The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-05-06
DONEGAL MOUNTAIN BOYS.
IRTsH LADS WHO WORK HARD AND
HAVE SOME ODD BELIExS.
start Early to Aid in supporting ths ssniy
Risks Of Watching the sheep In the
Mouutains-How Turf 10 Cut- Bssinninss
Of Fartunaa-Eyea Turned on AmertcA.

Of Fortupes-Eye Turned on America.
pleasant life and a wholesome one Is that
Of the rising youth IN our mountains. h@
foet are strangers 10 shoes till he Is a bravo
lump OF q aarsien"-i8 or "a years old he
would not tolerate such membranes Es
can skip over moor and mountain. ana mop
over gravelly ground and strong slope N hs
hardy bare feet with the ease OF the mountain
sheep which he follows. Az home and aoroao
at school, at market aud AT mass aiiss-
his feet know not brogues. He Is as hset as
a goat upon the hills. and can scoir the low
lands like n moor fire.
Till n generation ago he got bis first titing
OF brogue, from the brOgue seller IN the fa'r.
The broGue maker then made II pile OF single
brogIes Of all si2es, and, filing acreeI Win a
collection of them. carried them into the ialr.
The buyer had tho whole stock TO choose from
and fitted each foot IN turn and al his pleasure
As our people have The highest regard for
learning. the vOuue.tcr~ are AZ al early age
tIrned ont, and of, thor two. three. four and
five mile, 10 the district scho"l-a chunk OF
oat bread, or Indian bread, or soda bread,
IN their pockets. This they usually contriNe
60 eat and be done with before they have Reached
the school. Notwithstanding that they viii not
eat again TIL 4 O'Clock or . inthe AFTERNOON
But that gives them little concern a lIsht
pocket and q long fast j. easy a. kiss your hand
Every child i, nowadays kept at school III
lie T. well able to figure. read. write and fight
although the last is an ccomp!iShmen
NOT formally provided for in the school pro-
gramine, and not paid for by the parents
Nevertheless, at every Donegal school II IS
one of the first branches mastered.
Properly speaking. there are two school
torp,. in Zach Nnor ,iy trfDt MAY till NIr.
%. and from the middle Of November iii tho
middle of March Outsde these dates, very
few. except the mere infants. attend or Cda
afford to attend ,chooi because at the ware
tspringl work and the harvest tho help Of all
is very much required AZ home After school
hours, IN the summer. too, they must work
by the father side iii night. or herd cattle Or
sheep upon the hill tn" wrcstlc win the soil n
thei ciort t%oioroea subsistence fr"ni I l. SO con
tiuuor- that III" head OF every lttle household
must impre.s the AID OF all hts children. The
smallest of them can manure the potato ridges,
plant seed, break the soil, weed the crops.
make hay aud gather the potatoes, while the
more fully grown can -padc foot for foot VITA
himself, carry loads, NOV the grass and shear
the corn.
Tho flock OF sheep upon the hills must he
gone after once a day. seen, counted, and
turned back from ne GhLoring marshes. This
task g~eucyally falls to he weli-grovn boy.
Lest he should happen upona patch of hungry
grass. his mother puts N his pocket uwedge
Of stout bread before IN, setting out, Where
some greedy person sat and ate. and dd not
leave poruOnf for some poor person who should
come that way, or for the fairies. the latter
casts ,reils onthe spot 20 that any oncW who walks
on ailerWard Is suddenly overcoine with hum
ger weakness rfeur sollach' We ca! 49, aud
sinks exhausted such .rots mr." not
IN the DoncSa, Mountains. / know well, from
-Xparieuuc. that II is very risky 10 valh them
without carrying something ea'ah.c. Often
have | known peope To b. overcome by the
ieur %gortach, although one mlrul" nei,f. they
lelt 10 hunger. As The cause 81 lhl~ | nave ao-
vaaced our theory. lieav" wiser heads 10 ind an
other.
