‘I don’t mind the fairies [remember] but I do mind Dan Malloy who lived in the house next till the one where the ghost is. He had a sweetheart an’ that wus near till a century ago. An’ till see her he be till cross the river near till the gentry bushes.
An’ many a time he toul’ it hiself, says he, ‘At night I wud be takin’ the short cut till save me legs. An’ the aisyest place till be crossin’ wud be be the thorns. An’ as shure as yer there, six nights out of seven, a voice wud say, ‘Dan, ye cleared it well that time’. An’ I wud say, ‘Och, aye,’ an’ go me way. An’ I always respected the thorns for it’s mortal unlucky till annoy them.
Mebbe your cattle wud bog in a drain or worse. Many a good man went till the bad because of takin’ liberties with them kind of bushes.
Many a time I heard the story’.