Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 October 1891 — THE CONNEMARA GIRL [ARTICLE]

THE CONNEMARA GIRL

'Mm Dress, Her Pood, Has CL arms. a*4 , Her One Dreant of life. The Connemara girl! She weigh* about 180 pounds. She wears a woolen peticoat woven by herself, and %psr her head and serving the, pur* pwses of both shawl and hood is a whit* peticoat, held in place by her left hand Under her ohin. The red-petticoat reaches only half-way down her cal vae The strideof thischiidofthe bogisAm*> coclan, yet very graceful. Her day* fro spent lit carryiag seaweed tot manure, turf for the fire, and water tor the illicit stilL Sometimes shs carries the turf a distance of tw* miles on her back in a wicker basket Her load generally weighs about 10® pounds. Her stockings have no soles, and eke is too poor to buy shoes. Bui •he wears the lags of heavy stockings to protect her calves, when the edgr of her heavy petticoat, wet with sea water, slaps against them. Her hands resemble a piece of tanned leathers they are so hardened by toil. The brown cow that browses in ths bog is no more innocent than this maid of the orag and bog land. Such a wealth of color, suoh satiu skin and suoh vigorous health are not seen ir 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 drinn a cup of tea, but that luxury is denied to the girl. The tea costs too much When the potatoe skins have been fed to the pig the Connemara girl Leap* on the turf, for there is plenty of 1* there, and nods herself to sleep in t-he chimney nook. Or, it may be, ii there are visitors or neighbors in th« house, she will lilt or hum for them & dance by on the hearthstone. Thu t is one of the quaintest things heard In Ireland. The sounds resembls jioaely those of an Irish pipe. They are produced by the vocal organs in conjunction with the tongue. Ths tune is usually very rapid, and th* filter catches her breath frequently. And what do you suppose the Connemara girl’s dream by night and by day is? ‘Tis that, she may gather SBO together 30 that she can go to America, the land of catarrh and pneumonta; of indoor work, where ska Will lose her satiny skin udu splendid vigor; where her eyes will u-'he lor a sight of the Twove Tins of Courjejnara* where—but, p-liuw! sfie’ll cross the sea when s-.h° gets hoi* passage money