School: Cluain Fhada (roll number 15091)

Location:
Cloonfad More, Co. Roscommon
Teacher:
Eibhlín Ní Thighearnáin
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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0249, Page 051

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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0249, Page 051

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  1. XML School: Cluain Fhada
  2. XML Page 051
  3. XML “Funny Story”

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  1. It was the winter custom long ago when all had gone to bed at night and the fire raked that the woman of the house should stay up and clean the house, sweep the hearth and leave clean water in the kettle by the fire. There was once a poor widow woman and her daughter living together. One night the girl had to get up for a drink of cold water and it is said that the fairies used to come to everyone's hearth and dine together round the fire after twelve o'clock. It was after twelve when the girl got up and when she went back to bed she got a frightful pain in her foot. Her mother was a nurse and when she heard the girl complaining she did not know what happened. She dressed the wound but all to no use- the girl was in agony. One night a knock came to the door and when she went to open it there was a man outside on horseback who asked for the nurse as the Queen of the fairies was very ill. She left her daughter as comfortable as possible and went to the Queen of the fairies and having left the Queen aright she was about to return home when she was asked to name her reward for her goodness to the Queen. She said she wished that her daughter's foot might be cured. The Queen said very indignantly, "That daughter of yours is very stupid. One night as we were dining at your hearth she knocked the teapot out of my hand and the spout of the teapot went into her foot. However, the Queen sent her servants to a room for a box of ointment. When the woman rubbed the ointment on her daughter's foot they heart the skin cracking and breaking and out comes the spout of the teapot.
    (continues on next page)
    Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.
    Topics
    1. agents (~1)
      1. supernatural and legendary beings (~14,864)
    Language
    English
    Collector
    Mary Brigid Fitzmaurice
    Gender
    Female
    Address
    Cloonfad More, Co. Roscommon
    Informant
    Miss O' Dowd
    Gender
    Female
    Age
    63
    Address
    Cloonfad More, Co. Roscommon