A sea-strand heside a village in Iar-Connacht. A house on the right-hand side. The sound of a bell comes east, very clearly. The door of the house is opened. An aged man, old Matthias, comes out on the door-flag and stands for a spell looking down the road. He sits then on a chair that is outside the door, his two hands gripping a stick, his head bent, and he listening attentively to the sound of the bell. The bell stops ringing. Daragh, Padraic and Coilin come up from the sea and they putting on their share of clothes after bathing.
DARAGH.
(stretching his finger towards the sea)
The flowers are white in the fisherman's garden.
PADRAIC.
They are, maise.
COILIN.
Where are they?
Daragh.
See them out on the sea.
COILIN.
Those are not white flowers. Those are white horses.
DARAGH.
They're like white flowers.
COILIN.
No; Old Matthias says those are the white horses that go galloping across the sea from the Other Country.
PADRAIC.
I heard Iosagan saying they were flowers.
COILIN.
What way would flowers grow on the sea?
PADRAIC.
And what way would horses travel on the sea?
COILIN.
Easy, if they were fairy horses would be in them.
PADRAIC.
And wouldn't flowers grow on the sea as easy, if they were fairy flowers would be in them? Isn't it often you saw the water-lilies on Loch Ellery? And couldn't they grow on the sea as well as on the lake?
COILIN.
I don't know if they could.
PADRAIC.
They could, maise.
DARAGH.
The sea was fine to-day, lad.
COILIN.
It was, but it was devilish cold.
PADRAIC.
Why wouldn't you be cold when you'd only go into your knees?
COILIN.
By my word, I was afraid the waves would knock me down if I'd go in any further. They were terrible big.
DARAGH.
That's what I like, lad. Do you mind yon terrible big one that came over our heads?
PADRAIC.
Aye, and Coilin screaming out he was drowned.
COILIN.
It went down my throat; it did that, and it nearly smothered me.
PADRAIC.
Sure, you had your mouth open, and you shouting. It would be a queer story if it didn't go down your throat.
COILIN.
Yon one gave me enough. I kept out of their way after that.
DARAGH.
Have the other lads on them yet?
PADRAIC.
Aye. Here they are.
COILIN.
Look at Feichin's hair!
Feichin, Eoghan and Cuimin come up from the sea and they drying their hair.
CUIMIN.
What'll we play to-day?
COILIN.
‘Blind Man's Buff!’
PADRAIC.
Ara, shut up, yourself and your ‘Blind Man's Buff.’
COILIN.
‘High Gates,’ then!
PADRAIC.
No. We're tired of those ‘High Gates.’
DARAGH.
‘Hide and Seek!’
FEICHIN.
Away!
EOGHAN.
‘Fox and Chickens’
COILIN.
No. We'll play ‘ Lúrabóg Lárabóg.’
PADRAIC.
I'll make a lúrabóg of you!
COILIN.
You do be always at me, Padraic. [(Padraic catches hold of him.)] Listen to me, will you?
CUIMIN.
Ara, listen to him, Padraic.
DARAGH.
Listen to him.
Padraic lets him go.
COILIN.
Speak yourself, Padraic, if you won't give leave to anyone else.
PADRAIC.
Let s jump!
EOGHAN.
Let's jump! Let's jump!
DARAGH.
I'll bet I'll beat you, Padraic.
PADRAIC.
At jumping, is it?
DARAGH.
Aye.
PADRAIC.
Didn't I beat you the day before yesterday at the School Rock?
DARAGH.
I'll bet you won't beat me to-day. Will you try?
PADRAIC.
I won't. My feet are sore. [(The other boys begin laughing; Padraic speaks with a shamed-face.)] I'd rather play ball.
EOGHAN.
Ball! Ball!
DARAGH.
Has anybody a ball?
CUIMIN.
And if they had, itself, where would we play?
PADRAIC.
Against Old Matthias's gable-end. There's no nicer place to be found.
COILIN.
Who has the ball?
CUIMIN.
My soul, I haven't it.
DARAGH.
No, nor I.
PADRAIC.
You yourself, Coilin, had it on Friday.
COILIN.
By my word, didn't the master grab it where I was hopping it in the school at Catechism?
FEICHIN.
True for you, lad.
CUIMIN.
My soul, but I thought he'd give you the rod that time.
COILIN.
He would, too, only he was expecting the priest to come in.
DARAGH.
It's the ball he wanted. He'll have a game with the peelers to-day after Mass.
PADRAIC.
My soul, but he will, and it's he can beat the peelers, too.
DARAGH.
He can't beat the sergeant. The sergeant's the best man of them all. He beat Hoskins and the red man together last Sunday.
