....V W W//A\ V .V ...» \*x 5\% C« v-o^ W ./>' **vjk-\**~vv^vv3K-\i^ »°-* ,o v - • • • rr; •• A c? v *• rS* ^ ^ *?^* .0' ( -V ^^o '-"^k* o^ ^ ; *liS^ £°+ ". »Wa- ^. c^ . % 4tor. ^ ^ ^Va v % V^ 1 1? *CI A y ^ * AT ^ if ^ov* :W%&* "W r-^K ~«fei? *p^ o. ♦7/,* a© s* ^> <^ 'o,»' ^ v * £°<* V X r© c-V % V -> v o^ :iM^+ ' r ++$~ •-^iB: ^>^ v*o v .* ^0 » ^ A Yankee Bachelor Abroad •o+e> A " Wee Bit " of Wit and Fun and Some Sober Facts Gathered During My Fourteen Months' Sojourn in the British Isles and Some Parts of the Continent CHAS. J. BUTLER 1901 THE U8RARV OF CONGRESS, Two Comes Received NOV. 8 1901 COPVHIGMT ENTRY CLASS a XXc, No. % o -ears old, and I concluded they were from their ap- pearance. On calling at a home I had formerly vis- ited, was met at the door by a motherly old lady who gave me a very cordial reception. She said : "I did na ken you was comin. I'm no tidied up. Come awa-ben an mak' yoursel at hame." I followed her into the little, neatly furnished room, and after she made some inquiry about some of my friends in America, she said : "There's been mony changes since you were here last." Then pointing to the photo of her husband which hung on the wall, added : "He's no here noo ; he's gaun awa hame," and gathering up one corner of her apron to brush away her tears, said : "He's greatly missed in this hame." When I called at this home on my former visit to Scotland this good man was an invalid and had lain in one of those "set-in beds" (a bed built in the alcove of the wall) for seven years. When I bade him fare- well, he said : "I'll no see you here ony mair, but I'll meet you in yon city." And shortly after my return home to 52 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. America I received a letter from his son, saying: "Father has gone to live 'in that city' of which you sang to him." "My bairns have all left the old hame," resumed the old lady, "save my youngest lad, who is still beside me. Jeanie is the only single lass I have and she's awa." The wife of one of her sons came in and also one of her daughters, and the Scotch phrases were passed out quite freely. I interrupted them several times to learn the meaning of some of them. The old lady gave us a brief history of her early life. "Mother took me to live wie a farmer's wife near the old hame when I was a 'wee lass,' " she remarked, "and when she saw me, she said, 'She's far too wee to rin after the kye.' 'I've na fear if she does na go to sleep ; she's a braw and supple, though she's wee,' " her mother replied. "Will ye go to Mrs. Smith, and see if she has the claiths mangled?" she said to her daughter. I was amused at the answer she gave her mother when she. returned : "She did na hae them dune ; she's jist gaen to gie em the roun of the wrist," she said. "Where is your brother?" inquired the old lady of one of her grandsons as he came into the house. "I dena ken noo ; I telt him to come ham but he would na come." "That boy has a fine open face," I remarked. "Yes," she replied, "he's a bonnie lad, but ye dena ken the mind of the other bairn. He's more quiet." In speaking of a family living nearby whom I had previously met, she said : "Mrs. Millen is na in the auld hoose noo. She's awa in the hame where there's A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 53 na a bit of sorrow. The youngest lad is married and is living in the auld hoose. Will you gae to see him?" "Yes," I replied, for I remembered with pleasure my visit to that home. While we were waiting an an- swer to our knock at the door she said, pointing to the rose bush in full bloom, climbing up the front of the house: "Mrs. Millen is no here noo. She's gaun awa where the flowers bloom forever." She had a way of weaving threads of poetry through her conversation which I greatly appreciated. One of her sons in speaking of the death of his sister, said : "Sister died at the beginning of the year and left three small children. Mother had them under her care for awhile — good, big-hearted mother that she is. Her wrinkles are increasing, and so is her love." In speaking of the death of his child, he said : "The wee bairn you saw in its mother's arms we carried down to the river of death and passed it over to the good Shepherd. He is caring for it now." And since my return home in a letter I received from another one of her sons, he said : "Our wee lass took ill about Christmas and it proved to be fatal. We tried to make her short jour- ney through life a pleasant one. We would liked to have kept her, but ghe slipped away from us in a little fit." Our knock was answered by a staid looking Scotch lass who had just recently changed her name to Mil- len and takes possession of the "auld hoose," and seemed to be doing her best to brighten the life of this lad whose life, I remember, was bound up in that of the mother. One day while in conversation with 54 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. this young man about the many old houses in the vil- lage, he said : "Yon house is the one that Bruce slept in the night before the battle of Bannockburn." "Well," I replied, "it must be very old, for that was in the early part of the thirteenth century." "We will go over and see the old relic," I said to a gentleman in company with me from Glasgow. And while doing so an old woman came down the long, narrow, winding street and, seeing we were interested in the house, stopped and said to us : "That is the auld hoose that Robert Bruce slept in before the great battle of Bannockburn, and yon hoose back is where he kept his powney." It was ancient looking enough to have stood many centuries. The tiles on the roof were in a fair state of preservation, as well as the house. The windows were very old fashioned. While the old lady was giv- ing us some interesting history connected with the vil- lage, an old man sitting in a cart on some produce with his wooden leg resting on the dash and driving a little sorrel pony came down the street, shouting: "Tatties and herrin'." "This old man and his team are in keeping with the quaint street," I remarked. "Oh," she said, "he's a puir lookin body but he's got money, but he's wantin' a leg." I smiled at the queer way of speaking of the loss of the old man's leg. "And that," I said, "is a very old house, too," pointing to a little cottage with spears of wheat and grass growing on the thatched roof. "Eh," the old woman replied, "it's a ga auld hoose; there's some one lived in it since I mind." A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 55 In passing along this old street I came to a house in the window of which were some apples and a few jars of candies. "I am going to purchase some of those apples," I said to the gentleman, "just to get an opportunity of seeing the interior of that old house and having a talk with the old lady." Lowering my head, I stepped into this little home and inquired of the woman the price of the apples, she replied in very broad Scotch : "Eh, ther'er a threepence a poun; ther'er na gae braw. Wait till I gie ye the etheryins." She went into an adjoining room and brought out some that she said were "gae braw," but which I con- sidered were about on a par with the ones in the win- dow. While she was weighing the apples I engaged in conversation with another old lady who was sitting by the open grate. "I fancy," she said, "that you are from England." "No," I replied, "I am from America." "I did na ken you were from that far away land. I had some friends that went over there mony years ago, but I have na heerd of them in a lang time. I dena ken anything aboot them noo," she said. To what part of America did they go?" "Eh, but I think it was a place called Cincinnati, but I fancy they're all dead noo." The old woman came over to me with the apples and joined in the conversa- tion. "I had a cousin that left the auld village for that country when I was a lass," she said. "Well, it is quite an undertaking to cross that great body of water to reach that country." "Eh, it must be," she replied. 56 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. But then," I said, "God can take care of you out on old ocean as well as on land." The old woman sitting by the grate looked up into my face and said : "Eh, but He's a great God. Neglected by mony, but has some to worship Him." The old man with a wooden leg came to the door and said something to the old woman that sold me the apples, and I soon learned that she was his wife. "You see your lassies have a lad," I remarked. He smiled and in reply said, "That's richt." In passing the old house shortly afterward, saw him loading his cart with produce. Stepping up to his pony and patting it on the neck, I said, "You have a fine little animal." "Eh," he replied, "but she's as wise as a body and staun's as still as a brick while I'm gettin in an oot." Just then his wife came out with her large burlap apron filled with vegetables and placed them in the cart. "It is a fine thing to have a good wife," I remarked. He looked at the old lady and with a merry twinkle in his eyes, said : "Eh, it is that, but it took gai muckle thought be- fore I got her." "I have not been as fortunate as you, and have not yet gotten a wife." "Eh, bide a wee and you may get one," he replied, with a vein of humor in his remark. He may have thought me very hopeful to even be giving it a thought after tarrying so long on the Is- land of Single . "The fleas and migees are so bad," he said, "I could na get my pouny to staun yesterday when I was out A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 57 with my tatties and herrin. A woman wanted some tatties and I said to her, 'come haud her heed while I gei em to ye." He said to the old lady where I was stopping: "Tell the Yankee to come and spend an evening with us in the auld hoose." One evening in com- pany with her and a friend from Glasgow, I went to the home of this quaint couple. The flag stone floor looked as clean as water could make it. The two "set- in beds" that occupied considerable space in the little room looked neat and comfortable. The few pieces of furniture were quaint enough to have served several generations. There was a barrel cut half way down on one side and covered with coarse bagging which they were using for a. chair. It seemed to have been made expressly for the old lady for she seemed quite comfortable as she sat in it. The old man sat close beside her with his wooden leg resting on a low stool. Having read the book, entitled the "Bonnie Briar Bush," it struck me I was in the company of two char- acters similar to those mentioned by the author. While playing my harp in rather quick time, the old man said: "I ken I can dance it." His foot was moving quite briskly and even his wooden leg was keeping time with the music. We concluded if the old man gave us a demonstration of his ability along that line that most of the company would have to "shift" our quarters. A smile played over the face of his wife as she turned to him and said : "Ah, Dauvit, ye could na dance that with your wooden leg." "I ken I could/' he replied, 58 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. It occurred to me I had better change my time and play and sing something that would touch his head and heart instead of his foot. The music awakened memories of his youthful days and with a smile play- ing over his broad face, partially covered with a gray beard, he said: "When I was a lad I had a very lassie kind of a face and my mistress said to me one day, 'Dauvit will ye dress in lassie's claiths this evening and gae to the dance and fool the laddies?' 'Yes, I'll gai,' I said. Ye ken the lassies sat on one side the room and the lads on the other. When I took my seat wie the las- sies a great, muckle (large) lad came over to me and asked me if I would dance wie him. And after I did so and took my seat he said to the lads, 'Eh, but she's ga and strong and a Billy on the swing,' " meaning she was very strong and swung about like a man. "Eh, my," said the old man, "but I had to gae oot for if they had kent me would have taken the claiths off me." Then in a sad tone of voice, he said : "But there's mony changes since that day." Then he spoke of their son, who was their only child who had died a few years previous. He spoke such broad Scotch I could scarcely understand some parts of his conversation, but was greatly interested in lis- tening to him, even though I had to get the meaning of some of his expressions from my friends. "We had a bonnie lad," he said, "but he went awa to another village to work and took a cauld and came hame ill. We watched his breath gettin shorter till he slipped awa frae us and the auld hoose has no been the same since." The old woman gathered up one corner of her A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 59 apron and wiped the tears away that stole down her wrinkled face. The evening I spent in that "auld hoose" with David and his good wife in that Highland village was one of the most pleasant of my trip. On going back to the village the following summer I in- quired for the old couple. My friend said : "Dauvit's gaen awa frae the auld hoose, an he'll no come back ony maire." "When did he die?" I inquired. "They took him to the auld kirkyard last Merch," she said. The last Sabbath I spent in the village I remember seeing David sitting in the gallery of the old church, and fancy now I can see him adjusting his glasses, then take up his Bible and turn to the chapter given by the minister as the morning lesson and with the congregation silently follow in the reading of the same. In all the churches I attended in my travels through the British Isles I noticed that most of the congregation had Bibles and when the Scripture les- son was announced each one turned to the chapter and semed to be greatly interested as it was being read. The last time I saw the old man was the afternoon of that Sabbath day as he sat beside the old house read- ing his old worn Bible, the only chart and compass by which he and every other person that has preceded him have safely crossed life's sea to the port of eternal day. When I called to see the sorrow-stricken widow she said amid her tears : "This hame is no the same as when you were here last. Dauvit has gaen awa and I'll soon be gaen my- sel." I attended a religious meeting in one of the little homes in this village and will not soon forget that in- 60 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. teresting and helpful service. I listened with pleas- ure to those plain country folk singing the songs of praise, especially that beautiful Scotch hymn, entitled "My Ain Country." My visit to that old Highland village will be among the very pleasant remembrances of my trip to "Bonnie Scotland." In this village I met the champion bicycle rider of Scotland. He showed me a great number of valuable medals he had received. Bobby Burns' Cottage. Aberdeen, Scotland. A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 61 CHAPTER VII. TRIP TO ABERDEEN. 