The Secret Rose Read online

  THE CRUCIFIXION OF THE OUTCAST.

  A man, with thin brown hair and a pale face, half ran, half walked,along the road that wound from the south to the town of Sligo. Manycalled him Cumhal, the son of Cormac, and many called him the Swift,Wild Horse; and he was a gleeman, and he wore a short parti-coloureddoublet, and had pointed shoes, and a bulging wallet. Also he was of theblood of the Ernaans, and his birth-place was the Field of Gold; buthis eating and sleeping places where the four provinces of Eri, and hisabiding place was not upon the ridge of the earth. His eyes strayed fromthe Abbey tower of the White Friars and the town battlements to a rowof crosses which stood out against the sky upon a hill a little to theeastward of the town, and he clenched his fist, and shook it at thecrosses. He knew they were not empty, for the birds were flutteringabout them; and he thought how, as like as not, just such anothervagabond as himself was hanged on one of them; and he muttered: 'If itwere hanging or bowstringing, or stoning or beheading, it would be badenough. But to have the birds pecking your eyes and the wolves eatingyour feet! I would that the red wind of the Druids had withered inhis cradle the soldier of Dathi, who brought the tree of death out ofbarbarous lands, or that the lightning, when it smote Dathi at the footof the mountain, had smitten him also, or that his grave had been dug bythe green-haired and green-toothed merrows deep at the roots of the deepsea.'

  While he spoke, he shivered from head to foot, and the sweat came outupon his face, and he knew not why, for he had looked upon many crosses.He passed over two hills and under the battlemented gate, and then roundby a left-hand way to the door of the Abbey. It was studded with greatnails, and when he knocked at it, he roused the lay brother who was theporter, and of him he asked a place in the guest-house. Then the laybrother took a glowing turf on a shovel, and led the way to a big andnaked outhouse strewn with very dirty rushes; and lighted a rush-candlefixed between two of the stones of the wall, and set the glowing turfupon the hearth and gave him two unlighted sods and a wisp of straw,and showed him a blanket hanging from a nail, and a shelf with a loafof bread and a jug of water, and a tub in a far corner. Then the laybrother left him and went back to his place by the door. And Cumhal theson of Cormac began to blow upon the glowing turf that he might lightthe two sods and the wisp of straw; but the sods and the straw would notlight, for they were damp. So he took off his pointed shoes, and drewthe tub out of the corner with the thought of washing the dust of thehighway from his feet; but the water was so dirty that he could not seethe bottom. He was very hungry, for he had not eaten all that day; so hedid not waste much anger upon the tub, but took up the black loaf, andbit into it, and then spat out the bite, for the bread was hard andmouldy. Still he did not give way to his anger, for he had not drunkenthese many hours; having a hope of heath beer or wine at his day's end,he had left the brooks untasted, to make his supper the more delightful.Now he put the jug to his lips, but he flung it from him straightway,for the water was bitter and ill-smelling. Then he gave the jug a kick,so that it broke against the opposite wall, and he took down the blanketto wrap it about him for the night. But no sooner did he touch it thanit was alive with skipping fleas. At this, beside himself with anger, herushed to the door of the guest-house, but the lay brother, being wellaccustomed to such outcries, had locked it on the outside; so he emptiedthe tub and began to beat the door with it, till the lay brother cameto the door and asked what ailed him, and why he woke him out of sleep.'What ails me!' shouted Cumhal, 'are not the sods as wet as the sandsof the Three Rosses? and are not the fleas in the blanket as many asthe waves of the sea and as lively? and is not the bread as hard as theheart of a lay brother who has forgotten God? and is not the waterin the jug as bitter and as ill-smelling as his soul? and is not thefoot-water the colour that shall be upon him when he has been charred inthe Undying Fires?' The lay brother saw that the lock was fast, andwent back to his niche, for he was too sleepy to talk with comfort.And Cumhal went on beating at the door, and presently he heard thelay brother's foot once more, and cried out at him, 'O cowardly andtyrannous race of friars, persecutors of the bard and the gleeman,haters of life and joy! O race that does not draw the sword and tell thetruth! O race that melts the bones of the people with cowardice and withdeceit!'

  'Gleeman,' said the lay brother, 'I also make rhymes; I make many whileI sit in my niche by the door, and I sorrow to hear the bards railingupon the friars. Brother, I would sleep, and therefore I make known toyou that it is the head of the monastery, our gracious abbot, who ordersall things concerning the lodging of travellers.'

