knees, and looking admiringly on his handiwork, uttered the above saying—'Firm and ugly!'
The idea of the 'old boy' pursuing a soul appears also in the words of an old Anglo-Irish song about persons who commit great crimes and die unrepentant:—
'For committing those crimes unrepented
The devil shall after them run,
And slash him for that at a furnace
Where coal sells for nothing a ton.'
A very wet day—teeming rain—raining cats and dogs—a fine day for young ducks:—'The devil wouldn't send out his dog on such a day as this.'
'Did you ever see the devil
With the wooden spade and shovel
Digging praties for his supper