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Irish peasant girl in a hooded cloak

"Once - it was at Macroom, of which we have particularly spoken - among a group we noted a fair-haired girl. She might have been the study from which Mr. Harvey copied this picture; and let no one think it idealized. We have seen many such, along every road we travelled. Perfect in form as a Grecian statue, and graceful as a young fawn. The hood of her cloak shrouded each side of her face; and the folds draped her slender figure as if the nicest art had been exerted in aid of nature. There was something so sad, so shy, and yet so earnest, in her entreaty for 'charity, for the love of God,' that we should have at once bestowed it, had not a thin, pallid woman, whose manner was evidently superior to those around her, and whose 'tatters' bore a character of 'old decency,' made her way through the crowd, and, struggling with excited feelings, forced the girl from our side."

From Ireland, Its Scenery, Character, &c, by Mr & Mrs S. C. Hall, circa 1850.

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