(continued from previous page)
Omens
supposed to be very hearty, and every fair was thronged with ballad singers. Scarcely anybody came from a fair without a ballad. The ballads they used to sing were "The Land lia Ass," "The Sean bean bocr." The Wearing of the Green and Rory of the Hill". Arthur Dunleary used to compose and sing most of those songs. Nors Ni Dubda.
(From Father, James Down. bahernabrock Shrule. 66yrs)
Omens
Long ago the old people believed a lot in dreams, and omens, which very often left them worried and troubled in their minds. For instance, if a person dreamt of dirty water, it meant a lot of disturbance in a family, or bad luck.
My grandmother never told her dream without saying first "a dream, St. Paul had gone to Rome, and returning home, when our Blessed Lord said it was good and very good." She would not like to believe in her dream, but still she was so interested in it, she would tell it.
She would not mind the crowing of a hen, she always said, when a hen crows, she is banishing danger. There was an old woman.