THE LEPRECHAUN, OR FAIRY SHOEMAKER
StrangerLittle Cowboy, what have you heard,Up on the lonely rath’s green mound?Little CowboyOnly the plaintive yellowbirdSighing in sultry fields around,“Chary, chary, chary, chee-ee!—”Only the grasshopper and the bee.Fairy Shoemaker(singing underground)Tip-tap, rip-rap,Tick-a-tack-too!Scarlet leather, sewn together,This will make a shoe.Left, right, pull it tight;Summer days are warm;Underground in Winter,Laughing at the storm!StrangerLay your ear close to the hill.Do you not catch the tiny clamour,Busy click of an Elfin hammer,Voice of the Leprechaun singing shrillAs he merrily plies his trade?He’s a spanAnd a quarter in height.Get him in sight, hold him tight,And you’re a madeMan!You watch your cattle the Summer day,Sup on potatoes, sleep in the hay;How would you like to roll in your carriage,Look for a Duchess’s daughter in marriage?Seize the Shoemaker—then you may!Fairy Shoemaker(singing underground)Big boots a-hunting,Sandals in the hall,White for a wedding-feast,Pink for a ball.This way, that way,So we make a shoe;Getting rich every stitch,Tick-a-tack-too!StrangerNine-and-ninety treasure-crocksThis keen Miser-Fairy hath,Hid in mountains, woods, and rocks,Ruin and round-tow’r, cave and rath,And where the cormorants build;From times of oldGuarded by him;Each of them filledFull to the brimWith gold!I caught him at work one day, myself,In the castle-ditch, where Foxglove grows,—A wrinkled, wizened, and bearded Elf,Spectacles stuck on his pointed nose,Silver buckles to his hose,Leather apron—shoe in his lap—Fairy Shoemaker(singing underground)Rip-rap, tip-tap,Tick-a-tack-too!(A grasshopper on my cap!Away the moth flew!)Buskins for a Fairy Prince,Brogues for his son,—Pay me well, pay me well,When the job is done!StrangerThe rogue was mine, beyond a doubt.I stared at him; he stared at me;“Servant, sir!” “Humph!” says he,And pulled a snuff-box out.He took a long pinch, looked better pleased,The queer little Leprechaun;Offerèd the box with a whimsical grace,—Pouf! he flung the dust in my face,And, while I sneezed,Was gone!William Allingham
StrangerLittle Cowboy, what have you heard,Up on the lonely rath’s green mound?Little CowboyOnly the plaintive yellowbirdSighing in sultry fields around,“Chary, chary, chary, chee-ee!—”Only the grasshopper and the bee.Fairy Shoemaker(singing underground)Tip-tap, rip-rap,Tick-a-tack-too!Scarlet leather, sewn together,This will make a shoe.Left, right, pull it tight;Summer days are warm;Underground in Winter,Laughing at the storm!StrangerLay your ear close to the hill.Do you not catch the tiny clamour,Busy click of an Elfin hammer,Voice of the Leprechaun singing shrillAs he merrily plies his trade?He’s a spanAnd a quarter in height.Get him in sight, hold him tight,And you’re a madeMan!You watch your cattle the Summer day,Sup on potatoes, sleep in the hay;How would you like to roll in your carriage,Look for a Duchess’s daughter in marriage?Seize the Shoemaker—then you may!Fairy Shoemaker(singing underground)Big boots a-hunting,Sandals in the hall,White for a wedding-feast,Pink for a ball.This way, that way,So we make a shoe;Getting rich every stitch,Tick-a-tack-too!StrangerNine-and-ninety treasure-crocksThis keen Miser-Fairy hath,Hid in mountains, woods, and rocks,Ruin and round-tow’r, cave and rath,And where the cormorants build;From times of oldGuarded by him;Each of them filledFull to the brimWith gold!I caught him at work one day, myself,In the castle-ditch, where Foxglove grows,—A wrinkled, wizened, and bearded Elf,Spectacles stuck on his pointed nose,Silver buckles to his hose,Leather apron—shoe in his lap—Fairy Shoemaker(singing underground)Rip-rap, tip-tap,Tick-a-tack-too!(A grasshopper on my cap!Away the moth flew!)Buskins for a Fairy Prince,Brogues for his son,—Pay me well, pay me well,When the job is done!StrangerThe rogue was mine, beyond a doubt.I stared at him; he stared at me;“Servant, sir!” “Humph!” says he,And pulled a snuff-box out.He took a long pinch, looked better pleased,The queer little Leprechaun;Offerèd the box with a whimsical grace,—Pouf! he flung the dust in my face,And, while I sneezed,Was gone!William Allingham
Stranger
Stranger
Little Cowboy, what have you heard,Up on the lonely rath’s green mound?