0NE can take a cheap trip to any part of Scotland during the summer months, especially so dur- ing the week of the Glasgow Fair, which seems to be observed as a general holiday season. One morning I took a train from Stirling for Aberdeen by the Caledonia Road, which runs through a beau- tiful section of Scotland. In passing through a val- ley dotted with towns and villages and fine old farms, I .saw many of the farmers gathering in their hay and were being assisted by the sisters of the household, who seemed to be tossing the hay as dexterously as the men. Traveling through the country I noticed very many women at work in the fields. We passed through Dunblane and Perth. The latter place is in the locality in which the author of "The Bonnie Briar Bush" is said to have gathered most of his material for that popular book. Stonehaven is a fair-sized town nestled down at the base of a great hill on the shore of the North Sea. From this point the train runs very close to the great cliffs that stand like a wall all along the coast. There are a number of little vil- lages along the sea front principally occupied by fish- ermen. The white sails could be seen far out at sea. and also steamers of various kinds going and coming from Aberdeen which is quite a seaport town. In the compartment with me was a man and his wife and three children. She was Scotch and he was 62 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. from old Ireland. She was a care-worn looking wo- man and seemed to have more fear than love for her husband. Tke child she held on her lap had its face broken up with a cry most of the journey, but he seemed to be oblivious to its cries. His lunch basket was on the rack above me and he finally took it down and dealt out some lunch to his wife and the bairns. But he seemed to be more thirsty than hungry and reached down in one corner of the basket and brought up a bottle of whisky. As he removed the cork, he said to me: "Will yees have some spirits?" "No, thank you," I replied ; "I never indulge." "Och, sure and yees are a tetotaller," he said. "Yes, I am, sir," I replied. "Well, sure I am, too," he said, "except on holi- days and pay Saturday nights." "Well, don't you think it would be to your advant- age to be a tetotaller on those occasions?" I said. She gave me an approving nod. "Och, well," he replied, "and a wee bit of spirits hurts no raon." "The trouble is," I said, "there is usually a bad spirit that accompanies spirits of that kind," and added, "You would not want to see these little boys become slaves to strong drink." "Well, I think not," was his quick reply. "Then be careful how you handle spirits before them. The force of example is very great," I re- marked. My temperance lecture had very little effect on him, for every few minutes he tipped the bottle until the spirits had entirely left it and had possession of the man, and we all knew the difference A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 63 between the spirits being in the man and in the bot- tle. On reaching Aberdeen the poor woman not only had her bairns to attend too, but also her husband and his "spirits." We ran into the city on the elevated road and stopped just outside the station while the conductor collected the tickets. While the train was in waiting, a crowd of children gathered on the street below and shouted to the passengers, "Gei mer a micht?" "What are they asking for?" I inquired of a man near me. "Oh, they are begging for 'hea pennies,' " (half pen- nies) he replied. When they were thrown to them the Scotch bairns shouted and struggled for the coin in a way that reminded me of men whom I have seen in our American stock exchanges shouting and rush- ing about like mad men for the "dollar." Aberdeen is beautifully situated on a cluster of hills at the mouth of the River Dee. It has a magnificent harbor; the docks cover thirty-four acres in which were lying some immense steamers. Aberdeen is known as the Granite City and is properly called so, for all the buildings, both public and private, are built of light gray granite. It has a population of 105,000. Its business streets contain many very attractive stores. I rode on the top of a tram through the bus- iness and also the residential portions of the city, and as I did so, concluded that I had never visited a finer city. The city all through had an air of neatness, the streets were in a condition that reflected great credit on the officials. I rode out to the new bridge of Don, near which was an enclosed field where, from the top of the tram, I could see immense crowds of 64 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. people, some engaged in field sports and various games, and near the entrance were a number of lads and lassies hoping about, keeping time with a lively- air played by the brass band perched up in the pavil- ion. It seemed to be a general holiday, and every one was bent on having a good time. Many of the peo- ple used such broad Scotch I could scarcely under- stand them. On coming back to the city proper, I visited a very old cathedral. At the entrance I noticed a tablet with this strange heading: "Mortifications left to this church by the following persons." The first to head the list was that of an old physi- cian who died in 1616. While I was reading down the long list of names, a very poorly dressed woman came near me and looked over the list of names. The amounts given were marked in such a way that I could not quite make them out, and I turned to her and asked the meaning of the marks. "Eh, I denna ken. I'm a stranger aboot here," she replied. "I am, too," I said, "and think I am a bit farther from home than you." "You're takin a good look aboot," she replied, and added, "It's an idle day wi me, and nothin doin. An' I'm just token a look aboot, too. I denna ken mony aboot Aberdeen noo. I lived here before me husband deed." Then she gave a sigh, and said : "I've had a hard time since he went awa. I hav na put me teeth in meat (food), for three days an its no a braw day when you canna do that." I soon discovered a huge begging thread running through her story and A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 65 thought if I responded to every tale of woe that was poured in my ear I would soon have to be holding out my hand on some street corner begging for cash to get me back to Yankee land. Shortly after I came out of the cathedral I en- countered something more than a Scotch mist. The rain fell in great sheets and I took refuge in a door- way opposite the cathedral. At the base of the church-yard fence a man was lying on his back very much under the weather, in more than one way. He finally rolled off on the pavement and after a great effort he gained his footing. He started across the street. On reaching the center he lost his balance and fell on the broad of his back and lay in that posi- tion helpless, but it was a blessing in disguise for he received a fine bath which, from his appearance, he was badly in need. No one semed willing to leave their place of shelter to lend him a helping hand until the storm abated. "What do you think of that way of celebrating a holiday?" I said to two young men standing near, who were watching the weather-beaten man. "Eh, but that's gaun too far wi' it. Tokin a drink noo an then is a' recht." "Take my advice and give old 'John Barley Corn' a wide berth, for he is the champion wrestler." They smiled and said : "We'll na promise you that." A young man and woman sat beside me in the res- taurant who were rather communicative. Learning that I was from America, he said: "I was born over there, but father moved back to Scotland when I was 66 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. a bairn. I should like very much to go over and see the country." "Are you a Mormon?" the young woman asked. "Oh, no; I am far from that. I haven't one wife, much less a dozen," I replied. "Do you live near Salt Lake City?" she further in- quired. "No," I said, "I am 2,000 miles from there." I soon learned why they were so much interested in that sect. A Mormon elder from America had been in their village preaching the Gospel according to Brigham Young, and several of the villagers had embraced the faith and I judged they were among the number. There were very many places of interest in Aber- deen that I should like to have visited, but found the day had passed all too quickly, and I was obliged to take the train back to Stirling. It was a long journey, but the time was passed very pleasantly as there were several very jolly and entertaining men in the com- partment. A VISIT TO BOBBY BURNS'S HOME. On my return to Glasgow I made the journey to the old town of Ayr. It was a very pleasant ride through a part of the country which was entirely new to me. Ayr is on the seacoast at the mouth of the Ayr river, which divides the town. "What is the population of this place?" I inquired of several with whom I conversed. Their figures varied so I failed to get very much light, but I judged it was a town of about 25,000 inhabitants. Some of the buildings were quite modern, but the most of them bore the marks of age, On one of the streets there A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 67 was a very ancient looking inn which was said to have been the favorite resort of "Bobby Burns" and "Tarn O'Shanter." "Bobby" had his faults, as has every member of the human family. One of his was a fond- ness for strong drink. However, he wrote some very excellent poems which have been and are still being read and appreciated by many lovers of poetry. A short walk from this old inn brought me to a bridge spanning the river, which I crossed and walked down along the piers to the harbor. It seemed to be quite a shipping point for there were a number of large and also small crafts taking in and discharging their cargoes. "Ayr is a much larger town than I expected to see," I said to an old man in uniform who semed to have some official position on the immense stone docks. "Yes, this is quite a town, sir. There is a deal of business done here." "I presume you are an old resident of the place?" I remarked. "Well, it is the home of my childhood, but I fol- lowed a sea-faring life for many years. I am an old sea-captain and just recently gave it up," he replied. "Then I presume you have crossed the Atlantic?" "Oh, yes," he said; "several times. Once I was wrecked off the coast of Florida and, after drifting about at sea for several hours on a spar, was finally picked up and carried to a point in North Carolina." "How were you impressed with the States?" "Oh, very favorably. It is a wonderful country," he replied. The old man had a large fund of inter- esting and valuable information and I remained some time at the dock conversing" with him. 68 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. From one of the business streets I took a "wagon- ette" to Alloway, the birthplace of Burns. It was a delightful ride of about two miles. We passed a number of splendid homes on the suburbs of Ayr. On one of the streets the large trees on either side formed a complete arch. There were two ladies sit- ting in front of me and I soon found they were mother and daughter. By a question I asked in reference to a point we were passing they learned I was a stranger, and the old lady at once began a conversation with me about the part of the country where Burns lived during his married life. "All this section of the country is very familiar to me," she remarked. "I lived a short distance from Ayr when I was a lass," which, judging from her ap- pearance, had been a long time ago. The daughter also had bidden farewell to her girlhood days. "You should visit Burns' old farm," she added, "where he married Jean Armour. It is only a few miles from Alloway. And you should also go to Mauchline where Poosie Nansie's cottage is, the cel- ebrated meeting place of the 'jolly Beggars,' and to Montgomerie where stands the mansion in which Highland Mary once lived as a dairy maid." "Well," I replied, "those places are all interesting to me, but I will only have time to visit Alloway." "Yonder is the cottage in which Burns was born," she said, pointing to a long one-storied, thatched- roofed cottage on the outskirts of the scattered village. We passed it in going to the Burns' memorial, which was a short distance beyond. We also passed the auld Alloway haunted kirk where Tarn O'Shanter had vis- ions of the witches dancing in the kirk-yard. His A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 69 strange visions were caused by tarrying too long at the old inn which I saw in Ayr. The memorial is a small stone building in the centre of a beautiful little park, filled with flowers and shrubbery. The build- ing contains old relics that once belonged to Burns. Among them was a Bible which he presented to High- land Mary. There was also a statue of Tarn O'Shan- ter and one of Souter Johnny. Near the building was a statue of Poosie Nansie sitting in a chair. She kept the inn at Mauchline where Bobby frequently visited. It is said when she was questioned as to whether Bobby was at the inn, she would hold up her money purse and say: "He's na here the nicht." For her purse was always the heavier for his visits. X)n the wall of the building hung the following original letter to Capt. Miller Dalswinton, accom- panied by tke ode, entitled "Wha hai wi Wallce bled :" Dear Sir: — The following ode is a subject which I know you by no means regard with indifference : "Oh, liberty, thou markest the face 'of nature gay, Gives beauty 'to the sun and pleasure to the day." It does me so much good to meet a man whose hon- est bosom glows with the generous enthusiasm of the heroic daring of liberty that I could not forbear send- ing you a composition of my own on the subject which I really think is in my very best manner. I have the honor to be, dear sir, your very humble servant, Robert Burns. While I was copying this letter, the old lady and her daughter came over. The former put on her spec- tacles and began reading the ode. She grew very en- thusiastic and waxed warmer as she read it. 70 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. "Mother, come away; don't get so excited," said her daughter. But she heeded not her request, but read in even a higher key. When she had finished, she turned to me and said : "That ode makes every Scotch heart sweel with pride." "There is a wee bit of Scotch blood in you," I re- marked. With a flush on her wrinkled cheeks and her piercing black eyes sparkling like diamonds, she said : "Eh, there's na a bit else in me and I'm proud of it." From here I went to the "Bridge of Bonnie Doon." It is a little arched bridge spanning this narrow stream winding through a beautiful valley on either side of which the great hills roll off in the distance. An old man stood on the bridge reciting one of Burns' poems. After he had finished, he showed us the spot where he said the witches pulled out the tail of Tarn O'Shanter's old gray mare, "Meg." But they say "Old Meg" lost her tail by the boys pulling it out for their fishing lines while her master was tippling in the old inn at Ayr. The old man conceded his story by extending his hand for some of the tourists' loose change. He was an old weather-beaten looking char- acter and had the appearance of being ancient enough to have lived in the days of Burns. From the bridge I went to the "auld kirk." It is now in ruins, although the walls are in a fair state of preservation and the bell in the tower is still remain- ing. There were some very old tomb stones. One of them dated back to 1691. The following epitaph I copied from one of them : A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 71 "Oh ye w'hose cheeks the tears of pity s'taines, Draw near with pious reverence and attend. Here lies the husband's dear remains, The tender father and generous friend; The pitying heart that felt for human woe, The dauntless heart that feared no human pride, The friend of man to vice alone a foe, For e'en his failings leaned to virtue' s side." A short walk brought, me to the Burns cottage On the old thatch were spears of wheat and grass growing and around the low eaves was an abundance of moss. On paying the small admittance fee I en- tered the "gae auld hoose." The flag stone floor was laid with stones of various sizes, with an occa- sional brick filling a crevice. Hanging on a hook in the old fire-place were some cooking utensils. Be- side the fire-place was an oven in which Bobbie's mother in the long ago prepared the good things for him. On one side of the room was a dresser contain- ing some very ancient chinaware. Near it was the "set-in bed" in which the poet was born on the 25th of January, 1759. Beside the bed stood an eight-day clock that told the time to the occupants of that old house a century and a half ago. In one of the rooms were souvenirs and various little articles for sale. Another room which seemed to be a more modern part of the cottage was used as a restaurant and mu- seum. There were a number of Burns' original let- ters and other relics belonging to him. There were two old chairs. One of them belonged to Souter Johnny and the other to Tarn O'Shanter. There were brass plates on each of the chairs with verses in- scribed, which were written by Burns. 