WEBVTT 00:00:03.720 --> 00:00:06.599 From the unexplained to the mundane, come join 00:00:06.599 --> 00:00:14.939 us on a Journey to the Fringe. Hello and welcome 00:00:14.939 --> 00:00:18.239 to Journey to the Fringe. Now, finally, Irish 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:21.440 friendly. Now, I'm sure you've all picked up 00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:24.260 on this. That is the underlying Irish discrimination 00:00:24.260 --> 00:00:27.219 that our show relied on from day one. But we 00:00:27.219 --> 00:00:29.399 have been asked to cut this out and to make amends 00:00:29.399 --> 00:00:32.520 for it. for these past transgressions we bring 00:00:32.520 --> 00:00:37.020 you a leprechaun episode hooray stereotypes hooray 00:00:37.020 --> 00:00:40.619 wait yeah it was in the mission statement wasn't 00:00:40.619 --> 00:00:44.359 it from day one yeah it was you can go read it 00:00:44.359 --> 00:00:47.799 i assume everybody is already read up on it because 00:00:47.799 --> 00:00:50.920 that's why we write those nice episode notes 00:00:50.920 --> 00:00:53.520 each week as well because everybody's reading 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:56.100 all the episode notes in our mission statement 00:00:56.100 --> 00:00:59.420 yeah all the time Anyhow, I'll let you take over 00:00:59.420 --> 00:01:02.539 because it is a Chelsea episode. Where the episode 00:01:02.539 --> 00:01:06.620 should start. Today, in celebration of St. Patrick's 00:01:06.620 --> 00:01:09.719 Day and also what Taylor just said, we're diving 00:01:09.719 --> 00:01:13.780 into the fringy world of leprechauns. Why do 00:01:13.780 --> 00:01:16.159 we pronounce it leprechaun and not leprechaun? 00:01:16.700 --> 00:01:19.180 It should be leprechaun, actually. I read a book. 00:01:19.769 --> 00:01:22.409 to children in my life about leprechauns and 00:01:22.409 --> 00:01:24.909 it comes from the word loopershawn or something 00:01:24.909 --> 00:01:28.829 like that and it's literally just a bastardization 00:01:28.829 --> 00:01:34.689 yeah yeah those bastards those bastard english 00:01:34.689 --> 00:01:37.689 speakers it's not like german i wonder how german 00:01:37.689 --> 00:01:40.549 pronounces it anyhow we have a whole episode 00:01:40.549 --> 00:01:43.790 to talk about so enough of the pure way these 00:01:43.790 --> 00:01:49.099 mischievous little bastards i presume are Did 00:01:49.099 --> 00:01:52.000 they do it? It might have been. It fucking might 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:55.700 have been them. Probably was. Just add that into 00:01:55.700 --> 00:01:58.500 a bullet point about them at this point. They're 00:01:58.500 --> 00:02:01.560 a beloved part of Irish folklore, but there's 00:02:01.560 --> 00:02:04.500 much more to them than little green outfits, 00:02:04.719 --> 00:02:07.719 pots of gold, and delicious marshmallow bits 00:02:07.719 --> 00:02:10.319 sprinkled throughout an otherwise shitty cereal. 00:02:10.740 --> 00:02:13.719 Grab your shamrocks and get ready for a journey 00:02:13.719 --> 00:02:18.060 through the history and mystery of leprechauns. 00:02:18.460 --> 00:02:22.740 Leaper -chons. Most of us picture a leprechaun 00:02:22.740 --> 00:02:26.400 as a tiny bearded man dressed in his little green 00:02:26.400 --> 00:02:29.939 cute outfit with a red beard and a hat. They're 00:02:29.939 --> 00:02:33.500 often seen as cobblers. I don't know if you picture 00:02:33.500 --> 00:02:36.139 that when you picture a leprechaun. I do, but 00:02:36.139 --> 00:02:37.819 that's because the book told me to. Okay, good. 00:02:37.819 --> 00:02:42.349 Yeah, see? They're making shoes and they're known 00:02:42.349 --> 00:02:45.169 for their love of gold, which they hide at the 00:02:45.169 --> 00:02:47.629 end of rainbows. And they're known for enjoying 00:02:47.629 --> 00:02:51.229 a good practical joke such as, you know, how 00:02:51.229 --> 00:02:54.189 we pronounce leprechaun. And their mischievous 00:02:54.189 --> 00:02:57.789 nature and elusive behavior make them a fascinating 00:02:57.789 --> 00:03:01.129 subject of folklore. But where did these magical 00:03:01.129 --> 00:03:04.129 beings come from? Let's take a look into the 00:03:04.129 --> 00:03:06.710 original sightings and history of the leprechaun. 00:03:07.120 --> 00:03:10.360 As Taylor alluded to, or it just said, but I 00:03:10.360 --> 00:03:12.419 have more information on that I forgot that I 00:03:12.419 --> 00:03:16.439 had here, Leprechaun comes from the Middle Irish 00:03:16.439 --> 00:03:19.879 word? Middle Irish? Yeah, kind of like Middle 00:03:19.879 --> 00:03:22.240 English. Because there'd be Old Irish, Middle 00:03:22.240 --> 00:03:25.680 Irish, Modern Irish. What's Middle English? Middle 00:03:25.680 --> 00:03:28.699 English is like the 1600s. Why did they speak 00:03:28.699 --> 00:03:32.099 differently then? Um, it's because language evolves. 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:35.620 but weirdly like usually middle is where the 00:03:35.620 --> 00:03:38.979 printing press was invented so the words written 00:03:38.979 --> 00:03:41.979 are written how they'd be pronounced in the middle 00:03:41.979 --> 00:03:44.759 english style but we've evolved language and 00:03:44.759 --> 00:03:47.300 that's why we end up with silent letters and 00:03:47.300 --> 00:03:48.979 things that don't sound the way they're supposed 00:03:48.979 --> 00:03:52.620 to uh -huh okay and that's why today we say things 00:03:52.620 --> 00:03:56.770 like skibbity and oh hi But, like, I listened 00:03:56.770 --> 00:04:00.129 to somebody reading a common prayer in Middle 00:04:00.129 --> 00:04:02.270 English, and, like, the word night is pronounced 00:04:02.270 --> 00:04:03.930 connigget. Why are you listening to that? It 00:04:03.930 --> 00:04:05.370 was on YouTube. Are you serious? It just came 00:04:05.370 --> 00:04:08.030 up, yeah. It was pronounced connigget, which 00:04:08.030 --> 00:04:11.449 I was like, wow. It wasn't. Yeah. Was it actually? 00:04:11.629 --> 00:04:14.330 Uh -huh. And that's, like, a word that makes 00:04:14.330 --> 00:04:17.410 so much more sense now. That's just fucking ridiculous. 00:04:17.930 --> 00:04:22.079 Okay, we gotta move on. Yeah. Leprechaun. comes 00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:27.959 from the Middle Irish word luchurpan or lupurcan, 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:31.740 meaning small body. Leprechauns are considered 00:04:31.740 --> 00:04:34.819 a type of solitary fairy in Irish folklore and 00:04:34.819 --> 00:04:37.579 they are known for their secretive and elusive 00:04:37.579 --> 00:04:41.220 nature, often leading people on wild goose chases 00:04:41.220 --> 00:04:43.779 in search of their hidden treasure. Maybe there 00:04:43.779 --> 00:04:46.360 isn't a hidden treasure, maybe that's the practical 00:04:46.360 --> 00:04:48.779 joke. That actually probably is their ultimate 00:04:48.779 --> 00:04:52.509 practical joke. One of the earliest known references 00:04:52.509 --> 00:04:56.829 to leprechauns appears in the medieval tale Ectra 00:04:56.829 --> 00:05:01.269 Fergus Mac Laetii, where King Fergus Mac Laetii 00:05:01.269 --> 00:05:04.449 encounters three leprechauns. The story goes 00:05:04.449 --> 00:05:08.430 that Fergus Mac Laetii, King of Ulster, falls 00:05:08.430 --> 00:05:11.069 asleep on the beach and wakes to find himself 00:05:11.069 --> 00:05:14.610 being dragged into the sea by three Luthor pain. 00:05:15.050 --> 00:05:18.269 he captures his abductors who grant him three 00:05:18.269 --> 00:05:20.930 witches in exchange for release. Which kind of 00:05:20.930 --> 00:05:24.449 reminds me of the gym. Over time, these creatures 00:05:24.449 --> 00:05:27.670 became more ingrained in Irish culture and storytelling. 