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025 - The Horned Women - The Witches Excursion · Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry

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  Speaker 1: Section twenty four of The Fairy and Folk Tales of
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  Speaker 1: the Irish Peasantry. This is a LibriVox recording. All libervox
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  Speaker 1: recordings are in the public domain. For more information nor
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  Speaker 1: a volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Christine G.
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  Speaker 1: Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry, edited and
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  Speaker 1: selected by W. B. Yates, Section twenty four. The Horned
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  Speaker 1: Women by Lady Wylde. A rich woman sat up late
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  Speaker 1: one night carding and preparing wool, while all the family
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  Speaker 1: and servants were asleep. Suddenly a knock was given at
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  Speaker 1: the door, and a voice called, open, Open, Who is there?
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  Speaker 1: Said the woman of the house? I am the witch
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  Speaker 1: of the one horn? Was answered the mistress, supposing that
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  Speaker 1: one of her neighbors had called and required assistance, opened
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  Speaker 1: the door, and a woman entered, having in her hand
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  Speaker 1: a pair of wool cardess and carrying a horn on
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  Speaker 1: her forehead as if growing There she sat down by
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  Speaker 1: the fire in silence and began to carve the wool
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  Speaker 1: with violent haste. Suddenly she paused and said aloud, where
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  Speaker 1: are the women? They ter lay too long? Then a
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  Speaker 1: second knock came to the door, and a voice called,
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  Speaker 1: as before open, Open. The mistress felt herself constrained to
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  Speaker 1: rise and open to the call. And immediately a second
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  Speaker 1: witch entered, having two horns on her forehead and in
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  Speaker 1: her hand a wheel for spinning wool. Give me place,
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  Speaker 1: she said, I am the witch of the two horns,
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  Speaker 1: and she began to spin as quick as lightning. And
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  Speaker 1: so the knox went on, and the call was heard,
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  Speaker 1: and the witches entered, until at last twelve women sat
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  Speaker 1: round the fire, the first with one horn, the last
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  Speaker 1: with twelve horns. And they carded the thread and turned
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  Speaker 1: their spinning wheels, and wound and wove, all singing together
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  Speaker 1: an ancient rhyme. But no word did they speak to
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  Speaker 1: the mistress of the house. Strange to hair, and frightful
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  Speaker 1: to look upon where these twelve women with their horns
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  Speaker 1: and their wheels. And the mistress felt near to death,
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  Speaker 1: and she tried to rise, that she might call for help.
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  Speaker 1: But she could not move, nor could she utter a
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  Speaker 1: word or a cry, for the spell of the witches
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  Speaker 1: was upon her. Then one of them called to her
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  Speaker 1: in irish and said, rise, woman, and make us a cake.
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  Speaker 1: Then the mistress searched for a vessel to bring water
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  Speaker 1: from the well, that she might mix the meal and
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  Speaker 1: make the cake. But she could find none, and they
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  Speaker 1: said to her take a sieve and bring water in it.
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  Speaker 1: And she took the sieve and went to the well,
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  Speaker 1: but the water poured from it, and she could fetch
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  Speaker 1: none for the cake. And she sat down by the
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  Speaker 1: well and wept. Then a voice came by her and said,
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  Speaker 1: take ye low clay and moss, and bind them together,
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  Speaker 1: and plastered the sieve so that it will hold. This
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  Speaker 1: she did, and the sieve held the water for the cake.
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  Speaker 1: And the voice said again, return, and when thou comest
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  Speaker 1: to the north angle of the house, cry aloud three times,
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  Speaker 1: and say, the mountain of the Fenian Woman, and the
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  Speaker 1: sky over it is all on fire. And she did so.
