Oisín Ó Dubhshláine:
So, fáilte roimh gach duine ar aon nós, chuig ár gcéad imeacht. So, is mise Oisín Ó Dubhshláine agus chruthaigh mé Project Béaloideas, le cúnamh ó mo chara, Rachel, anseo. So tá cúpla scéal againn le roinnt inniu le haghaidh ár gcéad imeacht, Scéalta an tSamhraidh or Sumer Stories 2021. So welcome everybody to Project Béaloideas’ first event, my name is Oisín Ó Dubhshláine and I created this collective with the help of my friend, Rachel. So we have a few stories for you here tonight and that’s that.
So the theme of tonight’s event, the whole purpose of it really was Childhood Stories. We really wanted to focus on, as our first event anyway, the first time you hear stories is when you’re a kid, so we really wanted to take that piece of magic that you take with stories, hearing them for the first time at that age and we really wanted to incorporate that here at Project Béaloideas.
So, keep an eye on our Instagram anyway, which is just projectbealoideas because after tonight we will be announcing more news which Rachel will tell you all about later on. So we’ll have our next event in about six weeks, which will be on Lúnasa and we’ll have a brand new theme for you, so be sure to keep an eye on that.
So, I’m going to hand you over to Rachel now anyway, who is a second-year student at TUD, studying Creative Digital Media, or just finished her second year, I should say. When I came to Rachel with this brainchild of mine, she was realy, really supportive about it, and I just knew that we had to collaborate on this. So without me talking too much now, this is the King with Donkey Ears, le Rachel Nic Aoidh.
Rachel Nic Aoidh:
So, hi everyone, as Oisín said, I’m Rachel. So this is the story of the King with the Donkey’s Ears. So, according to legend, there was once a King called …
There was once a King called Labhraidh Loingseach. This King had a big secret that no one else knew. He had donkey ears which he kept covered underneath his crown. For them to stay a secret, he has to kill any barber who cut his hair.
A young man by the name Dónal wanted to be a famous barber. His mother was worried that he would be killed by the king. One day he was chosen to cut the King’s hair.
Dónal’s mother was very upset and she went to speak to the King. She waited outside the palace crying until the king let her in. She begged him not to kill her son.
The King promised not to kill Dónal, but he made Dónal promise to keep his secret. Dónal agreed to this but soon he fell ill. He could not tell anyone what was wrong. Donal and his mother went to talk to a druid. He told him to tell his secret to an oak tree.
Dónal did this and immediately felt better.
After this, King Labhraidh’s favourite musician came to him and told him he wanted to make a new harp. For his new harp, he cut a branch from the oak tree.
That evening, the musician was asked to play on his new harp. Suddenly, the harp began to sing “Labhraidh Loingseach has donkey ears!”
King Labhraidh’s crown fell to the ground and everyone saw his donkey ears. At first, he was furious but after a while nobody seemed to notice his ears. King Labhraidh was happy because everyone knew his secret. Thanks to Dónal, no more barbers were killed in the kingdom. He was a hero and the Royal Barber from then on!
So that was the King with the Donkey’s Ears, it’s one of my - well I wouldn’t say one of my favourite stories - I recently discovered it while researching for this Project and I absolutely fell in love with it. It’s such a light-hearted, light-felt story about the King with the Donkey’s Ears.
So next, we have Neltah Chadamayo. Neltah has a Masters in Equality Studies. She is many different things such as a copywriter, facilitator, coach, and even an abstract artist. Neltah is also a member of SoloSirens, which is a collective I will tell you all about more later on. Without further ado, here is Neltah Chadamayo, with Tsuro Gudo Steal Milk.
Neltah Chadamayo:
Hi everyone, I’m Neltah. So, I’m going to tell you the story of Tsuro and his unclem Gudo. So, in Shona culture, Tsuro is a hare, and Gudo is a baboon. So if you want to figure out how a hare and a baboon have a relationship, well I’ll just say, Tsuro’s mom was sister to the baboon. So, as well in our culture, if you have an uncle - your mothers brother that is - you get to have a lot of fun with them, and if you’re close in age, he’s the one who -if you are a boy- teaches you about how to get girls, how to get into mischief.
So on this day, Tsuro says to his uncle, “hey, I found a good place to get milk.”
And he says “oh, is that where you got it?” and Tsuro says “yeah, that’s where I got it” and Gudo asks “can I have some?”.
He (Tsuro) said “well, I’ll only allow you to have a little bit, but not too much.”
So he gave him a bit and he (Gudo) says “oh, it tastes so good. So who owns the cows?”.
“Well the humans over there own the cows.”
“But the humans will kill you, if they catch you.”
