Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1890-12-27
A CHRISTMAS eve n IRELAND


Christmas eve in the mountains OF /
Ballycoi.nan, in the County Cork. Ire
land. A blazing turf fire on the hearth |
stone Ia the chimney corner sat Daniel |
| Donovan. 70 years old. who could talk |
| nothing but Gaelic Ee was twisting a
! little wooden wheel which connected by
| passage under the hearthstonc with
| the middle Of the iire. which iickered
| and fared as the current Of air swept
| through Next 10 the old man sat
Biddy. aged 90. with her hair brushed
smoothly back from her forehead and
| tied in a Roman knot at the back CT her
| head. Close to Biddy sat Mary. who had
/ never seen black nan or Chinaman
/ Sandwiched between Mrs. Donovan
| and Mary sat the American visitor. The
old woman was smoking and grooming.
| aud little grandchild with cheeks like
4 ripe peaches stood with her golden head
! resting ON her grandmother's knee
The freight danced and cleaned over
the little group "a the December wiHe
came down the wide mouthed chimney.
The scene was so suggestive of peace
and rest that for fifteen minutes no one
1 spoke. Then Mrs. Donovan said:
sAnd mebbe the Yankee gintleman Il
sing us q song?"
i He would indeed have been an IN
grateful fellow who should refuse such
a request under circumstances at once
SO homely and SO hospitable. And in
that grateful atmosphere he felt some Of
the old time sweetness come into his
. voice as he sang of the harp that once
the soul Of music shed in Tara's halls
and told in song the story of how two
eyes of Irish blue looked up at Pat NAL
10y. And as he sang a look of rapt won
! der and admiration came into the face of
his homely listeners. He forgot that his
. audience was few Irish peasants, and
standing upright he clasped the back of
4 his chair and poured out into the lowly
matched cottage that wonderful aria by
/. Mcligue, Pour Out Thy Heart Before
al the Lord. He had sung it before in a
: massive cathedral accompanied by a
great organ, and had heard the tones OF
q his voice go ringing down the echoing
q nave, but never had he felt the sweet
3 ness and beauty of it as on that Christ
mas eve in the 1owly little cabin in the
: mountains. And when he had finished
the aria and resumed his seat. Mrs. Dono
van suggested:
81 ''Mebbe the gintleman viii sing us
song about homer
Almost before he knew it the visitor
= had begun. Do They Miss Ne at Homes'
. He reached the third line, TO know a
Ill this moment some loved one were say
Z ing, J wish he We're here. when he be
: gan to choke. The memory of his owl
\ home in far off America came TO him
q What was the baby doing? Did tn
. children have the usual Christina
tree? Was everybody in good health
Was any one wishing for the absen
one? And before the lines We're out o
his mouth ne went all to pieces like
ship on the rocks He was a stronl
man who prided himself on his cynicisn
and materialism. He could not remem
Der the time when his eyes had been we
before But sitting there upon chat
with a seat made of straw rope, and SUI
rounded by as simple and ingenious pee
pie as the sun ever shone upon, he place
his hands over his face. and the tear
ran through his fingers and fell upon t.
hearthstone. An awestruck silence fe
upon the little group, broken by th
moaning of the wind in the chimney
Mrs Donovan, her face shining wit
sympathy, gently tapped the strange
on the shoulder and whispered in h
ear:
IF We were to take cup o. the Cong
[tea] ye'd feel betther, sirl''
J He took the "Congo" and felt bette
Then he went outside, and looking up
ci- the stars wondered why it was necessa1
W. for him to go 1900 miles away frol
,ly home IN order TO make fool of himsel
ERNEST JARRoLD.