The Grateful Dead

I suspect that more people have heard of the the band, The Grateful Dead, than the story, but as with so many things, the story came first…

In David Gans’ “Playing in the band: an oral and visual portrait of the Grateful Dead”, published in 1985, p38, Jerry Garcia describes the origin of the name of the band in 1966:

Garcia: We were standing around in utter desperation at Phil [Lesh]’s house in Palo Alto [trying to think up a name for the band]. There was a huge dictionary, big monolithic thing, and I just opened it up. There in huge black letters was ‘The Grateful Dead.’ It … just cancelled my mind out. We decided to have it, but it was funny… One of the things about the name, right from the beginning, was that it had a lot of power. It was kind of creepy. People resisted it at first. They didn’t want us to be the Grateful Dead— it was too weird. But… I don’t think the connotation is nearly as creepy as it used to be, though sometimes the power is very evident.

One of the most common suggestions for what that dictionary might have been is Funk and Wagnall’s standard dictionary of folklore mythology and legand:

grateful dead The motif (E341 ff.; Types 505-508) of a very widespread group of folktales, which typically begin with the hero, as he starts on a journey, coming upon a group of people ill-treating or refusing to bury the corpse of a dead man who had died before paying his debts. The hero gives his last penny, either to pay the man’s debts or to give him decent burial, and goes on his way. Within a few hours a traveling companion joins him (occasionally in the form of a horse or other animal, but usually in human form), who aids him in some impossible task (or a series of tasks and adventures), gets him a fortune, saves his life, marries him to a princess, etc. Sometimes the companion helps the hero on the condition that they divide all winnings. Sometimes this proves to be half the princess, or a first-born child. But he relents and relinquishes his half when the other is about to fulfil the promise. The story ends with the companion’s disclosing himself as the man whose corpse the other had befriended. (See Gerould, Grateful Dead, Folklore Society, 1908). See TOBIT.

I also heard Ben Haggerty suggest, in his telling of one variant of the actual folktale, “The Grateful and the Dead”, at Stealing Thunder, 2025, that Jerry Garcia had been in the City Lights bookshop in San Francisco, home to the beats, browsing the shelves and coming across a copy of a book containing fifty or more versions of the tale. I think we can take that as just a story, although the book containing fifty or more versions of the tale certainly does exist: Gerould’s “The grateful dead; the history of a folk story”.

The tale in short, in G. H. Gerould, The Grateful Dead: the History of a folk story, 1909

https://archive.org/details/gratefuldeadhist00gerorich/page/ix/mode/1up The grateful dead; the history of a folk story by Gerould, Gordon Hall, 1877-

Publication date 1908

pp.ix-x

Introduction

… [The Grateful Dead] appears in a variety of different combinations, almost never alone. Indeed, it is so widespread a tale, and its combinations are so various, that there is the utmost difficulty in determining just what may properly be regarded the original kernel of it, the simple theme to which other motives were joined. … what is the residuum when the tale is stripped of elements not common to a very great majority of the versions belonging to the cycle? What is left amounte to the folloving, — the story reduced to its lowest terms, I take it.

A man finds a corpse lying unburied, and out of pure philanthropy procures interment for it at great personal inconvenience. Later he is met by the ghost of the dead man, who in many cases promises him help on condition of receiving, in return, half of whatever he gets. The hero obtains a wife (or some other reward), and, when called upon, is ready to fulfil his bargain as to sharing his possessions.

Nowhere does a version appear in quite this form ; but from what follows it will be seen that the simple story must have proceeded along some such lines. The compounds in which it occurs show much variety. It will be necessary to study these in detail, not merely one or two of them but as many as can be found. Despite the bewildering complexities that may arise, I hope that this method of approach may throw some new light on the wanderings of the tale. …

Gerould’s work provides a categorisation and synopsis of wide range of variants of the tale, in a wide variety of languages.

An Irish variant, Shaking Head, 1889

https://archive.org/details/mythsandfolklor00curtgoog/page/n200/mode/2up Myths and Folk-lore of Ireland by Jeremiah Curtin

Publication date 1889

pp. 186-203

TO DO

SHAKING-HEAD.

THERE was once a king of a province in Erin who had an only son. The king was very careful of this son, and sent him to school for good instruction.

The other three kings of provinces in Erin had three sons at the same school; and the three sent word by this one to his father, that if he didn’t put his son to death they would put both father and son to death themselves.

When the young man came home with this word to his father and mother, they were grieved when they heard it. But the king’s son said that he would go out into the world to seek his fortune, and settle the trouble in that way. So away he went, taking with him only five pounds in money for his support.

The young man travelled on till he came to a grave-yard, where be saw four men fighting over a coffin. Then he went up to the four, and saw that two of them were trying to put the coffin down into a grave, and the other two preventing them and keeping the coffin above ground. When the king’s son came near the men, he asked: “Why do you fight in such a place as this, and why do you keep the coffin above ground?”

Two of the men answered, and said: “The body of our brother is in this coffin, and these two men won’t let us bury it.”

The other two then said: “We have a debt of five pounds on the dead man, and we won’t let his body be buried till the debt is paid.”

The king’s son said: “Do you let these men bury their brother, and I will pay what you ask.”

Then the two let the brothers of the dead man bury him. The king’s son paid the five pounds, and went away empty-handed, and, except the clothes on his back, he had no more than on the day he was born. After he had gone on his way awhile and the grave-yard was out of sight he turned and saw a sprightly red-haired man (fear ruadh) hurrying after him. When he came up, the stranger asked: “Don’t you want a serving man?”

“I do not,” answered the king’s son, “I have nothing to support myself with, let alone a serving man.”

“Well, never mind that,” said the red-haired man; “I’ll be with you wherever you go, whether you have anything or not.”

“What is your name?” asked the king’s son.

“Shaking-head,” answered the red man.

When they had gone on a piece of the way together the king’s son stopped and asked: “Where shall we be to-night?”

“We shall be in a giant’s castle where there will be small welcome for us,” said Shaking-head.

When evening came they found themselves in front of a castle. In they went and saw no one inside only a tall old hag. But they were not long in the place till they heard a loud, rushing noise outside, and a blow on the castle. The giant came; and the first words he let out of his mouth were: “I’m glad to have an Erinach on my supper-table to eat to-night.” Then turning to the two he said: “What brought you here this evening; what do you want in my castle?”

“All the champions and heroes of Erin are going to take your property from you and destroy yourself; we have come to warn you, and there is nobody to save you from them but us,” said Shaking-head.

When the giant heard these words he changed his treatment entirely. He gave the king’s son and Shaking-head a hearty welcome and a kindly greeting. When he understood the news they brought, he washed them with the tears of his eyes, dried them with kisses, and gave them a good supper and a soft bed that night.

Next morning the giant was up at an early hour, and he went to the bed-side of each man and told him to rise and have breakfast. Shaking-head asked his reward of the giant for telling him of the champions of Erin and the danger he was in.

“Well,” said the giant, “there’s a pot of gold over there under my bed; take as much out of it as ever you wish, and welcome.”

“It isn’t gold I want for my service,” said Shaking-head; “you have a gift which suits me better.”

“What gift is that?” asked the giant.

“The light black steed in your stable.”

“That’s a gift I won’t give you,” said the giant, “for when any one comes to trouble or attack me, all I have to do is to throw my leg over that steed, and away he carries me out of sight of every enemy.”

“Well,” said Shaking-head, “if you don’t give me that steed I’ll bring all the kingdom of Erin against you, and you’ll be destroyed with all you have.”

The giant stopped a moment, and said: “I believe you’d do that thing, so you may take the steed.” Then Shaking-head took the steed of the giant, gave him to the king’s son, and away they went.

At sunset Shaking-head said: “We are near the castle of another giant, the next brother to the one who entertained us last night. He hasn’t much welcome for us either; but he will treat us well when he is threatened.”

The second giant was going to eat the king’s son for supper, but when Shaking-head told him about the forces of Erin he changed his manner and entertained them well.

Next morning after breakfast, Shaking-head said: “You must give me a present for my services in warning you.”

“There is a pot of gold under my bed,” said the giant; “take all you want of it.”

“I don’t want your gold,” said Shaking-head, “but you have a gift which suits me well.”

“What is that?” asked the giant.

“The two-handed black sword that never fails a blow.”

“You won’t get that gift from me,” said the giant; “and I can’t spare it; for if a whole army were to come against me, as soon as I’d have my two hands on the hilt of that sword, I’d let no man near me without sweeping the head off him.”

