The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1867-11-21
lFrom Every Saturday.
The Wren OF Curragh.
BY THE AUTHOR OF "a NIGHT IN a
wORKHoUsE.
CONCLUDED.

at a first glance it is so much like a
mere bush that you might Well pass
by without dreaming thatit was the
habitation of human creatures. How
ever, there are differences, of course !;
and thus, after | had looked for few
moments at my first nest, and glanced
around and beyond it, | saw that L
was in fact in the midst of little
village, with as many-hOmes shall L
say? and as many inhabitants as some
English hamlets whose names are
well marked on the map. Dotted.
about to right and left and onward,
at intervals varying from 20 to 100
yards, were other bushes, which bore
not only,certain signs of man 5 con-
structive skill, but of wOman's occu-
pancy. Suspended against-the prickly
sides of one of themewas a petticoat,
against another a crineline; an article
so bulky and intractable that it could
not we'll be got inside. Indeed, the
probability is that it never did get in
side at all-never was inside; but was
put on and taken of, as occasion re-
quired, at the hole that served for a
door. How could three or four large
limbed women, crinOlined accordingly,
live in a space no bigger than the ox's
crib or the horses stalI2 Besides,
that is exaggeration. T0sbe parti6u
lar, the nests have an interior space
of about-nine feet long by seven feet
broad; and the roof is not more than
four and half feetfrom the ground.
YCu crouch into sthem. as beasts
crouch into cover; and there is no
standing upright till you crawl out
again. They are rough TAmishappen
domes of furze-like big. rude birds
nests compacted of harsh branches,
and turned topsy-turvye upon the
ground The walls are some twenty
inches thick, and they do get pretty
we'll compacted-Inuch more than
would be imagined. There is no
even a hole in the roof,
which generally slopes forward. The
smoke Of the turf fire which burns
on the floor of the hut has to pass
out at the door when the wind is ia
Vorable, and to reek slowly through
the crannied walls when it is not. The
door is a narrow opening nearly the
the height Of the structure slit in
1t, kept open by two rude.posts, which
also serve to support the roof. To
keep il, down, and secure from the
winds that drive over the Curragh so
furiously, sods. of earth are placed on
top, here and there, with piece of
corrugated iron much used in the
camp apparently saw many old
and waste pieces lying about as an
additional protection from rain.
Sometimes a. piece Of this iron is
placedin the longitudinal slit afore-
said and then you have a door as
well as a doorway. Flooring there is
none of any kind whatever, nor any
attempt to make the den snugger by
burrowing down into the bosom of
the earth. The process of construc-
ton seems to be to clear the turf
from the surface of the plain to the
bushes for building material, and to
call in a friendly soldier or two to
rear the walls by the simple process
of piling and trampling.
When the nest is newly made, as
that one was which | first examined,
and if you happen to view it on a hot
day, no doubtit seems tOlerably snug
shelter. A sportsman might lie there
for Summer night or two without
detriment to his health or his moral
nature. But all the nests are not
newly made; and if the sun shines
on the Curragh bitter winds drive
across it, with sWamping rains for
days and weeks together; and miles
of snow-covered plain sometimes lie
between this wretched colony of
abandoned women and the nearest
town. Wind and rain are their worst
enemies (unless we reckon in man;
kindly, and play {" old gooseberry "
with the bush dwellings. The beat
ing of the one and the pelting of the
other soon destroy their bowery as
pect. They get crazy; they fab to-
ward this side, and that; they shrink
in and down npon. the outcast
wretches that huddle in them j. and
! the doorposts don't keep the roof.up,
and the clods don't keep it down.
the nest is nothing but a furry hole,
such-as, for comfort, any wild beast
may match anywhere; leaving clean
illness out Of the question. sTsj.
OF course. | did not.make all these
observations at a first visit. ItIwas
afterwards. that / found No. ) Bush
Cthey are called No. ] Bush No. 2
Bush, and $50 forth by the ,wrens
themselves was really superior edi-
flee IN its -way-larger, better than
any other; and we'll itshould be, for
it was the abode of FIVE or six women.
Other nests were smaller, and fast
going to decay; but even in the small
est three women we're harbored,
while one was teDanted by as many as
eight. Altogether, there are ten
bushes, with about sixty inhabitants.
In them they sleep, cook, eat, drink,