00:05:28.350 --> 00:05:32.110 In McNally's 1888 account, the Leprechaun was 00:05:32.110 --> 00:05:35.649 not in fact a professional cobbler, but was... 00:05:35.649 --> 00:05:38.980 they're professionals? Yeah. I would have thought 00:05:38.980 --> 00:05:41.899 that they were just amateurs, but I don't know 00:05:41.899 --> 00:05:44.920 where that logic came from. But I guess that's 00:05:44.920 --> 00:05:47.740 neither here nor there. It was frequently seen 00:05:47.740 --> 00:05:51.379 mending his own shoes as he runs about so much 00:05:51.379 --> 00:05:54.639 he wears them out with great frequency. This 00:05:54.639 --> 00:05:57.259 is, he claims, the perfect opportunity for a 00:05:57.259 --> 00:06:00.360 human being to capture the Leprechaun, refusing 00:06:00.360 --> 00:06:02.879 to release him until the Leprechaun gives his 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:06.069 captors supernatural wealth. The leprechaun has 00:06:06.069 --> 00:06:09.509 been classed as a solitary fairy like I already 00:06:09.509 --> 00:06:12.910 said by the writer and an amateur folklorist 00:06:12.910 --> 00:06:16.629 William Butler Yeats and Yeats was part of a 00:06:16.629 --> 00:06:19.910 revivalist literary movement greatly influential 00:06:19.910 --> 00:06:22.910 in calling attention to the leprechaun in the 00:06:22.910 --> 00:06:26.790 late 19th century. It is stressed that the Leprechaun, 00:06:26.790 --> 00:06:29.970 though some may call it Faery, is clearly to 00:06:29.970 --> 00:06:33.569 be distinguished from the Ossi, or the good people 00:06:33.569 --> 00:06:36.990 of Gaelic folklore similar to Elves, of the Faery 00:06:36.990 --> 00:06:40.750 Mounds, Siddi and Rass. The Leprechaun being 00:06:40.750 --> 00:06:43.730 solitary is one distinguishing characteristic, 00:06:44.170 --> 00:06:46.670 but additionally the Leprechaun is thought to 00:06:46.670 --> 00:06:49.410 only engage in pranks on the level of mischief. 00:06:49.629 --> 00:06:53.000 Yeah, people don't die. Basically. I think they 00:06:53.000 --> 00:06:56.779 can be maimed, but not killed. But I was just 00:06:56.779 --> 00:06:59.939 gonna say, like, what about accidental death? 00:07:00.259 --> 00:07:02.959 Would that also be considered mischief? That's 00:07:02.959 --> 00:07:05.779 actually a great question with that, if they 00:07:05.779 --> 00:07:13.040 didn't intend the person to die. I feel like 00:07:13.040 --> 00:07:15.279 it's still mischief, and I'm sure they would 00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:21.139 classify it as that. Yeah. requiring special 00:07:21.139 --> 00:07:24.660 caution, but in contrast, the Aussie may carry 00:07:24.660 --> 00:07:28.079 out deeds more menacing to humans. As we move 00:07:28.079 --> 00:07:30.199 through history, the image of the Leprechaun 00:07:30.199 --> 00:07:33.579 evolves, just like Middle English. Originally 00:07:33.579 --> 00:07:36.240 depicted in red clothing, according to Yeats, 00:07:36.500 --> 00:07:39.720 the solitary fairies were red jackets whereas 00:07:39.720 --> 00:07:43.930 the trooping fairies wore green. Yeats's leprechaun 00:07:43.930 --> 00:07:46.410 wore a jacket with seven rows of buttons with 00:07:46.410 --> 00:07:49.750 seven buttons to each row. Yeats described that 00:07:49.750 --> 00:07:52.829 on the western coast, the red jacket is covered 00:07:52.829 --> 00:07:58.350 by a frieze one. What is this? Oh, a frieze is 00:07:58.350 --> 00:08:03.290 like a long hooded jacket. Like F -R -I -E -S 00:08:03.290 --> 00:08:08.629 -E? Yeah, F -R -I -E -Z -E. It looks like a priest 00:08:08.629 --> 00:08:12.769 outfit. Whereas in Ulster, the creature wears 00:08:12.769 --> 00:08:16.769 a cocked hat and when he is up to anything unusually 00:08:16.769 --> 00:08:20.110 mischievous, he leaps onto a wall and spins, 00:08:20.410 --> 00:08:23.310 balancing himself on the point on the hat with 00:08:23.310 --> 00:08:26.689 his heels in the air. According to McNally, the 00:08:26.689 --> 00:08:29.850 Universal Leprechaun is described as follows. 00:08:29.910 --> 00:08:34.779 Oh, okay. Oh, so he was like a monk. Yeah. Monks 00:08:34.779 --> 00:08:37.679 come from Ireland too, don't they? No, I'm thinking 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:40.379 about a druid. It could be druid. It could be 00:08:40.379 --> 00:08:43.080 a druid. I only know that she has abductees. 00:08:44.059 --> 00:08:47.059 Where's that Scotland? That is Scotland, but 00:08:47.059 --> 00:08:50.720 they didn't have druids. Scrooge is a... He's 00:08:50.720 --> 00:08:56.120 Scottish. Scottish, right? Okay. According to 00:08:56.120 --> 00:08:58.879 McNally, the universal leprechaun is described 00:08:58.879 --> 00:09:02.379 as follows. He is about three feet high and is 00:09:02.379 --> 00:09:05.259 dressed in a little red jacket or roundabout 00:09:05.259 --> 00:09:09.159 with red breeches buckled at the knee, gray or 00:09:09.159 --> 00:09:11.980 black stockings and a hat cocked in the style 00:09:11.980 --> 00:09:15.679 of a century ago over a little old withered face. 00:09:16.379 --> 00:09:19.960 Round his neck is an Elizabethan ruff and frills 00:09:19.960 --> 00:09:24.429 of lace are on its wrists. On the wild west coast, 00:09:24.610 --> 00:09:27.909 where an Atlantic wind bring almost constant 00:09:27.909 --> 00:09:30.710 rains, he dispenses with ruff and frills and 00:09:30.710 --> 00:09:34.470 wears a freeze overcoat over his pretty red suit, 00:09:34.909 --> 00:09:37.850 so that unless on the lookout for the cocked 00:09:37.850 --> 00:09:41.669 hat, ye might pass a leprechaun on the road and 00:09:41.669 --> 00:09:45.559 never know it's himself that's in at all. This 00:09:45.559 --> 00:09:48.480 is a lot of focus on what they're wearing and 00:09:48.480 --> 00:09:52.120 the outfits seem rather elaborate. And that is 00:09:52.120 --> 00:09:54.860 when I picture a leprechaun it is a fairly elaborate 00:09:54.860 --> 00:09:57.220 getup. Like I'm not going out in a three -piece 00:09:57.220 --> 00:09:59.820 suit that is color coordinated every single day. 00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:02.759 You don't want to do up that many buttons and 00:10:02.759 --> 00:10:05.899 buckles and stuff. Did he not describe them having 00:10:05.899 --> 00:10:09.539 like 49 buttons on their jacket? Seven rows by 00:10:09.539 --> 00:10:12.419 seven? You gotta think most of them are just 00:10:12.419 --> 00:10:16.799 gonna be for show. Yeah. Imagine having to do 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:19.580 49 buttons up every time you put a shirt on I'm 00:10:19.580 --> 00:10:22.679 not choosing that shirt You'd never like really 00:10:22.679 --> 00:10:25.120 got talked into it by the salesman. You had no 00:10:25.120 --> 00:10:30.379 other choice. You're not changing ever No You 00:10:30.379 --> 00:10:33.100 got to wear a bib or something if you're eating 00:10:33.100 --> 00:10:35.340 just in case because you're not taking either 00:10:35.340 --> 00:10:39.279 that or they're filthy just covered in dirt Actually 00:10:39.279 --> 00:10:42.120 Chelsea I am curious as anybody ever describe 00:10:42.120 --> 00:10:46.159 how they smell Because I'm wondering if they 00:10:46.159 --> 00:10:48.919 do actually have another suit that they wear, 00:10:49.299 --> 00:10:53.279 or if they do ever take that one off. I don't 00:10:53.279 --> 00:10:57.059 think they do, because, you know, they only have 00:10:57.059 --> 00:11:00.139 the one outfit that's so elaborate. Gotta think, 00:11:00.480 --> 00:11:03.779 if they wore anything else, it'd be spotted in 00:11:03.779 --> 00:11:07.159 something else, right? Yeah. So it's universal. 