Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIfcrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/fairylegendstradOOcrokrich ; FAIRY LEGENDS AND TRADITIONS THE SOUTH OF IRELAND. ** Come 1' araba Fenice Che ci sia, ognun lo dice Dove sia, nessun lo sa." Metastasio. y LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. MDCCCXXXIV. 1'^ 7^^ London : Printed by A. Spottiswoode, New-Street.Square, V' — <5 PREFACE. , , The erudite Lessing styles a preface *^ the history of a book." Now, though there can be no necessity 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 public, yet a few words are requisite to prevent the present condensed and revised edition from being considered an abridgment. 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 necessity of selection, per- haps the most difficult of all tasks judiciously to perform ; but the following statement will show the system proceeded on. Forty tales descriptive of Irish supersti- tions now appear instead of fifty. All super- fluous annotations have been struck out, and A 2 IV PREFACE. a brief summary at the end of each section substituted, explanatory 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 curtail- ment will be regarded as an essential im- provement; some useless repetition in the tales being thereby avoided, and much irre- levant 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 sufficiently answer doubts idly raised as to the question of au- thorship. CONTENTS. P»age The Shefro. 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 Hill S3 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. XIL The Bunworth Banshee 99 XIIL The McCarthy Banshee 105 Note on the Section 126 The Phooka. XIV. The Spirit Horse 129 XV. Daniel 0*Rourke 134 XVI. The Crookened Back 145 Note on the Section 152 Thierna na Oge. XVII. FiorUsga 155 XVIIL Cormac and Mary (5a//a<i) 160 XIX. The Legend of Lough Gur 163 XX. The Enchanted Lake 166 XXI. The Legend of O'Donoghue 171 Note on the Section 174 VI CONTENTS. Page The Merrow. XXTI. The Lady of Gollerus 177 XXIII. Flory Cantil Ion's Funeral 186 XXIV. The Lord of Dunkerron {Ballad) 192 XXV. The Wonderful Tune 196 Note 071 the Section 206 The Dullahan, XXVL The Good Woman 209 XXVIL Hanlon's Mill 220 XXVIIL The Death Coach (^a//ad) 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 XXXIL Ned Sheehy's Excuse 258 XXXIII. The Lucky Guest 274 Note on the Section 284 Treasure Legends. XXXIV. DreamingTim Jarvis 287 XXXV. Rent Day. 298 XXXVL Linn-na-Payshtha 303 Note on the Section 310 Rocks and Stones. XXXVIL The Legend of Cairn Thierna 313 XXXVIIL The Rock of the Candle 317 XXXIX. Clough-na-Cuddy 321 XL. The Giant's Stairs 333 Appendix—Letter from Sir Walter Scott 342 ; TO THE DOWAGER LADY CHATTERTON, CASTLE MAHON. Thee, Lady, would I lead through Fairy-land (Whence cold and doubting reasoners are exiled), 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 — Lnagination's child! Till on thy ear would burst so sadly wild The Banshee's shriek, who points with withered hand. In the dim twilight should the Phooka come. Whose dusky form fades in the sunny light, 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. The Wood Engravings after Designs by Mr, Brooke, R.H.A. Mr. M'Clise, and the Author. — •u»< 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. I. 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 light 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 B 2 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 round 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 heaven 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 liis 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 until the sun rose over the hill. THE LEGEND OF KNOCKSHEOGOWNA. 5 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. A roving dashing blade was Larry, and feared nothing. Give him plenty of liquor, and he would defy the devil.