ave the hathred at
wimmin that he purtinded, for indade he liked thim purty well, but he
thought he undhershtood thim well enough to know that the more ye talk
swate to thim, the more they don't like it, barrin' they're fools, that
sometimes happens. So whin he talked wid 'em or about thim, he spake o'
thim shuperskillious, lettin' on to despize the lasht wan o' thim, that
was a takin' way he had, for wimmin love thimselves a dale betther than
ye'd think, unless yer Anner's marr'd an' knows, an' that Finn knew, so he
always said o' thim the manest things he cud get out av his head, an' that
made thim think av him, that was phat he wanted. They purtinded to hate
him for it, but he didn't mind that, for he knewn it was only talk, an'
there wasn't wan o' thim that wouldn't give the lasht tooth out av her jaw
to have him for a husband.

"Well, as I was sayin', afther owld Bryan give Finn up, his mother tuk him
in hand, throwin' a hint at him wanst in a while, sighin' to him how glad
she'd be to have a young lady giont for a dawther, an' dhroppin' a word
about phat an iligant girl Burthey O'Ghallaghy was, that was the dawther
av wan o' the naburs, that she got Finn, unbeknownst to himself, to be
thinkin' about Burthey. She was a fine young lady giont, about tin feet
high, as broad as a cassel dure, but she was good size for Finn, as ye
know be phat I said av him. So when Finn's mother see him takin' her home
from church afther benediction, an' the nabers towld her how they obsarved
him lanin' on O'Ghallaghy's wall an' Burthey lightin' his pipe wid a coal,
she thought to herself, 'fair an' aisey goes far in a day,' an' made her
mind up that Finn 'ud marry Burthey. An' so, belike, he'd a' done, if he
hadn't gone over, wan onlucky day, to the village beyant, where the common
people like you an' me lived.

"When he got there, in he wint to the inn to get him his dhrink, for it's
a mishtake to think that thim gionts were all blood-suckin' blaggards as
the Causeway guides say, but, barrin' they were in dhrink, were as
paceable as rabbits. So when Finn wint in, he says, 'God save ye,' to thim
settin', an' gev the table a big crack wid his shillaylah as for to say he
wanted his glass. But instead o' the owld granny that used for to fetch
him his potheen, out shteps a nate little woman wid hair an' eyes as black
as a crow an' two lips on her as red as a cherry an' a quick sharp way
like a cat in a hurry.

"'An' who are you, me Dear