The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1866-11-16
A CHAPTER OF LEGENDS.
The Legendary Fiction O. the Irish
Celts-A New Collection.

in London under the title OF Legendary
Fiction Of the Irish Gets" The author is
Patrick Kennedy, who has contributed part
Of the materia! Of his book to the Dublin
Tnirersity .Nngdziue in the form of papers
on "Leinster Folk Lore" The stories are
connected by slight explanatory text, III
GLIDING note of the person from whom each
was obtained. They are grouped under
FIVE heads: Household Stories, Legends of
the Good People, Tales Of Witchcraft, Scr
Gerry, Ghosts and Fetches, Ossianic and 9TH
err Early Legends, and Legends of the Gel
ito Saints.
One Of these stories Mr. Kennedy calls
The Long Spoon He heard it from a
farmer wife. and THINKS it probable that it
is to he met with outside the Pale, and even
as far as Connemara, but adds that he has
heard or read it nowhere since he learned
it in his youth from Mrs. X 1t is Chau-
Ger 4, ErIar ; Tale in its crude form, the
hearth money collector being in Chaucer
the Sompnour or summoner to the Arch
deacon court. lie is in the counties OF the
Pale first colonizet by the English that we
find 'gorsoon' made out of ''garcon, and
other naturalized Norman French words
Here, also naturalized, exists still the Nor
man French story that Chaucer caused his
Friar to enrich and adapt for the aggrava-
ton OF the summoner.
THE LONG SPOON.
The devil and the hearth money collector
for Bautry set out one summer morning to
decide a bet they made the nj sht before
over jug of punch They wanted to see
which would have the best load at sunset,
and neither was to pick up anything that
WASH offered with the good will Of the Civ
er. They passed by a house, and they
heard the poor vanithee cry out to her lazy
daughter, 20 mu>ha ,--take you for ii
lazy Sthronshuch of girl! do you intend to
get up today?' "Oh, no y says the tax
man, there is a JOB for you Nick. -
"Ovoch y says the other, it wash from
her heart she said 1t; We must pass on. y
The next cabin they were passing, the WO-
man was Oh the bawn ditch crying ont to
her husband, who was mending one Of his
brogues INSIDE; "Oh, tattheration to you
Nick you never rung them pigs, aud there
they are III the potato drills routu away :;
the--run to Lusk with then ! An
other windiall for you, says the man of
the Ink horn, but the Old thief only shook
his horns and wagged his tail, So they
Went on, and ever 50 many pllzc> offered 10
the black fellow without him taking one.
Here II was a gOr,oon playing naarrets when
he should be using his clappers in the corn
deld and there it was Il lazy drone OF a SER
want asleep with his face to the sod, when
he ought to be wedding. No one thought of
Offering the hearthmoney man even drink
OF butter mix, and at last the sun was with
III half foot OF the edge of Coohagh. They
were just then passing through Monamohn,
and IL poor woman who was Stralnlng her
supper IN Il skeeoge outside her cabin door,
seeing the two standing at the bawh gate,
bawIed out, "Oh, here $ the hearth money
man, PUN away wild i'm Got Il
bite at last says Nick. ooh, no, no it
wasn't from her heart, she said it, says
the collector. Indeed an it was from the
very foundation stone Of her heart it came
Nc help tor m>fortunes. In with you,
Says he. opening the mouth of his big black
bag and whether the devil was ever seen
taking the same walk or not, no one ever
laid eyes on his fellow traveller again.
Another legend is the kildare Pooka, :"
which Mr.. Kennedy tells as he heard it, al
though he saysit is Inconsistent with the ac-
cepted Irish larry mythology Tor 'pooka
to do house work:
THE KILDARE POOKA.
Mr. Il r., when he was alive,
used to live a good deal III Dublin, and he
was once great while out of the country
on account ot the % business. But the
servants kept on in the big house at
Rath-all the same as if the family was
at home. Well, they used to be frightened
out ot their lives alter going to their beds,
With the banging of the kitchen door aud the
Gathering Of the fire irons and the pots and
plates and dishes. One evening they sat
up ever 50 long, keeping one another III
heart with telling stories about ghosts and
tetches and that when-what would you
have OF 1.-THE little scullery boy that
used to be sleeping over the horses, and
couldn t get room at the fire, crept into the
hot hear, h, and when he got TIED listening
TO the stores sOrra fear HIM but be fell fast
xlecp.
" fll and good, after they were all gone,
and the fire Taxed up, he was Woke
with the noise OF the kitchen door opening,
ami the tlampling Of an ass upon the kitch-
Ell floor. lie peeped out, and what should
he see but by gray ass, sure enough, sit
ing on his currabngo, and yawuiDg before
the fire. Alter little, be looked about
hun, and began scratching his ears as if he
was quite tired, and says he, II may as
we'll begin first as last The poor boy 5
teeth began to chatter In his head, for says
he, Now he : gOln to ate me; but the
fellow with the bug ears and tail on hlu
had something else to do. He stirred up
the fire and then he put in u pail Of water
from The pump, aud filed BIZ pot, that he
put on the fire before he went out. He
then put Iii his hand-toot, | mean into
the hot hearth, and pulled out the little boy.
lie let roar out OF him with the fright,
but the pooka only looked at hln, and thrust
out his lower llp 20 show how little he val
ned him, and then he pitched him Into his
pew again.
Well he then lay down before the fire
TIL he heard the boil coming on the water,
aud maybe there wash t plate, or dish,
OF spoon on the dresser that he dldn t
fetch and put Into the pot, and wash and
dry the whole bin OF EN- as we'll as e er
"a kitchen maid from that to Dublin town.
He then put all Of them up IN their places
on the shelves, and if he didn't give good
aweepn to the kitchen floor, leave it til
again. Then he comes and sits torent he
boy, let down one Ut his ears and cooked
up the other, and gave IA grin. The poor
fellow strove TO roar out, but not dheeg nd
come out OF his throat. The last thing the
pooha done was to rake up the fire and walk
out, giving such slap o the door that the
boy thought the house couldn't help tum-
bling down
n ell IN he surn f tbaro rr.sn't n brlio