Found this great resource and thought I would share. Feel free to explore the site - I enjoyed Lady Wilde's stories:
http://www.libraryireland.com/AncientLegendsSuperstitions/Contents.php (http://www.libraryireland.com/AncientLegendsSuperstitions/Contents.php)
Something I read which was very interesting was about the links between ancient Iran/Persia and ireland... anyone heard anything about this before? all news to me...
Very interesting!! Thought this was a good one.
HOW TO HAVE MONEY ALWAYS
Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland
By Lady Francesca Wilde
Kill a black c**k, and go to the meeting of three cross-roads where a murderer is buried. Throw the dead bird over your left shoulder then and there, after nightfall, in the name of the devil, holding a piece of money in your hand all the while. And ever after, no matter what you spend, you will always find the same piece of money undiminished in your pocket.
Quote from: 5 Sams on March 06, 2015, 04:55:22 PM
Very interesting!! Thought this was a good one.
HOW TO HAVE MONEY ALWAYS
Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland
By Lady Francesca Wilde
Kill a black c**k, and go to the meeting of three cross-roads where a murderer is buried. Throw the dead bird over your left shoulder then and there, after nightfall, in the name of the devil, holding a piece of money in your hand all the while. And ever after, no matter what you spend, you will always find the same piece of money undiminished in your pocket.
Nowadays we call this quantitive easing.
What about the Iranian connection? Had any of you heard it before?
Iran and Ireland mean the same thing. The Black Irish are remnants of the Persian race..... supposedly we have many similarities in language, culture and folklore symbolism....
The Wildes, who were quite mad by most accounts, did a huge service to the country by saving much folklore. Dr. William, who was a Roscommon man, also preserved a lot of folklore and indeed was a great protector of our national monuments and documented a lot of the stories around cairns, standing stones (he believed the Lia Fail was in Rathcrogan) and ring forts. He was a native Irish speaker and the locals called him An Doctuir Mór. He was by no means a saint and was embroiled in a big sex scandal long before his son was after he drugged a patent Mary Travers in Dublin and supposedly took advantage. You can see the influence of their folklore in Oscar's work and they were also a big influence on Bram Stoker, who was a family friend and ended up marrying Oscar's girlfriend, when Oscar was still into the ladies. The Sidhe of Lady Wilde's tales are very vampiric (kiss them and you are dead to this world) and the influence is very much evident in Dracula. Fairies can't cross running water; neither can Dracula. Lots of other stuff for those who look close enough. All in all Lady Jane and her husband were a credit to our country and deserve much more credit in our literary history than they get.