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021 - The Fairy Child of Close-ny-Lheiy · Manx Fairy Tales

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  Speaker 1: Chapter twenty 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 Phone Manx Fairy Tales by Sophia Morrison. The Fairy
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  Speaker 1: Child of Closney Lay. One time there was a woman
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  Speaker 1: named Kolew in Closney Lay, near Glenmee, and she had
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  Speaker 1: a child that had fallen sick in a strange way.
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  Speaker 1: Nothing seemed wrong with him, yet crosser and crosser he
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  Speaker 1: grew nin yanging night and day. The woman was in
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  Speaker 1: great distress. Charms had failed, and she didn't know rightly
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  Speaker 1: what to do. It seems that when about a fortnight old,
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  Speaker 1: the child, as fine a child for his age as
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  Speaker 1: she would see in a day's walk, was left asleep
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  Speaker 1: while the mother went to the well for water. Now
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  Speaker 1: herself forgot to put the tongs on the cradle, And
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  Speaker 1: when she came back, the child was crying pitifully, and
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  Speaker 1: there was no quieting for him. And from that very
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  Speaker 1: hour the flesh seemed to melt off his bones, till
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  Speaker 1: he became as ugly and as wizened a child, as
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  Speaker 1: she would see between the point of air and the cough.
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  Speaker 1: He was that way. His whining howl filled the house
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  Speaker 1: for four years, lying in his cradle, without emotion on
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  Speaker 1: him to put his feet under him. Not a day's
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  Speaker 1: rest nor a night's sleep had the woman these four
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  Speaker 1: years with him. She was fairly scourged. Until there came
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  Speaker 1: a fine day in the spring. While Hum begged bridson,
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  Speaker 1: the tailor was in the house sewing. Hum is dead now,
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  Speaker 1: but there's many a live that remember him. Yet he
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  Speaker 1: was wise tremendous, for he was going from house to
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  Speaker 1: house sewing and gathering wisdom. As he was going well
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  Speaker 1: before that day, the tailor was seeing lots of wickedness
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  Speaker 1: in the child. When the woman would be out feeding
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  Speaker 1: the cows and pigs, he would be hoisting his head
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  Speaker 1: up out of the cradle and making faces at the tailor,
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  Speaker 1: winking and slicking and shaking his head and saying, what
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  Speaker 1: a lad I am. That day, the woman wanted to
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  Speaker 1: go to the shop to sell some eggs that she had,
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  Speaker 1: and says to the tailor, hum, man, keep your eye
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  Speaker 1: on the child. That the bow would fall out of
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  Speaker 1: the criddle and hurt himself. While slip down to the shop.
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  Speaker 1: When she was gone, the tailor began to whistle low
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  Speaker 1: and slow to himself as he stitched the tune of
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  Speaker 1: a little hymn. Drop that humbeg, said a little harsh voice.
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  Speaker 1: The tailor, scandalized, looked round to see if it was
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  Speaker 1: the child that had spoken, and it was hush, whush
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  Speaker 1: now like weaight, said the tailor, rocking the cradle with
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  Speaker 1: his foot, And as he rocked he whistled to him,
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  Speaker 1: June louder, drop that humbeg. I tell ye, and give
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  Speaker 1: us something light and handy, said the little fellow back
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  Speaker 1: to him, middling sharp. Oh, anything at all to place thee,
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  Speaker 1: said the taylor, whistling a jig. Hum said, my lad,
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  Speaker 1: can thou dance anything to that? I can, said the tatlor.
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  Speaker 1: Can daou? I can that? Said my lad? Would thou
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  Speaker 1: like to see me dance? I would, said the tailor.
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  Speaker 1: Take that old fiddle down then, hum man, he said,
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  Speaker 1: and put the tune of the big wheel on it. Oh,
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  Speaker 1: I'll do that for thee. And welcome, said the tatlor.
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  Speaker 1: The fiddle quits suck on the wall, and the tailor
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  Speaker 1: tunes up. Hum, said the little fellow before thou begin
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  Speaker 1: to play, clear the kitchen for me, cheers and stools,
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  Speaker 1: everything away, make a place for me to step out
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  Speaker 1: to the music. Man. Oh, I'll do that for ee too,
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  Speaker 1: said to Taylor. He cleared the kitchen floor, and then
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  Speaker 1: he struck a tune ye wheel four in a crack.
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  Speaker 1: The little fellow bounced from his cradle on to the
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  Speaker 1: floor with a chew, and began flying round the kitchen.
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  Speaker 1: Go at Home, face your partner, heel and toe does
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  Speaker 1: it well done, hom, More power to ye elbow man.
