sweety
01-19-2011, 02:29 PM
Making love to Lilly O Reilly was by no means a quiet affair. "Hush," I said, "someone will hear us."
'Tell me how much you love me," she said.
"You know I do."
I didn’t, but if I told her that, our affair would be over. As things worked out, I might as well have for her great lump of a husband traipsed up the stairs with murder in his heart. Mine.
"Get out quick!" Panic replaced her cries of ecstasy. Grabbing my clothes I kissed her and left via the window. Now this was a two-story house and the only exit I could see was a drainpipe that had seen better days. I finished dressing on the ledge.
"Where is he? There will be no tomorrows for the likes of him when I get my hands on the swine!"
The good woman of the house told him that he was mad to even suggest such a thing as an extramarital affair and started crying.
That seemed to placate him a little, so I made my escape. Half way down, the bloody pipe broke. Limping away I decided to pay my friend, the piper a visit. His poteen was as famous as his enchanting and beguiling music.
Walking in I saw the piper sitting near the fire and to my surprise a leprechaun was dancing a jig on the table.
"Close the door," he told me and played on. He would only stop when the leprechaun told him the whereabouts of the pot of gold. The leprechaun refused to give up his gold. But he was growing weary. ''I'll tell you in the morning," he said to the piper.
The piper was having none of it and asked the leprechaun again if he was ready to talk and finally he was.
"The pot of gold" the leprechaun said, "is hidden in the bewitching woods. The rainbow will guide you, follow it from where it rises to its resting place. There lies the grave of Feardorcha, a Gaelic chief. But be warned, it will not be easy getting past him."
"Why not? " asked the piper.
"Well, the old chief fell in love with the Lianhan Shee, the love fairy. An impatient mistress, but he had a great desire for her. She would never yield to him in mortal lands and asked him to meet her in Tir-na-n-Og (The Land of the Young), where age and death don’t exist; he had to pass through death to have her."
"And what happened?"
"He's still singing in his grave."
"Did he have her?"
"No, he's still waiting for her to come."
"So how am I to get the gold?" asked the piper.
"You must seek out the Lianhan Shee and strike a deal with her."
This was far more complicated than the piper had imagined. He had heard tales that the more her captives sang, the more their bodies withered; until they sang for her forever. Why would she want to free Feardorcha.
"Take my hammer" said the leprechaun "and place it on Feardorcha grave. It has the power to stop him singing. Then she will come to investigate."
Then the piper put a potato sack over the leprechaun head.
Breaking open a fresh bottle of poteen we drank to each-others health and the pot of gold.
The piper didn't trust the leprechaun. "We'll ask the Far darrig's help", he said.
A Far darrig is a close relation to the leprechaun, with similar features and a short stocky body. His face a blotchy yellow. He dresses in red from his hat to his scarlet cloak. This is the reason he is called the Far darrig or red man. He is a mischievous phantom and a practical joker. He can modify his voice, emitting sounds like the roaring waves or the meow of a cat.
So we set out for the bewitched forest with the leprechauns hammer and waited for the Far darrig. When he showed up, he saw the leprechauns hammer and invited us to dine with him, then he tried to put a spell on us. The sound of laughter filling the air, we couldn’t make out where it was coming from. '
"Na dean maggadh fum" (do not mock me) the piper said. It was wise to say these words when you encountered a Far darrig, that way you cannot be used in one of their macabre games.
"I will grant you one wish. If you let me have the hammer" he said.
The piper told his tale.
The Far darrig went into deep thought.
"Well, there’s one thing for sure, you cant go to Tír-na-n-Og, the Land of the Young, where age and death don’t exist. Only one man ever returned after been there four hundred years. The moment his foot touched the mortal ground his four hundred years flew back to Tír-na-n-Og.
Tomorrow, when the rainbow comes, I will make Feardorcha think that I'm the Lianhan Shee and invite him to come out from his grave.
All you have to do, is wait till his years wither away. And the pot of gold is yours."
After drinking a few more bottles of the hard stuff we told each-other tall tales and bigger lies.
The following morning, as promised after the sun-shower, the rainbow's spectacular colours appeared in the east and spread its kaleidoscope to the west. We chased after it.
The forest floors thick and tangled vegetation hampered us in places. Its deep darkness blocking out the sunlight. We stopped at a calm place where only the slightest breeze blows and where adventure stories are born.
The Will-O'-The-Wisps, or fairy lights, appeared in the misty woods.
The Far darrig imitating the voice of Lianhan Shee, invited the chief to come out.
Then we saw the rise and fall of the old Gaelic chief. His years like the rainbow took flight. To Tír-na-n-Og.
The fairy mistress knew something was amiss and she flew to Feardorcha's grave.
The Lianhan Shee has great power and wants the love and control of earth-born men. If they refuse her, she is their slave and if they accept, they are hers.
She never lays with them in mortal lands, but insists on meeting them in Tir-na-n-Og, so that men must pass through death to have her.
Before they could have the pot of gold they must first go with her to Tir-na-n-Og.
The piper wanted to call the whole thing off, but then he had an idea.
Me.
"A Don Juan" he called me, "you can charm her and then she’s yours and the gold will be ours."
