Part 6
PEGGY. I don’t really know yet. Wherever Hugh’s going.
PROF. Bully Peggy?
MRS. S. Peggy Scally, you’re mad! You won’t cross the threshold this night!
PEGGY. Hugh, I’m going with you. Take me out of this.
O’C. I will, Peggy, and I don’t think anyone present--or all of them--will try to stop me.
PROF. Now, Joseph, there’s a chance for you to get knocked flat.
MRS. S. John Scally, save your daughter! She won’t heed me any more.
JOHN [_rising_]. Do nothing rash, Peggy. You’re a good girl.
PEGGY. I’m doing nothing rash, father. I was engaged to Hugh O’Cahan when he had plenty. I’m going with him now when he has nothing.
PROF. Gum, she’s a thick and thinner.
JOHN. By the hedges, she put that plain and dacent. I’m proud of my Peggy.... Hugh O’Cahan, you don’t know what you’re getting. It’s not because she’s my daughter. But no man in the world is good enough for Peggy Scally to clean her feet on.
O’C. That’s the one thing I do know, John.
JOHN. But she’s going with you, and I won’t try to stop her.... Lord, I wish you were staying at home ... that I could see Peggy whiles.... But here’s an offer. You’ll stay here another week and get married decently, and I’ll give Peggy her fortune.
O’C. You’re manly, John. You always were. But I won’t take any fortune with Peggy. I want to throw off my coat and vest and work.... I’m going to prophesy now. [_He looks at the KILROYS_] You people have got Rush Hill. But if I live I’ll come back and root you out of it! If I die a son of mine will come back and root you out of it! But I believe I’ll come back myself, and bring Peggy back to Rush Hill.
PROF. That’s inspiration. If a man holds on to that he can crush the earth like an eggshell. He can break the Wheel that tried to break him.
JOHN. Peggy, you and me was always the best of friends. I never seen your frown. Won’t you make Hugh wait here another week?
PEGGY. We’ll do as father says, Hugh.
O’C. Right you are, Peggy. You’re the law and the prophets.
JOHN. Hugh O’Cahan, I’ll say out before all these people what was always in my mind. I always had a great grah for you. You were a wild fella but a good fella. You as good as gimme a brown mare that has made me a power of money with her foals....
O’C. Never mind about the brown mare, John. I took a profit on her. Tell us some of the wild deeds.
JOHN. Well, you went too fast, Hugh. That’s the short way of putting it.
PROF. That takes in wine, women, and cards....
JOHN. And leppin’ horses.
O’C. How much, John, do you reckon I’ve spent on wine, women and cards and leppin’ horses since my uncle died?
JOHN. Some says fifty thousand pounds, and some twice that.
O’C. Mr. Allison, how much has the Bank against Rush Hill?
ALLISON. Four thousand pounds!
O’C. How much had the Bank against it when uncle Hugh died?
ALLISON. The same--four thousand pounds.
O’C. There you are, John. It isn’t hard to earn a local reputation for riotous living. As a matter of fact, I never had the ghost of a chance.
JOHN. By the hedges, I’d rather hear that than a thousand pound! [_Sits down._]
PROF. Come and sit down, Hugh. Gum, I’m proud of my sex. A young Irishman’s the noblest work of God.
_O’C. sits._
KILROY [_rising_]. Mr. Allison, I want to speak to you.
_KILROY and ALLISON go out back._
PEGGY [_puts off coat and hat_]. Shall I pour out the tea, mother?
PROF. Gum, she’s a cool one. As the poet says, “Mistress of herself, though china fall.”
MRS. K. No tea for me. My jacket, please!
MRS. S. I’ll get it. [_Goes out for it._]
MRS. K. Go and put the horse in the trap, Joseph. You’ve had a very narrow escape....
JOSEPH [_rising_]. I’ve Rush Hill anyway. And I can marry any gerril I like in two counties. I don’t want anybody’s leavings.... [_Going to the door back_] Look at this circus....
