Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 October 1891 — THE CONNEMARA GIRL. [ARTICLE]

THE CONNEMARA GIRL.

ftm Dress, Her Food, Her Charm*, ul I Her One Dream of Life. The Connemara girl! She weigh* about 180 pounds. She wears a woolen peticoat woven by herself, an* qpar her head and serving the- pur*, gases of both shawl and hood is a whits peticoat, held in place by her left hand fender her chin. The red-petticoal reaches only half-way down her cal vg# The strideof thischiidofthe bog is Am*. conlan, yet very graceful. Her day* spent in carrying seaweed for manure, turf for the fire, and water lor the illicit stilL Sometimes *h« carries the turl a distance of tw« miles on her back in a wicker basket. Her load generally weighs about 100 pounds. Her stockings have no soles, and ehe is too poor to buy shoes. But ehe wears the legs of heavy stocking* to protect her calves, when the edge of her heavy petticoat, wet with sea water, slaps against them. Her hands resemble a piece of tanned they are so hardened by toiL The brown cow that browses in tbs bog is no more innocent than this maid of the orag and bog land. Such a wealth of color, such satin skin and •uch vigorous health are not seen ip America. In the evening, after thi* maiden has worked like a donkey, she goes home and eats a supper ol potatoes (boiled potatoes) nothing else. Her father or mother may drink a cup of tea, but that luxury is denied to the girl. The tea costs too much. VVhen the potatoe skins have been fed to the pig t6e Connemara girl heaps on the turf, for there is plenty of i» there, and nods herself to sleep in the Chimney nook. Or, it may be, il there are visitors or neighbors in th« house, she will lilt or hum for them to dance by on the hearthstone. Thu lilt is one of the quaintest things heard In Ireland. The sounds resemble iiosely those of an Irish pipe. They are produced by the vocal organs in conjunction with the tongue. The tune is usually very rapid, and the tilter catches her breath frequently. And what ho you suppose the Connemara girl’s dream by night and by day Is? ‘Tis that ,she may gather S2O together so that she can go to America, the laud of catarrh and pneumonia; of indoor work, where sbe Will lose har satiny skin and s.-dendid vigor; where bor eyes will a-die tor a sight of the T«v vo Jins of Cet.r;e*nara where—but, p haw! siie’ll cross the »» when sh“ a lier passage money