There was one time

in olden times

in farmers’ times

it wasn’t in your time

or in my time

but in times ago

a man and a woman got married

and they had one son

and they called him Jack.

When Jack grew up to be eighteen or nineteen, his father died

and left Jack a bird alone

himself and his mother.

But Jack was a wonderful hand to play cards.

Everyone come. Jack played cards with ’em.

He won and won and won.

Jack was making good money playing cards.

There was no good of going playing with him

because you couldn’t win

because Jack was too good a hand at the cards.

He couldn’t lose.

So all hands got tired of it and wouldn’t go no more.

So he said to his mother one day, he said

I’m going to look for someone to play cards with me.

Now, Jack, she said

if I was you, she said

I’d forget cards.

Because, she said

cards and dice is the advice of the Devil.

And if you gets too interested in them, she said

The Devil can have a share of you.

Well, Jack said

I wouldn’t care if it was the Devil’d come

and have a game o’ cards with me now!

So Jack went on lookin’ for a fella to play cards with him

and he wasn’t long goin’ when he met ’im.

Well, he got talkin’ to him

and the fellow said

well met, Jack. I was goin’ around lookin’ for someone to have a game of cards, too.

So, be the holy, he come to Jack’s house, the Devil did

and b’y, they had the cruel time playin’ cards.

Everything that he was owner of, Jack won it!

When he was leaving he said

That’s alright, but I’ll be back again.

So the next night the Devil come

and Jack played cards with him

and ’twas the same thing.

I have to come back again, he said

I have to try to get back some of my money I lost.

So the next night, well, by the holy, he come

but Jack didn’t have much chance

because he done everything he wanted to do

and poor Jack couldn’t keep again’ him at all.

He won everything.

The last thing they played for was Jack’s self.

And he won Jack.

So that’s alright. Jack was won.

Now, Jack, he said

I’m the Devil

and, he said

you have to come to Blackhead now, he said

and serve me for a day and a twelvemonth.

Alright, sir, says Jack.

So the Devil went on about his business.

Jack packed up his belongings.

He was going to Blackhead to serve the Devil

So Jack traveled on

traveled on

traveled on

and by ’m’ by (by and by) he come to an old house.

He knocked on the door

and when he opened the door this one come out.

Hello, Jack, she said

where d’ ya come from?

Ma’am, he said

I come here, he said

I have an aunt somewhere here, he said

in the forest.

Me mother sent me.

Yes, she said

I’m your aunt. Come in.

So Jack went in.

Now Jack, she said.

I have to hide you.

Because, she said

I have four sons.

There’s East, West, North, and South.

And, she said

East is the first fella comes.

And, she said

I have to hide you, because, she said

they’re monstrous great men, she said

and they’re savage.

But, she said

when I gets them something to eat, she said

and I tells ’em about you

they’ll be alright then.

So that was very good.

Jack had something to eat

and she put him into a big chest

put down the cover.

And Jack wasn’t very long in the chest when be Christ

the sloppy snow and everything began to hit on the house.

Jeez, Jack said to himself in the chest

I only just done it in time.

By ’m’ by Jack heard East when he come

and he stamped

and shook the snow off himself

and he come in.

And when he come in

ho ho, he said

I smells fresh meat.

And I smells human, he said to his mother.

Naw, she said

you’re hungry.

What you smells is fresh meat.

No, he said

I smells human besides fresh meat.

Naah, no, b’y, she said

that’s—you’re hungry.

So he sot down to the table.

And his mother hove him up a half a bullock.

And he et that half.

And he called for the other half.

Mother, he said

I still smells human, he said

there’s human blood somewhere here.

Yes, she said

there is.

But, she said

you have to promise me you won’t touch him.

Oh, no, mother, he said

I won’t touch him.

She said

he’s very delicate

and a very small fella.

He’s your cousin, she said

he’s me sister’s child, she said

and he’s on his way, she said

to Blackhead.

