Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-10-20
(Copyrighted, 1888,

ancient
capital, to the romantic shores nj 7 o,r,t S,,,T
IL wild and pleasant way Here ana t,sre NJ
blue Tough CLEANS through mass and rav,na
Inc scent OF the heather Is waited throucb tha
his shepherd boys, and often lassies with the,,
little hooks and Iaithfui dogs, dot their purplf
sides or stand In pastoral picture az the tnrr,no
eise Oh soule crag above, scanning me with alert
4-u "o.NsHhe interest as I tramp the ring
ing road below. Nesting In mites M valIev,
are ivy-grown hamlets OF hair a dozen ho,SeS
chapel or church spire breaking through IN,
masses OF white and green ike A mighty russet
spear On 10 the south, beyond historic Inch
stahuS the nooie Grianan upon the mount OF AL
sCn, hat some lnpershaole sentinel OF nrst-wOrIC
aa.i4ulJ: Far up the lOugh on island and elm
haii-hld oy mingled foliage and misfs are ~
srdC, grim ruins OF olden Castles crumbl1ng crona
,S 1unes, and the loftier masses Of
iaOse SRlehdld mysteries, the round towers OF Ire
IaHd- Beyond All 10 the west beyoud An hnndret
LAS ana halI-1ned crests or Donegal hiyhIapds
can wonder, amid such scenes. thai fhe heart
OerS % the irish are rooted ndesLructibly, like
ruins CT their native land ~ ~
LoUGH swILLY FISHERMEN.
The eastern shore OF the Tough is a succession OF
runs, dainty villages, like Buncrana and Fahan
aad Oh piigrim-haunted shrines Over TO the west
are wilder shores, huts, round towers, fishers
S , ana mere and there the patched sails OF
'Ae herTlhs-nSherS smacks lie white against the
DtekgrOund OF the headlands and hills Here the
sweetest herring known 10 man are taken: and
Decause OF my tdyIlic days and nights at the
seines, the weirs and the drives along the Charmed
SHORES mo, OF our own Passamaquoddy. at Fundy's
! tlle,Toaring mouth I wanted TO know these
DaWny nSher-folk OF IrelandS north. They have
not the CHEEKY content OF our own. The Quoddy
herring-nsher Is the sunniest, Jolliest, "roar-
lhScst' fellow In all the world. He is pIous
70 a Iudicrous degree, and withal the most deli
c4ods smusgler OF the American Canadian bound
ary nne-which wiz be wiped out altogether d.
sress. In fact he Is valiant defender OF his own
intn, and hrm respecter OF none But the Tough
ia this old land their toll is without reward ne
yond bare existence. Hence, they are sodden,
hopeless, hard But they are brave and strong as
as bronze, and form groupings OF startling i'm
pFeSslyeneSS. They are simple and peaceable I
aLa .1,l but were pirates wanted were fleets TO
o. ntted out With men for work giving one a
shudder TO contemplate, these sea-giants would
furnish incompatible human, heartless tint.
PIERCE BRLpAMEs
And II they are fiint their wives are steel i
am sure IL was not Yetholm Gypsy, but Tough
silly herring fishers wife, that Scott drew in mis-
grewsome .Meg MerrtlIes., Come upon these
women suddenly in their huts IL you wish TO meet
even MERCER Deidame than Scotr5 magic pen could
linn. Above SIX feet IN height, broad and strong
AS their bury mates, with legs corded like a
mans, and bare 70 the knees; with arms long,
crooked and nesnless as wood; with Hat hairy
breasts often barred from neck 10 the waist, and
tanned Dy salt, sun and wind TO the color OF
the notified alder bark: with wide laws, half
tOOtuleSo MOUTHS, SQnken cheeks. eyes blue
black and flashing from deep. yellow sockets, and
Drows oushy and ragged with brisllng hairs;
With narrow. creased roreheads and great, wide
sanron-colored ears Set straight out from behind
Ike dirty ewing -and-wlng" sails: and their SQUARE
heads crowned by once black hair, faded into
sauu.orown ike an il-kept animals, which is
matted and knotted upon the shoulders, aud fire.
quently 70 the waisL-and you have but the faint
est picture OF this halI-animal, who suDsists upon
kelp dulse, black oat-cake and half-raw fish that
The buyers who come TO the beaches Ia their carts
itOn Londonoerry, refuse as even unworthy OF
sale to mendicant and crouching man. beast OF the
town.
AND THE CHILDREN OF THESE?