And Tsuro was like, “well, you just need to know how to get the milk. The cows are actually quite docile, I’ll show you tomorrow morning. We’ll go, I’ll show you tomorrow morning.”
So the next day, Tsuro and Gudo were at the cows’ crow, very early in the morning, before the sun was up, and the people were still sleeping. And Tsuro was like “okay, you stay this far back and I’ll show you how to do it.”
So then Tsuro was like (whispering) “I walk, I walk, I listen. (pause) And I keep an eye out. And I walk and I walk and I listen.”
And he did this several times until he got to the crow. So, in Zimbabwe, our cattle crow’s don’t use gates like here where you pull and open, like you layer logs on top of each other. So then he (Tsuro) went “I remove a log, I put it aside, and I listen.” (pause) “I lift another, I put it aside, and I listen.” And then when he was done “I walk, I walk, I listen.”
He got to the first cow, and then, “I milk, I milk, and I listen.” And he had made sure he brought a plastic bucket. “I walk, I walk, and I listen.” And then he finished milking, walked out the same way quietly, closed the gate, so the cows wouldn’t follow him, and went back and said to his uncle “see? That was easy.” And they went home and he said “so tomorrow, it’s your test. I got milk today.”
So, the next day, they went, and Tsuro said, “I’ll go first and you go after me. So I’ll show you again.” And he did the same, similar practice, and then after that he came back to his uncle and said, “now, I’ll hide behind the bush, you go and do your bit.”
And Gudo was like “I WALK, I WALK, AND I LISTEN. I WALK, I WALK, AND I LISTEN.” And the people in the houses were like “what is going on? We’ve been losing milk, I think that’s a thief, that’s the thief that’s been stealing our milk. He’s very, very loud.”
So he (Gudo) got to the crow and “I OPEN AND I LISTEN. I OPEN AND I LISTEN.” And he got to one of the cows and “I MILK, I MILK, AND I LISTEN. I MILK, I MILK, AND I LISTEN.” So Gudo had brought a metal bucket, and of course, the milk was making a lot of noise. And he milked and milked, and as he was about to get up, one of the humans arrived and walloped him. They beat him up and he ran so fast. And when they ran away, Tsuro was laughing the whole time.
And he (Gudo) was like “why are you laughing so much?”
“Well, because you got caught.”
“Well, you told me I wasn’t making too much noise.”
And Tsuro was like “what? You were not, I don’t know what happened.”
So everytime, Tsuro would get milk, and his uncle would not. So the moral or the lesson is, know your friends, and if you are going to steal milk, know who you are going with, so you don’t get caught. Thank you.
Oisín Ó Dubhshláine
I know I heard that story before, but I just thought it was fantastic, just absolutely love it, so sly to be doing it, I think, but I thought it was fantastic. So next up, we have Clár Uí Mhurchú. Clár is an artist and a gardener and practically famous here in the Tallaght area, especially in the bunscoileanna for her work as Patches, doing the facepainting and stuff like that. Clár will now be telling us the story of The Red Scarf.
Clár Uí Mhurchú
Go raibh maith agat, Oisín. That was a great story, as well, before. I really enjoyed that. Okay, this is called The Red Scarf, and I remember many years ago we used to read this to our children, so I hope ye like it. Fadó, fadó, there was a little village, on the edge of a river, called Ballymoney. A strange name really, for a town that was not know for being wealthy. In fact, it was a fairly poor village, but it was full of hard-working people. Except there was one man. There was one man who was a real lúdramán and a leisceoir, and his name was Lorcan. Now, some people you have to pay to be good, but Lorcan, he was good for nothing.
Lá amháin, off he went walking, out of the town, avoiding work as usual and as he was walking along, he heard a tap tap tap sound. He stopped and he listened, and again he heard a tap tap tap sound. He followed the sound, and he looked down, and he saw a little man in a hedgerow, and there he was, tap-tap-tapping, as he was repairing his shoe. Lorcan immediately knew, and his eyes lit up, he knew this little man was a leprechaun, and he knew leprechauns had treasure. So, without hesitation, he reached down and grabbed the little man.
“Let me go, let me go,” said the little man.
He (Lorcan) said “I’ll let you go, if you show me where you;ve hidden your treasure.”
“Well, I’ll show you, but it’s magic treasure. All of leprechauns’ treasure is magic, and if I show you, you’ll have to take it before sunset, or it will all disappear.”
“I surely will” though Lorcan as he was quite sure as soon as he saw it, he was going to grab it.
