Jack and the Devil's Purse

by Duncan Williamson

  Two Ravens

  Jack stayed with his mother in this little cottage many, many years ago, long before your day and mine. And all they had was a vegetable patch. Jack used to grow vegetables of all description. He was a good gardener, and he had a few hens. He and his mother managed to survive by selling a few eggs and vegetables in the village. Whatever Jack sold the vegetables for he would always use to bring back some messages. And he always managed to bring his mother back a shilling or two, which she promised she would save for Jack for when she was gone. Maybe it was only a shilling, maybe two, but he always gave her the change that was left. Jack was not a drinker, no way. But he had one vice – every spare moment he had he spent it . . . fishing.

  Now, past Jack’s place where he stayed ran a large river, and it travelled into the hills for hundreds of miles. One morning he packed his basket with the vegetables, went into the market and sold them. He hurried the best he could because he wanted to fish. He got some things for his mother, hurried back and swallowed a quick meal.

  She says, ‘Jack, you’re in an awful hurry.’

  ‘Well, Mother, you know,’ he said, ‘there was rain last night and the burn’s big.’

  ‘I trust between you and the burn, laddie,’ she said, ‘something bad’s going to happen to you, with all this carry-on fishing! You never, never give a thought to anything else as long as you can get out there with that rod and sit fishing!’

  He says, ‘Mother, don’t I bring you back some good fish sometimes?’

  She says, ‘Sometimes you do well, Jack. But do you give a thought to me – I might want you to sit and talk to me – and do you give a thought to other things to do past your own sport?’

  He says, ‘Mother, look, you know where I am when I’m going fishing!’

  But she says, ‘Jack, I know you go fishing, but you’re away for so long; you spend hours at a time and that burn goes for miles. You could fall into the burn, get drowned or something, I would never ken.’

  ‘Mother, you reared me up, now I’m eighteen years of age,’ he says. ‘Have I ever in the world ever gien ye any worry or grievances over me?’

  She said, ‘You give me plenty worry when you go fishing, Jack!’

  ‘Well,’ he says, ‘I’m going fishing today. And I’m thinking to travel a wee bit further up the burn. That burn goes for hundreds of miles and I’ve never been up very far. I’m going to walk a long way till I get to the place I’ve never fished before, and fish it!’

  She says, ‘Jack, you’re going to the Land of the Ravens!’

  ‘Tsst, Ravens, Mother!’ he said, ‘you and your fairy tales.’

  ‘If you go too far up the burn you’ll go to the Land of the Ravens,’ she said, ‘and you ken what’ll happen to you if they come across you!’

  ‘Mother, I’m no worried about Ravens,’ he said, ‘that’s only fairy stories, folklore. There nae such thing as Ravens!’

  She said, ‘If the Ravens get you fishing in their land, Jack, I’m telling you, you’ll never get back!’

  ‘Anyway, we’re no going to argue about it,’ Jack says.

  He went into the garden, got a spade and dug a large tin of worms, packed his bag, got his fishing rod, collected all his hooks and bits of line – all that he could in case he would lose them in the burn – put them in his bag and flung it on his back, bade goodbye to his mother. And away he goes.

  He walked and he walked up the burn past the places he used to fish fill he came to a part where he’d never fished. And he started, put the worms on his hook and fished. Oh, and he was getting good trout, you know, putting them in his bag. The wee ones he was flinging back. And he walked on and on till he came to a cliff face. The burn was dropping into a large waterfall.

  ‘Now,’ Jack said, ‘the burn will be a large pool down there beside that waterfall. If I could make my way to it I bet ye I could sit there all day and get plenty! In that big pool there’s bound to be plenty fish. I’ve never been here before.’ So he stepped through the wood, said, ‘If I can go round about it and go down through the trees I might find a pathway to the foot of the falls.’

  And so he did. He found a well-worn path like a deer track and followed it right down a steep bank. He looked up when he saw this great big waterfall! It was shooting over the face of the cliff, falling into this great big pool, oh, maybe a hundred yards in diameter.

  He said, ‘This is the place for me!’ And there were large stones around the foot of the fall.

