by Tom Murphy
Agnes And see the coffin go in?
McGinty Who let her out?! Why is she here?!
Agnes And we shall dance!
She dances gaily.
Upon the heather, when the weather
Is as mild as May,
We’ll all prance as we dance
And we’ll all be happy and . . .
(It’s dying on her.) And we’ll all be happy and . . . (She cries.) Water! Water! He only wanted water! Water . . . But they kept feeding red . . . red-red-red water . . . into poor young Kevin’s glass.
Rencelaw Ah, red water!
Agnes Quick! – Give him water – Oh hear him cry for water! Quick, quick! He turns cold. Quick! His lips, the lips I love . . . turn blue . . .
McGinty Why can’t the almshouse keep these maniacs chained up?! It’s a disgrace! She should not be at large! Look at her!
Agnes (laughs/sing-songs) The lawyer is a creepy man, now owns the brick house yonder!
McGinty She ruins our honest celebrations, she distresses the entire neighbourhood! – The poor wretch! Agnes, you witch, clear off from here!
Agnes And the will – Ha, ha, ha!
McGinty Wha’s that?! –
Agnes The will – Ha, ha, ha!
McGinty So, you want a nice warm whipping?
He fetches a cane.
Agnes The will – Ha, ha, ha!
McGinty Then you shall have one!
His cane is raised to strike Agnes. Rencelaw, with deft flick of his own cane, knocks the cane out of McGinty’s hand; and William, too, has rushed in to throw McGinty aside.
Rencelaw Fie!
William Ho! Strike my helpless, little half-crazed sister Agnes, would you?!
McGinty Assault and battery! All here are witnesses!
William Ho! Ho! Mr Honey! – I won’t wait for Bezzelybub down there –
McGinty I’ll have you, William Earley, between stone walls! –
William To treat you to a brimstone bath! –
Rencelaw Silence! . . . I have some, and not a little, knowledge of physic and I suspect this young lady’s malady to be temporary . . . Miss Agnes?
Agnes Sir? Will you come to my wedding today and . . . (She is in tears.)
Rencelaw I should be greatly honoured.
Agnes Then walk up, young man, there’s a lady here, with . . .
Rencelaw With jewels in her hair.
He has approached her and is holding out his hand to her.
She considers his hand, hesitates, withdraws into herself, and retreats from them:
Agnes ‘Brake and fern and cypress dell where slippery adder crawls . . . ’
And she is gone. Rencelaw, interested, follows her a little way. The dancing has started again. This turns into a guard of honour for the arrival of the bride and groom, Arabella and Edward, accompanied by Mother. Church bells, rose petals, cheering.
Hooray! Hooray!
Hail, hail, the happy pair!
Long life!
Peace! Health and joy!
Progeny!
Happiness!
Hooray! Hooray!
The Girls surround Arabella to kiss her and admire her ring. And Arabella throws her bouquet of flowers up among them. While the Men, with their tankards, surround Edward to shake his hand and toast him. Edward is a happy groom; shy, too, and nervous.
McGinty Toast to the groom!
Farmer Aye –
William Toast to the groom!
McGinty Your health, Master Edward!
William Long life, Ned, and –
First Farmer Aye!
William May the Kilcullen name be perpetuated!
McGinty (as they are about to drink) Why, he has no cup!
And he sends Tom, the Farmer, off to get one.
Edward Nay, Tom, thank you – (Too late.)
McGinty Nay? And offend us by not returning the traditional toast?
Edward My thanks, good friends all, but I have given up the practice and left the brawl of the tavern for a new beginning: from today I am an altered man.
And gestures ‘No’ to the Farmer, who has returned with a tankard of drink for him.
McGinty Excellent! An altared man – he’s been to the altar – A wit, a wit! – He’s jesting! (Laughter.)
Edward (laughing, nervously) Nay –
William Ah, here’s to the bashful groom then!
McGinty (holding up the toast) Bashful?! Bashful?! His dear father once told me his bashfulness was such that he went to bed without a candle. (Laughter.) What is to happen at bedtime tonight? (Laughter.)
