Fair Day and Our Little Pig
submitted by Thomas Gilrane

In the late spring was the time to buy our little Bonbh, that is the irish word for a little pig and the irish word for a big pig is Muc. The fair day in Dowra was on the third of the month, if the third was on Sunday it was held on Monday. The morning of the fair my father would put the straddle and mats on the old donkey, then a creel one on each side, we also took a burlap bag and we were off to the fair. I loved the fair days, and today I could ride on the donkey sitting just behind the mats and creels. There was a big field they called the green and that is where the cattle and sheep were bought and sold. Some farmers were there with their litter of young pigs. When my father picked one we put him in the burlap bag and put the bag in one of the creels we had to put a stone in the other creel to balance the load. Back home we had a small byre, it was in the field just below the lower haggard and that would be the home for our little pig. If our new arrival happened to be a boy, well a visit from Terry Gilrane was for sure. We all know what our little pig was missing when Terry left. If that wasn't bad enough we also put two rings in his nose to keep him from digging the rings were on the outer edges of his snout. He was just like a little pet and was very friendly we let him out in the fields during the days and back to his byre at night we put lots of hay and straw in there for his bed. He would move all the hay and straw to one corner and that is where he lay down. Unlike other farm animals the pig would never soil his bed. If you were out in the fields he would come right up to you, he liked to have his belly rubbed and would lie down on the grass in front of you. We all know the sad ending to my little pig story. One frosty morning on my way to school Old Terry was on his way to our house.