Wild Waves and Wishing Wells E-Book

Órla Mc Govern

• Herausgeber: THP Ireland
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 118

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

What was the secret of The White Trout? Who owned a great boat called 'The Wave Sweeper'? What gave the giant jellyfish its sting? Here you will find the answers, as well as some traditional facts and modern musings. Wild Waves and Wishing Wells is full of hidden story treasures, lost lore and watery whimsy. These stories of the waters of Ireland have been selected by writer and storyteller Órla Mc Govern, and illustrated by Gala Tomasso. Dive in for adventures not to be missed.

Leseprobe

This book is dedicated to The Blackrock Babes, and all the sea swimmers around Ireland.

Special thanks to Niceol, Gala, Tara, Leigh, Beka, Juley-Ann, and all my friends and family who inspired me to tell stories.

First published 2019

The History Press

The Mill, Brimscombe Port

Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2QG

www.thehistorypress.co.uk

© Órla Mc Govern 2019

The right of Órla Mc Govern to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the Publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978 0 7509 9298 5

Typesetting and origination by The History Press

Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd.

eBook converted by Geethik Technologies

CONTENTS

About the Author and Illustrator

Introduction

1   Fionn and the Salmon

2   The Boy Who Became a Lake

3   Well, Well, Well

4   Son of the Sea

5   Tin Whistle Soup

6   What a Big Baby

7   The King’s Ears

8   Cake

9   The Waters of Ireland

10 The Fairy Ship of Roses

11 Warts and All

12 The King and the Mermaid

13 Black and White

14 Seven Times Round

15 The White Trout

16 Gráinne’s Hair

17 The Giants’ Well

Notes

ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR

ÓRLA MC GOVERN is a writer, storyteller and performer. She grew up in Dublin, travelled around the world for a bit, and now lives (mostly) in Galway on the west coast of Ireland. She loves making things up – stories, songs, plays, sometimes just dinner! She is a committee member of Storytellers of Ireland, and this is her second book with The History Press; her first being Dublin Folk Tales for Children. Órla loves to swim in the sea.

GALA TOMASSO studied Art and Design in England, Fine Art at Burren College of Art in Clare, and Design at DIT Dublin. Originally from Scotland, she has had her roots in Galway for twenty-five years and currently lives in Connemara. Gala also illustrated Dublin Folk Tales for Children.

INTRODUCTION

Hello readers! You are very welcome to my book of Irish folk tales, called Wild Waves and Wishing Wells. This is your book now!

As the title suggests, this book has a lot of stories about water: the sea, wells, some lakes and rivers, and even perhaps a puddle! I love the water, and I love to swim in the sea near my home in Galway, so stories about water make me very happy.

This is a book of folk tales, and for me that means stories by folk and for folk. I’m folk and you’re folk, so please enjoy it! Some of these stories are very old, stories I heard as a child, and I have written my version of them as I remember. Other stories I have heard just a bit of, and have had to fill in the missing parts, while some stories come from my imagination, after visiting a particular place that I thought was unusual or special.

It is great to read stories in a book, and it is also great to tell them out loud and see how much you remember. Telling stories out loud is called storytelling. Each time you tell a story, it is a little different. It’s a bit like the waves in the sea; sometimes the same story can be louder or quieter, a bit scarier or a bit more gentle, warm or cold. I love the way a good story is like the sea, moving and changing, drawing the listeners in. It feels different every time we experience it.

As you tell a story, you might forget a bit or add in a brand new bit. You might even stretch it out a bit longer if your audience is really enjoying it! If you practice telling stories, it’s really nice to have a listener. They can become part of your story too, and join in with noises and words if you ask them.

You can practice your storytelling with the stories from this book. Once you read them, see which parts you remember the best, and tell them out loud to a friend. If you change the story a little, or make up brand new bits, it doesn’t matter, it just means that wave has moved in a different direction!

I would love to hear new versions of these stories. Perhaps I’ll be lucky and one or two will crash up on the shore one day!

I’ve put some notes at the back of the book for you – little facts you might find interesting, or words that you might like to learn more about.

I hope you enjoy reading these stories, saying them out loud, and splashing around with the words!

1

FIONN AND THE SALMON

What a special fish it was

That lived there in the Boyne,

And what a gift it did bestow

Worth more than golden coin.

Fionn Mac Cumhaill was a very famous character in Ireland long ago, and this is one story from his life.

When Fionn was a lad he was sent off, away from home, to study. It was a bit like going to a boarding school, except he was to be the only student there.

The person he was sent to study with was very wise indeed. His name was Finnegas, and he was a poet who wrote beautiful words about almost everything – and most of the time his poems rhymed!

Finnegas had been writing poems all his life, and everyone knew how good he was at it. But he was clever in other ways too. He had, in his brain, all sorts of information: old stories, knowledge of which plants to use as medicine when you were sick, and the names of all the stars and planets in the sky. He could tell you a lot about the animals in the woods, about the stones and mountains, and all about the kings and queens of Ireland, and of other countries too! Over all, he was a very smart person indeed.

Finnegas lived on the banks of the River Boyne, and by day, Fionn would help his teacher by cleaning, cooking, mending clothes, and doing other little jobs. When evening came, Fionn would sit by the fire, listening to all the great stories and ideas that came from the words of his teacher. Fionn soaked up all this knowledge like a sponge!

Now, remember how I told you how clever Finnegas was? Well, even though that was the case, Fionn was very curious and asked Finnegas an awful lot of questions. Most of them Finnegas had answers for, but even he couldn’t answer every single question – no teacher could! Finnegas, however, wanted to be nothing less than the wisest human in the whole world, and he had a plan to do just that! The key to this was in an old prophecy.

