Folk Story

transcribed at

Folk Story  [duchas:4800333]

There is a small lake in the village next to mine, called Lough William. Long ago a fairy horses lived in that lake, and every he came out to graze on its shores. One day a man named William "Caught him, and kept him as his own. One day he brought him to a hunt, and on his return home he mounted a small hill which overlooked the lake.
   The horse sniffed the air, and then he galloped towards the lake and plunged into its depths, and rider and horse disappeared for ever. But still people say that on bright moonlight nights the head of the fairy horse can be seen on the shining of the lake.
   Told by Jim Leonard of Purts?, locally known as "Big Jim" to distinguish him from other man of the same name.

Purts - A small village on the western bank of the river shannon about 4 miles S.W. of the town of Athlone