THE IRISH EMIGRANT

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 29, 4 February 1939, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE IRISH EMIGRANT

Gaffers Spun In The Dog Watch

THREE of us were spending a 1 week at my shack at a quiet little seaside resort a few miles from the "Queen City," Auckland. ■ Two were busily engaged fencing the section, whilst I had charge of the culinary department. The midday dinner was nearly ready and I started in to set the table on the wide verandah. We had .that morning . noticed a stranger passing our place, and as. I was • laying the cloth I saw him returning. As he approached, I called out to'him: "Where are you going?" Instead of answering, he turned' and came to us. . "Had any dinner yet?" I said. "If you haven't, you'd better come and have some." • "Thank you kindly," said he. His voice was pleasant, with just a touch of the brogue in it. As he entered the door he said: "God save all kindly here." When I heard that, I knew we had'met that rare jewel, an unspoiled Irishman. Witli basin, soap and towel he was soon busy getting the dust off his hands and face. I dished up the dinner—curried rabbit and rice, boiled potatoes and pumpkin, with blancmange and stewed fruit, coffee and bread and cheese to follow. We all sat down, and I said: "Can you eat curried rabbit?" "Can I eat curried rabbit?" he replied. : "Why, I'm that hungry I could eat a-« curried and that would be ( a cold dish, anyhow!" ] As we were "Colonials," his remarks did not touclx us, only amused us. Our ' guest was a pleasant fellow and the < dinner went on pleasantly. Without ' being asked, he told us that tenders had 1 been called for roadmaking, and that < lie was measuring up and meant to try for it. He was unassuming, one of 1 "Nature's gentlemen," interesting all ; the time. After the sweets we had a I cup of coffee, and my friend said to , me: , I "Have you anything in the bottle? I Perhaps our guest would like a small 1 nip." There was only about "three ! fingers" left in the bottle. Pouring it' < into a-glass and laying a cigar alongside it, I brought it in to him. My friends were teetotal and so was I, but it seemed our guest was not; soon he was laying back in a deckehair, cigar lit up and glass of whisky beside him.

By - - Captain Cliffe

"My •word," said lie, "this is grand. X never thought I Avould "strike this when I set out from Devonport this morning at six o'clock." ''What, did you walk from Devonport?" said I. "Yes, I did, and a divil of a walk it was. I was as dry as a kiln, and I could have drunk anything that was wet." This led on to further conversation; then I asked him how he liked . the country and the people., "Fine," he said. "I get on well with them. Host of them are very koind, and I'm well satisfied. You see," he said, "it was like this. I was , born in Ireland, near the estate of a great English lord, and av coorse my father was only*, a labourer and work was scarce, aiid often when there was plenty of work he didn't feel the inclination to do it. So we were often shout of the bread, and we nippers had to scrimmage about for what we could get. Sometimes 1 made threepence for a whole day's work, beating the game-when the gintry were out shooting. We-weren't allowed in the kitchen, but sometimes a kind servant would give us a hand out,, maybe bread and butter,.'not very much. And so life went cn and - up to me eighteenth year. My principal food was potaties and buttermilk when I could get it, and maybe a-fisli or a bird 1 had- poached. So you can see I;was. not reared in the lap of, luxury. "My . clothes—well, the least said of them the better. Sometimes they- were too big and sometimes too small. Cakes and puddings "I, nev,er ga»y. a"d I didn'tknow ,beef from mutton be the tayste of it. - "I was a foine strong lad, ana -when' the chance came to emigrate I- rushed at it wi(l - both' lfands. Be -the grace of , God I got a passage to New Zealand,' and then me good luck.started. Me own people were sorry to lose .me, • but. they knew I would be better off, /and so they thanked-God .for the chance I got. So I said good-bye to Ireland and got 011* board the ship. "She was a large staymer, beautifully painted, clean and iverything 111 its proper place. There was an awful crowd aboard lier, and lots of fine gentlemen covered wid goold braid. It was all new to me, and I was much interested. They

gave m© a bed—a bunk they called it—. with a fine mattress and pillow and a rug. I had never slept in a proper bed before and it was grand. "We put to sea, and I had lashings of good tucker, beef, "pork, potatoes, bread, biscuits, pudding, butter—l couldn't tell you what. I was in Hivin g and I was afraid to 6peak for fear they s would take it away. Plenty to eat, a good bed to lay in, and nothing to do but enjoy it. I was grateful to God and I told Him .often that I was. He was good to me. J "They were a mixed crowd aboard — English, Irish and Scotch, wid a few 3 Welshmen thrown in. I "Well, we set sail from Liverpooland me heart was very sad. We steamed • down the Irish Channel and I asked a j sailor in what direction the Old Country lay. He showed me, but I could see ? nothing, me eyes were dim wid tears. Here was I, just a young fellow going J away to a strange land thousands of . v miles from my home and friends, who ; perhaps I would not see again.'l sat down 011 the hatch and I sobbed. The * friendly sailor came up and said to me: ' 'Never mind, Irish, there's lots of gold I out there. You can pick it up in the streets, and you will soon get enough ' to go home again/ » "This • was an old tale to me, but I - thanked the sailor for his sympathy and L told him I would be content to work . for all the gold I got. He smiled and said quietly.: 'Oh, you'll do all right, . .Irish.' . ' : 1 , "The' Bay of Biscay was rough and I was sick, but as the weather got better | so did I. Then the weather got warm and it was grand. This life suited me and ; -I enjoyed life. They said we were in the trade winds, but niver.-'a bit of 'trade could I see about, it. They were, more like love winds because iverything was lovely. '"Then* we* came to what they called the Liner but I never saw any line. I don't .believe there • was one, but they dipped all of. lis who had not done the. •trip 'before into" a lot of water they had put into a canvas : bag.*l said nothing. I only laughed, 'and they all. said I was a; -sport whatever that Well we got • over that Line all right and life went on grand. • "As the days \vint on and we had nothing to do •- the trouble soon began. Old .Harry soon finds work for lazy hands to do. They hold meetings and they nearly came to blows. Everybo'dy spoke at once.and nobody listened. They all played the same tune, though .in different keys. The tucker was no good,

