>> Sasha Dowdy: My
name is Sasha Dowdy.
I work here in the Young
[inaudible] Center.
So we are the place
[inaudible] under 16.
>> Under 16.
>> Sasha Dowdy: I don't
know many third graders
who are not -- who are under 16.
So this is the place
where you guys --
where you get to know a
little bit about history
that you can find in our
collection, a little bit
about [inaudible] and
services, all kind of fun stuff.
So today, I have my friend
from the American Folklife
Center with me today.
And American Folklife
Center is the place
in the library that's
been around for 42 years.
And it collects and documents
and shares tradition
and folklore.
So we have two people who are
going to tell you a little bit
about what that means in
the Library of Congress.
Their names are Jennifer
Cutting.
Jennifer is a folklife
specialist
at the American Folklife Center.
And Steve Winick.
And he's a writer-editor
in folklores.
And they're going to introduce
you to the library's collection.
And then we're going to
do some super fun stuff.
So let's get started.
>> Jennifer Cutting: So
did you guys eat a lot
of candy last night?
>> Yes.
>> Jennifer Cutting: I can tell.
I can tell.
What we're going to
give you, thanks to --
we're going to start
out with a song.
If everybody is nice and quiet,
we can learn the song together.
This is a song from
our collection
at the American Folklife Center.
And Steve is going to tell
you a little bit about it.
>> Stephen Winick: Well, this
is a song that was collected
in Ireland in the 1950s from
a singer named Seamus Ennis.
And he was a great
folklore [inaudible] singer
and collector and
played bagpipes.
He did all kinds of
[inaudible] stuff.
But one of the things he gave to
our archives here was this song,
which is all about a herring.
And it's about the
different parts of a herring
and what you can make out of it.
But of course, it's
a foolish song
because you can't really make
all these things out of --
>> Jennifer Cutting: Wait.
You guys check -- you guys
know what a herring is?
What is a herring?
>> That.
>> Stephen Winick:
It is not this.
>> Jennifer Cutting:
What kind of animal?
>> Stephen Winick:
This is not a herring.
>> Jennifer Cutting: What
kind of animal is a herring?
>> A herring is a bird.
>> Stephen Winick: You're
thinking of a herring.
So you're close.
>> Jennifer Cutting:
You're close.
>> A bunny?
>> Jennifer Cutting: No.
>> A fish?
>> Jennifer Cutting: A fish.
>> Stephen Winick: It's a fish.
>> Jennifer Cutting: Yay.
>> Stephen Winick: And
around Ireland and the coast
of Ireland, they fish
for herring quite a lot.
So people actually ate
this fish quite a lot.
Yeah?
>> My dad is, like,
from Ireland.
>> Stephen Winick: Excellent.
Well, so is Joe.
He's been a [inaudible].
And this song is from Ireland.
>> Jennifer Cutting:
And it goes like this.
I'm going to play it for
you once so you get the idea
in your head, how it sounds.
And then we're going
to have you sing along.
[ Music ]
Anybody know what
instrument I'm playing?
>> The trombone?
>> Jennifer Cutting: Okay.
Who else?
>> The accordion.
>> Jennifer Cutting:
That's right.
It's an accordion.
It's a button accordion.
It's a special kind
of recording,
and instead of piano
keys, it has buttons.
And the nickname for it is the
squeezebox because I squeeze.
And these were -- these
are very, very popular
in playing Irish
traditional music.
And they were around
from about 1850.
That's when people --
they were mass produced
and people could afford them.
Yes?
>> Not from this century.
>> Jennifer Cutting: Not
from this -- in the 1800s.
>> Not from this century.
>> Jennifer Cutting: Okay.
We're going to do this song.
So we teach you your part.
>> Stephen Winick: So your part
is going to be, I'll sing --
[ Singing ]
You'll sing --
[ Singing ]
>> Jennifer Cutting:
I think they're called
nonsense [inaudible].
They don't mean anything.
They just sound funny.
>> Stephen Winick: That's right.
>> Jennifer Cutting:
And then he sings again.
[ Singing ]
And he sings --
[ Singing ]
[ Applause ]
>> Stephen Winick: That
was the herring song.
>> Sasha Dowdy: Guys,
that was awesome.
Thank you so much
for singing along.
And how about a thank you
applause for Steve and Jennifer.
[ Applause ]
It's a magical thing
about all these places.
And you can find so many online
-- digital collections and songs
and pictures and stories
and all kinds of stuff.
So hopefully, check out.
So next up, we have a
special guest, Joe Brennan.
And he is from -- he's going to
give you some awesome stories.
So let me tell you about
him a little bit, okay?
So he's a storyteller.
Any of you guys storytellers?
>> No.
>> I can tell stories.
>> Sasha Dowdy: You
can tell stories.
I think a lot of
people can tell stories.
And he became a professional
storyteller.
He's also a writer.
And he grew up in Wexford.
And he now lives in
County Donegal in Ireland.
He's travelled all
over the world.
He's told lots of stories.
And he does workshop
with all kinds of people.
And he's been doing
it for 18 years.
Quite a while.
That's amazing.
He's written a really
[inaudible] children's play
called Starboy and
[inaudible] without words.
And that was featured
on Kids Euro Festival.
And today's performance is also
Kids Euro Festival 2018 feature,
which is really cool.
And he is the author of Donegal
Folktales, which he's going
to tell you a little bit about.
So how about we welcome
Joe Brennan.
[ Applause ]
>> Joe Brennan: Okay.
Thank you very much.
So Halloween was yesterday.
But this story is kind
of related to Halloween.
And it's from a man
called Dunvin McGuire.
And Dunvin McGuire lived a long
time ago, hundreds of years ago
in Ireland in a place
called County Fermanagh.