00:11:07.340 --> 00:11:09.700 But I guess I can, we can stop there. They're 00:11:09.700 --> 00:11:12.120 all wearing the same thing! No, but Chelsea, 00:11:12.879 --> 00:11:15.779 if you saw something that was that size and it 00:11:15.779 --> 00:11:18.139 wasn't wearing a green suit, you wouldn't say 00:11:18.139 --> 00:11:19.860 you thought a leprechaun not in a green suit, 00:11:19.980 --> 00:11:23.549 you might say you saw a gnome. or another entity. 00:11:24.169 --> 00:11:26.450 So we don't actually know for sure, do we? But 00:11:26.450 --> 00:11:29.750 I feel like nobody focuses as much on what the 00:11:29.750 --> 00:11:33.669 other little guys are wearing. Like, I just, 00:11:33.730 --> 00:11:36.490 how long have I been talking about elaborate 00:11:36.490 --> 00:11:39.450 outfits? No, and even like, we've all seen like, 00:11:39.570 --> 00:11:40.389 guardian gnomes. Maybe they're known for it. 00:11:40.409 --> 00:11:42.330 I couldn't even describe to you what the clothes 00:11:42.330 --> 00:11:46.730 are they're wearing at all, in any way. Other 00:11:46.730 --> 00:11:48.889 than that like, red dunce cap that they wear. 00:11:49.460 --> 00:11:52.860 Yeah, I mean, maybe they're going for best dressed 00:11:52.860 --> 00:11:56.500 Harry. Maybe. But again, is it that we don't 00:11:56.500 --> 00:11:58.639 see them? Nobody's seen a leprechaun without 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:01.379 a green suit, or is it we see them but we don't 00:12:01.379 --> 00:12:02.919 think they're leprechauns because they're not 00:12:02.919 --> 00:12:06.879 wearing green suits? I think at this point, it's 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:09.559 hard to say. No, that'd be a good study to do 00:12:09.559 --> 00:12:12.480 though, hey? No, it really would be. But how 00:12:12.480 --> 00:12:14.940 many people? Okay, we'll talk about - Yeah, we'll 00:12:14.940 --> 00:12:16.600 keep going and maybe he'll come up. Yeah, let's 00:12:16.600 --> 00:12:20.450 keep going. description varied by region, but 00:12:20.450 --> 00:12:23.570 let's take a look at not only how the descriptions 00:12:23.570 --> 00:12:27.570 vary between regions, but also how to vary from 00:12:27.570 --> 00:12:30.230 what we envision your standard leprechaun as 00:12:30.230 --> 00:12:33.730 being today. So, more about how they dress, because 00:12:33.730 --> 00:12:36.149 you thought that wasn't enough. The Northern 00:12:36.149 --> 00:12:40.190 Leprechauns, or Loggery Men, wore a military 00:12:40.190 --> 00:12:43.309 red coat and white breeches with a broad brim 00:12:43.309 --> 00:12:45.769 pointed hat on which he would sometimes stand 00:12:45.769 --> 00:12:48.679 upside down. Okay, I guess this is a summary 00:12:48.679 --> 00:12:52.100 of everything I just said. The Lurigaddon of 00:12:52.100 --> 00:12:56.220 Tipperary wore an antique slash jacket of red 00:12:56.220 --> 00:13:00.120 with peaks all around and a jockey cap, also 00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:03.220 sporting a sword which he uses as a magic wand. 00:13:03.399 --> 00:13:05.440 I don't know that I would trust that and why 00:13:05.440 --> 00:13:09.370 is he wearing a fucking jockey cap? Why? Oh, 00:13:09.509 --> 00:13:12.070 yeah, and especially like jockeys are known as 00:13:12.070 --> 00:13:14.850 little people too. Is that why the jockeys adopted 00:13:14.850 --> 00:13:19.350 that? Or jockeys? Wait, did the Simpsons not 00:13:19.350 --> 00:13:22.990 predict this? Did anyone ever think of this? 00:13:23.330 --> 00:13:26.350 They had to at some point. They had to. Maybe 00:13:26.350 --> 00:13:28.750 it's because they're not wearing the outlandish 00:13:28.750 --> 00:13:31.330 outfit. So it threw them off. I'm pretty sure 00:13:31.330 --> 00:13:33.889 there's that one episode of Simpsons where they 00:13:33.889 --> 00:13:37.320 get the horse. Is there? And all the jockeys 00:13:37.320 --> 00:13:41.259 are like magical creatures. I think they're leprechauns, 00:13:41.419 --> 00:13:43.360 but they might not be. They might be elves. I 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:45.159 know exactly what you're talking about. Yeah. 00:13:45.419 --> 00:13:47.480 I can't remember what they are. But Simpsons 00:13:47.480 --> 00:13:50.379 knew them. It's just the dress. We didn't ever 00:13:50.379 --> 00:13:52.639 associate them with being a leprechaun because 00:13:52.639 --> 00:13:54.120 they weren't wearing the leg. We're learning 00:13:54.120 --> 00:13:57.299 so much. Yeah, but they kind of were. They just 00:13:57.299 --> 00:13:59.159 spread rumors that they only wear green. This 00:13:59.159 --> 00:14:04.659 is crazy. Okay, Lyric. con of Carrie was a fat 00:14:04.659 --> 00:14:08.240 Percy little fellow whose jolly round face rivals 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:11.600 in redness, the cutaway jacket he wears that 00:14:11.600 --> 00:14:14.740 always has seven rows of seven buttons in each 00:14:14.740 --> 00:14:17.379 row. What is Percy? Well, I thought it was like, 00:14:17.379 --> 00:14:20.019 you know, pursed lips. Maybe it means a sour 00:14:20.019 --> 00:14:27.039 face. Because its face is all pursed. Yeah. This 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:30.830 guy is not an attractive little fellow. No. I'm 00:14:30.830 --> 00:14:33.230 glad you were picturing a not -attractive fellow 00:14:33.230 --> 00:14:40.470 too. The clericon of Monaghan wore a swallow 00:14:40.470 --> 00:14:43.250 -tailed evening coat of red with green vest, 00:14:43.590 --> 00:14:46.570 white breeches, black stockings, shiny shoes, 00:14:46.710 --> 00:14:49.649 and a long cone hat without a brim, sometimes 00:14:49.649 --> 00:14:54.789 used as a weapon. The hat? Yep. Huh. Good for 00:14:54.789 --> 00:14:58.289 them. They have very functional hats. Yeah, not 00:14:58.289 --> 00:15:01.090 only that. One of them's got a jockey hat. One's 00:15:01.090 --> 00:15:03.769 got one you can balance on and one's got a weapon. 00:15:04.409 --> 00:15:07.210 One's got a sword that he says is a magic wand. 00:15:08.110 --> 00:15:10.389 The modern image of the leprechaun sitting on 00:15:10.389 --> 00:15:13.529 a toadstool having a red beard and a green hat 00:15:13.529 --> 00:15:17.230 is a more modern invention or borrowed from other 00:15:17.230 --> 00:15:19.750 strands of European folklore. The most likely 00:15:19.750 --> 00:15:22.529 explanation for the modern day leprechaun appearance 00:15:22.529 --> 00:15:26.110 is that green is traditionally a national Irish 00:15:26.110 --> 00:15:30.570 colour. dating back as far as 1642, the hat might 00:15:30.570 --> 00:15:33.990 be derived from the old style of outdated fashion 00:15:33.990 --> 00:15:36.669 still common in Ireland in the 19th century. 