So holding on tightly to the little leprechaun, off they went, over the fields, across some rivers, down a twisty, twiney road, until they turned a corner, and there in front of them was a pine forest. A forest full of pine trees, big tall, tall, straight trees, and in they went, and they turned to the left, and they turned to the right, and back to the left again. And there, right in the middle, the leprechaun looked at the tree and said “under this tree, is where I’ve hidden my treasure.”
And Lorcan looked around and he thought “yes, I have it” and then he went “hmm, I’ve no shovel, I forgot my shovel. I’ll have to go home and get my shovel, but how will I know when I come back, that this is the tree.”
And he said “I’ll have to mark it.”
And the leprechaun said “you can tie my scarf around it, if you like?”
And Lorcan laughed and went “Your scarf isn’t big enough to wrap around a big tree like this.”
And the leprechaun said “well, in your hands, it’s only tiny, but in my hands, it can be as long as I want it to be.”
So he (Lorcan) went “okay.”
So he took off his scarf, and he was wrapping it around the tree, and just as he finished tying the knot, Lorcan took his eyes off him (the leprechaun) and he disappeared. But Lorcan didn’t care because he had marked the tree under which the treasure was hidden with his scarf. So off he ran home, and he grabbed his shovel as quick as he could, and he ran back, over the fields, across the rivers, down the twisty, twiney road and all the way he was running thinking what he was going to do with the treasure and he was delighted. He turned around and as soon as he saw the forest, his heart sank. Every single tree in the forest had a red scarf tied around it, and his heart sank. He thought he had tricked the leprechaun and he knew, even if he dug around every tree in the forest, he wouldn’t get out of the forest before sunset.
So the moral of the story is, you have to make your own fortune, you can’t just steal somebody else’s. Or, don’t mess with the leprechauns. Sin é, I hope you enjoyed that.
Rachel Nic Aoidh
Oh, what a great story that was. And that was Clare with ‘The Red Scarf’, I really enjoyed that one. It was one I haven’t heard of before so it was nice to hear. And so, next up we have Melody Chadamayo. Melody has a Masters in Information and Library Studies. She is also a published author and a public speaker. She also specialises in Relationship Coaching. Melody is also a part of the Solosirens Collective, which I will tell you all about now. Solosirens is a collective of women theatre artists. They explore the stories that they need to share with the world and this practice enables them to share them. They have done many different collabs such as ‘Falling’ and ‘Hello, Ireland’. Their most recent one, that they’re currently exploring, is the story of Cessair. I think I said that wrong. This is a story about a woman who was forgotten, even though she was the first woman to come to Ireland. The women noticed that they weren’t happy with her ending. Cessair managed to bring 150 women and three ships from Egypt and her story ends with her dying of a broken heart. This made no sense to these women. She was too empowered for her to have died that way and for her story to end there. So come along on the 30 June til the 3 July at the Civic Theatre as they explore her story and finish it the way they feel fits. So now we have Melody Chadamayo with the story of “How the Tortoise Became the Hero of the Jungle”.
Melody Chadamayo
Thanks, Rachel. So this is the story of “How the Tortoise Became the Hero of the Jungle” and as you know, tortoises are very, very slow and not known for their wisdom or speed or anything like that. Anyway, and in Zimbabwe, most of our stories have to do with animals. Things are just more fun that way. Anyway there was a drought and all the animals were really thirsty and they decided, after a struggle, when all of the rivers had dried up, that maybe they should dig a well. They had a meeting of all the animals and they all agreed that they were going to participate in digging a well, because it was for the good and survival of everybody. And Hare, being lazy and cunning, decided he wasn’t going to participate in digging a well, but all the other animals went in and they started digging. The elephants went with their trunks, the lions, every animal in the jungle was there and they were all digging, including the tortoises and the mice and everybody. And eventually, they did reach water and when they reached water they celebrated, and they now had a well for everybody. And of course, the water hole is the place where there is peace. This is a no-man’s-land, this is a place where nobody gets killed because they are all getting water and that is the whole purpose is living.
Anyway, they come back after two days and they find the water was all muddy. And they started accusing each other and they were having fights and everybody was shouting and “who did this?” and “they’re very lazy” and “I can’t believe who did this.” And they, and one of them said “hold on, hold on, let’s hear,” baboon said, “let’s hear what everyone has to say.”
And everybody listened, they (Baboon) said “do you know who could have done this?”.
And said “no, because I didn’t do it-”
“Okay, you didn’t do it, but obviously somebody did.”
And one of them said “yesterday, when I came the water was muddy again. I had to wait a long time for it to settle so I could get my water for my children.”
And they (Baboon) said “Okay, so we need to find out who’s been doing this and somebody has to stay here and be on the lookout.”
And Hare, benign Hare, came back and the animals were still oblivious, and they saw him sneaking back into the water and he drank the water and he swam in it, just to be extra, you know, useless or evil. And the animals were horrified, and they tried to chase him but they couldn’t catch him. And again they met and they said.
