School: Cnoc Rua

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1. The Dead Man's Skin

   

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   There was a man one time and he lived with his mother and nothing would make him afraid. One day he told his mother that he was going away to see if anyone could make him afraid. His mother did not want to let him go but he went that day and he walked along way and in the evening he came to a hut. There was a man inside in the hut making a pot of stirabout. The man went in to the hut and they had a good meal. Then the man belonging to the hut said that the hut was haunted and no one could stay in it at night. "Well I will stay in it tonight" said the man. Then the other man went away and he stood there and at twelve o'clock that night he saw three men carrying a coffin. He ran out and said "there is another man wanted there" and he helped them to carry it.
   When they were gone two or three yards they left down the coffin and they took off the lid and give the man a knife and they told him to cut a bit of the dead man's skin. The man said he would not, and they said that they would never go to heaven until some man cut a bit of the dead man's skin. The man cut a bit off the dead man's skin and they told him to roll it up and put it in his pocket and anything he wanted he could ask the skin and he would get it. Then they disappeared and the man went into the hut and he went to bed. When the boy came in the morning he asked him did

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Folktales index

   AT0326: The Youth Who Wanted to Learn What Fear Is

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Mary Philomena Brady

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Treanagry, Co. Roscommon

   Informant

   Mrs Kelly

   Gender

   Female

   Address

   Cloonkerin, Co. Roscommon