  'You may sleep,' said Cumhal, 'I will sing a bard's curse on the abbot.'And he set the tub upside down under the window, and stood upon it, andbegan to sing in a very loud voice. The singing awoke the abbot, so thathe sat up in bed and blew a silver whistle until the lay brother cameto him. 'I cannot get a wink of sleep with that noise,' said the abbot.'What is happening?'

  'It is a gleeman,' said the lay brother, 'who complains of the sods,of the bread, of the water in the jug, of the foot-water, and of theblanket. And now he is singing a bard's curse upon you, O brother abbot,and upon your father and your mother, and your grandfather and yourgrandmother, and upon all your relations.'

  'Is he cursing in rhyme?'

  'He is cursing in rhyme, and with two assonances in every line of hiscurse.'

  The abbot pulled his night-cap off and crumpled it in his hands, and thecircular brown patch of hair in the middle of his bald head looked likean island in the midst of a pond, for in Connaught they had not yetabandoned the ancient tonsure for the style then coming into use. 'If wedo not somewhat,' he said, 'he will teach his curses to the children inthe street, and the girls spinning at the doors, and to the robbers uponBen Bulben.'

  'Shall I go, then,' said the other, 'and give him dry sods, a freshloaf, clean water in a jug, clean foot-water, and a new blanket, andmake him swear by the blessed Saint Benignus, and by the sun and moon,that no bond be lacking, not to tell his rhymes to the children in thestreet, and the girls spinning at the doors, and the robbers upon BenBulben?'

  'Neither our Blessed Patron nor the sun and moon would avail at all,'said the abbot; 'for to-morrow or the next day the mood to curse wouldcome upon him, or a pride in those rhymes would move him, and he wouldteach his lines to the children, and the girls, and the robbers. Or elsehe would tell another of his craft how he fared in the guest-house, andhe in his turn would begin to curse, and my name would wither. For learnthere is no steadfastness of purpose upon the roads, but only underroofs and between four walls. Therefore I bid you go and awaken BrotherKevin, Brother Dove, Brother Little Wolf, Brother Bald Patrick, BrotherBald Brandon, Brother James and Brother Peter. And they shall take theman, and bind him with ropes, and dip him in the river that he shallcease to sing. And in the morning, lest this but make him curse thelouder, we will crucify him.'

  'The crosses are all full,' said the lay brother.

  'Then we must make another cross. If we do not make an end of himanother will, for who can eat and sleep in peace while men like himare going about the world? Ill should we stand before blessed SaintBenignus, and sour would be his face when he comes to judge us at theLast Day, were we to spare an enemy of his when we had him under ourthumb! Brother, the bards and the gleemen are an evil race, ever cursingand ever stirring up the people, and immoral and immoderate in allthings, and heathen in their hearts, always longing after the Son ofLir, and Aengus, and Bridget, and the Dagda, and Dana the Mother, andall the false gods of the old days; always making poems in praise ofthose kings and queens of the demons, Finvaragh, whose home is underCruachmaa, and Red Aodh of Cnocna-Sidhe, and Cleena of the Wave, andAoibhell of the Grey Rock, and him they call Donn of the Vats of theSea; and railing against God and Christ and the blessed Saints.' Whilehe was speaking he crossed himself, and when he had finished he drew thenightcap over his ears, to shut out the noise, and closed his eyes, andcomposed himself to sleep.

  The lay brother found Brother Kevin, Brother Dove, Brother Little Wol
f,Brother Bald Patrick, Brother Bald Brandon, Brother James and BrotherPeter sitting up in bed, and he made them get up. Then they boundCumhal, and they dragged him to the river, and they dipped him in it atthe place which was afterwards called Buckley's Ford.

  'Gleeman,' said the lay brother, as they led him back to theguest-house, 'why do you ever use the wit which God has given you tomake blasphemous and immoral tales and verses? For such is the way ofyour craft. I have, indeed, many such tales and verses well nigh byrote, and so I know that I speak true! And why do you praise with rhymethose demons, Finvaragh, Red Aodh, Cleena, Aoibhell and Donn? I, too, ama man of great wit and learning, but I ever glorify our gracious abbot,and Benignus our Patron, and the princes of the province. My soul isdecent and orderly, but yours is like the wind among the salley gardens.I said what I could for you, being also a man of many thoughts, but whocould help such a one as you?'

  'Friend,' answered the gleeman, 'my soul is indeed like the wind, and itblows me to and fro, and up and down, and puts many things into my mindand out of my mind, and therefore am I called the Swift, Wild Horse.'And he spoke no more that night, for his teeth were chattering with thecold.

