Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-28
RACE RICH IN HUM0R.
Bright Repartee ProverbiaI
With the Irish People
POETRY AND PROFANITY
Irish Brogue Has an Indescribable
Charm of Its Own.
FAMILIAR ANCIENT MELODIES
Speaker Cannon Himself" Is De-
scendant of Famous Line
of Irish Kings.
FAMILIAR ANCIENT MELODIES
RY WILLIAM E. CERTIS.


BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.
SLIGO. August off any one should
write a book on Irish characteristics.
I think he should rank good humor as the
most prominent. for that makes up for
great many defects. We have been on
the island for nearly three months and
have visited more than half the counties.
seeing a good deal of both city and
country life and coming in contact with
all classes of people. and it is safe to
say that no has uttered cross or
an unknd word to us, but everywhere
under all circumstances and from every
body we have received most cordial
welcome and the most courteous treat
ment. And when We have asked ques-
tons, which many times must have
seemed silly and unnecessary to the peo-
pie to whom they were addressed, the
replies have always been polite and con-
Siderate.
Irish Rich in "Reppartay."
Irish retorts are proverbial. For rep
partay" the race is famous, and we have
had numerous illustrations. Wit is spon-
taneous. It doesn't take an IriShman
long to frame an answer, and it Is gen.
orally to the point. "Blarney'' is album
dant Every old woman calls you her
''darlin'," and every man calls you me
lud'' yer honor The insidious fiat
terry that is used on all occasions does no
harm to the giver or to the receiver. 1t
makes the world brighter and happier,
The man who always said the mean
est things in such charming way"
must have been an Irishman. although 1
do not remember to have heard a mean
thing said of anybody. over here: The
Irish race is not diplomatic in it's
actions. History demonstrates that, but
no race is so much so in conversation,
and the tact and taffy shown in the treat
ment of strangers is admirable.
The Irish peasant does not wear his
heart upon his sleeve. He may be frank
and sincere in his expressions but 1t is
quite as probable he is otherwise in fact.
He has the faculty of concealing the bit
tereSt malice under the gentlest smile
and fiatterfng compliments.
The pleasant way in which questions
are answered is very gratifying. espe-
cially to a stranger. You never hear
gruff word in ireland. An EngIishman
is brutality abrupt, but the Irish are al
ways agreeable.
Characteristic Barney.
The other day when 1 asked the guard
start he replied promptly:
mot till yer honor is aboard. sor.''
When 1 complained to the hotel porter
that it was raining all the time in Ireland,
he replied alphabetically:
But it's such a gfntle rain, SIR
Some Of the retorts you hear from the
common people are highly poetic. When
bought a bunch of flowers from an old
woman in the street the other day she
replied:
mother must have been a saint
face this morning" was the greeting OF
an old bag to my daughter.
''Oh, let me poor eyes look at We, me
lady. and your voice is as swate as your
face
Sometimes there is a tinge of sarcasm.
as when an old bag asked: Won't yer
lordship buy an old woman's prayers for
penny: that's chape.
1.-The hivins be your bed, me darlin',"
was the way an old beggar woman ex-
pressed her thanks.
Sir Walter Scott says: 81 gave a fellow
shilling on one occasion when six
pence was the proper fee
Remember, you owe me a sixpence
Pat. / said.
MAY yer honor live till 1 pay YER
When he was leaving the ruins Of the
Plunkett, his escort whispered to the Gus
tOdian:
That's Sir Walter Scott; he's a great
poet
.Divil a Bit" was the reply. "He.s an
honorable gintleman. an he gave me half
a crown, when the fee was a shilling"
Poetry and Profanity Common.
Very often We hear poetic expressions
from the most unexpected sources. AS we
were driving down to Ballyhack from
Waterford. the jaunting car driver pointed
Mt mil y1ifI, n tic IN,
marked:
THE most lonesome thing in Ireland;
without another of its kind within a mile
OF it,
The common use of the name of the
Creator is often shocking to strangers
and seems blasphemous. but it is an I'M
conscious habit. The word is constantly
on the tongue of the poor and not always
in profane sense. You hear God bless
you. God prosper you" praise God"
and similar expressions continually. One
neighbor seldom greets another good
morning or good night without an appeal
10 the Almighty. or the Redeemer, or the
Holy Virgin. ''Howly Muther' is the
commonest of CALCULATIONS but Irish pro-
family is always associated with bless
1ngs and not with curses. You never
hear the anathemas that are so common
in the United States. Nobody ever damns
you; if the name of the Almighty is ap-
pealed to 1t is always for His blessing
and not for condemnation.
Everybody Hasn't a Brogue.
Everybody in Ireland does not speak
with a brogue. 1t has often been said
that the purest English is spoken in Dub
lin and Aberdeen, but that is true to a
very limited extent among the highly
educated and cultured classes with whom
strangers do not often come in contact
In some places the brogue is so dense that
a stranger requires an interpreter 1t is
difficult to understand an ordinary re-
mark. And you hear the brogue in the
pulpit we'll as in the slums. There Is
no form of speech richer or more musical
than the brogue of an eloquent Irishman
and his natural gifts of oratory enable
him TO convey the meaning of his words
TO the fullest degree by his accent
never heard the service of the Episcopal
Church read in more eloquent and i'm
pressive manner than by young curate
with a brogue you could cut with a
knife as the saying is. There is nothing
to compare with IL except the sweet.
soft. southern accent in the United
States.
When you inquire where the Irish got
their brogue the answer will be- AT the
same shop that the Yankee got his
twang."
Who himself" Is.
have heen irving to find emma tool,