{"id":4387,"date":"2018-07-24T23:18:47","date_gmt":"2018-07-24T22:18:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/?p=4387"},"modified":"2018-07-24T23:19:23","modified_gmt":"2018-07-24T22:19:23","slug":"the-cock-and-the-crock-of-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/the-cock-and-the-crock-of-gold\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cock and the Crock of Gold"},"content":{"rendered":"

The legend of the Cock and the Crock of Gold in Kilcormac, in the times of the Wars of the Molloys…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Derrydolney<\/a>
Derrydolney in Ballyboy today – image from Google Streetview<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The O’ Molloy to Meath set to march
\nFrom Derrydolney to aid his kith and kine
\nBut he knew mankinds weakness for another mans riches
\nNo matter their carachter otherwise fine…
\nSo before he to war set out
\nHe took a spade in his hand
\nA hole he dug where no man would know
\nBuried his gold there where he did stand…<\/p>\n

Fate is cold, rare kind, often cruel:
\nWar is the means of its acts
\nMan is subject to its wanes and its slights
\nThat is lifes merciless facts…
\nSo, slaughter of warfare took Molloys life:
\nThe gold to the earth that was tossed…
\nTo keep it safe should he safe return…
\nUseless to the dead – to the living was lost.<\/p>\n

But dreams are the gateways to what we know not
\nA dream was shared among men three
\nOf a black flag, and location buried there
\nNeath where the treasure aught be.
\nAs per tradition a rooster was brought
\nFor eveil spirits are scared off by a cock
\nAnd spades they brought to uncover the earth
\nTo dig up the treasure neath the rock.<\/p>\n

Mans labour, when in team set, soon brings reward…
\nThe black flag set in the ground they did find,
\nBut strange as the dream, a confusion did seem
\nTo seize each man in his mind…
\nDelusion, confusion, comrades in this collusion
\nWandered around lost for a few days
\nIn time their minds cleared, but had disappeared
\nMemory of the flag that had held their gaze…<\/p>\n

Some say in the bars over a few jars
\nThe fold is in the ground at Derrydolney yet
\nFor the men forgot the truth of tradition
\nThe essential part of the ritual they did forget…
\nFor men who know little know in little too much
\nKnow not for the protection to be fulfilled
\nThe cock must be eaten a little, the rest left for the Gods –
\nThe poor fools didn’t even have their cock killed!<\/p>\n

From Ballyboy, and through todays Kilcormac
\nTo Easter Island across the sea
\nA shared tradition of superstition
\nIts strange it is to see…
\nThat there, read headed, in the Isle of the Heads
\nThe ritual of the rooster too was practiced outside the tombs…
\nWe talk of today of where the gold still lies
\nAs we drink slowly in our barrooms!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The legend of the Cock and the Crock of Gold in Kilcormac, in the times of the Wars of the Molloys… The O’ Molloy to Meath set to march From Derrydolney to aid his kith and kine But he knew mankinds weakness for another mans riches No matter their carachter …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[76,54,256,168,3631,3429,169,3922],"tags":[3394,2738,4151,3393,4150],"class_list":["post-4387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-folklore-and-legend","category-ireland","category-irish-heritage","category-irish-legend","category-legends","category-lesser-known-ireland","category-myths-and-tales","category-wars-and-battles-of-the-kings-and-clans-of-ireland","tag-ballyboy","tag-crock-of-gold","tag-derrydalney","tag-kilcormac","tag-molloy","column","twocol"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7EI4f-18L","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4060,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/a-holy-book-proves-no-shield\/","url_meta":{"origin":4387,"position":0},"title":"A Holy Book Proves No Shield","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"15th October 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The death of Mahon, the King, who set a little too much faith in the Bible for protection! 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He remembered being on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Funny Poems"","block_context":{"text":"Funny Poems","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/funny-poems\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Leprechaun who gave Willie Rimes his gold","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/The-Leprechaun-who-gave-Willie-Rimes-his-gold.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/The-Leprechaun-who-gave-Willie-Rimes-his-gold.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/The-Leprechaun-who-gave-Willie-Rimes-his-gold.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/The-Leprechaun-who-gave-Willie-Rimes-his-gold.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/The-Leprechaun-who-gave-Willie-Rimes-his-gold.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1586,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/two-magpies-at-kilcormac\/","url_meta":{"origin":4387,"position":2},"title":"Two Magpies at Kilcormac","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"7th April 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Two magpies to the sky took flight I passed by to Birr on the bus Joy up ahead but not here yet Natures oracles speak to us. 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The Celts, warlike, tall and fair Swept across Europe, wide, as if a flood\u2026 Left their mark on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Irish Legend"","block_context":{"text":"Irish Legend","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/ireland\/irish-legend\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"\u201cNaoise Carries a Fleeing Dierdre\u201d Unknown artist. The physical features of Naoise do not fit in with the Celtic stereotype of the time. Are theses the pre-Celtic people? Are the the Cruitin, recently adpated by the Ulster Scots as their forefathers? Or a completely different people? Did they build Newgrange, Naul, the dolmens at Howth, Aughnacliffe and the fairy forts at Coolfin and all over Ireland?","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/web.archive.org\/web\/20130815182050im_\/http%3A\/\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/Naoise-Carries-a-Fleeing-Dierdre-199x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4448,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/dervogilla\/","url_meta":{"origin":4387,"position":4},"title":"Dervogilla","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"10th February 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Dermots passion, in stealing Teirnans wife, would have an effect on #Ireland that would last longer than the better known wars of Troy ...","rel":"","context":"In "Arrival of the Normans"","block_context":{"text":"Arrival of the Normans","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/irelands-wars\/arrival-of-the-normans\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dermots passion, in stealing Teirnans wife, would have an effect on a nation that would last longer than the better known wars of Troy over Helen...","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rostapestry.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Panel02-The-Abduction-of-Dervorgilla.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rostapestry.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Panel02-The-Abduction-of-Dervorgilla.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rostapestry.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Panel02-The-Abduction-of-Dervorgilla.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.rostapestry.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Panel02-The-Abduction-of-Dervorgilla.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2724,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/war-with-the-whin\/","url_meta":{"origin":4387,"position":5},"title":"War with the Whin","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"9th May 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Whin\" is the word for furze in Hiberno English and Ulster Scots in the northern half of Ireland (North Leinster and Connacht, and all of Ulster, both the section in the Republic and in Northern Ireland) by the Irish and the Scots, gorse is the name in the east (Dublin\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Nature"","block_context":{"text":"Nature","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/nature-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Never known as a sign of wealth in my family, the whins were cursed as being a sign of bad land. 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