_JOSEPH stands aside to allow MOLL and PADDY to come in. Both have been weeping. MOLL is still sniffing audibly. She has on the new hat and dress, carries a big, ungainly bundle, and has a cat in a basket. PADDY has a saddle and bridle and other riding tackle strung about him._
MOLL [_not seeing O’C._]. We’ve seen the last av him ... and the last av Rush Hill. [_Sniffs._] Och, hum! we’re all homeless this night, and broken-hearted as a motherless colt.... May the holy saints--Colum, Patrick, and Brigid--be with him wherever he goes....
O’C. Amen, Moll. The saints are all here.
MOLL. Oh, sweet heavens! Gimme another look at you.... [_Peering at him_] I can hardly see you for my crying eyes....
PEGGY [_placing a chair_]. Sit down, Moll, and take a good look at him.... What have you got in the basket?
MOLL. Ach, sure it’s the cat. Toby. We couldn’t lave him behind us to be starved and beaten to death by the Kilroys. [_Sits._] Och, hum.
JOSEPH. Awwwwh! [_Goes out._]
PEGGY [_with a chair_]. Sit down, Paddy. We’re having tea.
PADDY [_sits_]. It’s good to be all here--if only for a minute--as the swallows light on the road.
MRS. K. [_loudly_]. My jacket! My jacket!
_MRS. S. comes in with jacket._
MRS. S. This is getting a very distinguished gathering!
PROF. “Go ye out into the highways and byeways,” etc., etc.
JOHN. Briget, don’t be harsh. They’ve no home. Moll Flanagan has the homeless cat in that basket. That’s a lesson to us all.
MRS. S. You’d think to hear you that I was a hard-hearted woman. But I’ll let you see our mistake. If Peggy’s going away I’ll keep Moll Flanagan and the cat as long as they like to stay.
JOHN. Good, Briget. I know’d the homeless cat would touch the heart.... And Paddy could give the boys a hand with the harvest....
PEGGY. Moll, I’m going away with Hugh. Will you stay here till I send for you?
MOLL. I will--if it was fifty years!
O’C. Paddy, you can hang around here, too, and give John a hand with the horses, till you hear from me. That won’t be long.
PADDY. Right, master. It can’t be too soon for me. [_Pulls the hat over his eyes._]
PROF. [_rising_]. Lucky devil, O’Cahan! Youth, love, friendship, devotion, and the cat for luck.... My valise.... Gum, I’m dry. [_He goes to the room._]
MRS. K. Mrs. Scally, I’ll take my jacket now. You’ll have a fine collection here after a bit....
MRS. S. [_giving her jacket_]. Thank God, Mrs. Kilroy, there’s plenty for them to eat. And we’ll not ask you to bail us if we want more....
JOHN. Holy tattler! That’s a posey! Outrageous, Briget! Atrocious!
_KILROY and ALLISON come in. KILROY has a paper in his hand._
KILROY [_to JOHN_]. Now, Scally, as man to man--will you go bail with me and two other good men for Rush Hill?
MRS. S. He’ll do nothing of the sort. John has more good sense than all in the house. I just see that now, that bail’s a near cut to the poor-house.
JOHN. Thank you, Briget.
KILROY. That ends it. [_Tears the agreement._] The deal’s off, Allison. You can give Rush Hill to some of your Freemason friends. My opinion is you never wanted me to get it.
ALLISON. You carry the sting in your tail, James. But for once in a way you’re right. I didn’t want you to get it. Nor any of my Freemason friends either. I wanted Rush Hill to remain with O’Cahan. And it does!
O’C. Allison ... Sam ... that’s a cruel sort of joke....
ALLISON. It’s no joke, young man. I don’t make jokes like that. [_Holds up papers._] It’s all here. The deeds and documents of Rush Hill. Your mortgages are paid--a clean wipe out.
