Phil Purcel, The Pig-Driver; The Geography Of An Irish Oath; The Lianhan Shee: Traits And Stories Of The Irish Peasantry, The Works of; William Carleton, Volume ThreeCarleton, William
General
Phil Purcel, The Pig-Driver; The Geography Of An Irish Oath; The Lianhan Shee: Traits And Stories Of The Irish Peasantry, The Works of; William Carleton, Volume Three
Carleton, William
Ireland -- Social life and customs -- Fiction
“The sarra much; barrin' that they'll miss her at first from about the
place. You see she has left them above the world, an' full of it.
Wealth and substance enough may they thank her for; and that's very good
comfort for sorrow, Risthard.”
“Faith, sure enough, Larry. There's no lie in that, any way!”
“Awouh! Lie! I have you about it.”
Such was the view which had been taken of their respective characters
through life. Yet, notwithstanding that the hearts of their
acquaintances never warmed to her--to use a significant expression
current among the peasantry--as they did to Peter, still she was
respected almost involuntarily for the indefatigable perseverance with
which she pushed forward her own interests through life. Her funeral was
accordingly a large one; and the conversation which took place at it,
turning, as it necessarily did, upon her extraordinary talents and
industry, was highly to the credit of her memory and virtues. Indeed,
the attendance of many respectable persons of all creeds and opinions,
gave ample proof that the qualities she possessed had secured for her
general respect and admiration.
Poor Peter, who was an object of great compassion, felt himself
completely crushed by the death of his faithful partner. The reader
knows that he had hitherto been a sober, and, owing to Ellish's prudent
control, an industrious man. To thought or reflection he was not,
however, accustomed; he had, besides, never received any education; if
his morals were correct, it was because a life of active employment had
kept him engaged in pursuits which repressed immorality, and separated
him from those whose society and influence might have been prejudicial
to him. He had scarcely known calamity, and when it occurred he was
prepared for it neither by experience nor a correct view of moral duty.
On the morning of his wife's funeral, such was his utter prostration
both of mind and body, that even his own sons, in order to resist the
singular state of collapse into which he had sunk, urged him to take
some spirits. He was completely passive in their hands, and complied.
This had the desired effect, and he found himself able to attend the
funeral. When the friends of Ellish assembled, after the interment, as
is usual, to drink and talk together, Peter, who could scarcely join
in the conversation, swallowed glass after glass of punch with great
rapidity. In the mean time, the talk became louder and more animated;
the punch, of course, began to work, and as they sat long, it was
curious to observe the singular blending of mirth and sorrow, singing
and weeping, laughter and tears, which characterized this remarkable
scene. Peter, after about two hours' hard drinking, was not an exception
to the influence of this trait of national manners. His heart having
been deeply agitated, was the more easily brought under the effects of
contending emotions. He was naturally mirthful, and when intoxication
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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