ON the hills the boy has often 70 tramp many
mics and climb tnaay mountains in search
of a .,raycd shrrI. he meets on he mountain
tops The young men who come from distant
valleys, each ON his o2n GncSt-and he sWGps
with them information Atuui ~trays, and hH
lungs are ~ good and the silence OF the hits
so great, and The ar so rare. that he cnn hail a
friend upon another mountain, op some miles
away. putting hi, hands TO his mouth AID
CRYING "A-hoyl Mike Dohcrty, A-hoy' A-hcy'
! huna,hu,lo,h"y ard hear Mics rely,
fbTi9 o !, hoy boz " 2r5nI,n. huli a a.b"y BRA" 'arr'-
This mOuntaiucerlng Ia not entirely without
its rIsks, Tor IN ION" states OF the Weather.
when the CLOUDS come d0Nn on ne noun am
they often have caught him, even though he
be feet Of foot. Then II IS best to 81 down
resignadly and suffer tho Penetrating mist.
and, perhaps. the drenChIng RAN. Tor II he at.
tcmpts to trave, OIL tho mountain, he may hazard
n step where, when 4 is too la'e. he finds the
mountain Is not, and ms, body may, be picked
"A bad fall, he il most likely TO lose his bear
ings in a few minutes and go wandering deeper
into tho hills, till the mist rises and d "closes TO
him an unknown country. Peopl" have been
by the mist kept wandering the h!ls Tor Gays
together-craNlinr the h,ls. rather.
his turf spade and with a ineachal Of men
(holping neighbor-l goes TO the peat bog TO
cut his winters firing. The turf is dug, Though
by four. on, of the black soft peat. Layer
after layer is cut of the turf bank, as far as
eight. twelve; OF, IN good bogs even twenty
and denscr. aud nlakes a better turf than the
previous layer. With one thrust Of the double
bladed spadc the blades are sci At RICH, angles
he cuts a clean turf and throws II over his
shoulder onto the bank above. There a
man with a turf barrow adds it TO IFS load
Where they are laid "sincly to dry--for at least
tUo-thirds of the weigh Of the now turf is
water.
WORK. they unite the wrappers In which they
carried with them their buttered bread and
bottles of milk, and, sitting around In a circle,
they make a merry meal.
Acoupie OF days after being cut and spread,
the turrs are footed, that IS, placed on end;
three or four leant together. \ week later. be-
ing fairly dry. they are built into turf clamp
long little s~tacks-gnd in another week or so
they are perfectly dried and are built INTO enc
great stack, in which they are kept IN ready
~ be carted home and built in a stack by the
sido Of the house.
Deep down in the bog, oak and fir. some
centuries or a thousand years old, are found
The fir is full OF resin and burns with
a beautiful blaze. The old tree trunks are
cut with a very heavy long-handlcd aNe made
specially for the purpose. win, in the sun
| mud brought home To lpiD the winters fire.
A. the boys grow up The little farm j. unable
to support all. So. one morning. the eldest
and strongest tics a few sorry belongings in a
red handkerchief, takes with him his little
bundle and his fathers and mothers blessing,
strikes out upon the road that leads over the
mountains. and Is gone to push his fortune.
For those whose fathers cannot give them
the s2j necessary to pay their way TO America,
two other doors are open 20 fortune though
narrow doors enough. such a boy mny walk
forty miles TO the port Of Derry and get con-
veyed 10 Glasgow al "A cost OF u dollar and
q quarter, and IN that big city (where are
thousands Of our Donegal BOYS Mwaysl may
get omplOymeut in iron works at q wage OF
s. a week, or. oftener he may walk thrtv miles
$50 a year and his support In the farmers house.
These big Scotch farmers occupy the rich
alluvial lands of the northern Irish counties
lands from which their hired boys fore
fathers n century and a half ago were driven
driven into the mountain wilderness. SO, for
q paltry wage. this poor boy tLls for a stranger
the soil that should be his. Life here is not
the pleasure II was IN his mountain home.
TO the SCotCh-lrish farmer existence Is a very
serious matter. He has his BOYS astir at 1
O'Clock in the morning. and. with the eXCnp-
ton OF q very short rest Tor meals, works Them