O’C. [_gasping_]. Allison ... you wouldn’t.... I know you wouldn’t....
ALLISON [_looking round_]. Where’s the Professor?
PEGGY. He’s in the room.
ALLISON [_lowering his voice_]. We people have been making sad fools of ourselves. Mrs. Scally, you ought to’ve known better. You knew the brother was always a little eccentric.... The man’s a real Professor of Geology. A big man in the world. And very wealthy. He’s tons of it.
MRS. S. My God! has he been acting?
ALLISON. Aye, and doing it not badly. I tell you I was with him in the Bank for two hours, and ’twas an eye-opener to me. He’s been in the East--Chief of a Geological Expedition--and he’s worth a pot of money.
_JOSEPH comes in back with eyes bulging._
JOSEPH. Lord save us! There’s a waggon-load of stuff come for the Professor--trunks, bags, golf sticks, and fishing-rods--like a load of hay!
_JOSEPH runs out again._
ALLISON. I told you so.
_PROF. comes in from the room, suitably dressed, a touch of distinction about himself and his clothes._
PROF. I’ve some luggage at the front door. But I’ve told the man to wait. Part of it is going over to Rush Hill, and part of it staying here. [_With a quaint smile_] I’ve been enjoying myself. But my little experiment is at an end. On the whole it has yielded good results. I’ve found some hearts of gold.
ALLISON [_handing him papers_]. You’ve the deeds and old mortgages all there, Professor. Some of them haven’t seen daylight for a hundred years.
_JOSEPH comes in quietly at back._
PROF. [_takes papers_]. Give me the key. [_ALLISON gives key._] Come here, Peggy. [_She goes to him._] You gave me a kindly welcome to-day, and three pounds. Do you remember?
PEGGY. Y-es.
PROF. There’s part of your reward. [_Hands her papers and key._] A wedding present.
PEGGY [_after a pause_]. Uncle ... I’m going to cry....
PROF. Ah, Peggy, don’t be so obvious. Tears are as common as rain-water. Do something original.
PEGGY. Can I do with these what I like, uncle?
PROF. Do with them whatever you please, Peggy. Light your pipe with them.
PEGGY [_hands all to O’C._]. You’re a great prophet, dear. Without going away you’re coming back to Rush Hill.... Say something, Hugh.
_O’C. damps his lips and tries to speak, but in vain._
PROF. Don’t open your lips, young man, or your heart ’ill fly out. I can hear it beating against the roof of your mouth.
PEGGY [_petting him_]. Try again, Hugh. [_O’C. shakes his head._] You see, uncle, he hasn’t had much practice in thanking his lucky stars. That’s why he can’t speak now. He’s so much finer in defeat.
PROF. It depends on what a man’s best used to, Peggy.
O’C. [_shaking himself_]. I can speak now. [_Shakes hands with PROF._] I suppose I may call you uncle?
PROF. Yes, it’s only a little ante-dated.
O’C. It’ll take some time for me to realise what has happened. For the last ten days I’ve been like a blind man. One smash coming after another, old friends disappearing as if by magic, and the future as black as the inside of a cloud. Leaving Rush Hill to-night was like walking out to be hanged.
PROF. Sonny, you please me well. You pleased me to-day at the auction, when the world was falling in pieces about your ears. That’s when a man stands out. Not when he’s eating strawberries and cream. If you call a boy after me I’ll put six figures to his name.
ALLISON. And never miss it!
PADDY. In sowl, at that rate, we’ll call a dozen for him.
MOLL. Pad-ee! have some morals.
PROF. For the rest of my life I want to spend half time in this house and the other half at Rush Hill. Can I have a room there facing the south?
O’C. Can Peggy and I have a room there facing anywhere? The rest belongs to you. Peggy and I are your tenants.
PROF. Good. I’ll be a bachelor and a family man combined. We can have everything we want at Rush Hill. And Peggy the undisputed boss of the show. You hear that, Peggy!