“What are we going to do?”
“We know it’s the Hare and he’s been making trouble for us.”
“What do we do?”
And they said “well, we have to come up with a plan to catch him so we can get rid of him.”
And the Elephant said “I’m big and strong. I’ll just use my tusks, pick him up, and throw him away. He will go to the next village.”
And so, Elephant stayed, got in the water, and the Hare came, while Elephant was snoozing, and he did the deed. He drank the water, kicked up some mud, swam in it, and then left. And then, Elephant could not catch the Hare. And he went to the Lion and all the animals, and the Tortoise kept saying “let me do it, let me do it” and (they said) “You are too slow” and “you’re not even- when you hear a noise you hide. There’s no point in us even choosing you”. They even went to the point of asking the Snail, because at least a snail, it moves faster than a tortoise.
And they’re like “yeah, just give me a chance” and eventually they said “okay. We have run out of options. You try it.” And so the Tortoise said “you have to go and get me some glue.” So in Zimbabwe, we have this glue that is available naturally on the trees.
“And you have to go and get glue, and smear the glue on my back, on my hump.”
And they smeared the glue on the hump and then he went underwater. And Hare came back and he said “oh, there’s no one today. How great is that? I got them, I got them, I’ve finally succeeded. I don’t even need to run anymore”.
So he went into the water and started to drink, and he drank the water. And then he started to swim as usual, then he put, his leg was stuck somewhere. Then he tried to move again and his other leg was stuck somewhere. And he moved again and his third leg was stuck somewhere. And he started shaking, and his stomach was stuck onto the tortoise’s hump. And then all the other animals came from their hiding, and they found him stuck. And they were so delighted. And they took Hare and they banished him from the Jungle. And the Tortoise became the Hero of the Jungle, even though he was the most unlikely hero ever.
The End.
Oisín Ó Dubhshláine
Fantastic story, absolutely love it. So yeah, thanks very much for that, Melody, we’re going to move on, but just before we do, I, of course, have to mention and áit ina bhfuil mé ag suígh faoi láthair. So, in Tallaght, i dTamlacht, you might find a small café, called Aon Scéal Café. So, is Gaelcafé é and they basically do everything through Irish, so if you want to use your cúpla focla- your cúpla focail sorry, you can go in, have a chat with them. The team are really nice, the service is amazing, the food- bia is blasta i dTamhlacht. So yeah, definitely worth stopping on by if you want to use your cúpla focal.
So, next on my list here is Ruth Nic an Rí, who has just finished her second year in Journalism in TUD. She’s told me that she focuses on Sports Journalism and likes GAA and Camógaíocht and stuff like that which is fantastic. She’s also the Deputy of the Writers’ Team for Galpal, which is a collective for women, people of colour, and queerfolk to be able to, basically, crack their way into the industry, since it is already made harder on them, which is absolutely amazing. I can’t think of a week that I haven’t heard of them being mentioned in the Irish Times or some sort of newspaper, they’re doing absolutely fantastic work. So the story by Ruth, here, is “How Cú Chulainn got his Name”, so take it away, Ruth.
Ruth Nic an Rí
Hi, before I tell my story, I’ll give a little anecdote as to why I wanted to tell this story. So, like on warm days, like today, my grandad would pick me up from school and the first thing he’d ask me was “what did you learn today in school?” And I have told him “oh, like, we learned about the story of Cú Chulainn and how he got his name.” And obviously, as a little child, I rambled on, and told the story, the way a child would tell the story. But the one thing that I couldn’t let go of was that Cú Chulainn was the best hurler in Ireland, and that he could hit the ball the furthest in Ireland as well. And my grandad kept telling me “well, if you practice, practice, practice, you’ll be like Cú Chulainn one day and you’ll be able to hit the ball the farthest in Ireland.” So, of course, as a child, I immediately went out to my back garden that day, and was, like, trying to hit the ball as far as I could but, you know. Might not have been as good as Cú Chulainn, still not as good as Cú Chulainn, but I try anyway, so here’s the story of “How Cú Chulainn Got His Name”.
Cullen was the Smith of King Conchubhair, and he had a savage guard dog. It was called Cú, or the Hound. It bit people first, and worried about it later. It was so savage that people said it ate puppies for breakfast. The Cú was kept in an iron cage and only let out to roam the smith’s house, when everyone was locked safe inside. But Cullen’s house was never attacked or robbed, because everyone knew about the Cú. One day, King Conchubhair came to the Feast of Cullen and when everyone was safely inside, the Cú was let out to protect the house from the King’s enemies. But Conchubhair had forgotten something. His nephew, Setanta, had been playing hurling when Conchubhair left to go from the Palace to Cullen’s house. Conchubhair had told the boy to follow him to the feast when the game was finished. An hour later, Setanta came along the road, whistling. He was only seven, but he was already the best hurler in Ireland. Now, he practiced hitting the sliotar, high into the air, as we walked along.