“Well,” said Shaking-head, “I have been keeping back your enemies this long time; but I’ll let them at you now, and I’ll raise up more. I’ll put the whole kingdom of Erin against you.”

The giant stopped a moment, and said: “I believe you’d do that if it served you.” So he took the sword off his belt and handed it to his guest. Shaking-head gave it to the king’s son, who mounted his steed, and they both went away.

When they had gone some distance from the giant’s castle Shaking-head said to the king’s son, “Where shall we be to-night? — you have more knowledge than I.”

“Indeed then I have not,” said the king’s son; “I have no knowledge at all of where we are going; it is you who have the knowledge.”

“Well,” said Shaking-head, “we’ll be at the third and youngest giant’s castle to-night, and at first he’ll treat us far worse and more harshly, but still we’ll take this night’s lodging of him, and a good gift in the morning.”

Soon after sunset they came to the castle where they met the worst reception and the harshest they had found on the road. The giant was going to eat them both for supper; but when Shaking-head told him of the champions of Erin, he became as kind as his two brothers, and gave good entertainment to both.

Next morning after breakfast. Shaking-head asked for a present in return for his services.

“Do you see the pot of gold in the corner there under my bed? — take all you want and welcome,” said the giant.

“It’s not gold I want,” said Shaking-head, “but the cloak of darkness.”

“Oh,” said the giant, “you’ll not get that cloak of me, for I want it myself. If any man were to come against me, all I’d have to do would be to put that cloak on my shoulders, and no one in the world couki see me, or know where I’d be.”

“Well,” said Shaking-head, “it’s long enough that I am keeping your enemies away; and if you don’t give me that cloak now I’ll raise all the kingdom of Erin and still more forces to destroy you, and it’s not long you’ll last after they come.”

The giant thought a moment, and then said: “I believe you’d do what you say. There’s the black cloak hanging on the wall before you;, take it.”

Shaking-head took the cloak, and the two went away together, the king’s son riding on the light black steed, and having the double-handed sword at his back. When out of sight of the giant, Shaking-head put on the cloak, and wasn’t to be seen, and no other man could have been seen in his place. Then the king’s son looked around, and began to call and search for his man, — he was lonely without him and grieved not to see him. Shaking-head, glad to see the affection of the king’s son, took off the cloak and was at his side again.

“Where are we going now?” asked the king’s son.

“We are going on a long journey to (Ri Chuil an Or) King Behind the Gold, to ask his daughter of him.”

The two travelled on, till they came to the castle of King Behind the Gold. Then Shaking-head said: “Go in you, and ask his daughter of the king, and I’ll stay here outside with the cloak on me.” So he went in and spoke to the king, and the answer he got was this:—

“I am willing to give you my daughter, but you won’t get her unless you do what she will ask of you. And I must tell you now that three hundred kings’ sons, lacking one, have come to ask for my daughter, and in the garden behind my castle are three hundred iron spikes, and every spike of them but one is covered with the head of a king’s son who couldn’t do what my daughter wanted of him, and I’m greatly in dread that your own head will be put on the one spike that is left uncovered.”

“Well,” said the king’s son, “I’ll do my best to keep my head where it is at present.”

“Stay here in my castle,” said the king, “and you’ll have good entertainment till we know can you do what will be asked of you.”

At night when the king’s son was going to bed, the princess gave him a thimble, and said: “Have this for me in the morning.”

He put the thimble on his finger; and she thought it could be easily taken away, if he would sleep. So she came to him in the night, with a drink, and said: “I give you this in hopes I’ll gain more drink by you.” He swallowed the liquor, and the princess went away with the empty cup. Then the king’s son put the thimble in his mouth between his cheek and his teeth for safe keeping, and was soon asleep.

When the princess came to her own chamber, she struck her maid with a slat an draoichta (a rod of enchantment) and turned her into a rat; then she made such music of fifes and trumpets to sound throughout the castle, that every soul in it fell asleep. That minute, she sent the rat to where the king s son was sleeping, and the rat put her tail into the nostrils of the young man, tickled his nose so that he sneezed and blew the thimble out of his mouth. The rat caught it and ran away to the princess, who struck her with the rod of enchantment and turned her into a maid again.

Then the princess and the maid set out for the eastern world, taking the thimble with them. Shaking-head, who was watching with his cloak on, unseen by all, had seen everything, and now followed at their heels. In the eastern world, at the sea-side was a rock. The princess tapped it with her finger, and the rock opened; there was a great house inside, and in the house a giant. The princess greeted him and gave him the thimble, saying: “You’re to keep this so no man can get it.”

“Oh,” said the giant, taking the thimble and throwing it aside, “you need have no fear; no man can find me in this place.”

Shaking-head caught the thimble from the ground and put it in his pocket. When she had finished conversation with the giant, the princess kissed him, and hurried away. Shaking-head followed her step for step, till they came at break of day to the castle of King Behind the Gold. Shaking-head went to the king’s son and asked: “Was anything given you to keep last night?”

“Yes, before I came to this chamber the princess gave me her thimble, and told me to have it for her in the morning.”

“Have you it now?” asked Shaking-head.

“It is not in my mouth where I put it last night, it is not in the bed; I’m afraid my head is lost,” said the king’s son.

“Well, look at this,” said Shaking-head, taking the thimble out of his pocket and giving it to him. “The whole kingdom is moving to-day to see your death. All the people have heard that you are here asking for the princess, and they think your head will be put on the last spike in the garden with the heads of the other kings’ sons. Rise up now, mount your light black steed, ride to the summer-house of the princess and her father, and give her the thimble.”

The king’s son did as Shaking-head told him, When he gave up the thimble, the king said, “You have won one third of my daughter.” But the princess was bitterly angry and vexed to the heart, that any man on earth should know that she had dealings with the giant; she cared more for that than anything else.

When the second day had passed, and the king’s son was going to bed, the princess gave him a comb to keep, and said: “If you don’t have this for me in the morning, your head will be put on the spike that’s left in my father’s garden.”

The king’s son took the comb with him, wrapped it in a handkerchief, and tied it to his head.

In the night the princess came with a draught which she gave him, and soon he was asleep. Going back to her own chamber, she struck the maid with her rod of enchantment, and made a great yellow cat of her. Then she caused such music of fifes and trumpets to sound throughout the castle that every soul was in a deep sleep before the music was over, and that moment she sent the cat to the chamber of the king’s son. The cat worked the handkerchief off his head, took out the comb and ran with it to the princess, who turned her into a maid again.

The two set out for the eastern world straightway; but if they did, Shaking-head followed them in his cloak of darkness, till they came to the house of the giant in the great rock at the end of the road, at the sea. The princess gave the giant the comb, and said: “The thimble that I gave you to keep last night was taken from you, for the king’s son in Erin brought it back to me this morning, and has done one third of the work of winning me, and I didn’t expect you’d serve me in this way.”

When the giant heard this, he was raging, and threw the comb into the sea behind him. Then with Druidic spells he raised thunder and lightning and wind. The sea was roaring with storm and rain; but the comb had not touched the water when Shaking-head caught it.

When her talk was over the princess gave the giant a kiss, and home she went with the maid; but Shaking-head followed them step by step.

In the morning Shaking-head went to the king’s son, roused him, and asked: “What was your task last night?”

“The princess gave me a comb to have for her this morning,” answered the king’s son.

“Where is it now?” asked Shaking-head.

“Here on my head,” said the king’s son, putting up his hand to get it; but the comb was gone. “I’m done for now,” said the king’s son; “my head will be on the last spike to-day unless I have the comb for the princess.”

“Here it is for you,” said Shaking-head, taking the comb out of his pocket. “And now” said he, “the whole kingdom is coming to this castle to-day to see your head put on the last spike in the garden of King Behind the Gold, for all men think the same will happen to you that has happened to every king’s son before you. Go up on your steed and ride to the summer-house where the king and his daughter are sitting, and give her the comb.”

The king’s son did as Shaking-head bade him. When he saw the comb the king said, “Now you have my daughter two-thirds won.” But her face went from the princess entirely, she was so vexed that any man should know of her dealings with the giant.

The third night when he was going to bed the princess said to the king’s son, “If you will not have at my father’s castle to-morrow .morning the head I will kiss to-night, you’ll die to-morrow, and your own head will be put on the last spike in my father’s garden.” Later in the night she came to the bedside of the king’s son with a draught, which he drank, and before she was back in her chamber, he slept. Then she made such music all over the castle that not a soul was awake when the music had ceased. That moment she hurried away with her maid to the eastern world; but Shaking-head followed her in his cloak of darkness. This time he carried with him the two-handed sword that never failed a blow.

