The Leprechaun

So I was at the Leprechaun Museum the other day....

Because I am a bit lazy and uncreative today I'll just copied some of the information boards from the museum and this is what they have to say about Leprechauns: So this is not owned by me, but by the National Leprechaun Museum:

www.leprechaunmuseum.ie

Leprechaun Sara :-)

 
The leprechaun is shoemaker to the fairies. He usually appears alone, and can be seen sitting on a toad-stool smoking his pipe and hammering a shoe. He is small and wizened in appearance, although not necessarily old. Old clay-pipes, especially if small, when found on the ground are thought to be his tobacco-pipes. His hammering can be heard for some distance in the woodland.

Although having short and thin legs, he is very agile, and can move very quickly through the fields and woods; he climbs trees very well, and is a great swimmer. A slick speaker, he is also a great musician, and can be seen resting or playing music on a toad-stool, on a stone or rock, or on the branch of a tree. He is usually seen at daybreak or at sunset.

He lives in a secluded spot – usually a hole in the ground. Covered by foliage, in which he has built a comfortable little dwelling. He is said to have a mother, who cooks his food for him, especially his ‘potatoes’ (i.e. pig-nuts). He dresses in old 18^th – 19^th century style. He is very wealthy, and has his treasure hidden in a crock of gold in the earth or underwater. He has three purses in his jacket – one for copper coins, one for silver coins, and one for gold coins.

The first written mention of the leprechaun dates back to the 8^th Century, and they make an appearance in the story of Fergus Mc Leti a king of Ulster.

A man meets a leprechaun, who gives him a purse called sparán na scillinge (the purse of shillings). Each time the man does business and puts his hand into the purse to pay his debts he finds a shilling there. However, the man abuses the privilege by becoming greedy and puts his hand time and again into the purse, without any real need to do so. One night its contents change to dust.

A man captures a leprechaun and takes him home, hoping to force him to tell where his treasure is. He shuts him up in a room, but during the night the man hears terrible noise and commotion. The leprechaun has gone wild, and is breaking everything in the room, and so the man in terror and desperation lets him go.

A man with a deformity captures a leprechaun and asks him where his treasure is. The leprechaun bargains that, if released, he will cure the man’s ailments. The man releases the leprechaun, and next morning he wakes up to find that he is well and sound.

A strange little man comes as a stranger to a farmer and offers to do the farm-work. He is a great worker – not only does he look after the cattle and horses, but he also cleans up the house every night, leaving everything spick and span. The grateful farmer has a suit made for the leprechaun as a surprise. The leprechaun takes this as an insult and departs.

A strange little man appears as a portent of some impending disaster. For instance, a lord in his castle is visited by such a little man, who warns him not to go hunting on a certain day. The nobleman ignores the advice and meets with his death by accident.

A strange little red-haired man appears to a chieftain and offers to help him in an imminent battle. In the fighting, the little man proves to be a great archer, and with his arrows puts the enemy to flight.

A great jockey looks like a little fairy man, and he wins every race. He is heard to talk to the horse he is riding during the race, and the horse replies to him. People think that he is indeed a fairy, and this is proved when a musician is brought into a fairy fort and meets the jockey there. Or the jockey may in fact be a human who was abducted and, through riding with the fairies at night, has learned their great skills.