And he was the leader
of a great clan.
And he was very strong
and very powerful.
And one thing that he was
very proud of was the fact
that he was great with horses.
He could ride horses.
He could train horses.
And he could even heal horses.
He would gather horses around
him, and they would come up,
and they would practically
talk to him.
He was so talented with horses.
Now because of this, he
was very proud of himself.
And he liked to show off
how good he was with horses.
So one day, he decided that
he would go out into the hills
and capture a wild horse
and bring it back
and train that horse.
And he promised that
within five days,
that horse would be
eating out of his hand.
Well, he gathered up some of
his men, and off they went
out into the wild hills.
And they moved quietly but
swiftly along by the edges,
looking this way and
looking that way.
Then suddenly, Dunvic
McGuire raised a hand
and said, "Be quiet."
And they all crouched down.
And they looked around,
wondering what
or where was the horse that
Dunvin McGuire had spotted.
And one of his men said,
"Where is it, Dun?"
He said, "It's over there.
Look in the corner
of the field."
And they all looked at
the corner of the field.
And there was a stand
of oak trees.
And you know what they
saw among the oak trees?
>> A voice.
>> A voice.
>> Joe Brennan: Nothing.
They looked at each other.
"What's he looking at?
Where is it," they
said, "Dunvin?"
"It's there," he said.
"It's beautiful.
It's a white horse, and it
shimmers in the sunlight."
And then suddenly Dunvin
McGuire said, "Quick.
It's awake."
And they started to --
he started to run after
because the white horse was
galloping away.
Now the men looked
at each other,
and they wondered
what is he looking at?
What's happening?
The thing is Dunvin
McGuire could see a horse.
And it was a beautiful
white horse.
But the others could
not see that horse.
And the reason for this was that
horse was an enchanted horse --
a horse that had been
sent by the fairy folk
to lure Dunvin McGuire
into the fairy world.
And that's the only reason he
could see it and nobody else.
But Dunvin McGuire ran across
the fields as fast as he could,
trying to keep up
with the horse,
determined that he
was going to catch it.
His men, although
they were confused
and wondered what was
happening, they ran on as well.
But they couldn't keep
up with the horse,
and they couldn't keep
up with Dunvin McGuire.
The horse galloped on and on,
and Dunvin McGuire
kept on running.
He looked back to see
if his men were coming.
He could see them
in the distance.
But he wanted to
catch the horse.
The horse started to move
and gallop up a hill.
It climbed higher and higher.
And so too did Dunvin McGuire.
And suddenly, he lost
view of the horse.
And he ran even faster.
And when he came to the
crest of the hill, there,
the horse had disappeared.
But in front of him was a
large, dark, black cave.
And he could hear the horse.
He could hear the horse
galloping deeper and deeper
under the ground, deeper
and deeper into that cave.
So Dunvin looked back.
And his men were at
the bottom of the hill.
He didn't want to lose sight.
Well, at this stage,
he had lost sight.
But he wanted to keep
the horse in earshot.
So he plunged on
into the dark cave.
And he went down
deeper and deeper
and deeper under the grounds.
He ran on and ran on.
And he knew -- he knew
that there was danger,
the possibility of
danger in this cavern.
But he was determined
to catch the horse.
And as he ran, every so
often, he threw his eyes
over his shoulder so he
could see the daylight
above him to reassure him.
And on and on, he plunged
till all of a sudden,
he came to a sudden stop.
He could no longer
hear the horse's hoops.
And he listened carefully.
And all he could hear in that
cavern was his ragged breath.
And as his breath calmed,
he took a deep gulp.
And he listened.
And the horse, it seemed, had
disappeared into thin air.
He looked around.
He couldn't see anything,
except the black gloom.
And then he turned
and looked back
up to see where the sky was.
But he couldn't see anything.
It was black.
He couldn't understand.
He had only looked
back a short time ago.
And he could see the sky.
So he put his hands
out, and he ran forward.
And suddenly, he was stopped
by a solid stone wall.
He ran his hands along the
wall, trying to find the gap
that he had come through.
But he couldn't find any gap.
Somehow, the rock had rolled
behind him, and he was trapped.
He was trapped under the ground.
And now he realized --
now he realized that
he had been a fool.
He had been tricked.
He had been lured here.
He wasn't quite sure by who.
And he stood there, trying to
figure out how he was going
to escape from this
underground cavern.
A dangerous place to be
trapped is underground.
There's many ways
out, but many ways
to be trapped and
to disappeared.
And as he stood there trying
to figure this out, suddenly,
he heard -- but he could
hear a splashing noise.
And the splashing noise
had a rhythm to it.
And he realized that
it was the sound
of oars being pulled
through the water.
And then in the distance,
in the far-off distance,
he could see a light.
And the light came closer
and closer and closer.
And eventually, the light
was strong enough to show
that it was on the
front of a small boat.
And sitting in the boat were two
small men, pulling on the oars.
And standing at the front
of the boat was the king
of the fairies himself.
And when the king, right
towards Dunvin McGuire,
the king of the fairies
called out, "Dunvin McGuire.
You're welcome.
You're welcome.
You're a hundred times
welcome to our world."
And Dunvin McGuire
knew his manners.
And he took off his
hat, and he bowed
to the king of the fairies.
And he says, "It's a
pleasure to be here, king."
And the king said,
"Come on to the boat."
And Dunvin McGuire
climbed into the boat.
And the men pulled on
the oars and brought him
across that underground lake
all the way to the fairy world.
And there, as they approached,
there was music and dance.
And there was laughter.
And there was a great
party in progress.
And he could hear the
music and the dancing.
And the lights were twinkling
to light up the party.
