The games I play inside are "Blind mans buff," "Tossing the herring," "Passing the button," and "Ducking." To play "Blind mans buff" you get a cloth and out it across on some person's eyes. The rest of the people that are playing keep running through the house. Then when the person catches some of them they have to put on the cloth on their eyes. To "toss the herring" you get two chairs and a spade or shovel and put it from one chair to the other. Then

or plates were on the table. Potatoes were just thrown on it. Then the potatoes were dipped in the salt. Meat consisted of hares and rabbits and fish from near rivers. A story is told of how a woman bought a herring.She fried it and made gravy which was called "dip". Then she put it in a dish with the "dip round it. All sat round the table. The mother used say to the children, "dip" in the dip and leave the herring to your father". Another family used kill a pig once a while and hang up the bacon. Then they had for dinner potatoes and "point". That is they looked up at the bacon while eating the potatoes. There were no cups only vessels called "noggins". These were very unhandy,and the milk

There used to be three meals a day, breakfast,dinner,and supper. No food was taken before the first meal,then the dinner was at mid day, the supper was taken when the work was over. Potatoes and salt was the principal food, at each meal.Buttermilk and new milk were used.Cake was made from oaten meal and water and made on the griddle over red turf. People sat round a table which was in the middle of the floor. The table was hing up on the wall after a meals. No cloth or plates were on the table,potatoes were just thrown on it.Meat consisted of hares and rabbits, or fish from near rivers. A story is told of how a woman one time bought a herring, she fried it and made gravy which they called "dip" Then she put the herring in a dish with the "dip."

When the herring come in there are always a lot of hawker's carts waiting to hawk them around the town.There are sometimes lorries waiting to take the herring inland. "Fresh Rosslares" is one of the well known cries of Wexford and it may often be heard many miles away too.

grease on it or a herring in water. The water used to dip their potatoes in this.

hit them on the knuckles with a spoon and say dip in the dip and leave the herring to your mother.

18
A Story.
One time there was a man coming from Inver. Co Donegal with a cart of herring. When going up the main road to Pettigo about three miles from the village of Laghey he noticed a fox lying as he thought dead on the roadside. Lifting the fox he threw it on the top of the herring and proceeded on his way.
When he was within a mile of Pettigo he looked round and to his astonishment saw that the fox was alive and had thrown out his herring and scattered most of them along the road. The clever fox made good his escape and when the man looked in the cart he had only a few dozen of herrings instead of his full load.

for some years past few shoals of herring have come to Stocker to spawn, so few Drifters come to fish.

In the days gone by, people used oaten porridge for their breakfast and a few potatoes and herring

Folklore
Fishing - chiefly herring and salmon.
The fishing industry is one of the oldest and commonest industries in this district. Most of the people in this district depend on it. Every man in every house was engaged in the fishing industry long ago.
The names of the fish that were mostly caught were salmon, fluke, brill, sole, ray, herring, mackrel, pollock, whiting, ling, gurnet and many other kinds of fish. The dogfish is of no value and is thrown out again when they are caught.
Long ago people used to make their own nets and some of them used to make their own boats. The people who used to make their own boats were called boat-wrights. There are some boat-wrights in this district yet. Their names are Pat Dowd and Christy McKeown. Some of them also mend their own nets yet.
There were no herring caught in this

The Lady Octavia - The Lady Octavia locally known as the sugar vessel was driven in and wrecked at the Backlands at a port called Ionrann [?] in 1856 and the crew was all saved. She was bound for Glasgow with a shipload of sugar from the West Indies.
The Village Maid - The Village Maid of Wick better known as the herring vessel was wrecked in the White Strand on New Year's day 1866. She was bound from Scotland with a load of herring for Newfoundland and she was driven ashore and wrecked. The herring barrels were taken ashore and carted to Derry.
The Daniel Morris - The Daniel Morris was coming from America with a load of flour and was driven ashore into Strabrega. The flour was not much damaged. It was in sacks each of which held twenty stone. A good deal of it was sold locally but the greater part of it was taken away.
The Danube - The Danube was driven in 65 years ago with a storm. She was loaded with furniture which was carted away to Derry. In trying to save the crew a Coastguard was lost.
The Catherine Hughes was being driven into a place called Marcaig [?] but a fire was lit in Cullourt and she came in there and was capsized

Rory Higgins from Mayo Abbey was one of the best runners in county. He ran in England and Dublin he won both races and he got two pounds for each race.
He was such a good runner that no man could beat him.
One day he was given a herring, and he tied a long string around it. He dragged it along the ground and about thirty hounds running after him. After he ran a long distance the hounds werer very near him he dropped the herring and ran up a tree.
The hounds were under the tree in a moment

