The Pooka of Ireland"The Pooka will catch if you don't behave!" Did you ever hear that threat from your parents when you were growing up? Did it work? Usually this was used on unruly children that wouldn't settle down to sleep at night. I'm willing to bet that rather than be messed with by the Pooka you stayed in bed and fell asleep. Why take that chance. (Here in the U.S.A. the entity used was the Boogieman.)
There are many different spellings for the name of this Irish fairy. They are phooka, phouka, puca, and puka to name a few. He is a male solitary fairy. He is not originally from Ireland, but a Norse import. The Irish adopted him and over the years he lost all his foreign ways and is now most definitely all Irish. He is a changeling that can appear as a man, horse, dog, goat, cow or any form he chooses.
He can be extremely helpful to you if he so desires. He is usually quite harmless. Although sometimes he does like to take people for wild rides on his back at night just to scare the devil out of them for his own amusement. He does have kind of a twisted sense of humor that way.
The Helpful PhoukaOne day a young farmer lad named Phadrig was working in the field. He felt a rush of air blow past him and knew at once it was the Pooka. He called out saying he would give it his warm coat if it would show itself to him. A bull came up to Phadrig in that instant and Phadrig keeping his promise tossed the coat over the bull. The bull calmed down and told the lad to go to the mill that night by the light of the moon and he would have good luck.
He went to the mill that night to find full sacks of corn and all the men asleep. Phadrig feeling tired himself fell asleep also. He woke the next morning to find the men still asleep, but the corn had been ground.
The next night he was determined to see how the corn had been ground. He hid in a chest and peered out the keyhole. He saw six little men come in and pick up the sacks of corn. They were directed by an old man in a tattered coat to grind all the corn. All the while the men were sleeping. The next night Phadrig, along with his father, witnessed the same thing. The family became rich because they no longer had to pay for help.
One night Phadrig feeling sorry that the Phouka wore a tattered coat left him a fine silk suit. The fairy decided he looked too good in the suit to be grinding corn. He left the mill to show off his new coat. He was never seen at the mill again and never ground corn for the farmer again. But by this time the family had no more need for money.
On Phadrig’s wedding day he reached for a glass to toast his new bride only to find a gold cup filled with wine where there had been none before. He and his bride drank from this cup knowing it was a gift from the Phouka. Their lives were filled with happiness and richness from the day forward.
Sometimes they can be very helpful if you treat them properly. But you have to be careful of that mischievous streak.
The Wild RideThe Pooka have been known to lie in wait all night just to give a hapless traveler the most terrifying ride of their life. They usually spring up suddenly between the traveler’s legs in the form of a black horse, his favorite form. Then he’ll ride at full speed through trees, thickets, overhanging rocks, the edges of cliffs and the bog. All the while the terrified rider finds it impossible to get off. At the sound of the first rooster crowing he throws the rider into a thicket of thorns. The traveler ends up with the scratches and bruises to show for it relieved the ride is ended.After one such ride Tim Dorney thought to have his revenge. He walked into the bog the next night carrying a whip and wearing spurs. When the Pooka popped up and carried him off, Tim quickly subdued him with a crack of the whip and a few jabs of the spurs. Needless to say he had a short uneventful ride. But to make a long story short, the fairy got the final revenge by making Tim Dorney and his descendants homeless and destitute.
Sometimes you rode the Pooka. Sometimes the Pooka rode you. They also like to jump on your back so you would become terrified and start to run. This is great fun for them because no matter what you do you can't shake them off. So you just keep running much to their delight and your distress. Maybe it's just me but I think this is kind of funny myself. I think a bit of wry Irish humor is in my genes.
The Crooked BackOne evening just after sunset when she was about 50 years old, Peggy Barrett began to walk home from a day of weeding her garden. When on the top of wall near the road she saw a black goat staring at her. She looked in silence at the goat for a minute then decided to walk on home.
When suddenly she heard a rush and felt a weight on her back. Out of the corner of her eye she could see black cloven feet draped over both her shoulders. She was terrified, but she couldn’t scream. She couldn’t run. She couldn’t shake the weight from her back. All she could do was walk, bearing the burden on her back.
It seemed to take forever to get to her house. Once there she could hear people in the house but all she could do was stand three paces back from the door. She could not move. She blessed herself and tried to move. Nothing happened. She blessed herself again with the same result. She thought she was doomed to die there on the spot. In desperation and fear she blessed herself a third time. The weight very suddenly left her back. The door burst open and she was pushed through it and thrown face down on the floor.
Peggy Barrett from that day forward was never able to stand upright. Although she had a crooked back she was in fine health otherwise.
There are quite a few other stories about the Pooka that have been passed down. Though I'm not sure if he is as well known as he once was in Ireland.
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