72 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. The following verse was written by Burns and in- scribed on the brass plate of the chair of Tarn O'Shan- ter: Nai man can tether time or tide, The hour approaches maun must side. Will mounted on his grey mare Meg, A -better never lifted leg. The wind 'blew a t-wad blaw its last, The rattling shower rose on the blast, And sic a nicht he takes the road in As ne'er poor sinner was abroad in. Burns died July 21, 1796, aged 2,7 1-2 years. On my way back to Ayr I saw a great many women coming from the harvest fields. They were attired in very queer style. Their dresses were exceedingly short and they wore black footless stockings, their bare feet being only a few shades lighter. "That is an odd looking rig those women are wear- ing," I said to the driver. "Eh, it is that," he replied. "Those black footless stockings are called 'huggars.' " I returned to Glasgow well pleased with the day spent at Ayr and vicinity. A comparatively short ride from Glasgow brought me to Addrossan, where I took the steamer for Bel- fast. We had only gotten a short distance from the pier before we found the old Irish Sea was at war with the elements and we were soon in the midst of the row, being rather roughly treated. The huge waves dashed over the deck of the steamer, forcing us to the saloon below. The steamer was very much crowded, having on board a larg^e excursion party from Edin- burgh. I remained below deck until the fumes of A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 73 Scotch whisky (which possibly many were taking for their "stomach's sake"), and the dense clouds of to- bacco smoke coming from some very ancient pipes, and the motion of the craft made me feel a "wee bit" uncertain as to whether I would be able to retain that which I had so carefully laid in that morning at the hospitable board of my friend Hood. I grasped the rail of the stairway and with considerable effort made my way on deck, wishing the difficulty between the Irish Sea and the elements were settled. On reaching the deck, found I could take my choice between a salt water bath or beating a hasty retreat to the saloon. I chose the latter. Upon entering I found the Irish Sea had shaken up the Scotch excursionists until the saloon had the appearance of having had a volcanic eruption. I fought with this belligerent old body of water for my rights all the way to Belfast Lough and finally came off conqueror. 74 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. CHAPTER VIII. IRELAND. IN conversation with several American tourists whom I met in England, and others on the steamer whom I met on my homeward trip, I found they had made the same mistake that so many have, by leaving Ireland off their programme. This lovely Island, lifting its head far above the great waste of water sweeping all about it, contains some of the finest scenery found in any country. Ireland covers 32,393 square miles, a little less than Maine, South Carolina and Indiana. It has about 5,000,000 inhabitants, three-quarters of whom are Roman Catholic. My first sight of the Emerald Isle was from the Queenstown harbor in the summer of 1894, after a voyage of ten days across the Atlantic. Those fields fringed with hedge rows of various shades of green, stretching from those bold white sea cliffs out as far as the eye could reach, was a picture that will not soon fade from my memory. On coming into the North of Ireland in the summer of 1899 and beholding those great hills and rugged sea cliffs of the County Done- gal, I found the scenery quite as fine in the North as in the South. In sailing up Belfast Lough, a distance of twelve miles from its mouth to the city, I was con- vinced that any lover of nature would be charmed with the magnificent scenery stretching along on either side. On the County Antrim side can be seen Views of Irish Homes. A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 75 Cave Hill, Dives and Black mountains lifting their heads over 1,000 feet above the sea, while on the County Down side the Castlereagh Hills keep almost a parallel course. After having traveled from County Derry and Donegal in the North to Kerry and Cork in the South and feasting my eyes on the beauty of the scenery of that stretch of country, then standing on the highest peak of one of the mountains in Kil- larney and gazing on those great mountains rising up in all direction, at whose base are magnificent sheets of water the grandeur of which cannot be described, I was not surprised that the Irish people boast of the beauties of their country. Frequently I have heard them say that the fields of Old Ireland were greener than those of America, but considered it simply a fan- cied notion, but since my visits to that Green Isle, I join with every Irishman in saying it is true. Vegeta- tion of all kinds has a deeper hue than one sees in our own great country. The reason of this is the great moisture of the atmosphere. The Irish have the reputation of being very hospit- able people and I also found this to be true. Upon entering the homes of some of those who had gathered considerable of this world's goods, and of those less favored, I found that word "welcome" more than a mere sentiment. The kindness shown me in those Irish homes will always be cherished by the "Tall Yankee." The question is often asked, "What kind of homes have they in Ireland? Are most of them little, one- storied, thatched cabins?" My answer is, "No." There are hundreds of mag- nificent mansions, many of them surrounded by acres 76 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. of fine grounds, usually enclosed by stone walls with the name of the home on the post of the lodge gate. The occupants of these dwellings are far removed from the pinchings of want. Then there are also thousands of splendid homes, many of which are owned and oc- cupied by professional and business men, homes that compare favorably with those of any country. In visiting very many of the homes of the laboring classes I found them neatly and comfortably furnished, and the vast majority of those that were not was because the head of the house dropped his hard earnings in the till of the "Publican" instead of that of the mer- chant. In my travels I did see many little cabins, especially in the South of Ireland, and wondered how the occupants managed to live in such a small place. I also heard them speak of the mud cabin found in some parts of Ireland, where the pigs and the chick- ens, and sometimes the donkey, shared the home with the family. The houses are either built of brick or stone. In all my travels through Ireland and Scot- land I never saw a frame house and only a very few in England, and they were very old. All the houses have open gates ; most of them have one in each room, and the kitchen floors are flag stone. Soon after my arrival in Dublin, I met one of my old friends who formerly lived in Cork. He greeted me in his usual witty and humorous manner. Grasping my hand and shaking it warmly, then casting his eyes down at my feet, he said : "Well, sure, Butler, I knew your feet. Why the two of them would flag a kitchen." Soft coal is the only kind used in the British Isles, and the housekepers, I judge, find it more difficult to A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 77 keep their cooking utensils as tidy as do our Ameri- can women. Another question so often asked is, "Do they use the Celtic language?" In some parts of the country it is spoken by com- paratively few people and the most of them, I under- stood, being aged persons. In all of my journeys through that country I did not hear it spoken but once. An old man sitting beside me in the train go- ing from Belfast to Dublin used it in conversing with a Priest at one of the stations. None of the passen- gers in the compartment understood it, and all save one were full-fledged Irishmen. As the train moved from the station, the old man said : "It is such a treat to find any one who can speak the Celtic language, for I seldom come across a person that understands it." "Do you think it will ever be generally spoken again?" a gentleman asked him. "Well, I can't say, sir. They are trying to revive it ; but I hardly think it will ever be used to any ex- tent," was his reply. The Dublinites have the reputation of speaking the finest English spoken in the world. They have a soft musical accent and fit their sentences very neatly. Even those whose education was quite limited, used choice language. The dialect in the North differs a little from that of the South. The people of the North have a "wee bit" of the Scotch accent., and use a great many of the Scotch expression. In listening to the conversation of a man in a store in one of the northern towns I concluded he was a Scotchman and was greatly surprised when the proprietor informed 78 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. me he was a native of Ireland. He said quite a num- ber of the people of that town used many Scotch phrases. In the North of Ireland there are very many large manufacturing places of various kinds, while in the South there are comparatively few. In visiting some of the towns and cities in the South, I wondered how the bulk of the people obtained a livelihood, and especially so in Cork, for the smoke was finding its way from very few industries in that beautiful city, with a population of nearly 100,000. From the ap- pearances of some I met on the streets, they earned a very scant living. The merchants, I fancied, de- pended largely on the country folk. All through the County Cork there are very many fine farms, and the majority of the tillers of the soil seemed fairly pros- perous. While in Cork on a market day I was very much amused in seeing some of the odd looking teams com- ing into town. It was a common sight to see an old man or a woman dressed in quaint style sitting in a cart, driving a donkey with rope lines. Some of the old characters were puffing away on very ancient look- ing pipes. The old women in the market place wore short dresses and old fashioned black bonnets, under which was a white cap bordered with three heavy frills that encircled their typical Irish faces. There was a "deal" of wit under those old bonnets, which they passed out quite freely. Cork has several fine build- ings and some of its "shops" are fitted up very at- tractively. On my former visit I stopped at one of these "shops" to make a purchase. As the clerk passed me the article, I said : "I don't want that, sir; it is soiled." A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 79 "I see you are a Yankee," he remarked, as he ex- changed it. "I am," I replied. "Well, I thought you were an Irishman until I de- tected your slight American accent," he said. "The same compliment has been passed on me be- fore," I replied. "Some of my friends remarked to me before leaving America, 'If you step ashore in Ire- land with a clay pipe in your mouth they will ask you "how long it has been since you left the Old Sod." ' " I did not even have to resort to the pipe, for when in Londenderry in 1894 a lady at the hotel where I was stopping said to me, when she learned I was from America : "How long has it been since you left Ireland?" "I have never left yet," I replied. "Why the gentleman told me your home was in America." "So it is, but I have never left Ireland for the rea- son I never was here before." She gave me a look of surprise and said : "Oh, I thought you were a native of Ireland." Having also been taken for an Englishman, I scarcely know of what nationality I am. My face must be a strange combination, for some have taken me for a clergyman and others for just the opposite. One day while walking along a turnpike in the upper part of New Jersey, I said to a gentleman in com- pany with me, who was complaining of being weary : "There is a toll gate just beyond. We will call in and rest," Walking up to the door with a great deal 80 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. of assurance I said to the matter-of-fact old woman that kept it : "Aunty, can we come in and rest?" "No, you can't," she replied very decidedly. "I'm here alone and I'm in and out, and can't have you in here." "We know the commandments very well, especially that one, 'Thou shalt not steal.' " She stepped out of the door and, adjusting her glasses, looked at us sharply and said : "Yes, but there's another side to it ; did you know it? There is lead us not into temptation." We laughed heartily at the old lady's remark. "Aunty, you surely don't think we would break that commandment, do you?" I asked. Leaning her elbow on the toll" gate, she said : "I'm a pretty plain spoken old woman. I think you would." Her remark brought forth another roar of laughter. We left the toll gate not feeling very highly compli- mented. My friend was a clergyman, and wore a white clerical tie, but the old lady did not seem to reckon very much on his garb. This amusing cir- cumstance I related to a lady who was connected with the same church of which the toll keeper was a mem- ber, and when she informed her who her supposed thief was she laughed heartily and said : "Tell him the Lord was numbered among thieves and he's no better than He was." And added, "There was a man stopped in to rest one day and quoted Scripture all the while he was here, and when he left he stole my cash box, and just as soon as that tall man A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 81 with his friend began to pass out Scripture I fully made up my mind he couldn't come in." A short time after, a man said to me as I was about leaving a restaurant : "Why, I thought that was you sitting there when I first came in." "You have the advantage of me," I replied. "Oh," he said, "I have met you several times around at the hotel. You are the bartender there, are you not?" "Well, no, sir," I replied; "that is not my occupa- tion." I was helping pull in on the "Gospel net" at a church nearby, even though my face did indicate I was engaged in doing something just the opposite. At another time I was greatly amused as I listened at two boys who were passing their opinion on me while going along one of the streets in Asbury Park, N. J. They finally decided I was a pugilist and shouted, "Hello, there, John Sullivan." However, none of these who have passed their various opinions on me have given proof of being very apt in judging of one's nationality or calling in life. Returning to Cork, it has very many beautiful resi- dences. One part in particular I considered very pretty, where the houses were terraced on the side of a great hill. There are also several large churches, most of them being Roman Catholic. On seeing the great number of people going into these different churches and the great devotion of the large con- course of people assembled in the one I visited, I thought the Corkonians should be a model people. The Young Men's Christian Association have a large 82 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. and finely equipped building and a fairly strong mem- bership. On St. Patrick Street is a statue of Father Mathew, who founded the church of the Holy Trinity and who began his career in Cork as the great apostle of tem- perance. If all the people I saw patronizing the pub- lic house in Cork would adopt the principles laid down by him, there would be far less of poverty and distress in that city. William Penn, the founder of Pennsyl- vania, was converted to Quakerism in Cork by listen- ing to a very eloquent sermon preached by Thomas Loe. A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 83 CHAPTER IX. BLARNEY CASTLE. F SHORT ride on the electric tram brings one out to the Blarney Castle. It was built by Comack McCartney in the middle of the fif- teenth century. It has a massive tower 120 feet