The Columbus journal., 1889-02-20

And the potytnS Csai IN tit4ve0
Will n,cod my broken toys;
WIIlTSUNTIDE.
W,itsuntide has always been con-
sidered by the Irish a. very fatal and
uniucky time-f.r the people hold that
fair:.s and evil spirits have then great
power over men and cattle. botl, by sea
and land. and work their deadly spells
viii, Mali,n and mysterious efficacy.
Chil.lrei, horn ut Whitsuntide. It IL said.
are fore-loon,esl: they will either have
| the evilreye, ar commit murder, or die
a violent death. Water. also. Il very
dangerous: no one should battle. or 60 Q
Journey where . stream has to he crossed,
or sail in u b0at. for the risk Is great Of
heing drowned. unless. indeed. q bride
! steees, and then the boat u safe from
harm. Great precautions arc necessary,
likewise, within the house: and no
one should venture TO light q candle
without making the sign Of the
! cross over the fame to keep of
evil: and young men should be very
cautious not to be out late at night, for
all the dead who have been drowned in
the sea round about come up and ride
over the waves on white horses. and hold
strange revels. and try to carry OIL the
young men OF to kill them with their
fiery darts and draw them down under
/ fo><~
more. A story il told Of a man named
Murrey. who stayed out late fishing one
Whitsumtide. quite forgetting it was the
night of the death ride. But ut last he
neared the shore and drew up his boat to
unload the fish and then make his way
home with all speed. Just at the mo-
ment, however. he heard great rush
Of the waves behind him, and looking
round he saw a crowd Of the dead on
their white horses making over to the
boat to seize him: and their faces were
pale as the face Of q corpse, but their
eyes burned like fire. And they stretched
out their long skeleton arms to try and
lay hold Of him. but he sprang at once
from the boat to the shore, and then he
knew he was safe, though one Of them
rode over close to him by the edge of the
rocks. and he knew him as friend
OF his own, who had been drowned
the year before; and he heard the voice
Of the dead man calling to him through
the rush Of the water, saying: Hasten
hasten to your home. for the dead who
are with me want you for their COM
pany, and il once dead hand touches
you. there is no help, you are lost for
ever. Hasten, or you will never see
your home again, but be with the dead
forever" Then Murrey knew that the
spirit spoke the truth, and he left the
boat and the fish ON the beach and iied
away home, and never looked back at
the dead on their white horses. for his
heart was filed with fear. And never
again did he go out to fish ut Whitsun-
tide. though the dead waited for him to
seize him. but he came not. and lived
henceforth safe from harm. At this
season. also, the fairy queens make great
efforts to carry of the fine stalwart
young men of the country to the fairy
palace in the cleft Of the hills, or to lure
them to their dancing grounds. where
they are lulled into dreams by the sweet,
subtle fairy music. and forget home and
kith and kindred, and never desire to
return again to their own people, or even
II the spell is broken, and they are
brought back by some strong infatua-
ton, yet they are never the same; for
every one knows by the dream look in
AZ lat kn~,
the fairies on tho hill. and been loved by
one Of the beautiful but fatal race, who,
when they take q fancy to q handsome
mortal lover, cast their spells over him
with resistless power.
A case of this kind happened some
years ago in the county Wexford. Two
brothers. fine young fellows Of the farm
ing in Whitsuntide from their days
holiday. when, to their surprise, as they
crossed broad, beautiful field, lit up by
the red Of the setting sun, they saw
a group of girls dancing. and they were
all draped in white, and their long hair
fell floating over their shoulders. So
lovely was the sight that the young men
could not choose but stopa and watch the
dancers; yet, strange to- say. they were all
strangers: not q familiar face was among
them from the whole country round.
And - they looked and wondered. oneof
the girls left the dance. and, coming over
to the younger brother. laid her hand on
his arm, while she lnurmured softly in
his ear: ''Come, dance with me, Brian.
I have waited long for you. Come,
comer' and she drew him gently away.
Then Brian flung down his stick on the
ground, and taking her hand, they were
soon whiriing away in the dance. the
handsomest pair that ever t-od
measure on the green sod. Long,
long they danced, till the red light
passed away, and the darkness began
to cover the hills, but sill they danced
on and on, for Brian needed nothing
save the young girl with her long hair
fs,ating ON his sk3.3der and the fire Of
whose eyes burned into his heart At
last the elder brother called to him:
''BEian. come home: leave the dance:
The mother win b waiting for usg"
'sNot yet, not ~" answered Brian; II
mus finish this round Leave me and
Vim follow you" So the elder brother
left, and he and the mother watched
and waited till midnight for Brian's 10
turn. but he never came. Then, the next
morning. the brother went to see about
him. searching everywhere. though IN
vain. And all that day to sunset and
tho night he searched. still no tidings
could be had. No one had seen him In
tho dance. nor the young girls with The
white dTesscsand the floating hair. though
when the neighbors heard the story they
looked very solemn and said there wss
no help for the doomed young man. foe
the fairy power was strong at Wiitsun-
tide. and no doubt they had carried him
down under the earth 70 the fairy palace,
and he would never. never como hack TO
his home again.
When Whitnuntide came round the
n1rlop hs,nHlnoP 81 nast IN hsa nonTch and