Down in Fannet, in times gone by, lived Jamie Freel and his mother.
Jamie was the widow's sole support; his strong arm worked for her
untiringly, and as each Saturday night came round, he poured his wages
into her lap, thanking her dutifully for the halfpence which she
returned him for tobacco.
He was extolled by his neighbours as the best son ever known or heard
of. But he had neighbours, of whose opinion he was ignorant--neighbours
who lived pretty close to him, whom he had never seen, who are, indeed,
rarely seen by mortals, except on May eves and Halloweens.
An old ruined castle, about a quarter of a mile from his cabin, was said
to be the abode of the "wee folk." Every Halloween were the ancient
windows lighted up, and passers-by saw little figures flitting to and
fro inside the building, while they heard the music of pipes and flutes.
It was well known that fairy revels took place; but nobody had the
courage to intrude on them.
Jamie had often watched the little figures from a distance, and
listened to the charming music, wondering what the inside of the
castle was like; but one Halloween he got up and took his cap, saying
to his mother, "I'm awa' to the castle to seek my fortune."
"What!" cried she, "would you venture there? you that's the poor
widow's one son! Dinna be sae venturesome an' foolitch, Jamie! They'll
kill you, an' then what'll come o' me?"
"Never fear, mother; nae harm 'ill happen me, but I maun gae."
He set out, and as he crossed the potato-field, came in sight of the
castle, whose windows were ablaze with light, that seemed to turn the
russet leaves, still clinging to the crabtree branches, into gold.
Halting in the grove at one side of the ruin, he listened to the elfin
revelry, and the laughter and singing made him all the more determined
to proceed.
Numbers of little people, the largest about the size of a child of
five years old, were dancing to the music of flutes and fiddles, while
others drank and feasted.
"Welcome, Jamie Freel! welcome, welcome, Jamie!" cried the company,
perceiving their visitor. The word "Welcome" was caught up and
repeated by every voice in the castle.
Time flew, and Jamie was enjoying himself very much, when his hosts
said, "We're going to ride to Dublin to-night to steal a young lady.
Will you come too, Jamie Freel?"
"Ay, that will I!" cried the rash youth, thirsting for adventure.
A troop of horses stood at the door. Jamie mounted, and his steed rose
with him into the air. He was presently flying over his mother's
cottage, surrounded by the elfin troop, and on and on they went, over
bold mountains, over little hills, over the deep Lough Swilley, over
towns and cottages, when people were burning nuts, and eating apples,
and keeping merry Halloween. It seemed to Jamie that they flew all
round Ireland before they got to Dublin.
"This is Derry," said the fairies, flying over the cathedral spire;
and what was said by one voice was repeated by all the rest, till
fifty little voices were crying out, "Derry! Derry! Derry!"
In like manner was Jamie informed as they passed over each town on the
rout, and at length he heard the silvery voices cry, "Dublin! Dublin!"
It was no mean dwelling that was to be honoured by the fairy visit,
but one of the finest houses in Stephen's Green.
The troop dismounted near a window, and Jamie saw a beautiful face, on
a pillow in a splendid bed. He saw the young lady lifted and carried
away, while the stick which was dropped in her place on the bed took
her exact form.
The lady was placed before one rider and carried a short way, then
given another, and the names of the towns were cried out as before.
They were approaching home. Jamie heard "Rathmullan," "Milford,"
"Tamney," and then he knew they were near his own house.
"You've all had your turn at carrying the young lady," said he. "Why
wouldn't I get her for a wee piece?"
"Ay, Jamie," replied they, pleasantly, "you may take your turn at
carrying her, to be sure."
Holding his prize very tightly, he dropped down near his mother's door.
"Jamie Freel, Jamie Freel! is that the way you treat us?" cried they,
and they too dropped down near the door.
Jamie held fast, though he knew not what he was holding, for the
little folk turned the lady into all sorts of strange shapes. At one
moment she was a black dog, barking and trying to bite; at another, a
glowing bar of iron, which yet had no heat; then, again, a sack of wool.
But still Jamie held her, and the baffled elves were turning away,
when a tiny woman, the smallest of the party, exclaimed, "Jamie Freel
has her awa' frae us, but he sall hae nae gude o' her, for I'll mak'
her deaf and dumb," and she threw something over the young girl.
While they rode off disappointed, Jamie lifted the latch and went in.
"Jamie, man!" cried his mother, "you've been awa' all night; what have
they done on you?"
"Naething bad, mother; I ha' the very best of gude luck. Here's a
beautiful young lady I ha' brought you for company.
"Bless us an' save us!" exclaimed the mother, and for some minutes she
was so astonished that she could not think of anything else to say.
Jamie told his story of the night's adventure, ending by saying,
"Surely you wouldna have allowed me to let her gang with them to be
lost forever?"
"But a _lady_, Jamie! How can a lady eat we'er poor diet, and live in
we'er poor way? I ax you that, you foolitch fellow?"
"Weel, mother, sure it's better for her to be here nor over yonder,"
and he pointed in the direction of the castle.
Meanwhile, the deaf and dumb girl shivered in her light clothing,
stepping close to the humble turf fire.
"Poor crathur, she's quare and handsome! Nae wonder they set their
hearts on her," said the old woman, gazing at her guest with pity and
admiration. "We maun dress her first; but what, in the name o'
fortune, hae I fit for the likes o' her to wear?"
She went to her press in "the room," and took out her Sunday gown of
brown drugget; she then opened a drawer, and drew forth a pair of
white stockings, a long snowy garment of fine linen, and a cap, her
"dead dress," as she called it.
These articles of attire had long been ready for a certain triste
ceremony, in which she would some day fill the chief part, and only
saw the light occasionally, when they were hung out to air; but she
was willing to give even these to the fair trembling visitor, who was
turning in dumb sorrow and wonder from her to Jamie, and from Jamie
back to her.
