Fun on Friday: Chasing a Pot of Gold

We just celebrated St. Patrick Day and that got me thinking about Leprechauns – specifically their pots of gold. I mean, what is a Leprechaun anyway? And how in the heck did they get gold? I’d like to have a pot of gold. Maybe I could get some tips from them.

Now you would think with a name like Maharrey I would be up on my Irish lore. But alas, not so much. Fortunately, we have Google.

As it turns out, Leprechauns are cobblers. Yes, shoe-makers. This doesn’t seem like a particularly good way to get wealthy — unless of course, they’re making Nike or Reebok shoes.

At any rate, the Leprechaun myths trace back to the 8th century. As one version of the story goes, water spirits known as ‘luchorpán’ merged with a household fairy. ‘Luchorpán’ literally means “small body.” Other researchers say the name Leprechaun actually comes from the Irish term ‘leath brogan’ which means shoemaker.

These characters normally take on the form of an old man wearing a red or green coat. They are known to be mischievous creatures and quite fond of booze. (What Irish story would be complete without booze?)

In most Irish folklore, Leprechauns are masters of deception. That’s a nice way of saying they’re little liars. When humans do occasionally catch them, the mythical creatures typically outsmart their captors and often use human greed to their advantage.

Supposedly, these little drunkards keep their gold coins in a pot that they bury at the end of the rainbow. The fact that a rainbow doesn’t actually have an end might lead one to believe this is actually a Leprechaun lie and perhaps a diversion to keep us from locating the actual spot where they keep their gold.

Why would a Leprechaun need gold anyway? They are magic. They don’t go shopping. According to my source, “some researchers suggest that this gold is used as a means of tricking humans and given the Leprechauns’ propensity for trickery, this is entirely possible.”

If you are familiar with the world of Harry Potter, Leprechaun gold is actually fake. According to the Harry Potter Compendium, Leprechauns “have the ability to produce gold coins that look and feel authentic as regular coins which look like Galleons, certainly in the wizarding community. It has the quality of disappearing after a few hours.”

Tricky little critters indeed!

Here’s one version of the pot of gold story I found that explains how greed enters the picture. A poor farmer and his wife pulled their last carrot out of the ground and found a Leprechaun clinging to the root. The captured creature offered to grant the couple one wish if they would free him. But a problem quickly developed — the couple couldn’t agree on a wish. They were wishing for everything from new tools, to a new house, to jewelry. Dismayed by their greed, the Leprechaun told the couple they could have all they wished for and more if they could find his pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The Leprechaun left with a wink and the couple spent the rest of their days chasing the end of the rainbow.

The moral of the story is pretty clear.

Of course, who doesn’t want some gold? Fortunately, there are more realistic ways to get some than chasing rainbows or trying to capture Leprechauns. Just call 1-888-GOLD-160 and a SchiffGold precious metals specialist will tell you how.

Fun on Friday is a weekly SchiffGold feature. We dig up some of the off-the-wall and off-beat stories relating to precious metals and share them with you – with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Click here to read other posts in this series.

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