Tubber Derg Author:William Carleton Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: RANDY KEIIOE'S CHRISTENING. Mv THE IEISH MIDWIFE. Of the many remarkable characters that have been formed by the spirit and habits of Irish feeling among ... more »the peasantry, there is not one so clear, distinct, and well traced, as that of the Midwife. We could mention several that are certainly marked with great precision, and that stand out in fine relief to the eye of the spectator, but none at all, who, in richness of colouring, in boldness of outline, or in firmness and force, can for a moment be compared with the Midwife. The Fiddler, for instance, lives a life sufficiently graphic and distinct; so does the Dancing-master, and so also does the Match-maker, but with some abatement of colouring. As for the Cosherer, the Senachie, the Keener, and the Foster-nurse, although all mellow-toned, and well individualized by the strong power of hereditary usage, yet do they stand dim and shadowy, when placed face to face with this great exponent of the national temperament. It is almost impossible to conceive a character of greater self-importance than an Irish Midwife, or who exhibits in her whole bearing a more complacent consciousness of her own privileges. The Fiddler, might be dispensed with, and the Dancing-master might follow him off the stage ; the Cosherer, Senachie, Keener, might all disappear, and the general business of life still go on as before. But not so with her whom we are describing; and this conviction is thevery basis of her power, the secret source from which she draws the confidence that bears down every rival claim upon the affections of the people. Before we introduce Eose Moan to our kind readers, we shall briefly relate a few points of character peculiar to the Irish Midwife, because they are probably not in general known to a very numerous class of ou...« less