  Jack walked down. When he came to the foot of the pool he came round behind the boulders and looked – sitting on the rock beside the pool was the bonniest young woman Jack had ever seen in his life! Jack was amazed. And he was staring at the young woman. But the thing that mesmerised Jack most of all – sitting beside her on the same rock was the largest eagle Jack had ever seen in his life – with beady eyes and great big curled claws. It was watching Jack. Jack didn’t know whether to go forward or back. And he had the fishing rod in his hand. He walked down.

  The young woman spoke to him, ‘Good morning, young man!’

  Jack kind of hesitated, you know, and he’s watching this eagle: ‘Good morning! Good morning,’ he said.

  She says, ‘Have you been fishing?’

  ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘I’ve been fishing.’

  She said, ‘Had ye any luck? Did you catch many?’

  And Jack looked. She was dressed in skin from head to foot. She had the most beautiful flaxen fair hair hanging down her back. Jack eyed her up from head to foot. But the thing he looked at most of all was her boots. She had the most beautiful pair of boots on that Jack had ever seen in his life, made of the finest leather and carved with all the animals of the forest.

  So the young lady says, ‘Young man, don’t be afraid. Just carry on, go on with your fishing!’

  But Jack didn’t start fishing.

  ‘My lady,’ he said, ‘I’ve never come here before to fish. This is as far as I’ve ever come. I’m amazed to see another person here before me. Do you do any fishing?’

  ‘No,’ she said, ‘I don’t do fishing. We come here for solitude, me and Hungry.’

  He said, ‘You and who?’

  She said, ‘Me and Hungry, my eagle.’

  Jack looked at this bird, and this bird was eyeing him up. Its eyes were so bright and staring. Jack was a wee bit wary, you know.

  She said, ‘And he’s always hungry. Have you any fish?’

  ‘Well,’ Jack said, ‘I’ve got some fish.’ Jack put his hand in the slip bag on his back and took out a trout about three or four inches. He handed it to the young woman. She caught it.

  ‘Here ye are, Hungry!’ and she threw it. The eagle just ‘kweek’, snapped it like that and gobbled it up!

  Jack said, ‘I see it really is hungry!’

  She said, ‘Yes, Hungry is always hungry. But let’s forget about him at the present moment; tell me something about yourself. Where did you come from?’

  Jack told her, ‘I came from the village about six or seven miles down the river. I stay with my mother, my father died. I don’t remember my father very much. I stay with my mother there, who is very old, up in years. The only enjoyment I find is fishing. But it amazes me, young woman, where do you come from?’

  ‘We come here very often,’ she says, ‘Hungry and me. I spend most of my time here.’

  ‘Well,’ Jack says, ‘you don’t mind me, if I start to fish?’

  She said, ‘Never mind fishing, let us talk!’

  Jack wasn’t interested in talking, he wanted to fish. But now Jack began to get the ice broken he began to feel a wee bit freer:

  He says, ‘Have you ever fished?’

  ‘No,’ she said, ‘that’s one thing I’ve never done in my life, is fish.’

  So Jack put a couple of worms on the hook, cast it out in the pool and handed the young woman the rod. Just within minutes there was a nibble on the rope. She pulled it up and got a large trout, about four or five inches. She took it off, caug
ht it and threw it at the eagle. The eagle ‘wowk’, gobbled it -- just while you wait!

  So Jack said, ‘Where did you get that bird?’

  ‘Well,’ she said, ‘I got it from my grandfather many, many years ago. He gave it to me as a small chicken. And he’s been with me for a long, long time, the only friend I really have.’

  But Jack says, ‘Where do you come from?’ He began to get inquisitive.

  She says, ‘I come from the mountains. And I follow the river. I come here because I find solitude at the waterfall.’

  But Jack said, ‘There most be more things for you, a young woman, to do than coming here and spending your time at a waterfall!’

  ‘Well,’ she says, ‘what’s your name?’

  And he told her, ‘Jack.’

  ‘Well,’ she said, ‘Jack, there must be more things for you to do than come here fishing by yourself!’

  He said, ‘I suppose that’s true. But anyway, it’s none of my business.’

  She said, ‘Are you working? Are you employed?’

  Jack said, ‘No, I work for myself. I’ve a vegetable patch; I grow enough to keep my mother and me alive.’