But wait! Something was patrolling the walls of Cullen’s house. It lifted its head and slobbered horribly, sniffing the fresh, young boy. Setanta came to the gate. He saw a large, black shadow. He heard an enormous growl. Something huge and hairy was flying through the air towards him. He caught a glimpse of the long yellow fangs and dripping jaw of red eyes. Without even stopping to think, Setanta let the ball fly. It whizzed like lightning through the air, and went straight down the monster’s throat. The dog leapt high in agony and dropped to the ground, dead. Setanta went up to it cautiously.
“They welcome strangers strangely here,” he said.
“Who are you?” asked a deep voice.
And there was Cullen, with Conchubhair and all his court, staring at the fallen dog. They had heard the noise and came rushing out. King Conchubhair was white with fear. He had finally remembered that Setanta was on his way to the feast.
“I was nearly killed by the dog,” said Setanta. “I’m King Conchubhair’s nephew. I came to his court to train as a Red Branch Knight.”
The Red Branch Knights were the King’s warriors.
“And you will be a great one,” said King Conchubhair proudly.
He was smiling now.
“No one else could have killed the Cú.”
“That’s all very well,” said Cullen. “But I’ve lost the best guard dog in Ireland.”
“What will I do now?” Setanta thought for a minute.
“I’ll guard your house, in exchange for killing the Cú,” he stated. “I’ll protect you from harm until a puppy is raised to protect the one that you lost.”
So, it was agreed and Cullen’s house was never attacked or robbed so long as Setanta was guarding it. And even when Setanta became the most famous warrior in Ireland, he was not called Setanta, but Cullen’s Hound, or Cú Chulainn. Sin é.
Rachel Nic Aoidh
Awh I absolutely love that story. It’s one of my favourite stories about this sort of legend. Next up, we have Kelvin Akpaloo. Kelvin has a degree in Media Production Management. He’s also a freelance graphic designer and a web designer. He’s also a creative director for the Eurobug International Youth Work Collaboration. He’s an ambassador for the No Hate Speech Movement in Ireland, and he has been an Irish Youth Delegate twice, representing Ireland in the EU Conference. He is also a Global Human Rights Educator. Kelvin also takes part in the 201 Dreams from 201 Young People in 201 Countries Collective. This Collective is a group of young people from every country in the world telling their stories. They focus on young people’s views and their dreams, how they want the world to be, all relating back to the Sustainable Development Goals. If you want more information on this, I urge you all to go and research it, it’s quite an interesting thing. Finally, Kelvin is also part of the Eurobug Spechat on Sundays, where a group of young people discuss the issues of today in both Ireland, and across the world. So, this is Kelvin Akpaloo with “How the Spider Became the Owner of All Stories.”
Kelvin Akpaloo
Hello, hello everyone. My name is Kelvin. Thank you so much for the introduction, and this is my story about how the spider became the owner of all stories. But before I do that, when I was a child, when we were told these stories, for example in the village before we start, we always, like the storyteller would say a sentence like “Story, story” and everybody else would respond “Stories!”. So I want to, before I start, I want to, when I say “stories” you repeat “stories.”
Stories, stories…
Other Speakers
Stories!
Kelvin Akpaloo
Okay, one more time. Stories, stories…
Other Speakers
Stories!
Kelvin Akpaloo
Okay. So, I don’t know if most of you like spiders but in my country, where I was born, Ghana, we really value spiders. The Spider is, we see the Spider more as very intelligent, but also a trickster. And that is how in this story, he became the owner of all stories. So it goes like this…
So, once upon a time, you know, there was a Spider, also called Kwaku Ananse. That is his name, Kwaku Ananse. So, Ananse is a Spider in Ghana, the name of spiders is called Ananse. And his father is called Nyame. Nyame is the king, is the God. And then his mother is called Asase Ya, the ground, the Mother of the Land.
So one day, he woke up in the morning and said “hmm, I am a very- I am the Master of Storytelling. Why is it that all stories do not belong to me, but to my father who claims it?”
So he said, “no no no no no, I need to go and talk to my father about this.”
So he walks. Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun. And he goes and says “Father! Can I talk to you?”
He (Nyame) said, “Yes, my son, what is wrong?”
He (Ananse) said, “You know, I’ve been hearing- I’ve been hearing that you own all the stories in the world, but I am the best storyteller. So why am I not the owner of all stories?”
