Jack and the Devil's Purse (2 page)

Sources of the stories are traditional: they were heard and learned from members of the storyteller’s own extended family of Travelling People or from close Traveller friends. Willie Williamson, a cousin of Duncan’s father’s, told him ‘Woodcutter and the Devil’, ‘Jack and the Devil’s Gold’, ‘The Challenge’ and ‘Jack and the Devil’s Purse’. These were heard from old Uncle Willie in Argyll when Duncan was a boy. The Williamson family then lived in a large handmade tent or barricade in a forest near Loch Fyne. A river separated their part of the wood from another part where Travellers like Uncle Willie would come along to camp in the summer and put up their bow tents. ‘We children would cross the river and go to the Traveller camping places, sit there and listen,’ said Duncan.

Sandy Reid, an uncle on his mother’s side, used to camp in the wood across from the Williamson family in the 1930s. He told ‘The Devil’s Coat’. Old Bet MacColl, Duncan’s paternal grandmother, was the source of ‘The Tramp and the Farmer’. ‘Jack and the Sea Witch’ was among hundreds of stories told by the famous Traveller storyteller of Aberdeenshire, the Story-mannie Johnnie MacDonald, known as ‘Old Toots’. He was a cripple and specialised in storytelling while watching young children for his Traveller relatives, who would give him accommodation in return for
his help. These stories were first published in
May the Devil Walk Behind Ye!
(Canongate, 1987).

‘The Challenge’ and ‘Jack and the Sea Witch’ are among several tales in the collection not specifically about the Devil. But their ethos is quite sinister. Evil manifests itself in a variety of forms in the world. And sometimes the shadow can be quite beautiful to behold, a creature impossible to deny, such as the King of the Mermen, La Mer la Moocht. Another tantalising tale of incredible dimensions is ‘Patrick and Bridget’, included for its nonsense and delightful play on the headless husband. Tender ghosts from the canine world and eerie characters who have mysterious powers to heal find their place alongside accounts of the Black Art – lethal, true apparitions from the Otherworld.

Throughout the genre of Traveller folk tales there is a distinct lack of moralising. Lessons are intended, but the teaching of a story can be subtle. Awareness of meanings often comes later . . . when you look to yourself!

Finally, a word must be said about the hero of the Traveller tales – Jack. He is the most important character in Duncan Williamson’s stories. As Duncan has often explained, ‘Jack was not one particular person, but a piece of everyman.’ In hundreds of stories about Jack, collected on the storyteller’s travels, with one exception the hero is never old. Also with one exception, Jack is never a child; he is almost always either a teenager or a young man. In Traveller tradition Jack never dies; he is always welcome with the king, he is the king’s favourite. Sometimes he is lazy or foolish, but often not as foolish as folk think! Built up by the storytellers over countless generations, Jack was a certain kind of person: never afraid, always brave, always handsome and good-looking, even though he lay by the fire and grew a beard and never washed himself. Apart from one story where
Jack’s father is an old seaman with a peg-leg, his father is not present. Why does Jack live with his mother? And where does Jack really come from?

The storyteller tells us to look to the stories for the answers. The tales about Jack go back a long, long time. ‘Bag of Lies’ gives a hint of the source of the Jack tales, but much is left to the imagination of the listener; everything is not laid out like in a children’s schoolbook. Like dreams, it’s always been a mystery.

Linda Williamson

The old queen was very sad, sad at heart because her husband the king had just died. They had reigned together for many years and she’d had a happy life. They only had one son, whom they loved dearly. They were very well thought of, the whole country loved their king and queen and their beautiful young son. The queen appreciated this from her people. She gave great, wonderful parties every now and then to show them that she appreciated their love. But after the king died the queen had become very sad. And her young son the prince saw this, and he got sad too. But he had one obsession: he liked to go hunting.

And one day out on the hunt he fell from his horse. He was hurt severely. The huntsmen carried him back to the palace. They placed him on the bed and there he lay. His back was broken. The old queen was now sadder than ever. Her husband was gone, and now her son, the only being they loved together between them was very seriously ill.

She sat by his bedside and she prayed and she clasped her hands. She prayed to her God and she prayed to everyone. But he got weaker and weaker . . . he finally died.

