. They bury their dead in the old
savage way, without any funeral rites, except such as the relatives
may have in their minds. The priest says no prayer, reads no service,
does not attend in his official character, unless specially engaged
and paid. Usually he does not attend funerals at all, although he may
sometimes join the procession as a mark of respect. And the weddings
are arranged in a way you might think barbarous. A young man fancies a
girl he sees at mass, or at a funeral. He gets a bottle of whiskey and
goes to see the father, who nearly always wishes to get the daughter
off his hands, without any regard whatever for the poor girl's
feelings. I was present at one of these negotiations. 'What will you
give with her?' said the young fellow, a boy of eighteen or so. 'Three
cows and a calf,' said the father. 'So-and-so got three cows and a
calf and a sheep.' said the suitor. The father pondered a bit, but
eventually, not to be behind, conceded the sheep. The lover tried a
bit further. Somebody else had three cows and a calf and a sheep and a
lamb, but the old man stood firm, and the bargain was struck, with
mutual esteem, after several hours' haggling and a second bottle of
whiskey. I called in the evening to learn the girl's fate. She had
been two years in service and had got unorthodox notions. She
screamed with affright when the father brought the fellow forward and
told her what was arranged. She had seen him before, but had never
spoken to him, and the sight of him had always been most repugnant to
her. She ran away into the bogs, but the country was up, and she was
soon found. Then after a sound beating she was handed over to the
ardent swain along with the cows, and so forth, nominated in the bond.

"They marry early or go to America. The boy is usually seventeen or
eighteen, the girl fifteen or sixteen. I have known girls marry at
thirteen. Not long ago a boy I knew well, a mere weakling, unable to
do even a boy's work, got married. He was seventeen, or nearly
seventeen, but he didn't look it. They believe that their poverty,
such as it is, is due to the predominance of England. Their hatred of
the English is very pronounced, but a casual visitor will not see it.
He has money to spend, and they flock round him in a friendly way. But
let him live among them! They tried to boycott the Protestant
settlement, and if their priests had ruled on that occasion they would
have starved us out or would have made th