Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms and Superstitions of Ireland (Part Two)

Leprechauns, midnight rides and the doom of the priests! Its part two of our journey across Ireland with Lady ‘Speranza’ Wilde's 1887 work, Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms and Superstitions of Ireland.

'But as to the pot of gold, from that day to this not one of the family, father, or son, or any belonging to them, ever set eyes on it. However, the little Leprechaun still sits under the dock leaf of the hedge, and laughs at them as he mends the shoes with his little hammer, but they are afraid to touch him, for now they know he can take his revenge.'

Tales From Antiquaria is a podcast dedicated to exploring the legacy of work published regarding folklore and local history during the golden age of antiquarian writing in the nineteenth century.

For show notes and links, visit the episodes page at thelocalmythstorian.com

Episode written, produced and presented by Eli Lewis-Lycett. All source material taken directly from the stated publication. Main theme music by Humanoid Media. Incidental music from Restum-Anoush. 

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Transcript

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Leprecorn's Midnight Rides and the Doom of the Priests. My name's Eli and this is Talesham Antiquaria Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms and Superstitions of Ireland, Part Two. Tonight we're back with our second part of Lady Speranza Wilds' eighteen eighty-seven collection, Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms and Superstitions of Ireland. So without further ado, let's get into it. The midnight ride. One evening, a man called Sean Ruder was out looking for a red cow that had strayed away when he heard voices. One said, Get me a horse, and another cried, Get me a horse. And get me a horse too, said Sean, since they seem so plenty, and I'd like to ride along with you. With that he found himself on the instant mounted on a fine grey horse, beside another man who rode a black horse, and they rode away together until they came to a great city. Now do you know where you are? said the black horseman. You're in London, and whatever you want here you can have. Thank you kindly, my friend, said Sean. So with your leave I'll just have a suit of good clothes, for I'm much in want of them. By all means, said the black horseman, go into that merchant shop and ask for what you like, and if he refuses, just throw this stone I give you onto the floor, and the whole place will seem to set on fire. But don't be frightened, only wait for your good luck. So Sean went into the biggie shop there, and he spoke to the merchant quite stiff and proud. Show me the best suit of clothes you have, he said. Never mind the price that's of no consequence. Only be particular as to the fit. But the shopman laughed aloud. We don't make clothes for beggars like you. Be out of here. Then Sean threw down the stone on the floor, and immediately the whole place seemed to set on fire. The merchant ran out with all the shopmen after him to get pails of water, and Sean laughed when he saw them all drenched. Now what will you give me? he said, if I put the fire on you. You shall have the price of the best suit of clothes in the shop, answered the merchant. Only help me put out the fire. So Sean stooped down and picked up the stone and put it quietly into his pocket, and instantly all the flames disappeared. The merchant was so grateful that he paid him down for all the clothes in gold and more. Sean bid him good night, mounted his grey steed again, and quite happily trotted off himself. Now, said the Black Horseman, is there anything else you desire? For it is near ten o'clock, and we must be back by midnight, so just tell me what you'd like to do. Well, said Sean Ruder, I would like of all things to see the Pope of Rome, for two of our local priests are disputing who is to get the parish, and I want Father McGrath to have it, for I have a great opinion of him, and if I ask his holiness, he'll settle it in no time and forever. Come then, said the Black Horseman. It's a long way to Rome, certainly, but I think we'll manage it in two hours and be back before twelve o'clock. So they rode away like the wind, and in no time Sean found himself before the great palace of the Pope. Just go in, said the horseman, and tell his holiness that Sean Ruder all the way from Ireland, is here and wants to see him very particularly. Now the Pope, hearing this, looked out of his windows, and seeing Sean Ruder, he came down and asked what he wanted. Just this, your holiness, answered Sean. I want a letter on behalf of Father McGrath, bidding the bishop to give him the parish, and I'll wait till your holiness writes it, and meanwhile, let me have a little supper, for I'm