School: Baile an Bhile (B.) (roll number 12195)

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1. The Black Friar of Mayo Abbey

   

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   The Black Friar of Mayo Abbey

   At the time that the school was in Mayo Abbey there lived a man in Liscolman, Brickens, Claremorris named Colman. He was very poor and he had six children. He had to sell all his stock until nothing remained but an old cow. He decided to sell her also. One morning he set out for the fair of Claremorris with the cow. When he reached Ballygowan, Claremorris there was a hawthron bush by the roadside. He saw a tiny little man hopping about the bush. He asked Colman where he was going and Colman told him. When asked how much did he want for the cow Colman said five pounds. The little man offered him a tiny little mill about the size of an alarm clock. He left the mill on the road and a tiny little miller about the size of a bee came out of it. The little man said "Grind" to the miller and the mill at once began working and soon there was a heap of oatmeal on the road. Then Colman took the mill and went home.
   When he reached home he left the mill on the table and told it to grind. It did as before and the man and his family had a good meal of stirabout. But Colman was not satisfied until it would grind money and he asked it to grind gold. It started grinding and it filled the table with gold. After that Colman and his family were never in want. But some of his relatives heard about the mill and they resolved to steal it.

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Folktales index

   AT0565: The Magic Mill

   Language

   English

   Collector

   John Finn

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Cuiltycreaghan, Co. Mayo

   Informant

   Thomas Murphy

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Keebagh, Co. Mayo