of pecuniary bargain. The young folks have no act or part in
the arrangements. The seniors meet and form a committee of ways and
means. How much money has your son? How much has your daughter? The
details once understood, the parties agree or disagree, or leave the
matter pending while they respectively look about for a better
bargain. And even if the bargain be ostensibly agreed to, either party
is at liberty to at once break the match, on hearing of something
better. The prospective bride and bridegroom have nothing to say in
the negotiations, and may never have seen each other in their lives.
Previous acquaintance is not considered necessary, and the high
contracting parties are frequently married without having met before
they meet at the altar. This was hard to believe, but careful inquiry
established the fact. Never was a case of rebellion recorded. The lady
takes the goods the gods provide her, and the gentleman believes that
the custom yields all prizes and no blanks. Marriage is indeed a
lottery in Connaught. The system works well, for unfaithfulness is
said to be unknown. The Connaught funerals are impressive. One of
these I have seen, and one contents me well. The coffin arrived on a
country cart, the wife and family of the deceased sitting on the body,
after the fashion attributed to English juries. To sit elsewhere than
on the coffin would in Connaught be considered a mark of disrespect.
The children sit on the head and feet, the wife jumps on the chest of
the dear departed, and away goes the donkey. The party dismount at the
churchyard gates, and as the coffin enters they raise the Irish cry, a
blood-curdling wail that makes your muscles creep, while a cold chill
runs down your spine, and you sternly make for home. You may as well
see it out, for you can hear the "Keen" two miles away against the
wind. The mourners clasp their hands and move them quickly up and
down, recounting the deceased's good deeds, and exclaiming, in Irish
and English, "Why did ye die? Ah, thin, why did ye die?" To which very
reasonable query no satisfactory answer is obtainable. The widow is
expected to tear her hair, if any, and to be perfectly inconsolable
until the churchyard wall is cleared on leaving. Then, and not before,
she may address herself to mundane things. Good "Keeners" are in much
request, and a really efficient howler is sure of regular employment.
The Connaught folks are somewhat rough-and-ready with their dead.
Col