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017 - The Mermaid of Gob-ny-Ooyl · Manx Fairy Tales

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  Speaker 1: Chapter sixteen of Manx Fairy Tales. This is a LibriVox recording.
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  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
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  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
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  Speaker 1: by Jillian Henry. Manx Fairy Tales by Sophia Morrison, Chapter sixteen,
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  Speaker 1: The Mermaid of Gobney Ul. Once on a time there
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  Speaker 1: lived at the bottom end of corna gill a family
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  Speaker 1: of the name of Sel, and the mermaid who had
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  Speaker 1: her haunt up Bulghumway was a friend to them. They
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  Speaker 1: were always in luck's way and never seemed to be
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  Speaker 1: short of anything. Sure enough, they were full of thrift,
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  Speaker 1: and to fill in odds of spare time, they made
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  Speaker 1: lobster pots from the osier that grew around in plenty,
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  Speaker 1: and they always found a ready market. They kept a
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  Speaker 1: cow and a few sheep just to give work to
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  Speaker 1: the women in the long winter nights, but their living
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  Speaker 1: was mostly got by the sea. It was well known
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  Speaker 1: that Sail had a strong liking for apples, and that
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  Speaker 1: he would often bring some with him out in the boat.
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  Speaker 1: But when he got well up in years, he would
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  Speaker 1: be leaving a lot of the boat work for the boys.
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  Speaker 1: And then the luck began to get less, and many
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  Speaker 1: a time one of them had to take a gun
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  Speaker 1: to keep something in the pot. Then the bigger ones
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  Speaker 1: took to the herrings. One Evan, however, had to stay
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  Speaker 1: about to keep things going. And it happened that one day,
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  Speaker 1: after he had the creoles set just at Bilgum, that
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  Speaker 1: he pulled the boat in and went up the brow
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  Speaker 1: after eggs. On coming back to the boat, he heard
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  Speaker 1: some one calling to him, and looking round he saw
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  Speaker 1: a fine looking woman sitting on the edge of a rock.
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  Speaker 1: And how's your father? Said she. It's seldom he's coming
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  Speaker 1: this way now. Young Sail was a bit frightened at first,
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  Speaker 1: but seeing a pleasant look on her face, he took
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  Speaker 1: courage and told him her how things were at home. Then,
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  Speaker 1: saying she hoped to see him again, she slipped into
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  Speaker 1: the water and disappeared. On getting home, he told what
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  Speaker 1: had taken place, and the father, his face lighting up, declared,
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  Speaker 1: there will be luck on the house yet, and he said,
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  Speaker 1: take some apples with you the next time you go
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  Speaker 1: up that way, and we'll see the very next time
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  Speaker 1: the young chap went, he took some apples with him,
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  Speaker 1: and when he got to the place where he had
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  Speaker 1: seen the beautiful woman. He went, as usual on the
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  Speaker 1: hunt among the rocks. Then he heard sweet singing, and
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  Speaker 1: when he turned round, what should he see but the
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  Speaker 1: mermaid leaning over the boat and smiling pleasantly. She took
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  Speaker 1: an apple and began to eat and chant, the luck
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  Speaker 1: of the sea be with you, But don't forget will
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  Speaker 1: bee of bringing some sweet lanneggs for the children off
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  Speaker 1: the sea. From that time he was nearly living on
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  Speaker 1: the water, until at last he was taken to task
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  Speaker 1: for being idle. Then he made up his mind to
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  Speaker 1: go sailing in foreign parts. The mermaid was in great distress,
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  Speaker 1: so to please her he went and planted an apple
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  Speaker 1: tree on the brow above her haunt, telling her that
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  Speaker 1: when he would be far away, this tree would grow
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  Speaker 1: land eggs, which, when they would be sweet and ready
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  Speaker 1: for eating, would come of themselves to the water for her.
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  Speaker 1: And sure enough the luck of the family remained. Though
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  Speaker 1: the boy was gone. She seemed to bear up well
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  Speaker 1: for a long time, and would often be seen sitting
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  Speaker 1: on the rocks in the evening, singing sad songs and
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  Speaker 1: casting longing glances up to the apple tree above. She
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  Speaker 1: kept very shy of every one coming her way, and
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  Speaker 1: at last, finding the apples slow in coming, made up
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  Speaker 1: her mind to go in search of young sail, hoping
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  Speaker 1: the apples would be ready for taking when they would
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  Speaker 1: come back. But neither of them ever came back, though
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  Speaker 1: for many a long year the apple tree bore fruit
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  Speaker 1: and marked little creek where the mermaid used to live.
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  Speaker 1: End of Chapter sixteen