March 17, 2013

Clancy and The Blarney



Top o’ the Day from Roscoe O’Dog and Coco O’Dog! We’re taking over JerseyLil’s computer while she’s busy eating Irish chocolate to wish everyone good cheer on the Feast of St. Patrick!  In true Irish tradition, may the celebrating continue throughout the month of March, or until you run out of pints to drink and stories to tell.
  
Dogs are quite fond of St. Patrick. Legend has it that he chased away the snakes from Ireland, and we enjoy chasing reptiles and critters, too. 

Have you heard the story of the Irish dog named Clancy who came upon a leprechaun one glorious morning and had the most exhilarating chase of his life? Well, sit back with a pint and we'll tell you the tale.

Irish ancestor’s dog. Name lost to history but we’ll call him "Clancy."
(From Mannix/Rivers/Leonard Family Genealogy, circa early 1900s)


Once upon a charmed morning on the Emerald Isle in a place only glimpsed for brief moments when the mist of dawn lifts to reveal a golden sunrise, a handsome and spirited canine named Clancy was enjoying the start of a new day. It was shaping up to be a beautiful morning and Clancy's keen sense of smell could detect the aroma of breakfast sausages in the air. Lazily digging around in the green clover for dog bones he had earlier buried, Clancy suddenly sniffed out a wee man wearing a worn but bright top hat and smoking a clay pipe. What a surprise, it was a leprechaun. Startled, the leprechaun hurriedly ran away, puffs of smoke and bits of gold dust trailing behind him.

Excited by the thrill of the chase, Clancy ran after that swiftly fleeing leprechaun, over hill and dale, until he cornered the wee trickster at the end of the rainbow. Once there and cornered, the wee fellow was compelled, upon the oath of ancient laws, to hand over his pot of gold. Clancy's chase was rewarded, he had the pot of gold! Oh, but that's not the end of this dog's tale. 


Running happily through fields of shamrocks carrying his treasure, Clancy came upon a bushy-tailed red squirrel native to the land. Eyeing that shiny pot of gold, the squirrel began chattering loudly at Clancy, trying to get him to drop the gold and pursue a chase through the fields. Clancy pondered the situation...oh, how he loved a good squirrel chase, but he was not about to part with his hard-earned prize.  


Irish red squirrel (Clancy's nemsis)
(photo from Wikimedia Commons)
Determined not to give up on the much-desired gold, the clever squirrel then claimed to have a tasty stash of corned beef-flavored dog bones hidden among the shamrocks. That got Clancy's attention; he was hungry after chasing the fleet-footed leprechaun over hill and dale. While Clancy was momentarily distracted by the thought of delicious corned beef-flavored bones, the squirrel quickly grabbed that pot of gold from Clancy and ran off, chattering away with glee and waving his bushy, blow-dried tail behind him. There was no stash of dog bones to be found. Clancy had been tricked…by a squirrel. That old squirrel was full of the blarney!

Feeling dejected and about to bark at someone, Clancy brooded in his dog house, then wandered over to the local Watering Bowl Pub to drown his sorrows. While lapping a pint and exchanging miseries with his canine buddies, he suddenly caught a glint of something out of the corner of his eye. Curious, he sniffed around and "Praise be to St. Paddy," there in the corner of the room was the pot of gold!

After running off with Clancy's treasure, the wily squirrel had scurried over to the Pub to rest and celebrate with a pint. Having a bit too much of the celebrating, the squirrel meandered off accidentally leaving the gold behind. So Clancy got his paws on that pot of gold again...that lucky dog! 

And that's no blarney tale!   

May your dog bones be plenty; May your troubles be few.
May the paw-fect good fortune of the Irish Dog be with you!




An original fable ©2013 JerseyLils2Cents
Leprechaun image from public domain clipart

48 comments:

  1. LOL very cute! Enjoyed it and it made me smile.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Coffee Lady, so happy Clancy’s story made you smile! :) (Btw, drinking French roast as I’m typing this.)

      Delete
  2. A paw-fect fable, indeed! Good for Ol' Clancy...silly gold-snatching squirrel! We just got back from dinner out ,and realized that none of us wore green! We avoided the crowded Irish pub, opting for the new Indian place across the street. Happy St. Paddy's Day, Madilyn!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Kris, and Happy St. Paddy’s Day to you too! I always wear green on St. Patrick’s Day (if I didn’t, my Irish ancestors would haunt me lol!). Yes, an Irish pub would be crowded so you were smart opting for the Indian place instead. Glad you enjoyed a paw-fect Irish tale made up by a part-Irish lass...and her dogs! :)

      Delete
  3. Hi Madilyn,
    Wonderful touch of whimsy again. Perfect fit with St. Patrick's Day. Neil

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Neil and thanks! I love writing whimsical tales, and I’m so glad you enjoyed it. :) I am still reading your Life Cycles book, very interesting concepts!

