Fairy Lore: The Fairy shoe of the Beara Peninsula.

                    





Every now and then a strange  artifacts comes to light thats makes you ask maybe there is some truth to all those old fairy sightings maybe the little people really do exist

one such item is this incredible little shoe....
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There are many strange and fascinating stories of little people from every corner of the  world but some of the most well know come from the United Kingdom Ireland, Scotland and England… 

However many other cultures seem to have very similar story's that would suggest  the existence of a possible  hidden race of tiny people… and although they were presumably wingless, judging by the relics found so far, they would be so small, they could indeed look just like modern representations of fairies!... 

One such artifact a  very tine worn-in, shoe made of mouse leather … found by a sheep farmer on an ancient trail within the Beara Peninsula in Ireland in 1824. 

Could this really be a leprechauns shoe or maybe a fairy ?

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Crofton Croker wrote (84, 1824): A paragraph recently appeared in a Kilkenny paper stating, that a labourer, returning home in the dusk of the evening, discovered a Leprehaune at work, from whom he bore away the shoe which he was mending; as a proof of the veracity of his story it was further stated, that the shoe lay for the inspection of the curious at the newspaper office. The most prominent feature in the vulgar creed.

Are you aware that, on this side of the channel  we have so little doubt of the existence of fairies, that it is no uncommon occurrence to see shoes of fairy manufacture publicly advertised in the newspapers? If I tell you, that while crossing a field, in the purple light of the morning, the attention of a peasant was arrested by the sound of a shoemaker’s hammer; and that, upon leaving the path to discover the cause, he disturbed an elfin cobbler, who it seems was at his trade betimes, and mending his brogues by the side of the ditch; that the spirit of the air, anxious to escape from the prying eyes of mortal wight, leapt from the bank, and, in his haste, dropped both shoe and hammer: if I go on to tell you, that this story is most gravely related, and that the editor informs the public, that both shoe and hammer were carried to such a house, in such a street, in a certain town, in the county of Roscommon, and may there be viewed by any curious or incredulous persons; you will, I think, acknowledge that my tale has at least a better foundation than many which are related to our disadvantage, and but too readily swallowed by the credulity of our English friends (Blake 1825 118-119).
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 The amount of work it would take to create this tiny shoe,  especially with the size of our hands would have been very difficult especially in the early 1800's, the farmer was amazed to find that the shoe clearly shows signs of wear, particularly at the heel, in fact, although tiny, this shoe had indeed been well worn-in by someone no bigger than an average pencil... 

The farmer eventually gave the shoe to the local doctor, and from there it was passed to the Somerville family, the current whereabouts of the shoe is unknown, although it is rumored to be in Munster, in Ireland. 

At one point it was even  examined by scientists at Harvard University, they found it was indeed hand stitched, using tiny stitches, and well-crafted tiny eyelets, it was also  shown to be made from mouse skin. 

The belief in fairies, or tiny humans, is known as the “fairy faith” it is still found throughout Europe and the UK to this day.
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 In some parts of the world,  Iceland for instance fairy faith is still very strong, artifacts left or given by these tiny people have been documented on several occasions. 
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The fairy woman’s cloth of Bursta-fijall, is but one example of a gift from these tiny beings, According to the legend attached to the tiny, unique relic, the wife of the district police superintendent and public prosecutor at the farm of Bursta-fijall in Vopnaf-jordur, in the east of Iceland, received this cloth as payment from a fairy woman whom she had midwifed. 

The cloth is now in the National Museum in Rekjavik. Thor Magnusson, who is the president’s Custodian of Antiquities says, ‘Certainly it’s a unique cloth, There are some other ‘gifts’ too up and down the Atlantic coast of Europe including the flag of MacLeod, kept today at Dunvegan Castle… Stolen from a group of tiny warriors… 

In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the flag was believed to bring luck to the clan, MacLeod even brought a picture of the flag on bombing raids in the Second World War… 

Arguably the  most famous object is known as the “Luck of Eden Hall,” a cup that was won fairly from fairies, by a member of the Musgrove family. 

                                    
                                   
                                                          Luck of Eden Hall

Today the cup stands, in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The cup, which is astoundingly beautiful, is surprisingly, of “eastern origins.” Although many of the things mentioned could, and have been put down to elaborate, yet entertaining hoaxes… 

The fairy or Leprechaun shoe found in the remotes of Ireland, is one of those extremely rare artifacts, that does indeed seem authentic… 

keep your eyes peeled you never know what may turn up next .....

Fairy Lore The Leprechaun ..

                                                         
    

-----------Happy (Early) St Patrick's Day -------


From  advertising schemes to cartoons and movies the Leprechaun has been a pop-culture image for many many years now in fact the image of the leprechauns is now one of  the most recognizable images from  Irish folklore.

Among  the Fairy courts the Leprechaun is perhaps the most well know  fay second only too the Fairy's..(Tinkerbell etc )


 A leprechaun is a type of fairy and a member of the Aos Sí in Irish mythology. 

