable +land became evident, it was determined by the townspeople to +level several raths and mounds that interfered with certain +fields and boundary lines. The dangers of such a course were +plainly pointed out by the local "fairy-man," and all the +"knowledgable women" lifted their voices against it, but in +vain; down the raths must come and down they came, to the +consternation of the knowing ones, who predicted no end of +evil from so flagrant a violation of the treaty with the fairies.</p> + +<p>The night after the demolition of the raths, one of the<pb n="086" /><anchor id="Pg086" /> +towns-men was coming through the gorge below the city, +when, "Millia, murther, there wor more than a hundherd +t'ousand little men in grane jackets bringin' shtones an' airth +an' buildin' a wall acrass the glen. Begob, I go bail but he +was the skairt man when he seen phat they done, an' run +home wid all the legs he had an' got his owld woman an' the +childher. When she axed him phat he was afther, he towld +her to howld her whisht or he'd pull the tongue out av her +an' to come along an' not spake a word. So they got to the +top o' the hill an' then they seen the wathers swapin' an the +city an' niver a sowl was there left o' thim that wor in it. So +the good people had their rayvinge, an' the like o' that makes +men careful wid raths, not to displaze their betthers, for +there's no sayin' phat they'll do."</p> + +<p>The Upper Killarney lake was created by the fairy queen +of Kerry to punish her lover, the young Prince O'Donohue. +She was greatly fascinated by him, and, for a time, he was as +devoted to her as woman's heart could wish. But things +changed, for, in the language of the boatman, who told the +legend, "whin a woman loves a man, she's satisfied wid wan, +but whin a man loves a woman, belike he's not contint wid +twinty av her, an' so was it wid O'Donohue." No doubt, however, +he loved the fairy queen as long as he could, but in time +tiring of her, "he concluded to marry a foine lady, and when +the quane rayproached him wid forgittin' her, at first he said +it wasn't so, an' whin she proved it an him, faith he'd not a +word left in his jaw. So afther a dale o' blasthogue bechuxt +thim, he got as mad as Paddy Monagan's dog when they cut +his tail aff, an' towld her he wanted no more av her, an' she +towld him agin for to go an' marry his red-headed gurrul, +'but mârk ye,' says she to him, 'ye shall niver resave her into +yer cassel.' No more did he, for the night o' the weddin',<pb n="087" /><anchor id="Pg087" /> +while they were all dhrinkin' till they were ready to burst, in +comes the waither an' says, 'Here's the wather,' says he. +'Wather,' says O'Donohue, 'we want no wather to-night. +Dhrink away.' 'But the wather's risin',' says the waither. +'Arrah, ye Bladdherang,' says O'Donohue, 'phat d' ye mane +be inthrudin' an agrayble frinds an such an outspishus occasion +wid yer presince? Be aff, or be the powdhers o' war I'll +wather ye,' says he, risin' up for to shlay the waither. But +wan av his gintlemin whuspered the thruth in his year an' +towld him to run. So he did an' got away just in time, for +the cassel was half full o' wather whin he left it. But the +quane didn't want to kill him, so he got away an' built +another cassel an the hill beyant where he lived wid his +bride."</p> + +<p>Still another origin for the Irish lakes is found in Mayo, +where Lough Carra is attributed to a certain "giont," by +name unknown, who formerly dwelt in the neighborhood, and, +with one exception, found everything necessary for comfort +and convenience. He was a cleanly "giont," and desirous +of performing his ablutions regularly and thoroughly. The +streams in the neighborhood were ill adapted to his use, for +when he entered any one of them for bathing purposes "bad +scran to the wan that 'ud take him in furder than to the +knees." Obviously this was not deep enough, so one day +when unusually in need of a bath and driven desperate by the +inadequacy of the means, "he spit an his han's an' went to +work an' made Lough Carra. 'Bedad,' says he, 'I'll have +a wash now,' an' so he did," and doubtless enjoyed it, for the +lake is deep and the water clear and pure.</p> + +<p>Just below Lough Carra is Lough Mask, a large lake between +Mayo and Galway. Concerning its origin, traditionary +authorities differ, some maintaining that the lake was the<pb n="088" /><anchor id="Pg088" /> +work of fairies, others holding that it was scooped out by a +rival of the cleanly gigantic party already mentioned, a theory +apparently confirmed by the fact that it has no visible outlet, +though several streams pour into it, its waters, it is believed, +escaping by a subterranean channel to Lough Corrib, thence +to the sea. Sundry unbelievers, however, stoutly assert a conviction +that "it's so be nacher entirely an' thim that says it's +not is ignerant gommochs that don't know," and in the face +of determined scepticism the question of the origin of the lake +must remain unsettled.</p> + +<p>Thus far, indeed, it is painful to be compelled to state that +scarcely one of the narratives of this chapter passes undisputed +among the veracious tradition-mongers of Ireland. Like +most other countries in this practical, poetry-decrying age, +the Emerald Isle has scientists and sceptics, and among the +peasants are found many men who have no hesitation in proclaiming +their disbelief in "thim owld shtories," and who +even openly affirm that "laigends about fairies an' giants is +all lies complately." In the face of this growing tendency +towards materialism and the disposition to find in natural +causes an explanation of wonderful events, it is pleasant to be +able to conclude this chapter with an undisputed account of +the origin of Lough Ree in the River Shannon, the accuracy +of the information being in every particular guaranteed by a +boatman on the Shannon, "a respectable man," who solemnly +asseverated "Sure, that's no laigend, but the blessed truth as +I'm livin' this minnit, for I'd sooner cut out me tongue be +the root than desave yer Anner, when every wan knows +there's not a taste av a lie in it at all."</p> + +<p>"When the blessed Saint Pathrick was goin' through Ireland +from wan end to the other buildin' churches, an' Father +Malone says he built three hundherd an' sixty foive, that's a<pb n="089" /><anchor id="Pg089" /> +good manny, he come to Roscommon be the way av Athlone, +where ye saw the big barracks an' the sojers. So he passed +through Athlone, the counthry bein' full o' haythens entirely +an' not av Crissans, and went up the Shannon, kapin' the river +on his right hand, an' come to a big peat bog, that's where +the lake is now. There were more than a thousand poor omadhawns +av haythens a-diggin' the peat, an' the blessed saint +convarted thim at wanst afore he'd shtir a toe to go anny +furder. Then he built thim a church an the hill be the bog, +an' gev thim a holy man fur a priest be the name o' Caruck, +that I b'lave is a saint too or lasteways ought to be fur phat +he done. So Saint Pathrick left thim wid the priest, givin' +him great power on the divil an' avil sper'ts, and towld him +to build a priest's house as soon as he cud. So the blessed +Caruck begged an' begged as long as he got anny money, an' +whin he'd the last ha'penny he cud shtart, he begun the +priest's house fur to kape monks in.</p> + +<p>"But the divil was watchin' him ivery minnit, fur it made +the owld felly tarin' mad to see himself bate out o' the face +that-a-way in the counthry where he'd been masther so long, +an' he detarmined he'd spile the job. So wan night, he goes +to the bottom o' the bog, an' begins dammin' the shtrame, +from wan side to the other, layin' the shtones shtrong an' +tight, an' the wather begins a risin' an the bog. Now it happened +that the blessed Caruck wasn't aslape as Satan thought, +but up an' about, for he misthrusted that the Owld Wan was +dodgin' round like a wayzel, an' was an the watch fur him. +So when the blessed man saw the wather risin' on the bog an' +not a taste o' rain fallin', 'Phat's this?' says he. 'Sure it's +some o' Satan's deludherin'.'</p> + +<p>"So down he goes bechuxt the hills an' kapin' from the +river, an' comes up below where the divil was workin' away<pb n="090" /><anchor id="Pg090" /> +pilin' on the airth an' shtones. So he comes craipin' up on +him an' when he got purty clost, he riz an' says, 'Hilloo, Nayber!' +Now Belzebub was like to dhrop on the ground wid +fright at the look av him, he was that astonished. But there +was no gettin' away, so he shtopped on the job, wiped the +shweat aff his face, an' says, 'Hilloo yerself.'</p> + +<p>"'Ye're at yer owld thricks,' says the blessed Caruck.</p> + +<p>"'Shmall blame to me, that's,' says Belzebub, 'wid yer +churches an' saints an' convartin' thim haythens, ye're shpiling +me business entirely. Sure, haven't I got to airn me bread?' +says he, spakin' up as bowld as a cock, and axcusin' himself.</p> + +<p>"At first the blessed Caruck was goin' to be rough wid him +for shtrivin' to interfare wid the church an' the priest's +house be risin' the wather on thim, but that minnit the moon +shone out as bright as day an' he looked back an' there was +the beautifulest lake he iver set his blessed eyes on, an' the +church wid its towers riz above it like a fairy cassel in a +dhrame, an' he clasped his hands wid delight. So Satan +looked too an' was mortefied to death wid invy when he seen +how he bate himself at his own game.</p> + +<p>"So the blessed Caruck towld Belzebub to lave the dam +where it was, an' then, thinkin' av the poor bog-throtters that +'ud nade the turf, he ordhered him beways av a punishmint, +to dig all the turf there was in the bog an' pile it up on the +hill to dhry.</p> + +<p>"'Don't you lave as much as a speck av it undher wather,' +says he to him, 'or as sure as I'm a saint I'll make ye repint +it to the end o' yer snakin' life,' says he, an' thin stud on the +bank an' watched the Owld Deludher while he brought out +the turf in loads on his back, an' ivery load as big as the +church, till the hape av sods was as high as a mountain. So +he got it done be mornin', an' glad enough was the divil to<pb n="091" /><anchor id="Pg091" /> +have the job aff his hands, fur he was as wet as a goose in May +an' as tired as a pedler's donkey. So the blessed Caruck +towld him to take himself aff an' not come back: that he was +mighty well plazed to do.</p> + +<figure url="images/image32.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1="The Church by the Bog" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: The Church by the Bog</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>"That's the way the lake come to be here, an' the blessed +Caruck come well out o' that job, fur he sold the turf an' +built a big house on the shore wid the money, an' chated the +divil besides, Glory be to God, when the Owld Wan was thryin' +his best fur to sarcumvint a saint."</p> +</div> + +<div rend="page-break-before: right"> +<pb n="092" /><anchor id="Pg092" /> +<index index="toc" /> +<index index="pdf" /> +<head>ABOUT THE FAIRIES.</head> + +<figure url="images/image33.png" rend="floatleft; w50"> +<index index="fig" level1="Initial: "About the Fairies"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: Initial: "About the Fairies"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>The Oriental luxuriance of the +Irish mythology is nowhere +more conspicuously displayed +than when dealing with the +history, habits, characteristics +and pranks of the "good +people." According to the +most reliable of the rural +"fairy-men," a race now +nearly extinct, the fairies +were once angels, so numerous +as to have formed a large +part of the population of +heaven. When Satan sinned and drew throngs of the heavenly +host with him into open rebellion, a large number of the +less warlike spirits stood aloof from the contest that followed, +fearing the consequences, and not caring to take sides till the +issue of the conflict was determined. Upon the defeat and expulsion +of the rebellious angels, those who had remained neutral +were punished by banishment from heaven, but their offence +being only one of omission, they were not consigned to +the pit with Satan and his followers, but were sent to earth +where they still remain, not without hope that on the last day +they may be pardoned and readmitted to Paradise. They are +thus on their good behavior, but having power to do infinite<pb n="093" /><anchor id="Pg093" /> +harm, they are much feared, and spoken of, either in a whisper +or aloud, as the "good people."</p> + +<p>Unlike Leprechawns, who are not considered fit associates +for reputable fairies, the good people are not solitary, but +quite sociable, and always live in large societies, the members +of which pursue the coöperative plan of labor and enjoyment, +owning all their property, the kind and amount of which are +somewhat indefinite, in common, and uniting their efforts to +accomplish any desired object, whether of work or play. +They travel in large bands, and although their parties are +never seen in the daytime, there is little difficulty in ascertaining +their line of march, for, "sure they make the terriblest +little cloud o' dust iver raised, an' not a bit o' wind in it at +all," so that a fairy migration is sometimes the talk of the +county. "Though, be nacher, they're not the length av yer +finger, they can make thimselves the bigness av a tower when +it plazes thim, an' av that ugliness that ye'd faint wid the +looks o' thim, as knowin' they can shtrike ye dead on the +shpot or change ye into a dog, or a pig, or a unicorn, or anny +other dirthy baste they plaze."</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact, however, the fairies are by no means +so numerous at present as they were formerly, a recent historian +remarking that the National Schools and societies of +Father Mathew are rapidly driving the fairies out of the +country, for "they hate larnin' an' wisdom an' are lovers av +nacher entirely."</p> + +<p>In a few remote districts, where the schools are not yet well +established, the good people are still found, and their doings +are narrated with a childlike faith in the power of these first +inhabitants of Ireland, for it seems to be agreed that they +were in the country long before the coming either of the +Irishman or of his Sassenagh oppressor.</p> + +<pb n="094" /><anchor id="Pg094" /> + +<p>The bodies of the fairies are not composed of flesh and +bones, but of an ethereal substance, the nature of which is +not determined. "Ye can see thimselves as plain as the nose +on yer face, an' can see through thim like it was a mist." +They have the power of vanishing from human sight when +they please, and the fact that the air is sometimes full of them +inspires the respect entertained for them by the peasantry. +Sometimes they are heard without being seen, and when they +travel through the air, as they often do, are known by a humming +noise similar to that made by a swarm of bees. Whether +or not they have wings is uncertain. Barney Murphy, of +Kerry, thought they had; for several seen by him a number +of years ago seemed to have long, semi-transparent pinions, +"like thim that grows on a dhraggin-fly." Barney's neighbors, +however, contradicted him by stoutly denying the good +people the attribute of wings, and intimated that at the time +Barney saw the fairies he was too drunk to distinguish a pair +of wings from a pair of legs, so this branch of the subject +must remain in doubt.</p> + +<p>With regard to their dress, the testimony is undisputed. +Young lady fairies wear pure white robes and usually allow +their hair to flow loosely over their shoulders; while fairy +matrons bind up their tresses in a coil on the top or back of +the head, also surrounding the temples with a golden band. +Young gentlemen elves wear green jackets, with white +breeches and stockings; and when a fairy of either sex has +need of a cap or head-covering, the flower of the fox-glove +is brought into requisition.</p> + +<p>Male fairies are perfect in all military exercises, for, like +the other inhabitants of Ireland, fairies are divided into factions, +the objects of contention not, in most cases, being definitely +known. In Kerry, a number of years ago, there was a<pb n="095" /><anchor id="Pg095" /> +great battle among the fairies, one party inhabiting a rath or +sepulchral mound, the other an unused and lonely graveyard. +Paddy O'Donohue was the sole witness of this encounter, the +narrative being in his own words.</p> + +<p>"I was lyin' be the road, bein' on me way home an' tired +wid the walkin'. A bright moon was out that night, an' I +heard a noise like a million av sogers, thrampin' on the road, +so I riz me an' looked, an' the way was full av little men, the +length o' me hand, wid grane coats on, an' all in rows like +wan o' the ridgmints; aitch wid a pike on his showldher an' a +shield on his arrum. Wan was in front, beway he was the +ginral, walkin' wid his chin up as proud as a paycock. Jagers, +but I was skairt an' prayed fasther than iver I did in me life, +for it was too clost to me entirely they wor for comfort or +convaynience aither. But they all went by, sorra the wan o' +thim turnin' his head to raygard me at all, Glory be to God +for that same; so they left me. Afther they were clane gone +by, I had curosity for to see phat they were afther, so I folly'd +thim, a good bit aff, an' ready to jump an' run like a hare +at the laste noise, for I was afeared if they caught me at it, +they'd make a pig o' me at wanst or change me into a baste +complately. They marched into the field bechuxt the graveyard +an' the rath, an' there was another army there wid red +coats, from the graveyard, an' the two armies had the biggest +fight ye iver seen, the granes agin the reds. Afther lookin' on +a bit, I got axcited, for the granes were batin' the reds like +blazes, an' I up an' give a whilloo an' called out, 'At 'em +agin! Don't lave wan o' the blaggards!' An' wid that +word, the sight left me eyes an' I remimber no more till +mornin', an' there was I, layin' on the road where I seen +thim, as shtiff as a crutch."</p> + +<p>The homes of the fairies are commonly in raths, tumuli of<pb n="096" /><anchor id="Pg096" /> +the pagan days of Ireland, and, on this account, raths are +much dreaded, and after sundown are avoided by the peasantry. +Attempts have been made to remove some of these raths, +but the unwillingness of the peasants to engage in the work, +no matter what inducements may be offered in compensation, +has generally resulted in the abandonment of the undertaking. +On one of the islands in the Upper Lake of Killarney +there is a rath, and the proprietor, finding it occupied +too much ground, resolved to have it levelled to increase the +arable surface of the field. The work was begun, but one +morning, in the early dawn, as the laborers were crossing the +lake on their way to the island, they saw a procession of about +two hundred persons, habited like monks, leave the island +and proceed to the mainland, followed, as the workmen +thought, by a long line of small, shining figures. The phenomenon +was perhaps genuine, for the mirage is by no means +an uncommon appearance in some parts of Ireland, but work +on the rath was at once indefinitely postponed. Besides raths, +old castles, deserted graveyards, ruined churches, secluded glens +in the mountains, springs, lakes, and caves all are the homes +and resorts of fairies, as is very well known on the west coast.</p> + +<p>The better class of fairies are fond of human society and +often act as guardians to those they love. In parts of Donegal +and Galway they are believed to receive the souls of the +dying and escort them to the gates of heaven, not, however, +being allowed to enter with them. On this account, fairies +love graves and graveyards, having often been seen walking +to and fro among the grassy mounds. There are, indeed, +some accounts of faction fights among the fairy bands at or +shortly after a funeral, the question in dispute being whether +the soul of the departed belonged to one or the other faction.</p> + +<figure url="images/image34.png" rend="w90"> +<figDesc>Illustration: Music: Fairy Dance</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>The amusements of the fairies consist of music, dancing,<pb n="099" /><anchor id="Pg099" /> +and ball-playing. In music their skill exceeds that of men, +while their dancing is perfect, the only drawback being the +fact that it blights the grass, "fairy-rings" of dead grass, apparently +caused by a peculiar fungous growth, being common +in Ireland. Although their musical instruments are few, the +fairies use these few with wonderful skill. Near Colooney, in +Sligo, there is a "knowlageable woman," whose grandmother's +aunt once witnessed a fairy ball, the music for which was furnished +by an orchestra which the management had no doubt +been at great pains and expense to secure and instruct.</p> + +<p>"It was the cutest sight alive. There was a place for thim +to shtand on, an' a wondherful big fiddle av the size ye cud +slape in it, that was played be a monsthrous frog, an' two little +fiddles, that two kittens fiddled on, an' two big drums, +baten be cats, an' two trumpets, played be fat pigs. All round +the fairies were dancin' like angels, the fireflies givin' thim +light to see by, an' the moonbames shinin' on the lake, for it +was be the shore it was, an' if ye don't belave it, the glen's +still there, that they call the fairy glen to this blessed day."</p> + +<p>The fairies do much singing, seldom, however, save in chorus, +and their songs were formerly more frequently heard than +at present. Even now a belated peasant, who has been at a +wake, or is coming home from a fair, in passing a rath will +sometimes hear the soft strains of their voices in the distance, +and will hurry away lest they discover his presence and be +angry at the intrusion on their privacy. When in unusually +good spirits they will sometimes admit a mortal to their revels, +but if he speaks, the scene at once vanishes, he becomes insensible, +and generally finds himself by the roadside the next +morning, "wid that degray av pains in his arrums an' legs an' +back, that if sixteen thousand divils were afther him, he cudn't +stir a toe to save the sowl av him, that's phat the fairies<pb n="100" /><anchor id="Pg100" /> +do be pinchin' an' punchin' him for comin' on them an' +shpakin' out loud."</p> + +<p>Kindly disposed fairies often take great pleasure in assisting +those who treat them with proper respect, and as the favors always +take a practical form, there is sometimes a business value +in the show of reverence for them. There was Barney Noonan, +of the County Leitrim, for instance, "An' sorra a betther boy +was in the county than Barney. He'd work as reg'lar as a +pump, an' liked a bit av divarshun as well as annybody when +he'd time for it, that wasn't aften, to be sure, but small +blame to him, for he wasn't rich be no manner o' manes. +He'd a power av ragârd av the good people, an' when he +wint be the rath beyant his field, he'd pull aff his caubeen an' +take the dudheen out av his mouth, as p'lite as a dancin' +masther, an' say, 'God save ye, ladies an' gintlemen,' that the +good people always heard though they niver showed thimselves +to him. He'd a bit o' bog, that the hay was on, an' +afther cuttin' it, he left it for to dhry, an' the sun come out +beautiful an' in a day or so the hay was as dhry as powdher +an' ready to put away.</p> + +<p>"So Barney was goin' to put it up, but, it bein' the day av +the fair, he thought he'd take the calf an' sell it, an' so he +did, an' comin' up wid the boys, he stayed over his time, bein' +hindhered wid dhrinkin' an' dancin' an' palaverin' at the gurls, +so it was afther dark when he got home an' the night as black +as a crow, the clouds gatherin' on the tops av the mountains +like avil sper'ts an' crapin' down into the glens like disthroyin' +angels, an' the wind howlin' like tin thousand Banshees, +but Barney didn't mind it all wan copper, bein' glorified +wid the dhrink he'd had. So the hay niver enthered the +head av him, but in he wint an' tumbled in bed an' was shnorin' +like a horse in two minnits, for he was a bach'ler, God<pb n="101" /><anchor id="Pg101" /> +bless him, an' had no wife to gosther him an' ax him where +he'd been, an' phat he'd been at, an' make him tell a hunderd +lies about not gettin' home afore. So it came on to thunder +an' lighten like as all the avil daymons in the univarse were +fightin' wid cannons in the shky, an' by an' by there was a +clap loud enough to shplit yer skull an' Barney woke up.</p> + +<p>"'Tattheration to me,' says he to himself, 'it's goin' for +to rain an' me hay on the ground. Phat 'll I do?' says he.</p> + +<p>"So he rowled over on the bed an' looked out av a crack +for to see if it was ralely rainin'. An' there was the biggest +crowd he iver seen av little men an' wimmin. They'd built +a row o' fires from the cow-house to the bog an' were comin' +in a shtring like the cows goin' home, aitch wan wid his two +arrums full o' hay. Some were in the cow-house, resayvin' +the hay; some were in the field, rakin' the hay together; an' +some were shtandin' wid their hands in their pockets beways +they were the bosses, tellin' the rest for to make haste. An' so +they did, for every wan run like he was afther goin' for the +docther, an' brought a load an' hurried back for more.</p> + +<p>"Barney looked through the crack at thim a crossin' himself +ivery minnit wid admiration for the shpeed they had. +'God be good to me,' says he to himself, ''tis not ivery gossoon +in Leitrim that's got haymakers like thim,' only he +never spake a word out loud, for he knewn very well the good +people 'ud n't like it. So they brought in all the hay an' put +it in the house an' thin let the fires go out an' made another +big fire in front o' the dure, an' begun to dance round it wid +the swatest music Barney iver heard.</p> + +<p>"Now be this time he'd got up an' feelin' aisey in his +mind about the hay, begun to be very merry. He looked on +through the dure at thim dancin', an' by an' by they brought +out a jug wid little tumblers and begun to drink summat that<pb n="102" /><anchor id="Pg102" /> +they poured out o' the jug. If Barney had the sense av a +herrin', he'd a kept shtill an' let thim dhrink their fill widout +openin' the big mouth av him, bein' that he was as full as a +goose himself an' naded no more; but when he seen the jug +an' the tumblers an' the fairies drinkin' away wid all their +mights, he got mad an' bellered out like a bull, 'Arra-a-a-h +now, ye little attomies, is it dhrinkin' ye are, an' never givin' +a sup to a thirsty mortial that always thrates yez as well as +he knows how,' and immejitly the fairies, an' the fire, an' the +jug all wint out av his sight, an' he to bed agin in a timper. +While he was layin' there, he thought he heard talkin' an' a +cugger-mugger goin' on, but when he peeped out agin, sorra +a thing did he see but the black night an' the rain comin' +down an' aitch dhrop the full av a wather-noggin. So he wint +to slape, continted that the hay was in, but not plazed that +the good people 'ud be pigs entirely, to be afther dhrinkin' +undher his eyes an' not offer him a taste, no, not so much as +a shmell at the jug.</p> + +<p>"In the mornin' up he gets an' out for to look at the hay +an' see if the fairies put it in right, for he says, 'It's a job +they're not used to.' So he looked in the cow-house an' +thought the eyes 'ud lave him when there wasn't a shtraw in +the house at all. 'Holy Moses,' says he, 'phat have they +done wid it?' an' he couldn't consave phat had gone wid the +hay. So he looked in the field an' it was all there; bad luck +to the bit av it had the fairies left in the house at all, but +when he shouted at thim, they got tarin' mad an' took all the +hay back agin to the bog, puttin' every shtraw where Barney +laid it, an' it was as wet as a drownded cat. But it was a lesson +to him he niver forgot, an' I go bail that the next time +the fairies help him in wid his hay he'll kape shtill an' let +thim dhrink thimselves to death if they plaze widout sayin' a +word."</p> + +<pb n="103" /><anchor id="Pg103" /> + +<p>The good people have the family relations of husband and +wife, parent and child, and although it is darkly hinted by +some that fairy husbands and wives have as many little disagreements +as are found in mortal households, "for, sure a +woman's tongue is longer than a man's patience," and "a +husband is bound for to be gosthered day in an' day out, for +a woman's jaw is sharpened on the divil's grindshtone," yet +opinions unfavorable to married happiness among the fairies +are not generally received. On the contrary, it is believed +that married life in fairy circles is regulated on the basis of +the absolute submission of the wife to the husband. As this +point was elucidated by a Donegal woman, "They're wan, +that's the husband an' the wife, but he's more the wan +than she is."</p> + +<p>The love of children is one of the most prominent traits of +fairy character, but as it manifests itself by stealing beautiful +babes, replacing them by young Leprechawns, the fairies are +much dreaded by west coast mothers, and many precautions are +taken against the elves. Thefts of this kind now rarely occur, +but once they were common, as "in thim owld times, ye cud +see tin fairies where there isn't wan now, be razon o' thim +lavin' the counthry."</p> + +<p>A notable case of baby stealing occurred in the family of +Termon Magrath, who had a castle, now in picturesque ruins, +on the shore of Lough Erne, in the County Donegal. The +narrator of the incident was "a knowledgable woman," who +dwelt in an apology for a cabin, a thatched shed placed +against the precipitous side of the glen almost beneath the +castle. The wretched shelter was nearly concealed from view +by the overhanging branches of a large tree and by thick undergrowth, +and seemed unfit for a pig-pen, but, though her +surroundings were poor beyond description, "Owld Meg,"<pb n="104" /><anchor id="Pg104" /> +in the language of one of her neighbors, "knew a dale av +fairies an' witches an' could kape thim from a babby betther +than anny woman that iver dhrew the breath av life." A bit +of tobacco to enable her to take a "dhraw o' the pipe, an' +that warms me heart to the whole worruld," brought forth +the story.