high. I climbed the stone stairway leading to the tower round the top of which is a battlement about five feet high. "Where is the famous Blarney stone?" I inquired of a young man standing near me. "Here it is," he said, as he leaned over the wall and pointed to the stone clasped by two iron bars on a pro- jecting buttress a few feet below the level of the wall. Seeing the difficult position it was in for kissing, I said to him : * "How will I put my lips on that stone?" "Och, sure," he replied, "I'll have to take yees by the heels and hang yees over the wall." "Not a foot of my tall form goes over there," I said. I had no thought of taking the risk of dropping iown 120 feet and being so "bruised and mangled by the fall" as to be beyond the possibility of repair. An En- glishman gave me an acount of his trip to Blarney Castle and of his experience of kissing the stone. He said it was a very exciting one. "As I hung over the wall," he remarked, "I shouted to the men that held me, 'Boys, don't trust me boots, but hold fast to my feet." 84 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. "The Blarney stone," says 'Blake's Picturesque Tourist of Ireland,' "had long been a by-word amongst the Irish. It is difficult to conjecture why, unless the glib tongues of the natives of this locality were supposed to be not the ordinary gift of nature. A curious tradition attributes to the stone the power of endowing whoever kisses it with the sweet persuas- ive eloquence so perceptible in the language of the Cork people, and which is usually termed 'Blarney.' There is an odd story about Blarney Lake which is a short distance from the castle. It is said that the Earl of Clancarty, who forfeited the property at the revolu- tion, sank all his family plate in a certain part of this lake ; that three of the McCarthy's inherit the secret of the place where the treasure is sunk and any one of them dying communicates it to another of the family, and thus perpetuates the secret which is never to be made public until a McCarthy is again Lord of Blar- ney." There is a beautiful little grove that surrounds the old castle in which a number of people were having a good social time, picnicking. The ride from Cork to Dublin is a very delightful one. I broke nry journey and ran over to the ancient city of Limerick. It is situated on the Shannon, "the noblest of the Irish rivers." In walking about the old city, which has a population of about 40,000, 1 was interested in its fine residences and its quaint business streets. The merchants seemed to be doing business very leisurely, evidently avoiding the great rush that sweep so many men to a premature grave. In my wanderings through this old city I formed the ac- quaintance of Rev. J. Armstrong, and spent a very A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 85 pleasant hour with him and his excellent wife in the old manse. He was one of those broad-minded men and was very much interested in the progress of the church of God, irrespective of creed. It was a source of regret to me to learn, on returning to Ireland in 1899, that this fine Christian man had quit the shores of time. But Ireland is all the better for the godly life and bright Christian example of this man. My trip to Tipperary in 1894 is still fresh in my memory. This town is the county seat of the large county of Tipperary. If the town and county can boast of nothing else, it can of its extraordinarily large men, many of whom are fine specimens. I re- mained over night at the home of a gentleman who was the father of a friend of mine in Londonderry. He was the only Methodist in the town, and all his employees were members of the Roman Catholic Church. He was a man who was respected by all the community, irrespective of creed. The people of Tipperary were very kind and hospitable, and I re- member my visit there with pleasure. 86 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. CHAPTER X. DUBLIN. ©UBLIN is a beautiful old city with a population of about 400,000. It is divided by the river Liffey. It is rather a narrow stream walled up on either side, the entire length of the city proper. Along many of its quays and the canals running in from them can be seen vessels of various kinds taking in or discharging their cargoes. There are several lines of steamers plying between Dublin and points in Ireland, Scotland and England. One day, while at the north wall, I saw a number of men from one of the country districts embarking for England to engage in harvesting. Many of tkem were dressed in queer style, and had their belongings tied up in red handkerchiefs suspended from rude- looking sticks and thrown over their shoulders. One man in particular amused me very much. He wore a little flat-topped hat and a coat that looked as though it had been worn by his ancestors, a very brief pair of trousers, and yarn stockings that disappeared under the scant trousers, and boots with no scarcity of leather. He carried his extra clothing in an old car- pet bag having the appearance of being the first that was made. The Liffey is spanned by a number of bridges. The O'Connel bridge is the principal one. It con- nects Westmorland with Sackvill street. The latter is an unusually wide street on which stands Nelson's A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 87 monument. I climbed the spiral stairway to the top of this monument which is 120 feet high and had an extended view. The Dublinites have demonstrated the fact that they desire to keep the memory of their illustrious dead fresh and green. On many of the streets are monuments in honor of some eminent divine, statesman, poet or hero. The Duke of Wel- lington was born in Dublin and also Tom Moore, Ire- land's great poet. Many of his poem's I have read with interest. I remember when a small boy what a deep impression was made on me in reading one of his beautiful hymns, entitled "There's nothing true but heaven." The last verse has always lingered in my memory. It reads as follows : "Poor wanderers of a stormy day, From wave to wave are driven ; And fancy's flash and reason's ray, Serve 'but to light our troubled way; There's nothing calm hut heaven." Then in later years another one of his sacred songs became a great favorite: "Come, ye disconsolate, where'er you languish, Come at the shrine of God, fervently kneel, Here 'bring your wounded hearts; here tell your anguish, Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal." Daniel O'Connel, the noted lawyer and statesman, lived in this city. His family vault is at the Glasne- vine cemetery, a very large Catholic burial plot on the suburbs of the city. On paying a six pence I went down the steps to the vault where could be seen the coffins containing the dust of this great man and of 88 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. several members of his family. While visiting this cemetery one morning there were a great many fun- erals came in. There were three in the chapel at one time and a number of others awaiting to take their places. It is quite a sight to see the friends coming to the cemetery in Irish jaunting cars and vehicles of various kinds. They are supposed to have their dead at the chapel by 12 M. One of the grave-diggers in- formed me they had forty funerals that morning. Parnell is buried here and a large mound marks his resting place, on which were many small glass cases containing immortelles and various designs made of artificial flowers presented by friends and the many Land League societies of Ireland. On my way into the city I overtook the priest who officiated at the fun- erals at the chapel. "You have had a busy morning," I said to him. "Oh, yes," he replied ; "we had about twenty chil- dren and the same number of adults." "Is that an unusual number for one day?" I in- quired. "Yes," he replied, "there is an epidemic of typhoid fever in the city and it is proving fatal in many cases." During the winter I was informed the number ran up to sixty funerals a day. ♦ A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 89 CHAPTER XI. THE CUSTOM HOUSE AND FOUR COURTS. DUBLIN contains some very large and massive buildings, some of them bearing the marks of age. The custom house is the finest building in the city. The principal front faces the Liffey. The dome is 120 feet high, on the top of which is a statue representing "Hope." I had a friend em- ployed there and called occasionally to see him, but had to go through a great deal of "red tape" before I could "put the two eyes of me on him." "Who do you wish to see?" the attendant at the gate inquired. "Mr. M— ," I replied. "Well, just go to the second floor and they will send for him." On reaching there I was directed into a small room and furnished with a blank to fill out with my name and address and occupation. This being done, an- other attendant took it to headquarters, and after my clearance papers were passed, my friend put in his ap- pearance. The Fourt Courts on the King's Inn Quay, which is some distance up the Liffey, is a splendid building in which are the courts of the Queen's Bench, Ex- chequer and Common Pleas. The Barristers are at- tired in black robes and wear a gray curled wig. Some of their robes looked ancient enough to have been worn by the Barristers of long ago. I paid sev- po A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. eral visits to the courts (be it known only as a specta- tor). I saw a number of these masters of law hurry- ing to and fro with their hands filled with documents, apparently doing their best for their client. They ad- dress the judge as "Your Worship." I enjoyed lis- tening to them argue their cases. They usually spun threads of pure wit through their remarks. Around the magistrate's court there was usually a large crowd of rough looking men and women gathered, who semed to be interested in their friends who had fallen into the hands of justice. Several times I at- tended the magistrate's court in Ireland and while there was a very sad side to them, there was also a very amusing one. One day I remained while they disposed of quite a number of cases. The first was that of a good natured looking man, whom a fellow on the witness stand had charged with assault and bat- tery. Judging by the quantity of material with which his eye was bandaged, the man did it properly. The lawyer, who was an elderly man and quite witty, said : "Did you not follow the defendant from the factory and bring on the trouble?" "Well, sure I come out after he did," was his reply. "Well, how many public houses did you go into before you found him?" "I don't remember, sir." "You don't remember? Why, you seem to have a very short memory," said the lawyer, and added : "Well, what did the man do when you found him?" "Och, sure, he made a pass at me," said the man ad- justing the bandage. "And a very successful pass it was, by the look of A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 91 your eye," said the lawyer, which remark caused a rip- ple of laughter to pass over the court. "What did you do when the man struck you?" asked another lawyer. "I don't mind, sir; I was confused," was his reply. "Well, what confused you?" "The five pints of porter he drank before he found the defendant," shouted the old lawyer. Even the old staid Judge had to smile at this remark. "Your Worship," said the lawyer for the plaintiff, "these men are fellow-workmen and have never had any trouble before, and my client does not wish to push the case." "He is the aggressive party," said the old Judge, and, turning to the fellow with the discolored eye, said : "My business is to punish the guilty," and sen- tenced him to a short term in the old prison. The next to appear in the prisoner's dock was a great, stal- wart woman, with a babe in her arms. She was also charged with using her huge fists too freely on an old woman. When they called the name of this old weather-beaten character, she slowly made her way to the witness stand and seemed so feeble that one of the officers had to assist her. The prisoner looked down on her with scorn, and said : "Och, don't be helpin' her; she can help herself. She's only puttin' it on." "Kiss the book," said the clerk of the court. She clasped her hands and threw her eyes up toward the ceiling and looked as though she was about to ex- pire. She was one of those old characters that had a face for every day in the week. She finally gathered 92 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. up the little soiled Bible and pressed it to her withered lips and then began to make her statement. "I keeps a lodgin' house, and that woman come to me house for a bed and whin I gave her one and wanted me pay, sure, she wouldn't give it to me, but fell to and give me a beaten," and then clasping her hands, said in a faint tone of voice, "And, sure but for me daughter she would have bate me to death." Then she slowly sat down. "That old rounder has another case in court," said a rough looking man near me. "She's always bring- in' some one here." "Your Worship, can I spake?" said the prisoner. "You can," the Judge replied. "I wint to that woman's house for me lodgins and paid me six pence for me bed and laid meself and child down on it, and if she dident come and drag the tick from under me and give it to some other -woman, and I never laid the hands of me on her." The old woman forgot how feble she had pretended to be and sprang to her feet and, rolling up her sleeve, shouted : "The Lord forgive me, but look at the arm of me where she bate me." "Your worship," said the officer, "when I reached the old woman, I found the prisoner beating her." When the old Judge sentenced the huge prisoner, she shrieked and shouted: "Yees are sendin' an in- nocent woman to jail." "Did you see the prisoner break in the door?" said a lawyer to a woman who was a witness against a man who was charged with malicious mischief. A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 93 "I saw him with the two eyes of me walk over to the door and break it in." "Do you think, after all the porter you women had been drinking, you could see clearly?" remarked the lawyer. She looked at him indignantly, and said : "I don't go among me neighbors, sir, and I don't drink. We've been dacent people for seven genera- tions." Every one smiled at her remark, for she looked as though she was fresh from the public house. One of the Judges that presided at one of the courts was a comparatively young man and evidently saw the funny side of life. I tried hard to catch all of his witty sayings that amused the court, but he had a low tone of voice and found it difficult to hear him. "When did you say you arrested those women?" he asked of an officer who had just testified against two of the worst looking women one could find. "At half-past nine o'clock," the officer replied. "I should think so," he said, with a smile playing over his face. I would like to know what man would be found in daylight in the company of such looking women as they." One of them had an old piece of soiled rag with which she was wiping out her blackened and swollen eye. The other woman's face was fearfully disfigured with old scars and fresh cuts and scratches. They had evidently been in collision with several crafts along the wild, rocky coast of intemperance. He fin- ally turned to them and said : "Leave the clock and never let me see you here again." "Your worship," said an officer, "I found this man drunk and not able to give any account of himself." 