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Irish Nightmares

5/11/2019

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Irish Nightmares: Creatures from Irish folklore
Illustrated and re-told by Daniel Wallace
 
Back of Cover:
Irish nightmares, spawning from the innocent minds of young ones during the old days, imbedded there from the various folktales and legends spread across the land.
This book is a short illustrative gathering of Irish folklore creatures, all hand drawn in ink and brush before colouring digitally. A fun learning experience for those new to Irish folktale creatures.
 
Contents Page:
(List all creatures for each page and whatever else)
  1. Blank Page? (unsure if paperback books work with blank pages in them)
  2. Title page
  3. Back of title page (unsure what to add here)
  4. Alp-Luachra
  5. Banshee
  6. Changeling
  7. Dobhar-Chu
  8. Dullahan
  9. Ellen Trechend
  10. Fairies
  11. Fear Gorta
  12. Leprechaun
  13. Clurichaun
  14. Merrow
  15. Werewolves
  16. About page (with website, etc)
  17. Blank page (same as above)
 
Page 1-2 Alp-Luahcra:
 
Alp-Luachra, also goes by Joint-Eater, is an evil parasitic creature that carries the resemblance of a newt or small lizard, it is told that this newt like nightmare burrows down into the throat of an unlucky fool who falls asleep near a stream of water. The Alp-Luachra continues traveling down the throat of his new-found victim, before setting up camp in his stomach. So that he has the opportunity to steal any food that the host consumes, before slowly starving him to death.
 
 
Page 3-4 Banshee:
 
The Banshee, a vengeful female spirit who’s scream is believed to be the messenger of death, originally serving five traditional Irish families, although due to the change of time the list has grown out of control, and it is vague who is truly part of the five traditional families.
For the only true way to know if you are, is when you hear the distant traumatic screams, which means it is too late… for you, or your family…
 
Page 5-6 Buggane:
 
One of the great unknowns, many sightings of this beast describe him as a giant ogre, somewhat akin to a Scandinavian troll, that towers over houses and is on level with most castles.
Piercing into your soul with his torch like eyes, this beast has a personal vendetta with the st. trinians church on the isle of man, always destroying the roof and killing anyone spotted near it.
 
Page 7-8 Changeling:
 
The changeling, a terrifying offspring of one of the many legendary Irish creatures, is a family’s hidden replacement for their stolen infant child. Some say that the changeling is a child of whatever legendary creature chooses to destroy your family, while others say it is a elderly creature looking for the last bit of love and care before passing. As for your child, he will have to live out the rest of his tortureish life as a slave to those nightmarish demons…
 
Page 9-10 Dobhar-Chu:
 
Ireland’s own Loch Ness monster, the Dobhar Chu, is believed to be a cross between an otter and a hound, its size being on scale with a crocodile, hence the nickname the people have given it, “The Irish Crocodile”.
It is said that the Dobhar Chu can still be found in Sraheens Lough on Achill Island, go if you dare…
 
Page 11-12 Dullahan:
 
The Dullahan, a headless horseman messenger from the afterlife. A demonic spirit that is endlessly roaming in search for his lost head, whilst some think he already has his head and rides for a darker purpose. Hopefully you never witness a Dullahan stopping near you, as anyone in the vicinity is due to die…
Rumour has it, that only three Dullahan’s exist in the entire world.
 
 
Page 13-14 Ellen Trechend:
 
Ellen Trechend, forgotten through time or fear, is a creature only spotted during the battle of Mag Mucrima, emerging from the cave of Cruachan in County Roscommon and causing destruction and chaos until the mighty duo of Ulaid the poet and Amergin the Hero, finally slayed the beast.
Rumour has it, that the beast has many forms, some depicting it as a swarm of three headed creatures, while others depict it as a monstrous three headed bird-like dragon.
 
Page 15-16 Fairies:
 
The unstoppable hidden race of Ireland, the Faeries, are commonly known through fairy tales as supernatural women who direct the lives of men and attended birthing’s in secret. But the term faerie, has now come to mean any supernatural creature tied to earth, people call them by many names, the Aos Si, The Sidhe and Daoine Sidhe.
 
