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The Crucifixion Of The Outcast

The Crucifixion Of The Outcast

A MAN, with thin brown hair and a pale

face, half ran, half walked, along the road

that wound from the south to the Town

of the Shelly River. Many called him Cum-

Hal, the son of Cormac, and many called

him the Swift, Wild Horse; and he was

a glee man, and he wore a short parti-

coloured doublet, and had pointed shoes,

and a bulging wallet. Also he was of the

blood of the Ernaans, and his birth-place

was the ~ield of Gold; but his eating and

sleeping places were the four provinces of

Eri, and his abiding place was not upon

the ridge of the earth. His eyes strayed

from the Abbey tower of the White Friars

and the town battlements to a row of

crosses which stood out against the sky

upon a hill a little to the eastward of the

town, and he clenched his fist, and shook

it at the crosses. He knew they were

not empty, for the birds were fluttering

36

about them; and he thought how, as like

as not, just such another vagabond as

himself was hanged on one of them; and

he muttered; If it were hanging or bow-

stringing, or stoning or beheading, it would

be bad enough. But to have the birds

pecking your eyes and the wolves eating

your feet ! I would that the red wind

of the Druids had withered in his cradle

the soldier of Dathi, who brought the

tree of death out of barbarous lands, or

that the lightning, when it smote Dathi

at the foot of the mountain, had smitten

him also, or that his grave had been dug

by the green-haired and green-toothed

merrows deep at the roots of the deep

sea.

While he spoke, he shivered from head

to foot, and the sweat came out upon

his face, and he knew not why, for

he had looked upon many crosses. He

passed over two hills and under the battle-

ment Ed gate, and then round by a left-

27

was studded with great nails, and whenhe knocked at it, he roused the lay brother

who was the porter, and of him he asked

a place in the guest-house. Then the lay

brother took a glowing turf on a shovel,

and led the way to a big and naked out-

house strewn with very dirty rushes; and

t lighted a rush-candle fixed between two

of the stones of the wall, and set the glow-

ing turf upon the hearth and gave him

two unlighted sods and a wisp of straw,

and showed him a blanket hanging from a

nail, and a shelf with a loaf of bread and

a jug of water, and a tub in a far

corner. Then the lay brother left him

and went back to his place by the door.

And Cumhal the son of Cormac began

to blow upon the glowing turf, that he

might light the two sods and the wisp

of straw; but his blowing profited him

nothing, for the sods and the straw were

damp. So he took off his pointed shoes,

and drew the tub out of the corner with

the thought of washing the dust of the

highway from his feet; but the water was

so dirty that he could not see the bottom

He was very hungry, for he had not eaten

all that day; so he did not waste much

anger upon the tub, but took up the black

Ioaf, and bit into it, and then spat out the

bite, for the bread was hard and mouldy.

Still he did not give way to his wrath, for

he had not drunken these many hours;

having a hope of heath beer or wine at his

days end, he had left the brooks untasted,

to make his supper the more delightful.

Now he put the jug to his lips, but he

flung it from him straight way, for the

water was bitter and ill-smelling. Then

he gave the jug a kick, so that it broke

against the opposite wall, and he took

down the blanket to wrap it about him for

the night. But no sooner did he touch it

than it was alive with skipping fleas. At

this, beside himself with anger, he rushed

to the door of the guest-house, but the lay

brother, being well accustomed to such

outcries, had locked it on the outside; so

Cumhal emptied the tub and began to

beat the door with it, till the lay brother

carne to the door, and asked what ailed

him, and why he woke him out of sleep.

What ails me ! shouted Cumhal, are

not the sods as wet as the sands of

the Three Headlands ? and are not the

fleas in the blanket as many as the waves

of the sea and as lively ? and is not the

bread as hard as the heart of a lay brother

who has forgotten God ? and is not the

water in the jug as bitter and as ill-smelling

as his soul ? and is not the foot-water the

colour that shall be upon him when he has

been charred in the Undying Fires ? The

lay brother saw that the lock was fast, and

went back to his niche, for he was too

sleepy to talk with comfort. And Cum-

Hal went on beating at the door, and

presently he heard the lay brothers foot

once more, and cried out at him, ~ O

cowardly and tyrannous race of friars, per-

secutors of the bard and the glee man, haters

of life and joy ! O race that does not draw

the sword and tell the truth ! O race

that melts the bones of the people with

cowardice and with deceit !

Gleeman, said the lay brother, I also

make rhymes; I make many while I sit

in my niche by the door, and I sorrow to

hear the bards railing upon the friars.

Brother, I would sleep, and therefore I

make known to you that it is the head of

the monastery, our gracious Coarb, who

orders all things concerning the lodging of

travellers.

