The Kiltartan Wonder Book

A collection of Irish folk tales written in the early 20th century. Drawn from the Kiltartan oral tradition and told in a chatty, fireside voice, these wonder tales brim with enchantments, quests, giants, clever girls and foolish boys, and animals that speak or save the day. Readers meet a stream of different heroes—a simple prince on a talking mule, the bewitching Beswarragal, the Fish’s son, Shawneen, and others—in self‑contained episodes rich with magic objects, tests, and trickery. The opening of this collection strings together brisk, storyteller-led tales: a “Fool” prince chases a singing bird, rides a miraculous mule, wins a king’s daughter, and breaks the mule’s enchantment; Beswarragal, a swan‑maiden, is lost and found through trials, a magic horse, and a fight with the Queen of the Black Wood; the Fish’s son, aided by a white hound and a hawk, slays Croagcill to free a princess. Shawneen gains giant‑won treasures, kills a dragon in the Black Duke’s armor, dies to a hag, and is revived by his brother Shamus; a man marries a mermaid who later returns to the sea, leaving a child and a pot of gold; a loyal Bullockeen guides a boy through battles with red, white, and green bulls before dying and gifting him great strength. Further brief pieces showcase riddling wit and conditions (King Solomon), the blessing‑and‑curse moral of sharing with a robin (and finding crocks of gold), a thread‑led rescue from an enchanted killer, a hare‑witch saved from black hounds, and a foolish wife who blunders into riches; the last fragment begins a visit to tiny “Danes” in a fairy fort before the excerpt cuts off.