The Project Gutenberg EBook of Ellen Duncan; And The Proctor's Daughter
by William Carleton

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Title: Ellen Duncan; And The Proctor's Daughter
The Works of William Carleton, Volume Two

Author: William Carleton

Illustrator: M. L. Flanery

Release Date: June 7, 2005 [EBook #16008]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELLEN DUNCAN ***

Produced by David Widger

ELLEN DUNCAN

and

THE PROCTOR'S DAUGHTER

By William Carleton

ELLEN DUNCAN

There are some griefs so deep and overwhelming, that even the best
exertions of friendship and sympathy are unequal to the task of soothing
or dispelling them. Such was the grief of Ellen Duncan, who was silently
weeping in her lone cottage on the borders of Clare--a county at that
time in a frightful state of anarchy and confusion. Owen Duncan, her
husband, at the period about which our tale commences, resided in the
cabin where he was born and reared, and to which, as well as a few acres
of land adjoining, he had succeeded on the death of his father. They had
not been long married, and never were husband and wife more attached.
About this time outrages began to be perpetrated; and soon increased
fearfully in number. Still Owen and Ellen lived happily, and without
fear, as they were too poor for the marauders to dream of getting
much booty by robbing; and their religion being known to be "the ould
religion ov all ov all," in a warfare that was exclusively one of party,
they were more protected than otherwise. Owen never was particularly
thrifty; and as his means were small, was generally embarrassed, or
rather somewhat pinched in circumstances. Notwithstanding this, however,
he was as happy as a king; and according to his unlettered neighbors'
artless praise, "there wasn't a readier hand, nor an opener heart in the
wide world--that's iv he had id--but he hadn't an' more was the pity."
His entire possessions consisted of the ground we have mentioned, most
part of which was so rocky as to be entirely useless--a cow, a couple
of pigs, and the "the uld cabin," which consisted of four mud walls,
covered with thatch, in which was an opening,