The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1859-06-02
THE SHkM ROCK;
RECOLLECTIONS OF IRELAND.
BY SLOW JAMIE.
For the National Era.-[copyrisht secured
CHAPTER v.

Social Habits, Traditions, Songs, dc.
If you stop strong fountain in one place, il
will burst out in another, for the water must
have vent The human mind was made for
enjoyment, and if it do not find it one direction
it will in another. The poorer class of the
Irish, deprived of political privileges, despised
by the great, and generally shut out from the
hope of wealth, found a compensation in
the free exercise of social feelings. The fe
male portion of the population, when not EN-.
ployed in the fields, were much confined to the
needle or spinning wheel. But sometimes a
number of girls would meet with their spin
ming wheels in the same house, and then hurrah
for the times. Loud above the buzz of dozen
of spinning wheels rose the sound of the joke the
laugh, the story, and the song. When a strong
west wind is rafting the ehestnuts from trees,
and the squirrels are chsttering With joy, whae
flock of wild pigeons are rising and settling
with loud noise, and the children are laugh
ing and scrambling among the nuts, we havs
in America faint representation of an Irish
spinning match
is done, the young folks assemble in the roads
or fields. Children spin the top, toss the ball,
or play hound and hare. Young men throw
the shoulder stone, or try matches of running
and leaping. Young women stroll up and
down the grassy lanes, picking flowers from
the hedges, and making the air resound with
their merriment. Nor do the sexes always
keep separate. o.
In the long winter evenings, they meet in
one another's houses. So familiar are neigh
bors, that they never think of knocking whea
they enter. To prevent interruption, it is a
universal custom to lock the door before they
attend to family worship. Children spent the
evenings in telling stories. Fool Jock, Tom
Thumb, Mary Ann the Witch Killer, and Foot
and Half, were the horoes of the best tales.
When some older member of the company
would tell one ofthese stories, one ofhis juniors
would would repeat it over being corrected
and assisted by the first, till he would have it
right. In this way, learned when very young
surprising accuracy.
Sir Walter Scott gives it as his opinion, that
the mythology Of one age passes into the ro-
nance of another, and that into the nursery
tale of the next century. And believe many
of these tales originated in the old Druidical
fables | will instance one. An old man aud
his wife had each daughter by former mar
rage. The old mans daughter was very hand
some, and the other as homely. The old lady
envied her step-daughtsr, and did all she could
to spoil her beauty, but in vain. Atlength she
sent her to the world end for bottle of water,
in hopes that something would happen her on
the way. The girl travelled a long way. At
length she came to beautiful grassy plain
beside a great river, where q snow-white COW
met her, asking to be MIXED, saying she had
not been MIXED for a thousand days. She
readily complied, and carried back the milk to
a poor family with whom she had lodged the
night before. She afterwards came to a rocky
hill ascending it, she was met by goose with
golden plumage, which begged for a nest to
lay in. She Immediately set about making a
nest, but could find neither straw nor grass, so
she spread her mantle on the rocks for nest,
where the bird deposited an egg, and told her
to take it with her. The moment she touched
the egg, it fell into money. She went to the top
ofthe hill, where she found the enchanted spring
Before she filed her bottle, she went into a
cabin which stood beside the spring to rest
herself There an old man, who handed her a
seat, begged her for piece of bread, saying he
had not tasted bread for thousand days. She
willingly divided with him her last oaten cake.
When he had eaten it, he said, If We come
kindly, kindly may ye go away; if ye come
lucky, lucky may ye go away; if ye come hand
some, thousand times handsomer may We go
away" She filled her bottle, and went home.
The old woman was surprised and vexed to
see her. Her complexion was neither sunburnt
nor freckled with exposure. She had walked
barefoot, yet her feet were still white and deli
cate as her hands. The same yellow ringlets
waved on her shoulders. Her blue eye was as
bright as ever. Her features were all the same
as ever, but spirit of calm contentment gave
them sweeter expression, and the air of high |
er intellect impaired a brighter radiance.
The matron Immediately sent her own
daughter of on the same journey, that she, too,
might experience the identifying effects of the
She, too, met white cow in the
plain, and goose on the hill, but, instead of
complying with the request of either, she drove |
them away with stones; and when the old man
asked her for piece of bread, she said, Eat
your own bread, and I'll eat mine. She returned |
more repulsively ugly than she went away.
We can easily guess that the spring at the |
worlds end was the fountain in high rock at