</p> + +<figure url="images/image35.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1=""Owld Meg"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: "Owld Meg"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<pb n="105" /><anchor id="Pg105" /> + +<p>"It's a manny year ago, that Termon Magrath wint, wid +all his army, to the war in the County Tyrone, an' while he +was gone the babby was born an' they called her Eva. She +was her mother's first, so she felt moighty onaisey in her mind +about her 's knowin' that the good people do be always afther +the first wan that comes, an' more whin it's a girl that's in +it, that they thry to stale harder than they do a boy, bekase +av belavin' they're aisier fur to rare, though it's mesilf that +doesn't belave that same, fur wan girl makes more throuble +than tin boys an' isn't a haporth more good.</p> + +<p>"So whin the babby was born they sent afther an owld +struckawn av a widdy that set up for a wise woman, that +knew no more o' doctherin' than a pig av Paradise, but they +thought she could kape away the fairies, that's a job that +takes no ind av knowledge in thim that thries it. But the +poor owld woman did the best she knew how, an' so, God be +good to her, she wasn't to be blamed fur that, but it's the +likes av her that do shame thim that's larned in such things, +fur they make people think all wise wimmin as ignerant as +hersilf. So she made the sign o' the crass on the babby's face +wid ashes, an' towld thim to bite aff its nails and not cut +thim till nine weeks, an' held a burnin' candle afore its eyes, +so it 'ud do the deeds av light an' not av darkness, an' mixed +sugar an' salt an' oil, an' give it to her, that her life 'ud be +swate an' long presarved an' go smooth, but the owld widdy +forgot wan thing. She didn't put a lucky shamrock, that 's +got four leaves, in a gospel an' tie it 'round the babby's neck +wid a t'read pulled out av her gown, an' not mindin' this, all +the rest was no good at all. No more did she tell the mother +not to take her eyes aff the child till the ninth day; afther that +the fairies cud n't take it.</p> + +<p>"So the nurse tuk the babby in the next room an' laid it<pb n="106" /><anchor id="Pg106" /> +on the bed, an' wint away for a minnit, but thinkin' she heard +it cry, back she come an' there was the babby, bedclothes an' +all just goin' through the flure, bein' dhrawn be the fairies. +The nurse scraiched an' caught the clothes an' the maid helped +her, so that the two o' thim pulled wid all their mights an' got +the bedclothes up agin, but while the child was out o' sight, +the fairies changed it an' put a fairy child in its place, but the +nurse didn't know phat the fairies done, no more did the +owld struckawn, that shows she was an ignerant woman entirely. +But the fairies tuk Eva away undher the lake where +they trated her beautiful. Every night they gev her a dance, +wid the loveliest music that was iver heard, wid big drums an' +little drums, an' fiddles an' pipes an' thrumpets, fur such a +band the good people do have when they give a dance.</p> + +<p>"So she grew an' the quane said she should have a husband +among the fairies, but she fell in love wid an owld Leprechawn, +an' the quane, to sarcumvint her, let her walk on the +shore o' the lake where she met Darby O'Hoolighan an' loved +him an' married him be the quane's consint. The quane +towld her to tell him if he shtruck her three blows widout a +razon, she'd lave him an' come back to the fairies. The +quane gev her a power av riches, shape an' pigs widout number +an' more oxen than ye cud count in a week. So she an' +Darby lived together as happy as two doves, an' she hadn't +as much care as a blind piper's dog, morebetoken, they had +two boys, good lookin' like their mother an' shtrong as their +father.</p> + +<figure url="images/image36.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1="Eva calling the Cattle" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: Eva calling the Cattle</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>"Wan day, afther they'd been marred siventeen years, she +an' Darby were goin' to a weddin', an' she was shlow, so Darby +towld her fur to hurry an' gev her a slap on the shouldher wid +the palm av his hand, so she begun to cry. He axed her phat +ailed her an' she towld him he'd shtruck her the first av the<pb n="107" /><anchor id="Pg107" /> +three blows. So he was mighty sorry an' said he'd be careful, +but it wasn't more than a year afther, when he was taichin' +wan o' the boys to use a shtick, that she got behind him an' +got hit wid the shillaly. That was the second blow, an' made +her lose her timper, an' they had a rale quarl. So he got mad, +sayin' that nayther o' thim blows ought to be counted, bein' +they both come be accident. So he flung the shtick agin the +wall, 'Divil take the shtick,' says he, an' went out quick, an' +the shtick fell back from the wall an' hit her an the head. +'That's the third,' says she, an' she kissed her sons an' +walked out. Thin she called the cows in the field an' they +left grazin' an' folly'd her; she called the oxen in the shtalls +an' they quit atin' an' come out; an' she shpoke to the calf +that was hangin' in the yard, that they'd killed that mornin' +an' it got down an' come along. The lamb that was killed +the day afore, it come; an' the pigs that were salted an' thim +hangin' up to dhry, they come, all afther her in a shtring. +Thin she called to her things in the house, an' the chairs +walked out, an' the tables, an' the chist av drawers, an' the<pb n="108" /><anchor id="Pg108" /> +boxes, all o' thim put out legs like bastes an' come along, wid +the pots an' pans, an' gridiron, an' buckets, an' noggins, an' +kish, lavin' the house as bare as a 'victed tinant's, an' all afther +her to the lake, where they wint undher an' disappared, +an' haven't been seen be man or mortial to this blessed day.</p> + +<p>"Now, there's thim that says the shtory aint thrue, fur, +says they, how 'ud a woman do such a thrick as go aff that a +way an' take ivery thing she had, just bekase av her husband +hittin' her be accident thim three times. But thim that says +it forgits that she was a young wan, aven if she did have +thim boys I was afther tellin' ye av, an' faith, it's no lie I'm +sayin', that it's not in the power av the angels o' God to be +knowin' phat a young wan 'ull be doin'. Afther they get +owld, an' do be losin' their taythe, an' their beauty goes, thin +they're sober an' get over thim notions; but it takes a dale av +time to make an owld wan out av a young wan.</p> + +<p>"But she didn't forget the boys she'd left, an' wanst in a +while she'd come to the aidge av the lake whin they were +clost be the bank an' spake wid thim, fur aven, if she was +half a fairy, she'd the mother's heart that the good God put +in her bosom; an' wan time they seen her wid a little attomy +av a man alang wid her, that was a Leprechawn, as they +knewn be the look av him, an' that makes me belave that the +rale rayzon av her lavin' her husband was to get back to the +owld Leprechawn she was in love wid afore she was marr'd +to Darby O'Hoolighan."</p> +</div> + +<div rend="page-break-before: right"> +<pb n="109" /><anchor id="Pg109" /> +<index index="toc" /> +<index index="pdf" /> +<head>THE BANSHEE.</head> + +<figure url="images/image37.png" rend="floatleft; w50"> +<index index="fig" level1="Initial: "The Banshee"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: Initial: "The Banshee"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>Although the Irish have the reputation +of being grossly superstitious, +they are not a whit more so +than the peasantry of England, +France, or Germany, nor +scarcely as much addicted to +superstitious beliefs and fancies +as the lower class of +Scottish Highlanders. The +Irish imagination is, however, +so lively as to endow +the legends of the Emerald Isle with an individuality +not possessed by those of most other nations, while the +Irish command of language presents the creatures of Hibernian +fancy in a garb so vividly real and yet so fantastically +original as to make an impression sometimes exceedingly +startling.</p> + +<p>Of the creations of the Irish imagination, some are humorous, +some grotesque, and some awe-inspiring even to sublimity, +and chief among the last class is "the weird-wailing Banshee, +that sings by night her mournful cry," giving notice to +the family she attends that one of its members is soon to be +called to the spirit-world. The name of this dreaded attendant +is variously pronounced, as Banshee, Banshi, and Benshee, +being translated by different scholars, the Female Fairy, +the Woman of Peace, the Lady of Death, the Angel of Death,<pb n="110" /><anchor id="Pg110" /> +the White Lady of Sorrow, the Nymph of the Air, and the +Spirit of the Air. The Banshee is quite distinct from the +Fearshee or Shifra, the Man of Peace, the latter bringing +good tidings and singing a joyful lay near the house when unexpected +good fortune is to befall any or all its inmates. The +Banshee is really a disembodied soul, that of one who, in life, +was strongly attached to the family, or who had good reason +to hate all its members. Thus, in different instances, the +Banshee's song may be inspired by opposite motives. When +the Banshee loves those whom she calls, the song is a low, soft +chant, giving notice, indeed, of the close proximity of the +angel of death, but with a tenderness of tone that reassures +the one destined to die and comforts the survivors; rather a +welcome than a warning, and having in its tones a thrill of +exultation, as though the messenger spirit were bringing glad +tidings to him summoned to join the waiting throng of his +ancestors. If, during her lifetime, the Banshee was an enemy +of the family, the cry is the scream of a fiend, howling with +demoniac delight over the coming death-agony of another of +her foes.</p> + +<figure url="images/image38.png" rend="w90"> +<figDesc>Illustration: Music: Song of the Banshee</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>In some parts of Ireland there exists a belief that the spirits +of the dead are not taken from earth, nor do they lose all +their former interest in earthly affairs, but enjoy the happiness +of the saved, or suffer the punishment imposed for their<pb n="111" /><anchor id="Pg111" /> +sins, in the neighborhood of the scenes among which they +lived while clothed in flesh and blood. At particular crises +in the affairs of mortals, these disenthralled spirits sometimes +display joy or grief in such a manner as to attract the attention +of living men and women. At weddings they are frequently +unseen guests; at funerals they are always present; +and sometimes, at both weddings and funerals, their presence +is recognized by aerial voices or mysterious music known to +be of unearthly origin. The spirits of the good wander with +the living as guardian angels, but the spirits of the bad are +restrained in their action, and compelled to do penance at or +near the places where their crimes were committed. Some are +chained at the bottoms of the lakes, others buried under +ground, others confined in mountain gorges; some hang on +the sides of precipices, others are transfixed on the tree-tops, +while others haunt the homes of their ancestors, all waiting +till the penance has been endured and the hour of release arrives. +The Castle of Dunseverick, in Antrim, is believed to +be still inhabited by the spirit of a chief, who there atones for +a horrid crime, while the castles of Dunluce, of Magrath, and +many others are similarly peopled by the wicked dead. In +the Abbey of Clare, the ghost of a sinful abbot walks and +will continue to do so until his sin has been atoned for by the +prayers he unceasingly mutters in his tireless march up and +down the aisles of the ruined nave.</p> + +<p>The Banshee is of the spirits who look with interested eyes +on earthly doings; and, deeply attached to the old families, +or, on the contrary, regarding all their members with a hatred +beyond that known to mortals, lingers about their dwellings +to soften or to aggravate the sorrow of the approaching death. +The Banshee attends only the old families, and though their +descendants, through misfortune, may be brought down from<pb n="112" /><anchor id="Pg112" /> +high estate to the ranks of peasant-tenants, she never leaves +nor forgets them till the last member has been gathered to +his fathers in the churchyard. The MacCarthys, Magraths, +O'Neills, O'Rileys, O'Sullivans, O'Reardons, O'Flahertys, and +almost all other old families of Ireland, have Banshees, +though many representatives of these names are in abject +poverty.</p> + +<p>The song of the Banshee is commonly heard a day or two +before the death of which it gives notice, though instances +are cited of the song at the beginning of a course of conduct +or line of undertaking that resulted fatally. Thus, in Kerry, +a young girl engaged herself to a youth, and at the moment +her promise of marriage was given, both heard the low, sad +wail above their heads. The young man deserted her, she +died of a broken heart, and the night before her death, the +Banshee's song, loud and clear, was heard outside the window +of her mother's cottage. One of the O'Flahertys, of Galway, +marched out of his castle with his men on a foray, and, as his +troops filed through the gateway, the Banshee was heard high +above the towers of the fortress. The next night she sang +again, and was heard no more for a month, when his wife +heard the wail under her window, and on the following day +his followers brought back his corpse. One of the O'Neills +of Shane Castle, in Antrim, heard the Banshee as he started +on a journey before daybreak, and was accidentally killed +some time after, but while on the same journey.</p> + +<figure url="images/image39.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1="The "Hateful Banshee"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: The "Hateful Banshee"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>The wail most frequently comes at night, although cases are +cited of Banshees singing during the daytime, and the song is +often inaudible to all save the one for whom the warning is +intended. This, however, is not general, the death notice being +for the family rather than for the doomed individual. +The spirit is generally alone, though rarely several are heard<pb n="113" /><anchor id="Pg113" /> +singing in chorus. A lady of the O'Flaherty family, greatly +beloved for her social qualities, benevolence, and piety, was, +some years ago, taken ill at the family mansion near Galway, +though no uneasiness was felt on her account, as her ailment +seemed nothing more than a slight cold. After she had remained +in-doors for a day or two several of her acquaintances +came to her room to enliven her imprisonment, and while the +little party were merrily chatting, strange sounds were heard,<pb n="114" /><anchor id="Pg114" /> +and all trembled and turned pale as they recognized the singing +of a chorus of Banshees. The lady's ailment developed +into pleurisy, and she died in a few days, the chorus being +again heard in a sweet, plaintive requiem as the spirit was +leaving her body. The honor of being warned by more than +one Banshee is, however, very great, and comes only to the +purest of the pure.</p> + +<p>The "hateful Banshee" is much dreaded by members of a +family against which she has enmity. A noble Irish family, +whose name is still familiar in Mayo, is attended by a Banshee +of this description. This Banshee is the spirit of a young girl +deceived and afterwards murdered by a former head of the +family. With her dying breath she cursed her murderer, and +promised she would attend him and his forever. Many years +passed, the chieftain reformed his ways, and his youthful +crime was almost forgotten even by himself, when, one night, +he and his family were seated by the fire, and suddenly the +most horrid shrieks were heard outside the castle walls. All +ran out, but saw nothing. During the night the screams continued +as though the castle were besieged by demons, and the +unhappy man recognized, in the cry of the Banshee, the voice +of the young girl he had murdered. The next night he was +assassinated by one of his followers, when again the wild, unearthly +screams of the spirit were heard, exulting over his +fate. Since that night, the "hateful Banshee" has never +failed to notify the family, with shrill cries of revengeful gladness, +when the time of one of their number had arrived.</p> + +<figure url="images/image40.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1="The "Friendly Banshee"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: The "Friendly Banshee"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>Banshees are not often seen, but those that have made +themselves visible differ as much in personal appearance as in +the character of their cries. The "friendly Banshee" is a +young and beautiful female spirit, with pale face, regular, +well-formed features, hair sometimes coal-black, sometimes<pb n="117" /><anchor id="Pg117" /> +golden; eyes blue, brown, or black. Her long, white drapery +falls below her feet as she floats in the air, chanting her weird +warning, lifting her hands as if in pitying tenderness bestowing +a benediction on the soul she summons to the invisible +world. The "hateful Banshee" is a horrible hag, with angry, +distorted features; maledictions are written in every line +of her wrinkled face, and her outstretched arms call down +curses on the doomed member of the hated race. Though +generally the only intimation of the presence of the Banshee +is her cry, a notable instance of the contrary exists in the +family of the O'Reardons, to the doomed member of which +the Banshee always appears in the shape of an exceedingly +beautiful woman, who sings a song so sweetly solemn as to +reconcile him to his approaching fate.</p> + +<p>The prophetic spirit does not follow members of a family +who go to a foreign land, but should death overtake them +abroad, she gives notice of the misfortune to those at home. +When the Duke of Wellington died, the Banshee was heard +wailing round the house of his ancestors, and during the Napoleonic +campaigns, she frequently notified Irish families of +the death in battle of Irish officers and soldiers. The night +before the battle of the Boyne several Banshees were heard +singing in the air over the Irish camp, the truth of their +prophecy being verified by the death-roll of the next day.</p> + +<p>How the Banshee is able to obtain early and accurate information +from foreign parts of the death in battle of Irish soldiers +is yet undecided in Hibernian mystical circles. Some +believe that there are, in addition to the two kinds already +mentioned, "silent Banshees," who act as attendants to the +members of old families, one to each member; that these +silent spirits follow and observe, bringing back intelligence to +the family Banshee at home, who then, at the proper seasons,<pb n="118" /><anchor id="Pg118" /> +sings her dolorous strain. A partial confirmation of this +theory is seen in the fact that the Banshee has given notice at +the family seat in Ireland of deaths in battles fought in every +part of the world. From North America, the West Indies, +Africa, Australia, India, China; from every point to which +Irish regiments have followed the roll of the British drums, +news of the prospective shedding of Irish blood has been +brought home, and the slaughter preceded by a Banshee wail +outside the ancestral windows. But it is due to the reader to +state, that this silent Banshee theory is by no means well or +generally received, the burden of evidence going to show that +there are only two kinds of Banshees, and that, in a supernatural +way, they know the immediate future of those in +whom they are interested, not being obliged to leave Ireland +for the purpose of obtaining their information.</p> + +<p>Such is the wild Banshee, once to be heard in every part +of Ireland, and formerly believed in so devoutly that to express +a doubt of her existence was little less than blasphemy. +Now, however, as she attends only the old families and does +not change to the new, with the disappearance of many noble +Irish names during the last half century have gone also their +Banshees, until in only a few retired districts of the west coast +is the dreaded spirit still found, while in most parts of the +island she has become only a superstition, and from the majesty +of a death-boding angel, is rapidly sinking to a level with +the Fairy, the Leprechawn and the Pooka; the subject for +tales to amuse the idle and terrify the young.</p> +</div> + +<div rend="page-break-before: right"> +<pb n="119" /><anchor id="Pg119" /> +<index index="toc" /> +<index index="pdf" /> +<head>THE ROUND TOWERS.</head> + +<figure url="images/image41.png" rend="floatleft; w50"> +<index index="fig" level1="Initial: "The Round Towers"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: Initial: "The Round Towers"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>Among the ruins spread everywhere over +the island, relics of prehistoric Ireland +are common, but wonderful as are many +of these monumental remains of a +people as mysterious as their own +structures, none are more remarkable +than the round towers, found +in almost every locality of note +either for its history or antiquities. +The number of these towers was +formerly very great, but from the +ravages of time, the convenience of +the structures as quarries of ready +hewn stone, and intentional destruction +by intolerant or thoughtless persons, they have gradually +disappeared, until, at present, only eighty-three remain, of +which seventeen are nearly perfect, the remainder being in a +more or less advanced stage of dilapidation.</p> + +<p>The round towers vary in height, those remaining perfect +or nearly so being from seventy to two hundred feet, and from +eighty to thirty feet in diameter at the base. The entrance +is twelve to eighteen feet from the ground, the tower being +divided into stories about ten feet high, each story lighted by +a single window, the highest compartment having invariably +four lancet windows opening to the cardinal points of the +compass. The roof is conical, made of overlapping stone<pb n="120" /><anchor id="Pg120" /> +slabs, and a circle of grotesquely carved heads and zigzag ornamentation +is found beneath the projecting cornice. The +masonry is of hewn stone, but not the least regularity is observable +in the size or shape of the blocks, some being very +large, others small, and every figure known to the geometrician +can be found in the stones of a single tower.</p> + +<p>All towers still standing occupy sites noted as historical, +and evidence, sufficient to warrant the belief, can be adduced +to show that almost every historic spot on Irish soil once +boasted one or more of these interesting structures. The +existing towers are generally found close by the ruins of +churches, abbeys, or other ecclesiastical buildings, and the effect +on the landscape of the masses of ruins, surmounted by a +single tall shaft, is often picturesque in the extreme. The +proximity of the tower to the church is so common as to lead +writers on Irish antiquities to conjecture that the former was +constructed by the monks who built the church; those advocating +the Christian origin of the round tower taking the +ground that it was built, either as a place of safe-keeping for +valuable property, as a belfry for the church, or for the purpose +of providing cells for hermits.</p> + +<p>No one of these suppositions is tenable. In the troublous +times of Ireland, and, unhappily, it has had scarcely any other +kind, the monasteries and ecclesiastical buildings of every +description were generally spared, even by the most ruthless +marauders; and, had this not been the case, those possessing +sufficient valuable property to attract the cupidity of the lawless +were far more likely to provide an inconspicuous hiding +place for their wealth than to advertise its possession by erecting +a tower which, from every direction, was invariably the +most conspicuous feature of the landscape. That the towers +were not intended for belfries is evident from the fact that,<pb n="121" /><anchor id="Pg121" /> +in nearly every case, the churches close by are provided with +bell-towers forming a part of the sacred edifice, which would +not be the case if the round towers had been designed for the +purpose of supporting bells. That they were not built for +hermit-cells is apparent from the fact that hermit-caves and +cells are abundant in Ireland, and, almost without exception, +in secluded spots. No doubt, from time to time, some of the +round towers were adapted to each of these uses, but, in every +case, convenience was the motive, the monks and church-builders +altering the existing structure to meet a pressing necessity. +In fact, there is excellent reason for believing that the +round towers were not built by the monks at all, the monastic +writers being very fond of recording, with great particularity, +what they built and how they built it, and in no passage do +they mention the construction of a round tower. Whenever +allusion is made to these structures, their existence is taken +for granted, and several church historians who mention the +erection of churches at the foot of a round tower demonstrate +that this peculiar edifice antedates the introduction of Christianity +into Ireland.</p> + +<p>The round towers are indisputably of pagan origin, and of +antiquity so great as to precede written history. There is no +doubt that the early Irish were sun and fire worshippers, and +many excellent reasons may be given for the belief that +the round towers were built by the Druids for purposes of +religion.</p> + +<p>Every tower has an extensive view to the East, so as to +command an early sight of the rising sun, the dawn being the +favorite hour for celebrating sun-worship. Every tower contains, +at its base, so extraordinary a quantity of ashes and embers +as to compel the conviction that, in each, a sacred or perpetual +fire was kept burning. In every locality where a round<pb n="122" /><anchor id="Pg122" /> +tower stands, there linger among the peasantry traditions +pointing to a use sacred but not Christian. Perhaps the most +significant indication of their former character as places sacred +to sun and fire-worship is found in the names by which, to +the present day, they are known among the common people. +The generic Irish name for the round tower is Colcagh, fire-God; +but the proper names designating particular towers are +still more characteristic. Turaghan, the Tower of Fire; +Aidhne, the Circle of Fire; Aghadoe, the Field of Fire; Teghadoe, +the Fire House; Arddoe, the Height of Fire; Kennegh, +the Chief Fire; Lusk, the Flame; Fertagh, the Burial Fire +Tower; Fertagh na Guara, the Burial Fire Tower of the Fire +Worshippers; Gall-Ti-mor, the Flame of the Great Circle; +Gall-Baal, the Flame of the Community; Baal-Tinne, the Fire +of the Community, and many similar names, retain the memory +and worship of the Druids when written records are silent +or wanting.</p> + +<p>In addition to the significance contained in the names of +the towers, the hills, mountains, or islands on which they are +situated have, very frequently, designations conveying an allusion, +either to the circle, a favorite and sacred figure in +Druidical holy places, or to the sun or fire worship. Another +curious circumstance, still further identifying the round tower +with the rites of sun worship, is found in the fact that wherever +this form of religion has prevailed, it has been accompanied +by well or spring worship, and, generally, by the veneration +of the ox as a sacred animal. Most of the Irish round +towers have near them springs or wells still regarded as holy, +and concerning which many tales of miraculous cures are told, +while in not a few instances there yet linger in the same +neighborhoods legends of sacred cows, usually the property +of some famous local saint or hero.</p> + +<pb n="123" /><anchor id="Pg123" /> + +<p>The round towers of Ireland are, in fact, a portion of a vast +system of towers of identical construction, and by following +the geographical course of these structures, the march of fire +worship from the East may be determined with some accuracy. +Pass from Ireland to Brittany, and there, in the mountainous +or hilly districts, several towers are found exactly like those of +Ireland. In the north of Spain several remain; in Portugal, +one; in the south of Spain they are numerous. Opposite the +Spanish coast, in the north of Africa, there are also many, being +found in various places in Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and +Tripoli. In Sardinia, several hundred are still standing; and +written testimony to the purpose for which they were erected +is abundant among the Sardinian records. In Minorca, +among many others, is the famous Tower of Allaior. The +mountain districts of south Italy have numbers of them, and +they are also found on several hills in Sicily. Malta has the +Giant's Tower, in every particular of appearance and construction +identical with the Tower of Cashel in Ireland. Cyprus +has them, and they still remain in Candia and on the coast of +Asia Minor. In Palestine none have yet been found, or at +least have not been recorded by travellers or surveyors; a fact +that may, perhaps, be fully accounted for by the zeal of the +Hebrews in destroying every vestige of Canaanitish idolatry; +but, with some probability, it is conjectured that the "high +places" broken down may have been towers of the sun, for +the Canaanites were fire worshippers, and the name Baal is +found alike in Palestine and Ireland.