It was said there was a sacred hazel tree that grew near the banks of the Boyne, and that this tree held all the knowledge of the world. But neither Finnegas nor anyone else knew where this tree was. Its location was a secret. What he did know, however, was that a certain salmon would swim to the bank beside the tree and eat the nuts that fell into the water. For sometimes knowledge is a very delicious thing!

‘All I have to do,’ he told Fionn, ‘is catch that salmon, you see?’ Fionn shook his head, puzzled.

‘Oh Fionn,’ said Finnegas. ‘If all of the knowledge of the world is in that tree, then it is also in the hazelnuts; and if the salmon eats the nuts, then it is also in the salmon. Then if I catch the salmon …’

‘Ah!’ said Fionn. ‘If you catch the salmon and eat it for your dinner, then you will possess all the knowledge of the world!’

‘Exactly my boy!’ said Finnegas. ‘And you will help me catch it!’

And that was how it was for quite a while. Each day Fionn would spend a good amount of time helping Finnegas with his work around the house: cooking, cleaning, chopping wood, making the fires, and, of course, checking the fishing rod when Finnegas was not fishing himself.

In the evenings, Finnegas would be Fionn’s teacher: reciting great poems and sagas, telling him the history of great kings and queens, and stories of the land.

One morning, Fionn woke from his bed by the fire to very loud noises. There was shouting, banging of pots and pans, and laughter. He rubbed his sleepy eyes, trying to figure it all out, and it was then that he realised all the noise was coming from Finnegas. The poet was laughing and whooping, throwing pots in the air, and shouting ‘Yipppeeeeeeeee!’

When he saw Fionn he ran over and hugged the lad so tightly that Fionn thought his bones might break!

‘We did it! We did it! We did it!’ Finnegas cried, pulling Fionn into a little dance with him. ‘Well, I did it actually!’

‘Did what, Finnegas?’ asked Fionn, still half asleep.

‘Oh you silly lad,’ said Finnegas, ‘I did IT. There’s only one IT that matters. I caught the Salmon of Knowledge!’

Fionn’s eyes widened, and he grinned a big grin. ‘Oh, that’s such great news!’ he beamed.

‘I couldn’t have done it without you, lad,’ said Finnegas. ‘You helped me set that fishing rod only last night. Good work my boy, you will be rewarded,’ and he shook Fionn’s hand. ‘Now, we must set to work. Time is ticking. That salmon is fresh but it won’t stay that way for ever.’

Finnegas instructed Fionn to build a cooking fire. A good steady one with flat logs underneath, so the cooking pan would sit on them perfectly. Finnegas then gently placed the fish on the pan and covered it.

‘I’m going to head off to the woods to pick some herbs as a garnish,’ he said. ‘I’m sure that salmon will be magical when I eat it, but I also want it to be delicious! You are in charge of the cooking, Fionn.’ Fionn smiled and nodded.

Finnegas picked up the basket to collect the herbs, then turned back, with a very serious look on his face.

‘That is my salmon in the pan. Under NO circumstances are you to eat any before I get back, do you understand?’ Fionn nodded nervously, as Finnegas continued.

‘It is MY salmon, and it is MY knowledge, Fionn. Once I have taken the first bite, all the knowledge of the fish will go into me.’ His serious face disappeared then and turned into a smile. ‘Then I will happily share my meal with you, my young friend!’

And with that off Finegas ran into the woods, singing with pure happiness as he went: ‘I caught the magic salmon, I caught the magic salmon, soon I’ll be the wiiiisest one of any in this worrrrrld!’

Fionn set about setting the table for dinner. He was so happy for his teacher and wanted everything to be perfect for when he returned. As Fionn had his back turned to the fire, the wind picked up and fanned the flames. The salmon hissed and crackled in the pan.

‘Oh no!’ thought Fionn, ‘I can’t let it burn!’ And without thinking, he poked at the skin of the salmon to see if it was all right. As he did so, he let out a roar – the hot fish burned his thumb! He immediately stuck his thumb into his mouth to ease the pain.

A few minutes later, Finnegas returned with his basket full of herbs. He saw the beautiful table, all laid out for dinner, and in the middle was the Salmon of Knowledge, ready to be eaten. But as he sat down at the table, he noticed something unusual about Fionn: it was as if there was a strange light shining from his eyes.

‘Have you eaten a piece of my salmon?’ he asked Fionn.

‘No, teacher,’ Fionn replied.

‘Have you chewed a bit of the skin while it was cooking?’

‘No, teacher.’

‘Have you drank of the juices that dripped from the fish?’

‘No, teacher,’ said Fionn. ‘But …’

Fionn hesitated, then he told Finnegas how he had burned his thumb, had put it in his mouth to ease the pain, and for just one second had tasted the fish.

Finnegas bowed his head. ‘Well, my boy, all the wisdom of the world is now yours. You were the first to taste the Salmon of Knowledge, even if it was by accident.’

He instructed Fionn to eat the fish, as it was now his to claim. After the fish was eaten, Fionn told Finnegas that he didn’t really feel that different. He didn’t feel any wiser than before.

‘You first tasted the fish with your thumb, so suck your thumb again,’ said Finnegas.

Fionn did so, and in that moment all the knowledge of the world rushed into his head in one go!

Finnegas said goodbye to Fionn, shook his hand, and sent him on his way that very night, for there was no more that he could teach him. He knew that Fionn was destined to be a great poet, warrior, and leader when he grew up. He was happy that he had at least helped Fionn on his path to greatness.

When Fionn left, Finnegas sat down by the fire, and let out a big sigh.

‘Well, I suppose it’s sandwiches again for dinner tonight!’

2

THE BOY WHO BECAME A LAKE