hungry after a long ride. The Pope laughed and told his servants to drive this fellow away, for he was evidently out of his wits. So Sean grew angry, and flung down the stone onto the floor, and instantly all the palace seemed to set on fire. The Pope ordered the grand servants to go for water, and after they had run around like mad getting pails and jugs and whatever they could, all of their fine clothesware was spoiled, and their beautiful gold sticks were flung away in their fright, while they took the jugs and splashed and dashed water over each other. Now it was Seun's turn to laugh until his sides ached. Well, said Seun, if I put out the fire, what will you do for me? Will you write that letter? Aye, I will, said the Pope. And you shall have your supper also. Only help us to put out this fire first. So Seun quietly put the stone back in his pocket, and instantly all the flames disappeared. Now, said the Pope, you shall have supper of the best in the palace, and I'll write a letter to the bishop, ordering him to give Father McGrath the parish. And Moore, here is a purse of gold for yourself and take it with my blessing. Then he ordered all of the grand servants to get supper for the excellent young man from Ireland and to make him comfortable. Sean was mightily pleased, and ate and drank like a prince. Then he mounted his grey steed again, and just as midnight struck he found himself at his own door, but all alone, for the grey steed and the black horseman had both vanished. But there saw his wife crying her eyes out and in great trouble. Oh Sean, I thought you were dead. Not a bit of it, said Sean. I've been supping with the Pope of Rome, and look here at all this gold I've brought home for you, my darling. He put his hand in his pocket to get the purse, but there was nothing there except a rough grey stone, and from that hour to this his wife believes that he dreamed up the whole story on his way home from a carouse with the boys. However, Father McGrath got the parish, and Sean took good care to tell him how he had spoken up boldly for him to the Pope of Rome and made his holiness write the letter to the bishop about him. Father McGrath was a kind gentleman, and he smiled and told Sean and thanked him kindly for his good word. The leprechaun The leprechauns are merry, industrious, tricksy little sprites who will do all the shoemaker's work and the tailors and the cobblers for the fairy gentry, and are often seen at sunset under the hedge singing and stitching. They know all the secrets of hidden treasure, and if they take a fancy to a person, we'll guide him to a spot in the fairy ra where the pot of gold lies buried. It's believed that a family now living near Castleria came by their riches in a strange way all through the good offices of a friendly leprechaun. The legend has been handed down through many generations as an established fact. There was a poor boy once, one of their forefathers, who used to drive his cart of turf daily back and forward and make what money he could by the sale. But he was a strange boy, very silent and moody, and the people said he was a fairy changeling, for he joined in no sports and scarcely ever spoke to anyone, but spent the night reading all the old bits of books he picked up in his rambles. The one thing he longed for above all was to get rich, and to be able to give up the old weary turf cart, and then to live in peace and quietness all alone with nothing but books around him in a beautiful house and garden by himself. And day by day he watched for a sight of the little cobbler and listened for the click click of his hammer as he sat under the hedge mending the shoes. At last one evening just as the sun set, he saw a little fellow under a dock leaf, working away dressed all in green, with a cocked hat on his head. So the boy jumped down from the cart and seized him by the neck. Now don't you stir from this, he cried, till you tell me where you have hidden the gold. Easy now, said the leprechaun, don't hurt me, and I will tell you all about it. But mind you, I could hurt you if I chose, for I have the power, but I won't do it, for we are cousins once removed. Come along with me to the old fort of Lippenshaw, for there it lies. But make haste, for when the last red glow of the sun vanishes the gold will disappear also, and you'll never find it again. Come off then, said the boy, and carried the leprechaun into the turf cart and drove off. In a second they were at the old fort, and went in through a door made in the stone wall. Now look around, said the leprechaun, and the boy saw the whole ground covered with gold pieces. There were vessels of silver lying around in such plenty that all the riches of the world seemed gathered there. Now take what you want, said the leprechaun, but hasten, for if that door shuts, you will never leave this place