Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland
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OuMj^ly^^ ^^^ ^"^ A 'h^^^-.J^ ^ —; FAIRY LEGENDS Craftittong THE SOUTH OF IKELAND. Cflitlr «5liition. ' Come I'araba Fenice Che ci sia, ognun lo dice Dove sia, nessunlo sa/'; Metastasio. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET ; AND WILLIAM TEGG & Co., 73, CHEAPSIDE. M.DCCC.XLVI. \ LONDON ; BEADBVRY AND EVANS, PRINTERfe, VTHITEFRIARS. ^?Kt <iX>0 2ttc» S^ < '"7K3i/^tv~*. I \ i/otu^ in^€M^ oi>u»<^ ^^. *^ <# ^ ^ ^ ^ ^=^^2^ . *^^ ;^1^ <^.^ , •^^2«>aoe<i. '^ 4?^^ ^-^.z^ ^^t^<;-«# ~^^ "^ ^^2^ .^.^- .^t^r an <2/ijui^J, ^2^-^ -'^^'^^ •^^^^^^ ^-o^ ^j;^^^ <£^^^;. zC:?^-^ - ^ Tit '^^^ f ^^...^^^^-^^ •^"^ ^.^^ .C^ ...^^^ ..^,,^^ "" ^-^ -^^..^ 7'"^ "^ PREFACE. The erudite Lessing styles a preface " the history of a book." Now, though there can be no neces- sity for a preface in that sense of the word to the reprint of a work of mere whim, which has been nearly ten years before the pubhc, yet a few words are requisite to prevent the present condensed and revised edition from being considered an abridg- ment, However compact may be the mode of printing adopted, the act of compressing into one volume the three in which the ** Fairy Legends" originally appeared, involved to a certain extent the neces- sity of selection, perhaps the most difl&cult of all tasks judiciously to perform ; but the following statement will show the system proceeded on. Forty tales descriptive of Irish superstitions now appear instead of fifty. All supei-fluous an- notations have been struck out, and a brief sum- marv at the end of each section substituted, expla- a2 uatory of the classification adopted, and in which a few additional notes have been introduced, as well as upon the text. It is therefore hoped that this curtailment will be regarded as an essential improvement ; some useless repetition in the tales being thereby avoided, and much irrelevant matter in the notes dispensed with, although nothing which illustrates in the slightest degree the popular Fairy Creed of Ireland has been sacrificed. At the same time, the omission of a portion of the ten immaterial tales will suflSciently answer doubts idly raised as to the question of authorship. CONTENTS. The Shefro. page I. The Legend of Knocksheogowna . 3 II. Knockfierna .... 9 III. Knockgrafton . 14 IV. The Priest's Supper 22 v. The Brewery of Egg-shells 28 VI. Legend of Bottle HUl 33 VII. The Confessions of Tom Bourke . 46 VIII. Fairies or no Fairies ..... 65 Note on the Section 72 The Cluricaune. IX. The Haunted Cellar 75 X. Master and Man 85 .' XI. The Little Shoe 94 Note on the Section 96 The Banshee. XII. The Bunworth Banshee 99 Xin. The McCarthy Banshee 105 Note on the Section 126 The Phooka. XIV. The Spirit Horse 129 XV. Daniel O'Rourke 134 XVI. The Crookened Back 145 Note on the Section 152 Thierna na Oge. XVn. FiorUsga 155 XVIII. Cormac and Mary {Ballad) . .160 XIX. The Legend of Lough Gur 163 XX. The Enchanted Lake 166 XXI. The Legend of O'Donoghue . 171 Note on the Section 1 74 . The Merrow. XXII. The Lady of Gollerus 177 XXIII. Flory Cantilloa''s Funeral 186 XXIV. The Lord of Dunkerron {Ballad) 192 XXV. The Wonderful Tune 196 Note on the Section 206 The Dullahan. XXVI. The Good Woman 209 XXVII. Hanlon's Mill . 220 XXVIII. The Death Coach (Ballad) 226 XXIX. The Headless Horseman 229 Note on the Section 240 The Fir Darrig. XXX. Diarmid Bawn, the Piper 243 XXXI. Teigue of the Lee . 249 XXXII. Ned Sheehy's Excuse . 258 XXXIII. The Lucky Guest . 274 Note on the Section 284 Treasure Legends. XXXIV. Dreaming Tim Jarvis 287 XXXV. Rent Day . XXXVI. Linn-na-Payshtha . 303 Note on the Section 310 Rocks and Stones, XXXVII. The Legend of Cairn Thiema 313 XXXVIII. The Rock of the Candle . 317 XXXIX. Clough-na-Cuddy 321 XL. The Giant's Stairs . 3.33 Appendix—Letter from Sir Walter Scott ; TO THE DOWAGER LADY CHATTERTON, CASTLE MAHON. Thee, Lady, would I lead through Fairy-land (Whence cold and doubting reasoners are exil'd), A land of dreams, with air-built castles piled The moonlight Shefros there, in merry band With artful Cluricaune, should ready stand To welcome thee—Imagination's child ! Till on thy ear would burst so sadly wld The Banshee's shriek, who points with wither'd hand. In the dim twilight should the Phooka come, Whose dusky fonn fades in the sunny hght, That opens clear calm Lakes upon thy sight, Where blessed spirits dwell in endless bloom. I know thee, Lady—thou wilt not deride Such Fairy Scenes.