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National Geographic : 1951 May
Contents
659 Border Leicester Ewes, More Anxious than Sheepish, Await the Auctioneer in Mallow So flavorsome are Irish mutton chops that natives prefer them to lamb. Herders say that small "mountainy" sheep make the best eating; they rank black-faced Suffolks next (page 662). pigs, or sheep, or to take a ticket on a game of chance. Long caravans of gaily decorated wagons, belonging to tinkers from all over Ireland, led out of town (pages 670, 671). Who were the tinkers? They looked like Gypsies. "Thievin' wanderers, they've not a ha'penny to hear 'em beg!" someone told me. "De scendants of the O'Driscolls, kings of Old Ireland! Mind you don't cross them!" whispered another. "This Wish Will Come True . .. " I put half-a-crown on the palm of a be jeweled young tinker. But a pretty colleen from the train had taken me under her wing. She spoke up. "No, no, a sixpence is enough!" Bridget Sullivan, home on holiday from London where she worked, caught a frown from the tawny tinker, who said she would give me change later (page 678). "You've had a long journey," the little soothsayer began in a soft singsong. "You'll take another. There's a letter with a photo in it...Iseeagentleman...Nowifyou will make a wish-" When Bridget mentioned the change firmly, the tinker told me, "For the extra I'll give you another wish-only this one will come true!" I took this once-in-a-lifetime offer. But in a moment, Bridget cried disappointedly, "You should have wished for the change!" Ireland has its own currency system, but it also uses British pounds, shillings, and pence. Boarding the train at Killorglin for the trip back to Killarney was like braving a New York subway rush. Sixteen people crowded a first-class compartment. Among them were three weary children, a widow in black, and an Irish-American woman back after 21 years in the States. Two girls from Cork City, with tender, tired feet, said they'd "danced all night" but were "happy as Larry," as the saying goes. In our party also were Bridget, who saw the fair with me, and a tinker and his tired wife. Between pulls on a bottle of "Woodpecker Cider" the tinker sang Irish ballads, solemnly
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