Now the queen was really very upset. The thought of everything was gone. Never, no more did she show her face before her people in the village. The great palace was there
and all the workers in the palace did their things. But the queen just stood by herself. She walked in the garden a sad, lonely old woman. Her husband was bone, her beautiful son was gone. She had no one left in the world. No more did they have parties in the great palace. The great fêtes and the great things were gone. And the people around the country and around the palace got sadder and sadder, because they felt for the queen.

But one day the old queen was walking in the garden admiring her flowers which she’d tended so many times before. The weeds were growing up among them, but now she had no more thought for the flowers in her garden. Then she turned around – there stood behind her this gentleman dressed in black in a long dark cloak.

She said, ‘Hello!’

And he said, ‘Hello!’

She said, ‘Where have you come from?’

‘Oh, never mind where I come from, my dear, I’ve been walking here admiring you. I’ve been watching you for a few days, and you seem very sad.’

‘Oh, I am very sad. Who are you?’

‘Oh,’ he said, ‘I’m just a stranger.’

And she could see that he was dressed in black from head to foot with a long cloak touching the ground. She said, ‘Where have you come from?’

‘Oh,’ he said, ‘never mind where I’ve come from. I have just come to say hello. I can see you’re very sad.’

She said, ‘Of course there’s sadness in my heart, because you know I have lost my husband the king.’

The stranger said, ‘I know.’

And he smiled to himself. ‘And,’ she said, ‘I’ve just lost my son!’

‘Well . . .’ he said.

‘He was hurt in a riding accident. I sat beside him, I prayed
to my God to help him. But no one could help him. He is gone.’

And the stranger said to her, ‘Why are you so sad?’

‘Well,’ she said, ‘why shouldn’t I be? My husband is gone and my son is gone. There’s nothing left for me in this world.’

‘But there are many wonderful things left in the world for you, my dear,’ he said. ‘You are not really old.’

‘But,’ she said, ‘why should life go on for me? I wish that someone would take me away from this Earth!’

He said, ‘Well, maybe that could be arranged.’

She said, ‘Who are you?’

‘Well, I’m just a stranger. What would you give to be happy again?

She says, ‘Happy? I’ll never be happy again, never again.’

‘Oh yes!’ he said. ‘Happiness is for everyone.’

‘But,’ she says, ‘how can I be happy? My son is gone and my husband is gone. How . . .’

He said, ‘I can make you happy.’

‘What are you? Are you a magician or something?’

‘No, my dear, I’m not a magician,’ he said. ‘I’m just a friend, and a stranger.’

‘Well, it’s nice to be happy, but,’ she said, ‘where am I going to find happiness?’

‘What would you give for happiness?’

She said, ‘I’d give anything in this world.’

‘Would you give your soul,’ he said, ‘for happiness?’

‘My soul?’ she said. ‘What is my soul to me, if I have one? I have prayed to my God for my son and He never helped me. If my soul is worth anything I would give it today, if only I could find a little happiness!’

And the stranger said, ‘
Happiness you shall have
! But I will come and see you again.’ And then he was gone.

The queen walked around the garden and she looked all
around. She said, ‘These flowers are full of weeds. The gardener has not been tending to the flowers. The trees have never been looked after!’

A great change had come over the queen. She had completely forgotten about everything but her garden. She went out and she told the workers, ‘My garden’s been neglected. The flowers are covered with weeds and the trees have never been pruned for months. Where are all my workers? What have you done to my garden?’

And when everybody saw that the queen was worried about her garden they rushed to tidy it up. They worked in the garden as hard as they could.

And up goes the queen to her room. She looks all around. She says, ‘My room is so untidy!’ There were things lying all around the floor. ‘Who has done this to my place?’ And the queen called for her maids at hand, ‘Get my room tidied up at once!’

They tidied up her room. They talked to each other and said, ‘What has come over our queen? Something terrible has happened. She is smiling, she is happy once again.’

So the queen walks out to the front of the palace, and it was dreich and barren. Everything looked so dark and grey. She stood over the balcony and she said, ‘Where are all my people? Where are all my friends? Why is everyone so sad?’