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  Speaker 1: Home plays faster and faster till my lad was jumping
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  Speaker 1: as high as the table with a chew. Up, goes
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  Speaker 1: his foot on top of the dresser and chew, then
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  Speaker 1: on top of the chimney piece and chew bang against
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  Speaker 1: the partition. Then he was half flying, half footing it
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  Speaker 1: round the kitchen, turning and going that quick that I
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  Speaker 1: put a reel in Home's head to be looking at him.
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  Speaker 1: Then he was whirling everything round for a clear space,
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  Speaker 1: even Holm himself, who by degrees gets up on the
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  Speaker 1: table in the corner and plays wilder and fast as
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  Speaker 1: the whirling jig grows madder and swifter. Me said the tailor,
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  Speaker 1: drawing down the fiddle, I must run. They're not the
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  Speaker 1: child that was in the criddle? Are do hal man?
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  Speaker 1: Thou art right enough? Said the little fella. Strike up
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  Speaker 1: for me, Make haste, make haste, man, keep jogging your elbow. Whush,
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  Speaker 1: said the tailor. Here's herself comin'. The dance suddenly ceased.
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  Speaker 1: The child gave a hop, skip and jump into the cradle.
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  Speaker 1: Go on with thy sewing home. Don't say a word,
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  Speaker 1: said the little fellow, covering himself up in the clothes,
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  Speaker 1: till nothing was left of him to be seen except
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  Speaker 1: his eyes, which keeeked out like the ferret's. When herself
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  Speaker 1: came in the house, the tailor, all of the tremble,
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  Speaker 1: was sitting cross legged on the round table, and his
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  Speaker 1: specks on his nose and letting on it. He was
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  Speaker 1: busy sewing. The child in the cradle was grinning and
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  Speaker 1: crying as usual what in older yardly world. But it's
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  Speaker 1: the square stitching altogether. There's been going on here and
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  Speaker 1: me out, And how dal can see the needle in
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  Speaker 1: that dark corner? Hum Britzen let alone, so it baits me,
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  Speaker 1: said she, siding the place. Well well then, well, well
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  Speaker 1: on the bogey millish, what is it at all at
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  Speaker 1: all that's doing on the veen? Did he think mammy
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  Speaker 1: had gone or left him? Then? Decree, Mammy's going to
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  Speaker 1: feed him. Though the taylor had been thinking mighty with
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  Speaker 1: himself what he ought to do, so he said, look here, woman,
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  Speaker 1: give him nothing at all, but go out and get
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  Speaker 1: a crill full of good turf and a wisp of fern.
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  Speaker 1: She brought the turf and throws a bundle of fern
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  Speaker 1: on it. The tailor gave a leap off the table
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  Speaker 1: down to the floor, and it wasn't long till they
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  Speaker 1: had the fine fire. They will have the house put
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  Speaker 1: on fire for me home, said herself. No fear, but
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  Speaker 1: I'll fire some of them, said the tailor. The child,
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  Speaker 1: with his two eyes going out of his head, watching
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  Speaker 1: to see what the tailor was going to do, was
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  Speaker 1: slowly turning his whining howl into a kind of call
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  Speaker 1: to his own sword to come and fetch him. It's
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  Speaker 1: like I'll send tea home, said the tailor, drawing near
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  Speaker 1: the cradle, and he stretches out his two hands to
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  Speaker 1: take the child and put him on the big red
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  Speaker 1: turf fire. Before he was able to lay a hand
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  Speaker 1: on him. The little fellow leaped out of the cradle
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  Speaker 1: and took for the door the back of my hand
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  Speaker 1: and the soul of me my foot to you, said he,
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  Speaker 1: If I would only had another night, I could have
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  Speaker 1: showed the trick or two more than that. Yet then
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  Speaker 1: the door flew open with a bang, as though some
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  Speaker 1: one had thrown it open, and he took off with
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  Speaker 1: himself like a shot. A hulla baloo of laughing and
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  Speaker 1: making fun was heard outside, and the noise of any
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  Speaker 1: running little feet out of the door of the house.
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  Speaker 1: Goes herself and hum after her. They see no one,
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  Speaker 1: But he caught sight of a flock of low clying clouds,
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  Speaker 1: shaped like gulls, chasing each other away up then Russian,
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  Speaker 1: and then came to her ears as if far from
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  Speaker 1: the clouds, sharp whistles and wicked little laughs, as making
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  Speaker 1: mock of them. Then as they were turning round to
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  Speaker 1: come back, she suddenly seized right before her her own sweet, rosy,
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  Speaker 1: smiling child, with them in mouth, lying on a mossy bank,
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  Speaker 1: And she took all the joy in the world of
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  Speaker 1: the child that he was back again, safe and sound.
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  Speaker 1: End of the fairy child of closing day, recording my phone,