And he heard tell o’ ye

so, she said

he come to see ye.

He said, let us see him.

Now, she said

you have to promise.

Oh, he said

yes.

So she raised the cover of the chest.

He hooked down his finger

and took Jack up.

He sot Jack on his hand

and he wanted Jack to fist in

and to eat the bullock.

But sure Jack wasn’t able to eat the like of that.

God, b’y, he said

you’re not very fat.

You’re pretty tiny.

So Jack talked away to him

and told him where he was goin’

to Blackhead to serve the Devil.

Well, he said

I can’t give you any help, he said

because I only flies east.

The only fella I knows goes over Blackhead, he said

or through Blackhead, he said

is Nord.

Nord, he said

might take you over Blackhead if he knows anything about it.

None of the rest of us, I wouldn’t say, do.

Well, by ’m’ by she strikes!

Rain. Sleet. Wind.

God, Jack said

’tis poor out now.

East said, that’s Soud is comin’.

Now Mother, he said

you take Jack, he said

and put him back in the box.

So when Soud come in through the door, it was the same thing.

And East spoke up.

Naah, b’y, he said

you don’t smell no human, he said

I thought that too, he said

but ’twas hungry I was.

So he sot in to the table

and the old woman took him up a bullock.

She wasn’t very weak edder (either), you know.

She took up a bullock

and slapped it on his plate.

And he et the bullock.

And he wanted more.

He said, you know, Mother, he said

I still smells human.

East told him about their cousin

and he wanted to see ’im.

So they opened up the chest. Chummy (the guy) reached in

and took him out

and handed him to Soud

and Soud took him on the palm of his hand.

And they had the big talk about Jack’s family

and the aunt he never see yet.

Well, by ’m’ by she chopped from the west’ard.

Snow squalls. Wind and hail.

Soud said to his mother

We’ll put Jack back in the box now, he said

’cause West is comin’, he said

and I s’pect West is pretty hungry, he said.

And he’s rougher, he said

’n we are.

So they put Jack back in the box

and West come

and he stamped off the snow

and he come in.

It was the same thing with him.

He still smelled human after he et the bullock

so Soud told him then about Jack, how he was come to see ’em

an’ he on his way to Blackhead.

And he said

You have to promise me, he said

that you won’t hurt him.

Because, b’y, he said

he’s the most delicate little fella ever you see, you know, he said.

He’s only very small.

And West wanted to know could he talk.

Oh, yes, he said

he can talk

and tell you where he’s goin’ to and all that.

Oh, West said

that’s fine. Take him up

and show me where he’s to.

So they ris the cover off o’ the chest

and East took him

and he passed him to Soud on the palm of his hand

and he passed him to West.

And West admired this little cousin he never knew he had.

He couldn’t get over how small he was.

And the next thing

she chopped from the Nord, me sonny b’y

and started to freeze.

West said

get Jack back in the box as quick as you can

because, he said

Nord is coming now.

Nord come

and begod, Jack was almost froze in the box

when Nord blowed in his breath.

And when he come in the first thing he said was fo, fo I smells human.

Well, he et two bullocks before he got a taste at all

and he still smelled human.

So they told him then who it was, Jack

and he was on his way to Blackhead to serve the Devil.

Oh, he said

Blackhead. I goes over that every day.

And they said

can you take Jack with you?

Oh, yes, he said

’tis no trouble at all to take Jack with me, he said

I’ll put him down in me coat pocket. He’ll be alright.

Jack was alright then.

He never had to go back in the box no more.

And they spent their time till they got too sleepy

passing Jack from one to the other on the palms of their hands.

So in the morning they started off

and they poked Jack down in Nord’s coat pocket.

And Nord dropped him down in the Devil’s yard.

Jack wasn’t very long in the Devil’s yard, when who come out only himself.

Hullo, he said

Jack.

Hullo, sir, said Jack.

