THE MISHMORE ROCK.

Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 15, 17 January 1914, Page 13

THE MISHMORE ROCK.

I was smokln' mc polpe at Rellly's door, -, Forninst th' Atlantic In Inishmore— / For Reiliy he kapes the best potheen That a man may git in the Isle o' Green ■ An' the two colleens an' the baby pig Were dancin' a moighty oncommon jig. An' Clancy was tellliV by what great wile* The Divil was-druv from the Aran Isles. ; Says he, 'Tis a thousand years an' more -j Since the Divil he came to Imshmore, An' the grass wint bine, an' the milk turned red. The birds couldn't sing, an* the cattle fled; An' the pigs stampaded into the-say, As they did afore in St. Peter's day; An' the stranies ran dry,, an'th." crops toot rot, • But the Div-i! he did not care one jot Whin the folk wint up to the church to Mass Shure the Divil he wouldn't let tlrlm pass; But he stood in th.' poorch an* grinned an* laughed Till th. wimmin swooned an' th' gurrls wint daft; An'the owld praste's knees beneath him shook As he signed the cross, an' he shut- the Book, An' cried—though himself he did not stirTo St. Patrick to challenge- Lucifer. An' shure It's writ in th' history book How St. Patrhrlck came wad a blackthora crook, An' he chased the Divil round Inishmore The way no Divil was chased before; He followed him fast, an' he followed fair, To the headland rocks where the wild gulls are. An' his Divilship ran with drooping tail Right under a rock he could not scale. The little Imps scrambled beyant the stone, An' there -was his Majesty all alone, An' his eyes flashed Are, an' his venom hissed As th' blackthorn swung from St. Pathrick's fist; He shivered an' shook when he heard them shonjr, "By the Howly Mother,. let's freeze him out!" An' St. Pathrtck bidding the Aran men To push o'er the rock when he said "When!" By, way of divarsion St. Dunstan rose. An' branded a cross on the Divll's nose, Then while the hill was with rage arcar The fat owld Father of luisbmore Cript np ahint with a tanpinny nail An' druv it Into his Majesty's tail— That's why in pietur's an* rfairy talk The Divll's appendage is dubbed a fork. Then the Divil he made an awful Bowl, But St. Pathrlck stuck to him cheek bf jowl An' he gave the word 1 for bis men to push. An' th' rock rolled o'er with a fearful rush; Then the Divil he gave one moighty bound. An' tore his tall-from the boggy ground; ■But the rock cut off five big, black toes— That's why with a cloven foot he goes. An' shore 'tis a thousand years an' more Since the Divil he came to Inishmore; i But the tinpinny nail and .toes are there,. | An' the rock Is standing bleak and bare. For nothing grows on its blackened sides, ■ An' the childer shun It lor what it hides, '> But tbe wise ones bless it from day to day, i For it 'scared nine-tenths of a Divil away, i J-fS: * '.. iT^^^M^SkTEaa%\kj •■ -—-,-. ----'"- ,- ,--•-.-•--w