Edward (takes the tankard) Well, one draught then. And – dearest and best of good fellows – so as not to be discourteous to your salute, this to your good health!
They drink. McGinty draws Edward aside, produces the hipflask and slips it to Edward. Edward is unsure.
McGinty As a precaution for later, lest your courage fail and take from the pleasure that lies ahead.
Mother My children! This is a day of great joy. May blessings rest on you always.
She joins the hands of Arabella and Edward.
Mother And blessings be upon us all!
Applause.
Edward From tomorrow all happiness shall be ours.
Arabella Tomorrow? Why from tomorrow?
Edward It will be the first full day of our union. (He slips the flask into his pocket.)
Arabella My husband.
Edward My wife.
Music. They kiss. And they waltz off.
Scene Four
Arabella sits alone by a cradle.
Rencelaw Tempus fugit. No longer does she address herself as Arabella Clancy, no longer the charming little cries of innocent astonishment that marked her girlhood. She is now wife and mother . . . See her. She sleeps? Ah, no! She waits, hopes. She listens, ears pricking up like terriers for the rattle of the latch, the bride of only yesteryear shorn of glorious bloom. Or for the thunder of drunken fists upon the door that will alarm the ancient mother, now failing fast; that will awaken the newborn babe from sleep. She sings.
Arabella
Oh, daughter-my-love, if you’ll give me your hand
And go where I ask you to wander,
I will lead us away to a beautiful land
The Dreamland that’s waiting out yonder;
We’ll walk in the sweet posey garden out there,
Where moonlight and starlight are streaming,
And the flowers and the birds are filling the air
With perfume and music of dreaming.
Rencelaw Night after night she wastes the light of two candles. A hundred times has she crept to the casement, bending low her ear his step to catch. Many a despairing look has she cast at the black sky. Then moving back again, she pauses . . . ‘Mother?’
Arabella Mother? Are you all right?
Rencelaw And returning to her child, she sits once more . . . See her. She weeps? Ah, no! Stoically, she restrains her anguish . . . ‘Edward?’
Arabella Edward?
Rencelaw Edward.
Edward (a light comes up on him) I shall give it up. I promise.
Rencelaw ‘She is a good wife.’
Edward And I worship her. And I shall reform.
Arabella Kiss me?
Edward I kiss you.
Rencelaw ‘Edward?’
Arabella Edward?
Edward I shall have one glass more.
Light down on Edward, then down on Rencelaw.
Arabella
So, daughter-my-love, let me take your dear hand
And away through the starlight we’ll wander,
Away through the mists to the beautiful land
The Dreamland that’s waiting out yonder.
Scene Five
Exterior of the village tavern. A tree. Night.
Rencelaw Half-a-dozen years elapse.
Noise and shouting in the tavern: Edward, without his jacket, is being thrown out of the tavern – and is resisting it – by Tavern- Keeper (Tub
bs). He goes back in again to be thrown out again. McGinty comes scurrying from the tavern – out of harm’s way – to watch, pleased, from a distance.
Farmer, too, is here, paralytic; his monosyllabic contributions – ‘Aye!’ – are both belches and half-conscious responses to the drama going on about him. William, who has not been in the tavern, will arrive shortly. Rencelaw stands on the opposite side to McGinty.
A sextet that grows: six voices in competition, in counterpart, overlapping and simultaneous.
Tavern-Keeper Come along now –
Edward I shall not leave –
Tavern-Keeper (continuous/overlapping) Come along, I say –
Edward (continuous/overlapping) How dare you, Sir –
Tavern-Keeper Out of here –
Edward I shall not leave –
Tavern-Keeper Get out!
Tavern-Keeper reurns to the tavern. Edward barges into the tavern again.
Rencelaw The business of his day is to get drunk!
McGinty Life works admirably!
Tavern-Keeper (throwing Edward out again) Come along now! –
Edward I shall not leave! –
Tavern-Keeper Come along I say! –
Edward How dare you, Sir! –
Tavern-Keeper Out of here! – Get out!
Edward I shall not leave! – I shan’t!
Farmer Aye!