00:15:36.889 --> 00:15:40.169 This style of fashion was commonly worn by Irish 00:15:40.169 --> 00:15:43.970 immigrants to the United States since some Elizabethan 00:15:43.970 --> 00:15:46.210 -era clothes were still common in Ireland in 00:15:46.210 --> 00:15:49.250 the 19th century, long after they were out of 00:15:49.250 --> 00:15:52.870 fashion as depicted by the stage Irish, also 00:15:52.870 --> 00:15:57.250 known as drunk Irish. for Patty Whackery. Man, 00:15:57.529 --> 00:16:01.789 just so many terms are actually just like Irish 00:16:01.789 --> 00:16:04.769 slander, I think is a good way to put it. Like 00:16:04.769 --> 00:16:08.169 the Patty Wagon is just like such a racially 00:16:08.169 --> 00:16:11.330 charged word. I never put that together. Yeah. 00:16:12.490 --> 00:16:15.990 Interesting. The buckled shoes and other garments 00:16:15.990 --> 00:16:18.730 also have their origin in the Elizabethan period 00:16:18.730 --> 00:16:22.210 in Ireland. The tales grew richer and more colourful 00:16:22.210 --> 00:16:24.970 with each generation adding their own twist to 00:16:24.970 --> 00:16:27.590 the legend. It's no wonder that these stories 00:16:27.590 --> 00:16:31.070 captured the hearts and minds of the Irish people 00:16:31.070 --> 00:16:34.970 and as time went on leprechauns had become synonymous 00:16:34.970 --> 00:16:37.769 with luck and fortune as well as Saint Patrick's 00:16:37.769 --> 00:16:40.549 Day. The belief was that if you could catch one, 00:16:40.870 --> 00:16:43.909 you'd be rewarded with a pot of gold. Some places 00:16:43.909 --> 00:16:47.110 say three wishes. Yeah, I've weirdly seen it 00:16:47.110 --> 00:16:50.269 interchangeable. And the wishes are always like 00:16:50.269 --> 00:16:53.190 super wording dependent. Like they're playing 00:16:53.190 --> 00:16:55.850 the practical jokes through their wishes. Yeah. 00:16:55.850 --> 00:16:58.990 I think that's also a djinn thing, which is kind 00:16:58.990 --> 00:17:00.870 of weird. A couple djinn things have already 00:17:00.870 --> 00:17:03.509 come up where they grant a wish, but it's like 00:17:03.509 --> 00:17:06.049 secretly evil and it's like the dark side of 00:17:06.049 --> 00:17:11.319 the wish. Yeah. But leprechauns aren't just confined 00:17:11.319 --> 00:17:14.720 to ancient folklore. In recent years, there have 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:18.900 been numerous sightings and stories on platforms 00:17:18.900 --> 00:17:21.880 like Reddit. Let's take a look at some of these. 00:17:22.079 --> 00:17:25.440 Are we going to cover that really big one on 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:29.200 YouTube where the news story covered it? Okay. 00:17:29.200 --> 00:17:32.319 Can you stop jumping ahead and ruining everything, 00:17:32.759 --> 00:17:37.200 ruining the episode? Damn it. Are you a leprechaun? 00:17:38.299 --> 00:17:43.440 Who's to say? First up is a mass sighting of 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:46.920 a leprechaun. Creighton the leprechaun. Now, 00:17:46.920 --> 00:17:49.539 I'm not sure how to say this. I want to say Creighton, 00:17:49.640 --> 00:17:53.500 but it could be Crichton. Creighton, yeah. Likely 00:17:53.500 --> 00:17:55.960 Creighton. I'm not going to describe this to 00:17:55.960 --> 00:17:59.559 you at all. No, I'm going to let this news report 00:17:59.559 --> 00:18:03.559 do all the explaining in general, if I can get 00:18:03.559 --> 00:18:06.480 in there. Well, just in time for St. Patrick's 00:18:06.480 --> 00:18:08.720 Day, crowds are coming by the dozens to get an 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:11.579 up -close view at what some say is a piece of 00:18:11.579 --> 00:18:14.160 Irish folklore. Some people in the Crichton area 00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:17.559 of Mobile say a leprechaun is taking up residence 00:18:17.559 --> 00:18:20.500 in their neighborhood. A leprechaun. NBC 15's 00:18:20.500 --> 00:18:24.660 Brian Johnson has more. Curiosity leads to large 00:18:24.660 --> 00:18:27.619 crowds in Mobile's Crichton community. Many of 00:18:27.619 --> 00:18:30.660 you bring binoculars, camcorders, even camera 00:18:30.660 --> 00:18:33.000 phones to take pictures. To me, it look like 00:18:33.000 --> 00:18:34.759 a leprechaun to me. All I gotta do is look up 00:18:34.759 --> 00:18:37.160 in the tree. Who else in the leprechaun say yeah? 00:18:38.500 --> 00:18:42.259 Yeah! Eyewitnesses say the leprechaun only comes 00:18:42.259 --> 00:18:45.160 out at night. If you shine a light in its direction, 00:18:45.200 --> 00:18:49.079 it suddenly disappears. This amateur sketch resembles 00:18:49.079 --> 00:18:51.500 what many of you say the leprechaun looks like. 00:18:51.630 --> 00:18:53.950 others find it hard to believe and have come 00:18:53.950 --> 00:18:56.369 up with their own theories and explanations for 00:18:56.369 --> 00:19:19.769 the image. This guy helping to direct traffic 00:19:19.769 --> 00:19:22.109 says he's prepared for his encounter with the 00:19:22.109 --> 00:19:24.789 leprechaun. He's suited up from head to toe. 00:19:25.130 --> 00:19:27.789 This war is all spells right here. This is a 00:19:27.789 --> 00:19:29.890 special leprechaun flute which has been passed 00:19:29.890 --> 00:19:32.049 down from thousands of years ago from my great 00:19:32.049 --> 00:19:34.509 great grandfather who was Irish. I just came 00:19:34.509 --> 00:19:40.430 to help out. Others just came to get lucky. This 00:19:40.430 --> 00:19:46.230 might sound incredibly racist. But this is a 00:19:46.230 --> 00:19:49.609 very black part of Alabama, and this guy is saying 00:19:49.609 --> 00:19:52.970 that his family passed down for a thousand generations. 00:19:53.410 --> 00:19:57.670 Something to protect them from leprechaun. I 00:19:57.670 --> 00:20:03.910 don't think they did. They probably didn't. Can 00:20:03.910 --> 00:20:14.259 I unpause it? Yeah, you can go. Give me the gold! 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:18.259 I want the gold! This is Brian Johnson, NBC 15 00:20:18.259 --> 00:20:21.519 News. People will do anything for a pot of gold. 00:20:21.740 --> 00:20:23.339 I mean, anything. You know what I like? I like 00:20:23.339 --> 00:20:25.200 the amateur sketch of the leprechaun. It looks 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:26.900 like somebody got a really good look at it and 00:20:26.900 --> 00:20:28.559 got that good drawing out there. Who did that? 00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:30.140 I want to know who sketched that. I don't know, 00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:33.740 maybe Brian sketched it. I like how they said 00:20:33.740 --> 00:20:37.200 they showed up with camera phones. Like, they 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:40.480 would never see that now. Yeah, no, you just 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:45.039 show up with phones. Camera phones. Yeah, now 00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:46.900 you just show up with phones. Everybody knows 00:20:46.900 --> 00:20:52.539 it as a camera. One particularly famous sighting 00:20:52.539 --> 00:20:56.279 occurred in 1989 when a group of tourists claimed 00:20:56.279 --> 00:20:59.619 to have seen a leprechaun dancing on a rock near 00:20:59.619 --> 00:21:02.500 the village of Carlingford. They described him 00:21:02.500 --> 00:21:04.740 as wearing a green coat and a hat that looked 00:21:04.740 --> 00:21:07.920 suspiciously like it had been borrowed from a 00:21:07.920 --> 00:21:12.200 gnome convention. the tourists were so convinced 00:21:12.200 --> 00:21:15.180 that they even snapped a photo though it looked 00:21:15.180 --> 00:21:17.980 more like a blurry blob than an actual leprechaun 00:21:17.980 --> 00:21:20.859 oh yeah i've seen that um just so everybody's 00:21:20.859 --> 00:21:23.180 aware carlingford is in ireland so this would 00:21:23.180 --> 00:21:27.839 be like it's homeland okay good did not look 00:21:27.839 --> 00:21:32.940 that up i just assumed in 1900 a man named thomas 00:21:32.940 --> 00:21:36.220 mcgowan claimed he had encountered a leprechaun 00:21:36.220 --> 00:21:40.730 while out fishing near loft nay yeah that they 00:21:40.730 --> 00:21:45.069 did irish can be hard not in the same way that 00:21:45.069 --> 00:21:47.490 australians hard because australians made up 00:21:47.490 --> 00:21:51.069 i'm just gonna go with it according to his account 00:21:51.069 --> 00:21:53.750 the leprechaun offered him three wishes in exchange 00:21:53.750 --> 00:21:57.549 for his silence about their meeting mcgowen he 00:21:57.549 --> 00:22:02.349 didn't get the wishes mcgowen being the clever 00:22:02.349 --> 00:22:05.769 chap he was wished for wealth health and an endless 00:22:05.769 --> 00:22:09.630 supply of whiskey because who wouldn't However, 00:22:10.309 --> 00:22:12.609 he later regretted his choices when he found 00:22:12.609 --> 00:22:15.210 himself with more gold than he could carry and 00:22:15.210 --> 00:22:18.789 an insatiable thirst for whiskey that left him 00:22:18.789 --> 00:22:22.490 perpetually tipsy. Lesson learned. Be careful 00:22:22.490 --> 00:22:24.869 what you wish for when dealing with leprechauns. 