There is an old ruin of a farmhouse in the County Cork, near Fermoy,
that has an evil reputation, and no one would build it up or inhabit it.
Years and years ago a rich farmer lived there, who was reputed to have
hoards of gold hid away in his sleeping-room. Some said he never slept
without the sack of gold being laid under his pillow. However, one
night he was found cruelly murdered, and all the gold in the house was
missing except a few pieces stained with blood, that had evidently been
dropped by the murderers in their flight.
The old man at the time was living quite alone. His wife was dead, and
his only son was away in a distant part of the country. But on news
of the murder the son returned, and a close investigation was made.
Suspicion finally fell on the housekeeper and a lover she used to bring
to the house. They were arrested in consequence and brought to trial.
The housekeeper, _Sheela-na-Skean_, or Sheela of the Knife, as she was
called afterwards, was a dark, fierce, powerful woman, noted for her
violent and vindictive temper. The lover was a weak, cowardly fellow,
who at the last turned evidence to save his life. He had taken no part,
he said, in the actual murder, though he had helped Sheela to remove
and bury the gold. According to his story, Sheela entered the old man’s
room at night, and taking a sharp short sword that always hung at the
head of his bed, she stabbed him fiercely over and over till not a
breath of life was left. Then, calling her lover, they ransacked the
room, and found quantities of golden guineas, which they put in a bag
and carried out to the field, where they buried it in a safe spot,
known only to themselves; but this place neither Sheela nor the lover
would reveal unless they received a pardon.
The murder, however, was too atrocious for pardon, and Sheela was hung
amid the howlings and execrations of the people. But she remained
fierce and defiant to the last, still refusing obstinately to reveal
the place where the money was buried.
The lover, meanwhile, had died in prison from fright, for after
sentence was pronounced, he fell down in a fit, from which he never
recovered. So the secret of the gold died with them.
After this the son came to live in the place; and the tradition of the
hidden gold was still kept alive in the family, but all efforts to find
it proved useless.
Now a strange thing happened. The farmer dreamed for three nights in
succession that if he went at midnight to an old ruined castle in the
neighbourhood, he would hear words that might tell him the secret of
the gold; but he must go alone. So after the third dream the farmer
resolved to do as he was ordered, and he went forth at midnight to the
place indicated. His two sons, grown-up young men, anxiously awaited
his return. And about an hour after midnight the father came home
pale as a ghost, haggard and trembling. They helped him to his bed,
and after a little he was able to tell them his adventures. He said,
on reaching the old ruin he leaned up straight against the wall, and
waited for the promised words in silence. Then a breath seemed to pass
over his face, and he heard a low voice whispering in his ear—
“If you want to find the bag of gold, take out the third stone.”
“But here,” said the farmer mournfully, “the voice stopped before the
place was named where the gold lay; for at that instant a terrific
screech was heard, and the ghost of Sheela appeared gigantic and
terrible; her hands dripping with blood, and her eyes flaming fire;
and she rushed to attack me, brandishing a short, sharp sword round
her head, the very same, perhaps, with which she had committed the
murder. At sight of this awful apparition I fled homeward, Sheela still
pursuing me with leaps and yells till I reached the boundary of the
castle grounds, when she sank into the earth and disappeared. But,”
continued the farmer, “I am certain, from the voice, that the bag of
gold lies hid under the third stone in——”
He could say no more, for at that instant the door of the bedroom was
violently flung open, as if by a strong storm wind, the candle was
blown out, and the unfortunate man was lifted from his bed by invisible
hands, and dashed upon the floor with a terrible crash. In the darkness
the young men could hear the groans, but they saw no one.
When the candle was relit they went over to help their father, but
found he was already dead, with a black mark round his throat as if
from strangulation by a powerful hand. So the secret of the gold
remained still undiscovered.
After the funeral was over, and all affairs settled, the brothers
agreed that they would still search for the gold in the old ruins of
the castle, undeterred by the apparition of the terrible Sheela. So
on a certain midnight they set forth with spades and big sticks for
defence, and proceeded to examine every third stone in the huge walls,
to the height of a man from the ground, seeking some secret mark or
sign by which, perhaps, the true stone might be discovered. But as they
worked, a thin blue light suddenly appeared at some distance in the
inner court of the castle, and by it stood the ghost of their father,
pointing with his outstretched hand to a certain stone in the wall.
Now, they thought, that must certainly be the spot where the gold is
hid; and they rushed on; but before they could reach the place, the
terrible form of Sheela appeared, more awful than words could describe,
clothed in white, and with a circle of flame round her head. And
she seized the ghost with her gory hands, and dragged him away with
horrible yells and imprecations. And far off in the darkness they could
hear the fight going on, and the yells of Sheela as she pursued the
ghost.
“Now,” said the young men, “let us work while they are fighting;”
and they worked away at the third stone from the end, where the blue
light had rested—a large flat stone, but easily lifted; and when they
had rolled it away from the place, there underneath lay a huge bag
of bright golden guineas. And as they raised it up from the earth, a
terrific unearthly din was heard in the distance, and a shrill scream
rang on the air. Then a rush of the wind came by them and the blue
light vanished, but they heeded nothing, only lifted the bag from the
clay, and carried it away with them through the darkness and storm.
And the yells seemed to pursue them till they reached the boundary of
the castle grounds, then all was still; and they traversed the rest of
the way in peace, and reached home safely.
From that time the ghost of _Sheela-na-Skean_ ceased to haunt the
castle, but lamenting and cries used sometimes to be heard at night
in and around the old farmhouse; so the brothers pulled it down and
left it a ruin, and built a handsome residence with some of their
treasure; for now they had plenty of gold, and they lived happily and
prospered ever after, with all their family and possessions. And on
the spot where the gold was found they erected a cross, in memory of
their father, to whom they owed all their wealth, and through whom this
prosperity had come; for by him the evil spirit of _Sheela-na-Skean_
was conquered at last, and the gold restored to the family of the
murdered farmer.