But when they saw
the boat coming,
all the fairies stopped
their merriment.
And they came to the shore.
And they called out as
one, "Dunvin McGuire.
You're welcome.
You're welcome.
You're a hundred times
welcome to our world."
And Dunvin McGuire jumped
off the boat and he joined
in the celebrations
and the great party.
And the music was wonderful.
The dancing was wonderful.
And the food was incredible.
And that all went on
for days and days.
And Dunvin McGuire
was enjoying himself.
But even the best of parties --
but even the best of parties
get tiresome after a while.
And eventually, Dunvin McGuire,
he had had enough of this party.
And he wanted to go home.
He wanted to be above the ground
where he could feel the sun
on his face, the
wind in his hair
and even the rain
washing over him.
He wanted to be back
with his own people.
And he sat in the corner,
and he was very unhappy.
And I have to tell you, the
fairies don't like looking
at people who are unhappy.
And the king of the fairies
says to him, "Dunvin McGuire,
what's wrong with you?
You have a face on you there
that would turn milk sour."
"Oh," he said, "look, I want
to go back to my own world."
He says, "What is the problem?
Do you not like our
welcome here?"
Oh, he said, "The
welcome was wonderful."
"Is our food not good enough?"
"The food is amazing."
"The music then.
Is there a problem
with our music?"
"Oh no, king," he said.
"Everybody knows that fairy
music is the best music."
"Well, is it the dancing that
doesn't meet your approval?"
"No," he said.
"The dancing is wonderful.
I just want to be back
with my own people.
I want to feel the
wind in my hair.
I want to feel the
sun on my face,
even the rain washing over me.
I want to ride on my
horse across the land."
The king of the fairies
just laughed.
He said, "You want
to go back up there?
But why? Why would
you want to go back?"
"It's my home," he said.
"It's my family."
And he looked at Dunvin
McGuire, and he said,
"How long do you think you've
been here, Dunvin McGuire."
Well, he said, "Maybe four days.
Maybe five."
He laughed loudly.
"Five days?"
He says, "No.
You've been here 100 years."
He said that can't be possible.
No, he said that's impossible.
He said, "Look, sir,
I haven't aged a day."
"Ha," said the king
of the fairies.
"That's the gift of our world.
Time here runs very slowly.
It's very different
from your world.
You stay here, you'll
stay young forever.
Your world, as you knew
it, well, it's gone.
Your family is gone.
Your people are gone.
All has changed [inaudible]
there.
You do not want to
go back there."
When Dunvin McGuire heard
this, well, he was very sad.
And he couldn't believe
it in parts.
And eventually, the king
of the fairies was so fed
up with looking at him.
He says to him, "Okay.
Tomorrow is Halloween.
And because of that,
we are allowed wander
freely in the world.
So you can take the copper
bone on that white horse
that we sent to trick you.
And you can ride
the copper bone back
into your own world
and see for yourself.
You can see what it's like.
You can feel the wind
in your hair and the sun
in your face and the rain.
Then you'll come back to
us at the end of the day.
And the next day, he
jumped on the horse,
and he rode up the way
up and through Fermanagh.
And he rode all the
places he thought he knew,
and everything was changed.
The world had changed so much.
All of his family were gone.
All of the people he
knew and all the houses
and [inaudible] had all gone.
He couldn't believe it.
He couldn't believe that he
had been gone for so long.
And he wondered if
people would even know
who Dunvin McGuire was.
But nobody knew the name.
And he went back
to the fairy world.
And he made the most
of his life there.
But every year, on
Halloween, he still comes up.
And sometimes, the
fairies will say to him,
"We have a job for you."
And that job usually
means they want somebody.
They want a young
man or a young woman.
And they want him brought
down to the fairy world.
Maybe they're good at music.
Maybe they're a good
dancer or a good singer.
And they want them to
come and entertain them.
And if that is the case,
then Dunvin McGuire
will look for them.
And all they have --
Dunvin McGuire has to do
is look into her eyes.
And once he does that,
they have to come with him.
And when people started
to disappear at Halloween,
people knew the fairies
were up to something.
And they realized that
whatever it was that had to do
with that white horse and
the man on the white horse.
So people, when they
would hear a horse coming,
they would turn their eyes away.
And they would not
look up at the rider.
And some people would
take a branch
of a tree called a roan
tree and a mountain ash.
It's called a mountain ash.
And the roan tree has
got red berries on it.
And they'd put that
over their door.
That breaks the power
of the fairies.
And that would protect them.
And to this day,
people still do that.
And Halloween is one of two
nights that the fairy folk
in Ireland can come
and walk around us.
That is why the tradition
of dressing up
and disguising yourself started,
because if you dressed up
and disguised yourself, well,
then the fairies
wouldn't know who you are.
They pass on by, and you'd
be safe for another year.
But if they came along
and they could see you
and they wanted you,
then they took you away.
And that's the story of Dunvin
McGuire and the fairy folk.
Thank you.
[ Applause ]
Okay. We'll take a couple of
quick questions, all right?
Yes. You had your hand up first.
>> Did you write that story?
>> Joe Brennan: Did
I write that story?
No. Okay. Did you
hear that question?
I was asked did I
write that story.
That story is a folktale.
Okay? And a folktale is
a story that was made
up hundreds of years ago.
And people didn't
write back then
because people didn't
know how to write.
But they made them
up in their head.
And they told the
stories to each other.
And they were told
to the next people.
And they would tell
it to the children.
Then the children will
tell it to their children.
And it was passed on for
years and years and years.
And it's only maybe
in the last --
well, maybe last hundred years
that those stories have
started to be collected.
And that's what the
folklore department does.
