Page:Strange Roads & With the Gods in Spring.djvu/33

Strange Roads the other half Catholics. That's because we're getting higher. You see, the Ulster settlers took all the good land in the valleys and drove the Catholics away, and the higher you go, and the poorer the soil, the more Catholics you'll find." (He was a fair man.)

But I had noticed that, though there were no gardens, nearly every house had a mountain ash planted by its door. I said:

"You seem very fond of the mountain ash here."

"Well," he replied, "the people think that they keep away the fairies. And, as a matter of fact," he added,