PEGGY. I should think I do, uncle.... And you hear it, Hugh? No more double-banks or champion stone walls. I don’t want to be left a widow at Rush Hill.
O’C. Before all these witnesses, Peggy, I hand you the whip and the reins. [_Gives PADDY the key._] Take the key, Paddy, and turn up the lights. I’ll be over after you directly.
PADDY. Come on, Moll Flanagan. Get into your gear. I’m sorry I bought you all that finery.... Bring Toby and all with you....
MOLL [_struggling to her feet_]. Oh, Lord above! The torrents of joy’s killing me....
_PEGGY gets PADDY and MOLL ready for the road._
PROF. Paddy Kinney!
PADDY. Yes, your honour, Professor.
PROF. You gave me two shillings to-day.
PADDY [_embarrassed_]. Ah, God forgimme, Professor! Sure I thought you were as poor as myself.
PROF. I’ll give you two hundred pounds if you kiss Moll Flanagan in that hat and dress.
PADDY. Well, in sowl, it’s a big lump of money....
MOLL. Daar ye! Daar ye!
_PADDY kisses MOLL._
PROF. I’ll give you five hundred pounds, Paddy, and build you a cottage if you marry Moll Flanagan inside thirty days.
PADDY. Well, you’ll pay that bonus, Professor, in one fortnight.
MOLL. I wouldn’t like to say but you’re right, Paddy. For that bonus would drive anyone to it.
PADDY. Come on, then. You’re going to get me after all.... Turn your head for home. We left Rush Hill, carriage paid for destruction, and we’re going back to begin a golden age.... Good bless Professor Tim!
MOLL. Amen. May he live for ever.
_PADDY and MOLL go out back._
KILROY [_rising_]. We may as well go home, Ellen.
PROF. James Kilroy, you’re a good Irishman. You put a pound note in my hand at the station....
KILROY. I wish from my heart I’d had nothing to do with Rush Hill.
PROF. Sit down, James, and smoke a cigar.
JOHN. Sit down, James.
_KILROY sits down._
PROF. Peggy, you’ll find a box of cigars in my valise.
PEGGY. All right, uncle. [_Goes into the room._]
PROF. Hugh, would you mind telling Peggy it’s the small flat box I want?
O’C. The mild ones.... [_Goes to room scratching his head._]
ALLISON. May I stay and smoke a cigar, Professor?
PROF. I’ll be very glad if you will.
MRS. K. Keep up your heart, Joseph. Mrs. Scally has more daughters than Peggy.
JOSEPH. I’d marry any of the other three ... any one of them that would have me.
PROF. You’re what’s called a marrying man, Joseph.
JOSEPH. Yes, sur.
_PEGGY comes in with cigars, followed by O’C., who hands her a sidecomb._
PEGGY. Joseph, you ought to set your cap for Susan. I know she likes you, and she’s been frightfully jealous of me....
JOSEPH [_brightening_]. Will you speak to Susan for me, Peggy?
PEGGY. I will indeed, Joseph.
JOSEPH. Mrs. Scally, will you speak for me, too?
MRS. S. [_in a low voice_]. I’ll see, Joseph. [_Pause._] If God spares me, I mean to talk less.... [_Rising_] I’ll go to my room for half an hour.... I’m feeling upset....
PEGGY [_throwing her arms round MRS. S.’S neck_]. Mother! don’t leave us! [_Sets her down and kisses her._] Sure you’ve made us all what we are!... Come here, Hugh, and kiss mother.
PROF. That’s a tall order, Hugh.
O’C. Not before the crowd, Peggy. But some other time [_shaking hands with MRS. S._]. My dear mother, you’re the only living thing I was ever afraid of. And that was because I was very often ashamed of myself.
MRS. S. God bless you, Hugh. I was always anxious about Peggy.