Down in Cregg bog an old yank of the name of O'Gara kept a small shop. She used go around the village twice a week with loaves and tea and sugar in a shawl on her back selling them. She went by the name of "High Bread". She was about six feet tall.
An old man also had a shop in Tavanaugh. He used to travel to Galway with a donkey for herring. There used to be a big market of herrings there. One day the herring sellers had a row. A priest came to stop the row

was harmless, and thought that it was some other thing he was getting for dinner along with the herring, and he said "The poor Brute, he eat the herring and died with druth".
Funny Story :-
There was once a little protestant girl who died and she was being buried, the Parson of course was reading over the grave, and at a funeral like that, there is always great singing and speeches from the parson.
So the parson was saying he heard a voice from Heaven saying "Her soul was saved." He always says some consoling things like that to please the parents, or the relatives of the deceased. So when

the hand of friendship, and inviting him to dinner the following night. The doorman, the only servant with catholic sympathies overheard the plot for it was arranged to shoot the Prince after dinner. When he arrived the following night and after handing his hat to the doorman, the latter said these strange words (for other servants were standing around) : - The herring is the King of fish, because he never was caught for his belly. (meaning the herring is the only fish which will not take a bait) The Prince "smelt a rat" and departed leaving his hat behind. Now started the search for him when his absence was reported assisted by blood hounds. He made for the Coppy, jumped into the water under the overhanging branch of a tree. He took the top of the branch in his mouth and sank down so that only his mouth was over the water. When the hounds and their masters got to the water they were defeated for the hounds lost the trail and the search was given up. That night the Prince made his way to a gentleman's house named Keegan (who owned all Carrickmakeegan and from whom the townland took and retains its name) This Catholic gentleman kept him for four months until he went to France to assist his father in trying to collect fresh aid.

In the olden times, food was not eaten as often as it is to day. Long ago the people worked from sunrise for a few hours before they came in to have a meal. Their meal consisted of a griddle cake a hard oat meal cake baked on a gridiron or put by the side of a stoo? and this was eaten with butter and a noggin of milk. That was the morning meal. The meal was from their own oats ground into oat meal. They worked again till dinner which consisted of potatoes. Those potatoes were placed in a "skib" or basket placed on the floor. They peeled the potatoes with their fingers, and eat them with milk in noggins. Some of the elder people of the house had butter with the potatoes. On a fast day a salted herring was placed on each persons dish. The dish or saucer made of timber and water put on it to take the salt taste away. Sometimes the[y] old people called it "sgadain caoc" meaning blind herring. Meat was

In olden times people had only one principal meal in the day, when Indian Meal, was eaten. Each person received a half pint of meal. Almost in every house the people ate off the floor, and out of the same vessel. Sometimes people boiled a salted herring in water, and "dipped" their potatoes in the "dip". Few got part of the cooked herring. Bread was made of fine meal, and had to be mixed with stirabout to make it cling. This was baked for about half an hour, and should be eaten immediately it was taken up. If allowed to cool, it would get so hard, that nobody could eat it. Potatoes were used at each meal, by those who had them. Sometimes turnips and cabbage were boiled, and eaten with the potatoes. Skim milk if available was the principal drink.
Tea was almost unknown, but a substitute for it was prepared by some of the old people. The blossoms of the heather were dried, cleaned, and boiled in spring water. After boiling for some time, milk and sugar were added, before it was served.

Long ago three men went for dinner into a certain house.
They got a red herring for their dinner and one of the men got his fork as quickly as possible and no sooner, did the other two do likewise. Then the first man said that he should pick out the herring's eyes before he would see the three men going to eat him.
Another day the same man was asked why he was not eating the fish and he said he could not until the tide went out.

Here is a little story of an evil minded person laid a pishogue to do wrong to his neighbour’s cattle in order to bring prosperity on his own.On night this person laid a herring behind the cows in the cow house of his neighbour.When the owner of the cows saw the herring in the morning, he was very much surprised. That same year all his cows went wrong and his calves died. He went to the parish priest and told him

Long ago a man went out in a meadow field and sat down by the ditch and went to sleep and while he was sleeping he had his mouth open and a lizard went into it. He used to eat an awful lot and still he could not take the hunger and thirst off himself. He went to every doctor and any of them could not cure him. Then somebody told him of skilful man and he went to him and and told him and he told him to roast a herring in the fire and to eat every bit of the herring.
There was a stream outside the man's door and he told him to hold his mouth over the stream and not to drink any of the drop of the water atall.One time he got very thirsty altogether and he was just going to drink the water when out of his