They collect up those
stories that people knew.
And they recorded them.
And now we have them
written down.
They weren't down
until recently.
So no, it's not my story.
But it's been around
a long time.
Let's get another -- we'll
take a few questions.
And then we'll have
another story.
And then we'll have
more questions.
So yeah, this boy here.
Just wait now.
>> Is it a true story?
>> Joe Brennan: Is it --
>> Is it a true story?
>> Joe Brennan: True story.
Whoa. I don't know.
Do you think it's true?
>> No.
>> Yeah, I think it's true.
>> Joe Brennan: Okay.
Well, I'll tell you.
I have met people, older
people, who say they met fairies
in their time, that they'd
meet them at the well
when people had to
go to the water.
So I don't know.
Maybe it's true.
But there's certainly
something we can learn from it.
Yeah. This girl here.
>> So last [inaudible]
at school, I was talking
to my mom [inaudible] I was
allowed to go to my classroom.
And the fairy came to me.
>> Joe Brennan: Oh.
Well, you see, maybe the
fairies don't come to America.
Maybe. But you see,
the fairies in Ireland,
you know the way you see books
now and you'll see pictures
on TV, fairies and their
wings like Tinkerbell,
the fairies in Ireland
are not like that.
The fairies in Ireland
were small people who lived
in Ireland till they -- new
people came, big people.
And then they have to
live under the ground.
So they're not nice.
They're horrible.
And they're nasty.
So they're very different
from the fairies
that you'd have here.
Yeah. Yeah, this girl here.
Oh.
>> How do you know fairies are
[inaudible] change [inaudible]
what's going on in Ireland?
>> Joe Brennan: Because people
would have had encounters
with the fairies.
And they would have told the
stories of what happened.
And then they told
them to somebody else.
And then they would tell
them to somebody else.
They were passed down from --
if you imagine your
grandmother telling your mother,
and your mother telling you, and
then you telling your children,
and they tell their children.
And it gets passed down
for hundreds of years.
So that's how we get
to know the stories.
So this girl here.
[ Inaudible ]
The stories have -- yeah,
the stories have been passed
down for hundreds of years.
Many hundreds of years.
Yeah? Okay.
We'll have another story, and
then we'll have more questions.
Okay? I'm going to
tell you another story.
No. Story first, and then
we'll have questions.
Okay? So -- because if
not, we'll have no stories,
and it'll be all questions.
And I know you've got
loads of questions,
and I love answering questions.
But I want you to have
some stories as well.
So this story -- well, this
story has a witch in it.
And witches in Ireland, I
have to tell you, again,
are a bit different from
the witches you're thinking
of because witches in
Ireland are like --
well, they're pretty
ordinary looking people.
But do you know how they
disguise themselves?
They disguise themselves
as hares.
And you know what a hare is?
Yeah?
>> A horse.
>> Joe Brennan: No.
Not a horse.
>> A fish.
>> Joe Brennan: Not a fish.
>> A bunny.
>> Joe Brennan: It's like
a rabbit, but bigger.
Okay? So it's -- yeah.
So it looks a bit like a rabbit,
but it's a bigger
animal and very fast.
>> A bear?
>> Joe Brennan: No, not a bear.
It's only about this size.
>> A cheetah?
>> Joe Brennan: No, no.
It's --
>> A rabbit.
>> Joe Brennan: It
looks like a rabbit,
but it's just a little
bit bigger
and much faster than a rabbit.
That's all.
That's what a hare is.
>> A [inaudible] hair?
>> Joe Brennan: No.
No. Listen.
Listen, listen, listen, listen.
Shush. Listen carefully.
A hare is just like a rabbit,
except it's a bit bigger.
It's got bigger legs
at the back,
but it's only about this size.
So it's just like that.
>> Like a giant.
>> Joe Brennan: Well, no.
>> [inaudible] a giant, but
they're just like this size.
So that's a giant too.
>> Joe Brennan: Maybe.
Well, anyway, let's
have the story.
And this story, I was told
by a man who used to come
about when I was a kid,
when I was about your age.
This man would come to
our street on his bicycle.
And what he did was he came,
and he would sharpen the knives
for your house, you know.
The knives that you needed
for chopping up the food.
And he would use his bicycle,
and he would peddle on it.
And he had a stone on it.
And he would sharpen
the knife for you.
And he travelled all
over the country.
And he told us this story
that when he was a kid,
in the village where he lived,
that there was a tailor.
Now a tailor is somebody
who makes clothes.
And this tailor was
a travelling tailor.
He would come around
once a year.
And all the people would come.
And he would make
clothes for them.
This man -- let me tell
you about this man first.
One day, they noticed
that on the back
of his neck, there wasn't hair.
But there was grey fur.
And they thought,
"What is going on?"
And this is how he
got that grey fur.
As I said, he travelled
all through Ireland.
And there was one place that
he went to, and he stayed
with this family every year.
And he had known the man for
years and years and years,
long before he ever got married.
And when he got married,
his wife was very friendly.
But there was something
about her that the man,
the tailor, didn't like.
There was something a bit
strange about this woman.
And every year, he would come.
She always made him
welcome, made him lovely food
and gave him a hot bath.
Then one year, he
came to that village.
And when he came, he
had sadness in his heart
because he had heard
that the man --
well, his friend had died.
And he was very sad that
he wouldn't see him.
And as he was coming
to the village,
he wondered if he could still
stay in the man's house.
And when he arrived,
there was the woman.
And she waved.
She said, "Tailor,
you're welcome.
Come, come, please.
Stay here.
Stay here with me as usual."
And the tailor said,
"I'm sorry for your loss.
Your husband was a good
man and a good friend."
He said, "I know.
He was a great man.