</p> + +<p>In Syria, north of Palestine, they begin again; are found +in Armenia, and in the Caucasus, so numerously as to crown +almost every hill-top. East of the Caspian Sea they abound, +and towards the centre of Asia as far as records of exploration +and travel present reliable accounts of the country. Returning<pb n="124" /><anchor id="Pg124" /> +to the shores of the Mediterranean, their existence on the +northern coast of Africa has been mentioned. In Arabia and +on the Egyptian shore of the Red Sea, they stand in considerable +numbers, are found in Persia, Afghanistan, Beloochistan, +India, Ceylon, and Sumatra, in some places being still used, it +is said, for fire worship.</p> + +<p>Throughout this vast extent of territory there is no material +difference in the shape, appearance, or construction of the +round tower. In Sumatra and Java, as in Ireland, the door +is elevated, the building divided into stories; the walls are +constructed of many sided hewn stones, the upper story is +lighted by four windows looking to the cardinal points, the +cornice has the same kind of zigzag ornamentation, and the +roof is constructed in the same manner, of overlapping stones. +Even the names are nearly the same, for in India and Ireland +these buildings are Fire-Towers, Fire-Circles, or Sun-Houses.</p> + +<p>Another bit of circumstantial evidence going to prove that +the round towers of Ireland were erected by a people having +the same religion and similar religious observances as the natives +of India is seen in the legends concerning the Indian +towers. In India, the local traditions tell how each of these +towers was built in one night by some notable character who +was afterwards buried in it. In Ireland, the same legend is +found; to the present day, the peasants of the neighborhood +telling with gusto the story of the tower being first seen in +the early morning, rising toward the sky on a spot where, +the evening before, no preparations for building had been +visible.</p> + +<p>The Tower Tulloherin, for instance, was built in one night +by a monk who came to the neighborhood as a missionary. +Finding the people inhospitable, and unable to obtain lodging +for the night, he determined to remain, believing there could<pb n="125" /><anchor id="Pg125" /> +not be found in Ireland a locality more in need of missionary +work. So, on the evening of his arrival, he began to build, +and by morning the tower was finished, and he took up his +abode in it, preaching from its entrance to the crowds attracted +by the fame of the miracle. The story of the Tower +of Aghagower is similar, save in one particular, the saint in +this case being aided by angels. Kilmackduagh was built in +one night by angels without human assistance, the work being +done at the solicitation of a saint who watched and prayed +while the angels toiled.</p> + +<p>Ballygaddy has a history somewhat less miraculous, the +local peasant historian attributing its origin to a "giont" of +the neighborhood. Having received a belligerent message +from another "giont," he took a stand on Ballygaddy hill to +watch for the coming of his antagonist, proposing, as the +humble chronicler stated, "to bate the head aff the braggin' +vagabone if he said as much as Boo." For seven days and +nights he stood upon the hill, and at the end of that time, as +may readily be believed, "his legs wor that tired he thought +they'd dhrop aff him." To relieve those valuable members +he put up the tower as a support to lean on. The bellicose +gigantic party who proposed the encounter finally came to +time, and lovers of antiquities will be glad to learn that the +tower-building giant "didn't lave a whole bone in the blaggârd's +ugly carkidge." After the battle, the victor "shtarted +for to kick the tower down," but, upon second thought, +concluded to put the roof on it and "lave it for a wondher +to thim little mortials that come afther him," for which consideration +all honor to his memory.</p> + +<p>The Tower Ardpatrick was, according to tradition, built +under the auspices of Ireland's great saint, while the high +tower on the Rock of Cashel is attributed, by the same authority,<pb n="126" /><anchor id="Pg126" /> +to Cormac Macarthy, king and archbishop of Cashel, +who, being once engaged in hostilities with a neighboring potentate, +needed a watch-tower, so summoned all his people, +built the tower in one night, and, at sunrise, was able by its +help to ascertain the location of the opposing army and so +give it an overwhelming defeat. The Glendalough Tower +was built by a demon at the command of Saint Kevin. This +saint had conspicuously routed Satan on a previous occasion; +so the arch-fiend and all the well-informed of his subjects +kept at a safe distance from Glendalough, not caring to take +any risks with so doughty a spiritual champion as Saint Kevin +had proved himself to be in more than one encounter.</p> + +<p>"But there was wan snakin' vagabone av a divil that come +from furrin parts an' hadn't heard the news about the saint, +and the blessed saint caught him wan avenin' an' set him to +work to build that tower. So the black rogue wint at it as +hard as he knew how, an' was workin' away wid all the hands +he had, as busy as a barmaid at a fair, thinkin' that afore sunrise +he'd have it so high it 'ud fall down be itself an' do the +blessed saint not a ha'porth av good. But afther batin' owld +Satan himself, Saint Kevin wasn't to be deludhered be wan +av his undershtrappers, an' was watchin' wid his two eyes +every minnit o' the time, so whin the divil had the tower high +enough, he threw his bishop's cap at it, an' it become shtone +an' made the roof, so the omadhawn divil was baten at his +own game."</p> + +<figure url="images/image42.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1=""Crackin' their Haythen Shkulls"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: "Crackin' their Haythen Shkulls"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>The round tower is not without a touch of romance, one of +the most notable structures, Monaster-Boice, having been built +by a woman under peculiar circumstances. According to the +legend, she was young, beautiful, and good, but though she +ought to have been happy also, she was not, being persecuted +by the attentions of a suitor chieftain, whose reputation<pb n="127" /><anchor id="Pg127" /> +must have been far from irreproachable, since he was characterized +by the narrator of the story either as an "outprobrious +ruffin," or "a sootherin', deludherin', murtherin' villin." +Loving another chief who was a "gintleman entirely," and +determined to escape from the obnoxious attentions of the +"ruffin" already mentioned, the lady, having learned that her +disagreeable suitor had resolved to carry her off, employed two +men to aid her the night before the proposed abduction, and, +before morning, built the tower and took up her abode in the +topmost chamber. In due season the chieftain came "wid a +gang av thaves," but, disappointed in his "endayvor fur to<pb n="128" /><anchor id="Pg128" /> +stale away her varchew," besieged the tower. Having taken +the precaution to provide a good supply of heavy stones, the +lady pelted her persecutors vigorously, "crackin' their haythen +shkulls the same as they wor egg-shells." Her heroism was +rewarded by her deliverance, for her lover, hearing of her +desperate situation, came to her relief and attacked the besiegers, +so that "wid the lady flingin' shtones at the front o' +them, an' the other fellys beltin' 'em behind, they got disconsarted +as not knowin' phat to do next, an' so they up's an' +runs like as tin thousand divils wor parshooin' afther thim. +So she was saved an' brought down, an' was married to the +boy av her heart the next Sunday, Glory be to God, an' that's +the way the tower come to be built, an' shows that thim that +thries to marry a lady agin her will always comes to grief, fur +av she cant bate thim wid her tongue she can some other way, +fur a woman can always get phat she's afther, an' bad luck +to the lie that's in that."</p> +</div> + +<div rend="page-break-before: right"> +<pb n="129" /><anchor id="Pg129" /> +<index index="toc" /> +<index index="pdf" /> +<head>THE POLICE.</head> + +<figure url="images/image43.png" rend="floatleft; w50"> +<index index="fig" level1="Initial: "The Police"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: Initial: "The Police"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>During the last few years, +the most obviously conspicuous +individual in Ireland +is the policeman. Go +where you will, if the policeman +is not there before +you, the reason is probably +to be found in the +fact that he has just been +there and will likely return before +you leave. In Dublin, Cork, Limerick, +Athlone, Belfast, and other large cities and towns, the +police are seen at every corner, singly, in pairs, and in groups. +Fresh-looking police are going on duty; tired-out police are +going home; clean, well-brushed police are starting to the +country on horseback, having heard reports of rural disturbance; +muddy police are coming in on jaunting-cars, with +prisoners from the nearest eviction. Everywhere you meet +them; young policemen, with fresh, rosy complexions; middle-aged +policemen, with stern faces, bearing strong evidence +of Irish pugilistic talent; old policemen, with deeply scarred +and weather-beaten countenances, looking forward to speedy +retirement and a moderate pension; they are in the city, in +the village, on the high road, in the by-way, and on the +mountain paths. At every railroad station they are to be seen +in pairs, observing those who arrive and depart, and noting<pb n="130" /><anchor id="Pg130" /> +all that may seem suspicious in the appearance and actions of +travellers.</p> + +<p>As long as a stranger remains on the common, well-frequented +tourist routes he escapes with a sharp glance of inspection, +but let him leave the courses usually followed by +travellers, or go into parts of the country not often visited by +strangers, and he at once becomes an object of intense suspicion. +You are driving along a retired country road; at the +turn of the hill a policeman heaves in sight. He speaks pleasantly, +and if nothing arouses his suspicion, he will pass on +and you see him no more; but if the slightest distrust of you +or your business finds lodgment in his mind, he marks you as +a possible victim. He temporarily vanishes; look round as you +proceed on your journey, and you may, by chance, catch a +glimpse of him a mile or two away, peeping over a wall after +you, but in the next village, where you stop for the night, he +reappears, and the local policemen, after his coming, will be +sure to observe you with some degree of attention. Leave +your baggage in the public room of the inn and step out on +the street. In comes the policeman, ascertains your name, +takes a mental inventory of your effects, makes a note of the +railway and hotel labels on your trunks, and goes away to report. +A sharp detective is the policeman even in the country +districts. He knows articles of American manufacture at a +glance, and needs only to see your satchel to tell whether it +came from America or was made in England. Talk with him, +and he will chat cordially about the weather, the crops, the +state of the markets, but all the time he is trying to make out +who you are and what is your business. His eyes ramble from +your hat to your shoes, and by the time the conversation is +ended, he has prepared for the "sargeant" a report of your +personal appearance and apparel. "Hat, English; coat, London-made;<pb n="131" /><anchor id="Pg131" /> +trousers, doubtful; shoes, American; party evidently +an Irish Yankee, who might as well be looked after."</p> + +<p>The Irish policeman, or "consthable," as he is familiarly +known on his native sod, is the son of a peasant. Finding life +as a laborer or tenant in either case intolerable, he debated in +his own mind the question whether he should emigrate to +America, enlist in the British army, or apply for a place on +the constabulary. The first step was, to him, the most acceptable, +but he lacked the money to go; of the two courses left +open, enlistment in the army was the more pleasant, since in +Ireland the constabulary are almost entirely cut off from association +with the people in a social or friendly way, a general +belief prevailing that the Irishman who enters the police +has deserted the cause of his country and entered the service +of her deadliest foe. So the police are avoided by their +former companions, shunned by old friends, and, lastly, what +is of some consequence to a genuine Irishman, are given the +cold shoulder by the ladies. To be sure, the Irishman who +enlists in the British army would be treated in the same way +at his old home, but as he usually leaves never to return, the +case is materially different. Chance, or the obligation of supporting +aged parents or a helpless family of young brothers +and sisters, usually determines the question, and the young +Irishman enters the constabulary, thenceforth to be a social +leper, for the constable is hated by his countrymen with a +hatred that knows no bounds.</p> + +<p>From the day he puts on his neat blue uniform and saucer-like +cap, the constable, in the troubled west coast counties, +carries his life in his hand. Every hedge he scrutinizes with +a careful eye; behind it may lurk an assassin. Every division +wall is watched for suspicious indications, his alertness being +quickened by the knowledge that he is guarding his own life.<pb n="132" /><anchor id="Pg132" /> +He is compelled to undertake duties obnoxious to his own +feelings and sense of justice, and to risk life and limb to carry +out repugnant orders. A bad year comes, a tenant is in arrears +and cannot pay rent; the agent determines on an eviction +and sends for the police. The constables arrive in force, +but the tenant has anticipated them and collected a crowd of +friends. The hut is closed and barred, while inside are half a +score of men and women, determined to resist as long as resistance +is of any avail.</p> + +<figure url="images/image44.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1="The Police and the Tenants" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: The Police and the Tenants</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>As soon as the police appear on the scene, a babel of Irish +voices ensues and fearful curses and imprecations are hurled +at all concerned in the eviction, succeeded by showers of +stones from enthusiastic outside supporters of the cabin's defenders.<pb n="133" /><anchor id="Pg133" /> +The constables draw their clubs and make a rush, +striking right and left at the heads of the crowd. A desperate +battle ensues, in which the police are generally victorious, +driving the rabble to a safe distance; then, leaving a portion +of the force to keep them away, the remainder return to effect +an entrance to the hut. A beam, handled by several pairs of +strong arms, speedily demolishes the miserable pretence of a +door, then in go the police, to be met with fists, clubs, stones, +showers of boiling water, and other effective and offensive +means of defence. After a stubborn contest the cabin is +finally cleared; the furniture, if there be any, is set out in the +road, the thatched roof torn off and scattered on the ground, +the walls levelled, and the police, battered with sticks and +stones, scalded, burned, return to headquarters with their prisoners. +Not infrequently a policeman is killed on one of these +evictionary expeditions, the defence of his slayers being generally +grounded on the statement made in court in one instance +of this kind near Limerick. "We niver intinded fur +to kill him at all, but his shkull was too thin entirely for a +consthable, an' broke wid the batin' he was afther gettin'."</p> + +<p>Firearms are not often used in these encounters between +the police and the populace, for such battles always take place +in daylight, and although, when an eviction promises to be of +more than usual danger, the police carry rifles, strict orders +are given not to use them save in dire extremity, and a policeman +will be beaten almost to death without resorting to the +use of his gun. On ordinary day-duty the police carry +only a short club or revolver, hidden under the coat; but at +night, the country constables are armed with rifle and bayonet, +and patrol the roads in pairs, one walking on each side +and as close as possible to the hedge or wall.</p> + +<p>But in spite of the extraordinary difficulties and unceasing<pb n="134" /><anchor id="Pg134" /> +dangers of his work the constable does his duty with scrupulous +exactness, and instances of treachery to the government +among the Irish constabulary are extremely rare. Indeed, +service in the constabulary is much sought for, and there are +always more applicants than vacancies. The physical standard +is so high that the police are the picked men of the +country, while the average grade of intelligence among them +is better than among the peasantry from whose ranks they +have come.</p> + +<p>Ready as they are to go cheerfully on any service, however +laborious or perilous, there is one task which the constabulary +of the west coast hold in mortal detestation, and that is, an +expedition into the mountains to seize illicit stills and arrest +distillers of poteen. Such an enterprise means days and +nights of toilsome climbing, watching, waiting, and spying; +often without result, and generally with a strong probability +that when the spot where the still has been is surrounded, the +police thinking they have the law breakers in a trap, the latter +take the alarm, escape by some unknown path, leaving +nothing but "the pot and the smell" as reminiscences of +their presence and employment. The disappointing nature of +the duty is thus one good reason for the dislike felt for it by +the constables, but another is found in the unusual degree of +peril attending it, for in the mountains of Donegal, Mayo, +Galway, Clare, and Kerry, the distillers generally own firearms, +know how to use them, and feel no more compunction for +shooting a policeman than for killing a dog. The extremely +rugged character of the Mayo mountains, in particular, offers +many opportunities for the outlaws to practise their craft in +safety and secrecy, for, the whole neighborhood being on the +lookout for the enemy, there are always friends to give the +alarm. To hide the still in the ground or in a convenient<pb n="135" /><anchor id="Pg135" /> +cave is the work of very few minutes, after which the distillers +are quite at leisure and turn their attention to shooting +at the police, a job attended with so little risk to themselves +and so much discomfort to the constables that the latter frequently +give up the chase on very slight provocation.</p> + +<p>Near Lake Derryclare, in the Connemara district of Galway, +and almost under the shadow of the Twelve Pins, there stands +by the wayside a small rude monument of uncut stones, a mere +heap, surmounted by a rough wooden cross. Such stone +heaps as this are common on the west coast, and originate in +the custom of making a family memorial, each member of the +family, or, in some cases, each friend attending the funeral, +contributing a stone to the rude monument. In some neighborhoods, +every relative and friend casts a stone on the common +pile whenever he passes the spot, so the heap is constantly +growing. This particular monument in Connemara does not +differ in any important respect from many others, but before +it, in the summer of 1886, there knelt, all day long, an old +peasant woman. Every morning she came from a hut in the +glen near by and spent every hour of daylight in prayer before +the wooden cross. It seemed to matter little to her +whether it rained or the sun shone; in sunshine, the hood of +her tattered cloak was thrown back and her white hair exposed, +while the rain compelled her to draw the hood forward, +but rain or shine she was always there, her lips silently moving +as the beads slipped through her withered fingers, nor +could any question divert her attention from her devotions. +She never looked up, never took the slightest notice of remarks +addressed to her, nor was she ever heard to speak aloud. +Once a week provisions were sent to her house from the +nearest police station; they were left within, and those who +brought them went their way, for she gave them no word of<pb n="136" /><anchor id="Pg136" /> +thanks, no look of gratitude; nor, for many years, had the +constables sent with the allowance made her by the government +ventured to compel her to speak to them.</p> + +<p>Her story was told by a Sergeant of Police, and formed a +painful illustration of the poteen trade in the mountains. In +the year 1850, while the country was still suffering from the +effects of the "starving time," she lived with her husband, +Michael O'Malley, and four sons, on a little farm near Lake +Derryclare. Year after year had the crops failed, but the little +family held together, faring, or rather starving, alike. In the +year mentioned, although the country in general was beginning +to recover from the famine, this part of Connemara was still +stricken, and the crop seemed likely again to fail. Starvation +stared the hapless family in the face. The boys were well +grown lads, accustomed to the hard life of peasants, and willing +to work if any could be found. All four left home, the +eldest going to Galway, the other three to the sea-shore, where +they found temporary employment in the fisheries. While so +engaged, they learned the secrets of the illicit distiller, and +having, in course of time, managed to procure a small still, +they returned home with it, and as the cabin was in a secluded +quarter of a little frequented district, they persuaded +the old man to engage in the enterprise with them. The risk +of detection appeared so small, especially when compared with +the profits, that against the prayers and entreaties of the +woman, the still was set up in a retired spot near by and the +manufacture of the poteen begun in as large quantities as +their limited resources would allow. A number of years +passed, and, as their product found a ready sale in the neighborhood, +the O'Malleys prospered as they had never done before, +the boys married, and families grew around them.</p> + +<p>The eldest brother, John O'Malley, having gone to Galway,<pb n="137" /><anchor id="Pg137" /> +succeeded, by what he considered a great stroke of good fortune, +in obtaining a place on the constabulary. The family +at home knew nothing of him, nor had he communicated with +them, for directly after his enlistment he was sent to the +County Wexford on the opposite side of the island, and completely +lost sight of his old home. Proving intelligent and +capable, he was promoted, made a sergeant, and ordered to +the County Galway. Immediately upon his arrival at his new +post, a small village in Connemara, intelligence was brought +of illicit distilling near the Twelve Pins, and O'Malley was +ordered to proceed with a strong party of police to seize the +still, and, if possible, arrest the criminals. The names of the +offenders were not given, but the location of the glen where +operations were carried on was described with such exactness +that O'Malley, who knew every foot of ground in the vicinity, +laid such plans as to render escape by the distillers a practical +impossibility. Before dark one evening a party of twelve +mounted constables armed with rifles started from Maume, at +the head of Lough Corrib, travelled all night, and by morning +Sergeant O'Malley had so posted his men round the glen +that the arrest of the distillers was apparently a certainty. In +the early dawn, before objects could be distinctly seen, several +men were observed going into the glen, and, at a given signal, +the police closed in on the little shanty where the still was in +operation. A desperate fight ensued, and Sergeant O'Malley +was shot dead by one of his brothers without knowing whose +hand pointed the weapon. Two of the O'Malleys were killed +by the police bullets, and a constable was mortally wounded. +Michael and his remaining son were taken alive, afterwards +tried for murder, when for the first time they learned that the +dead Sergeant was their relative. Both were hanged, the singular +circumstances of the crime for which they suffered attracting +wide attention.</p> + +<pb n="138" /><anchor id="Pg138" /> + +<p>Mrs. O'Malley thus beheld herself, at a single blow, deprived +of husband and four sons. For a time she was wildly +demented, but the violence passed away, and as her clouded +brain became calm, it was occupied by one idea, to the exclusion +of all others,--prayer for the repose of her dead. The +body of the Sergeant was buried near Maume, but O'Malley +and his three sons were buried together under the cairn in a +long disused churchyard through which the road passed, a +churchyard like thousands more in Ireland, where the grave-stones +are hidden by the nettles and weeds. Thither, with a +love stronger than death, goes the poor old woman every day, +and, untiring in her devotion, spends her life reciting the +prayers for the dead.</p> + +<figure url="images/image45.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1=""Thither goes the poor old women every day"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: "Thither goes the poor old women every day"</figDesc> +</figure> +</div> + +<div rend="page-break-before: right"> +<pb n="139" /><anchor id="Pg139" /> +<index index="toc" /> +<index index="pdf" /> +<head>THE LEPRECHAWN.</head> + +<figure url="images/image46.png" rend="floatleft; w50"> +<index index="fig" level1="Initial: "The Leprechawn"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: Initial: "The Leprechawn"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>Every mythology has its good and evil +spirits which are objects of adoration +and subjects of terror, and often both +classes are worshipped from opposite +motives; the good, that the worshipper +may receive benefit; the evil, +that he may escape harm. Sometimes +good deities are so benevolent +that they are neglected, superstitious +fear directing all devotion towards +the evil spirits to propitiate them and avert the calamities +they are ever ready to bring upon the human race; sometimes +the malevolent deities have so little power that the +prayer of the pious is offered up to the good spirits that they +may pour out still further favors, for man is a worshipping +being, and will prostrate himself with equal fervor before the +altar whether the deity be good or bad.</p> + +<p>Midway, however, between the good and evil beings of all +mythologies there is often one whose qualities are mixed; not +wholly good nor entirely evil, but balanced between the two, +sometimes doing a generous action, then descending to a +petty meanness, but never rising to nobility of character nor +sinking to the depths of depravity; good from whim, and +mischievous from caprice.</p> + +<p>Such a being is the Leprechawn of Ireland, a relic of the +pagan mythology of that country. By birth the Leprechawn<pb n="140" /><anchor id="Pg140" /> +is of low descent, his father being an evil spirit and his +mother a degenerate fairy; by nature he is a mischief-maker, +the Puck of the Emerald Isle. He is of diminutive size, +about three feet high, and is dressed in a little red jacket or +roundabout, with red breeches buckled at the knee, gray or +black stockings, and a hat, cocked in the style of a century +ago, over a little, old, withered face. Round his neck is an +Elizabethan ruff, and frills of lace are at his wrists. On the +wild west coast, where the Atlantic winds bring almost constant +rains, he dispenses with ruff and frills and wears a frieze +overcoat over his pretty red suit, so that, unless on the lookout +for the cocked hat, "ye might pass a Leprechawn on the +road and never know it's himself that's in it at all."</p> + +<p>In Clare and Galway, the favorite amusement of the Leprechawn +is riding a sheep or goat, or even a dog, when the +other animals are not available, and if the sheep look weary +in the morning or the dog is muddy and worn out with fatigue, +the peasant understands that the local Leprechawn has +been going on some errand that lay at a greater distance than +he cared to travel on foot. Aside from riding the sheep and +dogs almost to death, the Leprechawn is credited with much +small mischief about the house. Sometimes he will make the +pot boil over and put out the fire, then again he will make it +impossible for the pot to boil at all. He will steal the bacon-flitch, +or empty the potato-kish, or fling the baby down on +the floor, or occasionally will throw the few poor articles of +furniture about the room with a strength and vigor altogether +disproportioned to his diminutive size. But his mischievous +pranks seldom go further than to drink up all the milk or despoil +the proprietor's bottle of its poteen, sometimes, in sportiveness, +filling the bottle with water, or, when very angry, +leading the fire up to the thatch, and then startling the in-mates<pb n="141" /><anchor id="Pg141" /> +of the cabin with his laugh as they rise, frightened, to +put out the flames.</p> + +<p>To offset these troublesome attributes, the Leprechawn is +very domestic, and sometimes attaches himself to a family, always +of the "rale owld shtock," accompanying its representatives +from the castle to the cabin and never deserting them unless +driven away by some act of insolence or negligence, "for, +though he likes good atin', he wants phat he gets to come wid +an open hand, an' 'ud laver take the half av a pratee that's +freely given than the whole av a quail that's begrudged him." +But what he eats must be specially intended for him, an instance +being cited by a Clare peasant of a Leprechawn that +deserted an Irish family, because, on one occasion, the dog +having left a portion of his food, it was set by for the Leprechawn. +"Jakers, 't was as mad as a little wasp he was, an' all +that night they heard him workin' away in the cellar as busy +as a nailer, an' a sound like a catheract av wather goin' widout +saycin'. In the mornin' they wint to see phat he'd been +at, but he was gone, an' whin they come to thry for the wine, +bad loock to the dhrop he'd left, but all was gone from ivery +cask an' bottle, and they were filled wid say-wather, beways av +rayvinge o' phat they done him."