Jack and the Devil's Purse

by Duncan Williamson

He said, ‘Go on, stick, beat them!’

  Before you could say another word the stick flew from his hand. And that stick went straight for these robbers! Left and right went the stick cracking heads, breaking arms, cracking legs. Within minutes there wasn’t a standing man in the whole place. And there stood the three horse-backed men by themselves. These robbers made off for their lives – those who were able to run! And them that weren’t able to run lay on the ground moaning in pain. Jack went over and he picked up his stick. He walked up.

  He said, ‘Are you in trouble, sir?’

  And this young gentleman on a horse said, ‘Young man, where did you come from? I never saw anything so clever in all my life! You-you-you beat off fifty robbers!’

  ‘Well,’ Jack said, ‘with the help of this! My stick.’

  He said, ‘I watched that stick. That’s a clever stick! Where did you get it?’

  Jack said, ‘I got it from an old woman. And I promised to return it.’

  ‘Well,’ said the young man, ‘do you know who I am?’

  Jack said, ‘No. Are you a gentleman or a laird o’ some kind?’

  He said, ‘No, I’m the king!’

  ‘The king?’ says Jack. And he bowed before him and said, ‘I’m sorry, my lord!’

  ‘Don’t bow before me, young man,’ he said. ‘What’s your name?’

  ‘My name is Jack and I’m going to the end of the land to see my old auntie.’

  He said, ‘Jack, before you go anywhere, clever young man, you must come with me and meet my family and meet my wife!

  ‘Soldier,’ he said, ‘take Jack up with you on the back of your horse.’

  So Jack was put on the back of the soldier’s horse. And they rode on. After a few miles they came to this beautiful palace. The soldiers went one way with the horses and Jack and the king went right up the front steps into the most beautiful palace Jack had ever been in his life! The king clapped his hands. He called for footmen and maids to come and set a beautiful meal for Jack. And he and the king sat and they talked for a long, long time.

  ‘Young man,’ he said, ‘Jack, I would like you to meet my queen. But to tell you the truth, she’s not very well.’

  ‘Oh,’ says Jack, ‘what’s wrong with her?’

  ‘Well,’ he said, ‘she has a problem. You see, my queen cannot sleep. She has never slept for many, many months.’

  ‘Oh,’ Jack said, ‘that’s terrible. She cannae sleep?’

  He said, ‘She’s ill from the want of sleep, Jack. And the funny thing is, it all began a while ago when a young man tried to steal my fruit.’

  Jack said, ‘A young man tried to steal your fruit?’

  ‘Oh, I forgot to tell you. Jack, you see my father, the king before me, had a wonderful fruit tree here. This is the Tree of Life, the Fruit of Life. And whoever feeds from that Tree of Life never takes ill. But we caught a young man stealing fruit from our tree. And naturally I had to send him to prison. From that day on my tree has never produced another fruit. And my wife has never had a wink of sleep.’

  ‘Well,’ Jack said, ‘there must be something behind this. But I’ll tell ye, I cannae stay to help you. I’m going offto see an old aunt o’ mine. And my mother tells me she’s very clever. I’ll ask her when I go there and maybe she’ll be able to help me.’

  The king said, ‘If ye can find ony help for me at all, Jack, I’ll reward you handsomely when you come back. If you can find anything to help my tree and my queen I’ll be much obliged to you, Jack!’

  So the next morning the king ordered Jack a horse. He tellt Jack to go to the kitchens, get anything he wanted to carry with him. So Jack went to the kitchens and got some food. The king shook hands with him and told him when he returned he must come and see him – see if he could find an answer to his problem.

  So, Jack with his stick under his arm and the bundle of food from the kitchen made on his way. He travelled on and on and on. To make a long story short, after a long, long time Jack came to where there was no more land; it was the raging sea.

  And there at the end of the land at the seaside he came to a little cottage, a thatched little house. Hens running around, ducks swimming in the water, cocks sitting on the roof crowin.

  Jack said, ‘At last! This must be her.’

  So he came in to the clearing and here he meets an old woman, the identical spit of his mother. Jack said, ‘It’s my mother!’

  She said, ‘Young man, I’m no your mother. Who are you?’

  He said, ‘I’m Jack. And I’ve come to see you. You’re my auntie.’

