Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1874-12-24
MY GRANDFATHER'S WEDDING

MY GRANDFATHER'S WEDDING
A Story Of Ireland in the OIden Times
Ny ancestors had been settled for gen
erations IN the vicinity of small sea
port In the west of Ireland. doubt i
richer or more varied scenery is to be-
met with anywhere. Landward stretch.
es broad lake, studded with green Isl.
ands and begirt by lofty hills, most OF
the latter being wooded to the top. On
every commanding point stands q
ruined stronghold and in every one OF
the many pleasant valleys molders a
long-deserted shrine. While some OF
these ruins are renowned in history, all.
have their traditions or SURPRISING in.
terest, even when told by the rude
peasants.
Westward the narrow harbor expands
into wide bay, which in its turn opens
out into the illimitable ocean. The
coast Is wild one /; it consists in great
part OF range of stupendous cliffs
stretching for miles, and rising in many
places more than thousand feet sheer
above the water.
What with It's magnificent scenery
and its wild legends, s. and its
neighb erhood is precisely the spot to
nourish the spirit of poetry and advent
ure.
Our family was one of eight or nine
which had divided two counties be-
tween them in the time of James
Toward the close of the last century.
the period of my story, its prosperity
had long been on the decline. A sue
cesslon OF representatives given to duel
ing, gambling, drinking, rollicking. and
unlimited hospitality, had sadly dimin.
lshed its resources. They were a race
unusually reckless for even the Ireland
of the olden time. A fair specimen of
them was my grandfather. While vet
a mere youth ne had succeeded to the
hesdship OF the house, with its fortunes
and liabilities. The latter included
feud with neighboring clan, the COM
mencement of which nobody remem-
bered, but which had been transmitted
from sire to son, exasperating as it
went. Three months never passed
without riot and homicide sometimes
on an extensive scale-between the
parties.
As 1T happened the Gregg chieftain
OF he day was also young, though some
years the senior of my grandfather-al
fne, powerful man of 26. Fortune
willed that the pair should become ri
walls IN love, both wooing the beauty of
the province. She was indeed beauty.
L saw her fifty years later, withered |
with age and worn with troubles of no |
ordinary kind, yet still handsome and |
her portrait, taken IN her prime, fully |
justified the high praise awarded to her |
attractions In song, and the still higher |
praise included In the fiery affections
which they excited, and in the deeds az |
fiery to which they impelled. Here 1 |
shall take leave to remark that the |
world contains no finer specimens of
humanity than abound among the
higher classes of Western Ireland. In
the case OF my grandmother, a strong
infusion of Spanish blood had added
the dash and brilliance of the South to
the native grace of the handsome
Hamiltons,
My grandfather, one of the widest
spirits of his age epd country. was AN
enthusiastic spor -. He delighted
IN high excitem, :, was an unerrinp
shot and q daring horseman. and NO
less skillful IN handling sail and oar
than IN guiding the sfeed. Indeed.
Little" Allan Grants desperate feats
and hairbreadth escapes to this day
form the theme OF freside story in the
land of his birth. He was about the
last of mortals whom one would think
OF turning rhymer. But love effects
strange transformations. / have be-
fore me bundle of widowed papers.
written over with verses addressed to
-" Pretty Fanny Hamilton" They
might be more polished, perhaps, but
they could hardly be more earnest and
original, or more free from affect ation
and conceit.
My ancestors rival vas favored of the
relatives of the beauty, and nv ances-
tor was favored Of the beauty herself,
whose heart was completely carried
away by the impetuosity of the frank.
fearless rhymer. In those stormy
days, however, the relatives of Irish ,
beauty were accustomed to bestow it in
without much regard to the
feeling of its. possessor. And so {
IS Pretty Fanny" as she was called to
The day of her death, was condemned ,
TO wed Mr.. Gerald Gregg, though the j
fact that her affections were fixed else
where was notorious. Her prayers and {
ler tears were unavailing to move the
iespots of the domestic circle. Her