School: Lettercran (roll number 12049)

Location:
Lettercran, Co. Donegal
Teacher:
Peadar S. Ó Duibhidhe
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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1030, Page 270

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The Schools’ Collection, Volume 1030, Page 270

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  3. XML “Trueboy and the Grey Mare”

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  1. There once lived a well-to-do farmer and his wife and they were married seventeen years but had no family. That time there were wise men who used to read the stars and tell of a great many things that used to happen in the future; they used to go from house to house and get free lodgings. One night there came a wise man to this farmer’s house and he asked to be put up for the night. The farmer told that his wife was sick and that the house was full of women that he could not keep him that night for they would let no man into the house. Hut she said he was content anywhere the man would put him and do with whatever he would have himself so the farmer kept him. That night a son was born and the wise man read the stars and predicted that this son would have a very hard life in the beginning but that it would end well, that he would be condemned of high-way robbery but he would get free. He was to be called Trueboy and the father was to build a house for him without door or window. The wise man then wrote Trueboy’s life on a piece of paper and it was to be put into a cloth and tied round the child’s neck and it was to be left there till the
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    Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.
    Language
    English