Rencelaw The infatuation every day increases!
McGinty Admirably! Admirably!
Tavern-Keeper You’ll have nothing more in this house tonight! –
Edward Do you know whom you address?!
Tavern-Keeper Clear off ! (Returns to tavern.)
Farmer Aye!
Rencelaw He expels reason, drowns the memory, defaces beauty!
McGinty Ha, ha, ha, ha!
William Holloo! Holloo! What sport goes forward here? (Arriving.)
Edward is trying to get back in to tavern.
Tavern-Keeper Out, out-out!
Edward Release! – Unhand! –
Tavern-Keeper Out, out-out! –
Edward Release! – Unhand!
Tavern-Keeper Out, out-out, out-out!
Farmer Aye!
Rencelaw He thieves his pocket, devils his soul, diminishes his strength!
McGinty Ha, ha, ha, ha! Ha, ha, ha, ha!
William Mary and Joseph, this be no sport!
Tavern-Keeper Nothing more for you in this Christian house –
Edward I am a Kilcullen! –
Tavern-Keeper Nor any other night!
Edward Dare you refuse service to a Kilcullen?!
Farmer Aye!
Edward In this townland of Glencullen?!
Tavern-Keeper Nor – any – other – night!
William Steady on, Edward, friend! Steady on, Landlord Tubbs!
Farmer Aye!
Rencelaw He bewitches his senses, corrupts his blood, drinks to others’ good health and robs himself of his own!
McGinty And he won’t stop now – Ha, ha, ha!
Tavern-Keeper Take ‘His Lordship’ out of this, William Earley!
Edward If it were not for your greying hairs I’d thrash you within an inch of up-and-down the village! –
William Where’s his coat then, Landlord Tubbs?
Tavern-Keeper There’s his coat then! (Throws it on the ground.) Now, pack off! (Exit.)
In the comparative quiet, Edward is fuming, his anger and impotence making him pace/strut.
Edward This is an outrage, this is a scandal.
Farmer Aye!
William Come, Ned, let me advise you to go home.
Edward (calling) Tubbs! You in there! Don’t want your flat, polluted, rot-gut liquor!
Tavern-Keeper (off) Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!
Farmer Aye!
William Come, Ned –
Edward Pack off! (A shout at Farmer.)
William Put on your coat –
Edward (at tavern) Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho!
Farmer (exit) Aye!
Edward (to himself) But I know where liquor can be found.
William Ned, friend, Ned! Your wife and child await.
Edward And mother-in-law?
William She’s near the end, and suffering.
Edward She is preparing for hell!
William (helping Edward into his coat) You go more astray by the day than my little half-crazed sister Agnes.
Edward (‘sincerity’) William, Billy, shipmate, brother! I need a moment alone to collect myself. You go on and, should you be passing, tell them that I shall be there, the briefest of anons, twinkling of a lamb’s tail.
He watches William go. Then he looks about:
Edward No one sees. Yes, I know where liquor can be found.
He goes to the tree and, from a hollow, produces a bottle.
McGinty The arch cunning!
Rencelaw Is this to be the issue of that young man’s life?
Edward (drinks. And:) Aaaaa! It relieves.
McGinty He has tasted well and will not stop now short of madness or oblivion.
Edward (drinks again, and) Aaaaa!
And he sits under the tree to drink the rest.
Rencelaw Must he ever yield to the fell tempter and, bending like a bulrush to the blast, bow his manhood lower than the brute?
Edward Aaaaa!
McGinty I now know his nature well. I bide my time. (Retires.)
Edward (to heaven: laughing to himself) Papa – You up there – Dad! – whatchoo think of me now?
Rencelaw And he could earn his bread.
Edward If I wanted to.
Rencelaw He has hands to work with, feet to walk, eyes to see.
Edward (of his hands) Merest of shakes.
Rencelaw A brain to think.
Edward Slight head – (Headache.)
Rencelaw Yet these best gifts of heaven he abuses, and puts out the light of reason.
Edward (to the bottle) Shapely friend, why do people so rail against you? (And drinks.)