And he was a good friend to you.
And you were always
a good friend to him.
Come, come."
And she sat him down
at the table,
and there was a big
feast [inaudible].
And he filled his
belly with food.
And after walking a long
distance, he was tired.
And he said, I'm
going away to bed now.
Goodnight.
And off he went up, and
he fell fast asleep.
But he was awoken
suddenly the next morning.
He was awoken by
a strange sound.
It was a scraping sound
that went [scraping sound].
And then he heard a splash.
Then he heard footprints.
And he heard a door.
And then there was silence.
And he lay in the bed,
wondering what was happening.
What was going on downstairs?
And he was nervous.
He didn't like the sound
of what was happening.
It was very early, and he didn't
want to disturb the woman.
He was also very curious.
And he laid there, trying to
imagine what were those sounds?
What could it be?
What could it be?
And eventually, he got up
the courage to take a peek.
He got out of the bed very
carefully and very quietly.
He went to the door.
He lift the latch and opened it.
Didn't make a sound.
And then he came out.
And he looked down the stairs.
And there he could
see a large tin bath,
like a bath in your
house, like a big basin.
And it had kind of
milky colored water.
And he wondered what
could it be?
And he was about to start
walking down the stairs
when suddenly, the front
door and the door opened.
He ran back into his bedroom and
pretended that he was asleep.
The woman called.
"Your breakfast is
ready, tailor."
And he came down.
And when he came down,
he looked all around.
And he couldn't see anything.
He could see a slight
scrape on the ground.
And he could see wet footprints.
But that was it.
Well, he just sat and
ate his breakfast.
And that day, he
worked on making clothes
for people all day long.
But he was determined to
find out what was happening.
The next morning, he woke early.
He woke early, and he listened.
And he heard the water.
He heard the scrape of the bath.
Then he heard splash.
And he heard footprints
and disappeared.
And now he was curious.
What was going on?
He moved over to the door
carefully, and he listened.
There was no sound.
And then he [inaudible] back
the door, and he peeked down.
And there was the bath of water.
It was still there.
And he wondered what
was going on.
And he started to
creep down the stairs.
And when he was just
halfway down, suddenly,
he heard footsteps
at the door again.
And he ran back up, but this
time, he didn't go into the room
because he wanted to
see what was happening.
He hid himself against the wall.
And he peeked down.
And then he saw.
He couldn't believe it,
because in came a hare.
And the hare jumped
into the tub of water.
And out from the tub of
water jumped the woman.
Well, now he knew
what was happening.
He knew. He knew why he always
felt strange about that woman.
She was a witch.
And she was going about her
business in the local area
by disguising herself as a hare.
And hares would do that.
And they would come, and
they would steal the milk
and the eggs from
other people's farms.
Well, now he knew he
had to tell people.
He had to warn them
of what was going on.
But he needed to find out more.
So he went back into bed and
pretended that he was asleep.
The next morning,
he got up early,
and he was ready this time.
He heard the scrape of water.
He heard a splash.
And he heard a woman jump out.
And he could hear
the footprints.
And what did he do?
Well, he ran down the
stairs, and he jumped
into the tub of water.
And he turned into a hare.
And he jumped out,
and he followed her
out off [inaudible] the fields.
He watched as the
hare went running
up the edge of the field.
And he kept back but travelled
on after him, up and up and up,
into a stand of trees
and into a clearing.
When he came into that clearing,
he couldn't believe it,
because there in the clearing,
were hundreds of hares.
All the witches gathered
in one place.
But he watched very carefully,
waited to see what
was going to happen.
And then the biggest of the
hares stood up and said,
"We have an impostor."
And they all froze.
And they all turned and looked.
And they looked straight
at the man
who was now disguised as a hare.
Well, he was terrified.
He ran off as fast as he could
because he thought what
would they do to him?
They would surely kill him.
He ran down through the
fields as fast as he could.
And the woman who he had
stayed in the house with,
she came running after him,
determined to catch him.
And she came running
as fast as she could.
And the man ran into the house.
He jumped into the tub of
water and jumped back out.
And he was back in
his human form.
He ran up the stairs,
into his room,
barred the door behind him,
gathered his belongings
and jumped out through the
top window and scurried
down the drainpipe and
ran off up the road.
And just as he was running up
the road, he heard, "Tailor."
And he turned around.
And there was the
woman, the witch.
And she was looking at him,
saying, "I'll get you for this."
And he ran on as
fast as he could,
determined that the witch
wasn't going to get him.
And where did he go?
Well, he went running
into the other houses.
He went running to the other
houses to tell all the people
in the area that the woman
was, in fact, a witch.
He felt bad, but
people had to know.
And then they realized
why all their milks
and their eggs had been
disappearing and being stolen.
And they all went to the house
to make sure that the witch --
went to catch her
and get rid of her.
And when they got there, of
course, she was already gone.
She was never seen again, at
least, not in her human form.
And people would watch the
land for any hares, watch out,
because they would want
to get rid of them.
Well, the man moved
on, the tailor.
And he went about his business,
travelling from place to place.
The next town he came to
was the town where the man
that I was talking to lived.
And he was only a small child.
And of course, when
the tailor came,
there was lots of excitement.
People would gather
around because the tailor
would bring lots of news
from all around the country.
And as he was walking
along, the boys and girls,
they sat at a point and stared.
They said, "Look at his neck."
And they asked him, "What
happened to your neck?"
And the tailor said, "My neck?
What about it?"
He said, "You've got fur
on the back of your neck."
And he put his hand up, and he
could feel the line of grey fur.
And that line of grey fur got
there because he had jumped
out of the bath of water just
a little bit too quickly.
