Volume: CBÉ 0407 (Part 2)

On this page

1. Protestant Burial Service Interrupted

   

   Share Share Post

   Joseph Hammersly (Vide page 21)
   Old Lloyd lived below where you see the ruins of the house at Jim Bán's gate. He was very old and nearly blind. We used to be all there cuarduíocht every night and the cafflers were always playing tricks on him....... At any rate he died and some of the 'picked boys' (i.e. prime lads) slipped into the room and fixed a rope around his neck. They had the end of the rope in the room upstairs and a hole bored in the floor so that every time old Mrs. Lloyd went into the room the dead man was sat up in the bed for it. That wasn't done out of disrespect - only just for 'devärsion'. The evening we were burying him we "ran" him up to Toem. As soon as 4 got under the coffin they ran as if the dogs of the parrish were after them. Of course there was plenty of liquor "stirring". The minister was waiting in the grave-yard - Mr. Brown from Kilbeg. He was an old(1) gentleman. As soon as the corpse arrived the four shouted. Some of the boys went up in tower - the stairs was in it then. The pinking(2) started and the minister was getting every pebble down on top of the bald head. Somebody "shouted him": 'Put on your oul(1) shift and start the circus'

   (1) There is a great difference between "OLD " AND "oul(d)".
   "the old priest " and th 'oul' tramp.
   (2) Pinking, "firing" small stones

   (continues on next page)

   

   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Item type

   Lore

   Language

   English

   Writing mode

   Handwritten

   Writing script

   Roman script

   Informant

   • Seosamh Hammersley