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Hello, I am Joshua P. Warren, and this is Joshua P. Warren Daily. Well, I have a really busy day ahead of me, and so on this podcast I'm just going to read you a poem. It's one of my favorites. I think you'll find it a fitting kickoff to the St. Patrick's Day weekend. This is a poem that was written a long time ago by an Irishman named William Allingham. He was born in Ulster, there in Northern Ireland. He lived from 1824 to 1889, so he died at the age of 65. Published a lot of good stuff in his life, but uh well I believe this is this is the best. This is everybody's favorite. It's a poem called The Fairies. And you might find it interesting that this is spelled F-A-E-R-I-E-S. And you know, sometimes you see fairies spelled F A I R Y. And here's sort of the difference. When you see F-A-I-R-Y, that usually refers to the word fate, which ties into these little sort of magical, lighthearted fairies like Tinkerbell, that almost look angelic and sort of you know fly around with little wings. Maybe there's some dust sparkling around them, that sort of thing. But fairies F-A-E-R-I-E-S, that refers to a similar type of being, a breed known as the Fey. And they were very prominent in Ireland and England in the old days, and these are also little magical beings, but they are more mischievous and creepy. And I would think probably leprechauns and things like that would be part of the Faye you would talk about and spell F A E R I E or something like that. So this is called the Fairies, F-A-E-R-I-E-S by William Allingham. Now, because this was written in the 1800s, I'm going to modify some of the words because the dialect is a little strange and you might not understand it. And there will also perhaps be some place names that you won't recognize, but altogether, I think you'll find it surprisingly understandable as a clear narrative considering that here we are in the year twenty nineteen. So close your eyes if you can and envision the story you're about to hear, included in the poem The Fairies by William Allingham Up the Airy Mountain, down the rushy glen, we dare not go a hunting for fear of little men We folk, good folk trooping all together, green jacket, red cap, and white owls feather down along the rocky shore, some make their home. They live on crispy pancakes of yellow tide foam some in the reeds of the black mountain lake, with frogs for their watchdogs, all night awake. High on the hilltop the old king sits. He is now so old and grey he's nearly lost his wits. With a bridge of white mist, a column kill he crosses on his stately journeys from Sleevig to Ross's Or going up with the music on cold starry nights to sup with the queen of the gay northern lights. They stole little Bridget for seven years long. When she came down again her friends were all gone. They took her lightly back. Between the night and morrow, they thought that she was fast asleep, but she was dead with sorrow. They have kept her ever since, deep within the lake on a bed of fig leaves watching till she wake by the craggy hillside, through the mosses bare, they have planted thorn trees for my pleasure here and there. Is any man so daring as to dig them up in spite? He shall find their sharpest thorns in his bed at night. Oh up the airy mountain down the rushy glen We dare not go a hunting for fear of little men. We folk, good folk trooping all together Green jacket, red cap and white owl's feather. How do you like that? The fairies by William Ellingham, the Irishman, written in the eighteen hundreds. Pretty good, huh? So let that sink in as you begin to imagine the wee folk, the Fay, who may be running around out there in the woods, by the creek, in the coves near the mossy rocks. Maybe in your own backyard, you never know. I'll try to leave another podcast for you tomorrow with a little more information about well the fear of little men not to mention the strangeness associated with the little people in general. So have a good Friday. That's it for today. I'm Joshua P. Warren. This is called Joshua P. Warren Daily. If you go to Joshua PWarren.com, you'll find a link. You can subscribe through various means or just follow me on Twitter at Joshua P. Warren, and I'll tweet when a new one is available. So thank you for listening, and I'll talk to you again soon.