Catch a Leprechaun in Your Garden

Home
>
Landscaping & Gardening
>
Catch a Leprechaun in Your Garden

Catch a Leprechaun in Your Garden

There is no mention to be found of female leprechauns in traditional Irish legend, so as to how they came to be .. your guess is as good as mine.

These apparently aged, diminutive men are hard-working cobblers, turning out exquisite shoes for other sprites. If you happen across an industrious little fellow hammering out a shoe, look closely - for he may be a leprechaun. Step quietly, for leprechauns will avoid humans, knowing us to be foolish and greedy.

A leprechaun dresses in old-fashioned clothes of green, with a red cap, multi-pocketed leather apron, and buckled shoes. He is quite fond of a smoke from his foul smelling clay pipe which is always close by, and he is frequently in an intoxicated state from home-brew poteen. However, a leprechaun never becomes so drunk that the hand which holds the hammer becomes unsteady and his shoemaker's work affected. If you hear the sound of a hammer from behind a hedgerow you know you have found him.

As well as cobbling, his other trade is banking, and he is guardian to the ancient treasures. Much treasure was left by the Danes when they marauded through Ireland, and the leprechaun buries it in crocks or pots. Rainbows reveal where pots of gold are hidden, so he will sometimes spend all day moving crocks from one spot to another to elude the tell-tale end of the rainbow. If you catch a leprechaun, don't let him out of your grasp before he reveals his gold. He'll try to distract you with all manner of tricks and, in the blink of an eye, will dash out of sight. For such a sturdy little chap, he can move with the speed of a rabbit.

He carries two leather pouches. In one there is a silver shilling, a magical coin that returns to the purse each time it's spent. In the other there is a gold coin for bribing his way out of difficult situations. (Don't accept this coin - it turns into a rock). But he can be generous if you do him a good turn. Your kind deed wil be repaid with a wish.

Leprechauns come in two distinct groups - leprechaun and cluricaun. A cluricaun dresses very stylishly with a jaunty cap, large silver buckles on his shoes, beautiful gold laces and pale blue stockings. You will never see him wear an apron or carry a hammer. He has a jolly grin, a slightly pink-tipped nose and is almost always drunk and cheerful. Pass him by, for he never has any money, or any idea where treasure is buried.

A cluricaun will steal or borrow almost anything, making merry and creating mayhem in your house during the hours of darkness. He will happily busy himself raiding your kitchen, pantry, larder and cellar and after dinner he will harness your sheep, goats, dogs and even your domestic fowls to ride away.Through the countryside he will race them, over the fields and into the bog. Leprechauns denounce cluricaun behavior, but it has been said that cluricauns may just be leprechauns on drunken sprees.

You can make a trap with common household items. Take a net, a cardboard box, green paint, green tissue paper, some pennies and an old shoe. Firstly, paint the cardboard box green and place the old shoe inside. Cover the opening with thin green tissue paper. Carefully lay the pennies on the tissue paper. (If you don't want to use real money, you can easily substitute chocolate gold- wrapped coins or make your own by cutting circles out of cardboard and painting them gold).

Place the trap near some trees or hedgerows. Make sure it's disguised well and blends into the surroundings. When the Leprechaun sees the coins he will try to collect them. He will step onto the tissue paper, it will break and he will fall into the box. Now quickly throw the net over him.

You can also try to lure a leprechaun with some poteen instead of an old shoe. When he falls into the box he will drink the brew, get drunk and then you can grab him.

No one has yet caught a leprechaun, but don't be discouraged. Start looking today. Good luck !!

There is no mention to be found of female leprechauns in traditional Irish legend, so as to how they came to be .. your guess is as good as mine.

You can also try to lure a leprechaun with some poteen instead of an old shoe. When he falls into the box he will drink the brew, get drunk and then you can grab him.

No one has yet caught a leprechaun, but don't be discouraged. Start looking today. Good luck !!

Susanna Duffy is a Civil Celebrant, mythologist and storyteller. http://celebrant.yarralink.com

In The News:

Green thumbs up: Savor the scents and flavors of herbs
Wicked Local
When we purchased our current home more than 35 years ago, our very first landscaping project was the excavation of a vegetable garden even before we officially passed papers. Vegetable plots were common in many backyards at that time but as the years ...

Garden Calendar: May 25, 2012
Memphis Commercial Appeal
Speakers' topics include native plants, wildlife management, hydrangeas, landscaping, organic gardening, more. $10. Call (901) 752-1207. memphisareamastergardeners.org June 2: Potager Dish Garden Workshop: 10:30 am-12:30 pm at the Dixon Gallery and ...

Majestic Farms Greenhouse & Landscaping in Hatley practices sustainable living
Wausau Daily Herald
At Majestic Farms Greenhouse & Landscaping, 6301 Townline Road, Hatley, the focus isn't just on green plants -- it's on green practices, too. Brenda and Jack Koshollek own the business, which seeks to educate the public about gardening and being ...

Garden Project swaps English tea for garden fair
Record-Searchlight
By Laura Christman Below: The Garden Project did the landscaping for The Shasta Lake entry sign near Interstate 5. photos by Laura Christman / Record Searchlight Gennie Seely (right), and Georgia Haddon of the Shasta Lake Garden Project go after weeds ...

Boynton woman's garden wins national landscaping award
Sun-Sentinel
A Boynton Beach woman recently was honored with a national landscaping award, and she's not even a member of the garden club. Sophie Janssen, a resident of Boynton Hills, was honored in April after catching the eye of new Boynton Garden Club president ...

European garden odyssey
Vancouver Sun
Here are the highlights of my European garden odyssey, starting with my time at Floriade: This amazing horticultural extravaganza turned out to be a glorious gardening exposition, full of sensational displays, creative landscaping ideas and all sorts ...

Terraced gardens bring color to Berlin hillside
Worcester Telegram
Gardens like these take a lot of upkeep and love to keep them going. Realizing they were now the caretakers, Hoffman and Leary got moving. But they were novices, gardeners who poked around in the dirt, but never tackled a major landscape installation ...

Pull Weeds, Not Muscles, When Gardening This Summer
Sacramento Bee
Planting cascades of flowers and adding other landscaping features to your yard involves tools and equipment that, if used without precaution, could result in serious injuries. "Whether you're an expert gardener or first-timer, carefully planning your ...

and more »

Gardening: The return of the royal palm bug
Naples Daily News
The climate there is similar to Vermont where I was born and the landscape plants made me feel as if I was there. They have rhododendrons, lilac and other flowering plants in full bloom. The crops included apples, pears and of course the grape vines of ...

Our Garden: Gardening in containers
San Jose Mercury News
By Joan Morris If your yard is full of rocks or your backyard is nothing more than a concrete patio, you may think gardening is out of the question. It's not. Many vegetables and most other plants can be grown successfully in containers.

and more »

Google News