WE left Galway for Clifden at 9.30 next morning. The public conveyance1 is a large-paper edition of the outside car, with an elevated seat for the driver. There is one place to be avoided on some of these vehicles, that nearest to the horses on the off-side, on account of the iron bar of the drag, which operates from time to time very disagreeably on the back and shoulders of the contiguous traveller. The scenery gradually increases in interest. First we have trees, farms, houses, and the quiet aspect of country life; then, we have delightful2 views at intervals3, of Lough Corrib and its islands, and the landscape becomes diversified4, less under culture, and more wild in consequence; and, lastly, the sublime5 and solemn beauty of the mountains and lakes of Connamara.
Some of the residences amused us greatly. You see a large lodge6 by the wayside, and look out, in the distance, for some princely castle, or baronial hall, at any rate; but there is no need for any such optical exertion7, the mansion8 being close to you, eighty yards perhaps from the entrance, and only a size larger, (a small size larger, as they say at the glove-shops), than the lodge itself.
Some of the gateways9, too, would have been very imposing10, if most of their principal ornaments11 had not been mutilated or missing. Our favourite among the more perfect specimens13, was adorned14 with a stone pine-apple on one pillar, and a Swede turnip15 or pumpkin16 on the other; and had a rich effect. Most of the field-gates have massive pillars of stone, and would render the inclosures most secure, if there were not, now and then, easy apertures17 through the turf-dykes, which form the fence hard by, suggesting the idea of a front door barred and locked against thieves, with one of the hall-windows wide open!
As to the people, there is little difference, so far as appearance is concerned, between Paddy in England and Paddy at home; the same flaccidity of hat; the same amplitude18 of shirt-collar, which would cut his ears off if it were severely19 starched20; the same dress coat of frieze21; drab breeches (aisy at the knees), grey-stockings, and brogues. The same in aspect, but in action how different! In England, he will rise with the sun, reap under its burning heat until it sets, and dance in the barn at midnight. In Ireland, he seems to be always either going to his work, or looking at his work, or resting from his work, or coming away from his work, in brief, to be doing nothing, cordially assisted by his friends and neighbours. The potatoes will prevent his famishing from hunger, if the season be propitious22; the peat-stack will keep him from perishing by cold; and His Royal Highness, the Pig, will pay the landlord his rent.
The women are, for the most part, good-looking, erect23, and graceful24 movers (for there are no corns in Connaught); and, from the bright colours of their costume, their red petticoats and blue cloaks, are ever a pleasant refreshment25 to the eye, and picturesque26 addition to the scene. They are uniformly and painfully shy. Francis, and I, are both of us what may be termed remarkably27 handsome men, but they wouldn't look at us; and I shall never forget the agony of a young housemaid, who, assisting the waiter one morning with a tub of water to my room, caught sight of my dressing-gown through the open door, and instantly, though the garment is of a pleasing pattern, and descends28 quite to the ground, rushed off, like Dorothea from Cardenio and his companions, and, I verily believe, is running now.
As regards children,—there are crosses in Ireland, which are saluted29 by wives, who would be mothers also; and these crosses, or something equally efficacious, appear to be universally embraced. Every cottage sent forth30 a running accompaniment (allegro) to the car, healthful, cheery children, and would be beautiful, in spite of their wretched homes, and meagre diet, and rags, if their mothers could be induced to recognise the utility of soap and a comb. Their raiment is very scant31 and curious. Ould Larry's coat, with the tails cut off, makes young Larry “an entire juvenile32 suit,” and the inexpressibles of Phelim père form a noble panoply33 for Phelim fils, with his little arms thrust through the pocket-holes. These tatterdemalions beg as they run by the car, but seem indifferent as to the result, enjoying their “constitutional,” and parting from us with a pleasant smile whether we gave to them or not. Some of a literary turn of mind asked rather urgently for “penny buy book,” but the imposition was a little too patent, so very far from a bookseller's shop, and we recommended them to quench34 their thirst for knowledge in the only volumes to be perused35 (and that gratuitously) in the neighbourhood, the “books in the running brooks36.”
A few professional beggars come round, when there is a change of horses (excellent horses they are), but are neither so frequent nor so importunate37, as we had been led to expect. One old lady had evidently got the last new thing in begging, a letter to her “poor darlint boy as was gone to Merrikey, and would ye bestow38 a thrifle, good gintlemen, to pay the bit o' postage, God bless yer bewtifle young faces.” Of course, we would, every mother's son of us. What an affectionate, exemplary parent! When we returned, a few days afterwards, she was again in correspondence with her beloved son, far away from her yearning39 tenderness, beyond the broad Atlantic; and, indeed, I have reason to believe from information which I gathered from the driver and our fellow-passengers, that this disconsolate40 mother writes to her exile child every day, except Sundays.