  ‘I’m your auntie?’ she said.

  ‘Aye,’ he said, ‘you’re my mother’s sister.’

  ‘Oh laddie, laddie,’ she says, ‘you’ve come at last! I knew some day you would come.’

  And she brought Jack into her little house. She fed him as best she could.

  ‘Now,’ she said, ‘tell me about your mother.’

  And Jack sat and he cracked to her and he tellt her about his mother. He tellt her about the journey he’d come, and he tellt her about his beatin’ stick. He tellt her everything he could think of, everything since he was a wean. And she sat and listened to every word.

  He said to her, ‘Auntie, on my road here I had a funny experience. And only with the help o’ my stick . . .’ and he tellt her about the old woman giving him the stick.

  The old woman looked at the stick. She says:

  ‘Jack, that is a good stick. That is a real stick! You dinna ken the value o’ that stick. But I ken.’

  So he says, ‘Auntie, will you tell me something? On my way here I ran into the king surrounded by a band of robbers,’ and he tellt her the story. He tellt her about the king’s wife who couldnae sleep. And he tellt her about the fruit tree.

  ‘Aha, Jack laddie,’ she said. ‘Laddie, laddie, I ken you’ll be wanting to go awa, but will you no stay with me for another two days? At least till I have a wee crack to you? I’m lonely here, I’m a lonely old woman here by myself. Can you no stay for another two days?’

  ‘Well,’ Jack said, ‘I’ll stay for another two days if you promise you’ll answer me two questions!’

  ‘Jack,’ she said, ‘if you stay with me two days I’ll tell you onything!’

  ‘Tell me then, why, Auntie, the king’s wife the queen cannae sleep.’

  ‘Aha, Jack, the king would gie the world to ken that!’

  ‘And tell me, Auntie, why the king’s fruit tree is no growing any more fruit.’

  ‘Oho, Jack laddie, the king would give a large reward to ken that.’

  ‘Well,’ he said, ‘what’s the problem, Auntie?’

  She said, ‘It’s the king’s fault, Jack! If it wasnae his ain fault, it wouldnae hae happened. You see, he sent a young laddie to the dungeons for stealing the fruit of his tree. And that laddie’s mother’s a wee bit like myself, a wee bit o’ the black art. And her daughter is working as a maid in the castle in the palace. Every night she combs the queen’s hair and she puts knots in the queen’s hair with the power of her old mother! And that’s why the king’s queen cannae sleep. She’s also put her sword under the roots o’ the king’s tree. And that’s why it’s no growing ony fruit, Jack! That’s the king’s problem.’

  So Jack was awfae pleased to hear this. He stayed another couple of days with his auntie.

  And at last he said, ‘Auntie, I’ll have to go back to my mother. I’ve been away for a long, long while.’ At least eight months had passed since Jack had left his mother, and he was dying to go back again. So he finally had to bid goodbye to his auntie.

  And she said, ‘Jack, you’re only a young man yet. And promise you’ll come back and see me again!’

  ‘Well, Auntie,’ he said, ‘I might and I might not. Naebody kens that.’

  ‘But give my best to your mother,’ she said, ‘my wee sister. And tell her I’m aa right, and I’m still surviving.’

  And Jack bade his old auntie goodbye and took his wee stick under his arm. Away he set
, back all the road home. He travelled on and on and on, and after nights and days had passed once again he was back at the king’s palace.

  He walked up the steps to the king’s palace with his stick below his oxter. And the king was overjoyed to see him!

  The king said, ‘Jack, you’ve been away a long while. Come and have something to eat with me!’

  So Jack dined with the king. He said, ‘Jack, did you ever discover what I was telling you about? Did you ever find any answer for me?’

  And Jack said, ‘Aye. But listen! Look, you have a young man in prison and I want you to set him free. And you have a young maid who works for your queen. When I tell you the truth, will you promise me something?’

  ‘Onything,’ says the king, ‘onything, I’ll promise you! If my wife could get one night’s peaceful sleep.’

  And Jack said, ‘You sent a young man to the dungeons for stealing your fruit.’

  ‘That’s true,’ said the king.

  And he said, ‘His sister is your queen’s maid.’..

  ‘That’s right,’ said the king, ‘but I didna ken it was his sister.’