00:22:25.109 --> 00:22:28.529 And if you're going to wish for unlimited wealth, 00:22:28.950 --> 00:22:31.650 you don't need to wish for whiskey. You can buy 00:22:31.650 --> 00:22:41.480 it. That's true. Feel like I go with Unlimited 00:22:41.480 --> 00:22:45.799 wealth and I'll just say in a light form so like 00:22:45.799 --> 00:22:49.980 not like a light bulb Like don't twist my words 00:22:49.980 --> 00:22:52.900 leprechauns. It's like a bank account. I don't 00:22:52.900 --> 00:22:56.279 want a pot of gold. It's too heavy Yeah, but 00:22:56.279 --> 00:22:59.359 then See, I think that's actually super easy 00:22:59.359 --> 00:23:02.299 for the leprechauns to deal with as a practical 00:23:02.299 --> 00:23:05.660 joke, is they just report you to your taxing 00:23:05.660 --> 00:23:07.599 service, whatever country you're in, the IRS, 00:23:07.880 --> 00:23:11.119 the CRA, and boom, you're in jail for probably, 00:23:11.119 --> 00:23:13.079 I don't know, money laundering of some kind. 00:23:13.460 --> 00:23:17.180 I mean, there's a spot on the form to tick. Leprechaun 00:23:17.180 --> 00:23:19.500 wish, right? Oh, right, right. I forgot about 00:23:19.500 --> 00:23:23.059 that. Yeah. I haven't done my taxes yet for the 00:23:23.059 --> 00:23:25.559 year, so. Yeah, no, I've just never had to take 00:23:25.559 --> 00:23:30.380 that box, but I've always wanted to. This is 00:23:30.380 --> 00:23:33.339 definitely not money laundry. Here's that shit 00:23:33.339 --> 00:23:38.259 box for paranormal means. Okay, so let's get 00:23:38.259 --> 00:23:40.599 to the freaking reddit. You still have to remit 00:23:40.599 --> 00:23:44.650 though, just so we're all clear. Yes, you absolutely 00:23:44.650 --> 00:23:47.130 have to. The leprechauns know what to. But they 00:23:47.130 --> 00:23:50.089 won't tell you. Unless you wish that they tell 00:23:50.089 --> 00:23:52.650 you all the terms and conditions. And no one's 00:23:52.650 --> 00:23:59.240 gonna fucking wish for that. User martleed. When 00:23:59.240 --> 00:24:01.380 this happened in Ireland I thought I'd share 00:24:01.380 --> 00:24:03.980 it again. There are areas here in Ireland where 00:24:03.980 --> 00:24:07.440 belief in fairies, elves, etc. is commonplace. 00:24:07.539 --> 00:24:10.279 Look up fairy rings or fairy trees. A friend 00:24:10.279 --> 00:24:13.940 of mine was in Donegal at his grandparents' holiday 00:24:13.940 --> 00:24:17.000 home years ago. He went out for a walk with his 00:24:17.000 --> 00:24:19.059 grandmother. When they were coming home they 00:24:19.059 --> 00:24:21.319 had to cross a large field that they crossed 00:24:21.319 --> 00:24:24.339 many times before. I mean even if they were unfamiliar 00:24:24.339 --> 00:24:26.980 with the field that would be okay by me. They 00:24:26.980 --> 00:24:29.339 walked in the direction of the house. As they 00:24:29.339 --> 00:24:32.420 walked, they chatted, but both felt a little 00:24:32.420 --> 00:24:35.299 uneasy. They were walking and walking for longer 00:24:35.299 --> 00:24:37.859 than usual, but seemingly they were getting no 00:24:37.859 --> 00:24:40.799 closer to the house. My friend eventually said 00:24:40.799 --> 00:24:44.079 to his grandmother that he was scared, but they 00:24:44.079 --> 00:24:47.000 kept walking. In the distance, their neighbour, 00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:49.660 the farmer who owned the field, was standing 00:24:49.660 --> 00:24:52.420 at a gate calling to them and asked if they were 00:24:52.420 --> 00:24:55.390 having trouble. His grandmother shouted back 00:24:55.390 --> 00:24:57.789 that they were. He laughed and shouted, it's 00:24:57.789 --> 00:25:00.190 fine, the we folk are just playing with you. 00:25:00.269 --> 00:25:03.170 Take off your coats and put them on inside out. 00:25:03.450 --> 00:25:06.009 Feeling rather stupid, they did as he suggested. 00:25:06.210 --> 00:25:08.170 Then they walked directly to the house without 00:25:08.170 --> 00:25:10.849 a problem. He doesn't like to talk about it too 00:25:10.849 --> 00:25:13.329 much for fear of being ridiculed, but he swears 00:25:13.329 --> 00:25:15.569 that he was never more frightened than he was 00:25:15.569 --> 00:25:18.329 on that day. That's kind of a cool story actually. 00:25:18.650 --> 00:25:21.029 Yeah, yeah I like that. What do you think that 00:25:21.029 --> 00:25:24.460 farmer saw? That prompted him to ask if they 00:25:24.460 --> 00:25:28.460 were having trouble. It's a good question. I 00:25:28.460 --> 00:25:32.279 wonder if he's used to that in the area Like 00:25:32.279 --> 00:25:34.500 do you think they're walking around in circles 00:25:34.500 --> 00:25:39.059 or just like Walking super slow like they were 00:25:39.059 --> 00:25:42.180 in like, you know when he slows something down 00:25:42.180 --> 00:25:44.460 Well, I'm wondering if they just kept like passing 00:25:44.460 --> 00:25:48.759 the same location maybe Like they just kept walking 00:25:48.759 --> 00:25:52.150 past him. Yeah And he just snickers and he's 00:25:52.150 --> 00:25:54.650 like, you guys have been trouble. Yeah, almost 00:25:54.650 --> 00:25:56.150 like, you know, like a wormhole and it takes 00:25:56.150 --> 00:25:59.289 you back to the spot. Yeah. I mean, at that point, 00:25:59.430 --> 00:26:02.430 I mean, he seemed to have the answer, so I guess 00:26:02.430 --> 00:26:05.069 he wouldn't be weirded out by it at all. No, 00:26:05.390 --> 00:26:08.690 the answer. OK, next one is user existential 00:26:08.690 --> 00:26:12.250 dread 14. Hey, remember Uncomfortable Truths? 00:26:12.289 --> 00:26:14.890 Do you mean the guy who used to? Yeah, I know. 00:26:15.210 --> 00:26:17.450 We don't twitch anymore. That's the problem. 00:26:17.450 --> 00:26:20.880 We do not twitch anymore, sadly. I wonder if 00:26:20.880 --> 00:26:26.119 he listens. That is the weird thing about not 00:26:26.119 --> 00:26:28.779 streaming live. We have no idea who these people 00:26:28.779 --> 00:26:34.000 are. No. Feel free to say hello. Oh, except that 00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:37.779 one guy who corrects our grammar, yes. Which 00:26:37.779 --> 00:26:42.079 you are appreciated. Yes. We know we're mispronouncing 00:26:42.079 --> 00:26:45.960 a great deal of words. I personally know two 00:26:45.960 --> 00:26:48.619 people who believe they've seen a leprechaun. 00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:51.880 Just as the title states, I personally know two 00:26:51.880 --> 00:26:55.859 people who truly believe they've seen leprechauns. 