School: Bun Machan

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1. The Ghostly Funeral

   

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   There once lived a man with his parents in a cottage, in the midst of a thick wood. He boasted that he feared nothing on earth. One evening he went to a publichouse which was some miles away. Though it was almost midnight when he left the publichouse he was only slightly intoxicated, for he seldom took much. When he was about a mile from the publichouse he almost fainted on account of what he saw. A few [perches?] from him at the right hand side were four men clad in white. Following those four men were a great many men and women and children. The man stood among the trees trembling with fear. He was so frightened that he could not move in fact, so he waited until they passed by. Then suddenly he heard three shrieks, so horrible that he fainted and fell unconscious to the ground. Next morning he was found, not by his parents, but by some passers-by who knew him. One of them had a pail in which there was water, so he flung the water over the man's face. He recovered at once and foolishly told them the whole story. Whenever he was seen by people who knew him, after, they mocked him on account of his cowardice.

   

   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Patrick O' Donovan

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Ballynarrid, Co. Waterford

   Informant

   James Donovan

   Relation

   Relative (other than parent or grandparent)

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Kilmacthomas, Co. Waterford