School: Cooneal (roll number 6416)

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1. The King of Ireland's Son

   

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   The King of Ireland's Son.
   There was a King of Ireland once, and he had a son named Conn. All the young princes in those days used to be taught many kinds of manly exercises, both for war and for chase. And one of the arts that was taught was the art of sling. Slinging was brought to great perfection, so much so that some persons could knock down a bird on the the wing. Conn was very fond of the sling, and the ground was covered with snow. The sun was shining and the snow was crisp and glittering in the sunlight. As Conn was going along he saw a raven flying past. He put a stone in his sling and fired. The poor bird fell headlong to the earth. She was bleeding and she lay for a moment still. But when she felt Conn drawing near she dragged herself for about a yard over the snow. Then she could go no further; her life-blood was pouring out fast, she fluttered wildly for a second or two, and then lay still, she was dead. Conn was rather sorry when he saw her die, and then he stood gazing down at her for a long time. He looked at the glossy black plumage of the raven, then at the snow itself, so pure and white. And he thought

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Folktales index

   AT0505: Dead Man as Helper

   AT0513A: Six Go through the Whole World

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Bridget Keegan

   Gender

   Female

   Informant

   Pat Culkin

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Coonealmore, Co. Mayo