FEICHIN.
Ara, stop! Did he beat them?
DARAGH.
He did, maise. The red man was raging, and the master and the peelers all laughing at him.
PADRAIC.
I bet the master will beat the sergeant.
DARAGH.
I'll bet he won't.
PADRAIC.
Do ye hear him?
DARAGH.
I'll bet the sergeant can beat any man in this country.
PADRAIC.
Ara, how do you know whether he can or not?
DARAGH.
I know well he can. Don't I be always watching them?
PADRAIC.
You don't know!
DARAGH.
I do know! It's I that know it!
They threaten each other. A quarrel arises among the boys, a share of them saying, ‘The sergeant's the best!’ and others, ‘The master's best!’ Old Matthias gets up to listen to them. He comes forward, twisted and bent in his body, and barely able to drag his feet along. He speaks to them quietly, laying his hand on Daragh's head.
MATTHIAS.
O! O! O! My shame ye are!
PADRAIC.
This fellow says the master can't beat the sergeant playing ball.
DARAGH.
By my word, wouldn't the sergeant beat anybody at all in this country, Matthias?
MATTHIAS.
Never mind the sergeant. Look at that lonesome wild goose that's making on us o'er Loch Ellery! Look!
All the boys look up.
PADRAIC.
I see it, by my soul!
DARAGH.
Where's she coming from, Matthias?
MATTHIAS.
From the Eastern World. I would say she has travelled a thousand miles since she left her nest in the lands to the north.
COILIN.
The poor thing. And where will she drop?
MATTHIAS.
To Aran she'll go, it's a chance. See her now out over the sea. My love you are, lonesome wild goose!
COILIN.
Tell us a story, Matthias.
He sits on a stone by the strand-edge, and the boys gather round him.
MATTHIAS.
What story shall I tell?
FEICHIN.
‘The Adventures of the Grey Horse!’
CUIMIN.
‘The Hen-Harrier and the Wren!’
PADRAIC.
‘The Two-Headed Giant!’
COILIN.
‘The Adventures of the Piper in the Snail's Castle!’
EOGHAN.
Aye, by my soul, ‘The Adventures of the Piper in the Snail's Castle!’
THE BOYS.
(with one voice)
‘The Adventures of the Piper in the Snail's Castle!’
MATTHIAS.
I'll do that. ‘There was a Snail in it long ago, and it's long since it was. If we'd been there that time, we wouldn't be here now; and if we were, itself, we'd have a new story or an old story, and that's better than to be without e'er a story at all. The Castle this Snail lived in was the finest that man's eye ever saw. It was greater entirely, and it was a thousand times richer than Meave's Castle in Rath Cruachan, or than the Castle of the High- King of Ireland itself in Tara of the Kings. This Snail made love to a Spider—’
COILIN.
No, Matthias, wasn't it to a Granny's Needle he made love?
MATTHIAS.
My soul, but you re right. What's coming on me?
PADRAIC.
Go on, Matthias.
MATTHIAS.
‘This Nettle-Worm was very comely entirely—’
FEICHIN.
What's the Nettle-Worm, Matthias?
MATTHIAS.
Why, the Nettle-Worm he made love to.
CUIMIN.
But I thought it was to a Granny's Needle he made love.
MATTHIAS.
Was it? The story's going from me. ‘This Piper was in love with the daughter of the King of Connacht—’
EOGHAN.
But you didn't mention the Piper yet, Matthias!
MATTHIAS.
Didn't I! ‘The Piper . . .’ yes, by my soul, the Piper— I'm losing my memory. Look here, neighbours, we won't meddle with the story to-day. Let's have a song.
COILIN.
‘Hi diddle dum!’
MATTHIAS.
Are ye satisfied?
THE BOYS.
We are.
MATTHIAS.
I'll do that. [(He sings the following rhyme)]:
- Hi diddle dum, the cat and his mother,
That went to Galway riding a drake.
THE BOYS.
And hi diddle dum!
MATTHIAS.
- Hi diddle dum, the rain came pelting,
And drenched to the skin the cat and his mother.
THE BOYS.
And hi diddle dum!
MATTHIAS.
- Hi diddle dum, 'twas like in the deluge
The cat and his mother would both be drownded.
THE BOYS.
And hi diddle dum!
MATTHIAS.
- Hi diddle dum, my jewel the drake was,
That carried his burden—
COILIN.
Swimming—
MATTHIAS.
Good man, Coilin.
- That carried his burden swimming to Galway.
THE BOYS.
And hi diddle dum!
Old Matthias shakes his head wearily; he speaks in a sad voice.
MATTHIAS.