Everyone looked all around and said, ‘A strangeness has come over the queen.’

She said, ‘Why is everyone so sad? Where’s the party? Where are all my friends? Where are all the guests? Where are all the people?’ There was no one. The queen sent word all around the palace: ‘Get my people to come before me! Let’s have fun. Let’s have a party! Let’s have a fête! Let’s have everything we used to have!’

So word spread around the palace that once again the
queen was happy. And they started, and they set a royal fête where everyone came from all around to see the queen once more. They came from far and wide; they came knights from far off, they came lairds and dukes and people from the village and they were having a great party in front of the palace.

And in amongst them walked the queen, saying hello to everyone and bowing to everyone. Everyone was happy. They had drinking and fêtes and fighting and battles and they had everything – life once again was back to normal. There were jugglers, there were singers, everyone was happy having great fun!

When lo and behold at that very moment, in amongst everyone walked this tall, dark stranger with a long black cloak. And there sat the queen up on her bench before everyone watching everyone enjoying theirself. When he walked up to the queen and said: ‘Hello, my dear! Sppst,’ he spat and
flame
came from his mouth.

And the queen stood back. She said, ‘Who are you?’

He said, ‘Who am I? You are bound to recognise me! I have come to see you. You gave me your promise . . . now are you happy?’

‘Happy?’ she said. ‘I’m happier than anyone in the world!’

‘Well, I gave you the happiness. Now I have come for you. You must come with me,’ and he ‘spsst’ – spat again and
flames
spat from his mouth.

The queen said, ‘Look . . .’

He said, ‘Do you remember when I met you in the garden? When you wanted happiness? And you promised me you would give your soul, what I wanted to give you happiness.’

She said, ‘Yes.’

‘Well, I gave you happiness. Don’t you have everything
you had before?’ he said. ‘And I provided it for you. Now, you must come with me.’

She says, ‘No! I can’t come with you – I am too happy!’

But he said, ‘You promised me!’

She said, ‘Guards, arrest this man!’ And the guards drew back their bows and arrows to arrest him.

He held out his hand, like
that
– from every finger came the heads of ten snakes with their beady eyes glaring and their fangs and their tongues going out and in, their forked tongues going out and in. And he said: ‘Well, let them come to me, my dear!’ He held his hand and the tongues of the snakes with the beady eyes . . .

‘Use your spears! Use your arrows!’ she said.

And they fired! They hit his chest and the spears stotted off like lumps of steel and fell on the ground. And he walked among them with his fingers sticking out – the heads of the snakes. The people cringed in terror back from him. He followed them back, raised his fingers with these ten snakes, their beady eyes and their tongues in front of them.

And the queen sat in terror. Everyone backed away. Then he went up to the queen and he closed his fingers. The snakes were gone.

‘Now,’ he said, ‘my dear, it is time for you to come with me.’

She says, ‘No! You are the Devil!’

‘Of course,’ he said, ‘I am the Devil.’

‘Well’ she said, ‘if you’re the Devil – I’ve heard many stories of you. You always give people a chance.’

He said, ‘You prayed to your God, didn’t you?’

‘I prayed to my God to save my son, but He never saved my son.’

‘Well,’ he said, ‘you asked me to make you happy and I
made you happy. Now you have everything you want and you gave me your promise.’

She says, ‘Please, if you are the Devil, and the stories I’ve heard about you . . . please give me one more chance – one more chance I beg of you!’

And the Devil said, ‘Of course, I always give people a chance. I’ll be back in three weeks’ time, my dear. On condition that y
ou can do something that I can’t do
, and failing that, you shall come with me!’ And then in a
flash
he was gone.

The queen was upset. She knew she was in touch with the Devil. The Devil had taken over her soul. She told everyone around the palace what was going to happen – the Devil was coming for her in three weeks’ time. Could she do something that the Devil could not do?

They came from all parts of the Earth, from all parts of her kingdom telling her this and telling her that, things that she could do to cheat the Devil. The queen listened. But one by one all the things they knew, she knew the Devil could compete against anything she heard. Till she was in tears and worried that the Devil was coming for her.