Blast from the Past [8 January 1873]:
The Geelong Advertiser reports that an amusing incident is related in connection with the laying of the foundation stone of a church at Nagambie, a township between twenty and thirty miles beyond Seymour.
There being no stone available within the immediate neighbourhood, it was found advisable to send to Melbourne for one, and arrangements were made for its conveyance by rail to Seymour. The stone was to be laid on a certain day, and it was imperative that not the slightest delay should occur in its transmission, or else the Right Rev. Dr Goold, R. C. Bishop of Victoria, would be kept waiting, and this was what Mr Kelly (the architect of the church) and the contractors wished to avoid.
Arrangements were therefore made with an Irish carter that upon the stone arriving at Seymour he was to have it removed to his wagon and start at once for Nagambie. Well, five o'clock came, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and eleven o'clock struck, the ceremony was to be performed on the following morning, and there was no appearance of the carter at Nagambie.
At midnight Mr Kelly and the contractor went to look after (for) him, and early in the morning they found him sitting on the large block of stone in his wagon, about four miles from Seymour and his horses gone.
Why! What on earth are you doing here? asked Mr Kelly.
Sure now, Mr Kelly, don't you see it is stuck I am?
Yes, said Mr Kelly, but where are your horses?
Sure, replied the carter, when I got bogged last night I turned them out into the paddock.
But why not mount one of them and ride for assistance?
Now your Honour, now Mr Kelly, is it you that would 'ave me leave this blessed stone so that some spalpeen might come and stale (steal) it.
The poor fellow had actually sat on or near a cold stone, weighing nearly half a ton, all night, in case some thief might come in the darkness and put it in his pocket. It is satisfactory to know that the stone reached Nagambie in time, and the Right Rev. Prelate was not kept waiting.
Source: Trove (nla.gov.au) 08 Jan 1873 keeping Guard Over a Stone
This story from the Melbourne Age in 1873 provides a jocular blast from the past, despite mocking the Irish. The author of this story labels the carter, (the butt of the joke), as Irish, but fails to mention that the esteemed architect, Mr Kelly, was from Dublin and the Right Rev. Dr Goold, from Cork. Luckily, the Irish have always had an endearing ability to laugh at themselves – it wouldn’t be surprising if the author too, was Irish.
A Spalpeen is Irish slang for rascal. The word originated from Irish Gaelic spailpin itinerant labourer.
