The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1893-07-15
THE IRISH GIRLS.
An Englishman's "reminiscences of
the Fair Daughters Of the
Emerald Isle.
THEIR CHARACTERIST TICS

THEIR CHARACTERISTICS
The Splendid Unselashness and
Sef-Sacrihcing Devotion of
Irish Women.
Great indeed are the attractions which
the Irish girl OF gentle birth and breed
ing possesses. and, as an Englishman born
and bred as Tory, confess that my OBJ
jectiols to Mr.. Giadstone's so.called sep
aratist policy with regard to Ireland are
mainly due to apprehensions lest this
separation" should tend to sever our
intercourse with that portion Of the EN-
pire most noted for the loveliness of it's
women. 1t is diff, ult to describe this
loveliness, which does not consist in any
one type of beauty. Indeed, there are
several types represented, and while in
Galway one finds girls whose complexion
and features possess all the characteris-
tics of southern Europe, in other parts
ct the so-called ''Sster Kingdom" the
maidens are as tair complexioned as
those of Scandinavia. Both blondes and
brunettes have, however, one feature in
common with the Spaniard, namely the
diminutive size and shapeliness of the
foot. The latter is dainty and poetic in
the xtreme, and the arch Of the instep,
as we'll as the tripping lightness Of the
tread and the undulating grace of the
walk, present striking contrast to the
genarons-sized pedal extremities and
ponderous tread OF the English girl, and
OF Oil the other women Of the North save
of Russia. Another point Of resemblance
of the Irish girl to the Spanlard is to be
found in her fondness for vivid colors,
and while this occasionally leads them
to eccentricity and to what Parisiennes
might be tempted to pronounce as Tex
travagance' in the way OF dress, yet on
the other hand the result is not displeas-
ing, and somehow or other it seems to
add to the charms of the wearer--if that
indeed were possible.
Yet another characteristic which the
Irish girl has in common with the women
of Southern Europe is her innate taste
and love for music, which is certainly
not shared by her English sister across
the channel. Her dancing can only be
compared to that of the Viennese in
grace and lightness, while in her facility
for acquiring languages she resembles
the Slav. She is the only member Of the
English-speaklng race who appears to be
able to get to speak French without any
trace OF foreign accent, and she alone OF
all the other non-Austrian people seems
to have it in her power to acquire that
soft musical crawl with which the Wen
nese are accustomed to endow the ordin-
arily harsh and cultural sounding Ger
man language. In her readiness to adapt
herself to her surroundings, no matter
what the matter may be, the daughter Of
Erin has much in common with the
daughters Of Columbia, and next to an
American girl theirs is no woman Wi o is
80 we'll fitted in every way to become the
better half of diplomat than an Irish
maiden. sss-
In her impatience, that most feminine
of all faults, as we'll as in her unpunctu-
ality, she is thoroughly French, and it is
owing to this lack Of patience perhaps
that she never gives herself time to &c
into any great extent for book learning,
Indeed her brightness and clevernesa
may be described as congenital, for
have never met an Irish girl who could
sit still sufficiently long in one place to
enable her to read the second page Of q
book after having finished the first. The
impersonifcation Of perpetual movement,
she invariably reminds me OF the Arab
tradition with regard to the creation Of
women. According to this story Allah
had laid down the rib on the ground and
was just engaged in sewing up the side
Of Adam whence He had taken 1t for the
purpose OF constructing Eve, when sud-
denly a stray dog caught sight OF the
bone, grabbed it and bolted. Allah
started of in hot pursuit, but only sue
ceeded in clntching hold Of the animals
tail- which remained In l1ie hand. the doc