THE TALE OF THE LEATHER BOTTLE
"Curious Tales from North Cork" by Edward Garner
It begins with the lines:
When'er a man to lift the stone is found
From near the Funcheon or the country around,
The fairies there can never again come
Their power is broken- their charms undone
Many years ago there lived quite close to Labbacallee a man by the name of Seamas na mBo. Late one night after attending a funeral in Glanworth, Seamas sat astride his old horse making for home. As he drew alongside the ancient tomb, the horse suddenly took it into his head to rear up, flinging poor Seamas out of the saddle and landing him right in the middle of the grave. Seamas was angered by this treatment and cursed the horse in terms both loud and explicit.
So much so, that the noise caused a very old woman to emerge from the tomb's centre to inquire what all the commotion was about. She berated poor Seamas, accusing him of being drunk, which may have been true, for he was a man, say, that liked his drop. Well that being said, and being a naturally polite man, Seamas apologised for the disturbance, and having turned on the charm, he told the woman that there remained much to suggest her girlhood beauty
Flattery calmed the hag down and when Seamas asked for a night's lodgings, she beckoned him to follow down along some worn stone steps. Now, as often as he had passed by the old tomb he never before had noticed these steps down which the woman went.
However, he followed on and before long, they reached a great hall brightly lit: full of music, and full of leprechauns and fairies. Everywhere was movement, as the little folk danced and laughed and made merry, but the swirl of movement and sound ceased abruptly as Seamas and the old woman stepped in the door.
Hardly able to credit his eyes, Seamas could only stand and stare. Weakly he sat down as a fairy came over to him and offered him a drink. Being a man blessed with a permanent thirst, this he accepted with gratitude as he took a cautious sip.
One sip preceded the next sip and soon Seamas was quite merry. He wrestled with the leprechauns and he soon sent them sprawling. Flushed with his success, he taunted the little people that he could lift Labbacallee's giant capstone high enough for the old woman to crawl through and leave the place forever. This he did with great ease and as he raised the stone the hag stepped forward, and with a malevolent look on her lined face wished Seamas a life of poverty for himself and all his family and vanished for ever through the opening.
As for the little people, their power had been broken and they left the hall in a mighty rush, shrieking and wailing with fear and anger. Thunder pealed, lightning flashed and as each of the small ones passed by Seamas, they gave him a kick with their sticks. . One such fellow handed a leather bag to Seamas, muttering to open it the day his son got married. Next day when Seamas awoke the little people were gone but the leather bag was still in his hands. Remembering the warning about not opening the bottle, James kept it locked away in a cupboard at home until the day his only son, Sean, got married.
The wedding was the talk of Glanworth. Everyone turned up. And with the ceremony due to the occasion, he opened the bottle and took the first drink. Each man in the room took a turn and yet for all they drank, the bottle remained as full as when first opened.
Soon the fighting and screaming broke out. Noses were bloodied, eyes blackened and skulls cracked. It was a battlefield. Seamas na m Bó was amongst the fallen, and when he awoke it was to see dozens of fairies and leprechauns trooping into the room picking up the bits of the leather bottle, and passing them over to the cobbler in the corner.
As the cobbler tapped away with a tiny hammer, putting all the pieces together, he'd look over to Seamas every now and again and burst out laughing. As the last fragment was tapped into place, a cock crowed nearby and the fairy folk left taking with them their magical and troublesome leather bottle.
It begins with the lines:
When'er a man to lift the stone is found
From near the Funcheon or the country around,
The fairies there can never again come
Their power is broken- their charms undone
Many years ago there lived quite close to Labbacallee a man by the name of Seamas na mBo. Late one night after attending a funeral in Glanworth, Seamas sat astride his old horse making for home. As he drew alongside the ancient tomb, the horse suddenly took it into his head to rear up, flinging poor Seamas out of the saddle and landing him right in the middle of the grave. Seamas was angered by this treatment and cursed the horse in terms both loud and explicit.
So much so, that the noise caused a very old woman to emerge from the tomb's centre to inquire what all the commotion was about. She berated poor Seamas, accusing him of being drunk, which may have been true, for he was a man, say, that liked his drop. Well that being said, and being a naturally polite man, Seamas apologised for the disturbance, and having turned on the charm, he told the woman that there remained much to suggest her girlhood beauty
Flattery calmed the hag down and when Seamas asked for a night's lodgings, she beckoned him to follow down along some worn stone steps. Now, as often as he had passed by the old tomb he never before had noticed these steps down which the woman went.
However, he followed on and before long, they reached a great hall brightly lit: full of music, and full of leprechauns and fairies. Everywhere was movement, as the little folk danced and laughed and made merry, but the swirl of movement and sound ceased abruptly as Seamas and the old woman stepped in the door.
Hardly able to credit his eyes, Seamas could only stand and stare. Weakly he sat down as a fairy came over to him and offered him a drink. Being a man blessed with a permanent thirst, this he accepted with gratitude as he took a cautious sip.
One sip preceded the next sip and soon Seamas was quite merry. He wrestled with the leprechauns and he soon sent them sprawling. Flushed with his success, he taunted the little people that he could lift Labbacallee's giant capstone high enough for the old woman to crawl through and leave the place forever. This he did with great ease and as he raised the stone the hag stepped forward, and with a malevolent look on her lined face wished Seamas a life of poverty for himself and all his family and vanished for ever through the opening.
As for the little people, their power had been broken and they left the hall in a mighty rush, shrieking and wailing with fear and anger. Thunder pealed, lightning flashed and as each of the small ones passed by Seamas, they gave him a kick with their sticks. . One such fellow handed a leather bag to Seamas, muttering to open it the day his son got married. Next day when Seamas awoke the little people were gone but the leather bag was still in his hands. Remembering the warning about not opening the bottle, James kept it locked away in a cupboard at home until the day his only son, Sean, got married.
The wedding was the talk of Glanworth. Everyone turned up. And with the ceremony due to the occasion, he opened the bottle and took the first drink. Each man in the room took a turn and yet for all they drank, the bottle remained as full as when first opened.
Soon the fighting and screaming broke out. Noses were bloodied, eyes blackened and skulls cracked. It was a battlefield. Seamas na m Bó was amongst the fallen, and when he awoke it was to see dozens of fairies and leprechauns trooping into the room picking up the bits of the leather bottle, and passing them over to the cobbler in the corner.
As the cobbler tapped away with a tiny hammer, putting all the pieces together, he'd look over to Seamas every now and again and burst out laughing. As the last fragment was tapped into place, a cock crowed nearby and the fairy folk left taking with them their magical and troublesome leather bottle.