Recent changes

And in the back woods o'America,
Where their weary feet they set,
Stumpy was there the first they met,
And he haunts their children yet.Young man 'tis hard ta strive weo' sin,
But the greatest sin o'a,
Is whare the greed for gain sets in
And drives God's grace awa.'

"For it's up to the [brae, crossed out] brim,
And it's up to the brae,
And it's up to the meadow rig"
"Aye" quoth Stumpy comin' clattering in,
And hit the aul woman a bat on the chin,
"But a come noon by the brig".And every nicht as the clock struck nine
The hour that they did the sin,
The wee lil' dog began to cower,
And the ghost came clattering in.And o'er the stools and o'er the cheers,
Such a sight ye never sa,
With his bloody heed, and his knee bones bare,
It was sure to be stumpy himself.They sowl their wee bit ferm o' lan,
And ta forin lan they went,
But the first they hard on the deck o' the ship,
Was the thumpin o' them two knees.

They shavelled a hole richt sheedily,
And laid him on his back,
"A richt pair are ye, quoth the pedlar,
Sitting bold upright on his pack.
"Ye' think ye ha'e laid me snugly here,
Whare na one will know my station,
Bit I'll haunt he' far and I'll haunt ye near,
Father and son, wa dread and fear
Ta the nineteenth generation".That night there was a dreadful flood
Three days the skies did pour
And the top wea foam and the bottom wea mud,
The burn in fury did roar.Quoth she "Aul man ye need na fear
See by the dull firelight,
Stumpy canna cross the burn,
He'll na be here the night

And as he passed by, the sleeper stirred,
But never wakened more."He's died", quoth the aul' man coming back,
"What will we de" quoth he.
We'll bury him snug in his ane bit pack,
Bit niver ye mind the loss o' the sack,
For I ha'e ta'en out the geer."The pack was short by twa guid span,
"What will we de?" quoth he
But ye're the dotter [crossed out] doting unthoughtful aul man,
Sure we'll just cut him off at the knee.They shortened the corpse,
And they packed him tight,
With his legs in a wee pickle of hay,
And over the burn in the sweet moonlight,They carried him ta the Rid Brae.

The man he up and opened the door,
And when he had spoken a bit,
A pedlar man stepped into the floor,
And doon he tumbled the pack he bore,
And a richt guid pack was it."God save us A'"
Quoth the aul' wife wa a smile,
Bit yours is the thriving trade,
"Aye, Aye, quoth the pedlar,
I hav' wnadered many a mile.
And plenty hae' I made."The man sat on by the dull fireside,
When the pedlar gone to his rest,
Close to his ear the devil came,
And slipped into his breast.He looked across the fire at his wife,
And she was as bad as he,
Could we no' murder this man, this nicht?
Aye, Aye, very read quoth she.He took the pickaxe without a word.
That stood ahint the door,

Poetical version of a story well known in the district. Never printed. The murder occurred in a cottage on the side of the road leading from Lifford to St Johnston. The cottage was in the townland of Craigadoes parish of Taughboyne, barony of Raphoe and Co. Donegal. This murder took place about 1840. The poem was written down by John Moody, Kinnycally, St Johnston, Co. Donegal.
Stumpy's Brae.Heard ye no tell o' stumpy's brae,
Sit doon, sit doon, young frein,
I'll make yer flesh ta creep this nicht,
Yer hair ta stan' oneen.I kent it well in my young days,
The story it was rife,
There lived within a lonely place,
A farmer and his wife.The boys and girls had a' gang doon,
Awee ta the Blacksmith's Wake,
There passed ane by the winda small
And gead the door a shake.

When the "sets" or seeds have been about two weeks in the ground, the drills are "topped" or broken down with a "saddle-harrow" made for that purpose. The smaller farmers do this with graips [?]. The "alleys" or space between the drills are "grubbed" to raise mould and this mould is again placed round the poratoes with the "drill-ploud". This mould conserves ths supply of moisture and hinders the growth of noxious weeds. Sometimes a supply of newly slaked lime in scattered in the drills at this time also. The process of moulding is carried out about three times during the season. The potatoes are sprayed three times at intervals of two weeks, with Bordeaux or [blank space] mixture. These mixtures are Blue stone and washing soda or B.S. and lime dissolved in water. They are applied to the stalks with either knapsack sprayers or sprayers which are drawn by horses.
The potatoes are raised in the month of October.

First of all the farmer "rilbs" the field which means a light ploughing. This is done in October. The next thing he does is he ploughs the field. In the spring he cultivate's and harrows it. The farmer then makes it into drills. When he is finished he puts manure into the drills. After he puts in the manure he puts in artificial manure. The potatoes are then ready to be planted. The drills are then ready for the potatoes so the farmer plants the potatoes about eight inches apart so that they will have room to let the tubers grow.Some people scatter the farmyard manure on the "stubble" ground in October before they plough it. The "stubble" means the remainder of the stalk of oats which is left when the oat crop has been cleared off. Potatoes always follow oats in the crop rotation. If the manure has been ploughed down then there will be no necessity for scattering a further dressing of manure in the springtime. The drills are made about 28 inches wide.