Paddy had long heard the stories of an amazing family tradition. It seems that his father, grandfather and great-grandfather had all been able to walk on water on their 18th birthday. On that special day, they had each walked across the lake to the pub on the far side for their first legal drink.

So when Paddy's 18th birthday came round, he and his pal Mick took a boat out to the middle of the lake. Paddy stepped out of the boat ...and nearly drowned! Mick just barely managed to pull him to safety.

Furious and confused, Paddy, went to see his grandmother.

"Grandma,"' he asked, "Tis me 18th birthday so why can't I walk 'cross the lake like me father, his father, and his father before him?"

Granny looked deeply into Paddy's troubled brown eyes and said, "Because ye father, ye grandfather and ye great-grandfather were all born in December, when the lake is frozen, and ye were born in August, you idiot!!!"