The Wild IrishmanCrosland, T. W. H. (Thomas William Hodgson)
History
The Wild Irishman
Crosland, T. W. H. (Thomas William Hodgson)
National characteristics, Irish
to go forth, like the northern hordes in days of yore, the women and
the children along with the bread-winners, and crossed the seas, and
settled in new lands, and were ‘fruitful and multiplied and replenished
the earth,’ until the globe is circled round with colonies which are
of our blood, and which love and cherish the old ‘land of the mountain
and the flood.’” [Tut, tut!] And now mark us: “It was in the beginning
of the seventeenth century that the first of these swarms crossed the
narrowest of the seas which surround Scotland; it went out from the
Ayrshire and Galloway ports, and settled in the north of Ireland. The
numbers which went were large. They left Scotland at a time when she was
deeply moved by the great Puritan revival. They took with them their
Scottish character and their Scottish Calvinism. [Clearly they had both
hands full!] They founded the Scottish colony in Ulster. Thus it comes to
pass ‘That the foundation of Ulster society is Scottish. It is the solid
granite on which it rests.’ [Glory be!] The history of this Scottish
colony seems worth telling, for it is a story of which any Scotsman at
home or abroad may be proud. [Where is my crimson handkerchief?] Its
early history is _quaint_ and _interesting_ [our italics]; there is much
_suffering_ and _oppression_ in the story of the succeeding years [our
italics]; but there are flashes of brightness to relieve the gloom. _The
men which this race of Scotsmen has produced are worthy of the parent
stock; the contribution which this branch of the Scottish nation has
made to the progress of civilization proves that it has not forgotten
the old ideals; the portion of Ireland which these Scotsmen HOLD is so
prosperous and contented that it permits our statesmen to forget that
it is part of that most ‘distressful’ country._” I venture to thank
Heaven and St. Patrick that the statements we have last italicized and
the word we have put in capital letters embody the truth, the whole
truth and nothing but the truth. Examine them, O sons of Erin, and take
heed that You are the people, and that the Scotch are but the sons of
Belial and Astoreth. What has holy Ireland to do with these vapors,
these swaggerings, these smitings of righteous breasts? Who be the
grubby, grimy, gallowayan, grasping, governmental hucksters that so by
implication and innuendo contemn You, the proper and legitimate owners of
Ulster? Ask of the winds, which far around strew Scotchmen and the devil
on the fair places of the earth. You are innocent to put up with it. You
fought the landlords and beat them hollow. “We conquered you before, and
can do so again!” Be done with this Scotch obsession. Good can come out
of Ireland and Irishmen, as well as out of Ulster and Scotchmen. Lo,
that green island is yours, not theirs. Seven-tenths of it are in your
hands to do with as you will. “There is not, perhaps, another country on
the face of the globe where more good, solid work is waiting to be done,
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