And the Father said, “Oh, I get it. You see, a lot of people have come claiming for this title. But, all of them have failed. I have three tasks. If you’re able to accomplish these tasks then I’ll give you the ownership of all stories.”
He (Ananse) said, “Okay, Father. Tell me.”
So the Father said, “First task, I want you to bring me the Bees. Bring me all Bees to me. Second, get me the Python and bring him to me. And lastly, get me the Leopard and bring him to me.”
And he said, “okay.”
So Kwaku Ananse was walking through the jungle and he was thinking “hmm, what should I do?” First of all, he said “I’m going to get a Wasp.”
So the Wasps are all in their nest and they’re buzzing. So he went to the river, he got a bowl, like, we call it a calabash, with a lid on it. Then he got water and he poured some of the water on himself. And then he took some of the water and then threw it into the Wasps’- the Bees’ Nest. So the Bees thought it was raining.
So he said, “Bees! Why are you being so foolish, it’s raining, your house is getting wet and you are still in your nest.” And he said “Why don’t you come into this pot that I have, so you can be dry?”
They said “oh, okay Ananse, thank you so much.”
So they all flew into the pot. He covered it. Boom. Sent them to the Father. That’s one complete.
And then he said “Let’s go to task two. How am I going to get the Python?”
So what he did was, he went to the bush and got a bamboo, bamboo stick, very big bamboo stick, very long. And when he was walking, he was walking to the Python’s house, and he started arguing to himself.
He said, “Nah, no. The Python is the longest, it’s longer than this bamboo” pretending.
So he got to the Python’s house and the Python said, “Kwaku Ananse, why are you talking to yourself? What are you saying?”
He said, “Awh, do you know what? My wife is telling me this bamboo is longer than you.”
And he said *grimaced face*.
And he said “I know, you are longer than this bamboo.”
And he said, “wait, do you know what? Why do we have to argue about this? Why don’t we check it out?”
So he put the bamboo in the ground and then the Python decided to stretch. But when the Python stretches, every time he stretches, his tail, kinda like, curls back in.
So he said “mmm, you’re still short, I think my wife may be right.” He said, “But do you know what? Because, any time you move, your tail, kinda like, rolls back in, so why don’t I tie you with the Bamboo, together, so that when you stretch, everything is all straight.”
So he said, “okay, yeah.”
So he tied the Python onto the bamboo stick and then he had him on his- he had him in his hands, and he took him to the King.
So, then he is left with the Leopard. So what is he going to do?
He said, “hmm…” so he studied the Leopard.
The Leopard always be walking in the same place, looking for food. And so, he comes in and digs in the ground, covered it with leaves and then one day, in the night, the Leopard fell in.
So when the Leopard fell inside he was screaming “Help! Help! Help! Help!”
But nobody could. But, Ananse was standing there listening.
So the next morning Ananse came and said “Oh, Leopard! How did you get yourself stuck inside this hole?”
He said, “I don’t know, Ananse. Can you help me?”
He said, “Nooo… I’m not gonna help you. If I help you and you come out you’re going to eat me.”
He said, “No, I promise you, I’m not gonna eat you.”
He said, “How will I know?”
He said, “I promise you.”
He said, “Okay, the only way- what I’m gonna do is- I trust you. If I take this rope” -he threw him a rope- “Tie it onto your tail, and then I will tie it onto the tree.”
“I will cut and then -when I say one-two-three- and then the tree will lift you back up.”
And he said, “Okay, okay, thank you Ananse.”
So he did that, and the tree pulled him up. But when the tree pulled him up, Ananse did not cut him straight away. He made him turn and turn and turn and turn and feel dizzy, and eventually, the Leopard was unconscious. He tied his hands. He tied his legs. He tied everything. He dragged him to Nyame, God.
And he said, “Father, I have all of the things.”
And he said *gasp* “Wow, how did you do that? Do you know what, Ananse? Upon every warrior in this company, nobody was able to accomplish this task. But only you. So, do you know what? From now on, I give you all ownership of stories- of all stories in the world. So every story that’s going to be told, in West Africa, in the Animal Kingdom, your name has to be started first.”
So that is how Ananse became the Owner of all Stories. So when you go to West Africa and when you go to- especially in Ghana, when you hear “Kwaku Ananse story”, that is where the title came from, the “How the Spider Became the Owner of all Stories”. Thank you very much.