When she came to the rock in the eastern world and entered the house of the giant, the princess said, “You let my two gifts go with the son of the king in Erin, and he’ll have me won to-morrow if he’ll have your head at my father’s castle in the morning.”

“Never fear,” said the giant, “there is nothing in the world to take the head off me but the doublehanded sword of darkness that never fails a blow, and that sword belongs to my brother in the western world.”

The princess gave the giant a kiss at parting; and as she hurried away with her maid the giant turned to look at her. His head was covered with an iron cap; but as he looked he laid bare a thin strip of his neck. Shaking-head was there near him, and said in his mind: “Your brother’s sword has never been so close to your neck before;” and with one blow he swept the head off him. Then began the greatest struggle that Shaking-head ever had, to keep the head from the body of the giant. The head fought to put itself on again, and never stopped till the body was dead; then it fell to the ground. Shaking-head seized, but couldn’t stir the head, — couldn’t move it from its place. Then he searched all around it and found a (bar an suan) pin of slumber near the ear. When he took the pin away he had no trouble in carrying the head; and he made no delay but came to the castle at daybreak, and threw the head to a herd of pigs that belonged to the king. Then he went to the king’s son, and asked:

“What happened to you last night?”

“The princess came to me, and said that if I would’nt bring to her father’s castle this morning the head she was to kiss last night, my own head would be on the last spike to-day.”

“Come out with me now to the pigs,” said Shaking-head.

The two went out, and Shaking-head said: “Go in among the pigs, and take the head with you to the king; and a strange head it is to put before a king.”

So the king’s son went on his steed to the summer-house, and gave the head to the king and his daughter, and turning to the princess, said:

“This is the head you kissed last night, and it’s not a nice looking head either.”

“You have my daughter won now entirely,” said the king, “and she is yours. And do you take that head to the great dark hole that is out there on one side of my castle grounds, and throw it down.”

The king’s son mounted his steed, and rode oflf with the head till he came to the hole going deep into the earth. When he let down the head it went to the bottom with such a roaring and such a noise that every mare and cow and every beast in the whole kingdom cast its young, such was the terror that was caused by the noise of the head in going to the bottom of the hole.

When the head was put away the king’s son went back to the castle, and married the daughter of King Behind the Gold. The wedding lasted nine days and nights, and the last night was better than the first.

When the wedding was over Shaking-head went to the king, and said: “You have provided no fortune for your daughter, and it is but right that you should remember her.”

“I have plenty of gold and silver to give her,” said the king.

“It isn’t gold and silver that your son-in-law wants, but men to stand against his enemies, when they come on him.”

“I have more treasures than men,” said King Behind the Gold; “but I won’t see my daughter conquered for want of an army.”

They were satisfied with the king’s word, and next day took the road to Erin, and kept on their way till they came opposite the grave-yard. Then Shaking-head said to the king’s son: “You are no good, you have never told me a story since the first day I saw you.”

“I have but one story to tell you, except what happened since we met.”

“Well, tell me what happened before we met.”

“I was passing this place before I saw you,” said the king’s son, “and four men were fighting over a coffin. I spoke to them, and two of them said they were burying the body of their brother which was in the coffin, and the others said the dead man owed them five pounds, and they wouldn’t let the coffin into the ground until they got the money. I paid five pounds and the body was buried.”

“It was my body was in the coffin,” said Shaking-head, “and I came back into this world to do you a good turn; and now I am going, and you’ll never see me again unless trouble is on you.”

Shaking-head disappeared, and the king’s son went home. He wasn’t with his father long till the other three kings’ sons heard he had come back to Erin with the daughter of King Behind the Gold. They sent word, saying: “We’ll take the head off you now, and put an end to your father and yourself.”

The king’s son went out to walk alone, and as he was lamenting the fate he had brought on his father, who should come along to meet him but Shaking-head.

“What trouble is on you now?” asked he.

“Oh, three kings’ sons are coming with their fleets and armies to destroy my father and’ myself, and what can we do with our one fleet and one army?”

“Well,” said Shaking-head, “I’ll settle that for you without delay.” Then he sent a message straight to King Behind the Gold, who gave a fleet and an army, and they came to Erin so quickly that they were at the castle before the forces of the -three kings’ sons. And when the three came the battle began on sea and land at both sides of the castle.

The three fleets of the three kings’ sons were sunk, their armies destroyed, and the three heads taken off themselves. When the battle was over and the country safe the king resigned the castle and power to his son, and the son of a king in a province became king over all the land of Erin.

The followong variant, which is one I tend to prefer, is close to the version I head Ben Haggerty tell at Stealing Thunder 2025, in which the dead man was a blacksmith(?) who has taken all the iron from that place; the conceit with the witches saw the young man take a sack of what looked like gold (but turned to worthless leaves?) whilst the companion took what looked to be worthless (“oh, you don’t want that..”). The troll was a (the?) devil (?).

A Norwegian variant, The Companion, 1874

https://archive.org/details/talesfromfjelda00dasegoog/page/n96/mode/2up Tales from the fjeld. A second series of popular tales by Asbjørnsen, Peter Christen, 1812-1885. [from old catalog]; Dasent, George Webbe, Sir, 1817-1896, tr

Publication date 1874

pp. 71-88

THE COMPANION.

We all thought Peter’s three stories first rate, but he was not going to be put off with praise, and asked Anders if he knew The Companion.

“Yes,” was the answer, “but it’s a long story, though a very good one.”

“If it’s long, the sooner you begin it the better,” said Peter; “and then it will be sooner over.”

Anders made no more mouths about it, but began:

THE COMPANION.

“ONCE on a time there was a farmer’s son who dreamt that he was to marry a princess far, far out in the world. She was as red and white as milk and blood, and so rich there was no end to her riches. When he awoke be seemed to see her still standing bright and living before him, and he thought her so sweet and lovely that his life was not worth having unless he had her too. So he sold all he had, and set off into the world to find her out. Well, he went far, and farther than far, and about winter he came to a land where all the high-roads lay right straight on end; there wasn’t a bend in any of them.

When he had wandered on and on for a quarter of a year he came to a town, and outside the church-door lay a big block of ice, in which there stood a dead body, and the whole parish spat on it as they passed by to church. The lad wondered at this, and when the priest came out of church he asked him what it all meant

“‘It is a great wrong-doer,’ said the priest. ‘He has been executed for his ungodliness, and set up there to be mocked and spat upon.’

“‘But what was his wrong-doing?’ asked the lad.

“‘When he was alive here he was a vintner,’ said the priest, ‘and he mixed water with his wine.’

“The lad thought that no such dreadful sin.

“‘Well,’ he said, ‘after he had atoned for it with his life, you might as well have let him have Christian burial and peace after death.’

“But the priest said that could not be in any wise, for there must be folk to break him out of the ice, and money to buy a grave from the church; then the grave-digger must be paid for digging the grave, and the sexton for tolling the bell, and the clerk for singing the hjrmns, and the priest for sprinkling dust over him.

“‘Do you think now there would be any one who would be willing to pay all this for an executed sinner?’

“‘Yes,’ said the lad. ‘If he could only get him buried in Christian earth, he would be sure to pay for his funeral ale out of his scanty means.’

“Even after that the priest hemmed and hawed; but when the lad came with two witnesses, and asked him right out in their hearing if he could refuse to sprinkle dust over the corpse, he was forced to answer that he could not.

“So they broke the vintner out of the block of ice, and laid him in Christian earth, and they tolled the bell and sang hymns over him, and the priest sprinkled dust over him, and they drank his funeral ale till they wept and laughed by turns; but when the lad had paid for the ale he hadn’t many pence left in his pocket.

“He set off on his way again, but he hadn’t got far ei-e a man overtook him who asked if he did not think it dull work walking on all alone.

“No; the lad did not think it dull. ‘I have always something to think about,’ he said.

“Then the man asked if he wouldn’t like to have a servant.

“‘No,’ said the lad; ‘I am wont to be my own servant, therefore I have need of none; and even if I wanted one ever so much, I have no means to get one, for I have no money to pay for his food and wages.’

“‘You do need a servant, that I know better than you,’ said the man, ‘and you have need of one whom you can trust in life and death. If you won’t have me as a servant, you may take me as your companion; I give you my word I will stand you in good stead, and it shan’t cost you a penny. I will pay my own fare, and as for food and clothing, you shall have no trouble about them.’