  She said, ‘Would you work for me? And I’ll pay you well.’

  ‘Well,’ Jack said, ‘it all depends on the work. I’m not interested in the money.’

  She says, ‘I want to escape!’

  And Jack says, ‘You? What do you want to escape from? You’ve got the world at your hands, you’re a nice young woman!’

  And Jack was still admiring those boots, you know. He’d never seen anything like them; they just fairly took his breath away. She was the most beautiful woman you ever saw, young and handsome.

  She says, ‘Have ye ever heard of the Ravens?’

  Jack was amazed: ‘The Ravens?’

  ‘Yes – the Ravens – they are my uncles. Ever since my grandfather died I’ve been a prisoner of the Ravens, and I want to escape from them. But there’s no way in the world I can get away from them without the help of someone like you. And if you’re willing to come, help me escape from the Ravens and take me home to my mother’s land across the mountains, I’ll pay you exceptionally well.’

  So Jack pondered for a wee minute: ‘You want to escape from the Ravens – is it true that the Ravens really exist – is it true?’

  ‘Yes, Jack,’ she says, ‘the Ravens really exist. But it’s getting late. I’ll have to make my way home or I’ll be missed and there’ll be a lot of trouble for me. Why don’t you come here early tomorrow just before sunrise? Meet me here and we’ll talk about it. I’ll give you the problem; if you’re willing to work for me you can say yes, and if you’re not you can say no.’

  ‘Fair enough,’ says Jack.

  And Jack never fished any more. He took a fish from his pocket and flung it to the eagle. The eagle ‘lowhoop’, snapped it up like that! And he bade the young woman farewell and he made his way up the path.

  But he was really disturbed, you know, his mind was disturbed. He walked to his mother’s house and didn’t remember walking the path back. In his mind he was mixed up; he half believed her and half didn’t believe her. He wanted to believe her and didn’t want to believe her. He was a young man who didn’t understand the problem he was faced with. He couldn’t get back to his mother quick enough to tell her what happened.

  But to make a long story short, he made his way and his mother was in the kitchen making a bite for him coming back. He came in, placed his fishing rod behind the door, hung it up, took the two-three fish he had and put them in a wee box, took his worms and emptied them back in the garden. That’s one thing Jack would never do, leave worms to die; he put them back so he would get them another day. He washed his hands and came in. His mother had his supper ready for him.

  Jack’s sitting and eating very slowly, and his mother’s placing these things before him. She says, ‘Boy, what’s bothering ye? How did the fishing go?’

  ‘Oh, Mother, it went well. I had a nice day.’

  Now he’s afraid to speak about this, you know. After him telling his mother the Ravens were a fairytale, he is going to turn round and tell her he’s got proof the Ravens are alive! He doesn’t know how she’s going to take it. He is an upset young man.

  But she says, ‘Eat up!’

  But Jack couldn’t eat. So he breaks down and tells her: ‘Mother, I’ve made a fool of you many times.’

  ‘Well, Jack,’ she says, ‘you never made a fool of me really. You’ve never done me nae harm. You’ve been a good laddie to me, taken care of me all my life, I don’t know what I’d do without ye. Since your father died you’ve been a great laddie to me and I’ve no complaints to make.’

  ‘I know, Mother, it’s all right about that. The thing that bothers me so much, you know, is when you try to tell me a story or a wee tale I don’t believe.’

  She said, ‘Jack, what are ye getting at, what are you trying to tell me?’

  He says, ‘Mother, tell me about the Ravens!’

  ‘Well, Jack, there’s no much to tell about the Ravens,’ she said.

  He says, ‘Tell me every single tale about the Ravens!’

  She says, ‘What brought the interest in the Ravens? Have you been thinking a lot about this? Were you on their land or something?’

  ‘Now, Mother, I want you to tell me every single thing ye ken about the Ravens!’ said Jack.

  ‘Well,’ she said, ‘eat up your supper and I’ll tell ye.’

  So Jack ate as much as he could, and told his mother he couldn’t eat any more.