Page 17-18 Fear Gorta:
 
The harbringer of the great Irish famine of the 1840s, the Fear Gorta, is said to be a spirit of famine, that has the appearance of an emaciated human dressed in rags. This vengeful corpse, wanders the lands during times of famine, seeking food from random passerbys. For if you were to feed this poor soul, it would bless you with luck, although it would curse you if you don’t feed it, causing you to always have uncontrollable hunger…
 
Page 19-20 Leprechaun
 
The unwanted icons of Irish folklore, the Leprechauns, a bunch of mischievous creatures about the height of an average person’s waist. They are believed to be very skilled shoemakers, although almost everyone who encounters them knows them as masters of trickery, always convincing others to do unpleasing things…
But if you were somehow to catch one of these pesky wee buggers, he will grant you three wishes, providing you let him go, to continue his ways of trickery…
 
Page 21-22 Clurichaun
 
Unlike the Leprechaun, the Clurichaun is the unknown distant alcoholic cousin, that some believe to be the embodiment of unluckiness. And since they are only spotted at night, people speculate that he may not even be the cousin, and may just be the Leprechaun at night.
Pray that you may never meet a Clurichaun as he is ten times worse than the Leprechaun, taking his trickery to another level…
 
 
 Page 23-24 Mermen:
 
The unspoken terrors of the sea, the Mermen, are the male equivialent and counterparts of the seducers of the sea, Merrows. Rumour has it that Mermen are exceptionally ugly, which explains the stories told by sailors, that because the Mermen are so ugly the Merrows refuse to mate with them. Causing them to be so bitter due to their appearance that they capture the spirits of drowned sailors and keep them incarcerated under the sea, in a desperate attempt to win back the Merrows.
 
Page 25-26 Werewolves of Ossory:
 
The animalistic berserkers of Irish folklore, the Werewolves of Ossory, it is told that they have many depictions. They could be a tribe of wolf-men living in the wild up north in Northern Ireland, that help ancient kings, meanwhile some say that they are descendants of a legendary figure called Laignech Faelad, a werewolf warrior.
Although the most feared of them all is a band of warriors whom lived for the thrill of raiding, wearing the skins of wolf’s as they raid. Finally gaining the ability to change into wolves, before eventually being cursed to leave their bodies behind for a wolf’s, being trapped forever…
 
Extra pages to add?
  • Contents
  • Thank you page
  • About page
  • Blank pages at the front and back
 
Title page content:
  • The title of the book
  • My name
 
About me page content:
  • Daniel Wallace is an illustrator from Newtownards, Northern Ireland, to see more of his work or to just keep up to date visit:
  • (Link all social medias)
  • (Put website down)
  • (Email)

0 Comments

Irish Nightmares Text - Draft 1

5/11/2019

0 Comments

 
Irish Nightmares: Creatures from Irish folklore
Illustrated and re-told by Daniel Wallace
 
Back of Cover:
Irish nightmares, spawning from the innocent minds of young ones during the old days, imbedded there from the various folktales and legends spread across the land.
This book is a short illustrative gathering of Irish folklore creatures, all hand drawn in ink and brush before colouring digitally. A fun learning experience for people who don’t have a vast knowledge of Irish folktale creatures.
 
Contents Page:
(List all creatures for each page and whatever else)
  1. Alp-Luachra
  2. Banshee
  3. Buggane
  4. Changeling
  5. Dobhar-Chu
  6. Dullahan
  7. Ellen Trechend
  8. Fairies
  9. Fear Gorta
  10. Leprechaun
  11. Clurichaun
  12. Merrow
  13. Werewolves of Ossory
 
Page 1-2 Alp-Luahcra:
 
Also goes by Joint-Eater, is an evil parasitic creature that has a resemblance to a newt or small lizard, that climbs down the throat of anyone who falls asleep near a stream of water. The creature then makes his way to the stomach to set up camp, staying there and stealing any food the host consumes normally causing the host’s body to starve to death.
 
Page 3-4 Banshee:
 
A Banshee is a female spirit who’s scream is believed to be the messenger of death, originally serving five traditional Irish families, but due to the change of time the list has grown. Hearing or even seeing her, means a family member will possibly die.
 
Page 5-6 Buggane:
 
A Buggane, somewhat akin to a Scandinavian troll, Is a giant ogre like shapeshifter with eyes like torches. And have two descriptions, one depicting them as a black haired creature with claws and torches for eyes, meanwhile other depiction shows that it could also be a water spirit, one resided by waterfalls and streams.
The most famous folktale involving a Buggane is the tale that involves one repeatedly tearing off the roof of St. Trinian’s church on the Isle of Man – The Buggane of St. Trinians
 
 
Page 7-8 Changeling:
 
A changeling is an offspring of a legendary irish creature that has been secretly left in place of a human child. Sometimes being a child of that creature or and elderly one needing care. The original child would be taken back to the creatures lair and be forced to be a servant.
 