“Well, on those terms he was willing enough to have him as his companion; so after that they travelled together and the man for the most part went on ahead and showed the lad the way.

“So after they had travelled on and on from land to land, over hill and wood, they came to a crossfell that stopped the way. There the companion went up and knocked, and bade them open the door; and the rock opened sure enough, aiid when they got inside the hill up came an old witch with a chair, and asked them, ‘Be so good as to sit down. No doubt ye are weary.’

“‘Sit on it yourself,’ said the man. So she was forced to take her seat, and as soon as she sat down she stuck fast, for the chair was such that it let no one loose that came near it Meanwhile they went about inside the hill, and the companion looked round till he saw a sword hanging over the door. That he would have, and if he got it he gave his word to the old witch that he would let her loose out of the chair.

“‘Nay, nay,’ she screeched out; ‘ask me anything else. Anything else you may have, but not that, for it is my Three-Sister Sword; we are three sisters who own it together.’

“‘Very well; then you may sit there till the end of the world,’ said the man. But when she heard that, she said he might have it if he would set her free.

“So he took the sword and went off with it, and left her still sitting there.

“‘When they had gone far, far away over naked fells and wide wastes, they came to another crossfelL There, too, the companion knocked and bade them open the door, and the same thing happened as happened before; the rock opened, and when they had got a good way into the hill another old witch came up to them with a chair and begged them to sit down. ‘Ye may well be weary/ she said.

“‘Sit down yourself,’ said the companion. And so she fared as her sister had fared, she did not dare to say nay, and as soon as she came on the chair she stuck fast. Meanwhile the lad and his companion went about in the hill, and the man broke open all the chests and drawers till he found what he sought, and that was a golden ball of yam. That he set his heart on, and he promised the old witch to set her free if she would give him the golden ball. She said he might take all she had, but that she could not part with; it was her Three-Sister Ball. But when she heard that she should sit there till Doomsday unless he got it, she said he might take it all the same if he would only set her free. So the companion took the golden ball, but he left her sitting where she sat.

“So on they went for many days, over waste and wood, till they came to a third crossfelL There all went as it had gone twice before. The companion knocked, the rock opened, and inside the hill an old witch came up, and asked them to sit on her chair, they must be tired. But the companion said again, ‘ Sit on it yourself,’ and there she sat. They had not gone through many rooms before they saw an old hat which hung on a peg behind the door. That the companion must and would have; but the old witch couldn’t part with it. It was her Three-Sister Hat, and if she gave it away, all her luck would be lost. But when she heard that she would have to sit there till the end of the world unless he got it, she said he might take it if he would only let her loose. When the companion had got well hold of the hat, he went off, and bade her sit there still, like the rest of her sisters.

“After a long, long time, they came to a Sound; then the companion took the ball of yam, and threw it so hard against the rock on the other side of the stream that it bounded back, and after he had thrown it backwards and forwards a few times it became a bridge. On that bridge they went over the Sound, and when they reached the other side, the man bade the lad to be quick and wind up the yam again as soon as he could, for, said he: —

“‘If we don’t wind it up quick, all those witches will come after us, and tear us to bits.’

“So the lad wound and wound with all his might and main, and when there was no more to wind than the very last thread, up came the old witches on the wings of the wind. They flew to the water, so that the spray rose before them, and snatched at the end of the thread; but they could not quite get hold of it, and so they were drowned in the Sound.

“When they had gone on a few days further, the companion said, ‘Now we are soon coming to the castle where she is, the princess of whom you dreamt, and when we get there, you must go in and tell the king what you dreamt, and what it is you are seeking.’

“So when they reached it he did what the man told him, and was very heartily welcomed. He had a room for himself, and another for his companion, which they were to live in, and when dinner-time drew near, he was bidden to dine at the king^s own board. As soon as ever he set eyes on the princess he knew her at once, and saw it was she of whom he had dreamt as his bride. Then he told her his business, and she answered that she liked him well enough, and would gladly have him; but first he must undergo three trials. So when they had dined she gave him a pair of golden scissors, and said, —

“‘The first proof is that you must take these scissors and keep them, and give them to me at mid-day to-morrow. It is not so very great a trial, I fancy,’ she said, and made a face; ‘but if you can’t stand it, you lose your life; it is the law, and so you will be drawn and quartered, and your body will, be stuck on stakes, and your head over the gate, just like those lovers of mine, whose skulls and skeletons you see outside the king’s castle/

“‘That is no such great art,’ thought the lad.

“But the princess was so merry and mad, and flirted so much with him, that he forgot all about the scissors and himself, and so while they played and sported, she stole the scissors away from him without his knowing it. When he went up to his room at night, and told how he had fared, and what she had said to him, and about the scissors she gave him to keep, the compaijion said, —

“‘Of course you have the scissors safe and sure.’

“Then he searched in all his pockets; but there were no scissors, and the lad was in a sad way when he found them wanting.

“‘Well! well!’ said the companion; ‘I’ll see if I can’t get you them again.’

“With that he went down into the stable, and there stood a big, fat Billygoat, which belonged to the princess, and it was of that breed that it could fly many times faster through the air than it could run on land« So he took the Three-Sister Sword, and gave it a stroke between the horns, and said, —

“‘When rides the princess to see. her lover to-night?’

“The Billygoat baaed, and said it dared not say, but when it had another stroke, it said the princess was coming at eleven o’clock. Then the companion put on the Three-Sister Hat, and all at once he became invisible, and so he waited for her. When she came, she took and rubbed the Billygoat with an ointment which she had in a great horn, and said, —

“‘Away, away, o’er roof tree and steeple, o’er land, o’er sea, o’er hill, o’er dale, to my true love who awaits me in fell this night.’

“‘At the very moment that the goat set oflF, the companion threw himself on behind, and away they went like a blast through the air. They were not long on the way, and in a trice they came to a crossfell. There she knocked, and so the goat passed through the fell to the Troll, who was her lover.

“‘Now, my dear,’ she said, ‘a new lover is come, whose heart is set on having me. He is young and handsome but I will have no other than you,’ and so she coaxed and petted the Troll.

“‘So I set him a trial, and here are the scissors he was to watch and keep; now do you keep them,’ she said.

“So the two laughed heartily, just as though they had the lad already on wheel and stake.

“‘Yes! yes!’ said the Troll; ‘I’ll keep them safe enough. And I shall sleep on the bride’s white arm, While ravens round his skeleton swim.’

“And so he laid the scissors in an iron chest with three locks; but just as he dropped them into the chest, the companion snapped them up. Neither of them could see him, for he had on the Three-Sister Hat; and ao the Troll locked up the chest for naught, and he hid the keys he had in the hollow eye-tooth in which he had the toothache. There it would be hard work for any one to find them, the Troll thought.

“So when midnight was passed she set off home again. The companion got up behind the goat, and they lost no time on the way back.

“Next day, about noon, the lad was asked down to the king’s board; but then the princess gave herself such airs, and was so high and mighty, she would scarce look towards the side where the lad sat. After they had dined, she dressed her face in holiday garb, and said, as if butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, —

“‘May be you have those scissors which I begged you to keep, yesterday?’

“‘Oh, yes, I have;’ said the lad, ‘and here they are,’ and with that he pulled them out, and drove them into the board, till it jumped again. The princess could not have been more vexed had he driven the scissors into her face; but for all that she made herself soft and gentle, and said, —

“‘Since you have kept the scissors so well, it won’t be any trouble to you to keep my golden ball of yam, and take care you give it me to-morrow at noon; but if you have lost it, you shall lose your life on the scaffold. It is the law.’

“The lad thought that an easy thing, so he took and put the goldep ball into his pocket. But she fell a-plajdng and flirting with him again, so that he forgot both himself and the golden ball, and while they were at the height of their games and pranks, she stole it from him, and sent him off to bed.

“Then when he came up to his bed-room, and told what they had said and done, his companion asked, —

“‘Of course you have the golden ball she gave you?’

“‘Yes! yes!’ said the lad, and felt in his pocket where he had put it; but no, there was no ball to be found, and he fell again into such an ill mood, and knew not which way to turn.

“‘Well! well! bear up a bit,’ said the companioa ‘I’ll see if I can’t lay hands on it;’ and with that he took the sword and hat and strode off to a smith, and got twelve pounds of iron welded on to the back of the sword-blade. Then he went down to the stable, and gave the Billygoat a stroke between his horns, so that the brute went head over heels, and he asked, —

“‘When rides the princess to see her lover to-night?’

“‘At twelve o’clock,’ baaed the Billygoat.

