The Maid in the Thick of the Well
Told by Pius Power Sr. on September 1, 1987, at his son’s home in Southeast Bight, Placentia Bay. Those present were Kenneth Goldstein, Kate Power, Pius Power Jr., Suzanne Whyte, Andrew Whyte, Jack Ward, Ray Hepditch, Margaret (Power) Whyte, Vince Whyte, and Anita Best (recording). (MUNFLA CD F02300; see also 2017-180)
There was one time
in olden times
in farmers’ times
’twasn’t in your time
or in my time
but in times ago
a man and a woman got married.
They had two—three sons.
They called ’em Jack, Bill, and Tom.
Well . . . Jack was like a good many more.
He was going around
foolin’ around all over the place.
Well, the King’s daughter, she was stolen by someone . . .
but they didn’t know who or where.
So . . . Jack was on a vessel.
The vessel was wrecked.
Jack drove ashore on an island.
Not long had he been on the island, what did he meet only a giant.
And Jack told him that he was—he was shipwrecked
and asked him was there any place he could get food.
Yes, he said
you take this, he said
and go to my housekeeper.
So he wrote a note and give it to Jack.
Jack—poor Jack couldn’t read or write.
So . . . he wrote the note
and give it to Jack.
Jack went on with the letter when he went—
so when he knocked on the door
there was one come out and opened the door.
Well b’y, she was the beautifullest thing that ever the water wet or the sun shined on.
She took Jack’s intention.
She said, hello, Jack.
Hello, says Jack.
She said, what brought you here?
Well, Jack said
I was shipwrecked, he said
and I drove ashore on this island, and I come, he said
I met . . . the giant out there, he said
and he told me to come to his castle
and . . . you’re his housekeeper?
And she said, yes
He said, he give me this note, he said
for you to give me supper.
The lady took the note and read it.
Ah, Jack, she said
that’s different from that.
But, she said
I have to cook you, she said
for the giant’s supper.
Well, Jack said
that’s poor treatment, he said
for a hungry man. But you know, Jack said
when it comes to all, I don’t know if you or the giant is able to cook me.
Oh, she said
that’s alright. I’m not goin’ to cook you.
First and foremost we have to make a plan, she said
what—what way that we’re goin’ to get off of this
what way, she said
we’re goin’ to fool the giant.
Well, Jack said
that’s easy done.
She said, well, she said
if ’tis easy done, she said
I’d love—I’d love to know.
So Jack said
that’s alright. You get on the—the boiler, he said
or whatever you’re goin’ to cook me in, he said
and I’ll get—I’ll get the stuff to cook for the old giant.
Oh, she got on the boiler and Jack got to work.
The very first thing Jack got was a coil of old rope, slapped it into the boiler.
The next thing Jack comes along with a pair of the giant’s old boots
old leather boots the old giant had, slapped them into the boiler.
The next thing he slapped in was the old giant’s leather breeches. Jack said, that’ll make the flavor!
So . . . the lady was overjoyed.
What’s—I’ll hide you now, then, she said
and when the giant comes, she said
I’ll manage him. But, she said
you—we have, she said
to try and get out of it, she said.
And the giant have a boat, a small boat, she said
and that’s our only way out.
That’s alright, Jack said
I’m capable of handling a boat.
That’s alright, that’s all she cared.
So, begod, when the old—old giant come, he asked her did—did she see the fellow he sent to the house?
She said, yes.
And—uh, he said
uh, did you cook him for me supper?
Yes, she said
and I had some job, she said
to get him into the—to cook him, she said.
He was tougher than you’d think for.
Oh, he said
that’s pretty well—he wasn’t so terrible hard, he said
to get into the fountain (cooking pot)?
Oh no, she said.
I have him.
And he said, is he cooked?
Oh no, she said
he won’t be cooked, she said
he won’t be cooked very quick.
Well, he said
while I’m waitin’ for him to cook now, he said
I’ll go have a nap.
So the old giant lay down
and when the old giant started to snore, she tied a bit of—of green ribbon around the old giant’s finger
and a bit around her own
and she dropped three drops of blood out of the top of her finger on the green ribbon.
Now, Jack, she said
come on! We’re safe to go.
So herself and Jack got aboard the—the boat.
She was something like that old one I have moored up here, I have hauled up over there.
And they went on
went on
rowed away
rowed away.
But by ’m’ by (by and by) the old giant woke.
He said, is supper done?
And one drop of blood said, no.
Not yet.
Old giant fell back asleep again.
’Twas near about it now.