Well, Jack, he said

you’re here ‘cardin (according) to promises.

Oh, Jack said

yes. When I makes a bargain, he said

I comes.

Well, Jack, he said

I was expectin’ to have to go for you.

No, Jack said

you didn’t have to come for me. I was able to get here without you.

Well, come in Jack, he said

and have some breakfast.

So Jack went in and got his breakfast.

Jack said, what, are you here be (by) yourself?

Nobody here, he said

only me.

When Jack was done, he said

now Jack, he said

you have to go to work.

And Jack said

what is that?

He said, you have to go down now, he said

there’s a ship down there in the pond.

And, he said

my wife’s gold ring is in that ship, he said.

You have to bail her out and bring me that ring.

There’s ninety-nine heads on a spear, he said

and if you don’t do that, he said

yours’ll be the hundredth.

Well, begod, Jack said

I s’pect it will be.

So he give Jack a basket

and when Jack goes down to go bail out the ship

sure the old basket wouldn’t hold no water.

And her coamin’ (vertical surface to deflect water) . . . she was all, deck and all, in under water

nothing up, only her cabin.

Jack slapped out a few buckets.

Sure begod, instead of her coming up, ’twas going down she was.

Jack lay down on the cabin.

The sun was shining hot

and Jack took off his rubbers

laid ’em in under his head for a pillow

lay down on the cabin

and had a good nap.

And by ’m’ by there was a lady come along and called him.

Jack, she said

do you know, she said

there’s ninety-nine heads on a spear

and yours’ll make the hundredth.

The devil may care, says Jack.

If there’s e’er a head on it at all, said Jack

there’s better heads ’n mine on it.

Yes, but Jack, she said

that’s not the point.

Now, she said

you take that basket and turn it bottom out, mouth toward you.

And instead of bailing out, she said

you bail in.

And for the peril of your life, if he asks you did you see anyone

or if anyone was talking to you

you tell him no, you didn’t see nobody, she said

and that’s all is to it.

And, she said

he’s going to call me daughter Anne.

I’m one of the King’s daughters, she said.

I’m a Princess.

And, she said

I have two sisters, too.

The Devil took us, she said

the three of us.

And, she said

we’re up there

but, she said

you’re not to see us.

And when Jack turned the basket the other way

and went to bail in

when he’d heave out one basketful

there was two hundred went out.

And by ’m’ by the ship was bailed out dry.

And no two ways about it

the gold ring was down in the bottom.

And Jack picked up the gold ring.

And in the evening Jack walks up to the old Devil

and handed him the gold ring.

Jack, he said.

did you bail out that ship?

And Jack said

wasn’t that what you wanted done?

He said

I don’t know how you got that.

Jack said

I couldn’t get the gold ring that was down in the bottom of her unless she was bailed out.

Yes, he said

but I can’t see how you bailed her out, he said.

Were you talking to daughter Anne?

Jack said

what?

Daughter Anne.

Jack said, damn daughter Anne

and damn you

and damn meself, too.

What do I know about daughter Anne?

You told me there was nobody here only yourself.

That’s alright, Jack, he said.

So that’s alright.

Jack went to bed

and had his nap o’ sleep

and in the morning he got up

and et his breakfast.

Now Jack, he said

you have to go to work, he said.

I have a job for you.

And Jack said

yeah?

I have a droke (grove) of blackthorn out there, he said

and I wants it cut down.

I wants the pins in one place

the boughs in another

and the limbs in another.

You’ll get the axe there in the yard.

And Jack goes out and picks up the axe.

She looked a wonderful axe.

And Jack goes up

and he sticks into one of the big old blackthorn trees.

Sure, the first smack Jack made at it, the old axe turned up in his face. She was only leaden.

Bejesus, Jack said

that is something now

to go cut down a droke of blackthorn with.

And Jack broke off what boughs he could

and laid ’em down under ’im

and made up his bed

and lay down

and had his nap.

