School: Loch Measca
- Location:
- Caherrobert, Co. Mayo
- Teacher: Máire, Bean an Bhrúnaigh
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0103, Page 343
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- XML School: Loch Measca
- XML Page 343
- XML “The Changeling”
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- A young woman whose name was Mary Malley lived with her husband in Cahernagower.
One day in harvest time she went, with several others, to help in binding the oats. She left her young baby, quite sage as she thought, wrapped up in her cloak, in a corner of the field.
When she had finished her work she returned to where the child was, but in place of her own child, she found a small thing in the cloak that was not half the size of her own baby, and it kept up such a crying you could have heard it a mile off. At once she guessed it was the fairies' work and without stop or stay, away she took it in her arms, pretending to be mighty fond of it all the time. She never stopped till she reached the house of a wise woman, who told her in a whisper not to give it enough to eat and to beat and pinch it without mercy.
This she did and just in one week, after the day the changeling was left to her, when she awoke in the morning she found her own child lying beside her in the bed. The fairy that had been put in place of her own baby did not like the usage it got from this woman. Like a sensible person Mary did as she was told, so away it went after the week's trial, and sent her own child back to her.
- Collector
- James Mc Veigh
- Gender
- Male
- Address
- Dringeen Middle, Co. Mayo
- Informant
- Martin Gannon
- Relation
- Unknown
- Gender
- Male
- Age
- 87
- Address
- Drumsheel Lower, Co. Mayo
