The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1907-03-02

A friend of mine who was very en-
thusiastic about things Irish, !lersel
being an Englishwoman, was drivin
on an outside car in Dublin. She wa
rraising everything to the carman, an
among the rest the famous Dubli
stout with which she has just kecom
acquainted.
What an excellent drink it is sh
said, why, it's meat and drink, too.
'Thrue for you, ma am" replied tn
car driver, IAN a nights lodgin, too
If you only drink enough of it
Another story was told by a leadin
Dublin teetotaler who had taken II
I; pledge against a joke. A well know
Dublin citizen, also prominent on tn
temperance platforms in Dublin, wa
addressing crowded meeting and ar
gulng against the assumption tina
stimulants were necessary to health.
Look at me, boys" he said. ''Hcr
am, so years old. I've been a tota
abstainer all my life, and could you Sc
any man of so healthier than l amp"
''Yerra, Mr.. b. said a voice in tn
crowd. IF you'd taken your glass Xix,
a man It's hundred you'd have beef
| by now"
The beggars are chartered wits il
/ Ireland-and occasionally the wit sting!
unless one has the sense of humor t
/ laugh with it, May the blessing q
! God go after you" says the heggal
with outstretched hand, and when yol
have passed without giving any aims
land never overtake you
! Again the Dublin carman when he
! has received an insufficient fare, looks
at the coin in the palm of his hand, as
his the way of his brethren elsewhere.
All well. sir" more in sorrow than
/ 70 III, ,ot
made you"
Another on similar occasion said
''Arrah, bad luck to the Land
League"
But why?" asked the astonished
passenger.
"Yerra, sure it killed out all the
gentry"
In another case a friend of mine, a
small man who was walking with his
tall sister, was importuned by a beg
gar. but gave nothing. The beggar mis-
took the relationship and got home
neatly on the two by remarking soto
voCe:
''Ah, we'll. then, may God help the
poor little creature that couldn't say
no to you"
There goes high art" remarked a
Wexford beggar, as very tall friend
Of mine with sketching apparatus
passed down the street.
The beggar's wit is not always vitu-
peratve. One asked another of an ell
derby person who passed by with a
jubilant air:
What's come to the ould gentleman
at all. at alp
Sure, didn't you hear? He was mar
ried last week"
L thought there was something when
l seen him goin' along like that. just
touchin' the ground in an odd place"
In another case my sister was i'm
portuned by a female tinker. i. g.
gypsy, with three children. Further on
she met the lady's mate with three
more.
Our mothers dead, Miss, an we're
orphans" whined the children; give
a penny to the orphans"
My sister, young and dogInatic fixed
an accusing glance on the orphans"
Il don't believe you are orphans" she
said. Il met your mother farther down
the road
Come away childher, come away
said the father, sorrowfully. shes an
This, however, belongs
more to pure roguery than to wit. and
there's a deal OF sly roguery in Ireland.
Sometimes the wit is in the form of a
One remembers the ia
nous compliment paid to one of the
Cummings by a Dublin coal porter.
Look at her. look at heri I could light
my pipe at the fire of her eye" Only
an lrishman could have said to a lady:
well, l don't know your age, but sure,
you are, you don't look it"
There is the conscious humor in Ire
land, but there is also the unconscious.
Or at least the subconscious, which is
as much part of Ireland as her green
ness and her clouds. One remembers
the host at the couT try hotel, who.
when an angry English guest informed
him that he had put his boots outside
his bedroom door every night of the
week and they had never been touched, |
replied blandly:
Sure, that's nothing at all. We're |
the honestest people in the world in
his country. You might lave your
yoold watch there, an it'd never be |
ouched, let alone your boots
Again there is the answer "A Dublin |
,ar driver made to a friend of fine |
who asked how many the car was sup
posed to hold. well. four if you sit |
contagious and six if you sit familiar" |
Humor, conscious or Unconscious, is |
thing that meets you everywhere in |
j CldllNl L llt sly anu lilliOOtlIl- dDpedl-
ng roguery is a thing that meets you |
N all sides; the topsy-turvines, the |
luaintness, the odd. unexpected way of |
ooking at things, are the very essence |
# gayety in the country.
1t is in the face and the speech of
very peasant; it looks at you from the
yes of the townsfolk. 1t makes a
rowd anywhere a thing of life and
,ayety, electric with laughter. respon-
i've to everything but dullness. That
must have been the snake which St
Patrick scotched, for it is not to be
ound from end to end of at least Irish
roland.
In a land where they are all racon-
eurs. the wonder is that there are any
steners. 1t must only be by a gen
rcus system of reciprocity. Even when
hey blunder they bluBder 'wittily. and
hat makes the difference between an !.
IRISH blunder and the blunders of other
eoples. and accounts for the so-called !
IRISH bull
The Irish bull often contains an clip \
is. like that one Of the gentleman who 4
aid it would be better to be a coward 4
1r five minutes than to be dead all Il
our life. Even when it is a blunder it
not stupid. 1t provokes good laugh
or.
All the world loves q lover. especially
ne jcweler. the florist and the confec-
orpr -FvpninT Wisconsin,