Legendary fictions of the Irish Celts

Legends of the " Good People.^'' 121
and never neglected to leave her kitchen so nice when
she was going to bed, that Rich Darner himself might
eat his dinner off the floor. She took good care never
to let her feet stray over it again after bed-time, for fear
of giving offence to her unseen visitors.
THE SEA FAIRIES.
Mornadh, or Moruach, is the name given to the mermaids
that haunt the shallow waters near our coasts.
The word is composed of Mur, sea, and Oich, maid.
The mermen do not seem on the whole to be an attrac-
tive or interesting class. Their hair and teeth are green,
their noses invariably red, and their eyes resemble those
of a pig. Moreover, they have a penchant for brandy,
and keep a look-out for cases of that article that go astray
in shipwrecks. Some naturalists attribute the hue of
their noses to extra indulgence in that hquor. It is
little to be wondered at that their young women occasionally
prefer marriage with a coast farmer. The wearing
of a nice little magic cap (the Cohideen Driiith) is
essential to their well-being in their country below the
waves, and the mortal husband must keep this cap well
concealed from his sea-wife. Instances are rife of desolation
made in families by the inadvertent finding of it by
one of the children, who, of course, shows it to his mother
to learn what it is. However strong her affection for
husband and children, she is instinctively obliged to
seize on it, and clap it on her head. She tenderly embraces
her children, but immediately flies to the seabrink,
plunges in, and is seen no more. The distracted
husband, when he hears the news from the forsaken
children, accuses destiny, and calls for aid to the powers
of sea and land, but all in vain. Why did he perpetrate
an unsuitable marriage %
One man, who lived near Bantrj^, was blessed with an
excellent wife of this class. (As a rule, a Moruach is
most desirable as wife, mother, and mistress of a family.)