Little Cowboy, what have you heard,
Up on the lonely rath’s green mound?
Little Cowboy
Little Cowboy
Only the plaintive yellowbirdSighing in sultry fields around,“Chary, chary, chary, chee-ee!—”Only the grasshopper and the bee.
Only the plaintive yellowbird
Sighing in sultry fields around,
“Chary, chary, chary, chee-ee!—”
Only the grasshopper and the bee.
Fairy Shoemaker(singing underground)
Fairy Shoemaker(singing underground)
Tip-tap, rip-rap,Tick-a-tack-too!Scarlet leather, sewn together,This will make a shoe.Left, right, pull it tight;Summer days are warm;Underground in Winter,Laughing at the storm!
Tip-tap, rip-rap,
Tick-a-tack-too!
Scarlet leather, sewn together,
This will make a shoe.
Left, right, pull it tight;
Summer days are warm;
Underground in Winter,
Laughing at the storm!
Stranger
Stranger
Lay your ear close to the hill.Do you not catch the tiny clamour,Busy click of an Elfin hammer,Voice of the Leprechaun singing shrillAs he merrily plies his trade?He’s a spanAnd a quarter in height.Get him in sight, hold him tight,And you’re a madeMan!You watch your cattle the Summer day,Sup on potatoes, sleep in the hay;How would you like to roll in your carriage,Look for a Duchess’s daughter in marriage?Seize the Shoemaker—then you may!
Lay your ear close to the hill.
Do you not catch the tiny clamour,
Busy click of an Elfin hammer,
Voice of the Leprechaun singing shrill
As he merrily plies his trade?
He’s a span
And a quarter in height.
Get him in sight, hold him tight,
And you’re a made
Man!
You watch your cattle the Summer day,
Sup on potatoes, sleep in the hay;
How would you like to roll in your carriage,
Look for a Duchess’s daughter in marriage?
Seize the Shoemaker—then you may!
Fairy Shoemaker(singing underground)
Fairy Shoemaker(singing underground)
Big boots a-hunting,Sandals in the hall,White for a wedding-feast,Pink for a ball.This way, that way,So we make a shoe;Getting rich every stitch,Tick-a-tack-too!
Big boots a-hunting,
Sandals in the hall,
White for a wedding-feast,
Pink for a ball.
This way, that way,
So we make a shoe;
Getting rich every stitch,
Tick-a-tack-too!
Stranger
Stranger
Nine-and-ninety treasure-crocksThis keen Miser-Fairy hath,Hid in mountains, woods, and rocks,Ruin and round-tow’r, cave and rath,And where the cormorants build;From times of oldGuarded by him;Each of them filledFull to the brimWith gold!I caught him at work one day, myself,In the castle-ditch, where Foxglove grows,—A wrinkled, wizened, and bearded Elf,Spectacles stuck on his pointed nose,Silver buckles to his hose,Leather apron—shoe in his lap—
Nine-and-ninety treasure-crocks
This keen Miser-Fairy hath,
Hid in mountains, woods, and rocks,
Ruin and round-tow’r, cave and rath,
And where the cormorants build;
From times of old
Guarded by him;
Each of them filled
Full to the brim
With gold!
I caught him at work one day, myself,
In the castle-ditch, where Foxglove grows,—
A wrinkled, wizened, and bearded Elf,
Spectacles stuck on his pointed nose,
Silver buckles to his hose,
Leather apron—shoe in his lap—
Fairy Shoemaker(singing underground)
Fairy Shoemaker(singing underground)
Rip-rap, tip-tap,Tick-a-tack-too!(A grasshopper on my cap!Away the moth flew!)Buskins for a Fairy Prince,Brogues for his son,—Pay me well, pay me well,When the job is done!
Rip-rap, tip-tap,
Tick-a-tack-too!
(A grasshopper on my cap!
Away the moth flew!)
Buskins for a Fairy Prince,
Brogues for his son,—
Pay me well, pay me well,
When the job is done!
Stranger
Stranger
The rogue was mine, beyond a doubt.I stared at him; he stared at me;“Servant, sir!” “Humph!” says he,And pulled a snuff-box out.He took a long pinch, looked better pleased,The queer little Leprechaun;Offerèd the box with a whimsical grace,—Pouf! he flung the dust in my face,And, while I sneezed,Was gone!
The rogue was mine, beyond a doubt.
I stared at him; he stared at me;
“Servant, sir!” “Humph!” says he,
And pulled a snuff-box out.
He took a long pinch, looked better pleased,
The queer little Leprechaun;
Offerèd the box with a whimsical grace,—
Pouf! he flung the dust in my face,
And, while I sneezed,
Was gone!
William Allingham
William Allingham