The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1874-08-07
SKETCHES II IRELAND.


~ it, Humor, Oddities, and PeeuIiarities
of the Emerald Isle.
From a work recently issued in Lon
don, entitled "Life and Unpublished
papers of Samuel Lover, the following
extracts are made:
THE IRISH Posr-BoY (1S35).
In the Irish post-boy we are not pre-
sented with the white jacketed, silk
hated, top-booted, and bright-spurred
gentleman we are accustomed To in
England, IS trim as his own horses, and
as silent, till he touches his hat to get
his fees Tor driving them. The Irish
post-boy, on the Contrary, is as scanty
IN his attire as he is abundant in his in
telligence, having always something to
tell his passenger of the localities they
pass through, as though he took him for
a boOkmakee who was taking notes on
the way. He fulhlls a double function
he is a guide as we'll as a driver, and
his humor often lies as much in what
lie does as in what lie says. He Will
commence something in this fashion.
" Do You see that house, yer honor,
yonder? L suppose you know that's
Mr.. d'Archy's."
Eyes, do, Mr.. darcy is very rich,
1 believe ?"
Well, sir, maybe he is and maybe
be isn't"
Why, thought he was man of
fortune
- Well, you see he was purity well off,
sir, till he got how'd of tie property"
Till he got it WHAT do you
mean ?"
"Whr~ sir, when he was heir to the
property he had great expectations,
aud so, on the strength of that, you
see, he got whatever money he wanted. "
a. Well, and so he ought, when he
was heir to five thousand pounds
THAI true, her honor, true, sir !
But thea, you'll understand, he was
heir to five thousand pounds a year
that was spint ,"
ooh, see !"
so, when he got the property, of
course the gintleman was ruined.
HillO take care-you were nearly
in the ditch then"
g Never fear, sir; it's that black uard
mare that is always shyin' l-Hurrup J!
g How close her ears are cut y
'Yis, they are sir; oh, they're close
enough, but nothing will cure the VII
lain.
"Cure her? How do you mean?'
q" Why, sir; 1 persaved that whenever
she started she always cooked her ears
up so I cut them off, you see, to make
her lave off the trick of 'startin'; but
bad luck to the vagabone; she IS just as
bad as iver."
In particularly dangerous part Of
the road. with precipice on one side
Of you, you observe the ost- boy keeps
casting
AN INQUIRING GLANCE
Toward his vehicle.
." What's the matter 2" you inquire;
rather an awkward bit of road here. ."
Oh it's nothin', sir; it's grand
prospect"
Yes-of going over. Why, it is
come hundred feet to the bottom"
g Well, it may be; but look at the
prospect, sir; them mountains-oh,
they re grand, sir; they beat the world
for dignity, You'd never see the likes
again if you was TO 60 over twenty prec-
ipusses."
After many other tales and Difficult
ties, you reach your journeys end, and
then the post-boy, as you have sur
missed, expects a good gratuity. You
give him what you consider to be a
handsome reward Of his services, but
still he is not contented.
"Snre," he says, "your honor
wouldn't mind another shilling ?"
"No, " SOU reply, think I've paid
" But you'll consider the way drove
you, sir ?"
Not a pleasant one, by any means. -
g And the power Of stories 1 told
yol?"
"SomSsef which I have heard be-
fore"
We'll, then, give me another shiI-
lin sir. and III tell you somethin'
which I will undertake to say you never
heard before.
Very good, then, there's shilling.
Now what's the story ] have never
heard {?
Wen, then. of coorse your honor
remembers the three miles we came
along with the cliff upon one side OF
us?"
Remember it? I shall never forget
i'll"
We'll, then, you don't know, sir,
l<hat I drove you them three miles with
bat linchpin "
A stranger on one occasion asked a
car driver to set him down at certain
address in Dublin which was only round
an adjacent corner, and when Pat had
brought him to the spot the gentleman
complained of 1t s. an imposition.
{" You might have pointed out the place
to me. - - Pointed it out T. exclaimed
Pat. Is it a fnger-post you'd make
of me? Sure, then. you might have
paid me for my pointing, and left me
where You found me-" To return, how
ever, to our traveller. He IS driven to
an hotel, and despite to predictions of
the rival car driver, he retains his
powers OF mastication, and readily calls
for breakfast. Here another national
characteristic comes out in the person
of the waiter.
He does not move about like other
walters, formal and smooth as his own
napkin, absorbed In the point of what
you'll take next, and only muttering
kle Yes, SIR" or " No, sir" of a
Eondon place of entertainment. He
gives Won politics with the hot wa er,
and fattery with the buttered rolls.
g You look wonderful well, sir, after
the say-sickness. Some gentlemen look
as yellow as lemons, and maybe twice
as sour. They say the tay Will rise,
sir, since the French went to war with
Moroca. Great meeting to-day in
Dublin, sir. Isuppose you are going
TO attend it; perhaps you name to speak,
sir. "No, indeed 1 don't." "Oh,
I'm sorry for that-you've such a
spanking face, SIR" Have you any
soda-water % " We have, SIR" Is It
good ?" 'NPon my honor I don't know,
sir never drink it myself"
THE WONDERFUL CoMPosURE
OF some of these persons, though some
times very irritating, is certainly very
Ill 4 = hos
the iudici Ps rule of Galway waiter
for taking liberties. L had left my note
book ON the breakfast table while L
went for some letters that were in my
bedroom, and on nay return 1 saw this
parsonage quietly inspecting my private
records. On my reproving With some
emphasis the impertinence he had been
guilty of, he answered with the greatest
calmness ooh, 1 beg your pardon
sir; did not think you were in the
room, or / wouldn't have thought of