“So the companion put on the Three-Sister Hat again, and waited till she came, tearing along with her horn of ointment, and greased the Billygoat. Then she said, as she had said the first time, —

“‘Away, away, o’er rooftree and steeple, o’er land, o’er sea, o’er hill, o’er dale, to my true love who awaits me in the fell this night.’

“In a trice they were off, and the companion threw himself on behind the Billygoat, and away they went like a blast through the air. In the twinkling of an eye they came to the Troll’s hill; and, when she had knocked three times, they passed through the rock to the Troll, who was her lover.

“‘Where was it you hid the golden scissors I gave you yesterday, my darling?’ cried out the princess. ‘My wooer had it and gave it back to me.’

“‘That was quite impossible,’ said the Troll; for he had locked it up in a chest with three locks and hidden the keys in the hollow of his eye-tooth; but, when they unlocked the chest, and looked for it, the Troll had no scissors in his chest.

“So the princess told him how she had given her suitor her golden ball.

“‘And here it is,’ she said; ‘for I took it from him again without his knowing it. But what shall we hit upon now, since he is master of such craft!’

“Well, the Troll hardly knew; but, after they had thought a bit, they made up their minds to light a large fire and burn the golden ball; and so they would be cocksuire that he could not get at it. But, just as she tossed it into the fire, the companion stood ready and caught it; and neither of them saw him, for he had on the ThreeSister Hat.

“When the princess had been with the Troll a little while, and it began to grow towards dawn, she set off home again, and the companion got up behind her on the goat, and they got back fast and safe.

“Next day, when the lad was bidden down to dinner, the companion gave him the balL The princess was even more high and haughty than the day before, and, after they iiad dined, she perked up her mouth, and said, in a dainty voice, —

“‘Perhaps it is too much to look for that you should give me back my golden ball, which I gave you to keep yesterday?’

“‘Is it?’ said the lad. ‘You shall soon have it Here it is, safe enough;’ and, as he said that, he threw it down on the board so hard, that it shook again; and, as for the king, he gave a jump high up into the air.

“The princess got as pale as a corpse, but she soon came to herself again, and said, in a sweet, small voice, —

“‘Well done, well done!’ Now he had only one more trial left, and it was this:

“‘If you are so clever as to bring me what I am now thinking of by dinner-time to-morrow, you shall win me, and have me to wife.’

“That was what she said.

“The lad felt like one doomed to death, for he thought it quite impossible to know what she was thinking about, and still harder to bring it to her; and so, when he went up to his bed-room, it was hard work to comfort him at all. His companion told him to be easy, he would see if he could not get the right end of the stick this time too, as he had done twice before. So the lad at last took heart, and lay down to sleep.

“Meanwhile, the companion went to the smith and got twenty-four pounds of iron welded on to his sword; and, when that was done, he went down to the stable and let fly at the Billygoat between the horns with such a blow, that he went right head over heels against the wall.

“‘When rides the princess to her lover to-night?’ he asked.

“‘At one o’clock,’ baaed the Billygoat.

“So, when the hour drew near, the companion stood in the stable with his Three-Sister Hat on; and, when she had greased the goat, and uttered the same words that they were to fly through the air to her true love, who was waiting for her in the fell, off they went again, on the wings of the wind; and, all the while, the companion sat behind.

“But he was not light-handed this time; for, every now and then, he gave the princess a slap, so that he almost beat the breath out of her body.

“And when they came to the wall of rock, she knocked at the dopr, and it opened, and they passed on into the fell to her lover.

“As soon as she got there, she fell to bewailing, and was very cross, and said she never knew the air could deal such buflfets; she almost thought, indeed, that some one sat behind, who beat both the Billygoat and herself; she was sure she was black and blue all over her body, such a hard flight had she had through the air.

“Then she went on to tell how her lover had brought her the golden ball too; how it happened, neither she nor the Troll could tell.

“‘But now do you know what I have hit upon?’

“No; the Troll did not.

“‘Well,’ she went on; ‘I have told him to bring me what I was then thinking of by dinner-time to-morrow, and what I thought of was your head. Do you think he can get that, my darling?’ said the princess, and began to fondle the Troll.

“‘No, I don’t think he can,’ said the Troll. ‘He would take his oath he couldn’t;’ and then the Troll burst out laughing, and scunnered worse than any ghost, and both the princess and the Troll thought the lad would be drawn and quartered, and that the crows would peck out his eyes, before he could get the Troll’s head.

“So when it turned towards dawn, she had to get off home again; but she was afraid, she said, for she thought there was some one behind her, and so she was afraid to ride home alone. The Troll must go mth her on the way. Yes; the Troll would go with her, and he led out his Billygoat (for he had one that matched the princess’s), and he smeared it and greased it between the horns. And when the Troll got up, the companion crept on behind, and so off they set through the air to the king’s grange. But all the way the companion thrashed the Troll and his Billygoat, and gave them cut and thrust and thrust and cut with his sword, till they got weaker and weaker, and at last were well on the. way to sink down into the sea over which they passed. Now the Troll thought the weather was so wild, he went right home with the princess up to the king’s grange, and stood outside to see that she got home safe and well. But just as she shut the. door behind her, the companion struck off the Troll’s head and ran up with it to the lad’s bedroom.

“‘Here is what the princess thought of,’ said he.

“Well, they were merry and joyful, one may think, and when the lad was bidden down to dinner, and they had dined, the princess was as lively as a lark.

“‘No doubt you have got what I thought of ?’ said she.

“‘Aye; aye; I have it,’ said the lad, and he tore it out from under his coat, and threw it down on the board with such a thump that the board, trestles and all, was upset. As for the princess, she was as though she had been dead and buried; but she could not say that this was not what she was thinking of, and so now he was to have her to wife as she had given her word So they made a bridal feast, and there was drinking and gladness all over the kingdom.

“But the companion took the lad on one side, andjtold him that he might just shut his eyes and sham sleep on the bridal night; but if he held his life dear, and would listen to him, he wouldn’t let a wink come over them till he had stripped her of her troll-skin, which had been thrown over her, but he must flog it off her with a rod made of nine new birch twigs, and he must tear it off her in three tubs of milk: first he was to scrub her in a tub of year-old whey, and then he was to scour her in the tub of buttermilk, and lastly, he was to rub her in a tub of new milk. The birch twigs lay under the bed, and the tubs he had set in the comer of the roonu Everything was ready to his hand. Yes; the lad gave his word to do as he was bid and to listen to him. So when they got into the bridal bed at even, the lad shammed as though he had given himself up to sleep. Then the princess raised herself up on her elbow and looked at him to see if he slept, and tickled him under the nose; but the lad slept on still. Then she tugged his hair and his beard; but he lay like a log, as she thought. After that she drew out a big butcher’s knife from under the bolster,, and was just going to hack off his head; but the lad jumped up, dashed the knife out of her hand, and caught her by the hair. Then he flogged her with the birchrods, and wore them out upon her till there was not a twig left When that was over he tumbled her into the tub of whey, and then he got to see what sort of beast she was: she was black as a raven all over her body; but when he scrubbed her well in the whey, and scoured her with butte^r-milk, and rubbed her well in new milk, her troll-skin dropped off her, and she was fair and lovely and gentle; so lovely she had never looked before.

“Next day the companion said they must set off home. Yes; the lad was ready enough, and the princess too, for her dower had been long waiting. In the night the companion fetched to the king’s grange all the gold and silver and precious things which the Troll had left behind him in the Fell, and when they were ready^to start in the morning the whole grange was so full of silver, and gold, and jewels, there was no walking without treading on them. That dower was worth more than all the king’s land and realm, and they were at their wits’ end to know how to carry it with them. . But the companion knew a way out of eveiy strait. The Troll left behind him six billygoats, who could all fly through the air. Those he so laded with silver and gold that they were forced to walk along the ground, and had no strength to mount aloft and fly, and what the billygoats could not carry had to stay behind in the king’s grange. So they travelled far, and farther than far, but at lagt the billygoats got so footsore and tired they could not go another step. The lad and the princess knew not what to do; but when the companion saw they could not get on, he took the whole dower on his back, and the billygoats atop of it, and bore it all so far on that there was only half a mile left to the lad’s home.

“Then the companion said: ‘Now we must part. I can’t stay with you any longer.’

“But the lad would not part from him, he would not lose him for much or little. Well, he went with them a quarter of a mile more; but farther he could not go, and when the lad begged and prayed him to go home and stay with him altogether, or at least as long as they had drunk his home-coming ale in his father’s house, the companion said, ‘No. That could not be. Now he must part, for he heard heaven’s bells ringing for him.’ He was the vintner who had stood in the block of ice outside the church door, whom all spat upon; and he had been his companion and helped him because he had given all he had to get him peace and rest in Christian Earth.

