SHIANA
149
St. Gobnet of Ballyvourney was a king's daughter, and St. Colum Cille was a king's son.
Sheila.—Did you hear that, Abbie?
Abbie.—Oh, I heard it long ago, Sheila. She was a king's daughter, and when she left her father's house the angel told her not to stop to live in any place until she should find nine white deer asleep. She came to some place and she found three of them. She stayed there a little while. Then she came to Killgobnet, where she found six. She stayed there for some time, and it was then that the place was called Killgobnet. Then she came to Ballyvourney, where she found the nine. There she spent the rest of her life, and she is buried there.
Kate.—I'll engage the MacKeowns will be out a long time before the gentleman who evicted them will repent and put them back into their home.
Nora.—I suppose the gentry who live now are different from the gentry who lived long ago.
Peg.—Indeed, I think it will be a long time before a saint is found among them.
Abbie.—Well, how did it go with Nosey Cormac, Peg?
Peg.—There was neither tale nor tidings of him for a week after the fair day. Everything settled down. Neither Sive nor her father was seen outside the door during the week. Those who had suffered most by the thieves' work were those who spoke least about it. Those who had had nothing to lose were constantly talking. Each of them was boasting that if he had had a horse to sell he would not have parted with him quite so greenly.