  ‘And every night,’ said Jack, ‘she combs your queen’s hair. And her mother has a wee bit o’ the black art.’

  ‘Oh, I’ll punish her,’ said the king, ‘I’ll punish her!’

  ‘No,’ says Jack, ‘you’ll no punish her. Otherwise I’ll tell you no more.’

  ‘Come on then, Jack, tell me,’ he said. ‘And I swear I’ll not do anything about it.’

  So, Jack tellt the king. He said: ‘You can sack her, send her on her way. And set the young man free.’

  So, Jack tellt the king about the maid tying knots in the queen’s hair. And the king ordered her away from the palace, and he set the young man free. Jack stayed that night with the king in the palace. And for the first time for many, many months the queen had the most beautiful sleep, the most beautiful sleep she had ever had!

  ‘Now,’ says the king to Jack, ‘how about my tree?’

  ‘Ah,’ Jack said, ‘that’s simple. Come with me!’

  Jack led the king down to the garden at the front of the palace, a beautiful garden of roses. And there in the middle of the garden was a tree completely withered. The leaves were dead, the branches were dead. And Jack reached, put his hand under the soil, under the roots of the tree. He pulled out a sword, a rusty sword.

  And he said to the king, ‘That was the cause of your tree not bearing fruit.’

  And within minutes the tree was blooming. All beautiful green!

  The king scratched his head.

  ‘Jack, Jack,’ he said, ‘I’ve never seen anything like this before in my life. I’m going to reward you more than ever you’ll need.’

  But Jack said, ‘I’ve a long way to go and I cannae carry very much.’

  The king said, ‘Well, Jack, you can fill your pockets, can’t you?’

  So, Jack filled his pockets with gold from the king and he bade the king farewell. He went on his journey.

  He travelled on and he travelled for a couple of days. It was gloamin dark when he saw a wee light by the roadside.

  ‘Aha, at last,’ he said, ‘I’ll have a rest tonight.’

  He walked to the door and knocked. And an old woman opened the door to him.

  She said, ‘Who are you there? Who is it here this time of night?’

  And Jack said, ‘I’ve brung back your stick!’

  ‘Oh, come in laddie,’ she says, ‘come in!’

  And Jack spent a lovely evening with the old woman. He had a nice long talk to her and a lovely supper with her. And he had a good sleep. In the morning he bade her farewell. But before he left he held out the stick.

  He said, ‘Here’s your stick! Take your stick back.’

  ‘Nah, nah, Jack,’ she says. ‘I’m no taking the stick back, laddie. You keep the stick! Because some day I might need you to carry me another bundle of sticks and you never know – maybe the king will have another task for you!’

  Jack bade the old woman goodbye and he walked home. And after a few days’ travelling he landed back to see his old mother.

  She was overjoyed to see him. And he came in.

  She says, ‘Jack, did you mak your way, laddie?’

  ‘Oh, Mother, Mother,’ he said, ‘ye’ve nae idea – have I got a story to tell you!’

  And Jack had a wee cup o’ tea, and he sat down by his mother. He placed his wee stick by the fire. He tellt his mother the story. And the story he tellt his mother is the one I’ve tellt you right now!

  That was Old Toots’s story, old Johnnie MacDonald. He was an old Travelling man called ‘The Story Mannie’ by children in Aberdeenshire. Oh, I was only about eighteen when he told me it. We were staying up near CouparAngus. I’ve told it since then among Travellers, just among Travellers.

  Jack and the Devil’s Gold

  Jack was reared with his old mother. They lived in this cottage and everything she done was just for the sake o’ getting him reared up the best she could.

  But one morning she says to him, ‘Jack, ye’ll have to gang to the town and get two-three bits o’ messages today again.’

  ‘I dinna mind goin for the messages, Mother; but look, can ye gie me a shilling to myself?’

  ‘What are ye wantin a shilling for?’

  ‘Ye ken what I want a shilling for – to get a wee bit thing to myself.’

  ‘Look, bad luck’s going to follow you yet,’ she said, ‘ower the heids o’ this drink, this carry-on. Drinkin is goin to get you into serious trouble.’

  He says, ‘Mother, for all the drink that I get it’ll no do me much harm.’ But anyway, he hemmed and hawed and he managed to beg her for half a crown to go to the town.

