From the very first edition of Sunday Miscellany in November 1968, the great poet (read by actor Pat Layde) recounts a scene at the fair in Carrickmacross, when he strikes a dubious deal for two calves - listen to November Fair above.
I went to the fair in Carrickmacross to buy some calves. Although this fair is the usual small-town fair, I went with some excitement, for it was here I spent many a young day.
It dawned on me, as soon as I'd paid over the money for two calves, that I'd been shtuck. You see, there are two ways of buying cattle; one is the ordinary way that men who know their business observe. The manner I adopted was the way to wait 'til I saw a bargain nearly completed and during a lapse in the hand-clapping to step in and quietly whisper to the seller that I would give him what he was finally asking.
This method is liable to get a man a blow of an ash plant on the skull...
To listen back to a selection of pieces broadcast in the very first years of Sunday Miscellany, including stories from Anthony Cronin, Val Mulkerns, John Ryan and Eric Cross, click here.