Page 9-10 Dobhar-Chu:
 
The Dobhar Chu is believed to be Ireland’s version of the Loch Ness monster, due it also being a mythical lake monster aswell. The creature is a cross between an otter and a hound, and about the size of a crocodile, hence receiving the nickname the “Irish Crocodile”. It is said that the Dobhar Chu can still be found in Sraheens Lough on Achill Island, west of County Mayo.
 
Page 11-12 Dullahan:
 
The Dullahan, also referred as the headless horseman.
 
Some depict his continuos roaming to be the headless horseman searching for his lost head for all of eternity. Although some depictions suggest that he already has his head and rides for a darker purpose. When a Dullahan stops riding that is where a person is due to die, calling out the person’s name causing him to immediately perish before everyone.
 
Other depictions show him to be the coachman of the afterlife, stearing the Coiste Bodhar, The silent Coach. Six black horse draw this death coach and much like the Banshee’s, seeing this Coach announced the imminent death of oneself or a family member as the coach could never leave Earth empty.
 
There are rumours that only 3 Dullahan’s exist in the entire world.
 
Page 13-14 Ellen Trechend:
 
Ellen Trechend is a three headed creature mentioned in the battle of Mag Mucrima, as having emerged from the cave of Cruachan in County Roscommon and laid waste to Ireland until it was killed by the Ulaid poet and hero Amergin. The descriptions of this creature are very vague, some depicting its as a swarm of three headed creatures, and others depicting it as a monstrous three headed bird-like dragon.
 
Page 15-16 Fairies:
 
The term faerie originally applied to supernatural women who directed the lives of men and attended births, but has now come to mean any supernatural creature tied to the earth, these magical creatures are known as “the Sidhe”, also the Aos Si, and Daoine Sidhe.
 
Faeries come in all different sizes, ranging from the traditional tiny elf like creature to a giant headless horseman.
 
Page 17-18 Fear Gorta:
 
Fear Gorta is a spirit of famine, it appears as a emaciated human dressed in rags, but in some depictions it is seen to be actually the corpse of an individual who was buried without rites and has come back.
 
He wanders the lands during times of famine, seeking alms from random passerbys. Often being a source of good luck for those of whom are generous, but cursing those whom are not with hunger or bad luck. Some also say that he was the harbringer of the great Irish famine of the 1840s.
 
Page 19-20 Leprechaun
 
Leprechauns are known to be mischievous little creatures, being the master tricksters of Irish folklore’s, who are believed to be shoemakers and hide their gold in a pot at the end of a rainbow.  And if you happen to somehow catch a leprechaun, he will grant you three wishes, provided you let him go.
 
The Leprechaun has easily became the most famous folktale creature of them all, the image of him sitting making some shoes while protecting his gold is all in our heads, but he originally started out as a support character to the tale of  “The Saga of Fergus mac Leti”.
 
Page 21-22 Clurichaun
 
The distant alcoholic cousin of the leprechaun or even sometimes depicted as what Leprechaun’s turn into when the sun sets. The clurichaun is a wild and unpredictable creature, with a horrible drinking habit.
 
Page 23-24 Mermen:
 
The mermen are male equivalents and counterparts of the merrows, often depicted to have the form of a male human from the waist up and fish-like from the waist down, but the mermen of irish folklore are described as exceptionally ugly, to the point that even merrows refuse to mate with them despite their genetic compatibility.
 
Many tales have been told about the merrows but barely any of the mermen, as unlike their counterparts they’re rarely seen. They are also so bitter in their appearance that they capture the spirits of drowned sailors and keep them incarcerated under the sea, in a desperate attempt towards the merrows.
 
 
 
 
Page 25-26 Werewolves of Ossory:
 
There are many depictions of werewolves in Irish folklore, in Northern Ireland it is said that that there were tribes of wolf-men living in the wild that ancient kings would call on for aid in battle. And there are many other other tales but, the werewolves of Ossory were said to be descendants of a legendary figure called Laignech Faelad, a werewolf warrior.
 
They were a band of warriors who lived by raiding, many of the warriors wore wolf skins when they went on raids. In later accounts of the folktale they gained the ability to actually change into wolves when raiding. Some legends later on depicted that they could leave their human bodies behind, but any injuries sustained while in the form of a wolf, it would appear on the human body and if the human body was ever moved they were forever trapped in the wolf form.
 
Extra pages to add?
  • Contents
  • Thank you page
  • About page
  • Blank pages at the front and back
 
Title page content:
  • The title of the book
  • My name
 
About me page content:
  • Daniel Wallace is an illustrator from Newtownards, Northern Ireland, to see more of his work or to just keep up to date visit:
  • (Link all social medias)
  • (Put website down)
  • (Email)

0 Comments

Written Text Drafts to Accompany the Book

5/11/2019

0 Comments

 
These are just a pile of copy and pasted texts for me to come back to, as reference to help me with the writing process.

