Folk Tales
There are many stories of originating from the Boho area which tell of faeries, faerie bushes, banshees, swallow holes (potholes) and ancient stones.
One recurring mention is of a changeling or faerie who has a prodigious talent for music. The author (or the teller) of the tale states that the faerie has a particular flair when it comes to musical instruments, traditionally the fiddle or the pipes. He develops such a gift that anyone who listens will be enchanted by the music (like the Greek myth of the sirens). Commenting on the appearance of the faerie, the story teller recounts that he saw him living with two old brothers beyond the "dogs well" and he looked like a "wizened wee monkey" ...the story teller estimates his age to be around 10 or 11 years but it appears that he could still could not walk, rather, "bobbed". His gift on the tin whistle was second to none, his particular penchant being long-forgotten tunes. All of a sudden he disappeared, never to be heard of by the story-teller again.
There are other folk tales surrounding St Febor or St Faber, who placed a curse on Baron O Phelans castle in Boho causing it to sink into the earth although there are no reports as to where in the area this castle was located. Some of the tales are recounted in the old country song, "Ma na Bh Fianna (Monea) – The Plain of the Deer".
Read more about this topic: Boho, County Fermanagh
Famous quotes related to folk tales:
“Myths, as compared with folk tales, are usually in a special category of seriousness: they are believed to have ‘really happened,’ or to have some exceptional significance in explaining certain features of life, such as ritual. Again, whereas folk tales simply interchange motifs and develop variants, myths show an odd tendency to stick together and build up bigger structures. We have creation myths, fall and flood myths, metamorphose and dying-god myths.”
—Northrop Frye (1912–1991)