And he was left with
the fur, the hair --
the fur from the hair for the
rest of his life to remind him
of his encounter
with the witches.
And that's the story.
[ Applause ]
Another -- all right.
We'll have another
couple of questions.
And then we'll go back there.
Look, this girl right here.
Just wait.
[inaudible].
>> So that story is good,
but I don't see why the
witches [inaudible].
[ Inaudible ]
>> Joe Brennan: Well, when he
jumped into that tub of water,
the bath of water, he
changed into a hare.
And then when he jumped --
did it again, he should have
turned fully into a mad.
But he jumped too quick, so
he had a bit left behind.
Yeah? That make sense?
Okay. This boy here.
>> How is jumping into a tub and
turning into a hare possible?
>> Joe Brennan: Well, witches
are magic, aren't they?
And obviously, the water had
some sort of magic in it.
Yeah? I guess.
Okay. This boy here.
>> How --
But how did --
So that hair on his
back, was that a reminder
to let him know that
whenever he --
[ Inaudible ]
>> Joe Brennan: Yeah.
Yeah. Because he would have
that forever, wouldn't he,
to remind him of what
had happened that day.
Yeah. This boy here.
>> So if the witches are
witches, then why didn't melt
when they went into the water?
Because witches, like, melt
when they go in the water.
>> Joe Brennan: Oh,
yeah, you see,
Irish witches, they're
different.
Yeah? So witches are
different parts of the worlds
and different things
happen to them.
Yeah. So the witches in
Ireland don't melt in water.
No they don't.
>> They can melt in water.
Everybody melts in water.
>> Joe Brennan: Well,
yeah, maybe.
Maybe. This girl here.
[ Inaudible ]
Did any of my family
tell me these stories?
>> Have they been in it?
>> Joe Brennan: Have
they been in the stories?
Is that what you said?
Yeah? No. No.
I don't think so.
I know my dad would have --
I remember my dad telling me
stories about the banshee.
Have you ever heard
of the banshee?
>> No.
>> No.
>> Joe Brennan: No?
Yeah. The banshee
is a wild woman.
She's kind of, like, a
fairy woman, but she's --
she comes to warn that
somebody is going to die.
And she would be
heard sometimes.
I've never heard her,
but he heard her.
Yeah. So he would have
been part of that story.
Okay. One more question
for this girl here.
And then we'll have
another story.
>> How did you know this story?
>> Joe Brennan: How
do I know the story?
Oh, really good question.
Everybody hear that question?
How do I know these stories?
So I know these stories
because four of us went around
and collected them
off of people.
So people would have told
these stories in their homes.
Do you know where you watch TV
now and YouTube and all that?
Well, before any of that,
and people didn't
even have electricity,
they told each other stories.
That was their entertainment.
And then people went around,
like was mentioned,
Seamus Ennis.
And he collected
stories off people.
And they wrote them down.
And then there was a
folklore collection.
So I can look in the
folklore collection
and find these stories.
And some of the stories,
I would learn from people.
People still tell the stories.
Some stories, I make up.
And yeah, so that's
where they come from.
Okay. No, I got to
tell you another story,
and then we'll have
some more questions.
How are we doing for time?
About 10 minutes.
Okay. So. What I'll tell you --
no [inaudible] tell
you this story.
This is another story
about the fairies.
And one thing fairies in Ireland
are famous for is having gold.
And if you could catch a fairy,
you might be able
to get that gold.
But there's two things
you have to know.
Just a second.
Two things you have to know
if you ever do catch a fairy.
The first thing is in
order to hold on to it,
you have to look into its eyes.
And if you stop looking
into its eyes, disappears.
So remember that.
Keep looking into its eyes and
then you can hold on to it.
The other thing is
that the fairies have
to tell you the truth.
If you ask them a
question and you have them,
they have to tell you the truth.
Well -- just a sec.
There was this man,
and his name was Tom.
And Tom loved parties.
He loved dancing, and
he loved playing music.
And he lived on a farm,
but he was a lazy farmer.
And he did no work.
And because he did no work,
his fields were full of weeds.
And one night, he
was heading off
into the local town
to go to a dance.
And he was walking along,
and there was a big
full moon in the sky.
And he was whistling
a tune to himself.
But then as he came along,
he could hear this little
tapping noise, a bit like a --
[ Tapping Noise ]
And he stopped.
And he listened.
And he wondered, "What
could be making that noise?"
He knew it couldn't be a bird.
An animal that [inaudible]
the night?
No. And then he went over
to the ditch, to the hedge.
And he spread back the
leaves, and he looked in.
And there inside, he
saw a little fairy man.
And you know what the
fairy man was doing?
He was making a pair of shoes.
Well, Tom thought to himself,
if I can catch him,
he'll have gold.
And I'll be rich.
So he rolled up his
sleeves, and he turned back.
He pulled back the leaves,
and he shot his hand in
and caught the little fairy.
And the little fairy
murmurs, "Let me go.
Let me go.
Let me go.
Let me go."
And Tom said, "Oh, I'm
not letting you go.
I'm not letting you
go until you tell me
where you bag of gold is."
"I don't have a bag
of gold," he said.
"Now you have to
tell me the truth.
You tell me where the bag
of gold is, and it's mine."
"Oh," said the fairy man.
"It's over in that
field over there."
And Tom was about to
look over at the field
when he remembered --
what did he need to do?
>> Look him in the eye.
>> Joe Brennan: Keep
looking in his eyes.
Oh, he said, "You don't trick
me like that, little fairy man.
Let's go."
And he carried him over,
keeping him in his eyes.
And they climbed into the field.
Now he said, "Exactly
where is the gold?"
"It's right under
your foot there."
"Right under my foot here?"