I wasn't so sure, but we agreed to go with her.
Now we are singing in the grave of Feardorcha.
'Tell me how much you love me," she said.
"You know I do."
I didn’t, but if I told her that, our affair would be over. As things worked out, I might as well have for her great lump of a husband traipsed up the stairs with murder in his heart. Mine.
"Get out quick!" Panic replaced her cries of ecstasy. Grabbing my clothes I kissed her and left via the window. Now this was a two-story house and the only exit I could see was a drainpipe that had seen better days. I finished dressing on the ledge.
"Where is he? There will be no tomorrows for the likes of him when I get my hands on the swine!"
The good woman of the house told him that he was mad to even suggest such a thing as an extramarital affair and started crying.
That seemed to placate him a little, so I made my escape. Half way down, the bloody pipe broke. Limping away I decided to pay my friend, the piper a visit. His poteen was as famous as his enchanting and beguiling music.
Walking in I saw the piper sitting near the fire and to my surprise a leprechaun was dancing a jig on the table.
"Close the door," he told me and played on. He would only stop when the leprechaun told him the whereabouts of the pot of gold. The leprechaun refused to give up his gold. But he was growing weary. ''I'll tell you in the morning," he said to the piper.
The piper was having none of it and asked the leprechaun again if he was ready to talk and finally he was.
"The pot of gold" the leprechaun said, "is hidden in the bewitching woods. The rainbow will guide you, follow it from where it rises to its resting place. There lies the grave of Feardorcha, a Gaelic chief. But be warned, it will not be easy getting past him."
"Why not? " asked the piper.
"Well, the old chief fell in love with the Lianhan Shee, the love fairy. An impatient mistress, but he had a great desire for her. She would never yield to him in mortal lands and asked him to meet her in Tir-na-n-Og (The Land of the Young), where age and death don’t exist; he had to pass through death to have her."
"And what happened?"
"He's still singing in his grave."
"Did he have her?"
"No, he's still waiting for her to come."
"So how am I to get the gold?" asked the piper.
"You must seek out the Lianhan Shee and strike a deal with her."
This was far more complicated than the piper had imagined. He had heard tales that the more her captives sang, the more their bodies withered; until they sang for her forever. Why would she want to free Feardorcha.
"Take my hammer" said the leprechaun "and place it on Feardorcha grave. It has the power to stop him singing. Then she will come to investigate."
Then the piper put a potato sack over the leprechaun head.
Breaking open a fresh bottle of poteen we drank to each-others health and the pot of gold.
The piper didn't trust the leprechaun. "We'll ask the Far darrig's help", he said.
A Far darrig is a close relation to the leprechaun, with similar features and a short stocky body. His face a blotchy yellow. He dresses in red from his hat to his scarlet cloak. This is the reason he is called the Far darrig or red man. He is a mischievous phantom and a practical joker. He can modify his voice, emitting sounds like the roaring waves or the meow of a cat.
So we set out for the bewitched forest with the leprechauns hammer and waited for the Far darrig. When he showed up, he saw the leprechauns hammer and invited us to dine with him, then he tried to put a spell on us. The sound of laughter filling the air, we couldn’t make out where it was coming from. '
"Na dean maggadh fum" (do not mock me) the piper said. It was wise to say these words when you encountered a Far darrig, that way you cannot be used in one of their macabre games.
"I will grant you one wish. If you let me have the hammer" he said.
The piper told his tale.
The Far darrig went into deep thought.
"Well, there’s one thing for sure, you cant go to Tír-na-n-Og, the Land of the Young, where age and death don’t exist. Only one man ever returned after been there four hundred years. The moment his foot touched the mortal ground his four hundred years flew back to Tír-na-n-Og.
Tomorrow, when the rainbow comes, I will make Feardorcha think that I'm the Lianhan Shee and invite him to come out from his grave.
All you have to do, is wait till his years wither away. And the pot of gold is yours."
After drinking a few more bottles of the hard stuff we told each-other tall tales and bigger lies.
The following morning, as promised after the sun-shower, the rainbow's spectacular colours appeared in the east and spread its kaleidoscope to the west. We chased after it.
The forest floors thick and tangled vegetation hampered us in places. Its deep darkness blocking out the sunlight. We stopped at a calm place where only the slightest breeze blows and where adventure stories are born.
The Will-O'-The-Wisps, or fairy lights, appeared in the misty woods.
The Far darrig imitating the voice of Lianhan Shee, invited the chief to come out.
Then we saw the rise and fall of the old Gaelic chief. His years like the rainbow took flight. To Tír-na-n-Og.
The fairy mistress knew something was amiss and she flew to Feardorcha's grave.
The Lianhan Shee has great power and wants the love and control of earth-born men. If they refuse her, she is their slave and if they accept, they are hers.
She never lays with them in mortal lands, but insists on meeting them in Tir-na-n-Og, so that men must pass through death to have her.
Before they could have the pot of gold they must first go with her to Tir-na-n-Og.
The piper wanted to call the whole thing off, but then he had an idea.
Me.
"A Don Juan" he called me, "you can charm her and then she’s yours and the gold will be ours."
I wasn't so sure, but we agreed to go with her.
Now we are singing in the grave of Feardorcha.