JOHN. By the hedges, it’s grand! It’s outrageous. Atrocious!
PEGGY. And uncle Tim has had his little joke, mother. He must have counted the cost and known what to expect--especially if he took snuff.
PROF. [_chuckling_]. Gum, yes. I got off very lightly, more so than I deserved.... Shake hands, sister Biddy. [_They shake._] Like every good Irish mother, you’ve a sharp tongue and a good vocabulary. And it needs both to bring up a big family of boys and girls.
MRS. S. [_drying her eyes_]. We’ve seven of the best children in the world.
JOHN. As straight as seven dies.
PROF. Glad to hear it. And glad to be home. Have a cigar, friends? I bought these cigars in Bombay.
THE END
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PAUL TWYNING
_A COMEDY IN THREE ACTS_
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHARACTERS
PAUL TWYNING _A Tramp-plasterer_ JAMES DEEGAN _A Farmer and Magistrate_ DAN DEEGAN _His Son_ PATRICK DEEGAN _Another Son, a Publican_ MRS. DEEGAN _Patrick’s Wife_ JIM DEEGAN _Patrick’s Son_ DENIS M’GOTHIGAN _A Farmer_ ROSE M’GOTHIGAN _His Daughter_ DAISY MULLAN _A returned American_ MR. O’HAGAN _A Solicitor_
ACTS I AND III: _JAMES DEEGAN’S kitchen_ ACT II: _PAT DEEGAN’S Public-house_
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The first performance of PAUL TWYNING took place at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, on 3rd October 1922, with the following cast:
_Paul Twyning_ BARRY FITZGERALD _James Deegan_ GABRIEL J. FALLON _Dan Deegan_ MICHAEL J. DOLAN _Patrick Deegan_ P. J. CAROLAN _Mrs. Deegan_ MAY CRAIG _Jim Deegan_ TONY QUINN _Denis M’Gothigan_ ERIC GORMAN _Rose M’Gothigan_ EILEEN CROWE _Daisy Mullan_ CHRISTINE HAYDEN _Mr. O’Hagan_ PETER NOLAN
The Play was produced by Lennox Robinson
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ACT I
_Scene: JAMES DEEGAN’S new kitchen. The walls are raw and the doors and windows unpainted, for the building is still unfinished._
_At the back are a door and windows to the farmyard; another door L. to rooms. The fireplace is on the R., and a little beyond it is a cupboard, built in the wall._
_A table, an old armchair, and a few ordinary chairs have been brought over from the old house and are piled up in a corner._
_Time: A July night, about dusk._
_PAUL TWYNING, in white jacket and overalls, is mixing mortar on the floor with a shovel._
OLD DEEGAN [_off_]. Anybody here?
PAUL. Yes, your worship; Paul’s here.
_JAMES DEEGAN, J.P., a tall, grave old man, dressed in Gladstonian style, comes in from the yard._
OLD DEEGAN. Paul Twyning, I want to speak a word.
PAUL. Well, your worship?
OLD DEEGAN [_irritably_]. I have told you repeatedly not to “worship” me, sir! I’m not on the Bench now.
PAUL. Well, sure I can’t bring myself to address you like an ordinary man. Let me call you “your honour.” Sure, south of the Boyne a big man like yourself--a farmer and magistrate--is called “your honour,” and looks for it.
OLD DEEGAN. We in the North are more democratic.... But that’s not my errand here. What I want to know is--when will you be through with this plastering?
PAUL. In three or four days, master, if I’m spared the health. I’m now at the cornishing in the parlour-room, and, as you see, I’m working overtime and attending myself.
OLD DEEGAN. The sooner you’re done and out of this the better.
PAUL. Of coorse! That’s a tradesman’s thanks the world over.
DEEGAN. When I took you in--a tramp off the highway--it was to plaster my house, not to meddle in my family affairs.
PAUL. Mr. Deegan, your honour, d’ye mean that? Is it in dead earnest you are?
