J. F. Campbell Collection > Fireside stories of Ireland

4 THE FIRESIDE STORIES OF IRELAND.
Well, they walked and they walked till they were tired,
and till the greyness of night came round them, and they
saw a light at a distance. When they came up, what was
it but a giant's house, and great sharp teeth were in the
heads of himself, and his wife, and his three daughters.
W^ell, they got lodging, and when sleep time was coming
they were put into one bed, and the giant's daughters were
put into another, and the foot of the daughters' bed touched
the head of theirs. Well becomes my brave Hairy Rouchy,
— when the giant's daughters were asleep, she took off the
hair necklaces from her own neck and the necks of her sis-
ters, and put them on the giant's daughters' necks, and she
put their gold and silver and diamond necklaces on the
necks of her sisters and herself, and then watched to see
what would happen.
The giant and his wife were sitting by the fire, and says
he, " AYon't these girls make a fine meat pie for us to-mor-
row 1" " Won't they !" says she, and she smacked her lips,
" but I'll have some trouble singeing that hairy one,"
" They are all asleep now," says he, and he called in his red-
headed giolla. " Go and put them strangers out of pain,"
says he. " But how'll I know them from your daughters ?"
says the giolla. " Very easy, they have only hair neck-
laces round their necks."
Well, you may all guess what happened. So the night
faded away, and the moruing came, aud what did the giant
see at the flight of darkness, when the gate vvas opened by
the cow-boy, but Hairy Rouchy walking out through it
after her two sisters. Down the stairs he came, five at a
time, and out of the bawn he flew, and much go hrath
{2^y^LJ for ever) with him after the girls. The eldest
screamed out, and the second eldest screamed out, but the
youngest took one under each arm, and if she did'nt lay
leg to ground, you may call me a story-teller. She ran
like the west wind, and the giant ran like the north wind;
the sparks of fire he struck out of the stones hit her on the
back, and the sparks of fire she struck out of the stones
scorched his face. At last they came near the wide and
deep river that divided his land from the land of the King
of Spain, and into that land he daren't pass. Over the wide