The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-03-19
HERO TALES OF IRELAND
Collected b tho Original Irish from the Lips
Of Irish Story TsIlsrs.


oyy-<sA, 1854. ~ J~~-s.A o-tta
TALES OF rHH YAnrrs
During my travels in Ireland I made . stay
Of some time at the house Of . farmer at q
crossroad west OF the Killarney Mountains.
Besides oultivatine two farms. this man kopt
asmall country store. had . contract to keep
Q road in repair. and was. In general. an ac-
tive person. He had built An addition In two
stories to his house. and the upper story he
rented TO me- Tn part which I occupied was
At the intersection Of the roads. and had win
dows looking out on both OF them. Not far
from the house vas the ohapsl' and about .
mile beyond that the graveyard. The POSI-
ton was Q good one from which to observe
the people Of the district a. they passed to
and fro on the two roads
NY host was . man who knew the whole
countryside well. spoke Gaelic with more ease
than English. and held intimate relations
with the oldest inhabitants. He knew tho
Gaelic name OF every field within two miles OF
his house. and tho name OF every hill. cliff. and
mountain for many q milo. It may be stated
hers that in the Gaelic speaking parts of Ire
land there IL o most complete system OF NAM
ing every spot that needs to be distinguished
from those around It. Ny host was . man
who retained . belief In fairies. though he did
not aeknswledgs fat least explicitly and In
words
when I was . boy" said he. mine mon in
ten believed In fairies. and said so: now only
one man In ton will say that no believes in
them. II one Of the nine believes. he will not
tell you: he will keep his mind to himself"
It's very interesting indeed to ind . society
with even ten Der cent OF the population pro-
fesssd believers IN fairies OF the remaining
ninety Der cent. . majority are believers with
out profession. timid believers. men without
the courage Of their convictions. The minority
of the ninety Der cent. falls into two parts. ono
composed Of people OF various degrees Of be-
lief In the fairy creed and philosophy. the
other unbelevsrs. II one were to borrow the
forms used in describing shades Of difference
in religious experience during our time. this
minority might be divided into doubtsrs. AZ
nos1os. and inndsls.
The people Of any purely Gaelic district in
Ireland. where tho Anguags 10 spoken yet.
preserve Numerous remnants Of pre-Christian
belief. and these remnants arc. in many cases.
very valuables drotesouo. naive. and baseless
thsy seem to observers almost always. but 1.-THE
beliefs and opinions Of the ordinary great ones
Of the earth be examined with due caro-. and
with that freedom OF spirit which IL indispsn-
sable In such Investigations. It will be found
that many Of them are not . whit moro reason
WV ASk USSAAAAo ~ w SoAO SAASAu knO
fairy creed Of Ireland.
The people in ireland have clung to their
ancient beliefs with . vtvidness Of faith which
in our time 10 really phenomenal. Other ma
tons have preserved large and (for ~soionce)
precious hsritasss Of superstition. but gen.
orally they have preserved them in . lind Of
mechanical way. The residuum Of beliefs
which they give US lack that connection with
the present which IL 80 striking in the case Of
~ T.lsh C>rksiu AlytatN1s ~ khA -~>sk OLE.
rsos have preserved asplsndid remnant ofths
old oosmio philosophy Of prs-Christian times.
and preserved parts Of It with remarkable dis
tinotnsss. but for all people who speak Eng
lish the beliefs Of the Irish contained In their
tales have . near interest and . popular value
that no similar productions Of other nations
are likely to attain.
As fairies are made to take such frequent
part in Irish country life. and come to ones
mind almost ~involuntarily whom speaking Of
the supernatural In Ireland. I think It well to
give In this connection some Of the fairy tales
and ghost stories told me at that house on the
orossroad. These tales will show how vivid
the belief Of the people II yet, and will prove
that fairies are not for all men persona9es OF
the past. but arc as real for some people as any
other fact in life in this last decade Of the nine.
tssnth century.
After I had written down three or four long
tSl0b oU0ub IA Aeo SSVAo u kh0 hOEVoov Ill i
could ind In that region. I invited my host to
come to my rooms in tho evening and bring
two or three men to tell strange adventures Of
our own time. true tales OF the district.
was moved to this BY what I had learned at
the funeral Of . man who had died from o
fairy stroke . few days before. and BY meeting
two men who had been injured by similar
strokes. One Of the two was q farmers son
who had fallen asleep incautiously while near
. S.y-w H~-k .-d ono1A n ~.t-nl g. no.,
the other was q man Of fairly good education.
who. besides his English knowledge. reads and
writes Gaelic. was unable to obtain details
concerning him.. but the man who died had In
terfsred with . fairy fort and hurt his hand in
the act. The deceased was only 33 years old.
. strong, healthy person. but after he had
nodded with the fort his hand began to swell.
and grew very painful The best doctors were
summoned. but gave no relief. and tho man
died from q fairy stroke. according to the
statement Of all. or nearly all. tho people.
After supper the man of tho house" came
with two other persons. and We passed a very
interesting evening. One Of the two visitors
Was q blind man about 40 years OF age. born
In the noighborhood. who had been In
America. where he lost his syesight He re-
lated to no somewhat Of his life in the United
btateA He had boon q worker In quarries. had
been In charge Of gauge Of mon In New Eng
land and the West. He had saved q consider
able sum OF money when he was placed over @
gang OF Italians In one OF the ~quarrtss near
Springfield. Mass. The Italians became en-
ragged ut him for some reason. and blew up tho
poor mai in the quarry. He lost his sight. and
lay In a Boston hospital till his money was
gone After that his friends sent him home.
where he lives now In a very small way.
Though blind. he found a wife. and with her
lives in a little cottage. has a garden and a
quarter OF an acre OF potatoes.
This blind man. though q skeptio by nature.
knew some good cases Of fairy action and told
tho first story OF the evening. The second
man was 70 years old. white-haired. with a
fair complexion. and blue eyes which were
wonderfully clear and serious. This was a
genuine believer In fairies and q rare example
OF one type Of old Irishmen. He lived near q
fairy fort His nmily and friends had suffered