as long as you live. So the boy gathered up his arms full of gold and silver, and flung them into the cart, and was on his way back for more when the door shut with a clap like thunder, and all the place became dark as night. He couldn't see the leprechaun, and had not even had time to thank him, so he thought it was best to drive home at once with his treasure, and when he arrived he was all alone by himself and counted his riches, and the bright yellow gold pieces enough for a king's ransom. And he was very, very wise, and told no one, but went off the next day to Dublin and put all his treasures into the bank, and found that he was now indeed as rich as a lord. So he ordered a fine house to be built with spacious gardens, and he had servants and carriages and books to his heart's content. He gathered all the wise men around him to give him the learning of a gentleman, and he became a great and powerful man in the country, where his memory is still held in a high honour, and his descendants are living to this day rich and prosperous. Their wealth has never decreased, that they have ever given largely to the poor, and are noted above all things for the friendly heart and liberal hand. But leprechauns can be bitterly malicious if they are offended, and one should be very cautious in dealing with them. Always treat them with great civility, or they will take revenge and never reveal the secret of the hidden gold. One day a young lad was out in the fields at work when he saw a little fellow, not the height of his hand, mending shoes under a dock leaf. He went over, never taking his eyes off him for a fear he would vanish away. When he got quite close he made a grab for the creature, lifted him up and put him in his pocket. Then he ran away home as fast as he could, and when he had the leprechaun safe in the house, he tied him by an iron chain to the hob. Now tell me, he said, Where am I to find a pot of gold? Let me know the place or I'll punish you. I know of no pot of gold, said the leprechaun, but let me go that I may finish mending my shoes. Then I'll make you tell me, said the lad. And with that he made down a great fire and put the little fellow on it and scorched him. Take me off, take me off, cried the leprechaun, and I'll tell you just there, under the dot leaf where you found me there is a pot of gold. Go and dig and find. The lad was delighted, but as he was leaving, it happened that his mother was just then coming in with a pail of fresh milk, and in his haste he knocked the pail out of her hand, and all the milk was spilled onto the floor. Then when the mother saw the leprechaun, she grew very angry and beat him. Go away, you little wretch. You have overlooked the milk and brought ill luck. The mother was so angry she kicked the son out of the house. But the lad ran off to find the dock leaf, though he came back very sorrowful in the evening, for he had dug and dug nearly down to the middle of the earth, but no pot of gold was to be seen. That same night the husband was coming home from his work, and as he passed the old fort he heard voices and laughter. He heard one say, They are looking for a pot of gold, but little know that a crock of gold is lying in the bottom of the old quarry, hid under the stones close by the garden wall, but whoever gets it must go in a dark night at twelve o'clock and beware of bringing his wife with him. So the man hurried home and told his wife he would go that very night, for it was black dark, and she must stay at home and watch for him and not stir from the house until he came back. Then he went out into the dark night alone. Now thought the wife, if I could only get to the quarry before him, I would have the pot of gold all to myself, while if he gets it, I shall have nothing. With that she went out herself, and hiked like the wind until she reached the quarry, and there she began to creep down very quietly in the black dark. But a great stone was in her path, and she stumbled over it and fell down and down until she reached the bottom, and there she lay groaning. She'd broken her leg in the fall, but just then her husband came to the edge of the quarry and began to descend. When he heard her groans he was frightened. What is that down below? Is it evil or is it good? Oh come down and help me, cried the woman. It's your wife here, and my leg is broken, and I'll die if you don't help me. He was at his wit's end to know what to do. So he roused up a neighbour, and between them they dragged up the poor woman and carried her home, and laid her on her bed half dead from fright, and it was many a day before she was able to get about as usual. Indeed she limped all her long life, so that the people said the curse of the leprechaun was on her. As to that pot of gold, from that day to this, not one of the family, father or son, or any belonging to them, has