The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-11-08
HUMoRs OF IRISH LIFE.

All lrlSnman is naturally deNOut.
and, as rule, accepts the decrces of
providence without murmur. His
climate is as changeable as he is him
self, but you rarely hear him g,'umble.
Anything short Of 4 deluge is "a grand
day. glory be 10 Cod" or, if he is COM
pletely wet through "a fine soft day
for the country"
"On one occasion, when it had rained
incessantly for weeks" says a writer
in the Cornhill Magazine, II said to a
man: What do you think of the
wea ther, Flanagan?' 4 think said
Flanagan. looking round at the drip
ping hedges and soaking fields-I
thipk, miss, if I was to be maxim
weather. an made the likes of this,
there'd be grumbln' at it, 1t was
wrung out of him. and surely disap-
probation was never more delicately
expressed.
LAS might be expected, ours is a soil
in which blessings and curses flourish
in almost tropical luXuriance, and both
are dispensed with a liberal hand.
Among the causes which insure a plen-
tiful supply of the former may be reck-
oned the possession of red hair. The
ouP masther's funeral was a grand
sight said an old woman, but shure
the grandest sight of all was to see
Masther Andy standin' there with his
head shinin' like gould in a dog dhrain
May THE Lord bless him an the barber
that barberized him"
1--WE are often credited with a dspo-
sition to accept statements without
proof of their accuracy, but the follow
ing story goes far to disprove such an
accusation: It's wishin' to inform
the family i am that there's a cross
bnste beyant in the field was an
nounced one morning by an old herder
Are you sure it's really CROSSE" some
one asked. 'Ah. begoTa, / am sure.
Mrs. Casey herself was walkn' across
on her way from market, whin it wint
at her an turned her upside down, and
the crathure was that skeared she
couldn't spake hardly word whin she
got up, an himself wouldn't behave
her. so he TUX Mary out to see if it
wus thrue, an begorra, it wint at
her an turrened her upside down, too,
so thin he knew it was cross baste.'
'The same old herder described his
cattle 'Shure. they're fine bastes
now; but troth, if yed seen thin win
they came first, it's thin skillitons they
Were
No paper on Irish humor would be
complete without at least few speci-
mems of bulls. Here are two or three
jotted down at random.
'Dhrunk" said a man. speaking of
his neighbor, 'he was that dhrunk that
he made ten halves of livery word
'Arrah, ma am! have We heard the
news? Misther Johns best calf's been
dhrowned on him. Shure, I'm after
goin' through the field mesilf, when
they We're gettin' the crathure out OF
the ditch. an he was that wake he
could hardly walk home But
thought you said he was drowned.
'Dhrowned! And sure, so he was
dhrowned, but he wasn't dhrowned
dead!
why is the chapel bell ringing,
Mike| 'Shure, it's two men over there
beyant in Gurtnaghur that's dead, and
they're a-buryin' of one another to-
day, and that's the sign'
among the the many factors at
work in ireland there is one of the ex-
tent of whose influence is supposed,
by both friends and foes, to be unlim-
tied l mean what is called the power
has prominent place for good or evil
in Irish life, the following example
may be of interest:
'"Old Mike and his wife lived in lit |
tie cabin on the mountain, one of a |
type which is happily every day be-
coming more and more rare. The walls |
were of mud and the floor of the same |
useful material, with a gutter running |
down the middle to divide the family |
apartment from that of the domestic |
To this mansion came his |
reverence one cold, showery morning |
in March to hold station. His UNI |
brella was wet and dripping. so. being |
a careful man, he placed it open in the |
space vacated by the animals, who |
were grazing outside. After the usual |
devotions, when the congregation had |
dispersed, he went for a stroll, while |