"Yes," he said.
And he said, "Oh, do
I have to dig it up?"
He said, "Yeah, you
have to dig it up."
Oh, he said, "I'll
have to get a shovel."
He said, "You will."
"Do you have a shovel?"
he said to the fairy.
And the fairy said, "No,
I don't have a shovel.
I make shoes."
Oh, he said, "Now you're
trying to trick me.
If I go back to my farm and get
a shovel, you'll move the gold."
"Oh, no," said the fairy man.
"No, no, no.
The gold, it stays there.
You have until the sun comes
up in the morning to dig it up.
And once you dig it up before
the sun rises, it's yours.
But if you don't find it
before the sun comes up, well,
then, it will be mine.
And I'll take it away."
Oh, he said, "Okay.
Grabbed." And he let
the fairy man go.
And he was just about to move
when he remembered how
would he ever remember
that this was the spot?
And then he realized
there was a big,
tall weed growing
up on the spot.
And he thought, oh, okay.
I come back, and I
dig under that weed.
But then he looked
around, and of course,
the field was covered in weeds.
"Oh, no," he said.
"I'll never remember
which weed it's under."
But then he remembered he had
a red scarf in his pocket.
And he pulled out the red scarf,
and he tied it around the weed,
the hogweed that he would come
back and find the gold under.
And he went off up the
road, happy as anything.
He was skipping all
the way home.
He got the shovel.
He came all the way back.
He jumped into the field.
He saw the big weed
with the red scarf.
And he started digging.
And he was digging and digging
and digging and digging,
digging all night long.
He didn't even feel
the time gone past
because all he was thinking
about, "I'm going to be rich.
I'm going to be rich."
And he was digging and
digging and digging
and digging till
eventually, he was worn out.
And he looked up.
"Oh no," he cried, because
there in the sky was the sun.
He had been digging
all night long,
and he still hadn't
found the gold.
Well, he threw down the
shovel in anger and he says,
"That fairy tricked me."
And he climbed up out of the
hole, and then he realized
that the fairy had tricked him.
He hadn't moved the gold.
But how had he tricked him?
Well, as he looked around the
field, at all those weeds,
every single one of them had
a red silk scarf tied unto it.
And what had he done?
He had dug on the wrong
-- under the wrong weed.
So the fairy had tricked him.
He hadn't moved the gold,
but he had put a red scarf
on every one of the weeds.
And he climbed out of the
fields, and he started
to walk up the road home.
And as he was walking along,
he heard a tiny little
voice going [laughter].
And he knew -- who was it?
>> The fairy.
>> Joe Brennan: The fairy.
The fairy who had outsmarted
him and tricked him.
And he realized after that
that he was never going
to get anything for free.
And he was never going
to outsmart a fairy.
So he went home.
And he started working
on his farm.
And he got rid of all the weeds.
And that's the story.
Thank you.
[ Applause ]
So let's have another
few questions.
And I'd love to tell you one
more story if we have time.
Well, we have a story
or questions?
Well, you've got
loads of questions.
Story or questions?
All right.
Okay. Let's have -- let's
have two quick questions.
One from this girl here.
And one from that boy there.
Oh on. Yeah.
And then this girl as well.
Yeah. You had your
hands up two times.
Listen now.
[ Inaudible ]
What was the --
>> What was the fairy?
>> Joe Brennan: Where
was the fairy?
>> What was the fairy doing?
>> Joe Brennan: What
was the fairy doing?
Making shoes.
>> But not like that.
Like --
[ Inaudible ]
>> Joe Brennan: Oh,
he was pranking him?
Yeah, well, he outsmarted
him, didn't he?
Yeah. He did prank him.
So this boy here.
Yeah.
[ Inaudible ]
Oh, do you know how he
-- well, I'll tell you.
He was obsessed.
All he wanted to
do was get gold.
And sometimes, when people
get obsessed with things,
they just go, go, go, go.
And they don't stop.
And they don't think.
He didn't think because he
just jumped in the field,
he saw the first weed
and started digging.
If he had stopped to think about
it, he might have realized,
whoa, I'm in the wrong place.
So when people get obsessed
with things, that takes up.
This girl here, you
had a question.
[ Inaudible ]
How did he not know the
fairy was lying to him?
Because he was looking
in his eyes.
You see, the fairy
didn't lie to him.
He told him the truth.
He told him their
gold was there.
You have to get it
before the morning.
But then once he left, the
fairy [inaudible] the scarves
all around.
So he never lied to him.
But he did trick him.
So there is a difference.
Yeah? It's a little
bit different,
but there is a difference.
Okay. Well, I got to
tell you one more story.
Right? I'm going to make
this kind of a quick one.
I'll make it quick.
So where I grew up in County
Wexford is a big old house.
And this house, we
used to see it as kids,
and we were terrified
to go near this house
because of this story.
And this is a story that
my dad would have told me.
And the reason we were afraid
of this house because once,
there was a big party
in this house.
Listen. And it's
called Loftus Hall.
And they loved having
parties there.
And everybody would
come for the party.
And everybody would
gather in the main room.
And they would eat beautiful
food, and they would chat.
The thing is this is down in a
place called the Hook Peninsula.
And the Hook Peninsula
is very --
has the oldest lighthouse in
the world at the bottom of it
because lots of ships
drown there.
And lots of sailors
were drowning.
And people said it was
a very scary wild place.
And when the wind was blowing,
it sounded like the voices
of those sailors
shouting out for help
as they drowned in
the cold nights.
Well, on this night, the
wind started to howl.
And people started
to feel a bit kind
of uncomfortable and shivery.
And you know when the wind
finds a crack and it makes all
that howling noise, and they
started to feel a bit scared.
