The times., 1898-11-20
THADY o'DoWD'S BRIDE.
A Legend of the Kings of Con-
nauEhf.
(From the Now Ireland. )

From the New Ireland)
Far back in the misty past when every
man in Ireland was saint or a king
and, begorra, there was some was both
the great O'Dowds reigned in Con-
naught: they were mighty fine kings and
warriors: no batin' them at all for fightin
big battles, erackin' a skull after fair,
emptyin quart. or kissin' purity girl.
God forgive them. One fine summers
evening Thady. the second son-not the
heir to the crown-was on the seashore
waiting for the tide; he had just set his
fishing lines and put down his lobster
pots for, though he was the son of a
king and had hundreds of servants. he
was no way proud at adj and would put
his hand TO anything, from liftin' a creel
OF turf on an ould woman's back to driy-
ing the cow out of the neighbor's field of
oats. Well, as / said, he was just wait
in, lyin' on the rocks wild his caubeen
pulled down on his nose Che sun was in
his eyes,; he was listening to a kind OF
a little song that he didn't rightly under
stand; it was little drone. mixin' up a
kind of bird, and the wind blowin' and
the water playin' on the pebbles-a queer
sort. of a little song that made him Won
der greatly: so he rested on his elbow
looking rund TO see what was ii at ALL
He saw just forninst him, where the
tide was out something sitting on rock
white arm moving up and down. comb
ing long hair. He was puzzled what 10
do; he said to himself: That's a danger
Gus place for bathing. and it's me duty
TO warn the lady" but still. being very
polite, as become his high station. he did
not like to interrupt a iady's dressin;
but he decided II was better to vex her
itself than to let her be drowned He
just thought he'd see who il was: so he.
1-al rfarlN and
enough 10 see, what was il but 4 young
girl with beauty there never was the
like, and that's a great word to say in
ireland, where the pretty girls are 50
plentiful She was cOmbing her hair with
the backbone OF fish. and lOollin' at her
self in pool of water. and a garment
OF seaweed on her that looked for all the
world like brown satin.
When she turned her mead combing
out the long hair, Thady seem the beau
tiful fair and lily-white neck '.Mebbe"
says he to himself. ''the other half of her
is a goldfish So he peeped down into the
pool. and then he saw two purity white
little feet, with pink toes. that couldn't
be matched by any ladies' in his faith
er's court: so he stole behind the cray
ture and caught the arm that had the
comb. She turned round in a great
fright and struggled hard
Thady told her to be quiet and come
home with him, easy; that ne was a
kings son, and would make an honest wo-
man Of her and that there was many in
his fathers dominions would be only too
glad of the offer: but she. poor crayture.
didn't know a word he was sayin', and
began to cry and look at the sea; every
now and again shed make 4 dart To get
of. but Thady held her firm. when sud
denly Il lovely necklace of amber fell of
her neck. Thady knew by the look in her
eye she could not go home without it,
as 1t was by the power of it she could
reside at the bottom of the ocean So he
gripped it tight and put il in his pocket,
and she walked quiet by his side to his
fathers palace. The ould people raised
great difficulty about the marriage; as an
ould ancient family ii was fitting they
should know who they We're bringing
with their family; but Thady, never heed
ing word they said. married the sea-
lady. and a purity respectable wife she
made, too. and beyond eating an odd sea
rod or bunch of dillisk she was much like
the other ladies.
She bore Thady four sons, and there
was nothing fishy about them. but as fine
children as was in the province of Con-
naught One evening. when the eldest
son was just eleven years old. he told his
mother he saw his father hide shining
purity thing in the hayrick when he was
building it. Next morning when the fam
iIy arose the hayrick was scattered to
the four winds of heaven, the necklace
gone, and the sealady disappeared and
never was heard of again. But when any
member of the ODowds family dies the
west coast of Ireland teens with razor
fish