Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry | Page 5

I'm kilt fairly, so I am! The
curse o' Cromwell an you, an' hould away--
'The Holy Land adornin' All by the Baltic Say. The angels on a Station,
Wor takin' raycrayation, All in deep meditation, All by the'----
contints o' the book if you don't hould away, I say agin, an' let me go on
wid my rann it'll be worse force for you!--
'Wor takin' raycraytion, All by the Baltic Say!"
"Help the ould woman there."
"Queen o' Patriots pray for us!--St. Abraham----go to the divil, you
bosthoon; is it crushin' my sore leg you are?--St. Abraham pray for us!
St. Isinglass, pray for us! St. Jonathan,----musha, I wisht you wor in
America, honest man, instid o' twistin' my arm like a gad f-- St.
Jonathan, pray for us; Holy Nineveh, look down upon us wid
compression an' resolution this day. Blessed Jerooslim, throw down
compuncture an' meditation upon us Chrystyeens assembled here afore
you to offer up our sins! Oh, grant us, blessed Catasthrophy, the holy
virtues of Timptation an' Solitude, through the improvement an'
accommodation of St. Kolumbdyl! To him I offer up this button, a bit
o' the waistband o' my own breeches, an' a taste of my wife's petticoat,
in remimbrance of us having made this holy Station; an' may they rise
up in glory to prove it for us at the last day! Amin!"
Such was the character of the prayers and ejaculations which issued
from the lips of the motley group that scrambled, and crushed, and
screamed, on their knees around the well. In the midst of this ignorance
and absurdity, there were visible, however, many instances of piety,
goodness of heart, and simplicity of character. From such you could
hear neither oath nor exclamation. They complied with the usages of

the place modestly and attentively: though not insensible, at the same
time, to the strong disgust which the general conduct of those who were
both superstitious and wicked was calculated to excite. A little from the
well, just where its waters mingled with those of the cascade, men and
women might be seen washing the blood off their knees, and dipping
such parts of their body as Were afflicted with local complaints into the
stream. This part' of the ceremony was anything but agreeable to the
eye. Most of those who went round the well drank its waters; and
several of them filled flasks and bottles with it, which they brought
home for the benefit of such members of the family as could not attend
in person.
Whilst all this went forward at the well, scenes of a different kind were
enacted lower down among the tents. No sooner had the penitents got
the difficult rites of the Station over, than they were off to the whiskey;
and decidedly, after the grinding of their bare knees upon the hard
rock--after the pushing, crushing, and exhaustion of bodily strength
which they had been forced to undergo--we say, that the comforts and
refreshments to be had in the tents were very seasonable. Here the
dancing, shouting, singing, courting, drinking, and fighting, formed one
wild uproar of noise, that was perfectly astounding. The leading boys
and the prettiest girls of the parish were all present, partaking in the
rustic revelry. Tipsy men were staggering in every direction; fiddles
were playing, pipes were squeaking, men were rushing in detached
bodies to some fight, women were doctoring the heads of such as had
been beaten, and factions were collecting their friends for a fresh battle.
Here you might see a grove of shillelahs up, and hear the crash of the
onset; and in another place, the heads of the dancing parties bobbing up
and down in brisk motion among the crowd that surrounded them.
The pilgrim, having now gone through his Station, stood hemmed in by
a circle of those who wanted to purchase his beads or his scapulars. The
ballad-singer had his own mob, from among whom his voice might be
heard rising in its purest tones to the praise of--
"Brave O'Connell, the Liberathur, An' great Salvathur of Ireland's Isle!"
As evening approached, the whiskey brought out the senseless
prejudices of parties and factions in a manner quite consonant to the
habits of the people. Those who, in deciding their private quarrels, had
in the early part of the day beat and abused each other, now united as

the subordinate branches of a greater party, for the purpose of opposing
in one general body some other hostile faction. These fights are usually
commenced by a challenge from one party to another, in which a
person from the opposite side is simply, and often very
good-humoredly, invited to assert, that "black is the white of his
enemy's eye;" or to touch the old coat which he is