How O’Neil’s Hair Was Made To Grow

" There was a smith, before now, in Ireland, who was one day working in the smithy, when a youth came in, having two old women with him.

He said to the smith,

“I would be obliged to you,” he said, “if you would let me have a while at the bellows and anvil.”

The smith said he would. He then caught the two old women, threw a hoop about their middle, and placed them in the smithy fire, and blew the bellows at them, and then took them out and made one woman, the fairest that eye ever saw, from the two old women.

When the smith laid down at night, he said to his wife,

“A man came the way of the smithy to-day, having with him two old women; he asked from me a while of the bellows and anvil, and he made the fairest woman that man’s eye ever saw, out of the two old women. My own mother and your mother are here with us, and I think I will try to make one right woman of the two since I saw the other man doing it.”

“Do,” she said, “I am quite willing.”

Next day he took out the two old women, put the hoop about their middle, and threw them in the smithy fire. It was not long before it became likely that he would not have even the bones of them left. The smith was in extremity, not knowing what to do, but a voice came behind him,

“You are perplexed, smith, but perhaps I will put you right.” With that he caught the bellows and blew harder at them; he then took them out and put them on the anvil, and made as fair a woman out of the two old wives. Then he said to the smith,

“You had need of me to-day, but,” said he, “you better engage me; I will not ask from you but the half of what I earn, and that this will be in the agreement, that I shall have the third of my own will.” The smith engaged him.

At this time O’Neil sent abroad word that he wanted one who would make the hair of his head to grow, for there was none on the head of O’Neil or O’Donnell, his brother, and that whoever could do it, would get the fourth part of his means. The servant lad said to the smith,

“We had better go and make a bargain with O’Neil that we will put hair on his head,” and they did this. “Say you to him,” said the servant lad, “that you have a servant who will put hair on his head for the fourth part of what he possesses.”

O’Neil was agreeable to this, and the servant lad desired to get a room for themselves, and asked a cauldron to be put on a good fire. It was done as he wished. O’Neil was taken in and stretched on a table. The servant lad then took hold of the axe, threw off O’Neil’s head, and put it face foremost in the cauldron. After some time he took hold of a large prong which he had, and he lifted up the head with it, and hair was beginning to come upon it. In a while he lifted it up again with the same prong, this time a ply of the fine yellow hair would go round his hand. Then he gave the head such a lift, and stuck it on the body. O’Neil then called out to him to make haste and let him rise to his feet, when he saw the fine yellow hair coming in into his eyes. He did as he had promised; he gave the smith and the servant lad the fourth part of his possessions. When they were going home with the cattle the servant lad said to the smith,

“We are now going to separate, we will make two halves or divisions of the cattle.”

The smith was not willing to agree to this, but since it was in his bargain he got the one half. They then parted, and the animal the smith would not lose now, he would lose again, he did not know where he was going before he reached home, and he had only one old cow that he did not lose of the cattle.

When O’Donnell saw his brother’s hair, he sent out word that he would give the third part of his property to any one who would do the same to himself. The smith thought he would try to do it this time alone. He went where O’Donnell was, and said to him that he would put hair on his head for him also, as he had done to his brother O’Neil. Then he asked that the cauldron be put on, and a good fire below it, and he took O’Donnell into a room, tied him on a table, then took up an axe, cut off his head, and threw it, face downwards, into the cauldron. In a while he took the prong to see if the hair was growing, but instead of the hair growing, the jaws were nearly falling out. The smith was almost out of his senses, not knowing what to do, when he heard a voice behind him saying to him, “You are in a strait.” This was the lad with the Black Art, he formerly had, returned. He blew at the cauldron stronger, brought the prong to see how the head was doing, or if the hair was growing on it. The next time he tried it, it would twine round his hand. Since it was so long of growing on it, he said, “We will put an additional fold round my hand.” When he tried it again it would reach two twists. He took it out of the cauldron and stuck it on the body. It cried to be quickly let go, when he saw his yellow hair down on his shoulders. The hair pleased him greatly; it was more abundant than that of O’Neil, his brother. They got fully what was promised them, and were going on their way home. The lad who had the Black Art said, “Had we not better divide the cattle?”

“We will not, we will not,” said the smith, “lift them with you, since I got clear.”

“Well,” said the other, “if you had said that before, you would not have gone home empty-handed, or with only one cow,” and with that he said, “You will take every one of them: I will take none of them.”

The smith went home with that herd, and he did not require to strike a blow in his smithy, neither did he meet with the one with the Black Art, ever after."