—Then onward with thy Guide. ^^jr:?6>?^ The Wood Engravings after Designs by Mr. Brooke, R.H. A., Mr. M'Clise, and the Author. — FAIRY LEGENDS. THE SHEFRO. " Fairy Elves ' Whose midnight revels, by a forest side Or fountain some belated peasant sees, Or dreams he sees, while over-head the Moon Sits arbitress, and nearer to the earth Wheels her pale course" Milton. LEGENDS OF THE SHEFRO. LEGEND OF KNOCKSHEOGOWNA. In Tipperary is one of the most singularly shaped hills in the world. It has got a peak at the top like a conical nightcap thrown carelessly over your head as you awake in the morning. On the very point is built a sort of lodge, where in the summer the lady who built it and her friends used to go on parties of pleasure ; but that was long after the days of the fairies, and it is, I be- lieve, now deserted. But before lodge was built, or acre sown, there was close to the head of this hill a large pasturage, where a herdsman spent his days and nights among the herd. The spot had been an old fairy ground, and the good people were angry that the scene of their Hght and airy gambols should be trampled by the rude hoofs of bulls and cows. The lowing of the cattle sounded sad in their ears, and the chief of the fairies of the hill deter- mined in person to drive away the new comers ; and the way she thought of was this. "When the b2 4 THE LEGEND OF KNOCKSHEOGOWNA. harvest nights came on, and the moon shone bright and brilliant over the hill, and the cattle were lying down hushed and quiet, and the herdsman, wrapt in his mantle, was musing with his heart gladdened by the glorious company of the stars twinkling above him, she would come and dance before him,—now in one shape—now in another, —but all ugly and frightful to behold. One time she would be a great horse, with the wings of an eagle, and a tail like a dragon, hissing loud and spitting fire, then in a moment she would change into a little man lame of a leg, with a bull's head, and a lambent flame playing around it. Then into a great ape, with duck's feet and a turkey- cock's tail. But I should be all day about it were I to tell you all the shapes she took. And then she would roar, or neigh, or hiss, or bellow, or howl, or hoot, as never yet was roaring, neigh- ing, hissing, bellowing, howling, or hooting, heard in this world before or since. The poor herdsman would cover his face, and call on all the saints for help, but it was no use. With one puff of her breath she would blow away the fold of his great coat, let him hold it never so tightly over his eyes, and not a saint in heaveu paid him the slightest attention. And to make matters worse, he never could stir ; no, nor even shut his eyes, but there was obliged to stay, held by what power he knew not, gazing at these terrible sights until the hair of his head would lift his hat half a foot over his crown, and his teeth would be ready to fall out from chattering. But the cattle would scamper about mad, as if they were bitten by the fly ; and this would last imtil the sun rose over the hill. THE LEGEND OF KNOCKSHEOGOWNA. The poor cattle from want of rest were pining away, and food did them no good ; besides, they met with accidents without end. Never a night passed that some of them did not fall into a pit, and get maimed, or may be, killed. Some would tumble into a river and be drowned : in a word, there seemed never to be an end of the accidents. But what made the matter worse, there could not be a herdsman got to tend the cattle by night. One visit from the fairy drove the stoutest- hearted almost mad. The owner of the ground did not know what to do. He offered double, treble, quadruple wages, but not a man could be found for the sake of money to go through the horror of facing the fairy. She rejoiced at the successful issue of her project, and continued her pranks. The herd gradually thinning, and no man daring to remain on the ground, the fairies came back in numbers, and gambolled as merrily as before, quaffing dew-drops from acorns, and spreading their feast on the heads of capacious mushrooms. What was to be done ? the puzzled farmer thought in vain. He found that his substance was daily diminishing, his people terrified, and his rent-day coming round. It is no wonder that he looked gloomy, and walked mournfully down the road. Now in that part of the world dwelt a man of the name of Larry Hoolahan, who played on the pipes better than any other player within fifteen parishes.