And when he—by ’m’ by . . . the old giant he wasn’t long asleep when he . . . woke up again
and he said, is supper done?
And t’other drop of blood said, no.
Not yet.
However, alright, he had another few snorts out of ’er
but by ’m’ by he woke up
and the other drop of blood said, no.
Not yet
when he asked was supper done.
And she said, no—blood said, no.
Not yet.
Well, he wasn’t very long asleep when he woke up, saying, is supper done?
He got no answer.
He got up
and when he went out the fountain was boiling.
Damn it! he said.
Where is she gone to, I wonder?
So . . . he said he supposed she was gone out for a walk somewhere.
He got the fork, he walked it down into the fountain
and the first thing he hauled up was a pair of boots.
Well, well, well, he said.
She cooked him boots and all!
That was alright.
He made another smack of the fork, for to get a piece of Jack.
When he did, he hauled up a pair of breeches.
God, he said, that—that was queer.
She cooked him clothes and all!
But the next smack he made
he hauled up the rope
and when he hauled up the rope, ah, he said
she fooled me
but not for long.
He put on—he takes off out to see where they were gone to
and when he got out, he could just make ’em out.
And now, begod, the thought runned in his mind that he’s goin’ to catch ’em.
So . . . he calls on his—goes back, puts on his seven-league boots for to catch Jack and the lady.
But, begod, he didn’t get to do it, because before he got anywhere handy there was too much—
couldn’t do it at all, there was too much water.
and get his water-borers for to suck the ocean dry.
[Anita Best: What was it? His water what?
Pius Power: Water-borers. This was what’s for suction, for to suck the ocean dry, so he went back and he got ’em.]
And by ’m’ by Jack said to the lady
well now, he said
we’re into it!
She said, why is that?
He said, he’s goin’ to suck the ocean dry
because, he said
the sea is goin’ back, he said
in a suction.
She said, that’s alright, she said
let him suck it.
So when he had it where he could catch Jack and the lady, he takes off after ’em.
And . . . begar, he takes off out till he’s near about handy up to ’em
when she said
now, Jack, she said
as quick as you can, pluck a hair out of my head—your own head
and hold it in the form of a cross, she said
and drop it over the stern of the boat.
Well, Jack done so
and when he did, the river—the sea rose up
and away goes the old giant.
So they settled away
and they rowed away
and they done it all till they got—
and they landed.
And where they landed was on the lone shores of Scotland.
’Twas a very—
So Jack said to her, Jack said
well, he said
my home is not far from this, he said
and I’ll go get a horse, he said
and I’ll take you home.
Alright, Jack, she said
but there’s one thing I’m goin’ to tell you
if you’re goin’ for a horse ’n’ carriage, don’t you speak
or pick up nothing
or speak to nobody
or look at nobody.
Well, Jack said
there’s no fear of that.
Begod, when Jack went, who was it but Bill and Tom was married
and they’re having the great big time there.
And Bill’s wife’s sister, she threw an apple at Jack
and the apple rolled on the ground.
Jack grabbed the apple and picked it up.
Jack never thought on what he was doin’, never no more.
Now, Jack was to the wedding
and the lady is on the lone shores of Scotland.
She’s there by herself.
Well, she left and come down
and got an old hut
and got into it.
And she was there quite a while when there was a fellow went that way one time
and he see her.
Well, she was the beautifullest lady that ever could be.
She had a calf. That’s what she used to be doing all the time
puttin’ in her calf and all this.
So . . . he went
and got in
and started talkin’ to her.
Well, by ’m’ by it began to get drafty
and . . . uh . . . he said he’d put in some coal for her.
Well, she said
alright, but tell me, she said
when you catch hold to the handle of the shovel.
So he went over and took the shovel.
He said, I have the handle now.
Well, she said
you hold the handle
and the handle will hold you, from that till daybreak
and you’ll be damn glad to let go and go home, I know.
So that was all was said or done.
The shovel held on to chummy (the guy)
and chummy held on to the shovel
and there they were all night, coddin’ (fooling) himself with the shovel.
Never got to touch her at all.
So in the mornin’ when daylight come he did—the shovel let him go
and he took off as far as he could.
That’s alright.
He met a chum of his
and he was tellin’ him about this girl.
But, he said
I’ll tell you, he said
that she’s the fairest ever—that ever I see.
He said, I must pay that lady a visit.
Well, he said
you could pay that lady a visit, but, he said
I wouldn’t advise you to play too much tricks with her.
Oh, he said
he’d manage that, he could handle that part of it.
So he goes.
