School: Davidstown (roll number 9682)

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1. Fairy Forts (continued)

   

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   did, or even thought, anything wrong in the raths, brought down the fairies' wrath on them. The fairy godmother had great power in her wand and she often turned people into all kinds of animals & birds, with a touch of it.
   People often went to the raths to get the fairies to bestow some of their power on them. They often got power to take their neighbours' butter. The person who wished for this went to the rath and got a spell from the fairy godmother, especially on a May morning. Then she began to skim the spring well and very soon after this her butter would increase to an enormous amount, while that of her neighbours became less & less. The neighbours had to get a remedy against this, so they used to heat a coulter of a plough and place it under the churn. Then the person would come running back with their butter.
   People who went out after dusk often were taken astray. If they threw out water at night or spilled salt they would offend the fairies who would be sure t pay them back sometime. People learned to write with a burned stick & later with a goose quill. Men often walked 20 - 30 miles in a day.
   Doctors knew very little about curing and they use to buy dead bodies on which to experiment. People eager for money, dug up bodies to sell them, so relatives had to keep vigil in the graveyards for at least nine nights. A body snatcher often got £5 for a body.

   

   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. place-space-environment
      1. legendary and spiritual places (~158)
         1. fairy forts (~5,616)

   Language

   English

   Informant

   Aidan Rooney

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   35

   Address

   Ballygillistown, Co. Wexford