Folklore & legend

Ned Quayle and the Fairy Pig

Also known as: The white pig of the Sloc

The Sloc, Rushen

Ned Quayle was six years old and looking for his family, who were making hay up on the mountain near the Sloc, when he saw a pig. It was snow white, with a tail like a feather and eyes like fire. He chased it, and it led him on and on up the hill until he was nearly over the edge of a cliff. He turned and ran home.

That night, when his mother looked at him, he thought her eyes were like the pig's. Then a stabbing pain went through his right leg, and he fell very ill. His father put him in the cart and took him to the charmer in Arbory Street in Castletown.

The charmer had a book with pictures of plants in it. He said words over Ned in Manx, ending: I spread this fairy shot in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. The pain went at once. Ned's appetite came back and he recovered completely, though, he said, a mark stayed on his leg.

The Sloc is on open hill land with a car park on the Sloc road.
Evidence
Long-standing local tradition
Access
Open ground
Location
54.125, -4.730 (Parish-level only, treat as an area)

Sources: Sophia Morrison, "Manx Fairy Tales" (1911), "Ned Quayle's Story or the Fairy Pig" (Manx Note Book transcription) [public-domain]

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