The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1880-05-06
An Irish Fishing Village.

a az " EiNANAl AAAN huh NUN Il
muddied my skirts among these poor
villagers, becauseI learned to laugh and
weep with them. Uncared for and. for
gotten by the world, they seem to have
but n earthly hope, America, and one
dread, hunger. The village possesses
no postollice; thee is no magistrate
within many miles; and the priest, two
leagues distant, serves numerous villages
as forlorn rs this, and people are born
and die withoutany ollicialno te. Many
supposethat the parish priest Is themost
powerful man in the kingdom; and it
was a subject of supreme surprise and
commiscration when / informed them
that the queen was a widow. On Sun
days the inhabitants of the village APP
pear, washed and shaven into n CHASTITY
pallor, ia the single street that leads up
from the sea. and remain all day long
gossiping and fighting, through sunshine
and rain. as if these achievements
formed a part of their religious duties.
Now and then the spoils of a wreck are
washed TO their shores, and when the
eoast-guards dispute with them what
they consider the bounty of the sea
fierce encounters take place, in ore of
which, not long before my arrival, a
poor villager had been killed.
There was scarcely II wel,-thatched
cabin in the village; the floors of most
| Of them were as muddy rs the roads,
and dotted with little pools of water.
which seemed II refreshing feature to the
ducks that came in in quest of food.
The most sheltered corner of the cabin
is devoted to the pig, and the chickens
seize upon every coin of vantage for a
roost. Nets hang from the %rafters, and
the equipments of the boats are disposed
in whatever dry hooks the habitation
boasts of The warmest spot on the
hearth is usurped by the eat, cherished
with great care as the protector against
their terrible enemies the rats and be
side it an old woman, who did not seem
to have changed her clothes since her
youth, coddled the latest born of the
household. The village was peryaded
with so strong IN odor OF fish and tar
that less agreeable emanations were
unnoticed. The dung-heap was zeal
ously guarded by the door, have seen
it, indeed, in the very living-room of the
occupants-as the riches that were to
prosper their next years potato crop;
and every morning the pig was sent out
to walk, with a solicitude for his health
not bestowed upon the other members
of the family. These people spent three
fourths of their time in idling and Cos
sipipg. l saw poor haggerd old women
at the doOrs'of their cabins, or by the
village well, who had to crouch like
apes to make their rags cover them, so
mad for gossip that they forgot their
hunger and the rain that soaked them
and day after day old men gathered on
the sheltered side OF n wall, and talked
with rs much interest and gravity as il
they had never seen each other before,
and every recital was an unheard-of
marvel. Troops OF half-clothed and
half-starved children sprawled in the
mud, fought among themselves, or with
loud yells crowded about some poor ASS,
inficting AL the torments that their un-
tutored i~maginations could suggest,
while their mothers, can in hand,
whispered, with amazement written on
their faces, OF all they had heard or
seen or dreamed of since yesterday in n
village dependent entirely upon Itself
for its topics OF interest.
Hither, l learned, the priest came
once a year to hear the confessions Of
the inhabitants. They repair to one OF
the cabins, where, while the pig, chick
ems, ducks and geese are kept in abey-
enc by the 3ealous host and hostess, the
rite is ceiebrated. Among these people,
whose only extravaganza seems to be
on the score of their religion, he is en-,
tertained and reQuited in a manner quite
out of proportion to the e "a of his
entertainers; and when departing, after
the manner of the fond mother in the
story book, who whipped her children
and put them to bed, he gives them all
a sound rating upon their idleness aud
remissness in their religious observ-
ances, and receives in return, "Long
life 10 your reverence" and God.
speed" from his humble 1ock.-J. Il.
Cloud, IN Hdrper'S MpgGziae.