The miserable41 huts of the peasantry, seen by the feeble light which comes through the doorway42 and smoke-hole (to talk about chimneys would be an insult to architecture) give one the idea, not so much that the pigs have got into the parlour, but that the family have migrated to the sty. An unpaved clay floor below, a roof of straw and weeds, dank, soaked, and rotting, overhead, a miserable bed in the corner, an iron pot over a peat fire, are the principal items of the property. Before the door is a sink, black and filthy43, for the refuse. And yet the inmates44 look hale and happy beyond what one would hope to see, and the thought at once suggests itself, how much might be accomplished45 by such a people, awaking to assert its dignity, and to discharge its duty. Here and there are roofless cottages, gravestones, on which is written, as on Albert Dürer's, “Emigravit” he has gone to seek over the wide seas the comforts which here he could not, or would not, win; or he has gone “to the land, which is very far off,” to hunger and thirst no more,—
“There fell upon the house a sudden gloom,
A shadow on those features fair and thin;
And softly, from that hushed and darkened room,
Two angels issued, where but one went in.”
It is sad indeed to see these monuments, “where memory” (as an Irish poet 1 sings) “sits by the altar she has raised to woe,” monuments of suffering and dearth46, amid scenes of surpassing beauty, and fields which might stand thick with corn, but where, from the shameful47 indolence of His creatures,
1 Curran.
There is no town between Galway and Clifden, unless we compliment with that title the large village of Oughterarde, pleasantly situated49 hard by Lough Corrib, with its picturesque bridge, marvellously transparent50 stream, handsome constables51, and (comparatively speaking) magnificent church. The Roman Catholic churches are, for the most part, so very plain and poor, having little but the Cross, and a melancholy52 imitation of Gothic mullions in wood, to denote their consecration53, that the building of Oughterarde has quite an imposing effect, and we went up the hill to see it. The leisure and liberty allowed to passengers by car are amusingly refreshing54 in these days of steam; and I thought, as we sauntered towards Sainte Terre, how astonished the guard of an express train would be, to behold55 his fellow-travellers quietly strolling off to inspect the cathedral, at Peterborough, York, or Lincoln.
We found little to admire, as to architecture without, or ornament12 within; but a priest, who went with us from the car, said it was “beautiful,” and looked as if to him it was so indeed, as he knelt with others reverently56 praying there. I thought of our grand old churches at home, locked and barred, most of them, except for a few hours on Sunday (as though the soul should be treated, like a boa-constrictor, with six days sleep, and then a rabbit); and I envied that poor pilgrim through a prayerless world his privilege and opportunity.
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1
conveyance
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| n.(不动产等的)转让，让与；转让证书；传送；运送；表达；（正）运输工具 | |
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2
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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4
diversified
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| adj.多样化的，多种经营的v.使多样化，多样化( diversify的过去式和过去分词 )；进入新的商业领域 | |
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sublime
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| adj.崇高的，伟大的；极度的，不顾后果的 | |
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6
lodge
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| v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆 | |
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exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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gateways
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| n.网关( gateway的名词复数 )；门径；方法；大门口 | |
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imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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11
ornaments
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| n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 )；点缀；装饰品；首饰v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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ornament
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| v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物 | |
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specimens
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| n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人 | |
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14
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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turnip
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| n.萝卜，芜菁 | |
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pumpkin
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| n.南瓜 | |
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apertures
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| n.孔( aperture的名词复数 )；隙缝；（照相机的）光圈；孔径 | |
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18
amplitude
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| n.广大；充足；振幅 | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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20
starched
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| adj.浆硬的，硬挺的，拘泥刻板的v.把（衣服、床单等）浆一浆( starch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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frieze
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| n.(墙上的)横饰带，雕带 | |
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propitious
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| adj.吉利的；顺利的 | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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24
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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refreshment
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| n.恢复，精神爽快，提神之事物；（复数）refreshments:点心，茶点 | |
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26
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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28
descends
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| v.下来( descend的第三人称单数 )；下去；下降；下斜 | |
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saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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30
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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31
scant
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| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
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32
juvenile
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| n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的 | |
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33
panoply
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| n.全副甲胄，礼服 | |
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34
quench
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| vt.熄灭，扑灭；压制 | |
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35
perused
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| v.读（某篇文字）( peruse的过去式和过去分词 )；（尤指）细阅；审阅；匆匆读或心不在焉地浏览（某篇文字） | |
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brooks
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| n.小溪( brook的名词复数 ) | |
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37
importunate
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| adj.强求的；纠缠不休的 | |
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38
bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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39
yearning
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| a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的 | |
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40
disconsolate
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| adj.忧郁的，不快的 | |
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41
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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42
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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43
filthy
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| adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的 | |
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44
inmates
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| n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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45
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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46
dearth
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| n.缺乏，粮食不足，饥谨 | |
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47
shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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48
lavish
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| adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍 | |
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49
situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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50
transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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51
constables
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| n.警察( constable的名词复数 ) | |
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52
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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53
consecration
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| n.供献，奉献，献祭仪式 | |
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54
refreshing
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| adj.使精神振作的，使人清爽的，使人喜欢的 | |
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55
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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56
reverently
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| adv.虔诚地 | |
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