The Monkey Princess (stellanova) wrote,
The Monkey Princess
stellanova
  • Mood: amused
  • Music: Aislers Set: Been Hiding

family history

I stopped with him for a fortnight, and succeeded in procuring a tuition in the house of a wealthy farmer named Piers Murphy, near Corcreagh. This, however, was a tame life, and a hard one, so I resolved once more to give up a miserable salary and my board, for the fortunate chances which an ardent temperament, and a strong imagination, perpetually suggested to me as likely to be evolved out of the vicissitudes of life. Urged on, therefore, by a spirit of romance, I resolved to precipitate myself on the Irish Metropolis, which I accordingly entered with two shillings and ninepence in my pocket; an utter stranger, of course friendless; ignorant of the world, without aim or object, but not without a certain strong feeling of vague and shapeless ambition, for the truth was I had not yet begun to think, and, consequently, looked upon life less as a reality than a vision.

from William Carleton's Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry

My ancestors* were such miserly, boring employers that they drove 19th century writers to run away and seek their fortunes! What impressively indirect patrons of the arts.

*That Piers Murphy is my great-great-great-great-grandfather.
Subscribe

  • it means nothing to me....

    I am back from Vienna, where it was sunny, and am in Dublin, where it is not. Bah. But I had an absolutely fabulous week. It was my very first time…

  • Damn cyclists!

    This story could have been entitled "TV presenter drives carelessly and hits a cyclist". But But no. Apparently when you hit a cyclist, it's their…

  • crafty lady

    Over a year ago I snagged some really expensive soft furnishings fabric scraps from work (it had been used in a shoot) and vowed to make patchwork…

  • Post a new comment

    Error

    Anonymous comments are disabled in this journal

    switch
    default userpic

    Your reply will be screened

    Your IP address will be recorded 

    Help
  • 3 comments