“‘I had leave,’ he said, ‘to follow you a year, and now the year is out.’

“When he was gone the lad laid together alibis wealth in a safe place, and went home without any baggage. Then they drank his home-coming ale, till the news spread far and wide, over seven kingdoms, and when they had got to the end of the feast, they had carting and carrying all the winter both with the billygoats and the twelve horses which his father had before they got all that gold and silver safely carted home.”

Another Irish Variant, Jack the Master and Jack the Servant, 1866

https://archive.org/details/legendaryfictio00kenngoog/page/n52/mode/2up Legendary Fictions of the Irish Celts by Patrick Kennedy

Publication date 1866

pp.32-39

JACK THE MASTER AND JACK THE SERVANT.

There was once a poor couple, and they had three sons, and the youngest’s name was Jack. One harvest day, the eldest fellow threw down his hook, and says he, “What’s the use to be slaving this way? I’ll go seek my fortune.” And the second son said the very same: and says Jack, “I’ll go seek my fortune along with you, but let us first leave the harvest stacked for the old couple” Well, he over-persuaded them, and bedad, as soon as it was safe, they kissed their father and mother, and off they set, every one with three pounds in his pocket, promising to be home again in a year and a day. The first night they had no better lodging than a fine dry dyke of a ditch, outside of a church>-ard. Before they went to sleep, Uie youngest got inside to read the tombstones. What should he stimible over but a coffin, and the sod was just taken oflf where the grave was to be. “Some poor body,” says he, “that was without fiiends to put him in consecrated ground: he mustn’t be left this way.” So he threw oflf his coat, and had a couple of feet deaied out, when a terrible giant walked up. “What are you at?” says he; “the corpse owed me a guinea, and he sha’n’t be buried till it is paid.” “Well, here is yovx guinea,” says Jack, “and leave the churchyard: it’s nothing the better for yoiu: company.” WelL he got down a couple of feet more, when another uglier giant again, with two heads on him, came and stopped Jack with the same story, and got his guinea; and when the grave was six feet down, the third giant looks on him, and he had three heads. So Jack was obliged to part with his three guineas before he could put the sod over the poor man. Then he went and lay down by his brothers, and slept till the sun began to shine on their faces next morning.

They soon came to a cross-road, and there every one took his own way. Jack told them how all his money was gone, but not a farthing did they offer him. Well, after some time. Jack found himself hungry, and so he sat down by the road side, and pulled out a piece of cake and a lump of bacon. Just as he had the first bit in his mouth, up comes a poor man, and asks something of him for God’s sake. “I have neither brass, gold, nor silver about me,” says Jack; “and here’s all the provisions Fm master of. Sit down and have a share.” Well, the poor man didn’t require much pressing, and when the meal was over, says he, “Sir, where are you bound for?” “Faith, I don’t know,” says Jack; “I’m going to seek my fortune.” “I’ll go with you for your servant,” says the other. “Servant inagh (forsooth)! bad I want a servant — I, that’s looking out for a place myself.” “No matter. You gave Christian burial to my poor brother yesterday evening. He appeared to me in a dream, and told me where I’d find you, and that I was to be your servant for a year. So you’ll be Jack the master, and I Jack the servant.” “Well, let it be so.”

After sunset, they came to a castle in a wood, and “Here,” says the servant, “lives the giant with one head, that wouldn’t let my poor brother be buried.” He took hold of a club that hung by the door, and gave two or three thravallys on it “What do yous want?” says the giant, looking out through a grating. “Oh, sir, honey!” says Jack, “we want to save you. The king is sending 100,000 men to take your life for all the wickedness you ever done to poor travellers, and that. So because you let my brother be buried, I came to help you.” “Oh, murdher, murdher, what’ll I do at all at all?” says he. “Have you e’er a hiding-place?” says Jack, “I have a cave seven miles long, and it opens into the bawn.” “That’ll do. Leave a good supper for the men, and then don’t stir out of your pew till I call you.” So they went in, and the giant left a good supper for the army, and went down, and they shut the trap-door down on him.

Well, they ate and they drank, and then Jack gother all the horses and cows, and drove them over an hether the trap-door, and such fighting and shouting, whinnying and lowing, as they had, and such noise as they made! Then Jack opened the door, and called out, “Are you there, sir?” “I am,” says he, from a mile or two inside “Wor you frightened, sirl” “You may say frightened. Are they gone away?” “Dickens a go the/U go till you give them your sword of sharpness.” “Cock them up with the sword of sharpness. 1 won’t give them a smite of it.” “Well, I think you’re right. Look out. They’ll be down with you in the twinkling of a harrow pin. Go to the end of the cave, and they won’t have your head for an hour to come.” “Well, that’s no great odds; you’ll find it in the closet inside the parlour. D————— do ‘em good with it.” “Very well,” says Jack; “when they’re all cleared off. Til drop a big stone on the trapdoor.” So the two Jacks slept very combustible in the giant’s bed — it was big enough for them; and next morning, after breakfast, they dropped the big stone on the trap-door, and away they went

That night they slept at the casde of the two-headed giant, and got his cloak of darkness in the same way; and the next night they slept at the castle of the threeheaded giant, and got his shoes of swiftness; and the next night they were near the king’s palace. “Now,” says Jack the servant, “this king has a daughter, and she was so proud that twelve princes killed themselves for her, because she would not marry any of them. At last the King of Moroco thought to persuade her, and the dickens a bit of him she’d have no more nor the others. So he fell on his sword, and died; and the old boy got leave to give him a kind of life again, to punish the proud lady. Maybe it’s an imp from hell is in his appearance. He lives in a palace one side of the river, and the king’s psilace is on the other, and he has got power over the princess and her father; and when they have the heads of twelve courtiers over the gate, the King of Moroco will have the princess to himself, and maybe the evil spirit will have them both. Every young man that offers himself has to do three things, and if he fails in all, up goes his head. There you see them— eleven, all black and white, with the sun and rain. You must try your hand. God is stronger than the de\al.’’

So they came to the gate. “What do you want?” says the guard. “I want to get the princess for my wife.” “Do you see them heads?” “Yes; what of that?” “Yours will be along with them before you’re a week older.” “That’s my own look out” “Well, go on. God help all foolish people!” The king was on his throne in the big hall, and the princess sitting on a golden chair by his side. “Death or my daughter, I suppose,” says the king to Jack the master. “Just so, my liege,” says Jack. “Very well,” says the king. “I don’t know whether I’m glad or sorry,” says he. “If you don’t succeed in the three things, my daughter must marry the King of Mordco. If you do succeed, I suppose we’ll be eased from the dog’s life we are leading. I’ll leave my daughter’s scissors in your bedroom to-night, and you’ll find no one going in till morning. , If you have the scissors still at sunrise, your head will be safe for that day. Next day you must run a race against the King of Mordco, and if you win, your head will be safe that day too. Next day you must bring me the King of Mordco’s head, or your own head, and then all this bother will be over one way or the other.”

Well, they gave the two a good supper, and one time the princess would look sweet at Jack, and another time sour; for you know she was under enchantment. Sometimes she’d wish him killed, sometimes she’d like him to be saved.

When they went into their bedroom, the king came in along with them, and laid the scissors on the table. “Mind that,” says he, “and I’m sure I don’t know whether I wish to find it there to-morrow or not.” Well, poor Jack was a little frightened, but his man encouraged him, “Go to bed,” says he; “I’ll put on the cloak of darkness, and watch, and I hope you’ll find the scissors here at sunrise.” Well, bedad he couldn’t go to sleep. He kept his eye on the scissors till the dead hour, and the moment it struck twelve no scissors could he see: it vanished as clean as a whistle. He looked here, there, and everywhere — no scissors. “Well,” says he, “there’s hope still. Are you there, Jack?” but no answer came. “I can do no more,” says he. “I’ll go to bed.” And to bed he went, and slept.

Just as the clock was striking, Jack in the cloak saw the wall opening, and the princess walking in, going over to the table, taking up the scissors, and walking out again. He followed her into the garden, and there he saw herself and her twelve maids going down to the boat that was lying by the bank. “I’m in,” says the princess; “I’m in,” says one maid; and “I’m in,” says another; and so on till all were in; and “I’m in,” says Jack. “Who’s that?” says the last maid. “Go look,” says Jack. Well, they were all a bit frightened. When they got over, they walked up to the King of Mordco’s palace, and there the King of Moroco was to receive them, and give them the best of eating and drinking, and make his musicianers play the finest music for them.

