In Wicklow and West Kerry — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
In Wicklow and West Kerry
John Stuart Mill · en
'There was an old woman,' said one of the men, 'living beyond to the
east, and she was thought to have a great store of money. She had
one daughter only, and in the course of a piece a young lad got
married to her, thinking he'd have her fortune. The woman died
after--God be merciful to her!--and left the two of them as poor as
they were before. Well, one night a man that knew them was passing
to the fair of Puck, and he came in and asked would they give him a
lodging for that night. They gave him what they had and welcome; and
after his tea, when they were sitting over the fire--the way we are
this night--the man asked them how they were so poor-looking, and if
the old woman had left nothing behind her.
'"Not a farthing did she leave," said the daughter.
"And did she give no word or warning or message in her last moments?"
said the man.
'"She did not," said the daughter, "except only that I shouldn't
comb out the hair of her poll and she dead."
'"And you heeded her?" said the man.
'"I did, surely," said the daughter.
'"Well," said the man, "to-morrow night when I'm gone let the two
of you go down the Relic (the graveyard), and dig up her coffin and
look in her hair and see what it is you'll find in it."
'"We'll do that," said the daughter, and with that they all
stretched out for the night.
'The next evening they went down quietly with a shovel and they dug
up the coffin, and combed through her hair, and there behind her
poll they found her fortune, five hundred pounds, in good notes and
gold.'
'There was an old fellow living on the little hill beyond the
graveyard,' said Danny-boy, when the man had finished, 'and he had
his fortune some place hid in his bed, and he was an old weak
fellow, so that they were all watching him to see he wouldn't hide
it away. One time there was no one in it but himself and a young
girl, and the old fellow slipped out of his bed and went out of the
door as far as a little bush and some stones. The young girl kept
her eye on him, and she made sure he'd hidden something in the bush;
so when he was back in his bed she called the people, and they all
came and looked in the bushes, but not a thing could they find. The
old man died after, and no one ever found his fortune to this day.'
'There were some young lads a while since,' said the old woman, 'and
they went up of a Sunday and began searching through those bushes to
see if they could find anything, but a kind of a turkey-cock came up
out of the stones and drove them away.'