Tales of Bearach Candlestick O'Floinn
By Maximilian Cummings
Tale IV
As the sister of Bearach Candlestick O'Floinn says of him, "The old scuttered fool thinks he's never drunk so long as he can hold onto one blade of grass to keep him from falling off the Earth."
He, for his part, prides himself in his ability to hold his drink. Many a time he had suggested to his sister that, "there's an awful drout on me," but it falls on deaf ears. To him the sour puss had no sense at all.
Tumbling into a ditch, the worse for drink, and lying there stupefied all night long is not recommended to anyone but is something Bearach Candlestick O'Floinn has managed to do more than once in his ninety-eight years. The most recent of these happenings was the most unwise, not because it was winter and wet and cold leading him to catch a chill, given it was high summer, but because he got caught. Yes, not a good thing for a leprechaun as I am sure you know.
The morning was well advanced when the leprechaun stirred. First one eye and then the other opened in his wizened little face. The light was uncommon fierce, or so it seemed to him, and he squinted trying to get his eyes to focus before sitting up and looking over the edge of the ditch to see what the world had come to since the previous night. His head was throbbing and he felt none too well. A day for quietness and reflection mostly asleep in a haystack, if possible.
Now Ireland is a fine country indeed and a fine one to go rambling but it is best, I should warn you, to take your waterproofs whatever the season: though that day was a glorious one to take to the road, or path, and people were out and about. Unfortunately for Bearach two young men from the big town were passing along the track just as he popped his head over the edge of the ditch.
"What's that, Declan?" said one.
And before Bearach could nip off down the ditch he was held firmly by the two young men.
"Looks like a grubby little leprechaun to me," said the one called Declan.
"Old too," said the other.
"Well, I wasn't a believing one, but three foot tall and dressed like that; look here's its hat."
"He's got to lead us to his crock o' gold now hasn't he? And at his age it must be quite a full one."
There was, as you might expect, a lot of wriggling from Bearach Candlestick O'Floinn. This was not good, Bearach counted himself as wily as any leprechaun this side of the country and he had never been caught before—if you don't count the night in the village lock-up in '55 but that had been simply a misunderstanding with the constabulary, particularly one PC Donnelly who is still living to regret the incident even though now in his seventies. Every year on the very anniversary of that night he would come downstairs in the morning to find all the furniture in the house re-arranged and nothing at all in its place. He'd tried staying up one year with a heavy blackthorn cudgel or shillelagh on his lap but eventually had fallen asleep in his armchair in his sitting room only to wake up, in the very same armchair, in the kitchen with the coal scuttle boiling away merrily on the stove, his tobacco in the sugar bowl and the mantelpiece clock ticking away to itself in the pantry.
But Bearach was caught and held tightly now. He began.
"Can't find it today, if of course I was a leprechaun which I'm not, just a little old man from Ballymageogh who lost my way last night a coming back from the inn. Perhaps we could go there now and I could buy you good gentlemen a pint of the black stuff in gratitude for pulling me out of the ditch. My legs are not as what they were."
The young men were having none of that. "Can't find it today, not likely you've forgotten where it is."
Bearach tried again.
"Everyone knows a leprechaun keeps his crock at the end of the rainbow but, alas, there's not a cloud in the sky so, what a shame, no chance of a rainbow. Better come back tomorrow. I'll be here..."
"Do you think we're stupid? Rainbows don't come to ground; they're just optical illusions, not real."
Bearach smiled as if he knew something more than they did.
"Now old man, you know the rules. We've caught you and you have to lead us to your crock o' gold."
There was grumbling but they plant his hat on his head and Bearach sets off still held very tightly. He was in a bit of a fix I can tell you. As they walked his head begins to clear a little but he hasn't a plan—yet. He did not take kindly to being frogmarched or to being caught at all. I am not sure which he was more cross about – allowing himself to be caught or actually being in a state of having been caught. The thought of what his sister might say – might say repetitively for the next few decades – came to mind. It was not a good thought.
Now, as I said, Bearach hadn't a plan but he was always ready to seize a chance and his eyes being good (now the double vision had cleared) he espied a group of walkers far ahead and as they get closer a grin begins to form, just a hint of one at first but gradually it grows to a gull's wing.
"Would you mind," he said, "if I stopped for a piss. Only I drank a fair bit last night and I'm bursting to be rid."
Well Declan and Amery can hardly say no, but, suspecting a trick, for the leprechaun are famous for that, they let him stand facing a bush and hold tight to one arm and a shoulder. Of course they are not to know about Bearach Candlestick O'Floinn's magic wand and the mischief he can do with that in his hand and I don't just mean to the wans.
As he stands there, the young men kept a tight hold on Bearach and, rather than look at him, watch the party of walkers coming towards them along the river bank. Being young men it was not long before they notice, what Bearach noticed somewhat earlier, that the party is made up of women and being men they run their eyes over them and the closer they get the more they like what they see; almost as if the closer the women got the more attractive they seemed to become, perhaps due to the light.
"Are you finished?" And they pulled Bearach back onto the path in the direction of the girls.
I don't know as you've seen the like but the young men hadn't, five really stunning girls each with long golden hair kitted out with day packs, boots, various colours of shorts (and some quite short at that) and tee shirts—for it was a hot day. They seemed minded to stop and chat which naturally the young men were not adverse to, liking to talk to pretty wans. The girls did not seem to particularly notice or comment on the rather unusual little man the young men were holding tight, as if it was an everyday occurrence to see a leprechaun being closely escorted. That was peculiar, you will think, but the young men were too taken with the girls to notice.
"It's very hot," said one of the girls after a time and there was general agreement leading to rather longing looks at the cool river flowing by, looking invitingly cool and its soft water pleasant to slip into.
"We could swim," said one, "if only we had the things."