School: Riverchapel (roll number 15367)
- Location:
- Séipéal na hAbhann, Co. Loch Garman
- Teacher: Brighid Ní Dhonnchadha
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0888, Page 032
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- XML School: Riverchapel
- XML Page 032
- XML “Travelling Folk”
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- In years gone by there were more travelling folk than there are nowadays. Most of the folk now only go from house to house asking alms. There is only an odd one sells things. The most common name is "Cash," those people sell tin-cans and baskets. They also sell pictures, lacers, brooches, delph, pins, etc. They do not stay longer than a day.Long ago it was the custom for travelling folk to stay one or two nights in some house. On leaving they would give the people something to repay them for the night. There is an old story told about one traveller who was given shelter in a house. When the bed was made ready for her on the kitchen floor she got into it. Then the people of the house went to bed.They were not very long asleep when they were woke up by awful shouting in the kitchen. Up they got and found the woman they had sheltered on the table shouting "do yous want to see the devil"? When they heard this, the men of the household got up and tried to put her out. After a long time they succeeded, but she climbed on to the roof and started shouting and jumping and never ceased until sunrise when she disappeared.
- Collector
- M. Darcy
