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The Leprechauns are
merry, industrious, tricksy little sprites, who do all the
shoemaker's work and the tailor's and the cobbler's for the fairy
gentry, and are often seen at sunset under the hedge singing and
stitching. They know all the secrets of hidden treasure, and if they
take a fancy to a person will guide him him to the spot in the fairy
rath where the pot of gold lies buried. It is believed that a family
now living near Castlerea came by their riches in a strange way, all
though the good offices of a friendly Leprechaun. And the legend has
been handed down through many generations as an established fact.
There was a poor boy once, one of their forefathers, who used to
drive his cart of turf daily back and forward, and make what money
he could by the sale; but he was a strange boy, very silent and
moody, and the people said he was a fairy changeling, for he joined
in no sports and scarcely ever spoke to any one, but spent the nights
reading all the old bits of books he picked up in his rambles. The
one thing he longed for above all others was to get rich, and to be
able to give up the old weary turf cart, and live in peace and
quietness all alone, with nothing but books round him, in a beautiful
house and garden all by himself.
Now he had read in the old books how the Leprechauns knew all the
secret places where gold lay hid, and day by day he watched for a
sight of the little cobbler, and listened for the click, click of his
hammer, as he sat under the hedge mending the shoes.
At last, one evening just as the sun set, he saw a little fellow
under a dock leaf, working away, dressed all in green, with a cocked
hat on his head. So the boy jumped down from the cart and seized him
by the neck.
"Now, you don't stir from this," he cried, "till you tell me where
to find the hidden gold."
"Easy now," said the Leprechaun, "don't hurt me, and I will tell
you all about it. But mind you, I could hurt you if I chose, for I
have the power; but I won't do it, for we are cousins once removed.
So as we are near relations I'll just be good, and show you the place
of the secret gold that none can have or keep except those of fairy
blood and race. Come along with me, then, to the old fort of
Lipenshaw, for there it lies. But make haste, for when the last red
glow of the sun vanishes the gold will disappear also, and you will
never find it again."
"Come off, then," said the boy, and he carried the Leprechaun into
the turf cart, and drove off. In a second they were at the old fort,
and went in through a door made in the stone wall.
"Now, look round," said the Leprechaun; and the boy saw the whole
ground covered with gold pieces, and there were vessels of silver
lying about in such plenty that all the riches of all the world
seemed gathered there.
"Now take what you want," said the Leprechaun, "but hasten, for if
that door shuts you will never leave this place as long as you live."
So the boy gathered up his arms full of gold and silver, and flung
them into the cart, and was on his way back for more when the door
shut with a clap like thunder, and all the place became dark as
night. And he saw no more of the Leprechaun, and had not time even to
thank him.
So he thought it best to drive home at once with his treasure, and
when he arrived and was all alone by himself he counted his riches,
and all the bright yellow gold pieces, enough for a king's ransom.
And he was very wise and told no one; but went off next day to
Dublin and put all his treasures into the bank, and found that he
was now indeed as rich as a lord.
So he ordered a fine house to be build with spacious gardens,
and he had servants and carriages and books to his heart's content.
And he gathered all the wise men round him to give him the learning
of a gentleman; and he became a great and powerful man in the country,
where his memory is still held in high honor, and his descendants are
living to this day rich and prosperous; for their wealth has never
decreased though they have ever given largely to the poor, and are
noted above all things for the friendly heart and the liberal hand.