one day a fine, handsome young fellow, called jemmy nowlan, set off to walk to the fair at slane, whither some cattle of his had been sent off for sale that same morning early. and he was dressed in his best clothes, spruce and neat; and not one in all the county round could equal jemmy nowlan for height, strength, or good looks. so he went along quite gay and merry in himself, till he came to a lonely bit of the road where never a soul was to be seen; but just then the sky became black-dark, as if thunder were in the air, and suddenly he heard the tramp of a horse behind him. on turning round he saw a very dark, elegant looking gentleman, mounted on a black horse, riding swiftly towards him.
“jemmy nowlan,” said the dark horseman, “i have been looking for you all along the road. get up now, quickly, behind me, and i’ll carry you in no time to the great fair of slane; for, indeed, i am going there myself, and it would be very pleasant to have your company.”
“thank your honour kindly,” said jemmy; “but it’s not for the likes of me to ride with your lordship; so i would rather walk, if it’s pleasing to your honour; but thanks all the same.”
truth to tell, jemmy in his own mind had a fear of the strange gentleman and his black horse, and distrusted them both, for had he not heard the people tell strange stories of how young men had been carried off by the fairies, and held prisoners by their enchantments down deep in the heart of the hill under the earth, where never a mortal could see them again or know their fate; and they were only allowed to come up and see their kindred on the nights the dead walked, and then they walked with them as they rose from the graves? so again he began to make his excuses, and meanwhile kept looking round for some path by which he could escape if possible.
“come now,” said the dark horseman,265 “this is all nonsense, jemmy nowlan; you really must come with me.”
and with that he stooped down and touched him lightly on the shoulder with his whip, and in an instant jemmy found himself seated on the horse, and galloping away like the wind with the dark horseman; and they never stopped nor stayed till they came to a great castle in a wood, where a whole set of servants in green and gold were waiting on the steps to receive them. and they were the smallest people jemmy had ever seen in his life; but he made no remark, for they were very civil, and crowded round to know what they could do for him.
“take him to a room and let him dress,” said the gentleman, who appeared to own the castle. and in the room jemmy found a beautiful suit of velvet, and a cap and feather. and when the little servants had dressed him they led him to the large hall that was all lit up and hung with garlands of flowers; and music and dancing were going on, and many lovely ladies were present, but not one in the hall was handsomer than jemmy nowlan in his velvet suit and cap and feather.
“will you dance with me, jemmy nowlan?” said one lovely lady.
“no, jemmy: you must dance with me,” said another.
and they all fought for him, so he danced with them all, one after the other, the whole night through, till he was dead tired and longed to lie down and sleep.
“take jemmy nowlan to his room, and put him to bed,” said the gentleman to a red-haired man; “but first he must tell me a story.”
“i have no story, your honour,” said jemmy, “for i am not book-learned; but i am very tired, let me lie down and sleep.”
“sleep, indeed,” said the gentleman; “not if i can help it. here, davy”—and he called the red-haired man—“take jemmy nowlan and put him out; he can tell no story. i will have no one here who can’t tell me a story. put him out, he is not worth his supper.”
so the red-haired man thrust jemmy out at the castle gate, and he was just settling himself to sleep on a bench outside, when three men came by bearing a coffin.
“oho, jemmy nowlan,” they said, “you are welcome. we just wanted a fourth man to carry the coffin.”
and they made him get under it with them, and away they marched over hedge and ditch, and field and bog, through briars and thorns, till they reached the old churchyard in the valley, and then they stopped.
“who will dig a grave?” said one.
“let us draw lots,” said another.
and the lot fell on jemmy. so they gave him a spade, and he worked and worked till the grave was dug broad and deep.
“this is not the right place at all for a grave,” said the leader266 of the party when the grave was finished. “i’ll have no one buried in this spot, for the bones of my father rest here.”
so they had to take up the coffin again, and carry it on over field and bog till they reached another churchward, where jemmy was obliged to dig a second grave; and when it was finished, the leader cried out—
“who shall we place in the coffin?”
and another voice answered—
“we need draw no lots; lay jemmy nowlan in the coffin!”
and the men seized hold of him and tried to cast him to the ground. but jemmy was strong and powerful, and fought them all. still they would not let go their hold, though he dealt them such blows as would have killed any other men. and at last he felt faint, for he had no weapon to fight with, and his strength was going.
then he saw that the leader carried a hazel switch in his hand, and he knew that a hazel switch brought luck; so he made a sudden spring and seized it, and whirled it three times round his head, and struck right and left at his assailants, when a strange and wondrous thing happened; for the three men who were ready to kill him, fell down at once to the ground, and remained there still as the dead. and the coffin stood white in the moonlight by itself, and no hand touched it, and no voice spoke.
but jemmy never waited to look or think, for the fear of the men was on him, lest they should rise up again; so he fled away, still holding the hazel twig in his hand, and ran on over field and bog, through briars and thorns, till he found himself again at the castle gate. then all the grand servants came out, and the little men, and they said—
“you are welcome, jemmy nowlan. come in; his lordship is waiting for you.”
and they brought him to a room where the lord was lying on a velvet couch, and he said—
“now, young man, tell me a story, for no one in my castle is allowed to eat, drink, or sleep till they have related something wonderful that has happened to them.”
“then, my lord,” said jemmy, “i can tell you the most wonderful of stories; and very proud i am to be able to amuse your lordship.”
so he told him the story of the three men and the coffin, and the lord was so pleased that he ordered the servants to bring the youth a fine supper, and the best of wine, and jemmy ate like a prince from gold dishes, and drank from crystal cups of the wine, and had the best of everything; but after the supper he felt rather queer and dazed-like, and fell down on the ground asleep like one dead.
after that he knew nothing till he awoke next morning, and267 found himself lying under a haystack in his own field, and all his beautiful clothes were gone—the velvet suit and cap and feather that he had looked so handsome in at the dance, when all the fine ladies fell in love with him. nothing was left to him of all the night’s adventure save the hazel twig, which he still held firmly in his hand.
and a very sad and down-hearted man was jemmy nowlan that day, especially when the herd came to tell him that none of the cattle were sold at the fair, for the men were waiting for the master, and wondering why he did not come to look after his money, while all the other farmers were selling their stock at the finest prices.
and jemmy nowlan has never yet made out why the fairies played him such a malicious and ill turn as to prevent him selling his cattle. but if ever again he meets that dark stranger on the black horse, he is determined to try the strength of his shillelagh on his head, were he ever such a grand man among the fairies. for at least he might have left him the velvet suit; and it was a shabby thing to take it away just when he couldn’t help himself, and had fallen down from fair weakness and exhaustion after all the dancing, and the wine he drank at supper, when the lovely ladies poured it out for him with their little hands covered with jewels.
it was truly a bad and shabby trick, as jemmy said to himself that may morning, when he stood up from under the hay-rick; and just shows us never to trust the fairies, for with all their sweet words and pleasant ways and bright red wine, they are full of malice and envy and deceit, and are always ready to ruin a poor fellow and then laugh at him, just for fun, and for the spite and jealousy they have against the human race.
