School: Tara Hill (roll number 13689)

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1. Public Works

   

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   Public Works etc.

   My mother's grandfather used to give out tickets for food during the famine. I often heard a rhyme he made - he was a great man, I suppose for making rhymes + telling lies - about a great swank of a lady named Mc Namara. Here it is :

   Gentlemen if you can give this girl the
   full of the can
   What does it contain but salt meal + water
   And I'll certify that she's Nellie Mc Namara's daughter.

   Dan Manifold was the man's name and as I said he was always making rhymes. He was very much liked by everyone. If he went to a wake crowds would follow him to hear the rhymes and the stories.

   Story:
   One day Dan went to the fair of Gorey to buy a cow. He saw one that suited him and he bought her + paid for her + all. When the bargain was finished he asked the seller had the cow any faults. The man said " To tell you the truth she has, she milks blood out of two teats."
   "Ah" said Dan "that's nothing, you just get that money and pass it under the cow's belly to me. I'll hand it again over the cow's back to you + she won't milk blood any more. No need to say that when Dan got the money under the cow's belly he did not pass it back any more.

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   Transcribed by a member of our volunteer transcription project.

   History Edit

   Topics

   1. time
      1. historical periods by name (~25)
         1. the great famine (~4,013)
   2. objects
      1. man-made structures
         1. public infrastructure
            1. roads (~2,778)

   Language

   English

   Informant

   Bryan Maguire

   Gender

   Male

   Address

   Cronellard, Co. Wexford