The Fairies' Dancing-place

: LAND AND WATER FAIRIES
: Irish Fairy Tales

BY WILLIAM CARLETON





Lanty M'Clusky had married a wife, and, of course, it was necessary to

have a house in which to keep her. Now, Lanty had taken a bit of a

farm, about six acres; but as there was no house on it, he resolved to

build one; and that it might be as comfortable as possible, he

selected for the site of it one of those beautiful green circles that

are supposed to be the play-grou d of the fairies. Lanty was warned

against this; but as he was a headstrong man, and not much given to

fear, he said he would not change such a pleasant situation for his

house to oblige all the fairies in Europe. He accordingly proceeded

with the building, which he finished off very neatly; and, as it is

usual on these occasions to give one's neighbours and friends a

house-warming, so, in compliance with this good and pleasant old

custom, Lanty having brought home the wife in the course of the day,

got a fiddler and a lot of whisky, and gave those who had come to see

him a dance in the evening. This was all very well, and the fun and

hilarity were proceeding briskly, when a noise was heard after night

had set in, like a crushing and straining of ribs and rafters on the

top of the house. The folks assembled all listened, and, without

doubt, there was nothing heard but crushing, and heaving, and pushing,

and groaning, and panting, as if a thousand little men were engaged

in pulling down the roof.



'Come,' said a voice which spoke in a tone of command, 'work hard: you

know we must have Lanty's house down before midnight.'



This was an unwelcome piece of intelligence to Lanty, who, finding

that his enemies were such as he could not cope with, walked out, and

addressed them as follows:



'Gintlemen, I humbly ax yer pardon for buildin' on any place belongin'

to you; but if you'll have the civilitude to let me alone this night,

I'll begin to pull down and remove the house to-morrow morning.'



This was followed by a noise like the clapping of a thousand tiny

little hands, and a shout of 'Bravo, Lanty! build half-way between the

two White-thorns above the boreen'; and after another hearty little

shout of exultation, there was a brisk rushing noise, and they were

heard no more.



The story, however, does not end here; for Lanty, when digging the

foundation of his new house, found the full of a kam[1] of gold: so

that in leaving to the fairies their play-ground, he became a richer

man than ever he otherwise would have been, had he never come in

contact with them at all.



[Footnote 1: Kam--a metal vessel in which the peasantry dip

rushlights.]