MY LADY OF THE
CHIMNEY CORNER

BY

ALEXANDER IRVINE

AUTHOR OF "FROM THE BOTTOM UP," ETC.

NEW YORK
THE CENTURY CO.
1914

Copyright 1913, by
The Century Co.
Published, August, 1913

TO
LADY GREGORY
AND
THE PLAYERS OF THE ABBEY THEATRE
DUBLIN

FOREWORD

This book is the torn manuscript of the most beautiful life I ever knew. I have merely pieced and patched it together, and have not even changed or disguised the names of the little group of neighbors who lived with us, at "the bottom of the world." A. I.

CONTENTS

MY LADY OF
THE CHIMNEY-CORNER

A STORY OF LOVE AND POVERTY IN IRISH PEASANT LIFE

CHAPTER I

LOVE IS ENOUGH

nna's purty, an' she's good as well as purty, but th' beauty an' goodness that's hers is short lived, I'm thinkin'," said old Bridget McGrady to her neighbor Mrs. Tierney, as Mrs. Gilmore passed the door, leading her five-year-old girl, Anna, by the hand. The old women were sitting on the doorstep as the worshipers came down the lane from early mass on a summer morning.

"Thrue for you, Bridget, for th' do say that th' Virgin takes all sich childther before they're ten."

"Musha, but Mrs. Gilmore'll take on terrible," continued Mrs. Tierney, "but th' will of God must be done."

Anna was dressed in a dainty pink dress. A wide blue ribbon kept her wealth of jet black hair in order as it hung down her back and the squeaking of her little shoes drew attention to the fact that they were new and in the fashion.

"It's a mortal pity she's a girl," said Bridget, "bekase she might hev been an althar boy before she goes."

"Aye, but if she was a bhoy shure there's no tellin' what divilmint she'd get into; so maybe it's just as well."

The Gilmores lived on a small farm near Crumlin in County Antrim. They were not considered "well to do," neither were they poor. They worked hard and by dint of economy managed to keep their children at school. Anna was a favorite child. Her quiet demeanor and gentle disposition drew to her many considerations denied the rest of the family. She was a favorite in the community. By the old women she was considered "too good to live"; she took "kindly" to the house of God. Her teacher said, "Anna has a great head for learning." This expression,