And when Jack was asleep

by ’m’ by along comes the lady.

Jack, Jack, she said

get up, Jack, she said

what in the name of heaven is going to be the end of you?

Nothing, said Jack.

There’s ninety-nine heads, she said

on a spear, Jack, she said

and yours is goin’ to be the hundredth.

Well, Jack said

if there’s only two heads on it, there might be one there better than mine.

I come to cut down this and pile it, he said.

If I had to get to cut it down I might get to pile it

but sure, I have nothing to cut it down with only a leaden axe.

And when I stuck her in, he said

she turned up and looked at me.

Try the poll (head) of her, Jack, she said

to see what ’twill do. Go where that oak there is, that biggest oak is there, she said

and try her into that, she said.

But don’t use the blade, use the poll.

Jack goes over and swung off

and let the poll have it again’ the trunk of the tree.

And he thought that the helft (haft) of the axe’d go in pieces.

But when he turned around, there was never the one thing

only they were all piled

and the boughs and all were fixed right the way the Devil wanted them.

So Jack spent the rest of the day with the lady

and in the evening the Devil come up to have a look at it.

And when he come up, sure, it was right as he wanted.

He said

you have your job done?

Oh, yes, Jack said.

That’s what you sent me to do, wasn’t it?

The Devil asked him about daughter Anne

and Jack swore he’d seen no one.

So that was alright.

Jack went down

and had his supper, b’y

and he had a beautiful night, himself and the old Devil, playin’ cards.

But in the morning, Jack got his breakfast.

And the old Devil said to him

now Jack, he said

I have one more job for you to do.

And Jack said, what is that?

There’s a brass pole, he said

a flagpole over yonder.

And, he said

the flag line is busted.

And, he said

there’s after being ninety-nine tried to reeve (pass a rope through) it.

But no one never rove that flag line, he said

and if you can’t do it, he said

your gold head’ll make the hundredth.

Very good, said Jack.

I s’pose, he said

I’m able to get up a flagpole.

So Jack goes over

and he looks at the brass pole

and he tries to go up

but sure, he could only get so far up

and he give out

and come back souse-o (a sudden deep plunge) on the ground again.

Tried it three or four times

but ’twas too hard on Jack

so he give up

and lay down.

Well, he wasn’t very long lay down when the lady come.

Jack, she said

you never got to rig the flag line?

No, he said.

Or it won’t be rigged, edder, he said.

I can’t get up the damn pole.

No, she said

you can’t get up that pole without a special ladder.

Well, Jack said

if I can’t get up the pole without a ladder, he said

I’m not going to get up there at all.

Jack, she said

you have to kill me for to get up that pole.

Well, Jack said

that pole’ll never be climbed.

’Tis as well for me to die, he said

as you.

That’s alright, Jack, she said

I won’t die.

You have to kill me, she said

and take me apart, bit by bit

and keep in mind, she said

where every bit is placed.

And, she said

make a ladder out of me bones, she said

and go up and reeve the flag line.

And here’s a bottle of stuff I’ll give you, she said.

When you comes down, rub this over me, over the bones, she said.

As corn (according) as you puts the bones together, she said

rub the stuff.

And when all is over, she said

I’ll be just the same as ever. I won’t be dead, she said.

I’ll come to again.

Very good, said Jack.

So, down house with the lady, took her apart.

Took out every bone, one by one.

And her little toe was the smallest bone

and he poked that in his pocket

’cause he had the ladder made

and it was left over, her little toe.

The last joint of her little toe, he put it in his pocket

because he had the ladder made

and he had no use for it.

So Jack went up the ladder

and rove the flag line.

And come down

and started in

and put her back together.

Well, Jack was in a hurry getting her together now because it was getting late.

It took him a nice bit of time for to get the lady together

but when he had her together, he forgot that last joint of her little toe in his pocket.

And when the old Devil come Jack had the flag line rove.

