School: Caisleán na hÉille (The Neale)

Location:
Neale, Co. Mayo
Teacher:
Máire, Bean Mhic Domhnaill
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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0103, Page 236

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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0103, Page 236

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  1. XML School: Caisleán na hÉille (The Neale)
  2. XML Page 236
  3. XML “The Old Beggar-Man”

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  1. Once upon a time there lived an old beggar-man. His name was Johnny Clarke but the people used to call him "Poor Martin" because he nearly always came begging on St. Martin's day.
    His clothes were ragged and torn. He wore a black soft hat and he always had the leaf of it turned up on the two sides. He used strings for laces on his boots,. He would not walk straight along the road but he used to be jumping from side to side.
    Johnny had very peculiar ways about him. He was always pretending to be light-headed so that people would take pity on him.
    When he would come into a house on a cold day he would run to the fire and sit down, his feet on the ashes and his two hands held over the fire. He had his feet so near the fire that the strings which tied his boots would burn. Even though he saw them burning he would not pretend to see them
    (continues on next page)
    Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.
    Topics
    1. genre
      1. verbal arts (~1,483)
        1. jokes (~6,086)
    Language
    English
    Collector
    Mary Hoban
    Gender
    Female
    Informant
    Catherine Burke
    Gender
    Female
    Age
    60
    Address
    Loughanaganky, Co. Mayo