00:26:56.359 --> 00:26:58.839 These two stories are unfortunately going to 00:26:58.839 --> 00:27:01.519 be rather long, but I want you to get the full 00:27:01.519 --> 00:27:04.119 details. I'll post a too long didn't read at 00:27:04.119 --> 00:27:06.400 the end. Although these stories take place in 00:27:06.400 --> 00:27:09.660 Western Pennsylvania, which is not in fact in 00:27:09.660 --> 00:27:13.440 Ireland, it is in North America. The first story 00:27:13.440 --> 00:27:17.240 takes place in 1991. My ex -boyfriend's dad was 00:27:17.240 --> 00:27:19.940 the chief of police of a small town located directly 00:27:19.940 --> 00:27:23.019 outside of a city. He had several police officers 00:27:23.019 --> 00:27:25.380 who worked for him and one was a young rookie 00:27:25.380 --> 00:27:29.460 cop whom I will call Mike. The police officers 00:27:29.460 --> 00:27:31.859 in that jurisdiction often assisted the city 00:27:31.859 --> 00:27:34.900 police with calls. Mike was going to such a call 00:27:34.900 --> 00:27:37.940 on cold day in the beginning of March. He was 00:27:37.940 --> 00:27:41.230 driving down a road that on either side was A 00:27:41.230 --> 00:27:44.369 field of tall, dead brown grass. All of a sudden, 00:27:44.730 --> 00:27:47.109 Mike saw what he thought was an animal coming 00:27:47.109 --> 00:27:49.470 out of the grass on the left side. He said he 00:27:49.470 --> 00:27:52.170 saw the next sequence of events in slow motion. 00:27:52.390 --> 00:27:55.190 He tried to slow his cruiser down. He saw that 00:27:55.190 --> 00:27:58.410 it was not an animal, but indeed a small, bald, 00:27:58.630 --> 00:28:02.900 dirty man dressed in ragged clothes. approximately 00:28:02.900 --> 00:28:07.319 two feet tall, running out from the grass. He 00:28:07.319 --> 00:28:09.900 slammed on the brakes. The cruiser did not stop 00:28:09.900 --> 00:28:12.940 fast enough and he hit the small man with the 00:28:12.940 --> 00:28:18.720 front of his car. The man flew up in the air. 00:28:19.240 --> 00:28:21.920 Mike jumped out and ran to the front. He said 00:28:21.920 --> 00:28:24.680 he looked right down at the small man, who he 00:28:24.680 --> 00:28:27.240 then noticed had reddish brown hair. The little 00:28:27.240 --> 00:28:30.819 man began a screaming evil laugh and hopped up 00:28:30.819 --> 00:28:33.220 running into the grass on the right side of the 00:28:33.220 --> 00:28:35.619 road. Mike ran after him, but all he heard was 00:28:35.619 --> 00:28:40.940 the sound of his evil mocking laugh. Back to 00:28:40.940 --> 00:28:45.420 the station, he was visibly shaken. My ex's father 00:28:45.420 --> 00:28:48.160 said he was pale white and he could barely choke 00:28:48.160 --> 00:28:50.440 out the story. When he finished telling them 00:28:50.440 --> 00:28:53.339 what happened, everyone except my ex's dad began 00:28:53.339 --> 00:28:57.079 howling with laughter. The other cops teased 00:28:57.079 --> 00:29:00.140 him relentlessly about the leprechaun story. 00:29:00.660 --> 00:29:03.279 Since it was about three weeks before St. Patrick's 00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:05.400 Day, one of the cops went to the dollar store 00:29:05.400 --> 00:29:07.880 and bought a leprechaun hat. Left it on Mike's 00:29:07.880 --> 00:29:10.279 doorstep with a note stuck in the prim saying, 00:29:10.619 --> 00:29:17.750 I'm coming for you, Mikey. These guys are assholes. 00:29:18.309 --> 00:29:21.450 The next morning, Mike came in crying and told 00:29:21.450 --> 00:29:25.769 my ex's father he was quitting the police. My 00:29:25.769 --> 00:29:28.289 ex's father believed Mike and said he could tell 00:29:28.289 --> 00:29:30.789 he was extremely sincere in his belief that he 00:29:30.789 --> 00:29:34.650 did a leprechaun. That is great. Sorry, that's 00:29:34.650 --> 00:29:37.390 hard to read out loud. He told the other cops 00:29:37.390 --> 00:29:40.049 to leave him alone about it and Mike worked with 00:29:40.049 --> 00:29:43.519 him for years to come. I first heard this story 00:29:43.519 --> 00:29:46.119 from my ex's father. I could tell he really believed 00:29:46.119 --> 00:29:48.640 Mike had seen what he'd seen. Later that year, 00:29:48.880 --> 00:29:51.079 Mike was over at my ex's house. I asked Mike 00:29:51.079 --> 00:29:53.900 about the story. He grew pale and quiet probably 00:29:53.900 --> 00:29:56.980 because he was terrified of ridicule. And he 00:29:56.980 --> 00:29:59.819 told me exactly the same story my ex's father 00:29:59.819 --> 00:30:03.960 had told me earlier. And he always insisted that 00:30:03.960 --> 00:30:07.710 he hit a leprechaun this car that day. And you 00:30:07.710 --> 00:30:09.609 know the leprechaun just did that to fuck with 00:30:09.609 --> 00:30:15.150 him too. Oh, yeah. Can you imagine that happening 00:30:15.150 --> 00:30:17.309 and being like, how the fuck am I going to explain 00:30:17.309 --> 00:30:19.470 this to anybody? Oh, I would not tell people 00:30:19.470 --> 00:30:23.490 about that. No, I'm surprised Mike did. I'm wondering 00:30:23.490 --> 00:30:25.890 if it left like a dent or something where it 00:30:25.890 --> 00:30:31.049 hit, so he had to explain that. Like, why, how 00:30:31.049 --> 00:30:37.529 did you, how did you mess up the car? No, he 00:30:37.529 --> 00:30:39.869 wouldn't put it in the story if that's why he 00:30:39.869 --> 00:30:43.029 had to tell yeah true cuz I'm not telling that 00:30:43.029 --> 00:30:47.230 story straight up. I'm not At that point you 00:30:47.230 --> 00:30:49.650 just denied the damage to your car like I don't 00:30:49.650 --> 00:30:55.450 see anything You go you go hit a tree with worry 00:30:55.450 --> 00:30:59.170 about explaining that story No, that's not a 00:30:59.170 --> 00:31:03.519 story for telling so Until, you know what, I 00:31:03.519 --> 00:31:05.640 would tell it, but I would probably save it for 00:31:05.640 --> 00:31:08.519 like, the worst possible situation to ever tell 00:31:08.519 --> 00:31:13.240 that story in. Like... Like, say at... My kid's 00:31:13.240 --> 00:31:14.940 wedding. One of those big social events that 00:31:14.940 --> 00:31:18.880 we talk about that we give you guys conversation 00:31:18.880 --> 00:31:22.599 ideas for. Yeah, no, that's the perfect place, 00:31:22.599 --> 00:31:25.339 but you want to wait until like, everyone's listening. 00:31:26.039 --> 00:31:29.380 Yep. I'd say it very awkwardly at first until 00:31:29.380 --> 00:31:33.490 everything gets really quiet. Yeah, yeah. That's 00:31:33.490 --> 00:31:35.349 the perfect place. That's totally something I 00:31:35.349 --> 00:31:37.190 would say to work. I saw it at LoverCon once. 00:31:38.009 --> 00:31:42.069 Everybody stops. I'm sure I have something interesting 00:31:42.069 --> 00:31:45.210 to add to this party, and then I tell that story. 00:31:45.769 --> 00:31:50.289 Okay, his second story takes place in 1998. My 00:31:50.289 --> 00:31:53.349 childhood best friend Susan grew up in one of 00:31:53.349 --> 00:31:56.329 the most haunted houses I've ever been in my 00:31:56.329 --> 00:31:58.710 life, which is a story for another day. She lived 00:31:58.710 --> 00:32:01.309 in an old farmhouse way out in the country that 00:32:01.309 --> 00:32:03.569 has been - could you imagine if this is a story 00:32:03.569 --> 00:32:05.750 of like, they keep seeing people walking past 00:32:05.750 --> 00:32:08.210 and they're like, you guys have in trouble? It's 00:32:08.210 --> 00:32:13.400 the firmer story. She lived in an old farmhouse 00:32:13.400 --> 00:32:16.000 way out in the country that has been in her family 00:32:16.000 --> 00:32:18.559 for generations. It's important to understand 00:32:18.559 --> 00:32:21.529 how her upstairs was set up. You'd go up the 00:32:21.529 --> 00:32:23.950 staircase to essentially a dead end, with hallways 00:32:23.950 --> 00:32:26.089 on either side of the staircase. To the right, 00:32:26.210 --> 00:32:28.630 it was a very large bedroom, which was her parents' 00:32:28.730 --> 00:32:30.950 room. To the immediate left was her sister's 00:32:30.950 --> 00:32:33.410 room, then Susan's room, then an open hallway 00:32:33.410 --> 00:32:35.809 which led to the bathroom and smaller back bedroom. 