My songs are going from me, neighbours. I'm like an old fiddle that's lost all its strings.
CUIMIN.
Haven't you the Báidín always, Matthias?
MATTHIAS.
I have, my soul; I have it as long as I'm living. I won't lose the
THE BOYS.
Aye.
MATTHIAS.
Are ye ready to go rowing?
THE BOYS.
We are!
They order themselves as they would be rowing. Old Matthias sings these verses.
MATTHIAS.
- I will hang a sail, and I will go west.
THE BOYS.
- Oró, mo churaichín, O!
MATTHIAS.
- And till St. John's Day I will not rest.
THE BOYS.
- Oró, mo churaichín, O!
Oró, mo churaichín, O!
'S óró, mo bháidín!
MATTHIAS.
- Isn't it fine, my little boat, sailing on the bay.
THE BOYS.
- Oró, mo churaichín, O!
MATTHIAS.
- The oars pulling—
He stops suddenly, and puts his hand to his head.
PADRAIC.
What's on you, Matthias?
EOGHAN.
Are you sick, Matthias
MATTHIAS.
Something that came on my head. It's nothing. What's this I was saying?
COILIN.
You were saying the Báidín Matthias, but don't mind if you don't feel well. Are you sick?
MATTHIAS.
Sick? By my word, I'm not sick. What would make me sick We'll start again:
- Isn't it fine, my little boat, sailing on the bay.
THE BOYS.
- Oró, mo churaichín, O!
MATTHIAS.
[(He stops again.)] Neighbours, the Báidín itself is gone from me. [(They remain silent for a spell, the old man sitting and his head bent on his breast, and the boys looking on him sorrowfully. The old man speaks with a start.)] Are those the people coming home from Mass?
- The oars pulling strongly—
CUIMIN.
No. They won't be free for a half hour yet.
COILIN.
Why don't you go to Mass, Matthias?
The old man rises up and puts his hand to his head again. He speaks angrily at first, and after that softly.
MATTHIAS.
Why don't I go?. . . I'm not good enough. By my word, God
He hobbles slowly across the road. Coilin rises and puts his shoulder under the old man's hand to support him. The boys begin playing ‘jackstones’ quietly. Old Matthias sits on the chair again, and Coilin returns. Daragh speaks in a low voice.
DARAGH.
There's something on Old Matthias to-day. He never forgot the Báidín! before.
CUIMIN.
I heard my father saying to my mother, the other night, that it's not long he has to live.
COILIN.
Do you think is he very old?
PADRAIC.
Why did you put that question on him about the Mass? Don't you know he hasn't been seen at Mass in the memory of the people?
DARAGH.
I heard Old Cuimin Enda saying to my father that he himself saw Old Matthias at Mass when he was a youth.
COILIN.
Do you know why he doesn't go to Mass now?
PADRAIC.
(in a whisper)
It's said he doesn't believe there's a God.
CUIMIN.
I heard Father Sean Eamonn saying it's the way he did some terrible sin at the start of his life, and when the priest wouldn't give him absolution in confession there came a raging anger on him, and he swore an oath he wouldn't touch priest or chapel for ever again.
DARAGH.
That's not how I heard it. One night when I was in bed the old people were talking and whispering by the fireside, and I heard Maire of the Bridge saying to the other old women that it's the way Matthias sold his soul to some Great Man he met once on the top of Cnoc-a'-Daimh, and that this Man wouldn't allow him to go to Mass.
PADRAIC.
Do you think was it the devil he saw?
DARAGH.
I don't know. A ‘Great Man,’ said Maire of the Bridge.
CUIMIN.
I wouldn't believe a word of it. Sure, if Matthias sold his soul to the devil it must be he's a wicked person.
PADRAIC.
He's not a wicked person, maise. Don't you mind the day Iosagan
CUIMIN.
I mind it well.
COILIN.
Where's Iosagan from us to-day?
DARAGH.
He never comes when there does be a grown person watching us.
CUIMIN.
Wasn't he here a week ago to-day when old Matthias was watching us?
DARAGH.
Was he?
CUIMIN.
He was.
PADRAIC.
Aye, and a fortnight to-day, as well.
DARAGH.
There's a chance he'll come to-day, then.
Cuimin rides and looks east.
CUIMIN.
O, see, he's coming.
Iosagan enters—a little, brown-haired boy, a white coat on him, and he without shoes or cap like the other boys. The boys welcome him.
THE BOYS.
God save you, Iosagan!
IOSAGAN.
God and Mary save you!
He sits among them, a hand of his about Daragh's neck; the boys begin playing again, gently, without noise or quarrelling. Iosagan joins in the game. Matthias rises with a start on the coming of Iosagan, and stands
MATTHIAS.