</p> + +<p>In different country districts the Leprechawn has different +names. In the northern counties he is the Logheryman; in +Tipperary, he is the Lurigadawne; in Kerry, the Luricawne; +in Monaghan, the Cluricawne. The dress also varies. The +Logheryman wears the uniform of some British infantry regiments, +a red coat and white breeches, but instead of a cap, he +wears a broad-brimmed, high, pointed hat, and after doing +some trick more than usually mischievous, his favorite position +is to poise himself on the extreme point of his hat, standing +at the top of a wall or on a house, feet in the air, then<pb n="142" /><anchor id="Pg142" /> +laugh heartily and disappear. The Lurigadawne wears an antique +slashed jacket of red, with peaks all round and a jockey +cap, also sporting a sword, which he uses as a magic wand. +The Luricawne is a fat, pursy little fellow whose jolly round +face rivals in redness the cut-a-way jacket he wears, that always +has seven rows of seven buttons in each row, though +what use they are has never been determined, since his jacket +is never buttoned, nor, indeed, can it be, but falls away from +a shirt invariably white as the snow. When in full dress he +wears a helmet several sizes too large for him, but, in general, +prudently discards this article of headgear as having a tendency +to render him conspicuous in a country where helmets +are obsolete, and wraps his head in a handkerchief that he +ties over his ears.</p> + +<p>The Cluricawne of Monaghan is a little dandy, being gorgeously +arrayed in a swallow-tailed evening coat of red with +green vest, white breeches, black stockings, and shoes that +"fur the shine av 'em 'ud shame a lookin'-glass." His hat is +a long cone without a brim, and is usually set jauntily on one +side of his curly head. When greatly provoked, he will sometimes +take vengeance by suddenly ducking and poking the +sharp point of his hat into the eye of the offender. Such +conduct is, however, exceptional, as he commonly contents +himself with soundly abusing those at whom he has taken offence, +the objects of his anger hearing his voice but seeing +nothing of his person.</p> + +<p>One of the most marked peculiarities of the Leprechawn +family is their intense hatred of schools and schoolmasters, +arising, perhaps, from the ridicule of them by teachers, who +affect to disbelieve in the existence of the Leprechawn and +thus insult him, for "it's very well beknownst, that onless ye +belave in him an' thrate him well, he'll lave an' come back<pb n="143" /><anchor id="Pg143" /> +no more." He does not even like to remain in the neighborhood +where a national school has been established, and as such +schools are now numerous in Ireland, the Leprechawns are +becoming scarce. "Wan gineration of taichers is enough for +thim, bekase the families where the little fellys live forgit to +set thim out the bit an' sup, an' so they lave." The few that +remain must have a hard time keeping soul and body together +for nowhere do they now receive any attention at meal-times, +nor is the anxiety to see one by any means so great as in the +childhood of men still living. Then, to catch a Leprechawn +was certain fortune to him who had the wit to hold the mischief-maker +a captive until demands for wealth were complied +with.</p> + +<p>"Mind ye," said a Kerry peasant, "the onliest time ye can +ketch the little vagabone is whin he's settin' down, an' he +niver sets down axceptin' whin his brogues want mendin'. +He runs about so much he wears thim out, an' whin he +feels his feet on the ground, down he sets undher a hidge +or behind a wall, or in the grass, an' takes thim aff an' mends +thim. Thin comes you by, as quiet as a cat an' sees him +there, that ye can aisily, be his red coat, an' you shlippin' up +on him, catches him in yer arrums.</p> + +<p>"'Give up yer goold,' says you.</p> + +<p>"'Begob, I've no goold,' says he.</p> + +<p>"'Then outs wid yer magic purse,' says you.</p> + +<p>"But it's like pullin' a hat full av taith to get aither purse +or goold av him. He's got goold be the ton, an' can tell ye +where ye can put yer finger on it, but he wont, till ye make +him, an' that ye must do be no aisey manes. Some cuts aff +his wind be chokin' him, an' some bates him, but don't for the +life o' ye take yer eyes aff him, fur if ye do, he's aff like a +flash an' the same man niver sees him agin, an' that's how it +was wid Michael O'Dougherty.</p> + +<pb n="144" /><anchor id="Pg144" /> + +<p>"He was afther lookin' for wan nigh a year, fur he wanted +to get married an' hadn't anny money, so he thought the +aisiest was to ketch a Luricawne. So he was lookin' an' +watchin' an' the fellys makin' fun av him all the time. Wan +night he was comin' back afore day from a wake he'd been +at, an' on the way home he laid undher the hidge an' shlept +awhile, thin riz an' walked on. So as he was walkin', he seen +a Luricawne in the grass be the road a-mendin' his brogues. +So he shlipped up an' got him fast enough, an' thin made him +tell him where was his goold. The Luricawne tuk him to +nigh the place in the break o' the hills an' was goin' fur to +show him, when all at wanst Mike heard the most outprobrious +scraich over the head av him that 'ud make the hairs av +ye shtand up like a mad cat's tail.</p> + +<p>"'The saints defind me,' says he, 'phat's that?' an' he +looked up from the Luricawne that he was carryin' in his +arrums. That minnit the little attomy wint out av his sight, +fur he looked away from it an' it was gone, but he heard it +laugh when it wint an' he niver got the goold but died poor, +as me father knows, an' he a boy when it happened."</p> + +<p>Although the Leprechawns are skilful in evading curious +eyes, and, when taken, are shrewd in escaping from their captors, +their tricks are sometimes all in vain, and after resorting +to every device in their power, they are occasionally compelled +to yield up their hidden stores, one instance of which was narrated +by a Galway peasant.</p> + +<p>"It was Paddy Donnelly av Connemara. He was always +hard at work as far as anny wan seen, an' bad luck to the day +he'd miss, barrin' Sundays. When all 'ud go to the fair, +sorra a fut he'd shtir to go near it, no more did a dhrop av +dhrink crass his lips. When they'd ax him why he didn't +take divarshun, he'd laugh an' tell thim his field was divarshun<pb n="145" /><anchor id="Pg145" /> +enough fur him, an' by an' by he got rich, so they +knewn that when they were at the fair or wakes or shports, it +was lookin' fur a Leprechawn he was an' not workin', an' he +got wan too, fur how else cud he get rich at all."</p> + +<p>And so it must have been, in spite of the denials of +Paddy Donnelly, though, to do him justice, he stoutly affirmed +that his small property was acquired by industry, economy, +and temperance. But according to the opinions of his +neighbors, "bad scran to him 't was as greedy as a pig he +was, fur he knewn where the goold was, an' wanted it all +fur himself, an' so lied about it like the Leprechawns, that's +known to be the biggest liars in the world."</p> + +<p>The Leprechawn is an old bachelor elf who successfully +resists all efforts of scheming fairy mammas to marry him to +young and beautiful fairies, persisting in single blessedness +even in exile from his kind, being driven off as a punishment +for his heterodoxy on matrimonial subjects. This is one explanation +of the fact that Leprechawns are always seen alone, +though other authorities make the Leprechawn solitary by +preference, he having learned the hollowness of fairy friendship +and the deceitfulness of fairy femininity, and left the society +of his kind in disgust at its lack of sincerity.</p> + +<p>It must be admitted that the latter explanation seems the +more reasonable, since whenever the Leprechawn has been +captured and forced to engage in conversation with his captor +he displayed conversational powers that showed an ability to +please, and as woman kind, even among fairy circles, are, according +to an Irish proverb, "aisily caught be an oily tongue," +the presumption is against the expulsion of the Leprechawn +and in favor of his voluntary retirement.</p> + +<figure url="images/image47.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1="Returning the next morning with the spade" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: Returning the next morning with the spade</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>However this may be, one thing is certain to the minds of +all wise women and fairy-men, that he is the "thrickiest little<pb n="146" /><anchor id="Pg146" /> +divil that iver wore a brogue," whereof abundant proof is +given. There was Tim O'Donovan, of Kerry, who captured a +Leprechawn and forced him to disclose the spot where the +"pot o' goold" was concealed. Tim was going to make the +little rogue dig up the money for him, but, on the Leprechawn +advancing the plea that he had no spade, released him, +marking the spot by driving a stick into the ground and placing +his hat on it. Returning the next morning with a spade, +the spot pointed out by the "little ottomy av a desaver" being +in the centre of a large bog, he found, to his unutterable +disgust, that the Leprechawn was too smart for him, for in +every direction innumerable sticks rose out of the bog, each +bearing aloft an old "caubeen" so closely resembling his own +that poor Tim, after long search, was forced to admit himself +baffled and give up the gold that, on the evening before, had<pb n="147" /><anchor id="Pg147" /> +been fairly within his grasp, if "he'd only had the brains in +his shkull to make the Leprechawn dig it for him, shpade or +no shpade."</p> + +<p>Even when caught, therefore, the captor must outwit the +captive, and the wily little rascal, having a thousand devices, +generally gets away without giving up a penny, and sometimes +succeeds in bringing the eager fortune-hunter to grief, +a notable instance of which was the case of Dennis O'Bryan, +of Tipperary, as narrated by an old woman of Crusheen.</p> + +<p>"It's well beknownst that the Leprechawn has a purse +that's got the charmed shillin'. Only wan shillin', but the +wondher av the purse is this: No matther how often ye take +out a shillin' from it, the purse is niver empty at all, but whin +ye put yer finger in agin, ye always find wan there, fur the +purse fills up when ye take wan from it, so ye may shtand all +day countin' out the shillin's an' they comin', that's a thrick +av the good peoples an' be magic.</p> + +<p>"Now Dinnis was a young blaggârd that was always afther +peepin' about undher the hidge fur to ketch a Leprechawn, +though they do say that thim that doesn't sarch afther +thim sees thim oftener than thim that does, but Dinnis +made his mind up that if there was wan in the counthry, he'd +have him, fur he hated work worse than sin, an' did be settin' +in a shebeen day in an' out till you'd think he'd grow on the +sate. So wan day he was comin' home, an' he seen something +red over in the corner o' the field, an' in he goes, as quiet as +a mouse, an' up on the Leprechawn an' grips him be the collar +an' down's him on the ground.</p> + +<p>"'Arrah, now, ye ugly little vagabone,' says he, 'I've got +ye at last. Now give up yer goold, or by jakers I'll choke +the life out av yer pin-squazin' carkidge, ye owld cobbler, +ye,' says he, shakin' him fit to make his head dhrop aff.</p> + +<pb n="148" /><anchor id="Pg148" /> + +<p>"The Leprechawn begged, and scritched, an' cried, an' +said he wasn't a rale Leprechawn that was in it, but a young +wan that hadn't anny goold, but Dinnis wouldn't let go av +him, an' at last the Leprechawn said he'd take him to the +pot ov goold that was hid be the say, in a glen in Clare. +Dinnis didn't want to go so far, bein' afeared the Leprechawn +'ud get away, an' he thought the divilish baste was +afther lyin' to him, bekase he knewn there was goold closter +than that, an' so he was chokin' him that his eyes stood out +till ye cud knock 'em aff wid a shtick, an' the Leprechawn +axed him would he lave go if he'd give him the magic purse. +Dinnis thought he'd betther do it, fur he was mortially afeared +the oudacious little villin 'ud do him some thrick an' get away, +so he tuk the purse, afther lookin' at it to make sure it was +red shilk, an' had the shillin' in it, but the minnit he tuk his +two eyes aff the Leprechawn, away wint the rogue wid a +laugh that Dinnis didn't like at all.</p> + +<p>"But he was feelin' very comfortable be razon av gettin' +the purse, an' says to himself, 'Begorra, 'tis mesilf that'll +ate the full av me waistband fur wan time, an' dhrink till a +stame-ingine can't squaze wan dhrop more down me neck,' +says he, and aff he goes like a quarther-horse fur Miss Clooney's +sheebeen, that's where he used fur to go. In he goes, +an' there was Paddy Grogan, an' Tim O'Donovan, an' Mike +Conathey, an' Bryan Flaherty, an' a shtring more av 'em settin' +on the table, an' he pulls up a sate an' down he sets, a-callin' +to Miss Clooney to bring her best.</p> + +<p>"'Where's yer money?' says she to him, fur he didn't +use to have none barrin' a tuppence or so.</p> + +<p>"'Do you have no fear,' says he, 'fur the money,' says he, +'ye pinny-schrapin' owld shkeleton,' this was beways av a +shot at her, fur it was the size av a load o' hay she was, an'<pb n="149" /><anchor id="Pg149" /> +weighed a ton. 'Do you bring yer best,' says he. 'I'm a +gintleman av forchune, bad loock to the job o' work I'll do +till the life laves me. Come, jintlemin, dhrink at my axpinse.' +An' so they did an' more than wanst, an' afther four or five +guns apace, Dinnis ordhered dinner fur thim all, but Miss +Clooney towld him sorra the bit or sup more 'ud crass the lips +av him till he paid fur that he had. So out he pulls the magic +purse fur to pay, an' to show it thim an' towld thim phat +it was an' where he got it.</p> + +<p>"'And was it the Leprechawn gev it ye?' says they.</p> + +<p>"'It was,' says Dinnis, 'an' the varchew av this purse is +sich, that if ye take shillin's out av it be the handful all day +long, they'll be comin' in a shtrame like whishkey out av a +jug,' says he, pullin' out wan.</p> + +<p>"And thin, me jewel, he put in his fingers afther another, +but it wasn't there, for the Leprechawn made a ijit av him, +an' instid o' givin' him the right purse, gev him wan just like +it, so as onless ye looked clost, ye cudn't make out the differ +betune thim. But the face on Dinnis was a holy show when +he seen the Leprechawn had done him, an' he wid only a +shillin', an' half a crown av dhrink down the troats av thim.</p> + +<p>"'To the divil wid you an' yer Leprechawns, an' purses, +an' magic shillin's,' schreamed Miss Clooney, belavin', an' small +blame to her that's, that it was lyin' to her he was. 'Ye're +a thafe, so ye are, dhrinkin' up me dhrink, wid a lie on yer +lips about the purse, an' insultin' me into the bargain,' says +she, thinkin' how he called her a shkeleton, an' her a load fur +a waggin. 'Yer impidince bates owld Nick, so it does,' says +she; so she up an' hits him a power av a crack on the head +wid a bottle; an' the other felly's, a-thinkin' sure that it was +a lie he was afther tellin' them, an' he laving thim to pay fur +the dhrink he'd had, got on him an' belted him out av the<pb n="150" /><anchor id="Pg150" /> +face till it was nigh onto dead he was. Then a consthable +comes along an' hears the phillaloo they did be makin' an' +comes in.</p> + +<p>"'Tatther an' agers,' says he, 'lave aff. I command the +pace. Phat's the matther here?'</p> + +<p>"So they towld him an' he consayved that Dinnis shtole +the purse an' tuk him be the collar.</p> + +<p>"'Lave go,' says Dinnis. 'Sure phat's the harrum o' getting +the purse av a Leprechawn?'</p> + +<p>"'None at all,' says the polisman, 'av ye projuice the Leprechawn +an' make him teshtify he gev it ye an' that ye haven't +been burglarious an' sarcumvinted another man's money,' +says he.</p> + +<p>"But Dinnis cudn't do it, so the cunsthable tumbled him +into the jail. From that he wint to coort an' got thirty days +at hard labor, that he niver done in his life afore, an' afther +he got out, he said he'd left lookin' for Leprechawns, fur +they were too shmart fur him entirely, an' it's thrue fur him, +bekase I belave they were."</p> + +<figure url="images/image48.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1=""Playing his pranks"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: "Playing his pranks"</figDesc> +</figure> +</div> + +<div rend="page-break-before: right"> +<pb n="151" /><anchor id="Pg151" /> +<index index="toc" /> +<index index="pdf" /> +<head>THE HENPECKED GIANT.</head> + +<figure url="images/image49.png" rend="floatleft; w50"> +<index index="fig" level1="Initial: "The Henpecked Giant"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: Initial: "The Henpecked Giant"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>No locality of Ireland is fuller of strange +bits of fanciful legend than the +neighborhood of the Giant's +Causeway. For miles along the +coast the geological strata resemble +that of the Causeway, and +the gradual disintegration of the +stone has wrought many peculiar +and picturesque effects among the +basaltic pillars, while each natural +novelty has woven round it a tissue +of traditions and legends, some appropriate, others forced, +others ridiculous misapplications of commonplace tales. Here, +a long straight row of columns is known as the "Giant's Organ," +and tradition pictures the scene when the giants of old, +with their gigantic families, sat on the Causeway and listened +to the music; there, a group of isolated pillars is called the +"Giant's Chimneys," since they once furnished an exit for the +smoke of the gigantic kitchen. A solitary pillar, surrounded +by the crumbling remains of others, bears a distant resemblance +to a seated female figure, the "Giant's Bride," who slew +her husband and attempted to flee, but was overtaken by the +power of a magician, who changed her into stone as she was +seated by the shore, waiting for the boat that was to carry +her away. Further on, a cluster of columns forms the +"Giant's Pulpit," where a presumably outspoken gigantic<pb n="152" /><anchor id="Pg152" /> +preacher denounced the sins of a gigantic audience. The +Causeway itself, according to legend, formerly extended to +Scotland, being originally constructed by Finn Maccool and +his friends, this notable giant having invited Benandoner, a +Scotch giant of much celebrity, to come over and fight him. +The invitation was accepted, and Maccool, out of politeness, +built the Causeway the whole distance, the big Scotchman +thus walking over dryshod to receive his beating.</p> + +<p>Some distance from the mainland is found the Ladies' Wishing +Chair, composed of blocks in the Great Causeway, wishes +made while seated here being certain of realization. To the +west of the Wishing Chair a solitary pillar rises from the sea, +the "Gray Man's Love." Look to the mainland, and the +mountain presents a deep, narrow cleft, with perpendicular +sides, the "Gray Man's Path." Out in the sea, but unfortunately +not often in sight, is the "Gray Man's Isle," at present +inhabited only by the Gray Man himself. As the island, +however, appears but once in seventeen years, and the Gray +Man is never seen save on the eve of some awful calamity, +visitors to the Causeway have a very slight chance of seeing +either island or man. There can be no doubt though of the +existence of both, for everybody knows he was one of the +greatest of the giants during his natural lifetime, nor could +any better evidence be asked than the facts that his sweet-heart, +turned into stone, still stands in sight of the Causeway; +the precipice, from which she flung herself into the +sea, is still known by the name of the "Lovers' Leap;" and +the path he made through the mountain is still used by him +when he leaves his island and comes on shore.</p> + +<p>It is not surprising that so important a personage as the +Gray Man should be the central figure of many legends, and +indeed over him the story-makers seem to have had vigorous<pb n="153" /><anchor id="Pg153" /> +competition, for thirty or forty narratives are current in the +neighborhood concerning him and the principal events of his +life. So great a collection of legendary lore on one topic +rendered the choice of a single tradition which should fairly +cover the subject a matter of no little difficulty. As sometimes +happens in grave undertakings, the issue was determined by +accident. A chance boat excursion led to the acquaintance of +Mr. Barney O'Toole, a fisherman, and conversation developed +the fact that this gentleman was thoroughly posted in the local +legends, and was also the possessor of a critical faculty +which enabled him to differentiate between the probable and +the improbable, and thus to settle the historical value of a tradition. +In his way, he was also a philosopher, having evidently +given much thought to social issues, and expressing his +conclusions thereupon with the ease and freedom of a master +mind.</p> + +<p>Upon being informed of the variety and amount of legendary +material collected about the Gray Man and his doings, +Barney unhesitatingly pronounced the entire assortment +worthless, and condemned all the gathered treasures as the +creations of petty intellects, which could not get out of the +beaten track, but sought in the supernatural a reason for and +explanation of every fact that seemed at variance with the +routine of daily experience. In his opinion, the Gray Man is +never seen at all in our day and generation, having been gathered +to his fathers ages ago; nor is there any enchanted island; +to use his own language, "all thim shtories bein' made +be thim blaggârd guides that set up av a night shtringin' out +laigends for to enthertain the quol'ty."</p> + +<p>"Now, av yer Anner wants to hear it, I can tell ye the +thrue shtory av the Gray Man, no more is there anny thing +wondherful in it, but it's just as I had it from me grandfather, +that towld it to the childher for to entertain thim.</p> + +<pb n="154" /><anchor id="Pg154" /> + +<p>"It's very well beknownst that in thim owld days there +were gionts in plinty hereabouts, but they didn't make the +Causeway at all, for that's a work o' nacher, axceptin' the +Gray Man's Path, that I'm goin' to tell ye av. But ivery +wan knows that there were gionts, bekase if there wasn't, +how cud we know o' thim at all, but wan thing's sartain, +they were just like us, axceptin' in the matther o' size, for +wan ov thim 'ud make a dozen like the men that live now.</p> + +<p>"Among the gionts that lived about the Causeway there +was wan, a young giont named Finn O'Goolighan, that was +the biggest av his kind, an' none o' thim cud hide in a kish. +So Finn, for the size av him, was a livin' terror. His little +finger was the size av yer Anner's arrum, an' his wrist as big +as yer leg, an' so he wint, bigger an' bigger. Whin he +walked he carried an oak-tree for a shtick, ye cud crawl into +wan av his shoes, an' his caubeen 'ud cover a boat. But he +was a good-humored young felly wid a laugh that 'ud deefen +ye, an' a plazin' word for all he met, so as if ye run acrass him +in the road, he'd give ye 'good morrow kindly,' so as ye'd +feel the betther av it all day. He'd work an' he'd play an' +do aither wid all the might that was in him. Av a week day +you'd see him in the field or on the shore from sun to sun as +busy as a hen wid a dozen chicks; an' av a fair-day or av a +Sunday, there he'd be, palatherin' at the girls, an' dancin' jigs +that he done wid extrame nateness, or havin' a bout wid a +shtick on some other felly's head, an' indade, at that he was +so clever that it was a delight for to see him, for he'd crack +a giont's shkull that was as hard as a pot wid wan blow an' all +the pleasure in life. So he got to be four or five an' twinty +an' not his betther in the County Antrim.</p> + +<p>"Wan fine day, his father, Bryan O'Goolighan, that was +as big a giont as himself, says to him, says he, 'Finn, me +Laddybuck, I'm thinkin' ye'll want to be gettin' marr'd.'</p> + +<pb n="155" /><anchor id="Pg155" /> + +<p>"'Not me,' says Finn.</p> + +<p>"'An' why not?' says his father.</p> + +<p>"'I've no consate av it,' says Finn.</p> + +<p>"'Ye'd be the betther av it,' says his father.</p> + +<p>"'Faix, I'm not sure o' that,' says Finn; 'gettin' marr'd +is like turnin' a corner, ye don't know phat ye're goin' to see,' +says he.</p> + +<p>"'Thrue for ye,' says owld Bryan, for he'd had axpayrience +himself, 'but if ye'd a purty woman to make the stirabout +for ye av a mornin' wid her own white hands, an' to +watch out o' the dure for ye in the avenin,' an' put on a sod +o' turf whin she sees ye comin', ye'd be a betther man,' says +he.</p> + +<p>"'Bedad, it's not aisey for to conthravene that same,' +says Finn, 'barrin' I mightn't git wan like that. Wimmin +is like angels,' says he. 'There's two kinds av 'em, an' the +wan that shmiles like a dhrame o' heaven afore she's marr'd, +is the wan that gits to be a tarin' divil afther her market's +made an' she's got a husband.'</p> + +<p>"Ye see Finn was a mighty smart young felly, if he was +a giont, but his father didn't give up hope av gettin' him +marr'd, for owld folks that's been through a dale o' throuble +that-a-way always thries to get the young wans into the same +thrap, beways, says they, av taichin' thim to larn something. +But Bryan was a wise owld giont, an' knewn, as the Bible +says, there's time enough for all things. So he quit him, an' +that night he spake wid the owld woman an' left it wid her, +as knowin' that whin it's a matther o' marryin', a woman is +more knowledgable an' can do more to bring on that sort o' +mis'ry in wan day than a man can in all the years God gives +him.</p> + +<p>"Now, in ordher that ye see the pint, I'm undher the need-cessity<pb n="156" /><anchor id="Pg156" /> +av axplainin' to yer Anner that Finn didn't be no manes +have the hathred at wimmin that he purtinded, for indade he +liked thim purty well, but he thought he undhershtood thim +well enough to know that the more ye talk swate to thim, the +more they don't like it, barrin' they're fools, that sometimes +happens. So whin he talked wid 'em or about thim, he spake +o' thim shuperskillious, lettin' on to despize the lasht wan o' +thim, that was a takin' way he had, for wimmin love thimselves +a dale betther than ye'd think, unless yer Anner's marr'd an' +knows, an' that Finn knew, so he always said o' thim the +manest things he cud get out av his head, an' that made thim +think av him, that was phat he wanted. They purtinded to +hate him for it, but he didn't mind that, for he knewn it was +only talk, an' there wasn't wan o' thim that wouldn't give +the lasht tooth out av her jaw to have him for a husband.</p> + +<p>"Well, as I was sayin', afther owld Bryan give Finn up, +his mother tuk him in hand, throwin' a hint at him wanst in +a while, sighin' to him how glad she'd be to have a young +lady giont for a dawther, an' dhroppin' a word about phat an +iligant girl Burthey O'Ghallaghy was, that was the dawther +av wan o' the naburs, that she got Finn, unbeknownst to himself, +to be thinkin' about Burthey. She was a fine young lady +giont, about tin feet high, as broad as a cassel dure, but she +was good size for Finn, as ye know be phat I said av him. +So when Finn's mother see him takin' her home from church +afther benediction, an' the nabers towld her how they obsarved +him lanin' on O'Ghallaghy's wall an' Burthey lightin' his +pipe wid a coal, she thought to herself, 'fair an' aisey goes +far in a day,' an' made her mind up that Finn 'ud marry Burthey. +An' so, belike, he'd a' done, if he hadn't gone over, +wan onlucky day, to the village beyant, where the common +people like you an' me lived.</p> + +<pb n="157" /><anchor id="Pg157" /> + +<p>"When he got there, in he wint to the inn to get him his +dhrink, for it's a mishtake to think that thim gionts were all +blood-suckin' blaggârds as the Causeway guides say, but, barrin' +they were in dhrink, were as paceable as rabbits. So when +Finn wint in, he says, 'God save ye,' to thim settin', an' gev +the table a big crack wid his shillaylah as for to say he wanted +his glass. But instead o' the owld granny that used for to +fetch him his potheen, out shteps a nate little woman wid +hair an' eyes as black as a crow an' two lips on her as red as a +cherry an' a quick sharp way like a cat in a hurry.</p> + +<p>"'An' who are you, me Dear?' says Finn, lookin' up.</p> + +<p>"'I'm the new barmaid, Sorr, av it's plazin' to ye,' +says she, makin' a curchey, an' lookin' shtrait in his face.</p> + +<p>"'It is plazin',' says Finn. ''Tis I that's glad to be +sarved be wan like you. Only,' says he, 'I know be the look +o' yer eye ye 've a timper.'</p> + +<p>"'Dade I have,' says she, talkin' back at him, 'an' ye'd +betther not wake it.'</p> + +<p>"Finn had more to say an' so did she, that I won't throuble +yer Anner wid, but when he got his fill av dhrink an' said all +he'd in his head, an' she kep' aven wid him at ivery pint, he +wint away mightily plazed. The next Sunday but wan he was +back agin, an' the Sunday afther, an' afther that agin. By +an' by, he'd come over in the avenin' afther the work was +done, an' lane on the bar or set on the table, talkin' wid the +barmaid, for she was as sharp as a thornbush, an' sorra a +word Finn 'ud say to her in impidince or anny other way, but +she'd give him his answer afore he cud get his mouth shut.