The Reminiscences of an Irish Land AgentHussey, Samuel Murray
History
The Reminiscences of an Irish Land Agent
Hussey, Samuel Murray
Country life -- Ireland; Hussey, Samuel Murray, 1824-; Ireland -- History -- 1837-1901
'Faix,' screamed in much indignation an old Biddy sitting opposite, 'if
it's the vulgar Irish you want to avoid, and the English you want to be
meeting, it's to hell you must go, and you'd better go there this
summer.'
That's the sort of quick retort which a Scotchman calls Irish insolence,
but then, who expects appreciation of real wit from any one canny? Wit
is irresponsible, a truly Irish propensity.
The two mincing young women were almost as much disgusted as another old
lady who found herself opposite a stalwart working man, who incensed her
by his frequent expectoration. Gathering her skirts round her somewhat
ample form, she called the conductor and asked:--
'Is spitting allowed in this tram?'
'By all manes, me lady,' was the gallant reply, 'shpit anywhere you
like.'
While alluding to trams, I cannot forbear relating one other Dublin
tale, which Lord Morris picked up from me and was fond of telling. Its
brief course runs thus:--
'Would you tell me, if you plaze, where I'll find the Blackrock tram?'
asked a fussy little old woman of a policeman, busily engaging in
manoeuvring the traffic of a crowded street.
'In wan minute you'll find it in the shmall of your back,' was the
laconic reply.
The mere allusion to a query suggests how the British tourist invariably
starts trying to discuss the Irish question directly he is across the
Channel, and the insoluble part to any Saxon is that half the Irish do
not seem to desire a solution at all.
'What a fine country this would be if it were peaceful,' observed a
thoughtful Britisher, with a Cook's ticket in his pocket, on Killarney
Lake.
'Peace! What would we do with it?' was the scornful reply of his
boatman, surprised for once into ejaculating the truth.
Some landlords know how hopeless it is to attempt to prevail against
these sons of our epoch.
'It has been of no use to hold up a candle to the hydra-headed devil,'
said one landlord to me about his tenants, 'for affability is more
expensive than absenteeism. If I say, "Good morning, Tom," the fellow
expects twenty per cent. off the rent, and "How's your family?" is
considered to imply forty per cent, abatement'--and that cannot be
called putting a premium on good fellowship from the landlord's point of
view.
I have not said much about the way in which the Irish in America foster
insurrection, because it does not come within my own province. But I
have before me the type-written essay on the subject composed by a Kerry
landlord, who, in his lifetime, had exceptional opportunities of judging
of this in New York, and from it I am tempted to take a few sentences as
the manuscript is never likely to see the light of print.
'There are three distinct types of the Irish-American Home Ruler, who
have been and are even now supporting with their dollars or their
eloquence, the "Irish Cause" as it is somewhat vaguely termed
throughout the United States. They can be distinguished as follows:--
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account