When they were coming away, says the princess, “Here’s the scissors; mind it or not as you like.” “Oh, won’t I mind it!” says he. “Here you go,” says he again, opening a chest, and dropping it into it, and locking it up with three locks. But before he shut down the lid, my brave Jack picked up the scissors, and put it safe into his pocket. Well, when they came to the boat, the same things were said, and the maids were frightened again.

When Jack the master awoke in the morning, the fiust thing he saw was the scissors on the table, and the next thing he saw was his man lying asleep in the other bed, the next was the cloak of darkness hanging on the bed’s foot Well, he got up, and he danced, and he sung, and he hugged Jack; and when the king came in with a troubled face, there was the scissors safe and sound. “Well, Jack,” says he, “you’re safe for one day more.” The king and princess were more meentrach (loving) to Jack to-day than they were yesterday, and the next day the race was to be run.

At last the hour of noon came, and there was the King of Mor6co’’with tight clothes on him — themselves, and his hair, and his eyes as black as a crow, and his face as yellow as a kite’s claw. Jack was there too, and on his feet were the shoes of swiftness. When the bugle blew, they were off, and Jack went seven times round the course while the king went one: it was like the fish in the water, the arrow from a bow, the stone from a sling, or a star shooting in the night. When the race was won, and the people were shouting, the black king looked at Jack like the very devil himself, and says he, “Don’t holloa till you’re out of the wood — to-morrow your head or mine.” “Heaven is stronger than hell,” says Jack.

And now the princess began to wish in earnest that Jack would win, for two parts of the charm were broke. So some one from her told Jack the servant that she and her maids should pay their visit to the Black Fellow at midnight like every other night past. Jack the servant was in the garden in his cloak when the hour came, and they all said the same words, and rowed over, and went up to the palace like as they done before.

The king was in a great state of fear and anger, and scolded the princess, and she didn’t seem to care much about it; but when they were leaving she said, “You know to-morrow is to have your head or Jack’s head off. I suppose you will stay up all night!” He was standing on the grass when they were getting into the boat, and just as the last maid had her foot on the edge of it, Jack swept off his head with the sword of sharpness just as if it was the head of a thistle, and put it under his cloak. The body fell on the grass and made no noise. Well, the same moment the princess felt any liking she had for him all gone like last year’s snow, and she began to sob maids were not very good at all, and so, from tbc mtntieni they got out of the boat. Jack kept knocking the head against their faces and their legs, and made them roar and bawl till they were inside of the palace.

The first thing Jack the master saw when he woke in the morning, was the black head on the table, and didn’t he jump up in a hurry. When the sun was rising, every one in the palace, great and small, were in the bawn before Jack’s window, and the king was at the door. “Jack,” said he, “if you havn’t the King of Moroco’s head on a gad, your own will be on a spear, my poor fellow.” But just at the moment he heard a great shout from the lawn. Jack the servant was after opening the window, and holding out the King of Moroco’s head by the long black hair.

So the princess, and the king, and all were in joy, arirl maybe they didn’t keep the wedding long a-waiting. A year and a day after Jack left home, himself and lus wife were in their coach at the cross-roads, and there were the two poor brothers, sleeping in the ditch with their rcaf^ing-hooks by their sides. They wouldn’t believe Jack at first that he was their brother, and then they were ready to cat their nails for not sharing with him Uiat day twelvemonth. They found their father and mother alive, and you may be sure they left them comfort;iblc. So vou see what a good thing in the end it is to be charitable to the poor, dead or alive.

In some versions of “Jack the Master,” &c. Jack the servant is the spirit of the buried man. He aids and abets his master in leaving the giants interred alive in their caves, and carrying off their gold and silver, and he helps him to cheat his future father-in-law at cards, and bears a hand in other proceedings, most disgraceful to any ghost encumbered with a conscience. As originally told, the anxiety of the hero to bestow sepulchral rites on the corpse, arose from his wish to rescue the soul from its dismal wanderings by the gloomy Styx. In borrowing these fictions from their heathen predecessors, the Christian storytellers did not take much trouble to correct their laxity on the subject of moral obligations. Theft, manslaughter, and disregard of marriage vows, ofien pass uncensured by the free and easy narrator.

And a third Irish Variant, Beauty of the World, 1893

https://archive.org/details/afl2306.0001.001.umich.edu/page/154/mode/2up West Irish folk-tales and romances; by Larminie, William, ed. and tr

Publication date 1893

pp.155-167

BEAUTY OF THE WORLD.

Narrator P. Minahan, Malinmore, Glencolumktlle, Co. Donegal.

THERE was a king then, and he had but one son. He was out hunting. He was going past the churchyard. There were four men in the churchyard and a corpse. There was debt on the corpse. The king’s son went in. He asked what was the matter. Said one of the men :

“The dead man is in our debt. I am not willing to bury the body, till the two sons who are here, promise to pay the debts.”

“We are not able to pay,” said one of them.

“I have five pounds,” said the king’s son; “I will give them to you to bury the body.”

He gave the five pounds. The body was buried. The king’s son went hunting. He went home in the evening. In the morning of the morrow there was snow. He went out hunting in the snow. He killed a black raven. He stood over it and looked at it. He said in his own mind he would never marry a woman whose head was not as black as the bird’s wing, and her skin as white as the snow, and her cheeks as red as the blood on the snow.

He went home. On the morning of the morrow, when he rose, he washed himself, and he went away to find the woman. When he was going for a time, he met with a red-haired young man. The young man saluted him. He asked him where he was going. The king’s son told him he was going to get one sight of that woman.

“It is better for you to hire me,” said the young man.

“What wages do you be asking?”

“Half of all we gain, to the end of a year and a day.”

The two went on with themselves till the evening came. Said the red man :

“There is a man related to me living in this wood below. Do you wait here till I go down to him.”

The red man went down to the house of the giant. The giant was sitting on a chair by the fire.

“Uncle, dear,” said the red man, “is it like this you are?”

“Yes, kinsman mine: what is coming to me?”

Said the red man: “The King of the prodigious Eastern World is coming up to kill you. Get out of the way as quick as you can.”

“I have an iron house outside there. Lock me into it.”

He locked the man in. He went to his master. He took his master up to the house of the giant. He got ready their supper. They went to rest. This was the giant’s cry in the morning. “Let them open.” The red man went to him. He asked him what was the matter.

“I am ready to perish with hunger. Let me out of this quickly.”

“I will not let you out,” said the red man, “till you tell me where the dark cloak is.”

“That is what I will never tell any one.”

“Well, if you like better not to tell, you will be there till you die.”

“Sooner than be here any longer, it is hanging in such a room.”

“I know where it is,” said the red man. “Be here as long as you like.”

When the giant heard that he would not get out, he took a jump out between two bars of the iron house. Two halves were made of him. Half fell outside and half inside. The red man went to the giant’s house. He got ready the breakfast. He and his master breakfasted. He took with them plenty of gold and silver, two horses and two saddles. They went till evening was there, and they went into another wood.

“I have an uncle,” said the red man, “living here. We shall get lodging to-night. Stay you here, till I go up.”

The red men went in to the giant’s house. “Uncle, dear, is it here you are resting?” “Yes, kinsman, dear: what is coming on me?” “The King of the prodigious East is coming to kill you. Hide yourself as quick as you can.”

“I have an iron house here outside. Lock me into it.”

He locked him in. He brought his master. They made ready their supper. This was the giant’s cry in the morning, “Let them open.”

“I will not open,” said the red man, “till you tell me where are the slippery shoes.” “They are under the bed.” “I know myself where they are,” said the red man. *’ Stop there as long as you like.”

When the giant saw he was not to get out, he took a leap between two bars of the iron house. Two halves were made of him. Half fell inside, and half out.

The red man and his master went on travelling till evening. They came to another wood. There was a giant in the wood. The red man did to him as to the other giants. He took from him the sword of light, and plenty of gold and silver.

“Now,” said the red man to his master, “we shall be going home. We have got enough: go forward no farther. The woman you are approaching, — there ‘ is not a tree in the wood on which a man’s head is not hung, except one tree that is waiting for your head. We’ll return home.”

“I will never go home,” said the king’s son, “till I get one sight of that woman.”