Alp-Luachra Tale

​THERE was once a wealthy farmer in Connacht, and he had plenty of substance and a fine family, and there was nothing putting grief nor trouble on him, and you would say yourself that it's he was the comfortable, satisfied man, and that the luck was on him as well as on e'er a man alive. He was that way, without mishap or misfortune, for many years, in good health and without sickness or sorrow on himself or his children, until there came a fine day in the harvest, when he was looking at his men making hay in the meadow that was near his own house, and as the day was very hot he drank a drink of buttermilk, and stretched himself back on the fresh cut hay, and as he was tired with the heat of the day and the work that he was doing, he soon fell asleep, and he remained that way for three or four hours, until the hay was all gathered in and his workpeople gone away out of the field.
When he awoke then, he sat up, and he did not know at first where he was, till he remembered at last that it was in the field at the back of his own house he was lying. He rose up then and returned to his house, and he felt like a pain or a stitch in his side. He made nothing of it, sat down at the fire and began warming himself.
"Where were you?" says the daughter to him.
"I was asleep a while," says he, "on the fresh grass in the field where they were making hay."
"What happened to you, then?" says she, "for you don't look well."
"Muirya,* musha, then," says he, "I don't know; but it's queer the feeling I have. I never was like it before; but I'll be better when I get a good sleep."
He went to his bed, lay down, and fell asleep, and never awoke until the sun was high. He rose up then and his wife said to him: "What was on you that you slept that long?"
"I don't know," says he.
He went down to the fire where the daughter was making a cake for the breakfast, and she said to him:
"How are you, to-day, father; are you anything better?"
"I got a good sleep," said he, "but I'm not a taste better than I was last night; and indeed, if you'd believe me, I think there's something inside of me running back and forwards."
"Arrah, that can't be," says the daughter, "but it's a cold you got and you lying out on the fresh grass; and if you're not better in the evening we'll send for the doctor."
 
He was saying then that there was a pain on him, but that he did not know rightly what place the pain was in. He was in the same way in the evening, and they had to send for the doctor, and when the doctor was not coming quickly there was great fright on him. The people of the house were doing all they could to put courage in him.
The doctor came at last, and he asked what was on him, and he said again that there was something like a birdeen leaping in his stomach. The doctor stripped him and examined him well, but saw nothing out of the way with him. He put his ear to his side and to his back, but he heard nothing, though the poor man himself was calling out: "Now! now! don't you hear it? Now, aren't you listening to it jumping?" But the doctor could perceive nothing at all, and he thought at last that the man was out of his senses, and that there was nothing the matter with him.
He said to the woman of the house when he came out, that there was nothing on her husband, but that he believed himself to be sick, and that he would send her medicine the next day for him, that would give him a good sleep and settle the heat of his body. He did that, and the poor man swallowed all the medicines and got another great sleep, but when he awoke in the morning he was worse than ever, but he said he did not hear the thing jumping inside him any longer.
They sent for the doctor again, and he came; but he was able to do nothing. He left other medicines with them, and said he would come again at the end of a week to see him. The poor man got no relief from all that the doctor left with him, and when he came again he found him to be worse than before; but he was not
able to do anything, and he did not know what sort of sickness was on him. "I won't be taking your money from you any more," says he to the woman of the house, "because I can do nothing in this case, and as I don't understand what's on him, I won't let on * to be understanding it. I'll come to see him from time to time, but I'll take no money from you."
 
The woman of the house could hardly keep in her anger. Scarcely ever was the doctor gone till she gathered the people of the house round her and they took counsel. "That doctor braduch," says she, "he's not worth a traneen; do you know what he said--that he wouldn't take any ~money from me any more, and he said himself he knew nothing about anything; suf on him, the behoonuch, he'll cross this threshold no more; we'll go to the other doctor; if he's farther from us, itself, I don't mind that, we must get him." Everybody in the house was on one word with her; and they sent for the other doctor; but when he came he had no better knowledge than the first one had, only that he had knowledge enough to take their money. He came often to see the sick man, and every time he would come he would have every name longer than another to give his sickness; names he did not understand himself, nor no one else, but he had them to frighten the people.
They remained that way for two months, without anyone knowing what was on the poor man; and when that doctor was doing him no good they got another doctor, and then another doctor, until there was not a doctor in the county, at last, that they had not got, and they lost a power of money over them, and they had to sell a portion of their cattle to get money to pay them.
 
