Twas a long time ago in Ballyvourney when a man with very big ankles was nicknamed 'Tad of the Ankles'. He was a tradesman who traveled from house to house, but a poor time he had of it and people would gather in to make sport and fun with him.
One night Tad was sewing away, sitting on a table. To be comfortable he was sitting on one leg and had one stretched out in front of him. The woman of the house was sitting at the head of the table, between Tad and the fire. She noticed Tad’s big ankle.
"Upon my conscience, that’s an ugly foot," said she. One or two people laughed at this.
"Upon my conscience," said Tad, "there’s a still uglier foot than this in the house."
The woman of the house must have had badly shaped feet herself, for she thought that Tad was hinting at her.
"There isn’t an uglier foot than that in the whole world, " said she
"Would you lay a bet on that?" asked Tad. "I would," said she.
"I’ll bet you a quart of whiskey that there’s an uglier foot than this in this house," said Tad.
"And I’ll be taking that bet," said the woman.
At that, Tad pulled his other foot from under him. "Now ," said he, "which is the uglier, the first foot or the second one?"
"Upon my word, the second is a lot uglier," said the woman.
"Very well," said Tad. "Send out for a quart of whiskey for me."
(retold from a story provided by Hutman Productions)
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