e curate, to whom that very teacher
appeared as slavishly submissive as if he had never ridiculed his
vulgarity or ungainly dimensions. Poor Frank, however, in consequence of
the rapid progress he made, and of the very short interval which elapsed
from the period of his commencing Latin until that of his ordination,
was assigned by the people the lowest grade in learning. The term used
to designate the rank which they supposed him to hold, was both humorous
and expressive.

"Franky," they would say, "is no finished priest in the larnin'; he's
but a _scowdher_."

Now a _scowdher_ is an oaten cake laid upon a pair of tongs placed over
the greeshaugh, or embers, that are spread out for the purpose of baking
it. In a few minutes the side first laid down is scorched: it is
then turned, and the other side is also scorched; so that it has the
appearance of being baked, though it is actually quite raw within. It is
a homely, but an exceedingly apt illustration, when applied to such men
as Frank.

"Poor Frank," they would observe, "is but a _scowdher_--the sign of the
tongs--No. 11, is upon him; so that it is asy known he never was laid
to the _muddha arran_,"*--that is to say, properly baked--or duly and
thoroughly educated.

* The _Muddha Arran_ is literally "the bread stick," a term in
opposition to the _scowdher_. It is a forked stick with three legs, that
stands opposite the fire, and supports the cake, which is placed on the
edge until it is gradually baked. The Scowdher is, for the most part,
made in cases of hurry.

Denis, however, to resume more directly the thread of our narrative, on
finding himself mounted, took an inveterate prejudice against walking.
There was something, he thought, far more dignified in riding than
in pacing slowly upon the earth, like a common man who had not the
justification of Latin and Greek for becoming an equestrian. Besides
this accomplishment, there were also many other habits to be broken
off, and more genteel ones to be adopted in their place. These were all
suggested by his rising pride; and, in sooth, they smacked strongly of
that adroitness with which the Irish priest, and every priest, contrives
to accomplish the purpose of feeding well through the ostensible medium
of a different motive.

He accordingly took his father aside one morning, after he had eaten a
more meagre breakfast that usual, and, after licking his lips, addressed
him in these words:--

"I think, father, t