00:32:36.109 --> 00:32:38.109 Susan's bedroom, I can't picture this at all. 00:32:38.230 --> 00:32:40.890 Susan's bedroom had an open doorway into the 00:32:40.890 --> 00:32:42.950 hallway that faced the bathroom and small bedroom. 00:32:43.329 --> 00:32:46.230 This is all nonsense to me. I've always had my 00:32:46.230 --> 00:32:49.190 abilities. Susan would often tell me of odd things 00:32:49.190 --> 00:32:52.380 that hap - in her house. Also, she said I would 00:32:52.380 --> 00:32:54.759 often discuss odd things that happened to both 00:32:54.759 --> 00:32:57.039 of us when I would go over there. One morning 00:32:57.039 --> 00:32:59.220 she came into school and told me in a whisper 00:32:59.220 --> 00:33:01.200 that she had seen a leprechaun in the hallway 00:33:01.200 --> 00:33:07.200 of a room that ate before. I could tell that 00:33:07.200 --> 00:33:09.539 scared her. I asked her if she'd seen it before 00:33:09.539 --> 00:33:12.400 and she said she had. She said she'd heard rustling 00:33:12.400 --> 00:33:14.779 noises out in the hallway and gotten out of her 00:33:14.779 --> 00:33:16.819 bed to peek around the corner. In the corner 00:33:16.819 --> 00:33:19.279 of the hall she saw a small man, approximately 00:33:19.279 --> 00:33:22.220 two feet, in dirty clothes with red hair. Oh 00:33:22.220 --> 00:33:24.480 my god! It's the same guy! She froze with red 00:33:24.480 --> 00:33:28.140 hair! They're all dirty clothes! We knew it! 00:33:28.180 --> 00:33:31.890 He's filthy! She froze with fear then she said 00:33:31.890 --> 00:33:34.950 the man disappeared She said she'd seen him before 00:33:34.950 --> 00:33:37.130 out of the corner of her eye moving in the hallway 00:33:37.130 --> 00:33:39.930 at all hours of the day I remember her clear 00:33:39.930 --> 00:33:42.769 as day saying to me that it did not look like 00:33:42.769 --> 00:33:46.230 the leprechaun on the lucky terms box Being an 00:33:46.230 --> 00:33:48.630 amateur paranormal investigator, even at nine, 00:33:48.690 --> 00:33:51.369 I asked her to draw me a picture. I still have 00:33:51.369 --> 00:33:53.329 the picture somewhere at my parents. She drew 00:33:53.329 --> 00:33:56.049 a small man with red hair standing in her hallway. 00:33:56.450 --> 00:33:58.509 She believed she saw the leprechaun one more 00:33:58.509 --> 00:34:00.769 time. Then she told me she never saw it again. 00:34:00.869 --> 00:34:03.450 It should be noted too that Susan was not asleep 00:34:03.450 --> 00:34:05.630 or in her bed the time she thought she saw the 00:34:05.630 --> 00:34:07.970 leprechaun. She would see it out in the hallway 00:34:07.970 --> 00:34:10.110 or out of the corner of her eye while she was 00:34:10.110 --> 00:34:12.869 upstairs. I believed too. She only saw it over 00:34:12.869 --> 00:34:15.070 a six month period. A lot of strange things. 00:34:14.989 --> 00:34:17.989 happened to her at her house and I know she believed 00:34:17.989 --> 00:34:20.510 what she saw she wasn't just making up stories. 00:34:20.829 --> 00:34:23.190 Now that I'm older and do paranormal investigation 00:34:23.190 --> 00:34:25.610 myself I believe that what Mike and Susan both 00:34:25.610 --> 00:34:28.650 saw are what we call Tommy knockers. Tommy knockers 00:34:28.650 --> 00:34:31.590 are leprechaun -like creatures believed by immigrant 00:34:31.590 --> 00:34:33.969 coal miners to live in the mines and move tools 00:34:33.969 --> 00:34:36.590 and such things. This being western Pennsylvania 00:34:36.590 --> 00:34:39.230 each location where the leprechaun was seen was 00:34:39.230 --> 00:34:41.630 above or near a coal mine. They are often described 00:34:41.630 --> 00:34:44.309 as dirty scraggly sharp featured looking little 00:34:44.199 --> 00:34:47.239 men with reddish hair. I cannot express how sincere 00:34:47.239 --> 00:34:49.159 both of them were to me when telling me their 00:34:49.159 --> 00:34:51.340 stories. Interesting. Never heard. I thought 00:34:51.340 --> 00:34:53.380 Tommy Knockers were something else. Yeah, gonna 00:34:53.380 --> 00:34:56.289 say I've never heard of it actually. So that's 00:34:56.289 --> 00:34:57.969 an interesting one. Well, let's add it to the 00:34:57.969 --> 00:34:59.769 list and we'll find out what it is. One more 00:34:59.769 --> 00:35:03.090 for the road. User blue silk tree. I haven't 00:35:03.090 --> 00:35:05.530 shared this story with many people as skeptics 00:35:05.530 --> 00:35:07.769 are quick to write off experience. Oh, and sorry, 00:35:07.869 --> 00:35:10.050 Chelsea, just before we move on from that, I 00:35:10.050 --> 00:35:12.190 do find it interesting that it was in a haunted 00:35:12.190 --> 00:35:14.849 house. So it's known for other paranormal activity. 00:35:15.650 --> 00:35:18.769 Yeah. The other thing that I liked about that 00:35:18.769 --> 00:35:21.489 one was that or noticed that she saw it from 00:35:21.489 --> 00:35:24.650 the corner of its eye. It was like a very paranormal. 00:35:24.559 --> 00:35:27.739 feature of it and I believe a lot of time elves 00:35:27.739 --> 00:35:30.619 and nature spirits and stuff like that, that's 00:35:30.619 --> 00:35:32.460 where you see them a lot is the corner of your 00:35:32.460 --> 00:35:35.139 eye. It reminds me of a book I read a long time 00:35:35.139 --> 00:35:37.780 ago called John Dies at the End and that was 00:35:37.780 --> 00:35:40.000 normal people seeing paranormal. But you fucking 00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:42.699 ruined it. This is not ruining it at all but 00:35:42.699 --> 00:35:44.639 one of the tests for like figuring out whether 00:35:44.639 --> 00:35:47.079 or not somebody was open to paranormal is he 00:35:47.079 --> 00:35:49.099 would like start describing a situation to them 00:35:49.099 --> 00:35:51.400 and then they'd see something in a box if they 00:35:51.400 --> 00:35:52.820 weren't looking at it in the corner of their 00:35:52.820 --> 00:35:56.199 eye. yeah just interesting hey isn't that what's 00:35:56.199 --> 00:35:59.280 his face's book uh david long that's always on 00:35:59.280 --> 00:36:01.579 yeah he's on uh he's been on behind the bastards 00:36:01.579 --> 00:36:04.000 a couple times a couple times he's the one who 00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:06.619 recommended they do that i do like that mine 00:36:06.619 --> 00:36:09.079 that everybody got oh i forget what it's called 00:36:09.079 --> 00:36:11.980 but their lungs bled to death it was like i vaguely 00:36:11.980 --> 00:36:14.139 remember yeah i can't remember the name of it 00:36:14.139 --> 00:36:17.090 but yeah we can move on I remember that vaguely. 