They are most often depicted as small bearded men, wearing a coat and hat, and are said to be found of pranks and mischief. 

They are usually  solitary creatures who spend their time making and mending shoes and have a hidden pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

                                                    


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Leprechaun myth's and folklore------

 
The earliest known reference to the leprechaun appears in the medieval tale known as the Echtra  Fergus mac Leti (Adventure of Fergus son of Léti).

 The text contains an episode in which Fergus mac Leti the  King of Ulster, falls asleep on the beach and wakes to find himself being dragged into the sea by three lúchorpáin. He captures his abductors, who grant him three wishes in exchange for release.

The leprechaun is said to be a solitary creature, whose principal occupation is making and mending shoes, and who enjoys practical jokes. According to William Butler Yeats  the great wealth of these fairies comes from the "treasure - crocks, buried of old in war-time", which they have uncovered and appropriated.

 According to David Russell McAnally the leprechaun is the son of an "evil spirit" and a "degenerate fairy" and is "not wholly good nor wholly evil".

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Some researchers say that the word leprechaun may have be derived from the Irish leath bhrogan, which means shoemaker.  they are cobblers, or shoemakers. Shoemaking.



                                                             Image by JB Monge
            

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According to Irish legends, people lucky enough to find a leprechaun and capture him (or, in some stories, steal his magical ring, coin or amulet) can barter his freedom for his treasure. Leprechauns are usually said to be able to grant the person three wishes. But dealing with leprechauns can be a tricky proposition.

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Very small shoe made of mouse leather found by a sheep farmer on an ancient trail within the Beara Peninsula in Ireland.1824... (Post about this coming soon)
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 Leprechauns.....

The name leprechaun is derived from the Irish word leipreachán, defined by Patrick Dinneen  as "a pigmy, a sprite, or leprechaun". The further derivation is less certain; according to most sources, the word is thought to be a corruption of Middle Irish  luchrupán, from the Old Irish   luchorpán, a compound of the roots lú ("small") and corp ("body").

 The root corp, which was borrowed from the Latin   corpus, attests to the early influence of   Ecclesiastical  Latin on the Irish language.

 However, further research published in 2019 suggests that the word derives from the Luperci and the associated Roman festival of Lupercalia.

The alternative spelling leithbrágan deriving the word from leith (half) and bróg (brogue), because of the frequent portrayal of the leprechaun as working on a single shoe.

Alternative spellings in English have included lubrican, leprehaun, and lepreehawn. Some modern Irish books use the spelling lioprachán. The first recorded instance of the word in the English language was in Dekker's comedy The Honest Whore, Part 2 (1604): "As for your Irish lubrican, that spirit / Whom by preposterous charms thy lust hath rais'd / In a wrong circle.

 Some believe  that leprechauns are descended from the Tuatha de Danann. When the Milesians came to Ireland (according to the Book of Invasions) they conquered the Tuatha de Danann and forced them to live under ground (this connects them to the aes-sidhe).



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 The cluricaun is often confused with the leprechaun. The leprechaun is related to the clurichaun and the far darrig in that he is a solitary creature. Some writers even go as far as to substitute these second two less well-known spirits for the leprechaun in stories or tales to reach a wider audience. The cluricaun is considered by some to be merely a leprechaun on a spree.
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Leprchuans love music, dancing, fox hunting, and drinking Irish whiskey these are said to be the his ' favorite pastimes.

Once a leprachaun begins dancing to a human's song, it is said that he cannot stop until the tune ceases.

 His exhausted state may cause him to make outlandish offers, including his crock (pot)of gold, if you will please only allow him to stop dancing. Other means of finding his gold include looking at the end of a rainbow, which may lead him to offer 3 wishes in exchange for his treasure. However his promises of gold or wealth  are nothing more the  hollow words, as the Leprechaun employs clever trickery when granting his  wishes, usually resulting in the embarrassment or even  injury to the one making the wishes.

According to some legends, If caught by a human, he will promise great wealth if set  free.

He carries two leather pouches. In one there is a silver shilling, a magical coin that returns to the purse each time it is paid out. In the other he carries a gold coin which he uses to try and bribe his way out of difficult situations. This coin usually turns into leaves or ashes once the leprechaun has parted with it. However, you must never take your eye off him, for he can vanish in an instant.
According to legend, if anyone keeps an eye fixed upon one, he cannot escape, but the moment the eye is withdrawn he will vanish.


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--Other Media---


As with many old legends and traditions, the image and nature of the leprechaun has changed over time and has been updated for a modern audience. Lucky the Leprechaun, mascot of the General Mills breakfast cereal Lucky Charms, is probably the best-known fairy of his type.

