THE DONNYBROOK LEPRECHAUN
By Jeanne Hannon Petras
(Wee Glossary at end of tale)
The Leprechaun Ailill held his wee hands up to his ears. He and his brother Shamus had just sat down for their midday dinner of coddle when they heard a deafening noise from a near distance. Ailill said, "I'll be looking into what that is all about, would ye be keeping me dinner warm brother?" Shamus was more than happy not to join Ailill since he had a great aversion to humans.
The brothers didn't look at all alike. Ailill was chunky with a full red beard and rosy cheeks. A pipe was ever lodged between his teeth, with never a trace of tobacco in it. Shamus was skinny, dark skinned, with a face that would scare the bark from a dog. Unlike his brother, rumor had it that he had been born with the mushies .
The year was 1849. They lived in a hollowed out tree next to Maureen's brook which joined the River Dodder in the Wicklow Mountains. Ailill forged horseshoes for a living, his brother Shamus was a shoemaker. Leprechaun's are very keen musicians and sometimes on a Sunday Ailill would dress in his finest, pick up his accordian, and happily strut up and down the lane, pushing and pulling on the bellows . The little people came from all around to hear the happy sounds he would create . Some nights, there were those wild Ceilith music sessions, where Leprachauns gathered to dance, sing and drink poteen . It was because of all that dancing that Shamus was kept busy sewing new shoes.
As he approached the horse's mouth of the noise, Ailill spotted a giant banner that announced, "Donnybrook Fair". For the most part, he saw that people were just walking about, playing games, riding rides. So, where was all that noise coming from? Ah! It appeared to be a free-for-all, with three pair of boyos boxing it out . Others had formed a large ring around them goading them on. "HOLD IT!", he screamed. He was little, but his voice was not. "Are you gone in the head? What be this milling about?", he crisply asked. "Ye be making as much noise as ten pigs stuck in a gate". The fighters merely glanced at him, quickly resuming their punches. One of the lads from the ring came over to Ailill. "Little man," he said, "Ye be seeing eejits fer sure, though we are but peckish . Most of us lads farm spuds that we sell and eat to live. This year we have found them to be all black and rotted. It'll be no harvest for us this year. Alas, for a time at least, we can forget our misfortune."
Lilill immediately began legging it back home, asked Shamus to leave his dinner in the pot, grabbed his accordian and tramped back to the fair. Hearing light whimisical music, the men stopped what they were doing. Their eyes searched the crowd for the wherefore of the beautiful noise. There was himself singing and dancing to his own accordian strains. Smiles broke out on the lads' faces as they surrounded him. One of them began to sing and dance with Lilill, and before long, they had all joined in.
Even Shamus would sometimes join his brother, arms full of new shoes for the dancers.
Even today, if you happen on Donnybrook Square, listen real hard and you can hear the grand sounds of a wee accordian.
THE END
Note: Donnybrook Square
actually is in Dublin
GLOSSARY:
bellows - accordian part (the lungs)
boyos - men
ceilith - Gaelic social gathering
coddle - layered dish of pork sausage, bacon, potatoes and onions
eejits - idiots
gone in the head - mad
grand - fine, very good
legging it - running fast
milling - fighting
milling - fighting
mushies - magic mushrooms
peckish - hungry
poteen - Illegal Irish drink
spuds - potatoes
..
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