The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-01-11 00:00:00

A SNUG IRISH FARMER.

"On reaching the gate, Peety Dhu and his pretty
daughter turned up towards the house we have alluded
to—which was the residence of a man named Burke. On
reaching it they were observed by a couple of large dogs,
who, partaking of the hospitable but negligent habits of
the family, first approached and looked at them for a
moment, then wagged their tails by way of welcome, and
immediately scampered off into the kitchen to forage for
themselves.

" Burke's house and farmyard, though strongly indi-
cative of wealth and abundance in the owner, were, not-
withstanding, evidently the property of a man whose mind
was far back in a knowledge of agriculture, and the in-
dustrial pursuits that depend upon it. His haggard was
slovenly in the extreme, and his farmyard exceedingly
offensive to most of the senses; everything lay about in a
careless and neglected manner ;—wheelbarrows without
their trundles—sacks for days under the rain that fell
from the eaves of the houses—other implements embedded
in mud—car-houses tumbling down—the pump without a
handle—the garden-gate open, and the pigs hard at work
destroying the vegetables, and rooting up the garden in
all directions. In fact, the very animals about the house
were conscious of the character of the people, and acted
accordingly. If one of the dogs, for instance, was
hunted at the pigs, he ran in an apparent fury towards
that which happened to be nearest him, which merely
lifted its head and listened for a•time—the dog, with loud
and boisterous barking, seizing its ear, led it along for
three or four yards in that position, after which, upon the
pig demurring to proceed any further, he very quietly
dropped it and trotted in again, leaving the destructive
animal to resume its depredations.
"The house inside bore the same character. Winter
and summer the hall-door, which had long lost the
knocker, lay hospitably open. The parlour had a very
equivocal appearance ; for the furniture, though originally
good and of excellent materials, was stained and dinged
and hacked in a manner that denoted but little sense of
care or cleanliness. Many of the chairs, although not
worn by age, wanted legs or backs, evidently from ill-
usage alone ;—the grate was without fire-irons—a maho-
gany bookcase that stood in a recess to the right of the
fire-place, with glass doors and green silk blinds, had the
glass all broken and the silk stained almost out of its
original colour; whilst inside of it, instead of books, lay
a heterogeneous collection of old garden seeds in brown
paper—an almanac of twenty years' standing, a dry ink-
bottle, some broken delf, and a large collection of blue-
moulded shoes and boots, together with an old blister of
French flies, the, lease of their farm, &c., and a great
number of their receipts for rent. To crown all, the
clock in the other recess stood cobwebbed about the top,
deprived of the minute hand, and seeming to intimate by
its silence that it had given note of time's progress to this
idle and negligent family to no purpose.

" On thediawing-room stairs there lay what had once
been a carpet, but so inseparable had been their connexion
that the stairs were now worn through it, and it required
a sharp eye to distinguish such fragments of it as re-
mained, from the colour of the dirty boards it covered and
the dust that lay on both.

" On entering the kitchen, Peety and his little girl
found thirteen or fourteen, in family labourers and ser-
vants of both sexes, seated at a long deal table, each with
a large wooden noggin of buttermilk and a spoon of
suitab• .• •

Le dimensions, digging as if for a wager into one or

and firm in consiste

ncy that, as the phrase goes, a man
This, however, was not the only

might dance on it

picture of such enjoyment that the kitchen afforded.
Over beside the dresser was turned upon one side the
iich the morning meal had been made. and

huge pot in w

equally vigorous and animated, but by no means so har-
monious, was kept up by two dogs and a couple of pigs,
which were squabbling and whining and snarling among

each other, whilst they tugged away at the scrapings or
residuum that was left behind after the stirabout had been
emptied out of it. The whole kitchen, in fact, had a

was coy
. find de.

.ed with an immense quantity of pewter

eve towards the chimney to perceive by the weighty
masses of black hung beef and the huge sides and flitches
of deep yellow bacon which lined it, that plenty and abuu-

dance, even to overflowing, predominated in the family.
" The " chimney bracer' projected far over the fireplace
towards the floor, and under it on each side stretched two
long hobs or chimney corner seats, on which nearly a
dozen persons could sit of a winter evening. Mrs. Burke,
a smart, good-looking little woman, though somewhat
advanced in years, kept passing in a kind of perpetual
motion from one part of the house to the other, with a
large bunch of bright keys jingling at one side, and a huge

solemn-faced man, was sitting on the hob in ques-
tion complacently smoking his pipe, whilst over the
glowing remnants of an immense turf fire hung a singing
kettle, and beside it upon three crushed coals w
teapot. waitin',' as the servants were in the I

aa
bof,
,
ex-
pressing it, ' for the masther and misthress's
breakfast.'

