Disturbed Ireland : $b being the letters written during the winter of 1880-81Becker, Bernard H. (Bernard Henry)
History
Disturbed Ireland : $b being the letters written during the winter of 1880-81
Becker, Bernard H. (Bernard Henry)
Ireland -- Social conditions; Working class -- Ireland
Within the last few days this proprietary deadlock has been enlivened
by an act which has caused much conversation in this part of Ireland.
A house on Glendahurk Mountain has been burned down, and the cattle of
the neighbouring farmers have been turned on to the mountain to
pasture at the expense of Mr. Gibbings. Moreover the bailiff has been
warned not to interfere, or attempt to scare the cattle and drive them
off. Thus the tenant farmers are grazing their cattle for nothing,
and, what is more, no man dare meddle with them. The sole remedy open
to Mr. Gibbings is civil process for trespass. Should he adopt this
course he will probably be safe enough in Dublin, but I am assured
that the life of his bailiff will not be worth a day's purchase.
III.
A LAND MEETING.
WESTPORT, CO. MAYO, _Oct. 27th._
The way from this place to Tiernaur is through a country, as a Mayo
man said to me, "eminently adapted to tourists." Not very far off lies
Croagh Patrick, the sacred mountain from which St. Patrick cursed the
snakes and other venomous creatures and drove them from Ireland. I was
assured by the car-driver that the noxious animals vanished into the
earth at the touch of the Saint's bell. "He just," said this veracious
informant, "shlung his bell at 'um, and the bell cum back right into
his hand. And the mountain is full of holes. And the snakes went into
'um and ye can hear 'um hissing on clear still days." Be this as it
may, the line of country towards Newport is delightfully picturesque.
The great brown cone of Croagh Patrick soars above all, and to right
and left rise the snow-covered Nephin and Hest. Evidences of careful
cultivation are frequent on every side. Fairly large potato-fields
occur at short intervals, and mangolds and turnips are grown for
feeding stock. Cabbages also are grown for winter feed, and the
character of the country is infinitely more cheerful than on the
opposite side of Westport. Inquiring of my driver as to the safety of
the country, I received the following extraordinary reply, "Ye might
lie down and sleep anywhere, and divil a soul would molest ye, barring
the lizards in summer time; and they are dreadful, are lizards. They
don't bite ye like snakes, or spit at ye like toads; but if ye sleep
wid ye'r mouth open, they crawl, just crawl down ye'r throat into ye'r
stommick and kill ye. For they've schales on their bodies, and can't
get back; and they just scratch, and bite, and claw at your innards
till ye die." There was nothing to be done with these terrible lizards
but to drink an unmentionable potion, which, I am assured, is strong
enough to rout the most determined lizard of them all, and bring him
to nought. It is, however, noteworthy that stories of persons being
killed by lizards crawling down their throats are widely distributed.
There is one of a young Hampshire lady who, the day before she was
married, went to sleep in her father's garden, and was killed by a
lizard crawling down her throat.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account