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  Speaker 1: When the witches inside heard the call, a great and
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  Speaker 1: terrible cry broke from their lips, and they rushed forth
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  Speaker 1: with wild lamentations and shrieks, and fled away to Slievenamon,
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  Speaker 1: where was their chief aboat. But the spirit of the
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  Speaker 1: well bade the mistress of the house to enter and
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  Speaker 1: prepare her home against the enchantments of the witches. If
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  Speaker 1: they returned again, and first to break their spells. She
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  Speaker 1: sprinkled the water in which she had washed her child's feet,
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  Speaker 1: the feet water outside the door of the threshold. Secondly,
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  Speaker 1: she took the cake which the witches had made in
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  Speaker 1: her absence of meal, mixed with the blood drawn from
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  Speaker 1: the sleeping family, and she broke the cake in bits
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  Speaker 1: and placed the bit in the mouth of each sleeper,
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  Speaker 1: and they were restored. And she took the cloth they
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  Speaker 1: had woven and placed it half in and half out
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  Speaker 1: of the chest with the padlock. And lastly she secured
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  Speaker 1: the door with a great crossbream fastened in the jambs,
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  Speaker 1: so that they could not enter. And having done these things,
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  Speaker 1: she waited. Not long were the witches seen coming back,
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  Speaker 1: and they raged and called for vengeance. Open open, they screamed,
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  Speaker 1: open feet water. I cannot said the feet water. I
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  Speaker 1: am scattered on the ground, and my path is down
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  Speaker 1: to the low open open wooden trees, and beam, they
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  Speaker 1: cried to the door. I cannot said the door, for
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  Speaker 1: the beam is fixed in the jams and I have
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  Speaker 1: no power to move. Open open cake that we have
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  Speaker 1: made and mingled with blood. They cried again. I cannot
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  Speaker 1: said the cake, for I am broken and bruised, and
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  Speaker 1: my blood is on the lips of the sleeping children.
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  Speaker 1: Then the witches rushed through the air with great cries
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  Speaker 1: and fled back to Sleeviernammon, uttering strange curses on the
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  Speaker 1: spirit of the Well, who had wished the air ruin.
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  Speaker 1: But the woman and the house were left in peace,
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  Speaker 1: and a mantle dropped by one of the witches in
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  Speaker 1: her flight was kept hung up by the mistress as
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  Speaker 1: a sign of the knight's awful contest, And this mantle
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  Speaker 1: was in possession of the same family from generation to
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  Speaker 1: generation for five hundred years after the witch's excursion by
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  Speaker 1: Patrick Kennedy, seamers Ruer read, James awakened from his sleep
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  Speaker 1: one night by noises in his kitchen. Stealing to the door,
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  Speaker 1: he saw a half dozen old women sitting round the fire,
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  Speaker 1: jesting and laughing. His old housekeeper, March, quite frisky and gay,
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  Speaker 1: helping her sister Crones to charing glasses of punch. He
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  Speaker 1: began to admire the impudence and imprudence of March displayed
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  Speaker 1: in the invitation and the riot, but recollected on the
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  Speaker 1: instant her officiousness in urging him to take a comfortable
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  Speaker 1: posit which he had brought to his bedside just before
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  Speaker 1: he fell asleep. Had he drunk it, he would have
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  Speaker 1: been just now deaf to the witch's glee. He heard
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  Speaker 1: and saw them drink his health in such a mocking
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  Speaker 1: style as nearly to tempt him to charge them bessum
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  Speaker 1: in hand, but he restrained himself. The jug being emptied,
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  Speaker 1: one of them cried out, is it time to be gone?