You may sleep, said Cumhal, ~ I will

sing a bards curse on the Coarb. And

he set the tub upside down under th~

window, and stood upon it, and began to

sing in a very loud voice. The singing

awoke the Coarb, so that he sat up in bed

and blew a silver whistle until the lay

brother came to him. I cannot get a

wink of sleep with that noise, said the

Coarb. What is happening ?

It is a glee man, said the lay brother,

who complains of the sods, of the bread,

of the water in the jug, of the foot-water,

and of the blanket. And now he is singing

a bards curse upon you, O brother Coarb,

and upon your father and your mother,

and your grandfather and your grand-

mother, and upon all your relations.

Is he cursing in rhyme ?

He is cursing in rhyme, and with

two assonances in every line of his

curse.

The Coarb pulled his night-cap off and

crumpled it in his hands, and the circular

brown patch of hair in the middle of his

bald head looked like an island in the

midst of a pond, for in Connaught they

had not yet abandoned the ancient ton sure

for the style then coming into use. If we

do not somewhat, he said, he will teach

his curses to the children in the street, and

the girls spinning at the doors, and to the

robbers on the mountain of Gulben.

Shall I go then, said the other, and

give him dry sods, a fresh loaf, clean water

in a jug, clean foot-water, and a new

blanket, and make him swear by the

blessed St. Benign us, and by the sun and

moon, that no bond be lacking, not to tell

his rhymes to the children in the street,

and the girls spinning at the doors, and

the robbers on the mountain of Gulben ?

Neither our blessed Patron nor the sun

and the moon would avail at all, said the

Coarb: for to-morrow or the next day

the mood to curse would come upon him,

or a pride in those rhymes would move

him, and he would teach his lines to the

children, and the girls, and the robbers.

Or else he would tell another of his craft

how he fared in the guest-house, and he

in his turn would begin. to curse, and my

name would wither. For learn there is no

steadfastness of purpose upon the roads,

but only under roofs, and between four

walls. Therefore I bid you go and awaken

Brother Kevin, Brother Dove, Brother

Little Wolf, Brother Bald Patrick, Brother

Bald Brandon, Brother James and Brother

Peter. And they shall take the man, and

43

bind him with ropes, and dip him in the

river that he may cease to sing. And in

the morning, lest this but make him curse

the louder, we will crucify him.

The crosses are all full, said the lay

brother.

Then we must make another cross. If

we do not make an end of him another

will, for who can eat and sleep in peace

while men like him are going about the

world ? Ill should we stand before blessed

St. Benign us, and sour would be his face

when he comes to judge us at the Last

Day, were we to spare an enemy of his

when we had him under our thumb !

Brother, the bards and the glee men are

an evil race, ever cursing and ever stirring

up the people, and immoral and im-

moderate in all things, and heathen in

their hearts, always longing after the Son

of Lir, and Angus, and Bridget, and the

Dagda, and Dana the Mother, and all the

false gods of the old days; always making

poems in praise of those kings and queens

44

of the demons, Finvaragh of the Hill in

the Plain, and Red Aodh of the Hill of

the Shee, and Cleena of the Wave, and

Eiveen of the Grey Rock, and him they

call Don of the Vats of the Sea; and

railing against God and Christ and the

blessed Saints. While he was speaking

he crossed himself, and when he had

finished he drew the nightcap over his

ears, to shut out the noise, and closed

his eyes, and composed himself to

sleep.

The lay brother found Brother Kevin,

Brother Dove, Brother Little Wolf, Brother

Bald Patrick, Brother Bald Brandon,

Brother James and Brother Peter sitting

up in bed, and he made them get up.

Then they bound Cumhal, and they

dragged him to the river, and they dipped

him in it at the place which was afterwards

called Buckleys Ford.

Gleeman, said the lay brother, as they

led him back to the guest-house, why do

you ever use the wit which God has given

45

you to make blasphemous and immoral tales

and verses ? For such is the way of your

craft. I have, indeed, many such tales and

verses well nigh by rote, and so I know

that I speak true ! And why do you praise

with rhyme those demons, Finvaragh, Red

Aodh, Cleena, Eiveen and Don? 1, too,

am a man of great wit and learning, but

I ever glo.rify our gracious Coarb, and

Benignus our Patron, and the princes of

the province. My soul is decent and

orderly, but yours is like the wind among

the salley gardens. I said what I could for

you, being also a man of many thoughts,

but who could help such a one as you ?

My soul, friend, answered the glee man,

is indeed like the wind, and it blows me

to and fro, and up and down, a lid puts

many things into my mind and out of my

mind, and therefore am I called the Swift,

Wild Horse. And he spoke no more

that night, for his teeth were chattering

with the cold.