The poor girl suffered herself to be dressed, and then sat down on a
"creepie" in the chimney corner, and buried her face in her hands.
"What'll we do to keep up a lady like thou?" cried the old woman.
"I'll work for you both, mother," replied the son.
"An' how could a lady live on we'er poor diet?" she repeated.
"I'll work for her," was all Jamie's answer.
He kept his word. The young lady was very sad for a long time, and
tears stole down her cheeks many an evening while the old woman spun
by the fire, and Jamie made salmon nets, an accomplishment lately
acquired by him, in hopes of adding to the comfort of his guest But
she was always gentle, and tried to smile when she perceived them
looking at her; and by degrees she adapted herself to their ways and
mode of life. It was not very long before she began to feed the pig,
mash potatoes and meal for the fowls, and knit blue worsted socks.
So a year passed, and Halloween came round again. "Mother," said
Jamie, taking down his cap, "I'm off to the ould castle to seek my
fortune."
"Are you mad, Jamie?" cried his mother, in terror; "sure they'll kill
you this time for what you done on them last year."
Jamie made light of her fears and went his way.
As he reached the crabtree grove, he saw bright lights in the castle
windows as before, and heard loud talking. Creeping under the window,
he heard the wee folk say, "That was a poor trick Jamie Freel played
us this night last year, when he stole the nice young lady from us."
"Ay," said the tiny woman, "an' I punished him for it, for there she
sits, a dumb image by his hearth; but he does na' know that three
drops out o' this glass I hold in my hand wad gie her her hearing and
her speeches back again."
Jamie's heart beat fast as he entered the hall. Again he was greeted
by a chorus of welcomes from the company--"Here comes Jamie Freel!
welcome, welcome, Jamie!"
As soon as the tumult subsided, the little woman said, "You be to
drink our health, Jamie, out o' this glass in my hand."
Jamie snatched the glass from her and darted to the door. He never
knew how he reached his cabin, but he arrived there breathless, and
sank on a stove by the fire.
"You're kilt surely this time, my poor boy," said his mother.
"No, indeed, better luck than ever this time!" and he gave the lady
three drops of the liquid that still remained at the bottom of the
glass, notwithstanding his mad race over the potato-field.
The lady began to speak, and her first words were words of thanks to
Jamie.
The three inmates of the cabin had so much to say to one another, that
long after cock-crow, when the fairy music had quite ceased, they were
talking round the fire.
"Jamie," said the lady, "be pleased to get me paper and pen and ink,
that I may write to my father, and tell him what has become of me."
She wrote, but weeks passed, and she received no answer. Again and
again she wrote, and still no answer.
At length she said, "You must come with me to Dublin, Jamie, to find
my father."
"I ha' no money to hire a car for you," he replied, "an' how can you
travel to Dublin on your foot?"
But she implored him so much that he consented to set out with her,
and walk all the way from Fannet to Dublin. It was not as easy as the
fairy journey; but at last they rang the bell at the door of the house
in Stephen's Green.
"Tell my father that his daughter is here," said she to the servant
who opened the door.
"The gentleman that lives here has no daughter, my girl. He had one,
but she died better nor a year ago."
"Do you not know me, Sullivan?"
"No, poor girl, I do not."
"Let me see the gentleman. I only ask to see him."
"Well, that's not much to ax; we'll see what can be done."
In a few moments the lady's father came to the door.
"Dear father," said she, "don't you know me?"
"How dare you call me your father?" cried the old gentleman, angrily.
"You are an impostor. I have no daughter."
"Look in my face, father, and surely you'll remember me."
"My daughter is dead and buried. She died a long, long time ago." The
old gentleman's voice changed from anger to sorrow. "You can go," he
concluded.
"Stop, dear father, till you look at this ring on my finger. Look at
your name and mine engraved on it."
"It certainly is my daughter's ring; but I do not know how you came by
it. I fear in no honest way."
"Call my mother, _she_ will be sure to know me," said the poor girl,
who, by this time, was crying bitterly.
"My poor wife is beginning to forget her sorrow. She seldom speaks of
her daughter now. Why should I renew her grief by reminding her of her
loss?"
But the young lady persevered, till at last the mother was sent for.
"Mother," she began, when the old lady came to the door, "don't _you_
know your daughter?"
"I have no daughter; my daughter died and was buried a long, long time
ago."
"Only look in my face, and surely you'll know me."
The old lady shook her head.
"You have all forgotten me; but look at this mole on my neck. Surely,
mother, you know me now?"
"Yes, yes," said the mother, "my Gracie had a mole on her neck like
that; but then I saw her in her coffin, and saw the lid shut down upon
her."
It became Jamie's turn to speak, and he gave the history of the fairy
journey, of the theft of the young lady, of the figure he had seen
laid in its place, of her life with his mother in Fannet, of last
Halloween, and of the three drops that had released her from her
enchantment.
She took up the story when he paused, and told how kind the mother and
son had been to her.
The parents could not make enough of Jamie. They treated him with
every distinction, and when he expressed his wish to return to Fannet,
said they did not know what to do to show their gratitude.
But an awkward complication arose. The daughter would not let him go
without her. "If Jamie goes, I'll go too," she said. "He saved me from
the fairies, and has worked for me ever since. If it had not been for
him, dear father and mother, you would never have seen me again. If
he goes, I'll go too."
This being her resolution, the old gentleman said that Jamie should
become his son-in-law. The mother was brought from Fannet in a coach
and four, and there was a splendid wedding.
They all lived together in the grand Dublin house, and Jamie was heir
to untold wealth at his father-in-law's death.