cy herself, for that matther;
for, though a poor widdy, she was very _punctwell_ in paying for Jack's
schooling, as I often heard ould Terry M'Phaudeen say, who told me the
story. Jack, indeed, grew up a fine slip; and for hurling, foot-ball
playing, and lepping, hadn't his likes in the five quarters of the
parish. It's he that knew how to handle a spade and a raping-hook, and
what was betther nor all that, he was kind and tindher to his poor ould
mother, and would let her want for nothing. Before he'd go to his day's
work in the morning, he'd be sure to bring home from the clear-spring
well that ran out of the other side of the rock, a pitcher of water to
serve her for the day; nor would he forget to bring in a good creel
of turf from the snug little peat-sack that stood thatched with rushes
before the door, and leave it in the corner, beside the fire; so that
she had nothing to do but put over her hand, without rising off of her
sate, and put down a sod when she wanted it.

*The _Corrag_ is a roll of branches tied together when green
and used for the purposes mentioned the story. It is six
feet high, and much thicker than a sack, and is changed to
either side of the door according to the direction from
which the wind blows.

"Nancy, on her part, kept Jack very clane and comfortable; his linen,
though coorse, was always a good color, his working clothes tidily
mended at all times; and when he'd have occasion to put on his good coat
to work in for the first time, Nancy would sew on the fore-part of each
sleeve a stout patch of ould cloth, to keep them from being worn by the
spade; so that when she'd rip these off them every Saturday night, they
would look as new and fresh as if he hadn't been working in them at all,
at all.

"Then when Jack came home in the winter nights, it would do your heart
good to see Nancy sitting at her wheel, singing, '_Stachan Varagah_,'
or '_Peggy Na Laveen_,' beside a purty clear fire, with a small pot of
_murphys_ boiling on it for their supper, or laid up in a wooden
dish, comfortably covered with a clane praskeen on the well-swept
hearth-stone; whilst the quiet, dancing blaze might be seen blinking in
the nice earthen plates and dishes that stood over against the side-wall
of the house. Just before the fire you might see Jack's stool waiting
for him to come home; and on the other side, the brown cat washing her
face with her paws, or sitting beside the dog that