Kildare Folk Tales

by Lally, Steve;

  BIDDY THE BESOM BY PAT DOWING ALLENWOOD MIDDLE

  Long ago an old woman went around with besoms, which were a type of broom … a bit like the ones you might think of a witch riding on. She gave them to the farmers’ wives in exchange for bread and milk. She was called ‘Biddy the Besom’. A beggarman went around here long ago and he was called ‘Jack the Skinner.’ Jack Kelly was his real name but he went around looking for old goats. He used to skin them and he sold the skin afterwards.

  22

  COONAN’S FIELD

  This poem is based on true events. When I was a child growing up in Kildare I had to use my imagination a lot as there was not a whole lot do living in the countryside. But when a child’s imagination is combined with a wild and wonderful countryside there is no telling what wonders will be created. We lived next door to an old house owned by the Coonan family. We were always told not to play in the big field next the house but as a child this made it all the more adventurous. I felt it was important to write this poem as when my young daughter asks me what it was like being a child all those years ago, I can always show her this poem.

  When I was a kid

  Do you know what I did

  To avoid all things boring and tragic?

  I would step inside my mind

  And there I would find

  A world full of adventure and magic.

  I would play a fantastic game

  And nothing would be the same.

  A stick for a sword, I would yield

  An old bin-lid was my shield

  And off I go to fight monsters

  In Coonan’s Field.

  A great oak tree was my castle;

  I’d hop and swing from branch to bough

  With a youthful ease that escapes me now.

  I’d climb right up to the very top

  And nothing in this world

  Would make me stop.

  Now Coonan’s Field I’ll have you know

  Was no place for the faint-hearted to go

  For in it you would find monsters big and small.

  Each had its own battle call

  But the one that I feared most of all

  Was the ferocious emperor troll.

  He had red bulging eyes,

  A fierce pointed nose,

  Sharpened teeth,

  And serrated claws,

  Not to mention

  Those terrible snapping jaws.

  Avoiding cow dung

  And wandering cattle,

  I would approach my foe

  Poised and ready for battle.

  Then I would roar with all my might,

  ‘Come on Troll, let’s have a fight!’

  At last I would face him

  With my sword and shield,

  Two sworn enemies in Coonan’s Field.

  I’d roll, I’d jump, I’d dodge and duck,

  Avoiding his killing blows

  In the mud and the muck.

  It was all going well,

  Then I ran clean out of luck.

  It didn’t take long before

  My wellie-boots got stuck.

  He came at me, hurling boulders and rocks.

  ‘Forget about this, I’ll fight him in my socks!’

  But then I heard a voice beckoning me;

  It was my mother calling …

  ‘It’s getting late, come in for your tea!’

  I stood and looked at my fiendish friend,

  Wishing this night would never end

  In this wonderful world of pretend.

  Well that was a long-long time ago

  And so much has changed

  As we all know,

  But when I feel sad a little bit low

  I know there is still a place

  In my memory where I can go.

  And I think of that little boy

  Conquering his own private Troy

  With a stick for a sword

  An old bin-lid for a shield,

  Off fighting monsters

  In Coonan’s Field.

  COPYRIGHT

  First published in 2014

  The History Press Ireland

  50 City Quay

  Dublin 2

  Ireland

  www.thehistorypress.ie

  This ebook edition first published in 2014

  All rights reserved

  © Steve Lally, 2014

  Illustrations © Steve Lally, 2014

  The right of Steve Lally to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

  EPUB ISBN 978 0 7509 5896 7

  Original typesetting by The History Press

  Ebook compilation by RefineCatch Limited, Bungay, Suffolk