School: Castlecary
- Location:
- Ballyrattan, Co. Donegal
- Teacher: Mary S.J. Donaghy
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1117, Page 50
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- XML “Fairy Thorns”
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- In this neighbourhood it is supposed to e very unlucky to cut down a thorn tree that is standing alone anywhere on the farm. This tree is known as a fairy's thorn even to cut a branch off it is very unlucky, and should a branch happen to be broken by a storm or some other thing, old people would tell you to let it wither and die away of its own accord.
We are also made believe that should you happen to fall asleep under a fairy thorn tree you will waste away gradually until at last you die.
It is also unlucky to cut holly trees, and no one is allowed to put evergreens in the fire to burn, some disaster or disease is supposed to overtake the person who burns evergreens. Our teacher burned evergreen leaves one morning in the school fire and she fell on the frost the next day, and she never burned evergreens since then.
She still has the idea if she had not burned the evergreens she would not have fallen on the frost.
At harvest time we are supposed to(continues on next page)
- Collector
- Arthur Peoples
- Gender
- Male
- Address
- Castlecary, Co. Donegal
