SUPERSTITIONS AND HAUNTINGS 253 



heard was a little laff an' the tap-tap of the hammer 

 on the boot — the cobbler was gone. An' he raged 

 away to Nora's to find her chumin' and then he 

 had to laff himself knowin' how he was tricked." 



If the cows gave no milk at home in the morning 

 the fairies had been at them in the night. There 

 was always a branch of mountain ash nailed over 

 the dairy door so that the good people could not 

 ** gine and make off with the crame." What a 

 lovely thing the dairy was before the days of 

 separators ; with the rows of brown pans topped 

 by ripening wrinkling cream. If the butter did 

 not come something mysterious had to be done 

 with holy water. 



There were endless old fairy Forths round 

 Fedamore, and how we were warned never to be 

 alone near them in the dusk or we might see the 

 King ride out and be fairy struck and pine away 

 until the Little People came for us. 



With what delightful fear I used to creep down 

 to the nearest one for primroses and listen for the 

 Leprechaun, or go flying home if a bird stirred 

 among the whitethorn bushes. 



A person getting suddenly ill was fairy struck, 

 had stayed out too late and seen the fairies. 



It is only twenty years ago since there was the 

 case in Tipperary — I was at Kilkenny at the 

 time, and we rode by the place one day with the 

 Tipperaries — of the poor woman who declared 

 she saw the King and his white horse ride out of 



