School: Creenkill, Johnstown (roll number 2137)

On this page

1. Old Story

   

   Share Share Post

   

   You are not logged in, but you are welcome to contribute a transcription anonymously. In this case, your IP address will be stored in the interest of quality control.

   There was a man long ago and he was very fond of nuts. He told his wife when he was dying to bury a big bag of nuts in his coffin. She did as he had ordered. Two thieves were listening to their conversation, and some nights after, they went to the grave to get the bag. They got it and one of them sat on the tomb breaking some of them, while the companion set off to steal a sheep. As he sat there, a man passing by saw him in the moonlight, and heard him breaking the nuts. He ran home to tell the news. There was an old woman in the house who had lost the use of her footing and she asked her son to take her to the graveyard to see him. He put her on his back and went to the gate. When the fellow on the tomb saw them, he thought it was his friend with the sheep. "Is she fat"? he cried. The fellow got such a shock, when he heard the ghost, as he thought, talking. He threw down the old hag and cried "fat or lean, here she is for you." He ran home, as fast as he could. The old hag with the height of terror got on her feet, and was home as soon, as he was. When it is hard on a woman, she gets the use of her feet, and has to run.

   Save Cancel

   Transcription guide »

   By clicking the save button you agree that your contribution will be available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License and that a link to dúchas.ie is sufficient as attribution.

   Folktales index

   AT1791: The Sexton Carries the Parson

   Language

   English

   Collector

   Margaret Ryan

   Gender

   Female

   Age

   15

   Address

   Cúl na Cruite, Co. Chill Chainnigh

   Informant

   Dan Phelan

   Gender

   Male

   Age

   60

   Address

   An Seanbhaile, Co. Chill Chainnigh