The Irish standard., 1908-10-03
An IRISH VIllAeE
A Character Sketch of the
Same Continued.
The Parish Doctor is an I'm
portant Parsonage.

i
Anyone who knows anything about
en- Irish village will tell you that the
next important parsonage after the
parish priest is the parish doctor, the
former the physician of soul, the lat
ter the physician of body. and this
village about which | write had its d.
Gerald, writes Father Tom in mis-
second article on "An Irish Village"
which appeared in the Fall Lake In
termountain Catholic
The priest and doctor in Ireland are
generally bosom friends. loved and
trusted by rich and poor alike, ard
they deserve to be, for nowhere in
this wide world had the people in thei:
hours of darkness and misery such
friends as the Irish priest and doctor.
DR.. Gerald's house, with neat su'.
gerry attached, stood a little below this
parochial residence. l see the docto-
standing on the steps of his hall door,
with his fine setter dog Jim, looking
up wistfully at him and waggins his
tall as much as to say. Master, are
you not going to shoot today?" A fine
framed man the doctor is, not a su-
perfiuous ounce of flesh on him. Clean
shaven, with small gray eyes that
peep out at you keenly from under
bushy eyebrows, nose short and slight
ly turned up; firm, compressed lips,
and slight stoop in his shoulders.
There at his hall door see him this
summers evening. and a countrynan
stands before him, nervously lingering
the rim of his hat, which he is hold
ing in his hands. The doctor fixes
those small, keen gray eyes upon him
and asks:
What is the matter?"
Peggy Grimes is rale bad, sor, an
sho stint me fur ye."
by the Great Frederick ct was the
DOCTORS only curse, where he got it l
DO not know, but I'll break every bone
in your body. and in Peggy Grimes to
boot" and taking his hands out of his
trousers pocket, the doctor 10 ,ks
around as II seeking for some weapon
to carry his threat into execution.
; Turning again to the countrymall.
who by this tihc was making for the
gate, he thundered at him:
"Take yourself off out of my sight,
and tell Peggy Grimes that I won't GO.
BY the Great Frederick, l won't co."
and the doctor. opening the hall door.
bangs it behind him.
There is dead silence in the doc
tors house for about five minutes,
then a voice rings out:
"Jane!"
Eyes, DOCTOR"
'"rell Joe to yoke the horse to tho
trap; the gray horse, mind!"
Eyes, doctor"
"And, Jane. put some meat and a bit
Of a chicken, If you have it, and some
jelly, into my bag. and leave it ir til,
trap, for, by the Great Frederick. Feg-
gy Grimes might be hungry"
Rough in speech. fussy to degree.
but a heart Of gold had DR.. Gerald
During the thirty seven years of work,
there was no sick call left unattended
If he was we'll and at home, and in his
district there was, no such thing as
red Tickets that badge of poverty
which the poor people find 1t SO hard
to bring to any doctor when they re-"
quire his services and cannot pay f,r
them. Money the doctor never had, for
though his practice was good his earn
ings went in charity, charity known
only to himself and to his God. He
had a habit Of talking to himself when
alone, and when driving along the
roads to or from sick calls the people
working in the fields could tell tho sort
of humor the doctor was in by the
sound of his voice. II you listened
you would hear such phrases as these:
"By the Great Frederick, forgot Il
cough bottle for Murphy"
"Those bullocks of mine won't h..
ready for the June fair;' paid old
skinf1int John too much for them"
"a fine girl that Miss Reidy, a
downright slashing fine girl. wonder
was l nice to her: but am too I'D"
(He was bachelor) I'm to dine
with Father Tom today. you mustn't
forget that. my boy. His mutton is
far better than mine, and his claret
is a dream"
There goes the Great friedrich"
Ohe people called the doctor nothing
else) says Jim Scully. the vil'sgc
ne'er-do- well. to the men working
with him in the fields. "See mere.
boys.' Jim went on. "he mixed cough
bottle for me coWld about three weeks