There was an ould King and a Queen once after there was and after there will be and they lived at a place called Bailahabuidhe and they had no children and the King used be fishing along by the sea and this day he pulled out a fish and the fish turned into a mermaid and the mermaid said go down a little farther and you will get a fish and bring it home and give it to the woman and she will have a child in the course of time so he did so and the woman had a young son but after a while he got uneasy and he went to fish and he pulled out the old mermaid again

hands and I'll give you the golden wheel spilling gold on all sides. So the next morning she went along the seaside spinning the golden wheel and when the old mermaid seen the golden wheel she'd do anything to get the golden wheel so she let the husband up on top of her hands so when got on top of her hands he wished he was a hawk and he flew away so when he flew away the mermaid grabbed his wife but when she did he wished he was a deer so he sank the mermaid fathoms in the earth and he brought home his wife so put down the kettle and make tay and if they don't live happy that I may.

and she went off down by the seaside but could find no sign of her husband but she went to an ould witch not far away and she asked the ould witch would she have any way of managing it and the witch said she could. "Now" she says "tomorrow I'll give you a golden ball and go along by the seaside spinning it and the old mermaid will put up her head and tell you she'll show his head to you but ask her to show him farther and she might" so she went up along spinning the ball along by the seaside and when the old mermaid seen the ball she said that she would show her husband to her if she'd get the ball from her so she gave her the ball and she put up his head and she seen his head and she

married to her - to ask her father so the girl asked her father would he let her get married to the hawk. "How the divil" says the father "could the hawk marry you" so he turned into a fine young man so the father consented to give the daughter to the hawk so they got married and they lived there for seven or eight years and then he returned home - him and his wife. This day the father brought him out to hunt and there was a hare started up so he says I wish I was a hound and he started after the hare and the hare brought him to the sea and when he went down to the sea the mermaid leaped up and grabbed him and brought him into the sea so begor the wife got uneasy about him

went home satisfied to the old witch so the next morning the old witch gave her a long fiddle and it was spilling gold out of each side. "Now" says the witch to her "don't give her this fiddle except that she shows you him as far as the knees up no matter what she does don't give her the fiddle." Well she went up along the seaside and the fiddle was playing grand and was spilling gold and everything out of it and the old mermaid said she'd show him nearly on her hands to get the fiddle so she gave her the fiddle and she showed him as far as the knees so she went home satisfied to the witch. "Now tomorrow" says the witch "tell her to leave him on the palms of her