’And then she wished she could be up on the roof, and so she was.  And from the roof she could see the sea, and there was a ship on it in the distance; and she said:  “I wish I could be on the deck of that vessel.”  And there she was on the deck, and the sailors not knowing where did she come from.  And she said to the captain:  “Can you give me something to eat?” And he said:  “That is what I cannot do, for the harness casks are empty, we are so long at sea; and we have not as much meat in them as would go on the point of a knife.”  So she rubbed the ring then; and there was a table before them, set out with every sort of food and drink, and they all had enough.

’And then they came to a strange country; and she said to the captain to leave her on land.  And she went up to a big house, where some great man lived, and she asked for employment as a sewing-maid.  And they said:  “You may sew one of those dresses that is for the master’s daughter that is going to be married to-morrow.  And mind you do it well,” they said.

’So she brought away the dress to her room, and she wished it to be the best dress, and the best-sewed, that would be seen on the morrow.  And when the morrow came, so it was.

’Then she went out into the garden, where there were beautiful flowers and trees; and she fastened a thread of silk from one tree to another, to make a swing-swong, and she began swinging on it.  And the young lady that was going to be married, came down the steps into the garden, and she wanted to go on the swing-swong.  And the other said she had best not go on it where she was not used to it, and she might get a fall.  But she said she would; and the other warned her secondly not to go on it.  But up she got, and the thread broke, and she fell and was killed on the spot.

’Then all the people came out; and when they saw her dead, they had a court-martial on the strange girl, and they were going to put her to death; but she told them how it all happened.  And when the jury heard it, they said there was no blame on her, where she had given two warnings.

‘That’s a closure now.’

‘And what happened her after that?’

‘I don’t know what happened her; they let her off that time anyhow.’

‘And what became of the bird?’

‘How would I know?  Didn’t I say that’s the closure?’

* * * * *

Then a young man said:  ’I’ll tell you a folk-tale:—­

’It was in the good old time when Ireland was paved with penny loaves and the houses thatched with pancakes; and there was a king had a son, and the mother died, and he married another wife; and she had three daughters, and their names were Catherine Snowflake, and Broad Bridget, and Mary Anne Bold-eyes, that had two eyes in the front of her head, and another eye in the back of her poll.

’And the stepmother got to be very wicked to the son then; and she used to be giving everything to the daughters; but he had nothing but hardship, and all they would give him to eat was stirabout.