Morning journal and courier., 1893-05-20

uuuCucn VI tuc QthE bQs
of ribbon, and bits Of tb r. that tet
possession; are not to be A-ted at all.
So, too. come those with looks of tri
| umph and secreted bottles of poteen, tha
''never got touch" that lie, are guiltles,
of the CHEESEMAN'S desecrating seal; fol
<'grief Is ever droothy" surely. Then tn.
night Is passed in eating, feas.ing and
drinking. Loads of humble fare ar
there; oceans of tea; and timely drops o.
the "rale mountain dew" Tales are told
songs are sung; sometimes they dance ts
the music of an old tramp fiddler who hs,
been impressed into service. But the
chords of mirth are minor enough the
night long; and smiles, laughter and brave
prophecies are all touched and chastened
by honest Irish tears.
When morning comes, and those WHOSE
imperative duties call them to their homes
have said goodbye with almost the same
dread, reverence and pathetic forlornness
se when lowering the dead into the grave
the rustic ceremony of conveying" Ia be,
gun. The subject of all this attention be
comes for the once, If for only this once
in lifetime, the hero or heroine of the
hour. The chests, or plethoric bags, OF
whatever constitutes the luggage of the
emigrsnt, is sent on ahead In some neigh.
boris proffered cart, friendly riots for the
honor Of the mournful privilege often oc
curing, or are elung over the backs oi
shaggy donkeys, score more than neces
sary always being In readiness for this
friendly mission.
Ii a whole family are to 60, the fare
wells to the wretched old hut which has
housed them is something pitisble beyon
description. If 1t be but q single member
of the household, the good-byes to the old,
Ill fzrN- f. E. 81. -, -
voy" are more pitiable still. These sepa-
rations are often too great load for such,
and many q withered branch of the impo-
verished family tree breaks and falls into
the earth from the keen, sharp sorrow.
But If girsha or bouOhsl, the pride of the
loved home, are departing, the mselstrom
of emotion as the convoy" or accompa-
nyipg procession, sets forth, is beyond the
power of man to reveal.
On many occasions during my wander
ings afoot In Ireland / have come upon
these excited crowds, as they were starting
from the home; as they struggled down
mountain boreen; as they Jagged and
walled along the great stone highway; or
as they nesred some railway station whence
the emigrant must depart to the seaport
city; and making myself one of the mot
ley "convoyers," have thus trsmped with
them miles upon their sorrowful way.
Sometimes these grewsome professions
will come from a point a score of miles
away in the mountains, or remote valley
districts; and though no one has ever
seemed to think these touching and char
aoteristic scenes worth q place In Irish lit
ersture, they are common enough from all
points and on all ways from which either
Neville, on Lough Foyle, in the north of
Irelsnd, or Cork and Queenstown may be
reached, and, heaven knows, pathetic
enough to appeal to the whole world
through artists pencil, or the most talent
ed word painters pen.
Away up in the Donegal highlands, in
the country of colleen Bswn," where
that pathetic and true tale threads and
thrills through Irish heads and hearts to-
day with the same wondrous power as
when 1t was new, theee hours of parting
are seasons of storms and tears. / have
frequently been at cabins where neigh
bors, in scores and hundreds had kept up
the, parting doleful cheer for an entire
week, and where the intensity of regret
and grief took on such wild emphasis at
the end, that those who were to have gene
missed their sailing day and steamer at
Moville, when all the sad business was
necessarily repeated.
These Donegal folk, however humble
and poverty-cursed they may be, stand
straight and tall, both in their individuali-
ty and upon their strong, long legs. In
deed this often reaches grotesaueness In
both respects. While the Irish pesssutry,
particularly of the south, are frequently
diminutive In form and sometimes ferrety
in character, these folk seem to possess an
inner Consciousness of self-importsnce cut
in glowing characters and large lines
while in no few instances they are so
straight that fine arcs sweep from their
heels to the back of their neoks, often Civ
ing them the appearance of carrying, and
with come disdain, invisible but mighty
commissions on the tops of their heads.
1t is weird sight to see scores of such
as these appearing around the curve Of
some mighty mountain road, accompany
ing the emigrsnt to Ssranorlsr, wailing
and almost keening as for the dead; halt
ing and embracing, often struggling fol
priority in walking beside the hero OF
the hour; and often 30 overcome with
the violence of their grief as to make de
spairing ruehes with the loved one bach
towards the old mountain home.
have many times fallen in with thest
cavalcades winding down from the Derry
vesgh and Glendowsn mountains, or from
the Boultypatrick, Gatigan or Aghla hills
and have walked and halted. and psrleyec
| and soothed In common with the homes
| souls for miles on their way towards tn,
railway at Stranorlsr. On one occasion
the conveying" party was from the fsl
west, from away over by the bowling cliff
of Maghery Bay, where life Is very dul
and drear at best. 1t was a crowd who's,
faces and strange attire bespoke grea
poverty. Two children, lad of seven
teen and girl of perhaps fourteen wer
going away. The mother was to remAl
behind until these wallis could send TO
her. For the whole company 1t was tn
event Of their lives, this few miles noun
tain journey; and the care for the brav
young emigrsnts, the consideration for tn
wailing mother, and the latter's grief wer
touching to bshold.
Half the time the lads companions hs'
their arms about his neck. The girl
would carry the sisters on their shoulders
and in seats made by interlacing their I'm
gers; while the mother and the children
luggage had been piled In an old squeak
ing mountain but, or cart, which was ten
derby drawn by hand. The women crowd
ed about the cart with all manner of er
dearing and resssuring words of comfort
but the poor woman could not be com
forted. AS she lay prostrste upon th
bundles there only came from her whit
lips the endless moan:
"Crosh orrini-crosh orrin! Ny pas
chee boghti-my psstchee boght" MA
the Cross encompass mel My poor chi
dreni-my poor childrenD
Once when wandering in county Galwa,
down by old Cloughmore saw q strang,
"convoying" party thaa could be found
any other portion of ireland. I had bee
saunteripg among the Connamars "kni
ters," "fullers," poteen-makers and ant
quities of the ancient Celts with whic
this region abounds, and my mind W,
full of the pagan and early barbsric LII
whose rude stone monuments were on ev
ry hand. Suddenly looking down upc
the sea, beheld scene in keeping wit
the times of which dreamed. A feet
rotten dories, ragged smacks and Gu
raghs, or akin-keeled craft precisely Il
same as used In these Islands two thousar
years ago, was approaching the shore.
The occupants were skinny and whit
They were dressed In rags and with Htt
, of these. The men wore skin shoes fro
which the hair had not been remove
which the natives call "pampootas." II
women were barefooted and barelegged
their knees, and their bonnetless hea
were covered with great shocks of coar
black hair. It was Dantean picture
hunger and want, framed in q setting
, ancient, barbaric times. They were q ps
ty of nearly one hundred God -forssk
Arran Islanders, accompanying q fsmi
of emigrants to Cloghmore, whence t
latter would walk to the train at Galws
They nearly all stood upright as tn
neared the mainland and were ohanti
the widest, most dolorous Celtic strs