Rachel Nic Aoidh
Oh, that has to be one of my favourites of the night, for sure. So unfortunately, we have, last but not least, we have the guy that set it all up, Oisín Ó Dubhshláine. Oisín is currently studying Law in UCD and he just recently finished his first year. He’s the brains behind this entire fantastic Project, Project Béaloideas. I was honestly delighted when he came to me with this idea, and I can’t wait for you to hear everything we have in store. Oisín, he’s also a member of Eurobug YouthChat with Kelvin, and he spends his time coaching in Old Bawn Gymnastics, who have kindly come out today to show some support. So, here is the Hunchback of Knockgrafton.
Oisín Ó Dubhshláine
Bitta practice needed on the Zoom, I think. But, em, yeah, thanks very much for that deadly introduction there, Rachel. So yeah, the story I have is the Legend of Knockgrafton.
So, uair amháin, blianta ó shin, years ago, bhí Fear darbh ainm, Los Mór, his name was Los Mór. And he lived in a glen, in Aherlow, which is in Tipperary, I wanna say, at the Foot of the Galtee Mountains. Now, bhí hump ag Los Mór, he had a hump on his back, a hunch on the left side here. And the hump was so large that it forced him to walk around bent double. In fact, when he sat down in a chair like me, he could rest his chin on his knees. Very often, when he was walking through the town, since his hump was so large, people would actually mistake his hump for his head.
But Los Mór didn’t let it stop him. He actually had a great knowledge of healing herbs and the different properties of plants. He used his skills with his hands to be able to weave baskets and hats out of straw and rushes. He used to sell them and that’s how he made his living. In fact, he had his own hat, where he kept a sprig of the Fairy Cap, which is also known as the Foxglove. That’s actually where he got his nickname, Los Mór, it comes from the same plant.
One day, after he had sold loads of baskets and hats and things, in Caher, he was travelling home to Cappagh. And, of course, when you’re travelling like that you tend to get tired quickly, so he rested in a moat. The next thing, he heard chanting.
“Dé Luan, Dé Máirt, Dé Luan, Dé Máirt-”
And it stopped. And it started again.
“Dé Luan, Dé Máirt, Dé Luan, Dé Máirt-”
Three times he heard it and he realised it was the Sí.
Now, Los Mór was clever, he knew, “These are the fairies, I have to get out of here, I have to go home. But, my back’s still quite sore, my legs are still aching. I’ll just rest, I can stay here, they won’t mind. It’ll be fine, nothing will happen, it’ll be fine.”
And eventually, after hearing it so many times, he decided, “do you know what? I’m going to add a bit to their song.”
So they sang it again-
“Dé Luan, Dé Máirt, Dé Luan, Dé Máirt”
“Agus Dé Céadaoin.”
Silence fell. The fairies had stopped singing. And, amach as na crannta, from the trees, came hundreds of hands and they covered him. And next thing, he was dragged away. He didn’t know if he was being dragged into the crannta, or down into the ground. But when he opened his eyes, he knew exactly where he was. He was in a place called an Alltar, or the Otherworld, which is the Home of the Fairies. He looked around and he was petrified, his chin rubbin’ off his knees.
And, next thing, he sees hundreds of fairies and their wide, unblinking eyes staring at him. They were all lined up, ready to go, looking like they wanted to kill him. But, next thing, unlike the other fairies, an Old Fairy came out, and instead of red hair, she had long grey hair and used a staff to help her walk. She came towards Los Mór.
“You know how dangerous it is, Los Mór, to interrupt the fairies when they’re singing.”
He nodded. “Of course, I do. Of course, I do.”
“Well, luckily for you, your interruption was actually welcome. You gave us a nice ending to our song and for that, we’re going to give you a gift.”
So she held her staff over Los Mór, over his hump and said…
“Los Mór, Los Mór,
Doubt not, nor deplore,
For the hump which you bore,
On your back, is no more.
Look down on the floor,
And view it, Los Mór.”
And Los Mór looked down and realised his hump was gone. He could sit up straight. He was fine. And the fairies rushed towards him to give him a brand new, shining suit. Then they started chanting. They chanted and they sang, and they chanted and they sang, and he soon felt very, very dizzy, until, thit sé ina urlabhra, he fell unconscious.
So he blacked out, and when he came to, nuair a tháinig sé chuige, he realised he was sitting back in the moat. And he woke up but he didn’t move.
And he thought, “ah, I’m after falling asleep.”
And immediately, he thought of the pain he was gonna feel because he knew, no matter what- no matter what sleeping position he picked, his back was always sore. So he went to sit up, and realised he was fine. He could move around. It was easy enough. And he reached behind his back and saw that he was wearing a brand new suit. He realised there was no hump. He jumped up and he danced all the way home.
The people of Cappagh couldn’t believe it. They couldn’t believe it. In fact, when he came back into town, people started introducing themselves to him.
