Light A Penny Candle

There was a time when people would never turn away or refuse a stranger at their door. They would always welcome them into their homes with the offer of a meal and a bed for the night - even if they were not well off themselves. For all they knew their visitor could be a fairy testing their goodwill, and if they were unkind or unwelcoming ill fate could befall their family and livelihood.

There was no mistaking Danny Mac when he came to the village of Carrickmaquigley in the land of Drung outside Redcastle some 100 years ago. He was a travelling man, what people then called a 'pedlar'. He traded his goods in Carndonagh and Moville on market days and was a well-known and well-liked character.

There was a household in Carrickmaquigley that always bid him good tidings when he was in the area. They had become accustomed to his regular visits and treated him more as a guest than a travelling man. He no longer graced the corner of the kitchen on a bed of straw for his nightly sleep but lay in relative comfort in the half-loft above the kitchen.

One day, Danny Mac had great success at the trade and made himself a small fortune. He was content with his takings but little did he know that two local men had been spying on him for the best part of the day and were aware of the amount of money he had made. They, too, were pedlars and had also been given lodging for the night in the same house as Danny Mac, though they stayed below in the kitchen.

In the middle of the night when all were asleep, the two lads crept up the ladder in pursuit of the successful trader's wealth. There was only one other person lying there - a young girl. They checked if she was asleep by lighting a candle in front of her but she never twitched an eye nor moved a limb.

Over they crept to Danny Mac, stole his money and strangled him in cold blood., Between the two of them they managed to carry his body down the ladder and out of the house. No moon or stars were visible that night so they had brought a candle shielded by a jam-jar to guide their path. They went a short distance up the hill in the direction of Gleneely, stumbled over a field to a place where unbaptised children were buried and dropped poor Danny Mac into an open grave which they then filled in. Once they had disposed of the body they disappeared from the village.

To this day there have been numerous witnesses from houses nearby and fishermen on the Foyle who have seen a light moving about this particular place in the dead of night at different times of the year. It is said to be the 'Pedlar's Light' seeking freedom from the graveyard where Danny Mac was left that night.

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