The greatest insult you can give anyone from Kyle is to call him a "Herring Man" and this is how it happened. A herring man came one evening from about Ferns & someone in Kyle directed him up to Old West the quaker (mentioned already) Larry Whitty my grandmother brother used to ramble to have a talk with the quaker & he was passing by the window this evening & he

a big basket of piates and gallons of milk would be brought out to the headland, and all hands used sit around. Thine used sometimes be a herring and a half between two men. They had a tack to go on them for the whole year, only what they were able to buy out of the Harvest money.

in Kyle where the herring man was killed. They put her to sleep & in the middle of the night she heard them going in and out & then she heard them saying that they had all ready now for to kill her so she got out and ran over along the road until she met a man with a horse & car & she asked him to save her. He put her into the car & covered her up with sacks & when the others came & asked him did he see a woman passing he said "No" & they went on along the road.

sat down for a long comfortable smoke. He wasn't long smoking when he heard the pigs and the fowl making all the noise they could, trying as best they could to tell him that it was time they had their breakfast. He went out anyhow and the first thing that he attempted to do was to milk the cow. He was milking away for some time and singing to himself until he was ust done when the cow [at] with her foot foot and spilt the whole bucket of milk right on top of him. He got up and he was as wet as a herring after coming out of the sea, and what was worse then that all the milk was spilt. He "digged" the cow anyhow and he brought the milk to the dairy and put it in one of the crocks. Then he went to the fowlhouse and he let

looked in & he saw the herring man and he lying dead on a wad of straw so he turned back & the next day he met this Lieutenant (Laurence) and he said "Its not right to hide murder" "Who has murdered" said the Lieut. "Twas the Quaker. I was passing in last night and I saw a poor Wexford man lying on the floor" so he says "Larry" he says "Put our foot on it. You will get more cost & trouble. What is he no more than any Wexford rebel". There was no more about it. His body disappeared & he was heard no more about but if had been anyone but the Quaker he'd have

been hung.
"The Kyles kilt the herring man and ate him to the tail" the old song said.

In olden days people fasted every day during Lent.
On Ash Wednesday and Spy Wednesday they had their breakfast ar 12 oclock noon, of Oat (meal) cake and black tea -
Dinner at 6PM of potatoes, a Salt herring, water to drink.

She showed no more money to me
Than a hungry man showed to a herring, Sir.Wan Belly-go-fister I gave
Which caused her to cry, laugh and grin again
And in nine months I opened the grave
And laid her on the bones of Ould Finnegan.Now I am single again
I'll spend me time ["raling"] and frollieking
I'll go to the fair with the maids
And dance with 'em all at the pattern.They needn't think I'm stuck to a tree
They may be quite fat but get thin again
They won't spend their cockles in me
For they might get acquainted with Finnegan.

There were two poor scholars going around here long ago. Wan fellow was Doyle and the other fellow was Timmons.
Wan day their two met for the first time.
"Are you the Doyle
That never left your native soil?" says Timmons
"Yes, and you're the timorous Timmons
That wouldn't ate a herring with a woman's trimmings": says Doyle.
Wan night Doyle went into a house for a night's lodging. At that time the hens used to sleep in the house on a roost over the door.
As Doyle was going in anyway wan of the hens dirted down on him and he walking in.
He stood for a minute and looked up at the hen on the roost:
"You silly creature" (says he)
Devoid of wit
How dare you on your neighbour ....
Now to reward you for your pains
I'll take you from the collar beams
So he up with his stick and levelled her.
Killed her stone dead.