They were that way for half a year, keeping doctors with him, and the doctors giving him medicines, and the poor man that was stout and well-fed before, getting bare and thin, until at last there was not an ounce of flesh on him, but the skin and the bones only.
He was so bad at last that it was scarcely he was able to walk. His appetite went from him, and it was a great trouble to him to swallow a piece of soft bread or to drink a sup of new milk, and everyone was saying that he was better to die, and that was no wonder, for there was not in him but like a shadow in a bottle.
One day that he was sitting on a chair in the door of the house, sunning himself in the heat, and the people of the house all gone out but himself there came up to the door a poor old man that used to be asking alms from place to place, and he recognised the man of the house sitting in the chair, but he was so changed and so worn that it was hardly he knew him. "I'm here again, asking alms in the name of God," said the poor man; "but, glory be to God, master, what happened to you, for you're not the same man I saw when I was here half a year ago; may God relieve you!"
"Arrah, Shamus," said the sick man, "it's I that can't tell you what happened to me; but I know one thing, that I won't be long in this world."
"But I'm grieved to see you how you are," said the beggarman. "Tell me how it began with you, and what the doctors say."
"The doctors, is it?" says the sick man, "my curse on them; but I oughtn't to be cursing and I so near the grave; suf on them, they know nothing."
 
"Perhaps," says the beggarman, "I could find you a relief myself, if you were to tell me what's on you. They say that I be knowledgable about diseases and the herbs to cure them."
The sick man smiled, and he said: "There isn't a medicine man in the county that I hadn't in this house with me, and isn't half the cattle I had on the farm sold to pay them. I never got a relief no matter how small, from a man of them; but I'll tell you how it happened to me first." Then he gave him an account of everything he felt and of everything the doctors had ordered.
The beggarman listened to him carefully, and when he had finished all his story, he asked him: "What sort of field was it you fell asleep in?"
"A meadow that was in it that time," says the sick man; "but it was just after being cut."
"Was it wet," says the beggarman.
"It was not," says he.
"Was there a little stream or a brook of water running through it?" said the beggarman.
"There was," says he.
"Can I see the field?"
"You can, indeed, and I'll show it to you."
He rose off his chair, and as bad as he was, he pulled himself along until he came to the place where he lay down to sleep that evening. The beggarman examined the place for a long time, and then he stooped down over the grass and went backwards and forwards with his body bent, and his head down, groping among the herbs and weeds that were growing thickly in it.
He rose at last and said: "it is as I thought," and he stooped himself down again and began searching as be-fore. He raised his head a second time, and he had a little green herb in his hand: "Do you see this?" said he. "Any place in Ireland that this herb grows, there be's an alt-pluachra near it, and you have swallowed an alt-pluachra."
"How do you know that?" said the sick man. "If that was so, sure the doctors would tell it to me before now."
"The doctors!" said the beggarman. "Ah! God give you sense, sure they're only a flock of omadawns. I tell you again, and believe me, that it's an alt-pluachra you swallowed. Didn't you say yourself that you felt something leaping in your stomach the first day after you being sick? That was the alt-pluachra; and as the place he was in was strange to him at first, he was uneasy in it, moving backwards and forwards, but when he was a couple of days there, he settled himself, and he found the place comfortable, and that's the reason you're keeping so thin, for every bit you're eating the alt-pluachra is getting the good out of it, and you said yourself that one side of you was swelled; that's the place where the nasty thing is living."
The sick man would not believe him at first, but the beggarman kept on talking and proving on him that it was the truth he was saying, and when his wife and daughter came back again to the house, the beggarman told them the same things, and they were ready enough to believe him.
 
The sick man put no faith in it himself, but they were all talking to him about it until they prevailed on him at last to call in three doctors together until he should tell them this new story. The three came together, and when they heard all the boccuch (beggarman) was saying, and all the talk of the women, it is what they laughed, andsaid they were fools altogether, and that it was something else entirely that was the matter with the man of the house, and every name they had on his sickness this time was twice--three times--as long as ever before. They left the poor man a bottle or two to drink, and they went away, and they humbugging the women for saying that he had swallowed an alt-pluachra.
The boccuch said when they were gone away: "I don't wonder,at all that you're not getting better, if it's fools like those you have with you. There's not a doctor or a medicine-man in Ireland now that'll do you any good, but only one man, and that's Mac Dermott the Prince of Coolavin, on the brink of Lough Gara, the best doctor in Connacht or the five provinces."
"Where is Lough Gara?" said the poor man.
"Down in the county Sligo," says he; "it's a big lake, and the prince is living on the brink of it; and if you'll take my advice you'll go there, for it's the last hope you have; and you, Mistress," said he, turning to the woman of the house, "ought to make him go, if you wish your man to be alive."
"Musha!" says the woman, "I'd do anything that would cure him."
"If so, send him to the Prince of Coolavin," says he.
"I'd do anything at all to cure myself" says the sick man, "for I know I haven't long to live on this world if I don't get some relief, or without something to be done for me."
"Then go to the Prince of Coolavin," says the beggar-man.
"Anything that you think would do yourself good, you ought to do it, father," says the daughter.
"There's nothing will do him good but to go to the Prince of Coolavin," said the beggarman.
 