And he was saying, “I know exactly who you are, I’m Los Mór” and it wasn’t until they saw the Foxglove in his hat that they realised, “oh sure, it’s yourself. Grand. How did that happen to you? You must’ve- you must’ve figured out with your- with your knowledge of healing herbs.”
The news spread like wildfire and Los Mór spent the rest of his days making hats and keeping up with his business, and with any free second that he got, he just danced.
Unfortunately, faraor, I would love to tell you that that’s the end of the story and that there’s a nice happy ending. But, mar a fheicfidh sibh, most of the time a story of an encounter with the fairies in Ireland, doesn’t have a happy ending- doesn’t end well. Bhí an t-ádh ar Los Mór, he was quite lucky, but lad eile, Jack Madden, he wasn’t as lucky.
Now, Jack Madden also had a hump, but his hump was on the right side of his back.
And so, when the news reached him, he said “I need to go and see this fella, Los Mór.”
So, a few people in his village decided, “we’ll load him up in the cart, we’ll bring him down, we’ll have him sorted. Be grand.”
So they brought him to Los Mór and Jac Madden introduced himself “Oh, I’m Jack Madden, I also had a hunchback, and I realised that you somehow lost yours. You have to tell me what herbs you used, I’ve tried them all, you have to tell me what happened.”
And Los Mór, being the kind soul that he was, told him the truth.
He told him “Actually, I had an encounter with the fairies” and shared the story with him.
And if it weren’t for the fact that Jack Madden had no other option, he probably wouldn’t have believed him and he figured “I’ve nothing left to lose at this point.”
And so, he also went to the moat, and stayed there, and waited, and waited. And then, as the sun set, he heard the chanting as well. This was the new and improved version of the chanting. And it went…
“Dé Luan, Dé Máirt, Dé Luan, Dé Máirt, agus Dé Céadaoin.”
And that was that. And he figured- he was also a clever fella, and he thought, “Well, if Los Mór got one suit, for adding one day of the week to the song, what if I add two? Surely that would get me two suits, I mean, it’s logical, right?”
So he sat there, and he waited for them to sing again, rarin’ to go. And they sang..
“Dé Luan, Dé Máirt, Dé Luan, Dé Máirt-”
“Dé Céadaoin, Déardaoin, agus Aoine.”
Silence fell again, just like it had for Los Mór, and he waited, and he sat there, shaking and all excited. And next, the hands came reaching out of the trees again, and they dragged him back. Now his journey was certainly- was not as gentle as Los Mór’s had been. They scratched him, and they bit him, and they tore his clothes and they bruised him any way that they could.
And he came to, in the Otherworld. And he sat there. And if Los Mór thought he was in trouble, Jack Madden certainly, certainly was in far worse trouble. And he sat there- but he was still waiting, he was still confident. He added two days. He got from Monday- Tuesday- Wednesday- Thursday- and Friday. He was sorted.
And the Old Fairy came towards him, using her staff, and she came towards him. Jack went to introduce himself but she wouldn’t even listen, didn;t even give him a chance to explain himself.
She held the staff over his back and he said “here it comes, here we go” and she spoke…
“Jack Madden, Jack Madden,
Your words came so bad in,
The tune we felt glad in.
This castle, you’re had in,
That you’re life we may sadden,
Here’s two humps for you, Jack Madden!”
And it’s said that the fairies rushed forward with Los Mór’s hump and they placed it on his back. Jack Madden hadn’t a clue what was going on. And next thing, the Old Fairy knocked him on the head and he also went ina urlabhra.
And when he came to, he was also in the moat. And he woke up and he was thinking “okay, here we go” and he sat up. And immediately, his back was on fire. He went to reach around to the normal hump and said “that’s still there, but why am I- what’s wrong with my left side?” and he realised what had happened. He now had two humps on his back. So, it’s said that Jack Madden died from the weight and the pain from the second hump.
And, sin é an fáth, nar chóir duit cur isteach ar na Sí. That’s why you can never ever cross the Sí and think you can get away with it.
That’s my story.
So, thanks very much to all my speakers for coming along, and to you guys for coming to see our show, such as it is. So yeah, as I said, we’ll have a few more events every couple of weeks and yeah, some more news that we wanted to share from Project Béaloideas was that from tomorrow, we are going to be launching a new series. So tomorrow, around twelve, around noon, we’re going to start releasing video of our stories that we’re telling and things like that, and this will all lead up to the theme of the next event. So make sure to keep an eye on our Instagram for those videos and such. I want to say a big thank you to Aon Scéal, to you guys again, the viewers, and to our wonderful speakers. I know we can’t see you clapping, but I’m sure ye all are. So that’s it, thanks a mill!