  ‘Well, Jack,’ she says, ‘I’ll tell ye: many, many long years ago when your father was only a young man and I was only a young lassie, there used to be an old man who came here every year from the mountains to shop in the village. He had a long white beard and he came every week to the village store. He lived on his own in the mountains and never talked to anybody. People called him the Hermit and said he worked with magic. They had many bad tales about him. Then a year passed and he never turned up; till one day he appeared. With him he had the two most beautiful boys ye ever saw in your life, identical twins they were! Dark, tall and dark, with long, straight noses and long, straight hair, as if they were foreigners. But they had beady glassy eyes. They never spoke. They paid attention to the old man, every word he said, and they obeyed his orders. And people began to get kind of curious about this; they asked him, who were the boys?

  ‘He turned around and said, “Oh them – they are my Ravens – my Ravens!”

  ‘Well, shortly after that these boys grew up, and the old man never came back any more. These Ravens grew up to be young men, started to thieve and steal across the country, robbed and stole because they had magical powers given to them from the old man. They could travel across the country faster than anybody else. But they say the big house on the hill where they live is full of plunder, and nobody is safe anymore as long as the Ravens are alive. All tried, everybody tried to capture and find some complaint about them, but they could never get anything on the Ravens. They still exist!

  ‘And we never saw the old man anymore. But the Ravens never, never come here. The stories that we hear coming from the mountains – the Ravens are still as active as ever. And woe be to anyone who is caught between the boundaries of the Ravens’ land; they are never seen or heard tell of again!’

  And Jack was kind of worried: ‘Ye know, Mother, I had a very funny experience today.’

  ‘A very funny experience, son,’ she says, ‘what way?’

  ‘Well,’ he said, ‘I travelled farther up the river than I’ve travelled before and I had the pleasure of meeting the most beautiful young woman I ever met in my life at the waterfall. She told me that the Ravens are her uncles, and she wants me to work for her.’

  ‘No, Jack,’ she says, ‘don’t do it, son! Please, for my sake, for your mother’s sake, don’t do it; have nothing to do with them, because you’ll rue it for evermore. That old man, their grandfather or her father, whoever it was
, nobody knows for sure, but he was a wizard. He gave them magical powers, and no one can do anything to them. But, who did you meet?’

  ‘A young lassie, the bonniest looking young lassie that ever I saw in my life,’ he said, ‘and she’s so beautiful it just took my heart away . . . Mother, you want to see her boots!’

  She says, ‘Jack, the question of boots, you’re talking of boots: they tell me that the Ravens got boots with wings on them given to them by their grandfather, or by their old father who reared them up. They can travel hundreds of miles across the country and naebody can catch them. That’s the way they escape on their thieving and plundering. They’ve got boots with wings on them and can travel faster than any human beings in the world – they’re full of black magic. There’s no way in the world you can do anything to them!’

  ‘Well,’ he says, ‘Mother, I’ll tell you the whole story. This young lassie I met says the Ravens are her uncles, and the old man was her grandfather. She wants me to meet her the morn at sunrise, and wants me to escape with her from the Ravens, take her to her mother’s country across the mountains.’

  ‘Jack, Jack, laddie,’ she says, ‘do ye ken what you’re doing?’

  ‘Well, Mother, I promised her I would do it!’

  She said, ‘Laddie, ye might never come back! You don’t know what kind of people you’re going among; the Ravens could end your days in minutes, the stories I’ve heard.’

  ‘Well,’ he said, ‘Mother, I’ll never rest in peace unless I do it. And I’m a man that keeps to my promise; tomorrow morning at sunrise I’m going back to meet her. And whatever she wants me to do I’m going to do it! There’s nae other way, suppose I never come back! Mother, you’ve a few shillings collected, you’ve a few shillings that’ll see ye through to the end of your days, use it for your ain purpose. If I don’t come back there’s no other way for me! I’ve made my mind up and I’m going, whatever happens, I’m going to take her away from the Ravens.’

  ‘Well, Jack, Jack,’ she says, ‘I suppose there nothing I can say.’

  ‘No, Mother, there nothing you can say that’s going to deter me from what I want,’ said Jack. ‘I’ve made up my mind. Here am I as a young man now, almost nineteen years of age; I’ve stayed with you digging gardens and selling vegetables, fishing a wee bit in the burn. I’ve never seen life o’ nae description and this is a challenge to me. I’m going tomorrow’s morning.’