Hello, my name is Oisín Ó Dubhshláine and welcome to the first episode of our series of Scary Stories. We started a series of the same name last year, as such, this is a continuation of that series. Today, I’ll talk about the Pooka.
The Piper and the Pooka
There was once a piper walking home in Dunmore, County Galway. He didn’t no a single song other than “The Black Rogue”. He began to play when the Pooka surprised him. They struggled for a moment and the Pooka threw the piper on his back.
The Pooka asked him to play a song called “The Old Woman”. The piper told him that he didn’t know that song. The Pooka told him to start playing and that he would provide the notes. He did as he was told.
The Piper grabbed his horns and the Pooka began to run until they reached Cruachan Aighli. The piper had to come here anyway. He had stolen a goose from the local druid and as a punishment, he had to climb Cruachan Aighli. They came to a feast in the House of the Banshee. They saw witches all around the table.
The witches welcomed the Pooka of Samhain. The Pooka said that the best piper in Ireland was with him. The door to the hall was opened and out came the goose the piper had stolen.
“That’s the goose I stole. But myself and my ma ate every part of that goose. Except the wing, which I gave to the Red Woman.”
“It is her who told the druid that you stole it.”
They asked him to play some songs for them and he played for the night. When the party was over, every witch gave him a piece of gold. He was as rich as a lord now. He went to leave when the goose gave him a new set of pipes. The Pooka threw him back onto the road from which he’d picked him up and told him that he’d learned ciall and ceol tonight, sense and music.
He returned home and he gave the money to his mother. The next day, he went to the druid but the druid didn’t believe him. He played with his new pipes but the only sound it made was that of the shrieks of geese. When he played with his old pipes he remembered every song the Pooka had taught him. He was very successful after that.
The Kildare Pooka
Long ago, a lord lived in a big house. As is common for lords with big houses, he didn’t clean it himself but he hired a team of servants. They were children. But in that time, the lord travelled a lot and the children were left unsupervised in the big house. It was a scary place at night, with strange noises coming from every corner of the house.
The children stayed together in the kitchen one night and they shared stories with one another. They heard a loud knock on the door and they almost jumped out of their skin. They ran out of the house and to their beds. But they forgot poor Ruairí who had fallen asleep.
A Pooka came into the house, in the form of a goat. Ruairí woke and saw the goat’s feet. The goat put a big pot of water over the fire. He boiled the water and cleaned the dishes. He put everything back in its proper place and cleaned the floor. With that, he left.
The next morning, Ruairí spoke to the other children and told them what he’d seen. The children went to work, when Cáitlín spoke.
“Why would we clean the house if that Pooka is going to come anyway and clean it himself?”
The other children agreed and they didn’t do a spot of work.
That night, the Pooka came and again, cleaned every part of the house. This went on for a week, until Ruairí grew brave and waited on the Pooka. The Pooka came in as usual and started to clean. Before he left, Ruairí stopped him.
“Why do you clean this house every night when the lord has servants?”
The Pooka turned to him
“I am cursed. The greatgrandfather of your lord put me to work in this house so it would always be clean as a punishment.”
“And what happens when you’ve cleaned the place?”
“I must stand outside until the sunrise. It’s fine during the summer, but these winter days when the weather is cruel and the nights long, it’s a lot more painful.”
With that, the Pooka left.
Ruairí spent the next day and the day after that fashioning a coat for the Pooka and the next night, the Pooka returned. This time, Ruairí showed himself before the Pooka began to work.
“I have a gift for you.”
With that, Ruairí put the coat around the Pooka.
“Thank you, son. This is a beautiful coat.”
With that, the Pooka opened the door.
“Aren’t you going to clean the house?”
“No, I won’t. My punishment states that I will no longer be cursed when I am awarded payment for my work. Thanks again, son.”
With that, the Pooka left for the last time and poor Ruairí was left to clean the dirty house.
The Pooka of Fraine
There was once a man who lived in a fort in Fraine. He was a lonely man and he was happy to be on his own. He was a clever man, and a spiritual man. He was very taken by nature and he had a strong connection to it. People compared him to a snail, happy to stay in his shell. As such, when the man died, he became a Pooka, but in the form of a snail.
He stayed in the fort still. It’s said that if someone was very tired or very old and they were on their way home, that they would go to this fort. They would call out the man’s name and he would transform into a horse, but with the head of a snail still. The old or tired person would mount him and he would bring them home in the blink of an eye.
But, it was not too wise to take advantage of the snail’s kindness. This is not to say that no one ever did. One day, a boy was coming home and he was too lazy to walk any further, so he decided to go to the Fort of Fraine. He did as much and called out the Pooka’s name.
The Pooka studied him carefully but allowed him on his back anyway. They went riding and the Pooka brought the young man home. They went through bushes and over rocks very quickly indeed and the young man was left with cuts and bruises all over his body. The Pooka threw him on the ground beside the door.
The young man’s brother opened the door and saw him on the ground. They nearly fainted. The young man thought he’d only been gone an hour, but really, he’d been on the Pooka’s back for a week. With that, the boy grew into a man and he never shared the Pooka’s name with anyone in case they too tried to take advantage of his kindness.
Conclusion
And so, we see that the Pooka is a kind of supernatural force. He can bring good luck or if you try to trick him, he’ll curse you. This was our story on the Pooka. Join us in a fortnight for our next story.
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