wise would have been, had he never come in
contact with them at all.

[Footnote 1: _Kam_--a metal vessel in which the peasantry dip
rushlights.]

THE RIVAL KEMPERS

BY WILLIAM CARLETON

In the north of Ireland there are spinning meetings of unmarried
females frequently held at the houses of farmers, called _kemps_.
Every young woman who has got the reputation of being a quick and
expert spinner attends where the kemp is to be held, at an hour
usually before daylight, and on these occasions she is accompanied by
her sweetheart or some male relative, who carries her wheel, and
conducts her safely across the fields or along the road, as the case
may be. A kemp is, indeed, an animated and joyous scene, and one,
besides, which is calculated to promote industry and decent pride.
Scarcely anything can be more cheering and agreeable than to hear at a
distance, breaking the silence of morning, the light-hearted voices of
many girls either in mirth or song, the humming sound of the busy
wheels--jarred upon a little, it is true, by the stridulous noise and
checkings of the reels, and the voices of the reelers, as they call
aloud the checks, together with the name of the girl and the quantity
she has spun up to that period; for the contest is generally commenced
two or three hours before daybreak. This mirthful spirit is also
sustained by the prospect of a dance--with which, by the way, every
kemp closes; and when the fair victor is declared, she is to be looked
upon as the queen of the meeting, and treated with the necessary
respect.

But to our tale. Every one knew Shaun Buie M'Gaveran to be the
cleanest, best-conducted boy, and the most industrious too, in the
whole parish of Faugh-a-ballagh. Hard was it to find a young fellow
who could handle a flail, spade, or reaping-hook in better style, or
who could go through his day's work in a more creditable or
workmanlike manner. In addition to this, he was a fine, well-built,
handsome young man as you could meet in a fair; and so, sign was on
it, maybe the pretty girls weren't likely to pull each other's caps
about him. Shaun, however, was as prudent as he was good-looking; and
although he wanted a wife, yet the sorrow one of him but preferred
taking a well-handed, smart girl, who was known to be well-behaved and
industrious, like himself. Here, however, was where the puzzle lay on
him; for instead of one girl of that kind, there were in the
neighbourhood no less than