94 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. The prisoner was a hard looking old man and as he stood in the dock, looked about in the court-room and winked at the people. "Silence in the court," shouted one of the officials, as he heard a suppressed laugh coming from a num- ber of persons, and I among them. "Has the defendant anything to say?" asked the Judge. "Your worship, I have," said the old man as he turned to us and again winked. "I was down on the strand gatherin' cockels and I told the officer I was goin' to Balgrigin, and sure he took me up." "What is your occupation?" asked the Judge. He put his hand in his coat pocket and drew out a tin fife and held it up and said : "That's me caracter, sir." The remark struck the Judge on the funny side and his face was broken up with a huge smile. A young man stood in the dock bearing the same name as my- self. He was charged with bringing his fist down on his father's nose in a way that took the bark off of one side. His father was called to the stand and, after kissing the book, the lawyer asked him if he knew the boy. "I do, sir; he's me son," he replied. "What kind of a boy is he?" "Well, he's very unruly and he doesn't work. He came into the house for the tea and the mother said he couldn't have it until the rest of the children had their's, and he said he would. He grasped the knife and the bread, and his mother and I remonstrated with him, and he threw the knife and the loaf of bread at his mother and struck me with his fist." A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 95 "And that is how you got your nose injured?" asked the lawyer. "It is, sir," he replied. The boy's mother was then called to the stand. "Are you acquainted with this lad, inquired the lawyer. "I am, sir; he's me son." "What kind of a boy is he?" In a very decided way, she said : "Sure, sir, he's a quiet lad, and when he works gives us all his money." "Well, how did he come to get into trouble at home?" "Well, he came in for his tea and I told him to wait till the other children had their's, and he said he'd have it at once. Then his father said he should have none at all, and sure in the melee he struck his father." Then they produced the huge bread knife and the lawyer said : "Did he throw this knife at you?" She said very decidedly "He did not ; he held it in his haund." "Well, did he throw the loaf of bread at you?" "He did not, for we hadn't the full of a in the house." "Your husband just swore that he threw the knife and bread. What, then, did he throw?" She said in a way that made every one laugh : "He threw the half of a loaf at me and struck me in the back of the neck with it. Sure, he's a poor stuterin', stammerin' lad or he could speak for himself." Her mother heart would not let her testify against the boy and he was acquitted, 96 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. I said to my friend : "You see that all who bear my name are not law-abiding." On coming out of the court-room I saw a motley crowd gathered about the window cells, which were covered with fine wire screens. A bare-footed and forlorn looking woman with a small babe in her arms shouted to one of the prisoners : "Sally, are ye there?" "I am," was the reply. "What did yees get?" "Och, sure, and they gave me fourteen days or a pound, and I'll have to go to jail, for I've no pound." "Cheer up ; the fourteen days will soon be passin'." "What did Mike get?" shouted the woman from the cell. "Och, sure, he was fined a pound, and some one paid it for him." "That's just like him to be havin' that done," she re- plied, and added: "Look after the things till I get out." Some of the Christian women in and around Dublin have organized the "Woman's Prison Gate Mission," and have accomplished a great deal of good. They have a committee of ladies at the prison gate every morning, and these excellent women induce many of the unfortunate ones to go with them to this worthy institution, and many of them having been brought under Christian influence have been led to a better life. They have a laundry connected with the mission which gives employment to a great many women. In A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 9? company with one of the ladies interested in this mis- sion, I visited it and assisted in a religious service. There were something over a hundred women pres- ented many of them were deeply affected. We are too apt to regard those who have gone so far down as hopeless cases. Many of these men and women only need a helping hand. 98 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. CHAPTER XII. BANK OF IRELAND AND TRINITY COLLEGE. VT7 HE Bank of Ireland, once used as the House of <$ I (s Parliament of Ireland, is a large, imposing- building. It was completed in 1787 and was purchased in 1802 by the company of the Bank of Ire- land. In being shown through this old building, I was quite interested in the old House of Lords, which remains as it did in the long ago, except the statue of King George III occupies the site of the throne. Trinity College, standing on the opposite side of the street from the Bank of Ireland, is a fine old struct- ure. It is surounded by large and finely laid out grounds, on which could be seen the students en- gaged in their various field sports. This college was founded in the time of Pope John XXII and closed in the reign of Henry VIII. It was re-opened by Queen Elizabeth, who formed it into a corporation. In 1627 a new code of laws were framed for this col- lege. A son of a friend of mine living in Black Rock who is a student in the college there, showed me through the different buildings. Some of them have been built in the past few years and others show the touch of time. The library contains 300,000 volumes. From these old halls of learning have gone some of the brightest men the world has known. The general Post Office is another large stone building standing on Sackville street. It has a huge portico which extends A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 99 out over the pavement, surmounted by three figures — Hibernia, Mercury and Fidelity. While in Dublin I heard of an English tourist who was seeing the city from an Irish jaunting car and as he rode along Sackville street he said to Pat : "What building is that?" "It's the gineral Post Office, sorr," he replied. "What do those figures represent?" "The apostles, sorr." The Englisman, thinking to get the best of Pat, said: "There were twelve apostles. Where are the others?" But Pat was ready with his bundle of wit, and said : "Why, sorr, the rest are insoide sortin' the let- thers." Dublin has a number of large churches, the largest being St. Patrick's Cathedral and the Christ Church Cathedral. The former occupies the site of a relig- ious edifice built by St. Patrick who Christianized Ire- land in 432. The cathedral is near the well from which he baptized his converts. The present build- ing was begun by Archbishop Comyn in 1 190, and re- stored after a portion of it was destroyed by fire in 1370. Among the monuments in the cathedral is one to Boyle, Earl of Cork. There are also tablets in memory of some of Dublin's honored citizens of cen- turies ago. Christ Church Cathedral was first erected in 1038. It was in this church that the liturgy was first read in the English tongue. The Methodist, Presbyterian and Baptists have several fine churches. The Roman Catholics, which are the leading denom- ination, have several large chapels which seemed to be well attended. As I traveled through the British LofC. ioo A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. Isles and saw the vast number of churches of various creeds I concluded that surely no one need miss the "homeward way." The Young Men's Christian Association have a fine building on Sackville street. They have a large mem- bership of good, active Christian young men, and a good, live, up-to-date secretary, who has the happy faculty of interesting the boys in the work along all lines. He also has a very cordial way in receiving strangers. He makes them feel at home as soon as they enter the building. I was engaged for several evenings at this "Gospel Life Saving Station," assist- ing him and his worthy assistant and his earnest band of workers in throwing out the "Life Line," and they succeeded in rescuing about twent^five young men. Their custom in the meetings is to announce the num- ber of the hymn ; then the organist plays the melody, after which the hymn is read. One evening I read two lines of the hymn and, using an old American term, said : "We will sing without further lining." I noticed the amused look on the faces of the men and saw them exchanging glances. I soon found my term was not understood. They finally took up the piece and sang it. After the meeting some of them gathered up their books and said in a way that made me laugh heartily : "We'll sing without lining. What kind of lining do you mean? Sing without lining in your hat or coat or trousers? Who ever heard of singing that way?" I was very careful not to use that term again. A man said to me in Dublin : "You Yankees use a great many odd expressions. A Yankee asked me one day where he would strike a A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 101 barber, and I said, 'What did the barber do that you want to strike him?' I soon learned," he remarked, that the man meant to do the barber no harm, but sim- ply wanted to get shaved." One day, in company with the secretary, called to see a nice-looking, intelligent young man who was se- riously ill. Two years previous in a meeting at the Y. M. C. A. hall he decided to take the homeward path and from that time had been a very consistent Christian. He well understood that his stay on earth was very brief. The secretary asked him how he felt in regard to taking the journey to the Unseen Land. His face brightened as he said : "I have no fear, sir. I settled the great question two years ago and am well prepared for the journey." A smile played over his face as he talked of the home beyond. He listened with rapt attention as we sang to him one «f Fanny Crosby's sweet hymns : "Some day t'he silver chords will break And I no more as now will sing, But, Oh, the joy when I awake Within the palace of the king." He died a few days afterward, singing "I shall know Him by the prints of the nails in His hands." His sorrow-stricken mother said to me : "He was a Christian in his home and will be greatly missed, but his triumphant death will always be a great consolation to me." 102 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. CHAPTER XIII. HOSPITALS AND PARKS. DUBLIN has several charitable institutions and finely equipped hospitals. One day in com- pany with a friend, I called at the almshouse and asked permission to visit the institution. "How much time have you?" asked the attendant. "Well, I think we have about twenty minutes," I replied. "Och, sure, sir, a bird couldn't fly through in that time," he said. After going through this immense place with its several hundred inmates, we concluded the attendant was right. There are also a number of beautiful squares in the city. Stephen's Green is a large and handsome plot, surrounded by many fine homes. It is very tastefully laid out and contains choice plants and flowers and a miniature lake on whose bosom various kinds of water fowls can be seen. From the pavilion the people are treated to some excellent music by the band employed by the city. The Phoe- nix Park is on the outskirts of the city and contains 1,700 acres of nicely laid out grounds in which are a number of monuments. One of them is in memory of the Duke of Wellington, erected by his fellow- townsmen in 181 7. I found an old coin at the base of this monument bearing the date of 1628. The Vice- regal Lodge is situated about the centre of the park. This is the Lord Lieutenant's summer home. Not far A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 103 away is where the noted Phoenix Park murder took place. A very seedy looking character stood on the spot airing himself on the subject, expecting a few pence for his information. The secretary of the Y. M. C. A. invited me to assist in an open air service at the park one evening. "We are not troubled with the rough element," he said. "We usually have a very attentive audience. We were scarcely on the grounds when nearly a score of young men of the "baser sort" gathered about us, each bent on doing his best to break up the meet- ing. "Say, there," one of them shouted to the speaker, "don't be goin' round so much ; yees'll get dizzy and be fallin' down." "Hauld yer tongue," called out another; "yees know nothin' about it." But none of their remarks seemed to disturb him. When he had finished speaking, the secretary said : "We have a gentleman from America who will sing, accompanied by his autoharp." "Hello, Yankee," they shouted as they closed in around me. "And what do yees call that thing?" "It is an autoharp," I replied, as I tried to keep a tight rein on a laugh that was about getting the best of me. "Say, Yankee, play us a jig and I'll dance for yees," said a weazen-faced fellow, standing near me. "Hello, Yankee, give us 'Rosy O'Grady,' " shouted another. "Give us, 'There's no place like the poor house,' " said one of them whose appearance indicated that he knew by experience. I knew I should have to be on 104 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. my guard or would be side-tracked by these bundles of wit and fun. Finally I lifted up my voice in song and soared away on some very lofty notes. But they struck a higher key and shouted various kinds of ex- pressions in rag time. But I was determined to keep on the main track and did so until I had passed out the seven verses of the piece. "His Satanic Majesty has made an excursion from the lower regions and brought the worst he had," I remarked. "Oh, this is nothing to what we have had in some localities," was the answer. After another address, of which we heard but lit- tle, the secretary requested me to test my voice again. As soon as it was announced the American would again take part, a chorus of voices shouted, "Hello Yankee, give's another song." One fellow with his rich brogue, said : "Say, there, give us There's no place like home wid the fire out.' " Then another shouted, "Give us 'Yankee Doodle.' " It was more of an effort than before to keep myself in a condition \o render any service. I raised my hand and, securing their attention, said to them: "Boys, if you should come to America I would not treat you this way." "Eh, that's all right, Yankee," one of them replied. I would have quieted them but for one fellow who seemed to be the leader and who was a fac simile of the "Old Man," whose unseen presence headed the crowd. "Listen," I said, "I will sing you a piece, entitled 'My mother's face.' " "Your mother's face?" one fellow shouted. "Well, A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 105 what kind of a face did your mother have?" "Did yer mother have a nice face on her?" shouted another fellow. "Was it a good face yer mother had?" called out another of the crowd. I could scarcely refrain from joining in the laugh that their remarks caused. Finally I got control of my risibilities and stood up in the midst of that bois- terous crowd and sang in a key that I'm sure was heard above their shouts, "Of what kind of a face had yer mother?" At the close of the service I said to them, as they gathered about me, "Boys, I will forgive you for treating me so discourteously. You come over to my country and see if you are treated in like manner." Most of this jolly, witty crowd seemed to be ashamed of their conduct. One of them said : "Say, Yankee, yees can play that thing." Another fellow, who had shouted himself hoarse, came up to me and said: "Say, Yankee, take us out and get us a porter, will yees?" But that article or something stronger had been partially responsible for their behavior. Several po- liceman were standing near, but made no attempt to quiet them. Only in the case of violence do they in- terfere. This excellent band of young men and women seemed to be undaunted. One of the workers in- formed me that one evening at an open air meeting he announced the hymn, "What can wash away my stains?" A lad shouted, "Sunlight soap, sir." Another gentleman whom I knew was addressing a 106 A YAN'KEE BACHELOR ABROAD. similar meeting in a very earnest manner. A man in the audience called to him and said : "Say, there, don't yee be makin' so much noise. Didn't yees know there was a woman sick at Balls Bridge? Yees'll