So they were arguing and striving until the night came, and the beggarman got a bed of straw in the barn, and he began arguing again in the morning that he ought to go to the prince, and the wife and daughter were on one word with him; and they prevailed at last on the sick man, and he said that he would go, and the daughter said that she would go with him to take care of him, and the boccuch said that he would go with them to show them the road; "and I'll be on the pinch of death, for ye, with anxiety," said the wife, "until ye come back again."
They harnessed the horse, and they put him under the cart, and they took a week's provision with them--bread, and bacon, and eggs, and they went off. They could not go very far the first day, for the sick man was so weak, that he was not able to bear the shaking he was getting in the cart; but he was better the second day, and they all passed the night in a farmer's house on the side of the road, and they went on again in the morning; but on the third day, in the evening, they came to the dwelling of the prince. He had a nice house, on the brink of the lake, with a straw roof, in among the trees.
They left the horse and the cart in a little village near the prince's place, and they all walked together, until they came to the house. They went into the kitchen, and asked, "Couldn't they see the prince?" The servant said that he was eating his meal, but that he would come, perhaps, when he was ready.
The prince himself came in at that moment, and asked what it was they wanted. The sick man rose up and told him, that it was looking for assistance from his honour he was, and he told him his whole story. "And now can your honour help me?" he said, when he had finished it.
 
"I hope I can," said the prince; "anyhow, I'll do my best for you, as you came so far to see me. I'd have a bad right not to do my best. Come up into the parlour with me. The thing that old man told you is true. You swallowed an alt-pluachra, or something else. Come up to the parlour with me."
He brought him up to the parlour with him, and it happened that the meal he had that day was a big piece of salted beef. He cut a large slice off it, and put it on a plate, and gave it to the poor man to eat.
"Oro! what is your honour doing there?" says the poor man; "I didn't swallow as much as the size of an egg of meat this quarter,* and I can't eat anything."
"Be silent, man," says the prince; "eat that, when I tell you."
The poor man eat as much as he was able, but when he left the knife and fork out of his hand, the prince made him take them up again, and begin out of the new (over again). He kept him there eating until he was ready to burst, and at last he was not able to swallow another bit, if he were to get a hundred pounds.
When the prince saw that he would not be able to swallow any more, he brought him out of the house, and he said to the daughter and the old beggarman to follow them, and he brought the man out with him to a fine green meadow that was forenent $ the house, and a little stream of water running through it.
He brought him to the brink, of the stream, and told him to lie down on his stomach over the stream, and to hold his face over the water, to open his mouth as wide as he could, and to keep it nearly touching the water, and "wait there quiet and easy," says he; "and for your life don't stir, till you see what will happen to you."
The poor man promised that he would be quiet, and he stretched his body on the grass, and held his mouth open, over the stream of water, and remained there without stirring.
 
The prince went backwards, about five yards, and drew the daughter and the old man with him, and the last word he said to the sick man was: "Be certain, and for your life, don't put a stir out of you, whatever thing at all happens to you."
The sick man was not lying like that more than a quarter of an hour, when something began moving inside of him, and he felt something coming up in his throat, and going back again. It came up and went back three or four times after other. At last it came to the mouth, stood on the tip of his tongue, but frightened, and ran back again. However, at the end of a little space, it rose up a second time, and stood on his tongue, and at last jumped down into the water. The prince was observing him closely, and just as the man was going to rise, he called out: "Don't stir yet."
The poor man had to open his mouth again, and he waited the same way as before; and he was not there a minute until the second one came up the same way as the last, and went back and came up two or three times, as if it got frightened; but at last, it also like the first one, came up to the mouth, stood on the tongue, and when it felt the smell of the water below it, leaped down into the little stream.
 