The Coarb and the friars came to him

46

in the morning, and bade him get ready to

be crucified, and led him out of the guest-

house. And while he still stood upon the

step a flock of great grass-barnacles passed

high above him with clanking cries. He

lifted his arms to them and said, ~ O great

grass-barnacles, tarry a little, and may hap

my soul will travel with you to the waste

places of the shore and to the ungovern- 1

able sea ! At the gate a crowd of beggars

gathered about them, being come there to

beg from any traveller or pilgrim who

might have spent the night in the guest-

house. The Coarb and the friars led

the glee man to a place in the woods at

some distance, where many straight young

trees were growing, and they made him

cut one down and fashion it to the right

length, while the beggars stood round them

in a ring, talking and gesticulating. The

Coarb then bade him cut off another and

shorter piece of wood, and nail it upon

the first. So there was his cross for him;

and they put it upon his shoulder, for

47

his crucifixion was to be on the top of the

hill where the others were. A half-mile

on the way he asked them to stop and

see him juggle for them: for he knew,

he said, all the tricks of Angus the

Subtle-Hearted. The old friars were for

pressing on, but the young friars would

see him: so he did many wonders for

them, even to the drawing of live frogs out

of his ears. But after a while they turned

on him, and said his tricks were dull and

a shade unholy, and set the cross on his

shoulders again. Another half-mile on the

way, and he asked them to stop and hear

him jest for them, for he knew, he said, all

the jests of Conan the Bald, upon whose

back a sheeps wool grew. And the young

friars, when they had heard his merry tales,

again bade him take up his cross, for it

i ll became them to listen to such follies.

Another half-mile on the way, he asked

them to stop and hear him sing the story

of White-Breasted Deirdre, and how she

endured many sorrows, and how the sons

of Usna died to serve her. And the young

friars were mad to hear him, but when he

had ended, they grew angry, and beat him

for waking forgotten longings in their

hearts. So they set the cross upon his

back, and hurried him to the hill.

When he was come to the top, they took

the cross from him, and began to dig a hole

to stand it in, while the beggars gathered

round, and talked among themselves. ~ I

ask a favour before I die, says Cum Hal.

We will grant you no more delays, says

the Coarb.

I ask no more delays, for I have drawn

the sword, and told the truth, and lived my

vision, and am content.

Would you then confess ?

By sun and moon, not l; I ask but to

6e let eat the food I carry in my wallet.

I carry food in my wallet whenever I go

upon a journey, but I do not taste of it

unless I am well-nigh starved. I have

not eaten now these two days.

You may eat, then, says the Coarb,

ùIq E

and he turned to help the friars dig the

hole.

The glee man took a loaf and some strips

of cold fried bacon out of his wallet and laid

them upon the ground. I will give a tithe

to the poor, says he, and he cut a tenth

part from the loaf and the bacon. Who

among you is the poorest ? And there-

upon was a great clam our, for the beggars

began the history of their sorrows and their

poverty, and their yellow faces swayed like

the Shelly ~iver when the floods have filled

it with water from the bogs.

He listened for a little, and, says he,

I am myself the poorest, for I have

travel led the bare road, and by the glitter-ing footsteps of the sea; and the tattered

doublet of particoloured cloth upon my

back and the torn pointed shoes upon my

feet have ever irked me, because of the

towered city full of noble raiment *hich

was in my heart. And I have been the more

alone upon the roads and by the sea, be-

cause I heard in my heart the rustling of

the rose-bordered dress of her who is more

subtle than Angus, the Subtle-Hearted,

and more full of the beauty of laughter than

Conan the Bald, and more full of the wisdom

of tears than White-Breasted Deirdre, and

more lovely than a bursting dawn to them

that are lost in the darkness. Therefore, I l

award the tithe to myself; but yet, because

I am done with all things, I give it unto you.

So he flung the bread and the strips of

bacon among the beggars, and they fought

with many cries until the last scrap was

eaten. But meanwhile the friars nailed the

glee man to his cross, and set it upright in

the hole, and shovel led the earth in at the

foot, and trampled it level and hard. So

then they went away, but the beggars stared

on, sitting round the cross. But when the

sun was sinking, they also got up to go, for

the air was getting chilly. And as soon as

they had gone a little way, the wolves, who

had been showing themselves on the edge

of a neighbouring coppice, came nearer,

and the birds wheeled closer and closer.

5 1

Stay, outcasts, yet a little while, the cruci-

fied one called in a weak voice to the beg-

gars, and keep the beasts and the birds

from me. But the beggars were angry

because he had called them outcasts, so

they threw stones and mud at him, and

went their w;~y. Then the wolves gathered

at the foot of the cross, and the birds flew

lower and lower. And presently the birds

lighted all at once upon his head and arms

and shoulders, and began to peck at him,

and the wolves began to eat his feet. Out-

casts, he moaned, have you also turned

against the outcast ?

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