They went forward till they came to the king’s house. The king made great welcome for them. They took their dinner. They spent the night in drinking and sport. When they were sitting to their supper she came down from the top of the house. Her head was as black as the bird’s wing, her skin as white as the snow, and her cheeks as red as the blood. She came to them, to the place where they were eating. She threw him a comb. Said she, “If you have not that comb to give me to-morrow, I will cut your head from you.”

He took hold of the comb. He put it down in his pocket. When they were going to bed the red man said, “See if you have the comb.” He put his fingers in his pocket. He had not the comb. His tears fell.

“It’s a pity I did not take your advice when you told me to return home.”

“Perhaps we shall get the better of her entirely,” said the red man. He was comforting him till he got him to bed. When he got him to bed h« put on the dark cloak. He took with him the slippery shoes and the sword of light. He went out and stood in the back* yard. She came out. She made down to the sea. She came to the sea. She threw a shell from her pocket. She made a boat of it. She went into the boat. She began rowing with two paddles, till she came in on an island that was in the sea. There was a great giant on the shore. “Have you got anything for me to-night?”

“I have not,” said she; “but Til have it to-morrow night. The son of the King of Erin is with me to-night. I shall have him for you to-morrow night.”

They went to the house. “Here is the comb I gave him to-night: it is yours.”

The giant opened a chest. He left the comb in the bottom of the chest. The red man was standing by the chest. When the giant left the comb in it, the red man took it and put it in his pocket. The house was full of goats. She went to milk the goats, till she milked one part of milk, and one part of blood. She got the supper ready. That was the stuiF they took. The giant drew out an iron harrow and the skin of a white mare. They lay upon that till morning. When the day came she arose and went away drawing to the sea. The red man followed her. When she came to the boat she put it in the water. She went into it. The red man followed her on the sea. He was dashing water on her with the sword. She did not know what was delaying her. When they got home the red man went to his master. He asked him was he asleep. The king’s son said he was not.

“I have saved your head to-night. Here is the comb. Put it in your pocket.”

He put it in his pocket. The red man went to bed. When breakfast was ready in the morning the bell rang. They rose and they washed. When they were taking their breakfast she came down from the top of the house.

“Have you got the comb I gave you yesterday?”

He put his finger in his pocket. He threw the comb to her. When she saw he had the comb to get she went by with one sweep. She broke the half of what was on the table. “I have a third of your daughter won,” said the son of the King of Ireland.

“You have,” said the king; “you are the best champion ever came into my house.”

They went hunting that day. When they came home they were making fun together till suppertime. When they were taking their supper, the beautiful woman came to them. She threw a pair of scissors to him: “Unless you have them for me to-morrow, I will have your head.”

He took the scissors. He put them in his pocket. When they were going to bed said the red man to his master, “Look and see if you have the scissors.”

“I have not,” said his master.

“It’s bad for you to lose them.”

He went lamenting. The red man was comforting him till he got him to bed. When he slept, the red man went out. He put on the dark cloak and the slippery shoes, and took the sword of light. He stood outside the door. It was not long till she came out. She went down to the sea. She took a shell out of her pocket. She threw it on the sea and made a boat of it. She went to the island. The giant was on the shore.

“Have you got anything for me to-night?”

“I have not,” she said; “but I shall have the son of the King of Erin to-morrow night.” They went to the house. “Here are the scissors I gave him to-night. They are yours.”

The giant opened a chest. He put the scissors in the bottom of the chest. The red man was standing by. When the giant put the scissors in the chest, the red man took them and put them in his pocket.

They took their supper. The giant pulled out the harrow and the skin of the white mare. They lay upon that till morning. In the morning she went to the sea. The red man followed her. She put her boat on the water. She went into it. The red man followed her. He dashed in water on her with the sword. When they got home, the red man went to his master. He asked him was he asleep? The king’s son said he was not.

“I have saved your head this night. Here are the scissors for you.”

In the morning, when breakfast was ready, she came down from the top of the house. She was wet and dripping. She asked him had he the scissors to give her. He put his hand in his pocket. He threw her the scissors. She gave one sweep. She did not leave a bit of delf on the table she did not break in her rage. The king’s son said to the king he had two-thirds of his daughter won.

“You have,” said the king; “and I hope you will win her altogether. I am tired of her.”

They went hunting that day till night came. When supper was ready, she came down with a flight.

“Unless you have the last lips I shall kiss this night, rU have your head.”

“It’s hard for me,” said the king’s son, “to know what are the last lips you kiss.”

He was so troubled he did not know what to do. The red man was comforting him till he got him to bed. Then he went out. She came out. She went to the island. When she got in on the island the giant was bellowing on the shore.

“Have you anything for me?” said the giant.

“I will never give you anything more. You let the comb go; you let the scissors go: he had the two to give me in the morning. To-night I put on him obligations for something he won’t have to give me: that is, the last lips I shall kiss this night- — and those are your lips.”

She went to milk the goats. She mixed a part of blood, and a part of milk. She made ready the supper. They ate and drank enough. He got the iron harrow and the skin of the white mare. They lay upon that till morning. When the day came upon the morrow she kissed him three times.

“Those are the last lips I shall kiss. He won’t have them to give me to-morrow.”

She rose and she went. When she went out the red man whisked the head off the giant. He put a knot in the ear. He threw it over his shoulder. He was on the shore as soon as she was. She went into the boat. She was drawing to home. He went out after her. Much as he drenched her the nights before, twice as much did he drench her this night. They went home. The red man came to his master in bed.

“Are you asleep, master?”

“I am not now,” said the king’s son.

“Here are the last lips she kissed last night, and, by my faith, they were ugly lips for a lady to be kissing.”

He took the head and threw it under the bed. When breakfast was ready in the morning she came down with a flight. She asked him, —

“Where are the last lips that I kissed last night?”

He put his hand under the bed. He took hold of the giant’s head. He threw it over at her feet. When she saw the giant was dead she gave one sweep, and she left not a chair or a table, nor anything on the table, she did not make smash of, so great was her anger.

“I have your daughter all won now,” said the king’s son.

^”You have; and you are the best champion that came under my roof ever.”

“Well, we’ll go hunting to-day,” said the red man. They went hunting. The red man cut three bundles of rods. He made three flails. When they came home, “Now,” said he, “bring your daughter out here.”

The king brought her out. “Tie her hands and feet,” said the red man, “and leave her lying there.” The king left her lying. The red man gave one flail to the king, and one to his master. “Strike you the first blow.”

The king struck the first blow. The three were striking her for a long time. A blaze of fire came out of her mouth. “Strike ye more. There is more in her.”

They struck till another lump of fire came out of her mouth. “Strike,” said the red man, “there is one more in her.”

They struck till ‘the third came. “Now,” said the red man, “strike her no more. Those were three devils that came out of her. Loose her now; she is as quiet as any woman in the world.”

They loosed her and put her to bed. She was tired after the beating.

The priest of the pattens and the clerk of the bells came. The pair were married. The red man stayed with them a year and a day. A young son was born to them. When the day and the year were up the red man said it was time for him to be going.

“I don’t know what I’ll do after you,” said the king’s son.

“Oh, make no delay,” said the red man; “the hire is just.”

“It is just,” said the king’s son.

He made two halves of all he gained since he hired him. “I will give you my child all,” said he; “I think it a pity to go to cut him in two.”

“I will not take him all,” said the red man; “I will not take but my bargain.”

The king’s son took a knife and was going to cut. “Stop your hand,” said the red man. “Do you remember the day you were going past the churchyard? There were four men in the churchyard. They had a corpse, and they were arguing about the debts that were on the corpse. They were not willing to bury the corpse till the debts were paid. You had five pounds. You gave them to bury the corpse. It was I was in the coffin that day. When I saw you starting on your journey I went to you to save you, you were that good yourself. I bestow on you your child and your money. Health be with you and blessing. You will set eyes upon me no more.”

A variant of the grateful dead tale can also be foiund in the mediaeval romamce of Sir Amadace.

Ghost Thanks, or The Grateful Unburied, 1860

https://archive.org/details/ghostthanksorgr01stepgoog/page/n5/mode/2up

GHOST-THANKS

OR

THE GRATEFUL UNBURIED,

A MYTHIC TALE IN ITS OLDEST EUROPEAN FORM

SIR AMADACE,

A MIDDLE-NORTH-ENGLISH METRICAL ROMANCE OF THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY.

REPRINTED FROM TWO TEXTS, WITH AN INTRODUCTION,

BY

GEORGE STEPHENS, ESQ.

Publication date 1860

I have noted a narrative form elsewhwere, in my Middle English Romances stroynotes collection.