rose. ‘I think I’ll give Jack a hand.’
Mark said, ‘Aggie’s picked a tough one. Irish lore, like most in Europe, has been “frozen” by the printing press. Children now read faerie tales rather than listen at their mother’s knee – if they read them at all.’
‘So you don’t think she’ll find much variation?’ asked Phil.
Mark shook his head in the negative, while Agatha smiled indulgently. ‘We’ve had this argument before,’ she ventured. ‘Mark is something of a homegrown social anthropologist and claims there is no true oral tradition in Europe or America any more.’
‘Well, maybe among the older American Indians and rural folk up in the Appalachians, but nowhere else. Not when you can pick up a book and read the same story in England and America. No, if you’re researching myths about cluricaunes, you’ll find the same story in William Pitt County as you would in County Cork.
‘What are cluricaunes?’ asked Phil.
Agatha said, ‘Leprechauns. They’re called lurikeen, lurigandaun, and luricans in different parts of Ireland.’
Gloria sat back. There was something passing between the boys, she could sense it. And it worried her. She silently wondered why the talk was making her tense.
Agatha glanced at the boys and asked, ‘Do you boys know what a leprechaun is?’
‘Little men in green coats?’ said Patrick, an odd expression on his face.
Sean’s eyes widened at Patrick’s answer, then suddenly his face became animated as he blurted, ‘Darby O’Gill!’
Phil laughed. ‘Just so.’
Mark said, ‘Who’s Darby O’Gill?’
‘It’s a Disney film, Darby O’Gill and the Little People. The boys saw it before we left California.’
‘Yeah,’ said Sean with a pout. ‘We had the Disney channel on cable.’
‘I rest my case,’ offered Mark. ‘The boys are getting their folk myths from television.’
Gloria said, ‘They’ve been disconsolate there’s no cable available out at the farm.’ She roughed Sean’s hair. ‘Now you’ll just have to make do with three channels, like normal people.’
Phil said, ‘I was saving it as a surprise, boys, but I’ve ordered a satellite dish to be installed next week.’
The two boys’ eyes widened. ‘We’ll get hundreds of channels!’ shouted Patrick.
Over the laughter in the dining room, Gloria ordered the boys to stifle their enthusiasm. Sean said, ‘Barry Walter’s father has the channel with naked ladies on it.’
Gloria said, ‘We’ll talk about this when we get home.’
Phil laughed. ‘It’s all right. I got the one with the lock switch. The boys won’t be watching any X-rated movies for a few more years.’
Jack and Gabbie returned with cake and coffee.
‘Speaking of faerie myths, does anyone know what night this is?’ Gary asked.
Mark and Agatha looked at each other and laughed, but it was Gloria who answered. ‘Midsummer’s Night.’
‘Like in Shakespeare?’ said Jack.
Phil said, ‘I thought the solstice was three days ago.’
‘On the calendar of the Church, it’s the twenty-fourth,’ said Gloria. ‘The nativity of St John the Baptist.’
Phil said, ‘I’ve read A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I thought it was just … a night in the middle of summer.’
Agatha said, ‘There are three days supposedly special to faeries: May first, June twenty-fourth, and November first. This is a night of power and celebration, according to legend.’
‘What are the other two days? I know the first of November is All Saints’, but what about the first of May?’
‘May Day,’ ventured Gary. ‘Faeries are Marxists.’
Over the groans of the others, Agatha said, ‘It’s the day after Walpurgis Night, just as All Saints’ follows Halloween. Both are Moving Days.’
When the others looked uncomprehending, Mark Blackman said, ‘In the Irish tradition, the faeries move from place to place on those two days. We’re speaking of the Trooping Fairies. Shakespeare had them staying forever in the night:
“And we fairies, that do run
By the triple Hecate’s team,
From the presence of the sun,
Following darkness like a dream.”
‘But he’s alone in that view. According to tradition, the faeries live for six months in a stand of woods, then move to another, perhaps on the other side of the world. And they make the move in one night.’
Mark again quoted Shakespeare:
‘“We the globe can compass soon,
Swifter than the wandering moon.”’
‘Its why faerie stories abound everywhere. Over the ages the faeries have lived in every part of the world,’ said Aggie. ‘If you believe in them.’
‘And tonight’s a special night for them?’ ventured Gabbie with a laugh.
‘According to legend,’ agreed Agatha. ‘They’ll be throwing a grand party tonight.’
Turning to Jack, Gabbie said, ‘Let’s go out to that faerie mound we saw the other day. Maybe we’ll see the party.’
‘I wouldn’t,’ said Mark. All eyes turned to regard him. ‘Those woods are pretty dangerous in the dark.’
Gloria looked alarmed. ‘How do you mean, dangerous?’
Gabbie made a face. ‘Ghosts? Indian spirits?’
‘Gabbie, let him answer,’ snapped Gloria. Gabbie flushed and was about to retort when she saw Jack shaking his head and indicating the boys, who sat in rapt attention. Suddenly she understood Gloria’s worry, and she felt silly. ‘Why are the woods dangerous, Mark? Wild animals?’
Mark smiled and tried to look reassuring. ‘No, nothing like that. No bears or wolves in ages. Nothing much bigger than a weasel or fox since the turn of the century. Just, it’s easy to get lost there and there are a lot more woods than you’d think and they’re pretty dense in places.’ Mark turned to Aggie. ‘Remember Reno MacManus? He got lost taking a shortcut in the dark, fell down an embankment, and broke his hip. It was two days before anyone found him. Died of exposure. And he’d lived all his life in the area. It’s just a bad idea to be poking about in the woods after dark, that’s all I meant.’
Agatha
