Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1879-10-10


into woman"
us it long miss. Net minute. She
just says n wheen words that the bad
man learned her, An she's her ain shape
again,
is Norah the only witch in the count
ry?"
Ma, ma; there's her mother at Cool
back, and her grandmother 1T Milford;
I'll the breed ofthem Taylors was witch
eS But Tiers Warlocks too; mind TO
ha seen ane q them when WAS 4 wee
chiel the height o. my stick
oh, please tell ME all about il.
was sketchjng in the old farmers
own meadow, behind the witch'S cot
tage, and lie stood near me. leaning On
his stick; and rs | washed in the deli.
cate or gorgeous tints of my picture, |
listened 10 his weird tale.
1T was in the County Derry Inc be-
gan, that All my people was born and
bred. The Derry sc ltlemen was great
riders, an fond of hunting, and il was
aye spree for the Wee boys 10 follow
the hunt. | could run nigh hand as
fast as hound myself in them DAYS.
One day Il mind it AS wee Ms ii il was
yesterday we couldna start y hare ava,
an the gentlemen was all out O pa
tience, when we come upon an Guild
man sitting cobbling shoes, an herding
cows, in y wild kind q place below the
BrdStowu Mountains.
"'Wnd your honors wish me TO start
a hare for ve2? says the ould man, riSin'
Is his feet.
LAY, surely says the gentlemen,
FOR we Gamma find y hare this day, at
all, at all.
Weol, says the ould man, If find
4 hare ii thon wood, says he, will y.z
gie me five shillin' when the run Is
over
"Ay. surely, good man, you'll set
the five shillin', says they.
"Wi' that tho Guild fellow down wi
his awl and the hrogue he was cobhling
an into clump @ bushes that was
about u hundred yards oil the knowc
where we found him.
"He wasna three minutes inthewood
till u big hare ran out, an the hounds
after it, an ava over the country.
Weel, We bad he best run o that sea-
son, but the hounds couldna get up WI
the hare ava; and ut last il hrung them
back to the knowe fornenst the wood,
and IAN in amang the trees, just where
il ran out in the morning. The hounds
lost il there, an the ould fellow stepped
out 81 the wood an up to the hunts
man. An what's my five shillin,?'
says he. Weel, he got the money an
then be smiled up i'll the gentleman's
face, an Wasn't that wee run for an
ould man? says he. Now, my lady,
that's MS true Ms Gospel. ha' seen
quare things in my time. VIII | tell
you about the black pig that found i'll
the potato field?"
"Please do; | should like to hear
it"
These wild ancics suited the sur
rounding landscape. Witehcraft seemed
to have fitting home among the noun
tam lakes and rugged hills of Donegal,
and iairy-land might still exist in the
dells and slopes, amid bowers of eglan-
tine where Titania could well have
slept.
The farmers stories had, for the mo-
hltHli dll lllc GllICl vi ltulIt llG ilui
left "boastful youth" very far behind
him, and we rejoiced to have made
his acquaintance in his narrative old
age"
"My father" he began, "was yard
man to his honor Sir William Francis,
Of Castle Francis, in the County Derry,
when one summer evening him and me
seen a wee slip o a black pig running
along the potato ridges in his honor's
home park was Il brave runner, an
after the little pig. caught il, an
held it till my father came up, and be-
tween us we got ii into the yard at the
castle, an shut it into a sty TO itsep
His Honor, Sir William, made inquiries
far an wide to find out if any one had
lost wee black pig; in troth wilma
Just say, for fear I'd lie, but do think
he had ii printed in the newspaper; but
naebody wad own the pig, an dell ane
wad tax present OF.
$50 there il stopped, an it ate an
ate, till il was that heavy II couldna
get in an out at the door o the sty,
an bed had to be made fort III the
cart shed.
~ BOI Ol W NC 4NONtiupCIs All tIlt
butcher came to look at the masters
pigs.
"'Come, Gallagher, an look at the pig
that dropped frae the clouds, says Sir
William.
CHOSE was his honors very words,
an my father an the men in the yard
looked at each other when they heard
him.
"'Thon's the best pig O them ALL
says Gallagher; hes seven hundred
weight if he's a pound.
"'Well, you can kill him the first
thing tomorrow morning, says Sir
William, turning ava, careless like frae
the door o. the cart shed.
Owe didna wish to kill him, becase
o the quare way he come to the place;
but the masters bidding had 70 be
done; so we got big vat o boiling
water ready, for we knowed the car
cage wad be heavy; AID then we went
to the cart shed. Was the water boiled
when we went to the cart shed? I'll no
Just say, for fear I'd tell a lie but any
way, I'm sure my father had the ire
made to boil il.