Another Tale; (not about cats)

The Tailor on Owen Roe O'Sullivan

The Tailor and his wife Ansty had the greatest respect for the procreative talents of men and women and, barring priests (who had professional exemption in those days before the Bishop of Galway!), measured the prowess of people by their fertility. Ansty would always ask guests how many children they had, and was astounded one day when a young married woman asked if the animal in the field was a bull or a cow. She mused over this all day "That was a queer kind of marriage. What was she married to? They must have had the strange carry on. Didn't know the difference between a bull and a cow, and married!"

Anyway one day there was talk of the Kerry poets, and the Tailor drew attention to some of the lesser-known talents of Owen Roe O'Sullivan:
"One of those and the greatest of them, was Owen Roe, Owen Roe O'Sullivan. The rest of them, O'Donoghue, Ferriter, and O'Rahilly, were only walking after him. He was one of the greatest poets that ever was. Its no use for anyone to be talking. They were all poets in those days, every bloody man.
"But that was not all about Owen Roe. He was an auctioneer as well, and he was middling good as a doctor as well. He was good enough at every trade. He spent a part of his time in the Navy, and was at the battle of Waterloo. But do you know what was his best trade after poetry? It was making small lads.
"He was one of the most frolicsome men that ever was. It was said of him that if he threw a copper over a fence it would, like as not, fall on the head of one of his own. He must have been as good as King Solomon almost.
"One day a young gossoon met him on the road, and Owen spoke to him for a while, and then he gave him a penny, telling him that the next time he saw him he would give him a shilling. Well, by the mockstick of war, what did the young lad do? He hopped over the fence and ran over a couple of fields and was there on the road before Owen Roe again.
"'You said that you would give me a shilling the next time you saw me,' said he.
"'True for you,' answered Owen. 'Here is the shilling, and another for your intelligence. You must be one of my own.'

From The Tailor and Ansty by Eric Cross

The image of Owen Roe as a naval officer at the Battle of Waterloo is brilliant, and it is wonderful to think of him walking the Kerry countryside, scattering poems and children with equal liberality. However, I think that by now we are reaching the limits of the tolerance allowed by the copyright laws, and anyone wishing for more of the Tailor's stories will have to go out and buy the book. He was one of the masters of the art of storytelling in Ireland.
In the meantime, welcome to JennieG and her cats; Binky, Prickle, and Belle. Also thanks to Charley Noble for the tale of Grendal - the cat who got the cream!