An old Irish tale of the wee folk

[fbhjr]

My father used to tell me this tale about what went on in my great
grandparents home back in Troy. I have no idea if it is true, or if other
family members who may read this will have heard this or a different
version or it. Anyhow…

Before my grandparents married, my grandfather went to visit my grandmother
at the family home in Troy New York. The house still had hand pumps for
water and he noticed that they pumped a large bucket of water and left it
in the kitchen each night.
He asked if they had pump problems because they needed so much water to
prime the pump for the next morning.
“No,” he was told. “That’s for the fairies.”
My grandfather was finishing his medical degree and my grandmother degrees
in physics and chemistry.
“You believe in fairies?” he asked his father-in-law to be, who had married
a girl from northern Ireland.
“Years ago, we had a servant girl from Ireland,” my great grandfather said.
“Each night she would leave a big bucket of water in the kitchen for the
fairies. I had told her that was senseless and she shouldn’t do it, but
she did anyhow.
“One night, I smelled smoke and came downstairs. The wood stove had
sparked and set the kitchen on fire. I grabbed the bucket of water, put
out the fire and saved the house.
“Do I believe in fairies? I never again argued with leaving them water.”
My grandfather agreed.

Comments

[palusbuteo.livejournal.com]

Now that is an interesting story!!

[evrgreen.livejournal.com]

A very interesting story, and one that probably was borne from such a practical consideration - given how common fires were in the kitchen and the fact that folks didn't have those handy little ABC chemical fire extinguishers like we have scattered around the house.