THE SPINSTER'S. KEIMP

" A kemp, or camp, is a contest of industrial skill, or a
competition for priority in a display of rustic labour.
Among men it is principally resorted to in planting pota-
toes or reaping of corn, and generally only on the day
which closes the labour at each for the season ; but in the
sense in which it is most usually practised and contested,
it means a trial of female skill at the spinning of linen
yarn. It is, indeed, a very cheerful assemblage of the
fair sex ; and, although strong and desperate rivalry is the
order of the day, yet it is conducted in a spirit so light-
hearted and amicable that we scarcely know a more lauda-
ble or delightful recreation in country life. Its object is
always good, and its associations praiseworthy, inasmuch
as they promote industry, a spirit of becoming emulation,
and principles of good will and kindness to our neighbour.
" When a kemp is about to be held, the matter soon
becomes generally known in the neighbourhood. Some-
times the young women are asked, but in most instances,
so eager are they to attend it that invitations are unne-
cessary. In the winter months, and in mountain districts,

it is often as picturesque as it is pleasant. The young
women usually begin to assemble about four o'clock in
the morning ; and, as they always go in groups, accom-
panied besides by their sweethearts or some male relatives,
each of the latter bearing a large torch of well dried bog-
fir, their voices, and songs, and loud laughter, break upon
the stillness of night with a holiday feeling, made ten
times more delightful by the surrounding darkness and
the hour. When they have not the torches, the spinning
wheels are carried by the males, amidst an agreeable din
of fun, banter, repartee, and jest, such as scarcely any
other rustic amusement with which we are acquainted ever
occasions. On arriving at the house where the kemp is
to be held, they are placed generally in the barn or some
clean outhouse; but indeed the numbers are usually such
as to crowd every available space that can he procured for
their accommodation. From the moment they arrive the
lively din is incessant. Nothing is heard but laughter,
conversation, songs, and anecdotes, all rising in a loud
key, among the louder humming of the spinning-wheels
and the stridulous noise of the reels, as they incessantly
crack the cuts in the hands of the reelers, who are per-
petually turning them from morning till night, in order
to ascertain the quantity which every competitor has
spun ; and she, of course, who has spun most wins the
kemp, and is the queen for the night.
. .

"A kemp invariably closes with a dance—and a dance
too upon an unnsualtv-,,,A......i-ra during
the whole day the fair competitors are regaled from time
to time with the enlivening strains of the fiddle or the
bagpipes, and very often with the united melody of both
together,
On that morning, the dwelling-house and mostly all
the out-offices of Gerald Cavanagh bore, in stir and bustle,
a stronger resemblance to the activity of so many bee
hives about to swarm than to anything else to which we
can think of comparing them. Mirth in all its shapes, of

_ -
laughter, glee, and song, rang out in every direction.
The booming of wheels and the creaking of reels, the loud
banter, the peals of laughter, the sweet Irish songs that
filled up the pauses of the louder mirth; and the strains
of the fiddle that ever and anon added to the enlivening
spirit of the scene, all constituted such a full and general
chorus of hilarity as could seldom be witnessed.
"There were many girls present who took no part in the
competition, but who, as friends and acquaintances of
Kathleen and Hanna, came to enjoy the festive spirit of
the day. Hanna herself, however, who had earned
some celebrity as a spinster, started for the honour of
winning, as did Dora M`Mahon, whose small and beauti-
ful fingers seemed admirably adapted for this graceful and

peculiarly feminine process of Minerva: Towards even-
ing the neighbours assembled in considerable numbers,
each interested in the success of some particular favourite,
wnose former feats had induced her friends to enter-
tain on her behalf strong, if not certain, hopes of victory.
Kathleen, from a principle of generosity, patronized her
young friend, Dora M`Mahon • and Shibby M`Mahon, on
the other hand, took Hannah Cavanagh under her pro-

tection. As the evening advanced, and
and friends of the parties began to call

present at the moment of victory, it would be difficult to
witness any assemblage of young women placed under
circumstances of such striking interest. The mirtt and
song and general murmur diminished by degrees, until
they altogether ceased, and nothing was to ho heard but
the perpetual cracking of the reels, the hum of the rapid
wheels, and the voices of the reelers, as they proclaimed
the state of this enlivening poll of industry. As for the
fair competitors themselves, it might have been observed
that even those among them who had no, or at least but
slight pretensions to beauty, became actually interesting
from the excitement which prevailed. Their eyes, lit by
the active spirit of rivalry within them, sparkled with pe-
culiar brilliancy, their cheeks became flushed or got pale
as they felt themselves elevated or depressed by the pros-
pect or loss of victory. Nor were there wanting on 034