School: Belcarra (C.)
- Location:
- Ballycarra, Co. Mayo
- Teacher: Mary T. Moran
Archival Reference
The Schools’ Collection, Volume 0094, Page 409
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- XML School: Belcarra (C.)
- XML Page 409
- XML “The Fairy Bush”
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- (continued from previous page)Once upon a time there lived a man whose duty it was to look after a flock of sheep grazing on a farm about a mile from his home.
One morning very early as he was passing by a small clump of very thick ferns, he saw a tiny little man with a red jacket sitting in the middle of them and making a pair of shoes. The man carried a sheep's tine in one hand and he stole up very slowly behind the little fairy shoemaker, and caught him around the waist. The fairy tried every means to get free, but the man told him he would not let him go until the fairy told him where he had the crock of gold hidden.
The little fairy now brought the man to a little bush which grew in a large fort in the centre of the field, and said, Under that bush, the gold is hidden. Go home and get a spade, dig down till you come to a small flag. The gold is under this flag. The man did as he was told, and before going he left the sheep's tine in the centre of the little bush.
On returning with the spade, he found a sheep's tine on every bush in the field, and no trace of the fairy shoemaker.
- Collector
- Mary Flynn
- Gender
- Female
- Informant
- Mrs Flynn
- Relation
- Grandparent
- Gender
- Female
- Age
- 86
- Address
- Curraghmore, Co. Mayo
