THE SUNNY SIDE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLII, Issue 9375, 2 November 1921, Page 6

THE SUNNY SIDE

IRISH AS HUMORISTS. NATIVE DIGNITY OF THE g PEASANTS. James Anthony Froude as an his- ] torian has said some sevea-e things of 1 Ireland politically, m his work, "The £ English m Ireland" (says a correspon- < dent of "The Times"). But no one f has paid a more charming compliment i to Ireland and its people than he. t "We have heard much of the wrongs c of Ireland," he wrote, "the miseries c of Ireland, the crimes of Ireland. 1 I Every cloud has its sunny side ; and when all is said, Ireland is still the c most beautiful island m the world, and c the Irish themselves-, though their £ temperament is ill-matched with ours, I are still amongst the most interesting * of people." And so it is to-day. Ire-. * land, despite the tragic uncertainty of i its political situation, still turns its j sunny side to the gloom. The Gnreen Isle of Erin! The land's | perpetual touch of spring. Its early f morning freshness and natural spar- -j kle! The leisurely unbuttoned and < slippered ease of the people 1 Surely, j there is no other country, and no other race, more fresh and restful or y more suited to reinvigorate . an over- j worked frame, to restore to cheerful- i ness a weary mmd — all this, of course, j apart from politics. And the Visitor is ] certain of an inexhaustible welcome < and kindliness, for m Ireland the stringer is sac-red. 1 Tennyson was greatly impressed by < an experience that befell him m an i Irish cabin. Having got drenched m i a heavy shower of rain, the poet J sought refuge m the cabin. Inside < was a woman and a boy. "The worn- 1 an," he says, "drew me up to a stool 1 to the fire with the courtly air of a < queen." As he was leaving he gave 1 the boy sixpence. "The woman, with '■ her black hair over her shoulders, and \ her eyes streaming with tears, pas- • sionately closed her hands over the ' boy's hand m which was the sixpence." Tennyson talked of the incident to his carman as he was being driven back to his hotel. "I, m my stupid Saxon way," he says, "think- 1 ; ing it was the beggarly sixpence that had made the woman grateful, expressed my' astonishment at such j gratitude." The carman replied: "Jt was not the sixpence, your honour, it was the stranger's gift." And the carman was right. Everywhere m Ireland the stranger, and es- • pecially the stranger from another country, is one to whom courteous attention is respectfully to be paid m observance of the obligations of hospiitality. But m many places m Ireland the stranger is an object of peculiar reverence. Among the more beautiful i traditions of the common people — poetic, softening, humanismg — is one which tells that the stranger may be a visitant from another . sphere, an { angel m human guise, if not the Lord jof the Universe Himself. The visitor, iin any case, is one away from home, la wayfarer m a strange land, and^ as such is the guest of the people, entitled to protection and service; One instance, personal to myßelf, of the agreeable and engaging way the ■stranger is treated may be given. In i the course of a long walk on a sum;mer day I called at a small cottage m ithe South to ask for a drink of water. I was given a foaming cup of fresh milk instead. Of course, I proffered payment, but the poorly-clad woman who had served me said, with a fine blend of deference to me and assertion of her own dignity m her demeanor: "Ah, then, it's hard it is if we can't give a sup of milk to a stranger without being offered money for it." . One curious manifestation of this common desire to make things pleasant is the prompt agreement which the stranger's assertion usually meets with. Scarcely ever is a downright contradiction to be heard m Ireland. Everyone seems to be ready to divine the expected reply and to concede it affably. A party of tourists were crossing to Achill Island from Belturbet, on the mainland, on a day that was wild and stormy. Thinking it a good opportunity for testing this trait of the natural politeness of the people, one of the party said to the boatmen : "There's not much wind to-day." Without the slightest hesitation the boatman replied: "True for ye, your honour ; but what there is is very Btrong." Encouraging the Wayfarer. This same quality m the Irish character leads to some little difficulty m obtaining by the way exact particulars as to the distance of one's destination, "it's only beyant the hill over there." "Sure you're next door to it." These, are samples of the replies you will get to your inquiries, though the place you are walking or driving to may be oyer the hills, and — far — very far — away. In his desire to be agreeable, the Irish peasant is prone to evade giving a direct answer which he thinks will be Unwelcome and disappointing. He is more anxious to give satisfaction than information. The tourst who goes to Ireland with the commonly accepted notion of the gaiety, frolic, and humour of the people, wil lbe agreeably surprised to find that there is also a subdued and soothing element of pathos m Irish life. But, above all, he is certain to 1 hear, at the most unexpected and un- • likely moments, humourously absurd sayings and curious points of view expressed by an amusing and agreeable people, and to come into close relations with their unfamiliar habits and customs. Unexpected Points of View. Another national disposition is that of allowing Nature to take its own | course with things. So hard is it to move the small agriculturist to adopt J new methods that at times he is the despair of the missionaries of the Irish Agricultural Department. A widow who strove to make a living by rearing poultry was lamenting it was only on odd days that her hens favoured her with eggs m the winter. • "Give them red pepper, ma'am," suggested the poultry inspector of the department. "Oh, sir, I wouldn't think of doin' the like of that," the woman replied, "I'd never strive to come between God Almighty and me hens." That is an 'example of tho unexpected way of seeing things which is a common quality of the Irish. And could pusillanimity and fear be expressed with more comical deceitful- j