Arise King ‘Bertie’ Puck

AGE-OLD Puck Fair has been described as an event where everyone acts the goat except the goat himself.

The annual ritual of capturing a wild mountain goat from the foothills of the MacGillycuddy Reeks a splendid black and white specimen who'll preside over three days and nights of revelry has just been completed.

Goat catcher supreme Frank Joy, assisted by a 10-strong team, has safely brought the new King Puck from his fastness on Carrantuohill and he will be "crowned'' at the opening of the fair, in Killorglin, Co Kerry, on Saturday.

"He's a very placid fella this year. No bother at all with him,'' said Frank, while admiring two magnificent banana-shaped horns on his latest catch, keeping a safe distance at the same time."

Though not intending to cause confusion with another well-known visitor to the Kingdom, the six-year-old goat has been christened Bertie.

''We decided on the name when we were having a few drinks after bringing him down from the hills,'' confided Frank with a glint in his eye.

There are still plenty of wild goats on the Kerry mountains, but a problem nowadays is in finding goat catchers to help with the capture, according to Frank. The team of local catchers this year was assisted by three young French men, an Arab and a Dubliner.

Goat veneration was something that the overseas recruits found difficult to understand until some of the history of the fair was explained to them.

Theories as its origins abound, but a charter for a fair was granted by King James 1 in 1603.

However, the most popular story is that a male goat from a herd that had been routed in the surrounding mountains by Cromwell's soldiers ran into Killorglin, alerting the inhabitants to impending danger. Legend has it that Killorglin folk then decided to hold a special festival in recognition of the warning given them by the

goat and the tradition has continued.

After the goat is paraded through the town on Saturday evening, Queen of Puck Paula Murray, 12, will welcome the crowds, deliver the Puck Proclamation and assist with the "coronation'' of King Puck.

The goat will occupy a regal perch on top of a 50ft platform which has been erected in the square, Killorglin.