Lusmore and the Fairies

Lusmore was a hunchback who plaited beautiful hats. People called him Lusmore because, in his own straw hat, he always wore a sprig of foxglove, and another name for foxglove is lusmore. One day when Lusmore had stopped for a rest at the side of the hill of Knockgrafton he heard fairies singing. Picking up the tune from the fairyfolk he thought of a new line and when they had finished singing he offered it in his own voice. The fairies were so delighted with the contribution that they removed Lusmores hump from his shoulders and gave him a new suit of clothes as well. Another humpback, Jack Maddon, hearing of Lusmores good fortune decided to try his own luck with the fairies. Thinking that adding two lines to their song would get him an even better deal he butted in to their rendition before they had finished. Their wrath was immense and instead of removing his hump they added on Lusmores hump, so that Jacs hump was twice as big as before. The moral here being dont be greedy and beware the unpredictability of fairies!