be disturbin' her." The place referred to was three miles from the speaker. Any one appreciating Irish wit would find it difficult to keep in a devotional frame of mind at one of these meetings where these characters were passing out their wit. Dublin has several fine business streets along which are large "shops" fitted up very attractively. Of a pleasant afternoon these thoroughfares are crowded with many finely-dressed people, most of whom oc- cupy the many splendid homes in and around the city. Dublin has the reputation of having more handsome women than any other city in the world, and as one walks through its streets and sees the many fair-complexioned lassies with the rosy tint on their cheeks which nature's hand painted, and also those who have swept over into middle life and car- ried with them considerable of their youthful beauty, he is at once convinced that Dublin is entitled to the honor. In speaking of the beauty of the Dublin wo- men at a little gathering in a town in New Jersey one evening, a boy said to two young women, fresh from the Green Isle: "You had better go back to Ireland and get your beauty; you came over without it." The remark made even the blushing Irish lassies laugh. The houses of Dublin are principally built of darlc brick and range from two to five stories high. Dur- A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 107 ing my stay of several months in and around this beau- tiful city I formed the acquaintance of several of the occupants of these homes, and also found that the "latch string" had not been shortened in the homes of those whom I met on my former visit. The first time I called at one of these homes, I was met at the door by two little girls who threw their arms about my neck and said, "Welcome to our home." But the years that had passed since that visit had swept these girls over on the verge of young womanhood, and on en- tering that home again they gave me a good Irish welcome, but did not demonstrate it as before. I presume they thought it might be rather embarrassing to their Yankee bachelor friend. These girls were bright and intelligent and possessed a large vein of wit and fun. They were ever ready to play some prank on me, which was thoroughly enjoyed by their father and mother. If I remained over night I usu- ally had to closely investigate my resting place, for they frequently had it arranged so that I would h>ve to readjust it before I could tuck myself away for the night. The many pleasant evenings spent in that home at Sidney Parade are among the brightest re- membrances of my visit to Old Ireland. Several of my friends whom I first met at a picnic (or tea) at the Hill of Howth in the summer of 1894 had not been content to remain in the quiet harbor of "single blessedness," but had secured mates and embarked on the "sea of matrimony." They gave me an abund- ance of advice "to go and do likewise," but I thought their matrimonial sea-faring life too brief for their ad- vice to have as much weight as if they had been "Old Salts." One of them whom I thought was a fixture io8 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. in the harbor during my last visit, suddenly weighed anchor and sailed away with a very excellent mate. "Come and spend the night with us," said one of these friends one day. I accepted his invitation and quite enjoyed my visit at his home. His wife was a sharp, witty girl and had the ready change to pass out to those who came her way. Her husband playfully remarked : "My wife and I were out walking the other day and we saw an old donkey grazing. I wanted her to stop and speak to her relative, but she was ashamed of him and passed him by." She turned to him, and said : "Jimmy, he was only a relative by marriage and I know enough of the family. I married you, and not the whole of them." I made the room ring with laughter as Jimmy took his change. When we came from the house the next morning we were caught in a cyclone. It was not equal to those we have in America, but came with sufficient force to take the roofs from several houses and uproot some of the large, old trees in the Trinity College grounds. We took refuge back of a stone wall, but the storm increased in its fury and my friend said, "We had better make an effort to reach home." The wind was blowing fiercely and the rain falling in great sheets. With my grip in one hand and my umbrella in the other, I started up the street, when a heavier blast carried away my umbrella, which was soon followed by my new Irish hat. "Jimmy" ran in pursuit of the run-away articles, and I braced myself against a nearby wall and held fast to my grip, and with great difficulty kept my feet which, under ordi- A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 109 nary circumstances, prove to be sufficient ballast to hold me steady. I finally blindly made my way back to Jimmy's domicile. All the while the storm was wreaking vengeance on me. He overtook me with the hat and umbrella, which were complete wrecks. I was thoroughly drenched and imagined I had the appearance of being fished out of the Lifrey. "You will surely have to furnish me with a suit of clothing," I said to Jimmy as we entered the house. "Why, you could not get into my clothing," he replied. "I shall have to crowd myself into them in some way," I said, "for I cannot remain in this condition." He gave me the clothing and when I made my appearance there was a roar of laughter. The trous- ers were exceedingly brief, and the waist short of the size I require by several inches. I made no attempt to fasten the shirt. In doing so I would have found it difficult to have taken in oxygen. The coat was a very scant pattern and would have answered nicely in length for some I see worn now by our up-to-date lads. The heels of the stockings "struck" me in the ball of the foot. The greater part of the day I spent beside the open grate, much to the amusement of Jimmy and his good wife, and also of the servant who superintended the drying of my clothing. The reader can imagine the picture. A man towering over six feet high, atired in the clothing of one about five feet, six. A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. CHAPTER XIV. BREAKING OUT OF THE SOUTH AMERICAN WAR. i I # HERE were a great number of soldiers quar- ts I (s tered at the Richmond barracks on the sub- urbs of the city. The streets of Dublin were alive in the evenings with these gay-uniformed lads, many of whom had an Irish lass holding fast to their arms. Gay uniforms seem to dazzle the eyes of many of the lassies on both sides of the Atlantic. A friend in a village in Scotland requested me to call at the barracks and see a lad from that place. I found him quite a young fellow, not yet out of his teens. It was a case of father bringing a new mother into the home and the boy found it rather hard to fall in line with the new rules she introduced and con- cluded rather than submit to it to serve the good Old Queen. "How do you like the life of a soldier thus far?" I asked of him. "Oh, its a bonnie life," he replied. "I am anxious to get away from here, though, to some foreign coun- try." I presume that wish was gratified, for in a short time after my visit to the barracks the war broke out in South Africa and many of these boys were hurried away to the front, and the blood of many of them whom I saw in the barracks and on the streets of Dub- lin have stained the sands of that far-off land. The Inniskilling Dragoons, the Royal Dublin Fusiliers and A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. in the Royal Irish Rifles and the Imperial Yeomanry fought bravely for their country, and many of the English victories in South Africa are due to the brav- ery of the Irish soldiers. The Irish officers have also distinguished themselves by their ability and bravery. Lord Roberts, notwithstanding the fact that his son had just fallen in battle, when he saw the Queen's forces in great peril laid aside, in a measure, his sor- row and hurried to the front and gathered up the tangled threads and so wisely adjusted them as to bring several victories to Old England, and that with a comparatively small loss of life. General White, whose home is in the County Antrim, has made a rec- ord of which the Irish people are proud. Whenever the Queen's lads left Dublin for the seat of war there were usually great crowds at the quay to see them off. ^ M There were very often some very touching scenes witnessed. Sometimes was seen a mother part- ing with her boy or a wife saying good-bye to her hus- band, or some lass dropping a few tears over the de- parture of the lad of her choice. I did hear of a woman whose grief was not a bur- den to her. As she stood on the quay, seeing her husband off for the seat of war, he shouted to her : "Good-bye, Mary Ann." "Good-bye, Mike," she replied. "If yees bate the Boers as well as ye have me the last four years, they'll be well baten." Possibly there were others glad to have a "bit" of quietness in the home. I met two young men in a restaurant in Kahki suits who had enlisted with the Imperial Yeomanry. 112 A YAN'KEE BACHELOR ABROAD. "How do you feel about leaving for the front?" I inquired. "Oh," one of them said, "I would not mind it but for my mother. I am the only boy, and she takes it so to heart about me leaving home. I did not think she would feel so bad about it or I would not have en- listed, but there is nothing to be done now, but to go." "Well, when I enlisted," the other lad remarked, "I knew it meant going to the front, and I am anxious to get there, but then a fellow don't know whether he will get back again and that is not very consol- ing," he added. I met a poor lad on the train going from Dublin to Belfast, who had been wounded in one of the battles. He said: "I am only 19 years old. I am so disabled by this wound that I am unfitted for further service. I think I will get my discharge soon." And added: "My brother was killed beside me in the same battle in which I was wounded. He was a good fellow and ex- pected a promotion soon, but I was too fond of strong drink to expect anything like that. I see my mistake now." "Well," I said, "let the article alone and you can yet make a man of yourself." "I am on my way hame," he said, "but I dread meeting my mother for my brother and I left home to- gether and when she sees me coming back without him she will take on dreadfully." He was a very bright, interesting lad, who seemed to be made of good timber. One day on one of the corridor trains in going from Holy Head Wales, a rough looking soldier was pac- A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 113 ing the aisle, and finally stopped at our compartment door and began a conversation with us. He finally said: "I'm just after gettin' out of prison in Dublin. Two soldiers who are in the other compartment have me in charge, taking me back to my company." "What was the cause of your imprisonment?" we inquired. "Och, sure, while we were stationed in Dublin I was drunk and struck a mon and nearly killed him, and if I had been sober I'd given him more." We tried a light temperance lecture on the lad, but he said : "Sure'n, I'm to fond of the bottle to be given it up." ii4 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. W'\ CHAPTER XV. THE DUBLIN HORSE SHOW AND A TRIP TO THE OLD FARM. ^TrrTMLL y° u accompany us to the Dublin horse VXy show?" said a friend to me one day. ■ "What is the character of it?" I inquired. "Oh, it is simply a display of thoroughbred horses and jumping competitions," he replied. We boarded a tram car and he and his two sons and I were soon helping to swell the immense crowd of people that were making their way into this show, which is said to be the largest one of the kind in the world. I became very much interested in looking at some of the fine stock on exhibition. The Ros- common sheep were the largest I ever saw. "How much do you think that sheep would weigh?" I asked my friend who dealt in stock. "Well," he replied, "It will weigh nearly 300 lbs." There were also several immense cows and fine specimens of stock of different kinds. There were a great number of stalls in which were some of the finest horses I have ever seen. It seemed there could not be anything more perfect in the way of horse flesh. We met a gentleman who had a splendid animal for sale, and wished us to see it. I knew something of this horse, for I had ridden behind him in company with this gentleman along some of the fine roads in County Wicklow and could recommend him as being fleet footed. My friends had to exercise a great amount of patience with me for I found myself stopping at A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 115 the different stalls admiring these animals, all of which looked as though they had an abundance of oats. It was estimated there were about 15,000 people on the grand stand and in the general enclosure to witness the jumping competitions. Their Excellencies, the Lord Lieutenant and Countess Cadagan, were pres- ent, and hundreds of the elite from nearly all parts of the British Isles. There were also many of the pick- pocket brotherhood present, watching for an oppor- tunity to transfer the valuables of some unsuspecting ones to their own pockets. However, none of them made any attempt to lay hands on my belongings. The military band rendered some excellent music, which was greatly appreciated by that large concourse of people. The parade of coaches was a fine sight; some of them were magnificent, after which came the jumping competitions. Those fine animals seemed to spring over the banks and ditches and stone walls with great ease with their rider. A young man came out on a splendid horse and in jumping the first bank the horse stumbled and threw the rider, landing him on the broad of his back. "He has broken his neck," I said to one of the gentlemen. "Oh, I think not," he said. "You will find that fellow is either dead or dying." I further remarked. Two men ran to him with a stretcher and carried him off the grounds, and he died shortly after his removal. It cast a gloom over the entire gathering. Shortly after, another horse in jumping one of the high banks, threw the rider and I thought he, too, had left for the Great Beyond, but in a few minutes he jumped to his feet and made his way out of the enclosure. n6 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. "They are amateurs," said my friends, "and are a bit nervous." We made our way back to where the stock were. I preferred spending my time in looking at these fine animals, which the Irish said could not be excelled, and I quite agreed with them. In company with a young man from Boston, Mass., whom I met in Dublin, and one of the gentlemen who was with me at the horse show, I rode out to an old farm a few miles from Dublin. We passed through several little villages and then down along a fine road to the farm. No one occupied the house except the care-taker, who was a bachelor of long standing. "I understand this place is for sale," said the gen- tleman with us, to the care-taker. "It is sir," he replied; "would you like to see through the house?" "That is what I came for," said the gentleman. It was a very old-fashioned place. I presume had stood for a century or more. In one of the rooms was an old plaster paris bust of a woman which the care- taker said the family had left who recently removed. "This is the only woman about the house," said the care-taker, "and she is not like the most of women. She has nothing to say." As I passed through the bachelor's lonely quarters with nothing to break the silence save the sound of his Irish boots as he stepped about the carpetless floor, concluded 'I would much prefer having a woman that could talk in the old house, even though she did use her tongue freely in giving lectures on women's rights. The old farm yard and stone stables were de- serted. The only sign of life about this lonely spot was a few chickens, and they seemed concerned for A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 117 