</p> + +<p>"Now, be this time, Finn's mother had made up her mind +that Finn 'ud marry Burthey, an' so she sent for the match-maker, +an' they talked it all over, an' Finn's father seen Burthey's +father, an' they settled phat Burthey 'ud get an' phat<pb n="158" /><anchor id="Pg158" /> +Finn was to have, an' were come to an agraymint about the +match, onbeknownst to Finn, bekase it was in thim days like +it is now, the matches bein' made be the owld people, an' all +the young wans did was to go an' be marr'd an' make the +best av it. Afther all, maybe that's as good a way as anny, +for whin ye've got all the throuble on yer back ye can stagger +undher, there's not a haporth o' differ whether ye got undher +it yerself or whether it was put on ye, an' so it is wid +gettin' marr'd, at laste so I'm towld.</p> + +<p>"Annyhow, Finn's mother was busy wid preparin' for the +weddin' whin she heard how Finn was afther puttin' in his +time at the village.</p> + +<p>"'Sure that won't do,' she says to herself; 'he ought to +know betther than to be spendin' ivery rap he's got in dhrink +an' gostherin' at that black-eyed huzzy, an' he to be marr'd +to the best girl in the county.' So that night, when Finn +come in, she spake fair an' soft to him that he'd give up goin' +to the inn, an' get ready for to be marr'd at wanst. An' that +did well enough till she got to the marryin', when Finn riz +up aff his sate, an' shut his taith so hard he bruk his pipestem +to smithereens.</p> + +<p>"'Say no more, mother,' he says to her. 'Burthey's good +enough, but I wouldn't marry her if she was made av goold. +Begob, she's too big. I want no hogs'ead av a girl like her,' +says he. 'If I'm to be marr'd, I want a little woman. +They're betther o' their size, an' it don't take so much to buy +gowns for thim, naither do they ate so much,' says he.</p> + +<p>"'A-a-ah, baithershin,' says his mother to him; 'phat d'ye +mane be talkin' that-a-way, an' me workin' me fingers to the +bone clanin' the house for ye, an' relavin' ye av all the coortin' +so as ye'd not be bothered in the laste wid it.'</p> + +<p>"'Shmall thanks to ye,' says Finn, 'sure isn't the coortin' +the best share o' the job?'</p> + +<pb n="159" /><anchor id="Pg159" /> + +<figure url="images/image50.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" /> +<head>"AN' WHO ARE YOU, ME DEAR?" SAYS FINN, LOOKIN' UP.</head> +<figDesc>Illustration: "AN' WHO ARE YOU, ME DEAR?" SAYS FINN, LOOKIN' UP.</figDesc> +</figure> + +<pb n="161" /><anchor id="Pg161" /> + +<p>"'Don't ye mane to marry her?' says his mother.</p> + +<p>"'Divil a toe will I go wid her,' says Finn.</p> + +<p>"'Out, ye onmannerly young blaggârd, I'd tell ye to go to +the divil, but ye're on the way fast enough, an' bad luck to +the fut I'll shtir to halt ye. Only I'm sorry for Burthey,' +says she, 'wid her new gown made. When her brother comes +back, begob 'tis he that'll be the death av ye immejitly afther +he dhrops his two eyes on ye.'</p> + +<p>"'Aisey now,' says Finn, 'if he opens his big mouth at me, +I'll make him wondher why he wasn't born deef an' dumb,' +says he, an' so he would, for all that he was so paceable.</p> + +<p>"Afther that, phat was his mother to do but lave aff an' +go to bed, that she done, givin' Finn all the talk in her head +an' a million curses besides, for she was mightily vexed at +bein' bate that way an' was in a divil av a timper along o' +the house-clanin', that always puts wimmin into a shtate av +mind.</p> + +<p>"So the next day the news was towld, an' Finn got to be +a holy show for the nabers, bekase av not marryin' Burthey +an' wantin' the barmaid. They were afeared to say annything +to himself about it, for he'd an arm on him the thick o' yer +waist, an' no wan wanted to see how well he cud use it, but +they'd whisper afther him, an' whin he wint along the road, +they'd pint afther him, an' by an' by a giont like himself, +an uncle av him, towld him he'd betther lave the counthry, +an' so he thought he'd do an' made ready for to shtart.</p> + +<p>"But poor Burthey pined wid shame an' grief at the loss +av him, for she loved him wid all the heart she had, an' that +was purty big. So she fell aff her weight, till from the size +av a hogs'ead she got no bigger round than a barrel an' was +like to die. But all the time she kept on hopin' that he'd +come to her, but whin she heard for sartain he was goin' to<pb n="162" /><anchor id="Pg162" /> +lave the counthry she let go an' jumped aff that clift into the +say an' committed shooicide an' drownded herself. She wasn't +turned into a pillar at all, that's wan o' thim guides' lies; she +just drownded like annybody that fell into the wather would, +an' was found afther an' berrid be the fishermen, an' a hard +job av it they had, for she weighed a ton. But they called +the place the Lovers' Lape, bekase she jumped from it, an' +lovin' Finn the way she did, the lape she tuk made the place +be called afther her an' that's razon enough.</p> + +<p>"Finn was showbogher enough afore, but afther that he +seen it was no use thryin' for to live in Ireland at all, so he +got the barmaid, that was aiquel to goin' wid him, the more +that ivery wan was agin him, that's beway o' the conthrariness +av wimmin, that are always ready for to do annything ye +don't want thim to do, an' wint to Scotland an' wasn't heard +av for a long time.</p> + +<p>"About twelve years afther, there was a great talk that +Finn had got back from Scotland wid his wife an' had taken +the farm over be the village, the first on the left as ye go +down the mountain. At first there was no end av the fuss +that was, for Burthey's frinds hadn't forgotten, but it all +come to talk, so Finn settled down quite enough an' wint to +work. But he was an althered man. His hair an' beard were +gray as a badger, so they called him the Gray Man, an' he'd +a look on him like a shape-stalin' dog. Everybody wondhered, +but they didn't wondher long, for it was aisely persaived +he had cause enough, for the tongue o' Missis Finn +wint like a stame-ingine, kapin' so far ahead av her branes +that she'd have to shtop an' say 'an'-uh, an'-uh,' to give the +latther time for to ketch up. Jagers, but she was the woman +for to talk an' schold an' clack away till ye'd want to die to +be rid av her. When she was young she was a purty nice<pb n="163" /><anchor id="Pg163" /> +girl, but as she got owlder her nose got sharp, her lips were as +thin as the aidge av a sickle, an' her chin was as pinted as the +bow av a boat. The way she managed Finn was beautiful to +see, for he was that afeared av her tongue that he darn't say +his sowl belonged to him when she was by.</p> + +<p>"When he got up airly in the mornin', she'd ax, 'Now phat +are ye raisin' up so soon for, an' me just closin' me eyes in +slape?' an' if he'd lay abed, she'd tell him to 'get along +out o' that now, ye big gossoon; if it wasn't for me ye'd do +nothin' at all but slape like a pig.' If he'd go out, she'd +gosther him about where he was goin' an' phat he meant to +do when he got there; if he shtayed at home, she'd raymark +that he done nothin' but set in the cabin like a boss o' shtraw. +When he thried for to plaze her, she'd grumble at him bekase +he didn't thry sooner; when he let her be, she'd fall into a +fury an' shtorm till his hair shtud up like it was bewitched it +was.</p> + +<p>"She'd more thricks than a showman's dog. If scholdin' +didn't do for Finn, she'd cry at him, an' had tin childher that +she larned to cry at him too, an' when she begun, the tin o' +thim 'ud set up a yell that 'ud deefen a thrumpeter, so Finn +'ud give in.</p> + +<p>"She cud fall ill on tin minnits notice, an' if Finn was obsthreperous +in that degray that she cudn't do him no other +way, she'd let on her head ached fit to shplit, so she'd go to +bed an' shtay there till she'd got him undher her thumb agin. +So she knew just where to find him whin she wanted him; +that wimmin undhershtand, for there's more divilmint in wan +woman's head about gettin' phat she wants than in tin men's +bodies.</p> + +<p>"Sure, if iver annybody had raison to remimber the ould +song, "When I was single," it was Finn.</p> + +<pb n="164" /><anchor id="Pg164" /> + +<p>"So, ye see, Finn, the Gray Man, was afther havin' the +divil's own time, an' that was beways av a mishtake he made +about marryin'. He thought it was wan o' thim goold bands +the quol'ty ladies wear on their arrums, but he found it was +a handcuff it was. Sure wimmin are quare craythers. Ye +think life wid wan o' thim is like a sunshiny day an' it's nothing +but drizzle an' fog from dawn to dark, an' it's my belafe +that Misther O'Day wasn't far wrong when he said wimmin +are like the owld gun he had in the house an' that wint aff +an the shly wan day an' killed the footman. 'Sure it looked +innycent enough,' says he, 'but it was loaded all the same, an' +only waitin' for an axcuse to go aff at some wan, an' that's +like a woman, so it is,' he'd say, an' ivery wan 'ud laugh when +he towld that joke, for he was the landlord, 'that's like a +woman, for she's not to be thrusted avin when she's dead.'</p> + +<p>"But it's me own belafe that the most sarious mishtake av +Finn's was in marryin' a little woman. There's thim that +says all wimmin is a mishtake be nacher, but there's a big +differ bechuxt a little woman an' a big wan, the little wans +have sowls too big for their bodies, so are always lookin' out +for a big man to marry, an' the bigger he is, the betther they +like him, as knowin' they can manage him all the aisier. So +it was wid Finn an' his little wife, for be hook an' be crook +she rejuiced him in that obejince that if she towld him for to +go an' shtand on his head in the corner, he'd do it wid the +risk av his life, bekase he'd wanted to die an' go to heaven +as he heard the priest say there was no marryin' there, an' +though he didn't dare to hint it, he belaved in his sowl that +the rayzon was the wimmin didn't get that far.</p> + +<figure url="images/image51.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: Music: When I Was Single.</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>"Afther they'd been living here about a year, Finn +thought he'd fish a bit an' so help along, considherin' he'd a +big family an' none o' the childher owld enough for to work.<pb n="167" /><anchor id="Pg167" /> +So he got a boat an' did purty well an' his wife used to come +acrass the hill to the shore to help him wid the catch. But +it was far up an' down agin an' she'd get tired wid climbin' +the hill an' jawing at Finn on the way.</p> + +<p>"So wan day as they were comin' home, they passed a +cabin an' there was the man that lived there, that was only a +ditcher, a workin' away on the side av the hill down the path +to the shpring wid a crowbar, movin' a big shtone, an' the +shweat rollin' in shtrames aff his face.</p> + +<p>"'God save ye,' says Finn to him.</p> + +<p>"'God save ye kindly,' says he to Finn.</p> + +<p>"'It's a bizzy man ye are,' says Finn.</p> + +<p>"'Thrue for ye,' says the ditcher. 'It's along o' the owld +woman. "The way to the shpring is too stape an' shtoney," +says she to me, an' sure, I'm afther makin' it aisey for her.'</p> + +<p>"'Ye're the kind av a man to have,' says Missis Finn, +shpakin' up. 'Sure all wimmin isn't blessed like your wife,' +says she, lookin' at Finn, who let on to laugh when he wanted +to shwear. They had some more discoorse, thin Finn an' his +wife wint on, but it put a big notion into her head. If the +bogthrotter, that was only a little ottommy, 'ud go to work +like that an' make an aisey path for his owld woman to the +shpring, phat's the rayzon Finn cudn't fall to an' dig a path +through the mountains, so she cud go to the say an' to the +church on the shore widout breakin' her back climbin' up an' +then agin climbin' down. 'T was the biggest consate iver in +the head av her, an' she wasn't wan o' thim that 'ud let it +cool aff for the want o' talkin' about it, so she up an' towld it +to Finn, an' got afther him to do it. Finn wasn't aiger for +to thry, bekase it was Satan's own job, so he held out agin all +her scholdin' an' beggin' an' cryin'. Then she got sick on +him, wid her headache, an' wint to bed, an' whin Finn was<pb n="168" /><anchor id="Pg168" /> +about she'd wondher out loud phat she was iver born for an' +why she cudn't die. Then she'd pray, so as Finn 'ud hear +her, to all the saints to watch over her big gossoon av a husband +an' not forget him just bekase he was a baste, an' if Finn +'ud thry to quiet her, she'd pray all the louder, an' tell him it +didn't matther, she was dyin' an' 'ud soon be rid av him an' +his brutal ways, so as Finn got half crazy wid her an' was +ready to do annything in the worruld for to get her quiet.</p> + +<figure url="images/image52.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1=""Finn gave in an' wint to work wid a pick an' sphade"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: "Finn gave in an' wint to work wid a pick an' sphade"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<pb n="169" /><anchor id="Pg169" /> + +<p>"Afther about a week av this thratemint, Finn give in an' +wint to work wid a pick an' shpade on the Gray Man's Path. +But thim that says he made it in wan night is ignerant, for I +belave it tuk him a month at laste; if not more. So that's +the thrue shtory av the Gray Man's Path, as me grandfather +towld it, an' shows that a giont's size isn't a taste av help to +him in a contist wid a woman's jaw.</p> + +<p>"But to be fair wid her, I belave the onliest fault Finn's +wife had was, she was possist be the divil, an' there's thim +that thinks that's enough. I mind me av a young felly wan +time that was in love, an' so to be axcused, that wished he'd +a hunderd tongues so to do justice to his swateheart. So +afther that he marr'd her, an' whin they'd been marr'd a +while an' she'd got him undher her fisht, says they to him, +'An' how about yer hunderd tongues?' 'Begorra,' says he +to thim agin, 'wid a hunderd I'd get along betther av coorse +than wid wan, but to be ayquel to the waggin' av her jaw I'd +nade a hunderd t'ousand.'</p> + +<p>"So it's a consate I have that Missis Finn was not a haporth +worse nor the rest o' thim, an' that's phat me grandfather said +too, that had been marr'd twict, an' so knewn phat he was +talkin' about. An' whin he towld the shtory av the Gray +Man, he'd always end it wid a bit av poethry:—</p> + +<lg> +<l rend="margin-left: 2">"'The first rib did bring in ruin</l> +<l rend="margin-left: 2"> As the rest have since been doin';</l> +<l rend="margin-left: 2"> Some be wan way, some another,</l> +<l rend="margin-left: 2"> Woman shtill is mischief's mother.</l> +</lg> + +<lg> +<l rend="margin-left: 2">"'Be she good or be she avil,</l> +<l rend="margin-left: 2"> Be she saint or be she divil,</l> +<l rend="margin-left: 2"> Shtill unaisey is his life</l> +<l rend="margin-left: 2"> That is marr'd wid a wife.'"</l> +</lg> +</div> + +<div rend="page-break-before: right"> +<pb n="170" /><anchor id="Pg170" /> +<index index="toc" /> +<index index="pdf" /> +<head>SATAN AS A SCULPTOR.</head> + +<figure url="images/image53.png" rend="floatleft; w50"> +<index index="fig" level1="Initial: "Satan as a Sculptor"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: Initial: "Satan as a Sculptor"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>Near one of the fishing villages +which abound on the Clare +coast, a narrow valley runs +back from the sea into the +mountains, opening between +two precipices that, ages ago, +were rent asunder by the +forces of nature. On entering +the valley by the road leading +from the sea-shore, nothing can be +seen but barren cliffs and craggy heights, covered here and +there by patches of the moss peculiar to the country. After +making some progress, the gorge narrows, the moss becomes +denser on the overhanging rocks; trees, growing out of clefts +in the precipices, unite their branches above the chasm, and +shroud the depths, so that, save an hour or two at noon, the +rays of the sun do not penetrate to the crystal brook, rippling +along at the bottom over its bed of moss-covered pebbles,--now +flashing white as it leaps down a declivity, now +hiding itself under the overreaching ferns, now coming again +into the light, but always hurrying on as though eager to escape +from the dark, gloomy retreat, and, for a moment, enjoy +the sunshine of the wider valley beyond before losing its life +in the sea.</p> + +<pb n="171" /><anchor id="Pg171" /> + +<figure url="images/image54.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1="A Barren Cliff" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: A Barren Cliff</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>At a narrow turn in the valley and immediately over the +spot where the brook has its origin in a spring bursting out +of a crevice in the rock and falling into a circular well partly +scooped out, partly built up for the reception of the sparkling +water, a cliff rises perpendicularly to the height of fifty feet, +surmounted, after a break in the strata, by another, perhaps +twenty feet higher, the upper portion being curiously wrought +by nature's chisel into the shape of a human countenance. +The forehead is shelving, the eyebrows heavy and menacing; +the nose large and hooked like the beak of a hawk; the upper +lip short, the chin prominent and pointed, while a thick growth<pb n="172" /><anchor id="Pg172" /> +of ferns in the shelter of the crag forming the nose gives the +impression of a small mustache and goatee. Above the forehead +a mass of tangled undergrowth and ferns bears a strong +resemblance to an Oriental turban. An eye is plainly indicated +by a bit of light-colored stone, and altogether the face +has a sinister leer, that, in an ignorant age, might easily inspire +the fears of a superstitious people.</p> + +<p>On a level with the chin and to the right of the face is the +mouth of a cave, reached by a path up the hillside, rude steps +in the rock rendering easier the steep ascent. The cave can +be entered only by stooping, but inside a room nearly seven +feet high and about twelve feet square presents itself. Undoubtedly +the cave was once the abode of an anchorite, for +on each side of the entrance a Latin cross is deeply carved in +the rock, while within, at the further side, and opposite the +door, a block of stone four feet high was left for an altar. +Above it, a shrine is hollowed out of the stone wall, and over +the cavity is another cross, surmounted by the mystic I. H. S.</p> + +<p>The legend of the cave was told by an old "wise woman" +of the neighborhood with a minuteness of detail that rendered +the narrative more tedious than graphic. A devout +believer in the truth of her own story, she told it with wonderful +earnestness, combining fluency of speech with the intonations +of oratory in such a way as to render the legend as +interesting as a dramatic recitation.</p> + +<p>"'T is the cave av the saint, but phat saint I'm not rightly +sartain. Some say it was Saint Patrick himself, but 't is I don't +belave that same. More say it was the blessed Saint Kevin, +him that done owld King O'Toole out av his land in the bargain +he made fur curin' his goose, but that's not thrue aither, +an' it's my consate they're right that say it was Saint Tigernach, +the same that built the big Abbey av Clones in Monaghan.<pb n="175" /><anchor id="Pg175" /> +His Riverince, Father Murphy, says that same, an' +sorra a wan has a chance av knowin' betther than him.</p> + +<figure url="images/image55.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1="THE DEVIL'S FACE." /> +<figDesc>Illustration: THE DEVIL'S FACE.</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>"An' the big head on the rock there is the divil's face that +the saint made him put there, the time the blessed man was +too shmart fur him whin the Avil Wan thried to do him.</p> + +<p>"A quare owld shtory it is, an' the quol'ty that come down +here on the coast laugh if it's towld thim, an' say it's a t'underin' +big lie that's in it, bekase they don't undhershtand it, +but if men belaved nothin' they didn't undhershtand, it's a +short craydo they'd have. But I was afther tellin', Saint +Tigernach lived in the cave, it bein' him an' no other; +morebetoken, he was a good man an' shrewder than a fox. +He made the cave fur himself an' lived there, an' ivery day +he'd say tin thousand paters, an' five thousand aves, an' a +thousand craydos, an' thin go out among the poor. There +wasn't manny poor thin in Ireland, Glory be to God, fur the +times was betther thin, but phat there was looked up to the +saint, fur he was as good as a cupboard to thim, an' whin he +begged fur the poor, sorra a man 'ud get from him till he'd +given him a copper or more, fur he'd shtick like a consthable +to ye till he'd get his money. An' all that were parshecuted, +an' the hungry, an' naked, and God's poor, wint to the saint +like a child to its mother an' towld him the whole o' their heart.</p> + +<p>"While the blessed saint lived here, over acrass the hill an' +beyant the peat-bog there was a hedger an' ditcher named +O'Connor. He was only a poor laborin' man, an' the owld +woman helped him, while his girl, be the name o' Kathleen, +tinded the house, fur I must tell ye, they kept a boord in the +corner beways av a bar an' a jug wid potheen that they sowld +to thim that passed, fur it was afore the days av the gaugers, +bad cess to thim, an' ivery man dhrunk phat he plazed widout +payin' a pinny to the govermint. So O'Connor made<pb n="176" /><anchor id="Pg176" /> +the potheen himself an' Kathleen sowld it to the turf-cutters, +an' mighty little did they buy, bekase they'd no money. She +was a fine girl, wid a pair av eyes that 'ud dint the hearts av +owld an' young, an' wid a dacint gown fur the week an' a +clane wan fur the Sunday, an' just such a girl as 'ud make an +owld felly feel himself young agin. Sorra the taste av divilmint +was there in the girl at all, fur she was good as the +sunshine in winther an' as innycent as a shpring lamb, an' +wint to church an' did her jooty reglar.</p> + +<p>"She was afther fallin' in love wid a young felly that done +ditchin' an' they were to be marr'd whin he got his house +done an' his father gev him a cow. He wasn't rich be no +manes, but as fur feelin' poverty, he never dhreamt o' such a +thing, fur he'd the love o' Kathleen an' thought it a forchune.</p> + +<p>"In thim times the castle at the foot o' the hill was kept +be a lord, that wid roomytisms an' panes in his jints was laid +on his bed all the time, and the son av him, Lord Robert, was +the worst man to be runnin' afther girls iver seen in the +County Clare. He was the dandy among thim an' broke the +hearts o' thim right an' lift like he was shnappin' twigs undher +his feet. Manny a wan he desaved an' let go to the +dogs, as they did at wanst, fur whin the divil gets his foot on +a woman's neck, she niver lifts her head agin.</p> + +<p>"Wan day, Lord Robert's father's roomytism got the betther +av him an' laid him out, an' they gev him an iligant wake +an' berryin', an' while they were at the grave Lord Robert +looked up an' seen Kathleen shtandin' among the people an' +wondhered who she was. So he come into the eshtate an' got +a stable full av horses an' dogs, an' did a power o' huntin', +an' as he was a sojer, he'd a shwarm av throopers at the cassel, +all the like av himself. But not long afther the berryin', +Lord Robert was huntin' in the hills, an' he come down towards<pb n="177" /><anchor id="Pg177" /> +the bog an' seen O'Connor's cabin, an' says to his man +'Bedad, I wondher if they've a dhrop to shpare here, I'm +mortial dhry.' So in they wint, an' axed, an' got thim their +dhrink, an' thin he set the wicked eyes av him on the girl an' +at wanst remimbered her.</p> + +<p>"'It's a mighty fine girl ye are,' says he to Kathleen thin, +an' fit fur the house av a prince.'</p> + +<p>"'None o' yer deludherin' talk to me, Sorr,' says Kathleen +to him. 'I know ye, an' it's no good I know av ye,' says she +to him. 'Twas the good girl she was an' as firm as a landlord +in a bad year when she thought there was anny avil intinded.</p> + +<p>"So he wint away that time an' come agin an' agin when +he was huntin' an' always had some impidince to say at her. +She towld her parrents av it, an' though they didn't like it at +all, they wasn't afeared fur the girl, an' he'd spind more in +wan dhrinkin' than they'd take in in a week, so they were +not sorry to see him come, but ivery time he come he wint +away more detarmined to have the girl, an' whin he found he +cudn't get her be fair manes he shwore he'd do it be foul. +So wanst, whin she'd been cowlder to him than common an' +wouldn't have a prisint he brought her, he says to her, 'Begob, +I'll bring ye to terms. If ye won't accept me prisints, +I'll make ye bend yer will widout prisints,' an' he wint +away. She got frighted, an' whin she saw Tim Maccarty, +she towld him av Lord Robert an' phat he said. Well, it +made Tim mighty mad. 'Tatther an' agers,' says he, 'be the +powers, I'll break every bone in his body if he lays a finger +on yer showldher; but, fur all that, whin Tim got to thinkin', +he got skairt av Kathleen.</p> + +<p>"'Sure,' says he to himself, 'ain't wimmin like glass jugs, +that'll break wid the laste touch? I'll marry her immejitly<pb n="178" /><anchor id="Pg178" /> +an' take out av Clare into Kerry,' says he, 'an' let him dare +to come afther her there,' says he, for he knewn that if Lord +Robert came into the Kerry mountains, the boys 'ud crack his +shkull wid the same compuncshusness that they'd have to an +egg shell. So he left aff the job an' convaynienced himself to +go to Kathleen that night an' tell her his belafe.</p> + +<p>"'Amn't I afeared fur ye, me darlin',' says he, 'and +wouldn't I dhrownd me in the say if anny harm 'ud come to +ye, so I think we'd betther be married at wanst.'</p> + +<p>"So Kathleen consinted an' made a bundle av her Sunday +gown, an' they shtarted fur the saint's cave, that bein' the +nearest place they cud be marr'd at, an' bein' marr'd be him +was like bein' marr'd be a priest.</p> + +<p>"So they wint alang the road to where the foot-path laves +it be the oak-tree, then up the path an' through the boreen to +where Misther Dawson's black mare broke her leg jumpin' the +hedge, an' whin they rached that shpot they heard a noise on +the road behint thim an' stud be the hedge, peepin' through +to have a look at it an' see phat it was. An' there was Lord +Robert an' a dozen av his bad min, wid their waypons an' the +armor on thim shinin' in the moonlight. It was ridin' to +O'Connor's they were, an' whin Tim an' Kathleen set their eyes +on thim, they seen they'd made a narrer eshcape.</p> + +<p>"Howandiver, as soon as Lord Robert an' his min were out +o' sight, they ran wid all their shpeed, an' lavin' the path where +Dennis Murphy fell into the shtrame lasht winter comin' back +from Blanigan's wake whin he'd had too much, they tuk the +rise o' the hill, an' that was a mishtake. If they'd kep be +the hedge an' 'round be the foot-bridge, then up the footway +the other side o' the brook an' ferninst the mill, they'd have +kep out o' sight, an' been safe enough; but as they were +crassin' the hill, wan av Robert's min saw thim, fur it was afther<pb n="179" /><anchor id="Pg179" /> +the girl he was sure enough, an' whin he found from her +father her an' Tim were gone, they rode aff here an' there +sarchin' afther thim. Whin the sojer shpied thim on the top +o' the hill, he blew his thrumpet, an' here come all the rest +shtreelin' along on the run, round the hill as fast as their +bastes 'ud take thim, fur they guessed where the two 'ud be +goin'. An' Kathleen an' Tim come tumblin' down the shlope, +an' bad luck to the minnit they'd to shpare whin they got +into the cave before here was the whole gang, wid their horses +puffin', an' their armors rattlin' like a pedler's tins.</p> + +<p>"The saint was on a pile av shtraw in the corner, shnorin' +away out av his blessed nose, fur it was as sound aslape as a +pig he was, bein' tired entirely wid a big day's job, an' didn't +wake up wid their comin' in. So Lord Robert an' his min +left their horses below an' climbed up an' looked in, but cud +see nothin' be razon av the darkness.</p> + +<p>"'Arrah now,' says he, 'Kathleen, come along out o' that +now, fur I've got ye safe an' sound.'</p> + +<p>"They answered him niver a word, but he heard a noise +that was the saint turnin' over on his bed bein' onaisey in his +slape.</p> + +<p>"'Come along out o' that,' he repaited; 'an' you, Tim +Maccarty, if ye come out, ye may go back to yer ditchin', but +if ye wait fur me to fetch ye, the crows 'ull be atin' ye at sunrise. +Shtrike a light,' says he. So they did, an' looked in +an' saw Tim an' Kathleen, wan on aitch side o' the althar, +holdin' wid all their mights to the crass that was on it.</p> + +<p>"'Dhrag thim out av it,' says Lord Robert, an' the min +went in, but afore they come near thim, Saint Tigernach +shtopped shnorin', bein' wakened wid the light an' jabberin', +an' shtud up on the flure.</p> + +<p>"'Howld on now,' says the blessed saint, 'phat's the<pb n="180" /><anchor id="Pg180" /> +matther here? Phat's all this murtherin' noise about?' +says he.</p> + +<p>"Lord Robert's min all dhrew back, for there was a power +o' fear av the saint in the county, an' Lord Robert undhertuk +to axplain that the girl was a sarvint av his that run away wid +that thafe av a ditcher, but Saint Tigernach seen through the +whole thrick at wanst.</p> + +<figure url="images/image56.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1=""Her masther stood be her side"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: "Her masther stood be her side"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>"'Lave aff,' says he. 'Don't offer fur to thrape thim lies +on me. Pack aff wid yer murtherers, or it's the curse ye'll +get afore ye can count yer fingers,' an' wid that all the min +went out, an' Lord Robert afther thim, an' all he cud say +'udn't pervail on the sojers to go back afther the girl.