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  Speaker 1: And at the same moment, putting on a red cap,
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  Speaker 1: she added, by yarrow and roue, and my red cap
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  Speaker 1: too high over to England. Making use of a twig
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  Speaker 1: which she held in her hand as a steed, she
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  Speaker 1: gracefully sawed up the chimney and was rapidly followed by
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  Speaker 1: the rest. But when it came to the housekeeper, Shamus
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  Speaker 1: interposed by your leave, Madam, said he snatching twig and cap. Ah,
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  Speaker 1: you desightful old crocodile, for find your on my return,
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  Speaker 1: there'll be wigs on the green, by yarrow and roe,
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  Speaker 1: and my red cap too high over to England. The
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  Speaker 1: words were not out of his mouth. When he was sore,
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  Speaker 1: ring above the ridge pole and swiftly plowing the air,
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  Speaker 1: he was careful to speak no word, being somewhat conversant
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  Speaker 1: with witch Law, as the result would be a tumble
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  Speaker 1: and the immediate return of the expedition. In a very
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  Speaker 1: short time, they had crossed the Wicklow Hills, the Irish
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  Speaker 1: Sea and the Welsh Mountains, and were charging at whirlwind
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  Speaker 1: speed the hall door of a castle. Seamus, only for
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  Speaker 1: the company in which he found himself, would have cried
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  Speaker 1: out for pardon, expecting to be mummy against the hard
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  Speaker 1: oak door in a moment, but all bewildered, he found
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  Speaker 1: himself passing through the keyhole, along a passage, down a
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  Speaker 1: flight of steps, and through a cellar door keyhole before
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  Speaker 1: he could form any clear idea of his situation. Waking
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  Speaker 1: to the full consciousness of his position, he found himself
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  Speaker 1: sitting on a stillon, plenty of lights glimmering round, and
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  Speaker 1: he and his companions would full tumblers of frothing, wine
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  Speaker 1: in hand, hobnobbing and drinking healths as jovely and recklessly
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  Speaker 1: as if the liquor was honestly come by, and they
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  Speaker 1: were sitting in Shamus's own kitchen. The red beadth had
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  Speaker 1: assimilated Shamess's nature for the time being to that of
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  Speaker 1: his unholy companions. The heady lichis soon got into their brains,
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  Speaker 1: and a period of unconsciousness succeeded the ecstasy, the headache,
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  Speaker 1: the turning round of the barrels, and the scattered sight
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  Speaker 1: of poor Seamus. He woke up under the impression of
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  Speaker 1: being roughly ceased and shaken, and dragged upstairs and subjected
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  Speaker 1: to a disagreeable examination by the Lord of the castle
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  Speaker 1: in his state parlor. There was much derision among the
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  Speaker 1: whole company, gentle and simple, on hearing Shamus's explanation, and
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  Speaker 1: as the thing occurred in the dark ages, the unlucky
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  Speaker 1: leinster Man was sentenced to be hung as soon as
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  Speaker 1: the gallows could be prepared for the occasion. The poor
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  Speaker 1: Hibernian was in the cart proceeding on his last journey,
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  Speaker 1: with a label on his back and another on his breast,
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  Speaker 1: announcing him as the remorseless villain who, for the last
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  Speaker 1: month had been draining the uk casks in my lord's
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  Speaker 1: vault every night. He was surprised to hear himself addressed
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  Speaker 1: by his name and in his native tongue by an
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  Speaker 1: old woman in a crowd. Ah seamess aalana is it
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  Speaker 1: go and to die, you are in a strange place
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  Speaker 1: without your capin drayag. These words infused hope and courage
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  Speaker 1: into the poor victim's heart. He turned to the Lord
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  Speaker 1: and humbly asked leave to die in his red cap,
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  Speaker 1: which he supposed had dropped from his head in the vault.
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  Speaker 1: A servant was sent for the head piece, and Seamus
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  Speaker 1: felt lively hope warming his heart while placing it on
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  Speaker 1: his head. On the platform, he was graciously allowed to
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  Speaker 1: address the spectators, which he proceeded to do in the
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  Speaker 1: usual formula composed for the benefit of flying stationers. Good
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  Speaker 1: papal all a warning take by me, But when he
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  Speaker 1: had finished a line, my parents reared me tenderly. He
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  Speaker 1: unexpectedly added by arrow and rude, et cetera, and the
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  Speaker 1: disappointed spectators saw him shoot up oblightly through the air
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  Speaker 1: in the star isle of a skyrocket that had missed
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  Speaker 1: its aim. It is said that the Lord took the
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  Speaker 1: circumstance much to heart, and never afterwards hung a man
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  Speaker 1: for twenty four hours after his offense. End of Section
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  Speaker 1: twenty four