And he went to the old Devil.

Now b’y, he said

the line is rove, if you have the flag to go up.

No, that’s alright, he said

we’ll get the flag some other time.

Jack, he said

were you talking to daughter Anne?

Damn daughter Anne, says Jack.

Damn you and damn meself, too.

You’re a damn liar.

You told me, he said

there was nobody here only yourself

and you’re still always talking about daughter Anne.

Who is daughter Anne? he said.

Where in the devil is she to?

Where in the devil are they all to? he said.

I didn’t see nobody.

Oh, that’s alright, Jack b’y, he said.

So Jack hadn’t got very much to do from that out.

And the Devil come one day and he said

Jack, he said

today is the twelvemonth and tomorrow is the day, he said

I have to pay you your wage, he said.

You done everything I wanted you to do. You served me faithful.

And now, he said

I’m going to give you a lady for yourself.

There’s ladies here, he said

and you can choose your bride.

Whichever way you like.

But, he said

you’ll be blindfolded.

and you won’t see ’em.

So the Devil put the ladies in a room, blindfolded Jack

and told him to choose.

Jack asked them to poke out their feet under the door.

And Jack felt their feet

and when he come to hers

he knew her by the little toe was gone.

So he chose the lady

and the Devil married them.

And they went upstairs to the bed.

The room was on the head of the stairs

and they went in

and Jack got ready to get into the bed.

No, Jack, she said

don’t get into that! Just haul off the counterpane, she said

and just look!

And Jack hauled off the counterpane

and when he did there was all kinds of bayonets

and needles

and everything stuck up in it.

If they’d ha’ got in it, that’s where they’d ha’ stayed.

So they fixed up a place in the corner of the room

and they stayed there.

And when they knew the Devil was asleep, she said to Jack

now Jack, she said

you go down to the stable

and the worst horse is there, she said

take him.

And go in, she said

in the pantry

and the worst sword is there. Take it. The very worst, she said

mind.

And they took off on the horse before the Devil got up.

Now it wasn’t long before the Devil discovered that they weren’t dead in the bed

and he got on his horse

and came after them.

Well, whatever foostering (fooling around) Jack had in the stable

and in the pantry

he took the second-worst horse

and the second-worst sword

and that was almost the undoing of them.

But the lady was smart

and she knew just what to do to outsmart that Devil.

Whenever he’d get close to them, she’d twist a trick so that they’d turn into something else.

They fooled him twice

but around four o’clock on the third day, they looked behind them

and the valley was filled with smoke.

By the God, he’s comin’ now, said Jack.

Yes, said the lady

but he’s out of luck this time.

We’re clear.

And Jack was gettin’ a bit concerned the Devil was gettin’ pretty handy.

The lady said

you wait till he gets right up near us

and then you pluck a hair out of your own head, my head, and the horse’s mane

and drop it over the horse’s tail in the form of a cross.

Make sure now, she said

that you drops it in the form of a cross.

So Jack done what she told him

and held the cross made out of hair ready to drop

And by ’m’ by the old Devil came up behind them.

Aha now, Jack, he said

this is the time I got ye.

And Jack said

no, not yet. I served you a day and a twelvemonth, what you asked.

But I’m not going to serve you any longer.

And with that Jack dropped the cross over the horse’s back.

And a river sprung between Jack and the Devil

and the old Devil went out the river on the horse’s back, right out through

and clear of Jack and the lady altogether.

And Jack and the lady come home.

And Jack got married to the lady.

And Jack was the king

and the lady was the queen.

They were so far generations afterwards.

They had children by the dozen.

They sold ’em by the basket.

The sailors bought ’em and made sea pies on ’em.

And the last time I see ’em, they were sot down to a tin table, eatin’.

And the tin table bended

so my story’s ended.

If the table were stronger

my story’d be longer.

They had coffee for tea when I came away

and if they don’t live happy, I hope we may.