Irish Wonders: The Ghosts, Giants, Pooka, Demons, Leprechawns, Banshees, Fairies, Witches, Widows, Old Maids, and other Marvels of the Emerald IsleMcAnally, D. R. (David Russell)
General
Irish Wonders: The Ghosts, Giants, Pooka, Demons, Leprechawns, Banshees, Fairies, Witches, Widows, Old Maids, and other Marvels of the Emerald Isle
"An’ he was the besht King in Ireland, an’ sorra a beggar ’ud come an the
dure, but the King ’ud come out in his gown an’ shlippers an’ ax him how
he come to be poor, an’ sind him ’round to the kitchen to be warrumed wid
a dhrop av whishkey an’ fed wid all the cold pitaties that was in the
panthry. All the people riz up whin he was a-walkin’ down the shtrate wid
a big goold-top shtick in his hand, an’ the crown a-shinin’ on his head,
an’ they said, ’God save yer Holiness,’ an’ he said, ’God save ye kindly,’
mighty perlite, bekase he was a dacent mannered ould King, an’ ’ud shpake
to a poor divil that hadn’t a coat on his back as quick as to wan av his
ginerals wid a goold watch an’ a shiny hat. An’ whin he wint into a shop,
sure they niver axed him to show the color av his money at all, but the
man ’ud say, ’God save ye! Sure ye can pay whin ye plaze, an’ I’ll sind it
be the postman whin he goes by.’ An’ the ould King ’ud say, ’Oh, I wont
throuble ye. Bedad, I’ll carry it,’ an’ aff the blessed ould King ’ud go,
wid his bundles undher his arm, an’ the crown on his head, as happy as a
widdy wid a new husband.
"An’ there was six other ould Kings, that was frinds to him, an’ they was
all as like him as six paze. Foor times a year they’d all come to Athenroy
fur a bit av a shpree like, bekase the King av Athenroy was the ouldest av
thim, an’ they thought the worruld an’ all av him. Faix, it was mighty
improvin’ to see thim all a-goin’ to chapel in the mornin’, an’ singin’
an’ drinkin’ an’ playin’ whisht in the avenin’. Sure thim was the blessed
days fur the counthry.
"Well me dear, in coorse av time, the six ould Kings all died, God rest
their sowls, but as aitch wan had a son to come afther him, the differ was
mighty shmall, for the young Kings was dacent shpoken lads an’ kept on
comin’ to Athenroy just like the ould Kings.
"Oh, bedad, I forgot to tell yez that the ould King had a dawther, that
was the light av his eyes. She was as tall as a sargent an’ as shtrate as
a gun, an’ her eyes was as blue as the shky an’ shone like the shtars. An’
her hairs was t’reads av goold, an’ she was the beautifulest woman iver
seen in Athenroy. An’ shmall love there was for her, fur she was as cowld
as a wet Christmas. She didn’t shpake often, bekase she wasn’t wan o’ thim
that ’ud deefen a smith, but whin she did, the tongue that was in the head
av her was like a sting-nettle, an’ ’ud lash around like a throut on land.
An’ ivery woman in the shtrate watched her like kites whin she set fut out
o’ the dure, bekase she dressed as fine as a fiddle, wid a grane silk
gown, an’ a blue bonnet wid yellow ribbins, an’ a shtring av goold baids
the size av plums ’round her neck.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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