Irish Lassies at the Fair.

Manawatu Herald, 15 September 1892, Page 3

Irish Lassies at the Fair.

, w — All visitors to the World's Fair will doubtless want to inspect the Irish village which is being arranged under the auspices of the Countess of Aberdeen and Mrs Ernest Hart The latter gives the following outline of what it will contain : — " We shall have seven cottages in which peasant girls and lads from Donegal and elsewhere will be seen at work, weaving, spinning, dyeing, sprigging, carving, etc. Tbe girls will look very pretty in Connemara red petticoats, fishwife skirts and blouses, and scarlet cloaks. In the first cottage will be a precise model of a cottage in Donegal, with undressed walls of granite, with a hooded fireplace and dresser full of bright crockery ; a girl will be seen dyeing and spinning our famous Hand-and -Hearth Homespuns, the wool of which she gets from the lichens and heather of her native bog outside. There will be an imitation peat fire, and on this the dyer will from time to time place her iron potato pot, and proceed to dye the wool. This operation is certain to prove immensely attractive to sightseers, and, as well as the carding, spinning, and bobbin-filling, which will be shown here, is an extremely interesting process. " In the second cottage there will be linen weaving and embroidering of the famous Kells Art Kmbroidery ; whilst linen damask weaving on a Jacquard handloom and fringeknotting will go on in the third cottage. Between this and the next cottage there will be a model dairy, in which dairymaids will be at work churning and butter-making. I can assure our American cousins they will have a chance of some good butter, as we shall send over some of the world-famed Kerry cows, whioh will be stabled at the rear. There will also be a pleasant, cool spot here where visitors can rest and drink iced milk. In the fourth cottage, which is under the especial care of the Irish Industries Association, every description of Irish lace will be shown. There will be a Limerick lace worker at her frame, the Torchon lace worker at the pillow, the numerous varieties of point lace, and so forth. Sprigging and veining, which are employed in the production of the hemstitched handkerchiefs of Belfast, will be shown in the next cottage. The girls of Down are especially noted for their exquisite and delicate work. We have not quite definitely decided about the two remaining cottages, but we shall probably show in the seventh the wood-carving industry in Ireland, which has reached a really remarkable degree bf development when one remembers the workers and teachers are peasant lads. You should see the set of owls icarved by some of my own boys for Lady Aberdeen last year. Ihe ex* j pression of the owls' faces, as well as the execution, was excellent. Other features of our Irish industrial villages will be a replica of Donegal casole, an old well, and other inter* esting Celtic memorials. I believe the Irish village will be successful ; we shall certainly do our best to make it so."