They drag out the same horrible lives; help
make the British navy; turn traitor TO the brood
Of half pirates behind becoming the most remorse
less OF coast-guard or mountain poteen-huntIng
ulcers; stow themselves away, at the risk OF their
ives in the coal bunkers OF the great steamers
bound FOR America, or turn outlaw and man-hater
m tneir own country or In other lands And yet
.lOw the old blood occasionally blossoms through
THIS nmltlesS degradation. A daughter OF
Just sucn an one as i have pictured was
human beauty i ever peheId' Barelea.lRed
and pare-oreasted as her mother; brown as a hale
nut; ignorantly innocent OF fear; for four copper
coins she rowed me across Tough swiftly 10 where
Aer fathers work lay at meaning the seines ike
an AmaZonfan man-Of-warS-man: while II sat
s2eecniess, contemplating her marvellous beauty
was not altogether an artist, and wondering In
an reverence, why God, or Gods nineteenth Cen
fury CIVILIZATION, could not wait upon the African
missions for little and reach TO and succor such
Is these.
HERRING FISHING.
Tough swiftly herring fishing differs 50 greatly
rom that OF our own northeast coast that brief
description may be OF interest. With US the
Quoddy boat Is Invariably used In every manner
% service, and at Eastport nsh are taken In lust
three ways: BY the seine, In daylight at shore
swiftly and favorably; in the weirs built when
the tide Is out, OF palisaded interviewer poles in
the form OF printers mark OF interrog alton into
q n fah hD-r
sr gathered With n nsts anS TdeIe they
night, when q torch attracts the shoals TO the side
Of swItly-rowed boar, and the nsn are literally
more az sweep. Here the fishermen use the
"Drunthan, originally Scotch boat sharp pointed
lore and AFT, and smack-rigged for a single SAIL
But fishing Is always done here by niEnt. and
never IN the same manner as on the QuQddy IL 4,
-,ll-netrng fishing exclusively. The seihes, which
nave a three-fourths inch mesh, are each about
100 feet long and 20 feet wide. Six OF these
-pliced, noated with wooden sbobs' ard sunk
with leaden s1nkers, form what Is called stand
With this. the boat, propelled by a crew OF four
'nen, Is rowed 70 the grounds" which are con-
SANITY being changed asreeably TO weather-wise
over the side, and the men idly done smoke their
pipes OF bitter black twist and peat the boat and
7eine meanwhile floating at Will
TIE CATCH.
The seine Is 'boarded" over the side and ~shook
OUT" that Ia the nsh are shaken and picked on
into the boat, three or four times between night
fail and morning. The result is simply one of
l7ck, and depends entirely upon how many her.
ring have run their heads into the meshes of the
iet AT daylight the fishers repair 10 the beaches
~ lncn- where buyers come with carts from
l'erry. About haif-penny apiece IS paid for me
catches" which, under this system are an ali
times most meager The FISH are SHIPPED fresh 10
Belfast ana Dublin; and sometimes the Choicest
81 the herring md tnetr way 10 IIyeruooI ami
London. There are about nifty crews On these
waters; perhaps 800 men are engaged i'm me
york; and fully 2,cO0 souls live ana starye on
Eerring fishing In the Lough SwIIly
ABBY OF ST. NuRA.
But few miles north Of Buncrana on the shores
q the Tough Is the dainty hamlet OF FABIAN. Most
travellers would pass IL with but pleasant refiec-
ttOn upon its nesting beauty. Yet there boyers
about the little spot perhaps the deepest and most
attractive eccieslastic and historic Evolutionary
interest 10 be found In the north OF Ireland n he
Abby VI ST. Mura was here founded In the eariy
part OF the seventh century; the region rouni
about was, nearly three hundred years earlier a
lISorite haunt OF St Patrick himself; ST Murais
holy well Is still seen, and for eleven centuries
fOot-sore pilgrims have come bither Tor healing
through the efficacy OF prayer. Our so-callei
al, an upn.nchiDg Protestant, DIR. Walter Bernard
II Londonderry, the noted antiQuary nose single,
laEoed labors restored the Grianan OF Alleach.
here set a noble marble cross 10 marx the Shrine
iOr weary Catholic wanderers. i DO not know
whether this particular cross has ever been
matter. That sort OF a civilized deed consecraies
NseI and all things that go with II To the Irish
q ali lAads an impressive fact holds interest here
NAEIxuRA.
The most eminent successor 10 st. Mura was
Aaelnura (the servant OF Mural. OF this erudic
e2tdic historian it Is recorded In almost inspired
fla Irof.