  ‘Now,’ she says, ‘remember, I ken that you’re goin to come back the shortcut through the wood. And Jack, if it’s late, dinna come back through there! I tellt ye an awfa bing o’ times, ‘cause I’ll tell ye something: some o’ these times the Devil’ll get ye comin back through the shortcut!’

  Now, where Jack stayed in this wee house with his mother, if he went round the road it was about two miles to the wee village. But if he came back through the wood by the shortcut he had to pass this big clift in this rock. And it was a dreary path through the wood.

  But away Jack went to the town and he bought his two-three bits o’ messages for his mother, whatever he needed. And in to the pub, he spent his half-crown. And he got hisself a good-goin drink. By the time he got out o’ the pub it was about ten o’clock. He got his mother’s wee bit messages on his back. And he went back the road.

  But when he came to the crossroads he said, ‘Man, it’s a long bit round about that road. There naethin’s goin to bother me goin through this shortcut.’

  His mother had warned him not to take it at night. He went it two-three times during the day. He kent it, knew the road well. But he’d never come through it at night before. It was ten’ o’clock, the month of October and the moon was shining clearly. And with the drink in his head he said, ‘Ach, I canna walk that bit the night. I’m going back through the shortcut.’

  So back he comes. And he travels on, he travels on. But before getting near the house he had to come to a bad bend in the road. And there was a face o’ a clift. Then there was the path that led ye down to the house. The moon was shining clear. Jack’s walking on the wee pad and he’s dottering on, ye ken, a wee drink on him! And he looks – lyin right on the pad shinin – a gold sovereign. Jack bends and he picks it up, brother, and he looks.

  ‘Oh dear-dear,’ he says, ‘if I’d hae come this way the first time I could hae haen that. I could hae haen that drunk. But it’ll keep to the mornin.’

  But he’d only taken another two steps . . . another yin! And after he’d taken another step – another one! But these coins weared away up the pad. And he followed them, he picked them up as he went.

  He came to the face o’ the clift. He looked: there was a dark hole and he could see a light. A light, and he
seen a fire shinin in a monster cave in the face o’ the clift!

  He says, ‘I never kent this place was here before. Maybe it’s an old buck gadgie with a fire. Maybe he’s lost his money, maybe he stole it fae somebody. He dropped it from a hole in the bag or something. He’s in there wi all that loor. Tsst, I’m goin in for a crack to him, maybe he’s got somethin to drink!’

  He walks in, into the face o’ the clift. He sees this big fire and here this man’s sittin. Tall dark man sittin at the fire.

  ‘Come on, Jack!’ he said. I’ve been waitin for you for a long, long while, Jack, come on in!’

  So Jack walked further in. But a funny thing about the fire was, the sticks was burning but they werena seemin to be deein out. Shadows was round the wall, Jack could see the shadows of the fire was making droll faces on the front of the wall.

  The man says, ‘Sit down, Jack.’

  Jack sat down.

  The man says, ‘Ye never done what yer mother tellt ye, did ye?’

  ‘No,’ says Jack, ‘I never done what my mother tellt me.’

  He said, ‘Yer mother tellt ye not to come back the shortcut tonight, didn’t she?’

  ‘Aye,’ said Jack, ‘but if I hadna come back I wouldna hae found the money.’

  ‘What money did ye find, Jack?’

  ‘I found money on the road up. And it led me into this cave. You stole it and you lost it. It’s mine now! You stole it fae somebody.’

  He said, ‘How much did you get?’

  Jack said, ‘I got a good few onyway.’

  Hand in his pocket, brother, nothing! Not a haet. He emptied his pocket outside in – nothing!

  And this man laughed: ‘Na, na, Jack,’ he said, ‘ye mightna look in yer pocket, laddie, there nothing in yer pocket. Ye like money, Jack, don’t ye?’

  ‘Aye,’ said Jack, ‘I like money. I was reared with my mother since my father dee’d. I dinna remember much about him. And me and her got a hard time o’ it.’

  And he said, ‘Ye like a drink, Jack?’

  ‘Oh-oh, I like a drink all right, I love a drink.’

  ‘And you spend every wee copper that yer mother’s got for the sake o’ buyin drink. And she’s to do wantin a lot o’ things that she could buy for the money you spend.’