And when he goes, she was—met her out in the garden
and started talkin’ to her. She invited him in
and he sat back.
’Twas a bit drafty and the porch door
something like our storm door up there
it, you know, it wasn’t altogether shut
and she said ’twas drafty, she would go shut the door.
Oh, he said
I’ll go shut the door.
Well, she said
that’s alright, but you tell me when you catches the latch.
So he went to shut the door and . . . he said
I have the latch now.
Well, she said
you hold the latch
and the latch’ll hold you, from this till the day breaks, she said
and you’ll be damn glad to go home
and I know for sure.
So the porch door banged him all night back and for’d, he hold to the latch
he couldn’t get clear of it. [laughter]
Very good.
When the morning came he took off and went home.
But sometime after he met another fellow, his chum.
He tells him ’bout the—this lady.
She was called the Maid in the Thick of the Well
that’s what he told—that’s what she told him her name was.
And, he said
b’y, he said
she was beautiful. But, he said
I wouldn’t advise you to play any tricks with her.
And he said, no, he—he think he could handle her.
Well, he said
if you can’t ’tis alright.
So when he went—he went there, and . . . she invited him in.
Now he knows about the sh—about the door.
He’s not going to have anything to do with that ’cause buddy was after tellin’ him, see?
And . . . [(unintelligible) whisper from the audience]
but by ’m’ by she went to put in the calf.
Time come, and she told him, well, she said
I must go put in my calf.
Oh, he said
I’ll put in the calf for you.
Oh, she said
’tis please yourself, she said
if ya—if ya does it, she said.
’Tis alright.
But, she said
now, she said
she’s not an ordinary calf.
The way you catches—puts her in, she said
is catches her by the—by the tail.
Oh, he said
he could do that.
Well, she said
if you can do that, you tell me when you have the calf by the tail.
So he went up, he had no trouble at all gettin’ the calf by the tail
but when he had, he said
I have her by the tail now.
Well, she said
you hold that tail
and that tail hold you from this till daybreak
and you’ll be damn glad
to let go and go home, I’m sure.
And that’s just exactly what did—what happened.
He had ahold to the calf’s tail
and the calf goin’ all over the place
over stumps
over rocks
and the poor bastard, he couldn’t let go the tail
or the tail wouldn’t let him go.
And there he was goin’ all night, back and for’d over the field ahold to the cow’s tail.
When the tail did let him go, he was damn glad to go home, I know.
Ah, that’s alright.
That’s all over.
They never—no one else never troubled her.
But Jack never once thought on his maid on the lone shore of Scotland.
Begar, Jack falls in love with Bill’s wife’s sister and they’re goin’ to be married.
So that’s alright.
When they started in, everyone was invited to go to the marriage.
But they all got into the carriage
and when they got into the carriage
the first thing happened, one of the axles broke.
No way they could get anything to stand, to haul Jack and the lady to the—to the church.
But this fellow was there.
Well, he said
he knowed one thing’d stand.
And they said
what was that.
The Maid in the Thick of the Well, he said
she had a shovel, the handle of that, he said
’d stand.
And very good, they went and they got the shovel handle.
Went to her and asked her for it.
She said, yes they could have it.
So they took the shovel handle
and they come up
and they put it in for the axle in the cart
and no two ways about it, that worked.
But not for long. The bottom broke down out of the cart.
Now there’s nothing they can do, no way could keep the bottom.
And the other fellow spoke up.
Well, he said
the Maid in the Thick of the Well, he said
she have a porch door, he said
that’d stay in it, because, he said
there was no such thing as breakin’ that.
He knowed because he was there all night bangin’ with it.
So . . . they went for that.
She give them the porch door.
By God, when they had all rigged up the horse couldn’t haul it.
Well, the other fellow, he come in here.
He said, now, he said
she have a calf, he said
can haul this, too.
So they went to her for the calf.
She thought hard of givin’ them the calf, but
after a while she give ’em the calf.
And begod, that’s alright.
Calf hauled ’em up to the—to the church
and Jack got married
and—but Jack never once thought on her, no shape or form.
This one had Jack’s—enchanted that he couldn’t—you know, he couldn’t see her
didn’t know anything about her.
So, that’s alright.
Big time was on to the wedding
and she said—they said
well . . . what about the Maid in the Thick of the Well?
She never—after all her good turns no one never invited her.
Oh . . . carriage and went straight for her.
Brought her
and when she come she had supper
and she sat back.
And when they were done supper she took out an apple
and she laid it on the table.
And she took two little birds out of her pocket.
And they were fightin’ over the apple.
