frightful to look upon, were these twelve women, with their horns
and their wheels; and the mistress felt near to death, and she tried
to rise that she might call for help, but she could not move, nor
could she utter a word or a cry, for the spell of the witches was
upon her.

Then one of them called to her in Irish, and said, "Rise, woman, and
make us a cake."

Then the mistress searched for a vessel to bring water from the well
that she might mix the meal and make the cake, but she could find
none.

And they said to her, "Take a sieve and bring water in it."

And she took the sieve and went to the well; but the water poured
from it, and she could fetch none for the cake, and she sat down by
the well and wept.

Then a voice came by her and said, "Take yellow clay and moss, and
bind them together, and plaster the sieve so that it will hold."

This she did, and the sieve held the water for the cake; and the
voice said again:

"Return, and when thou comest to the north angle of the house, cry
aloud three times and say, 'The mountain of the Fenian women and the
sky over it is all on fire.'"

And she did so.