The Hot Springs star. (Hot Spings [Hot Springs], Dakota [Dakota Territory, i.e. S.D.]) 1886-189?, 1890-12-26

AT AN IRISH WAKE.
Unique Features Of q Funeral OBJ
servance ON the Old Sod.
Row Celtic Mourners :. wake " the Dead
Chatting and story.Telllng Around
the Corpss-The Ubiquitous Pipe
and Black Bottle.
The custom Of .'waking" the dead in
ireland, says the London Spectator,
though by no means existing in its
ancient glory and vigor, still obtains in
. modified and shorn form in many
country districts. Briefly described, It
amounts to this-that the neighbour Of
the deceased assemble and spend tho
night in tho room with the corpse,
chatting and telling stories; in tho
meanwhile, Of course, taking ga blast
av tho pipe," and drop OF ssthe cray
thure" to sustain them during their
vigil. The conversation ON such oc-
casions naturally turns, to largo OK
tent, to the virtues of tho departed,
which are duly embcllished with all the
natural eloquence Of tho speakers. No
one unfamiliar with Ireland can at ail
realize what q scene q swake" presents;
and we propose to give sort of speci-
men of the conversation which prevails
on such an occasion
IAN ould follydF' is generally in .
scat of honor, close by the head Of the
bed; she has been nurse, perhaps, in
the family, and as she rocks her aged
body backward and forward she pours
forth with a lnelliauous Southern
trogue, in sad, wailing tone, a long
piece of delightfully."- discursive domes-
tic history. "Ah, wisha, wisha, lave
mo alone, tho masther was grand man;
Thadc Rcgan was tho grand man; he
MIXED up to forty cows" 'This implies
that he was q dairy-farmor whose stock
amounted to that numbcr.) s'Shure It's
meself reminders tho day av his we'd
din; Lard Edward was at home at tho
time by the same token, an as he wint
by our cabin heerd me mother to say:
by gar, there's t.s lard upv An shure
enough he was, for no was Oh his way to
Tim Hoolahan's, who was minding thir-
ty hogs for him. Turn thin out, Tim,'
Gays the lard, turn Thin out says he.
'for want TO choose out two av thin,,'
says he. TO be shure, and why not,
your honor's glory. me lard?' says Tim;
and, whin he had thin out, the lard
makes chice av wan widout tail, an a4
anodcr widout an earl An thin he says
to Tim, says he: Have thin two bastes
kilt says he, 'an' give them to the
people that's comm to Thade Regan's
weddin',' says he, 'for their dinner says
he. All, wisha, deeling, bat the lard
was mighty fond Nv poor Thadc; may
God be wild thin both! An doa't we'll
reminder the timc that poor Thadc, rest
his sowl, bought farm near tho rcd
bog an how Iattindcd at the dinner that
same day." ~s----e -i.'
AT this juncture, another speaker,
thinking he should have on innings, ,.of-
fers the nurse drink; and while she is
occupied with it he observes: "Wisha,
awenoch, it was tho poor masther that
was fand av his marning drop; many's
the timc he'd take mo wild him into Judy
AIolan's littlo public, an he'd say:
Judy he'd say, give Nicholas some
thing to warm MIN, and take the could
out av his stumick this frasthy morning.
An by and by he'd say: Nicholas, man,
won't ye have glass" an I'd tell him
I had wan; but he'd say: Don't tell me;
you had not;' an av coorse I'D say: 1T
isn't for the likes av me to contradict a
gintleman like your honor an Judy
would fill it up again ..~.-
A driver of a hcarse who was present
would add reflections which seemed to
him suitable to the occasion: 'sI tell yes
all that have been driving hearse
man an boy these twinty years an more.
have druv' rich an poor; an whin the
wind was an me back, the smell av them
both was just alike; an didn't like IL
nather. And whin comes across man
who has two or three hundred pounds,
I'M sees all his capers an antics, says
to mcse1f: what q gladiathur ye are; but
wait, me boy, until I have ye in the
hearse, an then Yell be quiet an aisy
enough shuro wanst druv jcdge to
tho graveyard; an saw tho yalla clay
shoveled down on him as wcll as another
-an' he rotting wild money. God save
us!' This observation called forth q
general exclamation: well, Ned, ye're
a terror" The old nurse-s.a charred
and wrinklcd piece Of womanhood"-
being now refreshed, would take up hel
parable again, and offer her ersnuff-box, o.
rather her snuff, to every one present
1t was done in this way: holding the bo,
in her right hand, she poured out some
Of its contents on tho palm Of her left
Whether you used the snuff or not, 1
was considered unlucky and uncivil Il
refuse to take pinch Of it.
Among the lower classes "wakes'' ar,
still vcry prevalent; bcggars have theil
own wakes" and even little childrel
arc ''wallcd." A wake is quito an ex
pcnsiyc ceremony to q poor, struggling
wor!s;ng-man or tradeeman; but he feel.
That he would loss caste without hold
ing 1t, and he has not tho moral courag,
to hrcak through the custom. Tho ex
pcnscs Of wake in the s'strong" farm
Ing class arc . very serious item, indeed
Tho Roman Catholic clergy nowaday
generally or universallJ discourage thi
custom; but 1t is 90 deeply rooted tina
its eradication must be question o
time.
i, 1osad Roll of nills.
4 He stood at o bar on Broadwxy snux
ing dice with tho bartender, says tn,
Milwaukee Wisconsin, and. elancing o
tho floor, discovered . roll Of bills. Tn
room was full Of men, and IL none O