Susanna Moodie

Name: Roughing it in the Bush — Chapter XIX: The "Ould Dhragoon"
Author: Susanna Moodie

Roughing it in the Bush — Chapter XIX: The "Ould Dhragoon"

Summary

“Roughing it in the Bush — Chapter XIX: The "Ould Dhragoon"”, is a work by Susanna Moodie. It explores elements such as Judy, meadow and happy contentment.

Quotes from Roughing it in the Bush — Chapter XIX: The "Ould Dhragoon" (Susanna Moodie)

Susanna Moodie, Roughing it in the Bush — Chapter XIX: The "Ould Dhragoon"

“ We soon reached the beaver-meadow, which extended two or three miles; sometimes contracting into a narrow gorge, between the wooded heights, then spreading out again into an ample field of verdure, and presenting everywhere the same unvarying level surface, surrounded with rising grounds, covered with the dense unbroken forest, as if its surface had formerly been covered by the waters of a lake; which in all probability has been the case at some not very remote period. In many places the meadow was so wet that it required a very large share of faith to support us in passing over its surface ”

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Source: Wikisource

Susanna Moodie, Roughing it in the Bush — Chapter XIX: The "Ould Dhragoon"

“ Simpson, in spite of a certain dash of melancholy in his composition, was one of those happy fellows of the "light heart and thin pair of breeches" school, who, when they meet with difficulty or misfortune, never stop to measure its dimensions, but hold in their breath, and run lightly over, as in crossing a bog, where to stand still is to sink. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Susanna Moodie, Roughing it in the Bush — Chapter XIX: The "Ould Dhragoon"

“ He had also managed, with the assistance of his devoted partner, Judy, to clear a few acres of poor rocky land on the sloping margin of the level meadow, which he planted year after year with potatoes. Scattered over this small clearing, here and there might be seen the but-end of some half-burnt hemlock tree, which had escaped the general combustion of the log heaps, and now formed a striking contrast to the white limestone rocks which showed their rounded surfaces above the meagre soil. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Susanna Moodie, Roughing it in the Bush — Chapter XIX: The "Ould Dhragoon"

“ An indescribably enlivening influence seemed to exude from every pore of that homely earthen vessel, diffusing mirth and good-humour in all directions. The old man jumped and danced about on the rough floor of the "shanty"; and the children sat giggling and nudging each other in a corner, casting a timid look, from time to time, at their mother, for fear she might check them for being "over bould."
"Is it crazy ye are intirely, ye ould omadhawn!" said Judy, whose notions of propriety were somewhat shocked with the undignified levity of her partner ”

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Source: Wikisource

Susanna Moodie, Roughing it in the Bush — Chapter XIX: The "Ould Dhragoon"

“ We may smile at the rude and clumsy attempts of the remote and isolated backwoodsman to attain something like comfort, but happy he who, with the buoyant spirits of the light-hearted Irishman, contrives to make himself happy even when all others would be miserable. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Susanna Moodie, Roughing it in the Bush — Chapter XIX: The "Ould Dhragoon"

“ A certain degree of dissatisfaction with our present circumstances is necessary to stimulate us to exertion, and thus to enable us to secure future comfort; but where the delusive prospect of future happiness is too remote for any reasonable hope of ultimate attainment, then surely it is true wisdom to make the most of the present, and to cultivate a spirit of happy contentment with the lot assigned to us by Providence.
"Ould Simpson," or the "Ould Dhragoon," as he was generally called, was a good sample of this happy character ”

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Source: Wikisource

Susanna Moodie, Roughing it in the Bush — Chapter XIX: The "Ould Dhragoon"

“ He was one of that unfortunate class of discharged soldiers who are tempted to sell their pensions often far below their true value, for the sake of getting a lot of land in some remote settlement, where it is only rendered valuable by the labour of the settler, and where they will have the unenviable privilege of expending the last remains of their strength in clearing a patch of land for the benefit of some grasping storekeeper who has given them credit while engaged in the work. ”

Susanna Moodie

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