      Delete
  4. Hee hee! I'm a sucker for a pot of gold myself...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Melody and thanks! Let’s see if Clancy will share his pot of gold with us...well, maybe only with my dogs LOL! But we'll find that gold at the end of the rainbow. :)

      Delete
  5. AHHHH You are a natural born story teller. I'm going to read this to the kids tonight.. Beautiful writing! Add your corned beef cabbage recipe and you have another fable for the recipe book!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much, Donna! So nice of you to say I’m a natural born storyteller. I think it may be in my blood from the Irish side. My dad was a storyteller. I really like your idea of adding recipes to my fables, great idea, thanks! And I love that you’re reading my fables to your kids! :)

      Delete
  6. O'Malley proposed to his girl on St. Patrick's Day, giving her a ring with a synthetic diamond. The excited young lass showed it to her father, a jeweller, but he took one look at it and told her it wasn't real.

    The devasted young lass complained to her future husband, protesting vehemently about his cheapness.

    'It was in honour of St.Patrick's Day, ' he smiled.

    'I gave you a sham rock.'

    :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Robert, that is so funny...a sham rock LOL!! Thanks for the smiles. :)

      Delete
  7. hi, i'm following the "i don't like mondays" blog hop. i would love for you to visit my blog and follow if you like it.

    http://www.blackinkpaperie.blogspot.com

    thanks
    new follower bev

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Bev and thanks for stopping by my blog and joining! Really appreciate that. I am now following your excellent blog as well (and very impressed that you have over 700 followers!). :)

      Delete
  8. Now there hangs a tail. I love a story with a happy ending. Of course we all know that the real pot of gold was old Clancy himself.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Marty! I’m having lots of fun writing these occasional tales of whimsy. But of course, they must have a happy ending. :) Yes, Clancy the dog was golden himself!

      Delete
  9. Awwww, cute! Love the nemesis squirrel. If only all nemesises (nemesi?) had such fabulous fur coats.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Larks, thanks so much! As I was writing this tale, the nemesis squirrel just came to me when I looked out the window and saw one of my dogs chasing a squirrel lol! Thanks for stopping by and I am now following your blog. :)

      Delete
  10. Ah JL,
    You do have such clever dogs!
    (& I'm sure they realize how lucky they are, with a pot of gold like you.)
    Cheers, ic

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Ian! What a nice compliment and I will pass that along to my dogs as well. :) Cheers to you, too.

      Delete
  11. Love it! What a great post...plus a squirrel with a pint...terrific!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Annie, thanks so much! :) I swear we’ve got squirrels carrying pints around here, they are tipsy in the trees lol!

      Delete
  12. Your post lifted my spirits on this cold, rainy Monday night. Your dogs bring a smile to my face, thank you for sharing them with us!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Michelle, I’m so glad my dogs could lift your spirits. :) Thanks! It’s been cold and rainy here too, still waiting for spring.

      Delete
  13. Your babies are so cute! And they're smiling - like Irish eyes!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Linda! Yes, my dogs are smiling “like Irish eyes,” I like that! :)

      Delete
  14. I really enjoyed the fable and the dogs!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Beautiful story and pictures! Happy Saint Patrick's day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Julia. :) Happy St. Patrick's Day to you as well!

      Delete
  16. Aww. Such a lovely and cute story! Really enjoyed it. :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi. You won an award. Come by when you can and have a look at what broke yesterday.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Jersey, thanks for the comment you left on my blog. Thank you so much for reading my essay. I am really happy I met you on the blogosphere.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Julia! I am very happy to meet you in the blogosphere too.

      Delete
  19. Hey there! I love the fun you have with your dogs! I also think you have a pretty awesome blog. I mentioned you in a post to say so. Hope you will stop by for a read. Take care...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jon and thank you, that’s so nice! I think your blog is pretty awesome too. :)

      Delete
  20. Loved this funny tale and it brought good meaning to me: We must be careful not to take our eyes off the prize, even for a drink or a bit of food as tempting as they may be, ha ha ha.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you RPD, so glad you enjoyed the tale! Yes, we must never take our eyes off the prize. Guess I had a lesson in there and didn’t even realize it lol! :)

      Delete
  21. Congratulations on your award! Go to http://patinspire.org/2013/04/12/liebster-award/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. What a nice surprise, thank you so much, Patricia! :)

      Delete
  22. there is nothing sweeter than a dog...

    ReplyDelete
  23. Aw! What a sweet, rollercoster of a tale -I absorbed it like a toddler! I had a fierce but loyal dog once who saved me from a certain end from a cobra.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am so glad you enjoyed my little fable, Uma! :) I enjoy writing these stories from time to time. What a wonderful dog you had, saving you from the cobra! Dogs are such fiercely loyal companions.

      Delete
  24. You comin back or did you get award overload? You don't have to do those JerseyLil. I won't be mad.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL! Oh yes, award overload! But I am honored to be nominated. Thanks for letting me off the hook, but I think I will do my award this time (I know I don’t always do them). It will be one long post to cover a few awards, so look for that soon. :)

      Delete