The prince said in a whisper: "Now the thirst's coming on them; the salt that was in the beef is working them; now they'll come out." And before the word had left his mouth, the third one fell, with a plop, into the water; and a moment after that, another one jumped down, and then another, until he counted five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve.
"There's a dozen of them now," said the prince; "that's the clutch; the old mother didn't come yet"
The poor sick man was getting up again, but the prince called to him: "Stay as you are; the mother didn't come up."
He remained as he was, but no other one came out, though he stayed there more than a quarter of an hour. The prince himself was getting uneasy for fear the old alt-pluachra might not stir at all. The poor than was so tired and so weak that he wished to get up; and, in spite of all the prince told him, he was trying to stand on his feet, when the prince caught him by one leg, and the boccuch by the other, and they held him down in spite of him.
They remained another quarter of an hour without speaking a word, or making a sound, and at the end of that time the poor man felt something stirring again in his side, but seven times worse than before; and it 's scarcely he could keep himself from screeching. That thing kept moving for a good while, and he thought the side was being torn out of himself with it. Then it began coming up, and it reached the mouth, and went back again. At last it came up so far that the poor man put the two fingers to his mouth and thought to catch
[71]
hold of it. But if he put in his fingers quick, the old alt-pluachra went back quicker.
"Oh, you behoonach!" cried the prince, "what made you do that? Didn't I tell you not to let a stir out of you? Remain quiet if she comes up again."
They had to remain there for half an hour, because the old mother of the alt-pluachras was scared, and she was afraid to come out. But she came up at last, perhaps, because there was too much thirst on her to let her stand the smell of the water that was tempting her, or perhaps she was lonesome after her children going from her. Anyhow, she came up to his mouth, and stood there while you would be counting about four score; and when she saw nothing, and nothing frightened her, she gave a jump down into the water, like her clutch before her; and the plop of her into the water was seven times heavier than theirs.
The prince and the other two had been watching the whole, and they scarcely dared to breathe, for fear of startling the horrid beast. As soon as ever she jumped down into the water, they pulled back the man, and put him standing again on his two feet.
He was for three hours before he could speak a word; but the first thing he said was: "I'm a new man."
The prince kept him in his own house for a fortnight, and gave him great care and good feeding. He allowed him to go then, and the daughter and the boccuch with him; and he refused to take as much as a penny from them.
"I'm better pleased than ten pounds on my own hand," said he, "that my cure turned out so well; and I'd be long sorry to take a farthing from you; you lost plenty with doctors before."
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They came home safely, and he became healthy and fat. He was so thankful to the poor boccuch that he kept him in his own house till his death. As long as he was alive he never lay down on green grass again; and another thing, if there was any sickness or ill-health on him, it isn't the doctors he used to call in to him.

Banshee Tales

​Banshee Stories:
 
(change comb to bloodstained clothing)
(exclusively follows families of Irish descent)
 
[One of the oldest and best-known Banshee stories is that related in the Memoirs of Lady Fanshaw.]
 In 1642 her husband, Sir Richard, and she chanced to visit a friend, the head of an Irish sept, who resided in his ancient baronial castle, surrounded with a moat. At midnight she was awakened by a ghastly and supernatural scream, and looking out of bed, beheld in the moonlight a female face and part of the form hovering at the window. The distance from the ground, as well as the circumstance of the moat, excluded the possibility that what she beheld was of this world. The face was that of a young and rather handsome woman, but pale, and the hair, which was reddish, was loose and dishevelled. The dress, which Lady Fanshaw's terror did not prevent her remarking accurately, was that of the ancient Irish. This apparition continued to exhibit itself for some time, and then vanished with two shrieks similar to that which had first excited Lady Fanshaw's attention. In the morning, with infinite terror, she communicated to her host what she had witnessed, and found him prepared not only to credit, but to account for the superstition. "A near relation of my family," said he, "expired last night in this castle. We disguised our certain expectation of the event from you, lest it should throw a cloud over the cheerful reception which was your due. Now, before such an event happens in this family or castle, the female spectre whom you have seen is always visible. She is believed to be the spirit of a woman of inferior rank, whom one of my ancestors degraded himself by marrying, and whom afterwards, to expiate the dishonour done to his family, he caused to be drowned in the moat." In strictness this woman could hardly be termed a Banshee. The motive for the haunting is akin to that in the tale of the Scotch "Drummer of Cortachy," where the spirit of the murdered man haunts the family out of revenge, and appears before a death.
[]
 
