More CELTIC FAIRY TALES
There was once a poor man who lived
in the fertile glen of Aherlow, at the foot
of the gloomy Galtee mountains, and he had a great hump on his back: he looked
just as if his body had been rolled up and placed upon his shoulders; and his
bead was pressed down with the weight so much that his chin, when he was
sitting, used to rest upon his knees for support. The country people were rather
shy of meeting him in any lonesome place, for though, poor creature, he was as
harm-less and as inoffensive as a new-born infant, yet his deformity was so
great that he scarcely appeared to be a human creature, and some ill-minded
persons had set strange stories about him afloat. He was said to have a great
knowledge of herbs and charms; but certain it was that he had a mighty skilful
hand in plaiting straw and rushes into hats and baskets, which was the way he
made his livelihood.
Lusmore, for that was the nickname put upon him by reason of his always
wearing a sprig of the fairy cap, or lusmore (the foxglove), in his little Straw
hat, would ever get a higher penny for his plaited work than any one else, and
perhaps that was the reason why some one, out of envy, had circulated the
strange stories about him. Be that as it may, it happened that he was returning
one evening from the pretty town of Cahir towards Cappagh, and as little Lusmore
walked very slowly, on account of the great hump upon his back, it was quite
dark when he came to the old moat of Knockgrafton, which stood on the right-band
side of his road. Tired and weary was he, and noways comfortable in his own mind
at thinking how much farther he had to travel, and that he should be walking all
the night; so he sat down under the moat to rest himself and began looking
mournfully enough upon the moon.
Presently there rose a wild strain of unearthly melody upon the ear of little
Lusmore; he listened, and he thought that he had never heard such ravishing
music before. It was like the sound of many voices, each mingling and blending
with the other so strangely that they seemed to be one, though all singing
different strains, and the words of the song were these -
Da Luan, Da Moti, Da Luan, Da Mort, Da Luan, Da Mort;
when there would be a moment's pause, and then the round of melody went on
again.
Lusmore listened attentively, scarcely drawing his breath lest he might lose
the slightest note. He now plainly perceived that the singing was within the
moat; and though at first it had charmed him so much, he began to get tired of
hearing the same round sung over and over so often without any change; so
availing himself of the pause when the Da Luan, Da Mon, had been sung
three times, he took up the tune, and raised it with the words augus Da
Cadine, and then went on singing with the voices in side of the moat, Da
Luan, Da Mort, finishing the melody, when the pause again came, with augus
Da Cadine.
The fairies within Knockgrafton, for the song was a fairy melody, when they
heard this addition to the tune, were so much delighted that, with instant
resolve, it was determined to bring the mortal among them, whose musical skill
so far exceeded theirs, and little Lusmore was conveyed into their company with
the eddying speed of a whirlwind.
Glorious to behold was the sight that burst upon him as he came down through
the moat, twirling round and round, with the lightness of a straw, to the
sweetest music that kept time to his motion. The greatest honour was then paid
him, for he was put above all the musicians, and he had servants tending upon
him, and everything to his heart's content, and a hearty welcome to all; and,
in short, he was made as much of as if he had been the first man in the land.
Presently Lusmore saw a great consultation going forward among the fairies,
and, notwithstanding all their civility, he felt very much frightened, until one
stepping out from the rest came up to him and said,
"Lusmore Lusmore!
When these words were said, poor little Lusmore felt himself so light, and so
happy, that he thought he could have bounded at one jump over the moon, like the
cow in the history of the cat and the fiddle ; and he saw, with inexpressible
pleasure, his hump tumble down upon the ground from his shoulders. He then tried
to lift up his head, and he did so with becoming caution, fearing that he might
knock it against the ceiling of the grand hall, where he was; he looked round
and round again with greatest wonder and delight upon everything, which appeared
more and more beautiful; and, overpowered at beholding such a resplendent
scene, his head grew dizzy, and his eyesight became dim. At last he fell into a
sound sleep, and when he awoke he found that it was broad daylight, the sun
shining brightly, and the birds singing sweetly; and that he was lying just at
the foot of the moat of Knockgrafton, with the cows and sheep grazing peacefully
round about him. The first thing Lusmore did, after saying his prayers, was to
put his hand behind to feel for his hump, but no sign of one was there on his
back, and he looked at himself with great pride, for he had now become a
well-shaped dapper little fellow, and more than that, found himself in a full
suit of new clothes, which he concluded the fairies had made for him.
