
(no title)
“There was a woman and her baby ther long ago. The woman was sitting near the fire and she had the baby in her lap...”
- Language
- English
- Collector
- Jack Clifford
- Age
- 13
- Informant
- Seán Ó Clúbháin
The accused is set free when the judge cannot solve the riddles propounded to him. The riddles: (a) what has seven tongues in one head? (bird's nest with seven young found in a horse's head); (b) formerly I was a daughter, now I am a mother; (c) or other riddles of peculiar family relationship. [As well as the standard type, there is also told in Ireland a tale of how an Irishman, condemned to be hanged, is given his choice of tree as gallows; when he chooses a gooseberry bush and is told that it is too small, he says he will wait until it grows (cf. Type 1587).]
“There was a woman and her baby ther long ago. The woman was sitting near the fire and she had the baby in her lap...”
“There was a man going to be hung one time and the executioner told him that he would give him three days to make up a riddle that none of the Guards would guess.”
“There was a man one time who was going to be hanged...”