And Jack was so interested, Jack was watchin’ this now.
His memory is comin’ back to him now.
He’s watchin’ this apple
and he said to her
well, he said
that is a strange thing!
No, she said
that’s not a strange thing! she said
that’s how hard we fought, she said
to get clear of the giant.
Then Jack’s memory come back.
So Jack done away with his—with his wife
and he got her
and they lived happy for ever after.
But now ’twas an awful time that night
and I had a few drinks in.
And I fell asleep.
And when I woke in the morning they were gone on their honeymoon.
But the rest of ’em was there.
The old man and the old woman they were dancin’ a jig when I . . . woke up.
We had coffee for tea when I come away
and if they didn’t live happy, I hope we will!
Now!
[During the last part of this story, Jack Ward, who had been up since four or five o’clock that morning and spent the whole day fishing, fell asleep. During his performance, Pius was extremely aware of everything that was going on in the room, and raised his voice, so that Jack might hear the part about having too many drinks and falling asleep. When everyone laughed, Jack woke up.]
ATU 313 The Magic Flight [only for Magic Flight. Forgotten fiancée.]
AT 313 The Girl as Helper in the Hero’s Flight
Motifs:
- Z 10.1. Opening formula.
- P 251.6.1. Three brothers.
- G 100. Giant ogre. Polyphemus.
- K 978. Uriah letter. Man carries written order for his own execution.
- G 535. Captive woman in ogre’s house helps hero.
- G 312. Cannibal ogre.
- G 550. Rescue from ogre.
- D 1611.6. Magic blood drops impersonate fugitive.
- D 1521.1. Seven-league boots.
- D 672. Obstacle flight.
- D 2003. Forgotten fiancée.
- D 2006.1.1. Forgotten fiancée reawakens husband’s memory by detaining lovers through magic.
- K 1210. Humiliated or baffled lovers.
- D 2006.1.5. Forgotten fiancée attracts attention by magically stopping wedding carriage of new bride.
- Compare D 2006.1.3. Forgotten fiancée reawakens husband’s memory by having magic doves converse [birds fight over apple].
- K 1911.3. Reinstatement of true bride.
- Z 10.2. End formula.
Comments
Although there are seven versions of ATU 313 in Folktales of Newfoundland (Halpert and Widdowson 1996), none include the episode in which the forgotten fiancée fends off the sexual advances of three suitors. This sequence takes up almost half of Pius’s tale; once again Bengt Holbek’s discussion offers insights. Holbek argues that magic tales show that both sets of parents must be won over in order for a wedding to take place. He understands the various adversaries in the tale world as representations of real-life parents. In this tale type, once having returned home, the hero falls back under the control of his family, especially his mother, revealing his immaturity. The woman who has saved him is literally left outside, as in Pius’s version. Holbek suggests that the wooing by the three suitors projects the hero’s sexual desire for her, now blocked by his family-approved marriage to another woman:
He wants to go to bed with her without having to marry her; but she foils his attempts. The symbols—holding on to a poker or latch, rushing up and down the chimney, chasing a calf without being able to subdue it, in each case spending the entire night at it without obtaining any relief—seem to indicate sexual frustration . . . She insists on being a respected wife, she will not accept the role of the concubine. He, on the other hand, still intends to abide by his mother’s decision . . . that of marrying the bride of her choice, although he also tries to satisfy his desire for the girl in the small house by the road. (1987, 520)
The question of whether to marry for love or to obey the wishes of family drove many classical ballads of oral tradition (see, e.g., Wollstadt 2002); it is no surprise to see the theme appearing in tales also, particularly in societies where, as in Newfoundland, brides often married into a village from somewhere relatively distant and thus were without a supportive network of family and friends (see, e.g., Szwed 1966). The “lone shores of Scotland,” as Pius calls the young man’s home, is the perfect expression of how a bride might have felt arriving in her husband’s community, where she would have to negotiate her place amid his family.
This tale is widely known in Nordic countries and in Scotland as “Mastermaid” (see, e.g., Ashliman 2001). “The Goose Girl” as published by the Grimm brothers also mentions talking drops of blood, which the mother leaves for her daughter and prove useful in her quest to regain her rightful heritage (Zipes 1992, 296–301). Blood holds considerable symbolic and semantic weight in all cultures, including Newfoundland (see, e.g., Davis 1983). Pius’s version has motifs from tales found in Ireland and the British Isles about escaping from giants, talking blood drops, and a magical being called the water-borer who could lower the level of the ocean. It brings to mind the Norse tale of Loki, Thor, and Odin’s visit to the home of the giants. The form in which it’s been handed down by Snorri Sturluson (1995) includes numerous fairy-tale elements; the gods battle beings typically called “giants” in English—their Old Norse name meant “devourers.” In particular, Thor enters a drinking contest, which he loses, but later learns that the horn he has been drinking from is attached to the ocean, and that he has made the tides recede significantly (see McCoy 2016).