"In March 1900, my mother was very ill, and one evening the nurse and I were with her arranging her bed. We suddenly heard the most extraordinary wailing, which seemed to come in waves round and under her bed. We naturally looked everywhere to try and find the cause, but in vain. The nurse and I looked at one another, but made no remark, as my mother did not seem to hear it. My sister was downstairs sitting with my father. She heard it, and thought some terrible thing had happened to her little boy, who was in bed upstairs. She rushed up, and found him sleeping quietly. My father did not hear it. In the house next door they heard it, and ran downstairs, thinking something had happened to the servant; but the latter at once said to them, 'Did you hear the Banshee? Mrs. P—must be dying.'"
A few years ago (i.e. before 1894) a curious incident occurred in a public school in connection with the belief in the Banshee. One of the boys, happening to become ill, was at once placed in a room by himself, where he used to sit all day. On one occasion, as he was being visited by the doctor, he suddenly started up from his seat, and affirmed that he heard somebody crying. The doctor, of course, who could hear or see nothing, came to the conclusion that the illness had slightly affected his brain. However, the boy, who appeared quite sensible, still persisted that he heard someone crying, and furthermore said, "It is the Banshee, as I have heard it before." The following morning the head-master received a telegram saying that the boy's brother had been accidentally shot dead.
That the Banshee is not confined within the geographical limits of Ireland, but that she can follow the fortunes of a family abroad, and there foretell their death, is clearly shewn by the following story. A party of visitors were gathered together on the deck of a private yacht on one of the Italian lakes, and during a lull in the conversation one of them, a Colonel, said to the owner, "Count, who's that queer-looking woman you have on board?" The Count replied that there was nobody except the ladies present, and the stewardess, but the speaker protested that he was correct, and suddenly, with a scream of horror, he placed his hands before his eyes, and exclaimed, "Oh, my God, what a face!" For some time he was overcome with terror, and at length reluctantly looked up, and cried:
"Thank Heavens, it's gone!"
"What was it?" asked the Count.
"Nothing human," replied the Colonel—"nothing belonging to this world. It was a woman of no earthly type, with a queer-shaped, gleaming face, a mass of red hair, and eyes that would have been beautiful but for their expression, which was hellish. She had on a green hood, after the fashion of an Irish peasant."
An American lady present suggested that the description tallied with that of the Banshee, upon which the Count said:
"I am an O'Neill—at least I am descended from one. My family name is, as you know, Neilsini, which, little more than a century ago, was O'Neill. My great-grandfather served in the Irish Brigade, and on its dissolution at the time of the French Revolution had the good fortune to escape the general massacre of officers, and in company with an O’Brien and a Maguire fled across the frontier and settled in Italy. On his death his son, who had been born in Italy, and was far more Italian than Irish, changed his name to Neilsini, by which name the family has been known ever since. But for all that we are Irish."
"The Banshee was yours, then!" ejaculated the Colonel. "What exactly does it mean?"
"It means," the Count replied solemnly, "the death of some one very nearly associated with me. Pray Heaven it is not my wife or daughter."
On that score, however, his anxiety was speedily removed, for within two hours he was seized with a violent attack of angina pectoris, and died before morning.
Mr. Elliott O’Donnell, to whose article on "Banshees" we are indebted for the above, adds: "The Banshee never manifests itself to the person whose death it is prognosticating. Other people may see or hear it, but the fated one never, so that when everyone present is aware of it but one, the fate of that one may be regarded as pretty well certain."
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Irish Folktales

2/4/2019

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After some feedback on which book to choose for my first project for this semester, I slightly mentioned the other idea I had, about creating a book based on Irish folktales. Of course, he said that would be more interesting, etc.

So I have decided to switch my focus, to doing a book on Irish folktales over the whole semester, rather than one project at the start of the semester, focused on a book from the previous blog posts.
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Notes from before I decided to change my idea, of Dwayne telling me to focus on researching the areas in which the book takes place, the history, how the people would look, what clothes they would where. The example he used was that if I had choose to focus on "The Revenant" book, I would have to do research on the timeline it was set it, how people looked during then, did they look good or did they look like they had deformed heads from years of damages and how did their teeth look, etc.

​Then I wrote down some questions, I need to answer before finalising the brief.

Also here's the possible Irish folklore creatures I could feature within the book, 2 of them being almost the same thing, so I could put them on the same page. This was done so then I would have a ruff idea on how many pages I would need to do, to see if I have enough time to design the book.
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Mind Map / Quick Sketch of Dave Rapoza.

1/31/2019

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Just a mind map, going somewhat into detail on which books I could do the editorial brief for. While also expressing an idea of creating my own book, at the moment that would be focused around Irish folklore.

Also after noticing the combination of wanting to create a book on Irish folklore, and possibly illustrate the commitments book, maybe I just want to have a somewhat Irish project?

Although still liking the initial thought of doing illustrations for "The Revenant" book, but I'm going to explore more ideas before committing to this one, in case I find a better one, who knows..

The notes also include a drawing of Dave Rapoza based purely on his voice from one of his gumroad tutorials, specifically the "Bog Witch" one. After looking up images of him, he looks nothing like this...
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