Coilin!
COILIN.
What do you want?
MATTHIAS.
Come here to me. [(Coilin rises and goes to him.)] Who is that boy I see among you this fortnight back—he, yonder, with the brown head on him—but take care it's not red he is; I don't know is it black or is it fair he is, the way the sun is burning on him? Do you see him—him that has his arm about Daragh's neck?
COILIN.
That's Iosagan.
MATTHIAS.
Iosagan?
COILIN.
That's the name he gives himself.
MATTHIAS.
Who are his people?
COILIN.
I don't know, but he says his father's a king.
MATTHIAS.
Where does he live?
COILIN.
He never told us that, but he says his house isn't far away.
MATTHIAS.
Does he be among you often?
COILIN.
He does, when we do be amusing ourselves like this. But he goes from us when grown people come near. He will
The boys rise and go, in ones and twos, when they have finished the game.
COILIN.
O! They are going jumping.
He runs out after the others. Iosagan and Daragh rise and go. Matthias comes forward and calls Iosagan.
MATTHIAS.
Iosagan![(The Child turns back and comes towards him at a run.)] Come here and sit on my knee for a little while, Iosagan. [(The Child links his hand in the old man's hand, and they cross the road together. Matthias sits on his chair and draws Iosagan to him.)] Where do you live, Iosagan?
IOSAGAN.
Not far from this my house is. Why don't you come to see me?
MATTHIAS.
I would be afraid in a royal house. They tell me that your father's a king.
IOSAGAN.
He is High-King of the World. But there's no call for you to be afraid of Him. He's full of pity and love.
MATTHIAS.
I fear I didn't keep His law.
IOSAGAN.
Ask forgiveness of Him. I and my Mother will make intercession for you.
MATTHIAS.
It's a pity I didn't see You
IOSAGAN.
I was here always. I do be travelling the roads and walking the hills and ploughing the waves. I do be among the people when they gather into My house. I do be among the children they do leave behind them playing on the street.
MATTHIAS.
I was too shy, or too proud, to go into Your house, Iosagan: among the children, it was, I found You.
IOSAGAN.
There isn't any place or time the children do be making fun to themselves that I'm not with them. Times they see Me; other times they don't see Me.
MATTHIAS.
I never saw You till lately.
IOSAGAN.
All the grown people do be blind.
MATTHIAS.
And it has been granted me to see You, Iosagan.
IOSAGAN.
My Father gave Me leave to show Myself to you because you loved His little children. [(The voices are heard of the people returning from Mass.)] I must go now from you.
MATTHIAS.
Let me kiss the hem of Your coat.
IOSAGAN.
Kiss it.
He kisses the hem of His coat
MATTHIAS.
Shall I see You again,Iosagan?
IOSAGAN.
You will.
MATTHIAS.
When?
IOSAGAN.
To-night.
Iosagan goes. The old man stands on the door-flag looking after Him.
MATTHIAS.
I will see Him to-night.
The people pass along the road, returning from Mass.
CURTAIN
Old Matthias's room. It is very dark. The old man lying on his bed. Some one knocks outside the door. Matthias speaks in a weak voice.
MATTHIAS:
Come in. [(The Priest enters. He sits down beside the bed and hears the old man's confession. When they have finished, Matthias speaks.)] Who told you I was wanting you, Father? I was praying God that you'd come, but I hadn't a messanger to send for you.
PRIEST:
But, sure, you did send a messanger for me?
MATTHIAS:
No.
PRIEST:
You didn't. But a little boy came and knocked at my door, and he said you were wanting my help.
The old man straightens himself back in the bed, and his eyes flash.
MATTHIAS:
What sort of a little boy was he, Father?
PRIEST:
A mannerly little boy, with a white coat on him.
MATTHIAS:
Did you take notice if there was a shadow of light about his head?
PRIEST:
I did, and it put great wonder on me.
The door opens. Iosagan stands on the threshold, and He with His two arms stretched out towards Matthias; a miraculous light about His face and head.
MATTHIAS:
Iosagan! You're good, Iosagan. You didn't fail me, love. I was too proud to go into Your house, but at the last it was granted me to see You. ‘I was here always,’ says He. ‘I do be travelling the roads and walking the hills and ploughing the waves. I do be among the people when they gather into My house. I do be among the children they do leave behind playing on the street.’ Among the children, it was, I found You, Iosagan. ‘Shall I see You again?’ ‘You will,’ says He. ‘You'll see Me to-night.’ Sé do bheatha, a Iosagáin!
He falls back on the bed, and he dead. The Priest goes softly to him and closes his eyes.
Curtain.