at I could bounce to my feet like lightning, and when it was
finished, I got her in my arm, before you could say Jack Robinson, and
swinging her behind the priest, gave her the husband's first kiss. The
next minute there was a rush after her; but, as I had got the first,
it was but fair that they should come in according as they could, I
thought, bekase, you know, it was all in the coorse of practice; but,
hould, there were two words to be said to that, for what does Father
Dollard do but shoves them off, and a fine stout shoulder he had--shoves
them off, like childre, and getting his arms about Mary, gives her half
a dozen smacks at least--oh, consuming to the one less--that mine was
only a cracker** to. The rest, then, all kissed her, one after another,
according as they could come in to get one. We then went straight to his
Reverence's barn, which had been cleared out for us the day before, by
his own directions, where we danced for an hour or two, his Reverence
and his Curate along with us.

* There is always a struggle for this at an Irish wedding,
where every man is at liberty--even the priest himself--to
anticipate the bridegroom if he can.

** Cracker is the small, hard cord which is tied to a rustic
whip, in order to make it crack. When a man is considered to
be inferior to another in anything, the people say, "he
wouldn't make a cracker to his whip."

"When this was over we mounted again, the fiddler taking his ould
situation behind my uncle. You know it is usual, after getting the knot
tied, to go to a public-house or shebeen, to get some refreshment
after the journey; so, accordingly, we went to little lame Larry
Spooney's--grandfather to him that was transported the other day for
staling Bob Beaty's sheep; he was called Spooney himself, for his
sheep-stealing, ever since Paddy Keenan made the song upon him, ending
with 'his house never wants a good ram-horn spoon;' so that let people
say what they will, these things run in the blood--well, we went to his
shebeen house, but the tithe of us couldn't get into it; so we sot on
the green before the door, and, by my song, we took (* drank) dacently
with him, any how; and, only for my uncle, it's odds but we would have
been all fuddled.

"It was now that I began to notish a kind of coolness between my party
and the bride's, and for some time I didn't know what to make of it--I
wasn't long so, however; for my uncle, who stil