The 1959 Disney movie Darby O'Gill and the little people also played  an prominent role  how people see the wee folk today.
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Then there's  homicidal leprechaun Lubdan in the "Leprechaun" horror/comedy film series played by "Willow" actor Warwick Davis.
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One of the most well know Leprechauns in the world is Lucky the General Mills cereal mascot for Lucky Charms.

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                                     -----Lucky the Leprechaun -----



        

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                                                        Hornswaggle
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Professional wrestler Dylan Mark Postl competed and appeared as Hornswoggle the little leprechaun that lived under the ring, for most of his WWE career 


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The University Notre Dame- Fighting  Irish Leprechaun mascot 







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The Boston Celtics logo has a leprechaun mascot of the team named  Lucky the Leprechaun...no relation to General Mills or Lucky Charms...

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                                          Cute female Leprechaun ...

                           Leprechaun Fairy Goth Girl with Shamrocks

                            


Leprechaun in anime
                                          


 
 Chtholly Nota Seniorious  from Shuumatsu Nani Shitemasu ka? Isogashii Desu ka? Sukutte Moratte Ii Desu ka?
  
 WorldEnd: What do you do at the end of the world? Are you busy? Will you save us?



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Leprechaun and Politics....
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Paul Krugman  a Nobel Prize-winning economist, first coined the term "Leprechaun economics" to describe distorted or unsound economic data, which he first used in a tweet on 12 July 2016 in response to the publication by the Irish Central Statistics Office or CSO..that Irish GDP had grown by 26.3%, and Irish GNP had grown by 18.7%, in the 2015 Irish national accounts. The growth was subsequently shown to be due to Apple restructuring its double Irish  tax scheme which the EU Commission had fined €13bn in 2004–2014 Irish unpaid taxes, the largest corporate tax fine in history. The term has been used many times since.


 In the Irish politics the  leprechauns has been used to refer to the twee (a childish pronunciation of sweet).  aspects of the tourist industry in Ireland This can be seen from this example of  John A Costello addressing the Oireachtas   in 1963: "For many years, we were afflicted with the miserable trivialities of our tourist advertising. Sometimes it descended to the lowest depths, to the caubeen and the shillelagh  not to speak of the leprechaun

         

              

Fairy Lore:The Daoine Sidhe or Aos Si

September is going to be mostly Fairy myths and legends, After that

 i will be doing Crypid posts until Halloween or shortly after,.....

Fairy, Fay, Wee folk or whatever you call them the little people are all around us.

Here is a little info on some of them.

 The Daoine Sidhe..or Aos Si ...People of the mounds

Daoine Sidhe: Legend recounts that when the Milesians defeated the Tuatha dé Danann, they followed one of their leaders, Dagda, down under these earth mounds and became the Daoine Sidhe. They are the Trooping fairies and have their own regional kings and queens and owe allegiance to Finvarra and Onagh.

The aos sí (Irish pronunciation: [iːs 'ʃiː], "ees shee", older form aes sídhe is the Irish Gaelic term for a supernatural race in Irish mythology and Scottish mythology, (usually spelled Sìth, however pronounced the same) comparable to the fairies or elves.

 They are said to live underground in fairy mounds, across the western sea, or in an invisible world that coexists with the world of humans. This world is described in the Book of Invasions (recorded in the Book of Leinster) as a parallel universe in which the aos sí walk amongst the living.

In the Irish language, aos sí means "people of the mounds" (the mounds are known in Irish as "the sídhe").

 In Irish literature the people of the mounds are also called daoine sídhe; in Scottish mythology they are daoine sìth. They are variously said to be the ancestors, the spirits of nature, or Goddesses and Gods.

Some secondary and tertiary sources including well-known and influential authors such as W.B. Yeats refer to aos sí simply as "the sídhe" (lit.: mounds).

Sidhe  are the hills that dot the Irish landscape.

In modern Irish the word is Si; in Scottish Gaelic sith in Old Irish side  and the singular is sid.

In some English text the word sidhe   is incorrectly used both for the mounds and the people of the mounds. However sidh in older texts refers specifically to "the palaces, courts, halls or residences" of the otherworldly beings that are said too inhabit them.

The fact that many of these sidhe  have been found to be ancient burial mounds has contributed to the theory that the aos si  were the pre-Celtic occupants of Ireland.


Aos si are said to be fierce protectors of the home's or territory  whether a fairy hill, a Fairy Ring a special tree ( most times a Hawthorn or a particular loch  or forest.

It is believed that entering these spaces will cause the aos si  to retaliate in an effort to remove the people or objects that invaded their homes.

Many of these story's  are often linked to changelings myth were the aos si are said  to kidnapping trespassers or replacing their children with changelings as a punishment for their disrespect.

The aos si  are often connected to certain times of year and hours; as the Gaelic Fairy world or spirit world  is believed to come closer to the human  world at the times of dusk and dawn, and  the aos si  aos s are   easier to encounter. Some festivals such as Samhain (Halloween ) and  Baltane,.. May 1st the beginning of summer ( May Day)  are also associated with the aos si.