School: Caddlebrook (roll number 10642)

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   My grandfather, who is an old age pensioner, told me this story which I am writing down here. He said that a blacksmith lived by the name of Michael Beirne at a place where Mrs. Hester is living now and about a few perches from my fathers house. This Michael Beirne could never make a horses shoe but he could make and mend some farm implements. One day a man came riding on an old cob and he asked Michael to shoe the horse. "I can't" said Michael. "Well", said the man, "Loan me your fire and I'll do it myself.""You can have the fire and welcome" said Michael. The man cut off the four feet off his old cob and put them into the red hot fire and after a while out came four new (feet or) hooves and four new horse shoes on them. He clapped them on his old nag and he completely changed him into a fine dancing young horse. He jumped on his back and rode away. Michael thought that if he did the same with an old horse he had that he too could change him into a fine spirited animal. So he brought the poor old horse into the forge , cut off his four feet and put them into the fire. Turn and twist them as he would no new hooves were forthcoming, so nothing remained only burned bones so he lost his old horse and was in a very bad way after him. A few weeks after this event the same man came again having two old woman behind

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Folktales index

   AT0753: Christ and the Smith

   Language

   English

   Collector

   John J. Keane

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   12

   Address

   Ballyglass, Co. Roscommon

   Informant

   James Collins

   Relation

   Grandparent

   Gender

   Male