Said one Hibernian to the other:—
'Glory be to the Saints, Mick, what a fight he made for three halfpence.'
'Oh,' replied the other, 'it was the mercy of the Lord he had not tuppence, or he'd have killed the pair of us.'
Killing suggests the Kerry militia, the corps in which no one dies except of good fellowship, one which has done a good deal to unite the divergent interests of north and south Kerry, and which provides fine physical development for soldiers of all ranks.
Last year the militia received a grant of £120 from Government to be expended on route marching with the band through the county in order to promote recruiting. The net haul in the Milltown district was the village idiot, who promised to enlist after the next sessions if the jailer did not take him—he being apprehensive of committal to prison.
But even this was not enough, for his mother came to a neighbouring magistrate, weeping and praying for his remission, because—
'It was a drunken freak on Patrick, for if the lad had kept his senses, sure, he would never have done it.'
Another Kerry man being asked why his son did not enlist, replied:—
'Ah, Jamsie was not a big enough scamp for the militia, because you have to be a great blackguard before you can get in there.'
Which shows that the camel and needle's eye trick is easier to perform than to induce a country-bred man to enlist in the King's militia; though once in, every fellow loves it.