DEEGAN. Certainly so.
PAUL. And when and how did I meddle in your family affairs? Out with it, now, for I won’t lie under it.
DEEGAN. You had my son Daniel at a dance in M’Gothigan’s barn and without my permission.
PAUL. But your other son--Pat, that has the pub. in the town--was at the dance himself and supplied the drink....
DEEGAN. That was a business transaction. Besides, Patrick is a married man, but this lad at home is single.
PAUL. But the M’Gothigans are respectable people, and your lad, as you call him, is over forty years of age....
DEEGAN. My son Daniel is--like all the young men of his generation--graceless and without understanding.
PAUL. Well, of coorse, I only know him a short time, your honour, but I’d formed a very high opinion of Dan.
DEEGAN. No doubt.... But a tramp’s opinion of respectability and mine are different. [_Sternly._] I don’t want a daughter-in-law of your choosing, sir!
PAUL. Nor, I suppose, of Dan’s either, your honour?
DEEGAN. You have said it. Daniel will have no choice. [_Turning to go_] I’m going now to interview a suitable female to be his wife, and if she suits me, she’ll have to suit him, and you, and the M’Gothigans. [_He goes out back._]
PAUL. Well, begorry, I’ve tramped Ireland, England, and parts of Scotland, but there is the worst specimen of the landed aristocracy I’ve met.... That’s the sort of democrats the Land League left behind it. [_Shouts._] Hi, Dan! You may emerge from your rat-hole. Ould Clanricarde has gone out.
_DAN DEEGAN comes in back. He is a wild-visaged man of medium height, with hair turning from grey to whiteness. He is clothed a few degrees worse than a hired servant, and moves with quick, furtive gestures._
DAN. What did my fader say, Paul? In God’s name, amen.
PAUL. Well, he seems to think, Dan, you’ve been sporting your figure at M’Gothigan’s dance....
DAN. Flames, has he heard I was there? What did he say? Did he mention Rose? Quick, man, for your sowl, and tell a buddy.
PAUL. Oh, he knows all about your love affair, Dan. But I must say he took a very wide view of it. He says what is very true--that you have to marry some time and why not now?
DAN. My sowl, that is a wide view!
PAUL. He also says that you were always a headstrong lad, and he supposes if you’ve made Rose M’Gothigan a promise that you’ll stick to it....
DAN [_excited_]. Did he say that, Paul? Did he call me a stubbornt fella?
PAUL. Stiff-necked and stubborn were the words he used.
DAN. I’m in flames, but he’s right! I was always as stiff as a mule if I took a thing in my head.... But I didn’t speak the word to Rose, Paul....
PAUL. Eh! Is that the next of it? Let you answer me a few simple questions. Didn’t you sit beside her last night till the cocks were crowing this morning?
DAN. I did, heth.
PAUL. And didn’t you hold her hand for hours at a stretch?
DAN. I’ll never deny it.
PAUL. And didn’t you slip her a conversation-lozenger with the inscription upon it:
“I love you very dearly, And if you love me, In spite of wind and weather We shall married be.”
DAN. I did, heth. And she read it and laft her fill.
PAUL. And then you have the nerve to stand there and tell me you’re not engaged!
DAN [_confused_]. Does Rose think I axed her?
PAUL. Aye, and what is more important, her father and mother both maintain that you axed her....
DAN. Oh, flames! has it went that far?
PAUL. But they all know the sort of James Deegan, J.P. They know you can’t bring a wife in here without his consent....
DAN. Is that gospel true, Paul? Would Rose and her fader and mother agree to wait?
PAUL. Rose is only in the bud, and can afford to wait as long as you like.
DAN. Then, I’m in flames, but that settles it! I’ll see Rose this night, afore I lay my side to a bed, and settle the match.... That’s the sort of me. If ever I made up my mind to do a thing, I always tore through it like a mad bull with the cholic.