Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-03-05
An Irish wake.

An Irish wake.
When evening came the storm lulled, and
left gloomy chill in its stead The coffin
| arrived so eGpeditiousy that some said il
must have been made beforehand. A few
country people who had met it Oh its way fol-
lowed it with loud wailings, in which they re-
| heused the virtues of those whom they had
lost, and their grief and desolation in having
them no longer with them. Often a coffin is
thus escorted from a Ieighboring village to the
house Of mourning. 1t is then placed out Of
sight, as the body is not laid in it until few
minutes before leaving its last earthly abode /;
turf was heaped upon the FIRE candles light
ed and jug of whskey, filling the room
with its penetrating odor, gave evidence of
preparation for the approaching wake.
The villagers loitered about the doorway
gossiping until the arrival Of weird old Wo-
man, who kuelt at the threshold, and said,
God bless all here God rest the soul of the
dead - Then seating herself by the side Of
the body, she stretched out her lean and
shrivelled hands, and burst forth into the
most piercing lamentations, in which She re-
counted all the virtues of the defunct and of
her family other withered creatures, who
had been smoking and doing by the chimney,
now aroused themselves, and joined in dole
full chorus The intervals between the arriv-
al Of the guests-which were signals for new
OutbuIhlb-"tTt ulltl ny Nulhhty -uIluhluB.
smoking, snuffing and gossip. II any one
who had lost friend desired TO do so, they
could embrace this opportunity of crying
him. As the night advanced, the scene be-
came one of wild excitement the old people
grew confidential and communicative over
their cups, and the younger members amused
themselves with various games.
Upon the breast of the corpse, which lay
on the table in the centre Of the room, was a
plate heaped with tobacco, from which each
newcomer filled a pipe presented him on en-
tering, and after murmuring brief prayer,
took his place either among the old people by
the fire, or the younger ones in the farther
extremity of the room. On the arrival of the
neighbors, two old women, who were given
up" TO be, as / WAS informed, the best criers
in the parish, broke into unearthly howlings,
and these dismal echoes died away amid the
gossip of the elder and the laughs and Jokes
Of the younger portion Of the assemblage.
From an obscure corner watched unohserved
the strange scene, and saw how, after each
round Of whiskey the rigid lines that marked
the faces of the old men and women broke
into a myriad traits of subtle expression, and
their gummy eyes glistened and sparkled with
a new.found life, while the young people
were soon in the midst of a kissing game. A
circle was formed round a youth, who was
called upon to choose the prettiest from the
assembled maidens. On being summoned
she advanced, kissed her admrer who retired
and in her turn chose young man from the
group, and so the game proceeded until all
had been kissed-I hoped to their satisfac-
tion. Should any decline to meet the de-
mands eXacted by the laws of the game, they
are beaten with a knotted apron, amid great
hilarity and contention, into compliance
When this was finished, the old people, who
had been drying tobacco by the fire, and pow
derDg it into snuff by rolling it between
their fingers and partoOk Of it in large quan-
titles to keep themselves awake, again began
the doath-song with wild vehemence. When
they had somewhat relieved their feelings in
this manner, the whiskey was once more
handed round, and the young people resumed
their games The old men and women refill
ed their pipes with the tobacco which lay on
the dead woman's breast, and warming their
thin blood by the cheerful fire, listened to
some cummer's tale.
One of the young men on the other side of
the room, clad in an old red petticoat, ragged
shawl and ruffled cap, his face begrimed
with SCOT, and short clay pipe stuck in his
mouth, personating an old woman in the
agonies Of a fatal sickness, attracted my at
tention. A tall youth in a white flannel jack
ct and trousers, whose face was the picture of
jollity, endeavored to appear as wise-he was
perhaps in verity-as doctor. He felt the
pulse, and shook his head, and prescribed
'potheen" which, amid vociferous applause
was partaken Of by the whole assemblage.
He who counteTfeited the old woman dropped
6is head and was soon stretched on the floor,
in stimulation of death. MOurners grouped
about him, and two of the leading spirits sat
on either side rs criers, the whole assemblage
giving themselves up to the fun of this mad
travesty.
Never in all my life can l cry well on this
side the corpse" said one of the madcaps,
rising, and with his heavy hob-nailed shoes
walked on as well as over the counterfeited
corpse.
Nor l either" cried the other, who walk
ed over the body with even less tenderness
than his companion.
II the object of this mock solicitude Oh
iected to the rough treatment, he was beaten
into submission by the knotted apron before
mentioned.
In the dry recital these scenes lose, per-
haps, a great deal of their mirth but when /
witnessed them could not resist the hilarity
which they provoked, until the little grand
child who had been sleeping, amid all this
uproar in her mothers lap, creeping to the
table on which her grandma lay, tugged at
the sheet and crying, 'Mahnore," recalled
me to the awful presence Of the dead.
This touching incident did not seem to af-
feet the rest of the assemblage in the same
manner, for the sobbing child was sent back
to its corner, aud the old women broke into
another verse of their death-cry, while the
young people prepared for another game,
i. Cloud, IN March HdrperS.