But the man of the
house taught them, said,
"Let's enjoy ourselves and
forget about what's outside."
And everybody started to chat.
But then a short time later,
there was a loud
knock on the door.
And the door was open.
And when the door was open,
there was standing
a tall young man.
He had a hash and a
cloak, and he was soaked.
And Tottenham looked and
said, "Does anybody know him?"
And they said no.
Well, he said, "Gentleman,
he's welcome."
And he came.
And he joined in the party.
And within a short time,
everybody there was
listening to him.
He had wonderful
stories to tell.
He had travelled
all over the world.
And the one person
that was listening
to him the most was Anne.
And Anne was Tottenham's
daughter.
And she was beautiful.
She was said to be the
most beautiful woman
in the whole of Ireland.
But she knew it.
Whenever any of the men would
ask her to dance or even
to get married, she would
just go, "I'm too good
for you," and walk away.
But the stranger was different.
Oh, he was handsome.
And she looked at him.
And she listened to
every word he had to say.
And then in those days,
people went into different
[inaudible] houses.
Then they went into
the dining --
or into the ballroom
where they would dance
and sing songs around the piano.
Others went into
the front parlor.
And there in the front
parlor was a round table
with 12 chairs around it.
And in there went Tottenham.
In there went a stranger.
And in there went Anne along
with some of the other guests.
And they sat around that table
for a long time, playing cards
and gambling late
into the night.
And at about 3 o'clock
in the morning,
Tottenham, he was tired.
And he got up.
And he excused himself,
and he said goodnight
to all the guests.
And he went over, and he gave
Anne a kiss on the cheek.
And he left the room.
And he headed off up the stairs.
And he was happy with himself
because it had been
a wonderful party.
And everybody was
having a great time.
And everybody was laughing
and enjoying themselves.
[inaudible] his foot
landed on the top step
of the wooden staircase when
suddenly, he heard a scream.
"Father!" He went running back
downstairs as fast as he could.
And he went into the room
because he knew it was Anne,
and something was wrong.
He ran into the room,
and there, everybody sat
with their mouths hanging
open, staring up at the roof.
And there in the roof
was a hole in the roof
with the rain pouring in.
"What has happened in here?"
[inaudible] Tottenham.
And nobody could speak.
They were all terrified.
And he shook Anne and said,
"Anne, what happened?"
And she pointed across, and she
said, "It was him," pointing
to the empty chair where the
stranger had been sitting.
She said, "I dropped
the card to the ground.
And when I bent down to
pick it up, I looked across.
And there, I couldn't
see the feet of a human.
Instead, I saw the cloven
hoof of the devil himself."
And when she called out
for help, he jumped up out
of the chair, out through
the roof and disappeared.
Well, now everybody came,
and they heard this.
And they all decided to
leave the house there
and then that night.
And poor Anne, she was
so upset and terrified
by what had happened,
she went to her room.
And she was never
again seen in public.
And the family moved
away from that house
because they said it
was haunted, possessed.
Every time they tried to fix the
roof, the hole would come back.
And the house was sold on
and sold on and sold on.
And when I was a young boy,
maybe a little bit older
than you guys, we
used to go down there
at nighttime to go fishing.
But we were afraid
to go near the house.
And sometimes, we'd see
lights in the windows
and wonder what was going on.
But we would never, never
go in there for fear
of what we might meet.
And that's the story
of Loftus Hall.
[ Applause ]
Thank you.
[ Applause ]
I think that's all we
have time for, guys.
You can go back to school.
>> No.
>> Joe Brennan: Yay.
>> No.
>> No.
>> Joe Brennan: Yay.
>> Sasha Dowdy: How
about another thank you
for Joe Brennan everybody?
Thank you so much.
>> Joe Brennan: Thank you.
>> Sasha Dowdy: If we wanted to
know more about Irish folktales,
how can we read more
or hear more stories?
>> Joe Brennan: Listen guys.
So to hear more folktales,
actually, there are some books
over there of folktales.
And one of them is
a lovely collection
by a man called Malachy Doyle,
who is a friend of mine.
I just know it's up there.
And I forgot to show you this.
I have a book, which is --
it's called Donegal Folktales.
So these are all
folktales from where I live.
Some of them, I collected
for the first time,
other ones that have been
around for a long time.
And there's one or two in
there that I told you today.
Okay? So -- actually,
maybe I could give this
to your school library.
>> Sasha Dowdy: Oh, nice.
>> Joe Brennan: Yeah?
Would you take that
for your school?
I'll sign it before I give it
to you and then before you go.
And then you can
read these as well.
And you can also
look up folktales.
There is a collection
of folktales
in Ireland called the
School's Collection,
which you can read online now.
And these were all stories
that children your age would
have collected back in 1932
from their parents
and grandparents.
And it's a very famous
collection that gathered
up loads of folk
stories at that time.
And it's a real treasure
trove of folktales.
But the library -- the library
is always the best place
to start, isn't it?
How many people go
to the library?
Good. Everybody should
go to the library
because you'll find
lots of stories.
And I have one other
request for you.
Okay? Because stories --
I always think stories
are like an amazing gift.
But it's a kind of magical
gift because it's a gift
that you can keep, but
you can also give away.
So how do you give a story away?
>> By telling it.
>> Joe Brennan: By
telling someone.
So when you go home today,
maybe you could tell one
of these stories to
somebody at home.
And sometimes, when you
tell somebody a story,
they tell you one back.
So it's a good exchange,
isn't it?
So tell other people the stories
because these stories are not
meant to be locked up in books.
They're supposed
to be given around.
So that's important.
Share the stories.
All right?
Thank you.
>> Sasha Dowdy: Thank
you so much.