Off, in the night, eerily, faintly, plaintively:
Agnes (off) ‘Brake and fern and cypress dell, where slippery adder crawls . . . ’
Rencelaw But another mission that brooks no wait calls upon my conscience and attention. (He exits, purposefully.)
Edward Poor Agnes, too, abroad the night again. (To the empty bottle.) And you, my friend, have nothing more to say to me. Can I now go home? Face them? (Rises.) Mama, send down a little cash for Teddykins. (Sighs.) If I had one more. From where?
McGinty Master Edward, dear friend!
Edward Tempter, begone!
McGinty What means this?
Edward Were you not with me in the tavern when that vile fray began?
McGinty Fray? What fray?
Edward And did you not desert me?
McGinty But I was summoned out on urgent business!
Edward (angrily) Oh yes, oh yes, McGinty, you know only too well how to sit on the fence of the faraway hills buttering your bread on both sides without batting a single blind eye when a friend is in trouble!
McGinty But I left you jovial there! Remember, we two, ‘Ha, ha, ha, ha!’? . . . As I am a Christian!
Edward Ha, ha, ha, ha!
And he throws his arms round McGinty.
Tempter, begone! (Then sighs.) Oh my friend, I am so ashamed and want for money.
McGinty Want for? Pooh-pooh! Do you see yon smoke, Sir, rising up among the trees?
Edward Where?
McGinty There.
Edward Rising from – cottage?
McGinty Your cottage.
Edward My cottage.
McGinty And do you know how much it’s worth, Sir?
Edward How much, Sir?
McGinty A full one hundred and fifty pounds, Sir.
Edward A full . . . (And mouths the rest of it.)
McGinty (to himself) I have him.
Edward (to himself) Is he be pulling a trick down the sleeve of his mind? (He points at McGinty, breaking away from him, laughing
.) Aaaaaa . . . !
McGinty The idiot’s going to confuse it. Young Sir?
Edward Do you know, do you know who had that cottage built, McGinty?
McGinty Your father had that cottage built – Kilcullen.
Edward My father had that cottage built, McGinty.
McGinty And you came into it by the deed that’s in your pocket on the day that you were born.
Edward Is – that – so?! Well, can you tell me, then, by whom it was first occupied?! On the day that I was born.
McGinty By a Mr Clancy.
Edward By a Mr Clancy, McGinty.
McGinty Bartholemew Clancy – Kilcullen.
Edward Who?
McGinty (to himself) This is stumbling search for cunning. Your point of argument, Sir.
Edward Who lives there now?
McGinty You do.
Edward I do! I do!
McGinty And your point!
Edward Where do you live?
McGinty Brick house yonder.
Edward Brick house yonder, and see! – (points) – no smoke curlings. But see – there! – smoke rising up among yon trees?
McGinty (exasperated) And ’tis well established that you live there!
Edward And no one else?
McGinty Your family!
Edward Beg pardon?
McGinty Family!
Edward . . . Exactly! And you counsel me to sell it? Take a – a nest from a mourning bird and her – her chick! Make of them wandering – scratchers – of the world! And for what? I ask you! To put a little – pelf – into these leprous hands of mine – one hundred and fifty pounds, pah! – and to then squander it on – rum?!
McGinty (to himself, ‘I see’) I shall have to up the offer. But I must have that cottage.
Edward And I must now go home.
McGinty But not thus! You should first wash, refresh yourself.
Edward Ought I?
McGinty Yes!
Edward Should I?
McGinty Come with me.
Edward Is it indeed for the best?
McGinty Yes!
Edward And not too late?
McGinty No! And I have – rum?
Edward Brandy.
McGinty A feast of it.
Edward Well . . . But you are dry, McGinty, dull and steady. No man sits down with Teddy that don’t drink glass for glass with him.
McGinty Why, I can drink like an emperor.
Edward Can you?
McGinty (exiting) This way! Come!
Edward We shall see who is last to finish first under the table.
He exits, following McGinty. And Agnes now enters, cautiously, to watch him go. Now she looks about, as Edward did earlier.
Agnes No one sees.
