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033 - John-y-Chiarn's Journey · Manx Fairy Tales

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  Speaker 1: Chapter thirty two of Manx Fairy Tales. This is a
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  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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  Speaker 1: For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot
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  Speaker 1: o r G recording by Robert Robinson. Manx Fairy Tales
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  Speaker 1: by Sophia Morrison, Chapter thirty two, Johnny Charin's Journey. Johnny
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  Speaker 1: Charon took the biggest journey in his life without meaning
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  Speaker 1: to do it at all. One night, he was going
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  Speaker 1: towards Balaquirk, taking his time and thinking of his younger days,
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  Speaker 1: when all of a sudden he heard a great murmur
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  Speaker 1: of people coming up behind him, and before he had
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  Speaker 1: time to look round him, he felt himself getting jostled,
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  Speaker 1: and a voice asked him, middling sharp too, what business
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  Speaker 1: have you air on our way at this hour of
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  Speaker 1: the night. I'm sorry to give anyone trouble, said John.
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  Speaker 1: I'll get over the hedge out of the road. Then
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  Speaker 1: the leader came and touched him with the little stick
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  Speaker 1: he was carrying and said to the others, we'll take
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  Speaker 1: him at us. He'll be useful enough among the rest.
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  Speaker 1: At that there was a big titter, and John felt
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  Speaker 1: himself all altered like, and a thing like a load
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  Speaker 1: came onto his back. Then they all went on together themselves,
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  Speaker 1: talking and laughing away. As soon as they came near
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  Speaker 1: the Balarat Chapel, though all was silent as the grave.
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  Speaker 1: The houses were dark, and the only thing they saw
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  Speaker 1: stirring was qualecious dog, And as soon as he smelt themselves,
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  Speaker 1: he took to his heels with his tail between his legs.
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  Speaker 1: It was a fine easy night, with just a touch
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  Speaker 1: of soft fog on and a little air coming down
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  Speaker 1: from the mountain. As we got to dream e cousage
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  Speaker 1: there the leaders sounded a big ram's horn, and as
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  Speaker 1: they went galloping down to the dome, out came some
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  Speaker 1: more of the lil fellows from the gill and joined them,
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  Speaker 1: and more talking and laughing went on. He blew another
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  Speaker 1: blast at Baylin, and there they could see the fog
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  Speaker 1: rolling down from Cregnimolt. Again he blew at Ballagory, and
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  Speaker 1: they slacked down a bit, and you would have thought
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  Speaker 1: the whole glen would have wakened up with the echoes
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  Speaker 1: down at the bridge. Down at the bridge they could
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  Speaker 1: see the lights going about like will of the whips.
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  Speaker 1: Then the leader shouted, get into your lines there, me
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  Speaker 1: boys and the mug holed little fellows put themselves in
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  Speaker 1: rows on the walls of the bridge, just under the
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  Speaker 1: big cherry trees, holding their colored lant horns on the
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  Speaker 1: points of their sticks to give light round that dirty turn.
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  Speaker 1: Then when all had passed, they joined in and followed behind.
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  Speaker 1: Away they all went down slew lewage fit to break
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  Speaker 1: their necks. They slackened off a bit as they got
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  Speaker 1: to Folo, and then took their time as far as
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  Speaker 1: Belora's Bridge, where there was a big lant horn hanging
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  Speaker 1: up in a tree over the old mill. As soon
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  Speaker 1: as they saw this, two of themselves blue horns, and
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  Speaker 1: then a host of riders came out of the mill
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  Speaker 1: blowing horns too. They turned up the gill, and all
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  Speaker 1: of a sudden the whole crowd, with John among them,
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  Speaker 1: were right in the middle of a big camp of
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  Speaker 1: the little people. There were lights hanging all about in
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  Speaker 1: the trees, and fires blazed under the cowery pots, and
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  Speaker 1: musicians playing fine music. Oh, the taking joy there was.
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  Speaker 1: Some were going round giving horn spoons for the cowry
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  Speaker 1: and the bingeing, and then handing around the oat bread
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  Speaker 1: and the cheese and the tramum and wine. Then the
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  Speaker 1: little fiddlers and fluters and reed fellows and the drummers
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  Speaker 1: got up on top of a big rock, and the
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  Speaker 1: little fellows begin to dance till John's head took the
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  Speaker 1: real watching them. It was a grand sight to see
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  Speaker 1: the nice little girls and the red petticoats and white
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  Speaker 1: stockings and shoes with silver buckles on, and little bells
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  Speaker 1: all tinkling in their hair, and the little men in
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  Speaker 1: their white knee breeches, log tanned stockings and spotted korants.
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  Speaker 1: In the middle of it all, up came the little captain,
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  Speaker 1: and John says he, What do you think of the sight? Boy?
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  Speaker 1: It's mortal, grand, says John, far beyond any of the
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  Speaker 1: carnivals I've seen before. And how long will it last?
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  Speaker 1: Maybe a fortnight, said he, laughing heartily. And maybe barr.
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  Speaker 1: So you'd be better to go back to your own people.
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  Speaker 1: How long get back at all? At all? And in
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  Speaker 1: the dark too, says John Chapman, he said, tipping John
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  Speaker 1: on the head with his little stick again. John didn't
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  Speaker 1: remember any more till he wakened at the break of
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  Speaker 1: day close to his own house and little the worse
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  Speaker 1: for his long journey. End of Chapter thirty two, recording
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  Speaker 1: by Robert Robinson,