Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-03-26
MAIDS OF BRITAIN
COMPARISON OF THE GIRLS OF
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.
The Irish Damsel Born coquette-
Settles Into Staid and Prac-
teal Wife.
Lady Onslow In the Quecn.

Lady Onslow in the Queen.
Bright. and fierce and dck'e is the South,
And dark and true aud tender is the North.
A doctor of large experience once told a
friend of mine he could usually tell the
nationality of his hospital patients, not
only by voice and accent, but from the ma
tional symptoms. An Englishman's COM
plant in nine cases out of ten is IL cannot
eat;'' whereas the Irishman always has "a
great impre ssion (oppression) on his heart"
and the moan of the Scot is invariably "a
sair head" 1 have often thought such self
diagnosis gives a clew TO some of the pre-
vaiiing characteristics of each race, show
ing the plegmatic practical qualities of the
EnSlishman, who consumes his beef ard
beer as long as possible; the emotional, ex-
citable nature of the Irish Ceit, whose
imagination runs away with him, giving
the heart double work to do; and in the en-
curance that succumbs to nothing less than
the hopeless misery of a "sair head the
harder nature and heavier brain of the
Scot.
comparisons are not always odous; on
the contrary. they are generally very in
teresting, and the basis of all analysis or
criticism We must be very unobservant
II, in our way through this world, we do
not notice how often some attributes cling
to certain races. In these islands racial
peculiarities are becoming more and more
obiiterated; modern facilities of travelling,
frequent migration Of all classes from one
country to another will in time make us
all exactly alike. and wonderful example
| OF the fusion of races. Briton, Dane. Gael,
Celt, Norman and Teuton. Yet hereditary
habits of thought and speech die hard and
Tor some few generations longer there will
be distinguishing features by which north
may be known from south. east from. west.
Varieties Of Excellence.
Without being able to pigeonhole my
compatriots quite so neatly my friend
the doctor, fancy have not lived nearly,
half century among them without being
able to make a tolerably accurate guess at
the nationality of a member of my own
sex and class before l have been many
hours in her company. This article not
being written for the purpose of a moral
lesson sermon is not the place for a
disquisition on what may be called the
heavy virtues and, indeed in many good
qualities feminine British and Irish alike
are beyond criticism. All are good" but
it is the varieties of excellence that are in
terestng to observe
English stiffness and reserve, of which
we used to hear so much and which were
made the subject of much satire by
Gallo neighbors, are fast disappearing UNI
der the cosmopolitan influences of modern
life; but one sees traces of them yet in a
shy cOnstraint of manner observable among
strangers Reserved, in the real sense of
the word, the Englishwoman is not not
half much the Scotchwoman. She
may meet you at first with some slight SuS-
picion of a stony British stare until she
knows who you are; but once satisfied on
this vital point, she will. if your rank is
equal to superior to her own, not I'M
frequently, after few days acquaintance,
confde to you embarraSsingly intimate de-
tails of her private life.
On the other hand. her Irish sister, will
be genial and ELUSIVE the moment you
meet, and will prattle away in a seemingly
most coniding manner; but it is all on the
surface, merely the social exterior. and
only to friends who are friends indeed will
she allow a glimpse of her inner life.
Scotch femininity is reserved if you like,
combining the ineXpansivepess of the Eng
lish with the intense reserve of the Irish
nature.
Men Her Vassals.
An Irish girl is born coquette and is
somewhat audacious in her fiirtations,
though developing, like reformed rake,
into the best and least Eighty of wives.
Yet she is rot half so sentimental; nor do
these abortive love affairs, that are like
preliminary canters before the arduousrace
of matrimony, go nearly so deep with her
as with the Staider and quieter EnSllSh
firt. OF fiirtations it may always be said
that the more conspicuous and even daring
in appearance the less dangerous they are.
1t is the hardly noticeable. stealthy affairs
that one day astonish the social circle by a
runaway match, or turn out such deadly
earnest that even parental wisdom and au-
thority have to give way
Though EnglishWomen no longer live, as
they are represented in old-faahioned Carl
catures. in a chronic state of calculating
.'shockingr' they are still very easily and
often quite unnecessarily shocked by any
deviation from the commonplace in others
of their sex; for, alas! one of Their faults
is an entire absence of that sense of humor
with which the Hibernian mind is bubbling
over: and it IS such valuable possession
to poor mortals often tiding them over
many dangerous bit of troubled water
Witty and Gay.
Take her altogether the Irishwoman has
the brightest spirit, the gayest wit of the
three, and is far the easiest for mere
aqua intance TO get with. Young men
will tell you if they enjoy dinner party 1t
generally turns out the lady they were
paired with was Irish or American. On
journey if you show some small civil!ty to
a fellow Traveller and she responds, genlaily
accepting it az something natural and pleas
ant you may make a shrewd guess-even
without a touch of the brogue to guide you
that the lady comes from the Emerald
Isle or at any rate is not an English
woman The latter would probably make
you feel with freezing politeness that such
casual contiguty gave no claim for any
intercourse beyond barest civiity. Then
in country house on a wet day, or among
a dull party, what a blessing is the indomi-
table gayety of the Irish girl, who is never
bored, pleased with everything, and herself
pleasing in consequence, who Will cheer
fully talk to the duilest guest whom all the
rest avoid, go out driving with the elder
ladies, and is never cross or standing on
her dignity; who is attractive to the men,
vets disarms the censure that would other
wise be lavshed by her own sex on her
somewhat daring coquetry by unfa!ling
good temper and lack of intrigue