O'Cahan, whose chief seat was at Limavady, was the principal urraght
of O'Neill, and when one of the great clan was 'proclaimed' at
Tullaghogue it was the magnificent privilege of the O'Cahan to toss
a shoe over his head. We slept at O'Cahan's Hotel, and--well, one
must sleep; and wherever we attend to that necessary function
without due preparation, we generally make a mistake in the
selection of the particular spot. Protestantism does not
necessarily mean cleanliness, although it may have natural
tendencies in that direction; and we find, to our surprise ( a
surprise rooted, probably, in bigotry), that Catholicism can be as
clean as a penny whistle, now and again. There were no special
privileges at O'Cahan's for maids, and Benella, therefore, had a
delightful evening in the coffee-room with a storm-bound commercial
traveller. As for Francesca and me, there was plenty to occupy us
in our regular letters to Ronald and Himself; and Salemina wrote
several sheets of thin paper to somebody,--no one in America,
either, for we saw her put on a penny stamp.
Our pleasant duties over, we looked into the cheerful glow of the
turf sods while I read aloud Thackeray's Peg of Limavady. He spells
the town with two d's, by the way, to insure its being rhymed
properly with Paddy and daddy.
'Riding from Coleraine
(Famed for lovely Kitty),
Came a Cockney bound
Unto Derry city;
Weary was his soul,
Shivering and sad he
Bumped along the road
Leads to Limavaddy.
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