Transcript

Bhuel, bhí baile ann agus bhí siad bocht. Agus bhí siad... bhí siad bocht. Agus 'air[1] a bhí, tháinig cailín ionsorthu, nó lady, isteach tráthnóna agus d'fhiafraigh sí dófa an gcoinneochadh siad ise ' ceann cupla mí. D'abair sí go gcoinneocha-... D'abair siad go gcoinneochadh. Agus stop sí ansin acu agus fuair sí bád úr buildáilte dófa agus stand líontaí. 'Air a fuair, bhí sí ansin acu agus fuair sí bádaí don bhaile uilig agus stand líontaí. Agus 'air a fuair, d'imigh sí ansin. Agus bhí siad ag déanamh ar dóigh de, ag coinneachal[2] na scadán. Bhí siad á ndíol uilig a réir mar bhí siad á bhfáil. Agus 'air a bhí, d'imigh sise ansin. Agus 'air a bhí siad... 'air a bhí siad tamalt maith ag an iascaireacht d'imigh sí ansin agus d'iarr sí orthu tobán uisce a fhágáilt síos i steamra[3]. D'fhág siad tobán uisce thíos i steamra, agus 'air a d'fhág, d'imigh siad ansin. D'iarr sí orthu gan a ghoil amach an oíche seo a dh'iascaireacht. Cha dteachaigh. D'iarr sí orthu a ghoil síos ansin agus amharc ar an tobán, goidé mar a bhí an tobán. Agus chuaigh siad síos. Bhí an cupán ag slapáil ó thaobh go taobh ins an tobán. D'iarr sí orthu a ghoil síos an tríú heat[4]. Agus 'air a fuaigh, bhí an cupán, bhí sé tiontaithe sa tobán. D'imigh sise amach ansin ar an doras agus 'air a bhí sí ag goil amach d'iarr sí ar (achan) nduine acu gan a ghoil a dh'iascaireacht achoíche.

Translation

Well, there was a town and they were poor. And they were... they were poor. And a girl, or a lady, came to them one evening and she asked them if they would keep her for a few months. She said... They said that they would. And she stayed there and she had a new boat built for them and a stand of nets. She got boats for the whole town and a stand of nets. And she went away then. And they were doing very well from it, catching the herring. They were selling all of them as they were catching them. And she left then. And when... when they were fishing for a good while she went and asked them to leave a tub of water down in a room. They left a tub of water down in a room and then they left. She asked them not to go out fishing that night. They didn't. She asked them to go down then and to look at the tub, to see how it was. And they went down. The cup was slapping from side to side in the tub. She asked them to go down the third time. And when they did, the cup was overturned in the tub. She then went out the door and when she was going out she asked every one of them never to go fishing again.

Footnotes

Commentary

This story appears to bear a certain similarity with a migratory legend known as 'The ship sinking-witch', which is common along the north west coast of Ireland, particularly in Donegal. It is also known in Scotland, the Faroes, Iceland and Norway. This story concerns a witch who, upon being slighted by fishermen in some way, places bowls in a tub and agitates the water, causing the bowls to sink. This in turn causes boats of those who slighted her to sink. It is clear from the legend that sympathetic magic is used, and the vessels in the tub symbolically represent the boats in the sea. In this respect, it bears resemblance to the current story, although the magic is used for beneficial ends, predicting stormy weather and warning the fishermen not to go to sea. The motif of the vessels in a tub may have been borrowed from the witch legend, or this may be considered a variant or redaction, although it does differ significantly from other Irish and international versions. For a thorough analysis of the legend in an Irish and European context, see Críostóir Mac Cárthaigh, 'The ship-sinking witch: a maritime folk legend from north-west Europe', Béaloideas 60-1 (1992-3), 267-86.

This story is transcribed also in Heinrich Wagner and Colm Ó Baoill, Linguistic atlas and survey of Irish dialects (4 vols, Dublin, 1958-69), vol. 4, 287, and in Róise Ní Bhaoill, Ulster Gaelic voices: bailiúchán Doegen 1931 (Belfast, 2010), 196-9.