</p> + +<pb n="181" /><anchor id="Pg181" /> + +<p>"'No, yer Anner,' says they to him; 'we ate yer Anner's +mate, an' dhrink yer Anner's dhrink, an' 'ull do yer Anner's +biddin' in all that's right. We're parfectly willin' to wait till +mornin' an' murther the ditcher an' shtale the girl whin they +come out an' get away from the saint, but he musn't find it +out. It's riskin' too much. Begorra, we've got sowls to +save,' says they, so they all got on their horses an' shtarted +back to the cassel.</p> + +<p>"Lord Robert folly'd thim a bit, but the avil heart av him +was so set on Kathleen that he cudn't bear the thought av +lettin' her go. So whin he got to the turn av the road, +'T'underation,' says he, ''t is the wooden head that's set on +me showldhers, that I didn't think av the witch afore.'</p> + +<p>"Ye see, in the break av the mountains beyant the mill, +where the rath is, there was in thim times the cabin av a great +witch. 'T was a dale av avil she done the County Clare wid +shtorms an' rainy sayzons an' cows lavin' aff their milk, an' +she'd a been dhrownded long afore, but fur fear av the divil, +her masther, that was at her elbow, whinever she'd crook her +finger. So to her Lord Robert wint, an' gev a rap on the +dure, an' in. There she sat wid a row av black cats on aitch +side, an' the full av a shkillet av sarpints a-shtewin' on the fire. +He knew her well, fur she'd done jobs fur him afore, so he +made bowld to shtate his arriant widout so much as sayin' +good day to ye. The owld fagot made a charm to call her +masther, an' that minnit he was shtandin' be her side, bowin' +an' schrapin' an' shmilin' like a gintleman come to tay. He +an' Lord Robert fell to an' had a power av discoorse on the +bargain, fur Robert was a sharp wan an' wanted the conthract +onsartain-like, hopin' to chate the divil at the end, as +we all do, be the help av God, while Satan thried to make it +shtronger than a tinant's lace. Afther a dale av palatherin',<pb n="182" /><anchor id="Pg182" /> +they aggrade that the divil was to do all that Lord Robert +axed him fur twinty years, an' then to have him sowl an' +body; but if he failed, there was an end av the bargain. But +there was a long face on the owld felly whin the first thing +he was bid to do was to bring Kathleen out o' the cave an' +carry her to the cassel.</p> + +<p>"'By Jayminny,' says Satan, 'it's no aisey job fur to +be takin' her from the power av a great saint like him,' +a-scratchin' his head. 'But come on, we'll thry.'</p> + +<figure url="images/image57.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1=""So the three av thim mounted the wan horse"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: "So the three av thim mounted the wan horse"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>"So the three av thim mounted on the wan horse, Lord +Robert in the saddle, the divil behind, an' the witch in front +av him, an' away like the wind to the cave. Whin they got +to the turn o' the hill, they got aff an' hid in the bushes bechune +the cave an' the shpring, bekase, as Satan axplained to +Lord Robert, ivery night, just at midnight, the saint wint to +get him a dhrink av wather, bein' dhry wid the devotions, an' +'ud bring the full av a bucket back wid him.</p> + +<pb n="183" /><anchor id="Pg183" /> + +<p>"'We'll shtop him be the shpring,' says the divil, 'wid +the witch, an' you an' me'ull shtale the girl while he's talkin'.</p> + +<p>"So while the clock was shtrikin' fur twilve, out come the +saint wid the wather-bucket an' shtarted to the shpring. +Whin he got there an' was takin' his dhrink, up comes the +witch an' begins tellin' him av a son she had (she was purtindin', +ye ondhershtand, an' lyin' to him) that was as lazy +as a câr-horse an' as much in the way as a sore thumb, an' +axin' the saint's advice phat to do wid him, while Satan an' +Lord Robert ran into the cave. The divil picked up Kathleen +in his arrums, but he darn't have done that same, only +she was on the other side av the cave an' away from the althar, +but Tim was shtandin' by it, an' shtarted out wid her +kickin' an' schraichin'. Tim ran to grip him, but Satan +tossed him back like a ball an' he fell on the flure.</p> + +<p>"'Howld on till I shtick him,' says Lord Robert, pullin' +out his soord.</p> + +<p>"'Come on, ye bosthoon,' says Satan to him. 'Sure the +saint 'ull be on us if we don't get away quick,' an' bedad, as +he said thim words, the dure opened, an' in come Saint Tigernach +wid a bucket av wather on his arrum an' in a hurry, fur +he misthrusted something.</p> + +<p>"'God's presince be about us,' says the blessed saint, whin +he saw the divil, an' the turkey-bumps begun to raise on his +blessed back an' the shweat a-comin' on his face, fur he knewn +Satan well enough, an' consaved the owld felly had come fur +himself be razon av a bit o' mate he ate that day, it bein' av a +Friday; axceptin' he didn't ate the mate but only tasted it +an' then spit it out agin to settle a quarl bechune a butcher +an' a woman that bought the mate an' said it was bad, only +he was afeared Satan didn't see him when he sput it out<pb n="184" /><anchor id="Pg184" /> +agin. 'God's presince be about us,' says the saint, a-crossin' +himself as fast as he cud. In a minnit though, he seen it +wasn't him, but Kathleen, that was in it, an' let go the wather +an' caught the blessed crass that was hangin' on him wid his +right hand an' gripped Satan be the throat wid his lift, a-pushin' +the crass in his face.</p> + +<p>"The divil dhropped Kathleen like it was a bag av male she +was, an' she rolled over an' over on the flure like a worrum +till she raiched the althar an' stuck to it as tight as the bark +on a tree. An' a fine thing it was to see the inimy av our +sowls a-lyin' there trimblin', wid the saint's fut on his neck.</p> + +<p>"'Glory be to God,' says the saint. 'Lie you there till I +make an example av ye,' says he, an' turned to look fur Lord +Robert, bekase he knewn the two o' thim 'ud be in it. But +the Sassenagh naded no invitation to be walkin' aff wid himself, +but whin he seen phat come to the divil, he run away +wid all the legs he had, an' the witch wid him, an' Tim afther +thim wid a whoop an' a fishtful av shtones. But they left +him complately an' got away disconsarted, an' Tim come back.</p> + +<p>"'Raise up,' says Saint Tigernach to the divil, 'an' shtand +in the corner,' makin' the blessed sign on the ground afore +him. 'I'm afther marryin' these two at wanst, widout fee or +license, an' you shall be the witness.'</p> + +<p>"So he married thim there, while the divil looked on. +Faix, it's no lie I'm tellin' ye; it's not the onliest marryin' +the divil's been at, but he's not aften seen at thim when he's +in as low sper'ts as he was at that. But it was so that they +were married wid Satan fur a witness, an' some says the saint +thransported thim to Kerry through the air, but 't isn't meself +that belaves that same, but that they walked to Kilrush an' +wint to Kerry in a fisherman's boat.</p> + +<p>"Afther they'd shtarted, the saint turns to Satan an' says,<pb n="185" /><anchor id="Pg185" /> +'No more av yer thricks wid them two, me fine felly, fur I +mane to give you a job that'll kape ye out av mischief +fur wan time at laste,' fur he was mightily vexed wid him +a-comin' that-a-way right into his cave the same as if the +place belonged to him.</p> + +<p>"'Go you to work,' says he, 'an' put yer face on the rock +over the shpring, so that as long as the mountain shtands min +can come an' see phat sort av a dirthy lookin' baste ye are.'</p> + +<p>"So Satan wint out an' looked up at the rock, shmilin', as +fur to say that was no great matther, an' whin the blessed +man seen the grin that was on him, he says, 'None av yer inchantmints +will I have at all, at all. It's honest work ye'll +do, an' be the same token, here's me own hammer an' chisel +that ye'll take,' an' wid that the divil looked mighty sarious, +an' left aff grinnin' for he parsaived the clift was granite.</p> + +<p>"'Sure it's jokin' yer Riverince is,' says he, 'ye don't mane +it. Sorra the harder bit av shtone bechuxt this an' Donegal,' +an' it was thrue for him, fur he knewn the coast well.</p> + +<p>"'Bad luck to the taste av a lie's in it,' says the saint. 'So +take yer waypons an' go at it, owld Buck-an'-Whey, fur the +sooner ye begin, the quicker ye'll be done, an' the shtone +won't soften be yer watin'. Mind ye kape a civil tongue in +yer head while ye're at the job, or it'll be a holiday to the +wan I'll find ye,' says he, lookin' at him very fierce.</p> + +<p>"So wid great displazemint, Satan tuk the hammer an' +chisel, an' climbed up an' wint to work a cuttin' his own face +on the shtone, an' it was as hard as iron it was, an whin he'd +hit it a couple av cracks, he shtopped an' shuck his head an' +thin scratched over his year wid the chisel an' looked round +at the saint as fur to say somethin', but the blessed saint +looked at him agin so fayroshus, that he made no raimark at +all, but turned back to the clift quick an' begun to hammer<pb n="186" /><anchor id="Pg186" /> +away in airnest till the shweat shtud on his haythenish face +like the dhrops on a wather-jug.</p> + +<p>"On the next day, Lord Robert thought he'd call the owld +Inimy, an' remind him that, bein' as he'd failed to get Kathleen, +their bargain was aff. So he made the charm Satan gev +him, but he didn't come fur anny thrial he'd make.</p> + +<p>"'Bad scran to the Imp,' says he. 'Sure he must be +mighty busy or maybe he's forgot entirely.'</p> + +<p>"So he out an' wint to see the witch, but she wasn't in, +an' while he was waitin' for her, bein' not far away from the +saint's cave, he thought he'd have a peep, an' see if Tim an' +Kathleen were shtill there. So he crawled over the top o' the +hill beyant the cave like the sarpint that he was, an' whin he +come down a little, he seen the owld Pooka on the clift, wid +the hammer in wan hand an' the chisel in the other a poundin' +away at the rock an' hangin' on be his tail to a tree. Lord +Robert thought the eyes 'ud lave his head, fur he seen it was +the divil sure enough, but he cudn't rightly make out phat he +was doin'. So he crawled down till he seen, an' thin, whin +he undhershtood, he riz an' come an' took a sate on a big +shtone ferninst the clift, a shlappin' his legs wid his hands, an' +roarin' an' the wather bilin' out av his eyes wid laughin'.</p> + +<p>"'Hilloo Nickey,' says he, when he'd got his breath agin +an' cud shpake. 'Is it yerself that's in it?' Mind the impidince +av him, shpakin' that familiar to the inimy av our sowls, +but faix, he'd a tongue like a jewsharp, an' cud use it too.</p> + +<p>"'Kape from me,' says Satan to him agin, as crass as two +shticks, an' widout turnin' his head fur to raigârd him. 'Lave +me! Begorra, I'll wipe the clift aff wid yer carkidge if ye +come anny closter,' says he.</p> + +<p>"'A-a-a-h, woorroo, now. Aisey, ye desayvin' owld blaggârd,' +says Lord Robert, as bowld as a ram, fur he knewn<pb n="187" /><anchor id="Pg187" /> +that Satan daren't lave the job to come at him. 'Will ye +kape yer timper? Sure ye haven't the manners av a goat, to +be shpakin' to a gintleman like that. I've just come to tell +ye that bein' ye failed, our bargain 's aff,' says he.</p> + +<p>"'Out wid ye,' says the divil, turnin' half round an' howldin' +be wan hand to the big shtone nose he'd just done, an' shakin' +the other fist wid the chisel in it at Lord Robert. 'D' ye think +I want to be aggervated wid the likes av ye, ye whey-faced +shpalpeen, an' me losin' the whole day, an' business pressin' +at this saison, an' breakin' me back on the job, an' me fingers +sore wid the chisel, an' me tail shkinned wid howldin' on? +Bad luck to the shtone, it's harder than a Scotchman's head, +it is, so it is,' says he, turnin' back agin when he seen the +saint at the dure av the cave. An' thin he begun a peckin' +away at the clift fur dear life, shwearin' to himself, so the +saint cudn't hear him, every time he give his knuckles an onlucky +crack wid the hammer.</p> + +<p>"'Ye're not worth the throuble,' says he to Lord Robert; +he was that full av rage he cudn't howld in. 'It's a paltherin' +gossoon I was fur thriflin' wid ye whin I was sure av +ye annyhow.'</p> + +<p>"'Yer a liar,' says Lord Robert, 'ye desaivin' nagurly Haythen. +If ye was sure o' me phat did ye want to make a bargain +fur?'</p> + +<p>"'Yer another,' says Satan. 'Isn't a sparrer in yer hand +betther than a goose on a shtring?'</p> + +<p>"So they were goin' on wid the blaggârdin' match, whin +the blessed saint, that come out whin he heard thim begin, an' +thin set on the dure a-watchin', to see that owld Nick didn't +schamp the job, interfared.</p> + +<p>"'Howld yer pace, Satan, an' kape at yer work,' says he. +'An' for you, ye blatherin', milk-faced villin, wid the heart as<pb n="188" /><anchor id="Pg188" /> +black as a crow, walk aff wid ye an' go down on yer hard-hearted +onbelavin' knees, or it's no good 'ull come o' ye.' +An' so he did.</p> + +<p>"Do I belave the shtory? Troth, I dunno. It's quare +things happened in them owld days, an' there's the face on +the clift as ugly as the divil cud be an' the hammer an' chisel +are in the church an' phat betther proof cud ye ax?</p> + +<p>"Phat come av the lovers? No more do I know that, barrin' +they grew owld an' shtayed poor an' forgot the shpring-time +av youth in the winter av age, but if they lived a hunderd +years, they niver forgot the marryin' in the saint's cave, +wid the black face av the Avil Wan lookin' on from the dark +corner."</p> + +<figure url="images/image58.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1=""'Kape from me,' says the divil"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: "'Kape from me,' says the divil"</figDesc> +</figure> +</div> + +<div rend="page-break-before: right"> +<pb n="189" /><anchor id="Pg189" /> +<index index="toc" /> +<index index="pdf" /> +<head>THE DEFEAT OF THE WIDOWS.</head> + +<figure url="images/image59.png" rend="floatleft; w50"> +<index index="fig" level1="Initial: "The Defeat of the Widows"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: Initial: "The Defeat of the Widows"</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>When superstitions have not yet +been banished from any other +part of the world it is not wonderful +that they should still be +found in the country districts of +Ireland, rural life being especially +favorable to the perpetuation +of old ways of living and +modes of thought, since in an +agricultural district less change +takes place in a century than may, +in a city, be observed in a single +decade. Country people preserve +their old legends with their antique +styles of apparel, and thus +the relics of the pagan ages of Ireland have come down from +father to son, altered and adapted to the changes in the country +and its population. Thus, for instance, the old-fashioned +witch is no longer found in any part of Ireland, her memory +lingering only as a tradition, but her modern successor is frequently +met with, and in many parishes a retired hovel in a +secluded lane is a favorite resort of the neighboring peasants, +for it is the home of the Pishogue, or wise woman, who collects +herbs, and, in her way, doctors her patients, sometimes +with simple medicinal remedies, sometimes with charms, according +to their gullibility and the nature of their ailments.</p> + +<pb n="190" /><anchor id="Pg190" /> + +<p>Not far from Ballinahinch, a fishing village on Birterbuy +Bay, in the County Galway, and in the most lonely valley of +the neighborhood, there dwells one of these wise women who +supplant the ancient witches. The hovel which shelters her +bears every indication of wretched poverty; the floor is mud, +the smoke escapes through a hole in the thatch in default of +a chimney; the bed is a scanty heap of straw in the corner, +and two rude shelves, bearing a small assortment of cracked +jars and broken bottles, constitute Moll's stock in trade.</p> + +<p>The misery of her household surroundings, however, furnished +to the minds of her patients no argument against the +efficiency of her remedies, Moll being commonly believed to +have "a power av goold," though no one had ever seen any +portion thereof. But with all her reputed riches she had no +fear of robbers, for "she could aisily do for thim did they but +come as many as the shtraws in the thatch," and would-be robbers, +no doubt understanding that fact, prudently consulted +their own safety by staying away from the vicinity of her cabin.</p> + +<p>"Owld Moll," as she was known, was a power in the parish, +and her help was sought in many emergencies. Did a cow go +dry, Moll knew the reason and might possibly remove the +spell; if a baby fell ill, Moll had an explanation of its ailment, +and could tell at a glance whether the little one was or +was not affected by the evil eye of a secret enemy. If a pig +was stolen, she was shrewd in her conjectures as to the direction +its wrathful owner must take in the search. But her forte +lay in bringing about love-matches. Many were the charms +at her command for this purpose, and equally numerous the +successes with which she was accredited. Some particulars of +her doings in this direction were furnished by Jerry Magwire, +a jolly car-man of Galway, who had himself been benefited by +her services.</p> + +<pb n="191" /><anchor id="Pg191" /> + +<p>"Sure I was married meself be her manes," stated Jerry, +"an' this is the way it was. Forty-nine years ago come next +Mickelmas, I was a good-lookin' young felly, wid a nate cabin +on the road from Ballinasloe to Ballinamore, havin' a fine câr +an' a mare an' her colt, that was as good as two horses whin the +colt grew up. I was afther payin' coort to Dora O'Callighan, +that was the dawther av Misther O'Callighan that lived in the +County Galway, an', be the same token, was a fine man. In +thim times I used be comin' over here twict or three times a +year wid a bagman, commercial thraveller, you'd call him, an' +I heard say av Owld Moll, an' she wasn't owld thin, an' the +next time I come, I wint to her an' got an inchantmint. Faix, +some av it is gone from me, but I mind that I was to change +me garthers, an' tie on me thumb a bit o' bark she gev me, an' +go to the churchyard on Halloween, an' take the first chilla-ca-pooka +(snail) I found on a tombshtone, an' begob, it was +that same job that was like to be the death o' me, it bein' dark +an' I bendin' to look clost, a hare jumped in me face from undher +the shtone. 'Jagers,' says I, an' me fallin' on me back +on the airth an' the life lavin' me. 'Presince o' God be about +me,' says I, for I knewn the inchantmint wasn't right, no more +I oughtn't to be at it, but the hare was skairt like meself an' +run, an' I found the shnail an' run too wid the shweat pourin' +aff me face in shtrames.</p> + +<p>"So I put the shnail in a plate that I covered wid another, +an' av the Sunday, I opened it fur to see phat letters it writ, +an' bad luck to the wan o' thim cud I rade at all, fur in thim +days I cudn't tell A from any other letther. I tuk the plate +to Misther O'Callighan, fur he was a fine scholar an' cud rade +both books an' writin', an' axed him phat the letters was.</p> + +<p>"'A-a-ah, ye ignerant gommoch,' says he to me, 'yer +head's as empty as a drum. Sure here's no writin' at all,<pb n="192" /><anchor id="Pg192" /> +only marks that the shnail's afther makin' an' it crawlin' on +the plate.'</p> + +<p>"So I axplained the inchantmint to him, an' he looked a +little closter, an' thin jumped wid shurprise.</p> + +<p>"'Oh,' says he. 'Is that thrue?' says he. 'Ye must axqueeze +me, Misther Magwire. Sure the shnails does n't write +a good hand, an' I'm an owld man an' me eyes dim, but I see +it betther now. Faith, the first letter's a D,' says he, an' +thin he shtudied awhile. 'An' the next is a O, an' thin +there's a C,' says he, 'only the D an' the C is bigger than the +O, an' that's all the letters there is,' says he.</p> + +<p>"'An' phat does thim letters shpell?' says I, bekase I +did n't know.</p> + +<p>"'Ah, bad scran to 'em,' says he; 'there's thim cows in me +field agin,' says he. 'Ax Dora, here she comes,' an' away he +wint as she come in, an' I axed her phat D. O. C. shpelt; an' +she towld me her name, an' I go bail she was surprised to find +the shnail had writ thim letters on the plate, so we marr'd +the next Sunday.</p> + +<p>"But Owld Moll is a knowledgeable woman an' has a power +av shpells an' charms. There's Tim Gallagher, him as dhrives +the public câr out o' Galway, he's bought his luck av her be +the month, fur nigh on twinty year, barrin' wan month, that +he forgot, an' that time he shpilt his load in the ditch an' kilt +a horse, bein' too dhrunk to dhrive.</p> + +<p>"Whin me dawther Dora, that was named afther her +mother, was ill afther she'd been to the dance, whin O'Hoolighan's +Peggy was married to Paddy Noonan (she danced too +hard in the cabin an' come home in the rain), me owld woman +wint to Moll an' found that Dora had been cast wid an avil +eye. So she gev her a tay to dhrink an' a charm to wear +agin it, an' afther she'd dhrunk the tay an' put on the +charm the faver lift her, an' she was well entirely.</p> + +<pb n="193" /><anchor id="Pg193" /> + +<figure url="images/image60.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" /> +<head>AN' PHAT DOES THIM LETTERS SHPELL?</head> +<figDesc>Illustration: AN' PHAT DOES THIM LETTERS SHPELL?</figDesc> +</figure> + +<pb n="195" /><anchor id="Pg195" /> + +<p>"Sure Moll towld me wan magpie manes sorrow, two manes +luck, three manes a weddin', an' four manes death; an' didn't +I see four o' thim the day o' the fair in Ennis whin O'Dougherty +was laid out? An' whin O'Riley cut his arrum wid a +bill-hook, an' the blood was runnin', didn't she tie a shtring +on the arrum an' dip a raven's feather into the blood av a +black cat's tail, an' shtop the bleedin'? An' didn't she bid +me take care o' meself the day I met a red-headed woman +afore dinner, an' it wasn't six months till I met the woman in +the mornin', it a-rainin' an' ivery dhrop the full o' yer hat, +an' me top-coat at home, an' that same night was I tuk wid the +roomytics an' didn't shtir a toe fur a fortnight. Faix, she's +an owld wan is Moll; phat she can't do isn't worth thryin'. +If she goes fur to make a match, all the fathers in Ireland cudn't +purvint it, an' it's no use o' their settin' theirselves agin +her, fur her head's as long as a summer day an' as hard as a +shillalee.</p> + +<p>"Did iver ye hear how she got a husband for owld Miss +Rooney, the same that married Misther Dooley that kapes the +Aygle Inn in Lisdoon Varna, an' tuk him clane away from the +Widdy Mulligan an' two more widdys that were comin' down +upon him like kites on a young rabbit?</p> + +<p>"Well, it's a mighty improvin' shtory, fur it shows that +widdys can be baten whin they're afther a husband, that some +doesn't belave, but they do say it takes a witch, the divil, an' +an owld maid to do it, an' some think that all o' thim isn't aiquel +to a widdy, aven if there's three o' thim an' but wan av her.</p> + +<p>"The razon av it is this. Widdy wimmin are like lobsthers, +whin they wanst ketch holt, begob, they've no consate av +lettin' go at all, but will shtick to ye tighter than a toe-nail, +till ye've aither to marry thim or murther thim, that's the +wan thing in the end; fur if ye marry thim ye're talked to<pb n="196" /><anchor id="Pg196" /> +death, an' if ye murther thim ye 're only dacintly hanged out +o' the front dure o' the jail. Whin they're afther a husband, +they're as busy as owld Nick, an' as much in airnest as a dog +in purshoot av a flea. More-be-token, they're always lookin' +fur the proper man, an' if they see wan that they think will +shuit, bedad, they go afther him as strait as an arrer, an' if +he doesn't take the alarum an' run like a shape-thief, the +widdy 'ull have him afore the althar an' married fast an' tight +while he'd be sayin' a Craydo.</p> + +<p>"They know so much be wan axpayrience av marryin', +that, barrin' it's a widdy man that's in it, an' he knows as +much as thimselves, they'll do for him at wanst, bekase it's +well undhershtood that a bach'ler, aither young or owld, has +as much show av outshtrappin' a widdy as a mouse agin a weasel.</p> + +<p>"Now, this Misther Dooley was an owld bach'ler, nigh on +five an' thirty, an' about fifteen years ago, come next Advint, +he come from Cork wid a bit o' money, an' tuk the farm +beyant Misther McCoole's on the lift as ye come out o' Galway. +He wasn't a bad lookin' felly, an' liked the ladies, an' +the first time he was in chapel afther takin' the farm, aitch +widdy an' owld maid set the two eyes av her on him, an' the +Widdy Mulligan says to herself, says she, 'Faix, that's just +the man to take the place av me dear Dinnis,' fur, ye see, the +widdys always do spake that-a-way av their husbands, a-givin' +thim the good word afther they're dead, so as to make up fur +the tongue lashin's they give 'em whin they're alive. It's +quare, so it is, phat widdys are like. Whin ye see a widdy at +the wake schraimin' fit to shplit yer head wid the noise, an' +flingin' herself acrass the grave at the berryin' like it was a +bag o' male she was, an' thin spakin' all the time av 'me poor +dear hushband,' I go bail they lived together as paceful as a +barrel full o' cats an' dogs; no more is it sorrow that's in it,<pb n="197" /><anchor id="Pg197" /> +but raimorse that's tarin' at her, an' the shquailin' an' kickin' +is beways av a pinnance fur the gostherin' she done him whin +he was livin', fur the more there's in a jug, the less noise it +makes runnin' out, an' whin ye've a heavy load to carry, ye +nade all yer breath, an' so have none to waste tellin' how it's +breakin' yer back.</p> + +<figure url="images/image61.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1="The Widdy Mulligan" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: The Widdy Mulligan</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>"So it was wid the Widdy Mulligan, that kept the Shamrock<pb n="198" /><anchor id="Pg198" /> +Inn, for her Dinnis was a little ottomy av a gossoon, an' +her the full av a dure, an' the arrum on her like a smith an' +the fut like a leg o' mutton. Och, she was big enough thin, +but she's a horse entirely now, wid the walk av a duck, an' +the cheeks av her shakin' like a bowl av shtirabout whin she +goes. Her poor Dinnis dar n't say his sowl belonged to him, +but was conthrolled be her, an' they do say his last words +were, 'I'll have pace,' that was phat he niver had afther he +married her, fur she was wan that 'ud be shmilin' an' shmilin' +an' the tongue av her like a razer. She'd a good bit o' property +in the inn, siven beds in the house fur thravellers, an' six +childher, the oldest nigh onto twelve, an' from him on down +in reg'lar steps like thim in front o' the coort-house.</p> + +<figure url="images/image62.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1="The Widdy O'Donnell" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: The Widdy O'Donnell</figDesc> +</figure> + +<pb n="199" /><anchor id="Pg199" /> + +<figure url="images/image63.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1="Missis McMurthry" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: Missis McMurthry</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>"Now, a bit up the shtrate from the Shamrock there was a +little shop kept be Missis O'Donnell, the widdy av Tim O'Donnell, +that died o' bein' mortified in his legs that broke be his +fallin' aff his horse wan night whin he was comin' back from +Athlone, where he'd been to a fair. Missis O'Donnell was a +wapin' widdy, that's got eyes like a hydrant, where ye can +turn on the wather whin ye plaze. Begorra, thim's the widdys +that 'ull do fur anny man, fur no more can ye tell phat's<pb n="200" /><anchor id="Pg200" /> +in their minds be lookin' at their faces than phat kind av close +they've got on be lookin' at their shadders, an' whin they corner +a man that's tinder-hearted, an' give a shy look at him +up out o' their eyes, an' thin look down an' sind two or three +dhrops o' wather from undher their eye-lashers, the only salvation +fur him is to get up an' run like it was a bag o' gunpowdher +she was. So Missis O'Donnell, whin she seen Misther +Dooley, tuk the same notion into her head that the Widdy +Mulligan did, fur she'd two childher, a boy an' a gurrul, that +were growin' up, an' the shop wasn't payin' well.</p> + +<p>"There was another widdy in it, the Widdy McMurthry, +that aftherwards married a sargeant av the polis, an' lives in +Limerick. She was wan o' thim frishky widdys that shtruts +an' wears fine close an' puts on more airs than a paycock. +She was a fine-lookin' woman thim times, an' had money in +plinty that she got be marryin' McMurthry, that was owld +enough to be a father to her an' died o' dhrinkin' too much +whishkey at first, an' thin too much sulphur-wather at Lisdoon +Varna to set him right agin. She was always ready wid an +answer to ye, fur it was quick witted she was, wid slathers o' +talk that didn't mane annything, an' a giggle that she didn't +nade to hunt fur whin she wanted it to make a show wid. +An' she'd a dawther that was a fine child, about siventeen, a +good dale like her mother.</p> + +<p>"Now, Misther Dooley had a kind heart in his body fur +wimmin in gineral, an' as he liked a bit o' chaff wid thim on +all occashuns, he wasn't long in gettin' acquainted wid all the +wimmin o' the parish, an' was well liked be thim, an', be the +same token, wasn't be the men, fur men, be nacher, doesn't +like a woman's man anny more than wimmin like a men's +woman. But, afther a bit, he begun to centher himself on +the three widdys, an' sorra the day' ud go by whin he come to<pb n="201" /><anchor id="Pg201" /> +town but phat he'd give wan or another o' thim a pace av his +comp'ny that was very plazin' to thim. Bedad, he done that +same very well, for he made a round av it for to kape thim in +suspince. He'd set in the ale room o' the Shamrock an hour +in the afthernoon an' chat wid the Widdy Mulligan as she was +sarvin' the dhrink, an' shtop in the Widdy O'Donnell's shop as +he was goin' by, to get a thrifle or a bit av shwates an' give to +her childher beways av a complimint, an' thin go to Missis McMurthry's +to tay, an' so got on well wid thim all. An' it's me +belafe he'd be doin' that same to this blessed day only that +the widdys begun to be pressin' as not likin' fur to wait anny +longer. Fur, mind ye, a widdy's not like a young wan that'll +wait fur ye to spake, an' if ye don't do it, 'ull go on foriver, +or till she gets tired av waitin' an' takes some wan else that +does spake, widout sayin' a word to ye at all; but the widdy +'ull be hintin' an' hintin', an' her hints 'ull be as shtrong as a +donkey's kick, so that the head o' ye has to be harder than a +pavin'-shtone if ye don't undhershtand, an' ye've got to have +more impidince than a monkey if ye don't spake up an' say +something about marryin'.