Blair Collection > Beside the fire

PAUDYEEN O'KELJLY AND THE WEASEL. 89
they came to Moytura, the fairy host of Munster and
the fairy men of the hill of Nephin were there before
them. Now, it is necessary for the fairy host to have
two live men beside them when they are fighting or at
a hurling-match, and that was the reason that little
Donal took Paddy O'Kelly with him. There was a man
they called the " Yellow StongiryOy" with the fairy host
of Munster, from Ennis, in the County Clare.
It was not long till the two hosts took sides ; the ball
was thrown up between them, and the fun began in
earnest. They were hurling away, and the pipers play-
ing music, until Paudyeen O'Kelly saw the host of Mun-
ster getting the strong hand, and he began helping the
fairy host of Connacht. The Stotigirya came up and
he made at Paudyeen O'Kelly, but Paudyeen turned him
head over heels. From hurling the two hosts began at
iighiing, but it was not long until the host of Connacht
beat the other host. Then the host of Munster made
flying beetles of themselves, and they began eating every
green thing that they came up to. They were destroy-
ing the country before them until they came as far as
Cong. Then there rose up thousands of doves out of the
hole, and they swallowed down the beetles. That hole
has no other name until this day but Pull-na-gullam,
the dove's hole.
When the fairy host of Connacht won their battle, they
came back to Cnoc Matha joyous enough, and the king
Finvara gave Paudyeen O'Kelly a purse of gold, and
the little piper brought him home, and put him into bed
beside his wife, and left him sleeping there.
A month went by after that without anything worth
mentioning, until one night Paudyeen went down to the
cellar, and the little man said to him : " My mother is
dead ; burn the house over her."