Doubt not, nor deplore,
For the hump which you bore
On your back is no more;
Look down on the floor,
And view it, Lusmore!"
Towards Cappagh he went, stepping out as lightly, and springing up at every
step as if he had been all his life a dancing-master. Not a creature who met
Lusmore knew him without his hump, and he had a great work to persuade every one
that he was the same man - in truth he was not, so far as outward appearance
went.
Of course it was not long before the story of Lusmore's hump got about, and a
great wonder was made of it. Through the country, for miles round, it was the
talk of every one, high and low.
One morning, as Lusmore was sitting contented enough, at his cabin door, up
came an old woman to him, and asked him if he could direct her to Cappagh.
"I need give you no directions, my good woman," said
Lusmore,
"for this is Cappagh; and whom may you want here?"
"I have come," said the woman, "out of Decie's country, in the
county of Waterford looking after one Lusmore, who, I have heard tell, had his
hump taken off by the fairies for there is a son of a gossip of mine who has got
a hump on him that will be his death; and maybe if he could use the same charm
as Lusmore, the hump may be taken off him. And now I have told you the reason of
my coming so far 'tis to find out about this charm, if I can."
Lusmore, who was ever a good-natured little fellow, told the woman all the
particulars, how he had raised the tune for the fairies at Knockgrafton, how his
hump had been removed from his shoulders, and how he had got a new suit of
clothes into the bargain.
The woman thanked him very much, and then went away quite happy and easy in
her own mind. When she came back to her gossip's house, in the county of
Waterford, she told her everything that Lusmore had said, and they put the
little hump-backed man, who was a peevish and cunning creature from his birth,
upon a car, and took him all the way across the country. It was a long journey,
but they did not care for that, so the hump was taken from off him; and they
brought him, just at nightfall, and left him under the old moat of Knockgrafton.
Jack Madden, for that was the humpy man's name, had not been sitting there
long when he heard the tune going on within the moat much sweeter than before;
for the fairies were singing it the way Lusmore had settled their music for
them, and the song was going on; Da Luan, Da Mort, Da Luan, Da Mort, Da Luan,
Da Mort, augus Da Cadine, without ever stopping. Jack Madden, who was in a
great hurry to get quit of his hump, never thought of waiting until the fairies
had done, or watching for a fit opportunity to raise the tune higher again than
Lusmore had; so having heard them sing it over seven times without stopping, out
he bawls, never minding the time or the humour of the tune, or how he could
bring his words in properly, augus Da Cadine, augus Da Hena, thinking
that if one day was good, two were better; and that if Lusmore had one new suit
of clothes given him, he should have two.
No sooner had the words passed his lips than he was taken up and whisked into
the moat with prodigious force; and the fairies came crowding round about him
with great anger, screeching, and screaming, and roaring out, "Who spoiled
our tune? who spoiled our tune?" and one stepped up to him, above all the
rest and said:
"Jack Madden! Jack Madden
And twenty of the strongest fairies brought Lusmore's hump and put it down
upon poor Jack's back, over his own, where it became fixed as firmly as if it
was nailed on with twelve-penny nails, by the best carpenter that ever drove
one. Out of their castle they then kicked him; and, in the morning, when Jack
Madden's mother and her gossip came to look after their little man, they found
him half dead, lying at the foot of the moat, with the other hump upon his back.
Well to be sure, how they did look at each other! but they were afraid to say
anything, lest a hump might be put upon their own shoulders. Home they brought
the unlucky Jack Madden with them, as downcast in their hearts and their looks
as ever two gossips were; and what through the weight of his other hump, and the
long journey, he died soon after, leaving they say his heavy curse to any one
who would go to listen to fairy tunes again.
Your words came so bad in
The tune we felt glad in;-
This castle you're had in,
That your life we may sadden
Here's two humps for Jack Madden!"