</p> + +<p>"Well, as I was afther sayin', the widdys begun to be +pressin' him clost: the Widdy Mulligan tellin' him how good +her business was an' phat a savin' there'd be if a farm an' a +public were put together; the Widdy O'Donnell a-lookin' at +him out av her tears an' sighin' an' tellin' him how lonely he +must be out on a farm an' nobody but a man wid him in the +house, fur she was lonesome in town, an' it wasn't natheral +at all, so it wasn't, fur aither man or woman to be alone; an' +the Widdy McMurthry a palatherin' to him that if he'd a fine, +good-lookin' woman that loved him, he'd be a betther man an' +a changed man entirely. So they wint on, the widdys a-comin' +at him, an' he thryin' to kape wid thim all, as he might have<pb n="202" /><anchor id="Pg202" /> +knewn he couldn't do (barrin' he married the three o' thim +like a Turk), until aitch wan got to undhershtand, be phat he +said to her, that he was goin' to marry her, an' the minnit +they got this in their heads, aitch begged him that he'd shtay +away from the other two, fur aitch knewn he wint to see thim +all. By jayminy, it bothered him thin, fur he liked to talk to +thim all aiquelly, an' didn't want to confine his agrayble +comp'ny to anny wan o' thim. So he got out av it thish-a-way. +He promised the Widdy McMurthry that he'd not go to the +Shamrock more than wanst in the week, nor into the Widdy +O'Donnell's barrin' he naded salt fur his cow; an' said to the +Widdy Mulligan that he'd not more than spake to Missis +O'Donnell whin he wint in, an' that he'd go no more at all +to Missis McMurthry's; an' he towld Missis O'Donnell that +whin he wint to the Shamrock he'd get his sup an' thin lave +at wanst, an' not go to the Widdy McMurthry's axceptin' +whin his horse wanted to be shod, the blacksmith's bein' ferninst +her dure that it 'ud be convaynient fur him to wait at. +So he shmiled wid himself thinkin' he'd done thim complately, +an' made up his mind that whin his pitaties were dug +he'd give up the farm an' get over into County Clare, away +from the widdys.</p> + +<p>"But thim that think widdys are fools are desaved entirely, +an' so was Misther Dooley, fur instead av his throubles bein' +inded, begob, they were just begun. Ivery time he wint into +the Shamrock Missis O'Donnell heard av it an' raymonshtrated +wid him, an' 'ud cry at him beways it was dhrinkin' himself to +death he was; afther lavin' the Shamrock, the Widdy Mulligan +'ud set wan av her boys to watch him up the strate an' +see if he shtopped in the shop. Av coorse he cudn't go by, +an' whin he come agin, the Widdy Mulligan 'ud gosther him +about it, an' thin he'd promise not to do it agin. No more<pb n="203" /><anchor id="Pg203" /> +cud he go in the Widdy O'Donnell's shop widout meetin' +Missis McMurthry's dawther that was always shtreelin' on the +strate, an' thin her mother 'ud say to him it was a power o' +salt his cow was atin', an' the Widdy O'Donnell towld him his +horse must be an axpensive baste fur to nade so much shooin'.</p> + +<p>"Thin he'd tell thim a lot o' lies that they purtinded to +belave an' didn't, bekase they're such desavers thimselves +that it isn't aisey fur to do thim, but Dooley begun to think +if it got anny hotter fur him he'd lave the pitaties to the +widdys to divide bechune thim as a raytribution fur the loss +av himself, an' go to Clare widout delay.</p> + +<p>"While he'd this bother on him he got to know owld Miss +Rooney, that lived wid her mother an' father on the farm +next but wan to his own, but on the other side o' the way, an' +the manes be which he got to know her was this. Wan +mornin', whin Dooley's man, Paddy, wint to milk the cow, +bad scran to the dhrop she'd to shpare, an' he pullin' an' +pullin', like it was ringin' the chapel bell he was, an' she +kickin', an' no milk comin', faix not as much as 'ud blind the +eye av a midge. So he wint an' towld Misther Dooley.</p> + +<p>"'I can get no milk,' says he. 'Begorra the cow's as +dhry as a fiddler's troat,' says he.</p> + +<p>"'Musha, thin,' says Misther Dooley, 'it's the lazy omadhawn +ye are. I don't belave it. Can ye milk at all?' says +he.</p> + +<p>"'I can,' says Paddy, 'as well as a calf,' says he. 'But +phat's the use ov pullin'? Ye'd get the same quantity from +a rope,' says he.</p> + +<p>"So Dooley wint out an' thried himself an' didn't get as +much as a shmell of milk.</p> + +<p>"'Phat's the matther wid the baste?' says he, 'an' her on +the grass from sun to sun.'</p> + +<pb n="204" /><anchor id="Pg204" /> + +<p>"'Be jakers,' says Paddy, 'it's my consate that she's bewitched.'</p> + +<p>"'It's thrue fur ye,' says Dooley, as the like was aften +knewn. 'Go you to Misther Rooney's wid the pail an' get +milk fur the calf, an' ax if there's a Pishogue hereabouts.'</p> + +<p>"So Paddy wint an' come back sayin' that the young lady +towld him there was.</p> + +<p>"'So there's a young lady in it,' thinks Dooley. Faix, the +love av coortin' was shtrong on him. 'Did ye ax her how to +raich the woman?'</p> + +<p>"'Bedad, I didn't. I forgot,' says Paddy.</p> + +<p>"'That's yerself entirely,' says Dooley to him agin. 'I'd +betther thrust me arriants to a four-legged jackass as to wan +wid two. He'd go twict as fast an' remimber as much. I'll +go meself,' says he, only wantin' an axcuse, an' so he did. +He found Miss Rooney thried to be plazin', an' it bein' convainient, +he wint agin, an' so it was ivery day whin he'd go fur +the calf's milk he'd have a chat wid her, an' sometimes come +over in the avenin', bekase it wasn't healthy fur him in town +just thin.</p> + +<p>"But he wint to Owld Moll about the cow, an' the charm +she gev him soon made the baste all right agin, but, be that +time, he'd got used to goin' to Rooney's an' liked it betther +than the town, bekase whinever he wint to town he had to +make so many axcuses he was afeared the widdys 'ud ketch +him in a lie.</p> + +<p>"So he shtayed at home most times and wint over to Rooney's +the rest, fur it wasn't a bad job at all, though she was +about one an' forty, an' had give up the fight fur a husband +an' so saiced strugglin'. As long as they've anny hope, owld +maids are the most praypostherous craythers alive, fur they'll +fit thimselves wid the thrappin's av a young gurrul an' look<pb n="205" /><anchor id="Pg205" /> +as onaisey in thim as a boy wid his father's britches on. But +whin they've consinted to the sitiwation an' saiced to struggle, +thin they begin to be happy an' enjoy life a bit, but there's +no aise in the worruld fur thim till thin. Now Miss Rooney +had gev up the contist an' plasthered her hair down on aitch +side av her face so smooth ye'd shwear it was ironed it was, +an' begun to take the worruld aisey.</p> + +<p>"But there's thim that says an owld maid niver does give +up her hope, only lets on to be continted so as to lay in amboosh +fur anny onsuspishus man that happens to shtray along, +an' faix, it looks that-a-way from phat I'm goin' to tell ye, +bekase as soon as Misther Dooley begun to come over an' palather +his fine talk to her an' say shwate things, thin she up +an' begins shtrugglin' harder nor iver, bekase it was afther +she'd let go, an' comin' onexpected-like she thought it was a +dispinsation av Providence, whin rayly it was only an accident +it was, beways av Dooley's cow goin' dhry an' the calf +too young to lave suckin' an' ate grass.</p> + +<p>"Annyhow, wan day, afther Misther Dooley had talked +purty nice the avenin' afore, she put an her cloak, an' wint to +Owld Moll an' in an' shut the dure.</p> + +<p>"'Now, Moll,' she says to the owld cuillean, 'it's a long +time since I've been to ye, barrin' the time the goat was lost, +fur, sure, I lost me confidince in ye. Ye failed me twict, +wanst whin John McCune forgot me whin he wint to Derry +an' thin come back an' married that Mary O'Niel, the impidint +young shtrap, wid the hair av her as red as a glowin' +coal; an' wanst whin Misther McFinnigan walked aff from +me an' married the Widdy Bryan. Now ye must do yer +besht, fur I'm thinkin' that, wid a little industhry, I cud get +Misther Dooley, the same that the town widdys is so flusthrated +wid.'</p> + +<pb n="206" /><anchor id="Pg206" /> + +<p>"'An' does he come to see ye, at all?' says Moll.</p> + +<p>"'Faith he does, an' onless I'm mishtaken is mightily +plazed wid his comp'ny whin it's me that's in it,' says Miss +Rooney.</p> + +<p>"'An' phat widdys is in it,' says Moll, as she didn't know, +bekase sorra a step did the widdys go to her wid their love +doin's, as they naded no help, an' cud thransact thim affairs +thimselves as long as their tongues held out.</p> + +<p>"So Miss Rooney towld her, an' Moll shuk her head. 'Jagers,' +says she, 'I'm afeared yer goose is cooked if all thim +widdys is afther him. I won't thry,' says she.</p> + +<p>"But Miss Rooney was as much in airnest as the widdys, +troth, I'm thinkin', more, bekase she was fairly aitchin' fur a +husband now she'd got her mind on it.</p> + +<p>"'Sure, Moll,' says she, 'ye wouldn't desart me now an' it +me last show. Thim widdys can marry who they plaze, bad +scran to 'em, but if Misther Dooley gets from me, divil fly wid +the husband I'll get at all, at all,' beginnin' to cry.</p> + +<p>"So, afther a dale av palatherin', Moll consinted to thry, +bein' it was the third time Miss Rooney had been to her, besides, +she wanted to save her charackther for a knowledgeable +woman. So she aggrade to do her best, an' gev her a little +bag to carry wid 'erbs in it, an' writ some words on two bits +av paper an' the same in Latin. It was an awful charm, no +more do I remimber it, fur it was niver towld me, nor to anny +wan else, fur it was too dreadful to say axceptin' in Latin an' +in a whisper fur fear the avil sper'ts 'ud hear it, that don't undhershtand +thim dape langwidges.</p> + +<p>"'Now, darlint,' says owld Moll, a-givin' her wan, 'take you +this charm an' kape it on you an' the bag besides, an' ye must +manage so as this other paper 'ull be on Misther Dooley, an' +if it fails an' he don't marry ye I'll give ye back yer money +an' charge ye nothing at all,' says she.</p> + +<pb n="207" /><anchor id="Pg207" /> + +<p>"So Miss Rooney tuk the charms an' paid Owld Moll one +pound five, an' was to give her fifteen shillins more afther she +was married to Dooley.</p> + +<p>"She wint home, bothered entirely how she'd get the charm +on Dooley, an' the avenin' come, an' he wid it, an' shtill she +didn't know. So he set an' talked an' talked, an' by an' by +he dhrunk up the rest av the whiskey an' wather in his glass +an' got up to go.</p> + +<p>"'Why, Misther Dooley,' says she, bein' all at wanst shtruck +be an idee. 'Was iver the like seen av yer coat?' says she. +'Sure it's tore in the back. Sit you down agin wan minnit +an' I'll mend it afore ye can light yer pipe. Take it +aff,' says she.</p> + +<p>"'Axqueeze me,' says Dooley. 'I may be a bigger fool +than I look, or I may look a bigger fool than I am, but I +know enough to kape the coat on me back whin I'm wid a +lady,' says he.</p> + +<p>"'Then take a sate an' I'll sow it on ye,' says she to +him agin, so he set down afore the fire, an' she, wid a pair +av shizzors an' a nadle, wint behind him an' at the coat. +'Twas a sharp thrick av her, bekase she took the shizzors, +an' whin she was lettin' on to cut aff the t'reads that she said +were hangin', she ripped the collar, an' shlipped in the bit +o' paper, an' sowed it up as nate as a samesthress in less than +no time.</p> + +<p>"'It's much beholden to ye I am,' says Dooley, risin' wid +his pipe lit. 'An' it's a happy man I'd be if I'd a young +woman av yer size to do the like to me ivery day.'</p> + +<p>"'Glory be to God,' says Miss Rooney to herself, fur she +thought the charm was beginnin' to work. But she says to +him, 'Oh, it's talkin' ye are. A fine man like you can marry +who he plazes.'</p> + +<pb n="208" /><anchor id="Pg208" /> + +<p>"So Dooley wint home, an' she, thinkin' the business as +good as done, towld her mother that night she was to marry +Misther Dooley. The owld lady cudn't contain herself or +the saycret aither, so the next mornin' towld it to her sister, +an' she to her dawther that wint to school wid Missis McMurthry's +gurrul. Av coorse the young wan cudn't howld her +jaw anny more than the owld wans, an' up an' towld the widdy's +dawther an' she her mother an' the rest o' the town, so be +the next day ivery wan knew that Dooley was goin' to marry +Miss Rooney: that shows, if ye want to shpread a bit o' news +wid a quickness aiquel to the tellygraph, ye've only to tell it +to wan woman as a saycret.</p> + +<p>"Well, me dear, the noise the widdys made 'ud shtun a +dhrummer. Dooley hadn't been in town fur a week, an' +widdys bein' nacherly suspishus, they misthrusted that somethin' +was wrong, but divil a wan o' thim thought he'd do +such an onmannerly thrick as that. But they all belaved it, +bekase widdys judge iverybody be themselves, so they were +mighty mad.</p> + +<p>"The Widdy McMurthry was first to hear the news, as +her dawther towld her, an' she riz in a fury. 'Oh the owdashus +villin,' says she; 'to think av him comin' here an' me +listenin' at him that was lyin' fasther than a horse 'ud throt. +But I'll have justice, so I will, an' see if there's law for a +lone widdy. I'll go to the judge,' fur, I forgot to tell ye, +it was jail delivery an' the coort was settin' an' the judge +down from Dublin wid a wig on him the size av a bar'l.</p> + +<p>"Whin they towld Missis O'Donnell, she bust out cryin' an' +says, 'Sure it can't be thrue. It isn't in him to desave a poor +widdy wid only two childher, an' me thrustin' on him,' so +she wint into the back room an' laid on the bed.</p> + +<p>"But whin the Widdy Mulligan learned it, they thought<pb n="209" /><anchor id="Pg209" /> +she'd take a fit, the face av her got so red an' she chokin' +wid rage. 'Tatther an' agers,' says she. 'If I only had that +vagabone here five minnits, it's a long day it 'ud be afore +he'd desave another tinder-hearted faymale.'</p> + +<p>"'Oh, be aisey,' says wan to her, 'faix, you're not the +onliest wan that's in it. Sure there's the Widdy O'Donnell +an' Missis McMurthry that he's desaved aiquelly wid +yerself.'</p> + +<p>"'Is that thrue?' says she; 'by this an' by that I'll see +thim an' we'll go to the judge an' have him in the prision. +Sure the Quane's a widdy herself an' knows how it feels, an' +her judge 'ull take the part av widdys that's misconshtrewed +be a nagurly blaggârd like owld Dooley. Bad luck to the +seed, breed, an' generation av him. I cud mop up the flure +wid him, the divil roast him, an' if I lay me hands on him, I'll +do it,' says she, an' so she would; an' a blessing it was to Misther +Dooley he was not in town just thin, but at home, diggin' +pitaties as fast as he cud, an' chucklin' to himself how he'd +send the pitaties to town be Paddy, an' himself go to Clare +an' get away from the whole tribe av widdys an' owld +maids.</p> + +<p>"So the Widdy Mulligan wint afther the Widdy O'Donnell +an' tuk her along, an' they towld thim av the Widdy McMurthry +an' how she was done be him, an' they got her too, fur +they all said, 'Sure we wouldn't marry him fur him, but only +want to see him punished fur misconshtructing phat we +said to him an' lying to us.' Be this time half the town was +ready an' aiger to go wid thim to the coort, an' so they did, +an' in, wid the offishers thryin' to kape thim out, an' the wimmin +shovin' in, an' all their frinds wid 'em, an' the shur'f +callin' out 'Ordher in the coort,' an' the judge lookin' over +his shpectacles at thim.</p> + +<pb n="210" /><anchor id="Pg210" /> + +<p>"'Phat's this at all?' says the judge, wid a solemnious +voice. 'Is it a riat it is, or a faymale convulsion?'--whin +he seen all the wimmin. 'Phat's the matther?' says he, an' +wid that all the wimmin begun at wanst, so as the noise av +thim was aiquel to a 'viction.</p> + +<p>"'Marcy o' God,' says the judge, 'phat's in the faymales +at all? Are they dishtracted entirely, or bewitched, or only +dhrunk?' says he.</p> + +<p>"'We're crazy wid graif, yer Lordshap,' they schraimed +at him at wanst. 'It's justice we want agin the uppresser.'</p> + +<p>"'Phat's the uppresser been a-doin'?' axed the judge.</p> + +<p>"'Disthroyin' our pace, an' that av our families,' they said +to him.</p> + +<p>"'Who is the uppresser?' he axed.</p> + +<p>"'Owld Dooley,' they all shouted at him at the wan time, +like it was biddin' at an auction they were.</p> + +<p>"So at first the judge cudn't undhershtand at all, till some +wan whishpered the truth to him an' thin he scrotched his +chin wid a pen.</p> + +<p>"'Is it a man fur to marry all thim widdys? By me wig, +he's a bowld wan. Go an' fetch him,' he says to a consthable. +'Be sated, ladies, an' ye'll have justice,' he says to the +widdys, very p'lite. 'Turn out thim other blaggârds,' he +says to the shur'f, an' away wint the polisman afther Dooley.</p> + +<p>"He found him at home, wid his coat aff, an' him an' +Paddy diggin' away at the pitaties for dear life, bekase he +wanted to get thim done.</p> + +<p>"'Misther Dooley,' says the consthable to him, 'ye're me +prish'ner. Come along, ye must go wid me at wanst.'</p> + +<p>"At first, Dooley was surprised in that degray he thought +the life 'ud lave him, as the consthable come up behind him +on the quiet, so as to give him no show to run away.</p> + +<pb n="211" /><anchor id="Pg211" /> + +<p>"'Phat for?' says Dooley to him, whin he'd got his wind +agin.</p> + +<p>"'Faix, I'm not sartain,' says the polisman, that wasn't +a bad felly; 'but I belave it's along o' thim widdys that are +so fond o' ye. The three o' thim's in the coort an' all the +faymales in town, an' the judge sint me afther ye, an' ye +must come at wanst, so make ready to go immejitly.'</p> + +<p>"'Don't go wid him,' says Paddy, wid his sleeves rowled +up an' spitting in his hands. 'Lave me at him,' says he, but +Dooley wouldn't, bekase he was a paceable man. But he +wasn't anxshus to go to the coort at all; begob, he'd all the +coortin' he naded, but bein' there was no help fur it, he got +his coat, the same that Miss Rooney sowed the charm in, an' +shtarted wid the consthable.</p> + +<p>"Now, it was that mornin' that owld Rooney was in town, +thryin' to sell a goat he had, that gev him no end o' throuble +be losin' itself part of the time an' the rest be jumpin' on the +thatch an' stickin' its feet through. But he cudn't sell it, as +ivery wan knew the baste as well as himself, an' so he was sober, +that wasn't common wid him. Whin he seen the widdys +an' the other wimmin wid thim shtravigerin' through the +strate on the way to the coort an' heard the phillaloo they +were afther makin', he axed phat the matther was. So they +towld him, an' says he, 'Be the powers, if it's a question av +makin' him marry some wan, me dawther has an inthrust in +the matther,' so he dhropped the goat's shtring an' shtarted +home in a lamplighter's throt to fetch her, an' got there about +the time the polisman nabbed Dooley.</p> + +<p>"'There, they're afther goin' now,' says he to her. 'Make +haste, or we'll lose thim,' an' aff they run, she wid her charm +an' he widout his coat, grippin' a shillalee in his fisht, an' +caught up wid Paddy that was follerin' the polisman an' +Dooley.</p> + +<pb n="212" /><anchor id="Pg212" /> + +<p>"So they jogged along, comfortable enough, the polisman +an' Dooley in the lade, afther thim owld Rooney an' Paddy, +blaggârdin' the consthable ivery fut o' the way, an' offerin' +fur to bate him so as he wouldn't know himself be lookin' in +the glass, an' Miss Rooney in the rare, wondherin' if the +charm 'ud work right. But Dooley didn't let a word out av +his jaw, as knowin' he'd nade all his breath afther gettin' into +the coort.</p> + +<p>"At the rise o' the hill the pursesshun was met be about a +hunderd o' the town boys that come out fur to view thim, an' +that yelled at Dooley how the widdys were waitin' to tare him +in paces, an' that he was as good as a dead man a'ready, so +he was; an' whin they got into town, all the men jined the +show, roarin' wid laughter an' shoutin' at Dooley that the +judge cudn't do anny more than hang him at wanst, an' to +shtand it like a hayro, bekase they'd all be at the hangin' +an' come to the wake besides an' have a tundherin' big time. +But he answered thim niver a word, so they all wint on to +the coort, an' in, bringin' the other half o' the town wid 'em, +the faymale half bein' there kapin' comp'ny wid the widdys.</p> + +<p>"The minnit they come nie the dure, all the widdys an' +wimmin begun in wan breath to make raimarks on thim.</p> + +<p>"'A-a-a-ah, the hang-dog face he has,' says Missis McMurthry. +'Sure hasn't he the look av a shape-thief on the road +to the gallus?'</p> + +<p>"'See the haythen vagabone,' says the Widdy Mulligan. +'If I had me tin fingers on him for five minnits, it's all the +satiswhackshun I'd ax. Bad cess to the hair I'd lave on the +head av him or in his whushkers aither.'</p> + +<p>"But the Widdy O'Donnell only cried, an' all the wimmin +turned their noses up whin they seen Miss Rooney comin' in.</p> + +<figure url="images/image64.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" /> +<head>"OULD ROONEY AN' PADDY BLAGGARDIN' THE CONSTHABLE IVERY FUT O' THE WAY."</head> +<figDesc>Illustration: "OULD ROONEY AN' PADDY BLAGGARDIN' THE CONSTHABLE IVERY FUT O' THE WAY."</figDesc> +</figure> + +<p>"'Look at that owld thing,' says they. 'Phat a power av<pb n="215" /><anchor id="Pg215" /> +impidince! Mind the consate av her to be comin' here wid +him. Sure she hasn't the shame av a shtone monkey,' says +they av her.</p> + +<p>"'Silence in the coort,' says the shur'f. 'Stop that +laughin' be the dure. Git along down out o' thim windys,' +says he to the mob that Dooley an' the consthable brought +wid thim.</p> + +<p>"'Misther Dooley,' says the judge, 'I'm axed to b'lave +ye're thryin' to marry four wimmin at wanst, three av the +same aforeshed bein' widdys an' the other wan not. Is it +thrue, or do ye plade not guilty?' says he.</p> + +<p>"'It's not thrue, yer Lordshap,' says Dooley, shpakin' up, +bekase he seen he was in for it an' put on a bowld face. +'Thim widdys is crazy to get a husband, an' misconsayved the +manin' o' me words,' says he, an' that minnit you'd think a +faymale lunattic ashylum broke loose in the coort.</p> + +<p>"They all gabbled at wanst like a field av crows. They +said he was a haythen, a Toork, a vulgar shpalpeen, a lyin' +blaggârd, a uppresser av the widdy, a robber av the orphin, +he was worse than a nagur, he was, so he was, an' they niver +thought av belavin' him, nor av marryin' him aither till he +axed thim, an' so on.</p> + +<p>"The judge was a married man himself an' knewn it was +no use thryin' to shtop the gostherin,' for it was a joke av him +to say that the differ bechuxt a woman an' a book was you +cud shut up a book, so he let thim go on till they were spint +an' out o' breath an' shtopped o' thimselves like an owld +clock that's run down.</p> + +<p>"'The sintince av this coort, Misther Dooley, is, that ye +marry wan av 'em an' make compinsation to the other wans +in a paycoonyary way be payin' thim siven poun' aitch.'</p> + +<p>"'Have marcy, yer Lordshap,' says Dooley, bekase he seen<pb n="216" /><anchor id="Pg216" /> +himself shtripped av all he had. 'Make it five poun', an' +that's more than I've got in money.'</p> + +<p>"'Siven pound, not a haporth less,' says the judge. 'If +ye haven't the money ye can pay it in projuice. An' make +yer chice bechune the wimmin who ye'll marry, as it's married +ye'll be this blessed day, bekase ye've gone too long +a'ready,' says the judge, very starn, an' thin the widdys all got +quite, an' begun to be sorry they gev him so many hard +names.</p> + +<p>"'Is it wan o' the widdys must I marry?' says Dooley, +axin' the judge, an' the charm in his coller beginnin' to work +hard an' remind him av Miss Rooney, that was settin' on wan +side, trimblin'.</p> + +<p>"'Tare an' 'ouns,' says the judge. 'Bad luck to ye, ye +onmannerly idjit,' as he was gettin' vexed wid Dooley, that +was shtandin', scrotchin' the head av him like he was thryin' +to encourage his brains. 'Wasn't it wan o' the wimmin that +I tould ye to take?' says he.</p> + +<p>"'If that's phat yer Lordshap says, axin' yer pardin an' +not misdoubtin' ye, if it's plazin' to ye, bedad, I'll take the +owld maid, bekase thim widdys have got a sight av young +wans, an' childher are like toothpicks, ivery man wants his +own an' not another felly's.' But he had another razon that +he towld to me afther; says he, 'If I've got to have a famly, +be jakers, I want to have the raisin' av it meself,' an' my +blessin' on him for that same.</p> + +<p>"But whin he was spakin' an' said he'd take Miss Rooney, +wid that word she fainted away fur dead, an' was carried out +o' the coort be her father an' Paddy.</p> + +<p>"So it was settled, an' as Dooley didn't have the money, +the widdys aggrade to take their pay some other way. The +Widdy Mulligan tuk the pitaties he was diggin' whin the<pb n="217" /><anchor id="Pg217" /> +polisman gripped him, as she said they'd kape the inn all +winter. The Widdy McMurthry got his hay, which come +convaynient, bekase her brother kep post horses an' tuk the +hay av her at two shillins undher the market. Missis O'Donnell +got the cow that made all the throuble be goin' dhry at +the wrong time, an' bein' it was a good cow was vally'd at +tin poun'; so she gev him three poun', an' was to sind him the +calf whin it was weaned. So the widdys were all paid for +bein' wounded in their hearts be Misther Dooley, an' a good +bargain they made av it, bekase a widdy's affections are like +gârden weeds, the more ye thrample thim the fasther they +grow.</p> + +<p>"Misther Dooley got Miss Rooney, an' she a husband, fur +they pulled her out av her faint wid a bucket o' wather, an' +the last gossoon in town wint from the coort to the chapel wid +Miss Rooney an' Misther Dooley, the latther crassin' himself +ivery minnit an' blessin' God ivery step he tuk that it wasn't +the jail he was goin' to, an' they were married there wid a +roarin' crowd waitin' in the strate fur to show thim home. But +they sarcumvinted thim, bekase they wint out the back way +an' through Father O'Donohue's gârden, an' so home, lavin' +the mob howlin' before the chapel dure like wild Ingines.</p> + +<p>"An' that's the way the owld maid defated three widdys, +that isn't often done, no more would she have done it but for +owld Moll an' the charm in Dooley's coat. But he's very well +plazed, an' that I know, for afther me first wife died, her I +was tellin' ye av, I got the roomytics in me back like tin t'ousand +divils clawin' at me backbone, an' I made me mind up +that I'd get another wife, bekase I wanted me back rubbed, +sence it 'ull be chaper, says I, to marry some wan to rub it than +to pay a boy to do that same. So I was lookin' roun' an' met +Misther Dooley an' spake av it to him, an' good luck it 'ud<pb n="218" /><anchor id="Pg218" /> +have been if I'd tuk his advice, but I didn't, bein' surrounded +be a widdy afther, that's rubbed me back well fur me only +wid a shtick. But says he to me, 'Take you my advice Misther +Magwire, an' whin ye marry, get you an owld maid, if +there's wan to be had in the counthry. Gurruls is flighty an' +axpectin' too much av ye, an' widdys is greedy buzzards as +ye've seen be my axpayrience, but owld maids is humble, an' +thankful for gettin' a husband at all, God bless 'em, so they +shtrive to plaze an' do as ye bid thim widout grumblin' or +axin' throublesome questions.'"</p> + +<figure url="images/image65.png" rend="w90"> +<index index="fig" level1=""A good bargain they made av it"" /> +<figDesc>Illustration: "A good bargain they made av it"</figDesc> +</figure> +</div> + +</body> + +<back rend="page-break-before: right"> +<div> +<divGen type="pgfooter" /> +</div> + +</back> + + </text> +</TEI.2> + +<!