00:36:17.429 --> 00:36:20.110 I haven't shared. Oh, yeah around seven years 00:36:20.110 --> 00:36:22.389 ago when I was staying at my dad's house I woke 00:36:22.389 --> 00:36:24.889 up in the middle of the night to see what I now 00:36:24.889 --> 00:36:28.070 believe was a leprechaun I know that sounds absolutely 00:36:28.070 --> 00:36:30.630 ridiculous, but this experience was so creepy 00:36:30.630 --> 00:36:33.409 It still gives me the chills to this day. I grew 00:36:33.409 --> 00:36:35.630 up in my dad's house and always felt like home 00:36:35.630 --> 00:36:38.349 It doesn't have any creepy vibes or a history 00:36:38.349 --> 00:36:41.070 of paranormal activity. It's just a normal house 00:36:41.230 --> 00:36:44.150 I was sleeping in my bedroom and I woke up facing 00:36:44.150 --> 00:36:46.849 the left side of my room. In the space about 00:36:46.849 --> 00:36:50.050 1 .5 meters in front of me I saw this small man, 00:36:50.070 --> 00:36:53.050 maybe 3 feet tall, dancing in a circle. Since 00:36:53.050 --> 00:36:55.570 I'd just woken up my eyes weren't fully adjusted 00:36:55.570 --> 00:36:57.809 so I could only make out the outline of this 00:36:57.809 --> 00:37:00.389 thing and couldn't see any facial features. I 00:37:00.389 --> 00:37:02.969 hope this makes sense but it wasn't a shadowy 00:37:02.969 --> 00:37:05.900 being. It was a solid mass as real as a person 00:37:05.900 --> 00:37:08.440 standing in the room. He was wearing a top hat 00:37:08.440 --> 00:37:11.099 and the dancing was really strange and it was 00:37:11.099 --> 00:37:13.699 hard to describe. The only way I can think of 00:37:13.699 --> 00:37:16.119 explaining it is that he was hunched over doing 00:37:16.119 --> 00:37:19.860 an exaggerated tiptoeing motion. Anyway, I'm 00:37:19.860 --> 00:37:22.159 watching it dance for around 10 seconds, which 00:37:22.159 --> 00:37:24.340 doesn't sound like a long time, but it was enough 00:37:24.340 --> 00:37:26.920 time for me to properly wake up and wonder what 00:37:26.920 --> 00:37:29.360 on earth I was looking at. I was shocked and 00:37:29.360 --> 00:37:32.320 frozen thinking this can't be real. After watching 00:37:32.320 --> 00:37:34.980 it dance in the short space of time, it suddenly 00:37:34.980 --> 00:37:37.559 stopped in its tracks, seemed to turn around 00:37:37.559 --> 00:37:40.380 towards me and begins coming at me with speed. 00:37:40.820 --> 00:37:43.239 I screamed and flipped to the other side of the 00:37:43.239 --> 00:37:45.340 bed to turn the light on. When I looked back 00:37:45.340 --> 00:37:47.099 to the side of the room where it had been, it 00:37:47.099 --> 00:37:49.739 was gone. Needless to say, I kept the light on 00:37:49.739 --> 00:37:51.820 and didn't go to sleep again until it was light 00:37:51.820 --> 00:37:54.139 outside and my dad was awake. For a long time 00:37:54.139 --> 00:37:56.599 I explained the separation as a creepy small 00:37:56.599 --> 00:37:59.780 man dancing around my room in a top hat. It wasn't 00:37:59.780 --> 00:38:01.980 until I told my boyfriend about it years later 00:38:01.980 --> 00:38:04.179 he said it sounded like a leprechaun that it 00:38:04.179 --> 00:38:05.920 clicked. Where do you think it might have been? 00:38:06.199 --> 00:38:07.840 Can you imagine that though? Like these things 00:38:07.840 --> 00:38:10.579 have like they turn on a dime. Just having a 00:38:10.579 --> 00:38:18.320 good dance and it just comes right at you. I 00:38:18.320 --> 00:38:21.780 think this is top variant stories for any episode 00:38:21.780 --> 00:38:24.980 other than the one for the skinwalker of that 00:38:24.980 --> 00:38:28.900 grandpa that saw the inside out. Oh yeah, just 00:38:28.900 --> 00:38:32.179 the emotional manipulation of leprechauns is 00:38:32.179 --> 00:38:35.800 top level. It is top level. It really is. It 00:38:35.800 --> 00:38:38.460 really is. It is something else and I have quite 00:38:38.460 --> 00:38:41.559 enjoyed these stories and I have to say there 00:38:41.559 --> 00:38:45.380 you have it. It's a fascinating history and evolution 00:38:45.380 --> 00:38:48.679 and sighting of leprechauns from their ancient 00:38:48.679 --> 00:38:50.559 roots to their modern day dancing sightings. 00:38:50.559 --> 00:38:52.679 And I especially like that there are sightings 00:38:52.679 --> 00:38:55.500 outside of Ireland which means that either A. 00:38:55.599 --> 00:38:58.380 these things have traveled or can travel between 00:38:58.380 --> 00:39:01.159 continents or they've existed here this whole 00:39:01.159 --> 00:39:03.320 time in North America. I'm glad you brought that 00:39:03.320 --> 00:39:06.900 up. I don't know that really. Anything would 00:39:06.900 --> 00:39:10.019 bound them to Ireland. No, but like... Unless 00:39:10.019 --> 00:39:13.780 of course it was a magical island and then in 00:39:13.780 --> 00:39:15.860 terms of that I could see them never being able 00:39:15.860 --> 00:39:20.059 to leave it. But it's very rare that these things 00:39:20.059 --> 00:39:23.079 often are just bound to one specific region. 00:39:23.300 --> 00:39:26.380 No, but at the same time the entire history of 00:39:26.380 --> 00:39:29.619 it is up until like the eighteen nineteen hundreds. 00:39:29.869 --> 00:39:33.650 Irish sightings and Irish stories. Yeah, we could 00:39:33.650 --> 00:39:35.909 be thinking that it's something else though until 00:39:35.909 --> 00:39:38.130 we actually... Yeah, it could just be the cultural 00:39:38.130 --> 00:39:40.869 interpretation of that area. Then what would 00:39:40.869 --> 00:39:43.469 it be? Yeah. I don't know that I've heard of 00:39:43.469 --> 00:39:46.989 any sightings of stuff like that prior to a leprechaun. 00:39:47.110 --> 00:39:52.070 Gnomes, yeah. Things like that. A little... But 00:39:52.070 --> 00:39:54.250 these guys are so well dressed. So well dressed 00:39:54.250 --> 00:39:57.289 and like distinctly red hair from Ireland. Yeah. 00:39:57.409 --> 00:40:01.440 So I don't... yeah. They look Irish. They look 00:40:01.440 --> 00:40:03.300 Irish. They also apparently look like they could 00:40:03.300 --> 00:40:10.739 be a crackhead sometimes. And also, little known 00:40:10.739 --> 00:40:14.280 fact, our jockeys. Yeah. Jockey sighting. Yeah, 00:40:14.539 --> 00:40:16.039 I forgot about that one. We had so many of those 00:40:16.039 --> 00:40:19.440 in our childhood Chelsea. Yes, we were just surrounded 00:40:19.440 --> 00:40:22.239 by leprechauns, which sounds like a weird sentence 00:40:22.239 --> 00:40:25.019 to say that we were that ingrained around jockeys, 00:40:25.119 --> 00:40:28.219 but we were. It wasn't weird. It was a little 00:40:28.219 --> 00:40:31.800 weird. That's the episode. Don't think about 00:40:31.800 --> 00:40:34.280 it too much. You get lore when we give it and 00:40:34.280 --> 00:40:37.280 that is it. Yeah, that's all you get. And with 00:40:37.280 --> 00:40:39.210 that, I have been Taylor. Here with Chelsea, 00:40:39.510 --> 00:40:41.269 we are Journey to the Fringe. Thank you all for 00:40:41.269 --> 00:40:46.739 listening and we'll see you next week. Bye. Thank 00:40:46.739 --> 00:40:49.099 you for listening to Journey to the Fringe. If 00:40:49.099 --> 00:40:51.860 you have liked what you have listened to, please 00:40:51.860 --> 00:40:55.719 like, share, subscribe, or follow depending on 00:40:55.719 --> 00:40:58.480 what venue you are listening to us through. Also, 00:40:58.559 --> 00:41:01.619 please, if possible, leave a five -star review 00:41:01.619 --> 00:41:04.599 as that really helps us in the algorithms. Should 00:41:04.599 --> 00:41:06.840 you wish to interact with us, please check us 00:41:06.840 --> 00:41:09.980 out on your social media of choice. I bet you 00:41:09.980 --> 00:41:12.579 we are there. And if you really want to communicate 00:41:12.579 --> 00:41:15.420 with us and give us ideas for new episodes or 00:41:15.420 --> 00:41:17.619 tell us that were wrong and terrible either way, 00:41:17.820 --> 00:41:20.860 please send us an email at journeytothefringe 00:41:20.860 --> 00:41:23.920 at gmail .com. For now, I'll see you in the next 00:41:23.920 --> 00:41:24.340 episode.