The Irish standard., 1903-04-04

| is not one acre of grain grown in Ire
| land now for the ten that were in It
then 1 recollect going out the day
after the storm to look ut Il field be-
longing to man named Dillon. whose
land adjOined ours. The field had
over forty immense cocks of hay in
it the day before the storm; its owner
lived six or seven miles cast of the
field, and never used to draw his hay
home until Christmas. and unfort,n-
ately for himself he did not take home
his hay as soon as he should, for on
the morning after the storm there was
not single 'thraneen" left of it. The
very rottcd hay at the butts of the
cocks was swept clean away. Some
of the wags of the place said-"Dillon's
hay never wint home to him so quick
2fore, but there was Il power of it
stopped on the way by the bushes"
The most of the unfortunate mans
hay was blown into hedges in our
land which lay to tho east of Dllon's;
and the remains of his forty tons OF
hay might be seen embedded in our
hedges twenty years after the big
Wind The extraordinary appear
ance of the hedgerows. or "quicks," as
they are generally called in the central
parts of Ireland, gave rise to a great
many funny remarks among people
who are famed for their wit, even in
their distress. aud one of the most
famous wits of the locality in which
l was born was horse doctor called
Tom Moran. He cah.e to our house
shortly after the big Wind to pre-
scribe for a sick horse. Well" said
he, cts an ill win that blows nobody
good, for the devil Il much throublc
the birds ill have buildin' their nests
this year; all they'll have to do is to
go into a bush, scratch Il hole in the
hay, an lay their eggs in it,
1t generally happens that rain comes
Immediately after great storm; but
that did not occur after the storm of
1880. Not a drop of rain fell the day
after it-at least not in Westmeath
The day after the storm was windy,
but there was not any rain; neither
was there any for some days after
wards, and even then it was not a
downpOur that came, but moderate
rainfall. The summer after the storm
was, however, the wettest that even
the old men of the period remembered.
From about the LIST of May until the
first week in September there was
hardly Il dry day. But the big
Wind" great destruction of hay and
grain rs it caused, and many as were
the cabins that it unroofed and knock
ed down, was, as things turned out, a
great help to the poor, for the enor-
nous destruction of trees that it
caused supplied them will, good deal
of fuel, for turf was as scarce in Ire
land in the year 1880, as potatoes were
in 1916. the year of the famine.
Mentioning potatoes puts me in mind
of the fact that long ago wet weather
did not cause the potato blight, for
never, perhaps, was there Il wcttcr
summer i'm Ireland than that of 1880.
Yet tho potato crop was as good that
year rs ii generally had been for years
previous. 1t is to he hoped that the
summer after the great storm of 1903
will not be like the summer that sue
cccdcd the Big Wind of 1880.
Tho prayers ana lamentations of the
night of the big Wind" were sue
ceedcd by weeks and months of laugh
ter stories ana fun. Never had any
thing occurred in Ireland that brought
out SO prominently the fun, the wit
and the 1rOllcry of the Irish people.
Extraordinary things did happen dur
ing the storm, but hundreds of stories
were related which had no foundation
in fact, but were nevertheless gencr-
ally believed. 1t was said, for in
stance, that there was boy in place
with the cuphoncous name of Mucka-
nogh. who. like our servant boy, had
Il dccrcpit old mother, and fearing that
the house was about to fall ON her he
took her out and tied her with n hemp
halter to 4 whitcthorn bush in his gar
dcih and then went into the house to
get Il blanket to wrap his mother and
keep her warm. but when he came
back; bush and mother and all had
been swept away. and he 'ncvcr got
tale or tidings of aythcr of them"
could fill the "Wcckly Freeman with
extraordinary stories that were being
related for months after the "Riy
Wind" but would hardly like to vouch
for the truth Of all Of them. However,
the incident | am about to relate. did
occur in cabin moi half a mile from
our house. AMI it may interest some
OF those who are learning Irish-.\
"shOoler" or bcggarnan. got lodging
in Dan Igo's cabin on the night of tho
great storm. The shooter was from
the west of Ireland. and his knowledge
of the English language was limited
When Dams whole family were o,
their knees praying in English. tho
shooter was equally fervcnt in praying
in Irish. At last he thought he would
try to do a little praying in English
md commenced shouting ut the top o
his voice. "Musha. that the Lord ma,