ever set eyes on it. However, the little leprechaun still sits under the dock leaf of the hedge, and he laughs at them as he mends the shoes with his little hammer. Tic tack, tic tack. They are all afraid to touch him, but now they know he can take his revenge. Doom of the priests. There was once a young man of Innismoor named James, noted through all the island for his beauty and strength. Never a one could beat him at hunting or wrestling, and he was besides the best dancer in the whole town. But he was bold and reckless and ever foremost in all the wild wicked doings of the young fellows of the place. One day he happened to be in the chapel after one of these mad freaks, and the priest denounced him by name from the altar. James Lynan, he said, Remember my words, you will come to an ill end. The vengeance of God will fall on you for your wicked life. And by the power that is in me I denounce you as an evil liver and a limb of Satan, and a cursed of all good men. The young man turned pale, and fell on his knees before all the people, crying out bitterly, Have mercy, have mercy, I repent, and he wept like a woman. Go now in peace, said the priest, and strive to lead a new life, and I'll pray to God to save your soul. From that day forth James Lion changed his ways. He began to tend to his farm and his business, in place of being at all the mad revels and dances and fairs and wakes in the island. Soon after he married a nice girl, a rich farmer's daughter from the mainland, and they had four fine children, and all things prospered with him. But the priest's words never left his mind. He would suddenly turn pale and a shivering would come over him when the memory of the curse came upon him. Still he prospered, and his life was a model of sobriety and order. One day he and his wife and their children were asked to the wedding of a friend about four miles off. At the wedding he was the life of the party as he always was, but never a drop of drink touched his lips. When evening came, the family set out for their return home, just as the way they'd come, the wife and children on the cart and James riding his own horse. But when the wife arrived at home, she found her husband's horse standing at the gate riderless and quite still. They thought he might have fallen in a faint and went back to search, where he was found in a hollow, not five perches from his own gate, lying quite insensible and his features distorted frightfully, as if seized while looking on some horrible vision. They carried him in, but he never spoke. A doctor was sent for who opened a vein but no blood came. There he lay like a dog, speechless as one dead. Among the crowd that gathered round was an old woman accounted very wise by the people. Send for the fairy doctor, she said. He is struck. So they sent off a boy on the fastest horse for the fairy man. He could not come himself, but he filled the bottle with potion, and he said, Ride for your life, give him some of this to drink and sprinkle his face and hands with it also. But take care you pass the lone bush on the round hill near the hollow, for the fairies are there and will hinder you if they can and strive to break your bottle. Then the fairyman blew into the mouth and the eyes and the nostrils of the horse, turning round three times and rubbed the dust off his hooves. Now go, he said to the boy. Go and never look behind you, no matter what you hear. So the boy went like the wind, having placed the bottle safely in his pocket, and when he came to the lone bush, the horse started and gave such a jump that the bottle nearly fell, but the boy caught it in time and held it safe and rode on. Then he heard a clutching of feet behind him, but he never turned or looked, for he knew that it was the fairies who were after him. Shrill voices cried out to him Ride fast, ride fast for the spell is cast. Still he never turned round, but rode on and never let go of his hold of the fairy draught till he stopped at his master's door and handed the potion to the poor sorrowing wife, and she gave it to the sick man to drink, and sprinkled his face and hands, after which he fell into a deep sleep. But when he woke up, though he knew everyone around him, the power of speech was gone from him. And from that time to his death, which happened soon after, he never uttered a word more. So the doom of the priest was fulfilled. Evil was his youth, and evil was his fate, and sorrow and death found him at last, for the doom of the priest is the word of God. That said, if I ever see a little green figure sat under a dock leaf mending shoes, I'll make sure I'm polite and courteous to say the least. We'll be back soon with the final part in this collection. So until then, take care and may you go with ya. You can find out more about the show and about my other projects at the local mythstorian.com.