A spot of research

Too busy yesterday to blip! I returned from the (relentlessly) dark German film to find a text asking me to sub the next day which I duly did, then had to speed off for a mammogram ( routine but ouch) and then we went to the cinema again - The Pier, an Irish film shot in Schull and Balleydehob was on for the evening. Some popcorn and a nice sit down was appreciated and the film was good too - all but the main parts were local people and there was a lot of chatting and giggling in the audience as people recognised themselves or their friends. As the film ended everyone clapped.

Today I am free! I have cleaned the house and am now settling down for an afternoon of research - bliss! I am wading through the photocopies and notes I took from the Folklore Survey. All children over the age of 11 had to interview a member of their family about certain aspects of their locality - school, home, birds, stories - and then write them up at school. This is me at work! Spot my writing - oh dear. Here are a couple of extracts for Ceridwen:
'... My grandfather is reputed to have seen a fairy a short distance from his own home but whether she prceeded from the fort or not has not been stated. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen with long golden hair hanging to her knees. He fell violently in love with her but she teased and eluded him and harrassed him to such an extent that he grew to hate her...' In the end he seems to have fetched an old sword he had lying around the place, skewered the fairy and took her back to her fairy fort where she disappeared. This extract is dated May 16th 1938 and was related to Breda by her father Michael.

And this is something I didn't know: In former times people did not wear shoes until they were 14 or 15 years old. Children at present go barefoot in the summer but not in the winter... In Durrus the water used for washing the feet is thrown away immediately... but in other districts, the feet water is kept until the morning after and then thrown away. There is a belief ... that all the males of the house should first wash their feet and then the females. If it so happened there was no male in the house the cock should be brought in first and his feet dipped in the water before any of the family wash their feet...' This was told to Sarah by her father George .
Fascinating. Back to work.