502 



THE LIVING RACES OF MANKIND 



finally to the English. Even so, the conquest 

 of Ireland, begun in 1170, was not synony- 

 mous with its pacification, and was not 

 really completed till the surrender of Limerick 

 in 1691. Since the abolition of the national 

 parliament in 1800, the Irish members are 

 returned to the Imperial Parliament at 

 Westminster. 



In his diet the Irish peasant is remark- 

 ably frugal. Under-feeding is general, and 

 stirabout, or porridge, with potatoes and 

 buttermilk, form the chief fare. Tea is drunk 

 in enormous quantities, and of formidable 

 strength. The visitor who enters a cabin 

 in Donegal will generally see a pot of tea 

 simmering on the smouldering peat fire, 

 which never goes out, summer or winter, 

 night or day. Tea is often the only ex- 

 travagance which the poorer classes in the 

 north allow themselves. They pay a very 

 high price for it, often four-and-sixpence 

 the pound. A good deal of the prevalent 

 insanity is traced to excessive tea-drinking. 



If a young woman's fiance dies, it is 

 a common practice among the peasantry for 

 her to solemnly "give back her promise." 

 " We had given one another a hand-promise," 

 said an old woman, speaking of her dead 

 lover, "and I had to go, when he was dead, 

 an' take him by the right hand, afore 

 witness, to give back my promise." A belief 

 in the fairies, once so prevalent, still lingered 

 on in some parts of the country not long ago. 

 As an example of this kind of folk-lore, we 

 may mention here that the country people 

 used to say that if a man, at his marriage, 

 unbuttoned one button of the right knee, the fairies could not harm him in any way. 



In some parts of Ireland the " Mullet of Mayo," for instance there is a strange survival, 

 namely, the wedding dance with a straw mask, and in parts of Leitrim with a straw petticoat. 

 On this subject the writer consulted the Rev. W. S. Green, an authority on these matters, who 

 writes from Dublin Castle as follows: "The Wedding Masks to which you refer are used by 

 the ' Strawboys ' (or Clagheras) at weddings. A gang of nine visits the home on the evening 

 of the wedding. The 'captain' dances with the bride, and the others with the other girls. 

 They leave in a short time, and another gang arrives. It is unlucky if their identity is 

 recognised. In the west of this country it is still much in vogue, but dying out in other 

 parts. I have heard that a similar custom exists in Wexford." 



The "wake" is a well-known institution in Ireland. When a death occurs, the relatives 

 of the deceased abandon themselves to several days of extravagant grief, ending in an equally 

 extravagant orgie, in which they are joined by their friends. 



The Irishman, like the Afridi, loves a fight for its own sake, quite apart from its cause, 

 which is often forgotten. In this respect he differs materially from the Latin races, which 

 treasure up grievances until a fitting opportunity presents itself for revenge. 



Photo by R. Welsh} 



A NATIVE OF MOURNE. 



[Belfast. 



