The sun., 1908-10-18
SPORTY IRISH SHOEMAKERS.
Authorities on Dogs and Birds as Wen
rs Shoes. q


Il don't know how 1t is among American
shoemakers and oobblers,' said an Irish
man who has spent many years In this
country. shut across the pond,-in the old
country. shoemakers and oobblers are
inveterate bird fanciers. They are also
authorities on the good points Of a dog,
and as surreptitious oockfights are still
pulled of despite the vigilance OF the
Royal Irish Constabulary they are more
or less expert in the. matter Of gameoocks.
In fact the shoemaker in Ireland is sport
and is willing to back his favorite with
whatever loose change he may have
at command
"In my native town In Ireland in the
days when I was boy the followers
Of st. Crispin dwelt exclusively In one
narrow street. No other trade was
represented in that street. No mothers
son other than q shoemaker ever cared
to intrude there, And there they dwelt
almost as exclusively different race
as are the Jews in some European ghetto,
And every shoemaker on that street
had bird-a lark or lnnet or thrush
or blackbird or a canary-and was will
ing to swear by the superiority Of said
bird above all other birds. Sometimes,
indeed, one shoemaker would have half
a dozen cages. all filed with birds. The
breeding Of birds was an art on that street,
to which the shoemakers seemed to pay
more attention than they gave to their
trade.
-Now the making of shoes is perhaps
the most sedentary Of occupations. The
hours were long and the very narrow
street was one into which q sunbeam
rarely ventured. Yet the shoemakers
were as truly lovers OF nature as was
"On Sunday mornings in summer
the first man you saw. II you we're up
early, was q shoemaker, trudging out
to the country. either to trap more birds
or to cut sod Of grass to put in the cage
of a lark, And once having trapped
to To- his education. They prided in his
singing powers. and. as have said. were
willing to bet on him to their last farthing.
yes. the shoemakers In our town were
indeed a peculiar people, a class apart,
with their own traditions, their own in
terests. their own disputes. They got
along very well with outsidere, but In case
Of trouble were extremely clannish, and
though disagreeing very often among
themselves would unite against an out
slider. a man Of any other trade, very
THE tailors OF the town were neither
30 numerous nor yet 30 peculiarly people
were any thing but united. but in one
respect they were unit. and that was in
their contempt for shoemaker.
Among tailors q shoemaker was known
as a 'snob, and no more bitter term ofY
opprobrium could tailor fling at shoe
maker than this. A tailor might on Satur-
day night be found drinking with a car
penter or q blacksmith. or even with
laboring man, but never with shoe
maker.
sThe shoemaker on the other side re-
turned this contempt and dislike swith
interest, and often the quiet streets Of the
old town were disturbed by the battles
'snips' and 'snobs.'
'Tailors never took to birds as did the
shoemakers. Neither were the tailors as
class very sporty as dog fanciers or as
keepers Of gameoocks. All these matters
were left. as IL by common consent, to the |
Of the town.
And so when one wanted an opinion
on any OF these branches Of learning he |
had to betake himself to some dlngy.
dusty loft in Cook lane--the shoemakers
street, IL street IL can be called. There,
among the hammering Of pegs and the
singing OF laris and other birds, he would
acquire such lore as he could never OBJ
tain In any book that ever was printed.
Occasionally find. even In this coun-
try, q survival Of thi, old craft spirit.
Occasionally find. AMI with q thrill Of
pleasure which has regrets for old times
with IL, an Irish shoemaker or
oobbler doing a little business OF his own
in some cellar here who has b bird or two
In a, cage In his little dingy shop, or may
be a Boston terrier hitched to the leg Of |
the long low stool on which he sits, ! !
never sec such little shop that It does
not recall the shoemakers Of my native
town and their peculiar ways, particu-
larry their love Tor songbirds and dogs
and gamecocks.' |