their safety when we put in our appearance, and hur- ried away to the ancient looking henery. We were glad when the gentleman had finished looking about the place and we were fast leaving in the distance the old weird farm and its occupant. We drove through a very pretty section of County Dublin to Black Rock to the splendid home of Mr. W — , where we were entertained in good Irish style by him and his fine family. His large garden was filled with vegetables and choice fruits. Many of the fruit trees were trained against the sides of the garden wall. The plums and gooseberries were of extraordinary size. In the hot house there were grapes and toma- toes growing. These are grown altogether in the hot houses, as they will not mature in any other way in Ireland. One of my friends in Worcestershire, Eng., who has a truck farm, informed me that he had re- cently set out tomato plants in the field as an experi- ment. There is not a very great abundance of fruit grown in Ireland, but the quality is excellent. DUBLIN'S SUBURBAN TOWNS. There are several fine little towns in the vicinity of Dublin. Sidney Parade, Booterstown, Black Rock, Monkstown, Kingston and Bray became quite famil- iar to me. I spent about a month at Black Rock, which is about three miles from the city proper. There are a number of splendid homes in and around this place, as well as many very small ones. This town, as well as the others mentioned, fronts on the sea. All this chain of towns is reached by electric trams and steam cars. The ride on the top of a tram, which runs as far south as Dalky, is a very delightful n8 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. one, as the tram as well as the steam cars run along the sea front. These cars are well patronized, espec- ially on Sundays. Many of the thirsty ones from Dublin come out to slake their thirst at the many public houses in these towns. "Why do they leave Dublin to get a 'wee drop?" some one may ask. Well, they have to be a bonafide traveler 'three miles from home to get strong drink on the Sabbath. One would think there were very many that distance from home by the great crowds thronging these 1 places that are Ireland's greatest en- emy. I became acquainted with very many excellent peo- ple'in these towns, especially in Black Rock. I was invited to their homes and frequently was requested to assist them in relieving their well-filled tables of their burden' of tempting food. Some of these homes were occupied by those having a fine bank account and others counted up their shillings very quickly, and'' while in some places the meal was not so elaborate yet the hospitality was quite as abundant. The lady with whom I took my meals and also the one where I lodged, were real bundles of kindness and made my stay there very pleasant. The latter was a Roman Catholic and if every member of that denomination, as well as those of other creeds, were as an exemplary a Christian as I had every reason to believe she was, there would be less cause of criticism from the world. In conversation with her one day, she said: "I was very worldly-minded until my two little boys died. Then I thought it time to turn my attention to living the kind of life that would enable me to again see those boys. One of them," she said, "died about A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 119 Christmas and my mother-heart was well-nigh broken. My clergyman came into my home and found me weeping. He said : 'Can't you give the boy to God as a Christmas gift?' Well," she said, "it came to me with such force that God had given His Son for me that then and there I gave up my boy and have grieved very little about him since. Then shortly after that I was taken very ill and the doctor had little, hope of my recovery. When I looked at my three little helpless girls I felt very anxious to live and rear them, but I turned to God and said, 'Thy will be done ; not mine.' " "That is what I call a fine type of Christianity," I remarked to Rev. D. H — of Philadelphia, who was stopping for a few days with me. We found a very excellent band of Christian work- ers at a little hall where we were assisting in a series of meetings. Two of the most prominent men in the work were lawyers. They not only knew how to untangle a poor unfortunate one from the meshes of the law, but also* well understood how to direct the transgressor of God's law to the Great Advocate who succeeds in getting an acquittal in every case He takes in hand. There was a lady that lived in one of the large, fine homes in the neighborhood who fre- quently attended the meetings. Her face was always an inspiration to the speaker. She had nearly reached three score years and ten, but she had kept her heart young by the grace given her by Him whom she sought and found when she was a young lady. She had so trained her sons and daughters as to cause them to arise up and call their mother blessed. Each of them had. followed the godly example of their 120 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. mother and were actively engaged in Christian work. In company with some friends I dined with this ex- cellent woman and her family in her well ordered home. Each of us, I think, will treasure up the kind hospitality shown us in that home. One of her sons who was a business man in Dublin, lived in a splendid home a short distance from his mother's. We spent several pleasant evenings with him and his model wife and their interesting little girls. A short time after my arrival home, her son wrote me, saying : "Mother left us for her home in yon holy city." While that fine home is darkened by the absence of this mother, heaven is all the brighter by her presence. There was always a warm welcome awaiting me at the homes of the two lawyers. One of them had lived in the old homestead since his birth. His family con- sisted of himself and wife and a son and daughter. The latter was preparing for the foreign mission field. One evening in the meeting there were two very rough looking characters. At the close of the meet- ing one of them came up to me and said : "This mon is a mute and he's poor. Can yees give him enough for a night's lodgin' ?" I tried to carry on a conversation with him with my fingers, but he simply looked at me and smiled and made no effort to even make a sign. We all had a strong suspicion that the fellow could use his tongue in talking much better than his fingers. One of the workers gave them something and charged them to not come again on a begging expedition. The next evening when I came into the hall, there sat the mute on the front seat. At the close of the service he grasped my hand and shook it warmly and then A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 121 waited until I was ready to leave. Mr. H — said to me: "There is your man waiting for you. I think you had better remain here for a little while." He mo- tioned for the mute to leave the hall for we had noth- ing to give him. This gentleman had met similar characters before. He finally crossed the street and joined the little fellow who was waiting near a large tree. We felt quite sure the fellow had the use of his tongue as he and his comrade made their way down the street. A lady who, in company with her daughter and a fine young man who resided with them, were very reg- ular in their attendance at the meetings. The lady in- vited me to spend a few days at her home. Returning from London to spend a fortnight in Old Ireland pre- vious to leaving for America, I paid a visit to this home. Every evening, save one, a company was in- vited to the: house, some of them coming out from Dublin. A young lady who was a fine performer on the piano and who had a voice filled with music, entertained us with some choice Irish pieces. The evenings were also spent in pleasant conversations, enriched with an abundance of Irish wit. The last evening I spent in that home I said to the company gathered there: "In all probability we shall never again meet on this Green Isle," and it would seem to be a true prophecy, for this good lady and her daughter and the young man set sail in a few months after for South Africa to join this lady's husband who has been there for sev- eral years teaching school. Since landing there, the young man and lady have joined hands in matrimony 122 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. and have settled down with the old folks to spend their days in that far-off land. One evening we were invited to a home a few doors from where I was stopping, and I had another dem- onstration of good old Irish hospitality. That eve- ning before the company separated, they all joined in singing, "God be with you till we meet again." On Sabbath morning in company with the young man now in Africa, and two others, I walked to Monkstown and attended the Friends' meeting. There was an absence of the broad rimmed hats and the plain bonnets that one sees in the Friends' meet- ings in some parts of America. The meeting house was not quite so plain as we find in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and a few nearby states. While their services were not so elaborate as in many of the Friends' meetings in Eastern and Western States, yet it differed from that of the primitive Friends in that any one feeling moved to sing was at liberty to do so. After a brief season of silent worship, a ministering Friend spoke, after which he shook hands with the one sitting beside him, which was the sign of dismissal. One Sabbath we attended service at the Black Rock Methodist Church. When I introduced Rev. D. H — to Rev. Esagan, he at once invited him to preach. After the service a gentleman living in a magnificent home sent word to the pastor that he wished us to accompany him home to dinner. He and his good wife gave us a cordial welcome to their home, and the reverend gentleman and myself did justice to the sumptuous meal. We frequently talk of our visit to Mr. B — 's fine, old home. A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 123 CHAPTER XVI. KINGSTON! AND BRAY. YT7 HIS town is about six miles from the city proper. ^ I 4) The town has a splendid sea front and one of the finest harbors of any seaport town in Ire- land. There is a long stone pier extending far out into the sea. From this pier the fast mail steamers leave for Holly Head, Wales. Back of the town the great hill of Killiney and Victoria Mountain lift up their heads several hundred feet. I spent several days in this town, assisting in a series of meetings held in one of the halls. I was entertained at the home of a retired naval official who, with his excellent wife, made my stay so pleasant that I was rather loath to bid them farewell. I was also entertained in another home, the family of whom I met on my previous visit to Ireland. When this gentleman showed me to my room he said : "This is the 'Prophets' Chamber.' People from nearly all parts of the world have occupied this room." He and his wife were very much interested in for- eign missions and returned missionaries, and those in- terested in Christian work always found a welcome in this home. One morning this gentleman and myself were coming into Dublin and in the compartment with us were several school children. One of them was a boy with a number of books. I said to him as he was busy studying his lesson : 124 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. "Son, do you think you have room in your head to pack the contents of that lot of books?" He looked up into my face and said in a way that settled me : "Sir, if I haven't, I'll borrow yours, and if that will not do I will borrow the man's with the tall hat," referring to my friend. "I think I had better take my change and let that lad pass on," I said. I was as completely flattened out as I was by a boy in Wilmington, Del. One day a colored man asked me for a nickel to get a drink of beer. "I am not a friend to beer or whisky," I replied. "I would like to sink them down in perdition so far the Old Man could never get them up again." "Say, boss," said the colored fellow, "some folks say dey aint no H — ." "Well, I have had a foretaste of Heaven by doing right and of H — by doing wrong," I replied. "Say, mister, when did you come up?" said a white boy, standing near me. "Don't talk to that gentleman that way. He's talkin' common sense." "Well," he replied, "he said he had been down there. I just wanted to know when he come up." "Oh," I said, "he is one of those boys with a large head." "What size hat do you wear?" I inquired of the boy. "No. 7, sir." "Oh, I think a smaller size would answer." I walked away well assured the boy had gotten the best of me. There was a fine looking young man that attended the meetings several evenings, whom I was informed A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 125 was rather inclined to be skeptical. As soon as the address was finished he would grasp his hat and hur- riedly leave the hall. One evening he came in late and was obliged to take a seat near the front. I pur- posed to have a conversation with him before he left, but the speaker had scarcely ended his discourse be- fore he had his hat and was moving rapidly toward the door. I hurried down the aisle and overtook him in the vestibule. "Have you settled the great question spoken of in the meeting this evening?" I asked. "I have no time now, sir, to discuss the subject," he replied as he adjusted his overcoat and turned toward the door. "And neither have I, and it needs but little," I said. "If you are in the mist and fog," I added, "about the truth of the Old Book, test it and you will not be long in getting out into< the clear sunlight." "I have no time to discuss it," he again remarked, and passed out and hurried away from the hall. He gave the meetings a wide berth, for I never saw him there again and I presume like hundreds of oth- ers he is still drifting about on the ocean of life with- out the "Old Book," which is the only chart and com- pass by which man can safely find his way across the sea of time. The home of Mr. C. Mansel was one of the homes in Kingston that I frequently visited. The family con- sisted of the father and mother and two sons. It was one of those homes where there seemed to be an abundance of kind consideration for each other. I don't think in all my travels I ever saw more devo- tion on the part of sons than was shown by those two 126 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. young men. The father died while I was in Ireland, but that mother, who was a very refined, intelligent lady, was wonderfully comforted by the kindness and attention of her boys. If every home possessed such lads there would not be so many fathers and mothers prematurely old. BRAY. Bray is a fine old seaside resort in County Wicklow, a few miles from Dublin. I visited this place a number of times. I enjoyed the view from Bray Head, at whose rocky base dashed the waves of the Irish Sea. Only a short distance beyond were the Wicklow Mountains overlooking the sea. The scen- ery all through this county is charming. There are several beautiful places in the vicinity of Bray — The Dargle Waterfall, Glen of the Downs, Greystones, Devil's Glen, the Seven Churches and Vale of Avoca. Just across from Bray at the mouth of the Liffey is the peninsular Hill of Howth. It is the first land mark sighted on approaching Dublin from the sea. Howth is a pleasant village situated on this high hill. From the harbor one can take an ex- cursion boat to the island of Ireland's Eye, a huge hill rising up from the sea. In company with some friends I paid a visit to Howth and walked around the brow of this great hill. The Abbey of Howth is pleasantly located on a steep over-hanging the sea. A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 127 CHAPTER XVII. THE QUEEN'S VISIT TO IRELAND. OSTERS could be seen in many conspicuous places in Belfast headed, "A cheap excursion to Dublin, Ireland's capital, to witness the cel- ebration of Her Majesty Queen Victoria's visit to Ire- land." And the day previous to the