Other Norse and Celtic motifs appear. The apple that the sister-in-law throws to Jack might recall the enchanted apples of Idun that confer immortality, and placing the hairs from both protagonists’ heads in the form of a cross to protect from enchantment appears in several Irish tales. “The Maid” also brings to mind The Animal as Bridegroom and The Search for the Lost Husband (see Alice’s “Big Black Bull”), wherein the heroine has to work so hard to get her bridegroom to remember her. Again, like the women in Pius’s life, the female character is hard-working, clever, and resourceful. She eventually wins the day and gets back her rightful lover.
Pius brings the current world into the tale, as he often does, by comparing the boat Jack and the Maid escape in to an old derelict “I have hauled up over there.” On one occasion when he told this story, he compared the stew of boots to Maggie’s cooking a particularly tough seabird once when they were aboard the schooner. At the end of the story he brings himself into it by saying he had a few drinks in him at the wedding and fell asleep so he missed the couple’s departure on their honeymoon.
Pius and his family often referenced motifs in the tales; it was almost as though they were scripts for their daily lives. Pius himself often referred to the drops of blood that could speak, the seven-league boots, and cooking the breeches. On several occasions Anita heard him mention his “seven-league boots” when putting on his hip rubbers to go out in the morning or when taking them off before he rested on the daybed in the evening. His daughter Margaret often called them “Father’s seven-league boots” if she moved them to tidy up or sweep. More than once Pius referred to something that his wife had cooked as “tough as the old giant’s breeches.” His son Pius got weak at the sight of blood from a cut finger or other wound and his father often advised him to go and get a green ribbon to tie around his neck—a supernatural remedy? Once, when the younger Pius wasn’t quite certain of the direction in which to steer “the craft,” as their fishing schooner was termed, his father told him he should ask the drops of blood on his bandaged finger. In Placentia Bay, people prone to nosebleeds would wear a green ribbon around their necks or on their persons. Pius and his son sometimes referenced the Maid’s magic door if they were trying to cleave an unusually tough log or break up a piece of hardwood for kindling; her calf if they were having trouble getting the dogs or cattle put in for the night; and her pitchfork if they spent an inordinate amount of time making hay for the animals.
Stable titles are better associated with written tales than with their oral counterparts. Pius sometimes called this story “The Maid on the Lone Shores of Scotland” which, as indicated above, may metaphorically represent the situations of young women moving into their husbands’ outport communities. But the title he used more often was “The Maid in the Thick of the Well.” Surely that situation recalls the difficult circumstances of so many fairy-tale heroines, whether or not they may be the title characters. Designating main female characters by their qualities (like Sleeping Beauty or Peg Bearskin) or by their locations (like Cinderella or this Maid) is conventional in fairy tales; but note that it’s not at all unusual for them to never be named, even when, as here, they are clearly central to the entire narrative. The Maid is “the King’s daughter,” the giant’s “housekeeper,” or “the lady.” The false bride is “Bill’s wife’s sister.”
It would be overstating the case to call out the tradition for sexism. Giants, dragons, and kings equally lack personal names, as does the Fellow Traveler. When adversaries (other than Jack’s brothers Bill and Tom) are named, they are mysterious like the Magnafoot in “Johnson” or the Dashyman in “The White King of Europe” below. But note that Alice calls the story of Kitty and her sisters Dinah and Maria (counterparts of Jack, Bill, and Tom in tales where men are the motors for the narrative) after the main male character, “The Big Black Bull of Hollow Tree” (and, unusually, he doesn’t get a personal name either); her title “Open! Open! Green House” repeats an incantation in Maggie’s story. But most of Pius’s titles refer to a main male character, usually Jack, whose brothers Bill and Tom can be Jack’s adversaries. The formers’ naming, in fact, reflects their relative lack of importance in the stories; they only need to be distinguished from our hero Jack. Their age order isn’t even particularly relevant, as it can be for sequential giants and dragons in the tales below. But among female characters in Pius’s and Alice’s stories here, only Peg Bearskin gets a (partly) conventional woman’s name and the title role. The character of the Devil’s daughter in the next tale is an exception in being named Anne.