Book Description

Excerpt from Down West: And Other Sketches of Irish Life The authoress of the following interesting sketches of the life of the Irish peasantry has asked me to write a brief preface. I do so with pleasure, both because I consider it much to be desired that English people, both Catholic and Protestant, should know the truth about the habits and customs of the Irish poor, and because it is through such life-sketches as these that this knowledge may be gained. In spite of the difference of language, there is undoubtedly greater affinity between the Irish and the Italian peasant than between the Irish and English of the same class; hence it is difficult for an ordinary Briton, even of the peasant rank, to enter into the mind and feeling of his neighbouring Irish brethren. English people usually consider the Irish as sentimental, perhaps as unpractical dreamers; and doubtless there is much of sentiment in the character of every Celt. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.