good old Queen landing at Kingston, I helped swell the crowd at the Great Northern Railway sation to take my chances of getting a seat in one of the compartments, and when the train was in readiness the tall form of the Yankee was seen making his way through that crowd, all of whom seemed bent on looking after No. 1. "Come in with us," said a friendly voice as I was peering into the compartments for a seat. I quickly joined this friend and two other gentlemen, one of whom I knew. The stranger, my friends called "Doctor." He evidently kept on the sunny side of life and had a fund of amusing stories and passed many of them out, much to the amusement of the passengers. When he learned I was from America he related some amusing Yankee stories, using what he styled the "Yankee twang." After he and those in the compartment had had considerable fun at the expense of my far-away country, I said to him : "Why don't you take a trip over to that great coun- try?" Giving his head a toss, he said : , 128 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. "Oh, they would not have me over there." "I think they would," I replied, "for they have taken some pretty bad stock from this side of the Atlantic." "You're welcome to them, and more, if you like," was his answer. Then one of my friends who was still pulling in sin- gle harness, said : "I was in the company of two Yankee girls some- time ago and they kept 'guessing' and 'calculating/ and recently I met two others and they said, 'I guess so' and 'I calculate.' " "You seem to have a liking for Yankee girls, but it is evident they had not for you." We finally laid aside our pleasantries and turned our attention to a small child who had grown ill on the journey. The mother, who had several small chil- dren with her, said : "I have been traveling since very early this morn- ing and the child took ill shortly after leaving home." The doctor, who seemed to be the essence of kind- ness, said to the anxious mother: "Give me the little one." He took it on his lap and kindly cared for it until we reached Dublin. The only remedy he gave it was fresh air, as he sat near the door. We all felt our need of pure oxygen. Only those who have been ac- customed to traveling in our American carriages know of the real discomfort of taking a long journey in a compartment train, where one is obliged to sit in one position until he reaches his destination. While there are many things I admire in the British Isles, I draw the line on their railway carriages. They are r A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 129 divided off into first, second and third class compart- ments, the only difference in them being the uphol- stering. The vast majority of people travel third class, as the fare is considerable less. At the stations there are usually three windows where the different grade tickets are sold. On our arrival at Dublin I found the city crowded with visitors and it was difficult to get hotel accom- modation. Thinking I might be accommodated at the home where I formerly boarded at Black Rock, I took a tram car for that place. Upon reaching there was informed by the lady that her rooms were all occupied and it would be impossible to even give me a place on the floor. I came out to the main street to take a tram for Kingston but the over- crowded car swept by me without heeding my signal to stop. Being well furnished with walking gear, I turned my steps toward this old town, which was a distance of three miles.. I had not proceeded far when I found my new Irish boots would make it dif- ficult for me to complete my journey. I was fully aware of the fact I was not dealing with American leather. One of my friends in expressing his opinion of the kind of material of which my boots were made, said it was "horse hide." But I differed with him. By the action they had on my feet I decided it must be the outer coating of some old donkey who -had been accustomed to drawing heavy loads of peat from the bogs. However, I kept my onward way along this fine road, on either side of which were many beau- tiful homes enclosed by stone walls, over the top of which the ivy vines were creeping. There seemed to be one continuous line of stone walls from one town __ . 9 130 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. to another. Darkness overtook me as I was nearing Monkstown, which is about half-way between Black Rock and Kingston. In passing through this old town I caught sight of the channel fleet lying in and around the Kingston harbor. The nine battleships and four gunboats that had preceded the royal yacht to Kingston and the fine armoured cruiser "Austra- lia," with nearly 500 men, which had accompanied the royal yacht to Ireland, were all illuminated, presenting one of the finest sights I have ever witnessed. Upon reaching Kingston I had a strong desire to go out on the long stone pier which was thronged with peo- ple and get another view of the grand display in the harbor, but I concluded it was more important to con- tinue the search for a place of shelter. I knocked at the door of a friend to inquire if they knew where I could find lodging. The knock was answered by the mother of my friend, Mansel, who in answer to my question, said: "Come in; we are very much crowded, too, but I will try and give you a 'shake down' of some kind." I at once accepted of her invitation and laid my "bundle" down, and was very glad to part company with my Irish boots for a season. As I tucked my weary form away in the "shake down," I had some doubt about it holding me intact. It swayed so under my weight of 200 pounds avoirdupois that I thought before the day dawned it might prove to be a "fall down," but the "shake down" was faithful to its trust and carried me through the night safely. A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 131 CHAPTER XVIII. THE LANDING OF THE QUEEN. T^TJ HE morning broke with scarce a cloud to be seen and on coming out on the crowded streets I heard the expression used quite free- ly : "This is the Queen's own weather." This was the Queen's fourth visit to Ireland. The first time she visited the Green Isle was August 5th, 1849. She was accompanied by Prince Albert and her four chil- dren : Prince of Wales, Princess Royal, Prince Alfred and Princess Alice. The second was August 29, 1853, accompanied by Prince Albert, her husband, and the Prince of Wales. Then she came to attend the Great Exhibition held in Merion Square, Dublin. Her third visit was in 1861 when she came in com- pany with Prince Albert, who shortly afterward con- tracted his fatal illness. Each time she received a very enthusiastic and cordial reception. After an absence of thirty-nine years, which had swept her over into old age, she came back to "Erin," and received a rousing reception from her warm- hearted Irish subjects. I had been invited by a friend to occupy a window in his office in Dublin along the line of the parade, but on reaching the railway station near which was the quay where the royal yacht was lying, I concluded to remain and take my chances of seeing the royal party from this point. The trains and trams came in crowded with people from differ- 132 A YAN'KEE BACHELOR ABROAD. ent points, and as they joined the great concourse of people that were thronging the sea-front, one could scarcely get standing room. Three of my friends from Belfast came out on one of the trains from Dub- lin and, on seeing me, one of them said : "Why, here is the tall Yankee ; and what is he doing here?" "Oh, to catch a glimpse of Her Majesty who has ruled yon lads so well," I replied. And added, "But for making myself so conspicuous I would put my lit- tle Yankee flag on the end of my umbrella and wave a welcome in behalf of my old great-grandfather who lived on the old sod." "Och, sure," he said, "show your respects to Her Majesty in that way." "Well, it is in my heart to do so," I replied, "for I have always had a profound respect for the good Old Queen." In the little park lying between the station and the quay were a fine array of soldiers and marines, await- ing to escort the royal party to Dublin. The excel- lent band played several national airs which was thor- oughly enjoyed by the people. It was a good nat- ured crowd and Irish wit flowed in abundance. A short time before the procession started the at- tention of the crowd was attracted by a noted woman of Ireland riding along the sea-front in an open ba- rouche. She had a decided taste for green. She was attired in a flashy green silk dress and a green bonnet and held over her a huge green parasol. The horses and carriage were also very tastefully trimmed with same color. "She is not out in that array to welcome the Queen, A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 133 but to show difiance to the government," said a man near me. I concluded she was a "wee bit" vain and was out for display. Her Majesty was to land with the royal party at 11 o'clock, and a few minutes previous to the old clock in the steeple on the Court House on the oppo- site side of the street ringing out the hour, the band began playing "God Save the Queen," and while it was being played they lowered the Union Jack on the royal yacht which was the signal that the Queen had stepped ashore. The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, George Henry, 5th Earl of Cadogan, conducted the Queen to the royal carriage, after which Mr. Robinson, now Sir Thomas Robinson, presented an address of welcome from the Kingston Urban Council. Then the royal party began the long journey to the Viceregal Lodge in Phoenix Park, with a sovereign's escort of life guards, who were attired in very attractive uniforms. The Queen was accompanied by two of her daughters, Princess Christian and Princess Henry of Battenberg. The former is the third daughter of the Queen and is loved and respected by the nation because of her broad and philanthropic spirit. The latter is the widow of Prince Henry of Battenberg and is Her Ma- jesty's youngest daughter. The Queen and her daughters were dressed very neat and plain, even more so than were many of her subjects. The Queen was a small woman and her face showed the heavy touches of time and of the many storms of sorrow through which she had passed. I was so intent on seeing her that I forget to lift my hat as she was passing by. "Are you not going to pay your respects to our 134 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. good old Queen?" shouted one of my friends. Then grasping my new Irish hat cheered and shook it until I thought it would soon be rimless. There was a great sea of hats and handkerchiefs waving all along the line. It kept the Queen busy bowing to the en- thusiastic crowd. She was also accompanied by her son, Prince Arthur William Patrick, Duke of Con- naught, Field Marshal and Commander of the forces in Ireland, and the Duchess of Connaught and their children, Prince Albert of Connaught, a young man about twenty years old with a fine, interesting face and Princess Margaret and Princess Patrician of Con- naught, who also had faces indicating strength of character. Prince Alexander, Princess Eva, Prince Leopold and Prince Maurice of Battenberg, who are the children of Prince Henry of Battenberg, were also in the procession. After the royal party had passed, I went down to the royal yacht, Victoria Albert, a side-wheel steamer that, like the Queen, showed the marks of age. It had carried the royal family to various points for many years, having been built in 1855. The sailors were busy unloading the Queen's effects, which were num- erous. The little building on the quay was com- pletely covered with flags and bunting and the interior decorated in a very elaborate manner. The gang- way was covered with a very handsome red material and the floor leading from it out to where stood the royal carriage was laid with a very rich looking car- pet. From this building all along the route to Phoenix Park, a distance of ten miles, was one sea of flags and decorations of various kinds. On coming from the quays I took a stroll along the sea front for A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 135 some distance ; on either side of the avenue were poles erected with bright colored streamers entwined about them, and others stretching across the street which in some places formed a complete arch. The various in- scriptions on the beautiful banners interested me very- much. Among them were "God save the Queen," "Welcome back to Erin," "Welcome, our Queen; sharer of our people's sorrow." There was also one in the Celtic, "Cead Mille Failthe," which means "a hundred thousand welcomes." There was also this quaint one on a banner in Dublin : "Better loid ye can- na be; will ye na come back again?" There were grand stands erected all along the entire route and from the mansion to the smallest cottage could be seen Union Jacks and bunting in abundance. When I came out to George's street I boarded a tram car to Dublin from the top of which I greatly admired the decorations all the way to the city. We passed a little cottage where they were celebrating the event with a dance. An old man sat in the yard playing a very ancient looking violin and the lads and lassies were lifting their feet briskly, keeping time with the Irish jig. Sitting beside me was a young woman with a babe and in front of me sat two young men. One of them had a Kruger badge pinned on his coat and the other the heroes of '98. One of them said to me, with his rich brogue : "They're makin' a great time over the Old Queen. Why, if she had come down from Heaven they could not make more fuss over her." "Well," I replied, "she is a grand, good, old woman and has ruled her country well." "Och, well, that's true, but thin she'll have to go 136 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. down among the midlin's along wid the rest of us whin she dies." "You are not very loyal to her, judging from the badge you are wearing." "Och, well, she or the government never done any- thing for us." Showing him my little American flag, said: "That is the flag I am living under and could not think of being anything but loyal to the country it represents." "That's a great country," remarked the other fel- low. "Yes," I replied, "as great as it is, if any one had worn a Spanish badge during our trouble with Spain, they would have received rough treatment." He smiled and said, "And is that the way you do over there?" "Is Kruger a friend of yours?" I playfully remarked to the one wearing the badge. "He is," he replied. "Did he ever give you a pound note?" "He didn't, and I wants none of his pounds, but he's a friend all the same," was his answer. And added, "I hope he never dies till they can make his coffin out of a gooseberry skin and the frogs take him to the cem'try and give him a jumpin' funeral." This very odd expression amused me very much. In reply, I said : "You evidently want the old man to live a long time." "Take that badge off, Mike, yees'll be getin' into trouble," said the young woman sitting beside me, who, I soon learned, was his wife. "Foil not do it ; I'm after wearin' it all day," he re- plied. A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. 137 "Och, we'll not get into trouble," said the other fellow. "No, we're not the lads that run wid the hare and hunt wid the hounds," remarked No. 1. "Take the child awhile, Mike," she said. As he took the little one, I remarked : "I have no such responsibilities as that." With his eyes sparkling with fun, he replied by say- ing: "Yer lucky; I wish I was loike yees." She looked at him sharply, but said nothing. "Does he talk that way at home?" I inquired. "Indade and he does not," By the way she said it he evidently was quite docile at home. "Well, good-bye," he said, "I'm glad I met yees." "And I'm not sorry I met you," I replied. The trio had afforded me several hearty laughs in the ride of six miles into the city. 138 A YANKEE BACHELOR ABROAD. CHAPTER XIX. THE QUEEN IN DUBLIN. YT"7 HE streets of Dublin were thronged with enthu-