-- +A WORD FROM PROJECT GUTENBERG + + +This file should be named 19486-tei.tei or 19486-tei.zip. + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + + + http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/9/4/8/19486/ + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one — the old editions will be +renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one +owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and +you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission +and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the +General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and +distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the Project +Gutenberg™ concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered +trademark, and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you +receive specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of +this eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook +for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, +performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given away +— you may do practically _anything_ with public domain eBooks. +Redistribution is subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE + + +_Please read this before you distribute or use this work._ + +To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or +any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project Gutenberg”), +you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project Gutenberg™ +License (available with this file or online at +http://www.gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. + + +General Terms of Use & Redistributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works + + +1.A. + + +By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™ electronic work, +you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to and accept all the +terms of this license and intellectual property (trademark/copyright) +agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all the terms of this +agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy all copies of +Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your possession. If you paid a fee +for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project Gutenberg™ electronic work +and you do not agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement, you may +obtain a refund from the person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set +forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + + +1.B. + + +“Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be used on or +associated in any way with an electronic work by people who agree to be +bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few things that you can +do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works even without complying +with the full terms of this agreement. See paragraph 1.C below. There are +a lot of things you can do with Project Gutenberg™ electronic works if you +follow the terms of this agreement and help preserve free future access to +Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. + + +1.C. + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the Foundation” or +PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an individual +work is in the public domain in the United States and you are located in +the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from copying, +distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative works based on +the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of +course, we hope that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of +promoting free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project +Gutenberg™ works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for +keeping the Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can +easily comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the +same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when you +share it without charge with others. + +This particular work is one of the few copyrighted individual works +included with the permission of the copyright holder. Information on the +copyright owner for this particular work and the terms of use imposed by +the copyright holder on this work are set forth at the beginning of this +work. + + +1.D. + + +The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern what you +can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in a constant +state of change. If you are outside the United States, check the laws of +your country in addition to the terms of this agreement before +downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or creating +derivative works based on this work or any other Project Gutenberg™ work. +The Foundation makes no representations concerning the copyright status of +any work in any country outside the United States. + + +1.E. + + +Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + + +1.E.1. + + +The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate access +to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear prominently whenever +any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work on which the phrase +“Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” +is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, copied or +distributed: + + + This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with + almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away + or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License + included with this eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org + + +1.E.2. + + +If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is derived from the +public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is posted with +permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied and +distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees or +charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work with the +phrase “Project Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you +must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 +or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™ +trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + + +1.E.3. + + +If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted with the +permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution must comply +with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional terms imposed +by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked to the Project +Gutenberg™ License for all works posted with the permission of the +copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + + +1.E.4. + + +Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™ License +terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this work or any +other work associated with Project Gutenberg™. + + +1.E.5. + + +Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this electronic +work, or any part of this electronic work, without prominently displaying +the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with active links or immediate +access to the full terms of the Project Gutenberg™ License. + + +1.E.6. + + +You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, compressed, +marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any word +processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format other than +“Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official version posted +on the official Project Gutenberg™ web site (http://www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other form. +Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg™ License as +specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + + +1.E.7. + + +Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, performing, +copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works unless you comply +with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + + +1.E.8. + + +You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing access to or +distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works provided that + + - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed to + the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has agreed to + donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid within 60 + days following each date on which you prepare (or are legally + required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty payments + should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in Section 4, + “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary + Archive Foundation.” + + - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™ License. + You must require such a user to return or destroy all copies of the + works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue all use of and + all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™ works. + + - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + + - You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works. + + +1.E.9. + + +If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg™ electronic +work or group of works on different terms than are set forth in this +agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from both the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael Hart, the owner of the +Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in +Section 3 below. + + +1.F. + + +1.F.1. + + +Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable effort to +identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread public domain +works in creating the Project Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these +efforts, Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, and the medium on which they +may be stored, may contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, +incomplete, inaccurate or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright +or other intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk +or other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot +be read by your equipment. + + +1.F.2. + + +LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES — Except for the “Right of +Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ +trademark, and any other party distributing a Project Gutenberg™ +electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all liability to you for +damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE +NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH +OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE +FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT +WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, +PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY +OF SUCH DAMAGE. + + +1.F.3. + + +LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND — If you discover a defect in this +electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can receive a refund +of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a written explanation to +the person you received the work from. If you received the work on a +physical medium, you must return the medium with your written explanation. +The person or entity that provided you with the defective work may elect +to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a refund. If you received the +work electronically, the person or entity providing it to you may choose +to give you a second opportunity to receive the work electronically in +lieu of a refund. If the second copy is also defective, you may demand a +refund in writing without further opportunities to fix the problem. + + +1.F.4. + + +Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth in +paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ’AS-IS,’ WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + + +1.F.5. + + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied warranties or the +exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. If any disclaimer or +limitation set forth in this agreement violates the law of the state +applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be interpreted to make +the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by the applicable state +law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this agreement +shall not void the remaining provisions. + + +1.F.6. + + +INDEMNITY — You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the trademark +owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone providing copies of +Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in accordance with this agreement, and +any volunteers associated with the production, promotion and distribution +of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs +and expenses, including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from +any of the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of +this or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or +additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any Defect +you cause. + + +Section 2. + + + Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™ + + +Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of electronic +works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers including +obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists because of the +efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from people in all walks +of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the assistance +they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s goals and ensuring +that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will remain freely available for +generations to come. In 2001, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation was created to provide a secure and permanent future for +Project Gutenberg™ and future generations. To learn more about the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations +can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation web page at +http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. + + + Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the state of +Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service. +The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification number is 64-6221541. +Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/pglaf. Contributions to the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full +extent permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws. + +The Foundation’s principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. +S. Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at 809 North +1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact information +can be found at the Foundation’s web site and official page at +http://www.pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + + + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. + + + Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive + Foundation + + +Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without wide spread +public support and donations to carry out its mission of increasing the +number of public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form accessible by the widest array of equipment +including outdated equipment. Many small donations ($1 to $5,000) are +particularly important to maintaining tax exempt status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United States. +Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a considerable +effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up with these +requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations where we have not +received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND DONATIONS or +determine the status of compliance for any particular state visit +http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we have +not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition against +accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who approach us +with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make any +statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from outside the +United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation methods +and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other ways including +checks, online payments and credit card donations. To donate, please +visit: http://www.gutenberg.org/fundraising/donate + + +Section 5. + + + General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. + + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg™ +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared with +anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project Gutenberg™ +eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed editions, +all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. unless a copyright +notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily keep eBooks in compliance +with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook’s eBook +number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, compressed +(zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected _editions_ of our eBooks replace the old file and take over the +old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +_Versions_ based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + + http://www.gutenberg.org + + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg™, including how +to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, +how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email +newsletter to hear about new eBooks. +--> + diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image01.png b/19486-tei/images/image01.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f131129 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image01.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image02.png b/19486-tei/images/image02.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ad1f07c --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image02.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image03.png b/19486-tei/images/image03.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4656f91 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image03.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image04.png b/19486-tei/images/image04.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..738e5f5 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image04.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image05.png b/19486-tei/images/image05.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..212275b --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image05.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image06.png b/19486-tei/images/image06.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d905d9d --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image06.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image06a.png b/19486-tei/images/image06a.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..486c0cb --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image06a.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image07.png b/19486-tei/images/image07.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..34071f7 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image07.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image08.png b/19486-tei/images/image08.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..486e833 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image08.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image09.png b/19486-tei/images/image09.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4f1ed1e --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image09.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image10.png b/19486-tei/images/image10.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b4ecef4 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image10.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image11.png b/19486-tei/images/image11.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..cab6779 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image11.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image12.png b/19486-tei/images/image12.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..13d6e02 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image12.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image13.png b/19486-tei/images/image13.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..cf384cf --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image13.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image14.png b/19486-tei/images/image14.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0b3c83b --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image14.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image15.png b/19486-tei/images/image15.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..53d44cc --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image15.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image16.png b/19486-tei/images/image16.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9740903 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image16.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image17.png b/19486-tei/images/image17.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7e47bd --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image17.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image18.png b/19486-tei/images/image18.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bd0e1d2 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image18.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image19.png b/19486-tei/images/image19.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ac4d2ca --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image19.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image20.png b/19486-tei/images/image20.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e412d35 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image20.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image21.png b/19486-tei/images/image21.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..68f1577 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image21.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image22.png b/19486-tei/images/image22.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ea3870a --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image22.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image23.png b/19486-tei/images/image23.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a104921 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image23.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image24.png b/19486-tei/images/image24.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b399e93 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image24.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image25.png b/19486-tei/images/image25.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bd1d5b4 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image25.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image26.png b/19486-tei/images/image26.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3ab4683 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image26.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image27.png b/19486-tei/images/image27.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5b3f5cf --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image27.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image28.png b/19486-tei/images/image28.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..cd1369b --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image28.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image29.png b/19486-tei/images/image29.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d171d87 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image29.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image30.png b/19486-tei/images/image30.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..00208e6 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image30.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image31.png b/19486-tei/images/image31.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3b600ef --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image31.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image32.png b/19486-tei/images/image32.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..11f63b2 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image32.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image33.png b/19486-tei/images/image33.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6393634 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image33.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image34.png b/19486-tei/images/image34.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..be5f79e --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image34.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image35.png b/19486-tei/images/image35.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5689be7 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image35.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image36.png b/19486-tei/images/image36.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d6981e7 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image36.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image37.png b/19486-tei/images/image37.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7df6620 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image37.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image38.png b/19486-tei/images/image38.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..97ad775 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image38.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image39.png b/19486-tei/images/image39.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6b36e7d --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image39.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image40.png b/19486-tei/images/image40.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..df4511b --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image40.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image41.png b/19486-tei/images/image41.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3f97709 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image41.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image42.png b/19486-tei/images/image42.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9a14f1d --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image42.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image43.png b/19486-tei/images/image43.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4de07a4 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image43.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image44.png b/19486-tei/images/image44.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..07b8758 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image44.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image45.png b/19486-tei/images/image45.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..949b90d --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image45.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image46.png b/19486-tei/images/image46.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..051a1a9 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image46.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image47.png b/19486-tei/images/image47.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ad00d97 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image47.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image48.png b/19486-tei/images/image48.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..66dfe18 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image48.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image49.png b/19486-tei/images/image49.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ba00e17 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image49.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image50.png b/19486-tei/images/image50.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9f4f92e --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image50.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image51.png b/19486-tei/images/image51.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fab797e --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image51.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image52.png b/19486-tei/images/image52.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e286869 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image52.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image53.png b/19486-tei/images/image53.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..29b28d7 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image53.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image54.png b/19486-tei/images/image54.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..cd9ddbe --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image54.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image55.png b/19486-tei/images/image55.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..798fbbf --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image55.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image56.png b/19486-tei/images/image56.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d6201c7 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image56.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image57.png b/19486-tei/images/image57.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7b4d4cd --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image57.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image58.png b/19486-tei/images/image58.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c81077e --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image58.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image59.png b/19486-tei/images/image59.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..da45e26 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image59.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image60.png b/19486-tei/images/image60.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f88655b --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image60.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image61.png b/19486-tei/images/image61.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b638c --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image61.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image62.png b/19486-tei/images/image62.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1e4b66c --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image62.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image63.png b/19486-tei/images/image63.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7aff1c1 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image63.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image64.png b/19486-tei/images/image64.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ecfbc60 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image64.png diff --git a/19486-tei/images/image65.png b/19486-tei/images/image65.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a688149 --- /dev/null +++ b/19486-tei/images/image65.png |
