The Tale of Nancy Myles…..
Daniel Myles could
trace his ancestors back to before the time when Oliver
Cromwell (curse and spit at the mention of his name), in the 17th century, came
over from England and kicked all the Irish farmers and smallholders off their
lands in the most fertile counties. He is quoted as telling them to ‘Go to Hell or
to Connaught’. His family had moved from their
fairly substantial and fertile land to the West of
Ireland but the land there only seemed to grow bigger rocks and few
crops. Although most of his relatives had taken to the roads to survive,
many of them remained in and around Galway.
Mary O’Connor, his wife, could also trace her family back to the same time
but as with Daniel, there were no records to vouch for their family
heritage, instead the details were passed down from father to son,
or daughter in this case, generation after generation.
She had married Daniel in an unusually quiet ceremony at
the Parish
Church in Durrow, County Laois, on a fine June summer’s day in
1950. Although they did not think themselves any better than other tinkers,
they were not the types of people to waste money on such festivities. They were
highly respected among the Tinker fraternity and the many
farmers that they had worked for at harvest time over the years. Both sets
of parents bought them a new caravan and a fine three-year-old horse.
Other family friends helped to furnish it.
On the 1st day of June 1953, they were
blessed with a healthy daughter. She was Baptised Nancy Mary
Myles. Dan was always boasting that she was a true Queen
the day before Queen Elizabeth was crowned in London. In fact
they both treated her as if she was the Queen of All the Tinker Clans.
Her mother taught her how to read and the ways of the road
and whenever they were busy as casual workers harvesting in a particular area,
Mary always managed to get Nancy into the local village school for a few weeks
at a time. They followed the harvesting and planting throughout Ireland and
occasionally during really hard times, Dan would travel to Scotland
for the potato picking. It was hard work but brought in a little money.
When Nancy was five years old, her mother contacted Tuberculosis and
was bedridden for many weeks. She would occasionally seem to be better but
always ended up worse than she was before. She died on Christmas
Week in 1958 with Nancy holding one hand and Dan the other.
Dan was completely
broken-hearted and although Nancy was only five, she took it upon herself at
that early age to ‘look after Dan ‘till the day he died’.
Nancy was quick to learn and at every opportunity she
would watch other travelling girls and women cooking the main midday meal. She
became an expert at making do with very little. Dan worshipped the ground she
walked upon and her feelings of love for him were no less......................
He trusted her implicitly and when she was no more than
thirteen years old, he often came home to find some of the tinker boys sitting
around the caravan making eyes at his daughter. She was always pleasant and
mannerly towards them but was too busy looking after her father.
When she was eighteen, many young single men of the
travelling people would call on Dan and seek his permission to visit Nancy. His
answer was always the same – "Ask Nancy yourself".
Nancy had learned the art of dressmaking from another
travelling woman and she was always immaculately dressed. She had grown into a
stunningly beautiful woman who was the envy of both men and women of the
travelling folk.
Her beauty always preceded her wherever they went and
people would stand on the pavement of villages through which they travelled.
She had a beautiful smile for everyone and rapidly became known for her beauty
throughout the whole of Ireland.
On one occasion when they were camped on the outskirts of Ballinasloe
on horse-fair day, several arguments broke out among the young men about who
was the most beautiful tinker woman of them all. There were many fights to
prove the point...............
Whenever news came to Nancy that some old travelling folk
were ill, Nancy would get Dan to make a detour in order that she visit them and
do whatever she could to help them. She had learned the art of herbal medicine
making and her expertise was sought far and wide. As she grew older, not only
did she become more beautiful and sought after, she also developed a serene
aura about her.
It was in October 1974 when Dan, while fishing in a
swollen river, fell in and caught pneumonia. All efforts by Nancy to cure him
were of no avail. She even drove the horse and caravan to the local village and
paid good money to see the local doctor but all the medicine in the world could
not halt what was about to happen. Dan died at the stroke of midnight on the last day
of the month..........................
Nancy was totally devastated and heart-broken. She
immediately began to lose interest in life in general. She kept herself to
herself and would not entertain callers. When Dan was buried in the local
cemetery she did no more but drove the caravan out into the countryside,
released the horse into a field and then set fire to the caravan. She had read
somewhere many years before that this was what should be
done.......................
She disappeared out of sight and all the efforts of
friends and extended family to trace her throughout Ireland failed. It was as
if she had never existed. She was never seen or heard of
again..............
Since that day, at every horse-fair within and without
Ireland, where tinkers congregate, stories are told of Nancy and the love that
she had for her old father Dan. The deeds she accomplished in her life have
grown in the telling but there is little or no doubt, that tinker generations
in the future will continue to sing the praises of Nancy Myles, the Queen of all
the Tinkers……………
-----------------------------
Suggested
by an old Irish Tinker song:
The Tale of Nancy Myles….
Nancy was a tinker girl, who roamed the country roads,
And I will tell you how she came to be a legend in her
time,
And the reason I have come to know, is because a tinker
told me so,
And who was there to better know the tale of Nancy Myles.
Nancy’s father, Tinker Dan, he was a poor but honest
man,
Drove a horse-drawn caravan, all through the Emerald
Isle,
And when Nancy was no more a child, well Dan, he didn’t
have the time,
Men would come from far and wide, to be with Nancy Myles.
Before the age of 21, a hundred men had come and gone,
But none of them could win the gleam of love that was in
her eyes,
And sure any man who loved her then, he never was the same
again,
His memory was haunted, with thoughts of Nancy Myles.
In every town and village too, the fame of Nancy grew and
grew,
Soon her name was spoken, around many a camp fireside,
And at Ballinasloe, on horsefair day, when every tinker had his say,
And at Ballinasloe, on horsefair day, when every tinker had his say,
Many a fight was fought to win, the court of Nancy Myles.
But I hope that you don’t get me wrong, for Nancy was the
sweetest one,
Heart so full of kindness, and as charming as her smile,
Heart so full of kindness, and as charming as her smile,
She was known throughout the land, as queen of all the
tinker clans,
It was the dream of every man, to marry Nancy Myles.
Before the age of 31, a thousand men had come and gone,
But none of them could win the gleam of love that was in
her eyes,
And sure any man who loved her then, he never was the same
again,
His memory was haunted, with thoughts of Nancy Myles.
But then there came the saddest day, when Nancy’s father
passed away,
The loss it grieved her dearly, for he was her only pride,
Family friends and courting men, they never saw her smile
again,
A change had taken place within the heart of Nancy Myles.
Before the age of 41, Nancy she had come and gone,
They searched the country over, but not a trace of her
they found,
But Nancy’s memory will live on, as long as tinker men are
born,
Proudly they will sing this song, of tinker, Nancy Myles.
-------------------------
A version of the song can be heard on the following link:
----------Mike---------
No comments:
Post a Comment