  The abbot and the friars came to him in the morning, and bade him getready to be crucified, and led him out of the guest-house. And while hestill stood upon the step a flock of great grass-barnacles passed highabove him with clanking cries. He lifted his arms to them and said, 'Ogreat grass-barnacles, tarry a little, and mayhap my soul will travelwith you to the waste places of the shore and to the ungovernable sea!'At the gate a crowd of beggars gathered about them, being come there tobeg from any traveller or pilgrim who might have spent the night in theguest-house. The abbot and the friars led the gleeman to a place in thewoods at some distance, where many straight young trees were growing,and they made him cut one down and fashion it to the right length, whilethe beggars stood round them in a ring, talking and gesticulating. Theabbot then bade him cut off another and shorter piece of wood, and nailit upon the first. So there was his cross for him; and they put it uponhis shoulder, for his crucifixion was to be on the top of the hill wherethe others were. A half-mile on the way he asked them to stop and seehim juggle for them; for he knew, he said, all the tricks of Aengusthe Subtle-hearted. The old friars were for pressing on, but the youngfriars would see him: so he did many wonders for them, even to thedrawing of live frogs out of his ears. But after a while they turned onhim, and said his tricks were dull and a shade unholy, and set the crosson his shoulders again. Another half-mile on the way, and he asked themto stop and hear him jest for them, for he knew, he said, all the jestsof Conan the Bald, upon whose back a sheep's wool grew. And the youngfriars, when they had heard his merry tales, again bade him take uphis cross, for it ill became them to listen to such follies. Anotherhalf-mile on the way, he asked them to stop and hear him sing the storyof White-breasted Deirdre, and how she endured many sorrows, and how thesons of Usna died to serve her. And the young friars were mad to hearhim, but when he had ended they grew angry, and beat him for wakingforgotten longings in their hearts. So they set the cross upon his backand hurried him to the hill.

  When he was come to the top, they took the cross from him, and began todig a hole to stand it in, while the beggars gathered round, and talkedamong themselves. 'I ask a favour before I die,' says Cumhal.

  'We will grant you no more delays,' says the abbot.

  'I ask no more delays, for I have drawn the sword, and told the truth,and lived my vision, and am content.'

  'Would you, then, confess?'

  'By sun and moon, not I; I ask but to be let eat the food I carry in mywallet. I carry food in my wallet whenever I go upon a journey, but Ido not taste of it unless I am well-nigh starved. I have not eaten nowthese two days.'

  'You may eat, then,' says the abbot, and he turned to help the friarsdig the hole.

  The gleeman took a loaf and some strips of cold fried bacon out of hiswallet and laid them upon the ground. 'I will give a tithe to the poor,'says he, and he cut a tenth part from the loaf and the bacon. 'Who amongyou is the poorest?' And thereupon was a great clamour, for the beggarsbegan the history of their sorrows and their poverty, and their yellowfaces swayed like Gara Lough when the floods have filled it with waterfrom the bogs.

  He listened for a little, and, says he, 'I am myself the poorest, forI have travelled the bare road, and by the edges of the sea; and thetattered doublet of particoloured cloth upon my back and the tornpointed shoes upon my feet have ever irked me, because of the toweredcity full of noble raiment which was in my heart. And I have been themore alone upon the roads and by the sea because I heard in my heartthe rustling of the rose-bordered dress of her who is more subtle thanAengus, the Subtle-hearted, and more full of the beauty of laughter thanConan the Bald, and more full of the wisdom of tears than White-breastedDeirdre, and more lovely than a bursting dawn to them that are lost inthe darkness. Therefore, I award the tithe to myself; but yet, because Iam done with all things, I give it unto you.'

  So he flung the bread and the strips of bacon among the beggars,and they fought with many cries until the last scrap was eaten. Butmeanwhile the friars nailed the gleeman to his cross, and set it uprightin the hole, and shovelled the earth in at the foot, and trampled itlevel and hard. So then they went away, but the beggars stared on,sitting round the cross. But when the sun was sinking, they also got upto go, for the air was getting chilly. And as soon as they had gone alittle way, the wolves, who had been showing themselves on the edge ofa neighbouring coppice, came nearer, and the birds wheeled closer andcloser. 'Stay, outcasts, yet a little while,' the crucified one calledin a weak voice to the beggars, 'and keep the beasts and the birds fromme.' But the beggars were angry because he had called them outcasts, sothey threw stones and mud at him, and went their way. Then the wolvesgathered at the foot of the cross, and the birds flew lower and lower.And presently the birds lighted all at once upon his head and arms andshoulders, and began to peck at him, and the wolves began to eat hisfeet. 'Outcasts,' he moaned, 'have you also turned against the outcast?'