rustyj14
03-17-2005 16:10:54
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Re: OT;St.Patty in reply to Brian in NY, 03-17-2005 13:48:34
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The potato famine in Ireland was caused by a fungus, or some type of blight, that caused the spuds to rot in the ground. Since the Irish subsisted mostly on potatoes, and the government took away all of the other food-stuffs, this didn't leave the Irish with but one ol' cotton dress, which they couldn't eat, so a famine spread across the land! The English wanted to get rid of the Irish anyway, so the tater blight was used to do that! Then, the English persuaded the Irish to move to America, which they did in droves. A lot of them became "shark bait" because a lot of the people were sick with a variety of bad diseases, and they died at sea! The boat captains had the bodies thrown overboard, with not much in the way of registering any names! When the starving Irish arrived in America, men came around and signed them up to go fight in the Army, which accounted for a lot more disappearances of folks. The Irish, by coming here with nothing, would work for "peanuts" which angered the working folk here in America, so, being hated in the cities, a lot of the Irish and Scotch Irish settled back in the hills of Kentucky and Tennesee, where they could live off the land, and play their wonderful Irish music, without fear of being caught up in a draft for the Army! There were several shows today on the TV, peertaining to Ireland and the things i mentioned above! by: Rustyj
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