Show THE ARRAN 41 Sf eWt 9 W w t W al M 4 4 41 9 4 4 1 at arran boys in red petticoats prepared by national geographic society wa h agton D C vv NU service many business men of WA america and europe talk of hering in a new era to end co ills the inhabitants of the arrans three small islands off ireland irelands s west vest coast go their way ap patently parent ly untouched by the worlds s troubles simplicity harmony and a feeling of remoteness are all close to the root of the charm which the arrans have for the occasional visitor the islands seem not of this age for the workaday world I 1 es beyond the horizon of time as well as that of space the beauty of the setting and of the human picture are equally unconscious there Is a unity in the theatrical panorama of sea and sky the med eval homeliness of speech and hearth and tool too the honest weave cave as well as the madder and ind go dye of textiles the seraphic countenance of every fourth or fifth bomin you meet on the un dilating du lating roads in the bare sanctuary of these islands the soul of ancient ireland now has its ephemeral resting place lan guage and habiliments customs bradl eions flesh and blood from the da s of st patrick and before forced west ward through connaught d iring seeth ing ages have concentrated at the arrans although the largest island of the group Is less than nine miles long the three together have at a guess as much stone wall all as all new england irishman the middle island boasts 2 2500 miles of walls Is not far behind while inishmore may have several times as much no figures are authentic but if a state ordnance were to tell you there are 10 miles of walls upon the three islands you would admire his conservatism huge duns on the hill picking up blocks of limestone and disposing of them in the only way pos sible must always have been the chief occupation of the inhabitants innab tants the prehistoric people indulged themselves by rearing on the hilltops hlll tops massive but cyclopean forts such as dun and six others ringed about with many concentric breasts orl s and chevaux de frise of stone these duns are among the most mig mag barbaric monuments that su sur vive in europe fortunately the later islanders were under no temptation to pull them down rather they were viere forced to emulate the example of the first builders and to cont nue t h un mortared masonry on a less heroic scale down the long slopes to the very crests of the beaches only thus t they hope to uncover a crann crannied fed pas burage and the patches of soil in which rye potatoes cabbage and willow withes may grow from the rims of the duns as also from the sea the arrans pre present ent the pattern of a cracy quilt breast high walls mostly a single layer of block blocks in thickness show no stan standard of ar ran vin gement or direction the thousands of irregular In Inelo closures that come un der a glance have neither gates not stiles the method of turning a co v into pasture and of releasing her at evening Is to take down a sect on of the boundary and then to build it up again behind you A cross country ramble eien even for the nimble becomes a process of demol tion and the present population of the arrans Is less than two thousand los losses ses through emigration to the united unite d states have been heavy and are still going on as fast as passage money can be sent from this side of the ocean there are doubtless many more of the islanders in the vicinity of boston than remain at home everybody at any rate has relatives in america and the only im ties one encounters are those of lonely mothers and fathers begging snapshot portraits to be sent to the far off cliff dren not a few of the expatriates re turn with or without their fortunes for the grip of the spray washed rocks seems stronger if possible than that of the fairest glens in erin if only one could make a living at home while there are many family names among the people of the islands the I 1 I 1 S J iff ia E bulk of tie tle population appears to be made up of four tribes the mullins the gills the Fraher tys and the con knollys four main tribes all of these names except gill are spelled in more than one way but are acknowledged to refer to the same stocks confusion that might result from the duplication of first names la Is commonly avoided by the addition of the fathers given name thus pat rick flaherty john or james william become sufficiently the these are here cited in form but irish Is of course the versal speech among the islanders and there are many of all ages who have little or no english the arran people are on the whole afine a fine looking lot variable in stature and complexion but showing a strong ly marl ed norse component further more their generally deliberate con vers atlon Is after the manner of the comic story norseman rather than of the proverbially proverb lally quick celt although much of this may be due to the fact that they address a stranger in their second and less familiar language the clothing worn by the older in habitants of inishmore and by the entire population of the less urbane islands of irishman and Inis beer Is the time honored garb ot of cloudy blue homespun with ani ie le length trousers for the men and a white sleeved coat over the blouse A hat of heavy felt completes the native costume but many of the younger men have taken to caps or tarn tam 0 shan as well as to the blue jersey of the fisherman the women omen wear long red home spun petticoats indigo stockings and red or parti colored shawls taste and utility are combined in the woven woolen girdles of bright hues bound several times around the waists of men and boys or sewn as a decoration on the sl arts of the women except in the sophisticated parts of inishmore within a few miles of kairo nan ban the dress of small boys includes a red petticoat in lieu of breeches at irishman one sees nothing else for merly the boys wore these until they were twenty or so but now one sees none on youngsters of more than fit teen years the boys skirt Is no doubt a phase of the gaelic kilt surviving in shorter and more familiar form in the scottish highlands but at the arrans it seems to have become necessary to justify it by a spurious explanation probably as a result of innumerable inquiries by visitors the following story Is now passed out as a matter of course the fairies or the commonplace devil have the power to lure small boys out of the everyday world but their influx ence over little girls Is much less therefore the boys are rigged out like girls and the evil ones are I 1 kely to be deceived although there Is no absolute assurance of safety what the houses are like the dwellings on all three arrans are of the usual irish peasant type built of cemented stone whitewashed with in and without and roofed with thatch flagstones or slate shingles nine out of ten are thatched and in this land of ocean gusts the straw Is laced down w with th a network of cordage the vertical strands of which are knotted to a line of pegs under the eaves the pegs themselves are of limestone forman forming units of the wall for wood even in small pieces Is at a premium the houses may have two three or even more rooms at any rate there will be the kitchen the living room will of f the family and a bedroom opening from it above half of the kitchen Is the in ili evitable turf loft where sufficient peat Is stored so that dry fuel Is always at hand the appurtenances of the kitchen include a pot oven among the fireplace gear and an open cupboard in which are ranged the treasured canton plates th the e trenchers luster jugs and other ware passed along from one to the next the ci I 1 11 I 1 e the beds Is I 1 kely to be he pa i ted in a pattern of bright colors W ag A |