the water was rotten. It was a hell of a ship, and they wouldn't stand for it. They hadn't been used to it. This last part was true; they looked as if they, like meself, hadn't had a dacent meal till they got aboard that ship. To hear them talk, you would have thought that tlio whole House of Lord's was in that vessel's steerage. What would their grand relations at Homo think if they could see the rotten tucker they had to-oat?

"And so it went on and they sint dippytations to the captain and bothered him considerably. He inspected the food and tlio beds and the steerage, but he said little. I said nothing meself. I lay ill 'me bunk and enjoyed it-all. Every day was a Sunday, and every Sunday was a Christmas Day. Me only fear was that they would annoy the captain so much that he' would take some of it away. They came to mo wid their

complaints and panted me to go wid them to the captain. 'To hell wid you and your dippytations/ said I, 'I'm satisfied.' "When the captain came forward on his daily inspection, lie came over to where I was sitting and smoking, and he said to mo: "'Well, I never see you in the dippytations, Irish. Haven't you got anything to say?' " 'Yes, captain,' said I, removing mo hat and standing up. 'I got a lot to 6ay, but I'll condinse it. Don't , take notice of those Englishers and their dippytations, and for God's sake don't make any changes in the food. It's all lovely.' " 'What,' said he,: 'are you satisfied ?' " 'Well, who the divil wouldn't be, captain?' said I. 'Three good meals a day, cheap tobacco, a good bed and nothing to do. Suits me, captain.'

"The captain laughed and wint away. "'What did lie say to you?' said one of the ajitators, and so I up and told them. " 'And you said you wore satisfied'?' said the Englisher. 'You're a traytor, you are. I suppose you carry talcs to him also.' . -

your throat!' Wid that he flow at me and we mixed it up a bit, but I was tlio best of the two, and so one of., his mates come 011 to help him. Well, that got me Irish goat and I saw red. I wiped tlio deck up wid them, and after that they let me alone to me meditations and me perfect enjoyment of a perfect holiday. "I ate three good meals a day and I lay and sit in the sun and smoked and read a book when I could get one. I was as happy as Larry. I was a gentleman, and the only thing I lacked was a taste of the Craytliur or a pint of beer. I had very little money, for me richest relation was only getting 4/ a day and so I had no private income like all these other follows. They talked about what they would do out in New .Zealand, 'and one chap, a Welshman, said if .they asked him /nicely he wouldn't, mind being the-Governor of l\ T ew Zealand. I told him the job was already taken, but he said he had a lot of influence at Home and he knew he could get the job if he wanted it. He promised mo a job as his coachman, and I thanked him kindly, but I never got the job. Q "They still send an occasional dippytation to the captain and he gravely heard what they had to say and told

"I got to mo feet. 'Are you insinuating that I'm an informer?' said I. 'Well, ye'll take that back or- I'll ram it down

"Here I was on me own in a strange country wid only 3/ between me and. starvation. I wint on the tramp and got a job wid a farmer—lß/ a week and' found. I stayed wid him a year, and only spint about 1/ a week for tobacco - and 1/ for beer. At the end of 12 months I bought two horses and a double-fur-rowed plough which was going cheap, and I started ploughing contracts. Since then I have never gone back, and today, after 14 years in the colony, I own 30 horses and 20 scoops, and me banking account is close to £2000. Not_ so bad for an Irishman! . "Well, thank you kindly. Fll go on now, and may God's blessing be wid you all the time. Good-bye, and thank you." So .saying, our friend started on . a long 14-mile walk to the ferries at -Devonp'ort, whistling as he went. "We -had been much "entertained with his. ■ talkj it had showed us that at lease one other man beside ourselves thought Kew Zealand a good country to live in..

them he would look into it. He was a shrewd man that skipper, and he always spoke to me when lie met me on the deck. He was always a gentleman to me and I respected him and treated liim with respect. "Soon we passed Capetown, so they said, but I never saw it. How did they know, X asked the captain, and he laughed and said by the sun. Now what* had the sun got to do wid it. It was a mystery to me. Reminds me of the Liverpool man who was being abused by some drunken chaps who were strangers to him. 'Now how did those fellows know X was a dirty Liverpool rotter?' he asV-d. and for the:, life of me I couldn't answer that question. So on we went and now we passed Australia, so they said, and again it was by the sun. ..... "Time wint.: on and we soon gdt to" Auckland. The" captain* and/first mate shook hands wid me on the . gang wa v, as I wint ashore,>and'/wished me°£ood luck..