The Leprechauns Revenge.

The leprechaun can be very bitter if you offend them and so you should be very careful when dealing with them. Always treat them with respect or they may take their revenge and then you will never learn the secret of hidden treasure.

Here’s another story about the same Leprechaun, with a different outcome. Once again I’ve given it a bit of a local twist.

The Leprechauns Revenge.

Once upon a time there was a cruel horrible boy working in a field when he saw a little man in a red hat, green trousers, yellow jumper and a leather apron. He was the smallest man he had ever seen, not even as big as the boys hand.

The little man was sat under a dock leaf and the boy heard a sound drifting across on the breeze, tic tack, tic tack came the sound of a hammer tapping away and as the boy watched he saw that the little man was mending shoes.

The boy quietly sneaked over, never taking his eyes off him just in case he vanished, for he knew what it was.  When he got close enough he made a quick grab for the leprechaun, lifted him up and stuffed him into his pocket. He then ran back home and when he was safely back in his own house he locked the door and windows then put an iron chain around the leprechauns leg and chained him to the fire crane hanging over the fire.

“Now, tell me where I can find your pot of gold” the boy said “Tell me or I’ll punish you”

“What are ye talking about ye eejit, I know of no pot of gold” replied the leprechaun, “Let me go so I can finish mending the shoes”.

“You asked for it” said the cruel and horrible boy “I’ll force you to tell me”

He made a great big fire and then hung the little leprechaun from the fire crane and swung him over the fire, scorching him.

“Take me off, take me off” cried the leprechaun” “I’ll tell you everything you wish to know. The gold is under the dock leaf where you found me all you have to do is dig down and it’s all there waiting for you”

Of course the boy was delighted with himself and ran to the door but just then his mother came through the door with a bucket of milk in her hand and in his rush to get past her didn’t he knock the bucket out of her hand and the milk went all over the floor.  The mother saw the leprechaun hanging from the fire crane and blaming him for her bad luck she pulled him down gave him a kick and fired him out of the house. You can tell where her son got his cruel streak from

By this stage the boy had ran off to find the dock leaf but later on in the evening he returned home looking very sorry for himself. He had dug down until he thought he would end up in Australia but found no sign of a pot of gold. That same night the boy’s father was returning home from work, as he passed the old fairy fort at Sheeaune he heard the sound of voices and laughter and one voice said,

“They are looking for a pot of gold but little do they know that a crock of gold is lying down in the bottom of the old quarry out the quay. It’s still hidden under the stones next to the big house but whoever gets it must go when its pitch black at midnight, and must not take his wife with him under any circumstances”

Well of course the man hurried home and told his wife what he had heard. They decided that he must go that very night as it was promised to be a cloudy night so there would be no moon and it would be pitch black. She promised she would stay at home and watch for him until he came back. Off he went into the dark, black night.

“Right” thought the wife when he was gone, “All I have to do is get to the quarry before him and I’ll have the pot of gold all to meself and he can go and whistle for he’ll get nothing from me” Wasn’t she a lovely woman.

She went out the front door and ran like the wind until she reached the quarry and then she began to creep down very quietly looking for the stones near the big house. Of course it was that dark she couldn’t see anything and all of a sudden she tripped over a great big stone, she fell into the quarry, down, down, down she fell, bouncy, bouncy, bounce until she hit the bottom and there she lay groaning for she had broken her legs in the fall. Oh dear.

Just then her husband arrived, coming to the edge of the quarry he began to climb down but all of a sudden he heard the sound of groaning in the darkness, he was very frightened.

“Mother of god, what is that unholy noise” he said to himself, “it’s coming from down below, is it good or is it evil”

His wife heard him talking to himself and shouted “Oh thank god its you, come down here and help me, I’ve broken me legs and I’ll die if you don’t get me out of here” she cried.

“Ah now thats not fair, this was my pot of gold and now I have to leave it here while I help you” Well he couldn’t leave her there could he. Answers to WRFM on the back of a postcard please.

The poor man didn’t know what to do, it was so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. There was only one thing to do, he’d have to get help from the neighbours. Between them they got a rope around the poor woman and dragged her screaming up to the top of the quarry and carried her home. They put her onto the bed but it was many days before she was able to get up and about and for the rest of her life she walked with a limp. In fact it became known as the curse of the leprechauns limp.

As for the pot of gold, well from that day to this not one of the family, father, son or mother, or any one belonging to them have ever set eyes on it. The leprechaun still sits under his dock leaf by the hedgerow and laughs to himself as he mends his shoes with his little hammer. Tic tack tic tack tic tack.  Funny thing is no one bothers the little man in the red hat anymore. Now they know he can take revenge and there’s always the curse of the leprechauns limp.