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An Irish Wedding
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Have you ever been to an Irish wedding?
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I have just returned from one.
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It is a quarter to five in the morning;
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the sun has already climbed above the horizon;
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the birds are busy celebrating the new day and have eagerly been in search of food.
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But some of the guests have not yet left.
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They are still prolonging the night:
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dancing, singing, gossiping,
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and postponing the unfortunate necessity of undertaking a day’s work
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in the fields after a sleepless night.
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The evening party was to start at ten o’clock,
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but many of the guests arrived earlier.
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A few of the nearer male relatives were looking rather awkward
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in evening suits with smart bow ties,
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and the pleasant, unsophisticated countrywomen
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appeared a little self-conscious in their Sunday best.
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Two men squeezing accordions provided the music:
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the old Irish tunes that have been played at weddings for many years.
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Half the people in the room were dancing the square dances
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which have been enjoyed even longer.
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A score of men stood in the narrow dark hall leaning against the wall,
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drinking beer from bottles
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and speculating about crops, cattle and the current political situation.
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And whenever the dancing stopped,
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somebody would start singing one of the sentimental, treasured Irish songs:
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the exile longing for his home, the grief-stricken lover mourning his fate.
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Sometimes we all joined in the chorus, sadly and solemnly,
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before getting up to dance again.
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Irish weddings are almost certain to have been celebrated in this way for generations.
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I have been to wedding receptions
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where champagne has been served to the accompaniment of soft unnoticed orchestral music;
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I have listened to carefully prepared speeches
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and eyed a little enviously the model gowns of women far more elegant
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than I could ever hope to be.
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I have been impressed, and a little bored.
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I have just been sitting up all night in a small, uncomfortable Irish cottage
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and I have been enjoying every moment of it.